Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea.
A/N: See Chapter One for full premise. To sum up, this is an AU (Alternate Universe) in which Jess Mariano never existed. In his place, Jessie Danes, daughter of Liz, has come to live with her Uncle Luke for the summer. I am very pleased that so far people are enjoying this. Reviews are always welcome, no matter how short or long (just in case you're reading and not reviewing…you know who you are). A special thanks goes out to Lindsay for letting me bounce all my crazy ideas off of her. This story would not be here without her. Literally. She had to talk me into posting it. And another big thanks goes out to my new friend Sarah for taking the time to read drafts of recent chapters.
July: Cowboys and Ballerinas
Chapter Nine
~~
Sunlight streamed into their living room as Luke sat on his couch facing the TV with Jessie standing between his knees with her back to him. Dressed in her black leotard and white tights, she was ready except for her hair. Feeling a trifle overwhelmed, Luke asked, "Are you sure about this?"
"Miss Patty said it has to be up in a bun," she responded definitively. "I saw her yesterday."
Jessie's hair fell in soft, dark curls around her shoulders. They had picked up some of that conditioner Lorelai had recommended and it had indeed made a world of difference. That had been overwhelming, too, though. Who knew there would be so many different kinds? Luke grimaced at the memory of trying to choose the correct kind.
But that wasn't his problem right now. Now, he had to somehow figure out this bun situation. Impatient with standing still for so long, Jessie wriggled and griped, "We're going to be late!"
"Okay, okay," Luke rumbled. "Just let me figure this out."
Pulling all of her hair into one fist, Luke tugged it up so that he had a sort of ponytail at the top of her head. After using the brush to smooth out the ridges, he took the hair tie Jessie was holding up near her shoulder and twisted it around the hair, amazed that it stayed in place. Half done, he thought triumphantly.
Now I just have to get the rest of it in a bun. Jessie held up a book they'd found at the library. One Hundred And One Ways To Do Your Hair was the title and it had both pictures and diagrams in it.
Luke took the ponytail and tried to follow the directions in the book. He twisted the hair tight around the base of the ponytail and then under itself again. Holding the knot in place with one hand, he fumbled trying to get one of the hairpins open. Jessie wriggled again.
Frustrated, Luke put one of the pins into his mouth to open with his teeth and when it worked he crowed, "Ha!" only to have it snap closed when he lost his grip. "Damn!" he shouted.
"Language! And we're going to be late!" Jessie repeated, squirming impatiently.
Letting go of the knot, Luke let her hair hang in the ponytail as he went for the phone. A quick glance at the clock told him that she should be close by. It was Thursday at 5:45 pm and there were very few places she went after work during the week.
"Hello," she answered cheerfully.
"It's me," he barked. "I need some help."
"Luke?"
"Yeah. Are you near the diner?"
"I'm in the diner," she said.
"On the phone?" he scolded.
"You needed help?" she reminded him.
Luke sighed. He did need her help. "Can you come upstairs? Right away?"
"Why Luke, this is all so sudden," she answered teasingly.
"Very funny," he shot back. "Just please come up here, okay?"
"Bossy," she alleged before hanging up.
Luke put the phone back in its cradle and turned to Jessie who had been watching him expectantly. "Lorelai is coming up to help with your hair."
"Yay!" Jessie shouted as she clapped her hands and jumped up and down.
"Calm down!" he grumped, "I could have figured it out, it just would have taken too long."
"Uh-huh," she replied dubiously with her arms crossed over her chest.
With hands on hips, Luke was about to chide her for doubting him, but the knocking interrupted. "Knock, knock!" called Lorelai from out in the hall. "Everyone decent?"
"Come in," yelled Jessie.
"Indoor voice," Luke reminded her.
Lorelai entered and Jessie scampered over. "Can you please finish my hair? We have to be there in fifteen minutes and Uncle Luke can't do it!" she explained dramatically all the while dancing around showing off her new leotard.
With a big smile, Lorelai allowed Jessie to lead her to the couch as she said, "Of course I can help. I'm a girl. Girls know how to do hair."
Taking Luke's seat on the couch and letting Jessie position herself between her knees, Lorelai noted that the ponytail was actually pretty good. "Okay, Luke," she said. "Watch and learn." As Luke stood behind her and watched, Lorelai took Jessie's hair, twisted it loosely around the base of the pony all the while depositing hair pins here and there until it was all perfectly put together into a little bun at the top of her head. "All done," she said simply when she was finished.
Jessie danced into the bathroom to look in the mirror as Luke and Lorelai shared a smile. "Yay!" Jessie called out. "It's perfect!" she said as she danced back out of the bathroom and into the living room.
"Thank you, Lorelai," Luke prompted, looking at Jessie pointedly.
"Thank you, Lorelai," Jessie repeated. "You wanna walk with us to Miss Patty's?"
"Why not?" declared Lorelai. "It's beautiful out."
"Woo hoo!" shouted Jessie, way too excited to pay attention to minor details like inside voice/outside voice. Jessie put on her sneakers over her tights and held her slippers in a tight fist as she waited for the adults to hurry up and get ready. "Come on!" she whined, bouncing.
"We're coming!" Luke growled, irritated with all the jumping and shouting. He was getting a headache.
From the apartment, Jessie took the stairs two at a time while Luke and Lorelai trailed behind her. She was ahead of them between the stairs and the front door of the diner and once outside she stood bouncing at the corner waiting for them to cross the street with her.
