Hi guys...I'm still terrible at updating, as you probably noticed. Well I am now officially free, we were way behind schedule at college and I only finished today, rather than on Friday when I was supposed to. But now I have absolutely nothing to do all day so I will probably write more, hopefully :D
This chapter is a long one, to make up for lost time of course. Thank you to all the reviewers, I'm glad you are all still interested in this, I thought you would have forgotten about it by now. So thanks so much and I hope you find this chapter to your liking ;P
"Luke," Lorelai murmured. He simply grunted in response. "Luke you're breaking the rules," she warned as she turned to look at his slumbering form.
"Hmm," he answered. Lorelai sighed and snuggled further into his arms which had fallen limp due to his sleepy state.
"You have to stay awake through the whole movie you know, it's in the rulebook." Luke slowly opened one eye to peek at her.
"What rulebook?" he asked curiously, his voice thick with sleep.
"A book of rules," she retorted in all seriousness.
"There's no rulebook," he stated, both his eyes fully open now.
"Uh huh, of course there is. You don't think I remember all those rules do you?"
"No I thought you made them up as you went along," he mumbled as he rubbed his forehead tiredly.
"Well I don't and we're breaking a rule right now; talking during the movie," she informed him. "Shush."
"You were the one..."
"Shh," she hushed. Luke sighed loudly in surrender and rested his head against the back of the couch.
"How much longer?" he asked after five or so minutes of silence.
"Luke," she whined.
"What? This is the most boring movie I've ever seen."
"Well you haven't seen many," she muttered. "Just a half an hour or so," she said in answer to his question.
"That long?" he complained.
"It's not that long."
"I'm tired."
"You're being awkward."
"Lorelai."
"Luke." They locked eyes, the seriousness in them fading away and laughter took over.
"This is the stupidest argument ever," he chuckled. Lorelai laughed along with him as he checked his watch. "It's Christmas day," he said quietly.
"It is?"
"Yep as of seven minutes ago." Lorelai grinned at him, a calmness taking over her.
"It's Christmas," she said quietly before turning to look at Luke. "Oh does that mean I can open my presents now?" she asked excitedly, bouncing up and down in her seat.
"No," he answered sternly.
"Please, please, please," she begged.
"Wait till morning."
"But it is morning," she whined.
"Lorelai," he sighed in frustration and irritation. "I often wonder how old you actually are."
"I want my presents," she sulked.
"You can have your presents later when Rory's awake to open hers to," he said, standing his ground at all costs.
"But...Luuuuke."
"Lorelai, the fourteen month old in the next room is more mature than you are." Lorelai pouted more at his comment. "It's true," he defended. "I think the fact that you're begging me to let you open your gifts, eleven minutes into Christmas day proves my theory."
"You're mean on Christmas," she huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Hey, look at me," he ordered. Lorelai didn't move her head so he took hold of her chin and turned her head to look at him. "If you open your presents now then you'll be mad in the morning cause when Rory's opening hers you won't have anything to open yourself," he said knowingly. "Just wait eight hours or so ok?" Lorelai tried to hold her pout, she really did, but his soft facial expression and the warmth in his eyes made her smile at him.
"Ok," she agreed. "I'll wait till Rory's up." Luke could tell she didn't wanna agree with him but she did anyway and that made him grin to himself. He got Lorelai Gilmore to cave; he never thought it would happen. "Hey I'm gonna go tuck Rory in, then we should bring the gifts out so it looks like Santa's been." Luke nodded, knowing he'd have to keep an eye on her during the process.
"Hey Lorelai?" he called, just as she was about to step into Rory's room.
"Yeah?" she asked, turning back to look at him.
"Don't wake Rory," he warned. She smiled slyly
"I won't," she replied before disappearing into the next room. Luke shook his head as he quickly turned the movie off, then quickly followed her into Rory's bedroom. Lorelai was leant over the crib, her fingers tangling in the little girl's fine, wavy hair. Lorelai heard him approach her and smiled when his arms wrapped around her from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder.
"She ok?" he asked, looking down at their sleeping daughter.
"Yeah, she's out like a light," she whispered back, turning her head so their cheeks brushed.
"Tomorrow's gonna be good," he stated, more to himself than Lorelai.
"Tomorrow's gonna be great," she corrected. "But you're gonna miss half of it cause you'll be cooking my turkey." She brought her hands down to rest on top of Luke's on her stomach, and patted them lightly.
"Oh really?" he asked. "I thought you were cooking the turkey."
"Ha that's funny," she deadpanned before smiling slightly. "I'll be too busy putting my gifts to use."
"That and the simple reason that you can't cook to save your life."
