Disclaimer: Y'all, I don't own Gilmore girls or any related characters. There, I admitted it. I do own all original characters, so no stealing them, please.
"Should you be drinking that?"
Lorelai smiled with the tip of the coffee mug on her lips. "Of course, for I'm the Caffeine Queen!"
Luke sighed. "Must you give your addiction to our child?"
Lorelai rolled her eyes and patted her ever rounder growing stomach. "It's not like she's going to be a crack baby, Luke. She will, however, be bottle fed coffee at her birth-"
"-You're sure you can't breast fed her coffee?"
Her eyes became round and sparkly. "You really think I could make that happen? Why is it so quiet in here today?"
Luke smiled to himself. He was used to Lorelai's abrupt shifts in conversation. He had to be, or else he would have gone crazy a long time ago…
He poured her mug full again and handed it to her over the counter. "I don't know-"
Miss Patty burst through the door, entering the diner out of breath and huffing.
"-But I'm sure we'll find out," he answered sardonically.
Miss Patty zeroed in on them. "You'll never believe what's happened!"
Lorelai smirked. "Taylor's finally so far back in the closet that he's come out the other side?"
Instead of amusing Patty, it agitated her more. "No sweetie, can you believe it, Kirk is back in town!"
"Okay, calm down, Miss Patty," Lorelai coaxed, "your saying Kirk Gleason, the Kirk Gleason who left town four years ago without a word to anybody, is back?" Miss Patty nodded. "Cool."
"Some people have gathered outside the old Gleason house to welcome him back. Do you want to join us?"
"Yes, let's go gawk at a guy we've know our whole lives," Luke snorted. The two customers made a point of causally walking out, then running down the sidewalk. "Besides, I've got to-well, anyway, Lorelai needs to go to the Drag-"
Lorelai and Miss Patty were already on their way out. "I'll see you later!"
Luke sighed and threw his apron on the counter. "Damn."
He caught up with them just outside Kirk's house. "I thought you said a few people?" he said to Miss Patty.
"This is a few."
"I hate to agree with my husband," Lorelai said, "but is there going to be a free concert? Because half of Woodstock has converged on the lawn. Can we call it Kirkstock?"
Somewhere in the crowd Jackson could be heard saying, "Hey, anyone knows how to work a cell-phone camera? Sookie wants pictures!"
"Luke! Lorelai, Patty, over her!"
They found Babette and Morey relaxing in lawn chairs, a cooler between them. "Want some Snapple? How about a coke?"
"No thanks, Babette," Lorelai said before Luke could make any sarcastic comments.
"Have you heard anything else?" Miss Patty asked.
Babette shrugged. "Naw, sugah, but we've only been here twenty minutes."
Taylor turned around. "Kirk came in that '84 station wagon at about 5:36 a.m. with four unidentified people."
"Jeez," Luke said, "did you go through his trash yet?"
"For your information, Luke, I'm the head of this town's welcoming committee and I need to know these things."
"Besides," Lorelai whispered into her husband's ear, "he has no thrash to pick through. Yet."
The buzzing crowd grew silent when the front door was opened. And there came…Kirk.
He stood on the porch, looking at all of them. "Hi."
"Hello, Kirk!" everyone said at the exact same time, in the exact same overly cheerful tone."
"That was creepy," Luke said dryly.
"Does he look different to you?" Babette asked.
Miss Patty shook her head. "A little older, maybe."
"He's hair is shorter, or maybe longer relative to his last haircut," Morey commented.
Taylor stepped forward out of the crowd, a huge smile on his face. "Kirk! Welcome to Stars Hollow!"
Kirk blinked he's eyes. "I've lived here before."
"What I mean is 'Welcome Back'! The town of Stars Hollow is proud to have you as a citizen again. The Complimentary gift basket will arrive later this afternoon."
"Alright. Taylor?"
"Yes?"
"You wouldn't happen to be hiring at any of your establishments?"
Taylor was confused. "Uh…I could use a part time cashier at the Market."
"I'll send my resume." Kirk looked back at the crowd. He hesitantly waved and retreated back into his house.
The crowd dispersed, everyone a bit disappointed with the exchange. Except Jackson.
"I got this thing to work!" He held up the phone, flashing the tiny screen. " Look! Kirk's finger!"
"That was weird," Lorelai said.
Luke guided her through the many people. "This town was never exactly normal."
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"Well," Kirk heard behind him, "that was sure…strange."
He turned and saw Selena sitting on the couch. "I thought you went back to bed."
"I had to find out what happened. Besides, I don't much like sleeping during the day."
Kirk shrugged. "Everyone just told me hello. They always do that when someone new comes to town."
Selena smiled slightly. "And no one gets shot? I'm a long way from home."
"I'm going to lie back down," Kirk said. "Do you want to join me?"
Selena's smile widened her teeth bright against her tan skin. It always reminded Kirk of a predator, maybe a wolf, for some reason. "Sure."
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Author's note: I almost hope no one reads this, because I always get embarrassed when people read my writings. But, anyway, if you went to comment on my story, go right ahead. Of course, I don't like fames, be constructive, please. I'm going to own up here to any spelling mistakes made, as well as grammar. Feel free to point that out. This will primarily be a Kirk fic, but I will have some Java Junkie action. Rory will probably show up sometime, but since I could care less who she hooks up with, don't expect anything. Peace.1