Title: What you Get

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Chapter 11: Picnics

Authors note: SORRY SORRY SORRY. I know I haven't updated since, January or something, and I'm really sorry. Life just took over completely. But now school's out and I have these lovely long summer evenings to do whatever I please, so I have time to write. I hope you'll continue to read my story, and I promise to update more regularly.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. Warning, it's heavy on the family themed fluff. The next couple chapters will have more substance.

As always, Compliments and criticism are always welcome.

Lorelai leans her head on her hand and sighs. It's been a long day already, and it's only 11am. The inn isn't exactly bustling today either, so the day is only bound to get longer. And, to top it off, Rory isn't even there to keep her company. It's Wednesday, so she's at the store with Luke and William. Although, that's probably a good thing. She's been so quiet since Jess left three days earlier. Without Jess, she has time to dwell on the fact that both Jess and her father are gone. And not only did Jess leave, but he left with his happily married parents, rubbing the fact that Rory's dad doesn't have time for her in even more. Maybe with Luke and William she'll be more distracted than she would have been with Lorelai, sitting at the desk all day.

Lorelai rubs her forehead with a hand and fights to stay standing. She hasn't been sleeping all that well. Christopher's abrupt arrival and departure seem to be manifesting themselves in her subconscious, giving her terrible insomnia. Because of this, she's been spending her nights doing paperwork for the inn. Consequently, all of that extra work done in the evenings has left her with nothing to do during the day, which it turns out, only adds to the length of the day.

"Gah!" She lets out quietly, the silence finally getting to her. The phone rings and Lorelai picks it up happily. Anything to get rid of the boredom.

"Hello. Independence inn. Lorelai speaking." She says mechanically into the phone.

"Hey Lorelai."

"Oh Luke. Perfect timing. I'm going crazy here. There's absolutely no one around. I swear it's like the guests have decided it's winter and they're going to hibernate!"

"Sounds boring." Luke replies chuckling. Lorelai's been complaining about the lack of excitement at the inn all week. It's probably all of the work she's been doing at night. If she does it all at night, there's nothing left to do during the day. Maybe he'll rent a movie for them to watch tonight, give her some space from the paper work, so that she can do it at work, where it should be done.

"It is. I mean, I've got nothing to do, and there's no one around. I don't even have my darling daughter here to play with me." Lorelai whines, pouting into the phone, even though Luke can't see her.

"Speaking of the darling daughter, she'd like to come see you. We were wondering if you were to busy to have lunch with us, but obviously you've got too much going on, so maybe another day." Luke taunts, because, well, he can.

"Not funny!" Lorelai replies indignantly.

"We'll be there in about 10 minutes. We're bringing a picnic to have on the lawn right outside the inn, if that's ok."

"You're a mean man Luke Danes." Lorelai states and promptly hangs up on him. Luke merely chuckles as he hangs up the phone in the store, grabbing the picnic basket as he moves towards the door.

"Hey Rory, your mom's got time to have lunch with us, you ready to go?"

Rory bounds around the counter, her pigtails bouncing happily. She nods and grabs his hand as the set off for the inn.

When they arrive at the inn Rory breaks away from Luke and runs inside to tackle Lorelai with a hug. Lorelai picks her up and tickles her. The two erupt into giggles as Luke walks through the door.

"Who's hungry?" He asks as he lifts the basket a bit.

"Me Me Me!" Shout Lorelai and Rory together.

"I'm hungrier."

"No I'm hungrier!"

The two continue to argue playfully as they all move onto the lawn. Luke spreads a blanket out on the ground and takes the food out of the basket. They all sit down on the blue checkered blanket and start to eat.

"Guess what I did today Mommy." Rory says proudly.

"I don't know sweetie. What did you do today?" Lorelai asks curiously.

"I made a bird house!" Rory states with pride.

"Wow honey, that's very cool." Lorelai smiles at her daughter, and then shoots an appreciative glance to Luke, who simply smiles back.

"What does the bird house look like?" Lorelai asks Rory.

"Well, it's got a roof and walls and little windows. It's pretty. Will you help me paint it tonight?" Rory looks at Lorelai with big eyes.

"Of course honey. Where are we going to put it when it's done?"

"Outside my window. I want to see the birdies when they come to live in it. Maybe a family with a mommy and a daddy will come and have babies." Rory states happily.

Lorelai smiles at her and kisses her head. The trio continue to chat and eat contently. At 12:30 Luke looks at his watch and turns to Lorelai apologetically.

"Hey Lore, I have to get back to the shop so that my dad can have a break." He says sadly.

Lorelai nods and starts to pack up the food.

"Hey Ror, do you want to come back with me to the shop or do you want to stay here with your mom until dinner?" Luke asks Rory.

"I want to come back with you, maybe I can add something to the bird house." Rory says excitedly.

Luke and Lorelai pack the picnic back up as Rory heads into the inn to use the bathroom before they head back.

"Thanks for helping her make the bird house Luke. I haven't seen her this happy for days."

"It was no problem. It's fun to build things with her, she's always excited about the project and she's surprisingly attentive for a four-year-old. Then again, I've never seen another four-year-old not counting Jess, that reads like Rory does. And that's probably where she gets that concentration from." Luke replies, smiling softly.

Lorelai beams at Luke. His adoration for Rory is endless, and Rory's for him is just the same. As is her own, Lorelai thinks happily.

"Thank you for bringing her out here for lunch, this was just what I needed." Lorelai says gratefully to Luke.

"No problem. You've been a bit down for the past couple weeks, and I wanted to cheer you up."

"Thank you Luke." Lorelai says as she leans in to hug him. "I don't know what we'd do without you." Lorelai sighs into his chest.

"Back atcha." Luke murmurs.

Rory comes bounding out of the inn. Lorelai and Luke separate as she reaches them and Luke scoops her up.

"Bye mommy. See you at dinner." Rory says as Lorelai kisses her cheek.

"See you later sweets." Lorelai responds.

"See you at home Lorelai." Luke says, shooting her a smile as they head towards the store.

"Bye Luke." Lorelai responds, giving him the same smile. That smile doesn't slide off of her face for the rest of the day.