Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or any characters associated with the show.
Author's Note: I'm sorry for the long gap between updates. And a special shoutout to jordana60. Thanks for your message, it meant so much to me! This story is officially finished. Please be on the lookout for my next story entitled "Mind Over Matter." It will be up soon! Thank you for reading and reviewing, this has renewed my love of writing.
Chapter Fifteen: New Chapter
They hurried out the door, not bothering to extinguish the lights in the house. Tristan was flying out of the driveway before Rory had even buckled her seatbelt. She pulled out her phone and began reading through the messages she had missed from Luke and her mom.
Tristan flipped through radio stations, giving each one about five seconds before he rejected it. All of a sudden Rory looked up from her phone. She raised an eyebrow and listened.
Rollin down the street, smoking indo, sippin on gin and juice
"That's what you pick?" she cried, incredulous.
"Not a Snoop fan?" he responded.
"It's the middle of the night and we are speeding through the city in your Porsche on our way to the hospital...not to mention we were just...just about to...you know. And this is what you are in the mood for?"
Tristan cast her a quick glance, a smirk forming on his lips. "Well, I think you know what I was in the mood for."
"You know what I mean."
"I don't know, I think Snoop would be kind of proud to be the soundtrack to our night."
"Is that so?" she asked.
Instead of responding, Tristan just picked up the rap in the middle of the verse.
I got the cultivating music that be captivating he
who listens, to the words that I speak
As I take me a drink to the middle of the street
and get to mackin to this bitch named Sadie (Sadie?)
She used to be the homeboy's lady (Oh, that bitch)
Rory watched his ridiculous rapping and couldn't help but laugh as he tried to pull it off. And in that minute she knew she was falling in love with him. It made no sense. He never reacted to things the way she anticipated he would. He made her blood boil. And yet, she was growing to care so deeply about this unpredictable guy who was rapping to break the heavy mood that had fallen between them. He was driving her to the hospital in the middle of the night to attend the birth of her own sibling. He had taken her on a mini tour of his past tonight just so that she would believe that his intentions were good.
She reached out and placed a hand on his thigh. Tristan broke out into a peal of laughter after finishing up the verse. He entwined his own fingers with the ones she had resting on his leg.
"You know, I'm a pretty good rapper myself," Rory said, catching his lighthearted mood.
"Oh yeah? Care to share?"
She shook her head and smiled coyly. "I'm not an ondemand gangsta. You'll never see it coming. But it'll hit you like a bullet in a drive-by."
He snorted a little as he laughed at that one. "Okay, sure, homie. You may need to work on your street cred."
She shook her head. "That's what they all say until they hear me rap."
Tristan pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, the sight of which sobered them up a bit. He parked and they got out of the car. Tristan walked around to the passenger side and pulled Rory into his arms. He kissed her deeply. She felt her heart thud shallowly in her chest. "Are you ready for this?" he asked.
She smiled. "Ready to watch my mother push a human being out of her body? I'm ready as I'll ever be."
He slipped an arm around her waist, keeping her close by his side as they walked through the parking lot. "So you'll be in the room with her?" he asked.
"That's the plan," Rory confirmed. "I was there with Matthew's birth, and let me tell you, it was neither my mother nor Luke's finest moments. But you can't blame them really, the whole thing was rather traumatizing."
His face screwed up in a look that conveyed a mix of horror and intrigue. "How so?"
"Do you really want to know the details?" she asked.
"No."
She laughed. "Take my word for it, then."
Rory guided them towards the elevators she knew would take them up to the maternity ward. As they waited, she took a minute to admire Tristan under the bright hallway lights.
"Hey," she said, running her hand down his chest. "You seem to be missing a button."
He examined his shirt. "I wonder how that could have happened?" he mused. He kissed her again, nibbling on her lip this time.
"Mmm, I wonder," she drawled. The elevator doors swooshed open and they stepped inside.
Tristan slipped into the empty elevator behind Rory and wrapped his arms around her. She ran her own along his strong arms, nestling herself against his chest. "I know we will be here for quite awhile," he said quietly into her ear. "But I fully intend on finishing what we started once we get home."
"The rap battle?" she teased.
"If that's what you kids are calling it these days."
The doors opened and Rory stepped out of his arms. She led the way down the hall towards Labor and Delivery.
"Okay, so I'll just check in with the nurses and see what the gameplan is," she told Tristan as they neared the waiting area. "If you don't mind waiting here, I'll come back and-"
"Rory!"
