"You know, I can't even begin to comprehend an appropriate answer for that, Mom," Lorelai continued.
"Lorelai, this is serious. What kind of mother are you?! I'll tell you what kind," she answered herself, "An awful one! Your daughter... Your daughter, who goes to Yale, has been fooling around with a married man."
"Yeah, I think they let people who go to Yale do that nowadays too... It's not just for the rif-raff, anymore..." said Lorelai wearily.
Luke listened, his eyes wide, his hand in a clutch now on Lorelai's knee.
"Lorelai, this is serious. I think even my sister Hopie is shocked....and she, for all intents and purposes, is now French," bit Emily.
Lorelai sighed, "Mom, I don't know what Rory told you exactly but, yes, she did make a mistake with an old boyfriend. They are both young. He is in an unhappy marriage at nineteen, and Rory had a difficult first year away from home..."
"I cannot believe you are making excuses!" yelled Emily across oceans and continents.
"I'm not, Mom. I'm not making excuses. I'm just..." began Lorelai.
"Actually," continued Emily, "I don't know why I am surprised. After your behavior with Jason, after all the men, in fact... leaving one at the altar even... And of course we don't need to mention what happened when you were sixteen..."
"Because that would be an incredibly hurtful thing to do..." agreed Lorelai sarcastically, her eyes burning.
"All I can say is that I pity the man you end up with, Lorelai. And it is crystal clear that your... behavior... has made an impression on Rory. I had thought that, despite your Bohemian life, you had at least attempted to set an example for her while she grew up... a positive one. Now that I see the results... Now that I see the truth... I am surprised that Rory turned out as well as she did... because with you as a mother--..."
--Click.
The barrage ended.
And Lorelai was only just dimly aware that Luke had taken the phone out of her hand and hung up on her mother.
She looked over at him, her mouth slightly agape, and saw his face... his red and very angry face.
Luke stood up then, dropped the phone on the settle, placed his hands on his hips and expelled a sharp breath, then breathed in another deeper one. And then began to pace.
Lorelai watched him for awhile, her eyes wide and struggling for comprehension.
"D-d-did you just hang up on my mother?" she asked in awe.
Luke stopped his pacing and turned to look his answer at her from the other side of the room.
"You did. You just hung up on Emily Gilmore." Lorelai looked down at her hand where the phone had been and tried to sort that out. What did it mean? What exactly happened to one when one hung up on Emily Gilmore mid-tirade?
By the time she looked up again, Luke was kneeling in front of her, peering into her face.
"Lorelai.." he began softly, his anger managed now.
"So we are still here.." she reasoned. "We have not turned into pillars of salt. We have not descended into Dante's hell...And, as of this moment, there is no shooting pain behind my eye..."
"Right..." answered Luke cautiously.
"You just hung up on Emily," Lorelai told him stupidly.
Luke sighed, "I know that, Lorelai.. I'm--..."
She clasped her hands around his face and looked deeply into his eyes, "Do not apologize, Luke. Whatever you do, do not apologize."
"Okay..."
She gazed at him steadily. "I'm in love with you," she told him. "I. Love. You."
Luke reddened further, "Lorelai, you can't say something like that just because I hung up on your mother."
"Why not? Why can't I?" she protested, "And it's not just because you hung up on my mother, although I do think I want to jump your bones right now, by the way..." Luke looked down uncomfortably at that. She lifted his chin, "It's because; Oh my God, Luke, but I do... I love you... And there you've been all along, and...and I love you."
"Lorelai," Luke caught his breath.
And then the phone rang again.
They both looked down at it.
"If it were a snake..." mumbled Lorelai as they watched it and listened to it as it continued to ring and ring and ring. Until it stopped.
And was quiet.
Lorelai leaned her forehead down onto Luke's shoulder then, "Oh, Luke, I am so tired. Will you take me home?"
He sighed and nodded and gathered her up and drove her home without a word. He left her at her door then, with a soft kiss and a meaningful look.
