Later that night, after pushing Jess off the bridge and a rushed conversation with Lorelai, Luke stormed back into the apartment, tossing various products for quitting smoking at Jess. He laid down the rules that were going to apply while living under his roof as well as the stipulations that Babette's gnome be returned to his yard and the bridge money repaid to Taylor.

"You can't just. . ." Jess started to argue.

"I can just!" Luke yelled at him. "I am not letting you just fall off the face of the earth. You will not drift, I won't let it happen. Now, I don't know if this is the right was to handle this, but this is the way it's being handled, and that my friend, is the end of this discussion," he finished, rather proud of himself for laying down the law. "Where are you going?" he asked as Jess got up, grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

"Out," was all he said as he slammed the door.

"Well, at least I asked," Luke muttered to the empty apartment.

Jess wandered Stars Hollow slowly. He knew there wasn't really anywhere to go, so he was in no rush. Until he saw Rory leave one of the little stores that dotted the main street.

"Hey," he called as he jogged over to her.

"Hey yourself," she replied, the folder for her article now firmly in her hands.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked as they fell into an easy conversation. As Rory tried to engage him in something more substantial than the weather, he soon pulled a coin out of his pocket and started doing some slight of hand.

"Little tip?" she offered.

"Yeah?" he asked, waiting to see if she possibly knew how he could get better at this little trick.

"If you ever want to speak to me again, don't pull that out of my ear," she said casually as she continued on her way again. "I have homework to finish," she told him as he continued to do coin tricks.

"Night Rory."

"Night Dodger," she said coyly as she started to wander home.

"Dodger?"

"Figure it out."

"Oliver Twist," he called out after a second. Rory just smiled and kept walking towards home.

"Hey mom, it's me," Lorelai said into the phone as she flipped through her closet for something to wear. She figured she'd check in with her mother, just to make sure that she was still going to be able to watch Charlie while she went to class.

"Me who?" Emily asked.

"Bertie, your other, favourite daughter," Lorelai said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "Me mom, Lorelai."

"I think I'd rather talk to Bertie," she said dryly.

"Anyway," Lorelai said as she changed the subject while she pulled a skirt out of the closet and held it up to her waist as she looked in the mirror. She frowned slightly as she realized that the skirt would emphasis the baby weight she was still carrying. "Do you want me to drop Charlie off at your place, or are you going to come out here?"

"What on earth are you talking about Lorelai?"

"It's Thursday mom, I have class," she said as she tossed the skirt on the bed and dug another one out.

"At what time?"

"Class starts at 2:30 mom, like every Thursday."

"I can't this week," Emily said casually. "I have a DAR function to go to."

"What? No, mom, you demanded that I leave Charlie with you when I had class, you can't back out now," she argued.

"Get Rory to watch her."

"Rory has to work on the paper after school mom, she doesn't get home until 5. You have to take Charlie. I bought her acceptable fall dresses. I will dress her up and do her hair so you can take her with you, show her off to all your friends. . . "

"I can't Lorelai, I have to run, I'm late."

"Mom!"

"Good bye Lorelai!" Emily said as she quickly hung up the phone.

"Unbelievable!" she yelled as she tossed the phone on the bed. "Your grandmother. . . . Unbelievable!" she said to Charlie, who was watching the performance from her bouncy chair. She sighed as she threw on an outfit. It wasn't very pretty to look at, but she had to scrounge up a last minute sitter so Max was just going to have to deal if he showed up. She grabbed the phone and quickly started dialling.

Sookie was working, Babette and Morey were out, Miss Patty was teaching. . . The list went on until she realized that there was only one person left to call.

"Luke's."

"When does your dinner rush start?" she asked in a hurry as she moved Charlie from her seat to the crib as she began to rush around and gather Charlie's things.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked, more than a little confused.

"Yes. Luke, when does it start?" she asked again as she spun around in a circle looking to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

"About 5:30 or so. Some times earlier some times later," he volunteered. "Why?" he quickly asked as his mind raced, trying to figure out why she would possibly be asking something like this.

"I need a sitter, for a couple of hours."

"Congratulations, why are you calling me?" he asked. "Oh no! No way!" he said quickly as he figured it out.

"Luke, my mother backed out on me and I have called everyone I know, even the kids that only kind of hung out with Rory in high school and I can't find anyone!" Lorelai plucked Charlie from the crib and changed her as she continued to balance the phone on her shoulder while trying to convince Luke to watch Charlie for her.

