It's Right There

by CoffeeDrinker

[Complete] Luke/Lorelai. She looked him in the eye, she saw something there, and she realized she felt the same way. (Update: As of 10/31/14, the story is back to its original M-rated version)

10. Parts 49 to 52

"It's Right There - parts 49 - 52"

PART 49

The next afternoon at the inn, Lorelai glanced around the front desk at the stacks of papers, then turned to Michel with a puzzled look. "Michel, what was on my 'to do' list today?"

Michel sighed and shrugged. "Um, to review the inventory sheets?"

Lorelai smiled. "Did it."

"To go over the itinerary for the convention next week," he said.

"Done."

"To call Manny and confirm the linen order," Michel said. "And to call the landscaper about the front walkway."

"Done and done," Lorelai said proudly. She drummed her hands on the front desk. "Man, I'm on the ball today!"

Michel rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm quite excited for you. . .now leave me alone."

Lorelai stepped closer to him and leaned forward on the desk. "Aw, Michel, come on! Let's do something fun, like play hopscotch or jump rope."

Michel narrowed his eyes at her and scoffed, then turned back to the computer.

Lorelai frowned. She stood up straight and tapped him on the shoulder. "Michel. . ." He ignored her, so she tapped again. "Michel. . .I'm bored."

Michel sighed. "Yes, I can see that. Get away from me."

Lorelai held her hand in front of his face. "Wanna see my ring again? It's nice, huh?"

Michel pushed her hand away and muttered, "How you managed to get engaged twice in a twelve month period is beyond me."

Lorelai smiled and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Probably because I drive men wild with my long legs and seductive eyes."

"No, you drive men crazy with your incessant nagging," Michel replied, annoyed. "Now leave me alone so I can get my work done."

Lorelai frowned at him as she walked away from the desk and headed toward the kitchen. She pushed open the door and stepped inside, scanning the room for Sookie. She found her sitting at the counter snacking on some pretzels as she flipped through a magazine.

Lorelai smiled as she walked over to her. "Bored?"

"Extremely." Sookie offered her a pretzel.

"Thanks," Lorelai replied. She took a bite, then said, "Me too. I finished everything on my 'to do' list for today."

"And I finished setting up everything for the dinner special," Sookie said. She gestured around the kitchen to the other chefs mulling around. "They're taking care of everything else, so I'm sort of just. . ."

"Hanging around?" Lorelai suggested.

"Yeah."

"You should've came into the lobby and helped me bother Michel," Lorelai said.

Sookie giggled. "I'm sure you didn't need any help."

Lorelai smiled. "True - I was pretty successful doing it myself. I'm a savant."

Sookie smiled and glanced back down at her magazine. She flipped through a few pages, then stopped and smiled. "Here's a quiz for you - are you high maintenance?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "I know I'm not, I don't need a quiz to tell me it."

Sookie smirked. "Mmhmm."

Lorelai gasped. "What's that for? You think I'm high maintenance?"

"Well, uh, honey. . .sometimes you're a little. . ." Sookie's voice trailed off and she twirled her finger in her hair. "Uh. . .well, once in awhile. . ." Lorelai's cell phone went off and Sookie let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God."

Lorelai frowned as she pulled the phone out of her blazer pocket. "Don't think you're getting off that easy. I'm coming back to you for an answer." She checked to see who it was, then smiled. "Okay, it's the house - so it's either Rory or Luke." She answered, "Hello?"

"Hey," Luke's voice replied. "It's me."

Lorelai smiled and leaned forward on the counter. "Hey you. What's up?"

"I just wanted to tell - "

"Oh wait!" Lorelai interrupted him. "Luke, let me ask you something first. . . do you think I'm high maintenance?"

"What . . .what are you talking about?" Luke asked.

"Sookie thinks I'm high maintenance so I just wanted a second opinion," Lorelai said. "Do you think I am?"

Sookie rolled her eyes and muttered, "Don't answer that, Luke, for the love of God."

Lorelai playfully smacked her on the shoulder. "So. . .what do you think?" she asked him again.

"Not really," he replied.

"Are you being serious, or are you just saying that because you think if you answer any other way I'll be mad at you?" Lorelai asked.

"No, I'm serious."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "Really? I thought for sure you'd say yes since you always tell me I'm stubborn."

"You definitely are stubborn," Luke agreed. "But. . .you're not as high maintenance as I thought you'd be. I was prepared for much worse."

Lorelai let out a surprised laugh. "So, wait, wait, wait - you're saying that going into the relationship, you thought I'd be high maintenance?"

Listening in the background, Sookie grimaced and shook her head. "Ooh, not good, Luke. Now you gotta talk your way outta that one."

"Yeah," Luke admitted. "I mean, come on - I've known you for years. It didn't take long for me to realize that flexibility's not your middle name."

"Yeah, well, that's because my mother thought Victoria went better with Lorelai," Lorelai interjected.

"I don't know. . .I guess a regular person, someone who's not used to you, might find you hard to handle, but. . . I get you. I get how your mind works. . .most of the time."

Lorelai smiled. "You do seem to understand me more than your average Joe. You think that's why we work?"

"Absolutely. If I wasn't used to your personality or if I wasn't prepared to deal with your abnormally high amount of energy on a regular basis, then. . .things would be different," Luke said.

"And if I didn't adjust the aforementioned energetic personality slightly to conform to your more reserved disposition, and vice versa, then . . ."

"We probably would've killed each other by now," Luke finished.

"Probably," Lorelai agreed with a laugh. "We do have our differences. . .but it's good because we balance each other out. I loosen you up, you keep me grounded. . ."

"Works well," Luke commented.

"Yes, it does," Lorelai said with a nod. They were both silent for a few seconds, then Lorelai cleared her throat. "Uh, so. . . why'd you call? Did you want something?"

"Uh, yeah, I just wanted to let you know I came home early," he replied. "I stopped at the market and picked up some chicken for dinner."

"Cool," Lorelai replied.

"And now I'm gonna do some things around the house," Luke said.

"Like what?" Lorelai asked.

"Like mow the lawn, fix the laundry room door, fix the shower head. . . you know, just tinker around," Luke said.

Lorelai laughed. "Did you just say tinker?"

"Yes, I did," he replied, smiling. "I enjoy tinkering once in awhile."

Lorelai giggled. "Oh yeah? Maybe I should come home, then . . .I can think of something I'd like to tinker with."

"Yeah, well, Rory's home, so we'll have to save the tinkering for another time," Luke replied.

"Aw, okay. What's she up to?" Lorelai asked.

"She and Lane are hanging out in the living room."

"Planning a robbery?"

"I think so."

"Cool." Lorelai checked her watch. "I'll probably be home soon, there's not much going on here."

"Okay. See ya later."

"Bye." Lorelai hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket. It was then that she noticed that Sookie had been leaning forward on the counter listening to her conversation. Lorelai laughed and said, "Very subtle eavesdropping, Sookie."

Sookie giggled as she sat back up straight. "It's so fun watching you talk to him."

"Why is it fun?"

"Because you're so. . .flirty and happy all the time, it's so cute," Sookie said, smiling.

Lorelai smiled. "Glad you find it entertaining." She glanced around the kitchen and sighed. "I'm bored. You wanna go bother Michel?"

Sookie closed her magazine and stood up. "Yeah, let's go."

That night, Lorelai, Luke, and Rory stood on the front porch of the Gilmore mansion. Lorelai checked her watch and said, "Okay, the movie starts in an hour, and I like to get there like ten minutes early, plus it takes seven minutes to get there, plus we should allow like twelve minutes to buy snacks, so we need to leave in. . . " Her voice trailed off and she gestured to Rory. "Hi, this is where someone smart jumps in and does the math."

"Oh, sorry," Rory replied. She thought for a moment and said, "We need to leave in thirty-one minutes."

"Okay, thirty-one minutes," Lorelai repeated. "Everyone remember that and move the conversations along quickly."

"Ring the bell already," Luke urged.

As Rory rang the doorbell, Lorelai whispered to Luke, "Are you nervous?"

"No, I do this all the time," he replied nonchalantly.

Lorelai laughed. "Oh yeah? You're experienced at announcing your engagement?"

"Yup."

"Okay, good." Lorelai turned and faced the door, and a few seconds later, Emily pulled it open. "Hey Mom," Lorelai said.

"Hello, hello!" Emily greeted them cheerfully. "Come inside." Emily stepped back and the three of them walked into the house. "Richard's in his office. He doesn't know that you're coming, I wanted it all to be a big surprise. Why don't you head to the living room and I'll go get him?"

"Okay," Lorelai replied. As Emily walked down the hallway, the three guests walked into the living room and sat down on one of the sofas.

A few seconds later, Emily and Richard entered the living room, and Richard raised his eyebrows. "Now, this is a surprise. Is it Friday already?"

"No, no, it's just a visit, come sit," Emily said, leading him to the empty sofa. They both sat down and Emily smiled at Richard. "Lorelai and Luke have something they'd like to tell you."

"They'd like to tell me?" Richard repeated. "Just me?"

"Yes, just you. I already know about it," Emily replied.

"Huh. Well, don't keep me out of the loop forever. . .what is it?" Richard asked, focusing his attention on Lorelai.

Lorelai cleared her throat. "Uh, well, Dad, first off, we didn't mean to keep you out of the loop. We would've told you sooner but you were away and this is the first chance we've had to drive out here."

Richard waved her off. "Yes, I understand all that, that's no problem."

"Okay, good," Lorelai replied. She smiled as she laced her fingers through Luke's. "Uh, we just wanted to let you know that. . . Luke and I got engaged on Saturday."

Richard's face softened and his eyes widened. "My goodness."

Lorelai smiled and nodded excitedly. "We're getting married."

"Yes, that's what I interpreted the phrase 'we got engaged' to mean, Lorelai," Richard said, rolling his eyes slightly.

"Right, sorry," she replied quickly.

Richard smiled. "Well, I. . .uh. . .I think that's wonderful. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Dad," Lorelai replied.

"Thank you, sir," Luke replied.

"Have you set a date?" Richard asked.

"Oh, no, we haven't talked about anything like that yet," Lorelai replied, waving him off. "It's only been a few days since it happened."

"Yes, I suppose there's no need to rush into anything," Richard said.

"Right, right," Lorelai nodded.

Richard stood up and rubbed his hands together. "Well, I think this calls for some champagne. . .what do you say?"

"I say. . .let's do it," Lorelai said.

"Yes, that's a wonderful idea," Emily said. "In fact, I've already set a bottle out." She stood up and followed Richard to help with the drinks.

Lorelai turned to Rory and patted her on the knee. "So, you're feeling pretty talkative, huh?"

Rory smiled. "This is your moment, I'm the tertiary character in this little show."

"I feel like me and Luke are Jordan and Candace stealing all the attention while you're poor little Dede mulling around in the background," Lorelai said.

Rory laughed. "Aw, I feel bad for her."

"Yeah, I mean, sometimes you forget that she's even living in that house," Lorelai said.

"She pops up like once every three weeks and you're like, 'who is that?'," Rory said.

Lorelai laughed. "I know!"

"What are you two talking about?" Luke asked.

Lorelai gasped. "Best damn reality show in the world."

"Not to mention the object of a very unhealthy obsession," Rory added.

"Here we are," Emily announced as she walked over with the tray of drinks. She set it on the coffee table and everyone took a glass.

Richard raised his glass. "Well, I say, what better to drink to. . .than the happy couple."

"Hear, hear." Lorelai smiled as each of them sipped their champagne, and the five of them conversed for a few minutes over their drinks.

During a lull in the conversation, Lorelai glanced down at her watch and her eyes widened. "Ooh, we have to get going. We're gonna be late."

"Late for what?" Emily asked.

Lorelai set her glass down on the coffee table and stood up. "We're going to the movies."

"Oh, how nice," Emily commented. "Around here or back home?"

"Around here," Rory replied, standing up. "Over at the Crown Palace."

Emily nodded. "Ah. What are you going to see?"

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding," Rory answered.

"A very appropriate film, considering the circumstances. . .well, if I was Greek, anyway," Lorelai added.

"That's the name of the picture?" Richard asked with a laugh. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Seems like an odd title."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Yes, and I refuse to order the tickets for it."

As they began walking toward the door, Lorelai said, "Hey, it's not as bad as asking for tickets to something like 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back'. Now *that* would be embarrassing."

"You would know," Rory said, smirking. "You went to see it."

Lorelai gasped and muttered, "I thought we agreed never to mention that for the rest of our lives."

"Oh, right, sorry about that," Rory whispered.

As they reached the front door, the five of them said their goodbyes and the three guests stepped onto the porch. "We'll see you on Friday," Emily said.

"Yup, we'll be here," Lorelai replied. "Bye." The front door closed behind them and they walked toward the Jeep. Luke had his hands shoved into his pockets and was staring down at the ground. Lorelai linked her arm through his. "What's wrong?"

Luke shrugged. "I just. . ." He shook his head and sighed.

Lorelai frowned and stopped walking, causing him to stop, too. "What is it?"

Rory had reached the Jeep and had pulled the passenger door open. She paused before she climbed in and stared at them questioningly. "Everything okay?"

Luke took several steps toward the Jeep, then turned around to look at Lorelai. "I just. . . I don't understand why you would do something like that," he said, shaking his head disappointedly.

Lorelai's eyes widened and she walked over to him. "Oh my God, what did I do?"

Luke stared at her for a few seconds before he quietly asked, "You seriously went to see How Stella Got Her Groove Back?" A slow smile appeared on his lips.

