Chapter 28: Stars Hollow Halloween

Walking hand in hand on the side walk, Luke and Lorelai watched as Rory skipped ahead of them towards the costume store.

"You're going to be a what?"

"A referee…" Taking in the confused look on Luke's face, Lorelai questioned, "What?"

"Do you even know what a referee does?"

Taking his doubt with a grain of salt, with a careless flip of her hand, Lorelai answered, "Kinda… I know they do stuff with sports rules. I really just picked it so we could be a cute couple. I'll be the referee girl, and you'll be my sexy baseball player."

Rolling his eyes, Luke shook his head and spoke confidently. "I already told you; I don't do costumes."

"But Luke" she whined, "I can't be a referee without my baseball player."

"First off, in baseball, they're called umpires. Second, no matter how much of that whining you do, I'm not dressing up. It's enough that I'm even here shopping with you in the first place."

"And did I mention that I'm very, very, very grateful that you made this trip to Hartford with me?" she smiled, her wide eyes baring into his, trying to make him crack.

"Yes…"

As she looked at him with hopeful eyes, he smirked and continued, "And you can be grateful all you want, but it's not going to make me change my mind."

Nudging him with her shoulder, she frowned. "You're just a stick in the mud. I hope you know that."

"Yep," Luke grinned as he reached his arm around her shoulder, pulling her to him. "And I'm proud to be one."

"Mommy, we're here!" Rory exclaimed happily as they finally reached the door.

"I see that." Stepping inside as Luke opened the door for them, Lorelai laced Rory's hand with hers. "Hey, hon. Have you decided what you want to be for trick or treating?"

"I want to be a fairy. I don't want to be tinker bell… Can I be purple?"

"If they have it, you can be whatever you want…" Looking back at Luke, she smiled. "Daddy Luke, however, cannot. I've already decided that he is going to be a baseball player."

Looking at her sternly, Luke spoke matter-of-factly. "I'm not dressing up as a baseball player."

"What are you going to be, Daddy Luke?" Rory implored, stopping in the middle of the aisle to look back at him.

"I'm not going to be anything, Rory."

Gasping, her jaw dropped. "You have to dress up to get candy!"

"But I don't want candy."

"But you still need to dress up," Lorelai added in, "Right, Rory?"

"Yeah!"

Shaking his head, Luke spoke adamantly. "Nope. Not happening."

"Please Daddy Luke," Rory prodded, her eyes wide and innocent.

Ignoring her mother's puppy eyes was one thing, but ignoring Rory's was another. "Rory, I…" he began, but was interrupted by Lorelai.

"Yeah, please Daddy Luke!" she said, a glimmer of mischief evident in her eyes.

Looking between them, Luke knew there was no way for him to win. "Fine. I'll be a baseball player. I'm only wearing the jersey, though, and I'm not bringing a bat or a glove."

"Yay!" Rory exclaimed, and skipped towards the end of the aisle. "Mommy, here is the purple stuff!"

As they walked to join her, Luke leaned in and whispered gruffly into Lorelai's ear. "You're gonna pay for this."

Slipping her arm around his waist nonchalantly, she pulled him against her side. "Oh, I'm betting on it."

Walking into Luke's the day before Halloween, Lorelai, once again, saw Rachel manning the counter as Luke was, obviously, back at the grill. Deciding not to wait for Luke's appearance, she headed straight for the stairwell and went up to the apartment. While shuffling through Luke's closet, she heard some sort of yelling match break out downstairs, and though the voices were muffled slightly by the floor, there was no doubt Taylor Doose was making his weekly appearance.

As she came back downstairs and out of the curtain, Lorelai's attention was drawn to the middle of the diner where Luke and Taylor were going at it quite loudly. Seeing Rachel hovering by the kitchen doorway, she approached and asked hesitantly, "Uh, Rachel? What's happening here?"

"Well, Taylor, being the pain in the ass that he is, is trying to force Luke into putting up Halloween decorations." Looking back at the two men fighting, Rachel sighed. "I can't believe that after all these years Taylor still won't leave him alone."

"Of course he won't; that would be too nice of him," Lorelai confirmed as she rolled her eyes. "There's usually some sort of fight every week or so."

"You should have seen William fight him. He was the same way."

