Someone knocked on the door to his apartment, and Luke pushed up off the couch and grudgingly started across the room to answer it. He figured it was Caesar, bringing up the day's receipts, but usually Caesar's heavy footsteps as he traipsed up the stairs announced that he was on the way. He was surprised – yet not surprised – to see a much different silhouette through the frosted glass door.
He opened the door, and Lorelai immediately struck a rock'n'roll pose. "They say it's your birthday!" she belted out. With a pleased grin, she held out a gift bag to him.
Luke took the proffered bag from her and studied the 3-D cake and candles stuck to the front of it. "How'd you know?"
"You're the one who keeps telling me this is a small town, Luke. No secrets. Lots of people know it's your birthday today."
"Yeah, guess so," he conceded, with a small sigh. He moved the bag from one hand to another.
"Everything OK?" Lorelai sounded concerned. Obviously she'd noted his unusual lethargy.
"Me? Sure," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Um, OK. If you say so." She fiddled uneasily with the strap to her purse. "Sorry if I'm interrupting something. You haven't been downstairs all day, and I wanted to tell you happy birthday. So, mission accomplished. I'll get out of your hair now."
That snapped him out of his gloomy mood. "No, don't go. Sorry. Come on in." He stepped to the side so she could enter.
She looked curiously around the apartment. "So this is your crib, huh?" she asked, placing her purse on the kitchen table. "No wonder you thought my house was plenty big enough. There's not much square footage up here at all, unless you're hiding some extra rooms on the other side of the wall. How'd you and Rachel cohabitate for four long years? You two must have been practically on top of each –" Abruptly, she cut herself off, groaning at what she'd almost said. "Never mind. Just ignore all of that."
For the first time all day, Luke smiled. "No way am I giving that a pass. In fact, I think I'll go write it down with the time and date, so that I can refer to it the next time you tease me about something moronic I've said."
"Moronic might be a little strong. Let's just say…unintentionally suggestive."
"Unintentional? If true, that's a first."
"Maybe just awkwardly phrased. Sorry."
"OK, I think we've apologized to each other enough for now. Have a seat." He plopped back down on the couch, and motioned for her to sit anywhere.
She took the easy chair across from the sofa. Her eyes still watched him carefully for signs that would explain his mood. "Aren't you going to open your present?"
"Oh, sure." He made an effort to look inside of it, but his fingers refused to dig through the shredded tissue paper.
"OK, Birthday Boy, spill. What's wrong? Is it one of those milestone birthdays? You're feeling the big numbers?" She was pretending to tease him, but he could hear the genuine worry in her voice.
"Yeah, that's it exactly. It's all downhill from here." He attempted a smile. "Next stop, Pine Hills nursing home."
"Nothing to look forward to except mushed-up peas and carrots." She couldn't carry off her smile, either. "Just to continue the awkward bringing up of things I should probably leave alone, are you missing Rachel today? Is that it? I suspect it feels weird, not to celebrate with her."
"Maybe a little, I guess?" He thought back on previous birthdays. "If anything, it was my mom who loved birthdays. She made sure there was always a huge cake and at least three different flavors of ice cream, and a big banner across the front porch, if the weather was nice enough. She liked to get those…what d'ya call 'ems…" He tried to illustrate with hand gestures. "They're cardboard tubes, and you pull a string, and they make a popping noise?"
"Poppers?" Lorelai suggested, with a sly smile.
Luke gave a slight chuckle. "OK, that makes sense. She also always went overboard on the gifts. She said it was the one day of the year she was allowed to spoil us."
"Well, yeah. No wonder you miss birthdays like that." Lorelai looked sympathetic. "How long has she been gone?"
"It's been…Geez, I guess it's been three years already." Luke shook his head over the way time slipped past. "We lost my dad a couple of years before that. This will probably sound nuts, but I swear, once she thought I was settled with Rachel, it was like she gave herself permission to slip away to join him." He tried to clear the sudden lump out of his throat.
"Theirs must have been a happy marriage."
"Definitely." Luke smiled, thinking about his parents. "One of those real love stories. They hated being apart. They even made going to the grocery store together seem like a date."
