A/N: So, I saw a prompt today and this story just kind of wrote itself. Just a bit of background information: everything happened as it did on "Gilmore Girls" up until Season 6, Episode 9 "The Prodigal Daughter Returns"; Luke hasn't found out that he has a daughter yet; he and Lorelai got married as planned. This story is set two years after that.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gilmore Girls characters.
Luke's Daughters - Chapter One
Lorelai
Rory was coming home for the weekend to visit Luke and me, so I took the afternoon off from work to be here when she arrived. I had already cleaned the living room, the bathroom and the kitchen and made her bed. Luke would bring home dinner later, so the only thing missing now was my daughter. I was standing in the living room teaching Paul Anka some new tricks, when I heard the front door open.
"Hello? Rory, is that you already?" I called. "I thought you wouldn't be home for another hour." My only answer was the door being slammed shut. "Okay, looks like someone is in a great mood. What happened, Miss Crankypants? Someone …" I broke off when instead of seeing my daughter come into the room, I saw my very distressed looking husband. "Hey, hun. What's the matter? Caesar singing on the table again?" I joked tentatively.
"I have a daughter," he simply said.
"I know, hun." I was getting a bit worried now. "I gave birth to her. Her name's Lorelai as well, Rory for short. She's about yea high, has long brown hair, blue eyes, overall looks a lot like me. But she's been your daughter for two years now. Unofficially for over ten years. Remember?" I started rambling as I always did when I didn't know what else to do.
"No, I mean yes. Of course, I know about Rory," he started to explain. "What I meant to say is, I have another daughter."
I started to say something, but quickly shut my mouth. I was completely and utterly speechless, which was not a common occurrence for me. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and tried again. "You … have a daughter? Like … a real daughter? One that is half yours and half some other woman's?"
"Yeah …" was all he said. He looked like he wanted to say so much more but didn't know where to start.
"How? When? Who? Where? Why?" I asked. "Okay, skip the how. I remember how that works. But … the rest please."
"I'm a bit rough on the details myself," he started rambling and pacing through the room. "I just found out 15 minutes ago, then she left, then I fried the burgers, flipped the fries, realized I couldn't concentrate anymore, put Caesar in charge and came straight here."
"Okay, I think you confused some things here, buddy." I couldn't help but laugh a little. I patted the space on the couch next to me and he sat down. "Just start from the beginning."
"I was working in the diner like always when suddenly a teenage girl comes in and sits down at the counter – in your usual spot by the way, that's why I noticed. The place was packed, so I had to take care of some other customers first, before I went to take her order. Instead of telling me what she wanted to eat, she asked whether I was the owner, Luke Danes. She wanted to talk privately, so I told her to go up to the office and wait until I took care of the other customers. I went up there and long story short she told me she was my daughter …" he paused and looked at me.
There were billions of questions coursing through my brain, but I decided to keep it simple for now. No need to overwhelm him now. "What's her name?" I asked softly.
He looked at me gratefully for asking a question he could answer. "April. April Nardini. Her mother is …"
"Anna Nardini." I concluded. "You told me about her. Did you …"
"No, I had no clue. Anna never told me anything. That's also what I told April, but she knew that already. Her mother never told her much about me either, until lately."
"Then how …?" I asked.
"She just kept asking until Anna couldn't not tell her anymore."
"Why did she …?" I started again.
"Anna only knew me as the 'I-never-want-kids-because-they-always-have-jam-on-their-hands'-person I used to be. She thought I wouldn't want to be a father and did not want to put me in the position to make that decision. I get where she was coming from, but that's no excuse for never telling me about my own daughter. She and I will have to talk about this, but that's not the priority right now …"
"April is." I said with a proud smile on my face.
Luke nodded. "Yes, she is."
"Luke," I started carefully. "Don't get me wrong, I know you only just found out. But, are you sure she is yours? If she is, I will happily welcome her into our family – heck, Rory always wanted a sibling and she and Gigi don't see each other very often. But, I don't want you to get too attached to April only to find out that she belongs to somebody else. Hun, I love you and I don't want you to get hurt."
"Lorelai," he started. "What you just said is one of the reasons I love you so damn much." He took my face between his hands and kissed my forehead. I smiled at him. "Both April and I want to be certain about this. She even brought it up that we should have a paternity test done, before we get to know each other more. After so many years, both of us want there to be no further confusions."
"She sounds very smart," I grinned. "How old is she?"
"15," he answered and suddenly went rigid. He jumped off the couch and once again started pacing through the room while muttering to himself.
I didn't know what was going on. I stood up and looked at my husband with increasing worry. "Luke?" I tried, but he didn't answer. "Hun? What is it?" But again, no answer. "Luke! Look at me!"
"What am I supposed to do with a teenage girl?" Luke cried suddenly looking at me with an exasperated expression. He let himself fall down on the couch and buried his face in his hands.
"Why are you asking me?" I replied, the confusion evident in my voice. I walked towards the couch and sat on its arm. While I wanted to do nothing more than hug and comfort him, I knew my husband pretty well by now. Right now, he didn't need to be coddled, he needed someone to talk to, but he also needed his space. He didn't need me as his wife; right now, he needed me as his best friend.
"You were a teenage girl once!" he accused, his head still in his hands.
"And I blocked the experience from my memory completely." I explained matter-of-factly. "I'm not overly proud of some of the things I did in my time as a teenager. Also, that time ended very suddenly when I became a mother at 16. Everything before Rory was born is kind of a blur now."
