Sorry it's taken me a little longer to get this updated! Two of my best friends have birthdays this week, so time has gotten away from me a bit. But I hope you love this chapter. It's been one of my favorites to write thus far. Please let me know what you think!

Chapter 3

"I have a feeling Mom isn't going to be eating breakfast this morning," Rory said as she came down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"What? Why?" Luke's head snapped up from the blueberry pancakes he was cooking on the griddle to look at his step-daughter.

"Morning sickness," Rory replied, taking a seat on one of the barstools at the kitchen island and taking a sip of the coffee Luke had poured for her before he had asked that she go check on her mom.

Luke panicked. "Can you watch these pancakes?" He asked. "They should be about ready to flip."

Rory also had a moment of panic, her cooking skills had improved over the last few years, but the few times she had attempted to make pancakes, they were either burnt or still gooey in the middle.

"I'll set the timer," he told her, flipping the pancakes, and setting the timer. "All you have to do is take the pancakes off the griddle when it goes off."

"Okay," she agreed, grabbing her coffee mug and taking it around the island to where Luke was manning the pancakes. She took over and Luke took off upstairs.

"Lorelai," Luke called as he entered their bedroom.

"Don't come in here," she replied weakly from behind the bathroom door.

"I'm coming in," Luke told her.

"Luke, no, I don't want you to see—" Lorelai was cut off by Luke barging into the bathroom. "I told Rory not to tell you."

"Well, I'm glad she's an adult and can make her own decisions," Luke said, kneeling down next to where she was leaned against the wall, he pushed back the hair that had fallen out of the messy bun atop her head. "You ready to get back in bed?"

"No, I thought I'd spend the day on our bathroom floor," Lorelai replied sarcastically.

He smiled, glad she wasn't too sick to joke around. "Very funny."

"I was just trying to convince my body to get up and—"

Without hesitation, Luke stood up and scooped her up off the floor and carried her back to bed.

"You didn't have to do that," Lorelai managed a smile.

"Yeah I did," Luke began to pull the covers back up over her. "So I guess the morning sickness has kicked in."

"Guess so," she nodded. "I know you were looking forward to us having breakfast at home this morning, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Rory and I can have a father-daughter breakfast," he waved her off.

Lorelai furrowed her brow, confused. "What about Jess?"

"He's still asleep," Luke explained. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"Do we have any ginger ale?" She asked.

"I think so, I'll go get it," he told her.

When he got back downstairs, Rory had successfully taken the pancakes off the griddle, turned it off and resumed her spot on the barstool, running her bare foot over Paul Anka's furry back as he slept at her feet.

"How is she?" Rory asked.

"Definitely sick," he answered, going to the pantry to find the ginger ale. "I helped her back to bed, I'm going to take her some ginger ale and blueberries to see if that helps."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Can you get a glass of ice?" He asked her as he grabbed a can of ginger ale from the pantry. "And a bowl?"

"Of course," she replied, getting up and taking a glass from the cabinet and filling it with ice, then grabbing a bowl from a different cabinet.

"Thanks for telling me, by the way," he said. "Your mom said she told you not to tell."

"Well, she wouldn't let me do anything to help, I knew you wouldn't give her a choice," Rory smiled as she handed him the glass and bowl.

"I'm going to take this up to her, then we can have breakfast," he said.

"No, you take care of her, I can eat by myself," Rory waved him off.

"I just thought…" he trailed off, taking some of the blueberries from the container on the counter and placing them in the bowl.

"What?"

"It's nothing."

"Luke…"

"It's just…well, I thought we could have a father-daughter breakfast," Luke shrugged.

"Oh! Of course, you go take care of Mom, and I'll set the table, and we'll eat when you come back downstairs," Rory replied.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she grinned.

"Okay, I'll be right back," he said, taking off back upstairs.

When he got back to their bedroom, Lorelai began adjusting her pillows so she could sit up. Luke placed the glass and bowl on the nightstand, opening the can of ginger ale and pouring the contents into the glass, then handing it to her.