"That's beautiful, Luke." Her eyes looked suspiciously misty. "Really. I can't even poke fun at that."
"After growing up with that example, I guess that's how I knew that what Rachel and I had didn't begin to stack up."
Lorelai nodded in understanding. "So is lack of family what's got you down?"
Luke fingered the gift bag again, and made the decision to tell her everything. "No. Sure, that adds a little sorrow to the day, but the real issue is…" He filled his lungs with air. "I have a niece."
"You do? I don't think I knew that."
"No, that's not – I mean, as of today, I have a niece. She was born today."
"Today! On your birthday?"
Luke pressed his lips together and nodded.
"Oh my God! What a birthday present! Luke, that's fantastic!" Lorelai bounded out of the chair and headed his way, but halted after a step. "Is it OK if I give you a hug for that?"
"That would be nice, truthfully." He stood up, ready to receive her affectionate congratulations.
She had on the flat slipper-boots again, so she had to go up on her tiptoes to be able to throw her arms around his neck and give him a tight squeeze. She turned her head and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, a kiss so fleeting that Luke thought he might have only imagined it. "Happy birthday, Uncle Luke."
"Thanks." He relaxed in her arms for a brief interlude, trying to judge at what point he needed to pull away. He didn't want the hug to deteriorate into awkwardness, or to tip the other way into something sensual. At least, he didn't think that's what he wanted.
She released him. Reluctantly, or so it seemed. She sat down on the couch next to him. "So tell. What are the deets?"
"The deets?"
"Yeah, weight, height…all that stuff the parents can't wait to tell you."
"Oh." Luke turned to the table beside the couch, where he'd scribbled some notes during the early morning phone call. "She was over seven pounds. Seven pounds, eight ounces." Luke frowned, suddenly concerned. "That's a good size, isn't it?"
"I think anything over five is good to go," Lorelai reassured him.
"And she's got quite a bit of hair. Dark. Liz says just like –" He cut himself off, the lump back with a vengeance.
"Hey." She leaned over and put a gentle hand on his knee. "What is it?"
He shook his head a couple of times, swallowing hard.
"Oh, no." Lorelai looked alarmed. "Is the baby not OK? Is the mom not OK?"
"No, they're fine," Luke managed to croak out. "They're both fine."
Lorelai took a deep breath of relief. "Well, that's good, right?"
He nodded, but not convincingly.
"Luke, I wish you'd just tell me what's going on. Why is this upsetting you so much?"
"Liz…my sister…she's Jess's mom." Her hand gripped his knee a little firmer, letting him know that she understood the implications. "I haven't – when she called this morning…That was the first time I'd talked to her since the day of his funeral."
"Wow, I didn't realize that you'd had such a falling out."
He closed his eyes. "I couldn't deal with her. I just couldn't."
"That's perfectly acceptable. Nobody says you have to." She began to pat his knee softly. "But now that there's a birthday niece, maybe you want to give it a try again?"
"I do," he said tiredly. He leaned his head against the back of the sofa. "I didn't even know she was pregnant. She married her idiot boyfriend and immediately got pregnant."
"That's a lot to take in, all at once. No wonder you're rattled."
"I'm not rattled. This is just such a typical Liz move, to think that she can have a new baby and get a do-over. Jess? Who cares? That's all in the past. On to the next kid, who I'm sure she'll screw up too!"
"Luke, come on. That can't be what she's thinking."
He laughed, bitterly. "You don't know Liz. That's exactly what she's thinking!"
Lorelai studied him soberly. "You're too nice to have a sister that terrible."
He snorted at that. "Maybe I'm not as nice as you think I am."
"Or maybe she's like your exact opposite or something. What do I know? I don't have any siblings, so I don't have any idea how it works. Do you have other sisters? Or brothers?"
"No, she's it. Thank God."
"Does she live close by?"
"No, a couple of hours away. Again, thank God."
"In any case, it was nice she called you, in spite of the estrangement, to let you know. Right?"
"Yeah. That was thoughtful," he had to admit.
"Does the baby have a name?"
"Oh, does she ever. Picked out by my insane brother-in-law," he sneered. "I was so much happier before I knew I was actually related to the imbecile."
