I am the teller of tales, the spinner of stories **Version 6**.

Title: Da Capo Al Fine: Season 2
Author: Cassie Valentine
Fandom: Gilmore Girls
Paring: Metnions of Lorelai/Max
Feedback: Yes please
*****

Rory groaned as she rolled out of bed and blindly stumbled towards the vicinity of the phone that was ringing.

“Hello?” she asked as she collapsed onto the couch. Luke had finally dropped her off at home somewhere around 3 am and by the time she had finally fallen asleep, it was closer to 4.

“Rory! What on earth are you still doing in bed?”

“Grandma?” she asked, waking up slightly. Talking with Emily Gilmore required at least part of her brain.

“Of course Rory,” she said, tapping her foot slightly. “Tell me all about it.”

“About what?” she asked as she dragged herself to the kitchen to start the coffee.

“About what . . . About the delivery! I can’t get through to your mother until after 10.” Rory squinted at the clock, it was only 8:30.

“Uh, I wasn’t there. I mean, I wasn’t in the room, Sookie was.”

“What’s a Sookie?”

“Sookie, Grandma,” Rory said as she dumped the coffee grounds into the canister before flipping the on switch. “Mom’s best friend? She’s the chef at the Inn.” “Where was your father?” “Stuck in California. He couldn’t get a flight out,” she said as she stared at the pot, willing it to go faster before she headed towards the pop tarts. “It’s a girl, by the way,” she tacked on.

“Wonderful! Richard, a girl!” Emily called. “Name, weight, height?” “Charlotte Abigail, we’re gonna call her Charlie. 6 pounds 10 oz, 18 inches,” Rory rattled off to her grandmother as she quickly repeated it back to Richard.

“Well, at least she’s not another Lorelai . . . Who does she look like?” “Me, as far as I can tell,” she said as she was finally able to pour herself a cup of coffee. “Why don’t you and Grandpa just head down? Visiting hours start at 10 too,” she pointed out as she picked up the pop tart that had just popped out of the toaster as well.

“That’s a wonderful idea! Will we see you there?”

“Probably not right away. I have some homework to finish so I was planning to head up around noon.”

“Well, you just call before you leave and you stop at the house first, we’ll all go over together, alright?”

“Sure,” Rory said, a little confused as to where this new sunny attitude had come from. Her grandmother had spend the months since Christopher had left lecturing and preaching about learning from your mistakes and the humiliation of having a second illegitimate grandchild. While she had never said such things when Rory was in the room, Lorelai had passed them along, simply to keep Rory apprised of why the relationship between her mother and grandmother had suddenly gotten extremely cool once again.

“Wonderful! We’ll see you this afternoon then.” “Okay. Bye Grandma,” she said as they finally hung up. “Weird,” was all she could get out as she looked at the phone for a moment. She put it down on the counter as she finished her pop tart and coffee. She quickly headed to her bedroom and after taking a long moment to look forlornly at her bed and then to the stack of homework on her desk, she decided that 2 more hours of sleep wouldn’t hurt and that she’d still have plenty of time to finish up her homework, drive up to Hartford for a few hours and return to get a start on her extra credit work. “Mmmm . . Still warm,” she muttered as she snuggled back under the covers.
***
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it Emily,” Richard replied after she spilled out their plans for the afternoon.

“It’s Saturday Richard,” she pointed out. “You don’t have any work on Saturday.”

“I have plans, Emily,” he told her, almost patronizingly. “I’m meeting Randal at the club at 3.”

“Well reschedule,” she said as she followed him into his study. “We’re going to meet the baby.” Richard kept his back to Emily as he looked at one of the book shelves in his study. He was still quite angry over the entire situation and didn’t particularly feel like celebrating yet another blemish that Lorelai had wrought upon the Gilmore name.

“I can’t, this is business,” he said, finally picking out a book and heading to one of the chairs to sit.

