Hanging on by the Bridal
"You ready?" Luke asked as he cleared their breakfast dishes.
Lorelai laughed and said, "Am I that obvious?"
"No, but I am."
Lorelai turned and admired the way the new board shorts she had picked out for him hung from his narrow hips, clinging to the curve of his butt and falling to his knees. "You look too sexy to be anyone's daddy," she observed as he placed the plates in the sink.
"I look like a clown," he complained.
Lorelai smiled and said, "You think I choose bikinis for comfort? Babe, this is entirely for your benefit," she said as she stood up and gestured to the chocolate brown two-piece she wore. "Those are entirely for mine."
"You get turned on by forty-five year old guys that dress like fifteen year olds?"
"I get turned on by the way those trunks ride really low," she said as she sauntered toward the bedroom. "You dial and let me know when to get on the extension."
Luke nodded and dialed the Gilmore's number. "It's ringing," he called a moment later. "Hi, uh, good morning, Richard or Emily please; this is, um, Luke Danes," he said gruffly when the maid answered.
Lorelai giggled and said into the receiver, "I love how you're still scared of the maid."
"I never know what to say," he grumbled.
"You can say whatever you want; she won't be there by the time we get back."
There was a rustle and then they heard Richard say in an exasperated tone, "Jacob, would you please just let me answer the phone? I promise you will get to speak to him. Hello, Luke?"
"Uh, hi, we're both on," Luke told him.
"Ah, well, good morning, Luke, Lorelai," Richard said pleasantly. He covered the mouthpiece and said, "Yes, I know that you want to talk to them."
"Everything going okay, Dad?" Lorelai asked with a laugh.
Richard sighed and said, "Answer quickly, were your flights okay? Is everything as you expected it?"
"Yes and yes. Everything is perfect," Lorelai said with a smile as she leaned back against the headboard, tucking her bare toes under the rumpled and twisted sheets.
"Wonderful, well, here they are," he said without further ado. Once again the mouthpiece was covered and they heard him say sternly, "Caroline will go first because a gentleman always allows a lady to go first. Here you are, Caroline."
"Hi." Carly's voice was soft and breathy as it traveled through the lines.
"Hi Baby," Lorelai cooed.
"Hey Pea," Luke answered, a smile lighting his face.
Lorelai smiled as they heard Carly's little puffs of breath, but no words came out. "Are you having fun with Mpaw and Mam?"
"Yeah," Carly whispered.
"Did you go swimming yesterday?" Luke prompted.
"Yeah."
"Did you make a big splash?" Lorelai asked.
"Yeah."
"Mommy made a big splash this morning," Luke said encouragingly, wishing his normally chatty daughter didn't clam up when handed a telephone. "We miss you, Sweetpea."
"We miss you bunches," Lorelai agreed.
"Miss you. Juke," she said as she lowered the phone. There was a bit of a scuffle and then Jake come on the line.
"'Lo?"
"Hello," Luke said with a frown. "Was she done talking or did you take the phone away from her?"
"She ran off," Jake said indignantly.
"I'm just askin'," Luke replied mildly, figuring that if the phone had been forcibly removed from Carly's hand, they would have been hearing about it. "How's it going, buddy?"
"Good."
"Do you miss me, Jaluke? I miss you tons," Lorelai said with a sly smile.
There was a click as another extension was lifted and Josh cried, "We got cars!"
"Josh!" Jake hollered into the phone. "I was suppose to tell 'em!"
"Cars?" Luke asked.
"The kind you ride in," Jake said before his brother could blurt it out. "And drive."
"Mine's a truck," Josh chimed in.
"It's not a truck," Jake snapped.
"It's not a car!" Josh retorted.
"Hey, hey! Easy," Luke cautioned them. "Did you know anything about this?" he asked Lorelai over the phone.
"Not a peep."
"Where's Grandma?" Luke asked them.
"She's cuttin' flowers," Josh said, his voice filled with disdain.
"Those flowers stink," Jake complained and Lorelai stifled a giggle.
"I think they're pretty, but they stink," Josh replied.
Luke rolled his eyes and asked, "So, did you have your swim lesson yet?"
"S'afternoon," Josh grumbled.
"Did you get to play in the pool yesterday?" Lorelai asked.
"Did you know Mam can swim backwards?" Jake demanded.
"Grandma went swimming?" Lorelai gasped.
"Yeah, she swims on her back."
"She didn't just dip her toes in and try to do the Mom Stroke?"
"Mom stroke?" Luke asked.
"You know, the one where they don't get their hair wet," Lorelai explained.
"She wore a rubber hat," Jake reported.
"Wow. Grandma wore a rubber hat and swam on her back? Did you get pictures?" Lorelai demanded.
"Um, no," Jake answered in a puzzled tone.
"That's okay, we don't need pictures," Luke said quickly.
"Spoilsport," Lorelai muttered.
"Maybe Mpaw can take pictures next time," Josh suggested helpfully.
"Maybe," Lorelai said with a grin. "Are you guys being good? We miss you like crazy."
"You can come home," Jake said quickly.
"We'll be home in four days," Luke told him.
