Yay! Today is my birthday! Yay! Yippy! Let's all celebrate with Ducky! Ok, so I decided to give you an extra long chapter, 10 pages total, because I will be getting the majority of gifts today, and you guys deserve one because you put up with me every chapter. And the people who actually review deserve it more of course, and I would love to say that at the end of this chapter, if you could leave me the birthday gift of a review, that would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and there is the beginning of drama in this chapter. Happy?
Disclaimer: The one thing I won't be getting on my birthday is Gilmore Girls. That makes me sad.
Italics are both thoughts and flashbacks.
Chapter 17: Symbols of My Love
"Luke!" Lorelai shouted as she walked into the diner.
"What?" Luke sighed. He had been expecting her for the past twenty minutes.
"I want a burger, fries, more fries, some coffee, pie, cherry preferably, two chocolate donuts, more coffee, ah…can I have some toast, with grape jelly, pancakes, are you getting this all down?" she asked as she saw the astonished look on Luke's face. "What?" she asked.
"Are you seriously going to eat all of that?" she asked.
"Luke, have you hit your head lately? Of course I am going to eat it all! Now chop chop!" she said as she clapped her hands. Luke let out a sigh and retreated into the kitchen to make Lorelai's food. Lorelai then walked over to one of the tables and sat down.
Five minutes later Rory walked in pushing a sleeping Jake in the stroller.
"Hey babe. Back already?" Lorelai asked as Rory sat across from her at the table.
"Well I know I promised I would take him off your hands for the whole day, but I just got a call from Paris and she needs me there in an hour to do something having to do with the paper. She didn't tell me what but it's Paris so she probably screwed up or something like that. Is that ok?" Rory asked, not wanting to upset her mother.
"Yeah! It's fine! I'm goin' to do some shopping for pop tarts and coffee later. Luke refuses to buy it now." Lorelai said.
"No! What is he thinking? Cutting off a Gilmore from her precious life!" Rory exaggerated.
"I don't know! I think we might have to up his dosage!" she suggested.
"Whose dosage?" Luke asked as he walked over with all of her food.
"Yours!" Lorelai said excitedly. Luke looked at her oddly. "Hey, where's the coffee?" she asked as she finally noticed the absence of her lovely choice a death-inducer.
"The doctor said no. you heard her, I heard her, I am pretty sure that I could get a signed confession from her that she said that. We have gone over this already. No coffee." he said as he placed the last plate on the table as he remembered the doctor's appointment.
"Yay! Aren't you happy? Huh, huh? Aren't you Luke?" she asked as they walked into the building, arm in arm. Lorelai was jumping up and down while Luke was trying to hide how amused he was.
"Ecstatic." He responded dryly.
"Oh come on! Luke! This is your baby!" Lorelai said as she placed her hand on her abdomen. "You get to see it on a screen! Well, maybe. But we will definitely be getting confirmation that you are indeed going to be a daddy! How can you not be excited about that?" she asked in disbelief.
"By not being you." he said.
"You know you love me. I mean come one, with this face, look at the pout," she demanded.
"Lorelai."
"Look at the pout." she repeated.
"fine." he said as he looked straight into her eyes. God she's beautiful. He thought.
"Isn't it a good pout?" she asked.
"Yes, it is a good pout." Luke said as if she had exhausted him with that one little look.
"Yes it is. So boy or girl?" she asked.
"Ah," he sighed. "We have discussed this at least 7 times in the past 24 hours. And each time what do I tell you?" he asked.
"Actually it's 8 times." Lorelai corrected.
"I tell you that I don't care. And then you go on about those lists, and I tell you how pointless you are, and then you go on about how I don't love you and how I am mean, and how I am going to give birth next time." he rants.
"You forgot coffee. Coffee is normally in that conversations somewhere." she corrected again. Luke threw up his hands and sighed.
"The work!" he complained. Lorelai laughed at this.
"May I help you?" the woman at the reception desk asked.
"Ah, yes. Lorelai Gilmore." Lorelai said as the woman flipped through one of her books.
"Yes. So if you could please go and take a seat the doctor should be with you shortly." the secretary said as she pointed to an area of about ten chairs.
"Ok, thank you." Lorelai said as she led Luke over to the chairs.
