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. :)

6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

. . . . .

. . . . .

Luke drove home from the airport and got Josh out of the car. They were walking toward the front porch when Babette came rushing out of her house calling, "Luke! Luke, you're back!"

"We're back," he confirmed, stopping in front of the porch to talk to her.

"How'd it go?" she asked.

"The airport dropoff?" Luke replied. "Uh, pretty straightforward... dropped 'em off, said goodbye... you know, the usual."

"I bet you're pretty shaken up about this, huh?" Babette asked with a sympathetic frown. "A few of us were out last night and we were doing the calculations, and we figured out that you and Lorelai haven't been apart for this long since - "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Luke interrupted her. "Who's we? Who all is sitting around talking about stuff like that?"

"Oh, just a few of us gals in the neighborhood," Babette replied. "And Kirk."

Luke rolled his eyes and walked up the porch steps to the front door. "Please don't analyze that kind of stuff, okay? It's creepy." He unlocked the door and pushed it open, and Babette followed him into the house, closing the door behind her.

"Okay, well, all I'm saying is, it's been a long time since you've been apart for this long," Babette said. "So if you get lonely and want some company while she's away, someone to talk to, someone to cook for - you let me know."

"Will do, Babette, thanks," Luke replied. He put the baby's carseat on the floor and started to unbuckle him.

"I'm on the schedule to watch him on Tuesday afternoon," Babette said. "But I can do another day if you need me. I told Lorelai she could put me down for as many days as she needed."

Luke lifted Josh up and walked over to the changing table. "She didn't want to burden people too much, so she was trying to keep people to just one day as much as she could. But thanks, if anything comes up and I need you, I'll let you know." He started unbuttoning the baby's outfit to change him.

"Okay, doll, I'll get out of your hair now," Babette said. "But I mean it, you call if you need anything at all." She wagged her finger at him. "Remember, asking for help doesn't mean you can't handle things on your own... we all know you have it under control, we just wanna help make things a little easier."

Luke smiled appreciatively before asking, "Lorelai tell you to remind me that?"

"She might have," Babette admitted. "But it's true, you know."

"I know. I'll let you know if I need anything."

"Okay, good. Well, have a good night... I'll come check on you boys again tomorrow."

Luke knew that she'd stop by to check in even if he told her that it wasn't necessary, so he just nodded. "Okay, we'll see you tomorrow, Babette."

"Goodnight, boys," Babette said, and then she snapped her fingers as she remembered something. "Oh, and I told Lorelai I'd leave my windows open so that if you needed help and couldn't get to a phone, you could just scream my name and I'll hear you, so don't be afraid to just holler." With those parting words, she walked out of the house through the side door.

Luke shook his head in disbelief and then looked down at Josh on the changing table. "We are surrounded by freaks, kid," Luke told him. "Harmless, loving freaks, but still... freaks."

. . . . .

. . . . .

The next afternoon, Luke was behind the counter at the diner when he saw Miss Patty walk in, and he immediately greeted her with, "I'm still doing fine, Patty."

Miss Patty smiled. "Good, but I'm actually here for a late lunch, dear, not just to check on you."

"Oh, okay," Luke said, and gestured to an empty table. "Have a seat, I'll be right with you."

As he'd expected, and probably by Lorelai's request, the whole town seemed to be keeping an eye on him. While he was at home with Josh that morning, he received a visit from Babette, and calls from Miss Patty and Sookie. He went to work at lunch time, leaving Josh home with Mrs. Cassini. Andrew and Jackson checked in on him before he even made it from the car to the diner, and all afternoon, customers had been asking if he needed anything.

Luke brought over a menu to Miss Patty. "Here you go."

"Thanks," she replied. "And just to give you fair warning, I'm actually meeting Taylor here to talk about the Spring Fling."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh, goody... two of my favorite things, Taylor and town festivals."

"That's why I gave you the warning, dear," Miss Patty said with a smile.

"Appreciate it," Luke replied. "Can I get you something to drink while you're waiting for him?"

"Iced tea," Miss Patty replied. "And none of that unsweetened stuff."

"You got it."

Luke walked to the kitchen to get her drink, and then delivered it to her along with an extra menu. He checked on a few tables and returned to the counter where Kirk was finishing his piece of pie.

Luke flipped to Kirk's check in his order pad. "Can I get you anything else, Kirk?"

Kirk glanced over at the display case of desserts at the other side of the counter. "Can I get two of those giant chocolate chip cookies? Lulu likes them and I want to surprise her."

Luke raised an eyebrow as he added the cookies to Kirk's check. "Lulu, really? You two are still together?"

"Yes. Why would you think otherwise?" Kirk stood up from his stool with a concerned look. "Did she say something to you? Did you see her with someone else? Who was it? Was it my brother trying to get her back?"

"Whoa, calm down," Luke told him as he placed his check on the counter. "I just haven't seen you two out together lately, that's all."

"Oh. Well, we spend a lot of time inside, if you know what I mean," Kirk said, winking at Luke.

Luke winced a little. "Please stop talking, and never wink at me again."

"Sorry."

As Luke walked over to the display case, Kirk set some money on the counter. Luke returned and handed Kirk a bag of cookies, then collected the money to put into the register.

As Kirk was leaving the diner, Jess walked in, and Luke waved him over to the counter. "Hey, I was hoping to catch you today," Luke greeted him.

Jess walked over to him. "Why? What'd I do?"

"I was thinking you could come over for dinner sometime this week," Luke said. "The girls are out of town, so Josh and I could use some company."

"Out of town?"

"Out of the country, actually," Luke said. "They left yesterday for ten days in Europe."

Jess looked surprised, but then he remembered he'd heard of the trip before. "Oh, right, they were showing me the itinerary on Christmas."