"I already told you, no!" he said as he filled a cup of coffee at the counter.

"She'll just sit there and watch, I swear, probably even sleep the whole time! Please Luke? Please, please, please, please, please. . ." she whined as she snapped Charlie into a clean outfit before picking her up and grabbing the bag and heading downstairs.

"Fine!" he cut her off as he put the coffee pot back on the burner before he pinched the bridge of his nose, already regretting this.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said with a smile as she dropped the bag by the door and strapped Charlie into her car seat. "I'll tell Rory to go straight to the diner when she's done at school. Thank you Luke!" she said again as she hung up and quickly dialled Rory's number and left a message on her voice mail as she walked out to the jeep. "Come on you, we have stuff to do," she said as she tucked a blanket around Charlie before she got in the drivers seat.

A few of the customers watched as Luke paced nervously around the diner. He had picked up one of the coffee pots, but he was neglecting everyone who signalled that they wanted a refill. They had all heard the conversation on the phone and while they had a vague idea what was about to happen, they were all lingering just to see for sure.

"She's fed and changed and kinda sleepy," Lorelai told Luke as she hurried into the diner and put the carrier, with Charlie in it, on the counter. Lorelai didn't notice Luke look into it and swallow hard. "She'll be fine for at least 3 hours, so you're safe."

"And if something unexpected comes up?" he asked as he headed behind the counter to put the pot down on the burner.

"She's a chick magnet. Look cute and helpless and some one will come to your rescue," she said casually. "Lane will be over at 4:30 to check on you. She has a 10 minute break during band practice so you only have to survive until 4:30 and you know that there will be several people in and out of here and they will all offer to help."

"Right," he said, still staring hard at the baby who was starting to doze already. His brain was still denying the fact that he was about to be left along with this baby for just over 2 hours.

"It'll be fine Luke," she assured him again, resting a hand on his arm for a moment. "Everything you might ever need is in here," she said as she put a backpack on the counter beside Charlie. After using a backpack as a baby bag with Rory, she saw no need to change this time.

"Okay," he said as he pulled it close and took a look inside. "How can one tiny person need all of this stuff?" he asked when he saw how full it was.

"Mmmm. . . More of a 'plan for all contingencies' type of thing with children under 4. Rory will be here by 5. I told her to call if she's going to be late. Bye kiddo, bye Luke," she said as she left the diner quickly, before Luke could protest. Luke watched Lorelai leave and he heaved a rather large sigh as he adjusted his hat slightly and stared down at the baby again. Charlie cracked an eye open to glance at him before sighing herself and dropping back off to sleep.

"So far so good," he said as he glanced around the diner. He couldn't leave her on the counter but he wasn't really sure where else to put her. He finally decided on the 'loser mini table' as Lorelai called it and quickly moved it to a corner of the diner, away from the door, where he could keep an eye on her. After shoving a couple of tea towels under the carrier so it wouldn't move around, he stepped back to admire his handy work before returning to the customers he had at the moment, who had been neglected before Lorelai arrived.

Class had gone well, she had fielded the obligatory, slightly condescending, questions about Charlie from the snotty 20 year old who sat beside her that she insisted on asking before and after class.

"I would really love to stick around and pander to all these really . . . . Super questions, but I really need to go and pick up the child that we have just spent the last 10 minutes talking about," Lorelai fibbed as she gathered up her books, pens and highlighters and beat a hastily retreat to the coffee shop across the street. She glanced casually around the small coffee shop before she headed to the counter to place her order and take a seat. While not as good as Luke's coffee, this place was still more than half decent. When she didn't see Max right away, she headed to a seat at the counter to wait for a while.

"This seat taken?"

"Why Max Medina, fancy meeting you here," she said as she gestured that he could take the seat. The two quickly fell into an easy conversation and before Lorelai realised it, she had was going to be late if she didn't run. "I really, really have to go," she said as she drained the last of her 3rd refill and grabbed her coat.

"Can I call you?" he asked hopefully as he tossed some money onto the counter to cover all the coffees. She hesitated for a moment. This would definitely be blurring Rory's invisible line between home and school.

"My cell number," she said as she jotted it down for him. "Rory is still. . . Warming up to the idea," she said as she handed him the slip of paper with her phone number.

"And Charlie?" he asked with a grin.

