Just so you know, I wrote this whole thing at work today since it's smut-free. Don't think I am ignoring the other story! I just can't write that stuff at work!
A Post-Valentine Tradition
"I've almost done," Sookie informed Lorelai as she walked into the kitchen. "I just have to drizzle a little bit of chocolate on the cheesecake and that's it." She dipped a small ladle into a small pot of melted chocolate and expertly dribbled out a pattern on the cheesecake.
"Have I told you how much I appreciate you doing this for me?" Lorelai asked. "Sookie, with planning a special dinner with Jackson, taking the time to help out your culinarily-challenged best friend is way above and beyond the call of duty."
"I'm happy to do it," Sookie replied setting the ladle back in the pot. She turned to Lorelai. "I'm just so excited that you two are a couple again!" she gushed.
"Me, too," Lorelai agreed. "And even though Valentine's Day is not Luke's thing, I want to make out first one back together special."
"Well this dinner should do it," Sookie nodded. She began putting the meal in a container for transport.
"I also got him a bouquet of tools," Lorelai added. "His other ones he keeps in Bert are so old and ugly-looking."
Sookie laughed. "Can tools go bad?" She finished packing up the dinner and started on the cheesecake.
Lorelai shrugged, "I don't know but Luke's getting some nice new shiny tools tonight."
"Dirty!" Sookie squealed giggling. "Okay," she instructed as she placed the containers in a bag. "The cheesecake, keep it in the refrigerator, so that's easy. The seafood, when you get home, put it in a pot and bring it to a low boil for five minutes until it's heated through. Do you want me to write it down?"
"No, I've got it," Lorelai assured her. She looked at the clock and quickly gathered up the food. "I just have enough time to get home, get ready and then get some," she said wickedly.
Sookie chuckled and called after her departing figure. "Have fun!"
Lorelai poked around her kitchen, looking for the appropriate pot to warm up dinner. She had already put the cheesecake in the refrigerator and checked to see that the wine and beer was properly chilled. Finding a pot big enough she transferred Sookie's seafood creation into the pot and set it on the burner. As she reached for the knob to turn on the heat, she felt Paul Anka, rub up against her leg, growing impatient for her to notice him.
"Sorry Paul Anka," Lorelai apologized turning the burner on without looking. "We'll have to have quality time later. I've got to get ready."
Lorelai flew up the stairs stripping off her clothes as she went. She tossed them on the bed and hurriedly grabbed her robe before heading into the bathroom and jumping in the shower. She lathered herself up and as she moved to rinse off she slipped. Twisting to catch herself, she prevented herself from falling but in the process her head ducked under the spray.
Grumbling to herself she finished rinsing off and got out of the shower, now having to take more time to fix her hair again. She dried off, realizing she would have to squeeze in re-doing her hair. When she returned to the bedroom to dress, she was further frustrated when she put a runner in her stockings.
"Gah!" she exclaimed scurrying to get another pair. Suddenly it seemed like she could do nothing right.
She was about to re-enter the bathroom when she sniffed the air, trying to figure out an unusual smell that wafted to her.
"Oh no!" She rushed down the stairs into the kitchen where the odor was much stronger and more pungent, smelling of something burning. She stepped over Paul Anka to get to the stove.
"No!" she cried moving the now viciously bubbling noxious concoction to a cold burner. She glared at the temperature setting which was set to high instead of low. Dinner had bubbled over the sides into a gooey mess. She peered into the pot, seeing that the well-blended mixture had now separated into unidentifiable levels of sauce, with little burnt pieces floating up from the bottom of the pot, looking totally unappetizing.
"Great,' she muttered. "What else can go wrong?"
"Lorelai?" Luke called as he opened the door. "I'm home."
Lorelai stamped her foot in irritation. Ask a stupid question, she thought. This is perfect, she thought, just perfect. "In here," she called dejectedly.
Luke cautiously entered the kitchen suspiciously sniffing the air. When he caught sight of her he paused taking in the scene. He took in her hastily donned clothes and bedraggled hair.
"What did you do?" he asked incredulously as he eyed the congealed mess on the stove.
"I was trying to have a nice dinner ready for you on Valentine's Day," Lorelai pouted, extremely upset. "Nothing has gone right since I got home! My hair is a wreck and the dinner is burned! And I didn't get everything set up! The Valentine gods are out to get me!"
"The Valentine gods are not out to get you," he replied absently. He indicated the disaster on the stove. "What was that?"
Lorelai winced at the past tense. "Seafood in White Wine Sauce," she replied petulantly. "Sookie made it. It had lobster in it and everything."
"You didn't have to go to any trouble," Luke said.
"I know," she moped, "but I thought it would be nice. This is our first one since we got back together."
