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"What time is Anna dropping April off?" Lorelai asked casually. She flung her purse up onto her shoulder and accepted the to-go cup of coffee that Luke handed her.
"They should be here soon," Luke replied. He watched Lorelai nod her head in acknowledgment before she started to dig through her purse for the keys to her jeep. "You know you don't have to leave before they get here. I know I said I wanted to talk to Anna alone today but that doesn't mean you can't be here when she drops April off."
"I know honey," Lorelai said with a smile once she retrieved her keys from her purse. "But if I want to spend the afternoon with you and April, I need to get to the Inn this morning and go over some paperwork that really can't wait. I will try and get away from the Inn as soon as I can though. Plus this will give you a little time by yourself with April this morning."
"See you for lunch then?" Luke asked as he went ahead and leaned halfway across the counter just as Lorelai was doing on the other side of the counter.
Lorelai nodded her head, "I should be out of the Inn by then. If you want, you and April can come by and we can have lunch with me there."
"Yeah, that sounds good," Luke agreed with a nod of his head. "I'll see if April wants to do that."
"Let me know," Lorelai urged. She finally closed the small gap between them and pressed her lips softly against his. "Don't worry, I'm sure your talk with Anna will go fine," she said as she pulled back from him. She continued on when she noticed the skeptical look on his face. "At least, I hope it will. I'll send ya good vibes all the way from the Inn."
"I'll probably need them," Luke remarked when he remembered how his last conversation with Anna about Lorelai went. He picked up the small bag of muffins that Lorelai was about to forget and held it out in her direction. "I'll see you this afternoon," he said once she took the bag from him.
"See you then babe," Lorelai called over her shoulder before she exited the diner and headed to her jeep.
Luke waited and watched from behind the counter as his fiancee climbed into her jeep and then took off in the direction of the Inn. He watched the jeep drive down the road until it was out of his sight. Then he turned to the customers and tended to the ones that Lane had yet to get to. All the while he served customers, he kept one eye trained on the door just waiting for Anna to arrive with his daughter. He told Anna over the phone, while they were discussing when April would come to visit, that there was something he needed to talk to her about and would rather do it in person rather than over the phone. She agreed to talk whenever she dropped April off.
Truth be told he was slightly nervous about having this talk with Anna. Of course he knew that it was important for his relationship with both Lorelai and his daughter, the reason being he knew now how stupid it was to try and keep them apart when they were the two most important aspects in his life. He wanted for them to be a part of each others' life. But after how things quickly took an ugly turn the very first and at-the-time thought to be last time he involved Lorelai when it came to April, he knew that things could easily not go the way that he wanted them to today. He talked with Lorelai and she tried to help him rationalize that since Anna would know that April was around her this time unlike at the birthday party where she only found out after, that she might be more open to the idea. Although she had her doubts from her very own talk with Anna. Luke made it clear that he wouldn't back down when it came to their daughter being involved in his life with Lorelai.
Just a few minutes after Lorelai departed, the diner bells rang out again to announce the arrival of Anna and April. Luke dropped the rag that he used to wipe down the counter with down onto the counter-top out of the way of any customers before he walked over to greet the two. After basic greetings and a hug shared between father and daughter, Luke walked back towards the counter with Anna and April following behind him.
"Do you want anything?" Luke asked when April seated herself at the counter. He motioned to Anna that she could go ahead and head upstairs since he would be there in just a minute. "Pancakes, eggs, bacon, anything for breakfast?"
April shook her head, "I'm good. Mom and I had breakfast before we left."
Luke nodded his head back towards the curtain in the diner, "I'll just be upstairs talking with your mom for a few minutes but if you need anything, Lane can help you."
"I know Luke," April replied. "I'll be fine. I have my book," she indicated to the book she received as a birthday present from Luke.
Luke smiled at his daughter, "Good. I'll be right back." He waved his hand in Lane's general direction to get her attention. "I'm headed upstairs for a minute. You okay down here?"
Lane nodded, "I got it boss. I can handle it."
