"It's Still There – part 14"

. . . . .

Lorelai walked into the diner and it was empty, so she stuck her head through the kitchen doorway looking for Luke. The only person back there was one of the weekend chefs, but when asked, he didn't know where Luke was either.

Lorelai checked the storage room, but it was empty, so she headed up the staircase to see if he had gone upstairs for something. As she walked down the hallway toward the apartment, the door opened and Luke walked out.

"There you are," Lorelai said from down the hall.

Her voice startled him and he jumped. "Lorelai. God, you scared me. What are you doing up here?"

"Looking for you," she replied as she walked up to him. "I need to talk to you."

Luke quickly pulled the apartment door shut, then put his arm around her and led her down the hall. "Okay, let's go downstairs and talk."

"What were you doing in there?" Lorelai asked.

Luke half-shrugged. "Oh, uh. . .just . . .you know, checking on Jess."

Lorelai stopped walking and eyed him curiously. "You're lying. Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying."

"Now you're lying about the lying," Lorelai declared. "I know you, Luke. I can tell when you're lying. What are you hiding in the apartment?" She gasped. "Nicole's in there, isn't she?"

Luke narrowed his eyes. "What? No."

"She is! You bought drugs from her and then you brought her up here to try them out together! Oh my God – is she in there passed out on the floor from an overdose?"

"No one's in there but Jess." Luke shook his head with confusion. "But wait, what are you talking about? I bought drugs from her?"

"Rory and I saw the little exchange you two had down in the diner earlier," Lorelai said accusingly. "She gave you an envelope or something and you gave her money. What the hell was that all about?"

Luke's eyes widened and he swallowed hard. He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced down at the floor.

Lorelai sighed. "Luke, just tell me what's going on so I can stop all these crazy thoughts about what it could be about."

He shrugged. "Nothing. It was nothing."

"No, I may not have the best eyes in the world, but I know the difference between nothing and something, and this definitely looked like something."

"Well, it's nothing for you to be concerned about."

Lorelai stared at him with pursed lips. "That's all you're gonna say about it, that it's nothing for me to be concerned about?"

Luke nodded.

"Uh huh. . .okay. . .well. . ." Lorelai clasped her hands together and forced a smile. "You know what? Um, I kinda don't wanna be near you right now, so I'll see you later." She started to walk away, but he gently grabbed a hold of her arm.

"Lorelai, come on," Luke said. "It's nothing for you to worry about, why can't you accept that and let it go?"

Lorelai pulled her arm out of his grasp. "I just really don't like that you're keeping this from me, whatever the hell is it."

"And I really don't like that you're bugging me about it," he retorted. "I told you it's nothing for you to worry about, why can't you just trust me and forget it?"

Lorelai scoffed. "So if you saw me do some kind of weird money/envelope exchange with some guy, you wouldn't wanna know what was going on? If I told you it was nothing, you'd just accept it and ignore it and forget all about it?" Luke glanced down and fiddled with his watchband. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Come on, Luke."

Luke shrugged and sighed. "I'm just. . .not ready to tell you yet, okay? I'll tell you in a few days."

Lorelai groaned. "You know what, just forget it." She walked down the hallway toward the staircase. "I'm going to the party now to eat a ton of cookies and explain to our unborn child how Daddy can be a real jerk sometimes."

Luke followed her down the steps to the diner. "Oh, so not telling you something makes me a jerk?"

Lorelai turned around to face him. "In this instance, yes, it does. I'm asking you about something, I expect you to tell me the truth about what's going on. As your wife, I think I have a right to know."

Luke snickered. "Oh, so when you get married, you automatically forfeit your individual right to privacy? I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that I had to divulge every single aspect of my life to you."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "You know what? You can have all the damn privacy you want tonight when you're sleeping on the couch!" She turned around and stormed out of the diner.

. . . . .

That night, Lorelai and Rory arrived home from the party just after eight. After hanging their coats up, Lorelai went right up to her bedroom, and Rory walked to the kitchen where Luke was sitting at the table. "Hey, Luke."

