Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Warner Brothers or Dorothy Parker Drank Here or anyone else attached in any way with Gilmore Girls.
Chapter 11 – Beginning to Heal
After Lorelai opened her front door, she broke out laughing hysterically at the sight before her.
There is Luke smartly dressed in his dark grey slacks and his silver and grey striped shirt with his arm protectively around the shoulders of his daughter.
Next to Luke stands April, who is dressed in an outfit that can only be described as the diminutive version of Lorelai's own current ensemble. April is wearing a Guava pink round neck top with smocking and embroidered details over a pair of white wide waistband slide pocket pants with gold bejeweled strappy sandals on her feet. She looks like a mini-Lorelai!
Lorelai begins to hiccup from laugher as April breaks into a girlish round giggles.
Luke's eyes widen when he first sees Lorelai. He quickly looks at April again then back to Lorelai before he asks laughingly, "Did you two plan this?"
April snickers as Lorelai casts a critical eye over Luke's attire and then replies with a twinkle in her eyes, "Well obviously you didn't read your memo. The uniform of the night is a pink top, white slacks, and jeweled sandals."
After the initial hilarity, Luke tries to persuade the girls that they all need to leave for dinner right now. Lorelai and April both are totally ignoring him as they are busy comparing color, texture, and brand labels of the various pieces of their outfits.
Suddenly Paul Anka decides to make an appearance. April and Paul Anka take one look at each other and it is love at first sight. April runs to pet him and Paul Anka immediately rolls on to his back at her feet for a tummy rub. April quickly complies.
Lorelai, after taking a moment to appreciate this scene, heads upstairs in a frantic search for her digital camera. She insists that it is imperative that this moment between April and Paul Anka be captured forever for posterity. Besides, she claims, Rory will kill her if there isn't a picture of her with April in their matching outfits.
Luke accepts begrudgingly this momentary defeat of his mission to leave for dinner and begins searching for the illusive camera. He knows Lorelai well enough not to waste time looking in the obvious places for it like the hall closet or the desk drawer. He heads into the kitchen.
After first eliminating the refrigerator and freezer and oven and dishwasher, he is finally triumphant in locating the camera wedged between the cleaning products in the cabinet under the kitchen sink. When he questions Lorelai to find out why on earth she had put the camera under the sink, she replies matter-of-factly that she must have left it there when she had been trying to get some pictures of Paul Anka.
Against his better judgment, he asks her to explain how taking pictures of Paul Anka could possibly lead to her storing the camera under the sink.
Looking at him like he is an idiot for not understanding something so obvious, Lorelai explains that to catch Paul Anka in a natural pose, she has to hide out of sight. So naturally she had tried to crawl in the cabinet. Unfortunately she wasn't able to squinch her body inside so the project had ended up a bust. Apparently she left the camera behind in the cabinet after she gave up the quest for the candid shots.
April listens to this the banter between Lorelai and her dad. There is a light, comfortable feel about it that April enjoys. They complement each other. She notes that there is a good vibe between them, not that she has had much of a chance to observe them together.
April had only met Lorelai twice before tonight. The initial time was during her first official visit with Luke at the diner. They had talked for a couple of minutes before Luke had reappeared. April had instantly sensed a lot of tension in the air when Luke walked in and had wondered what was up with that. Luke and Lorelai had gone outside almost immediately and April could tell that the conversation was less than pleasant for both of them. Then Lorelai had just left.
When Luke came back in, April could tell he was upset but he was trying to hide it. She had asked him who that woman was and he had simply said "Lorelai." That was the end of the discussion.
The next time she met Lorelai was at her birthday party though by then she knew a little more about her. Not that Luke or anyone had really ever said much about Lorelai directly to April but she had heard things. Plus she had already met Rory, Lorelai's daughter, at her cousin Jess's bookstore in Philadelphia.
After the birthday party April knew that she really liked Lorelai. Lorelai reminded her of her own mother but a little zanier. Plus all of April's friends at the party had declared Lorelai to be really cool. April understood the importance of acceptance of the parental figures in her life by her peers.
Her birthday party was the first real opportunity that April had to observe Luke with Lorelai and she had suddenly seen a different side to her father. After watching the two of them, April had decided that she definitely approved of their pairing. Luke had seemed so much more relaxed and cheerful. His cool factor had definitely increased with Lorelai around.
April suspected that Luke and Lorelai had a fight earlier this month. Luke had been in a bad mood and got visually upset if anyone mentioned Lorelai's name. Plus she heard that Lorelai had left on an indefinite vacation and some people were speculating that she might never come back. The whole town seemed kind of cross with Luke, so April suspected he wais at fault for the fight (if there was one).
