I'm so so grateful for all your reviews! I love how you guys are all theorizing about Lorelai and Luke's missing 15 years. It's great to read all your different ideas.
Chapter 9: Just Shouldn't Be Thrown Away
A few weeks later, Lorelai walks with Lucy and Nicolas over to Sookie's for the first of their three Thanksgiving dinners. "You guys ready? Because we're about to become eating champions," Lorelai tells her kids as they walk up to Sookie's house. Lucy looks a little nervous about it but Nicolas is looking for Martha. Sookie walks out on to the porch of her house. Lorelai waves.
"Hey guys, Happy Thanksgiving!" Sookie calls.
"Thanks Sookie!" Lucy calls back. They walk up to the porch.
"I need to warn you, things have gone incredibly wrong here," Sookie tells them.
"Aw, did you let Jackson deep fry the turkey again?" Lorelai asks. Lucy's eyebrows go up at that suggestion as she tries to keep from laughing.
"No, I was making the turkey. But then I put it in the oven and convinced Jackson to go for a walk."
"And who did you leave in charge of the turkey?" Lorelai asks. Sookie looks down.
"Davey," she mumbles. Lorelai snickers.
"Oh Sook, that boy is all brawn and no brains, at least when it comes to a talent for cooking," Lorelai says, laughter in her voice. Sookie shrugs sadly. "But, he can throw a football like no other," Lorelai adds, trying to cheer Sookie up. Martha walks out onto the porch.
"He can?" Sookie asks. Lorelai shrugs.
"That's what I hear. That's what he does, right? Throw a football? Or is it toss?" Lorelai glances at Lucy who shrugs. Martha giggles.
"If he was a quarterback, he'd throw the football. But he's a wide receiver so he just catches it," Martha tells them.
"Oh, well then, ya learn something everyday," Lorelai figures shrugging. She looks over at Nicolas and follows his gaze over to Martha. "Go on," she teases, nudging Nicolas.
"Oh yeah, I heard that the new hot couple at school is Martha and the new kid," Sookie kids.
"Aw, Martha got the new kid. Rory had the new kid once too," Lorelai recalls.
"Oh right, she and Dean were so cute together," Sookie says. Lorelai nods.
"He was a great first boyfriend to her," Lorelai agrees. She looks over at Nicolas who is red with embarrassment. "Well, go talk to your girlfriend."
"Kisses!" Sookie teases. Martha just rolls her eyes, not really embarrassed by the whole thing. Nicolas shakes his head at his mother.
"You know what I've learned about small towns like this?" he asks. Lorelai crosses her arms over her chest leaning back. "Everyone knows everything about everyone."
"Oh you love it," Lucy insists.
"That's not true!" Lorelai exclaims. Sookie raises an eyebrow at Lorelai.
"Uh, yeah Lorelai, where have you been living?" Sookie responds. Lorelai smiles, letting the fact that she just moved back to Stars Hollow roll off her back.
"Now I'm sure there are things that not everyone knows," Lorelai claims.
"Like what?" Sookie asks. Lorelai purses her lips thinking for a moment.
"Oh! Michel wears pink and shiny underwear," Lorelai recalls. No one says a word as they glance at each other. Lorelai huffs. "Why does that revelation always get this response?" she mutters.
"You've told other people?" Sookie asks.
"Well, Rory, Christopher, Luke, I mean, when it happened," Lorelai responds. She shrugs. "I guess all of their minds were elsewhere."
This is a very bad story.
It wasn't that bad.
This is the second time I've told it. Both times, crickets. I mean, Rory and Christopher looked at me like I was Pauly Shore.
Christopher?
Rory's dad. He came in for lunch today. I had lunch with him today. And Rory. Had lunch with Rory and Christopher. And Gigi, his daughter with Sherry, he brought her cuz Sherry moved to France and he's a full time Dad now and we all had lunch. All of us, together, today. And when I told the Bathroom Bandit story, they all acted like that, except Gigi, who spit up, cuz she's a baby. That's what they do.
Okay.
Okay.
"Well it was just a surprising revelation," Lucy says, trying to comfort Lorelai, as she pats her mother's arm.
"And yet, not so surprising," Sookie realizes. She and Lorelai share a smile.
"Mom, we're going to…" Nicolas trails off, motioning to Martha.
"Go, go, leave, Mommy's not cool enough to hang around, I understand," Lorelai says, feigning hurt.
"You better work on your act before you call Broadway," Nicolas deadpans and then walks up the porch, takes Martha's hand and they walk inside the house. Lucy giggles.
"Just remember, when you get your first crush, that you laughed at him," Lorelai warns Lucy, who quickly sobers. Lorelai smiles at Sookie. "It's okay about the turkey, we don't need a lot."
