As the motorcycle roared out of town, Luke escaped the diner and Jolene's concern. He walked across the street, forcing himself to keep a measured pace in spite of the way he wanted to run to Lorelai as fast as he could.
He stood in front of her for several long moments before she sensed his presence. She then straightened up on the bench, studying him, not smiling. She began to nervously wring her hands.
Eventually Lorelai sighed. "That," she said flatly, "was Christopher."
Luke had often wondered how he'd react if the combo platter of Lorelai's ex/Rory's father would someday turn up, but what he did next was something he never could have predicted.
He threw back his head and laughed…
Once he started laughing, he couldn't seem to stop. The chuckles and snickers just kept coming. He was reminded of Lorelai and Liz the weekend before, when they had collapsed onto the floor after their shopping spree, helpless with giggles. Eventually he bent over, hands on his knees, taking deep breaths, trying to force himself back into seriousness.
"Want to let me in on the joke?" Lorelai asked coldly.
He glanced over at her, and the stern, almost schoolmarm-ish glare on her face broke another snicker loose. Trying to stifle it made him choke instead. He coughed and cleared his throat.
"Well?" she demanded.
"It's just…you know…" He took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair, trying to pantomime Christopher's actions. "The helmet, and…and the hair and all. The leather jacket, with not even a scuff mark on it." He finally looked straight at Lorelai. "Let me guess. He really gets into pretending to be the bad boy, doesn't he?"
Lorelai pursed her lips, looking annoyed.
"And the motorcycle. It drives his parents nuts, right? That's why he rides it?"
Recognition flashed across her face, and he knew he'd gotten that one right.
Luke sighed. He looked down the street, his eyes following the way the motorcycle had left town, and then he sat down next to her on the bench. "So that was Christopher, huh?"
"That was him," she said curtly.
Luke leaned back on the bench, contemplating. "I thought he'd be cuter," he observed.
Lorelai's head whipped around. "What did you say?"
Luke shrugged. "Cuter. You know. The way you've always…I just thought he'd be more…" At a loss, he used his hands to illustrate a vague body-shape in the air. "…more like your hunky Dr. What's-His-Face on TV."
Stunned, Lorelai's mouth dropped open. "You don't think Christopher's cute?" she squeaked.
"Not really." Now uncomfortable with the conversation, Luke leaned forward, clasping his hands between his knees. "He's all right, I guess. I just thought he'd be more…" He trailed off, conscious of Lorelai's eyes drilling into him. "He's just not what I expected," he summed up.
For a minute Lorelai struggled for words and finally burst out with, "You know what? I am not going to sit here and discuss whether Christopher is cute or not with you!"
"That sounds like a good idea." Luke nodded, extremely relieved to end that whole train of thought.
She flounced about on the bench, trying to settle her ruffled feelings.
After a minute of strained silence, Luke broached a new topic. "Did you know he was coming?"
"No," Lorelai said, an edge to her voice.
Luke nodded, without comment. "Did he see Rory?"
"No," she said, the edge even sharper this time.
Luke nodded again, but this time he asked nothing further, remembering Jolene's advice to let Lorelai tell him in her own time. He sat up, aware of her rigid posture from out of the corner of his eye. Carefully he reached out, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Initially she flinched at his touch before relaxing into it. Encouraged, he moved his hand under her hair, to the back of her neck, and tried to massage away the tension he encountered there.
Sighing, she leaned against him, staring off into the distance. "His dad's having a big birthday; his mom's throwing a major party. She demanded he come home."
Luke grunted an acknowledgement, pressing his thumb into the base of her neck.
"He didn't have time to stay and chat more today, or to stick around until Rory gets home." Her tone was bitter and Luke gleaned that trying to make her relax was a lost cause, at least for the time being. "He said he'd back later in the week."
"Ah." That was all he could think to say.
"You know, I do this every time," she groused. "It's always such a surprise to see him again, and I get excited, because hey – It's my old pal! He's back! Won't Rory be thrilled to see her dad!" She sighed. "And then reality smacks me in the face. It's still the same old Christopher crapfest. Nothing's changed at all. And then I feel stupid all over again."
"You're not stupid," Luke disputed.
Abruptly she pulled away from him, inching as far forward as possible, hanging onto the edge of the bench with her hands. "He wants to see you, though."
Luke thought about that. "Well, of course he does. I mean, I understand he'd want to meet me, to make sure I'm going to be good for you and Rory."
She glanced back over her shoulder at him. "You're OK with that?"
"Yeah, no problem. Truthfully, I'm surprised he's waited this long to check up on me."
"OK then," she sighed. "When he comes back, I guess we'll set something up."
"Sure."
Lorelai went back to staring at nothing and Luke continued to watch her. "Are you going to tell Rory?" he finally asked, when she stayed uncharacteristically silent.
She nodded. "I'll tell her, but I'll have to watch what I tell her. I mean, I can't let on that he didn't have time to see her today, and I won't be able to give her any sort of timeframe about when we might realistically expect him back…" She collapsed against him with a frustrated groan, burying her face into his chest. "You'd think I'd be used to all of this creative editing by now, wouldn't you?"
Wisely, he did nothing but hold her and stroke her hair, allowing her time to find composure again. Eventually he bent his head down closer to hers. "What do you say we get you some lunch?"
"Lunch…would be awesome," she murmured.
He stood up, helped her up along with him, then took her hand as they crossed the street towards the diner.
Right before they got there, Lorelai looked up at him, scowling. "You really don't think that Chris is cute?"
"Let's not start that particular topic again, OK?" he recommended, and nudged her through the door.