"While that may be offensive for some people to hear that about themselves, I find it to be very true." They looked down into the crib again when they saw Rory squirming. That's when they realised that they'd been talking just a little too loud. Rory's eyes fluttered open and she blinked a few times to let them adjust to the dark. When she saw her mom and dad stood over her crib, she gave them a confused look before rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. She looked up again and realised that they were actually there.
"Hi Rory," Luke said quietly as one of his hands left Lorelai's tummy to stroke her cheek. "Go back to sleep ok? We didn't mean to wake you." She didn't need to be told twice. The soothing feeling of Luke's finger running over her cheek sent her back to her slumber. The two teens watched Rory's eyelids drop again before smiling at the sight before them.
"She looks so adorable when she's sleeping," Lorelai whispered, being careful to keep her tone low to avoid waking her daughter again.
"I know," Luke replied. "She always looks adorable." Lorelai turned in his arms and wrapped hers around his neck.
"Big softie," she cooed before leaning up to kiss his lips. She ran her hand over his stubbly cheek and smiled. "You look like you're growing a beard," she chuckled. "Kinda like Santa Claus," she said ironically.
"Whatever Crazy Lady," he replied, brushing her hair behind her ears. She slowly pulled out of his embrace and turned back to Rory.
"Night babe, wake up early ok?" she whispered, leaving a feather light kiss on Rory's cheek.
"Night Ror," Luke also whispered. "Don't get up that early, your mom's talking crazy." Lorelai hit him on the arm and Luke reacted with a playful 'ow', before Lorelai grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door.
"Come on St. Nick, we've got presents to deliver," she said merrily as she closed the door slightly to Rory's room.
"Don't refer to me as Santa Claus in any way," he warned. Lorelai let go of his hand and went to her closet. She pulled out a bag full of wrapped gifts and Luke's mouth dropped slightly. "Who are all those for?" he asked as he watched her deposit them in front of the small Christmas tree they had decorated. Lorelai wanted a big one but with limited space in the potting shed, she was forced to buy a smaller, more suitable tree. The three of them had decorated it together; Luke holding Rory as she placed the small ornaments on the tree and Lorelai adding them at the other side. There were rainbow coloured lights attached to it and tinsel hanging from the branches. Lorelai thought it looked perfect.
"For the three of us," she replied as she sat on the floor and pulled gift after gift from the bag. "People have been giving me them this past week so instead of ripping them open straight away, I put them in my closet to open today."
"Where did you find the willpower to do that?" he asked jokingly. Lorelai shrugged with a smile on her face.
"There are some in here for you, let's have a look." She scanned the gift tags until she found a few belonging to Luke. "Here, one from Mia, one from Babette, one from Miss Patty and another from Kirk," she said.
"Kirk bought me a gift?" he asked incredulously.
"Well his mom probably paid for it but the thought's there."
"Damn Kirk," he grumbled.
"Now, now." She began sorting the various gifts into three piles under the tree, Rory's pile being the biggest. Luke pulled a box out from under the bed and put it down next to Lorelai.
"I've done the same thing you have," he said as he sat down next to her and began taking gifts from the box. "There's a gift each for you and Rory from Buddy and Maisy, and one from Liz and Jess."
"Ooh Liz got us a gift?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied as he added each gift to the various piles.
"You saw her?"
"She came in the diner a few days ago," he shrugged. "She didn't stay long, just dropped off the gifts and said hi."
"Was Jess with her?" she asked. She hadn't seen Luke's sister and nephew for so long now.
"Nah, I'm not sure where he was," he replied.
"He must be getting big now, how old will he be now?" she asked, trying to remember how big the age gap was between him and Rory.
"He'll be what seventeen or eighteen months?"
"Wow, they're growing up fast aren't they?" she commented, looking down at her hands.
"Yeah they are, soon they'll be running around Stars Hollow Elementary together." Lorelai nodded, somewhat sadly. This didn't go unnoticed by Luke. "You ok?"
"What? Oh yeah I'm fine," she brushed off.
"You sure?"
"Yeah I was just thinking," she shrugged.
"About Rory starting school?" She nodded again and the sadness returned. "What is it?" he asked.
"Nothing I was just thinking about what it would be like when she's not around during the day anymore."
"It's still ages away; four years in fact, we've got plenty of time to think about that."
"But you were right when you said that it'll pass quickly, within the blink of an eye she'll be all grown up." Luke sighed and threw his arm around her shoulders, asking himself why he had to bring up the subject of school.
"Let's not worry about that yet ok? She's still a baby," he said soothingly.
"Ok," she replied, lifting her head from his shoulder and picking up a couple of gifts from his box. "Are mine in here?" she asked, peeking further into the cardboard box before them.