"Hey. You guys are home early."

"Yeah, Mom was tired. . . and pretty cranky."

"Because of me, I bet." Luke took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. "Am I right?"

Rory nodded and sat down across from him. "I'd say you were a major contributing factor, yes."

Luke sighed. "I figured."

"She's ticked that you're keeping something from her. You know how she is, she needs to know everything that's going on."

"Yeah, I know." Luke shook his head toward the cup of tea in front of him. "God, this would've worked out fine if she hadn't seen that thing with Nicole."

Rory hesitated a moment, then leaned forward. "Okay, I know this is none of my business, but can I ask you one thing about it?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know if Mom considered this at all during her time spent freaking out, but when she mentioned that you said you would tell her about it in a few days. . ." Rory lowered her voice. "It kinda occurred to me that it might have something to do with Christmas."

Luke nodded. "It does."

Rory nodded knowingly. "That's what I thought."

"I was trying to surprise her with something nice. I didn't think she'd get this crazy about it."

"I'm sure in the end she'll appreciate it, whatever it is." Rory paused. "Can I ask what it is?"

Luke reached into his back pocket and pulled out the envelope. "The first time I talked to Nicole, she mentioned she had a place in New York, and that reminded me that I wanted to get Lorelai theater tickets for Christmas. And I mentioned it to Nicole, and she said she knew this guy who was looking to sell some of his tickets to some musical and that they were pretty good seats. So I took her up on it."

He slid the envelope across the table to Rory, and she pulled out the tickets. "Urinetown," she read, then let out a laugh. "Interesting title."

"It's supposed to be pretty funny," Luke said with a shrug.

"There are four tickets here," Rory observed.

"Yeah. Me, Lorelai, you. . .and whoever you want to bring along," Luke said. "Dean, Lane, whoever. It was kind of a joint gift for you and your mom."

Rory smiled. "Aw, that's so cool, thanks." She put the tickets back into the envelope and slid it back over to him. "Luke, she's gonna love that. I even think she'll forgive you for trying to keep it a secret."

He sighed and picked it up. "I guess I should just go tell her about it now instead of trying to keep it from her for three more days."

Rory nodded. "That's probably a good idea, unless you were looking forward to sleeping on the couch."

"Not particularly."

"Okay, well, she's upstairs getting ready for bed."

Luke walked upstairs to the bedroom. He found Lorelai sitting on the bed, clutching a pillow to her chest, and when he saw that she was crying, he sighed softly. "Lorelai. . ."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Go away."

He sat down next to her. "This is insane. Are you gonna hate me until I tell you what's going on?"

"Maybe."

"Jesus, it's not something you should be crying over."

"Yeah, well, everything makes me cry nowadays," she snapped. "Which you know, and should thus try to take extra precautions not to upset me. But apparently you don't care about that at all."

Luke exhaled loudly. "God, Lorelai, you're making a freakin' mountain out of a molehill. Believe it or not, I was trying to do a nice thing for you here."

Lorelai scoffed. "Since when does keeping secrets from your wife constitute a nice thing?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh, I don't know, maybe when it has to do with me wanting to surprise you with a Christmas present."

Lorelai stared at him for a moment as the tenseness in her face and body slowly seemed to dissipate. Finally, in a small voice, she asked, "What?"

"Yeah, that exchange you saw was me buying one of your stupid Christmas presents." Luke tossed the envelope in her lap. "And apparently I'm a jerk for wanting to wait for Christmas to tell you about it."

Lorelai glanced down at the envelope, then slowly opened it and pulled out the theater tickets. Luke explained how he bought them from Nicole, and finished up with, "See, I told you it was no big deal. It's nothing to cry over, nothing to be mad at me for. It was just. . .a present. For you and Rory. I'm sorry it got you all upset."

