A/N: I am so glad to be writing about happier things again! Thanks for all of your great reviews!
Coffee, Collapsible Cups, Commies and Coupons.
So, Jess came back to Stars Hollow. His return was heralded with neither friction nor fanfare, and soon they all fell into a routine. Lorelai and Luke were anxious to launch 'Operation Slumber Par-tay' (Lorelai's name, not Luke's), as soon as possible. After re-approaching the subject with both Jess and Rory, they fell into a routine of sorts.
They agreed that Lorelai would spend at least one night a week at the apartment, usually the night before Luke had an early morning delivery. She would share dinner at with Rory at the diner and then stay on for the evening. Sometimes, she would bring work home from the inn, so that she could keep busy while Luke finished the day and closed the diner. Sometimes, she would hang out up in the apartment, flipping channels on the bedroom TV while waiting like an inpatient Cinderella for her prince to come. Sometimes, she would sit at the counter, chin in her hand, swinging her feet, batting her eyelashes, and jabbering non-stop until Luke would relent and bribe Jess to close for him by paying him time and a half for the rest of the evening. He told his nephew that it was a small price to pay for the peace of mind. Despite his initial protest that the renovation of the apartment was unnecessary, Jess was inordinately fond of his walls and door, and made good use of them. Lorelai did her best to remain discreet and unobtrusive when she was there, not wanting to cause any more discomfort with Luke's nephew then they already had. For his part, Luke became adept at playing traffic cop for the use of the single bathroom, thus saving all involved any embarrassing moments.
It came to pass that Luke would spend more time at the Gilmore house. He told Lorelai that it was because her bed was more comfortable for him, but really, it was because it went against all of his instincts to leave Rory alone in the house, with no one to protect her. Silly? Maybe. Old Fashioned? Definitely. But that was the way he was, and there wasn't anything in the world that could change it. On those mornings after he stayed, Luke, being Luke, would gather all of his belongings at the crack of dawn, and creep down the steps, boots in hand and sneak out before Rory awakened. Logically, he knew that it made no sense. After all, she would wave good night to him the night before, and he knew that she knew that he was staying there, but he could not bring himself to be there when she woke up, he was, after all, Luke.
On one of those mornings, when Luke reached the bottom of the stairs, he sat down to put his boots on, he got the stuffing scared out of him by a seventeen year old girl. When Rory popped up from the couch, he yelped, an oddly squeaky sound coming from such a manly man. Rory spoke in a demanding voice, "I was told when I agreed to this whole thing, that there would be pancakes involved!"
Holding his hand over his heart, Luke tried to calm his breathing, "Geez kid, you nearly scared me to death!"
"Yeah, yeah." She dismissed his cardiac arrest with a wave of her hand, "Don't try to change the subject! I want pancakes cooked in my very own kitchen. And coffee too. You don't get to just decide to sneak out of here, I'm in this too, you know!" she said, standing over him in her pink fluffy robe and wearing slippers shaped like monkeys, pointing an accusatory finger in his face.
"Pipe down!" he hissed at her "You'll wake you mother!"
Rory snorted "Have you met my mother? Bono could fly in on fairy wings, and poke an IV of Luke's coffee into her arm while playing the Brady Bunch theme song on a ukulele, and she wouldn't wake up at this hour." She said crossing her arms and smirking at him. She began to tap her slippered foot while she waited for his response.
Luke hung his head for a minute, and then looked up at her questioningly "Pancakes, huh?"
"And coffee too, please" she said softening her tone. "Luke, I don't want you sneaking out of here like you've done something wrong, you know?"
Luke stood and walked toward the kitchen, turning back to her, he asked "Well, are you coming?" and she scampered after him. He shook his head and asked "The Brady Bunch? On a ukulele?"
Sitting at the table, she grinned and said "Well, she was always a big fan of the vacation in Hawaii episodes." she explained as she opened a guidebook to Washington DC and began to read while he prepared the batter and heated the skillet.
"What are you doing up so early anyway? He asked.
"Paris called last night. We are meeting in Hartford at 8:00 to start planning for our trip to Washington."
"Ah, I see." He said. He walked to the fridge and pulled out the eggs ands cracked a few into a bowl. "Well then, you'll need these eggs too, protein, you know." He stated firmly.
Rory nodded happily and returned to her notebook. When he placed the plate beside her book, she began to eat without breaking that amazing concentration. He plated some food, covered it with plastic wrap and placed it in the microwave for Lorelai to heat up when she awoke. After rinsing the last of the dishes, he refilled Rory's coffee cup and she smiled at him distractedly. He patted her shoulder and left for work. It was only when the front door clicked behind him that she looked up and realized she wasn't in the diner. She looked at her kitchen as if she were seeing it for the first time, uttered a bewildered "Huh." and munched on a piece of toast which had magically appeared on her plate.