"Four more sleeps," Lorelai said, reminding them of how they used to mark time.
"Did you get us dollars?" Josh asked.
"Not yet. I have to see how good you are first so I know how many dollars to bring home."
"Dollars?" Luke asked.
"Sand dollars," Lorelai told him. "I'll explain later."
"Jake wouldn't go to bed last night," Josh ratted.
"I did too!"
"Only after Grandma said she'd call Mommy!"
"Hey," Luke tried to intercede.
"He shouldn't get a dollar, not if he doesn't go to bed," Josh went on in a rush.
"Hey! Cut it out."
"You don't get to say who gets dollars, Josh," Lorelai said calmly. "I'll talk to Grandma and Grandpa, and we'll decide who gets how many dollars."
"He wouldn't go to bed," Josh grumbled.
"Jake, sweetie, you have to go to bed when Grandma and Grandpa say so," Lorelai told him firmly.
"I want you to come home," Jake said quietly.
"Just four sleeps," Lorelai assured him.
"Big baby," Josh muttered.
"And there went your dollar for today," Lorelai told him in a matter of fact tone.
"But!" Josh sputtered.
"No buts. Now you are both down a dollar; Jake for last night, and Josh for today." Lorelai said. Cutting off their protests she said, "I told you that you guys needed to be extra good to get them. That means you don't bicker all the time, or pick on your little sister, you go to bed when you are told, you don't rat each other out every ten minutes, and you don't call each other or anyone else names."
"Among other things," Luke added.
"Yes, management reserves the right to alter, amend or append these rules at any time," Lorelai said firmly.
"What?" Jake asked.
"That means we're the boss of you whether we're there or not, got it?" Luke told them.
"Yeah." Josh muttered.
"What?"
"Yessir," Jake and Josh mumbled in unison and Lorelai had to cover her mouth to keep from giggling.
"So, you went swimming and you got cars that you drive," Luke summarized.
"Yeah," Jake answered. "Cool cars that go, you don't hafta pedal them."
"Very cool," Luke concurred.
"And we're going to the zoo tomorrow," Josh reported.
"Aw, that's always fun," Lorelai cooed. "Bring me home a giraffe?"
"He won't fit in the car," Jake pointed out.
"Roll the window down, he can stick his head out," Lorelai suggested.
"Grandma won't let us," Josh said sadly.
"That's okay. Taylor would probably get mad if I had a giraffe and it ate all of the leaves off of the trees before tourist season started," she told them. "Grandpa is taking you to T-ball tonight, right?"
"Yeah," Josh confirmed.
"Remember, keep your bat nice and straight, swing out from your shoulder," Luke coached.
"We will," Jake answered sullenly.
"We'll be home for Saturday's game," Luke promised. "We love you guys."
"Are you hanging up?" Jake asked, a slight edge of panic in his voice.
Luke heard a soft sniffle and wondered which of the three it was. "We're gonna call back tonight to see how the game went," he promised.
"Okay," Jake said warily.
"Okay, bye!" Josh said with his usual chipper disposition.
"Bye, buddy," Luke answered.
"Bye, Ooh-Ah," Lorelai sniffled, and Luke had his answer.
He waited until the clatter from Josh's extension ended with a click. "Bye, big guy," Luke said gruffly. "Swing for the fences."
"Okay," Jake whispered. "Don't be sad," he said softly.
Lorelai's heart leapt to her throat as she recalled what Luke had told her of his conversation with Jake. "Oh, baby, I'm not sad, sad. I just miss you," she said quickly. "Daddy and I are having a nice time, though. We have a pool here too," she said in a more upbeat tone. "I'm gonna go down to the beach and build a sand castle just for you, and then I'll take pictures of it, and we can pin them to the wall by your bed," she promised.
"Okay."
"We'll call you tonight," she promised.
"Okay, bye," Jake said, and then hung up the phone.
Luke sighed and carried the cordless phone with him into the bedroom where he found her slumped back against the tousled pillows. "If we want to talk to your parents we'll probably have to call their cell phones," he said as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"I wasn't that bad, was I?" Lorelai asked quietly.
Luke shrugged and ran his hand absently over her smooth calf. "You weren't how you usually are, and Jake, he picks up on that stuff."
"Yeah," she said as she tossed the phone she had been using to the bed. "Funny, huh? He's the most sensitive, but he's also the biggest bully."
Luke snorted and said, "I think Josh may give him a run for his money in the bully department."
Lorelai shook her head and said, "Josh just talks a lot, but Jake just takes what he wants."
"He doesn't want to have to ask for it," Luke confirmed. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss to her knee. "They're fine," he said quietly.
"I know."
He ran his hand over her leg one more time and then patted it gently. "Come on. Let's make the bed, and then I'll go root around in the garage to see what tools I can find for your construction project."
"Okay," she said with a shaky smile.
****
"What is all that?" Lorelai asked as she saw Luke dragging an armload of paraphernalia toward the steps to the beach.
"Stuff for you to dig with, a chair, a hammock," Luke called over his shoulder.
