Luke quietly opened the bedroom door just wide enough to allow him to peer inside and determine that Lorelai was still asleep. Breathing a sigh of relief, he opened the door a little wider and slipped into the room. He crept over to the edge of the bed and looked down at Lorelai, who was sleeping peacefully on her side. Her hair had fallen over her face, so he brushed it behind her ear with his fingertips. His touch caused her lips to curve upwards in a gentle smile. Luke smiled at Lorelai's reaction to his touch. He watched her sleep for another moment, then placed an envelope against the blue, furry alarm clock on her nightstand and snuck across the room to the crib.

When Luke reached the crib, he realized Rory was awake. Rory smiled up at him. He bent over the railing and carefully scooped Rory up to cradle her against his chest. "You're awfully quiet this morning," he murmured softly. They left the bedroom and Luke shut the door quietly behind them. "You must remember the talk we had yesterday about letting your mom sleep in this morning." Rory babbled as if attempting to carry on her side of the conversation.

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Lorelai rolled onto her back and rubbed her eyes, blinking against the sunlight streaming in from the window. Suddenly, she realized the room was much brighter than it usually was when she woke. She turned to look at the clock and found an envelope with "Mommy" written across the front in Luke's handwriting. Instinctively, she glanced toward the crib at the foot of her bed.

The discovery that her daughter wasn't in her crib triggered a type of panic in Lorelai that shed hadn't known she was capable of feeling. When the initial panic passed, Lorelai quickly concluded that Luke must have taken Rory with him after he dropped off the envelope. She took several steadying breaths and reached for the envelope.

Once she had calmed down, Lorelai tore open the envelope and removed a greeting card. She smiled at the picture of a pink teddy bear that graced the front of the card. "Happy birthday, Mommy," she read the front of the card aloud. A folded piece of paper fell out of the card when she opened it. Lorelai set the paper aside and continued reading, "I hope your day is bear-y special." Beneath the card's text, Luke had written, "Happy birthday to the best mommy ever. Love, Rory." He had even taken the time to have Rory sign the card with a fingerpaint handprint. The sweet gesture brought tears to Lorelai's eyes. She wiped away the tears and picked up the piece of paper.

The paper turned out to be a note from Luke that read, "Happy birthday, Lorelai. Don't worry about Rory, she's helping me make breakfast. Meet us in the kitchen for chocolate chip pancakes and coffee. Luke."

Lorelai rushed through her morning routine and raced to the kitchen. When she reached the kitchen, she made a beeline for Luke and reclaimed Rory. "Good morning, sweet girl." Lorelai kissed Rory's cheek. "How many times do I have to tell that it's not nice to abandon Mommy and run off with strange men," she scolded teasingly.

"Hey!" Luke protested. "I'm hardly a stranger."

Lorelai sighed dramatically. "I didn't say you were a stranger. I said you were strange, and you are."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Ha ha."

Lorelai smiled and batted her eyes.

"If you two are done flirting, I'd like my chance to greet the birthday girl." William smiled at Lorelai from where he was sitting with Jess at the kitchen table. "I'd also like my breakfast," he told Luke.

"I'm almost done," Luke told his dad. He took hold of Lorelai's shoulders, spun her around, and gave her a gentle push toward the table. "Get out of here. I'm busy."

"Fine, fine, I'm going." At the table, Lorelai carefully balanced Rory on her hip and leaned down to give William a one-armed hug.

"Happy birthday."

"Thank you, William." Lorelai smiled graciously and took her seat across the table.

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A small pile of presents appeared on the table after the breakfast dishes had been cleared. "You guys really didn't have to get me anything."

"We know," William agreed nonchalantly. "We wanted to."

"Oh."

"Start with this one. It's from me." William pushed a blue gift bag closer to her.

Lorelai eagerly pulled the tissue paper from the bag, revealing a green backpack. Upon closer inspection, Lorelai found a pink heart keychain had been attached to one of the zippers. "Thank you, William."

"You're welcome. It's for your GED course."

"I can't believe the class starts in less than two weeks."

"You'll do great."

"I hope so."

"You will," Luke insisted. "Here, open this one next." He handed her an envelope.

Lorelai set the backpack and gift bag aside. She took the envelope from Luke and opened it to find a birthday card. Her eye grew wide as she read and reread the card, glancing up at Luke every few lines.

Luke waited impatiently for Lorelai to read the card, casting small smiles her way each time she glanced up at him. When it appeared that she was done reading and was just staring at the card instead, he asked, "Well, what do you think?"