Lorelai exhaled loudly and smacked him on the shoulder. "Don't do that to me! You were freaking me out right there!"

Rory laughed. "Luke, she claims that the movie she and Sookie really went to see was sold out so they went to see Stella instead, but I don't buy it."

"It's true!" Lorelai exclaimed. "I swear!"

"Uh huh." Rory smiled and climbed into the backseat.

Lorelai grabbed Luke's shirt and pulled him close to her. "You believe me, don't you?" she asked, pouting at him.

Luke pried her fingers off and smoothed out his shirt. "If you say you didn't mean to see it, you didn't mean to see it."

Lorelai shook her head. "I didn't."

"Okay."

"All right."

"Let's go."

"Get in."

"I will." Lorelai lingered for a moment, then slowly walked to the passenger side. She climbed in and pulled the door shut, and as Luke settled in behind the wheel, she asked, "Do you really believe me?"

"No," he replied with a smirk. He fastened his seat belt and started the car.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine, forget it. New topic."

Luke pulled out of the driveway and headed toward the theater.

"Did Kirk say why the pictures weren't ready?" Rory asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "He just said that he didn't have time to get to 'em today and that he'd drop them off tomorrow instead."

"What are you gonna do with them?" Luke asked. "Give 'em to Sookie?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna buy a photo album and arrange them all nice and pretty and then give it to them as a gift," Lorelai replied, smiling. "They'll love it." She glanced toward the road. "You know where you're going, right?"

"Yeah. Surprisingly, I've been to that theater before," Luke replied.

"Let's prepare the snack list," Rory suggested. "Popcorn, obviously, and Red Vines. . ."

"Nachos," Lorelai said. "Ooh, and Gummi Bears."

"Something chocolatey," Rory said. "Snickers?"

"Ooh, Reese's Pieces!" Lorelai said excitedly. "And M&M's!"

"And a bag of Hershey's kisses. . .and maybe a box - "

"Did either of you bring money?" Luke interrupted.

They were both silent for a moment.

"Nope," Rory replied.

"Uh, I think I have a couple quarters in my purse," Lorelai replied. "Why?"

"Because I didn't bring that much with me," Luke replied. "So you have to narrow down your snack choices down to the most necessary items."

"How much will we have for food?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't know, maybe twenty bucks," Luke said with a shrug.

Lorelai groaned. "Oh man, we can only get like five things if we want to get drinks, too. Everything's so expensive at the theater."

"God forbid you don't get every junk food available," Luke said, rolling his eyes.

Lorelai frowned. "Don't mock."

"I never mock."

Lorelai held up her ring. "This is my mocker-detector." She moved her fist around slowly, aiming it at different sections of the car. When she aimed it toward Luke, she said, "Beep beep beep! Looks like we found a mocker."

"Uh oh. . .warning, warning - a mocker has been detected," Rory said mechanically. "I repeat, a mocker has been detected!"

Luke rolled his eyes as he pulled into the theater parking lot. "Look, we're here."

As he parked the car, Rory checked her watch. "Wow, we're right on schedule."

"Really?" Lorelai asked, surprised. "That never happens." She paused and smacked herself on the forehead. "I just jinxed it by saying that. Now, of course, we'll end up getting the new guy working the snack counter and he won't know what he's doing, then we'll have to walk into the theater late and people will be throwing stuff at us because we're in their way and then I'll start screaming back at people and we'll get thrown out. . .again."

Luke's eyes widened. "Again?"

Rory put her hand on Luke's shoulder. "You don't wanna know . . . trust me."

A few hours later, they walked out of the theater and headed toward the car as they talked about the movie.

"Now that was a lot funnier than I thought it would be," Lorelai said.

"Yeah, it was okay," Luke agreed. "Some parts were a little sappy, but it was good."

"When I was your age, I didn't have food!" Rory laughed. "That was funny."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, that was good. And we so have to stop at the market so I can get some Windex to carry around in my purse."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Uh, I think we have some at home you can use."

"Don't forget to save your stubs," Rory said.

"For what?" Luke asked.

Lorelai gasped. "I already told you how we save all of our ticket stubs in that big plastic container."

Luke nodded. "Right, I forgot. And what exactly do you do that for?"

"So we can go through it one day and be reminded of all the cool movies and concerts and plays we've been to," Rory explained. "And some of the stubs have stories to go along with them - like Mom getting us thrown out of the theater, Mom getting into fights with people, Mom losing her cell phone and then screaming 'Thief!' over and over until she found it on the floor of the next aisle, Mom forgetting - "

Lorelai laughed and interrupted her. "Okay, okay! Why does everything start with 'Mom' doing something?"

"Because your name always seems to accompany some sort of mishap," Rory said.

"Yeah, well, let's not divulge all of those mishaps until after we're married," Lorelai said. "That way he can't see what he's getting himself into."

"Trust me, I know," Luke told her.

Lorelai smiled. They walked quietly for a few seconds before she said, "Well, I think we all know the most important lesson we've learned from this movie - in the end, we're all fruit."

"Well, I prefer not to think of myself as fruity, but. . . you two go right on ahead," Luke said.

Lorelai and Rory looked at each other and smiled. They reached the Jeep and Luke unlocked the passenger door for them before he walked around to the driver's side. Just as the girls were about to climb in, Lorelai noticed a coffee shop across the street. She nudged Rory and gestured toward the shop, and both of their eyes widened.

Lorelai put her arm around Rory's shoulder and looked at Luke over the roof of the Jeep. "Luke, can we have five bucks?" Lorelai asked.

Luke climbed into the Jeep. "I told you we have some Windex at home. Get in."

Lorelai leaned down to look into the car. "No, it's for coffee." She pointed across the street. "There's a shop right there. We'll be super fast, I promise."

She nudged Rory, who leaned down and pouted. "Please, Luke?"

Luke exhaled loudly and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. He took out some money and handed it to Lorelai, who clapped excitedly. "Thank you! You want anything?"

"Yeah, for you to hurry up," he replied dryly.

"We're going, come on," Lorelai said, grabbing Rory's arm. They slammed the door shut and Luke watched as they ran across the street and disappeared into the coffee shop. They emerged a few minutes later each carrying a cup. They returned to the car and climbed in, and Luke pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to Stars Hollow.

The next morning, Luke was getting dressed in the bedroom as Lorelai walked out of the bathroom. As she closed the bedroom door, she dropped her robe and walked over to her dresser in just her underwear.

She pulled out two bras, then turned around and asked, "Luke, which one should I wear?"

He looked over at her and shrugged. "Whichever has the easier clasp to undo."

Lorelai smirked. "Forget you." She glanced down at both of them, then tossed one back in the drawer and pulled the other one on.

"You know, if they just made those things with Velcro, a man's life would be a lot easier," Luke commented as he pulled his T-shirt over his head.

"Yeah, because a man's life is so tough," Lorelai said sarcastically. She rummaged through her closet and pulled out a black skirt.

"What, you're saying it's not?" Luke asked in disbelief.

"I'm saying it's easier to be a man than a woman," Lorelai replied as she pulled on the skirt. "Women have to put up with a lot more crap than men do."

Luke shrugged. "I don't disagree with that - but a man's life is still tough."

"I'm sure it is," Lorelai replied, looking through her closet for a shirt. "That whole peeing while you stand thing must be exhausting after awhile. . . especially after a night of heavy drinking." She pulled out her purple ruffled shirt and pulled it on.

Luke rolled his eyes. "And that's my clue to move on to a new topic."

Lorelai smiled and walked over to him as she buttoned her shirt. "What do you have in mind?"

"Truck shopping," Luke replied.

Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "Truck shopping?"

"Yeah - remember, I'm giving Jess the old one for his birthday?" Luke reminded her. "It's next week."

Lorelai nodded. "Right, I remember."

"Yeah, I was thinking of calling John and seeing if he could come with me tonight to pick one out," Luke said.

Lorelai raised her eyebrows and nodded slightly. "Oh." She walked over to her vanity and began combing her hair.

Luke watched her as he pulled on his shoes, and after a minute of silence, asked, "What's wrong?"

Lorelai looked at him in the mirror and shrugged. "Nothing."

Luke finished tying his shoes and stood up. "What's wrong?" he repeated more sternly.

Lorelai sighed and turned around to face him. She glanced down at the floor. "I don't know. . . I just thought that. . .even though you'll be the one using it, since it's sort of the first big thing that we'll buy together, that it'd be nice to actually. . .pick it out together."

"You wanted to come pick out a new truck?" Luke asked, surprised.

"Well. . . yeah," she said softly.

"Oh," Luke said. "I didn't realize."

"But. . .I mean, I don't have to," Lorelai said, waving him off. "You can go with John."

Luke shook his head and walked over to her. "No, I just didn't think you'd wanna go. . . but, ya know, if you want to, that's fine with me."

Lorelai tilted her head. "Really?"

"Yeah," Luke replied. "We'll go tonight."

Lorelai smiled. "Okay."

"Good. Uh, okay, I'm leaving," he said, leaning in to kiss her. "See you later."

"Bye."

That afternoon at the inn, Lorelai and Sookie were talking at the front desk as Michel worked at the computer, shooting them annoyed looks every few seconds.

"So tonight's out and Friday night's out because of Friday night dinner," Sookie said. "What about tomorrow?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, tomorrow's good. You think you'll be able to get an appointment on such short notice?"

Sookie shrugged. "I'm gonna try. If not, we'll just have to make it for sometime next week."

Lorelai rubbed her hands together excitedly. "Isn't this so exciting? I mean, your final wedding dress fitting makes the wedding seem so close!"

"Well, it is close, honey," Sookie reminded her. "It's only two and a half weeks away." Sookie paused a moment, then squealed excitedly.

Lorelai giggled and clasped her hands around Sookie's. "It's so exciting!"

"Yes, I'm shaking with excitement," Michel said dryly. "Now for the hundredth time, can you two please get out of my face?"

"Um. . .no," Lorelai replied. "We do appreciate you asking nicely, though."

Michel scowled and turned back to the computer as the phone rang. Lorelai stared at Michel. "Oh, can you get that, Michel? I'm a little busy here." Michel ignored her, and Lorelai giggled. "Never mind, I got it." She walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking."

"Hey Mom," Rory responded.

Lorelai smiled. "Hey Sweets. What's up? Anything wrong?"

"Nope, just wanted to let you know that I ran into Kirk at the diner and he had the shower pictures, so he gave 'em to me," Rory said.

"Oh, great," Lorelai said. "Did you pay him?"

"Luke did," she replied.

"Cool. How'd they come out?"

"I didn't look at them yet," Rory replied. "Do you want me to wait for you?"

"Nah, you can look at them," Lorelai said. "I'll see 'em later."

"Okay." She paused a moment, then said, "I got an email from Dad. He wants to plan the next visit."

"Oh. . .yeah, I'd figure he'd ask about that soon," Lorelai said, twirling a finger in her hair aimlessly. "Listen, write him back and tell him that you can't come until after Sookie's wedding. We're really gonna need you to help out with the preparations, like with the flowers and favors and stuff."

"Okay, but. . .you want me to write him back?" Rory asked. "You don't wanna call him?"

"I will, but I don't know when I'll have time to call him so I . . .think you should answer him electronically so he's not sitting around waiting to hear from us," Lorelai replied. "Okay?"

"Okay," Rory replied. "Bye Mom."

"Bye hon, love ya." Lorelai hung up the phone and walked back over to Sookie and Michel. "What'd I miss?"

"Michel's babbling in French," Sookie replied. "Who was that? Your guy?"

"No, my girl," Lorelai replied.

"Everything okay?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai nodded. "Mmhmm."

Sookie strummed her fingers on the counter, then said, "Okay, I better get back into the kitchen."

"Good, take your annoying friend with you," Michel muttered.

Lorelai stuck her tongue out at Michel, then smiled at Sookie. "Don't forget to make that appointment."

"Right, got it," Sookie said, tapping her forehead. "Bye."

"Bye Sookie."

PART 50

That night, Rory, Lane, and Dean were sitting in the living room watching television when they heard a horn from outside. Rory jumped up from the floor. "That's them!" She rushed to the front door and stepped out onto the porch, and the others followed behind her.

As Lorelai was climbing out of her Jeep, Rory said, "Wow, this new car looks exactly like the old one."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "He's right behind me." She walked up to the porch. "Hey guys."

"Hey," Dean replied.

"Hi," Lane said. "So what kind did you guys get? Another pickup?"

"Nope, he wanted one, but I talked him into. . . a dark green Ford Explorer," Lorelai said, clapping excitedly. "Oh my God, it's so nice! I slipped on my driving gloves and gave it a spin around the parking lot. It was so . . ." She glanced toward the driveway as Luke was pulling up. "Ooh, here it is!" She jumped off the porch and ran over to the truck. The three of them followed with their mouths gaping open.

Luke climbed out of the truck with a modest smile on his face. He gestured to the truck. "So. . .uh, what do you guys think?"

The three of them walked around the truck.

"Oh my God!" Rory exclaimed. "This is so cool!"

"Yeah, it's awesome," Dean said.

"Excellent," Lane said, nodding approvingly.

"He didn't care about all the little extras like the CD player or keyless entry or stuff like that, but a little birdie was there to inform him that those are the necessities of today's society," Lorelai said.

"Definitely," Rory said as she pulled open the passenger door. "Can we go for a ride, Luke?"

"Ooh, yeah, can we?" Lane asked.

"Uh, yeah, let me just grab something to eat first," he said, gesturing to the house.

