On the first day of December, Luke woke up early to make a special breakfast for his family. He was hoping the kids would accept chocolate chip pancakes with all of their favorite toppings as an apology for how he had been behaving since Halloween. It turned out that earning their forgiveness wasn't that easy. The twins were too young to have noticed the disruption that Luke had caused in everybody's lives, but Jess and Rory had noticed and they were hesitant to trust their father's abrupt return to normalcy.

Lorelai took pity on Luke and decided to help him reconnect with Jess and Rory. With her encouragement, Jess and Rory agreed to spend the morning with Luke. By the time they came home for lunch, the kids were happily talking a mile a minute, not caring that they were speaking over each other, while Luke listened indulgently. As they walked into the kitchen, Lorelai looked up from the sandwiches she was preparing and smiled. She was pleased to see that order had been restored to their relationship.

"Hey, did you guys have fun?"

Rory nodded enthusiastically. "Uh huh. Daddy Day is the best day!"

"That's great. What did you guys do?"

"We went to the park and the library," answered Luke.

"Ice cream!" Jess shouted.

"That was supposed to be a secret," Luke reminded him.

"Oops. Sorry, Daddy," Jess apologized, though he didn't look the least bit contrite.

Stunned, Lorelai stammered, "You, Luke Danes, bought ice cream? Willingly?"

Luke shrugged helplessly. "I figured they deserved a treat for putting up with me for the last month."

"Don't I deserve a treat too?"

"What do you call last night?"

"Well, I don't call it ice cream."

"How about I bring home something special from the diner for you?"

"I guess that would be okay. When do you have to go to work?"

"Right after lunch."

"Which is ready now," Lorelai told him as she put the last sandwich on a plate. "Let's eat."

L&L L&L L&L

After closing the diner, Luke carefully wrapped up a leftover apple pie to take home to Lorelai. When he walked into the house, he expected to find her bouncing off the walls in eager anticipation of the treat he'd promised her. He wasn't prepared for her to meet him at the door and violently thrust a piece of paper in his face. "Do you know what that woman has done now?" she seethed, wiggling the paper back and forth.

Luke gently pushed her hand away. "I don't even know who that woman is."

"My mother."

"What did Emily do this time?"

"She sent the invitation for the Christmas party."

"That's great. She un-uninvited you. I told you she'd change her mind."

"Oh, please," scoffed Lorelai. "Emily Gilmore does not change her mind. She didn't un-uninvite me. She just invited everyone except me."

"Why would she do that?"

"Because she's Emily Gilmore."

"Careful, your logic is starting to make about as much sense as your mother's."

Lorelai pouted. "You don't have to be mean."

"If I were mean, would I have brought you apple pie?" Luke teased, waving the pie under Lorelai's nose. When she moved to grab it, he lifted it over her head. "Do you want to complain about your mother or eat pie?"

"I can do both." As Lorelai jumped to reach the pie, she pleaded, "Give me, give me."

Luke caught her against his chest and let her slide down his body until her feet were back on the floor. "Fine," he groaned. Stealing a kiss, Luke gently pushed Lorelai ahead of him and toward the kitchen. Once she was settled at the kitchen table with her pie, Luke asked, "Why would your mom invite the rest of us, but not you?"

"It's her way of punishing me for not going along with her plans to have a birthday dinner for Rory when the kids had chickenpox."

"We both agreed that birthday dinner was a bad idea, so why only uninvite you?"

"Because in the world of Emily Gilmore, it is always my fault when things don't go exactly her way."

"That's crazy, and so is she, if she thinks I'm going to take the kids to the party without you."

"She not only thinks it, she expects it."

"She's going to be disappointed. Again. There's no way I'm even going to try to handle all four of them on my own at some fancy party that I don't want to attend."

Laughing, Lorelai said, "I can just see it now. You're miserable in a suit and tie, trying to hide in a corner, but my mother's DAR friends keep tracking you down to tell you how handsome you look and pinch the kids' cheeks. At the same time, my dad will be trying to lure you into his office to discuss your future business plans."

"And the whole time, I'll be dealing with four bored kids and trying to keep them from wandering away."

"Especially since the twins will probably be crawling by then. If they all took off in different directions, you'd really be in trouble."

"I think the fact that I'd be hanging out with your mother would be trouble enough."

"No argument there," chuckled Lorelai. Regaining her composure, Lorelai said, "She's going to get angry if you and the kids don't show up at that party. You know that, right?"

"Do you think we'll be able to tell the difference?"

"Probably not. I just wanted to make sure you were prepared to incur the wrath of Emily Gilmore."

"I think I'm starting to get used to it," confessed Luke.

"I hit that point around the time I turned ten. Add in, being a constant disappointment and you've got my life. On the bright side, we're free on Christmas Eve this year."

"I knew there had to be a silver lining somewhere," Luke replied sarcastically.

