Disclaimer: ASP's creation not mine. Don't own anything! If I did, I would want to own, Scott Patterson or Luke Danes. I'm totally fine with either! ;p Also, if I did own GG, there would be no such existence of the Nardini's and LL would be happily married at the end of S6, while making Lorelai's dream in S3 become a reality in S7.
Author's Note: I really am so grateful to all of you who have been continuously reading and reviewing.
Just a heads up, I threw in a little of 6.21, so pardon me if you feel as though you're lost or I skipped ahead. Trust me there is a reason for the blend. Okay, now with that said, here is chapter four… Enjoy!
Vital Company
Chapter 4: Rescue Squad
After another long and restless night alone, Lorelai finally peeled her eyes off of the ceiling. She looked over at her clock on her nightstand and sighed as she got up and headed towards the shower. She welcomed the hot water as it cascaded over her tense and aching muscles.
She slipped out of the bathroom after completing her morning routine, then made her way downstairs. She grabbed her purse and the kitty cat package from the hallway desk that she had set up the night before, along with her keys and phone, before she made her way out the door.
As she arrived to the Inn, she proceeded directly into the kitchen, passing an aggravated Michel as he barked angrily into the phone about milk.
"Sookie emergency." Lorelai whimpered, "I'm crashing." She added as she dragged herself further into the kitchen, placing her purse and the gift bag on the counter.
Sookie pointed towards the coffee maker, "Fresh pot, Sweetie."
Sookie glanced over at Lorelai. It was no secret to what her best friend was feeling at the moment. Sookie continued prepping breakfast for the Inn and carefully started conversation, "So, I'm gonna assume you skipped Luke's this morning?"
"Not entirely." Lorelai answered, slightly shaking her head, "This," She motioned towards her freshly poured cup of coffee, "is just the warm up."
"I'm making a batch of brownies for you. We'll call it a pastry substitute." Sookie told her, in hopes of getting Lorelai to smile.
At that moment Jackson came bursting into the kitchen through the back entrance asking to speak to his wife alone. Sookie excused herself just as Lorelai's phone began to buzz in her back pocket.
Lorelai groaned as she placed her cup on the island and reached for her phone. She inhaled a deep breath, steeling herself for the caller, before pressing the talk button.
"Hi Mom?" She answered. She didn't even bother to put any effort into a witty greeting.
"How soon can you get here?" Came the panicked voice of Emily Gilmore.
"What?" She asked, confused by her mother's frantic acknowledgment.
"How soon can you get here?" Emily repeated.
"What are you talking about, Mom?" She asked at a lost.
"Tell me your father called you." Emily rushed out, "Did he not call you?"
"Umm…" Lorelai stammered, unsure of how to answer, knowing very well that she hadn't received a call from her father recently.
"Oh for heavens sake!" She groaned, "He didn't call."
Lorelai knowing the wrath of Emily, tried to cover for her father, "No he did, but when he called, I was still half asleep, so I wasn't really paying attention." She came out with, "Now, since I have you on the phone, why don't you tell me what it was you needed, Mom."
"The lasik surgery went bad and I am all alone here. I desperately need to run errands today, so I need you to drive me." Emily explained.
"Mom, I don't know." She shut her eyes in an attempt to calm herself, knowing what she was going to get rooked into, "I have a business to run. There's absolutely no one else that can help you?"
"I don't remember being in labor for fourteen hours with anyone else, so no, there's no one else."
Lorelai rolled her eyes at Emily's exaggeration, "I'll be right over, Mom."
Emily sighed, "I'll be waiting. Alone and blind." Her dramatics raring at a high.
"Bye, Mom."
Sookie walked back into the kitchen looking a little nervous. Lorelai watched her with furrowed brows, before she asked, "Is everything okay, Sook?"
Sookie snapped her head toward Lorelai, "What? Oh yeah." She tried to play cool, "Yeah, yeah. Fine, everything's fine." She rambled nervously, "You heading over to Luke's?"
