As she finishes this line of thinking, her eyes catch the Chuppah made for her so many years ago. The Chuppah. He made me a chuppah. I thought that maybe it would get another use out of it after Sookie's wedding…wishful thinking. I can't believe he made me that chuppah, and even when I was getting married to another man.

FLASHY FLASHY

I can't believe he made me a chuppah.

"So…uh…I'm gonna get goin' I just wanted you to have this."

"Luke, this really means a lot to me…it's beautiful."

He shyly smiles in that Luke way and a small tint of blush creeps up to his cheeks as he walks to the driver's side of his truck.

"Bye Luke!"

He sticks an arm out the window to wave goodbye and leaves her standing underneath the chuppah.

Looking around at all the intricate designs on her "present" she starts to contemplate this whole wedding thing. If you find the right person. That's what Luke said…if you find the right person. Is Max the right person?

She turned away from the chuppah to perch on the steps where she and Luke just had the conversation that's causing her brain to overload. I called Christopher at my bachelorette party. I don't try on my wedding dress. This weekend seems just like another random weekend…but I'm supposed to be getting married.

Her gaze fell to the ring on her left hand, as she began twirling it around in contemplation.

"Mom?" Rory calls from the door.

"yeah, hun?"

"What is that?" she says pointing to the chuppah in front of the house.

"A chuppah."

"Okay, I'm thinking those are Jewish."

"I know…but it's my wedding present."

"From?"

"Luke."

"Luke made you a chuppah?" she asks, getting up to examine the gift given to her mother. This took him a lot of time. All of this woodwork is hand done.

"Yeah, he said that he had some time, so he thought of me and Max and made it for the wedding."

"Wow, it's beautiful!"

"Yeah, it is…"

Rory comes to sit next to her mother, putting her arm around her and leaning on her shoulder. "I'm excited for this weekend, are you excited?"

"Yeah, I am, really excited" God, I hope that was convincing.

"I'm glad…" sitting up and looking at her mom, "well, I should get the rest of that homework done if I'm going to be partying it up."

"Get to it then missy!" she says back to her from the steps with a smile and a shake of her finger.

Watching her daughter walk away was hard for her, because she knew something was wrong with this whole plan. I don't know if I can do this. Is he the right person like Luke said? Is Max who I'm supposed to be with for the rest of my life? How can I be with someone for the rest of my life when the first night they sleep in my house…correction…our house, I have to crawl in with Rory? God, Rory…I can't do this to Rory. No, I can't do this to Rory.

She stands up, determined to get these second thoughts out of the way, knowing that she can't let Rory down. People CAN evolve together, they can. He might not be the perfect guy for me or even me be the perfect girl for him, but we do care for each other a lot and I'm sure that we will evolve together. She nods to herself, desperately trying to convince herself that marrying Max was a good idea. With a last glance back out to the yard, she slumps back against the house, feeling tears coming to her eyes.

I want this to happen so bad, but I can't. I can't be for sure that he is the right one…I don't know if he is. I don't want to do this to Rory though. What good mother would put her kid through this? How am I going to deal with Max? I have to tell Max…I can't do this.

She walks quietly in the house to grab the cordless phone, and situates herself back on the porch. Wiping a tear from her cheek she dials the familiar number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me…"

"Well how is my lovely bride to be?"

Looking up to keep the tears from starting, she answers "Max, I have to talk to you about something."

"You're not going to tell me that you're standing me up at the altar are you?" he says with a small laugh that makes her stomach drop.

She can't say anything after that comment… she can't joke back…she can't lie to him either.

"Lorelai? It was just a joke…are you okay?"

"Max, you are probably never going to forgive me for this, and I don't think that I am ever going to be able to fully explain why I have to tell you this, but I can't do this."

"What do you mean this?"

"I can't marry you Max, and I can't begin to try to explain why, and I wish you wouldn't ask me, but I can't do it" a small sob started to escape as she told him her thoughts, laying her heart out to him. "The ring will be in the mail tomorrow…I'm sorry."

"Lorelai, I don't…"

"Max…I just can't."

"fine."

She hit the button on the phone before she could hear the dial tone of him hanging up before her. As the phone fell from her hand, so did the tears. They came quickly, not wanting to end, and as she finally wiped her last tear she stood up. I've got to get out of here, and I have to do it now. I don't need the questions, and I don't want the gossip. I want gone…now.

Making sure her face was clear with a check in the mirror, she walked into Rory's room. I can't believe that I'm going to do this to her.

