It was still dark when Lorelai rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. She made it through her morning routine and down to the kitchen for her first cup of coffee without opening her eyes. After her second cup of coffee, she quietly crept back upstairs to Jess and Rory's bedroom.

Jess and Rory were still sound asleep when Lorelai entered their bedroom. Moving quietly, Lorelai flipped back Jess' blankets and carefully lifted him into her arms. She carried him downstairs and laid him gently on the couch. Once she was sure that Jess was still asleep, Lorelai went to get Rory.

When both kids were lying on the couch, Lorelai knelt beside the couch and began to softly stroke their hair. "Good morning, sleepyheads," she whispered. Jess sighed and Rory muttered an unintelligible protest under her breath, but neither child woke up. "You need to wake up now. It's daddy's day."

Suddenly awake, Rory sat up. "Daddy's day!" she gasped in delight.

Lorelai laughed at her daughter's ability to be fully alert within seconds of waking up. "That's right. It's daddy's day and we need to get ready." She continued to stroke Jess' hair. "Come on, sweet boy, you have to wake up now." Jess grumbled and rolled over to face the back of the couch. "I guess that proves it. You're definitely my kid." She looked at Rory suspiciously. "You, I'm not so sure about. You're way too chipper for this time of day." Rory giggled. "I guess we'll get you ready first and deal with your brother later."

"Okay, Mama." Rory slid off the couch. She stood impatiently in front of her mother, wiggling from side to side and hopping from one foot to the other, waiting for Lorelai to help her get dressed.

Lorelai pulled out the clothes she'd stashed under the couch the night before and selected Rory's outfit from the pile. "Here we go, sweet girl. Let's get you dressed." Several minutes later, Lorelai was out of breath from trying to wrestle Rory out of her pajamas and into her clothes. She dropped the shirt she was holding into her lap and raked her fingers through her hair. "You know," she sighed heavily, "this would be a lot easier and probably go faster with less squirming."

"Sorry," Rory responded with a cheeky grin.

"Mhmm. Let's just get this done, okay?" Lorelai pleaded. Rory managed to hold still for less than a minute, but it was long enough for Lorelai to finish getting her dressed. "Oh, thank God," Lorelai gasped with a sigh of relief.

"Hair, Mama. Want piggy tails," demanded Rory, plopping herself in Lorelai's lap.

A quiet knock on the front door granted Lorelai a reprieve from the demands of the precocious toddler. She shifted Rory off of her lap and climbed to her feet. "I'm going to get the door. You stay here. Maybe see if you can wake up your brother." Rory looked up at her mother with a mischievous grin. "Yeah, I don't want to know. It's too early for your schemes."

Leaving Rory to her impish ideas, Lorelai went to open the front door. She found Fran Weston standing on the front step holding a variety of takeout containers. "Hey, Fran."

"Good morning, Lorelai. I have everything you asked for."

"Thank you," Lorelai said as Fran handed her the takeout containers. "I really appreciate you bringing this over. I never would have been able to find time to pick it up."

"I was happy to help. Have you filled Luke in on your plans yet?"

"Of course not," Lorelai chuckled. "That would ruin the surprise."

"I've never thought of Luke as someone who likes surprises."

"I think he'll like this one."

"Good luck."

"Thanks, Fran." Lorelai lifted the takeout containers slightly higher, struggling to keep hold of everything. "And thanks again for these. I really need to get back inside to keep Rory from tormenting Jess."

"You go on. We'll catch up the next time you're in the bakery."

"I'll be sure to stop by sometime soon."

"I look forward to it."

Bidding a final goodbye to Fran, Lorelai went back inside. In the living room, she saw that Rory had woken up Jess and he was not happy about it.

Rory was poking Jess and chanting, "Wake up, wake up. It's daddy's day. Got to wake up."

Scowling at his sister, Jess batted her hands away. "Stop it, Ro! I don't like that!"

"Rory, leave Jess alone," Lorelai scolded, setting the takeout containers down on the coffee table. "I told you to wake him up, not torment him." Rory stared at her mother with wide-eyed innocence. "Don't even try that. I'm not buying it, kid."

