THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

April's birthday party brings an unexpected twist that changes Luke's and Lorelai's lives forever. Late sixth season.

Disclaimer: I'd buy the Twickham house if I could.

Chapter Twenty-eight: Cool-down

Lorelai and Rory were silent as they began their ride back to Stars Hollow, each lost in her own thoughts. After a while Rory spoke. "Mom?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"You did it."

They were silent for a moment. Then,

"I really did, didn't I?"

"Yes. You stood up to Grandma."

"You mean we stood up to Grandma."

"Yeah. But you did most of it."

"I did, didn't I?"

"You floored her."

"You're right. I floored Emily Gilmore."

Another period of silence and then they suddenly turned their heads simultaneously and looked at each other. Smiles bloomed on the two faces. And then, with the perfect timing that had always characterized their relationship, they each let out a ear-splitting "YEEE-HAH!" of triumph.

It was like a dam had burst and neither could stop talking. "You were so good—I mean, you were so good!" shrieked Rory.

"And you! 'That right there, Grandma, that's why she thinks you don't like her'!'"

"And you didn't freak out when she said those things about Luke!"

"And you brought up that meat-market party! Oh, I'm so glad you brought up that meat-market party! It's been bugging me ever since they pulled that one!"

"And you, when I told Grandma I had been drunk—'That was a lovely thing for a mother to watch'—that was inspired!"

"I didn't know she pulled the sheets out from under you while you were still in bed!"

"And the house—the way you reacted to the house—I was sure that was the moment you were going to lose it, but you didn't! You nailed her with that one! 'Luke nearly bought it last year and the whole town wanted him to have it'—wow!"

"'April doesn't need to be treated like a piece on your chess board'—Oh, my God!"

"'Luke wears the hat because I gave it to him!''"

They continued for several minutes in that vein, recalling high points of the encounter. Finally Lorelai shook her head disbelievingly, still laughing. "I know that that was all hard and painful, and I know Mom is going to be very upset and is going to give Dad a bad time about it, and I feel bad about all that—but, I gotta tell ya, on some level that's the most fun I've ever had in that house!"

"I can believe it," Rory chuckled. There was a long pause, and she added, "But yeah, it was hard. I'm happy but I'm kind of sad, too. You know?"

"I know. I feel the same way," Lorelai replied, sobering. "And a little guilty. Right now I really wonder if my mother will ever speak to me again. And while that's a relief in some ways. . .and while I really meant everything I said about her behavior. . .that makes me a little sad, too."

"I know," Rory said, her mood also slipping down from the high. "But, Mom, she really brought it on herself. You know she did. She could have just listened from the start and not kept fighting over everything we said."

"I know, hon." They drove in silence for a moment. "Rory, I really can't thank you enough for sticking up for me like that. I was really surprised when you said you'd walk if I did. I didn't expect you to go that far, and I really appreciate it. I think when you said that, that was the moment they really started listening. Mom was just brushing me off before then."

"Well. . .I meant it. You know, Mom, I've felt bad sometimes when they've come after you and I've just sat there and watched you take it. I was so unsure about my relationship with them for so long. It was hard being stuck in the middle. . ."

"I know it was, and I hated that you got stuck there."

". . .Thanks. But I also saw you get absolutely clobbered sometimes and I felt bad that I wasn't strong enough to stand up and say something. Like the night I first brought Logan to dinner. They treated you like—oh, I don't know, an unwelcome poor relation or something. I was embarrassed at the way they treated you and I wished afterwards that I'd spoken up about it."

"Thank you, hon. It means a lot to hear you say that. But, Rory, it was never your fight. I wanted you to have good relationships with them, even if it seemed impossible for me to."

Rory was thoughtful. "Sometimes I wondered if Grandma made such a fuss over me as a way to get to you. You know, to get you into the house so she could try to relate to you."

"Oh, no, Rory, Grandma adores you. She has since the minute you were born. It was never just to get to me."

