Maisy and Buddy

Luke woke up early the next morning, deciding to make chocolate chip pancakes for Lorelai to have for breakfast. He decided that it would be a nice sort of 'thank you' gift for sitting and listening to, let alone being interested in, the stories of his family and the town of Stars Hollow. And, besides, she deserved a junk food treat after how well she'd done lately. She'd significantly lightened up on the coffee intake, much to Luke's surprise, so he hoped the pancakes would be seen as a compromise that was to Lorelai's liking.

The smell of chocolate must have really motivated Lorelai, because she came down the stairs not long after Luke started to make the pancakes. She seated herself at the table, squinting through her glasses at her husband.

"I'm making pancakes," Luke replied, planting a kiss on the top of Lorelai's head.

"And that makes me so incredibly happy," Lorelai said in her morning voice.

Luke smiled. "Good. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah. Very well. So incredibly well. I slept so well, that it was like the imagined part of the NyQuill commercials sleep."

"You seemed really tired last night," Luke offered. "I just wanted to make sure that you slept okay."

Lorelai sighed. "I slept fine, Luke, and thank you for covering me up and making sure I was perfectly comfortable last night. I felt awful, Luke, waking up this morning and seeing the album on your night table. I felt like a terrible person. I made you sit through all those rules! In one sitting!"

"It happened to be early afternoon then, so it makes sense that I wasn't tired. And I wasn't pregnant," he pointed out, flipping a pancake.

Lorelai giggled. "You weren't, were you? You're a silly boy."

"Here we go," Luke muttered, putting Lorelai's pancakes on a plate. He walked over to the table, and placed the plate of pancakes in front of Lorelai.

Lorelai took the plate and raised it so she could inhale the smell of the pancakes. "To what do I owe this fantastic feast?" she asked. "And to what do I owe the use of alliteration?"

"Well, I figured that you deserved some pancakes. And plus, it's celebratory. Rory's coming home today," Luke replied.

Her eyes widened as she shoved a bite of the pancake in her mouth. "That's right! She's coming at ten!"

"At night?"

"In the morning. She had an interview with the Courant. The online magazine wanted to transfer her to Hilary, and she and Hilary aren't very tight,"

Luke just stared at Lorelai, his confusion evident. "She knows Hilary Clinton? This is making no sense at all."

Lorelai nodded. "We had her over for a sleepover once, and I decided that her home life with Bill wasn't a very good influence on Rory, so she's not allowed over anymore. As a mom, I took the initiative and decided to teach Rory good morals, and Hilary wasn't much of a model of those morals I was looking for in a friend of hers. That's when we found Lane."

Luke just continued to stare at Lorelai, still confused.

She sighed. "She used to love Hilary Clinton. She used to admire her very much. Until an admissions board for a college told her indirectly not to write about Hilary for a college essay, that is. They visited Chilton, and then Rory was listening to what they had to say, and she came home, panicked that she did everything that they supposedly told her not to do when applying for college. Rory has an aversion to talking or writing about Hilary now. Plus, she's been following Obama for so long, it's just not right for her to switch, there could be a bias. She wants to move close to home, and you know I'm not going to stop her. This could be really exciting, Luke!"

"When did you find this out?" Luke asked.

"I'll tell you if you tell me where you learned to make these amazing pancakes!"

Luke nodded, and went upstairs to get the album he'd been showing Lorelai. He brought the album into the kitchen, sat down at the table, and opened to the page he was looking for. "Maisy taught me to make them."

Lorelai smiled when she saw who was on the page he opened to. "Maisy and Buddy! Aw, they're just so adorable. That's where you learned to make pancakes?"

"After my mom passed away, my dad needed to go to Woodbridge for the night, to have a meeting with somebody. I don't really remember the reason. So, he left me and Liz with Buddy and Maisy."

As Luke began to tell the story, Rory burst into the door. "Where is my fantastic family that makes me use alliteration?"

Lorelai stopped what she was doing and got up from her chair. "See, alliteration is really important here. Rory!"

Rory ran into the kitchen and dropped her bags on the floor. She gave her mom a hug. "I'm so happy to be home! Finally. I don't have to go anywhere for a long, long time."

"Luke, get her coffee, and some pancakes, stat, please!" Lorelai insisted, looking at Luke.

