A/N- Due to positive response to this (former) one-shot, I've decided to make this a series of one-shots, updated as inspiration strikes. Thanks for all of your reviews!
A/N 2- I apologize for the Willy Wonka mixup. What's sad is that I've seen the movie literally 50 times. Must've been mixed up because I wrote it at 12:30 at night...
Dedicated: To papa who I miss like crazy.
Disclaimer: Own my new OC mix 5, but not Gilmore Girls.
Baseball
"Star hitter Lorelai Hannah Mariano steps up to the plate and outfielder Ava Hayleigh Danes moves out; this kid can hit!"
"Get'm, Ella!" nine-year-old Jack screamed from the sidelines over his father's commentary.
"Don't worry, Jack! I got it covered!" Luke wound up the pitch and stopped before he tossed the ball underhand to his granddaughter. She swung and missed and kicked at the dirt,
"Bad wind! I got a bad wind! Throw another one, papa."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure!"
"You don't wanna try basketball?" Ella shifted her weight onto her left leg and narrowed her eyes at Luke,
"Lucas Danes, I said I wanna be a baseball star, and I'm gonna be a baseball star!" Luke threw his hands up in defeat,
"Ok, ok. Here goes the curveball." Once more, Ella swung the bat, this time spinning her entire body around. Unfortunately, she did not make any contact with the ball, and she tripped over her own feet, landing tush-first in the dirt. While Ava and Jack started to laugh, Luke ran over to his granddaughter,
"You ok, bella?" Ella, tears in her eyes, looked up at Luke.
He expected her to cry.
He expected her to scream.
He expected her to act like the fallen child that she was.
Instead, she surprised him.
She threw her head back and laughed uncontrollably.
"Pa... Papa..."
"Yeah, Ella?"
"My tush... I fell... on my butt..."
"What?"
"I fell, Papa! I fell on my butt!" She coughed out, laughing. Upon hearing Ella's confession, Jack and Ava burst into heavier laughter. As he watched his two children and granddaughter laughing hysterically, Luke burst out laughing. He pulled the now six-year-old Ella into his arms and began to tickle her.
They ignored the sound of the backdoor opening and Lorelai and Rory's footsteps coming towards them as they continued to laugh.
"What's going on out here?" Lorelai asked, scooping up seven-year-old Ava.
"Mommy... mommy, Ella fell..."
"Ella fell?" Rory shrieked, looking to Luke, "Ella fell and you're all laughing!"
"She's fine, Rory," Luke said between breaths.
"She's fine? She's got tears in her eyes!"
"From laughing so hard!" Rory sighed,
"You make me so nervous sometimes, Ella."
"Oh, I helped raise you and you turned out fine. Sure, you ate a couple of dirt clods along the way, but that was your mother's fault. I wasn't even around when you ate them. I was just there to give you something to ease the pain afterwards."
"Dad!" Rory shrieked, which made Luke laugh harder.
Luke still vividly remembered the day Rory had first started calling him 'dad'. It had been as amazing as when his other two children had first said 'daddy' or when Ella's first word was 'papa' (shortly thereafter followed by 'Ja-deward', which was translated to 'Jon Stewart'). Even more of a fond memory was Lorelai's reaction upon first hearing the words come out of Rory's mouth.
They had been eating dinner the night after Luke and Ella's talk at the diner. Ava, then five, Jack, then seven, and Ella, then four were playing in the den as Luke cooked, and Lorelai and Rory talked.
"So then Kirk accused Ella and Ava of taking Kirkette's mailman costume."
"What? Why?"
"I don't know! He just walked up to Luke and me while we were walking through town with the kids."
"Was Ava ok?" Lorelai laughed,
"Are you kidding? Ava's a Danes. She rolled her eyes and told Kirk that 'he was ridiculous and he could shove his mailbox where the sun don't shine'"
"Very ladylike."
"Luke was not happy with her."
"Oh, please." Lorelai laughed,
"Well, he pretended like he wasn't happy with her. Jack gave her a high-five when he thought we weren't looking." Both girls giggled and they heard Luke call from the kitchen,
"Lorelai! Rory! Will one of you set the table?" Both girls instinctively looked at each other. Lorelai raised a finger to the side of her nose,
"Shot not."
"What?"
"I don't know. Jack does it all the time." Rory groaned,
"Uggh, fine, I'll do it." She got up and scurried to the kitchen. As Rory set the dishes out, she went over her and Luke's plan for telling the family of Rory's calling Luke "Dad". They were going to announce it during dinner.
"Is Jess coming to dinner tonight, Rory?" Neither noticed Lorelai standing quietly in the doorway.
"Yeah. He's coming after work. He said he'll be here by six thirty."
"Ok. Don't forget to set a plate for him. I've got another steak going for him."
"Ok, dad."
Neither would later be able remember who noticed Lorelai's shriek of surprise first or who was the one who'd uttered 'Crap. There goes the plan.' All they could remember was Lorelai crying tears of happiness and making Rory call Luke 'dad' repeatedly for the rest of the evening.
Two years later, it had become second nature to Rory, who grabbed her little brother, still writhing with laughter over Ella's tripping.
"Are you guys still playing baseball? It's been an hour!"
"It has not!" Luke scoffed, "It's been twenty-five minutes."
"Same boring difference for the same boring game," Lorelai commented. Ava looked up into her mother's eyes,
"It's not boring, mommy!"
"I beg to differ."
"No, really, grandma," Ella stated, climbing out of Luke's arms, "It's a lot of fun. I'm gonna be a big baseball star for the Yankees when I grow up."
"Oh yeah? Has your papa put that thought into your head?" Ella shook her head vehemently, her brown curls bouncing from side to side,
"No. I thought of it all by myself!"
"And her papa just helped it along," Luke winked, "Hey, why don't you girls play with us?" Lorelai's eyes went wide,
"Silly rabbit."
"Lorelai..."
"What?" Lorelai and Rory shared a look,
"Can we be quarterbacks?" Jack started to laugh and Luke shook his head,
"Rory, quarterbacks... You know what? No. No you can't. But you can be catcher." Rory shrugged,
"Ok."
"Yeah! Rory, be on our team!" Jack cheered as Lorelai's mouth dropped open,
"Traitor."
"C'mon, mommy, you can be on our team," said Ava soothingly. Lorelai sighed,
"Fine." Luke handed his wife a glove and sent his eldest daughter to the end of the line. He knelt over and narrowed his eyes,
"You ready, bella?" Ava stamped her foot in indignation, and Lorelai followed,
"Daddy!"
"Luke, you can't ask the other team if they're ready for a kickoff!" Luke looked from his wife to his daughter to his granddaughter, trying to figure out who to answer. Resigned, he shrugged and ignored them, repeating,
"El? You ready?" Ella nodded,
"Throw the heat, Papa man."
"Papa man?"
"Throw it," she repeated. He wound up and pitched to her. This time, she made direct contact with the wiffle ball, sending it above Luke's head, past Ava and Lorelai, and into Babette and Morey's yard.
As Ella ran the bases, an uncontrollable grin overcoming her features, Jack cheered, Ava stared after the ball, Luke clapped and laughed, and Rory and Lorelai both allowed their jaws to drop.
"Ella!" Rory breathed.
"I told you, mommy," Ella said, Jack slapping her hand, "I'm gonna be the next star of the Yankees."