They both looked over their shoulders towards the voice that was calling out from the other end of the hall. It was Emily and Richard Gilmore, walking quickly towards them, cafeteria coffees in hand.
"Grandma, Grandpa…" Rory stated, in surprise, more as a warning to Tristan than as an actual greeting.
"My God, there you are. We were all starting to worry when you weren't answering your phone," Emily said briskly as she approached. She stopped in front of the young couple and gave them a quick once over. Her eyes flicked quickly from the region of Tristan's missing shirt button to Rory's own rather crumpled appearance. She arched an eyebrow and worked to conceal her knowing smirk.
"Why Tristan Dugrey, what a surprise to see you here," Richard was saying. Rory eyed her grandmother guiltily as the men shook hands.
"How's my mother?" Rory asked Emily quickly.
"Pushing now," Emily said. "I don't know if it's too late for you to go in there."
"I should go check with the nurses," Rory answered. She turned to Tristan. "You're okay? Because you can go. My grandparents are here."
He kissed her lightly on the lips. "I'm fine here."
She almost fell over from surprise. She nodded and hurried off towards the nurses' station. The quick glimpse of her grandmother that she caught from the corner of her eye showed her to be just as floored as Rory.
"Rory Gilmore, I am going to kill you as soon as I AHHHHHHH-"
Rory rushed to her mother's side and grabbed her hand. She gave a quick, apologetic smile to Luke who was busy holding Lorelai's leg and staring determinedly towards the head of the bed.
"I'm so sorry, Mom…" Rory began, but Lorelai swatted her apology away as she scrunched her face up to continue pushing.
"Distract me," Lorelai panted as she lay back against the pillows between contractions.
Rory didn't hesitate. "Grandma offered me three and a half million dollars over dinner tonight."
"Christ!" Luke swore from the foot of the bed. Rory glanced at him quickly, then turned back to wait for her mother's reaction.
Lorelai's brows furrowed together, then twisted into a grimace of pain. "Well get out your checkbook and buy me a time machine, because I want it to be tomorrow and be done with THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!"
"It looks like you don't need that checkbook," the doctor said, her eyes crinkling in what must have been a smile under her mask. She held up a slimy, screaming baby girl. Rory, Lorelai, and Luke instantly broke into tears.
The next several minutes were chaotic. Tears and "I Love Yous" flowed freely through the room. A nurse worked to clean the baby as she curled up on Lorelai's chest. Other nurses scurried around the room, quickly cleaning up the mess that comes with giving life.
After several minutes, Lorelai reached up to Luke. "Would you go tell my parents?" she asked.
"I'll go," Rory offered.
"No, I want you to stay for a minute," Lorelai said, taking her oldest daughter's hand. Luke kissed his wife and slipped quietly out of the room.
Lorelai looked at her daughter earnestly. "I don't want you to feel like me having another daughter changes anything between us."
Rory blinked, surprised. "What? No," she said, shaking off her mother's words. But even as she tried to brush her mother off, she felt that bell go off, the one that rings when someone has put words to that indescribable worry.
"Things will be so different for her," Lorelai continued. "She has a father who is present in her life, and a brother, and you. A house and a dog…I don't want you to feel like you were the trial run and this daughter is my Marcia Brady."
Rory laughed, blinking away the tears in her eyes. "You're right, Mom, her life will be incredibly different. And I know you're still a cool mom. But my childhood with you was special. I know that they're not your do-overs. If anything, they're missing out because they'll never have you all to themselves the way I did. They have Luke to introduce them to vegetables and me to poke holes in all of your big headed stories you tell about yourself."
Lorelai tugged gently at Rory's sleeve and she crawled onto the bed to curl up to her mother. "What will you name her?" she asked softly.
"Lorelai."
"What!"
"I was thinking we could call her Lori."
"Wait, no! See now I do feel like I'm the reject daughter that you are replacing."
Lorelai smiled wickedly. "Penelope. Penny, for short."
Rory smiled. "I like that," she said brightly.
"Penny," Lorelai whispered softly to the baby, "why don't you go meet your sister Rory?"
Rory scooped Penny into her arms, and simply stared at her wonderful little face.
"Hey, wait a second," Lorelai said, sharply, breaking the sentimental mood. "Did you say that Grandma offered you three point five million dollars at dinner?"
"Um, yeah," Rory responded.
"Jesus, three point five mil."
"Yeah." Rory watched her mother anxiously, wondering if it had been the right time to break the news.
"So does this mean you're moving out?"
"I guess," she responded tentatively.
"Thank God!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"That had quite a lot of oomph for someone who just pushed a human being out of her body."
