A/N: I promised to update again soon, so here it is. Thanks to all of you who read and reviewed the last chapter. And thanks to LorelaiAkaCoffeeAddict for proofreading. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your feedback!
This chapter takes place the same day as the last one. Let me know what you think!
Chapter 34 A good change
Lorelai pushed the stroller into the inn at 8.15. An old lady walked towards her and glanced inside. "What a beautiful baby, dear."
"Thanks Mrs. Thompson."
"How old is he? It is a he right?"
"He's 3 months."
"He's so big already."
"He got that from his father I guess."
"Maybe." The woman smiled. "Do you have more kids dear?"
"I have a daughter, Rory."
"How old is she?"
"21."
Mrs. Thompson looked at Lorelai. "Oh."
"Yes. She's in London right now, on an exchange program. But if you don't mind, I have to get to work."
"Sure dear. Don't work to hard."
"I won't Mrs. Thompson." Lorelai walked towards the kitchen in a hurry, afraid anyone else would ask her annoying questions.
Sookie looked up. "Hey, how are you?"
"Fine."
"You sure? You look tired."
"I am. I didn't sleep so well last night. Long story, I'll tell you later. But I was wondering if you have a moment to talk?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"You know how busy the inn has been lately, and it's only a few days until Michel comes back, but even when he is back, there's still too much work to do for the both of us, so I was wondering if we can get some extra help, so I can actually take a day off sometime soon. I hardly got to spent any time with Luke lately, and I really miss him you know?"
"Yeah I do. I miss Jackson and the kids, too."
"You should let Manny take over some times. You're working too hard as well."
"But…"
"No buts, Manny can handle it. But you don't have a problem with me hiring someone else?"
"Of course not. If you think it's necessary you should. If we can afford it of course."
"We can. Business is going great lately."
"Good, then you can hire someone else."
"Thanks. Hey, do you think that if I find someone that is really good, I can get away for a few days?"
"Didn't you just say that there's too much work for you and Michel alone and that's why we need to hire someone else?"
"I did, but… just a few days you know? I would love to get away from here for a few days with Luke and the baby. To catch up for the last few weeks."
Sookie winked at her. "I know what you're talking about."
"Sookie." Lorelai tried to sound angry but she smiled instead.
"A few days, sure why not?"
"Thanks, you're the best. Now all I have to do is convince Luke to take me to his cabin."
"I'm sure he would love to get away, too. He can let Lane and Caesar cover the diner."
"Yeah, and he's hiring some extra help too. He's been just as busy as we were lately. But you already know that."
"I do. Now go, the faster you find someone, the faster you can get out of here."
Lorelai smiled. "Alright, alright, I'm out of here already."
"Good."
Lorelai walked into her office and took the baby out of the stroller and laid him down into the playpen. She handed him a rattle, which he took in his little hand, shaking it around. She smiled as the baby smiled.
After watching Lucan for a while, she sat down behind her desk and thought about how to hire someone fast. She thought a temporary hiring would probably be the best, because even though business was going great at the moment, she had no idea how it would be even a few weeks from now. Of course there were bookings already, but things could turn around easily. And she also needed someone she can trust.
She looked in the phone book for the number of an employment agency. After she found one she dialed the number. She asked a few questions about how the hiring worked and how she could find someone to trust. She also asked if they had someone in their files that matched her description.
"Let's see…" She heard the woman press some keys on the keyboard. "We have 5 people that match your description the best. They have the right education and a lot of experience. They are all capable of the job. How about I fax you their files so you can choose who you want to interview?"
"Sounds perfect." Lorelai gave them her fax number and the woman promised to fax her the files immediately. She kept her promise and Lorelai received them within 5 minutes. She went through them and chose 3 people she liked most. The others weren't completely what she was looking for. She called the agency again and they promised to send them by today for a job interview.
Lorelai was standing behind the front desk when a young woman walked in. "Hello, can I help you?"
"Yes, my name is Claire Bennett, I'm looking for Lorelai Gilmore?"
"That's me." Lorelai gave Claire a hand. "I assume you're here for the job interview?"
"Yes I am."
"Okay, follow me to my office." They walked towards the office where Lucan was asleep in the playpen.
"What a cute baby. Is he yours?"
"Yes, his name is Lucan. He's 3 months." Lorelai nodded to the chair. "Have a seat."
