"So, what do we do?"

"Well, we don't do anything. Your mom has to come to her senses about things."

"But Christopher…"

"Is Rory's dad, and we can't help that. You can figure that out on your own."

"I don't want to see him again…not after this…not after the last time he pulled this crap either…"

Luke just stood there, knowing that she needed to process out loud, but she wasn't really talking to him anymore.

"And she let him come…and when she realized that Rory was there, she was disappointed, as if she thought that if I was alone, I would have dumped you and run off with Christopher…Where in her head did she think that was going to be okay?"

"What about Rory, is she okay?"

Lorelai looks up to see his concerned features peering back at him, showing his love for who is essentially his daughter, no step needed.

"She was angry… she won't talk to me about it…she's mad at both of them, so we'll just have to see how long she freezes them out."

"And how did they…?" he says with a mumble, leaning closer into her from across the counter.

"Well, I screamed that I was married and that it wasn't something that you could overlook, and Rory kind of made a noise, which tipped mom off…Then, when she yelled at me, she yelled Lorelai Gilmore, and I corrected her, and said Danes. Ladies and gentleman, viola, my mother now knows."

"hmph" he shrugs as he's wiping off the counter in front of her.

"It felt good…"

"What did?"

"Correcting her like that."

With this he smiles at her for a long moment. He is jarred from their moment when the bells ring and he sees Mia walk into the diner.

"Mia!"

"Why, Lucas, Lorelai, the two of you seem to never be apart."

"We do give that illusion, don't we?" she says, turning the question to Luke.

"We must."

"Well, I've got some paperwork that I'm going to do over in the corner, so bring me a hamburger with some fries when you get a chance Lucas, and I will talk to the two of you later."

"Sounds good Mia, I'll put it in right now."

As Lorelai picks at the pie in front of her, Luke takes in her slumped frame and sad eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Turning to look at Mia, she points to the corner, and then averts her eyes back to her plate.

"Mia?"

"Yes…Mia…"

"Lorelai, Mia is one of your favorite people in the world, what's wrong?"

"I know that she is… I just wish that she could have been Emily…you know? Why couldn't I have a mother that cared about me, and was excited about my accomplishments the way Mia is? It doesn't seem fair."

Putting his hand over hers he shoots down her logic, "Lorelai, if you had it easy, you wouldn't be where you are today. You worked through a lot and you helped Rory through a lot, and though it seems like it would have been great to have your actual mother be a support for you, it probably wouldn't have turned out the same."

"I suppose you're right."

"And…I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't change how things have turned out thus far."

"Well.. to be honest, this would have been cherry pie and not peach." she says, looking up with a glimmer in her eye.

He leans over the counter and kisses her chastely on the lips.

"I love you Luke Danes"

With another smile, they meet over the counter again, lost in each other, until someone clears their throat behind them and they jump apart guiltily.

"Mia."

"Lorelai, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure Mia"

Mia pulls her outside the diner as Lorelai looks on with a confused expression plastered on her face.

"What's up Mia?" she asks, after they finally stop around the corner.

Not answering her, she pulls her into a fierce hug, "I'm so happy for you!"

"Mia?"

"So… how does it feel to be Mrs. Danes?" she says very nonchalantly.

"How?" Lorelai starts to say, while looking at her hand to make sure the ring wasn't there, then feeling to make sure the necklace was hidden underneath her shirt.

"Lorelai, I helped you as if you were my own, and I know you. The way you looked at him in that diner solidified what I thought was going to happen."

"What you thought was going to happen?"

"Lorelai, as I said, I know you… and I know how impatient you can be with the things that you really want. It's why you and Rory were able to move into that house of yours a few months before you were supposed to be able to."

"Yeah, well, I did push him just a little bit…I may have been a tad bit impatient."

"Yes, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing."

As Mia says this, Lorelai's eyes start to water, not unnoticed by the woman standing across from her.

"Lorelai, what's wrong?"