"Yeah. So, what do you say? You free tonight? I can pick us up a couple of steaks, throw 'em on the grill."

"I have work until 6:30," Jess replied. "I can come over after that."

"Okay, good. I'll see you tonight."

Jess nodded. "Okay."

. . . . .

. . . . .

That night at the house, Luke and Jess were sitting across from each other at the kitchen table, and Josh was in his high chair next to Luke. Jess watched Luke take bites of his own food in between instances of feeding the baby, wiping his face, and helping him drink from a little cup with two handles.

Jess took a sip from his can of soda. "So... do you ever get to actually eat a meal while it's hot anymore?"

Luke smiled and shrugged. "Once in awhile. But if the choice is a hot meal with a crying, hungry kid or a room temperature meal with a happy, fed kid, I'm taking the more peaceful option."

"So, it's essentially about the noise, not about actually wanting the kid happy and nourished," Jess deduced, and then he nodded his head toward Josh. "Was it hard to learn that stuff?"

"What stuff?"

"The kid stuff," Jess replied. "You know, knowing what to do to make them not cry, that kind of stuff."

Luke shrugged. "It's kind of like a guessing game since they can't tell you what they want, but you just have to go with the flow and learn things as you go."

"Go with the flow," Jess repeated with a smirk. "You even talk like a boring married dad now."

Luke smirked. "Shut it." He took a bite of his food, and then eyed Jess suspiciously for a few seconds. "Why are you asking about the kid stuff?"

"What do you mean? I was just asking a question."

"You sure you don't have something you wanna tell me?"

"Like what?" Jess replied, a defensive tone kicking in.

"Uh, I don't know, like I'm gonna be a great uncle soon."

Jess snickered. "Please."

"What? It's not that absurd. You and Jill have been together awhile."

Jess was quiet for a minute and took a long sip of his soda. As he placed his can back on the table, he said, "We're not together anymore."

Luke looked surprised. "Really? Since when?"

"Couple months ago."

"Oh. Sorry to hear."

"It happens. It's no biggie," Jess said with a shrug, and he looked down at his plate as he picked at his food.

Changing the subject, Luke asked, "How's school?"

"School's fine, work's fine, the apartment's fine," Jess replied. "Not real exciting stuff happening."

"Come on, I'm trying to have a real conversation here," Luke told him. "This isn't just us exchanging a few words as you rush through the diner and disappear upstairs. Let's talk, man to man."

"Man to man," Jess repeated. "You wanna talk man to man."

"Considering the last adult man-to-man conversation I had that lasted longer than a minute was with Kirk, yeah, I could really use another one."

Jess rolled his eyes slightly. "Okay, fine. Let's have a man to man conversation to go with our manly meal of meat and potatoes."

"Thank you. Now, really, how's school? Do you like it?"

"School's school," Jess replied. "It's just something you have to do."

"Not anymore it isn't," Luke pointed out. "College isn't something you have to do, it's something you choose to do."

"Well, nowadays, you kind of have to choose to do it," Jess replied. "So that's what I'm doing. I'll suck it up, I'll get through it, I'll get a piece of paper that says I sucked it up and got through it, and I'll hope it helps me in the long run."

Luke cocked his head to the side with a concerned look. "Are you taking it seriously or just half-assing it?"

"Yes, I'm taking it seriously," Jess replied. "I'm not gonna pay for something... or ask you to help pay for something... that I'm not taking seriously. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean I'm not trying."

"Okay, just checking. What kind of classes do you have?"

"Mostly basic ones right now, the boring ones they make everyone take," Jess replied. "Except for this one literature class... we read books and analyze them."

"You like it?"

Jess shrugged. "Sometimes it's okay."

Luke nodded. "Good." He ate a few bites of food, and then asked, "You wanna talk about what happened with Jill?"

Jess glanced down at his plate with a sigh and was quiet for a few seconds, and then looked at Luke. "She came home from school one weekend and said she wanted to take a break, thought we should see other people for awhile. And that was that."

"A break, meaning there's still a chance for - "

Jess shook his head before Luke could even finish his sentence. "Nope. If she wanted a break, there's a reason. I'm not just gonna wait around for her so we can get back together, and then two months later, she needs another break. We're done."

"Well, some relationships don't work well over long distance," Luke pointed out. "Maybe she just needed to adjust to that."

"Her school's 30 minutes away, not across the country," Jess pointed out, and then shrugged. "I don't know. She was probably surrounded by a bunch of smart guys and wanted to keep her options open, not be tied down to me."

"Hey, don't knock yourself because it didn't work out," Luke told him. "You're smart, you were good to her. But things change, people change... it's not anyone's fault."

Jess shrugged again. "It is what it is."

"Well, I am sorry," Luke said sincerely. "She was nice... I could tell you liked her a lot."

Jess nodded a little, and then focused on his last few bites of food.

Josh started getting fussy, and Luke stood up to get him out of the high chair. "I'm gonna change him and get him ready for bed," Luke said, and nodded toward the table. "You can leave all this, I'll clean it up later."

As Luke headed to the living room, Jess ignored him and started to clean up a little. He cleared the dishes from the table and put them in the dishwasher, and then grabbed another can of soda from the fridge. As he walked to the living room, he passed a couple of boxes stacked in front of the closet.

"What are the boxes?" Jess asked.

Luke, who was changing Josh on the changing table, glanced over at Jess. "What?"

"What are the boxes in front of the closet?" Jess asked.

"Oh, we're cleaning it out," Luke replied. "We're putting a bathroom there and then building a new closet in the foyer."

"Ah... remodeling."

"Yeah. Once we're done down here, we might do some upstairs, too."

As Jess sat down in the armchair, Luke walked with Josh over to the couch. He placed him on the end cushion and sat down beside him, and put a few toys in front of him to keep him busy.