Lorelai silently stared down at the tickets for almost a minute before she finally brought her gaze to Luke. She was crying again, and Luke could see the regret in her face. She swallowed hard and shook her head. "I'm the worst person in the entire world."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am. People are gonna wanna interview me and put me in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most horrible wife ever. Lorena Bobbitt was a better wife than I am."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "The one who cut off her husband's. . .uh. . ." He shifted on the bed and rested his hands uncomfortably in his lap.

She sighed and leaned back against the headboard. "I can't believe you went out and did the sweetest thing and I screamed at you and called you names and acted like some crazy woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown."

"You didn't know what was going on," he said sympathetically. "It's fine."

"It's not fine. I'm an evil, horrible woman." She covered her face with her hands and mumbled, "God, why do you put up with me?"

Luke moved closer to her and rubbed her leg. "Because I love you." He pulled her hands away from her face. "Because when you're not acting crazy and screaming at me, you're the most amazing person in the world."

Lorelai groaned toward the ceiling. "God, and here you go being nice and adorable even after I treated you like crap. Why do you do that?"

"What do you want me to do, treat you like crap in return?"

"Yes, because at least then it would serve as your revenge for me treating you like crap. But no, you have to go and be all nice and perfect and charming, so then it makes me feel even worse about how I acted." Lorelai sighed. "I suck."

"You don't suck, and I'm not trying to make you feel worse," Luke assured her. They talked for a few more minutes, ending with them agreeing to put it all behind them. Luke picked up the envelope. "So, do you like 'em at least? Because it'd be really bad to have just gone through all that and find out you hated the present."

"No, I love them, it's a great present." Lorelai kissed him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Lorelai glanced down at her stomach. "Baby, forget all that stuff I said earlier about Daddy."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Stop trying to get our kid to hate me every time you get mad at me."

"But it's fun. I feel like I have some sort of brainwashing power."

"Then brainwash it to hate Bootsy."

Lorelai giggled. "I think the baby will be able to form that hatred all on its own."

"True. Everyone else did."

"Okay, well. . .I'm gonna go get changed for bed." Lorelai pulled him into a hug. "I'm so sorry."

"It's forgotten. Now I know better for next year not to engage in secret present purchases where you can see 'em."

"And I know not to freak out when I think you're keeping something from me."

Luke pulled back and cocked his head doubtfully.

"Okay, I'll probably still freak out," she admitted. "But maybe not as much."

"Good." Luke kissed her, and they both went to get ready for bed.

. . . . .

In the afternoon of Christmas Eve, Lorelai and Rory went to the video store to stock up on holiday movies and candy, then walked toward the diner.

Lorelai glanced up at the cloudy sky, then patted Rory on the arm. "Can you feel it? It's gonna start real soon, I can tell. Tomorrow at this time, the whole town will be covered in one big white blanket of snow."

"We're gonna need donuts for tonight," Rory reminded her.

"We'll get some from the diner," Lorelai said as they approached the door. They walked inside and sat down at a table, and a few seconds later, Luke walked over.

"Hey." He leaned down and kissed Lorelai's cheek. "What have you guys been up to?"

Rory gestured to the bags on the floor next to her. "We got a ton of movies and candy for our annual Christmas movie marathon."

Luke glanced at the bags. "Wow, that's a lot of videos."

"It ain't called a marathon for nothing," Lorelai said. "We got all the classics."

"And Mom was freaking out because they didn't have the cartoon version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas," Rory said. "But then she saw some little girl walking around the store with it, so she lured her away from her mother and bribed her to let us have it."

Lorelai giggled. "I can't believe that woman never taught her kid not to talk to strangers."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Geez. How much did you give her?"

"Five bucks."

"Five bucks? You wasted five bucks just to get your hands on some movie you've probably seen a hundred times?"

"Yes. And I would've went higher, but thankfully this girl was cheap."

"She was six years old," Rory added. "Five dollars was like a hundred to her."

Luke folded his arms across his chest. "Okay, look, if you want us to be able to buy clothes and diapers for the baby when it comes, and be able to send Rory to college without having to sell the house, you can't just give away money like that."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "It was five bucks, Luke."

