The Baby Thing
I was watching a clip of the beginning of "Tick, Tick, Tick, Boom" and this idea just popped into my head. Just a one-shot about what could have been. Enjoy!
Luke stepped out of the kitchen into the diner again, glancing over at Lorelai's table to see if they were anywhere close to being done yet. Jackson and Sookie were still eating but Lorelai was absent but he found her a few feet away, standing by the window. She was holding the baby – he couldn't remember its name – and making faces at him. He could see her mouth moving but for once couldn't hear the inane sounds coming out of it. He wondered what she (or anyone) could be saying to a baby besides the cutesy noises which made no sense. He decided that it was probably best that he didn't know, it might have hurt his brain. He leaned against the doorjamb leading to the kitchen and watched how the sunlight shone through her hair which she had worn down today. He always liked it when she wore it down. The baby reached a chubby hand up and grabbed a handful of the dark strands and Lorelai simply laughed and reached up to untangle it. She turned to look at him with a large smile on her face and he simply stared. She was beautiful. She was always beautiful and he didn't know if it was her hair, the sunlight, her outfit, or the fact that she was holding a baby but today, at that moment, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He heard a strange whooshing sound and the rest of the diner seemed to fade away. He watched her sway slightly as the baby's eyes drooped and she stroked his head and down his back until the small head dropped forward onto her chest. Lorelai looked at him again and rested her cheek on the baby's small head.
He imagined it was their child. Sleeping gently on his mother's chest as she danced with him in the sunlight. Luke walked into the nursery and stood behind Lorelai, watching his son's face as the little eyes moved under closed lids and his nose wrinkled as he snuffled softly. Luke kissed the top of Lorelai's head and wrapped his arms around them, feeling the steady breaths of the sleeping child as he intertwined their fingers on his back. Life was good and Luke was happy. He didn't want or need anything else.
The bell over the door of the diner rang and Luke snapped out of it. He stood up, dusted off his hands and stepped around the counter. He stopped by Sookie and Jackson's table and glared down at them. "Are you finished yet?"
Jackson checked his watch. "Still have 2 minutes, my friend."
How could only a few moments have passed while his life had changed irreversibly? He'd had daydreams about Lorelai before but nothing as realistic or as… meaningful as this one. Usually they were of the x-rated type and he figured that they were of the normal "man attracted to a beautiful woman so who wouldn't wonder?" sort of thing. But today… with the baby… he couldn't fool himself anymore. He wanted Lorelai (in more than the x-rated way). He wanted to date her, marry her, have a future with her. Apparently a future that included children. As Lorelai came back to the table and sat with Davey in her lap he walked away from the table, back to his spot behind the counter and wiped at coffee stains and sticky spills. What was he going to do? He couldn't be around her now, couldn't just stand there while his life had just been turned upside down and he realized that he was truly in love with his best friend.