From the few pictures she'd seen of his father, Lorelai noticed Luke's resemblance to him. Looking at Rachel with a smile, she questioned, "So he was stubborn, gruff, and angry with Taylor too?"

"Don't forget the short fuse. They both have very little patience for him."

Laughing, Lorelai smiled. "You can say that again…Did he even have the vein that popped out when he got really mad?"

"Oh yeah," Rachel laughed along. "This one time, William almost took Taylor's head off when…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Taylor countered Luke leering. "Your father would do it."

Hearing Taylor's claim, they both mumbled a quiet, "Oh no."

Turning around quickly, Lorelai saw Luke take a step towards Taylor. "You know what!" Seething, he pointed his spatula at him. "You know good and well that dad wouldn't have put up a damn thing. Now you have ten seconds to leave my diner before this spatula leave my hand and heads conveniently in the direction of your head."

"I'll be back," Lorelai spat quickly to Rachel before rushing over and stepping in between the two men. Staring down Taylor, she commanded, "Taylor, go over there!"

"Now, Lorelai…"

"I said go, Taylor!"

Going over to the corner of the room, Taylor mumbled under his breath. Turning to face Luke, Lorelai was met with his stern frown.

"Lorelai, what are you doing? I…" He started, still carrying his angry tone.

Not deterred by it, knowing his malice wasn't directed at her, Lorelai interrupted him calmly. "Luke, why don't you go upstairs?"

Narrowing his eyes at Taylor over her shoulder, Luke countered. "I'll leave when he gets the hell out of here. If he thinks that he's putting one thing up on my windows, he's got another thing coming for him."

"Luke," she tried again speaking evenly, forcing him to look at her, "I'll make sure that he leaves without a single thing being put up anywhere. Just go upstairs before you do something you regret."

Still not willing to give up, Luke growled, "I'm gonna kill him one day."

With a smile at his empty threat, Lorelai placed her hand on his shoulder. "I know babe, but not today. Rory's really looking forward to trick or treating with you, and I don't want you to not be able to go because you're in prison for killing Taylor."

"Fine… I'll go, but he better be gone before I come back down."

"I'll make sure of it."

As soon as Luke disappeared behind the curtain, Taylor trotted over to her. "Lorelai, I don't even understand how you can put up with that man and his temper."

Rolling her eyes, Lorelai frowned. "Oh, don't even start with me."

"I'm just saying he's rather angry all the time, and I don't understand how you can take it."

Crossing her arms defensively in front of her, she prepared herself to battle him. "You know he's only that way with you. Luke is actually really great; you should try not to piss him off so much."

Rolling his eyes, Taylor continued confidently. "Well, all I have for him ar good suggestions. He could at least be open to them."

"Luke is open to a lot of things," Lorelai countered fiercely as she rattled her list off, counting each reason off on her fingers to prove her point. "He helps make the sets for Patty's concerts, though heaven knows he would never set foot in the studio when a concert actually happens. He helps Gypsy at the shop when things are busy and Ricky can't come in for his shifts. He helps Maury put up the Halloween display at his and Babette's house because he doesn't want Babette to hurt herself, and he deals with every strange request that Kirk makes, no matter how difficult."

Chiming in from one of the stool at the counter, Kirk confirmed Lorelai's claim. "She's right. Mother even says that I can be very difficult."

Gesturing over to him, Lorelai exclaimed, "Exactly! Luke will do pretty much anything to help out in this town, so why don't you cut him some slack over the damn decorations. If he doesn't want to do them, then he shouldn't have to."

From various patrons of the diner, the room was filled with a lot of nods, "mhmm's", and one "she's right taylor!"

Rolling his eyes, Taylor finally gave in. "Fine… But for future reference, you might want to work with him on his people skills. It's bad for business."

"Really?" Lorelai countered. "Well, for future reference, you should keep your mouth shut. Maybe next time I won't be here to prevent Luke from letting whatever he wants to throw from leaving his hand… and you better hope that it's not heavier than a spatula."

With Taylor finally leaving, Lorelai walked back to the kitchen doorway. "I swear, sometimes he just doesn't get it."

Looking back at Lorelai peculiarly, Rachel raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "I'm still trying to figure out how you got Luke to go upstairs. I honestly thought that he was going to throw that spatula… Good job, Lorelai."