“Richard Gilmore! You will be ready to leave this house as soon as Rory gets here. You will put on a smile and be happy for Rory and Lorelai and you will hold that baby,” she informed him. The two of them locked eyes for a moment. “You will be civil about this,” she said. “I would like to see this granddaughter grow up,” she said, pointing a finger at him before leaving the study. She had phone calls to make, announcements to prepare and a gift to wrap.

Richard sulked into his novel for a moment before he laid it in his lap. For all of Lorelai’s failings, she did tend to produce remarkable children, if Rory was any example. He also supposed the Emily was right about having a chance to be in the child’s life full time instead of the patchy relationship he’d had with Rory. “Hmm,” was all he could say to the empty room as he turned back to his novel.
***
“You will never guess who woke me up at 8:30 this morning.”

“It wouldn’t happen to be a rather butch looking nurse by the name of Wanda, would it?” Lorelai asked over the phone as she played with Charlie’s hands.

“Almost,” Rory said, balancing the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she flipped through one of her text books. “Grandma called.”

“That would be why she hasn’t called here yet. Or shown up.”

“We’ll be there around 1. I’m driving up to Hartford at about noon and Grandma wants me to stop there first.”

“Hmm,” she said as she ways to make the visit as short as possible.

“Grandma seemed really excited,” Rory filled in as she finished up her last question for Chemistry. “Oh, hold on, I’m beeping,” Rory said as call waiting went off in her ear. “Hello?”

“Hey kid!” Christopher said.

“Hey, when did you get in?”

“I was at the hotel by 7 and I only meant to sit down for a second, but, here we are.” Rory smiled, she knew that feeling.

“I’m heading up to Hartford around noon,” she told him. “You should phone Grandma, I’m stopping there first.”

“Will do,” he said. “Hey, you talk to your mom yet today?”

“She’s on the other line,” Rory filled in as she put her books away. “Charlie’s fine and mom is ready to get out of there. Something about scary nurses and cold exam tables.” Christopher laughed.

“I’ll let you get back to her then, I’ll see you later.”

“Bye dad,” she said as they hung up. “Okay, I’m back.”

“New boy friend?”

“Dad’s in town. He’ll be coming over with us too,” she said as she finally stood up from her desk and headed to the kitchen for a snack. “I mean, after all the stuff Grandma said, I expected to have to ask her to come and see you two,” she said, switching back to their original conversation.

“She has plans,” Lorelai as she tried to deduce what they might be. “She sees some opportunity that we don’t. It will all become clear in time and we’ll probably regret it. How much did you tell her?”

“Name, weight, length. Why?”

“Birth announcement, most likely an embarrassingly large one,” she shook her head a little at the thought. “Oh, my butch friend is back,” she muttered into the phone. “It may have been 15 years since I last did this, but I haven’t forgotten everything. Oh well, see you when you get here.”

“See ya,” Rory said as they both hung up. Rory quickly dialled the phone again. “Hello Mrs. Kim? It’s Rory. May I please speak with Lane?”

“Okay, you have the best sense of timing in the world. I mean, if I had to be in the kitchen with the sprouted wheat for one more minutes, I was going to sprout,” Lane said quickly as soon as she was out of ear shot of her mother.

“Guess where I was last night,” she said with a smile.

“You and Dean are back together?”

“Lane. . ."

“No idea then. Spill!”

“The hospital!”

“Oh my God! Really?” the two girls took a moment to squeal in joy together. “Boy? Girl?”

“A girl!” she said as she quickly rattled off all the information again. “She’s gorgeous! Lots a hair, blue eyes. . . Mom says she looks just like I did.”

“Wow, are you sure your dad had anything to do with either of you? I mean, I’ve seen your dad, be it briefly, but you don’t really look like him.” Rory laughed.

“I’m told we have a similar left earlobe,” was about all she could provide. “I’m heading back up to Hartford this afternoon, I promise millions of pictures,” Rory assured her.

“You better!“

“You know, I get the feeling that your mom is going to hate me even more.”

“I’ve told you, she doesn’t hate you, it’s the whole unwed mother thing.”

“Well, hate my mother more then,” she amended.