"Five bucks that we don't have anymore."

"Geez, you want the five bucks back? Here's how to do it." Lorelai pointed to the counter. "See that guy right there? Overcharge him for his meal. There's your five bucks. End of story."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Rory said.

Luke sighed as he pulled out his order pad. "What do you guys want?" They ordered their food and Luke walked away.

"I can't believe you're gonna abandon me in the middle of our movie marathon," Lorelai said, frowning at Rory.

"Sorry. What was I supposed to do, say no to Dean's parents when they invited me over for Christmas Eve dinner?"

"Yes. You could've said that you already had plans."

Rory shrugged. "I didn't want to be rude. I'll probably only be a couple of hours."

"You and Dean are gonna exchange presents tonight?"

"Yup."

"What do you think he got you?" Lorelai asked. "Ooh, maybe he made you a matching necklace to go with your bracelet." She glanced down at the leather bracelet on Rory's wrist. "For your sake, I hope not."

Rory frowned and clutched the bracelet to her chest. "Stop making fun of it. You know I hate when you do that."

Lorelai held up her hands innocently. "I'm not making fun of it."

"Yes, you are. You're so mean. I think it's beautiful."

Lorelai smirked. "I think you need to take a look at it from another angle."

Rory let out a laugh, but then scolded her. "Mom, stop. It's a sweet gift."

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "It is, it's very sweet, I'm sorry. I know how important it is to you. I'm just jealous because none of my boyfriends ever made me homemade jewelry." She frowned and let out a sad sigh. "Not even my husband. He just goes out and buys me expensive gorgeous things made of silver or white gold, never stopping to think of how special a present he could make from a leather strap and a bottle cap."

Rory rolled her eyes. "It's not a battle cap, it's a medallion. And this conversation is over."

Lorelai giggled and rubbed Rory's arm. "Sorry, no more making fun of it. It really is a very sweet gift. Let's be friends again."

"Okay." Rory picked up the bag from the video store. "Let's go through these and pick out the order we're gonna watch 'em in."

. . . . .

That night Lorelai and Rory were on the couch watching It's a Wonderful Life, and Lorelai kept glancing toward the window. "I can't believe it's not snowing yet," she grumbled. "Why do the weathermen suck so much?"

"Meteorology isn't an exact science," Rory pointed out. "There's a lot of guessing involved."

"Well, they shouldn't have gotten my hopes up for a white Christmas if they weren't positive we'd get one."

"There's still time," Rory assured her. "It still might snow tomorrow."

"But I wanted to sit outside and eat donuts in the snow tonight. I've been looking forward to it."

"You'll just have to look forward to it a little bit longer."

"But I don't want to," Lorelai whined. "I'm so tired of waiting." She saw Luke walking down the steps, and she frowned at him. "Hon, it's still not snowing."

"And sitting here whining about it's gonna help?" he asked dryly.

"Where have you been, Luke?" Rory asked. "You should know by now that the Lorelai Philosophy is that whining solves everything."

Lorelai stuck her tongue out at Rory, then turned to Luke. "What's that?" She pointed to the large plastic bag Luke was carrying.

Luke carried it past them and over to the Christmas tree. "Presents. I'm putting them out now with the assumption that you two will wait until tomorrow to open them." He paused and glanced at the girls. "Is that a stupid assumption?"

"Yup." Lorelai jumped up off the couch and rushed over to him. "What'd you buy, what'd you buy, what'd you buy?"

"You'll find out tomorrow." He started taking presents out of the bag and piling them under the tree.

"Come on, just let me open one." Lorelai grabbed one of the presents. "How about this one?"

Luke took it from her and put it back under the tree. "Forget it. You already got one of your presents."

Lorelai pouted. "But I didn't get to unwrap anything."

"Tough."

Lorelai folded her arms across her chest and watched him unload the rest of the presents. When he was finished, he stood up and crumbled up the shopping bag, then pointed to the gifts. "If either of you open any of 'em before I say it's okay, I'm taking 'em all back."

