A/N: Okay, I'm so, so, so sorry for not updating for months to be exact. But I totally forgot about this fic. Actually this chapter has been on my computer since November.

And now let's get going. This time I promise there won't be such a long wait.

Lyrics: You are my rock, Delta Goodrem

Chapter 25: Not James Spader, James the toaster

The two Gilmore girls stormed through the door from the kitchen and into the lobby of the Independence inn. There in the lobby was an elderly lady standing with a broad smile on her lips.

"Mia!" Rory shouted as they approached her.

"Uh! Oh my babies" Mia hugged her two favourite girls tight, it had been way too long.

"Did we know you were coming?" Rory asked

"I didn't know I was coming" Mia announced with a smile.

"This isn't a surprise inspection is it?" Lorelai asked with a smirk.

"That's exactly what this is. Ready? Oh, you're too thin as always."

"But we eat." Rory protected them. Eat they sure did, healthy? No way

"And you're both too beautiful."

"Yes, that's true. We often feel guilty monopolizing the amount of beauty we're in possession of."

"And I don't see you enough which is my fault, so you both pass."

"Aww." At the same time Michel came back from the kitchen.

"Ooh Michel. Ooh, how nice to see you. Uh, and look at that suit. You are quite the dandy, aren't you?"

"Well, I had a feeling that a lovely woman was going to be visiting today so I decided I must look my best for her." He replied in his Frenglish (French-English)

"I'm sorry honey, I didn't catch a word of that."

"He said he missed you." Rory said to support Michel. Lorelai and Rory then each linked arms with Mia and let her into the dining room.

"Ah, looks even prettier than I remember it. Lorelai, you've done an amazing job. Ooh, and look at the food. So Sookie's still as brilliant as I remember her?"

"Even better" Lorelai with the perfect cake Sookie made for her. The walked through the dining room and entered the kitchen where Sookie was doing some touch ups on the cake.

"Sookie, hello dear"

"Mia" Sookie greeted her with a warm hug.

"So, you got a wedding coming up I see? When?"

"On January 26th" Sookie announced, while looking at Lorelai. Mia unfortunately knew the girls too well, so she quickly snapped the hint, and followed Sookie's eyes. Suddenly she was standing with Lorelai's and Sookie's left hands in her own.

"The two of you are getting married? And you didn't tell me, I'm truly disappointed in the both of you"

"Mia, I'm sorry."

"Ah, no apologizes, they're wasted on me, but now tell me who are the lucky guys? Or are you marrying each other?" A laugh spread among the four women. Lorelai was wondering how it could have slipped her mind when she wrote the last letter to Mia. She hadn't even told her about Rory getting a boyfriend, but at least she did tell her about Rory getting accepted to Chilton.

"And you Rory, are you to be joining these ladies on the walk down the aisle?"

No one can buy true love in their life
We all need someone on standby
The night drew long you kept me strong
Now I can thank you in this song


"God, I hope not!" Lorelai exclaimed, still having a hard time holding back the laughter. She had completely forgotten how wonderful it was to have Mia around, how much they laughed and enjoyed each other's company. She remembered the first few months she stayed at the inn in the old tool shed. Lorelai had experienced something she had never met before, love and warmth, everybody was welcome in Mia's arms. She acted as if she could have been Lorelai's real mother, and sometimes Lorelai caught herself wishing she had been born by parents just as Mia. While Lorelai was working, Mia looked after Rory, and she gave Lorelai a longer break every now and then, so she could spend sometime with her one year old daughter. Lorelai was forever grateful for the things Mia had done for her and Rory back then, and she remembered the time Mia told her she was now the manager of the Independence Inn. It was actually hurting a bit thinking of leaving the inn. But it she wanted to go into business with Sookie, that was the first step to take. But how was she going to tell her?

"I do have a boyfriend though" Rory announced.

"And your dear mother forgot to tell me. What is this lucky boy's name then?"

"Dean" Rory blushed a little.