Lorelai grabbed Jess' clothes and then picked up Jess. She sat down on the couch with Jess in her lap. After allowing Jess to cuddle against her chest for a moment, Lorelai gently tickled him, preventing him from falling asleep again. "You have to get dressed now."

"Mkay, Mama," Jess murmured, half-asleep. He let her dress him, but did little to help her.

With Jess dressed and slowly becoming more alert, Lorelai shifted him from her lap to the couch and began combing Rory's hair into the requested pig tails. She had just let the last hair tie snap into place when William walked into the living room. He pressed one finger to his lips in a silent reminder to Jess and Rory to be quiet and whispered, "Good morning."

"Hey, William."

"Are you about ready?"

"Yeah. We were just about to go wake up Luke."

"Okay. I'll finish loading the truck."

"Great. Can you take the food out with you?"

"Sure thing."

L&L L&L L&L

Carrying Jess on her hip, Lorelai pushed open the bedroom door and followed Rory to Luke's side of the bed. Rory crawled onto the bed and pressed her hands against Luke's cheeks. "Wake up, Daddy," she singsonged, leaning close to his face.

"Good morning, Rory," Luke grumbled, refusing to open his eyes.

"Come on, Luke. It's time to go."

Luke opened one eye and frowned at his wife. "Go where? Why are you awake? And dressed?"

"We're going fishing."

"We are?" he asked in disbelief. "Why?"

"Daddy's day!" Jess and Rory chorused cheerfully.

"Happy Father's Day, Luke," Lorelai said with a smile.

Luke sat up with Rory in his lap. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, get dressed and meet us in the truck." Lorelai took Rory by the hand and helped her off of the bed.

L&L L&L L&L

Luke walked outside to find his family waiting in the truck. William was in the driver's seat, so Luke slid into the passenger seat. "I'm here. Where are we going?"

"Your dad and I thought it would be fun to take the kids fishing at the same spot that your dad used to take you," Lorelai explained as she handed him a cup of tea.

Taking the tea and noticing the logo on the side of the cup, Luke asked, "When did you have time to go to Weston's?"

"Yesterday."

Luke took a sip of his tea. "This tea isn't from yesterday."

"No. Fran delivered it this morning."

"Do I even want to know how you convinced Fran to make a delivery?"

"I asked nicely."

"I'm impressed. Fran never makes deliveries."

"Don't overthink it. Just enjoy your tea."

L&L L&L L&L

For two hours, Lorelai watched Luke and William help Jess and Rory bait hooks and cast fishing lines. Realizing that Lorelai wasn't fishing with them, Luke called for her attention, "Hey, Lorelai, I thought you were going to fish with us?"

"I was, but I didn't know it was so violent."

"What are you talking about? Fishing isn't violent."

"You're putting hooks through the poor little fishes' mouths," she explained. "And what about what you do to the worms?"

"The worms?"

"Yes, the worms. You stab them, then you drown them. They never even have a chance."

"Ah geez," Luke sighed in exasperation.

"She does know where the chicken at the grocery store comes from, right?" William muttered under his breath.

The question was directed at Luke, but Lorelai answered, "Of course, I know where the chicken at the grocery store comes from. I also know where we get hamburgers. I don't have to kill the chickens or the cows though."

"So, you're just going to watch us fish?" Luke asked.

"Yep."

"Isn't that boring?"

"Not yet," Lorelai responded with a shrug.

"Okay," Luke replied, clearly doubting her interest. He decided it was best to just let Lorelai get her way and focused instead on helping Rory reel in her fishing line.

L&L L&L L&L

After the fishing trip, Luke and Lorelai spent the afternoon of Father's Day working at the hardware store while William took Jess and Rory home for a much-needed nap. As dinnertime approached, Lorelai finished helping the only customer who had entered the store all day and walked them to the door. "Time to go home," she declared loudly, locking the door.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked, walking out of the storeroom.

"Our one and only customer of the day just left, the shelves have been restocked, and we have plans," Lorelai informed Luke as she pushed past him to get into the storeroom. She quickly returned with her purse. "Let's go."

"In a minute. First, I want to know what kind of plans we have."

"It's a surprise. Don't ruin it."

"Am I going to like it?"

"Yes," she assured him. "Can we go now? We're supposed to meet your dad and the kids at the house."

"Fine," Luke agreed, resigned to once again letting Lorelai get her way. "Let's go."

