Chapter 16: Is There No Chance To Start Once Again?

A few days later, Emily has gone home from the hospital. Lorelai had offered to adjust things and let Emily recuperate in the Crap Shack but Emily refused and then crabbed when Lorelai said she didn't have time do drive out to Hartford every day and take care of her. So instead Emily had hired a nurse and then another and then another because none of them were good enough. In the end, Lorelai knew that Emily just wanted her to give in and change her mind but she was needed at the Dragonfly and with the kids and she wanted to spend time with Luke so she told her mother to suck it up or move into the Crap Shack for a time. That is how things were left when Lorelai hung up the phone before heading out the door with her kids to meet up with Luke and Loren to go to the movies.

"So you sure you guys are okay with this?" Lorelai asks, for what must be the eighteenth time since Luke told Nicolas and Lucy about them dating, as they head towards the diner. Nicolas rolls his eyes and Lucy just grins.

"I think it's great Mom. I really do. You know Loren and I were already planning on hooking you guys up," Lucy tells her. Lorelai raises an eyebrow.

"You were?"

"Yeah."

"Was I going to be informed of this little plot on my love life?" Lorelai wonders. Lucy grins.

"Depends on if I figured out what your reaction would be. Would you have realized that you've been flirting with Luke for months?" Lucy teases. Lorelai scoffs.

"I have not been flirting!" she exclaims and glances over at Nicolas. "Have I?" Nicolas shrugs in responds.

"You know, this is a very uncomfortable area for me…" Nicolas mutters, a look of distaste on his face. Lorelai rolls her eyes.

"Yes, Nicolas, believe it or not, people my age date. We are not just entities on earth to serve every whim of their children."

"Damn, and I thought I was special," Nicolas jokes. Lorelai smacks his arm.

"Hey, don't let Luke hear you say that," Lorelai tells him.

"What? Damn?" Lorelai nods.

"He thinks all children are sweet and innocent and have never heard those words much less uttered them to their parents," Lorelai explains.

Rory called.

I know! She called and yelled at me.

No, she called and yelled at me!

Yeah, but I'm the one who had to hear it, and she was loud! And she said 'hell'. I never heard her say 'hell'. I didn't even know she knew how to say 'hell'. She was mad and she yelled and she said 'hell'.

Yeah, but she called.

"Well then he's clearly never raised a son," Nicolas mutters. Lorelai puts her arm around Nicolas's shoulders, smirking at him.

"You know, daughters can swear too," she reminds him as they walk up to the diner. Lucy opens the door and walks in but Lorelai grabs Nicolas's arm before he can follow his sister. "Really, Nick, I mean it, if you have any qualms at all…" Nicolas raises an eyebrow but doesn't respond. "What? Tell me."

"You called me Nick," he notes. Lorelai frowns, trying to remember.

"I did?"

"Yeah, you did." Lorelai shrugs.

"So?"

"I don't think in my entire fifteen years of life that you have ever called me Nick. Nicolas. Nicky. Devil child. But never Nick."

"Oh well, change is a part of life, Nicky," Lorelai replies lightly.

"Yeah but no one, in my entire life, has ever called me Nick, except Luke," Nicolas confides. Lorelai glances in the diner, watching Luke try to keep up with Loren and Lucy's yammering and then looks back at her son.

"You can just tell him you don't like it, you know."

"That's not what I'm saying. I'm fine with it. It's just…" Nicolas sighs. "Forget it, let's go in." Lorelai folds her arms over her chest, not really ready to let this go.

"Lorelai," Luke says, opening the door of the diner. "Please save me from the teenage dramaqueens." Lorelai laughs at Luke's odd request, but Luke's expression is serious.

"Well come on, the movie starts soon anyways," Lorelai says. Luke nods and looks back inside.

"Loren! Lucy! You can discuss whether Joanie loves Chochie on our way to the theater," Luke shouts. Loren and Lucy both look a little puzzled at Luke's reference. Luke sighs. "And grab the bags of food." He shakes his head at Lorelai and walks outside and over to Lorelai. Touching her elbow, he leans in and kisses her. "Hello there." She grins.