"Oh right, how many dinners are you planning this time?" Sookie asks.
"Three," Lorelai responds, raising three fingers. "Yours. Luke's. Mom's."
"She's still doing that?" Sookie asks, a little surprised. Lorelai nods, eyebrow wiggling.
"Oh yeah, Emily Gilmore will be the hostess with the mostest until she's six feet under," Lorelai confirms. "So that means that Nicolas will probably eat a lot but Lucy and I will just share a slice of pie so we can have enough room for everything."
"Sounds good," Sookie says, giggling. "You and Rory always worked that out well."
"Oh, Rory and I were gold medalists," Lorelai answers.
"Hey I heard she's coming in town soon," Sookie says. Lorelai nods.
"Yup next month, she's bringing Lily with her. I can't wait," Lorelai responds.
"It'll be good to have all the Gilmore Girls back in Stars Hollow again." Lorelai nods, a fond smile on her face. She wraps an arm around Lucy and winks at her daughter.
"Hello Danes's!" Lorelai calls opening the door to the diner, allowing Lucy and Nicolas to walk in ahead of her. Luke walks out of the kitchen and waves to them. Lorelai smiles and walks up to Luke, holding up flowers between the two of them, but standing close to him. Luke looks down at the flowers.
"This again?" Luke asks, faking disappointment as usual. Lorelai rolls her eyes.
"Beware of Greek gods bearing gifts," Lorelai says in a low, almost seductive voice. Luke's eyebrow shoots up as Lorelai grins at her little joke. "Get around to buying a vase yet?"
"Oh, I have one!" Loren exclaims, running up to the room above. Lorelai glances up, confused.
"If you live in the townhouse, what's upstairs?" Lorelai asks.
"What do you care?" Luke answers. They stare at each other a moment, Lorelai's smile fading. Luke sighs. "I'm just saying..."
"Message sent," Lorelai replies angrily. She hands Luke the flowers and walks over to talk to Babette. Luke looks down at the flowers, as if surprised to find them suddenly in his hands. He looks up at Nicolas, as if mystified.
"I – I didn't mean…" Luke attempts. Nicolas nods.
"I know," Nicolas says. They share a look, as if sharing an understanding about Lorelai. She has now stopped talking to Babette and looks over at them, arms crossed, foot tapping.
"Where's our table?" she asks, annoyance in her voice. Luke sighs. Loren runs down the stairs with a vase. Luke grimaces.
"Actually, we usually put the flowers on the counter," Luke tells Loren, who looks a little confused. Luke glances at Lorelai, whose expression slowly melts.
"He's right, Loren. It's our secret agreement," Lorelai says. Luke nods. He lays the flowers on the counter and motions to their table. Then he goes in the back with Loren following him and they bring out the food. Lorelai sits down at the table, Lucy across from her and Nicolas to her right. She smiles glancing at her children and then looking around the place, that seems almost festive even with its lack of decorations.
Full day.
Yeah. Well, you can skip eating this one if you want. Just have Cokes or something, it's no big deal.
No way, you're the main event today, my friend.
Oh, good.
Luke and Loren walk out of the back with the plates setting one in front of each of them. Luke puts his hands on his hips after he sets the last one down and glances at each of the leftover seats, as if wondering which seat is his. Lorelai pats the seat next to her. "Take a load off, Luke. Even lumberjacks need a day of rest," she teases. Luke nods, clearing his throat, and pulls out the chair to sit down. Loren sits in the other extra chair between Luke and Lucy.
Luke pulls up his sleeves as he watches them all start to eat. "Shouldn't we give thanks?" he asks. Lorelai rolls her eyes, setting her fork down.
"You tried this once before," she reminds him. Lucy and Loren share a look.
"Well, yeah, but I thought these kids would be more receptive," Luke figures.
"Give it a go," Lorelai says, motioning for him to continue.
"Well I guess I should just give thanks that we're here together, and for this food, and that we're not, you know, ending up like this turkey we're about to consume," Luke says in his own way. He glances over at Lorelai as if wondering if he did a good job. She nods, smiling. Lucy looks down at her plate, suddenly wrinkling her nose. Nicolas shrugs and starts eating.
"That was well thought out," Lorelai says, winking at Loren. She picks up her fork and starts eating.
"So you guys already went to Sookie's?" Luke asks.
"Yup, and all we've got left is Grandma's," Lucy responds.
"You going to make it?" Luke asks, looking at Lorelai. She raises an eyebrow.
"You talking to me?" Lorelai wonders in surprised. Luke shrugs.
"No, I guess not," he mutters and starts eating. Lorelai shakes her head at him and starts taking some marshmallows off his plate. "Did you guys have a good time at Sookie's?" Luke asks Lucy and Nicolas, ignoring what Lorelai's doing.
