CHAPTER 25: Dances and "Dynarite" and Daddies

The Monday of the following week finally arrived, and it was the day that also happened to be exactly 3 days from Rory's birthday and 5 days from "the party of the year." That night at dinner, as Rory was over at Lane's to play, Lorelai and Sookie took up a table in the diner, discussing just how the party at the end of the week was going to go.

"So, this is the guest list, right? I know we've already sent out the invitations, so if there is anyone else you need to add last minute, we need to add them," Sookie stated, going through the motions as they did with every party they planned.

Scanning over the list, Lorelai realized one guest was missing. Sighing, she sat the pad of paper on the table. "There is one person I should probably put on the list, but I'm not sure…"

"Who?"

"My dad."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, oh…" Running her hands across her face, Lorelai frowned. "Rory would love it if he showed, but I don't know if he will. He probably won't come unless mom is invited."

"Then invite your mom," Sookie replied, assuming the action was as easy said as done.

"I can't," she responded strongly, shaking her head. "After the stunt she pulled at dinner, quite frankly, I don't want to. She doesn't respect my life, so I don't want her involved."

"I just hate that it's at the expense of your dad not coming to the party."

Before Lorelai could answer, Luke set their plates down on the table. "So, uh, how's it going?"

"Good!" Sookie intercepted. "We have everything set in stone but the guest list and the decorations."

Looking over at Lorelai, he questioned with a frown, "Didn't you make the guest list the other night?"

"I did," she sighed. "But I didn't include dad. Now I have to decide if I want to invite him or not. I don't think he'll come."

"It's Rory's party," Luke reasoned, "Do you really think he'd miss it because Emily is not included?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Lorelai opened her mouth to speak but was at a loss for words. Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she answered, "I honestly don't know… He might; he might not."

"Then call and invite him. If he shows up, then Rory will be excited. If he doesn't, then we'll make sure Rory has such a great time that she doesn't even notice his absence."

Smiling, Lorelai added Richard's name to the list. Looking back up, she spoke appreciatively, "I'll do that… Thanks Luke."

"So, is everything else done, then?"

Despite his simple question, Lorelai couldn't help but notice the slight bit of hope that appeared on Luke's face. "Well, I'm not sure. Did you have anything else in mind?"

Stuffing his hands in his pocket, Luke looked hesitantly between the two women then dropped his gaze to the floor. "Uh, well, is all the food taken care of?"

Seeing Sookie open her mouth to speak, Lorelai tapped her leg lightly under the table to deter her. Shaking her head as when Sookie looked back at her, Lorelai looked back at Luke and answered, "We have a menu, but it's not set in stone. Why?"

"Oh, uh, because if you needed me to make anything, then I could. You know, to help lessen Sookie's load."

Amused by his bashfulness when asking, Lorelai grinned, unable to say no. "You know… I think I'll take you up on that offer. I'll let you know what you can cook when we finish; sound good?"

Nodding his head, Luke answered with a quick, "Yeah." Wringing his hands together, he turned to see a patron trying to get his attention. "Well, I'm gonna go tend to that guy, but I'll be back by in a little while. "

Watching him walk away, she was unable to tear her gaze from the impressive features Luke's body was blessed with. Smirking, she turned back to see Sookie with a furrowed brow. "What?"

"Is there a reason you just told Luke that he could bring food? I thought we already decided that I'd do the food and the cake."

"Did you not see the look on his face," Lorelai claimed, "He wants to help, and who am I to say no?"

"But…"

"Sook," Lorelai sighed with small laugh, "You know I love your food, but I think Luke really wants to be involved. Just think about it this way; now you can spend more time making the cake look as amazing as possible."

Immediately perking up, Sookie's eyes grew wide with the possibilities. "That's true! I can make it even more intricate than I thought!"

"That's more like it," Lorelai smiled, "Now, we've got the guest list settled. What about decorations?"

Finally getting used to not knocking, Luke opened the door and entered the Gilmore household. Coming into the living room, he noticed neither Lorelai nor Rory were actually there. The sounds of laughter and music came from Rory's room. After setting down the bags of food on the counter, he turned to look in Rory's doorway and saw Lorelai holding Rory, dancing her around the room.

