Rory's birthday dawned grey and overcast, but Lorelai was too excited to let the weather dampen her spirits. Not only was her little girl turning one, but Luke left a message with Mia for her to check in with him at the hardware store before she picked up the birthday girl from the church. She practically bounced all the way to the center of Stars Hollow, barely even feeling the wind whipping her curls into a frenzy.

"Hey!" she called, entering the store. Luke stepped out from behind a shelf and nodded in greeting. "You wanted to show me something?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "Dad!" he yelled. "Gonna take Lorelai to the house now!" A distant voice called back a muffled reply. "Let's go," he said, gesturing toward the door to the shop.

They began walking through town. Luke obviously had a destination in mind, but steadfastly refused to give in to Lorelai's pleas for hints. Turning onto Maple Street, Lorelai's excitement reached fever pitch. "Here? Is it here?" she squealed, Luke chuckling at her childlike antics.

He stopped in front of a two-story blue house with a large wraparound porch. The yard was overgrown with tall grass and weeds, and some of the roof's shingles dangled lazily from the eaves. "This one," he said, gesturing toward it.

"It's beautiful," Lorelai breathed, taking in the dilapidated wonder in front of her.

"It needs some repairs, but Dad thinks he and I can do most of it. It needs to be re-insulated and you'll probably want to change the carpet." He walked toward the steps leading to the porch and tested the first step carefully with his foot. "I think some of the porch needs to be replaced, too," he said, moving to grip the wooden post closest to him. He tested the post as well, running his hand along the faded and stripped paint carefully.

"I love it," Lorelai said, as he turned to face her again. "This is perfect. It's like a country cottage, quaint and picturesque. Can we see inside?"

"I'd rather not risk it without a hard hat," he replied. "Once we've assessed its stability, we can go inside and look around."

She turned in a circle, taking in the entire property. "How long before we can move in?" she asked. Luke chuckled, stepping down from the creaky, weathered steps and rejoining Lorelai on the lawn.

"Depends how fast we can re-insulate. Dad wants to get a contractor and an inspector in, make sure everything is up to code."

"We're leaving for Maryland on Friday," Lorelai reminded him.

"Won't be ready by then," he said.

She nodded, contemplating. "So, then what?" she asked.

"Well, you can move into the house with me and dad while we wait, or you can stay in the potting shed until the house is ready. He thinks we should be able to move in before the end of the next month."

Lorelai rested her hands on her hips. "It won't be weird if we stay in the potting shed?" she asked finally.

Luke shrugged. "No weirder than you moving into Liz's old room," he said.

"If it's all the same to you," she said, scuffing her shoe into a clump of dirt, "I'd rather only move Rory once."

"Seems reasonable," he agreed.

"Are you coming to Rory's birthday party tonight?" she asked, looking up.

"If you want me there," he replied.

She laughed. "Of course I want you there. You're going to be her stepdad soon."

"True," he replied. "Do I need to bring a present?" he asked, suddenly worried.

"I don't think she'll notice," Lorelai said, giggling. "She's only one."

Luke and Lorelai walked back toward town in comfortable silence. Once they arrived in front of the church, Luke jerked his thumb toward the store across the street. "I've gotta get back to the store. See you tonight?"

"Yeah, tonight," Lorelai said, with a grin and a wave. She watched for a moment as Luke loped back to the store, hands in his pockets, then, shaking her head slightly, walked into the church, eager to give her baby girl a giant hug.

Later that evening, Luke walked into Mia's house, looking around. He'd been there multiple times growing up, but he always felt weird walking into other people's houses, particularly when there was no one at the door to greet him. He followed the noise of chatter into the dining room, and saw Rory placed in her high chair, clapping excitedly as she tore the paper off of a hastily wrapped gift. He looked down at the package in his own hands, feeling extremely self-conscious.

"Luke! You made it!" Lorelai said, coming around and grabbing his hand. He nearly toppled as she jerked him suddenly, pulling him toward the head of the table where Rory was. "Baby, look who's here!"

Rory paused mid-ripping of paper to look up. She smiled brightly when she saw who it was and dropped the present. "Uke!" she cried, lifting her arms.

"What does she want?" Luke stage-whispered to Lorelai, panicked.

"She wants you to pick her up," Lorelai replied dryly.

"Why?" he asked, looking puzzled.

"I don't know, maybe she likes you?" Lorelai replied, arching an eyebrow in amusement. She took the present from his hands. "Look, Luke brought you a present."

