Chapter 1 – { … aspiration … }

Aspiration (noun) – a strong desire for high achievement

A six-year-old Rory squealed and catapulted herself into a large pile of leaves; some red, others yellow. She dug a hole in the middle - a halo for the dry grass beneath it - and made herself a bird's nest. When she sat up, the stems of maple leaves caught in her scarf and jacket and hair.

"Look Mommy, I'm a bird!" She giggled as a gust of wind swept hair over her face, making a mouse brown curtain in front of her.

"I can see that! What a big nest you have." Lorelai skipped over to her daughter and plopped onto the ground next to her. She readjusted Rory's hair and carefully picked out all the leaves from her shirt. Traces of dust and dirt were left, but she figured the washing machine could take care of that later.

"I'm going to be a bird one day," Rory pronounced. "I'm going to fly all around the country and across the oceans and be free!" She clapped her hands together and threw leaves into the air, watching intently as each leaf spiraled back down to the ground.

"Of course you are," Lorelai said knowingly. "Of course you are." She lifted Rory from her bird's nest of leaves and brushed the last remnants of leaves from her pants and hair. "All right, you're going to have to walk now. Luke probably has lunch waiting for us already."

Rory grinned. "Do you think he'll have cherry pie?"

"Maybe if you ask nicely." Lorelai winked.

It was 2:30 and the lunch crowd was slowing down. A few regulars trickled in and out, leaving with either coffee or pastry. He was surprised that Lorelai and Rory hadn't been in yet. Their burgers and fries, covered in chili and cheese, were waiting patiently underneath a red heat lamp. He considered wrapping it up, putting it in one of his ordinary take-out boxes, and bringing it to their house – someone must be sick. Before he could move to the wrapping paper, the door opened and the two women – well, one woman, one girl – walked over to him, radiating smiles intact.

He placed the burgers on the counter and proceeded to fill two coffee mugs, one with actual coffee and the other with milk.

"She's gotta have the real stuff one day, Luke."

"Well, it's not going to be today."

Their cheeks were rosy, slightly wind bitten. Their eyes, clearer than a glacial lake, danced around, occasionally skating across the counter and then over to Luke.

As they ate, the rest of the customers left. Sometimes, he swore they left intentionally. He liked to think that the entire town knew how important alone time with these two people was to him.

He leaned over the counter with dishes of cherry pie in both hands. Rory stopped her animated talking and said excitedly, "Pie!"

Lorelai, despite being supposedly older and wiser, copied. "Pie!"

He thought about withholding the dessert, but laughed in spite of his intentions and plunked the dishes down, dropping forks neatly beside them. Through mouthfuls of pie, the girls decided to initiate conversation.

"So, Luke," Lorelai chewed and swallowed. "Today, Rory decided she wants to be a bird."

He raised an eyebrow in fake surprise, "Really?"

Rory nodded furiously, careful to keep her mouth closed. Before she picked up her next bite, she said, "Yep. I'm going to fly around all over the world."

Luke said, "That's great. I'll look out for you with my telescope."

"When I grow up, I'll be a huge bird with purple wings. It'll be easier for you to see me then."

"All right, I won't waste my time watching you when you're young then." Luke said as seriously as he could, knowing that Rory would appreciate the sincerity.

He winked at Lorelai and she laughed. He grabbed a towel from underneath the counter and lifted ketchup and mustard stains from a nearby table.

"Luke?" Rory called out.

"Yes, Rory?"

"When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?"

"I don't remember." (He did.)

"Oh, come on. You had to have had some kind of dream. Everybody wants to be something when they grow up." Lorelai insisted.

Luke shrugged. "I wanted to be…never mind. It's stupid."

"No it's not. Tell me!" Rory pleaded with her eyes and everyone knows you can't turn down little girls with pleading eyes.

"Oh, all right." He took a deep breath. "I wanted to be a police officer."

The elder Gilmore was surprised. "I never would've guessed."

Luke pointed to her. "See, I knew you'd think it was silly."

"No, no, no, I don't think it's silly. I'm just surprised. Why a police officer? I don't see you as a nun chuck, "get on the ground" type of person."

"I watched a lot of cop shows when I was young. It's what my dad would watch after dinner. There was this one episode when a police officer took a bullet for this homeless kid he didn't even know. Another guy saved a woman from drowning after a car crash." He lowered his voice to a volume that only Lorelai could hear. "I guess I just wanted to be someone's hero. To have people thank me for being around at the right time."

Rory said simply, "I think you would've made a good police officer."

"Thanks."

At Thanksgiving, a couple days later, Lorelai pulled Luke aside and handed him something wrapped in brown paper. He gave her a confused look and she merely smiled and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder.

"What is this for?"

"Nothing in particular; I just thought you should have it."

She looked at the ground apprehensively and waited for him to open it. He eyed the package warily and untied the strings binding the thing together. When he unfolded the paper, something small, plastic, and gold fell into his hand. He held it up to the window and realized that it was one of those police badges that one could purchase from Doose's around Halloween. He was speechless for a moment.

Her voice broke the silence. "You don't have to be a police officer to be someone's hero."

Luke turned to Lorelai and opened his mouth, but once again, no words came.

She spoke again, softly. "You're my hero every day. Rory's too. Just thought you'd like to know."

When it came time for Luke to make the traditional toast, the townspeople quieted. It was an unusual sound to behold in a busy, social place such as the diner.

"This gets old and I still don't know why I have to make this stupid toast every year," He glared at Taylor. "But I guess it makes sense because I own the place. Cheers to the usual: family, friends, shelter, and food."

In unison, everyone held up their glasses. "To family, friends, shelter, and food."

"This year, however, I'd like to add one more thing." The townspeople looked at each other curiously, wondering what Luke, grumpy diner man, could possibly want to add to the Thanksgiving toast.

"Cheers to dreams and aspirations and the people that help you achieve them."

He held up his glass and looked at Lorelai. She smiled and in the midst of the cheering and commenced eating, he mouthed to her, "Thank you."