CHAPTER 36: Dinner and a Discussion

"Have I ever told you how much I love snow," Lorelai questioned dreamily as she plopped down at the counter. Sighing happily, she turned to look back out the window at the snow coming down, hearing Luke slide a coffee mug in behind her. "It just makes every day better."

"Please tell me you drove and didn't walk here in this mess," Luke frowned as he filled the mug and eyed what he could see of her frame, taking in her not-so-warm outfit.

"Don't worry Dad, I've got my jacket right here, and I drove the mile it takes to get here from the inn with the heat full blast," she answered, holding up her bright pink jacket for him to see.

Rolling his eyes, he grumbled, "Forgive me for caring." Pulling his order-pad out of his jeans, he questioned, "What do you want to eat?"

"Well, when you ask like that, how can I resist answerin'" Lorelai teased, a deep southern drawl taking over her voice. At his scowl, she grinned. "I'll take a cheese burger with extra cheese and onion rings." She answered over the rim of her mug then took a drink.

"Sounds delicious." Luke deadpanned. After writing it down, he gave the order to Caesar and returned with a rag ready to wipe down the counter in front of her. "Busy day? You're in here later than usual."

"Yeah," she sighed, lifting up her cup as he wiped, avoiding the tangling of their arms. "We had a little mix up with reservations around noon, so I had to get that straightened out, and then some of the kids staying in room 5 thought it would be a good idea to pull a fire alarm out in the hall, forcing everyone to evacuate and freak out for no reason." She frowned and took another long drink of her coffee. "It's days like these that I am thankful for the amazing kid I've got… and for coffee that is supplied to me by my charmingly handsome boyfriend."

"Charmingly handsome, huh?"

"Yep!" A mischievous grin grew on her face.

Looking at her with narrowed eyes, Luke spoke knowingly. "Let me guess, you want a refill already."

"That would be nice," she agreed, holding out her now almost empty mug with a grin.

Shanking his head, he obliged and reached for the pot, refilling the mug back up to the rim. "You're a junkie."

"And you're amazing." She smiled back at him, forcing his lips to perk up at the end as well. Taking a sip, she sat the mug back down and tapped her nails in on the counter. "Speaking of my amazing boyfriend, do you know what I realized on the way over here?"

"What?"

"I have not had a date with said boyfriend in a while."

His brow arched, Luke looked at her curiously. "We just went to the movies last week."

"But that's not the same. It was supposed to be a family night, but Rory ended up going to Lane's. That's the only reason we were by ourselves," she answered, a slight plea hinting in her voice.

"Then I'll take you on a date," he answered bluntly and quickly.

Something in his tone caused Lorelai to frown. "Well don't sound too happy about it," she stated, confusion filling her voice as she cocked her head. "Do you not want to?"

"What?" Seeing the look of questioning in her eyes, he immediately reassured her. "Of course,… I just didn't want you to feel like you needed to convince me with bantering or teasing. I don't need convincing, just a time and day."

"Oh, okay…" she accepted his answer easily. "What about tomorrow night?"

"I'm closing tomorrow night. What about Thursday?"

Shaking her head, she shifted on her stool. "We can't. Lane's coming over while her parents go to an "all adult" meeting at their church, remember? Mrs. Kim asked me when we picked Rory up after the movie last week."

Sighing, his hands came to rest on his hips. "Well, I guess we'll have to plan it for next week."

"Umm, hello? Did you forget about Friday night?"

"We can't go Friday night. We have dinner with your parents." At her sudden wide eyes and hitched breath, Luke hung his head. "You do remember that you were supposed to schedule dinner with your parents for Friday, right?"

Running her finger along the rim of her drink, Lorelai looked up at him through her lashes with innocent eyes. "Well…"

"Lorelai, you haven't called them?" At her shrug, he rolled his eyes. "You have to call them. You were supposed to book this last week."

"I know… I just couldn't work up the nerve."

"You better work up the nerve fast, because we have to do it this Friday. I work next Friday because Caesar's brother is coming into town for a late Christmas."

"I will…"

Hearing and seeing her order placed in the window, Luke grabbed it, bringing it over to her. "Here, maybe this plate of grease will help motivate you."

"I doubt it will create the desire to want to call my parents, but at least it will fulfill my outrages goal of finding out if onion rings would make a good replacement for a bun on a burger." She smiled, taking the top bun off and placing varying sizes of onion rings within each other in its place.

Scrunching his nose, Luke shook his head in disgust. "That's making me sick just looking at it."