"I just wish that you could have been there. Rory was there and Sookie was there, and well, Luke kind of had to be there, but I wanted you there. I didn't want mom to find out though and figured that if or when she did that if you had been there she would have hated me for life."

"I am so happy for the two of you that I could care less about that, and your mother could never hate you."

"Well, if you would have seen her face when she found out that Luke and I got married, then I think that you would beg to differ."

"It didn't go so well?"

"Well, she let Christopher try to plead his case for getting me back again, which wasn't too successful, because it lead to my little slip that we were married. She won't be at the wedding and I don't want her to be there…not after that stunt that she pulled" she says, picking her ringing cell phone out of her purse.

"Hello?"

"Lorelai?"

"Dad?"

"Is it true? Did you and Luke elope?"

"Dad, I already got an earful from mom, I don't need you criticizing me as well"

"I'm not…I just… your mother said that you were still planning on having the big wedding this weekend for everyone's benefit, and if you don't mind, I would like to still attend and do my duty."

"You still want to come to the wedding?"

"Lorelai, it isn't every day that a father gets to give away his only daughter to the man that she loves. I know what your mother did, but you need to know that it really wasn't her fault. Christopher kept calling and calling, and we told him that you were getting married and that we gave the wedding our blessing. He didn't want to give up."

"Well… if mom had no hope of me and Christopher, then why the disappointed look on her face when Rory walked through the door by my side?"

"She didn't want Rory to have to see you father pull another one of his stunts. She knew that you would always choose Luke, but she still wanted Rory to at least respect her father."

"Luke is her father as far as I'm concerned. He has earned that title much more than Christopher ever would be able to."

"I know that I have been a pain in regards to this man, but I am fully aware of the situation, and don't plan on changing it in any way."

"Thank you dad. And… I wouldn't stand to have you not come on Saturday…even if it's just for show."

"And your mother?"

"That's your call."

"Well…I'll see you on Saturday Lorelai…"

"Bye dad."

As she shuts her cell, she pauses to take in the whole conversation for a moment. When Mia clears her throat, her attention is drawn upwards and she meets the kind face of the woman who practically raised her.

"He wants to give me away on Saturday."

"Well… that is the father's privilege."

"I know, but I never imagined that it was that important to him."

"Lorelai, it's your father. As much as you don't want to believe it, your father and mother think the world of you."

"Yeah…I do know that, even if it's hard to believe sometimes."

"So, you're still doing the big wedding on Saturday?"

"Yeah, but we don't want the town to know that we eloped, so no slipping it to Miss Patty when you get toasted at the reception, okay?"

Mia laughs, putting an arm around Lorelai, and pulling her back into the diner. When they get in the diner, Luke and Lorelai exchange looks, his eyes questioning what went on outside. Knowing the question, Lorelai nods, and Luke smiles, glad to know that Mia knows their little secret.

Walking up to the counter, she freezes, a funny feeling filtering through her stomach, and then disappointment.

"What's wrong?"

"I want coffee."

"Okay? I can get you coffee, you know you are the heiress of the place that supplies you with your coffee now."

"Yeah, I know." She smiles, taking in everything, realizing that her whole package will get there soon, she just has to wait a little longer.

After a few minutes of Luke attending to customers, the last patrons left, except for Mia, who was still in the corner working silently while eating her hamburger.

"My dad wants to walk me down the aisle."

"I think that any father would."

"But my dad, Luke, come on."

"Lorelai, as much as you want to think that your parents think you to be the spawn of Satan, you need to know that they will always love you, no matter what happens."

"Luke… I wish that I could have met your parents."

"I wish that they could have met you."

"They would have loved you, Lorelai." Mia says, coming up behind Lorelai, with her wallet in hand, ready to pay Luke for her meal.

Lorelai smiles, and Mia tries to hand Luke his money.

"Oh, sorry Mia, I already closed up, I guess that I can't take your money..."

"Lucas, what are we going to do with you?"

Lorelai gets a glint in her eye as she looks to Luke, smiling.

"Lorelai, that was not meant to be dirty."