Lorelai brushed off Sookie's awkwardness and shook her head, "No, that was my mother. Apparently, her lasik surgery went badly and now she can't see. I 'm gonna head over there to help her out."
"Aw is she gonna be okay?"
"Yeah she should be fine," Lorelai waved off, "but she has errands to run, that she was desperate to get done."
Sookie giggled, still a little distant, "Is there anything I can do?"
Lorelai shook her head as her eyes looked around in thought. The gift bag that was sitting next to her purse suddenly caught her eye. She turned to look back at Sookie and nodded as she sighed, "Actually, yes. It's a big favor." She started, wincing a bit.
"Yeah sweetie, name it."
Lorelai reached for the bag and clutched it to her chest, "Could you take this over to Luke's for me, but not have him see it?"
Sookie looked at her confused, "Wait, what?"
"I got this gift at a bookstore for April for her birthday and Luke doesn't know… and I kind of wrote that it's from him on the tag… without his permission." She finished waiting for Sookie's reaction.
Sookie still looked confused, "Is it a gag gift or something?"
"No." She replied easily.
"Then why can't Luke know about it?"
Lorelai sighed, "Because I really think April will like it."
Sookie rested her hands on her hips, "I'm lost."
"It'll be the perfect gift and Luke didn't originally get it, hence the reason I was gonna try to drop it off without him seeing." Lorelai snapped her finger, "Wait a minute! This is actually better, now you can go into Luke's, you can drop off the present while there are some gifts already on the table and it'll look like the gift was from one of them… well until April opens it, but hopefully she'll be happy and then he can't even be mad at me for pulling this stunt." She finished with a smile.
"I still think this doesn't make any sense," Sookie giggled, "but of course I'll do it."
"Yes! Thank you so much, Sookie!" She said, handing over the kitty cat bag "Just be sure that no one sees you dropping it off. Especially Luke, okay?"
"Of course, Sweetie. You can count on me." Sookie began to run in place with her arms out wide playfully, while she sang, "I'm a karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon."
Lorelai laughed, "Thanks, Hon!"
"No problem. I'll even have that batch of brownies I promised you, waiting for you when you get back."
Lorelai picked up her purse and made her way towards the door shooting a smile over her shoulder, "Can't wait!" and with that Lorelai made her exit towards her jeep heading toward the Gilmore Manor dreading what her mother's errands consisted of.
Lorelai had gotten to her parents in record time. Just as she had put the car in park her phone called out for her attention. She looked at the screen display and squeezed her eyes shut tightly before flipping the phone open, "Hey." She breathed.
"Where are you?" This time the frantic voice came from her fiancée, "I called the Inn looking for you and Michel said you left and he didn't know where to, then Sookie dropped by just a few minutes ago. I came out of the kitchen just in time to see her leaving, so I stopped her and asked where you were and all she said was she was here to relay the message that you had to help your mother. Something about a bad surgery? Is everything alright?" He asked anxiously, ending his rant.
"Yeah, Luke everything's fine." Lorelai replied, "Sorry I wasn't able to let you know myself, but my mom had a bad reaction to the eye surgery, so I'm here to help her, since my dad is on a business trip." She explained, but she paused as she recalled a piece of his rant, "Wait, why were you calling the Inn for me?"
"It's a disaster!" He answered in a frenzy, simply bypassing Lorelai's situation.
"What is?" She asked, confused, "The Inn?"
"No. The party. April's birthday party. The one I'm throwing for her. They're falling asleep. The party is a dud. I don't know what to do." He rushed out.
"Well, why don't you liven it up?"
"I don't know how to do that. They're girls. I thought they could just talk themselves to death."
"Oh Luke." She shook her head, not surprised at his cluelessness.
"I know. I need your help." He said desperately.
Lorelai rolled her eyes at the fact that he only wanted her involvement when he was stuck in a rut, "Luke, I'm sorry, I can't. I told you I have to help my mother. She'll have my head if I leave her alone for another minute. She can't see a thing."
"But I need you." He voiced.
Lorelai winced at the oozing sound of desperation in his voice, attempting to rip it's way though her barrier. She sighed heavily, "Just… hold on."