"Thanks." Claire took the chair and sat down across from Lorelai. "It's great you take your son to work. My mother was always working when I was a kid, and I was raised by a nanny. I hardly ever saw my mother and my father ran away even before I was born."
"I'm sorry."
"That's okay. I got used to it. And the nanny was really nice. I see her more as my mother than my own mother. I hardly ever see my own mother anymore. Only at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter."
"Those were the only days I saw my parents for years."
"So you don't have a good relationship with your parents either?"
"Let's say I never had the kind of relationship with my mother I always wanted. She wanted completely different things for me then I did. I ran away from home when I was 16 after my daughter was born. My mother started interfering with the way I raised her and I didn't want that. I didn't want to raise my daughter the way I was raised so I had to leave. I got a job as a maid in the Independence inn so I could provide for me and my daughter."
"You got pregnant at 16?"
"About that time." Lorelai smiled. "Maybe it sounds weird, but that's one of the best things that ever happened to me. All my dreams were gone at once of course, and it wasn't always easy, but I got the most amazing daughter in the world."
"What about her father?"
"He couldn't really take the responsibility. He was around sometimes, but only when he felt like spending some time with his daughter, never the other way around. My parents wanted me to marry him when I got pregnant, but I didn't want to. They held that against me for a long time."
"Sounds like you've been through a lot."
"Yeah, but everything worked out okay in the end. I worked myself up from a maid to the manager of the inn, and a few years ago my best friend and I opened this inn. I'm married to this amazing guy and I have Rory and Lucan. There's nothing more I want, except some free time to spent with my son and my husband."
"And your daughter, she's in college now?"
"Yes. She always wanted to go to Harvard, but she went to Yale instead. Right now she's in London as an exchange student. She will finally come home 2 weeks from now."
"You must really miss her."
"Yeah. She's been back twice. The first time at Christmas when Luke proposed to me and she left after the wedding, January first. We decided we had been waiting too long already so we wanted to get married right away, especially since Rory was there. The second time she came back was unexpected, after my mother got seriously hurt in a car accident. She's still recovering but everything is going to be alright."
"I'm glad."
"Me too. But you're not here to hear about my life stories. Did the employment agency explained what the job holds?"
"She told me that it's a semi-managing job. It's only temporary because it's a busy season and there's too much work for you and your manager. But I'm not sure what kind of tasks will be mine."
"You will have to do many tasks. My manager is on vacation right now but will be back by the end of the week and starts again on Monday. It depends how fast you can start, but if you can start immediately you have to cover the front desk. When he comes back that will be his job again but there are many other tasks that need to be done. There is a lot of paperwork that needs to be done. I will do most of that myself, but right now there's so much, I could use some help. What else…" Lorelai thought for a second before explaining all the other things that needed to be done. The two women talked about the job and Lorelai offered Claire a tour through the inn. After that they came back to the office to finish their talk.
"So what do you think?"
"It sounds very interesting. I've been waiting for an opportunity like this since I graduated from college. Unfortunately I haven't found a permanent job yet. I worked at several inns all over the country, but it were all jobs like this one, during busy seasons when people need some help. I want to get a lot of experience so I can open my own inn one day. That's my dream. And I hope that my inn will be as amazing as yours. I've been in a lot of inns but none of them are as impressing as yours. I've never really had a semi-managing position. I had one when I had my internship but I didn't get the opportunity to show what I have learned after that."
"How long ago did you say you graduated?"
"Almost a year now."
Lorelai looked at the resume Claire handed her earlier. "Well, for someone who graduated only a year ago you have a very impressing resume."
Clair smiled shyly. "Thanks."
"I still have two other people to interview, but I will call you by the end of the day to tell you if you got the job. Assuming you will, are you able to start tomorrow?"
"Absolutely!"
"That would be great. So I'll call you by the end of the day."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Lorelai smiled and stood up. "I would have loved to talk to you longer, but as you know I'm very busy so I better get some work done. Plus it's almost lunch time and the baby will wake up soon."
"Of course. I won't keep you from your work."
"It was very nice to meet you Claire." Lorelai shook her hand.
"It was nice to meet you, too." Lorelai noticed how sincere she sounded. She really liked the girl and knew the other two people had to be really good if she would offer them the job instead of Claire.
