Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino, Warner Bros., and all those other smart, rich people.

A/N: I couldn't help it. I decided to write a WIP that takes place right before 'For Once', and then continues during Lorelai's pregnancy, pretty much all from Luke's POV. Credit is due to TWoP, because the people there are fantastic, they're all supportive, and inspired some of this.

XXX

Well, this was weird.

Luke Danes had slung an arm to the other side of the bed, where he had expected to find his wife curled up beside him. Instead, he got a pillow.

He opened his eyes slowly and looked at the digital clock on the nightstand (he had forced her to get one that wasn't fluffy and didn't purr when they had gotten married). It was only 5:10 in the morning. His alarm would be going off in twenty minutes, signaling him to get up and start the day down at the diner. What was different was that Lorelai had gotten up before him, something she had never done for as long as Luke could remember.

Shrugging to himself, Luke figured she was just in the bathroom, or doing something only she could think up at five in the morning downstairs. He got comfortable again, and drifted back to sleep. He wanted those twenty minutes.

After waking again and still not finding Lorelai, he became suspicious. By six he was showered, flannelled, and downstairs, where he found the love of his life sitting curled up on the couch, a robe rapped around her cow-pajama clad self, eating a pop-tart.

When he made his appearance, she brightened. "Hey, honey," she said as cheery as could be, finishing off the faux-breakfast.

"Hey," he returned, sitting beside her on the couch. Lorelai threw some of the afghan she was using over him. "You were up early."

"Yeah, well, couldn't sleep." This was surprising. She could always sleep.

"Did it snow?" Luke asked as he turned his head to look out the window, thinking that was the logical answer.

"No, but I think it will have by the end of the day."

"Oh."

The couple sat in silence, and Luke watched his wife, wondering, not for the first time, what was going on in that pretty head of hers.

"Hey Luke?" she said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Remember a few months ago we went to the mall..."

"No," he said without hesitating. Then he remembered. "Wait, wait, was that the time you tried to get me to buy the 'Kiss the Cook' apron?"

"Yes." She giggled softly, then composed herself. "That's not the point. Okay, remember how I made you go into Baby Gap because I wanted to see the cute little outfits?"

Luke wasn't following her logic at all. "Yeah. So?"

She waited a moment, then said, "I think we should go back there. Soon."

Now completely lost, Luke looked at her. Lorelai was smiling widely, as if waiting for him to piece something together. Her words hung in the air a bit longer, before the light bulb clicked on above Luke's head.

"Are you saying...," he began, trying to wrap his mind around this concept.

Giggling once again, Lorelai nodded. "Yup. You and I are going to be the proud shoppers of all things baby, until we're forced to move into big kid's stuff."

Luke was shocked. His head slowly rotated to face forward, so he was staring at a commercial where that damn rabbit was still trying to get his Trix. Why hasn't he gotten the cereal yet? He thought momentarily, then came back to what his wife had just said because honestly, the rabbit wasn't his biggest concern right now.

This was certainly not what he had been expecting this morning.

"Luke?" Lorelai prodded. "Are you...okay with this?"

Nodding a bit too vigorously, Luke let out a deep breath. "Yeah, oh, totally, it's just...wow."

"I know," she said quietly, and Luke could almost see the glow that people always say pregnant women have.

He blinked a few times, then turned so he was facing her again. "When did you find out?" he choked out.

"Um, yesterday. I spent all day trying to figure out how to tell you. You should've seen me, I was so absent-minded. Michel wanted to throttle me."

"When doesn't he?" Luke chuckled, starting to get used to the idea of a baby.

"So are you happy?" Lorelai asked, her eyes shining.

Luke couldn't wipe the large smile that had overtaken his face. "I'm happier than I thought I ever could be." He had no idea what to say now, and it was beginning to get overly mushy, the two of them just looking at each other with identical beaming grins.

"I love you," she said, tears streaming down her face.

"I love you too." Luke wrapped his arms around Lorelai, and when she pulled back, she was laughing.

"I'm having a baby. Again."

