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

Chapter 20

Luke, Lorelai, and Jess unloaded their bags from Luke's truck and Jess's car. Lorelai and Jess brought in the bags as Luke hauled in the heavy boxes. Luke put a box down among the growing stack and looked around the house. It had been nearly two decades since he last set foot inside. He moved out the day of his father's funeral, signing property rights over to Buddy and Mazie. His eyes roamed the living room and fell on a reclining chair that belonged to his father.

"Hey," Lorelai called. "Break time is after we bring in all the stuff."

"I'm the one bringing in the hundred pound boxes," Luke joked. "What's in these anyway?"

"Rory's books. Tom said we needed to get them out of her room or they'd be destroyed."

"This is the last box."

"And these are the last of the bags," Jess said as he dropped the bags in his arms.

"Good. Buddy left the keys on the counter. There are four so each of us will have one. That way, we won't have to worry about having to break in when no one's home." Luke gave Lorelai and Jess their keys and pocketed his and Rory's.

"Are we going to get a grand tour or should we wander around, hoping nothing tries to eat us?" Lorelai joked.

"This is the living room. That's the bathroom. Through there is the kitchen. There's a back door in the kitchen and an entrance to the dining room. You can get to the dining room if you take a right in the foyer."

"Luke, I don't care where the dining room and jacket closet is. All I want to know is where I'm staying," Jess said.

"The rooms are upstairs. The first door on the left is the bathroom. Rory's gonna be in Liz's old room. That's up the stairs, down the hall, second door on the left. Jess, you'll stay in my old room. It's right across from Liz's room, second door on the right." Jess grabbed his bags and went upstairs. "And we are in my parents' room at the end of the hall. I can bring the boxes out to the garage so they're not in the way."

"Great. Do you want some help?"

"You're going to help me bring those boxes out to the garage?"

"God no. I'll hold the door open for you."

"That's what I thought," Luke said as he picked up one of the boxes. "This way to the garage."

Lorelai followed Luke outside and opened the garage door for him. She followed him inside and looked around. "This doesn't look a thing like our garage."

Luke gently placed the box down. "My father turned this into his workshop. He'd build and fix things in here." He walked over to an unfinished bench and placed his hand on it. "This place is filled with projects he never got to finish. After store hours, you could always find my old man in here working on something."

Lorelai walked over to the work bench. There was a picture of Luke and his father on the board. "You look so young in this picture. How old were you? Sixteen? Seventeen?"

"Close. Eighteen. That's the old toolshed at the Independence Inn after we fixed it up for a young single mother working as a maid." Lorelai looked up at Luke with a shocked expression. "It was the last project my father and I worked on together. About thirty seconds after that photo was taken, my father had a heart attack. He'd been fighting leukemia since I was thirteen and he went into remission after a few years. Then he just got really sick. He never got better."

"You look just like him." Lorelai smiled and hugged Luke.

After a minute or two, Luke put the picture back on the board. "I need to finish bringing the boxes out here. You should go inside. It's cold. Come on, I'll walk you in." Lorelai looped her arm with Luke's as he brought her back into the house.

After bringing out all the boxes, Luke walked into the house. He found Lorelai in the living room looking at the picture assorted on the mantle, paying extra attention to the ones with him in them. She picked up a picture of Luke and a girl at some kind of dance.

"That's me and Rachel at Senior Prom," Luke said, making his presence known.

"I thought she looked familiar," Lorelai joked. "I knew you guys went back, but I didn't know you were high school sweethearts."

"We weren't. Her boyfriend dumped her a month before the prom for my girlfriend."

"Harsh."

"The guy was one of my best friends and he stabbed me in the back. I wanted to kill him, but I refrained myself. I wanna show you something." Luke took Lorelai by the hand and lead her up to the attic. "There's over two hundred years of Danes family history in this attic. My family has been here since the town's founding."

"Wow. That's a long time. Hey, maybe one of your ancestors was the town's founders."

"Yeah right. When my dad passed away, Liz and I packed his and Mom's most prized possessions, packed them in a trunk, and brought it up here."

Lorelai walked over to the trunk and opened it. On top of everything were two pictures. She recognized one from downstairs. It was a photo of Luke and Liz as kids standing in front of their parents. The second picture was of Luke, Liz, and a little boy she assumed was Jess. They way they were dressed, it was safe to say they were at a funeral. "Who's funeral was it?" she asked.

"Dad's. I brought you up here because I want you to know my family. I could tell you stories for hours, but these trunks will tell you more than I ever could."

Lorelai grabbed Luke's face and brought his lips to hers."Can I look around?"

"By all means, please do."

She stood up and went to open another trunk. She pulled out a military uniform and looked at the name on the shirt: 'Col. L. Danes'. "What does the L in L. Danes stand for?"

"Lucas. Preferably Luke."

Lorelai dropped the shirt and looked up at Luke. "You were in the military?"

"Colonel Luke Danes was my grandfather. He was a World War II vet."

"So that would make you Luke II."

"It would seem that way. And before you make any witty remarks, I should remind you Jess and I have to get to the house and you have to go to the inn."

"We meeting back here for dinner?"

"Sounds good. I'll grab food from the diner."

"You're a saint."

"That's what they say."

Rory had just walked into her dorm when the phone began to ring. She dropped her bag and ran to answer it. She had barely seen or heard from Logan and she hoped it would be him calling. "Hello?" she asked.

