Chapter 5
. . . . .
On Friday night, Luke was in the living room talking with Babette and Morey while Lane and Rory were in the kitchen unloading the Chinese food that had just been delivered. The baby was sitting in his swing chewing on a toy, and Lorelai was upstairs getting ready for their night out.
When she finally started walking down the stairs, Luke glanced up at her and his eyes widened. She was a vision. She'd bought a new dress, short, black, and fitted, that accentuated her curves and her long legs. Her long hair fell in perfect waves over her shoulders, and her jewelry sparkled as it caught the lights of the living room.
"Okay, I'm ready," Lorelai announced.
"You look hot, doll!" Babette exclaimed, and then nudged Morey with her elbow. "Doesn't she look hot?"
"Hot," Morey agreed in his usual unenthusiastic tone as he nodded his head.
"Thanks, guys." Lorelai stepped off the bottom step and stood in front of Luke, and when that delicate smell of her perfume hit him, tingles rushed down his spine.
He was smiling as he looked her up and down, and then he met her gaze. "I'm in agreement with the hot consensus."
Lorelai smiled. "Yeah?"
Luke nodded. "You're perfect."
"Thanks." She ran her hand down the front of his shirt. "You're looking pretty hot yourself."
They smiled at each other for a few moments until Babette said, "You two look like you're about to start going at it on the floor. You want us to go to the kitchen?"
Lorelai blushed a little as she looked over at her with a smile. "No, let's do a quick tour," and then called, "Where are my overnighters?"
"Coming," Rory called, and she and Lane walked to the living room. "Wow, you look great, Mom."
They spent a few minutes going over things in the living room, and then went upstairs to the nursery to go over Josh's bedtime routine. They headed down to the kitchen so Lorelai could show them how to make his bottle and his cereal, and reviewed a list of reminders on the fridge.
They walked back to the living room, and Lorelai and Luke stood in front of the swing. Lorelai took a deep breath before leaning down to talk to Josh. "Okay, kid... Mommy and Daddy are going out for a little while, but you'll be in good hands." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "We love you."
As she stood back up, Luke leaned down and kissed the baby's forehead. "Be good, buddy."
Lorelai quickly hugged everyone and thanked them for helping out, and then she walked to the foyer to put on her coat. "Call us if you need anything. I mean it, anything." She wrinkled her nose. "Did I cover everything on the list? We should go over it again."
"Go," Rory said, pointing at the door. "Luke, get her out of here."
Luke opened the front door and reached for Lorelai's hand. "Come on, we're leaving. Bye, everyone."
There was a chorus of goodbyes as they walked out of the house, and the front door closed behind them. They drove twenty minutes to the Italian restaurant they had reservations at, and were seated quickly.
As they were starting off with wine and bread, Luke said, "This feels weird, right?"
"Yup," she quickly agreed.
"Eating together without one of us holding a baby," Luke continued.
"Or talking without having one ear tuned in to the baby monitor listening for noises."
"Or leaving mid-conversation to run into another room to get him."
Lorelai pondered for a moment. "Can you remember the last time just the two of us went out? It must've been in the summer, right?"
"Yeah, I was trying to remember the other day," Luke said. "And I'm pretty sure it was like a week or two before your due date, during that insane heat wave where it was almost a hundred degrees every day."
"Ugh, that was so uncomfortable," Lorelai said as she made a face.
"You didn't even wanna leave the house," Luke said. "You stayed inside for days and were getting cranky from your cabin fever, so I finally bribed you to go out by - "
"Promising you'd buy me as much ice cream as I wanted," Lorelai finished, smiling. "I remember now."
Luke nodded. "We went out for dinner and then we went for ice cream."
"Lots and lots of ice cream. That's all I ate for days." Lorelai took a sip of wine and then shook her head at him. "We can't do that. We can't go so long in between date nights that we have to think hard to remember the last one."
Luke shrugged. "I know, but I've heard that's pretty common when you become parents, isn't it?"
"It doesn't have to be," Lorelai said. "And I don't want it to be the norm for us. If we don't have some alone time like this once in awhile, we're going to get frustrated and distant and end up hating each other, and I don't know about you, but I don't want us to hate each other."
Luke pretended to think it over for a few seconds before he replied, "Nah, I don't want that either."
"Maybe we could work something out with Sookie and Jackson," Lorelai mused. "Like, once a month, we'll swap babysitting duties for date nights - they'll watch Josh one night and we'll watch Davey another night."
Luke nodded. "Yeah, that would be good, if they're up for it. Plus, it would make us feel less guilty about asking people to babysit if we were repaying the favor."
"Exactly," Lorelai said. "I'll talk to her about it."
The waiter brought their salads to the table, and as they started eating them, Lorelai asked, "So, what's going on with Carl? He's definitely starting next week?"
Luke quickly swallowed down the food in his mouth and then replied, "Yup. I'm gonna stick around with him for the first few days until he gets a good feel for the kitchen, but I think we can still plan on me being home with Josh starting the first of March."
"I know I've already asked this, but you're sure you don't want to keep him in daycare for March?" Lorelai asked. "It could help you when Rory and I are away."
"Not necessary," Luke replied, shaking his head. "We've already started talking to people about watching him some of the afternoons, I'm gonna have employees pull some extra shifts at the diner so I can take some days off, it'll be fine. It'd be a waste of money to pay for the whole month when we don't need it."
Lorelai nodded in agreement. "I know, you're right. If you're sure you won't need it, we'll cancel it."
"I'm sure," he said confidently.
Lorelai took a sip of her wine. "Okay, let's talk about something else. Talking about the baby is making me want to check in on him already and we decided we would only call home once tonight."
"Let's talk about how good that dress looks on you," Luke said without skipping a beat.
Lorelai gasped softly and her lips curved into a smile. "Wow, you took it from G to PG-13 in a matter of seconds." She leaned forward a little and lowered her voice. "Are you gonna be hitting that R-rating soon?"
Luke nodded in confirmation. "I do believe that later tonight, yes, there will be an abundance of adult content."
Lorelai pretended to signal for a waiter. "Check, please."
Luke smirked and gestured to her salad. "Eat. We haven't been to a fancy restaurant in months, let's enjoy it."
