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)

11. Parts 53 to 56

"It's Right There - parts 53 - 56"

. . .

PART 53

. . .

Her eyes were closed, her head was resting against his chest, she felt his strong arms wrapped around her. Her request was a simple one - she just wanted him to hold her as she tried to make sense of the thoughts running through her head.

Luke was becoming anxious as he waited for her to say something. He was tempted to prompt her to speak again, but he knew that she would when she was ready. He sighed softly and glanced around at his surroundings as she continued to lean against him in silence.

Several minutes passed before Lorelai finally sat up straight. Luke removed his hands from her stomach nd watched as she slowly turned herself around to face him. He adjusted his position, and they both sat with their legs crossed in front of them.

Lorelai exhaled slowly. "Okay, so. . .I've spent the last few minutes gathering my thoughts."

"And. . ." Luke prompted.

Lorelai pushed her hair behind her ears, then clasped her hands together and rested them on her lap. She took a deep breath and said, "Well, it wasn't easy, but I finally decided that. . . I really want Chinese food for dinner."

"Lorelai," Luke warned, rolling his eyes.

Lorelai smiled and raised her hands innocently in front of her. "Okay, okay, sorry." She shrugged. "I don't know, Luke. There're so many things we need to talk about. I mean, I haven't given it much thought before now and it's just. . .it's really sudden."

"I know," Luke replied. "But that's why I brought it up, so we can talk about it. I wasn't expecting to bring it up and have you say, 'Yes, Luke, let's go out and buy a minivan and fill it up with as many babies as we can.' I brought it up because I've been thinking about it and I think it's an issue that we should discuss."

Lorelai made a face and shook her head. "Ugh, okay, first off, I'm telling you this right now - I will never, ever drive a minivan as long as I live, so get that thought out of your head."

"It was a hypothetical scenario," Luke pointed out.

"I know, but still," Lorelai said, wrinkling her nose. "Even hypothetically, those things are the extreme opposite of cool."

"Okay, no more hypothetical scenarios involving minivans," Luke said, rolling his eyes. "Happy?"

"Yes, thank you," Lorelai said. She glanced down at the ground and pulled out a fistful of grass. She started letting the pieces drop in front of her. "So. . .how long have you been thinking about it?" She brushed the rest of the grass off of her hands and brought her gaze up to look at him.

Luke was quiet for a moment. He took off his cap and ran his fingers through his hair, then replaced the hat on his head. "Well, remember a few weeks ago. . .you left the diner early one night because you weren't feeling well?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, I came home that night and you were already asleep," Luke continued. "And I sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at you for a long time. I just watched you sleep; I watched you shift your body to get more comfortable every few minutes; I watched your chest move up and down with your breathing. . ."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "Okay, Luke, the story's getting creepy now."

"Just listen," he said. "I was thinking about how you weren't feeling well. . ." His voice trailed off and he cleared his throat. "And the thing that kept running through my mind was that you might've been. . . pregnant."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "You really thought that's what it was?"

"Yeah."

"Even before the rumor went around town about it?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah," Luke said. "And the thing is. . .I was a little nervous about it at first, but then I realized that it didn't scare me as much as I thought it would. . .and the more that I thought about it, the more that. . ." He paused and glanced down at the grass. "I was hoping that you were."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "You were hoping that I was pregnant?"

Luke looked up at her and nodded. "And ever since then, I've just been thinking about it a lot, and wondering how I would be. . .as a father."

Lorelai smiled. "You would be a great father."

Luke smiled shyly and shrugged. "Yeah, well. . .we'll see. Uh, I mean, if you. . .ya know, wanna do this." He paused a moment before he asked, "Do you?"

Lorelai sighed softly. "Luke. . .I just. . . "

Luke nodded knowingly. "You don't want to, I get it."

Lorelai gasped. "I didn't say that."

"Well, you're hesitating," Luke pointed out.

"You're right, but that just means that I need to think about it some more," Lorelai said. "It's not like you suggested we go buy a new DVD player or something - you want us to have a baby. That's a life changing thing, Luke."

Luke scoffed. "You really think I don't get that?"

Lorelai shook her head and placed her hand on his arm. "No, I know you get it, but you have to understand that there are more things that need to be taken into consideration on my side than yours," Lorelai said. "I mean, I'm the one who'll have - "

"To deal with all the physical aspects of it, I know," Luke interrupted.

Lorelai bit her bottom lip and nodded quickly for several seconds. "So I just need some more time to think things out before we really get into discussing all this, okay?"

Luke nodded understandingly. "Yeah, absolutely. We'll talk about it later."

Lorelai leaned forward and kissed him, then pulled back and smiled at him. "Thank you."

Luke nodded. They were quiet for a few seconds before he asked, "Can we get up off the stupid ground now?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yes, you big baby. I know it's been just tragic for you to have to sit on it for so long." They stood up and brushed themselves off before heading out of the park.

"Remember I won't be home on Saturday night," Lorelai reminded him.

"Yes, I remember," Luke replied, rolling his eyes. "And what exactly will be going on at this stupid bachelorette party?"

"Oh, you know, just the regular old stupid stuff," Lorelai replied nonchalantly. "Stupid alcohol, stupid dancing, stupid male strippers dressed like firemen begging me to rub their hoses."

"To which you will reply, 'No, thanks, I have a perfectly good hose at home'," Luke said. "Right?"

Lorelai giggled and patted him on the arm. "Sure, hon, sure."

"Lorelai," Luke warned.

"What? It's a bachelorette party, Luke," she reminded him. "You're supposed to have fun."

"Yeah, well, you can still have fun without sticking your hand down some other guy's pants," Luke said.

Lorelai gasped. "You can? Blasphemy!" She smiled and pinched his cheek. "You're so adorable when you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous," Luke said. "I just don't want the parts of your body that will be touching parts of my body touching parts of other people's bodies that I don't wanna touch."

Lorelai let out a laugh. "Uh, you wanna say that again, maybe in English this time?"

They had reached the diner and stopped in front of the door. He turned to her and said, "Yeah, here it is again - wear rubber gloves if you're planning on touching anyone."

"I've made a mental note," Lorelai said, tapping her head. "Happy?"

"Yes, thank you. Rory's not going, is she?"

"Not this time, no," Lorelai replied. "I told her she can come to mine, but this one's gonna be a little more. . .uh, non-family-friendly."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Right, unless you're from a family that's been on Jerry Springer."

Lorelai smiled. "Exactly."

"You coming in?" he asked, gesturing to the diner.

"Nah, I'm gonna head home," she replied. "Got some heavy-duty thinking to do."

Luke nodded. "Right. . . okay. See you tonight."

"Bye." She kissed him and watched him walk into the diner before she shoved her hands in her pockets and walked home slowly.

. . .

When Lorelai reached the house, she walked through the front door and called, "Rory, are you home?"

"Yeah," her voice replied.

Lorelai followed the voice to the kitchen and found Rory sitting at the table reading. "How was the college fair?" Lorelai asked as she leaned down and kissed Rory on the cheek.

"Uh, good. . .it was good," Rory replied quickly. "Um, I got this." She closed the brochure she had been reading and showed the cover to Lorelai.

Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "A Yale brochure? Did ya forget how to spell Harvard or something?"

Rory swallowed hard and set the brochure on the table. "Mom, um. . .sit down."

Lorelai stared at Rory with confusion as she slowly slid into the chair next to her. "What's up?"

"Well. . ." Rory tapped her fingernails on the table for a few seconds as she shifted nervously in her seat. "I know it's something that we've always worked toward and always assumed would happen. . .but as the reality of it happening gets closer. . ." She stared down at the table and finished, "I'm just not sure if this Harvard dream is something that . . .I really want anymore." She slowly brought her gaze up to see Lorelai's reaction.

Lorelai was staring at Rory as if she had two heads. "What?"

"I know, I know, it's shocking," Rory said. "But I've been thinking about it for awhile now and - "

Lorelai interrupted her by groaning loudly. "Okay, what, did everyone just get together and say, 'Hey, have you been thinking about anything important for awhile? Good, me too! Let's wait until July 25, 2002 to tell Lorelai so she can get a whole bunch of shocking news all in one day in the hopes that it'll kill her!'" She sighed and gestured to the cordless phone on the table. "Now, as the final nail in the coffin, I'm expecting my parents to call and tell me that they're moving to Stars Hollow!"

Rory's eyes widened. "My god, chill out! Who else gave you shocking news?"

Lorelai shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, just Luke. . .Luke Danes, that man who owns the diner, that man who lives with us, that man I'm in love with, that man I'm going to marry, that man who - "

"Yes, I'm familiar with his work," Rory interrupted, gesturing for her to continue. "Move it along."

Lorelai sighed loudly. "Yes, well, that man decided to tell me today, out of the blue, that he wants me to carry his baby." She took a deep breath. "So, now, back to you. . . "

Rory's mouth dropped open. "What?"

". . .what's this about you and Harvard?" Lorelai continued, picking up the Yale brochure.

Rory grabbed it back from her, exclaiming, "Mom! You can't just say something like that and move on!"

Lorelai looked at her and sighed. "He wants to have a baby," she said softly.

"Oh my God! What did you say?" Rory asked.

"That I need to think about it," she replied. Rory started to respond, but Lorelai held up her hand. "Listen, I need you to not say anything about it at all. I know I always like to get your input on things, but this is something I need to sit down and think about myself, and I don't want anyone's opinions influencing me one way or another. This has to be figured out by me. . .and just me, okay?"

Rory nodded, then clamped her lips together and pretended to zip them closed.

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Thank you. I'll let you know when we decide what we're doing, but until then, not a peep to anyone." She picked up the brochure and said, "So, now, talk to me please."

"Hmm, mm mm mm," Rory mumbled through her closed lips.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Very funny."

Rory smiled. "Thought so."

"Talk to me," Lorelai repeated.

Rory glanced down at the brochure and sighed. "I know that Harvard has been the college we always talked about me going to, but we made these big plans about it without ever really considering if it was . . .right for me, and now I'm not sure that it is. The last time I was there with Dad, it didn't really give me that 'Oh, you're gonna have an amazing time here' feeling, and then I started wondering if maybe I might be happier at another place. I mean, I can study journalism and political science anywhere . . .I don't know why I thought that Harvard would be the only place I should look into. There are hundreds of places I can go." She shrugged and added, "Plus. . ." Her voice trailed off and she stared at Lorelai.

Lorelai put her hand on Rory's arm. "What?"

"It's so far away from you," Rory said. "I mean, we've never been apart for - "

"Rory, honey," Lorelai interrupted. "You can't let the fact that you're scared to be away from me be the reason that you give up on Harvard. I mean, if you want, we can set up a Big Brother kind of thing . . .you know, set up cameras all around the house so you can monitor my every movement; that way it won't feel like you're away from me. But . . .I don't want that to be a reason that you don't go to the college you really wanna go to."

Rory shook her head. "I promise that's not the main reason. . .but when you add the homesick factor to the idea that maybe that school's not right for me in the first place, it just seems like it might be time for me to. . .explore other options. Trust me, I've thought about it a lot, Mom. I've done research, I've looked at other schools. . ." She gestured to the brochure.

"Yale," Lorelai stated.

"Yale," Rory said. "I mean, it's still an Ivy League school, the programs look good, it seems like -"

"Rory, you don't have to convince me," Lorelai said, shaking her head. "You know what's best for you. . .and if you say you've thought about it a lot, then I believe you. We'll go to Yale and check it out."

Rory wrinkled her nose. "You're not mad?"

Lorelai's eyes widened. "What?" She leaned over and hugged her tightly. "No, not at all, I promise you."

Rory nodded as they broke apart. "Okay, good."

Lorelai glanced down at the brochure for a few seconds. "You know, your grandfather is a Yale man."

"I know."

"So I bet if you asked him to set up a tour for us, he'd really like that," Lorelai said. "He'd probably even insist on coming with us. Could be a nice little sort of bonding thing for you guys."

Rory smiled. "Yeah, maybe. I'll think about it."

Lorelai nodded. "Good." She stood up from the table. "All right, I'm feeling like Chinese food - you?"

"Sounds good," Rory replied.

. . .

Later that night, Luke walked into the house slightly after nine and found Rory on the couch watching television. "Hey," he said. He dropped his keys on the hall table and walked into the living room.

Rory glanced up at him and smiled. "Hey Luke. How was work?"

"Ah, you know," he replied with a shrug.

"Uneventful?"

"Pretty much," he replied.

"So you haven't had any other incidents where a customer climbed on the counter and threatened to strip unless you gave 'em coffee immediately?" Rory asked.

"Not since your mom tried it a few days ago," Luke replied, rolling his eyes. "Speaking of which, where is the Vegas showgirl?"

Rory pointed toward the stairway. "She went up right after dinner and hasn't been down since."

"Oh." He walked over and sat down next to her on the couch. "Did you check to make sure she's still alive?"

"Well, I've heard her walking around up there," Rory replied. "So unless her lifeless body can move around on its own, I think we're safe."

"Okay, good," Luke replied. "How was your day?"

"Good, it was good," Rory replied. "Went to the college fair."

"Oh, right, that was today," Luke said, nodding. "So . . .did you get a Yale catalog?"

Rory nodded. "Yup, and I talked to Mom about it."

"And?" Luke prompted.

"And. . .you were right," Rory reluctantly admitted with a smile.

Luke smiled. "See, I told you she wouldn't be mad. She just wants you to be happy."

"I know, I know," Rory replied. "I was stupid for thinking that she'd freak out about it. I should've known that she'd understand. I know I probably talked your ear off about the other day, so thanks for listening. . .and for the advice."

"You're welcome," he replied. "That's what I'm here for."

"I thought it was just to help us feel safe after we watch scary movies," Rory said.

Luke smiled. "That too." He stood up from the couch. "All right, I'm gonna go see what she's up to."