Luke slipped behind the curtain and headed upstairs to his apartment. Anna was waiting for him and didn't waste even one second as soon as Luke walked through the door to find out what was so important that they couldn't talk about it over the phone but had to talk about it face-to-face.
"What did you need to talk about Luke?" Anna asked, her arms crossed over her chest. "I don't have a lot of time to talk right now."
"This shouldn't take long," Luke replied. "I want to talk about April."
Anna arched an eyebrow, a mixture of skeptical and confused as to where he was going with this. "What about April?"
"I know that you weren't comfortable with Lorelai spending the night with April and her friends at her party but Lorelai really helped to save the party. April wasn't having fun before Lorelai showed up. I needed help. April seemed to really like Lorelai and they were getting along. I know what you told Lorelai when she came to talk to you, that you think it would be better to wait until after the wedding, but I don't agree. I want April and Lorelai to spend time together and get to know each other before the wedding." Luke took a deep breath and waited for Anna's response even though he was sure he knew what it was going to be.
"I still stand by my stance that it would be better to wait until after the wedding to talk about this," Anna replied sharply. "I don't want to involve people in her life that might not be there for the long haul. I have to protect her from people just coming and going in and out of her life. I don't want her to get hurt. You just came into her life and she's still getting to know you. I'm still learning to trust you around her."
"I just came into her life because of the choice that you made, not me," Luke replied slightly raising his voice. He paused a moment to try and have this talk in a cool and calm manner per Lorelai's suggestion. "And, frankly it was a damn lousy choice. But I'm not going anywhere now. I'm going to be there for my daughter, I would have been there from the beginning if given the chance. I know I wasn't really a kid guy then but I am now. I wouldn't let anything or anyone hurt April. Letting April get to know Lorelai isn't going to hurt her."
"How can you be so sure of that? Huh?" Anna asked. "You could let Lorelai into April's life and April could really start to like her. They could even become friends. Then you and Lorelai could break-up and April would be let down that somebody that was in her life isn't in her life anymore. I want her to have stability."
"I want her to have stability too," Luke agreed. "And I would understand your concerns if Lorelai and I were only dating but we're not, we're stable, we're engaged and we are getting married. Lorelai and I have known each other a long time and we're definitely not rushing into this. She is not going to just disappear out of my life or April's life."
"Lorelai said the same thing when she came to see me," Anna replied pointedly. "And I'll tell her what I told you, people get engaged all the time. It is not the same thing as married. Engagements can break up at anytime. We can talk about this when you two are married."
"I don't want to talk about it then, I want to talk about it now," Luke argued. "Lorelai and I are getting married, no doubts about that. We're not going to break up," he said confidently. "I want April to be at the wedding and before that I want her to get to know Lorelai and I want Lorelai to get to know April. I don't want to wait until after we are married."
"Look, I'm happy for you Luke. I am but," Anna let out a sigh. "You just came into April's life, you two are just getting to know each other. I'm still nervous about that."
"It's not my fault I just came into her life," Luke interrupted. "I would have been there from the beginning if I would have known about her."
Anna glared at Luke then continued on with what she was going to say earlier. "I'm just worried about her. She's my whole world. First I need to know that you're sticking around before I involve anyone else in her life."
"I am sticking around!" Luke thundered. He was over trying to be calm and collected. "I've seen firsthand how it affects someone when a father is in and out of their life. I'm never going to be that guy. Hell, I've been there for Lorelai's kid more than her own damn father has. I would never leave April. I'm not that guy!"
"She's my kid and this is how I want to do this Luke," Anna explained. "April is my whole world and I feel like this is the right thing to do. This is how I want this. This is how we're doing this."
"The thing is Anna is that she's just not your kid. She's our kid, I'm her father. I shouldn't even have to say that to you." Luke scoffed. He pointed his finger in Anna's direction. "And I am not going to let you treat me this way any longer. You took away my opportunity to be there for her as she grew up. But you're not going to take away my opportunity to get to know her now."