As the song stopped, Luke clapped, alerting the girls to his presence Setting Rory down, Lorelai walked over and planted a chaste kiss on his lips. "Hey, babe. You're here early."

"Yeah. Things were slow, so as soon as 8 struck, I shut things down."

"Not before you made some dinner for your amazing girlfriend and her daughter, right," she questioned with a grin.

Rolling his eyes, Luke stepped to the side of the doorway, gesturing to the kitchen. "Of course not. The bags are on the counter."

As Lorelai walked out, Rory switched the CD and ran over. "Hi, Daddy Luke! Come dance with me!"

Before he could respond, she pulled insistently on him. "Uh, okay."

Getting her side of fries and sitting down in the doorway, Lorelai watched Luke try to find a way to dance with Rory, despite the drastic height difference. "You know, babe," she spoke knowingly, "It's a hell of a lot easier to dance with her if you hold her… and it doesn't hurt your feet like it does with her stepping on them."

"Yeah!" Jumping up as high as she could, Rory forced him to catch her.

As Luke pretended to drop her, Lorelai watched Rory's eyes widen. "No," Rory yelled as she laughed. Reaching out, she clung to the collar of his flannel, and Luke retightened his grip around her. "You almost dropped me!"

"Did I," Luke prodded with a smile, as he mischievously loosened his grip again.

"No! Not again!" Rory laughed loudly, clinging tighter than before.

Watching them dance and play, Lorelai couldn't help but wear a bright smile seeing the two people she loved most getting along so well. Slowly, she was drawn out of her trance by a questioning Luke.

"Lorelai?"

"Huh?"

"I said, is there a reason that we are dancing anyway?"

"Well, in preparation for a certain almost 6-year-old's party, we were picking out music for the CD player, and it turned into a dance party."

Rory nodded happily in agreement. "We got lots of good songs."

"That's great Rory," Luke answered with a sincere smile. Turning back to Lorelai, still dancing, he questioned further, "So everything is good then? With the party?"

"Yep," she said confidently, biting a piece off of a fry. "Well, all except the guest list."

Nodding in understanding, Luke added a quiet, "Gotcha."

A few twirls and laughs later, the song ended.

"Alright, hon. I know dancing with Daddy Luke is fun, but you have school tomorrow, so we've got to hurry up and get you fed, showered, and in bed. Start with going and washing your hands so we can eat. Capisce?"

Nodding as Luke put her down, Rory resounded a happy, "Okay!" Turning, she dashed out of the room.

Lorelai walked over and turned the CD down lower. Taking Luke's hand in hers as she walked back by, she pulled him to her. Despite the fast tempo of the song, they began slowly swaying.

"Thanks for dancing with her," Lorelai smiled, and laughed softly. "She about has me wore out. I don't know if I'm gonna have enough energy to last by the time the party finally happens. With the inn and the planning and everything else, I'm gonna be dragging."

Slipping one of his hands to the small of her back, Luke pulled her closer. "You know, my offer to help with the food still stands… Did anything else come of that?"

"Oh yeah… Sookie wants to handle the cake and the main entrée type of things, but I was hoping you could do sides. Rory has specifically requested fries and mac and cheese."

"Both very healthy options," Luke deadpanned.

"She is my daughter," Lorelai smiled. "But I guess with other kids being there, I should throw in some type of rabbit food. If you want to make salad and some other stuff… Ooo, what about that weird dip stuff you made a few weeks ago that Rory thought was the most delicious thing ever?" Grimacing at the thought, she shook her head. "I don't even know how she ate that."

Rolling his eyes, Luke retorted, "Oh, please, you ate a bite too. It was good."

"Exactly… I ate one bite. If it was so amazing then I would have wanted more," she challenged tauntingly.

"It was so amazing," Luke answered, mocking her tone, which made her smile. "Your taste buds are just so used to straight sugar and coffee that they don't know how to react to anything else."

"I'll have you know, I grew up in the household of Emily Gilmore. I happen to know the most exquisite of food."

Snorting a laugh, Luke shook his head. "Yeah, well, I didn't say it was exquisite; I said it tastes good… Big difference."

Opening her mouth for a snarky reply, Lorelai was interrupted by Rory's call from the table.

"Mommy! I'm done! We can eat now!"

