THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

April's birthday party brings an unexpected twist that changes Luke's and Lorelai's lives forever. Late sixth season.

Disclaimer: Are you kidding me? If I owned it, it would still be on.

CHAPTER SIX: CONVERSATIONS

April was stirring when he returned to his chair by her bedside. He watched her quietly for a while until she opened her eyes and stared at the wall opposite her for a minute. Then she turned her head towards him. "Hi," she said drowsily.

"Hi, sweetie."

She blinked at him for a few minutes and then cast her eyes around the room as she pulled herself up a little, looking more alert. "How are you feeling?" he asked anxiously.

She considered for a minute. "Kind of like a truck ran over me," she murmured.

Luke chuckled but didn't say anything.

She turned to look at him again. "You said I was in an accident, right?"

"That's right," Luke responded softly.

She sighed. "So it wasn't just a nightmare."

Luke would have done anything to take that sad, worried look off her face. "No, I'm sorry, it wasn't a nightmare," he told her.

She frowned. "Did I get hit by a truck?"

"Not exactly," Luke told her. "Another car ran right into yours." She stared at him as if she was trying to pull up the memory. "You were thrown from the car and landed in the dirt, but you were still hurt," he told her.

She thought about that, nodding. Then her frown increased and she looked directly into his eyes. "Luke, is Mom all right? Was she hurt?"

Here it comes, Luke thought.

He slowly took her hand, remembering his discussion with Ms. Webster. "April, your mom was very badly hurt," he told her, looking straight into her face. "Very badly. She was brought to the hospital with you."

A fearful look entered her eyes. "Where is she now?"

Luke took a deep breath. "Honey, the doctors did everything they could to help her, but her injuries were just too severe. I'm sorry, April, but your mom died. I'm so, so sorry."

She was staring at him, her eyes glassy, her breathing starting to be audible. "She's. . . dead?" she whispered.

Luke nodded, still clutching her hand. "Yes, she is." And again, "I'm so sorry, sweetie."

April stared at him a moment longer, a look of utter terror on her face before it crumpled. A huge sob shook her shoulders.

Luke immediately moved to sit on the bed, being careful not to disturb her leg or ribs. He put his arms around her and pulled her towards him and her tears let loose as she clutched convulsively at his shirt. She continued to sob as he gently rubbed her back. "It's okay, April," he whispered. "You cry all you want. It's okay."

While she was crying, Luke saw the door open a crack and Ms. Webster looked in with a nurse at her shoulder. Luke regarded her helplessly. She nodded and gave him a thumbs up signal and closed the door.

April stopped crying in a surprisingly short time but continued to sniff audibly for a few minutes while Luke stroked her hair. She finally raised her head from his shoulder and seemed hesitant to look at him. Luke said nothing and waited. After a few minutes she leaned back in the bed and raised her eyes to him, still silent.

He regarded her. "You okay?" he asked, stroking the hand he was holding. He caught himself and amended, "I know that's a stupid question. . ."

"No it's okay," April said in a tiny voice. "I'm—I'm okay, I guess."

He nodded and waited. "I'm here for you, April," he told her softly. "Anything you want to say or ask, just tell me."

She nodded absently. "I will," she murmured.

The silence went on until Luke thought he would explode if he didn't break it. "Your Uncle Steve was here last night," he told her. "He saw you when you came out of surgery, and he'll be back this afternoon."

She nodded and looked at him with a slightly different expression. "How long have you been here?"

"Umm—they called me a little while after the accident. They found that piece of paper with my name and number in your mom's pocket," he explained. "I've been here since about twelve-thirty."

Her eyebrows raised. "You've been here since last night?" She looked at a clock on the wall. "Almost twelve hours?" She regarded him anxiously. "You must be exhausted! When are you going to get some sleep?"

"Don't worry about that," he soothed. When she continued to frown at him, not saying anything, he added, "I was waiting for you to wake up so—so I could talk to you. I was thinking that after that happened, I would go home and sleep for a little while and come back here later."

She looked worried. "Maybe you shouldn't drive. Are you too tired to drive?"

"No, no, I'm fine. I had slept a little before the police called last night, and I slept some sitting here this morning." He shook his head and smiled. "I'm okay to drive, I promise."