"Okay, fine, we'll stay in the PG-13 zone for now," Lorelai said, and after a bite of salad, she asked, "You really like the dress?"
Luke shook his head slightly. "You have no idea."
"So, if you were to rate it on a scale of one to - "
"Definitely a ten," he interjected.
"One million," she continued.
"One million," he corrected himself.
"... where one million is bad and one is the best..." she continued.
Luke smiled amusedly. "Then it's a one."
Lorelai smiled. "Good. Remember that when you see the price on the credit card bill."
. . . . .
. . . . .
Later that evening, they walked into the inn and rushed quickly through the lobby, trying to avoid Tobin behind the front desk so Lorelai wouldn't get caught up in chit chat or work talk.
They headed upstairs to the second floor. Lorelai unlocked the door with the room key she'd taken earlier in the day and they walked into the dark room.
Lorelai turned on the light, gasping softly when she saw flowers, chocolates, wine, and a wrapped gift on the dresser. "Luke... did you do that?"
"Yup." He shut the door to the room and put their overnight bag down, and watched as she walked over to the dresser and surveyed the gifts.
Smiling, she walked back over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"How did you do this?" she asked.
"I dropped it off earlier and gave Michel twenty bucks to put them in whatever room you'd reserved for us," Luke told him, and then he smiled as he added, "He said you put it under Celine Dion."
Lorelai grinned. "When he first saw it in the reservation book the other day, he got so excited and his voice was all high and squeal-y, and then I told him it was actually a room for me and then he got all angry and bitter." She sighed contently. "It was a great day."
Luke smirked. "I bet."
Lorelai kissed him gently. "So, what do you think? Should we freshen up a little and then seduce each other?"
Luke slid his hands down her sides and back up again. "I think so."
"You can go first," she said, gesturing to the bathroom. "I'm gonna check on things at home before it gets too late to call."
"Okay."
As he disappeared into the bathroom, Lorelai pulled her cell phone out of her purse and sat on the bed to call home. When Luke emerged a few minutes later, she had already hung up, and he asked, "Everything good at the house?"
Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Rory gave me a play by play of the evening... feeding, changing, playing, some baby babbling, and he is currently starting to doze off while Morey plays a lullaby on the mini keyboard he brought over while Lane accompanies him with her drumsticks."
Luke smiled. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. The baby is attending a live concert right now, so he's completely oblivious that Mommy and Daddy are out somewhere being naughty."
Luke let out a small laugh. "Good."
"Everyone else in town, however, totally knows," Lorelai added, and then she turned around. "Unzip, please."
Luke unzipped the back of her dress, and she turned around to face him. "Meet you at the bed in five minutes," she said, and kissed him before grabbing the overnight bag and heading into the bathroom.
. . . . .
. . . . .
Later that night, Lorelai was in the bathroom running a bath and Luke walked in carrying their wine glasses he'd just refilled. When the bath water reached the level she wanted, she turned it off, took off the plush robe she was wearing, and stepped into the tub, wincing a little as she started to sit down.
"That's hot, but it feels good," she replied as she settled into it. "You're joining me, right?"
Luke tentatively eyed the tub. "Is there enough room? We both have long legs."
Lorelai pulled her knees to her chest. "Look, you can totally squeeze in over there." She looked up at him with a pout. "Just for a few minutes?"
Luke handed her the wine glasses to set on the back ledge of the tub, then took off his boxers, stepped into the tub, and sat across from her.
"This is nice," Lorelai said, and she stretched out one of her legs along the side of the tub.
"Relaxing," Luke said. He slipped one hand into the water and began caressing her leg, and she hummed contently.
She took a sip of wine, and then set her glass back down on the ledge. She tightened the messy bun on top of her head, then leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "If I fall asleep and slowly start to slip under the water - "
"I'll tell the kids you loved them," Luke said.
Lorelai smirked and opened her eyes. "I was gonna suggest you wake me up instead of watching me drown, but okay."
"Ohhh, okay, I got it... I'll do that instead," Luke said, smiling at her. "You ready to get some sleep after this?"
Lorelai nodded. "Yeah. You?"
"Yeah, I think we could both use a good night's sleep."
"What's that?" Lorelai joked. "Because much like our last date, I can't remember the last time either of us had this thing you refer to as a good night's sleep."
"Yeah, that's why we should take advantage of that tonight."
Lorelai nodded in agreement. "And then on the plus side, we'll have some energy to get in another round of naughtiness in the morning. Who doesn't love a good morning romp to start off Valentine's Day?"
"Or any day, really," Luke replied. He took a sip of his wine and they were quiet for a moment before he asked, "Is it crazy that I feel guilty for having a good time tonight?"
"No, I know what you mean," Lorelai said. "It's like you feel like a bad parent for enjoying yourself when you're away from your kid."
"Yeah, exactly."
"It's normal," Lorelai assured him. "It's like when you have a rough day so you reward yourself with a pint of ice cream because you deserved it, and then you feel guilty."
Luke smirked at her. "When have you ever felt guilty for eating ice cream... or anything, for that matter?"
Lorelai smiled and shrugged. "I'm just saying, I've heard that's a thing - that some people feel guilty for eating crap."
"Yeah, that's a thing," he confirmed.
"Well, tonight is our pint of ice cream, and we're gonna need to eat more ice cream in our lifetime to stay sane, so we need to ignore that post ice cream guilt because we work hard and we are great parents and we deserve that ice cream."
Luke nodded in agreement. "I'll try to ignore it."
"Oh, hey, you know what might help distract you?" Lorelai said, and then she gestured to her body. "Your very attractive naked wife sitting across from you. Focus on that."
Luke smiled. "Trust me, I am very focused on that, but she's tired, so I'm being good right now."
"Well, maybe she doesn't want you to be good." Lorelai maneuvered in the tub so she was sitting directly in front of him with her back against his chest. "There, now everything's within easy reach... how's that for a distraction?"
Luke smirked and kissed the side of her neck. "Can't think of a better one."
. . . . .
. . . . .
When they arrived home the next morning and walked through the front door, they were greeted by a crowd in the living room. Along with the morning shift of Rory, Lane, and Miss Patty were also Babette and Morey.
"Wow, hi, guys," Lorelai greeted them. "It's like a welcome home party."
"We just wanted to check in on things," Babette said.