"Thank you," she said, taking a sip.

"I brought you some blueberries too," he added, pointing to the bowl on the nightstand. "I figured if you would be up to eating anything, it would be that."

"You would be correct," Lorelai nodded, taking a blueberry from the bowl and putting it in her mouth.

"If there's anything you want me to cook for you, name it," Luke said.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes, now go have your father-daughter breakfast with our girl," Lorelai smiled. "I'll be downstairs in a little bit."

Even though Luke had been a father-figure in Rory's life for most of her life, it still made Lorelai ridiculously happy when Luke went the extra mile to do things like have a father-daughter breakfast or referring to Rory as their daughter instead of his step-daughter.

"Okay," he nodded, kissing her forehead. "I love you."

"Love you too," she replied.

Once he got back downstairs, Rory was at the table with it fully set, ready for them to eat breakfast.

"I've missed your pancakes," Rory said happily, putting two on her plate and covering them in syrup.

"I knew they were your favorite, that's why I got all the stuff to make them," Luke replied, taking a pancake for himself. "You still like your job?"

"I love my job, I'm glad I went on the Obama campaign trail, I would've never made the contacts I made that helped me get the job with the Times," Rory said as they both began to eat. "I wish we could get away to come visit you and Mom more though."

"We do too," Luke said. "We would love to come visit you guys too, but between owning two businesses and all of the doctor's appointments and fertility treatments, it seems like the last few years have flown by."

"It would be nice to be able to get away to the lake house now that it's Mom's," she said, taking a bite of bacon. "I mean, Stars Hollow will always be home and I love visiting here, but just having this time where it's just the four of us, or five when April is here, hanging out at home, or even going out to dinner like last night. Just disconnected from everything like work, school, the diner, the inn."

"I agree, I would love that," Luke said, cutting into his syrup-less pancake. "I don't know how long we could last though."

"True, we're all just so busy, it was a struggle to get away to come here for an extended weekend, and we've been planning this for a while now," Rory said.

"But you and Jess are doing okay?" He asked. "He makes you happy?"

"Of course he makes me happy, he's changed a lot, even in the last year, he's become responsible, he does stuff that he doesn't necessarily want to do, but he does because it's something I want to do," she told him. "Before we moved into this new place, we were struggling a bit when the rent went up at our old place, he was going to take an extra job so I wouldn't have to, even though he had Truncheon and school going."

"How come I didn't know about this?" Luke asked, concerned for her well-being. "Rory, you could've come to us, we would have helped you."

"We're adults Luke, I appreciate the offer, and I know you would do anything to help us out, but it was something we needed to take care of ourselves," Rory told him. "And we did, we took care of it."

"Good, I'm glad to know that he is willing to step up when needed," he said, taking another bite of food. "But if there's anything you need in the future, let us know. We can't have you struggling."

"I know, but that isn't going to teach us anything, I can't run home to Mom and Dad every time I have a problem," she reminded him, Luke's expression softened when she referred to him as 'Dad,' knowing she wasn't referring to Christopher because he had moved to Paris with Sherry over a year ago and they rarely spoke.

"But it will make Mom and Dad feel a lot better," he reminded her with a smile. "You're just like your mom…so independent, determined to do it on your own."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Rory grinned before taking another bite of her pancakes.

"It definitely is," he agreed. "Have you and Jess discussed your future?"

"Like marriage and kids? Or what's going to happen after he finishes at Columbia?" She wondered what he was getting at.

"All of the above, I guess," Luke shrugged. "He's a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kind of guy, but you're a planner, I know you must have some kind of plan, or at least discussed it with him."

"Well, we're both in it for the long haul, we aren't in a huge hurry to get married, but we know we want to, I told him I would leave it up to him on when we got engaged, but I wanted it to be a surprise," Rory explained. "He didn't really want kids at first, but after talking it through, we want one or two, eventually. I know that's definitely something that will wait until after he finishes school."

"Good, that's good," he nodded, taking a napkin to wipe his face. "Is it weird that you're at the age to be thinking about getting married and having kids, but your mom and I are having a baby?"