Lorelai followed after him, hot-footing it across the sun-warmed pool deck without benefit of sandals. "Ooh! Ooh! Ah! Ah! Ah!" she squeaked with each step.
"Put some shoes on," Luke said as he turned back to her with a scowl.
"I'm halfway there now," she answered as she quickstepped it over to him.
"Steps are hot too," Luke grumbled as he stepped out of his flip flops and proceeded down the hot stairs without them.
Lorelai wiggled her toes into the too big shoes and then clomped down step after step with her toes curled in tightly. "A hammock?" she asked.
"Yep. Saw it hanging up in the garage. There are a few trees under the bluff, so I thought I'd tie it up."
"I love hammocks."
"It's not for you, it's for me," he told her as he took the remainder of the steps as quickly as he could. Luke stepped into the cool sand shaded by the bluff and hissed with relief.
Lorelai giggled as the flip flops slapped noisily against the stone steps. "Sorry about that," she called to him.
Luke simply rolled his eyes and walked toward small clump of trees that grew where the bluff turned to slope to the north of the villa. He dropped the load of gear onto the sand and asked, "Where are you building?"
Lorelai slipped out of his sandals, leaving them at the base of the steps as she trotted through the thick sand toward him. She smiled as she saw Luke's eyes drop to her chest. "Having a Baywatch moment, Babe?" she asked as she approached.
"You were puttin' on a show," he said with a playful leer.
"I just had to catch up to you, Butch. Won't you let me in your hammock?" she asked in a flirty tone.
"You have a castle to build," he reminded her.
"I was thinking that Jake would like something really traditional. A colonial with shutters and a nice swimming pool in back," she mused.
"You'd be better off going with turrets and a moat," Luke said as he stretched the woven fabric of the hammock out between two trees to eyeball the logistics. With a satisfied nod, he picked up the ropes on one end and began tying them to the tree. "You'll need sunscreen," he reminded her.
"Oh yeah," she said as she turned to head for the steps.
"Hey! Did you see what I found for you?" he called after her.
"Hmm?"
Luke nodded to the pile of stuff he had hauled down from the garage. "Look in the mesh bag thing."
Lorelai picked up the bag and pulled on the drawstrings, a smile lighting her face as she saw the plastic, bucket, shovel and rake of a child's beach set. "Exxxxcellent," she hissed as she inspected her booty. "These are perfect."
"I'm so happy for you," Luke muttered as he secured the knots he had made around the tree trunk.
"Sunscreen, you need a hat, towels and beer?" she said, ending her list on a question.
"I knew there was a reason that I married you."
"I thought it was for my body."
"If you're going to use that body to fetch me beer, then yeah, I'm a lucky man," Luke said easily as he stretched the hammock to the opposite tree.
"Pig."
"Fine, lucky pig," he answered with a shrug.
"That's why I call you Babe," she retorted as she headed for the stairs.
Luke held the ropes in his hands as he watched her walk away, her hips swaying as her feet twisted in the powdery sand. "Hey! Don't forget to bring my shoes back down," he called after her. Lorelai simply raised one hand in acknowledgement, but did not turn back. Luke grinned and looked around to be sure that no one was near before letting loose with a loud wolf whistle.
Lorelai turned and flashed a brilliant smile as he stuck his tongue out and acted like he was panting. "You are a pig," she called back as she slipped her feet into his over-sized sandals and gave her hair a haughty toss as she started up the steps. On the third step she lost a sandal and stumbled forward, catching herself on the stairs above. When she heard his laugh, she could no longer restrain hers, the sound of it trailing down to the beach as she abandoned the sandal and started hot-footing it up the stairs. "Ooh! Ooh! Ow! Ah! Ah! Ooh!"
When she returned twenty minutes later, Lorelai had a large beach bag stuffed with towels and other necessities slung over her shoulder, and a small cooler clutched in her hands. She could see Luke's feet crossed at the ankles, and the tips of his elbows peeking out from the edges of the hammock. "Hey, you lazy bum," she called as she crossed the sand.
"Yep," he answered unapologetically as he lowered his hands from behind his head and rested them on his stomach. He craned his neck, searching her out as she approached. He smiled with he saw the cooler and said, "You're a fine little woman."
"What's with you today?" she asked as she dropped the load near the hammock.
Luke shrugged and smiled up at her. "Relaxed, happy, ready for a nap."
"I see," Lorelai muttered as she dug various tubes of sunscreen from the bag. "Slather me up?"
"My pleasure," he answered as he rolled up off of the hammock and stood up in once graceful move.
"You should at least have the common decency to fall out of that thing."
"Next time," he promised as he reached for the sunscreen. He squeezed a generous amount into his palm and then rubbed his hands together as she turned her back to him. "You should find something to use for a drawbridge. Drawbridges are cool."
Lorelai closed her eyes as his strong hands began to massage the lotion into her shoulders and upper back. "You gonna help?"
Luke shook his head. "I'm supervising."
"From your hammock?"
"Yep." He took a little more lotion and began to work it into her lower back, slipping his fingers up under the strap of her bikini top to be sure that she didn't end up crispy around the edges. He slid his hands down to the top of her bikini bottoms and used the same pretense to dip his fingers under the elastic. "Right here," he murmured.