Taking a quick bite, she hummed in satisfaction. Swallowing quickly, she took a drink to wash it down. "It's just as amazing as I thought it'd be," she laughed at his frown.

"Call me back over when you're done eating that… I don't feel like watching you take 5 years off of your life in one sitting."

"What is she doing," Luke questioned, walking into the kitchen later that evening. Much to his confusion, Lorelai sat at the table with her head down as Rory sat beside her working on her homework.

"She doesn't want to call Grandma and Grandpa," Rory answered, not looking up from her paper.

Heaving a sigh, Luke walked back into the living room and grabbed the phone. Reentering the kitchen, he slid it across the table towards her hand. "Lorelai, they're already expecting your call, so you might as well go ahead and do it."

"I know," she groaned, not lifting her head from the table. "I'm just preparing myself for what will no doubt be a conversation laced with false happiness and snide comments about me."

Rolling his eyes, he nudged the phone closer. "You don't know that. You haven't even called."

"Hello, it's my mother," she gestured widely, throwing her hands out to her side. Finally looking back at him, she shook her head. "I don't know why you'd expect anything less."

"Can I go do my homework in my room," Rory interrupted, looking at Lorelai with questioning eyes. "It's too noisy in here."

"Sure sweets," she answered, plastering on a fake smile until she left the room.

As Rory's door closed, Lorelai pointed to the seat directly next to her. "Sit." She commanded to Luke.

"Uh, okay."

After running her hands across her face, she propped her head up with her chin and looked at him with a frown. "I promise you, I am going to call them before the night is over. I just need to prepare myself. I know that I was the one to agree to set up this dinner, but I'm still scared to do it."

"Because of your history with them," Luke inferred, taking her free hand from the table and squeezing it. "I get it, I really do. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be nervous about calling, but you agreed to the dinner, so it is going to happen one way or another."

"I know…"

"If you wanted to, we could probably have the dinner here…"

Before he could explain is idea further, Lorelai sat up quickly and yelled a quick, "No. Not going to happen."

Caught off guard by her outburst, Luke's eyes widened. "Um, okay…Why not? We've already had dinner at their house, and it didn't go well. Why not try it here?"

"Because there is no way in hell that I'm subjecting anything but myself to scrutiny." Standing up, she began to pace and explain. "If they come here, I have no doubt that my mom will not only criticize me like she always does, but she'll also find something wrong with the house. She probably already has a list ready from her last visit… And since you were the one who did a lot of the repairs to the house, that means she will also have something negative to say about you. Then she could proceed to talk about how we aren't providing a good enough environment for Rory to live." Stopping in her tracks, she pointed at him. "And if there is one thing that I hate more than anything, it's when someone accuses me of being a bad mother to Rory. I do everything with her in mind, and I don't want my mother to try to say otherwise, because that's when a screaming match will break out."

Raising his hands in surrender, Luke frowned. "Fine. We won't have it here…I wasn't trying to rile you up. I was just thinking you might feel more comfortable at home than at their house where they control everything."

Running a hand over her face, she walked over and plopped herself in his lap. Planting a short kiss to his lips, she pulled back and spoke genuinely. "I'm sorry for snapping. I know you were just thinking about making me comfortable. I just feel better going there, since at least in their house my mother's critical eye will only be on our appearance and not our who life and this house."

"It's okay," Luke answered, his arms immediately coming around her waist and squeezing her. "You've listened to what, about a hundred of my rants? I think I'll be fine listening to one of yours."

"That's right," she grinned, poking his chest, "You owe me. I may have to turn into Ranting Lorelai in order to catch up..." Pondering the thought for a moment, she tapped her chin teasingly. "I know…Do you think that you could help me come up with a good rant about why I need to eat red meat? I'm sure the people of the diner would love to hear it when I come in for lunch tomorrow."

Knowing good and well how her mind worked, Luke chuckled and stopped her before she could change the subject. "We'll work on your ranting skills later. I think there's still a phone call you need to make," he spoke knowingly.

Scowling teasingly, Lorelai stood up slowly with a dramatic groan. "Fine…" Grabbing the phone from the table, she dialed and walked over by the back door.

As she waited for her mother to pick up, Luke noticed how she stiffened up and reached to twirl the curl hanging by her face, which was a signal to him that she really was nervous. It amazed him how much a simple conversation could make her formal confidence fade so fast.

"Hello?... May I speak with Mrs. Gilmore? It's her daughter, Lorelai… Yes, thank you."

