It's Always There

by CoffeeDrinker

This is a 2nd sequel to "It's Right There" that picks up a few weeks after the ending of "It's Still There." Lorelai and Luke navigate the ups and downs of domestic life as they raise their fresh kid. :)

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

. . . . .

On Thursday night, Luke was home with the baby while Lorelai went to the ballet at Yale with Rory. The phone rang, and Luke reached for it from the coffee table. "Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, it's me, it's intermission," Lorelai greeted him. "How are my boys?"

"We're good, everything's fine here," Luke replied. "Jess came over, we had pizza for dinner, he left a little while ago, and now Josh and I are watching football."

"Doing some male bonding over a couple of beers as you ogle the cheerleaders?"

"Yup."

"Cool. Well, I have some news..."

"What is it?"

"I had a voicemail from Jackson saying that Sookie had the baby!" Lorelai excitedly told him.

Luke's eyes widened. "Oh, wow. That's exciting." He glanced toward the answering machine. "Did he call here? I didn't hear the phone ring."

"Sookie knew I was going out tonight, so she probably told him to call my cell," Lorelai replied. "I called him back a minute ago, he said everything went smoothly, the baby's healthy, they named him Davey, and Sookie's doing fine."

"Oh, good, I'm glad. If that kid didn't pop out this week, I think Sookie was gonna try to extract him herself."

"Yeah, the kid must've realized Mommy was getting pretty annoyed at his tardiness," Lorelai said. "I can't wait for Davey and Josh to have playdates and be friends and grow up together."

"Yeah, that'll be cute," Luke agreed.

"Anyway, I told Jackson I'd stop by the hospital for a visit after the ballet," Lorelai said. "This may or may not involve me stopping somewhere to pick up a strawberry blonde wig so I can pretend to be Sookie's sister because I don't know if they only allow family members to visit after a certain time, but I wanted you to know I'd be home a little later than I expected... and possibly wearing a wig."

"Okay," Luke replied. "Speaking of which, how is the ballet?"

Lorelai groaned. "Oh, my God, it's awful! Like Battlefield Earth awful... it's actually hard to watch. But Rory has to review it, so we can't just leave in the middle. Well, I guess I could, but a real mother would never make her child suffer through this alone."

"Geez. Well, hopefully it gets better in the second half."

"Hopefully. I'll call you on the way to the hospital to check in."

"Okay. Talk to you later."

"Bye."

. . . . .

. . . . .

The next afternoon, Lorelai arrived home from work, chatted a bit with Maisie before she left, and then headed upstairs with Joshua. She lay him on the bed as she changed out of her work clothes, and was about to change his outfit when the phone rang.

Lorelai grabbed the phone from the nightstand. "Hello?"

"Oh, good, you're there," Emily greeted her. "I called the inn first, they said you'd left for the day. I never know where you are anymore with this new work schedule of yours. God forbid there's an emergency and I need to track you down."

Lorelai sat down on the bed with a sigh. "That's quite a greeting there, Mom. You wanna start over?" She held the phone against her ear with her shoulder, then started to change Joshua into a warmer outfit.

There was a brief pause, and then Lorelai could practically hear Emily's pursed lips as she said, "Hello, Lorelai."

"Hello, Mom, how's your day going?" Lorelai said in a faux-cheerful voice.

"Well, I'm calling to tell you that I thought of the perfect Christmas present for your father."

"Uh oh."

"Why would you say that? What's uh-oh about a Christmas present?"

"Because you'd only call to tell me this if the perfect Christmas present involved me in some way, so go ahead, tell me... what are you gonna make me do?"

"I was thinking that you and Luke and Rory and Joshua could pose for an oil painting to hang up in your father's study," Emily said excitedly. "Wouldn't that be beautiful?"

"Uh, yeah, it would, Mom, but you seriously want a three month old baby to sit still for hours for an oil painting? That's impossible considering his mother can barely sit still for ten minutes."

"What if we do it during his nap time? He'll be still."

"He'll be asleep! You want to give Dad a picture of the baby sleeping?"

"I'll have the artist paint him with his eyes open."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Mom, no, it's not gonna happen, sorry. Either the artist needs to paint it from a picture, or you need to think of another gift." She finished changing the baby and she picked him up to cradle him in her arms.

Emily sighed into the phone. "Well, then, what about posing for a regular photograph? That won't take as long as an oil painting. I'll call Helmut and we'll have him take a couple of different poses of the family, and I'll give Richard a nice formal picture to hang in his study."

Lorelai considered it for a moment, thinking it would be nice to have some professional photos taken to display in her own house, and she knew her mother's photographer was amazing.

"Okay, but only if we can also take some informal poses, too... some that I can hang here at home."

"All right, that'll be fine," Emily said. "Your father's going to London next week with your grandmother, I thought we could do it while he's away."

"What are they doing in London?" Lorelai asked.

"She said she wanted your father to accompany her to visit some friends," Emily said. "You know she hates to travel alone."

"Right."

"So, then, next Friday, plan to come an hour or two early for the photograph, all right? And remember, don't mention anything in front of your father at dinner tonight. I'll call Rory and tell her about it."

"Okay, Mom, I'll see you tonight," Lorelai said, and then she thought for a moment before she quickly added, "Oh, by the way, I'm not sure if Luke's gonna make it to dinner tonight, he might have to work later than usual. One of his employees called out sick today, so... you know... he might have to stay if it's busy."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I called you or I wouldn't have known that," Emily said. "You would've just shown up without him and - "

"And there would've been an extra place setting at the table and life as we know it would end," Lorelai finished for her. "I'll see you tonight, Mom."

"Goodbye, Lorelai," Emily replied.

Lorelai hung up the phone, tossed it on the bed next to her, and then lifted Joshua up to her face. "Grandma is a little nutso, yes she is," she cooed before kissing his cheek. "Now let's go visit Daddy."

Lorelai put Josh in his stroller, tucked him in with a blanket, and started walking toward the center of town. She ran a few errands, stopping at the post office for stamps, the craft store for more thread, and Weston's for a brownie before heading to the diner. She parked the stroller outside and walked in with Josh.

The lunch crowd had dispersed and the diner was almost empty. She sat down at the counter and held the baby on her lap so he was facing the kitchen as they waited for Luke to walk out.

Luke surprised her, however, by walking in from the back storage room, greeting her with, "Hey."

Lorelai quickly glanced over at him and frowned. "Aw, we were gonna say surprise." She turned the baby toward him and said, "Surprise!"