In the diner Luke was having a job interview himself. He put a 'Help wanted' sign on the window and it wasn't long until the people started walking in. First Kirk who Luke delicately got rid off, second a teenager who was looking for a job after school but was very incapable for the job. Then a young man who was about to graduate culinary school and was looking for a temporary job until he found something permanent as a chef in a restaurant. A diner wasn't the thing he was looking for, but it was the first job he could actually get. Not that he had bad cooking skills, but because of the busy season most restaurants in the region didn't felt like hiring someone that wasn't experienced.
Luke had his own way in interviewing. He let the boy cook a few things and tried some of the stuff himself and let both Caesar and Lane taste as well. They were all impressed with the young man's skills.
"Besides cooking, do you mind serving and working long hours?"
"Not at all. I'm looking for a job so I can get experience. I know a diner isn't the first place that comes to mind after culinary school, but this one is different."
"So you don't think you're too good for the job?"
"Absolutely not. I just love to cook and to be around people. I don't mind working late hours and starting early. And when I was in high school, I worked at a diner during the weekends. I served and they let me cook too. That's what inspired me to go to culinary school in the first place. I really want this job and I see this place is very busy so I will start right away if you need me. I'm graduating two weeks from now, but I have a lot of free time on my hands. Sounds stupid right before graduating, and most people are really busy, but I made sure I finished everything on time because I hate doing everything at the last moment."
"Fine. You get the job."
"Thanks. Do you want me to start right now?"
"We have to fill in the paperwork first, but you can start afterwards if you want. They went upstairs to the apartment and signed all the necessary forms.
Luke walked into the inn, carrying a Luke's bag. He saw Lorelai wasn't in the lobby so he walked straight towards her office. She was feeding Lucan when he came in. "Hey." She smiled when she saw him.
"Hey. How's it going?"
"Good. I had a great job interview this morning and have two more in the afternoon. I'm sure that by the end of the day I have someone to help us out here."
"Sounds great."
"Yeah, and even better then you think it is. What are you doing here anyway?"
"What, I can't bring my beautiful wife some lunch?"
She smiled. "Of course you can, but it's lunch time so the diner must be packed."
"Yes it is. But I'm a little faster with the hiring process then you are."
"So you found someone?"
"Yep. I put a sign on the window and within ten minutes there was someone asking for the job."
"It must have been a great guy if you hired him immediately."
"Hell no, you can guess one time who the guy asking for the job was."
"Let me guess…" She pretended to think real hard. "It can't be Kirk right?" She smiled.
"Yep. And I don't want him working anywhere near my diner."
"So, you got lucky the second time?"
"Nope, school kid with no potential. But the third guy was perfect. He's graduating from culinary school in two weeks and worked in a diner during his high school period. It inspired him to go to culinary school in the first place. Don't know how a diner can inspire you to do that, but whatever."
"You could have gone there if you wanted to Luke. You're a great cook."
"Yeah, but you don't need a fancy school to teach you that. Besides, I got the best teacher I could wish for, and much cheaper too."
"I have to agree with you on that one. But let's quit all the talking with that nicely smelling lunch in that bag of yours."
He smiled. "Sure." He opened the bag and handed her a cheeseburger and chili fries.
"Oh, you know how to please a woman."
"That's what they say, yes." He smirked.
"Hey." But she had to smile too. She looked at the food and then at the baby. Eating while holding a baby and a bottle wasn't going to be easy.
"Here, hand him to me. That is, if you trust me to feed him."
She knew he meant it as a tease, but it made her feel guilty anyway. "Luke, I'm so sorry."
"I know, me too. I shouldn't have said that."
She nodded, then stood up and handed the baby to Luke. She sat down again and took a bite from her burger. "Wow, this tastes really great. Did you try a new recipe?"
"Nope, Jake made it."
"The new guy?"
"Yes."
"We're definitely keeping him. This is amazing!"
"That's what Lane and Caesar told me. And trust me, his salads are good too."
"I guess I have to take you on that one. I'm not willing to find out myself."
"I was afraid about that."
Lorelai smiled. "So, when we both have some help, do you think that when everything's settled, we can go away for a few days?"
"What?"
"Well I was thinking, the weather is great, we hardly saw each other the past two weeks and if we stay here there's a big change they'll make us come back to work, so going away for a few days seems like the only way to really spend some time together."
"I don't know Lorelai. There are tourists everywhere, every place is completely booked at the moment and I don't want to hang out between people and be a tourist myself. You know me and you know that's not me. I know you love to be around people but I thought it was about spending some time together with the baby. Just the three of us and not hundreds of people surrounding us in some tourist center."