That night at dinner, Rory couldn't stop talking about what she'd done at day camp. She repeatedly forked in more pasta salad, grabbed a huge bite of garlic bread, washed it down with iced tea, then continued to eagerly tell them details about the wiggly little creatures living in the pond water which had been observable to her through a microscope.
"We had to draw pictures of all of them," she explained. "I'll show you after dinner." She gulped down the last of her tea. The ice cubes clinked against the glass as she set it down. "Tomorrow we're going to try and look through some books and identify what they are."
"Sounds cool, sweetie," Lorelai said distractedly, picking at her own dish of pasta salad.
Rory wiped her mouth with her napkin and seemed to realize that she'd been hogging the conversation. "So what did you guys do today?"
Lorelai didn't reply right away so Luke spoke. "Flipped. Fried. Yelled at Taylor."
She grinned back at him. "Same old, same old, huh?"
"Pretty much," he agreed.
All at once Lorelai sat up straighter and plastered a bright smile onto her mouth, as if she was preparing to play out a part on stage. "You know, I did hear there was a stranger in town today!"
"A stranger?"
"That's what I heard!"
Rory looked puzzled. "Aren't there usually strangers in town? Like, you know, at the Inn?"
Lorelai opened her eyes wide and tried to look enthused, but her act wasn't quite believable. "Oh, but this stranger was special. I hear…" She leaned over across the table, towards Rory, ready to share a secret. "I hear that this stranger looked like your dad!"
"Dad?!" Rory's face began to beam. "Dad's here?"
"Not right now," Lorelai said quickly, still keeping the big theatrical smile in place. "He came through really fast, just to let me know he's around and will be back to see you sometime later on."
Rory cocked her head, no longer beaming. "When?"
"He wasn't sure." Lorelai took up some of the corkscrew pasta on her fork, acting casually unconcerned. "He had to do something with his parents, first. When that's done, he'll come see us."
Rory looked out the window on the back door, thinking hard. "So he's in Hartford?"
Lorelai nodded, mechanically chewing her pasta. "Yep."
Rory was still pensive. "You saw him today?"
"Briefly, yeah."
She finally swung her eyes back to her mother. "Did he come to the Inn?"
"No." Lorelai kept busy spearing more pasta with her fork, her voice relentlessly cheerful. "Believe it or not, he was riding through town and spotted me getting out of the car."
"So…" Rory was playing with the handle of her spoon. "If he hadn't seen you, he would have just kept on going?"
"Oh, Rory, no! Of course not!" Lorelai stopped pretending to eat and looked with concern at her daughter. "It was just…serendipity that we ran into each other like that. I'm sure he would have kept looking otherwise."
"What's going on with his parents?" Rory wanted to know.
"His dad's turning 60, so there's a big party."
Rory frowned and kept thinking. "Isn't a party usually for just one day? Or one night?"
Lorelai glanced at Luke and he could see the panic starting to show on her face. "I don't…Probably? I mean, sure, usually that's –"
"But yet he can't predict when he'll come back to Stars Hollow to see us?"
Lorelai bit her lip and gripped the edge of the table. "Rory," she began, desperately. "He just – he wasn't sure of his mom's plans yet. I'm sure –"
"Mom. It's – it's OK." Rory shook her head, then looked over at Luke for a moment. "It's like you always say, we'll see him when we see him." She shrugged. "It is what it is."
For a split second Lorelai looked like she wished she could cry, but quickly switched over to a smile instead. "Right," she agreed, the words probably coming out weaker than she meant them to. "That is what I say, isn't it?" she murmured to herself.
Rory abruptly left her seat and moved to Lorelai's side, wrapping her arms around her mother in a loving hug. "I'm glad I got the smart mom," she said softly. She raised her head, focusing her big blue eyes on Luke. "And I'm glad you were smart enough to wait for Luke."
"Yeah, me too, baby." Lorelai patted Rory's back.
"I'm going to go watch TV. OK?" Rory asked, pulling away.
"Sure." Lorelai smiled, but her voice still lacked conviction.
"I'll call you when it's time to dry dishes," Luke called after her.
When the TV came on in the other room, Lorelai looked at Luke, exhausted and befuddled. "What was that last bit about?"
He reached for her hand. "She and Jess talked some about their respective fathers over the weekend."
"And what? I…won?"
"You won," he concurred.
"Gah!" She groaned and pushed a hand through her hair. "She's getting too old for me to sugarcoat any of this, isn't she?"
"Lorelai, you deserve a medal for never bad-mouthing him to her. If she's old enough, smart enough to realize the truth of it now…Well, there's nothing you can do about that." He squeezed her hand encouragingly.
"I just…" She shut her eyes tightly and sighed. "I just don't want her hurt," she said, her voice breaking.
"I know, I know." He caressed her face, her hair. "There's nothing worse than watching someone you love get hurt."
"Which is why you didn't want to tell me about your mom's birthday at first. I get it. I do. I just wish there was a way to keep shielding her from it all."
"I understand." He stood up and pulled her up too, hugging her snugly against him. "But we're here for her. We'll be her shield. It will be OK. We'll make it OK."
"Promise?" Finally she relaxed, letting herself melt into him.
"I promise." He kissed the top of her head.
"I'll hold you to that." Lorelai started to pull away, to begin clearing the table, but he drew her back to him.
"And just so you know, I'm glad I got the smart one, too," he whispered, and bent his head to kiss her. Dishes could wait.
The rest of the week felt unsettled. Luke spun around every time the door opened and jumped each time the phone rang. But then the weekend came and went and nothing unexpected happened, so eventually the anxious feeling dissipated and life got back to normal.