"And her name is?" Lorelai prompted, trying to lead him down a different path.
Luke sighed. "Doula."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"No, you heard me right. Doula."
Lorelai wrinkled her forehead. "Isn't that what you call a woman who helps with a birth? Like a midwife?"
"Yes. Yes, it certainly is."
"Um…OK. And they named her that because…?"
"Because my unbelievably stupid brother-in-law thought that was the name of the woman helping with the birth. He thought it was a beautiful name. He wanted to honor her by giving their daughter her name."
Lorelai pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. "He did not!"
"Oh yes, he did. And my sister – who should know better – went along with it. You see now what I'm up against?"
Lorelai giggled madly. "Oh, my God! That poor baby!"
"I'm sure that will only be the first in a lifetime of humiliations brought about by her parents."
She made a real effort to stop her laughter. "What about a middle name?"
Luke groaned. "Oh, it's a doozy, too."
"Let's hear it. I'm ready." She made a show of holding onto the couch, getting prepared.
He sighed, readying himself to say it. "Lucinda."
"Lucinda?" Lorelai almost looked disappointed. "That's not terrible. She can go by Lucy if she wants, when she gets old enough to decide for herself."
"Oh, but wait until you hear why they chose that name," he said grimly.
"I'm all ears."
"Because she was born on my birthday."
"Huh?"
"They think it's the girl version of Luke."
Lorelai burst out laughing again, but soon stopped, looking contemplative. "OK, maybe I'm stupid too, but what is the feminine of Luke? Is there one?"
"I don't know, but if my sister's scorecard is any guide, I'm guessing it's not Lucinda."
"Aww, Luke, that's still a sweet gesture on her part, no matter how misguided."
"Yeah, maybe so," he conceded. "I'm just sorry that the poor kid is going to be saddled with it her whole life."
Lorelai chuckled a little bit more. "So what now? You'll make the effort to meet little Doula Lucinda?"
"Yes," he grumbled, knowing he could never convince himself to ignore the new member of the family. "What choice do I have?"
She leaned towards him again and drummed her fingers lightly against his leg. "You want company?"
His focus zoomed to her. "What?"
"Would it help, if I came along?"
For the third time, he felt himself choking up. He reached for her hand and held it tightly. "You'd do that?"
"Of course I would. Look, I know you're perfectly capable of visiting on your own, but sometimes knowing you have back-up makes the biggest difference."
"Lorelai, this trip will take a whole day. You don't have that kind of time in your schedule. No way could I ask you to do that."
"You're not asking, I'm offering. Don't worry about my schedule. I'll take a sick day, if I have to. I haven't had time off since the day my body was taken over by aliens. It'd be kinda nice to have one I actually remember this time."
Luke brought his other hand over and wrapped it around hers too. "I don't know what to say."
"Say yes," she prompted, grinning again.
"Then…yes. Thank you." He took quick stock of his feelings. "You know what? Already I'm not dreading the trip as much."
"And I don't have to do the actual family reunion part of it. I don't want to butt in. You can just drop me off at a mall or someplace while you go see them."
"No way. If I have to suffer through T.J., so do you."
"T.J.?"
"The escaped mental patient my sister married."
"Oh," Lorelai giggled. "OK, we'll play that by ear when we get there. Now, the really important question: what about a present?"
"Right." He dropped her hands and reached for the gift bag.
"Not that present!" She snatched the bag away from him. "A present for the baby!"
Luke sighed. He hated all forms of shopping, and especially shopping to find appropriate gifts. "I guess I have to, don't I? What do you get a baby?"
"Well, according to my father, you go out and buy a piece of property. Put Doula's name on it. Come on, Luke, get with the program!"
"Yeah, I don't think that's happening."
"Fine, let's just add some shopping time into our travel day. We'll stop at a BabiesRUs along the way and look at her registry."
"Babies…what?"
"Never mind." Lorelai patted his knee again. "I'll guide you through it."
"Again, thank you."
"Now that that's settled…" She picked his gift back up and dropped it into his lap. "Your turn!"
"You didn't need to do this," he dutifully protested, beginning to sift through the tissue paper.
