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Chapter 11
In the dining room at the inn, Emily was sat at a table tasting soups as Lorelai and Sookie stood next to her watching.
"Haven't you already tasted that one, mom?" Lorelai said annoyed.
"Mmm.." Emily said sipping it.
"Twice. You've tasted that soup twice." Lorelai said.
"You're keeping a running count?"
"Yes." Lorelai said.
"The women in my DAR group are very picky. When the pate at the meeting Heddy Cubbington organized was slightly less chilled than appropriate, she was ostracized for a month." Emily exclaimed.
"Right..." Lorelai rolled her eyes.
"Lorelai..." Emily sighed.
"Fine..." Lorelai sighed. "Just decide in this calendar year at least please."
"Hey...uh...the mushroom is a great choice." Sookie said giving her another bowl. "It's super popular, and it's my Jackson's favourite."
"Whose?" Emily asked.
"Jackson, my fiancé." Sookie explained.
"Oh, you're getting married?" Emily asked.
"To the best man in the world." Sookie smiled.
"Oh hey, while we're on the subject, bridesmaids outfits?" Lorelai asked turning to Sookie.
"Ooh, I'm way ahead of you. I've already got a couple of ideas." Sookie nodded.
"Is one of them having me design and make them so I don't secretly hate what you pick and then harbuor a secret grudge against you for the rest of our lives?" Lorelai asked.
"It is now." Sookie laughed.
"I'll do it!"
"We're a good team." Sookie grinned.
Just then Charlotte appeared in the room. "Hey mom? Michel told me to tell you that fellow is on the phone from the restaurant." She smirked.
"Who?" Lorelai asked confused.
"In Michel's word, the flannel man with the protruding ankles." Charlotte grinned.
"Luke had to talk to Michel. Poor him." Lorelai grinned.
"Yep. I think I could hear some swear words being said." Charlotte grinned.
Lorelai laughed. "Ok thanks." She said starting to walk off.
"Where are you going?" Emily asked.
"Uh...to talk to Luke." Lorelai said.
"Can't you call him back?" Emily asked.
"Just keep tasting mom." Lorelai said before leaving the room with Charlotte following.
"Lorelai!" Emily exclaimed. She then turned to Sookie. "Is she always this scattered?" She asked.
"She's the stablest person I know." Sookie said.
"That's very sad." Emily said.
Lorelai walked over and picked up the phone. "Hey Luke!"
"Hey." Luke said. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good. How's things with you?" She asked.
"Oh, not bad. Dropped some eggs." He said.
"Bummer." Lorelai said.
"Hazard of the business. Am I catching you at a bad time?" Luke asked.
"Oh, no, it's kind of slow here. So slow, in fact, that Michel and I were about to get the tetherball out." Lorelai joked.
"That's the thing with a ball tethered to a rope, right?" Luke asked playing along.
"Hey, I never knew that's where the tether comes from." Lorelai said.
"Yeah, it's tethered. It's tied, like an anchor is tethered to a rope on a boat."
"Cool."
"Yeah."
"So...did you need anything?" Lorelai asked.
"Oh...yeah actually! If I needed a room or two for a couple of days, would that be possible?" He asked.
"You need rooms?" Lorelai asked surprised.
"Like nine." He admitted.
"You need nine rooms?" She asked confused.
"Just for a couple of days, Wednesday and Thursday."
"Uh...well, I can take care of that. What's it for?" She asked typing it into the computer.
"Oh I've just got some family coming in, that's all." He said.
"Reunion? Because we can get the tetherball out." Lorelai joked.
"Nah..uh...funeral." He admitted.
"What?" Lorelai asked shocked.
"Yeah, my Uncle Louie died last night and I'm arranging the funeral for him." Luke told her.
"Oh, Luke, I'm so sorry!" Lorelai exclaimed, getting a concerned look from Charlotte. "Here I was babbling about tetherball..."
"You weren't babbling. It's fine." He assured her.
"Well, you've got nine rooms, Wednesday and Thursday." She said.
"Are you sure?"
"It's a done deal." She nodded.
"Thanks." He said gratefully.
"Luke, I'm so, so sorry." Lorelai said softly.
"It's okay. It sounds like he went peaceful and he was eighty-five so..." Luke said.
"Yeah...but it's always hard. Uh...are you ok?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm ok." Luke said softly. "Thanks."