Luke held a rattle toward him. "Here you go, buddy." Josh slowly gripped his fingers around the handle and then brought it to his mouth to chew on it.

Jess took a long sip of his soda, and then said, "So... I was thinking about maybe going to see my dad."

Surprised, Luke's head turned quickly toward Jess. "What?"

"Liz called the other day and said he had tracked her down and asked about me," Jess told him.

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised he remembers your existence."

"She gave me his number, said he lives in California," Jess said. "I haven't called him yet, but if he's up for it, maybe I'll take a few days off from work and go visit him after the school semester's done."

"What?!" Luke's surprise quickly turned into angry confusion. "Why the hell would you want anything to do with him, Jess? He abandoned you, he abandoned your mom, he's given you no support whatsoever in your life." He shook his head. "I don't understand."

"Geez, chill out," Jess said, surprised by his strong reaction. "I didn't say I wanted to go get matching tattoos with the guy, I just want to see what he's like."

"But why?"

"Why not?"

"Because he treated you and your mom like crap," Luke reminded him. "He tossed you both aside like you meant nothing to him and ignored you for almost two decades. He's a loser, you don't need someone like that in your life."

"Well, maybe he's changed."

"And maybe he hasn't."

"Well, I should have a chance to figure that out for myself, huh?" Jess countered. "I mean, I'm an adult, I can make my own choices about who I want in my life."

Luke realized he was getting too worked up and he took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Jess..."

"Why are you freaking out about this?" Jess asked. "You... the guy who always rambles on about how family is important... doesn't want me to see my own father? Are you hearing yourself?"

Luke exhaled a heavy sigh. "I just don't want you to get hurt, okay? If you go out there, he's gonna try to make you think he's some great guy who wants to be in your life now, and then he'll inevitably end up disappointing you again because that's what Jimmy does. You don't deserve that. You're doing good right now and I don't want him to screw that up."

Jess rolled his eyes. "He's not gonna screw it up. You're overreacting. This isn't something you need to worry about."

"Well, guess what? That's my life now," Luke told him. "Like you said, I'm a boring married dad, and that's what we do - we worry about our families all the damn time, every damn second of every damn day. We can't help it."

"Look, I'm not going there thinking we're gonna be best friends, that he'll buy me a meal and it'll make up for the past 19 years," Jess said. "I'll go, I'll hang out with him, see what he's like, and that's it. It's not a big deal."

Luke let out a defeated sigh and shrugged. "Okay, fine, you're right, you're old enough to make your own decision about this. Do what you want, I'll try not to worry about it." He pointed at Jess and firmly added, "But you make sure you tell me when you're going, where you're staying, and when you'll be back. I don't care if you're an adult, I'm still responsible for you and I wanna know where you are."

"Okay, fine."

"Thank you." Josh was starting to whine, and Luke pulled him onto his lap. "What's wrong? Are you getting tired?" he asked Josh.

Jess watched him with Josh for a moment, then took another sip of his soda. Finally, he hesitantly asked, "Are you, like... mad about this?"

Luke looked over at him. "No, I'm not mad," he said calmly. "It was just a surprise, that's all. It came out of nowhere, it caught me off guard."

"You sure?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah, sorry... it's good, it's fine. You're right, he's your father, you should try to have a relationship with him if you want one. I just don't want you to have high expectations."

"I don't," Jess assured him.

There was a knock on the side door, startling them, and a voice called, "Luke, it's me!"

"Come in, Babette," Luke called.

Babette walked in the side door and was surprised to see Jess. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know you had company."

"It's okay," Luke replied.

"We're about to run to Doose's before it closes and just wanted to see if you needed anything," Babette said.

"Well, if you're buying, I'm fresh out of Frosted Flakes," Jess replied. "Oh, and Cheetos."

"Stop," Luke said as he waved him off, and then said to Babette, "He's kidding. We're good, Babette, thanks for asking."

"Okay. I'll see you boys tomorrow, then," Babette said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Luke replied.

As Babette left through the side door, Jess commented, "Such neighborly love."

"Yeah, and it's really kicked up since the girls left," Luke said.

"They've only been gone a day," Jess remarked. "How fast could it possibly have been kicked up already?"

"You wanna know how fast? That's the 4th time I've seen Babette in the past 24 hours," Luke told him.

Jess' eyes widened. "Geez."

"Yeah. It's gonna be a long ten days."

. . . . .

. . . . .

Two days later, on Wednesday afternoon, Luke left the diner after work and walked over to Gypsy's garage. He'd dropped off Lorelai's Jeep the day before for an oil change and a tune-up, figuring it would be good to get it done while she was away.

"Hey, Gypsy," Luke greeted her. "All set?"

"Yup, all done," she replied. She wiped her hands on a rag and led him over to the cash register inside the garage office. She gave him the bill and he gave her his credit card. As she ran the card, she said, "You know, I ran into Eastside Tillie at Al's this afternoon, and she said you have half the town pitching in to watch the baby while Lorelai's away."

"Not half the town, just a handful of people."

"What a surprise, nobody thought to ask Gypsy," she muttered with a touch of bitterness.

"Well, you have a full time job," Luke pointed out. "And we needed help during the day."

Gypsy thought for a moment. "Oh, right."

"Seems like you might be pretty busy during the day," Luke added, gesturing to the garage

"So, it's not because you don't trust me with your kid?"

"Please... if we trust you with our cars, we'd trust you with our kid," Luke told her. "We just figured you wouldn't have time."

"Okay. Well, just so you know, I love babies," Gypsy told him. "So, you can add me to the list next time, I'll make it work."

"Well, I'll keep that in mind," Luke told her. "Thanks for the offer."

"So, where are the girls now?" Gypsy asked.

"They've been in Ireland for a few days, and were heading to London today," Luke replied. "I talked to Lorelai this morning, they're having a great time."