Rory was silent for a little bit. "I couldn't believe that story about Grandma telling you she'd get custody of me. No wonder you haven't trusted her all these years. No wonder there's been a wall between you. I hate to say it but I always wondered—sometimes I thought you were just being stubborn and childish for being paranoid about her all the time. I never understand that you had a really good reason, or that she had betrayed your trust so badly. I thought it was just because she nags you and you don't like hearing it."

Lorelai shrugged. "Things were bad between us before she did that. She just had this idea in her mind of what her daughter should be like and I started disappointing her practically from the day I was born. She just couldn't get that I was only a kid and couldn't control everything I felt and did the way she expected me to, or that sometimes I was just reacting to my environment. Mom always seemed to think that kids were little adults with perfect control of themselves and when they did something wrong, it was deliberate and they were just badly behaved." She pondered that idea for a moment. "I always wondered what Mom's mother was like, whether she was that tough on Mom and Aunt Hope and that's where Mom got it from. I've never asked her about how she got along with her mother—maybe I should. If she ever speaks to me again, that is."

"Yeah, if she does." She was silent for a moment. "It was nice to see Grandpa stick up for you that way."

"Yes, it was," Lorelai said softly. "If nothing else good comes out of this evening, that would be enough."

"He called you a 'lovely woman.' Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I heard," her mother said, with a broad smile. "That was very, very nice."

There was silence again and then Rory cleared her throat and spoke up in a voice slightly wavering. "Mom? I want to thank you again for—well, getting me out of there and working so hard for me and everything. I remember what I was like at seventeen, and I can't imagine doing what you did, moving out on your own with a baby and all. It was just so—awesome is the only word I can think of. I don't think I ever quite realized what a hard thing it must have been, or how much planning and work went into getting out. Plus the work to support me all these years and buy a house and everything. You are amazing."

"You're welcome, sweets," her mother replied softly, very moved by her daughter's statement. "I had just decided from the day you were born that you were never going to go through what I did, living there. You were so placid and easy-going, even as a baby, that I was terrified to let her get you into her clutches. It didn't look to me like you'd develop any natural defenses to her, like I had, and might just buy into everything she taught you." She shook her head. "I would have hated that."

Just then, her cell phone rang. She carefully looked at the display but smiled when she saw the name there and quickly flipped it open. "Hi, babe," she said cheerfully.

"Hey. I was just wondering where you two were. It's after ten," said Luke.

"Oh, we're in the car now. We should be there in about. . .Lorelai peered into the darkness to see where they were. "In about five to ten minutes."

"Okay." Pause. "So how did it go?"

Lorelai stifled a giggle. "Well, we'll tell you when we get home. But in the meantime, you need to start packing because we're going to have to move and change our identities to escape the assassins that are probably on their way there as we speak. If someone knocks at the door, don't open it, whatever you do," she teased, but trying to sound serious.

There was silence on the other end of the phone. "It went that well, huh?" Luke said dryly.

"You don't know the half of it. But seriously, we'll be there in a few minutes. This is a story worth telling right," Lorelai assured him.

Pause. "Okay, see you in a few," Luke agreed.

Lorelai closed the phone and told Rory, "I think he was about to send out a search party for our remains."

"Good man, that Luke," Rory murmured.

They pulled into the driveway and started up the walk, still giggling to one another. A figure sitting on the porch rose to meet them.

Lorelai stopped and grabbed Rory's arm. "Look, Rory! Look at the beautiful gift that got left on my porch for me!"

"Very nice," Rory approved.

Lorelai ran up the steps and flung her arms around Luke's neck. "Gimme a big one right here, bucko," she begged, pursing and pointing to her lips.

Luke narrowed his eyes and peered down at her for a moment before planting a quick peck on her lips. "Are you drunk?" he asked dryly.

"Drunk with power, maybe! Drunk with success! And the martini, two glasses of wine and after-dinner brandy helped a little, too."

"Huh," he said, his hands still on her back. "I thought maybe we could talk on the side porch, so we won't wake April."

Lorelai glanced towards her neighbor's house. "No chance of eavesdroppers?"

"Morey had a gig tonight and Babette went with him. They probably won't be back until tomorrow. By the way, you're feeding the cat tomorrow," he added to Rory. ''So what do you say?"