A small grin appeared on Lorelai's face. "Uh, thanks… speaking of Luke, do you think you can handle everything for a second while I go up there?"

"Yeah… you go deal with that," Rachel gestured to the stairs.

"Thanks."

Reaching the top of the stairs, Lorelai bumped into Luke's solid form.

"Hey…I thought I told you to go to the apartment." Lorelai spoke softly, "What are you doing out here?"

"You only told me to come upstairs. You didn't say go inside. I've been pacing the hall," he admitted with an embarrassed look.

Smiling as her hands came to rest on Luke's chest, Lorelai answered steadily. "I'm sorry he was such an ass."

"That's just Taylor. He does it every year."

"I know, but he doesn't even need to bring up your dad. It's uncalled for."

"Yeah it is," Luke agreed with a nod. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued. "I'll just pay the Rockman boys twenty bucks to t-p his house to get back at him."

"Didn't the Rockman boys t-p his house last year? I'm pretty sure that Taylor called a whole town meeting about it."

A small chuckle escaping his lips, Luke grinned. "I don't know… Did they?"

Shocked, Lorelai's jaw dropped. "Luke Danes! Did you pay them last year too?"

Raising his hands in innocence, Luke spoke evenly. "I plead the fifth."

With light in her eyes, Lorelai smiled. "You know… You're bitter and vengeful, and I have to say, I love it."

"Good." He nodded. "I'm glad to have someone to share the hate with."

Catching the view of the cracked open apartment door, Luke remembered a question he wanted to ask her. "Is there a reason you came up here when you got here?"

Though she tried to hide it, a small look of guilt appeared on Lorelai's face. "You were in the kitchen when I got here. How did you know I came up here?"

"First, the door is cracked, and I know I didn't leave it that way," he informed her. "Second, I saw you when you came back down. You walked right into my line of sight."

"Oh, okay."

Looking at her expectantly, Luke frowned when he realized she wasn't going to give him further explanation. "So you're not going to tell me why you were up here?"

"Well…" Lorelai drug out the word with a mischievous tone.

Luke's eyes immediately narrowed. "What did you do?"

"Well, I know you told me not to, but I may or may not have been checking to see if you had any baseball pants."

"How do you even know what baseball pants look like?"

With a saucy grin, Lorelai answered, "Do you honestly think that I'm watching the game when you have it on? Let me tell you, all of those players asses are nowhere near as fine as yours, so if theirs look that great in those pants, I can't wait to see yours."

Rolling his eyes, Luke groaned. "I don't even know why I asked."

"Now you know… So I hope you know that I'm expecting you to be in those pants, that I moved to the front of your closet, on Halloween."

Shaking his head, he sighed. "I already agreed to the jersey. I am not agreeing to the pants. You wanted me to dress up? The jersey is dressing up, and it works fine with normal jeans."

"But it's only halfway dressing up! You have to go big or go home, mister." She spoke knowingly, poking his chest for emphasis.

"I would rather stay home, but a certain child that is about yea big and has the unusual ability to pout like her mother wants me to come trick or treating with her. I agreed to come, not to go all out."

"Come," Lorelai giggled. "Dirty."

"Lorelai," he sighed.

"Please, Luke! It will be so fun!" She grinned, pulling him to her.

"Nope. And that little hair flip of yours and the point aren't going to work this time. It's not happening."

"What about if I told you that there is a reason I am avoiding cold benches today? Would that help?"

Narrowing his eyes at her in confusion, Luke questioned, "Avoiding cold benches? Why would you…" Sighing, he hung his head on her shoulder. "That's not even fair."

"So is that a yes?"

"No…" he still answered confidently as he pulled his head back and looked at her in the eye.

Looking at his face, she noticed that the confidence in his voice was not the same as the confidence he showed. His resistance wavering, Lorelai leaned in closer. "Okay… How about once Rachel leaves, I recreate this situation, and then you'll be able to take advantage of it… or, of me."

Keeping his hands to himself, Luke informed her, "I hope you know… you're shameless."

"Ah, yes… and underwear-less."

"Fine." Placing his hand on her waist, Luke pulled Lorelai to him and kissed her hard. "But if I hear one "dirty" the whole night about sexual bases, bats, or balls, I'm coming back here and changing."

Raising her hand in mock salute, she grinned. "Yes, sir!"