"Hmm?"
"Remind me later that I like this spot right here," he said as he ran his fingers just above the curve of her bottom.
"Okay," she said with a slow smile.
"You want me to do your front too?" he offered.
Lorelai's smile grew as she said, "You are too sweet, but I think I can handle it."
Luke shrugged as he stepped back and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Just thought I'd offer."
"Let me get your back and then you can get back to being lazy."
"Thank you." Luke turned and waited for the feel of her hands on his skin, but instead he felt a cool glob of lotion drop between his shoulder blades and shuddered. "I was nice," he growled.
Lorelai grinned as she began to spread the lotion over his back. "That's what you get for having me fetch you beers."
"You offered," he protested.
"You weren't supposed to take me up on it."
"You have me fetch and carry for you all of the time," he pointed out.
"Yes, but that's your job."
"Not just in the diner."
"It's your job in life, Babe," she teased as she worked the sunscreen into his back. She let her fingers stray to his shoulders and the skim along his sides, outlining the vee shape of him. Then she gabbed two handfuls of his ass, rumpling his trunks in her hands as she pressed her breasts into his back and said, "Right here," causing him to chuckle. "Remind me, okay?"
"I will."
"Thanks," she said as she released him. She plucked the tube of lotion from between her knees and began applying a liberal amount to her arms, chest and neck as Luke stood by passively and watched. "Like what you see?"
"I do enjoy a pretty view," Luke answered, nodding as he echoed the older man's words from early that morning. "And before you call me lazy again, I did offer to help with that. It's not may fault that you rejected me."
Lorelai took another generous amount of lotion and then handed him the tube. "Get your chest. There's face stuff in the bag. Don't forget your ears."
"I'm layin' in the shade," he pointed out.
"Well, you had me do your back. Now if you go out in the sun you'll end up pink on one side and pale on the other."
"I'm not pale," Luke muttered as he looked down at his lightly tanned chest and arms.
After they were suitably coated, Lorelai cajoled Luke into hauling buckets of water to wet the sand in the spot she had chosen for Jake's castle. Leaving her with two more buckets to work with, he opened the cooler and extracted a cold beer. "Want one?"
"Not right now," she answered as she groomed the damp sand with the back of a yellow plastic shovel, preparing the foundation.
"I feel like such a rebel, drinkin' beer in the middle of the day," Luke said with a pleased smirk as he planted his bottle in the sand near the hammock and then lowered himself into it.
"You are a wild thing," Lorelai confirmed.
"A wild and crazy guy," Luke drawled as he dangled one arm over the edge of the hammock, groping through air until he located the neck of the bottle. Lorelai was quiet as he twisted the top off of the bottle and squeezed it between his thumb and forefinger. With a quick flick, he shot the cap at the cavernous beach bag, and smiled as it landed atop a towel peeking over the edge.
"I scared him, didn't I?" Lorelai asked without looking up from the wet sand she was molding.
Luke flinched as he rested the cold bottle on his bare stomach, but held firm, waiting for his heated skin to adjust to the temperature. "Confused him," he said at last. "You scared me."
"I didn't mean to get so nutty."
"I know."
"I can't believe I'm over forty. I never thought I'd be this old."
"Forty isn't old," Luke grumbled.
"I know, it's just, you know, with the little kids…"
"And the other parents are so much younger than us, I know," Luke said with a nod.
Lorelai nodded and returned to her task. When she looked up, she saw a young couple frolicking in the shallow waves just a short distance away. "Do you ever wish you hadn't waited so long?"
Luke didn't have to ask for clarification. He tucked one hand up under his head and turned in her direction. "Would I have gotten to do this with you?"
"I mean in general," she prodded.
"There is no in general, I can't imagine doing this with anyone but you," he answered simply.
"You don't think you would have gotten married and had kids if we had never met," she said doubtfully.
"You forget what I was like before we got together."
"Oh no, I haven't," she laughed.
"I mean, come on, I know I've changed," he said as he pressed his fingers into his bare chest. "And that wasn't just having the kids; that was you and Rory."
"But you don't think you would have changed for someone else?"
"I doubt it," Luke said with a snort.
"I bet you would have."
"No, I can't imagine wanting anyone else that bad."
"So, you changed because you wanted to be with me?"
"Lorelai, you know that I had women in my life that I liked before, one I even loved; but it was nothing like what I felt for you. Even before we got together. I don't know how to explain it any better than that," he said as he waved the bottle of beer with a vague circle of his wrist.
Lorelai wrinkled her nose and said, "I'm not sure that I like that you changed for me."
Luke laughed and then shook his head as he looked away, lifting his hand to his face to rub his cheek. "You're doing this on purpose, right? Just to drive me crazy."
"What?"
"I tell you that you have had possibly the single biggest influence over my life, me as a person, well, other than my parents; and then you tell me that you don't like that? I think you might just be a little too hard to please."
"I don't mean it like that."
