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. :)

9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

. . . . .

. . . . .

The following weekend, Luke was out running some errands while Lorelai was at home with Josh. As Luke pulled up in front of the hardware store, his cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, it's me," Lorelai greeted him. "Are you still in town?"

"Yeah. I went to the bank and the post office, I dropped your clothes off at the cleaners, and now I'm heading into the hardware store," Luke replied as he got out of the car. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, we're good," Lorelai replied. "But I wanted to remind you that we need some more outlet covers because Mr. Crawlypants is starting to find ones we didn't think he'd find."

"He's an explorer, that kid," Luke said. "Okay, I'll pick up another pack."

"Also, can you stop at the pharmacy and pick me up some Benadryl or Claritin or something? My allergies are acting up and we're fresh out of medicinals."

"Okay."

"You can stick a bow on it and call it an early Mother's Day present if you haven't gotten me anything yet."

"Mother's Day is tomorrow... you really think I haven't gotten anything yet?"

Lorelai hummed intriguingly and glanced around the living room. "Oh, you did, huh? Is it hidden somewhere in the house?"

Luke smiled. "Don't snoop. I'll be home in a little while," he said, and then added, "With a non-gift-wrapped box of medicine."

Lorelai smiled. "Bye."

"Bye."

Luke spent some time at the hardware store picking up some things he needed, and then he drove over to the pharmacy. He walked inside and headed toward the shelf of allergy medicines.

"Hey, Marshall," Luke called to the pharmacist stationed behind the counter.

"Hey, Luke," Marshall replied. "You keeping the town well-fed?"

Luke smiled. "I'm trying."

Marshall had been a friend of Luke's father and had known him his whole life. With his head of white hair, white mustache, and black-rimmed glasses, Lorelai liked to jokingly refer to him as Colonel Sanders.

Luke grabbed a box from the shelf and walked over to the register. "How have you been?"

"Not too bad," Marshall replied. "How's your little one?"

"He's great, but he doesn't seem so little anymore," Luke replied, smiling. "He's gonna be a year old soon."

"They grow up fast," Marshall said, and then he pulled a plastic tub out from beneath the counter. "I have Lorelai's prescription here."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "Oh, yeah? She didn't mention that, she just asked for allergy stuff."

"Maybe she forgot about it. I forget things all the time." Marshall slowly flipped through the white prescription bags and then lifted one from the tub. "Ah, here it is." He handed the bag to Luke.

Luke curiously peeked into the bag, and he immediately recognized the circular compact. His heart started to race and he lifted his head from the bag to look at Marshall. "Wait, this is... these are... aren't these for..." he stammered.

"It's an oral contraceptive," Marshall supplied.

Luke inhaled sharply and quickly exhaled his deep breath. "So... when did she drop off the prescription?"

"Came in on Wednesday, I believe," Marshall said. "I wasn't here when it was dropped off, so I'm not sure what time."

Luke swallowed hard and looked down at the bag with confusion. "Huh."

. . . . .

. . . . .

Ten minutes later, Luke arrived home and walked into the living room, and Lorelai immediately greeted him from the couch with a whispered, "Shh, he just fell asleep." She smiled and gestured to the floor in front of the coffee table. "He was playing and just suddenly conked right out."

Luke looked down at Josh sprawled on the floor surrounded by toys, and then glanced back at Lorelai. "I need to talk to you about something," he said quietly, and he walked toward the kitchen before she could even respond.

Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "Uh, okay." She stood up and slowly followed him to the kitchen. "What's up?"

Luke placed the bag from the pharmacy on the table, and then leaned back against the counter next to the sink. "Did you change your mind?" he asked her.

"About what?"

"About having another kid."

Confusion instantly washed over Lorelai's face. "What?"

"You would tell me if you did, right?" Luke asked her indignantly. "Or would you just send me off to the pharmacy hoping I'd find out on my own without you having to tell me yourself?"

Lorelai shook her head in frustrated disbelief. "Luke, what are you talking about?"

"This is what I'm talking about," Luke said, and he walked over to the table and emptied the contents of the bag on the table. He picked up the white prescription bag and held it up. "Your prescription was ready at the pharmacy... your birth control prescription."

Lorelai looked even more confused now. "I didn't have any prescriptions at the pharmacy."

"It has your name on it," Luke told her.

Lorelai walked over and took the bag from him. "Okay, then maybe it's an old one I forgot to pick up."

"He said the prescription was dropped off on Wednesday," Luke said.

"Well, it sure as hell wasn't me who dropped it off." Lorelai examined the label on the bag. "Okay, first of all, my prescriptions say Lorelai Gilmore Danes now, this just says Lorelai Gilmore. And second of all, this isn't my doctor, so - " Lorelai's voice suddenly trailed off and she slowly lifted her head to look at Luke with wide eyes. "Oh."

Luke stared back at her for a moment, and then almost simultaneously, they both looked toward Rory's bedroom door.

"Wow." Lorelai exhaled a deep breath. "I need to sit down."

"I need a drink," Luke said, and he grabbed a beer from the fridge.

Lorelai sat down at the table and Luke sat across from her. He opened the beer and took a long sip, and then offered her the bottle. She took an equally long sip, placed it down on the table between them, and then stared down at the bag.

"You didn't know anything about this?" Luke asked her.

Lorelai shook her head. "She hasn't mentioned it yet. Maybe she was waiting to bring it up this weekend. Maybe my Mother's Day card is gonna say something like, Roses are red, life is complex, Happy Mother's Day, let's talk about sex."

Luke smirked. "Yeah, maybe." He exhaled a deep breath. "I'm in shock right now."

Lorelai thought for a moment. "That explains the random surprise visit on Wednesday when she brought home some boxes from her dorm."

"Yeah. She came into the diner that day, too... she probably had just come from the pharmacy."

Lorelai tapped her fingers against the table for a few seconds. Finally, she shrugged and calmly said, "Okay, we just have to look at the big picture here. This is good, you know? It's a good thing."

"How the hell is it a good thing?" Luke asked incredulously. "She just met this guy and she's already at this step? Doesn't it seem fast? She was with Dean for years and didn't get to this step!"

"She's known him for months, she didn't just meet him," Lorelai reminded him. "And it's not up to you or me to tell her when she's ready for that step, Luke... it's up to her."

"I know that, but what if he's pressuring her?" Luke asked, and he sucked in a deep breath through his tightly clenched teeth. "I swear to God - "

"Rory's not gonna let anyone pressure her into anything," Lorelai interrupted. "She's smart and she makes her own decisions, and if she realized she might be ready to take this step and her first move was to go get this..." she said, holding up the prescription, "then that's a damn good thing."

