2022 A/N: I've spent the last few weeks going through all the old chapters of this fic to rewrite and proofread them, which hopefully fixed up any typos and gave some improvement to the story. Because I added more words to the already pretty lengthy chapters, I have broken them up some to make for an easier read. The storyline is basically still the same, just with added dialogue and exposition. What was chapters 1-9 are now chapters 1-15, 16 being a brand new chapter. A quick catch up for anyone reading this for the first time since I removed all my old rambling authors notes, this story takes place after 'Concert Interruptus', and from there will make its way through till the later half of season one.
Luke stood in the Woodbridge hardware store as he flipped through his small notepad, double checking the measurements he had taken earlier. He placed the notepad in his back pocket then reached out, grabbing several pieces of flat shelving from the store shelf. He placed them into his cart gently so as not to cause them any harm, then he stepped over and gripped the cart's handle as he walked. Once he reached the end of the aisle, he stopped quickly to avoid an oncoming cart.
"Oh." A woman pushing the cart said, stopping hers just short of a collision. "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."
"That's alright." Luke said, glancing over at her as she backed her cart away to give him room to come through. He squinted his eyes slightly, suddenly coming to the realization of who the woman standing in front of him was. "Anna?"
Anna looked up from her cart, finally giving him a good look. "Luke?" She said, surprised.
"Ah, yeah. Hi." He said, not knowing what else to say at the moment.
"Hi." She replied, kindly. "Wow, it's been a while. How are you?"
"Good, good. How have you been?"
"I'm great."
"That's good." Luke said, nodding. "You got your haircut." He pointed out.
"Yeah, many times actually." She said, chuckling lightly.
"I mean it's shorter than it was. You always had that long hair." Luke said, awkwardly. "It looks nice."
"Thank you."
Luke stood quiet a moment, tapping his hand on his shopping cart. "I'm sorry, I'm just not really sure what to say."
"You're doing fine." Anna said, smiling sympathetically. "I'm not really sure what to say either. It's been a long time."
"Yeah, it has. I think the last time I saw you," Luke paused, taking a moment to remember back. "Must have been eight years ago?"
"Sounds about right." She said, the both of them getting quiet again.
"Well, ah, it was nice seeing you again." Luke said, getting ready to depart. He already felt he had made things weird enough.
"It was nice seeing you too, Luke." Anna said then just as she was gesturing to where she had made room for him to go around her, a little girl with glasses ran up and blocked his way.
"What do you think of this color for my room?" She asked, raising up a light purple colored swatch. "Or is it too out there?"
"No, it seems out there just enough. I think it would look perfect."
The little girl turned to Luke, noticing he had been standing there the whole time. "Who is this?" She asked, bluntly.
"This is my old friend, Luke."
"Hi." Luke said, observing the girl closely. It was strange, something about her seemed so familiar. He glanced away and towards Anna. "Your daughter?" He asked.
"Yes, this is April." Anna said, placing her hands on April's shoulders.
"Hi." April said, sweetly.
"April, that's a cool name." Luke said.
"Well, I was born in April, so it makes more sense than calling me May."
"That does make more sense."
Anna chimed in. "We should probably get going, we have to finish shopping so April can get home for bed."
"Right." Luke said, looking down at April. "You probably have school tomorrow."
"Yes." April answered, excitedly. "We are learning about the life cycles of plants in science class and our teacher is letting us plant a seed into a cup of dirt and watch it grow."
"Well, you wouldn't want to be tired for that."
"Definitely not."
"Bye, Luke." Anna said.
"Bye, Luke. Nice meeting you." April said, giving him a small wave.
"You too." Luke said, walking around them. He glanced back once he got a few feet away, watching as the young girl explained the exact stencil designs she had in mind for her mother to use on her bedroom walls. She had a determined look on her face as she spoke, it reminded him a lot of that same one expression his mom always had when she was doing something important. Just then a realization hit him, and he quickly looked away, hoping that would keep the idea out of his head. When it didn't, he looked back one more time at her before she and her mother disappeared into an aisle. He shook off the thought, hurriedly heading to the checkout counter to get out of there.