"It's time for you to go, Little Girl. Fly. Spread your wings. Get a big ol' apartment for yourself in New York. With a doorman. And a bell boy."
"I think those are just in hotels."
"Well then, with valet parking."
"Uh, huh. You're doing a really great job making me feel like I'm not that disposable daughter we were talking about a few minutes ago…"
"Look," Lorelai said, sobering a little. "The things you want from your life, kid, are things that are bigger than your income can give you. You have seen both sides of life, which I'm proud I could give to you. So now, take the damn money. Invest it, spend it, donate it, use it as toilet paper. I don't care. Just, please, whatever you choose, make sure you're taking control of your life again. This is a new start today, for all of us. Especially for Penny here."
"I'd say."
"And Matthew and Penny will of course be expecting ponies for Christmas. Every year. And on their sixteenth birthdays a Porsche a piece-"
The door opened and Luke came in. "Rory, your grandmother is drooling over Tristan."
"What?" Lorelai asked, drawing out the "ahhhhh" in the word and looking thoroughly scandalized.
"Um, yeah. He's in the waiting room."
"Being interrogated by Emily and Richard," Luke added.
"Oh God. They probably already booked a venue. Go," she commanded, nudging Rory off the bed. "Go, go, go, go, go!"
Rory scooted towards the door. Just as it was closing behind her she caught the Lorelai thanking Luke for the intel.
She hurried to the waiting room. It was empty except for her grandparents. They rose when they saw her.
"Rory! We just saw Luke. We just can't wait to meet her!" Richard said, pulling Rory into a big hug.
"Luke says your mother is doing well?" Emily asked.
"She is. She's doing great. Um, have you guys seen Tristan?"
Emily smiled her knowing smile. "He went to get a coffee."
"Oh."
"Seeing him here was quite a surprise tonight," she added.
"For me too," Rory answered honestly.
"You could have told us that you were rushing out of dinner to go meet up with him."
Rory shook her head, trying to get out of her grandmother's web. "No, Grandma. We ran into each other. I didn't rush off-"
"He says you two are dating," Emily revealed, her smirk growing.
"Does he?" Rory said flatly, feeling more than a little annoyed at both Tristan and her grandmother. Emily was loving every minute of this.
"How long have you been seeing each other? Tristan makes it sound like you two are quite serious. But if that were the case I'm sure it would have come up at dinner. Right?"
"It's...new," she answered lamely. "Excuse me, Grandma, I need to go find him."
She hurried off before Emily could continue the conversation. She flew down the hallway, towards the maternity ward exit. Then she caught a glimpse of Tristan standing alone in a side corridor. She slowed and approached him.
He looked up when he heard her approach and held an arm out to her. She gladly slipped into his embrace, wrapping her own arms around him. They were standing at the window into the nursery. The lights inside were dim, but little bundles could be made out, squirming in their plastic bassinets.
"Did you tell my grandmother that we are dating?" Rory asked firmly.
Tristan smirked. "Are you really going to pick a fight over this?"
"Well, we never really discussed it."
He rolled his eyes but pulled her closer. "After everything that has happened between us tonight, you really need me to discuss it with you?"
"A girl likes to know where she stands," she responded coyly.
Tristan pulled away from their embrace, taking a step back. "Lorelai Leigh Gilmore," he said, dramatically.
"Oh God," she uttered.
"I am in love with you. So in love with you that I have been standing here watching these babies and thinking that someday ours will be in there. Unless he's born in New York, or Paris, or I don't know, San Tropez. I know that I am going to try to convince you to move in with me and you will yell at me and tell me you need to support yourself. And so you'll get your own overpriced apartment in New York with your new inheritance and I will spend every night there until I eventually get my way and just move in. I know that we are going to have some big, embarrassing wedding that neither of us really want but we won't be able to say no to our families. And I know that right now, I am just about ready to get on a plane to Vegas and marry you tonight so that we can just avoid all the bullshit arguments I outlined and just be together."
Rory opened her mouth to speak, but Tristan cut her off. "But you like arguing with me. And I love that even though you get off on bantering with me, you have never said an unkind word, ever. Which makes me believe that we will work. We have the fire and the foundation.
"Tristan-"
"What?" he asked flatly.
"I love you, too."
The smile on his face was such that Rory took a snapshot in her mind, and filed it away to be savored later. She kissed him, firmly.
"So...you'll be my girlfriend?" Tristan asked playfully.
"Take me home," she said. "Your place. We have that rap battle…"
-The End-