"Hello. Being a parent of a teenage girl is working well for you by the way," she teases him. Luke rolls his eyes as Lucy and Loren finally walk out the door, carrying the bags of food and talking nonstop.

"The way they act, you'd think they were both related to you," Luke grumbles. Lorelai rubs his arm as they all begin to talk towards the bookstore.

"Aw Hun, that's how all teenage girls act. I just act like I'm a teenage girl," Lorelai informs him. Luke raises an eyebrow, amused.

"Oh is that it?" Luke kids, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to him as they walk. "Hey Nick, how's it going?" Luke waves a quick hand. Lorelai and Nicolas share a look, which confuses Luke. "Did I miss something?" Nicolas shakes his head quickly.

"No, nothing, Luke," Nicolas responds quickly, looking down to hide his embarrassment and at the same time hoping his mother doesn't say anything. But Lorelai just smiles at Luke, her eyes glittering, and Luke forgets his questions entirely.

"Here it is, the Black, White and Read movie theater, also known as BWR," Lorelai says brightly, waving a hand in the direction of the bookstore. Sookie, Jackson and Martha are waiting for them outside. Just as Lorelai opens her mouth to say something, Nicolas clamps a hand over her mouth.

"Whatever you're about to say Mom, I'm pretty sure I'd rather not hear it," Nicolas warns her. He gives her a pointed look and then takes his hand off of her mouth. Lorelai pouts as Luke chuckles, rubbing her arm. Nicolas rolls his eyes. "We'd better get inside before E! can follow us." He grabs Martha's hand and pulls her with him into the bookstore. Lorelai and Sookie share a smirk.

"You know, I never realized how much fun I could have when he started dating," Lorelai jokes.

"I'm sure he appreciates the fact that you two want them to date just so you can tease them about it," Luke says. Lorelai shakes her head at him.

"You wait until Loren starts dating and then we'll see how you react. No, scratch that, she'd better never tell you. You'll probably build a dungeon in your basement just to keep her from dating," Lorelai figures.

"Already working on that one," Luke responds, half seriously. Lorelai rolls her eyes. Luke opens the door, letting Jackson, Sookie and Lorelai walk in ahead of them. Lucy and Loren walk inside and clamor for seats on Big Red. Luke and Lorelai share a smile. Jackson and Sookie take seats in the middle, just behind Nicolas and Martha. Lorelai's about to walk up and sit next to them, when Luke grabs her hand and pulls her to the couch in the back.

"Oh hey Luke, I think my days of making out the back of the theater have long since passed," Lorelai remarks. Luke just shakes his head and smiles as they sit down, Luke wrapping an arm around Lorelai's shoulders.

"That doesn't mean I don't get to be alone with my woman during the show," Luke says. Lorelai just grins, laying her head on his shoulder. They watch the others for a moment, taking it all in.

"I missed this," Lorelai says quietly, snuggling into Luke. He just rubs her arm, not knowing what to say, not knowing how to tell her that he missed it from the moment they broke up.

"All right, welcome everyone to tonight's movie," Kirk says walking to the front of the room.

"Kirk still does this? Doesn't he have a wife and child at home to be with?" Lorelai wonders. Luke shrugs.

"Some habits die hard I guess," Luke figures.

"Tonight our feature is Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid starring Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner," Kirk announces. Luke squeezes Lorelai's shoulder.

You can't take it back now. You've exposed yourself, you've been pining for me.

I have not been pining.

I'm your Ava Gardner.

God help me.

"Good choice," Lorelai whispers softly.

Lucy and Loren are sitting on the steps of Lucy's front porch. Lucy has a to-go cup of coffee clutched in her hands. "You sure you want to do this, Luce?" Loren wonders, grimacing at her friend.

"You don't?" Lucy questions. Loren shrugs.