A few minutes later, as she hung up the phone, Lorelai looked at Luke, anxiety evident in expression.

"So…dinner at your parents' house on Friday night?" He questioned sympathetically as she started walking towards him.

"Yep…" she sighed, plopping down onto the chair next to him again. "This better be better than the last time we had dinner, or this may be the last straw… I don't know how many more terrible events I can take before I just give up trying to have a relationship with them."

"Either way, I'll be right here with you," Luke assured her.

"You always are…" Settling into silence for a moment, she broke it with a small laugh. "I guess there is one good thing about having dinner at their house instead of ours."

"What's that?"

"If we were to have dinner here, we couldn't force them to leave if they were getting on my nerves. At their place, if we need to make a quick escape, I know every single way out of that place that isn't the front door." She grinned mischievously. "Although, getting Rory to climb a balcony rail and slide down a water drain pipe might be a little difficult."

Glad that she was still in a good mood, Luke played along like he knew she wanted him to and rolled his eyes. "I'm sure the front door would work as well."

"But where's the fun in that? You really can't get the true Lorelai Gilmore experience without sneaking out of the Gilmore compound… Although, instead of the water pipe, I think it would be fun to see you try to squeeze through the tiny window from the basement. That one was always the riskiest for me."

Friday night rolled around quickly, and before Lorelai knew it, she found herself giving her curls their final check to make sure they were up to Emily Gilmore standards. "I'll show her unruly hair," she grumbled quietly into the room as she moved a wild hair back into place. Finally satisfied with her appearance, she looked hesitantly over towards the bed where her outfit for the night was laying out. The black and white floral dress and her strappy heels were all that separated her from beginning what she feared would become a disastrous night. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Lorelai sat silently staring into the mirror, her eyes not straying form the dress behind her.

Opening the door and walking into the room, this was how Luke found her. "Am I crazy or aren't you supposed to be getting ready? We've only got 10 minutes before we need to leave."

His words pulled her out of her reverie. "Huh?"

Walking over, he stood in front of her with arms crossed. "Why aren't you getting ready?"

"Oh, that… I am completely ready except for my dress and shoes." She answered, gesturing to her lingerie clad body.

"As much as I am enjoying the view…" Raising his eyebrows naughtily at her grin, he took a step closer to her. "And I mean really enjoying it, is there a reason you're not wearing your dress and shoes yet?"

Looking down at her lap, she began fiddling with her hands. "Would you accept my answer if I told you that it was because my dress and my shoes are having a fight, so I laid them on the bed together and am waiting for them to make up?"

Snorting a laugh, Luke shook his head. "If it was any other day, yes." Wearing a smirk, he reached out for her hands, pulling her up once she took his. He slipped an arm around her waist and used the other hand to push a strand of hair from in front of her face. "I can see the smoke coming out of your ears. What are you thinking so hard about?"

"What do you think? This dinner…"

"Well quit thinking about it."

Rolling her eyes, Lorelai squeezed his hips. "You're one to talk, Mr. I-Like-To-Get-In-My-Own-Head-And-Stew-About-Things," she spoke knowingly, a frown growing on her face.

"And you know that you would tell me the same thing." Luke countered, staring back at her.

Under his gaze, she sighed. "Fine… I know. I'm overthinking it. I just don't want this night to be awful."

"Just don't be awful yourself."

"I try not to… they just always bring out that side of me."

"I know. You can't control them, but don't' let them get to you. You're better than that." Rubbing his hands up and down her arms, he smiled. "You're Lorelai Gilmore: amazing manager, friend, and mother."

At his words, she couldn't help the pull of her lips upward.

"And you're one hell of a girlfriend if I do say so myself." He added, pulling her tighter against him.

"Feel free to say so all you want." Rising onto her tip toes, she kissed him softly and pulled back with a smile. "I'll be ready to go in a few minutes."

Unable to resist, he went in for one last soft peck before releasing her. "I'll go make sure that Rory's ready."

"Thanks, babe." Grabbing the dress, she looked at it before calling out, "Hey, Luke."

Just having reached the door, he let go of the handle and turned back to her. "Yeah?"

"Zip me up before you leave?"

A grin immediately appearing on his face, Luke walked back over and trailed his hands up her back. "Always."

"To ring the bell or not to ring the bell; that is the question." Lorelai frowned as they walked up to the door.

"Well, unless you plan on standing out in this cold all night, I'm ringing the bell."