"But everything's going fine," Miss Patty assured them. "He's an angel."
"He was really good," Rory added. "It was much easier than I thought it would be."
Rory and Lane were sitting on the floor with the baby on his play mat, and Lorelai immediately kneeled down in front of him. "Hi there, little man," Lorelai cooed as she picked him up and nuzzled him to her chest. "We're back... we missed you."
Lorelai stood up with him and walked over to Luke, who ran his hand over Josh's hair before kissing him on the head. They sat down on the couch and the babysitting team filled them in on how the last 16 hours had gone.
Fifteen minutes later, after Luke and Lorelai thanked them profusely for helping out, everyone had left except for Rory.
"So, did you guys have a nice time?" Rory asked.
Lorelai smiled at Luke before looking back at Rory. "Amazing. We had a delicious dinner at that new Italian place in Berlin, and then we went to the inn where we spent the evening talking and reading articles from the Stars Hollow Gazette to each other." Lorelai patted Luke on the leg. "Right, hon?"
"Yup, that's always been a favorite pastime of ours," Luke confirmed.
"And then we slept in separate rooms," Lorelai finished.
Rory smiled. "Well, good, I'm glad it was a good date night."
"Oh, and Luke gave me this," Lorelai said, patting the necklace hanging from her neck. "Isn't it beautiful?"
Rory leaned closer to look at it and nodded in agreement. "Very. Good job, Luke."
"Thanks," Luke replied, and then he stood up from the couch. "I gotta get ready to go. I'm gonna take this up." He picked up their overnight bag and started walking upstairs.
"Caesar closed the diner last night and opened it this morning, so Luke's gonna go to work for awhile to give him a break," Lorelai explained to Rory. "I'm just gonna watch movies and eat chocolate and play with Josh today. You wanna hang around for a little while or do you have to get back to school?"
Rory checked the clock. "Yeah, I can stay for a few hours, then I have to go work on a research paper that's due this week."
Lorelai smiled. "Okay, cool. I get to spend some of Valentine's Day with both my babies."
A few minutes later, Luke walked back down to the living room. "I'm gonna head out before Caesar has a breakdown."
"Okay, we'll walk you out," Lorelai said, and she stood up from the couch. "Rory's gonna stay for a few hours, but she'll probably be gone by the time you get back."
"Oh, okay," Luke said, and he looked over at Rory. "Thanks again for helping, we really appreciate it."
Rory smiled. "You're welcome."
Lorelai, with Josh in her arms, followed Luke to the front door. "I'll be home before dinner," he told her. "You've got a home-cooked Valentine's Day meal coming your way."
"Okay." Lorelai leaned in to kiss him. "Thank you for last night." She kissed him again and smiled against his lips as she added, "And this morning."
"Back at ya," he replied, and then he kissed Josh's head. "Bye, buddy." Luke walked out the front door, and Lorelai and Josh returned to the living room.
. . . . .
. . . . .
A few days later, on Tuesday night, Lorelai arrived early at Miss Patty's for the town meeting. As she sat down in a chair, Kirk walked over to her. "Lorelai, I noticed you don't have the baby with you."
"Good observation, Kirk," Lorelai said.
"Do you need me to go babysit?" Kirk asked. "I can leave right now and go watch him for you."
"No, I don't need a babysitter tonight, Kirk, but thanks."
"Are you sure? Because you shouldn't leave babies home alone at night, they're scared of the dark," Kirk told her.
Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "Okay, to clarify, you shouldn't leave babies home alone ever, and he's not alone, he's with Luke."
"But it would probably be good if he had an extra set of hands to help him, right?"
"I think he's okay, but I'll tell you what, Kirk... if Luke happens to break both of his hands and needs to watch the baby by himself, then, yes, we will consider using you as an extra set of hands."
Kirk pumped his fist. "Yes! I will not let you down."
"I know you won't, Kirk," Lorelai replied, and smiled when she saw Sookie approaching behind him. "Hey, Sookie."
"Hey," Sookie replied as she slipped into the seat next to Lorelai.
"Sookie, I notice you don't have your baby with you," Kirk greeted her. "Do you need me to watch him?"
"Kirk, we'll call you if we need a babysitter," Lorelai said, and then pointed toward the front of the room. "You should go see if Taylor needs help. He looks confused."
"Oh, shoot," Kirk said, and he quickly walked away.
Lorelai smiled at Sookie. "How's it going? I didn't know you were coming tonight."
"I wasn't planning on it, but I got the baby down for bed early and then I decided, you know what, I'm gonna go out. I don't care where, I'm just gonna get out of the house because I'm sick of spending every single night at home. So I came here."
Lorelai smiled. "Well, look at you getting all wild and crazy."
Sookie excitedly patted Lorelai's leg. "Yeah, and now it's like a girls' night out."
"A very sad girls' night out," Lorelai remarked. Andrew walked into the dance studio carrying a box of Girl Scout cookies, and Lorelai gasped. "Where'd you get those?"
Andrew gestured toward the door. "A couple of girls just set up a table out front."
Lorelai's eyes widened and she looked at Sookie. "Our girls' night out just got so much better. Save my seat, I'll be right back." She grabbed her purse and went outside, returning a few minutes later with three different boxes of cookies.
"Wow, you don't mess around," Sookie said.
Lorelai handed a box to Sookie. "Variety is the spice of life. Let's eat."
The meeting started, and after Taylor scolded those who were snacking on outside food, he went through a couple of announcements. He finished the meeting by discussing the annual Spring Fling festival.
"We're looking for volunteers to run booths, help with set up and clean up, and to pick up the manure from the pony rides," Taylor said. "The sign-up sheet will be up front after the meeting." He banged his gavel on the podium. "Meeting adjourned."
As people started to stand up to leave, Lorelai turned to Sookie. "The inn's already pretty booked for Spring Fling weekend."
"I'm already planning the Spring Fling menu," Sookie said. "Lots of light colorful dishes with fresh veggies."
"Good, good," Lorelai said approvingly. "It'll be great."
"Plus, it's the first Spring Fling festival for our boys," Sookie pointed out. "So that'll be cute."
"Very." Lorelai gathered her cookie boxes and stood up from her chair. "Ready to go?"