Brining his lips back to hers, Luke mumbled against them. "You're maddening."

"You're easy," she murmured back. Pulling back with a satisfied sigh, she placed a hand on the back of his neck, lacing her fingers through the curls peeping out from under his hat. "I like kissing you."

Grinning, Luke laughed. "I'm pretty fond of it myself."

Taking a second to contemplate, Lorelai cocked her head and whispered, "Maybe one more." Planting another solid kiss on his lips, they took their fill of each other.

Releasing him with a smile, Lorelai laced her fingers through is. "I actually came here for some lunch, and I have to be back at the inn in about 20 minutes. You think you're calm enough to come back down and fix me a burger?"

Starting their descent down the stairs, Luke retorted. "Well, as long as a it's a turkey burger, sure."

"Is it cold in here?"

Stopping, he turned back to her. "No, why?"

"Just checking to make sure that Hell hasn't frozen over… I'll take a normal burger, burger boy," she informed him, continuing to go down the stairs.

"I should have seen that coming."

As they finally stepped back into the diner, Luke pecked her cheek. "Alright, you can go sit down, and I'll have your food out in a minute." While he walked away, Lorelai felt his fingers graze slowly across her ass, causing her to grin.

Expecting Luke to still be upset, Rachel was shocked to see otherwise. "Who is that, and what have you done with the real Luke?"

Lorelai's eyes trailed Luke's retreating form as she answered nonchalantly. "Oh, that's him. I just made sure that his mind was focused on… something else." Taking her eyes away from him, she looked over the rim of her mug at Rachel wearing a cheeky smile.

Dressed in his baseball uniform and ready to leave, Luke stood at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Lorelai to decide she was ready to go. "Lorelai, it's almost six! We've got to get going!"

"Give me five more minutes, and I'll be done," she yelled from her doorway.

Not satisfied with her answer, he called back, "Are we talking Luke time or Lorelai time?"

"Hmmm, Lorelai time!"

Rolling his eyes, Luke left the stairs and headed to the kitchen. "We'll be lucky if we leave by eight," he grumbled to himself. Opening the fridge to grab a water bottle, Luke heard a loud gasp. Immediately, he turned his attention to Rory's room to see her run out.

"Daddy Luke, I broke my wand," she cried sadly, holding out the broken pieces as tears pooled in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, no tears," he soothed, taking the sparkly butterfly wand and looking at the damage.

"It's broken," Rory whispered softly, her arms dropping limply at her side and her head hanging low.

Examining the break and noticing it was clean, Luke remembered the quick-dry super glue he had brought over a few weeks prior to fix Lorelai's glasses. "It's broken, Rory, but I can fix it."

Walking over, he rummaged through the junk drawer, mumbling under his breath when it was under another pile of junk mail and coupon inserts Lorelai had neglected to throw out. Finally finding what he was looking for, he carefully glued the two pieces of plastic back together and let it dry. Just in case, Luke held the wand out in front of him and gave it a good shake, and much to his relief, it stayed intact.

Taking a look back at Rory, he saw her standing in the same place, her head still hanging low. "Hey, Rory." He called softly.

As she looked up, Luke was met with sad eyes.

"Come here, look." Crouching down, he held the wand out for her to take. "It's all fixed."

Just as he did, Rory gave the wand a few good waves just to make sure it was fixed. Satisfied with the results, a bright smile took over her face. "You fixed it!"

Nodding, Luke grinned. "I told you I would."

Rising to her tip toes, Rory wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. "Thank you, Daddy Luke."

Wiping the remnants of tears from her cheek, he planted a kiss to her forehead. "You're welcome, Rory."

At the kitchen doorway, Lorelai walked in, a smile immediately appearing on her face as she observed the scene in front of her. "Well, it looks like I'm missing the party. What's happening in here?"

Luke looked up to explain, but his mouth grew dry and his eyes about popped out of his head as he took in her less than usual umpire outfit.

As he struggled to find words, Rory spoke up. "I broke my wand, but Daddy Luke fixed it! Look!"

"I see that… Are you ready to go now, then?"

"Yeah! I've gotta go get my candy bag, though." With that, Rory ran off to her room.

With Rory on her way out of the room and into hers, Luke walked over to the doorway, his eyes trailing Lorelai's figure.