Luke smiled as he walked over to them and sat down on the stool beside her. He leaned in to kiss her as he reached for Joshua and settled him on his knee. He kissed the top of his head before asking Lorelai, "What have you guys been up to?"

"We got stamps, and more thread for my next sewing project, and this..." she said, and she reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out the remaining half of her brownie wrapped up in plastic.

"Looks good," Luke said.

"It is, you have to try it." Lorelai unwrapped it, broke a piece off, and fed it to him. "It's extra fudgy today."

Luke chewed it and nodded in agreement. "Mm, that's really good."

Lorelai popped a piece into her mouth. "So, how goes it in the old salt mine here?"

"Pretty good," Luke replied, and then he nodded toward the specials board. "The chili and cornbread special has been selling like hotcakes."

Lorelai glanced around and then lowered her voice. "Your hotcakes or Caesar's hotcakes?"

Luke smirked. "Mine."

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Oh, good, that's good then."

"And Kirk came back in again with that girl," Luke told her.

Lorelai gasped. "Lulu? They're still dating? That's so cute."

Luke shook his head in disbelief. "Yeah, I don't know what's wrong with her, but she seems into Kirk."

"I think it's sweet." Lorelai ate another piece of brownie before she hesitantly said, "So, I have good news and bad news... which do you want first?"

Luke groaned. "The bad."

"Well, my mother called and she wants us to come a few hours early to dinner next week when my dad's out of town so we can pose for some family photos so she can frame one for my dad's office as a Christmas gift." Lorelai gritted her teeth as she waited for his reaction.

Luke exhaled a sigh. "A photo shoot? We're gonna have your mom directing us in a photo shoot?"

"Yeah, but it won't be so bad," Lorelai quickly replied. "We'll dress up nice, we'll take a couple fancy pictures for her to make her happy, and then we'll take a couple for us, you know, some nice but less formal ones that we can put up around our house. And her first suggestion was that we pose for an oil painting, so trust me, we're getting off easy here." She reached over and smoothed her hand over Joshua's cheek. "As long as this little guy isn't cranky, it should go quickly."

"Famous last words," Luke said, and then sighed again before asking, "What am I gonna have to wear?"

"Probably just a black suit for my mom's portrait," Lorelai replied. "And we'll bring still-nice-but-more-casual attire for the pictures for our house."

"So there's going to be a costume change?" Luke sighed again. "Geez."

"Okay, you've exhausted your allotment of sighs for the day," Lorelai told him. "Come on, this isn't as bad as it sounds, and we're going to have some really great family photos when it's over... for free! I promise it will be worth it."

"Fine. What's the good news?"

"Well, I mentioned to my mom that you might have to work late tonight, so if you wanted to skip Friday night dinner, I got you an out," Lorelai said. "You know, to make up for the extra crap you'll have to deal with next week."

Luke's eyes widened a little and he smiled. "Really?" He nodded toward Joshua. "And you'll be okay dealing with him alone?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll have Rory there to help if I need it," Lorelai replied, and she patted his arm. "You rarely complain about tagging along with me to these dinners, but I know it's not exactly your favorite activity of the week."

"I like seeing Rory, so at least I get that out of it," Luke replied. "But it'll be nice to have a little break."

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "I thought so. Spend it wisely."

Luke was staring at Joshua's little hand wrapped around his thumb, and then slowly glanced back up at Lorelai. "Wait, she wanted us to pose for an oil painting? The baby, too?"

Lorelai smirked. "Yup. I immediately shot it down."

Luke shook his head in disbelief. "Insanity." As the bell on the door jingled, Luke glanced toward it and gave a nod. "Hey."

Lorelai followed his gaze and saw Jess walking in. "Hey, Jess."

"Hey," Jess greeted them, and then nodded toward the baby. "Hey, kid. Remember me from last night?"

"Thanks for coming by and keeping 'em company," Lorelai said.

"No problem," Jess replied with a shrug. "Got some free pizza out of it."

"You just getting back from school?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, and I work at 3, so I gotta go grab some lunch," Jess said. "See ya."

As he started heading toward the doorway to the apartment steps, Luke looked back at him over his shoulder and said, "Oh, hey, I'm gonna stop by later and check on that weird fridge noise you mentioned last night."

"Okay. Just don't look in the freezer, that's where I hide the booze," Jess replied before disappearing through the curtain.

Luke turned back to face Lorelai. "That was a joke, right?"

"I'm assuming so."

"See, I'm already taking advantage of my free night."

Lorelai smiled. "You've got some wild plans there, buddy."

"You want some coffee?" he asked as he passed Josh back to her.

Lorelai nodded. "To go. We have one more stop to make." She kissed the baby on his forehead. "Don't we? We need to go pick out a present for your new friend Davey for when he comes home from the hospital tomorrow."

Luke poured her some coffee in a to-go cup, then placed it in front of her. He glanced outside. "I don't see the Jeep... did you walk?"

"Yeah, it's beautiful for November," Lorelai replied. "We're getting some fresh air." She turned the baby around to face Luke. "Say goodbye to Daddy."

"Here, I'll walk you out," Luke said, and he took Josh back from her.

Lorelai grabbed her coffee and they walked outside. Luke buckled Joshua in the stroller and tucked the blanket around him. "Bye, kiddo," he said to Josh before standing up, and then he leaned in to kiss Lorelai. "See you later."

"Bye."

. . . . .

. . . . .

On Tuesday morning, Lorelai walked into the inn and over to the front desk. "Good morning, Lorelai," Tobin cheerfully greeted her in a singsong voice.

Lorelai smiled. "Hey, Tobin. How were things last night?"

"Very good." Tobin placed his hand on a piece of paper on the desk. "I have a list right here for you," he said calmly. "We can go over it as soon as you're ready. Go put your stuff down, get settled, grab some coffee."

Lorelai smiled. "Okay. Be right back." She put her purse and jacket in her office, grabbed a cup of coffee from the kitchen, and then returned to the front desk. "Okay. Catch me up."

Tobin gave her a summary of things that occurred during his night shift, the list of guests checking in and out during the day, and some things she needed to mention to Michel when he arrived.

"So, now that we've gotten that work talk out the way, tell me how your little one is!" Tobin said excitedly.

Lorelai grinned. "Oh, he's great. He's been drooling like a hose lately, though, so we think he might be starting to teethe."

"Wow, already?"

"Yeah, he's got my appetite, so he probably wants to start chomping on real food as soon as possible. He'll be eating a burger in a matter of months."