"I didn't meant a tourist center Luke. I know you hate those places even though they are really nice and you would love them once you're there." She smiled sweetly. "But I know you're not willing to find out about that and it isn't like we're going to spend time with all those people. It will be just about the three of us."
"But…"
"Let me finish."
"It sounded like you were done."
"Well I wasn't. Look, I'm not talking about some tourist center, I was talking about a nice quiet place, surrounded by water so you can fish, and most of all, silence."
"Don't think we can find anything like that on short notice."
"I think we can Luke. As I remember correctly, you have a nice cabin at a lake. I've never been there but I know you have it. And as it's yours it has to be quiet there, plus you can fish too. It's perfect. And I'm sure it's available."
"I don't know. It's pretty far away and there's no power. It's not something you'll like. I've actually been considering selling it."
"Why would you do that? I don't need electricity. I can read and I can watch you fish. And I assume there's a way you can cook so we can heat up Lucan's bottles too."
"I know you Lorelai, it's nothing you'll like. I know you, and I know you will hate it."
"You won't even let me find out myself. It's not like we'll be sleeping in a tent so it won't be completely primitive right? I don't need all kind of fancy things like electricity and I don't care if there's no phone or if my cell phone won't receive any signals. I can do without it. It will be perfect because that way nobody can disturb us. It will be just you and me and a baby who's asleep most of the time. I can think of many things to do that don't inquire electricity. Well they do kind of, but not the one you…"
"Lorelai."
"Fine. Just give it a try. It will be great, trust me."
"I'll think about it okay? Let's finish lunch so I can get back to the diner. I want to keep an eye on Jake to see how he's doing before leaving him alone in the diner under Caesar's or Lane's supervision."
Lorelai nodded. "But promise me you'll give it some honest thoughts. You should make a pro and con list, I always do that when I can't decide by myself, and it works perfectly for Rory as well so it should work for you too."
"I'm sure I can make a decision by myself Lorelai."
"But that's no fun."
"It's not supposed to be."
"It is too. Planning a vacation is fun. It's half the fun of the vacation itself. Like when Rory and I went to Europe, we spent months planning the whole thing even though we didn't plan it exactly, you know."
"No I don't, but that's okay. I've never really planned a vacation."
"How about that cruise you went on?"
"Thanks for reminding me of that." He sighed.
"Sorry, I didn't meant to."
"I know. I never really planned that. I didn't even know if I was really going to go until the last moment. I just leave whenever I feel like leaving, close the diner and that's it."
"That's the best way to plan a vacation anyway. I've done many road trips. Just pack and leave and see where to end up. We can do that too if you like? It would be great. We pack the car, put Lucan in his car seat and just drive. It will be so much fun." Her eyes started to glow.
"No, I don't mean not planning like that. I want to know where to go before I leave, especially if we're taking a baby with us."
"You're no fun," She pouted.
"Stop that. It's not going to help you."
"But."
"I'll think about it and that's it. Now finish your lunch."
"Fine." She picked up a fry and put it in her mouth.
That afternoon the two other persons stopped by for the job interview as well. Lorelai had a great time with the both of them and they were both perfect for the job as well. Now she had to decide which one she would hire. If she had to go for character she would pick Claire because she liked her the most, but she knew that as a businesswoman, that wasn't the thing to go for.
The second one, Mary Henderson was the most experienced. She was a little older than Lorelai and had worked as a manager of several inns since she was 25 years old. She was even over-qualified for the job. Lorelai wondered if that could be a problem.
The third person, Thomas Garret, was 31. His mother owned an inn in California and he helped her in his free time since he was ten years old. It kind of reminded her of Rory helping her. Thomas was experienced, he had a great character and he was also perfect for the job. He had enough experience, he was not over qualified and he wanted to take over his mother's inn when she retired.
He wanted to work at several inns around the country to get a lot of extra experience before it was time and had a few years left to do so. He told her, his mother wasn't so pleased by him working somewhere else as she wanted him with her, but he wanted to travel before settling down permanently. He had worked in New York for a few months and was looking for something else now.
Lorelai sighed as she walked into the kitchen. Maybe Sookie could help her.
"Hey what's up? You look tired. I know you looked tired this morning, but this is a different tired." Sookie looked at her friend, worried.
