Lorelai made her way out of the bedroom, the white cotton robe wrapped over her bare shoulders. She smiled as she saw her husband over the stove. She smelled the aroma of maple sausage, scrambled eggs, french toast and hot coffee. She sighed as she made her way over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing his neck softly.

"I really hope that's my wife," Luke said teasingly. "Because if it's not, I'm not so sure I'd have a wife left."

"Well, lucky for you, it is your wife," Lorelai smiled. "What are you making?"

"Eggs, Sausage, and French Toast for Rory and I," Luke said, flipping the toast in the air, "And coffee for the beautiful woman in the white robe."

Lorelai smiled and let out a soft sigh. She and Luke had been married for nearly three years, and she had never been more in love with him than she was now. She had known him since Rory was a baby; he had often offered her free meals at the diner, knowing she could hardly afford the rent on minimum wage. He was ten years older than she was, and he had just opened the diner when she came in that first day, Rory straddling her hip and saying her first few words.

She let herself wander to that mid afternoon in October. She hadn't even noticed Luke that day, other than the gruff "What can I get you?" he'd muttered at her, obviously annoyed that she'd brought a small child into the diner. She knew Luke's policy on children. It was quite simple, three words even: No Thank You. Rory had been no different. She was just a slobbering, crying, screaming little girl that had sticky hands. But she had started to grow on Luke, and even though he wouldn't admit it, he was the only father figure in her life.

"Lorelai, baby, what are you thinking about?" Luke asked, studying the faraway look on her face.

"The day we met," she replied. "And Rory."

"Rory?" he replied. "What part of Rory? Her sticky hands or her abnormal desire for homework?"

Lorelai laughed. "Nothing, nothing at all."

She smiled and pulled herself away from Luke and wandered into the bedroom. On the counter sat an opened pregnancy test box. She had meant to throw it away after she used it, but she had forgotten. Good thing Luke didn't see it, she thought. She knew he didn't want kids.

She looked at the box for a moment before picking it up and throwing it violently in the trash. All she wanted was to have a baby with the man she loved; she'd already had a baby with a man she didn't. She had thought she was pregnant with the alleged morning sickness, newfound appetite, and a new sensitivity to the things around her. However, she had sat and stared at the indicator on the test for the whole five minutes, and the second strip had never appeared.

Negative. She stared at the trash, thinking of the irony. 18 years ago she had stared at the indicator hoping the second line had never appeared, and now she was staring at it, brokenhearted that it hadn't.

Her pity party was broken up by a light tap on the door. Rory's voice carried through the cracks, "Mom, Can I come in?"

Lorelai quickly wiped her eyes, "Yes." She watched as the door creaked open and her baby girl stepped inside. Rory wasn't a baby anymore, though. She was everything Lorelai had ever wanted or wished for, all tied up in one person. She was the most beautiful child Lorelai had ever seen, but of course, she was somewhat biased.

Rory closed the door behind her, "Mom, is it okay if I go over to Paris'? We have a project due in our Shakespeare class next week and she's freaking out."

Lorelai answered Rory without diverting her eyes from her legs, afraid she might show that she'd been crying. "Yeah, sure honey. Just be back for dinner, okay?"

Rory studied her mom's posture, finding it puzzling that Lorelai wouldn't look her in the eye. "Mom, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting on the bed.

Lorelai hesitated before answering her daughter.

"I want another kid like you," she answered. "Except I want Luke to be her daddy. But Luke doesn't want to be her daddy." Lorelai let soft tears fall down her cheeks. Rory put her arm around her mother and pulled her into her embrace.

"Mom, it's okay…" Rory tried to comfort her. "Maybe Luke would be willing to have another kid, you know, if you wanted one…"

Lorelai shook her head and wiped her tears on Rory's shirt. "If you don't go, you're going to be late and I'd hate to have to undergo the wrath of Paris." She smiled at Rory, trying to convince her to let her be. Rory got up and headed to the door.

"Besides, Mom, why would you ever want another kid when you have one as perfect as me?" She grinned. "I mean, my taste of music is pretty much amazing."

Lorelai smiled. "You were taught well." She watched Rory close the door and thought to herself Rory's right. I have the perfect kid already. What's wrong with Rory that I want another baby. She felt tears form in her eyes. Am I such a horrible mother that the universe won't trust me with the care of another child.

She grabbed a pillow, and hugged it to herself, and stared at the box in the trash. She counted to five before she slowly got up and made her way to the bathroom to apply her makeup. She couldn't let Luke know she'd been crying.

She dressed, did her hair, and perfected her look before heading back into the kitchen and sitting down at the kitchen table. She smiled as Luke handed her a mug of coffee. He smiled at her and then handed her the coffee pot. She forced herself to laugh, and she began to drink the coffee, wondering how her husband could be so oblivious to the pain so obvious in her eyes.

Luke stared at her from across the table. She'd been acting so strange lately; he couldn't wrap his mind around it. Lately she had been so emotional and so unlike Lorelai. The other day they'd been walking through the park, and Lorelai would randomly start crying. Then she'd turn away and tell him she had something in her eye. He would never tell her he saw the tears because he knew if he did, she'd get even more weird. She'd go on a temporary diner strike, and Luke knew how bad that was. The last time Lorelai had gone on diner strike he'd lost 24 bucks. Eight cups of coffee sure did add up over three days. Not that it mattered anymore, her spare change was his spare change no matter where she dropped it.

"What are you doing today?" Luke asked.

"I don't know," Lorelai said playing with her food. Luke frowned. It wasn't like Lorelai to have a simple answer to any question. Even when he proposed to her, she'd gone into a sing-song musical that had left him bewildered for a good two minutes. He eyed her suspiciously and opened his mouth to say something when she interrupted him.

"The Ice Capades are in town." Lorelai said. "I think they're performing a special number on… something."

Luke eyed her strangely. "Okay, well, I have business at the diner all day, but if you and Rory are up for it, we can take a tour of the town tonight."

"Luke, we've lived in the town since we were teenagers," Lorelai snapped. "I don't think we need a tour." With that, she got up, threw her plate in the sink, grabbed her jacket and walked out the door.

Luke shook his head in bewilderment. What in the world is her problem?