The house smelt like the best bakery Jackson had ever walked into. When he entered the kitchen he saw Davey in his highchair clapping and laughing as Sookie rushed around. She tossed a pancake on the tray of the highchair and went back to her mixing bowls. She smiled when she noticed her husband and nodded towards the counter.

"Coffee is ready. Davey is almost done with his breakfast, there are some pancakes in the oven keeping warm for you. I'm almost done with the stuff I can make here. I'll be heading over to the Dragonfly soon to finish decorating everything. You'll be okay having Davey all day?"

Jackson smiled as he rubbed his wife's growing belly, "You are going to take it easy at some point today right? You do remember that Lorelai isn't the only pregnant one, don't you?"

Sookie stopped what she was doing and took Jackson's face in her hands, "I love you! I promise I will take breaks and your baby will be fine."

"You know that I care about you being fine, not just my baby. Right?"

"Oh. I was referring to myself as your baby."

Jackson's smile grew and he kissed her soundly, "So the consensus is neither of us should worry about the other today."

Sookie went back to her preparations, "So what are you doing today?"

"Well, remember the other day when Lorelai was laughing because her parents were complaining that some crazy restaurant opened in Hartford?"

"Yeah?"

"Turns out it's a Chuck E Cheese! I think it's a great Father Son outing."

"Oh that's so sweet, I'm almost sorry I'll miss it. Take pictures okay?"

Jackson smiled, "Will do."

XoXoXoXoXo

Just a few hours later Sookie was giving her staff the final instructions. Her back was getting tight so she decided to hand things over to Manny and head into the dining room. When she pushed through the door she found it decorated floor to ceiling in pink and blue. There were stations set up with food and cute activities, Sookie was given clear instructions that Lorelai didn't want "stupid games" at the baby shower. So she had to get creative and run everything past her best friend. One end of the room had a big cake made up of diapers and onesies. At that table the guests were to decorate onesies for Luke and Lorelai's baby. There was a glass jar filled with pink and blue jelly beans that people had to guess how many were inside to win it. And there was a giant poster board with baby pictures of various people in Luke and Lorelai's lives as babies for a guessing game. With Michel's help Sookie had managed to make the room look cute but not too cutesy.

Rory was walking arm in arm with her Mom as they entered the room. Lorelai was dressed in a white cotton sundress that had blue, pink and yellow flowers embroidering. Her hair was in soft waves and makeup was simple and natural looking. She had to admit that the pregnancy gave her a nice glow and made her hair feel great. The morning sickness (that wasn't always limited to the morning) was far more intense this time than it was with Rory, but she was dealing with that pretty well. Luke had been such an attentive and nurturing partner, never letting a craving go too long before he fulfilled it and simply taking care of her made Lorelai love him even more than she thought possible. She was just coming up to the six month mark of the pregnancy (or 24 weeks, as Rory would correct her), but from behind you couldn't tell she was pregnant. Luke mentioned that he didn't mind the larger breasts and he was in awe of her bump. For someone who wasn't usually a fan of public displays of affection, he had a hard time not touching her every time she was near him.

Soon the Dragonfly dining room was filled with the women of Stars Hollow and Emily. Most were sitting at random tables enjoying Sookie's food and drinks. They were chatting and laughing, the usual Stars Hollow merriment. Lorelai looked around the room happy to see her friends having a good time. She noticed her Mom looked concerned while over by the baby pictures. Lorelai made her way to Emily with two glasses of pink lemonade.

"Hey Mom, would you like some lemonade?"

"Thank you," Emily took the glass absently. Lorelai followed Emily's line of vision and noticed she was staring at Sookie.

"What up? You seem distracted or upset," Lorelai asked with genuine concern.

"Sookie has been wincing and complaining about her back," Emily said, not taking her eyes from Sookie. "How far along is she?"

"She's just a few weeks from her due date. That's why we're having my shower now. She insisted on throwing me one, you know we're more like sisters than friends. So she planned it now, thinking it was far enough from the wedding but she could still host without having her own infant to deal with. She's so amazing."

Emily finally turned to her daughter, "I think she's in early labour."

Lorelai laughed, "No way. Davy was almost a week late, she's not even at her due date yet."

Frustration building Emily exhaled through her nose, "Each pregnancy is different, even with the same Mother. I arrived exactly on my due date But Hopey was almost two weeks late and our brother -"

"What brother!?" Lorelai almost screeched, thankful for the loud room.

Emily looked at her daughter with sad eyes, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything. This is not the place to talk about it."

Lorelai gently led her Mom further away from the crowd, "Be that as it may, you can't drop a bombshell on me like that and not explain."

Emily looked caught, her eyes focused on Lorelai's belly. "It's not something one should think about at a time like this. You should never have to think about it. I promise I'll tell you the whole story another day but my Mother lost a child."

Seeing Emily's expression and her unwillingness to meet Lorelai's eyes, Lorelai took her Mom's hand, "I'm so sorry." She placed her Mother's hand on her belly where she felt some movement. Luke and Rory haven't been able to feel anything yet, but her doctor told her at an appointment yesterday that soon people would feel it. Emily's eyes widened and she instantly shot her head up.

Lorelai smiled when their eyes met, "Feel it?"

Emily nodded, the tears of sorrow that were brimming in her eyes spilled over when the tears of joy couldn't be contained. "Oh my!" She looked at Lorelai's hand holding hers in place to feel her unborn grandchild, "Thank you."

"Hey, you two." Rory carefully interrupted her Mom and Grandma. "Everything okay over here?"

Lorelai and Emily gave each other one last smile and then let go of Lorelai's stomach as they turned their attention to Rory.

"Everything is wonderful," Emily grinned. "I just felt your sibling moving."

"Yeah. Sorry Kid, you may not be Grandma's favourite anymore. This one is already dancing for her."

"Oh my God, you felt it?" Rory said excitedly.

"Do you want to try?" Lorelai asked.

"No, I'm good. I just know it would be special for Grandma. I'll touch the kid when it's out."

"It," Emily shook her head. "You must find out the gender. The gender neutral stuff is not as cute."

"Yes it is!" Lorelai insisted. "Plus, I didn't want people to buy big ticket items that weren't gender neutral. That way when we have the next one -"

"Next one." Emily and Rory asked in unison.

Lorelai looked at them like they were crazy, "Yeah. Luke and I are married, I'm still fairly young, but not too young. We want at least one more and this way we can reuse the stroller, car seat and crib no matter what gender this one and the next one might be."

Emily was overwhelmed, she looked away for a brief moment and then gasped. Rory and Lorelai turned quickly to see what Emily was reacting to. Sookie was doubled over and there was some water by her feet.

Lorelai was by her best friend's side in a flash, "Sookie, Honey, breathe!" She helped Sookie into a chair, "Rory, call Jackson!"

Sookie exhaled, "He took Davey to Chuck E Cheese in Hartford!"

Lorelai nodded, "Rory, call his pager. Then call Chuck E Cheese. Just get him!"

"I'll look up the number to the Chucky place," Michel called.

"Mom, go into my office, grab my purse, it's on my desk and Sookie has a Go Bag in there. It's a large floral travel bag. Bring that too and meet me at my car." She got Sookie to her feet and wrapped one arm around her to help her if another wave of pain began. "Patty, please call Luke, let him know."

"We're on it, Honey!" Patty called back. She rushed to call Luke while the other women hollered their goodbyes and best wishes.