"Seriously, does everyone have to bug me about this?" Nicolas grumbles. Luke pauses his eating and stares at Nicolas, not sure what he's talking about.
"Oh, um, Mom and Sookie harassed him about dating Martha," Lucy informs Luke, who glances over at Lorelai.
"Those kind of things are in the Mom handbook," Lorelai claims. Luke shakes his head.
"Just do what I do, Nick. Ignore your mother when she's being impossible," Luke advises. Nicolas nods, still eating.
"That's some good advice," Nicolas agrees. Lorelai's mouth gapes as she pretends to be upset at this. Luke just smiles at her and winks.
"You know, there are some things I don't want you teaching my son, Luke. Like not listening to his mother," Lorelai says.
"Oh I wasn't saying that, Lorelai," Luke says. "I didn't tell him not to mind you. I merely suggested that he take your teasing like a man." Lorelai smirks.
"Because you always did," Lorelai responds.
"Exactly."
"I remember someone getting upset when I made fun of his small apartment and single bed!"
"I did not!" Luke insists. They both pause eating, trying to remember.
And make matters worse, she spots it: the single bed.
What's wrong with a single bed?
You know what they say.
No, what do they say?
Never, ever date a guy with a single bed, it means he's not open for commitment.
What?
It says there's no room in this life for anybody but me.
No, it says there's no room in this bed for anyone but me.
Okay, see, that's not a whole lot better.
This discussion is over.
Luke glances over at Lorelai. "I think I did get a little defensive," Luke realizes. Lorelai nods, smirking.
"Yeah, just a little," she agrees, knowing it was more than a little. Luke sighs, taking another bite of food.
"So, Nick, just don't use me as a role model is what your mom is saying," Luke tells him. Nicolas looks up from his food at Lorelai, who is chewing and smiling at the same time. He's unsure about how he's supposed to respond to this, but Lorelai just chews and waits. Nicolas shrugs.
"You're a pretty all right role model," Nicolas finally decides. "You seem to do a pretty good job handling Mom." Lorelai nods, impressed with Nicolas's choice of words. She takes another bite of food as she glances over at Luke, who cocks his head, looking over at her.
"I try my hardest," Luke finally says. Lorelai grins.
Lorelai grips a hand of each of her children as she stands in front of the door to the Gilmore mansion. "Okay, now we all know the plan, right?" Lorelai asks tensely. Lucy and Nicolas share a look.
"You sure you don't want to just turn around and go back home?" Nicolas asks. Lorelai shakes her head.
"No, I can't. Guilt will get the best of me and it will eat me up inside until I'm nothing but a shell of decomposing Lorelai," she responds. Lucy wrinkles her nose, disgusted at the picture Lorelai's laid out for her. Lorelai groans. "Just ring the bell!" Lucy raises an eyebrow but does as told.
Within seconds, Emily has opened the door. "Hi Mom," Lorelai says, smiling broadly. Emily reaches out and grabs Lorelai's arm.
"Get in here," Emily demands, yanking her daughter into the house. Lorelai pulls her arm back, almost wincing in pain, sharing a confused look with Nicolas.
"Ow, Mom! You want me to have two arms or one by the end of the night?" Lorelai whines as she rubs her arm. "What crawled up and bit you tonight?"
"I don't want any of that nonsense from you Lorelai, you promised you would be here an hour ago and here I am trying to entertain the most boring people since William Henry Harrison finished his inaugural address," Emily says.
"I never said what time we would be here. You said 6:30 and I said we probably wouldn't make it by then. But then again, I should know by now that every word that comes out of my mouth just gets lost inside your head," Lorelai responds. Emily gives her a sour look.
"It's Thanksgiving Lorelai. Thanksgiving dinner always begins at 6:30, you would think after all these years you could remember that fact," Emily snaps. Lorelai's eyes fly open.
"Yeah, after all these years, when's the last time I came here for Thanksgiving?" Lorelai retorts.
"Well you should have been here the past 16 years, that's the least that any daughter could do. But no, you had to get on your high horse when your daughter needed a few months to figure out her life and not spend time with her at Thanksgiving and then you had to destroy the only other relationship that you said meant anything to you and run away all the way across the country," Emily sneers. Nicolas and Lucy share a look, never having really understood why Lorelai left Connecticut or why she would never go back. Lorelai simmers, feeling her children's eyes boring into her back. She looks down at the ground shaking her head and then rubbing her forehead, still trying to regain her composure. Finally Lorelai looks back up at her mother, plastering a smile over her face.
"Well, we're here now. So if you want us to stay, I'll play nice and go have some mind-numbing conversation with your guests and in exchange you have to agree to take back everything you just said and pretend it never left your lips and promise never to return to that subject again," Lorelai says evenly. Emily stares at her, as if deciding whether to weaken in front of her daughter. She glances at Lucy, who seems uncertain about whether she really wants to be there anymore, and realizes that for the moment, there are more important things to do than fight with her 53 year-old daughter.
