Chapter 32: Trial run
"Lorelai, where do you need this?" Logan asked as he and Jess came to the reception desk, carrying a huge bookcase.
"I haven't decided yet." Lorelai said apologetically.
"Well, could you maybe decide? We've been carrying it for a few good minutes and it's kinda heavy." Jess said as politely as possible through gritted teeth - it really was heavy.
"Sorry, guys. Let's put it in the corner of the library." She decided quickly and opened the door for them. They put the bookcase on the ground with a heavy sigh. "Thank you for your help. It's been a crazy couple days. Crazy couple months, really." She admitted. It was April 23rd - the day when Lorelai and Sookie's very own Inn would finally welcome its first guests. It would be a trial run for family and friends before it would officially open to the public a week later. Lorelai was only 10 days away from her due date and she was doing everything in her power to be there for the Inn's opening before the baby came. And finally, the day was here. She felt that it was the most important day of her life, beside her wedding day and the day Rory was born.
"Mom, the towel guy is at the front. He brought the extra towels, but you need to sign for it." Rory came to the room to call for Lorelai.
"Thanks, hon, I'm coming. Have you seen your dad anywhere?" She asked as they were walking to the front door of the Inn. It was almost 4PM, close to the show time. Lorelai, Luke, Rory, Logan and Jess were all here since 9 AM preparing for the big event. Everybody knew how important it was to Lorelai and Sookie. It was their dream for a very long time. Lorelai wasn't a complainer - she loved her life and her family, but this was one of the very few things which were only her own, separate from the family life. She and Sookie built this business from scratch and she really needed a trial run to be a success.
"Dad's in the kitchen, he's fixing one of the cabinets' doors." Rory answered. They both picked up the towels and took them to the closet.
"Okay, let's go over the guest list one more time." Lorelai tried to calm down her nerves by making sure everything was perfectly organized and ready.
"Sure. We have Babette and Morey in room 1, Miss Patty in room 2. Then there's Lane, Paris and me in room 3, Jess and Logan in 4. Sookie and Jackson in 5, Michel in 6, you and dad in 7. Kirk and Lulu in 8, Gypsy in 9 and Grandma and grandpa in 10." Rory read the room assignment from her chart. "Relax, mom. It's all gonna be fine. You have everything prepared. It's gonna be a smashing success, I promise." Rory said honestly. And Lorelai could only pray she was right.
"Thank you for coming here, everyone, it means so much to both me and Sookie and I do really hope that you're gonna enjoy yourselves today. And now, without further ado, dinner is served." Lorelai greeted guests one more time as everyone gathered in the dining room. So far, it's been a smooth ride. With all the extra help she got today, they managed to do everything in time. She walked around the dining room, asking the guests how everything was, and then she finally sat in her chair.
"Oh, God, my feet are killing me." She sighed, exhausted. The adrenaline was flowing and she didn't really feel tired for a long time, but as the evening went by, she couldn't keep on pretending that she didn't share her body with a tiny human.
"Well, you're 9 months pregnant, hon. I know you want everything to be perfect, but you need to take care of yourself, too. Besides, it's dinner time. It's Sookie's time to shine, you can relax for about an hour." Luke said, concerned about the amount of work, which Lorelai had to do in the last months, despite his protests. She was too tired to argue with that.
"You're right." She nodded and put her feet up on his lap under the dining room table. An hour of rest would surely help. "Thank you, all of you for everything you did today. It would've been a disaster without you." She said, sincerely.
"Please, aunt Lorelai. You did all of the hard work, we just helped with finishing touches." Jess answered and everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Oh, and I brought the CDs that you asked for, in case anyone would want to listen to some music in their rooms." Lane handed her a box, filled with CDs. "It's got everything, from the most basic, to classic rock, pop, R , indie and Broadway soundtracks and classical for the more sophisticated ones." She explained.
"Thank you, Lane, it's really helpful." She took the box from her.
"And, I wanted to thank you again, for inviting me, Lorelai." Paris said.
"Honey, it's no problem, we love having you here." Lorelai answered. After almost 5 years of knowing Paris, it still was sad to see her so insecure and genuinely surprised whenever they invited her anywhere. It was clear that her parents never made her feel included and it was breaking Lorelai's heart, especially now, when she was carrying her next child and the hormones were crazy high. "I'm just gonna quickly check on my parents and I'll be right back." Lorelai got up with a heavy sigh. Her feet were killing her and she was experiencing some cramps. She wouldn't call them contractions yet - they were irregular and rare. Still, she knew that the baby was slowly coming. She didn't say anything to Luke yet, though. She didn't want him to worry, before he needed to.
"Lorelai, this food is delicious." Emily exclaimed when she saw Lorelai walking towards them.
"Yes, it really is. I can see that this place will always be crowded." Richard smiled proudly at his daughter. "Is everything alright?" He asked concerned, when he saw Lorelai grimaced in pain.
"Yes, everything's fine. I've just been walking too much today, my feet hurt a little and this little guy wants all of my attention." She tried to smile, but she once again felt a sharp pain in her stomach.
"Come, sit here, child." Emily put up a chair for her. "Lorelai, are you in labour?" She asked, concerned.
