Author's notes: Before I move on to my usual 'thankyous' I want to point out something. This chapter is indeed set four years from the last, however, it's nessesary and it's also slightly linked. As you will gather once you start reading, chapter 9 ended with baby richie admiring the snow...this chapter stars with 4yr Richie, and snow. I wasn't originally going to skip this far so soon, but I snow-transaction thing was too good to pass up. If four years seems to much too soon for you, I'm sorry. But as the story moves along, I can ensure you that you'll feel it's the right number to skip.
Now, thanks to my reviewers that only had a day or so til this was up! Jeremy Shane, Chloe2007 and JavaJunkie4Evar! Glad Lorelai was to character, cuz she's my fave and it would be shame on me if I couldn't get her right :P. Sorry that you won't get to see Richie's first words, walk, jam-hands etc, but you're not gonna miss out entirely, as I said eariler...it'll all make sense later on. Trust me. I actually think we're now entering a good part of the fic. I mean it's all good imo, but the mainer plot will start to kick in. Now that phrase one is over. :) Anyhow, sorry for the rambling but yeah. Please review cuz I really wanna know whatcha think. I do not want to resort to withholding chapters til I get reviews tee-hee. Enjoy!
Also, April has finally been added. Since whilst Richie was born in the late-season6 time setting...season seven did still exist. But more on that when the time is right.
Chapter Ten: Four years later
'Richie!' Luke growled; picking him up and carrying him back inside the diner. 'You're going to freeze'
'Snow!' he said, reaching for it.
Luke sighed and put him back down before moving to give Kirk some more coffee. Richie checked that his father wasn't watching and then ran to the window. Richie placed his hands on the window and pressed his face against it. He watched the snow falling from the sky and onto the ground. Richie then saw someone walk past the window and got even more excited.
'Mummy!' he squealed and hugged her around the legs.
'Hey Richie' Lorelai picked him up and smiled at Luke.
'It's snowing mummy!' Richie pointed.
'Yes it is' Lorelai said, giving him a kiss. 'Daddy lock you inside again?' she teased Luke once she reached the counter.
'Yup' Richie nodded. 'No fair'
'He'll freeze' Luke frowned. 'Coffee?'
'Yes please' Lorelai nodded. 'Oh and April's coming for the holidays, isn't she?'
'Yeah, why?' Luke wondered.
'Nothing…it's just that Rory wanted to spent some time with her' Lorelai shrugged. 'She's thinking of taking April to a concert or something'
'April's too young for that' Luke stated.
'She's seventeen…I was going to concerts at fourteen' Lorelai rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee. 'Besides, Rory will be with her'
'Fine' Luke gave in, knowing he couldn't win against a Gilmore girl.
Lorelai glanced at her pager and sighed, putting it back away.
'Sookie still bothering you with the wedding thing?' Luke asked as she put Richie back down so he could stare at the snow some more.
'Yeah, she thinks that it's never going to happen' Lorelai sighed. 'We had Richie and then we decided to go ahead with the plans but then he got sick and you found out about April…it was postponed so many times that I really did think it was off' she sighed, sitting on a stool.
'Yeah, we broke up a few times but Richie brought us back together…' Luke shrugged at the memory.
'Do you honestly think we'll ever get married Luke? I mean we've been so close but then it's postponed again and delayed and then called off…' she sighed. 'It's been almost five years'
'Does the dress still fit you?' Luke wondered after a moment of silence.
'Yes' Lorelai replied, a smile threatening on her lips at the look he was giving her. 'Why?'
'Well it's just, June 3rd…it's coming up in a few months and…maybe it's time we finally…you know?'
'No, I don't know' Lorelai lied with a hint of tease. 'What?'
Luke sighed and rolled his eyes. 'Maybe we should actually get married, no matter what…no delays'
'Oh! But what if I sleep with the mailman and we have ten children and then he dies of a disease and then…will you still marry me?' Lorelai joked as she got up from her stool with her "to-go"cup of coffee.
'Goodbye, crazy lady' Luke replied. 'I'll see you tonight'
'See you tonight' Lorelai nodded and gave Richie a kiss. 'Bye hon'
Luke watched her leave and then shifted his gaze over to Richie, whom was still staring outside the window. Luke frowned and tried to remember why that looked so familiar…
--
Seven-year-old Luke Danes stood in front of the store with his hands pressed against the window, just staring inside.
'Daddy, is that the new shop?' he asked.
'Sure is' William nodded. 'I've been working on it for years but now it's finally ours' he said and held Luke's hand, leading him into the store.
'Cool' Luke said, picking up a box of nails. 'Can we build something?'
'Like what?' William wondered.
'I dunno, a house! A boat!' Luke got excited.
'A boat sounds good' William nodded…
--
'Daddy' Richie's voice broke Luke out of his own thoughts. 'I gotta go!'
'Again?' Luke sighed but took his son to the bathroom. 'We should build something, sometime'
'What?' Richie asked.
'I dunno, something' Luke shrugged.
Once Richie had washed his hands, he ran back into the diner and almost bumped right into Taylor.
'Careful!' he snapped. 'Lucas, you need to control your son' Taylor frowned. 'He's going to end up like one of those punks that raid the streets…'
'Taylor' Luke growled threatening but tried not to laugh when Richie blew a mean raspberry at Taylor.
'That is disrespectful young man' Taylor told Richie but he wasn't listening.
Luke ignored Taylor's rambling to see what Richie was doing. The small boy was going through a shelf nearby what had some of William's old stuff on it and picked up a hammer, which was slightly heavy for him at first, but then he managed.
