"It's Still There – part 19"

* * *

The next afternoon, when Lorelai and Rory returned from the spa, Luke was sitting on the bed reading the newspaper. He set it down and smiled at them. "Hey. How was it?"

"Oh, it was soooo incredible," Lorelai gushed as she sat next to him.

"It was probably the most relaxing three hours of my life," Rory replied. She collapsed on her own bed with a sigh. "Especially the massage. I wish I could've stayed on that massage table all day."

"Oh, God, me, too." Lorelai leaned her face toward Luke. "And feel how smooth."

Luke ran his hand over her cheek. "Soft."

Lorelai wiggled her fingers at him. "And take note of my newly manicured nails before I ruin them and all the polish chips away."

"Nice," he commented.

"What'd you do with your free time, Luke?" Rory asked.

"Not much," Luke replied. "I was down at the gym for a while, then came back up here and took a shower. Watched some tv. . .ordered a sandwich for lunch. . .got a newspaper from the lobby. Just hung out and relaxed."

Lorelai frowned. "Aw, I hope you weren't bored."

Luke shook his head. "No, I was fine."

"Okay, good." Lorelai smirked and tapped his knee. "And you didn't cheat on me while you were at the gym like you did last time, right?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "No, not this time."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. . .what are you guys talking about?" Rory asked, her eyes widened with surprise. "Luke cheated on you?"

"I told you about it, remember? Last time we were here, we ran into some girl at dinner and she was flirting with him right in front of me, and he told me they had met in the gym earlier that day," Lorelai reminded her. "So I sometimes kid that he cheated on me with her."

"Ah. Because who doesn't love a good infidelity joke," Rory said knowingly.

"Exactly."

"Yeah, well, since it's been like a year since the situation happened, I think we can officially lay those jokes to rest," Luke said. "The statute of limitations has passed."

Lorelai scoffed. "Puh-lease. You know there are no limits in the Gilmore world to the amount of mockery we can dish out on one incident."

"It's true," Rory confirmed. "We're like ravenous vampires. We will suck every last possible drop of life out of a mockworthy situation."

"And then we'll still keep on sucking just to be sure we haven't missed anything," Lorelai added. "And it's that commitment to excellence that really makes us proud of our mocking skills."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's quite an impressive thing you two do. I hope the baby inherits that admirable Gilmore trait." He glanced at the clock. "We should get going. Places probably close early on Saturdays."

"Okay." Lorelai climbed off the bed and walked over to the dresser. "I'm gonna go get changed, and while I'm in the bathroom, I'm going to think of really old things to mock you about to drive home the point that there's no statute of limitations."

"Okay, you do that. I'll be in here wondering why I've never mocked the fact that you have a girl crush on Drew Barrymore when the situation is clearly begging for me to do it," Luke replied. "I think it's something called maturity."

Lorelai's eyes widened and she momentarily froze, then she slowly turned around to face him. "What'd you just say?"

Rory threw a pillow at Luke as she hissed, "Luke, you're not supposed to say anything!"

Lorelai gasped. "Rory, you told him about my girl crush?"

"He forced me!" Rory exclaimed.

Lorelai scoffed. "He forced you? Like he held you at gunpoint and made you disclose any secrets you knew about me?"

Rory pouted. "Yes, exactly. I was so scared, Mommy. I had to tell him something."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "What else did you tell him?"

"Nothing else, I swear," Rory promised. "It was a long time ago, like back in December. And I didn't even tell him about your other girl crushes, just that one."

Lorelai groaned and threw her arms up in frustration. "Stop talking about it – now he knows there are others!"

Luke was watching the argument with an amused smirk, and he said, "She already told me there were more, but she wouldn't say who they were."

Lorelai folded her arms across her chest. "Rory, you know the unspoken rule about girl crushes – they're personal! I don't run around telling everyone about your Angelina Jolie crush."

Rory's eyes widened and she gasped. "Mom!"

