Here We Stand - Chapter 1
"One Sided Conversations"
A/N - Ok, it's been awhile but I just had to do this… a Why Me? sequel! I hope you all understand. Anyway, this is sort of going to be a time-lapse chapter. Its going to start off with the babies at 2 & 3months (because Lorel is about a month and 1/2 younger than Mikey), then 10 & 11 months, then I'll take the story from there. Any who, you probably don't HAVE to have read Why Me? to get this story, but I believe it would be a huge help in understanding later chapters. So, once again, here I go! Pllllllease read and review!
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
She didn't want to wake up. She wanted to sleep, to keep her head on the pillow and for once get a full nights rest. But that couldn't happen, at least, not with Lorel screaming in her crib. Sighing heavily, Rory slowly pulled the covers aside and swung her feet over the bed, sitting there for a few seconds before finally summoning enough strength to stand up.
"I'm coming," she mumbled with dragging her feet across the cold wooden floor. Her hair was askew and body tired, and Jess as usual, was sleeping through Lorel's crying like it was his job. On the way to the baby's room, she glanced at the clock. It was 5:30am.
"This is the last time I'm getting up," Rory muttered to herself, "Jess needs to do this everyone once in a while to. How many times in the two months we've had this baby has HE gotten up? This is just getting…"
*~*
"Ridiculous," she sighed, taking in how early it was. The walk to the crib seemed like forever, but when she finally got there and saw her baby she knew waking up at 5:30 every morning would be worth it. She knelt down and carefully picked up the crying baby and tried desperately to sooth it in her arms.
"Shhh," she whispered into its ear, "Mommy is a very tired lady, and waking her up at 5:30 in the morning makes her so cranky the next day! So tomorrow, lets try and sleep until, say… 10?"
Michael slowly stopped crying and stared at Lorelai for a few seconds. He blinked and Lorelai almost melted right then and there. That was, of course, until he started crying again.
"Ok, ok," Lorelai whispered, still trying to bargain with him, "until 7. That's my final offer." She pleaded.
Michael continued crying and Lorelai shifted him onto her shoulder, gently patting his back and giving up on trying to make deals with a three month old, "What's wrong honey? Are you hungry? Does your diaper need changing?"
Lorelai walked towards the bathroom with Michael while slightly bouncing him in her arms. It always worked with Rory, but the doctor had told her never to compare babies. They were always different in wanting and needing certain things. At first, Lorelai was scared about having another child. While Rory was a blessing in disguise, there was no doubt she went through absolute hell during the pregnancy and early months of raising her. Not that Rory was bad or unwanted, but because she was still a baby herself trying to raise a baby. And just because Lorelai was older and finally had a husband and someone to share the responsibilities of a child with, didn't mean the fear of having to do it alone, or doing it wrong, never crossed her mind.
She gently laid Michael down on the changing table and unbuttoned his pajama's. She opened up his diaper and the potent smell immediately hit her nose, causing her face to cringe and her head to turn.
"Wow," Lorelai said, plugging her nose, "that's a whole lotta…"
*~*
"Crap!" Rory quietly growled while tripping over some of Lorel's toys that Jess had left on the ground after playing with her. There was no doubt that he was an excellent husband and an even greater father, but sometimes she wasn't sure who was the child in the family. Sure, Lorel cried and needed to be bathed and washed and taken care of, but Jess always left things laying around and whined when he didn't get his way. Either way, she loved them both more than anything in the world.
Rory finally made her way to Lorel's side and tucked her hands underneath the babies arm pits to pick her up. She was so tiny, so beautiful, so… perfect. As soon as Lorel's head hit Rory's shoulder, she immediately calmed down and began to stop crying. Rory smiled and cautiously made her way back to her room, making sure not to trip over anymore toys now that she had precious cargo in her possession. But Lorel was always like that; she would wake up, cry, and as soon as Rory picked her up she would fall back asleep on her shoulder, putting total trust in her mother.
Rory entered her bedroom and tip toed over to Jess' side of the bed. She smiled when she noticed how peaceful he looked, his head slightly leaned toward his left shoulder and a pillow tightly in his grasp. She saw him twitch, and then slowly open his eyes. She never had to nudge him, or call his name to wake him up when she was bringing the baby into the bed, because he would always feel her presence and awaken on his own.