"Jimmy Dean?"

"No, Dean Forrester"

"Ah, you better introduce me to him soon, young lady. And now to you" She turned and faced Sookie. "Who are you intending to give your 'I do' to?"

"Jackson, our vegetable supplier"

"Lucky guy, dear. He better treat you right" Now it was Sookie's turn to blush.

"And, now…" Mia looked at Lorelai. "To you" She took Lorelai's left hand and studied the ring Luke had chosen for her only a few weeks ago, or was it months. He had chosen it for her, and her only. It suited her, like he did.

"Whoever the lucky guy is, he sure does have good taste. Anyone I know?"

"In fact yes" Lorelai admitted with a slight smile.

"Well, please tell me it's not Kirk."

"Mia, you're scaring me!"

"Sorry, I had to ask, now give up the name" but Lorelai shook her head, and instead linked arms with Mia yet again and started to walk.

"Now we're going to tour the town. Rory!" She didn't take one moment too long, before she had joined the chain of linked arms. As they walked through the lobby, Lorelai looked over her shoulder and shouted to Michel:

"Michel, hold down the fort?" he was about to answer, but the chain was already gone.

You are my rock, you touch my soul
You brought me light, when all hope was gone
You showed me the secrets, that I could unlock
You are my brother, you are my rock

The snow was still covering the streets of Stars Hollow. It was lying like a thick rug all over town, and with the Christmas lights, the town still hadn't taken down, it looked so peaceful and beautiful. Actually there was a reason behind the lights still being on. Everything was ready and set for the upcoming party. Lorelai and Luke had both questioned this action, since the lights were usually down the day after new years eve. But this year things were different, and they had no idea why.

They had already walked through the entire town, not that it was that big, but walking in the high snow, was hard and an energy refill wouldn't hurt according to any of them. They quickly approached the diner, as quickly as the snow would allow them. During the walk Mia kept asking Lorelai who the guy was, but she refused to give in.

"This town, this town. God, I miss it! And with all the Christmas lights, wonderful! And the diner! Looks even prettier like this" Mia sighed. It was partly hard to be back in the town she loved and adored. But there was nothing much to do about it.

Suddenly Rory stopped, and the linked arms chain, stopped, apart.

"Mia, can I ask you something?"

"Sure my dear, go ahead."

"In private, thank you" she was now referring to her mother, who just nodded, and entered the diner.

"So, now what?"

"How long will you be staying?" You have to be here by Saturday! Her mind screamed.

"A few more days I believe, and why is that?"

"Well, since mom's getting married, I decided…" At the same time Taylor appeared in the back of her mind, yelling something about her being self-centred. "The town decided to throw her and her fiancé a surprise engagement party… this Saturday"

"What a wonderful idea. If the mother of yours would just give up, and tell me the name of her beau." At the same time she looked up. Through the big window she saw Lorelai, comfortably seated by the counter with a large mug in her hands, which probably contained some hot coffee. Then she spotted Lucas. Just the way he looked at her.

"He'll be crushed the minute she gives her 'I do'"

"Who will be crushed?"

"Luke. Just look at him…" Rory looked at her mom and Luke, and found it very hard not to laugh. She somehow doubted that Luke would be crushed, when he got married.

"Did I tell you about the time he came to the inn?" Rory shook her head. "It was not long after he had gotten to know her, and not long after that Rachel left him… again. I wonder what happened to her?"

"The last time I saw her, she was fine" Rory announced.

"You've met Rachel?"

"Yeah, she came back sometime last year, and stayed with Luke for a while, but around May, she left again."

"Poor man. He adored her so much, and she kept leaving him. He was always broken, but whenever she came back, he just gave her another chance. You should have thought it would stop at some point."

"Well, I don't think it'll happen again."

"And now that your mother's getting married, poor Luke. He will just have to stand by and watch like some dog. But that story." She paused to glance at Luke for a short moment before she could continue.