Her face screwed up a little. "I don't want you to get into an accident. I don't want to lose you, too."

"Hey, hey!" He put his hands on her shoulders. "No way you're going to lose me, April," he said firmly. "I'm gonna be right here for as long as you need me or want me."

A ghost of a smile warmed her lips. "That's good," she said, sounding like a very small child.

She stared at the bed again and Luke waited, his hands still on her shoulders. She looked straight into his eyes. "What's going to happen to me?" she said plaintively.

Luke remembered the social worker's advice about being direct. "Well, we're figuring that out right now," he said. "Your Uncle Steve and I have to talk about it, but you'll probably stay with one of us." She frowned again and bit her lip. "Listen, April," he told her. "There's a very nice lady here named Ms. Webster. I had a long talk with her a little while ago, and Uncle Steve is going to be talking to her later. She's gonna help us work out what's going to happen next. She's going to come in and talk to you, too. She's really nice and easy to talk to. You should think about it and tell her what you want to do, okay? And, if you can, it would be good for you to talk to her about how you feel about your mom. I think she can really help you with that."

"I'll try," April said, her voice small again.

Her eyes were starting to close. "Do you want to sleep a little more, sweetie?" Luke asked gently. "Yes, please," she said tiredly. "Are you going to go home now?"

"If it's okay with you," he said. "If you want me to stay, I will."

She thought about it for a minute and shook her head. "No, it's okay. I want to go back to sleep and—and I want to be alone for a while." She looked up at him. "But you'll be back later, right?"

"Absolutely," Luke assured her.

"When?" she said plaintively.

"I was thinking around dinner time," he explained. "Would that be okay?"

"Sure," she murmured. "I'll see you later."

Luke settled back in his chair, watching her. After a moment, she muttered, "Thanks, Dad."

Luke felt his heart fill and spill over. It was the first time she had called him "dad."

Her eyes were closed and her breathing was again deep and regular as Luke left the room.

Once outside, he blew out his cheeks, shook his head a little to clear it and started down the hall, deep in thought. As he passed the nurse's station, Ms. Webster leaned over the counter. "You told her?"

"Yeah," Luke said. He paused a moment and added, "I told her."

Ms. Webster nodded. "How'd she do?"

Luke shrugged. "All right, I guess. She cried hard for a while. She's going back to sleep now." He frowned. "She didn't say much about it, but she suddenly got very worried about me driving and being in an accident because I'm tired. It was kind of weird."

The social worker chuckled. "Not really. That reaction is pretty normal. She can't quite think about her mother yet so she's worrying about you." She glanced down the hall. "I'll go in and talk with her in a while, when she's awake again."

Luke nodded. "Okay. You—you really helped me do it. Thanks again."

The young woman nodded and smiled and Luke headed for the elevator.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lorelai opened her eyes around 11 a.m. and sleepily watched the shadows dancing on the ceiling for a few minutes. She had not slept well, mostly dozing and waking for the last several hours as thoughts flitted rapidly through her head, and now felt it would probably be impossible to get any more sleep. Besides, she wanted to check in with Luke and see how he and April were doing.

She pulled herself out of bed, went downstairs and made a pot of coffee, pushing a Pop-tart into the toaster at the same time, and gave Paul Anka his breakfast while she waited. When both were ready she sat down at the kitchen table and dialed Luke's cell phone number.

To her surprised he answered almost immediately. "Hi."

"Hey," she responded. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, it's perfect, in fact," he said. "I'm in the hospital parking lot about to get into the truck and come back home for a few hours."

"Oh, good," she said. "How's April?"

Luke sighed. "Well, she was really groggy most of the morning and mostly slept. She's on a lot of pain medication. But. . ." he hesitated for a moment. "She woke up a little while ago and started asking about Anna. So—I told her."

"Aw, hon," Lorelai murmured, her voice warm with sympathy. "How did she take it?"

"I'm not really sure," he admitted. "She cried for a while but then just stopped and talked about other things. I think it hasn't really sunk in yet."

"Probably not."

"She actually started worrying about my driving home when I haven't had much sleep. She said. . ." Luke hesitated. "She said she didn't want to lose me in an accident, too."