"Sounds good," Lorelai replied. "I just want to go up and change first."

"Okay. You want a beer? Or have you had enough alcoholic beverages for one night?"

"A beer sounds great," Lorelai enthused. She turned to her daughter. "You want a beer, hon?"

"Sure."

Luke looked at her in surprise. She looked back at him challengingly. "What? I'm legal."

"Yeah, I guess—I just never heard you order a beer before."

"It is a day of firsts, Luke Danes," Rory smiled.

Lorelai made a "shooing" motion at him. "So? Three beers! Go!"

"All right, all right."

When the girls returned, now clad in jeans and tee shirts, they gathered on the side porch and he handed them each a frosty bottle. "Cheers," he offered, holding his up for a toast. They clinked theirs against his and each took a long draught of the golden liquid.

"So," Luke said, "tell me. Just hit the high spots for now and fill in the details later."

Rory jumped in immediately. "Luke, let me tell you something first of all. First thing tomorrow morning, you have to go out and buy that woman there a dozen roses. No—a dozen dozen roses! She deserves every one of them! She was magnificent!"

"Oh, you should get a few, too. My wing woman," Lorelai said, gazing at her fondly.

"So what happened? Luke burst out. "Or do I have to call Emily to find out?"

Lorelai chuckled. "Well, to hit the high spots—we went in, Mom asked where you and April were and I told her you weren't coming. She went into a snit and I confronted her about the phone call to April. She denied it. I offered enough hard, cold evidence to convince Dad and he realized something was up and asked her why she had called the house when she knew I wasn't there. Instead of answering, she attacked me, you, and everyone within a one hundred mile radius. Except herself, of course."

"Well, that's to be expected," Luke grumbled.

"I told her that if she wants to be in our lives, she would have to make some changes, not the least of which was to promise to never pull a stunt like that again. She scoffed. I told her that if she ever again did anything to manipulate April, you and I would walk out of her life and never come back."

"Wow," Luke said, impressed. "You brought out the big guns."

She grinned. "Yeah, but then my young friend here set off the nuclear explosion." She leaned forward. "She said that if we walked, she would walk too, and they'd never see her again either!" She and Rory looked at each other and laughed uproariously.

"Oh, my God," Luke said, staring at them. "Did you mean it?" he addressed Rory.

"I did. I think what she pulled today was awful and I told her so. . ."

"I believe 'despicable' was the exact word you used."

". . .and that I was sick of being manipulated and used, too."

They went on to describe, in tandem, the whole evening to their incredulous audience: Rory's complaints about the parties; the events of Emily and Richard's vow renewal; Lorelai's comparison of Emily to her grandmother; Richard not allowing Emily to leave the room. They talked fast and loud, their words tumbling over one another's as they interrupted each other and tossed the story back and forth like a tennis ball. Luke listened, enthralled. They reported Emily's threat about the house and the smooth way in which Lorelai responded with her casual claim that in that case, Luke and she would buy the house themselves.

At that, Luke said, "You're kidding me!" He looked admiringly at his fiancée. "You are evil. You are an evil, evil woman."

"No, no, no kidding," Rory shook her head. "And she was just as cool as a cucumber saying it, with this little smile that just drove Grandma crazy!"

"They didn't really believe it at first, but then I told them how you nearly bought it last year, and how the town elders chose you over another buyer. I'm afraid, though, that I gave them a few details of your financial status. It just sort of slipped out."

"What did they say?"

"All Mom wanted to know was if you have money, why do you wear flannel and baseball caps!"

"Ooo, ooo," Rory hastened to interrupt. "Mom says, 'Luke doesn't need clothes and cars to feel good—that's how a truly free person lives!'"

"Geez, you're making me out to be some kind of paragon," Luke grumbled.

Lorelai plopped herself in his lap. "You are to me!" And she hugged him.

He hugged her back and then leaned back to look at her. "How did you manage to do all this without her freaking you out? What happened?"