"We're having a baby, together," he said supportively. This sent her into more tears and giggles.

"I have to tell Rory!" she yelled as she jumped up from the couch and ran to the phone.

Sighing and lying back against the couch, Luke watched her. "You know, she's going to be home in a few hours for Christmas break."

"Are you telling me not to call my daughter and tell her that she's going to have a little brother or sister?" Lorelai looked at him as if he were suggesting not taking up the invitation to the Queen's house for tea.

Not wanting to incur his wife's wrath, he lifted his hands in defeat. "Call her." So she did, while Luke listened to her side of the conversation.

"Rory?...Yeah, hon, I know it's early...Yes, I know the exact time...Uh huh...Okay, if you'd just stop ranting for a minute, I want to tell you something...Yes, it's important enough to wake you up at six in the morning...Alright," she took a breath. "I'm pregnant." It was weird for even Luke to hear those words. But a good weird.

There was a long pause on their end, during which Luke could hear muffled shrieks coming from the phone. Obviously, the young Gilmore was pleased.

"Okay, babe, you gotta stop screeching in mommy's ear now...Yeah, I know," she said excitedly. "...Uh huh...We'll discuss details when you get here...Okay, see you soon." Lorelai hung up the phone with an even happier flourish, if that were possible. "She's coming home as soon as she can pack some stuff."

She went and sat back down beside Luke, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Don't you have to open the diner?"

Luke put an arm around her shoulders. "They can wait, for once. I want to sit here with you."

Burrowing herself into him, Lorelai pulled up the afghan to her neck. "Oh man, wait 'till we tell my parents. Maybe that vein in my mother's forehead will finally pop."

"They'll be excited, I'm sure."

"And everyone in town! I mean, they were betting on when we were gonna get together for years. Do you think they have a pool for how long it took you to knock me up?"

"Nice choice of words; very classy."

"Hey, I just speak the truth."

"Yeah, I know."

And in all of seven minutes, Luke Danes had turned from gruff diner-owner to softhearted father-to-be.

XXX

"Luke!"

The man in question looked up from behind the counter of his diner at the sound of his name, spotting his step-daughter immediately. Before he could prepare himself, let alone move from behind the counter, she had launched herself on him.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it! I just came from the house, and Sookie was over with mom, and we all-"

"Rory, uh, nobody really knows yet, so if you could keep your voice to a low mumble, since there are ears everywhere..." Luke raised his eyebrows.

She nodded and let go of him, taking it down a notch. "I can't believe it. It's incredible. I've always wanted a sibling, you know."

"Well...good." Secretly, Luke was pleased that Rory was so happy.

The girl looked around the diner. "Lane isn't working today?"

"I think she's rehearsing at her apartment with the guys." Lane and her band mates still owned an apartment together, but they had gotten a larger one once they had started to get publicity.

"Alright, I'm gonna head over there. Mom said I could tell her." Rory looked up at him with her mother's eyes. "Congratulations, Luke."

Becoming bashful, all Luke could do was hug Rory again, before she was out the door.

XXX

"Luke, I thought you promised us 8:30," Lorelai said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, everyone's been wondering what's been wrong with me today, and they wouldn't get out," he said, waving a hand at the customers, who were mostly made up of townies hanging on their every word.

"Maybe we should tell them all now; get it over with?" Lorelai looked at him expectantly.

"Tell us what, sugar?" Babette asked eagerly.

"Might as well," Luke agreed, sighing.

"Good luck," Rory muttered.

Lorelai looked around at everyone present, pausing for dramatic effect. Then she smiled. "We're having a baby," she said proudly.

The diner was silent. Then, all together, the crowd rushed over to the family with shrieks and yells and congratulations.

It took them half an hour to herd everyone out after that announcement, and now Luke, Lorelai and Rory had the diner to themselves. They've always seemed to have been here after closing time, Luke realized.

Rory swung her legs back and forth from her perch on the counter. Normally, Luke wouldn't allow this, but he made the exception just this once. "So do you think it's a boy or a girl?" She stuffed some chips in her mouth.