"Well, I'm definitely not in active labour yet. But I guess I can feel it starting." She admitted.
"We have to get you to the hospital, then." Richard said firmly.
"No, dad, please, not yet. We still have time. And the planned part of the evening is almost over. Let's just get through this dinner, and then I'll tell Luke and we'll walk out calmly. I don't want to cause commotion." She pleaded with them.
"Fine. But we're out of here and off to the hospital the minute the dinner's over." Emily agreed. "And don't worry, Lorelai. This evening has already proven that this business of yours is gonna work. It was a success. You can go to the hospital and have your baby." She added. Lorelai was touched by her words. No matter how much time has passed, deep down she still sometimes felt like this little girl dying for her parent's approval. And it looked like she finally got it.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner." Luke said, upset when they were getting inside a car. " Your contractions are 5 minutes apart! We should be in the hospital by now."
"Relax, dad, we'll make it. Jess, you drive." Rory asked him, and sat on the front passenger seat. She felt too overwhelmed to drive herself.
"I'm sorry, honey. I really just didn't want to make a big scene out of it." Lorelai said apologetically.
"Well, that didn't really work out, did it?" Luke rolled his eyes. After dinner, when Lorelai got up from the chair to walk over to Luke and discreetly tell him she's in labour, her waters broke with a loud splash all over the dining room floor, alerting everyone present there.
"Well, you don't get to be mad at me. I'm having your baby here." She reminded him. "And Holy God, how it hurts." She yelled, squeezing Luke's hand tightly. "How could I forget that it hurts this bad?"
"Hang in there, aunt Lorelai. I'm going as fast as I can. We should be there in 10 minutes." Jess tried to calm her down. "What about Logan, Paris, Lane and your grandparents? Are they coming?" He asked Rory.
"Yes, they're right behind as. Logan and Lane went with Paris in her car and grandparents are in theirs. I guess we cleared out the Inn a little bit."
"That's okay, the hard part of the evening was done. Michel and Sookie can handle it from there and we can all just focus on the baby." Luke said.
"Holy God. This one hurt even more." Lorelai yelled, as she felt another contraction.
"Mom, how can we help?" Rory asked, concerned. She has never seen her in such pain and it was hard for her to handle.
"Sweetie, there's nothing you can do, really. The fact that you're here is enough. And the pain part - well, I got through all of this before so I can do it again." Lorelai said, determined. She could see that Jess and Rory were starting to freak out a little, so she tried to hold her screams in - at least, until they got her safely to the hospital.
"God! This hurts, this really fucking hurts!" Lorelai screamed painfully. When they got to the hospital it turned out it was too late for any kind of painkillers. She was almost ready to push. "And now I'm swearing in front of my parents, my kids, and my kids' friends. Great." She moaned, overwhelmed by pain. "I don't think I can do this. You're just gonna have to stay inside, buddy." She yelled at her stomach.
"Lorelai, I can't even imagine what kind of pain you're going through. But remember, once he's here, it'll all be worth it." Luke said, gently.
"Life is so unfair. You can stand here, being caring and kind, but this is all bullshit, because you'll never have to push a watermelon sized baby down your vagina!" She screamed. "So you get a brand new baby, and it doesn't require you to tear your penis." She was obviously in too much pain to control what she said in the room full of people.
"I'm never having kids." Rory whispered lightly to Logan. "Just so you know. I won't push anything watermelon-sized out of my vagina."
"Got it." At this moment it was unclear to Logan if he was strong enough to ever witness something similar, let alone be in Luke's place - responsible for the well-being of someone who gives birth.
"Somebody needs to distract me, right now." Lorelai demanded. The room was silent, suddenly no-one could find anything to say, which would distract Lorelai.
"Little Red Riding Hood!" Rory exclaimed after a moment of silence. Everyone looked at her confused. "Remember when I was 10 and Lane and I were starring in a school play - Little Red Riding Hood? We had a sleepover at my house and you were helping us with rehearsals, with mom and dad as our audience. We should recreate it now, to distract mom." She suggested. At first everyone was not really into the idea, but Lorelai was screaming louder and louder and she decided that Little Red Riding Hood done by high school and college students in a hospital room would be good enough distraction. Paris took Honor's old role, playing the mother and with that the play started.
It was the most ridiculous thing that Lorelai has ever seen in her life. Which made it a great distraction. They even managed to make her laugh a few times. And when it was finally time for her to push, and everyone besides Luke left the room, she could only smile through pain, grateful for the family she had.
And Luke, as always, was right. Because when she held in her arms little LJ William Danes, she knew it really was all worth it.
"Welcome to the world, buddy." She said gently. Luke invited everyone back to the room so they could meet the new family member.
"Everybody, this is LJ. And LJ, this is your whole family. Your mom, dad, grandparents, older brother Jess, older sister Rory, and sibling/friends Lane, Logan and Paris. Can you say hi?" She whispered to a little baby, safely laying in her arms, and she took his little hand and waved it around. Everybody waved back and Lorelai and Luke could only be grateful that they had so many people who knew and loved their son from the moment he came to the world.