"I dunno. I just… I mean your sister said that if they wanted us to know, they'd tell us. I mean it just makes sense," Loren figures.

"So you're changing your mind," Lucy realizes.

"Yes. No. I…. I don't know."

"Well, do you want to know?" Lucy asks.

"Do I want to know," Loren repeats, concentrating on the words. "Do I want to know what Stars Hollow was like fifteen years ago? Do I want to know the hows and whys of the relationship between my dad and your mom? Do I want to know why they broke up and ended up with my mom and your dad, respectively? Do I want to know why we came to be?" Loren shrugs. "I do and I don't." She frowns. "Is that possible?"

"I guess. I just… I have to know. Come on Loren, I can't do this alone! You and I, that's why we're friends. To find this out. To make things right!" Lucy exclaims, as she jumps up. Loren just raises an eyebrow in response.

"You think that the fates deemed our parents's relationship that important that we were put here just to bring them back together?" Loren wonders. Lucy groans, stomping into the middle of her lawn. She stops, looking back at Loren and drinking some of her coffee.

"No. That's not what I meant, Lorie. I meant that deep down, I wonder if my mom had me and pretended that I was the daughter of your father. I meant that I wonder if your dad raised you imagining that my mom was your mother," Lucy says. Loren looks perplexed.

"So you're saying…"

"I have to know, Lorie. I have to know. I have to know why my name is Lucy and your name is Loren. I have to know," Lucy states with a finality in her voice. Loren stares at her a moment, for the first time realizing the extreme significance and coincidence of their names. She bites her lower lip as she stands.

"You think that our parents don't wish they never had us, they just wish they had had us together," Loren realizes. Lucy folds her arms over her chest, nodding. "And Nicolas?" Lucy shrugs, pursing her lips, glancing over at the chuppah.

"I don't know. I haven't figured this whole thing out yet. But there's something important about him. There's something important about that," Lucy insists, flinging a hand towards the chuppah. "There's something important about our names. There's so many things that we don't even know. It's like we discovered our parents were really Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Lorie." Loren nods. She glances over at the chuppah, her eyes narrowing as if pondering her next move.

"Okay," Loren responds. Lucy nods. Loren walks over to Lucy, threading her arm through Lucy's. They walk together over to Babette's front door and Lucy knocks. As they hear footsteps, Lucy glances over at Loren.

"You ready?" Lucy asks. Loren nods just as Babette opens the door.

"Hello girls," Babette welcomes them, a little surprised to find the two on her front porch.

"Hi Babette, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about my mom."

As their daughters head over to Babette's, Luke and Lorelai are on their first date alone since getting back together. Luke opens to the door to Sniffy's for Lorelai, laying a hand on the small of her back as he follows her into the restaurant. "Our table's not reserved," Lorelai notices, glancing back at Luke with an unsure look on her face.

"It was a last minute decision to go here, Lorelai. Don't worry, that's still our table," he assures her. Lorelai pauses, still seeming uncertain.

"Are you sure? I mean, are you sure you want to be here?"

"Are you sure you want to be here? Are you questioning us already Lorelai?" Luke asks. Lorelai takes a deep breath, staring into his eyes, finding a calming sense in his eyes. She realizes that at any point in their relationship fifteen years ago, all she needed to do was gaze into his eyes to feel a sense of solace, there's so much understanding, warmth and love hidden deep in there.

"Okay," she says breathlessly. Luke nods to her, putting his hand back on the small of her back, letting her lead him over to their usual table. She scoots in on her side, glancing around the restaurant, as Luke scoots in on his side of the table. "God, Luke, how is it that it seems like only yesterday I was reading the story on the back of this menu that lasted longer than Rip Van Winkle's sleep?" Lorelai wonders, flopping the menu back and forth in her hand. Luke takes the menu out of her hand and then grasps her hand in his.

"It shouldn't have been this long," Luke tells her. Lorelai presses her lips together, her eyes misty, as she struggles for a second to respond. Luke just squeezes her hand as Maisy walks over with a young guy next to her.