Luke and Lorelai sat in silence for ten minutes, both thinking about being parents again, both in their own little worlds.
"Lorelai Gilmore?" the secretary said.
Lorelai stood up and pulled Luke with her. That's right; he hasn't ever been to one of these. She reminded herself.
As they entered the room, Luke got a queasy feeling. Lorelai noticed this.
"You ok?" she asked.
"The smell." he said. "Where's the bathroom?" he asked. Lorelai pointed him in the direction of the bathrooms and he went straight towards it. And I thought it was just hospitals. She thought. As soon as Luke exited the room, the doctor entered.
"Hello Lorelai. Nice to see you again. So what are you here for today?" she asked as she pulled out a folder.
"Well I think I'm pregnant." Lorelai said happily.
"That's wonderful. So…the father is…" she started. She didn't know where the father for the last child was but she had noticed that there had been an absence of one. Where was the father of this one?
"In the bathroom actually. He doesn't like the smell of hospitals or doctors' offices." she said.
"Ok, so when was the last time you menstruated?"
"It must have been about seven weeks ago I think." Lorelai answered. "And I took a home pregnancy test and it came out positive." Lorelai added.
"Ok, well I'm just going to take some blood to just check to see if you're pregnant." she said as Luke walked in.
"What'd I miss?" he asked. Lorelai stood up and kissed him lightly.
"Nothing much. We were just talking about how I get to have half of the blood taken out of me to make sure that I am pregnant." she exaggerated.
"Well actually, I think that we can take the blood now, and I can rush it to the lab and then I will come back and talk to you about some things. Ok?" the doctor said.
"Sure." Lorelai said hesitantly.
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"So, it seems you are pregnant. Congratulations to both of you. Now I need to talk to you about your eating habits." the doctor said when she came back 15 minutes later.
Lorelai sighed while Luke just glanced at Lorelai quickly.
"So, you have said before that you are a big fan of the coffee, well you need to either cut down or just cut it out completely. Caffeine is not good for the baby. And also, I would like to see you cut back on your foods that are packed with sugar. You should start to eat more fruits, vegetables, and things like that." she said.
"What did I tell you about the coffee?" Luke said to Lorelai.
"That it's bad, but you think that staying up past 10 is bad grandpa." she said to him. "You can't cut me off from my life! I need the coffee!" she whined stubbornly.
"Well I guess cutting back as much as possible is the right answer then. I will give you some prenatal vitamins before you leave also. Now, onto risks." she said. Lorelai's pout immediately turned into a frown. "So you are 37 now, I believe?" the doctor asked.
"38 actually." Lorelai corrected.
"Ok, well there are many risks of older woman having children. I am sure you know all of these from the last time you were pregnant?" the doctor asked.
"Yes I do remember." Lorelai answered.
"And you do know that it is more likely for you to miscarry?" she asked. Lorelai hadn't thought about this.
"Well I just assumed seeing as everything else that can go wrong is more likely as you get older." Lorelai joked trying to lighten the mood. Luke looked like he was about to have a stoke. He was freaking out inside and was having trouble taking in all of this information. Lorelai would have to fill him in later about the 'other problems' that could occur.
"Well it is not extremely common, and after the first ten weeks, it becomes very rare that you find a woman having a miscarriage. You are in your 7th week so you are pretty safe so far." the doctor informed. Luke let out a big breathe that he had been holding in for the past five minutes.
"There is also the chance that your child could have a range of defects. Do either of you have any history of certain defects in your families?" the doctor asked. Luke's jaw almost fell to the floor. So along with those extra toes and limbs, his kid would have a hole in its back? He thought.
"But no one listens to the doctor!" Lorelai said as she waved off his comment. "Plus she said that I had to cut down as much as possible. I didn't have to be cut off from it completely." she pointed out.
"I think you could possibly cut coffee out of your diet completely." he said with a smile on his face.
"And I think you are crazy. Get me coffee! Don't make me throw a temper tantrum in front of all of your paying customers Luke." she threatened.
"One cup! And that's it! No more! I refuse to give you any more today after this cup!" he told her as he went to go retrieve the coffee pot and a cup for Lorelai.