L&L L&L L&L

For weeks after Luke declined Emily's invitation, there was no response from Lorelai's parents. During that time, Jess and Rory wrote their Christmas lists, Luke and Lorelai took the kids to see Santa, and Lorelai decorated the house from top to bottom with every Christmas decoration she could find. By the time Lorelai was finished, Luke was nearly convinced that he was living in Santa's workshop, but he refused to complain about anything that was distracting her from the fact that her mother had effectively shunned her.

Then, a week before Christmas, while Jess and Rory were at school and the twins were napping, Richard called Lorelai to talk about the Christmas party. He wanted her to attend the party despite Emily's opposition. While Lorelai calmly refused her father's request, Luke sat next to her on the couch, anxiously waiting for her to end the call. As soon as she hung up the phone, Luke asked, "What did your dad say?"

Lorelai sighed in exasperation. "Seriously? You were sitting there the whole time. He wants us to go to their Christmas party."

Rolling his eyes, Luke said, "Yeah, I got that part. I meant what did he say about why he was inviting us again after we already said no? And what about your mom?"

"He invited us because he wants to see us and, as for my mother, Dad claims she didn't really mean not to invite me and that I should just go anyway."

"But you told him no." Luke's comment sounded more like a question, so Lorelai nodded, even though a response was unnecessary since he had heard her side of the conversation and already knew the answer. Her apparent indifference confused Luke. "Doesn't this whole thing bother you?"

"Not really. I mean, I'll miss the apple tarts, but not having to see my mother will be worth it."

"Really?" challenged Luke, cocking one eyebrow. "You've written whole songs about how much you love those apple tarts."

Lorelai couldn't meet Luke's eyes as she shrugged nonchalantly and said, "They're no big deal."

Luke knew she was intentionally downplaying her feelings about the situation, but decided it was best not to press her any further and changed the subject instead. "So, um, has Ben gotten the hang of crawling yet?"

"Not yet. He's still just kind of rocking back and forth before faceplanting. I think he gets frustrated watching Liam and just gives up."

"He'll get the hang of it. He is a Danes after all."

"You're right. He's stubborn and gets grumpy when he doesn't get his way and seems to be developing a weird obsession with sports and vegetables. He's just like you."

"I feel like I've just been insulted," Luke complained, trying to copy Lorelai's famous pout.

His expression was so comical that something inside Lorelai seemed to snap and she collapsed against Luke, giggling uncontrollably. Between peals of laughter, she gasped, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Making me laugh."

Luke shifted to slide one arm behind her back and around her waist. Pulling her closer, he kissed the top of her head and said, "I'm glad to know I'm good for something other than being stubborn and grumpy."

"I wouldn't keep you around if you weren't."

"I'm beginning to wonder why I keep you around."

"Hey!" exclaimed Lorelai, playfully slapping his chest.

"It's just a joke. There's no need to get violent."

"Oh, poor baby," cooed Lorelai, rubbing the spot she had smacked. "Did I hurt you? Do I need to kiss it and make it better?"

"Yes, please."

"Why don't we go upstairs and I can give you a thorough evaluation?" Before Lorelai could finish her flirtatious suggestion, Luke had already hauled her into his lap and stood up with her in his arms. Lorelai squealed in protest as he carried her toward the stairs. "Luke! Put me down!"

"Not a chance. I have an appointment with a hot nurse and I want to make sure she's not late."

L&L L&L L&L

With a little help from Mia, Luke was able to keep Lorelai out of the house all day on Christmas Eve, so that he and the kids could finish the special Christmas surprise that he had been working on ever since he'd realized that Lorelai was upset about missing her parents' Christmas party. Lorelai was annoyed that she had to spend a day she considered sacred at the inn, but Luke was hopeful that her anger would fade once she learned what he had planned for that evening.

The first thing Luke had to do after Lorelai left for work was wrestle the kids into their snow boots and winter coats. Jess and Rory were willing to do as they were told, but Ben and Liam were uncooperative. When Luke finally had the twins ready to leave, he was sweating and panting heavily, but there was no time for him to catch his breath because he still had to get them all into the car before they scattered in four different directions.

It took Luke nearly thirty minutes to get everybody out of the house and into their car seats. As he slid into the driver's seat, Luke glanced at Jess and Rory in the rearview mirror and asked, "How does your mom ever manage to get anything done with all four of you?"

"I don't know, Daddy," answered Jess. "Mommy's just better at it."

Rory nodded enthusiastically. "Mommy's better at lots of things."

"I'm sure that's true, but there's one thing I'm better at. Christmas surprises." Seeing that Jess and Rory doubted him, Luke rephrased his declaration. "I'm better at planning this one Christmas surprise for Mommy, so that she can have her very own family Christmas party."

"Okay, Daddy," Rory reluctantly agreed.