"Well I appreciate the effort," he offered, trying to be placating. "So what else did you plan?" he asked hoping to perk her up.
"I have a dessert and a present and everything." She opened the refrigerator and pulled out the cheesecake. "See?"
As she turned towards him with the dessert, Paul Anka suddenly got up and lumbered into her path.
"Be careful!" He jumped forward as she stumbled over the dog. As she struggled to regain her balance the cheesecake slid off the platter and with a wet flop came to rest on the floor.
"No, No, NO!" she screamed in frustration. Paul Anka, who had sniffed the treat and began nibbling on it appreciatively, skittered away to hide.
"Its okay," he assured her, "Let me take care of this," Luke offered as he quickly cleaned up the amorphous blob on the floor.
Lorelai stood staring at him morosely tears of defeat forming in her eyes. "Man talk about bad karma. Nothing's gone like I planned."
"Lorelai really it's alright," Luke comforted her as he took her into his arms and she buried her face in his chest. "You get an A for effort here. I don't want you to get overly upset over this. I'm happy just to spend time with you, Valentine's Day or any day." He lifted her chin and looked deeply into her eyes. "C'mon," he coaxed, "let's go into the living room and relax. I'll clean the rest of this up later."
Luke guided her to the couch but before he sat her down she stepped away from him. "Wait, I have one more thing," she told him. She hurried to the hall closet and rummaged around in it. She grabbed the tools she had bunched together and tied with a red ribbon.
"Here," she said walking back toward him holding the unwieldy shape with both hands, "instead of flowers I got you a bouquet of tools for you and Bert."
The words had just left her mouth when the tools shifted in her grip and a wrench slipped out of the middle.
"Ow!" Lorelai shrieked and the tool hit her foot with a glancing blow.
"Lorelai!" Luke leapt to her side and caught her as she swayed. He grabbed the tools and set them on the desk. She leaned against him has she rubbed her foot.
"Okay, that's it, I'm done! They win!" she gritted out through clenched teeth. Luke bent and swept her up off her feet and carried her to the couch.
"Stay there," he ordered afraid of what else might happen. "Don't move, don't blink, don't even breathe!" He had seen enough of this ridiculous streak of bad luck to have it go on.
Lorelai alternated between pouting and sneaking looks at her foot to see how bad the damage was. A few minutes later, Luke returned with an ice bag.
"Here," he picked up her foot and ease the shoe off and put a pillow down on the couch before lowering her foot once again. He carefully placed the ice bag on her foot. He sat on the edge of the couch, examining her foot.
"There's no bruising, just a lump, I think you caught a break here," he said meeting her gaze.
She glowered at him and he had the grace to reply sheepishly, "Sorry, poor choice of words. I think if we just keep it elevated and keep the ice on it, it will be fine."
"Swell," she snapped.
Luke moved up the couch so he was closer to her head rather than her foot. "Again I thank you for your effort and the tools are great but you didn't have to do this. You know I am not big on this holiday."
"But I am," she whined, "and I wanted it to be special."
Luke cupped her chin in his hand. "It IS special. Every day with you is special, don't you get that yet? I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world to have someone as amazing as you who loves me."
He knew he was charming out of her melancholia when he saw one corner of her mouth lift up in a half-smile. "Keep talkin," she urged him.
He chuckled knowing he would get her back to her normal effervescent self but still he felt bad about the run of rotten luck that crushed her at every turn. "I will," he promised. "Let me clean up the mess first. I'll let you order pizza and I'll get the beer and the wine I saw in the fridge and I'll spend the whole evening singing your praises. I'll make it up to you I promise."
She smiled at him and batted her eyes at him, "You're pretty," she chanted as he stood up. "Hurry back."
The following night, Lorelai sat at her parents' dinner table listening to her mother go on and on about the diamond watch her father had presented to her on Valentine's Day.
"It was so unexpected and so lovely," Emily said enthusiastically. "Tweenie Halpern was positively green with jealousy!"
Lorelai nodded, pushing her food around on her plate. Even though she and Luke had a wonderful time on the couch, she still couldn't help but bemoan the ruthless destruction of her perfect evening.
"So Lorelai," Emily continued, noticing how quiet she was, "what did Luke get you for Valentine's Day?"
"Uh, Luke isn't really that much into Valentine's Day," she replied meekly.
"Oh my, that simply won't do," Richard piped up. "It's only proper to show the depth of your affection to your lady love." He and Emily exchanged loving glances.
Lorelai continued to shove her food around her plate, not eating a bite and Emily frowned as she contemplated her daughter. "I thought Luke was joining us tonight," she commented.
Lorelai hunched over her plate, another sore subject brought to light for her. Luke had called her in the middle of the day, backing out of dinner because he had to unexpectedly cover for Cesar who usually closed now that they were a couple again. She was a little put-out that he let her come up here alone. "He had to work Mom. It was a last minute thing."