Rory steadfastly ignored the knowledge that her father was close by. She never asked about him, or went to the window to look down the street. Luke could see Lorelai's heart breaking for her daughter, and his ached for both of them. Consequently he brought home more treats from the diner than he ever had and they possibly set a record for the most movies watched in one weekend, all in an attempt to disregard the anxiety present in the household.
Monday was a typical Monday. Lots of blurry-eyed people at breakfast, fortifying themselves with eggs and bacon and coffee to start the workweek. There was a good crowd at lunch and enough stragglers in the afternoon to keep Luke busy. When the bells over the door jingled yet again around 3 o'clock, Luke's only thought was to wipe off a place at the counter and slap down a menu there, ready for the newcomer. He looked up briefly and motioned to the seat, indicating it was available.
But the guy who ambled up to the counter didn't sit down. "Um…are you Luke?"
"Yeah…?" Luke examined the guy a little closer, and it didn't take longer than a second for him to realize who he was.
The newcomer confirmed it by putting his hand out over the counter, offering a shake. "I'm Christopher Hayden."
"Luke Danes." Trapped, Luke accepted the handshake.
Christopher smiled, his eyes beginning to shine almost like Lorelai's, only they were a greenish-brown, not her sparkling sapphire. He jovially motioned towards the windows. "The man with his name on the coffee cup outside! Hard to miss."
Luke couldn't tell if that comment was meant to be a compliment or not. "Would you like some coffee? Have a seat."
Still smiling, Christopher rocked back on his heels, his hands on his hips. "Nah, I don't think so. This is awkward enough without adding a hot liquid into the mix."
Unbelievably, Luke realized he was smiling back, as if Christopher's damn smile was contagious or something. Swiftly he turned it into more of a smirk. "Suit yourself. First cup's on the house."
"Well, as tempting as that is…" He smoothed a hand through his hair, the same gesture from the motorcycle day.
Luke was suddenly aware that Christopher did have great hair, and now that he was up close, he was taller than what Luke had first thought. And his eyes did have that sparkle thing going for them. Plus, Luke realized that the majority of the women currently in the diner were doing anything they could to catch Christopher's attention, either by twirling their hair or laughing coquettishly with their companions. If Miss Patty had been present she probably would have already found some reason to put her hand on his arm – or some other part of his anatomy. It was possible that Luke was going to have to re-think his stance on Christopher's level of cuteness.
"Lorelai suggested that I come over here, see if we could find someplace to have a chat." Christopher smiled easily again.
"You've seen Lorelai?" Luke couldn't hide his surprise.
"Yeah, I went to the Inn. Met the famous Mia."
"Mia…certainly deserves to be famous, I guess. Well…good. Good." Luke wasn't sure what else to say. "Have you seen Rory yet?"
"Not yet, it sounds like she's pretty attached to that summer camp thing she goes to. I didn't want to interrupt her day. Anyway, Lor thought I should just come over here to the diner and introduce myself. Get the ball rolling."
Lor. The butchered name fragment grated on his ears, more than he ever thought it could. "Do you want to discuss anything now? My apartment's just upstairs," he offered, as civilly as he could force himself to be.
"Well…I was hoping we could talk somewhere that was more…neutral grounds for us both."
Luke shrugged. "Fine by me. Where did you have in mind? Lorelai's house? Or do you want to go back to the Inn?"
Christopher grimaced, but still somehow managed to smile attractively. "Lorelai mentioned that it was nice down by the lake. How about meeting there for our powwow? City-owned property is probably as much of a neutral zone as it gets."
"Sure. Not a problem," Luke said blandly, hiding his smile at Lorelai's deviousness. The Fourth of July, their engagement, several other stolen moments over the past year – little did Chris know how important the lake had become to the two of them. "When's a good time for you?"
"Now's fine. Or anytime, really."
Luke checked his watch. "I've got a second worker starting in 20 minutes. What if we meet at the lake in about 30?"
"Sounds good. I'll see you then. Nice meeting you, Luke." All of the ladies' eyes followed Christopher as he walked across the diner and out the door.
During the following 20 minutes, Luke thought about a lot of things. He considered calling Lorelai but talked himself out of it. He made a mental list of all of the things he definitely wanted to say to Christopher. He thought about all of the things he should most likely avoid mentioning. He remembered a litany of courteous actions his mother had fought to instill in him.
In the end it didn't matter, because when he walked up to the picnic area at the lake and saw Christopher lounging at one of the tables there, it all went flying out of his head.
"Hey, you made it!" Christopher called out, catching sight of him. "And right on time!"
"Doesn't take long to get anywhere in Stars Hollow," Luke replied, instead of the half-dozen truly smartass remarks he wanted to make. He took a seat on the opposite side of the table. "Guess you found the place all right."
"Well, like you say." There was that damn ingratiating smile again. "Doesn't take long to find any place in this town. And the lady at the dance studio was really helpful about giving me directions."
"Patty?" Luke smirked knowingly. "I bet she was. She's known for her helpful ways."
Chris kept smiling. He turned slightly, looking out over the lake. "Nice view here." Then neither of them spoke, and the silence quickly became uncomfortable.
As much as Luke had no desire to start the conversation, he also knew he had limited time to devote to this little tête-à-tête. They needed him back at the diner before people started coming in for dinner. "So, Christopher…Chris? Which do you prefer? I've heard Lorelai call you both."
"Either's fine," he said easily.
"OK, um, Chris then." Luke shifted, trying to get more comfortable, both on the hard wooden bench, and in the presence of the person across from him. "I certainly understand why you want to meet me, to ask me some questions. You want to make sure I want what's best for the girls, that I'm going to take care of them. I'll do anything I can to assure you that they're my number one priority. Feel free to ask me whatever you want, because I've got nothing to hide when it comes to them."