As he reached out, she grabbed his wrist and pulled it back. "Wait!"

"Why?"

"Just give me one second." Taking a deep breath, she looked down at Rory who was bouncing from foot to foot. "Are you ready, hon?"

"Mhmmm." Rory nodded with a smile.

Releasing her breath in a whoosh, Lorelai straightened up and let go of Luke's hand. "Alright… ring the bell."

As they were guided in by the maid, Lorelai felt Luke's hand move to the small of her back in a sign of reassurance. Smiling small, she looked at him, and he sent one in return as they met Emily and Richard in the living room.

"Hello, Lorelai, Luke, Rory," Richard greeted them jovially. "I'm glad we could finally get together."

"Hi, Dad. We are too," Lorelai answered, the last part not coming out as convincing as the first. Deciding to be the bigger person, she addressed her mother. "Hello, mom."

"Hello, Lorelai, Luke. Hello, Rory," She answered cordially.

"Hi, Grandpa! Hi, Grandma," Rory exclaimed, giving each of them a hug and bouncing back to take a seat in the chair across from them.

"Alright." Richard clapped his hands together. "Can I get anyone a drink?"

"I'll take a martini with olive. Luke?" Lorelai answered as she and Luke sat down awkwardly on the couch.

"I'll just have water."

Richard looked back at him curiously. "Driving home?" At Luke's nod, he continued. "Good man… and for my wonderful granddaughter?"

"Do you have apple juice?"

"I'm not sure, Rory. Emily, do we have apple juice?"

Already rising to her feet, Emily nodded. "I'm sure we do. I'll get Eva to bring some."

As soon as everyone was settled with their drinks, the room fell into an awkward silence. "So, uh, Dad," Lorelai spoke up hesitantly. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, I'd have to say that I am feeling quite well. I had some rehab to do with my hand from the torn tendons and my collarbone region was sore for a while, but as of this moment, I am feeling just fine."

"That's good to hear," she answered, a genuine smile gracing her face.

"How were your holidays? Was business busy?" He asked, clearly addressing the both of them.

"They were good… The inn was pretty busy, as it usually is with the holiday season, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

"And for you, Luke?" Richard questioned again.

From the way he was looking at him, Luke could tell Richard was expecting a specific answer. "Well, the diner was busier than usual with tourists and families coming to town. If anything, it has done better these past few weeks."

"Wonderful," Richard concluded, holding up his glass in salute.

As the men continued chatting, Lorelai eyed her mother out of the corner of her eye. Emily was being oddly quiet, and she wasn't sure what to make of it.

The quietness was short lived, however, when the conversation turned to holiday activities.

"Did you do anything special for Christmas or the New Year, Lorelai? Rory mentioned once that your town has numerous celebrations." Richard questioned, recalling the information Rory told him during his town visit months prior.

Wanting to divulge as few details as possible, Lorelai thought for a moment. "Well, we had a lazy day for Christmas, but we went to the church service that night because it was one of Luke's traditions… For New Years, we didn't do much during the day because Luke had to work." Feeling satisfied with her answer, she settled back into the couch, but as expected, her mother was ready to prod for more.

"You didn't attend a party," she questioned, with something other tan shock hiding in her voice. If Lorelai heard correctly, it sounded a lot like baiting. "I assumed that quaint town of yours would put together a grand celebration with dancing and eating and, what is it they call it nowadays, boozing?"

Rolling her eyes, Lorelai took a long swig of her drink. "There was a party, but we didn't go because we wanted to spend time with Rory. Plus, Luke didn't want to go out in the first place. We went ice skating, and we spent the rest of the night at home. There was no boozing involved."

Catching one word in her daughter's response, Emily arched her brow. "Home?" She interjected quickly, shifting her gaze to Richard and back again.

The glimmer in her mother's eye caught her guard. Running through her answer again and realizing what she just revealed, Lorelai tensed, her hand on Luke's knee gripping him tighter. "Yes… our home."

"Mrs. Gilmore. Diner is ready." The maid chimed in quietly.

"Thank you, Eva." Emily responded plainly as she stood up. Walking into the dining room, she kept her eyes on Lorelai who was noticeably looking everywhere but at her.

Settling into her seat, Lorelai gripped her napkin tightly under the table, preparing for the battle she assumed was coming.

"I'm assuming our home doesn't just mean you and Rory, does it, Lorelai?" Emily spoke up as soon as she was settled.

