Scoring Points
He slept on it for one night, dreaming of the green monster and not even caring as one after another the Sox belted every one of his pitches over the wall. After all, it was only batting practice. Sleeping on it was the only smart thing to do. Lorelai had come home in a mood that night, and if Luke had learned one thing in seven years of marriage it was to give Lorelai wide berth when she was in a mood.
The next day seemed a little more promising. She stopped into the diner after dropping the kids off at school and daycare; her smile bright, her step light. Unfortunately, the diner was also packed, and there was no way he was going to risk having half of the town witness the possible showdown. Instead, he spent the rest of the day laying the groundwork. And that is how, like any red-blooded American male, Luke Danes set out to woo an evening at Fenway from his wife.
First, there was the mixed bouquet of autumn colored flowers that he and Carly hand delivered to the Dragonfly under the pretense that Carly had spotted them at the florist and insisted that her mommy needed them. While the story was not entirely true, it wasn't wholly false, either. Carly had pointed to the bouquet when they passed the florist's shop. When Luke asked her if she thought that they should get the flowers and take them to Mommy, Carly wholeheartedly agreed. And when Lorelai buried her face in the vibrant blooms, Carly knocked it out of the park by dancing a circle around Lorelai while singing, 'Pritty, pritty flowahs!' at the top of her lungs. For that, she earned a teeny-tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream. Before dinner.
Dinner. He had his secret weapon locked and loaded into a slow cooker, simmering away on the kitchen counter. By the time Lorelai arrived home that evening, the house would be redolent with the mouth watering aroma of pot roast cooked with potatoes, carrots and onion. It may not be entirely fair to use her beloved pot roast against her, but Luke was confident that in the end it would be a win-win for both of them. And even if she didn't see it that way, there was a boysenberry pie cooling in the diner's kitchen that he figured would seal the deal.
As his day crept past the twelve hour mark, Luke stayed focused and on task. He passed hours thirteen through sixteen by refereeing homework time with the boys and playing lifeguard as Carly swam laps in the bathtub. He carried on with their usual routine. There were books read, kisses dispensed, and blankets tucked. And then he really went to work.
From the moment he stepped into their bedroom, he was in the zone. He kept his eye on the ball. He swung for the fences. He rounded first and headed for second relying only on the frantic signals from the third base coach; signals that sent her pajama top flying to the top of his dresser and her pants pooling to her ankles. He attacked with a ferocity fueled by box seats behind home plate, slicing through her defenses and letting her fly. Once, twice, three times she touched home before he completed his grand slam, capturing her breathless cheers with his mouth as the post-game euphoria eased into the glow of certain victory.
Lorelai curled against him, her fingertips trailing through the soft hairs on his chest as their breathing slowed. Her lips curved into a lazy smile as she rubbed her leg against his and asked in a languid tone, "So, what do you want?"
Luke blinked, his drowsy eyes suddenly popping wide open. "Huh?"
"This was a lot of work for a random Wednesday night," she said as she turned to look up at him. "Either you're having an affair and this was guilt sex to go along with my guilt pot roast and guilt flowers, or you want something."
"I'm, not having an affair," he growled as he pressed her head back down to his chest.
"Then you want something. You want it bad enough to bake a boysenberry pie."
"I always bake you pies."
"When I beg."
"I don't make you beg."
"Yes, you do. It's out thing, our shtick. I beg, you bake. That's the way it works."
"I just thought you'd like a pie," he said defensively as he knew that he was going to be called out on strikes.
"I do like pie. I love pie. I love pot roast and I love flowers and I love you," she said with a nod. "Especially when you do that thing you do with your tongue," Lorelai added with a contented sigh.
"I love doing that thing with my tongue," he answered, his voice low and raspy as he pressed a kiss to her hair.
"Don't start again, I'm worn out," she laughed.
"Just kissing," he replied innocently as his fingers traced the curve of her spine. And then he resigned himself to going down without even swinging.
Lorelai sighed as she nuzzled the soft hair on his chest. "You don't want anything?"
"Just you."
"Good answer." Lorelai stretched, pressing her body along the length of his and reveling in the feel of his bare skin against hers. "We should get dressed and roll over," she murmured with a regretful sigh.
"Yeah," he agreed, returning her sigh as he watched the final strike whiz past him.
****
"So, they want me to fly down there to interview next week," Rory said as she crawled into bed next to Jess.
"Yeah?" Jess murmured as his eyes flew down the page of the book propped on his stomach. He shoved a gas station receipt into the binding and closed the cover, tossing it onto his nightstand as he glanced over at her. "You taking the Lear or you gonna rub elbows with the great unwashed?"
"Ha ha," she grumbled as she rearranged her pillows.
Jess rolled onto his side, his smile widening as he reached for her and hauled her closer to him. "Commere, Princess."
"Stop it," she groaned.
"But it's fun," he answered with a grin.
"It's getting really old." Rory wriggled away, pressing against his chest to free herself from his grasp.
"Aw, come one, Miz Hilton," he cajoled as he rolled on top of her, pinning her to the bed. "Let's make a sex tape. I hear all the heiresses are doing it."
"Get off of me," she laughed as she flailed ineffectually at his shoulders.
"I'll be the pool boy and you can seduce me," he teased as he ducked his head and nibbled at her neck. "I bet you wear those really high heels with your skimpy bikinis," he murmured.
"I wear rubber flip flops I bought at Wal-Mart with my Speedo racer-back one piece."
"We're never getting one of those little yappy dogs that you can put in a purse, I'm just telling you now," he whispered, his breath warm and moist against her ear.