"Not at all, you and Mom deserve to be happy, I can't wait to have another little brother or sister," Rory said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Mom is the best mom in the world, and you've been more of a father figure than my own father for most of my life, and the fact that you fought so hard to be in April's life proves how great of a dad you are. You're already amazing parents, and my baby brother or sister is going to be so loved."

"Thanks kid," he smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder before pulling her into a brief hug. "I never thought I wanted kids until you and your mom came into my life, even then it took me awhile to realize how much I loved having you around."

"Thanks Luke," she grinned. "And for the record…you never made me feel like you didn't want me around."

"Good," he replied, noticing her coffee mug was almost empty. "You want some more coffee?"

"I'll get it," Rory told him, getting up to pour herself some more coffee. "You wait on us every time we're in the diner, you've cooked breakfast this morning, I can get my own coffee. Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm good," he shook his head.

She sat back down at the table. "These pancakes are delicious, by the way," she raved, taking a bite of pancake. "Where do you get blueberries this early in the year? Isn't it too early for them?"

"Jackson grew them in that greenhouse of his," Luke replied. "Your mom will go all the way out to his farm to get some, he had to plant extra plants because of her, so I asked him to bring some by the diner yesterday."

"I'm sure that made her happy," Rory said.

They sat and talked for awhile longer before Rory cleared the table, and they both cleaned the kitchen as Luke wouldn't allow her to do it alone when she offered.

"Does Jess always sleep this late?" Luke asked, looking at the clock in the living room, seeing it was after ten o'clock.

"No, there's never time," Rory explained. "We're both up before the sun during the week, and we usually have so much to do on weekends that there isn't really time to sleep in. I have things to do or he has things to do, and lately, weekends are our only time to be together, so we try to spend as much time as we can together. I figured I'd let him sleep this morning."

Luke smiled as he cleaned the griddle, but remained silent. His smile didn't go unnoticed by Rory.

"What?"

"Nothin'," he paused. "It's just I can't picture the Jess you're describing."

"I'm telling you, he's changed a lot," Rory let out a laugh. "You know we wouldn't be together if he hadn't."

"I know, and I believe you, it's just hard to see him as this sweet and sensitive guy who wants to spend every waking moment with anyone," he said.

"Well, in true Jess fashion, he still doesn't express a lot of his emotions, I have to get him to dig deep to do that, but he can definitely be sweet and sensitive at times," she explained.

"As long as he takes care of you and makes you happy, that's all I'm worried about," he told her.

"He does," Rory assured him, turning to hug Luke. "Thanks for looking out for me."

"Always," he replied, wrapping his arms around her.

Lorelai came into the kitchen to hear Rory thanking him and witness their embrace. She had tears in her eyes as she made her presence known.

"I guess the father-daughter breakfast was a success," she said.

"I'd say so," Rory agreed as she closed up the dishwasher. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I had some ginger ale and those delicious blueberries and I fell back asleep for a little bit," she answered as she sat down on one of the barstools.

"You want some pancakes?" Luke asked, going over and kissing her. "I saved some for you and Jess."

"Not right now, I had those blueberries, I'm not really up for much else," she answered. "Rory, did you try those blueberries? They're life-changing."

"He picked the best ones out and put them in my pancakes," Rory teased.

Lorelai gasped dramatically. "How dare you give the best blueberries to the kid instead of the wife? The wife who is known to be in love with said blueberries! The wife who is carrying your child!"

Luke looked at her smugly, "You know good and well I didn't pick out the best blueberries just to put in Rory's pancakes."

"How am I supposed to know that when I didn't even know there were blueberries in the house, and I didn't get to look at them before they were consumed?" Lorelai questioned.

"See what you did," Luke shot a look at Rory.

"You're welcome," she grinned. "I'm going to get ready so I can go see Lane and the boys."

"So what did you and Rory talk about?" Lorelai stood and put her arms around Luke's neck.

"Just how things are going in New York," Luke shrugged as they went into the family room and sat down on the couch.