"You raised a teenage girl!" he tried once again, still not looking up.
"Well, you've got a point there, my friend." I relented. I scooted a bit closer to him and put my hand on his upper arm in a soothing manner. "But in pointing that out you might as well say that you yourself raised a teenage girl."
"Huh?" he asked in utter confusion and finally raised his head. The look in his eyes almost broke my heart. That's how I knew how insecure he felt right now. Because on any other day, Luke would have no doubt about the role he played in Rory's upbringing. Hell, only five minutes ago we talked about her being his daughter. Seems like I have to jog his memory a little.
"Come on, Luke. Since Rory and I moved to Stars Hollow you have been the one man who has been like a father to her. And not because you were my boyfriend from day one – God knows we took our time with that," I laughed nervously. "You cared for her when you had no responsibility to do so."
He didn't answer, but his eyes became a bit more normal. I took it as a good sign and continued. "I mean, who was here when she had the chicken pox and would only eat mashed potatoes for a week? Who cried his eyes out at her High School Graduation? And don't you dare deny it, mister. I've got the pictures to prove it." I teased and grinned as I saw the small smile spreading across his face. "Now that's better. And finally, who the hell moved her mattress into her dorm and out of her dorm and back into her dorm?"
"I guess I overreacted a little bit just now," he said sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Lorelai."
"Just a teeny tiny little bit," I said and kissed him. "But you're allowed to do that. Hell, you just found out you might have a 15-year-old daughter – that's huge. So, I hereby declare that for the time being you get to be the crazy irrational one and I will be the mature one acting in a calm and collected manner."
Just as I expected, he burst out laughing. "Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it."
"Just wait and see, mister." I winked at him.
"You have no idea how glad I am to have you," he said serious once again.
"Probably just as glad as I am to have you." I smiled. "Don't worry, we'll get through this. I'm here for you, just like you've always been there for me. And you never know, maybe this will be the best thing that could happen to us. I mean, another little Einstein in the family, think of all the possibilities."
"She does seem very smart." He laughed. "Which also is one of the reasons I doubt she is mine. She loves school and reading and science. She reminds me of Rory in so many ways. And I know that there's still a chance she might not be mine, but … Lorelai, she looks like me. And she has some little quirks that make her so similar to me. I know I only just met her, but I feel like I know her already. I have a good feeling about this." He started tearing up and I got choked up as well. I could count the times I have seen him cry on one hand. I threw my arms around him and for a long time we just sat there on the couch in a tight embrace.
The sound of the front door opening pulled us out of our own little world and we slowly let go of each other. I gave Luke a quick kiss, a promise that we will talk about this more later and he smiled gratefully. A break might be just what he needed as well.
"Mom? Are you home?" Rory called from the door.
"Of course, daughter of mine," I hollered back. "Do you really think I wouldn't be home when I know my one and only offspring is coming to spend the weekend with me? Even Luke is here already and not at work."
"Luke's here already? What an honor. Hey Dad!" Rory called and I looked at my husband only to find him basically glowing with pride. Shortly after our wedding Rory asked Luke if he would be okay with her calling him Dad. For the rest of the day, Luke couldn't keep the grin of his face, which in turn freaked out everyone in the diner. Especially poor Kirk. But that's a story for another day. "Hey Rory!" Luke called back.
"So, I'm not sure if I even want the answer, but since you two are home so early in the day … is it safe for me to come into the living room? Are you two decent?" she asked hesitantly.
"Not morally; but we're wearing pants, if that's what you're asking," I replied while Luke blushed.
"Too much information. But I missed you, so I'll take the risk." Rory came in and I tackled her with a hug. Luke gave her a hug next and we sat down on the couch. For a while we talked about the basic stuff: Rory's job at the newspaper, the Dragonfly Inn and Luke's Diner.
After we talked about everything new that's been going on, I looked at Luke questioningly, wondering if he wanted to tell Rory his other news. He seemed to think for a bit but nodded and grabbed my hand tightly.
I took a deep breath. "Rory, we need to tell you something."
"You're pregnant!" she screamed and threw her arms around both of us. "Oh, I'm so happy for you guys. I was wondering how long you'd wait. I mean, it's been two years since the wedding and let's face it, you're both not getting any younger. Oh, I always wanted a little sibling and now I'm gonna get to watch him or her grow up. And since I don't live too far from here, I can come by all the time. How far along are you? Have you talked baby names already? Where are you gonna put the nursery? How …"
"Rory, calm down!" I interrupted her. "I'm not pregnant."
"You're not?" The disappointment is evident in her voice.
"No," I assured her and looked at Luke. "I'm not."
"But you still might be a big sister." Luke said.
"Huh?" Rory asked, now utterly confused. So, Luke and I took turns telling Rory about April. Luke explaining most of it and me adding small bits of information that Luke forgot. "So, I might have a little sister?" Rory concluded. Both Luke and I nodded, curiously awaiting her reaction. "That's great. I can't wait to meet her."
Luke grinned proudly at our daughter and hugged her. "I'm glad you feel that way," he said. "I'm glad you both feel that way." He put an arm around both of us as we sat there. Our own little family.
"So," I said, "when do we get to meet her?"
A/N: Thank you for reading my first story, I hope you enjoyed it. I would love to know your opnions, so feel free to leave a review :)