"Can I help you with anything else?"
"No, the rooms are help enough."
"Are you sure, because I'm dealing with my mom now and I'd be happy to rush over and help with whatever. You'd be doing me a favour." She joked.
Luke chuckled. "The rooms are all I need, thanks." He said.
"You're welcome." Lorelai smiled.
"Well, I've got to go."
"Call if you need anything."
"I will." He said. "By the way, that French guy's a putz."
"Oh yeah, he knows he's a putz." Lorelai smirked at Charlotte who grinned.
"Alright, see ya."
"Bye Luke." She smiled hanging up. She then sighed.
"What's happened?" Charlotte asked.
"His uncle died last night." Lorelai said.
"Oh no, poor Luke!" Charlotte said sympathetically. "Is he ok?"
"He says he is. But how about we go get Rory and go get a Luke's fix before you go to school?" She suggested.
"Ok." Charlotte nodded. "Do you think she's fit all those books in her backpack yet?" She joked.
"Doubt it!" Lorelai laughed. "Michel, hold the fort?" She said.
"Like I don't always do that." He said sarcastically.
"Thanks!" Lorelai grinned before walking out with Charlotte.
The three of them were soon walking down the street towards the diner.
"It's so sad." Rory said.
"I know." Lorelai said.
"Was Luke...like...shaken over his uncle dying?" Rory asked.
"I don't know. He's so unflappable. It's hard to tell." Lorelai said.
"The man definitely can't be flapped." Charlotte nodded.
They entered the diner and saw that Luke was on the phone while several customers tried to get his attention. He went over to them with two plates, looking stressed, his ear still attached to the phone.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Lorelai asked. "Whoa, watch it!" She said as he nearly dropped the plates.
"Yeah I know..." He said handing the plates over to Rory and Charlotte so that he wouldn't drop them. "Yeah thanks. I'm on the phone." He said.
"We noticed." Lorelai said.
"Yeah, I can't serve and be on the phone." He said.
"We noticed that, too." Charlotte said as they all followed him up to the counter.
"But your reenactment of Jerry Lewis in The Diner Guy is going to wow the critics." Lorelai joked.
"Where should the poached eggs go?" Rory asked.
"Crank in the hat." He grunted nodded towards Si.
"Hey, I'm not a crank! You're a crank, crank!" Si grumbled.
"He is a crank." Rory commented but went over to deliver his food.
"And the French toast?" Charlotte asked.
"Lady with the giant purse." He said.
"Got it." She nodded and went over to deliver her plate of food.
"Hello? How about that coffee?" Kirk asked.
"I got it." Lorelai said quickly seeing that Luke was at the end of his tether.
"Thanks." He said gratefully.
"But...but mine's a quarter caf." Kirk said.
"What?" Lorelai said confused.
"Three-fourths decaf, one-fourth caffeinated." He explained.
"I four-fourths don't care." Lorelai said.
"Fill it up." Kirk sighed.
"Sorry about this." Luke sighed.
"It's ok." Lorelai smiled. "We're running out of coffee by the way."
"I'll make some more." He said.
"No, I got it."
"Do you know how?" He asked.
"Do I...huh...you're asking the world's biggest coffee drinker if she knows how to make coffee?" Lorelai asked.
"Sorry, my mistake." Luke smirked.
"Hey Luke, where's Jess?" Charlotte asked looking round.
"I don't know." He said.
"School?" Rory suggested.
"Please!" Luke scoffed. "He's probably upstairs."
"Really? Excuse me." Charlotte said heading to the stairs and disappearing upstairs. She knocked on Luke's apartment door. "Jess, open up! I know you're in there." She called.
The door opened. "My, aren't we bright eyed and bushy tailed." Jess commented.
"Luke needs you downstairs." Charlotte said.
"Why?"
"Why? Did you seriously ask why? Because your great uncle, Luke's uncle, died last night and he's on the phone trying to sort out funeral arrangements with someone and Caesar's off today and the place is packed and he needs help!" She exclaimed.
"I'm in the middle of something." Jess said.
"Seriously?" Charlotte asked raising her eyebrows at him.
"Ok I guess I'm at the end of it." Jess said dryly.
"Good choice mister." Charlotte said. "Now move it." She said dragging him by the arm and pulling him out and towards the stairs.
Back down in the diner, Lorelai had made some more coffee and refilled Kirk's cup.