Of course Luke had never said anything directly to April about it.
Then April had heard the discussion between her mother and Luke about Lorelai. Suddenly Luke's behavior made sense, sort of. Her mom didn't want Lorelai around her for some really bizarre reason. This obviously had caused tension between Luke and Lorelai. Sometimes her mother could be so anal about stuff.
When Luke applied for the legal custody agreement, April knew that her mom's attitude about Lorelai was one of the motivating factors. Her mom is still being weird about Lorelai but now she has to accept Lorelai as part of April's life with Luke.
April had only discovered that Lorelai was back in town this morning when she was talking to Luke about the plans for tonight. April had mentioned that she tried to reach him last night but couldn't get him. Luke apologized for not being accessible and explained that he was over at Lorelai's house and had forgotten his cell. That was when April had suggested that Lorelai join them tonight for dinner.
Now that the camera had been located, Luke was trying to corral the girls for the pictures. He foolishly believes that he merely has to snap a single picture of April with Paul Anka and another of Lorelai with April. Obviously he isn't thinking clearly. There is no way that Lorelai will allow it to be that simple.
After the initial picture of April rubbing Paul Anka belly is snapped, Lorelai decides that April and she must pose like showgirls on the stairs. That was only the first, then there are poses in front of the fireplace, on the sofa, leaning against the archway and finally a set of random shots of April and Lorelai re-enacting their favorite modeling poses.
Poor Paul Anka is dragged into the game for several more pictures and Lorelai expresses real regret that he has no pink shirt to wear. Finally, even Luke is forced to participate in the photo ops after Lorelai remembers that there is a timer feature on the camera.
All in all, about 15 photos are taken.
April asks if Lorelai could send her copies of the pictures since she would like to post some of them on her website. Lorelai agrees to ask Rory to do that since she is the only one who understands how to download the pictures from the camera to the computer. April volunteers that she knows how to do that. Lorelai immediately gets out her computer and logs on for April.
Next thing Luke knows April is downloading the pictures from the camera to Lorelai's computer and emailing copies of the photos to herself and to Rory. Lorelai is on the phone to Rory telling her to check her email for the pictures and Luke is loosing patience because it is now 7:15.
Finally at 7:20 he is able to drag the girls out to the truck and heads for Snuffy's Tavern.
When they arrive at Snuffy's, Maisy and Buddy greet them all enthusiastically. They are well acquainted with Lorelai and adore her but this is only the second time that they have met April. They are openly warm and enthusiastic toward April.
Maisy whispers a reprimand to Luke for not bringing April around more often as Buddy is teasing April in a very grandfatherly manner. The whole image of his "family" together is making Luke feel very sentimental so naturally he looks embarrassed. Lorelai leans over to give him a little kiss on the cheek and squeezes his arm reassuringly.
Maisy leads them to their booth. Lorelai makes sure that April is seated between Luke and her. She never wants Luke to feel that she is trying to come between April and him in any way.
Buddy brings them their drinks (without their ordering them, of course). He hands Luke a beer, places a coke with 3 cherries in front April and starts to set a glass of Lorelai's favorite wine in front of her when she raises her hand to stop him.
Smiling sweetly, Lorelai informs him that she is the designated driver for the evening. Buddy smiles that he understands and actually asks her what she wants to drink.
Lorelai requests a club soda.
Luke shoots her a questioning look when he hears her order a club soda. He had never seen Lorelai drink a club soda except when her stomach is upset.
Lorelai smiles innocently at him. Luke suddenly sees that though Lorelai is trying to appear bright and healthy, something in her eyes tells him that is not completely true.
Maisy's internal alert system is also activated when she hears Lorelai refuse the wine and order club soda. She scrutinizes Lorelai closer and is a little concerned. Lorelai looks thinner that she every remembered seeing her and her complexion appears sallow. Even her hair looks a little less glossy. All of this is adding up to make Maisy very suspicious.
Luke suddenly feels like someone is watching him. He looks over to see Maisy giving him that look. It is the same look that she gave him when the toaster had exploded in their kitchen.
Luke had been spending the weekend with Maisy and Buddy when he was a little younger that April. For some reason (he had gotten bored or something) he had taken their toaster apart to see how it worked. He thought that he put it back together correctly but never tested it to be certain.
The next morning when Buddy was making toast, the toaster had short circuited and almost started a fire. Buddy had cursed the shoddy workmanship of the Japanese but Maisy was staring at Luke with the same look that she is giving him now.