"Wrapped around my finger." Lorelai said contently as she and Rory watched him grab their life in a cup.
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"Lorelai Hunny! Lorelai!" Babette called in her raspy voice as she ran as fast as she could towards Lorelai who was pushing Jake home in the stroller.
"Babette. What's the matter?" Lorelai asked worriedly.
"Is it true?" Babette asked with her eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
"Is what true?" Lorelai asked. She was now extremely confused.
"Is it true you're pregnant?" Babette asked as if it was a normal thing to ask someone if they are pregnant.
"Luke will be so happy to know it's out." Lorelai laughed to herself.
"So it's true?" Babette asked, trying to confirm Kirk's statement.
"Yes it's true. How did you hear that?"
"well Rory bought a pregnancy test a week or so ago and you told me yesterday that Rory hasn't dated in a while and you are the only other person I could think she was getting it for." Babette said as she flailed her arms in the air.
"How about Paris? Or Lane? Or another one of her friends." Lorelai suggested.
"I didn't think about that. But you are still pregnant?" Babette asked worriedly.
"Well I don't think this thing has popped out of me in the past five minutes so I have to say yes." Lorelai said trying to hold back the laughter that she could feel rise within her.
"Oh, ok. Well I have to go tell Patty! Bye doll!" She said as she rushed over to her house. "Morey!" She yelled as she ran.
"Yeah?" He yelled back.
"Lorelai's pregnant again!" Babette screeched again.
"Congratulations!" Morey yelled to Lorelai.
"Thanks. You guys take care!" Lorelai yelled back as she made her way into her own house.
She stepped into the house and unbuckled the sleeping eighth month old from the stroller and carefully carried him up the stairs.
It had been two weeks since Luke and Lorelai had found out that there would be a new addition to the family. For this reason, they had given more money to Tom to finish Jake's room which would soon become Jake's and the new baby's room.
She opened the door to the room. It had a light yellow painted wall. Lorelai had wanted to put some elephant wall paper up, but Luke had thought that it would be too girl. How Luke had found elephants to be girly, Lorelai would never know. Of course they had been ballerina elephants so that might have caused Luke to say no. they had later resolved to wait to decorate the room further only after they had found out the sex of the baby.
Lorelai turned on the light to reveal the dark blue carpet that covered the floor. Within the room there was the crib of course in the back left corner of the room. On the other side of the room there was the little dresser that was white with stenciling of little baseballs and baseball bats that Luke had finished two nights previously. It was so sweet to see Luke do that for Jake and Lorelai could only imagine how sweet he would be once they found out the sex of this baby.
"Luke, Hun, come to bed." Lorelai urged Luke who was stenciling the baseball paraphernalia onto the dresser.
"Just give me a few more minutes." he answered without looking up.
"Luke, Jake is not going to care when you finish that, now come to bed. I'm tired and the bed feels empty without you." she said quietly.
"Five minutes." he said.
"One."
"Four."
"Two."
"three." he bargained.
"Fine, three. But then I better see your butt in bed mister. What would I do without you as my pillow?" she asked.
"Ah…use the real one?" he suggested. Lorelai sighed.
"Just finish your stencils. You have two minutes now." she said as she walked back into her bedroom with the last image in her head being of Luke working vigorously to finish the stencil work he put so much time into.
There was also a bed stand right next to the door that had a petit, cream colored lamp on it. Right next to the stand was the rocking chair that both Lorelai and Luke used, depending on who was getting out of bed to get Jake. The small lamp was what was lighting the room, but it was only giving off a small glow, enough so that Lorelai could find her way over to the crib.
She placed the sleeping child into the crib, kissing his forehead and heading towards the door. She turned the light off, turned the baby monitor on, and then left the room.
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"Sookie!" Lorelai said as she bounced into the kitchen.
"Why you're in a very good mood today. Why? Hey, where's Jake?" Sookie asked as she accidentally flung boiling water into some guy's eye. He stumbled back as two others rushed to his side.
"It's Thursday. It's Luke's day to watch him!" Lorelai said happily.
"Ok, so why are you so happy?" Sookie asked.
"No reason. Well, except for last night with Luke. Thanks for watching Jake while we went to dinner by the way." Lorelai thanked.
