"It's Still There – part 18"

. . . . .

On Tuesday morning, Lorelai and Rory ate breakfast at the diner, and after Rory had left for school, Miss Patty and Babette came over from their table.

"Hey, ladies." Lorelai gestured to the empty chairs at the table. "Wanna sit?"

They both sat down, and Miss Patty asked, "How have you been feeling lately, dear?"

"Pretty good, thanks," Lorelai replied. "I'm tired a lot, but other than that, everything's fine. I'm healthy, the baby's healthy. . .everything's good."

"Well, you certainly look good, doll," Babette said. "I swear, your boobs must've gone up two cup sizes!"

Lorelai smiled. "Well, uh. . .thanks for noticing, Babette. That's a nicer compliment than Michel telling me it looks like I swallowed a soccer ball."

Miss Patty waved it off. "Oh, just ignore him, honey. You look gorgeous as ever."

"Yeah, you've got that pregnant woman glow," Babette added. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Tell us, how's Rory holding up?"

"You mean since the breakup?" Lorelai asked, and they both nodded. "She's doing okay. I mean, even though it was her doing, she's still upset about it. They were together for so long. . ."

"Seems like it was forever," Babette interjected.

"And to suddenly be apart is something she has to adjust to," Lorelai finished. "It'll take some time, but I think she's ready to be single for awhile."

"Good, good," Miss Patty said. "I'm glad she's hanging in there."

"Have they talked since the break-up?" Babette asked.

Lorelai shook her head. "Not yet. She wants to, eventually, but she's giving him a little space right now. She knows it's even more upsetting for him than for her."

"Yeah, the poor kid's been sulking around the last few days," Miss Patty said with a frown. "He's taking it pretty hard."

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, I know. He's a great kid, I hope they can stay friends."

Luke walked over to the table. "Hey." He refilled Lorelai's orange juice. "What's the conversation topic this morning?"

"Um, first it was my increased breastage, and now it's Rory and Dean's breakup," Lorelai replied. "Any comments on either?"

"No, thanks." Luke glanced out the window and saw some construction workers milling around outside. "Oh, great, is the soda shop construction starting back up again?"

"Yes, Taylor's trying to have it ready to open by May," Patty told him.

"So I have six weeks to find a cheap arsonist," Luke muttered.

"Hm, he'd have to be a really good one who would be able to contain the fire to just the soda shop," Lorelai pointed out. "Otherwise the diner's going up in flames along with it."

Luke mulled it over. "Good point. I'll think of something else." He headed back to the counter, where Jess was eating a donut. "Hey."

Jess nodded toward him. "Hey."

"So, uh, I talked to Andrew yesterday. He says you've been asking for extra hours lately."

"Yup."

Luke tapped the pile of schoolbooks sitting on the counter. "Work's not interfering with school, is it?"

"Nope."

"You're sure? 'Cause you know what happens if you don't pass your classes, Jess," Luke warned. "You lose the apartment."

Jess rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know. You only remind me every week."

They were quiet for a minute as Luke began wiping down the counter in front of him. "So what's with the extra hours? Saving up for something?"

Jess shrugged. "Maybe."

Luke cocked his head to the side, waiting for him to expound. "Jess. . ."

Jess sighed. "What, do you have to know everything that's going on?"

"Yes, now spill it," Luke told him. Jess shoved the last bite of donut into his mouth and mumbled something undeterminable. Luke folded his arms across his chest. "Try again."

Jess chewed his food, then repeated, "I applied to a community college. I need to save up for it."

Luke's eyes widened with surprise. "You. . .applied to. . ."

"Middlesex Community College," Jess finished, somewhat defensively. "I know it ain't some big fancy school to brag about, but it's something."

Luke shook his head with disbelief. "No, I think it's great. I'm completely. . .wow. Shocked. I didn't even know you were thinking about college."

Jess shrugged. "Yeah, well, gotta do something with my life, right? This'll be a start."

"Wow." Luke was quiet for a few seconds, still digesting the news. "This wouldn't happen to be where Jill's going, is it?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm following my girlfriend to college like a stalker." Jess rolled his eyes. "No, she's going to Trinity."