Laughing, Lorelai pecked his cheek. "Thanks for the dance babe."

Responding with a kiss on her lips, he whispered, "Any time."

With a grin on her lips, Lorelai raised her eyebrows knowingly. "Any time?"

"In private that is…"

"That's what I thought." Tentatively, she pulled away and led him towards the door. "We better get in there… you think I'm difficult to deal with when I'm hungry, just wait until you see hungry and impatient Rory…."

After they put Rory to bed, Luke closed the door behind him quietly and put his arm around Lorelai, walking them to the foyer.

"How she enjoys reading so much, I'll never know."

Looking at him with a smile, Lorelai prodded. "Would it shock you even more if I told you that she's already read that book four times now?"

"What a surprise…" he responded sarcastically with a chuckle. "I wish I had her dedication to reading when I was in school… would've really helped my GPA."

"You mean Butch Danes wasn't a book nerd?" Lorelai teased.

"Unless it was a playbook, no."

As they reached the door, Lorelai laced her fingers through his loosely. "Can we talk about one more thing before you go?"

Noticing the shyness in her voice, Luke stopped and leaned back against the front door. "Sure… What's on your mind?"

"I called dad."

"Okay, and what happened?"

"Well, he was in a meeting. I gave the secretary a message, but he never called back." Chewing her lower lip, Lorelai questioned softly, "Do you think that's a bad sign?"

Sighing, Luke rested his hands on her hips, his thumbs tracing soothing circles. "I honestly don't know, Lorelai… I don't know your dad well enough to say."

"I know." Taking steps towards him, she leaned her head on his chest. Out of instinct, his arms wrapped around her middle, and he planted a kiss to her hair. Quietly, he heard her mumble, "I honestly want this so bad for Rory. She loves him… If only my mother could just be cordial, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"I know," Luke soothed, "Just don't worry. He may not have gotten the message yet. If he did and he doesn't want to come, like I said, we'll make sure Rory doesn't notice."

Sufficed, Lorelai nodded against him. After a moment, she looked up and planted a soft kiss on his lips. "Are you sure you can't stay tonight?"

Shaking his head, he answered sadly, "I've got really early deliveries."

"I know," Lorelai frowned, running her hands up and down his shoulders. "I don't want to keep you out too late, Grandpa. I know you've got to go to bed early."

Tilting her chin up, Luke pulled her in for a warm, lingering kiss, and he pulled away with a smile. "I do… but I'll make it up to you."

"I'll hold you to that, mister…" Leaning in, she planted one last kiss. After taking her fill, they broke apart, and she tugged on his flannel for good measure. "Goodnight, Luke."

"Goodnight."

With Thursday morning barely having arrived, Lorelai padded downstairs. Opening Rory's door quietly, she tiptoed to her bedside and took a final minute to admire the beautiful girl she saw. "How I got so lucky to get a kid as great as you, I'll never know," she whispered into the darkness. As the clock struck 4:03 am, Lorelai planted a soft kiss on Rory's cheek and spoke into her ear, "Happy birthday little girl…"

Stirring slowly, Rory turned on her back to look at Lorelai with tired eyes. "Hi, Mommy."

Climbing in with her, Lorelai snuggled down into the covers, bringing Rory into her embrace and running her fingers up and down her back. "I can't believe how fast you're growing… It's too fast."

"Does that mean you still want to put a brick on my head," Rory questioned, the drowsiness slowly leaving her mind.

Laughing softly, Lorelai answered, "No, I like that you are growing big and strong, but it makes me sad that you won't be my little girl for long."

"I'll always be your little girl, Mommy." Rory whispered

"You just keep remembering that, Rory," she whispered back. "What do you think of your life so far?"

Smiling, Rory moved closer. "I like it. It's really fun."

"Good… You want to know what I think?"

"What?"

Pushing the few strands of hair out of Rory's face, Lorelai looked down at her and grinned. "I think you're a great, cool kid and the best friend a girl could have." Planting a kiss on her forehead, Rory closed her eyes in acceptance. "And it's so hard to believe that at exactly this time, many moons ago, I was lying in the exact same position…"

"In the hospital?" Rory questioned.

"Mhmmmm, and I had huge fat ankles, and I was swearing like a sailor on leave."

