Lorelai was sitting on the couch sorting through a box of ornaments. "Hey, Luke, why did we have to decorate today? Why not tomorrow?"

"We always decorate on the first Saturday of December. It's tradition and my dad is big on tradition."

"Then, he should be here."

"He wanted to be, but he didn't have anyone to cover the store."

"So, if I wasn't here, you'd be doing this on your own?"

"Yes."

Lorelai pulled out an unidentifiable blob of cotton balls, construction paper, glue, and paint. "Oh, Luuucaaassss," Lorelai singsonged. "What is this?"

"Don't call me that," Luke grumbled from under the Christmas tree where he was laying on his back trying to fix the lights.

"Why not? Mia calls you by your full name."

"Yeah, well, Mia is…Mia. You're not Mia."

"I can't really argue that point, so I'm just going to ignore it, Lucas."

"Of course, you are."

"Anyway, what is this?"

"What is what?"

Lorelai got off the couch and crawled under the tree to lay down next to Luke. She placed the ornament on his chest. "This. What is this?"

Luke picked up the ornament and studied it closely. "I think it's an elf."

"You think it's an elf? You don't actually have a clue what it is, do you?" Lorelai asked, laughing.

"Not one. It's one of those things kids make for their parents in elementary school."

"Aww. That's sweet."

"Didn't you ever make stuff like that?"

"No, I didn't."

"Oh."

"So, uh, is this, uh, elf something you made?"

"I think so."

"Do you remember how old you were?"

"Uh, I think this one is from when I was about five."

"Aww, that's so cute. I can just picture little Lucas working hard to make this perfect little elf." She took the ornament from him and crawled out from under the tree. "We have to hang it in the front, right where everyone can see it."

"Ah geez," Luke groaned.

L&L L&L L&L

Long after Jess and Rory had gone to sleep on Christmas Eve, Luke stood in the entrance of the living room with his arms crossed over his chest watching Lorelai wrap Rory's Christmas presents. He couldn't help smiling when she started humming and then singing.

"Fa la la la la la la la la," she sang under her breath. "'Tis the season to be jolly," she sang a little louder.

Luke joined in, "Fa la la la la la la la la."

Lorelai stopped singing and looked over her shoulder at Luke. "Hey," she greeted him with a smile.

"Hey. Do you want some help?"

"Maybe. How are your gift-wrapping skills?"

"Oh, well, you know, they're, uh, pretty, um, awful."

Lorelai burst into laughter. "Good, then you won't outshine my own terrible attempts," she managed to joke through her laughter.

Luke chuckled and joined Lorelai on the floor. "Hand me the book. I can probably manage to wrap something square without too many problems."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can manage it. Just give it here."

"Okay," Lorelai said skeptically. She handed Luke the copy of Goodnight Moon to wrap and grabbed a dress to wrap herself.

"How exactly do you plan to wrap that?" Luke asked incredulously.

"Very carefully and with a lot of tape. Just like the others," she answered while gesturing at the pile of presents that were already wrapped.

Luke looked over at the wrapped presents. "Those certainly look, um, unique. Is there even any tape left?"

"Ha ha." She responded drily. "It's my first time wrapping presents. Do you think you can do better?"

"Probably not, but now I know for sure that I can't possibly do worse."

Lorelai stuck her tongue out at him. Luke grinned back at her. "Is this everything you have left to wrap?" he asked with a nod toward the few items stacked on Lorelai's other side.

"This is it."

"Let's get to it then. We should probably try to get some sleep tonight."

Lorelai passed him a roll of wrapping paper and they got to work.

L&L L&L L&L

"Merry Christmas!" Lorelai greeted Luke cheerfully. She walked over to the kitchen table where Luke was eating a bowl of oatmeal and pressed a kiss to the top of Jess' head. "Merry Christmas, sweet boy."

"I made coffee."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow in question. "You? You made coffee?"

"You like coffee."

"Yes, but you don't. In fact, you hate coffee."

"Consider it a Christmas present."

"Oh. Okay. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Lorelai was holding Rory with one arm and using the opposite hand to pour herself a cup of coffee when William joined them in the kitchen. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Dad."

"Merry Christmas, William!"

"What are you all doing in here?"

"Breakfast."

"Coffee."

"The Christmas presents aren't in here."

"We know, Dad. We'll be right there."

"It's the babies' first Christmas. Let's go."

"Coffee, William. I need coffee."

"Coffee can wait. Presents can't." He left the kitchen, expecting them to follow him.

"But, I need coffee," Lorelai protested weakly.

Luke stood up and took his nearly empty bowl to the sink. "Bring it with you. We better go though, or he might kidnap our kids and have Christmas without us."