Slowly, she lifted her gaze from the card to look at him. "I, uh, I, um, think, um, uh, I thought you wanted to wait for things to settle down?"

"I did, but I've realized there is no perfect time and I don't want to miss our chance. Lorelai, will you please go on a date with me?"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes!"

"How about lunch?"

"Today?"

"Sure. I mean, you already have the day off, so today is a perfect day to go out. I also know you like to be here for Rory's bedtime, so I thought lunch would be better than dinner."

"You're right. It is. I just, uh, don't really have, um, anything to wear."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, Luke."

William cleared his throat loudly. "Maybe you should open the present from Mia before you decide."

"Um, okay, I guess." Lorelai reached for the box wrapped in bright pink paper and tore it open. Inside the box, she found a beautiful, sky blue sundress. "It's beautiful."

"Keep going," William instructed. "There's something under the dress."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow in question, but William simply nodded toward the box, so she lifted the dress from the box to discover a pair of white, strappy high heels. "Oh!"

"It looks like you have something to wear now, so would you like to go to lunch?" Luke asked with a smile.

"I'd love to."

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Luke stood at the bottom of the stairs, shifting nervously from foot to foot. Footsteps at the top of the steps drew his attention. He watched Lorelai descend the stairs. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, he let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Wow. You look…wow."

"Really?" Lorelai ran her hands down the front of her dress anxiously.

"Really."

"I guess I really have lost all the baby weight," Lorelai quipped. "I'm really glad this dress fits. It's beautiful."

"I'm happy you're feeling more confident. The dress is pretty, but you're the one who's beautiful. You've always been beautiful."

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"Sniffy's Tavern?" Lorelai asked as she walked through the door Luke was holding open for her.

"Trust me. The food's amazing." Luke led her to a reserved table.

"Aren't we supposed to let someone who works here seat us?"

"Not necessary."

"Is this like a mafia thing?"

"Excuse me?"

"The whole coming in, special table, 'reserved' sign. Are we gonna have to whack someone before the soup course?"

"No, I fulfilled my whacking quota for the week." Luke hung his head in shame. "Dirty?"

"Extremely," Lorelai declared with a wide grin.

"Geez."

"Luke!" someone called from across the nearly empty restaurant.

Luke looked over his shoulder, then stood up to hug an older woman who was fast approaching their table. "Maisy!"

"And this must be Lorelai."

"Hello," Lorelai greeted Maisy from her seat, her brow furrowed with confusion.

"Lorelai, this is Maisy. She went to high school with my mom and owns this restaurant with her husband, Buddy."

"It's very nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, dear. I've heard a lot about you from Luke and William."

"All good, I hope."

"Definitely." The assurance came from a man who had come to stand behind Maisy.

"This is my husband, Buddy," Maisy said to Lorelai. She turned to face her husband. "Buddy, this is Lorelai. She's Luke's date."

"Well, in that case, we better go see about getting their lunch ready." Buddy gently pulled Maisy toward the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, "Nice to meet you, Lorelai."

Luke slid back into his seat as Lorelai whispered, "We didn't order."

"Don't worry about it. They wouldn't listen anyway."

"Oh. Okay."

"It'll be fine. Everything they make here is amazing," Luke stated in an attempt to ease Lorelai's uncertainty. "There will be cake for dessert," he added, bringing a smile to her face.

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Luke and Lorelai walked out of Sniffy's Tavern holding hands. As they approached Luke's truck, Lorelai sighed dreamily. "This has been a great first date."

Luke grunted his agreement. He came to a stop next to the passenger side of his truck and turned to face Lorelai. "Lorelai, this thing we're doing here, me, you…I just want you to know I'm in. I am all in."

"I'm all in too."

Luke let go of Lorelai's hand and slowly ran his fingers up her arm. "Good. I'm glad." When he reached her shoulder, he pushed her hair behind her ear, then gently cupped her cheek. He took a step closer to her and moved his other hand to her hip, softly stroking her hip with his thumb.

Lorelai took a deep breath as Luke moved closer and placed her hands on his hips, drawing them even closer together. She looked up at him, silently begging him to kiss her. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when Luke leaned forward. Her eyes fluttered close as their lips met tenderly.

Luke allowed the sweet kiss to linger for only a moment before he pulled away. He watched Lorelai lick her lips. Noticing that her eyes remained close, Luke decided to take a chance and kiss her again. This time when he kissed her, he deepened the kiss almost immediately. By the time they pulled apart, they were both gasping for air.