A/N: Rory is a bit younger in this story as compared to the real GG timeframe. Hope you enjoy, and please don't forget to leave your reviews!
The Art of Standing Still in the Rain
It was a rainy Friday night. Lorelai was rushing to get back to the Crap Shack to sit beside her ailing daughter. A few hours ago, she received a call from the nurse at Rory's school telling her of a chickenpox outbreak. Immediately after hearing this, Lorelai rushed to pick up Rory, knowing that she would indeed be one of those infected. As Lorelai saw her daughter come out of the doors of her school, she noticed Rory to be looking ill and was scratching both her arms. She brought Rory home, checked on her fever and put her to bed. She kissed the top of Rory's head, trying to soothe her daughter of this excruciating experience. She wanted to sit beside Rory and comfort her, but the Independence Inn was having a huge wedding that weekend which required all staff on deck. So, she promised her daughter that she'll get some anti-pyrectics, anti-histamines, and emollients to ease her symptoms, as well as someone to check her from time to time while she was still at the Inn.
First order of business, ask Babette to baby sit Rory while she's finishing up work at the inn. Lorelai looked through the windows of the Dell's residence, but to no luck, neither Babette nor Morey was home. She then remembered Babette telling her that she and Morey were going to New York that week for their nth anniversary. Lorelai then thought of Miss Patty, but then remembered that she was also busy with the rehearsals of the ballet for next week. She was running out of options. Lorelai walked towards the center of town while thinking of people who could look after her daughter that afternoon.
Emily Gilmore? Lorelai mused. Was she willing to suddenly call her mother and ask this favor out of the blue? Could be, but only if it's the last option.
Lorelai was nearing the center of the town when she saw the diner. Luke, of course! She thought to herself. Luke liked Rory, and she knew he'll be up for it. He wouldn't say yes immediately, but Lorelai was willing to trade a week without coffee just for Rory to have adult supervision for one afternoon.
The sound of the bells shook Luke out of his reverie. For some reason, the diner was dead that day. Not a single Stars Hollownian was patronizing his business. Luke then looked up to see who he'll thank to finally end the drought happening in the middle of the town.
"Coffee?" Luke asked. Lorelai Gilmore was becoming a frequent visitor of his establishment. Although irritation and headache were the first two things that pop up to his mind when he sees Lorelai, there's this other thing that he's feeling in his gut whenever she catches a glimpse of her.
"No coffee for now. Thanks though" Lorelai replied.
That was a first. Lorelai Gilmore not interested in coffee? Either there was something serious in her mind right now, or he's seeing a Lorelai doppelganger. Luke was about to retort when Lorelai cut his trail of thought.
"Hey Luke, I know this is a lot to ask, but I've got a situation here. You see, there was a chickenpox outbreak in Rory's school, and she hasn't had it yet, well, if you asked me this morning, she never had chickenpox, but as of 12:12 pm today, that's one off her bucket list. Anyway, she was sent home by the school nurse when she started developing a fever as well as some rash thinking hey! This might be chickenpox, which I think is the correct diagnosis, so good job Ms. School-Nurse, you deserve a star… or a stethoscope award, or… what do nurses get when they do a job well done?" Lorelai was babbling at this point, and Luke was starting to get confused with the word vomit Lorelai was doing.
"Chickenpox? How is she? Did you get any ointment or anti-histamines to stop her from scratching?" Luke asked, he was now also feeling worried about Rory's condition. Luke never liked kids, never. They are clingy and noisy, and they always seem to have sticky hands, like they just stuck their hands in a tub of jam. However, for some reason Luke liked Rory. She was the first non-annoying, non-clingy, non-jam-hands kid he'd ever met. If I ever have a kid, Rory would be the perfect template. Maybe not all kids are bad?
"I'm actually on my way to the pharmacy to get those stuff. But the thing is…" Lorelai was hesitating to continue. "The thing is… the inn's kind of busy right now. We have a big wedding coming up this weekend. Sookie, Michel, and I need to be at the inn to oversee the preparations. I tried looking for Babette, then I remembered they're in New York for their anniversary. I was actually going to Miss Patty's but you know about the ballet next week? So much tulle and pink, and I really don't want to suffocate Rory with too much pink today. I was actually considering asking my mother to babysit Rory, but I'm afraid that if I call her, she'll blame me for Rory having chickenpox. That I should have exposed Rory to chickenpox when she was younger, you know, to prevent future scaring which could also scar her future."
"Are you asking me if I could babysit Rory?" Luke assumed after hearing Lorelai babble endlessly.