Tobin laughed a little too enthusiastically, and then gently nudged Lorelai's shoulder. "Oh, Lorelai. You're too much."

"I sure am," she agreed.

"Now, remember, I'm available for babysitting any time you need me," Tobin told her. "I love kids, and they seem to really love me back. I think it's my soft, docile tones."

Lorelai nodded. "Yup, probably. And we've got your number, we'll keep you in mind."

After Tobin left, Lorelai started going over the logistics of the bridal shower brunch they'd be hosting the following weekend. As she was reviewing the list of décor requested by the client, the phone rang, and she answered, "Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking."

"Lorelai, it's your mother," Emily greeted her. "Do you have a minute?"

"Hey, Mom. What's up?"

"Does Josh have a suit?"

Lorelai paused for a moment, replaying the question in her head. "I'm sorry, did you just ask if my three month old baby has a... suit?"

"Yes, I thought it would be cute if he wore a suit for the family portrait, and I wasn't sure if he had one," Emily replied. "If not, I'm going out shopping today and will pick one up."

"From where, the Baby Men's Warehouse?"

Emily sighed into the phone. "Does he or does he not have a suit, Lorelai?"

"No, Mom, he does not have a suit," Lorelai replied.

"That's all I needed to know, thank you."

"You have any special requests for what the rest of us are supposed to wear?"

"Well, Luke should wear a suit, too, obviously, and you and Rory in dresses," Emily replied. "Preferably black, but a grey might work... a neutral color. Nothing flashy, nothing low cut..." She paused a moment. "Do you have something that will work or should I pick something up for you?"

"No, no, no," Lorelai quickly replied. "No need, we've got it covered. The adults can dress themselves, but like I said, no baby suit."

"All right, I'll see what I can find."

"And just so you know, when you're out shopping later for a tiny suit and you're wondering if Josh has a tiny pair of dress shoes to go with it, I can assure you that he does not."

"Well, that's good to know, too. Thank you."

"Bye, Mom." Lorelai hung up the phone. While she'd been talking with Emily, Michel had arrived, and she turned to greet him. "Good morning, Michel."

"Lorelai," he greeted her with a nod. "Your mother is going suit shopping?"

"Yeah, she wants the baby to wear one for this family photo we're taking."

"Oh, thank God," Michel said with relief. "That baby will have someone influencing his wardrobe that isn't satisfied with dressing like a cattle raiser."

Lorelai frowned at him. "Oh, good, snarkiness right off the bat today." She pointed to Tobin's list on the desk. "Did you see Tobin's notes for you?"

"Yes, I saw them," Michel muttered, and he started going through a pile of mail.

"Oh, hey, are you gonna go visit Sookie? She came home from the hospital on Saturday."

"Probably not," Michel replied. "I've seen your baby, I'm sure hers looks pretty similar."

"Nope, completely different," Lorelai confirmed.

Michel shrugged. "I'm okay with assuming they're similar."

Lorelai smiled amusedly, unsurprised by his lack of interest. "Well, I'm sure she'll bring him in at some point and you can meet him here instead of actually putting any effort into pretending you care enough to go visit."

"See, things work out perfectly," Michel said, and then he looked over at her. "By the way, the boss lady called yesterday after you left."

Lorelai's eyes widened and she smiled. "Oh, yeah? How is she?"

"I didn't ask. But she said to expect the son to be in before the end of the year for an inspection."

"We refer to John as 'the son' now?" Lorelai asked. "Is this because he complimented Tobin's shoes last time and not yours?"

"Tobin's shoes looked like they were purchased from a bin in a drug store!" Michel exclaimed angrily. "Anyone who calls attention to those shoes while completely ignoring my very expensive Italian loafers is dead to me." He started walking toward the kitchen, grumbling over his shoulder, "I'm getting coffee."

"Okay. Good chat, Michel."

. . . . .

. . . . .

That Friday, it was late in the afternoon when Lorelai and Luke arrived at her parents' house. They left the sleeping baby downstairs in his carseat with Emily, and went upstairs to change in Lorelai's old bedroom.

Luke helped her zip up the back of her dress, and she turned around to face him. "How does it look?" she asked. "Conservative enough for a family portrait?"

Luke nodded. "Yup."

"But still sexy, though, right?"

Luke nodded again. "Very."

"Okay, good." She draped her arms over his shoulders. "You look hot."

"So do you."

Lorelai kissed him, and then pulled back and asked, "How's my lipstick?"

He eyed her lips. "Looks fine."

"Well, then, we can do better," Lorelai said, smiling as she leaned in to kiss him again. Luke deepened the kiss as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up against his body.

There was a knock on the door and they quickly separated, and Lorelai frowned at him before she called, "Yes?"

"Mom, it's me," Rory's voice replied. "Just wanted to let you know I was here."

"You can come in, we're dressed," Lorelai called, then looked in the mirror and cleaned up her lipstick.

The door opened and Rory walked into the room. "Hey. You guys look nice."

"You, too. I love that dress on you," Lorelai replied, then gestured toward the bathroom. "Let me do one final makeup check, then I'll be ready."

"Take your time, Josh is still sleeping anyway," Rory said. "And the photographer just got here."

As Lorelai disappeared into the bathroom, Rory walked over to sit down on the bed, and she teasingly said to Luke, "I like your choice of lipstick."

"What?" Luke glanced in the mirror and saw some of Lorelai's lipstick on his face, and he quickly wiped it off. "Oops."

"I'll pretend I didn't see that," Rory said.

"Appreciate it," Luke said, and he walked over to sit next to her. "How's school?"

"Busy, but good," Rory confirmed. "I think I'm almost done with my trial articles for the paper and then hopefully I'll officially be on staff."

"I read the ballet piece," Luke said, and then he laughed. "Man, oh man, I could feel the pain of you guys having to sit through that."

Rory winced a little. "I know, it was a little harsh. I felt really bad writing it, but my editor wanted me to give a good, honest critique, so... I did."

"Then you did what you had to do... the writing was fantastic," Luke told her. "Seriously impressive."

Rory smiled appreciatively, although she still felt guilty. "Thanks."

Lorelai walked out of the bathroom, announcing, "Okay, all set."

They went downstairs, and even though the baby wasn't awake yet, the photographer started posing them for pictures so he could setup the lighting.

While they were doing that, the doorbell rang, and Lorelai's eyes widened. "I'll get it!"