"Well, she doesn't have a lot to say right now, she's really more of a thinker than a talker," she said with a sly grin. "Ok, now I really have to go," she said as she offered him one last smile before dashing out the door and across the street to the jeep.

Meanwhile, at Luke's things had gone smoothly for the first 20 minutes. Charlie slept peacefully in her corner and the diner crowd thinned out even further, giving Luke an opportunity to clean almost all the tables and brew some fresh coffee without rushing. The 21st minute, however, things took an abrupt turn.

Charlie started crying and Luke started to panic. He dove head first into the bag Lorelai had left, searching for a pacifier. There had to be one in there somewhere, she was always pulling one out of the bag. He dug through all the pockets, finally locating one in the last pocket he searched and he quickly put it in her mouth, hoping that this would calm the baby and it did.

For all of 5 seconds.

"Damnit!" Luke said under his breath as he started to panic a little more. He glanced around the diner, hoping to find some one to help him, unfortunately the last of the coffee drinkers had taken off when Charlie had started to cry so there was no one to save him. "Ok, ok. . . Come on Danes. . . " he muttered to himself as he dove back into the bag, looking for clues but came up mostly empty handed. He sighed as he pulled out a diaper and hoped to God he was wrong. With a deep breath, he crossed the diner in a few strides and began to unstrap the baby. He cautiously lift her out of the carrier and was more than a little shocked at the near silence that followed. Charlie fussed for a few more minutes until had had her settled against his shoulder, much the same was she had been the first time Lorelai had left him holding her.

Though he would never admit it out loud, carrying Charlie around wasn't so bad. He eventually got her to take the pacifier and hold onto it and, eventually, had had wandered around the diner so much with her that she had fallen asleep. He took the opportunity to deposit her in the carrier again and breathed a sigh of relief as she stayed asleep.

Until Kirk burst in, announcing his need for a late lunch/early supper. Luke sent a withering glare in Kirks direction as he picked Charlie up again and went to take his order.

"You seem to have your hands full Luke, perhaps I could be of service?" Kirk asked when Luke and Charlie came over to his table.

"You're going to leave?" Luke asked.

"I am excellent with young children," Kirk said, ignoring Luke's comment. "For a small fee, I would be more than willing to look after Lorelai's baby for you." Luke stared at Kirk for a moment, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. "You know what? I'll even accept my meal as payment," he said as he held out his arms to accept the baby.

"How about I keep her and get you that sandwich and mashed potatoes and you pay full price?" Kirk gave a small sigh as he pulled his arms back.

"Fine," he answered as he started to examine his cutlery.

"Fantastic," Luke said as he headed to the kitchen to relay the order to Caesar. As he waited for something more to do, he found himself resting against the counter. With a sigh, he took Charlie from his shoulder and held her at eye level. "If we ever do this again, you're going to sleep the whole time, right?" he asked her. Charlie simply kicked her legs and stared at him. He shook his head and rested her in his arms again as they waited for Kirks order to be ready.

"Wow, I didn't really believe it when I heard it but, here you are," Babette said as she came in.

"Can you take her?" he asked as he held the baby out to her. She took Charlie and headed to a table to sit down. Luke headed to the kitchen for a breather and he rolled his shoulders, trying to work out the kinks and the sore muscles from having held at least 10 pounds of baby for the last hour. Just as he was starting to relax, the phone rang.

"Luke's," he said quickly into the phone. "No Rory, you can't be late," he said. "You have to be here by 5."

"Paris is freaking out about the paper and is making everyone stay and redo their articles. I won't be back until 5:30, at the earliest."

"Rory, I can't carry your sister around for another 2 hours. You have to come home," he complained. Rory tried very hard not to snicker at him since she was sure this was about as close to whining as Luke was ever going to get.

"Ah yes, the 3:00 cling. Mom didn't warn you, did she?" she asked as she ducked out side of the news room and into the hall.

"And why would she do that?" he asked sarcastically.

"Duck out and grab the sling. It's hung up by the front door," she suggested. "Hands free carrying, always a bonus in your line of work."

"I swear to God, this is the very last time," he said firmly as he tried to figure out if he could get away for 10 minutes.

"No it's not," Rory said with a chuckle. "I'm really sorry Luke, good luck!" she said as she hung up and returned to her work for the paper. Luke scowled as he looked around. Everything was fairly quiet and he was pretty sure that Babette would gladly hang onto Charlie until he got back.