Lorelai stuck her tongue out at her. "Now we're even."

Rory frowned. "I can't believe how cruel you are."

"Me? You started it!"

"Okay, quick question over here," Luke interrupted, and they both looked at him. "Are you two gonna start hitting each other? Because I don't think a fist fight would be good for the baby."

Lorelai sighed. "No, no hitting." She walked over to Rory and extended a hand. "Let's be friends again."

"Friends who don't reveal each other's secrets," Rory added as they shook hands.

"Exactly." Lorelai pointed to Luke. "And you can't either – this conversation never leaves this room. Girl crush information is private."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Who am I gonna tell?"

"I don't know, I'm just covering my bases. I'm gonna go get changed." Lorelai walked back over to the dresser and pulled out some clothes, then went into the bathroom and closed the door.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room before Luke finally smirked at Rory. "So. . .Angelina Jolie, huh?"

* * *

They spent the afternoon exploring Mystic; they visited the aquarium, the seaport, and some stores before stopping at a restaurant for dinner. They returned to the hotel and went in the pool, then relaxed in their room for a bit before ordering room service for dessert.

When they were finished eating, Lorelai and Luke each made a list of baby names they liked, and the three of them sat on the bed to go over the choices.

"Okay, before we start," Luke said to Lorelai. "Go through that list and cross off any names that are based solely on TV characters."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Like I would name my baby after – " Luke interrupted her by clearing his throat and he handed her the pen. She frowned at him, then reluctantly crossed off some names. "Fine, no Sydney, Anna Nicole, Bubbles, Blossom or Buttercup for a girl, and no Vaughn or SpongeBob for a boy." She frowned. "I couldn't think of any characters with good guy names."

"You wanted to name our kid SpongeBob?" Luke asked dryly.

Lorelai shrugged. "Well, it could've been a nickname. Or a middle name."

"And you do realize that Vaughn is his last name, don't you?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, but it sounds cool as a first name." Lorelai glanced down at her list. "Now I don't have many girls' names left."

"When in doubt, you can always just go with Lorelai like you did with me," Rory suggested.

Lorelai smiled. "That'll be the backup if we can't think of another one." She glanced at Luke. "What about you?"

"What about me for what?" Luke asked.

"If it's a boy, would you want to name it after yourself?" she asked. "I mean, I wouldn't mind a Luke Junior if that's what you wanted. Or if you wanted to maybe name it after your dad or something. . ."

Luke shrugged. "I don't think we should name it after anyone. I think it should have its own original name."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay."

"Let's start with girls," Luke said. "Let's just alternate back and forth until one jumps out at us."

"Okay." Lorelai glanced at her list. "Julie."

Luke glanced at his list. "Caroline."

"Isabella."

"Haley."

"Hope."

Luke looked up from his list. "Hm." He said the name in his head a few times. "Put it on the 'maybe' list."

"Isn't there a Hope in the family?" Rory asked. "The name sounds familiar."

"I have an Aunt Hopey," Lorelai replied with a nod. "I've only met her a couple of times." She gestured to Luke. "Go on."

"Courtney."

"Abigail."

"Katelyn."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Ooh, I like that. That's a maybe." She glanced back down. "Uh, Megan is my last one."

"The last ones I have are Emma and Cynthia."

Lorelai smiled. "Ooh, like Cindy Brady."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, forget Cynthia."

"Okay. . ." She made a note on her paper. "It looks like the two most popular ones are Hope and Katelyn."

"Those are both nice," Rory commented.

"I haven't gone through the whole name book yet," Luke said. "So I might find some more that I like."

Lorelai nodded. "Me, too. This is just the preliminary review, not the absolute final choices."

"Good. Okay, wanna try boys now?" Luke asked.

"Okay." She looked down at her paper. "Joshua."

"Benjamin."

"Maybe. Zachary."

"Nicholas."