"Don't be silly, Giada can answer the door," Emily told her.

"No, it's okay, I got it," Lorelai said, and then called, "Giada, I'll answer it!" She grabbed Luke's hand. "Come with me." As she pulled Luke toward the front door, she looked back over her shoulder and said, "So, I did something."

"What did you do?"

They reached the front door and she turned to him. "I invited someone else to picture day because they're part of the family, too, and I thought it would be nice to get some more pictures of them to put around the house."

Luke narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Who?"

"Well, if you can't figure it out, you really need to study your family tree a little better," Lorelai said, and then she pulled open the front door, announcing, "Ta-daaaa." But her announcement ended abruptly and her eyes widened when she saw Christopher standing on the porch. "Chris."

Christopher looked surprised to see her, and he stepped into the house. "Wow, I got a 'tada' greeting, wasn't expecting that. Hey, Lor," he greeted her with a hug, and then he extended his hand toward Luke. "Hi, Luke."

Luke forced a smile as he shook his hand. "Hey." He was confused, but didn't want the confusion to come out rudely, so he politely said, "Excuse me, I have to, uh, go check on the, uh... thing out back." He started to walk toward the back door.

Lorelai watched him walk away, and she was anxious to follow after him, but first she turned back to Chris. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she closed the door.

"I just got into town to visit my parents, and they're still at the club," Chris said. "So I thought I'd kill some time by visiting Emily and Richard. I didn't think you guys were here this early on Fridays."

"We're not usually," Lorelai replied. "Does Rory know you're in town?"

"Yeah, I talked to her earlier. We're planning to meet for coffee tomorrow morning," Chris replied. "She's gonna show me around campus."

"Oh, that's nice. She hadn't mentioned that yet." Lorelai gestured toward the living room. "Uh, well, everyone's in there if you wanna go in. I have to go talk to Luke for a minute."

Christopher headed to the living room, and Lorelai walked toward the back door. She found Luke on the back patio staring off into space, his arms folded across his chest.

"Everything okay?" Lorelai asked. "That obviously wasn't who I was expecting at the door."

Luke turned to face her. "So, just to be clear, that's not who you invited, right?"

Lorelai cocked her head in disbelief. "You really have to ask me that?" she asked calmly. "You know that's certainly not who I meant when I said they should be in more pictures around our house."

"Yeah, I figured, but just wanted to double check. Did your mom invite him?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No, she didn't. Chris just told me himself that he was in town and decided to stop by to see my parents, that's it."

Luke scoffed before muttering, "Of course he did. Everyone stops by to randomly visit their ex's parents."

Lorelai shook her head with confusion. "Okay, tell me what's happening here. I thought the Luke/Chris jealousy stuff was over. There's been a clear winner chosen as to which man has effectively captured Lorelai's heart, so there's no rivalry anymore."

"It's not jealousy."

"Plus, the past few times we've seen him, you two have gotten along fine," Lorelai continued. "I mean, you're not gonna go on The Amazing Race together, but still, it's amicable. It's polite. So why is your jealousy suddenly making a comeback? Because seriously, hon, if I'm going to have to deal with this until death do us part, I'm gonna need medication."

"It's not jealousy," Luke repeated firmly. "It's... I don't know..." He looked down at the ground for a few moments, then lifted his head to look at her. "It's just weird being here with him."

Lorelai glanced around confusedly, then asked, "Here? Like here, at this house?"

"Yeah. It's hard enough coming here and being around your parents and trying not to think about the fact that they don't think I'm good enough for you."

Lorelai frowned. "Luke, that's not true."

"And now I have to go in there and do it in front of the guy they wish you ended up with," Luke continued. "At the house he feels more comfortable in than I do. The house he makes impromptu visits to without any nervousness at all because he knows he's actually liked here. It's just annoying... it feels like extra pressure." He pointed toward the house. "You think your mom isn't in there right now wishing it was Chris posing in that family portrait?"

"It doesn't matter one bit," Lorelai said, shaking her head. "You're the one that is posing in that portrait. You get to go in there and stand with your beautiful, happy, healthy family, and that's all that matters right now... not my mom, not Chris, not this house." She stepped closer to him. "You shouldn't be feeling bad, you should be feeling smug and lucky and happy."

Luke let her words resonate for a moment as he took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. His arms snaked around her waist and he pulled her closer. "Good perspective, thank you."

"You're welcome." Lorelai rested her arms on his shoulders and stroked the back of his neck. "Don't let it bother you, please? It's a waste of time and energy to worry about things like that."

"I know it is," he replied. "But just think about it for a second. If you had to interact with in-laws who you knew preferred your spouse's ex to you - an ex who is always gonna be around because of parental obligations... wouldn't it bug you once in awhile no matter how hard you tried to be okay with it?"

Lorelai nodded understandingly. "Yeah, probably. I get it. But when you are getting bugged, just try not to take it out on the person who didn't do anything wrong, okay?" She patted herself on her chest to make her point. "I'm an innocent bystander here, and I don't want this to turn into some point of contention for us."

Luke nodded. "I know. It won't, I promise." He leaned in to kiss her, and then pulled back with a curious look. "Wait, so... who did you invite?"

Lorelai smiled. "Wow, I didn't think it was that hard of a mystery to solve. Jess... I invited Jess."

Luke's eyes widened with surprise, and then he blinked a few times. "You invited Jess... here? For a photo shoot?"

"Yeah, and it was not easy to get him to say yes, let me tell you," Lorelai said, shaking her head. "I had to bribe him, and the kid drives a hard bargain. And he was adamant that he didn't want to stay for dinner, that he'd just pose for some pictures and then get outta here."

Luke still looked surprised. "What made you decide to invite him?"

"I was thinking a few days ago that we don't really have any pictures of him except from the wedding," Lorelai explained. "I thought it might be nice to get some new ones... maybe a group shot of all of us, maybe some of you and him, maybe a manly picture of you, him, and Josh. So I stopped by the bookstore the other day and strongly persuaded him to come via monetary inducement, and then I called my mom to let her know."

Luke shook his head in disbelief. "Why didn't you mention it?"

"Because I honestly wasn't sure if he'd change his mind and not show up, so I didn't want to disappoint you," Lorelai explained. "And if he did show up, well, then it would be a nice surprise."

"Either way, it's a nice surprise," Luke told her. "Thanks for thinking of it."

Lorelai smiled. "You're welcome."

They heard a knock, and they both glanced toward the patio doors where Rory stood on the other side holding a crying Josh. "Uh oh," Lorelai said, and they headed toward the doors.

