Chapter 3: Toddlers
Disclaimer: I only own Susanna and Brett. Both are so cute! Like you wouldn't believe! See, Brett's the spitting image of her father, cause Ivy was all fair, so Jess' genes were dominant, so Brett's got dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Susanna's parents have the same coloring (has anyone else noticed that?) so her hair's chestnut brown and her eyes are the same blue of Lorelai and Rory. Luke's got blue eyes, but they're not like Lorelai and Rory's.
A/N: Yeah, I'm still on the Luke/Scott Patterson/guitar thing. That's so cool! I never would have expected that. The whole run-on sentence in the first chapter? I noticed that and put it in there, but Rory thought it, too, and that's why she laughs. Thanks to everyone's reviews, and yay! People like the South thing!! Special thanks to Manda and Mandy (hee, hee, that's so funny) who never cease to make my day with endless compliments.
This chapter is a Lorelai chapter, and the same day as the other two chapters. I will expand through the Rory/Jess views in the next few chapters, and get away from the whole 'that's go back through the day over and over and over through different perspectives!' 'Cause that's kind of Groundhog Day, except…not.
Anywho. Lorelai doesn't have her own in-depth summary 'cause she did a good job of summing it all up herself. I like the picture of Luke as a softie, by the way.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Lorelai~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Parenthood is so much easier with two people.
Seriously. And the second kid's easier than the first. Of course, I might be a little off on that point, cause now I'm parenting with a partner.
Partner. It seems so weird to call Luke that. I mean, we've been friends for years…and we've been a couple for three years…and co-parents for two years. Fiancées for a little over a year.
He sings to Susanna, our little girl. When she can't sleep, he sings "Oh, Susanna". It's the sweetest little thing in the world, how much he loves his little girl. And he never calls her anything but Susanna. I call her Q, because of that old song, "Susie Q". But he always calls her Susanna.
I am shocked from my thoughts by the ringing of the phone, and I pull my gaze from my toddler playing with blocks on the lobby floor and answer the phone.
"Hello, Dragonfly Inn, Lorelai speaking."
"It's half-past twelve." Luke says.
"Why, thank you. Now what's the temperature?"
"Lorelai."
"Luke."
"Are you bringing Susanna over here soon?"
"Yes, soon. It's almost your half of the day."
"I know."
"I expect lunch when I drop her off."
"Is it ever different?"
"Nope." I grin. "We'll be over there soon."
"Leaving now?"
"Leaving now."
"Okay."
"Love you."
"I…I love you too." He says the last four words in a whisper, and I can tell he's shielding his mouth from his diner goers, even though they've figured out that we love each other. We've been living together for two years.
"Bye." I laugh at him, slightly, and hang up. "Hey, Q!" I walk over to my toddler and pick her up. "Wanna go see Daddy?" I ask, settling her on my hip.
"Daddy!"
"Right, Daddy!" I carry Q to the kitchen to tell Sookie I'm going to drop her off, and then we head to the diner.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
We've become adept at splitting our toddler time up between us. Every other day, I get her in the mornings, and Luke gets her in the afternoons, and then vice-versa. After six, I usually swing by the diner for a few hours, and then by eight she's usually sacked out in the office upstairs, and we all head home.
Today's a Mommy-then-Daddy day. I like M-then-D days, because that means Luke gets her during her naptime, which is usually around one or two.
"Susanna!" His face lights up as we walk into the diner, and he shoves the coffeepot at Kirk and walks over to us. "Hey, there." He lifts her from my arms and carries her behind the counter, and the sits her on it with her back facing me as I sit on a stool. He then leans over and kisses me quickly.
"How was work?" he asks, hurrying to grab the coffeepot from Kirk again.
"Hectic. Here?"
"Worse." He shakes his head as he pours me coffee.
"Worse? And how do you know that yours is worse than mine?"
"There's some weird-ass convention in town, and they're all eating here."
"Mm-hmm. And where are they staying?"
"Oh, fine, you win." He throws his hands up in defeat and tries to rush by me to take someone's order. I grab his arm and pull him to me for a kiss.
"I'll take a cheeseburger and some fries," I grin when we part.
"You're gonna die," he warns, his forehead still leaning against mine.
"Nuh-uh. You keep me young."
He smiles, pecks me again, and heads off to work some more. I pull Q so she's sitting on the outer edge of the counter and turn her to face me.
"Hi," she says. She looks a little mischievous, and a half-smile comes to my face of its own free will.
"And what did you do?"
She shrugs and looks off into the corner, swinging her legs against the counter. My half-smile grows into a full one, and I walk around the edge of the counter, keeping one hand on her leg. There's a cardboard box full of napkins on the floor, lying on top of a small mound of sugar. I grin and pull Q back around so she's sitting on the inner edge of the counter again.
"Q. Again?"
