Lorelai hadn't quite figured out how to maneuver holding the telephone and sipping coffee while chatting with Rory… but it was the way she'd have to manage it. Rory was now an official grown up (in the eyes of the world, not in Lorelai's eyes), and their coffee chats would be held over the phone because Rory was working. The Bluetooth headset Luke got Lorelai proved to be a necessary addition after Lorelai dropped her cell phone in her coffee.

"How's that new headset working out for you?" Rory teased. She was on the campaign trail for three more days, following Senator Obama on his last trips before his holiday break.

Lorelai grinned, sipping her coffee. "It's good. I've named her Annie Hall. She's awfully stylish. She's pink, making me feel less dorky about wearing such a weird piece of equipment, and I've gotten away with talking to many a person in the diner with this gal in. Luke can't tell when the phone's ringing, because it rings in my ear!"

"You've gotten away with many a call?"

"Fine," Lorelai groaned. "A few. Who are you, the exaggeration police? Might want to get a motto for that brigade."

"You know, Mom, if you still have that little crush on Dane Cook, he doesn't like girls who exaggerate," Rory mused.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Jeez, it was for like, a day, and he was funny when I was sad. Plus, I was single at that time, so practically any good looking man would be an option then. "

"Define good looking," Rory teased.

"Fine, that's fine, just keep those insults you have hidden up your sleeve coming. I'll come back with one that will be virtually impossible to comment on, when you least expect it," Lorelai insisted.

"Whatever. You mentioned that you were single when you had that dream about you and Dane Cook… you aren't anymore. How is that going, by the way?" Rory prodded.

Lorelai smiled. "It's good. You sound happy about it."

"I am happy about it. Because you are, of course."

"No, I mean, you seem happy about it all on your own," Lorelai said, looking into her coffee cup and patting Paul Anka on the head.

"Well, see, Mom, you and Luke… you guys were like… okay, ready for some cheese?"

"Is it in a spray can?" Lorelai asked, grinning.

"Always," Rory said, feigning surprise.

Lorelai nodded. "Ready for cheese."

"I always thought of you and Luke as 'that' couple. Even when you weren't together, in my mind, you were together," Rory started. "So I thought if you two ever stopped speaking or broke up, it would be like that golden couple in Hollywood breaking up. You know, the ones that you always expected to make it, even though they were celebrities and their worlds were crazy. You guys were like… Reese and Ryan before they split up. Then you split, and so did Reese and Ryan, and 'Cruel Intentions' just wasn't the same… and neither was Stars Hollow, frankly."

"How do Reese and Ryan fit into this?" Lorelai asked.

Rory sighed. "They were my Hollywood couple I'd pegged to last. And they did for awhile. They were the couple I compared you and Luke to, you know, that you guys would never break up, and you'd live happily ever after like Reese and Ryan. But both of you broke up, and I realized that it's never safe to have a Hollywood couple as your guidepost for love. I also realized that you were really hurt by the whole Luke thing."

"Whoa, that's one heck of an admission. Reese and Ryan? What about Farrah and Ryan? Gene Simmons and that ex Playboy model?"

"Note that neither of them are married, Mom."

"So?"

"You got married. Not to Luke."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "I was hoping not to think about that situation for a little while. Seriously. Luke and I just had 'the talk' and my head has been spinning for days."

"You told me it was rough," Rory sympathized.

"I know. It was. So Reese and Ryan?" Lorelai said, trying to change the subject.

Rory sighed. "My point is, I'm hoping that you guys can be Reese and Ryan only better this time. I have the utmost confidence in you guys. More than I did in Reese and Ryan, and that's a lot!"

"Never put all of your eggs in one basket, kid. Never go to Vegas on those Hollywood couples," Lorelai teased.

Rory giggled. "Hint taken. So, things are good with you and Luke, though?"

"They're going great. He wants to go on a romantic weekend soon," Lorelai explained. "He's thinking about where, but he won't tell me. He's suddenly become Mr. Spontaneous."

"Spontaneity can be awfully romantic," Rory mused.

"It can be, but he told me that he's taking me somewhere, so that's not so spontaneous."

Rory sipped the last of her coffee and threw it in a nearby trash as she took a seat on a nearby bench. "Mom, keep in mind that he's Luke Danes."

"Right, I try. Sometimes I imagine that he's Cary Grant but that doesn't work very well," Lorelai teased.

"Seriously, Mom. Luke's Luke, but he's bending a little, enjoy it," Rory suggested.

"It's nice. Luke has a side to him that we didn't really know existed. It's like a whole other secret 'Hannah Montana' life."

"Hannah Montana? Mom, you've babysat for Sookie way too much in the past few months while I've been gone," Rory groaned. "Have Luke watch 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' with you again. Maybe he won't fall asleep this time."

"And I'm guessing an 'Elmo shouldn't have his own world' rant isn't appropriate right now, huh?"

"Yeah, you guess correctly," Rory said, stepping onto the bus.

"Is that your final answer?"

Rory giggled. "Yes, Regis, that is my final answer. And if I win the million, I'm giving it all to Luke."

Lorelai gasped. "Why Luke? I birthed you!"

"But Luke is the one keeping you alive right now," Rory teased.

"No, Luke's COFFEE is what's keeping me alive," Lorelai started.

"That's why I've been walking around with a massive headache for four months," Rory mused.

Lorelai nodded, getting into the Jeep. "You remember that you are your mother's daughter. Luke's coffee is like oxygen, only a liquid and much more vital to our survival."

"So if you're ever in need of a blood transfusion, we should just use Luke's coffee," Rory pointed out.

"Good, I don't even know my own blood type anyway. I think it's AB. It's been forever. My head has since made so much more room for the useless facts that the important things, like my social security number, and my allergies to medications, have been filed away in the 'spam' folder in my brain," Lorelai ranted.

"Your brain is like a computer, with spam?" Rory giggled. "Are we talking about the canned meat or the junk e-mail begging you to refinance?"

"Or get other dirty products?"

"Mom, I was trying to avoid that portion of the Spam conversation," Rory sighed.

Lorelai giggled. "When you come home Friday, remind me to find that movie I Tivo-ed for you. It's got Mario Lopez and that Melissa Joan Hart in it and it involves kidnapping and lies, yet it's a romantic comedy type movie."

"This sounds quite mockable. Slater and Clarissa slash Sabrina in the same movie? This could get good," Rory teased.

"Almost as good as Mario's talk show with Danny Bonaduce and Dick Clark. You know, the one that came on directly after 'The View', so we could get the male perspective right after the women spoke their peace?"

Rory giggled. "Wow, that was so long ago! I miss the cheesy talk shows!"

"I've got plenty of stuff recorded. You'll have references to fill your head that don't go as far back as 'Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch', and that don't have any political affiliation!"

Rory smiled. "I rented a movie in the hotel the other night, I think I'm okay on the references. Plus, the 'Top Ten Cheesiest Movie Lines' article from 2004 came up in a Google search. Apparently 'nobody puts baby in the corner' was only second!"

"What could top that?" Lorelai asked, pulling into the driveway of the Dragonfly.

"I'm king of the world!" Rory said, imitating Leonardo DiCaprio's character in 'Titanic'.

Lorelai groaned. "'I'll never let go, Jack' should have been the cheesiest."

"And 'you had me at hello' came in ninth."

"Okay, that should have been in the top five, who did they have do this list? They obviously haven't met us," Lorelai groaned.

"We'll make our own when I get back," Rory insisted. "I gotta go, but I'll call you later."

"Okay, sweets," Lorelai said, taking one last sip of the coffee Luke made before he left that morning. "Talk to you soon."

"Bye," Rory said.