A/N- Sorry this chapter took so long to update! Life has just been insane lately with school and work and babysitting. Also, I didn't get a chance to write yesterday because I had a Disney Day. All of my friends came over and we watched all of the old Disney movies that we haven't seen since we were kids. At one point, me and two of my friends got up on my couch and sang "Under the Sea" at the top of our lungs. It was awesome. I suggest anyone under stress try having a Disney Day- it works wonders for your soul.
A/N 2- To all of you who say things about the way I write, thanks sooo much. I try to write well- I've always liked writing, but I've never really shared anything I've written with anyone before. So this is awesome. But the preschool teacher thing is pretty set. I love kids... probably because I still am five years old inside.
A/N 3- My birthday is November 16th, and I couldn't resist making it Luke's also. Plus, my baby cousin got another shout-out in this chapter. (PS, Ally, I love you and you can talk to me about anything... especially about how it's really sick that you're my thirteen-year-old twin lol)
Disclaimer: I won't even be seventeen until November... there's not much to sue me for, Josh and Amy
Inmate #9121- Bozo The Clown
Luke lay awake in bed on the night of November 6th, both dreading and looking forward to the next couple of weeks all at once. Tomorrow, he was spending the day at the Cohens'; it was Ryan and Seth's birthday, and hence, he, Lorelai, and Rory were the first ones on the guest list for the Power Rangers-themed birthday party. He laughed as he remembered Rory's excitement at being able to wear her "Pink Ranger" costume (The one that Lorelai took her out to buy the previous week before he was instructed to sit and watch his daughter model the outfit) to the party and sighed to himself. Rory was very into clothes lately. She's her mother's daughter. I bet on Sunday, she'll be telling me she's old enough to drink coffee...
He rolled his eyes as he remembered that the weekend wasn't over after Ryan and Seth's party. Exhaling with exasperation, he tried to picture what his own house would look like on Sunday. His baby girl was turning eight years old and he would be hosting almost forty people in his backyard. Only for Rory and Lorelai. How do they know how to manipulate me like that? I specifically remember saying no more than 20. Uggggh... At least we knocked one kid off the list... He sighed as he recalled how Ryan had gotten into a fight with a boy, Dean, the previous school year. Chuckling as he fondly looked back on Sandy's pride and Kirsten's angst about her little boy's violence, he turned off the light and lay on his side, attempting to fall asleep; Lorelai was spending the evening with Kirsten and Sookie, and she wouldn't be home until later.
As hard as he tried, he couldn't help but allow thoughts of his own birthday, which was the next Sunday, the 16th, to creep back into his mind. He was not one to enjoy giant parties; he only threw them because he knew his wife and daughter liked them. Though he constantly reminded Lorelai that,
"I don't want or need a big party. It would be enough to just be able to spend the day with you and Rory. I'm not exactly a people person... you know that better than anyone," she only smiled and told him not to worry about it.
"It's your birthday. If you don't want a big party, you won't have a big party. We can have whatever you want."
"I just want you and Rory."
"Ok. I love you."
"I love you, too." She leaned over and kissed him before scurrying away, giggling. Luke knew Lorelai well enough to know when she was planning or hiding something, and her actions sparked a plague of interest in him. He spent the better part of the next half-hour chasing Lorelai around the house in a vain attempt to get her to admit her plan.
After glancing at the picture of himself and Lorelai perched on the night table, he silently rolled over once more before falling into a deep sleep.
The next day, he awoke to the blaring alarm at eight o'clock am. After turning off the alarm, he threw his arm around his wife gently and lovingly. She snuggled into him, groggily asking,
"What time is it?"
"Eight," he whispered back, kissing her hair.
"Too early."
"Not too early. Much later than we usually get up. What time did you get in last night?"
"Late... must've been two... or three... I kissed you when I came in."
"Was that you?" She hit him lightly on the chest,
"Is Rory up?"
"I don't know. I just got up, too."
"Ok... I'll go check on her." Lorelai lay still in bed and Luke waited a beat before realizing,
"Rory's downstairs."
"I know."
"You're upstairs."
"I know."