"Your welcome. Did you guys get a chance to…you know?" Sookie asked.
"Well after we picked up Jake and put him to bed we did." Lorelai answered as she poured herself some coffee. She put it up to her lips.
"No!" Sookie screamed as she lunged for the cup. She missed her target by about three feet and ran into one of the new staff that they had hired earlier that month.
"Are you ok Sookie?" Lorelai asked worriedly.
"I'm fine, just don't drink the coffee." Sookie said as she was helped up by three of the staff.
"What? Why?" Lorelai asked.
"Because Luke gave me strict orders not to let you have coffee." Sookie admitted.
"When did he tell you this?" Lorelai asked in astonishment.
"Ah, a week ago. Right after the town found out about you being pregnant." Sookie told Lorelai. She had a hint of guilt in her voice.
"Ah! Sookie! You never ever listen to Luke! You listen to me! I'm your best friend!" Lorelai said.
"I know, but I have heard how bad caffeine is for the baby while you are pregnant. I was pregnant once. And then another time before that too. I know these things." Sookie said.
"But it's just a clump of cells attacked to my uterus! It resembles a french-fry!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"Fine, but don't tell Luke." Sookie pleaded.
"I won't tell him you let me drink the coffee but I will give him hell for thinking he could turn my best friend against me!" Lorelai said as she stormed out of the kitchen and into her office. She dialed the all too familiar phone number to the diner and waited for someone to pick up.
"Luke's."
"What were you thinking?" Lorelai yelled at him through the phone.
"Lorelai?" Luke asked.
"No! The tooth fairy! Of course it's me! How dare you go behind my back and have Sookie refuse to give me coffee! Lucas Danes!" she yelled at him. Those hormones were rising.
"Lorelai, too much coffee is not good for the baby." he stated calmly.
"I don't give a damn! You can make me eat salads, and you can make me take those disgusting vitamins every morning but under no circumstances will you ever, I repeat, ever, mess with my coffee! Do you understand me Luke? If you try and make me go one day without it, I will kill you! I will make you wish that you had never been born. Now I understand that it was cute this whole 'no coffee' thing for the first few weeks, but now it is starting to piss me off! Do not ever come between me and my coffee, again!" she yelled as she hung up the phone. What the hell was that? She thought. What am I doing? I hate mood swings. Well I guess I have to call him back.
"Luke's" a very annoyed diner owner answered.
"I'm sorry." Lorelai said.
"Lorelai--" he started.
"It's these stupid hormones. They start off horribly. I promise it should get better. But I am so sorry. I didn't mean to explode on you like that. Especially over coffee." she said. How much do you want to bet this conversation would win for America's funniest home video?
"It's ok. I just want you to know that I did it only because I don't want this kid to have an extra eye and an arm sticking out of it's back." he said.
"Well they would be unique. You gotta give 'em that." she joked.
"So we're good?" he asked.
"We're good, and I just want to tell you that I have cut down Luke. I don't drink more than a cup a day. I do know that caffeine is not good for the baby, but it's my body. And I have it all under control. Ok?"
"Ok. So I'll see you at what time?" Luke asked.
"Well I have to stay late tonight. I will probably be home until 7. What about you?" she asked him. God she hated late nights.
"I am planning on closing up around 5:30. I have that crib that I'm working on and I want to get some of that done." he told her.
Luke had also been working on the new baby's crib over the past couple weeks too. Lorelai would just stay up late and watch him work. Luke would always tell her to just go to bed, but she was so happy just watching Luke work on the crib. Luke was so sweet and that was what Lorelai loved about him. It was so cute how he talked to the baby when he thought that she was sleeping and how he talked to Jake when he was rocking him to sleep. Lorelai just loved Luke.
"Ok, so I'll see you later tonight. Bye Luke."
"Bye." and then they both hung up.
Lorelai walked back into the kitchen to see how Sookie was doing along with the guy with the newly burnt eye.
"Sookie. Hey." she said as she entered the kitchen. "Did you rush that guy to the hospital?" Lorelai asked.
"What guy?" Sookie asked.
"The guy…with the hot water…that was splashed in his eye." Lorelai tried to refresh Sookie's memory.