The day went on fairly slowly after he had left the store and got back to work at the diner. Luke couldn't help but think about what he had seen. His former girlfriend with a daughter, who closely resembled him, and at an age he could only guess was fitting to the timeline that they were together. But it couldn't be his daughter, that would be crazy. If she had been, Anna would have told him.
He thought even harder about that. Would she have? He knew things didn't end well between the two of them and that they had their problems while they were together, so it was possible she didn't want him involved in her life. But would she really use their failed relationship as an excuse to keep him from his own kid?
Lost in thought he didn't even notice the diner door fling open, or someone taking a seat next to the counter. Thinking deeply on his current dilemma, he just continued to stare at the rag in his hand.
"Cheeseburger, fries, and whatever pie you have." Lorelai said, while setting her purse down on the counter. When he didn't respond she looked over at him, noticing a distant look on his face. "Luke, Luke?!" She said, raising her voice the second time to get his attention.
"Geez, what are you yelling about?" Luke said, throwing his rag aside.
"I was talking to you and you completely ignored me."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to." He said, apologizing. "What were you saying?"
"I was ordering a cheeseburger-"
Luke cut her off. "Fries, and whatever pie I have." He said, writing it down and slipping the order back to Caesar.
"You were listening."
"No, I just know you well enough to know what you are going to order."
"I don't know if I believe that. Maybe you just have very specific premonitions."
"You think I have a psychic ability about what food you are going to order?"
"Hey, I don't hear you denying it."
"You got me." He said, sarcastically. "It's far more believable that I have Lorelai ordering premonitions, instead of knowing what you order every single day after five years."
"I knew it!" She said triumphantly, earning a small grin from him. "So, what were you so deep in thought about?"
"Oh, nothing, just thinking about some stuff."
"Stuff?" She asked, curiously.
"Yeah, I ran into an old friend today. It got me thinking about some things. Things that happened back when I knew them."
"Ah, that's always strange running into someone from the past. Were they a good friend?"
"Yeah, we knew each other for a couple years."
"Why'd you stop hanging out?"
"We broke up."
"Oh." Lorelai said, getting that strange feeling she had any time Luke brought up another girl, the feeling she denied as jealousy. "It was a girlfriend?"
"Yes, her name is Anna."
Lorelai looked down at the counter and nodded. "How did you two know each other, like how did you meet?"
"I met her at a party."
"What?" Lorelai said, smirking. "Why can I not imagine you at a party?"
"Well, it really wasn't my thing. A friend of mine talked me into it because I was having a bit of a rough time after my old girlfriend moved away again."
"Rachel?" She asked, getting a nod in return. "Well, that's one good way to get over someone."
"It definitely wasn't my idea to move on that quickly, but when you mix in moonshine, your decision making doesn't always come out as planned."
"Luke Danes, drinking moonshine? That is something I would have paid to see." She said, grinning ear to ear.
"That was the first and only time I ever drank it."
"How old were you then?"
"Ah, twenty-four."
"So, you went to a party, drank moonshine, and hooked up with her?"
Luke winced. "Please don't say hooked up."
"Sorry, so you had se-"
"Stop," Luke cut in before she could finish her sentence. "We did. But after that I took her out and got to know her before we really started dating." He said, walking over to Caesar when he noticed him holding out a plate. He took it from him before walking back and setting it in front of Lorelai.
"Why did you break up?" Lorelai asked, starting to eat her fries while they spoke.
"She wanted more from me than I was ready for at that age, and I didn't feel like I would ever want any more with her anyways, so I broke it off. Then a little while after that Rachel came back to town. I already knew her well enough to know it wouldn't be long till she left again, but against my better judgment I got back together with her. We just always had this connection I had never felt with anyone else. Every time she showed back up I would fall for her all over again. And while she was still here Anna stopped by the diner one day, I don't even know why she came by. At the time I thought maybe she was hoping to get back together, but as soon as she saw Rachel there with me she got really mad at me, in a way I had never seen her get mad at me before."
"Why would she get mad at you? You two were broken up."
"She was convinced that I had only broken up with her to get back together with Rachel, even after I told her she didn't even get back to town till after our breakup. She just stormed right out of the diner, and that was the last time that I saw her until today."
"Wow." Lorelai said, looking at Luke amazed. "You have quite a past."
"It sounds more exciting than it was." Luke said, just before the diner door flung open and Rory came inside. "Hey, Rory." He said, greeting her.
