Officially Married - Chapter 7

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. . . . .

On Thursday afternoon, Lorelai stopped at the diner and headed behind the counter to pour herself a cup of coffee. Luke came out of the kitchen with some plates of food and greeted her as he walked past her to deliver them. He returned to her behind the counter and asked, "How's your day going?"

Lorelai secured the lid on her to-go cup. "So far, so good. I'm heading over to the annex to check on Tom and the gang. Construction guys like being watched and asked a ton of questions while they work, right?"

"Oh, yeah, they love it." He leaned back against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. "So, I got a call from Martin today. He needs me to come to his office to discuss Buddy's estate."

"Oh, wow," Lorelai said, her eyes widening a little. "Oh, it's probably about the house, right? Didn't they add your name to the deed or something years ago?"

"Yeah. That's probably what it's about, he didn't say... but I told him I'd stop by tonight."

"Okay. Rory's coming over for dinner," Lorelai reminded him. "And then she was gonna come with us to the town meeting."

"I know," Luke said. "Martin said he'll be at his office until 8 tonight. I figured I'd cook dinner and eat with you guys, and then head over to see him when you go to the meeting."

Lorelai feigned a sympathetic frown. "Oh, I bet you're probably devastated about missing the meeting."

"Terribly," he confirmed with a nod. "There might be some tears."

Lorelai smirked and leaned in to kiss him. "I gotta go ogle and catcall some construction workers. I'll see you tonight."

. . . . .

. . . . .

That night, Lorelai and Rory were sitting on the couch looking at apartment listings on the computer while Luke was cooking dinner in the kitchen.

"Maybe I should be looking for a townhouse," Rory said. "Don't some of them have a little grassy area out front? Kids like to play in the grass, don't they?"

"Yes, some of them," Lorelai replied. "You had a special aversion to wet grass though - you weren't a fan."

"And I'm still not," Rory declared as she scrolled past a dozen pictures of apartments. "I can't believe Grandma took the house off the market. Why did she do that? I told her specifically not to do that."

"She didn't want you to feel pressure to move," Lorelai said with a shrug.

"It did the opposite though, it made me feel more pressure," Rory said. "Because that initial knee-jerk reaction of, 'oh, good, there's no rush, I can focus on writing' quickly turned into a vision of me still at the house five years from now getting ready to send my kid off to kindergarten. I don't want to be the houseguest that stays forever because no one is forcing her to leave. So, now I have to force myself to leave."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Hm. Maybe that was her evil plan all along."

"Lorelai, you wanna come set the table?" Luke called from the kitchen.

"Not really," she called back, then patted Rory on the leg. "Be right back."

Lorelai walked to the kitchen and inhaled deeply. "Mmm, smells good."

"It's almost ready," Luke replied from the stove. "What are you guys doing in there? Watching something?"

Lorelai pulled some silverware from the drawer. "No, we're looking on the computer at potential places for her to live. Apartment hunting, as the cool kids call it."

"Oh, yeah? In what areas?" Luke asked.

"Wherever the price seems right," Lorelai replied.

"But does it seem like she's trying to stay local?" Luke asked. "Or is she looking in New York?"

Lorelai smiled. "So far, it seems like she's trying to stay in Connecticut."

"Good, that's good," Luke replied. "Hopefully she'll be close enough for us to help her out with the baby when she needs it."

Lorelai nodded. "I think that's her plan... for now, anyway."

He glanced toward the living room, and then lowered his voice. "Did she say anything about Logan? Any updates on that front?"

"Just that he texted her the other day to say that he'd touch base with her soon." Lorelai shrugged. "So, I guess we'll see." She finished setting the table, helped Luke bring the food over to it, and then called Rory in from the living room.

As the three of them sat down at the table and started to eat, Luke asked Rory, "So, is the book taking up most of your time?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

"With all of those embarrassing tales you have about Mama, I'm sure you can churn out a whole series of books, huh?" Lorelai joked.

Rory nodded. "Yeah, I've definitely got a lot to work with in my head."

Lorelai paused for a moment, and then prompted her, "But? You sound like you want to add a but..."

Rory shrugged a little. "But it's not coming out as linear as it started to in the beginning."

"What do you mean?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, when I first started writing the book, the chapters were kind of flowing out of me in a sequential timeline," she explained. "But lately, I'll be writing something about a certain time frame, and then something else will pop into my head from another part of my life and I'll jump over to write about that before I forget, so it's a lot of back and forth."