"Ooh, I have that one on my list, too. Samuel."

"Brendan."

"Daniel."

"Dan Danes?" Rory piped up.

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "Okay, cross off Daniel. Matthew."

"Maybe. Joseph is my last one."

"Ooh, that's a possibility. My last ones are Ethan and Anthony." Lorelai frowned. "Aw, man, it's gonna be harder to narrow down a boy name. I liked a lot of those."

"Me, too," Rory said. "I liked every suggestion you guys threw out."

"My favorites were Nicholas, Matthew, and Joseph," Lorelai said. "Oh, and Benjamin."

"I like those, too," Luke agreed. "Maybe over the next few months, we'll get to like one of them more than the others."

"Or maybe we can name it Nicholas Matthew Joseph Benjamin Danes," Lorelai suggested. "We can call him Nimajoben for short."

"Now there's an original name," Rory commented.

"Oh yeah, let's send the kid to school with a death wish," Luke said, rolling his eyes. "Poor kid'll get teased every day of his life."

"All right, we'll keep thinking." Lorelai yawned and fell back against the pillow. "It's only quarter to eight and I'm completely wiped out."

"You did a lot of walking today," Luke said. "It tired you out."

"Yeah, that's probably why," Rory agreed.

"I think I'm gonna turn in," Lorelai said, stifling another yawn. "I suddenly can't keep my eyes open." She rolled onto her side and pulled the comforter up over herself.

"Are you tired?" Luke asked Rory.

"Not really."

"Me either. Why don't we head out for a little bit and let her get to sleep? Walk around the hotel, maybe check out the gift shop if it's still open. Even though I'm sure it'll be full of cheap-looking overpriced crap like all the other gift shops in the world, it'll give us something to do."

Rory smiled. "Yeah, sure. Got nothing else to do."

"Okay." Luke rubbed Lorelai's back. "We'll be back in a little while."

"Okay," she mumbled, already half asleep.

* * *

They checked out of the hotel at eleven the next morning and arrived home shortly after twelve. After they brought the suitcases in, the three of them gathered in the living room to listen to the answering machine messages. One was from Emily reminding them that if they were home in time, they could stop by for Easter lunch at two.

Luke glanced at Lorelai and Rory. "Do you guys wanna go?"

Lorelai shook her head. "I'm starting to get a headache. I just wanna spend the rest of the day relaxing in my pajamas."

"We should call 'em and tell them that we're not coming," Rory said. "Wish them a happy Easter, at least."

Lorelai waved her off. "We'll do it later when lunch has already started so they don't try to guilt us into coming." She started walking upstairs. "I'm gonna go change. Put on a movie."

* * *

A few nights later, Lorelai arrived home from work and entered the house calling, "The queen of the castle is home. . . where's the princess and the jester?"

"I'm in here," Luke called. "Rory's not home."

Lorelai dropped her stuff by the door and kicked off her shoes before following his voice to the kitchen. He was sitting at the table, and she leaned down to kiss him. "Hi."

"Hey. So I'm the jester, not the king?"

"Yeah, but only because it's more entertaining picturing you in the multicolored jester's outfit than the king's velvet robe. It in no way reflects your level of power in the household or is meant to threaten your masculinity."

"Thank you."

She noticed some papers spread out in front of him. "What's all this?" She picked up a piece of paper and looked it over. "Yale stuff?"

"Yeah, I was looking through some of the information Rory printed from their website," Luke said. "I didn't realize tuition was gonna be so expensive."

Lorelai frowned. "We can't handle it?"

"We'll probably need to take out a loan."

Lorelai made a face of disapproval at the suggestion. "But I don't want her to be paying a loan back for the rest of her life."

"She won't be paying it back, we will," Luke informed her. "I'll get it in our name."

"Well, I don't want us to have to be paying it back forever either," Lorelai said. "Isn't there something else we can do?"