"I guess," Luke muttered. "It's still terrifying."

"Of course it is," Lorelai agreed. "But it's a part of life, we knew she was gonna get there eventually. Yeah, we hoped it would be when she was 30, but still... it could've been worse. She could've taken after me."

Luke's face suddenly tensed up as he realized maybe getting the prescription wasn't her first step. "You don't think they could've done something already, do you? And now she's just getting covered for... you know... future occurrences?"

The thought briefly sent Lorelai's heart racing, but she quickly shook it off. "No, no way," she said, shaking her head. "She would tell me if it had happened already, one hundred percent. My gut is telling me she's preparing."

"Okay," Luke replied. "I trust your gut." They stared at each other for a moment, both of their heads spinning a little. "So... what are you gonna do? I assume you wanna handle this one yourself?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah. When she gets here later, I'm gonna tell her I have it, but I'm not mentioning it was you who picked it up, that will mortify her."

Luke took another sip of beer and then handed it back to her. "What are you gonna say to her?"

"Well, let's see... I can do what my parents did and desperately try to convince her that sex is wrong in the hopes of talking her out of it for life, with or without the assistance of priests," Lorelai said. "Or I can just be supportive and let her know that I'm here if she needs me or has any questions."

"Which option are you leaning towards?" Luke asked with a straight face, and then his lips slowly curved into a smile to show that he was just kidding.

Lorelai smiled and then exhaled a heavy sigh. "Man. She's growing up, huh?"

"Yes, she is."

Lorelai lifted up the beer, and before bringing it to her lips, she said, "Now I have a major bone to pick with you."

"What, why?"

Lorelai took a sip and set the bottle down on the table. She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. "You, Luke Danes, actually thought that your wife had not only changed her mind about wanting to procreate with you again, but also decided not to tell you that she'd changed her mind... and then sent you to the pharmacy as a ploy in the hopes you'd find out from Colonel Sanders that I'd changed my mind." She leaned forward and raised her hands in confusion. "And to that I say... what the hell, dude?"

Luke shook his head. "No, that's not true, that's not what happened."

Lorelai scoffed. "It's absolutely true," she insisted. "You came home visibly angry and accused me of doing something horrible."

"I did not accuse you, I asked," Luke said firmly. "And - "

"You asked in an accusing way," Lorelai interjected.

"And I wasn't angry, I was confused," he continued. "I didn't even consider the idea that it might be Rory's... all I knew was that there were birth control pills for Lorelai, and - "

"And you just assumed it was the same woman you married and are currently trying to impregnate," Lorelai finished.

Luke closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands. He opened his eyes and reluctantly admitted, "Yes."

"You didn't stop to think that it could have been some kind of a mix up or any other possible scenario... your mind just went right to 'my wife's doing something evil and manipulative behind my back.'" She batted her eyelashes at him and smiled brightly. "Is that pretty much it, honey?"

Luke felt horrible about how he'd handled things. "I'm sorry, okay? I am. I didn't even have time to think about it and realize how crazy it all sounded, I just reacted and came home to ask you about it. I was caught off guard, okay? I'm sorry."

Lorelai nodded understandingly. "I know, I get it, I'll cut you some slack," she told him. "And you do get points for bringing it up right away instead of letting your anger towards me build up for days until you exploded."

"I wasn't angry," he reiterated. "And for the record, I wouldn't be mad at you if you changed your mind about things. I would just want you to tell me, obviously."

"I'm not changing my mind," Lorelai told him.

"Okay. Me, either."

"Good."

"Great."

Lorelai smiled at him. "All righty, then."

Luke stood up and walked over to her. "You sure you're not mad?"

"I'm not mad," Lorelai assured him.

"You sure you accept my apology?"

"I accept your apology," she confirmed.

"Okay. Well, if we're good - "

"We are," she interjected.

" - then I'm gonna go work in the garage," Luke finished. "I picked up some shelves at the hardware store. I'm gonna go install them, give us some more storage space out there."

"Okay."

He leaned down to kiss her. "Come get me if you need me."

"Will do." She patted him on the chest. "And come talk to me if you think I'm doing something else horrible behind your back."

Luke smirked. "Will do."

After Luke left through the back door, Lorelai walked into Rory's bedroom and tucked the prescription bag into her nightstand drawer.

. . . . .

. . . . .

An hour later, Rory pulled up in front of the house, and Luke walked out of the garage to greet her. She climbed out of the car and said, "Hey, Luke."

"Hey. You need any help?" he asked, gesturing to the trunk. "Did you bring more stuff from your dorm?"

"Yeah, I could use some muscles, thanks," Rory replied.

They walked to the trunk of the car, where Rory grabbed her laundry bag and Luke grabbed a cardboard box. They headed into the house, and Luke carried the box to her room and put it on her bed. Rory dropped her laundry bag by the back door.

"I'll go grab the other box from the car," Luke said. "Your mom must be upstairs with Josh."

"Okay, I'll go find her. Thanks for the help."

"Anytime."

Luke headed back outside, and Rory started up the staircase. She reached the top of the stairs and saw Lorelai at the changing table in the nursery. "Hey, Mom," Rory said.

Lorelai looked over at her and smiled. "Hey." She finished putting on Josh's shorts and lifted him up. "We just had an impromptu bath because someone had mud up his back."

Rory narrowed her eyes with confusion. "Was he playing outside in the mud?"

"No, I'm using the word mud as a less-disgusting substitute for what he actually had all over his back, which was similar in color and consistency."

Rory made a face. "Ugh. Got it. Gross."

"He's all clean now and smells like baby again," Lorelai said. "We were gonna play up here for a little while... wanna join us?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Close the door or he'll try to escape."

Rory closed the door, and then they sat on the floor with Josh. Lorelai pulled a few toys out of his toy box and set them in front of him, and he started crawling around and playing with them.

Rory heard banging coming from outside and glanced toward the window. "What's Luke doing out there? Building something?"

"He's putting more shelves in the garage," Lorelai replied. "Before the remodel starts, we're gonna have to take almost all of the stuff that's up here and put it somewhere else temporarily, so he's trying to make more storage room out there."

"It's starting soon, right? The remodel?"

"Two weeks," Lorelai replied. "And the house is probably going to be a mess for a few months, so be prepared."

"Months?" Rory asked, her eyes widening. "Really?"

Lorelai nodded. "Months. Our living room is going to transform into a bedroom for the summer... ours and Josh's. It's going to be a disaster. I don't know how we're going to function."

