Author's Note: Thanks for all the wonderful feedback on the last chapter!

Previously in "A New Beginning": Luke and Lorelai went to a singles bar, and the night ended with Luke saying that Lorelai would always have him.

"So where are we going?" Lorelai asked Luke for about the millionth time that night.

"You'll see when we get there!" he told her once again. "Do you have any patience at all?"

Luke was taking her out for a belated birthday dinner. All week she had tried to get him to tell her where they were going, and all week he had refused. She had spent her actual birthday with Rory, but Luke had promised to take her out the night after. Now, her patience – as if she actually had any to begin with – was wearing thin. She wanted to know where he was taking her.

She shook her head. "Nope. C'mon, Luke! Tell me."

"No!"

"But it's my birthday!" she tried.

"It was your birthday yesterday," he reminded her.

"But we're celebrating tonight, Mister," she shot back at him. "Therefore, I deserve special birthday privileges tonight as well."

"What the hell kind of logic is that?"

"My very own special kind of logic. Luke!" she begged.

"Will you shut up and let me drive?"

"But Luke-" she began.

He cut her off, "If you don't behave, there will be no dessert for you tonight."

She gasped. "You wouldn't."

"Try me," he challenged.

Lorelai crossed her arms and sat back against the seat cushion in a huff. A few minutes later, they pulled into a parking lot of a small tavern. "Are we there?" she asked, looking out the passenger side window.

"Yep," he answered, getting out of his truck. "Now was it really that hard being quiet for a few minutes?"

"Yes," she stated as he opened her door and helped her out of his truck. She leaned against him, feigning exhaustion. "Staying quiet took a lot out of me. Need replenishment. Can't walk. Carry me?" she requested, wrapping her arms around his neck and attempting to climb up into his arms.

He placed his hands on her hips and kept her firmly on the ground. "The sooner you stop this, the sooner we can go inside."

"And I get to have dessert?" she questioned.

"You get to have dessert."

She grabbed his hand and they began walking towards the building. "Two pieces of dessert?" she asked sweetly.

"We'll see," he told her, holding the door open for her.

Once inside, an older woman came rushing towards them. "Lucas! You're here!" the woman exclaimed.

"Lucas!" Lorelai teased.

He shot her a look. "No dessert," he reminded her, effectively shutting her up.

The woman gave Luke a hug before turning her attention to Lorelai. "Now, who do we have here?"

"Maisy, this is my friend Lorelai," Luke told the older woman.

"Lorelai! I like that name. It's so nice to meet you. Lucas never brings his girls here. You must be special," Maisy said, giving Lorelai a hug.

"Oh, she's not my-" Luke began.

Maisy didn't even give him a chance to finish. "Oh hush, Lucas." She linked her arm through Lorelai's as she led the two to their table. "Now, our boy here treats you well, doesn't he?"

"He takes good care of me," Lorelai assured her.

Maisy nodded. "Good. You two have a seat, and I will get you champagne." Luke opened up his mouth to say something. "I know you hate champagne, Luke, but you are with a lady, and you will drink it." She clapped her hands together. "I have to go get Buddy! He's going to want to meet Lorelai. Buddy!" she called as she walked away from the table.

"Sorry about that," Luke apologized.

"Sorry for what?" Lorelai asked. "I thought she was cute," she paused for a moment before adding, "Lucas."

"Dessert," he chided as Maisy returned to the table with Buddy.

"Buddy, you have to meet Luke's girlfriend. She's just the cutest thing!" Maisy exclaimed.

"Nice to meet you, Lorelai," Buddy greeted her, holding out his hand to her.

Lorelai shook his hand. "The pleasure is all mine. I really love your place," she commented.

"It used to be a whorehouse," Maisy informed her.

"Oh! Umm... that must be some good advertising," Lorelai stated.

Maisy laughed. "I really like her, Luke. You better keep her around," she said before both she and Buddy left the table.

"I'm sorry," Luke repeated again.

"What? I think they're great."

"They think you're my girlfriend."

Lorelai shrugged. "So what? Unless you're embarrassed by me. Are you?" she asked, grabbing his cheeks with her hands and made kissing noises. "Pookie?"

"I will be if you don't stop that," he told her, removing her hands from his face. "They're going to wonder why you never come back here with me."

"So I'm never allowed to come back here with you?"

"No. I mean, we can come back here. If you want to that is..."

She gave him a smile. "I want to."

The rest of the evening passed smoothly. Luke and Lorelai had a wonderful dinner together as well as two desserts after much insisting from Lorelai. Buddy and Maisy even sent them home with another piece of cake after they learned of Lorelai's love for all things chocolate. They then sent Luke and Lorelai out the door with hugs and made Luke swear that he'd bring Lorelai again soon.

The two returned to Lorelai's house with Lorelai exclaiming that she was hungry and inviting Luke in for some cake. Walking into her kitchen, they found Rory working on some homework.

"Hey, hon," Lorelai greeted her daughter, placing a soft kiss on Rory's forehead. Rory kind of shrugged her off. "Do you want some cake?" Lorelai asked her as Luke got some plates out of her cupboard.

"No," Rory answered a bit bitterly.

"Maybe, I should go," Luke offered, placing the plates on the counter.

"No, it's okay," Lorelai told him.

"I think it's best," Luke said. "I'll see you tomorrow." He squeezed Lorelai's hand. "Happy birthday," he whispered to her before backing his way out of the kitchen. "Bye, Rory," he said, waving in her direction as left.

"Bye, Luke," Rory responded distractedly, not even looking up from her homework as she said it.

Lorelai waited until Luke was out the door before cornering Rory. "What was that?" she asked her daughter.

Rory shrugged. "Nothing."

"Oh, it was definitely something. I thought you liked Luke?"

Rory let out a deep breath. "I do like Luke. I'm sorry if I seemed rude to him. I'll apologize tomorrow."

Lorelai stroked her daughter's hair. "Tell me what's on your mind, babe."

"No, it'll be fine. I don't want to ruin your birthday."

"Now you've really got me worried. What is it?" Lorelai questioned, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to Rory. "My birthday was yesterday, so you can't ruin it."

Rory thought for a moment before reaching under her book and pulling out a piece of the newspaper. She handed it to her mother.

Lorelai took it from her daughter and quickly scanned the page. It was an engagement notice for Christopher and Sherry. No wonder her daughter was so upset. "Did he call you?" Lorelai asked.

Rory shook her head. "No. I found it in the paper myself." She looked at her mother with tears in her eyes. "Why didn't he tell me? I was just with him. He didn't even say that he was still seeing Sherry!"

Lorelai took her crying daughter into her arms. "Aww. I don't know, honey."

"And when he came here to try to be a family again... he must have still been seeing Sherry! How could he do that to us?" Rory cried.

Lorelai tried to calm her daughter. She pulled back to look Rory in the eye. Running her hands soothingly over Rory's hair, she said, "I honestly don't know, Rory. I don't know." Knowing that she didn't want Rory to hate her father, she added, "Maybe he didn't know how to tell you. Maybe he didn't want to disappoint you. You know your father, if he doesn't know how to deal with something, he doesn't deal with it."

"Maybe..." Rory sniffed.

Lorelai kissed her daughter's forehead. "Everything is going to be fine," she tried to assure Rory. And herself.

To be continued. Please review!

La prochaine fois: The aftermath of Chris' announcement.