"Okay. Let me know if I have to start planning the funeral service."

"Will do," Luke replied as he walked toward the stairs.

"Oh, uh, Luke. . .wait a sec," Rory said.

He turned around on the bottom step. "Yeah?"

"Uh, she doesn't know that I talked to you about it first," Rory said. "So. . ."

"I won't say anything," Luke said.

Rory smiled. "Thanks."

Luke turned and walked up the stairs to their bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, and Luke looked inside. Lorelai was sitting on the bed with a box next to her as she flipped through a photo album. He stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. "Hey," he said.

Lorelai looked up and smiled at him. "Hey you."

Luke walked over and kissed her, then sat down on the edge of the bed. "What are you doing?"

She moved over to give him more room, and he made himself more comfortable. "I'm looking at pictures of Rory when she was little." She turned the photo album toward him so he could see.

He looked down at the page of photos and smiled. "Cute."

"Yeah." Lorelai looked down at them for a moment before she shut the book and put it in the box next to her. "So. . .I've been thinking about this whole baby thing."

"And. . ."

"Well, the first thing that popped into my mind was . . .do I want to raise another kid? I mean, seventeen years later, is it something that I want to have to do all over again?" She took a deep breath. "And all these things started running through my mind - the morning sickness, the discomfort, the pain of childbirth, the changing diapers, the feedings, the throwing up, the crying, the sleepless nights. . .everything I went through back then came rushing back to me."

Luke nodded along as she spoke. "Uh huh."

Lorelai paused a moment and ran her fingers through her hair. "But then I looked at it from another perspective and I thought - it's not gonna be like last time. It's not gonna be me as a sixteen year old kid having to deal with it all by myself. I'm not the only one who'll have all the responsibility of doing everything."

Luke shook his head. "You're not gonna have to go through it alone this time."

Lorelai nodded. "I know." She took one of his hands and stroked the top of it with her fingers. "And then I started thinking about how we're getting married, and what it would be like to be a wife and to have a husband and to have a child of our own that we can raise together - this little person that represents who we are. . . someone we can send off to kindergarten in a little flannel shirt with a thermos of coffee in their lunch box."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Over my dead body."

Lorelai smiled. "And the picture was just. . .well, it was a nice image." She turned her body slightly to face him better. "I know you said you wanted to do this, but are you actually. . .ready to do this? I mean, you've never spent time around a baby before, Luke. Are you prepared to deal with all the things I mentioned - the feedings, the sleepless night, changing the poopy diapers. . ."

"As long as I don't have to say words like 'poopy', then, yes, I'm prepared for it," Luke said. "Lorelai, just because I've never been around them doesn't mean that I don't know what they entail. I have a pretty good idea of what it takes. Plus, it's been seventeen years since you've had to deal with a baby, so you'll be re-learning things, too, so. . .we'll have the chance figure some things out together. . ."

Lorelai nodded. "I know, but Luke - I don't think you're realizing how different our lives would be. I mean, our entire day would revolve around us keeping this baby alive, us protecting this little human that we brought into this very screwed up world . . . a world that has never given Molly Ringwald an Oscar for any of her incredible roles." Lorelai scoffed. "I mean, hello - The Tempest, Sixteen Candles, the Breakfast Club, have the Academy Awards people not heard of any of these classics? Not to mention For Keeps - which is one that I connect with on a personal level. . .man, she really nailed that whole pregnant teenager thing." She put her hand on her chest and stared up toward the ceiling, lost in thought.

Luke sighed loudly. "Continue please."

Lorelai brought her gaze back down and shook her head slightly. "Sorry, where was I?"

"Uh, our life will change. . ."

"Right . . . it's not going to be like it is now. It won't be this 'we get up in the morning and go to work, then come home and hang out, then come upstairs and fool around' routine that we have now. Things will be completely different," Lorelai said pointedly. "You're telling me that you are absolutely, positively sure that you're ready and willing to deal with it?"

Luke nodded firmly. "Yes, I am."

"Because I am, and there's no going back, Luke," Lorelai said sternly. "You can't say right now that you wanna have a baby and then decide after you knock me up that you've changed your mind, so if you think you're gonna change - "

"I'm not gonna change my mind," Luke interrupted. "I wanna do this."

Lorelai stared at him for a moment. "And you're absolutely, positively sure that you're still gonna love me when I'm gross and huge and you can barely get your arms around me and you need a crane to get me out of this house?"

Luke grimaced and clenched his teeth together. "Ooh, let me think about that one."

Lorelai laughed and smacked his arm. "Hey!"

Luke smirked. "I'm kidding." He leaned forward and kissed her, then smiled through the kiss and pulled back slightly. "So. . .what's the final verdict?"

Lorelai smiled. "Well, Judge Wapner. . ." she started. She rested her hands on his cheeks and stared into his eyes. "Yes, I want to have a baby with you."

Luke's eyes widened and a small smile appeared on his lips. He leaned forward and kissed her deeply, then pulled her into a hug.

Lorelai pulled back and said, "Okay, so. . .I wanna do this and you wanna do this. . .but can we do this?"

Luke narrowed his eyes. "Uh, I'm pretty familiar with the baby making process, so yeah. . .I think we can. I mean, unless there's a specific position I'm not aware of. . ."

"No, I mean, can we do this financially," Lorelai reiterated. "Kids are damn expensive. . . .diapers, clothes, furniture, accessories, toys, those little plastic covers you stick in the light sockets so they don't stick their fingers in them. . .it all adds up."

"Yes, we can do this," Luke said firmly. "Don't worry about the money. People much worse off than us have done it fine."

Lorelai nodded. "Very true." She smiled. "Okay, then. . .we'll do this."

Luke smiled. "We'll have a baby."

"After we're married," Lorelai added.

"Right, after we're married," he agreed. He leaned back against the headboard and she snuggled up against him. They were both quiet for a few seconds before he said, "You know, one time I asked my dad what it was like. . .you know, to be a father."

"And what did he say?" Lorelai asked.

"He said that it wasn't like anything else in the world, and that he couldn't describe how it feels," Luke said. "But that one day I'd find out."

Lorelai smiled. "He was right."

"He always was," Luke replied as he kissed the top of her head.

"Do you think he'd like me?" Lorelai asked.

"I think he'd love you," Luke replied.

"Because I'm incredibly beautiful?" Lorelai suggested.

"No," Luke replied. "Because you're . . .you. You're smart and funny and. . .ya know, likable."

Lorelai lifted her head off of his chest to look at him. "Did you just call me lickable?"

"No, I said you're likable," he repeated, rolling his eyes.

Lorelai frowned. "So you don't think I'm lickable?"

"Well, do you hear my tongue complaining?" Luke asked.

Lorelai smiled and kissed him. She sat up and climbed over him to get off the bed. "I'm gonna go talk to Rory." Her eyes widened, and she turned back around. "Ooh, speaking of which, guess what?"

Luke sat up. "What?"

"You're not gonna believe this, but she doesn't think she wants to go to Harvard anymore," Lorelai said.

Luke feigned surprise. "Wow, really?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yup. . .she wants to look into Yale."

"Wow, never saw that one coming," he said, shaking his head slightly.

"I know - shocker, huh?" Lorelai said. She walked to the door and pulled it open, then lingered near the doorway. "So I'm gonna go talk to her about this baby stuff. . ."

Luke nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna take a shower."

Lorelai nodded, then walked downstairs; Rory was still sitting on the couch watching television. She glanced over at Lorelai coming down the steps and smiled. "Mom, you're alive!"

Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "Uh, yes, I am, thanks for letting me know." She walked over and sat down next to Rory. She gestured to the television and asked, "Can you mute this or something? I wanna talk to you."

Rory turned the television off, then set the remote control on the coffee table. She turned her body toward Lorelai. "What's up?"

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Okay, um, well. . .we just had a talk about this whole. . .baby situation."

Rory's eyes widened. "Ooh! And?"

"And I have some good news - well, it's good depending on whether you like babies or not," Lorelai said.

"Is it good news if I like babies or if I don't like babies?" Rory asked.

"Well, do you like babies?" Lorelai asked.

Rory nodded. "Yeah, I think I like babies."

"Well, then. . ." Lorelai smiled. "It's good news."

Rory smiled. "You're serious? You're gonna have a baby?"

"Well, not right this second, but . . .eventually," Lorelai said. "After we're married."

"Wow, so you're going down the traditional 'get married and then have kids' route this time?" Rory asked.

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, I thought it would be nice to see what it's like."

Rory shook her head in disbelief, then looked at Lorelai's stomach. "Wow, I so can't picture you being pregnant."

Lorelai grabbed her stomach and groaned. "Ugh, I know! I'm gonna be a balloon again. Plus, I'll have to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe," Lorelai said. "Which would be kind of fun if maternity clothes weren't so damn ugly."

"It's different today, though," Rory said. "Designers are designing cuter maternity clothes than they used to."

"How do you know?" Lorelai asked curiously. She paused, then gasped. "Oh my god, you're planning on getting pregnant and you've already been checking out the clothes!"

Rory rolled her eyes. "No, I think not. . .but I have seen pregnant women wearing non-ugly clothes before."

Lorelai reached out and tapped Rory on the knee. "So, what do you think?"

Rory thought for a moment. "Hm, I think that I'm gonna make Lane get a tattoo of me on her arm, and then I'm gonna drag her to an amusement park and force her to go on all the scary rides even if she begs me not to make her," Rory said.

Lorelai nodded. "Right, because nothing says 'You're my best friend and I love you,' like that."

"Anna, Anna, fabulous Anna, Anna Nicole," Rory sang, bobbing her head from side to side.

"She's so outrageous!" Lorelai sang, throwing her hands up in the air.

Rory laughed, then shook her head. "You know, it's so sad that we watch that."

Lorelai scoffed. "Hi, need I remind you why we watch it? What are we?"

"Unapologetic mockers," Rory replied proudly.

"Exactly, my friend! We watch it for the mockage," Lorelai said. "Watching shows like this is all part of the job."

"Right, so we shouldn't feel guilty about it," Rory added.

"Right." Lorelai paused a moment, then said, "Now, back to the original question. . .what do you think?"

Rory smiled and shrugged. "I think it's great."

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "Yeah? You're not just saying that?"

"No, I'm not. I swear, Mom," Rory replied seriously. "I think that this is something that you guys. . .should do."

"Things are gonna be really different," Lorelai pointed out. "Just a warning."

"I know," Rory replied. "And while most change does suck. . .I think this will be one of few changes that. . .doesn't. It'll be good."

Lorelai smiled and leaned forward to hug Rory. "I love you."

"Love you, too," Rory replied, kissing her on the cheek.

As they pulled back, Lorelai grimaced and said, "So . . . I don't know when it's gonna happen but there's a slight possibility that it may postpone our Fez trip."

Rory waved her off. "That's okay. It's no big deal."

Lorelai shook her head. "No, it is a big deal. And I'm promising you that if something happens and we can't do it next summer, it will only be a *postponement* not a cancellation. We will go on that trip one day, honey." She raised her hand. "Scout's honor."

"You're not a scout," Rory reminded her.

"Well, then, coffee-obsessed-freak's honor," Lorelai said.

Rory smiled. "Okay."

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Good. Plus, hey, the longer we push it off, the more money we'll be able to save up for it."

"Good point," Rory replied. She leaned her head against the couch cushion and sighed. "You know what?"

Lorelai leaned her head next to Rory's. "What?"

Rory smiled. "You're gonna make a great Mom. I have this gut feeling," she said, patting her stomach.

Lorelai smiled. "Thanks. . . but I think that feeling's from the Chinese food."

Rory shrugged. "Could be." She paused a moment before she asked, "Ice cream?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah." They both stood up from the couch.

Rory put her arm around Lorelai's waist as they started walking toward the kitchen. "Mom?"

"Hm?"

"You're not gonna buy a minivan, are you?" Rory asked, making a face.

Lorelai let out a laugh and she shook her head adamantly. "No, absolutely not, you won't catch me anywhere near one of those things. I don't even park near them in parking lots with the fear that their essence will somehow jump onto my car and then seep into my body and try to convince me to buy one."

Rory let out a sigh of relief as they entered the kitchen. "Okay, good. I didn't want to have to disown myself from you."

"Well, you'll probably wanna do that someday, but I can assure you it won't have anything to do with a minivan," Lorelai said. "We're SUV people all the way."

"Absolutely," Rory replied. She pulled open the freezer and took out the ice cream as Lorelai got the box of cones out of the cabinet.

As she scooped some ice cream into one of the cones, Lorelai said, "Luke's gonna be a great dad, don't you think?"

Rory smiled and nodded. "Definitely."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah." She finished the cones, then turned to Rory and frowned. "Though he told me he doesn't want our kids taking coffee to school in their lunch boxes."

Rory gasped. "You're kidding!"

Lorelai shook her head. "He really said that, can you believe it?"

Rory frowned sympathetically. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. Let's go start working on a plan." They took their ice cream cones into the living room and sat down on the couch to talk.

. . . .

PART 54

. . . .

On Saturday afternoon, Lorelai and Rory were sitting at the kitchen table when Luke walked in through the back door. "Hey," he greeted them.

"Hey Luke," Rory said.

Lorelai turned around and smiled. "Hey." She noticed the Doose's Market bag he was carrying and frowned. "You went shopping! Why didn't you tell me you were going shopping?"

Luke set the bag on the table and shrugged. "I wasn't aware I needed your permission."

"You don't, but I was gonna run to the market in a little while to pick up some very important necessities but had I known you were going, you could've saved me a trip," Lorelai whined.

"Very important necessities?" Luke repeated, rolling his eyes. "So, for you, that's what - whipped cream and hot fudge sauce?"