"Good, good," Gypsy said. She handed him his credit card and the receipt to sign. He signed it and handed her copy back to her, and she gave him the keys. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Gypsy," Luke replied, and he started to walk away, but then turned back to her. "You know, I took tomorrow off, and I'm gonna be home all day with Josh just doing things around the house. If you have some free time, you can stop by for a visit. We have Rolos."

Gypsy smiled. "I might do that."

Luke smiled and nodded. "See ya, Gypsy."

Luke drove the Jeep home and relieved Miss Patty from babysitting. Josh was napping in his crib, so Luke went to the kitchen to eat a quick dinner before he woke up.

He had finished eating and was starting to straighten up the living room when the house phone rang. He walked over to the desk and answered, "Hello?"

"Luke, we got a problem," Caesar greeted him.

"Just what I love to hear," Luke replied. "What's wrong?"

"There's a leak in the bathroom, water all over the floor," Caesar replied. "I think it's from the sink. I turned off the main water valve for the bathroom and I called the plumber, but he can't get out here until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."

"What about Tom?"

"I called him, but there was no answer, it just kept ringing," Caesar replied. "You know anyone else I can call? Maybe a plumber in Woodbury or Hartford?"

Luke rubbed his forehead. "Nah, I'll come take a look at it, it might be an easy fix. Have someone start mopping up the water, okay?"

"Will do."

Luke hung up the phone, and then went to the kitchen to make a bottle. He put it in the diaper bag and then headed upstairs to the nursery. He looked at Josh sleeping in the crib. "Sorry to do this to you, kid."

As he lifted him out of the crib, Josh whimpered a little, and Luke rocked him in his arms to calm him down. "You're okay, you're fine," Luke said soothingly. "Let's get you changed."

Luke quickly changed his diaper and took him downstairs. He put Josh and the diaper bag in the car, then grabbed his toolbox from the garage and drove to the diner.

Josh started crying halfway there, and Luke tried to calm him down from the front seat. "I know you're hungry, buddy... we'll eat when we get there. Just another minute, hang on."

He parked in front of the diner, quickly retrieved Josh from the backseat, and immediately started feeding him his bottle. He walked into the diner with Josh in his arms and saw Caesar at a table taking a customer's order.

"Caesar, where's Lane?" Luke asked.

"She's back there mopping," Caesar replied, nodding toward the back of the diner.

Luke walked with Josh to the bathroom and found Lane cleaning up. "Hey, Lane."

"Luke, hey," she replied. "I'm just about done."

"Thanks, I can take it from here," Luke said. "Can you come out and finish feeding him while I check out the sink?"

"Sure thing," Lane replied.

They walked back out to the front of the diner, and Lane washed her hands in the kitchen before taking the baby from Luke. She sat down at an empty table to feed him, and Luke went out to get his toolbox and Josh's diaper bag from the car.

He left the diaper bag with Lane, and then examined the situation in the bathroom. Once he'd determined the issue, he went to the hardware store to buy a part. As he was walking back to the diner, he glanced in through the front window and saw Kirk delivering plates to customers.

Luke walked into the diner and went over to Kirk. "Kirk, why are you serving people?" he asked calmly, not wanting to make a scene in front of the customers.

"Caesar needed a hand," Kirk replied. "And Lane asked me if I could help."

Luke glanced over at Lane at the front table where she was taking care of Josh. "Lane? You gave Kirk permission to serve?"

"Well, it was either give him the baby or let him serve plates," Lane explained. "I figured if he was gonna drop something, you'd prefer it be the plates."

Luke was quiet for a few seconds, and then nodded approvingly. "Good call." He walked over to Lane and Josh, and Kirk followed him.

"Luke, did Lorelai happen to mention anything about what happens if you break both of your hands?" Kirk asked him.

Luke narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"She told me that if you break both of your hands and you need help with the baby, she might let me help," Kirk told him proudly. "So, just so you know, I'll be ready if that happens."

Luke stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded, and then finally replied, "Okay, good to know... thanks, Kirk."

"You're welcome," Kirk replied, giving him a salute before walking away to check on customers.

Luke turned to Lane. "It's gonna be another half hour or so. You okay with him?"

"Yup," Lane replied. "We're good here."

"Come get me if he starts crying," Luke said, and then he lowered his voice to add, "And obviously, let's try to limit the Kirk interaction."

"With the customers or with the baby?" Lane asked.

"Both."

"Got it."

Luke headed back to the bathroom and worked on the sink for a little while before realizing he needed to go back to the hardware store for another part. He walked back out to the front of the diner, and saw that Sookie was now keeping Josh occupied at the table.

"Oh, hey, Sookie," Luke greeted her as he approached the table.

"Hey, Luke," Sookie replied. "I was heading over to get ice cream next door and I saw Lane in here with the baby." She nodded over toward Lane who was now clearing tables. "She filled me in on the bathroom situation."

Luke sighed. "Yeah. The sink's acting up. I have to run back to the hardware store real quick before it closes." He checked his watch. "Oh, shoot, which is in ten minutes."

"Go, go," Sookie said, waving him toward the door. "Listen, why don't I take Josh to my house for a little while? He'll have more fun hanging out there with Davey than sitting here on a table."

"No, that's okay," Luke replied. "I don't wanna bother you."

"It's not a bother," Sookie said, and she stood up with the baby. "I'm taking him. You just come pick him up when you're done, okay?" She picked up his diaper bag and started walking to the door, then turned back to Luke. "Actually, I need you to say okay, otherwise it feels like kidnapping."

Luke hesitated for a moment, but knew Sookie wouldn't take no for an answer. "Okay," he reluctantly agreed. "Thanks."

. . . . .

. . . . .

