A/N: Please forgive me for not updating, I have ennui.

Presents Present a Problem

As September slipped into October, life in the Gilmore and Danes/Mariano households became more hectic. Wedding plans were in full swing. Lorelai and Luke ordered their invitations, and collected Emily and Richard's guest list to add to their own. Emily introduced Lorelai to Mr. Stefan and they picked out centerpieces and the flowers for the wedding party. One morning, Lorelai was in the diner having breakfast when Kirk approached her hesitantly. "Excuse me, Lorelai?" he asked.

"Hey Kirk, what's up?" she answered.

Kirk saw Luke merge from the kitchen and shot him a nervous glance as he approached them. He swallowed hard and asked Lorelai in a rush, "Have you hired your wedding photographer yet?"

"Beat it, Kirk," Luke snarled as he reached the table.

"Now Luke, Kirk isn't hurting anyone," she reprimanded him. She turned to Kirk and said, "Well, Kirk, we have been looking at a few portfolios. Are you still in the photography business?" she asked.

"Yes I am," he answered firmly. "You were interested in my services when you were going to marry…" Kirk saw Luke's glare out of the corner of his eye and stopped abruptly.

"Yes Kirk," Lorelai said kindly, "we would be happy if you would take pictures at our wedding."

"Really?" Kirk asked in an excited tone.

"Really?" Luke asked in disbelief.

"Yes," she answered them both at once. Shooting Luke a quelling glance, she continued, "Now Kirk, my mother is insisting that we use her photographer for the formal pictures, but we would love it if you would take the candid shots," she clarified.

"I'm your man!" Kirk agreed happily. "You can count on me!" he exclaimed as he turned and ran from the diner, thrusting a victorious fist into the air.

Luke set the coffee pot that he was holding on her table and looked at Lorelai as if she had lost her mind. "Are you nuts?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

"No," she replied calmly.

"You just hired Kirk!" he yelled.

"Yes, I did," she replied.

Luke looked at the ceiling and muttered, "She is nuts."

"Hon, Kirk is a good photographer. Look at the picture on your nightstand," she reminded him of the photo Kirk took of them at the Firelight Festival. "He knows us," she went on the explain, "he knows this town, and all of our friends. Kirk will be able to capture that better than the other guy. Look at that picture on your nightstand," she said again with quiet conviction.

Luke smiled and leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He patted her shoulder and walked away shaking his head.

And so, the wedding plans rolled on. Sookie tried repeatedly to get Luke and Lorelai to sit down for a cake tasting, but Luke wouldn't do it and Lorelai just kept saying that she trusted her. So sample cakes kept appearing on Lorelai's desk a few times a week. Unwilling to let a good thing go, Lorelai just kept her mouth shut.

Jess hunkered down at the books, determined to pass his equivalency test with flying colors. He had chosen three courses that were being offered at the college in Hartford, and was working steadily to escape Stars hollow High.

Following the break up with Dean, Rory had thrown herself into her school work and work on the Franklin with renewed dedication. Determined to raise her daughter's spirits, Lorelai began planning Rory's eighteenth birthday party. She kept coming up with one outlandish scheme after another, which Luke would promptly veto saying, "We'll have it at the house, you know that's what she'll want anyway." Finally she relented, and started working with Sookie and Luke on menu ideas for the party.

One evening as they were getting ready for bed, Luke turned to Lorelai and said, "About Rory's birthday present…"

"Hon," she said holding up a hand to stop him, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that," she said as she crawled into bed next to him.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Listen," she said gently, placing her hand on his chest. "Hon, Rory doesn't need anything with her name or initials on it anymore, okay?"

Affronted, Luke asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lorelai tried to explain gently, "What I mean, hon, is that Rory never really liked unicorns, and she doesn't need monogrammed towels, or pencils or backpacks, but she would never tell you that."

"Oh man," he groaned.

Lorelai stroked his arm. "It's okay, Rory loves you, and she appreciated all of your gifts, really she did," Lorelai insisted. "But," she continued, "maybe you should just leave the present stuff to me, okay?"

Luke nodded, mortified that his gifts had probably been a great source of mockery for them over the years. "Well, maybe you can just give me some general ideas, and I can take it from there," he said hopefully.