"I need some more suagr." He said.
"There's one right there." Lorelai pointed to his little packet of sugar.
"I need seven." Kirk said.
"Seven? You're not squirrelling these away in your pocket for home use, are you, Kirk?" Lorelai asked raising her eyebrows.
"No, I use seven in my coffee." He said.
"Ok, good, then allow me." She smiled, pouring seven packets into his coffee. "There you go. Go ahead and give that a taste, see if it's to your liking."
Kirk took a sip of it and tried to hide his grimace. "Perfection." He said.
"Good." She grinned.
Just then Jess stumbled into the diner, followed by Charlotte.
"Well, you're very graceful." Lorelai smirked.
"She pushed me." Jess grumbled.
"Yeah, well sue me." Charlotte said.
"I could have broken my neck." He protested.
"As long as it's not your arm. We need your arm." Charlotte grinned holding out the coffee jug for him.
"Despot." He grumbled but took the coffee jug and walked off.
Later that day, after school, Charlotte and Rory were back at the diner helping out. Taylor was sat at a table mumbling to himself as Rory walked by.
"Turnips, turnips, turnips..." He mumbled.
"What?" Rory asked refilling his coffee cup.
"Huh?" Taylor said looking up.
"What about turnips?" She asked.
"Why did you say turnips?" He asked accusingly.
"Because you just said turnips." Rory said.
"No, I didn't." He protested.
"You did."
"No."
"Ok." Rory said, giving up.
"But I've got turnips." Taylor said. "Good ones! They may not be as big They're not as big as that troubadour freak's turnips but who needs big turnips? I have nice, humble turnips."
"Okie dokie." Rory said walking up to the counter where Charlotte and her mom were. "Taylor's wigging." She told them.
"I know. Is he still going on about turnips?" Charlotte smirked.
"Yep! Apparently his are humble ones." Rory nodded.
"Oh Taylor..." Lorelai said shaking her head.
"Keep an eye on him." Rory told her.
Just then a customer walked in and sat down at the counter.
"Hello there, how's it going?" Lorelai smiled at him.
"Very good, young lady. Are you still serving breakfast?" He asked
"We serve it all day. What would you like?"
"Two eggs up on toast please." He said.
"Up? Are you sure you wouldn't rather have them scrambled?" Lorelai asked.
"Nope, up's how I like them thanks." He said.
"Come on, scrambled's better. Give it a shot! Say you want two scrambled eggs on toast, please?" Lorelai smiled.
"Ok, young lady, two scrambled eggs on toast." He said giving her a weird look.
"Adam and Eve on a raft and wreck them!" Lorelai grinned calling through to the kitchen. "That's real live diner talk!" She grinned at the customer. "The wreck them is the scrambled part."
"I guessed that." He smiled.
"You're enjoying this far too much." Charlotte smirked.
"I know!" Lorelai grinned.
"I don't believe it, I don't believe it!" Taylor exclaimed just as Kirk walked into the diner.
"Oh great!" Lorelai groaned.
"I'll take Taylor, you take Kirk." Charlotte smirked walking off to Taylor.
"Hey Kirk." Lorelai smiled at him.
"Hello. Where's Luke?" Kirk asked.
"Oh, he's busy with some stuff so Charlotte, Rory and I are helping out. What can I get you?" She smiled.
"I don't know. I want lunch, but I'm not sure what to get." He said.
"I have a suggestion. How about a hamburger with some strawberry ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert?" Lorelai said.
"Sounds good." He nodded.
Lorelai looked around and saw it was fairly quiet. Rory was making more coffee while Charlotte was delivering orders to the customers they had. She grabbed a plate from the kitchen and then headed upstairs and knocked on Luke's apartment door.
"Hey! I brought you a wimpy with a rose pinned on it." She smiled at him when he answered the door.
"A what?" He asked confused.
"Turkey burger with onions." She said.
"Oh, thanks. Come on in." He said stepping aside.
"How's the money pit coming?" Lorelai smiled looking round at the newly renovated apartment.
"Oh it's...well...that's it." Luke said gesturing to the expansion.
"Are you ok? What's the matter?" Lorelai asked noticing he wasn't himself.
"Nothing." He said but then he sighed. "None of them are coming, not one."
"Who?" She asked.
"My relatives, the ones I booked all the rooms for. Not one of them is coming to Louie's funeral!" He exclaimed.
