"I called Luke daddy" Rory confessed suddenly still in Lorelai's embrace.
"What?" Lorelai asked shocked and pulled back a little.
"I called Luke daddy" Rory said again and looked down.
"Aww that's so sweet" Lorelai told her withholding a smile from Rory's tone.
"Mom!" Rory whined.
"What?" Lorelai was thrown back by Rory's voice. "What's wrong?"
"I called Luke daddy!" Rory kept freaking and was now pacing.
"So?"
"So…so!...I don't know, I'm just scared of his reaction" Rory confessed and stopped in front of Lorelai's bed.
"His reaction? Honey, Luke loves you and sees you as his daughter. I promise his reaction will be good" Lorelai said soothingly.
"Really?" Rory was a little in shock by Lorelai's confession.
"Of course honey. Did you think he was gonna be mad?"
"Not mad, just a little thrown off" Rory said sheepishly.
"Just talk to him"
"Ok. So care to tell me what happened?" Rory asked and took a seat on Lorelai's bed, Lorelai sighted but started telling her how she saw where Christopher's hand had landed and how scared she was of something happening to Luke, even though she knew Christopher would never do something like that.
Lorelai had been telling Rory everything that had gone on in her mind, when there was a soft knock on the door followed by a soft 'Lorelai'.
"Come in Luke!" Lorelai said.
"Hey" Luke said coming in. "Oh Rory, I brought your bag. Jess has it"
"Thanks Luke" Rory said shyly.
"Oh and Lorelai?" he turned towards her.
"Yeah?"
"The doctor said that you'll have to spend the night" Luke said with a 'sorry' expression on his face.
"Aw man" Lorelai whined.
"Hey, don't worry, I'm gonna stay here with you" Luke told her.
"You don't have to"
"I know, but I am" Luke stated and started to leave. "Oh and your parents are here and said that they were gonna visit in a little while" he said before leaving them both a lone again.
"My parents are here?" Lorelai turned her attention towards Rory.
"Yeah, they got here a little before the daddy incident"
"Did they hear you?' Lorelai asked and Rory's eyes popped open.
"Oh my God" Rory whispered.
"I'll take that as a yes" Lorelai said with a smile. "God, I would pay good money to have seen their faces" Lorelai was now laughing.
"Mom" Rory whined.
"Sorry, I'll try to be nice" Lorelai said and laughed for a little while longer and then there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Lorelai said, her parents stepped inside and Rory excused herself and went outside.
"Lorelai how are you?" Richard asked her.
"We're fine dad, all though I'd be better of without that incessant beeping and chirping"
"Lorelai, that 'beeping and chirping' means you and your boys are ok" Richard told her.
"I know but still" Lorelai said and shifted a little in bed to get more comfortable.
"I called the maid and told her to send in some better pillows and sheets" Emily shimmied in once she noticed Lorelai uncomfortable face.
"Mom, you don't…"
"If you have to stay here over night Lorelai, you might as well be comfortable" Emily said seriously and Lorelai noticed the hurt feeling in her voice.
"Mom, we're fine, I swear"
"I know" Emily's voice broke a little.
At ThAt SaMe MoMeNt OuTsIdE
Rory walked out and saw Jess sitting next to Luke holding her purse she had to smile at the sight.
"You ok?" Jess asked once he noticed her.
"Yes" Rory said nodding. Luke stood up and motioned Rory to sit.
"Hey, Luke?" Rory asked walking close to him but not taking a seat.
"Yeah?" Luke asked.
"Can we go talk somewhere?" Rory asked a little ashamed.
"Sure, lead the way. Hey Jess, keep an eye on Lorelai once her parents leave" Luke told them and Jess nodded, Rory started walking down the hall and stopped at the end.
"So, what's up?" Luke asked shoving his hands deep in his pockets.
"Umm, you're… you're not mad, right?" Rory stuttered.
"About what?"
"Earlier"
"Um Rory? A lot of stuff happened earlier, care to narrow it down a little bit?"
"When I called you…" Rory trailed of.
"Oh, that" Luke said remembering. "I'm not mad" he stated.
"Your not?" Rory was a little shocked.
"Why would I?"
"I don't know, I just… I thought… hey Luke?" Rory was having trouble with her speaking abilities.
"Yes?" Luke had to smile.
"So if you weren't mad before, can I continue calling you…" Rory couldn't say it until she knew for sure that he was ok.
"If you want to…" Rory nodded. "I'd be honored" Luke stated.
"Thanks…" Rory said and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Daddy"
"You don't feel weird about this right?" Luke asked with Rory still in his arms, but she pulled back a little once hearing his question.
"No, it feels right. You've always been there since I can remember, even if we didn't ask you to, you were there" Rory said her voice breaking a little.
"Hey, it's ok" Luke said rubbing her back.
"Did you know I used to pretend you were my dad when I was little?" Rory confessed.
"No, really?" Luke asked amazed, Rory nodded.
"Yeah, all I knew was that a dad was someone who was always around and helping out in the house, who took care of you and your mommy and went out of his way to make you happy, and in my book that made you my dad. But when I told my mom and she talked to me and told me about Chris. I was so sad"
"Well I'm flattered" Luke told her and kept her in his embrace.
"Well I hope you're happy!" a voice said behind them and they broke apart. "Not only did you get the girl of my dreams but you also get to play daddy to my kid"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Luke said thru clenched teeth and protectively stood in between Rory and Chris.
"I came to see how Lorelai is doing…"
"She's fine no thanks to you. Now leave" Luke said taking a step closer to him. I didn't kick your ass cuz' we were at a wedding and I didn't want to scare Lorelai, but now were alone in a hallway. Luke thought.