"Nope yours is hidden," he replied, smiling down at her.
"But it's Christmas," she whined. "If you don't put all the presents out it'll look like Santa hasn't been."
"But you're not supposed to see your presents before the day anyway, I'll put them out in the morning."
"Fine." Lorelai finished organising the gifts and arranged Luke's pile so her gift was at the back.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Save the best till last," she replied before getting to her feet. "I'm gonna brush my teeth and stuff, it's getting late." Luke watched her leave then glanced at his watch; one thirty in the morning. He had never stayed up this late before, except when his father died and when Rory was in the hospital. He sighed tiredly and walked towards the bed, stripping his shirt in the process, leaving his bare torso exposed.
He reached into the bottom drawer of the nightstand on his side of the bed and pulled out three carefully wrapped gifts. They were relatively small gifts but they were ultimately the best gifts a girl could ask for. He just hoped Lorelai felt that way. After putting them under the tree, he removed his jeans, leaving him in only his boxers, and fell onto the bed. He buried himself under the covers in an attempt to keep warm and waited for Lorelai to return.
Just short of ten minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom wearing a short nightie with the words 'Santa's Little Helper' written across it and a white fur trim, accompanied by a Santa hat over her brown locks. She made her way over to the bed and crawled across it to Luke, stopping when she realised he was asleep.
"Damn it," she cursed as she fell back onto the bed heavily. Luke felt the mattress jump and slowly opened his eyes, looking at the sight before him confusedly.
"What are you wearing?" he asked, his brows creasing.
"You were supposed to be awake when I made my grand entrance wearing it," she mumbled, not looking at him as she played with the duvet between her fingertips. Luke looked her up and down a few times before he realised what her intentions were.
"Oh Lorelai...I'm sorry I...I didn't mean to fall asleep," he stuttered.
"It's ok, you're tired I get it, we can just go to sleep," she replied.
"No," he protested as she settled under the sheets on her side, facing away from him. "Do you really think I can sleep next to you when you're wearing...that?" he asked shyly. Lorelai didn't make a move to turn so Luke shuffled closer to her. He rested his hand on her stomach then moved it down to her leg, inching his fingers up her thigh longingly until they came into contact with the silky material again. He pushed it up slightly and continued his journey up the inside of her thigh until he reached his destination. He heard Lorelai gasp quietly but she didn't move, so Luke tried a little harder. He gently applied pressure where his hand lay and moved it slowly and longingly in circles.
"Luke," she breathed, obviously enjoying his hand movement. Luke smiled against her hair, only moving back once she turned around to look at him. He definitely knew how to cheer her up.
It was five thirty that same morning when Lorelai shot out of bed. She dressed in Luke's blue flannel shirt and quickly answered her call from nature then strolled into Rory's room, walking through the darkness until she reached her daughter's crib. Sure enough, the toddler was still sleeping and didn't show signs of waking up anytime soon. Lorelai sighed, gave one last look at Rory then padded back into the main room which was equally as dark.
Christmas was the only day of the year when Lorelai woke up at this time willingly. She was pretty sure it was the only day she would ever wake up before Luke either, but now she knew how he felt. It was boring at this time of morning. There were no birds chirping, although Lorelai blamed that on being December, and the sky was still dark, the sun having not woken up yet. She felt like she was the only one awake in the whole world, well the United States at least. If you count time differences there were probably other people awake and wanting to open their gifts right now.
Lorelai sighed again and went over to the kitchen. She looked at the cheap coffee maker she had bought, it being the only one she could afford, and began going through the routine of making her favourite beverage. While fiddling with the settings, she got frustrated and 'accidentally' dropped her mug on the floor, smashing it to a dozen pieces.
"Ah," she half screamed as the pot shattered. Luke shot up in bed and looked towards where the noise had come from.
"Lorelai?" he asked confusedly.
"Yeah?"
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Making coffee," she replied nonchalantly. Luke glanced at the alarm clock and sighed.
"It's a quarter to six," he stated. "In the morning."
"I know, I wanted some coffee."
"Come back to bed for a little while," he begged as he fell back into the pillows. "Rory won't be up for a while yet."
"I can't sleep, I'm too excited," she beamed.
"Jeez, just come and lay with me for a bit," he pleaded. Lorelai looked over at him and shrugged before walking over to the bed. Luke held back the duvet for her and she slipped under, then he made sure she was all tucked in.
"Luke?" she asked.
"Hmm?"
"Merry Christmas," she said quietly. She turned onto her side to face him and cupped his cheek with her hand.
