Author's Note: I am in no way associated with ASP, the WB, Dorothy Park Drank Here, etc. This is for entertainment purposes only. Please R/R. Enjoy.
A House is not a Home
Chapter 2
No good can come from acting, right?
"I swear to God, Bono better be on the other side of this goddamn door!" Lorelai exclaimed grumpily as she descended the staircase in her pajamas towards her foyer.
She had been sound asleep when the pounding at her door woke her up. She looked over at the clock that read 7:10 and began swearing as she threw her covers off and bounded angrily down the steps.
"I can't do pigtails!" Luke frantically announced as she opened the door and he hurried inside carrying a sleepy looking Isabel. "I can tie knots, catch fish, fix cars, but I can't brush hair!"
"Really? Because when I look at you I think John Frida," Lorelai responded sarcastically as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "You know, I normally kill people that wake me up at ungodly hours."
"I'm sorry, but she wanted pigtails and how can I say no to that? I tried to do them myself, but I pulled too hard and she cried and it freaked me out and I didn't know anyone else I could ask," he explained.
Lorelai couldn't help but smile. He really was trying.
"Do you want me to put pigtails in your hair, hon?" Lorelai asked the little girl who had now shyly laid her head on Luke's shoulder. She looked up at Lorelai for a few seconds and then nodded.
"Okay then, you want to come upstairs with me and pick out some pretty hair ties?" she asked.
"Can Luke come to?" Isabel spoke softly as she lifted her head from Luke's shoulder and smiled at Lorelai.
"Luke can come to," she smiled back.
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"I want the pink sparkly ones!" Isabel exclaimed as she looked through the drawer of hair ties Lorelai had opened for her.
"A girl after my own heart," she smiled. "Come sit over here and we'll make your hair nice and pretty," Lorelai said as she helped the little girl onto the chair in front of her vanity.
"I like pink," Isabel said as she sat down and Lorelai began brushing her hair.
"It's my favorite!" Lorelai replied as she parted Isabel's hair gingerly. "Ya know, the blue ones are jealous that Pinky and Pepto are being used on such pretty, soft hair."
"Pinky and Pepto?" Isabel asked confused.
"Yep, those are the names of the hair ties you picked. The blue ones are Indigo and Sky. They are mad because they only get used in my crazy, frizzy hair, but they say yours is better. It's softer and stays in place when you brush it," Lorelai grinned.
"They can't talk!" Isabel replied.
"Sure they can!" Lorelai assured her as she pulled the first pigtail through and tightened it into place and then walked over to the other side and did the same with the second.
"No they can't!" Isabel insisted.
"Oh yeah?" Lorelai asked as she put the brush down and reached into the drawer pulling out the two blue hair ties and pretended to be them talking in funny voices. Isabel couldn't stop giggling at her.
Luke watched this from the doorframe of Lorelai's bedroom and smiled. She'd only met Lorelai a few minutes ago, but Isabel was already at ease with her and that made him happy. Lorelai always put people at ease right away. His gut had told him that the first day he'd met her during one crazy afternoon at the diner when she came tearing into the place in a caffeine frenzy. She was a little eccentric and unique, but in a good way. He had never met anyone like her and doubted that he ever would. That was part of his attraction to her. She was one of a kind. He thought maybe he should tell her that. He thought he should tell her a lot of things. That was his problem. When it came to her he thought about things, but never acted on them. He thought and felt and longed and wanted but never acted. Even right now he was thinking and she was right there at arm's length. That's where he'd kept her for nearly eight years and that's where she'd remain. He felt better knowing he had her at arm's length then not at all. God knows he didn't want to lose her, especially given his current situation. He'd just keep on thinking and feeling and not acting. He'd go on aching and wanting, but not acting. After all, no good could come from acting, right?
"Penny for your thoughts?" Lorelai's voice woke him up from his trance. He looked over and saw her and Isabel, her hair now sporting two perfectly styled pigtails, staring at him.
"Just thinking how many loony bins would be fighting over you if they saw your hair tie bit," he smiled.
"Denim and Sky do not appreciate the mocking, Snarky McSnark," she replied. "Okay Dizzabel, you're all done."
"That's not my name!" she exclaimed as she hopped down from the chair and looked up at Lorelai with her hands on her hips.
"I know that, silly! It's the special nickname that me, Pinky and Pepto picked out just for you and only we can call you. Is that cool?" she asked.
"That's cool," she replied smiling.
Luke shook his head and laughed, "Come on, kiddo. We gotta get back to the diner. Say thank you to Lorelai."
"Thanks Lor-uh Lora- Lor-," the young girl struggled with her name.