Lorelai scoffed. "No, this time when I say necessities, I actually mean *real* necessities, like laundry detergent, mouthwash. . .oh, and did I mention that we're down to our last five squares of toilet paper?"

"No, you didn't mention it." Luke reached into the bag and pulled out a package of toilet paper. "But you seem to forget that I have eyes also. I saw that we were low."

Lorelai gasped and grabbed it from him. "Oh, thank God!" She hugged it tightly to her chest. "I was planning on taking a magazine into the bathroom with me next time, and I wasn't gonna be using it for reading material, if you know what I mean."

"Uh, yeah, I think we do," Luke said, giving a sideways glance towards Rory.

"That would've led to some very uncomfortable paper cuts," Rory said knowingly.

"Again," Lorelai added with a nod. Luke narrowed his eyes at her, and she smiled. "You don't wanna know." She set the package on the table and gestured to the bag. "What else did you buy?"

Luke reached into the bag and pulled out two identical boxes. "I saw these and thought of you guys." He handed each of them a box.

Lorelai looked at the label and laughed. "Oh my God, this is the greatest thing in the entire world!"

"SpongeBob macaroni and cheese!" Rory exclaimed excitedly.

Luke smirked as he unloaded the rest of the bag. "Thought you might enjoy that."

"Yes, we do enjoy it," Lorelai confirmed.

"Definitely," Rory said, nodding enthusiastically. "I'm overjoyed, even."

"Good." Luke crumbled up the bag and threw it away, then walked back over to them. They were staring up at him with hopeful looks, and he rolled his eyes and held out his hand. "Fine, give me it."

Lorelai smiled and handed him her box. "Thank you. You can just make one box."

"You sure?" he asked. "You can eat a whole box of this yourself."

"Well, I don't wanna eat too much or else I'll be puking on the dance floor tonight," Lorelai said. She scoffed and shook her head, adding, "Which is not as fun as it sounds, trust me."

Luke shook his head slightly as he took the box and walked to the stove. He set the box on the counter, then pulled out a pot and walked over to the sink to fill it with water. "Rory, explain to me why you're so normal when your role model is so. . . .not?"

Rory shrugged. "There are scientists working 'round the clock trying to figure it out, Luke."

Lorelai smirked and stood up. "I'm gonna go take a shower while the food's cooking. It'll give me time to think about why the hell I like either one of you."

Luke carried the pot over to the stove and set it on a burner. He walked over to Lorelai and put his hands on her shoulders. "Let us know if you find out."

"Will do." Lorelai smiled and kissed him on the cheek. She started to walk out of the kitchen, then stopped and turned around. "Oh, hey, Sookie told me that she has a couple extra seats for the wedding."

"And?" Luke prompted.

"I thought you might wanna see if maybe Jess wanted to go," Lorelai said. "I know he said he didn't want to when we first sent the invitations out, but. . .maybe he's changed his mind." Lorelai shrugged. "I mean, I know he doesn't know Sookie or Jackson very well, but. . .hey, the seats are already paid for now, and it's free food, right? Plus, he can bring a guest. Weddings are a nice date atmosphere."

Luke shrugged. "I don't know, I'll ask him."

Lorelai smiled. "Okay." She turned and walked out of the kitchen.

. . .

A few hours later, Lorelai was in the bedroom when Luke walked in. Standing in front of the closet in just her underwear and bra, she looked over at him. "I'm not sure what to wear tonight." She put her hands on her hips and turned back toward the closet.

Luke sat down on the bed. "Something oversized and baggy."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and waved him off. She pulled out a sleeveless black dress and held it up in front of her. After some contemplation, she pulled it on and zipped it up, then looked in the mirror. She adjusted it and smoothed it out, then turned back to him. "How does it look?"

Luke made a face and shook his head. "Bad. . .really bad. I say go with a turtleneck and sweat pants. I've heard that's popular strip club wear."

Lorelai folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head. "Luke."

Luke sighed and muttered, "Amazing, as always."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah?"

"You know you do," he replied. "Why do you even bother asking my opinion?"

"Because I like to be reassured," she replied as she turned back to the mirror. She sat down at her vanity and began fixing her hair.

"So where exactly are you going?" Luke asked.

Lorelai giggled. "To see some show called Hunk-O-Mania."

Luke's eyes widened. "Hunk-O-Mania? You're not serious."

"Dead serious," she replied, looking at him in the mirror. "I told Patty I was looking for a good strip show and she set us up with this place. She even managed to get us a discount on the tickets."

"I so don't wanna know how," Luke muttered, shaking his head. "Who's all going?"

"Um, me, Sookie, Babette, and Patty," Lorelai replied. "I told Sookie to invite some of her chef friends, but she just wanted it to be the four of us." She stood up and stepped into her shoes. "Maybe she's not comfortable enough with them to let 'em see her get wasted."

"Maybe," Luke said. "What time do you think you'll be home?"

"Uh, when the state of Connecticut runs out of alcohol," Lorelai replied as she walked over to him.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Please tell me you have a designated driver."

"Yeah, Candace," Lorelai replied. "Though I'm a bit concerned about that because when Jessica needed a ride home that one time, Candace was a little tipsy, you remember?"

Luke stared at her with wide eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Lorelai sighed and waved him off. "Never mind. We got a limo for the night. . .complete with a chauffeur to drive us wherever we want. Again, Patty was able to get us a discount. I swear, she knows everybody in this world." She pulled him up off the bed into a hug.

He wrapped his arms around her and a content smile appeared on her face as the warmth of his body surrounded her. She rested her head against his chest and inhaled the scent of his cologne as his hands ran up and down her spine. After a few seconds, she lifted her head to look at him and pressed her lips against his, and he slid his hands up to cradle her face as he kissed her back passionately.

When he finally pulled back from her, Lorelai smiled up at him. "Trying to make sure I don't forget what I have at home while I'm out gallivanting with strippers?"

"Yup." He leaned down and kissed her again as he slid his hands down her body.

Lorelai smiled through the kiss. "Now you're trying to permanently leave your handprints on my butt as a 'this gal's taken' sign to other guys, right?"

"You're two for two," Luke replied, sliding his hands up to her waist.

Lorelai smiled. "Put them back." Luke smirked as he slid his hands back down and began kissing her again.

They were interrupted moments later by a horn honking out front, and Lorelai walked over to the window. "Limo's here." She grabbed her purse from the bed, and the two of them walked downstairs.

. . .

Several hours later, Lorelai and Sookie were dancing on the crowded dance floor of the club as Babette and Patty looked on from the table.

As a waiter brought over another round of drinks, Lorelai wandered over, fanning herself. "Man, it's hot in here," she yelled over the loud music. "Why'd you guys sit down?"

"Oh, you girls can dance longer than us," Babette replied loudly. "We need to rest more often."

"Got it!" Lorelai yelled. She took a long sip of her drink. "Okay, I'm going back out there!" She ran back onto the dance floor and found Sookie.

They danced a few more songs before they walked back to the table and collapsed in their chairs, both panting from their exhaustion. "My God, this is so much fun!" Sookie said loudly.

Lorelai nodded in agreement as she took a sip of her drink. She glanced toward the stage that the strippers dance on and said, "The only thing that's missing is Antonio."

"I'm sure he'll be back out soon," Babette assured her. She glanced toward the stage and muttered, "He better. I got my dollar bills all ready for that sexy piece of meat."

Patty smiled and patted Babette on the arm. "Don't worry, he always does three shows on Saturdays. Antonio's a big hit around here."

Sookie glanced down at her watch. "You know, this time next week. . ."

Lorelai smiled. "Aww, you'll be a married woman!"

Sookie giggled excitedly. "Yes, I will!"

Lorelai raised her glass. "So what do you say we celebrate that by raising our blood alcohol levels to a limit that David Hasselhoff would be proud of?"

Sookie picked up her glass and clinked it against Lorelai's. "Sounds good to me."

. . .

A few hours later, back at home, a car door slammed outside and awakened Luke from his sleep. He glanced at the clock, which told him that it was almost two in the morning. He groggily climbed out of bed and walked to the window, and saw the limousine parked out front.

Luke pulled on a pair of sweat pants and walked downstairs. He pulled open the front door and saw Lorelai standing in between Patty and Babette near the limo, her arms draped over them as they helped her walk toward the house.

As Luke walked toward them, Lorelai smiled and gave him a small wave. "Hey Luke." She giggled and turned to Patty. "That's a funny name, huh? Luke. . .Luuuuuke. . .funny. . ."

"Yes, it is, dear, very funny," Patty agreed with an amused smile on her face. She glanced up at Luke. "Someone had a bit much to drink."

"I see that," Luke replied. "I can take her from here, thanks."

Patty and Babette held onto her as she took a wobbly step toward Luke. He supported her with his arms as she fell against him and rested her head on his shoulder.

He glanced down at her. "There's no way you're gonna be able to walk all the way up the steps, is there?" She shook her head slightly. Luke took a deep breath. "Didn't think so. Okay, come on." He grunted as he hoisted her over his shoulder.

Patty nudged Babette and they both smiled at Luke. "She's lucky to have such a strong, sexy, shirtless man to come home to," Patty said, eyeing his chest and arms.

"Mmhmm," Babette agreed.

Luke took a step back from them and gestured toward the house. "Uh, I'm gonna go put her to bed. Thanks for bringing her home in one piece." He turned around and carried Lorelai toward the house.

. . .

It was after one the next day when Lorelai groggily walked into the diner. She was wearing one of Luke's T-shirts and her sweat pants that she usually reserved for sleepwear, and her hair was still wet from her recent shower. Ignoring the looks from other customers, she walked to the counter, sat down on a stool, and abruptly rested her head on the countertop.

A few minutes passed before she felt someone tap her shoulder, and she slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head. Luke was standing on the other side of the counter, a tall glass in his hand. "Hey. How ya feelin'?" he asked.

Lorelai responded with a groan as she rubbed her eyes.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much how you look. Nice outfit." He set the glass down and pushed it toward her. "Here, drink this."

Lorelai eyed the yellowish substance. "What is it?"

"Banana milkshake," Luke replied. "It'll make you feel better."

Lorelai eyed him curiously as she took the straw into her mouth and tasted the drink. She pulled back and nodded approvingly. "Mm, pretty good." She sighed loudly and covered her face with her hands. "I feel. . .ugh. Just very, very. . .ugh."

"What happened last night?" Luke asked.

Lorelai looked up at him and shrugged. "I can't really remember. We went to a couple of clubs, we talked, we drank a lot, we shoved dollar bills down several guys' . . ." Luke shot her a look, and she grimaced. "Never mind, you don't need all the details."

A man walked up to the counter to pay, and Luke walked over to the cash register. When he returned to Lorelai, he casually asked, "So. . .who's Antonio?"

Lorelai looked up at him with a suspicious look. "What?"

"Antonio," he repeated. He folded his arms across his chest. "Last night when I was putting you in bed, the phrase 'Antonio knows how to work it' was muttered more than once."

A small smile appeared on Lorelai's lips. "I said that?"

"Yes, you did," Luke said with a smirk.

Lorelai giggled. "He was one of the strippers."

Luke rolled his eyes. "That's what I assumed. Maybe next time you could try not to moan about other guys in bed, huh?"

"I'll try," she promised as she took a sip of her milkshake.

"Thank you. All right, I gotta go do diner-type stuff. You want anything else?"

She tapped the side of her glass with her fingernails. "Another one of these, please," she mumbled with the straw still in her mouth.

. . .

On Thursday night, Lorelai and Rory were in the upstairs bathroom doing their makeup. Lorelai applied her mascara, then handed it to Rory and called, "Luke, are you almost ready?"

The bedroom door opened and Luke stepped out dressed in his suit. "I'm not wearing a tie," he announced. "I'll wear one to the wedding, I'm not wearing one to the rehearsal dinner."

Lorelai turned to Rory and rolled her eyes. "Men."

Rory nodded in agreement. "Tell me about it."

Lorelai smiled and walked out of the bathroom. Luke was standing near the bedroom door, and she nodded approvingly at his outfit as she walked over to him. "That looks good. You don't need a tie." She kissed him, then pulled back and smiled. "Mm, you smell good."

"Mm, you taste good," he muttered as he leaned in to kiss her again.

Lorelai smiled through the kiss. "That would be my strawberry-flavored lip gloss," she informed him. "You like?"

"It's much better than the chocolate flavored one," Luke said. "Really, does even your makeup need to be junk-food?"

Lorelai pretended to think it over, then said, "Uh - yes."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Is Rory almost ready? We have to be at the inn in fifteen minutes."

"Relax. They can't start without the bridesmaids," Lorelai said. She walked into the bedroom and grabbed her purse.

Luke followed her. "Actually, they can start without anyone who isn't the bride or groom. . .but I understand you're trying to make it seem like you're the most important part of this wedding."

"Well, yeah, 'cause I'm the most important part of anything," Lorelai said as if that was obvious.

Luke shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded. "Yes, that's absolutely right."

Lorelai smirked. "I'm totally ignoring the sarcasm in your tone."

He smiled and kissed her. "Okay, good."

. . .

After the practice ceremony at the inn, everyone returned to Sookie's house for dinner. A few hours passed as they ate, drank, and mingled, and after Lorelai had finished up her second piece of cake, she walked over to Luke, who was standing near the front door. "Hey."

"Hey," Luke said. "You look tired."

"I feel tired," she said as she rested her head on his chest.

He brought one hand up around her waist. "You ready to go?"

"Nah, I'm probably gonna stay late to help Sookie clean up," Lorelai said, still leaning against him. "But you don't have to wait for me. You can go whenever you want." She put a hand on her stomach. "Ugh, I ate too much."

"What a surprise," Luke said, rolling his eyes.