"Hey, Luke." Rory greeted back, walking over to the counter and looking over at her mother. "You ordered without me again!" She said, offended.
"You were taking too long." Lorelai defended.
"How long did you wait to order once you got here?"
"A really long time. Right, Luke?" She said, looking at Luke.
"Oh, yeah." He replied. "You actually waited till you got to the counter this time."
"Hey, not helping."
"Hey, not trying."
"I can't even look at you right now. I'm going to a table." Lorelai said, pretending to be offended as she picked up her plate and walked to a nearby table. "Bring some coffee over."
"If I bring you coffee you are going to have to look at me." Luke pointed out, already grabbing the pot and pouring a cup.
"I'll cover my eyes, just tell me when you're walking over."
Luke ignored that and walked over to her table, setting the mug down in front of her.
"Thank you." She said, grinning up at him.
"Y'know, you could drink something other than coffee for once?"
"I guess you have a point. How about you bring over some of your moonshine?"
Luke exhaled, walking back behind the counter and over near Rory. "What can I get you?"
"The usual." Rory replied.
Luke wrote it down and handed the paper to Caesar as he walked by. He watched as Rory went to turn around and walk towards their table, so he spoke up quickly to stop her. "Hey, Rory?"
"Yeah?" She answered, glancing back at him.
"Do you remember what grade you learned about the life cycles of plants?"
She looked at him oddly but answered anyway. "Second grade, I think. We got to grow our own plant in a cup."
He wrinkled his brow. "Not first grade, or kindergarten?"
"No." She said, shaking her head. "My first grade science teacher Missus Strickland would never allow us to do anything that fun. Mom and I actually had a theory that she was the wife of Mister Strickland from Back To The Future, because they had very similar traits. And kindergarten was really only basic stuff, like learning to write or adding single digit numbers."
"Okay, just wondering." Luke said, nodding. "You can go to your table now."
"Alright." She said, walking over to her table.
Luke stood frozen in place, his mind racing. If his hunch about her being in the first grade was actually correct, it just made his theory even more likely. There was also the possibility that she skipped a grade, which by how smart she seemed was entirely possible. Then he thought about the fact that he could see his family traits in that young girl. But it also could have been that Anna had a very specific type, maybe April's father was just a guy that looked a lot like him.
No matter how much he tried to reason with himself about it, he just couldn't shake the feeling that she could really be his daughter. He leaned back onto the counter behind him, exhaling deeply.
"Food's up!" Caesar said, startling Luke out of his trance. "Sorry, boss. Didn't mean to scare you." He said, holding the plate out to him.
"No, I'm fine." Luke said, clearly lying. He took the plate from him and walked over to the girls table, setting it in front of Rory. "Anything else?"
"Ah, my coffee." Rory said, surprised he had forgotten.
"Yes, right." Luke said, turning away from them. "Coming right up."
Later once Lorelai and Rory finished eating and doing their fair share at attempting to bug Luke, they headed back home for the night. As soon as they walked through the front door Lorelai kicked off her shoes and found her way to the couch, Rory following right behind her and flopping down next to her in their living room.
"Oh, god. I am stuffed." Lorelai said, setting her hand on her stomach. "I can't believe we talked Luke into letting us have three pieces of pie."
"No, we only talked him into giving us two slices and you stole my second one."
"Oh, yeah, that's right." Lorelai said, giving her a guilty smile.
"What do you think was up with Luke tonight?"
"What do you mean?" Lorelai asked, wondering if she caught onto how he was acting too.
"Well, the whole time we were there he seemed kind of out of it." Rory explained. "It was like his mind was in another place or something. And he asked me the strangest question about what grade I had learned about the life cycles of plants."
"What?" Lorelai said, confused. "Why would he ask you that?"
"I don't know, he just said it was something he was wondering about."
"That is weird." Lorelai said, crinkling up her nose curiously.
"So, you don't have any clue why he was acting so differently?"
"Well, I know why he was acting different. But it doesn't have anything to do with plants."
"What is it then?"
"He had a run in with an ex-girlfriend and I guess it put him in kind of a weird mood."
"Oh, sad." Rory said, sympathetically. "Were they really serious?"
"They dated for two years, then he broke it off because he didn't see it going anywhere."
