April 26 1988
William's Hardware

It was a normal Friday in the Hollow, the town square was relatively quiet as all the town's children were still in school at this early hour. Luke busied himself in the front of the store doing odd jobs like ringing up the occasional customer, facing and shelving inventory, as well as sweeping up. To any normal person, it would look like he was simply focused on the task at hand, but in reality he was watching Doose in the neighboring grocery store thanks to the large picture windows of the diner and grocery. It was nearing noon which meant that his dad was likely to be leaving on his normal mid-day stroll.

Luke never could figure out where the man went on his half hour lunch break, but knew he had to be stopping somewhere as he never took food with him. Right on schedule the older Danes man walked by, but this time he had rolls of beige wallpaper that had little pink and red roses printed on them cradled in his left arm. In his right, the man held a bucket with paste and wallpapering supplies. "I'm off to the Independence Inn." The man told him as he headed towards the door. "Got a delivery to make."

"Mia ordered only enough wallpaper to cover one room?" Luke asked, quirking an eyebrow. "I doubt it, not only that but she would never use that pattern."

"I never said that Mia ordered it." The old man replied cryptically before heading out the door and tossing the supplies in the bed of the old green pickup parked out front. Luke just watched in confusion as the old man drove off.

William breathed a sigh of relief that Luke hadn't pushed him too hard about the wall paper and hadn't seen the small gifts he had wrapped and waiting on the passenger seat of the Chevy's bench seat. Normally he would have walked to see his girls, all three of them.

Pulling up to the inn, William couldn't help but smile at the sight of the inn's owner and the small child she held in her lap. The little girl seemed anxious to get down from the proprietor's lap when she saw the old truck; her excitement reminded him of his own little girl at that age. "Grandpa William!" The little girl cried out, finally wiggling off Mia's lap and running to him as he stepped out of his truck.

"Hey there, kiddo!" He smiled as he scooped up the 3-year-old and tossed her in the air before balancing her on his hip. "You haven't been causing trouble for Mia have you?"

"No sir." The girl answered seriously.

"She's been an angel all day." Mia smiled, climbing down the stairs and walking into William's free arm.

The widower smiled down at the woman before placing a soft kiss on her lips as Rory laughed and "Ew"-ed at them. He had known Mia all his life, she and her late husband, Robert were good friends with him and his Evelyn. William and Mia had been there for each other, a support to each other, when their spouses passed away. Mia had even become a maternal figure of sorts to his children after his Evie passed away nearly 12 years before from breast cancer. Robert had been killed in a car accident some 8 years later. Over time the friendship between William and Mia had grown deeper, but neither were interested in remarrying. They liked things the way they were.

"Then it looks like I've got two angels in my arms." He smiled sweetly before kissing Mia again, "Amelia, you are a vision to this old man's eyes."

"You old charmer," Mia laughed playfully hitting his chest.

"Where's my other girl?" He asked, releasing Mia and setting a now wiggling Rory back on the ground.

"She's finishing up with the rooms right now, should done soon." Mia gestured towards one of the upstairs rooms. "I figured we could all have lunch together before you start on the girls' room."

"Sounds good to me." William nodded before turning back toward the truck, "Let me just get these supplies over there and I'll join you in a bit."

Mia nodded her understanding before calling Rory to her and going back into the inn. William watched the pair, imagining his Evie and their future granddaughter walking up those steps. He loved Mia, but still thought of Evie often. Mia knew and understood, although she'd never had children, she admitted to wondering from time to time what it would have been like to have children and grandchildren with Robert. Seeing William interact with his grandson on the extremely rare occasion that Liz breezed through town, and seeing him with Rory often stirred up similar feelings in her. They both had accepted long ago that their memories and dreams for their now past spouses would always be a part of them and refused to judge the other for wishing for what could no longer be.

Shaking his head from his reverie, William made fast work of unloading the truck of its cargo. Just 15 minutes later, he was walking into the dining room of the old inn. As it was, Lorelai had beaten him there. He readjusted the packages beneath his arm and walked to the table, "How did I get so lucky to be having lunch with three of the prettiest girls in New England?"

"Just New England?" Lorelai challenged, a playful smirk on her face.

"Okay, the Eastern Seaboard." William corrected, playing along.

"Only the Eastern Seabird?" Rory asked, the three year old mispronouncing the words.

"All of the United States." William chuckled.

"Try again." Mia responded, eyes twinkling.

"You are going to be the death of me, woman." William's eyes mirroring Mia's as he responded. "Okay I'm having lunch with three of the prettiest girls in all of the world, nay, the universe." He answered, his voice becoming dramatic as he spoke the last two words making the women laugh at this side of him only those closest to him knew.