"Hey there Lucas, it's been awhile. You've gone back to being an infrequent guest again," Maisy says warningly. Luke sighs, standing and hugging Maisy.

"Sorry, bout that. But I'm here now, that should be enough," Luke responds.

"And I'm guessing that this is the reason why you've decided to show your face here again?" Maisy guesses, looking blatantly at Lorelai. Luke sighs, his hands going to his hips, as he feels bad for Lorelai at this moment.

"Hello again Maisy," Lorelai says sweetly, giving Maisy a tight-lipped smile.

"Hello again Lorelai. You know I warned you about Lucas," Maisy says, not in the loving tones she had used before, causing Lorelai to sit back in her seat.

Lorelai, nice to meet you and, uh, he's a special one, this guy.

That's the word on the street.

Luke and Lorelai share a look. "Maisy, that was my fault," Luke mutters, rubbing his forehead. Maisy purses her lips, glancing from Lorelai to Luke and back.

"Sit down Lucas," Maisy finally says, seeming to relent a bit. "Your favorite still the same Lorelai? Tastes don't change do they?" Lorelai smiles, a true smile this time.

"Nope, tastes don't change, just the seasons," Lorelai answers. Maisy nods, the cold look on her face disappearing.

"Oh Lorelai, this is my nephew Jed. He's taken over since we lost Buddy," Maisy says, motioning to the guy next to her.

"Oh, sorry to hear about that Maisy. Buddy was a special guy. As wonderful as Dutch himself," Lorelai says sympathetically, remembering Buddy's hero. Maisy smiles softly.

"Thank you, Lorelai. That means a lot." She looks over at Luke.

"Janie will be over with champagne in a moment, please don't spit it back in the glass this time, Lucas," Maisy warns and walks away with Jed trailing after her. Lorelai smiles to herself and glances at Luke. She raises an eyebrow. Luke nods and sits.

"Went better than I thought," Lorelai figures. Luke takes her hand between his.

"Lorelai, you have nothing to be ashamed about," Luke assures her. Lorelai shrugs, looking away. "Look at me Lorelai." She does. "It's all in the past. We're starting over. We're starting fresh. There's no turning back this time, that's what we agreed." Lorelai nods.

"Signed on the figurative dotted line," Lorelai agrees, waving a finger in the air, as the waitress walks over with champagne, pouring each a glass.

"And remember, I have the horoscope to prove it," Luke reminds her. Lorelai grins. He hands her a glass and takes the other in his hand. They gaze at each for a moment, still remembering their first toast.

Hey, here's to you.

I'll drink to that.

Yep, I definitely hate champagne.

This is nice.

Good.

"What should we drink to this time?" Lorelai finally asks.

"To starting fresh," Luke answers. Lorelai nods.

"I'll drink to that," Lorelai agrees, clinking her glass against his and taking a sip. Then she giggles, watching Luke grimace as he swallows his champagne.

Babette has seated both Lucy and Loren on her couch with hot chocolate in their hands. She's pulled up a chair by them, ready for whatever is to come. "Well it's not everyday I get to entertain two lovely girls such as yourselves," Babette says happily. Lucy and Loren share a look.

"Well, Babette, we actually have a reason for coming," Lucy says. Babette nods, setting down her tea.

"I had guessed as much. No one goes to see their senile neighbor without some secret reason. I'm just glad you're coming right out with it before I have to drag it out of ya, and let me tell ya, I have my ways, oh hoo, I can do a number," Babette replies. Loren giggles.

"We came to ask you about my mom," Lucy explains.

"Your mother?" Lucy nods.

"And my dad," Loren adds. Babette nods, knowingly.

"I can tell you what I know girls, but what specifically do you want to know? What do you know already?" Babette asks. Lucy and Loren share a look. Lucy shrugs.