"Oh," Emily wasn't sure if she should comment further. In the time since Rory's graduation, Luke had attended practically ever dinner. After seeing how happy they were together, Emily conceded that they were meant to be together and, by her lack of tormenting Luke, pretty much gave them her blessing.
Lorelai suffered through the rest of the evening and made her excuses as soon as she could. While Friday Night dinner hadn't been too terrible, she still brooded down about the previous day's debacle. Even though they had a nice time cuddling on the couch and her foot healed up overnight she couldn't help but be down about it, all things considered.
She parked the car across from the diner, hoping she could con Luke into a late night double cheeseburger. As she entered the diner, Cesar popped his head out of the kitchen.
"Where's Luke?" Lorelai asked.
"I thought he was out with you," Cesar answered confused.
Lorelai's spirits fell even further. He was lying to her now? "I'm going to check to see if he's upstairs," she said ducking behind the curtain. She pounded up the steps and let herself into the darkened apartment. He was not there.
Lorelai plodded down the steps totally depressed now. She absently waved her hand at Cesar as he addressed her when she reappeared in the diner. She made a beeline for the door wanting nothing more than to go home, curl up and have a good cry.
She drove home absorbed with her own thoughts and opened the door to the house without paying attention to what she was doing.
She took two steps into the house when she stopped and sniffed the air. Something smelled heavenly and her stomach rumbled appreciatively. She set her purse and keys down on the desk and tentatively ventured towards the kitchen.
Luke was just lighting the candles as she peeked in. "Hey," he greeted her. "Perfect timing."
"How did you know when I would be home?" she asked curiously. She noted he was wearing a nice sweater and slacks, no baseball cap or flannel in sight.
"Cesar called me as soon as you left," he admitted.
"What is all this?" Her eyes took in the beautifully-set table.
"Seafood in White Wine Sauce," he told her, lifting the lid of the serving dish. "I have vegetables, which I won't force you to eat," he moved over to the refrigerator and opened it. "For dessert, we have cheesecake with a chocolate topping," he showed her the cheesecake that was drenched in chocolate topping save for one small piece—his piece. "I called Sookie and asked her what the menu was for last night and reproduced it. We can start a new tradition of celebrating after Valentine's Day. Seems safer that way."
Lorelai narrowed her eyes at his reminder of her disastrous attempt at a romantic dinner.
"And here," he indicated the counter next to the sink, "Are the bouquets.
Lorelai laughed as she saw her tool bouquet standing up in a shiny little metal bucket, sitting next to a lovely mixed bouquet of flowers in her Betty Boop vase. Stargazer lilies, roses, even a few daisies peeked out at her.
"What did you do?" she asked him as she hugged him.
"Just a little 'do-over' for Valentine's Day," he replied giving her a soft peck on the lips.
She gave him a tender smile, her eyes full of confusion, "But this holiday isn't your thing," she reminded him.
"But it is YOUR thing," he emphasized. "So it can be my thing." At her look of astonishment he went on, "I felt bad about everything that went wrong yesterday. There is too much pressure to on that one day that couples have to prove the depths of their devotion. I just wanted to show you how much your efforts were appreciated."
Paul Anka suddenly barked almost as if on cue. "Oh I almost forgot," he turned towards the dog who was sitting in the doorway of Rory's room. Lorelai laughed as the contrite-looking dog padded forward. He sat down at their feet and lowered his head. Lorelai looked confused until she noted something tied to his collar. She leaned over and untied a slim velvet box.
"What's this?" she asked curiously. "Oh my god! I guilted you into buying my something for Valentine's Day!" She opened the box to reveal and diamond bracelet.
"You didn't guilt me into anything," he replied. "I actually had this yesterday but after I saw how things were going, I figured I hold off and save it for today." He removed the bracelet from the box and put it on her wrist."
"Thank you, I love it," she said as she kissed him. "And everything is perfect. I think the Valentine gods are smiling on us tonight even if it isn't Valentine's Day."
"Like I said, too much pressure," Luke pointed out. "I think we should celebrate on the fifteenth every year from here on out. What do you think?"
"It sounds good to me," Lorelai agreed. She allowed him to seat her. "You are too good to me. I guess I'll have to forgive you for lying to me about tonight. I was pretty angry."
"A little white lie," he explained. "It was always my intention to tell you immediately. I just needed time to set everything up to make it right for you."
"Of course, you do know you are so getting lucky later," her mouth watering at the sight of the delectable food.
"All part of my nefarious plan," he laughed as he poured out the wine.
"Happy Valentine's Day," Lorelai toasted.
"Happy new tradition," Luke replied, clinking her glass.
The End