Disclaimer:  I don't own any of these characters, just the story idea.

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One Thursday morning about two weeks later, Lorelai's alarm clock went off at four am.  Luke rolled over and groaned.

"Sorry, go back to sleep," she whispered.

"Where are you going?" he murmured.

"It's Rory's birthday and every year I wake her up at the exact time when she was born and talk to her."

Luke smiled at her.  "I love that you're such a great mom."

Lorelai blushed.  They'd been saying 'I love you' to each other constantly ever since they'd first confessed it to each other after the fight.  But this was different.  Luke was sleepy and warm and the way he said it almost made her feel as if he were talking about their child, and not just her child.

"I love you, too," she replied.  "Go back to sleep.  You've still got a an hour left."

Lorelai kissed him and pulled on her robe.  Lulu was up constantly at night, and she leapt down the stairs ahead of Lorelai.

Once on the first floor, Lorelai dialed the numbers to Rory's cell, crept into her daughter's bedroom and lay down on the bed.  Lulu joined her moments later and curled up on Lorelai's stomach.  Rory must have been awake and waiting for the call because she answered right away.

"Happy birthday to you," Lorelai sang softly.  "Happy birthday to you.  Happy birthday dear Rory, happy birthday to you." 

"Thanks," whispered Rory.

"Are your roomies asleep?"

"No, we're having a party.  I'm whispering because it's sexy and there's a cute boy over in the corner."

Lorelai giggled.  "Don't be mean to mommy.  So how does it feel to be another year older?"

"So far so good.  My bed is warm, and that's half the battle, really."

"I've taught you much."

"So are you and Luke back to normal?"

"Rory!  This is your birthday call.  We're supposed to be talking about the moment you came writhing and screaming out of my body."

Rory groaned.  "Please don't tell me the story again.  Pleeeeease.  If I were there I'd give you the puppy eyes."

Lorelai smiled.  "Okay, fine.  Birthday girl gets her way again."

"Again?  My birthday just started.  This is the first thing I've asked for.  How could it be again?"

"Rory, it's 4:04am.  Do you really expect me to be coherent?"

"Fine, you win this round, but I've got my eye on you."

"Yeah, yeah.  I'm scared.  So grandma and grandpa are having a special dinner tomorrow night for you and we're still on for Saturday, right?"

"Yup.  I'm all yours, all day."

"I cannot wait.  Do you have anything special you want to do?"

"Nah.  Surprise me."

"You know I will."

"And when do we have dinner with Luke?"

"Saturday night.  As long as I've got you, I'm going to hold on as long as possible."

Rory smiled.  "Sounds good.  So, you guys are all better now, right?"

"Yeah," said Lorelai, "we're great.  Excellent.  Better than I thought we ever could be."  She thought about the charm bracelet Luke had gotten for Rory and smiled.

"Good, I'm glad.  He's good for you."

"Excuse me?"

"You know what I mean.  You're good for him, too.  You're good for each other."

"Nice save."

"Mom?"

"Yes, Birthday Girl?"

"I have an eight o'clock exam, so if we hang up now, I can still get two solid hours of sleep before I have to get up and keep studying for it."

"Okay," sighed Lorelai.  "But this weekend there is no homework allowed in this house.  Understood?"

"Understood."

"Happy Birthday."

"Thanks, mom.  I love you."

"I love you, too, kiddo."

They hung up and Lorelai trudged upstairs to find Luke waiting for her.  She crawled into his arms and pressed her face into his shoulder.  "I hate that she's a grown up now.  I miss her so much.  It's like there's this piece of me that been ripped out and now it's just out there in the world floating around and I can never get it back."

Luke held her tight and said quietly, "I know.  But the piece isn't that far away and it still needs you and loves you."

Lorelai smiled.  "You're what's making this whole thing bearable.  I love you so much."

Luke rubbed her back and whispered, "I love you, too."  After a minute he said tentatively, "Listen, I'm going to sleep at the my place tomorrow night."

Lorelai lifted her head.  "What?  Why?"

"I don't want Rory to feel weird.  She and I have had maybe two conversations over the phone since she left and I want her first night back to be as normal as possible.  She shouldn't have to deal with strange men in her house."