"No it doesn't," Lorelai responded quickly. "But the words cordial family dinner also don't imply talking about something I already know you disapprove of and fighting about it, yet here we are."

"We are not fighting, Lorelai, I was merely asking you a question."

"Yes, but you were asking a question you already knew the answer too and knew would aggravate me, so to me, it sounds like you are looking for a fight."

At the same time, Luke and Richard spoke up. "Lorelai," Luke warned quietly, squeezing her leg below the table. "Emily." Richard wore a stern look.

Both women slowly backed down with a quiet sigh, and Lorelai began to eat as Emily took a sip of her wine.

"So, Rory," Richard spoke up and changed the subject as he took a hold of his fork. "Have you done a lot of reading during your time off of school."

"Mhmmm," Rory hummed through a mouth full of food, getting an eyeroll from her grandmother. Swallowing quickly, she smiled. "I've read lots of books, and Mommy and Daddy Luke got me some for Christmas, so I have more to read."

"Wonderful. Have you liked one the best?"

"I like "Where the Wild Things Are." Mommy said that she read it when she was little." She answered, taking a quick bite of food.

"I remember that," He confirmed. "In fact, I think I still have her copy in my office."

Lorelai looked at him with slight surprise, her mind flashing back to a sudden memory she had forgotten, or at least she thought she did.

"Mommy, I don't want to go to bed!" Seven-year-old Lorelai exclaimed, frowning and poking out her lip. Scurrying off the bed, she ran quickly into her bathroom and locked the door.

"Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, you come back out here this instant!" Emily yelled through the door. As much as she jiggled the handle, the door wouldn't budge.

"I'm not sleepy yet!" Lorelai cried back through the door, still not opening it.

Sighing heavily, Emily marched out of the room, grabbed Richard from theirs, and brought him back in. Gesturing to the bathroom door, she spoke frustrated. "See if you can reason with your daughter. She is being particularly disobedient tonight."

As Emily walked out the room, Richard knocked loudly on the bathroom door and called sternly, "Lorelai, open this door. It's time for bed."

"I don't want to go to bed, Daddy! I'm not sleepy."

Sighing, he shook his head. They had been having this fight with Lorelai for the past month every single night. "You never are, Lorelai..." Reaching above the doorframe, he grabbed the secret key he had made to unlock the door. Opening the door, he saw Lorelai crouched under the sink, her knees pulled up to her chest.

When she saw him appear, she immediately buried her face in her arms. "I don't want to go to bed!"

Walking over, Richard reached down and picked her up. "Lorelai, it's your bed time. You have to." Carrying her back in, he put her on the bed and pulled the blanket over her. "Now you stay put. I'll come back in here to check on you in a few minutes, and you better still be in this bed."

Before he could walk out the room, he heard her call quietly, "Daddy, will you read with me? Mommy doesn't like to." As he turned back, he saw her on her knees, reaching over to her night stand and grabbing a book.

Shifting his eyes to the clock, he found that it said 8:30. "Lorelai, it's late for you." He frowned

Looking up at him with wide eyes, Lorleai poked out her bottom lip again. "Please Daddy?"

Something about the look in her eyes made him unable to say no to her. "Alright, Lorelai." Walking back over, he sat down on the bed beside her, and took the book. "I'll read but you have to lay down."

With a happy sigh, she laid back down against her pillow smiling happily. "Okay!"

"Where The Wild Things Are... The night Max wore his wolf suit..." Going from page to page, Richard found himself changing voices for characters. Each time, Lorelai giggled, inching closer to him to see the pictures. By the end of the story, she was curled up against him, reading the words with him.

"The end," they both spoke at the same time.

"Alright, Lorelai. We've read. Now it's time for you to go to bed."

To his surprise, she didn't put up a fight. "Okay." She agreed, laying back on her pillow, still smiling.

Leaning down, he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight, Lorelai."

"Goodnight, Daddy."

"You still have "Where the Wild Things Are"? You have it in your office?" Lorelai questioned, surprise filling her voice

"Of course. Books belong on bookshelves, Lorelai." Richard responded plainly. "We read it a few times, remember?" He could see it on her face that she had the same memory he did

Looking down with a smile, she answered, "Yeah, Dad. I do."

Much to Lorelai's surprise, the rest of dinner went off without a real hitch, but she also noted her mother's lack of conversation and critical eye on her and Luke.

Placing his silverware down, Richard spoke up. "Well, I have to say, that was a lovely dinner you planned, Emily. Now I think I'd like to have a moment in my study. Luke would you care to join me?"

