Hey everyone. (: this story takes place in season 6 "I get a Sidekick out of you". I borrow quite some dialogue from this episode and the following ones. Sometimes there are even some references to the revival. I've had this idea for a very long time now, and I finally managed to write it, so I'm very excited to share it with you. Also, I hope no one's mad that I'm posting this new story, instead of updating "First Year of Marriage". Have fun and enjoy the read.


Chapter 1: Once In A Lifetime

"You have to come to the wedding!" A voice raged on the other side of Luke's phone. He didn't recognize the number, but the area code was his hometown. Maybe, it was an emergency. He had to pick up, just to be safe.

He also had to pick up after he had embarrassed himself in front of the entire group of April's class. The ringing phone had interrupted a tour and all the kids had glared at him because he did not know how to behave at a cultural site. April glared at him for a moment too, but then rolled her eyes and turned away, bringing a hand to her head.

It was the best idea to excuse himself for a moment and just take the call, which had so rudely interrupted the tour. Around a corner, he found a quiet place and he was finally able to answer the call. On the other end, there was an angry voice, giving him orders over the phone. He had not expected that kind of call. It was not an emergency, at least not to him.

"Who is this?" Luke managed to say when the voice took a small pause to catch its breath.

"This is Mrs. Kim, Lane Kim's mother, your employee," she explained, to which Luke rolled his eyes. He was so grateful video calling was not a thing yet. The glare of Mrs. Kim would have given him for rolling his eyes was probably more terrifying than the kids' ones.

"Oh. I'm sorry. But I can't come to the wedding. Didn't Lorelai tell you? I'm out of town," he said, switching right back into topic.

"Out of town for the wedding of my daughter, who is also your employee?" Mrs. Kim laid emphasis on that fact again and Luke didn't understand why she did that. He knew who was working for him.

"Yes, I'm with my daughter," he said, laying emphasis on that. Mrs. Kim was not the only who could play the daughter-card. "I'm escorting her on a school trip."

"The only one you should be escorting at the moment is your fiancée."

"Lorelai is her own woman," he argued.

"Not at a wedding. You know what they say about single women of a certain age at a wedding, who dress like Lorelai?"

"No," Luke's voice trailed off. He frowned. He had no clue where Mrs. Kim was heading with this.

"That she's a tramp and possibly, up for sale," she said, her voice sounding dry. She was not joking.

Luke's frown deepened. He had no clue how to respond to that, so Mrs. Kim would be pleased but at the same, telling her this was ridiculous. "If anyone's approaching Lorelai, I'm sure she'll have a comeback for that. She can handle herself very well."

"She shouldn't need to handle herself. You should be there to escort her," Mrs. Kim insisted nevertheless, not considering his arguments.

"I'm with my daughter, I won't be home for another two days."

"You can't come home a day early? I'm sure there are plenty of other parents, who can chaperone on the school trip."

"I-" Luke wanted to argue back, but Mrs. Kim carried on, "My daughter is getting married, are you aware of that? That's a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

"I know. I've been there when she got engaged."

"How would you? They got engaged right in front of me."

Luke bit his tongue. Mrs. Kim did not know about the engagement in the diner. But Mrs. Kim kept on speaking, not dwelling on this, which was to Luke's luck.

"Anyway, my daughter's wedding is only once and she deserves everything she wants. And she wants you there. You play a significant role in her life, not just because you're engaged to her best friend's mother. You are her employer, you see her every day. You can't miss the wedding. It's not negotiable."

"Mrs. Kim," Luke argued, but it fell on death ears.

"Lane is getting married and I want that day to be perfect. You being there is one of the many puzzle pieces to make it to perfection. Are we clear?"

Luke sighed. How was he supposed to argue with that? "Mrs. Kim," he said, but the way said was not strong enough, she overheard him again and was not taking his objections in.

"I see you tomorrow," she said and then she hung up on him.

A deep sigh escaped him. He closed his flip-phone, putting it back to his pocket and then brought a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing over it.

Mrs. Kim had ordered him to come to the wedding, no negotiations possible. She would be furious if he wouldn't show up. And if he did not want anyone's hate on him then it was Mrs. Kim's. She was unpredictable, and like a little tyrant when it came to the wedding.

Coming to the wedding, also meant he had to find a way to get to Stars Hollow a day earlier than expected. He had to be at the wedding, no matter what, but he had no clue how to pull that off. It was a whole other subject and it left him rubbing his neck nervously for the rest of the tour when he finally joined the kids and the other parents again.