"Yeah, I kinda did. You've been such a big help to me. Coffee provider, building advisor, number one hand-holder." She made a fist and bumped it against his hand. "I wanted to do something to let you know how much I appreciate having you around."
Luke finally liberated the gift from the bag. "It's a hat," he said flatly.
"Yes it is! I've noticed you have something of a hat fetish. Partners well with the flannel thing you've got going on."
"I have to wear something on my head in the diner."
She cocked her head to one side. "Then why do you wear it everywhere else, too?"
"Because I forget to take it off."
"Well, now you'll have a prettier one to wear."
"I don't care about pretty."
"Some of the rest of us do. Now let's see how I did." She grabbed the deep blue hat from his hand and put it up against his face. She eyed him critically. "Oh yeah, I nailed it. Hello, Mr. Blue Eyes," she cooed.
"Are you serious? You picked this out because of my –" Too appalled for words, he pointed towards his eyes.
"You bet I did."
"Unbelievable."
"Try it on."
"No."
"Come on. I want to see the whole effect."
He stopped his protest and regarded her. "You won't leave me alone until I do this, will you?"
A wide grin answered him. "Luke Danes, you've figured me out. I guess it's true, with old age does come wisdom."
"Geez," he muttered. He turned the hat over, to adjust the band. "Wait – there's something tucked inside here."
"There is?" Lorelai gasped, pretending to be shocked. "Whatever could it be?"
He freed the small envelope and warily opened it. "What is this?" he asked, scanning the printed card. A small logo in the bottom right corner made him go still. Two red socks. In a circle that said 'Boston.'
"Lorelai?" he asked quietly, not wanting to assume anything.
"I've gathered that you like baseball. Which is the game with the little white ball that is not golf. And in particular, I've noticed that this is the team you seem to be most passionate about."
He nodded, still staring at the piece of cardstock in his hands.
"So this is a voucher for a couple of tickets. Sorry, it's for a game on a particular date." She leaned forward slightly so that she could point out that detail. "But all you'll have to do is stop at the will-call window – or whatever they call it in sports – and pick them up." She gave him a grim smile. "You could take Alex with you."
He ignored her suggestion. "I can't accept this, Lorelai. Geez, I know what tickets cost! This is way too much."
She worried her lips for a minute. "This is where it gets tricky."
"Tricky?" He glanced at the voucher again. "What? You stole it or something?"
"Not…exactly."
His mouth dropped open. "Are you kidding me?!" he yelped.
"Now calm down. It's not like I committed a felony or anything."
"Explain. Immediately," he demanded.
She snapped her fingers, landing on a way to clarify. "Remember all of my ball gowns?"
"How in the – OK, fine, yes. I know about your fancy dresses! How does that connect to this?"
She nodded. "I have all of those fancy duds because there are always charity fund raiser things being held, and I've gone to more of them than I can count, either because of work obligations or because my mother insisted I come along to hers. At every event, there are almost always things being auctioned off to raise money for some cause or another. Just think of it like the festivals here in the town square, only the fried things on sticks cost a couple of hundred dollars apiece to buy them."
"Geez," he muttered again.
"And my mom and dad and Jason are always bidding on the things, because that's what they're expected to do, and if they win any of them, lots of times they pass them on to clients." She shrugged. "You know how it goes."
"No," Luke said coolly. "No, I don't."
"Well trust me, it's a 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' kind of world out there."
He shook the voucher in front of her face. "That still doesn't explain how you got this!"
"Well, I was looking through Jason's hoard o'bribes and I saw this, and asked if I could have it, and he said yes. So see, not stolen at all! Totally on the up and up!"
He fingered the card gingerly. "This came from Jason?"
"Only in the most peripheral sense."
"But he paid for it."
"He made a donation for a cause, and this was a perk for the donation. He didn't care about it, Luke. He was never going to use it. He was going to pass it on to someone else anyway."