"You said you were going to check on her."
"Hold on..." She pursed her lips and placed a pointed finger on top of them. She craned her neck in an attempt to hear better and, at the same time, she and Luke heard the noise from the TV,
"I can show you the world. Shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?" Lorelai laughed- Rory's latest obsession was Aladdin, and she was watching it at every chance she got.
"How many times did you watch it last night?"
"Just once. But she watched it once and a half. By the time she got to 'A Whole New World', it was nine. So I told her she could finish watching today."
"Fight?"
"Just a bit. But then she remembered that her birthday's on Sunday. You should've seen her. 'Daddy, you bought me my presents already, right?' It was actually pretty funny."
"Well, she's her mother's daughter... We should get up... Ryan and Seth's party's at one and I promised Kirsten we'd go help out."
"Ok."
Back at the Cohens', three hours later, Ryan and Seth were running around the house like madmen. Upstairs in his room, Ryan had collected all of his Power Rangers memorabilia and created a pile as tall as himself. Watching as it tipped precariously, he screamed loudly,
"SETH! BRING YOURS IN NOW!" Kirsten, right outside of his door, winced at the noise,
"Ryan, inside voices!"
"Sorry, mommy. Could you get Seth for me, please?"
"Yeah. Hold on," Before she got the chance to find Seth, she found him stumbling out of his bedroom and barreling down the hallway towards his brother's room. Stepping in front of him, she made him stop short, his Power Rangers action figures tumbling out of his hands.
"Mom! You made me drop the White Ranger! Lord Zordon will not be pleased!" Kirsten rolled her eyes at her son before stooping to help him collect the toys,
"Seth, what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm bringing my Power Rangers toys into Ryan's room. We're going to make a show with all of them for all of our friends."
"Wait. What?" Ryan stepped out of his room to find his brother and mother crouching, picking up spilled toys.
"Seth, what's taking you so long?"
"They fell. Wait a sec."
"Boys, who's going to clean them up after you're done?"
"I don't know. We'll leave them out for everyone to play with."
"Boys, we have a million things planned today. I don't know if there'll even be enough time to just play with the toys. Plus, your toys could get stolen."
"Nuh-uh."
"Yuh-huh."
"But mommy..."
"Go put away your toys."
"I don't want to!"
"Ryan Nicholas," She reprimanded before he turned around and stomped back into his room to put away his toys.
"Mom, do I have to put away mine, too?"
"Yes, Seth. Go. Rory should be here soon." Sandy came upstairs at that exact moment,
"Where are the boys?"
"In their rooms, putting away their toys."
"Ok, good. The a-c-t-o-r-s just called. They should be here around twoish." Kirsten nodded and smiled. Her boys would be so excited come two o'clock. Just as she wondered how many kids would show up in Power Rangers costumes, she heard a knock at the front door and then the noise of the door opening.
"Anybody home?" Lorelai's voice wafted up the stairs.
"Upstairs!" Three sets of footsteps bound towards them before they saw three brunette heads.
"Hi, Kirsten. Hi, Sandy. Where's Ryan and Seth?" Rory asked, struggling under the weight of the two large presents in her arms.
"They're in their rooms, sweetheart. Do you want me to take the presents?"
"No, thank you. I want to give them to Ryan and Seth." Kirsten turned the doorknob to Ryan's room for her and she disappeared into the blue bedroom.
"You let her carry all of that?" Sandy asked incredulously.
"She wouldn't let us help her."
"How much does that weigh?"
"All in all? Probably about twenty pounds."
"That's cruel."
"She wouldn't let us help her!"
They heard a giggle and Ryan's shrieking voice come from inside his bedroom,
"SETH!"
"Ryan! What did I just say!"
"Sorry, mommy!" Seth came bounding through the hallway and raised his hand in quick greeting to Luke and Lorelai before entering Ryan's room.
"Let's go downstairs."