"He had just met your mother, and was obviously fancied by her. So one day he came by the inn, and asked for her. I told him that she was taking her daughter to school. God, you should have seen his face. Apparently he didn't know anything of your existence. But then your mother walked in, and off was Luke." Mia chuckled by the memory, and soon she was joined by Rory. She never knew Luke already had a thing for her mother the day they met. But apparently he had.

"He never laughed like that before she came along. She is a man eater, that mother of yours. I'm sure she found an amazing guy, else way she wouldn't have agreed to marry him. But still I say poor Lucas"

Rory laughed.

"Well, I'm not so sure about how crush he will be, Mia." Before Rory had a chance to give Mia a clue on what was really going on, she heard the jingling bells.

I've seen people come and go young and old from all walks of life
They all leave a bookmark in the story that I write
Only when your luck's run out you find out who really counts

Luke looked up, when he heard the bells jingle in the certain way he had gotten to know. He smiled, she smiled back.

"Hey" Lorelai said cheerfully.

"Hi, coffee?"

"Oh, yes please." He quickly poured her some from a fresh pot, a bigger mug than usual, since the weather was so bad.

"What's going on out there?" He asked her. Out there on the street was Rory and Mia standing, talking. It must have been years since the last time saw Mia. He remembered her from the time he was a little boy. At his mother's funeral, Mia had taken care of him and Liz, while his dad was crushed, and unable to take care of his kids. Mia even offered to take them in and let them live with her for a while, so William would have a chance to get above again, but he reclined and defended himself as a father. He might have lost the love of his life, but parts of her were still alive in their kids. Luke clearly recalled how his dad had struggled keeping their lives from falling apart. He fired all help he had in the hardware and worked way too much. Luke was forced to work part time in the hardware, and also look out for his sister, and do homework too. After a few years, around Luke's 15th birthday, the hardware was doing better than ever. Luke got an extra job in Doose's market and got more money for the family. Liz had just turned thirteen and started to act so.

She went out with all boys that wanted to date her, and both Luke and William found it hard to handle her. Both of them whished for Luke's mother to return so they would have a fair chance together, so they could get Liz back on track. But she was gone, never to return and they had to handle things on their own. As Liz grew older things went worse and worse. And one day somewhere around Christmas of her senior year in high school, she walked in to the hardware and announced she was pregnant. The years to follow everything went down hill. Liz gave birth to a boy, Jess and moved to New York where she soon was left by her boyfriend, Jimmy. William then discovered he was suffering of cancer, and passed away. Mia had been at his funeral too, by Luke's site. Liz wasn't even there, she was too busy with something.

But Luke managed to get back on track. He reopened the hardware, but had turned it into a diner before. The first few years were tough. Rachel came into his life, then was out, and then back again. The last time she left, Luke decided that it was over for good, and then one day in the fall and black haired woman walked into the diner. Luke was stunned. Never he had met anyone as beautiful and annoying at the same time. She had swiped him off his feet in a way he had never experienced it before. He found it hard to get back up. She started to stop by the diner for coffee, more and more often, and one day he caught he name. Later on he found out where she was working and stopped by the Independence Inn. There behind the counter was Mia standing, talking to come customer over the phone. But by seeing Luke she fell silent. He walked directly up to her and asked for Lorelai, but Mia told her that she was taking her daughter to school, and that she first would be in later. At the same time the door had opened and Lorelai entered. Luke hurried pass her.

And from that day Mia had known he had fallen for her…

"Luke?" Lorelai waved her hand in front of his face.

"What?" At the same time the door was ripped open and Mia stormed in followed by Rory. First she looked angry, but then she started to smile. Rory didn't really know what foot to stand on, was her mom going to get mad because she told Mia?

You are my rock, you touch my soul
You brought me light, when I couldn't go on
You showed me the secrets, that I could unlock
You are my brother, you are my rock

"Look at this place, it's exactly the same"

"Actually I made him paint it a few months ago" Lorelai bragged.