Anna crossed her arms again and fixed her stare. "What are you trying to say Luke?"
"I have rights as her father and that means that I can make decisions in her life. April and I have this relationship now and that means whoever is in my life is in her life. I'm not going keep her separate from the life that I have here in Stars Hollow," Luke avowed, he crossed his arms as if that would help make his point. "That means she will get to know Lorelai. They will spend time together whenever April is with me. I will fight you on this Anna, if it comes to that. I have rights as her father and I'm declaring those rights."
Luke waited with bated breath for Anna to say something. He expected her to blow up, to yell at him like he did after April's birthday party. He expected her to get mad and threaten to not let April spend the day with him if Lorelai was going to be there. He expected something more than silence from her.
Silence was all that came from Anna though. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she glared at him, her eyes stared daggers straight through him. Luke didn't back down or let up, he just stood in front of her and waited for whatever was about to be thrown his way. After several minutes Anna tore her gaze away from Luke and headed straight out the apartment door, making sure to slam the door behind her.
It took Luke a few seconds but he followed behind Anna, almost expecting Anna to demand April to go home with her instead of hanging out in Stars Hollow for the day. However when he got downstairs, April was still seated at the counter while there was no sign of Anna. Lane looked at him concerned and he was sure she heard some of what went on upstairs but he waved her off and walked over to where April sat.
"What did you and Mom talk about?" April asked when she noticed Luke in front of her. "She seemed really mad when she came downstairs."
"Nothing you need to worry about right now, just something between your mom and me. We'll figure it out," Luke dismissed her. He wasn't sure if he should get into this with his daughter. "You remember Lorelai?"
"Of course I remember Lorelai," April replied as she looked up at Luke. "I talked to her the other day when I called you and I had fun at the party. She seems cool. Why?"
"Well I know that you two haven't spent time together before but Lorelai really wants to get to know you since she and I are engaged. I want you two to get to know each other too," Luke replied. "So I figured today that we could spend time with her. She's at the Inn now but we could go over there for lunch and then spend the rest of the day together."
April nodded, "That sounds good. I like Lorelai."
Luke smiled at his daughter, "That's good. I'm glad. We'll go over there later."
Meanwhile at the Inn, Lorelai couldn't concentrate on the work that she needed to do because she was too focused on the many outcomes of how Luke's talk with Anna could turn out. She kept checking her cell-phone to see if Luke had called her about whether or not he and April would be at the Inn for lunch. Yet, she had no calls. She glanced at the clock and saw it was closing in on lunch-time. She let out a loud huff of air before she pushed away from her desk and exited her office.
"Coffee Sookie," Lorelai called as she entered the kitchen.
"Just put on a fresh pot," Sookie called back. She stopped, turned around, and almost maimed her kitchen help with a knife when she noticed Lorelai back in the kitchen. "Lorelai, what are you doing in here? You have been in and out of this kitchen all morning."
"I just..." Lorelai drummed her fingers against the coffee cup in her hand. "You know how I told you that Luke was going to talk with Anna and how he and April were supposed to come by for lunch?"
Sookie nodded, "Of course which is why I'm whipping up a special lunch menu just for the occasion. It has..."
Lorelai held her hand up to prevent her friend from rambling on about food, "I appreciate whatever you're making today Sookie but can you listen right now?" she asked. Sookie nodded eagerly. "I'm just worried about how his talk with Anna went. I told him to let me know if he and April were coming to lunch but he hasn't called. That makes me think that maybe Anna didn't like what Luke had to say about April spending time with him and me today and he's just waiting to tell me later. So maybe she won't even let April spend time with Luke or maybe Luke didn't talk to her or maybe I won't be able to spend time with April and all the talking Luke and I have done about that meant nothing."
"Or maybe he just didn't call because he's busy or he forgot," Sookie replied.
"Yeah, maybe," Lorelai sighed. "I'm being a little crazy aren't I?"
"Yeah," Sookie agreed. "But you're always a little crazy."
