Chapter 12: Caffeinated

Rory felt consciousness tugging her away from sleep for the third time that morning. She grumbled and eyed the clock. 6:42am. Far too early to be awake on a day off, especially a Saturday. She'd gotten in another whopping ten minutes of sleep since the last time she'd looked at the clock. Deciding it was time to give in and wake up, Rory stretched and sat up. She looked over at April, realizing she'd crashed before April had even gone to bed. She felt a little guilty for not showing her new roommate around the room to make her feel more at home, but she barely remembered changing into pajamas, let alone falling into bed.

Rory yawned, and with the deep intake of oxygen, her brain registered the smell of coffee. Rolling out of bed, she reached for her old robe, and carefully opened the door to find Luke whisking a bowl of pancake batter. He turned to see who had come through the door and gestured toward the coffee pot, "Good morning. Your mom's already been through two cups, so you have a bit of catching up to do."

She smiled sleepily at him, and reached for a mug, "It's not even seven. Why is she even awake?"

"She has a big group checking out early, a breakfast for some Stars Hollow... flower... club or something to help set up for, and a few other things to take care of."

Rory nodded and slid into a kitchen chair, watching him move comfortably around the kitchen. It wasn't the first time she'd been in the same house when Luke spent the night, but he'd always been at the diner by the time she got up. She wondered if breakfast was part of her mom and Luke's new routine.

She heard the clicking of heels headed toward her and immediately stood up to guard the coffee pot. "No. Not until I've caught up," Rory said sternly.

"Uh, no. You don't help pay for the coffee anymore," Lorelai argued, "This is my coffee. And my mug is empty. Scoot." She put her empty mug on the counter and poked Rory in the stomach.

"Technically, you don't either, since you've been begging for coffee from the diner, I've been ordering extra to keep at the house," Luke interjected.

"I still maintain, the coffee is in my house, thus all rights to said coffee are retained by the owner... thereof."

Rory rolled her eyes and refused to budge. After taking two long gulps from her mug, she quickly turned around with a "Hah!", refilled it, and shuffled back over to her spot at the table. Lorelai shot her a glare before refilling her own mug, and looked over to see Luke turning on the stove. She touched his arm, smiled sweetly at him, and pulled a bag of chocolate chips out of the pantry.

"No."

"Do I need to give you the same speech?"

"Uh, I bought those for cookies for that stupid bake sale you signed me up for. You want something in your pancakes, go grab the blueberries from the fridge."

She pouted at him and, instead of grabbing the blueberries, joined Rory at the table. "So, what's your plan for the day?" she asked Rory, frowning briefly upon hearing the cupboard door shut as Luke put the chocolate chips back where they came from.

"April wanted to go through her reading lists, so I thought we'd bum around the house for awhile and go through my books. I figured I could use the time to box up some of the books and stuff that don't need to be in my room and throw it in the garage so April doesn't feel like she's a guest in there. She'll probably be sleeping there more than I will."

Rory knew no one would ask her to do such a thing, nor would they even expect it, but she caught Luke's expression and knew she'd touched him by mentioning it. She also noticed a brief look of concern cross her mother's face and knew she was, again, remembering GG's temporary residence. Rory shot her mother a reassuring look and shook her head slowly, suggesting such concerns were not necessary.

"Did I hear my name?" asked a bleary-eyed April from the doorway to the bedroom.

"Yep. I was letting the parental figures in on our plans for the day." Rory smiled.

April nodded and yawned, "Do I smell coffee?"

Rory looked around and began laughing at the reactions to April's question. Lorelai's face lit up like it was Christmas morning. Luke, on the other hand, looked like someone had spit in his pancake batter.

"Since when do you drink coffee?!" Luke demanded.

"I basically lived off it the last seven weeks. You can't stay up late hanging out with your friends and make it to a seven a.m. lecture on biodiversity without caffeine. I do need cream and sugar, though. Can't drink it black… yet. But it's good to have goals."