Three hours later, the Cohen household was abuzz with the chatter of excited children. Ten White Rangers (Including Seth), four Blue Rangers (Including Ryan), five Red Rangers, two Yellow Rangers, and Three Pink Rangers (Including Rory and Lane (Lane's mother hadn't permitted her to go out and buy a new outfit, but Lorelai had given her Rory's homemade Pink Ranger outfit from Halloween to prevent Lane from feeling left out)) ran through the backyard, a pile of colorful presents sitting listlessly on the picnic table. Suddenly, one of the children shrieked,
"THE WHITE RANGER!" Seth, Ryan, Rory, and Lane, all huddled, playing together, away from the other children, snapped their heads towards the back door in time to see actors dressed as the Power Rangers. They stood and propelled themselves to say hello.
"Where are the birthday boys- Seth and Ryan Cohen?"
"I'm Seth," Seth whispered, staring, awestruck, up at the White Ranger.
"Happy Birthday, Seth. Where's your brother?" Seth shrugged; he didn't want to take his eyes off of his hero. The White Ranger laughed, "Who here is Ryan Cohen?" Ryan raised his hand silently, "Happy Birthday, Ryan." Ryan slowly got up the courage to speak,
"How come you're at our house?"
"We came to celebrate your birthday with you."
"That's so cool!" Seth spoke up,
"It's our friend, Rory's, birthday, too, White Ranger."
"Really? Who's Rory?" Rory stepped forward, "Happy Birthday, Rory."
"It's not my birthday until tomorrow."
"Happy Birthday tomorrow, then." The children began to pull the Rangers in different directions before Kirsten's voice stopped them,
"Kids! Cake time!" The children all sat down, Seth and Ryan at the head of the table, Lane and Rory next to each of them, respectively. They all sang "Happy Birthday" before Kirsten stepped up, a pile of cards in her hands.
"Ok, everybody. We're going to play a game. We have a very large pile of Power Rangers prizes inside. We're going to see who knows Seth and Ryan the best. We're going to have two first prize winners and everyone else is going to get smaller prizes, in addition to the goodybags, so don't worry. Everybody ready?"
"Yeah!" All of the kids screamed excitedly in unison.
"Ok- first question- What is Ryan's middle name?" Rory and Lane's hands shot up, as did Lorelai's before Luke hastily pulled it back down. She giggled and nestled against his shoulder,
"I want to win the toys."
"Let the kids win the toys."
"But I don't have any Power Rangers toys."
"Borrow Rory's."
"You're no fun." He leaned down and kissed her lightly, making sure to keep it PG, "Ok, maybe you're a little bit of fun."
Across the yard, Kirsten called on Rory.
"Nicholas," Rory answered surely, glancing at Ryan.
"That is correct. One point for Rory. Next question. What is Seth's middle name?" Lane's hand shot up before anyone else's and Kirsten called on her,
"Ezekiel!" Kirsten nodded and Seth glanced at his brother and mother,
"How come he gets to be Ryan Nicholas while I have to be Seth Ezekiel?"
"Seth, we've been over this a million times. It's a good name. It was your grandfather's middle name. Ryan's is after my last name before I married daddy."
"I still don't think that's very fair." Kirsten rolled her eyes at her curly-haired son while Ryan laughed.
After ten minutes of asking questions, Kirsten announced that Rory and Lane had tied for first place (Only two other children knew any of the answers), and she brought out two Power Rangers dolls that were the size of the children themselves.
Luke groaned audibly,
"Where is that going to fit in her room?"
"Next to the Harvard shrine?"
"This should be fun."
They spent the remainder of the party opening gifts and playing party games and, before they knew it, it was time for the children to go home. Rory, Lane, Seth, and Ryan sat around for hours afterwards, playing with Seth and Ryan's new toys (including their new individual Game Boys), while the parents discussed and cleaned up.
"So, Sandy- glad you have two kids? Double the presents, double the kids," Luke asked, chuckling at his friend.
"Yeah, well, from what I hear, you're having twice as many kids at your house tomorrow. Not to mention a clown, a bouncing room, and a whole bunch of other attractions not usually seen outside of a circus." Luke's eyes widened,
"Yeah, well, good luck, cuz apparently, my wife has recruited your wife, who will be recruiting you, to help out tomorrow."
