You want drama? I give you drama!
Chapter 29: Bossy Lukey!
"Okay, your daddy is coming. Do like I told you!" Lorelai told William, Sara and Laila. The had been practicing the out for some time and the kids definitely perfected it. She had been standing on the window staring at the driveway before Luke pulled up.
The kids ran out of the bedroom, Lorelai stayed in it.
"Daddy! Daddy!" the kids yelled and threw themselves into Luke´s arms just when he had opened the door.
"Wow! What´s up with you?" he said once he untangled himself from them and looked down.
"We are so happy that you´re here now daddy!" William said like he was reciting a text for a play.
"Uhuh!" Luke said and looked at them with raised eyebrows.
"Where is your mother?" he asked them.
"Uh..." William started.
"William, what´s up? Something is up, I know it!" Luke said in a threatening tone.
"Daddy, I want to show you something!" William said and grabbed Luke´s hand. He lead him into the corner of the living-room, where the cage with the new pets was standing, looked up at him and started to pout like his mother had told him.
"Look, daddy!" Sara smiled and pointed at them.
"What the hell..." Luke muttered before he started to yell.
"Lorelai! Wherever you are hiding come here!"
"Psst! Daddy you scared Meeko!" William said .
"Who the hell is Meeko?" Luke asked still angry.
"Meeko...Barney" Laila told him and pointed to the two pets.
"Lorelai, I´m waiting!" Luke yelled again.
"Coming, coming!" she said when she ran down the stairs, then slung her arms around him and kissed him. But not two seconds in the kiss Luke pulled back.
"What the hell is this?" he asked and pointed to the cage.
"You mean who the hell is this" she smiled and ran her right hand over his chest, while she caressed his neck with the left.
"Do you think this is funny?" he asked and grabbed her hands.
"I don´t know if they are funny, but they are cute!" she smiled. Luke took a deep breath to calm himself.
"I think it might be the best if we take this upstairs!" he said then and walked towards the stairs.
"But Luke the kids are in the house and awake. Maybe we should wait till tonight" she smiled and winked awkwardly at him.
"Upstairs! Right now!" he said and walked upstairs.
"Uh, sexy! Bossy Lukey!" she said and followed him while the kids stayed downstairs, looking at their new pets.
Luke stood in their bedroom, his back towards the door. Lorelai closed the door and walked towards him, lay her hand on his shoulder.
"Hon´, look..." she started but was interrupted when he spun around and glared at her angrily.
"We talked about this. We talked about this and I told you I don´t want any pet in the house until they are able to look after it themselves. And you agreed. Then what the hell is this downstairs?" he asked angrily.
"Luke we went over to Kirsten´s house to just take a look at them, but then he came with Meeko in his little hands and he already had a name and it sounded so good: Will and Meeko. Like... I don´t know can´t remember his name... but he and flipper... Or that man and Mr. Ed... Or Lassie and her friend. Wait, why are there always little boys and pets? Or men and pets? Right, because they just belong together. They need each other! They can be best-friends! Girls, can´t because when the pet would make their clothes dirty the friendship would be over, but boys and pets... And they looked so cute together. And then he explained to me that Meeko would feel alone when he is in kindergarten so he would need his brother Barney. He already had the names, Luke. He had the names and he promised he would feed them. And Meeko and Barney were looking at me with their pleading round piggy-eyes and their noses were moving up and down... and then Meeko bit me... I couldn´t say no!" she rambled.
"We can´t keep them!"
"We can´t give them back!" she protested and started to pout herself.
"I´m not willing to feed them and clean the cage and you are not able to, so we can´t keep them!" he was still angry.
"But it´s not that much work Luke and it would break Will´s heart if he has to give them back" she pleaded
"He will get over it. He will forget about it before he will wake up tomorrow morning."
"Luke please! He really wanted them!" she tried to talk seriously with him now and stopped her childish-attitude.
