Author's Note: So here it is, finally. The first Gilmore Girl's story I ever wrote and actually had the guts to post, even thought it took me 3 months to finally do it (dirty!). But, as I am turning 21 tomorrow, I figured I'd end 20 with a bang (again, dirty!). So, think of it as a really early or kinda late Christmas story. Since it is my first story, I would really appreciate any and all comments. I mean, c'mon, I'm in college, it isn't a normal day unless I'm being criticized haha. I really do hope everyone enjoys it.
P.S. Sorry about the grammar mistakes, that was never my strong point!
Summary: It's Christmas Eve 2007 and it's time to decorate the tree. Javajunkie oneshot
Disclaimer: Although I have wished on many stars, my wish has yet to come true. I do not own the Gilmore Girls because if I did, season 6 and 7 would have been extremely different.
Christmas Eve 2007
"Did you ever think of labeling your Christmas boxes before storing them?", Luke shouted from the depths of Lorelai's closet in a desperate search for the tree ornaments.
"Where's the fun in that? Not only do I get to stare at your butt while you try to find them but the whole search adds an air of mystery and anticipation to see if we can find them in time," Lorelai responded. She was idly lounging on the easy chair in her bedroom while finishing a cup of coffee with Mariah Carey singing in the background about her Christmas list. Paul Anka lazily lifted his head from the bed at the sound of Lorelai's voice but quickly placed it back on the blanket in favor of more sleep.
Ignoring her statement, Luke continued his mini rant, "And why did we wait for Christmas Eve to not only decorate the tree but to even find the box? It's not like you didn't know Christmas was coming. The date hasn't changed."
Lorelai promptly dropped her counter argument when she saw Luke finally crawl out of the closet with a dusty box in his hands. Luke opened the box to reveal to Lorelai that the half an hour he spent searching for the ornaments ended in success. Lorelai emitted a small squeak of happiness as she threw her arms around Luke's neck and kissing his cheek, in which he happily accepted with a grin playing at his lips.
The past few months had been, well for a lack of better words, interesting for the pair. Once Rory left to follow Obama on the campaign trail, the first few days in the Hollow consisted on Luke comforting Lorelai. For the time being, the two didn't bring up their relationship and anything about the past; the time was spent getting Lorelai back on her feet. However, Lorelai soon realized that she should be happy for Rory and in exchange, Rory would want her happy, which meant getting her life back on track. The weeks following that were tumultuous for the couple. Some days were spent fighting, letting out pent up emotions and feelings. Other days were like court, with each side explaining what and why things happened. Other days were quieter in which the duo apologized for past actions and discussed how to get back to a healthy relationship. Luke explained how scared he was of losing April due to Anna's restrictions on their daughter and how he wanted to prove to Lorelai that he could do the whole father thing. Lorelai described how crushed she was when she felt that she would never marry the only man she ever loved and how marrying Chris was only a way to cover up her loneliness.
After all was said, they both decided to start dating again, not going back to the start and not picking up where they left off. During those months the pair rode out a roller coaster of emotions and events. Luke comforted Lorelai when weeks would past without word from Rory and Lorelai spent Luke's dark day with him as he finally described his father and what he experienced in his child hood. Happiness was also shared with the sadness- Lorelai began bonding with April and Luke threw Lorelai a party when the Dragonfly won a prestigious award. The two even suffered through a few Friday night diners, surprised that they didn't receive as much hostility as they expected; of course, Lorelai's parents weren't exactly thrilled with the match but they saw it coming and tried to accept it. Life was finally beginning to settle for the pair.
Now, the two stood in front of a fresh Christmas tree lit up with the lights Luke already untangled, and began to hang the much sought after ornaments. Unlike many other Christmas trees that are seen in magazines with glittery balls and a unifying theme, the Gilmore/Danes tree was adorned with oddball ornaments picked up from unique places or hand made with care. Each ornament had a story behind it and even though both parties had heard the stories before, that fact did not stop them from reiterating what lead that ornament to the tree. Lorelai described the ornaments Rory had made for her when she was still in grade school and Luke hung the ornaments that he had collected during his childhood.
The fireplace crackled in the background and the living room danced with Christmas lights as they reflected off the decorations. Four stockings were hung with care and a mountain of wrapped gifts sat beneath the tree. There was a scent of gingerbread cookies and pine in the air as the wind whipped up outside, absent of snow but making promises that the weather would change soon to fit the Christmas scene. Although all of these things were picturesque, they were merely the background to the couple as they continued to share their stories.
