Written in the Stars
By Gilmoregirl1979 (the reigning Quote Queen)
Rating: PG-13
Hi this is your friendly disclaimer: I REJECT ASP's REALITY AND SUBSTITUE MY OWN! Once again, I don't own (DAMN IT! DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT!), No Harm No Sue.
R/R: yes please I love reviews; I wanna marry them (as previously stated, I have strange passions.)
Summary/ The Q: AW If you DON'T KNOW BY NOW! HURUMPH!
LUVZ: I miss you!
FEATURED BETA: Localizy, WONDER TWIN POWERS ACTIVATE! I swear this girl and I are linked… we get the same ideas for the same fics at the same time… what the hell!
HELLO, MY LITTLE CRACK WHORES! (And other shout outs):
TO Anonymous Jenny, who left me a review on 2006-06-14: thank you for your compliments… your review of Make up for all this Wasted time arrived at just the right moment… I admit I was wallowing over the abysmal season again. I was in a funk, and your words really touched me (in the good way) and I instantly wanted to hug you. I hope you won't be a stranger, and enjoy my other fics and think them just as worthy of your time. WITS here being one of them…
Thank you and welcome to crack whore-dom, (one more disclaimer: to be a minion you have to do my bidding…)
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Chapter 39:A Family Matter
A few hours later, Lorelai woke up to an annoying throbbing in her arm, and as she opened her eyes she saw her daughter, Rory, was the culprit poking at her. Rory was sitting on the other side of Luke, kneeling on the bed, peering down at the pair with interest, and once she realized she succeeded in waking up her mother, she whispered, "Morning."
"Morning," Lorelai returned, looking over Luke's chest at the clock, it was 11:30 in the morning, and Lorelai realized she was late for work. "Oh I have to go…" she cried, struggling to free herself from her nice warm covers.
"Oh, Mia called and she said you could have the day off…" and Rory shyly added, "because of Luke."
"I tell you, that woman is spoiling me." Lorelai rubbed the sleep from her eyes and put her head back on Luke's left shoulder.
"Mom?"
"Yes, baby?"
"Is he better now?"
Lorelai lifted her head from Luke's shoulder and examined his slumbering face. "He will be," she assured.
Rory seemed hesitant to ask, "Mom? Can I … well, can I join you?"
Lorelai smiled at her considerate daughter, "Of course."
Rory moved her knees to lift up the covers beneath her and crawled in with the pair. Rory moved Luke's limp arm away from his torso to let her into the hug her mother was giving him. Rory mirrored her mother's position, with her head on Luke's right shoulder and an arm around his waist, like when she had fallen asleep during Stalag 17 the first time she and Luke watched it together. She just wanted to be there with them, to be included in whatever was happening to her family.
"I can hear his heart," Rory smiled, with her ear so close to his chest.
"Good," Lorelai teased, "We haven't killed him yet," to lighten the heavy mood of last night.
"He snores," Rory discovered as she heard the rumble muffled in his chest.
"Only when he is on his back, but I have to sleep with that every night," Lorelai mocked complained as she rubbed Luke's chest.
Rory then adopted a whisper, "Mom?" Rory didn't want to wake up Luke by talking too loudly or have him overhear her new subject.
"Yes, Rory?" Lorelai also kept her voce low and quiet.
"Did Luke… get drunk?" Rory ventured in her hushed tone.
Lorelai was a little surprised that she figured it out. Since she became a single mother, Lorelai was careful not to over indulge around Rory, but since she always believed in being honest with her daughter Lorelai answered truthfully, "Yes, he was."
Since Rory was an avid reader, she knew the consequences of too much alcohol on a person's state of mind. However, this was her first encounter witnessing it. Like any new experience, Rory was curious and only wanted to understand it, "Well, why?"
Mother and daughter took to conversing across Luke's chest. "Well, sometimes when adults don't want to…" Lorelai was trying to word it delicately, "Luke was trying to forget… He missed his father so much…and well he wanted to … I guess distract himself from the pain of missing him."
"But if he misses his father… why would he want to forget about him?"