Rory shrugged nonchalantly. "So we'll be getting extra cozy on the first floor for a few months, no big deal," she said calmly. "It'll go fast, summers usually do, and it'll definitely be worth it in the end when you have your beautifully renovated upstairs to move back into, right?"

Lorelai smiled at her. "Look at you, smoothly calming your mama down."

Rory smiled. "Years of practice."

Lorelai nodded in agreement, and then, after internally debating on how to casually bring up the topic that had been weighing on her for the past hour, asked, "So... did you bring home some more stuff from school?"

"Yup, two more boxes," Rory replied.

"Wow, so the dorm room must be getting pretty empty now," Lorelai said.

"Yeah, there's not much left."

"You know, it was smart that you made that extra trip on Wednesday to bring home some boxes," Lorelai casually said.

"Yeah, I guess," Rory replied with a shrug. She distractedly helped Josh turn on one of his musical toys, and then added, "My afternoon class was canceled, so it made sense to use the time wisely."

"Did you stop anywhere else when you were in town on Wednesday?" Lorelai asked.

Rory thought for a moment. "Uh, yeah. I stopped at the diner to see Lane. Remember, Luke gave me some donuts to bring home?"

Lorelai nodded. "Oh, yeah, right, I remember." She looked down at Josh for a few seconds, and then looked back at Rory. "Did you also make a quick stop at the pharmacy?"

Rory looked down and fidgeted with her hands. "Uh, maybe."

Lorelai watched her for a minute, waiting for her to say more. When she didn't, Lorelai offered, "Colonel Sanders accidentally gave me your prescription."

Rory was still staring down at her hands. "Oh."

"Which I'm sure is some sort of pharmacy violation, but he's older and he doesn't see you very often, so he probably forgot there's another Lorelai Gilmore in the world besides me."

"Right." Rory lifted her head to look at Lorelai and nibbled on her bottom lip for a moment. "Are you mad?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No, not mad. Just surprised you didn't mention it."

"I was going to, I was waiting for the right moment," Rory told her. "I was gonna tell you on Wednesday, but you were talking about how Josh was cranky all afternoon and I felt bad just throwing that big news at you after you had a long day."

Lorelai frowned. "You can throw any news at me any time, you know that."

"I know, but it wasn't urgent and I knew I'd be back home again this weekend, so I just decided to wait. I promise, I was going to tell you. I didn't think you'd find out before I told you myself, I'm sorry."

Lorelai nodded understandingly. "Okay, so... fill me in."

"Nothing's happened yet," Rory told her, shaking her head. "We haven't even talked about it, but I just thought it would be good to be prepared in case we do get to that point. So I went to the doctor for a physical and got the prescription, and... that's that."

"Good, that's smart," Lorelai said with a supportive nod. "You're an adult, you're responsible, and that's exactly what you should be doing... making smart decisions and being prepared. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks." Rory eyed her for a moment. "What else? I know there's more you want to say."

Lorelai hesitated before confirming, "Well, maybe a little..."

Rory smiled. "Go ahead."

Lorelai took a deep breath and clasped her hands together. "Dating as an adult can be complicated, hon. You might feel more pressure to do things because you think as an adult that you're supposed to do those things. But I just want to make sure you know that you don't have to take that step with someone if you don't want to."

"I know, Mom."

"I know you like this guy, and you may very well want to take this step with him, and that's fine," Lorelai continued. "But on the other hand, maybe you feel like he's going to want to take that step soon and you think you should be ready... even if you actually aren't quite there yet."

"That's not it," Rory interjected.

"But if you're not ready, you don't have to force yourself to be ready for his sake," Lorelai quickly continued. "And if any guy doesn't respect that, he doesn't respect you."

"Mom, seriously, I know," Rory assured her. "I'm not gonna do something because I think I should, I'll do it because I want to, okay? Trust me."

"I do trust you," Lorelai told her, and then reached out to squeeze Rory's hand. "A lot. You know that, right?"

"I know," Rory confirmed. "And I will keep you in the loop if things progress in a certain direction."

"Promise?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Lorelai said. "And you can ask me things if you have questions, you know? You've always been able to talk to me about anything... I don't want you to feel weird talking to me about this stuff."

"I don't feel weird. If I have questions, I know where to go."

"Okay, good." Lorelai exhaled a deep breath. "It's just... this is a big thing, you know?"

"I know."

"For both of us," she added.

Rory smiled and reached over to put her hands on Lorelai's knees. "Yes, I know this is probably very traumatic for you and a lot is going through your head right now. But I promise you there's nothing to worry about. It'll be okay... we'll get through it."

Lorelai smirked. "Seriously, you're so good at calming Mama down." She glanced over at Josh. "Take notes, kid."

"I'll teach him," Rory promised. "He'll become a Lorelai-whisperer like me."

Lorelai smiled. "Thank you."

. . . . .

. . . . .

On Wednesday evening, Luke and Lorelai took Josh for a walk before dinner. When they reached the end of the street and turned the corner, they saw a moving van parked down the street.

"Ooh, looks like someone's finally moving into the Anderson house," Lorelai said, intrigued. "Fresh blood. This is exciting town news!"

"Yeah, I'm surprised nobody's covering this for the Gazette," Luke said dryly.

"I'm sure East Side Tillie's already got her feelers out for information," Lorelai said. "Let's go meet them."

"We shouldn't bother them when they're moving in," Luke said. "We can come back another day when they're settled."

"But we have an excuse to leave right away," Lorelai said. "We introduce ourselves, welcome them to town, then say 'well, we'll let you get settled, see you around' and head off on our merry way."

"All right, fine, but we're only stopping if they're outside," Luke said. "We're not walking up to the door or anything."

"Okay."

They walked slowly down the street, and as they approached the house, they saw movers carrying some furniture into the house. They also saw a blonde woman trying to remove the packing tape from a box on the driveway. "I have no idea what's in here," she said out loud. "Why didn't we label all of the boxes?"

"Because we're masochists who were purposely trying to make moving harder for ourselves," a man replied from the garage. As he stepped out of the garage, he saw Luke and Lorelai. "Oh... hi, there."

The woman followed the man's gaze to the couple standing by their driveway. "Oh, hi," she said, standing up.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to bother you," Lorelai said, giving them a wave. "Just wanted to say hello."

The couple walked toward the end of the driveway. "You can say more than that, we don't bite," the man said, and he extended his hand toward Luke. "Eric Thompson. This is my wife, Kelly."