"Ror, is everything Ok?" He muttered sleepily while sitting up.
"Yea, you can lay back down, I'm just letting you know Lorel's with us…" She gently replied.
"Oh," He laid his head back down and put his hands in the air, "here, let me take her."
Rory gently placed Lorel in Jess' arms as he scooted over and placed her by his stomach in the middle of the bed. He wrapped a protective arm around her and the two fell asleep just as quickly as they had woken up. Rory walked around to her side of the bed and tried her best to get in without making the bed move to much. Once in, she slipped under the covers and turned to face Jess and Lorel. She couldn't help but notice how much Lorel had his nose, and his hair, and when she was awake - his eyes.
'Beautiful,' Rory thought to herself as she watched Jess and Lorel sleep, 'They're just so…'
*~*
"Great!" Lorelai proudly proclaimed, tightening the sides of the diaper and throwing out the old, dirty one, "All finished."
Lorelai picked up Michael who was now quiet and stealthy entered her bedroom once more. She walked to her side of the bed and slowly sat down, trying not to make to much noise.
"Luke?" She nudged his side and he groggily rolled over, adjusting his position and then began falling back asleep.
"Hey, Luke!" Lorelai said it a little louder this time, and he shot up straight.
"Lorelai?! Mikey? Is everything Ok?" He began looking around frantically, his eyes not yet adapted to the darkness of the room as Lorelai quickly put her hand on his shoulder.
"Luke, hey, calm down everything's fine. Were fine." With that, Luke let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and sighed heavily.
"Geez Lorelai, don't scare me like that!"
"Hey, all I did was nudge you. You're the one who took it to the next, over-reacting level." She stated matter-of-factly.
He smiled when he saw she was holding Mikey and extended his arms, "Can I hold him?"
"Oh, I see…" She started while passing him over to Luke, "I do all the dirty work but when it comes to the cuddling and loving, you get to have all the fun!" She teased, scooting in closer to her husband and son. Luke didn't reply, he just held his two month old in his arms as the most genuine smile Lorelai had ever seen crossed his face. The two leaned against the pile of pillows pushed up against the backboard of the bed and Lorelai snuggled closely into Luke, who in turn, wrapped his arm around her.
"You know," she whispered, "your really good at this."
"You think?" He replied, still watching Mikey.
She watched him rock their son back and fourth, making sure he supported his head and neck while keeping him comfortable and answered in confidence, "No, I don't think. I know. Your going to be a great…"
*~*
"Dada," Jess said, pointing to himself while feeding Lorel breakfast. "I'm Da-da."
"She's ten months old Jess, give it a rest." Rory said while walking past the two and into the kitchen.
"And you see that?" Jess said, pointing to Rory, "that's a party pooper! Can you say that? Par-ty poop-er."
Rory just rolled her eyes as she continued into the kitchen and began doing the dishes. He was always talking to Lorel, no matter what. When they were together it was never quiet or just 'chill' time, he always had some sort of conversation going with her. And Rory had to admit, he had some of the best one sided conversation's with Lorel that she's ever heard. She was about to yell his name when she felt his muscular arms wrap around her stomach.
"Hey," he said, gently nipping her earlobe. She giggled and turned around, and in response gently but tenderly kissed him.
"Your supposed to be watching the baby," She said, turning back around and continuing with the dishes.
"Yea but Lorel has been getting all the attention around here, I just thought maybe you were feeling neglected.." He began to gently kiss her neck as his arms found there way around her waist once more.
"Jess," she breathed, tilting her head so he had easier access to the curve of her neck, "Not with Lorel right there…" She began to pull away as they both turned around to look at their baby. Lorel was staring at her mother and father with the biggest brown eyes the two of them had ever seen, and then to add to her cuteness, let out a giggle.
"Well, at least she likes it when we kiss." Jess pointed out. Rory smacked him playfully and went back to the dishes once more.
"Oh, and by the way," Rory joked, "I wouldn't bother with the 'Dada' stuff. Because the first word out of her mouth is going to be…"
*~*
"Mama!" Mikey squealed while he bounced up and down in his stroller.