"Ah." Luke cleared his throat. "Uh. . .you know, if you need help paying the tuition. . .let me know. I can help you out some."

Jess gave him an appreciative nod, then stood up and gathered his books. "I gotta get to school." Luke nodded, and he watched Jess exit the diner.

Lorelai walked up to the counter. "Hey. What were you guys talking about? Guy stuff? Ooh, Fight Club? Because that's bad." She shook her finger at him. "Even I know the first rule of Fight Club is that you don't talk about Fight Club."

Luke shook his head. "Get this – Jess applied to Middlesex Community College."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Wow. I didn't even know he was thinking about college."

"Me either. I can't believe it."

"That's great, though."

"Yeah, it is." Luke paused. "I think Jill had something to do with it."

"Why? Is that where she's going?" Lorelai asked.

"No, she's going to Trinity, but they were probably talking about college and he told her he wasn't going. . .and then maybe she talked him into it. Convinced him it'd be good for him."

"Or maybe he changed his mind himself when he realized he could do more with a college education," Lorelai suggested.

Luke shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know."

"Well, it's good news either way, so it doesn't really matter why he's going."

"Yeah, true."

Lorelai gestured to the door. "Mmkay, I gotta get to work. I'll see you tonight."

"Okay." He kissed her goodbye, then stared after her until she was out of sight.

. . . . .

A few weeks later, Lorelai was at the front desk of the inn when Sookie came out of the kitchen on her break. The two of them started talking about morning sickness until Michel sighed loudly with annoyance and walked off. Once he was gone, they stopped talking about it and giggled to themselves.

"Ah, that's so fun," Sookie said.

"I know," Lorelai agreed. "And let's see, today's April 3rd, so we have about three more months to annoy him with baby conversations before I'm off for maternity leave."

"Aw, don't talk about that yet." Sookie frowned. "I'm gonna miss seeing you everyday."

"Trust me, by that time I'll be in the 'I'm so sick and tired of being pregnant' stage, and with the incessant whining that accompanies that, you definitely won't wanna see me everyday." Lorelai checked her watch and sighed. "It's only four. It feels later."

"Yeah, it does," Sookie agreed.

Lorelai groaned and rubbed her aching back. "I need to sit down. Let's go talk on the couch."

"And leave the front desk with no one covering it?" Sookie asked.

"Don't worry. As soon as Michel sees us gone, he'll come back over here." They walked across the lobby and sat down on the couch. "Ah, much better. So. . .last night, we started making plans for the nursery."

Sookie smiled. "Aw, you did? That's so exciting."

"Yeah. We're building a room on the back porch right next to the kitchen and moving all the stuff from the laundry room down there, then turning what's now the laundry room into the baby's room," Lorelai explained.

"How long is that gonna take?" Sookie asked. "Building a room sounds like it'll take awhile."

"Luke's gonna get a couple of his friends to help him, and he said if they work on it a few days a week, it should only take about a month." Lorelai shrugged and added, "But you know how guys are when they're estimating their skills. It's never their fault if they don't get something finished in time."

"Yeah. Like one time Jackson told me it'd only take him half an hour to build me some more shelves in the pantry, and then three hours later he blames the placement of the studs in the wall for him taking so long." Sookie rolled her eyes. "Men."

They continued talking for a few minutes until they heard, "Mom!" Lorelai and Sookie both looked toward the door and saw Rory walking toward them.

Lorelai smiled. "Hey sweets. What are you doing here?"

"Look what came in the mail today. . ." Rory smiled as she held up three large white envelopes.

Lorelai's eyes widened and she stood up. "Oh my God. Did you open them?"

Rory nodded quickly.

"And they're all positive?" Lorelai asked.

Rory nodded again.

Lorelai squealed and pulled her into a hug. "Oh, honey, congratulations, I'm so proud of you!"

Rory grinned and hugged her back gently. "Thanks, Mom."

Sookie stood up and joined in on the hug. "I'm proud, too. . .even though I have no idea what's going on."

The three of them broke apart, and Lorelai took the envelopes from Rory. "They're college acceptance letters, Sookie," Lorelai said proudly. She flipped through them, reading the return address labels. "From Yale, Harvard, and Princeton."