Her face suddenly showing concern, Rory looked at Lorelai curiously. "Miss Elliot says swearing is wrong. Did you get in trouble?"

Tracing her furrowed brow with her thumb, Lorelai answered with a small laugh. "Oh no. The doctors didn't mind. They knew I was just wanting you to come into the world as soon as possible… So there I was, in labor. And while some call it the most meaningful experience of your life, to me it was more…"

"Like splits on a create of dynarite, right?" Rory interrupted.

"It's a create of dynamite," Lorelai exaggerated the ending, "But you were close enough."

"Like on Road Runner and Wile Coyote?"

"Exactly like that, hon."

Grimacing, Rory spoke a quiet, "Ow."

"Yeah, it was ow," Lorelai sighed. "But I got you, so the pain was all worth it. I love you, kid."

"I love you Mommy."

"So where was I?"

"Ice chips!"

Laughing at Rory's enthusiasm, Lorelai continued. "Oh yeah, ice chips. That was my favorite part. Being surrounded by what seemed like 100 prominent doctors, I assumed there was a use for the ice chips, and there wasn't, but throwing them at the nurses sure was fun. And before I knew it, they were handing me a teeny tiny, with bright pink cheeks, dark black hair, and teeny tiny fingers." As she rattled off the list, Lorelai planted a kiss to each place she named.

"I don't have black hair anymore."

"No, hon, you don't, but your brown hair is so pretty, just like the rest of you." Snuggling closer, Lorelai planted a soft kiss to Rory's forehead. "I love you, beautiful girl."

"I love you too, Mommy."

Later that morning, Rory ran into the diner ahead of Lorelai and around the corner of the counter, latching on to Luke's leg. Looking down, a smile appeared on Luke's face as Rory exclaimed, "Daddy Luke! It's my birthday! I'm six today!" Removing her arms from his legs, she held up 6 fingers to show him.

Bending down to pick her up, Luke pecked a kiss to her forehead. "I know. Happy Birthday, princess.:

"Well, if that's not a scene that will melt your heart, I don't know what is." Lorelai smiled as she sat down at the counter.

"You're at the wrong seat," Luke answered with a rough voice, his tone completely changing.

With a furrowed brow, Lorelai retorted, "Since when do we have right seats."

"Since the stupid coffee cake I baked for her and the stupid balloons I blew up are at that table over there.:

Both Lorelai and Rory looked over to see a small plate of cake on the table and multicolored balloons tied to the back of a chair. Gasping, Rory looked at Luke quickly. "Those are for me?!"

Nodding, Luke answered, "You only turn six once, so I had to celebrate.:

Throwing her arms around his neck, Rory spoke a loud and happy, "Thank you!"

Still holding her, Luke walked to the table, Lorelai following, and placed her in the chair. "I didn't know what you anted to drink… any idea?"

"Can I have chocolate milk," Rory questioned, her eyes already widened beggingly.

Hiding the grimace, knowing that it was her birthday, Luke resigned. "Sure, why not. I'll be right back."

As he walked away, Rory didn't lose any of her happiness. "Mommy, look! Cake!" She spoke excitedly, pointing to the small cinnamon streusel cake in front of her.

"I see that… you are one spoiled girl," Lorelai laughed, "I think you've got your Daddy Luke wrapped around your finger." Looking over to see Luke now standing at the counter with his back turned to them, she added, "I'll be right back, hon. You can go ahead and start eating."

As she approached the counter, she sat down at a stool. Reaching across, Lorelai ran her fingers across his lower back.

"Hey! Who…" Jumping around quickly, Luke turned to see Lorelai with a naughty grin. "That's not funny," he pointed at her.

"I don't know," she taunted, "I think it was." Setting down, her demeanor softened. "Thank you for doing that for Rory. You didn't have to."

"I know," Luke responded bashfully, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking down to the floor. "I just thought it would be nice."

"Well it was." Knowing he was uncomfortable with her praise, Lorelai changed the subject. "What are you waiting for right now? Chocolate milk doesn't take that long to get."

"I'm waiting on your order."

"You ordered for me?!"

Nodding, Luke answered, "Yeah, and don't worry. It's something you'll like."