"No! I don´t have the time to care for two more. Not even when they are guinea-pigs! I´m working in the diner everyday from 6am to 2pm 6 day a week, sometimes even longer when I have early deliveries. Then I come back here and look after our children, sometimes with you, sometimes without you. I have to work in the garden and fix things around the house. I have to go to Friday-night dinner to your parents every week and when they are coming over I have to cook. And now between working, looking after the kids, fixing and cooking you want me to feed two guinea-pigs, clean their cage and take them to the vet? When will I do this?" he said frustrated while he gesticulated wildly with his hands, crossing them in front of his chest while he looked at Lorelai.
Lorelai´s eyes darkened dangerously with every word he was saying, but Luke was too deep in his rant to notice.
"You know what? Then fine! Go down and tell your son to give them back and break his heart! It´s not like you would care anyway! I´m just wondering: When you are so stressed and don´t have time to throw a tomato in a cage once a day then why are you able to spend hours and hours at Kirsten´s house? Maybe you should just come home and fall into bed when you´re so stressed and not build her shelves and hang up mirrors, installing lamps and building beds! But don´t stand here and tell me how horrible I am by making you do all that and then go over and work your butt off for her every damn day since she moved here!" Lorelai yelled at him.
"Kirsten is a friend and she lost her husband! I need to help her and you know that! So what do you want to tell me with those subtle hints of yours?" he shouted back.
"I can tell you! I hate that you are spending every free minute at her house! I hate that you know better if Honor has a headache then what your son wants! I hate to go to sleep alone every night after I tucked in the kids by myself. I hate that you lie to me and tell me that you´re going out with friends and then Will tells me that she is with you just seconds before he asks me if you will move in with her and make a baby with her! " she was now shouting as loud as she could when all the bottled up frustration from the last weeks broke free.
"This is not about the kids or these stupid pets! You just want me to be home every night and do whatever you want. You want me to stay here until you want something or that you can go out with your friends. I am not your servant!You´ re so spoiled you don´t even see the things I´m doing for you! And if you can´t stand it that I´m now doing something for someone who is not called Lorelai, then it´s your problem, because I won´t let Kirsten down just because you feel like you own me!" he yelled back.
"Okay, Fine! Then I tell you what your problem is: You will be sleeping in the guest- room or on the couch! But if you don´t like sleeping alone I´m sure Kirsten is willing to let you sleep in her bed! You can take the pigs right with ya. I´m sure your kids will hate you afterwards, but Honor needs a new daddy, so why should you care? And now get the hell out of my bedroom, I can´t even look at you anymore!"Lorelai turned towards the window, her arms crossed in front of her chest, biting her lower-lip.
"You completely lost your mind! You are so self-centered that you can´t even see that Kirsten needs someone to help her. You can´t even see it because you´re so wrapped up in yourself! When I helped you all these years it was okay, but now that someone different needs my help... she lost her husband and her son. It´s just disgusting how you are acting!" he hissed, walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
Luke stamped down the stairs and into the living-room. He wasn´t really paying attention where he was going, he was too furious to focus.
"Daddy, look! Barney sleep!" Laila smiled. Luke took a deep breath and looked at William who sat in front of the cage.
"William, you can´t keep them, I want you to give them back!" he said and looked down on the floor.
"No!" William was so shocked he didn´t even scream. He looked at Luke and his yes teared up.
" But mommy promised me... she said when we would pout they can stay... and they are my friends!" he sobbed.
"These are pets and not friends. They won´t stay!" Luke said stubbornly.
"Daddy, noooo!" Sara started to cry.
"Pleeease!" Laila begged and hugged his legs.
"Stop crying! I need to get out of here!" he said, took Laila away from his legs and walked to the front-door. William followed him and begged still crying.
"Daddy... please! They are my friends! They will be alone! Please Daddyyy!" he cried. Luke knew that if he would turn around he would break and so he just walked outside and closed the door behind him.
Lorelai heard the screams upstairs and rushed down. She saw Sara and Laila but knew that William must be hysterical. She found him in front of the door, crying. She picked him up and sat down on the floor, leaning against the door.