Rory shivered beneath the heat of his body. "You can't stop me," she whispered.
"Joint checking," he answered as he gently bit her earlobe. "I'll know, and I'll call an exterminator."
"I knew I should have gone for the pre-nup. Now I know you're only after me for my money."
Jess smiled as he pulled back slightly. His hand slipped up under her top, his fingers gliding lazily over her warm skin as he shook his head. "Your body. I was after your body. The money was just a bonus," he told her solemnly.
"Couldn't have been love," she said as she gazed up at him wide eyed.
"Nah. Love is for sissies."
"Right."
"I'm no sissy," Jess said as he returned to the crook of her neck.
"No," Rory breathed as his tongue drew delicate patterns against her skin. "I might love you, though," she admitted with a sigh.
"It's okay for you to be a sissy." Jess gently pressed his lips to the smooth skin of her collarbone.
"I want you to be one with me."
Jess looked up, his sooty lashes fringing heavily lidded dark eyes. "Yes, ma'am. Whatever you want, ma'am."
Rory's smile was slow as she arched her neck and pulled him back down to her forcefully. "I love it when you call me ma'am," she sighed as he kissed his way along the collar of her pajama top. "Take it off."
"Yes, ma'am."
****
"Stop telling them how cute they look," Luke grumbled as he climbed out of the car.
"They look adorable," Lorelai retorted as she unbuckled Carly's seatbelt.
"They look tough. Natural born killers," Luke said, nodding as he helped each of the heavily padded twins down from the car.
Lorelai scoffed, "They do not look like Woody Harrelson."
"Ignore her," Luke advised as he opened the lift gate and retrieved their helmets. "You look tough. Like you could blow right past all those other guys."
Lorelai raised her eyebrows as she glanced down at their pristine uniforms. "Yes, as tough at guys can look when their butts are only six inches wide."
"Here," Luke said as he held out one of the folding camp chairs he had loaded into the back.
"What?"
"Can you hold it for me?" he asked impatiently.
"Oh, yeah. I was just afraid you wanted me to fold or unfold something," she said as he draped the straps on the other three carrying cases over his shoulder. "Whoa. How long are we staying?"
"I thought your parents would be more comfortable in these than on the bleachers."
Lorelai eyed the folding chair nestled snugly into its bags dubiously before strapping it over her shoulder. "I can't wait to see this," she muttered as they started across the gravel parking lot.
"Should be fun."
"I meant I can't wait to see my mother get eaten by this folding chair. You know, like Snoopy on the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving."
"Noopy!" Carly squealed as she skipped along clutching Lorelai's hand.
"I know, I love 'Noopy," Lorelai agreed with a grin.
"I like it when the bird puts his ear in the toaster," Josh said with a grin as he turned to walk backwards in front of them.
'Yes, well, beagle – bagel, it can be confusing to a bird brain," Lorelai said with an indulgent smile as Luke directed them toward one of the baseball diamonds.
She looked up to find that the faded green outfield had been chalked striped with yard markers and bright oranges cones set up to mark the end zones. She nodded to the sideline where the chalk veered wildly right and then turned in circles before straightening out again. "Kirk?" she asked.
Luke nodded as he dropped the bags next to the bleachers and began to yank the chairs from their cases. "There was a bee after him."
"Poor Kirk," she said with a grin.
"Nobody's here," Jake complained.
Lorelai craned her neck to catch a glimpse at Luke's watch. "Well, that's because were twenty minutes early for being here thirty minutes early," she explained. "Someone gets antsy when he thinks he's going to be rushed."
Luke rolled his eyes and said, "I just figured we'd warm up a little."
"Warm up for the warm ups?" she asked as she dropped down into the first chair he set up. "Wow. This is comfortable." Lorelai leaned back in the camp chair and looked up at the sky. "Much better than bleachers."
"I know what I'm doing," Luke muttered under his breath as he set up the next two chairs and then bent to retrieve the bag she had dropped at her feet.
Minutes later, he had them arranged in a line beside the first row of bleachers, and then pulled a small football from a mesh bag. "Here," he said as he handed it to Josh. "Make him go long."
"I'm throwin' the bomb," Josh called as Jake trotted toward the field.
Luke stood with his hands on his hips, watching as the ball sailed over Jake's head and just past his outstretched fingertips. Luke clapped his together and called after them, "You're throwing to him, not past him. Rein in the gun and put it in his hands."
Lorelai smirked as he dropped down into the chair next to her and pulled a resistant Carly into his lap. "The gun," she snorted. "He threw it about ten feet."
"That's good for his age, plus it was more than ten feet. He had about ten yards on that pass." He scowled down at Carly and asked, "Will it kill ya?"
"Yes," she answered promptly.
"You used to like me," he complained as she scrambled down from his lap.
"I do! I do like you," Carly sang as she danced just out of his reach.
"She's a tease," he grumbled as he sat back in his chair.
"You'll appreciate that someday."
"Stop."
Lorelai smiled as she watched Carly run giddy circles around their chairs. "I'm not a tease," she whispered as she leaned close to him. "I'll do anything you want me to do. Can I sit in your lap?"
"Stop that," he said as he glanced nervously over his shoulder toward the parking area. His chin jerked up as he saw some people wearing Woodbury Wildcats t-shirts climb out of a giant SUV. "We shoulda gotten t-shirts."
"We could make the All Stars fans wear flannel," she suggested as she craned her neck to peek. She saw her father's Jaguar slide into the spot next to the enemy supporters and turned back to Luke. "Should I go meet them? This is going to be kind of a long walk for mom," she added worriedly.