"Merry Christmas to you too," he replied before closing his eyes. Lorelai watched him fall asleep again and sighed contentedly. His arms were wrapped around her so she couldn't move but she was happy to just lay there with him in the darkness. She buried her face in his neck, brushing her nose against his Adam's apple as it bobbed slowly. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep too, dreaming of what the day ahead had to offer.
Luke heard Rory gurgling loudly a couple of hours later. He climbed out of bed, being careful not to wake Lorelai, and padded into Rory's room. She was stood in her crib, clutching the wooden bar as she mumbled in riddles to no one in particular. She grinned when Luke appeared, and held her arms out for him to pick her up.
"Merry Christmas sweetheart," he said softly as he kissed her forehead. "Sleep well?"
"Good seep," she replied happily.
"Good sleep? I wish I had the same," he said, perking up a bit at his daughter's good mood. "Mommy kept waking me up all night; she smashed a coffee cup at six o clock this morning you know?" Rory stared at him in interest, her fingers in her mouth. "Ror can you say Christmas?" he asked. Rory looked at him. "Christmas," he repeated. She shook her head then rested it against his shoulder. "I guess it's too early in the morning for the word game huh?"
"Mama?" Rory asked, wondering why Lorelai wasn't in her room too.
"Mommy's sleeping right now honey," he said, then a thought crossed his mind. Lorelai had woken him several times that night and it was only right that he got his revenge. "Come on, let's go wake her up." He took Rory back into the main room and settled her on the bed next to Lorelai as he climbed in his side. Rory stared down at her sleeping mother and frowned.
"Seepy," she said, looking at Luke.
"You ready to wake her?" he asked. Rory lunged forward and landed on Lorelai's flat stomach. Lorelai jumped in her sleep but her eyes remained closed.
"Mama," Rory exclaimed excitedly.
"Ugh too early," she complained, hiding her face beneath her pillow.
"You weren't complaining earlier when you were making coffee at five thirty," Luke pointed out.
"Shut up," she mumbled sleepily, the words almost incomprehensible.
"Come on Lorelai," Luke teased, trying to tug the pillow away from her face and grasp. "You've gotta get up, we wanna open our presents," Luke joked, grinning down at Rory the whole time.
"Go 'way," she groaned, covering her face with her hands.
"Mama pesents!" Rory said excitedly, just recognising the mountain of gifts under the tree. Luke pulled her closer to him and Rory squealed.
"I guess we'll just have to open mommy's presents for her won't we?" he asked.
"Don't you dare," Lorelai warned. She sat up in bed, glaring at Luke. He smirked and picked up one of her gifts. He pretended to rip it off and Lorelai's jaw dropped. "Luke Danes put my gift down," she demanded as she leapt out of bed and snatched the gift from him, holding it close to her chest. "I wouldn't open your gifts," she pouted.
"Oh believe me, you would," he said in all certainty.
"Pesents," said Rory again as she looked towards the tree from her place in Luke's arms.
"How about we have breakfast first?" he suggested. Rory face fell when he walked to the kitchen area, in the opposite direction to the presents she wanted so much.
"Dada?" she asked, pointing over his shoulder to the tricycle-shaped gift.
"We'll open them soon ok Ror?" he asked. Rory pouted when he put her in her high chair and looked toward Lorelai, hoping her mom would let her open her gifts. When she realised that neither of them were gonna give in, she sighed quietly and began to watch Luke prepare breakfast. "Here we go," said Luke not long after as he deposited a bowl of oatmeal in front of Rory and pancakes, eggs and bacon in front of Lorelai.
"Mmm, I love your food," she hummed appreciatively as she tucked into her plateful. "It's like having my own private Luke's." Luke rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Don't expect it every day; you're only having it today cause the diner's closed."
"You don't wanna cook for me every day?" she asked through a pout.
"If you want food you can come to the diner like everybody else has to," he said sternly.
"Boy sleeping with you gets me nowhere," she muttered causing Luke to roll his eyes.
"Eat your food," he ordered before taking another bite from his dry toast. Less than five minutes later, Lorelai jumped up from her seat, dropped her plate in the sink and headed for her presents. Rory watched her carefully as she spooned some more oatmeal into her mouth, frowning when Lorelai dove for her first gift.
"Mine," Rory exclaimed, the oatmeal trickling down her chin. Luke was quick to react and wiped it off before it could make a mess. He looked over at Lorelai and put his hands on his hips when he saw her trying to rip open one of her gifts.
"What?" she asked when she caught his stare.
"Wait for Rory to finish her breakfast," he warned.
"But she's taking ages," she complained.
"She's one, how fast do you want her to eat?"
"I wanna open my gifts," she sulked.
"Wait."