"It's not like I said, 'Okay, here's my chance to be with Lorelai, let me start acting like some other guy.' I'm just saying that being with you has changed me some, and I like that even if you don't."
"This is an awfully intense conversation to be having on the beach," she observed.
"I know," he grumbled.
"Maybe it would be easier if you were totally naked," she suggested.
"No, I don't think I would have gotten married and had kids if we had never met," Luke said flatly.
"I don't think I would have either," she confessed. "Sad, huh?"
"Okay, but this is good, right? We both got what we wanted, and we got to do it together."
"Yes, well, doing it together was how they were made," she said solemnly.
"I remember that," Luke murmured. "You want a true confession?" he asked a moment later.
"Yeah. Tell me a secret," she said as she sat back on her heels and looked up at him.
"Sometimes, it makes me sad that we won't have any more kids. And sometimes, the fact that it's, uh, me that can't, it makes me feel a little, um, useless," he told her, wincing a little as he spoke the words aloud.
"Useless? Luke we decided…"
"I know what we decided, Lorelai, and we were right. But, we were talking about irrational feelings. You know you're not old, you know that you look great, but you're looking at women who are younger than you and that makes you feel bad about things. I'm just trying to tell you that sometimes, and it's not all the time, I think about it," he tried to explain.
"You think about having another baby?"
"Not really, just that fact that we can't. I can't." He looked up at the nearly cloudless blue sky and tried to figure out a way to explain. "You are beautiful. And sexy. There are a thousand beautiful sexy things about you," he said, his low voice almost smothered by the waves lapping at the shore. "But you are never more beautiful or sexy to me as when I see you being a mom. Their mom; Rory, the little kids," he said as he turned to look at her again. Luke took a deep breath and confessed, "These last couple of weeks reminded my of when we were trying to get pregnant, and how upset we would be, how disappointed we were when it didn't happen as fast as we wanted it to, and it scared me. You can be so single minded when you decide that you want something, and that's not a bad thing, but then sometimes I see you like you were the other day when we went to pick the kids up at day camp."
"The other day?" Lorelai asked with a perplexed frown.
"With the baby; Mallory's little brother," he said with a shrug.
Lorelai smiled, noticing how he could remember every kid in Carly's camp group's name, but not their mom's. "Melanie's little boy. Mark is his name."
"Lots of M's," Luke grumbled.
"What about it?"
Luke shrugged and said, "You are the best mom I have ever seen, and I'm not just saying that. You always have been. You let your kids know that you aren't perfect, and you make it okay for them to not be perfect."
"And that's a good thing?" she teased.
"I think so. I'd hate to be married to one of those women with the husband that wears the khaki and golf shirt uniform and whose kids have to always be perfectly pressed."
"I'm trying to picture you in the golf shirt and khakis. It might be kind of fun if we're feeling kinky one night. I'll pouf my hair into a helmet and wear an appliquéd sweater, and unzip those khakis with my teeth. All without smudging my lipstick, of course," she said with a laugh.
"Of course," he said lightly.
"You like that idea?" she teased.
"I like you," he stated simply. Luke turned back to the sky, searching for the answers there. "I know it's irrational, but so is the fact that you worry about other women, so we're even," he said gruffly.
"The idea of you in golf shirts or the idea of another baby?" she asked.
"Both. I saw you holding that baby, and God, you looked so… Perfect," he said at last. "And you are still young, Lorelai. Young enough to have more if you wanted to. And I know that you love being a mom." He took a deep breath and said, "Okay, here's the irrational part. At least, I hope it's irrational."
"Okay," she said slowly.
"Sometimes when I see you like that; holding a baby, or all wrapped up in some scheme with the kids, I worry."
"Worry?"
"Worry that you'll decide that you want that again. Worry because I can't, uh, do that anymore. Well, I could have it reversed, I guess, you always see ads for that stuff," he rambled as he absently drummed his fingers on his stomach. "But I have to think that the odds of that working, and the trouble we've had with getting pregnant before, well, they're pretty slim."
"Luke…"
"And then I start looking around, wondering who would be the guy you'd dump me for," he went on. "I mean, you'd probably have to go outside of Stars Hollow, because let's face it, the pickings are pretty slim, but you'd figure something out, you always do."
"Luke," she tried again.
"And frankly, I like the way things are now. I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to another kid, but I'm not sure that I have the energy for it. Yeah, I miss having a baby around, that smell, those little hands," he trailed off closing his eyes. "But I don't miss the diapers, or the lack of sleep, or the ear infections that make you feel like complete crap because you can't do a damn thing because they can't tell you what's wrong."
Lorelai pushed to her feet, heedless of the sand that clung to her knees and shins.
"I'd be okay with adopting, though, I think. You know, one of those babies from China that people are always bringing home like they picked them up at Wal-Mart. I'd be like Brad Pitt, if you wanted me to be," he said. Luke sensed her standing over him, but didn't open his eyes.
"I don't want another baby," she told him bluntly.
"You don't?" he asked as he peeked up at her cautiously, blinking as the bright sunshine made spots dance in front of his eyes.
"Wow, you are irrational," she said with a small smile.
Luke chuckled softly and then said, "Takes one to know one."