"Yes," Sookie replied. "I hope the cookie girls are still out there. I wanna buy a box for Jackson."
They walked out of the dance studio. Sookie bought a box of cookies, and Lorelai decided to add another two boxes to her own haul, and then they each headed home.
When Lorelai walked into the house, she found Luke standing in front of the hall closet. The doors were open and he was staring into it as he held Josh in one arm.
He turned around when he heard the front door open. "Hey," he greeted her, and then his eyes went to her armful of cookie boxes. "Wow."
"I stocked up," she said proudly as she set them on the foyer table.
"I see that."
Lorelai took off her jacket and hung it up, and then walked over to them. She kissed Luke hello, and then took Josh from him, kissing his cheek as she said, "Hi, baby. Did you miss me? I told you I wouldn't be long."
"How was the meeting?" Luke asked.
"It was good. They're starting to get ready for the Spring Fling."
"Oh, goody, it's that time of year again," he said dryly. "You sign up for something?"
Lorelai shook her head. "Nah. I figured it's Josh's first time, I just wanna go and enjoy it and not have to work."
"You're gonna try to make him ride a pony, aren't you?"
Lorelai grinned. "Of course. Make sure we bring the video camera." She nodded her head toward the closet behind him. "So, this is the third time since you cleaned this closet that I've found you randomly looking into it. Are you just admiring your great cleaning job or are you looking for Carol Anne? Stay away from the light!"
Luke narrowed his eyes with confusion. "Huh?"
"Poltergeist, baby... watch it. It's a classic."
"Ah." Luke turned to face the closet. "Actually, I've been thinking that maybe we should talk to Tom about turning it into another bathroom."
Lorelai's eyes widened. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, I think we can do it. And then look over here." He led her a few steps back to the foyer and patted the wall facing the front door. "I think we can put a smaller closet here for some storage."
Lorelai smiled and nodded approvingly. "I'm loving this idea. We definitely need another bathroom." She nodded to Josh. "Especially when this guy starts potty training, we're gonna get tired of running him upstairs all the time."
"Oh, good point, I hadn't even thought of that," Luke said. "Okay, so, I guess I'll give Tom a call this week, see if he can come give us an estimate."
"That's a good project to put our tax refund towards," Lorelai said, and then she leaned down to kiss Josh's forehead. "Thank you, new claimed dependent, for giving us a little boost this year."
"You know, it might be a good idea to think about doing some more remodeling," Luke said. "Eventually, down the road, especially since you're set on staying in this house forever."
"Yes, I am," she confirmed. "Including after my death."
"So, then, maybe there are some things we can do to make it more comfortable," Luke continued. "Like maybe enlarge our bedroom."
Lorelai's eyes widened with intrigue. "Ooh. Keep talking."
"We can extend it out a little, maybe add a bigger closet."
Lorelai fanned her face with her hand to cool herself down. "You're turning me on so much right now."
Luke seductively leaned in closer as he added, "Maybe even add an attached master bathroom."
Lorelai groaned softly. "Oh, God, make love to me this instant."
Luke snorted a laugh and looked down at Josh. "Are you taking notes, kid? I'm showing you the way to a woman's heart."
"Seriously, that would be amazing," Lorelai said. "Is there enough room to do all that?"
"Definitely," Luke replied. "We can even make Josh's room bigger, maybe add another bedroom up there..." He shrugged casually as he added, "Just in case we decide that we might need one someday."
They stared at each other for a beat before Lorelai said, "You mean in case Kirk's mom throws him out?"
"Exactly."
"Well, then, yeah, I think it would be smart to have one," Lorelai said with her own casual shrug. "Just in case we need it someday."
Luke smiled. "Good." He gestured toward the living room staircase. "I gotta look for the measuring tape, I think it's upstairs."
Lorelai stepped closer to him and squeezed his biceps. "But then you'll come back down and sweet talk me with more remodeling ideas?"
Luke smirked. "Yeah, I might even start talking about a custom shoe rack for your new enlarged closet."
Lorelai's mouth dropped open. "God, could you be any sexier?"
Luke smiled and leaned in to kiss her. "I'll be right back."
. . . . .
. . . . .
A few days later, on Sunday afternoon, Luke was getting dressed in the bedroom when Lorelai walked in. "I just put the boy down for his nap," she said as she tiredly collapsed onto the bed. "You look nice."
Luke glanced down at his grey pants and black sweater. "You sure this is okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine," Lorelai said, propping herself up on her elbows. "Are you sure you wanna go through with this? I can call and make up an excuse for you. I have no qualms about lying to my parents, trust me."
"Your dad will just reschedule it," Luke replied. "Might as well get it over with."
"I can't believe you said yes so quickly," Lorelai said, shaking her head disappointedly at him. "Have I taught you nothing? You put up a fight for as long as you possibly can until they wear you down to a meaty pulp."
"Sorry, I forgot." He walked over and leaned down to kiss her. "I'll see you later."
"Bye. Fake a stomach illness if you need to get out of there early."
Two days earlier, Richard had caught them off guard at Friday night dinner by suggesting that Luke join him for lunch at the club on Sunday afternoon. Lorelai immediately tried to get him out of it by saying his weekends were usually pretty busy. After Emily then jumped in with a comment about how it wouldn't kill Luke to spend a couple of hours with his father-in-law, Luke felt guilty and agreed to the lunch.
About 45 minutes after Luke had left for the club on Sunday, the phone rang. Lorelai, in the middle of sorting a basket of clean laundry on the bed, grabbed the phone from the nightstand and answered, "Hello?"
"It's not just me and your dad," Luke greeted her. "Christopher's here."
Lorelai gasped. "What? Are you serious?"
"As I was walking up to the club restaurant, I saw him walking in," Luke replied. "I held back and watched through the window as a waiter led him over to the table your father was at. The table is set for three!"
"Oh, my God."
"I feel like I've been set up on a blind date. Is this what people on a blind date feel like, this anxious feeling of dread? Is it still a blind date if you already know the person? I've never been on one, but now I remember why I hated dating."
"Okay, one, stop referring to lunch with my dad and Chris as a date, and two, I cannot believe they tried to ambush you," Lorelai said angrily. "My stupid parents. Forget the lunch... just come home."
"Stand them up? I can't do that, I'd never hear the end of it," Luke said.