That look had caused Luke to jump up and admit that he caused the problem with the toaster. He immediately offered to pay for a replacement. Buddy had laughed and started to say that it wasn't necessary but Maisy had stopped him. Maisy stated that the boy needed to understand responsibility. If you break it you had to fix it. That had been a life lesson for Luke.
Suddenly he feels the overwhelming urge to stand up and admit to the mess he had caused in his relationship with Lorelai. He is holding himself back from openly declaring how he had really screwed up and hurt Lorelai which had caused her to end their engagement. He also wants to confess that Lorelai is pregnant with his baby but she isn't willing to marry him (at least yet) because he had hurt her so bad.
He suspected that if April hadn't been sitting right next to him at that moment, he would have spilled his guts out. Maisy's look is that powerful.
The dinner went well.They had gotten on to the topic of the Gilmore girls abnormal eating habits. Luke declares that he is the Gilmore girl expert in all things food related. April challenges his expertise.
Somehow this had become a game. April would name a food or combination of foods. Luke had to declare whether it is Gilmore acceptable or not. Lorelai, of course is the final arbitrator of the validity of his answers. So far, he is 100 percent acurate.
April finally reaches the point where she exhausts her knowledge of food combinations. Luke with his dry sense of humor begins making silly suggestions of food combinations that induces a round of laughter in April. Father and daughter were having a wonderful time.
It isn't as though Lorelai feels left out of their silliness but she isn't really laughing quite as robustly as Luke and April. Her constant mild nausea is now threatening escalation which is putting a damper on her enjoyment of the evening.
Lorelai gets up to discreetly go to the ladies room. Luke looks at her with concern but she smiles back that there is nothing to worry about.
Maisy has been watching the party closely all evening. She notices when Lorelai becomes a less active participant in the evening's merriment. Maisy observes the signs of distress that flash across her face before she can conceal them.
Maisy watches as Lorelai excuses herself to use the facilities and then notices that she walks a little too quickly into the ladies room. Maisy follows her discreetly and listens. She hears the sounds of intense vomiting through the door.
Maisy leaves to go to the kitchen. A few minutes later she returns with what looks like a Bloody Mary and walks into the ladies room. She waits until it sounds like Lorelai is done and then knocks on the door of the stall.
Lorelai responds with, "It's occupied."
Maisy replies delicately, "I know dear. I have something that might make you feel better."
Lorelai opens the door and looks at Maisy sheepishly, "I'm sorry; it's not because of your wonderful food. I seemed to have caught a bug or something and I have been nauseous for a couple of days now."
"Uh huh,' Maisy replies knowingly, "and when do you expect to give birth to this little bug?"
Lorelai's eyes get really big and she looks a little panic-stricken.
Maisy calmly says, "Don't try to fool me. I'm old enough that I can read the signs." Then she hands Lorelai the glass and says, "Drink this, hon, and see if it helps. Luke's mother Myra was sick as dog for the first four months she was carrying him. She tried all the standard treatments but nothing worked. We all were really worried about her. Then this old women in the town suggested that instead of the usual remedies to neutralize the acid such of crackers and soda water, she should try the opposite. Myra found that a glass of pureed tomatoes, the more acid in them the better, was the only thing that worked. Try it."
Lorelai politely takes the glass and hesitantly sips the concoction. Tomatoes are one of Lorelai's least favorite fruits (or are they vegetables?). She doesn't particularly even like tomato juice unless it is mixed with vodka in the form of a Bloody Mary.
Oddly, that first sip doesn't make her gag. She takes another swallow and finds it kind of tasty. Next thing she knows she had consumed the entire contents of the glass and she actually feels better. Not perfect but definitely less queasy.
Lorelai thanks Maisy sheepishly with a hug for the remedy.
Maisy gives her a big squeeze back and tells her that she better get back to the table before Luke and April gets worried. She ended by telling Lorelai that she expects to finally be invited to that wedding very soon.
Lorelai simply smiles and returns to the table.
When she gets back she sees that Luke and April have been joined by Buddy. Now they all are laughing heartily at some joke. Luke glances at Lorelai with concern but she smiles back that she is okay.
Luke then points out that it is now a ten to nine and that they need to leave. Goodbyes are said with hugs and the promise that they all will be back soon. When Maisy hugs Luke, she gives him the look again which causes him to make a mental note to come back and have a talk with Maisy very soon.
All in all it has been a wonderful evening.