"Gee thanks. It's just, you know how we talked about hiring someone right? You've seen the three people I interviewed today. They are all perfect for the job and I have no idea who to pick. What do you think?"
"Oh, I don't know about that honey. That's your job. I know who to hire when it comes to kitchen staff, but you hired all the other people around here. I don't know what to look at and how to see how someone's qualified for the job. That's all your part of this."
Lorelai sighed. "I know, but it was easier then. We were hiring so many people that when two people were perfect for the job, I could hire both of them. I can't do that now. There are three of them, all perfect, and I can hire only one."
"Sounds tough. So pick the one you like most."
"I thought about that, but I think that's not the honest way to do it. What if one of the others sues us or something."
"Can they do that? They don't know they are all perfect for the job so they can't sue us if we don't hire them right? I think every company would get sued all the time if that was possible."
"Yeah you're right. But still, it won't be honest."
"You have to work with them. We have to trust them to do the job perfectly and they have to work with Michel."
"So I should hire the one he would hate the most right?"
Sookie laughed. "That would be a good way to make a choice."
"I guess I'll make a pro and con list instead and see who is the most perfect one for the job. I know Luke thinks they are lame but…"
"He said that?"
"He says he can make a decision by himself. I asked him about taking Lucan and me to his cabin for a few days and he says it's nothing for me. I can be without power right? I don't need a TV, I read. And if I can spend some time with my husband and my son, what else do I need?"
"Don't you want to wait until Rory gets back? So you can go with you're whole family?"
"I've considered that option, but I'm not sure if she wants to come, she might take Warren with her and I'm sure she rather spends time with her boyfriend than with her old boring mother."
"You don't seriously think that right? You can take them both if you want too."
"What, you think I'm old and boring?" She pouted, then sighed. I could, but I have no idea how big Luke's cabin is. But he has to say yes first anyway so I better not get my hopes up. Plus I have something else to worry about first." At the same time crying was heard trough the baby monitor attached to Lorelai's pants. "And it looks like that has to wait too. I have to go see what's wrong with him. It's to early for him to be hungry so it must be something else."
"You'll figure it out."
"Yeah I will. Thanks for the talk."
"That's what I'm here for."
"Good. See you later."
"Later."
Lorelai walked into her office and picked up the baby. "What's wrong honey? You can't be hungry." She held him against her chest as she kept talking to him. He was just calming down a little when there was a knock on her door. "Yes?"
The door opened and Claire walked in. "Hey, can I come in?"
"Sure. What can I do for you?"
"Well, I know that you were going to call me tonight about the job, but I was hoping you knew about it already. My daughter wants to go out for diner and see a movie tonight so I won't be home. I can stay home if you didn't make up your mind yet but..."
"You have a daughter?"
"Yeah. I know I didn't mention her this morning, but people think it's weird that I have a daughter already, especially when they find out how old she is."
"I told you I got pregnant at 16 so you should have known my opinion would have been different. But sit down first so we can talk about this."
"Okay thanks." Claire sat down. "I just turned 15 when I met Stan. He was 5 years older then me and I was head over heals in love with him. I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. He wanted different things then I wanted though. He was always talking about having sex. I wasn't ready yet and I told him that. He said he was okay with that but never stopped talking about it. I was in love with him and I didn't want to lose him so one day I slept with him. After that he dumped me. I found out I was pregnant six weeks later. I told my mother who shrugged her shoulders and replied she didn't expect anything else from me. She said that she would hire a nanny again so I could finish school."
"What did you do?"
"I was fifteen and I was afraid. I was happy that she wasn't angry and that she didn't make me give up the baby. I was afraid she would do that. Now I know that she didn't care what happened and that she decided to fix it with her money. She never asked about the father, not once. I wanted nothing more then to finish high school and go to college. I didn't want anybody to know about my pregnancy though, so I decided to drop out of high school for a year, till after the baby was born and went back later."
"And you let the nanny take care of your daughter?"
"Yes. My mother let me decide which nanny I wanted to hire. I called my old nanny and told her what happened. She came to me immediately and I could finally get my story out. She helped me with the baby and she forced me to go back to school again and to college after high school. She let me live in her home because my mother still didn't cared and so I could go out if I wanted. Not that I did, but I could have. Anyway, to make a long story short, I have a daughter, Caden. She's 7 now." Claire looked at Lorelai and saw she was still listening. She didn't look away like every other person did when she told her this story.