Luke nodded and said, "Why don't you take Carly and show them where our seats are, I'll toss a few to these guys."
Lorelai nodded and held out her hand for Carly. "Mpaw and Mam are here."
"Mpaw," Carly squealed as she took off across the dusty infield.
"Eeeeeegh! Wrong answer," Lorelai called after her, smiling as Carly drew to a stop due to the use of the game show buzzer noise. "No running off," Lorelai reminded her as she took Carly's hand firmly in hers.
They approached the edge of the field to find Richard and Emily eying the set up dubiously. "Hi Mom, hi Dad."
"Mmmmmmmmpah," Carly cried as she broke free from Lorelai's grasp and flung herself at Richard's legs.
"Hello, Caroline," Richard answered, absorbing the impact with a chuckle. He held Emily's arm firmly as Carly transferred her affections from his legs to her grandmother's and beamed up at Emily.
"Mam," Carly breathed.
"Yes, thank God they're here to free you from the evil tyranny of your parents," Lorelai said dryly.
"Lorelai, this is a baseball diamond," Richard pointed out as he gestured to the dirt track of the infield.
"Well, not now that baseball season is over and football has begun," Lorelai said as she gestured to the freshly marked outfield. As she turned back, she waved to Sookie, Jackson and Davy and then smiled at her parents. "It's a multipurpose field. See, they moved the bleachers."
"It's a baseball diamond," Richard insisted.
"Well, we're playing football on it." She waved them forward as she said, "Come on, Luke has chairs set up for us. I know you didn't like sitting in the bleachers for T-ball."
"I simply said that they should offer those backrests like the ones we rented at last year's Harvard-Yale game," Emily said as they started slowly toward the outfield.
"Are they boys excited?" Richard asked as they made painfully slow progress across the uneven ground.
Lorelai glanced down as Emily's sensibly low heels sank into the rain softened ground and shook her head slightly as she fought for patience. "They are little tiny testosterone torpedoes," Lorelai said as she nodded field.
She smiled as she watched the boys hustle to get under a long pass Luke had made toward the opposite side of the field, and then laughed as they collided and fell to the ground.
"Good concentration," Richard said with an approving nod.
"Yeah, they'll be those guys you always see running into the wall because they were trained not to take their eyes off of the ball.
"My goodness, how can they run in all that equipment?" Emily asked.
"It's funnier when they have the helmets on. You'll see once warm ups start." Lorelai led them to the folding chairs and gestured grandly. "Ta da!"
"What on earth?" Emily asked with a puzzled frown.
"They're camping chairs, Emily. Luke and I used them when we went fishing," Richard said with a nod.
"Camping chairs?" Emily repeated, clearly horrified.
"They're really pretty comfortable," Lorelai offered. "Luke brought a cooler with some drinks. They don't have a concession set up for football, since there's only the one team for each age group."
"Couldn't they play on a regular football field?" Emily asked as she tried to perch daintily on the edge of her chair.
"The only one is the high school's field, and they're using it."
"What about a soccer field?" Richard asked as he helped Emily settle back in the chair, smirking slightly as she sank scooted gingerly on the canvas bottom.
"The soccer teams use those municipal fields outside of Woodbridge. Apparently they don't share well," Lorelai explained, handing Carly a pink plastic ball from Luke's mesh bag of tricks. "Look, Kiki is here," she said as she spotted Lulu and Kirk making their way across the diamond.
"Ki-kiiiiiiiii," Carly wailed as she took off toward the pitcher's mound at full speed.
"Yes, it's been three hours since you saw each other," she murmured as she returned Lulu's wave and watched the two girls follow her to the bleachers. "And we've been ditched."
A sharp whistle split the air, and then a deep baritone called, "Okay, men, huddle up!"
Lorelai looked over and gasped loudly, quickly covering her mouth with both hands as she spotted Tom, who had lost his customary hard hat in favor of a baseball cap and an unfortunate pair of pearl grey coach's shorts. Emily followed Lorelai's line of vision and then immediately slumped back in her seat, her arms gripping the chair as she yelped in surprise.
"Yeah, deep bottoms," Lorelai said sympathetically as Emily tried and failed to find some form of dignified posture in the large green chair. "Look," she said as she watched Josh and Jake hustle across the field to meet up with their teammates.
"They're too small," Emily murmured, forgetting about the chair the moment she focused on her grandsons.
"Actually, there are a few that are smaller," Lorelai said as the boys joined the group that hovered around Tom. She looked over and smiled as she saw Luke sauntering across the field toward them, tossing the football into the air and catching it over and over again.
"Football is such a violent sport."
"Now, Emily, there are worse," Richard cajoled.
"Well, they shouldn't play those either," Emily snapped.
"Mom, they're all matched up by age. They have so much padding on that I'm sure this is safer then the wrestling they do in the backyard."
"I thought they liked T-ball. They should stick with baseball," Emily sniffed.
"Right, because there's nothing dangerous about six and seven year olds wielding bats," Lorelai commented as Luke approached. "Are they warmed up for their warm up?" she asked, smiling up at him.
"They're raring to go," Luke confirmed. Lorelai watched as he greeted her parents and then dropped down into the chair beside her.
"I'm surprised you're not coaching, Luke," Richard commented.
"Football's not really my thing. Besides, I think Tom is kind of grandfathered in as the coach, he's been doing it for fifteen years."
