Amy Danes

Luke smiled as he saw the pictures of his mother in the album. "That's my mom… I think she was sewing me a Halloween costume in that picture," he said. "That was right before she died. It was probably one of the last times I remember her being healthy."

Lorelai smiled. "She made you your Halloween costumes every year? That's so nice! What were you that year?"

He cleared his throat and sidestepped her question. "And this was a picture…"

"Don't think you can get away from me that fast, Luke. I bet you were a Star Trek guy, weren't you?" Lorelai insisted.

"Uh, yeah, sure. So this…"

Lorelai held up her hand. "I want to hear the story! You can't deny that you were a Trekkie, Luke, the whole town has stories about you. Spill your guts, Luke."

"That idea really doesn't sound very appealing to me at all," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Tell me the story, Luke? Please?" Lorelai asked, pouting.

"Fine, I'll tell you the story. But this goes nowhere," Luke warned.

Lorelai smiled. "I promise, your secret's safe with me, I'll only tell Rory. And I'll make her swear to tell no one else."

"That Halloween, I wanted to have the best costume," Luke started

Lorelai shrugged. "Like every kid on the planet who goes Trick or Treating... who doesn't want the best one? Then you see that kid you hate, who has a better costume than you, and you silently hope it rips or his mask falls off, so yours is again the best… wow, that was a long rant. Continue your story, please, be my guest."

"So I thought for forever about what I wanted to be. My mom would have days set aside to make Liz's costume. Hers were always really girly and really complicated. So, she'd start with Liz's, and then she'd start to make mine. I would tell her what I wanted after Liz's was finished," Luke explained.

Amy sat at the sewing machine, putting the last touches on the cowgirl costume that she was making for Liz. As Luke came through the door, his younger sister not far behind, he knew exactly what to do. Amy had finally, finally, finished his sister's costume. And then it was his turn to have his costume made. When Amy was finished with Liz's costume, every year, she would finally ask Luke what he wanted to be. And this year, he'd thought long and hard about it.

"Lizzie, sweetheart, come try on your costume!" Amy said, giving Luke a wink, almost as though she knew he was anxious to tell her what his plan was.

Luke watched impatiently as Amy fussed over his sister's costume. He made a face in disgust at the patches of cow spotted material on the jeans, and rolled his eyes when Amy put the hat on Liz's head to complete the costume. As Liz ran off to take a look at herself in the mirror, Amy turned her attention to Luke. "You have the patience of Job, Luke," she said, ruffling his hair. "I'll be with you in just a minute, I promise."

He took off his backpack and reached for a banana in the fruit bowl on the table. A minute could mean hours when it came to Liz, that he knew. He finished the banana, tossed the peel in the trash, and started his homework before Amy finally tapped him on the shoulder. He practically threw his pencil down before hopping out of the chair and taking a deep breath.

"What costume do you want me to make you, Luke?" Amy asked, stooping to his level.

Luke didn't hesitate. "Spock," he said without thinking.

Amy smiled. "I knew you'd say that. That's why your costume's already finished. It's a secret, don't you dare tell your sister, or I'd hear it."

Luke practically ran over to the sewing machine, looking at his costume. Amy had remembered every detail of the costume. Luke had seen the costumes in the store, but he marveled at Amy's ability to recreate the costume much better than the stores could.

"Is it okay? I wasn't sure if I made it correctly, just make sure you let me know if I did something wrong," she said, watching Luke inspect the costume.

Luke shook his head. "It's perfect! Thanks, Mom!"

Amy smiled. "I'm glad you like it. Try it on for me, okay?"

Luke quickly changed into his costume and looked at himself in the mirror. This was sure to be the best Halloween ever.

Lorelai giggled. "That is the sweetest story. I've tried to imagine you as a kid before, but for some reason, it's hard."

"Why is it hard?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I guess because everyone else around here knew you as a kid, and has this image of little Luke running around. I don't, and I've tried to create one, but I just can't picture you being like, eight, and throwing rocks at girls. I just can't. This little story telling session is helping me, though."

"I didn't throw rocks at girls, but I'm glad you're getting an image," Luke replied.