"Well, that's okay," Lorelai said. "Better to have inspiration hitting you from all different angles than none at all, right?"

"Right. Yeah, it's good," Rory agreed. "I just have to make sure it all eventually flows together."

"It will," Lorelai said confidently. "Just keep writing, and then you'll figure out where it's all supposed to fit."

"If anyone can make it flow together, you can," Luke added.

Rory smiled appreciatively at the two of them. "Thanks." She reached for a piece of bread from the basket in front of her. "I also started doing some work for this website that posts all sorts of things about books... reviews, recommendations, articles about the best books in a certain genre, the best books to calm you down when you're feeling anxious... you know, things like that. It doesn't take up a ton of time, and it gets a little income flowing in."

"Sounds right up your alley," Luke said.

"Yeah, definitely. Send us the link so we can read your stuff," Lorelai said.

"I will," Rory promised, and then popped a piece of bread into her mouth. "So, are you guys doing anything special for Valentine's Day?"

Lorelai's eyes widened and she glanced over at Luke, who looked just as surprised. "Shoot. Is that coming up already?" she asked.

"Apparently," Luke replied.

"It's on Tuesday," Rory told them.

"I guess I've been a little distracted with London and the annex and the funeral and everything," Lorelai replied. "I totally lost track of the days."

"Me, too," Luke said.

"You should go out, it's your first married Valentine's Day," Rory told them.

"Well, it's probably too late to get a reservation now," Lorelai said with a shrug.

"I'm guessing eating at a restaurant as a married couple on Valentine's Day feels remarkably similar to doing it as a non-married couple," Luke pointed out.

Lorelai grinned and raised an eyebrow. "Well, you never know, because I can think of at least one other thing that felt remarkably better when we did it as a married couple. Which, if you think about it, is actually pretty shocking because it was already pretty damn amazing, and -"

"Hi, your daughter is trying to eat dinner," Rory interrupted her. "And could you refrain from dirtiness in front of the fetus? It has ears."

Lorelai frowned. "Fine, sorry."

"Speaking of which, who actually knows about it?" Luke asked her. "The, uh... the fetus?"

"Just you guys, Grandma, Paris and Lane," Rory replied. "Oh, and Logan."

"The town's gonna notice soon," Lorelai said. "That little bump is hidden under the winter clothes, but once springtime hits... nowhere to hide it."

"I know. I figured I would tell them when it's more visible."

"Are you gonna find out the sex ahead of time?" Luke asked.

Rory was quiet for a moment as she picked at her food. "Um, I'm not sure about that."

Lorelai shared a look with Luke, then calmly asked Rory, "What's on your mind, kid?"

Rory shrugged. "It's gonna sound stupid."

"We won't think it's stupid," Lorelai assured her. "What's up?"

Rory pondered for a moment, trying to figure out how to best explain her thoughts. "Well, I think when I can officially go from calling it an it to a he or a she, it's going to make things feel more... real? More... palpable? Impending? I don't know exactly what the right word is, and I'm not saying that it doesn't already feel real now, but I think that might make it feel a little more... something. I don't know, but it's sort of a mental thing."

Lorelai reached over and squeezed Rory's hand. "I get it. It takes it to the next level of, 'wow, I'm gonna have a baby' and that might feel overwhelming and you might feel a little more stressed out."

"Yeah, exactly. And right now I'm trying to focus on writing as much as I can before it comes, so I'd like to hold off on increasing the stress levels for now."

"Makes sense," Luke said. "And it doesn't sound stupid."

Rory smiled at him. "Thanks."

They finished eating dinner and cleaned up the kitchen, and then the girls headed to the town meeting as Luke went to meet with the lawyer.

. . . . .

. . . . .

When Luke arrived home that night, Lorelai was on the couch watching television with Paul Anka curled up on the floor in front of her.

"Hey. Did Rory leave?" Luke asked as he took off his jacket. "Her car's not out there."

"Yeah, she was getting tired, so she headed home," Lorelai replied. "She said to tell you goodbye and to thank you again for dinner."

"Was she feeling okay?"

"Yeah, just tired." Lorelai patted the couch beside her and muted the television. "Come sit, tell me about your meeting."

Luke sat down on the couch, and Lorelai turned her body to face him, crisscrossing her legs in front of her. "It was about the house... it's mine now," he said.

"Okay, what exactly does that mean?" Lorelai asked. "I assume that we have to start paying for it?"