"I just realized that one thing that's kept me from getting through to Mom was that I always let her engage me in a fight," Lorelai explained. "She'd say something, I'd get mad and we'd just snipe at each other. Tonight I was determined not to raise my voice or respond when she pushed my buttons. That gave me the advantage."

"And you should have seen her! She didn't break once! She didn't yell, she just kept smiling and talking in this very reasonable voice," Rory cheered.

"So was that it?"

They shook their heads and Lorelai answered. "Oh, no. Dessert was finished but Mom was ready for another round with the coffee. This time she fell back on pathos—'I just want a relationship with my daughter, why won't you let me have that?' So I told her straight out what she does that keeps us from having a relationship."

"It choked me up a little, actually," Rory said, sobering. "Mom was trying to explain how she feels and Grandma kept calling her names like 'ridiculous' and 'stupid.'"

"And Rory jumped in and pointed out how critical she always is of me."

"And Mom gave this speech about how she doesn't think Grandma likes her and how bad she feels that Grandma thinks so little of her. And Grandma got real quiet for a minute, and then she got up and left for real."

Luke looked at Lorelai, whose face was somber by then. "I'm glad you told her that. I really riles me, the way she uses you for her whipping boy."

"Well. . ." Lorelai shrugged. He smiled and brushed her hair back off her forehead and kissed her cheek. "Was that it?" he asked.

"We had brandy with Grandpa, and they told me something I hadn't known," said Rory, her face darkening. She looked at her mother and asked, "Does Luke know what happened when I was a baby? The reason you left?"

"Oh, you mean the thing about your grandparents wanting custody? Yeah, I knew that," Luke said, a little puzzled. "You mean you didn't?"

Rory shook her head. "Not until tonight."

"Wow," said Luke, impressed. "That was a lot more generous than Emily ever deserved," he praised his fiancée.

"Dad alluded to it when he was talking to Mom. I guess I did too, at one point. Rory, quick girl that she is, picked up on it and insisted we tell her."

Luke looked at the younger woman. "What do you think about that?"

Her answer was immediate. "It makes me think that I'm very lucky to have a mother like Mom, one who would go through so much for me." She and Lorelai exchanged a smile. "And it helps me understand why Mom works so hard to avoid Grandma." She shook her head. "I didn't realize what a breach of trust there had been between them."

Luke, who was still holding Lorelai in his lap, looked back and forth between the two. "So what happens now?"

Both shrugged and Lorelai added, "You've got me. I think the next move is Mom's. Oh, by the way, Dad gave me the name and number of the realtor so we can arrange to go look at the house. Maybe that should be our next move."

"Okay, let's call tomorrow," Luke replied.

She looked at him anxiously. "I didn't misspeak, did it? If we decide we want the Twickham house, we can afford it, can't we?"

"I don't see why not," he replied thoughtfully. "I was able to afford it last year, and now your income will help, too. Besides, I know the town is getting really eager to sell it. Taylor has been hinting that there's a buyer, although I didn't know it was your parents, and he's been very excited about it. If the deal with them falls through, I think we can talk them down to an even lower price."

"That would be nice," sighed Lorelai. She slid off his lap and settled on the couch next to him. "Hey, how was your evening? Did you get a chance to talk to April?"

"Well, sort of," he hedged and explained about the time he spent combing her hair, talking about his mother and trying to get her to talk about what was bothering her. "I didn't really get anything new, though. She said one odd thing—that the fact my mother died of cancer was a difference between her and me. I got the feeling she meant something in particular by that, but I can't figure out what."

"Another little piece to the puzzle," Rory commented. "Anything else? Anything about us?"

He looked uncomfortable. "Well, she said something that made me think she has some gripe about you, Lorelai, but I asked her and she denied it."

"It's me," Lorelai said immediately. "I'm doing something wrong and she doesn't like me for it."

"No, you're not," Luke soothed. "I specifically asked her and she said no."

"She may just be saying that," Lorelai said, worried.

He frowned. "Well—she did say something about how she wouldn't complain about you even if she had a complaint because I'm engaged to you. I told her that shouldn't make any difference and if something's bothering her she should speak up about it. But she clammed up."

"It's me," Lorelai muttered.