"I know, I just can't help it! All this honeymooning we've been doing the past… well day… it's clouding my brain." She says as Luke starts to blush.

"Well, then I think that I'll leave you to alone now. Lorelai, I will see you tomorrow for lunch?"

"You sure will Mia, I'm looking forward to it."

As she walks out, Luke continues to clean up the diner from the day's last rush.

"You guys are having lunch tomorrow?"

"Yeah, she said that she had something that she wanted to talk to me about."

"What?"

"I don't know Mr. impatient, I have to go tomorrow and find out."

He stands there for a moment, staring into space. Not knowing what he was thinking, Lorelai stayed silent, waiting for him to speak.

"Can I run something by you?"

"Shoot."

"Do you think that it would be okay to as Buddy and Maise to kind of be my stand-ins?"

"Your stand-ins?"

"Yeah, for mom and dad."

"Luke… I think that they would love it, and it would very much honor your parents."

"Do you think they'll go for it?"

"If I ask, they'll totally go for it… they love me!"

"Very true, you are their favorite."

She smiles, and waits for him to do his closing duties, and then the two of them walk home together after their long days.

THE NEXT DAY AT THE DRAGONFLY

Walking up to the front desk, Mia hears the tail end of Lorelai's telephone conversation.

"Obviously you've never had any responsibility in your life before, because if you did, then this would have been done correctly… you'll come back… you'll fix it… you will charge me nothing… you will apologize to me, and even if he swore at you in French, you will also apologize to my concierge, who has had to deal with this all day long. Got it?… I'll take the deafening silence on your end to mean that I will see you in no less than an hour."

Seeming satisfied with the person's answer, she pushes the end button on the phone with a little more force than necessary, and puts it back on its cradle.

"Is that how you ran the Independence Inn? Because if it is, it's no wonder why I never had any problems." Mia asks, making her presence known.

"Sorry, Mia, this company that we hired to do some work in a few of the bathrooms really did a bad job, and not even a week later the problems are back, so they need to come and fix it."

Smiling at the wonderful inn keeper in front of her, Mia is amazed at the woman that Lorelai became.

"With that behind me, can we sit down for our lunch?"

"Yes, we can." Mia says cheerfully, as Lorelai sticks out an arm for her to be escorted into the dining room.

After their meal and Sookie's… well… Sookieness at explaining everything that has gone on in her life in the past decade, Mia asked Lorelai if they could take a walk.

"I would love to," she says, and as she passed the front desk, she shouted at Michel, "That guy will be here soon to fix the bathrooms. If he doesn't try to apologize to you before he is done, you have my permission to do everything in your powers to annoy him. Mia and I are going for a walk."

"I'll see that it gets done." He says with a glimmer in his eye… happy that he gets the challenge of annoying someone other than Lorelai for a change.

Starting out on their walk, Mia was unusually quiet.

"Mia, what's up?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I can't put my finger on it, but I think that you're trying to tell me something here."

"Well, hopefully it will be something exciting, but I don't know if you will accept it."

"Accept what?"

"Did you know that I still own the old Independence Inn?"

"No, I thought that your son said you were selling it."

"I considered it, and then thought it a bad move. I know that if I ever came back and saw it turned into some chain hotel, I would be heartbroken, so I couldn't do it."

"Oh, I never knew that. I had always wondered though, when Rory and I would drive up there why nothing had been done to the place."

"I couldn't bring myself to tear it down, but I couldn't bring myself to change it either."

"So, why are you telling me about this?"

"Well, I've finally decided what I'm going to do with it."

"And?"

"Well, you may not think that Stars Hallow is such a desirable location, but the land is actually worth a lot. The Independence Inn sits on a lot that could have numerous houses on it, so I'm dividing up the land how I see fit, and finally tearing down the building."

"Oh." Lorelai replies, trying to hide her disappointment at this recent development.

"Now, I'm assuming that the potting shed is something that you would like to remain standing, correct?"

"Well, I don't really have a place for it in my yard Mia, and I don't think you can move a potting shed."

