"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Jess yelled as he ran into the kitchen letting the back door slam shut behind him.

Luke looked up from the macaroni and cheese he was cooking and scolded Jess, "No running in the house." He waited until Jess had slowed to a walk, then asked, "Why are you so excited?"

"I lost another tooth! See?" Jess demanded, thrusting his arm toward Luke and opening his hand to reveal a small tooth laying in the center of his palm.

"That's great!" exclaimed Luke, taking the tooth.

"Will the Tooth Fairy come again?"

"Yes. We'll put your tooth under your pillow later."

"Yay!"

"I know, it's thrilling." Setting the tooth aside, Luke said, "Please go wash your hands for lunch."

"Okay, Daddy."

Luke watched Jess rush out of the kitchen and was about to go call Rory inside when she trudged through the back door. Unlike Jess, she took the time to quietly close the door behind her. As she walked past Luke, he noticed that her shoulders were drooped and her head was hanging low enough for her chin to be touching her chest. Concerned, he called for her to come back. She did as he requested, but never took her eyes off the floor, even when he asked, "What's wrong?" His question was met with silence, so he turned off the stove and crouched down to try to get her to look at him. "Come on, Rory, you can tell me."

Lifting her head, Rory stated, "Jess lost another tooth."

"I know. He's very excited."

"Yeah," Rory sighed sadly, letting her gaze drop back to the floor. It was obvious that she was distraught, but Luke couldn't comprehend why Jess' lost tooth would upset her, so he waited patiently for her to tell him. He didn't have to wait long before she whined, "Jess has lost three teeth."

"Oh, um, well, yeah, he has. Why, exactly, does that bother you?"

Rory inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before clarifying, "I haven't lost any." She enunciated each word carefully, as if that would help Luke understand the significance.

"You will."

"Not today."

"Probably not."

"It's not fair!" Rory screamed, running from the room.

"Wash your hands!" Luke shouted after her. Standing up, he muttered to himself, "What the hell just happened?"

"I don't know," answered Lorelai as she entered the kitchen.

"Hey," Luke greeted her with a quick kiss. "I didn't hear you come in."

"I can't imagine why not. With all the yelling and running and talking to yourself, it should have been easy to hear the front door. What's with all the yelling and running and talking to yourself anyway?"

"I don't know," Luke groaned, taking his hat off to thrust his fingers through his hair in frustration. Shoving the hat back on his head, he told her, "Jess lost another tooth and Rory's upset that she still hasn't lost any teeth. At least, I thought that's why she's upset, but then she ran away, so now I'm not so sure."

Lorelai chuckled. "Oh, honey, it's not about the teeth. It's about the Tooth Fairy."

"What? That doesn't make any sense."

"She's a little girl, Luke. She doesn't care about the teeth. She cares about the fairy."

"The fairy. Really?"

"Yes, really."

"But, that…that's insane."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "You are such a man."

"You usually like that," Luke reminded her, smirking.

"Usually. It does come in handy for certain…things," she joked with a flirtatious wink.

"Ah geez."

Laughing at Luke's discomfort, Lorelai kissed him, then whispered in his ear, "Very useful." She was still smiling as she turned to leave the kitchen.

"Where are you going?"

Without turning back, she replied, "To find Rory."

"Isn't anybody going to eat lunch?"

"Eventually."

L&L L&L L&L

When she got upstairs, Lorelai found Rory sitting on her bed and glaring at Jess' bed. It appeared that her focus was his pillow, presumably, because that was the exact spot the Tooth Fairy was scheduled to visit. Lorelai sat down next to Rory and nonchalantly said, "I heard Jess lost another tooth."

"It's not fair," Rory complained, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What's not fair?"

"The Tooth Fairy only visits Jess. That's not fair."

"She'll visit you when you lose a tooth."

"When will that happen?"

"I don't know. Everybody's different. I'm sure it will be soon though."

"But I want to lose a tooth now," Rory protested angrily. "Why won't the Tooth Fairy take my teeth? Doesn't she like me?"

"Of course, she does, but that's not really how it works."

Continuing as if Lorelai hadn't spoken, Rory asked, "Do you think she got lost?"

"Um, well, I guess that's possible," Lorelai agreed uncertainly. She wasn't sure where the conversation was headed, but she knew enough about how her daughter's mind worked to be worried.

"Do you know how to trap a fairy?"

Grimacing, Lorelai felt a headache beginning to form and rubbed her temples. "No. I don't. Why?"

"I want to trap the Tooth Fairy and ask her why she doesn't like me."

Lorelai opened her mouth to respond, then realized she didn't know what to say and closed it again. She repeated the process two more times before stammering, "You, you want to trap and interrogate the Tooth Fairy?"

"I'll let her go!" Rory defended herself.

"Oh, well, that makes it okay," Lorelai retorted sarcastically.