"I think he's wearing somebody's grandfather's shorts," Lorelai said as she repressed a shudder.
"At least his tube socks match," Luke said as he shot her a look.
"I never thought I'd see Tom's legs. I think I never needed to," Lorelai murmured.
"No? Not doin' it for you?" Luke asked in a low voice.
"So white, so hairless. Do you think he uses Nair?"
"I don't wanna know."
"Nah, Tom's a tough guy, he must use and Epilady."
"Hey look, they're lining up," Luke said as he gestured to the field where Tom had ordered the boys to don their helmets and line up for calisthenics.
"Hey, Mom, you're gonna love this," Lorelai said as she leaned over toward Emily.
"What?"
"The warm ups, they're too cute."
"Sound it out!" Tom called to the team. Lorelai giggled as the rag tag bunch of five, six and seven year olds began to flail about in something that was supposed to approximate jumping jacks in full pads. The jumping part quickly swindled and fell completely by the wayside, but the team made up for it by chanting, 'A-L-L-S-T-A-R-S! All Stars! All Stars!' as they waved their arms.
Lorelai grinned when she saw the indulgent smiles on Richard and Emily's faces. "Wait for the sit ups," she murmured to them.
Minutes later, the team rolled onto their backs, their tiny knees bent and the helmets and shoulder pads pinning them to the ground. As Tom blew his whistle, twenty pairs of spindly legs kicked in the air, as they tried to work up enough leverage to pull their helmet and pads from the ground.
Even Luke chuckled as they struggled to complete five reps. Lorelai turned to her mother and said, "See? Totally worth the price of admission."
"They're adorable," Emily said with a delighted smile.
"Wait until you see the macho jock swagger."
No sooner had the words escaped her lips then Tom blew the whistle and shooed them toward the sideline to hydrate before kick off. Lorelai watched, her eyes shining with pride as the boys scurried over to them and stomped to a stop in front of Luke so that he could help them remove their helmets.
"Hi, you're here!" Josh said, a smile lighting his face as he beamed at his grandparents.
"Of course we're here, we wouldn't miss your first game," Emily scoffed as she watched Luke tuck Jake's mouth guard into the helmet.
"Don't drag that in the dirt," Luke warned them.
The helmet dangled from Jake's fingers as he nudged the cooler Luke had packed with his toe. "Gatorade?" he asked hopefully.
Lorelai nodded and pulled a sports bottle from the cooler. "Here you go, replenish your electrolytes."
Jake smiled as he popped the lid and squirted a stream of greenish yellow liquid into his mouth.
"Me too," Josh said as he made a grab for the bottle.
"Don't put your mouth on it," Jake grumbled as he moved to show Richard and Emily his jersey.
"Jacob, you are lucky number seven," Richard said with a pleased nod.
"Daddy was number seven in baseball," he explained.
"And I'm number one!" Josh said as he held up one finger and demonstrated his victory dance.
The whistle blew and Josh shoved the bottle at Lorelai as he said, "Gotta go."
"Be careful," Lorelai said as she took it.
"Play hard," Luke called after them, earning a sidelong glance from both his wife and mother-in-law. "I just mean that they should do their best," he said defensively.
Suddenly Kirk's voice boomed over the PA system, asking the crowd to rise for the national anthem. Lorelai watched out of the corner of her eye as Richard help Emily from the low seat, but kept her eyes on the distant flagpole as Emily covered her heart with her hand and a scratchy recording of the Star Spangled Banner rang through the speakers.
Luke hovered as the others were seated; waiting for the moment Tom broke from his typically succinct pre-game speech. He and a couple of the other fathers made sure that boys' chin straps were snapped and mouth guards were in place before the team took the field. Woodbury won the coin toss and opted to defer to the second half, so the All Stars took possession of the ball first.
On the third play of the game, Jake broke loose from his defender and put his arm up to wave at Josh. Lorelai held her breath as the ball wobbled through the air, letting it out in a whoosh as Jake caught it and took two steps before a bigger kid in a red jersey fell on him. She squeezed her eyes shut as the two fell to the ground, and the peeked cautiously through slits in time to see Jake pick himself up and trot back to his team to receive his high fives in the huddle.
The game went back and forth, neither team managing to move the ball very well until the referee signaled that there were two minutes left in the half.
"My, that was quick," Richard murmured with a perplexed frown.
"Running clock, it only stops for halftime," Luke explained as he paced behind their chairs.
Josh took the snap and handed off to Jake in the backfield, immediately throwing himself in the path of one defender to give his brother a chance to break free. Jake skirted the pile of arms and legs and hit the sideline at a dead run.
"Tuck it. Tuck the ball," Luke murmured under his breath as Lorelai leapt from her chair cheering wildly.
This time, Luke tensed as one of the opposition bore down on his son, but Jake caught a glimpse of the defender and kicked it into a higher gear, leaving the kid to eat his dust. "Yes!" he hissed, thrusting his fist into the air as Jake crossed the goal line.
"Home run!" Lorelai crowed.
"Touchdown," Luke corrected as she flung herself at him.
"Whatever," Lorelai said excitedly as she quickly disengaged, approaching the sideline as Jake came over to accept his coach's congratulations. She stood a mere two feet from him as Tom growled, "Now go put it in for one more," and sent Jake back onto the field for the extra point attempt.
Josh dropped back to pass, finding Davy Belleville all alone in the corner of the end zone, and lobbing it gently to him. When Davy's arms closed around the ball, Sookie stormed down from the bleachers and wrapped herself around Lorelai, bouncing all the while.