Rory shook her head, "I don't know how you managed. I avoided early morning science and math classes as much as possible. Even with the caffeine, that's too early to bend your brain in that direction."

April shrugged, filling a mug with coffee and adding sugar as Luke blankly passed her a carton of milk from the refrigerator, "The coffee helps. I think my brain's already bent in that direction, though."

"Cheer up, Luke. Just think of how much the coffee sales will go up at the diner when April's in town," Lorelai grinned.

"Why is it you never remember that no one in this house pays for anything at the diner?" He turned and flipped his pancakes. "April, please tell me you limit yourself to morning coffee, at least. You do not want to turn into these two, living your life looking for your next hit of coffee."

"Hey, I resemble that!" Rory scoffed, teasingly.

April laughed and shook her head, "Mostly just morning coffee... don't worry, Dad, this is a normal part of growing up. And anyway, I've been drinking Frappuccinos at Starbucks for at least three years. Those have more sugar than coffee, but it's definitely a gateway drug."

Luke muttered something about never needing coffee as a kid and turning out just fine as he turned back to the stove.

Pancakes and bacon served, Luke joined the girls at the table to eat. Much to the groans of everyone, he pointed out that green tea also contains caffeine. Rory told the story of the time she was broke and out of both coffee and money at Yale; desperation had driven her to stealing some green tea from Paris, which didn't end up doing much aside from drawing the terrible wrath of its owner.

"Green tea is just not the same thing," Lorelai explained. She very rarely questioned her love for Luke, but every now and then, she wondered how she'd come to love a man who was not only early to bed and early to rise, but also managed to continue this trend without coffee.

Breakfast was enjoyed by all, and once she was finished, Lorelai headed to the Dragonfly Inn. After handling the groups checking out early and making sure their transportation was taken care of, she went on to attempt several things she'd hired extra staff to take care of over the summer, most of which were already done. Michel began objecting to her over-involvement.

"Okay, Michel, but the Stars Hollow Gardening and Foliage Society brunch is in twenty minutes, and-"

"For which you hired Gabby. And Gabby has been done with setup for an hour. It is done. There is nothing else to do except nitpick."

Lorelai frowned. The word 'nitpick' was an Emily Gilmore word, and not one with which she wanted to become in any way associated. Still, it couldn't hurt to take a peek. She walked into the dining room to find it decorated in the pinks, yellows, and greens they'd planned on, with a few beautifully added flourishes she hadn't thought of. It was Gabby's first event as Lorelai's assistant event planner, and she'd more than outdone herself. Unable to find anything else to do, Lorelai retreated to her office, and began working on some of the paperwork she'd been hoping to avoid.

Much later, Lorelai filed the last manila folder, staring in surprise at her empty desk. She couldn't remember the last time she'd actually cleared through every last bit of paperwork to see the wooden sheen of her desk's surface. She suddenly realized her body was sore from staying in the same position too long, and stole a glance at the clock on the wall, shocked to see it was well past noon. Checking her phone, she found a missed call from Luke.

As she walked toward the front of the inn, she stole a glance toward the kitchen. She couldn't wait until Sookie was back from maternity leave. Her absence put a huge crimp in Lorelai's usual routine, and she missed the random bits of chatter she and her friend usually enjoyed throughout the day. She called Luke back, and the two decided to meet back at the house for lunch. He'd expected April and Rory to have lunch at the diner, but he hadn't seen or heard from them all day.

Lorelai hopped in her jeep and drove home, the thought of Rory's presence encouraging her to put a little extra pressure on the gas pedal to speed up the journey.

"Rory, you really don't need to move so much stuff out of here," April said as she anxiously watched Rory tape up a box and slide it into the kitchen.

"It's really no big deal, I promise. I moved way more stuff around for my little half-sister when she lived here and I kinda had a feeling that wasn't even going to last." Rory returned to her room and looked through a few books.

