Richard smiled down at Lorelai as they danced the traditional father-daughter dance. "You look beautiful, Lorelai."

"Thank you, Daddy."

"Luke seems like a fine young man."

"He is."

Looking around the room, Richard noticed Luke helping Rory twirl around in circles at the edge of the dance floor. "It looks like he and Rory get along well."

"They do," Lorelai agreed, glancing at Luke and Rory. She looked back up at her father and said, "He really loves her."

"Like you love his son?" Richard asked with a knowing smirk.

"Yes, like I love Jess."

"Good. That's how it should be."

"Really? You're not upset that I didn't marry Christopher?"

"No, Lorelai, I'm not upset. All I've ever wanted is for you to be happy."

"I am happy, Daddy. Luke and our kids make me happy." She paused to take a deep breath before adding, "It also makes me happy that you and Mom decided to come today. And that you walked me down the aisle."

"That makes me happy too." The music ended and Richard kissed Lorelai's cheek. "I better get you back to your husband. He looks like he wants one more dance before you two leave for your honeymoon."

Lorelai looked over her shoulder to see that Luke had stopped dancing with Rory and was now waiting for her just a few feet away. "I think you're right." She allowed her father to guide her to her new husband.

When they reached Luke, Richard shook his hand. "Congratulations, Luke."

"Thank you, sir."

"Take care of them."

"Always."

With a smile and a nod of satisfaction, Richard left the newlyweds to enjoy their last dance of the evening.

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A few minutes before midnight, Lorelai stood at the cabin's picture window watching the snow fall over the lake. She smiled when Luke walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I told you I smelled snow."

Luke nuzzled her ear. "Yes, you did."

"It always snows on the best days of my life. The day Rory was born and the day I met you, which, coincidentally, were the same day," Lorelai explained, turning to face Luke and draping her arms over his shoulders. She combed her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and smiled as she added, "Our wedding day."

Grinning widely, Luke moved his hands to her hips and stroked his thumbs lightly against the silk of her negligee. "We're married."

"Yes, we are, Mr. Danes," Lorelai replied, matching his grin with one of her own.

"How do you feel about that, Mrs. Danes?"

She pretended to consider the question for a minute before answering, "I feel thrilled. What about you?"

"Over the moon," he joked, bending to pick her up with one arm under her knees and the other securely around her back. She threw her head back, laughing loudly. He spun around and started walking toward the bedroom with her in his arms. Lorelai brought her hands to his cheeks and claimed his lips with her own.

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Lorelai woke up smiling. Sighing in contentment, she arched her back and stretched her arms over her head before settling against Luke's side and tucking her knee between his. "Good morning, Mr. Danes."

"Good morning, Mrs. Danes." He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her hip softly. "You know, eventually that joke is going to get old."

"Never!" Lorelai gasped, lifting herself up to hover above Luke. "I will never get tired of calling you Mr. Danes or hearing you call me Mrs. Danes."

Luke gripped Lorelai's hips and flipped her onto her back, so that he was hovering above her. "Is that so, Mrs. Danes?"

Cupping Luke's jaw with both hands, Lorelai dragged his mouth down to hers for a kiss. "That's so," she whispered against his lips.

Luke pressed a series of kisses across Lorelai's jaw and down her neck. "Everyone else will get sick of us," he murmured between kisses.

"Who cares?" she asked through a moan.

"Not me." He nipped her collar bone playfully.

She gripped his hair and gently tugged downward. "Good. Now, Mr. Danes, since I'm still not tired of calling you Mr. Danes, how about you find some other way to tire me out?"

"I think I can manage that, Mrs. Danes," he replied, smirking up at her, and then began to kiss his way down her body.

Automatically, Lorelai spread her legs to make room for Luke's body. "I bet you can," she whimpered in anticipation.

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"I can't believe we spent an entire day in bed," Luke marveled, trailing his fingers up and down Lorelai's back.

"It was totally worth it," Lorelai informed him. "Besides, it's the first day of our honeymoon, we're supposed to spend all day in bed."

Luke chuckled. "Are you at least willing to get out of bed for dinner?"

"Well, I am hungry, so I guess dinner would be okay." She rolled out of out and practically skipped across the room to grab one of Luke's shirts from an open suitcase. Buttoning the shirt, she turned to Luke and said, "Let's go."

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"Dinner," Luke said, placing a hamburger on the kitchen table in front of Lorelai and stealing a quick kiss in the process.

"What? No lecture about how this will kill me?"

Luke sat down next to her to eat his salad. "Guess not. I must be too tired."

"Worn out already? It's only the first day. How will you survive the rest of the honeymoon?"

Leaning close enough for his lips to brush against her ear, he growled, "I'll manage."

The feeling of Luke's breath on her skin caused Lorelai to shudder. "I'm sure you will," she replied, breathing heavily.

"Is three more days going to be long enough for you to have your wicked way with me?" Luke asked with a chuckle.

"I'll manage," she quipped.

"I certainly hope so."

"Do you think your dad and Mia will manage okay with Rory and Jess?"

"They have before."

"Yeah, for a weekend. Not for four days. And the kids are older now. They're more likely to notice we're gone."

"They'll be fine."

"I know. I just worry."

"That's because you're a good mom."

