June 17 1992
Luke's Diner
It was a day just like any other day in the Hollow; people going about their business, tourists going from one porcelain unicorn store to another before stopping at Le Chat Club to look at the odd animal themed gifts that were for sale. The children of the town were still in school for another week due to a freak late spring blizzard that had closed the schools for a week, causing them to have to make it up no matter how antsy the kids were getting. The town gossips, Miss Patty and Babette were seated near the window, not so quietly chatting about the latest development, as they sipped their coffee.
Luke was even at ease, or as at ease as the former military man turned undercover Federal Marshal could be. He was half way across the diner, wiping down the tables for the hundredth time that day when the phone rang. "Luke's" He answered.
"I need your help." Came the response.
"Lorelai?" Luke recognized the voice, concern creeping in to his own as he recognized the worry in hers, "Oh God, Rory. Is Rory okay?" He hardly noticed that the conversation had caught the attention of the two ladies seated near the window.
"That depends on what you count as being okay." Lorelai countered, "The school just called, Rory has the chicken pox. I don't know what to do. I can't get away from the Inn; Michel's on vacation and Mia already went back to California, I'm on my own here."
"Do you need me to pick her up?" Luke guessed, "I had the chicken pox when I was her age."
He could almost feel the relief and gratitude melting off Lorelai at the suggestion. "Oh Luke, you don't have to do that. I was actually calling to see if you could help me track down Babette to get her."
"There's no need, Lee is coming in later; he and Caesar can deal with the diner. Thursdays are usually pretty slow around here." Luke explained. "I'll go get her right away, do I just pick her up or do I need a note or something?"
"First of all, I know you're lying." Lorelai pointed out, "It's league night at the bowling alley; this is one of your busiest nights, just ask Babette to get her."
Luke ducked into the kitchen, glad that Caesar had ducked out for a break just moments before. "Lorelai, it's okay, I can get her. It's Rory, she never gets sick, so she's likely to be just miserable and as much as you love Babette, she doesn't do quiet … well, unless she's getting gossip." He chuckled, "Just let me know when and where and I'll take Rory home, besides I still have the spare key from the last time I fixed your sink."
"Luke you are a life saver." Lorelai sighed, "I'll call the school right now and let them know you're coming. I'll be home as soon as I can so you can get back to the diner."
"Don't worry about that," Luke said firmly, "I've got it handled; I still remember a few things my folks did when Liz and I got the chicken pox when we were kids. I'll pick up some stuff at Doose's and then head over to the school to pick her up."
"Thanks Luke," Lorelai hung up feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders no small thanks to the attractive diner man.
"Hey ladies," Luke approached Miss Patty and Babette, "I have to take off, so Caesar is taking over the diner for a while. Please don't give him too much trouble."
"No problem, Doll," Babette raspy voice assured him, "What happened, is Rory okay?"
"She got sick at school and Lorelai can't get away." Luke explained, "I'm going to go get her and take her home and stay with her until Lorelai can get home."
"You were always such a good boy," Miss Patty waxed as Luke tried to turn away but the older woman was quick and grabbed his arm to stop him before continuing, "Your mother would be proud of what you do for our Gilmore Girls."
Luke ducked his head to hide the blush that rose at the praise before nodding silently and heading upstairs. Once he was disarmed and his guns were safely locked away in the safe, he headed down the back stairs to let Caesar know he was in charge. He decided it would be faster to just run across the street to Doose's for supplies before picking up the girl who had become like a daughter to him over the past couple years from school.
Despite what he'd assured Lorelai, he was at a loss the moment he stepped into the store. He vaguely remembered something about an oatmeal bath so grabbing a cart, he quickly made his way to where the cartons were lined up on the shelf. When he and Liz had gone through the same, it was winter he remembered his mom and dad making them wear mittens to keep from scratching, seeing a pack of socks on the next aisle, he decided to improvise and threw them in. Fifteen minutes later, under the watchful eyes of Taylor Doose – talk about your role reversal - he left with several bags loaded up with socks, oatmeal, calamine lotion, as well as all the fixings for comfort food that his mom used to make for him when he was sick. He quickly tossed the bags into the bed of his truck and sped off to the elementary school.
It felt a little like stepping into a time warp as he entered the office where Mrs. Denning sat behind the desk, the only difference this time was he was much taller than the last time he'd been in the office, and he wasn't in trouble. "Lucas?" The older woman looked up surprised, "What are you doing here? I didn't know you had a child here… or at all."
