Chpt 4

The Gilmore girls arrived at the square just before six. They walked over so that they could better appreciate the decorations that the town had put up. Every storefront had Christmas lights, every lamppost had a star or snowflake and every tree was covered with lights. It was beautiful. Rory pointed at Luke's Diner, "Luke has Christmas lights on his restaurant!"

Lorelai smiled, "I had to promise to eat all my vegetables for two whole days," she said to Rory, "but it was worth it. He even decorated a little Christmas tree in his apartment for me."

Emily looked concerned, "Does Luke not like the holiday season?"

Lorelai looked at her mother, "His father died a few years ago, less than a month before Christmas, and they were really close." Lorelai gave her mom a sad smile and added, "But he's coming around."

Rory added, "And it's also because Luke and Taylor are like oil and water, and Taylor likes decorations. So therefore Luke doesn't." Rory looked excitedly at her mother, "Ooh, I hope they get in another fight again this year. They're fun!"

Lorelai pointed over towards the gazebo where Luke was standing, "It looks like we're missing it, come on!" Lorelai said pulling Rory along with her. Emily called out to Lorelai, "I'm not running anywhere!"

Lorelai looked back over her shoulder, "Just meet us there then."

As Rory and Lorelai approached they could see Luke making wild arm gestures and leaning closer and closer to Taylor's face. All Lorelai could hear was Luke mumble something about 'pushing your luck' before Luke saw them approach. He turned his back on Taylor in an effort to compose himself. He didn't know what it was about Taylor, but he just knew how to push Luke's buttons. Luke turned around with a forced smile and greeted the girls. Lorelai looked amused, "Hey, Hon. Are you boys behaving?"

Taylor spoke up, "I can't get Luke to help put the lights up on the gazebo, and the show is going to start in less that an hour. And this is the stage!"

Luke started to get worked up again, "That wasn't part of the deal Taylor. I was asked to fix it, and I fixed it. End of story."

Taylor looked at Lorelai, "I just assumed that when I was told that Luke was taking care of the gazebo, that it meant he was taking care of the gazebo."

Luke stepped closer to Taylor, "You assumed wrong!"

Emily had finally caught up to the crowd and stood beside Rory and whispered, "What's going on?"

Rory smiled at her grandmother, "Taylor wants Luke to hang lights on the gazebo, and Luke naturally doesn't want to."

"Why don't they get someone else to do it then?" Emily then recalled the conversation Sookie had with her at the inn, "Or is this one of those times when Luke says no just so that your mother can convince him otherwise?"

Rory looked at her grandmother and laughed, "I never thought about it like that before, but I think you might be on to something." They both turned back to watch.

Lorelai put her hand on Luke's arm to calm him down, then turned towards Taylor, "How many lights are we talking here, Taylor?" Everyone watched as Taylor explained in detail how he wanted the lights put up. Lorelai turned around to face Luke, who was already shaking his head at her, "No Lorelai!"

"Come on Luke, this would be easy for you. What if they end up having to call Kirk over because you refused? You know he'll just end up hurting himself. Do you really want that on your conscience over the holidays?"

Luke crossed his arms and planted his feet. He was not going to let her make him change his mind. "I said no Lorelai, and I meant it."

Over on the sidelines Emily whispered to Rory, "I guess Lorelai can't win them all." Rory smiled and whispered back, "It's not over yet, just watch."

Lorelai turned back to Taylor, "I'm sorry Taylor, I tried. Just please don't tell me it was going to be the dancing angels."

Luke looked confused and hesitantly asked, "What dancing angels?"

Lorelai turned back to Luke with an extremely sad face and said, "The pre-school class' dancing angels ballet routine. They were scheduled to go first. They've been working on it for weeks. I know because I made all the costumes, remember? I stayed up for almost two weeks making those costumes."

Rory smiled, "He's a goner." Emily gave her a funny look then turned back again.

Lorelai knew she had him, but she decided to carry on anyway, "You know Rory used to be a dancing angel. It was so important to her that she wore her costume every day for two whole weeks. A childs' first public performance should be perfect and special, so if you're heart is not in it Luke then I agree that you should let someone else do it. Like Kirk."

Luke didn't say anything for a second, then he let out a sigh, "I'll do it." He was always amazed when those words came out of his mouth. He was starting to wonder if Lorelai was part witch. Taylor handed Luke the box of lights and went to find Jackson. Luke intended to glare at Lorelai when he turned to face her, but she was wearing the most beautiful smile. He couldn't help but smile back. "Oh yeah. Keep smiling," he said coming over and tugging on her jacket until she leaned in to the kiss, "You and little angel dancer here," he said motioning Rory, "are my new helpers."

Lorelai smiled and turned in his arms so that her back was against his chest and said to Rory, "You don't have to help sweetie. Why don't you take your grandmother and go find out where they're setting up the food."

Rory agreed and they headed off to find the food. Once out of earshot Emily said to Rory, "That poor guy, he never stood a chance." Rory laughed. "Only mom can talk to Luke like that." Emily noticed Rory's face turn a little serious for a minute.

"What is it Rory?"

Rory hesitated not knowing how to say what she wanted to say, "Grandma…. I know you want what's best for mom and me…."

"Of course I do." Said Emily wondering where this was going.

"Well, I know it might not seem like it to you, but that's Luke." Rory always hated confronting her grandmother about anything, but this was something really important. "He will probably never be rich, or spend his free time at the club, or drink fancy drinks. But he fits with us, and he's always been there. In some ways Luke has been more of a father to me than my real dad…"

"Rory!" Emily exclaimed.

"It's true grandma. And he loves mom so much. I've never seen her this happy. I just…" Rory looked down at her feet, "…I just want this to work for them. Whether you know it or not, having you like Luke is very important to mom. And to me. I think he may be 'the one' for mom, and I think if you watched them you'd see that too."

Emily didn't know what to say. She knew that her daughter liked the diner man. But was she in love with him? And if she was, Emily knew that she would have to be the one to change, or she would risk losing her girls again. She never really had anything against Luke, she had just always had this picture in her head of Lorelai living in a giant house, married to a successful businessman, and attending DAR meeting with her.

Emily looked back over her shoulder and watched as Luke threw snowballs at Lorelai from the roof of the gazebo, and smiled as Lorelai bested him by removing the ladder. Emily realized that she had to give up her fantasy of Lorelai, because this is where she belonged. The realization made Emily sad and happy at the same time. Emily turned back to Rory, "I do see it Rory." She said. Snapping out of her reverie she linked her arm in Rory's, "Let's go find some coffee, shall we." She smiled. Rory agreed and they headed off towards Miss Patty's.