"Pack!"

END FLASHY

And here I go, contemplating doing the exact same thing. It wasn't me this time…well, not totally me at least. Luke has always been there for me, no matter what, so us getting married felt like it was a given…we were meant to be together, and he would always be there, just like he always had been. Always.

FLASHY FLASHY

"Mia, I'm really sorry, but Rory's got something wrong with her, I can't make it in."

"Lorelai, that's fine…you need to focus on Rory for a while…that's okay. Call me with an update."

"Thanks Mia." she finally says, hanging up the phone.

She creeps her way over to Rory's room, peeking in to see her sleeping daughter covered in what she can only think were chicken pox. She's never sick. I mean a cough here a sniffle there, but she's never been really sick before. I can't do this. What was I thinking…raising a kid by myself. I can't handle a sick kid…I can't do this!

After a bit more tossing and turning, Rory started to call for her mother, "Mommy! Mommy!"

Rushing in, Lorelai found herself sitting at the foot of her daughter's bed. "yeah, sweetie."

"I'm hungry."

"Okay, well, what do you want hon? I don't think that we have much here, but I can get Babette to watch out for you while I run to Luke's."

"Mashed Potatoes."

"Mashed Potatoes? And?"

"With butter and a little bit of cheese too…"

"Mashed Potatoes is all that you want?"

"yes?" she says, questioning her mother because of her odd reaction to her request.

"All right. You sit tight and don't scratch and I'll send Babette over okay?"

"Mommy, it's okay, I'll just sleep, you don't need to bother Babette, I know where she lives."

"Are you sure?"

Her only response was nodding before curling up in bed again for another short, uncomfortable nap. Lorelai took this sleepy opportunity to run out the front door and over to Luke's.

"LUKE!"

Mr. Grumpy himself showed up to greet her at the counter. "What'll you have."

"Can I have an order of Mashed Potatoes with butter and a little bit of cheese to go please?"

"I'm glad to see that you've added vegetables into your very well-rounded diet." he says with sarcasm in his tone.

"Aren't we Charlie Chaplin with all the jokes…they're for Rory, and can you hurry up please?"

He turns to yell the order back to Ceasar and then turns back to Lorelai with a confused look on his face. "Isn't she supposed to be in school?"

"Not when she has the Chicken Pox she's not."

"Aw, man, how is she?"

Wow, the diner man has a soul, he's asking about Rory! "She's itchy and scratchy, but she'll be okay."

After a few more minutes of small talk, the mashed potatoes were ready, and Lorelai was out the door.

As the days went on, Rory's Mashed Potato craving could not be stopped. Every day she was at Luke's asking for the exact same thing. She was tired and Rory was still trying to get over the illness. When she didn't show up for the dinner hour to grab Mashed Potatoes, Luke figured that she got hung up doing something else, and decided to take them over to Lorelai's.

Tapping on the door he called out her name, but was met with no answer. Trying the door knob, he sees that it is open and cautiously steps inside.

"Lorelai?" he calls out quietly in case Rory is sleeping.

He had only been in her house a few times before this, but knew the general direction of everything and made his way into the living room where he found Lorelai fast asleep on the couch.

"Mommy?" Rory called from her bedroom down the hall.

Luke figured that Lorelai needed the rest so he went to Rory's room to find out what was up. As he appeared in the doorway, Rory looked up at him from her bed, confused at why he was there and not her mother.

"Hey Rory, how are…uh… you feeling?"

"Where's my mom?"

"Well, she's sleeping on the couch, and I think that she's probably pretty tired, so can I get you something?"

"Mom has been taking care of me this whole time I've had these stupid chicken pox, I feel bad that she's so tired." she says, allowing a small pout to form on her face.

"Yeah, well, that's what moms are for, to take care of you when you're sick. I brought you some Mashed Potatoes from the diner. I heard that you kinda liked them."

"Kinda? I love mashed potatoes, thanks Luke!" she says, lighting up the room with her smile.

"Let me go warm them up okay, and then I'll get you a fork and you can go to town on 'em." he says, turning to go back into the kitchen.

Just a bit later he returns with her mashed potatoes and hands her the bowl and a fork while she sits up in bed. "Why are you here?" she asks him.

"Well, I know that your mom usually comes in for your potatoes now, and when she didn't, I decided that I would save her the trip. I'm glad I did or you would have starved!" he says joking with Rory.

"No, I would just keep screaming until she came and got me some food. It's okay. You're really nice for helping my mom though Luke, thank you."