'See!' Taylor said. 'He's already learning to-'
'Taylor, get lost' Luke said, looking down at Richie.
'Build something' Richie told him, holding it up.
'Really Luke, you think that boy isn't going to-'
'Good bye Taylor' Luke said again and took the hammer off Richie…
--
'So dad, how do we build a boat?' young Luke wondered.
'Well, it's going to be hard work…and it'll take time' William said while putting some new hammers onto a shelf. 'But we're a team right?'
'We're a team' Luke smiled. 'I'll be like…your helper!'
William gave a laugh and nodded. 'Yeah, my little helper' he nodded…
--
Luke smiled and turned to Taylor. 'Hey, could you get Richie some of those candy things he likes?' he asked, pulling a few dollars from his pocket.
'Candy! Candy!' Richie started jumping in joy, having lost all interest in building something.
'Now you want him hyped up?' Taylor frowned but accepted the money. 'Come on' he sighed to Richie.
'Go on' Luke nodded, giving Richie permission to go with Taylor.
'Now remember, when someone gives you something you have to say "thank you", don't forget…' Taylor told Richie as they left the diner.
Lorelai opened the front door several hours later to find Rory and April getting out of Rory's car.
'Hey girls' Lorelai grinned and went to give them each a hug. 'I didn't know you were picking April up' She then said to Rory.
'She was passing through, so yeah' April answered with a light shrug. 'Where's dad and Richie?' she asked, looking around for them.
'Ah, not sure…the diner I think' Lorelai replied. 'I need more coffee, let's go see if they're there' she suggested and linked arms with the girls.
Luke went into Taylor's to pick up Richie since Taylor had agreed to baby-sit him while Luke had gone to pick up a few things.
'Come on Richie' he said and held out his hand.
'Daddy!' Richie jumped down from his seat and ran over, grabbing his hand and following him back to the diner. 'I'm hungry daddy, Taylor not let me have candy'
'I'll cook something when we get home' he replied. 'Come here' he gestured over to a table where he had some wood, nails and a hammer set up.
'Cool, what we making?' Richie asked but Luke was staring at the table absent-minded…
--
'Hey Lucas, come here' William gestured and young Luke stopped cleaning a table near where little Liz was playing, to go over to the counter where his dad was.
'Yeah?' he asked curiously.
William smiled and picked Luke up, sitting him atop the counter.
'We're going to build something fun' William replied and paced a brown cap on Luke's head. He frowned and then turned it around so it was backwards.
'Much better, now can you hammer some nails into this piece of wood for me?'
'Cuz I'm your helper?' young Luke wondered.
'Exactly' William nodded. 'And remember: we're a team' he smiled…
--
'Daddy?' Richie shook Luke from his thoughts.
Luke cleared his throat and picked Richie up so he could see what he was doing. Luke placed him on the table and pulled a black hat from one of the bags on a chair…
'And then this thing came out of the closet and…' April was cut short in the details of a movie she'd seen recently as she glanced into the window of the diner. 'Hey, look' she pointed and stopped walking.
Rory and Lorelai paused to have a look also. Luke was standing beside a table, watching Richie. Little Richie sat atop the table with a black cap on backwards, hammering a nail into a piece of wood.
'Awe, they're so cute. I wish I had a camera' Lorelai said.
April grinned and pulled out her cell phone, snapping a photo with it.
Lorelai watched as April and Rory went into the diner. She smiled at the look of her four-year-old son hammering away at the nails like a professional.
Four years ago, Luke had taken to heart the fact that Richie had his mother's eyes, hair and screamed like her. Back then it seemed as though Richie took so much after her that the other things he'd gotten from Luke had gone completely unnoticed…until now.
Lorelai knew now that while Richie may look and act like her…Richie had the soul and interests like Luke and William. He also enjoyed books so much that naming him after Richard Gilmore was still the right way to go.
Lorelai glanced away and went inside to join her family.
'Hey mum, look!' Richie pointed to his pieces of wood that he'd hammered together. 'Daddy saids we're a team' he smiled proudly.
'That's great hon' Lorelai patted his head before turning to Luke with an "I told you so" sneer. 'He doesn't just take after me, you know' she said.
Luke glanced over as Rory and April ran out the back in search of a proper camera. He turned to Lorelai and put an arm around her. She leaned against him and they just watched their son hammering away at his wood. He didn't care that he wasn't really building anything; he just wanted to hammer!
'So…June 3rd?' Luke then asked, kissing atop Lorelai's head.
'Yeah, we're finally getting married' Lorelai smiled.
Author's notes: Okay there it is! Yeah, for real...they will be getting married! Finally. I know that after four years, the same date and the same dress maybe seem weird, but it's Gilmore girls, weird is normal. And plus, the date and dress were too perfect, I couldn't not use it. Now, please can y'all review? :) I might update Wednesday if I get enough comments/questions to motivate me to do so, otherwise you're looking at Friday-ish. Have to go by my work scedule unfortunatly. Can only really post another chapter on my days-off. But, this may shock you...I'm currently writing chapter 28! I hope you all love this story enough to still want to read it that far in the future since I plan to go to about...maybe, chapter 40? After that I might do a short sequal of many years later, if you want me to.
One more note: I wrote this chapter ages ago and then surfed the internet randomly...but then an image of a kid came up and no joke...it was Richie! I mean the black hat, his shirt (as seen in later chapters) etc! Was scary. I'll try and get a link or something you can see it. --Anyhow, please review and yeah, looking forward to hearing from y'all and I'll update asap, depending on my motivation to do so.
OH! And this fic will develop into some Rory/Logan...are you all okay with that?
-Mel :)