Time After Time - A Gilmore Girls Fanfic #1

Chapter 20

The doctor said nothing, only shaking her head and trying to bite back a smile. All of a sudden, a bean-shaped embryo appeared on the screen.

Lorelai didn't even bother trying to prevent the various squeals and squeaks from escaping. She might have even jumped a little. When Rory turned her head and looked up at her with misty eyes, she almost lost it. She took hold of her daughter's shaking hand and squeezed it to her chest, tears blurring her vision.

The doctor pointed to a tiny, pulsating pixel on the screen. "There's the heartbeat."

At that, Lorelai let out a sob and allowed the tears to slide down her cheeks. She tried to recall her first ultrasound, when she was pregnant with Rory, but for some reason the memory refused to surface. But, then again, that had been over thirty two years ago and whatever it was she felt then was currently being overshadowed by this tidal wave of love and excitement rising up her chest and pouring out her tear ducts.

"Mom?"

She blinked and realized Rory was calling her name. "Yeah? What did I miss?"

"You're dripping on me," Rory said, wiping at her cheeks.

Between the laughter and the tears, Lorelai grabbed a tissue from her purse and dried off her daughter's face. Only after a few moments did she realize that the tears were not hers alone.

"Oh, kid," she said, bending down and hugging Rory, exposed belly and all. "You're going to be a mom."

Jess' phone had been chiming with email notifications all morning, but seeing as he was currently elbow-deep in machine parts and his phone was in his back pocket, he decided everyone could just wait. He had spent several hours taking the plate printing machine apart which, at the time, seemed like a surefire way to completely break it, but later on proved beneficial when he finally figured out the problem.

Now came the difficult and time-consuming part: Putting the whole infuriating thing back together.

It was after lunch by the time he screwed in the last piece. With a loud groan, he pushed up off the floor and got to his feet, stretching out his aching muscles.

"Okay," he said, glaring at the machine and trying to intimidate it back to life. Hell, he'd tried everything else. "Let's see what you got." He pressed the power button and held his breath. Various lights flickered on the control panel then went out. Jess' hands curled into themselves as he fought the overwhelming urge to scream and rage, to drag the machine outside and go Office Space on its ass.

Then a miracle happened—the machine blinked back to life, its soft whirring indicating the warmup process.

Jess fist-pumped the air. "Finally, you beautiful, infuriating contraption!" he said, pressing a kiss to the top of the machine. When he straightened, he stopped and realized he wasn't alone. All around people were flashing him strange looks.

Jess folded his arms across his chest and flashed his employees a triumphant grin. "And we have lift off!"

Only after all forty-four printing plates were etched and baked then sent off to get inked did Jess finally leave the warehouse. Back in his office, he sat down at his desk and leaned back, not bothering to cover his mouth as he yawned. He'd only had a few hours sleep at his place before returning to Truncheon, but now that the crisis had been averted, he could finally breathe a small sigh of relief.

He turned on his computer and checked his mail, scrolling through various work-related emails until he found one from Emmeline.