"Oh my God, oh my God!" Lorelai exclaimed, exiting the bathroom, "Luke! Did you hear that? Mikey said 'mama' again! My baby is a genius!" Lorelai picked up Mikey and gently rocked him back and fourth, kissing his forehead and walking into the living room.
"Luke," she whined, "did you not hear me? I said my baby is a genius!"
Luke got up off the couch and walked over to his family, stealing Mikey from Lorelai's arms and placing each one of his legs on either side of his body.
"How come whenever he's YOUR baby he's a genius or just did something wonderful; but when he's MY baby he just spilled his juice or has jam hands?" Luke questioned her with eyebrows raised.
"Because I've already done my fair share of diaper changing, cleaning up puke, spilled juice, various tossed food products, you know, stuff like that. I'm just giving you a fair chance to catch up." She smiled and kissed him before running her hand over Mikey's head kissing him as well.
"Well, as long as you have some sort of logical reason behind it…" Luke sarcastically replied, making his way back to the couch with Mikey, where he sat him down on the floor in front of the TV. There was a big baby blanket with enough toys for six babies, obviously Lorelai's doing, where he gently placed Mikey and a football game was on TV. Luke resided on the couch while Mikey continued to grab and bang toys, doing the occasionally throw a toy across the room and the occasional put something in your mouth your not supposed to.
"Hey Luke?" Lorelai yelled from another room, "Are you almost ready?"
"Ready? Ready for what?" Luke yelled back, with no intentions of getting up and finding her so they could have a normal conversation at a normal level.
"We told the kids that we'd meet them today for lunch!" Lorelai exited the bathroom where she had previously been doing her make-up and adjusting her dress. Luke looked up at her and was amazed. The truth was, Lorelai hadn't really got all dressed up since they had the baby, and she looked absolutely stunning.
"You look… uh, absolutely stunning," he said, eyes wide and standing up.
"Why thank you," Lorelai answered, obviously flattered, "Now get ready."
And just like that, she quickly entered the bathroom again and shut the door. Luke sighed and turned back around to face Mikey.
"Your Mom is one crazy lady," he sighed, leaning down to pick Mikey up who was giggling and clapping, "One…"
*~*
"Crazy lady!" Jess said from the backseat with Lorel, pointing to Rory.
"Jess stop that! I swear her first words are going to be 'crazy', 'meany' and a really long, loud sigh when I ask her to do something. All of which, I can thank you for."
"Hey, shouldn't you be watching the road…" Jess pointed out, obviously pleased that he had gotten her all hot and bothered, "… crazy lady?"
"Jess!" Rory yelled back, and this time she meant it.
"Alright alright, I'm just having a little fun; don't worry." Jess laughed, and continued to tickle Lorel and point out various things and inform her of there names.
Again, this just another thing Jess was good at. He and Lorel would go on walks around Stars Hollow where he would do the same thing, and once they got tired of all the walking, he would bring her to the gazebo. When they were there, he would sit them down in the middle with a blanket and watch the people, cars, and other things go by. This was something that Lorel absolutely loved and Jess couldn't wait to do when he had the chance. That was their 'thing' as Rory called it, their bonding thing that the two of them, and only the two of them, did together. And when she got old enough, Jess expressed that he would start taking her to the bridge. He couldn't take her now, because she was much to young and he didn't want any accidents happening involving the water… so for now, the gazebo was a pretty good place.
"Were here," Rory said, pulling the car up into the driveway of her mothers house as she had done many times before. She put the car into park and unbuckled her seatbelt, sitting in the seat for a little while longer before getting up. It seemed like she hadn't been home, well… to her mothers house, in ages. Once out, she instinctively walked over to Lorel's side of the car and opened the door to get her, but found that Jess had already unbuckled her and was at the front of the car making his way towards the house. She slammed the door and began to follow them, when she saw Jess stop abruptly.
"Shit!" He cried, extending Lorel away from his body.
"Jess!" Rory exclaimed, running towards the two, "What are you doing? I told you NOT to swear in front of the baby!"
She quickly stole Lorel from Jess and immediately noticed the unpleasant substance oozing from her mouth. She turned her head towards Jess, and noticed the same substance dripping off of his shirt and began to laugh.
"Well I guess that's what you get." She said matter-of-factly, taking in the moment and its pleasure for all it was worth.