She continued. "I hate that I had to take her all around the country because I can't find a permanent job, but I have no choice. She has trouble making friends because of that. She finally has a friend but if I don't get a job around here, I might have to take that away from her again. She'll hate me." Claire had to swallow away the lump in her throat.
Lorelai looked at the girl in front of her as she felt her son against her chest. He had finally stopped crying. She looked down and saw him staring at her with his big blue eyes, as if he was telling her what to do. Lorelai looked at Claire again. "I'll give you the job, but you know that I can't promise that you can keep it. At least you will be safe for a little while. And if you ever need to take your daughter to work, that won't be a problem. I have Lucan with me half the time, and Sookie takes her son and daughter here as well if her husband can't watch them."
"I got the job?" Claire had tears in her eyes now.
Lorelai nodded. "Yes you do. I was just about to call you when he started crying." She knew she lied but she didn't want Claire to think that this was the reason she got the job, even though it partially was. "You just have to be honest with me the next time."
"I will, but I didn't want you to give me the job because of Caden."
"I didn't. You get the job because you're perfect for it."
"Thank you. I appreciate this so much."
"Okay. I expect you here tomorrow morning at 8 o clock. We have to go through some forms you have to fill out before you start working here, and you can start after that."
"I'll be there."
"Good. You better go get your daughter now."
"She's waiting for me in the lobby. Do you know a great place where you can eat around here?"
"That will be Luke's diner. I know that from years of experience. I walked in there for the first time eleven years ago and I married the owner a few months ago."
"The food must be really good then."
"The food and the coffee. If you wait fifteen minutes I'll walk you there. I was planning on going home early today. I didn't sleep too well last night and the day has been long enough as it is."
"That would be great."
"Good. Let me finish up here. I have to make a few phone calls, get the baby into his stroller and say goodbye to Sookie."
"I'll wait for you in the lobby."
The four of them entered the diner 25 minutes later. Lorelai looked around but didn't see Luke. She did see a young man behind the counter she never saw before.
"Hey, you must be Jake."
"Yep, that's me. But I have no idea who you are."
"I'm Lorelai, Luke's wife. Do you know where he is?"
"He's in the kitchen."
"Can you get him for me?"
"Sure, no problem."
Lorelai turned her attention back to Claire. "Take a seat, someone will be here soon to take orders."
"Mommy, isn't it too early to eat?" Caden looked at her mother.
"You said you were hungry, plus we want to make it to the movies in time right?"
"Yeah." The girls smiled.
Luke appeared after a few seconds. "Hey, what are you doing here so early?" He gave Lorelai a quick kiss.
"I decided that I worked enough for today, plus I wanted you to meet someone. This is Claire and her daughter Caden. Claire will be working at the Dragonfly starting tomorrow."
"Hello Claire." Luke extended his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Luke."
"Nice meeting you Luke, I've heard a lot about you."
"Oh, right well…" He seemed a little uncomfortable. "Lorelai, can we talk upstairs for a minute?"
"What did I do wrong?" She stood up and picked the baby out of the stroller before following him upstairs to the apartment.
"Sit down please."
"What's wrong Luke? What did I do?"
"You did nothing. I was just thinking after I left and well, you know."
"I don't know. I'm the one that's usually rambling and not making sense, but right now I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You know, about the vacation. I've thought about it and I thought that maybe we can…"
"We can?" She looked at him questionably.
"I thought that we can go to the cabin another time if you really want to."
"Why not this time Luke? I promise I will like it. I'm sure I won't hate it, electricity or not, I don't mind."
"I know, I realized that, but..."
"But what?"
"Stop interrupting me. I came up with something else."
"You did?"
"Don't act so surprised. I have idea's too sometimes."
"Well spill." She was curious now.
"I was thinking that maybe we can go pick up Rory in London. I know that it won't be so convenient to take a baby into an airplane, plus I hate them, but I thought that it would be nice to go pick her up now that she comes home permanently, at least for now."
Lorelai stood up and started jumping up and down, completely forgetting she was still holding Lucan. He immediately started crying. "Oops."
"Yeah oops. Can you calm down please?"
"I don't think so, but I'll try." Lorelai handed him the baby to be sure she wouldn't scare him more then she already did. "You really want to go to London to pick up Rory? In an airplane, taking the baby with us?"