"You're on your way?" His voice lifted within a split second.
"Just hang tight, until I can figure something out." She replied, shaking her head at her resolve.
"Okay. Hurry before they start leaving."
"Bye." She replied hanging up.
Lorelai bit her bottom lip as she furiously tried to think up some kind of plan to help Luke. She remembered Billy's words playing in her head saying; If he wants time alone, then give him that. Lorelai shook her head knowing that she couldn't do that. That would have to wait until she actually built up the courage to tell him about her idea of a break. Suddenly a light bulb went off as she flipped open her cell once more and dialed swiftly.
Meanwhile back at the Dragonfly, Jackson had left Sookie with strong smelling trash bags, filled with the subject from their frenzied discussion earlier. Sookie got to baking immediately, pouring loads of the subject into the brownie batter as inconspicuously as possible.
Lorelai had finished up her phone calls with Allison, scheduling Leslie and herself to crash the snore fest at Luke's with makeover madness. She also called Kirk and asked if he could head over and play some girly pop style music while the makeovers were being conducted, then if he could set up his projector and screen and show Pretty In Pink after the girl's festivities.
She also called Doose's and got in contact with Jaime, one of the long time clerks and asked if she could take over loads of junk food. She told all of them to bill her and she would come to settle it as soon as she got back home.
Lorelai got out of her jeep and made her way up to the door where she repentantly opened it and walked inside.
"Mom?" She called out.
"In here." Came Emily's damsel voice.
The house was practically pitch black, Lorelai had to squint to carefully make her way towards the sitting room. Lorelai finally spotted Emily lounged on one of the couches.
"Oh I'm sorry, Count, but I was looking for my mother." She joked lightly.
Emily exhaled exasperatingly "Will you at least keep your comedy act to a minimum of five minutes at my funeral?"
Lorelai rolled her eyes, "Sorry, Mom."
Back at Luke's; Leslie, Allison, Jordan and Melanie came bounding into the doors, each holding arm loads of baskets, one for each girl that were stuffed to the rim with makeup and hair products. Leslie, Jordan and Melanie went about setting up a few tables, aligning the baskets evenly as Allison strolled over to look for Luke.
"Luke?" Allison called to him.
"Yeah. Hi, that's me." He confirmed.
"Lorelai called me and arranged everything, so we'll get started as soon as you're ready." She informed him.
"Okay great! Well, I'm not getting any makeup put on, so I guess it's whenever you guys are ready. I was gonna head in the kitchen to get the food set up for later." He said, clasping his hands together.
"Okay sounds good." She said, then turned to prep her staff.
Kirk came striding into the door with a projector screen and a couple of bags slung over each of his shoulders. He set the screen down on the counter and turned to look at Luke, "Good evening, Luke!"
"How ya doin', Kirk?" He replied nicely in his gruff tone.
"I'm fine, thank you for asking." Kirk answered, causing Luke to roll his eyes at him staying in business mode "Lorelai phoned me and we discussed a well thought out structure for the modish events that I shall provide. I have everything I need, I just need you to point out where to set my equipment up."
"You can set up your stuff up right over there, Kirk." Luke pointed to the spot right in front of the window connecting the diner and the soda shoppe. Kirk nodded and got to work.
Jaime and Joe came through the door seconds later. Jaime held up bags full of candy and junk food, while Joe had his arms full of pizza boxes stacked covering his face.
"Hey Luke!" Joe greeted from behind the boxes.
"Hi Luke! Lorelai called me and we're here to deliver her order." She smiled politely.
"Wow!" Luke said in surprise as he smiled slightly, "She really went all out, huh?"
"Well, Lorelai said junk food, and Joe just happened to be in the market when Lorelai called, and he over heard our conversation."
"Yeah," Joe cut in, "and everyone knows that any party of Lorelai Gilmore's wouldn't be complete without pizza, so I tagged along and figured I'd add to the list." Joe explained.
"That's true!" Luke nodded, "This is perfect. You guys can set everything up on the counter."