Lorelai held out her hand. "You go eat, I'll take 'em for a spin."

Luke hesitated a moment, then reluctantly held the keys out toward her. "Don't be too long," he said sternly. "And don't go too fast."

Lorelai took the keys and kissed him on the cheek. "We won't." She walked past him over to the driver's door. "Rory, grab some CD's from the Jeep," she called.

"Okay," Rory replied.

Luke turned around and rolled his eyes. "You won't be gone long enough to need music."

Lorelai smiled as she climbed into the driver's seat. "Hey, just like every rose has its thorn, every car ride needs music." As Luke rolled his eyes, Lorelai pulled the door shut and waved. Lane and Dean climbed into the back seat, and Rory climbed into the passenger seat with a stack of CDs. Luke took a few steps back and watched them pull away, then turned and went into the house.

Almost thirty minutes later, Lorelai pulled back into the driveway and the four of them piled out of the truck. As they walked toward the house, Luke opened the front door and stepped onto the porch. He folded his arms across his chest and glared at Lorelai. "I was three minutes away from reporting the thing stolen, I hope you know that."

"Uh oh, someone's in trouble," Rory said in a singsong voice.

Lorelai smiled as she walked past Luke into the house. "What? We weren't that long." She dropped her purse on the floor of the entryway and walked toward the kitchen.

As the others walked into the living room, Luke followed her into the kitchen. "Yeah, well, you were twenty-five minutes longer than I expected you to be."

Lorelai leaned against the counter and smiled. "See, now, that's where your mistake was - you should know by now never to expect things with me," Lorelai said, wagging her finger at him. "I'm very unpredictable."

"Yes, I know. . .one of your less endearing qualities," Luke muttered.

Lorelai gasped. "I have to respectfully disagree. I think it's a charming quality. . .makes me spunky."

Luke sauntered over to her and placed his hands on the counter, surrounding her with his arms. He leaned close to her face and said, "Spunky. . .that's what you call it?" He pressed his lips against hers.

"Mmhmm," she moaned through the kiss. She unfolded her arms from her chest and wrapped them around his neck. She pulled his hat off his head and ran her fingers through his hair. When they finally broke apart, she asked, "What would you call it?"

Panting slightly, he said, "Spunky's fine, I'm too busy to think of another word right now." He leaned in and kissed her again. She giggled softly as she kissed him back deeper.

When she pulled back, she whispered, "You know what we have to do?"

"What?" He took his hat back and replaced it on his head.

"We have to christen the new truck," Lorelai said, raising her eyebrows suggestively. "Have you seen how big the back is?"

Luke shook his head. "No way. Don't even think about it."

Lorelai smiled. "Too late." She kissed him again, then asked, "Have you seen the shower pictures?"

"Nope, not yet."

"I'll go get 'em." Lorelai walked past him and headed toward the living room. "Rory, where are the shower pictures?"

Rory looked up from the couch and pointed toward the desk. "Right there in that box."

"Did you look at them?" Lorelai asked as she walked over to the desk.

"Yup, there are some really good ones," Rory replied. She paused, then added, "And one rather disturbing one." Lorelai narrowed her eyes as she picked up the box and brought it into the kitchen.

Luke was sitting at the table, and Lorelai sat down next to him. "These better be good for costing forty-five bucks," Luke muttered.

Lorelai pulled out a stack of pictures and they began looking through them. When they came to one of them sitting at a table eating, Lorelai laughed. "Oh my God, look how cute we are!"

Luke rolled his eyes. "And what's cute about us stuffing our faces?"

"Shush, it's cute," she said, frowning at him. They flipped through the rest of that stack, then pulled out another group of pictures. They flipped through those until one of them made Lorelai gasp. . .the one Kirk had taken of them dancing just moments before Luke had proposed.

Lorelai clasped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my God." She brought the picture close to her eyes. "Oh my God."

"That's a nice one," Luke commented.

Lorelai nodded as she stared intensely at the photo. "I can't believe I forgot about this one. I saw him take it, but I completely forgot about it." She waved the photo toward Luke. "Do you have any idea how amazing this is? This is us. . ."

Luke nodded. "Yes, it is."

"No, not just *us*," Lorelai said, shaking her head. "But us . . .in mid proposal. How many people have a picture of themselves ten seconds before they get engaged? How many people have physical documentation of that moment?"

"Uh, not many?" Luke guessed.

"No, not many," Lorelai said, grinning excitedly. "I can't believe how great this came out. I'm gonna get this enlarged so we can frame it, okay?"

Luke shrugged. "Whatever you want."

"Poster size," Lorelai added.

"Okay, let me take back that 'whatever you want' and exchange it for a 'do not go higher than an eight by ten'," Luke said, rolling his eyes.

"Sixteen by twenty," Lorelai countered.

"Eleven by fourteen," Luke said.

"Deal," Lorelai agreed. She smiled down at the picture. "Man, we really have to give Kirk a tip or something. Maybe I'll get him something gnom- ish."

"He likes gnomes?" Luke asked.

Lorelai nodded as she flipped through a few more pictures, then let out a laugh. "And, uh, apparently he didn't remove all of his gnome pictures from the roll. This must be the disturbing one Rory was talking about. Check this out." She held up the picture in front of him.

Luke looked at it and narrowed his eyes. "My God, what are they doing?" He tilted his head, looking at it from another angle.

"They. . .appear to be partaking in some wild gnome fun." Lorelai shuddered and dropped the picture on the table. "Okay, I thought the sheer notion of taking pictures of gnomes was weird enough, but the fact that he was setting them up in lewd positions first is just completely creepy."

"Kirk's a bit odd," Luke said.

"Yes, he is," Lorelai agreed. "But he did get some good pictures." They looked through the rest of them, setting aside the ones they wanted to keep for themselves, any that included Lorelai, Luke, or Rory.

When they were done, Lorelai put the rest of the pictures back into the box, then turned to Luke. "So. . .what are you gonna do?"

Luke stood up. "I think I'm gonna go take a shower."

Lorelai stood up. "I think I'll go see what the youthful folk are up to in there."

They walked to the living room, and as Luke walked upstairs, Lorelai sat down on the floor in front of the couch. "What are you guys watching?" She watched the television for a few seconds, then said, "Ooh, is this on cable or is this the edited version?"

"It's on Comedy Central," Rory replied. "They cut out all the good stuff."

Lorelai frowned. "Aw, censorship sucks."

"Yes, it does," Rory agreed.

The next night after work, Lorelai and Sookie walked into the diner for coffee. As Luke set the takeout cups in front of them, he asked, "What time do you think you'll be home?"

Lorelai took a sip of her coffee and shrugged. "I don't know. We're gonna grab some dinner after the appointment, so I guess maybe between eight and nine. . .that sound about right?" she asked Sookie.

Sookie nodded. "Yeah, that's what I told Jackson."

Lorelai turned back to Luke. "Yeah, somewhere around there. Rory didn't wanna go, but I think she'll be in here later for dinner."

"Okay."

She leaned over the counter and pecked him on the cheek. "Bye."

"Bye," Luke replied. "Bye Sookie."

Sookie smiled. "Bye."

They walked out of the diner and climbed into Sookie's SUV, then drove to Lorelai's house to pick up Sookie's wedding dress.

As they pulled out of the driveway and headed toward Hartford, Lorelai leaned her head against the side window and said, "Sookie?"

"You finally wanna talk about what's been bothering you?" Sookie asked.

Surprised, Lorelai turned her head toward Sookie. "How did you know something was bothering me?"

"Because I know you," Sookie replied. "What is it?"

Lorelai stared out the windshield. "What do you think of. . .Christopher?"

Sookie's eyes widened and she shook her head slightly. "Okay, totally wasn't expecting that question."

"I know, I know, but. . .what do you think of him?" Lorelai asked.

Sookie gasped. "Oh God, Lorelai, please tell me you're not thinking of breaking up with Luke for Christopher. It'll break his heart!"

Lorelai scoffed. "Sookie! Of course not!"

Sookie let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good."

"I just wanted to know what you thought of him."

"Well. . . I've only met him once, Lorelai," Sookie said with a shrug. "He seemed nice."

"What about. . .character-wise?" Lorelai asked. "I mean, judging by what you know about him, what do you think of him?"

Sookie narrowed her eyes at Lorelai. "Why don't you tell me what you're thinking?"

Lorelai nibbled on her bottom lip for a few seconds and stared out at the pavement as they sped down the highway. Finally, she let out a long sigh and said, "I've always told myself that it was okay for Christopher to get out of Connecticut. I mean, he didn't wanna be here, I told him I didn't wanna marry him . . . so he left. I've always thought that, in a way, it was something that I was partially responsible for, him leaving. . . so essentially I'm the reason that I had to raise Rory without a father, meaning that I shouldn't complain about it or be mad at him for it, that it was something I brought on myself."

Sookie scoffed. "Lorelai, you know that's not true."

"Well, true or not, that's what I told myself," Lorelai said. "But I've been thinking about it lately. . .and realizing that just because I told him that I didn't need his help doesn't mean that he had to go. He should've *wanted* to stay - but instead, it's like he jumped at the chance to get away from it all, to miss his daughter's childhood. I mean, even if *I* didn't want to settle down and get married and live happily ever after, he should've at least been there for Rory."

"I agree."

"But he didn't want to," Lorelai said. "He didn't want to see her grow up, he didn't want to help raise her. He left . . . he just up and left. Why did he do that, Sookie? Why did he leave like that?"

"Because when someone is given an opportunity to avoid all of their responsibilities like that, they take it," Sookie said. "It's just how some people are."

"I've always thought that he was a good person for asking her to come visit or for calling her once in awhile," Lorelai said. "I'd think, 'Aw, look at that - her father's trying to be closer to her, what a great guy.'" Lorelai scoffed and shook her head. "But why the hell should I be giving him fanfare for doing stuff like that when he should've been there the whole damn time?"

"You shouldn't," Sookie said, shaking her head.

"That's right, I shouldn't," Lorelai said, her anger apparent in her voice. "Why was I so stupid, feeling all proud of him every time he made a nice gesture?"

"Because you and Rory weren't used to those gestures," Sookie said. "You were getting excited when he tried to reach out to you guys."

"I know, but we shouldn't have." Lorelai shook her head. "We shouldn't have put him up on a pedestal for doing things like that. I mean, calling once in awhile? Seeing her, at most, twice a year? Those are things that long lost uncles do, not fathers! Fathers should be there all the time - he should've been there for her, Sookie, and I'm really starting to . . ." Lorelai exhaled loudly. "I'm really starting to hate him for it."

They were both silent for a minute, then Sookie glanced toward Lorelai. "Honey, can I ask you something?" Sookie asked softly. "Where is all of this coming from? Why now, after so many years, are you getting so worked up over this?"

"I don't know," she replied tersely. Lorelai closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "That's not true - I do know."

"So. . .why?"

"Luke," Lorelai replied. "The other day he got really mad and - "

"Luke got mad?" Sookie interrupted. "Like yelling-mad?"

"Yelling-mad," Lorelai confirmed. "And he never gets like that. . .I mean, as long as I've known him, I've only seen him get that way a couple of times. He said he was thinking about how Chris shouldn't have left and yadda yadda yadda. . .he asked me why I wasn't mad at Chris for deserting me and Rory."

"Ah."

"Yeah, and that just made me start thinking about things," Lorelai said. "And now I've got all these feelings that I'm trying to sort out. . .and it's hard."

"Have you talked to Luke about it since he brought it up?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai shook her head. "No. . .should I?"

"It might be good to get it out," Sookie said, nodding. "I mean, you guys are engaged . . .he's apart of the whole family-situation now, you know?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah."

"So. . .yeah, talk to him," Sookie said. "It'll make you feel better to get it all out with him."

"Yeah, I guess so," Lorelai replied. She picked up her coffee and took a long sip, then replaced it in the cup holder with a sigh.

Back in Stars Hollow, Luke was clearing off a table as Jess walked into the diner carrying a couple of books. As he passed Luke, he said, "Hey."

Luke nodded toward him and continued clearing off the table. He glanced out the window and saw his old truck, which he had driven to work that day instead of the new one, and he suddenly stood up straight. "Oh, hey. . . come here a sec."

Jess stopped near the staircase and turned around. "What?"

Luke set the plates back down on the table and wiped his hands on the dishtowel draped on his shoulder. He gestured for Jess to follow him as he started walking toward the door. Jess narrowed his eyes and set his books on the counter, then followed Luke out onto the sidewalk.

Jess shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "Yeah?"

"Your birthday's next week," Luke said.

Jess' eyes widened. "Is it? Thanks for the heads-up." He rolled his eyes. "Is that all you wanted?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Be nice for two minutes, okay?"

"Countdown starts. . . now," Jess said, tapping on his watch. "Go."

Luke pulled his keys out of his pocket and fumbled through them to find the key to his truck. Jess watched as Luke pulled the key off the ring, then shoved the others back into his pocket.

"Now, as I said, your birthday's next week," Luke said. "But I wanted to give you your present now." He held out the key toward Jess. "Here."

Jess took the key. "My own key to the truck?"

"No. . .the whole truck," Luke said, gesturing to it. "To keep."

Jess' eyes widened slightly and he looked at the truck, then turned back to Luke. "Wait. . .are you serious? Is this a joke?"

Luke shook his head. "No. . .the truck's yours. I know it's not perfect, but it's better than nothing. . .at least until you can afford something better."

"But. . .what about you?" Jess asked.

"I got a new one," Luke said.