"We'll make up an excuse," Lorelai said. "We'll call and say there was an emergency, that you were in a fiery car wreck."
"No, it's okay, I have to go in there. I just needed to rant a little first."
"I can guarantee that my mother orchestrated this," Lorelai said. "And if she thinks it's okay to pull crap like this, then let's see how she likes it when she doesn't see Josh again until he's in kindergarten."
"We can't do that."
"Yes, we can... it's one of the benefits of having a kid. We get to control who sees him."
"I'm serious, Lorelai," Luke replied firmly. "You're not using our son as some sort of punishment every time you're mad at your parents. It's evil and heartless."
"Uh, hello, where do you think I inherited those traits from?"
Luke was quiet for a moment as he stared through the window. "I'm going in," he finally said.
"No, Luke, just get out of there. You don't have to do this."
"I'll go in, I'll eat lunch with them, I'll try to keep the conversation light, it'll be fine," he assured her. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Lorelai sighed into the phone. "Okay. Bye."
"Bye," he said, and he hung up the phone.
Lorelai turned off the phone, then immediately turned it back on and dialed her mother.
"Hello?" Emily answered.
"Did you arrange for Luke and Chris to have lunch with Dad at the club?" Lorelai greeted her.
"Why, Lorelai, hello," Emily calmly replied, as if she'd been expecting the call. "How are you doing?"
Lorelai exhaled a heavy sigh into the phone. "Mom, you have ten seconds to explain what's going on or we won't be visiting again for a very, very, very long time."
"Well, I found out Christopher would be in town this weekend and I thought it might be nice for the men to have a nice lunch together," Emily replied. "Wasn't that a lovely idea?"
"Would be in town," Lorelai repeated. "Spoken in the future tense... so it wasn't some spur of the moment thing today, you planned this setup all along."
"Yes, and it all worked out just perfectly. When I found out Christopher would be in town, I suggested your father invite Luke to the club this weekend," Emily said. "And then when that was set, I called Christopher to see if he was available at that time, and he was."
"But why?!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Why would you do that?"
"These men are the fathers of our grandchildren, Lorelai," Emily reminded her. "And I sensed some tension the last time Luke and Christopher were around each other. You remember, the day of the photo shoot."
"They were completely fine and civil that day, Mom," Lorelai said. "Unless you witnessed a fistfight that I didn't see."
"Fine and civil are not the same as comfortable, Lorelai, and they need a chance to be comfortable around each other."
"So, if you were trying to get them together, why didn't you just invite Christopher over for dinner on Friday night? Was that not quite manipulative enough for you, you had to plan a secret lunch outing for them instead?"
Emily paused for a moment. "Well, frankly, I thought maybe they'd feel less awkward and more comfortable around each other if you weren't around."
Lorelai gasped. "Oh, my God. What are you gonna do, kill me off?"
"My God, you're so dramatic," Emily said.
Lorelai shook her head angrily at the phone. "This is insane. Did Dad know? Did Chris know? Or did you set them all up for a surprise threesome?"
"I told your father right before he left that Christopher would be joining them," Emily said. "But I certainly couldn't tell Christopher or Luke because they might have backed out."
"And what does that tell you, Mother? That they wouldn't want to have lunch together. So why would you try to force it?"
"Because someone had to do it. They need to see each other and interact to form a friendship, Lorelai," Emily insisted. "And they can't do that if you're always around jumping in and trying to keep the conversation generic. Let them get to know each other and have their own discussions."
Lorelai exhaled a heavy sigh into the phone and took a few deep breaths. "Mom, do not do anything like this ever again, do you hear me?" she said calmly.
"I would've thought you'd be more appreciative since I'm doing this for Luke," Emily told her. "He didn't seem comfortable and I was trying to fix that for him."
"Okay, well, you're officially banned from trying to help Luke with anything ever again."
"Have you stopped to consider that he might actually have a nice time?" Emily asked. "That a simple lunch with Christopher at the club is not as horrible a situation as you think it is?"
"No, I haven't thought about anything except the fact that you didn't give him a choice to go to lunch with Christopher at the club!" Lorelai exclaimed. "You tricked him, Mom. If you want him to have lunch with Dad or Christopher or anyone else, you call Luke and ask him and let him decide. You don't ambush people. It's a simple concept, I don't get why it's so hard for you to grasp."
"Sometimes people don't realize that they want or need something until they're in the situation, so you have to take a creative approach to get them there," Emily replied. "I did what was necessary."
Lorelai groaned. "Mother, I swear..." Her voice trailed off when she heard the baby whimpering from the nursery, and Lorelai took a deep breath. "Forget it. I have to go."
. . . . .
. . . . .
Later that afternoon, Lorelai was sitting on the living room floor reattaching a button on one of Luke's flannel shirts. Josh was sitting on his playmat next to her surrounded by toys, but occupying himself with the TV remote.
Lorelai had been glancing at the clock all afternoon waiting for Luke to return home, and when the front door finally opened, she quickly looked over at it. "Hey, hon."
"Hey," he said as he walked into the living room. "What are you up to?"
"Well, while he sits here fascinated with the remote control, demonstrating once again that he's definitely my son, I'm catching up on some sewing," Lorelai replied, and then she cut the thread with a pair of scissors and held up his shirt. "There... good as new," she said as she tossed him the shirt.
"Thanks," he replied, and hung the shirt on the banister to take upstairs.
Lorelai put her sewing supplies into her sewing basket and put it on the coffee table to get it out of the way. "Come sit, tell me about lunch." She frowned as she added, "I'm sorry you got roped into that."
Luke took off his jacket before sitting on the ottoman next to her. "It wasn't so bad," Luke said. "Chris said he didn't know it was gonna be the three of us, and your dad had just found out right before he left the house."
Lorelai nodded. "That's the story I got from Emily, too."
"You called her?" Luke asked, and then he sighed. "You threatened to keep Josh away, didn't you?"
Lorelai grimaced slightly. "Not specifically. I just said we wouldn't be visiting for a long time if she didn't tell me what was going on. Do you want to know what her explanation was? Basically, that you seemed tense around Chris the last time she saw you together and she wanted to try to fix that."
"How nice of her," Luke said with an eyeroll.