A short time later, Rory was just getting dressed when Lorelai appeared in the kitchen, twitching her nose like Tabitha Stevens on coke. She poked her head into Rory's room, "Coffee? Pancakes?" she asked in a voice filled with wonder.
"I ambushed him as he tried to sneak out again this morning." Rory smirked.
"That's my girl!" Lorelai squealed, and made a beeline for the coffee pot. She poured a cup and drank deeply, "Man," she said with a sigh, "he is a god."
Rory grabbed a notebook and some pens from the table and said "Yep. Got ya a keeper there, Mom." as she headed for the door. "I'll be back by about eleven. Are we still on for shopping?" she called over her shoulder.
"You betcha! Bye kid!" Lorelai called back and she found the plate that he had left in the microwave. "Yep, definitely a keeper." she said delighted.
In a weak moment, meaning that neither of them had been clothed at the time, Luke had agreed to start accompanying her to Friday night dinners again. Lorelai was particularly thankful for this since Rory was leaving in a few days, and she would be gone for weeks. She expressed her gratitude to him often and enthusiastically. Luckily, Richard and Emily often traveled for most of the summer, so the dinners would be on hold for weeks at a time. At the first dinner after Rory's departure, both Richard and Emily watched the younger couple like hawks, searching for the signs of trouble that they had seen in the spring.
The second dinner was more comfortable. There had only been two minor skirmishes between Lorelai and Emily which, Luke had come to understand, meant that it was a good night. They had just finished dessert when Richard glanced out the window and said "The days are getting longer, it's still light out. Luke, why don't you come with me," he asked pushing his chair back from the table, "I want to show you something that has been troubling me with the car." Luke opened his mouth to decline, seeing the panic flit across Lorelai's face at the prospect of prolonging the evening, but Richard was spry for a man of his age, and he was already heading out of the back door. Luke sent Lorelai an apologetic smile as he pushed his chair away from the table and murmured, "Excuse me." to the ladies.
Emily placed her napkin on the table and sighed. Lorelai looked at her with a pout and said "I think Dad likes Luke more than he likes me."
Emily gave her daughter a wry smile and said "It's nice for him to have a boy to play with." in a mocking tone. "Come on, let's take out coffee into the living room, I'll show you the samples for the fabrics I am thinking of using in the guest room in."
By the time Luke had reached the garage, Richard had already raised the hood of his antique car, and was rummaging around in the glove box. "Aha!" he said triumphantly, emerging with a flask and what appeared to be two collapsible cups. He handed one to Luke, and poured a liberal amount of scotch into each cup. Richard took a swallow of his drink, while Luke sipped at it judiciously. He watched as Richard poked his head around the raised hood, and checked to see if the coast was clear before coming to the point of his ruse. "So, tell me, son, are things alright between you and Lorelai now?" he asked bluntly.
"Excuse me?" Luke asked, almost choking on the sip of scotch he had just taken.
"Oh, come now my boy," Richard said conspiratorially, "I'm not a fool. Have you ironed out whatever was causing your troubles?" he asked again.
Luke stared down at the cup in his hand, trying to smother his smile, but failing miserably. He replied simply, "Yes sir, we have."
"Good! Good. That's good." Richard replied before peeking around the hood again. This time, Luke could not hold back the snicker. Richard smiled back at him sheepishly and continued his quest. "So, are you," he paused to form the question, "Do you still intend to propose to Lorelai?" he asked in a slightly anxious tone.
"Yes, sir." Luke replied firmly.
A relieved smile broke across Richard's face. "Good! Good. That's good." He repeated as Luke grinned at him, no longer bothering to hide his amusement. Richard suddenly set his cup and the flask on the running board of the car and said "I have to ask you something." in an urgent tone.
Unable to resist, given all of the subterfuge Richard had been employing for the last few minutes, Luke deadpanned "No I am not, nor have I ever been a member of the Communist Party." I
Caught off guard for a moment, Richard pointed a finger at him and said "You have been spending too much time with my daughter!"
Luke smiled, slightly abashed, but said "Given the direction of this conversation, I dare say, it can only get worse, Richard."
Returning the smile Richard murmured "True, too true." Then his face becoming serious again, he asked "If you don't mind my asking, when exactly do you plan to propose?"
Luke thought about it for a moment and then answered "Well, I was planning to talk to Rory first. Ask for her blessing, I guess." he explained, with a slight blush creeping up his cheeks.
"Ah." Richard nodded approvingly, "Good idea!"
Luke nodded too and continued "So, it won't be until after she comes home next month."