"-and Rory was so upset when little Billy Turner sat on her angel ornament. I had to spend about 3 hours reconstructing the whole thing so Rory wouldn't think that her angel died," Lorelai explained as she hung a well worn ornament on the tree.
Luke's low rumbling chuckle was followed by his memories of the once little girl, "I remember the Christmas after I first met you two was the year Rory was suppose to play Mary in Miss Patty's play and both of you spent hours in the diner rehearing the lines over and over, of course roping me into playing a few of the parts so it would feel more real to Rory."
"I remember that. She was so nervous and she really appreciated your help. We both did," Lorelai said as she smiled at Luke.
Smiling right back, he responded, "What can I say? I just can't say no to a Gilmore girl. Especially when you taught her the pout so early in life." This earned Luke a chuckle from Lorelai. "Besides, Rory was always a good kid and I wanted to see her succeed. Which, of course, she did."
"Yea, she did," Lorelai sighed with a soft smile at her lips. Memories of the past flooded her and continued up to the present which brought up the painful fact that neither Rory nor April were with them on Christmas Eve. Luke could practically see her thoughts as they played out in Lorelai's head and it hurt him as it did her that part of their family was missing that special night. Luke stopped hanging ornaments and wrapped his left arm around Lorelai's shoulders.
"Hey, I know you miss Rory and April right now but they will be with us soon enough. Why don't you remind me of the schedule for tomorrow, ok?" Luke's attempt to ease her sadness worked as she rehashed the busy day that was planned for Christmas.
"Ok, we need to leave the house at the ungodly hour of four in the morning because Rory's flight comes in at five in Hartford. Then we can grab some coffee, and tea," she said teasingly with a fake grimace, "and wait around at the airport because April's flight comes in at sixty thirty. When we finally get home, I have a feeling that we will all be tired so we can take a power nap and at eleven, we can get up, have brunch, and go crazy opening gifts. Then I thought we could take a walk around town to wish everyone a merry Christmas, stop in at Sookie's to exchange gifts, and then head back home to start getting ready for the rest of the day. The girls and I will clean up the house while you cook, of course. Liz, TJ, Doula, Jess, Buddy, Maizie, and my parents will all be over at six when we can eat, laugh, and open more presents. Then we collapse in bed," Lorelai concluded with a wicked grin, knowing that they probably wouldn't just collapse in bed but saved the details for Luke's imagination.
Luke grinned in response, not only to Lorelai's bedroom comment but more in astonishment in how much his life has changed from his old hermit ways. He was happy being surrounded by loved ones, especially after all he and Lorelai had been through.
"Did you remember to pick up the yams?", he asked her, suddenly hoping he wouldn't have to make a quick trip to Doose's in the morning.
"Yea, I did and I also picked up a bag of marshmallows to go with them," she added, knowing that she would make Luke happy by eating a vegetable and she would make herself happy by drowning a healthy item in sugar. Luke groaned in response but didn't fight back, letting her enjoy the sugar rush that was suppose to accompany a holiday.
In an attempt to keep her mind from wandering back to their currently missing daughters, Luke gestured with his hands downward at the ever growing pile of gifts that were spiraling out from under the tree. "Well, if this thing gets any bigger, we are going to be opening presents out on the front porch. I don't think there is one thing that we didn't get. Even Paul Anka has a small mountain for himself!" Luke said this like he was supposed to be grumpy but they both knew that he was just excited as Lorelai to be spending the holiday together with family.
"Oh no, we didn't buy the Red Ryder BB gun!" Lorelai stated excited.
"What?" Luke asked, confused, as usual, by his girlfriend's odd statements.
"You know hon, one day, you might actually understand one of my fabulous pop references. But silly me, I forgot that I could only speak geek around you. Let's try this again- oh no, we didn't buy a Talking Tina doll!" Lorelai laughed as Luke rolled his eyes at her insanity but pleased to see her happy.
Choosing to ignore her statement, Luke questioned, "were you ever able to find that astronomy book April wanted?"
"Yea, I found it at the mall the other day. It's already wrapped and under the tree," She responded, smiling.
"Good, good, I know she was really interested in that book and she kept dropping hints about it like it was going to disappear," he smiled to her gratefully. "Oh, I forgot to tell you but for some reason, Rory's digital camera that I ordered arrived at the diner today instead of the house. Sorry for not telling you earlier."