"Luke Danes," Luke replied. He shook his hand and then Kelly's, and then put his hand on Lorelai's back. "My wife, Lorelai."

Lorelai shook their hands, and then nodded toward the stroller. "That's Josh. He doesn't shake hands yet, don't be offended."

"He's adorable," Kelly said, smiling down at him. "How old?"

"He'll be ten months next week," Lorelai replied.

"We have a daughter, Jenna... she's 9," Kelly said. "She's with her grandparents today."

"She's not especially helpful with moving heavy boxes and furniture," Eric said. "So we've banned her from the house for the day."

"Smart move," Lorelai said.

"So, this may be a stupid question because there are probably multiple Lukes in town," Kelly said. "But are you somehow connected to Luke's Diner?"

"I am," Luke confirmed. "I own it."

"Oh, cool. We've driven through town a few times trying to get the lay of the land, so we've seen it," Kelly said. "Haven't had a chance to eat there yet, but we'll definitely check it out."

"Best coffee in town," Lorelai said. "If caffeinating is your thing."

"Isn't it everyone's thing?" Eric joked.

"It should be," Lorelai declared.

"Where are you guys from?" Luke asked.

Lorelai eyed their blonde hair and blue eyes. "I would wager a guess it's either Sweden or California."

"Good guesses, very close," Eric said. "But we actually hail from Portland, Maine, which - fun fact - is the birthplace of Judd Nelson."

"I've told you, it's not that fun of a fact," Kelly said to him, patting him on the back. "Not everyone knows who that is."

"But the people who do know get excited because he's John Bender," Eric said to her. "By the end, everyone is rooting for John Bender."

"It's true, I root for John Bender," Lorelai agreed, and then she tapped Luke on the arm, adding, "And Luke does, too, he just doesn't remember his name."

"Are we talking about a movie right now?" Luke asked, his eyes narrowed.

"I'll remind you who he is later," she said to him. "We should let them get back to unpacking."

Luke nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we won't take up anymore of your time."

"If you need anything, we're right around the corner on Maple," Lorelai added, pointing down the street. "Blue house. Jeep out front. Lots of shoes and purses inside. Can't miss it."

Kelly smiled. "Thanks. Nice to meet you."

"You, too," Luke replied. "We'll see you around."

"Take care," Eric said.

As they pushed the stroller down the street, Lorelai said, "They seem normal... friendly..."

"Yeah," Luke agreed.

"And very blonde," Lorelai added. "I think they may be surfers."

"Because of the blonde hair?" Luke asked with a smirk. "That doesn't make someone a surfer. Babette's blonde."

"And I bet she has some good surfer stories!"

"How old do you think they are?" Luke asked.

"The new people or Babette's surfer stories?"

"The new people. What do you think, forty?"

"Late 30s, early 40s," Lorelai replied, and then she peeked into the stroller and said, "I think he's about to take a pre-dinner power nap. Maybe we should join him."

"I should start getting my stuff together for Friday," Luke said. "Gotta make sure all the camping gear is washed and ready to go."

"Oh, yeah, we should do that," she agreed.

"I can do it," Luke said. "You can take a quick nap if you want."

"No, I wanna help," Lorelai offered. "I wanna make sure you have everything you need for your two-day camping extravaganza, during which time you will have loads of fun with your buddies and not worry about what's going on at home." She looked at him pointedly. "Right?"

Luke smirked. "Right."

"You're not going to be distracted during this much-needed break thinking about how there are things you could be doing around the house because there are going to be things to do around the house for the rest of our lives," Lorelai told him. "So we can't plan our fun around that."

"I know, I get it. I agreed to the mutually forced fun, and I'm going to enjoy myself. Or at least, try."

"Good."

"You're next, though," Luke said. "You're pushing me to have friend time, I'm gonna push you to have friend time right back."

"Yes, sir."

"Maybe one night Jackson and I could hang out with the boys, and the girls could go out together somewhere," he suggested.

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, that would be nice."

As they were approaching their house, they saw Babette out getting her mail. "Hey guys!" she called, and walked over to them. "What are you up to?"

Lorelai pointed to the stroller and quietly said, "He fell asleep, so we're gonna go through Luke's camping gear and make sure he has everything he needs for his camping trip this weekend."

Babette looked disappointedly between her and Luke. "That's what you two do when you get some time alone? Geez. You guys really need to go on a date or something, get that spark back."

"Thanks for the suggestion," Luke said dryly.

"Oh, hey, did you see the new people moving in around the corner?" Babette asked them.

"Yeah, we just met them," Lorelai replied. "Got any scoop yet?"

Babette nodded. "We did some investigating this afternoon and got a little dish, but I'm waiting for Patty to call me back with more."

"What do you have so far?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, they moved here from Maine to be closer to her parents, who moved to Woodbury a few years back," Babette said. "But they didn't wanna be too close, so they picked a different town."

"Relatable," Lorelai interjected.

"The wife landed a big marketing job for some company in Hartford, and the husband is a teacher, I think," Babette continued. "He doesn't have a job around here yet, as far as we know."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay, good, this is all good information and everything, but quick question... did any of your research on them reveal any history of surfing, either competitively or recreationally?" she asked. "Think hard."

"When exactly did you become so fascinated with surfing?" Luke asked amusedly.

Lorelai looked at him and scoffed. "Uh, duh... like most people, in the early 90s watching Point Break with Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves."

"No, nothing about surfing," Babette replied. "But I'll keep you posted if I find out more."

"Thanks."

"I'll see you two later," Babette said, and then she shook her finger at them. "And really, you should spend your free time more wisely."

Lorelai smiled. "We'll try. Bye, Babette."

. . . . .

. . . . .

On Friday night, Lorelai rang the doorbell of her parents' house, and when Emily opened the door, she greeted her with, "You're late."

Lorelai stepped into the house. "Good to see you, too, Mom." Lorelai put the carseat and diaper bag down on the floor. "Whew, that's a workout just carrying him in from the car."

"No Luke tonight?" Emily asked.

"No, it's just me and the boy tonight," Lorelai replied.

"And me," Rory added as she walked out from the living room. "Hi, Mom."

"Hey, kid," Lorelai replied. "Can you grab the bag?"

"Yup."

Rory grabbed the diaper bag, and she and Emily followed Lorelai to the living room. Lorelai put the carseat down next to the arm chair, and then sat in the chair to unbuckle Josh.

Lorelai lifted him from the seat and sat him on her lap, and then glanced around the room. "Where's Dad?"

"He's in the study finishing up a call," Emily replied.

Lorelai gasped. "So I'm not late, Dad's late."