"No problem kid."

"Will you sit with me and watch TV? It's just black and white, but it's still okay."

"I'm sure that I can handle watching some TV with a great lady like you."

She giggles before turning the TV on and settling in for eating her mashed potatoes.

An hour later, Lorelai wakes up to hear giggling from Rory's room. After a quick glance to the clock she realizes that she slept a little too long and Rory must be starving. Crap, good job Lorelai, make the kid starve!

As she nears the room, she can hear her talking to someone else.

"What is your favorite TV show Luke?"

"Well, I don't really like to watch too much TV. I only watch it when I can watch baseball."

"UGH… baseball! You're such a boy. Why do boys like sports so much?"

"Some girls like sports."

"I know, and mom says that they're weird."

"Your mother is quite the character, you know that?"

"Yeah, but I love her, so that's all that matters, right?"

"Right." he says with a confident nod of the head.

She listened to this exchange from the doorway, away from their view, taking in the fact that Rory seemed so comfortable around him. What is he doing here? He doesn't have to sit there and watch Rory for me. When did he get here?

As she peeks in, she sees Luke leaning on Rory's bed from his chair, ready to fully listen to what she has to tell him. Rory is sitting up in bed, leaning a bit towards Luke as she stares at the screen. As cheesy as this is… this is truly and Kodak moment.

"Hey." she says, making her presence known.

Luke and Rory turn to see her standing in the doorway. When they acknowledge her, she moves to sit on the edge of Rory's bed, feeling her forehead and asking her how she feels.

"I'm good now. Luke was watching TV with me and he brought me mashed potatoes!"

"Yeah, I can see that. And did you tell him thank you?"

"She did, a few times actually."

"Well, good then." Grabbing the bowl from Rory's nightstand she exits the room and goes into the kitchen to wash it out.

"I'm gonna go talk to your mom for a minute, okay Rory?"

"Yeah, that's cool. Thanks again Luke for the mashed potatoes and the company!"

"You got it kiddo."

He walks up next to Lorelai, leaning against the counter as she is washing out the bowl. "Did you get a good nap?"

Blushing, as if she was caught doing something that she wasn't supposed to be doing, she answers "Yeah, I did."

Feeling like he needed to explain himself before she even asked he started to tell her why he was there. "You didn't come in at your usual time to get Rory's mashed potato fix, so I figured that you got hung up and I would save you a trip. When I got here, no one answered the door, and I wanted to make sure you guys were okay, so I let myself in…I hope you don't mind" he says, looking down.

"No, Luke, that's fine, you are certainly welcome here."

"Well, I saw that you were sleeping and then Rory called for you, and I figured that you needed the sleep, so I hung out with her and gave her the mashed potatoes."

"Yeah, I saw the bonding" If only her father could do some of that bonding with her, and then we would be golden, but I'm glad that she's going to have a man like this to look after her every now and then. "Luke, thank you for coming over, I really appreciate it."

"It was really no problem, you're a friend and that is what you do for friends." After a few moments of silence, he motions to Rory's bedroom "I'm gonna say goodbye to Rory, and then I'm going to head out."

"That's fine. Thanks Luke."

He nods in her direction with a smile and proceeds to say his goodbyes and head back to the diner.

This is why I'm glad that I got out of that snooty, blue blooded town, away from my parents. I come to a place like this, and no one judges me, and all they want to do is help me out. I couldn't have picked a better place for Rory to grow up.

END FLASHY

I think that was the first of the many times to follow where Luke was there for me. I wonder if he was in love with me even then. To think of all the years that everyone said something to me about how in love with me Luke was, and how much I was obviously attracted to him. How much time did we waste? Could we have already been on our way to a middle with each other…maybe married…maybe a baby? Maybe I would have survived this whole April thing…and I would have had Luke for…well…for what I wanted him with me for.

She hugs herself more closely, feeling a twinge in her stomach at the memories that flew by in the last few months. Untangling the blanket, she puts a hand on her stomach, trying to calm the feeling she has, allowing herself to remember what brought her here.

So this one was a little bit longer, cause I just kept writing. The next one is a little bit more...well... sad... I've already written it, but I'm waiting to post it so I can tweak it a little bit. I'm hoping that you like this story. I don't know how you'll like the next part, but... yeah... I think it's kind of playing on what I think is going to happen in the season finale, which I'm not to thrilled with, but hey, I fully trust ASP, so I'm going to let it go... Anyways... R/Review please!