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 6: I can see your face….

"Okay, Dizzabel," Lorelai said to the little girl as she opened the door to Luke's and they sat down at the nearest available table. "Remember how we practiced?"

"Yep!" the little girl exclaimed as she climbed onto her chair.

"Okay, let's see what you got," Lorelai said as she hung her purse on the back of her seat. "Bottom lip out."

"Bottom lip out," Isabel repeated as she did as Lorelai instructed.

"Head tilted," she continued as she watched with amusement as Isabel titled her head. "Good girl! Now, bring it home with the sad eyes."

Isabel nodded before demonstrating the look Lorelai was asking for.

"That's my girl," Lorelai smiled as she watched her and then noticed Luke heading towards them. "Here he comes, wait for the signal."

"What did you two do today?" Luke asked as he walked over with a coffee pot and mug and poured some for Lorelai.

"We signed our little Dizzabel over here up for beginner ballet classes with Miss Patty."

"I get to wear a tutu!" Isabel exclaimed with a bright smile.

"You hear that, Luke? A tutu. Are you jealous?" Lorelai teased.

"I'm crying on the inside," Luke said as he rolled his eyes.

"And I am going to play tee-ball!"

"Yep," Lorelai nodded. "She signed up for the Stars Hollow all-girls tee-ball league ages three to five. According to Taylor, it's the first of its kind in our little town. Dizzabel is a pioneer. I hear Penny Marshall is thinking of coming here to film a sequel to A League of their Own."

"Tee-ball, huh? That sounds like it will be fun," Luke smiled.

"It will be!" Lorelai beamed. "Wait until you hear who is coaching her team!"

"Who?"

"You!" Isabel grinned excitedly.

"No way," Luke said shaking his head as he glared at Lorelai knowing she was the one to blame. She just hung her head low over her coffee cup and tried her best to avoid his gaze. "There is no way I am coaching an all girls tee-ball team."

"But we told Taylor you would and Isabel has her heart set on it!" Lorelai said as she turned her head from Luke and gave the little girl a quick wink.

"Pleeeease Luke?" Isabel asked as she followed Lorelai's earlier instructions and gave Luke the look they had spent the morning perfecting.

"Yeah Luke, pleeeease?" Lorelai asked as she turned back towards Luke wearing the same face as Isabel.

Every part of him wanted to go into a long rant on how he couldn't deal with little girls and organized sports, but when he saw the two of them staring back at him with matching expressions of pleading on their faces, he knew he was defenseless. As much as he hated to admit it, Jess was right. There were some blue-eyed brunette girls he just couldn't refuse.

Instead of wasting his breath ranting, Luke just sighed.

"When does the season start?"

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"You got Luke to coach a girls Tee-ball team?" Rory asked her mother in astonishment as she sat flipping through channels in her dorm room and talked on her cordless phone.

"Yep," Lorelai said with a smile as she went through the mail in front of her on the kitchen table. "I taught her the Bambi face and he didn't even attempt to put up a fight. It was kind of pathetic, really."

"I can't believe it," Rory replied as she shook her head. "Luke coaching a team, you cheering them on and taking Isabel to ballet class. All you need is to have about 15 more kids and get a dog that lives to be 187 and you're the Camden's."

"Scary, right? I should probably invest in an SUV to go for the full soccer, well, tee-ball mom effect. Luke's gas guzzling rant would totally be worth it."

"Dan Quayle would be proud. You're the ideal suburban family."

"Just promise to put us out of our misery when Luke joins the NRA and I sign up for the DAR."

"No shotguns or salmon puffs, got it."

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"What did you just say?" Jess asked Luke as he stuffed legal documents into his messenger bag and grabbed his keys.

"I said I am not going to be around when you get back here on Friday. Lorelai, Isabel, and I are having dinner with her parents and before that I have to coach her tee-ball team," Luke repeated as he adjusted the phone under his chin and handed Andrew the BLT he'd ordered.

"I'm sorry, one more time. I couldn't hear you over the sound of the whip cracking," Jess teased.

"Do you want to stay at the apartment or not?" Luke replied angrily. "I'll leave the key above the door for you. Do you need me to repeat the rules?"

"I followed the rules last time, didn't I? I promise, I'll be out of there as soon as my job interview in Hartford is over."

"Good," Luke nodded as the sound of an incoming call beeped on his phone. "I gotta go, that's the other line."

"Later."

"Luke's."

"Luke?" a woman's voice called from the other end of the phone.

"Yeah?"

"It's Hannah. How are you?"

Luke was shocked to hear the voice of his cousin, the same cousin who had sent lawyers to his diner and tried to take Isabel away from him less than a month ago, talking to him over the phone as if nothing had happened.

"What the hell do you want?

"Well, hello to you, too."

"I'm sorry, allow me to rephrase," Luke answered dryly. "Hello, Hannah. I'm good, thanks for asking. What the hell do you want?"

"Much better," she said sarcastically. "I don't want to take up too much of your time. I know you're busy, but I just wanted to apologize for the lawyers and everything. I was trying to look out for Isabel's well being and I didn't know you were planning to be married. I think it's great and wanted to call and extend my congratulations. You deserve to be happy."

"Thanks," Luke mumbled as he took the phone with him into the storeroom and began unpacking boxes.

"I also wanted to let you know that Kevin and I will be in Stars Hollow in a few weeks just to catch up. I've already called Lizzie and told her that we must have dinner together. She's said such wonderful things about your fiancé and I just can't wait to meet her. Is May 21st good for you?"