He just smiled awkwardly at the woman as he explained that he was there to pick up Rory. This must have rang a bell with the older woman who, after shuffling some papers around on her desk, found the note pad where she'd written that Miss Gilmore had called to give permission for the Diner owner to pick up the sick little girl. The older woman quickly rose from her desk and led him down the hall to the school infirmary.
For as small as the 7-year-old was, Luke's heart nearly broke at how little she looked curled up on the cot. He quickly stepped over to the bed and crouched down to her eye level before running his had gently over her dark brown hair. "Hey." He whispered to the girl.
"Luke?" Her cerulean eyes opened meeting his pale ones with a look of confusion, "Why are you here? Where's Mom?"
"She has no one to cover for her at the inn because Michel is still on vacation." He spoke softly as his hand continued to stroke the young girl's hair to comfort her. The older secretary and the middle aged nurse who looked on from the opposite side of the room almost couldn't believe their eyes at the gentility of the gruff diner owner with the little girl. "I offered to come get you. I bet your bed would be much more comfortable than this old cot. I think this has been here since before I went to school here."
His last statement brought a weak smile from the little girl. "I'm all itchy, and I'm hot, and my tummy hurts." She murmured softly.
"I know, Princess, I know." Luke smiled softly at her as he swung her backpack onto his shoulder, "Let's get you home. Can you stand up?"
Rory nodded before slowly sitting up and going to stand, only to find a moment later moving under her own power was almost too much for her with as much as her body ached. Without waiting for her to ask Luke swept her up into a cradle carry and took her out to the truck as the women watched him in a new light.
It only took a few minutes to get to the Gilmore home, but it was long enough for Rory to drift back off to sleep. Grabbing his keys out of the ignition and swinging around to the other side of the cab, he picked the sleeping girl up laying her head on his shoulder as he balanced her book bag as well as some of the groceries in the other. He quickly unlocked the door and dropped the bags on the kitchen table before turning to Rory's room and laying her down on her bed and removing her shoes from her feet before covering her with the fluffy comforter. He figured she could sleep in her clothes until her mother came home. Placing a quick kiss on her fevered forehead, he went back out to the truck to grab the last few bags and set to work putting the groceries away in the barren cabinets.
He kept the door to the girl's room open so he could keep an eye on her, he watched her sleep, her sick little body curled up on itself. He was amazed at how seeing her so ill affected him, he would do anything to trade places with her just to see a smile on her face instead of the tears and whimpering she was doing in her sleep. He could only imagine how he would feel if it was his own child in that bed, the thought making him wonder where the girl's father really was. He quickly shook the thought from his head, not wanting to give into the anger that rose in his stomach that anyone would intentionally leave the Gilmore girls. The girl started to whimper even louder and Luke noticed her trying to scratch in her sleep.
He quickly grabbed a pair of socks from the bag he'd left on the counter as well as some rubber bands that he'd found on the small desk in the hall and placed one sock and rubber band combo over each of the girl's hands. He felt her head again to find she was burning up; not wanting to wake her to take any medicine figuring she would be better off sleeping, he grabbed a washcloth from a drawer in the bathroom and soaked it in cool water before placing it on the sick girl's forehead. He stroked the girl's soft hair gently until the whimpering stopped and she drifted deeper into sleep.
As the clock crept closer to 5pm, Luke figured he should probably make up some of the food he had brought. Lorelai would likely be hungry, no matter how much Sookie fed her at the inn, and Rory who had been asleep since they had arrived was probably going to be waking soon as well. Checking one more time on the sleeping form in the room, he quickly washed his hands and started to put together the ingredients for his mom's meatloaf. As the main course started to bake, he quickly pealed some potatoes, thankful he'd thought to grab some cookware and kitchen utensils at the market, before setting them to boil to be later made into mashed potatoes. He was just starting to toss the salad when he heard the front door open and close as a very tired Lorelai entered the house.
"Luke?" She called softly so as to not disturb her daughter.
"Kitchen," He called back just as softly.
The sight of him standing in her kitchen cooking, caused Lorelai's breath to catch in her throat at the domesticity before her. If she didn't know any better it would have been as if they were a family, her coming home to her sexy husband who loved nothing more than to cook for his wife and daughter. She smiled softly at him as he returned the look before nodding towards the kitchen counter where a glass of shiraz sat waiting for her, the bottle sat nearby.