Rory forgot about being picked up, and instead reached for the package. Lorelai ripped a piece of the paper, so that Rory would have a place to start. She pulled at the colored paper until its contents were revealed. "Baby!" she cried, hugging the brown-haired Cabbage Patch Doll to her chest, still in its box. She thrust it at her mother. "Open!" she demanded, and all the other adults chuckled.

"Good job, Luke," Mia said with amusement.

He shrugged sheepishly. "She liked that doll that was in the Independence Inn's lost and found, so I thought maybe she'd like her own." Lorelai smiled up at him as she tore the box apart, trying to detach the doll from its cardboard confines. "The girl at the toy store said these were really popular," he added. Once the doll was free, Lorelai placed it in Rory's arms, and she refused to let go of it for the rest of the evening, no matter what distractions the other adults offered her.

"Looks like your gift was a hit," a husky voice said beside him. Luke jumped, and turned to see Miss Patty appraising him, her lips pursed and eyebrows raised.

"Uh, yeah," Luke said noncommittally.

"She's pretty taken with you," Miss Patty continued, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"Ah, I guess so," he mumbled, shuffling a little, feeling agitated by the stare that she was giving him.

"I never thought seeing you with a baby would look so natural," she purred, and with another lingering gaze, she moved on. Luke breathed in relief, and edged himself toward the back of the room.

As the party wound down, Lorelai noticed Luke standing at the edge of the crowd, hands in his pockets. She walked over to him

"Thanks for coming," she said, smiling. "It meant a lot to Rory."

"Yeah," he said, jutting out his chin. "She's cute."

"So did your dad take a look at the house yet?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're going to bring some guys out next week to start the work. Did you want to pick out wallpaper or any of that stuff?"

"Yeah, that would be fun," she replied, her eyes lighting up. There was a tired fussy noise coming from the kitchen, and Lorelai glanced over her shoulder. "I should get Rory to bed," she said apologetically. "Will I see you before Friday?"

"Sure," he replied. "I'll take you and Rory out somewhere, a pre-wedding celebration."

"Sounds great," Lorelai giggled. "See you then, Luke."

"Goodnight," he replied, smiling and shaking his head slightly. He slipped out of the house, unnoticed, anxious to avoid more prying questions from the likes of Miss Patty.

Two days later, Lorelai was tucking in the sheet in room 2 when she heard a soft knock on the door. She looked up to see Mia holding Rory in her arms.

"Hey," she greeted them, grinning.

"Mama!" called Rory, reaching out her pudgy arms toward her mother.

"Hey, baby," she cooed, scooping her daughter up into her arms and nuzzling her soft baby hair. "Did she want me?" Lorelai asked Mia, looking up.

"It's just about time for us to leave," Mia replied.

"Oh, ok," Lorelai replied. "I'm almost done with this room." She set Rory down on the floor, who immediately began crawling toward the couch. After the finishing touches had been completed, she scooped up Rory, who was happily looking at pictures in the in-room magazines.

"Already a reader," she bragged to Mia, after extricating the magazine from her daughter's grip. Mia led the way to her car in the parking lot. Lorelai buckled Rory in quickly, then slid into the front passenger seat.

"Ready?" Mia asked. Lorelai nodded, and they began driving toward Hartford. Today was the day that Lorelai was getting her physical examination done, and hopefully would leave her appointment with a letter that would convince the state of Maryland to grant them a marriage license.

"So, Lorelai," Mia said, breaking the easy silence between them. "You're getting married in three days."

"Yes," Lorelai replied. She waited for Mia to say something else, but the expression on the woman's face was unreadable.

"Listen," she said finally. "I know Lucas. He's a wonderful boy. But are you really sure this is the right choice for you?"

"He offered," she said with a shrug. "And the truth is, that it would be nice to have a partner in this. I mean, like I already told you there's no expectations. We'd just be friends, that live together. And Jun Kim said she wouldn't let Rory into the nursery school unless she had two parents."

"She said that?" Mia replied, surprised.

"Well, I didn't let her get that far," she admitted. "Luke already offered a few days before, and I just blurted out to her that I was engaged."

"Sweetie," Mia said, smiling slightly. "We can figure something else out, you don't need to get married."

Lorelai shook her head adamantly. "We made this decision and we're going to stick with it," she said firmly. "Besides, I think it would be good, to have someone else to shoulder the load."

"What about Rory's dad?" she asked.

Lorelai sighed heavily. "He's doing a semester abroad," she replied. "He wasn't ready to settle down."

"He found out you were pregnant and took off?" she asked.

"Not exactly," Lorelai said. She leaned back in the chair, staring out the window for a moment, watching the trees and billboards whizz by. "You really want to hear this?" she asked.