"Yeah, but the mortgage was paid off years ago when Maisy's aunt left her that big inheritance," Luke reminded her. "They were only paying property taxes, insurance, utilities, stuff like that."

"Wow. So, what's the next step? Do you have to go clean out all of the stuff?"

"Yeah. Martin recommended this company that helps with that," Luke said. "You let them know what you want to keep, and they'll go through everything else and weed out things that can be donated, recycled, trashed, the whole works. They'll even hold an estate sale for you."

"Oh, cool, a one-stop shop... that's convenient."

"Yeah. I'll do a walkthrough of the house and take out any personal stuff, paperwork, pictures, things like that. Then I'll reach out to that company to handle the rest."

"What do you wanna do with the house when it's all cleaned out?" Lorelai asked. "Sell it? Flip it? Rent it out?" She gasped excitedly and started tapping his arm. "Ooh, ooh, we could be landlords… we could be the Ropers from Three's Company!"

Luke smirked at her excitement. "Well, I was actually thinking about it on the drive home, and came up with an idea I wanna talk to you about."

"Okay, shoot."

"Rory."

"Rory?"

"We'll offer it to Rory," Luke said. "She's looking for a place anyway, right? It's perfect timing. The house is in great shape, it has three bedrooms… one for her, one for the baby, and maybe the other could be an office to write in, or a guest bedroom. It has a nice yard… I could help her put up a swing set out back, or a sandbox, or whatever she wants. Plus, it's only a few minutes from here if she needs us for anything. It's perfect, don't you think?"

Lorelai was grinning at how much thought he'd already put into it. She reached out and squeezed his hand. "I love that idea."

Luke smiled. "Yeah? You think she will?"

Lorelai thought about it for a moment, and then exhaled a small sigh. "I'm not sure. She might feel weird about it, like it's charity or something. You saw how she was with my mom offering up her house."

"Well, it's not like we'll be giving her a completely free house," Luke said. "She'll still be paying for the utilities and stuff, buying her own food, the same things that she would be doing if she rented an apartment, but with more room to comfortably raise a kid in."

Lorelai nodded in agreement. "I know, I get it, I'm with you. I just know that she might be prone to automatically reject something so generous."

"Well, we can still at least suggest it, right?" Luke asked.

"Definitely," she confirmed. "I think it's a great idea."

"We won't push it, we'll just present it as an option and let her decide," Luke said, and then thought for a moment before adding, "You know, maybe we should take her over to the house so she can see it in person."

"Oh, good idea," Lorelai said, nodding in agreement. "I'll invite her out to lunch with us this weekend and then we can stop by the house and show her. How's that?"

Luke smiled and nodded. "Sounds good."

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. . . . .

The next day, Lorelai was in her office at the Dragonfly when her cell phone rang. She picked it up and checked the screen to see who was calling, and saw a number she didn't recognize.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Lor, it's me," a voice replied.

Only one person in Lorelai's life ever used that nickname for her. "Chris, hi. Didn't recognize the number."

"I'm calling from my work phone," he replied. "I got your email. Is it okay that I called instead of replying? It's just easier."

"It's fine, I figured you would. How are things?"

"Things are, uh… I don't know, they're there," he replied unenthusiastically. "How's married life treating you?"

"Pretty amazing, actually," Lorelai replied. "No complaints... not a one."

"Well, good, I'm glad you're happy. You deserve it."

"Thanks." They were quiet for a few seconds before Lorelai hesitantly asked, "So, um... you wanted to discuss Rory?"

"Yeah, I did," Chris replied. "Uh, well, you know about that book she's writing?"

Lorelai wasn't expecting him to mention the book, and it caught her off guard. "Oh, the book... yeah, yes, I know about the book."

"Have you read any of it?"

"Not yet, no," Lorelai replied. "Why?"

"I guess I'm starting to wonder if I'm gonna have to change my name."

Lorelai smirked. "Chris, you think your own daughter's going to slander you?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure," he admitted.

"From what I understand, she's focusing on me and her - the mother/daughter bond."

"Yeah, well, to get to the mother/daughter stuff, wouldn't she have to also write about the absent father?"

"Chris, really, I wouldn't worry about it," Lorelai said sincerely. "I doubt she'll go into a lot of detail about that. How did you hear about the book? She told you?"

"Yeah, she came to my office a few months ago and mentioned it," he replied. "She was asking me how I felt about you raising her alone, about why I didn't fight you on it, about whether I thought it was the right move. It made me think she's got some built up anger or something that she's about to unleash on me through the book."