"You're kidding! Why?" She asked.
"I don't know, which lame excuse do you want to hear first? A bunch of them claimed they can't get out of work." Luke said.
"It's not so lame." Lorelai commented.
"Randy and Barbara don't want to miss their brat kid's rugby semifinal."
"Rugby has semifinals?"
"My sister never even called back." Luke ranted. "My cousins Paul and Jim, who my dad helped put through college, said they were too exhausted from a fishing trip. And slightly disturbed cousin Franny said she can't leave because her Petey's sick."
"Son?"
"Parrot."
"Petey the parrot?" Lorelai smirked.
"I saw the stupid thing once on a visit, flapping its wings like crazy, banging around, squawking the only two words it knows over and over." He exclaimed. "Petey and gorgeous. 'Gorgeous, Petey, gorgeous, Petey!'" He mimicked.
"That's disturbing." Lorelai said pulling a face.
"My family's disturbing." Luke grumbled sitting down at the table.
"I'm so sorry." Lorelai said softly.
"This is wrong!" He said. "This is not how it's done! A family member dies, you pay your respects. Period."
"Look at it this way." Lorelai said trying to make him feel better. "If they don't want to be there, you don't want them there."
"My dad wanted them to be there." Luke said quietly.
"I know. But hey, Louie lived in Stars Hollow most of his life, so a lot of people from here will be there, right?" She said.
"I guess you're right." He sighed.
"I know it's upsetting, but maybe it's better this way." Lorelai said softly.
Luke gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I guess." He said. "Thanks."
Just then Charlotte walked into the apartment. "Hey mom?" She said.
"Yeah honey? You got a herd of bulls shopping for China?" She grinned.
"What?" Luke asked confused.
"Customers. How long have you owned a diner?" She exclaimed.
"Sorry." He rolled his eyes.
"No we're fine." Charlotte said. "But Jackson's outside and he wants to talk to you. He says it's important."
"About what?"
"I don't know but he seems upset."
"Oh ok." Lorelai said. She turned to Luke and smiled. "Are you ok?" She asked.
"Yeah, thanks." Luke said. "You go to Jackson."
"Ok." She smiled. "You might want to study up on that diner talk." She joked.
"I'll get right on that tonight." He smirked.
"Good!" Lorelai grinned before getting up and heading downstairs.
"Hey Luke, where's Jess?" Charlotte asked looking round.
"I don't know, he's probably out playing basketball or something." Luke said.
"Urgh seriously?" Charlotte said shaking her head.
Charlotte found Jess on the basketball court by Stars Hollow High. She watched him for a moment and couldn't help but smile as he effortlessly jumped up and scored a basket from quite a way off. After she watched him walk to the side to have a drink, she walked over to him. "Isn't there somewhere you should be?" She asked.
Jess looked over at her. "Hey." He said.
"Hi." She said. "Luke needs your help at the diner. Why do you keep bailing on him?"
"I'm not bailing on him. I would only get in the way. Your mom, you and Rory are all helping out. You don't need my help." He said.
"Yes we do. And I know it would mean a lot to Luke knowing you were helping him out." Charlotte said.
"I think he's fine." Jess commented.
"He's not fine. He's all stressed about letting his dad down. None of your relatives are coming to the funeral." Charlotte told him.
"Wait what? Why?" Jess asked.
"I don't know. I just overheard Luke telling my mom and he seemed really upset about it." She said. "You're his family as well, Jess. Prove to him that his family's not all unreliable."
"Let me score another basket first." He said.
"No, now!" Charlotte said shaking her head, grabbing hold of his sleeve and started dragging him away.
"Hey!" He exclaimed.
"You want to keep dating me, you'll stop complaining." She smirked dragging him over to the diner, past her mom and Jackson stood outside.
"Watch the shirt!" Jess said.
"Cork it!" Charlotte replied pulling him into the diner.
That evening, Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory walked into the town meeting to find everyone already sat there.
"Late again, are we?" Taylor said sarcastically, spotting them come in.
"Yes, I hope I'm not pregnant!" Lorelai joked.
"What?" Taylor said.
"Are these seats taken?" Lorelai asked Luke, gesturing to the three seats next to him and Jess.
"Don't drag me into this." Luke said.
"You really have to work on your punctuality, Lorelai. I banged the meeting in a half an hour ago." Taylor said.