"I'm not suggesting that you move it Lorelai."

Trying to figure out just what Mia was getting at, her brow crinkles in confusion. "What are you suggesting?"

"You have always been like a daughter to me Lorelai, and I've racked my brain to come up with a wedding present for you and Lucas, when it occurred to me…while I know that you love your house, I also know that you and Lucas want to start a family of your own, aside from Rory, so you're going to need a bigger place."

"How…?"

"Your eyes have always given you away love. I can see it when you look at each other."

She smiles, thinking about how wonderful it was to finally have someone to share those meaningful looks with. To hear someone else talk about it, while a bit embarrassing because she feels caught, was refreshing, because it wasn't just them, but others that could see their bond.

"Now… I've split the land up into four sections. You and Lucas have the property that the old Inn is on, potting shed included."

"Mia…" she says, starting to say that the gift was already too much.

"No, I'm not finished. With the money that I got from selling the other two pieces of land, you have enough to build whatever kind of home you want. A new place to start your lives together."

"Mia, we can't possibly accept this. This is too much to accept." She says while processing the gift in her head.

"Lorelai, I don't want anyone else to have the Independence. I know that it will get torn down, but the spirit is there, and the memories…. Some of my favorite and your favorite. I couldn't just give that to anyone."

As her eyes watered at the memories flooding back to her, she realized something wrong with this picture.

"Wait… who has the fourth piece?"

"Me."

"Are you moving back?"

"Well, not officially, but I figured that Stars Hallow would be a great vacation spot. Besides… how else am I going to get to visit this little growing family of yours?"

She smiles at the though, and then wonders about the rest of the lot, "What about the other two pieces?"

"One of them went to Sookie's husband, Jackson, who is going to build another greenhouse on it, and the other piece went to Ms. Patty, who is looking to create an expanded studio with a massage parlor."

At this suggestion, Lorelai raised her eyebrows, "I have two things to say about this. One, When Ms. Patty said that she was going to have a massage parlor, did she have that weird gleam in her eye?"

"The one that insinuates something horribly sinful?"

"That's the one!"

"Yes, she did, but she promised me that she would be good, so I thought it would be okay."

"And two, Jackson and Sookie knew about this!"

"Jackson did, but he swore that he wouldn't tell Sookie, because he knew that you would be the first one that she told… even if she was told that it was a secret."

"Wise man…" she says, allowing her thoughts to drift back for a few moments, to the gift being presented to her. "So, you want to build me and Luke a house where the old Independence Inn was just so I can keep my potting shed?"

"Essentially, yes."

"Mia…I'm going to have to talk to Luke about this, because this is pretty big. It's huge, and I don't know if we can accept a gift like this."

"You two deserve this. This whole town has seen you walk eggshells around each other for years. To finally see both of you happy, and in love… with each other none the less, is enough to make anyone regain hope in all things. I won't take no for an answer."

"Will you negotiate on how much of the house we can pay for?"

"Possibly, but I will at least be paying half for whatever you do."

"I don't know what to say, Mia. I…thank you. Whatever we end up doing, thank you for this."

"I love you Lorelai, and I'm sure that I always will. I've always wanted to see you happy, and I'm glad that I finally get to."

Lorelai puts her arms around Mia, and the two women share a long moment together. "You know that I've always seen you as a mother, and I love you too." She says as a whisper into Mia's ear.

As the two separate, both are smiling widely. Finally, linking arms like the oldest of friends they begin the trek back to the Dragonfly.

Okay, so I wanted to put more Mia in this one as you can see. I don't know if I like it or not. It's kind of just a filler chapter anyways for before the wedding. I think that I'm going to skip to the night before the wedding so we can get that show on the road. Sorry about how long it took to update, and due to suggestions from fabulous reviewers and other people, I've decided to hold off on the pregnant Lorelai… I don't know how long I can do it, but hey, they can have some fun trying in the meantime. Let me know what you think! Oh, and P.S. any fans should check out the Gilmore Girls Podcast, cause it is pretty freaking awesome! R/R Please!