Disclaimer: I still don't own the Gilmore Girls. Although, I wish I owned Luke and Jess.

Chapter 13

Luke stretched as he slowly awoke. He reached for Lorelai, but got a handful of sheets. He opened his eyes and glanced beside him. Lorelai was gone. He looked at the clock beside the bed. Seven o'clock. The latest he had ever slept in. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. After a few minutes, he finally got out of bed and headed downstairs to the kitchen. There was actually food on the table and he wasn't the one that made it.

"Good morning birthday boy," Lorelai smiled. "I prepared breakfast for you."

"So Caesar brought it over?" Luke teased as he sat at the table.

"I am capable of making breakfast."

"Caesar brought it over. I can see the bags from Luke's."

"Ok, Lane brought food from Luke's. I wanted to do something special for you on your birthday and since you always make me breakfast, I should prepare one for you."

"Well thank you babe, it's beautiful." Luke kissed Lorelai. "Where's Jess?"

"I asked him to run a little errand for me. He's just picking up one of your gifts."

"Gifts? Lorelai, I don't want this to be..."

"I know, I know. You don't want this to be a big deal. And it won't be."

"Just don't over do it."

"I won't. Now eat your breakfast before it gets cold. Then again it's salad so it's already cold. But your tea is going to get cold." Lorelai poured herself some coffee and sat down.

"So what's the plan for the day?"

"Today, we are going to do whatever you want to do."

"Oh really?" Luke asked with a seductive grin.

"We cannot do that all day. How about we go fishing?"

"Fishing sounds great. And by 'we' I suppose you mean I do the actual work while you name everything I catch."

"Duh."

"Is this going to be a spontaneous birthday?"

"You spontaneous? Never. We're having dinner with Liz, TJ, Rachel, and my parents."

"Hey, can I invite someone?"

"Sure. It's your birthday. You can invite anyone you want. So, who is it?"

"Just a friend."

"Does this friend have a name?" Luke mumbled something. "What was that?"

"I said...uh...Max."

"Max who?" He looked up at her and gave her a look like she knew who he was talking about. And in an instant, she did. "Max Medina? You want to invite Max Medina?!?"

"You said I could invite anyone I want! He just moved into town and he doesn't know anyone in town. What's the big deal? So we go out for beers once and a while. So what? You hang out with Rachel."

"You weren't engaged to Rachel! I get it. You're up to something."

"What? No I'm not."

"Yes you are. You wouldn't be so determined to have Max come if you weren't."

"You're crazy."

"And you're up to something."

"Man this is weird," Rory remarked.

"Riding in my car?" Jess asked.

"No. Celebrating Luke's birthday. We never celebrate Luke's birthday."

"You've known him for nine years and you've never celebrated his birthday?"

"Nope. I didn't even know when it was."

"You're kidding me."

"Nope. I found out last night when Mom called. Luckily, I had a gift for such an occasion."

"People spring birthdays on you often?"

"No. I just meant I have a gift prepared for Luke."

"In case he sprang his birthday on you."

"You know what? Never mind."

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I'm sure you saved something very nice for him."

"What did you get him?"

"Nothing."

"You didn't get your uncle anything for his birthday?"

"I never had to. Luke never celebrated his birthday."

"Never?"

"The last time I even remember calling him to say happy birthday was when I was four."

"Wow. Sixteen years without a 'happy birthday'? That's a long time. Why'd you stop?"

"You know, I don't remember. I think I asked my mom the same question when I was seven or something and she said it made him sad."

"His birthday makes him sad? That's very depressing." Rory stared out the window for a minute. "Jess, stop the car."

"What?"

"Stop the car!" Jess hit the brakes and the car came to a screeching halt. "Come on. We have shopping to do."