As they walked into the house, Rory said, "Sorry, I was trying not to bother you guys, but I couldn't get the crying to stop."

"It's okay," Lorelai said as she took Josh from her. "Come to Mommy... what's wrong little boy?" She kissed his face and cradled him in her arms. "Shh, shh, shh, you're okay. Are you hungry?"

"I'll make a bottle," Luke said.

They walked back to the living room where Emily was chatting with Christopher by the drink cart, and they both looked over at her. "Is he all right?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, I'll feed him and he'll be good as new," Lorelai said, and Luke grabbed the diaper bag and headed to the kitchen. She rocked the baby in her arms to quiet him down a little, then said to Emily, "I hope Helmut doesn't mind starting a little later than planned."

"He's paid by the hour, so he won't mind at all," Emily said. "He just went outside to make a few phone calls."

Chris walked over to the couch and sat down. "He's a good looking kid, Lor. You make cute babies."

Lorelai smiled and kissed Josh's forehead. "Yeah, I do... thanks." She nodded toward Rory. "They look pretty good when they grow up, too."

"Gracias," Rory said, smiling.

Lorelai shifted Josh in her arms, and then asked Emily, "Mom, do you have a blanket I can put on the chair so I don't have to carry him upstairs to feed him?"

"I'll see if Giada can find an old towel," Emily said, and she walked out of the room to find the maid.

"So, your Dad's in London with his mother, I hear," Chris said to Lorelai.

"Yes, he is," Lorelai confirmed. "That's why we're taking this big secret family photo today, Mom wanted to surprise him with it for Christmas."

"He'll love that." Chris nodded toward her. "So, what else is going on with you, how's life?"

"Oh, you know, the usual... working, raising a kid, trying to function daily on 4 hours of sleep," Lorelai replied. "What about you?"

"Nothing too exciting," Chris replied. "Work's busy, Sherry's fine, life's going all right."

"Good to hear," Lorelai replied. Luke returned to the room and handed Lorelai the baby's bottle. "Thanks, hon." As she sat down in one of the chairs, she said, "Someone tell me when my mom's coming back."

"I'll keep watch," Rory said, and she stepped closer to the doorway to keep an eye out for Emily.

"So, Luke, how are things?" Chris asked him. "Still serving up Connecticut's best cup of coffee?"

"Yup," Luke replied. "What about you, everything good in Boston?"

"Yeah, can't complain," Chris replied.

The doorbell rang, and Lorelai looked up at Luke. "Ooh, that might actually be my invited guest this time," she told him. "You wanna answer it?"

Luke walked to the front door and pulled it open. An uncomfortable looking Jess was standing on the porch, and he visibly relaxed a little when he saw Luke at the door.

"Thank God," Luke said. "Someone who doesn't wanna be here just as much as I don't."

"Lorelai made me," Jess grumbled. "She doesn't really take no for an answer."

"Yeah, I know, sorry," Luke replied. "Heard you got some cash out of it at least."

"Only if I showed up," he muttered as he stepped into the house. "Let's get this over with fast, huh?"

"We have to wait for the baby to eat," Luke told him. "Just be polite and it'll be painless." Luke led him to the living room, and after greetings had been exchanged, Luke took Jess to show him the backyard. Since the photos wouldn't be starting for a little while, he figured they'd both be more comfortable hanging out back there instead of dealing with awkward chit chat inside.

Rory heard steps in the hallway and whispered to Lorelai, "I think Grandma's coming."

Lorelai stood up from the chair and walked a few feet away from it, and continued to feed Josh while standing.

"Here we go, we've got the towel," Emily announced as she walked in with the maid, and she pointed to the chair. "Right there, Giada."

"Oh, thank goodness, this is hard to do while standing way over here away from the expensive furniture," Lorelai said, and both Chris and Rory smiled at her.

Giada draped the towel over the chair, and Lorelai sat down with the baby. The photographer returned from out front, and Emily told him it would be a little longer before they could start.

"Oh, hey, Helmut?" Lorelai said. "While we're waiting, could you go snap a few casual candid pictures of the men out on the back patio? They might be more relaxed out there."

"Sure," he agreed. He picked up a camera and started walking toward the backdoor.

"The men?" Emily asked. "Who else is out there?"

"Jess arrived while you were getting the towel," Rory replied.

"Remember, I told you he might be coming, Mom," Lorelai reminded her.

"Right, you weren't a hundred percent sure," Emily replied.

"He's not staying for dinner," Lorelai replied. "He's just here for the pictures."

Christopher stood up from the couch. "Okay, there's a lot going on here, so I'm gonna get out of your hair," he said. "Emily, I'll give you a call next time I'm in town, hopefully Richard will be around."

"Okay. Thanks for stopping over. Give our best to Francine and Straub," Emily said.

"I will," Chris confirmed, and then he turned to Rory, "And I'll meet you at your dorm tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Sounds good," Rory replied as she walked toward him. "I'll walk you out."

"Take care, Lor," he said to Lorelai, and then nodded toward the backdoor. "Say goodbye to the men for me."

"I will. Bye, Chris," Lorelai said.

As Rory walked Chris to the front door to say goodbye, Emily sat down on the couch. "Is everything all right?" Emily asked Lorelai.

"Yeah, he's almost done," Lorelai replied, looking down at Joshua. "I'll change him and he'll be nice and happy for pictures."

"No, I mean with Luke," Emily said.

Lorelai looked up, surprised. "What? Yeah, Luke's fine."

"It seemed like he was trying to keep his distance from Christopher," Emily said. "He went outside, for goodness sake."

Lorelai shrugged. "No, he's fine with Chris, he was just surprised to see him. We both were."

"As was I," Emily replied. "Just seemed like there was more to it than that."

"There wasn't."

"And if so, you should try to resolve it now," Emily continued. "Christopher and Luke are both permanently connected to this family. They're bound to run into each other from time to time, and you don't want things to be awkward."

Lorelai exhaled a sigh, and then calmly said, "Mom, there's nothing to resolve, nothing's awkward, everything's fine, I promise." Rory walked back into the room, and Lorelai said, "Ooh, look how pretty Rory is."

Rory smiled confusedly. "What a nice greeting," she said as she sat down on the couch.

The photographer returned from the backyard and started talking with Emily.

After a few minutes, Lorelai shifted the baby to her shoulder to burp him. "Honey, you wanna go tell the guys it'll be about 10 more minutes and then we should be ready to go in here?" she asked Rory.

