Dec 3rd

Emily was getting more and more nervous. Two days and she hadn't heard from Lorelai. Not that this was unusual, but this time she waited for some sign saying that she made the right choice. Of course both her mind and Richard constantly told her that she was doing a nice thing and that she shouldn't worry about it, because what's there to misinterpret, but her heart knew that when it came to Lorelai and her logic reasoning went out the window. On the one hand she wished it'd be Friday already so she could see Lorelai's reaction, but on the other she feared exactly that reaction.

Luke was debating with himself whether or not to ring the doorbell. Why did he come here at all? But he knew the answer. He wanted to hear the reasoning behind the letters. He didn't want to encourage Lorelai to make amends with her mother when maybe Lorelai was right after all and all of this was some sick joke. But it couldn't be. "Get a grip on yourself, Danes," he muttered finally pressing his finger to the doorbell. After several shouts for a maid, Emily opened the door herself.

"Luke!" she said surprised and instantly felt her heart beating faster. Now she'd finally get some reaction.

"Hello, Emily," Luke said, still standing outside. After some seconds Emily snapped out of her daze.

"I'm sorry, please come in," she said stepping aside. A timid blonde girl appeared from upstairs. "There you are, Elisa," Emily scolded. "At least take Mr Danes coat now," she said and the maid immediately obeyed. Luke shot her an encouraging look. "Please, come in," Emily said again, leading the way to the living-room. "Would you like something to drink? Tea?" she offered.

"No thanks. I can't stay for long. I just need to…," he trailed off, while taking a seat on the couch opposite Emily, looking at his hands.

"You just need to…?" she tried to get him back on track.

He sighed. Then he looked up with a worried expression on his face, which led Emily to the wrong conclusion.

"Oh my, is something wrong with Lorelai? Or the baby?" she asked scared.

"No, no, they're all right. No need to worry," he calmed his mother-in-law down, who was still looking at him expectantly. He took a deep breath again. "I want to know why you're sending those stories to Lorelai," he finally blurted out.

Emily instantly knew that something was wrong. "What does she think?" she whispered, getting up and pacing the room.

"I asked first," Luke dared to reply.

"Well, what do you think why I'm doing this?" she snapped. "Oh right, no counter-asking, I forgot," she added, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I don't know what I was thinking. Of course she assumes the worst. Again," she said to the window. Then she turned around to face Luke. "I wanted to do something nice for my daughter. Because against popular belief I'm not out to destroy her happiness. I remembered that she loved Advent Calendars and then I found out that there are all kinds of Calendars today and given that Lorelai isn't a kid anymore I thought some stories would be nice. I even thought that maybe they could bring us closer together. What was I thinking?" she turned to the window again. "Now it's your turn. What does Lorelai think?" she whispered.

"She's just confused," Luke tried to get out of it. Emily turned towards him again.

"Don't lie to me, Luke. I know my daughter. I don't know how she could misinterpret this, but somehow that's what we do. Always turn each other's good intentions around. So – what does she think?" she asked again. Luke knew it was a lost cause. Emily wouldn't stop until she knew.

"She thinks you want to annoy her," he said calmly. Even though Emily turned away again, he could see the tears that sprang to her eyes. He felt lost. His gut told him to go over and console her, but how to console Emily Gilmore?

"Tell her, I won't annoy her anymore. I'll stop sending them immediately. Now, I know this is rude, but since you didn't want to stay for long anyway I hope you'll excuse me," she said, desperately trying not to cry in front of him and fleeing to the stairs.

"No. Emily, don't leave, please," Luke said, getting up as well. The last thing he wanted was for her to stop this, now that he knew he was right about her intentions. To his surprise Emily did indeed stop. But she didn't face him and she didn't say anything further. "I think you should continue to send the stories. Because against popular belief I'm on your side," he said.

"You are?" Emily managed to get out.

"I am," Luke replied firmly. "Lorelai needs you, just as much as you need Lorelai. I never kept her from you. I want you two to get along. I know why you're doing this and I can assure you, you will be a part of it," he said.

"She did it once, she can do it again," Emily whispered.

"I won't stand for it," Luke said. "I want my kid to know the only set of grandparents still left," he continued, his voice getting thick with emotion as well. Slowly Emily turned around. While she knew Luke was a good man and husband before she now saw him in a completely new light. His eyes were just as much glistening as hers.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure they'd be very proud of their son," she said.

"Thank you," Luke replied. Emily walked to the couch and motioned for him to sit down as well.

"I don't know a thing about your mother. Of course you don't have to, but I'd like to know about her – at least a little bit," she offered. This time it was Luke's turn to stand in front of the window.

"Her name was Louise. She was small, brown hair and loving, gentle brown eyes. She had a soft voice. She was always there for her family. She didn't scold us often. Because when we were disobedient her eyes got so sad, that we immediately changed our behaviour anyway, just to get her to smile again. She had a beautiful smile. One day dad and she came home – from hospital, but I didn't know that then – and the smile was gone. She tried to force it, but I knew it wasn't sincere. I knew something was wrong even though they didn't tell us. Some months later she was dead. Dec. 7th – shortly before Christmas. I was nine," Luke said, his voice breaking.

"I'm sorry. That must have been very hard on all of you," Emily said. "Cancer?"

Luke nodded. "What about your mother?" he asked his mother-in-law, wishing to shift the focus away from his past. But he was also genuinely interested. Lorelai said she hadn't known her maternal grandmother.

"She died shortly after I married Richard. Also cancer," she answered. "It's a wicked disease. At least I had Richard," she finished.

Luke digested this new information and suddenly he couldn't hold it in any longer. "What I don't get about Lorelai and you: You still have each other. And it can be over so soon. You should stop hanging onto the past. And don't think I don't tell that to Lorelai as well, I do. That's why I think you should continue the calendar. Lorelai might have been suspicious at first, but I think I could convince her that you just want to do something nice. Actually I came here to get that confirmed, because for the tiny chance that Lorelai was right, I didn't want to talk her into anything, only for her to be disappointed again," he said, looking at Emily again.

"I promise you, I want to do a nice thing for her," Emily said once more.

"I know," Luke said. Suddenly his eyes saw the clock on the mantle. "Oh – I really need to go now, Emily. Lorelai doesn't know I'm here and I'd prefer if it stays that way," he said.

"Of course. Don't worry," Emily said, walking him to the foyer. After saying goodbye, she called after him once more. "Luke?" he turned around on the steps. "Thank you for coming," she said.

"Anytime. See you on Friday," he replied.

"See you on Friday," Emily smiled.