"Babette, can you hang onto her for about ten minutes?" he asked her. She agreed and he quickly dashed out of the diner, calling out to Caesar as he went before he jumped in to his truck and headed for the Crap Shack, hoping, for the first time, that Lorelai had left the door unlocked.

"You owe me like there is no tomorrow!" Luke said to Lorelai when she finally showed up at the diner. She tried hard not to snicker as she took him in, sling around his shoulders as he dashed around the diner. "This is not funny."

"No, it's adorable. Come here," she said. He dropped off the plates he was holding before he came to stand in front of her. She quickly lifted Charlie from the sling and he quickly took it off and tossed it over her head before he headed off to take an order. Lorelai chuckled a little more as she ventured over to the counter and took a seat, resting Charlie in her lap, hanging the sling off of her knee as she whispered greetings to the baby.

"You could have warned me," he said as he walked past her.

"About?" she asked casually as he served her a cup of coffee.

"The 3:00 cling," he said, leaning on the counter. "Only it started 20 minutes after you left."

"She gets like that some times," Lorelai said casually with a shrug as she rocked Charlie a little.

"You still could have mentioned it," Luke said as he came around the counter and shot her a look.

"And you would have spent the whole time freaking out that any noise you made would bring it on." The pair looked at each other for a moment.

"Still."

"Fine," she said with a shrug. "Burgers and fries. Rory will be here shortly." Luke shook his head and went to place the order.

"No mom, I didn't forget," Lorelai said into the phone as she paced around the second floor, trying to hurry the conversation along. Rory was trying to study while Charlie had decided to have a crying jag and all Lorelai really wanted to do was to bundle her up into the jeep and drive until she fell asleep but her mother would not get off the phone. "Rory's gonna be her sponsor."

"Absolutely not!" Emily called loudly.

"Why not mom?"

"She's not over 18. It wouldn't be responsible."

"This isn't a legally binding, 'if I die Rory gets the baby' type of ceremony mom, it doesn't matter. Rory wants to do it and I want her to do it." Lorelai stopped pacing and started to bounce Charlie, hoping that would quiet her down.

"Absolutely not Lorelai. It isn't appropriate. What about that friend of yours?" she asked, starting to speak louder to be heard over the baby. "Lorelai, what on earth is wrong with that child?" Lorelai sighed.

"I don't know mom. If you would let me go, I'd work a little harder on finding out," Lorelai said sarcastically. She sighed before she started again, slightly more calm. "I will ask Sookie. Anything else?" she asked, agreeing to the request with the hope that Emily would hang up.

"Yes. Final fittings for the gown are on Saturday, You still need to pick out flowers with me on Friday and Reverend O'Malley would like to see us to talk about a few details."

"Fine, mom, set it up. I really have to run mom, are we done?" Lorelai was swaying now.

"No, we are not done," she said as she quickly flipped through her notes.

"Mom, I have one daughter trying to study and another screaming for no reason. Please, please, PLEASE let us be done for now!" she finally yelled into the phone.

"MOM!" Rory yelled as she stomped up the stairs and Charlie began to scream louder. Emily said something into the phone that Lorelai couldn't make out as Rory called out to her about having to study for a test and Charlie continued to scream.

"I'll call you back!" she finally yelled, hitting the end button on the phone. "I'm sorry, we're going," she said to Rory as she ushered her out of the room. She quickly changed Charlie into a warm pair of sleepers and buckled her into the car seat, zipping the snuggly bag up and tossing a few blankets over top before she grabbed her bag, keys and coat and headed down stairs and out of the house. Charlie was quickly strapped in and Lorelai began to drive aimlessly, heading for the highway as she had a feeling that it was going to take a drive to Hartford to calm the baby down. "Could have gotten away with Woodbridge but noooooooo. . ." Lorelai muttered as she changed lanes. "Emily just would not shut up," she concluded as she tried to relax and drive.

Lorelai crept into the house cautiously when she finally made it back home. Charlie had been stubborn tonight and it had taken an extra half hour of driving around Hartford for her to finally drop off. Lorelai set the carrier down by the door as she dropped the bag of taco's on the kitchen table, hoping the smell would lure Rory out of her study den before she headed back out to the living room to bring the baby upstairs.

"Hey kid," she said with a smile when she came back down and saw Rory attacking the tacos with a vengeance.

"Hey," Rory said, her mouth already full.