"Shove over, I'm getting in," she warned.
"There's not room," he protested.
"I'm getting in," she insisted as she plucked the bottle from his hand and planted it in the sand.
"We'll tip over," Luke said as he lowered his legs to either side of the hammock to steady it.
"Then I'm taking you down with me," Lorelai answered as she bent down, pressing her chest to his as she kissed him. She lifted her feet from the sand and the hammock swayed precariously.
****
The sides of the hammock bowed up, cocooning them in a world of their own, hidden from view but for the laced fingers that dangled over the edge.
"Thank you for being as crazy as me," she whispered as she nipped at his earlobe.
"No one is as crazy as you."
"You are. You confessed," she reminded him. "I'm glad that I got to do it with you," she whispered, smiling at her own double entendre.
"The things you make me do," he murmured as his fingers tightened on hers.
"Yes, I forced you," she said with a laugh.
"I'm crazy about you."
"Obviously."
"I've made no secret of it," Luke replied with a small shrug.
"So, you're crazy, I'm crazy and we're raising a passel of crazy kids," she summarized.
"Sounds about right."
Lorelai sighed contentedly as she snuggled into his neck. "This feels so good."
"Yeah."
"I don't even mind that you got me all sweaty."
Luke chuckled and said, "Maybe you got me all sweaty."
"We could swim," she said lazily.
"In a little while."
"Happy?" she asked.
"Contented," he replied.
"Good."
The hammock swayed gently as the warm breeze washed over them. Luke closed his eyes, letting the sound of the waves washing ashore cleanse away the last vestiges of doubt that had lingered between them. "Lorelai?" he whispered as he felt her breathing grow slow and even.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing," he breathed with a small smile as her body pressed warm and lax against his.
****
"You're charring it," Luke pointed out.
"It's Cajun," she said with a shrug as she lifted the long stick from the flames and touched the hot dog gingerly before sucking her finger into her mouth to soothe it.
Luke smirked as he leaned back on one elbow and watched her in the firelight. "An inside the park home run," he mused. "That's my boy."
Lorelai snorted and said, "Yes, that's quite an accomplishment when the outfielders have a hard time throwing the ball more than ten feet."
"Hey, it's still a homer."
"Dad said he was all a-swagger."
"As he should be," Luke agreed. "Of course, he'll be tormenting Jake with it for months."
"Of course," Lorelai concurred as she took a tentative bite of her still impaled dinner.
"I wish Carly would talk," he said as he traced a lazy circle in the sand.
"The phone baffles her. Don't worry, she'll outgrow that soon enough and you'll be screaming for her to hang up."
"I suppose."
"You want me to roast one for you?" Lorelai offered.
"I'll do it in a little bit."
Lorelai nodded and took another bite of her hot dog. "I'm glad you remembered to ask Bob to stock the weenies."
"Would you stop calling them that?"
"Nope," she answered with a happy grin.
"I have fond memories of a night spent on the beach," he said in a deep, sexy voice.
"Me too," Lorelai confirmed as she drew her knees up under the t-shirt she had purloined from him.
"You're stretching it out," he pointed out gruffly.
"I'll get you a new one." Lorelai took another bite and then stared into the fire as she chewed. "Jake sounded better."
"Yeah."
"I actually think he was just as excited about Joshie's hit as Josh was."
"The best of friends, the worst of enemies," Luke said with a smirk.
"So true."
"We can't stay up too late, someone is making me go fishing at the crack of dawn," she said quietly.
Luke nodded and turned to look at the sand castle they had completed and painstakingly photographed. "You know that we'll have to build two more," he warned.
"Three, and I have the architectural plans in my head," she assured him as she pulled the last of her hit dog from the stick and popped it into her mouth.
"Right, three more," he said with a nod. "We'll have to get down to Philly when we get back."
"Yeah, I'm bummed that we couldn't get there before we left," she admitted. She handed the long stick over to him and raised one eyebrow challengingly.
"We'll get there," he promised, sitting up with a sigh.
Luke pulled a hot dog from the package and placed it on the pointed end of the stick. They stared into the fire, watching as he held it just above the flames that licked at it greedily. When it was roasted to perfection, he pulled it from the fire and pursed his lips and blew on it gently to cool it. Lorelai smiled as he waited patiently for a minute, and then removed it from the stick. He broke the hot dog in two and turned to her as he silently offered her half.
Lorelai reached for her half, daintily lifting it from his fingers as she whispered, "I love you too."
****
"Man that's huge!" Luke said as he stood back and admired the fish that Chester, their neighbor from the beach, had landed.
"That's what she said," Lorelai gasped, earning a puzzled and then amused look from Jean as they sat under the canopy watching the men be men.
"I've had bigger," Chester answered as he inspected the fish.
"That's what she said," Lorelai said again, and then dissolved into giggles.
"Do I want to know?" Jean asked.
"It's from a TV show," Lorelai tried to explain. "When someone says something unintentionally dirty, you say, 'That's what she said' to make it dirtier."
"Ah, I see."
"Be patient, you'll get yours," Chester told Luke.