Forty-five minutes later, Luke arrived at Sookie and Jackson's to pick up the baby, and Sookie led him to the living room. Jackson was changing Davey on the couch, and Josh was on a blanket on the floor surrounded by some of his toys from his diaper bag.

"How's he doing?" Luke asked.

"He's perfect," Sookie replied. "The boys had fun hanging out together."

"Well, thanks for taking him," Luke said. "I should get him home."

Sookie pointed to an armchair. "Sit down for a minute. You need to take a breath and relax."

"I'm fine," Luke said.

"Sit," Sookie insisted, still pointing.

Luke smirked as he sat down in the chair. "Wow, she's got a bossy side, huh?" he said to Jackson.

"That she does, my friend," Jackson confirmed as he pulled Davey onto his lap.

Sookie sat on the couch next to Jackson. "Everything good at the diner?" she asked Luke.

"Yup, all fixed, plumbing crisis averted," Luke confirmed.

"Good. And at home?" Sookie asked. "How's the week going so far? Everything going smoothly with the babysitters?"

"So far, so good. Lorelai put together a good schedule, everything's going fine," Luke replied.

"Okay, good. But remember, if something like tonight happens again, if you need to go take care of an issue, call us," Sookie told him. "Or call someone. There are plenty of people who will come over and watch him... you don't need to try to juggle it all."

"Yeah, well, I hate bothering people," Luke said with a shrug.

"Please, it's not a bother, people love watching him," Sookie said. "They look forward to it."

"Yeah, I heard Gypsy's begging to watch the kid," Jackson said.

Luke narrowed his eyes. "How do you know that?"

"She's been telling people she's bummed about not being asked to be on the schedule," Jackson said.

Luke sighed. "I explained to her it's because she works all day and we didn't think she'd have time," he said, and then he groaned. "She's gonna hate us for life, isn't she? She's gonna hold a grudge and take it out on our cars. Am I gonna have to find a new mechanic?"

"No, just ask her to babysit sometime," Sookie suggested. "Even if she says she can't do it, she'll like being asked."

"Okay," Luke agreed, and then he nodded toward Josh. "He's getting tired. Am I allowed to take him home yet?"

Sookie smiled. "Yes, you can take him home. I just wanted to make sure you know people are around to help out."

"Got it, thank you," Luke said. "I'll try to ask for help if I need it."

"No, you won't," Sookie replied with a smile. "But thanks for pretending."

"You're welcome." Luke stood up and started gathering Josh's things and throwing them into the diaper bag.

He threw the bag over his shoulder and picked up Josh, and Sookie walked them to the door. Luke thanked them again and stepped out onto the porch, and then turned back to Sookie with a small smile. "You weren't really coincidentally out for ice cream earlier, were you?"

Sookie wrinkled her nose. "How'd you know?"

Luke shrugged. "Wild guess. What happened?"

"Patty saw you go into the diner with the baby, and then bring in your toolbox, and then run to the hardware store. She figured something was going on, so she called the store to get the scoop and found out about the bathroom issue. She was about to teach a class and couldn't leave, so she called me to see if I could check in on things."

Luke smirked. "Yup, that sounds like the Stars Hollow gossip tree I know," he said, and then gave her an appreciative nod. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

. . . . .

. . . . .

A few days later, on Monday evening, Luke arrived home from work and saw Josh sleeping on a blanket on the living room floor. He walked into the kitchen and saw Maisie pulling a casserole dish from the oven.

"I thought I smelled something good," Luke said. "What are you doing?"

"I made lasagna because I figured you could use a home cooked meal," Maisie said, and she gestured to the two place settings at the table. "And some dinner company, if you don't mind."

Luke smiled. "I'd love some."

"Good. Make yourself useful and grab the salad from the fridge."

Luke did as he was told, and as he set the bowl on the table, he said, "I know the fridge wasn't stocked enough for this meal. Did you go shopping?"

"I had Buddy run some things over," Maisie replied.

"Well, thank you, and make sure you thank him for me," Luke told her. He nodded toward the living room. "How long's he been sleeping?"

"About twenty minutes," Maisie replied. "So we might actually have enough time to eat before he wakes up."

They sat down at the table, made their plates, and started eating.

"Really good," Luke said in between bites of lasagna.

"Slow down, it's not a race," Maisie scolded him. "But thank you." They ate for a few moments in silence, and then she nodded toward him. "So, tell me about the week in the life of a temporarily single dad."

Luke exhaled a heavy sigh and wiped his mouth with his napkin. He reached for his beer and took a long sip, and then replied, "Well, it's a lot harder than I thought it would be... I'm completely exhausted."

Maisie smiled. "Yeah, it looks like it."

"Thanks a lot," Luke said with a smile, and then he shook his head in disbelief. "It's just been really draining. When you're the only parent around, you're focused on your kid all the time - when you're with him, and when you're not with him because you're worrying that he's okay. Baby stuff is going through your head all day long. It makes a huge difference having someone else here to share the responsibility, to carry half the load."

"Yes, it does," Maisie agreed. "Mentally and physically."

"Yeah. I mean, I've had a lot of help, don't get me wrong," Luke said. "Everyone's been pitching in to watch him and checking in on us all the time, and it's been great, I appreciate it..."

"But it's not the same as having her here," Maisie finished his thought. "You miss your better half."

Luke smiled. "Yeah, I do... a lot. And not just because I could use an extra set of hands with him."

Maisie smiled. "I know."

"But there were a few times where I did miss her for that reason," Luke continued. "Like when I had to run to the diner to fix the broken sink. Or when I had Tom on the phone to talk about our bathroom remodel and Josh was screaming in the background. Or yesterday, when I got a phone call at five in the morning because I'd forgotten to arrange for someone to go in early for the bread delivery."

"Oops," Maisie said, frowning sympathetically.