"Well, good for you."

Luke left the toaster he was fiddling with and walked out from behind the counter and embraced Mia with his strong arms. A part of Lorelai got a little jealous, but then giggled at her own foolishness. Thinking of all the time she would spend in Luke's arms in the future almost made her sing.

"Mia hey!"

"Nice to see you Lucas."

"You're the only person in the world who can call me that, Mia."

"I know this."

"I'm saying it for others who plan to try it later."

"Whatever Lucas." Luke sent her a look that told her to keep her mouth shut, but she just bit her lower lip to prevent herself from burst out laughing.

"Mia, you know anything about toasters?"

"Not a damn thing."

One simple request, one point at the coffee pot and coffee was served to them all, even along with a piece of pie. The three girls had seated themselves at the best table, at least according to Lorelai and Rory. To Luke all the tables were the same. Maybe not the one close to the toilet, but besides that one, they were all pretty much the same. He watched them drink their coffee, eat their pie, drink more of their coffee, talk and laugh. It was like watching a happy family, without the male members. He liked watching them like that. He always liked Mia and he loved the other two. As he watched Lorelai sitting there with such a smile on her face, he wished for her to have Mia around more often. At the age of 16 Lorelai fled from her parents, they had treated her without no respect at all. She left and then met Mia who let her in. But no matter how much they had in common and no matter how much Lorelai loved Mia, she would always be connected to her parents with a line of respect.

They were tied together and no matter how hard Lorelai and the Gilmores too, wanted to deny it, they all cared for each other, though it wasn't as noticeable as it was in most other cases. But they were connected…

No one can buy new love in their life
we all need someone until we die

He fumbled on with the toaster, but it didn't seem to obey to his wishes. Sometimes he would almost believe if anybody came up to him and said the toaster had its own life. Usually he would get really bugged, but with a constant laugh, chuckle or giggle in the background it was impossible to get angry at a toaster. After all he could always buy a new one, even though he really liked the toaster he already had.

"How's James doing?" A voice came from the table.

"Who, James Spader?"

"No, not James Spader, James the toaster?"

"Ah, I should have guessed. Not better than before" He replied and turned his attention back to the toaster, or James. It was so typically for Lorelai to name things. Almost everything in her home had a name. As far as he remembered her bed was Claus, named after Santa Claus. He was a little grossed out by the fact of sleeping in a bed called Claus, but he got used to it. Especially when he found a pair of Santa socks under her bed. And the coffee pot was Casanova as far as he remembered.

A little click and something fell out of the toaster, a loose screw apparently. He grabbed it, maybe that was the thing? He walked up stairs grabbed his toolbox and walked back downstairs with it. The toolbox was placed on the counter, and Lorelai recognized it immediately.

"Bert, so good to see you again, my friend"

Luke's mind looped. That fateful night a good ten months ago came back to him as a slideshow. How he knocked on the door, told her she was the reason Rachel left again. She came to the diner, he opened up and let her in, and she did the same. And all that because he forgot Bert at her house. God bless Bert, the good old toolbox.

He's daydreaming was interrupted buy Mia's voice.

"So, Lorelai. I've let you keep your little secret long enough. Now open up, who's your beau and admirer?" She had a roguish smile on her lips.

"You know already, don't you?" She just smiled even wider and embraced the girl she had known for a good 15 years now.

"Rory?" Lorelai asked her daughter, who blushed and then nodded.

"Lukas get your but over here" Mia made a welcoming gesture with her arms, and as soon as he approached them, he was embraced in a group hug.

"You finally got the courage to ask her out I believe? Tell me everything"

"Well…" he didn't make it any further, before Mia had changed her mind.

"No, that can wait. We have to go celebrate. Let's get moving"

So that was chapter 25. I hope you all enjoyed. I really need some comments. So let me know what you thought, negative critics are appreciated too. All words, good and bad!

So press the little pretty button, thank you in advance, Asta