Lorelai processed his words, realizing that Rory's questions probably didn't have anything at all to do with the book. "When was this, when did you have this conversation?"

"I don't know, like the end of October, maybe early November." He paused a moment, and then clarified, "Oh, wait, it was a few days before your wedding because she... well, she told me not to go."

Lorelai smiled at the thought of Rory looking out for her, and then exhaled a deep breath. "Did she mention anything else going on with her besides the book?"

"Not that I remember. Is there other stuff going on?"

"Listen, I think you need to talk to Rory and let her decide if she wants to fill you in on anything else that may or may not be going on," Lorelai told him. "And please don't ask me any follow up questions on that because I'm not saying a word... any information about her needs to come directly from her."

Chris sighed into the phone. "Nothing? You're giving me nothing here?"

"Pretty much."

"At least tell me this... what's my reaction gonna be to whatever she may or may not have going on? Anger? Shock? Happiness?"

"Your reaction is going to be supportive," Lorelai told him firmly. "That's what your reaction should be."

"Supportive," Chris repeated.

"Yes. I have to get back to work, but talk to Rory, okay? Ask her how she's doing, ask about the book, see if she feels like opening up. And if she doesn't, just wait it out... she will eventually, I promise."

"Okay. Thanks, Lor."

"Bye, Chris."

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. . . . .

That afternoon, Lorelai walked into a practically empty diner and sat at a table. Luke brought her coffee and a muffin, and per her request, sat down with her so she could fill him in on her morning. She told him about her call with Chris, and then about her call with Rory immediately after to tell her that Chris may be reaching out to her.

"I felt bad telling him to talk to her when I wasn't even sure if she wanted to tell him the news," Lorelai told Luke. "So, I had to call and prepare her, but she said she wasn't specifically not telling him, she just hadn't gotten around to it yet. She wasn't upset with me or anything."

"Good."

"Oh, and I invited her out tomorrow for lunch and mani-pedi's," Lorelai told him. "So, we can stop by Buddy's house at some point, either before or after or in between."

"Okay." Luke paused a moment. "Wait, am I getting a mani-pedi, too?"

Lorelai smirked. "You can if you want to, you deserve some pampering, too."

"Why don't you two go do that first, and then meet me at Buddy's? I'll head over there early and start going through some of his stuff."

"Okay." Lorelai leaned in to kiss him, then smiled against his lips. "I'll just find a way to pamper you myself."

Luke smiled. "Sounds good."

"Oh, what do you think we should do for Valentine's Day?" Lorelai asked him. "Because I was thinking maybe we could go to Sniffy's."

"I had that same thought, actually," he replied, smiling.

"Oh, good. We haven't gone and reminisced in awhile," Lorelai said. Every time they visited Sniffy's, they always spent most of the night nostalgically talking about their first date. She suddenly frowned and added, "It'll be our first time there after saying goodbye to Buddy... might be a little emotional."

"Yeah, it might be."

"But we'll just think about how he's finally getting to spend Valentine's Day with Maisy again," Lorelai said, trying to put a positive spin on it. "It's nice to think of them being reunited."

"Yeah," Luke agreed with a nod.

"And we're sticking to the usual gift policy, right?"

"Yup."

They'd had a longstanding agreement that Valentine's Day should never be about spending a lot of money on extravagant gifts. They typically celebrated with dinner, either out or at home, and exchanged cards and smaller gifts like candy, chocolate-covered treats, and bottles of wine or other alcohol.

"Okay." Lorelai smiled as she added, "And this year, we doubled our potential card choices because we're no longer shunned from the spouse section of the card rack."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh, good, so it'll take me twice as long to find one."

Lorelai comfortingly patted his arm. "Don't worry, the quality of the card you get me only plays a small part in my decision of whether or not you get lucky that night."

Luke smirked. "Good to know."

. . . . .

. . . . .

The next day, Lorelai picked up Rory and they went to the nail salon, and afterwards, Lorelai drove to Buddy's house. Luke's truck was out front, and as Lorelai parked behind it, she told Rory, "We just have to grab Luke... come in with me for a minute."

They both got out of the Jeep and Rory looked confusedly at the house. "Why is Luke here? Who lives here?" She'd been to Sniffy's a few times over the years, but had never been to Buddy and Maisy's house.