"Basically nothing. I mean, Martha Belleville gave me this picture of Mom at her Christening and I noticed that Mom was wearing an engagement ring. After asking around a bit, I found out she had been engaged to Luke," Lucy explains, motioning with her head towards Loren when she said 'Luke'. "I know they were together about two years, they were engaged for one of them. I know they got engaged during Mom and Rory's fight." Lucy pauses again, pressing her lips together. She glances over at Loren, to see if Loren can remember any more. Loren shakes her head, looking down at her lap, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the whole situation. Lucy shrugs, looking back at Babette. "My grandmother said that her relationship with Luke was different than any of the others. She said Mom did want to marry him." Babette nods. "They were friends first?" Babette nods again.

"For years, dear, almost a decade. They were like an old married couple who didn't realize they were in love. You would go into the diner at any time of the day and expect to find Lorelai at that counter, flirting with him, or Luke standing by her table, completely enraptured in whatever crazy story she was telling. It was adorable. Like watching a real fairy tale develop right before your eyes. At a maddingly slow pace, of course." Lucy grins.

"But then they got together?" Lucy asks, her eyes sparkling as she imagines Lorelai and Luke years ago, so completely and so unknowingly taken with each other.

"Yeah. At the opening of the Dragonfly, Lorelai's inn. Oh, what am I saying, you know what inn I'm talking about. But the night of the test run, they got together. I mean that they kissed, nothing dirty or nasty in that." Loren wrinkles her nose, really not wanting to be lead down that road. "It was just a few kisses from what I've been told, mostly because Kirk ran around naked." Lucy laughs.

"Kirk did what?" Lucy wonders. Loren shakes her head, rolling her eyes in a very Luke-like way.

"Why does that not surprise me," Loren mutters.

"So they dated for two years?" Lucy asks. Babette nods.

"Yeah. Two years abouts. They broke up for a few weeks around her parents' vow renewal, no one knew why or much of anything except that the ribbons were put out and then disappeared as mysteriously as they showed up," Babette says.

"Ribbons?" Lucy repeats.

"Do you really want to know?" Loren murmurs. Lucy shrugs.

"Then Lorelai proposed the night Rory moved out," Babette tells them. Lucy's eyes go wide with surprise.

"My mom proposed?"

"Lorelai proposed to my dad?" Loren asks as the same time.

"Yeah, Luke was a real wuss I guess," Babette figures. Lucy giggles as Loren looks kind of disgusted with that idea. "But they were so cute together. So happy. So excited to get married. Luke was moving in next door. It was like the happily ever after was really going to happen in their fairy tale."

"But what happened?" Loren asks, finally getting into the whole story.

"They broke up," Lucy inserts. Babette nods.

"Yeah, I know that. But if they were so happy, how did that happen?" Loren questions.

"No one really knew. A few said she gave him a choice: her or April. A few said he realized he could never commit. There was each a rumor that she cheated on him with Rory's dad, but I couldn't believe that. I couldn't believe any of them. None of them sounded right," Babette responds. Loren and Lucy share a look.

"But Mom was happy with him before that?" Lucy asks. Babette nods.

"She really loved him," Babette says. Lucy smiles softly.

"Did he love her?" Loren asks.

"Oh yes, from the moment he laid eyes on her. Everyone knew it. He'd get all mushy and googly-eyed the moment she walked in the door of his diner," Babette tells Loren.

"So she left," Lucy notes sadly.

"Well, not right away. First they broke off the engagement and for a few days they fought again and again. So loud I had to shut my windows in the middle of a heat wave. It was like they were fighting to stay together more than fighting against each other," Babette says. Lucy and Loren share a look. "And then one day after their biggest fight, I found a note on my door telling me that Lorelai had left, she didn't know when she would return and to watch poor Paul Anka."

"That's so sad," Loren says softly. Lucy squeezes her friend's hand.

"It really is sad," Lucy agrees.

Luke and Lorelai walk into his town house holding hands. Lorelai has a take home box in her other hand. "I don't see why you needed to get that," Luke grumbles, unlocking his door and opening the door for Lorelai.