"Yeah, remind me to put a spare key back out there again," Luke said. "But I had to decide whether to wake Josh up and drag the poor kid to the diner just to unlock the door for the bread guy, or completely piss off Jess by calling him and begging him to run downstairs to open the door."

"Which did you choose?"

"I called Jess," he replied. "And I felt terrible having to do that. If Lorelai was here, I just would've ran over and took care of it myself and not given it a second thought." He quickly added, "Not that I'm blaming her for not being here, but you know what I mean. It's just hard when your options are limited. Easy things get a little more complicated."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Maisie said.

Luke took a few more bites of food, and then put his fork down. "I've been thinking a lot this week about how this is what she did with Rory. She didn't have anyone picking up the slack, sharing the load... she did everything on her own for Rory's entire life. I've been doing it alone for a week and I'm exhausted. Hell, I'm not even doing it alone, I've got half the town pitching in." He shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know how she did it."

Maisie smiled at him for a moment before she said, "She's pretty strong, that one."

"The strongest I've ever met," he agreed. "She's amazing... she can do anything."

"You make sure you tell her things like that," Maisie told him. "Don't just say it about her, say it to her. Women like compliments. A wife wants to know her husband admires her, all of her - her mind, her heart, her personality... not just her pretty face and nice figure." She leaned closer and added, "But obviously, you should compliment those, too."

Luke smiled. Maisie always liked to share little tidbits of wisdom with him, reminders about how to keep a marriage happy. Luke imagined his mother would be doing the same thing to him if she was still around.

"I know, I compliment her," he assured her. "And not just how she looks."

"You sure? Because I know you, Lucas, and you don't always say what's on your mind. I can see you holding things back that you shouldn't hold back. Life is short, you make sure you say what you need to say."

"Trust me, I may not be as talkative as she is, but she knows she's everything to me," Luke told her. "I make sure of that."

"Good," Maisie said, and then wagged a finger at him. "Don't be one of those men who takes his wife for granted."

"She will never be taken for granted," Luke stated firmly, and then he joked, "Plus, she wouldn't let me anyway."

Maisie smiled and nodded. "You're right about that."

"You know, she's a little like you sometimes," Luke commented.

"Yeah, I think you like being around strong, stubborn spitfires who don't put up with crap," Maisie said, giving him a wink.

"I think you're right," he confirmed.

"And you're gonna go through this a few more times, right?" Maisie asked him. "Staying home with the little one while the girls do some exploring?"

"Yeah, there will probably be at least a couple more trips," he replied. "And I'm sure it'll get tougher as Josh gets older and I'll be even more exhausted, but it's something that needs to be done, you know? She and Rory had this dream their whole lives, before me, before Josh - there was this plan for them to travel together. I'm not taking that away from them... I'm gonna do what I can to help them fulfill it."

Maisie smiled at him and reached over to pat Luke's hand. "You know, your parents would be damn proud of the man you've become and the life you've made for yourself. Your wife, your family, that diner... they're looking down at all of it, at everything you do, and they're proud. You know that, right?"

Luke smiled. "Yeah, I know," he said as he squeezed her hand. "Thanks."

. . . . .

. . . . .

On Thursday morning, like most other mornings, the sounds of Josh crying on the baby monitor woke Luke up. As he started to groggily climb out of bed, he suddenly remembered that the long-awaited day had finally arrived... Lorelai and Rory were coming home.

Luke had spoken to Lorelai a few times on the phone during the trip and had gotten little snippets about their adventures, but he couldn't wait to hear more details about all the things they'd seen. And after ten long days, he was very excited to have his wife back home. He was looking forward to getting back into their daily routine, to hugging and kissing her, to bantering with her while she flashed her beautiful smile at him, to falling asleep next to her and waking up with her in the morning.

Luke was smiling when he went into the nursery to get Josh from his crib. "Good morning, Josh-meister," he said softly as he lifted him up. "Your mom's coming home today. Are you excited to see her and your sister?" He kissed Josh's head and cradled him to his chest to calm down his crying, and then lay him on the changing table to get him ready for the day.

Luke had taken the day off from the diner, and would be picking up the girls from the airport in the early evening. Luke spent some time straightening up the house while Josh took his morning nap, and when he woke up, they ate an early lunch and then went out to run some errands. They stopped at Doose's to stock up on some essentials, and then Weston's to pick up some treats for the girls.

When they got back to the house after running errands, Luke unloaded the groceries and treats in the kitchen, and then went to the living room with Josh. He noticed the message light was blinking on the answering machine, and he hit play, expecting that he'd missed a call from one of the neighbors checking up on them.

Instead, much to his surprise, it was Emily's voice he heard on the machine. She was calling to inform them that Richard's mother had suffered a serious heart attack and was currently in surgery at Hartford Hospital.

Luke was caught off guard by the message, and he swallowed hard as he replayed it to make sure he'd heard everything correctly. He didn't know what to do, how to react. Lorelai and Rory were already in flight, so he couldn't even call and tell them about it.

He glanced down at Josh playing on the floor. "What would your mom do? She would just get to the hospital as fast as she could, right?" Luke exhaled a heavy sigh and thought it over before answering himself, "Yeah, she would. We have to go."

Luke threw some of Josh's things into the diaper bag, and then went to the kitchen to pack some bottles. As they were about to leave, his eyes fell on a notebook sitting on the desk. The notebook in which Lorelai had drafted an apology letter to her grandmother after their fight at the last Friday night dinner. She wanted to write it out nicer before mailing it, but hadn't had a chance to do it before she left for Europe... she said she'd do it when she got back.

Luke tossed the notebook into the diaper bag and headed to the hospital.

. . . . .

. . . . .