Luke turned around and smiled widely seeing the party instantly livening up as he watched the girls dance to Kirk's music. He was truly grateful for his fiancée's party planning skills. He turned to fetch some plates and utensils from the back, and it went unnoticed that a certain newly turned thirteen year old was standing just two feet away and heard every word each adult had spoken.
Lorelai huffed, feeling drained of her last ounce of energy. She felt as if she'd been driving Emily everywhere in Connecticut for what felt like days. She pulled up to the curb in front of a real estate building.
Lorelai sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day as she asked, "Okay mom, what's next?"
"You don't have to say it like that, Lorelai." Emily responded calmly.
"Mom, I just spent the last hour and a half watching you get a manicure." She retorted as she put the car in park.
"It was my standing appointment, Lorelai."
"Yes, except I was the one doing the standing, since there weren't any seats." Lorelai said pointedly.
"Oh stop your hysterics, Lorelai and come on. Lock the door. I'm leaving my bananas in the car." She said stepping out onto the curb gracefully.
Lorelai walked around the car and met Emily in front of the building, "This is a real estate building, Mom." Lorelai stated as she pointed to the building.
"Yes, very good, Lorelai." Emily rolled her eyes, "I would give you a reward, but I left the bananas in the car."
Lorelai's mouth hung agape, "Did you just imply that I'm a monkey?"
"Lorelai, close your mouth. It's unladylike." Emily told her, ignoring Lorelai's question, "Now come on, this is the last stop." She said, moving in the direction of the door.
"You realize that we're in Beacon Falls?" Lorelai asked, trailing alongside her mother.
"I told you the bananas are in the car, Lorelai." Emily said, taking another dig at Lorelai with ease, "What's your point?"
Lorelai shook her head, "We've driven just almost as far as Stars Hollow, Mom. Now I'll have to boomerang it and drive you all the way back to Hartford just to come back."
"I'm sorry my illness is an inconvenience to you. I promise next time I'll rent a sled and have dogs pull me to my errands." Emily spoke calmly, "Now, come on."
Lorelai opened the door for her mother and allowed her to walk in before she followed. Just as Lorelai was about to ask once again what they were doing at a real estate office she heard a voice greeting Emily.
"Emily!" The woman smiled warmly, taking Emily's hand in hers to shake briefly.
"Lorene, hi!" Emily greeted, "I'm sorry if we're late. I had this awful lasik surgery yesterday and today has been a nightmare."
"Oh, I hope you're okay."
"She's fine." Lorelai interjected
Emily gestured to Lorelai, "Lorene, this is my daughter, Lorelai." The women smiled their hellos, "We are anxious to see those pictures."
"What pictures?" Lorelai asked, lost on the topic.
"Alright, if you would just follow me back, I'll begin with the presentation." Lorene replied, guiding them into a large cubical.
"Mom?" Lorelai questioned, uncertain of what was happening. Emily sat and motioned for Lorelai to do the same.
Lorene then began speaking again, "So, I talked to the owner, and he said that they would be willing to throw in any of the furniture or appliances that we might like, completely up to you."
"That's wonderful!" Emily said with a smile.
"Why is that wonderful, mom?" Lorelai asked still confused.
"Go on, Lorene." Emily nodded.
"Anyhow, the pictures are pretty complete, but I can get us in this weekend if you would like to take a closer look for yourself?" She paused in question.
"Do you, mom? Do you want to take a closer look?" Lorelai interrupted again, trying to get information.
Lorene continued at Emily's silence, "This is only the second time that this house has been on the market in 100 years. It's got 5 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths with a library, a sun porch. It's on 3 acres with a very small what they call a fishing hole, which is really a little pond, but it's very charming, and it has stables for horses or potential to convert the space into a workshop or personal spaced preference. The roof is in good shape, but I think that the plumbing will need some updating. But the sellers are motivated, and I think it's a pretty special property." She finished with a smile.
"I do too." Emily nodded and flashed a smile of her own, "What about you?" She asked, turning to Lorelai, "Lorelai?" She called when she got no response.