"The cheesecake? I like to have something sweet to have after dinner," Lorelai explains innocently.

"I know that. But you know I could just have easily made you some cheesecake without having to spend money of Maisy's really bad cheesecake. You could eat mine instead, Lorelai," Luke responds. Lorelai grins. "Dirty?" She nods.

"Oh, how well you know me," Lorelai teases. "But I do love your cheesecake," she adds seriously.

Wow! My own cheesecake, no man's ever given me a whole cheesecake before.

You remember that.

Mm-hmm. Hey maybe when I get home, I'll stir something seeing as I'm so good at it. Thanks for dinner.

Thank you for not being related to me. That came out wrong.

No I got it. Goodnight.

Night.

"And you also love not being related to me," Luke adds, thinking along the same lines. Lorelai turns and gives him a long slow kiss and then winks.

"Again, reading my mind, Doll," she says. She walks over to the kitchen table setting the box down on it.

"So, the girls are corralled at your house the whole night?" Luke checks. Lorelai nods. Luke gets out two forks and sits down at the table next to her.

"Why Luke, are you insinuating something?" Lorelai teases.

"I… uh… I…" Luke stammers. Lorelai laughs, rubbing his hand.

"Yes, the girls are having a sleepover at my house. Nicolas should be home by now to make sure they don't get into too much trouble." She gets her cell phone out of her purse and presses the keys for her number.

"Yeah?" Nicolas answers.

"Hey Nicky, everything okay there?" Lorelai asks.

"Yup, Lucy and Loren are up in her room, I think. They were here when I got home but I've been in my room with the music on so I don't really know. You want me to check?" Nicolas asks.

"Nope. Gotta trust them sometime," Lorelai figures. Luke's eyes go wide, as he doesn't look like he agrees. Lorelai just brushes a hand over his arm.

"Yup."

"Okay, Nicky, be good," Lorelai says and hangs up.

"You didn't make him put the girls on the phone?" Luke asks. Lorelai gives him a look.

"Hey, Luke, one day you're going to have to realize that Loren needs her space before she pulls a Lizzie Borden," Lorelai insists. Luke grimaces. Lorelai picks up a fork and takes a bite of the cheesecake. "This is ab fab, I don't care what you say about Maisy's cheesecake, it's totally better than yours!"

"Hey, traitor!"

"Try it!" Lorelai exclaims. Luke shakes his head, throwing his fork on the table.

"Absolutely not!"

"Lu-uke!" Lorelai whines.

"You said my cheesecake was bad."

"I did not, I said this was better."

"Same thing," Luke insists.

"No it's not. Try it," Lorelai begs. Luke shakes his head.

"No." Lorelai puts some on a fork and moves to towards his mouth. "No." He shakes his head.

"Come on Luke," Lorelai pleads.

"No."

"I wore my come and get it dress," Lorelai says teasingly. Luke shakes his head. With one hand, she takes off her coat, revealing again the dress that she had picked out specifically for the date. "I wore my heels." Luke shakes his head. "I fed you peppermint after peppermint without you noticing so that I could do some thanking."

Hey, I heard there was good food at this party.

I heard that too.

Huh, never made it to the food, did we?

I had three peppermints I took from a bowl in the men's room, gave the attendant a five, cuz that's all I had.

Made it to the bar though.

Yeah. We should've eaten something before we went.

Who knew we'd keep missing the trays?

But I'm not hungry. But I'm something, what am I?

You're drunk.

Right. I haven't been drink in years.

Hey, have I thanked you for escorting me and being such a good sport and shaking hands with all the big city folk you don't like and putting extra cherries in my Manhattan?

Yeah, you did.

There'll be more thanking later on tonight. Tastes like peppermint.

As he remembers this, Luke's eyes go lax and his mouth drops open and Lorelai shoves the cheesecake in, throwing her hands up in victory, the fork falling back to the table. She cups the back of his head, kissing him deeply. He grasps her knee, giving into the kiss fully, opening his mouth to her.