"But..."
"Lorelai." He glared at her sternly and she found herself putting down the gift in her hand and backing away from the tree.
"I don't see why I'm not allowed to open them now, Rory doesn't mind."
"Jeez it's like dealing with a child," he muttered.
"You always say that."
"Exactly." Lorelai shrugged her shoulders and plucked the weaning spoon out from between Rory's fingers. She scooped up a large amount of oatmeal and fed it to her daughter before repeating the motion, all too quickly. She waited impatiently until the toddler had swallowed the previous spoonful before shoving the next one into her mouth. Luke watched incredulously. "Lorelai you'll give her indigestion," he told her.
"She's fine," she shrugged.
"Slow down a little," he ordered as he put his hand on top of hers to stop her.
"But I wanna open the presents," she whined.
"That's no reason to make Rory sick is it?" Lorelai slowed her pace down on feeding Rory the rest of her breakfast and grinned excitedly when the bowl was empty.
"Present time!" she exclaimed while clapping her hands. She picked up Rory from her high chair and sat her on the floor in the middle of her mountain of presents. Rory looked around her and smiled widely before pointing to the tricycle.
"That," she demanded, trying to reach for it from her sitting position.
"Why don't you save the best till last?" Luke asked, instead handing her a smaller gift. Rory eagerly snatched it from him and stared at it blankly for a few seconds. She looked up at her mother, who was currently ripping open her first gift, and looked down at her own gift thoughtfully. She found an opening on the wrapping paper and ripped it off quickly, smiling in accomplishment when her gift was revealed. She admired it for a second before holding the stuffed animal out to Luke.
"Ooh a coffee mug that has my name on it!" Lorelai exclaimed, tossing the wrapping paper away and focussing on the item in her hand. "Where did they find a mug that says Lorelai on the side? It's not exactly a popular name."
"Maybe they got it customised," he shrugged as he put Rory's first gift down next to him and watched her go for her second one.
"You can do that?" she asked curiously. Luke simply shrugged again so Lorelai dropped the subject and turned her attention to Rory. "What did you get sweets?" Rory finished ripping off the paper from her next present and looked at the item curiously.
"What is it Ror?" Luke asked. She continued to stare down at it until she remembered what it was called.
"Pig!" she exclaimed, making both Lorelai and Luke smile.
"It's a piggy bank," said Lorelai. "When you get older you can put your pennies in here and save them up until you have enough to buy a house," she cooed. Luke chuckled.
"Or maybe just a walkman or something," he corrected, taking the gift from Rory who was gurgling to the pig cluelessly.
"Luke why don't you open one of yours?" Lorelai asked, noticing he was just sat there watching the girls open theirs.
"No it's ok, you can open yours first," he replied.
"We can open them all together, you don't have to wait for us to finish." She was already tearing into another present as she spoke. Luke watched as she pulled out a t shirt reading 'our lips are sealed' across the front. Just below it, it had the band logo for The Go Go's.
"What's that about?" he asked, meaning the writing on the shirt.
"It's a song name, by one of the greatest bands of the eighties so far," she said excitedly. "Man Sookie is such a legend."
"It's from Sookie?"
"Yeah we were talking about this band one day and she must have picked up on how much I really like them."
"Huh," was Luke's reply. "What did you get her?"
"A duvet cover and pillowcase set with George Michael all over it," she admitted with a slight chuckle. Luke stared at her blankly.
"Who's George Michael?"
"No way did you just ask me that, do you live in a cave or something?" she asked in surprise. "Wham? Careless Whisper? Wake me up before you go go?" she asked, blurting out things relating to George Michael. Luke looked at her as if she had gone insane.
"What are you talking about?" he asked incredulously.
"Doesn't matter," she sighed, wondering how their relationship worked so well even though they actually had completely different personalities and interests. "Open some presents," she said, successfully changing the subject as she gave him one of his gifts. Rory crawled closer to him and peered up to see what his gift was. Luke smiled at her and carefully unwrapped the paper before tossing it aside. "What is it?" Lorelai asked eagerly.
"Baseball cards," he murmured as he pulled open the packet and spread the cards out in his hands. "Wow I haven't got these ones."
"You collect baseball cards?" she asked, wondering how she didn't know this about him. She knew he liked baseball, but never thought he'd be the type to collect the cards.
"Uh...yeah it's kinda nerdy," he said embarrassedly.
"No it's not," she protested. "It's quite cool actually. Why haven't you shown me them?"
"Well I almost forgot I had them," he shrugged. "With everything that's happened, baseball cards haven't been my priority." Lorelai nodded in understanding.
"How long have you been collecting them for?" she asked.