"I'm sorry about before," Lorelai said as she grabbed her meal. "I meant to be out of the house as soon as you mentioned the word 'study', but your grandmother called. And then Charlie started. And then Emily would. Not. Hang. Up," she said, emphasizing that 'would not hang up'. "Oh, P.S., you're no longer the sponsor." This made Rory pause, mouth still open with the taco halfway there.

"What?" she asked when her brain finally made contact with her mouth again.

"Emily said no and I was in no position to argue. I got a hold of Sookie while I was in Hartford," Lorelai replied with a bit of a sigh as she pulled a taco out of the bag and began to unwrap it.

"Hartford?" Rory cut her off.

"Oh yes, Charlie was in a particularly pleasant mood tonight. Anyways, I got a hold of her while I was in Hartford and Sookie said she'd be happy to do it." Rory nodded in approval.

"I was thinking," Rory started. "Maybe I should set up a study schedule and post it on the fridge."

"Don't you do that already?" Lorelai asked, her mouth now full of taco.

"Ok, so it would be more of a 'stay out of the house NOW!' schedule," she clarified.

"Gotcha. We'll put it together after dinner," she said with a nod before finishing her taco and pulling a second out of the bag.

"Oh yeah, thanks for the ear plugs," Rory said with a smile. "I've been meaning to say something for a while now but. . . " Lorelai had left the ear plugs on her desk nearly a week ago, but they just hadn't cut it today. While Rory could sleep through a bomb blast, studying was a different matter.

"I know. I take the lack of you yelling at me while she's screaming as a sign they're worth it," she said with a smile that Rory returned before they both dove back into the food before heading out to the living room to watch a movie. Half way through, Charlie woke up and insisted on joining them, fortunately she was in a better mood than before and sat contented through it.

"Oh yeah," Lorelai said as she and Rory battled a screaming Charlie into the christening gown. "Today is going to go swimmingly."

"Why is she so mad at everything?" Rory asked as she picked her sister up and paced around the room.

"Who knows," Lorelai muttered as she tossed Rory a pacifier before she started to clean up Charlie's supplies. "Maybe it's just that time of the month," she joked. Rory simply shook her head as she came to a stop in front of a window, holding the pacifier to Charlie's mouth while she began pointing things out the baby, hoping to distract her.

"Could she be getting sick? I mean, she hasn't really caught anything big yet and she's about due."

"Because of karma?" Lorelai asked as she ducked into the bathroom to change. "Rory, have you been reading again?" she called after a moment.

"No," Rory called in a small voice after a lengthy pause.

"Liar," Lorelai called as she started on her hair. "Is Sookie still harassing the staff in the kitchen?" Lorelai asked.

"She's not up here," Rory confirmed. "I should go find her, shouldn't I?"

"Take the little dictator with you." Rory shook her head.

"Come on Fidel, let's find Sookie," she muttered to the still angry baby as she left the room to go and hunt down Sookie and drag her back up to the room.

The ceremony, though long, boring and hot, was surprisingly peaceful. Charlie fell asleep in the car and slept through the ceremony until Reverend O'Malley poured the Holy Water over her head. Lorelai had suggested heating it slightly but apparently they hadn't listened and she smirked a little, after she kept herself for lunging for the baby, when the Reverend nearly dropped her as she let out the first shocked cry of protest at the cold water on her warm head.

"Well, that performance at the end was slightly jarring," Emily commented to Lorelai during the reception. She glanced up at her mother as Charlie snuggled a little deeper against her, drowsy now that she had been fed and provided with a pacifier and blanket.

"I imagine it wasn't all that pleasant for her either," she quipped as she held Charlie a little closer and rubbed her back, willing her to fall asleep for a bit. Emily ignored her as she went to greet more people Lorelai didn't know. Lorelai shook her head and cast a glance over at the ever growing pile of gifts people were leaving. She sighed as she thought about the amount of religious articles she was going to have to deal with. If Rory's baptism was any indication, she was probably going to be begging Mrs. Kim to take all the religious memorabilia off of her hands in exchange for something from her store. She was noticing a new trend this time around; there seemed to be a growing pile of envelopes on the table as well.

"This is quite the get together," Sookie commented as she brought back a plate of finger food for the two of them to share.

"This is Gilmore Land," Lorelai said with a shrug. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to an unidentifiable appetiser. Sookie quickly ate it.

"Duck and caviar," she said after a moment.

"Pass," Lorelai said with a smile as she stuck to the more identifiable foods.

"She seems happier."