"You mean you're not trying to force feed me healthy food? Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?"

Shrugging his shoulders, he smiled small. "Who knows? Maybe Rory's birthday has put me in a generous mood."

"Well generous mood or not, I like it. It gets me the good food."

Clearing his throat, Luke stepped closer to the counter. "Speaking of good food, do you still want to go to Sniffy's tonight? Maisy will kill both of us if we don't come since they can't make it to the party Saturday."

"You bet," Lorelai smiled and confirmed, "Wanna go around 6 or so?"

"Sounds good." Hearing Caesar call out her order, he grabbed the plate and cup of chocolate milk from the window. "Alright, I've got your food. Now get back to your table."

Challenging him, Lorelai stayed still. "And why can't I stay here?"

Rolling his eyes, Luke grumbled. "Because Kirk will be here soon, and I don't want to have another argument with him about your 'special privileges' and why you get two seats in the diner."

Laughing at the prospect of their argument, Lorelai stood up. "Okay… I guess I'll move. I won't put you through that today."

"Come on, Chef Danes. I'm sure it's going to taste fine. Get a move on; the kids are starving," Lorelai teased, coming in behind Luke and wrapping her arms around his waist as he tried to put the finishing stirs into his food.

Turning his head and glaring at her, he countered, "They're not starving. I'm sure you've been stuffing them with candy since they got here."

"You're not wrong," she grinned, "But, really, I'm sure everything you've made is perfect. Stop being anal about the details. You're turning into Sookie."

"Hey!" Sookie called from the stove, "I'm not that bad!"

Both of them turned to look at her with a knowing look.

Raising both hands in surrender, she conceded. "Fine… I am pretty bad, but at least my food tastes good."

Taking the spoon from his hand while he wasn't paying attention, Lorelai knocked the excess dip into the bowl. "There, the spoon is clean. No more stirring."

Sighing, Luke wiped his hand with a paper towel. "Fine… all of this should be good to serve whenever. I'll be back in about 15 minutes. I'm gonna shower and change because I still smell like the diner from breakfast. Do you need anything else?"

Looking around, Lorelai observed everything in the kitchen. "Ummm, no, I think we're good."

"Okay," Luke pecked her cheek, "I'll be back in a few."

Walking over to Sookie as he left, Lorelai questioned, "All good on your side of the kitchen, Sook?"

"Yep! Give me about 5 minutes and I think we'll be able to let the little rugrats at it."

"You got it." Walking back into the living room, Lorelai observed all the kids playing and laughing. Much to her delight, everyone seemed to be having a good time decorating their paper crowns with the stickers she scored from the dollar store. An amused smile taking over her face, Lorelai barely noticed the sound of the doorbell. She was pulled from her trance when Rory shot by her into the foyer. "I'll get it Mommy!"

"Grandpa!" Rory exclaimed, "You're here!"

Making sure she heard her daughter right, Lorelai turned slowly around to see Richard just inside the room. "Dad… you came." She spoke softly, too shocked to move further.

"I did," he said with a smile as he picked Rory up, "I couldn't miss my favorite granddaughter's birthday party, could I?"

"No," Rory smiled. Looking over his shoulder back into the foyer, her faced immediately twisted with curiosity. "Grandma?"

A/N:

Hello, everyone! I'm glad y'all enjoyed the last chapter, and I hope you enjoyed this one! I just wanted to address somethings.

You may have noticed that the chapter count of the story decreased. While I had 40 chapters already, the first 20 or so were significantly shorter than the second 20. I combined a lot of those earlier chapters together to make the chapter count decrease and create longer chapters. Have no fear, though, all of the story is still there.

Teddit: You asked how many chapters I am going to do before I finished, and I have to say, I don't know. I think it depends on what y'all as readers want, especially concerning where you want it to end. Engagement? Marriage? Children? I can go on for as long as y'all want. Let me know what you thinking.

Finally, I wanted to see how y'all feel about Rachel. Personally, I didn't mind her in the show, and I like to think that Lorelai and Rachel would have actually gotten along. I thinking about bringing her into the story, because tbh I like the idea of writing her character 10,000 times more than I like writing Christopher's, and I think I could use her in a way to make Luke and Lorelai's relationship better. What are your thoughts?