Lorelai laughed, "You got me there."
"Lorelai," Michel called as he entered the kitchen. He spotted her standing near the coffee pot. "There you are, I have looked everywhere for you."
"Everywhere where Michel?" Lorelai asked.
"The front desk, your office," Michel listed off. "Anyways, the flannel man and a young child are looking for you."
"Luke and April?" Lorelai clarified.
"I guess," Michel replied with a heavy sigh. "I still don't understand what you see in that man, he has no fashion sense."
"Well not everyone can dress as suave as you Michel," Lorelai teased. "I'll be right there."
"Hurry up," Michel urged her. "There's only so much awkward silence I can take."
Sookie squealed for Lorelai as Michel exited the kitchen. "I'll get lunch ready for you three! You go get to know your future step-daughter."
"Don't go overboard for lunch," Lorelai ordered Sookie in a playful tone because she knew that Sookie had a tendency to go all out for occasions that she deemed as special.
By the time Lorelai exited the kitchen, she was held back for a few minutes while Sookie ran through the menu with her to make sure that Luke and April would like it even though she had no idea about April's food preferences, she found Luke and April already seated in the dining room. She smiled when Luke looked up at her and waved her over.
Lorelai joined them at the table just seconds after Luke waved her over, choosing to sit across the table from Luke and next to April. "Hey April," she greeted the young girl. "Very nice to see you again."
"Hi Lorelai," April replied. "You don't have the neon green highlights in your hair like the last time I saw you."
"Well I loved them and tried to keep them but I have to be professional for work," Lorelai said as she messed with a strand of her hair and slightly pouted. "So no cool highlights."
April nodded her head, "Yeah, Mom made me get rid of mine for school even though we only had a little while left," she replied. "They were cool though."
Lorelai smiled again at April before she looked over Luke's way, "You're being awfully quiet over there," she observed. "Nothing to add in?"
Luke gave a slight shrug of his shoulders, "I'm happy just watching the two of you talk."
"And I'm sure that we can find plenty to talk about," Lorelai replied before she turned her attention back to April. "Now I'm not sure what you do eat and don't eat but Sookie, my friend, chef and business partner for the Inn, has prepared several different things for lunch so I'm sure there will be something that you like. If not, I'm sure Sookie will be happy to make you something you do like."
"I'm not a picky eater, I eat most anything," April mentioned.
"Good, glad to hear it." Lorelai looked over her shoulder and waved one of the servers over. Once they gave their drink order, Lorelai continued to talk. "Rory would have joined us today but she's too busy with her own plans to hang out with her mom everyday. Although I do like having this time with you by myself. I think it's long overdue."
"I was wondering if I was ever going to spend time with you," April admitted. "I mean you are Luke's fiancee."
Lorelai looked over at Luke and mouthed an 'I'm sorry," when she noticed the look that crossed his face. She knew that he regretted his decision to keep April from her all this time and she didn't mean for her comment to sound the way that it did.
"That's my fault," Luke chimed in at that moment. "I should have introduced the two of you sooner but I didn't. I wasn't thinking clearly but this is why we're here today, I want you two to spend some time together."
Lorelai reached across the table and squeezed Luke's hand, "And I'm sure that we'll have fun today."
Soon Sookie came out with a few of her helpers in the kitchen to serve the various dishes that she prepared for their lunch. After the food was decided upon according to what everyone wanted and after the food was served, Lorelai encouraged Sookie gently to go back into the kitchen while they enjoyed the lunch she took her precious time to prepare.
While they enjoyed their lunch, Lorelai took the reigns of the conversation as only she could and tried to learn more about the girl that would one day be her step-daughter. At first Lorelai dominated the conversations with questions for April concerning a few things that she didn't learn about April through Luke recently but control of the conversation soon fell to April. Lorelai was happy to let April do most of the talking at this point since she could just listen and take note of April's interests and disinterests for future reference.