"Follow me," Emily says stiffly. She walks them towards the living room. Nicolas reaches out to touch Lorelai's arm, offer some small bit of comfort, but she shrugs him off. Pausing in the doorway to the living room, Lorelai stares at the scene she's about to enter. Emily gives her a hard look so Lorelai motions for Lucy and Nicolas to walk in first and they sit on the couch. Lorelai follows and sits on Nicolas's other side. "Gloria, James and Marina, let me introduce you to my daughter, Lorelai and her children, Lucy and Nicolas."
"Oh, I believe we've met you before, haven't we James?" Gloria asks James, who shrugs as if he couldn't really care. "Yes, it was years ago at one of your mother's Christmas parties." Lorelai smiles.
"Ah, yes, one of her two week early Christmas parties," Lorelai says. Emily gives Lorelai a warning look. "That was probably years ago."
"Yes, in fact, it was. Almost twenty years I believe, my your daughter has grown," Gloria says. Lorelai glances at Lucy confused.
"Gloria, I believe you're talking about Lorelai's older daughter, Rory," Emily interjects. A realization comes over Lorelai's face and she nods.
"Oh yeah, probably," Lorelai concurs.
"Rory, yes, that sounds more familiar," Gloria says, a plastic smile on her face. Lorelai gives Emily an annoyed look. "How is Rory?"
"Rory lives in DC now with her husband and three children. She works for the Washington Post," Emily informs them, always pleased to talk about Rory.
"My, three children, such an age difference between her and your younger ones," Marina notes as if Nicolas and Lucy aren't even in the room. Lorelai sighs, frustrated with always having to explain her situation.
"Lorelai didn't marry Rory's father. She had Rory at a young age and moved out San Francisco where she met Nicolas and Lucy's father," Emily says. Lorelai clenches her fists, trying to control her anger.
"Well that's lovely, and where is your husband today?" Marina asks. Lorelai huffs, closing her eyes and shaking her head. Lucy puts an arm around Lorelai's shoulders, patting her hand. Nicolas leans in closer to his mother as well.
"Dad died almost a year ago," Lucy explains softly, believing that this is the true reason for her mother's frustration. Marina's hand flies to her mouth, suddenly realizing that she's intruded to far. Lorelai opens her eyes and smiles weakly.
"I apologize, Lorelai dear. I didn't realize. You poor dear, and after all of that having to leave your home and move across the country," Marina says sympathetically.
"I, uh, I wanted to move back. I raised Rory in Stars Hollow and that's where I moved us to. It just felt like we needed to go back home," Lorelai responds, not really knowing why she's suddenly opening up to this woman.
"May I ask you something, Lorelai?" Gloria asks. Lorelai nods, motioning for her to continue. "My younger daughter is going through a terrible divorce. After they got married, she moved with her husband to New York City, you see he's in business, and now she just told me she's thinking about coming back. Is that what you would suggest?" Lorelai shrugs.
"I suppose I would tell her to go to whatever place feels like home," Lorelai replies softly.
Oh hey turn out the lights.
For what? It's not the real procession, it's just the rehearsal.
So? It's pretty.
And why do they need to rehearse it? It's the same thing every year.
Come on Luke, please? It's hard to imagine living somewhere else isn't it?
Thanks for the hat.
You're welcome. Looks good on you.
Good how?
Just watch the procession.
"Tell her to go where she can be with the people who will be a comfort to her and to a place that seems familiar," Lorelai whispers, staring down at her hands. Emily watches her daughter from a distance, knowing that Lorelai's mind has drifted elsewhere.
"I think you should tell her to come home to you, Gloria. I'm sure you want to spend time with your grandson," Emily adds. Lorelai glances up at Emily, as if wondering what Emily's insinuating.
"I just wonder if my grandson will be okay with the move," Gloria says.
"If it's somewhere that your daughter feels at home, then her son will feel at home too," Nicolas responds. Emily raises an eyebrow. Lorelai gives him an appreciative smile. "Stars Hollow already feels like home to me. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else." Lorelai puts an arm around Nicolas, kissing the top of his head. She glances over at Lucy and winks.
"Well, I suppose dinner is ready," Emily says stiffly, wishing one more time that Lorelai felt at home in Hartford. Gloria, Marina and James stand and walk into the dining room. Lorelai, Lucy and Nicolas stand. Emily watches them for a moment. "Lorelai, if Stars Hollow is so much a home to you, then why did you leave?" Lorelai glances back at Emily as she pushes Lucy and Nicolas ahead of her into the dining room.
"Because I wasn't sure anymore," Lorelai replies simply.