Jess smirked. "Oh, so I get the hand-me-down while you get the nice shiny one?"

Luke folded his arms across his chest. "Look, I don't have to do this, I'm just being nice. Do you want it or not?"

"Hell yeah, I want it," Jess replied with a nod. He paused a moment, then added, "I didn't mean to sound ungrateful or nothing, I was just kidding around."

Luke nodded. "So. . .you know, happy birthday."

"Thanks," Jess said. He extended his hand toward Luke.

Luke shook it. "You're welcome. Remember, you gotta take care of it. . .gas, oil changes, stuff like that."

Jess nodded. "I got it, no problem."

"You might wanna get yourself a keychain there," Luke suggested, pointing to the key.

Jess smirked. "Yeah, I'll get me one of those. Anything else?"

"Just. . . you know, be careful," Luke said, shifting his feet uncomfortably. "And keep your phone with you when you're driving."

Jess nodded. "I will."

"All right, I gotta get back inside," Luke said, gesturing to the diner door.

"Okay," Jess replied. "And. . .thanks."

Luke nodded and started walking toward the diner, and Jess followed behind him.

That night, Lorelai walked into the house slightly before 8:30. Luke and Rory were both watching television, and as she hung her purse up on the coat hook and walked into the living room, they both looked up from the couch. "Hey Mom," Rory greeted her.

"Hey," Luke said.

"Hey." She sat on the couch between them and put her feet up on the coffee table.

"How'd it go?" Rory asked.

"Good," Lorelai replied. "Sookie's dress has to be taken in a little so they have to keep it until next week. And she wants you and I to come over this weekend and try on ours to make sure they're all finished." She turned to Luke and patted his thigh. "Speaking of which, you need to buy a new suit."

Luke made a face. "Right, I forgot. I guess jeans are discouraged at weddings, huh?"

"Uh, yeah," Lorelai said with a laugh. "Sookie's one of those rare brides who wants her wedding guests to dress in formal attire."

Luke made a face. "It's so stupid that people have to get all dressed up for these things. We should let our guests wear whatever the hell they want. In fact, I just might wear jeans to our wedding to prove a point."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Okay - lemme tell you right now, as big a fan as I am of jeans, if you show up to our wedding in 'em, you're leaving without a wife. I will hightail it out of there like a scene from Runaway Bride."

Luke smirked. "Noted."

"Wow, that's an extreme measure to take for not liking someone's pants," Rory commented.

"Yeah, well, pants are very important to me," Lorelai said, stifling a yawn.

"Tired already?" Rory asked.

"No, that's not a tired yawn, just a bored yawn," Lorelai replied. "Let's do something."

"Like what?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "Let's play a game. What haven't we played in awhile?"

"Everything," Rory said.

"How 'bout Monopoly?" Lorelai suggested.

"Didn't we lose all the game pieces?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, actually, I think we did." Lorelai stood up and walked toward the kitchen. "I'll find something else for us to use. Luke, can you get the game out of the closet? It's on the top shelf."

Luke stood up and retrieved the game as Rory cleared off the coffee table. They both sat down on the floor and started to set up the game as Lorelai walked back in and dropped three jelly beans on the board. "There you go. I'm red."

Rory grabbed the yellow one. "I'm yellow."

Luke shook his head slightly. "Oh boy."

Lorelai sat down next to Luke, then she frowned. "Shoot, I forgot to get a drink."

Rory held up the stack of multi-colored money. "If you hand out the money, I'll go get you one."

"Deal," Lorelai said. "Soda, please."

Rory handed her the money and she stood up. "Luke - more iced tea?"

Luke glanced over at his drink on the end table. "Uh, yeah, thanks." He handed her the cup and she walked into the kitchen.

Lorelai glanced down at the instructions to see how much money to hand out, then she started counting it out. After a few seconds, she glanced over at Luke and saw him watching her. She cleared her throat and glanced back down. "Luke. . .uh, I've been thinking a lot lately. . ."

Luke groaned. "Uh oh, good conversations rarely start off like that."

Lorelai looked up at him. "No, it's not bad. I just. . .I've been thinking about our conversation about Christopher. . ."

Luke waved her off. "Look, I'm sorry about bringing all that up. . ."

"No, no, it was good," Lorelai insisted. "It made me think about a lot of things, and. . .I wanna talk about it with you."

"You do?"

Lorelai nodded. "I really wanna explain my feelings about all this."

Luke nodded quickly. "Okay. . . any time you want."

"Thank you." Lorelai smiled and leaned over to kiss him. She pulled back slowly and ran her hand over the stubble on his cheek before she returned to passing out the money.

Rory returned to the living room with the drinks. She set them on the coffee table, then sat back down. "Did you tell Mom about the truck, Luke?"

Lorelai looked up, surprised. "Something wrong with the new truck already?"

Luke shook his head. "No, the new one's fine."

"He gave Jess his old one," Rory said. "Wasn't that nice?"

Lorelai's eyes widened. "You gave it to him already? His birthday's not until next week."

Luke shrugged. "I know. . . but I had taken the old truck to work today and Jess came into the diner and I saw it parked out there and. . ."

Lorelai smiled and turned to Rory. "Aw, he couldn't wait to give it to him!"

Rory smiled. "How cute!"

Lorelai turned back to Luke. "So. . .he was happy?"

"Yeah, he was excited about it," Luke said.

Lorelai nodded. "Good."

"Yup."

As Lorelai continued passing out the money, she asked, "Any good mail today?"

"Bills," Luke replied.

"No magazines," Rory added.

"Rats," Lorelai muttered.

"I did get something from Chilton, though," Rory said. "There's gonna be a Summer College Fair coming up for seniors."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Oh yeah? Are you gonna go?"

Rory shrugged. "Probably."

"What, to get more Harvard stuff?" Luke asked.

Rory shrugged. "I don't know. I just. . .wanna look around." She glanced down at her shirt and picked off a piece of lint.

Lorelai and Luke glanced at each other curiously and shrugged. Lorelai cleared her throat. "Uh, here you go." She handed out the stacks of money. "Roll to see who goes first."

A few hours later, after helping Rory clean up the game, Lorelai and Luke climbed the staircase up to their room. "I told you, just because you had Boardwalk and Park Place doesn't mean it's all in the bag," Lorelai said.

"Yeah, yeah," Luke muttered.

"You so thought you were gonna win. When you put up those hotels, you were practically running around the room doing your victory dance," Lorelai said with a smirk.

As they reached the top of the steps, Luke yawned and said, "Okay, let's forget it."

Lorelai turned around and wagged her finger in his face. "But I told you - you have to watch out for those yellows and greens."

Luke took her wrist and brought her hand down. "Yes, now I know for next time."

"Good." She glanced down at his hand clutching her wrist. "Can I have my hand back, or did you want it as a memento of this conversation?" Her eyes widened. "Speaking of which, we should rent that movie!"

Luke let go of her hand and walked into the bedroom. "What movie?"

Lorelai followed him into the room and closed the door. "Memento. . .it's a backwards movie. . .all the scenes are in reverse order."

"Sounds confusing," Luke commented.

"It's cool though," Lorelai said. "You'll like it. Plus, the lead guy has tattoos, so you'll have something in common with him. . . except his tattoos are all freaky and stuff."

"Uh huh," Luke muttered as he took off his shirt. "Speaking of which, yours is starting to fade."

Lorelai frowned. "Aw, it is?"

"Yeah, I noticed last night," Luke replied.

Lorelai walked over to the mirror and pulled off her shirt. She turned around and glanced over her shoulder to see the reflection of the tattoo. "Aww, it is! Are you sad?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Devastated."

Lorelai walked over to him. "I think you are, you think it's sexy."

"It is," Luke said. "But that doesn't mean I'll be sad when it's gone. I don't get emotionally attached to inanimate objects like you do."

"So you don't think I should replace this one with a real one?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shook his head. "If it isn't broke, don't fix it." He walked over to his side of the bed and pulled off his shirt.

"Meaning?" she asked as she took off her pants.

Luke glanced over his shoulder at her. "Meaning that . . .your body's perfect the way it is and you shouldn't ruin it with a tattoo, plain and simple."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah?"

Luke nodded and turned back around. They both finished changing and took turns using the bathroom. As Lorelai returned to the bedroom, she shut the door and turned off the light, then climbed into bed next to Luke, who lay on his back with his hands behind his head.

She leaned against the headboard and pulled the covers up around her, then glanced over at him. He was staring at her, waiting for her to bring up what he knew both of them were thinking about.

Lorelai sighed softly and shook her head. "Not tonight. I don't wanna talk about it tonight."

Luke nodded understandably. "Okay. Like I said, any time you want. . .whenever you're ready."

Lorelai nodded and leaned down to kiss him. "Night."

"Night." Luke watched her roll over onto her side and rest her head against her pillow before he rolled the opposite way and did the same.

On Saturday afternoon, Lorelai and Rory walked into the diner and sat down at the counter. Luke greeted them with a nod as he cleared a table in the corner of the room.

They chatted casually as he carried the plates into the kitchen, then returned and stood across from them. "What's up?"

"We went food shopping," Lorelai said, rubbing her hands together excitedly.

"Oh boy," Luke muttered. "Just tell me - did you get anything that I like?"

"As a matter of fact, we did," Rory replied. "When we got there, we noticed that there was a huge sale on produce. . . "

"So I was like, 'Let's buy some fruit, Luke would be proud of us for taking advantage of this remarkable bargain'," Lorelai interrupted, grinning proudly at Luke.

Rory rolled her eyes. "I believe your exact words were, 'Let's buy the things that we like first, and if there's room in the basket, we'll get some fruit for Luke.'"

Luke folded his arms across his chest and gave Lorelai an accusing look.

Lorelai gasped and nudged Rory with her elbow. "Traitor!" she hissed.

Rory laughed. "Hey, I'm just telling the truth here."

"So did you get some produce?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, we picked up a couple things for ya," Lorelai replied.

"Good. What are you doing now?"

"Well, we just dropped off the groceries, and now we're going to Freddy's to buy a photo album for Sookie's shower pictures," Lorelai said.

"We want to bring it with us when we go over to try on the dresses tonight," Rory added.

"Oh, right," Luke nodded. "Forgot about that."

"Remember, I told you yesterday that she invited us all for dinner," Lorelai said. "Are you gonna come? You don't have to stay for the trying- on-dresses part, but you can stop by and get something to eat."

Luke shrugged. "Maybe."

Lorelai stood up and patted Rory on the shoulder. "Okay, let's go, hon."

"You don't want coffee or anything?" Luke asked, gesturing to the coffeemaker behind him.

Rory shook her head as she stood up. "Freddy doesn't allow drinks in his store. Mom tried to sneak one in her coat one time because she didn't want to throw it out yet, and Freddy saw the coffee steam coming out of her pocket and yelled at her."

Lorelai frowned and nodded. "Can you believe that? Now I only go in there with other people so they can restrain me from attacking him out of built- up anger."

Rory rolled his eyes. "Even you're not stupid enough to attack Freddy. Didn't he used to be a professional football player or a sumo-wrestler or something?"

Lorelai made a face. "I don't know, but thanks for putting the image of him in a diaper in my head, ugh!"

"Yeah, well. . . don't attack him because I can't protect you," Luke said. "Attack someone smaller."

"So I should only attack people after certifying that you can take 'em out if need be?" Lorelai asked.

"Yup."

"Okay, good," Lorelai said. She turned to Rory. "We have to go home and make a list of all the people we don't like, and then we'll find out which ones we're allowed to attack."

"Sounds good," Rory replied. "Now let's go get the photo album." She started walking to the door, calling, "Bye Luke" over her shoulder.

"Bye," he replied. "Try to keep her out of trouble, okay?"

Rory turned around and smiled. "I will."

He turned back to Lorelai. "See you later. Be good."

Lorelai leaned across the counter and kissed him. "I will. Bye." She turned and followed Rory out the door and onto the sidewalk.

They walked quietly down the street, and Lorelai glanced over at Rory, who was staring off into space. "You okay? You seem to be shifting into these pensive moods a lot lately."

Rory nodded. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Mmhmm." They walked for another block in silence before Rory muttered, "I feel like such a jerk sometimes."

Lorelai's eyes widened and she stopped walking. "What?" She grabbed Rory's arm and turned her so they were standing face to face.

Rory glanced down at the sidewalk. "I feel like a jerk."

Lorelai lifted up Rory's chin and frowned sympathetically. "Why? What happened?"

"Nothing happened," Rory replied.

"Rory, people don't usually just walk along berating themselves for no reason," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes. "Talk to me. . .please?"

Rory exhaled loudly and folded her arms across her chest. She shifted her feet uncomfortably and glanced down at the sidewalk. "Sometimes I feel bad for. . . " Her voice trailed off.

"For?" Lorelai prompted, gesturing for her to continue.

"For. . . liking Luke better than Dad," Rory finished quietly, bringing her gaze up to meet Lorelai's.

Lorelai's face softened and she pulled Rory into a hug. "Aw, honey. . ."

"It's just. . .when you guys got engaged, I was thinking to myself, 'Luke's going to be my stepfather', and that made me happy and everything. . . but then it made me realize that . . .that label isn't right for him because it already feels like Luke is the real father. . .and Dad's just. . . some guy I call Dad," Rory said. "And I feel so awful for thinking that because - "

Lorelai pulled back from the hug and shook her head. "Don't - you have nothing to feel bad about, I mean it." She put her arm around Rory's shoulder and began walking down the sidewalk again. "Listen, we're gonna go get the album, and then we're gonna go home, and while we put the pictures in, we're gonna talk about this stuff. I think we both have some things we need to get out about this. I've been thinking about it lately, too."