"Oh my God!" Sookie exclaimed. "You got into all three?" Rory nodded, then glanced down at the ground with an embarrassed smile. "That's so amazing. Congratulations, honey." Sookie hugged her again.

"Thank you," Rory replied appreciatively. "It's still sinking in right now. I can't believe it."

"I say we go celebrate with some cake," Lorelai suggested. "And then tonight we'll go somewhere for a special 'I got into 3 Ivy League universities' celebratory dinner. How's that sound?"

"Sounds good to me," Rory agreed. The three of them headed toward the kitchen.

. . . . .

That night, Luke and Lorelai were getting dressed in their bedroom for dinner. As Luke sat on the bed to put on his shoes, he shook his head in disbelief. "I still can't believe she got into all three. That's incredible."

Lorelai grinned. "I know. I'm just bursting with motherly pride right now like you can't imagine." She put her hands on her stomach. "Even baby's excited. It's moving around and kicking like it's trying to escape to celebrate with us."

Luke glanced at her stomach with intrigue. "It's kicking?"

Lorelai nodded and walked over to him. "Try and feel." She took his hand and placed it on her stomach.

"I think only you can feel it," Luke said. "Every time I try, I can't feel a thing."

"Well, you will sooner or later, so I want you to keep trying." She held his hand tight against her abdomen. "It should be right around here."

They held the position for half a minute before Luke sighed. "I don't feel anything."

"Shh," Lorelai hushed him. "It'll be any second now."

"Lorelai, really, this is a waste of – " And then he felt it. A light jab against his palm from inside Lorelai's stomach.

"Ooh, there it was," Lorelai said. "Did you feel it?"

Luke nodded and stared down at her stomach in amazement. "Yeah, I did. I felt it."

Lorelai smiled and sat down next to him. "See, I knew you would eventually. It was pretty cool, huh?"

Luke swallowed hard and he nodded. "Yeah, it was. . .amazing." He ran his hand over her stomach. "Will it do it again?"

Lorelai smiled at his genuine excitement. "Probably."

Luke left his hand there for another few seconds, and felt a second kick. He smiled and pulled his hand back. "That's incredible. What's it feel like inside?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what's it like to feel something moving around inside of you and know that it's. . .you know, an actual person?"

Lorelai smiled. "It's. . .indescribably cool." She ran her hands over her stomach. "It's one of the most amazing feelings in the world to be pregnant and carry a child and nurture it and keep it healthy and everything."

Luke smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I bet it is."

"It's scary sometimes, too, though," Lorelai admitted. "To have to constantly watch what you do and eat and everything. . .to know that everything you do affects the baby's development. You're always worrying about what's okay and what's not okay. For instance, getting wasted and going skydiving – that'd be unacceptable behavior for a pregnant woman, so I have to ignore any urges to do that."

"That must be tough since you get those urges all the time," Luke said knowingly.

"Yeah, but I'm sucking it up and being strong." Lorelai stood up to finish getting dressed, and Luke watched her from the bed.

After a few minutes, he said, "So. . .today I was thinking about your birthday. . ."

Her ears perked up and she smiled at him. "Oh yeah? What about it?"

"It's two weeks from tomorrow."

"Yes, it is."

"And I thought we could maybe go away that weekend."

She smiled. "Ooh, that'd be fun. Where'd you have in mind?"

"I was thinking that spa place in Groton we went to last year," Luke said. "What do you think?"

Lorelai smiled. "I think that's a great idea. I loved it there."

"Yeah, it was fun," Luke said. "I was also thinking that Rory could come with us this time. I think she'd like it."

Lorelai's smile widened. "Aw, yeah, it'll be like a nice little family trip."

"Yeah. That way you won't be apart from her on your birthday. Plus, I think she needs to get away from the town for a day or two."

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, that'd be good for her. We'll talk to her about it at dinner tonight."

. . . . .

The next night, Lorelai and Rory rang the doorbell of Emily and Richard's house. The maid answered the door and took their coats, and the two of them walked to the living room.

Emily was sitting on the couch, and she stood up when they walked in. "Hello, girls."