"But still…"
"Luke. Hear me out." Lorelai turned sideways on the couch and tucked her legs up under her, to be able to plead her case better. "I knew you wouldn't like it if I spent a bunch of money on you, but I really wanted to find a gift that you'd be crazy about. I wanted to give you something that let you know how very, very much I love having you in my life. Doing something like this was the only way I could think to satisfy all of those requirements. Please accept it as a heartfelt gift of appreciation from me," she implored earnestly.
He turned the card over in his hands. "Does Jason know you're giving this to me?"
"No," she said emphatically.
"Then…I'll accept it, but only on one condition."
"What?" she sighed, defeated.
"You make sure Jason knows you gave it to me."
Her head shot up. "What?"
Luke grinned devilishly. "I want Digger to know his tickets went to me. It will make sitting in those seats just a little bit sweeter."
There was a moment of stunned silence from Lorelai. Then she roared with laughter and launched herself across the couch to him, falling against his chest as she continued to laugh hysterically. "Oh, God. You scoundrel!" she chastised him, lightly punching his arm. She returned to her spot and wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "I can't believe you said that!"
"Well, as I pointed out earlier, maybe I'm not as nice as you think I am."
She looked at him fondly. "I think you're the best," she said simply.
"Nah." He looked down, suddenly embarrassed by her admiration. "Oh hey, I'm being a rude host. Do you want something to drink? I know I've got a couple of beers in the fridge. I might even be able to dig out some cheese and crackers to go with."
"What? No birthday cake?"
"No. My plan was to ignore the whole thing if possible."
"Well, if you had cake…" She got to her feet. "Thanks for the offer, but I should really get going. I need to catch up on a little work for my real job before I go to bed tonight."
Luke glanced at the clock and registered how late it was. "Yeah, you'd better get to it, then." He got up too, hating to think about her adding a couple of more hours to her already long day. "Thanks for everything, Lorelai. Not just the gifts – for helping me through this thing with my sister, too. I can't thank you enough."
"My pleasure. Let me know when you want to go and I'll get my schedule arranged. You should probably check first to see when Liz might feel like visitors."
"Will do."
At the apartment door, she leaned in for another hug. "Happy birthday, Uncle Luke," she murmured once again.
This time, for the few moments she was in his arms, a completely different line of thinking zipped through his brain. Here they were, together in his apartment, fairly late at night. They were alone. How stupid was he, to keep denying the intense attraction between the two of them? And sweet Jesus…she felt so good, pressed against him the way she was. One of his hands slid up her spine, underneath her wave of hair. He caressed the back of her neck, drinking in the scent of cinnamon and citrus that seemed to emanate from her skin. He opened his mouth, willing himself to make the suggestion that would change everything.
Stay, he imagined himself saying. Why don't you stay the night here with me?
However, she pulled away at just that moment, smiling pensively. "I'm glad I barged in on you tonight. I'm glad I got to celebrate with you a little bit."
"Me too," he sighed. Just not the sort of celebration he now wanted. He tried to get back into a chivalrous frame of mind. Stoically, he told himself it was for the best. "Um, let me walk you downstairs. Caesar's probably got everything locked up by now."
"I'll see you for breakfast, Old Man," she teased him, as he unlocked the diner's door.
"Unless I do end up drinking all of the beers in the fridge," he threatened, cranky due to her imminent departure.
"You'd never do that," she refuted confidently. "Not you! You are too responsible and sensible to go on a birthday drinking binge."
"Of course I am," he muttered, and watched in regret as she disappeared down the street.
Author's Chat: Remember last time, when I said I couldn't wait to write the next chapter? Well, this isn't it. Or at least, it's not all of it. My beloved chapter was beginning to look more like a novel, so I lopped off this first part as a stand-alone. Consider it as an introduction, or Part 1, to the good stuff (I hope) that's still to come. Also, I'm sure you noticed that I really messed with the canon here in regard to Luke's parents. Since Lorelai hasn't had such a traumatic relationship with her parents, I thought it would be nice if Luke's family background wasn't filled with as much angst, either. Gives them more of a level playing field on which to build their own relationship. I picture Luke's mom as being a soothing influence on his personality over the years. Thanks for your indulgence as I piece this universe together with odds and ends from the show, lines from some of my other stories, and the new crazy ideas that pop up in my brain!
Now, off to finish Part 2...