"Thanks, but plan on spending the entire weekend with them."

"I will."

"Good," she said matter-of-factly. "I can enjoy my dinner now."

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On Friday afternoon, William met Luke and Lorelai at the front door. He pulled Lorelai into a hug. "Welcome home."

Lorelai returned the hug. "Hi, William."

"Gee, Dad, it's good to see you too," Luke said sarcastically, dropping the suitcases he was carrying on the floor.

"Be patient. I'm getting to you," William replied, releasing Lorelai and turning to give Luke a brief hug.

The exchange between father and son caused Lorelai to burst into laughter. "If you two are done, I'd like to know where my babies are. I expected them to come running to see us the moment we got here."

William turned to face Lorelai. "I'm sure they would, but Mia took them to the park this morning and wore them out, so they're still napping."

"Oh," she pouted, disappointed at having to wait even longer to see Jess and Rory.

"I'm sure they'll wake up soon," Luke assured her while rubbing her back comfortingly.

"They will," William agreed. "And now you have time to unpack without little hands trying to help."

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Luke was storing the suitcases in the bedroom closet and Lorelai was putting the last of their clothes in the dresser when they heard Rory shout, "Papa! Papa!"

"They're awake!" Lorelai cried with glee. She rushed toward Jess and Rory's bedroom with Luke following closely behind her. They came to an abrupt halt when they stepped into the room. Rory had gotten stuck in the middle of climbing out of her crib and was hanging precariously over the side while Jess sat on the floor nearby, staring up at her. Giggling, Lorelai went to help her daughter.

Hearing Lorelai's laughter, Rory began to call for her instead. "Mama! Mama!" Rory whined.

"Mama! Ro! Ro!" Jess chimed in, pointing up at Rory in an effort to alert Lorelai to Rory's predicament.

"Hold on, sweet girl. Mama's coming." Lorelai picked Rory up and sat down on the floor next to Jess. "Hello, sweet boy," she said, kissing Jess on the cheek and settling Rory in her lap.

Jess crawled into Lorelai's lap next to Rory. "Mama!"

"You're everyone's favorite," Luke said grumpily.

Jess and Rory whipped their heads around to look at Luke as he crossed the room. "Dada!" they shrieked, launching themselves at his legs.

"Ouch!" Lorelai exclaimed when Jess accidentally kicked her in the stomach. "I'm not their favorite. They just didn't know you were here."

Luke sat down next to Lorelai and hugged Jess and Rory before helping them settle comfortably in his lap. "No, I'm pretty sure you're their favorite." He pulled a box of wooden blocks out from under Rory's crib and dumped it out in front of him.

"You're wrong. We love Dada. Don't we, Rory?"

Looking up from the blocks she had begun to stack, she screamed, "Yeah!"

"Jess?"

Jess stopped banging his blocks together long enough to screech, "Yeah!"

"See? You're wrong," Lorelai informed Luke, grinning cheekily.

"I guess you're just my favorite," he told her with a nonchalant shrug.

"You really are just a big softie."

"Don't tell anyone. That's a secret between you, me, and the kids."

"Fine, I won't, but speaking of the kids, after Rory's little misadventure, we need to get big kid beds for these little monkeys before one of them gets hurt."

"We can take care of it this weekend."

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Saturday morning, after eating breakfast with William, Luke and Lorelai took Jess and Rory to Hartford to pick out their new beds. Within thirty minutes of entering the furniture store, they had selected two identical twin bed frames made out of cedar wood. Each of the bed frames had two rows of three drawers along one side that Luke and Lorelai agreed would be perfect for the kids' growing collection of toys and books.

Thrilled at having chosen the bed frames so quickly, Lorelai was happily leading Jess and Rory around the store to test mattresses. She lifted Jess and Rory onto each mattress, sat down between them, and bounced a few times before moving onto the next mattress. Luke patiently followed them from mattress to mattress, shaking his head in dismay each time Lorelai decided that another mattress was unacceptable. Halfway through their second trip around the store, Luke finally asked, "Are you going to actually pick a mattress, Lorelai?"

"I already did," she informed him, gesturing vaguely toward the mattresses that had already been tested for a second time.

"If you've already chosen a mattress, what are we doing now?"

"Bouncing. It's fun." She hopped off a mattress, helped Jess and Rory to the floor, and headed toward the next mattress.

Luke trailed along behind them. "As long as you're having fun."

"We are."

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Later that night, Jess and Rory were sleeping soundly in their new beds while Luke and Lorelai watched from the doorway. Jess had kicked aside his blue quilt and was using his favorite flannel blanket instead. Across the room, Rory had chosen to spread her flannel blanket over her pillow and was huddled under her pink quilt.

"They look so grown up in their big kid beds," Lorelai complained.

"It was time, Lorelai. They were going to get hurt climbing out of their cribs."

"I know. I just want them to still be little babies that need us for everything."

"They still need us."

"It's not the same."

"I know. If it helps, the new beds have safety rails on them, so you can think of them as big cribs."

"That might help," Lorelai admitted, chuckling half-heartedly.

"Good. So, now that you've seen that they're asleep, can we go to sleep?"

"Yes." She turned around, grabbed his hand, and pulled him toward their bedroom.