"Rory, sometimes we do silly things when we are hurting or in pain. Luke wasn't thinking clearly and instead of turning to us and relying on us for help… he thought he should handle this on his own, but we are his family… you and me… and we have to take care of him just like he would take care of us. That's what families do…"
Rory considered her mother's statement for a moment, "Well, we have family with Grandma and Grandpa… but… I feel closer to Luke than I do to them. Is that …weird?"
"No, not so weird," Lorelai tried to explain as best as she could, "Grandma and Grandpa are our family by blood. Luke is our family by heart. We were lucky enough to just sort of … find each other… we spend a lot of time together, enjoy the same things… we fit together, together the three of us make sense."
Rory started to play with the material of Luke's shirt. "Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"I love him," Rory said in a small voice.
It was the first time Lorelai heard Rory say what Lorelai had long ago figured out from her daughter's close, unbreakable bond with Luke. "I know… I love him, too."
In an even smaller voice, "Mom?"
"Yes Rory?"
Rory wanted an answer to the same question she asked Luke when she had chicken pox, Rory paused before she asked her mother the question. She wanted to ask, "Do you think you'll get married?"
In Rory's mind, she got the answer she wanted, Lorelai smiling at her daughter, seeing that it was now her dearest wish, "Maybe, some day…" However, Rory hesitated; she could see the admiration and love in Lorelai's eyes whenever she looked at Luke, even now, as Lorelai studied him while he was sleeping. While Luke had been long ready to admit his feelings and plans, Rory still sensed Lorelai was undecided and cautious, despite all her talk of being a family already, after all who knew Lorelai better than Rory. Let's see how well we get through Christmas with the Gilmores, Rory decided in her head, and asked instead, "Do you think he would like some blueberry pancakes?"
Oblivious to what her daughter really wanted, Lorelai lifted her head off his shoulder again to check Luke's deep slumber, "Well, I'd say he is about 2 hours away from pancakes."
"Okay, wake me in an hour and a half," and Rory snuggled into Luke's shoulder and closed her eyes.
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When Luke woke up, he knew what yesterday had been commemorative of by the feeling of his head being in a vice. Luke didn't usually resort to drinking or getting drunk, but this year he thought he lost it all. . He knew he had fought with Lorelai the day before and he knew how his mood changed around people whenever the dark anniversary approached. How his temper was even shorter and he scolded himself again for almost making Rory cry. He had lost Lorelai, Rory, and his father all over again.
He knew how outcast and alone he felt during this time of year. Luke seemed to recall drinking so much that he even had a vision, a guardian angel that looked so much like Lorelai. Luke knew he had to give Lorelai and Rory up, he couldn't subject them to his moods every year, moving in together was a mistake, he saw that now. They were just pretending to be a family, living together, shacking up, playing house. Luke had no claim on them. Luke even practiced a speech with the look a like Lorelai angel, finding a way to tell the real Lorelai she should be with Christopher and make everyone happy. It couldn't have been very good; he was half-drunk as he said it.
For all the pain in his head, Luke then realized he couldn't feel his arms. He began to wonder if he had injured himself in his inebriated state from last night. He remembered drinking in the diner, seeing the vision of Lorelai, but what happened after that? Luke opened his eyes and didn't see the diner's ceiling; it was Lorelai's, or rather his since he had moved in with Lorelai and Rory.
Luke looked around to see he was in the large double bed and found Lorelai and Rory with him under the covers; Rory was on his right, and Lorelai was on his left, a head on each shoulder. It was then he realized his arms hadn't been amputated in a drunken accident; they had fallen asleep under the weight of his girls.
Huh, My girls? It was so easy to think of them that way.
Lorelai felt Luke's arm squirming beneath her, working on the blood flow so she sat up, not realizing the numbness she had caused in his limbs yet easing the pressure as she asked, "Hey? Are you okay?" she said sweetly, stroking his cheek.
"Um, yeah… I think I over did it a little?"
"Just a bit," Lorelai grinned, as she wrinkled her nose at the understatement, and Luke remembered exactly why he loved waking up with her.
Rory now stirred hearing the close voices. "Luke!" she perked up, "How are you feeling?"
"Umm, fine… more or less," he grimaced at the afternoon light through the windows, not sure what to say to Rory about his over indulgence.