The alarms immediately began goon going off in Lorelai's head. Her hand already in his under the table, she tightened her grip. "Uh, Dad? Is that really necessary?" She questioned, not really wanting to be without Luke and also having the feeling deep in her stomach that they were trying to split them up.

"Lorelai, you said that you wanted this to be a normal dinner. Surely you've been to enough dinners here to remember that this is customary for me." Richard answered knowingly. Dabbing his mouth with the napkin, he placed it back down and stood up. "So, Luke, if you'd like to join me..."

Reaching out, Luke sat the drink he was holding down quickly. Grabbing the napkin from his lap, he placed it on the table and stood up just as Richard did. "Of course." Walking out, he shot Lorelai a reassuring look to which she could only respond with a smile of her own, but it was a smile, he noted, that didn't come close to reaching her eyes.

"Scotch?" Richard questioned as the office door closed behind them.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm driving tonight." Luke waved him off, taking a seat uncomfortably across from the desk.

"Oh, yes. I forgot." After pouring himself a glass, Richard sat down heavily in his leather chair. "I'm glad you're putting the well-being of Rory and Lorelai first."

"They always are. I can go without a drink if it means getting them home safely." Luke spoke strongly.

"So, is it safe to assume that all is well in Stars Hollow?"

With narrowed eyes, Luke looked back at Richard curiously. "It is... is there a reason you're asking me even though you already asked Lorelai?"

He looked slightly surprised that he questioned him back, but seeing Lukes neutral face, Richard knew he wasn't going to give. "You and I both know that Lorelai has a tendency to hide things if she believes I won't approve." He spoke knowingly, sitting his glass down on a coaster.

"She does, but she's telling the truth. Everything is fine right now... but you want more information on our living situation, dont you?" Luke smirked. Noting the way Richard didn't waver, his suspicions were confirmed.

"I do...You know, Emily is rather surprised that you are still around." He answered plainly

"Okay."

"I'm not surprised... and I'm even less surprised that you two have taken it further by living together." Richard spoke honestly, lacing his fingers together in front of him. "I would just like to confirm that you know the possible effects of this decision."

"We do, but we're also not worried about them." Luke answered confidently as he straightened up, not fazed by Richards's boldness. "We wouldn't have done it unless we were secure in how we feel about each other."

"And how is it that you feel?" He prodded, sitting back, his arms crossing over his chest.

"Well, sir, I am in love with your daughter, and if she's telling the truth, she feels the same about me." The corners of Luke's lips turned upwards as he thought about them sharing their sentiments in the Jeep before they entered the Gilmore household. "And, to put all of my cards out on the table, I wanted you to know that we will be going further." He took a sip of his water before continuing. "I plan on asking her marry me."

For a moment, a silence fell upon the room before Richard cleared his throat. "Marriage is not to be joked about."

"And I'm not joking," He answered back evenly.

"What brought on this sudden urge for marriage?" Richard questioned, genuinely curious. Knew the couple was solid, but he didn't realized they had progressed so far as to think about making it permanent.

"I'm not sure you could call it sudden," Luke murmured, racking his brain for the exact answer. "I've been thinking about it for a while, and we've even discussed it."

"Did you have a time frame?"

Running his fingers through his hair, Luke found himself suddenly nervous. "Well, our anniversary is in April, so I want to at least wait until then and probably after, but I don't want to wait too long."

"If I may ask, if you don't want to wait, then why wait until after April? Why not ask sooner?"

"Because of Lorelai..."

"Are you afraid she'll say no?" Looking up, Richard thought for a second before chuckling, "Because I have to say, if that's your reasoning, you are, and I mean this in the kindest way possible, being stupid."

Shocked, Luke's eyebrows raised quickly. "Stupid?"

"Now before you get angry, I'm not insulting your overall intelligence. I just have to say, you would have to be completely ignorant to think that Lorelai would say no."

Like Richard, Luke chuckled for a second. "I'm not insulted, I'm just shocked you said the word stupid. It's just seems so..."

"Beneath me?"

"That's a good way to put it."

"I'm just calling it like I see it."

"Well, to answer you, no. I'm not stupid. I'm just being careful." In typical Luke fashion, he rose from his chair and paced the floor slowly as he explained. "I want to ask soon, but I also don't want to stress Lorelai out. We've talked about it, and I know that if I asked her tomorrow, she'd say yes eventually, but she'd also freak out at first. She's got enough on her plate as is, and I don't want to add to that. I know she's not going anywhere, and neither am I, so I can just wait."