"Well, no one at the moment," Lorelai replied, and they walked along the pathway toward the front door.

Luke was waiting inside the house for them and he pushed the door open before they even knocked. "Hey."

"Hey, Luke," Rory greeted him as she stepped into the house.

Lorelai followed behind her, greeting Luke with a kiss as she walked in, and he shut the door behind them.

"Cute place," Rory said, glancing around the living room.

"Yeah, this was Buddy and Maisy's house," Luke said, then waved for him to follow her. "Come with me, I want to show you around."

Rory gave a puzzled glance toward Lorelai, but then stammered, "Oh... okay, sure."

Lorelai stayed back in the living room and tucked her hands into the pockets of her pink coat. She was smiling to herself as she watched Luke show Rory around the first floor and then lead her toward the staircase to show her the upstairs. He was genuinely excited to be able to offer her the house and Lorelai was letting him take the lead.

When they came back down to the first floor, Lorelai asked her, "What do you think? Nice, huh?"

"Yeah, it's very nice," Rory replied. "It's a really cute house."

"We want you to have it," Luke blurted out.

Rory narrowed her eyes. "Have what?"

"The house," Luke told her. "We want you to have the house."

"What?" Rory said, confused. "What do you mean?"

They explained to her about how the house was now Luke's, and about how they agreed that it might be a good place for Rory.

"The neighborhood is great, the house isn't too big, but it's not tiny," Luke told her. "It's close to Stars Hollow, but not right there if you wanted a little bit of a buffer. You can redecorate it however you want, get new furniture, really make it feel like yours, you know?"

Rory had been watching them talk with a surprised look on her face, but hadn't said anything yet.

"Well, what do you think?" Lorelai asked her.

Rory shook her head slightly. "I'm just... I don't know," she said honestly. "I'm shocked. I'm still processing it."

"You don't have to decide right now," Luke said. "We just wanted you to see it in person so you could have a good visual of it."

Lorelai's cell phone rang, and she pulled it from her pocket to check the caller. "Oh, shoot, it's Tom," she said. "It might be important... hold on." She started walking toward the kitchen as she answered the phone.

"You like it, right?" Luke asked Rory.

"Yeah, I like it, it's great, but..." Rory shrugged unsurely. "It's a house. I can't accept a house as a gift... it's way too much."

"Well, don't think of it as a gift," Luke said. "It's not like it's completely free, you'll still be paying for utilities and stuff, just like if you were renting an apartment or something. Except, in this case, you know the landlords really well and you're not locked into a lease. If you decide you want to move to New York next year or whatever, you have that flexibility to go whenever you want to. Plus, you have so much more space here than at an apartment. And it has a nice yard, which your mom said you were looking for."

Rory nodded. "That's true, I do want a yard."

"I already told her I could put up a swingset, if you want," Luke added. "Or a sandbox."

"But I feel like this isn't fair to you guys," Rory told him. "You and mom could sell this house and make a nice profit. If I move in, you miss out on that opportunity."

Luke shook his head. "That's not important to us. Look, I'm not one to throw around that fate word like your mom does, but I'll say it's a damn big coincidence that this happened right when you were looking for a place of your own."

Rory glanced around the living room. "It is a nice place."

"And like I said, it doesn't have to be long-term, but at least you'll be nice and settled while you finish up the book and get ready to have this baby," Luke told her. "You can just relax and focus on those things for now, and if you eventually decide that you wanna move out, then we'll sell it or maybe rent it out to someone else, who knows?"

Lorelai walked back into the room. "Sorry about that, some miscommunication about the sauna. What'd I miss?"

Luke glanced at Rory, then at Lorelai. "I think she's mulling it over."

"Yeah, I'm mulling," Rory confirmed, and then she exhaled a deep breath. "It's a lot to take in. Can I just think about it for a few days?"

"Sure," Luke replied. "The house still has be cleaned out and everything anyway, so there's no rush."

"Let's go to lunch," Lorelai said, putting her arm around Rory. "It'll be a completely house-free conversation. We can fill Luke in on the overly gossipy manicurists we had today."

. . . . .

. . . . .

After lunch, Luke headed back to Buddy's house to do some more cleaning, and Lorelai drove Rory back to Emily's. They stopped at a Hartford bakery along the way to pick up a cheesecake to satisfy Rory's sudden craving for it.

As they sat at the island in the kitchen with slices of cheesecake in front of them, Lorelai commented, "This is very Golden Girls of us."