Feeling the intensity of his gaze, Lorelai had to tear her eyes from his. "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed one of your hats."

Shaking his head, a wicked smile grew on Luke's face. Speaking in a low voice as his fingers traced the him on her thigh, he whispered, "You know…I've watched enough baseball games to know that most umpires don't wear tight leather skirts."

"Yeah, well, most of the men don't have the legs for it… Lucky for me, I do."

"You mean lucky for me," he growled, pecking her lips teasingly and his hand trailing higher up her thigh.

The familiar butterflies stirring in her stomach, Lorelai backed away from his touch. "Uh, uh, uh," she scolded with a laugh, "A certain six-year-old is about to come back in here, and I'm sure you don't want her to see you feeling me up." Hearing the sound of little footsteps, she looked over his shoulder and whispered, "Speaking of."

Pulling his hands back, Luke jumped back quickly as Rory emerged from her room. If he hadn't been listening close enough, he wouldn't have heard Lorelai's quite promise of "Maybe later."

"Okay! I'm ready!" Running to the front door, Rory called back into the kitchen. "Come on! Let's go! I'm ready for the candy!"

Laughing, the couple met Rory at the door, Luke directing Lorelai by the small of her back. Turning to look up at Luke, Lorelai grinned. "There is no doubt that she is my child."

"Admit it, you're having fun," Lorelai smiled, nudging Luke's side as they strolled down the sidewalk.

Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, Luke pulled her closer. "It's alright. It's not painful." With a flick of his head towards Rory, who was strolling in front of them, he smiled. "Her costume looks great,"

"Thanks… My baby wanted to be a sparkly purple fairy, so I made sure that she was a sparkly purple fairy. Sewing on some glittery fabric and sequins wasn't too hard."

"Yeah, well, you did a good job." Leaning in, Luke's lips teased the shell of her ear. "And you did a great job with yours too."

Looking down at the concrete in front of them, Lorelai could feel the heat of his gaze. "I gathered that from earlier, but thanks…" Bringing her arm around his back, she squeezed his hip. "You look hot."

"Well, you can't have an umpire without a sexy baseball player… At least that's what my girlfriend said."

Smiling up at him, Lorelai answered, "She sounds like she knows what she's talking about. Maybe I'll meet her sometime."

"I don't know about that… I found out this week that she's a pretty jealous woman."

Gasping, she playfully smacked his chest. "Luke!"

Chuckling, he planted a soft kiss to her forehead, despite her resistance. "I'm just joking."

"You better be."

"Trick or treat!" Rory called as they walked up to Patty's porch.

Beaming at the little girl in front of her, Miss Patty cooed. "Well, aren't you just the prettiest thing?"

Twirling, Rory showed off her sparkly skirt and wings. "I'm a fairy."

"I see that." Holding out the bowl of candy, she smiled. "Take as much as you'd like, sweetheart."

Not to be greedy, Rory reached in and grabbed one small handful from the bowl.

"Now come on," Miss Patty looked at her with a knowing grin, "You know you want more than that."

Reaching back in, Rory grabbed a larger handful and tossed the candy into her bag. "Thank you, Miss Patty!"

"You're welcome," Looking up, she spied Luke and Lorelai, eyeing Luke appreciatively. "Mmmm, and Luke, you look absolutely scrumptious."

Instinctively, he took a step closer to Lorelai, which made her giggle.

"Rory, earmuffs," Lorelai called out, and the little girl covered her ears with her hands. Without Patty seeing, she reached her hand over and stuck it in Luke's back pocket, squeezing lightly and making him jump. "I told him he looks hot."

"Lorelai," Luke hissed, moving quickly away from her.

Waving him off, Patty smiled. "Well, my dear, I have to agree. You are one lucky girl. Why you're out here and not in bed, I will never know. His ass looks better than any of those professional players."

Laughing as Luke groaned, Lorelai grinned. "That's what I said!"

Without a word, Luke turned to her and glared.

"What," she questioned at his fiery look, "It's a great ass."

"Can you guys stop talking about me like I'm not here," he huffed.

"Sure, Luke," Patty smirked. "We'll just save if for when you're not around."

"You better not." Reaching out, he patted Rory's shoulder, causing her to drop her hands. "There, Rory's listening now. Keep your comments PG."

