It was a cold October night when Luke found himself wandering the hospital halls, unable to get home due to the snowstorm raging outside. He didn't have a destination in mind. In fact, he wasn't even paying attention to where he was walking. His eyes were on the ground as he muttered to himself, "This shouldn't have happened. I'm supposed to protect him. Some father I am."

"Sometimes things just happen, even if we don't mean for them to."

Luke was pulled out of his thoughts. He looked up and realized that he had stopped in front of the nursery and there was someone standing next to him. He glanced to his left and saw a girl who seemed to be entirely focused on the baby girl in the bassinet in front of her. He turned back to the nursery and the baby that held the girl's focus. "Is that your little sister?"

Lorelai sighed, realizing this was the first of what would likely be many times she would be asked that question. "No. She's my daughter."

Luke turned to study the girl. She looked too young to have a daughter, but he noticed she was wearing a hospital gown. "Oh. I'm sorry. You just seem kinda…"

"Young?"

Luke blushed and looked down at his shoes. "Yeah."

"I'm sixteen," she responded with a shrug.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Sometimes things just happen." There was an awkward silence before Lorelai spoke again. "So, which one is yours?"

"Huh?"

Lorelai gestured toward the babies, "You said you had to protect your son. Which one is he?"

"Oh. None of them. My son is in the PICU."

"Oh! I'm sorry. Is he going to be alright?"

"The doctors say he will be, but he's just so small. I mean pneumonia is never good and Jess is only eight weeks old."

"If the doctors said he'll be fine, I'm sure he will be." There was another awkward silence, "I'm Lorelai by the way."

"Luke."

Luke and Lorelai turned their attention back to the baby girl. "So, um, what's her name?"

"Lorelai, but I'm going to call her Rory."

"You named her after yourself?"

"What's wrong with that? Men do it all the time."

"There's nothing wrong with that. I actually named my son after myself."

"I thought you said your son's name was Jess."

"I did."

"And your name is Luke."

"It is."

"So, how is that naming your son after yourself?"

"His middle name is Lucas."

"Oh. That makes sense."

"Yeah, after my sister gave birth, she just handed him over and told me to figure out a name. She'd called him Jess while she was pregnant, so I figured I'd keep it. You know, so I can always tell him that his mom picked his name. Then, since my middle name is my dad's first name, I figured since Jess was going to be my son, his middle name should be my first name."

Lorelai stared at Luke in shock. "Did you just say your sister is your son's mother?"

"Uh, yeah. I adopted Jess. Liz, that's my sister, said she was going to give him away, so I asked her to let me take him."

"That's nice. So you're a single dad?"

"Yeah."

"Is it hard?"

"It's the hardest thing I've ever done, but we live with my dad and he helps out a lot."

"Oh."

Luke looked at Lorelai, confused by the sad tone of her voice. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just nice that you have help."

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of help too."

"I guess," she stated, sounding unsure.

"What about Rory's dad?"

"He's sixteen. He's not ready to be a father. I mean he proposed, but I don't think we should get married just because I got pregnant."

"If he proposed, doesn't it mean that he's willing to help out with Rory."

Lorelai shook her head. "Not really. He only proposed because my parents said we had to get married. When I said no, he pulled a Houdini."

"Pulled a Houdini?"

"Yeah. He disappeared."

"Where'd he go?"

"I don't know," Lorelai shrugged. "Back to his life, I guess. When I called last night to tell him I was in labor, his mom told me he was at a party."

"Did he make it here before she was born?"

Lorelai looked away from Luke, a blush heating her cheeks. "He still hasn't made it here."

"Ah, jeez. I'm sorry, Lorelai."

"I wish I could say I was surprised, but I've known Chris since I was six and that's just who he is. He's not ready to be a father and he doesn't want to be ready. I just need to realize that Rory and I are on our own." She smiled at her daughter.

"Well, what about your parents? I couldn't have adopted Jess if I didn't have my dad's help. I'm sure your parents will help you."

"Ha! My parents want to control me, not help me. They're already talking about Rory as if she's their do-over. Their second chance at a perfect daughter. Their idea of helping me is to hire a bunch of nannies, so that I never even see Rory."

"I'm sure that's not what they're trying to do."

"Trust me. I know my parents. That's exactly what they're trying to do. I'm going to leave as soon as I can. I just wish I didn't have to go home with them at all."

"So don't."

"Where else would I go? I have a baby."

"You could move in with me."

"What?"

"I mean, um, well, yeah, you could move in with me. Well, with me and Jess and my dad."

Lorelai turned back to Luke, eyes wide with shock and confusion. For a moment she was unable to speak. Soon, she found her voice and began to ramble, "You don't know me. I don't know you. What if one of us is a serial killer? Why would you offer a stranger a place to live? Especially a stranger with a baby? Babies cry. Isn't it your dad's house? How would he feel about you bringing home a stranger and a baby? Another baby. You already have a baby. Two babies. That's a lot of babies for one house. What if I said yes? Then what would you do? You can't be…"

"Lorelai! I can't keep up when you talk that fast."

"Sorry, but seriously Luke, you can't be serious."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't know anything about me. I could be a serial killer."

"Are you?"

"Well, no, but you don't know that."

Luke rolled his eyes and replied drily, "I'll take my chances."

"I don't know you either. Maybe you're the serial killer."

"I'm not."

"Oh."

"You need a place to stay. We have a spare room. It's not much, but you could have it."

"I have a baby."

"So do I."

"She'll cry. I'm sure of it."

"Jess cries."

"I don't know how I'd be able to pay rent."

"We'll work something out. I'm sure my dad could help you find a job," Luke told Lorelai as he studied her face. She looked interested, but unsure.

"What would your dad think?"

"I'm sure he'd want to help."

"Why?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"Lorelai."

"Luke."

He sighed, "Fine. You remind me of Liz, except that you want to stick around and be a parent to your baby. I want to help you do that and I'm sure my dad will too."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Is it weird that I want to say yes."

"No weirder than me wanting you to say yes."

Lorelai nodded once and turned back to her daughter. "She has to come first. Whatever I decide, she has to come first."

"I know."

"It's getting late. I think we should sleep on it. We could talk again tomorrow if you're still serious about your offer."

"Jess is supposed to be discharged in the afternoon."

"So are Rory and I."

"We could talk in the morning."

"That'd be good."

"Can I walk you back you your room?"

"Yes, please." Lorelai smiled up at Luke. "This way you'll know where to find me in the morning."

Luke returned her smile and together they headed off down the hall.