Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea.
A/N: Thank you Jade-Tessier for once again being a wonderful editor. I've been gone for a while as some personal stuff came up, but I'm back now and this chapter is for the people who are still reading, especially my Little Fonzie Girl. Thanks for all the encouragement and good wishes!
~~
"You know you're sexy when you use that rolling pin," Lorelai commented as she watched Luke make piecrust from her perch on the countertop of her kitchen.
"You think so, huh?" he asked with a smile.
She nodded and leaned over to kiss him. As her tongue grazed his lower lip he moved his hand to the soft skin behind her knee and said with faux seriousness, "This pie will never get done this way."
"That's why God invented convenience stores," she mumbled distractedly as she continued to explore his mouth.
Luke chuckled and said, "If we bring your mother a convenience store pie she'll have a heart attack on the spot."
"Well, now we have to bring her a convenience store pie," giggled Lorelai as she leaned over and tasted the skin on his neck.
"You think God had you in mind when he – "
"When she," corrected Lorelai.
"When she," allowed Luke, "came up with convenience stores?"
"Maybe not," answered Lorelai thoughtfully. "But," she continued as her hand ventured toward his chest, "she definitely had the situation in mind."
Luke gave in, forgot about the crust and pushed his fingers through the hair at the base of her neck leaving a trail of flour into the dark curls. Her kitchen floor was hard, but with the right distraction, it was almost completely imperceptible.
~~
A few hours later, Lorelai wandered into the living room in her robe and sat down feeling great. A few hours with a good man will do that to a girl, she reflected. It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving and she needed to call Rory. As she dialed the numbers she thought about the conversation they'd had after her talk with Emily.
"Look," Lorelai had said, "I want to apologize again for what I said to you at the party. I lost my temper."
"Yeah, a little," replied Rory.
"Here's the thing, though. Do you remember my last birthday? When I paid them off and my mom freaked out? You defended them and I went off on you then, too."
"I remember," said Rory, quietly.
"I'm the mommy. That should mean that I have the answers, right? Well, it's hard for me when you sometimes try to help me see the answers. Now, don't get me wrong, it was wrong of you to lie to me, but I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."
"It's okay," said Rory softly, after a moment. "I'm sorry I lied to you."
"It's all good," Lorelai had assured her.
Now, Lorelai sat on the couch and dialed the familiar numbers.
Rory answered her cell on the third ring with a breezy, "Hey, what's up?"
"Not much," answered Lorelai wiggling in deeper into the cushions. Lulu was attached to her side purring contentedly. "Luke is napping and I thought I'd call to say hi. Is Charlie still coming to dinner?"
"Dessert. He's eating with his parents and will come for dessert."
"That sounds good. Luke and I are making a pumpkin pie for the occasion."
"You're making a pie?"
"Well, Luke is making it, I'm supervising," acknowledged Lorelai with a smile, thinking back to the incident on her kitchen floor. "How's it going with you two?"
"It's been really good, actually," replied Rory happily.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah. But, I'm not going to tie myself down to anyone just yet," declared Rory. "I want to play the field a little for a while. Sow some oats," she continued philosophically. "Sample the wares. Drink the milk without buying the - "
"Rory!" interrupted Lorelai.
"What?" ask Rory, alarmed at her mother's tone.
"Please don't finish that thought. You'll make mommy's ears bleed."
"Oh," giggled Rory, realizing what she'd almost said, "yeah, that was pretty dirty, huh?"
"Just don't let it happen again. Letting you out of my sight so that you could go to college is one thing. I'm not ready for you to tell me about all the random guys you been sampling."
Rory giggled again and then said, "I hate to say this, but I've got one more midterm before Thanksgiving so I should really go study."
"Okay, then. Study hard and I'll see you on Thursday."
"Thanks," answered Rory. "Love you."
"Love you, too."