"Do you want pancakes?"
"Rory, keep it down, I'm sure Luke has a bit of a headache," Lorelai explained.
Not familiar with the etiquette of a hangover, Rory whispered to Luke, "I'm going to make blueberry pancakes, it'll make you feel better," she plopped on Luke's chest to give him a hug, kissed his cheek and just as quickly, she sprang off the mattress and flew downstairs to make the miracle pancakes, just what the doctor ordered.
Now that they were alone, Lorelai broached, "So… yesterday."
Luke looked up at her while still flat on his back, "Yeah?"
"Yesterday and the day before, all that was about your father."
"Well," Luke now figured he had been talking to the real Lorelai last night in the diner. That he should soberly defend his perspective; that they could still be just friends, if Lorelai wanted to end it for all the stupid things he said.
"Now you know what a fan I am of traditions. I could be the Tevye I love them so much and if I knew how to play the fiddle." Lorelai leaned to stress her point, "However, if you ever take off like that on me again… or make me worried sick like I was all yesterday, you are so gonna get it, Mister!"
"Lorelai… about Christmas."
"Don't worry about it…" she put her head on his shoulder again,."I'll buy my parents a gift and sign both our names…."
"No, Lorelai…"
"Luke… it's weeks away… and my father will have some business acquaintance we know nothing about and in all likelyhood will never see again, so don't worry about retaining the name…"
"Lorelai…"
Lorelai put her hand to his mouth. "Luke," she countered, "I've had bad days too," using Rory's words. "You said some things you didn't mean the last few days…so I'm going pretend I didn't hear any of it. I know you love me and Rory…and would never ever do anything to hurt us… like deprive us of your food…and coffee…because without you …we'd surely die…"
It was clear Lorelai wasn't going to let him go. When she finally removed her hand from his mouth, after all that, the only thing he could say was, "I love you."
"Okay, I did hear that…" Lorelai smiled. "Rory's going to make you breakfast in bed… so stay put," and Lorelai went down to see if she could help Rory.
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Unfortunately, Rory and Lorelai realized that they had no real way to implement a breakfast in bed. So, Luke trudged down the stairs, and was happy to have a late, late breakfast with the girls in the kitchen. Since it was past noon and they all were still in their PJs, well, Luke was in his jeans still, but principle prevailed, so Lorelai declared it a pajama day where no one could shower till the next morning. Luke was not one to give up hygiene rituals, but obeyed the rules with the girls and put on his sweat pants instead.
They decided to just stay in and watch movies. Rory's first pick was Stalag 17, because that it was now December, a Christmas movie, and would make Luke feel better after his dark day. However, Lorelai argued they had just seen it, that it was too depressing to deal with Christmas at a prison camp given the day they had yesterday, but agreed they would add it to their Christmas movie list if Rory wanted. Rory briefly huffed that they had seen it a month ago, that Luke was on her side, and she wanted to watch it again today.
The debate was brought to a halt by a knock at the front door. Lorelai answered it and was surprised at the sight of a flustered Patty. "Hey Patty, what's up?"
"I'm so sorry, Honey, but well…" Patty hated to be the bearer of bad news. "We just don't know where Luke is?"
"What?"
Patty invited herself in, "It's the strangest thing. Usually he comes back like clock work on the 1st, without fail for years, but the diner has been closed and there has been no sign of Luke…" Patty turned the corner into the living room and stopped speaking when she saw Luke on the couch in his T-shirt and sweats, "…all day."
"Umm, yeah, well, we found him…and he decided to take the day off…because…" Lorelai didn't know if she should mention the dark anniversary or the beer bottles on the floor of the diner.
"I wasn't feeling well!" Rory offered.
"Oh no, sweetie?" Patty exclaimed, her concern for Luke shifting to Rory.
"Yeah, my stomach was really upset," Rory stressed dramatically. "I may have over done it with Thanksgiving, our shopping trip, and well… yesterday… maybe I didn't get enough sleep, but Luke and Mom took the day off to stay home with me."