"Yeah. Get this - she said she wanted you and Chris to have a chance to chat without me around. That I'm the one that makes things uncomfortable and that's why you guys feel awkward around each other." She scoffed and shook her head in disbelief. "Which I told her is crazy because you two get along fine."
"Yeah, that is crazy," Luke agreed, and then looked down at Josh on the floor. "Look how good he sits up now. He doesn't fall over anymore."
Lorelai eyed him for a moment, intrigued by his sudden change of topic. "Luke... do I make things awkward?"
Luke exhaled a deep breath as he shrugged a little. "Not... you know... intentionally."
Lorelai's eyes widened. "Wait, seriously? You're agreeing with my mother?"
"Well, I mean... he and I aren't really being ourselves when you're there," he admitted. "I get in this weird defensive mood..."
"The thing that looks like jealousy but you say it's not?" Lorelai interjected.
"Yes, and it's not jealousy," he replied, and then continued, "And he's usually got some sort of guard up or something, and we don't just talk like two normal people would talk."
"And today...?"
Luke shrugged. "It was awkward at first, the three of us just sitting there, making stupid small talk, deciding what to order. But then your dad disappeared for awhile... he said he saw some people he knew, but I'm guessing maybe Emily told him to try to give us time alone."
"Probably."
"And Chris made a comment about how the surprise lunch thing was really weird, and I agreed, and we both relaxed a little. We started chatting about some basic stuff, and it wasn't the most fascinating conversation in the world, but it wasn't so bad."
"Basic stuff?" Lorelai repeated. "What does that category entail? Me?"
"No, we didn't talk about you," Luke replied. "We talked about his motorcycle, some new stereo system he just got in his car, a little sports talk, stuff like that. Just general chit chat."
"And... it was fine?" Lorelai asked incredulously. "You and Chris were just general-chit-chatting it up like old pals and everything was fine?"
Luke stared at her for a second. "Why are you asking it like that, like you're mad that it was fine?"
"Because I'm just surprised. It's just... I don't know... weird." Lorelai suddenly stood up from the floor. "I'm gonna go get a drink."
Luke grabbed her hand to keep her from walking away. "Whoa, whoa, whoa... hold on. Are you seriously mad that I didn't have a horrible time at lunch like you thought I would?"
Lorelai turned around to face him and huffed out a sigh. "Kind of," she admitted. "Because that means my mother was right, and can you think of a worse possible thing in the world?"
"Uh, yeah, I can," he replied. "In no particular order, murderers... hurricanes... cancer... one of those buttons coming off the remote and choking our kid." He paused and eyed the remote in Josh's hands. "Should he be playing with that?"
Lorelai folded her arms across her chest. "Luke, come on."
"What's the big deal, Lorelai?"
"I just told you the big deal! My mother was right." She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. "I hate when she's right."
"But it's not some big shocker that it's a little easier to talk to the guy when the woman we've both been with isn't standing right next to us," Luke pointed out. "Anybody could have theorized that, it's not some super special insight that your mother had."
Lorelai shifted her feet. "I guess."
"And nothing's changed," he added. "It's not like we're best friends now, it was just a casual lunch conversation. We'll probably be just as awkward as we've always been the next time we see each other."
"Yeah, probably because I'll be there," she muttered.
Luke shook his head at her. "Stop. It is what it is."
"Yeah, it's me ruining everything I'm around," she muttered.
Luke rolled his eyes. "Geez. You're being a little -"
"Do not say dramatic," she interrupted, holding up her hand for him to stop. "My mother already called me that today."
Luke promptly closed his mouth for a moment. "Okay, I won't say it." He stood up and put his hands on her shoulders, and calmly said, "I will say this... the bottom line is that I went out and had an okay lunch with okay conversation with my step-daughter's father and her grandfather, which to me sounds like not a bad thing." He cocked his head to the side and pointedly said, "Right?
Lorelai wrinkled her nose for a few seconds and then admitted, "Right."
"Yes, it was weird the way your mom did it, but it's done, it's not anything to be upset about. Don't waste any more energy on it." He leaned in and kissed her, and then said, "Okay?"
"Okay," she reluctantly agreed. She glanced down at the baby and then back at Luke. "Keep an eye on him while I go make some coffee?"
"Sure."
Lorelai started to walk toward the kitchen and then abruptly spun around to face him. "Oh, by the way, Tom called, he's coming over tomorrow night to look at the closet."
"Okay," Luke replied, but then he snapped his fingers. "Oh, shoot... I can't tomorrow night, I have plans."
"You do?"
"Yeah, Chris and I were gonna go out and grab a beer to solidify our new friendship," Luke replied with a straight face. "I'd invite you along, but... you know... might be awkward." His lips slowly curved into a sly smile.
Lorelai shook her head amusedly as she grabbed his shirt from the banister and playfully threw it at him. "Mean! And too soon!"
Luke smirked. "I apologize." He walked over to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "Forgive me?"
"Fine," she told him, and then she pulled back from the hug to look at him. "Only if you forgive me for cutting up that old blue and red flannel with the frayed edges."
"Cutting it up for what?"
Lorelai grinned and turned toward her sewing basket. She pulled out a mini-flannel shirt for Josh that she was crafting from Luke's old one. "He outgrew the tiny flannel shirt he got as a newborn gift, so I thought I could put your old shirt to good use. I haven't started sewing it yet, but I finished pinning it today."
Luke smiled as he took it from her to look it over. "That's really cute." He leaned in to kiss her, adding, "You're forgiven."
. . . . .
. . . . .
Two weeks later, on the first Saturday of March, Sookie, Jackson and Davey came over for dinner. Lorelai and Rory were leaving for Europe the next day, and Sookie arrived with some travel-inspired desserts.
"We've got an English trifle, French macaroons, and Irish cream truffles," Sookie said as she set three containers down on the kitchen table.
"Trifle and truffles," Lorelai remarked. "Are you sure there's not a French dessert called a traffle? Because then you would've had a cool theme."
Sookie giggled. "Maybe I should invent one."
"Sookie, this is amazing," Lorelai gushed. "When on Earth did you have time to do all this? I barely have time to make myself a peanut butter sandwich."
"That's true, she makes me make it for her," Luke said as he joined them in the kitchen.