Luke sighed. "Like what, Lorelai? You want me to sell a kidney? Rob a bank? Maybe kidnap a rich kid for ransom money? Did you honestly think that you'd be able to send Rory to an Ivy League school without any money troubles?"

Lorelai stared down at the table and muttered, "I don't know. I didn't think that far ahead."

They were both quiet for a moment before he said, "I'm assuming that asking your parents isn't an option you'd want to. . . " Lorelai shot him a look and he nodded. "Yeah, figured that." He leaned back in his chair. "Okay, well, we don't have to worry about it just yet. We have time before we have to start paying."

"Yeah, maybe she'll get scholarship money or financial aid or stuff like that and there'll be nothing to worry about anyway."

Luke sighed, his face full of doubtfulness. "I don't know. . .I wouldn't count on a high amount of financial aid. She probably would've gotten more back when you were supporting her alone, but now she's part of a two-income family. . ."

"So it looks like we don't need as much help," Lorelai finished with a dejected sigh.

"Exactly."

"So there apparently was one negative aspect to our getting married."

"Guess so." Luke shrugged. "But we'll have to see what happens. We'll figure something out."

Lorelai nodded, then added, "Let's not tell Rory about it, okay? I don't want her to worry about this kind of stuff."

Luke nodded in agreement. "I don't either."

"Where is she anyway?"

"She went over to Paris' house to work on stuff for the newspaper."

"Oh, right, she mentioned that, I forgot." Lorelai frowned. "Aw, I wonder if Paris is still depressed about not getting into Harvard."

"Probably."

"Poor girl, she wanted it so badly."

"Things don't always go the way you hope they will." They were both quiet for a moment before Luke cleared his throat. "So, uh, I talked to the guys today. We're gonna start working on the back porch on Saturday."

Lorelai smiled. "Really? You mean the mysterious back porch laundry room I've been hearing so much about might finally start to take shape?"

"Yup."

Lorelai rubbed her hands together. "Cool, I'm so excited! Then we can start buying stuff to decorate the nursery."

"Yeah." He reached out and stroked the top of her hand. "You hungry? I'll make us something for dinner."

"Yeah, I'm in the mood for something chicken-flavored."

"So, maybe. . .chicken?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, that'll work." She stood up. "I'm gonna go get changed, then I'll come help you." He cocked his head doubtfully, and she smiled. "Okay, watch you." She kissed him, then started walking toward the staircase as Luke began clearing the papers off the table.

* * *

Lorelai was working at the inn on Saturday, but came home at lunch time to see how the back porch construction was coming along. She pulled into the driveway and found Luke and three of his friends sitting on the front steps drinking beer. Piles of wood and toolboxes were scattered around the yard.

As she climbed out of the Jeep, she called, "Looks like you guys are working hard."

Luke stood up and walked over to her. "Lunch break." He kissed her cheek.

"What time did they get here?" Lorelai asked.

"About an hour after you left," Luke replied as they walked over to the guys. "We've been working hard all morning."

"Hey boys," Lorelai greeted John, Jake, and Jeff, and they all said hello.

"How're ya feeling?" Jeff asked her.

"Good, thanks," Lorelai replied, rubbing her stomach. "Only a couple months to go before they rip this thing outta me."

"Well, I gotta come out and say it. . .you're the best damn looking pregnant woman I've ever seen," Jake commented, eyeing her up and down.

"Uh, thanks." Lorelai turned to Luke. "Did you bribe him to say that?"

"Nope, that's just the Jake Milton charm," Luke replied, rolling his eyes. "Or attempt at it."

"Yeah, I'm vaguely familiar with it from years ago," Lorelai muttered.

John smacked his brother on the arm. "And he doesn't know when to turn it off. She's taken, man."

"That's never stopped me before," Jake replied with a sly smirk. "I'm a master womanizer."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm familiar with that, too. I hope you've finally learned that you shouldn't flirt with other women when you're on a date. It's kind of a turn-off."