April turned a page in the photo album she'd been looking through; photos of birthdays Rory had celebrated throughout the years decorated each page. She paused at one photo, spying Luke and Lorelai in the background. Rory was still in high school, but there was no denying the attraction between the two adults.

April sighed, "Do you think it's going to stick this time? Your mom and my dad?"

Rory put down the book she'd been mulling over packing. "I do. I know my mom wouldn't-" she paused, unsure how much April knew of what had happened before. "Things were really bad for awhile there. I know my mom wouldn't be with your dad right now if she wasn't sure. And things are so different this time."

April frowned. She knew things were all wrong before. So many of her dad's stories had been about Lorelai and Rory, unless he was ranting about Kirk, yet he had been so weird about them meeting. At first, she thought Lorelai didn't want to meet her, which she could somewhat understand. She could imagine how weird it must be when your significant other turns out to have a child he never knew about. But the more she overheard from the town, and the more she observed the situation, she'd soon realized it wasn't Lorelai's doing at all, which she couldn't make any sense of.

When her mother told her the two had split up, she'd made sure to point out to April that this was exactly why she didn't want her involved with Lorelai. They'd argued then, and while it hadn't been the worst argument they'd had that year, April knew she'd said some things that had hurt her mom.

Nothing between April and her mother had been the same since her science fair project. She still held Anna largely responsible for her dad and Lorelai's breakup, and she was still extremely bitter she was only just now getting to know her father.

She glanced up at Rory, who looked concerned. "April, are you okay with this?"

April nodded, "Yeah. This is what I thought things would be more like before, but it never progressed past my dad and I hanging out together. That's weird, isn't it? I mean, your mom never hid you from him."

"Very different, though." Rory picked the book back up and put it back in the shelf, "I mean, I've known Luke for most of my life... " her eyes widened, "Oh god, I'm so sorry, April, I didn't mean-"

April waved her hand dismissively, "No, it's fine. I was jealous of you for awhile in the beginning, especially since my dad would respond to so many of my stories with 'I remember when Rory was your age...' but then I realized it was a good thing. Gave him something to relate to, and sometimes I think he used his memories of you to imagine how things might have been with us."

April continued looking through the photo album, smiling at all the goofy moments between Rory and Lorelai. They reminded her so much of the photos she had at home with her own mom. She decided she should pull out some of the old albums when she got home, and relive the days before things had gotten so weird between them - maybe it would help.

She asked Rory about her and Lorelai's relationship - if they'd ever experienced any rough patches. Rory told her about the various ups and downs they'd gone through. April had read about Rory stealing a yacht after searching the internet for her name, but online articles didn't tell the whole story, and Rory's version was much more interesting. It seemed so odd that the polished woman standing in front of her would make such a crazy, impulsive decision based on something so silly. Rory pointed out that this was why she couldn't blame their parents for the mistakes they made - sometimes people just really screwed things up. April nodded sadly.

It was always a relief to April when she could correlate emotions and scientific theory. But she'd been learning, the older she got, that not everything could be explained with science. Sometimes emotions got the best of a person, and no amount of logic could fix how they felt.

She knew, logically, she shouldn't have been so hard on her mom. But so many of her mother's decisions had hurt, and there was so much emotion April had pushed aside over the years in favor of facts and logic - instinctively, she preferred things that were a lot more straightforward, things you could back up with facts and formulas. All that emotion had rushed to the surface once she'd decided to find her dad.

She decided not to dwell on it anymore for the time being, and shut the photo album, standing to look around Rory's room a little more.

As she took a closer look at the bulletin board, seeing the Yale pro/con list among the various bits of memorabilia, conversation shifted to college. She was so undecided, but after Rory explained her own tale of deciding on schools, intending to go to Harvard her whole life, and ending up at Yale, April felt a little better. Rory promised that when she was at the point of making a decision, they'd use the old pro/con list method over burgers at Luke's, which April excitedly agreed to hold her to.