"This isn't over," he said.
She smiled at him weakly before he walked home.
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Lorelai turned off the ringer on her phone.
She switched her cell to 'Leave a message, please...'
She closed all the curtains and drew all the blinds.
She scrubbed off her make up and pulled on the softest knits that she could find—and which were clean.
And went to bed.
And slept long and hard and without dreaming.
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Now normally Lorelai would have dawned with a brighter outlook come morning. It was her nature. She came from resilient people, after all. But it was not so this time. She was still tired, despite the sound sleep, and this was almost as big a pain in the ass as being yelled at from France by her mother. Almost.
She got out of bed anyway, because that's what you do.
Once dressed and downstairs she walked past the blinking answering machine without a second glance, grabbed a pop tart and was soon out the door on her way to The Dragonfly.
En route though, she mulled. She mulled on Emily. On Rory. On Dean. On Motherhood. On Rory again. And then finally, on Luke. And that made her smile because, damn it, she did love him. And it wasn't just the audacity of hanging up on her mother (although the sexiness of that act alone was heady,) it was because he was Luke. He was dear, dear Luke. And she loved him. And, wow, had she ever really loved anyone quite this way before?
Nope. She hadn't.
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After a productive morning of not thinking about it all, she decided to go to Luke's for lunch. Once there, she jingled the door open and walked in on the middle of something. More precisely, a small crowd gathered and murmuring softly around a red-eyed Kirk, who was seated at his customary center table. Ever faithful, Lulu sat next to him, rubbing his forearm tenderly.
"Hey," said Luke after he'd caught Lorelai's eye and walked quietly to her side.
"What's going on?" she asked, sotto voce.
"Kirk's mom passed away late last night," Luke told her.
"Oh no, poor Kirk!" said Lorelai with genuine concern.
"Lorelai!" Kirk turned to her tearfully, "Thank you for coming! It's times like this when you learn who your true friends are!" he cried out.
"Well, sure Kirk," she said as if it had been her plan all along. "I am so sorry for your loss," she added sincerely.
"Thank you," lamented Kirk, "Mother always said you seemed like a pretty decent woman, I mean despite that having a child out of wedlock thing."
Lorelai just nodded at that, "Well...that was...kind...of her, Kirk."
Luke snorted and walked back into the kitchen.
"It was her way," Kirk noted and collapsed into Lulu's arms.
Lorelai slipped back into the kitchen after Luke.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
"I am. I am very hungry," she nodded.
"Why don't you head up to my apartment. It's quiet up there. I'll bring you a sandwich."
"I bet that's where you seat all the Scarlet Women," teased Lorelai.
"Upstairs, Hester," he commanded.
She had to smile at that.
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Soon Lorelai was seated at Luke's table. He'd followed her up with a sandwich as promised, and after scooting piles of papers out of her way, laid a place for her.
"What's with all this official looking stuff here?" she asked as she began munching a chip.
"Oh, I've been looking into employee health insurance," he told her.
"Really?" Lorelai cocked her brow.
"Yeah, since I've bumped Lane and Ceasar up to more hours, it seemed the right thing to do. Only it's so damn expensive," he groused.
Lorelai nodded, knowingly, "I know. It is. You know, I did scads of research on this for the Inn. I could help you, if you like. I found a great company, pretty reasonable, too. And they make very Green and PC investments—Just your style."
"Oh yeah? That sounds great," he smiled.
"Sure," she nodded.
They paused a moment then, glad to be together, until Luke remembered something.
"Lorelai, about last night... with your mother..." he began uncomfortably.
"Oh, did you happen to overhear something unpleasant?" she said with an entirely innocent twinkle in her eye.
"Jeez, Lorelai, that woman..."
"I know, Luke, I know..." soothed Lorelai.
"It isn't right... you don't talk that way to someone you love..."
Lorelai could see he was getting angry again.
"She does, Luke. It's partly why I left."