"What can I say, I have a short attention span," Jake said with a shrug.

"That's why he's gonna be a bachelor for life," John said.

"Yup, I've already accepted my fate," Jake said.

"Well, good luck with that." Lorelai cleared her throat. "So, uh, thanks so much for helping out with the room, guys."

"No problem," John replied. "Anything to help out a friend."

"Guys never pass up a chance to work with tools," Jeff added.

"Speaking of which. . ." Lorelai gestured to the beer. "Who came up with the brilliant idea to break out the alcohol while you're working with power tools?"

"It makes it easier to spend the whole day together with no women around if we have some liquor in us," Jake replied.

"Ah. Okay, well, when one of you cuts off one of your appendages, try not to get blood all over my porch." She walked past them toward the front door and disappeared into the house.

"I'll be right back," Luke said, and he walked into the house. He followed her to the kitchen. "Hey. You okay?"

She pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge, then turned to him. "Yeah, why?"

Luke shrugged. "Just checking. You and Jake seemed. . .tense. . ."

Lorelai smiled and waved it off. "No, it was just harmless kidding around."

"Good."

Lorelai took a drink of her water, then looked out the back door. "It's a mess out there."

"We just finished ripping a section of the railing out," Luke explained. "Next we're gonna work on reinforcing the floor joists. Gotta make sure they're strong enough to hold the washer and dryer."

Lorelai nodded, then her eyes widened. "Oh, I almost forgot what I wanted to tell you." She set her drink down, then walked to the table and rummaged through her purse. She pulled out a piece of paper and walked over to him. "Louella – one of the chefs at the inn – well, her sister is a nurse, and Louella stopped in at the hospital to see her the other day and picked up this flier for me and Sookie."

She handed it to Luke and he read it over. "Attention expectant parents and their families, the next monthly childbirth and family preparation class will be on Saturday, May 17, 2003. . ." Luke looked up from the paper and narrowed his eyes at Lorelai. "Childbirth and family preparation class?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Louella was telling us all about it and it sounds so cool. In the first part of the class, they go over what to expect during the delivery. . .you know, the proper breathing to use and all that good stuff. And then you get a break for lunch, and then in the second part of the class, they talk about how to deal with an infant. They go through all the basics, like how to hold the baby right and how to change diapers, stuff like that."

"But you've raised a kid already, you know all that stuff," Luke pointed out.

"But you don't," Lorelai countered. "And Sookie and Jackson don't either. Sookie really wants to go, and I told her we'd go, too. It wouldn't hurt for me to get a refresher on this baby stuff. It has been a while since I've had to deal with it."

"But – "

"Plus, I know Rory would wanna go, and it says family members are invited." She smiled. "It'll be fun, the five of us learning about all this stuff together."

Luke cocked his head doubtfully. "I don't know."

Lorelai frowned. "Don't you wanna know what the labor will be like? Don't you wanna learn how to care for our kid?"

"Of course I do," he replied. "But can't we just rent a video about it or something? That'd be a lot more comfortable than taking a class with a bunch of strangers."

Lorelai pouted. "Come on, it'll be fun." She draped her arms over his shoulders and ran her fingers through his hair as she kissed his lips softly. "I really think it's a good idea for us to do this." Luke exhaled slowly, thinking it over, and Lorelai shrugged and added, "But if you don't want to go, you don't have to. Rory and I can just go alone with Sookie and Jackson. No big deal. Do whatever you want."

Luke sighed at her attempt at reverse psychology, and she smiled, knowing he was about to give in to it. She kissed him again to seal the deal. "So?"

"Okay. . . fine. Let's go."

Lorelai smiled. "Cool. I'll check with Rory tonight and make sure she can go, then I'll call up and register for the class tomorrow." She kissed him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Lorelai patted him on the chest. "Now go on out and play with your friends." He smiled and kissed her again before heading back out to the front porch.