"Would you stop with the jumping already?" Luke pleaded.
"I can't!" she squealed.
"It's giving me a headache," Luke told her.
Jessie held her hand out to him as they reached her and they crossed the street. As a consolation, Jessie switched from bouncing to skipping along side of Luke as they walked to the dance studio. Jessie noticed that Lorelai was on her other side and, not wanting her to feel left out, took her hand as she had done with Luke's.
"Going to ballet class!" Jessie sang with no particular tune in mind.
"We know," grouched Luke, getting more impatient by the minute.
"And here we are," smiled Lorelai as they arrived.
As they passed through the open doors, Miss Patty met them and said, "You made it!"
"Yep, we're here!" Jessie squeaked excitedly.
"All right! The other girls are over there," Patty gestured to a huddled group of girls about her age. Jessie skipped off and Patty turned to Luke and Lorelai. "I'll take it from here," she said. "Come back in one hour."
"You got it Patty. Thanks," Luke said as he and Lorelai left.
They descended the steps and came to a stop at the bottom of them. "Thank you," Luke said quietly. "You saved my life."
With a warm grin and a soft punch to his shoulder, Lorelai returned, "Well, it's a nice life."
"You want some coffee?"
Lorelai chuckled and said, "Silly man."
"Yeah," he nodded. "Dumb question."
"You know," Lorelai said as they walked, "you're doing a really great job with her."
Luke paused to glance in her direction before asking, "You think?"
"I really do," she said sincerely.
"Thanks," he replied. "Sometimes I wonder."
"What do you wonder?"
"Just stuff," Luke shrugged. He was unsure about how much to tell her, but then decided to just let it all come out. He needed to talk to someone. "Lots and lots of stuff."
"Tell me," Lorelai demanded.
Luke stopped and sat down on a nearby park bench. After a moment or two of silence, Lorelai joined him and said, "Really, Luke. Talk to me."
"You don't ever want to say something bad about some you're related to," Luke began.
"But…." prompted Lorelai.
"But," Luke continued reluctantly, "I don't think…I don't think I want Jessie to go back to living with Liz at the end of the summer."
"Go on," Lorelai said with a wrinkled forehead.
"You should hear the things she says sometimes," Luke went on, absently. "She's eight years old. She needs structure and guidance, not a mother who brings home a different guy every night. She doesn't even have a real bedroom there, just a little corner that's blocked off by a sheet hung from the ceiling. And another thing," he continued, getting worked up, "her language and grammar are abysmal, she needs to be surrounded by people who speak correctly, not those New York lowlifes who populate Liz's world."
Lorelai brought her hands up to rest on his bare forearm and said with understanding, "You're right. All of those things are bad."
Luke met her eyes and confessed. "I've been thinking about asking Liz to let Jessie stay."
"Yeah?" repeated Lorelai with wide, concerned eyes.
He nodded. "I worry about her all the time and I can't stop. I worry that their apartment is infested with bugs. I worry that she'll be coming home from school one day and get shot in some gangland killing because of where their apartment is located. I worry that one day Liz'll bring home some guy who's into little girls," his face twisted into stark rage for half a second before he carefully buried it again and continued, "I worry that no one will like her at school next year and Liz will be too busy getting stoned with her friends to give a damn!"
"Okay," soothed Lorelai with a squeeze to the arm she was still holding.
"I've started obsessing about all the horrible things that could go wrong for her," Luke confessed with wild eyes. "Why can't I stop obsessing and worrying?"
"Luke, it's normal," Lorelai assured him quietly.
"How can feeling this sick to my stomach be normal?" he scoffed.
Lorelai gave a small chuckle and said, "That's what being a parent is all about. You worry because you love them. You imagine the worst-case scenario so that just in case it ever happens you've somehow prepared yourself for the utter wreck of a life you can expect yours to be from now on. It's not easy, but there are benefits, too."
Luke gazed into her dark blue eyes and asked a little helplessly, "Like what?"
"Like walking to ballet class," Lorelai answered, leaning in a little and smiling. "And butterscotch sundaes. And bedtime TV. And shopping for sheets."
Luke returned the smile, understanding what she meant and enjoying her company. She really did understand. "I know," he said softly.
They stared at each other for a moment longer, her hands resting on his bare arm, the silky hair there gently tickling her fingertips. Luke held his breath for a second and then decided to throw caution to the wind. Slowly, he settled his other hand on top of hers and her eyes immediately widened at the additional contact. Flustered, Lorelai broke the connection and looked away before asking casually, "Do you think Liz will say yes?"
"I don't know," Luke admitted, leaning back against the bench, feeling a little foolish.
"When are you going to ask her?"
"I don't know," he repeated, exhausted from his rant and the unspoken rejection.
"Well, you've got time," Lorelai said nervously. "She doesn't leave until the end of next month, right?"
"Mm hmm," Luke replied, feeling the by now familiar twinge in his heart that only happened when he thought about her leaving.
"So there you go."
Standing, Luke took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Thanks," he said as they crossed the street to the diner. "Let's get that coffee for you."
"Blessed man, I thought you'd never ask!" Lorelai replied feeling a little twinge of her own. With one sentence he'd brought them back to where they'd been before. Only they weren't really back there, they were just pretending to be.