Her mum had always done everything for her so Rory didn't feel it was her place to interfere in the one thing that Lorelai had seemed to really want, Max. That's right they'd gotten engaged but it didn't feel right. Rory wanted someone else to be her step-dad. It had all started when she was six and got overly curious when she was being babysat by Luke one day.
"Luke, do you have any kids?" Rory asked as she sipped at a strawberry milkshake.
"No, why?" Luke asked Rory as he walked past with someone's order of a cheeseburger and fries.
"Because you'd be a real great dad." She confessed as she looked down into her half filled glass embarrassedly.
"Aww thanks Rory, well maybe I'll keep that in mind when I meet my dream woman." He said as he said as he bent down and hugged her from behind where she was sat perched on a stool at the counter. As he hugged her he lightly tickled her sides, emitting a shrill laugh she fell backwards into Lukes awaiting arms. He picked her up, lifted her above his head and spun around in circles before lowering her onto his hip. Luckily she hadn't hit a growth spurt and was a short six year old. "You know what; you'd make a great daughter." He said as he smiled at her.
Her blue eyes sparkled with something akin to love. "Thanks Luke. I love you." She said as she fell into him and wrapped her little arms around his neck.
"Love you too gorgeous." He said as he enveloped her in his arms.
From then on she'd been hoping that maybe one day Luke and her mother would get together. It seemed that Luke wouldn't act quickly enough and Lorelai would fall for Max's charm. Rory could see Lorelai falling for it the minute she laid eyes on Max. Admitting the charm was something that he'd used more than a handful of times she knew he'd do it to her mother. After all Lorelai was attractive.
"Are you sure Kiddo? I'll only do this if your okay with it. You come first." Lorelai was looking for approval to go ahead with the engagement that Max had proposed.
"I said its fine mum. You and him'll get engaged and then married and everything will be as it is." Rory confessed, hiding the disappointment in her voice. She knew that Lorelai would usually pick up on it but she was trying super hard for her mum's sake. She just wanted her to be happy and Max seemed to make her happy.
"Okay, I was just checking." Lorelai assured."Now, you wanna grab a whole pile of junk food and chow down to 'Who's the Boss'?"
"Na, I sorta promised Luke I'd come 'round and see him tonight." Rory appeased.
"Okay, well I'll see you later then. Kiss?" Lorelai asked as she stood up from where she was sat on the couch and walked her daughter to the front door.
Rory kissed her mum's cheek and then went to leave but was stopped by her mum's proclamation of, "I love you."
"Yeah. See ya." Rory said evasively.
Now she stood outside of Luke's Diner, working up the courage to go inside and tell the only person she'd ever really seen as a dad that her mother was getting married to a man that she didn't like. Luke had met Lorelai and Rory when Rory was only six months old and had always been there for them.
Walking in Rory caught Luke's eye with her own teary ones. When Luke saw the tears building up in her eyes he immediately opened his arms wide and she ran into them right away, hiding her face in his flannel clad chest. "What's wrong baby?"He asked soothingly as he rubbed circles on her back.
Rory just let out more sobs and burrowed deeper into his chest and clung harder to him. "Muhansthandap" she mumbled.
"What was that?" Luke asked, slightly pulling away from her so that he could understand what she was saying.
"Mum's getting married." She finally got out, looking up at Luke with a tear streaked face. Luke again engulfed her in his arms.
"It'll be okay, let's get you upstairs. I'll close up early and come up in a couple hours. You know where everything is. Make yourself at home, what am I talking about, you always do." Luke said as he smiled down at her in a fatherly way. Rory simply nodded and turned to walk up the stairs leading to her third favourite place on earth.
She'd been up here a lot in her life and she loved every single moment of it. Her favourite was when she was ten and Luke bought her a unicorn stationary set, well that was what her mum thought. He'd later brought her up here and presented her with a magnificent dolls house. It had two stories and ten rooms with little figurines in each. In the kitchen was a photo of lorelai with a massive mug of coffee and a table full of junk food. In the upstairs library was Rory and Luke's nephew Jess arguing over a book. In the bathroom was a little flannel shirt and Luke hanging around the curtain of the shower with bubble in his hair and his hand up. In the lounge room was a little projector putting a video of Pretty in Pink on the wall and it went on. It was her favourite present ever but Luke had sworn her to secrecy over the present.