* * *

On Monday afternoon, Rory stepped off the bus at the bus stop, and as she started walking home, she heard someone call her name. She glanced around trying to pinpoint where it was coming from, and she finally spotted Jackson in front of the diner waving at her.

Rory waved back. He beckoned her toward him, and she walked over to the diner. "Hey."

"Hi. We need to talk to you," Jackson said quietly. He took her arm and pulled her into the diner.

"Who does? Where are we going?" she asked as he led her into the back. "Okay, Jackson, uh, my mom always tells me not to follow men who work with fruit into the back of restaurants, so I don't know if I should be doing this. . ." They reached the storage room where Luke waiting for them.

"Hey, Rory," Luke greeted her. "How was school?"

"Uh, good." She glanced from Luke to Jackson. "What's going on?"

"I asked Jackson to go out and intercept you at the bus stop before you went home," Luke explained. "We've been talking about some things that we want to talk to you about."

"Oh. Like what?" Rory took her backpack off and perched herself on the edge of the desk.

"Well, Sookie asked me to talk to you or Luke about Lorelai's schedule to see when would be a good time for her to plan a surprise baby shower for Lorelai," Jackson explained. "You know, to make sure it didn't interfere with any doctor's appointments or plans with your grandparents, stuff like that."

Rory smiled. "Aw, that's so nice."

"So he stopped by a little while ago to ask me," Luke continued. "And I told him that Lorelai had been talking about throwing a shower for Sookie when Sookie's due date gets a little closer."

"Yeah, she mentioned that to me, too," Rory said with a nod.

"So we were thinking that instead of having two different showers, that we. . ." Luke gestured to him, Rory, and Jackson. " . . . should throw one big shower for both of them."

"What do you think of that idea?" Jackson asked.

Rory smiled and nodded affirmatively. "I think it's good. One huge party would be fun."

"Okay, good, then it's settled," Luke said. "We'll do it."

"I'll tell Sookie that you and Luke think that she shouldn't have Lorelai's shower until the end of June," Jackson said. "That'll give us some time to throw the real one before she starts planning or buying anything for the one she thinks she's throwing."

"And we know Lorelai isn't thinking of doing Sookie's until September or so anyway, so we don't have to worry about that," Luke added.

"So Sookie will probably start planning in the beginning of June, so we're looking at throwing the real one sometime in May," Rory concluded.

Luke nodded. "Yeah."

Rory thought for a moment. "Well, the last two weeks are gonna be super busy for me at school with studying and finals, so before the 19th would be best for me."

"Well, we can do it that weekend then," Jackson suggested. "The 17th or 18th."

Luke thought for a moment, then said, "The 17th. That's the Saturday that we'll all be at that family class."

"Oh, right. So I guess we can't do it that day," Rory said.

"No, that's perfect," Luke said. "They'll both be at the hospital so it'll be easy to set up for the party without them seeing anything. We won't have to distract them – they'll be out of the way already."

Jackson smiled and nodded. "Oh, yeah, that does work out well." Then his smile faded and he appeared confused. "But we'll be at the hospital with them. Who's gonna set everything up?"

"We'll get other people to help us out," Luke said. "Patty, Babette. . ."

"Lane," Rory added. "Kirk."

"We'll plan it so that everything will be set up and ready by the time we get back from the class," Luke said.

"It's gonna be a lot of work," Rory said. "We only have two and a half weeks to plan this thing."

"Well, we need to get started then." Luke pulled out his wallet and handed Rory some money. "You're in charge of invitations."

"Check," Rory said as she slipped the money into her pocket. "I'll get them today."

"I'll talk to Patty about borrowing tables and chairs," Jackson said.

"Okay, good. And I'll call Weston's and order some stuff," Luke said.

The three of them talked for a few more minutes, then dispersed to take care of their baby-shower-related tasks.

