Luke tossed his duffle bag into the bed of his truck. It landed next to the other bags already piled there. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Dad?"

"I'm sure." William passed the diaper bags to Luke. "I have to run the store. My manager decided to take a long weekend with his girlfriend and their kids," he joked.

Luke groaned. "Dad."

"I'm kidding. I'm kidding." William held his hands up in mock surrender. "I'll be fine. You should go and have fun. Maybe you'll even manage to convince Lorelai to put her books away for a little while."

"You don't really think she'll try to study while we're on vacation, do you?" Luke asked uncertainly.

"Have you seen her without a book since she started her GED class? I mean when she's not working."

"Yes." Luke paused to think about it. "I think so anyway."

William chuckled. "Exactly. It's become so rare to see her without a book, you can't even remember if you have."

"She just wants to do well on her exam," Luke stated in Lorelai's defense. "It's only a month away."

"I know she wants to do well. All I'm saying is that she needs a break."

"I know. I'll see what I can do."

Just then Lorelai appeared, toting her overstuffed backpack. She added it to the pile in the truck bed. "That should be everything."

"Do you really need to take your books?"

"I have to study, Luke. My exam is in a month."

"We're going to be gone less than five days."

"I need to keep studying. I really want to do well."

"Okay, but promise me you won't study the entire time."

Lorelai wrapped her arms around Luke's neck, pressing herself tightly against his body. "I promise." She gave him a quick kiss, then started walking back to the house. "I'll grab Rory and Jess, then we can leave," she called to him.

L&L L&L L&L

An hour after they left Stars Hollow, they pulled up to the Danes family lake cabin. Luke and Lorelai took Jess and Rory inside and strapped them into the baby swings that William had set up during his most recent fishing trip. With the babies happily swinging away, Luke and Lorelai worked together to unload the truck.

"What do we have planned for this afternoon? I can take care of Jess if you want to go fishing."

"Actually, I was thinking I could take care of the babies while you study this afternoon. That way you can take tonight and tomorrow off."

"Is there some reason I need to take tonight and tomorrow off?" Lorelai asked flirtatiously.

"I was thinking we could spend a quiet evening with the babies and after they go to bed, we can watch one of those tapes my dad stuck in your bag."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Luke gave her a hard stare. "What about tomorrow?" Lorelai asked to change the topic.

"If you don't mind keeping an eye on Jess, I'd like to leave early to go fishing."

"You know I don't mind," Lorelai assured him as she grabbed the last of the bags from the bed of the truck.

"I'll be gone before you wake up," Luke warned her.

"Okay."

"I was also thinking that Jess and Rory might like to play in the water in the afternoon. Then, tomorrow night, after the babies are in bed, we can watch the neighbor's firework show from the dock."

"You planned a date night?" Lorelai asked excitedly.

"Sort of. I mean we're not really going out, but we'll be almost alone."

Lorelai squealed and dropped the bags she was carrying, throwing her arms around Luke's neck in an awkward hug as he struggled not to hit her with the portable cribs he was holding. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Luke chuckled at her enthusiasm. "You're welcome."

"This is just the study break I need."

"Not too much of a break though. I know how important this test is to you, so we'll make sure you get a chance to study on Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday before we head back."

"You really are the perfect boyfriend," she exclaimed, kissing his cheek.

Luke blushed. "Yeah, yeah. Let's finish this up." He stepped away from her and headed into the cabin to set up the portable cribs. Lorelai picked up the bags she had dropped and followed him.

L&L L&L L&L

That afternoon, Luke stood in front of Jess and Rory, pushing them in the baby swings that he had hung from a tree branch. Jess and Rory squealed in delight and kicked their feet happily. Every few minutes, Luke looked over his shoulder at the kitchen window where he could see Lorelai sitting at the kitchen table, bent over a book, studying intently. Occasionally, Lorelai would catch him looking at her and smile brightly while waving at him. He would return her smile before turning back to the babies with a silly face, eliciting peals of laughter.

L&L L&L L&L

Several hours later, Lorelai walked into the living room holding a stack of VHS tapes and sat on the couch next to Luke. "Sorry that took so long. It took forever to feed Rory and get her to sleep."

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah. She's just overtired." She shot a glare at him. "It was almost like someone completely wore her out this afternoon."

"I'm sorry," Luke said sheepishly.

Lorelai rested her head on Luke's shoulder. "Don't be. I was just teasing you. I'm actually really glad she had so much fun with you. Thank you for taking care of her this afternoon."

"I didn't mind. She's a good baby and I like spending time with her."

"Still, it means a lot to me, so thank you."

"You're welcome." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Okay, that's enough mushy stuff for tonight," Lorelai announced, sitting up straight. "I have tapes of Dallas, Cagney & Lacey, I Love Lucy, and that new show, Night Court. What do you want to watch?"