"Hey, Grandma," Rory greeted her.

"Hey, Mom," Lorelai said. "Where's Dad?"

"Oh, he's on the phone. He'll be out in a minute." As the girls sat down on the couch, Emily eyed Lorelai's stomach. "My, you're just getting bigger and bigger every week."

Lorelai frowned. "Nice to see you, too, Mom."

"What can I get you girls to drink?" Emily walked over to the drink cart. "Oh, Lorelai, we have apple juice. I remembered that last week you asked for it and we didn't have any, so I sent the maid out to get some specifically for you."

"Aw, that was nice," Lorelai said. "Thanks."

As Emily poured the juice, she asked, "And Rory. . .coke?"

"Yes, please," Rory replied.

Emily finished pouring, then brought the two glasses to the girls. She sat down across from them and they talked until Richard joined them. After he had poured himself a drink and was sitting down, Lorelai cleared her throat. "Um, Mom, Dad, Rory received some big news yesterday. . ."

"Oh, really?" Richard asked. "Do tell."

"Yes, what is it?" Emily asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Well. . .my college acceptance letters came in the mail," Rory started.

Lorelai put her arm around her. "And our little angel here not only got into her preferred choice, but both of her equally prestigious alternatives."

"You were accepted to Yale?" Richard asked with a glint in his eye.

Rory smiled and nodded. "Yes, and Harvard and Princeton."

Emily beamed with pride. "Oh, Rory, that's wonderful!"

"Yes, it is. And you've chosen Yale, right?" Richard asked.

"That's the plan," Rory confirmed.

Richard smiled. "Oh, that's the best news I've heard all week." He stood up and rubbed his hands together excitedly. "I do believe this occasion calls for champagne. I'll be right back."

"I'll help you, Richard," Emily said. She stood up and followed him out of the room.

Lorelai smiled at Rory. "They're so proud of you, sweetie."

"Yeah. I think this would be a good time to break it to them that we won't be here for your birthday," Rory suggested.

"Ooh, good idea. We gotta get 'em before the good mood wears off."

Richard and Emily returned with three glasses of champagne and they toasted to Rory.

When they were finished, Lorelai said, "So. . .it's April now. You know what big event happens in April, right?"

"Oh boy, do I," Richard said with a groan. "Tax day. Have you and Luke paid yours yet?"

"Uh, yeah, we took care of that a few weeks ago," Lorelai replied. "But that's not what I was referring to. Can't you think of something else that happens in April?"

"Easter?" Emily asked.

"Oh, yes, we're having a little afternoon Easter party this year," Richard said. "And of course, you three are invited."

Lorelai scoffed. "Uh, no, guys. . .not tax day, not Easter. I was referring to my birthday. . .you know, the one that's two weeks from today. How could you forget that your only child was born in April?"

"We didn't forget," Emily insisted. "We just hadn't gotten to it yet."

"Yes, I was going to bring that up next," Richard added.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Right. Anyway, we're going on a trip that weekend so we won't be able to make it to dinner that Friday. Sorry."

Emily frowned. "Aw, that's too bad. Where are you going?"

"Oh, just this hotel and spa place in Groton," Lorelai replied.

"Mom and Luke went there last year for a few days, and Luke wants to take her back this year for her birthday," Rory added. "And they invited me along."

"Well, that sounds nice," Emily commented.

"We're leaving on Friday afternoon and coming back on Sunday," Lorelai said. "So I don't know if we'll be back in time for the Easter party."

"Oh, what a shame," Richard remarked. "It won't start until two or so, try to stop by if you can."

"We will if we get back in time," Lorelai promised.

"Perhaps we could have cake for your birthday next week since you won't be here for your actual birthday," Emily suggested.

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "That'd be nice." The maid came in and announced that dinner was ready, and the four of them headed to the dining room.

. . . . .

Two weeks later, in the afternoon of Lorelai's birthday, Luke was loading suitcases into the back of the SUV while Lorelai sat on the porch. When he was finished, he walked over and sat down next to her. "All set."

"Good. Rory should be here any minute. She just had to run something to Lane."

Luke put his arm around her. "It's not gonna be too weird, is it?"