"Mom. Since when do you say 'stat' and 'please' in the same sentence? That's pretty much impossible," Rory reasoned, walking over to give Luke a hug. "She's insane. What happened to her while I was gone?"

"Tell me something I don't know," Luke muttered. "And I think she got crazier after you left. The sane person she relied on her whole life decided not to stay around."

Rory smiled. "You're funny. And you know, you asked me to tell you something that you didn't know? Well, I will."

Lorelai smiled. "You can tell him about 'The Office'. He hates that show. He probably knows nothing about it."

"I don't want to hear about 'The Office'," Luke protested.

"Fine. Then tell him about that big trade those baseball people made today," Lorelai insisted.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Luke's the one that told ME that."

"Well, then, tell him something he doesn't know already! Jeez, Rory, do what he says! He makes your food," Lorelai teased.

Rory straightened up and took a deep breath. "All right, then, I will. Mom, Luke, I am the Hartford Courant's new political beat writer!"

Luke stood back and watched the reaction Lorelai gave to Rory's news. As Lorelai pulled Rory in for another hug, Luke was thrilled to see Lorelai so happy. He knew that Lorelai would be thrilled to have Rory nearby. And he was happy, too.

"Congratulations, Rory," Luke said, giving her a hug and ushering her to the table. "How about a celebratory batch of chocolate chip pancakes?"

"That Buddy and Maisy taught him to make," Lorelai said, grabbing the album.

Rory nodded. "Sure, Luke." She turned her attention to the album Lorelai held in her hands. "'The Danes Family Album'? Wow, is this a photo album with pictures of your family, Luke?"

"This is why my little girl's a reporter, she asks just the right questions. This is pretty much everyone in the town, who is Luke's family by extension, plus Luke's REAL family. Quick recap. This is Luke's dad, Luke's mom, Liz, Luke's Uncle Louie… have you met this guy? His name is Jess," Lorelai teased.

"I believe we've met," Rory mused, playing along with her mother.

"And this is… Miss Patty, Babette, Mia, and Taylor! They're town inhabitants that make the rest of us laugh. Or, they're surrogate grandmothers or mothers who guide you through a hard time in your life," Lorelai explained.

"Great pictures you have here," Rory said, looking at Luke.

"His mom started the album and he finished. Cool, huh? He's told me some excellent stories, which he should share with you at another point, and now we're on Buddy and Maisy. Setting the scene? Luke is little, he's at Buddy and Maisy's house, learning how to make these chocolate chip pancakes that give his future wife nourishment to make it through the day. Take it away, Luke!" Lorelai said enthusiastically, taking a bite of her pancakes.

Rory giggled. "I'm intrigued. Yes, Luke, please, go on!"

"Well, I was kind of bored, Liz was really bored, so Maisy decided that she wanted to keep us entertained. Probably because she hated it when Liz whined about how bored she was," Luke started. "So she found something for us to do."

"Maisy, I'm hungry," Liz complained, her legs hanging over the arm of the couch and her head on the seat.

"Well, Lizzie, how'd you like to help me make dinner?" Maisy asked. "Luke, you can help as well."

"Sure," Luke replied, putting down his homework and walking over to the counter.

Maisy smiled. "Lizzie? You coming to help?"

Liz sat up. "I'm not really a cooker."

"A chef," Maisy corrected. "You're not really much of a chef. And it's okay, your brother isn't a chef, either. But we can teach you to make dinner."

"Can we make pancakes? Please?" Liz begged.

Maisy smiled. "Sure. Breakfast for dinner sounds good on a night like this. Luke, let's get the chocolate chips from the pantry. Lizzie, I need you to get me a pan from under the sink. Be careful with them, though. Don't hurt yourself."

"Okay!" Liz said, complying with Maisy's request.

Luke got the chocolate chips and watched carefully as Maisy made the pancake batter. He made a mental note of every step, trying his hardest to remember what ingredient went in at what time and how much of it there needed to be. He knew he was going to want to make them again, and he couldn't forget how, or else there would be no pancakes.

"Wow, Luke, you're concentrating awfully hard, there," Maisy said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm trying to remember how to make them for next time," Luke replied.