* * *

On Wednesday afternoon, Lorelai walked into the diner looking for Luke, and after asking Caesar where to find him, she headed toward Doose's market. She reached it just as he was walking out, and he was surprised to see her. "Hey." He kissed her. "You looking for me?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I have to tell you something. Let's sit." They walked over to a bench and sat down, and Lorelai took a deep breath. "So I got a call from my dad this morning. He said he knew that it was last minute, but he wanted to know if I was free for lunch today."

Luke's eyes narrowed with curiosity. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. So I was like, 'Is this about me sneaking booze from the drink cart when I was a teenager? Because I know it was wrong, I'm sorry, you don't have to meet with me in person to yell about it,'" Lorelai said. "And he said no, he just wanted to discuss something with me."

"So you went?"

"Yup, I just got back." Lorelai grinned as she reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. "Look at this."

"What is it?" He took it from her and opened it, and his eyes widened. "What the hell is this?"

Lorelai giggled. "A check for $75,000."

"Yeah, I see that. Why is it made out to you?" He stood up and held the check up to the sunlight. "Is this real?"

Lorelai grinned and stood up. "Yes, it's real and it's all ours. Every last cent. Well, except for the obscene amount that the stupid government will make us pay in taxes."

Luke shook his head with confusion. "Did you ask your dad to loan us money?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No. Long story short – when I was born, he invested in some land in my name, and it just got sold, so everyone who owned some of it gets a check. Since he invested in it in my name, I get the check."

Luke stared down at it. "You get this check. . ."

"Yes."

"For no reason."

"Yes."

"We get to keep this money?" It was still sinking in for him, and he shook his head slightly. "We don't have to pay it back to anyone?"

She smiled and shook her head. "We get to keep it and do whatever we want with it. Buy baby stuff, put it towards Yale, open up a horse farm, buy the gazebo and turn it into a private bathroom that we charge people to use. . .whatever we want."

Luke shook his head in disbelief. "Oh my God."

"I know!" Lorelai giggled excitedly.

He smiled. "This is incredible."

"I can already see your head spinning with ideas," Lorelai said. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that. . ." Luke took a deep breath. "I should talk to your dad."

"About what?"

"About investing some of it," Luke replied. "If we're smart with this money, we'll be able to do a lot more with it."

Lorelai nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. We could make it go a long way."

"That means we don't do something stupid like run out and buy a whole new wardrobe or fifty pairs of shoes that we don't need," he warned. "Understand?"

Lorelai frowned. "Oh, come on, Luke! I can't be handed this much free money and then told that I can't spend any of it on clothes! Do you have any idea how devastatingly unfair that is? That's like locking Rory in a library and telling her not to read anything."

Luke put the check back into the envelope. "I didn't say you couldn't buy any clothes, I'm saying that you shouldn't go nuts."

"I think that you, me and Rory should each get like a thousand dollars to blow on whatever we want," Lorelai suggested. "Clothes, jewelry, whatever. And then we'll put the rest toward bills and Yale and paying my parents back and investing and all that boring stuff."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "A thousand dollars each? Uh, maybe a few hundred."

Lorelai shrugged. "Whatever. I'd just hate to see it all go toward bills without us getting to have some fun with it."

"It won't," Luke assured her. He put a hand on her stomach. "We could open a college fund for the baby."

Lorelai smiled and covered his hand with hers. "Yeah, we should do that. That'd be so parentally responsible of us."

He handed her the envelope. "Here, take this to the bank before you lose it."

Lorelai put it back into her purse. "I will tomorrow. I wanna show it to Rory first."

"Okay." He kissed her, then pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

She placed several light kisses on his cheek before resting her head against his shoulder. "I love you."

He gently stroked her back with both hands, sending chills through her body. "Love you, too." After a moment, he pulled back from her. "Are you going back to work?" Lorelai nodded, and Luke picked up his grocery bag from the bench before they started walking down the street toward the Jeep.

* * *

To be continued . . .

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