"Well, you feel better, honey," Patty sincerely wished. "At least we know you are in good hands," Patty assured, recalling the five start treatment Rory got during her chicken pox episode. "I better call off the search party or Kirk is likely to get lost in those woods."
Lorelai showed Patty to the door and as an aside, Patty asked, "Ah, honey, was that a tattoo on his arm?"
In recent months, Lorelai became uncomfortable talking about Luke with Patty. It could have been the hint of lust in the old dance teacher's eye whenever she looked at him that sent Lorelai into a unique fit of ridiculous jealousy. Patty assured Lorelai, "Aw honey, you are a very lucky woman."
After showing Patty out and once Lorelai had recovered from Patty's admiration of Luke, she looked at her daughter and said, "Hey there, Pinocchio, how do you get your nose to look so small?"
"Make up!" Rory giggled.
"Why did you say you were sick?"
"It's a family matter," Rory said.
"What's a family matter?" Lorelai asked.
"Luke's dark day they don't need to know what happened, it hasn't hurt them so far," Rory settled back on the couch with Luke. With his arm draped over the back of the couch, Rory fit perfectly at his side, and was already using him as a pillow.
"What do you think you're doing?" Lorelai asked again.
"I'm settling in for the movie. Oh, what about Blackadder's Christmas Carol?"
"Luke is my pillow," Lorelai claimed, ignoring Rory's misdirection of Rowan Atkinson.
"No, he's mine! I call dibs! And I'm already here."
"Well, he's my boyfriend!" Lorelai argued.
"Exactly. You get him all the time, you have to share him."
Luke had to chuckle at the bizarre argument. Rory had hated the mere idea of her mother dating when Lorelai first told Rory about Luke and now, months later, he was living under the same roof with both Gilmores were fighting over him. Luke had to smile, usually after his "dark day", as the girls called it, life would go on as before. He would open the diner, not mentioning what the 30th was to anyone. Life had gone on as before this year too, only now he had Lorelai and Rory apart of the life. Lorelai convincing him to take the day off, all three were set to watch a movie and have fun together as a family, the girls eating a bunch of junk food that Luke didn't approve of; This had been his life before the dark day this year, and this seemed it would be his life from now on.
They finally settled in with The Nightmare Before Christmas, which Luke thought was weird, but still funny; trying not to wince as the girls sang off key.
Later that evening, Rory was wrapping some gifts from their Black Friday shopping, always eager for a head start, while Lorelai went back to the diner with Luke, both still unshowered but presentable, helped him clear all the beer bottles, and prep the diner to open for the next day. As Luke put all the rinsed out bottles into his recycling bin, he felt ashamed and embarrassed again, but Lorelai's warm smile brought him back. They were still together, he hadn't lost her or Rory, and with the chairs up on the tables and the lights off, they went back home together holding hands.
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"Wow… you and Luke are gonna spend Christmas together?" Sookie smiled as she stirred her version of Pumpkin soup after being inspired by the sample Rory brought of Luke's, "Pretty big step."
"Well, it's usually customary to spend the holidays with the man you are living with," Lorelai was very excited. "Well, Thanksgiving seemed … to go fairly well… SO … here we are…" Lorelai and Rory kept Luke's dark day secret from the town, but Sookie was trustworthy when it was stressed upon her the importance of the secret. Even so, Lorelai had never told Sookie about the false alarm pregnancy, but she did share the exchanged 'I love you's and Lorelai would be damned if she'd let Luke carry out that ridiculous dark day tradition every year, he has us now, he doesn't have to be alone.
"I know…" Sookie agreed. "Major holidays are now involved ... I didn't know Luke celebrated holidays."
"Well, with the Gilmore girls in his life, he absolutely does," Lorelai stated proudly, ignoring the scowls from Rafael, now that Lorelai was Assistant Manager and not a mere maid, she was allowed in the kitchen.
"But this is getting serious…"
"Again Sookie, I'm living with him!"
"But…"
"Sookie… stop…"
"What?"
"We just got people to cool it with the wedding rumors and the whole Christopher scare turned out to be nothing. So please… we are just dating… living together, he likes me, he likes my kid, my kid likes him… we are … comfortable… status quo…just don't… let's not rock the boat." Lorelai was still reeling over her Thanksgiving confession to her mother and wasn't sure how the news would affect their Christmas plans since she hadn't heard anything from her mother since the shouting match in the study.