"Yeah?" Rory asked.

Lorelai nodded. "Yup. So what do you say. . .time for a nice mother/daughter chat?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah. . .okay."

PART 51

Twenty minutes later, Lorelai and Rory arrived home with the photo album. Lorelai dropped her purse on the hallway table and shrugged. "So. . .kitchen?"

Rory nodded. "Kitchen."

They walked into the kitchen and cleared off the table, then sat down with the photo album and the box of pictures. Lorelai opened the box and said, "I think they're pretty much stacked in order, so. . .do you wanna be the hander-person or the put-in-person?"

Rory let out a small laugh. "Excuse me?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "The hander-person or the put-in person. I think it's pretty much self-explanatory."

"Only in your twisted mind, Mom," Rory replied. "Now please clarify."

"Do you want to hand the pictures to me so I can put them in - thus making you the hander-person - or do you want me to hand them to you so you can put them in - thus making you the put-in person?"

Rory nodded. "Ah. Um . . .I guess I'll be the hander-person."

"Okay, that makes me the put-in person." Lorelai reached for the photo album and opened it up to the first page. "Start handing 'em over."

"Okay." Rory took out a stack of pictures and handed the top one to Lorelai, who slipped it into the plastic pocket of the album. They continued for a few minutes, commenting about each of the photographs as they placed them in the album.

After awhile, Lorelai finally said, "So. . .honey, talk to me about what's on your mind." Rory didn't say anything; instead, she handed Lorelai another picture and then glanced down at the next one.

After narrowing her eyes at Rory, Lorelai slipped the photo into the album, then shut it and pushed it aside. She moved her chair closer to Rory's and placed a hand on her arm. "Come on, tell me what you're thinking."

Rory took a deep breath and shrugged. "I don't really know exactly what I'm thinking."

Lorelai stared at Rory for a few seconds, then said, "Honey, sometimes it's okay to have a little less integrity than Mother Teresa."

Rory narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Lorelai rubbed Rory's forearm. "Rory, I know you - you're always nice and sweet and you like to see the good in people. You don't wanna say bad things about your Dad, and I completely get that. . . but trust me, the only way to really talk about this is for us to be completely open, okay?" Lorelai gestured around her. "I mean, look around, he's not here. . . unless he's bugged the place, he won't hear you if you say anything mean."

Rory nodded. "I know he won't."

Lorelai stood up and grabbed Rory's hand. "Come on, this is a couch conversation." She pulled Rory into the living room. "Sit down over there." Lorelai pointed to one end of the couch. Rory obliged as Lorelai walked over to the armchair and grabbed two blankets from behind it.

She walked back over and handed one of the blankets to Rory, then sat down on the other end of the couch. When they were both comfortable and settled under their blankets, Lorelai said, "Okay, let's talk. . . no holds barred."

Rory nodded. "Okay."

Lorelai nodded. "All right."

They were both silent for a few seconds as they stared at each other, waiting for the other to speak.

Finally, Rory said, "You go first."

Lorelai pushed her hair behind her ears and nodded. "Okay." She exhaled slowly. "Okay, how should we start this? Um, well, you and I. . . we both know that your Dad's not in the same category as Danny Tanner or Mike Brady or Cliff Huxtable. . . or any of those other dads who were always there for their kids. That's a given, right? We know that."

Rory nodded. "We know that."

"Okay, good. But that's something that we've always just accepted. We've always just assumed that he'd never be around, that it was just you and me. And, throughout the years, when he did randomly make an effort to be involved, what did we do?"

Rory shrugged. "We were happy about it."

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, we acted like it was the greatest thing, right?"

"Right."

"And when he recently started getting involved more consistently, with the visits and the phone calls and everything - we were really excited about that, too," Lorelai said. "We thought it was pretty cool of him, right?"

"Yeah."

Lorelai nodded. "Which it is," she confirmed. "I think it's great that he's sort of turned his life around and is trying to be apart of your life now." She paused and pressed her palms together as she thought for a moment. "That said, the thing that I've been thinking about lately, the thing that's bringing up all this bitterness in me, is. . .why did he leave in the first place?"

"Because you said you didn't want to marry him," Rory replied.

"Very true, I did say that," Lorelai agreed. "But let's look at this. . .I said that I didn't wanna marry him, but did that mean that he had to leave? Did me saying that I didn't want to become Mrs. Christopher Hayden imply that it was okay for him to move three thousand miles away and not be involved in your life at all?"

"No, but he wanted to leave," Rory said.

"Exactly!" Lorelai exclaimed, pointing her finger at Rory.

Rory narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, exactly?"

Lorelai gestured animatedly and she spoke quickly, "I mean that he wanted to leave - he didn't want to stay here anymore, he didn't want to help me raise you. This isn't about me, this is about you - this is about how he didn't care that he was going to miss so much of your life. Sure, he followed the proper etiquette by asking me to marry him. He thought that that was the thing he needed to do to take responsibility for his actions, and when I said no to his offer, he figured that his duties as impregnator were over and that he was free to do whatever he wanted."

Rory sat back against the arm of the couch and listened intently to Lorelai's rant, realizing that her and Lorelai were both thinking the same things about Christopher.

Lorelai's voice softened slightly as she continued, "Now. . .I know that not marrying him was the right thing to do . . .but sometimes I told myself that I shouldn't have been so adamant about not needing his help - for your sake, at least. I've scolded myself for being so fiercely stubborn and independent back then."

A small smile appeared on Rory's lips. "Back then?"

Lorelai smiled. "Okay, so I'm still fiercely stubborn and independent."

"Yes, you are," Rory agreed.

Lorelai stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds before she continued. "And for a long time I blamed myself for him leaving, but. . . now I'm finally realizing that it was never my fault that he left. . . I didn't make him leave."

"I know you didn't," Rory assured her. "He made the choice himself to leave."

"Exactly. I mean, me saying no to his proposal didn't automatically void his responsibilities as a father," Lorelai said. "He should've realized that. An honorable man would've wanted to be apart of your life from the beginning."

"Right." Rory paused a moment before she added, "But he didn't want to. . . so he left."

"So, the question is, why do we act like it never happened?" Lorelai asked with a shrug. "Why have we always just brushed aside the past - we were living in a potting shed while he was living it up carefree in California, yet we still refused to place any blame on him. . .why is that?"

Rory didn't have an answer. She glanced down at the blanket covering her legs and pulled off a piece of lint. She sighed softly and said, "I don't know. . . because it's easier just to forget about it. . . it's better to concentrate on the present than to dwell on the past."

"Like I said, I think the whole thing with me right now, the thing that's starting to get me really upset, is not the fact that he left, but the fact that he didn't care about you enough to want to stay. I think my feelings for him stood in the way of me really seeing who he was, but when I step back and look at it objectively, I'm realizing. . .what a jerk he was to do that." Lorelai swallowed hard and stared down at the blanket for a few seconds. She finally glanced up at Rory and said, "All right, your turn to share - tell me what's going on in that gigantic brain of yours."

Rory shrugged and glanced toward the mantle. She turned back to Lorelai and hugged her knees against her chest. "Usually, when I'm with Dad, I spend a lot of time comparing him to you. Every time he does something, I think, 'that's not how Mom would do it', or every time he says something, I think, 'Mom would've said this instead.' Just. . .everything reminds me of you."

Lorelai smiled. "Aw."

Rory cleared her throat before she continued. "He just tries so hard to be like you. He wants to have what you and I have, the type of relationship that we have. And at first, I felt kind of special that he wanted to have that with me after all these years. . . but now, it's like the more he tries to build this relationship, the more I think about the reason that we don't have that relationship in the first place - because he left. And when I start thinking about that, about what he did to us, it makes me wonder - father or not, do I even really want this kind of relationship with a man who did that to us? Why do I care about building a relationship with a man who didn't care about me enough to want to help raise me?"

As Lorelai listened to Rory's words, she found herself surprised - not only by the fact that Rory seemed to be thinking about things much more seriously than Lorelai had thought she was, but also by the fact that her thoughts were so similar to Lorelai's.

Lorelai frowned sympathetically. "Aw, Sweetie, I know how you feel."

Rory nodded. They were both silent for a moment before Rory said quietly, "During the last visit, for some reason, not only was I comparing Dad to you, but I also started comparing him with Luke."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Luke, really?"

Rory nodded. "I just had to step back and look at it from another angle, and it made me realize some important things."

"Like?" Lorelai prompted.

"Well. . .it came down to this - Luke didn't have to be there for us but he was, and Dad was supposed to be there but he wasn't." Rory shrugged. "I mean, comparing the character of those two. . .it's pretty darn obvious which one is more deserving of my love and admiration as a father - and it's not the guy I call Dad. And I felt bad thinking like that, I really did . . . but now I realize that I shouldn't. Luke's more important in my life than Dad is, Luke's more of a father to me than Dad is. . .and it's not my fault that's how it is - it's Dad's. Maybe he should get some pointers from Luke about how to be a good man."

Lorelai's mouth dropped open slightly and tears formed in her eyes. Rory noticed, and she narrowed her eyes with concern. "Mom, are you okay?"

Lorelai nodded as she sniffled. "Mmhmm." She wiped her tears. "Just. . .hearing you talk about Luke like that. . .it's just sweet. It makes everything seem. . .right." Lorelai held out her arms. "Come here, kid."

Rory smiled and crawled over to Lorelai's side of the couch. They lay next to each other and Rory rested her head on Lorelai's shoulder. "I feel like I'm five years old," Rory said with a laugh. She closed her eyes and whispered, "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too." Lorelai kissed the top of her head. She patted Rory's arm and said, "Keep talking. Don't stop until you get everything out."

Rory let out a long sigh. "Well. . . I don't know. . .I still love Dad, but I'm probably never gonna be able to forgive him, as much as I wish I could. If things were different, if there were other circumstances that contributed to the fact that he wasn't there, then maybe I'd be able to forgive him, but . . .just like you said, the fact that he didn't want to be there - that just makes it even worse than it already was."

"Mm, I know what you mean," Lorelai muttered. "Great minds think alike."

"I'm gonna let things keep going as they have been, with the visits and the phone calls and everything," Rory said. "And if he wants to think that this relationship is progressing, then let him think that. Frankly, it's probably never gonna get beyond the point it's at now, but he'll have to discover that the hard way."

They talked for a few more minutes before they finally walked back into the kitchen and continued working on the photo album.

A few hours later, Luke arrived home from the diner and found the girls on the front porch talking to Babette. Luke walked over and greeted them, and Babette winked at him. "How ya doin', doll?"

"Uh, good, thanks," Luke replied. "How 'bout yourself?"

"Oh, I'm good, too," Babette replied. "I was just telling the girls here how much me and Morey like the new truck."

Luke smiled and glanced over at it. "Thanks, I like it, too." He placed a hand on the small of Lorelai's back. "What time are we leaving for Sookie's?"

Lorelai turned and smiled at him. "You're gonna go?"

"Yeah."

"Aw, good," Lorelai replied. "She said to come around seven."

Luke glanced down at his watch. "Okay, I'm gonna go take a shower." As he started walking toward the front door, he looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Bye Babette."

"Buh-bye," she called. When he disappeared through the front door, Babette grinned and nudged Lorelai. "Ooh, God, he's so cute you could just eat 'em up!"

Lorelai giggled and nudged her back. "I know!"

Babette fanned herself with her hand. "And now he's going up to take a shower - my God, I'm glad Morey's not here to see me get all hot and bothered."

Lorelai gasped. "Babette!" she exclaimed with a laugh.

Rory cleared her throat and raised her hand. "Minor here, thank you."

Babette smiled. "Oh, sorry, sugar. . .I better get back home. See you girls later." She turned and walked down the porch steps.

"Bye," Lorelai said.

"Bye Babette," Rory said. She turned to Lorelai. "I was thinking that we should bring something to Sookie's."

"We are," Lorelai replied. "We're bringing the album. Duh - did you forget already?" She turned and walked toward the front door.

Rory followed her into the house. "No, I mean, like a dessert or something."

Lorelai turned around and grimaced. "Ooh, maybe you're right." She patted the pockets of her shorts, then reached in and pulled out a folded up twenty. "Here, run to Weston's and pick something up - something small, though, because I'm sure Sookie made a ton of stuff for us anyway."

"Okay." Rory shoved the money into her pocket and walked out the front door.

Lorelai walked upstairs and found the bedroom door shut. "Luke, it's me," she called, knocking on it lightly.

"It's open," he replied.

She walked through the door and shut it behind her. Luke was sitting at the foot of the bed taking his shoes off. Lorelai climbed onto the bed and kneeled behind him, then wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back. "Hi."

"Hey." He finished removing his shoes, then reached his arm behind him to stroke her hair. "What's up?"

"Mm, nothing much," Lorelai replied. "Rory went to run an errand."

"Oh yeah? Where'd she go?" Luke asked.

"To the bakery to get a dessert to bring to Sookie's," Lorelai replied. After a few seconds, she let go of him and leaned back against the bed. She put her hands behind her head and watched as he stood up and pulled off his shirt. "Ooh, feel like giving me a strip tease? Maybe do a sexy little dance?" He rolled his eyes and threw his shirt at her, and it landed on her face. She laughed and pulled it off. "Guess that's a no," she said, tossing the shirt on the floor.