"I really do," Mia replied.

Lorelai drew in a deep breath. "My parents decided that we were going to get married. I mean, I was pregnant, it's what is done," she began. "And he agreed, he said he would do it, he would finish high school and then take a job at my dad's company. But I could tell he felt trapped. So I turned him down. I figured that we could still be together, you know, and raise Rory, just not be married. But he didn't see it that way." She closed her eyes, remembering. "He came to the hospital when she was born, but he only saw her through the glass into the nursery. He only actually met her at my parents' Christmas party. She was already almost 4 months old before he even held her for the first time, and his mom had to make him." She opened her eyes, but only fixed them on the road ahead of them.

She felt Mia's gaze on her. "That must have been hard for you," she said softly.

"It was, it was really hard. That's when I knew I'd made the right choice. We never would have worked. It would have been a huge mistake to get married. He would have resented me and Rory, and I couldn't have that." She smiled slightly. "But Luke, he doesn't want to marry me because he wants to keep me around, to not lose me, to not piss off our parents, or because he's gunning to get into my pants. He wants to be a partner to me, a friend, and help with Rory. I mean, how is that not the most amazing thing you've ever heard?"

"It does sound wonderful," Mia said, "but this is a huge commitment. Are you sure this is what you both want?"

"We're sure," Lorelai replied.

"Well, okay then," Mia said, and smiled, though Lorelai could tell that there was still concern hiding behind it.

The obstetrician was an older guy, with white tufts of hair sticking out from behind his ears. Lorelai lay on the examination table, the wax paper crinkling beneath her and the cotton gown itching her skin. He kept up light conversation while he did the examination, asking her questions about her daughter and her job, occasionally asking the accompanying nurse for a tool.

"Alright, then, let's sit up," he said, and Lorelai struggled to get herself upright.

"So what brings you in here today?" he asked, dismissing the nurse and taking a seat at the makeshift desk, where he opened up her chart and began to look over it.

"I'm getting married on Sunday," she said, then cleared her throat in hopes of dispelling the shakiness in her voice.

"Congratulations," he said. "I take it you need some birth control, then?"

"What?" Lorelai asked, startled. "Why?"

The doctor looked up from the chart with a puzzled look. "Then why are you in here? Just making sure everything is good to go for pregnancy?"

"No, no," Lorelai said, shaking her head. She blew out a breath, knowing she had to get to the point quickly. "I'm 17, and so I can't get married unless I have a physician's note saying that I've had a baby recently."

The doctor scratched at his head. "Well, this is a new one for me. Can't say I've heard of this law."

"It's only in a few states," Lorelai explained. "We're driving up to Maryland tomorrow."

"I see," the doctor replied. He set down his pen and turned to face Lorelai fully. "So why now?" he asked.

"Why now, what?" she replied, her nervousness returning.

"You've had the baby," he pointed out. "You are a year postpartum. Why now?"

She sighed. "He's not my daughter's biological father," she admitted. "That guy is… gone."

"Ah," he replied. "I see."

"But Luke–that's my, uh, fiancé," she said, nearly tripping over the word, still unused to it, "he's got a plan. He found us a house and he's going to fix it up, and my daughter adores him. We really, really want to get married."

"But no birth control?" he asked again.

"Um, okay, birth control," she replied, nodding weakly. Just because he prescribes it doesn't mean I have to take it, she reasoned.

After Lorelai got dressed and took both the note and prescription from the nurse, she stepped into the waiting room. Rory was ensconced in Mia's lap with a book settled between them, and Mia was reading softly. It was such a lovely scene, and she thought with slight bitterness that Mia was the type of grandmother that she would have wished for Rory, instead of the one she was dealt by biology, too consumed with the rules of high society to bother doing something as pedestrian as read a book to her granddaughter.

"All done," Lorelai said, not really wanting to ruin the moment, but starting to feel her stomach grumbling.

"Mama," Rory said. "Book!"

"Is it a good book?" Lorelai asked, and Rory nodded emphatically. "You guys hungry?" she asked, hopeful.

"Yes," Mia said, gathering up Rory in her arms and standing, placing the book back into the shelf by the chairs in the waiting room. "How about some burgers for my soon-to-be Danes girls?"

Soon-to-be Danes girls. Lorelai kept coming around to that phrase, over and over, chewing on it like a wad of bubblegum. Along with all of the other things she hadn't really thought too much about, she hadn't thought that she would be changing her name. And it wasn't really a debate for her at this point. The circumstances of the marriage, the con of it all, meant that she needed to dive into this with both of her feet, and Rory's too. Jun Kim wouldn't understand if she kept her own name. She might be able to get by with keeping Rory a Gilmore, but it was hard to reconcile having a different name than her child. It would make everything needlessly complicated.