"Okay." Rory stood up and headed for the back door.

Lorelai burped and changed the baby, and soon they were finally posing for the formal pictures. Once Emily was satisfied with the results, they changed into less formal attire and took another batch of photos. When they were finished, both Jess and the photographer left, the baby fell asleep, and dinner was served in the dining room.

. . . . .

. . . . .

As they started the drive home after dinner, Lorelai asked Luke, "So, better or worse than you expected it to be?"

Luke glanced over at her and shrugged. "I guess it wasn't so bad. But I'm pretty sure you're never going to be able to get Jess to go there ever again."

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, I know. I'm glad he showed... I honestly wasn't expecting him to."

Luke glanced toward her. "I think I know why he did."

Lorelai's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"We were talking out back and he said that he might need help paying for next semester. He's got some savings, but it's probably not gonna be enough."

"Oh." Lorelai thought for a moment and then smiled to herself. "So, by going along with the photo shoot, he not only earned some bribe money, but also got some good karma points before asking for the college money. Smart kid."

Luke smirked. "Yeah. And remember, I told him if he ever needed help with school, to tell me," he said. "That's important, I don't want him to struggle with that and then end up dropping out just because he can't afford it."

Lorelai nodded. "I know."

"He said he's gonna try to arrange his schedule better next semester so he can work more hours at the bookstore." He paused a moment before hesitantly asking, "You're okay with it, right? If we give him some money for tuition?"

"Of course I'm okay with it." Lorelai reached over and rubbed his arm. "He's family, Luke, and he's trying to do something to better his future. If he needs help, we should help him."

Luke looked over at her with an appreciative smile. "Thanks." As he focused on the road, he added, "I think it's only a couple thousand a semester. I mean, I know that's still a lot, but it's not like... you know..." His voice trailed off.

"Yale?" Lorelai supplied.

"You know I don't mean it in a bad way," Luke said, glancing over at her. "I was just trying to say that it's not like we're gonna be doubling our college costs, it would be just a little bit more."

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, no, I know." She tiredly rested her head back against the headrest. "Speaking of Yale, Rory's gonna show Chris around the campus tomorrow morning."

"That's nice." Luke glanced over at her. "You know I'm fine with him, right? Yes, it can be weird sometimes, but... I'm not jealous. It's not that."

Lorelai smiled at him. "Good, because there's no reason to be."

"I know there's not," he said.

"Oh, but my mom thinks you have some sort of beef with Chris, and that you were trying to avoid him by staying outside as much as you could," Lorelai said. "I told her everything was fine between you guys, but didn't let her in on the secret that you were most likely staying outside to avoid her."

Luke smirked. "I appreciate that."

. . . . .

. . . . .

A few weeks later, on a late Saturday afternoon, Lorelai was upstairs in her bedroom sorting laundry when she heard the front door open and close. Luke had just left to do some food shopping at Doose's, and she wasn't expecting him back so soon. She walked into the hallway and halfway down the steps.

"Luke, are you back already?" she called softly, not wanting to wake Joshua sleeping in his nursery.

"No, it's me," Rory's voice replied from the kitchen. "Hey, Mom."

Lorelai walked to the kitchen and found Rory in front of the open fridge. "Hey... this is a nice surprise," Lorelai said. "How was the game?" Rory had spent the day at the Harvard/Yale football game with Emily and Richard.

Rory grabbed a can of soda from the fridge and shut the door. "Ugh, long... very long. But you would not believe the extravagant tailgating camper that Grandma and Grandpa rented for the game. It was incredible."

"Tailgating camper?" Lorelai asked, her eyes widening. "They tailgate?"

"They tailgate, and they tailgate right," Rory confirmed with a nod. "There was a ton of food, and Grandma made Bloody Mary's, and Grandpa was so excited to introduce me to his friends. He was practically giddy all day."

"I bet. Yale is his happy place," Lorelai said. "I'm pretty sure it ranks above me on his list of favorite things." She sat down at the table, and Rory joined her. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah, it was good. They were happy I was there." Rory took a sip of her soda, and then set it on the table in front of her. "I want to talk to you about something I did."

Lorelai tensed up a little. "Okay..."

"And I know you're probably not going to be happy that I did it, which is why I did it without talking to you about it first, and I'm really sorry that I had to do it that way, but I knew if I did talk to you, you would've gotten upset and told me not to do the thing that I did."

Lorelai's mind started racing with ideas about what it was. She cringed and cradled her face in her hands. "Oh, God, just tell me!"

Rory took a deep breath, and then quickly blurted out, "I asked Grandma and Grandpa if they could start paying for Yale, and they said yes."

Lorelai's eyes widened and her hands fell to the table, making a loud smack. "What?!"

"Don't be mad, okay? I was just trying to take the burden off of you and Luke."

"It wasn't a burden," Lorelai insisted. "It was a responsibility and we had it handled."

"Mom, I overheard you guys talking last month in the nursery at Grandma's about how next year you'd probably have to ask them for money for Yale and that you were dreading it."

Lorelai's face fell and she shook her head disappointedly at herself. "Ugh, Rory, I'm sorry... you weren't supposed to hear that. That's not something I wanted you to worry about it."

"I know," she replied. "But I did hear it, and I've been thinking about it a lot, and I know that asking them for money for Chilton was hard enough for you, and I didn't want you to have to go through that again. And I wasn't planning to actually do it today, but when we were there, it just sort of felt like the timing was right, so I did it."

"Rory, I didn't want you to do that," Lorelai said, shaking her head.

"It's my education, Mom," Rory said. "I'm an adult now, it's my responsibility to pay for it, even if I have the most amazing, loving parents who want to do it for me. And yes, by parents, I mean you and Luke."

Lorelai smiled at that comment, but then exhaled a sigh. "But Rory - "

"No, no 'but Rory'," Rory interrupted her, holding up her hand. "It's over, it's done with. Yale is now financed for the rest of my time there, and you don't have to think about it or worry about asking them. You will not be financially indebted to them, I will be, and I'm okay with that."

"But Rory..."

"I just rejected your first 'but Rory' and now you're throwing another one at me?"

"Yes, because I feel bad that you felt like you needed to do this on your own," Lorelai said. "That's not how this was supposed to go. I'm the parent, I was supposed to take care of this for you."