"He took me to Silvano's," Lane said immediately.

"Hey Lane. Who took you to Silvano's?"

"Dave."

"Rygalski?"

"No, Matthews. Of course Rygalski! He's in town to audition for your mom's wedding."

"I'm pretty sure she's set on marrying Luke."

"Rory, this is not the time to be joking! Dave took me to a fancy restaurant. He's wearing a tie!"

"You're still at the restaurant? Why did you call me if you're still out with Dave?"

"He's in the bathroom. I never ended things with him."

"Yes you did."

"No. No I didn't. We stopped talking, but we never officially ended our relationship. It was a break. We were on a break."

"Before you get all Ross on me, let's think about this calmly. Maybe he wants to pick things up where you guys left off."

"That's what I'm afraid of! I'm supposed to be with Zach. Zach and I are together."

"Then end it with Dave."

"But I like Dave."

"Then end it with Zach."

"I like Zach too."

"We're not getting anywhere missy."

"That's why I called you. I need your help."

"I am not going to tell you who to dump."

"I'm stuck. I'm stuck between my boyfriend and my...boyfriend. It's kinda like what happened with you, Dean, and Jess."

"This conversation just took an uncomfortable turn."

"How did you pick between them?"

"I can't tell you who to pick. You need to follow your heart. Someone's going to have a broken heart in the end and I prefer it not be you."

"Thanks. Man, I suddenly have a whole new respect for Jess. Now I know why he's so grumpy."

"I didn't pick Dean over Jess."

"But you did pick Logan over Jess."

"What are you talking about? Jess was never in the picture during my relationship with Logan."

"Sure he wasn't. I have to go. Dave is on his way back. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

Lane hung up before Rory could say something. Rory put the phone down and thought about what Lane said. Jess isn't an issue. Was he? The phone began to ring again. "Hello?" she asked.

"Hey Ace."

Luke, Lorelai, and Jess were in the middle of dinner when the doorbell rang. Lorelai was about to get up to answer it, but Luke stopped her. "I'll get it," he said. He got up and went to answer the door. It was Logan. "Logan."

"Good evening Mr. Danes," Logan greeted with a smile. "This is a lovely house."

"Please tell me you didn't drive all the way out here to tell me that. I'm in the middle of dinner."

"I'm here to drop this off." Logan handed Luke an envelope.

"What's this?"

"You're going to have to open it to see. Oh and it's for your and Ms. Gilmore's eyes only."

"It's not money is it?"

"No sir."

"Then what is it?"

"Again, you'll have to open it to see."

"Why didn't you just mail it?"

"My father strictly requested I deliver it and put it your hands personally."

"This is from your father?"

"Yes."

Luke looked down at the envelope in his hands. His and Lorelai's names were nicely written across it as 'Mr. Lucas A. Danes and Ms. Lorelai V. Gilmore'. "How does your father know my middle initial is A? My sister doesn't even know that."

"Let's just say my dad has his ways."

"Right. Is this all?"

"Yes sir."

"Ok. Have a good night and drive safe."

"Thank you." Luke closed the door and went back to the dinner table.

"Who was that?" Lorelai asked.

"Logan," Luke replied.

"What did he want?" Jess asked.

"Nothing. Eat your dinner."

"I'm not hungry anymore. I'm going to my room." Jess pushed his chair out and left the table.

Luke was about to stop him, but changed his mind when he realized it was pointless. After he and Lorelai finished their dinner and cleaned up, they went upstairs and got ready for bed. "What did Logan want?" she asked as they got into bed.

"He dropped something off from his father," he replied. He picked up the envelope on the nightstand and showed it to her.

"What does the A stand for?"

"Alexander."

"You're middle name is Alexander?"

"Why is that important?"

"Because now I can put 'Lucas Alexander Danes' on the wedding invitations," she teased, handing the envelope back to him. Her phone started to ring so she answered it. "Hello, the future Mrs. Danes speaking."

"I see you're already comfortable with the title," Rory laughed.

"You don't even know. What's up?"

"Nothing. Just checking how you're liking the temporary living arrangement."

"It's great. I've search the entire interior of the house. You get to stay in Liz's old room."

"I figured. How big is the house?"

"It's pretty big. Four bedrooms, two and a half baths."

"Can't wait to see it. Tell Luke I say hi."

Lorelai turned to Luke, who had opened the envelope and was looking over what seemed to be an invitation. "Rory says hi."

"Huh? Oh. Hi," Luke said. "Do you think I can talk to her for a minute?"

"Sure. Hey Rory, Luke wants to talk to you." Lorelai handed the phone to Luke.

"Hey Luke," Rory greeted.

"Hi Rory," Luke said. "Hey, you took Latin right?"

"Yes I did."

"Good. I have a question for you."

"I'm listening."

"What does 'In Omnia Paratus' mean?"

Next time on "Meet Me at the Chuppah": On the dawn of the long awaited engagement party, there are surprises around every corner. Lorelai is happily headed to the diner bright and early to surprise Luke. Her cheerful mood is suddenly crushed when she sees Luke walking down the street with a younger woman. Rory asks Logan about the invitation Mitchum sent to Luke and Lorelai. Luke reveals his motive to his behavior of late. Mitchum, Finn, and Colin make an appearance.

A/N: Just to give you a heads up, Rory's part of the Life and Death Brigade.