Lorelai lifted her head up and sighed. "Man, Rory and I have so much to do tomorrow to help Sookie get ready. We have to finish the flowers and the favors and the centerpieces, and then decorate the inn at night and. . ." She groaned and slapped her forehead. "Ugh, and I completely forgot that it's Friday, which means we have to stop all the hard work and waste two hours of my day driving all the way to Hartford, having dinner with my parents, then driving all the way back." She put her hands on his shoulders. "Man, tomorrow's gonna kill me, I know it. Just shoot me now and get it over with, okay? And then remove my stomach and transplant it into someone else so that some other person out there can have the incredible superhuman eating capabilities that I have now." She sighed and leaned her forehead against the center of his chest. "I'm too stressed."

Luke shook his head slightly. "Okay, you need to get some air. Let's go for a walk." He took Lorelai's hand and led her out the front door and onto the porch. They walked down the front steps, across the front walkway, and headed down the sidewalk.

When they reached the darkened, empty diner, Luke unlocked the door and they walked inside. "You want some coffee?" he asked.

"Actually, hot chocolate would totally hit the spot right now," she said, giving him a hopeful smile.

He turned the light on and walked toward the counter. "Sit down. I'll go make some."

As he disappeared into the kitchen, Lorelai sat down at a table. He returned a few minutes later with a mug and set it in front of her. Lorelai looked into it and smiled. "You added marshmallows!"

Luke sat down next to her. "I know what you like."

"Yes, you do." Lorelai took a sip, then set her mug down and stared at it for a few seconds. When she lifted her head, she pushed her hair behind her ears and cleared her throat. "Uh, Luke. . .I meant to tell you this earlier, but. . . I talked to Christopher yesterday."

Surprised, Luke's eyes widened. "You did? Did he call?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No, I called him."

"You called him," he repeated slowly.

"Yeah. I just needed to talk things out with him," Lorelai explained. "Just us, one on one, no screaming - just us calmly talking things out."

"Calmly?" Luke asked.

"Well, there was obviously a lot of emotion, yes, but for the most part it was calm," Lorelai said.

Luke nodded. "Ah. So. . .everything's good now between you guys?"

"Yeah," Lorelai said. "Well, as good as they can be after all this stuff has been laid out on the table. I mean, there's obviously still some weirdness between us, but. . ."

Luke nodded. "Right, right. Well, I'm glad things are better. He probably had a few things to say about me. . ."

"Well, he did bring up the exchange you guys had, and . . .I explained to him that everything you said was true," Lorelai said. "And I got the impression that he's sort of jealous of you. I mean, he realizes now how much Rory looks up to you and he really wants her to look up to him the same way."

Luke smirked. "Huh."

Lorelai smiled and slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "Look at you, you're gloating."

Luke shrugged. "I'm not gloating."

"Right." Lorelai rolled her eyes and took a sip of her hot chocolate, then leaned toward him and smiled. "Hey, you know what?"

"What?"

"Once all this stuff for Sookie's wedding is out of the way, we can start planning ours," she said.

He smiled. "Yup."

"It'll be so fun!" Lorelai said excitedly. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, a kiss he passionately returned. As she slowly pulled her lips from his, she smiled. "You know, if I wasn't five minutes away from pulling a Rip van Winkle, I'd drag you to the storage room so you could . . stock my shelf."

"Out of energy, huh?" Luke asked.

Lorelai nodded, then giggled softly. "But I have to say that I'd really enjoy seeing the look on your face when you pulled my dress up and discovered that I'm not wearing any underwear."

Luke's eyes widened slightly and he swallowed hard.

Lorelai smiled and gestured to his face. "Yeah, that's the look right there!"

Luke exhaled loudly. "Okay, I think the implied rule is that if you're too tired to do it yourself, you can't go around getting others all hot and bothered."

"Oops, sorry." Lorelai smiled innocently and sipped her hot chocolate.

. . .

On Saturday afternoon, dressed in his suit and tie, Luke was sitting on the living room sofa tapping his hands aimlessly on his knees. He glanced at his watch every few minutes, then finally walked to the bottom of the steps and called, "Are you ready yet?"

"We'll be right down!" Lorelai called back.

"You said that twenty minutes ago!" Luke reminded her.

"This time we mean it!" Rory added.

Luke sighed and walked back to the couch. He turned on the television and flipped through the channels until he came across a baseball game.

Several minutes passed before he heard footsteps on the stairs, and he glanced over as Rory walked down in her green bridesmaid dress. "Girl number one is ready to go," she announced. "Girl number two is still doing her hair."

Luke smiled. "Girl number one looks nice."

"Girl number one thanks you," Rory replied, smiling appreciatively. As she walked toward the kitchen, Luke checked his watch, then brought his attention back to the television.

A few minutes later, he was once again distracted by footsteps, and after turning off the television, he stared at the staircase expectantly. When Lorelai came into view, his eyes widened and a smile slowly formed on his lips.

Lorelai stopped at the bottom steps and gestured to herself. "So, was it worth the wait?"

He stood up and walked over to her, shaking his head in disbelief. "Absolutely." He put his hands on her waist and eyed her from top to bottom, starting with her straightened hair that hung over both shoulders, to the lowcut neckline that his eyes couldn't help linger on for a few seconds, all the way down to the bottom of her green dress. As he brought his gaze back up to meet hers, he said, "Wow. . .just, wow."

Lorelai smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It definitely is," he confirmed.

Lorelai stepped off the bottom step and hugged him tightly as Rory walked into the living room. She clapped her hands to get their attention. "Okay, break up the lovefest, we're supposed to be at Sookie's in five minutes."

Luke pulled back from Lorelai. "Right, let's go."

"Okay, I've heard that taking two Advil before you start drinking is good hangover prevention," Lorelai said as she walked over to the desk. She picked up her purse and shook it. "So I got a whole bottle in here."

Rory smiled. "It's good to be prepared."

"All right, come on," Luke said as he walked to the front door. "I'm just dropping you off at Sookie's, right?"

"Yup. We're gonna help Sookie get ready and then we'll just come to the inn with her," Lorelai said. The three of them walked out the front door and climbed into the Explorer.

. . .

Forty-five minutes later, Luke was talking with some people on the back porch of the inn when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and smiled when he saw Lorelai. "Hey."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Hey, we just got here. Oh my God, you should see Sookie, she looks so amazing!"

"I'm sure she does," Luke said, nodding.

Lorelai held up her bouquet in front of his face. "Smell this. Nice, huh?"

Luke pushed it away and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, great," he replied dryly. "Makes me wish I had one for myself."

Lorelai smiled. "You can have this one when I'm done with it." They walked across the porch away from the crowd, and she gestured toward the yard. "So, what do you think?"

"It looks good," he said. He looked toward the piano and said, "I never knew Kirk had such a passion for singing."

"Me either," Lorelai replied, following his gaze. They watched him sing for a few seconds. "Ooh! Maybe you guys could start up a traveling duet or something. . .you can play your guitar, he can sing, I can be Penny Lane, we can all sing Tiny Dancer on a tour bus, it'd be fun."

"Sounds it," he replied.

"Although then it would put an end to the whole 'I'm the only one who can hear you play the guitar because I'm special' mystique and then I wouldn't feel special anymore," Lorelai said, frowning.

"Well, then, I guess I'll have to give up my dream of starting a band with Kirk," he replied.

"You'd do that for me?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

Luke took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Well, if you really want me to."

Lorelai smiled and kissed him. "You're cute." She pulled back and adjusted the knot of his tie, then grimaced and pulled her hand away. "Oh God, that was so something my mother would do. Never let me do that again, okay?"

"Gladly," Luke replied. As he noticed people starting to sit down for the ceremony, he glanced down at his watch. "It's about to start."

Lorelai grabbed his wrist and turned it toward her to look at the watch. "Yes, it is. I have to find Rory."

"Where is she?" Luke asked.

"She went to find Dean and Lane," Lorelai replied. She scanned the yard, and when she finally spotted Rory, Lorelai turned to Luke. "I see her. Go get a seat. I'll see you after the ceremony."

"Okay, don't trip," Luke said, leaning in to kiss her.

Lorelai pulled back and smacked him on the shoulder. "No! Don't talk about it, you'll jinx it!"

Luke smiled and kissed her. "Bye."

Lorelai walked across the yard over to Rory, and then the two of them walked to the bridge and waited for their cue to walk down the aisle. Rory glanced over at Lorelai. "You look nervous," Rory commented.

"Yeah, because Luke told me not to trip," Lorelai replied.

Rory gasped. "Doesn't he know you're not supposed to say that?"

Lorelai shook her head. "Apparently not." The music started, and Lorelai's eyes widened. "Ooh, here we go." They walked slowly down the steps and across the yard, through the aisle separating the rows of people, and took their places opposite of Jackson on the other side of the chuppah.

As everyone stood up and turned to wait for Sookie, Lorelai scanned the crowd for Luke and saw him smiling at her. "You didn't fall," he mouthed to her.

Lorelai smiled and nodded, then turned her attention to a beaming Sookie who had begun her walk down the aisle.

. . .

After Sookie and Jackson's first kiss as husband and wife, the spectators all rose and applauded loudly. Lorelai and Rory both had tears streaming down their faces as they followed the newly-married couple down the aisle back toward the inn.

As soon as they reached the porch, Jackson continued walking as Sookie turned around and giggled excitedly. "I'm married!"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yes, you are!" She leaned forward and hugged her tightly. "I'm so happy for you, Sookie." As she pulled back, she wiped her eyes. "Oh man, it's all your fault I'm crying. I was fine holding back the tears until I saw you crying."

Sookie smiled. "Sorry about that."

Rory stepped up to Sookie and hugged her. "Don't apologize. It's your wedding, you can do whatever you want."

"Thank you," Sookie replied. As she pulled back from the hug, she took a deep breath. "Okay, here's the game plan. . .we're gonna greet the people out here on the porch as they go inside for the reception, then while they're getting all settled and eating the appetizers, we're gonna take pictures out here with the bridal party, and then we'll go in, too."

"Sounds great," Lorelai said.

Sookie widened her eyes. "How's the makeup?"

Lorelai gave her a thumbs-up. "Perfect and smudge-free. Good thing we went with the waterproof mascara." She glanced over her shoulder. "We'll be over there when you need us for pictures."

Sookie nodded. "Okay." She walked over to Jackson and stood near the inn door to greet the guests.

Lorelai and Rory walked across the porch and watched the people file from the rows of chairs. Lorelai nudged Rory and said, "Is that Jess?"

Rory followed her gaze, then smiled. "Yup."

"Huh, so he decided to come after all," Lorelai said. "And he brought Jill."

"Yeah, it wasn't easy to convince him to, but we had a nice conversation about how Jill would like it much more than the usual 'dinner and a movie' date," Rory explained.

Lorelai giggled. "Jess and Jill - "

"Not this again," Rory interrupted, rolling her eyes.

Lorelai laughed. "No, this one's gonna be good, I swear! Jess and Jill went up the hill to fetch some new CD's. Jess said 'Look!' and dropped his book, and Jill said, 'I like cheese.'"

Rory made a face. "That one doesn't even make sense."

Lorelai scoffed. "Excuse me? Which part doesn't make sense? They're both into music, hence the CD shopping. Jess has said the word 'look' before, so that part's plausible. They both work at the bookstore, so anything relating to books is fine. And we saw them two weeks ago eating pizza, so we know she likes cheese. There - makes perfect sense."

Rory shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know, it wasn't really flowing well for me. You've done better."

"Yeah, well, not all of them can be winners," Lorelai said. They sat down on a bench and talked for a few minutes until Luke walked over to them.

Lorelai smiled up at him. "Hey."

"Hey. What are you guys doing over here?" he asked.

"Waiting to take pictures with Sookie and Jackson," Rory replied.

"After all the guests go inside," Lorelai added. "Did you follow the line to congratulate them?"

"Yup, then I came over here," Luke said.

Lorelai shook her finger at him. "Uh oh, you broke out of line, that's going to lead to complete and utter chaos."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Okay, Taylor."

Lorelai smirked. "Funny."

"I know," he replied. He glanced toward the line of people, which was slowly dwindling as they filed into the inn. "All right, I'm going in."

"Mmkay," Lorelai said. "We'll see you after the pictures."

"Bye." Luke walked across the porch and went into the inn.

. . .

Thirty minutes later, Sookie, Jackson, and the bridal party were poised to enter the dining room. They stood in the hallway outside the closed doors, and could hear the DJ inside announcing everyone to direct their attention to the doorway.

The doors opened, and the four members of the bridal party entered the room to applause. They walked to the edge of the dance floor, and turned their attention back to the door as Sookie and Jackson entered the room to a much louder applause.

As the applause died down and the music started, Sookie and Jackson began their first dance. Everyone watched them for a minute before other couples slowly started filing onto the dance floor and began dancing around them.

Lorelai walked over to Luke's table. She set her bouquet down and gestured to the dance floor. "Come on."

Luke stood up with a sigh. "We're not doing this all night."

"I know, I know," Lorelai said, dragging him onto the dance floor.

Luke took one of her hands and held it against his chest, and he placed his other hand on her back. As they started dancing, Lorelai smiled up at him. "See, dancing at this wedding won't be so bad because no one will be looking at us. Everyone's looking at the bride and groom. You know what that means?"

"Yes, it means we're banning dancing at our wedding 'cause everyone'll be looking at us," Luke said.

"Or we could just lock ourselves in a room and dance privately where no one can see us," Lorelai suggested.

"Let me tell you something, if we find ourselves locked in a room in the middle of our wedding secluded from everyone else, dancing's the last thing that'll be on my mind," Luke informed her.

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, what was I thinking?" She pressed her lips against his and kissed him softly, then pulled back and rested her chin on his shoulder as they continued dancing.

. . .

PART 55

. . .

When the first song ended, the couples dispersed from the dance floor, and Lorelai walked Luke back to his table. She picked up her bouquet and gestured toward the head table. "All right, I gotta sit up there with the bridal party, but I'll come visit you when I'm done eating."