"I know. Do you think we can go to the library? I need to do some research."

"What kind of six-year-old wants to do research?"

"Me."

"You definitely don't get that from me."

"Does that mean we can go?"

"I'll take you after lunch."

"Yay!" Rory cheered, hopping off the bed. She started tugging on Lorelai's hands, trying to pull her up and toward the door. "Let's go, let's go, let's go."

L&L L&L L&L

The trip to the library was successful. When Lorelai and Rory returned, they were each carrying a large stack of books about fairies. They took the books into the living room and set them down on the coffee table.

"That is a lot of books," commented Luke.

"Mommy said we could only take what we could carry."

"You mean there were more?"

"Lots more," confirmed Rory.

"I'm afraid the poor Tooth Fairy doesn't stand a chance," Lorelai remarked as she sank to the floor to help the twins with their shape sorter toy.

An evil grin spread across Rory's face. "Not if I can help it."

"Yeah, that's not scary."

"Don't worry, Luke. She's promised to let the fairy go after she finishes reenacting the Inquisition."

"Only if she gives me what I want."

"Not scary at all."

Lorelai barely managed to stifle a giggle. "Rory, when you're doing your research, make sure you look for a way to release the fairy without it getting hurt. It'll make Daddy feel better."

"Fiiiiiine."

L&L L&L L&L

Rory spent hours reading her fairy books. She didn't even stop to eat her afternoon snack despite Luke's efforts to tempt her with a Pop-Tart. As it grew closer to dinnertime, Lorelai was certain that her daughter must be getting hungry, but, when she stopped in the living room to check, she saw that Rory still had her nose buried in her books.

Shaking her head in amusement, Lorelai made her way to the kitchen to talk to Luke. When she got there, she hopped up on the counter next to where he was chopping vegetables and asked, "Should we be worried about Rory?"

"Is she still doing her research?"

"Yes. I don't think she's even taken a break to go to the bathroom."

"We should definitely be worried, but I'm not sure it's Rory that we should be worried about."

"It's sweet that you're worried about the Tooth Fairy."

"I'm not sweet."

"You are, but you do know that the Tooth Fairy isn't…"

"Coming until later tonight," Luke cut her off, nodding toward the doorway that Rory had just walked through. "I do know that."

Lorelai twisted her upper body so that she could look at Rory. "Did you finish your research?"

"Uh huh. I need twigs, string, a bell, a seashell, some coffee beans, and sugar."

"Sounds easy enough."

"I need to make a fairy house too."

"You can't keep the Tooth Fairy," Luke reminded her.

"I know that."

"Then why do you need a fairy house?"

"My books say that the trap won't work if the fairy doesn't like the place that they think will be their new home."

"I don't know why a fairy that isn't staying needs a house," Luke grumbled, his chopping becoming more aggressive.

When the green peppers he was chopping were completely mangled and he had set the knife aside, Lorelai said, "Think of it as part of the trap, Luke."

"Fine. Someone will help you with the fairy house, trap, whatever after dinner."

With a smile, Rory chirped, "Thank you, Daddy."

L&L L&L L&L

Later that night, when they were sure all of the kids were asleep, Luke and Lorelai snuck into Jess and Rory's bedroom. While Luke took the tooth from under Jess' pillow and left a dollar bill in its place, Lorelai worked on Rory's fairy trap. She rearranged the coffee beans, spilled the sugar, and shifted the leaf blanket on the rock bed.

When they were finished with their tasks, they quietly left the room. Once they reached the hall, Luke led Lorelai toward their bedroom. "Do you think a visit from the Tooth Fairy will be enough for Rory?"

"I hope so."

L&L L&L L&L

The next morning, Luke made waffles for breakfast while Jess and Rory set the table. As Luke slid the last waffle onto a plate and handed the plate to Jess, he asked the kids, "Did the Tooth Fairy visit last night?"

Jess grinned at his father, showing off the newest gap in his smile. "I got a whole dollar," he proudly declared.

"That's great, Jess. What about you, Rory? Did your trap work?"

"Kinda," Rory sighed, shrugging. "The fairy escaped."

"But, she did visit you," Luke pointed out.

"So, now you know that she does like you and she didn't get lost," Lorelai added, joining the conversation as she and the twins walked into the kitchen.

"That's right! Maybe she'll come back."

"Maybe," Luke agreed easily. "But not right now."

"Duh. The Tooth Fairy only comes at night."

"It's too early for attitude, so just sit down and eat your breakfast."

Rory scowled at Luke, but pulled out her chair and sat down. "Only 'cause I like waffles."

"I'll take what I can get," Luke said as he handed Lorelai her coffee. After everyone had crowded around the table and drenched their waffles in syrup, they were able to enjoy a relatively peaceful breakfast without any more talk of fairies, giving Luke and Lorelai hope that Rory's fairy trap would be enough to keep her happy until she lost her first tooth.