"They did it! They did it! They're going pro!" she cried.
"We can do Chunky soup commercials," Lorelai agreed, holding Sookie's arms in an attempt to ground her friend.
Sookie immediately stopped jumping and scowled. "Chunky? Eww. I'll have my own line of soups."
"Right," Lorelai said quickly.
"Just like Davy's mom makes," she crowed, flinging her arms open wide as the boys ran to the sideline to catch their breath.
"Mom," Davy hissed as he tried to hide himself in the knot of boys.
Sookie turned to Lorelai and made a face. "I guess we're supposed to play it cool, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"I'll just, I'll go back to my seat and pretend he does this every day," Sookie said with a decisive nod.
"Yeah, no big deal."
Sookie flashed her dimpled smile and then snorted, "Yeah, right. I'm baking him a cake."
"Excellent plan," Lorelai said as she patted Sookie's back and then returned to her chair.
When she sat down, Emily cast a knowing glance at her daughter. "What?" Lorelai asked defensively.
Emily's smile broke as she said, "It was exciting, wasn't it?"
"Those are my boys," Lorelai said proudly.
"Did you see that block Josh threw? Jake never would have gotten through if Josh hadn't blocked that guy."
"It was an excellent block," Lorelai said, even though they were both aware that she had no idea what he was talking about.
The Wildcats got one more thwarted play in before the refs blew the whistle and called halftime. Once the team was given the halftime sermon by Coach Tom, the boys swaggered over to them, bumping each other with their shoulder pads as they walked. The moment Luke pulled Jake's helmet from his head, he grinned at his father and said, "You owe me chili fries."
"You got 'em," Luke said as he dropped the sweaty helmet into his long-deserted chair.
"Me too," Josh said as Luke pried his helmet free.
"Double order, got it," Luke answered without argument.
"That's it? That's all you have to do?" Lorelai demanded. "One score and they get chili fries without a lecture?"
"Yep. And when you score a touchdown and throw for the extra point, you can have some too."
Jake snorted and said, "You throw like a girl."
"I am a girl, and I bet if I had a girl team we could beat you runts," she said as she ruffled his hair. Lorelai pulled her hand away and stared at it in disgust before wiping it on her jeans. "Sweaty."
"Playing hard," Jake said as his grandfather waved him over.
Lorelai watched as her parents fawned over the twins. Richard slapped their padded shoulders as Emily fussed with the hems of their jerseys, listening to the boys' excited chatter about the plays they still want to run.
"We did this one in practice where Jake comes in as we're lining up, and hides behind the other guys," Josh explained.
"That way they don't see me until I have the ball."
"Works better when your offensive line is six-three and three hundred pounds," Luke muttered to Lorelai.
"Man, I'd hate to find school clothes for those first graders," Lorelai snickered.
Luke looked down at he felt a little missile hit the back of his legs. Without looking, he reached around to pat Carly's head and asked, "Where've you been, Pea?"
"With Lulu and Kiki, of course," Lorelai answered for her.
Lulu smiled as Luke turned around and spotted her. "We're heading home now that Kirk's anthem announcer duties are over."
"Aw, you don't want to stay for the game?" Lorelai asked.
"We do, but the dust is hard for Kiki and we need to get a treatment in," Lulu explained with a shrug.
"Oh," Lorelai said, her smile fading slightly. She added a little extra oomph to it as she reached down to stroke Kiki's sleek brown pigtails. "You think she'll be up for a s-l-e-e-p-o-v-e-r this weekend?" she asked Lulu, trying not to smirk as she could see Kirk trying to work out the spelling in his head.
Lulu shook her head and said, "Not this weekend. She checks in for a week on Friday."
"More IV stuff?" Luke asked with a worried frown.
"Just a tune up," Lulu assured them, her smile shaky.
"She needs some go juice," Kirk said with forced enthusiasm as he scooped Kiki up and pretended to stagger under the little girl's weight.
"Kirk!" Josh cried as he spotted him.
"Hey!" Jake called as the boys hurried over. "Didja see?"
"I saw. Cool, huh?" Kirk said.
"You leavin'?" Josh asked, incredulous.
"We have to go home, but don't worry, Taylor's filing the whole thing," he said as he nodded to the top of the bleachers.
Lorelai looked up and spotted Taylor peeking into the lens of the camera with a bewildered frown. When he pulled the hem of his cardigan up to wipe the lens with it, she turned back and said, "Will it be available on VHS or DVD?"
"I believe he plans to film all six games and sell them as a set."
"I shoulda brought the camcorder," Luke grumbled.
"Where is it?" Lorelai asked.
Luke shrugged and said, "Probably the hall closet with everything else we own but never use."
"We'll dig it out," she promised him, trying to preempt the famous 'too much crap' rant that the hall closet always inspires.
"Anyway, we need to get going," Lulu said, patting Kiki's back as she rasped a cough.
As Kirk turned to carry her from the field, the boys followed him like the Pied Piper, and Lorelai grasped Lulu's arm to hold her back. "Is she okay?"
"Oh yeah, she's fine," Lulu said quickly.
"Children's?" Lorelai asked.
"Yeah, she'll be in for about a week as long as her levels are good," Lulu answered.
"Anything you need us to do?" Luke asked.
Lulu fidgeted for a moment and then glanced over her shoulder at her husband and baby. "I hate to ask this, and you can totally say no if you don't want to. I mean, I know that the only place with more germs than school is the hospital. But she gets so bored…"
"Will they let kids in to visit?" Lorelai asked, quickly grasping where she was going.
