Author: JeSouhaite
Rating: PG-13
Summary: She had never been one to make a big fuss over a boyfriend's birthday, but Luke was different. He deserved a big fuss.
Disclaimer: Still not mine.
Author's Note: This is my Luke/Lorelai ficathon story, written for wounded. Her requirements can be found at the end. Set between Emily Says Hello and But Not as Cute as Pushkin
in the Gilmore "timeline" (and I use that word very loosely), though
the events of those episodes really don't have any bearing.
Extra super-special thanks to sosmitten23 and Cinefille for their excellent, and freakishly similar, beta work.
Traditions
She'd never admit to watching him sleep.
It was too sappy – too sixteen-year old girl – watching your boyfriend sleep. She wasn't that girl. She'd never been that girl. No, she would never admit it, but that didn't mean she didn't do it anyway. How could she not?
It was the middle of the night, and she was leaning against the door to her bedroom, taking in the sight of Luke sound asleep. There was just enough light coming from downstairs to see him clearly. When she'd gotten out of bed a little while ago, he'd been on his side facing her. In her absence, he'd rolled onto his back with one arm cocked over his head.
He just looked so good in her bed. Okay, Luke always looked good. But there was something about the sight of him – masculine, gruff Luke – lying in her flowery sheets that made her heart skip a beat. The blankets were pooled around his hips, and his shirt had ridden up enough to give her a tantalizing glimpse of his abs. She loved how his face relaxed in sleep, and that he was comfortable enough to sleep so deeply in her bed. Their relationship was still new enough that she even thought his slight snores were adorable.
God, she had it bad.
That last thought was enough to propel her into action, and she pushed off the door jamb. Crawling across the bed, she arranged herself on top of him, brushing her nose against his as she sing-songed, "Lu-uke. Wake u-up."
His brow wrinkled and he tried to turn his head away from the annoyance, but Lorelai wasn't about to give up. "Come on, sleepyhead. Open your eyes." She brushed a light kiss across his lips, curving her own into a smile when she saw him blink awake.
"Lorelai?"
"I hope you didn't expect to find someone else in bed with you," she teased.
Luke tried to stretch, an impossible feat while covered in a Lorelai-blanket. He wrapped his arms around her, lazily rubbing her back as his eyes drifted closed again. "Are you wearing my shirt?"
"Yes. I like this shirt. It's comfortable." That was another unexpected perk to being in a relationship with Luke – the flannel. There was just something about wearing one of his flannel shirts that made her happy. It was like walking around wrapped in Luke.
Not that she needed it at the moment, because the man himself had her wrapped pretty securely in his arms. Still lazily stroking his fingers over her back and sides, he lifted his head to meet Lorelai's lips with his own. The kiss started simply enough, but before she could even think of resisting, it had turned into one of those kisses. An all-out Bull Durham kiss – long, slow, deep, soft, wet. The kind of kiss that, while great in and of itself, was a prelude to things much, much better. She brought her hands to Luke's face, swept away by the feel of his mouth, his tongue dancing with hers. It wasn't until she realized that his hands were sliding up her thighs and under the shirt that she broke the kiss with a reluctant groan.
"Hold that thought. As lovely as it would be, that's not why I woke you up."
"Huh?" Luke shook his head a bit, as if to clear it, and Lorelai could tell he was finally fully waking up. "What time is it?" he asked, his voice gravelly with a mixture of sleep and desire.
"A little before two."
He opened his eyes into narrow slits, giving her a look that was anything but happy. "In the morning? Why the hell are you waking me up at two in the morning if it's not for...?"
"Because it's your birthday and I have a surprise for you." Lorelai's tone was playful as she stacked her hands on his chest, resting her chin on them. This was the first birthday that they'd celebrated as a couple, and Lorelai wanted to make it special. She loved birthdays – hers and Rory's most specifically – and she wanted to add Luke's to that list. Thinking back, she couldn't recall him ever really celebrating his birthday, and she intended to change that. She had never been one to make a big fuss over a boyfriend's birthday, but Luke was different. He deserved a big fuss.