"You're hardly a strange man."

"She might disagree if we accidentally meet up in the bathroom in the middle of the night."  Luke shuddered at the potential for awkwardness.

Lorelai smiled.  "I see what you mean.  Okay, but we're still having dinner on Saturday night, right?"

Luke nodded.  "Yes.  Caesar is closing.  It's all arranged."

"Good.  We'll play Saturday by ear." 

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After dinner at Richard and Emily's the next night Rory followed Lorelai back home.  Once parked, Lorelai all but skipped to Rory's car to help her with her overnight bag. 

"Hold on a sec," she said, "I said no homework."

"I know," replied Rory.

"So, you wanna tell mommy what's in your backpack?"

"Uh, just some recreational reading."  Rory looked guilty.

"Yeah, well, your recreational reading can sleep in the car."

Rory pouted.  "Just one textbook that's it!  And I swear I won't even open it until you've gone to bed."

Lorelai pretended to consider.  "You swear?  Not until I'm fast asleep?  I can't have you learning when I'm awake."

Rory smiled.  "I swear."

"Okay, fine then."  Lorelai made a huge production out of sighing.  "But just one!"

Rory opened her backpack as Lorelai waited, holding the overnight bag.  "Okay, ready."

"Finally," scolded Lorelai gently. 

When they reached the front door they could hear Lulu on the other side.  Lorelai was used to it by now.  The kitten was very social and wanted to be apart of any group.  She could hear Lorelai's keys and was mewing over the possibility of company.

Once the door opened, though, and Lulu saw Rory, a stranger, she backed up a few steps, blinked a couple of times in confusion and cowered between Lorelai's legs.  "What a scaredy-cat," laughed Lorelai as she dropped her purse, keys and Rory's overnight bag on the floor, closed the front door and bent down to pet Lulu.  They spent a couple of minutes in the entryway like that as Lulu got used to Rory.

"Mom, she's so cute.  I can't believe you have a cat!"

"I know.  I can hardly believe it either sometimes."  Lulu purred loudly and butted her head against Rory's leg.

"Wow.  That's huge, Rory.  I was reading some cat books and a head-butt is apparently a big sign of affection for cats."

"So I'm one of the cool kids now, huh?  Excellent."

Lulu was bored with their attentions pretty quickly, though, so Rory put her bags in her room, noted with satisfaction that nothing was moved or at all out of order, changed into her pajamas and met Lorelai in the living room.

"Okay, so I was thinking that we should start the fun now so as to make up for any fun that was missed on Thursday."

"Okay by me."

"For the occasion, I've got a cupboard in the kitchen chock full of junk food and here, in my very hand, I've got three of the worst Ben Affleck movies out there."  Lorelai held up Gigli, Force of Nature, and Reindeer Games.

"Perfect!" cried Rory.  "And with Gigli we have the added bonus of mocking J. Lo.!"

"Why do you think I got it?" asked Lorelai.

"You're a genius!"

"I know," acknowledged Lorelai.

They sat on the couch, with a pile of junk food between them and prepared to mock.

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Two and a half hours later, Rory groaned.  "I can't take it anymore!  How can this pass for acting?  Make it stop, please make it stop!"

Lorelai giggled as she hit the stop button.  "It's almost incredible how bad it is."

Rory shook her head.  "What time is it?"

Lorelai squinted at the VCR clock.  "Umm, about eleven I think."

"I'm going to bed.  Tell Luke I said hi."

"Oh, he's not coming over tonight."

"Why not?"

"He said he didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable with a strange guy in the house."

"Awww.  That's was nice of him."

"Yeah, he wanted you to have a normal first night back."

"You should marry him."

Lorelai laughed.  "Yeah, way to take things slow.  Its been less than a month."

Rory shrugged.  "Mom, relax, I was kidding, but you've known him for how many years?"

"I….I.…" Lorelai was somewhat flustered.

"Okay, if you say so," chuckled Rory.  "Goodnight.  See you tomorrow for more birthday fun, okay?"

Lorelai nodded.