"From two until seven every day," Lulu answered.
"We'll get her up there," Luke said with a nod.
"Really?" Lulu asked, her whole face brightening.
"Oh yeah, definitely," Lorelai said, dismissing Lulu's concerns with a wave of her hand.
"Thanks," she said with a relieved smile. "I'd better go," she added as she hooked a thumb over her shoulder.
Lorelai looked up to see Kirk rubbing Kiki's back as the little girl coughed harder. "Go, go. I'll call you tomorrow." She plastered a smile on her face as she gazed down at Carly and said, "Looks like you're stuck with us, kiddo."
Carly looked up at her solemnly and then gave a fake cough. Luke smirked and shook his head. "Nice try," he said as he bent to give her a pat on the butt. "Go talk your Grandpa out of another savings bond."
As he straightened, he stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, waving the boys back to the field as Tom called for the team to huddle up again. "We need to send a check tomorrow," he said without looking at Lorelai.
"Yeah," she answered, patting his arm gently to reassure him that it was the best that they could do.
As she took her seat, she heard Emily ask Carly, "Where did your little friend go?"
"She goed home to coff," Carly answered.
Emily shot Lorelai a puzzled look, and Lorelai simply shrugged. "Breathing treatment."
"Ah," Emily said with a nod.
"Is it better to donate directly to Children's or to go through the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation?" Richard asked.
"Either way it helps, right?" Lorelai said, gnawing her bottom lip as she watched Tom and the dads strap the boys into their helmets for the second half. She glanced down at her palm, and then gave Emily a sad smile. "Thank heavens for sweaty, dirty little boys who can run and play, huh?"
"Yes," Emily agreed without hesitation. "And little girls. There is hope, Lorelai."
"Yeah, there's always hope," Lorelai agreed as the ref blew his whistle.
****
"I pounded him," Jake said with a mouthful of victory fries.
"Jacob," Emily admonished him gently. She smiled, marveling at their transformation back into little boys once they were stripped of their pads.
Jake swallowed his food and then muttered, "Sorry, Mam," as he reached for his lemonade.
"You did pound him," Emily said with a pleased smile. "You played very well."
"How's everybody's indigestion coming?" Luke asked as he leaned on the back of Lorelai's chair.
"Good!" Josh said as he shoved a forkful of chili fries into his mouth, adding a smear of read to the streaks of sweat and dirt that already lined his face.
"You need anything?" he asked Richard and Emily.
"We're fine, thank you, Luke," Emily said as she took a dainty sip of her own lemonade.
"Why don't you sit down?" Richard asked as he nodded to Luke's empty chair.
"I'm gonna help Caesar clean up a bit," he said as he nodded toward the kitchen.
Lorelai smiled as he walked away with a bit of a strut in his step. "He's all worked up."
Richard nodded sagely. "As he should be."
The bells rang out and they heard someone call, "Am I too late for coffee?"
"Is ever too late?" Lorelai asked as she turned, the words dying on her lips as she spotted Steve Larson just inside the door. "Oh, hi," she said as she offered him an small smile.
"Not in my book," Steve said with a quick grin.
"Be right there," Luke called from the kitchen.
"How are you, Lorelai?" Steve asked as he nodded politely to the kids and the Gilmores.
"I'm fine. Uh, Steve, these are my parents, Richard and Emily Gilmore. I think you've met the kids already," she rambled. "Um, Mom, Dad, this is Steve Larson, he's the one renovating the Independence Inn."
"I'm very pleased to meet y'all," Steve said as he stepped forward to offer Richard his hand.
"Nice to meet you," Richard replied as he rose to his full height.
Steve glanced at the older man nervously before offering his hand to Emily. "Mrs. Gilmore," he said with a nod.
"Mr. Larson," Emily replied coolly as Luke stepped out of the kitchen, wringing his hands with a towel.
"Hey," Luke called with a nod. "To-go?" he asked as he held up a cup.
"Please. I need my pre-bedtime fix," Steve answered with a grin. "You were right about his coffee, I'm hooked."
"The best in the land," Lorelai murmured as she picked up her own cup.
"This looks like a victory celebration," Steve said as he watched the twins wolf down their food.
"It is. Their first game was tonight," Lorelai answered.
"That's right, Tom mentioned needing to knock of early," Steve said as he nodded. "You wipe the turf with them?" he asked the boys.
"Yessir," Josh answered through stuffed cheeks.
"Joshua," Emily warned.
Jake swallowed his food and said, "Creamed 'em."
"Seven-zip," Luke said with a wry smile as he handed the to-go cup to Steve.
"Seven-zip works." He toasted Luke with the cup and said, "Only three hundred and sixty one days to go."
"Hang in there," Luke said with a nod.
"Hey, did you decide…" Steve began.
"Not yet," Luke said, cutting him off.
"Oh." Steve glanced at Lorelai nervously and then began to back away. "Okay, well, good job, y'all," he said to the boys.
"Y'all," Josh snickered.
Steve nodded to Carly slumped against Lorelai's side and asked, "Not a football fan?"
"Almost bedtime," she answered.
"Okay, well, enjoy your evening," Steve said with a small wave, and then made his escape.
The bells echoed through the diner as Lorelai looked up at Luke curiously. "What was that about?"
"Oh, uh, he signed a lease with Taylor. I guess Steve prefers his grass at the two inch height." He began to clear plates from the table. "Can you handle baths? I need to look at the sink, it's not, uh, draining right," he said unconvincingly.
"I can handle baths," Lorelai answered, shooting her husband a suspicious look.