"You're technically both late," Rory pointed out.

"Okay, well, he's later than I am, so I win," Lorelai said. She shifted Josh on her lap to get more comfortable. "What excitement did I miss with my unfortunate lateness?"

"You missed a round of hot appetizers," Rory replied. "Too bad you were late, they were really good. Grandma decided to go outside of the box this time with some homemade mozzarella sticks."

Lorelai smiled. "Very funny, but the joke's on you. My nose can pick up the lingering scent of mozzarella sticks for days after their existence, and I am getting no hint of them."

"Yes, that's quite a skill, we're very proud," Emily said dryly. "Care for a drink?"

"Martini, please," Lorelai replied, and then she looked at Rory. "So, I missed nothing so far?"

"You missed me talking about how my last final is tomorrow," Rory replied. "And that's about it."

"You ready for it?"

"Yeah, it should be an easy one, it just stinks that it's on Saturday," Rory replied. "And then I have to finish packing up my room after that."

Emily walked over and handed Lorelai her drink. "What time did you say your exam is?"

"It starts at ten," Rory replied.

"And it'll take a couple of hours, I suppose?" Emily asked.

"Probably," Rory replied.

"And then you'll just be packing up your room?" Emily asked.

"Yup."

"Did you want the full itinerary of her day, Mom?" Lorelai asked, and then turned to Rory. "Honey, let Grandma know now what time you plan on going to the bathroom tomorrow so she's not wondering all day."

Rory smirked. "I'm not quite sure of that yet."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to know about how my granddaughter plans to spend her last day of her first year of college," Emily insisted. "It's a special occasion, after all."

"Yes, it is," Lorelai agreed. "We should celebrate it tonight with some mozzarella sticks because someone got me craving them." She gave Rory a look.

"Sorry," Rory said, and then she gestured to Josh. "You're losing your kid there."

Josh was trying to squirm out of Lorelai's lap onto the floor. "I know, but if I let him down, he'll crawl all over the place and I'll have to follow him, and I just wanna be lazy right now," Lorelai said. "Does anyone have a dog leash?"

"I'll follow him around," Rory offered.

Lorelai gasped. "Really? Thank you."

Rory stood up and took her brother from Lorelai, and then set him on the floor. As he started to crawl away, Rory slowly walked behind him to make sure he didn't get into any trouble.

Lorelai leaned back in her chair. "I owe you one. Oh, wait, I already gave you life, so..."

"So I guess we're even now," Rory replied. "Fair trade off."

"Is Luke at work tonight?" Emily asked.

"No, he went camping with a couple of friends," Lorelai replied. "He left a few hours ago, he'll be back on Sunday morning."

Emily looked displeased by that response. "And left you alone all weekend with a baby?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes slightly and took a sip of her drink before replying, "If you're trying to imply that he's horrible for doing that, then the fact that I left him alone with a baby for ten days while I gallivanted around Europe means I'm way more horrible than he is. So we'll just leave it at that, we're both horrible."

"I'm starting my internship on Monday," Rory spoke up, trying to change the subject. "At the Courant."

"Oh, that's right," Emily said, happily shifting the conversation focus to Rory. "Are you excited?"

"Yes, and a little nervous," Rory admitted. "I don't really know what I'm going to be doing yet."

"Whatever it is, it'll be an invaluable experience," Lorelai said. "Even the assistants who make the coffee runs are still right there in the middle of all the action, so just being there doing anything is going to be amazing."

"If they have you fetching coffee, you tell your grandfather and I, and we'll make some calls," Emily said sternly. "I'm sure we know someone with a connection to that paper."

"That won't be necessary, Grandma," Rory told her. She picked up Josh and moved him away from the staircase. "Even if they do ask me to get coffee, I'm sure that won't be the only thing I'll be doing."

"But she'd be damn good at it," Lorelai added.

"Well, you let me know if you need us to make a call," Emily said.

"I will let you know," Rory assured her.

"And you know, if you ever need to go into the office extra early, you can stay here the night before so your commute will be shorter," Emily offered. "Or if you're working late one night and don't want to drive all the way home, just feel free to come by and stay the night."

"I might take you up on that, thanks," Rory replied sincerely.

"Of course," Emily replied, smiling, and then she looked down at her watch. "I'm going to go fetch Richard. I'll be right back."

. . . . .

. . . . .

The next afternoon, Lorelai was at home in the living room with Josh when the phone rang. She grabbed it from the coffee table and answered, "Hello?"

"Well, Grandma now knows I'm dating someone," Rory greeted her.

Lorelai's eye widened with surprise. "What? How?" She sat back down on the couch to watch Josh crawl around playing with whatever he could get his hands on.

"She showed up at my dorm this afternoon with some guy she wanted to introduce me to," Rory replied. "She knows his family and found out he had a final today like I did, and I guess wanted to set us up. But Mark was here when they got here."

Lorelai cringed. "Oh, God. Were you guys... you know... in the middle of..."

"No!" Rory exclaimed. "Oh, my God!"

"Okay, well, I don't know how you college kids celebrate the last day of finals!" Lorelai exclaimed back.

"Not by doing that! We still haven't even talked about it!"

"Okay, sorry... so what were you doing?"

"He brought over some pizza for lunch and he was helping me pack up boxes, that's it," Rory said.

Lorelai smiled. "Aw, that's nice." Then concern quickly reappeared on her face. "So, what happened with Emily?"

"Well, she showed up with this guy, and of course was shocked to see another guy already there with me. I introduced Mark as a classmate from the paper, and the random guy invited us to hang out tonight with some other Yalies. And then he left, but Grandma stayed a bit longer."

Lorelai cringed again. "Oh, man. What did she do?"

"She started in on the 'so, you two are only classmates?' line of questioning," Rory replied. "And when I admitted that we had just recently started seeing each other, she gave me this look like... I don't even know what."

"That 'I can't believe you didn't tell me this important news because I'm supposed to know everything about your life and now you've seriously disappointed me' look?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, that's the one."

"I'm familiar with it."

"She probably hates me now for keeping that from her."

"She'll get over it."

"Really?"

"Probably not, but she'll pretend to at some point," Lorelai replied. "Let me guess, she went into interrogation mode after that."

"Yup. She asked him where he's from, about his family, what he's studying, what his career plans were... I felt bad for him getting hammered with questions. I apologized like crazy after she left."

"How did he take it?"

"He handled it fine, he just stood there and answered her questions politely," Rory replied. "He didn't get annoyed or anything. But I knew she was judging every word that came out of his mouth, so I was on edge just waiting for some snide comment from her. But she was okay, nothing rude, just a lot of questions."