Jess sighed and looked up, "I'm glad you find this funny. Real funny. She just puked all over my new shirt. We're supposed to go out in 15 minutes, that's not enough time to change and get back here and be on time for our reservations!"
"I'm sure Luke has a shirt you can borrow," Rory said, wiping Lorel's mouth with a spare rag and making silly faces at her, "But I told you not to feed her before we came."
"Yea, Rory, I know you did. But thanks for the reminder." Jess shot back, obviously unhappy about his shirt and taking it out on her. She was about to say something smart back, when she heard her mothers voice.
"Rory, Jess!" Lorelai yelled from the porch, "What are you doing down there? Come over here!" She said, motioning toward the house.
"Hey Mom!" Rory yelled back, making her way towards the house. "Look," she squeaked while pointing to Lorelai, "Its Grandma! Say hi to Grandma!"
Rory made her way up the steps, leaving Jess behind and hugged Lorelai tightly. When they were done, Lorelai asked if she could hold Lorel, to which Rory happily obliged.
"Oh my, aren't you just the cutest thing?" Lorelai said, pinching Lorel's cheeks and making baby noises. She looked up and saw that Jess was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, where's Jess?" Lorelai questioned, hoping that they didn't get into another argument over the baby. It was true, by any standards, that Jess and Rory were simply to young to have a baby. From an outside point of view, they argued a lot and never seemed to be on the same boat when it came to taking care of Lorel. Sure, they both wanted what was best for her and that was a given, but it seemed like they both had different idea's of what was best for her actually was. Lorelai figured the arguing was just because Lorel was new and they hadn't found their routine yet, or at least, she hoped that was the reason.
"Oh, Lorel puked on his shirt. I think he went home real quick to change," Rory answered, noticing the car was gone to.
"Oh, alright, well come inside and say hi to Luke and Mikey." Lorelai said, wrapping her arm around Rory with her free hand. "I've really missed you, you know. It seems like between Lorel and Mikey, Jess and Luke, we never get to see each other anymore."
Rory nodded in agreement and in return wrapped her arm around Lorelai as they made their way inside, "I've missed you to Mom."
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
A/N - Please let me know if you like it! The fate of this story is in your hands… R&R!
-YesItsMe
"One Sided Conversations"
A/N - Ok, it's been awhile but I just had to do this… a Why Me? sequel! I hope you all understand. Anyway, this is sort of going to be a time-lapse chapter. Its going to start off with the babies at 2 & 3months (because Lorel is about a month and 1/2 younger than Mikey), then 10 & 11 months, then I'll take the story from there. Any who, you probably don't HAVE to have read Why Me? to get this story, but I believe it would be a huge help in understanding later chapters. So, once again, here I go! Pllllllease read and review!
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
She didn't want to wake up. She wanted to sleep, to keep her head on the pillow and for once get a full nights rest. But that couldn't happen, at least, not with Lorel screaming in her crib. Sighing heavily, Rory slowly pulled the covers aside and swung her feet over the bed, sitting there for a few seconds before finally summoning enough strength to stand up.
"I'm coming," she mumbled with dragging her feet across the cold wooden floor. Her hair was askew and body tired, and Jess as usual, was sleeping through Lorel's crying like it was his job. On the way to the baby's room, she glanced at the clock. It was 5:30am.
"This is the last time I'm getting up," Rory muttered to herself, "Jess needs to do this everyone once in a while to. How many times in the two months we've had this baby has HE gotten up? This is just getting…"
*~*
"Ridiculous," she sighed, taking in how early it was. The walk to the crib seemed like forever, but when she finally got there and saw her baby she knew waking up at 5:30 every morning would be worth it. She knelt down and carefully picked up the crying baby and tried desperately to sooth it in her arms.
"Shhh," she whispered into its ear, "Mommy is a very tired lady, and waking her up at 5:30 in the morning makes her so cranky the next day! So tomorrow, lets try and sleep until, say… 10?"
Michael slowly stopped crying and stared at Lorelai for a few seconds. He blinked and Lorelai almost melted right then and there. That was, of course, until he started crying again.
"Ok, ok," Lorelai whispered, still trying to bargain with him, "until 7. That's my final offer." She pleaded.
Michael continued crying and Lorelai shifted him onto her shoulder, gently patting his back and giving up on trying to make deals with a three month old, "What's wrong honey? Are you hungry? Does your diaper need changing?"