Luke's birthday had been going just as Lorelai had wanted it. Rory and Jess arrived fifteen minutes later than Lorelai anticipated, but there was no damage done. Lorelai thought Rory's appearance would be a great gift for Luke. Then it was off to the fishing hole where Lorelai gave Luke his second gift: a new fishing pole and tackle box. They headed back home to meet up with Richard and Emily. And at seven, they headed to their final destination of the day, Sniffy's Tavern. Liz, TJ, Sookie, Jackson, Buddy, Maisy, Rachel, and Max were already there. A "Happy Birthday Luke" banner hung above their area.

Luke was now sitting at the head of the table with a gold "Birthday Boy" cardboard crown on his head (regular party hats for everyone else) as the waitresses cleared the table to make room for the cake. The lights were dimmed and the cake was brought out, candles lit and everything. They all sang happy birthday and Luke blew the candles on his cake.

"So how old are you today Luke?" Jess asked.

"Older than you," Luke joked as he cut and handed out the cake.

"He's your uncle and you don't know how old he is?" Rory asked.

"Do you know how old he is?" Jess asked.

"No."

"And you've known him nine years. So there you go."

"No one knows how old my big brother is," Liz chimed in. "With the exception of me, Buddy, Maisy, and I suspect Lorelai, Luke tells no one his age."

"Are you going to solve the mystery for us Luke?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know..." Luke teased.

"Oh come on. Just tell them," Lorelai said.

"Fine. Today, I am thirty eight years old."

"Here's to Luke's thirty eight and may he have many more," Richard toasted.

Everyone raised their glasses and joined in the toast. Lorelai then stood. "If I can have everyone's attention please," she said. Once all eyes were on her, she continued to speak. "As we all know, our Lukey here is a health freak and God knows the stubborn man he is, he will not want to eat this beautiful cake that our dear friend Sookie has made just for him. So I would like to ask you all to join me in assisting me in feeding this man his cake."

"No, no cake," Luke said.

"Come on Luke, it's your birthday, you have to have cake," TJ remarked.

"No, it's..."

"Frosting coated death," everyone said. "We know, we know."

"You know Luke, I knew you would feel that way and I prepared myself for the occasion," Lorelai said. Jackson and Max stood up and headed toward Luke.

"Hey, what are you guys...hey!" Luke yelled as the two other men tied him to his chair.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but this has to be done. Rory, the cake. Now, just think of this as practice for the wedding." Rory handed Lorelai a piece of cake. Lorelai got a piece on the fork and after a little struggle, she finally got it into Luke's mouth.

"Oh no. It's coffee cake," Luke laughed. "And it's good! Can you please untie me now?" Max and Jackson untie Luke. Once he was free, Luke took a piece of cake and turned to Lorelai. "I think this is your piece." He playfully shoved the cake in her face.

Before he knew it, Lorelai shoved a piece of cake in his face. Their guests were laughing at the sight of the engaged couple standing, faces covered in coffee cake.

"I have cake on my new shirt," Luke laughed. "Truce?"

"Truce," Lorelai smiled. Luke pulled Lorelai in for a kiss.

"Mm. This cake is really good," he joked.

Luke and Lorelai went to wash up and when they returned, the presents were brought out. Liz and TJ gave him tickets to the next Renaissance fair they would be at. Rachel and Max both gave flannel shirts. A cook book from Buddy and Maisy. A new set of kitchen utensils from Sookie and Jackson. And a cigar box with cigars from Emily and Richard.

"Ok. Next gift," Luke said.

"Here," Jess said, handing Luke his gift. "It's not much, but…"

"Wow," Luke said as he took baseball jersey out of the box. On the front were the words 'Luke's Diner' and the back had 'Danes' printed across it. "This is…wow. It's great. I love it. Thank you Jess."

"No problem." Jess smiled. Rory brought him to a place where personalized jerseys were made. He had to pay a few extra bucks to have it made that day, but it was worth seeing Luke happy.

"Open mine next," Rory said.

Luke took the box from Rory and opened it. He looked down at the contents of the box and smiled. He put his hand over his mouth in attempt to help him keep his composure and from crying.