"I guess, but I dunno if Lor…"

"Wonderful!" Hannah interrupted before Luke could finish. "We'll see you then."

"But I dunno if…" Luke repeated, but it was too late. Hannah had already hung up and for the second time in less than a week, Luke found himself roped into a dinner he would do anything to get out of.

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For years Hannah Lawson had lived in the shadow of her brother, Bobby. He had been praised for his devotion to his family and his unparalleled work ethic. On the other hand, Hannah had spent years in his shadow. She had screwed up continuously throughout her life and her parents never let her forget it. She was unable to hold down a job for more than a few months, she would beg for money and promise to pay it back but never did, and her choice in a husband showed that her ability to judge character was also lacking. He was lazy and unreliable and her parents had made it clear that they did not approve in her choice of a spouse. She knew that's why Bobby had left Isabel in Luke's care. He didn't think she could do it. He thought she'd mess up again and make the wrong choices, but she knew better. She'd show everyone in her family that Luke and Bobby weren't the only dependable ones. She'd bring Isabel back to Colorado if for nothing more than the sheer satisfaction of proving everyone who'd ever doubted her wrong.

"Why do we have to go to Connecticut?" Kevin moaned to his wife as he plopped down next to her on the sofa as she hung up the phone. "I don't feel like participating in a family reunion."

"This trip is strictly business," Hannah explained. "I am on a mission to find any skeletons hiding in my cousin Luke's closet. I talked to James and Brad the other night. They said they both found it odd that this woman, this Lorelai, just happened to rush into the diner and save the day for Luke. Considering he's only been divorced a few weeks, I am inclined to agree with them. He's hiding something, and I have every intention of finding out what it is."

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"Hey Luke," Lorelai called out as she walked into the kitchen carrying a pile of clothes. "Do you have anything that needs to go to the cleaners? I'm going to stop by there on my way to the Inn tomorr….did you get a haircut?"

She found him standing at the stove, stirring a pot of something that smelled like heaven. He had changed into a long sleeved gray t-shirt and sweatpants and he appeared to be freshly shaven and his hair trimmed short the way he had it when Rory had graduated Chilton last year. Lorelai smiled at the sight of him. He may be the pefect man she thought to herself. He was cooking something that she was certain would be delicious and was looking very fit in his bedtime attire. Lorelai wondered why she hadn't stopped to appreciate these things before, but with him standing there in her kitchen and being so comfortable in her house, it was hard for not to notice the things she couldn't see earlier.

"Lorelai?"

His voice woke her out of her trance just as she was learning to appreciate the site his bottom half in those sweatpants.

"Yeah, sorry," she said as she shook her head and smiled. "I got distracted for a second. What did you say?"

"I said yes to both of your questions."

Lorelai thought back to where her mind was just a few moments ago and couldn't for the life of her remember what she had just said to Luke. Her mind had traveled to a dirty place and she was almost afraid of what it was she had blurted out.

"What did I ask you again?"

"Do I have clothes for the cleaners and did I get a haircut," he said confused by her behavior.

"Right," she nodded as she put the pile of clothes she was carrying on the kitchen table. "When did you get a haircut?"

"Right before I picked Isabel up from Miss Patty's and took her to our first tee-ball meeting tonight. I had an hour, so I decided I get a haircut," he explained as he reached over for some salt and sprinkled a pinch into the pot as he continued stirring. "She's sleeping over at Jamie Whitman's house, by the way."

"Good, it's nice that's she's making friends," Lorelai smiled. "Why did you get a haircut?"

"Who are you, Barbara Walters?"

"Just curious," Lorelai shrugged. "When I left this morning you had hair like George Clooney circa The Facts of Life, now it's more like George Clooney circa ER."

"I wanted to look nice for tomorrow night," Luke said shyly as he turned away from Lorelai and stared intently at the pot of food he was stirring.

"Tomorrow night?" she asked with a smile. "You mean fun with Dick and Emily? You cut your hair for my parents?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Just wanted to look presentable since I am sure they won't approve of this situation or of me."

"Honey, if they approved of any man I was engaged to, fake, real, or otherwise, I would seriously reconsider my impending marriage, fake, real, or otherwise," she grinned. "I think it looks good though. I like that you shaved, too."

"Yeah?" he replied with a smile as he lifted his head up to look at her again.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I can see your face."

She had moved close enough to run her hand over his cheek and then pulled away bashfully after she realized what she was doing.

There was silence between them now and Luke felt himself blush. Maybe he was crazy or maybe it was just wishful thinking, but he swore that something had changed between them. He felt it after the wedding, but he shrugged it off. Now he felt it again. There they were standing in Lorelai's kitchen, him cooking dinner as she watched on making small talk and giving him compliments and touching his face. It was a scenario he'd been dreaming about for over seven years. The two of them together like this. He had sworn long ago that he would never act, never tempt fate and ruin the friendship they had formed, but there was something about this moment, this indescribable moment, that made him think that maybe, just maybe, some good could come from acting. There had been other moments that he didn't take advantage of, but something about this one was different and he knew it shouldn't be wasted. Luke took a deep breath as he threw all of his old rationalizing out the window and did the thing he'd been dying to do since the day she came tearing into his diner many moons ago.

Lorelai felt herself step back startled as he came towards her and put his arm around her waist.

"What are you doin'?"

"Would you just stand still?"