"Good! Good. That's good." Richard said yet again. "Can I ask a favor of you?"
Stunned, Luke blinked at him and said "Sure."
"Well, two favors really." He paused thinking it over. "First, would you mind waiting to be sure that Emily and I are back from the Vineyard when you do it?"
Confused about why this would be so important, Luke answered easily "Sure, no problem."
Richard turned to look Luke square in the eye before asking in a serious tone, "Second, would you promise me that you will do your best to convince Lorelai to call her mother to share the news when it happens?"
"Of course!" Luke replied, truly confused now.
Seeing the bafflement on the younger man's face, Richard felt the need to explain. "You know, probably better than most, how it can be between Emily and Lorelai." At Luke's nod he continued, "When Lorelai was engaged to that other fellow," Richard waved his hand vaguely, "she didn't tell her mother. Emily and I only found out about it when Sookie invited us to the engagement party that she threw for them."
"I see." Luke answered quietly.
"Yes." Richard confirmed. "Emily was devastated. I hadn't seen her that hurt since, well, since Lorelai left with Rory. I would appreciate anything you can do to encourage Lorelai not to shut her mother out this time." he said sincerely.
"I will do my best." Luke promised him solemnly.
"Good! Good. That's good." Richard said as he set his cup and the flask on a shelf in the garage, and turned to drop the hood on the car back into place. "Now, shall we rejoin the ladies?" he asked as he turned back to Luke. Luke simply smiled, placed his cup on the shelf and followed Richard back to the house.
While Luke and Richard were having their assignation in the garage, Lorelai was flipping through a book of wallpaper samples with Emily leaning over her shoulder. She had just passed a page which featured a pale pastel striped pattern when Emily asked out of the blue "Do you and Luke plan to have children?"
Lorelai blinked at her mother in confusion and asked "What?"
Emily walked around the sofa and sat down next to Lorelai. "Well, I am assuming that you plan to marry him. That's as plain as the nose on your face, but do you think that you and Luke would like to have children?" she asked again, "Have you thought about it?"
Lorelai studied her mother carefully before answering honestly, "Well, no, we haven't talked about it, but yes I think I would like to."
Emily sat back and looked at Lorelai appraisingly. "Don't you think you ought to start discussing these things with him? I mean, honestly Lorelai, neither of you is getting any younger." She said in an exasperated tone.
Stunned by Emily's ability to hammer home a point, Lorelai simply nodded, but was saved from answering when the men came back into the room, babbling about carburetors or some such nonsense.
That night, they arrived back at Lorelai's house with the unspoken understanding that Luke would stay there that night, as he had most nights since Rory left for Washington. Luke sat down on the couch to try to catch the baseball scores on TV, while Lorelai went upstairs to prepare for bed. A short time later, he came up to find her sitting up in bed, a book open on her lap, wearing one of his flannels as a nightshirt, her glasses perched on her nose. He loved that look, the rumpled, sexy librarian look never failed to do it for him. He hurried into the bathroom to brush his teeth, anxious to join her. When he emerged clad only in his boxers, he stopped to drop his shirt in the hamper before going to hang up his dress pants. He was just closing the closet door when she blurted "Do you want kids?"
He turned to her, his mouth hanging open a bit, and asked "What?"
She took a deep breath and asked him again, "Do you want to have kids?"
Recovering from his initial shock, he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and asked "With you?"
"No, with Mrs. Cassini." she said getting agitated, "Of course with me, unless you have some other woman that you are keeping on the side. If you are, I got to say, you must be a master of time management, mister, because we spend almost all of out time together, and you always seem to have plenty of energy." She babbled, working herself into a full fledged rant. "Of course, that might be why you are all into the healthy food thing, mega-man protein powder, and such. You must be working on your stamina…."
He grinned at her and cut her off with a kiss. Pulling back he looked into those bright blue eyes and said "Yes."
She blinked, "Yes?"
"Yes." He said firmly, "Yes I want to have kids with you. Preferably not right now, but after we are married." He stopped, a thought occurring to him, and a vague sense of panic flooding him, "You aren't, I mean, are you…"
"No! No!" she cried, "I'm not!" she said and saw his shoulders slump in relief.
"Oh, okay." He said taking a deep breath. "Okay." He thought for a moment then asked "Where is this all coming from?"
"My mother asked." She answered.
"Ah. I see." He smiled gently.
"Yeah, and I realized that you and I," she said gesturing between them, "have never really discussed, well, any of this." When she saw his nod of understanding she stroked his cheek tenderly and said softly, "I just want us to be able to talk about the coupon drawer, okay?"
"Okay." He agreed, and wrapped her in a tight hug.