Chris turned back to face him, nodding slightly. "How long have you known Lorelai? Have you been buddies since she first moved here?"
"No. Um, I guess I knew of her. It's a small town, as we've already discussed, so it's normal for everybody who lives here to at least know your name. But as far as actually knowing her as a person, having a face to put with the name, I guess that started about two years ago, when she began coming into the diner."
"Really? Hard to imagine that a woman as pretty as Lorelai wouldn't have caught your eye before that."
Luke gave him a sharp look. His voice was still pleasant, but the words seemed somehow barbed. Luke decided to give him the benefit of a doubt. "Well, we were probably both busy with different things. I doubt that we were exactly running around in the same circles in those days."
"But once she did walk into that diner of yours…" Chris suggested leadingly.
"I thought she was annoying as hell," Luke countered.
Chris chuckled. "Yeah, she can be. Not denying that. But I guess you eventually overlooked the annoying part."
He shrugged. "Actually, it wasn't until Rory and I clicked that I got to know Lorelai better."
"Rory?!" Chris looked disbelieving.
"Yeah, Rory. She asked me for some help…" Suddenly, Luke remembered that the reason he first spent time with her at all was because the man on the other side of the picnic table hadn't shown up. He tried to smooth over what he was going to say. "Anyway, she needed some help with some…projects, I guess you could say, and Lorelai gave me permission to work with her. She's just an amazing kid to be around. Funny, and kind, and smart. And eventually Lorelai started tagging along with us, and…well, here we are."
"Makes a nice story," Chris commented, with just a hint of a sneer.
Luke tensed up, sensing that their discussion was about to change direction. "Yeah, it does."
Chris was nodding. "And you're the diner guy," he remarked, not trying to hide his condescension.
"I am," Luke acknowledged.
"Money in that, is there? Running a diner?"
Luke breathed in slowly, aiming for a 10-count, but only making it to seven. "I own the diner. Own the whole building, actually."
"And that's enough? Enough to provide for a woman like Lorelai? Rory? More kids? A dog? Because I'm pretty sure living in a town like this one, there's some sort of ordinance that states you have to have a dog."
"Yeah, we're good to go, including adding a white picket fence, if it comes to that. Hell, maybe we'll toss caution to the wind, get two dogs." It felt good, finally letting the sarcasm out.
"Lorelai's parents cut her off, you know. There's no money coming from Hartford."
"Never thought there was."
"I'd just hate to see her have to – you know, settle. Make do."
"So…Christopher." Luke drug out every syllable out of his opponent's name. "What is it you do, exactly?"
His laugh was silky, as if there was no way Luke could rattle him. "Guess you could say I'm prospecting right now."
Confused, Luke shook his head. "For gold?"
"No, for clients. A buddy of mine is starting up a business, and I go around to people I know and try to drum up some interest for him."
"There's money in that?" Luke asked skeptically.
"A little. Enough. Plus it gets my name out in front of some important, influential people. Reminds them that I'm around. I suspect that pretty soon one of them will either find me a position, or agree to fund a startup of my own."
"That sounds…risky."
"It's the way it's done." He looked at Luke with a little bit of pity. "Lorelai understands that. That's the world she knows."
The minutes were ticking by, and Luke had reached his limit. "I think it's time we cut through the crap here."
Chris looked amused, in a superior way. "Be my guest."
"I figured we were doing this because you're worried about Rory. And I get that. She's your daughter, I'm going to be living with her, helping to raise her…It's normal you'd be concerned about that. I have no problem talking to you about Rory. And I'll do whatever I can to make sure you have a relationship with her, that you can see her as much as you want to, because, whether I like it or not, you are her father. But so help me God, if this about Lorelai…" Luke fixed him with his most smoldering look. "Then you and I are going to have problems."
"Christ, I'm not worried about Rory!" Chris burst out. "Lorelai will make sure Rory's fine – she always has! And she would never let you get anywhere near Rory if she thought there was something off about you. So yeah, most likely you're a decent guy. But Rory's not my focus, because she's not the one throwing her life away!"
Luke shook his head, stunned to hear him admit it. "So this is about Lorelai."
"Of course it's about Lorelai! Lorelai's the one who needs looking after! She's the one constantly leaping into decisions without thinking. She's the one who runs off to some weird little town without even considering what that means for her future. She's the one who impulsively buys a house – a house! Something big and permanent! – Without even discussing it first! Now she's stuck here, in this stifling town, still working at that damn hotel, and thinking there's nothing better than eating in a diner every day for the rest of her life. Meanwhile, all she has to do is to reach out to Richard, or to me, and we'd make sure she was right back living the life she was meant to have!" He finally paused to take a breath. "So yeah, buddy, my concern centers right on Lorelai."
Although dumfounded at this outpouring, Luke wasn't speechless. "Man, you really don't know her at all, do you?"
"And you do? After just a year you think you're the expert on Lorelai Gilmore? You gotta remember, I've known her practically since we were born!"
"But you're basing everything on the girl you knew at 16. She's not that Lorelai anymore. You don't know her now, as an adult, as a grown woman."
"Of course I do. This thing we have between us, what we've always had– it guarantees I'll always know her better than anyone else."
"Geez, do you hear how delusional you sound? You don't know her now! Lorelai loves Stars Hollow, she's thrilled to finally have her own home, and she regards the Independence Inn as her second home – that's how much it means to her. Do you even know she wants to go back to school, get a degree, because she's got this dream to open up her own place someday? No you don't – you've stayed away, stuck in this…this fantasyland you still believe in. But it's not true. You're glued to the past, while meanwhile Lorelai's happy, completely happy, in the life she's made here."