"Don't worry about it, I've got her covered," she assured him.

Luke rolled onto his side, still upset over the discovery that he was a horrible gift giver. Now every birthday and Christmas is going to be an even bigger pain in the butt, he thought to himself. Maybe I should just let Lorelai handle it. But, how am I going to get gifts for Lorelai? Do I get Rory to help me then? His internal rant ramped up. No, damn it, a gift is about the thought! I really thought that she liked unicorns! If I am going to give someone a gift, then I am going to do the choosing! I'll just pay closer attention to things that they comment on. But, how do I know if the comment is sincere or if they are goofing on something. Man, this sucks!

"Luke?" Lorelai cooed to him over his shoulder.

"What?" he snapped.

"It's okay, hon. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry," she apologized.

He rolled back onto his back and stared at her with troubled blue eyes. "I'm glad you did. I guess it's important to know if you suck at something," he pouted.

"Luke, you do not suck at giving gifts," she assured him. "You were out of your element with Rory. It's hard to shop for a young girl, especially if you are not really up on young girls. Which, I hope your not, mister, 'cause that's a whole other worry!" she said, which teased a half-hearted smile out of him.

Lorelai hugged him close and said, "If only you realized how much you have given us over the years."

"Yeah," he snorted.

"Yeah," she said emphatically. "You have single handedly kept our house from falling down around our ears. You fed us, even when we were broke. You make us coffee and pancakes in our very own kitchen. You let a young girl take up an entire table in your diner day after day so that she would not have to go home to an empty house, and her mother would not have to worry about where she was or what she was doing," she explained. She looked into his eyes as said sincerely, "Luke, you are our present."

He reached up and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "Thank you," he whispered.

"No, thank you," she said simply. As they stared into each other's eyes, Lorelai's smile became a leer as she crawled on top of him. She raked her nails down his chest and tugged at the hem of his t-shirt as she said, "And I intend to keep on thanking you, every way I know how."

The night of Rory's party, the house was packed. It seemed like to whole town had shown up to celebrate with her. Richard and Emily heard the music and a raucous burst of laughter as they climbed the steps of the front porch. Peeking through the window, Emily said, "Well, it looks like the usual bunch of miscreants."

"Now Emily," Richard chided as he took her arm to guide her back to the door, "they are a bit colorful, but they are hardly miscreants." They didn't bother with the doorbell, having learned that lesson years ago, and cautiously entered the melee.

Luke spied them as he walked from the kitchen with a tray of Sookie's canapés. He quickly intercepted them, greeting the older couple warmly. "Richard, Emily," he nodded to them, "Rory will be so happy that you came."

"Well, of course we came," Emily said condescendingly, "she's our granddaughter. I just wish that she would have let me throw a proper party for her this year."

Richard shook his head and said jovially, "Well this looks like a party to me!" He clapped a hand on Luke's shoulder and asked, "Now, where's the bar?"

Luke smiled and made a mental note to avoid spending too much time with Richard this evening. He nodded toward the kitchen, but said, "It's in the kitchen, but let me just pass this tray on, and I will get your drinks for you." He spotted Lane standing nearby and handed the canapés to her and made a motion for her to circulate.

Turning back to Lorelai's parents he asked, "What can I can you?"

"Scotch, neat, please," Richard answered.

"I'll have a Stoli on the rocks," Emily said.

Muttering a quick, "Be right back," Luke escaped to the kitchen to get their drinks.

Richard and Emily tentatively poked their heads into the living room, and Rory spotted them. She gave a squeal and hopped up to hug them saying, "Grandma, Grandpa, you're here!"

"Yes we are," Richard answered with a smile.

Emily beamed at her beautiful granddaughter and asked, "Are we in time for presents?"

Lorelai had just approached them from behind and answered for her daughter. "Just in time! Hi Mom. Hi Dad, glad that you could make it," she said politely.

"Hello, Lorelai," Emily replied. "It looks like your usual festive gathering," she said in a dry tone.

"Well, it is festive, and all of the usual suspects are here, so I guess you're right," Lorelai answered, unwilling to rise to her mother's bait. "Have you gotten a drink?" she asked.

"Luke's getting them for us," Richard answered just as Luke approached them.