Lorelai walked towards the bathroom with Michael while slightly bouncing him in her arms. It always worked with Rory, but the doctor had told her never to compare babies. They were always different in wanting and needing certain things. At first, Lorelai was scared about having another child. While Rory was a blessing in disguise, there was no doubt she went through absolute hell during the pregnancy and early months of raising her. Not that Rory was bad or unwanted, but because she was still a baby herself trying to raise a baby. And just because Lorelai was older and finally had a husband and someone to share the responsibilities of a child with, didn't mean the fear of having to do it alone, or doing it wrong, never crossed her mind.
She gently laid Michael down on the changing table and unbuttoned his pajama's. She opened up his diaper and the potent smell immediately hit her nose, causing her face to cringe and her head to turn.
"Wow," Lorelai said, plugging her nose, "that's a whole lotta…"
*~*
"Crap!" Rory quietly growled while tripping over some of Lorel's toys that Jess had left on the ground after playing with her. There was no doubt that he was an excellent husband and an even greater father, but sometimes she wasn't sure who was the child in the family. Sure, Lorel cried and needed to be bathed and washed and taken care of, but Jess always left things laying around and whined when he didn't get his way. Either way, she loved them both more than anything in the world.
Rory finally made her way to Lorel's side and tucked her hands underneath the babies arm pits to pick her up. She was so tiny, so beautiful, so… perfect. As soon as Lorel's head hit Rory's shoulder, she immediately calmed down and began to stop crying. Rory smiled and cautiously made her way back to her room, making sure not to trip over anymore toys now that she had precious cargo in her possession. But Lorel was always like that; she would wake up, cry, and as soon as Rory picked her up she would fall back asleep on her shoulder, putting total trust in her mother.
Rory entered her bedroom and tip toed over to Jess' side of the bed. She smiled when she noticed how peaceful he looked, his head slightly leaned toward his left shoulder and a pillow tightly in his grasp. She saw him twitch, and then slowly open his eyes. She never had to nudge him, or call his name to wake him up when she was bringing the baby into the bed, because he would always feel her presence and awaken on his own.
"Ror, is everything Ok?" He muttered sleepily while sitting up.
"Yea, you can lay back down, I'm just letting you know Lorel's with us…" She gently replied.
"Oh," He laid his head back down and put his hands in the air, "here, let me take her."
Rory gently placed Lorel in Jess' arms as he scooted over and placed her by his stomach in the middle of the bed. He wrapped a protective arm around her and the two fell asleep just as quickly as they had woken up. Rory walked around to her side of the bed and tried her best to get in without making the bed move to much. Once in, she slipped under the covers and turned to face Jess and Lorel. She couldn't help but notice how much Lorel had his nose, and his hair, and when she was awake - his eyes.
'Beautiful,' Rory thought to herself as she watched Jess and Lorel sleep, 'They're just so…'
*~*
"Great!" Lorelai proudly proclaimed, tightening the sides of the diaper and throwing out the old, dirty one, "All finished."
Lorelai picked up Michael who was now quiet and stealthy entered her bedroom once more. She walked to her side of the bed and slowly sat down, trying not to make to much noise.
"Luke?" She nudged his side and he groggily rolled over, adjusting his position and then began falling back asleep.
"Hey, Luke!" Lorelai said it a little louder this time, and he shot up straight.
"Lorelai?! Mikey? Is everything Ok?" He began looking around frantically, his eyes not yet adapted to the darkness of the room as Lorelai quickly put her hand on his shoulder.
"Luke, hey, calm down everything's fine. Were fine." With that, Luke let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and sighed heavily.
"Geez Lorelai, don't scare me like that!"
"Hey, all I did was nudge you. You're the one who took it to the next, over-reacting level." She stated matter-of-factly.
He smiled when he saw she was holding Mikey and extended his arms, "Can I hold him?"
"Oh, I see…" She started while passing him over to Luke, "I do all the dirty work but when it comes to the cuddling and loving, you get to have all the fun!" She teased, scooting in closer to her husband and son. Luke didn't reply, he just held his two month old in his arms as the most genuine smile Lorelai had ever seen crossed his face. The two leaned against the pile of pillows pushed up against the backboard of the bed and Lorelai snuggled closely into Luke, who in turn, wrapped his arm around her.