"Oooh dirty!" Charlotte grinned.
"I'm going to take advantage of this unexpected pause in our proceedings to confer with Miss Patty about the next item on our agenda." Taylor said before turning to talk to Miss Patty.
"What did we miss?" Lorelai asked Luke.
"Harry's retiring." Luke told them.
"The twinkle light man?" Rory exclaimed. "Where are we going to go for twinkle lights now?"
"At any discount store?" Luke said dryly.
"Blasphemy." Lorelai scoffed.
Charlotte looked over at Jess. "So you finally decided to show your face at a town meeting?" She asked him.
"Well, Corky's Country Cavalcade on public access was preempted, so I thought I'd check out the next best thing." Jess smirked.
"Well don't we feel privileged." Charlotte smirked.
"I'm surprised you have time to be here." Lorelai said to Luke.
"I don't, but I haven't been able to get any of the war reenactors on the phone and I have to confirm them for Louie's funeral." Luke told her.
"Alright now, the last order of business is a matter relating personally to me, therefore I'm going to give Miss Patty my gavel." Taylor announced getting everyone's attention again.
"Dirty!" Lorelai and Charlotte said in unison before grinning at each other.
"Stop that!" Taylor sighed. He then gave Miss Patty his gavel. "Now don't go power mad." He warned her.
"Oh alright! Now the chair recognizes Taylor Doose. Taylor, you have the floor." Miss Patty said.
"Thank you, Patty. My issue, ladies and gentlemen, is in the form of a grievance against this hippie who opened a produce stand in the park..." Taylor started before going on a rant about him and how his store is losing business.
"Another fun one!" Lorelai grinned, standing up, when it finished.
"Taylor, hold on a second!" Luke called after Taylor before disappearing.
Charlotte turned to Jess as Lorelai and Rory left. "Don't you have some cleaning up to do over at the diner?" She teased.
"Oh yeah, I just can't wait." Jess said dryly.
Charlotte grinned and walked out with him. "Bet you're glad you didn't miss the meeting now."
"Sure was entertaining." Jess smirked.
"Well that's our town!" She grinned.
They stopped when they saw Luke arguing with all the reenactors. They exchanged glances when they heard Taylor and the others refuse to take part in the funeral and then comparing Luke to Louie. They watched Luke storm off and Taylor and the others head in the opposite direction.
"Where are you going?" Charlotte asked Jess as he started walking in a different direction to the diner.
"Doing something right for once!" Jess called back.
Charlotte smiled when she realised Jess was heading the same way Taylor and the other men had gone.
The following day Charlotte, Rory and Jess were working in the diner when Lorelai walked in. "Has Luke come back here?" She asked.
"No, haven't seen him. Why?" Rory asked.
"Nothing. He just had a bit of a freak out, that's all. He's just really stressed about the funeral." Lorelai sighed.
"Poor Luke." Charlotte said sympathetically.
"Yeah." Lorelai sighed.
Just then Luke entered the diner.
"Luke, there you are! I was worried." Lorelai said.
"Yeah, sorry. I should have called." He said ashamed. "Thanks for covering again. This will be the last time, I promise."
"It's ok. I've just got back myself. These three have been covering." Lorelai said gesturing to the teenagers.
"On which note, I'm heading up now you're back." Jess said heading for the stairs.
"Where were you?" Lorelai asked Luke.
"Well, at first, I walked around a bit just trying to clear my head." Luke said. "Saw a lot of Hartford. What a cesspool." He smirked.
"Well, you're not a city man." Lorelai smirked.
"Then I calmed down after a while and I figured dumping Louie's body in an open grave with all his stuff probably would be a little cold." He admitted.
"Just a tad." She smirked, glad he was starting to seem like himself again.
"So I got a Yellow Pages and I found the Big and Tall Casket Shop in Hartford." He explained.
"You're kidding!" Lorelai laughed.
"Nope, I found a casket that would fit my hundred and sixty pound uncle and his hundred and forty pounds of stuff, got the lid to shut the first time we tried it so the funeral's on as scheduled." He said.
"Good." Lorelai smiled.
"I still don't know why I'm doing this." Luke sighed.
"You're doing it for your dad." Lorelai smiled softly.
"Yeah, I guess." He said quietly. "Although he's dead so he'd never know if I was doing it any different."