When Rory felt at least half the room had been moved into boxes, giving April room for clothes, books, and even some spots to add her own decoration to the walls, the girls began moving things into the garage. The two exchanged ridiculous stories from their childhoods, an endless stream of laughter between them. They eventually sat on the sofa on the porch, Paul Anka lounging lazily between them, as Rory began telling stories about the ways in which Jess would taunt Luke. April was bent over with laughter for most of them, imagining her cousin terrorizing her father.

It was in the middle of one such moment that Luke pulled the truck into the driveway. They barely paused to wave at him before continuing their conversation. Luke slowly made his way out of the truck, watching them. He took his time with the takeout bags he'd brought for lunch, enjoying the scene before him. He knew it would not be a common sight, and he was, once again, struck with the thought that this could have been a regular occurrence over the past year.

He heard the rumble of Lorelai's jeep behind him, and turned around to watch her hop out. As she approached him, she cocked her head at his expression, unable to determine what thoughts were going through his mind at that moment.

Luke greeted her with a kiss, but held her still before she headed toward the house. "What?" Lorelai asked. Then, seeing the takeout bags in his hand, pointed at them, "Food. Hungry. Move."

"Hold on a minute. Enjoy the view a sec," he nodded behind him, toward the house.

Lorelai moved to look past him and smiled as she saw the three "kids" on the porch together and smiled. "That's sweet," she gazed back at him, "So why do you look… sad?"

"Should've been what we've been coming home to on weekends for the last year."

"Except Rory would probably have been at Yale, April would've been with you at the diner or hanging out with friends, and Paul Anka would've been moving shoes around inside the house." Luke's expression didn't change, and she moved to rub his arm, "I have no right to lecture you on regrets. But nothing about this weekend is normal even if we'd been together for the past year. So just embrace it for what it is. Now come on, let's go eat lunch. I'm starving."

The two walked up to the house, and both Rory and April cheered over the surprise lunch, not realizing how much time had passed. Deciding to enjoy the day's weather, they spread out the sandwiches Luke had brought on the patio table, and began sharing their mornings. Lorelai hinted at a shopping trip so April would have some new items to add to the bedroom, all chuckling as Luke groaned at the idea.

Babette paused just out of sight of her neighbor's house, and watched the not-quite-family enjoying their afternoon together. She wanted to run to the house and grab her camera to capture the moment, but knew that would be far too conspicuous. Instead, she headed directly toward the house, calling out a greeting. They all turned to smile in response.

"Look at all of ya! Such a nice little family you four make! Got the dog, too! Almost like that phrase... what is it? A house, a dog, and two point five kids? Well, all but the point five. You should work on that. Anyway, I gotta go! Morey 'n' me are gonna grab a sundae with Patty and watch Kirk's yoga class. See ya!"

And with that, Babette went home to retrieve her husband, eager to share the exchange with Patty, especially the smile Luke had been late to hide behind his typical scowl.

Lane shut the bedroom door behind her, a relieved smile brightening her face, "Diaper duty. Kwan. And I got to him before he could wake Steve, which is high on my list of accomplishments this weekend. What were you saying?"

"Just how amazing you are, doing all of this by yourself." Rory shook her head in amazement. The thought of managing one baby alone day after day seemed insane, she couldn't imagine two.

"Oh, I'm rarely alone. Everyone's been amazing. My mom, Brian, your mom and Luke, Babette, Kyon, Lulu, Gil and his family… if I need help, or if I need a break to just eat cake at Weston's alone with some music, someone's always willing to jump in. It's been incredible. I miss Zack, but I made the right choice in staying, especially since the tour's being extended. You should see Kirk freak out every time Lulu's over to help out. Who knew babies would be the thing that creeped him out the most?"

"Well, let's all just be grateful for that one," Rory rolled her eyes, "I can just see Kirk flipping out because his kid got the toy he wanted. May he never procreate. Do you get to talk to Zack much?" Rory finished drying the rest of the dishes they'd used to make dinner, and handed a pan to Lane to put away.