"And how are they?" Lorelai replied, pulling her feet underneath her.

"She said things are going well," he nodded, then furrowed his brows as he looked up at her. "Did you know they had some money problems awhile back?"

Lorelai was taken aback by this. "No," she replied. "Like how bad?"

"I'm not sure, I guess they were having trouble making ends meet, Jess was going to get a second job to help," he revealed. "She said they took care of it

"Why didn't they come to us?" Lorelai questioned.

Luke laughed quietly.

"What?" She wondered, he shook his head. "What's so funny?"

"What she said when I asked her that…she sounded just like you," Luke said. "She said that they were adults and she couldn't come running home to Mommy and Daddy every time she needed something."

"Definitely my child," Lorelai giggled. "And Jess is taking good care of her?"

"I guess," he shrugged.

"Stop, you know that was the motivation behind the father-daughter breakfast," she pointed a finger at him accusingly.

"Fine, I did ask her, she loves him…she's in love with him," Luke admitted. "She says they've discussed it, and somewhere down the line, marriage and children are on the agenda."

"Whoa," Lorelai gasped. "Like soon?"

"No, she said they're not in any hurry," he replied. "But they're definitely making long term plans together."

"That's good that they've discussed it," she said. "Isn't it funny how you used to have to defend Jess to me, and now I'm having to defend him to you."

"I feel better about it now that I've talked to Rory, and I know that their future means enough to Jess that he would sit down and discuss his feelings with her," he told her.

"I agree," she nodded.

Just then they heard footsteps coming from the hallway that led to the guest apartment.

"Morning," Jess said as he appeared in the kitchen.

"Morning Jess," Lorelai replied. "Are you just now getting up?"

"Yeah, Rory didn't wake me up, and I ended up sleeping most of the morning," Jess said, getting a coffee mug from the cabinet and pouring himself some coffee.

"There are pancakes on the island," Luke told him. "I think Rory ate all the bacon, but I can make some more."

"That's okay, pancakes are fine," he said, grabbing a plate and putting some pancakes on it before going to the table to eat. "Thanks."

"No problem," Luke said, turning back to Lorelai. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, but I think I'm going to get up and get myself some coffee," Lorelai replied, getting up off the couch.

"Lorelai…" he groaned, getting up to follow her.

"Luke," she countered, grabbing a mug and pouring herself some coffee. "I thought we agreed one cup a day…I'll have one cup in the morning, and switch to water, which is the only other thing I really drink."

"And you promise you won't be getting more when you get to the inn?" He asked.

"Honestly Luke…you think I would do something that could cause harm to our unborn child when my pregnancy is already considered high risk?" Lorelai questioned, placing her cup down the counter as she faced her husband.

"No, I know you wouldn't," Luke realized. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried."

"I know…I am too, but even our doctor said it would be okay," she reminded him.

"Okay," he nodded, leaning in to kiss her briefly. "I'm going to go upstairs and shower and then go check in at the diner."

"Okay," she smiled. "I'm going to start some laundry."

"Don't overdo it," Luke replied before they went their separate ways.

A little while later, Rory came down the stairs from the guest suite carrying two gift bags. Jess was rinsing his dishes while Lorelai sat at the breakfast table looking at the paper.

"Hey sweets," Lorelai smiled, looking up from the paper. "What you got there?"

"Gifts for the boys since we weren't able to make it back for their birthday," Rory replied, placing them on the kitchen island. "Jess, you sure you don't want to go with me to Lane's?"

"I'm sure, you and Lane need some time to yourselves," Jess replied as he was putting the dishes in the dishwasher, taking initiative to start it once he saw it was full. "I'm going to stay here and work on that paper."

"Okay," she said, turning to her mom. "Are there any plans for the rest of the day?"

"Not that I know of, Luke is going to check in at the diner, which usually turns into at least an hour or half the day," Lorelai replied. "So I may end up going there for lunch, I'll let you know if I do."

"Thanks," Rory said. "You feeling better?"