"That's ok, Kirk messing up the mail really doesn't surprise me anymore. I'm just glad it got here in time. I would hate to have Rory opening an empty box on Christmas," she giggled. "And while I'm on the topic of opening presents, what did you get me," she said as she fluttered her eyes and flipped her hair.
After momentarily being entranced by her flirty tricks, Luke answered with a sly smile, "You'll just have to wait for tomorrow to find out."
"Please Luke? How about just a little hint?", adding her pout to the plea.
"No."
"Pretty please Butch?" she pleaded, slightly jutting her chest toward him.
"No and don't call me Butch."
"Pleeeease. With a cherry on top? Or me on top? I know you like it that way," she said with a dirty smile.
"Keep trying to distract me and I'll cut off your coffee supply for a month." Luke's threat quickly silenced her as she stared in shock at him for even making such a heinous statement. Luke grinned as he turned back to the tree.
Lorelai followed his motions and began hanging the last few ornaments that were left. As opposed to before, they stood there in a comfortable silence, just enjoying being around each other. Of course, being her typical Lorelai Gilmore self, Lorelai needed to use her vocal cords and began humming with the Christmas songs that were playing over the radio.
As Luke saw Lorelai reach into the box for the last ornament, he too hung one last secret ornament exclaiming, "Ok, well it looks like everything is hung."
An instant raspy "Dirty!" squeaked out of Lorelai's mouth and for the second time is less than five minutes, Luke rolled his eyes at her crazy antics, muttering a patent "jeez" under his breath. She quickly sobered up as she took a step backwards to get a better look at the tree.
"Our tree looks pretty damn amazing if I do say so myself," she sighed.
Luke inhaled deeply, preparing himself for what was coming. "Yea, you're right," he paused then continued, pointing to a spot near the back of the tree, "hey, I don't remember that ornament. What's its story?"
Lorelai, surprised that Luke was unfamiliar with one of their ornaments, attempted to crane her neck to the backside of the tree where Luke was standing. However, Luke was blocking her from seeing it, making her complain, "which one are you talking about? I don't see it."
Luke finally stepped to the side and Lorelai quickly scrambled to find the mysterious ornament. When she did, her breath caught in her throat. Hanging in front of her, off a spare ornament hook, was a gorgeous sparkling diamond ring. The center of the ring held a princess cut diamond while the sides were adorned with little clusters of diamonds. The band was made of white gold. Seeing her surprise, Luke plucked the ring off the tree, holding it up for her to see and began talking slowly while looking into Lorelai's eyes.
"I know the beginning of the story to this particular ornament. It started with a beautiful, annoying woman walking into my diner and worming her way into my heart. There's a long trail of stories that string together to lead up to this exact moment, to this exact ring. The middle diamond is the one taken from your old engagement ring. Although we have been through a lot, I don't want us to forget all the good times we had in the past because there were too many to just throw away. However, the band and small clusters of diamonds are new because I want us to move ahead together, create a new life together, a family, knowing that we learned from our mistakes and we won't make them again. I love you Lorelai, I always will, will you marry me?"
Luke surprised himself with how steady he was able to keep his voice even though it felt like a butterfly emporium in his stomach. He had wanted to make this moment perfect for her. Not realizing it, Luke held his breath as he waited for Lorelai's response.
As for the other party, throughout Luke's speech, Lorelai's mouth hung open and her eyes kept darting back and forth between Luke's eyes and the ring. Luke began to get a little nervous because Lorelai had yet to say anything and he had learned that something was wrong whenever a Gilmore was quiet. Before he had a chance to question her, some switch flipped inside of Lorelai's mind and she realized that she hadn't answered him.
"Yes" she whispered at first and then again and again, louder each time, as she threw her arms around Luke's neck, having her body mold up against his. Luke buried his nose in Lorelai's hair, inhaling the sweet scent of strawberries deeply, relieved that Lorelai wanted to try being engaged to him again. He silently made a promise in his mind that things would work out this time, that they would marry and have kids, molding their two families together; Luke learned how it was to have a life without Lorelai in it and also learned that he could never go through that again. Luke couldn't stop grinning as he slowly pulled back from Lorelai's grip, gracefully slid the ring on her finger, and then pulled her in for a long passionate kiss. As they slowly pulled apart, Lorelai kept staring at her ring. As she looked back up at Luke, she whispered, "It's absolutely perfect Luke. I love it and I love you, so much."
His only response was to pull her in for another long kiss. As they parted, she mumbled against his lips, "Well this ornament has a very happy ending."