“Such is life with Mama Kim,” Lane said with a sigh. “Ah, gotta run. Sprouted wheat waits for no girl,” she said. The girls quickly said their good byes and Lane went back to her sprouted wheat with an extra spring in her step.
***
The rest of the morning passed quickly for Rory. She had gotten a half decent start on her extra credit work and had had time to stop in at Luke’s for coffee and a muffin before climbing back into the jeep and heading to Hartford.

When she did finally arrive, she barely had time to greet her father and grandfather before Emily rushed her away to pass judgement on the outfit Emily had picked out. Rory tried to smile and praise the little pink dress her grandmother had picked out, but she was having trouble seeing past all the ribbons and bows. “Is that crinoline?” Rory blurted out, unable to control herself.

“Of course,” Emily said, slightly surprised that Rory would expect anything less. Rory’s eye brows simply shot up higher on her forehead as she continued to consider the garment in front of her. “Can you believe the sales woman actually tried to sell me a cotton dress, a cotton sundress?”

“Unbelievable,” was all Rory could come up with.

“Do you think your mother will like it?”

“She’ll enjoy it,” Rory said, choosing her words carefully. Her mother would enjoy it. . . She’d enjoy mocking it when Emily wasn’t there.

“Wonderful!” Emily exclaimed as she carefully wrapped the tiny dress back up an had Rory help with the bow. “Well, lets get going then,” she said as she handed Rory the box and ushered her back down stairs.

“Did she show you . . .?” Rory asked her father as she gestured to the box.

“Oh yeah,” he said with a nod as they lingered slightly behind Emily and Richard. “I was at a loss for words.”

“All I could say was ‘Is that crinoline?’ and agree with her.”

“Hopefully your mother will hold it together until they leave,” he whispered to her before everyone piled into Richard’s car.
***
“Oh. My. God,” was all Lorelai said before she burst out laughing at the dress Emily had brought. She had, in fact, managed to stay quiet and thank her mother, bursting out only after the Elder Gilmore’s had left. “Crinoline? And petty coats. Oh Emily Gilmore, you have out done yourself this time!” Rory and Lorelai snickered over the little pink dress as Christopher stared into the bassinet that contained his new daughter.

“Need instructions?” Lorelai called to him, finally taking a break from her mocking.

“I don’t want to wake her up,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“You won’t, go a head,” she said. “Oh wow, it stands up by itself!” she said as she and Rory fluffed out all the layers and watched as the dress held itself up. The girls snickered as Christopher finally gave in and scooped Charlie up, however awkwardly. “Hey Rory, why don’t you go scam us some snacks?” Lorelai asked as she pointed to the drawer with her purse in it. “I should have some change.” Rory nodded, grabbed the change and headed towards the vending machines.

“She’s pretty,” he said as he wandered over to her.

“She’s perfect,” Lorelai corrected him. She smiled sadly as she remembered having this exact same conversation when Rory was born.

“Marry me,” he said as he came right over to the bed. “I don’t want to miss it this time. I want first steps and first words and first smiles. Marry me, Lor, and we’ll raise Charlie and Rory right.”

“Oh Chris,” was all she could say, shaking her head. “That’s no reason to get married and we both know it. All you have to do is come visit more than every 6 months and you’ll get to see all of that.”

“I love you Lorelai, I always have,” he said as he sat on the edge of her bed. “I love Rory and I love her already.”

“That’s all well and fine, but what about 6 months from now? 6 weeks?” she asked, trying not to get upset, but failing. “What happens when your company goes under, or you can’t take being tied down any more?”

“It’s not gonna happen this time!” he insisted.

“But it always does,” she said, starting to cry. “No matter how many promises there are, how much you love me and Rory, it always falls through. A second chance isn’t going to change this, isn’t going to change us,” she said.

“But it could if you let it!” he insisted as he shifted closer to her on the bed. “I was an idiot to pack up and leave in September and I knew it as soon as I hit the highway but I couldn’t come back. But I’m here now, for good!”

“How’s your company doing Chris?” He hesitated. “I see,” she said as she looked away from him to stare out the window, trying to collect her thoughts.

