Chapter 1: All He's Ever Cared About
Luke Danes sprang to the order window as Caesar passed him another platter of burgers and fries - their sixth order of it in a row since the lunch rush began.
"Hey, what's the Wifi Password here?" a twenty-something hipster called out.
"ireallydon'tcaredoyou - all lowercase!" Luke pulled the first bullshit password he could think of out of his ass. Plus, it really reflected his mood at the present moment. All these millennials were ever concerned with was when they could get back on their damn devices! At least April wasn't like that. And Rory wasn't like that - he had raised them right! Plus, the women in his life had other, slightly healthier addictions. Needing coffee in a vat was preferable to needing your face glued to your phone.
The landline phone shrilled sharply and Luke swung around back behind the counter to answer. Please let it be Lorelai... he thought of his wife of just over a year and a half. He could use her witty banter right now to soothe him during what was surely one of the busiest days Luke's Diner had ever seen. If not THE busiest. "Luke's."
"Is this Luke Danes?" the voice on the other end inquired.
"This is he," Luke straightened, preparing himself for some announcement more formal. Did his lawyer need some paperwork? Was an inspector coming to check if the building was still up to code?
"Mr. Danes, this is Lyman Train, of Connecticut Food & Drink Magazine; I'm the Editor. Our staff would like to run a piece about your Diner. We have heard wonderful things about it over the years, and would love to check it out. Of course, we would want to include a profile on you, if that is all right."
Luke thought for a moment. He had always been a pretty private person, even now that he was very much a family man. But this was in relation to his business. If they did a little biography on him, what hurt could that do?
"Sure, that's fine. This is wonderful news!"
"Excellent. I'll have members of my team come down to meet with you for an interview. Now, you are in Stars... Hollow, did I get that right?"
"Yes, sir. Thanks, Mr. Train. Bye." Just as Luke was hanging up, he felt some straps being slipped onto his shoulders. He accepted it like it was second nature. The baby backpack... followed by the baby being deposited into it. A kiss pressed to his cheek from behind.
"Gotta run over to Dosse's and then back to the Gazette. Thanks, Daddy Luke!"
Luke watched his grown stepdaughter, Rory Gilmore, race around the counter and out the door. He had to smile, as he adjusted the baby backpack so that it was tight and snug, chuckling when his ten-month old grandbaby, Laurie Gilmore (her full name was Lorelai Paris) shrieked in delight. "Oh, aren't you just a chunk of change?" he rumbled affectionately to the infant, as he continued about his chores, ignoring the gawking looks neighbors still sent his way. So what if he looked a tad ridiculous? Luke had come to accept that a part of his gruff he-man reputation had been killed, never to return.
Rory's pregnancy had not been planned. And with the father halfway around the world in London, it fell on Rory's mother, Lorelai, and Luke to step in. Not to mention the entire sleepy town of Stars Hollow. For now, Rory was living in the old loft above the Diner, where throughout her pregnancy, she had written her memoir entitled Gilmore Girls by night while working at the Stars Hollow Gazette by day. The book had taken more than a year to write, finally being sent to press when Laurie was about five months old.
Since then, Gilmore Girls had rocketed to the top of the Bestseller charts and stayed there, setting a record for how long it stayed in the Number 1 spot. Rory had just returned from a three-week-long book signing tour to promote the work, and at one point she had mentioned to Lorelai that producers were inquiring about a potential television series deal. Luke had to admit that possibly seeing his life played out semi-autobiographically on the small screen left him a little queasy. But he cast his discomfort aside by reminding himself how proud he was of Rory. She had needed this, to boost her confidence and really kick-start the life she was meant to live. Had a slight wrench been thrown in the works, in the form of the little creature across his back? Yes. But Luke would never regret Laurie's presence in his life. After all, he had always loved Rory like she was his own.
Laurie had always proven to be a good distraction, or at least a means to make the work of running a Diner seem less hectic. With his granddaughter strapped to him, the rest of the work day flew by. Luke was just finishing stacking the last of the cleaned dishes when a knock came from the front door. Beaming, Rory waved to him, and Luke bounded out, passing Laurie over his head and to her mother.
"Hi, sweetie!" Rory crooned. "Ready to see Nana?"
"Kirk really is an abomination of a human being," Luke grumbled, recounting yet another annoying Kirk tale from that day as he and Laurie and Rory entered the house at Number 37, Maple Street.
"The only appropriate use of abomination in a sentence is if that sentence begins with 'The Last Jedi'!" Lorelai's voice echoed from the kitchen, as her family followed it from the foyer.
"What?" Luke's brow wrinkled in confusion as he kissed his wife on the cheek in greeting. "I thought you girls liked that movie! The only folks who hate it are whiny little fanboys and the 30-Something Gang!"
"That's not true, Daddy," Rory chuckled.
"You and your mom wouldn't shut up about purple-haired Laura Dern and how badass she was!"
"Purple hair is part of the appeal, my friend," Lorelai plucked a fry from the Luke's bag her husband had brought home. "But for every purple-haired Laura Dern, there is a Luke being disrespected."
"You have a perfectly good Luke right here; his last name just isn't Skywalker," Luke growled dryly.
"And Reylo is abusive!" Rory crowed from the fridge.
"Oh for the love of God..." Luke groaned.
Lorelai mock-gasped. "Why, husband of mine, don't tell me you ship them!"
"Ship what...? Who?" Luke spluttered, not getting the reference.
"Leave it, Mom, I'll explain it to him later," Rory giggled. "Here," she handed her mother the baby.
"Yeah, shut up and greet your granddaughter," Luke grumbled, as he stomped over to the oven to make his girls dinner. "Jedi... purple hair... Reylo ships..." he muttered under his breath.