"It can't wait until morning? I have to get up in a few hours for work," he said with an irritated huff.
"No, it can't wait until morning. And no, you don't have to get up for work. Cesar and Lane are taking care of the diner so you can sleep in on your birthday. You don't have to go in until after lunch."
"What? Why?"
"Follow along. It's not hard. Birthday. Surprise. Downstairs." Lorelai climbed off Luke, grabbed his hand and pulled him up to a sitting position.
"Do we have to do this now?" Luke whined. Lorelai wanted to laugh – he sounded about six years old when he whined like that – but she knew it would only make him grumpier.
She walked back over to him, bending to press her lips to his in a quick, but heated, kiss. "Yes. But if you do, I promise I'll make it worth your while."
Luke let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine."
Tugging his hand until he stood, Lorelai urged, "Come on, birthday boy."
"Don't call me birthday boy. And can I at least put on my pants?"
"You don't need your pants." She glanced back over her shoulder at him as she pulled him behind her, smiling to herself at how sexy he looked in just a t-shirt and his boxers. "You look fine just the way you are."
Luke was still grumbling under his breath as they walked down the stairs. When she led him into the living room, he stopped muttering and she watched his face as he took it all in. She had lit a fire and turned on a soft lamp, giving the room a nice warm glow against the chill of the winter night. The coffee table sported a bouquet of "Happy Birthday!" balloons (she hoped he would admire her restraint in keeping them all Luke-appropriate – not a Care Bear in the bunch), a small cake, and a few presents. Lorelai was quite proud of her handiwork, but she couldn't tell much about Luke's reaction from the expression on his face.
"What's this?" His voice was still confused, but it was starting to lose its grumpy edge.
Lorelai had to fight the urge to bounce on her toes in excitement. "A birthday party!"
"Lorelai, it's two o'clock in the morning."
"I'm aware of that."
"Who has a birthday party at two o'clock in the morning?"
"We do."
He looked totally unconvinced, but she wasn't about to let that stop her. She led him to sit on the couch, settling next to him with her legs tucked under her and her body angled toward his.
Apparently, Luke wasn't done complaining. "Can you please explain to me why we had to do this now? Why was it so important that we do it in the middle of the night?"
For the first time since concocting the plan, Lorelai started to doubt whether Luke would appreciate it. She'd known that he would be crabby when she woke him up, but she had expected him to start playing along by now. He was used to her crazy shenanigans, and he almost always humored her. Maybe she'd finally crossed the line. In too deep to back out now, she figured the only thing she could do was explain. "I don't know if you know this, but Rory and I have a whole bunch of traditions," she started, her tone tentative.
Luke snorted. "How could I not? Considering half of them involve pastry of some kind, and all require coffee. Let's see, there's the semi-annual Gilmore Festival of Shoes. And the annual First Snow Walk. And, how could I forget –"
Lorelai stopped him, a little embarrassed by his recitation, but secretly tickled that he was able to do it. "Right. You're familiar with our traditions. Anyway, one of the first traditions Rory and I ever made for ourselves was on her birthday. She was born at 4:03 in the morning, so every year, I wake her up at 4:03 and tell her the story about the day she was born."
Luke gave her a blank look, but she could tell he was touched in spite of himself – his tone was just a bit less irritated. "Lorelai, that's... nice. But I don't see what that has to do with my birthday."
"I'm getting there. So, after Rory's birthday this year, I was thinking about your birthday, because, hello? Right around the corner. And I thought: 'Hey. Wouldn't it be nice if Luke and I had a tradition for his birthday, too?' I was trying to figure something out, but then I saw Liz and it hit me. So I asked her if she knew what time you were born, and after some hunting, we discovered that Lucas Danes was born at 2:08 a.m. on November 19th." As she spoke, Luke turned to face her, looking more than a little stunned. She couldn't tell if it was good stunned or bad stunned, so she just kept going. "Now, obviously, I can't tell you the story of your birth because I wasn't there. I figured cake and presents were the next best thing. So, here we are, making our own tradition."