"What?"

"All of us sleeping in the same room," Luke said. "I was gonna get two separate ones, but. . ."

"That'd be way too much money, Luke," Lorelai interrupted. "One room is fine. There're two beds, and it's not like we're gonna be doing dirty things right next to her or something. We're just gonna be sleeping."

"I know, I just don't want her to feel weird about it"

"Unless you have erotic dreams and start moaning in your sleep, I think she'll be fine," Lorelai assured him. "It's only two nights." She rested her head against his shoulder and sighed. "I'm thirty-five now."

"Yes, you are."

"You still love me even though I'm getting older?"

"Yup."

Lorelai nudged him in the side. "You're supposed to tell me that I'm not getting older."

"But you are. We all are. It's the natural progression of life, so me telling you that you're not getting older would be a flat-out lie."

Lorelai frowned up at him. "At least tell me that I don't look older. . . give me an ounce of self esteem as I start the long climb up the hill of old age."

"You don't look older," Luke assured her, then kissed her gently on the cheek. "And take comfort in the fact that I'll be over the hill before you are."

Lorelai smiled. "Ah, good point. Thanks for reminding me."

"I'm back," a voice called, and they looked over to see Rory running across the front yard. "Let me just use the bathroom and I'll be right out. Did you get my suitcase?"

"Yup, everything's packed in the truck," Luke replied.

"Okay, I'll be fast." Rory rushed into the house, and a few minutes later they started the drive to Groton.

. . . . .

An hour later, they were about five minutes from the hotel when Lorelai convinced Luke to stop at a small convenience store to satisfy her candy craving. She and Rory walked inside and looked around for the candy aisle, then surveyed the selection.

"You know what? It's highly probably that I'll get another candy craving at some point during the weekend," Lorelai said.

"I agree with that," Rory said.

"Right, so I think we should stock up," Lorelai suggested. "It's cheaper to buy it here than at the hotel anyway."

"Good point. Make sure you mention that to Luke when we walk out with a bag full of candy and he gets annoyed that you spent so much money on junk."

"He can't get annoyed at me, it's my birthday." Lorelai gestured toward the front of the store. "Run and get one of those shopping baskets for me, will ya?" Rory did, and they began tossing candy bars into it.

Just as they were finishing up, Lorelai glanced toward the end of the aisle and saw a teenage stock boy stacking cans of peanuts. She pointed him out to Rory and whispered, "Time for Mommy to be embarrassing in front of people we'll never see again for our own sadistic purposes. Follow me." She started walking toward the boy.

"Oh, God, what are you doing?" Rory whispered as she followed behind her.

"Shh." They reached the boy, and Lorelai tapped him on the shoulder. "Hi, you work here, right?"

The boy turned to them. "Yup. You need help with something?"

"Yes, I had a quick question. . ." Lorelai paused to read his name tag. "Chet. Nice name."

"Thanks."

"I'm Trish," Lorelai said. She gestured to Rory. "This is Brynn."

Chet nodded hello. "Hey. What can I help you with?"

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Okay, well. . ." She lowered her voice and said with great seriousness, "I think I might be pregnant, but I'd really like to find out for sure. Could you tell me where the at-home pregnancy tests are?" Rory glanced at the ground, hiding her smirk.

Chet's eyes diverted quickly to Lorelai's undoubtedly pregnant stomach, and she struggled to keep a straight face as he eyed it with confusion. He brought his gaze back up to her face. "Uh, yeah. . .I think it's aisle 4." He pointed to the left. "That way."

Lorelai smiled. "Thanks so much. Do you happen to know what the most popular brand is? Because I'd really like to get the most reliable answer I can."

Chet shook his head with slight embarrassment. "No, sorry, I'm not sure. Um, one of the women cashiers might know."

"Okay, great, I'll go check with them. One more question. . ." Lorelai twirled a finger through her hair. "Do you know if they make some sort of at-home paternity test? I mean, if I do turn out to be pregnant, I'd like to be able to know which guy's the father right away."

Chet's eyes widened and he stammered, "Uh. . .no. . .I don't think you can. . .uh. . ."