"I can respect that... and I'm pleased you have enough respect for my daughter to think it through."

He was rather surprised by Richard's answer. "Are you saying you approve?" Luke questioned, his eyes scanning his face for some sort of hint.

"Yes, I am."

Loudly, Luke released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Okay."

"I do have to ask you one thing, though."

"And that is?"

Holding out his hand as if he was making a deal, Richard leaned forward. "If and when you plan the wedding, make sure Emily and I are invited."

"Oh, okay." Slightly shocked he would think that Lorelai wouldn't invite them, Luke shook his head to clear it and reached out, giving Richard's a stern shake. "I'll make sure it happens."

As the men conversed in Richards office, Emily, Lorelai, and Rory settled back into the living room. No one spoke up, with Lorelai keeping her eyes on her lap, except for when she kept shooting her eyes over towards her father's study.

Catching her quick glance for the umpteenth time, Emily rolled her eyes. "For heaven's sake, Lorelai, he's not torturing the man. You don't have to keep looking over there like he's being held hostage."

"Well of course not. There's way to many ways to sneak out of that room... He would have taken him to the pantry if he really wanted to keep him from leaving."

"Honestly... Is that really necessary?" Her mother looked at her plainly, pursing her lips in disapproval.

Neither continued, allowing the room to fall into silence again. After around five minutes, Lorelai felt a soft tap on her shoulder. Looking down, she was met with Rory's imploring eyes "Yeah, sweets," Lorelai questioned.

"I've gotta go to the bathroom."

"Okay... you know where it is, right?"

"Yeah." Hopping off the couch, Rory scurried over to the staircase and upstairs.

As soon as she was out of hearing distance, Emily cleared her throat.

Knowing the sound from past experience, Lorelai looked back in front of her quickly. "Yes, mother?"

"I want to discuss something with you."

Something within her already knew where the conversation was going. Lorelai held up her hand. "If this is going to be a lecture on the hazards of living together before marriage now that Rory's out of the room, don't even waist your breath. You're not going to change anything." She warned, crossing her arms across her chest defensively

Taking a sip of her drink, she frowned. "I just can't believe you're willing to do something so foolish."

"So much for wasting your breath," Lorelai muttered.

"You're not even married to the man and you have him sleeping under the same roof as you and your daughter. Not only is it foolish, it is completely irresponsible." Emily reinforced in a stern tone.

Lorelai's eyes immediately narrowed at her. "What do you—-How is it irresponsible?" Questioned, throwing out her hand and narrowly sloshing her wine over the rim of her glass.

"What if something happens?"

Rolling her eyes, she answered, "Oh, I'm sure that's exactly what you're expecting. You're expecting me and Luke to break up."

"My personal opinion on the matter is no issue. Rory seems to care a great deal for Luke, and if the relationship ends, she will be devastated. This situation is not good for Rory." She reinforced

"I don't need you telling me what's good and what's not good for Rory, mother," Lorelai countered her back forcefully. "I thought long and hard about the decision to move Luke in, and Rory was my number one consideration. You don't have to worry about our relationship ending because it's not going to end. Plain and simple."

"And how can you be so sure? Please, Lorelai, enlighten me on how you know the future. This man could leave you tomorrow if he felt like it, and you have put your daughter in a terrible situation if that were to happen."

"Because I just know!" In a long drink, Lorelai downed the rest of her wine before looking straight at her mother's eyes. "I love Luke and Luke loves me. I know you don't want us together, but too bad for you, because we're staying together."

"Is there a ring on your finger?"

"Excuse me?"

"I said, is there a wedding ring on your finger?" Holding up her left hand, Emily showed her ring finger. "Once you have a ring, then that shows commitment. Right now, you're just as good as roommates."

"No, Mom, I'm not wearing a ring, but we've talked about it, and I will be eventually.." At the slight look of shock and horror on Emily's face, Lorelai could barely hold in the smile she wanted to wear. "Like it or not, Luke and I are not only together and living together now, but we will be doing so from here on out. You'll just have to get over it."

Driving back to Stars Hollow later that evening, Rory was tuckered out in her car seat as Luke drove and Lorelai stared mindlessly out the front windshield.

"So... that wasn't so bad, was it?" Luke glanced over at Lorelai hesitantly.

"It wasn't great... Mom tried to lecture me when you were with Dad about us living together, but I guess it could've been worse." She expected him to ask about the lecture, but he didn't. Looking over at him, saw him shaking his head. "What?"