Maisy chuckled. "I'll write it down for you. Grab a plate for me. You won't need to remember a thing, you'll have it right there for when you want to make them again," she said, flipping the pancake that was almost finished.

Luke grabbed a plate and Maisy plopped the pancake on it. He handed the plate to Liz, who brought it into the living room. The second pancake was finished and Luke took his first bite of something he'd actually cooked himself. He liked this cooking thing. And he wasn't bad at it at all.

Rory squealed. "Aw, Luke, that's so cute! That was a nice story. I like hearing about your past and your family. It makes me feel… I don't know, included somehow."

"Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Lorelai pouted. "I noticed that Maisy was the only one in that story…"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Uh, that's because there was a second story. Isn't there always more than one? Knowing you, there's no way you'd be satisfied with just one story."

"Well, excuse me!" Lorelai said sarcastically, holding her head high and pretending to be offended by Luke's comment.

Luke gave Rory a plate of pancakes and joined the two at the table. "Buddy was the one who I used to like to watch the Red Sox with."

"Oh, great, another story I'll know nothing about," Lorelai said with a roll of her eyes.

Rory shook her head. "Remember how nice Luke was to you, after 43 rules? Return the favor, missy."

Lorelai pouted. "Fine. I'll be nice. Go ahead."

Luke continued. "But he was the one who used to come to my track and field meets. See, my dad was a baseball guy, and he was getting sicker as I got older, so he would come to the occasional baseball game to get his mind off of things and get out a little. But he didn't understand track. When I hurt my elbow pitching my junior year, I didn't really want to upset my dad, but I wasn't really sure which sport I wanted to play. I could have played first base, my coach said so, but I chose track. I didn't need to hurt my elbow again, and running wasn't so bad. I didn't mind it that much, and grew to like it after awhile."

Rory looked at Lorelai. "Is this going to lead into the 'Butch' story? Or the picture of him in his uniform you so vividly described to me that one day?"

"I'll tell you that one after. And I'm sure there's a picture of Luke in those shorts in here. Okay, Luke, continue," Lorelai said, giggling.

"I remember my last meet," Luke recalled. "We hadn't won a meet all year, and I really wanted to win my last one before I graduated."

"Hi, there, Luke," Buddy said, extending his hand to offer Luke a handshake.

"Buddy, how are you?" Luke asked, returning the gesture.

He smiled. "I'm doing just fine. I see they put a plaque up in the gym with your name on it. Congratulations. I didn't know you'd run that much this season."

"Neither did I," Luke confessed, crouching down to tie his shoe. "I tend to focus more on the team's achievements."

Buddy smiled. "That's because you're a team player, Luke, you're not looking out for your own personal success. You know, your dad's really proud of you, Luke. And so am I. You've done really well. He wanted me to tell you he's sorry that he couldn't make it today."

Luke stood up. "Thanks," he replied.

"You talk the coach out of making you throw that heavy… thing?" Buddy asked, searching for the word.

Luke chuckled. "Yeah, I told him about my elbow, he kept me where I am now. He wasn't that mad, because he said I was fast. I don't think I'm that fast, but he's the coach, so I did what he told me to."

"Have some confidence, Luke, we're going to blow Woodbury out of the water this season. Today," Buddy said, putting a hand on Luke's shoulder. "And you'll be a part of it. You've done a fine job this season."

Luke nodded. "Thanks, Buddy. I'll see you later."

"Have a good race."

Lorelai smiled. "That was a nice story. Were you wearing those shorts?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "It was the uniform, Lorelai."

"Still, it was shouting, 'mock me!'" Lorelai said, using her hands for effect.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Your mother is impossible, Rory," he said, turning his attention to his step daughter.

Rory giggled. "That's what I've heard. I'm sorry. I tried to teach her that nothing was impossible, but then she learned she couldn't fly. And now look at her. Impossible."

"I'm not," Lorelai added, shoveling down her last bite of pancake. "Who's on the next page?" she asked, her mouth still full.

Rory cringed. "I like seafood, but I don't like to SEE food," she teased.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "All right, Rory, that was good, when are you moving to second grade?"

"Ha. That's funny. Let me know when you go to kindergarten so I can get you a box of those fat crayons!" Rory shot back.

Lorelai pouted. "You're too good for me. My brain is melting, melting. Luke? Who's next?"