"Why are you looking at this house, Mom?"
"Lorene can you give us a minute?" Emily asked politely.
"Of course. I'll just be over here if you need me." She said excusing herself.
Emily turned back to Lorelai and asked, "Well? What do you think?"
"Mom?" Lorelai began slowly, "What's going on?"
"I will tell you as soon as you tell me in your honest opinion what you think." Emily bartered.
"It's fine." She shrugged, not wanting to look at the amazing house.
"Fine? Just fine?" Emily questioned as she reared her head back.
"It just doesn't look like your style, mom."
"I asked for your opinion, Lorelai."
Lorelai got up and carefully allowed her eyes to leisurely rake over each board that was filled with pictures of the house. Lorelai gasped slightly at the picture of the large magnificent kitchen with the gas range oven in the middle of an island that had stools on the opposite side. She moved to the next board and saw the picture of the maple finished staircase and the huge wrap around porch. She pressed her fingertips to her lips, holding in how deep this place hit her. It was beautiful. It was perfect.
Lorelai moved her hand away from her mouth and spoke softly, "It's perfect."
Emily smiled in satisfaction, "Good…" She paused, "It's for you."
Lorelai whipped around to look at her mother in shock, "Me?"
Emily nodded, "Well, you and Luke. As a wedding present, your father and I figured that you wouldn't let us throw you a wedding, so this was the next best thing. Now I know this might seem like a lot, but honestly Lorelai, this is the least we can do. And I know you love your house, but it isn't big enough for when you have children. I mean, if you have more children. I also know that Luke might take a bit more effort in convincing, but I think he'll love the place and maybe overlook the fact that it's a gift. It's not actually in Stars Hollow, but it's right on the border. It's only an extra 10 minutes to the inn and an extra 5 minutes to the diner. I really think this will be great for the two of you."
Lorelai was on the verge of tears. She couldn't believe that her parents had wanted to buy Luke and herself a house. All that running around in Stars Hollow was for her, not them. She looked back at her mother, then again to the pictures. An idea struck her, she thought of her need to escape. This place would be just right, and it helped that she absolutely loved it. But she also knew that she needed to tell her mother the truth.
Lorelai turned to Emily as she sat next to her, "Mom, I really love this house."
"Wonderful!" She remarked with a smile.
"No, wait hold on." She held a hand up to freeze her mother's glee as she exhaled in thought, "Okay umm… remember how you and dad split up a little over a year ago?" She began.
"Yes. Wait have you and Luke split up?" She asked in panic.
"No!" Lorelai reassured, causing Emily to sigh in relief, "I'm just… in a bind."
"In a bind?" Emily repeated, at a lost.
"Yeah. Luke and I have been a bit rocky with a few topics regarding our relationship." Lorelai revealed, "I just think I really need time to myself. Alone. To process and re-energize. I feel like I'm all out of juice. I'm spending most of my energy on pretending. I'm tired of self-pitying myself and I want to take a couple of days or maybe even a week or two, to just relax. I want to tell you everything and explain to you what is going on, but I feel so tired right now that it probably wouldn't come out right." Lorelai explained, "I want to take a break. Not from life or work, but from my relationship with Luke. Like I said nothing permanent, we're not breaking up. I just want some time, and I want to give him time as well without me, so he can figure out what it is he wants. He's been pushing me away and I'm running out of ideas of what to do." She vented to her mother, in hopes she wouldn't go too hard on the; I told you so's.
Emily listened attentively in silence as her daughter spoke. She hadn't been aware that Lorelai was carrying around this burdening weight upon her shoulders and she wanted to do anything to help, for even though she still didn't necessarily scream for joy when it came to her daughter's choice for her forever man, she knew her daughter had never behaved or loved a man that much or ever for that matter. Lorelai devoted herself to Luke just as she devoted herself to Richard, so if there was a way that she could help, she truly wanted to.
Emily finally spoke up, "Well, it's a good thing we can get you into the house by this weekend then."
"What?"
"You love this house, yes?" Emily stated more that asked.
"Yes, but-"
"You said it was perfect." Emily recalled.