"You're Dad kind of tried to do the same thing. He didn't lecture me, but he asked about it."

"I knew it!" She exclaimed louder than she should. Quickly, she turned to the back seat to see that Rory was still asleep. Lowering her voice some, she frowned. "I knew that the whole "join me in my study Luke" thing was a plot to separate us." She imitated in her Dads voice. "Why couldn't they just ask us together? It's not like separating us would have changed our answers." Waiting for a second, Lorelai shuffled in her seat before adding a hesitant, "Right?"

Luke shot a small smile her way. "Right."

Moving her whole body, Lorelai turned to face him. "What else did you and Dad talk about?"

"Oh, you know. Typical man things. Apparently, he thought I was one of his business partners with how he talked about meetings and 401ks and policies." He lied, careful not to reveal what they really talked about. In his mind, he was amazed at his ability to create a story. If it wasn't to Lorelai, she would probably be proud that her tactics rubbed off on him.

"Im sorry. I know talking bigwig mumbo jumbo isn't your thing," she frowned sympathetically. Reaching across the console, she placed her hand on his thigh. "And just think. We get to do this once a month, now."

Grabbing her hand before it could wander north, he brought it up to his lips. "I think we'll make it. This might be the start of something good for you."

At the conversations' natural end, they let the Jeep fill with silence.

Suddenly, Luke cleared his throat, causing Lorelai look back at him "It could be worse; we could have to go every Friday night instead."

"Hah," she laughed shortly, shaking her head. "I can only imagine what that would be like."

"I'm sure you'd storm in the diner after closing on the weeks I couldnt make it, and demand coffee to drown your sorrows."

"Would you let me," she questioned him.

"I'm sure you already know the answer to that."

"I don't know. I feel like my persuasion abilities are decreasing these days. You denied me fries the other day, and I was pouting my ass off."

Rolling his eyes, Luke shook his head. "I had already turned off the fryer and cleaned it. I was not turning everything back on for one batch of fries."

"But if my pout was really that effective, it would have worked." Lorelai countered.

"So giving in when you pouted for the first order of fries, pie, and ice cream meant nothing? You are irresistible when you do that and you know it."

From the tone in his voice, she could feel a rant coming on. Trying to keep her voice even, she responded carefully. "I am? I thought the Rory eyes were better than anything I could do."

"Oh please, where do you think she got it from? You can get me to do anything. The pout is just one of your methods. The hair flip, the puppy dog eyes, and not to mention that low blue sweater and flippy skirt you always seem to wear when you want something work too. People used to say that I was the most stubborn person alive and would say no to anyone, but one look from you, and now Im agreeable to anything."

"I had no idea I had such power over you."

"Oh please. You-" Out of the corner of his eye, Luke caught a glimpse of her teasing look and realized she was baiting him. "You know exactly what the hell you do to me." He griped and rolled his eyes.

"Well apparently I do enough to convince you to stick around and to go to monthly dinners at my parents house...So, thanks for giving in." Lorelai thanked him genuinely and smiled small.

"Any time... You know that."

Pulling on his wrist, he released the wheel as she brought it to her lips like he did to hers earlier. "I do… I love you."

"I love you too…"

A/N: Happy Easter, everyone! If you're a Christian, enjoy your celebration of Resurrection Sunday. If you're anything else, I hope you enjoy the day no matter how you celebrate it or whether you celebrate at all!

It's hard to believe that I have almost been working on this story for a year. When I started this story, I honestly had no clue what I was doing and I definitely had no clue that this story would be this big, so THANK YOU! Thank you to all of the followers, favoriters (- I don't think that's a word, but oh well XD), and reviewers. I love and appreciate every single one of you! College has been stressing me out a lot since I started, and I hate that it keeps me from uploading as often as I want, so thank you guys for being so understanding of my random uploads! I hope that once summer comes, I'll get back on some sort of upload schedule. (So, yes, that means I am planning on continuing this story for a while!)

P.S. I'm finally almost back up to my original 40 chapters, so that's good for all of you who can't review on chapters since you've technically already reviewed before! I want to make reviewing easy for you guys as possible, so I hope to hit chapter 41 as soon as possible.

After all that, I just want to say that I hope you enjoy this chapter! If you do, leave a like, or a favorite, or a review! I love to hear everyone's feedback. It totally makes my day, whether good or bad! I like to make this story as great for all of you as I possibly can!