They pull up to the Nardini house just a little after 9:20. Lorelai and April hug and say their goodbyes in the truck. Luke then escorts April to the front door.
Before April could even get her key out, Anna has opens the door. Suddenly there is an indisputable chill in the air. Unconsciously, Luke checks the clock mounted on the wall of the Nardini household to make sure that it is not after 9:30. The clock reads 9:26.
April eyes her mother suspiciously. Though Anna is smiling, there is look of irritation in her eyes. That look pisses off April for some reason (not that a teenager really needed a reason to get pissed at a parent). She then purposefully hugs Luke really tight and loudly proclaims, "Thanks Dad! I had the best time with you AND Lorelai tonight. Let's do this again really soon.
Luke hugs her tightly back and blurts out softly "I love you" before he realizes what he is saying. It isn't as if he doesn't mean it because he does. It is just that he had never said that to her before and the last place he would have planned to say it is here and now.
His eyes shoot up to glance at Anna. He can tell that this little intimate exchange between April and he is not appreciated by Anna in the least. She looks like she wants to kill him now.
Anna, trying to disguise her fury, ushers April into the house and bids Luke a chilly goodbye.
Once in the house, April first tries to ignore her mother. Unfortunately, Anna is feeling too territorial to allow her daughter to simply say good night and head off to bed. She insists that they talk about April's evening.
April relents and starts to recap the events. She carefully leaves out any reference to the accidental choice by both Lorelai and she of similar outfits April's instinct tells her that her mother will not find the coincidence amusing. Unfortunately, April's instinct, though correct, is not quite astute enough to pickup on the fact that her mother already knows of the accidental outfit coincidence.
Anna had already seen the pictures in April's email.
Anna had reluctantly allowed April to have her own computer with the following stipulation. She had to have full access to monitor and arbitrarily judge the appropriateness of any website April visited, or any chats that April participated in, or any emails sent and received (of course, spam is not held against April).
If she feels that April is abusing the privilege of a computer, Anna retains the right to remove the computer and cancel the internet access account at any time. She has even installed an activity logging software to keep track of track everything: the Internet URLs visited, keystrokes in email, chats and all applications, programs April ran and the duration in every application. Anna also has access to April's email and actively reads and monitors all incoming mail.
Tonight, with April out for the evening with Luke, Anna took advantage of the time to read April's email.
When she saw the pictures of her daughter along side Lorelai in what could only be described as twin mother/daughter outfits, Anna had blown a gasket. This was the image of her worst nightmare come to life.
That persistent anxiety that Anna had begun to feel ever since she discovered that April had found Luke is now proving to be a harbinger of destruction of the carefully planned life she had built for April and her. Well, she is not about to let that happen.
Luke and Lorelai had driven to her house in compatible silence. When they got out of the truck, he had wrapped his arm around her to escort her to the house. It all felt so natural.
"This is the way it should always be," thought Luke.
As they reached the front door, he begins to feel a little awkward. Before, he would have automatically got out his key, unlocked the door and led her inside.
Now, though they had agreed that they were officially dating again, Luke is wary of pushing Lorelai to fast. He has vowed to himself to let her set the pace.
He turns to Lorelai and pulls her close for a goodnight kiss. The kiss starts out warm and tender but quickly deepens to hot and passionate. Their hands are roaming and caressing as the fire within both of them is ignited.
When Luke reluctantly ends the kiss, he continues to hug her as he softly whispers in her ear, "Thanks for coming with us tonight. You made the evening very special!"
Summoning all his strength, Luke starts to release her from the hug. As much as he wants to stay locked in her arms all night, he knows that she needs her rest. He is going to force himself to leave but Lorelai has a different idea.
With her arms still around his neck, Lorelai looks directly in his eyes with a mischievous glint in hers, "Where do you think you're going? " She reaches for his hand and places it on her stomach. "Do you really intend to leave your innocent baby alone with a hormonal crazy lady all night?"
Luke smiles back beaming. "I wouldn't be much of a father if I did that, would I?"
Later, as they lay spooning in her bed, Luke finds himself fantasizing about Lorelai holding the hand of a little girl who looks a little like April but with big blue eyes and Lorelai's nose. She sees them running to him and he picks both of them up and spins them around laughing.
Lorelai, too, is fantasizing. Only in her dream she sees a little boy with dark curly hair and a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. He has the hint of the strong chin to come and a wickedly charming smile that melts her heart. She sees him in the arms of his father as they both reach to surround her in a loving embrace.
Luke and Lorelai fall peacefully to sleep with smiles on the faces.