L&L L&L L&L

"We're here," announced William, parking the truck.

Luke got out of the truck and turned to help Lorelai. "Dinner at Sniffy's is the big surprise?" he asked incredulously.

Lorelai freed the kids from their car seats and handed Jess to Luke. "Part of it," she answered, picking up Rory and leading the way toward the restaurant.

Luke didn't respond immediately, but, as they were crossing the parking lot, he suddenly stopped walking. Lorelai and William took several more steps before realizing that Luke was no longer with them. They turned to look at him, waiting impatiently for him to either catch up or explain why he had stopped. When Luke neither moved nor spoke, Lorelai decided to prompt him to act. "Luke?" she called.

"What do you mean this is part of the surprise?"

"You'll see," she said coyly, batting her eyelashes at him.

"I don't like surprises, Lorelai. Can't you just tell me now?"

"No."

"Luke, you'll find out as soon as we get inside, so, unless you want to eat dinner in the middle of the parking lot, let's move," ordered William. Luke grudgingly complied.

Inside, an overeager waiter quickly showed them to a table where Buddy and Maisy were already seated. "Surprise," Lorelai whispered to Luke, brushing past him to take her seat.

Luke sat down next to Lorelai and leaned close to her in an effort to have a semi-private conversation. Keeping his voice low, he asked, "How is it a surprise to see Buddy and Maisy at their own restaurant?"

"Seeing them isn't the surprise. The surprise is that they're eating with us, not serving us or coming by the table to talk."

"Oh. That's a nice surprise."

Lorelai was confused by Luke's obvious relief. "What did you think was going to happen?"

"I was afraid you were going to tell me you were pregnant."

"Oh! God, no!" Lorelai exclaimed more loudly than she intended. Her outburst drew the attention of everyone else at the table.

After a moment, when an explanation wasn't offered by either Luke or Lorelai, William and Buddy returned to their conversation. Maisy was the only one who continued to watch Luke and Lorelai. "Is everything okay?" she inquired.

"We're fine," Lorelai replied. Resting her hand gently on Luke's arm, she angled her face so that her lips brushed against his ear as she said, "I would never tell you that like this."

"Good." He brushed a soft kiss across her lips and sat back into his chair, finally ready to properly greet Buddy and Maisy and enjoy his dinner, leaving Lorelai to wonder about his strange reaction to finding out she wasn't pregnant.

L&L L&L L&L

Later that night, Lorelai crawled into bed next to Luke and laid her head on his chest. She absently played with the soft material of Luke's shirt while internally debating whether to tell him what was on her mind.

It was obvious to Luke that something was bothering Lorelai and had been since dinner, but he was reluctant to pressure her to talk to him before she was ready. When it became apparent that she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep, he decided he would have to be the one to start the conversation. "Lorelai?"

"Hmm?"

"What's bothering you?"

"Nothing. I'm just thinking."

Luke tucked Lorelai's hair behind her ear and pressed one finger under her chin to tilt her face toward his. "You're thinking very loudly. Want to talk about it?"

Chewing her bottom lip, Lorelai hesitated asking, "Do you want any more kids?"

"Is this about what happened at Sniffy's?"

"You said you were afraid I was pregnant."

"Technically, I said I was afraid you were going to tell me you were pregnant."

"What's the difference?"

"I really don't want to find out you're pregnant in front of a restaurant full of people."

"Are you sure that's all it was? You seemed really relieved that I'm not pregnant."

"I am."

"So, you don't want any more kids?"

"Not right now. I take it you do?"

"Yeah, I do. Someday. Is that okay?"

"Of course, it's okay, Lorelai. I just don't think now is a good time. We have a lot going on right now. Jess and Rory are a handful, my dad is still recovering, we're both working all the time, and I don't know how we'd manage having a baby on top of everything else."

"Okay. As long as you're not saying never."

"I'm definitely not saying never. All I'm saying is that we should wait." He flipped Lorelai onto her back, pinning her to the mattress. "In the meantime, we can practice."

Lorelai grinned up at him. "I like practicing." She combed her fingers through his hair, tugging gently until he lowered his mouth to hers.

"Me too," Luke murmured against her lips, slipping one hand under her shirt.