Author's Note: I am in no way associated with ASP, the WB, Dorothy Park Drank Here, etc. This is for entertainment purposes only. Please R/R. Enjoy.

A House is not a Home

Chapter 1:

The other three B's

"Okay, let's see," Lorelai sighed as she went over her list and added up her numbers on the mini calculator she kept in her purse. "That's 81 minutes for 'From Justin to Kelly' and 90 minutes for 'Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen'. When added to all of the horrible 90's, 80's, and 70's movies, I have officially wasted 3,527 minutes on horrible movies which translates into 58.78 hours of my life!"

"Did you figure in the two hours of your life wasted working on this little project?" Rory rolled her eyes as she joined her mother at the dinner table as she ate a handful of Reese's Pieces. "Because then you're nearing 61."

"This is not funny!" Lorelai exclaimed as she picked up the papers and shook them at her daughter. "That is over two and a half days of my life wasted watching bad films. Do you know how many brain cells I have killed? Do you know how many good movies I could have been watching? Do you know how many times I could have watched the Sofia death scene in all that wasted time? How many 'Cop Rock' episodes I could have mocked?"

"Yes, cause the Sofia death scene viewing and 'Cop Rock' would have been a much more productive use of your time," Rory laughed. "Besides, 'From Justin To Kelly' had its moments. That dude calling Guarini "Sideshow Bob" was totally worth the rental."

"True," Lorelai admitted begrudgingly. "I'll deduct a minute or two from that movie," she said as she recalculated. "Ugh! My brain hurts. I need coffee. You feel like a Weston's run?"

"Weston's? Oh, Luke's still out of town?" Rory asked sadly.

"Yep, poor guy," Lorelai sighed as she cleaned up her papers and threw the mini calculator back in her purse. "His cousin and his wife were so young and their poor little girl losing both her parents like that. It's so sad."

"It's awful. I can't even imagine. It has to be rough for her and for Luke," Rory said sadly as she got up from the table and headed towards her bedroom. "Listen, I'm not really in the mood for coffee. I gotta do some laundry before I get head back to Yale."

"Okay, do you know what my daughter saying she is not in the mood for coffee does to me?" Lorelai feigned shock as she put her hand over her heart in dramatic fashion. "That's like saying you no longer require oxygen! Water! Mallomars!"

The buzzing of the dryer saved Rory from her mother's crazy antics as she jumped up and headed for the laundry room. "Whites are done! Bring me back a triple espresso. Wouldn't want to give you a heartache before you've had a chance to leave me all the cute clothes in your will."

"That's my girl!" Lorelai smiled proudly as she grabbed her purse and keys and headed for town.

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As she walked towards Weston's bakery, Lorelai's thoughts quickly traveled to Luke and what he was going through right now. He had never really mentioned him before, but the town gossips couldn't believe the news when the heard what happened to Luke's cousin and wife. Bobby was the same age as Luke; they had grown up in Stars Hollow together and were inseparable. Bobby was the son of Luke's mom's sister, Isabel. Her husband Jake was in sales and when Bobby was 12 he moved the family, including Bobby's younger sister, Hannah, to Boulder. Luke had tried to keep in touch with Bobby over the years, but the calls and letters got more infrequent as they got older. Bobby got married five years ago and he and his wife had a daughter. That made the car accident all the more devastating. Their child had lost both of her parents in a matter of seconds.

When the phone rang at the diner that morning a few weeks ago, Lorelai was in one of her morning spats with Luke over her excessive consumption of coffee. Luke's face had gone from annoyed with her to completely heartbroken in a matter of seconds. She didn't even have time to try and console him before he gave Caesar and Lane instructions on running the dinner in his absence and raced upstairs to pack. She had offered to drive him to the airport, but he had politely declined. She had a feeling he didn't want her to see him so upset, but she wished he'd let her be there to comfort him. That was the last anyone from Stars Hollow had heard from Luke, and the Gilmore girls couldn't help but worry about their beloved coffee supplier.

"Lorelai!" Patty's boisterous voice lifted Lorelai from her thoughts as she walked passed the dance studio. "Are you going to welcome Luke home?"

"He's still in Colorado," Lorelai smiled. "I'm going to Weston's for my fix."

"But I thought I saw his truck pull up a little while ago," Patty said confused.

"Luke's truck?" Lorelai asked as a smile formed on her face. Lorelai looked towards the diner and sure enough, there was the oldest green Chevrolet pickup truck known to man parked right in front.

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"Luke!" Lorelai yelled as she banged on the diner door. There were lights on, but she still couldn't see him through the glass. After a minute or two of incessant knocking, she finally saw him emerge from the curtain behind the counter with an annoyed look on his face.

She studied him for a few moments as he started towards the door. He looked tired, as though he'd aged. It must have been hard for him to lose someone close, but he'd never let on to how hurt he was. He was Luke. He had too much pride and masculinity to ever let someone see him aching. He wouldn't open up and let it out to anyone, he'd just hold it in, but if you knew him well enough, you could see it in his eyes. He'd deal with it on his own terms and she'd let him. After he was done mourning they'd get back to their old routine. She just wished she could have been there for him in the middle like he was always there for her.

"Geez! Would you keep it down!" he scolded as he let her in and then quickly shut and locked the door behind her.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she placed her purse down on the closest table. "I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"I'm fine," he sighed. "It was just a long couple of weeks. I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," she smiled. "Do you want to talk about it or anything? Is there anything I can do?"

"No thanks," he responded grumpily. "I did a lot of talking with my family this week. Ya know, strolls down memory lane, embarrassing stories about my childhood, I've had enough of that sentimental crap to last a lifetime."