"I'm not leaving him at home. And yes, I'm serious. We can go a few days early so we can spend some time together, plus that way you can get to meet her boyfriend before he comes here next fall. Maybe she will bring him here this summer but his parents might want to spend the summer with him if he comes here for a year."
Lorelai sat down on the couch, completely surprised that he was proposing that.
"You don't like it? We don't have to go if you don't want to."
"I don't like it, I love it Luke. I'm just… shocked I guess. You know how to surprise a woman."
"That's what they say yes."
"Hey, that's the second time you say that in one day, you're not funny mister." She smacked him in the shoulder, carefully not to scare Lucan this time."
"Hey, where was that for?"
"So we're really going to London to pick up Rory?" She ignored his question, still surprised about his proposal.
"If you want too, yes."
"I do, I really do." Tears filled her eyes and she started sobbing.
"Hey, what's up?" He put his arm around her.
She let him hold her and cried for a while. After she calmed down enough she looked up. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong." Her eyes were begging him to tell her what was wrong with her.
"Hey, it's okay." He wiped away the tears from her eyes.
She smiled slightly as she looked into Luke's eyes. Then she looked down at Lucan and he smiled at her. Luke noticed it too and they both started laughing.
"I have a feeling that he keeps telling me what to do."
He looked at her confused. "What?"
"Earlier today I was doubting who I would hire for the inn. All three of the people I interviewed were perfect for the job. I liked Claire the most but I thought that it would be the wrong reason to hire someone. After talking to Sookie who was absolutely no help, Lucan started to cry. I went to my office and picked him up. I held him up to my chest and just when he was starting to calm down Claire came in and she started talking about her daughter. This morning when I interviewed her we talked about Lucan and about Rory, so she knew I got pregnant when I was 16, but she didn't tell me she had her daughter when she was 15. After she finished telling her story I looked at Lucan and he looked at me with those big blue eyes of his as if telling me to hire Claire."
"So you asked Sookie for advice and it was Lucan giving it to you?" He had to laugh.
"I'm serious Luke. I swear he was telling me to do the right thing."
"Sure." He laughed even harder.
"Look at him now. He laughs at me to tell me I have to laugh, not cry. He wants me to be happy."
"Of course he does, so do I, but I'm sure our three month old son can't tell you what to do."
"Well I do."
He shook his head. "You're crazy, you know that."
"Hey." She hit him again.
"You're feeling better I see." He smirked.
"Yeah I do. Thanks. You know, I guess I'm just so tired and then with that fight yesterday I hardly slept and it was exhausting anyway. Plus I ask you to take me to your cabin for a few days and instead you offer to take me to London. You're an amazing guy, you know that?" She looked at him seriously.
"You told me that before, but it's good to hear it once in a while. And you're an amazing woman too."
She kissed him. "Do you think we can still get two airplane tickets to London and back here on the same flight Rory takes?"
He stood up and walked to the table. She looked at him confused. "Luke?"
"Just a sec." He picked up a piece of paper and handed it to her. "This is our flight reservation. I had to pay the tickets immediately because someone else wanted them too. They were the last two seats available."
She picked up the paper and let her hands trace it. "Every time I think you can't surprise me anymore, you do something like this and I'm stunned again. Wow."
"So you're not mad I went behind your back buying those tickets?"
"Why would I be mad? This is amazing. I love you so much."
"I love you too." He kissed her again. "Why don't you take Lucan home. I'll close early tonight so we can all get a night off. I'll be home around eight."
"That would be nice."
She took the baby from him and stood up. Before she reached the door she heard Luke call her name. "Lorelai?" She turned around.
"Yes?"
"Can you not tell Rory we're coming? I want to surprise her."
"I like that thought. It will be hard not to tell her but I'll try really hard."
"I know you will."
"Hey Luke? Can you bring dinner home with you, so we can eat together? I missed that lately."
"Of course. But do you think you can wait that long?"
"Yeah, otherwise I'll eat a pop tart or something."
He smiled. "Good, I'll see you at home." He stood up and walked downstairs with her. He watched as she carefully placed Lucan in his stroller and opened the door for her so she could push it outside. She turned around and kissed him. "See you at home."
"See you at home." With that she walked away. He kept watching them until he didn't see them anymore, a big smile on his face, thinking. 'It's amazing how much can change in one day.'