Luke smiled as he unbuckled his belt and pulled it out of the loops. He dropped it on the floor, then climbed on the bed between her legs. He leaned over her body and kissed her, then pulled back and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "What did you do all afternoon? Did you get a photo album?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, we did. It looks really nice."

"Good." He kissed her again, this time more aggressively, and she moaned softly as their tongues swirled over one another. He pulled back, then slipped her shirt up over her head and tossed it aside. He leaned back over her and began sucking on her neck as he ran a hand down to rub her thigh, evoking a small groan from Lorelai. She closed her eyes as he began kissing down her chest to her navel.

He ran his tongue over her stomach, and she felt his hands move to the top of her shorts. She opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling as he unbuttoned them and started pulling the zipper down.

He pulled her shorts off and ran his hands over her legs. As he began kissing along her thighs, Lorelai swallowed hard and muttered, "Luke, maybe now's not the best time to do this."

Surprised, he lifted his head up to look at her. "Why not? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but . . ." Lorelai's voice trailed off and she closed her eyes. He waited for her to say more, and when she didn't, he began kissing across her stomach.

A few seconds later, Lorelai propped herself up on her elbows. "I wanna talk about Christopher." She bit her bottom lip and waited for his response.

Luke froze momentarily before he slowly lifted his head up from her stomach. "Well, that just killed the mood." He pushed himself off of her and sat up.

Lorelai sat up and crossed her legs in front of her. "I know, I'm so sorry. . . but I can't do this while I have him on my mind."

"Uh huh. . .and why exactly is he on your mind?" Luke asked. "Did he call?"

"No. . .Rory and I talked about him," Lorelai explained. "We had a very interesting chat. . . and surprisingly, we both had the same things to say."

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"I mean, that both of us had a lot of mixed feelings about him that we were trying to hide," Lorelai said. "But we both got them all out, and it turned out that she feels exactly like I do."

"And how do you feel?" Luke asked.

Lorelai leaned back against the headboard and sighed. "I feel like. . .he's an ass for not wanting to raise his daughter."

"He is," Luke muttered.

"I've said to it Sookie, I've said it to Rory, and now I'll say it to you - it's not just the fact that he wasn't there that gets me mad, it's the fact that he didn't want to be there," Lorelai said, shaking her head angrily. "I mean, he could've stayed - he could've done that whole stupid Internet startup thing around here. Just because I didn't wanna marry him - "

"Doesn't mean that he had to leave," Luke finished. "He still should've been there for Rory. Exactly the point I was trying to make the other day."

"Yeah, and you were right - I have to stop letting the couple of times that he was actually acting fatherly overshadow all the times when he was a deadbeat. I mean, he let us down so many times over the years, but the minute he did something right, I'd always forget about the bad stuff." Lorelai pursed her lips and shook her head disappointedly. "I shouldn't have done that. And he says that he hated not being apart of Rory's life, that he regrets not being there for her - but what the hell was stopping him? Nobody forced him to move across the country, nobody made him stay away from her - he did that himself!"

Luke nodded and stroked her arm. "I know."

Lorelai took a few deep breaths. "I mean, he thinks that just because the term 'father' applies to him biologically that it makes him a real father." Lorelai shook her head. "But it's what you do that makes you a father, and he's not a father to her." She paused a moment, then smiled at Luke. "You are."

Luke smiled shyly and glanced down at the bed.

Lorelai smiled and grabbed his hand. "I mean it, Luke. I know it, Rory knows it . . .hell, this whole town probably knows it. You're more of a father to her than he could ever be."

Luke shrugged. "Yeah, well. . .I try."

Lorelai smiled and pulled him on top of her as she leaned back against the pillow. He pressed his lips against hers and kissed her deeply as she stroked his arms.

He pulled back and glanced over at the clock. "I still have to take a shower."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay." They stared at each other for a moment before Luke leaned down to kiss her again. After a few seconds, Lorelai smiled through the kiss and patted him on the shoulder. "Go, we have to leave soon."

"All right, I'm goin'." Luke pushed himself off of her and climbed off the bed.

"Thanks for the chat," Lorelai said as she sat up. "Well, for listening to me chat."

"You're welcome."

She smiled. "And, uh, next time I'll try to bring up the chat topic before you start stripping my clothes off."

Luke smirked. "I'd appreciate that." He walked out the door as Lorelai climbed off the bed and got dressed.

A few hours later at Sookie and Jackson's house, after dinner, Sookie led Lorelai and Rory to the guest room while the guys went into the living room.

Sookie opened the closet and pulled out the two dresses. She handed them to the girls and said, "There ya go. Call me when you're ready."

"Okay," Lorelai replied. Sookie walked out of the room and pulled the door closed behind her, and the girls started changing.

"Hey, have you thought about your bridesmaids' dresses?" Rory asked.

"Not really," Lorelai replied with a shrug. "They'll probably just be regular dresses like these."

"Have you thought about what color you want?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, I was thinking we could go with plaid," Lorelai replied.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Mom."

"What?" Lorelai exclaimed. "I'm serious - there's nothing more appropriate for Luke than plaid. . . he'd be so excited if we all showed up in plaid dresses and backwards baseball caps."

"Luke can borrow Jackson's kilt if he wants there to be plaid at the wedding," Rory said. She stifled her laughter. "Did you see that thing?"

Lorelai giggled. "Oh my God," she whispered. "I almost choked on my pot roast. I would die if Luke wore something like that at our wedding!" She pulled her dress straps up and turned around. "Zip me up please."

Rory complied, then turned around. "My turn."

Lorelai zipped up Rory's dress, and as she turned around, gave her a nod of approval. "Looks amazing, babe."

Rory smiled. "So does yours."

Lorelai smiled and walked over to the mirror. "We both look pretty damn good, huh?"

Rory walked over and draped her arm across Lorelai's shoulder. "Yes, we do."

"Sookie!" Lorelai yelled. "We're done!"

Rory grimaced and pulled away from Lorelai clutching her ear. "Ouch, warn me next time, please."

Lorelai giggled. "Oops, sorry."

Sookie opened the door, saying, "Boy, that didn't take - " Her voice trailed off as she saw the girls, and she gasped. "Oh my gosh, you both look incredible!"

Lorelai and Rory both smiled. "Thanks," Lorelai replied. "Can we go show the guys? You don't mind if they see them before the wedding, do you?"

Sookie shook her head. "Nope, I don't mind."

Lorelai grabbed Rory's hand and led her out the door, and Sookie followed them to the living room. Luke and Jackson were watching television and didn't notice them enter the room.

Lorelai cleared her throat. "Here we are, the most beautiful bridesmaids in the world - what do you think?"

Luke and Jackson brought their gaze from the television to the girls. Jackson smiled and nodded. "Looks good."

Luke nodded. "Yup."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Come on, give us something more than that."

Jackson shrugged. "Looks really good."

Luke nodded and echoed, "Really good."

As they both turned back toward the television, Rory rolled her eyes. "Forget them, I'm changing." She walked back to the guest room.

Lorelai made a face at the guys. "You guys suck at compliments." She put her arm around Sookie. "Your future wives worked very hard on these dresses and we'd like a little credit."

"Good job on the dresses," Jackson said, not looking away from the television screen.

"Yeah, good job," Luke added, glancing over at them as he took a sip of his beer.

Lorelai frowned at Sookie. "It's hopeless."

Sookie patted her on the back. "I'll go get out the desserts."

Lorelai smiled. "You always know how to make me feel better."

Later that night, as Lorelai, Rory, and Luke arrived home and walked up the front porch, Lorelai said, "Let's sit outside for a little while. It's such a nice night."

Rory yawned. "You guys can, I'm going to bed." She pushed open the door, then looked back at them. "Don't stay out too late, you crazy kids."

Lorelai smiled. "Yes, Mom."

As Rory walked into the house, Lorelai took Luke's hand and led him over to the porch bench. They sat down and she snuggled up against him, resting her head against his chest.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Luke pulled her closer against his body and said, "Hey, you know what?"

She turned to look at him. "What?"

Luke smiled. "You looked incredible in that dress."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

She leaned up and kissed him. "Thank you." She glanced around the yard, and when her eyes landed on the chuppah, she turned back to him. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"When do you wanna get married?"

Surprised, Luke raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean - like what date?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, let's set a date."

"Right now?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah - have any in mind?"

Luke shrugged. "Not really. You know, we should really do this with a calendar in front of us."

"Yeah. Okay, well, we can at least narrow it down to a season," Lorelai suggested. "Pick a season."

Luke shrugged again. "Fall?"

"This fall?" Lorelai asked.

Luke nodded. "Yeah. . . is that okay?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, a fall wedding'll be so pretty. As long as it's early fall so it's not too cold out."

"Right."

Lorelai smiled. "Okay - so early fall, it is. We can pick a date sometime this week."

"Okay."

They sat quietly for a few seconds before Lorelai asked, "What about the honeymoon?"

"What about it?"

"Well, you want to go somewhere, right?" Lorelai asked hopefully. "I mean, you don't have some big rant filed away in your head about how honeymoons are an added expense and completely unnecessary, do you?"

Luke smirked. "Well, I did before. . . when I thought I'd never get married."

Lorelai smiled. "So . . .you wanna go somewhere?"

He nodded. "Yeah." He swallowed hard and added, "But. . ."

Lorelai grimaced and she sat up straight. "Uh oh - but what?"

Luke glanced down at his shoes. "Uh. . .I've never really been big with the whole 'flying in an airplane' thing. I'd rather just drive somewhere."

Lorelai's eyes widened slightly. "Oh."

"I mean, we can still go somewhere. I'll drive you wherever you wanna go, but I just don't - "

"Luke, it's okay," Lorelai interrupted, waving him off. "I don't really have a burning desire to fly off to some exotic location anyway. Plus, we've got a new SUV right there just begging for us to put some miles on it."

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "You're sure you're okay with it?"

Lorelai smiled. "Positive." She kissed him, then rested her head back against his shoulder. "The point of a honeymoon is to get away and have fun, right? We can do that anywhere. It doesn't have to be far away - it can be in Hartford for all I care."

Luke let out a small laugh. "Well, I hope it's a little farther than that."

Lorelai smiled. "That was just a hypothetical suggestion to show that I don't really mind where we go."

Luke nodded. "I got it."

Lorelai sighed softly. "Okay, are you ready for this? Now comes the most important question a prospective bride could ever ask her future husband. . ."

Luke groaned. "Oh boy. . .what is it?"

Lorelai lifted her head and smiled at him. "Do you think we should sleep together before we're properly wed, or do you not believe in premarital sex?" Luke laughed, and Lorelai placed a hand on her chest. "Because, personally, I'm completely against it."

Smiling, Luke asked, "Oh yeah? You're against it?"

Lorelai nodded, then shrugged. "Yup, but I'd be willing to go through with it if you want me to. It all depends on what you wanna do; the decision's all yours."

Luke smirked. "Oh, good - I finally get to decide something in this relationship."

Lorelai scoffed. "Hey, you have a lot of say in things."

"Yeah, I have say. . .but it doesn't mean you actually listen to anything I say," he pointed out.

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "Well. . .sometimes I do." She patted him on the thigh. "So, what's your decision?"

Luke kissed her lips softly, then smiled. "My decision is that we go upstairs so I can finish what I started earlier."

Lorelai sighed and shook her head slightly. "Well, I guess if you want me to compromise my beliefs, I'll do it." She jumped up off the bench and started walking toward the front door. "Let's go."

The next afternoon, Lorelai and Luke sat at the kitchen table paying bills as Rory watched television in the living room. Luke picked up a credit card bill and read it over, then lowered the paper and glared at Lorelai across the table. "What did you buy at Bloomingdale's for two hundred dollars?"

Lorelai looked up from the checkbook and wrinkled her nose. "Uh, I don't know - which time?"

Luke's eyes widened. "You spent two hundred dollars at Bloomingdale's more than once?" He looked back down at the bill, then groaned loudly. "No, the second time you spent two hundred and sixty dollars." He put the paper down and stared at her questioningly.

Lorelai shrugged. "What? Rory and I needed new clothes! Plus, we needed new dresses for the shower, and I've already explained to you the importance of a high-quality dress."

Luke shook his head slightly and handed her the bill. "Pay off three hundred. . . and next time wear an old dress."

Lorelai frowned as she began writing out the check. She tore it out of the checkbook and handed it to Luke, and he stuffed it in the envelope and set it aside. He picked up another bill as the phone rang.

"Rory?" Lorelai called.

"Yeah, I'll get it!" she called back.

Luke opened the bill and read through it, then handed it to her. "Mortgage."

Lorelai made a face. "Again? Man, those people are so greedy, sheesh." She wrote out the check and handed it to him, and he put it in the envelope and set it aside.

He picked up another bill and read through it, then held it out to her. "The water bill went up - start taking shorter showers."

"Tsk, start taking shorter showers," she mimicked him. "Everything's my fault."

As Lorelai started to write out the check, Rory walked into the kitchen with the phone. With one of her hands covering the mouthpiece, she said quietly, "Uh, Mom. . .it's Dad."

Lorelai and Luke glanced at each other, then Lorelai brought her gaze to Rory. "Uh, what does he want?"

"He's in the area and he wants to visit us," Rory replied.

Lorelai's eyes widened. "What? How can he be - why didn't he let us know he was coming?"

"It was a last minute thing," Rory replied. "Some of Sherry's friends were in Springfield so she and Dad drove down to hang out with them, but Dad wants to give her a little time to spend with them alone."

Lorelai glanced down at the table. "Well, isn't that. . .something."