"Well, if you were to ask me honestly, I wanted to ask if there was some way you could do to transfer Rory's chicken pox to me so that she wouldn't have to suffer. But then if I had the chickenpox, I won't be able to handle the wedding this weekend, and probably won't be able to endure the itchiness aspect, 'cause you know me and my patience, foreign concept, and…"
"Okay. I can look after her while you're at the inn." Did I just agree to babysit? The last babysitting gig I had was… Liz, and look what happened to her? Luke thought to himself. He didn't know what magical powers Lorelai had, but he somehow seems to agree with whatever Lorelai asked for.
"Are you sure? I mean, you'll have to look after her, feed her, prevent her from scratching her skin, and she wouldn't be that cute too while you do all of those things. She'll look like the spawn of Polkadot-Man."
"Did you go here to ask for help or interview me for a babysitting position?" Luke retorted. "I know what babysitting entails. Keeping her alive until you get back home, wouldn't be that hard."
Lorelai's eyes smiled the first time that afternoon. "You're an angel, Lucas Danes! An angel dropped from heaven!"
"Yeah, and lucky you, you get an angel dropped a million miles from heaven." Luke deadpanned.
Lorelai rushed to Luke and gave her a hug. "For real, you are an angel. Thanks for this Luke, You have no idea how thankful I am." Lorelai whispered to his neck. His gut was again out of control which caused him to slowly release Lorelai from their hug.
"No coffee for you for one week, then we're even," Luke smirked then proceeded to flip the close sign of his diner.
The rain was pouring hard that night. Lorelai quickly exited her Jeep and rushed to her house. The silence was deafening inside. As she walked towards her kitchen, she saw bowls and bowls of what seemed like mashed potatoes.
"Luke? Rory? I'm home! Hmm… no answer?" She said as she walked towards Rory's room. She slowly opened the door and stood there as she digested the view in front of her. Rory was tucked in bed with what seemed like cream covering the spots on her face and arms. Luke was asleep on a chair that was beside Rory's bed, clutching a book and Colonel Clucker on his chest. This was a sight she was not prepared to see. It seemed peaceful and normal, like what you get to see when you come home from work, and you see your husband taking care of your daughter. It surprised Lorelai that she was having these thoughts. She never saw Luke in that light, but somehow the image in front of her as she stood still on the door frame seemed right.
It was 10 o'clock that night, and she was debating whether to wake Luke up from his seemingly peaceful slumber. She went to Rory's side, and kissed the top of her daughter's head, whispering to her goodnight. She then went to Luke's side, somehow magnetized by his peaceful slumber. She was about to caress the curls pouring out of his baseball cap when he lightly stirred and slowly opened his eyes.
"Hey, you're home," Luke whispered as his eyes adjusted with the visual in front of him.
"How was she?" Lorelai asked.
"Just a little problem with the food intake. It may be the first time that I actually had to persuade her to eat something. It reached to a point that I offered her pop tarts, but she still refused to eat. We had to play 20 questions just to figure out that her stomach could only handle mashed potatoes."
Lorelai chuckled a bit. She could not, for the life of her, imagine Luke playing any games, and even asking 20 questions to a kid just to figure out what she wanted to eat.
Luke then continued, "after I fed her, she washed up and told her to apply the cream on her spots, then hit the bed so she could rest."
"But she couldn't sleep."
"Yeah, so I sat beside her, got a book, and just read to until she fell asleep." Luke finished.
"So, what's the deal with you and Colonel Cluckers?" Lorelai asked, amused that her daughter relinquished her favorite stuffed toy to the diner man.
"Well, she wanted to thank me for taking care of her tonight, so she handed me this bird so that I wouldn't feel lonely while I watched her sleep." Luke blushed while explaining this to Lorelai. He knew it sounded absurd, but the small act of someone looking out for him, as cheesy as it sounded, was something new to him. In Luke's life, it was always the other way around. He was there to look after his ailing father up to his last breath. When William Danes was on his deathbed, he asked Luke to promise him to look after Liz and Jess. And now, as he grew fonder of the Gilmore girls, he looked after them, even just within the confines of his establishment.
Lorelai smiled as she heard the sweet gesture her daughter did for Luke. "Well, since you're here and it's kind of late, I can get out of your hair so that both of you could rest." Luke stood up from the chair and headed out the door. But before he reached for the doorknob he hesitantly asked "If you want, I could stay here with you guys so that you too could rest. Big day tomorrow, I hear?" Luke offered although after hearing what he said, it sounded weird as if he was self-inviting himself to stay over.
And it was just then that Lorelai heard an imaginary click in her head. She was proud of being a single mother, and prouder that she was able to raise a decent little girl like Rory all by herself. But somehow knowing that there was another person who was willing to stand still with her despite whatever life throws, was something she never thought she wanted.
"Stay," Lorelai said. As the rain poured outside the Crap Shack, they both stood still as they watched this little polka dot girl sleeping peacefully in bed.