Chapter 1: Mama & Baby Make... A Busy Diner

It was Lorelai Gilmore's first day off after her first week working at the Independence Inn. And boy, was she ready for it. Her life as she knew it had changed forever once again, in the span of just over a year. She knew more now about cleaning toilets, cleaning bathtubs... cleaning anything than she had ever cared to discover.

Now, on this beautiful Saturday morning in Stars Hollow, Connecticut, Lorelai was ready to explore her new home with her year-old daughter, Rory. Strapping her little girl into the stroller - one of the few possessions she had fled with from her parents' mansion in Hartford - Lorelai readied the overcoat that was already starting to fray. In a few seasons, maybe even a few months, the hand-me-down from her mother would be worthless in keeping out the cold.

"Ready to go, my sweets?"

Rory gurgled in response. She was a very attentive and alert baby, using her eyes to know where Lorelai was at all times.

Lorelai beamed with pure love. "Then let's go."

Lorelai pushed Rory and the stroller out of the potting shed and down the hill past the Inn. Her new boss, Mia, had been gracious enough to let the Gilmore girls live in the shed, and free of rent, so that Lorelai could begin saving money unencumbered, to eventually buy a proper house of her own. The thought of how many weeks of cleaning, how many toilets scrubbed, that it would take to reach that goal made Lorelai's stomach knot. It probably would take years... But, as she glanced down at the little baby squirming in her wooly hat, Lorelai vowed that she would have Rory grow up in a proper house, or she would die trying.

Stars Hollow was a very quaint, unpretentious town. The exact opposite of Lorelai's upbringing in the elitist Hartford. An exact opposite that Lorelai absolutely loved. There was a bookstore, a pancake house, a town square with a gazebo. And rows of cute little townhouses lining the streets. The entire municipality had only a single traffic light, just off one corner of the square...

Across the street, Lorelai now noticed, from a hardware store. William's Hardware, the sign over the top of the establishment said. Lorelai checked her pockets. She only had a few dollars to spend, the rest having begun a Savings Jar that now sat back at the potting shed. But maybe she could buy some tools and at least try to fix up the shed a little herself. Squaring her shoulders, she pushed the stroller across the square and wrestled it through the door.

She blinked in surprise when she saw the tables scattered across the floorspace, the counter off to one side. She thought this was a hardware store...

"I know that look." The voice made Lorelai turn to its owner, a well-built young man wearing flannel. He looked to be about 19, maybe 20. "You're wondering where all the hardware is. This used to be a hardware store, until my dad turned it into a diner. But he's never gotten rid of the sign." He now held out a large hand, and Lorelai found she rather liked looking at his hands. They were calloused, from years of no doubt constructing and then, she guessed, cooking. "Welcome to Luke's Diner. I'm Luke Danes. You want anything?"

Lorelai blinked for a moment as she processed. "Oh, uh... sure. I'm... I'm Lorelai. Lorelai Gilmore. And this is my daughter, Rory. We're new here in town."

If Luke was surprised to discover that the little baby in the stroller was Lorelai's daughter, he did not show it. Lorelai may have seen a flash of surprise in his eyes, that disappeared as quickly as it had come, but that was it. His largely unfazed reaction was much appreciated. Most people whom she introduced to Rory reacted with downright shock upon learning the true nature of their relationship. Lorelai even recalled one woman keeling over into a dead faint, right on the sidewalk.

"Well, first time customers are on the house!" Luke waved Lorelai and Rory over to the counter, where Lorelai now saw a gentleman with pepper-gray hair hunkered over the coffee. "Dad - brand new patrons!"

The elderly gentleman turned about and smiled at Lorelai. His intrigue only grew as he watched Lorelai lift Rory out of her stroller and cradle her in her arms. "Well... it's always a nice surprise to get new customers! William Danes, at your service."

"Lorelai Gilmore," Lorelai shook the outstretched hand. "And this is Rory. Well, her real name is Lorelai, but I named her after me - labor makes you do some crazy things. Mix it with Demerol, and you turn into a nutcase!"

William laughed at the story. Lorelai thought she saw a bemused smile cross Luke's face. The young man now whipped out a pad.

"What can I get you? You can have anything you want."

"Coffee!" Lorelai eagerly requested with wide eyes.

"Except that," Luke shot down without missing a beat. "Don't you know that stuff can kill you?"

Lorelai laughed in awkward surprise. "Since when? I drink it all the time!"

Lorelai did not know if Luke was serious at the horrified stare he now gave her. His priorities were a little eccentric. He barely batted an eye upon learning she was a teenage mother. Yet, hearing she drank coffee nearly gave him a heart attack? "The caffeine alone - it keeps you awake all night! It screws up your energy system! And please don't tell me you let your baby near that stuff!"

Lorelai frowned in annoyance, but on the inside, she was secretly rather amused by Luke. After a moment, she spotted a stack of papers within reach. "What's your birthday sign?" she blurted out.

Luke blinked, perplexed. "Scorpio. Why?"

Without a reply, Lorelai plucked one of the papers from the stack, and a pen from a nearby jar. She scribbled on it, and handed the message to Luke.

"A woman needs her coffee today. Give it and she'll go away," Luke read aloud. He sighed. "All right. But let me make it clear: you have an addiction!" And he poured her a cup.

