Lorelai walked past the table where Rory sat trying to keep Georgia entertained and pushed through the door. She saw Christopher standing in the middle of the street staring at nothing. She walked up behind him and was nearly to him before he noticed her.
Christopher turned toward her and spoke, "I guess I'm stupid. I thought that we could pick up where we left off two years ago, but I can see that you must be pretty serious with someone. Who is it Lor? Is he good enough for you?"
Despite her promise to Luke to tell Christopher about him, Lorelai deflected the question, "It doesn't matter who it is, what matters is that we've both moved on. You got married and had a baby. Did you expect me to wait around for you, to assume that your marriage would self-destruct?"
It was as if Christopher hadn't heard a word Lorelai said. He asked, "Are you going to marry him?"
Exasperated, Lorelai answered, "Christopher, you're a bit ahead of me, I haven't even gotten to tell him about this. You kind of ruined the moment by showing up this morning."
Again, as if lost in his own world Christopher spoke, "Rory said that he's a good guy. Do you love him?"
Lorelai thought back to a few minutes ago when she had kissed Luke and whispered to him. "Yes, I love him and he is a great guy."
Finally, it appeared that some of Lorelai's words began to sink into Christopher's consciousness. Blushing, he apologized, "I feel really stupid, I should have known that you wouldn't still be waiting, it's just ... it just feels so good with you. I guess I missed my chance. I'm going to go."
Impulsively and feeling a bit sorry for Christopher, Lorelai spoke, "No, please stay, have dinner. Rory would really like it. Let's go back in and I'll talk to the owner and set up something special."
Christopher smiled and nodded, "Thanks Lorelai."
Lorelai thought that Christopher seemed confused and lost and he looked small standing in the middle of the street so she wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug. Impulsively Christopher kissed her on the cheek and Lorelai's eyes darted to the diner hoping that Luke couldn't see them.
Luke stared at the opened purse, seeing but not comprehending what it contained. Slowly, he reached into it and pulled out the pregnancy test box and stared at it. He, like Rory, noticed that it had not been opened and took some relief that the question had still not been answered. Taking a moment he poked his head into the kitchen and told Caesar that he was taking a break. He retreated to his apartment and went to the window to breathe in some fresh air. Before he could open it he saw Christopher in the street and then Lorelai went to him. He stared at them and noticed that they made such a natural couple, both attractive and young. But there was something else, they just clicked, in a way he couldn't describe, but it was definitely there.
Luke couldn't hear their conversation, but he watched the entire exchange attentively. He thought that he noticed Christopher's shoulders slump and Luke assumed Lorelai had told him who she was seeing. He almost smiled when he saw Christopher's realization that he had lost, that he had lost Lorelai. But then Lorelai leaned in to hug him and Christopher responded by kissing her. Luke was filled with rage, he couldn't believe that Christopher still couldn't let Lorelai go, that he had to share some kind of intimacy with her.
As much as he wanted to, Luke couldn't turn away from the window and he saw Lorelai head back inside the diner with Christopher in tow. With jealousy brimming, he tried to focus on defining the hold that Christopher had over Lorelai. Until he knew what he was facing he wouldn't know how to fight it. But concentrate as he might he couldn't pinpoint the unknown connection that they had. He vowed that he would not lose Lorelai, not after how far they had come.
He sank onto the bed and remembered the box he was still holding between his hands. He wondered how this surprise was going to play into their relationship.
Lorelai and Christopher returned to the table. Rory had bypassed Luke and gotten Caesar to make some food for Georgia to coax her to be quiet. Without sitting down, Lorelai excused herself and went in search of Luke. She found him in his apartment, just staring at the pregnancy test box.
Wordlessly she sat next to him on the bed and reached for the box. The movement was enough to jolt Luke out of his daze and he looked at her. "You really think ... I mean, you think you might be ..."
Lorelai simply nodded then added, "It makes sense, the morning sickness, the tiredness, and I'm a week late."
Lorelai saw Luke gulp, "How long have you thought this?"
Quickly, Lorelai responded, "Only since this morning, I was going to take the test first thing, but Christopher showed up. Then I decided that we are a couple and couples have to have open communication so I decided to wait and take the test with you."
Despite the anxiety of the moment, Luke smiled as Lorelai referred to them as a couple. "Okay, let's do it them."
Without wasting another minute Lorelai excused herself to Luke's bathroom and Luke set a timer for the obligatory two minutes. They waited in silence, an unspoken agreement to avoid discussing the situation until the result was known. Luke couldn't stand still, two minutes seemed like an eternity and there was only so much pacing that could be done in his tiny apartment. Finally the buzzer sounded, but neither made a movement toward the bathroom, each wanting the other to look. Their eyes met and both Lorelai and Luke headed into the bathroom to discover their fate together.
TBC