"You know," she whispered, "your really good at this."
"You think?" He replied, still watching Mikey.
She watched him rock their son back and fourth, making sure he supported his head and neck while keeping him comfortable and answered in confidence, "No, I don't think. I know. Your going to be a great…"
*~*
"Dada," Jess said, pointing to himself while feeding Lorel breakfast. "I'm Da-da."
"She's ten months old Jess, give it a rest." Rory said while walking past the two and into the kitchen.
"And you see that?" Jess said, pointing to Rory, "that's a party pooper! Can you say that? Par-ty poop-er."
Rory just rolled her eyes as she continued into the kitchen and began doing the dishes. He was always talking to Lorel, no matter what. When they were together it was never quiet or just 'chill' time, he always had some sort of conversation going with her. And Rory had to admit, he had some of the best one sided conversation's with Lorel that she's ever heard. She was about to yell his name when she felt his muscular arms wrap around her stomach.
"Hey," he said, gently nipping her earlobe. She giggled and turned around, and in response gently but tenderly kissed him.
"Your supposed to be watching the baby," She said, turning back around and continuing with the dishes.
"Yea but Lorel has been getting all the attention around here, I just thought maybe you were feeling neglected.." He began to gently kiss her neck as his arms found there way around her waist once more.
"Jess," she breathed, tilting her head so he had easier access to the curve of her neck, "Not with Lorel right there…" She began to pull away as they both turned around to look at their baby. Lorel was staring at her mother and father with the biggest brown eyes the two of them had ever seen, and then to add to her cuteness, let out a giggle.
"Well, at least she likes it when we kiss." Jess pointed out. Rory smacked him playfully and went back to the dishes once more.
"Oh, and by the way," Rory joked, "I wouldn't bother with the 'Dada' stuff. Because the first word out of her mouth is going to be…"
*~*
"Mama!" Mikey squealed while he bounced up and down in his stroller.
"Oh my God, oh my God!" Lorelai exclaimed, exiting the bathroom, "Luke! Did you hear that? Mikey said 'mama' again! My baby is a genius!" Lorelai picked up Mikey and gently rocked him back and fourth, kissing his forehead and walking into the living room.
"Luke," she whined, "did you not hear me? I said my baby is a genius!"
Luke got up off the couch and walked over to his family, stealing Mikey from Lorelai's arms and placing each one of his legs on either side of his body.
"How come whenever he's YOUR baby he's a genius or just did something wonderful; but when he's MY baby he just spilled his juice or has jam hands?" Luke questioned her with eyebrows raised.
"Because I've already done my fair share of diaper changing, cleaning up puke, spilled juice, various tossed food products, you know, stuff like that. I'm just giving you a fair chance to catch up." She smiled and kissed him before running her hand over Mikey's head kissing him as well.
"Well, as long as you have some sort of logical reason behind it…" Luke sarcastically replied, making his way back to the couch with Mikey, where he sat him down on the floor in front of the TV. There was a big baby blanket with enough toys for six babies, obviously Lorelai's doing, where he gently placed Mikey and a football game was on TV. Luke resided on the couch while Mikey continued to grab and bang toys, doing the occasionally throw a toy across the room and the occasional put something in your mouth your not supposed to.
"Hey Luke?" Lorelai yelled from another room, "Are you almost ready?"
"Ready? Ready for what?" Luke yelled back, with no intentions of getting up and finding her so they could have a normal conversation at a normal level.
"We told the kids that we'd meet them today for lunch!" Lorelai exited the bathroom where she had previously been doing her make-up and adjusting her dress. Luke looked up at her and was amazed. The truth was, Lorelai hadn't really got all dressed up since they had the baby, and she looked absolutely stunning.
"You look… uh, absolutely stunning," he said, eyes wide and standing up.
"Why thank you," Lorelai answered, obviously flattered, "Now get ready."
And just like that, she quickly entered the bathroom again and shut the door. Luke sighed and turned back around to face Mikey.
"Your Mom is one crazy lady," he sighed, leaning down to pick Mikey up who was giggling and clapping, "One…"
*~*
"Crazy lady!" Jess said from the backseat with Lorel, pointing to Rory.