Lorelai gave him a winning smile, even batted her eyelashes a little at him. She now managed to juggle drinking her coffee with one hand, while rocking Rory with the other. Upon taking the first sip, however, she nearly dropped them both at the sweet heaven that now passed between her lips.

"Oh my God... how do you make this coffee?! I am never drinking coffee from anywhere else ever again!"

Luke's eyes widened in dismay at the compliment. "Oh no..."

Lorelai grinned. "Oh yeah. You're now stuck with me, mister!"

"Hallelujah," Luke deadpanned, something akin to a scowl attached to his face.

Lorelai crinkled her nose in amusement. "You know, you need to work on taking pride in your products."

From then on, Lorelai woke up extra early so she had plenty of time to run down for coffee at Luke's before her shift at the Inn. She quickly became a regular every single day. And every single day, Luke would beg her not to order coffee, ranting about the poor nutrition it could give you. But somehow, Lorelai would manage to weasel a cup out of him in the end, drinking it while holding Rory at the same time.

"You can put her down on the counter, you know," Luke pointed out, as he watched Lorelai manipulate through this balancing act yet again.

Lorelai stared, horrified. "Absolutely not! What if she rolls off?"

"I'd catch her," Luke shrugged. "Or what if you burned her with the coffee?"

Lorelai just shook her head, her smile playing on the rim of her mug. "You worry too much, Luke." By now, the pair had built up a familiar rapport, a unique banter all their own. Finishing her coffee, she set the mug down and paid with what little spending cash she had. "I know I'm short."

Luke shook his head. "It's fine. I know you're saving up."

Lorelai smiled at him, touched that he was so understanding. "Bye, Luke!" She now bounced Rory in her arms. "Rory, say goodbye to Luke!" she cooed.

"Blah, blah!" Rory bubbled.

"We're working on it," Lorelai sighed. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Luke smile.

Finally, it was the end of the week. Lorelai had been working at the Independence Inn for two months. Friday afternoon, and she was off of her shift.

As she had become accustomed to doing, Lorelai pushed Rory's stroller down into the Stars Hollow square, towards Luke's Diner, for her afternoon pick-me-up. She found Luke wiping down the counters.

"Why, why must all these little toddlers get their sticky jam hands on this counter? It's marble, you know!" he was grumbling to himself.

"Hey, at least it's not granite. My mother would have a fit. Once, she deported a maid for spilling orange juice on her kitchen island!" Lorelai chirped.

Luke shook his head, having by now heard plenty stories of Lorelai's mother and of where Lorelai had grown up. "What planet does your mother live on?"

"Hartford," Lorelai sighed. "Although, it does bear an uncanny resemblance to Pluto, so I really can't tell..."

She didn't even have to argue for her coffee this time, or even ask for it; Luke poured her a cup right there as she took a seat. As she bent behind the counter to pluck Rory from her stroller, Luke suddenly stopped her.

"Oh no, you don't. We have a new plan for that."

Lorelai frowned. "What new plan?" Luke just nodded back over his shoulder, towards the far window. When Lorelai followed his gaze, her breath hitched in her throat.

At the head of one table was... a high chair. A wooden high chair, complete with an ornate headboard, and a tray table.

"It hasn't been painted yet, but I'm going to get around to it," she vaguely heard Luke mutter sheepishly. Lorelai turned back to him, gobsmacked.

"Oh my God... you built that?"

"Yeah," Luke shrugged. "I hope Rory fits. But even if she doesn't, I can always start over." His voice trailed off in surprise when Lorelai suddenly took his hand and squeezed it. Her eyes were actually swimming with tears.

"Thank you."

Luke genuinely smiled back. "Why don't you put her in it? Test it out."

Lorelai eagerly scooped Rory up and practically danced her over to the high chair, gingerly placing the baby into it. She thankfully fit rather nicely. "There we are, my little darling..."

Just then, Lorelai's portable phone rang. Lorelai had a love-hate relationship with the device; it was too big and cumbersome. Still, she answered. "Hello, this is Lorelai... Oh my Gosh, Mia!... Yes, yes, I'll be right over." She hung up and began to flit in a panic, grabbing for her stuff. Before she could fetch Rory from the high chair, Luke was nudging her towards the door.

"Sounds like Mia needs you in a hurry. Go, go!"

"But Rory..."

"She can stay here until you get back! Go!"

Lorelai smiled in appreciation. No one had ever volunteered to watch Rory before. "Thank you, Luke." And she dashed out the door, waving to Rory.

Lorelai returned to the Diner about two hours later. A toilet had ruptured unexpectedly, in an occupied room no less, and Lorelai had needed to evacuate the guest and then clean up all the muck. Walking into the Diner, the young mom stopped short at what she saw.

Luke was waving a spoon in front of Rory's mouth, making airplane noises. Suddenly, he divebombed the spoonful into Rory's open mouth as she screeched with delight.

"What are you feeding her?" Lorelai laughed.

Luke shrugged. "Mashed potatoes. You can never be too healthy."

"Hey, you!" Lorelai teased. "Quit corrupting my kid!"

Luke just responded by sliding another spoonful of mashed potatoes into Rory's mouth. Upon swallowing, the baby cackled with glee. Luke turned back to Lorelai, a smug grin on his face.

"Your daughter agrees with me. Majority rules."

"Oh, bite your tongue!" Lorelai snapped. But her eyes were twinkling with mirth.