"Poor thing," Lorelai mourned. "She's probably going to be scared for a while and have a lot of strange reactions."

"That's what the social worker said."

Lorelai paused. "Social worker?"

"Yeah, there's been one assigned to April. A Ms. Webster. I talked with her this morning and she was a real help. She gave me some tips on how to talk with April about Anna and they seemed to do some good. She's going to talk to April, too, to counsel her about it, I guess."

"Oh, good," his fiancée responded.

Luke paused. "She also talked to me a little about the process of getting legal guardianship."

"Oh?" Lorelai's ears perked up.

"Don't worry, I haven't made any decisions," he assured her. "I know we have to talk it over. And we have to find out what April's uncle wants. Ms. Webster is going to meet with him today, and she'd like to meet with us all tomorrow to discuss it. Just so something could be settled at least temporarily before April is released."

"Okay, that sounds doable."

The was a lull in the conversation, and Luke said, "Lorelai—she called me 'dad' for the first time."

"Oh, honey."

"And she also looked me straight in the eye and asked what was going to happen to her."

"Oh, honey," Lorelai repeated in a more worried tone. "It must be so scary for her."

"I know," he murmured. "I've been sort of remembering what it was like when my mom died. I think that's helping me understand what she's feeling."

"I'm sure it is," Lorelai said softly.

There was another pause and she queried, "So how are you doing?"

"Ummm—okay, I guess. I could use some sleep, but I'm not too bad. Kind of wired."

"I can understand that. I sort of feel the same way."

This conversation was setting records for long pauses. After another one, Luke asked, "So are you going to work?"

"I'm just getting ready. Have you heard from the diner? Everything okay there?"

"I talked to them early this morning. Caesar and Lane got in okay and opened. And apparently Patty overheard them talk about the accident. So, thanks to 'Hello Magazine,' the whole town knows by now." He laughed a little. "But they're sending along some good wishes, so—that's nice."

"It is nice," Lorelai smiled.

"So, are you coming to the hospital tonight?"

"I want to."

"I'd like that. What time do you think you'll get there?"

"Ummm—about six-thirty or seven, I think." Another pause. "Are you going to tell April that I'm coming? So she can say no to seeing me if she wants?"

"I don't think she'll say no," Luke said firmly. "But I'll tell her before you get there. I'm thinking I'll go back around dinner time, so I'll be there before you."

"Okay, good."

"And after visiting hours are over, maybe we can get something to eat and then talk."

"Sounds like a plan."

They listened to the silence one last time. "So—you have a good day," Luke told her softly.

"You, too."

"I love you."

Lorelai's heart jumped. "I love you, too."

After she had ended the call, she sat thinking for a minute. Then she called Rory and filled her in on all the news.

"Oh, my God," Rory breathed when her mother told her about Anna. "Wow. That's so awful!"

"Yeah, I know. Something like that shouldn't happen to anybody."

"Poor April," Rory grieved.

Lorelai sighed. "Yeah."

Rory considered the situation. "So—this changes a bunch of things."

"It sure does."

"What's Luke going to do?"

"I don't know."

Pause. "What do you want him to do?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, come on, Mom!" Rory said, her voice disbelieving.

"No, really," Lorelai sighed. "I want him to figure out what he wants, what's best for him. And then—I'll adjust. Somehow. One way or another. However he decides."

"But you must have an opinion!"

"I do," her mother assured her. "I'm just trying to clarify it for myself. And—a whole lot of what I think and what questions I have will depend on what Luke says and does."

Rory continued to tease but Lorelai wouldn't say anything more.

They talked a little more and hung up. Lorelai continued to mull the whole thing over as she dressed and left for work.

She took Sookie and Michel aside to give them the news when she arrived. Sookie burst into sympathetic tears, wiping her eyes on her apron, and even Michel was shaken enough to withhold his usual caustic comments. "I just wanted you to know in case I'm not around much for a few days," Lorelai told them. "I don't know what's going to happen but there may be a lot going on. And I'm going to try to be with Luke at the hospital as much as possible."

"We'll hold the fort," Sookie promised. Michel agreed, but not before mentally examining his calendar for the weekend.

Lorelai went about her day, her mind still racing.