Title: Fires Burning

Rating: A (for very mild, non-descriptive, sexual content)

Genre: LLR

Spoilers: A House Is Not A Home (season 5 finale)

Summary: following the events in Home…

Disclaimer: Like all of the other characters I write about, these are not mine, nor were they ever. I make no profits, other than the rewards of imagination stretched.

Chapter Four

Fires Burning

by xenoprobe

"Lorelai?"

Luke walked in through the front door. Her house was quiet and the lights were off. He toed off his shoes in the foyer and made his way upstairs, hoping to find her asleep in bed. He was wrong and the bed remained untouched. Luke let out a heavy sigh and rethought where to find her.

"Hey." Luke stopped in the doorway. In the low evening light, he could see her silhouette, shaking from tears. Lorelai sucked back her grief long enough to acknowledge him.

He sat down on the single bed and leaned over this woman, this amazing woman, so full of pain. The quietude further punctuated the sadness in the air. Luke ran his hand down her side and she rolled over to face him, Rory's pillow in her clutch.

"It smells like her…" Lorelai wiped tears from her swollen eyes.

"How long have you been here?" He reached out to touch her face and she closed her eyes. She exhaled heavily then sat up.

"I got home sometime late this morning, after Sookie's, you know?" She placed the pillow aside and draped her long legs over Luke's lap. He stroked her thighs as she continued. "I tried to distract myself for a while, went upstairs, tried reading, tried tv… I couldn't do it. So I came in here and tried to sleep."

"Didn't work eh?" His eyes were wide with concern.

"Nope."

"I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner. I was backed up and Caesar was off sick."

"S'Ok. Not like there's anything you can do anyway."

"I could have just been here. That's something." He smiled weakly.

"It is. Something." Luke could see that her tears were far from over and he pulled her right into his lap to hold her close as her sobs returned. With his arms around her, he stood and carried her out of Rory's room, through the kitchen, up the stairs and into her bedroom where he lay her back down.

He pulled off her socks, unbuttoned her blouse and pants and slid the garments off, exposing her delicate skin. Wordlessly, Lorelai stood up, allowing him to remove her bra and panties and she sat back down on the edge of the bed, naked, fragile and sad. Luke returned to her with a plaid flannel shirt and wrapped her in it.

With curtains drawn, Luke urged Lorelai under the sheets. He disrobed unceremoniously and crawled in behind her, curling his body to fit hers. His strong arms held her to his chest and they breathed in unison until her tears began to subside.

"Luke?"

"Yah?"

"Will you do something for me?" Her voice was small and she rolled over in his grip.

"Anything." He kissed her softly, "anything."

"Make love to me?" She studied him, seeing his look of concern shift into that of love. He kissed her again, this time with a passion he had never before expressed. She responded in kind, her body rising to his touch as they kissed away pain and the hollow darkness of the house around them.

For the many, many times they'd had sex, this was something altogether different. This was a smoldering fire, red hot on the outside with a blue core, dangerous and comforting at the same time. This nakedness was raw, exposing. There was nowhere to hide in this passion and as their bodies danced a slow crawl under the comforter, their eyes never parted. It was wordless and yet so full of communication and Luke saw, for the first time, the woman that was Lorelai; the real one, under the Wonder Woman façade. It nearly broke his heart to touch such beauty, his entire body ached for her and she soothed this ache with the open invitation to know her so intimately.

When they fell asleep, the moon was high in the night sky. Lorelai rested her head over the beating of Luke's heart and they remained joined, flesh upon flesh, as the hours dwindled into dawn.

When Lorelai awoke, the morning sunshine was cheerful and birds sang outside her window. She smiled at the memory of the man who'd held her so protectively and she allowed herself the luxury of happiness. Luke was already up, as he always was, and was readying coffee and breakfast in the kitchen downstairs. The novelty of breakfast at Luke's was set aside today as Lorelai stepped into her slippers and robe and made her way towards the yummy smells.