"Finally. She's been like this for about 3 days now. Irritable and mad at everything and everyone. . . I'm starting to think it's a brain eating parasite," she said as she cradled Charlie in her arms, making sure that the pacifier was still firmly plugged into her mouth while she dozed.

"Really," was all Sookie could say as she started to chuckle.

"I'm not really sure what else could take my sweet little baby and make her grumpier than Luke on a bad day."

"So, how much longer are you going to stay?" Sookie asked, changing the subject.

"'Till the bitter, bitter end," Lorelai said with a shake of her head. "Just as she falls asleep, my mother is going to make me stand up by the door, say good bye to people, most of whom I don't know, and thank them for coming. They will then all want to touch or hold or do something with Charlie which will inevitably result in screaming from her and dirty looks from my mother. It's going to be a thrill and you are more than welcome to miss it." Sookie chuckled and assured Lorelai that she'd stick around for the fun and excitement, even if it was only to offer moral support. Things eventually did play out exactly as Lorelai said they would. Charlie drifted off to sleep and 5 minutes later, as people were starting to leave, Emily dragged Lorelai to the door and within a few minutes of getting up there, Charlie was voicing her discontent yet again.

"She seems to be screaming," Luke announced as he dropped food off later in the evening. Lorelai shot him a look as she invited him in. Rory had escaped to Lanes for the evening shortly after they had gotten home and Lorelai wished she could join her.

"Really? Because I hadn't noticed," Lorelai said sarcastically. She was tired and irritable after the events of the day and really wasn't in the mood for more sarcasm. Luke quickly dropped the bags of food off on the kitchen table and turned to leave when he met the screaming baby face to face. "I need 5 minutes," she said, still holding the baby out. "I need to go up stairs and hide for 5 minutes before I start to cry, please Luke." the pair stared each other down for a moment before he relented and took the baby.

"Five minutes," he confirmed as he took the baby and Lorelai turned and headed up stairs. She headed into her room and sat on the bed and she did allow herself a few minutes to cry and wallow. She was exhausted and tense from worrying about Charlie and trying to keep the baby from disturbing Rory. She knew there was no point in taking her to the Dr, she wasn't sick, she was just mad at the world.

"Quiet," she muttered after a minute. "There's no screaming," she muttered to herself again as she pulled herself back together and headed down stairs where she found Luke lazing on the couch with a relatively content Charlie on his chest. "You're kidding, right?" she asked as she came down the stairs. "She has been in this house, screaming at everything for the past 3 days and you hold her for less than 5 minutes and all is right in the world? There is no justice!" she exclaimed as she flopped down next to him on the couch.

"Your five minutes are up," he said as she handed Charlie over. The baby stayed quiet for all of 30 seconds before crying out again.

"I will pay you to stay," she said quickly as she tried to hand the baby back to him. He looked at her and cocked an eye brow. "I mean it, name your price and I will pay it if you stay."

"How long?"

"As long as you can for as much as you want," she looked at him pleadingly and he eventually relented and took the baby back. She quieted and Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief as she sank into the couch. "Thank God," she muttered as she leaned against his shoulder. He chuckled at her performance and was more than a little shocked when he realized that the two Gilmore Girls had fallen asleep on him.

"It's quiet," Rory remarked as she entered the house cautiously. She slipped her shoes off and hung her coat up before creeping around the corner and into the living room. Her eye brows shot up as she saw exactly who was in her house and asleep on the couch. "Interesting," was all she said at the sight of both her mother and sister curled up asleep on an also sleeping Luke. She quickly headed to her room and jotted 'I'm home' on a post-it and stuck it to Lorelai's forehead before turning off the TV and heading to her room for the night.

"When did you get in last night?" Lorelai asked as she walked into the kitchen with Charlie in her arms.

"Some time after you and Charlie fell asleep on Luke," she said, hiding a grin in her coffee mug as Lorelai strapped Charlie into her bouncy seat.

"He made her be quiet. The guy who thinks all kids have jam hands and are icky made her be quiet and fall asleep voluntarily for the first time in 3 days," Lorelai commented as she finally got a hold of a cup of coffee.

"She's also very content this morning," Rory commented, glancing over at Charlie as she sat in her bouncy seat on the kitchen table, watching the world go by.

"I know. Should we be wigging that Luke seems to be a baby whisperer?" Rory and Lorelai looked at each other for a moment.

"I say don't question it."

"Deal," Lorelai said as she grabbed her mug of coffee and joined Rory at the kitchen table.