"You're leaving me alone with Patty and Babette?" Luke asked quietly. "What do I do when they start trying to seduce me?"

"Same thing you did last time, run and hide in a closet," Lorelai replied.

Luke glanced over at them warily. "Maybe we should try to limit their alcohol."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Morey's right there and Patty has her own date, so they won't be paying any attention to you. I'll be back soon." She kissed him on the cheek and started walking toward the head table.

She noticed Michel standing in the corner of the room, and she walked over to him. "Hey, how's everything going?" Lorelai asked.

Hugging his clipboard against his chest, he sighed and asked, "Can I leave now?"

"No, you cannot leave," Lorelai replied. "And if you don't start at least trying to look friendly, I'm gonna tell everyone here that you keep a copy of Oprah's magazine under the front desk and you look at it when you're bored."

Michel scoffed. "I don't - "

"I've seen it, Michel," Lorelai interrupted.

Michel huffed, then pursed his lips together and mumbled, "It has interesting articles."

"I'm sure it does," Lorelai agreed. "Now, come on, this isn't some stranger's wedding. It's Sookie's - your coworker, your acquaintance, your fr- . . . well, friend might be a bit of a stretch, but whatever you wanna call her. . .remember, it's for Sookie, so please be nice."

Michel forced a smile. "How's this? Better? Good, now leave me alone."

Lorelai patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you." She walked over to the head table and sat down next to Rory. "Hey you."

"Hey," Rory replied.

Lorelai glanced past Rory and saw the three men of the bridal party sitting at the other end of the rectangular table. "Have you seen Sookie?" Lorelai asked Rory.

"No, I . . ." Her voice trailed off and they stared at each other for a second until they both realized where she was. "Uh oh."

"Let's go," Lorelai said, standing up. She and Rory walked across the dining room and through the swinging door that led to the kitchen. Several chefs and waiters were walking around, and Lorelai scanned the crowded kitchen until they saw Sookie across the room near the cake.

They rushed over to her. "Sookie, what are you doing in here?" Lorelai asked. "I'm pretty sure you took the day off today."

Sookie stepped back and admired the cake. "Just needed to check on Dexter, and make sure he didn't need any little touch-ups."

"No, he looks perfect, Sookie - right, hon?" Lorelai nudged Rory.

Rory nodded. "The best wedding cake I've ever seen."

"See, we both think it looks great." Lorelai grabbed Sookie's hand and led her toward the door. "Now, I don't want you in here anymore, Sookie. It's your wedding day, you shouldn't be worrying about anything. Don't make me get a bodyguard to block the door."

Sookie sighed. "Okay, okay." She glanced over her shoulder for one last concerned look at the cake before they exited the kitchen.

. . .

A few hours later, Lorelai had pulled up a chair next to Luke, and they sat talking alone at his table.

"So, you're telling me you would rather eat an entire piece of chocolate cake than get out there and do the chicken dance?" Lorelai asked, gesturing to the dance floor.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, because in a town like this, the embarrassment of the dancing will hurt me a lot more than the unhealthiness of the cake."

Lorelai nodded understandably. "Right, right." She paused a moment, then asked, "Hey, you're gonna have cake at our wedding, right? I mean, you have to eat your own wedding cake, I think it's the law. Plus, we have to do that cutesy thing where we feed it to each other and smear it all over each other's faces. I've always wanted to do that."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Uh, I don't think so."

Lorelai gasped. "You're not gonna eat your own wedding cake?"

"I'll eat my own wedding cake, but I'm not going to wear it," he said dryly. "Forget the cutesy stuff."

Lorelai frowned. "Please? What if we just feed it to each other but I promise not to shove it in your face?" Luke tilted his head and gave her a doubtful look, and Lorelai let out a small laugh. "What? I promise! I've never lied to you." She paused a moment and narrowed her eyes. "At least, not that I remember."

He picked up his drink and took a sip, then placed it back on the table. "I'll think about it."

"Tsk, it's a romantic tradition, we're doing it," Lorelai said. She glanced around the room and smiled when she saw Sookie and Jackson talking with some of their guests. "Aw, look at how happy they are. I love seeing 'em like that."

"When are they leaving for Hawaii?" Luke asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Lorelai replied. "For a week."

"They can afford that?" Luke asked curiously.

"Actually, Jackson's parents are paying for half as part of their wedding present," Lorelai replied.

"Oh, wow," Luke said. "That was nice."

"Yeah, Sookie was really excited about it," Lorelai said, smiling. "She never thought she'd get to go somewhere like that for her honeymoon."

"I bet they'll - "

"Excuse me, Luke?" a voice interrupted. Luke and Lorelai both turned around and saw Kirk standing behind them, his hands clasped nervously in front of him. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"What is it, Kirk?" Luke asked.

Kirk glanced quickly toward Lorelai before he gestured over his shoulder. "Um, it's sort of a private matter, if you don't mind. It'll only take a second."

Luke and Lorelai looked at each other questioningly before Luke shrugged and stood up. "Be right back."

"Okay," she replied. She watched as Luke followed Kirk to the corner of the room and began talking with him. After a few seconds, she saw Luke smile, then say something to Kirk and pat him on the shoulder. Kirk walked away, and Luke walked back over to Lorelai with a grin on his face.

Lorelai smiled curiously as he sat down. "What's with the smirking?"

"Oh, nothing," he replied nonchalantly.

"Spill it."

Still smiling, Luke shook his head slightly. "Well, our old pal Kirk, after assuring me that he wasn't going to try to steal you away from me, asked me if it was okay if he asked you to dance."

Lorelai's eyes widened and she let out a gasp. "Oh my God, please tell me you said no," she begged. "Tell me that you were really offended and that you threatened to beat him up, and that you're smiling because you feel powerful and manly and not because you did something really awful and told him yes just because you knew I'd say no to him and you wanted to get a cheap laugh at the expense of poor Kirk!"

Luke laughed. "I told him that it was perfectly fine by me."

Lorelai gasped and smacked him on the shoulder. "Luke!"

"Can't wait to see how you try to get out of it," Luke added. "You're always fun to watch under pressure."

Lorelai sighed loudly and scowled at him. "I can't believe you did that for your own personal amusement," she said bitterly. "You're so mean."

"Hey, who am I to be possessive?" Luke asked innocently. "I think this shows just how comfortable I am with you interacting with other men."

Lorelai scoffed. "Right. I highly doubt you'd be this open to the possibility of me dancing with someone who doesn't live with his mother, or have a website devoted to The Wonder Years because he thinks if he keeps it going long enough they'll bring the series back."

Luke nodded. "Sure I would, but this is far more entertaining." He turned toward the dance floor and saw Kirk walking toward them, then turned back to Lorelai and smirked. "Uh oh, here comes your new boyfriend."

Lorelai smacked his shoulder again. "Stop it."

When Kirk reached them, he cleared his throat nervously. "Uh, excuse me, Lorelai?"

Lorelai turned around and glanced up at him with an awkward smile. "Yeah, Kirk?" she said hesitantly.

Kirk gestured to the dance floor. "Uh, I was wondering if you'd perhaps like to. . . dance with me?"

Lorelai gave him an appreciative smile, then said, "Aw, I'd love to, Kirk, but I. . ." Her voice trailed off as she glanced at Luke and saw him smiling to himself. Lorelai thought for a moment, then smiled up at Kirk. "Actually, sure, I'd like that, Kirk." She stood up and gave a pointed look toward Luke. "At least someone here wants to dance with me." Luke's eyes widened with surprise as Lorelai followed Kirk onto the dance floor.

. . .

A few hours later, Lorelai, Luke, and Rory were walking up their porch steps. As Luke unlocked the door, Rory and Lorelai leaned against each other. "That was an amazing wedding," Lorelai said, stifling a yawn.

"Yes, it was," Rory agreed. "The food was great, the cake was amazing, the music was good. . ."

"And that Kirk's a damn good dancer," Lorelai added.

"So that's why you danced with him three times?" Luke asked as he pushed open the front door.

As the girls walked past him into the house, Lorelai smirked. "Jealous?"

"Extremely," he replied dryly as he followed them into the living room. "For a minute there, I thought you were gonna give me the ring back and run off with him instead."

Lorelai smiled. "I was thinking about it, but then I decided that you should never marry someone who scares you."

"I guess Luke shouldn't marry you then because I think he's scared of your fluctuating maturity level," Rory said.

Lorelai stuck her tongue out at her. "Funny."

Rory smiled and started walking toward her bedroom. "Goodnight."

"Night, hon," Lorelai said.

"Night," Luke said.

Lorelai yawned as she walked over to Luke. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him, then rested her head against his chest. "I'm so tired."

He brought his arms up and hugged her. "Me too."

"Carry me upstairs, please," Lorelai muttered.

Luke pulled back from her and rolled his eyes. "No. I already did that once this week, I'm not doing it again."

Lorelai pouted. "Mean." Luke started walking toward the staircase, and she slowly followed behind him.

. . .

On Wednesday night, Lorelai and Rory were sitting at a table in the diner with magazines and notebooks spread open in front of them.

"Oh, talk to Patty about borrowing chairs and tables," Lorelai said.

"Okay." Rory wrote it down in her notebook. "That's yet another thing we can't do until you pick a date, though."

"Yeah, true." Lorelai looked over at the counter and called, "Luke, come on!"

"I said I'd be there in a few minutes," he replied from near the cash register.

"Yeah, well, you said that like. . .more than a few minutes ago," she reminded him. Luke waved her off and walked into the kitchen. Lorelai turned back to Rory and sighed. "Find new prospective husband, write that down."

"You still haven't told me where the ceremony's gonna be," Rory said.

"Yes, I did," Lorelai replied. "I told you yesterday."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Oh, silly me, I thought you might've been joking when you said you were flying to Paris to be wed on top of the Eiffel Tower."

"No, I never joke," Lorelai said, shaking her head.

"Really, what did you guys decide?" Rory asked. "Our house?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah. We went back and forth with a bunch of other possible places, you know, like the inn or Miss Patty's studio," she explained. "But we both decided that it'd be the most private and intimate if we did it at our house."

"Outside?" Rory asked.

"Yup."

"Kind of like Sookie's shower?" Rory asked. "With the tables and stuff set up in the two yards?"

"Sort of," Lorelai said. She glanced at Rory's notebook. "Here, I'll show you." She took the notebook and flipped to the next page, then picked up a pencil and sketched an outline of the yard. "Wow, okay, I'm not the next Bob Ross."

"Definitely not," Rory agreed, looking on. "No one draws happy trees like him."

Lorelai finished up the sketch, then said, "Okay, so, we'll move the chuppah right here between our house and Babette's house, and there'll be an aisle leading to it with rows of chairs lined up on either side for people to sit. . . you know what I mean?"

"Sort of," Rory replied. "So the ceremony will be in the little strip of yard between the two houses?"

"Right," Lorelai replied. She drew a large square surrounded by some smaller circles in the front yard. "And then in the front toward the driveway will be the dance floor, centered between the two houses, and then around that will be all the tables for eating."

Rory smiled. "Sounds good."

"We just have to check with Babette and Morey to make sure we can use their yard," Lorelai said. "But I'm sure they won't mind."

"Nah, they won't care," Rory agreed. She noticed Luke walking toward them and smiled. "Look who finally decided to join the party."

Lorelai turned to look at him. "Ah, finally."

"You two do realize that I'm at work here, don't you?" Luke asked as he sat down.

"Yes, but this is more important," Lorelai said. "We need to pick a wedding date."

"Yeah, well, if you don't let me work, we won't have any money to pay for the wedding, and therefore won't need to pick a date at all," Luke said.

"Shhh," Lorelai hushed him and held her hand out to Rory. "Calendar?"

Rory looked under the stack of magazines in front of her until she found the calendar, and she passed it to Lorelai.

"Thank you." Lorelai flipped it open to August and put it in front of Luke. "Okay, today's the seventh. You said you wanted early September. . . you still want it?"

"Yeah, if you think we can plan this wedding in a month," Luke replied.

"I think we can since it's only gonna be a small thing," Lorelai said. "I mean, it's not one of those 200-guest weddings where you need to order everything years in advance."

"Do you think you can find dresses before then?" Luke asked. Lorelai glanced at Rory, and the two shared a smile that made Luke narrow his eyes with curiosity. "What?"

"Don't worry about the dresses," Lorelai told him.

"Why? Did you buy them already?" Luke asked.

"No, but we have some in mind," Lorelai said. "Don't worry about 'em. Just pick a date."

Luke turned the page of the calendar to September. "Uh, what about Sunday the first?"

"Sunday the first. . .Sunday the first," Lorelai repeated. "Mm, nope, no plans that day." Lorelai smiled at Luke, then handed him a pen. "Shall we make it official?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, nothing says official like an EraserMate pen." He wrote 'Wedding Day' on September first, then underlined it for good measure. "There ya go." Lorelai and Rory stared at him expectantly, and he narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"You're not even gonna put a cute little heart or a happy face on there somewhere?" Lorelai asked.

"Come on, you gotta add some sign to it that indicates you're actually looking forward to the day," Rory added.

"I underlined it," Luke reminded them.

"Heart," Lorelai instructed, tapping her finger on the calendar.

Luke rolled his eyes and quickly added a heart around the square. "Happy?"

"Yes." Lorelai took the calendar from him and stared at the heart-encased date, then handed it to Rory. She leaned toward Luke and kissed him, then pulled back and smiled. "We have a wedding date."

"Yes, we do," Luke replied. "And it's the first of the month so it'll be easy to remember for anniversaries."

Lorelai smiled. "Thinking ahead, huh? I like that."

Luke stood up. "All right, I gotta get back in the kitchen. Anything else you need?"