Lorelai looked at the pictures of Amy as Luke watched her reaction to the pictures. He watched as Lorelai tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and seemed to interpret every picture on the page in her mind. She finally looked at him. "She was beautiful, Luke. She sounds so… magnetic, you know? Like one of those people who everyone knows and everyone loves?"

"She was very social, really involved in the town. I don't remember a festival existing that she didn't want to take some sort of role in," Luke said with a sigh.

"That explains why it's hard for you to get to the festivals," Lorelai said, taking his hand. "I'm sorry if I ever pushed you to go to one. Okay, I'm sorry for the times that I did push you to go to them," she corrected.

He shook his head. "It's okay. It's hard sometimes, but I guess in a way, it makes me feel closer to my mom. So, it's not so bad in the end."

Lorelai gasped as she caught sight of a picture of Luke's parents. They both had numbers on their backs, and they were dancing in the Stars Hollow High School gymnasium. "Your parents did the dance marathon?" she asked, grinning.

"They used to win all the time," Luke answered. "They won every year they entered until my mom got sick."

"Did you watch them dance?" Lorelai asked.

Luke nodded. "I didn't go to the marathons, but I remember watching them while they were practicing."

Luke sat on top of his bed, reading a comic book, when he heard the radio switch on. It was Dance Marathon time in Stars Hollow, and Bill and Amy were the reigning champions for the sixth year in a row. Luke put down his comic book and tiptoed down the stairs. He sat on the third step, the step where he knew that he was no longer visible. He often sat and listened to the outcome of the ball games on that step. He had liked watching his parents dance. Why, he didn't know.

He felt a pinch on his arm and whipped his head around. "Liz," he hissed. "You're supposed to be in bed! Go to sleep and stop pinching me!"

"I was bored. I wanted to come bother you," she squealed. "Plus I can't sleep with all the music."

"Be quiet. You don't want them to catch you, do you?" Luke warned.

She shrugged. "You'd get caught, too, for letting me stay up, so I don't care."

"I'm not the one who's supposed to be sleeping right now," Luke shot back.

Liz rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I'll just tell them you woke me up and told me to sit here. They'll believe me. I'm cuter. And I'm the youngest, and the youngest gets away with everything."

Luke turned to Liz. "Be quiet and you won't have to say anything to Mom and Dad, and I'll let you sit here," he insisted.

As Bill took Amy in his arms, Amy quickly pulled away. "Bill, really, now, do you think we're going to be able to dance with all this furniture in the way?" she asked, motioning to the cluttered living room.

Bill shook his head. "I suppose we won't be able to," he said, pushing the couch out of the way and making room on the makeshift dance floor. "Now may I have this dance?"

"You certainly may," Amy answered. "You wouldn't want me to trip, now, would you?"

Bill shook his head as he led her across the living room floor. "Of course not."

Liz turned to Luke and huffed. "This is boring."

"Well, then, go upstairs and go to bed, where you were supposed to be all along!" Luke shot back.

She rolled her eyes. "Why do you want to watch them dance, anyway?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I want to learn to dance, too, so I can enter the marathon and kick your butt."

"You wouldn't be able to dance if you tried," Liz said. "I'll bet you a popsicle."

"You're on," Luke said, turning his head. "Just stop bothering me."

As Luke finished the story, Lorelai's smile grew wider. "That's how you learned to dance?"

He shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

"Did she give you a popsicle?" Lorelai pressed. "Because she should give you the popsicle that she owes you. You danced with me, many times."

"I'll remind her of the wager another time. She'll give me the popsicle which I will pass on to you," Luke reasoned.

"You know me awfully well," Lorelai said. "Make it cherry, please?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'll pass the message along. And you get whatever flavor you get. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

She giggled. "You know, I never understood that saying? It's a weird saying. I never got a real horse as a gift, and even if I did, I'd just feed it, I wouldn't look at its mouth!"

"Ah, jeez," Luke muttered.

Lorelai took the hint and changed the subject, focusing on the pages of Luke's mother's album once again. "Your mom sounded like a lady I would have adored," Lorelai mused, leaning in to get a closer look at the pictures.

Luke nodded. "My mom was a lot like Mia. They were actually really good friends. I'll get to that when we get to Mia's page in the album, which I'm sure you'll want to see."

Lorelai put her hand on Luke's arm. "We'll go in order. We'll get to it eventually. I'm in no hurry. Let's see who's next."