"I figured you probably needed something to wind down after the day you had." Luke said in explanation as he finished putting the salad together and drained the now soft potatoes.
"How is she?" Lorelai leaned against the counter as she sipped from her glass.
"She fell asleep in the truck on the way home, she's been asleep ever since. I let her sleep in her clothes, I figured it was best for you to help her in to her pjs." Luke blushed. Lorelai simply nodded before setting her glass down and disappearing into Rory's room to help her out of her school clothes and into some jammies. As Luke waited for her to return, he set to work on the potatoes, mashing them together with a little milk and butter before adding a pinch of salt and pepper to the mix.
By the time Lorelai returned, he was pulling the meatloaf from the oven to settle. He quickly set the table with the mismatched dishes he'd found earlier and brought the food as well as Lorelai's wine to the table. Lorelai's face softened as she watched his simple movements around the kitchen, "Aww, Luke, you didn't have to."
"I know, I wanted to." He said, setting the potatoes and casserole dish down on the table, "How's the patient doing?"
"She's awake now still a little groggy and feverish. I got her to take some Tylenol, hopefully that will help with the fever."
Luke simply nodded as he served up the meal, taking a moment to put some potatoes in a bowl and bring them into Rory, explaining that the meatloaf might be hard to swallow if her throat was sore. When he returned, the friends resumed their dinner, talking amicably, mostly about the sick little girl in the next room. "Oh, I got some oatmeal for baths, I seem to remember my mom doing that when Liz and I got sick like this."
"Oh, thanks. I didn't even think of it." Lorelai smiled at him, the smile not reaching her eyes, "And thank you for dinner, and everything. I'll pay you back." She promised, although not knowing how she would do that with her finances as tight as they were.
"No you won't." Luke responded firmly, "It wasn't that much anyway." He stood and cleared the dishes, taking time to wrap the left overs and put them in the fridge. When he started towards the sink Lorelai protested saying that he'd spent all day taking care of a sick little girl and cooked on top of it; she wasn't going to let him do the dishes too. They argued for a few minutes before reaching the compromise that she would wash and he would dry the dishes.
They worked in amicable silence for a few more minutes before Lorelai looked up at him, he'd taken off his hat at dinner, an old habit from when he was growing up that was only reinforced during his time in the Marines and his hair was plastered at odd angles on his head making Lorelai chuckle for a moment before regaining her composure. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure" He shrugged.
"What's with the socks?"
"Well, it being summer, there were no mittens for sale," Luke explained, "I had to improvise. They're to keep her from scratching herself."
Lorelai just nodded her understanding, a moment later she heard Rory calling her. The poor girl was miserable, itchy and achy all over. Figuring that an oatmeal bath and some of the calamine lotion were in order, she guided the girl down the hall and into the bathroom to start her soaking. A half hour later, she put lotion on every little red dot and helped her daughter into a set of shorts with ducks on them and long sleeved shirt on the girl before putting new socks on the her hands.
When the Gilmore girls got back to Rory's room, they found Luke hunched over the bed, smoothing out a fresh pair of sheets on the bed. The pale blue sheets with yellow ducks matched the shorts that the little girl was now wearing. After putting a new blanket on the bed and turning it down, he gathered the old bedclothes and turned to head towards the washing machine. "Um," The man blushed, "I figured fresh, cool, sheets would feel better against the itchiness than the old ones. I'm, um, going to just drop these in the washer and head out." He smiled awkwardly as he passed the Gilmore girls.
After starting the load, he returned to Rory's room to find Lorelai snuggled up with the girl, both fast asleep. He gently pulled the blanket up of their sleeping forms and brushed the hair out of Lorelai's eyes before kissing Rory on the forehead. Knowing someone would have to change over the laundry eventually, and seeing that it was getting pretty late at night, Luke decided it would probably be best to crash on Lorelai's couch. He didn't think she would mind, or at least he hoped she wouldn't. He quietly set to preparing coffee for Lorelai so that he could just start it for the lovely caffeine addict in the morning. He prepared a few things for breakfast and changed the sheets over to the dryer before grabbing a blanket and pillow from the hall closet. Once he kicked of his shoes and settled in for the night, he was out.