"Did she have any connection to his family?" Lorelai asked. "Did she know his grandparents or know of his family name at all?"

"She didn't say, but she did insist that I bring him to dinner sometime," Rory said. "She even tried to nail down a date with him, but since he's gonna be out of town for awhile for his internship, I told her it would have to be later in the summer."

"So you have plenty of time to prepare him before he has to deal with both grandparents at the same time."

"Yeah," Rory replied, and then she took a deep breath and exhaled it. "But other than that, my final went well and my car is now packed with boxes to bring home. Most of it fit, but there's still some stuff left."

"Okay. When Luke gets home tomorrow, we'll get the rest," Lorelai said. "Are you coming home tonight?"

"Yeah. Mark went back to his room to finish loading up his car, and then we're gonna grab an early dinner before we both head home," Rory replied. "He's driving to Providence tonight to see his parents and then driving tomorrow to his brother's in Norwich for his internship on Monday."

"Okay, have fun," Lorelai said. "I'll see you tonight."

"I'll see you later. Bye, Mom."

"Bye."

. . . . .

. . . . .

The next morning, Rory was unpacking boxes in her bedroom while Lorelai sat on Rory's bed eating a Pop-Tart.

Rory hung up some clothes in her closet and then started ruffling through the clothes. "I wonder what I should wear tomorrow. I'm not sure what their dress code is."

"Hmm, I'd probably start with business casual," Lorelai suggested. "With emphasis on the business part, at least for your first day. And if you get there and see people running around in bathing suits, we'll know they focus more on the casual of business casual."

The phone rang, and Lorelai jumped up from the bed to answer it before it woke up Josh, who was sleeping in his carseat in the living room. She quickly grabbed the phone from the kitchen counter. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me," Luke's voice replied.

Lorelai smiled into the phone. "Hey, you. Are you on your way home?"

"Yeah, I just dropped John and Jeff off, I'm heading home now," Luke replied.

She wandered back into Rory's room and sat on the bed. "How was it? Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah, it was good, we had fun," Luke replied. "Did some fishing, some hiking, played cards by the fire. No run ins with bears, which is always a good thing."

"Good, that sounds fun," Lorelai said. "You were way overdue for a fun guys' weekend."

"Everything good there?"

"Yeah, very good. Rory's home, we're unpacking some of her boxes," Lorelai said.

"I'm unpacking, she's watching," Rory loudly announced in the background.

"Rory's unpacking some of her boxes," Lorelai corrected herself. "She has a few things left at her dorm that need to be picked up, so maybe you and Rory can go over there this afternoon."

"Sure. I just have to take a quick shower first and grab some lunch," Luke replied. "How's the boy?

"He's good, he's napping in the living room right now, so enter quietly. Pottery Barn rules - you wake him, you buy him."

"Okay. I'll see you soon."

"Bye."

. . . . .

. . . . .

Luke arrived home, unloaded his camping gear onto the driveway, and sprayed some of the muddy stuff down with the hose. He walked into the house through the kitchen door and put his duffel bag on the floor.

Hearing the door open, Lorelai walked out of Rory's bedroom. "Oh, hello Mountain Man... welcome home."

Luke smiled when he saw her. "Hey."

Lorelai walked over to him and greeted him with a kiss and a hug, and then she sniffed his shirt. "You smell rugged, babe."

Luke smirked. "Told you I needed a shower."

"It's a sexy rugged, not a gross rugged," Lorelai said, and then patted him on the chest. "But you get cleaned up, I'll make some sandwiches for lunch." She gestured toward the living room. "He's still sleeping in there, so no sudden noises."

Luke walked over to the entryway of the kitchen to look toward the living room. "Where?"

"In his car seat by the coffee table," Lorelai replied. "He fell asleep in my arms, and that was the closest place to put him."

"Got it." Luke poked his head into Rory's room. "Hey."

Rory was organizing things on her desk, and she turned around to face him. "Hey, Luke. How was camping?"

"It was good. You wanna head over to Yale in about an hour to get the rest of your stuff?"

"Yup, sounds good, thanks."

"Okay." Luke turned back to Lorelai, who was looking into the fridge. "I'm heading upstairs."

Lorelai pulled out a couple of things from the fridge and turned to look at him. "Okay." She held up two packages of lunch meat. "You want turkey or ham?"

"Turkey," Luke replied, and then he said, "You know, we have to buckle down this week on getting the upstairs packed. Tom and his crew are starting next Monday."

"I know," Lorelai said. "We have all week, we'll do a little each day. Except today, obviously... because, you know... day of rest."

"Obviously," Luke concurred, smiling at her. "I'll be right down."

. . . . .

. . . . .

After Luke showered and the adults ate lunch, he and Rory went to Yale to pick up the last few remaining items left in her dorm. Lorelai stayed home with Josh, and took him for a walk to Weston's to pick up some snacks.

As they were heading back home, her cell phone rang, and she pulled it from her pocket. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, it's me," Luke greeted her. "Are you not home? I just left a message at the house."

"We went for a walk," Lorelai replied. "You guys on your way home?"

Luke was pacing beside his car at Yale while Rory waited in the passenger seat. "Yeah, about to head back now," Luke replied. "But listen... I just got a call from Liz... she and TJ were in a car accident up in Maine."

Lorelai gasped. "Oh, my God. Are they okay?"

"Yeah, they have some broken bones, though," Luke replied. "She asked if I could come help her. I need to go up there for a few days and help them figure out how they can run their booth when they can't even walk. I'm gonna leave tonight."

"You're gonna go to Maine tonight for a few days?" Lorelai asked, narrowing her eyes with confusion.

"Well, they're actually gonna need help for a few weeks, but she knows I can't do that," Luke said. "I told her I could come for a few days and try to help figure things out."

"Weeks?!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"I just said I'm not doing that," Luke told her. "Calm down. It's a few days. It'll just be like I'm out camping again, it's not a big deal."

"But you just got home from camping."

"From a camping trip you encouraged me to go on," he reminded her. "But this is not some fun excursion we're talking about here, I need to make sure my sister's okay."

"But it's during the work week," Lorelai complained. "You have morning Josh duty and the diner and we have the renovation starting soon... we have to clear out the entire upstairs, I can't do that on my own!"

"We'll figure it out," Luke said. "I'll get people to cover extra shifts at the diner and we'll get people to watch Josh in the mornings while you're at work, no big deal. And Rory's home to help you at night, so you won't be alone. It won't be so bad."