Lorelai considered from her place at the table that was positioned in front of her daughter. "I don't really know. If it's a girl, then, you know, that's great, because I know how to take care of girls, since you're a girl-"

"That's what they've been telling me for twenty-two years."

"-and not to mention I'm a girl, and I think I've done a very good job raising myself."

Luke glanced through the small kitchen window separating it from the dining area. "The coffee addiction and the incessant babbling not included, correct?" He smirked.

"You know what, you're mean," Lorelai began. "Here I am, carrying your child, soon to become fat with swollen ankles, and made into such a horrible-looking creature that no man will ever look at me ever again."

Rory cocked her head to the side. "You know, you do look a bit green..."

"And the morning sickness hasn't even started yet, which I'm assuming will any day now-"

"Lorelai?"

"-and then I won't be able to find anything to eat that pleases me, which is crazy because I'll eat anything-"

"Lorelai?"

"-and both of you, the last two people on Earth who will even talk to me despite my hideous state, will realize how much better off you were with the old Lorelai and hide out until I pop, then reappear at a convenient time to-"

"Lorelai!"

"What, Luke?" She scrutinized him.

"Look outside."

"Why?"

"Just do it," he groaned, then went back into the kitchen.

Rory jumped off the counter and led her mother to the window. They both smiled when they saw the snow starting to fall. Lorelai put an arm around her daughter.

"I think this is a good sign," Rory stated.

"Man, do I hope so. I don't think I could go so long without seeing you or Luke. Promise me you won't go into hiding."

"I promise. At least, I won't until after graduation."

Luke appeared behind them holding four plates, three with a burger on each and one with a large order of fries. "So, are we gonna start celebrating?"

Lorelai gasped. "Luke, are you going to eat...french fries?"

"I'm livin' a little." He grinned at his wife's obvious disbelief. "Actually, the plate is for you and Rory."

Rory let out a breath. "For a minute there I thought you were an imposter trying to be Luke."

"Hey, some things don't change. Like the fact that one day, all this fried and greasy food is going to clog your arteries so bad that you'll die because your body can't pump enough blood to the heart, and the valves will be all messed up-"

"And here I thought you had to eat something that disagrees with you before wanting to puke during a pregnancy," Lorelai said as she threw down a french fry she had been about to eat.

Luke shrugged. "Eat some carrots, dear."

XXX

Luke shifted nervously beside Rory, who was standing in between her mother and step-father as they waited outside the Gilmore mansion for someone to fetch them at the door.

"Luke, relax," Rory said quietly.

"I am, I'm totally relaxed," he replied unconvincingly.

Lorelai leaned closer to the two. "Shouldn't I be the one freaking out? They're my parents, after all." She looked back at the door. "This is ridiculous, let's just go in ourselves."

She took the key to the house out of her purse and unlocked the large door. The trio stepped inside as a maid walked over. Luke was slightly surprised; it was the same maid who had been here the last time they attended dinner with the elder Gilmore's. Emily must be getting soft, he thought.

"So sorry for the delay," she said, strained. "Mrs. Gilmore couldn't decide where to put a decoration."

"Perfectly fine," Lorelai waved off as she handed her coat to the maid's outstretched hands. "And where are my lovely parents?"

"In the living room, Mrs. Danes."

"Hey, hey, I thought we had a deal. You call me 'Lorelai' and I try to make my mother lay off," she said.

The maid nodded with a small smile and took Luke and Rory's coats. The three entered the living room to find Richard Gilmore sitting in his usual chair, reading the paper and sipping a drink, and Emily Gilmore, fluttering around the room.

"There you all are!" Emily exclaimed as she made her way over to them and hugged Rory.

Lorelai rolled her eyes as her mother led Rory to the couch. "Yeah, hi, mom." She sat down, and Luke followed suit, nervously folding his hands in his lap. Lorelai covered them with one of her own.

"So, what's new with you three? Rory, how does it feel to be on vacation? It's your last winter break from Yale. How's that boyfriend of yours?" Emily was up again, heading to their drink selection.