Luke sat back and remained quiet for most of the meal while he watched two of the people who meant the most to him in the world as they started to bond. He threw in a comment every now and then, more when he was directly spoken to, but he was more than content just to sit back quietly and let Lorelai have this little time with April. As he watched the two interact and already get along really well, he cursed himself for thinking that he had to figure things out with April first before involving Lorelai. He already knew that was a misguided decision but seeing April and Lorelai together just served to further cement how misguided his earlier decision turned out to be.
Lorelai's voice broke through his thoughts. "Luke, are you coming with us?"
"What?" Luke asked looking up at Lorelai and April who were no longer seated at the table but standing beside the table. "Where are you going?"
Lorelai giggled and shook her head, "Men never listen." She placed her hand on April's shoulder, "Well I was telling April about Desdemona and Cletus so we're going to head out to the stables and see them. Are you coming?"
"Yeah, yeah," Luke said as he got up from the table to join Lorelai and April. "Of course I'm coming."
April looked up at her father when they started to make their way out of the Inn and towards the stables. "Lorelai said that I could go for a ride on one of the horses if I wanted to one day."
"Is that something you want to do?" Luke asked. "Do you like horses?"
"I find them interesting," April replied. "But I've never ridden a horse before so I might have to read up on them before I actually ride one."
"I'm sure that Lorelai would be happy to help you out with that," Luke said as he looked over at Lorelai and she nodded in agreement, "We'll come out to the Inn again and ride horses."
"You'll ride a horse?" Lorelai asked amused at the thought. "Now that I want to see."
"I won't ride a horse," Luke clarified, "I'll just watch."
Lorelai shook her head, "What a shame."
She opened up the stable doors and swiftly introduced April to Cletus and Desdemona, pointing out that if she were to go for a ride, one of the horses she would go with Cletus since he was better for beginners although he was also a bit of a troublemaker with his sneaking into the Inn and all. While April stepped forward to pet the horses, once Lorelai assured her they were both gentle creatures and fairly receptive to people, Lorelai hung back to chat with Luke.
"No shirtless horseback rides for you?" Lorelai teased, making sure to keep her voice quiet so April didn't overhear. "Or at the very least wearing a white button-up shirt with most of the buttons undone while we both ride off into the sunset preferably on a beach?"
"So you can recreate one of the scenes in those cheesy romance novels that you read and then try to hide?" Luke asked, an equally teasing smirk crossed his face.
"Hey, I got that from Sookie," Lorelai tried to defend herself, "It was only one novel. And there are not always that bad or trashy as some people like to think," she added more into her defense. She continued on when she noticed the look on Luke's face, "Okay, more than one but I couldn't help it!" She pointed in his finger in his direction, "But you are not to tell Rory, this would provide her with mocking material for years!"
Luke chuckled, making sure to keep an eye on April as she interacted with the horses while he talked with Lorelai. "That can be our secret."
"Good."
"For now at least."
Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him, "Evil man." A coy smile crossed her face as she leaned in close to whisper into his ear, "Besides some of those scenes wouldn't be so bad to recreate in our own way. In fact I believe there was one between a fair maiden and her stable boy."
"Lorelai," Luke hissed. "Don't talk like that right now, April might hear you."
"Fine," Lorelai giggled. "I'll save that for later. You didn't call after your talk with Anna," she pointed out. "But you're here and you brought April so I'm assuming things went okay?"
"It slipped my mind to call," Luke explained. "Things with Anna went just as about as well as I expected them to go but she did let April stay and didn't object the last time I said that April would spend time with you. She was really mad when she left though."
"So what happens now?" Lorelai asked.
Luke shrugged his shoulders, "With Anna? I don't know. Like I said, she was mad when she left. I'm not sure what, if anything, will happen now. Right now, I just want to spend the day with you and April."
"I love the sound of that," Lorelai said happily as she and Luke finally went to join April near the horses.
I know there's not much April and Lorelai time in this chapter but I'm learning how to write April and have more plans for her coming up soon. Just trying to integrate her in this story a little bit at a time.
As always, reviews are appreciated.