April avoided his gaze when he came back, and he felt a lump forming in his throat. He had to talk to April when he wanted to leave the school trip earlier. There was no way around it. When she was not onboard with this, he could not leave. And while Mrs. Kim's orders needed to be followed, he could not leave his daughter disappointed. Not when they only were slowly forming a relationship.

He approached April after the tour when there was a little time to relax. He took her aside, and asked, "Hey, so this trip was fun. Wasn't it?"

"Yes," April said, raising an eyebrow at him. She picked up on the weirdness of the situation. It was a weird opening of a conversation. Luke decided it was best to get it straight out, without further ado.

"So, you know, there's a wedding coming up in Stars Hollow tomorrow, and I sort of need to go there," Luke said; his voice sometimes sounding a little shaky, after all, he was not sure how April would react to the news he had to deliver. "Only if it's okay with you. I mean, if you're not, I'm staying here, but my presence is demanded."

"Oh," April said, looking down at her shoes. When she finally looked up again, she asked, "Whose wedding is it?"

"Lane. You know, my employee."

"I know who Lane is, Luke," she said, rolling her eyes, just like he had done when Mrs. Kim assumed he had no clue who Lane was. "I had no idea she was getting married."

"Yes, to Zach. That's her band mate."

"Cool."

"So, you would be fine when I left the trip tomorrow morning instead of the day after tomorrow? Lane was not as cool about me being absent as I thought she would be. It's a once-in-a-lifetime event after all." Luke tried to argue the same way Mrs. Kim had done.

It seemed to work, April shifted back and forth on her feet. "I guess." She shrugged. "I mean, the main event of the trip is over anyway, and the rest is just extra."

"Are you sure?" He wanted her to be okay with his decision. He was still learning the ins and outs of being a parent and he wanted to avoid making her mad at him at all costs.

"Have you asked the other parents yet? Is it okay with them?" She asked.

"I wanted to ask you first." He was hoping she would get that her opinion mattered the most to him.

"Very considerate," April noted.

"So, you're fine? If you're not, I'll just tell Lane."

"No, you should go there," April said. "She's your employee, an important employee, and a nice person. It would not be right if you couldn't go."

"You're sure?" Again, he wanted to make sure she was not just saying this to please him.

"Yes, dad." She smiled at him.

By the use of dad instead of Luke, he instantly knew she was serious. Luke had no other choice than to draw her into an embrace. He had such an understanding young daughter. "Thanks, kiddo," he said.

For a second, she was hugging him back, but then she pushed him away. "It's alright, the others are watching," she said. It had slipped his mind that she had to act cool in front of the rest of the group.

April's understanding had surprised him. She had taken it very well. She was definitely an approving young girl, who was more understanding than most people he knew in his life. He was very proud of her in this moment, and at a later time, he would tell her that. Maybe when they were in private and she wouldn't feel embarrassed so easily.

After April's approval, all that was left for Luke was to speak to the other parents. He approached them in the evening and explained his situation, going into the details about the very special circumstances and the fierceness of the mother of the bride, who had ordered his presence for the sake of Lorelai not being called a tramp.

"How long have you been engaged to your fiancée?" One of the women asked after Luke had explained his situation.

"About a year," Luke answered, doing the math quickly in his head.

"When's the big day then?" She asked.

"We don't have a date yet."

"But you've been engaged a year," the woman pointed out.

"It's complicated. We had a date, and then April found me, so we decided to postpone."

"Postpone to?"

"To later." Luke shrugged.

"Do I get this right? You let your fiancée go to a wedding of a twenty-one-year-old all by herself when the two of you haven't set a new date yet?" Luke nodded to her summary. "That is horrible. You can't do that to her. She'll feel humiliated, sad, and probably devastated without you there. At least, that's what I would feel like," she exclaimed.

The other parents backed her up and enlightened why Luke needed to go to the wedding. Not because the bride wanted him there, or the mother of the bride demanded of all women to come escorted. The parents told him all about how Lorelai was supposedly feeling in such a situation.

Luke sighed deeply when he was in his room, letting the day and its events sink in. How could he not know about all of this? How could he miss that Lorelai was miserable with the whole situation but for most with the wedding situation? On the phone, she seemed fine. She always was fine.