"G'morning you." Luke put down the spatula and wrapped her in an embrace, kissing her neck.

"Back atchya." She smiled and stole a potato from the frying pan, popping it into her mouth as he nuzzled her.

"Work today?" He went back to readying the food and Lorelai replaced the coffee pot with her favourite mug, without missing a drop. Practice makes perfect. She nodded a yes around a mouthful of java.

"Got a group of bird watchers arriving today and I doubt Michel will be forgiving if I sit this one out. With Sookie on mat-leave, he's been pretty stressed and I know my crisis isn't helping things either." Luke placed a plate of food in front of her and Lorelai dove in, heartily and hungrily.

"I've gotta get to the diner but I thought we could go see the house later." He smiled at the sight of Lorelai with a droplet of syrup on her chin. He leaned down and kissed it off.

"The house- right… So you spoke to Taylor?"

"I did. And I think I may have announced us by mistake."

"Announced us?" she looked at him sideways.

"Our engagement. You know how Taylor gets, he just yaks and yaks and before I even knew it, I was telling him we were getting married." Luke cleared his throat, not really knowing how she'd react.

"Well, people are gonna find out right? At least this news won't be accompanied by a floor show." She downed the last few drops of her coffee and stood to kiss Luke on the cheek. "I told Sookie,"

"I know, she attacked me in the street!"

"She's a little nutsy about it all."

"I gathered that."

Lorelai placed her dishes in the sink and returned to Luke by the back door. "So, you're off then?"

"Yup."

"Thanks for breakfast." She smiled widely. "And for last night… and the night before too… and while we're at it, the night before that and,"

"Ok, ok… I do have to get out of here at some point." His laughter was genuine.

"Kiss me Luke." He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to her lips. "Gah- kiss me right and proper diner man." At her insistence, Luke grabbed her wrists and backed her up against the side of the fridge, kissing her desperately. "That's more like it!" she thanked breathlessly.

"Glad to be of service. Later then?"

"Later… I'll come by the diner."

Lorelai smiled and rubbed her tummy as she shut the door behind him. She avoided looking into Rory's room before making her way upstairs to start the day.

(Dragonfly Inn)

The phone was ringing when she arrived. Michel was busy addressing a small group of guests in the front room, unable to break away, so Lorelai grabbed the receiver.

"Dragonfly Inn, Lorelai speaking."

"Mom?" The sound of Rory's voice rang in her ears. "Mom? You there?" Lorelai cleared her throat.

"Yeah, I'm here. Everything alright?"

"Same as..." Rory couldn't decide on what to say or if she should just hang up and forget she'd ever dialed the number.

"It's really busy in here right now, do you want to call me later?"

"Um. No. It's ok. Sorry I called." Her voice trailed off.

"Rory wait!" Lorelai could feel the tension, even over the phone. "I want you to know that you can call me, whenever you need. Busy or not. Anytime. Ok?"

"Ok."

"And Rory?" Lorelai paused, unsure of whether it was the right time to share happy news, "We're getting married. Luke and I." No time like the present and who knew when there would be another happy time anyway.

"That's great mom." Her response was genuine despite the flatness in her voice. "I'll talk to you later, k?"

Before Lorelai could squeeze in an 'I love you', Rory had disconnected, leaving Lorelai cold on an otherwise sunny morning.

Michel rounded the corner and regarded her with disdain.

"So nice of you to grace us with your presence on such a slow day." He stepped behind the desk and leafed through a stack of messages. "The Durham people have called, twice, to ask if you'll reconsider. I told them no, but they want to hear it from you. The handyman finally called back but I told him your boyfriend had already fixed the banister. Sookie called and wants you to call her, she asked me to put Manny on the phone but I said no." He drew in a big breath to finish, "and your mother called."

Lorelai took the messages from his hands and went through them, "I'll call them back. Too late for Mr. Fixit, I'll talk to Sookie this afternoon, and good call not letting her talk to Manny- poor thing is still reeling from her lesson in proper utensil usage, and my mother can go to hell." Lorelai spoke evenly and without emotion; Michel looked at her, a shocked expression on his usually stone face. "My mother and I are in a thing Michel. So, if she happens to call again, don't even bother telling me, I'll deal with her and my father when I'm good and ready, which will be no time soon."