"Ya know, you should consider getting a job with Hallmark. I think they could really use a 'screw nostalgia' section," she teased. "Can I at least give you a proper hello or is that too Lifetime movie for you?" she asked extending her arms for a hug.

"Lorelai, can you come upstairs with me?" he asked nervously, as his eyes darted outside around the town.

"Dirty!" she exclaimed with shock as she dropped her arms. "I didn't mean proper in the biblical sense, Luke."

"Does your mind always have to be in the gutter?" he asked as he rolled his eyes. "I want you to come upstairs so I can show you my inheritance."

"Okay, seriously you ask me not to go to a dirty place and then you follow with that line?" she said with a grin.

"Lorelai," he pleaded. "Will you please come and see this?"

She sighed as she studied the serious expression on his face. He obviously wasn't in the mood for joking and that made her all the more curious about what she'd find when they got upstairs.

"Well, since you asked nicely."

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"All right," she said as he opened the door to his apartment and led them inside. "What did you inherit that you couldn't wait until morning to show me?"

"My cousin," he replied somberly.

"Yes, your cousin," she repeated. "What did he leave you?"

"My cousin," he said again in a more firm tone.

"Luke, did you seriously bring me up here to play 'Who's on first?' because if you thi-"

"Lorelai," he interrupted as he pointed in the direction of Jess' old bed. She turned to see what he was gesturing towards and couldn't believe her eyes when she saw a little girl of no more thanfour sleeping soundly. "My cousin left me…"

"Your cousin," she sighed.

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"How old is she?" Lorelai asked as she sat at the counter of the diner and took of a sip of the coffee Luke had just brewed.

"She'll befour in June," he replied as he cleaned out the coffee pot filter.

"What's her name?" she asked trying to find the right things to say, but this situation threw her for a loop. There weren't many times in her life that rendered her speechless, but it had taken a good five minutes for her to grasp on to the fact that Luke Danes had gone from Mr. Loner the diner owner to insta-dad practically overnight.

"Her name is Isabel. She was named after my aunt, Bobby's mom," he explained.

"That's pretty," she smiled and then took a deep breath before asking her next question. "So, Bobby wanted you to have her?"

"Apparently," he sighed. "He wrote a will out right after she was born. Didn't want to take any chances when it came to his family. He was always on top of things like that. He was always responsible, always thinking ahead, always worrying about the people he cared about."

"Runs in the family," she smiled at him as she took another sip of coffee.

Luke felt himself smiling back at her bashfully. He was terrible at accepting compliments, especially from her. She was his confidant. It was nice to have someone to talk to, someone he could trust. He loved this about her. He loved that even though she annoyed him to no end, had absolutely appalling eating habits, and could be immature at times, she was a good friend, and an amazing woman. He should probably tell her that, but he couldn't seem to put the words together around her. He couldn't do a lot of things around her, but this, talking, confiding in her about his new problem, he could do. He thanked God that at least he had her for that.

"Thanks," he replied. "Anyway, Bobby always thought ahead and he decided that if something should happen, I would be the one best suited for taking care of his child. He said I was the most loyal and devoted person he knew. That I would always be there and provide the home she needed. He obviously hadn't heard about what a screw up I was with Jess."

"Luke, don't even go there!" Lorelai exclaimed angrily. "Jess was not your fault! He had problems before he came to you and you did everything you could to turn him around. You did an amazing thing taking him in and you will do an amazing job with Isabel. I know you will. She's lucky to have you."

"Oh yeah, I'll be great with her," he snickered. "What the hell do I know about little girls, Lorelai? I know nothing about Barbie dolls and teddy bears and tiaras and dresses and I don't even want to think about when she is ready to date! Then I have to worry about boys and boys getting out of line and me going to jail for killing the boys that get out of line and her needing a new guardian because I am in jail for killing the boys that get out of line and well, you get the picture."

Lorelai couldn't help but smile at him as he ranted. She knew he was right, he would be completely clueless about all of the things he was going on and on about. He was a man's man. Baseball, boats and beer he could handle. The other three B's: Barbie's, boyfriends and ballerinas, were a whole other story.

"You like tea, right?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Well, you could have tea parties with her and the Barbie's and the teddy bears who will probably be sporting tiaras. You could have her introduce you to all of them and bond over some oolong. I don't think you have to worry about the boys and the killing and the jail for at least 10 years. Baby steps," she teased.

"Baby steps," he repeated as he looked at her amused expression. "This whole thing is going to give you so much ammo, isn't it?"

"Oh, absolutely!" she exclaimed with a huge grin. "Luke Danes, Red Sox fan and sports buff, is going to have to trade in baseball cards for tutu's and Teletubbies. I can't wait to see that! There will be no more Patriots games for you, pal. It's going to be all Elmo, all the time."

"Seriously, Lorelai," he said sighing. "How am I going to take care of a little girl?"

"Hello! Look who you are talking to!" she said confidently. "I may annoy you with my eating habits and abnormal amounts of coffee drinking, but you have to admit I did a pretty good job raising a little girl once upon a time."

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone do a better job," he smiled.

Now it was her turn to be bashful. It was so unlike Luke to give a compliment like that, which is why it meant a lot to her. He was her best friend in the world and his opinion was one of the few that actually mattered to her.

"So, does that mean you'll let me help?" she asked hopefully.

"I'd really appreciate that. Thank you," he said as he cleared her now empty coffee mug from the counter.

"Okay then," she replied as she got up from her stool and grabbed her purse. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"You bet," he nodded.

"'Night, Luke," she said as she slung her purse over her shoulder and headed towards the door.

"'Night," he replied. "Hey Lorelai?"

"Yes?"

"What the hell is a Teletubbie?"

To be continued...