Sorry all. I've been a bad fanfic writer; I haven't been keeping up. But for those few loyal readers, here is my next chapter. Thanks for sticking with me! And I promise I'll try to update more frequently this semester than the last… although this year I'll be taking organic chemistry, so I make no promises :P.

-gg-

Luke stared out the window of the diner from behind his counter. The sun was setting, and in the golden dusk
light, a dozen or so men and women were busily working in the town square. As they disassembled the booths and chairs from the afternoon dog show, Taylor strutted about, shouting things here and there.

Luke glanced down at his hands. Between his fingers was a soft, frayed piece of the newspaper, inscribed with the words, "You will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she'll go away." He rolled the slip of paper around in his hand, as if he could garner the answers he needed out of it.

The bell rang, and Luke turned to see Kirk entering the diner. "We're closed," Luke hollered, hastily tucking the horoscope away and stuffing his wallet back into his pocket.

"Please, Luke," Kirk begged. "Lulu and I were supposed to go to dinner tonight, but we got in a fight, and now I'm hungry."

"Go to Al's," Luke said.

"It's seafood night at Al's, and I have a vicious shellfish allergy," Kirk countered.

"So don't eat shellfish."

"I don't want to risk it. Once I ate a mussel, and within minutes, my entire head swelled up to twice its normal size. I looked like the Elephant Man. Even trace amounts can cause my throat to swell." Kirk sighed. "Please, Luke. I have nowhere else to go."

Luke sighed. "Fine. What do you want?"

Kirk sat down at the counter and scrutinized the menu. "I'm not sure."

"Caesar made an extra hamburger."

"A hamburger sounds great," Kirk said quickly. "Can I get a milkshake too? It's just been one of those nights."

"Fine, Kirk." Luke began throwing ice cream into the blender.

As the machine was whirring, Kirk started, "This is the worst fight Lulu and I have ever had."

Luke poured the mixture from the blender into a tall glass. "Here's your milkshake, Kirk."

Kirk steamrolled ahead: "I've been trying to decide whether to propose to Lulu. I love her, and I'd like to commit to her. I'm just not sure this is the right time."

Luke slid the milkshake over to Kirk. Reluctantly, he asked, "Why not, Kirk?"

"Well, my mom has developed a lung condition that causes her to snore very loudly. I get no sleep. If Lulu were to move in, neither of us would get any sleep, and that doesn't sound like a good way to start a marriage."

"I don't think moving into your mother's house would be a good way to start a marriage, with or without the lung condition," Luke said.

"Lulu doesn't care. She says that it doesn't matter as long as we're together. I'm just not sure what to do." Kirk sipped on the milkshake. "How do you know when it's the right time to commit?"

Luke held up his hands. "How would I know?"

"Well, you and Lorelai were engaged."

"Lorelai proposed to me."

"But still-"

"Look, Kirk," Luke exploded, "I have no idea how to decide whether or not to commit. Some people commit and it's a huge mistake. They get married just because, I don't know, they get pregnant, and then they spend the rest of their lives fighting and arguing because they weren't supposed to be together in the first place."

"That's true," Kirk mused. "But if people love each other, I think they can work it out. My mom once told me that my father proposed to her after he ran her over with his car."

Luke stared at Kirk. "What?"

"Oh, yes. My father hit my mother over with his car. When she recovered, he told her that he was so scared she would die, you know, when she was in the hospital in a coma, that he realized he couldn't live without her."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. My mom accepted, and they got married. So if running someone over with a car is a legitimate reason to propose, then pregnancy is definitely better than that."

Luke shook his head. "I don't think either of those is a good reason, Kirk."

"I guess not." Kirk pondered for a moment. "I guess the best reason to commit is if you can't see yourself living without that person."

"I guess," Luke nodded. "You know, Kirk, I think you should commit to Lulu. You're lucky to have her."

Kirk nodded. "I know I'm lucky."

"Then get out of your mom's house, and marry her." Remembering a particularly scarring incident where he found Kirk asleep naked in his dad's boat, he held up a hand and hastily added, "Make sure you get an apartment first before you get out."

"Actually, I've secured the Twickham house. After you let the deal fall through, I snatched that baby right up. I've been waiting to move in until it was a sure thing with Lulu."

Unwilling to discuss anything directly related to his failed engagement with Lorelai, Luke simply added, "I would try not to run Lulu over with your car."

"That's a good plan." Kirk slipped some money on the counter. "Thanks for the advice, Luke."

"Don't mention it. Please." Luke wiped the counter with a wet cloth. He wasn't sure how exactly it happened, but somehow, Kirk had helped Luke more than he would ever know.

-gg-

"So tell me again what we're doing?" Paris said, picking up the TV remote and flopping on the couch.

"We're going to the bar with Marty and his friends," Rory replied, slipping a dangly earring into one ear. "It's going to be fun."

"It better be. My New Haven restaurant story is due on Tuesday, and I have thirteen medical school applications to finish. I don't want to put it all off, and spend the rest of the weekend feeling like an anvil hit me in the head, all for an evening of getting barfed on by some boneheaded frat boys."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Paris, it's going to be great. We're going to hit the pub, and then-"

"The pub?" Paris looked at Rory. "If you had any idea how dirty that place is, you'd think twice. I've been going over some of the Board of Health records, and the pubs in this town are full of diseases that would make sewer workers cringe."

"The Board of Health records are open for public access?"

Paris shrugged. "If you know the right people to ask."

