Later that night as Luke swept the diner, his cell phone started ringing. He stops sweeping and walks behind the counter, where the phone is sitting. He picks it up and answers it.
"Hello?"
"Hey. It's me, are you coming over soon?" Lorelai replies.
"Yeah, I'm just finishing cleaning up and then I'll lock up and head over." Luke tells her.
"Okay. See you soon." Lorelai says and she hangs up.
Luke hangs up the phone and slips it in his pocket. He goes back to sweeping and finishes in about ten minutes then locks up and leaves.
When he gets to Lorelai's house, he doesn't knock, he just walks in. He finds Lorelai sitting on the couch, watching T.V. When he enters the room, Lorelai turns off the T.V.
"Hey. Sit down." Lorelai tells him, her tone serious.
Luke walks over and sits down next to her. He looks at her, waits for her to speak.
Lorelai takes a deep breath. She feels tears start to well up in her eyes.
Luke looks at her face, "Hey, are you okay? ... Did something happen to Rory?" He asks, clearly worried.
"Um, no Rory's fine. Actually, let's start with that. Rory told me that she met April in Philadelphia." Lorelai glances at him and sees his face change, he looks stricken.
"Oh, uh, yeah she did. It was kind of just a fluke. I didn't know Rory would be there. She was there for Jess." Luke says quickly.
"Yeah, Rory told me it was a crazy coincidence. I guess you had to introduce her or it would be awkward, right? I mean, Rory is going to be her stepsister, so it's only right they should meet. Even if she can't be properly introduced to her future stepmother," Lorelai replies, she tries not to sound too angry.
Luke takes a few seconds to answer, "Um, well… I just haven't had the time to do that. I was just on that trip with her and now she's back with Anna of course." He mumbles and his eyes dart around the room.
"That's a sorry excuse if I've ever heard one, Luke. You've known April for months! And I didn't even know she existed until two months after you found out! I want to get to know her Luke!" Lorelai tells him, raising her voice a little. She won't let him change the subject or try to drop the conversation.
"Okay, fine. You really want to know why I haven't gotten you involved with her?" Luke responds and Lorelai nods. "As soon as you two properly get to know each other, it will all be over for me."
"What?" Lorelai replies, confused,
"April will love you, just like everyone else does. You two will bond over girl things and I'll be left in the dust, she'll want to spend all her time with you and I'll never get to really bond with her." Luke looks right at her, an uneasy look on his face.
Lorelai's brow furrows and she thinks for a few seconds before replying, "Luke, that's crazy. You're her dad; she obviously wants to spend time with you. I wouldn't want to take away her time with you."
"Yeah, I'm her dad and I want to spend some time getting to know her before I introduce her to people. I'm still getting used to the fact that I have a daughter. I want to spend some time alone with her so we can form a proper relationship. I thought you understood that." Luke says a bit angrily.
"Yes, well I thought you just didn't want the town to watch you through the window. I didn't think that you would keep me away from her. Luke, I don't like this. I feel like you've been pushing me away and that isn't right. I should be able to get to know April before we get married." She says the last part in a low voice.
Luke sighs, "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you or make you feel left out. I just get too focused on one thing and I forget about others. I'd just prefer to spend time with April alone. I want you to get to know her too, just not right now."
Lorelai throws her hands up dramatically, "Well when, Luke? When can I get to know her? When we've been married for a year? When hell freezes over?!"
"Lorelai, I need time alone with her because I missed out on over twelve years of her life! Twelve years! I need to make up for those years!" Luke say feeling frustrated already.
"But, you didn't even know she existed for those twelve years! And that isn't your fault, Luke, its Anna's!
"Yeah, it's partly Anna's fault, but it's also mine. She felt like she couldn't tell me she was pregnant because she thought I hated kids. I regret saying whatever I said and doing whatever I did to make her feel that way. I wish I could have seen April grow up." Luke says slowly.
Lorelai shakes her head, "No. Anna should have known that you'd want to be a part of your own kid's life. Sure, you hate jam hands and what not, but it wasn't right of Anna to keep April's existence from you. I know that you would be the best father you could be. You're a kind, caring and reliable person, Luke. I can see how much you care for Rory and it's one of the things I love most about you. I just hate that you didn't get to see your kid grow up. You deserved that so much." She feels tears fall down her cheek.
Luke looks down; he doesn't know what to say. He takes a minute to think. "Then you understand that I want to be a responsible father. I want her to like me and I think we need some time to bond and try to form a good relationship." He stops and glances at her.