Rory rolled her eyes and grabbed Lorelai's arm. "I think you have to get a doctor to do that, Trishelle. Let's go." She pulled Lorelai down the aisle.

"Thanks for your help," Lorelai called to Chet.

"Uh, sure. . ." He stared after them, confused.

Lorelai and Rory contained themselves until they reached the front of the store, then they burst into giggles. Rory shook her head in disbelief. "Oh my God, you're so completely unfit as a role model."

"But I'm fun!" she countered. "And that's all that matters. We have to do that again like a week before I'm due when I'm out to here. . ." Lorelai held both hands out in front of her stomach. "I can't wait to see the look on our victim's face."

"That would make a good hidden camera trick," Rory remarked.

"We could start our own reality show."

"Yeah, with your new video camera."

Lorelai smiled. "I still can't believe you and Luke got me that. That's such a great birthday present."

Rory smiled. "We knew you'd like it. Let's just see if you can figure out how to use it before the baby comes." They paid for the candy and walked out to the car.

. . . . .

Fifteen minutes later, they had checked into the hotel and were settling into their room up on the third floor. Rory looked around in awe, an impressed smile on her lips. "This is so nice."

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Lorelai asked.

Rory picked up her suitcase and walked over to the two queen-sized beds. "Which bed do you guys want?"

"The one closer to the bathroom," Lorelai replied. "The shorter the late night walk, the better."

"Okay." Rory put her suitcase on the bed closer to the window.

Lorelai walked over to Luke, who was going through some papers on the desk. "What're you doing?"

"Just reminding myself what there is to do around here," Luke replied. "When are your spa appointments?"

"Tomorrow morning, 10:30," Lorelai replied. "How cool is it that they have a special pregnancy package? I'm so excited."

"What makes a pregnancy massage different than a regular massage?" Rory asked.

"I think you lie on your side instead of on your stomach," Lorelai replied with a shrug. "And they probably do more for the areas where pregnant women feel the most stress, like the lower back, the legs, stuff like that."

"What else is in the package besides the massage?" Luke asked.

"A facial, a manicure, pedicure, and lunch," Lorelai replied.

"Ah. And what's in yours?" Luke asked Rory.

"The same stuff, except I'm getting a regular massage," Rory replied.

"Are you sure you don't want one, too?" Lorelai asked him. "They have a sports massage, I think that's specifically for guys. I have no idea why it's called that, but I think maybe they throw footballs at your head while you're in there."

Luke smiled. "And as tempting as that sounds, I'll pass. I'm gonna hit the gym while you guys are getting pampered." He walked over to Rory and handed her a bunch of pamphlets. "Here, take a look, see what you feel like doing this weekend."

"Thanks." Rory sat down on the bed and started flipping through them.

Luke brought his and Lorelai's suitcases to their bed. "Let's unpack."

. . . . .

They went shopping at the nearby outlet stores, then returned to the hotel for dinner at the restaurant on the first floor. While they were waiting for their food to arrive, they went over the schedule for the next day.

"Okay, the spa appointments are at 10:30, so we probably won't be outta there until. . ." Lorelai glanced at Rory. "What time do you think, hon?"

"Maybe one or two?" Rory suggested. "I don't know, though. I'm not sure how long everything takes."

"Me either." Lorelai shrugged toward Luke. "I guess we'll just all meet up at the room at some point. You sure you're gonna be able to occupy yourself for a few hours? I feel bad that you'll be all alone for so long."

Luke shrugged it off. "I'll be fine. I'll hit the gym, maybe the sauna, maybe take a nap. Don't rush your stuff on account of me." He took a sip of water. "Okay, we'll meet back at the room in the afternoon, then what?"

"Then we'll hit the aquarium," Rory said.

"And you wanted to check out that seaport thing, right?" Lorelai asked Luke. "We can do that, too, since they're both in Mystic, then maybe do a little more shopping, and then find someplace to eat dinner."

"Or we can come back here and get room service," Luke suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be good." Lorelai gestured to Rory. "Oh, and we wanted to go in the pool sometime."

"Yeah, but it's not that big a deal if we don't have time for it," Rory said with a shrug.