"Oh yeah. My mom bought us webcams, and Zack got us a cable modem before he left. Turns out our fancy editing rig over there works very nicely with Skype, so we get to video chat pretty often, as long as Zack can get online. I'm glad he gets to see the boys in some way, they're growing so fast. But I'll be honest, my favorite times are when we can just sit and talk when the boys are in bed." Lane poked her friend in the arm. "Still weird for me to be the one talking about a guy. Anything fun happening on the tour bus?"

"Oh, there's plenty of fun happening. Seems to be the preferred way to cope with the stress of deadlines and writers' block. But… ugh. It's not for me. It's just not the kind of connections I want to be making, you know?"

Lane laughed, crossing her arms and leaning against the counter, "Did you forget who you're talking to? No sex before marriage? Of course I get that. You still miss Logan, though, don't you."

Rory nodded slightly, "In some ways, yeah. In other ways… no. I've gained a little perspective. I miss his presence, though. His sense of humor. No guy ever made me laugh so hard."

"That reminds me, have you heard about Dean?"

"No… what about Dean?" Rory asked, her brows furrowing. She wished things had ended differently between them. Or that they never would've started to turn their affair into a relationship at all, and just let it be what it was.

"I guess Tom's been mentoring him a lot over the last year or so, and he's working toward his contractors license. He makes enough money working for Tom now that he finally has his own apartment."

"That's good. Does he seem happy?"

"That's the thing. Brian said he'd run into him doing work on a house he was selling, and Dean was pointing out the changes the owners were making, and you know, talking shop, and he seemed really happy. But then, I've seen him around town and he's… well… let's just say Luke's status as town grump has been usurped."

"Did he and Lindsay ever... "

"No. Actually, she's engaged. I saw her and her mother showing the ring off to Miss Patty awhile back, and it's pretty impressive. She's moving to Greenwich after the wedding in the spring. She's really enjoying bragging about how her new husband can afford not just his own house, but a vacation house as well. Like a kid who married his girlfriend right out of high school would've been able to provide something like that. Dean tries really hard to ignore it, I think, but he always looks angry at the world when I see him."

Rory frowned. She wanted Dean to have a good life. She knew he'd been happy about the work he'd been doing for Tom when they were still dating; she was glad to hear he'd found something to enjoy enough to pursue professionally, but he didn't sound happy with his life at all.

"I wonder if my mom knows anything. He hasn't really come up in our conversations, though, and I feel like she'd tell me if she knew something."

"Yeah, he seems to avoid your mom, so she probably hasn't seen much of him. It's weird because I always thought he was pretty fond of her. I remember he still talked to Lorelai even after you dumped him for Jess."

"Hey! I didn't! He dumped me!"

"Yeah, but little teenage Rory was totally crushing on Jess already."

Rory nodded guiltily. She hadn't revisited her old teenage relationships in a long time. The Dean she'd been with just before Logan was not the same Dean she'd known in high school. There was no doubt they still cared for each other, but they'd both changed too much by then.

"At least Jess is doing great. Who knew, that of all my ex-boyfriends, he'd figure his life out first?" Rory observed aloud.

"Do you talk to him?"

"Not really. I'm on his company's mailing list, so I get updates from that, and Mom passes along little bits of news she gets from Luke. Easier than having to talk to him. I kind of... used him... the last time I saw him in person." Rory explained how after she'd found out Logan had slept with several of his sister's friends, she'd gone to the open house Jess had thrown for his company in Philadelphia, attempting to use him to cheat on Logan. She still felt incredibly guilty about kissing him. "I owe him a huge apology for that. Especially since he really, really hated Logan. And what I was trying to do wasn't going to level the playing field any, and would've just made all three of us miserable."

"Yeah. Do you think… you and Jess…?" Lane asked.

Rory shook her head, "No… there's a lot of history there and I'll always care about him, but… it's not the same. Which is good, I mean, it looks like we'll be cousins at some point. That's gross."