"Happy with you," Chris taunted, belligerently.
"Yes, with me." Luke stood up, realizing no argument would ever sway him and any further talk was just a waste of time. "Look, Chris, she's marrying me. Her mind's made up. I'll do my best to be fair with Rory, but I'm warning you, stay away from my wife." He managed to keep his tone somewhat civil, but he was sure his face showed the resolve behind his words.
"She's not your wife yet, pal."
"She will be, soon enough." Luke swung his leg over the bench, ready to get the hell away from the crazy person.
"If you think –" Christopher began heatedly, also standing up.
"Hello, Sailors!"
The unexpected greeting made them both turn. The girls were heading their way from the parking lot. Lorelai carried a stuffed shopping bag in either hand, and Rory cradled an insulated thermos to her chest. They reached them before either of the men could completely shift out of their anger and greet them as if nothing was wrong.
"Dad!" Rory looked translucent with delight. She handed off the thermos to Luke and hopped around the table, offering Christopher a shy hug.
"Hey, kiddo," he said faintly, putting a hand on the back of her head.
"We thought we'd bring some sustenance," Lorelai explained, rustling the bags in her hands. She was smiling, but it was possible that only Luke noticed that the smile didn't reach her eyes.
Luke sat the thermos on the table and reached to take the bags from Lorelai. "What's all this?"
"Sookie cleaned out the fridge at the Inn. This is everything she deemed not worthy of space, even though it's basically a feast the likes of which you've never seen."
Meanwhile, Christopher had stepped back, the better to see Rory. "Wait. This…this is Rory?"
"Dad!" she giggled.
"No, I'm…I'm serious here." Chris laid his hand on the top of her head, judged her height against himself. "What happened? Where's my little girl?"
"Not so little anymore, Chris," Lorelai said somewhat tautly. "Kids have a way of growing up when you don't see them for, oh, a year or two."
"It hasn't been that long," he said feebly. He tentatively touched Rory's head again. "Has it?"
"Check your calendar," Lorelai muttered, pulling Styrofoam containers out of the bags.
Luke felt the smallest pang of sympathy for Christopher, remembering his own disbelief over how Jess could have grown so much.
"She's beautiful," he said, still staring at her. "Lor, she's going to look just like you."
Rory made a little hum of approval at that comment.
"Oh, don't be fooled by appearances. She's her own person," Lorelai insisted. "But even so, I'm happy to keep her around."
"I can't believe she's this big," he said, sounding sad and proud at the same time.
"OK, you're all set," Lorelai said briskly. "Here's food, here's drink, and Rory's going to be your tour guide after you eat."
"What?" Christopher's head whipped around. "Why? Where are you going?"
"Luke's coming with me to see what's wrong with my car." She took hold of Luke's arm and started to forcefully pull him away. "See you later. Have fun, sweetie."
"Wait! Lor!"
"Bye, Mom! Thank Sookie for all the food!" Rory called out.
"What's going on?" Luke asked under his breath, as Lorelai hustled him to the parking lot.
"Rory's spending time with her dad," she said curtly.
"Lorelai, wait. Wait!" Luke tried to slow her down. "Is that a good idea? What if he –"
"Luke, Rory's a big girl. She knows her way home. She knows Stars Hollow as well as we do, if not better. She knows how to call 911, if it comes to that."
"But Lorelai, you can't just –"
"I can." Lorelai reached the car and leaned against it, suddenly drained. "All of my life, my mother made excuses for my dad. 'Lorelai, don't interrupt your father, he's reading the paper.' 'Lorelai, you can't go into your father's study, he's on an important call.' 'Lorelai, don't be ridiculous, your father can't possibly watch your recital, he's in Belgium that week.'" She took a deep breath. "And with Chris, I did the same thing. I made up all of these reasons and fed them to Rory about why he wasn't around, why he wasn't involved. And why that was OK." She rubbed her forehead, blinking tears out of her eyes. "And I admit, it's partially my fault. It was easier to do it all on my own, to keep making the excuses. Because it was so hard, so damn hard, taking care of her, taking care…of me. That was all I could do. I couldn't…I didn't…I wasn't strong enough to show him, to teach him everything he needed to know in order to take care of Rory too." She looked over at Luke, her eyes swimming. "There just wasn't enough of me left over to do that."
He reached for her immediately, "Oh, hey…"
She shook her head, stepping a little further away. "It wasn't until we had you that I realized it wasn't hard after all. With you, there were no excuses. None were needed. You were busy. You had a million things you had to do, every day. All of these people were depending on you, every day. But yet you always made time for Rory. For me. You didn't complain. You didn't…try to foist us off. You just did…whatever needed to be done."
"Because I love you," he said, desperate to ease her anguish. "Because I love both of you."
"I know!" She wiped her eyes then, and half-laughed, half-sobbed. "I know you do! And when I saw how simply you fit us into your life, that's when I realized I'd given Chris too easy of an out. He's her dad; he needs to learn how to be her dad."
Luke looked back over his shoulder, watching Rory opening boxes at the picnic table, passing some of them over to Christopher. "You think they'll be OK?"
"Rory will be OK," Lorelai said vehemently. "The rest is up to Chris. All I know is that I'm done being the monkey in the middle, the excuse maker."
Seeing how strongly she believed what she was saying, Luke merely nodded.
"Let's get out of here." Lorelai opened the car door and got in.
Once Luke was in the car, he waited for her to start it up, then he put his hand on the dash. "OK, let's go on to the next problem. What's wrong with the car?"