"Yeah, so he's gonna have some time to kill and he wanted to stop by for a little while," Rory said. "He wants to know if we'll be home."

Lorelai glanced at Luke. "Should I tell him we'll be home?"

Luke shrugged. "We can be home if you wanna be home. . . doesn't matter to me."

Lorelai glanced up at Rory. "We don't have any plans, but . . .it's up to you, babe. If you wanna see him, then tell him to come."

Rory took a deep breath and glanced down at the phone in her hand. She glanced at the table and saw both Lorelai and Luke staring at her. She stared down at the floor for a few seconds before she finally brought the phone up to her ear.

"Dad. . ." Rory said. She swallowed hard and said, "I don't think we're gonna be home. . .okay. . .bye."

PART 52

As Rory pushed the off button on the phone, Lorelai and Luke looked at each other, both obviously surprised. They both slowly turned to look at Rory, who was staring down at the phone.

"You okay, hon?" Lorelai asked softly.

Rory looked up and nodded. "Yeah. . . yeah, I'm fine."

Lorelai bit her bottom lip with doubtfulness. "You sure?"

Rory forced a smile. "I'm sure." She gestured over her shoulder. "I'll be in the . . ." Her voice trailed off as she turned and walked back to the living room.

Lorelai frowned at Luke and whispered, "That was probably really hard for her to do."

Luke nodded in agreement. "Yeah, definitely."

"But I understand it. I mean, that was a pretty intense conversation we had, it brought out a lot of feelings. . .she probably needs time for it to all settle before she sees him."

Luke nodded. "She'll be okay." He gestured toward the papers in front of them. "Come on, let's finish these."

When they had finished paying the bills, Lorelai glanced at her watch. "Will you come with me to Freddy's?"

"You were just there yesterday," Luke pointed out. "What do you need now?"

"I forgot to bring the pictures I wanted to get enlarged," Lorelai said. "And you know I can't go in there alone."

"Maybe you should ask Rory," Luke suggested.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Do you not wanna go that badly that you're gonna make me ask everyone else in town?"

Luke lowered his voice and said, "No, I was thinking that she might wanna get out of the house so she's not just sitting around thinking about how she just lied to her father."

Lorelai's eyes widened slightly. "Oh. . .oh, good point. I'll go ask her." She stood up and walked toward the living room where Rory was sitting on the couch watching television. Lorelai leaned against the staircase railing. "Uh, hon?"

Rory looked over at her. "Yeah?"

"I have to run to Freddy's again - do you wanna come for a walk with me?" Lorelai asked.

Rory shook her head. "No, thanks."

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "You sure? Might be good to get out of the house."

Rory turned back to the television. "Nah, I'm good."

Lorelai lingered in the living room for a moment staring at Rory sympathetically before she walked back to the kitchen. "She doesn't wanna go. She seems. . ."

"Upset?"

"I don't know, I think she's just . . .overwhelmed. She's just got a lot of things going on in her head right now."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, poor kid."

Lorelai walked over to the counter and picked up an envelope. "So, will you come with me?" she asked hopefully. "Please?"

Luke stood up. "Fine, let's go."

Lorelai smiled. "Thank you." They walked toward the front door and Lorelai grabbed her purse from the hall table. "Rory, we'll be back in a little bit. We'll stop and get coffee from the diner."

"Okay," she replied, not looking over from the couch.

Luke and Lorelai stepped out onto the porch and began walking toward the center of town. "Which pictures are you blowing up?" Luke asked.

"Ooh, let me show you," Lorelai said. She opened the envelope and pulled out a picture of her and Rory. "This one."

"Nice," he commented.

"Yeah, I wanna make it a five by seven and put it up on the mantle." She put it back in the envelope and pulled out the one of her and Luke. "And then this one that you already knew about, which will be an eleven by fourteen." She smiled at it for a few seconds before she put it back into the envelope and stuck it in her purse.

Luke sighed. "And I suppose you're gonna wanna hang that one up on the wall somewhere?"

"That would be correct," she confirmed, nodding her head.

He rolled his eyes. "Great."

Lorelai smirked and linked her arm through his. "It's just a picture, Luke."

"I hate pictures."

"I know you do," Lorelai replied.

"They're embarrassing."

"No, they're not - they're cute, especially that one. Need I remind you of what that picture represents?" She held up her left hand and wiggled her fingers in front of his face.

Luke pushed her hand away. "One of these days you're gonna get a cramp from doing that," he muttered. "Or someone's gonna get so annoyed that they just rip your whole hand off."

"Yeah, well, as long I still have one hand to drink coffee with, it'll be okay," she replied. She paused a moment, then frowned. "Ooh, but then I'd have to give up on my dream of becoming Amy Wynn because I'd think that carpentry work would be pretty hard with just one hand."

"Probably," Luke agreed. "But, then again, being one handed didn't make Jim Abbott give up on his dreams."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes with confusion. "Who? You mean the guy from Abbott and Costello? I thought his name was Bud."

Luke rolled his eyes. "No, Jim Abbott - the baseball player."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "You expect me to know a baseball player? I couldn't name one if my life depended on it."

"Yeah, well, now you know one - Jim Abbott," Luke said. "He has a pretty interesting story."

"Oh yeah? What did he do - kick a big field goal or something?" Lorelai asked.

Luke smiled and shook his head slightly. "Okay, first off, you kick field goals in football, not baseball."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Whatever - go on."

"He was a pitcher. . .uh, you do know what a pitcher is, right?" Luke teased.

Lorelai nudged him with her elbow and mimicked, "You do know what a pitcher is, right?" She stuck her tongue out at him. "Yes, I do."

Luke smiled. "Okay, just checkin'. Anyway, he was born without a right hand. . . but he played baseball in the major leagues for like ten years."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Wow, a one-handed baseball player. . . that's impressive."

"Yeah, and he threw a no-hitter once," Luke told her.

"Oh, that's - " Lorelai hesitated a moment, then asked, "That's good, right?" Luke nodded. She smiled and said, "Oh, then, good for him."

"Yeah, and he had his ups and downs, but just the fact that he was even in the majors was really cool. Some people spend their entire careers in the minor leagues, but he went right to the majors outta college - skipped the minors completely," Luke said.

Lorelai smiled. "Wow, you know a lot about him, huh?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah." He glanced over at her. "Sorry, I know you couldn't care less about this stuff. I'll shut up now."

"No, don't." Lorelai reached down and laced her fingers through his. "I like listening to you talk about it."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "You do?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, it. . .makes you happy." She rolled her eyes and added, "And if you can listen to me rattle on for twenty minutes about how 'Roseanne' ended with the stupidest season ever, complete with the most confusing series finale ever, then I can listen to you talk about sports."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, that was quite a rant you gave this morning."

Lorelai smiled. "I know, and you just sat there and listened without complaining." She gestured for him to continue. "So, go on. . .Jim Abbott. . ."

They walked for a few seconds before Luke turned to her and said, "Ya know, I actually saw him pitch once at Yankee Stadium once."

Lorelai smiled. "Oh yeah?"

"Yup." Luke nodded and continued talking about it as they walked to the store.

Ten minutes later, they walked out of the photo shop and started walking toward the diner. When they were halfway there, Lorelai's cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and answered, "Hello?"

"Mom?" Rory's voice replied. "I called him back."

Lorelai stopped walking. "What? Who?" Luke stopped and stared at her questioningly.

"Dad - I called him back and told him that we would be home," Rory explained, speaking quickly. "I don't know why. I just felt so bad about lying to him and I was just sitting here staring at the phone and then before I even knew what I was doing, I was dialing his cell phone number and I was talking to him and telling him that we'd changed our plans and that we'd be home, and he said he'd be here in an hour." She paused to catch her breath. "I just. . .I don't know why I did it. . . I'm sorry. . .he said he's not leaving there for another half hour so I still have time to call him back and tell him - "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Lorelai interrupted. "Rory, calm down, it's okay, it's fine."

"What is it?" Luke whispered.

Lorelai held up her finger, indicating for him to wait a second. "Sweets, listen to me. . .he'll come, we'll order a pizza or something, we'll talk a little, he'll leave - everything will be fine. Now, Luke and I are gonna stop at the diner and get some coffee, then we'll be home."

Rory sighed. "So you're not mad?"

"Of course I'm not mad," Lorelai assured her. "I promise."

"Okay."

"I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Okay," Rory replied. "Bye."

"Bye." Lorelai hung up the phone and sighed loudly. As she slipped it back into her purse, she said, "She felt bad about lying to Christopher so she called him back and told him to come. "

Surprised, Luke raised his eyebrows. "Really? So he's coming?"

Lorelai nodded as they continued walking toward the diner. "Yup, he'll be here in an hour."

"Huh." He glanced over at her. "You okay with that?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "I'm fine. It's no big deal. I was gonna see him again eventually."

"Yeah, but yesterday, you were pretty mad - "

"Luke, it's fine," she interrupted, waving him off. "Like I told Rory, he'll come, we'll eat dinner, he'll leave - we'll just act normally and try to forget the fact that he's not on my list of favorite people right now."

Luke nodded. "Okay."

An hour later, Luke was upstairs in the shower while Lorelai and Rory were in the living room waiting for Christopher. Lorelai was on the couch flipping through a magazine while Rory paced back and forth in front of the window.

When he finally pulled up, Rory stopped pacing and turned toward Lorelai. "He's here."

Lorelai dropped the magazine on the coffee table and walked over to her. "You okay?" Lorelai asked.

"Yup, I'm completely fine," Rory replied nonchalantly.

Lorelai nodded. "Right - you pacing nonstop for the past ten minutes is totally normal."

Rory rolled her eyes and walked to the front door, and Lorelai followed behind her. They waited until they heard footsteps on the porch before Lorelai pulled the door open.

Christopher smiled when he saw them. "Hey guys."

Lorelai smiled. "Hey."

He stepped into the house and gave Lorelai a kiss on the cheek, then turned to Rory and hugged her tightly. "Hey kiddo."

"Hey Dad," Rory said. "How was the drive?"

Chris pulled back from the hug. "Not bad. There's not much traffic on Sundays."

Lorelai gestured for him to follow her as she walked into the living room. "Well, come in and sit down." She sat down in the armchair near the fireplace as Rory and Christopher sat on the couch.

"So. . .whose truck is that out front?" Christopher asked. "Looks new."

"Oh, it's Luke's," Rory replied. "He just got it last week."

"Really? It's nice," Christopher commented, nodding approvingly.

"I helped pick it out," Lorelai said.

Christopher smiled. "Well, good work, then."

"Thank you," Lorelai replied, smiling proudly.

"Speaking of the new truck owner himself, where is he?" Christopher asked.

"He's upstairs," Lorelai replied. "He'll be down in a few minutes. Uh, did you eat dinner? We were thinking we could get a pizza in a little bit."

"Sounds good," Christopher replied with a nod. He glanced around the room. "You know, you can't even really tell a man lives here. Did you guys let him bring any of his own things?"

"Yeah, we gave him a Ziplock baggie and told him he could bring whatever he could fit into it," Lorelai replied.

Christopher laughed. "Ah, now it makes sense. And Luke just went along with that plan?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yup. He knows it's in his best interest to do whatever it takes to keep us happy."

"Huh, remind me to have a talk with him later," Christopher said. "I bet I can give him a few hints on how to handle you girls."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "I highly doubt you can tell him anything he doesn't already know."

"Yeah, Luke knows us better than anyone else . . ." Rory's voice trailed off and she started fidgeting with her bracelet. "He's been around us a long time."

Lorelai noticed Rory's bitter tone and quickly stood up. "Uh, Chris. . .you want a drink?"

"Yeah, sure," he replied. "I'll help you." He stood up and patted Rory on the shoulder. "You want anything?"

Not looking up at him, Rory shook her head. As Lorelai and Christopher started walking toward the kitchen, Rory looked up and blurted out, "Mom and Luke are getting married."

Lorelai's eyes widened and she froze in mid-step. She grimaced slightly and continued staring toward the kitchen as Christopher slowly turned around to look at Rory. "What?"

"Mom and Luke are getting married," Rory repeated.

Christopher glanced over at Lorelai. "Really, Lor?"

Lorelai slowly turned around. She glanced past Christopher and gave Rory a surprised look before she brought her gaze back to him and forced a smile. "Uh. . .yeah, she speaks the truth. I was gonna wait for Luke to come down so we could tell you together, but. . .yeah, we're getting married." She held out her left hand toward Christopher.

He took her hand into his and looked down at the ring. "Wow. . .this is. . ." He shook his head slightly before he slowly brought his gaze up to look into her eyes. He gave a small smile and said, "Wow. . .congratulations." He leaned forward and hugged her tightly.

Lorelai smiled. "Thanks." As they pulled apart, Lorelai cleared her throat and patted him on the shoulder. "Uh, so, what about that drink, huh?" She gestured toward the kitchen.

Christopher nodded and started walking to the kitchen as Lorelai lingered in the living room.

When he was out of site, Lorelai walked over to Rory and whispered. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know why I said that, I'm so sorry," Rory whispered. "I swear, it just came out, I couldn't stop myself. I just. . .he was. . .I don't know. . ."

"You coming?" Christopher called from the kitchen.

"Uh, yeah, be right there!" Lorelai called back. She leaned down and whispered, "No, it's no big deal, but are you okay? I mean, maybe it was too early to see him after all the venting we did the other day. Do you want me to make up an excuse and get him to leave?"

Rory shook her head. "No, I'll be okay."