Rory shook her head. "Well, I think I'll take my chances."

Rory's cell phone rang, and she answered it with a cheery "Hello?"

"Hey Ace, how's it going?"

"Logan, hi!" Rory scooted back into her bedroom. She opened her closet door and began leafing through her clothes.

"So I've spent the whole day negotiating with a Russian client of my father's who can barely understand English, and when I tried to demonstrate something using new software, also discovered that he can barely understand how to use a computer. It took me ten minutes to explain how to turn the computer on."

Rory held a black dress against her body. It looked great on her, but was it a little too Friday-night-dinner for a trip to the pub? Maybe she could call her mom for some fashion advice.

"Rory?" Logan said.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, you just haven't said anything for the past minute."

"Oh, sorry." Rory grabbed a blue silk top. "So you spent the day with a computer-challenged communist?"

"And now I desperately need some cheering up, so what's going on with you?"

"Well, not too much. I've been working like crazy to finish a feature story about a new chemistry professor that we stole from Harvard, and Paris is harassing the Board of Health and every restaurant owner in town, to the point where one threatened a restraining order."

"So basically, the usual."

"Basically."

"Give Paris and her legal representation my best," Logan chuckled. "So, you got any plans for the weekend?"

"Paris and I are actually going to the pub tonight," Rory said.

"Good idea. Get a few shots in that girl - she needs to loosen up."

"I don't know, Paris is even scarier with alcohol. She starts having long in-depth political discussions with herself."

Logan laughed. "If you guys are hitting the pub, you should look up Colin and Finn. Those guys always start their epic nights there. Finn told me he misses 'seeing your lovely face'… that's a direct quote."

"Aww, I miss Colin and Finn. But we're actually meeting some people there."

"Who? Anyone I know?" Logan wondered.

"Um." Rory cleared her throat. "Marty?"

"Oh." Logan paused. "Well, have fun."

"You're not mad, are you?"

"Why should I be mad?" Rory noticed that Logan's voice was growing a little squeakier.

"You kind of had an issue with him last time we talked," Rory said tentatively.

"No issue. You girls have a good time," Logan said. "Oops, it looks like the Russian client needs a ride to his hotel. I'm gonna have to cut it short, but I promise I'll call tomorrow. I love you, Rory."

"I love you too, Logan," Rory reassured him, hanging up.

-gg-

Luke strode with purpose down the street, towards Lorelai's house.

"Hi, sugar!" he heard Babette call from her porch, but Luke ignored her. There was no time to stop and have a conversation about garden gnomes. He walked around to the front of Lorelai's house and began pounding on her door.

It swung open, and there was Lorelai, in a blue shirt and Yale sweatpants. Softly, she started, "Luke, what-"

"I'm committing," Luke interrupted.

"You're… what?" Lorelai squinted her eyes a bit, obviously to figure out why on earth a crazed Luke was banging on her front door in the middle of the night.

"I want to be involved. The pregnancy, the birth, the baby's first birthday, all of it." Luke gestured wildly as he spoke.

"Luke, you don't have to do this," Lorelai said. "I can take care of the baby myself."

"I know you can. You did such a great job raising Rory on your own. But that's not why I want to be involved. I- I care about you, Lorelai."

"You do?" Lorelai smiled faintly.

"Yes, and I care about this baby. I know you can do a great job; you did so well raising Rory on her own. I just want to be there."

"Well, I didn't really raise Rory on my own, you know. I had some help." Lorelai smiled at Luke. "Mostly from you."

Luke shrugged and looked at his feet. "Oh, I wasn't…"

"Yes, you were." Luke looked up. Lorelai's blue eyes sparkled as she said, "You came to all of her birthday parties. You helped move her into Yale. You always gave her band-aids when she scraped her knees, and you helped bring us together last year when we had the falling-out. I can't think of a better father for my kid." Her eyes were shining with tears.

"Come here," Luke said, holding out his arms. As the first tears spilled over, Lorelai leaned into Luke, her face on his shoulder.

Luke wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her curly hair. It smelled sweet, as always. Like oranges.

"Oh, God, sorry," Lorelai said, pulling back and wiping tears from her cheeks. "Pregnancy hormones are a bitch."

Luke laughed. "Well, I'm going to be here to help with them. Every second."

"You really don't have to," Lorelai protested. "You have a job and a life and everything."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I want to make sure our baby's healthy. If I let you keep eating the way you do, the baby's probably going to have an extra arm or something."

"Probably." Lorelai laughed. "Luke, thanks so much for-"

"Don't mention it." Luke slid his hands into his pockets. "I just don't want to miss anything, you know? I mean, when I found out about April – it was great to have a daughter, but I missed the first twelve years of her life. I want to see everything, from the first kick, to hauling mattresses in and out of a dorm at Yale or Harvard or wherever this one decides to go."

Lorelai smiled for a moment, then shook her head. "Well, it's getting late. I should get to bed. And you should get home."

"I guess so. I'll see you at the diner tomorrow morning?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yes. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good. I'll have the grapefruit waiting."

"Grapefruit? Ew." Lorelai wrinkled her nose.

"Don't worry, I'll drown it in sugar. It'll go great with your decaf coffee."

"Decaf?" Lorelai growled. "You are going to be the death of me, Luke Danes."

"As long as you have a healthy baby first," he laughed.

Shaking her head Lorelai said, "Bye, Luke."

"Good night, Lorelai," Luke said.

As he walked back through town to the diner, Luke realized that he couldn't stop smiling.