Author's Note: Since the last chapter was shorter than usual and mostly filler to get where I needed it to go you get two chapters in one day. Enjoy!

"Kismet"

Leaving the courtroom Luke felt somewhat victorious. As his lawyer had predicted Anna and Bill wanted to put a stop to his lawsuit and they had refused to let April undergo another DNA test. Anna had thought that Luke would be unwilling to go through the legal trouble of hiring a lawyer and forcing the issue in court. She underestimated the anger that he held in his heart for missing ten years of his child's life.

"Are you happy now?" Anna asked she brushed passed Luke coming out of the courthouse.

"I'm very satisfied," Luke replied shoving his hands in his pockets. "I told you I wasn't letting this go."

"Obviously," Anna said. "I hope you know what you're putting April through. She shouldn't have to go through this."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you kept her hidden from me for the last ten years," Luke said casually. "If I'd known about her back then we wouldn't be here now."

"And where would we be?" Anna asked. "Do you honestly believe you would have been a stand-up guy and stayed with me? We hardly knew each other. You'd come in three times a week, have dinner, get drunk and whine to me about your girlfriend. You were just someone for me to talk to while I was at work because you were more coherent than the other drunks I served."

Luke was stung by her words. Through it all Luke had only somewhat fond memories of Anna and the time they shared in that dingy bar. He didn't know if she meant what she said. He guessed that she probably did. He knew he was in bad shape back then, but she didn't have to throw it in his face.

"No, I probably wouldn't have stayed with you," Luke said spitefully. "But at least I would have known I had kid and I would have helped out in any way I could. I just want April to be able to know me if she wants and I don't trust you to allow that to happen."

Luke walked away quickly before he said anything he'd regret, but the anger burned within his gut. He'd felt he'd earned a small victory in court that day, but Anna's hostility destroyed his contentment. Luke walked to his car and pulled at the tie around his neck. There were very few times in his life that Luke remembered feeling happy while he was dressed up and coincidentally each happy memory he had being dressed up included Lorelai. Other than those few times Luke felt that suits meant bad news: funerals, bank meetings, court dates. He got to his truck and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Hey, it's me," he said when Lorelai's phone went to voicemail. "I thought you might like to know that we won the motion for another DNA test today. I know you had a pretty busy day with e conference and lunch with Rory. I hope it went well and I'll see you when I get back to town."

Luke hung up the phone feeling disappointed that he didn't get a chance to speak to Lorelai. He knew that she had a conference at the inn that day and that she was having lunch with Rory so she would be busy, but it would have helped him to hear her voice. He knew that she wouldn't be thrilled by the news, but he hoped she would continue to be supportive. Since hiring a lawyer Lorelai was very supportive of Luke's decision to go forward with court proceedings. He knew that deep down she was still slightly disappointed that he had a child, but she didn't show it. She was at every meeting and helped him with every decision he'd made about April so far.

Luke wondered why he had put off telling her about April for so long and he knew deep down that it was because he knew the news of her existence was hurtful. He hadn't meant to keep it from her, but he did. He hadn't meant to disrupt their lives, but he had. But now that he'd won the court order for a DNA test he felt like their lives might be settling down. Once he won visitation they'd have a plan, a schedule, that could be relied on to make their lives a little more normal. Luke thought that having April over might be like Lorelai's Friday night dinners, only, hopefully without the tears and hard-feelings. Luke pulled his truck out of the parking lot and felt better about things as he drove back home.

"I'd say that went well," Christopher said as Lorelai cleared the table.

"Yeah," Lorelai replied. "I really appreciate you being here Chris. I know it sounds silly, but I was so worried that Rory and I would have nothing to talk about after all this time."

"And you couldn't have been more wrong since I probably clocked about five minutes of total speaking time in the two hours it took us to have lunch."

"I know," Lorelai smiled. "She looked good didn't she? She seemed happier than I've seen her in a while."

"I think it was because she was back at home with you," Christopher said picking up a plate and helping her clear the table.