"Meeko needs me! He is my friend! And Barney, too"
"I know Will. Shhhhh, calm down baby. It´s okay. I promise you that you can keep them. No matter what your daddy says, we will keep them. They are your friends and you won´t give them back." she whispered soothingly in his ear while she rubbed his back. When he was a little calmer she stood up with him and walked back into the living-room. She kneeled down next to the cage where the twins were sitting.
"We will keep them, Don´t worry, sweeties. Meeko and Barney will stay." she told them.
"Mommy, I think they are hungry!" William sniffed and stood up to grab some tomatoes and carrots.
Two hours later the doorbell rang and Lorelai opened. Sookie was standing in front of the door, looking sheepishly.
"Hey, I just wanted to stop by and ask if everything is okay? Luke just came into the diner and threw us all out."
"Oh, I thought he would just run over to Kirsten and tell her what a selfish-bitch I am!" she scoffed.
"Okay, you had a fight" Sookie stated and walked inside and closed the door behind her. They walked through the living-room where William and the twins were still watching the guinea-pigs.
"What is that?" Sookie asked when they walked into the kitchen
"These are William´s new friends, the guinea-pigs Meeko and Barney."
"I thought you wanted to wait until he is old enough" Sookie wondered.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I had to listen to that some hours ago, thank you I´ve had enough!" she said and poured herself a cup of coffee, then sat down on the bar-counter they had in the kitchen.
"What happened?" Sookie asked sympathetically.
"I allowed Will to have the pigs, Luke was against it, we discussed, he said he doesn´t have the time for them because of all the things I make him do an that he isn´t my personal slave and I´m a spoiled and self-centered bitch. Well, he didn´t use the word bitch,but you get the point."
"And what did you say?"
"I lost it because of Kirsten and told him that if he has time for her why not for his son, that he´s not interested in me or the kids anymore and that he will be sleeping on the couch or in the guest room, if Kirsten doesn´t let him sleep in her bed instead"
"Wow!" Sookie just said.
"Yeah wow!" Then they were quiet for some time.
"Sookie am I self-centered and selfish and spoiled?" Lorelai asked then.
"Oh, honey, no! You aren´t self-centered and selfish!" she assured her.
"But spoiled?" Lorelai asked her with raised eyebrows and a bit of anger in her voice.
"Well, when it comes to Luke, yes, a bit!" Sookie shrugged and smiled apologetically
"What? How? I mean ... why?" Lorelai was surprised and angry.
"Hey, you asked me and as your friend I need to be honest!" Sookie calmed her before she went on.
"I mean, when you are honest you know that your husband spoils you wherever he can. He cut back in the diner, hired a new employer so he could be home more often. He reads every wish from your eyes, no matter how crazy they are. You just need to make puppy eyes and pout and he caves. When you´re sick he comes running and spends the day as your personal slave and if it´s just to keep you company while you´re watching TV. He cooks whatever you want, goes wherever you want, even goes to town-events when you want him to."
"But you have that, too, Sookie." Lorelai told her.
"Oh no, sweetie. Jackson is a great husband, don´t get me wrong. But he works the whole day, he only goes to events that he likes and he would ask me if I´m crazy when I would have some virus and would ask him to stay home with me. He takes the kids out of the house, so they won´t catch it, but that´s it. I don´t know what you´re doing to make Luke act like that, but I would appreciate it if you would tell me!" Sookie smiled.
"I... I don´t know what I do. It´s always been like that." she shrugged.
"Exactly. It´s always been like that. Think about it!"
"But that doesn´t change the fact that he is spending too much time with this Kirsten."
"She needs him. She needs help, Lorelai."
"I know. But he is over there all the time. William even asked me if he would move in with her, but I told you that already."
"Did you talk with him about it? Before, I mean?"
"No! He wasn´t here! And when he was he was asleep or the kids were around."
"Buckbuckbuck!" Sookie made.
