(Several months later)

Lorelai shot up from the bed, trying desperately to catch her breath. Her body was covered with sweat, and her mouth dry as the Sahara. Luke, who was up instantly, put his hand on Lorelai's arm to comfort her.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Lorelai panted. "I just need to get some water."

"I'll get it; stay here." Luke flipped the covers off of his body and hurried to the kitchen. Within seconds he returned. "Same dream?" he asked as he handed Lorelai the glass.

Lorelai nodded her head. "It went farther this time." Lorelai replied. "I actually saw the crash."

Luke lowered his head. "I'm sorry."

Lorelai gulped down the water. "It's okay…" She regained control of her breathing. "God, I wish there was a way to stop these dreams."

"You could see a doctor… maybe they could help." Luke gently sat down on the bed beside, Lorelai.

"I don't want to see a doctor." Lorelai replied. "I'm not crazy, Luke…"

"I don't think that at all." Luke quickly answered.

"I guess I feel guilty." Lorelai admitted. "If I hadn't of went into labor early, she wouldn't have been rushing and she wouldn't have wrecked. It's not fair, you know? To lose two mothers by age 16."

Luke's heart went out to Lorelai. He wished he could take her pain away, but he knew it was something Lorelai would have to work out for herself. "It's not fair at all." He agreed. "But if anyone can survive it, it's you."

Lorelai smiled. "You're always saying the right things. How do you do that?"

"I have the right inspiration, I guess." Luke replied.

"I'm glad Rory and I moved here. It's been the best thing since mom passed away."

"I'm glad you and Rory moved here. It just all falls into place now." Luke grinned. He could barely see her through the dark room, but he could still see how beautiful she was.

"God took away both of my mothers, but he gave me two wonderful people in return." Lorelai said as she slid her hand over to Luke's. "Rory and you keep me going." She whispered.

"I think it's the other way around." Luke slowly moved in and kissed Lorelai.

(The next day)

"Uke!" Rory babbled. "Uke!"

"I'm coming!" Luke replied as he hurried down the stairs. He picked up Rory at the bottom of the steps and whisked into the kitchen where Lorelai was attempting to make breakfast. "Want to trade?" Luke asked.

"Definitely." Lorelai handed Luke the spatula and took Rory from his arms. "Are you sure Miss Patty is okay with watching Rory today?"

"She sounded more than okay when I asked her yesterday." Luke replied as he flipped the eggs. "She loves watching Ror, you know that."

"I know… but we just ask her so much." Lorelai sat Rory down in her high chair.

"Well, she understands that we both work at Taylor's. She's more than happy to help."

"Babbette offered to watch her." Lorelai noted. "At least that gives us someone else to rotate with besides Miss Patty and Daisy."

"You won't have to worry about any of that soon." Luke replied. "I've almost got all the equipment ready to open my diner. I bought a bunch of old tables at a yard sale the other day. I found some chairs at Mrs. Kim's antique shop, they don't match the tables, but they were cheap. Once I find a cash register, a second cook, and get my food handler's card, we're in business."

Lorelai smiled. "That's great news." She began to feed Rory her cereal.

Luke scooped the eggs onto plates and set them on the table. "The best part is, you can be my waitress…" Luke wrapped his arms around Lorelai's waist. "And we won't need a baby sitter for Rory, she can stay with us at the diner."

"Hmm… how much does this job pay?" Lorelai asked teasingly.

"Well, the pay isn't much." Luke replied. "But the benefits are outstanding." He kissed her on the neck. "And don't worry, you've got all the qualifications."

Lorelai laughed. "Easy, tiger. Have you thought about what you're going to name your diner?"

"They don't already come with names?" Luke asked. He glanced down at Rory. "What do you think, Rory? What should I name my diner?"

A few gurgles and laughs came out of Rory's mouth, but nothing that could be put on a sign or menu.

"How about Luke's? It's simple, straight to the point, and everyone in town already knows you, so they can just say "hey, let's go to Luke's" and everyone will know where to go."

"Hmm… seems a bit conceited." Luke noted. "How about Luke & Lorelai's?"

"Oh, no… you're not putting my name on the sign." Lorelai rejected. "It's your diner."

"L&L's?" He suggested.

"Luke, stop." Lorelai smiled.

"Fine… well, call it Rory's." He laughed.

"We're calling it Luke's, end of discussion."

"Alright, but when people ask why I was so conceited and selfish to name it after myself, I'm going to tell them you made me do it."

"I'll take that bullet." Lorelai replied. She grabbed Rory from her high chair. "I'll take Rory over to Miss Patty's; see you at work."

A quick kiss and Lorelai was out the door. After dropping Rory off at Miss Patty's, Lorelai headed for Taylor's market. Before she reached her destination, Sookie practically appeared from no where.

"Lorelai, I have bad news." Sookie said.

"What?" Lorelai asked, stopping dead in her tracks and focusing all her attention on Sookie.

"I just heard that Chris failed out of Princeton."

Lorelai laughed. "That doesn't sound like bad news to me. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when Strobe got the failing notice."

"He's coming back here." Sookie added regretfully. "To go to Yale."

Lorelai's mouth dropped. "He failed out of Princeton, but got into Yale? How is that possible?"

"I guess his father pulled some strings and got him in on probation."

Lorelai shrugged. "Well, Yale is New Haven. I doubt I'll ever see him."

"I hope that's true. I just wanted to make sure that you knew." Sookie frowned. "If you need anything… anything…"

"I know, Sookie." Lorelai smiled.

"Well, I have to go… Chef class starts in twenty minutes."

Lorelai leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She kept telling herself that Christopher would never return. After all, he didn't want anything to do with Rory. Besides, Chris would just fail out of Yale like he did Princeton and then it'd be on to the next school on the list. There was no reason for Lorelai to get alarmed. In fact, there was no reason to even give it a second thought.