"Thank you for being a friend," Rory sang.

They chatted for a bit as they ate, and then Lorelai exhaled a deep breath before hesitantly asking, "Listen, can I impose some motherly wisdom for you to just keep in the back of your mind?"

"Yup, but if it's good, it might go in the book," Rory joked.

Lorelai smiled. "That's okay." She cleared her throat. "So, you're at a point in your life where every decision you make doesn't just affect you, but that kid in there, too."

"I know."

"I just wanna make sure that you know that if the right decision means you have to accept help from other people, that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that."

Rory shrugged. "Well, considering that I've been crashing at other people's houses for a year, I'd say I've gotten pretty good at relying on other people."

"I know, but I don't want you to ever feel bad or weird about it," Lorelai told her. "Think about how me accepting some help from Mia changed our lives. She took us in out of the goodness of her heart... she gave me a job, gave us a home, gave me a chance to create a life for you, you know?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah, I talk about her a little in the book."

"Good. And remember, she didn't help us because she wanted something in return or wanted us to owe her anything, she just wanted us to succeed." Lorelai reached out and patted Rory's hand. "And you, my daughter, are surrounded by people who want to help you succeed... people who just want you to be happy and who don't expect anything in return."

Rory smiled. "I know."

"And this isn't just about the house," Lorelai continued. "You can take the house, not take the house, whatever you want. But I want you to make that decision based on whether or not you think it's a place that you can be happy, and don't be influenced by the fact that you think it's too generous an offer. Okay?"

Rory nodded understandingly. "Okay. I promise I will think it over and make a well-informed, thought-out decision."

Lorelai smiled. "Good."

. . . . .

. . . . .

On Tuesday night, Luke and Lorelai were upstairs getting ready to go to Sniffy's for their Valentine's Day dinner. As Lorelai walked out of the bathroom and over to the closet, she asked, "Any specific outfit request for tonight? Black dress? Red dress? Black dress on top of the red dress because you feel like seeing me in a layered dress?"

"Jeans are fine," Luke replied.

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "Jeans, really? On Valentine's Day?"

"That's what you wore the first time we went there, so it's nostalgic," he pointed out. "You love that."

"Yes, I do."

"Plus, Sniffy's isn't very fancy anyway," he said with a shrug. "You'll be more comfortable in jeans, and you look great in 'em."

"Okay, all good points, and you get extra credit for the flattery," Lorelai replied. "Jeans it is."

Luke finished getting dressed and then went downstairs to wait for her. Lorelai dressed up the jeans with a nice blouse, heels, and jewelry, and then grabbed a purse and headed downstairs.

Sniffy's still looked the same under the new management. Luke knew the new owner, an old friend of Buddy and Maisy's, and greeted him warmly when they walked in. They were seated at a table and took a few minutes to peruse their menus. They ordered their meals, and each took a warm roll from the basket the waitress had brought.

Lorelai buttered hers and took a bite. "Are you going to whip out your secret weapon of seduction tonight?"

Luke smirked and rolled his eyes. "I've told you a thousand times, it wasn't part of any seduction plan."

Lorelai snickered. "Oh, please. You knew that once you pulled out that horoscope, I'd be putty in your hands. That's why you planned for Caesar to open up the diner the next morning, you knew you'd wave that little piece of paper in front of me and I'd be all over you."

Luke was smiling amusedly. "Not true."

Lorelai took a sip from her water glass. "For the record, the night probably would've ended the same way even without the horoscope... but I might've played a little harder to get, maybe let you take me to the movie first."

Luke smirked. "I really didn't think your response to me suggesting a movie after dinner would be, 'Let's just get a bottle of champagne and go back to your place.'"

Lorelai grinned. "Putty in your hands."

"That was the longest ten minute drive of my life." He broke off a piece of his roll and popped it into his mouth. "I'll never forget pulling your jeans down your legs that first time... it was like unwrapping a present."

"And I'll never forget what you said to me right before you took them off," Lorelai said, smiling at him. "We had been all over each other for a few minutes and it was blatantly clear where the night was headed. I unbuckled my belt and unzipped my jeans, and you were about to help pull them off..." She paused a moment. "But then you stopped. We were both panting like crazy, all revved up, and you looked me in the eyes and said... 'are you sure?'"

Luke was listening intently with a small smile on his lips as she described the moment - one he remembered as if it had just happened yesterday.