"There's nothing wrong with the car." Lorelai's ponytail swung around as she looked behind her to back the car out of the parking spot.
"But you said –"
"Little white lie to get us out from Christopher's clutches, babe."
"Oh." It was starting to all make sense. He looked around as they left the lake and turned onto the main street. "Where are we going now?"
"I figured you needed to get back to work."
Luke checked his watch. "Yeah, I do."
"And I do, too. I'm going back to the Inn, and I'm going to sit there, not looking at the telephone for the next several hours."
By then they were in front of the diner, and Lorelai stopped the car to let him out.
"Are you going to be OK?" he asked.
"I will be. Tough-love, baby! It's the start of a new era in co-parenting."
"I won't be at the house until late," he reminded her. "I'm closing tonight. But that means we can sleep in a bit in the morning."
"That sounds good." She leaned across the seat to receive his kiss goodbye.
"You want me to call later?" he asked, pausing before shutting the door.
She shook her head. "I'll call you if anything goes wrong."
He nodded. "Or if you just need…reassurance that you did the right thing."
"Thanks, hon," she said, grinning for the first time that afternoon. "Love you."
"Love you too." He watched for a little bit as she drove off, before entering the diner and getting back to work.
"They're not here yet?" Luke asked when he entered the house about 8:30 that night. He was later than he thought he'd be, thanks to an extra-greasy range hood.
"No, but it's OK. Rory called from Al's about two hours ago, to let me know they were eating dinner there, and then stopping for ice cream. Nothing to worry about. Yet," Lorelai added on, smiling grimly.
"Wow, Al's, huh? Chris will know all of the town's secrets." Luke sat next to her on the couch, immediately enfolding her in a hug he suspected she needed. If she didn't, he did. And some kisses, too, now that he thought about it.
"Hi," she smiled, breathing hard after his needy greeting.
"Hi," he replied, settling next to her, keeping one arm around her.
"I realized later that I was so focused on my agenda this afternoon, I never asked how things went between you and Chris."
"Oh, peachy," Luke muttered.
"That good, was it?" Lorelai chuckled. "I could kinda tell when we walked up. Both of you looked like you'd been slapped across the face with a glove and were just about ready to step off the 20 paces before turning and firing."
Luke laid his head back against the couch, trying to determine what to tell her. "Turns out today really wasn't about Rory," he finally divulged.
Beside him, Lorelai came to attention. "No? What was it, then?"
"You," Luke said with a grimace.
"What about me?"
"That you're throwing your life away."
"What!?"
"Hick town, shiftless diner guy."
"Oh my god. You're kidding me."
"You know I don't kid."
Lorelai let out of growl of frustration. "That was always one of the most irritating things about Christopher. I'd think we were on the same page, and then suddenly he'd be parroting something out of my father's handbook."
"He did mention your dad."
"Really? Why?"
"He said that all you had to do was let your dad know you wanted your old life back and you'd be returned to the lap of luxury."
Lorelai went still. "You believe that? That I'd even consider that?"
"Of course I don't. I tried to tell him, to explain what all you've got here. But he doesn't want to hear it, Lorelai. He's got this teenage scenario stuck in his head, all about how the two of you are destined to be together or something."
"Oh my god!" She looked infuriated. "Now he's talking like my mother!"
"Anyway, that's pretty much when I got mad and told him we had nothing else to discuss."
"Luke, I'm so sorry." She put a tentative hand on his arm. "You know, don't you, that I –"
"I know," he assured her, moving forward to kiss her again. "He just doesn't want to believe it."
She groaned. "I'm so sorry you had to sit and listen to that. But now I'm even happier I sicced Rory on him!"
Luke settled against the couch and encouraged Lorelai to follow his lead. She cuddled against him, tucking her head under his chin. He rubbed his chin against her hair and stroked her arm, able to think more compassionately about Christopher, now that his girl was safely in his grasp.
"You know, in some ways, I can almost understand where he's coming from."
"Not seriously."
He shrugged. "It wasn't that long ago that I believed Rachel and I were still going to make it work someday. It wasn't until I met you that I saw how ridiculous that was."
"So Chris just needs to meet a nice girl?"
"Couldn't hurt."
"Hmm, you know, I made you and Rachel go off together to end things. Maybe if Chris and I –"
"Not gonna happen."
"But if –"
"Forget it. No way am I ever letting him be alone with you."
"Whoa, possessive much?"
"Yep," Luke agreed, and was just about to show her exactly how possessive when the front door opened.
"Mom!" Rory yelled from the entryway, which gave them time to pull apart and straighten themselves up. "We're home!"
"Guess you found the breadcrumbs leading you back here!" Lorelai jumped up and turned to face her daughter. Then she saw Christopher following Rory into the living room and nervously tucked her hair behind her ears. "Oh, and look…you've got a tagalong. And I don't mean the Girl Scout cookies. Although…cookies would be really good right about now."
"Hey, Lor. Hope you don't mind," Chris said, sounding sincerely humble, nodding his head at them.
"No, of course not. Come on in. Did you guys have fun?" Lorelai sat back down on the couch beside Luke.
"We did!" Chris put a fatherly arm around Rory's shoulders, looking a little surprised that he was doing such a thing. "This little lady is quite the tour guide. I feel confident that I could now ace any quiz about Stars Hollow. How did you learn so much?" he teasingly asked Rory.
She shrugged and sat down on a chair to the side of the couch. "I hang around the library a lot, and I've gone to every historical reenactment the town's had for the last 10 years. And, you know, school teaches you some facts." A mischievous look suddenly spread over her face. "And well…I made some of it up."
Chris hooted with laughter, Lorelai chuckled, and even Luke grinned.