"Lorelai –" His expression was still unreadable, and his tone wasn't helping much.
"I know. I'm crazy and you can't believe I woke you up just to have a birthday party in the middle of the night." Lorelai tried to keep her voice from sounding disappointed. "If you want, we can just go back to sleep. Have the cake in the morning. It's all right."
She thought she'd done a good job of feigning nonchalance, but deep down, she was bracing herself. Lorelai had never put herself on the line like this before – trying to build traditions with the man in her life. If Luke rejected that, she knew it would crush her, and she wasn't sure she would be able to hide it.
Luke leaned over, silencing her with a kiss. "I don't want to go back to sleep. This was really... sweet of you."
Her smile returned as she clasped her hands behind his neck, relief fluttering in her chest. "Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Luke Danes, did you just say something was sweet?"
"Yes, and if you breathe a word to anyone I'll cut off your coffee supply."
She pulled back, mimicking locking her lips and then tossing the key over her shoulder. Luke laughed, "If only it were that easy!"
"Hey!" Lorelai feigned offense, but ended up laughing with him. "So, cake? It's Sookie's famous banana cake with cream cheese icing. We figured bananas equal healthy, so you might actually eat it."
"I actually do like banana cake, but I want my presents first."
Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Getting bossy, aren't we?"
Sitting back, he crossed his arms over his chest. "You wake a man up at two a.m., he should get to open his presents first."
"Okay –" The word wasn't all the way out of her mouth before Luke was leaning toward the wrapped packages on the table. Lorelai had never seen Luke like this – he was like a little boy in his eagerness – and she marveled at seeing this side of him. "Slow down there, cowboy!"
He pulled the bigger of the two packages into his lap, but paused with his hands above the wrapping. "What? I want to open my presents."
What else could she do, when presented with an enthusiastic Luke, but acquiesce? "Go ahead."
Luke pulled the bow and then tore into the paper, revealing exactly what it looked like wrapped – a plain, large, square box. He lifted the top, and his hands froze in mid-air when he saw what was inside. Looking over at Lorelai, his expression was puzzled as he asked, "A photo album?"
"Open it." Lorelai bit her lip nervously, hoping he would like the gift.
Setting the box top on the table, Luke picked up the album, letting the rest of the box fall to the floor. His breath caught as he opened to the first page, then quickly turned to the next, before meeting Lorelai's eyes. "This is..." His voice was choked, and he paused. "This is my parents...and me and Liz."
"I know."
He'd gone back to slowly flipping through the pages. "Where did you get these?"
Lorelai winced. She was hoping he wouldn't ask. "Your apartment."
His eyes shot to hers again, and his voice was sharp. "What?"
"When I asked Liz about your birthday, she said that she knew your mom had kept a really detailed baby book for you, and that the time would be written there. She thought she remembered seeing it in a box in your closet when she came to visit last spring, so one day when you were out of town on an errand, we went up and looked." She paused to catch her breath. Luke wasn't giving any indication of his reaction, so she pressed on, hoping if she explained quickly enough, he wouldn't have time to get upset. "We found the book, and all of these pictures were in the box. Your mom did a wonderful job of labeling them , but they were just...languishing in the box. So, we sorted them out and I put them in an album. Liz took a few for herself, and she had some of you and her and your dad from when you were a teenager, so she gave them to me to put in there."
Luke didn't say anything, just kept his head bowed over the album. Lorelai could see the tense set of his mouth, and the muscle working on the side of his jaw. She figured he might be annoyed at how she went about getting the raw materials for his present, but she hoped that the ends would justify the means. Looking at it from his perspective, though, she did break into his apartment and go through his things.
"Luke, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have invaded your space that way. I didn't mean... I was just trying to..." She trailed off as he looked up at her, naked emotion clear in his eyes.