"I started when I was about nine then collected them over the years. When my dad died I just stopped, it was something we used to do together, you know?" Lorelai nodded again.
"Well now you can start again right?"
"I guess." He looked down at the cards still spread out in his hands and smiled slightly. "There are a couple of rare ones in here."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I was looking for these ones like three years ago; I can't believe I've got them."
"Who are they from?" Luke checked the tag on the discarded wrapping paper and grinned.
"Liz," he said quietly, as if he was processing that his sister had done a nice thing for him. It was usually the other way around.
"That was really nice of her," Lorelai commented.
"Yeah," he sighed. "She used to hate these cards, I used to annoy the hell out of her." Lorelai chuckled.
"That's what siblings do though right? I mean I wouldn't know, being an only child and all, but you're supposed to get on your sister's nerves." Luke nodded, a smile residing on his face as he remembered his childhood with his little sister.
"I used to trade them with my friends at school then all I would talk about when I got home was which card I got that day." Lorelai was smiling, enjoying hearing him open up to her about his younger years. Usually he kept to himself and didn't delve into his past but he seemed comfortable talking to her about it so she found no reason to stop him. "God she hated it, I can't believe she bought these for me. In fact I can't believe she knew which ones I needed."
"Sounds to me like she was interested after all, she obviously listened to you when you told her which ones you had and hadn't got." Luke smiled and set the cards aside.
"We're getting carried away, let's finish opening the presents," he said, picking up another gift to open. He glanced at Lorelai as reached for another gift with a content smile lighting her face, then looked over to Rory who was playing with the wrapping paper she had discarded on the floor. He was enjoying himself; he loved seeing the girls so happy, especially after how sad Lorelai was when they first met. He sighed silently and set down his gift, content to watch Lorelai and Rory open theirs for a while with gleeful expressions on both their faces.
Fifteen minutes later, they were surrounded by wrapping paper as the three of them lounged on the floor. Rory got to her feet and stumbled over to her last gift, the largest of them all. She looked for a place to start ripping the paper off but instead settled for sticking her finger straight through it. She quickly ripped it open, Luke and Lorelai waited to see her reaction as the tricycle was revealed.
"Bike," she exclaimed, lifting her leg up to reach over the seat but failing and instead falling to the carpet.
"Hey let's get you set up on it ok?" asked Luke. He lifted the toddler and settled her on the seat so her legs were at either side of the bar. He placed her small feet on the peddles and Rory instantly grabbed the handlebars.
"There you go Ror, do you like it?" Lorelai asked.
"Bike," she repeated.
"I'll take that as a yes." Rory began to inspect her feet on the pink peddles and tried to figure out how to move, while Luke and Lorelai settled back down to open the rest of their gifts.
"You still have to open your gifts from me," said Luke as he pointed with his head toward the three gifts that sat close to the tree.
"Oh how could I forget those?" she asked, eyeing the small boxes excitedly, guessing that it was probably jewellery. She chose the biggest one first and held it between her fingers, squeezing it to figure out what it was.
"Open it," Luke said. Lorelai quickly opened the gift and threw the paper to one side.
"These are so cool!" she exclaimed. "You got me coffee cup pyjamas?" Luke nodded and smiled at her reaction.
"Do you like them?" he asked shyly.
"I love them," she answered, leaning forward to lightly peck his lips. "Thank you."
"Welcome."
"Although it is strange that you bought me pyjamas, I would have thought you'd prefer me to sleep naked," she said slyly.
"Lorelai, not when Rory's around," he warned with a stern look.
"I really do like them though." She smiled again and put them on top of her mountain of gifts.
"Open these two," he ordered, both excited and nervous to see her reaction to the last two gifts. She eagerly took the bigger of the two and carefully untied the bow that was placed around the wrapping paper. She removed the paper and stared at the box that lay in her hand, it was jewellery alright. Luke noticed her staring at it and his nervous smile turned into a frown. "Are you ok?" he asked softly. She looked up at him and shook her head.
"You got me jewellery?" she asked, not bothering to hide the emotion in her voice. Luke swallowed thickly.
"Open it." Lorelai looked at the box again and slowly lifted the lid to reveal the delicate diamond necklace he had purchased for her. She gasped, her hand flying to her heart as she stared down at the necklace.
"Is that..."
"Diamond," he finished for her. "Half a carat." She looked up at him in pure amazement, her eyes filling with tears.
"Luke," she breathed. "You didn't have to get me anything this expensive."
"I wanted to get you something special," he replied nonchalantly. "Do you like it?"
"I love it, more than the coffee cup pyjamas," she said, leaning forward to kiss him but he stopped her before she could meet his lips with hers.