"I'm sure you'll have time at some point," Luke said. "Either tomorrow night or Sunday morning before we check out."

"Or maybe even tonight," Lorelai suggested. Moments later their food arrived, and they continued talking while they ate.

. . . . .

That night, Rory was in the bathroom taking a shower, and Luke and Lorelai were lying on their bed atop the covers. Luke was watching the news and Lorelai was flipping through the book of baby names she'd brought along.

During a commercial, Luke shut off the television and glanced at her. "How's it going?"

Lorelai shook her head. "Not good. There are like a million names in here."

"Actually, there's only 20,001," Luke pointed out. "It says it right there on the cover."

Lorelai stuck her tongue out at him and mimicked, "It says it right there on the cover." She shut the book and set it on the nightstand. "Thank you, Mr. Smarty Pants. Have you looked through it yet?"

"Nope."

"When are you going to?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know."

"Maybe that's something else you can do while we're at the spa tomorrow," Lorelai suggested. "Then maybe tomorrow night we can throw out some ideas."

"Maybe," Luke agreed. He heard a noise from the bathroom, and he glanced at the door. "What's that? Hair dryer?"

Lorelai listened for a moment. "Yup." She moved closer to him and he put his arm around her. "You know, we were only here for a few days last year, but this place has a lot of memories for us. I mean, this is the place where we first heard our song."

"Yeah, I remember. We danced to it down in the restaurant."

"Yup."

"And this is the place where we decided to move in together."

Lorelai smiled. "And this is the place where you picked a fight with me just to have makeup sex."

Luke smirked. "I forgot about that."

"Not a story to pass down through the ages, but memorable nonetheless." She sighed contentedly and snuggled up against his chest.

He kissed the top of her head. "So, birthday girl. . .how'd your birthday week turn out?"

"Very good, although I was hoping at some point you'd jump out of a giant cake naked."

"Maybe next year."

She smiled at the thought. "Yeah?"

"No, probably not."

Rory walked out of the bathroom dressed in her pajamas and she sat down on her bed. "You guys turning in soon?"

Luke sat up and stifled a yawn. "Yeah." He rubbed Lorelai's arm. "You wanna use the bathroom first?"

"Nah, I'll go when you're done."

"Okay." Luke grabbed some clothes from the dresser and walked into the bathroom.

Lorelai moved over to Rory's bed and patted her on the knee. "How're you doing, kid?"

"Great. How're you doing, parent?"

"Pretty darn good," Lorelai replied. "Excited about going to the spa tomorrow?"

"Definitely. Can't think of a better way to start off spring break than that."

"Oh, right. I almost forgot you have off this week," Lorelai said. "Any ideas on what you're gonna do? Just hang out?"

Rory shrugged. "Probably. I think sleeping in everyday is a definite possibility."

"As it should be," Lorelai agreed. "Always take advantage of your opportunities to sleep in."

"Words to live by," Rory said. "And maybe I'll work at the inn a few afternoons."

"Not too many," Lorelai said. "You shouldn't spend every day of your vacation working."

"I won't," Rory assured her.

"Good, you need a break," Lorelai said. "Maybe I'll try to take a half-day one day and we can do something together. Have a girls night out."

Rory smiled. "Yeah, that'd be fun."

Luke walked out of the bathroom dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt to sleep in. "All done."

"Okay." Lorelai stood up, grabbed a change of clothes from the dresser, and walked into the bathroom.

Luke situated himself under the covers of his bed, and Rory did the same with hers. They talked for a few minutes, then Lorelai returned from the bathroom, turned out the lights, and walked in between the two beds. She leaned down and kissed Rory on the cheek. "Night, hon."

"Night, Mom."

Lorelai climbed into bed next to Luke and kissed him goodnight. "Night."

"Night. Night Rory."

"Night Luke," she replied.

"Night John Boy," Lorelai said with a giggle. "Night Jim Bob, night Mary Ellen. . ."

Rory groaned into the darkness. "Mom. . ."

"Go to sleep," Luke finished.

"Tsk, you guys are no fun." Lorelai rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. "Night."

. . . . .

To be continued. . .

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone! I really appreciate it. :)