Luke understood that nothing short of success would convince his kids that he was capable of organizing a Christmas party, so he didn't bother to try. He backed out of the driveway, grumbling, "Let's just get going."

As they drove around town, Luke made several stops to pick up items that he had asked friends to hide so that Lorelai wouldn't find them while she was snooping through closets looking for her Christmas presents. At Babette's house they picked up a stack of Christmas movies Luke had rented. Next, they stopped at Miss Patty's School of Ballet to pick up the elf costumes she was letting them borrow and a Santa hat that she insisted Luke absolutely had to wear. They ended their trip at Sookie's house where Luke picked up the groceries he had bought for their Christmas Eve dinner, including the ingredients for apple tarts.

On the short drive home, Luke explained the schedule for the afternoon to Jess and Rory. The only part they were interested in was Luke's promise to let them help make the apple tarts during Ben and Liam's afternoon nap. Jess and Rory were excited about helping Luke cook and promised to be extra well-behaved the rest of the day so that Luke could have everything ready for their little Christmas party when Lorelai got home from work.

L&L L&L L&L

That evening, Luke and the kids met Lorelai at the front door. The sight of the kids dressed in green elf costumes and Luke wearing a Santa hat caused Lorelai to stop just inside the house with the door still open behind her. "What's this?"

"Just a little Christmas party." Taking a moment to reconsider his response, Luke amended his answer, saying, "I guess it's not even really a party since it's just us, but we've taken your favorite parts of your parents' Christmas party and added some other stuff that I think you'll like."

"You did?"

"We did, but the plan doesn't include us all catching pneumonia and spending the next week in the hospital, so could you shut the door?"

Lorelai hadn't realized the door was still open and was initially confused by Luke's request. Shaking off her surprised stupor, she quickly shut the door and then dropped her purse and coat on the floor so that she could hug Luke and the twins. As Jess and Rory wrapped themselves around her legs, Lorelai wondered out loud, "What does the plan include?"

"You get to wear this ridiculous hat," Luke told her, turning his head to shake the end of the Santa hat in her face.

Giggling, Lorelai plucked the Santa hat off of Luke's head and settled it on her own. "Now what?"

"We're going to have a North Pole themed dinner. It didn't start out that way, but the kids gave everything silly names like Santa burgers and Rudolph's nose strawberries. I think you'll really like the elf booger green beans. Later, we're going to have a Christmas movie marathon."

"Sounds like we're going to have a fun night." Running her fingers through Jess and Rory's hair, Lorelai asked, "Did you guys help Daddy pick out the movies?"

Jess shook his head, wiping his nose across Lorelai's thigh. "Uh-uh."

"We helped make Mommy's special 'sert," Rory announced proudly.

"She means the apple tarts," clarified Luke. "I don't know if they'll taste like the ones your mom serves and they certainly don't look like the ones your mom, but ours were made with love."

"Ah, the magic ingredient. I can't wait to try them. When do we eat?"

"Whenever you want. Soon would be best because everything's ready."

"Good. I'm starving." Lorelai took Liam from Luke's arms and led the way to the kitchen. "Let's get this party started!"

L&L L&L L&L

When the final scene of White Christmas faded to black, Luke gently shook Lorelai's shoulder to wake her up. "Is it over?" she mumbled sleepily.

"Mhmm. It's almost time for Santa to come."

Snuggling deeper into Luke's side, Lorelai groaned, "We better get our little elves to bed."

Luke looked at Jess and Rory asleep on the floor and the twins sleeping in his and Lorelai's lap. "That shouldn't be too hard." Sensing that Lorelai was slipping back into unconsciousness, Luke wiggled the shoulder her head was resting on and jarred her awake. "We have to get up now."

"Fine." Lorelai pulled away from Luke and, tightening her hold on Liam, stumbled to her feet.

Placing a hand on Lorelai's hip to steady her, Luke guided her out of the living room. "I'll come back for them," he said, nodding toward Jess and Rory.

"Thank God, I married a big, strong man. I'd hate having to wake them up."

"They'd never go back to sleep."

"Ah, yes, overexcited children who refuse to go to sleep, the Christmas Eve curse of parents everywhere." At the base of the stairs, Lorelai spun around to look at Luke. "We wouldn't want that to ruin what has been an otherwise amazing Christmas Eve. I think it's the best one I've ever had. Thank you."

"It was no big deal."

"It was to me."

Uncomfortable with Lorelai's gratitude, Luke rolled his shoulders and quietly muttered, "I just like to see you happy."

Lorelai smiled at Luke's unwarranted embarrassment and rested her free hand against his cheek, lightly stroking her thumb across his cheek bone. "You make me very happy." With a quick kiss on the corner of Luke's mouth, Lorelai said, "I love you."

"I love you too." Luke brushed Lorelai's hair behind her ear and pulled her close for a deeper kiss. When Lorelai pulled away, Luke nudged her up the stairs. "Come on, we still have a lot to do tonight."