Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the storyline and Jessie.
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.
My beta-reader is still on vacation so this is all me. Please be gentle.
Thank you to all the reviewers. You have no idea who gratifying it is to read all your thoughts and opinions. A special thanks goes out to Lindsay for letting me bounce all my crazy ideas off of her. And another big thanks goes out to my beta-reader and friend, Sarah, for taking the time to read these chapters and make them as good as they can be.
As of 1-21-5 this chapter has been adjusted slightly for grammar.
August: Goodbyes and Hellos
Chapter Twenty-one
xoxox
Jessie awoke on the morning of her ninth birthday in her own bed and shouted to the room at large, "I'm nine today!" Out in the kitchen, Luke, who'd been having some tea, heard her and smiled to himself. She hadn't mentioned staying in Stars Hollow since he'd broached the subject but he had to admit that she really seemed to be enjoying herself. She'd been exceedingly demanding in planning the party they were throwing later that day and he took that as a good sign.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her door banging open followed by her running from her room to his lap shouting "I'm nine today! I'm nine today! I'm nine today!" Landing on him with a loud grunt, Jessie clambered into his lap and said, "I'm nine today!"
Luke took in her rumpled pink pajamas and tangled hair. "So I heard," he replied, trying for grumpy and missing by a mile.
"And I slept in my own bed all night," she announced proudly, helping herself to a sip of his tea.
"So I noticed," he said, in the same tone, making a grab for his drink.
"Because I'm a big girl now. And big girls sleep in their own beds." Her delivery was so solemn that Luke almost laughed.
"You're right," he told her, "they do."
"So can I opened my presents now?"
Pretending to be shocked, Luke said, "Of course not! The party doesn't start for hours. You have to wait like the everybody else."
"I mean your presents," she clarified.
"How do you know I got you anything?" he asked innocently.
"Because if you didn't I'd beat you up!" she declared.
"Ohh, I'm scared," he threw back.
"Grrr!" she added lifting her fists and twisting to face him while trying not to giggle.
"Oh, no!" he shouted, tickling her. "What shall I do?"
Shrieking with delight, Jessie wriggled off his lap and collapsed on the floor in an effort to get away from his tickling fingers. "Stop!" she cried, her face red from laughter.
Luke peered under the table from his chair and said, "Why don't you get dressed so we can go over to Lorelai's and help her finish decorating."
"Okay!" Jessie shouted. She jumped up from the floor, just barely missing knocking her head on the table and ran to her room shouting "I'm nine today! I'm nine today! I'm nine today!" Her door banged shut and Luke couldn't help but laugh out loud then.
Later, after she'd donned a new yellow daisy sundress they'd gotten just for the occasion and eaten a fast breakfast, she and Luke, who'd taken the day off from the diner, left and headed for Lorelai's. At the intersection Luke took her hand to cross the street but she shook it off and said importantly, "Big girls don't hold hands to cross streets."
"Is that so?" he demanded.
Lifting her nose in the air, Jessie nodded and said, "Yes."
"Some big girls probably do," he argued.
"No. Big girls don't hold hands. Only little girls."
Luke sighed. She was testing her own abilities as much as she was testing him, he knew, but it still…hurt a little. Another few years and she wouldn't need him at all. That is, if she decided to stay. "Okay," he agreed hesitantly.
Jessie looked like she'd expected a bigger fight but didn't say anything. Instead, she focused her attention on the traffic light and waited for it to change. When it did, she looked both ways and confidently stepped off the curb. Luke walked beside her, holding his breath the entire way across the street.
Once across, he let his breath out and they walked the rest of the way to Lorelai's with Jessie chattering away about who was coming and what games they would play.
They spent the morning with last-minute preparations. The theme was Powerpuff Girls and Lorelai had decked the house out in party streamers, tablecloths, plates, cups, napkins, and more paraphernalia than Luke thought possible.
The day was perfect: blue sky, no clouds and lots of sun. Rory and Jessie stood in the backyard securing a large paper donkey to a tree for Pin the Tail on the Donkey. From the kitchen, Luke leaned against the sink and watched, the merest hint of a smile playing at his lips. Lorelai came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso and leaned her face against his back. "Whatcha doing?"
"Watching the girls," he answered softly, settling on hand onto her arms.
"Jess is gonna have a great day," Lorelai assured him.
"You think?" he asked, watching his niece turn cartwheels in the yard. He made a mental note to speak to her later about cartwheels and their tendency to display underwear if not preformed while wearing pants.
"Just wait," she assured him. "Rory and I have taken care of everything."
"Thanks," he said, shifting so that he could turn around. "I couldn't have done a party for her without you."
Lorelai smiled and shook her head. "We're more than happy to help," she insisted before leaning in to brush her lips against his.
Their kiss turned heated after a moment and when they eventually pulled away it was with regret. The party would be starting soon and there was no point in starting something they couldn't finish. Reluctantly, they finished getting ready and at about noon the doorbell rang. Jessie ran from the kitchen to the front door at full speed all the while shouting, "I'll get it! I'll get it! I'll get it!"
One by one her friends from ballet arrived and not long afterward Sookie came by with Jackson, Davey and a cake in tow. The cake was something Sookie had been working on for a week. It featured the Powerpuff Girls but in tutus and up on a stage.