And so she now had 60 hours to get used to the idea before it became a reality.

"So where are we going?" Lorelai asked for the third time as they walked through Stars Hollow later that evening. He was carrying Rory in his arms, beginning to get used to the strange feeling of holding a child. Her tiny hands held on tight to his flannel shirt, but she seemed perfectly comfortable behind held by him.

"You'll see when we get there," Luke replied, keeping his tone even. He chanced a glance over at her, the soft breeze playing with her dark curls. She looked over at him and grinned, and he felt something clench inside his stomach. He cleared his throat, as if that could clear away thoughts, too, and stopped in front of Weston's Bakery. He nodded toward the door.

"Ooh!" Lorelai cried gleefully, and pushed it open. The bell tinkled their arrival, and Fran looked up from behind the bakery case, her features overcome by a beaming smile.

"Lucas! You brought your girls, finally!" she said. Lorelai looked over at Luke with a small grin, and he shrugged helplessly.

"Small town," he muttered, trying to hide his own smile.

"What can I get you this evening? Dessert? Coffee? I bet this adorable little girl would like a cookie!" Fran pulled a plate from the shelf and began loading it with things, humming tunelessly.

"Cookie!" Rory chirped, and she clapped her hands together.

"This is heaven, right here," Lorelai declared. "That's it, I'm dead. Dead, and in heaven."

Luke rolled his eyes as he grabbed the lone high chair in the cafe's seating area one-handed, Rory still in his arms. He swung the chair around to one of the tables with ease, and then slipped Rory into the chair. "Eh, eh!" she squealed, reaching her hands out as if she could grasp the cookies from her chair.

"We've got a sweet tooth here!" Fran said jovially, and pushed the plate forward for Lorelai to take.

"How much do we owe you?" Lorelai asked, reaching into her bag.

Fran waved a hand dismissively. "Don't even think about it, dear, I've been looking forward to meeting you."

Lorelai picked up the plate. "Oh?" She turned to Luke. "Are we the hot topic of gossip or something?"

Before Luke could reply, Fran pressed on. "Nothing bad, dear, truly. We're all just excited to have Lucas here finding someone he's happy and settled with. Bill came in yesterday morning and he couldn't stop talking about how lovely you and your little girl are!"

"Oh." Lorelai's cheeks pinked slightly. "Ah, well, thanks," she said, and brought the plate over to the table, where Rory was practically bouncing in the chair, impatiently waiting for her cookie.

Lorelai placed a napkin in front of her and then set the cookie on top, although she shouldn't have bothered. Two little hands picked up the cookie and brought it to her mouth, where she took a bite much too big for her tiny size.

"Did you want some coffee?" Luke asked, watching Lorelai survey the treats piled high onto the plate.

She looked up. "Do you have to ask?" she replied, raising an eyebrow. Luke chuckled, but got up and got the drink for her. By the time he returned, she'd already sampled the pecan tart and the chocolate-raspberry cake, and had moved on to a chocolate donut.

"Mmm, thanks," she said, accepting the warm cup.

"So how was the appointment today?" Luke asked, drumming his fingers against the table.

"Fine," Lorelai replied around a mouthful of sweets. She swallowed. "We got the letter. We're good to go."

Luke nodded, letting out a relieved breath. "That's good."

Fran rushed over, another plate in her hands, this one full of cookies. "I thought the little one might need a couple more," she said, and set the plate on the table.

"More cookie!" Rory said, shoving the last bite of the one in her hands into her mouth, and reaching out for more.

"Here you go," Fran said, passing her one.

Lorelai looked from Fran to Rory and then to Luke, who shrugged. She grinned. "I love this town," she said happily.

Friday morning dawned with crisp and cool fall weather, perfect for the drive to Maryland. Mia was driving herself on Sunday, unable to take the whole weekend away from the Inn due to a business conference taking place on Saturday. Bill had decided to drive up Saturday, along with family friends Buddy and Maisie, who Lorelai had not yet met but was intrigued about.

Luke had surprised her that morning by driving up to the inn in a little red Toyota. "Where did you get this?" she'd asked, bewildered.

"Mr. Doose sold it to me," he'd replied, shrugging. "It was only a couple thousand," he'd assured her, seeing the look of panic in her eyes. "And it's really new. Not that many miles on it. I don't know why he bought it in the first place."