A few hours later, Luke was standing at the airport looking for Lorelai and Rory's faces in the sea of people walking toward him. When he finally saw them in the crowd, a feeling of relief rushed through him. They were home, they were safe, they looked happy.

"I see them, buddy," Luke said to Josh sitting in the stroller beside him. "They're home."

He saw them before they saw him, and was just waiting anxiously for one of them to catch his eye. When Lorelai finally saw him, her face lit up, she grabbed Rory's arm, and they started walking faster.

When they reached him, Lorelai dropped her bags and wrapped her arms around Luke's neck. "Oh, my God, I missed my boys so much!"

"We missed you, too," Luke replied as he hugged her tightly, glad to have her back in his arms. They embraced for a few moments before Lorelai kissed him and then leaned down to talk to Josh.

Luke hugged Rory. "Welcome back," he said. "How was the flight?"

"It was a little bumpy at the end," Rory said. "Not too bad, but just enough to keep waking us up from our naps."

Lorelai had unbuckled Josh, and she lifted him from the stroller. "Mommy missed you so much, baby," she cooed as she hugged him tightly and kissed his face. "It looks like Daddy took good care of you."

"He did his best," Luke replied.

Lorelai smiled at Luke and leaned in to give him another kiss. "Thank you."

"For taking care of our kid? I think it's part of my job."

"No, for everything... for planning the trip, for understanding how important it was to us, for not caring that it left you with a whole lot of responsibility, for not complaining about all the slack you were gonna have to pick up while I was gone," Lorelai replied, and then she smiled. "I can keep going if you want."

Luke smiled and shook his head. "Not necessary... but you're welcome." He nodded his head toward the exit to the parking lot. "Let's head out."

Lorelai put Josh back in the stroller, Luke grabbed the bags, and they walked out to the parking lot. They loaded up the car, settled into their seats, and Luke started the engine.

He picked up two cups from the front cup holders and passed one to each of them. "Coffee that is potentially lukewarm by now," he said, and then pulled out a paper bag from the center console. "And donuts."

Lorelai smiled. "You sure know how to welcome a couple of gals home... thank you."

"Yeah, thanks, Luke," Rory echoed before drinking some coffee. Lorelai took out a donut and passed the bag back to Rory.

Luke nervously exhaled a heavy sigh. "So, unfortunately, that's where the good part of the welcoming home ends."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "What do you mean? What happened?" She put her coffee cup back into the cup holder, and then set her donut on top of it. "I feel like something serious is coming." She took a deep breath. "Go ahead, tell us. Did the house burn down?"

Luke turned in his seat so he could look at both of them. "I got a call from your mother today saying that your grandmother had suffered a heart attack and was in surgery."

Lorelai gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, my God."

"I went to the hospital with Josh," Luke continued. "As I was driving there, I started second guessing whether I should've brought him with me, but then I figured between the two of us, she'd probably rather see him than me. By the time I got there, she had woken up, she was stable. I was able to talk to her briefly, she was happy to see Josh."

"So, she's okay?" Lorelai asked, looking relieved.

He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "We only stayed at the hospital for a little while because I didn't want us to be in the way. We went home, and then about an hour later, your mother called. There was some sort of emergency complication or something and your grandmother needed a second surgery." He paused for a moment and swallowed hard before he finished with, "She didn't make it out of that one."

Rory gasped from the backseat. "Gran died?"

"Yeah. I'm really sorry," Luke said softly.

Lorelai's eyes were wide and her mouth had dropped open. She was frozen in that reaction for a few moments before she slowly turned her head to look out the windshield.

Luke reached over and squeezed her hand. "Are you okay?"

Lorelai shook her head as tears formed in her eyes. "We were in a fight," she whispered. "She died thinking I was mad at her... and she was probably still mad at me."

"That's not true," Luke said softly.

Lorelai turned to look at him. "How do you know? Did she say something?"

He reached his arm around his seat to the diaper bag behind it, and pulled out her notebook. He held it out toward her and she looked down at it with confusion.

"I brought this to the hospital and I read your apology note to her," he told her.

Lorelai's eyes widened. "You... you read it to her? And she listened? She heard it?"

Luke nodded. "Every word. She knew how you felt, that you were sorry, that we're grateful for the money." He urged her to take the notebook. "Open it up to your note."

As Lorelai took it from him and opened it up, Luke turned on the overhead light. She flipped through a few pages until she got to her note and saw something scribbled at the bottom. She looked at him. "What is that?"

"She insisted that the appropriate way to respond to a letter is to write one back right away," Luke said. "It's a little sloppy... she was really weak, she could barely hold the pen... but she instructed me to tell you what it says." He pointed to the phrases as he told her, "I forgive you. I love you. I'm proud of you."

Lorelai inhaled a deep breath, and as she exhaled, tears rolled down her cheeks. "Oh, my God."

Luke took a second to think about the last few moments he had shared with Gran. "She was different than she usually was... more relaxed, not as stern and stoic. I'm sure the effects of the anesthesia had something to do with it, but she was being relatively nice. I mean, as I took the notebook back from her, she patted my hand and called me a good man," Luke said, and he shook his head slightly with surprise. "Which, I'm not gonna lie, threw me for a loop."

Lorelai smiled as she wiped away some tears. "That's high praise from her."

Luke turned to look back at Rory. "And when she was talking to Josh, she said she can tell he's gonna grow up to be smart like his sister... she called you a fine young lady."

"That's sweet," Rory said, frowning as she sighed softly. "I didn't really get to know her as much as I should have. I should have visited her more. Grandpa would've liked that." She suddenly gasped. "Oh, no - Grandpa! How's Grandpa?"

"Yeah, how's my dad?" Lorelai asked worriedly. "He's probably beside himself. He adored Trix."

"Yeah, Emily said he's taking it pretty rough," Luke admitted. "And I know you're probably in a rush to get home, but I was thinking it might be good to stop by and see them on the way home."