Lorelai made everyone put on a Powerpuff Girls party hat, including Luke who sighed and slipped it on over his backwards baseball cap. The sight of the rubber chinstrap on him was almost enough to make Lorelai fall over with laughter, but she held it together pretty well. After the girls finished playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Lorelai led all eight into the kitchen where Sookie had set up the table for them to make individual pizzas. As the girls created their lunches there was much giggling, fussing, eating and teasing. Luke hung back as much as possible as he felt completely inept at dealing all the little females.
Once the pizzas went into the ovens Lorelai announced, "Water balloon fight!"
All eight girls plus Rory and Lorelai ran screaming outside where Jackson had filled an old washtub with water balloons. Luke watched while, screeching with joy, the girls pummeled each other with the balloons.
When they'd exhausted their supply and their energy, the girls filed back into the kitchen, wet and muddy, to discover that their pizzas were ready. Silence fell as the hungry girls gorged themselves. As they ate Sookie and Lorelai stuck nine candles into the birthday cake and just as they finished the pizzas, they lit the candles and carried the cake over. Everybody sang as Lorelai put a silver paper tiara on Jessie's head.
When the singing ended and it came time for her to make a wish and blow out the candles Jessie looked up at the ceiling as if trying to decide what she should wish for. Luke gazed at her and knew what he was wishing for. Finally, Jessie looked down and caught his eyes as she went to blow her candles out. She smiled at him in sheer happiness. A moment later, the candles were out and Sookie was cutting the cake.
"Uncle Luke," Jessie called from her position at the head of the table.
"What?" he asked, arms crossed over his chest, still trying to play grumpy.
"Come here and have some cake."
Luke rolled his eyes and shook his head but walked over and pulled up a chair. "I don't want any cake," he told her.
Sookie put a plate full of chocolate cake in front of her and Jessie heaved a portion onto her fork. Bringing the fork up to him she said, "Just have a taste."
"All right, but just a taste," he agreed. As he opened his mouth, Luke saw her eyes shift from innocent to evil as she skipped his lips altogether and smushed the cake onto his nose and cheek. Crowing with laughter, Jessie put her fork down and quickly pressed her hand into the cake still adorning her uncle's face.
"Cake face!" she shouted.
"Why you little," Luke replied making to tickle her again. She squealed and jumped off the chair to run into the living room and he jumped up, too, but only made it to the sink where Lorelai laughed and handed him a towel. "It's okay, Jess!" Lorelai yelled. "You can come back!"
Luke cleaned his face and shook his head. "I'm never falling for that one again."
"Once was enough," Lorelai smiled.
"You had something to do with it?" Luke questioned, one eyebrow lifted.
"Maybe," she shrugged.
"I'll get you later," he promised.
"I hope so," she replied in a low voice.
Once everyone had gotten a piece of cake Jessie opened her presents and was delighted with everything. After another hour the girls were coming down off their sugar high the mothers started picking them up. By three Sookie, Jackson and Davey were gone and that left the four of them. Unfortunately, Jessie's dress was still wet from the water balloons and she was starting to shiver a little. Unwilling to allow her to get sick again, Luke quickly decided to go to the apartment and get her a change of clothes while the girls hung out.
"Why don't I go with you?" Lorelai suggested. "I could use a walk."
They agreed that Jessie could stay with Rory while Lorelai walked with Luke back to the apartment for a change of clothes for Jessie. As they walked across town Luke took her hand in his and squeezed. She smiled affectionately and squeezed back. Once in the apartment, Luke went into Jessie's room and found shorts and a t-shirt for her. As he came back out into the main room Lorelai sidled up to him and said, "We don't have to hurry back, do we?"
He kissed her then. Pressing against her, he let all his desires come to the surface and she felt it and responded.
"I gotta be honest with you." She said in between kisses.
"Yeah?" he asked, completely distracted by her tongue.
"This is the most sexually frustrating relationship I've ever had."
She pushed him down onto the bed, intoxicated with the knowledge that they were completely alone. Joining him, she quickly doffed her tank top and he gazed up at her from his back a little overcome.
Without giving him time to comment on her state of undress she pushed his t-shirt up and began to explore the skin she found underneath. Luke's eyes rolled back into his head as he gasped with pleasure. Without giving him time to get used to the fact that her teeth were actually nipping at him, she went from one side to the other and he again gasped as the sensitive skin allowed for her assault.
Suddenly impatient with her position of power he quickly regained his head and shifted his weight so that he could roll them over. Now on top, he pressed his lips to her throat and gently tasted the sweat that had gathered there. With his hands he explored her fragrant skin and delighted in her soft, slow moans.
"Please," she said. "Please, I need you."
Luke thought he'd die from the pleasure of hearing those words, but instead he simply gave in and when it was all over they lay tangled in the blankets, gasping for air, exhausted but exhilarated.
Lorelai lay with her back to him and he stroked her arm and in a state of half-consciousness nibbled at her neck. With a smile she rolled over and kissed his jaw. "I love you, Luke Danes," she murmured.
He smiled with his eyes closed and said, "All the ladies do."
With a sly chuckle, she told him firmly, "No more ladies. Just me."
"No one ever said you were a lady."
She poked him in the ribs and growled, "Excuse me?"
He grunted and laughed at her poking as he opened his eyes and took in her tousled hair and rosy cheeks. "I said I love you, too."
"That's what I thought," she said, satisfied with his answer.