Lorelai laughed, but grabbed her coffee cup and walked out of the kitchen just ahead of Luke. She came to an abrupt halt as she stepped into the living room, causing Luke to nearly walk into her. "Wow, it looks like Santa thought you and Jess were very good boys this year."

"You and Rory were good too."

"Rory has been a very good girl."

"So have you, Lorelai."

Lorelai snorted in disbelief.

"If you guys are done chitchatting, you might want to look up."

Luke and Lorelai looked at William with matching expressions of confusion etched across their faces, but he simply pointed at the ceiling above their heads. They looked up and Luke asked, "Dad, is that mistletoe?"

"Yes, it is. You know what that means."

"No."

"It's tradition, Luke."

"No."

"It's okay, Luke," Lorelai said quietly, pulling Luke's attention away from William.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Luke gently cupped Lorelai's face. He looked into her eyes, searching for any sign of apprehension, and, finding none, gently kissed her lips. Lorelai's eyes fluttered closed. They let the kiss linger until Jess and Rory started to fuss. Luke pulled back and stroked his thumb across Lorelai's cheek until she opened her eyes. She blinked up at him and licked her lips nervously.

"Good. Now, since you've upheld tradition, it's time for presents."

L&L L&L L&L

Lorelai sat on her bed with Rory laying next to her. They were surrounded by the diapers, clothes, toys, and other gifts they had received from William, Luke, and Santa Claus. Lorelai held the baby carrier Mia had given her in her lap. She thought about how generous everyone in Stars Hollow had been to her. She thought about how she'd be using the baby carrier to carry Rory around at work in just under two weeks. She thought about how she'd soon be on her way to providing for herself and her daughter on her own.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door and William calling, "Delivery."

Lorelai picked up Rory and went to open the door for William. When she opened the door, William walked in backwards carrying one end of a large box and Luke followed him carrying the other end of the box. They set the box down near the dresser. William slapped the top of the box and said, "Well, here it is."

"I still can't believe you guys got me a crib."

"We didn't get you anything," William informed her. "Santa got Rory a crib."

"Too bad Santa didn't stick around to put it together," Luke added sarcastically as he pulled out his pocketknife and started to cut the box open.

"It's nothing you can't handle, son."

Luke grunted in acknowledgment causing William to chuckle as he left the room. Once the box was open, Lorelai helped Luke take out all of the pieces. After they were sure the box was empty, Luke picked it up and headed for the door.

"I'm going to go grab some tools."

While Luke was gone, Lorelai inspected the pieces of the crib. "Looks like you have a new bed, kid. Are you excited?" Lorelai glanced down at Rory and found that her daughter had fallen asleep. "I guess not."

Lorelai had just laid Rory down in the bassinet when Luke returned. "Oooh, you brought Bert!"

"Bert?"

"The toolbox."

"You named my toolbox? Why would you name my toolbox?"

"He needed a name. You hadn't already given him a name, had you?"

"Uh, no, I hadn't."

"Well, now you don't have to worry about it because I've named him for you."

"Uh, thanks."

"You're welcome," Lorelai replied gleefully.

"Yeah, um, can we just get started?"

"Just tell me what you want me to do."

Lorelai carefully followed all of Luke's instructions and soon the crib was fully assembled in the middle of the room. "What do you think?"

"We did a good job. I'll have to say thank you to Santa the next time I see him."

"You do that."

"I will," Lorelai asserted.

Luke shook his head in disbelief. "Where should we put this thing?"

"I think we should put it against the foot of the bed. That way it'll be as out of the way as possible. What do you think?"

"That's a good idea. Do you think we can get this moved if we each take a side?"

"I think so."

They moved the crib into place and took a step back to admire their handiwork. "Hey, Lorelai, can we talk about what happened earlier?"

"Earlier?"

"Yeah, you know, we, uh, kissed."

"Yes, we did."

"I, uh, it was, um, the kiss was nice."

"It was."

"I like you."

"I like you too."

"No, I mean, I'd like to date you."

Lorelai turned to look at him. "You want to date me?"

Luke turned to face her. "Yeah. Look, I know we both have a lot going on, especially you, but things will start to calm down soon and when they do, I'd like to ask you out."

"Me? The girl who got knocked up at 15 and would be homeless if you hadn't taken pity on me."

"Yes, you, Lorelai. You're funny and smart and beautiful. You're strong and brave, sweet and generous. I like you, Lorelai."

"You know I have a baby, right?"

"I thought I'd heard something about that. You know I have a baby, right?"

Lorelai giggled. "Okay."

"Okay?

"If, when things start to calm down, you still want to ask me out, I'll say yes."

"Good. Good." Luke stared at her for a moment, then added, "It wasn't pity."

"Okay," she replied with a shy smile.