Lorelai exhaled a sigh. "Well, but what about Jess? Maybe he could go instead."

"He's got a final tomorrow, and he has work, and he's going to California in a few days," Luke reminded her.

"Oh, yeah," Lorelai muttered. "But - "

"But what? She's my sister, Lorelai."

"And I'm your wife," she countered.

"And what does my wife want me to do?" Luke retorted. "Leave my sister to fend for herself with her broken limbs instead of going to check on her and try to help her?"

"No, but you can't just suddenly decide you're going to leave tonight without talking to me about it and thinking things through first," Lorelai said.

"I am talking to you about it, but there's not exactly time to think things through, this is an emergency," Luke said, getting frustrated at her debating with him. "When emergencies happen, you don't have time to sit and make a game plan and make sure everything's all tied up with a nice clean bow. You just do what you need to do, and I need to go help my sister. I thought you'd understand that because if you felt strongly that you wanted to go help someone who needed it, I'd understand that and not fight you on it."

He sounded stressed and his words were starting to come out angrily, so Lorelai stopped pushing back. "Okay, fine, do what you need to do," she defeatedly told him.

"I'll make some calls to get the diner covered, can you start looking for babysitters?"

Lorelai pursed her lips and reluctantly replied, "Mmhmm."

"I don't know exactly how long I'll be, but I'm hoping just 2 or 3 days."

"Okay."

Her answers were short and her tone was cold, and Luke knew she was upset. He sighed softly into the phone and his voice softened. "Lorelai, it's an emergency, okay? I can't help it that the timing sucks... I'm just trying to do what's right here. I know you're getting the raw end of the deal... trust me, I know that. I'm sorry. I don't want to leave you guys, but I don't know what else to do here."

Lorelai felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she didn't even know why. She sighed heavily into the phone. "I know. I have to go find some sitters. I'll see you later." She hung up the phone before he could respond.

Luke sighed loudly and closed his phone. He got back into the car and dropped the phone into the cup holder. "She's not happy."

The window was open, so Rory had caught snippets of the conversation. "I could tell."

"She doesn't want me to go. But it's my sister... I can't hear that she was in a bad accident like that and not go check on her."

"I know."

"It's like if twenty-five years from now, you were in an accident and you called Josh for help, wouldn't you expect him to try to come help you if he could?" Luke asked. "He's your family. That's what family does, you know? They're there when you need help."

"Yeah," Rory quietly agreed.

Luke glanced over at Rory and then exhaled a sigh when he realized she was in an awkward spot. "Sorry. I'm putting you in the middle."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not, I shouldn't do that. I'm sorry, really."

"Apology accepted," Rory assured him as she patted his arm.

"Thank you." He picked up his phone with a sigh. "I have to call the diner."

Meanwhile, on her way home, Lorelai stopped at Miss Patty's and then Babette's to ask for their help in the upcoming week. They both told her they'd keep their mornings free for whatever she needed, which helped instantly relieve some of her anxiety. She walked back home and brought Josh into the house. The answering machine was blinking and she hit the play button.

The first message was from Luke's sister, who had tried to reach Luke at the house before calling his cell phone. Lorelai's heart sank as she heard the usually-upbeat Liz dejectedly tell them about the accident and ask her big brother if he could please come up and help them so they don't get bumped from the faire.

The second message was from Luke, telling Lorelai he had just spoken to his sister, that she was in an accident, and that he might need to go help her for a few days to figure out how they can run their booth.

As a wave of guilt rushed through her, Lorelai groaned and rubbed her face with her hands. "Ugh, what is wrong with me?" she muttered to herself. "He's just trying to be a good brother."

She took Josh upstairs, and they were still up there when Luke and Rory arrived home half an hour later.

After he helped Rory unload her stuff from his car, Luke headed upstairs. The nursery and bathroom were both empty, and the master bedroom door was closed. He knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in," Lorelai called.

Luke pushed open the door just a crack, in case Josh was crawling around in the room. "Is he awake in here?"

Lorelai was standing near the bed, and she pointed toward the closet. "He's over there."

Luke stepped in and shut the door behind him. Josh was on the floor in front of the closet surrounded by toys, but playing with a buckle on one of Lorelai's purses.

Luke walked over to him and kneeled down to see him. "Hi, buddy," Luke said softly. "What are you doing? Are you playing?"

Luke stayed down on the floor with him for a minute before he finally stood up and turned toward Lorelai. Her back was to him as she sorted laundry on the bed. He approached her slowly, and then hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist from behind to give her a hug, unsure if she would try to push him away.

He was relieved when she didn't, and instead she leaned back into his body and relaxed against him. "You still mad at me?" he asked her.

Lorelai shook her head. "No." She turned around in his arms to face him. "I wasn't mad, I was surprised."

"You were pissed," Luke pointed out.

"I was surprised," she repeated. "My surprise may have come out sounding similar to anger, but I didn't mean it to." She distractedly played with a button on his shirt. "I was glad you were home from camping, and all I heard over the phone was that you were leaving again already, and that overwhelmed me, and I reacted emotionally. Maybe a little negatively." She wrinkled her nose a little as she added, "One might say... a little selfishly."

"One might say that," Luke agreed with a nod.

"I wanted you home, and it didn't really register right away that someone else needed you more than I did," Lorelai said, shaking her head disappointedly at herself. "But then I felt guilty. Your sister needs you, and you should go help her."

Luke was surprised she'd changed her tone already. "You sure?"

"Yes."

"That's it?" he asked her uncertainly. "No more attitude about it?"

"No more attitude." She draped her arms over his shoulders. "I'm very aware that I married a man who will drop everything to help someone who needs help... and I love that. Even if it means I have to lend him out to other people once in awhile instead of keeping him all to myself."

Luke smiled. "That's nice of you to share me with others."

"Yes, it is," Lorelai agreed, and then she nibbled on her bottom lip for a second before adding, "And I did something to make up for the aforementioned negative, slightly selfish reaction... although I'm not sure how you're gonna feel about it."

Luke eyed her with confusion. "What'd you do?"

"Well, you said they're gonna need help for a few weeks," Lorelai said. "So I found someone who can go up to Maine with you and stay there to help them a little longer than you can."

"Who?"

"Someone who had a blast working at their wedding and loved wearing the old timey garbs and talking in the renaissance speak," Lorelai replied, and then smiled through gritted teeth.

Luke's eyes widened. "You asked Kirk to go to Maine with me?"

"He was so excited to do it! He can't wait to dress up again and spend a few weeks at the faire."

"But it's Kirk!" Luke exclaimed.