"He knows." Lorelai assured him. "He's got the big Luke picture screen on twenty four hours a day and he watches and smiles. And you're doing it because you're you." She smiled. "That's why you're my best friend."
"I'm your best friend?" He asked surprised.
"Well...my guy best friend because Sookie would kill me if she heard me say that." Lorelai joked.
"And your daughters." Charlotte chipped him passing them.
"Ok well I'm going to change real fast and you can retire from your diner career forever." Luke smiled.
"Oh no, it's fun. I came up with some new diner phrases. Do you know what a Lucky Duck Cluck is?" She grinned.
"Not offhand." He smirked.
"It's foie gras with chicken and green shamrock frosting."
"Why would anyone ever order that?" He grimaced.
"If they're high!" Lorelai grinned. She then groaned when she saw her mother enter the diner. "Urgh great..."
"What?" Luke said.
"I've just felt a dark cloud passing over the diner." Lorelai said nodding towards her mother. "You better retreat."
"I won't be long." He said before disappearing upstairs.
"Hi Mom!" Lorelai forced a smile on her face.
"Since when do you work here?" Emily asked surprised. "And Charlotte and Rory..." She said spotting her granddaughters walking around in aprons.
"We're just lending a hand. What's going on?" She asked.
"I went by the inn to work with Sookie on her wedding." Emily said.
"Yeah?"
"And she fired me." Emily said stiffly.
"I'm sure she didn't fire you." Lorelai sighed.
"She claims to have changed her mind on all the things we had planned." Emily exclaimed.
"Well, maybe she did mom." Lorelai said.
"No, she didn't. I know what's behind this. That is, who's behind this." Emily glared at her.
Lorelai sighed. "Mom, it was getting to be too much for her and too much for her fiancé. They're not wealthy people."
"I knew it!" Emily said. "I don't see what was so wrong with my just helping Sookie plan her wedding."
"Mom, come on."
"What, come on?"
"You weren't planning Sookie's wedding. You were planning mine." Lorelai said.
"Don't be ridiculous." Emily snapped.
"Mom, your vision for this wedding and all the over the top stuff. Who were you actually visualising seeing walk down the aisle?"
"I wasn't planning your wedding, Lorelai." Emily repeated firmly.
"Right. Ok." Lorelai said obviously not believing her.
"The wedding I was planning was for Sookie. The mushrooms and colours, they all seemed like fun. A little crazy, just like she is. It definitely was not for you."
"Ok." Lorelai shrugged.
"I know that in a million years, you would never let me plan your wedding. I gave up on that dream a long time ago. Yours was going to be a Russian winter theme, the Romanovs." She said.
"Before the firing squad, I assume?" Lorelai asked raising her eyebrows.
"Snow white roses, trees with white lights and candles, snow everywhere, you arriving in a silver sleigh with white horses." Emily said smiling a little.
"Wow." Lorelai said.
"You hate the idea." Emily frowned.
"No...I just..." Lorelai protested.
"You just hate it."
"No. It just...doesn't seem like me." She said.
"Yes, well, it would have been beautiful." Emily said.
"I'm sure it would have been."
"Anyhow, it's obvious that wouldn't even be appropriate anymore being as I'm probably standing in your reception hall." She said looking around imperiously.
"What?" Lorelai frowned.
"Burgers and fries for the dinner? The bride walks down the aisle with a ketchup dispenser in her hand." Emily said.
"What are you going on about?" Lorelai exclaimed.
"I'm talking about Luke." Emily said.
"Luke?" Lorelai asked. "Mom!" She exclaimed.
"Well it's obvious, Lorelai." She said.
"No it's really not, Mom!" Lorelai said.
"You're with him constantly." She said.
"He feeds me."
"You bring up his name constantly."
"Once again, he feeds me."
"The moment he calls, you run to his side." Emily pointed out.
"He's my friend! He needed me. I had to be there." Lorelai exclaimed. "Plus Charlotte and Rory are here as well!"
Lorelai groaned. She glared at her daughters who she spotted by the kitchen stifling a laugh.
Luke then appeared from behind the curtain. He walked over to Lorelai but stopped when he realised everyone looking at him. "Hi..." He said.
"Hello." Emily said politely. "I have to go. I'll see you for dinner tonight, Lorelai. And Luke, I'm sure I'll see you again soon." Emily smiled sweetly heading towards the door. She then turned around and looked at Luke. "What do you think of the Romanovs?" She asked.