"I do understand that, but how much time, Luke? You've had months! I think she likes you, otherwise she wouldn't want to visit you." Lorelai's anger starts bubbling up again.
"I don't know how much time." Luke admits.
"But Luke, we're supposed to be planning our wedding. Remember you told me we could elope. You told me that at Martha's Vineyard months ago and we haven't talked about it since."
"I know and I'm sorry we haven't. But I just feel like I need to focus on April for now." Luke replies and he reaches out to touch her knee, but Lorelai moves back.
"But I'm sick of waiting, Luke. I'm sick of feeling upset every night because you're not here or it feels like you don't want to marry me anymore. You have to figure out how April fits into our lives, not just yours. We're supposed to be blending our lives together!"
Luke frowns, "You were the one who offered to postpone the wedding, and you said you were okay with it."
Lorelai scowls, "Because I thought we would set a new date sooner rather than later! I want to marry you, Luke! I'm ready… but apparently you aren't." She gets up and walks across the room.
Luke follows her and stands behind her. She faces away from him. "Lorelai, please try to understand… I still want to marry you, I just feel like I need to make April a priority right now. That doesn't mean that you're not important anymore."
"Okay, but if you're not ready to set a wedding date then, maybe we should spend some time apart while you get to know April better." Lorelai says flatly. She doesn't turn to face him.
"What, no, Lorelai, that's not what I want." Luke steps closer to her and puts a hand on her shoulder.
Lorelai's shoulders start to shake as she tries to hold back a sob. Luke doesn't remove his hand "I don't really want that either, but it seems like it's the right thing to do." She finally turns around to face him.
"I don't want to feel left out anymore and you don't want me to be involved yet. You should figure out some things alone, without me. I want us to work, Luke and I…" She sighs "want you to be able to tell me anything and let me in. And I think you need some more time to adjust to being a father and time to figure out how to blend both parts of your life together. We need to take a break." She tells him. She won't meet his eyes because it hurts too much.
Luke stares at her, he is dumbfounded. He truly didn't know that she was so hurt by his actions. He was too wrapped up in April and he thought Lorelai would wait patiently for him to come to terms with being a father. He watches her as she wraps her right hand around her left and slowly takes off her engagement ring. She holds her hand out to him, wanting him to take the ring.
"Take it, and give it back to me when you feel like you're ready to set a date, Luke. I don't want to wait around anymore, I'm done." She says, her voice a bit shaky.
Luke looks at her face and sees tears fall down it. He lets out a shaky breath and reaches out to wipe her tears with his thumbs. Lorelai doesn't step away, she lets him comfort her. He wraps one arm around her and rubs her back a little. Lorelai keeps the ring in her closed fist.
"Does this mean we aren't engaged anymore?" Luke whispers.
"I don't know. I think we just both need time apart. Okay?" Lorelai says softly.
"I don't know, but if this is what you want then I'll have to accept it. I guess I do need time to sort out everything." He admits.
Lorelai pulls away from him. She doesn't know what else to say. She grabs his hand and slips the ring into it. Luke gasps. He doesn't want to believe that what's happening is happening. But as he thinks, he starts to see that Lorelai is right. Maybe it would be best if they spend some time apart.
Luke holds the ring tightly and wraps his other arm around Lorelai again and pulls her into him. "I still love you." He says softly.
"I know." Lorelai says simply and she returns his hug, wraps her arms around his upper back. Luke kisses the top of her head before he pulls away. He glances at Lorelai one last time before he walks away. Lorelai can tell he's hurt, but she knows she said what needed to be said. She stands still as she listens to his footsteps get farther and farther away and the sound of the door opening and Luke leaving.
Lorelai stands their silently for another minute before she walks over to the phone and dials a number and waits.
"Hello?... Mom?" Rory answers after the third ring.
"Hi, hon. Can you… maybe come over here, I need you right now."
"Sure. I'll be there as soon as I can. What's wrong? You sound upset."
"It's about Luke." Lorelai says simply.
"Okay. I'll be on my way soon, Mom." Rory doesn't ask what happened; she just knows she needs to get back to Stars Hollow to be by her mother's side as soon as possible.
"All right, thanks. Drive safe."
"I will. Bye, Mom."
"Bye." Lorelai hangs up the phone and sits down and cries silently.
Author's note: I didn't really mean for this chapter to be this long, but here it is. Please feel free to leave a review. Thanks for reading.