"Someone got hot water splashed in their eye?" Sookie asked as she started to freak out. Lorelai looked over at one of the guys who nodded. So they did go to the hospital.
"No, I must be mistaken. Nothing happened Sookie." Lorelai said trying to calm her friend down.
"Oh, ok. I thought you meant that someone here got hot water splashed in there eye! I mean, who would do such a thing?" she asked as she started to slow her breathing.
"I don't know Sookie. Maybe someone on the verge of insanity." Lorelai suggested.
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Three weeks had passes and each night Lorelai had ended up staying at work until 7 each night. She kept thinking to herself that she would never leave work early again. Ever. She was now in her 13 week of pregnancy and the vomiting had started to subside.
"Hey Lorelai. I'm leaving now. You'll be ok?" Sookie asked. It was 6, the time that Sookie normally left the inn.
"Yah, I'll be fine. You go home and spend some time with your man." Lorelai joked knowing that Sookie would probably spend the whole night trying to put Martha to sleep. Poor Sookie.
"Night Hunny. Make sure you don't over work yourself." Sookie said.
"Well I need to get caught up because of me leaving early all of those nights a few weeks ago. But I'll make sure to leave soon. You just go home and try to relax. You deserve it."
"Ok, bye." Sookie giggled.
"Bye Sook." Lorelai said cheerfully. Her smile vanished when she saw the stack of paper in front of her. This is going to be a long night. She then picked up her pen and went back to work.
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It was 9 before Lorelai realized that she had to get home. She hadn't even noticed the time and she hadn't thought to call before she left. She quickly gathered her things and headed out of her office.
She couldn't remember the last time she had been here this late. Probably never. It was silent and empty. The dining room looked so deserted and no one was to be seen in any other room except for a maid that was sweeping the hallway. Lorelai made sure the computer at the front was turned off and she made sure that all of the things at the front desk were in order before she made her way out to her jeep.
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"Ah!" Lorelai screamed as she opened the door and everything she was holding fell to the floor. "Damn it!" she said quietly. It was only after she had put her purse by the door and had picked up the things that had fallen to the floor that she noticed that all the lights were off except for the one for the hallway upstairs. What? She thought.
As she walked past the kitchen something caught her eye. She walked into the kitchen and saw candles. There were candles on the table. They looked as if they had been lit and then blown out a while ago. She then saw the empty plate at her spot at the table. In Luke's place there was plate with some food still on it. What is going on? What--oh no! She thought.
She dropped what she was carrying and raced up the stairs. She looked into their bedroom. The light was on but the covers were pulled back on Luke's side of the bed and the door was wide open. Lorelai then heard something that heard like whispers coming from Jake's room. She moved closer and pressed her ear against the door.
"…and if that looking glass gets broke, daddy's goin' buy you a Billy goat. And if that Billy goat won't pull, daddy's goin' buy you a cart and a…bull." Lorelai could hear Luke singing a lullaby to Jake and by the sound of it, Luke knew it pretty well. How long had he been singing these lullabies to Jake without Lorelai knowing? Lorelai could hear Luke get up from the rocking chair that he must have been sitting in and walk across the room. Lorelai waited for Luke to come out. When the door opened and Luke saw Lorelai, he just walked right by her.
"I'm so sorry Luke. I really am I just--" she started to apologize.
"whatever." he said as he pulled off his shirt and pants. It was too hot to wear much to bed.
"I really am. I just lost track of time. And I have needed to get caught up lately because of those few weeks in the past that I spent most of my time with you and— " she rambled.
"It's fine." Luke said as he climbed into bed and faced away from Lorelai.
"Luke." Lorelai pleaded.
"What do you want from me!" he yelled as he sat straight up.
"I want to talk about this." she said.
"You said you would be home at 7. You somehow lost track of time for two hours Lorelai? And even then you could have called!"
"I'm sorry." she said quietly. Luke's mouth was open and his jaw was about three inches from the ground. Luke grabbed his pillow off the bed and walked out of the room with Lorelai walking close behind. "What are you doing Luke?" she asked.
"I can't sleep in the same bed as you tonight. I'll see you in the morning." he said as he walked down the stairs.
"Luke! I said I'm sorry! And I did lose track of time." She said trying to convince him. But what Lorelai didn't know was that Luke's attitude was for another reason.
