The gang (minus Rory and Logan) were sitting in Stephanie and Colin's apartment. Steph and Colin had been watching Nicky for the past couple of days, while Rory and Logan were in the hospital, since Liam and Nicky went to the same school, and Grace was in Stars Hollow with Lorelai and Luke.
"I wanna do something for them" Stephanie said
"What?" Rosemary asked
"I don't know" Stephanie signed "what do you do for your friends who are about to have their baby at 24 weeks?"
"Is that really something that can happen?" Isabella asked "a baby can just be born that early?"
"Not really" Stephanie said "they've known for a few weeks that something's wrong"
"How do you know that?" Colin asked
"Rory told me"
"I just feel bad" Juliet said "especially given their history and everything they went through to get him. Not to mention that if they lose him it'll be the second one this year"
"What does that mean?" Isabella asked
"Rory had a miscarriage, earlier this year. That was the second one. Before they had Grace, Rory had a miscarriage and then they were told that they couldn't get pregnant" Stephanie explained "they did IVF"
"We need to do something for them"
——
Rory had been in the hospital, on bed rest for 3 days.
"I don't wanna do this anymore" Rory said
"I know" Logan rubbed her shoulder
"I wanna be home, snuggling my babies. And I wanna be pregnant for 16 more weeks"
Just as Logan was about to say something, his phone rang.
"Answer it" Rory said
"It's not important right now"
"Logan, it's work, it is important, nothing's happening here anyway"
Logan answered the phone
"I thought I made myself clear" Logan said into the phone "nobody is to call us until further notice" ..... "Carly has access, she can do it" ... "bye"
A nurse came in just as Logan was hanging up.
"How are you feeling?" The nurse asked
"The same" Rory said "maybe in a little less pain"
"Good. So I'm just gonna check on the baby and be out of your hair"
A few days later.
"Alright" Dr. Williams said as she did Rory's ultrasound "24 weeks and 2 days...let's see if baby's grown"
"What if he hasn't?" Logan asked
"Then he gets 3 more days. If he doesn't grow by then he has to come out"
A few moments went by
"Ok, Rory, I'm sorry but he's gonna have to come out now"
"No" Rory shook her head "you said that every day matters. You said not until at least 25 weeks"
"Rory, listen to me, your baby is in distress. Keeping him in there is no longer safe for him or for you. There are a few other things we could try, but please believe me when I tell you that right now the best option for you and your baby is to let me prep you for an emergency C-section"
The next couple of hours were a blur of doctors, nurses, and specialists.
Samuel Elias Huntzberger was born at 2:57pm on September 17th.
"When can we see him?" Rory asked when Dr. Williams walked into her hospital room. Logan and Rory hadn't gotten to see Sammy, before he was rushed to the nicu.
"I'm gonna check your stitches and then I'll have someone get you a wheelchair"
"He's ok, though, right?" Logan asked
"At the moment, he's stable"
A few minutes later Rory and Logan were sitting in the nicu, looking at Sammy who was in an incubator.
"He's so tiny" Rory said quietly
"You can reach in and touch him, if you'd like" a nurse said
"I don't wanna hurt him"
"You won't" the nurse said "I promise"
Rory reached her hand into the incubator and stroked Sammy's arm with the back of her finger.
"He's strong, Ace" Logan said "he'll be alright"
——
"Michele, can you pass me that?" Lorelai asked
"I am not a puppy dog. I do not go fetch"
"Michele" Lorelai rolled her eyes
"Fine"
"Thank you" Lorelai said "Watch the desk, I need coffee" she walked into the kitchen "please tell me there's coffee"
"Fresh pot" Sookie said "hey, how's Rory doing?"
"She's still in the hospital, but no baby yet as far as I know, which is good because she's only at 24 weeks"
Lorelai's phone chimed. It was a text from Logan.
L: late update, but Rory had an emergency C-section a few hours ago. She's doing ok. Sammy was born at 2:57pm, and he weighs just over 10 ounces. He not breathing on his own yet, but the doctors say he's stable
"Scratch that" Lorelai said softly
"What?"
"The thing I said about there not being a baby yet" Lorelai said "He was born this afternoon"
"Is he ok?" Sookie asked
"Define ok" Lorelai said "he's not breathing on his own, and Logan said he weighs less than a pound"
"God, he must be tiny"
"Probably"
——
Rory had been sitting in a chair, staring at Sammy for a few hours when Logan noticed her yawning.
"Ace, you've been sitting there for hours. Maybe you wanna get some sleep?"
"I'm fine" Rory said "I don't wanna leave him"
"I need you to take care of yourself...please" Logan put his hand on Rory's arm "you've been awake for almost 24 hours, you just had major surgery...you need to sleep"
Rory didn't respond.
"They'll come get us if anything changes" Logan said
"Just for a couple of hours" Rory said
"Ok"
——
A week later, Lorelai was staying in Rory and Logan's apartment, taking care of Nicky and Grace.
"Mommy and daddy don't do it like that" Nicky said when Lorelai put a plate in front of him
"How do they do it?" Lorelai asked
"They make the things not touch"
"Ok...I can do that"
A few minutes later, Logan walked into the apartment.
"Daddy!" Nicky ran to Logan
Logan picked him up and hugged him tight
"Oh, I miss you guys" Logan said as he put Nicky down and hugged Grace
"Everything ok?" Lorelai asked
"Um..." Logan looked at the kids
"In the other room?" Lorelai asked
"Yeah" Logan nodded "you guys stay here, we'll be right back"
Logan and Lorelai walked into the living room.
"First of all, Rory's doing fine" Logan said "they took her stitches out this morning"
"That's good. What about Sammy?"
"Sammy is...more complicated" Logan said "He's doing ok, he's a little bigger. God, he's so small" Logan's sighed "um...yeah, there's a lot going on with him, but he's doing ok. I actually just came to get some stuff for Rory, but if you wanna come see Rory and the baby tomorrow, while the kids are at school, you can"
"Am I allowed?"
"Kind of. They're really strict about who's actually allowed in the nicu, but there's a wall that's basically just a big window, and you can see him if you want"
"I definitely want"
——
The next day Logan met Lorelai in the waiting room and walked her to the nicu, where Rory was sitting with her hand in the incubator.
"Over there" Logan said and pointed to Rory
"She looks tired" Lorelai said
"She hasn't really been sleeping. She pretty much just watches him" Logan told her. He noticed that they couldn't actually see Sammy from where they were "I'll be right back" He grabbed a mask from the box that was hanging on the wall and went into the nicu. He walked over to Rory and put his hand on her shoulder "Ace" He nodded to them window
Lorelai waved
Rory smiled and waved back. She moved her hand so that Lorelai could see the baby.
"I'm gonna go out there" Rory said "I'll be back soon"
"How you doing kid?" Lorelai asked
"I'm doing" Rory sighed
"Are you sleeping at all?"
"Not really. I mostly just sit there, watching him to make sure he's still breathing" Rory told her "how are Nicky and Grace?"
"They need their mom to take care of herself"
"I am. They're actually discharging me today"
"So you're going home?"
"Yeah. I don't wanna leave him, but he'll be here for a while and I have to go home at some point"
"He'll be fine"
"I know. We'll come when the kids are at school and they'll call us if anything happens"
"Nothing's gonna happen. He's strong, I can tell"