"And he wants Lulu to come visit him and dress like a wench."

"Oh, good Lord, Lorelai," Luke muttered, shaking his head.

"Come on, it's a good idea," Lorelai insisted. "Yes, he's a little out there sometimes, but he works really hard at his jobs. He'll help them run that booth like it's his own."

"How can he even have time to do this with all his jobs?"

"They all seem to let him do whatever he wants," Lorelai said with a shrug. "He said it would be a piece of cake to get time off."

"But - "

Lorelai put her hand over his mouth. "Plus, if he's up there for a few weeks, that means he's not here bugging you. There's an extra bonus."

Luke groaned softly against her hand, and she pulled it away. "I don't know about this," he said.

"Look, it's worth a shot, isn't it?" Lorelai said. "We can send him up for a few days to try it out, and if it's not working, they can put him on a train back home. But if he can help them, won't that make you feel better to know they're not struggling?"

Luke thought it over and exhaled a sigh. "Yeah, I guess... thanks."

Lorelai smiled. "You're welcome."

"But now I have to spend 5 hours in a car with him?" Luke asked, rolling his eyes.

"It's for a good cause, remember that."

"Ugh, it's gonna be - " His voice trailed off when he felt something touch his shoe, and he glanced down to see Josh hitting it. He smiled and leaned down to pick him up. "What are you doing? Are you hitting Daddy's shoe? You trying to get my attention?"

"He's trying to show his sympathy for the 5 hour car ride," Lorelai said, and leaned in to kiss Josh's cheek. "Aren't you, handsome boy? You feel bad for Daddy?"

"I appreciate the sympathy," Luke said to him, and then he looked at Lorelai. "Oh, were you able to get babysitters?"

"Yeah, I started off with Patty and Babette, and they both said they could do any day I needed them to," Lorelai replied. "And then when I got home, I called Gypsy and asked her to be a backup at night in case I needed help. You know, so she wouldn't feel left out and then hate us and take it out on our cars."

Luke smiled. "Good idea."

"You get the diner covered?"

"Yeah, it's all set," he replied. He glanced down at the bed at the clothes she was sorting and realized they were all his. "Are you packing for me?"

Lorelai followed his gaze. "Yeah, figured I'd start getting some things together for you."

"Wow, you really did feel guilty, huh?" Luke asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, I did." Lorelai gestured around the room. "But I still don't know how we're gonna get all of this cleared out and be ready for the renovations to start on Monday."

"It will be fine," Luke said calmly as he comfortingly rubbed her arms. "Pack up what you can while I'm gone, and then we'll finish it up when I get back." She still looked concerned, and he leaned in to kiss her. "Trust me, okay?"

Lorelai nodded and kissed him again. "Yeah."

Luke handed Josh to her. "Here, you take him. I'll get packed, and then we'll hang out for a little and have an early dinner before I leave."

"What time should I tell Kirk to be here?"

"Uh, quarter to never?"

Lorelai cocked her head to the side. "Luke. Be nice to him... he's doing us a pretty big favor."

Luke sighed and nodded. "I know, sorry. Quarter to five."

. . . . .

. . . . .

Luke, Lorelai, Rory, and Josh spent the next few hours together at home, and after dinner, Luke and Kirk left for Maine. Lorelai told Luke to call her that night when he was settled in, and finally, shortly after eleven, the phone rang.

Lorelai had the phone next to her in the bed, and answered it after the first ring. "Hello?"

"Hi," Luke greeted her. "Did I wake you?"

"No, I'm up. I was waiting to hear from you. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we saw Liz and TJ, and now we're at a motel a few minutes from the fairgrounds."

"Where are they, are they in a tent?"

"No, some guy they know has a summer house up here, so they're staying with him because they can't crawl in and out of a tent yet."

"Right."

"We're gonna pick them up tomorrow morning and head to the fairgrounds, and they're gonna show Kirk what he can do to help them, what the daily routine is, stuff like that," Luke said. "But they were both grateful that we came. Liz especially, she was practically in tears thanking us."

Lorelai smiled. "Aw, good."

"How was the rest of your night?"

"It was good. Lane came over to see Rory, and the two of them watched Josh downstairs while I packed up his room a little. I made some good progress."

"Oh, good," Luke said, and then added, "I promise you're not gonna have to do it all by yourself. I will help you the second I get home."

"I know, it's okay," she assured him. "It's not hard when I have people to watch him for me. I was thinking I might ask Gypsy to come by tomorrow night and keep an eye on him for a little while so Rory can help me with the packing."

"That's a good idea." Luke was out in the parking lot in front of his motel room, getting some privacy from Kirk. He rubbed his temple and sighed into the phone. "Man, it's been a long day. A long few days, actually."

"I know."

"I feel like I haven't been in our bed in a long time."

"You haven't," she said, and she ran her hand over his side of the mattress. "I don't like when you're not in it with me."

"Are you in it now?"

"Yeah."

Luke closed his eyes for a few seconds to picture her in bed. "What are you wearing?" he asked in a low husky voice.

Lorelai smiled into the phone. "Uh, well... your son, actually," she replied, glancing down at Josh sleeping on her chest.

Luke opened his eyes. "Huh?"

"That wasn't the sexy answer you were hoping for, huh?"

Luke smiled. "Not really. Is he okay?"

"Yeah. He woke up crying in the crib half an hour ago, so I brought him in here, and he fell back asleep on me." She ran a hand over his back. "He looks so comfy."

"The phone didn't wake him?" Luke asked, surprised.

"No, I turned the volume down really low," Lorelai replied. "Mama knows how to keep her baby sleeping."

"Yes, she does."

There was a brief pause before Lorelai said, "I'm sorry that I freaked out earlier."

"It's okay. We already talked about it."

"I know, I'm just reiterating it so you know I do feel bad about it."

"It's fine. You reacted, you thought things through, and you changed your reaction. It happens to everyone. It's sure as hell happened to me before."

"Yeah."

"I personally think you just didn't want to be alone in the bed anymore," Luke said. "Which is understandable... I'm excellent at cuddling."

Lorelai grinned and leaned back against her pillow. "You really are."

"We'll cuddle when I get back."

"Among other things?"

"Among many other things," he confirmed, and then he yawned. "Okay, I'm gonna turn in. And you should get him to the crib so you can, too. You're not gonna sleep well with him on top of you."

"I know. I'll try to lay him down."

"I'll call you tomorrow. I love you."

"Love you, too," Lorelai replied. "Goodnight."

"'Night."

. . . . .

. . . . .

To be continued...