Disclaimer:  I don't own anything but the story idea.

~~

Friday night Luke and Lorelai drove to the elder Gilmore house in silence.  Although Luke had made light of it, he was a little nervous.  Yes, he'd met them before, but never as their only daughter's boyfriend.  They were intimidating enough.  How would they be toward him?  Lorelai had told him countless stories over the years about how they'd behaved toward her.  He figured it had to go one of two ways.  Either they'd be overly protective of her and rake him over the coals or they'd treat her as they always did and treat him as if he were the one who was a blood relative.  He stared out the window and tried to concentrate on the scenery.

"You're awfully quiet over there," Lorelai commented.

Luke shrugged.  He was wearing his black suit with a soft blue dress shirt open at the collar.  He had almost put on a tie, but then at the last minute decided against it.  He hated ties. 

"Are you sure you didn't want to drive," she asked.

"Nah.  You know the way there.  It's no big deal." 

Lorelai glanced over at him.  He was brooding.  She had to get his mind off the impending doom of her parents.  "So I talked to Rory yesterday."

"Really," he grunted.  "You mean you had her home for most of the day and you didn't give her a silent treatment? Astonishing."

She ignored his sarcasm.  "Yes.  We talked about you."

Luke groaned.  "What?  Why would you do that?  Or, fine, talk to her about me, but don't tell me about it.  Please."

"I asked her about you staying over."

"You asked her about me staying over?"

"Yeah, I asked her about you staying over.  Is that a problem?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Because I wanted to get her take on the whole situation."

"You wanted to get her take on the whole – "

"Luke!"

"What?"

"I can hear myself perfectly well.  There is no need to repeat everything I say back to me."

"I'm just trying to process.  I don't understand why you had to say anything.  Now it's out there all weird and awkward and she'll be there tonight."  Luke groaned again.

"What did you expect?"

"I just wanted things to progress naturally."

"Naturally."

"Yeah, naturally."

"So, what, the first time you two would sleep in the same house together would be the day after we get back from our honeymoon?"

Silence penetrated the jeep.  Luke stared out the window.  Lorelai stared out the windshield.

"I was kidding," she said in a very small voice.

"Look, I understand that this isn't a big deal to you.  You've lived with her for the past nineteen years.  I get it.  But I'm not you.  The longest roommate I've ever had was Jess, and look how wonderful that turned out."

"But that wasn't your fault.  That was all Jess.  And besides, you haven't even listened to what Rory said."

Luke waited.  "What did she say," he finally asked.

"She said she wanted you to feel like you're a part of the household."

He turned his head toward her again, "Really?"

"Yeah.  It's all good.  She loves you.  I love you.  There's a lot of love in da house."

Luke rolled his eyes.  "She really said that?"

"Yes.  But if you want I can pass her a note in study hall."

"Would you be serious for once?"

"Okay, sorry.  I just wanted you to know that she was okay with it."

"Well, thanks."

Again there was silence.

"Part of the household?"

"Yeah.  She wants you to be part of the household."

Luke paused again and then said, "Honeymoon?"

"Yeah.  I admit that went a little far."

"It's kind of a nice thought, though," he said.

Lorelai turned her head and met his gaze.  They smiled at each other as she pulled into her parents' driveway.

As they walked up to the door and rang the bell, Lorelai rubbed a hand up and down his back.  She could feel the tension there and she prayed that things went smoothly.

A new maid answered the door and ushered them into the living room.  Rory was already there, perched on one of the settees, drink in hand, explaining to her grandparents about her broken arm.

When Emily saw them enter she got up and said, "Honestly, Lorelai, your daughter is a perfect tomboy!  Running around playing football?  Hello Luke, it's nice to see you again."  It was startling how quickly Emily Gilmore could change gears.  She walked briskly to them with Richard at her heals and they exchanged pleasantries. 

"Nice to see you again, too, Mrs. Gilmore."  He shook Richard's hand.  "Mr. Gilmore."

"Please," said Richard.  "Call me Richard."

"Thanks."

"I think you know Rory," said Emily as they sat down.

"Yep," replied Luke.  "Hey, Ror."

"Hey Luke.  Hey Mom."

"Hey," said Lorelai brightly. 

"What can I get you two to drink?"

"I'll have a white wine," said Lorelai.

Richard looked at Luke.  "Uh, what are you having?" asked Luke uncertainly.

"I'm drinking a Dewars."

"I'll have the same."

"A scotch man, eh?"

"Yeah.  Love the scotch," said Luke under his breath.

Richard handed them their drinks and they each took a sip.

"So," began Emily.  "Rory was just telling us of her adventures.  She said you came to her rescue, Luke."

Luke shifted uneasily in his seat.  "No, not really.  She just needed someone to pick her up.  She'd already gotten herself to the hospital.  The hard part was over."

He took another sip of the scotch.  It was warm and it made him relax just a little bit.

"Nonsense," said Richard.  "Rory said that she couldn't reach Lorelai –"

"Something we'll come back to," interrupted Emily.

"- and she said that she was heavily medicated.  You drove all the way to Yale-New Haven Medical Center just to pick her up when she couldn't reach anyone else."

"Well," said Luke, "I think I was only the second person she tried."

"But I had them call you because I knew you'd come," Rory defended him.  "In my heavily medicated state you were the second person I thought of."

Luke nodded and took another sip. 

"It's a good thing, too," added Emily, "what with your mother off gallivanting in New York, you might have lain there all night."

"Mother," began Lorelai, "It wouldn't have been all night.  I would have been home by seven at which point I would have gotten the message and gone to pick her up."

"You shouldn't make light of this situation," admonished Emily.   

