The next night, it was just Luke and Rory in the house. The three of them had spent the night of the engagement celebrating and spending time together as a family, but Sookie had insisted that Lorelai come over for a celebratory meal and a glass of wine the following evening after seeing her ring that morning at work. Rory was in her bedroom with the door open working on some homework when Luke tapped his knuckles against the doorframe.
"Hey kid, any thoughts on dinner?"
"If you promise not to tell anyone, I could eat a salad."
"Are you feeling alright? Do I need to take you to a doctor?" He asked sarcastically.
"Hey, that's exactly why you can't tell anyone. I have the Gilmore Legacy to uphold.
"I can make your secret salad," he smiled at her. "What are you working on?"
"Just some history stuff. I'm done for the night, actually. Want some help with dinner?"
"Sure," he said, stepping aside so she could step out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. She headed straight for the fridge and started pulling out vegetables, while Luke reached for a package of raw chicken and spread some olive oil into a pan to cook it. There was a comfortable silence for a while, and when Luke looked over and saw Rory chopping up the lettuce and sliding it into a large bowl, he couldn't help but feel his heart rush with pride and gratitude that this incredible young woman had allowed him into her life as she had.
"Hey, Rory…" he said, and she quickly turned to look at her, noticing the change in the tone of her voice.
"Yeah?" She asked nervously.
"I asked your mom to marry me," he started, and Rory laughed a little, the nervousness falling out of her face.
"You did," she chuckled.
"And that's a pretty big commitment."
"One of the biggest, I'd say."
"And uh, your mom got a ring but I figured she wasn't the only one who should get something shiny out of all of this." He said, sliding a box across the kitchen counter towards Rory. She opened it to reveal a small diamond pendant necklace and looked up at him, smiling. "I figured that ring that I put on your mom's finger shows a pretty big commitment, and I wanted you to have something that shows that, too."
"You didn't have to do this," she said appreciatively.
"I wanted to. I want you and this whole town to know how committed I am to you and your mom. And I like spoiling my girls. You deserve to be spoiled," he smiled.
"And spoiled we are." She smiled.
"And you'll continue to be for as long as I can help it."
"Thank you for this, Dad. I love it. And I love it even more for what it means. Would you, uh, would you put it on me?"
"Oh, sure, of course." He said, crossing the room and standing behind her as she pulled her hair up off of her neck. She felt the diamond settle against her collarbone and the chain followed suit on her neck. "You're all set," Luke told her softly and she turned around, putting her arms around him and pulling her into a hug, which he returned, realizing that he didn't have to crouch like he did when she was small. When she stepped away he was struck by how grown up she looked, with the diamond around her neck and her hair in loose waves as a result of the abandoned French braid from that morning at school. "Whatever happened to the little girl who begged me to attend a caterpillar's funeral?" Luke murmured, more to himself than to her as he turned back to the pan.
"What was that?" Rory asked, knowing full well what he'd said but wondering if he'd own up to it.
"Oh, nothing," he dismissed, confirming her suspicions as they went back to the meal prep.
"I hardly had to beg," she argued.
"Ah geez," he said. "Of course you didn't have to beg, you went straight to the pout. How could anyone say no to the pout?"
"I hate to break it to you, Dad, but you're more susceptible to the pout than anyone else in town."
"I think I can live with that. Get us a couple of plates, will you?" He requested as he put a couple of forks and knives on the table for them to eat. They set the table and sat down, eating in a comfortable silence. Luke wasn't much of a talker, and unlike her mother, Rory didn't feel the need to fill every silence with as many words as possible.
"Hey, how was your calculus test?" Luke asked, remembering the event that had inspired violent pencil throwing and subsequent pie-consumption in the diner a few days earlier.
"It went okay. I got a 93."
"That sounds more than just okay to me," Luke told her, knowing that Rory would take any opportunity she could to be hard on herself for her grades. She was just like her mother: always looking at her shortcomings and never at all of her accomplishments, and it killed him that they did that to themselves.
"Yeah, I mean, it's an A, so I should be happy, but I lost a couple of points for stupid errors like subtracting wrong. And the AP test isn't going to be as forgiving as my teacher is."
"I'd say getting 90% of the problems right on the AP test would put you in pretty good shape."
"Yeah, you're probably right. I understand calculus. I don't need to stress about it."
"Wow, all of my constant platitudes have finally gotten through to you."
"I guess they have," she teased.
"Eat some fruit salad, it's good for you," he said, passing her the bowl of mixed fruits he'd cut up earlier. She knew better than to argue, and scooped a few strawberries onto her plate.
"I think I've eaten more healthy food in the months since you and mom got together than I did in my entire life beforehand."
"Yeah, well, jokes on you, because i've been putting vegetables into the patties of your burgers for years," Luke admitted, immediately realizing the mistake he'd made.
"No!" Rory gasped. "Oh, my god. You'd better make sure mom never finds out. The wedding would be so off," Rory teased.
"The wedding would not be off," he said, knowing she was joking. "I spent way too much time with you two not in my life to let either of you walk away now,"
"Agreed." Rory said, taking their empty plates and putting them into the sink, turning the water on and running over them with the soap and sponge as Luke cleared the table.