The next few days were hard, to say the least. But every day, Lorelai got out of bed, put on clothes, and managed to do something, even if it was minimal, like doing a load of laundry or taking Paul Anka for a walk. Only a couple of nights after Luke had gone back to work, he was laying in bed with Lorelai, who seemed a little off. Of course, nothing about either of their lives right now was exactly normal, but this felt especially different. After thinking about it for a few moments, Luke spoke up.

"Lorelai?" He asked, turning his head to look at her.

"Yeah?" She asked, diverting her attention from the evening news and looking over at him.

"Are you feeling okay? I mean, I know things are weird right now, but considering… Are you feeling, you know, relatively okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, hon. I'm good." She smiled unconvincingly.

"You're not a very good liar, you know." Luke accused lightheartedly, but not wanting her to bottle her emotions.

"Hey, Rory believed in the Easter Bunny until she was 12, so that's got to be good for something." Lorelai defended herself equally as teasingly, but when she saw the look Luke was shooting towards her, she knew he wasn't just looking to banter. She sighed. "It's stupid." She said, looking down at her hands, which were folded in her lap.

"It's not stupid," Luke defended immediately.

"You don't even know what it is. How can you know that it's not stupid?" She pointed out.

"Because I know you." He told her. "I know you're not stupid. I know you're hurting right now, and that it's your instinct to shut me out, but Lorelai, I want to help you, here. We're a team, right? So let me help you." Luke pleaded.

"I'm just not really feeling like a mom right now." Lorelai confessed, and Luke was admittedly confused. Seeing the look on his face, Lorelai clarified. "You know, I was ready to bring home a baby and be his mommy. Rory hasn't needed a mommy in a few years-"

"Rory will always need you." Luke corrected.

"Yeah, but it's different now. She's a grown up. I'm her mom, not her mommy." Lorelai clarified. "When she's here, I get to be mommy and listen to gossip and have movie nights and eat junk food. When she's out on her own, I'm mom. We talk when we can, wax poetic about how much we miss each other, and tell ourselves we're going to call more, which we never have time to do. It's different." Lorelai explained. "I just kind of wish Rory was here. I just want to be somebody's mommy right now." Lorelai admitted, and Luke sighed.

"If I tell you something right now, you need to promise not to get mad at me. I'm trading information for immunity." He said seriously.

"Immunity granted." She replied, curious of the information he could be withholding.

"Rory's in the apartment." Luke confessed. "She didn't want to go back to DC, and she's an adult, so I didn't make her. I couldn't make her. But, anyways, Rory's right down the road, so you're one phone call away from being somebody's mommy." He told her.

"Oh my god, Luke!" Lorelai exclaimed, and for a second, he thought that he had blown it and she was furious. That was until she clarified. "What are you still doing here? Go get her!"

"Hey, I thought we agreed to no yelling?" He accused of her.

"Uh, no." She disagreed. "We said I couldn't be angry with you," She clarified. "Which I'm totally not. I'm super duper happy with you. All the reasons why I love you just came flooding back to me. But I'll love you even more when you bring my baby home." She smiled, and Luke smiled back.

"That's a good look for you. I like to see you happy," He told her, kissing her briefly as he pulled on his shoes. "I'll be right back." He said, trotting down the stairs and to his truck, turning his key in the ignition and calling Rory as he drove to the diner, letting him know that he was coming to get her so she could spend some time with her mother. Rory rushed to pack a bag and Luke knocked gently before entering the apartment, finding Rory buzzing around while Jess sat calmly on the couch with a book.

"Oh, Luke, yay!" Rory said excitedly. "I can't wait to be home."

Luke chuckled. "You are so like your mother." He told her.

"In all the best ways," She smiled as she slipped by him with her bag, presumably heading down towards the truck.

"Hey, Jess?" Luke tried now that they were alone.

"Yeah?" Jess answered as he stuck a bookmark in his book and set it on the table next to the couch.

"Would it be alright if I crashed here tonight?" He asked.

"It's your apartment," Jess reminded him, smirking so his uncle knew that he was only teasing.

"I just think that-" Luke started, but Jess cut him off.

"Trust me, I get it. She's been going crazy, too. Of course you can stay the night. This will be good for them. They need this." Jess summed up what Luke was about to say.

"You're a good guy, Jess." Luke commended his nephew.

"Trying to be." Jess deflected.

"Well, I'll be back soon," Luke said before heading back down to the truck where Rory was waiting impatiently.

"I could have walked home by now," She complained teasingly as he revved the engine and took her home.

"Sure, but were you going to lug that suitcase with you?" Luke asked, gesturing to the mammoth piece of luggage Rory had carried throughout the Obama campaign.

"Oh, absolutely not," Rory agreed. "Hence, me still being in the car when you got down. Finally." She said as he parked in front of her childhood home.

"I'll get your bag. You go on up to your mom," he told her as he made his way to the bed of the trunk to retrieve her belongings.

By the time he made his way upstairs, Lorelai and Rory were already snuggled up to one another in bed, watching a movie. The sight warmed his heart. He crossed the room and leaned down to plant a kiss on Lorelai's forehead.

"I'm gonna head out," He whispered, and she turned to look at him.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Just back to the apartment," he answered.

"Oh, Luke. I didn't want to kick you out of your own house. I can go downstairs-" Rory started to get out of bed but Luke interrupted her.

"It was your house, first. Plus, if you're here, who's going to watch Jess?" He teased, and she smiled.

"Hey, I spent almost a week with him and didn't push him in the lake once. He's not too bad." Rory smiled, and Luke nodded.

"You two girls have a good night. Come in for breakfast tomorrow, yeah?" He asked of them.

"I'm sorry, what year is this? I'm going to bed in this house with my daughter, but otherwise alone, and we're going to the diner in the morning to get breakfast and see her boyfriend. Is this 2002? Because it sure feels like 2002." Lorelai ranted.

"Goodnight, crazy lady."

"Goodnight, handsome. I'll see you in the morning."