"Oh my god, I never thought of that," Lane cackled as she motioned for Rory to join her on the futon. "Man, it's nice having you in town. You sure you don't want to forego this new fancy online gig, and just submit articles for a few bucks a pop to the Stars Hollow Gazette?"

"Not after the raise and the bonus I just got," Rory grinned, "That reminds me. Before I leave, I wanna take you out for a nice meal. Maybe tomorrow night? Mom said she, April, and Luke would watch the boys so we can have a girl's night out. And I really want to see Luke hold a baby, I have a hard time imagining it."

Lane laughed and wagged her finger at her friend, "Hey, don't insult my sons' godfather! He's amazing with them. If I go in there for lunch, and he's got enough people working, he'll usually hold whichever one is the fussiest for me so I can finish my meal. I've seen him watch Doula a few times so Liz can go run errands, too. And your mom has a really cute photo of him with little Theodore Belleville. Your future little siblings have nothing to worry about."

Before Rory could react to that last sentence, there was a soft knock at the door. Lane opened it to find April standing there with a bag from Luke's.

April held her free hand up, "I'm not here to crash the party, I'm just here to make a delivery! Dad wanted to send pie over, and I agreed to drop it off. If I saw him wipe that counter one more time, I think I might have screamed."

"Oh, shush! Come in! I haven't seen you in... forever!" Lane exclaimed and hugged April. Rory had forgotten that Lane and April had spent a lot of time together between babysitting and working at the diner. She knew her mom and Luke were long past it, but it still was absurd to consider that Luke was fine with Lane interacting with April so regularly, but not her mother, despite the fact that Lorelai had been a second mother to Lane.

Rory mused over the odd way things worked out. She was at her friend's house, who she'd known since she was five, watching her interact with her twin sons. Rory's future stepsister, who Lane had babysat, had arrived, and they'd just been about to talk about the local diner owner possibly having a kid with her mother someday. Growing up in Stars Hollow, she never could have guessed that this was where things would lead. She was pretty sure, though, that her childhood self would be incredibly pleased, especially with her own life. Traveling, covering press for what could be the country's next president-

"Come on, Lane! Rory! Be the deciding vote!" April urged.

"Sorry, I spaced. What about?" Rory asked.

Lane sighed, "Don't bother. I'm not playing Scrabble. If we play a game, it's Sorry. It's mostly chance, and the playing field is level. Scrabble is not an option with Dictionary Gilmore and Encyclopedia Nardini."

"Agreed. No words. Sorry, April. I need a break from thinking up words for a few days. Sometimes my job feels like an endless game of Scrabble. But with sentences, too." Rory stood up and walked over to look through Lane's games. She always wondered what it would be like to have a little sister tagging along with her and her friends. April wasn't really tagging along, though, and Rory hardly found it annoying. After spending the morning and afternoon with April, she'd come to genuinely enjoy her company, and was more than happy to include her in her evening with Lane.

"Operation gives April an unfair advantage, Scrabble is out, we don't have time for Monopoly… Sorry, it is!" Rory grabbed the game from the shelf and placed it on the floor in front of the futon before taking the pie from April into the kitchen. She quickly sliced and plated three very generous portions, rejoining the other two with forks in hand.

Rory sat down on the floor, and she and April both reached for the blue pieces, staring each other down. Lane rolled her eyes and fished a coin out of her pocket. "Heads or tails?"

"No," Luke called out as the bells on the door chimed.

"Excuse me?" Lorelai asked, sliding into her usual seat at the counter.

"No," Luke called again from the kitchen.

"Um. Hon? It's me."

"Yep. And the answer is no," he walked into the diner and pointed his finger at her, "If you want coffee, you can have it at home."

"But there's coffee behind you."

"Which I'm about to throw out. It's been sitting there, untouched, for quite awhile, and it's stale. Which way was the sign on the door facing?"

"Closed."

"Exactly. The diner is closed. If you want coffee that badly, I'll make you some at home in a bit."

Lorelai frowned, "I want that coffee."