"Okay. I'll get you some iced tea or something," Lorelai said. She turned around and walked into the kitchen where Christopher was peering into the refrigerator. "Sorry about that," Lorelai said. "Rory decided she wanted a drink but then she couldn't make up her mind so I had to slowly assess her thirst level and help her come up with a viable option. Everything's okay now."

Christopher nodded as he shut the refrigerator door. "Good."

Lorelai walked to the cabinet and pulled out some glasses. "Well, the good news is that Luke makes us get rid of all the outdated beverages, so anything you're craving in the fridge is sure to be non-expirational."

Christopher walked up behind her. "Lorelai, what are you doing?"

Lorelai slowly turned around and shrugged. "Getting us some drinks?"

Christopher folded his arms across his chest. "I'm talking about you getting engaged."

Lorelai set the glasses down on the counter and instantly became defensive. "What about me getting engaged?" she asked indignantly.

"Don't you think you're moving a little too fast?" Christopher asked.

"No, actually, I don't, but thanks for asking," she replied haughtily. She folded her arms across her chest and pursed her lips. "Any other questions you wanna ask whose answers are none of your business?"

"Yeah, are you forgetting that you were engaged to another man this time last year?" Christopher asked.

Lorelai scoffed. "What the hell is your point, Chris?"

"Nothing, I'm just wondering if this is gonna be an annual thing," Christopher said. "Are you gonna get engaged to every guy you go out with and then toss him aside when someone better comes along?"

Lorelai's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She clenched her teeth together tightly and said, "You have absolutely no right to talk to me like that."

Christopher took a deep breath. "I'm just saying that. . . maybe you should think a little before you go making all these big decisions, Lor."

"No, maybe I should just check with you before I make any choices in my life," Lorelai retorted. "Next time I'm at a drive thru and I can't make up my mind between barbecue sauce or sweet and sour sauce for my chicken fingers, I'll be sure to get your input before I make any spur of the moment decisions!"

Christopher shook his head toward the ground. "Look, I'm not trying to get into a fight with you here, Lorelai. I'm just saying that. . . I know you don't always think things through all the time. Just think this out and make sure that this is really what you want. How do you know that this engagement won't end like the last one?"

"Because this one's different," Lorelai replied loudly. "And it's none of your business what I do with my life anyway!"

"Yeah, well, Rory is my business!" he retorted. "Did you talk this out with her? Have you actually taken the time to get her take on all of this? To see how she feels about you making these decisions that affect both of your lives? Think about her for a change, Lorelai!"

Lorelai felt her face reddening as her anger started to build up inside of her. "Oh my God! You are the absolute last person in this entire world who should be telling me how to raise that kid in there!" Lorelai exclaimed, pointing toward the living room.

Christopher scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means!" Lorelai yelled. She shook her head toward the ground. "Why did you do it, Chris? Just tell me why the hell you did it so I can stop wondering about it."

"What did I do?"

"Why did you leave me to raise a kid all by myself?"

Christopher's mouth dropped open. "Why are. . .what did. . .where'd that question come from?"

"It came from this little area of my brain that has been struggling to figure out why you wouldn't want to help me raise our daughter, that's where it's coming from," Lorelai told him.

"Hey, I wanted to help raise - "

"Oh, don't give me that, Christopher!" Lorelai interrupted. "If you wanted to help then you would've stayed, so just tell me the truth or don't say anything at all. Tell me why you thought it was perfectly fine for you to not take any kind of responsibility for your actions."

"I tried to take responsibility!"

"Oh really? How?"

Christopher exhaled loudly. "Did I, or did I not, ask you to marry me? And did you, or did you not, turn me down?"

"That doesn't mean that your job as a father was over - you had a daughter, Christopher!" Lorelai yelled. "Why did you run as far away from her as you could?"

"Because you didn't want me to stay!" he yelled. "You told me you didn't want to marry me, you told me that independent Lorelai Gilmore could make it on her own without anyone's help, and now you're telling me that all that was a lie? How was I supposed to know? If you wanted me to stay, you should've told me!"

"That wasn't all a lie, Christopher!" Lorelai exclaimed. "It meant that I could've made it on my own, but it didn't mean that I wanted to! You actually think that I wanted to deprive our child of a father? You should've cared about her enough to want to be apart of her life from the beginning, but you ran away from us!"

Neither of them noticed that Luke had been standing at the entryway to the kitchen, so when he cleared his throat, they both looked over in surprise. He folded his arms across his chest. "You know, she makes a good point."

"Luke," Lorelai started.

Christopher rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in frustration. "Great, let's get the whole town in here to attack me. You know, I really don't need to hear all this right now."

"You don't want to hear it because you know it's the truth," Luke replied sternly. He pointed toward the living room. "You abandoned that girl in there - the first choice you had, you ran off as far away from your responsibilities as you could."

Christopher scoffed. "Okay, you weren't even around back then, so maybe you should stay out of this conversation, huh?"

"Christopher, don't," Lorelai started.

Luke scoffed and took a few steps toward Christopher. "In case you haven't realized it, I'm the one who *was* around! When you were out in California doing God knows what with your life, I was the one who was here being a role model for your daughter," Luke said loudly. "I was the one doing whatever I could to help these girls out while you called twice a month and considered that being involved in their lives! Well, sorry to break it to you, but you were a complete deadbeat and I have zero respect for people like you!"

"Well, it's a good thing that I don't care about whether you respect me or not!" Christopher retorted.

"Well, you should care about whether your daughter respects you," Luke replied. "And considering the fact that you chose not to be part of her childhood, I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't!"

"Okay, stop!" a voice said from behind them.

All three of them looked toward the entryway and saw Rory standing there uncomfortably.

"Stop yelling about me like I don't have ears," Rory said.

"Rory, honey, we didn't mean to - " Lorelai started.

Rory held up her hand. "Wait, I just really need to talk to Dad." She walked over to Christopher and grabbed his hand, then led him out the back door.

As it closed behind them, Lorelai walked over to Luke and found comfort in his embrace. He held her tightly and kissed the top of her head several times before he rested his cheek against the softness of her hair.

They stood that way for several minutes, just holding each other silently, until Lorelai finally pulled back and stared into his eyes. She smiled up at him, and Luke gently pressed his lips against hers.

Lorelai slowly pulled back from the kiss and said, "Come here, I need to talk to you." She took Luke's hand and led him into the living room, and they sat down on the couch facing each other.

Lorelai bit her lip momentarily before she said, "Chris was asking me how I know that this engagement won't turn out like the one with Max, and it just made me wonder. . . do you ever think about that? How I broke it off at the last minute?"

Luke didn't say anything; instead, he exhaled slowly and glanced toward the mantle.

Judging his reaction, Lorelai swallowed hard and nodded. "Guess that's a yes. . . and I guess I can't really blame you for thinking I might do it again."

Luke turned back toward her with a surprised expression. "Wait, you asked if I ever thought about it, not if I thought that you'd do it again. I've never thought that."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "You haven't?"

Luke shook his head. "Nope." He paused and muttered, "Well, not until now. Thanks for putting the thought in my head."

Lorelai smiled. "Sorry about that. But seriously - you know that this situation is one hundred percent different than that one, right?"

Luke nodded. "I know."

"I mean, I'm in love with you - I was never in love with Max," Lorelai said.

"I know."

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Okay, good."

A few minutes later, the front door opened, and Lorelai and Luke both turned around to see who it was. Rory shut the door, then walked into the living room sniffling softly with reddened eyes and tearstained cheeks.

Luke and Lorelai both stood up from the couch and walked over to Rory, and Lorelai hugged her tightly. "Honey, what happened?"

"We talked," she replied as she rested her head on Lorelai's shoulder. "I told him how you and I talked about everything and how we were both upset with him for not wanting to stay to help raise me. He kept apologizing and saying that he was stupid for leaving and that he feels horrible for missing my childhood and . . ." Her voice trailed off and she sniffled a few times. "And that if he could do it over again, he would do things differently. And I told him that I still want things to stay as they have been with the calls and the visits, but that I needed some time to think about things, and that. . . he should probably leave."

"So he left?" Lorelai asked.

Rory pulled back and nodded as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Mom, he looked so incredibly sad. I feel so horrible."

Lorelai used her thumbs to wipe Rory's tears away. "It was just a shock, that's all. He wasn't expecting to come visit and have us start yelling at him for something he did seventeen years ago."

Rory nodded. "I know." She glanced at Luke, then stepped over to hug him. He hugged her back loosely, and as they pulled apart, Rory said, "I'm gonna go lie down for a little while. Are we still getting pizza?"

Lorelai nodded. "If that's what you want."

Rory nodded, then slowly started walking toward her bedroom. Luke and Lorelai watched her until she disappeared through the door, then they turned to each other. Luke held out his hand toward Lorelai and she took hold of it. He pulled her closer and she rested her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

Four days later, on Thursday afternoon, Lorelai walked into the diner. As Luke walked toward her, he glanced questioningly at her jeans and T-shirt. "Did you wear that to work?"

"Nope," she replied. "I got out early today so I went home and changed. Um, I thought you might wanna come for a walk with me."

"To where?" he asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "Nowhere in particular. It's really nice out, though, so I thought you might wanna get out of here for a few minutes." She glanced around the diner and added, "It's not too busy right now."

"Yeah, it's pretty slow," he agreed. He gestured toward the kitchen. "Let me go tell Caesar."

Lorelai smiled. "I'll be out front." She walked out the door and waited for him on the sidewalk. He walked out a few seconds later and they began walking down the street. Lorelai glanced over at him and cleared her throat nervously. "Uh, listen, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Luke nodded. "I knew there was probably some ulterior motive behind your 'it's a nice day for a walk' bit back there."

Lorelai gestured toward the clear blue sky. "Well, it is a nice day. . .look at it."

Luke looked up and nodded, then turned back to her. "So, what do you want?"

Lorelai began wringing her hands nervously. "Uh, I don't know how you're gonna feel about this, but I was thinking that. . .when we get married, I might pull a Courtney Cox Arquette."

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "Meaning?"

Lorelai stopped walking and turned to face him. "Meaning that. . . I wanna take your last name. . . but I also wanna keep mine." She bit her bottom lip and waited for his reaction. "Are you mad?"

Luke let out a laugh. "No, I'm not mad. I expected from the beginning that you'd want it like that."

Surprised, Lorelai asked, "You did?"

"Yup."

"And you don't care?"

"I'm fine with it," Luke replied. "Change your name, don't change your name, make up a completely new last name. . .doesn't matter to me."

Lorelai smiled. "Lorelai SexKitten it is, then."

Luke laughed. "Nice."

"Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek, and they continued walking down the sidewalk.

They decided to cut through the park, and as they walked past the playground equipment, Lorelai pointed to a nearby tree. "Let's sit down for a few minutes."

Luke made a face. "On the ground?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Yes, it won't kill you." She led him over to the tree. "Sit down," she ordered, pointing to the ground.

With a loud sigh, Luke sat down on the grass. Lorelai sat down in between his legs and leaned against him, and he wrapped his arms around her, resting his hands on her stomach.

They conversed casually for a minute but then fell into a lull of silence. Both of them eyed the scenes around them, watching the kids running around, watching parents pushing strollers, watching people walking their dogs.

Luke's eyes fell upon a young boy of about six years old clutching a yellow plastic baseball bat in his hands. He glanced over to the left and saw a man holding a white plastic wiffle ball. The man tossed the ball toward the boy, and the boy swung hard and missed it. He picked up the ball and threw it back to the man, then prepared to swing again. Luke watched them play for a few minutes until the two carried their bat and ball over to an ice cream stand.

Luke cleared his throat. "Lorelai?"

"Hm?"

He removed a hand from her stomach and pointed toward the ice cream stand. "I think I want that. . .someday."

"What?" She followed the direction of Luke's finger to the ice cream stand. She gasped. "Oh my God, Luke Danes wants some ice cream! Am I dreaming?"

Luke rolled his eyes, then shook his head. "No. . .uh, not the ice cream." He paused a moment before he said, "The kid."

Lorelai froze for a moment before her eyes slowly widened and her mouth dropped open. She sat up straight and slowly turned her head around to look at him. "What?"

Luke glanced over at the young boy and his father. "I just. . .I've been thinking about it for awhile now, and I think it's something that I want." He brought his gaze back to her.

"But what about that time you were standing in my kitchen whining about how kids are always sticky and eating jelly or something. . ." Lorelai's voice trailed off and she shook her head in disbelief. "You said that you hate kids."

Luke nodded. "I know that's what I said, but that. . . that's just what guys say when they feel like they'll never be in the position to have one of their own. Just like when I said all that stuff about marriage. . . I made it seem like I didn't like it because I never thought I would have it."

Lorelai stared at him for a moment before she turned away from him. She leaned back against him, biting her thumbnail nervously as she stared straight ahead.

After a minute had passed, Luke ran his hands over her shoulders. "Lorelai?"

"What?"

"Are you gonna say something?"

"Yes, I'm gonna say something," Lorelai replied.

"Uh. . .when?" Luke asked.

Lorelai turned her head to look at him. "Uh, I don't know . . .maybe when the complete and utter shock wears off about the fact that you just, out of the blue, suggested that we grow a human being inside of my stomach." She sighed softly and turned back around. "But until then, I really need you to just. . . hold me. I really have to let this sink in, and when it does, that's when we will launch into a probably very long discussion about the topic, okay?"

"Okay." Luke wrapped his arms around her stomach and kissed the top of her head. "Take your time."

"Thank you." She settled herself against him and closed her eyes as she tried to gather her thoughts.