Lorelai just smiled as she picked up the remaining flatware from the table.

"So you were able to take the whole afternoon off? I thought you had a conference or something at the inn?" Christopher asked.

"Yeah, I did," Lorelai said. "In fact I should probably get back as soon as possible. Michel said he had everything under control but I feel kind of bad leaving him alone."

"Sookie is there right? I'm sure they can handle it."

"I'm sure they can too," Lorelai said. "When Rory called and wanted to have lunch I was afraid to ask to reschedule. I thought she might change her mind or something."

"She wouldn't do that," Christopher said. "So, can I ask where Luke is today? I figured he'd be here cleaning his guns if he knew I was coming over."

Lorelai swallowed deeply and felt the guilt creep into her stomach. She hadn't told Luke that she'd been talking to Christopher and occasionally having lunch with him to discuss Rory. She knew that this was their tricky area. She further knew that not telling Luke about Christopher was where she made her mistake the last time around, but with everything going on in their lives Lorelai knew that Christopher's presence would only make Luke crazy. She had successfully avoided any and all talk of Chris for weeks.

"Lore?" Christopher asked when she didn't respond to his comment about Luke. "You told him I was coming right?"

"Huh?" Lorelai said pretending not to have heard him.

"You didn't tell him I was coming over for lunch," Christopher said knowingly. "Why didn't you tell him?"

"Luke has had a lot on his plate with April lately," Lorelai tried to explain herself. "I didn't want to upset him."

"And lying to him won't be at all upsetting to him?" Christopher asked.

"Of course it will. I just haven't found a good time to mention that we've been talking again."

"He doesn't even know we've been talking again?"

"No," Lorelai said sheepishly. "I didn't know how to tell him."

"You couldn't just say, 'I talked to Chris today?'"

"I didn't want him to have a stroke. Luke has this vein in his temple that tends to bulge out when your name comes up and…" Lorelai stopped and thought about it for a moment. "Look, I know I have to tell him about this and I will when the time is right. Since you don't really have any say in when I tell him I'd appreciate if you didn't bring it up."

Lorelai took a deep breath and continued to clean the kitchen while Christopher sat in silence for a moment. She hadn't realized how Christopher's insinuations were beginning to wear on her. Every time they talked or met Christopher found a way to bring up Luke and she was getting tired of it. For as grateful as she was that he was around to help her mend fences with Rory his constant comments about Luke were no longer welcome.

Once upon a time she feared that Christopher would tell Luke about the secret tequila night after his father died. She didn't honestly know if he would have told him anything about it, but the point was that she couldn't be sure. She got a funny feeling in her stomach that Christopher still had feelings for her and he was just waiting for her relationship with Luke to end to make a move. She couldn't deny that she had feelings for him. They still lingered in the back of her mind, but Christopher would always be down the path not taken. A thousand things would have had to happen differently for them to be together, not the least of which would have been Lorelai not opening the inn and never bridging the gap between friends and lovers with Luke. Looking at it now she knew that wasn't she wanted. She realized that she hadn't learned her lesson from the first time she kept Christopher a secret from Luke and she knew she had to rectify it.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," Lorelai said quietly. "I appreciate how helpful you've been with Rory, but I think that it might be best if you left now."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Christopher asked standing and walking over to her. Lorelai gave him a look that seemed to ask what he was getting at. "You and I have been talking and meeting for weeks and you haven't even mentioned it to Luke. Why are you hiding it from him? Don't tell me it it's a sore spot between you Lore because I know better. I think you don't want him to know because you like spending time with me. I think you're conflicted about how you feel."

Lorelai stifled a small laugh. "You couldn't be more wrong," Lorelai replied confidently. "Christopher, I appreciate your help with Rory and you know that you're always welcome to call or visit, but you and me? We're so over that we're Donald and Ivana, Burt and Loni, Mimi Rogers and Tom Cruise, which, can I just say how happy Mimi must be that she got out before the crazy took over Tom?"