"She's so great!" Christopher crowed. "She's going to be giving you a run for your money in a couple of years, Lor. Your Queen of the Quips title is going to be up for grabs."
"No way. I'll gag her if I have to. That title's mine for keeps."
"Rory's amazing," Christopher said dotingly. He looked over at Luke, meeting his gaze seriously. "She's funny. And smart. And…kind, too."
Luke started, hearing his own descriptive words about Rory being repeated back to him. "I agree," he said, wondering if things had changed significantly in such a few short hours.
Rory and Chris exchanged a look, and then Rory scooted to the edge of her seat. "So Mom…we kind of have a favor to ask."
"Oh?" Lorelai uneasily looked between the two of them.
"We were wondering if Dad could spend the night here?"
"Oh, well, I'm not sure if –"
"I know it's an imposition," Chris broke in. "And really last minute. But it's just been so long since I spent a night under the same roof with my daughter. We had so much fun today…" He bent down and put a hand on Rory's shoulder. "I guess I'm just not ready for it to end yet."
"No one's expecting you somewhere tonight?" Lorelai asked, sounding incredulous.
"No, not really."
"There's not –" Lorelai glanced over at Luke, wide-eyed, asking him for some back-up, he guessed. "I don't have a guest room to offer you."
"Hey, I'm cool with the couch. Remember when we thought we'd sleep on park benches in Paris? This is a real step-up from that!"
"Though possibly not much more comfortable," Lorelai mumbled. She looked to Luke once more, and he tilted his head and gave a slight shrug, telling her it was her decision. "Well, uh, sure. Sure. We can…probably find some extra blankets."
Rory and Chris high-fived each other. "Thanks, Lor! I really appreciate it. Hope I don't inconvenience you too much."
"No, no of course not," Lorelai replied graciously, the same way she'd welcome unexpected guests at the Inn. She stood back up. "Let me go see what supplies I can scrounge up for you." She turned to Luke, slightly flustered. "Help me?" she asked pointedly.
"Sure." He got up and followed her to the hall closet. She opened the door, stepped inside, pulled him in too and shut the door behind them – at least as much as she could.
"Hey!" he protested, pushing coat hangers out of his face.
"Shh!" she warned him, trying to make more room for both of them. "What do you think?" she whispered.
"I think it's a good thing neither of us are claustrophobic."
"No time for the funny. Spill it, mister. What do you think is going on here?"
"He's finally realizing what he's been missing with Rory?"
"I hope that's it," Lorelai said soberly. "Do you think that's all it is?"
"As opposed to what?"
Lorelai took a deep breath. "Me?"
"I'm going to assume the best, which is he wants more time with Rory."
"OK, me too." Lorelai nodded solemnly. "Good. Then that's what we'll assume, and hope it doesn't make asses out of either of us." She put her arm up, located the cord to the light bulb and gave a tug, illuminating the closet. She opened the closet door fully and changed positions so she could try to pull down a small stack of extra blankets stored on the top shelf. "Are you going to stay too?" she asked Luke, reaching upwards, on her tiptoes.
Luke moved in front of her, easily reaching the blankets. "Damn right I'm staying," he said grimly, clutching the blankets in his arms.
She grinned. "Glad we're assuming the best here."
The next hour was spent changing the sofa into a bed, showing Chris the downstairs of the house, and otherwise making him comfortable. Lorelai even managed to find an extra toothbrush for him, even though it was child-sized. And had Peter Pan on it.
Rory got ready for bed, and then everyone very politely bid everyone else goodnight. Lorelai and Luke silently went up the stairs.
They undressed quietly, put on their nightclothes, washed their faces and brushed their teeth. They climbed into bed and turned out the lights, where they each laid on their backs, silently staring up at the dark ceiling.
"This is weird," Lorelai whispered. She reached over and took hold of his hand.
"Very weird," Luke muttered. He hooked his pinkie around hers, and eventually they both fell asleep, ignoring the elephant sleeping downstairs on the couch.
Luke woke up, instantly knowing something was off. He turned to look at the alarm clock, panicking for a few seconds when he saw the time, before he remembered he didn't have to open the diner that morning. Today he had a couple of spare hours.
He looked over at Lorelai, his own personal Sleeping Beauty, soft and warm and completely accessible to him. Even though it killed him to do so, he normally didn't touch her as he left her bed in the lonely pre-dawn hours. But occasionally on mornings such as these, when he had some extra time, he could persuade her to wake up a little bit earlier.
He rolled over, snuggling up against her. He moved her hair away from her neck, and nuzzled her skin. Slowly, he tucked his arm around her, gently exploring as he went. "Morning," he whispered, kissing her shoulder.
Lorelai sighed, still half-asleep. Luke had learned that early morning was the only time of day when she was not talkative. She communicated only in moans, breathy sighs, and needy whimpers. All of which served to very effectively ramp up his desire for her.
He rose up and then lowered himself down, partly on top of her, the better to thoroughly wake her with kisses and roving hands.
She moaned, arching her back to meet his kiss. He smiled, even in the midst of the kiss, pleased at how well this particular morning was going.
But then she whispered, breaking the spell. "You remember who's downstairs, right?"
"Shit." He rolled back to his side of the bed immediately. Revolted, he stared up at the ceiling again. "Way to ruin the mood."
"You'd rather we be interrupted by a knock on the door? Somebody asking for extra towels?"
"No," he grumbled.
Lorelai sighed again, but not in the sexy way that drove him nuts. "Sorry, but this is all just so…awkward."
He grunted in agreement.
A few moments later, Lorelai reached for his hand. "He'll be gone soon," she reminded him. "We'll be all back to normal."