"This is..." He paused, swallowing thickly. "This is probably the best gift anyone has ever given me."
Relief washed over her. "Really? You're not mad?"
"No. I'm not mad." He set the book on the table, then reached for her, pulling her into his arms and a tender kiss. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome." Lorelai smiled, then grabbed the book off the table. "Now, we definitely need to discuss some of these. For example," she opened to a photo of Luke and Liz dressed in Halloween costumes, "I got a little hint about the Star Trek thing from Maisie, but I didn't realize you went full-out Vulcan."
Luke blushed and ducked his head a bit, studying the picture with a grin. "I remember that Halloween. I think I was about eight. I was so excited to get those pointy ears. I wore them around the house for a week."
They both laughed, and then Luke grew serious again, leveling an assessing gaze at Lorelai. He sighed deeply, took the book back, and said, "All right, let's get this over with."
Lorelai immediately grew worried. What had gone wrong in the last ten seconds? Luke was flipping back toward the front of the album. "Here it is." He pointed to a picture of an adorable, curly-haired baby in a christening gown. "You're going to mock me for wearing a dress, so let's just get it over with now." His tone was serious, but she could hear the teasing he was trying to hide.
Laughing, she studied the picture, reassured that he was only kidding. "You are working that dress, aren't you? Seriously, Luke, you were a gorgeous baby, and that gown is beautiful."
Luke turned his attention to another picture from his christening, stroking a finger along the edge of the image of him as a baby, being held by his mother as his father stood next to her. "It was my mom's. Actually, that gown has gone through several generations of my mom's family – it was my great-grandfather's first. He wore it, then my grandmother wore it, then my mom, and then Liz and me. I'm sure I still have it in a box somewhere."
He was somber again, the playfulness gone as he gave another long look before closing the album. Lorelai was moved that he was sharing this with her. She'd seen sides of Luke tonight that she knew he didn't share with the rest of the world – his eagerness at opening his presents, the deep feelings he had about his family's traditions – and it made her so glad that she'd planned this little party. Taking the album out of his lap and setting it on the table, Lorelai leaned in to kiss him again, this time a little deeper and a lot longer. She was starting to move more fully into his lap, when Luke pulled back and put a hand on her chest.
"I do believe I have one more present." His eyes were shining, but she could see he was attempting to lighten the mood and back away from the emotions the pictures of his family had evoked.
"Well, by all means." Reaching over to grab the smaller box, Lorelai moved to give Luke room to open it. He took his time with this one, and Lorelai could sense that he was taking the time to get his emotions under control.
Pulling aside the tissue paper, he cast a sidelong glance at her. "Uh, Lorelai? Are you sure this is for me?"
"Of course it's for you." She offered a cheeky smile. "You are the one with the birthday, after all."
"Are you trying to tell me something?" He laughed as he held up the sheer black bra and thong set. "Because I don't think these are going to fit me."
"No, but don't you think they would look divine on me?"
"So you bought underwear for yourself, and are giving it to me for my birthday?"
Lorelai moved until her face was just a breath from his, then brought out her most seductive tone. "The way I see it, it's a gift for both of us." She brushed her lips against his, just the barest tease, pulling back before it could even be considered a real kiss. Smiling, she brushed her lips against his again as she spoke. "So," kiss. "Do you want to," kiss, "have some cake?"
She smiled as Luke realized what she'd said, then squealed as he quickly stood up and threw her over his shoulder.
He carried her up the stairs and deposited her on the bed, covering her body with his own. "We'll have the cake for breakfast."
Lorelai just laughed and kissed him. Man, she loved birthdays.
the end
Celebration you want to see: Luke's birthday (we were told that Luke was a Scorpio, but we never saw L/L celebrate his birthday for the first time together)
Two secondary items you want to see: Luke being overwhelmed by what she gives/does for him; a lil' bit o' smut.
One other character you'd like to see, if any: It's a private celebration, so no other people present. Mentions of them, sure.
Up to one restriction: No cheesy speeches made by either one.