"Do you think he is regretting his decision now that he saw her again?"
"I hadn't thought about that." Lorelai said, now wondering that herself. "The way he was acting about everything, it would make sense."
"Poor Luke."
"Yeah, poor Luke." Lorelai said while she started getting that same feeling from earlier back, the one she isn't calling jealousy.
The next day seemed to drag on as slowly as possible for Luke. Maybe it was because he couldn't sleep at all the night before, his mind spinning with the thought that April could be his kid. Not knowing if it was true alone was enough to drive him crazy. He only made it halfway through his work day before he caved and decided he couldn't wait any longer to find out. He had Caesar cover for him at the diner, then he drove over to the address he found for Anna in the phonebook. He didn't know what he would ask her, or even how he would take it if she did turn out to be his, but he knew he had to know the truth, and he had to know it now. He walked the steps of her porch and did a hard knock on her front door, stepping back a little as he waited.
Anna opened the door, looking surprised to see him standing there. "Luke?"
"Is April seven?" He asked, not wasting any time.
"Ah, yeah, she is." She said, leaning up against the doorframe and crossing her arms in front of her.
"We broke up in August. I remember because we had just been to the beach and a bunch of kids were having an end of the summer event. We got into a fight because I wanted to leave, you said you wanted to stay and that I was being too frigid."
"I remember."
"That was eight months before April was born." Luke said, getting a nod from her in response. "So, is she my daughter?"
Anna exhaled, standing back up straighter. "I really thought about telling you. I went back and forth so many times trying to decide if it was the right thing to do. Then I came by the diner to see you and see if I could find something that would give me my answer, and that's when I saw you there with Rachel. And that isn't the reason I didn't tell you, but after we got into that huge fight, I just never really thought about telling you again."
"This is ridiculous. How could you not tell me?" He asked, angrily. "She is my daughter!"
"You couldn't be a father, Luke. I had two years of proof in that matter."
"What makes you think that I wouldn't be a good father?"
"You hate kids."
"I don't hate kids." Luke defended.
"We couldn't go to the movies before ten o'clock at night in case there were kids in the theater."
"Well, kids talk during a movie. And they throw crap around, they run up and down the aisles, they're animals."
"We would move tables in a restaurant if they seated us near a family."
"Only if there was something crying or spitting up."
"You would flip out if you saw a woman breastfeeding in public, you couldn't stand to watch diaper commercials, and you had an unnatural hatred of Macaulay Culkin."
"Okay, fine!" Luke said, stopping her. "I hated kids. But I'm not that guy anymore."
"Eight years ago, you were that guy."
"It doesn't mean I would have been like that with my kid. I could be a father."
"You couldn't have been a father back then, I don't think you could even be one now."
Luke puffed a breath of air out. "What makes you think I couldn't be a father now?"
"You haven't changed at all since the last time I saw you."
"I have changed. What makes you think I haven't?"
"Luke, I still have friends in Stars Hollow. I ask them to keep tabs on you, that way I will know if April ever came and found you one day that I'd know you were really ready. And let me tell you, I don't think you are ready. And I can't have you involved in my kid's life if you are the same guy you were eight years ago."
"First off, April is my kid too. I have a right to be in her life. And second, I have changed."
"How have you changed? As far as I've heard you are still the same hermit living in his dad's office, pretty much hiding from the world, aside from a few monosyllabic conversations with your customers, and still repeating the same failed relationship with Rachel every time she rolls into town."
"Well, you're wrong." Luke said, sternly. "I've changed."
"How? Tell me what ways you're different from the Luke I already know, and maybe we can talk about you being involved in April's life."
Luke stood silent a moment, not being able to come up with a way he had changed. Then in a desperate measure he did something that he never usually would, he lied and said the one thing he could think of that would make her think he had changed. "I'm engaged."
"Really?" Anna said, shocked. "You, engaged to be married?"
"Yes, I am."
"Why haven't I heard anything about this? I know Miss Patty would have spread this news all over town the second she found out."
"We didn't tell the town. They don't even know we've been dating. But we're discussing when to tell them now that we know it's permanent."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Luke said, nodding. "Neither of us have had successful relationships in the past, and we didn't want the town looking over our shoulders waiting for us to screw it up again, so we hid it."