"I think you still have feelings for me," Christopher said insolently. "I don't believe that you're over it just like I'm not over it. You're always going to wonder what it could have been like with us."

"You're right, I might always wonder in the back of mind what it would have been like," Lorelai admitted. "But that ship as sailed Chris. And if finding out what it would be like to be with you comes at the expense of my relationship with Luke then it's totally not worth it. Besides we'd probably be together for a few weeks and realize that we're not 16 anymore. What you and I had was a young love and what Luke and I have is just beyond love. I know it probably seems weird to you, but trust me when I tell you that Luke and I are kismet okay?"

"Then why haven't you told him about our meetings?" Christopher tried one last time. He saw the resolved look in her eyes and he knew it was pointless to hope anymore. He'd never seen her look more resolved about another man in her entire life.

"I haven't told Luke because he's going through a lot right now and he doesn't need to deal with the stress of you being around again. But, you helped me realize that not telling him is a really dumb thing to do. I guess I didn't learn my lesson from the last time around, but I see it now. I am completely and totally in love with him. I know you don't want to hear that but I think you need to. I love Luke and we're getting married and no amount of curiosity about us could get me to change my mind. I'm telling Luke all about this tonight."

"What are you telling me about tonight?" Luke's voice asked as he walked into the kitchen. At first he didn't notice Christopher standing so close to Lorelai but when he did he felt his fist clench unconsciously. "What are you doing here?" Luke asked tersely.

"Chris was just leaving," Lorelai said taking him by the arm and leading toward the front door quickly.

"I'm not leaving quite yet," Christopher said as Lorelai pushed him to the door.

"Oh you're going one way or another," Luke said. He just stood staring him down as Lorelai ushered Christopher passed.

"Please go," she told Christopher fiercely. She lowered her voice as she handed him his jacket. "We've said all there is to say. Thank you for helping me with Rory."

Lorelai didn't give him a chance to fight her before she pushed him out the door and locked it tightly behind him. She scurried back into the kitchen to see that Luke had removed his jacket and tossed it carelessly over the chair. He was wringing his tie in his hands.

"What was he doing here?" Luke asked.

"I have to start back a little bit farther to explain what Chris was doing here now," Lorelai said.

Luke nodded tensely and anticipated that he wouldn't like what he was about to hear. He tossed his tie over the chair and walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. He cracked the cap and took a large sip before he sat down at the table.

"Please explain," he said.

"Christopher and I have been talking," Lorelai said as she tried to keep her heart rate steady. She felt as if it might burst out of her chest at any moment. "He had been e-mailing me and he apologized about the drama he caused at my parent's wedding. I hadn't responded to any of it until one day he called me and he wanted to talk about Rory."

"Rory?" Luke asked skeptically.

"Apparently she started calling him because she wasn't talking to me," Lorelai continued. "So I talked to him about Rory and we met for lunch a few times."

Lorelai took a moment and noticed that the expression on Luke's face hadn't changed with her admission. Likewise, he didn't open his mouth to speak. He simply waited for her to continue.

"So you know Rory called and asked if we could have lunch," Lorelai said. "And I was so excited that she called that I agreed and I was looking forward to it. But then the more I thought about it the more nervous I got. I remembered how hard it was to talk to her at her birthday party and so I called Christopher and asked him if he wanted to join us for lunch. He was only here to be a buffer for us in case things got awkward."

"Did they?" Luke asked.

"Did they what?" Lorelai asked puzzled by his question.

"Did things get awkward?" Luke sighed.

"Oh. No, they didn't," Lorelai said. "It went really well actually."

"Good," Luke replied stoically. Luke stood up and walked over to the sink. He gazed out the window for a minute and he took another long sip of his beer. Lorelai had never seen Luke so pensive. She couldn't tell if it was a good sign or not. She had expected him to yell, which he hadn't and her only other thought was that he would leave and hadn't done that either. He just stood, thinking.

"So you and Rory are talking again?" he asked not turning to face her.