When he left in the morning, he was uneasy. He didn't know what to expect once he was back in Stars Hollow. Even April picked up on his nervousness when they said their goodbyes.

"It will be alright," she told him.

"What?" He had no clue what she was referring to.

"You know, with your fiancée." One of her shoulders jerked up for a second.

"How do you know about this?" He never mentioned his problems with Lorelai to April.

"I overheard you talking with the other parents." She looked over her shoulder where the others were standing and waiting for them to say their goodbyes.

"Of course, you did," Luke sighed. This was not the kind of things a kid should be worrying about or even think about. "You're still okay with me leaving?"

"Sure."

"April." He knew that tone of hers. He was introduced to it on this trip. There was something else on her mind and Luke prompted her to spit it out.

"Once I'm back, I'll meet your fiancée, right? I mean, I know her daughter, so I sort of have an imagination what she must look like, but it's not the same. I want to see her in person." April was clear about her intentions, asking things from Luke, which had never crossed his mind.

"You have met her. Back in January, I think." The day was clearly marked in his mind. The way Lorelai looked at him with her eyes filled with hurt and betrayal was a lot to handle. The situation was overwhelming; it still was at times now.

"I remember some very blue eyes, but it was not very long. And it was not official if I can't remember more of it," April argued back.

"I didn't know you were interested in getting to know her." Not once had he heard her saying so.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I mean, you didn't show much interest when we met her daughter in Philly," he argued. April seemed distracted in Philadelphia at Jess's place.

"Because there was so much going on there. I figured I would see her sometime soon again. The art I could only look at that evening," she explained in a voice, which sounded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Alright. I didn't know you wanted to meet them."

"Next time, you could ask before making assumptions." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and was also raising an eyebrow, so it would peek out under her pair of glasses.

"Okay." Luke gulped, taking a moment to wrap his head around this. April had not asked him to meet Lorelai; she had demanded to meet her. "You'll meet Lorelai and Rory once you're back."

"Maybe for my birthday since that's coming up. Two things at one sweep; it would be more efficient," April suggested, opening her hands up in a gesture.

"And efficiency is what we all want," Luke concurred.

"Exactly." April nodded her head enthusiastically. "So, I guess I'll see you soon. Give Lane my best wishes. That's what you're ought to say to the bride, isn't it? It's been ages since my last wedding. I can't remember if I was able to speak in compound sentences back then."

"I'm sure you could."

"Anyway, thanks for coming." She smiled up at him.

"It was my pleasure," Luke said. "Am I allowed to hug you?"

"Only if it's quick."

"Come here," Luke said, taking his daughter in his arms. "Thanks for being so cool about all of this. I'll make it up to you once you're back."

"That's okay," she said once Luke let go of her. Her head jerked over her shoulder to see the other's reaction.

"I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Enjoy the rest of the trip," he said and then looked back to the other kids, waving at them. They waved back at him, exclaiming, "Bye, Hagrid!"

That name was another thing he needed to ask Lorelai about, but not before they had discussed all the things, which had been on his mind ever since he had talked to Mrs. Kim yesterday.

He was on his way back to Stars Hollow, a day earlier than expected and even though the place he was headed to was home he was nervous. He had no clue what to expect. Especially, when Lorelai really felt the way the other mother had told him so. Maybe Lorelai felt devastated, maybe she was sad going to the wedding without him. Maybe it bothered her that a twenty-one-year-old was getting married before them, even though they had been engaged longer than them, hell they had been even longer in a relationship than Lane and Zach.

Putting it like this, it had to bother Lorelai. Of course, it bothered her. There had been no talks about their wedding in weeks. And suddenly, he remembered what she had told him on Martha's Vineyard, that to her it felt like the wedding would not happen. If he had a word to say in this too, that would not happen. He had waited too long for her to be ready; he would not give up on her so easily. He was ready to do whatever it took to make her happy again. He had neglected to do so long enough. Today, it would come to an end.


Thanks for reading. This was it for now and I hope you enjoyed it. Luke not being at Lane's wedding still seems not right to me after all these years, especially since he was there to witness her engagement. It doesn't make any sense. Yes, so I decided to let Mrs. Kim kick his butt a little. It seemed to work. Yay! I will see you for this story very soon, I promise. In the meantime, let me know what you think. (: As always, I wish you a nice rest of the weekend or just good start into the new week - depending on when you read this. xxx