"What are you gonna get him…"
Back to the present and happier Christmas plans, Lorelai groaned dramatically. "I have no idea. Maybe another back up base ball hat…You know in case something happens to good old reliable blue," referring to the new blue hat she got him for his birthday, recalling it on the diner floor with the beer bottles on his dark day, huh, he usually wears that one now, like…everyday. Lorelai smiled at the simple sign that he liked her gift.
"Well you've been dating like what? Eight -nine months… I think this calls for something a little more…"
"Well, I'm just starting… maybe tools… eh, I don't know… Home Depot intimidates me. I just… you know, want this to be the Best Christmas ever… with all that happened after Thanksgiving… and the whole anniversary of his father's death… I just want to make… everything special."
"You'll find something great."
Mia walked in, "Ah Lorelai, there you are."
"I'm sorry Mia, is my break over?" she checked the clock on the wall.
"No, no, my dear, I wanted to let you know your mother called."
"What?" Lorelai's stomach dropped.
"Your mother called…" Mia kindly repeated.
Lorelai seemed to sway on the spot, "I'm sorry? I think I just hallucinated. My mother called… here?"
"Yes, she scared the wits out of Sarah, poor thing slipped me this note because she couldn't find you," Mia offered Lorelai a piece of paper.
Lorelai read:
Lorelai,
Your mother called and said you needed to talk.
Sarah
"Huh, only took a week," Lorelai wondered if Emily had been frozen to the spot in the study for seven days since Thanksgiving.
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Like a child, Mia dragged Lorelai into her office, explaining it was only common courtesy to return the call immediately. "Lorelai, this is ridiculous, you know your mother is expecting you for Christmas, and if you get it out of the way now, you won't have to think of it till the party. You knew she was going to call eventually, she does every year…"
The only difference between this year and last year was Luke. Lorelai had told Emily about Luke at Thanksgiving, immediately offered up the fact that she was in love with him and how serious his attachment was to Rory and herself. Granted Lorelai saved the juicy "by the way, Mom we are living together, pass the gravy" for another day, but it still would be difficult and different then any other year.
Mia left Lorelai alone in the office to make the dreaded phone call and Lorelai couldn't help but relate to Rory trying to call Christopher last October. The first few minutes Lorelai stared at the phone, hoping she could just wait it out in the office without having to call. However, Mia always had the best advice and Lorelai knew she should just get it over with.
The first few times she dialed, she hung up after the first ring. About the sixth time a maid answered, and Lorelai hung up again, commending her own progress, and was relived that it hadn't been Emily, my mother answer the phone herself, ha!
Finally, Lorelai spoke to the maid, "Gilmore residence," the voice was very young and sounded impeded by something in the maid's mouth.
"Hello, umm, Emily Gilmore, please."
"Aw, I'm sorry Mrs. Gilmore has gone out, this is Desiree, I'm the maid," the young sounding girl giggled, "May I ask who is calling?"
"Oh well, this is her daughter, Lorelai…"
"Mrs. Gilmore has a daughter?" Desiree seemed surprised and Lorelai now recognized it was gum in the maid's mouth by the snapping and popping.
"Umm, yeah that's me… I'm the girl in all those pictures you dust?"
"Oh I'm sorry, it's just that…well she never mentioned you."
Okay, that was a little pointed, "Well, I am sort of the black sheep of the family," Lorelai cleared her throat.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I offend you? I'm always saying things like that… my own mother says I have no tact… that I should think before I speak, and that my big mouth is gonna get me in trouble one day," the maid quoted verbatim.
Sooner then you think, Lorelai recalled her mother's habit of getting a new maid weekly at the slightest hint of incompetence. A maid who says the wrong thing at the wrong time? Oh yeah… this one won't last long, "Umm could you please take a message? And tell my mother that I returned her call, please, exactly like that?"
"Certainly, I'll write it down right now… umm Miss?"
"Uh…Gilmore?" Lorelai offered lamely.