He looked at her and nodded. "I guess I never really realized," he said quietly.
"Yeah, realization is hard—but it's the acceptance that's tricky," she assured him.
"Wow," he breathed out.
"Yeah." Lorelai agreed.
They were quiet again then, each lost in the thinking about it.
"She does though, you know..." said Lorelai after a moment.
"What?" asked Luke.
"Love me." she told him simply.
"Oh," he responded, though she saw that he didn't really understand at all. Hell, truth was, she didn't either.
"Luke..." began Lorelai but was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Ah, Jeez... Come in!" called Luke.
The door opened to reveal Kirk and Lulu standing hand in hand.
"Luke, I need to talk to you," began Kirk.
"Okay sure Kirk, come on in," Luke stood, "Have a seat," he gestured to the couch. "Lulu, could I get you something to drink?" he tried politely.
"No thank you, Luke," she said sweetly. Luke nodded.
"I would like a chocolate milkshake, please," noted Kirk.
Luke sighed and looked over at Lorelai, who immediately focused on the exact number of chips she had left on her plate, lest she smile.
"Coming right up," said the beleaguered Luke and went out and down the stairs to the diner.
"So, Kirk," began Lorelai, "I am so sorry about your mom. This was all pretty unexpected, I guess..."
"Oh yes, Mother was in excellent health. Just yesterday she did her Pilates workout."
"Wow. Really?"
"Yes, and then this morning Lulu and I had to call all my brothers so they can come home for the funeral. Life is strange," he reflected.
Lorelai nodded, "I know you come from a large family, Kirk. How many brothers do you have?"
"Eleven," he told her.
Lorelai's eyes widened at that.
"Yes, Mother's favorite movie was 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' when she started having children, and then at some point that switched to 'Cheaper By the Dozen'—the original, not that ghastly remake, of course," he told her.
"Of course," nodded Lorelai, "The classic is always better than the remake," she agreed.
"Mother was quite indignant over the remake," he continued, "She started an internet petition about it—got over three thousand signatures..."
Lorelai was riveted by this information.
"How–?..." she began, but Luke came in just then with Kirk's milkshake.
"Here you go, Kirk," he said as he handed it over.
They all listened as Kirk slurped awhile.
"Kirk finds chocolate milkshakes very comforting," Lulu informed them.
Lorelai and Luke nodded at that.
"Yes, I find them very satisfactory, despite my lactose intolerance," said Kirk.
"You wanted to talk to me, Kirk?" asked Luke beyond the point of exasperation now.
"Yes. Luke, Mother was very fond of you..." he began.
"Well, she was a... great... lady," replied Luke with a straight face.
"That she was," agreed Kirk.
Lorelai watched this exchange with the intensity of a Wimbledon spectator.
"You know, she never bowed to convention," Kirk continued in misty reminiscence. "For instance, did you know she never, at any point in her life, shaved.... I mean, anywhere–?!"
Lorelai bit her lip.
"No, Kirk, I didn't know that," Luke looked at his shoes and tugged his ear. His boots were getting awfully scuffed these days.
"Well, I digress," said Kirk, snapping out of it. "She liked and respected you a lot, Luke. Especially since you are my best friend and all."
Luke looked up at that.
"And she loved your meatloaf on Wednesday nights," he went on. "Remember how I always used to pick up your meatloaf for her?..." and here poor Kirk burst into tears.
"Oh, Kirk," sighed Lulu and put her arms around him.
When he'd collected himself, he looked up at Luke again, "You know, my mother went to school with your parents, Luke."
"I know that, Kirk," Luke sighed.
"And they were very kind to her when my father left us."
Luke nodded, remembering too.
"And, she admired the way you dealt with things when your father passed away..."
Luke shifted uncomfortably on that subject.
"The point is, Luke, Mother left explicit instructions that you are to be the executor of her will," said Kirk directly.
And with the completion of that statement, he returned to the comfort of his milkshake.