"Ok, mental note, no more answering the phone for Michel." He muttered in the third person. "I've got the bird people all checked in and Manny has the menu all ready to go."

"Thanks Michel. Sorry if I came off a little sour, there's just so much going on." She ran a finger down the list of the Bird Watchers of America, Connecticut Chapter's group and tipped an invisible hat to her colleague and friend. "Thanks again and good job."

"I am, after all, the best." With that, Michel turned on a heel and left for the kitchen.

At lunchtime, Lorelai grabbed her purse and cell phone and headed out the door for Sookie's place. The bird people were out on a nature walk and Michel had had his fill of a low-fat muffin. She called Luke first, to confirm that they were indeed set to go see the Twickham house, now that it was emptied of the museum remnants. Then she called the house to pick up messages, there were none. She dialed Sookie's to remind her of her imminent arrival but there was no answer. When Lorelai rounded the corner to the house, she saw why. Everyone was outside on the porch.

"Lorelai!" Sookie waved.

"Hey kids!" She bounded up the steps, her enthusiasm only slightly forced, and greeted the Melville clan. "How was the doctor's appointment?" She took a seat on the rattan love seat.

"Great, great. Everything's fine. We all got a check up. Jackson's fine after his little, you know, snip snip."

"Hey- right here!" Jackson lifted his head from spoon-feeding Davy.

"Oops, sorry hun. He's a little sore about the subject," she winked.

"And who wouldn't be." Lorelai ginned at the pun. "But you're good, the baby's good?"

"Yup. Clean bill of health, one and all." Her smile was infectious. "You wanna hold the baby?"

"Ah, sure." Lorelai stammered a bit and carefully accepted the swaddled baby. "Look at you Miss thing… Aw Sookie, she's gorgeous. Good job you guys." Jackson nodded his appreciation. "So, no name yet?"

"Nope. Jackson had a few suggestions before she came out, but none of them are her."

"So, no Colgate this time?"

"Thank you no. And no Martha and no Maud."

"Yikes, thank you no indeed!" Lorelai scowled at the thought of such names for such a deliciously pretty girl. "What about Lorelai?"

"Aren't there enough of those around here?" Sookie frowned almost as soon as she said the words. "Sorry. I'm sorry, I forgot."

"Don't worry about it Sook. I'm ok and you're right, this little one needs something special and unique. How about Katy?" Both Jackson and Sookie's heads shot up at the sound of the name.

"Katy." They spoke in unison but declined to jinx.

"Yeah, Katy. It's fiery, it's strong and it's feminine." Lorelai smiled down at the bright-eyed newborn in her arms, "are you a Katy? I think you are…" she cooed.

"I think we've got a name." Jackson declared, reading the look on his wife's face. He rose and bent over the ladies, grinning at his baby girl. "Hello Katy." He paused to see if she responded in any way and she did, attempting to turn her head towards her father's voice. "Yup, she's a Katy."

"Katy and Davy." Sookie said in a sing-song voice, "it's almost too cute, but I love it!"

"Hey, did I just name your baby?" Lorelai looked up, a stunned, happy look on her face.

"You did! Good job!" Sookie leaned over and hugged her best friend before leaning in to kiss Katy on the head.

It wasn't such a bad day after all…

To be continued…

Notes: I'm just creating my own timeline here, so please don't fault me if it doesn't fit in perfectly with the show. I can't get over all the kind words and encouragements; I thank you all for keeping my momentum going. Let me know if I'm still on top of things though, would want to peter out unknowingly!

A small note about Jackson's family name… Melville was the name given on the show until it came to the episode when he runs for Town Selectman. His banners and buttons all read Bellville. So, feel free to choose for yourself, Melville, Bellville… Oprah, Uma…