She clamps her hands together and gives me her angelic face. I laugh.
"You know, that might work on Daddy, but it won't work on me."
"Yeah."
"Yeah." I keep one hand on her leg and lean down to pick up the napkins.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The telephone shocks me from my thoughts for the second time today. After registering that I am, in fact, at work, and not at home cuddled in front of a movie with Luke and Q like I want to be, I answer it.
"Dragonfly Inn."
"Mom." Rory sounds tired.
"Hey, sweets. How long since you slept?"
"Huh? Oh, twenty-some odd hours. You'll never guess whose kitchen I'm sitting in."
"Eric Davis asked you out!" I yell, thrilled. A guest shoots me a dirty look and I lower my voice. "Did he?"
"Well, yeah."
I start squealing—quietly, of course.
"Mom, Mom, Mom!" Rory yells. "That's not whose kitchen in which I am sitting."
"Oh, stop with the English lessons and tell me about Eric."
"What about the kitchen?" She yells again. "This is kind of a big deal."
"Who is it, Ted Turner?"
Rory sighs. "No, not Ted Turner. It's…um…Jess."
"Mariano?" I shout.
"Yeah," she says, almost sheepishly.
"Jess Mariano. His kitchen."
"Yeah."
"In Atlanta?"
"Well…yeah."
Suddenly there's a sound of rustling on the other side of the phone, and I can hear a male voice—I'm guessing Jess—yell in the background, "Brett! Leave her alone!"
"Oh, Jess, let her." I can hear Rory's voice, but she sounds a little far away.
"Hi," a little voice breathes into the phone.
"Hi. Who's this?" I put on my sweet voice, the one I use to deal with toddlers.
"Brett."
"Okay, Brett, can you put Rory on the phone?"
Brett doesn't answer me, just talks to Rory into the mouthpiece of the phone. "Are you Wory?"
There's another rustling, and then Rory's back. "Hi again. Sorry."
"Who was that?"
"Brett."
"Thanks," I say sarcastically. "That much I gathered. Who's Brett?"
"Uh…." There's a pause. It sounds like Rory covers the mouthpiece with her hand and says something to Jess. "Sorry, Mom, I've gotta go. It's long distance, you know."
"Rory, why'd you call?"
"Um, I don't know. I'll talk to you soon, though. Love you."
"Lo—" I start to say, but she's already slammed the phone down. I stare at the receiver. What the hell was that? Rory found Jess in Atlanta? There's a toddler—over two, though—in Jess' kitchen? And what does the toddler have to do with Jess?
You know…I know someone who might have the answers to these questions.
So I pull a maid and give her front-desk duty before rushing back to the diner.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Luke! Luke!" I call as I storm through the diner door.
"Mama!" Q yells from a table where Clara Forester is coloring with her.
"Hi, Q. Clara, where's Luke?"
She shrugs.
"Okay, then, where's Robert?"
She immediately points behind me, directly to him, and I can tell she's been watching him.
"Thanks." I give Q a quick kiss on the forehead and walk over to Robert, one of the four teenagers employed by Luke on a part-time basis. "Rob, where's Luke?"
"Upstairs," he says immediately, clearing a table off. "But he doesn't want to be disturbed."
"He'll want to be disturbed by me," I say sweetly, before turning and stomping quickly up the stairs. "Luke!" I call, bursting into the apartment/office. He jumps up from the kitchen table where he was talking on the phone.
"Illtalktoyoulaterbye," he says in one breath, before swiftly hanging up. "Lorelai!" He smiles a little too widely.
"Luke. I have a few bones to pick with you."
"Oh, you found out." His face falls.
"I might have." I say coldly. "First of all, I want to know who the hell was on the phone."
"Uh, Jess," he forces out.
"Oh! Jess." I say knowingly. "And would Rory happen to be in his kitchen in Atlanta?" I yell.
"Okay, I wanted to tell you, but he wouldn't let me. He didn't wanna talk about her."
"And how long has he been in Atlanta?"
"Uh," he stares at the floor, "three years."
"What? And you haven't told me?"
"I wanted to!" He yells again. "He wouldn't let me!"
"Ugh." I stamp my foot on the floor. Luke's good enough to keep his promise to Jess, and I can't begrudge him that. "Fine. Who's Brett?"
Luke's mouth makes a surprised 'O', and his gaze darts from the floor, to the wall behind me, to the table, and then finally I walk up to him and grab his face with both of my hands, forcing him to look at me.
"Who's Brett?" I ask a little softer, because once his gaze darts like that, you have to talk softly, because yelling helps you no longer.
"Jess'…daughter."
I let go of Luke's face, and take a step back, my own gaze on the floor. "Daughter."
"Yeah."
"Oh. Okay." I nod. I seem like I'm in control, but my insides are flopping all over the place. "I…have to go call Rory." I turn from the room and bolt down the stairs.