After looking at her her doll house for a while she walked over to Luke's dresser and pulled out her drawer. It held some clothes that she'd bring over every so often. She pulled out a singlet top and a pair of track pants. Changing she crawled into Lukes bed and cried some more for the possible father that she'd lost. Ever since she was a little girl she'd wanted Luke to be her father, it was all she dreamed about. She soon fell into a restless sleep.
An hour later Rory was shaken awake and without opening her eyes just mumbled out the first thing that came to her mind. "Dad?" she asked.
"No, hunny, it's mum." Lorelai said. At this realisation Rory's eyes flew open at this realisation and she sat up, wiping her eyes she sat up. "Why would you think Chris'd be here?" Lorelai inquired confusedly.
"I...I...um didn't." Rory confessed. She saw Lorelai give her clothes a once over and the confused look grew.
"Weren't you wearing jeans and a red long sleeved shirt earlier?"
"Yeah, I got changed when I came up here. I didn't wanna have to sleep in my jeans." Rory said as she put her legs on top of the quilt and fixed the socks she had swiped from Luke's drawer.
"Well where'd you get the clothes from and why are you wearing Luke's socks? Wait, redo. What is going on? Just tell me it all at once." Lorelai said as she shifted on the bed.
Rory looked around and just smiled at all of the memories that had accumulated up there. "Well I used to come here sometimes when I said I'd be at Lanes, I guess it was just the need to have that father figure around me. Luke was always there. He was always supportive and excited about the things I did. I sorta needed that. Over the years I brought clothes over and they sort of accumulated. Nothing much really happens, I just come over and we hang out, watch movies, play board games and stuff. He cares about me mum, really cares about me. I love him, he's my dad in so many ways and I needed that this afternoon when you told me about Max." Rory wiped away a few stray tears that had fallen.
She looked up at Lorelai and was met with Lorelai's shocked and hurt face. She continued on regardless, "I guess my heart broke in some ways. I always sort of hoped that you and Luke would get together and he'd be my stepdad. I was old enough that when I slipped up and called him dad when I was ten that I understood that he wasn't my dad and couldn't take that away from Chris. But Chris stopped being my dad when I was four, the day He said he couldn't come and see me because he had to go to breakfast the next morning with his neighbour. I'm sorry but it really hurt me." Rory confessed, looking Lorelai right in the eyes and being stunned to see them well up with tears.
"Why didn't you tell me hon?" Lorelai asked desperately as she grabbed onto Rory's hands.
"Because you're happy mum, that's all I wanted." Rory said with a watery smile, "You're all that matters. I can deal with my own problems."
"Okay, are you sure this is okay?" Lorelai asked, unsure of her daughter's intentions.
"Yes I'm sure, Luke and I can keep doing our thing and you and Max can do your thing. I'll be fine." Rory assured as she smiled up at her mum.
Getting more comfortable Lorelai turned to Rory "alright, now down to the nitty gritty girl." Lorelai said with an evil grin plastered across her face. 'This can't be good.' Thought Rory. "What is the funniest thing Luke has ever done up here with you." Lorelai asked with a giggle in her voice.
Rory thought for a second then spun towards her mum and crossed her legs on the bed, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear before diving in. "oh, oh there was this time when I was eleven, you know when I was supposed to be sleeping at Lane's for Chinese new year. Well I came over here and he stuck two carrot sticks in his mouth and pretended to be a vampire. It was so funny." Rory said and for the next two hours Lorelai and Rory discussed Luke and Rory's relationship. It was a day of many things and more discoveries than ever before.
Lorelai and Max never did get married as Lorelai realised her feelings for Luke just before her bachelorette party and called it all off.
Luke and Lorelai DID get married however and Rory really did get her Dad.