"You can't tell me what to do" Chris half shouted.
"Please…" Rory begged.
"Stay out of this, Rory" Chris told her.
"Leave her alone" Luke told him.
"Look I know you two just had a moment and that you actually think you're her father but you're not, I am! So stay the hell out of it!" Chris told Luke.
"I'm more of a father to her than you ever were! I went to her caterpillars funeral, I went to her high school, junior high, elementary and kinder graduations, I took care of her when she was sick, So I have a question for you, where the hell were you at all of those moments!" Luke said his anger rising he is the one who made Rory feel bad so many time, he is the reason Lorelai is here right now, he put my kids in danger… Luke thought.
"Where I were was none of your business!"
"It is when it makes Rory feel so bad that she has to wallow for a few days!" Luke responded and Chris took a swing at him. They hadn't noticed but Rory had left a few minutes ago.
A FeW MiNuTeS AgO In LoReLaI's RoOm
Rory came running thru the door, not before sending Jess to keep an eye on Luke and Chris.
"Grandma" Rory said out of breath as soon as she entered her mothers room.
"Gees Rory" Lorelai said. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I just need to talk to grandma" Rory said looking at Emily.
"Why? What' wrong?" Lorelai knew her daughter very well and Rory knew that telling Lorelai would only upset her and that was not good right now.
"Nothing I just want to talk to her, but if you two are bonding or something I'll take grandpa" Rory said, she almost had her breath back completely.
"No, it's ok, I'll go" Emily said and followed Rory out the door. "What's wrong?" Emily knew Rory also.
"Follow me!" Rory yelled as she began to jog to where Luke and Chris were. "Grandma! Please hurry!" at that and noticing Rory urgent voice Emily began to walk fast. When they got there Chris and Luke were engaged and Jess was telling them to cool of.
"Oh my" Emily said quietly. "Christopher!" when hearing that they both stepped back red flustered and breathing hard. Chris had managed to open Luke's bottom lip a little bit and it was bleeding a little, Luke had punched him in the eye and it was very swollen, almost shut. "What are you doing here? Didn't you listen to what I said at the wedding?" Emily said approaching them.
"I just wanted to know if she was ok" Chris said shyly.
"Yeah right" Jess mumbled under his breath, and Chris glared at him.
"Jess" Luke said warningly. "Take Rory back to Lorelai's room" Luke said turning and looking at Jess.
"But I wanna stay" both Rory and Jess whined.
"Go" Luke said firmly and they both walked in the direction of Lorelai's room. Once they were gone Emily turned her attention back to Chris.
"She is fine. Now you may follow my previous instructions" Emily stated, and Chris turned towards the floor.
"I'm sorry" he mumbled. "I never meant for any of this to happen" he said shyly, turn around and began to walk of. "Congratulations" he said sincerely and left.
"What did you tell him?" Luke asked Emily.
"To leave you and Lorelai alone" Emily said and turns to look at Luke, she winced once she saw him. "You better get that checked" Emily pointed to his lip.
"Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks" Luke said placing his hand over his mouth.
"That might be the case, but Lorelai is going to want to know where it came from" Emily said, they were walking back to Lorelai's room.
"I'll go to the bathroom and get it cleaned up"
When the reached outside Lorelai's door Luke told them he was gonna go get cleaned up and then he was gonna go in and explain everything to her, they all had some concerns about Lorelai's health but figured it was better to tell her now than to wait it of and try to lie at her.
SoMeTiMe LaTeR
Luke and Emily walked into Lorelai's room, Emily went to grab Richard and Luke stayed near the door with his head down concentrating on the floor.
"We're gonna leave you two alone for a while" Emily said and began to walk towards the door.
"Get better Lorelai, and take it easy" Richard told her, kissed her forehead and left the room with Emily.
"Hey, are you ok over there?" Lorelai asked noticing that Luke was not moving.
"Yup" Luke nodded.
"What's wrong?" Lorelai asked with a serious-paicky voice.
"It's noting bad" Luke quickly added and then looked up slowly meeting her gaze. Lorelai drew in a sharp breath.
"What happened?" she asked noticing Luke's now slightly swollen lip with a tiny cut on the edge.
"Please don't worry" Luke begged.
"What happened" Lorelai said sternly.
"Chris came to see how you were doing and over heard Rory and me talking and he got a little mad and we had a little argument that kinda grew into a fight" Luke quickly confessed giving her no time to react badly, well too badly, to his story.
"What were you talking about?" Lorelai threw Luke of with her question, he wasn't expecting her to ask that.
"What?" Luke asked confused while approaching her bed.
"You and Rory, what did you two say that upset Chris so much?"
"She asked if she could call me daddy from now on. And she told me how she always thought I was her dad when she was little and how sad she was when she found out I wasn't…"
"No wonder he did that" Lorelai said with a little chuckle while pointing to his lip.
"Hey, he didn't walk of un harmed"
"Oh yeah? What did you do?"
"Massive black eye" Luke confessed shyly.
"Well, well, well. Are you feeling better at least?"
"About what?" Luke asked confused.
"I don't know"
"Well I feel kinda happy about the Rory thing" Luke said shyly while trying to hide a grin. "And a little comforted by the fact that your mom told Chris to stay the hell away from us" Luke told her and Lorelai's shock was evident. "thought you might like to hear that"
"I did" Lorelai said with a smile, they were quiet for a little while. "So, Rory is gonna call you daddy huh?" Lorelai asked with a smile and Luke turned a little red and nodded with a smile.