"But the end result is the same whether you asked them or I asked them," Rory pointed out. "And I know you guys were planning to pay for next semester, but I asked them to cover that, too. Now you can put that money toward something else... Josh's college fund, or the inn you're gonna open with Sookie, or maybe use it for Jess' tuition..." Her voice trailed off and she glanced down at the table.

Lorelai's eyes widened. "How did you..."

Rory shrugged sheepishly. "I may have overheard Luke and Jess talking about that at Grandma's when I walked out to the back patio."

Lorelai gasped. "Oh, my God, Rory! What do you do, just walk around your grandparents' house eavesdropping on every conversation?"

"I just happen to overhear things, I can't help it!" Rory insisted.

"It's because you're so damn quiet when you walk, people don't know you're there," Lorelai said knowingly.

"Maybe. But the point is, there are a lot of other things you can do with that money."

"But Rory..."

"Mom, listen, I did this for you and Luke, but I also did this for me, okay? I'll feel guilty forever if you guys drain your entire savings for me," Rory told her. "I need you to realize that it's something that would hang over me, and I don't want that. Let's just let them take care of it."

Lorelai exhaled a sigh before she nodded understandingly. "Okay. I get it. It's done. I'll tell Luke we are officially out of the Yale financing game."

"Thank you."

"And... even though I didn't want you to do it... I know your intentions were to help us, so... thank you," Lorelai said sincerely.

"You're welcome." Rory eyed her for a few seconds before hesitantly asking, "So, you're not mad?"

"No, I'm not mad," Lorelai replied. "But I don't love that you kept stuff from me. I mean, you were thinking about this for almost a month, Rory. I wish you would've came to me and told me what you overheard and we could've talked it out."

"But I knew exactly how it would've gone," Rory said. "You would've told me not to worry, that you'd handle it, and strongly demanded that I don't ask them for the money myself."

"Damn right," Lorelai confirmed. "But even if you know my reaction, that's not a reason to keep something from me... I always want the lines of communication open between us, okay?"

"Okay," Rory agreed. "Next time I know you're going to try to talk me out of doing something, I'll tell you about it first and listen to you try to persuade me not to do it before I go off and do it."

"Thank you, that's all I ask." They were both quiet for a few moments, and Lorelai asked, "Is that why you came over, to tell me that?"

"Yeah. I needed to get it over with as soon as possible."

"Do you wanna spend the night? Luke just ran to Doose's, so we'll be all stocked up with snacks very soon," Lorelai said. "And tomorrow we're gonna go visit Sookie."

"You had me at snacks," Rory said, rubbing her hands together excitedly. "Where's my brother?"

"He's napping," Lorelai replied, and then glanced at her watch. "He'll be up soon. Come sit upstairs with me while I finish folding the laundry."

. . . . .

. . . . .

When Luke arrived home from Doose's, Lorelai and Rory were on the couch with the baby nestled in Lorelai's lap. As Luke walked through the front door, Lorelai announced, "Hon, Rory's staying the night, so I hope you got enough ice cream."

"Got plenty," he replied as he walked into the living room. "Hey, Rory... how was the game?"

"Well, we lost, but I experienced the most elaborate tailgating you could imagine, so it was still a win," Rory replied.

Luke's eyes widened. "Emily and Richard tailgate?"

"I was just as shocked," Lorelai said. "Never once have they shared this secret hobby with me. What, you have to be a member of the secret Yale club to get some steak?"

Rory nodded. "I think that's the requirement."

"I wonder what else they're hiding from us," Lorelai mulled.

Luke held up the shopping bags in his hands. "I'm gonna start unpacking. Got a few more bags in the car." He started walking toward the kitchen.

Lorelai wrinkled her nose at Rory. "I should go help. Can you hold him for a minute?"

Rory's eyes widened as Lorelai held out the baby to her. "Oh, whoa, wow... okay... hold on." She sat up straighter on the couch and let Lorelai gently place the baby in her arms.

"You good?" Lorelai asked as she stood up.

"Yeah, we're good. But Mom..." Rory locked eyes with Lorelai for a moment and then nodded her head toward the kitchen. "Are you gonna tell him?" Rory whispered.

"Tell him what?" Lorelai whispered back.

"About Yale," Rory whispered. "About the money. He won't be mad, right?"

Lorelai smiled and patted her on the arm. "Not even a little, trust me. I'll go tell him now, we'll get it out of the way."

"Okay, thanks."

"Be right back," Lorelai said. She threw on her coat and walked out the front door to grab some bags from the back of Luke's SUV. While she was trying to balance the four remaining bags in her arms to prevent having to come back out again, Luke came out of the front door.

"Whoa, hold on, I'll help you," he said, rushing over to her. He took two of the bags from her and shut the trunk.

"Thanks," Lorelai said, and then added. "Hold on a second... don't go in yet. I wanna tell you something."

Luke turned to face her. "Okay. Tell me."

"Well, so, you know how we were talking at Friday night dinner a few weeks ago about how we'd probably have to ask my parents for help with Yale next year?"

"Uhhh... yeah," Luke replied, confused about where this was going.

"Well, Rory overheard it and it kind of struck a chord with her, and she decided that she didn't want us to have to ask them for the money... she thought she should ask them herself because it's her education. And so she asked them today."

Luke's eyes widened. "What?"

"And of course they said yes," Lorelai continued, "and they're gonna start paying for Yale... like, right now. We don't even have to send in the payment for the next semester. She said it's not fair for us to spend all of our savings on her like that, that she would feel guilty about it."

Luke blinked a few times, and then leaned over to put down the bags he was holding. He stood back up straight and rubbed his temple. "Wow."

Lorelai nodded in agreement. "Yeah. What do you think?"

Luke shrugged. "I guess it all ends up the same whether we asked or she asked, and I kind of feel relieved to have it taken care of already... but at the same time, I'm sure you don't like that she took that task on herself."

Lorelai shook her head. "No, I don't. That's something I should've dealt with, not her. I feel like a bad mom that she thought she had to do something like that."

Luke cocked his head to the side. "Stop it. She could've pretended she didn't hear anything and just let you stress about it for months and dread the day you'd have to ask them," Luke pointed out. "But no, she did it for you so you could save some money and avoid having to go through that with your parents again. You should feel like a great mom for raising a kid like that."

Lorelai smiled at him appreciatively. "Thanks."

He nodded toward the house. "Now, just try to remember exactly what you did to get her to be amazing so we can make sure the boy turns out that way, too."