Luke handed the drinks to Richard and Emily, then turned to Rory and asked, "Are you ready?"

Rory grinned and said, "For presents? I'm always ready!"

Lorelai squeezed her daughter and said, "That's my girl!" She called to the crowd, "Okay everyone, the Birthday Girl is ready to rake in the loot, so gather around!"

Rory spent an hour opening presents. She was effusive in her thanks, jumping up to hug each person in turn. Lorelai and Luke hung back, holding hands and watching the evening unfold. Finally, Luke asked, "What did you get her?"

"Well we," she started, gesturing between them, "got her a portable TV for her room, which she can take off to school with her next year."

"Good thinking," Luke complimented.

"Thank you. We also got her some books, a sweater, and other little things," she explained.

Luke nodded, then turned to look at her nervously. "I have something for her," he said solemnly. When Lorelai opened her mouth to speak, he held up a hand to stop her. "I know, you put my name on that stuff, but I just wanted to give her something from me, okay, personally." Lorelai nodded, pressing her lips together tightly. Misunderstanding her action, Luke told her gruffly, "There are no unicorns or names on it."

"Good," Lorelai answered him with a kiss. "But, I wasn't thinking about that, I was just thinking about how great you are."

Luke gave her a wry smile and said, "That's me, Mr. Fabulous."

They continued to watch as the pile of presents dwindled. Finally, after the last gift had been opened, Lorelai asked him, "So which one was yours?"

He just shrugged and said, "I didn't put it on the pile, I'll give it to her later."

Lorelai nodded her understanding and said, "I'm going to refill some bowls, I'll be back," as she walked toward the kitchen.

Several of the guests made the move to leave, so Rory walked them out, thanking them again as she waved from the porch. She turned to go back into the house only to find that Luke had followed her out. "Hey, good party, huh?" she asked.

Luke scuffed his feet a bit and answered, "Yeah, everyone seems to be having fun."

Taking in his nervous demeanor, Rory asked, "You okay?"

Luke simply pulled a box from his pocket and held it out to her saying, "Here this is for you."

"But Luke," Rory protested, "you and Mom already gave me a bunch of stuff!"

"I know," he answered. "I just wanted to, you know, give you something myself," he said staring at his feet as the blush crept into his cheeks. Rory took the box from him and waited until he raised his head. When his eyes met hers, he said, "Sorry about the unicorns," in a gruff voice.

"Oh Luke," she sighed. "The unicorns were great," she tried to tell him. When she saw the look of derision cross his face she smiled and said, "Okay, maybe not great, but you gave them to me, and that was great. You always remembered my birthday, and that meant a lot. I know that you aren't a birthday sort of guy, or a present sort of guy for that matter, but you always tried," she reached up to give him an awkward hug.

Luke blushed again, and gestured toward the box saying, "Open it. I swear it isn't monogrammed."

Rory grinned and lifted the lid to find a strand of pearls nestled on a bed of velvet. "Oh Luke!" she exclaimed, tears filling her eyes as she looked at him.

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "It was my mother's. Liz can't wear it 'cause her neck's too fat, but your neck looks, you know, not fat. It was sitting around in my drawer, so I thought, 'hey, give it to Rory, it's her eighteenth birthday'. You know you're lucky 'cause Ceasar's birthday is next month and I know he likes pearls, so..."

"Thank you," she said breathlessly, "it's beautiful."

"Happy birthday," he wished her in a hoarse voice. Clearing his throat he said, "Now, come on, let's get back inside before your mother sends out a posse."

When they walked back into the house, they found Emily standing in the foyer. It was clear that she had heard the whole exchange. When Luke's eyes met hers, she nodded slightly and said to Rory, "What do you have there?"

Rory turned her glowing eyes to her grandmother and answered, "Luke gave me his mother's pearls." She opened the box for Emily to see the necklace and asked, "Aren't they beautiful?"

"Lovely," Emily agreed. She looked up at Luke and said, "They are lovely."

Luke ducked his head and pointed toward the kitchen saying, "I'd better see if they need any help in there," before making his escape.

Emily wrapped her arm around Rory's shoulders and said in a teasing tone, "You are a lucky girl, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am, Grandma," she answered in all seriousness. "Yes, I am."