"I think we need a nickname for me, too. What do you say, Dizzabel?" Lorelai asked as she knelt down so that she was eye level with Isabel. "What should my nickname be?"
"La La!" the young girl exclaimed excitedly.
"Like the Teletubbie?" Luke chimed in.
"Hey! You do pay attention to me!" Lorelai said proudly and then turned back to Isabel. "Okay Dizzabel, you can call me La La and only you can call me La La," she said as she gave Luke a warning look.
"Don't worry about me calling you La La," he said. "I have no intention of adding that or Tinky Winky or any other purse carrying puppet names to my daily vocabulary."
"Jerry Falwell will be pleased," Lorelai joked. "I'll see you two at the diner later on?"
"We'll be there," Luke nodded as he walked over to Isabel and reached for her hand. "Ready to go?"
"Okay. Bye La La," she said as she looked at Lorelai and extended her arms for a hug.
"Bye Dizzabel," Lorelai smiled as she embraced the little girl.
Luke watched the two of them and could hardly contain his happiness. He had the overwhelming urge to profess his love to this woman who had been so sweet to the little girl he was now raising. He knew he couldn't do that though. He knew that'd be acting and he had already decided not to act. No good could come from acting. Thinking and wanting and longing would just have to do.
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"Luke inherited a kid? I swear I'm back at Yale less than twelve yours and I miss everything," Rory said with disappointment as she put her laundry away while trying to balance her cell phone between her cheek and her shoulder.
"Yep," Lorelai replied as she headed towards Luke's. "She's sweet and adorable, too. She has dark hair and big blue eyes. She looks like she really could be Luke's kid."
"Are you saying Luke's sweet and adorable?" Rory teased.
"You know what I meant," Lorelai replied defensively. "Speaking of Luke, I am right outside the diner so I better hang up before I face his wrath for breaking his no cell phone policy."
"Nice job avoiding my question," Rory replied. "Be sure to call me if Taylor gets a girlfriend or Kirk acts normal. I don't want to be out of the loop on all of the unexpected events occurring in the Hollow."
"You got it. Bye, hon."
"Bye, mom."
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"Lorelai!" Babette's shrieking voice called out from in front of Luke's as Lorelai crossed the street towards the diner.
"Hey Babette," Lorelai replied. "Everything okay?"
"Oh sugar, it's hitting the fan in there!" she screeched. "A couple stiffs in suits came in about two minutes ago. They said they're lawyers for Hannah, Luke's cousin and Bobby's sister. They came to contest the will! They don't think a single man like him is suited to raise that little girl. Patty took poor Isabel out of there before things got crazy. The nerve of them! They think she'd be better off with Hannah and her husband. They don't know how lucky that cute little thing is to have Luke. I just wanna kick 'em in the family jewels!"
"I don't believe it!" Lorelai said angrily. "They can't take her away from Luke. She just lost her parents and now she'll have to lose the guy who has been caring for her for the last few weeks. I can't let this happen. I won't let this happen."
"I know, sugar. They'd both be a mess if they separate them, but what can ya do?" Babette replied.
Lorelai sighed as she looked inside the diner and saw Luke screaming at the two men standing before him at the counter.
"Drastic times call for drastic measures, Babette."
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"You can both go to hell and take my cousin Hannah there with you if you think for a second I am going to give up custody of that little girl," Luke screamed at the two men as all the diner patrons looked on.
"Mr. Danes, please calm down," one of the men pleaded as he pulled papers from his briefcase. "Mrs. Lawson thinks that the child would be better off in a home with two parents."
"Tell Mrs. Lawson thanks for the concern, but Isabel already has a two parent home," Lorelai said as she made her way into the diner and around the counter to stand beside Luke and smiled at the two lawyers in front of her.
"I'm sorry, the two parent home she already lives in?" one of the men asked.
"The one Luke and I have provided her with," she said with a smile as she put her hands behind her back and quickly moved the diamond ring her Gran had left to her in her will from her right ring finger to her left.
"Lorelai…" Luke said completely dumbfounded by her actions.
"Honey, it's fine. I know we wanted to keep it quiet because of everything going on in your life with Bobby and his wife and then Isabel having to adjust, but I think it's time we let them in on our dirty little secret," Lorelai smiled.
"I'm sorry, are you his wife?" the second lawyer asked.
"Well no, not officially," Lorelai responded as she winked at Luke and watched as he stared back blankly. She then placed her right hand around his waist and her left hand on his chest to be sure that the ring was visible to both lawyers before she spoke again. "I'm his fiancé."
Luke looked at her in amazement. When the moment needed seizing and a friend needed help, Lorelai had acted.