"You're no fun," Lorelai spoke as she looked at him lovingly. Turning back to the older woman, she sighed. "Well, we better keep going. We've got a lot more places to visit."

"You go on. Have a nice night, Rory."

"Bye, Miss Patty!" Rory answered, waving her wand happily. Falling into step between her mother and Luke, she questioned curiously, "Where are we going now?"

Smiling down at her daughter, Lorelai spoke. "We are going to Oak Street where Sookie lives."

"Okay!" Looking ahead as they approached a corner, Rory noticed a woman with curly red hair standing at the end of the sidewalk. "Look, Mommy! It's Rachel!"

Both Luke and Lorelai looked ahead and confirmed that it was, in fact, Rachel, and Luke, unconsciously, pulled Lorelai a little closer.

Not sensing the hesitation of her mom and Luke, Rory ran up. "Hi Rachel! Look! I'm a fairy!"

Startled, Rachel looked up from her camera to see Rory and smiled genuinely. "Hi, Rory. You look very pretty. I like your sparkles."

Holding out the sparkly part of her skirt, Rory grinned. "Thanks! My mommy did it."

Finally catching up to Rory, Luke cleared his throat. "Uh, hey, Rachel."

"Hey guys." Looking over at Lorelai, Rachel smiled. "Rory was just showing me the sparkles you put on her dress. It looks great."

"Thank you," Lorelai answered honestly.

"You guys look great too." Nodding over at Luke, she questioned him. "I haven't seen you in a costume since the fifth grade. How'd you get roped into it?"

Luke opened his mouth to answer, but Rory spoke first. "Me and Mommy did it. Mommy said that I should ask Daddy Luke to dress up, and he did."

Shocked, but then again not, Luke's jaw dropped and he looked over at Lorelai with narrowed eyes. "You actually told Rory to get me to dress up? She wasn't just asking about my costume out of the blue?"

Shrugging, Lorelai wore a mischievous grin. "Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to get her man to dress up. If that means using her six-year-old daughter as leverage, then that's what has to be done."

Laughing at Lorelai's impishness and Luke's annoyance, Rachel spoke. "Well, all I know is that you guys look great. Here, let me get a picture." Taking a few steps back, she worked her camera into focus.

Shaking his head adamantly, Luke released Lorelai's waist and stepped away. "No, no, no. I am not taking a picture. Just get one of Lorelai and Rory."

"Oh, come on, Luke! It's our first Halloween together! We have to get a picture," Lorelai begged, reaching for him.

"Lorelai, I don't want to take a picture."

"Please Daddy Luke," Rory chimed in, "I can put the picture in my photo book!"

Before he could respond, Rachel reached out and gave his shoulder a shove. "Between Lorelai, Rory, and me, you're not going to win this battle. Just get in the picture."

"Yeah, Luke," Lorelai agreed, lacing her fingers around his wrist and pulling him over, "Get in the picture."

"Fine," he mumbled under his breath, "Bossy women."

"Alright," Rachel spoke, "Say cheese!"

Smiling brightly, both Gilmore girls yelled out a happy, "Cheese!"

"Aww, that's going to be a great picture," Rachel smiled as she looked back at the three of them. "I'll make sure to get you a copy, Lorelai."

"Thanks."

Shuffling his feet, Luke spoke up. "Well, it that's all, I'm going to run and check on the diner since we're close."

Satisfied in the fact that he had even come along in the first place and seeing how he was trying to escape before more pictures could be taken, Lorelai agreed with a smile. "Okay. We'll wait for you here. My feet need a break from walking anyway."

As he walked off, Lorelai looked over at the bench behind her then back at Rachel. "Well, I'm gonna take a seat and rest if you'd like to join me."

"I think I will."

Both sitting on the bench, as Rory sat on the ground in front of them sorting through her bag to see what candy she got, Lorelai and Rachel each watched as Luke entered the diner.

"Forgive me if I'm overstepping my bounds, but he looks damn good in that uniform, if I do say so myself," Rachel spoke with a smile, waiting to see Lorelai's reaction

In her mind, Lorelai thought that any comment about Luke coming from Rachel would make her slightly jealous, but over the week, instead of growing more jealous and insecure, Lorelai's confidence in hers and Luke relationship grew. Knowing there was no malice or envy in Rachel's words, Lorelai laughed a small laugh. "You're not overstepping your bounds. Every woman with a pulse can see it."