"Yes, could you please call Regis and tell him to stop letting that chick who sits next to him make commercials?" Lorelai asked. "Some people were just not made for acting in commercials, and she is a prime example of that."

"I'll get right on that," Luke muttered as he walked away.

"Thank you," Lorelai called after him. She turned to Rory. "Really, though, have you seen her water commercial where she's like jumping all over the place? It's really annoying."

"Yeah, that one's even worse than the Pantene commercial," Rory said.

"They both suck," Lorelai said. "They've done the opposite of what commercials are supposed to do. They've actually turned me against the products."

"We're very picky about our commercials," Rory said.

"Yes, we are," Lorelai agreed.

. . .

That night, Lorelai and Rory were both sitting on the sofa watching television with bowls of popcorn in their laps. "Do you think Anthony Edwards looks back at this movie and feels embarrassed to have it on his resume?" Rory asked.

Lorelai gasped. "How could you be embarrassed of Revenge of the Nerds? I'd be honored."

"It's definitely a classic," Rory agreed. "But I think he kind of got a big head after all his ER fame so he might feel a little insecure about Nerds."

"Well, now his ER fame is gone," Lorelai said. "And I bet he's so desperate for a job that he's at some studio right now begging for another Nerds sequel."

"Ooh, I'd love to see that," Rory said excitedly. "They could - " She was interrupted by the ringing phone, and she reached for the cordless on the coffee table. "Hello?" She smiled and exclaimed, "Hey Sookie! How's Hawaii?"

Lorelai's eyes widened and she smiled.

"Good," Rory said. "Can't wait to see pictures. . . okay. . ..here's Mom." Rory handed the phone to Lorelai. "It's Sookie."

"Yes, I heard," Lorelai replied. She quickly brought the phone to her ear. "Hey Sookie!"

"Hey sweetie," Sookie replied. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Lorelai asked with a laugh. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be off doing honeymoon-type things?"

"Well, Jackson's in the shower and then we're going to a luau for dinner," Sookie said. "You know, they have a lot of luaus here."

"Yeah, I've heard that about Hawaii," Lorelai said, smiling. "And I'll try to refrain from any jokes about you getting lei-d by the Hawaiian men."

Sookie giggled. "Thank you."

"So, how's the honeymoon so far?" Lorelai asked.

"Terrific," Sookie replied. "Everything's been fabulous." She lowered her voice and said, "We just had a conversation that I couldn't wait to tell you about, so I had to call."

"Ooh, sounds juicy," Lorelai said. "What's it about?"

"Kids," Sookie replied.

"You guys talked about kids?" Lorelai asked, and she gave an intrigued look toward Rory, who was listening intently to Lorelai's side of the conversation.

"Yes," Sookie replied. "He mentioned that he's always dreamed of having a big family with like five kids."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Wow, five? Uh, did he offer to help carry them to term?"

"I know, right? That's a lot of kids. So we talked it over and we realized that we both want at least two, so that's what we're aiming for right now, and if we want more after that. . .then we'll deal with it when the time comes," Sookie explained. "So we're gonna start trying in a few months."

Lorelai smiled. "Aw, Sookie, that's awesome!"

"You're not mad?" Sookie asked nervously.

Lorelai let out a surprised laugh. "Mad? Why would I be mad?"

"Well, because. . ." Sookie sighed. "I mean, I know we haven't talked about it in awhile, but us opening our own inn is gonna have to be pushed back even further now."

"Oh," Lorelai replied, nodding understandably. "Don't worry about that, Sookie. Let's concentrate on this family stuff first and then we'll deal with the inn stuff when we're ready. In fact. . .Luke and I are gonna try soon, too."

Sookie gasped. "No!"

"Yes!"

"He wants kids?" Sookie asked.

"Yup."

"Oh my God, what if we get pregnant around the same time and then our kids grow up together and are best friends!" Sookie said excitedly.

Lorelai smiled. "That would be adorable."

Sookie was quiet for a second, then said, "Ooh, Jackson's out of the shower. . .I gotta go. I'll see you in a few days."

"Okay," Lorelai replied. "Have a great rest-of-your-honeymoon, Sookie."

"Thanks. Bye."

"Bye." Lorelai hung up the phone and dropped it next to her on the couch. Rory was staring at her expectantly, and Lorelai smiled. "They talked about having kids."

Rory smiled. "Aw, they'll make such cute parents."

Lorelai nodded in agreement. "Yes, they will."

. . .

On Friday Night, Lorelai and Rory walked up to Emily and Richard's house. Rory rang the doorbell, and a few seconds later, Emily pulled open the door.

She smiled. "Hello girls." She glanced past them and narrowed her eyes. "What's that?"

Lorelai and Rory followed her gaze to Luke's truck. They turned back to Emily, and Lorelai explained, "Oh, that's Luke's new truck. Nice, huh?"

"Yes, it's very nice," Emily said. They stepped into the house and she closed the door. "What's wrong with your car?"

"Nothing," Rory replied. "She pretended she didn't have enough gas to get here in the Jeep so he would let her take that one."

"Ah," Emily replied.

"But of course he saw through the story," Rory added.

Lorelai smiled. "But he was so impressed by the attempted lie that he encouraged me to take it anyway."

"Well, that was nice," Emily replied.

"No, he was just so annoyed by your whining that he threw his keys at you and told you to leave him alone," Rory corrected her.

Lorelai laughed. "Okay, so I was a little fuzzy on the details."

Emily led them into the living room. "He threw his keys at you?"

Lorelai and Rory sat down on the couch. "No, he didn't throw them at me," Lorelai replied. "He was upstairs and I was downstairs and they were in his pocket, so he had to drop them down the steps. It was more of a drop."

"Yeah, drop would be a good word," Rory agreed.

"Right, a drop," Emily said. She stood in front of the bar. "So, drinks?"

"Soda," Rory replied.

"White wine," Lorelai replied.

"Coming right up," Emily replied as she began fixing the drinks.

After a few seconds of silence, Rory cleared her throat. "So, Grandma, is Grandpa here tonight?"

Emily walked over and handed them their drinks. "Yes, he's in his study. I'm just about to go get him."

"Oh, would you mind if I went?" Rory asked. "I wanted to talk to him about something."

"Oh," Emily replied. "Of course, go ahead."

Rory smiled and stood up. "Thanks." She set her drink on the coffee table.

Emily sat down in the chair adjacent to the sofa and watched Rory walk out of the room. When she was gone, she turned to Lorelai and asked, "What was all that about?"

Lorelai took a sip of her wine, then shrugged. "I thought it was pretty self-explanatory, Mom. She wants to talk to Dad about something."

"Yes, I understood that part," Emily replied. "But what about?"

"I'm sure we'll find out eventually," Lorelai assured her. "Let's just wait and see, huh?"

"You already know, don't you?" Emily accused her.

"Yes, I do," Lorelai replied with a smile.

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because it's for Rory to tell you, not me," Lorelai replied.

Emily pursed her lips and sighed disappointedly. "Fine."

"So, Sookie's in Hawaii right now on her honeymoon," Lorelai said, trying to make conversation.

"Oh, that sounds nice," Emily said. "I bet she's having a wonderful time. When is she coming home?"

"Sunday afternoon," Lorelai replied.

"Lovely," Emily said.

"Mmhmm," Lorelai muttered, nodding aimlessly. She took a sip of her wine and glanced toward the doorway, anxiously waiting for Rory to return.

"So, tell me, have you picked a wedding date yet?" Emily asked.

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yes, actually, we just did this week. September first."

Emily's eyes widened. "September first . . .of this year?" she asked incredulously.

"Yup."

"There's no way you can plan an entire wedding in less than a month, Lorelai!" Emily exclaimed. "It's impossible."

"It's perfectly possible, Mother," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes.

"These things take years to plan!" Emily insisted.

"It's just gonna be immediate family and close friends," Lorelai told her. "It's not going to be some huge Liza Minelli-type wedding, Mom. It'll just be a quaint little thing."

"But Lorelai, if it's because of money - "

"Mom," Lorelai interrupted. "It's not because of money. We would throw a huge 'plan three years in advance' type of wedding if we wanted it - but that's not what we want. It's gonna be a nice little ceremony in our yard with the people closest to us. I'm sure that's not the wedding you've envisioned for me, but it's the one you're gonna get, okay?"

"Fine, fine," Emily replied. "You know, your father and I talked about - " Her voice trailed off as Rory and Richard entered the room. "Well, here they are. . .everything all right?"

As Rory sat down next to Lorelai, Richard smiled proudly as he walked over to fix himself a drink. "Everything's better than fine. Everything's wonderful."

"Well, come on, tell us what's going on," Emily urged.

"Just a minute, Emily," Richard replied. He finished pouring his drink, then walked over to the empty couch and sat down. He nodded toward Rory and said, "Your granddaughter has just asked me if I could help her set up a tour of Yale."

Emily's eyes widened and she turned to Rory. "What?"

"Yes, apparently, after some heavy thinking, Rory has decided that she wants to look into Yale as her possible university of choice," Richard said, smiling approvingly at Rory.

"When did this happen?" Emily asked Rory.

Lorelai patted Rory on the knee. "When she heard that Yale has a better bartending program than Harvard."

Rory rolled her eyes at her mother, then turned back to Emily. "Um, I've been thinking about it for awhile, over a month actually. . .and after doing some research and thinking things out, I decided that maybe Harvard isn't the school of my dreams." She shrugged and added, "Not to say that Yale definitely is, but hopefully a tour will help me find out."

"Huh," Emily mused the situation. "Well, isn't that interesting."

"Yes, indeed it is," Richard agreed.

"So on Monday, Grandpa's gonna help me set up a tour," Rory added.

"Oh, great," Lorelai said. "Thanks Dad."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all," Richard replied. "I'm happy to do it."

Emily took a sip of her wine, then said, "Oh, Richard, Lorelai has decided on a wedding date. Would you like to hear it?"

"Oh boy," Lorelai muttered under her breath.

"Yes, of course," he replied.

"September first," Emily announced.

"September first?" Richard repeated. "Of this year?"

Lorelai sighed. "Yes, of this year."

"Well, isn't that a bit soon?" Richard asked.

Emily gave Lorelai a pointed smirk. "See?"

Lorelai sighed. "No, it's not too soon. It gives us plenty of time to plan the wedding, trust me."

"Well, if you say so, Lorelai." Richard shrugged and gave a doubtful look toward Emily. "Did you tell her what we talked about, Emily?"

"Oh, no, I was about to when you two came in," Emily replied.

"What's going on?" Lorelai asked. "Don't tell me, you wanna sing karaoke at the wedding?" She nudged Rory and they both giggled.

Emily rolled her eyes. "No. Your father and I discussed it, and we decided that we want to pay for the wedding."

Lorelai's eyes widened slightly, and she shook her head. "No, Dad, Mom - I told you money's not an issue," she said. "We're paying for it ourselves."

"You're our daughter, Lorelai," Emily said. "It's customary for the parents of the bride to pay for the wedding."

"It's customary in families where said bride is twenty-two and a fresh graduate from some prestigious med school and is getting ready to make her way in the world," Lorelai replied. "Not in a family where said bride is pushing thirty five and has a job and can afford to pay for her own wedding."

Emily sighed. "Lorelai, we are well aware of your insistence to do as much as you can in life without our help, but - "

"But we decided that the best wedding gift we could give you would be to cover the cost of the wedding," Richard finished. "We know you don't need it, Lorelai, but we really want to do this."

"I know you guys wanna help, but there's no way that I'm letting you pay for this entire wedding. That's completely out of the question," Lorelai said.

"Lorelai, why can't you let us do something nice for you just once?" Emily complained. "At least let us pay for something - the cake, the caterer, the flowers, something, anything. Let us give you a nice - "

Lorelai interrupted her with a groan. "Okay, Mom, okay, you can pay for the. . .uh, the. . . invitations."

Emily's eyes widened with surprise. "What?"

"Yes, you heard me. If you stop bugging me about it, I will let you pay for the wedding invitations," Lorelai said. "There - are you happy?"

Emily smiled. "Oh, that's wonderful. Have you picked them out yet?"

"Nope, not yet," Lorelai replied.

"Well, we should do that soon. I'll have to get in touch with Mason - he does all of my party invitations," Emily said.

Lorelai turned to Rory and forced a smile. "She has a personal invitation contact-person."

Rory gave an impressed nod. "Interesting."

Richard stood up and rubbed his hands together. "So, what do you say we go see if dinner's ready, hm?" He reached down and picked up his drink.

"Yes, let's," Emily said as she stood up. She followed Richard out of the room, and Lorelai and Rory slowly trailed behind them.

. . .

That night, it was slightly after nine when Lorelai walked into the bedroom. Luke, in just his boxers, was on the bed watching television, and he sat up when she walked in. "Hey." He turned off the television, then set the remote on the nightstand.

Lorelai shut the door and walked over to the bed. She leaned down and kissed him, then collapsed on the bed next to him with a sigh. "Hey."

Luke ran his hand over her thigh. "How was dinner?"

"Well, if you mean the lamb, mashed potatoes, and vegetables, then it was great," Lorelai replied. "If you mean the actual night as a whole, then it was so-so."

"What happened?" Luke asked.

"Nothing much," she replied. "My mom likes the new truck. Rory talked to my father about setting up a tour of Yale. My parents are paying for our wedding invitations." She climbed off the bed and began undressing.

Luke's eyes widened. "What? Really?"

"Yeah, they offered to pay for the whole wedding," Lorelai told him.

"And you said no to that," Luke inferred.

"Of course I said no," Lorelai replied. "But I could tell my mom wasn't gonna give up, so I told them they could pay for the invitations."

When Lorelai had undressed down to her underwear, Luke leaned back against the headboard and watched her as she walked over to his dresser and pulled open one of the drawers. She took out one of his T-shirts and slipped it over her head, and as she pulled her hair out from the collar, she sat back down on the edge of the bed. "There. That's much more comfy."