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, definitely, we should go over there."

. . . . .

. . . . .

They drove from the airport to Richard and Emily's house. Richard was in his study, too upset for visitors, so they sat and talked with Emily in the living room. As Emily started listing all the tasks she needed to take care of for the funeral, Rory offered to return the following day to help out.

As they headed back to Stars Hollow later that evening, Josh fell asleep in the car. Luke carried his carseat into the house and set it down in the living room, and then helped bring in the girls' luggage.

Luke showed them the treats he'd gotten from the bakery. The girls decided to change into more comfortable clothes and then meet back in the living room to eat snacks and fill Luke in on their trip.

The girls went to their respective bedrooms to change, and after a few minutes, Luke went upstairs to see Lorelai. She had changed into pajamas, and was sitting in front of the vanity mirror. Luke watched quietly from the doorway as she pulled her hair into a ponytail and then stared aimlessly into the mirror for a moment, like she was drifting off into a daze.

Luke finally stepped into the room. "Hi," he said softly, not wanting to startle her.

Lorelai turned around to look at him. "Hey."

"You okay?"

Lorelai stood up from the chair and walked toward him. "Tired, and sad. I feel really bad for my dad."

"Yeah. Me, too." Luke opened his arms and she walked into them, sighing contently as they wrapped around her.

Lorelai rested her head against his shoulder. "I was just thinking about how today must've been such an emotional day for him. He was probably worried all morning after the heart attack, and then the first surgery went well so he probably relaxed a little and felt relieved, and then the fates were like, 'nope, just kidding, there's more' and then all hell broke loose."

"Yeah, that had to be rough for him," Luke said. "It's really hard to lose a parent."

Lorelai lifted her head to look up at him, frowning slightly. "Oh, yeah, you've been there... twice."

Luke nodded. "Yeah. It's definitely not easy, especially when it's so unexpected like this."

Lorelai exhaled a deep breath. "Wow, we've turned this into quite a depressing evening."

Luke smiled. "Yeah, really. Let's put a moratorium on the sad talk for the rest of the night," he suggested. "Tonight, let's just focus on your trip and all the good stuff."

Lorelai smiled and nodded in agreement. "Okay." She lay her head back against him as she hugged him tightly. "I missed you."

Luke kissed the top of her head. "I missed you, too. You have no idea."

Lorelai inhaled deeply against the collar of his shirt. "I missed your scent... manly cologne with a touch a burger and a splash of coffee."

Luke smirked. "Not as much as you missed Josh's baby smell, I'm sure. You always say you wanna bottle that up."

Lorelai smiled up at him. "I missed them both equally." She sat down on the bed and patted the mattress next to her. "Sit. Before we go downstairs and get to the trip stuff, tell me about your week and a half. How was it? How was Josh?"

"Things were good," he said as he sat down next to her. "Josh was great, and your schedule of babysitters kept things nice and organized. Everyone showed up, they were all a huge help... although a few did border on the line of harassment."

Lorelai smiled. "As expected." She nodded toward him. "And what about you?" She wrinkled her nose as she asked, "Was it overwhelming and awful and stressful being in full-on parent mode for ten days straight?"

Luke shrugged. "Hey, I signed up for a lifetime of full-on parent mode the minute we decided to have a kid."

Lorelai's smile widened and she shook her head confusedly. "Okay, seriously, you just spent ten days with a kid on your own and you're still calm and composed and all 'whatever, man'. You should be exhausted and resentful and snapping at me like I'm the devil. What is wrong with you?"

Luke smirked. "I don't know. I am exhausted, but I'm just focusing on the fact that you're home, so things don't feel quite as hectic anymore."

Lorelai gritted her teeth. "So it was hectic?"

"Yeah, a little, but not in a bad way," Luke replied. "It was harder than I expected. Nothing I couldn't handle, just busy."

Lorelai frowned apologetically. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize," he said, shaking his head. "It was good... it gave me a chance to appreciate yet another example of how amazing my wife is."

Lorelai's smile was one of both surprise and confusion. "Really? How?"

"Well, I got to see firsthand how raising a kid is a hell of a lot to handle for one person," Luke replied. "Mentally, physically... it's draining. I mean, I never imagined it was a cake walk or anything, but I couldn't really fathom what it was like. But after ten days, I got a little taste of how hard it could be. Hell, I got it after two days." He reached over and squeezed her hand as he added, "So, how you did it for so many years without completely losing your mind, I'll never know."

Lorelai smiled. "Coffee... that's the secret."

Luke smiled and leaned in to kiss her. "Seriously, you're incredible for doing that for so long on your own," he said sincerely. "For turning that girl into an amazing young woman on your own."

Lorelai's face softened into a humble, appreciative smile. "Thank you."

"I mean it. You're incredible."

Lorelai stood up and moved to stand in front of him where he sat on the edge of the bed. She stood between his legs and draped her arms over his shoulders. "You're exceedingly complimentary tonight. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder, huh?"

"Yes, it does." They shared a kiss as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm glad you're home."

Lorelai smiled. "Me, too." She ran her hands over his scruffy cheeks. "You promise it wasn't an awful ten days for you? Really, you can tell me if you hated every second of it and you never want to do it again."

Luke shook his head. "I didn't hate it, not even a little... it was just busy, that's all. Now I know what to expect for next time." he told her. "But you're in charge of planning the other trips yourself. That way you guys can make sure you hit all the places you want to hit."

Lorelai shook her head in disbelief. Here he was, fresh off an exhausting ten days on his own with Josh, without any reluctance about going through it again. It was never lost on her how lucky she was to have him.

She smiled at him adoringly and leaned in to kiss him. "Thank you," she whispered against his lips.

"You're welcome."

. . . . .

. . . . .

To be continued...