“It’s not as great as I said it was, but it’s there. It’s new and so it’s struggling a little, but things will pick up,” he assured her.

“And if they don’t? You can’t support a family on hopes and dreams Chris. It’s not going to put Rory through Chilton or pay my mortgage or keep Charlie in diapers.”

“Then I’ll find work, Lor! I’ll commute to Hartford, New York if I have to! God, what do I have to do to prove I mean it this time?”

“Just that, prove it,” she said as they looked each other in the eye. “Be a grown up for a while, Chris. Be a grown up with a real job and responsibilities that mom and dad don’t bail you out of. Come visit your kids and call them once a while. Then we’ll talk.” Chris opened his mouth to reply but changed his mind and Lorelai sat back against the pillows and waited for him to collect himself.

“I should go,” he muttered after a moment as he handed Charlie over to her mother.

“Chris, no,” she called to him, accepting the baby.

“Did you ever think that maybe I’m not the one who’s afraid of commitment?” he asked her as he headed for the door.

“Then why are you always the one leaving when things get hard?” she asked him, before he left the room. He hesitated in the door way for a moment.

“I’ll say good bye to Rory before I leave. I’ll call when I get back to California,” he muttered as he finally left the room.

“Damn it,“ Lorelai said as she watched Christopher stalk out of the room. Everything was happening again, almost exactly as it had happened when Rory was born. Christopher saw this image of a happy little family in his head while Lorelai saw bills, midnight feedings and hard work. “Repeat offender, your dad,” she told Charlie, who simply yawned and shifted slightly in her blanket before drifting off again. Lorelai sighed and watched the baby for a while longer, feeling slightly like her 16 year old self had felt the first time. Just as she was really starting to get into her memories, Rory waltzed back into the room, her arms full of snacks. Her face fell when she looked around and didn’t see Christopher.

“Did you two have a fight already?” Lorelai nodded.

“Same one as always.”

“He asked you to marry him?” Rory asked as she dumped the bags of chips and the chocolate bars on to the bedside table before stretching out next to her mother on the bed.

“The traditional post-partum proposal. Such a romantic your dad,” she said as she rolled her eyes, throwing an arm over Rory‘s shoulders.

“Maybe he meant it this time, I mean, he’s been calling regularly and keeping in touch, and he showed up, here, now,” Rory grasped at straws and Lorelai let her. “I mean, I bet if you asked him he’d get a real job, like in an office or something and he’d move up here to Stars Hollow,” Lorelai finally cut her off.

“Do you think he’d make all these offers if Charlie hadn’t come along? Do you think he’d be up here professing undying love and a want to support us?”

“No,” Rory finally admitted after a while.

“He’s not ready for this, for us. I don’t know if he ever will be,” she admitted as she passed the baby over to her sister. “It doesn’t matter though,” she said as she threw an arm over Rory’s shoulders again, now that she had the baby. “All we really need is each other.”

“And Luke.”

“And Luke,” Lorelai agreed. They both knew they’d starve or die of exposure if something ever happened to Luke.
***
The next afternoon, Lorelai was restlessly shuffling around her room, gathering her things as she waited for Rory to come. She had been promised that she could take Charlie home today and she was more than ready to do just that. She was ready to crawl into her own bed and hang around in her own shower with Charlie asleep in her room while Rory buzzed around down stairs.

“I know, I know, it’s time,” Lorelai muttered to Charlie when she started to cry, snapping her mother out of her thoughts. She quickly changed the baby before settling on the bed to nurse. While she had nursed Rory simply to spite her mother, she was determined to try and enjoy things this time around. It was also a hell of a lot easier and cheaper than dealing with formula.

“Aw jeez. . .” Lorelai popped her head up and glanced in the direction of the door. She only knew one person who ever made an exclamation like that.

“Luke?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” he said from the hall. “I, uh, I probably should have called instead of just showing up.”

“It’s okay, you can come in,” she assured him.