"Problem with your own shirts?" Luke asked.

"No, but I like wearing yours," Lorelai replied. She crawled up to lay next to him, and she propped herself up on her side. She ran her fingers through the soft patch of hair on his chest as she said, "Let's talk."

"About what?" he asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. Anything you want. Let's have one of those nights where we just stay up all night talking."

"All night? I'm pretty tired already."

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "Okay, maybe not all night, but you think you can stay awake for an hour or two?"

Luke shrugged. "I'll try. . . just stay away from boring topics that might put me to sleep."

Lorelai smiled. "So no talking about politics, classical music, or any shows on UPN, got it."

. . .

PART 56

. . .

As they lay side by side in bed, Luke watched Lorelai's fingers explore the curves of his chest. She did it aimlessly, it was just something to keep her occupied - but she was oblivious to how much he loved it. Her touch - the simple action of her delicate hand running across his skin - always made a feeling of calmness run through his body.

Luke watched her for a few seconds before he let out a content sigh and asked, "So, uh. . .did you have something in particular you wanted to talk about?"

"No, not really," she replied with a shrug. "What about you? Anything on your mind?"

"Nope."

"Okay, well, staying up and talking for a few hours might be harder than I thought," Lorelai deduced.

"I'm sure you'll think of something to babble about," Luke said.

"Yeah, probably," she agreed. She thought for a moment, then said, "We could sit here and get mushy and sing Rod Stewart songs to each other all night."

Luke rolled his eyes. "That's the best you could come up with? No, thank you."

Lorelai made a fist like she was holding a microphone and began singing, "Have I told. . . you lately - "

"Stop," he interrupted.

" - that I love you?" Lorelai sang.

"Enough."

Lorelai giggled. "Fine, fine, no more singing." She leaned back against the headboard and stared pensively up at the ceiling. "Luke, do you think things'll be different when we're married?"

"Like what things?" he asked.

Lorelai turned to look at him and shrugged. "I don't know - sometimes people say that getting married changes a relationship."

"How would things change?" Luke asked her. "I mean, besides your name and the fact that I'll be wearing a ring - an idea I'm still trying to get used to, by the way - I don't think things'll be any different from how they are now."

"You think?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah. The only major difference is that when you start talking incessantly, I won't think to myself, 'Wow, my girlfriend never shuts up," Luke said. "Instead, I'll think to myself, 'Wow, my wife never shuts up.'"

Lorelai wrinkled her nose and smacked him playfully on the stomach.

Luke smiled, then took her hand and kissed the top of it. "Wait, I wasn't done - and instead of looking at you and thinking, 'Man, she looks nice in those tight jeans,' I'll be able to think, 'Man, my wife looks nice in those tight jeans.'"

Lorelai giggled and leaned forward to kiss him. She smiled and said, "Much better." She kissed him again before she sat back up and leaned against the headboard. "So, things will be the same."

"Yeah."

"Well, until we have a kid, anyway," Lorelai added. "Then, obviously, things will be different."

"Yeah, of course," Luke replied. "But we're both ready for that change. . .we know things will be different, we're prepared to deal with it."

Lorelai smiled. "And that'll be a good kind of different." She reached for his hand and laced her fingers through his. "That'll be like adding hot fudge and whipped cream to a bowl of ice cream, you know? It changes things, but in a good way."

"Exactly the analogy I was thinking of," Luke said, rolling his eyes.

Lorelai smiled. "I thought so."

He unlaced his fingers from hers and rested his hand on her knee. The warmth of his hand against her skin made her realize how cold she was, and she pulled the blanket up over her legs. He kept his hand under the blanket, and she smiled at him. "Don't go getting frisky under there."

He smirked as his hand moved gently up and down her leg. "So. . . have you thought of any good honeymoon spots?"

"Not really," Lorelai replied. "You?"

"I've been thinking about it, but I haven't really come up with anyplace good yet," Luke replied.

"It doesn't have to be fancy," Lorelai said. "I mean, the definition of a honeymoon is a vacation by two people who were recently wedded. Whether it's a two month excursion to Europe or two days at a hotel in Hartford, it's still a honeymoon. . .it really doesn't matter to me where we go."

"Well, keep thinking about it and we'll try to pick someplace this week," Luke said as he pulled his hand out from underneath the blanket.

Lorelai smiled. "You know what would be cool? If we consummated the marriage at the same place we consummated the relationship."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm sure your mother would let us do that."

Lorelai laughed and brought her hand to her ear, pretending that she was on the phone. In a deep voice, she said, "Hello, Emily? Yeah, this is Luke. I was wondering if it'd be okay if we came over after the wedding and used Lorelai's old bedroom to have sex. . .you know, like that time we broke into your house while you were away." Lorelai paused a moment as if waiting for a response, then she gasped. "No, you cannot watch!" She pretended to hang up the phone on the bed.

Luke smiled and shook his head slightly. "Okay, that's one conversation I can guarantee will never happen."

Lorelai shuddered. "Ew, now I have this image of my mom poking her head through the door and commenting on our sexual positions."

"You're the one that brought the scenario up," Luke reminded her as he pulled the blanket up over his legs.

"I know, I know, it's my fault," Lorelai replied, waving him off. "New topic, quick!"

Luke yawned. "Let's talk about going to sleep."

"No, not yet, come on," Lorelai whined. She patted him on the chest and said, "Ooh, I know! Let's play 'What would you do?'"

"No, thank you." Luke rolled his eyes. "That game gets annoying."

"Come on, just for a few minutes," Lorelai begged. "Please, pretty please?" She frowned and added, "I love you."

Luke sighed. "Fine."

Lorelai smiled and sat up straight. "Okay. What would you do if. . .you came home one day and found out that I had bought a puppy?"

"Uh, I'd give you ten minutes to take it back to the store," Luke replied.

Lorelai frowned. "A cute, furry, adorable little chocolate Labrador puppy named Brownie?"

"Back to the store," Luke repeated sternly.

"Aw, poor Brownie," Lorelai said, shaking her head sadly. She patted Luke on the shoulder. "Your turn."

Luke sighed. "Uh, what would you do if. . ." He gestured aimlessly with his hands as he tried to think of a question. "I don't know, I'm not good at thinking up questions."

"Sure you are," Lorelai encouraged him. "Just try to come up with anything, it doesn't have to make sense."

Luke thought for a moment, then smirked. "What would you do if I refused to marry you until you gave up coffee?"

Lorelai smiled slyly. "Easy - I'd secretly hypnotize you into thinking that coffee was actually water so that every time I was drinking coffee you'd think it was water, thus believing that I had given up coffee for good."

"Very imaginative," Luke commented.

"Thank you." Lorelai smiled. "My turn. What would you do if I refused to sleep with you from now until we were married?"

Luke let out a small laugh. "Well, uh, then it'd be my turn to secretly hypnotize you into . . ." His voice trailed off as he gestured to her.

Lorelai raised her eyebrows suggestively. "Being your love slave?"

Luke shrugged. "Well, if you wanna put it that way, then sure."

Lorelai laughed. "Nice. You know, it's cool how we suddenly have these hypnotic powers."

"Yeah, they come in handy," Luke agreed.

Lorelai smiled and nudged his arm. "Okay, your turn."

Luke took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "What would you do if . . .I told you that I'm already tired of playing this stupid game?"

"I'd pretend to be deeply offended, and then tell you to come up with a better conversation topic," Lorelai replied.

Luke slid his body down so his head was on his pillow, and he rolled onto his side. "I'll sleep on it and get back to you."

Lorelai frowned and poked him in the back a few times. "You're really going to bed?"

"Yes, now stop poking me," he grumbled.

"No goodnight kiss?" Lorelai asked, leaning over his body. Luke lifted his head slightly and kissed her, then resumed his sleeping position as Lorelai climbed out of the bed. "I'm not tired yet, I'll be downstairs."

"Okay," he replied. "Can you hit the light?"

Lorelai turned out the light before she walked out of the bedroom and pulled the door closed behind her.

. . .

The next afternoon, Lorelai and Rory walked into the diner. After scanning the seating area and not seeing Luke, they walked to the counter and sat down. "Luuuuuke," Lorelai called toward the kitchen.

Rory nudged her. "Mom, shh, people are eating."

Lorelai snickered. "So?"

"So they don't need to hear you screaming in the background," Rory told her. "They want to enjoy a nice peaceful meal."

"Oh." Lorelai nodded understandingly, then turned toward the kitchen and called, "Luke, come out here, I need to talk to you!"

Rory rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Okay, I guess I'm just talking to myself here."

"Luke, can you hear me?" Lorelai called.

Luke walked out of the kitchen with a dishtowel draped over his shoulder. He gave her an annoyed scowl. "Yes, I can hear you. Everyone in Connecticut can hear you. What's your problem?" He nodded toward Rory. "Hi Rory."

Rory smiled. "Hey Luke. I tried to make her stop yelling."

"I appreciate that," he replied.

"Did you ask Jess yet?" Lorelai asked him.

"Not yet," he replied. "I'll do it later."

Lorelai shook her finger at him. "Okay, don't forget." She pulled a folded up piece of paper out of her purse and handed it to him. "I got this from Taylor."

"What did you do to him now?" Luke asked. "Is this the form declaring your banishment from the market?"

"Just open it," she instructed. Luke unfolded the paper and began reading through it. "Everything you wanted to know about getting a Connecticut marriage license," Lorelai announced.

Luke nodded. "I see that. Why did Taylor have it?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I mentioned in casual conversation last week that we needed to get one of those marriage license things and he got this for me from the clerk's office."

"Oh." Luke looked back down to the paper and read, "Both individuals must have a valid State of Connecticut blood test taken." He looked up and gave Lorelai a questioning look.

"To check us both for syphilis," Lorelai informed him. "And to check me for some measles-type thing."

Luke nodded and glanced back down at the paper. "Both parties must apply in person to the town clerk. . .blah blah blah. . .bring the date of the marriage, names, address, telephone number. . .blah blah blah. . . .thirty dollars for the cost of the marriage license. . .blah blah blah. . ." He shrugged and handed it back to Lorelai. "So, I guess we both have to get blood tests."

Lorelai nodded. "Yup. We'll have to call on Monday and make appointments. Taylor gave me some forms that have to be filled out, and he said it'll take about a week for them to be approved, so we have to get on it as soon as we can."

"Right, we should - " Luke was interrupted by the phone ringing behind him. "Hold on a second." He walked over to the phone and answered it, "Luke's. . . oh, hey. . .Nah, it's not too busy right now, don't worry about it. . ." Luke leaned against the doorframe, and Lorelai and Rory listened on. "Tonight? No, I don't think so. . .hold on." Luke covered the receiver and nodded toward Lorelai. "Hey, we didn't have any plans tonight, did we?"

"Yeah, we were gonna go into the bathroom and turn out the lights and say Bloody Mary thirteen times to see if we can summon a ghost," Lorelai replied.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Besides that?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Nope."

Luke brought the phone back up to his ear. "Yeah, I'm free. . . okay. . . six o'clock. . . I'll be there. . .see you later." Luke hung up the phone, then walked back over to Lorelai. "I'm meeting up with John tonight."

"Cool," Lorelai replied.

"Who's John?" Rory asked.

"A friend," Luke replied.

"Luke's lover," Lorelai said. "We're in a very open relationship. We're both free to date other men."

Luke shot Lorelai an annoyed look, then turned to Rory. "John's just a friend from high school."

"They met in the shower after gym class one day," Lorelai said. "Apparently, one of them dropped the soap and got more than he bargained for when he bent over to pick it up. They've been hiding their relationship ever since."

Rory smacked Lorelai on the arm. "Ew, gross, Mom!" she exclaimed, making a face. "Luke, make her stop."

Luke rolled his eyes at Lorelai. "Will you knock it off?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lorelai said, shrugging nonchalantly. "Was I not supposed to tell her?"

"I don't know," Luke said. "Am I not supposed to tell her that you have a recurring dream about dating the guy from - "

"Stop, don't say it!" Lorelai interrupted loudly.

". . . Saved by the Bell?" Luke finished.

Lorelai gasped and slapped her palm on the counter. "Not fair! I was only joking around, I didn't tell her any real secrets!"

Luke smirked and shrugged. "Oops, sorry."

Rory laughed and nudged Lorelai with her elbow. "Oh my God! Which guy? Zack? Slater?"

Lorelai stood up and glanced at her watch. "Wow, look at the time." She grabbed her purse. "We better get home in case some Jehovah's Witnesses decide to come by."

"Not Screech!" Rory exclaimed with a laugh. "Oh my God, please tell me it's not Screech." As Lorelai started walking to the door, Rory turned to Luke and asked, "It's Screech, isn't it?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know his name, but it's apparently some older bald guy."

Rory's eye widened, and she turned around and gasped. "Oh my God, Mr. Belding!" she exclaimed. "You have dreams about Mr. Belding?" Lorelai ignored her and walked out the door, and Rory laughed as she jumped off the stool. "Bye Luke. Thanks for the great mocking material."

Luke smiled. "You're welcome." As Rory walked across the diner and rushed out the door, Luke walked to the kitchen doorway and called, "Caesar, I'm going upstairs for a few minutes."

Luke climbed the staircase and walked down the hallway to Jess' apartment. He was about to turn the knob, then thought better of it and knocked on the glass. "Jess, it's me."

"Wait a second, I have to hide the drugs and the hookers," Jess' voice called from inside the apartment.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Jess, come on."

"It's open," he called back.

Luke walked into the apartment. Jess was lying on the bed reading a book, and he lowered it to look up at Luke. "Time for the weekly surveillance?" Jess asked. "How's it look?"

Luke looked down at the clothes and books strewn across the floor. "Better than last week," he observed.