"Uh...they probably had it coming." He said.
Emily rolled her eyes. "A match made in heaven." She said before leaving.
"What was that about?" Luke asked.
"Believe me. You really don't want to know." Lorelai sighed.
Charlotte was walking down the street in the square on her way to meet Rory at the book store before they were going to head to the diner to meet up with their mom and Luke after the funeral. She was surprised when she saw Jess leaving the diner in some smart clothes, giving a key to Miss Patty before walking away from the diner. She crossed the road towards him. "Hey." She said.
"Oh hey." He said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"You look smart." She commented. "I hope you don't have a date." She joked.
Jess smirked. "As if." He said.
Charlotte smiled when she noticed how sincere his tone was. "So where are you off to?" She asked.
"I hear today's a good day for a funeral." He said.
"You're going to Louie's funeral?" Charlotte asked surprised.
"Well as you've pointed out several times, I am Luke's family and doesn't family normally show up for family funerals?" Jess said.
Charlotte smiled. "Yeah they do." She said softly. "I'm glad you're going. Luke's going to be touched."
"Doubt it. He'll probably ask who's watching the diner." Jess shrugged but glanced down at the ground self consciously.
"No he won't." Charlotte smiled. "He'll be touched." She said softly. "And I can't be even more in love with you than I am right now."
Jess glanced up and gave her a small smile. "I better go." He said.
"Yeah ok." Charlotte said. She leant in and gave him a kiss. "See you later."
"Yeah see you later." He nodded before walking off.
"We're here, of course, to honour Louie, to pay our respects and to bid him a sorrowful goodbye." The reverend said outside the church and Luke and Lorelai were stood next to each other watching Louie's coffin be lowered into the ground.
"Are you ok?" Lorelai asked Luke.
"Yeah. I'm just not that big on funerals in general." Luke admitted.
"Nobody is." Lorelai said softly.
"He passed away in his sleep, so the end came peacefully for Louie, which I'm sure is a great comfort to all who knew him." The reverend continued.
"The passing away part was a great comfort for all who knew him." Luke commented.
"I didn't know him." The reverend said.
"Good thing." Luke said.
"But I understand he was a fine man, destined to be missed by many..."
"Especially ones that were suing him." Luke grumbled.
"Stop!" Lorelai said. "Sorry father." She said.
"Reverend." The reverend corrected her.
"Right." Lorelai said.
"Now let us witness Louie Danes as he is interred and brought to the Lord." The reverend continued.
"It was a nice service. Nice and...uh...intimate." Lorelai smiled.
"I guess everybody deserves something at the end." Luke sighed. He turned to her and gave her a small smile. "Thanks for coming." He said softly.
"I wouldn't have missed it." She said sincerely.
"That isn't me, is it?" Luke suddenly asked watching Louie's coffin continue to be lowered.
"What are you talking about?" Lorelai asked confused.
"What Taylor said about me being like Louie. A loner, never being married and stuff...I mean I am getting crankier as I get older, he's not so far off." Luke said quietly.
"You are not your uncle." Lorelai said firmly. "I mean, would Louie ever build someone a chuppah, or help fix things around someone's house without being asked, or make a special coffee cake with balloons for two girls' sixteenth birthdays?" She pointed out.
Luke turned to her. "Who told you about that?" He asked.
"Charlotte." Lorelai smiled.
"Of course." Luke said, glancing down embarrassed.
"Yes. And would Louie have taken in his sister's kid without hesitating and without asking for anything in return?" She continued.
"No one would have trusted Louie with their kid. He probably would have forgotten to feed him or something." Luke said gruffly.
"You get my point?" Lorelai asked softly.
Luke glanced at her and gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I get it." He said softly. "Thanks."
Lorelai nodded and linked arms with him. They then heard drumming in the distance. They looked up to see one of the reenactors appear on the horizon.
"Is that Andrew?" Luke asked.
Lorelai smiled. "Looks like it." She said.
"That's all of them!" Luke said surprised as the others appeared behind Andrew and started doing the salute. He glanced at Lorelai who was smiling up at them. "Thanks." He said.
"For what?" Lorelai asked.
"It wasn't you who persuaded them to come?" Luke asked surprised.
"No, sorry." She said just as confused. "Maybe they changed their minds..."
"Maybe..." He said but was unconvinced.
"Or maybe a certain other someone knows something about it." Lorelai smiled.