"Yeah, we are," Lorelai said quietly. "Luke, I'm so sorry. I know I was wrong. I should have told you about Christopher, but he's just such a sore spot for us that I didn't want to bring it up. You had all this April stuff to think about and it seemed wrong for me--"

"It's fine," Luke cut her off as he finished his beer. He turned and leaned against the kitchen counter to face her.

"It's fine?" Lorelai asked.

"I'd have liked to have known that you were talking to him again," Luke explained. "I'd have liked to know he was going to be standing in our kitchen when I got home today, but you had your reasons for not saying anything."

"I did," Lorelai said in disbelief of Luke's reaction.

"I didn't tell you about April for weeks," Luke reasoned. "I should have told you, but I didn't because I didn't want to hurt you. I wanted to delay it for as long as I could because I could picture the look on your face when I told you about her. You probably imagined my reaction to this Christopher news a lot differently than how I'm reacting I'm sure."

"I really did," Lorelai confirmed. She was shocked by his response. While it was clear that Luke wasn't happy with the news, he didn't react by shouting or leaving. He simply took the news, thought about it and now, it appeared that he was willing to talk about it. "So you're okay with this?"

"I was surprised he was here," Luke replied. "I wanted to knock him on his ass. But if he's helping you get closer to Rory again then he's obviously what you need."

"I don't need him," Lorelai said standing up and walking over to him. "He was just here in case things got tricky. I wanted to ask you to be here but I didn't want Rory to feel like you and I were ganging up on her."

"And Christopher is a neutral party," Luke finished for her. "I understand."

"So we're not yelling about this," Lorelai said baffled.

"Do you want to yell about this?" Luke asked confused. He felt as though he was taking the news awfully well and yet Lorelai seemed distressed.

"No," Lorelai said wide-eyed. "I don't ever want to yell about anything. I'm just…when did we turn into such adults?"

"I don't know," Luke chuckled as he put his arm around her. "But can we make a deal?"

"Sure," Lorelai replied.

"From now on, no matter how bad we think the news is, no matter how horrible we think we might react to something, we tell each other about it anyway," Luke said. "I can't help but feel that we talk about the little things that don't matter, but we just let the big things go without mentioning them."

"Like Christopher," Lorelai said.

"Like Christopher, like April, like the kids issue, the Twickham House," Luke listed each major issue off one by one.

"So less movie talk, more important talk," Lorelai said.

"That's what I'm getting at," Luke replied.

"We can do that," Lorelai said pulling away from him and sitting back at the table. "I really am sorry about not telling you."

"It's okay," Luke said taking a seat across from her. "You were right about one thing. He is definitely a sore spot for me and it was probably best that I didn't know he was calling. But, I don't want you to think that you can't tell me. If he's helping you with Rory then you need to talk to him."

"That's all it is," Lorelai said. After a moment it dawned on her that Luke had come back from the courthouse. "Hey, how did they motion go today?"

"You've haven't checked your messages?" Luke asked.

"I left my phone at the inn," Lorelai said remembering that she left it sitting in her desk at work.

"Oh, well we won," Luke said with a small smile. "I have to report to some lab in Hartford next week and my lawyer said they'd put a rush on the results so we might know as soon as the end of the month about where we go from here."

"That's great news," Lorelai said smiling. While it was true that she wasn't thrilled with the situation she knew that it made Luke happy. She didn't want him to miss out on another minute of being a father and the holidays were fast approaching.

"I thought so," Luke said. "Are you still okay with this?"

"Of course," Lorelai said sincerely. "I just wish we didn't have to do so much waiting."

"I know," Luke replied. "I'm sure this isn't easy for you--"

"Stop," Lorelai said cutting him off. "We've had this talk and we're in this together. She's your daughter and if seeing her is what you want then I'm behind you on it."

"Thanks," Luke said reaching across the table and squeezing her hand.

"No need for thanks," Lorelai said with a grin. "Parades and national holidays named after me is all I require."

TBC