"No. If I give you that coffee, you're going to make a face and say, 'it's old.' You won't let it go until I make a new pot. Which I will be happy to do. At home."

As he reached for the pot, Lorelai gasped, "Don't you dare throw that out. There are starving and uncaffeinated children in Africa." Luke snorted in response and she bit back her own laugh. "Stop laughing, Luke, this is a serious issue. I want that coffee."

Luke threw his hands in the air, grabbed one of her usual mugs, and poured the rest of the pot into it. He slid it in front of her and leaned against the back counter expectantly, folding his arms in front of him. She shot him a look and took a sip.

"It's uh... perfect," she said as her face twisted into a look of disgust.

"I told you."

Lorelai pushed the mug back toward him, pouting, "It's stale, you're right. Can I please have a fresh pot?"

"Yes. At. Home," he replied, taking the mug and coffee pot into the kitchen.

She sighed and, noticing a few donuts left in the case, walked around the counter to retrieve one. As she finished it off, she listened to Luke washing the last of the dishes and loading up the dishwasher. She leaned against the back counter where Luke had just been, and looked around the quiet diner. "Hey, Luke, where's April?"

"She was bored, so I sent her to drop a pie off at Lane's. Rory texted me awhile ago to let me know she was spending the rest of the evening with the two of them."

"Huh. They've spent practically the whole day together. That's good, right?"

"It is." Luke walked out of the kitchen, drying his hands. He threw the towel on the counter and reached for Lorelai, pulling her in for a kiss. "Into the donuts?"

"Nah, I'm just that sweet," she grinned and returned her lips to his for a slower kiss, and a few more deeper kisses. Just before things escalated from kissing to making out, the diner door opened, sending the two flying apart as if they were teenagers caught by their parents.

It took Rory a moment to register the scene in front of her, as she'd been busy teasing April for getting too cocky in their third round of Sorry and winding up in last place.

"Well, geez, we can't leave you two alone for a minute," Rory jested.

"Man, I thought we managed to ditch the chaperones," Lorelai teased back, patting Luke's shoulder as he retreated to the kitchen with the towel he'd left on the counter.

"His cheeks were red," Rory pointed out.

"I'm not really one to believe in karma," April grinned, "But in this case... seeing a form of karmic retribution after your dad's been teasing you incessantly about your first middle school crush the last two days is pretty sweet."

"You think that's bad, he chased my first boyfriend out of the diner after I broke up with him. And then, years later got into a fight with him over a Bop It."

"Over a Bop It?!" April was cracking up, imagining it.

"Aww, now he's never gonna come out," Lorelai chuckled, "Be nice, remember, he controls the coffee." She turned to retrieve her boyfriend from the kitchen.

"Sorry, Dad!" April called out.

"Sorry, Luke! That was really unfair, especially after your nice gesture with the pie. Please come out. We all need some coffee and there isn't any left out here."

Luke returned, mild annoyance having quickly replaced his previous mortification, "The last thing any of you women need is coffee. I'll make some at home. Let's go." He turned off the lights and took a few long, deliberate strides toward the door, holding it open and gesturing with his other hand for the three women to exit.

The group walked toward the house, and Luke was relieved to find both Patty's dance studio shut down for the night, and Babette's house dark. The two had not let up with the picture-perfect family comments all day. It was endearing at first, but quickly began feeling intrusive as Babette kept going back to a perfect family including two point five kids. He didn't want to talk about any decimal of a child with anyone but Lorelai, and he was content with their agreement on the matter. He let the annoyance roll off of him as he began listening to April talk about her various Sorry strategies, while Rory argued that even the best strategies were not immune to chance, which was the entire lesson of the game.

After arriving home, Luke started the coffee, making just enough for Lorelai and Rory to each have one cup. April objected, stating she was being unjustly discriminated against based on age. He shook his head and joined Lorelai on the couch.

April shot him an evil look and turned to Rory, "Now what's this about the Bop It?"