Lorelai shook her head in disbelief. "It threw me for a second, in this completely amazing way. Even in the throes of passion, you were a complete gentleman and made sure I wanted to keep going. It was really sweet."

"Yeah, well... I'm glad that you did want to keep going because it might've killed me to have to stop right then."

"Man, that was quite a night. We know how to make a first date memorable, huh?"

"That we do," he agreed, and then he shrugged nonchalantly before adding, "By the way... if you wanted to maybe, possibly head to the apartment after dinner tonight, I can confirm that someone maybe, possibly went up and put fresh sheets on the bed today, just in case."

Lorelai smiled and cocked her head to the side. "I would maybe, possibly... love that."

. . . . .

. . . . .

Later that night, they went up to the apartment, and their coats and shoes were off within seconds. Lorelai pulled him over to the couch, and what started off as gentle kissing soon became more passionate and intense. Their shirts and her bra came off, and their hands began fervently roaming each other's bodies.

After a few minutes, they moved over to the bed. Lorelai lay on her back with her head against the pillow, and Luke took off his pants before joining her. He straddled her legs with his knees and leaned over her body. His mouth spent time on her lips, then her neck, then her chest, and every moan, groan, and whimper of pleasure that left her lips made him more aroused.

Luke finally sat back on his knees and let his hands smooth down the front of her body until he reached her jeans. He unbuttoned and unzipped them, and as he slipped his fingers into the waistband to pull them down, he paused, cocked his head to the side, and smiled down at her. "Are you sure?" he asked her.

Lorelai smiled and nodded her confirmation. "Still a gentleman."

"Sometimes," he joked, and he pulled her jeans and underwear down her legs. He tossed them aside, then surveyed her body from top to bottom, and with an approving smile, he said, "Still sexy."

Lorelai smiled and beckoned him toward her. He covered her body with his, kissing her hungrily as his hardness pressed against her through his boxers. Lorelai slipped her hands down the back of them and caressed his cheeks, and she smiled against his lips. "Still firm."

Luke smirked and pressed a trail of kisses down the center of her body. He began gently kissing her inner thighs and worked his way toward her center, which by now was throbbing with arousal and desperately craving his attention.

Lorelai moaned when he made contact with her sex, and her moans grew louder as he began to stroke her clit with his tongue. "Oh, God, Luke." She lifted her head from the pillow for a better view of him, and affectionately ran her fingers through his hair as she murmured, "Still talented."

His mouth lavished her with attention for a few minutes, repeatedly bringing her to the edge without letting her go over, and her passionate moans were driving him crazy with desire.

When he finally pulled away from her, she let her head fall back against the pillow with a heavy sigh. "Still very talented."

Luke pushed off his boxers and Lorelai sat up on the bed, gesturing for him to lie on his back. He obliged, and she moved down between his legs. She wrapped her hand around his hardness and leaned down to take him into her mouth.

Luke grunted his approval and reached his hands toward her head. He brushed her hair to the side and watched as her lips began moving up and down his length. She spent a few minutes focused on giving him as much pleasure as she could until he squeezed her shoulder and muttered, "Lorelai..."

She was soon on her back and he was on top of her, guiding himself to her opening. They both groaned as he started thrusting into her, and his pace became a little faster and harder with each thrust. He leaned down to kiss her, then dipped his head down to caress her breasts with his mouth, and Lorelai arched into him, moaning with pleasure.

When he pulled his mouth away from her chest, he watched her face as he slid his hand down between her legs. Lorelai inhaled sharply and closed her eyes as his fingers brushed against her clit. Arousal had been building up in every inch of her body and she was ready to explode. "Yes, Luke," she panted. "Yes, right there..."

His fingers moved in circles against her clit until her climax washed over her, leaving her body trembling and breathless beneath him. Once she had calmed, he resumed thrusting into her until he found his own release. Before rolling off of her, he pressed his lips to hers for a deep kiss and then pulled back with a tired smile.

Lorelai was smiling up at him. "Still rollicking."

"Yup," Luke agreed, and then moved to lie beside her.

Lorelai snuggled up against him and they pulled the comforter up over their bodies. "You know, for this to be considered an official homage to our first date, I'm going to have to walk into the diner tomorrow morning pantsless."

"In my shirt."

"Yup."

"Well, we have to get home to Paul Anka tonight, so we're gonna have to come back in the morning to finish that part."

"Okay, but my legs are gonna be awfully cold on that car ride."

Luke smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Still crazy."

. . . . .

. . . . .

To be continued...