"I wasn´t scared!" Lorelai protested. Sookie just looked at her.
"I really wasn´t scared. It´s just... I know she lost her husband and her son and I feel really sorry for her, and it´s not that I don´t want to like her, because she is nice.."
"But?"
"But...I can´t like her when I have to hate her everyday because she is the reason why my husband isn´t home when he should be. I miss him and I want to spend some time with him and the kids and not just hear him when he comes home in the middle of the night and crushes down on the bed. Since she showed up here everything changed and you know how much I hate changes!"
"You want your slave back?" Sookie laughed. Lorelai had to smile.
"No, I want my Luke back. My Luke, mine and only mine. I´m willing to share with the kids from time to time, but certainly not with some old friend of him he hasn´t seen in years and suddenly intrudes on our life!" Lorelai smiled and took another sip of her coffee.
Luke sat in his former apartment above the diner, staring blankly against the wall. Two hours had passed by with him pacing in the office between the kid´s toys and his old furniture. When he had stumbled over one of Sara´s toys he had kicked it through the room, the pink plastic car bursting in several pieces.
He could not under stand how Lorelai could say what she did. How could she be so selfish? From the second she had walked in the diner he had fulfilled her every wish, and Rory´s too. He had cared for her from the first moment, for both of them. He had made them birthday-cakes, meals, had fixed their house, repaired her car, fixed her shoes, polished her skates, looked after a chicken, brought her ice, made her a santa-burger, drove her to hospital when her father had been sick, build her a chuppah and had lend her 30.000 dollars, that he never got back. But all that had never really mattered. He wasn´t counting these things. He just wanted her to be happy and most of these thing happened years before they started dating.
And now an old friend of him was back and he was happy to see her again, because he had just a handful of old friends he could rely on and she was one of them. Kirsten was back and from the second she had walked into the house Lorelai had treated her like was dirt. She looked at her with disgust and he could literally hear her shouting "finally" when Kirsten went back to her own house. Lorelai hadn´t given her a chance. He should be cool about Christopher and she was treating his friends like crap.
Kirsten was hurt enough. She had lost her husband and her son, for gods sake. He couldn´t even imagine how hurt she must be and he had lost his parents. Lorelai had never really lost anyone. Sure some cousin she hadn´t seen in years, but never anyone she really loved. She had always been the one who chose who would be in her life and who wouldn´t. But he would not accept that his wife wanted him to only care for her. She and the kids were the most important people in his life and that would never change, but he also cared for his friends and he would still help them when they needed it.
He was so disappointed in her right now, he was glad he had been able to get out of the house. He had always been so proud of her. Being the lucky man who got her, the smiling, sparkling, caring woman that she was. Wasn´t she?
At the moment he was thinking that maybe all she cared about was herself, her wishes, her needs.
What he wanted, did it even matter?
The guinea-pigs were just another thing that proved it. He had told her that he did not wanted it, more than once. But she was just going out, doing as she liked and then showed him the facts and he had to deal with it. It always went that way.
When the phone rang her knew it was her. He didn´t pick it up. Ten minutes later it rang again. And again. He couldn´t talk to her at the moment or he would say things he would later regret.
He needed a friend. His best friend was Lorelai. And he couldn´t call Kirsten because she would be even more hurt when he would have to tell her that Lorelai wanted her to disappear as fast as possible and never come back, because she had told him that she liked Lorelai a lot and hoped they could be friends.
He suddenly knew where he could go, took his keys, switched off the lights, then walked downstairs and made sure the sign on the door said "closed". He got into the his truck and drove away.
An hour later he rang the bell and was relieved when Andy opened the door.
"Hey, can I come in?" he asked uncomfortable that he just showed up like that.
"Yeah, sure!" Andy said. He looked at Luke and knew something was wrong.
"Uhm, can I maybe crash here tonight? I don´t want to go home" Luke asked when they sat down on the couch in the small living-room.
"No problem! That´s what friends are for! And now tell me what happened, Butch!"
TBC Please review