"Sit down you old fool." Mia chuckled, as William took his seat. While none of the women before him were his blood, he loved each and every one of them. Mia, his oldest and dearest friend, he could only hope his own son could find someone like Mia or Evie to not only be a friend but a partner.

Although he had only known Lorelai for nearly two years she felt as if she was another daughter to him, she was inelegant, funny, sarcastic but not in a mean way, and always optimistic. Mia said that she kept the old inn keeper young. Her daughter, Rory had been such a little thing when the first arrived, and although he knew that somewhere in Hartford she had grandparents and a father, he couldn't help but feeling grandfatherly towards the girl. She was so smart and lovable; a man would have to be made of stone to not love her.

The little pseudo family sat in comfortable silence as their food was served but it wasn't long until Mia spoke. "So, Lorelai, another year older, next year you truly not be a teenager any more. You came here so young and you've grown up so much in the years since. I can't help but feel like a proud Mama at how far you've come." Mia said, misting up a bit before handing over a small box, "Happy birthday, Lorelai."

"Thanks," The young woman smiled back accepting the gift. Opening it slowly, she unwrapped a small velveteen box inside which was a gold locket, on one side was a picture of her, Mia, and Rory that was taken last Christmas, and on the other was a picture of her and Rory that was taken shortly after she'd arrived in Stars Hollow. "Oh, Mia. It's beautiful." She sighed, fastening it around her neck.

"Don't go crying yet, I haven't given you my gift yet." William huffed, never one to like to see a woman cry. "Here, and I have something for little Miss Rory as well."

Lorelai accepted the heavy gift and unwrapped it just as carefully as the gift from Mia. It was a small, handmade jewelry box with her name was carved in scroll on the lid and had decorative scroll around the edging. The carved areas painted in gold to make it stand out against the deep colored maple. She reverently picked up the box looking inside and out at all the details before turning to William. "You made this didn't you?"

"It's not much," The old man shrugged, "Mia mentioned she was getting you a necklace and I thought you might want someplace to put it."

"It is gorgeous, thank you Will." Lorelai said, hugging him and placing a kiss on his leathery cheek. William ducked his head to hide the blush that rose to his cheeks trying to disguise it as looking for Rory's present.

"And for the little princess," He smiled handing the gift to the girl, "I know it's not your birthday, and next year you'll probably be too old for me to do this, but here."

"Thank you Grandpa William." The little girl said politely, earning a nod from both her mother and Mia. With the enthusiasm of any child her age, she tore into the paper that concealed her gift before lifting a hardcover book out. It had a large white color with a blocky picture of a caterpillar that looked as if it had been made in a craft class and graduated pages that started thin and then extended the full length of the book. The little girl sat looking at the pictures, fascinated by the art.

"Let me see, Sweets. 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar,' nice, I remember loving this book when I was a child." Lorelai smiled appreciatively at William. She had long run out of books to read to Rory and the girl was starting to read herself, and couldn't afford to buy more. "It was one of my favorites."

"Small wonder why," Mia teased before seeing Rory's confused expression, "You'll see when we read the story tonight." Rory just nodded her acceptance.

"May I go play now?" The small girl asked.

"Yes you may, but stay out of the way of the new desk clerk." Mia reminded her before the girl ran off to Mia's office where she had a small collection of toys. "For the life of me, I don't know why Bridgette hired that man, he's rude to the guests and staff, so stiff, and his accent makes it so hard to understand him when he talks."

"At least he's entertaining," Lorelai shrugged, "Besides, it's fun to bug him until he gets all flustered. Did you know his accent gets thicker when he's mad?"

"Well, as much as I'd love to sit around and listen to you discuss the new desk clerk, I should probably go start working on the other part of your birthday present." William excused himself to put the wallpaper up and make a few arrangements around the old potter's shed to make it more habitable for the Gilmore girls.

A couple hours later, the man returned to the inn and called the girls out to the shed, they all squealed in delight before he was pulled into a giggling, jumping, group hug. "Thank you, William." Lorelai smiled up at the man who just shrugged.

"I didn't do much, just hung up a bit of paper." He responded modestly, "I should probably head back before the kid sends the Sherriff's office after me.

After a hug and a kiss from each of the girls, he got back in his truck and drove back to the diner, a smile on his lips and a warm feeling in his heart. He quietly pulled the truck into the back parking space and unloaded the unused paste and paper into the garbage bin behind the building before heading up to his office to do some paperwork while his son handled the store.