"Maybe not," supplied Rory thoughtfully. "Maybe she's just a little jealous that her father's in love with somebody and she thinks he may put Mom first if there was a problem between them."

Lorelai looked at her fiancée. "Would you?" she asked.

"You know I would," he assured her.

She shook her head. "You haven't always," she softly reminded him.

"Yeah, but I didn't realize at the time that I was shutting you out, and I didn't know it bothered you so much," Luke reminded her. "If you ever feel like I'm giving April an advantage over you, you need to tell me. Okay?"

"Okay, she murmured, smiling at him.

He smiled briefly back and added, "But—she said one other thing. She complained that here she is living with you when she doesn't know you very well and she knows Lane and Patty and Babette better than you."

Lorelai's mouth fell open. "So—it's you," she grinned.

"There's certainly enough blame to go around," agreed her fiancée.

"Nicely done," approved Rory, who had been watching the byplay with interest. "Very mature little exchange there."

Lorelai sighed. "We'll get the hang of it."

"I'm sure you will." Her daughter was thoughtful for a moment. "I was wondering too if the problem isn't you specifically. She might have a problem with anyone who acts Momish around her. Anyone who looked like they were stepping into that role."

"Maybe," Lorelai said thoughtfully.

Her offspring stared into space. "Ever since this happened, I keep thinking about how I might feel if I had lost you at that age, Mom. I'll bet April and Anna were almost as close as you and I were when I was that age. I keep thinking about it, and I just can't imagine it. I'd probably be so mistrustful—I'd be tempted to just dig myself a hole and hide in it."

"Yeah, but you'd probably come out before long," Luke said anxiously.

"Probably. I think it would depend a lot on what was going on around me." A wicked little grin lit up her face. "If I was living with Grandma and Grandpa, for instance, I might take a peek out of my hole and never want to come out."

That gave all three a good laugh. "Well, your mother is nothing like your grandmother—well, not much anyway—" Luke said, earning him a slap on the arm. "So I don't think she'll scare April into a hole. We'll figure it out," he said with some confidence. "It'll all work out in time."

"I hope," Lorelai said in a brooding tone. But then she brightened a bit and looked at him. "But good effort tonight, hon. Combing her hair—that was inspired."

"It was nice," Luke remembered.

The three sat lost in their own thoughts. Then Rory smiled and said, "Luke, you have to hear this part. When Grandpa was telling Grandma not to leave the table, he said that she should give up her old ideas about what Mom should be and appreciate her for the lovely woman she's become. That's a direct quote."

Luke gazed warmly at his fiancée and she smiled shyly back. "That's really nice," he told her softly. "I'm glad to hear that one of your parents can see that."

"Probably the high point of the whole evening," she murmured in reply.

They continued to gaze into each other's eyes and Rory quickly saw where it was going. She rose. "On that note, I think I've had enough for one day. I'm turning in."

"Are you staying the weekend?" her mother asked.

"I'm not sure. I brought some stuff home to do in case I decide to stay. I think I'm just going to sleep in tomorrow and see how I feel." She grinned. "Unless Grandma bursts into my room and pulls the sheets out from under me."

She was still giggling as she went into the house.

Luke and Lorelai shared a long, silent look until he reached out and took her hand. "C'mere," he said softly.

Grinning naughtily she stood up and settled back in his lap. They cuddled for a little while, whispering softly to one another. Then he began to nuzzle her neck while she nibbled on his ear. In a short time their lips were urgently exploring one another and their hands were wandering over each other's bodies while the familiar heat grew between them.

After a while, they paused, Luke's face in Lorelai's breast and hers in his hair. "I miss you," she murmured. "I miss this."

"So do I," he groaned and pressed his lips again into her soft curve.

She raised her head and looked at him. "April's probably been asleep for a while," she whispered. "Do you suppose. . .?" The warmth and longing in her eyes completed the question.

He looked back at her, his eyes half-closed and dark with desire. "Right now, I don't care if she's wide awake," he muttered. He pulled Lorelai off his lap, rose and they hurried into the house and up the stairs, their arms wrapped around one another.