Emily Gilmore

As Luke turned the page, Lorelai squinted at a picture in the top left hand corner and gasped. "Is that a picture of you and MY MOTHER? Why's she in here?" Lorelai asked, completely in shock.

Luke nodded. "Yes, of course that's Emily. That was taken at the wedding. She's in here purely by accident, but I suppose she belongs in here, because technically, she's family, so she has a right."

Rory giggled. "That's actually a nice picture. She's not very… formal looking. She looks really happy, rather amused. Luke, you must have made her laugh."

Luke looked down at the picture, a candid shot, of Emily and Luke sitting at one of the tables that was set up in the town square for the wedding. They seemed to be sharing a very civil conversation. Both looked comfortable, not nervous at all, and Emily was actually smiling.

Lorelai nodded. "It is a nice picture. Can I keep it for blackmail, so I can show her that she actually likes you?"

"She likes me, and I don't think it's going to be needed for blackmail," Luke insisted. "I know I've said it, too, but these pictures aren't just for blackmail."

"Well, I'll just have a mental image to remind her, so we can discuss it on Friday at Friday night dinner," Lorelai insisted.

Luke shrugged. "Well, I don't think she'll really need it. Emily and I have… sort of an understanding."

"Understanding? What sort of understanding might this be? Was there money or a hit man involved? Or the DAR? Because if that's the case, I really need to get you some help, to get out of my mother's insane world," Lorelai teased.

"I'm not a woman, why would I be in the DAR?" Luke asked. "Doesn't that stand for 'Daughters of the American Revolution'?"

Rory smiled. "Maybe there's an SAR? And they would call it the Sons of the American Revolution? Is anyone in your family a revolutionary war veteran, Luke?"

"Veteran, yes, Revolutionary War… questionable," Luke replied. "I'm sure re enactors don't count, unfortunately."

Rory shrugged. "Well, you have connections through us, I suppose, if you really wanted to be in the fake SAR."

"I'll keep that in mind," Luke replied.

"She really seems to like you in this picture. She's very genuinely interested in what you have to say, Luke," Rory pointed out.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, she was a lot less… rigid than she normally is that day. She really did reach out, she tried really hard to be nice, and she has tried… sometimes it backfires, but that's the effort we're looking for, right?"

"Aww, look at Luke! You are now our little optimist! What a glass half full kind of guy!" Rory gushed.

"What happened to the 'I hate jam hands' Luke?" Lorelai asked. "The 'I hate Taylor Doose' Luke, the 'I'm mad at the world' Luke?"

"Well, he still hates Taylor, and Kirk still annoys him, so I think we can be reassured that this Luke isn't an imposter or anything like that," Rory replied.

"I'm still the same person, Lorelai, I've just…"

"Become even more of a softie than we originally thought you were? Broken down? Softened up in your old age?" Lorelai suggested.

Luke rolled his eyes. "No, none of the above happened, actually. I just stopped taking things so seriously, accepting things that I can't change."

Lorelai smiled, patting Luke's knee. "That works, too."

"What were you guys talking about, Luke?" Rory asked, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

Luke cleared his throat. "We were talking about… a lot of different things that day. It was a nice talk, definitely."

"I'd kill to have a nice talk with my mother. Seriously, Luke, you're her favorite. And for the longest time I thought it was humanly impossible for her to like anyone I dated," Lorelai pointed out.

Rory nodded. "I agree. Grandma really does enjoy your company. So does Grandpa. I know Grandpa loves it when you visit. He mentions you in virtually every e mail he sends me, telling me how lucky I am to have you as a step father. Seriously."

"Well, he's a nice guy, and he wasn't so hard on me once he learned that I had good intentions, and that I wouldn't break up with your mother again. Anyway, your grandmother and I talked about a little of everything. She mostly talked, I mostly listened, you know how she is," Luke explained.

"Hello, Luke," Emily said, approaching Luke's table.

Luke stood up. "Hi, Emily, here, have a seat," he insisted, pulling out a chair for her to sit in.

She smiled at him politely, seating herself and turning to face him. "It was a lovely ceremony. I'm sure Lorelai told you about how… hesitant I was about having such a large, important function in the town square. But it's a beautiful day and everything went very smoothly. It was a wonderful ceremony that I was honored to attend."

"Yes, she mentioned your concerns… and it did turn out very nicely. We appreciate your input and your… enthusiasm about our wedding," Luke replied, trying to be polite. "And we also appreciate the fact that you came. It meant a lot to Lorelai, I know."

Emily shook her head. "Enthusiasm wasn't quite the word I would use… but that's nice of you. Even after the types of things Lorelai must have said after coming home from a bridal shop."

"Well, she was a little stressed, but it's all over now, she can enjoy it."

"I'm sure you were a big help in all of this as well. I haven't… been eager to praise you for your mediation skills, or anything else for that matter… but I wanted to let you know that… you're a good man, Luke," Emily admitted.

Luke sighed. "Well, that means a lot coming from you. I appreciate it."