"I don't care."

"Come on, Luke. You must have some opinion."

"Not Dallas."

Lorelai sighed in exasperation. "Really, Luke? That's all you've got?"

"Yeah. I really don't care what we watch. I just want to spend time with you."

His sweet declaration brought a soft smile to Lorelai's lips. She kissed his cheek. "I Love Lucy it is." She sorted through the tapes, selected one, and stood up to put it in the VCR.

After she set the tape up to play, she returned to the couch and curled up against Luke's side. They settled in for the night with her head on his shoulder and his arm draped over her legs.

L&L L&L L&L

"You're a happy boy this morning," Lorelai cooed at Jess while tickling him. Jess giggled uncontrollably and grabbed for Lorelai's mouth, kicking wildly when she took his hand in hers and started to press loud, smacking kisses to his palm.

When they entered the kitchen, Lorelai continued to carry on a one-sided conversation with Jess as she put him in his highchair and poured herself a cup of coffee. "You have the best daddy in the whole wide world. Yes, you do. Wasn't it nice of your daddy to make coffee before he went fishing?" She paused her rambling to take a drink. "Aaaah. Very nice of him." She took another sip and set her mug down on the table. "Let's get you some breakfast, sweet boy. Would you like baby cereal or baby cereal?" Jess babbled incoherently. "Baby cereal it is."

The baby cereal was easy to make and ready quickly. Lorelai pulled Jess' highchair close to the table and sat down to feed him, taking the time to make airplane and train noises in between sips of coffee. Jess was still eating when Rory woke up. While spooning one last bite of baby cereal into Jess' mouth, Lorelai took a sip of her coffee and stood up. "I'll be right back, sweet boy. I have to go get your friend."

The girls returned less than a minute later. Lorelai put Rory in her highchair and pulled it close to Jess. She quickly prepared another bowl of baby cereal before sitting back down at the table to feed the babies.

L&L L&L L&L

After putting the babies down for their afternoon nap, Lorelai curled up on the couch to study. She quickly lost herself in her review of American history and didn't realize Luke had returned from fishing until he spoke.

"I thought you were going to take a break from studying today?" Luke asked as he walked into the cabin, carrying a cooler.

"Since the babies are sleeping, I thought I'd sneak in a quick review before you got back."

"Well, I'm back, so put the book away," Luke ordered with false severity.

Lorelai grinned and closed the book. "It's gone."

"Good." Luke took the cooler to the kitchen with Lorelai following closely behind him.

"What's in the cooler?"

"Fish for dinner."

"Your fishing trip must have been successful if you were able to catch dinner."

"Prepped them too."

Lorelai put a hand over her heart. "My man is such a good provider," she said dreamily.

Luke rolled his eyes. "How's your day going?"

"Good." Lorelai sat down at the kitchen table to watch Luke put the fish away as she told him about her day. "Jess woke up early, but Rory slept in. The babies had cereal for breakfast. I had coffee that my amazing boyfriend made for me."

"Coffee isn't breakfast," Luke interrupted.

Lorelai ignored him. "I read Green Eggs and Ham about a million times and built about a thousand block towers that they knocked over. We had lunch. They fell asleep. I studied. You came home with fish. That's about it."

"Sounds like you've had a good day."

"I did. Are we still taking Rory and Jess to play in the water this afternoon?"

"Sure. We can go as soon as they wake up."

L&L L&L L&L

"I don't understand why tired babies won't just go to sleep," Lorelai whined as she collapsed on the couch, her head landing on Luke's thigh.

Luke stroked her hair. "I don't know. It was a good day though. I think Jess and Rory really enjoyed playing in the water."

"They did," Lorelai confirmed with a giggle. "I can't believe that two tiny babies were able to soak us both from head to toe."

Luke laughed. "It didn't even take them that long."

"How long do we have until the fireworks start?"

"Not long. We can head out now, if you want?"

"I want!" Lorelai exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Just let me grab the baby monitor." She rushed out of the room.

When she returned Luke was waiting by the door with her jacket in his hand. He handed Lorelai her jacket. "Here, you might want this. It can get cold by the water."

Lorelai shrugged into her jacket. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Luke opened the door and followed Lorelai outside. He took her hand and led her to the end of the dock where they sat down.

"I can't wait. I just love fireworks. They're so fun and pretty."

"Like somebody I know."

Lorelai blushed.

Moments later the fireworks started exploding over the lake. Lorelai watched the fireworks in awe. Luke watched Lorelai, smiling when he noticed how her eyes seemed to shine brighter each time a new firework appeared in the sky. "I love you," he whispered.

Lorelai turned to him with a smile. She leaned toward him to give him a kiss, then settled against his side. "I love you too."

Luke wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He couldn't help smiling through the rest of the fireworks. The weekend was off to an excellent start.

.