"A lot better," Lorelai confirmed. "Do you want to take the Jeep or the Armada?"

"Nah, I can walk, it's not that far," Rory answered, lightly grabbing Jess' arm as he pressed the buttons on the dishwasher to start it. "Kiss."

He leaned in, kissing her briefly. "I love you, have a good day, tell Lane and Zack I say hi."

"Love you too, and I will" she smiled. "Have fun with that paper, maybe we can go see Liz and TJ later."

"I will."

"Bye Mom, I'll see you later," Rory said, grabbing the gift bags, then kissing her mom on the cheek.

"Bye, love you," Lorelai smiled.

"Love you too," she said before walking out the front door.

"Well that was sweet," Lorelai commented to Jess.

"What?"

"'I love you, have a good day,'" she mocked.

"Is there something wrong with that?" He wondered, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"No, it's just not something I would expect from you," she told him. "But it's nice, I'm glad you tell her things like that."

Just then Luke came down the stairs. "Okay, I'm going to run to the diner," he said as he stepped into the kitchen. "Is there anything we need here?"

"I don't think so," Lorelai answered, raising from her seat to kiss him goodbye, but Jess stopped them.

"Actually Luke…do you have a minute?" Jess asked, standing up straight from his former stance.

"Of course, I'm not in any hurry, I just like to check in at least once a day on the days I don't work all day," Luke explained. "What's up?"

"Can we go in the living room and sit down?" He wondered. "I want to ask the two of you something."

Lorelai and Luke exchanged concerned glances.

"Okay," Luke said, taking Lorelai's hand as they made their way into the living room, the two of them sat down on the couch, Jess in the armchair.

"I know our relationship hasn't always been the best, and I've done a lot of things to cause that, a lot of things I regret," he began, letting out a huff of air as he collected his thoughts. "I want you to know that I'm working on being the best person I can be, not only for myself, but for Rory, and the two of you, I want to make you proud…"

"You already are making us proud, Jess," Lorelai pointed out.

"I hope that one day you won't have a single reason to doubt me," he continued. "You still have plenty of reasons now to doubt me, and I don't blame you. But know that I'm working hard to change those things about myself."

"We already see a lot of those changes," Luke said, Lorelai nodded in agreement. "Just having you come to us, sit down and talk to us like a man, speaks volumes."

"I want you to know that I love Rory more than life itself, she means the world to me," he said, clearing his throat as he got a little choked up. "I know I've done a lot of stupid things that have hurt Rory in the past, and luckily, we worked through those things, she forgave me, and I think it's made us stronger in the long run."

"I agree," Lorelai nodded, clutching tightly to Luke's hand, knowing where this conversation was headed.

"More than anything, I want to be the man that Rory deserves. The man that is worthy of being her husband. So I'm coming to you now, asking for your daughter's hand in marriage," he said hopefully, looking to Luke and Lorelai.

Lorelai already had tears running down her cheeks, Luke was working hard to fight back his tears.

"Oh geez, I didn't think you were both going to cry!" Jess exclaimed uncomfortably.

Lorelai looked at Luke and let out a giggle when she realized he had a tear streaming down his face.

"What do you say Dad?" She asked him, elbowing him gently.

Luke sighed, quickly wiping away the tear. "Well Jess, even though you gave us hell during the time you spent here, we have seen you grow into an incredible young man," he began. "And I know I give you a hard time, but it's mostly because Rory is basically a daughter to me, and I—we—want what's best for her. We want her to have everything she has ever hoped and dreamed for. When the two of you got back together, as her dad, I was against it, because I was worried you would drag her down again. But as your uncle, I was already so proud of all the things you had accomplished in such a short amount of time."

"And you've continued to make great strides in bettering your life," Lorelai added. "We know how much you love Rory."

"She told me about the financial trouble you two had awhile back," Luke admitted. "First of all, next time that happens, come to us, even if she tells you not to."

"Got it."

"Second of all, she said that you were going to take on another job to help with the bills, even though you had Truncheon and Columbia, you were going to stretch yourself even thinner to fix the problem," he said. "You did exactly what any man who loves his family more than life itself, should do. And I'm proud of you."