As they disconnected Lulu yawned and stretched. Lorelai stroked the cat's silky forehead and said, "You don't have to study do you? I'm thinking we need some ice cream pronto, what do you think?" Lulu squinted her golden eyes at Lorelai and continued to purr.
Lorelai stood up and went to the kitchen for ice cream. On her way upstairs with her bowl she smiled to herself. Ice cream and Luke. What a perfect way to spend an afternoon. As she pushed her bedroom door open she noted that her room had become their room. His laundry, like hers, was cluttered on the floor and on top of the dresser. Sneakers, a plaid shirt, and even a baseball bat were lying in a corner. He'd even taken to putting his keys on the nightstand on his side of the bed. Lorelai shook her head in wonder over the fact that Luke the diner man had a his-side-of-the-bed in her house.
She sat down next to him on the bed with her back against the headboard and her knees drawn up to her chin, creating the perfect resting place for her bowl of ice cream. As she settled in, Luke rolled over and blinked sleepily at her.
"What time is it?" he asked rubbing fingers against her leg.
"Almost four," she replied.
"I've gotta get up," he groaned. "I'm helping cover the dinner shift tonight."
"You could call in sick," suggested Lorelai as she took another spoonful.
Luke stood and stretched. "Who'm I gonna call? Myself?"
"That might be fun to watch," encouraged Lorelai.
"No. I gotta go, but if you come in, dinner'll be on the house," he said as he made his way down the hall to the shower.
"It better be," she called after him. "The bedroom antics aren't for free you know!" She put her empty bowl on her nightstand and wandered down the hall after him.
He was in the shower by this time and she surprised him by poking her head through the shower curtain. "Did you hear me?"
"The bedroom antics? Yeah, I heard you. Nice talk," he said spraying her with water.
"You wanna fight?" she asked. "I'll give you a fight." And she proceeded to strip off her clothes and join him for a shower.
~~
An hour later, Luke was serving a table of four and Lorelai was finishing up her burger and fries. Patty sat next to Lorelai sipping coffee.
"Any plans for the holiday, darling?" she smarmed, nodding to wear Luke was at across the room.
"Dinner with my parents," answered Lorelai vaguely.
"Oh?" asked Patty, gobbling up this morsel of information. "Will Rory be there?"
"Uh-huh."
"Anyone else?" pried Patty.
"A friend of hers."
"Right, but anyone else?" asked Patty impatiently.
Lorelai sighed. Short of lying outright, there was no way she was going to be able to keep this news from Patty. "Luke will be there, too."
"Really," said Patty, clearly delighted with this. "Dinner with your parents on a national holiday. That's big."
Kirk, who was sitting a few seats down, chimed in, "Yeah, those two are thicker than thieves these days."
"Kirk, what are you talking about," asked Lorelai, annoyed.
"Never mind Kirk. Let's talk about Luke," said Patty firmly.
"Let's not talk about Luke," said the man himself as he came up to the counter to refill Lorelai's coffee mug.
"Luke, don't be that way. Lorelai was just telling me that you'll be going to her parents for Thanksgiving. How wonderful. It's always a good idea to start working on the parents early. Makes it harder to say no."
"Say no to what?" replied Luke with a wrinkled brow.
"Yeah, Patty, what are you talking about?" asked Lorelai, confused.
"I know you said you had no plans for it, but in such cases as these one should always ask for the bride's hand in marriage from her father (old money works that way), she added as an aside to Luke. "Christmas is coming," she continued. "Wouldn't an engagement ring make a nice gift?" Patty's expression told them she'd keep their little secret all to herself – at least until she rounded the corner and ran into anyone who would listen. Then, she winked at them, threw some money on the counter and left before either could come up with a single response to her assumptions.
Finally, Lorelai said, "Stars Hollow strikes again."
"Seriously, Lorelai, I'd be a great ring-bearer," said Kirk.
"Kirk," she snapped. "We are not getting married."
"Thicker than thieves," mumbled Kirk as he left in a huff.
"Unbelievable," muttered Luke as he left to attend to his waiting customers.