Lorelai smiled at him. "Well, you're just so much better at the peanut buttering than I am."
Luke walked over to the slow cooker on the counter and gave his chili a stir. "This is done," he said. "Are we ready to eat?"
"Yes. We can eat in the living room with the babies," Lorelai said, and she picked up the bowl of homemade cornbread from the table. "I'll take this out there and let Jackson know."
Lorelai headed to the living room where Jackson was settling Davey into his bouncy seat next to Josh in his swing. She set the basket of cornbread on the coffee table. "The chili's done, so come grab a bowl."
"Okay, it smells incredible," Jackson said.
They returned to the kitchen, and then all four adults made their way into the living room with their food. The ladies sat on the couch, and the guys sat in the armchairs across from them, and they began chatting while they ate.
"So, are you all packed?" Sookie asked.
"Not even close," Luke replied.
Lorelai scoffed at him. "Excuse me, I believe that question was directed at me." She turned to Sookie and declared, "Not even close."
Sookie giggled. "You do realize you're leaving tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, Rory's gonna help me finish in the morning," Lorelai replied. "Our flight's not until four."
"Where is Rory?" Sookie asked. "I thought she was home for break now."
"She is, she's over at Lane's," Lorelai replied. "Getting in her own best friend time before we leave."
"Ah, gotcha," Sookie replied, and then she looked over at Luke. "And how'd the first week of the Mr. Stay-at-home-Dad-in-the-morning routine work out?"
"Amazing," Lorelai replied. "He loved it."
Luke feigned an offended scoff. "Excuse me, I believe that question was directed at me," he teased, and then he looked at Sookie. "Amazing. I loved it."
"Yeah?" Sookie asked, smiling.
"Yup. I get to spend the mornings with him, Lorelai has him in the afternoons, and then we're all together by dinner time. It's great."
"Gotta say, it does sound pretty perfect," Sookie said.
"It does, doesn't it?" Lorelai replied. She bit into a piece of cornbread before adding, "Not everyone thinks so, as we found out last night at Friday night dinner."
"Uh oh," Sookie said. "Your parents?"
"Grandmother," Lorelai replied. "She would prefer that we hire Mrs. Doubtfire to watch Josh, some Mary Poppins-esque older nanny to help rear the kid for the next few years until he starts pre-school."
"Why does it matter what she prefers?" Jackson asked.
"She's the one who gave them money to take him out of daycare and find private care at home," Sookie explained to Jackson.
"And so far we haven't actually used any of her money," Lorelai said. "But she did give it to us for that reason, and so of course she's going to comment on how we use it."
"What'd she say?" Sookie asked.
"Well, during dinner I casually mentioned the new routine," Lorelai explained. "I just said that Luke was watching him in the mornings now instead of daycare."
"Which her mother loved hearing because she has this weird hatred for daycare," Luke added.
"And Gran didn't say anything then, but when we were getting ready to leave, she asked to speak to me in the study," Lorelai said. "She told me that she really wanted me to reconsider the new routine and try to find a qualified nanny to watch him at the house."
"I don't get it," Sookie said, narrowing her eyes with confusion. "Who would be opposed to a father taking care of his kid?"
"She believes that women are better nurturers," Lorelai said. "So, she was spouting that stuff at me and I stayed calm at first, but then she made a remark about how she likes Luke but thinks he needs more time to really develop his parenting skills." She shook her head slightly. "That's when I kind of snapped."
Sookie winced. "What do you mean, snapped?"
Lorelai exhaled a heavy sigh. "Well, I raised my voice to her, which I've never done before, which she does not take well and pretty much considers the ultimate sign of disrespect."
"I could hear it out in the hallway," Luke said.
"And it wasn't horrible," Lorelai said. "It was just me loudly telling her that Luke's an amazing father and that it'll be good for Josh to be raised by his parents... you know, all the things a normal person would say in that situation. And even though I apologized immediately, she probably hates me now and I have a feeling she's gonna take back the money."
"I don't think she will," Luke said. "I think if she was going to, she would've said it right then and there. She still wants him at home instead of in daycare, even if she doesn't want me to be the one watching him."
Lorelai shrugged. "We'll see. We better come up with a backup plan just in case we lose it, though."
"We'll figure it out," Luke assured her.
"At least you apologized right away and didn't leave things angrily," Sookie pointed out. "That's good."
"Yeah, and I also wrote her an apology letter today because she's really big on written correspondence," Lorelai said. "So that should help smooth things over."
"Hopefully," Sookie said. "But wow, that sucks. Sorry it was such a crazy ending to the night."
"Yeah. Let's talk about something happier now," Lorelai said.
"What's going on with the new bathroom?" Sookie asked.
"Oh, Tom's gonna get started in a few weeks," Lorelai replied with an excited smile. "I can't wait."
"I wanted to try to get it done while they were in Europe," Luke added. "But that idea got shot down."
"Because you're gonna have babysitters in and out all week," Lorelai pointed out. "It would have been too much going on if you also had a construction crew here, too."
"I know, your points were valid," Luke agreed.
"Thank you," Lorelai replied.
"When you get back from your trip, we should talk about the babysitting tradeoff you mentioned," Sookie said.
"We're trading our babies?" Luke asked, narrowing his eyes at Lorelai.
Lorelai smiled. "Babysitting tradeoff. Remember, we're gonna take turns watching each other's kid so we don't all collectively go insane."
"Oh, right, right," Luke said, nodding his head as he recalled their conversation about it.
"Yeah, we're totally on board," Sookie said as she gestured to Jackson. "Whenever you guys are ready."
"We'll figure out a schedule when we get back from Europe," Lorelai said.
Luke finished his beer and stood up to go get another. "Anyone need anything from the kitchen?"
"Can you grab more napkins?" Lorelai replied.
"I'll take another water," Sookie replied.
Jackson stood up. "Here, I'll help you."
As the men walked away, Lorelai watched them until they disappeared into the kitchen, and then looked over at Josh in the swing. "I'm excited about the trip, but I'm really gonna miss my boys, Sookie."
"Yeah, I can imagine," Sookie said.
"You'll check up on them, right?" Lorelai asked.
"Of course," Sookie promised.
"I mean, I know Luke can handle this fine, but I just don't want him to get overwhelmed," Lorelai said.