"Thanks," he smiled modestly.

"Jess, the fact that you've come to us to ask us for Rory's hand in marriage speaks volumes, the old Jess would've never done this," Lorelai pointed out. "He would've suggested eloping without ever saying a word to us until it was all said and done. But you…you didn't do that, and I think that proves you are worthy of being called her husband."

Luke glanced at Lorelai, who still had tears streaming down her face, she smiled and nodded, then looked back to his nephew. "You have our blessing, Jess."

Jess let out a relieved sigh. "Wow," he said. "Thank you."

The three of them stood, Lorelai hugged Jess tightly, then he and Luke shook hands.

"You're lucky I had a chance to have a little chat with Rory over breakfast this morning, without that, I may have said no," Luke told him.

"I'll have to thank her," he noted. "You know…after I make it past the proposal."

Lorelai jumped up and down a little, clapping her hands joyously. "Do you know when you're going to ask her?"

"Not yet, I have an idea of how I want to do it, but I wanted to ask you guys face-to-face, and this was the first time I've seen you since I got the ring," Jess replied.

"You already have a ring?!" Her eyes widened.

"Yeah, it's hidden back at the house," he answered.

"Jess, I'm so happy for you!" She said, putting her hands on his shoulders and shaking him.

"Are you going to be able to keep this quiet?" He wondered.

"Me?! Of course!" Lorelai exclaimed incredulously. "Why would you even ask that?"

"Because you and Rory can't keep secrets from each other to save your lives," Luke pointed out, getting a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

"I can keep this a secret!" Lorelai argued. "Getting engaged is one of the days a girl dreams about all her life. I wouldn't dream of ruining that for Rory."

"You promise?" Jess asked.

"Pinky promise," she assured him, sticking her pinky out.

Jess rolled his eyes and groaned, turning to walk away.

"You're no fun," Lorelai called out.

"I'll be upstairs if you need me," he said as he kept walking.

When Lorelai turned to seek out Luke, she noticed one of the French doors leading to the covered back porch had been left open. She peeked out to see him with his hands pressed against the porch railing, staring out into the backyard.

"Hey," she said quietly, snaking her arms around his waist from behind and pressing her cheek to his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Just thinking."

"'Bout what?" She asked as he turned around in her arms, putting his own arms around her.

"About Rory," he replied. "I didn't realize how much she considered me a father, I mean, she's a daughter to me just as much as April is, but to have Jess ask both of us for her hand in marriage meant a lot to me."

"It was tough wasn't it? Saying yes?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah," he said, fighting back tears again.

"It's okay to cry, Luke," Lorelai replied, now fighting her own tears at seeing her husband's emotions take over. "She's our little girl, maybe not yours biologically, but you've been there for her almost as much as I have. You've helped her with homework, given her special birthday breakfasts and dinners, cleaned a scraped knee…or five, you've seen her fall in love, and get heartbroken, make mistakes and make things right again. You're her dad in every way that counts. And it's okay to be upset about giving her boyfriend permission to marry her."

"She's been a big part of my life from the time Hurricane Lorelai blew in," Luke said, smiling through the tears that were now falling freely down his cheeks. "She was the only kid I ever liked until April came into the picture…I just hope she knows that I don't take our relationship lightly."

"She knows. And I know you hate crying in front of people, but you better get used to the idea or considered getting some kind of surgery that will keep you from crying," Lorelai advised, placing her hands on the sides of his head and wiping the tears away with her thumbs.

"Why is that?" He asked.

"Because she's going to ask you to give her away at the wedding, and if you're like this now, you're going to be bawling like a baby at the wedding," she replied.

"You really think she'll ask me?" He wondered. "Not Christopher or your dad?"

"She's going to ask you, trust me," Lorelai assured him, leaning in and kissing him briefly before hugging him tightly. "I'm so glad you and Rory have such a close relationship."

"Me too," Luke agreed, holding her close.