"Oh," she'd said, walking around it to take a closer look. Luke had already picked up Rory's car seat and was trying to figure out how to install it as she completed the circle around it. Without another comment, she'd buckled Rory in and then slipped into the front seat, already digging around in her bag for cassette tapes to listen to on the drive.

They talked easily, stopping for sandwiches about halfway to Elkton, one of the first towns in Maryland just passed the state line. Luke pulled up outside of a park, and Rory was excited to swing for the very first time. Lorelai stood back, watching Rory shriek excitedly as Luke pushed her on the swing, her heart bursting.

"We should probably find our hotel soon," Lorelai said, as she walked toward them.

"I already made reservations," he said. "So we should go to the courthouse and get our license, and then we can go."

"Sounds good," Lorelai replied, and watching as Luke lifted Rory out of the swing. She protested halfheartedly, but was easily distracted by a book once she was settled into her car seat.

Lorelai was worried the whole drive to the courthouse that the clerk would glare at them and tell them to leave, and that neither of them had any business getting married. Instead, the clerk cooed over Rory, accepted the paperwork without comment, and stamped her approval on the license. They were ushered out quickly, Lorelai feeling almost dizzy from how easy it had been.

"You okay?" Luke asked, glancing over at her as he buckled Rory into her seat.

"Just… processing," Lorelai replied, smiling as he stood up next to her. Luke wrinkled his forehead.

"Are you having second thoughts?" he asked. "Because if you're not sure…"

"No," Lorelai said emphatically. "No second thoughts. I want to do this." She flashed him a bright smile that was only slightly put on. She was actually kind of looking forward to being married, in a way that surprised her. The idea of having a partner, someone on her team, was looking better and better by the day.

"Okay," he said easily, and squeezed her shoulder before he walked around to the front and slipped behind the wheel.

"And now," Lorelai proclaimed, holding up another cassette tape. "Cyndi Lauper."

Luke groaned good-naturedly, and pulled out of the courthouse parking lot, heading toward the motel as 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' played through the car's speakers.

Lorelai smoothed the skirt of the white dress she was wearing. Seeing the result of her non-virgin status in Mia's arms made her feel slightly weird to be wearing white, but it was all that Mia could come up with on such short notice, and so Lorelai didn't feel like she could protest. Besides, she thought to herself, no one wears white to symbolize virginity anymore. They hadn't bothered to get flowers for the ceremony, so her hands were clasped in front of her. Everyone they had invited was there, standing around the young couple in a show of support.

The justice of the peace regarded them. "Today we are here to celebrate the union of these two people," he intoned, his words serious yet warm. The rest of the ceremony went by in a blur for Lorelai. They said their I dos, they exchanged rings, and then Luke gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. Afterward, they both changed back into their regular clothes, and they all went to a local restaurant for dinner.

Despite the surreal nature of the past few weeks, Lorelai felt a well of happiness bubble up inside of her. She watched as Maisie, one of Luke's invitees to the ceremony, tickled Rory's toes, making her shriek with laughter. Bill and Buddy, Maisie's husband, were deep in conversation about some sort of baseball game. For the first time, she felt like she was a part of a real family, like the kind she had grown up watching on television. Out of the corner of her eye, her new gold wedding band glinted at her, and she smiled at it.

"You good?" Luke said, sitting down next to her at the table.

"I'm great," Lorelai replied. He grinned at her, and then placed a steaming cup of coffee beside her empty plate. "Even better now!" she said happily, then paused, looking at him with a wide-eyed look of awe.

"What?" he said, arching an eyebrow.

"When we move into the house," she said excitedly, "I'll have your amazing coffee all the time!"

"Don't get too used to it," he muttered, but he was smiling. "I don't want you to drop dead and leave me and Rory behind."

"Coffee gives me life," she said, lifting the cup to her lips and breathing in deeply.

Mia stood up then, holding a glass of champagne. "I would like to say a few words," she said, and everyone, including Rory, looked up at her, giving her their full attention.

She cleared her throat. "I've known Lucas since he was a baby, just home from the hospital. I've watched you grow into the man you are today, and I couldn't be prouder. Your mother would be proud, too," she added, and Luke looked down, a pleased smile tugging at his lips. "I've only known Lorelai for a few weeks, but you two seem to have a wonderful friendship, and as I've reflected over your, ah, seemingly hasty decision over the past few days, I've come to realize that there are few better foundations for marriage." She raised her glass, and all the adults followed. "To Luke and Lorelai," she said, and everyone murmured their agreement as glasses clinked against each other.

"Rory, too!" Rory crowed, and everyone laughed, Maisie giving the little girl a hearty squeeze.