Lorelai gasped. "You wouldn't?" She turned to Rory. "Luke is giving us a gift ultimatum."

Rory nodded. "I heard - and by that look on his face, I don't think he's joking."

"No, I'm not." He headed toward the kitchen, and Lorelai followed him. He threw the bag in the garbage, then turned around to face her. He opened his arms and she walked into them, smiling to herself as he hugged her. He kissed the top of her head. "How ya feeling?"

"Good." She looked up at him and stifled a yawn. "Tired."

"Well, it's almost 11. That's late for you nowadays."

"Yeah, I know. I'm going to bed as soon as this movie's over." She kissed him gently. "Wanna come watch the rest of it with us?"

"Sure."

She kissed him again, then took his hand and led him back to the living room.

. . . . .

The next morning, when Lorelai's eyes fluttered open, the first thing she saw was Luke staring at her from his pillow. He'd been waiting for her to wake up for a few minutes, and he smiled when she finally did. "Hey."

Lorelai blinked a few times before a smile slowly formed on her lips. "Hey. Merry Christmas."

"You, too." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

"I've never woken up on Christmas with a man in my bed before ." She peeked under the covers and giggled. "And certainly not one with Santa Claus boxer shorts."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, you're never getting me to wear anything like this ever again, so don't get used to 'em."

"Aw, but they look cute."

"Never again," he repeated.

"Fine, I won't buy you anymore holiday underwear."

"Good." He gestured toward the window. "So. . .take a look outside."

"What? Why?" She propped herself up on her elbows to glance out the window, and she gasped when she saw that it was snowing. "Ooh!" She jumped out of bed and ran to the window, opening it up all the way.

"Oh, yeah, that's great," Luke commented. "Let all the heat out."

"Shh." She stuck her head out the window and stared out into the whiteness. The ground wasn't completely covered yet, but it was getting there. The random spots of grass that could still be seen poking through the thin layer of snow would be gone in a matter of minutes.

Lorelai sighed contentedly. "Oh my God, it's so beautiful." She stared out at it for a few more seconds before walking back to the bed and crawling into his arms. "It must've been that whining I did, it made the snow come."

"That must be it."

They were both quiet for a moment before Lorelai said, "You know what? This is probably the last Christmas we'll be able to just loaf around in bed like this. Next year we'll be taking care of the baby, and there won't be time for relaxing."

"So we should relax as much as we can this Christmas," he deduced, hugging her tighter.

Lorelai nodded in agreement. "Yeah." They lay there for a moment, then Lorelai jumped up. "Okay, that was enough. I'm gonna go see if Rory's up." She climbed off the bed, put on her robe and slippers, then hurried down the steps.

Luke got up and closed the window, then pulled on a T-shirt and sweatpants before heading down to the living room. He sat down on the couch to wait for the girls, and it wasn't long before they walked into the room. They were both carrying some presents that they set down under the tree, then Lorelai walked to the hall closet as Rory walked over to the couch.

"Hey, Luke. Merry Christmas." Rory leaned down and pecked him on the cheek, then sat down next to him on the couch.

"Yeah, you, too." He gestured toward the window. "I assume she showed you the snow?"

Rory smiled. "Yeah, that was the first thing she said when she walked into my room."

"I've never seen someone get so excited about precipitation."

Rory shrugged. "I don't get it either, but I've long ago come to just accept it."

Lorelai walked back in and put a few more presents under the tree. "Okay, that's all of 'em. Ready to start opening?"

"You don't wanna eat breakfast first?" Luke asked.

Lorelai scoffed and sat down on the floor next to the tree. "Rory, hit the music."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Guess I'll take that as a no."

Rory put on some Christmas music, then joined Lorelai on the floor. "Come on, Luke. Sit down." Luke walked over to them and reluctantly sat down on the floor, and Lorelai rubbed her hands together excitedly. "Okay, let's start."

. . . . .