"That's what she said," Lorelai murmured as she shook her head. "Fishing is so dirty."
Jean laughed and said, "I suppose it can be."
"What can be?" Luke asked as he ducked his head under the canopy and headed for the galley.
"Fishing is dirty," Lorelai told him.
"Everything in your world is dirty," Luke grumbled as he ducked down into the cabin.
Lorelai turned back to Jean, carefully keeping her expression neutral as she said, "It's true, I'm very dirty."
Jean laughed and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "I think women are worse than men when it comes to that stuff."
"You may be right," Lorelai conceded.
"Do I want to know?" Luke asked as he emerged from the cabin with an armload of cold water bottles.
"Nope."
"Carry on," he said as he skirted past them, returning to his cohorts.
"He looks good," Jean commented.
"Stop ogling my husband."
Jean smiled and said, "Well, I am a woman." She turned to Lorelai and said, "You both look good. Happy."
Lorelai's smile was shy as she ducked her head, nodding slightly. "We're contented," she murmured.
"That's good."
"I think so." Lorelai turned to her friend and asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Eh, I'm okay," Jean said with a shrug.
"You aren't fishing today?"
Jean shook her head and said, "I don't fish much anymore. My hands. I can't grip the pole that hard."
"That sucks," Lorelai grimaced as she glanced down at Jean's swollen knuckles.
"It does, but I get around pretty good most days, so I can't complain. My ankles were giving me trouble a few months ago. Bob had to wheel me around for a few weeks until I went on this new medication." She sighed and said, "Now I can walk, but I can't sit in the sun."
"Stupid trade offs," Lorelai muttered.
Jean smiled and said, "Look at where I'm living, Lorelai. It's a long way from West Orange."
"True."
The women watched as the men checked their lines, occasionally turning to mutter something to one another, and then lapsing into silence. "Chester has had a rough year. I'm glad to see him out and about," Jean told her.
"He seems sweet."
"He's a darling. His wife, Betty, is too. She's wheelchair bound, you know," Jean reported.
"No, I've never met either of them."
Jean nodded and said, "Has been for years, car crash. I went crazy after a couple of weeks, and she's stuck in one all the time." She shook her head sadly and said, "Chester has always taken care of her, so when he had to have his knees done, all of the year-rounders pitched in to help them out. They had, you know, a nurse that came in at first. Bob would haul him over to St. Thomas for his therapy, but he wouldn't go stay over there because Betty wouldn't be comfortable. She has glaucoma and has lost much of her vision."
"That's awful, but sweet that everyone helped," Lorelai murmured.
"Yes, well, it sounds better than it was, I'm sure," Jean chuckled. "Like having your house overrun by a village of idiots."
Lorelai smiled as she turned to her and said, "I know how that is." She studied the three men; each separated by a decade or two, but united in their quest to land the big one. "Maybe one of these nights we can have you and Bob and Chester and Betty over for dinner," she mused.
Jean smiled and said, "You're supposed to be on your second honeymoon, not hanging around with people old enough to be your parents and grandparents."
Lorelai grinned and said, "You don't think Luke and I can finagle a little honeymooning around dinner?"
Jean snorted and said, "I bet you can."
"I'll talk to Luke about it," Lorelai said with a decisive nod.
Jean smiled, knowing that there wouldn't be much of a fight on Luke's side. "You'll like Betty; she has a wicked sense of humor."
"Well, that seals it then," Lorelai confirmed. "Luke tries awfully hard, but his snark doesn't bite."
"Snark?"
Lorelai grinned and said, "Oh, Jean, you have so much to learn."
****
That night, Lorelai lit a cluster of small votive candles at each end of the patio table. She straightened the place setting that she had bumped out of alignment, and then stepped back to survey her work. Her sundress swirled around her calves as she turned to head back into the villa, the lowering sun casting long shadows across the pool deck.
"I think we're all set out here," she said as she stepped through the sliding door.
"Good. Most everything is ready here, I'll put the fish on the grill while everyone has their drinks," Luke confirmed as he covered a pot of rice with a lid.
"My mother has trained you well," Lorelai teased as she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her chin to the back of his shirt. They both jumped as they heard a loud crashing noise at the front of the house.
"What the hell?" Luke muttered as he disentangled himself from her arms and hurried to the front door. He yanked it open to see Bob arranging a narrow strip of plywood over the stairs. "Oh," he said as he stood poised in the doorway.
Bob smiled up at him and said, "Chester keeps them in his minivan. There aren't too many accessible places once you get away from town."
"Let me help," Luke said as he followed the older man to the van parked in front.
"Let me tell ya, it's a damn good thing you're as blind as a bat," Chester was saying to Betty. "This Luke kid, he's nothin' to look at," he said as he gave Luke a sly wink.
"Oh, he's gorgeous, is he?" Betty answered with a knowing smile.
"Ugly as sin," Chester asserted as he carefully hauled himself from the passenger seat and waited until he was sure his legs were under them before circling the back of the van.
"You aren't so pretty either," Luke grumbled to the older man as he hefted a piece of plywood planking from the open hatch.