"Oh right, right," Desiree popped her gum a few times. "Okay, got it! Have a good day!"
Lorelai chuckled at how her mother went though maids like Kleenex.
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The town seemed to notice their First Family was closer than ever since the end of November. Even so, many were surprised to find Luke in the square with the Gilmore girls picking out a Christmas tree at the high school's charity fundraiser. Rory was holding Luke's hand and Lorelai had her armed linked in his on the other side, as they walked through the rows of trees.
Luke didn't know if Lorelai was part dog or if she just really liked the scent of pine. "Why do you keep sniffing the air?"
"I'm looking for a Scooby snack."
"What?"
"Mom thinks she can smell snow," Rory said from beside Luke.
"What?" He turned back to Lorelai.
"I can smell snow, the nose knows! There are two things that my nose can detect without fail, Coffee and Snow!"
"Lorelai its frozen water, falling from the atmosphere. How could you possibly smell it?"
"It's like dogs with high pitches," Rory said shaking a branch of a tree, then, seeing all the needles had fallen off with the jostling, she jumped back hoping the tree attendant hadn't seen her.
"RORY!" Lorelai cried, shocked at her daughter's words.
"What? I said pitches."
Lorelai relaxed and wondered when she could finally cuss again, how old is old enough? 13? 14?
"How about this one?" Luke suggested, finding the healthiest looking tree he could in their price range.
Lorelai smiled, it was not too tall or too wide, had a healthy plum of it's needles, which Luke argued would only make a mess on the floor, but Lorelai declared the tree "Perfect! Now bargain with the guy like in A Christmas Story."
Rory liked the plan, "Yeah, be as shrewd as an Arab trader!"
"I'm not going to do a bit from a movie," Luke vowed.
"Come on, Luke!" both girls pleaded, but he held his ground. Luke's truck came in handy when he simply paid the man to put the tree in his truck bed, rather then having to pay for it to be delivered.
Rory made all of them hot chocolate while Luke set up the tree in its stand in the living room. Luke observed, "I can't even remember the last time I had a Christmas tree."
Rory brought in the mugs for her mother and Luke and was going to go back to the kitchen for her own, but had to ask, "Was it when your dad was around?"
Luke thought back to the Christmas of 1988, the last Christmas his father saw, "Yeah, I guess so. I mean it was just me… so I really didn't see any need in, you know, decorating."
Luke was getting that sad distant look in his eye, the one he got when he thought of his dad and Rory had noticed it right away. "Come on, you can help me get the ornaments out of the garage, I don't want to get squished under all the boxes," she brought Luke back to the present by dragging his arm outside to the garage.
Lorelai had respected Luke's request, for once, not to over decorate the diner for Christmas, and they agreed on simple white lights in the windows, and that was it. However, at home, their home, she could pull out all of Rory's Christmas craft projects from her childhood and Lorelai had an eclectic mix of ornaments for the tree that Rory would help Luke dig out from the garage.
While Rory was showing Luke where the Christmas decorations were, Lorelai was alone in the living room, so when the phone rang and naturally, she answered it, "Hello and Merry Christmas!"
"Lorelai, this is your mother," Emily announced.
Lorelai's Christmas cheer was sucked right out of her as if the ghost of Christmas Past had appeared, "Oh, umm, hi Mom."
"It is customary when someone leaves a message at your work, that you call them back in a timely manner," Emily scolded.
See I didn't even know you knew where I worked, so… "Umm, well, I did call back; I left a message with the maid…"
"Well, I didn't receive any messages," Emily said haughtily knowing she had the high ground.
"It was Desiree?" Lorelai hoped that the name was still fresh in her mother's head and would recall the maid in question, "She wrote it down… she told me she wrote the message down!" Lorelai adopted a tone of "This is not my fault, I so called back!"
"Aw Desiree," apparently Emily recalled the young maid, "Ditzy little thing, she would write my messages on her hand, then when she did the dishes they would wash away with the dishwater."
"Well, I'm sorry. It's so hard to get good help…" Lorelai rolled her eyes, "I trusted Desiree to deliver my message."