"They'll be fine," Sookie assured her. "He'll have people checking on him the whole time you're gone, don't worry. That includes Jackson and I, probably to the point where he starts to hate us."
Lorelai smiled appreciatively. "Thank you."
. . . . .
. . . . .
The next afternoon, Luke was on the floor of the living room in front of the fireplace playing with Josh while Lorelai and Rory were upstairs packing. When he finally heard them walking down, he glanced over and saw Lorelai bringing her suitcase down the stairs.
"I would've carried that down for you," Luke said to Lorelai.
"It's okay, I have to get used to lugging it around anyway," Lorelai said, and she wheeled it over to the front door.
"I'm gonna do one final check of my stuff," Rory said as she headed toward her bedroom.
Lorelai returned to the living room and sat down on the floor next to Luke. "I have one hour of boy time left." She reached for Josh to move him in front of her and began playing peek-a-boo with him.
Luke reached for a piece of paper from the coffee table. "Any last minute items you want to add to the list?" As they'd discussed weeks ago, they had started jotting down reminders about Josh's daily routine for Luke to refer to.
"Yes," Lorelai replied. "Did I put on there that I want you to show him a picture of me at least five times a day so he doesn't forget my face?"
Luke smirked and scanned the front of the list, and then turned it over to scan the back. "Oh, yeah, there it is."
"Okay, good, just checking," she said, and then she smiled down at the baby. "We don't want Joshy to forget his mama, do we? No, we don't." She lifted him up and hugged him to her chest.
Luke watched as she closed her eyes and swayed with the baby for a few moments. When she opened her eyes, he saw that they were teary. Luke put the list down and started rubbing her back. "You okay?" he asked.
Lorelai nodded quickly as she sniffled. "Yeah, I'm good. It's just hitting me a little bit."
"It's gonna be okay," Luke told her. "It'll go fast."
Lorelai nodded in agreement, and she made some faces at the baby and tickled his neck to make him giggle. "Oh, I'm gonna miss that adorable laugh."
"That laugh will be here when you get back," he told her. "Plus, you have calling cards - just call whenever you want. I'll hold the phone up to him, throw on some I Love Lucy reruns, get him laughing away for ya."
Lorelai smiled and leaned in to kiss him. As they separated, she traced her finger along his jawline and softly said, "I'm gonna miss you."
"Me, too."
"Promise me you're gonna look at pictures of me at least five times a day, too," Lorelai said. "I don't want you forgetting my face either."
"Trust me, I'm not going to forget your face." He leaned in to kiss her and smiled against her lips before adding, "Or your body."
Lorelai grinned and kissed him again. "Good."
. . . . .
. . . . .
When Luke drove them to the airport, instead of dropping them off at the curb, he parked the car in the parking lot and walked them in to spend a few last minutes with them before saying goodbye.
Luke waited with Josh on a bench while Lorelai and Rory went to check their bags. When they returned, Lorelai sat down next to Luke and pulled the baby into her lap.
"Remember, the list of phone numbers for all the people we've deemed trustworthy enough to watch him is on the fridge in case of an emergency," Lorelai said.
"You showed me before we left," Luke reminded her. "There won't be any emergencies."
"You don't know that," Lorelai countered. "That's what an emergency is - it's not planned, it's unexpected, it's a surprise, you never know when one will pop up. It could happen when you least expect it or are least prepared for it, and you might need help, and that's okay - don't be afraid to ask for help."
"Don't worry," he told her calmly.
"A copy of our itinerary is on the fridge, too," Rory said. "So you can follow along with where we are."
"Yup, saw that, too," Luke said with a nod.
They sat and chatted for a few minutes before Rory said, "Okay, we should probably go to the security line. You're supposed to allow a lot of time for that."
Lorelai exhaled a sigh. "Okay, yeah, we should go." They stood up from the bench, and she looked over at Luke. "Any last minute questions, concerns, inquiries about this one?" she asked as she kissed Josh's head.
Luke shook his head. "Nope. It's all under control. We've got a schedule, our days are planned out, I've got the list of all things Josh... we're set. We're gonna be fine."
"Okay." Lorelai looked down at the baby. "Mommy has to go now," she whispered. Josh reached a hand toward her wavy hair and clasped his little fingers around a few strands. Lorelai smiled. "Oh, is that your subtle attempt at getting me to stay, pulling the hair?" She gently unclenched his fingers from her hair and hugged him to her chest. "Mommy loves you so much... be good for Daddy. I'll see you next week." She kissed his cheek and passed the baby over to Rory. "Here, can you say goodbye to your brother while I say goodbye to my husband?"
"Sure." Rory took the baby and walked a few feet away to give them some privacy.
Luke and Lorelai stood facing each other and she took a deep breath before she said, "You know, this would be a lot easier if you were less amazing and more of a jerk. Then I wouldn't really mind leaving you for ten days."
Luke smiled. "I'll work on that for next time."
"I would much appreciate it." Lorelai stepped closer and hugged him tightly, and he wrapped his arms around her. "I love you a lot."
"I love you, too," he replied.
"Thank you for holding down the fort," Lorelai said.
"Anytime." He kissed her cheek and pulled back to look at her. "Have fun, be safe, and don't worry about us. You can miss us, but don't worry. Worrying will make you not enjoy yourself, and then the whole trip is a waste. Okay?"
Lorelai nodded. "Got it. No worrying. Everything's under control. You have already decided that there will be no emergencies, so everything will be fine."
Luke smiled. "Right." He leaned in to kiss her, and then whispered against her lips, "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you, too," she whispered back. She kissed him again and pulled back with a sigh. "Okay, off we go."
Rory walked back over to them, handed the baby to Luke, and then hugged him goodbye. "Bye, Luke... thanks for arranging this for us," Rory said.
"You're welcome. Have fun, be careful," Luke replied. "And don't let your mother worry about us."
"I'll try," Rory promised.
Lorelai gave each of her guys one more kiss, and then the girls picked up their carry-on bags and walked toward an escalator to the security screening area. As they stepped on it, they both turned and waved at Luke. He waved back, and lifted Josh's hand to wave at them as well.
Luke watched them until they disappeared from sight, and then he looked down at Josh. "Well, it's just you and me now, buddy."
. . . . .
. . . . .
To be continued...