"I know," he said, still grumbling.
She played with his hand, tracing his fingers. Suddenly she rolled over, then continued to climb up on top of him.
His hands instantly went to her hips, steadying her. "Lorelai, wha –"
"But as I recall, you're a quiet guy," she whispered, dropping her head to kiss him. "You can be quiet, right?"
"As a mouse," he promised fervently, wrapping his arms around her.
But only a moment later her head whipped up. "Do you smell coffee?"
"No," he said emphatically, not bothering to take a sniff of the air. He certainly didn't want her to get distracted.
"I do. I smell coffee," she insisted.
Sighing, he finally took a deep breath. "I do too," he admitted. "And toast," he added morosely.
Luke jumped into his jeans and a tee, Lorelai tied a robe around her babydoll pajamas, and in a few minutes they were downstairs being greeted by an exuberant Christopher. "This girl can cook!" he declared, pointing at Rory. "She really is amazing. There's nothing she can't do!"
"Dad, it's no big deal," Rory said, looking embarrassed. "It's only Pop Tarts and toast. And you helped me with the coffee."
"No way could I get up in the morning and make breakfast when I was your age," Christopher demurred.
"Chris, come on, she's 11," Lorelai pointed out, amused. "Seriously, think back to when you were 11. You were in the 'gifted' class. Surely you could work a toaster."
He pointed over at the stove. "She made scrambled eggs!"
Lorelai pulled out a chair and dropped down onto it. "OK, you got me there. I still can't make scrambled eggs."
"Luke taught me," Rory said proudly. She turned to look at him and gave him a sweet smile.
He nodded approvingly back at her, his heart melting.
They sat around the table and ate, all of them trying to pretend that it wasn't strange and uncomfortable. Rory's scrambled eggs and toast received much praise, as the adults all struggled to find a safe topic of conversation.
"I need to get going," Christopher said, after they'd all pitched in to clear the table. "My mom needs her car back. But Lor, could I maybe have a minute with you first?"
She glanced at Luke, who gave her what he hoped was a 'do what you need to' look, because despite his vow from the night before to keep them apart, he wasn't stupid enough to put his threat into practice. "Sure," she then replied, and the two of them stepped out onto the back porch, while Rory and Luke continued to clean up.
Luke tried very hard to keep busy at the sink, determined to keep his eyes away from the window and his ears ignoring the muffled words being uttered just on the other side of the wall.
When they came back into the kitchen, Lorelai looked shell-shocked and Christopher looked grim, but determined to be cheerful.
"OK, kiddo, I'm off," he said, giving Rory a big hug. "Don't fall into the lake at camp today. Your mother did that at about your age and got herself saddled with a most unfortunate nickname."
"What?" Rory eagerly wanted to know.
"That's an embarrassing tale for another day," Lorelai said in a 'don't make me kill you' tone.
"Do you really have to go?" Rory meekly asked, looking down at the floor.
"Yeah, I do." Chris stroked her hair. "I've got stuff to get to. I need to find a better job, so I can come see you more often."
"Really?" Rory's face brightened up considerably.
"Really. I had too much fun not to come and see you whenever possible."
Rory giggled, elated.
Christopher looked at Luke, meeting his eyes soberly. "But for now, I need to go. Looks like I'm stuck with an out-of-date fantasyland in my living room that could use some dismantling."
Once the words sank in, Luke gave him a grateful nod. "Come back whenever you want, to see Rory."
"Thanks. That means a lot." He shook Luke's hand, hugged Rory, and kissed Lorelai on the cheek before he headed for the door. "Remember what I told you, Rory. Call me, anytime."
"Bye, Dad!" she shouted, walking over to the door to wave to him.
As soon as the noise from Christopher's mother's car died away, Luke checked the time. "We're late," he announced. "Who's driving the girls to camp today?"
"Katie's mom," Lorelai said, yawning.
"Well, let's all do what we need to get ready, and I'll take Rory over to Katie's house on my way to the diner," Luke suggested.
"What did he say to you out there?" Luke asked, as soon as he and Lorelai were upstairs.
She plopped down on the bed, still looking worn-out. "Basically, he just wanted to know if I was happy, if this was really what I wanted." She shrugged. "The house, the job, the town…" She looked up at Luke. "You."
He sucked in a sharp breath, involuntarily.
"I said it was. Especially the you part."
He let the breath out, relieved.
"Oh come on. You can't really have been worried about that."
"Not really." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But still…"
She got up and came over to him, putting her arms around his neck. "I told him that I'd be always grateful for the relationship we had, because that gave me Rory, but you're my forever guy. That he's her dad, and there's always a place for him in our lives because of that, but that's as far as it goes. He seemed to accept it. Seemed to be expecting to hear it, truthfully."
Luke swayed back and forth with her for a minute, his arms crossed over her back. He gently kissed her temple. "So you think we're home free now? Because honestly, that seemed…too easy."
"Well, I think we're home, at least. We're in love, we've got Rory. As far as Christopher goes…we're good for time being. It might take a couple more examples of us as a united front before it truly gets through his head."
Luke settled her more securely in his arms. "He did make Rory happy."
"He did. And that made me happy."
"Hmm." He tipped up her face, contemplating a kiss.
"We're late!" Rory shrieked from the bottom of the steps. "Did you forget?"
They looked at each other and chuckled wryly. Their lips met in a quick kiss. "Tonight," Luke promised, drawing away and looking for a shirt to put on.
"Unless there's another unexpected guest sacking out on the couch," Lorelai muttered. She walked over to the closet. "Rachel's not in town, is she?"
"Thank God, no," Luke said, and raced downstairs to Rory.