"Well that's why she was fired. Always popping that gum, disgusting habit… I hope you don't let Rory chew gum like that…"
I so called it, what did I win? "Well, I got those four out of five dentists to show her how to chew it properly…"
"Anyway, the girl I spoke with at your… work… said she'd take a message…"
"Umm, okay?"
"…And give you a note. Did you get the note?"
"Well, I got your message …and the note… and I called you back…in a timely manner…" Lorelai said it because it was true.
"But I didn't get your message…"
"Well, that doesn't erase the fact that I did it…"
"Well, obviously if I didn't get your message how was I to know you got mine. I mean, if you knew I wanted to speak with you and you still didn't hear from me…"
"I'm speaking to you now does that count?"
"But you had a note to remind you of the fact that I wanted to speak to you," Emily pressed on.
For the love of coffee! "I lost the note, that's why is slipped my mind. Things got really hectic at work," Lorelai offered lamely.
"Really Lorelai, did you listen at all when I taught you about manners and etiquette?"
"But Mom," Lorelai scoffed and was getting really annoyed with the merry go round, "I returned your call, I left a message…I..." can see I'm not gonna win this one… "If I say 'not really', can we move on?"
"Very well, I wanted to call to see if you would be attending our Christmas Party this year."
Just as Lorelai had expected, "You mean the party we attend every year?" Lorelai shot back sarcastically.
"Well, I understand from Thanksgiving that there have been some changes and developments in your life. So I wasn't sure if I could count on you to show."
"Oh, well, umm, we'd love to come, thank you," Lorelai said politely, I come for the apple tarts.
"Very well," Emily said coolly, "I'm going over my seating arrangement now, how many will be coming with you?"
Here we go… the question she waited since Thanksgiving to hear, "I beg your pardon?" If Lorelai was going to bring Luke, she wanted him to be invited and welcomed, Fat chance, but Lorelai knew her mother's curiosity would get the better of her and she would have to include Luke in the invitation.
"Well, I assume that if you love," Emily's tone emphasized her doubts, "this… Luke person, then your father and I should meet him eventually," Emily sighed heavily. "We might as well get it over with during the season of peace on earth and goodwill towards man."
"Thank you, I'm sure Luke will be happy to join us, so three settings, I guess."
"Oh No!" Emily emphatically exclaimed for dramatic show.
"What?" Lorelai asked.
"I won't have a balanced table now… well, I suppose we will have to make do," Emily complained.
Lorelai picked up that her mother was going to be very difficult with the introduction to her beau. "Well, if it balances your table you can put me in Luke's lap?" Lorelai rolled her eyes.
"Lorelai…"
"I'll feed him too, it will be adorable."
"Really, Lorelai," Emily sighed, already tired of her daughter's humor after a single joke.
"Umm, Mom…"
"Yes, Lorelai?"
Lorelai knew what Luke's parents must have meant to him to mourn them so devoutly all these years, Lorelai couldn't help but have thoughts of her own parent's dark day, and well, Lorelai was sad that things seemed beyond repair with her own parents, but decided to reach out anyway. "Well, I may forget to do this, because, well, I know us," she said, thinking of how every visit ended with an argument, "and well, I just want to say thank you in advance."
"For what?"
"For including him. I know you will probably hate him, and think he isn't worth of your notice but… he's a good man, mom, he is really good to me and to Rory. So please, just please be as civil as you can, I mean, really civil; because I can assure you if you try to belittle or attack him in front of Rory or your friends, Rory will defend him till the end, and I will be right there be side her making a scene at your precious party."
"Very well," Emily said stiffly." I assume you will want to sit beside this man?"
"Well, if you sit us across from each other we could play footsy under the table…" Lorelai mused.
"Lorelai," it was Emily's turn to roll her eyes.
"Actually, you can sit Rory between us, to make sure we behave ourselves."
Sometimes Emily thought she must have gotten the wrong baby from the hospital; how else could Lorelai be so different from the rest of the family. "Very well, it's next Friday, the 13th."
"What?" the date caught Lorelai's attention.
"The Christmas party, its Friday the 13th."
"Oh well okay," Lorelai tried not to take that as a bad omen. "We'll see you next week… all three of us."
Emily hung up without so much as a goodbye.