"Jess stop that! I swear her first words are going to be 'crazy', 'meany' and a really long, loud sigh when I ask her to do something. All of which, I can thank you for."
"Hey, shouldn't you be watching the road…" Jess pointed out, obviously pleased that he had gotten her all hot and bothered, "… crazy lady?"
"Jess!" Rory yelled back, and this time she meant it.
"Alright alright, I'm just having a little fun; don't worry." Jess laughed, and continued to tickle Lorel and point out various things and inform her of there names.
Again, this just another thing Jess was good at. He and Lorel would go on walks around Stars Hollow where he would do the same thing, and once they got tired of all the walking, he would bring her to the gazebo. When they were there, he would sit them down in the middle with a blanket and watch the people, cars, and other things go by. This was something that Lorel absolutely loved and Jess couldn't wait to do when he had the chance. That was their 'thing' as Rory called it, their bonding thing that the two of them, and only the two of them, did together. And when she got old enough, Jess expressed that he would start taking her to the bridge. He couldn't take her now, because she was much to young and he didn't want any accidents happening involving the water… so for now, the gazebo was a pretty good place.
"Were here," Rory said, pulling the car up into the driveway of her mothers house as she had done many times before. She put the car into park and unbuckled her seatbelt, sitting in the seat for a little while longer before getting up. It seemed like she hadn't been home, well… to her mothers house, in ages. Once out, she instinctively walked over to Lorel's side of the car and opened the door to get her, but found that Jess had already unbuckled her and was at the front of the car making his way towards the house. She slammed the door and began to follow them, when she saw Jess stop abruptly.
"Shit!" He cried, extending Lorel away from his body.
"Jess!" Rory exclaimed, running towards the two, "What are you doing? I told you NOT to swear in front of the baby!"
She quickly stole Lorel from Jess and immediately noticed the unpleasant substance oozing from her mouth. She turned her head towards Jess, and noticed the same substance dripping off of his shirt and began to laugh.
"Well I guess that's what you get." She said matter-of-factly, taking in the moment and its pleasure for all it was worth.
Jess sighed and looked up, "I'm glad you find this funny. Real funny. She just puked all over my new shirt. We're supposed to go out in 15 minutes, that's not enough time to change and get back here and be on time for our reservations!"
"I'm sure Luke has a shirt you can borrow," Rory said, wiping Lorel's mouth with a spare rag and making silly faces at her, "But I told you not to feed her before we came."
"Yea, Rory, I know you did. But thanks for the reminder." Jess shot back, obviously unhappy about his shirt and taking it out on her. She was about to say something smart back, when she heard her mothers voice.
"Rory, Jess!" Lorelai yelled from the porch, "What are you doing down there? Come over here!" She said, motioning toward the house.
"Hey Mom!" Rory yelled back, making her way towards the house. "Look," she squeaked while pointing to Lorelai, "Its Grandma! Say hi to Grandma!"
Rory made her way up the steps, leaving Jess behind and hugged Lorelai tightly. When they were done, Lorelai asked if she could hold Lorel, to which Rory happily obliged.
"Oh my, aren't you just the cutest thing?" Lorelai said, pinching Lorel's cheeks and making baby noises. She looked up and saw that Jess was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, where's Jess?" Lorelai questioned, hoping that they didn't get into another argument over the baby. It was true, by any standards, that Jess and Rory were simply to young to have a baby. From an outside point of view, they argued a lot and never seemed to be on the same boat when it came to taking care of Lorel. Sure, they both wanted what was best for her and that was a given, but it seemed like they both had different idea's of what was best for her actually was. Lorelai figured the arguing was just because Lorel was new and they hadn't found their routine yet, or at least, she hoped that was the reason.
"Oh, Lorel puked on his shirt. I think he went home real quick to change," Rory answered, noticing the car was gone to.
"Oh, alright, well come inside and say hi to Luke and Mikey." Lorelai said, wrapping her arm around Rory with her free hand. "I've really missed you, you know. It seems like between Lorel and Mikey, Jess and Luke, we never get to see each other anymore."
Rory nodded in agreement and in return wrapped her arm around Lorelai as they made their way inside, "I've missed you to Mom."
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
A/N - Please let me know if you like it! The fate of this story is in your hands… R&R!
-YesItsMe