"The chuppah you built was exquisite. How did you learn to do that?" Emily inquired, turning to look at the chuppah.

Luke shrugged. "Well, I just saw a picture of it, and I thought Lorelai deserved a chuppah like that for her wedding. That was… awhile ago, before we got together," he said, sparing the details of her relationship with Max, and the wedding situation.

"Your parents would be proud of you, I'm sure," she said. "But if you do anything to hurt Lorelai…"

Luke let out a slight smile. "I know, I'd be in deep trouble. Don't worry, I'll take care of her."

"Good." Emily said.

Lorelai looked at Rory. "So you determined that there wasn't an impostor Luke… but Emily, on the other hand…"

"Mom! Come on, Grandma really does like Luke!" Rory insisted. "She told me so."

"When did this happen?" Lorelai asked, crossing her arms. "I hate being left out of secrets, like your phone ringing about 500 times since you've gotten here!"

As if on cue, Rory's phone rang again. She looked down at it and turned red. "Uh, sorry, Mom, that was… weird. I'll be back."

Lorelai stuck her tongue out at Rory as she walked in the kitchen to take the call. She turned to

Luke and rolled her eyes. "I hate being left out of secrets," she muttered.

"Maybe it's not even a secret. Maybe it's the Courant, asking her if she wants a view at her desk with her new job," Luke suggested, trying to make Lorelai feel better.

Lorelai sighed. "You're right. I just like knowing secrets."

"But you can't keep them, that's for sure," Luke shot back.

Lorelai gasped. "You are terrible," she said, kissing him.

He pulled away and gave a cocky grin. "I must not be that terrible if you're willing to kiss me after I said that," he teased.

"Back. Sorry, I turned it off, it won't happen again. So, yeah, Grandma told me that she likes

Luke!" Rory insisted.

Lorelai smiled. "The gloves come off! I knew you'd jump in and add a story or two before this was all over. You and your stories."

"Me and MY stories? Okay, Jane Austen, you've penned yourself some novels over the years," Rory teased.

"Oh, but my handwriting is not nearly as formal," Lorelai shot back. "I'd get the ink all over my hands from that quill pen thing."

Luke rolled his eyes. "You're talking about telling stories, with words, yet you're using metaphors and references about writing them on paper. You confuse me."

"It's secret code for 'Luke is so dreamy', if you HAVE to know," Lorelai said, letting out a sigh.

Rory giggled. "Oh, Luke, I'm your number one fan! Will you sign my butt so I can get it tattooed on me, for forever and ever?"

"People actually do that, you know," Lorelai said to Luke.

Luke shuddered. "Creepy people do that. People who belong in mental hospitals, people who are certifiably nuts."

"How insulting!" Rory said, pouting.

"Oh, honey, he didn't mean you. He meant fan girl Rory. The one who asked him for his autograph on your hiney," Lorelai insisted.

Rory smiled. "Okay. I feel better now. Anyway, to avoid making Luke really angry, Grandma and I talked on the phone awhile back. She told me about all the Hartford gossip and then started talking about you two."

"… And come to find out, her son Brennan worked for Luke for a short period of time. Those people are simply disgusting. They're almost uncivilized!" Emily ranted.

Rory stifled a giggle when she thought back to the 'butt napkins' incident. But she wasn't successful.

"What is so funny?" Emily demanded.

Rory sighed. "Brennan served me and Mom one day, when we ate at the diner, and he gave us napkins he had… in his back pocket," she explained, censoring the story as she spoke. "And we complained to Luke, and Luke finally fired him after a few people said some things about him."

"As he should! That's completely unsanitary, doing such a thing!" Emily said in horror.

"I agree. And apparently, so did Luke," Rory replied.

"It's good to know that Luke has some service standards set for his diner. Some diners are filthy, disgusting establishments, and they violate more health codes than the city even has! But Luke's is at least up to code," Emily continued.

Rory smiled. "I think that was a compliment to Luke… in some weird way?"

"Of course it was meant as a compliment, Rory, you don't have to interpret my tone as you do your mother's. Or even as your mother views mine. I don't always wish to attack Luke, he's my son in law. I was simply saying that I'm relieved to know my son in law keeps his place of business up to standard."

"He works hard at it," Rory said.

"And I also admire hard work. Luke is a very hard worker, and he does well to provide for your mother, and for April. He always has thought of others before himself, which is a very admirable quality."

"So Luke isn't so bad after all, is he?" Rory asked.

Emily huffed. "I never said he was a leper, Rory, I simply said that I wasn't very fond of him at times."

"I see," Rory said, trying again not to laugh.

Lorelai poked Luke. "Emily likes you. You're doomed."

"Last I checked, that was supposed to be a good thing," Luke muttered, trying to turn the page.

Lorelai grabbed his hand. "No, no, don't turn yet. We're not finished with this page."

"According to? I thought I got to explain what I wanted to, like you did with that book of yours," Luke grunted.

"Rule number one? Lorelai is always right. Rule number 2? If Lorelai is ever wrong, see rule 1," Lorelai teased.

"You and your rules," Luke groaned.