Jess smirked and went back to reading his book. Luke shoved his hands into his pockets. "So, listen, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Jess sighed and lowered the book again. "What?"

"Uh, Lorelai and I set a date for the wedding," Luke told him.

"Good for you."

"It's September first," Luke added. "Of this year."

Jess nodded. "Huh."

Luke glanced down at the floor and shifted his feet uncomfortably. "And I. . .was sort of thinking that maybe you'd be. . ." His voice trailed off.

"Busy that day?" Jess offered.

"No. . . in the wedding," Luke finished.

Jess narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Yeah, Rory and Sookie are the bridesmaids, and I was thinking that you and my friend John could be the. . .whatever the hell the guys are called," Luke said, gesturing aimlessly with his hand as he searched for the word.

"I don't know." Jess shrugged and shook his head slightly. "What would I have to do?"

"You wouldn't have to do anything," Luke said. "You'd just wear a suit and stand up there during the ceremony. It's a pretty simple process. I mean, you were gonna come anyway, weren't you?"

"Yeah, probably," he said slowly.

"So. . .now instead of sitting and watching the ceremony, you stand up and watch the ceremony," Luke said with a shrug. "No big deal. What do you say?"

Jess shrugged. "I guess I could do that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Luke gave him a small smile. "Good. . . good. Thanks." Jess nodded and turned his attention back to his book. Luke took a few steps backward toward the door. "Okay, I'm gonna get back downstairs."

"See ya," Jess said, not looking up from the book. Luke nodded and walked out of the apartment.

. . .

That night, Luke walked into the house slightly after nine, and Rory and Dean were on the couch watching television. They both looked toward the door as Luke closed it. "Hey Luke," Rory said.

Dean nodded toward Luke. "Hey."

"Hey," Luke replied. He dropped his keys and wallet on the hallway table, then gestured toward the steps. "Upstairs?"

"My room," Rory replied.

Luke narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"She's using the computer," Rory told him.

"Oh, thanks." Luke turned and walked toward Rory's bedroom. He knocked lightly on the doorframe. "Hey."

Lorelai, sitting at Rory's desk, turned around and smiled at him. "Hey you. Come in, sit down."

He walked over and kissed her, then sat down on the edge of Rory's bed. "What are you doing? You hate using the computer."

Lorelai glanced at the monitor. "I know, but I was checking out this wedding website Sookie told me about last week. It gives tips and suggestions about centerpieces and favors and stuff like that."

"Find anything good?" he asked.

"Actually, yes, I did," Lorelai said. "You know how Sookie had the Jordan almonds wrapped up as favors?" Luke nodded, and Lorelai continued, "Well, I was thinking we could get these little white heart-shaped boxes and fill them with a couple of heart-shaped chocolate truffles. What do you think of that?"

Luke shrugged. "Sounds okay."

"And we can write our names and the wedding date on the box in some sort of nice calligraphy or something," she added. "Wouldn't that be pretty?"

"I guess so," Luke said, shrugging with uncertainty.

Lorelai smiled and patted him on the arm. "Is the whole idea of making wedding favors too crafty for my manly man to even think about?"

Luke nodded. "Definitely."

Lorelai waved him off. "Fine, new subject. What did you and John do?"

"Uh, not much," Luke replied. "Played a little basketball, watched some TV, just hung out."

"Did you ask him about the wedding?" Lorelai asked.

"Yup, he said yes," Luke said. "Him and Jess are both in."

Lorelai smiled and clapped her hands together excitedly. "So that's it - we have our wedding party. Aren't you excited?"

Luke smiled. "Yeah, it's pretty cool how it's all coming together."

"Oh, and I asked Babette about using her yard and she's totally fine with it," Lorelai said. "I knew she would be, but I just wanted to check."

"Right," Luke said.

"And my mother called," Lorelai said with a small roll of her eyes. "She got in touch with her invitation guy. One day this week, after we have the guest list ready, we have to go to his studio in Hartford and pick out the invitations. Of course, my mom insisted on coming with us since she's paying, but hopefully it won't be too bad."

Luke nodded. "Sounds good." He stood up and clasped his hands together. "So. . .things are moving along."

Lorelai stood up and took a step toward him. "Yup." She leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He rested his hands on her waist as he eagerly returned the kiss. When she finally pulled away, she only had a moment to catch her breath before he pulled her closer and kissed her again.

Lorelai smiled through it and said, "Let's go upstairs."

Luke raised his eyebrows. "Rory and Dean are in the living room," he reminded her.

Lorelai shrugged. "Well, we'll have to be very quiet, then. Come on, I love a challenge." Lorelai took his hand and led him out of the bedroom.

. . .

The next afternoon, Lorelai and Rory were sitting on the bench in the gazebo, each holding a takeout cup of coffee from the diner. As they talked, they both kept an eye on Sookie and Jackson's house, waiting for them to arrive home from their honeymoon.

"We should've offered to pick them up," Rory said. "Then they wouldn't have had to leave their car at the airport all week."

Lorelai shrugged. "Too late now." She took a sip of her coffee, then asked, "So what time did Dean leave last night?"

"Um, right after the movie was over," Rory replied. "I think it was a little after ten."

Lorelai gave her a sly smile and nudged her with her shoulder. "And you were actually watching the movie the whole time, right?"

Rory gasped in mock offense. "Why, I'm shocked at what you're insinuating!" She rolled her eyes and added, "Besides, I'm not the one who woke up with a mark on her shoulder that looks remarkably like the same size as Luke's mouth."

Lorelai glanced down at her shoulder and smirked. "Oh, you saw that, did ya? Maybe wearing a tank top wasn't the best way to hide it." She tried to cover the small bruise by draping her hair over her shoulder.

Rory shook her head slightly and made a face of disgust. "Ugh, I can't believe my mother has a hickey. Really, isn't there a law that says you're supposed to hide that from your child?"

Lorelai narrowed her eyes in thought, then shrugged. "You know, I'm not sure. . . we could ask Taylor later, though. I bet he has all the laws memorized."

Rory took a sip of her coffee, then grimaced. "You know, as much as I love it, this isn't the most refreshing beverage when it's ninety-four degrees out."

"Yeah, I know," Lorelai agreed. "We need to get some of those iced coffees or something."

Rory fanned herself with her hand. "Man, it's hot out here. I feel like running through a sprinkler or jumping in a pool or something."

"You wanna go wait for them in Luke's in the air conditioning?" Lorelai asked.

Rory nodded. "Yeah." They stood up and walked down the steps of the gazebo, and headed toward the diner.

. . .

Ten minutes later, as they stared out the window of the diner, they saw a familiar SUV pass by, and they both jumped up from the table. They rushed out of the diner toward Sookie's house, reaching it just as Sookie and Jackson were climbing out of the car.

Sookie giggled excitedly when she saw them. "Hey, there're my girls!" She opened her arms, and Rory and Lorelai both hugged her at the same time.

Lorelai stepped back from the hug and smiled at Sookie. "So, how was it? You look great."

"Yeah, I can't believe how tan you are!" Rory exclaimed. "You must've been outside the whole week."

"Oh, we practically were. The weather was fabulous the entire time we were there," Sookie said.

Jackson walked over to them and put his arm around Sookie. "Aloha. How are you guys?"

"Hey Jackson." Lorelai smiled. "You're looking pretty tan yourself, there."

Jackson looked down at his arms. "Yeah, I did get some color, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you're giving the Baywatch babes a run for their money," Lorelai said, nodding enthusiastically. "So a good time was had by all?"

"Definitely. It was incredible." Sookie gestured to the house. "Come on, you wanna come in?"

Lorelai waved her off. "Oh, not right now. We just wanted to welcome you home, but we'll let you guys get settled in. I'm sure you're both tired from the flight."

Jackson nodded. "Yeah, I'd say a nap was definitely in order."

Lorelai smiled. "See, you guys go get some rest. Call us when you're ready to make us jealous with all the details of the trip."

Jackson smiled. "We will."

As Jackson walked to the trunk to get the suitcases, Rory hugged Sookie. "I'm glad you had a good honeymoon, Sookie."

"Thanks, honey," Sookie replied. Rory pulled back and walked toward the back of the car to say goodbye to Jackson.

Lorelai hugged Sookie tightly. "Me too, Sookie. I'm glad you had fun."

"Thank you." As Sookie pulled back, she was smiling, but she soon narrowed her eyes with concern. "Ooh, what happened there?" she asked as she pointed to the small bruise on Lorelai's shoulder.

Lorelai glanced down at it and giggled. "Foreplay." She glanced back at Rory, then turned to Sookie and lowered her voice. "There's a matching one on my thigh, and Luke has two on his stomach and chest."

Sookie smiled. "Ah, gotcha. Been there, done that."

"Yeah, you know how it is," Lorelai said. She rubbed Sookie's shoulder and smiled. "I'm so happy you're back."

"Me too!" Sookie rubbed her hands together excitedly. She giggled and added, "Why are we talking like I've been gone for a year?"

"Because it felt like a year in Stars Hollow time," Lorelai said, smiling. She gasped and added, "Ooh, guess what? We finally picked a date - September first is the wedding."

Sookie's eyes widened. "September first? Wow, that's so soon."

Lorelai nodded. "Yes, we know, so start planning the food."

Sookie nodded. "Will do."

As Rory walked back over to them, Jackson carried some suitcases toward the house. "Bye guys," he called over his shoulder.

"Bye Jackson." Lorelai shoved her hands into her pockets and smiled at Sookie. "Okay, we'll let you go get settled in."

"Okay," Sookie said. "See you girls later." She walked up the pathway to the house and followed Jackson inside.

Lorelai and Rory turned around and started walking down the street. "Are we going back to the diner?" Rory asked.

"Nope, video store," Lorelai told her.

. . .

Twenty minutes later, they walked into the diner and up to Luke at the counter. He looked up from the order pad he was writing on as Lorelai held up a plastic bag. "What's that?" Luke asked.

"Movies," Lorelai replied. She set the bag on the counter and started taking them out. "Three awesome movies - Betsy's Wedding, The Wedding Singer, and Father of the Bride."

Luke smirked. "I'm sensing a theme."

Lorelai smiled and pulled one last movie out of the bag. "And one purely for mocking purposes. . .The Wedding Planner."

"But getting to watch Matthew McConaughey makes up for having to watch Jennifer Lopez," Rory pointed out.

Lorelai nodded in agreement. "Definitely."

"And we're going to watch all these in one day?" Luke asked.

"No, they're for throughout the week," Lorelai told him.

"Ah, right."

Lorelai loaded the movies back into the bag. "Okay, we're going home. Me and Rory are gonna start working on the guest list, and then you can look it over and add to it later."

"Or remove from it," Luke added.

Lorelai smirked and took a few steps back from him. "Goodbye."

"Bye Luke," Rory said.

"See you later."

. . .

When Luke arrived home that night, Lorelai and Rory were outside on the front porch steps. Rory was writing in a notebook as Lorelai dictated what to write. He climbed out of his truck and walked over to them, and Lorelai stood up to greet him with a kiss. "Hey." She sat back down and patted the space next to her.

"Hey." He exhaled slowly as he sat down next to her. "I'm beat. What are you doing out here?"

Lorelai took the notebook from Rory and flipped back a few pages. "We've been working all night on making lists of what needs to be done for the wedding."

"Like?" Luke asked.

Lorelai looked down at the notebook. "Okay, well, we broke it down into levels of importance, so these are the things we need to do within the next few days - the guest list, the invitations, book the reverend, get the blood tests for the marriage license, pick a honeymoon destination, and get the dresses." She looked up. "Now, some progress was made because we started the guest list, so that's almost done. You just need to look it over, and then I can call my mom and tell her we're ready to meet with her invitation guy."

Luke nodded. "Okay. Do you have it in there?" he asked, pointing to the notebook. Lorelai nodded and turned the page. She handed it to Luke, and he looked it over. After a few seconds of reading it, he rolled his eyes and looked up at her. "I think we can eliminate the Osbournes and the original cast of Three's Company from the list."

Lorelai frowned and handed him the pen. "Fine, cross them off."

Luke took the pen and obliged, then continued reading through the list. Halfway through, he raised his eyebrows with surprise. Lorelai noticed the reaction and glanced at Rory, who shrugged slightly. Lorelai turned back to Luke and cleared her throat. "Uh, something wrong?"

Luke kept his eyes on the paper as he said, "No, not really. . .I just wasn't expecting to see Chris and Sherry on here."

Lorelai bit her bottom lip nervously. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's okay," he replied.

"I mean, Rory and I talked about it for awhile, about whether to invite them or not, and we finally thought that it'd be the nice thing to do," Lorelai explained. "And they might not even wanna come, who knows? But, we thought that extending an - "

"Lorelai, it's fine," Luke interrupted as he looked up from the paper. "You can invite them if you want. I don't care."

"Are you sure?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, only if you think that he's. . .ya know, not gonna cause any trouble or. . ."

Lorelai shook her head. "He won't."

Luke stared at her dubiously for a moment, then looked back down at the paper. He read the last few names, then nodded. "This seems okay. How many people are on here? Did you count?"

"Yeah, I think it was like twenty-seven or something like that," Lorelai said.

Luke nodded, then wrote in a few more names at the end of the list. "Just added a couple friends," he said as he handed the list back to her.

Lorelai looked down at it and nodded. "Okay, so, we just have to go through and write out all the addresses and then we'll be all set. We need to get the invitations out this week."

"Can they make them that fast?" Luke asked.

Lorelai nodded. "This guy my mother knows is really good. She said it'll only take a day or two."

"Okay." Luke stood up and stretched his arms over his head. "I'm going inside. You guys coming?"

"I am," Rory replied, standing up.

"Me too," Lorelai said. She stood up and they followed Luke into the house.

. . .