"Open the other one too," he said as he placed the smaller box in her hand. She pulled back and repeated the motion of unwrapping it before gasping again at the matching earrings.
"Earrings too?" she asked in shock. "Luke this is way too much."
"No it's not," he protested, reaching for the box containing the necklace. He opened the clasp and motioned for her to turn around. Once she had obeyed, he fastened the necklace around her neck and made sure it was in place before turning her back around to face him.
"Thank you so much," she murmured, rolling the diamond between her thumb and forefinger. "They're really beautiful."
"Anything for you," he replied before they engaged in a passionate kiss. When they pulled apart, Lorelai chuckled slightly. "What?" he asked.
"My gift has nothing on yours," she told him as she untangled herself from him.
"I'm sure whatever you got for me is great," he assured.
"Yeah maybe, but nothing can top diamonds," she pointed out. Luke shrugged and reached for the gift she had gotten him. He slowly unwrapped it, watching Lorelai's nervous expression as more and more paper was peeled away. He looked at the giant foam hand he had received confusedly before looking up to meet Lorelai's eyes.
"What's this for?" he asked. Lorelai stood up and went to her nightstand. She opened the top drawer and pulled out an envelope then walked back over and handed it to him. "What..."
"Look inside," she said. Luke slipped his finger under the seal then pulled out the small pieces of card inside.
"Tickets to a baseball game?" he asked, both surprised and ecstatic. Lorelai smiled at his facial expression, knowing she made the right decision to buy them. He read the information printed on the ticket and looked up at her again.
"In New York?" he asked, once again surprised.
"Yeah, are they ok?"
"Lorelai these are amazing, great seats too. How did you get these?"
"I asked around," she shrugged. "Babette and Patty weren't much help but Bootsy from the magazine stand knew what he was talking about. He ordered them for me." Luke shook his head in disbelief.
"I thought they'd be all sold out by now."
"The game's not till the end of April," she informed. "It's four months away yet, of course they weren't sold out."
"Believe me; these tickets are in pretty high demand." He tore his gaze away from the tickets and grinned at her like a little boy. "Thanks," he said shyly. They shared a kiss again and Lorelai was the first to pull away.
"I thought you could use your foam hand when we go."
"You wanna come too?"
"Of course, I bought the tickets didn't I?"
"Yeah but I didn't think it was your kind of thing. I thought maybe you'd wanna go shopping or something while I was at the game."
"It's something you enjoy doing and I wanna come with you. Plus you come shopping with me all the time, I owe you."
"That's right, you do," he said cheekily before leaning in to kiss her again.
"Luke, not in front of Rory," she said mockingly. He looked at the little girl who was still sat on her new bike.
"Is it fun Ror?" he asked.
"Go!" she screeched, demanding that the bike move.
"You've gotta pedal," he said.
"She's probably too young to pedal herself yet," interrupted Lorelai. "There was a bar you can attach in the box where you can push it along instead of her having to move it herself."
"That's a good idea," he said. "We'll try it out when the snow's gone won't we?" he asked Rory. He heard Lorelai sigh and turned to look at her. "What's up?" he asked, noticing her pouty expression.
"It's over," she said sadly.
"What's over?"
"Christmas."
"It's nine in the morning, there's still fifteen hours left of Christmas yet."
"But the presents are all gone," she whined.
"There's nothing I can do about that," he said. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted further. "Come on, let's get dressed and I'll start preparing the turkey."
"I thought we were going up to the inn for Christmas dinner," she said thoughtfully.
"We are, I told Mia I'd bring the turkey."
"You're cooking a turkey for god knows how many people?"
"Yeah, I volunteered," he shrugged. "I don't mind, I'm used to cooking for people." Lorelai nodded then looked through her closet for an outfit.
At exactly one o' clock that afternoon, a handful of townspeople sat down at the extravagantly decorated table in the inn's dining room. Mia sat at the head of the table as the other townies sat along the sides. There was Babette and Morey, Miss Patty and her current husband, Kirk and his mother, Taylor, Bootsie, Gypsy, Andrew, Fran, Liz and Jess, and of course, Luke, Lorelai and Rory. Sookie and Jackson couldn't be there because they were both having dinner with their parents.
Luke appeared from the kitchen carrying the turkey he had prepared and hums of appreciation could be heard throughout the table. He set it down near the edge and grabbed a knife, preparing to carve the cooked bird. After slices of the succulent turkey had been distributed, Luke took his place next to Lorelai, Rory's highchair set up on the other side of her.
"It looks really good," Lorelai said to him, shuffling her chair a bit closer to him.