"What's her name?"
"Lorelai." Luke blurted out, saying the only name that came to mind.
"How long have you two been dating?"
"Little over a month, but we have been close friends for five years now."
"But you are still living in the office above the diner?"
"Only till we tell the town about us. After that I'm moving into her house with her and her daughter."
Anna raised an eyebrow. "She has a daughter?"
"Yeah. Her name is Rory, she's sixteen. That's actually why I was at the store yesterday, I was getting stuff to build her a bigger bookshelf. She loves reading."
"Wow, I can't see you willingly dating someone with a kid."
"Well, Rory is a great kid. Her dad has never really been around so I always felt like I should be another person she could depend on, other than her mother. I mean Lorelai would be more than enough of a support system for her because she's like some superhero when it comes to parenting, but I know it's always nice to have more than one person to lean on."
"I really didn't expect this, but it does sound like you have matured a lot since we knew each other."
"I have. And I can tell you that I would always be there for April, no matter what."
"I'm still not quite ready to let her know, I'd like to give it a little time, wrap my head around the idea of it more. Maybe I could get to know the person you have become, to make sure you are really ready to be a part of her life."
"I'll do whatever it takes to prove to you that I'd be a great father to April."
"Okay, we can give it a shot." Anna agreed. "I gotta get to work, but you can give me a call later this week and we can discuss things further."
"Alright, I'll talk to you then." Luke said, starting to leave.
"And Luke." She said, getting his attention again. "Good luck telling the town about your engagement, I'm sure they will be very happy for you."
"Thanks." Luke said, smiling lightly. "Bye, Anna."
"Bye, Luke." Anna said before shutting the door.
Luke found himself staring at her front door long past the point of her closing it, his legs not seeming to work at the moment. He had the strongest feeling that she was in fact his daughter, but it wasn't till she actually told him that he was right that it hit him. He was a father.
Finally able to move again, he turned around and walked in a robot-like state to his truck. He climbed inside and sat back in the seat, closing his eyes as he rested his head against the glass window behind him. The new revelation of having a kid momentarily fogged his memory, but then the reality of what he just did hit him all at once and his eyes widened open.
"Oh my god." Luke said to himself, kicking himself already for panicking and coming up with that ridiculous story.
It was a very tense drive back to Stars Hollow to say the least. He had gripped the steering wheel so tight the whole way, that he was almost certain he had caused some new wear on it. He pulled up into Lorelai's driveway, parking behind her jeep. He threw his truck into park and turned off the engine, looking over at her house.
Luke couldn't believe that he was about to go to his best friend, his only real friend really, and tell her the extremely idiotic thing he just did. It was embarrassing beyond belief. How do you even admit to someone that you just outed an engagement between you and them, especially when said engagement was a complete lie.
He took a deep breath then stepped out of his truck, walking towards the front door. He gave himself a few extra moments before he knocked. Inside he heard some fumbling around, then the door flung open.
"Luke, hi." Lorelai said, smiling sweetly at him.
"Ah, hi." Luke said, his words followed by silence when he couldn't even think of what to say next.
"Did you stop by just to say that?" She said, chuckling lightly.
"No." He said, shaking his head. "Ah, is Rory home?"
"No, she is at Lanes." Lorelai said, eyeing him curiously. "Why?"
"Do you mind if I come in? I gotta talk to you about something."
"Sure, come on in." She said, holding the door open enough for him to walk inside.
Luke stepped into the foyer, glancing around as she shut the door. "Can we sit?" He asked, gesturing toward the kitchen.
"Yeah." Lorelai said, walking him to the kitchen before they both took a seat on the dining chairs. She looked over at him, waiting for him to start. She could tell by his expression that something was really weighing on him, and it worried her. "Luke, what's going on?"
Luke shifted in his chair, leaning his arms on the table. "Ah, you know how I told you about me running into my ex, Anna?"
"Yes, I seem to recall the conversation we had yesterday." She said with a smirk.
"Well, I didn't really tell you everything about when I saw her again."
"Oh god." She said with a grimace. "Did you break out the moonshine again?"
"No! We only saw each other at the store." Luke said, pausing briefly. "But she wasn't alone."
"Was she with another guy? Is that why you are freaking out?"