Lorelai's smile widened. "I think amazing is the only possible outcome he could have with us raising him, isn't it? What else could he be?" Luke started to respond, but Lorelai quickly cut him off. "Wait, no, I can tell you're about to start listing my annoying quirks, so let's leave that as a rhetorical question."

Luke smirked and leaned down to pick up his bags. "Let's go unpack these."

. . . . .

. . . . .

The following Thursday was Thanksgiving, and on Friday, the girls woke up early to hit some sales while Luke stayed home with Josh. When they got home later that morning, Luke helped bring in their shopping bags from the car.

"The deals were amazing," Lorelai told him. "They were all too good to pass up."

"Yeah, I can tell, it doesn't look like you passed anything up."

"I'm practically done with Josh's Christmas presents already," Lorelai said proudly.

As he glanced down at the bags around him, his eyes widened. "What do you mean, practically done? You bought all of this and you're not done? He's a baby, he doesn't need a hundred presents."

Lorelai scoffed at him. "It's his first Christmas, Luke... it has to be special."

"Lots of presents doesn't equal special, Lorelai," Luke pointed out. "You can have a special Christmas without spending a fortune."

Lorelai scoffed again. "Hello, were you not listening to how good the deals were? I didn't spend a fortune. So, yes, it will be special and he will have lots of new clothes and toys and books, all provided to him at a very reasonable price."

"Reasonable individually, but altogether, I doubt it," Luke said. "Look at all these bags."

"They're not all for him," Lorelai said. "There are some things for you in here, my parents, Sookie, Davey, et cetera. And of course, Rory and I deserved some treats for getting up early and braving the crowds."

"Yes, we earned our rewards," Rory declared from the armchair she had exhaustedly collapsed into immediately after entering the house.

"All right, we'll discuss healthy spending habits later, I'm going to the diner," Luke said, and then gestured to Josh sleeping in the portable crib in the corner of the room. "He should be up soon, and he ate around 9:30."

"Did you get down the Christmas decorations from the attic?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shook his head. "Didn't think it was the best idea to climb a ladder while home alone with the baby," he replied. "Just in case something went wrong."

"Oh, yeah, good thinking," Lorelai agreed. "Parenting point for you."

"But there are some boxes in the garage you can start with," Luke said. "I'll get the attic ones down tonight."

"Okay, I'm gonna go change into more comfortable clothes and start making the house festive," Lorelai said. "Rory, keep an eye on him for a few minutes?"

Rory had her eyes closed as she tiredly murmured, "Mmhmm."

"Okay, keep an ear on him, at least." Lorelai kissed Luke goodbye. "See you later."

"Bye." Luke looked after Lorelai as she headed up the stairs, and when she was out of view, he whispered, "Psst, Rory."

Rory opened her eyes and looked over at him from the armchair. "Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Luke gestured toward the kitchen. "In the kitchen?"

Rory narrowed her eyes curiously. "Uh, yeah, sure." She stood up and followed him to the kitchen, and they stood by the back door.

"So, listen, this crazy idea popped into my head and I wanted to talk to you about it," he said, and then he took a deep breath. "How do you think your mom would feel about going away for a week or so without the baby? You think she would have a hard time being away from him for that long?"

Rory pondered for a moment. "I don't know."

Luke gritted his teeth. "Yeah, I wasn't sure either."

"Are you trying to plan a trip for the two of you?"

"No... for the two of you."

Rory's eyes widened. "What? Me and her?"

"I was thinking that since you guys couldn't do your big Europe trip over the summer that maybe you two could go on a smaller trip when you're on Spring break," Luke said. "You're off for two weeks, right?"

"Yeah, two weeks."

"So, I was thinking you could go for maybe a week, 10 days, something like that, and check a few countries off your list," Luke suggested. "And then maybe in the summer, or next spring, try to hit a few more."

Rory's eyes were still wide, and she didn't know what to say. "Wow, Luke."

"I know it's not the big 3-month backpacking trip you two had envisioned, but I thought this could be a good compromise for now, something to get you started. I just don't want you guys to keep putting it off and then it becomes harder to schedule because of school or work or whatever else is going on. Maybe instead of doing it all at once, breaking it up into smaller trips might be easier."

Rory had been smiling at him as he spoke, and she nodded in agreement. "I think it's a good idea... and I don't have any plans yet for Spring break."

"I was thinking I'd book the trip and then give it to her as a surprise Christmas present," Luke said. "I'm gonna talk to Mia about it first, make sure the dates would be okay for her to be away from the inn."

"Good idea."

"And I know she'll want to go, but I wasn't sure if she might have some reservations about leaving the baby. That's the one thing making me hesitate."

Rory and Luke stared at each other for a moment, and then Rory said, "I think you should just go for it. Yeah, maybe she'll be a little sad saying goodbye and I'm sure she'll miss both of you while we're gone, but she'll deal with it. I don't think it'll stop her from going."

Luke smiled. "Yeah? You think it'll be okay?"

Rory nodded. "I think so. I think it'll be fine."

"Okay, good." Luke smiled, starting to feel a little more encouraged about his idea. "I was thinking I'd go to that travel agent in Danbury, the one next to that ice cream shop your mom likes, and see if they can help me figure this out. What countries should I start with... where do you wanna go?"

"Um, everywhere," Rory replied with a laugh. "So, basically, you can't go wrong."

Luke smiled. "Okay, well, how many countries do you think you can do in 10 days that'll let you see enough stuff without completely exhausting yourself to death?"

Rory pondered a moment. "Um, I would say maybe three."

"And by the way, no hostels," Luke said firmly. "I know that was part of your big plan, but seriously, trust me on this, they're disgusting and I'm springing for hotels."

Rory smiled. "All right, fine, I'll try to deal with this very inconvenient alteration to our plan."

Luke rubbed his palms together. "Okay, well... I better get moving on this. I'll try to call Mia today, and then maybe get over to the travel agent tomorrow."

"Okay," Rory said.

"I have to get to work," Luke said. "Don't say anything to her, okay?"

"I won't," Rory assured him. "I think it'll be a nice surprise. It's an amazing idea, Luke...really."

Luke smiled. "Thanks. I figured it would be a good way to use some of that money you saved us by taking care of Yale with your grandparents."

Rory smiled. "Well, I didn't realize I'd be funding my own trip by doing that, but it's a nice bonus."

"Well-deserved for both of you," Luke said as he affectionately patted her arm. "I'll see you later. Try not to let her spend any more money today, huh?"

"I'll try," Rory promised.

. . . . .

. . . . .

To be continued...