"It's nothing," he shrugged off. Mia's voice cut through their private conversation as she announced that everyone could help themselves to the food set out along the middle of the table.
"Ooh Luke can you pass the stuffing over here?" she asked, greedily reaching for it.
"Magic word?" She rolled her eyes and was about to say it when Gypsy took the plate she wanted.
"Damn it," she cursed. She picked up a bowl of carrots and spooned some onto Rory's plate, along with broccoli and spinach. "You're gonna eat your vegetables today aren't you Rory?" she cooed.
"It's a shame her mom isn't gonna," Luke mumbled coherently.
"I heard that," she scowled.
"You were supposed to," he retorted.
"How about I have a few carrots and some broccoli, will that make you happy?" Luke shrugged.
"I guess." She carefully put exactly two baby carrots onto her plate and one stem of broccoli, causing Luke to roll his eyes. "So when you said a few, you meant a few," he said, taking the bowl from her and adding some veggies to his own selection.
"Yup. Gypsy can you pass the stuffing over here?" she called across the table. Gypsy held the bowl out to her but pulled it back slightly when Lorelai tried to take it.
"I want the carrots in return," she bribed.
"My pleasure," she replied, glad to be getting rid of the vegetables for something way better. She snatched the bowl from Luke's hand and handed it over to Gypsy as they made the swap. Lorelai greedily added stuffing to her plate then looked up at Luke, who was glaring at her. "Want some stuffing?" she asked before noticing the way he was looking at her. "What?" she asked.
"I wasn't finished with those." She shrugged.
"Stuffing is way better than some gross orange vegetable."
"That's just your opinion." Lorelai sighed and put some stuffing onto Luke's plate before turning to Rory.
"Want some stuffing sweets?" she asked.
"Uck," said Rory, making a disgusted face.
"No it is, how about some mashed potatoes huh?" Lorelai loaded Rory's plate up, keeping in mind she was only one, then gave her a spoon to eat with. Rory chose to use her hands for the most part but after sticking her hand right in the lump of mashed potatoes and finding it gooey, she picked up her spoon and proceeded to feed herself the proper way. "Luke this turkey's delicious," Lorelai complimented as she shovelled another slice into her mouth.
"Not too dry?" he asked. Lorelai shook her head. "Sometimes turkey can go dry, that's why chicken's better."
"This is perfect," she replied before taking a sip of her white wine. "Is there anymore cranberry sauce Mia?" Lorelai asked the older woman. Mia scanned the table and found a small amount left in the bottom of the pot.
"Just this dear, shall I get some more?"
"No this is fine, just need some to go with my turkey."
"So how is Rory enjoying Christmas?" she asked, watching the toddler bring a spoon of mashed potatoes to her mouth and chewing appreciatively before repeating the action.
"She loves it," she replied. "Luke and I bought her tricycle."
"Jess has one of those don't you Jessie?" said Liz, putting her two cents into the conversation.
"My bike!" Jess exclaimed.
"Bike!" repeated Rory just as excitedly.
"These two are just too cute," cooed Patty from her seat on the other side of Rory. "Are you enjoying those mashed potatoes sweetie?" she said to Rory. Rory smiled at her shyly then filled her spoon again and pushed it towards Patty's mouth. "That's ok honey, I've got my own mashed potatoes." Rory frowned then popped the spoon into her own mouth, her thoughts forgotten as she began chewing again.
"You having fun?" Lorelai asked Luke quietly as the chatter continued around them.
"Yeah, are you?" Lorelai nodded and popped a stuffing ball into her mouth.
"This is the best Christmas I've ever had," she answered honestly. "We never would have eaten like this at my parent's house, it's always so organised. It's nice to be out of the ordinary." Luke smiled at her softly.
"Reminds me of Christmas when I was younger," he said.
"Oh yeah?" He nodded.
"We'd always have a meal just the four of us and then come to the inn later on to see Mia and the townspeople. It was quite eventful."
"Just like this one?" she asked.
"Yeah." They watched as Babette pulled a cracker with Jess, the little boy winning.
"Jess win!" he said happily. Liz got his prize out and sat the hat on top of his head; it was a little bit big though and fell over his face.
"Best Christmas ever," she repeated, resting her head on Luke's shoulder as they watched everyone have a good time around them.
Whoa, that felt long...I've actually been trying to write this for days now but I've been failing epically. Anyway what matters is that it's finally done. I'm sorry for ending it abruptly, I was going to carry it on a bit longer but it was taking foreeever and eveeeeeer so I finished here...I might carry on from here in the next chapter though, I'm not sure yet. Anyway sorry for ranting again, I just have a lot to say! Please leave a review and I'll try to update within the week Thanks!
Emily.