"What is it?" Emily asked.

Luke removed the gift and showed it to the group. It was Rory's ceramic hand prints from when she was five with the words above it. "It says, 'To my Daddy. Love Rory'. Thank you," Luke said in a strained voice.

"I've had that for fifteen years. I knew one day I could give it to my dad," Rory said.

She hugged Luke and felt him kiss the top of her head. Lorelai put her arms around them and gave them a squeeze. Seeing the perfect photo op, Rachel snapped a picture of the perfect family.

"Ok, one more gift," Lorelai said as she let go of Luke and Rory. She sat on his lap and handed him another gift.

"You're just going to sit there while I open this?"

"Duh. Read the card first."

Luke did as he was told and read the attached card to himself. "Very dirty," Luke said as he put the card away. He opened the box and pulled out two CDs. "Brooks and Dunn and Big and Rich. Uh...thanks."

Lorelai winked at Rory. "There's more in there."

Luke dug deeper and pulled out baseball cards and a baseball. "Oh my God. This is an mint condition, autographed Lou Gehrig rookie card. Joe Dimaggio, Willie Mays...an autographed Babe Ruth ball! Lorelai, where did you get these?"

"Uncle Louis isn't going to miss them."

"What?"

"Dad had some connections."

"They must have cost a fortune."

"Hey, it's your birthday. I wanted to do a little something for you."

"Thank you honey. I love it."

After a while, everyone began to leave. Richard and Emily walked up to Luke and Lorelai. "We should be going now," Emily said. She gave Luke a hug. "Happy birthday Luke."

"Yes, happy birthday Luke. We really enjoyed meeting Buddy and Maisy," Richard added.

"Thank you for coming," Luke said.

"Emily, I'll meet you outside," Richard said as Emily headed for the door. He pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to Luke. "Just a little something for you son. Happy birthday."

"Uh. Thank you," Luke said. He looked in the envelope. "Whoa."

"Dad gives side gifts. And it helps that he likes you," Lorelai teased.

Luke sat on the porch and stared out into space. He was so lost in his own thoughts, he hadn't realized Lorelai had come outside or sat next to him until she put her hand on his knee. He smiled wearily at her and put his arm around her, pulling her close to him.

"Smile," she said softly. "It's your birthday. You're supposed to be happy." Luke only pulled her closer. "Didn't you have a good time today?"

"I did," he replied. "Breakfast was delicious. I loved going fishing with you. Dinner was fantastic. And what we did in between those things was unbelievable."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I shouldn't be happy."

"Why not?" Silence. "Luke, talk to me."

"It was sixteen years ago," Luke finally said. "It was sixteen years ago to the date."

"What was?"

"Today is the anniversary of the day my father had a heart attack and was hospitalized. He died two weeks later. It happened on my twenty second birthday. The day I really lost my father was my twenty second birthday. That's why I don't celebrate my birthday."

Two hours later, Luke hugged Lorelai from the back as they lay naked in their bed as they listened to and watched as the rain hit the window. It had stopped snowing a week ago and now it was raining outside.

"I met your father," Lorelai said softly. All she heard was Luke taking in a deep breath. "Luke, did you hear me?"

"I know," Luke replied.

"You know?"

"The night I originally planned to propose to you, the night at the restaurant, you said my dad said something you to about a family tradition. My father died sixteen years ago and I've known you for nine. Nineteen years ago, he came home from repairing something at the Independence Inn for Mia and told me about this maid. She was young, about my age, and was raising a kid all on her own. I didn't know he was talking about you back then, but I do now."

Lorelai smiled and squeezed Luke's arms. They lay in silence the rest of the night. Letting the soft pitter-patter of the rain again the window put them to sleep.

A/N: Just to let you in on a little something, there is a reason why Max is in this story and why he and Luke are friends. I mean can you really see these guy getting along on the show if there wasn't a hidden agenda? I think not.