"I'll be home in about a half hour," he promised, and then made a quick getaway.
Lorelai frowned as she picked up her nearly empty mug and stared into it.
"So, that was him," Emily said quietly.
"He seems pleasant enough," Richard added cautiously.
"He's nice. He comes in all the time and jokes around with Daddy," Josh said with a nod.
"He does?" Lorelai asked.
"Most days," Jake answered with a shrug.
"Huh." Lorelai pursed her lips as she glanced down at Carly. "You ready to hit it, little girl?"
"Mr. Steve talks funny. He says funny things," Josh told them as he scambled out of his chair.
"Mr. Steve?" Emily asked.
"He said we didn't have to call him Mr. Larson," Jake said defensively as Lorelai gathered their things.
"He's from the South, and people from the South sometimes speak with what we call a drawl," Richard explained as he ushered the boys to the door.
Lorelai nudged Carly until she slid tiredly from her chair, barely resisting when Lorelai took her hand to lead her from the table.
"Keeping your enemies close?" Emily asked with an arched eyebrow.
Lorelai glanced over at her mother and mumbled, "He's not an enemy."
"Fine, your competitor," Emily amended as Richard held the door for them.
"He's not even really that."
"That's not what you implied last week," Emily retorted.
Lorelai sighed as she walked slowly down the steps. "It's not like that. It's just weird."
"Oh, well, it's just weird," Emily said mockingly.
"Mom," Lorelai groaned.
"I'm only saying that he seems to be awfully friendly with your husband," Emily sniffed.
"He is friendly. He's a friendly guy, and we live in a friendly town. Luke's just being friendly because he's a customer," Lorelai said defensively, the words ringing hollow in her own ears.
"I see. Well, you would know better than I how to handle that. Do you need help with the children?" Emily asked solicitously.
"No, I can handle my children," Lorelai snapped.
"I was simply offering, Lorelai," Emily said mildly.
"No, thanks. We can make it the block and a half home," Lorelai said as she jiggled Carly's arm a little as the little girl leaned heavily against her.
"We have room in the back seat, we could squeeze you all in," Richard said as he gestured to the Jaguar parked at the curb.
"No. Thank you, Dad, but I think we'll just walk and let Luke bring the car home. The boys are still wound up."
"Very well, then," Emily said as Richard opened the passenger door for her. "You played very well," she said as the boys hugged her tightly.
"You comin' next week?" Josh asked hopefully.
"Yes, yes we will," Emily assured them, her hand hovering as she hesitated to touch their sweat matted hair.
"We wouldn't miss it," Richard chimed in.
****
"Here," Jess said as he dropped a thumb drive into Rory's lap.
"What's this?"
"The final. Well, unless they come back with more changes," he answered as he plopped down onto the couch next to her.
Rory smiled warmly. "Are you happy with it?"
"Pretty much."
"So I can read it all the way through now? No snippets?" she asked as she dangled the tiny USB drive from its chain.
"All yours, but not tonight," he said with a nod.
"Mean!"
"Tired of it. Don't want to talk about it tonight," he said as he rubbed his eyes.
"What if I read but promise not to talk about it?"
"You can't do that," he said as he turned his head, his lips curved into a knowing smirk.
"You're right," she said with a sigh. Rory set her laptop aside and placed the thumb drive carefully on top of it before turning to face him and tucking her toes under his leg. She peered at him expectantly for a moment and then asked, "So, how 'bout them Phillies?"
Jess rolled his eyes and reached for the remote control. "Go ahead," he said with a resigned sigh.
"Thank you!" Rory said as she swung her feet to the floor and reached for the computer once again. "Should I go in there?" she asked as she nodded to the bedroom.
"Yeah."
She grinned as she bent down and kissed him on the lips. "This is gonna be the one, I just know it."
"The one that someone other than you reads?"
"The one that will show the world what you can do," she replied pertly and then took off for the bedroom.
"Or the one that finally gets me dropped," Jess muttered under his breath as he began to surf through the channels.
****
They moved through the evening routine easily. Baths, pajamas, sleepy butterfly kisses chased with a play by play analysis, and finally a reading from the gospel of Hans Christian Andersen.
As they walked down the hall, Lorelai took Luke's arm and steered him into their bedroom.
"I have stuff I need to do," he protested.
"Tell me about your little friend," she demanded.
"My little friend?"
"Don't play dumb with me. I actually tried to tell my mother that you were just being friendly to him because you're friendly. She didn't buy it, by the way."
Luke crossed his arms over his chestm staring down his nose at her as he asked, "I can't be friendly?"
"You're not friendly. It doesn't come naturally to you. I'm the friendly one, you're the crank."
"He's a customer, should I have thrown him out?"
"Wouldn't have been the first time," she retorted.
"Okay, so I like the guy. What? I can't have friends?" he blustered.
"I didn't say that."
"You have friends. You have Sookie and Lulu and Patty and Babette," he said, ticking them off on his fingers.
"You have friends."
"I have your friends' husbands. Oh wait, maybe that's it. Maybe I can only have friends that you pick for me," he said snidely.
"You can be friends with him, I don't care!"
"Gee, thanks, but it seems like you do."
"I just think it's weird that you never told me that he hangs out at Luke's."
"He doesn't hang out there."
"The boys said he was there all the time."
"So are you. So is Kirk and Taylor and every other nut job in this town!"
"They said you joke around and talk," she told him.
"Yeah, the guy is less annoying than most. I'm a grown man, I can chose who I want to talk to, so sue me."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because maybe I thought you'd act like this."