“No, I can’t,” he assured her. “You’re all . . .out there,” he finally said. Lorelai laughed as she imagined him turning red underneath that blue baseball cap and staring up at the ceiling like it would help him forget what he had just seen.

“I’m nursing Luke, that’s what happens when you have a baby,” she replied when she finally stopped laughing. Luke grumbled something for the hall. “Go grab a tea or something. By the time you get back, we’ll be decent.”

“Right. Tea. You want anything?” he called.

“Coffee, half and half, if you must,” she called. He grumbled again, something about another caffeine addict, and headed off down the hall, towards the cafeteria. Lorelai, mean while, turned her attention back to Charlie and snickered a little more about the whole situation. “You and me kid, we are gonna have some fun with that man when we get home.” Charlie simply fluttered her eye lids in response as she continued on with her meal, blissfully unaware of the world.
***
Luke took his time as he wandered down to the cafeteria, intent on making sure that Lorelai was done. . . Lactating. . . by the time he got back to her room. Luke passed by the gift shop on his way back to Lorelai’s room and he hesitated for a moment as he looked in the window at the gifts for sale. He was pretty sure her room was looking a little barren, at least the portion he saw before he quickly ducked back out had been barren and he had to admit that he was surprised by that. He assumed that Richard and Emily Gilmore as well as all their wealthy friends would have showered gifts upon Lorelai, Charlie and Rory.

“Can I help you?”

“Uhh . . “ was all Luke got out as he figured out that the woman behind the counter was talking to him. He hadn’t even really been aware that he had wandered in. “Uh, yeah. A friend of mine, she just had a baby.”

“Oh! Congratulations!” she said happily. “Girl or boy?”

“A girl,” he said as he set the coffee and his tea down on the glass counter. “Charlie, Charlotte. . . They call her Charlie.”

“Just darling,” she said as she came out from behind the counter and headed over to the flowers. “Flowers are always popular,” she said, pointing out a few choice bouquets. “Balloons as well.” Luke glanced at the large, foil balloons all of which were a variation of ‘It’s a boy!’ or ‘It’s a girl!’. “Or, if you’re looking for something more personal?” she asked as she gestured to a row of plush toys, baby books and little kits for immortalizing your newborn’s hand and foot prints in clay.

“I, ah, I think I’ll just look around for a minute.”

“Take your time Sweetheart,” she said with one last smile before she headed back to the counter. Luke was about to say something about the drinks he had left here, but by the time he had turned to her, she had already tucked them safely by the register. He had a feeling that he was probably going to end up getting a balloon. Balloons were good gifts, not too personal in a situation like this. Then again, that little pig and spider were pretty cute and he had heard Rory talking about how she had chosen Charlotte after reading Charlotte’s Web. . . He grabbed the plush pig and spider and headed up to the register. “Adorable, aren’t they?” the woman asked. Luke read her name tag finally. Margie was happy to help him and he could tell.

“Her sister named her after reading Charlotte’s Web,” he said, searching for something to say.

“I bet she’s excited to be a big sister. How old?”

“Uh, 16.” The conversation died for a moment as Luke fumbled for change. “One last touch,” Margie said as she quickly cut a length of pink satin ribbon and another of blue. She quickly tied the blue around the pig and the pink around the spider. “Wilbur and Charlotte are ready to go,” she said with a smile as she put the toys in a bag and handed Luke his receipt and change. “Don’t forget the coffee,” she reminded him, putting the cups in front of him. “She’d never let me live it down,” he commented with a smile as he gathered them up to and headed back up to Lorelai’s room.
***
“You two are decent this time, right?” he called before coming in.

“Fed and clean,” she assured him with a smile.

“Half and half,” he told her as he handed her cup over. “Oh yeah, for Charlie and Rory,” he said, dropping the small gift bag in front of her.

“Ooh!” she said as she put her cup on the bed side table. “Here,” Lorelai said as she tossed a blanket over Luke’s shoulder before handing him the baby. He quickly shot his arms out, unprepared for the hand off. She snickered at him and didn’t let go until she was sure he had the baby securely. “Oh Luke, you old softy,” she said as she pulled the toys out. “Charlotte and Wilbur?” she asked. He blushed a little and nodded as he quickly focused his attention on Charlie. She was certainly prettier to look at today, as far as Luke was concerned. She was no longer an angry red colour, instead she was all peaches and cream like Rory.