"What? Who?" Luke asked.
Lorelai gestured towards Jess who was awkwardly walking up towards them, his hands in his pockets.
"Jess..." Luke said surprised.
"I missed it, didn't I?" Jess said. He sighed. "I'm sorry. I got a bit lost..."
"You came." Luke said still surprised.
"I know you're probably wondering who's looking after the diner and stuff but I figured, since this was a family funeral, and Louie was my great uncle even though I didn't know him...I just thought I should be here. I can go back to the diner if you want..." Jess said going to turn away.
"No." Luke said softly. He gave Jess a smile. "I'm glad you're here. I don't care that you're late. I'm just glad you're here." He said.
Jess just nodded. He then grimaced as Kirk started playing the tuba out of tune. "Geez..." He said.
"Yeah..." Luke said but chuckled.
The three of them headed back to the diner afterwards.
"Do you think he's in heaven?" Lorelai asked Luke.
"I hope so, just so my dad can kick his butt around the place." Luke smirked.
"Can you kick when you're in heaven?" Lorelai asked.
"It's probably frowned upon." Jess smirked.
"Yeah, plus you're all see through and ghost like so your dad's foot could go right through him." Lorelai joked.
"This is a silly conversation." Luke said shaking his head. "Hey, what's all this?" He asked.
Lorelai and Jess looked up to see the diner packed with townspeople. "No idea." Lorelai said following them inside.
They were met by Charlotte and Rory who walked up to greet them.
"Hi!" Lorelai smiled at her daughters.
"What's going on?" Luke asked.
"It's kind of like a wake." Rory told them.
"A wake?" Luke asked surprised.
"For Louie?" Lorelai asked.
"Yeah. We thought you set it up." Charlotte said.
"I didn't set it up." Lorelai said looking round.
"Well, it's going well anyway. People brought a ton of food if you're hungry." Rory smiled.
"On which note..." Jess said heading over to the counter.
"Oh, I'll be right back." Rory said.
Charlotte smiled when she saw Rory greet Tristan who was hovering outside. "Good move." She said to herself watching her sister hug Tristan. She then glanced over to the counter where Jess was and smiled, remembering seeing Jess hand over some keys to Miss Patty. She wandered over to him. "Nice spread right?" She smiled.
"People have too much free time in this town." Jess said.
"You really exceeded yourself today." She commented.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Rory and I thought my mom set this up. Turns out she didn't." She said.
"So?" Jess said. He saw Charlotte smiling at him. "It wasn't me." He said.
"It wasn't?" Charlotte said not believing him.
"Nope." He said. He saw her still smiling at me. "It wasn't!" He exclaimed.
"Ok, if you say so." She smirked.
Jess groaned. "Look, the crazy ballet teacher called and asked when Luke was getting back from the funeral and if I could unlock the door for her. I left for the funeral, gave her the key and then left."
"So you did do a little something." Charlotte pointed out.
"I gave her the keys." Jess said.
"So that people could come in here and put this together. Nice." Charlotte smiled.
"Nice for them, not for me." He said.
"You facilitated it, you made it happen." She grinned. "So I guess that means that you're officially apart of our town now."
"Hang on a minute!" He protested.
"Welcome boyfriend!" She grinned.
"I am not part of this town!"
"See you for some tree planting over at the Arbour Day Festival." Charlotte teased.
"Yeah, well maybe I can knock over a liquor store while everyone else is planting those stupid trees." Jess retorted.
"As long as it's a liquor store in town, boyfriend." She grinned.
"Geez, cut it out will you?!" Jess groaned.
"You love me really." Charlotte grinned linking arms with him. "Admit it."
Jess smirked slightly. "I guess you're not that bad."
"Gee thanks!" She laughed. She glanced over to the table where everyone was gathered around Babette who was telling a story about Louie. Rory and Tristan had joined them as well. "Come on." She said leading Jess over.
They listened as all the townspeople started telling stories about Louie in turn.
Charlotte turned to Jess. "This is nice." She said softly.
"It's not too bad." Jess said gruffly.
Charlotte smiled, leaned over and kissed his cheek and went back to listening to the stories.
So I hope you liked it! :) Just to let you know, I'm going away for the weekend so won't be able to update until Tuesday, sorry! Please keep your reviews coming as I love reading what you think! And they really do motivate me so thank you! :)