"Act like what?"
"Like I'm doing something wrong just by talking to the guy," Luke accused. He tossed his hat onto the dresser and ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
"It's not wrong, it just surprised me."
"Surprised you because I'm a crank and no one should want to talk to me?"
"Luke, come on."
"Come on what?"
"Look at it from my point of view."
"Yeah, well, you haven't heard the worst of the betrayal. He ordered a monte cristo and I made it for him."
Lorelai's eyebrows shot up. "Someone actually ate one of those?"
"Yep."
"How was it?"
"He said it was good."
"Wow, a monte cristo," she murmured thoughtfully. She looked up and found Luke watching her warily. "Okay, let's back up and try this again," she said quietly. "So, Steve's a nice guy?"
"Seems to be."
"And you guys seem to get along?"
"Well, I'm not ready to ask him to Prom, but sure."
"Luke," she blurted, blowing out an exasperated breath.
He exhaled slowly and walked over to the bed, perching on the edge of the mattress. "He's a Sox fan," he said with a sigh.
"Really? Well, that's cool," Lorelai said cautiously.
Luke's lips quirked as he looked up at her. "Gave me some handy advice on how to file for divorce."
"Okay, I thought you didn't want me to hate him," Lorelai said darkly.
He looked her right in the eye and asked, "Does it matter if you do?" When she frowned, he waved his own question away. "Of course it does. Listen, I'm not saying you have to love the guy. As a matter of fact, I actually like that you hate him a little."
"I don't hate him at all."
"Well, that you don't want to talk to him or whatever."
"It's not that. I just never have without it being about the business thing," Lorelai said as she wrapped her arms around her waist protectively.
"And you know that if I thought he would do anything to jeopardize your inn, I'd kill him, Sox fan or not," Luke said pointedly.
"Yeah."
"I just… I think he's for real. You know, sincere," he said with a shrug.
"Okay, well, I'll trust your judgment on that until I get to know him better," Lorelai said slowly.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"He has tickets for the last Saturday game at Fenway. Box seats behind home plate," he blurted.
"Ah," Lorelai said, her lips quirking into a smile.
"He asked me to go."
"So, they were guilt flowers, and guilt pot roast, and guilt sex," she said smartly.
"No!"
"Yes."
Luke heaved a heavy sigh and hung his head. "Yes."
"Wow, he should ask you to do stuff more often."
"Ha ha."
"The pie alone was fabulous," she teased.
"I didn't mean it like that."
"I knew you were buttering me up for something," she accused.
"I do stuff for you all the time."
"You do, but never all at once. I knew that sex was too good for weeknight sex."
"Oh, so I suck on weeknights?"
"No, Babe, that's the point. You don't suck," she said smugly. "Weeknight night sex is the sex where one of us rolls over and starts tugging at pajama bottoms. We never get naked on weeknights."
"I should have just gone to sleep."
"No, I'm not complaining," she said as she moved to sit on his lap. "Of course, now you've raised the bar."
"Damn."
"Yep, no more roll over sex," she said as she pressed her lips to his flattened hair.
"I can live with that."
"I can live with this too," she said as she pressed her cheek to the top of his head. "So, if I say yes to this baseball game, what kind of pie do I get?"
****
"Okay, I know I said we wouldn't talk about it, but I just want to say…"
Jess groaned as he rolled over and pressed his nose into the mattress as he held his pillow tightly over his head.
Rory tugged at the pillow, trying to pry it from his grasp. "Jess, I'm serious, just one thing."
"One thing," he grunted, his voice muffled by the mattress.
"The characters. You've drawn them so well. I mean, I feel like I ready know them and I'm only a few chapters into it," she enthused. "I know that the first book was about us, but this one… I feel like I know them much better than people I really do know."
Jess turned his head toward her, but held the pillow in place. "Thanks. Can we go to sleep now?"
"And the chapters, they melt one into the next. I'm telling you, if you hadn't taken the thumb drive away I would have been up all night."
"That was the point, and that's two things."
"I'm dying here, I have to know what happens next."
"Wanna fool around?"
"Does his father contact him again?"
"Rory," Jess growled.
"I bet he does," she said with a decisive nod. "Or maybe not," she said, her smile turning into a frown. "Maybe he expects him to contact him, but the guy never does. That could be interesting. How would that impact him? Would he be upset ot relieved?"
"It gets me so hot when you talk character motivation," Jess muttered as he tossed the pillow aisde and launched himelf at her.
"I bet he's gonna end up with the former sorority girl. The pierced girl in the bar was too obvious," she said with a sly grin.
"I thought you knew them so well. You already forgot their names?" he teased.
When she opened her mouth to answer, he covered it with his, climbing up over her as he pressed her back into her pillow.
****
"So, the weeknight sex," Luke said with a sly smile as he leaned against the bathroom wall watching her pat moisturizer into her face.
"Probably not gonna happen tonight."
"Worth a shot."
"I appreciate the effort." Lorelai closed the cap on the moisturizer tightly and dropped it into her drawer. "When is the game?"
"First Staturday in October."
"Who do they play?"
"Cleveland Indians."
"Cleveland," Lorelai said with a nod. "Think anyone actually goes to Cleveland besides Drew Carey?"
"Damned if I know."
"I hear it rocks."
"I doubt it."
"The Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame is there," Lorelai explained with a smirk.
"Still have no desire to go there," he said as he pushed away from the wall.
"I hear that," Lorelai agreed, turning out the light as she followed him from the room.