"You're lucky… He would have never even entertained the thought of dressing up if I had ever asked him."

Shaking her head, Lorelai answered, "He didn't listen to me either. I have to give the credit to Rory."

"I don't know, Lorelai," Rachel eyed her knowingly, "I bet if you really tried hard enough, you could have gotten him to do it without Rory's help."

Thinking back on all the things she had been able to get Luke to join her in doing over the past six months, Lorelai ducked her head blushingly, "You know, I think you're right."

Allowing a surprisingly not awkward silence to fall, Lorelai pondered the events that had happened throughout the day. Remembering a sentence Rachel uttered a few minutes before, she turned to her curiously. "Hey, Rachel… Has it really bee that long since Luke's gone without celebrating Halloween? Since the fifth grade?"

Looking up from her camera back, Rachel nodded. "Uh, yeah. If I remember right… He didn't celebrate it after, you know, with his mom and all. And in high school, when he finally found some sense of normalcy, his dad got sick, and holidays just stopped being a thing with him."

"All holidays?" Lorelai questioned.

"Yeah… pretty much. I mean, you know how he is. If the holiday requires a party, as most do, then he doesn't participate."

"Wow…" Looking at how holidays were the high point of her life before and even after she had Rory, Lorelai wondered how anyone could live without celebrating, and then a depressing thought struck her. "Wait… if he doesn't celebrate holidays, does that mean that he doesn't celebrate his birthday?"

Biting the inside of her cheek, Rachel scanned her memories. "Yeah… He doesn't do that either. I don't know what's happened since I left, but before, I tried to get him to celebrate, but he never would."

"Huh…Well, that's going to change this year if I have anything to say about it." Lorelai spoke, determination filling her voice.

"Good luck," Rachel smiled, "If anyone can do it, you and Rory can."

Seeing the diner door reopen and Luke come out, Lorelai smiled. Her mind was already racing with ways that she could make sure that Luke knew his birth was something worth celebrating. "Thanks Rachel, for letting me know."

"No problem." Standing up, Rachel tossed the strap of her camera bag over her shoulder. "Well, since Luke is coming back, I'm going to go head and see what other stuff I can take pictures of. You guys have a good night." Turning away, Rachel stopped and walked over to Rory and smiled. "See ya later, Rory."

"Bye Rachel!"

Noticing Rachel's retreating form as he arrived, Luke looked at Lorelai peculiarly. "Did she leave because of me?"

"No babe," Reaching out her hand, Lorelai smiled as Luke laced his fingers through hers and pulled her up from the bench. "She's just going to take more pictures." Rubbing her hand across Rory's tiara clad hair, she spoke with extra happiness in her voice. "And now, we are going to finish getting a certain fairy here the largest candy load known to mankind."

"Yay!" Rory exclaimed, shooting up from the ground, ready to get moving again. "It's time to go to Sookie's!"

As Rory skipped back to her spot in front of them, Luke linked his arm through Lorelai's. "So, what did you guys talk about while I was gone?"

"Oh, not much," Lorelai spoke nonchalantly, hoping that Luke wouldn't press further. "We just talked about how amazing it is that we were able to get you into this costume."

"Of course, you did…"

Smiling up at him, she leaned into his shoulder. "Don't worry, babe. We didn't share any other dirty little secrets. It was all good, clean conversation."

"Good." Leaning in, as he did earlier, Luke teased her ear with his lips. "For the record, getting me out of this costume is a hell of a lot easier than it was to get me into it."

A naughty smiled spread across Lorelai's face as she placed a chaste kiss to Luke's lips. "Good… that means that there's a good chance you'll score a home run tonight."

Tightening his grip slightly on her arm, Luke groaned. "What did I say about sexual base jokes?"

"You said no jokes, but as the umpire, I set the rules, so I say yes to jokes… You should hear the one I have about bats."

Rolling his eyes, Luke pulled her playfully in front of him as she laughed. "I'd rather not. Just keep walking…"

A/N: I'm glad you all enjoyed the last chapter! I wanted to make sure that I updated this week, and it is 11:59 pm, so I have made my deadline! I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much!

Just as an FYI to you guys, I think I am liking Saturday as an update day, rather than the middle of the week on Wednesday, so I think Saturday is going to become my new regular.