"No, not another guy. She was with her daughter." Luke said, clasping his hands together nervously. "Seven years old, brown hair, cute little glasses, my nose."
"Wait a second, did you just say your nose?" She asked, getting a nod from him in response. "She is your daughter?"
"She is my daughter."
"Oh my god." Lorelai said, shocked. "You have a kid."
"I have a kid."
Lorelai sat with her mouth gaped open a moment, trying to speak but none of the noises coming out were words. "What? Why, why would she never tell you about this?"
"Anna wasn't sure I'd be a fit parent, so she didn't tell me about April. That's her name, April."
"I cannot believe this." She said, now angered about the situation. "How could she keep your kid away from you like that?"
"I don't know, I guess she thought it would be best."
"How?" Lorelai asked, defensively. "You deserved a chance to be a part of your daughter's life, and April deserved to have a father in hers."
"She said that I couldn't have been a father back then, that I wasn't cut out for it."
"That is nonsense. You would be a great father, Luke."
"Would I have been though?"
"Yes, you would have. And don't you even doubt that." Lorelai said, placing her hand on his arm. "Since the day you met Rory you have always been there for her. You showed up for her in all the ways her dad didn't and you had no obligation to do so."
Luke smiled, sitting quiet for a moment before he spoke again. "I really want to get to know my kid."
"Well, you know now. So, get to know her."
"It isn't that easy. Anna doesn't think I am evolved enough to handle being a parent. She didn't even plan on letting me be involved in April's life because she doesn't think I have changed enough since we knew each other to be a good father."
"That was like eight years ago, of course you've changed since then."
"No." Luke said, standing up from his chair and pacing the room. "No, I haven't changed at all. I'm still doing everything the same way I did eight years ago. I live in the same place, work in the same place, and I fall for Rachel every time she comes back into town only to be disappointed again when she leaves. I am the same exact person I was, only older."
"I don't think that's true."
"It is. It is and she knows it too."
"So, she isn't going to let you see your daughter because of it?"
Luke stopped pacing and set his hands on the back of the chair he had been sitting in, letting out an exhale before he spoke. "She wasn't going to."
"Wasn't?" Lorelai paused. "Did she change her mind?"
"She said she would consider it now that she knew I had changed."
"Okay, I'm confused." Lorelai said, losing track of what was going on. "You just said you didn't change."
"But I didn't tell her that." He said, taking a seat next to her again. "I sort of panicked when she said I couldn't see April, so I started making up lies about how I had changed."
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her that I was engaged." Luke paused, taking a deep breath. "To you." He said, wincing as he looked over at her.
"You said what?" Lorelai asked, surprised.
"I said that you and I were engaged. I know, it's crazy! But I was standing there freaking out and I kind of blurted out that I had gotten engaged, it was the first thing I could think of. Then she asked me to who and yours was the only name that came to mind because I had just talked to you last night about running into her. And I knew you having Rory might help win her over a bit, show her I could be a father figure." Luke explained, putting his hand to his forehead and rubbing it. "I'm so sorry, I just didn't know what to do."
"Luke, it's okay." Lorelai said, trying to calm him down. "If you had to tell her that so you could see your kid, then that's what you had to do."
"That isn't even the worst part. Anna used to live in Stars Hollow and she still has close friends that live here. They hear all the town gossip and tell it to her. She almost didn't believe me because they hadn't told her anything about us being together. So, then I told her we kept it a secret till we were sure it was serious and now that we are engaged we are going to tell everybody."
"Tell everybody?" She asked, Luke nodding back at her. "Like the whole town? Sookie, Miss Patty, Babette, all these people?"
"Yeah, I said we're telling them soon. But I know we can't do that, so I don't even know why I said it. I kept blurting out all these crazy things. More and more stuff would just escape out of my mouth and I don't even know where it was coming from." Luke ranted, working himself up again. "Hell, I even gave us a backstory."
"Wait, really? What was our back story?" She asked, wanting to know more.
"We don't have to talk about this, Lorelai."
"No, I'm curious."
"I said we started dating a little over a month ago. I knew I couldn't say any longer because I had heard you and that teacher broke up around then, and I didn't want our fake relationship to overlap with your real one. And I said how we were close friends for five years. And then I told her that after we told the town about our engagement I was gonna move in with you and Rory." Luke explained, pausing to look at Lorelai. "I must sound so insane to you right now."