"Cheesecake," she purrs as she pulls back. Then she kisses him again quickly and stands. Luke stares up at her, a little nervous.

"Lorelai…" he says softly. She grins, her eyes glittering, still remembering how much she loves the sound of her name on his tongue. He was the only one who could say her name in just that way, with just that tone that makes her feel completely naked when she's fully clothed and completely desirable even in sweats in the grungy days of winter. When Christopher said her name, 'Lor', it had always made her queasy. When her mother said her name in that proper-like pronunciation, it made her tense. But Luke's version of her name was all his own, it always had been, it was like he knew her so well, so deeply as to know her name was the ticket to her soul.

"Luke," she responds seriously, holding out her hands to him. He takes her hands, standing to face her, just inches between them. "We've made it this far." Luke nods. He lets go of one of her hand to let one of his hand play with the ends of her hair.

"I love you," he says softly, in his gruff but sexy voice that Lorelai always loved. She leans him and gives him a peck on the lips.

"I never doubted it for a moment," she responds and then leads him up the stairs.

Lucy is in her room at Lorelai's house when her cell rings. "Did you find it?" Loren asks, sitting on the floor by the closet in the apartment over the diner, a large box in front of her. Lucy nods, staring at the large box in front of her.

"Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure this is it," Lucy responds, reaching in and pulling out a blue flannel. "What other guy that Mom dated would wear a blue plaid shirt that she would keep?" Loren giggles over the phone.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Loren says. Lucy shrugs as she pokes around inside the box. "I mean, Luce, they didn't want us to know."

"And why not? Everyone else knows. Rory knows. Gramma knows. Babette knows. This whole freakin' town knows. We're their own daughters, their flesh and blood, the apples of their eyes but we can't know. Well I won't take that," Lucy insists. "Now tell me what you're finding," Luke demands, stubbornly. Loren frowns and sifts through her box.

"Ummm… okay I have a bottle of Jessica Simpson body lotion," Loren says.

"Ew, Mom wore that? Wait, does it smell good?" Loren opens the bottle and sniffs and shrugs.

"Not bad."

"Why do I have a thigh master?" Lucy wonders. Loren wrinkles her nose.

"I don't want to know," Loren responds. Lucy nods, putting the thigh master down. "I have a pressed rose. My dad kept a pressed rose. My dad? What the heck did your mom do to him?" Lucy giggles.

"According to Babette, he was a wuss," Lucy teases. Loren rolls her eyes. "Wow, sweet shoes!" Lucy exclaims pulling out some cute silver shoes. "Damn, heel's broken."

"She kept broken shoes?" Loren asks with distaste. "Why do I get the feeling that I never want to be in love?"

"Love hurts, so says Nazareth," Lucy notes. Loren nods, throwing her hand into the box and pulling out a small box.

"Oh Luce," Loren breathes over the phone, as she opens the box.

"What?"

"It's beautiful." Loren reaches to touch the ring, but doesn't actually, as if it would burn her finger.

"What!" Lucy repeats.

"The engagement ring. It's even more… gorgeous… amazing… whatever… up close." Lucy smiles to herself. "Omigod, Luce. You totally have to see this." Lucy extracts a piece of paper from her box and stares at it.

"No, Lorie, you have to see this," Lucy responds.

"What?"

"It's a piece of paper, from a doctor's office. It says – it reads – it says that Lorelai Gilmore tested positive for a pregnancy test," Lucy says.

"She had Rory," Loren notes.

"No. She tested positive on May 11th, 2006. She tested positive the day before she left Stars Hollow."

"Lucy?"

"And she was three month pregnant it says. She was due at the beginning of November."

"So?"

"Lorie, my brother was born at the beginning of October. He was early. He was about a month early. He was due at the beginning of November," Lucy explains in disbelief.

"You mean Nicolas?" Loren questions.

"Yeah. My brother. Nicolas." Loren stares down at the ring, letting Lucy's words sink in.

"Luce, you mean our brother. You mean our brother Nicolas."