“Red hair?” he asked after Charlie inadvertently knocked her hat off.

“Yep,” Lorelai as she dove into the coffee. “Rory started out that way too, a little lighter though. It darkened when she was about 3. I was almost sad to see it go.”

“Quite the grip,” he said as the baby got a hold of one of his fingers. Both he and Lorelai sat quietly for a moment, marvelling at how tiny her entire hand was compared to one of his fingers. As Luke continued to get lost in the little person in his arms, Lorelai sat back and marvelled slightly at the fact that, despite all his protests about small children, Luke seemed to be taking to Charlie like a fish took to water.

“Who’s looking after the diner?” she asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Caesar,” he said, not really looking up from the little girl in his arms.

“Do you take back everything you ever said about babies?” she asked him, hiding her smile behind her coffee cup.

“No. But I think I might make an exception with her.” Lorelai snickered again at this proclamation. “Where’s Rory? And Christopher?” he asked after a moment.

“Rory headed home to spend some time with Lane and Christopher. . . Christopher offered his traditional post-partum proposal and then took off in a huff when I said no. I would imagine he’s somewhere between his hotel and the airport.”

“I thought you said he was staying for a couple of weeks.”

“Yeah well, when the going gets tough, Christopher gets going,” she said with a casual shrug. “He’ll call in a couple of days, after he gets home and he feel secure again. This whole pregnancy has been one big flash of déjà vu,” she commented. “I mean, she’s the product of one night with Christopher, 16 years after Rory, my parents are pissed as hell but hiding it, rather poorly, and Daddy Dearest is no where to be seen as soon as I turned him down.”

“At least this time you’re not 16.”

“I suppose that’s something,” she agreed. “Hey, I’m outta here by 5,” she said, changing the subject.

“Really?” Luke asked, shocked that they were letting her go home after only 2 night.

“Well, I could have gone home yesterday, but Charlie’s a Gilmore girl and decided to set her own schedule.”

“But. . . So soon?”

“It’s like riding a bike. She cries I change her, feed her, burp her, rock her and in a couple of hours, we repeat the whole process. Nothing really challenging until she realised that she can move around on her own.” After this piece of insight from Lorelai, the pair fell into a comfortable conversation briefly before Maura entered the room again.

“I see your ride is here,” the nurse commented as she jotted a few more notes down on the discharge orders.

“Oh I’m not her. . ."

“He is,” she said quickly, hoping Luke would play along. To shocked to do anything else, Luke simply sat there as Lorelai and the nurse discussed final orders.

“Well, I’ll leave you to get changed and then I’ll see you out,” she said with a smile as she ducked out of the room.

“What happened to 5 o’clock?” he demanded as Lorelai slowly slid out of bed and grabbed a change of clothes.

“That was the soonest Rory could get here,” she said with a shrug as she headed for the bathroom. Luke sat in his chair, Charlie still in his arms, not really sure if he was ready to be the person who was responsible for getting them home. “Just let me dress her and call Rory and we should be ready to go,” she said when she came back out and plucked the baby from his arms. He watched, a little surprised, at how quickly she had the baby into a rather complicated looking one piece outfit, while balancing the phone between her shoulder and ear. “Yes Rory, it’s here, you dropped it off yesterday. Why, I have no idea, but it’s here,” she said as she handed the baby back to Luke. “I’m pretty sure they would have taken us on our word about having a car seat. Oh well, it doesn’t matter, we’ll be home in about an hour. Oh! PS, wait until you see what Luke bought you and your sister. I know, I love saying it too! Okay, bye Sweets,” she said, finally hanging up the phone.

“So, we’re going?” he asked, handing the baby back over.