"How do you lose track of time for two hours!" he yelled.
"I don't know." she whispered. They both stood there for a few seconds before Luke spoke up.
"Goodnight." he said seriously as he went to retrieve a blanket from the closet in the hallway.
Lorelai slowly retreated back to her room where she got under the covers. She curled up and cried herself to sleep.
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Luke lay on the couch just staring at the white ceiling. All his thoughts were swimming around what had happened earlier and what Lorelai didn't know she did. She had come home the night that Luke had planned to propose. And that broke Luke's heart. He had had this planned out for the past week, and he had wanted to propose ever since he had come back 4 months ago.
He thought about how he had made gotten home at 5 and started making the food the moment he stepped foot into the house that evening. He thought of how while the food cooked he had carefully placed the frame of the crib together, making sure that it was safe to hold the weight of ten children. He thought of how he only took a break from that to check on Jake who was quietly playing with his toys and to make sure that the food was perfect. He had made desert for her. He had made her a cherry pie; he had done everything besides putting out alcohol.
By 7 he had gotten Jake to go to sleep miraculously, and Luke was lighting the candles he had placed on the table. He had the box that contained the ring in his pocket. He had made sure to shave and clean the house, and by 7:30 he had started to get worried.
He had sat at that table for an hour. An hour he just sat there and waited. He called the inn but no one answered. He called her cell phone; it was turned off. He had spent 60 minutes waiting patiently, alone, and sad, in the kitchen. At 8, he just decided to grab a few bites and then go up stairs and do some reading. He took a bite of the food on his plate and then deserted it. He blew out the candles, turned off all of the lights, and then walked up the stairs.
His heart had broken in half at that moment. What was so important that she couldn't call him and say she was going to be late? If something had happened to her or Rory, the hospital would have contacted him by now. But no. no call. No warning. No 'I'm running a little late tonight, I'll be home in an hour.'
Luke lay on the bed reading the baby books he had picked up a few weeks previously while in Hartford for a meeting with the bank. He had never been so mesmerized by a concept before. Luke was fascinated with the thought of a little baby growing inside of Lorelai. Whenever the baby was mentioned, Luke's face lit up. Luke had never seen this baby but there it was, the love. He loved this little clump pf cells more than you would think. Normally he would deny it and say that men can't love clumps of cells, but Luke didn't deny it. If someone asked why he was so happy he would answer 'Lorelai had an appointment today.' or just the simple 'I'm going to be a father again.' answer. Whenever he and Lorelai would go to an appointment, his eyes would widen at the sight of his baby on the ultrasound machine. A smile would spread across his face, and everything in life was wonderful.
At around 8:45, he had heard Jake crying and had gone into sooth him. He had sung him songs that Luke's mother had sung to him as a child. Luke had talked to Jake about being a big brother and how a big brother should always protect his little brother or sister. Luke was just so wrapped up in his kids. He had never seen why people do the things they do for their kids until he had held his child in his arm. That night had been no different. Luke had held Jake and sung him songs, watched him drift off into a deep slumber, and then had thought about how when Jake was a little older, Luke would teach him how to play baseball, how to add his numbers, how to ride a bike, how to fish, how to be a big brother.
Luke had heard Lorelai scream but he had ignored it. He was not in the mood for her apologies. He was not in the mood for her jokes. He was not in the mood to rip his heart anymore. So when he came out and she tried to explain things, he just blew her off. He had planned the whole evening out. He had made more food than Lorelai could eat in a year. He had cleaned the house, lit candles, and gotten the ring. He had sat there waiting for her to come home. He had waited for an hour while she was out doing god knows what. He had planned to propose and he felt like he had been rejected in some way. He couldn't sleep with that in the same bed. He couldn't stand the thought that she was lying happily next to him while he was miserable. So he exploded and slept on the couch.
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So, who likes it? Remember, it's my birthday today, so give me those pretty little presents wrapped up in nice little words. Let me just say that I like long reviews the best, hint, hint. Tell me what you like, tell me what you don't like, tell me what you think is funny. Is it too rushed? Do you have any ideas as to what is going to happen next? What will Luke do? What will Lorelei do? How will Jake and the baby be affected by this?
REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!