"You do not sound insane." Lorelai said, giving him a reassuring smile. "You sound like a guy who would do anything to be a part of his kids' life."
"But this isn't me. I don't lie, I don't make up fake stories. One time my dad caught me stealing a candy bar at the store and I lied and said I must have been sleepwalking when I stole it. Five seconds later I caved and told him the truth. I still feel guilty every time I see a Butterfinger."
Lorelai smirked. "You should make up fake stories more often, you seem pretty good at it."
"Lorelai." He warned.
"No, seriously. If I had your storytelling capabilities, dinner with my parents would be a breeze."
Luke shook his head then shoved his face into his palms. "I don't know what I'm going to do. Now not only will she know I haven't changed, she can add 'big fat liar' to the list of reasons I'd be a bad parent."
"First off, you are not a big fat liar, you are a tall muscular liar. And second, you don't have to tell her you lied."
Luke moved his hands away from his face and glanced over at her, squinting his eyes. "What?"
"We just tell the town that we are engaged. Her nosey friends will hear and tell her about it, and then she won't think you lied."
"Lorelai, I can't let you do that. I'd be making you lie to everybody."
"I don't mind. You have done so much for me and Rory, the least I could do is help you get a relationship with your daughter."
"Even if I did let you do this, which is crazy, what's the point? Everyone will find out it isn't true eventually."
"How will they know?"
"They might figure it out when there isn't a wedding to go to. Unless you plan on having a fake ceremony, then pretending we are married the rest of our lives."
"Engagements don't always work out. We play along with it and make people think that we are together just long enough for you to get to know April before sadly, we break up. Pretend break up, that is."
"Lorelai, this is way too much."
"No, it isn't." She assured, putting her hand on her chest. "I promise you, we can do this."
Luke looked over at her, scrunching up his face in doubt. But what could he do? He needed this in order to have his daughter in his life. "If we do this, I don't want you lying to Rory or Sookie. I know how much they both mean to you and I don't want this to cause trouble between any of you."
"That sounds good to me."
"And if at any point you don't want to do it anymore, you just tell me, then we'll be done."
"That won't be necessary, but okay."
"Okay." Luke said, still mentally kicking himself for bringing her into this. "Are you sure we can pull this off?"
"I know we can." Lorelai said, smiling at him. "I'm gonna make sure you can see April."
"Thank you so much for this. You don't know how much this means to me." Luke said, sincerely.
"Hey, what are friends for?"
"Well, not this, that's why I'm thanking you." He said, the both of them smiling at each other before he stood up. "I should get back to the diner. I sort of ran out on my shift earlier, so Caesar is probably under water by now."
"Alright, I'll see you later."
Luke started to leave the kitchen then he turned back to her. "Hey, how about you and Rory come to the diner later for dinner? Fake fiancée's get everything on the house."
"Damn, if I would have known that sooner I would have gotten fake engaged to you a long time ago."
"Bye, Lorelai." He said, smiling at her as he started walking away again.
"Bye, cupcake." She teased, making him turn around again with an unamused look. "Just getting into character."
"Pet names aren't necessary."
"Okay." Lorelai said, pausing a moment. "Sweet cheeks."
Luke shook his head as he turned to leave again. "Goodbye, Lorelai." He called out as he left the room and exited the house.
On the ride back to his place his mind was swarming with a whole new set of things. Somehow yesterday he was just living his usual, rather uneventful life. Now today he was a father to a seven year old daughter, one he still had to fight to prove that he was fit to be in her life. And to top it off, he had roped Lorelai into some bizarre scheme where they had to pretend they were not only together, but engaged to be married. Sure, in the past he had definitely thought about the idea of one day being with her, though it being in this particular way wouldn't have crossed his mind in a million years. He still wasn't sure if it was a good idea getting her involved in his lie, and he could only imagine all the ways it might mess up things in their friendship, or even in their lives. Still as wrong as it felt, he knew that it might be the only way to get to spend some time with his daughter. So, no matter how embarrassing it had already proven to be, he was going to have to stick it out. The plan was already formed and there was no way to back out of it now. The only thing he could do was go on pretending and hopefully it would all work itself out in the end.