"Well, yeah I did, but-" Lorelai began only to be cut off once more.
"Then it's settled. We'll have Lorene draw up the paperwork along with setting up the owners to fix everything and we'll have the house ready in no time."
"But, mom-" Lorelai tried again.
"Lorelai, please… Let me do this for you. Your father and I… please? I know we haven't been exactly cheering happily for you and Luke, but we really do just want to see you happy, and we know that he's the only man that you want that happiness with. So let us help you have your time to process." Emily spoke with sincerity.
Lorelai felt the tears building in her eyes, "I just wanted to say, thank you, Mom." She whispered.
Emily nodded, then spoke up after a moment of silence, "I think you're very brave, Lorelai. You are a wonderful woman and I hope this works out in your favor. You know what they say; absence makes the heart grow fonder. Let's just hope that Luke isn't as slow as he used to be." She finished and headed to fetch Lorene.
Lorelai puffed a small laugh as she shook her head and looked back towards the boards containing the beautiful pictures of her dream home.
The party was a success. All of the girls had departed with the arrival of their parents, leaving Luke and April to clean the mess.
"You don't have to help. It's your birthday." Luke told her as he lifted the now full bag of trash from the bin. "Go sit down, I've got this."
April nodded distractedly. She walked over to the curtain that led to Luke's apartment and reached for her bag that was at the bottom of the stairs. She brought it out to the front door and dropped it just to the side. April plopped herself down in a chair still lost in thought.
Luke looked over at her as he saw her face contorted in deep thought, "Is everything alright, April?" He asked as he put the trash bag down on the opposite side of the door.
April broke out of her daze and looked up to Luke, "Yeah, just thinking." She answered, her face blank not showing any emotion.
"You want to talk about it?" He asked, taking up the seat across from her.
April didn't give a yes or no answer, but instead just trudged on, "Lorelai." She began easily.
Luke furrowed his brows, "What about Lorelai?" He asked confused at what brought on her to mention his fiancée.
"She's your fiancée, right?" She stated more than inquired.
"Uh, yeah." He confirmed, "I mean, yes. Yes she is." He narrowed his eyes, curious to why she brought up Lorelai, "But you know that. You met her that one time here in the diner, and you met her daughter, Rory in Philadelphia, remember?"
"Oh yeah, I liked her. She was nice, and Rory was cool." April smiled.
"Yeah, they're both really great." He concluded.
"So Lorelai helped you with the party today." She stated, not even feigning uncertainty.
Luke looked a little taken aback, "Um…" He cleared his throat nervously, "Uhh…" He stammered
"I overheard the conversations you had with Allison, Kirk, Jaime and even Joe. They all mentioned her name when they came here. They all said the same thing. Lorelai called and set things up for them to come." She told him easily, "She helped you. To make you happy, so you could make me happy." She added, "Which you absolutely did."
Luke looked down knowing he was caught, "Um, yeah. Yeah she helped me out a lot, even when she didn't have to." He swallowed thickly, "She knew it would make me happy to see you enjoy yourself."
"That was very nice of her." April commented as she smiled.
Luke nodded, "Yeah, that's Lorelai." He confirmed, pressing his lips together.
"Did she not want to come?"
"Uh no." Luke shook his head, "That's not it. She had to help her mom out in Hartford with some stuff."
"Oh." She nodded, "Well, be sure to thank her for me."
Luke raised his brows slightly as he nodded, "I will." He answered a little awkwardly.
"And you too. I had so much fun. This really was the best birthday ever. Thank you for the party and the gifts. I really do love it. Especially that book." She said, which caused Luke press his lips together and look down at his clasped hands.
He knew exactly what book April was talking about. It was in the cutest little kitty cat bag. He remembered watching April open her gifts and thinking someone else knew her fondness of kitty cats as well, but as she read the tag aloud, his name was said as the giver.
He knew for a fact he didn't get that gift, so as he walked up to check the tag, there it was; his name. It was written so neatly and in a perfect loopy cursive. Immediately, he knew whom the gift really was from.