"I'm trying, Mom, but come on, she's fine.  I had a meeting in New York.  I forgot to charge my cell phone.  If I had an emergency on the road I wanted to be able to call for help.  What would you have done?"

"I would have kept my cell phone charged," responded Emily darkly.

"Dinner is served."

"Thank you, Magdalena."

The five of them got up and moved into the dining room.

The table was immaculately set.  They all sat down, Richard at the head, Emily at the foot, Rory on one side, Luke and Lorelai on the other.

"So Luke," said Rory.  "The Red Sox and the Yankees are playing again tomorrow night at Yankee stadium.  Are you going to watch the game?"

"Definitely," he replied with a nod.

"Ah!" said Richard.  "Are you a Yankees fan, too?"

Silence filled the room.  "Uh, no.  Actually I like the Sox," replied Luke.

Richard made a face.  "Really."

"Yup," said Lorelai.  "We all do."

"We all?" asked Emily.  "Really, Lorelai, since when do you pay any attention to sports?"

"Since Luke explained some things."

"Oh, really," said Richard.  "Like what?"

"Maybe this is a discussion for another time?" tried Luke under his breath.

"Like," responded Lorelai, "the fact that the Yankees have ruined baseball."

Richard looked from his daughter to his daughter's date.  "And how is that, Luke?"

"Well, Richard, I think that if there was a salary cap, it would even the playing field and make games a little bit more interesting.  Nowadays, it's no big surprise when the Yankees get to the World Series.  They have all the best talent because they pay through the nose for it."

Richard considered this.  "I suppose you have a small point," he conceded.

"So we should go to a game sometime," said Rory.

"We should all go sometime," said Richard.

"That would be fun," replied Luke.

"Let's not go crazy," joked Lorelai.

"Luke, honestly, I don't know how you put up with her incessant kidding around," said Emily.

"She's not so bad once you get used to it," he smiled.

Lorelai gasped in mock outrage.

Emily chuckled and said, "Is the chicken all right?"

Luke nodded.  "Everything is delicious.  Thank you."

"Good.  I'm so glad.  How is the diner?"

"It's good.  I hired another waiter this afternoon to help out now that the fall colors are bringing in more tourists."

"Very nice," said Emily.

Silence.

"Uh, Dad, how's the Gilmore Group doing?"

"Perfectly well, Lorelai.  Thank you for asking.  I've been traveling quite a bit recently, though, and I'm really looking forward to just sitting in my own office this week pushing paper around on my desk."

"Good, glad to hear everything is good."

Luke took another sip of his drink.

"And how are the preparations going for the Dragonfly?" inquired Emily.

"Fine.  We're in the process of tearing it apart and putting it back together again.  Sookie and I are hoping to have the grand opening before Thanksgiving."

"And when is she due?"

"Late October."

"Goodness, so it's safe to assume that you'll be picking up quite a bit of slack while she's on maternity leave."

Lorelai shook her head.  "It'll be fine.  I've got Michel and we're interviewing the kitchen staff this week, plus Sookie is a control-freak.  I would never ask her to, but have a feeling she'll be back before she really should."

"Thanksgiving is coming up fast," commented Emily.

"I know I can't believe I'm already almost through the first quarter of classes," said Rory.

Silence.

Luke took a sip.  He was really starting to relax now.

Magdalena cleared the dinner plates and brought out dessert.

"Lorelai said you're very health-conscious, Luke, so I had our cook prepare a healthy dessert."

Luke looked down at his plate.  Before him was a pineapple cut in half, partially hallowed out, and filled with fresh strawberries, blueberries, more pineapple, and cantaloupe.  It was even garnished with a sprig of mint. 

"Good lord," said Lorelai.  "You really went to town."  She was staring at her fruit.

"It looks fabulous, Grandma," said Rory.

"The presentation is really exquisite, Emily," said Richard.

"Thank you," said Luke.  "You didn't have to do this.  It looks wonderful."

"Nonsense," cried Emily.  "I'm so glad you like it."  She beamed at him.

After dinner Richard and Emily walked the Luke, Lorelai and Rory to the door.

"This was such a nice idea," said Emily with a smile.

"First rate," agreed Richard.

"Thank you for having us," said Luke as Emily opened the door.

"Dinner was really great, Grandma," said Rory.

"Yes, you really outdid yourself with the fruit cups, Mom."

Emily's smile faded.  "I'm so glad you approve," she said primly.

"No really, I liked it.  It was great, really!"

"Your enthusiasm is over-whelming," she replied with a frown.

"Well, uh, good night," said Rory. 

"Thank you for dinner," said Luke again.

"Good night," said Lorelai.

The three stepped through the door and once it was closed they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"That could have gone so much worse," said Lorelai as she and Luke walked Rory to her car.

"How could you call it a fruit cup?" reproached Rory.

"It was.  It was a glorified fruit cup and you know it."

"I think it hurt Grandma's feelings."

"Rory, don't you know by now that she doesn't have feelings?"

"I thought she was delightful," said Luke with a smile.

Lorelai glared at him, "Okay, that's the scotch talking."

Rory unlocked her car.  "Drive safely back to school," said Lorelai.

"I will," she replied.  Lorelai pulled her into a hug.  "Be good."

"I will," she replied again.  "By Luke."  She gave him a quick hug, too, and then got in her car and drove away.

Luke and Lorelai walked to the jeep in silence.

~~

A/N:  For the record, I would like to state that I love Sandra Bullock and would never mock her. However, sometimes good actresses choose bad movies. I don't know why.  It just happens. Acknowledging that it's a bad movie is not the same as calling her a bad actress.  Okay?