Gilmore Girls: More in the Life

Chapter 19

Lorelai woke up as Luke climbed out of bed. "Is it morning already? It feels like I just got to sleep."

Luke grabbed clean clothes and moved toward the bathroom. "It's only four in the morning."

"Why are you up then?"

"I told you, I have an early delivery today. Go back to sleep."

Realizing Luke was right, that she could go back to sleep, Lorelai's head returned to the warm pillow. She had just started to doze back off when her eyes flew open. She tore off the covers and ran into the bathroom to talk to Luke, who was showering.

"Did you hear Rory come in last night?"

Something dropped in the shower. "Geez, Lorelai! Announce yourself!"

"Sorry. Did you hear Rory come in last night?" she repeated.

"No, I didn't. I wasn't sure if she was coming home or was heading back to the Dragonfly with Logan. He still has a room there, right?"

"Yes he does but he was only there after he and Rory had their little disagreement."

"I don't know then. Walk downstairs to check Rory's room or call the inn to check if they went there."

Liking the second option— mainly because it didn't involve walking downstairs— Lorelai left the bathroom and grabbed the phone off the base. She dialed the inn's number. "Hey Ricky, it's Lorelai. Can you tell me if the guest checked into room 4 came in last night?

"He hasn't come in since I got here a little before eleven. I'll check with Abby to see if he came in during her shift." Lorelai was placed on hold.

While waiting for Ricky to return, Lorelai grabbed her cell phone to see if Rory had texted her at all. Nothing. Luke emerged from the bathroom and walked over to kiss her. "Bye," he whispered as he backed through the door.

Several more moments passed before Ricky came back to tell her that Abby had seen Logan head up the stairs to his room and that a blonde girl went up with him. Lorelai's heart dropped.

She thanked Ricky and ended the call.

Rory wasn't blonde...but Odette was.

*****

Luke busied himself with getting the delivery of various groceries put away while no customers were here. He had always liked the quiet of the morning. Any time he was worried or stressed about something, he would occupy his hands working on tasks around the diner, which would help straighten his emotions out. It was no secret that he wasn't the best at sharing his feelings so finding a productive way to work through those kinks was a plus.

Today, he found he was stressed with the idea of surrogacy. The look on Lorelai's face when she saw him leafing through the binder wasn't lost on him. She wanted a baby. She only said she didn't because he said he didn't.

It was a relief, though, to know that surrogacy didn't mean he had to have sex with the woman who would carry the child. He would only have to...into a cup.... That was a worry for a different morning.

Did Luke want a baby with Lorelai? Yes. The answer surprised him. But surrogacy? When the baby would only be biologically his? That, he wasn't sure about. If he was to parent another child— think boy! — he wanted him or her to be part him and part Lorelai. Not part some strange woman who they picked from a white binder.

Years ago, when he turned to a self-help book to hopefully sway Lorelai to date him, he let himself dream what it would be like to be her child's father. It was easy to say that he was more of a father to Rory than Christopher was, but he wanted to be the father in every sense of the word.

Luke realized now that the desire to have a child with his wife was nearly overwhelming.

Was Lorelai past the time when pregnancy would be an option?