"Well, vacation has been good so far. I've only been home two days. And Greg's great; he's home with his family."

"Of course, of course. He's a fine young man, and a good reviewer. I just read one of the books he reviewed recently." Emily turned to the group. "So, what's everyone drinking?" She eyed her husband. "Richard, you haven't even said hello to them. Put the newspaper down."

Doing what he was instructed, Richard nodded to the family. "Hello, all. Don't mean to be rude, there was a fascinating article in the paper today. And I'll have a scotch, Emily."

"I'll just have a white wine, Grandma." Luke was still trying to get used to Rory drinking, even though she had been legal for over a year already.

"Uh, some water would be fine, Emily." He didn't trust himself with alcohol right now.

"Same for me, mom." Lorelai glanced at Luke, asking with her eyes if they should tell them now. Luke nodded in the affirmative. Rory noticed the exchange and started smiling.

"Hey, uh, mom, dad," Lorelai started. "You know me and Luke." Luke wanted to roll his eyes, but resisted the urge.

Emily raised an eyebrow as she brought the drinks on a tray to where everyone was sitting. "Yes, I believe we do."

"Well, heh, here's the great part about us." Rory nodded encouragingly, and Luke took her hand again. "Okay, right." She stalled a bit longer while Richard and Emily looked at her, perplexed.

"Mom," Rory groaned.

"Yeah, okay, okay. I'm pregnant."

Stopping her process of handing out drinks, Emily looked up slowly to her daughter. Richard sat still for a moment.

"Uh...yay," Lorelai added, keeping her hopes up. Luke prayed they were happy.

"Why, Lorelai," her mother began. Luke could feel his wife brace herself beside him. "This is...wonderful! Oh, just wonderful. Isn't this wonderful, Richard?" She excitedly turned to her husband.

"I'm very happy for you. Both of you," Lorelai's father said, a smile about to break on his normally-solemn face.

Luke leaned away as Emily came rushing forward, gathering her only child in a hug. Lorelai looked from Luke to Rory, obviously not expecting this reaction from her parents.

Luke stood quickly as Richard appeared in front of him. He shook the large man's hand. "Congratulations. And Lorelai," he started as he took his daughter's hands and lifted her. "I'm glad you've done so well for yourself."

Hoping it was a compliment, and taking it that way, Lorelai blushed. "Thanks, dad."

By now Rory was standing and talking animatedly with Emily about baby clothes and the gender and names. Luke took this moment to stand back a bit and watch the original Gilmore family, the one's whose world he hadn't really stepped into until he proclaimed, "Will you just stand still?"

When he and Lorelai had first begun their romantic relationship that summer of '04 (they'd always had some sort of relationship, he concluded), everything in her life had been a mess. Rory had slept with a married Dean, her parents were separated, and Jason had become some sort of stalker ex-boyfriend. A large rift that seemed un-fixable soon settled between she and every member of her family; Rory was angry that her mother was intruding in her life, and her parents were angry that she had tried to meddle in their own business. Luke had tried to comfort all he could, but he knew it'd never be enough. So instead, he told that Scooper guy to lay off (Rory had told him the story of the mixed up nicknames much later, after he had proposed to Lorelai).

Then, after some sort of confrontation with Dean that she's never spoken of, Rory had taken Emily up on her offer, and the two had gone to Europe for a few weeks to escape their problems. But of course, as he had said many times before to Lorelai, they came back. She and Rory began repairing what they could of their broken relationship as the college student returned to Yale and met Greg, the young man she had been dating for almost two years, who was only a year older and already a successful book reviewer. After another few months of separation, Richard and Emily decided to try counseling. There was a brief stint where Christopher was around, but Luke had decided after the ordeal that it was in the past and not worth dwelling on.

So in October of '05 he had proposed and she had accepted, by May of '06 they were married, and now here they were, seven months later, expecting a baby. Life really couldn't get better, Luke had decided.

"Luke, come here; tell me how you're going to manage taking care of my daughter and a child and run your diner. It will be a spectacle to see, I don't doubt," Emily joked, beckoning him over.

XXX