Luke was leaning against a wall near the children's corner at the back of the bookstore, watching Jess and Rory play with the toys the store owners had provided. The toddlers were happily sharing a set of blocks and babbling nonsensically to each other while they waited for story time to start.

Luke and Lorelai had planned to bring Jess and Rory to story time together, but Lorelai had been called into work to cover a shift for another maid who was sick. Despite being disappointed that Lorelai had to work, Luke had decided to bring Jess and Rory to story time by himself and was resigned to spending Saturday morning listening to Crazy Carrie read children's books.

When Carrie sat down to begin reading, Luke said in a gentle voice, "Jess, Rory, quiet down. It's time to listen to Carrie read today's stories." Jess and Rory immediately dropped their blocks and stopped their chattering to sit down on the rug in the children's corner. They waited patiently for the other children to settle down. After all of the children were sitting quietly on the rug, Carrie began to read Are You My Mother? and Mother's Day Mice.

Many of the children struggled to sit still and got up to play while Carrie read, but Jess and Rory sat quietly through both books. They didn't pick up the blocks again until after Carrie had closed the second book.

Carrie allowed the children to play for several minutes, then announced, "It's time to do our craft. We're going to color pretty flowers that you can give to your mamas tomorrow for Mother's Day."

The children followed Carrie to a long, low table that was lined with child-sized chairs. In front of each small chair was a single sheet of white paper with a drawing of a bouquet of flowers outlined in black. There were dozens of crayons scattered across the middle of the table.

"Can everybody find a chair?" Carrie requested in the sickly-sweet voice that people reserve for small children. With an exaggerated wink at Luke, she added, "There are a couple of chairs over here by me."

Luke groaned. "Carrie, you know I have a girlfriend." He placed his hand lightly on Rory's head and ruffled her hair. "This is her daughter in case you need proof." Rory looked up at Luke with a smile.

"We could fix that," Carrie hinted flirtatiously.

"No, thank you," Luke replied while guiding Jess and Rory to chairs as far away from Carrie as possible.

"Well, if you change your mind, or just want to have some fun with someone new, let me know. I'd be happy to show you what a real woman can do to please a man."

Luke shuddered with disgust, but otherwise ignored Carrie. Instead, he focused on grabbing an assortment of crayons for Jess and Rory to use to color their flowers.

L&L L&L L&L

That evening, when Lorelai opened the front door, Rory eagerly grabbed her flower picture from where she had hidden it under the couch. After retrieving her picture, Rory ran toward the door, but stopped abruptly when Lorelai walked into the living room and stooped to pick her up.

"Mama!" Rory shrieked, holding her picture up to Lorelai's face.

"For me?" Lorelai asked excitedly, taking the picture and moving it away from her face so she could see it. "Did you color this?"

Rory nodded, bouncing on her mother's hip.

"It's so pretty. Thank you!"

Rory threw her arms around Lorelai's neck in an enthusiastic hug. Lorelai returned the hug while turning to look at Luke and Jess. She saw Luke sitting on the couch with Jess sitting on his lap. Jess held his flower picture in both hands and was studying it sadly. "What's wrong with Jess?" Lorelai asked Luke as she moved to stand in front of him and Jess.

"He doesn't know what to do with his picture. Carrie told the kids to give their pictures to their mamas and now Jess is confused," Luke explained.

Jess moaned pitifully, "No mama."

"Mama," Rory stated firmly, pressing her cheek to Lorelai's with her arms still wrapped securely around Lorelai's neck.

"Me mama?" Jess asked, his eyes brightening. "Ess mama? Mama La La?"

Luke looked up at Lorelai with a silent question in his eyes. Lorelai nodded, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Luke let out a sigh of relief and said, "Yes, Jess. La La is your mama."

"Mama!" Jess screeched, holding his picture out to her.

Lorelai knelt down and took the picture from Jess. "Thank you, sweet boy. It's beautiful. You did a great job."

Jess smiled and launched himself at Lorelai. Lorelai caught him, barely managing to keep ahold of Rory and maintain her balance. "I love you too, Jess," she said, laughing happily and kissing the top of his head.

L&L L&L L&L

After checking on Rory and Jess one last time and ensuring that they were sound asleep, Lorelai crawled into bed next to Luke. Luke wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. Laying her head on his chest, Lorelai sighed heavily. "Are you really okay with Jess calling me mama?"

"Of course, I am."

"What if something happens and we're not together anymore? What if you decide you don't want me to be his mama anymore? How would we explain it to Jess?"

"Oh, Lorelai, that would never happen."

"You can't know that."

"Yes, I can. I love you, Lorelai. I believe we have a future together. Don't you?"

"Of course, I do, but things don't always go the way we hope they will."

"No, they don't, but even if we're not together, I want you to be Jess' mom. Always."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. You're already his mama. There's no changing that."

Lorelai took a deep breath. "I feel the same way about you being Rory's dad."

"You do?"

"I do."

"I promise I'll always take care of her. No matter what happens between us."

"I promise to always take care of Jess. No matter what happens between us."

"I love you, Lorelai."

"I love you too. Good night."

"Night," he murmured against her hair as he kissed the top of her head.

L&L L&L L&L

"Shh. Be quiet," Luke whispered to Jess and Rory. He ushered them into the bedroom while carrying the breakfast tray he had prepared for Lorelai. "We don't want to wake up Mama until we're ready." As soon as he said the word mama, Luke knew it was a mistake because Jess and Rory immediately raced to the bed and began pulling on the blankets.

"Mama!" Rory called.

"La La!" Jess cried, then, correcting himself, stated emphatically, "Mama!"

"Okay, okay, I'm awake," Lorelai groaned, leaning over the side of the bed to help the overexcited toddlers climb up. "Come here my sweet babies."

"Sorry, Lorelai. I had planned a nicer, quieter way of waking you up, but it looks like Jess and Rory had a different idea."

Lorelai flopped onto her back, chuckling. She settled Rory in the middle of the bed on one side of her and pulled Jess close to her other side. "That's okay. I can't think of a better way to wake up on Mother's Day than to the happy voices and smiling faces of my sweet babies."

"As long as you're happy."

"I am," she assured him with a grin.

"Good." He carefully set the tray he was carrying across her legs. "We made you breakfast."

"Oooh. Yummy." Lorelai sat up and leaned against the headboard. She pulled the tray closer and began to inspect her breakfast. Stabbing a bite with her fork and holding it up for Luke to see, she asked, "What is this?"

Luke met her accusing glare with a smile as he walked around the bed to sit next to Rory. "That's a slice of banana," he informed her.

"I know that, Lucas. What is it doing on my plate?"

"It's good for you."

"I don't eat fruit."

"Jess wanted to add it."

"Fine," Lorelai said with an exasperated sigh. Grimacing, she ate the banana slice while surveying the rest of the food on her plate. Selecting a piece of bacon and handing it to Rory, she said, "Give this to Dada, Rory."

Tilting her head to one side, Rory thought hard for a moment, then asked, "Lu?"

"Yes. Give the bacon to Dada. If Mama has to eat a banana, Dada has to eat bacon."

Rory seemed to consider this for a minute, then turned to Luke and pushed the bacon against his lips. Luke pressed his lips together tightly and shook his head. "Dada!" Rory scolded.

Luke gasped, allowing Rory to thrust the bacon into his mouth. He ate the bacon willingly and pulled Rory into a tight hug, beaming from ear to ear.

"Happy Father's Day, Luke."

"It's not…" Lorelai stopped his protest with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk. Allowing his smile to return, Luke simply said, "Thank you."