Lorelai.
He knew he should've told April the truth, give Lorelai the deserved credit and receive the credit for his toiletry kit gift he also gave her, but he saw her face when she opened it. Lorelai was right. She was confused, hurt, embarrassed, even sympathetic towards him for giving it to her. It was an awful gift, and if he had actually listened to Lorelai, he would've been able to prevent that little scene.
He saw how happy April was when she opened the cat bag. Her smile was a mile wide and he was able to fool himself into thinking he was the one who put it there. She ran up to him and hugged him tight. The feeling of being the reason for his daughter's happiness was the cherry on top, and after that, he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth, so he welcomed her gratitude with open arms. Inwardly reminding himself to thank Lorelai.
"I've wanted it for a while now, but I just didn't have a chance to get it, so it was perfect. And the gift card will come in handy, so I don't have to sucker my mom out of money." April told him.
"Good." Luke nodded, "I'm glad you liked it." He said with a smile as he happily accepted her gratitude.
April nodded as well, "Yeah and everyone said my party kicked Marsha and Laura's parties butts, so that's a plus."
Luke chuckled, "Well that's good too."
Just as he finished his sentence Anna pulled up outside for April. Luke and April waved, acknowledging her.
April stood up and grabbed her small duffle bag and few packages of gifts, before turning to Luke, "Thanks again! I had a lot of fun. This was hands down the best party I've ever had." She said to him before hugging him quickly.
"You're welcome." He replied as he hugged her back.
She made her down two steps, before she turned back and said, "Hey, maybe next time I visit, Lorelai can hang with us. I bet that'd be a lot of fun." She suggested with a hopeful smile.
Luke's eyebrows raised a bit as he nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, maybe." He replied softly, feeling a little tinge of jealousy that his daughter already wanted to hangout with Lorelai.
"Cool. Night." She called as she pranced to the idling car with her mom in it.
"Good night." He waved back.
Luke watched as April hopped in the car before they drove off. He locked up and took the trash out through the back, got rid of it and went upstairs to turn in all while smiling goofily, already forgetting that the party was only a success, all due to Lorelai.
Sookie had just gotten through baking every sort of desert she could think up that wouldn't be suspicious, as well as easy. She just pulled out the last batch of pies and cookies. She called a quick staff meeting in the kitchen and emphasized that no one was to touch or eat any of the desserts.
She made up a story, that it was for Jackson's family and she ran out of room at home, hence the reason it was there. The staff agreed and she told Manny if Lorelai came in, to tell her that her dessert was on the opposite side of the refrigerator. He nodded and with that Sookie was off.
Minutes after Sookie had left, Lorelai arrived at the Inn. She headed to the kitchen in search of Sookie. She was curious as to how the drop off went, but as she entered the kitchen, Sookie wasn't there.
Manny, Sookie's sous chef, exited the pantry and walked back into the kitchen, "Oh Lorelai, good. Um, Sookie said your dessert is in the fridge." He informed her as best as he could.
"Thanks Manny! Did she head out already?" Lorelai asked, heading towards the fridge.
"Yeah. You just missed her." He replied, "I have to grab more potatoes for the stew. Have a good night." He bid farewell as he made his way back into the pantry.
"Night Manny!" She called back as she suddenly saw the vast amount of desserts sitting in the fridge "Whoa! Thank you, Sookie."
Lorelai turned around and grabbed a tray and started loading a container of brownies and cookies and then looked at the four pies sitting on the next rack.
"Hmm" She hummed as she looked at the pies, trying to choose one. She pointed to them and sang, "My. Stomach. Told. Me. You. Are. It!" She cheered grabbing the third pie and placing it on top of the container. She smiled triumphantly at her treasures and made her way back out to her jeep, anxious to enjoy her feast at home.
Author's Note: Wow, I've been slacking big time. SORRY! I'm trying, I'm trying. Hopefully it can get rolling. I've been trying to read some LL stories to get that mojo back, but I can't seem to find any really new LLstories. I'll take suggestions lol. Hope to update soon. Thanks again!