"Why do women have that power over men?" At this exact moment, Ryan and Seth came into the kitchen, pulling out two juice boxes and a box of cookies, "Boys, you honestly cannot be hungry right now, are you? You just had two slices of cake each."
"No, daddy. These aren't for us."
"Then who's it for?"
"Rory," Luke answered; his daughter had his wife's appetite.
"And Lane," Seth finished the thought before disappearing into the den, his brother trailing after him.
"Hey, you're laughing now, but your daughter's already got the same power over Ryan that our wives have over us." With a hint of panic evident in his voice, Luke answered,
"No, not my daughter. My daughter is going to be in her room until she's thirty. My daughter will never be interested in boys. My daughter will live at home until she's old and gray, because I could not deal with her kissing boys."
"Yeah, well, if she's eight and she already has that stronghold over my son, then it looks like you and I are going to be in-laws sooner than we thought."
And with that and a chuckle, Sandy stalked away to clean up the picnic table in the backyard, leaving a speechless, slightly nauseous Luke behind him.
Luke and Lorelai were awoken at 7:15 on Sunday morning. Feeling his body bounce up and down on the bed, he sleepily rolled over and glanced at the clock before hearing his daughter's voice,
"Mommy, daddy, wake up! It's time to get set up!"
"Rory, it's too early!"
"No."
"Rory, go back to sleep!"
"Not tired."
"Go watch TV."
"Nothing's on."
"Then come sleep in our bed."
"I don't want to." Lorelai gave up; she was already tired from having gotten up a little after four to go downstairs and tell Rory the story of when she was born- a tradition she had started on Rory's first birthday,
"Luke, your turn."
"Yeah, c'mon, daddy! Let's go set up!"
"Rory, mommy and I got off this weekend. We never get off of work. Let us sleep until eight. Then we'll get up and help you."
"You don't want to spend the whole day with me?" Luke kept his eyes closed tightly, refusing to look Rory in the eye; he knew he wouldn't be able to tell her "No" if she was pouting at him.
"Rory, here are your choices. You lay down with me and mommy and go back to sleep until eight, then mommy and I will get up and do what you want with you. Or you can go downstairs and watch TV and wait until mommy and I get up at eight, and then we'll do whatever you want. Or we can get up now, mommy will be cranky," Lorelai lifted her head to protest, but thought better of it and collapsed onto her pillow. Luke continued, "and then, knowing her, she'll cancel your party, there will be no clown, no balloons, and just a small, quiet party with you, e, mommy, Kirsten, Sandy, the boys, and Lane. You want that? A small party?"
Rory's eyes widened and she shook her head, hastily climbing under the covers between her parents.
At 8:35, Luke was awake and cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Rory emerged from her bedroom clad in a pink-and-black striped sleeveless dress that fell just above her knees and pink-and-black sandals to match. She moved towards the kitchen table as Luke stopped her,
"Woah, there, princess."
"Yes, daddy?" She asked, putting on her most innocent face.
"What do you think you're wearing?"
"A dress..."
"Rory..."
"Yes, father dearest?"
"Rory, don't give me that. You know as well as I do that mommy doesn't want you wearing that dress before the party."
"This is... an old dress," she lied, smiling sweetly at him.
"The tags are still on it."
"I like it. It keeps me awake when it itches my arm."
"Rory, go change."
"But daddy..."
"Rory, now." She stomped off into her bedroom and reemerged two minutes later wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt.
"It's my birthday, you know," Rory told him huffily.
"Really? I had no idea! I guess it's a good thing that I made you a special breakfast today, then." Her eyes lit up,
"What kind of special breakfast?" He placed a plate in front of her piled high with strawberries and chocolate-chip pancakes that read "Happy Birthday Rory" as she beamed at him, "Thank you, daddy."
"You're welcome, princess." She stood on her chair and kissed his cheek before returning to her food.
At one o'clock, Luke watched in awe as all of the guests arrived. His backyard had been turned into a circus and there were children everywhere. A bouncing house had been set up, along with a petting zoo, face painting, and a puppet show. He smiled at his wife's enthusiasm as she addressed Kirk, who was playing the part of the clown for the day. She never does anything halfway.