"He sounds handsome," Betty said to Jean.
"You know better than to listen to that jealous old fool you married," Jean said as she gathered her purse and Betty's.
Chester unfolded her wheelchair as Lorelai supervised the construction efforts from the porch. When all was in place, she skirted the ramp and made her way down to the van. "Hi!" she called out cheerfully as she bypassed the men and headed directly for the van.
"See now, that's heartbreaking to a fella," Chester mumbled as she almost passed him by.
"Oh, sorry," Lorelai said as she grinned at him. "Hiya, handsome."
"Hello," he said with a wispy chuckle.
"I didn't want to get you in trouble," she whispered loudly.
"That's okay, I think my girl is eying your guy," he told her. "Too bad she doesn't believe me when I tell her how ugly he is."
"Hideous," Lorelai said with a firm nod. "Definitely paper bag worthy," she said as she moved to the open doorway of the van. "You must be Betty," she said warmly.
"Hello, Lorelai," the older woman answered with a smile as she offered her hand. "Thank you for having us, this is a treat."
"It will be fun," Lorelai answered as she held the old woman's hand carefully in hers. "I made a blender full of the fruity frou-frou drinks that Luke hates."
"Wonderful!" Betty said enthusiastically. "More for us."
"That was what I was thinking."
"I like you already. Too bad you had to marry such a homely man."
"It is sad," Lorelai agreed.
"Are we ready, ladies?" Bob asked as he approached, ready to lift Betty from the van.
"Bob, darling, you know I love you, but why don't you let me get a handful of the young one? I mean, you shouldn't strain your back," she amended with a sly smile.
Lorelai giggled as Luke hovered behind her, clearly uncomfortable.
"Fine, I know when I'm being dumped," Bob laughed as he stepped aside. "Luke, this is Betty; she's armed and dangerous."
At Lorelai's gentle prodding, Luke stepped forward, a flush staining his cheeks as he took the tiny woman's delicate hand in his. "Nice to meet you," he said gruffly.
"Oh, don't fret, I'm really fairly harmless," she assured him. "Give me a lift?" she asked as she raised the armrest to allow him better access.
"Uh, sure," Luke said as he slipped his arm under her thin legs and lifted her carefully from the van.
"Okay, okay, that's enough," Chester said as Luke settled her in the chair her husband held. "Are you happy now? You've had your thrill?"
"Yes," Betty answered as she folded her hands into her lap primly. As they made their way into the house, she craned her neck and called, "Lorelai?"
"Yes?"
"Describe your fella for me. He felt strong, is he strong?"
Luke gave her hand a warning squeeze, and Lorelai smiled. "Oh, he is. He's about four-eleven, built like a fireplug and bald as a cue ball," she answered. "But once you get past the tragic adult acne and the unsightly scars from the flamethrower accident, he's not bad."
"You're a wonderful liar," Betty answered with a tinkling laugh as they entered the house.
"Thank you," Lorelai replied with an impish grin.
"I hear that you weigh four hundred pounds and have a moustache," Betty said as Luke directed them through to the terrace.
"Yes, Luke is jealous of my ability to grow facial hair."
"And, there are four children? Who do they take after?" she asked as they stepped back out into the sultry evening air.
"Well, luckily our oldest, Rory, is Luke's step-daughter, so after extensive plastic surgery and with religious waxing, she actually goes out into public without scaring small children. The little ones, though, there's no hope for them."
"Well, perhaps if you keep them away from flamethrowers," Betty asserted with a nod.
"Maybe. Now, who wants an umbrella in their drink?" she asked.
Luke rolled his eyes as all three women raised their hands, and then Chester lifted his. "Really?" he asked the older man.
"If it helps me hang on to my bride, I'm all for it," Chester said with a nod as he claimed the chair next to Betty's and took her hand in his.
"Charmer," she whispered in his direction.
****
"That was nice," Lorelai said as Luke climbed into bed next to her.
"Yeah."
Lorelai looked over at him as he snuggled down into his pillow. "We could be like that; married for most of our lives."
"That's the plan."
Lorelai scooted down into her pillow and turned on her side, hooking her leg over his hip. "I'm not sure which one was the bigger flirt."
"Betty," he answered promptly.
"You warmed up to it after a bit," she observed.
"You can't help it. She could give Patty lessons."
Lorelai smiled and smoothed the curls at the nape of his neck. "I want that," she said softly.
"What?"
"To be old and half-broken down and still so crazy about you that I can't keep my eyes off of you."
"You noticed that too?"
"She can barely see, but she could home in on him like a beacon."
"Yeah."
"I like the grey in your beard," she whispered as she ran her hand over his scruffy cheek.
"Good, because there's more and more of it."
"Grow old with me?"
"I told you, that was the plan," he said as he blinked at her slowly.
"I like a man with a plan," she said quietly. "Worn out?"
"Yeah."
"Me too," she said as she kissed him softly and then turned onto her side, waiting until he curled around her, fitting his knees into the backs of hers.
Luke pulled her closer and pressed a sweet kiss to her riotous curls. "My bride," he said in a warm, husky voice, and then closed his eyes.