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in a sea of torn wrapping paper and boxes and bows, surrounded by clothes, shoes, DVD's, CD's, books, and a bunch of other opened presents. There was only a couple more left to open.

Lorelai pulled a large box from under the tree and handed it to Luke. "This one's for you from me."

He set it down and unwrapped it, revealing the chess set that Lorelai had gotten him. "Wow, this is nice."

Lorelai smiled. "You like it?"

"Yeah, it's great. Thanks."

"I was telling Rory that your dad taught you how to play," Lorelai said.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, he did. He was really good."

"Mom was thinking you could teach us," Rory said.

"Sure." Luke set the box aside, then picked up a wrapped one and handed it to Lorelai. "Here."

She smiled and set it on her lap. "Ooh, it's heavy." She tore off the paper. It was a shoebox, and she opened it up to find it filled to the top with bags of peanut M&M's. She laughed. "Oh my God!"

Rory smiled. "Wow."

Luke smirked. "There. In case I forget 'em next time I go on a candy run, we'll always have some around."

"Aw, you're the best." Lorelai pulled out one of the packs and opened it, then tossed a few of the candies into her mouth. "What's next?"

Rory pulled a small box from under the tree. "This is for both of you from me."

Lorelai smiled and reached for it. She unwrapped the box, then opened it up and pulled out a glass ball tree ornament. It had a picture of a bride and groom on one side, and Lorelai read the words that were painted on the other. "Luke and Lorelai, Our First Christmas Together, 2002." Lorelai gasped softly. "Honey, it's so beautiful." She held it up to Luke. "Isn't that amazing?"

Luke smiled and nodded as he took it from her. "Yeah, it's great."

Rory smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

Luke looked it over, then held it out toward Lorelai. "You wanna do the honors?"

Lorelai took it from him, then stood up and hung it on the tree. She sat back down and wiped the small tears that had formed in her eyes. "Oh, that was too sweet. I love that, babe." She leaned over and kissed Rory on the cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

They exchanged the last of the gifts, then Lorelai glanced sadly at the tree. "I think that's all of 'em."

Luke stood up. "Actually, there's one more present I have to get from the truck."

"Ooh, who's it for?" Lorelai asked.

"You."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Ooh, yay!"

"Now it's not wrapped, so don't peek," he warned. "Wait until I get it in the house."

Lorelai covered her eyes with her hands and looked at him through the finger holes. "I can't see a thing, I promise."

Rory picked up one of her new shirts and covered Lorelai's head with it. "There you go, Luke."

"Thank you." He slipped on his shoes and coat, then walked out to the truck.

Lorelai pulled the shirt off of her head. "Do you know what he's bringing in?"

Rory smiled. "Yup."

"Tell me."

Rory rolled her eyes. "You're gonna see it in 20 seconds. You can't wait that long?"

"No!"

"Well, too bad."

"I wanna see." Lorelai started to stand up to look out the window, but Rory grabbed her robe and pulled her back down. Lorelai frowned and rubbed her backside. "Ow."

"Just wait."

Lorelai pouted, then grabbed the bag of peanut M&M's and ate some more.

A minute later, the front door opened and Rory jumped up to help Luke bring in the wooden rocking chair. He set it down near the door and brushed the snow off of it, then called, "Close your eyes."

Lorelai stood up and closed her eyes. "They're closed."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really really?"

"I swear."

"Check," Luke said to Rory.

Rory peeked into the living room, then turned back to Luke. "They look closed."

"Thanks for the trust, guys," Lorelai called.

They brought the rocking chair into the living room and set it in front of Lorelai.

"Okay, look," Luke said.

Lorelai opened her eyes, and they widened when she saw the chair. Her face broke into a wide grin. "Aw, just what I wanted!" She reached down and ran her hand over one of the arms of the chair. "Ooh, it's cold."

"It was outside all night," Luke said.

"Oh my God, I love it." She lifted up her pajama top. "Look, Baby, this one's for you. You got a present."

"Try it out," Rory said.