Almost three hours later, as Lorelai switched the CD, "They Say It's Your Birthday" pumping through the stereo, she felt her husband's strong arms wrap around her waist.
"She's really enjoying this," He whispered into her ear.
"Yeah, well, she only turns eight once."
"This is more like three birthday parties, though."
"Fine, then she only turns eight three times," He smiled at her playfulness while leaning in to kiss her cheek. He pulled back as she began to speak again, her voice suddenly serious, "It's just... when I was a kid, I never had a fun birthday... It was always just people I didn't know who didn't know me shoving envelopes filled with unconcerned birthday wishes addressed to Laura I. Gilmore. It was never any fun. I had a dress I wasn't allowed to move in and people I didn't really like and birthday flan."
"Birthday flan?"
"My mother didn't believe in cake," She looked him in the eye and, upon seeing his concerned gaze, smiled sweetly at him, "But that's all in the past. We're happy now. Rory's happy and you're happy and I'm happy and we have a great life. I just need to know that she's going to have an actual childhood."
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"I love you too." They stole a kiss before a shriek interrupted their moment. They whipped their heads around to find the backyard in a frenzy. The adults were all screaming, running in different directions, attempting to scoop up the children, who were all standing around, confused. Animals ran in every direction; the petting zoo door had been left open and the animals had all escaped. The puppets had been abandoned in the miniature theatre. Kirk was chasing a pig around the backyard, occasionally diving in a vain attempt to catch it. In the middle of all the chaos was Ryan, Seth, Rory, and Lane, doubled over in laughter.
Kirsten and Sandy sauntered over to the couple,
"You guys really know how to throw a party." Lorelai couldn't help but laugh as she contemplated what to do. Her thought train was short-lived, however, as the Stars Hollow Police Department came bursting into the backyard.
The next few moment were a flurry of movement. The police chased down the animals and recaptured most of them, guiding them back into the pen. The parents and children hastily said their goodbyes and happy birthdays, grabbing goodybags on their way out the door. Kirk, still chasing the one elusive pig, accidentally dove into one of the officers (Officer Alexis to be more precise), and was apprehended and taken under arrest. As he was dragged away, screaming,
"I've been framed! FRAMED! THAT STUPID PIG!", Lorelai made her way over to Rory,
"Hey, baby, I'm sorry your party got a little bit cut short." Rory, to Lorelai's surprise, laughed in response,
"That's ok, mommy. Actually, this was a really really funny birthday present. Can we do this every year?"
"We'll see, sweetheart."
The following Sunday night, Luke returned home from work, his arm around Lorelai's waist. She had spent the day at the diner with him while Rory was at Sandy and Kirsten's. As they approached the house, Luke noticed Lorelai becoming increasingly giggly,
"Oh, no. What did you do? Do I have Kirk waiting for me dressed up as a magician at home?"
"What? No!" She paused for a second, "He's dressed up as a hot dog. To remind you of the diner."
"Lorelai!"
"I'm kidding! No, Kirk is not waiting for you at home, I promise."
"Good. Cuz then, I might have to divorce you."
"You couldn't divorce me. It's your birthday."
"Do I get a birthday kiss?" He asked as they made their ascent up the stairs on the front porch. She nodded mischievously and leaned in, kissing him lovingly and passionately. They were interrupted by Sandy's voice,
"Can you two stay off of each other for, like, two seconds? Your kid is inside!" Their eyes shot to the front door, where Kirsten, Sandy, Seth, Ryan, and Rory all stood, cone-shaped birthday hats atop their heads.
"What in the world?" Luke asked, breathless. To his surprise, they all shouted,
"Happy birthday!" Lorelai began to giggle,
"It's a surprise party. We set it up. I know you said you wanted just me and Rory, but I figured you wouldn't mind Sandy, Kirsten, and the boys. There's dinner waiting inside." He smiled at her and leaned in for a quick kiss,
"You're the best."
"You're the birthday boy."
"Happy birthday to me... You promise no cops this week?" Lorelai stared seriously at him,
"Scout's honor."