Rory and Luke came in with another load of ornaments, Luke was laughing at something Rory had just said. "Umm, I really don't know what would happen…"
Rory seemed excited, "Can we try it?"
"Fine, the next time your mom buys Twizzlers," always finding Rory's curiosity endearing. As they put the boxes down, they noticed how still Lorelai was. "Lorelai?" Luke asked.
Lorelai looked over and forced a smile.
"Mom?" Rory had noticed the phone in her hand, "It wasn't…" Rory gulped, as she seemed to scoot closer and cling to Luke, "Christopher was it?"
"No, umm it was your grandmother, confirming our plans for the Christmas party."
Rory let out her the breath she had been holding, whew, only apple tarts!
Lorelai informed, "She's invited… all three of us."
"What?" that caught Luke's attention.
"Well, after hearing about you at Thanksgiving, my parents want to meet you."
After hearing so much about her folks, Luke was more than a little intimidated. He was curious what was actually said about him to instill such curiosity in Lorelai's parents. It could be to size him up, since he was the man with intentions towards their only daughter.
"It'll be okay," Rory assured the perplexed expression on Luke's face. "I was scared the first time I went there, too. I'll stay with you the whole time."
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As the Christmas dinner approached, Rory thought Luke should make something to bring as a gesture of good faith.
"Rory, I don't want to insult your grandmother by bringing my own food," Luke said, trying not to show his slight fear of her grandparents. Lorelai had told him many stories about Emily, how easily offended she was if things weren't her way, how she took the slightest unintentional thing personally, and would never let it go. Insulting them wasn't the impression he wanted to make when meeting Lorelai's parents.
"Luke, please! I like your apple raisin stuffing so much better. Plus, I got a brilliant idea! I was thinking we could use Red Delicious and Granny Smiths to get red and green right in the stuffing! And to add to the mix gold and purple raisins… please… just imagine the sweetness mixing with the thyme and rosemary…"
As usual, Luke couldn't seem to say no to her, "Alright." Secretly, he dreaded Emily's reaction to the gesture of good faith. "How many guests?"
Rory exaggerated, knowing she'd have seconds and thirds, "Umm no more than 15."
Luke decided, "Well, we'll make it at the diner since the oven is bigger."
Rory smiled again, she recalled both Luke's and her mother's versions of their second date and how Luke had made dinner for Lorelai. They both said the same thing; the way to Gilmore's heart is through their stomach.
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"That was all God given talent..." why thank you NON POD Luke!
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Localizy would like to say a few words: Sorry it took so long everyone. It was my fault not GG1979. I am going on vacation and have spent the last few days getting ready and life has just been well you know. So enjoy this chapter and remember: Trust us! We have big BIG things planned!
A/N: The opening of this chapter concludes the DARK DAY SAGA as Localizy and I were calling it…
A/N: Purple Ribbon! For season 7 ugh!
Fav parts you may have missed:
Patty: "I better call off the search party or Kirk is likely to get lost in those woods."
-Luke didn't know if Lorelai was part dog or if she just really liked the scent of pine. (well her mother is a BITCH HA HA!)
A/N: PURE COINCIDENCE I hear there are some ironic parallels to my sentiments about why adults get drunk…and Lorelai's behavior on the show… I haven't been watching… I don't know how close to the mark I am… so (shrug) there.
A/N: My sister and I have pajama days on the weekends, especially after a really tough week; usually we eat late, play PlayStation, and watch movies. It's fun!
A/N: apple raisin stuffing is my specialty at Thanksgiving/Christmas, and I really do use the mix of granny smith and red delicious apples for Christmas… see my life is totally infused into my art!
A/N: eclectic mix of ornaments inspired by my mother's … ummm…-unique tastes.
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R/R: PLEASE, I like to better myself. To quote The Princess Bride,
"...Remember this is for posterity, ... so be honest."
Please be specific with R/R; name one (or as many as you can think of or want to mention..…) At least one specific thing you liked
Please! It makes me feel good...inside (Dirty!)
Hence the Rant option below.
Insert Rant here V
A/N: if not completely satisfied with this chapter, please return unused portion for a full refund...