Lorelai sat down in the chair and rocked for a moment. "Ooh, nice and . . .rockingly."

Luke smiled, amused. "So, you like it?"

She stood up and kissed him. "I love it, thank you. It's definitely gonna get a lot of use."

"Good." He glanced at the mess on the floor. "I guess we should clean this up."

Lorelai glanced down at the floor and nodded, then patted him on the arm. "Yeah, you do that. I'm gonna go take a shower."

Rory picked up the cordless phone from the desk. "I'm gonna call Dean and wish him a Merry Christmas."

Both girls left the room. Luke sighed and started gathering up the wrapping paper.

. . . . .

That afternoon, Luke was in the kitchen checking on the ham for lunch when Lorelai walked in. He shut the oven door and smiled at her. "Hey. How was your nap?"

"Good." She walked over and hugged him. "The food smells great."

"It's almost ready."

Lorelai glanced out the back door window. "It's still coming down out there."

He turned to look. "Yeah. And it doesn't look like it's gonna be stopping anytime soon."

"Wanna go for another walk in it? The only thing better than a Christmas walk in the snow is a second Christmas walk in the snow."

"Maybe after lunch," he said. "What's Rory doing?"

She waved toward the living room. "She's in there reading one of her new books. I think one of the ones you got her."

"Oh, good. I'm glad she likes 'em. I wasn't sure what to get, so Jess gave me a couple of suggestions."

"Well, you done good," Lorelai said. "She's curled up in front of the fireplace reading away."

He finished preparing lunch, and soon all three of them were sitting around the table eating.

"Mm, this is great, Luke," Rory commented.

"Mmhmm," Lorelai muttered through her mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Glad you like it 'cause we're having the leftovers for dinner," Luke said.

"Fine by me," Rory said.

"I could eat your cooking everyday," Lorelai said.

"We do eat his cooking everyday," Rory reminded her.

Lorelai shrugged. "So, there, it wasn't a lie."

"What's the plan for the rest of the day?" Luke asked.

"Hm, watch more Christmas movies, gawk over what cool presents we got, lie around and eat lots of junk food," Lorelai said.

"Plus, don't forget, donuts in the snow tonight," Rory added.

"Right. We'll aim for midnight, but I don't know if my tired little body will let me stay up that late."

"Maybe if you take another nap," Luke suggested.

"Maybe." Lorelai took a bite of her food. "Hey, isn't there stuff in ham that makes you sleepy? That might help the napping process."

"That's turkey," Luke said.

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "Oh, yeah. So does that mean that live turkeys are tired all the time?"

"I don't know."

"You would think so, huh?"

"Next time I go to a turkey farm, I'll ask for you."

"Thank you."

They finished up their lunch, then moved to the living room to watch the next movie.

. . . . .

That night, it was almost 2 am when Luke woke up and realized he was alone in the bed. He assumed Lorelai was in the bathroom, but when she didn't return after a few minutes, he got up to go find her.

He walked downstairs and stopped at the bottom step. The living room was dark except for the glow of the Christmas lights on the tree. Lorelai had moved her new rocking chair next to the tree and was curled up in it, staring out the window at the snow.

She'd heard him walk down the stairs, and she glanced over her shoulder at him. "Hey."

"Hi. Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I just couldn't sleep."

Luke walked over to her and stood behind the chair. "Still snowing, huh?"

"Yup. I love just watching it fall to the ground. It's so peaceful. . .so magical."

"Yeah." Luke reached down and rubbed her shoulders. "So. . .good Christmas, huh?"

Lorelai smiled up at him. "Great Christmas. It was amazing." She stood up and hugged him. "Love you."

"You, too."

Lorelai kissed him, then patted the back of the rocking chair. "Here, sit." He did, and she sat on his lap and leaned back against him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his hands on her stomach, and they both stared out the window to watch the falling snow.

. . . . .

To be continued. . .

Thanks for reading. I hope that didn't come out too fluffy, but I wanted them to have a nice little Christmas. Feedback is appreciated. :)