Chapter 37

Lorelai Gilmore and Luke Danes were probably some of the most humorous parents Stars Hollow had ever seen. They were full of anxiety and always worrying. It was a town favorite to watch those two fuss over their baby. The fussing usually consisted of Luke freaking out because he had no baby experience, and Lorelai getting annoyed because she didn't think it should be so hard. Lorelai's postpartum depression week had been even funnier.

"I'm never going to fit into that dress!" She cried when she saw her reflection in the mirror. Because of her size she had been reduced to wearing modest bras. Her underwear looked skimpy because of how her stomach hanged. She had gained weight after giving birth. She had to lose 28 pounds now. That wasn't a lot to lose for someone else, but when all of the weight is in your stomach and chest, it seemed like a big deal.

"You will," Luke said. Putting his hands on her shoulders. But she shook them off.

"Don't look at me!" She cried, and then she locked herself in the bathroom.

Luke didn't know how to act. He had an emotional hurricane fiancée and a newborn son who's crying signs Luke wasn't privy to. He needed to go to work, but he could hear Lorelai crying in the shower. He didn't think she'd be up for watching the baby by herself. He could call Babette or Sookie to come help, but he knew Lorelai would get upset. She had already yelled at him for taking a nap while he was supposed to be taking care of the baby.

Lorelai felt weird about Luke, she wasn't used to having help. When Rory had been a baby, Christopher had stopped by every once and a while. But he hadn't been a dedicated parent like her. Luke was there, a lot. He spent every night at her house. But, most of his stuff still hadn't transferred over. Was he always going to be there or not?

Lorelai thought that things had changed when April had shown up to the hospital. Luke describing her as non-emotional hadn't been entirely true. She hadn't gone over the top like Rory had, but she did smile really big when she saw L.J. She asked to hold him, and she looked like she'd been won over. She talked politely to Lorelai, as if it wasn't weird that they hardly knew each other. Luke and Anna scheduled dates for April to come over to the house to see L.J, even.

But, she and April hadn't really gotten to know each other. It didn't seem like April really knew how bound to each other Lorelai and Luke were. April mostly paid attention to her dad and brother. Lorelai felt like she was being excluded from her own family.

Emily hadn't been much help. She'd come to the house uninvited one of the days April was visiting. Emily acted like April wasn't there. She just hovered near the baby, waiting for her own private time to see him. This was all driving Lorelai nuts.

"No more visitors!" Lorelai told Luke. She was wearing one of Luke's shirts, sweatpants, and her hair was a mess. "It needs to just be you and me!"

"Okay!" Luke said, trying to calm her down. L.J was two weeks old now. Luke had gotten a little better at knowing how to take care of the baby. But Lorelai was on edge.

"I just need this house to be as quiet as possible," Lorelai said, in a quieter voice to prove what she meant. She went over to L.J's crib to pick him up, it was time to feed. The one thing about babies Luke still hadn't gotten used to. He could handle crying and dirty diapers. But watching Lorelai breast feed was still unworldly.

"Could you not stare at me like I'm a freak show?" Lorelai asked tensely.

"Oh, sorry," Luke said, shaking his stare off his face.

"You've got to get over your aversion to breast feeding," Lorelai said.

"I know," Luke admitted. "It's just, I spent so many years…well…"

"Being a traditionalist?" Lorelai asked. "Can't she go find a barn or a bathroom or something?" Lorelai said in her imitation of Luke's voice. "If it offends you, put a blanket over your head!" Lorelai said, but then smiled. She was in a better mood now, because she was getting to tease him.

Luke smiled back at her. When the baby was done, Luke took the baby and placed him back in his crib.

"How soon until he can hold his own head up?" Luke asked. Holding L.J carefully always tensed Luke. Lorelai always compared him to a football player.

"About two months," Lorelai told him.

"Can't wait for that," Luke said.

Lorelai looked around her bedroom. It was a mess. The bed was violently unmade, from all the times she and Luke hurriedly jumped out of bed to attend to their son's needs. Clothes were discarded on the floor, because in their tired states they'd just slept in their underwear, or didn't bother picking up after themselves.

"We need to get out of here for a bit," Lorelai told Luke.

"It's too cold to take L.J out of the house," Luke reminded her.

"I mean just the two of us," Lorelai told him.

"You want to get a babysitter right this second?" Luke asked. "It's already 8 pm."

"Not right now," Lorelai told him. "I mean soon."

"Okay, what do you suggest?" Luke asked.

"Rory called earlier to invite us to Martha's Vineyard." Lorelai told him. Luke raised his eyebrows. That was a long trip for just getting away for a little bit. "I told her we probably could only do a day visit," Lorelai added. "L.J would need a babysitter, I don't think he'd like going on a ferry. He's far too young for too much stimulation."

"Shouldn't we aim for something simpler?" Luke asked.

"Like what?" Lorelai asked.

Luke had no answer for that.

"Okay," Luke said, straightening up. "We are going to Martha's Vineyard."

"Great!" Lorelai said, hugging Luke. "They've invited us for Valentine's Weekend."

"Shoot," Luke thought. He'd forgotten all about Valentine's Day. He realized she must have known that, which was why she took it upon herself to plan something for them. Luke was an awful fiancé.