“Oh, we have to wait for the ceremonial wheel chair,” Lorelai said with a smile as she strapped Charlie in. It took her a minute to figure out, these things had gotten more complicated since she had last used one.

“I’ll go pull the truck around,” he said, beating a hasty exit when Maura entered the room again. As he tried to calm his nerves, he heard Lorelai’s laughter in the distance.
***
“See, nothing to it,” she assured Luke as they pulled into the driveway of the Crap Shack. “Although, I think you could have driven faster than 15 miles a century the whole way here,” she teased him as he put the truck in park and she began unbuckling the herself and the car seat.

“What ever,” he grumbled. “We’re here and everyone is still alive. Being safe is worth taking a little extra time.” She shook her head as he grabbed her bag out of the back of the truck and followed her towards the house.

“Rory! We’re home!” Lorelai called as she opened the door. “What’s all this?” she asked when she saw the living room, full of gifts, flowers and balloons.

“All day,” Rory said as she took the bag from Luke. “People have been dropping things off all day. The fridge and freezer are full of food. Real food! People seem to think we’re going to be heating things up,” she said, not believing that after all this time, the people of Stars Hollow still thought they didn’t cook because they didn’t like to, not because they couldn’t. “I haven’t gotten anything done yet today, by the way.”

“Sorry, the next time I give birth, I’ll plan it around your finals schedule,” she said sarcastically as she set the carrier on the floor and wandered over to examine some of the gifts.

“See that you do Missy!” Rory said with an approving nod before she realized there was someone else in the house. “Oh, hi Luke.”

“Hey, so, you’re all here, you’re safe, I should go and rescue Caesar,” he said. “Oh, hey, this is for the two of you,” he said, handing Rory the gift bag.

“Oh my God Luke! They’re adorable!” Rory exclaimed as she pulled the toys out of the bag. She looked at them for a second before launching herself at Luke to hug him, an action he returned rather awkwardly. “Thanks so much!” she said as she let him go and stepped back.

“No problem,” he said with a smile as he straightened his baseball cap. “So, uh, give me a shout if you need anything.”

“Will do,” Lorelai called with a wave, knee deep in gifts.

“Bye Luke,” Rory said as he headed for the door. She watched him go before scooping her sister up and joining her mother. “Dad called,” Rory said once she and Charlie were seated on the floor beside Lorelai who was already elbow deep in a bag from Patty.

“Where is he?”

“Still at the hotel.”

“Well, I’m impressed already,” she muttered as she pulled out a leotard and a little feather boa. The girls snickered. “Already planning on the next great Gilmore dancer I see,” Lorelai commented, dropping the things back in the bag and moving on.

“He said he’d call again tonight to talk to you.” Lorelai rolled her eyes a little and pulled a Fed-ex box towards her. After a few minutes of tugging at the packaging, Lorelai got the box open.

“Gorgeous!” Lorelai exclaimed as she pulled a crocheted blanket out of the box. It was wild and colourful but still screamed baby girl. “Does it look familiar? I’m sure I’ve seen this some where before.”

“Kind of like my pink one,” Rory said. “Check the card,” Rory added as she nodded towards the card that had tumbled out with the blanket.

“For my newest Gilmore Girl,” Lorelai read. “Big hugs and kisses and congratulations to everyone, Mia. Get the phone,” she said as she took the baby from Rory and cradled her in her lap. Rory handed the phone and began searching for the address book in case they needed the number. “Mia? It’s Lorelai,” she said with a smile. Rory quickly sat by her side to listen in on the phone call.

“Hi Mia!” Rory called with a smile and a giggle. The conversation between the three was a casual and friendly one that they all slipped into.

“In the fall? Really?” Lorelai asked near the end of the conversation. “Of course we’ll be on the look out!” she assured Mia as she said her good byes, passed the phone to Rory before taking Charlie upstairs.

“I can’t believe she’s coming to visit. She’s been in Santa Barbara for ages!” Rory exclaimed as Lorelai came back down, sans baby.

“It’ll be great,” Lorelai agreed as she headed over to Rory so they could keep going through the mountain of gifts.

*****

**Part 2