"How?" Rory asked dumfounded. "We just meet him the other day."
Lorelai's eyes wondered back and forth furiously as she searched for an answer. "Well, many years ago... we ah, we knew each other, and loved each other very, very much." Lorelai replied.
Rory wasn't fully buying this story. "How does that make him my daddy?"
"Well..." Lorelai sputtered. "See, we shared something very special... and when we shared that something special, you were born. Trust me you'll understand much more when you're a little older."
"So, why didn't he live with us?" Rory asked.
Lorelai's face became flushed. "He didn't know." She replied honestly. "We just found out today."
Rory's mind was very cluttered at the moment. She had never really wondered much about having a father, Lorelai had always been more than enough and kept her very satisfied. "Are you going to marry him?" Rory finally asked.
Lorelai's heart sank to her knees. "Oh, Rory, sweetie, no." she stammered. "He has his life, and we have ours, only now he's going to become a part of ours. It'll be great. We can get free food at the diner." Lorelai smiled.
"Free food?" Rory raised an eyebrow.
"All the famous cheeseburgers you can eat." Lorelai teased.
Rory smiled. "Do I call him daddy, or do I call him Luke?" she asked seriously.
Lorelai thought for a moment. "Well, I'd say that's for him to decide. You can ask him when he comes over later this evening."
"He's coming here?" Rory questioned with a spark in her eye.
"Yeah, he wants to spend some time with you. Us." Lorelai corrected.
Rory's face brightened. "Oh, boy! I can show him my coin collection! And my short stories! And my books!" Rory quickly turned and ran off towards her bedroom.
Lorelai smiled as she watched the excitement overflow throughout her daughter's tiny body. The relief she had been given that day could never be beaten. Gazing around the living room she noticed their apartment was in need of a little cleaning, especially if company would be coming over. Lorelai straightened up the apartment and was in her room changing clothes when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Rory screamed as she went running through the apartment. Her excitement quickly halted when she opened the door to reveal the strange man from the park.
"Hello, sweetheart." Carven smiled. "Your mom around?"
Lorelai, not recognizing the strange voice, poked her head out of her room. Immediately she called for Rory to step away from the door. "What are you doing here?" She asked approaching him.
"Just stopping by to make sure everything is going okay with your new place." Carven smiled.
"Everything is fine." Lorelai replied dryly. "We'll call if we ever need you."
"Well, I was just nearby and decided I'd stop in." He continued.
"We're actually expecting a guest, so..."
Carven stepped through the door way of the apartment, cutting Lorelai's sentence off. "Seems like you've got a leak over there in the corner of your ceiling." He pointed upwards.
"Yeah, you know, it's not a big deal, we'll stick a pan under it and the subtle dripping will put us to sleep everynight." Lorelai replied.
Carven laughed. "I'm sure it would, but seriously, I can't expect you to live in an apartment that has a leak in the ceiling. I can come by tomorrow and fix it for you."
"It's alright, honest." Lorelai insisted. "We're fine." she smiled.
"Well, maybe I'll stop by tomorrow anyway just to be sure." Carven glanced down at Rory. "See you around beautiful." he winked.
Lorelai shut the door behind him and locked it. "Okay, from now on let me answer the door." Lorelai replied.
"I thought it was Da- .. Lu -... him." Rory confirmed.
Lorelai giggled. "I know. So did I. I'm sure he'll be here soon. Do you have everything ready that you want to show him?"
"Yes." Rory replied proudly. "I even got out the picture albums so I can show him all the things he's missed."
"I'm sure he'll love that."
Rory bit her bottom lip for a moment and then let her eyes shift slowly to the empty space beside Lorelai. "Do you think he'll like me?"
"Oh, sweetie, I think he already likes you." Lorelai grinned. "Next step is love my dear and believe me it's down right impossible to not love you." Rory's heartwarming smile responded to Lorelai's comment.
Time quickly passed and Lorelai glanced down at her watch. "Luke, where are you?" She whispered to herself.
"What time is it now?" Rory asked.
"8:30." Lorelai answered.
"My bed time is in an hour!" Rory sobbed. "Where is he?"
"I don't know, sweetie." Lorelai sympathized. "I'm sure he'll be here soon and if he isn't then I'm sure he has a good reason."
"How can you be sure of both?" Rory wittily asked.
Lorelai thought about the question, what a good point she had. She sighed heavily. "I'll try calling him again."
Rory stood up from her chair. "No, it's okay, I'm tired anyway."
"Rory if he comes by you can stay up longer than 9:30." Lorelai offered.
"Nah." Rory replied solemnly. "I don't want to."
Lorelai's heart went flying out to her daughter. Anger towards Luke began to overpower her. This was one of the reasons she never wanted to deal with finding out Rory's father, only she expected it from Chris, never Luke. Lorelai picked up the phone once more and dialed Luke's number when a woman answered the phone, Lorelai's heart shattered into a thousand pieces.