CHAPTER 37: GOAL! FOUL! TOUCHDOWN?

"Luke, what's a Super Bowl?" Lorelai yelled out as she walked in the door Tuesday evening.

Looking up from the cutting board, Luke sat down his knife, and leaned back against the counter waiting for her to come in the kitchen. When she stepped through the doorway, he frowned. "You know, yelling loudly as soon as you walk in the door isn't the best idea when there's someone in the kitchen using a knife."

Smiling, she plopped down at the table across from him. "And you should know that holding a knife around the time I come home is a bad idea because I'm a loud person who's prone to yelling randomly."

"How irresponsible of me to forget." Rolling his eyes, he went back to chopping. "The Super Bowl is the championship for the NFL. It's between the Giants and the Bills this Sunday..." Stopping again Luke looked back at her with a teasing smirk. "Not that I expect you to know what any of that means."

"Excuse me!" Lorelai faked astonishment with a gasp. "I happen to know somethings." Under his questioning gaze, she smiled. "Okay. I know one thing."

"And that is?"

"That the referees wear black and white shirts instead of blue... Remember? I had to know that for my Halloween costume." In a second, she saw his eyes flicker and grinned as she realized he was remembering that night. "I'm guessing you do, remember, huh?"

Chuckling, he turned back to the cutting board as he shook his head. "I don't think I'll ever forget." When he finished chopping the peppers and onions, he dropped them into the pot of chili on the stove and gave it a stir. Satisfied, he put the spoon down and walked to sit next to her. "So, why are you asking about the super bowl?"

"Apparently there is going to be a party to watch it at Miss Patty's Sunday night. Kirk came up to me and Rory at the library asking if I wanted to bet on the final score."

"Doesn't he know by now that you don't watch sports?"

"He does, but he thought I would want to get in on the action for some reason. I'm not even sure if I'll go to the party." Seeing his gaze shift from her momentarily when she mentioned the party, she cocked her head. "Do you want to go?"

"I've gone in years past, but I'm just gonna watch it here this year." He shrugged nonchalantly. "You didn't drag me to the New Years' Party so I won't drag you to the Super Bowl thing."

"Uh uh." She held up a finger in dispute. "You forget that I, Lorelai Gilmore, can find a way to have fun at any event." At his unsure look, she reached out her hand to take his. "I'm sure either Sookie or Mia wouldn't mind watching Rory for a little while since neither of them like sports either... I want you to have a night where we do what you like not what I like, so let's go."

Unable to come up with an argument to counter, he resigned with a small nod of his head. "Okay." Slowly, he stood up to go tend to the pot on the stove, but before he walked away, he planted a kiss to her lips. "Thanks."

"No problem..." Lorelai smiled at his retreating form. "But you better be prepared to explain everything, otherwise I'll have to stare at the players butts all night like I do when you force me to watch baseball."

Not turning all the way around, he looked back at her with raised eyebrows.

"Or I could just have you stand in front of me all night and stare at yours... but I don't know if I could be trusted to keep my hands to myself in public and that might inspire Patty to do the same." At his groan, she giggled. "That's what I thought."

Sunday night, Patty's Studio was packed full of football fans. The couches, moved over from the Black, White, and Read Movie Theater, filled the room, and on one couch was where Lorelai found herself next to Luke, with a cup of punch resting in her hand on the arm of the couch.

"So, the Giants and the Bills have the same colors, but they are wearing different color uniforms? Why?" Lorelai questioned.

Sipping at his beer, Luke took his eyes from the screen and looked at her. "Because they need to be able to tell the teams apart. If they wear the same colors, they don't know who to give the ball to."

Frowning, she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I just don't think that's fair. What if the Bills wanted to wear blue? Their uniforms are so white and boring."

"I'm sure they'll get over it." Taking his eyes back to the screen, Luke felt a soft tapping on his shoulder a few moments later. "Yes, Lorelai?"

Pointing at the score box at the bottom of the screen that said 9-3, she questioned further, "Why did the Buffalo team just get six points?"

"Because they scored a touchdown."

"But why six? That's such a random number?" She saw the number change to 10-3 and her frown deepened. "Why do they get seven points now?"

Setting his drink down, Luke turned to face her, smirking at the confused look on her face. "Because they made the extra point after the touchdown. They kicked the ball through the upright."

"But why is that kick only worth one when the other is worth three?"

Opening his mouth to answer, he caught himself. Thinking on it for a second, he shook his head and answered honestly. "I don't know..."

Cocking her head with surprise, Lorelai arched an eyebrow. "You don't know?"

"No. I didn't make the rules. I just know them, and a field goal is three points, a touch down is six, and an extra point is one." He shrugged as he explained

"Well that's just stupid." Seeing the game return from commercial, Lorelai watched as the Bills kicked off to the Giants. Her eyes narrowed as the Giants player took a knee in the end zone for a touchback. "Why doesn't he get six points? He caught the ball and he's in the little box thingy."

"It's called the end zone," Luke corrected her, "and he doesn't get a touch down because it's a kick off. His team has to get to the other end zone to score a touchdown."

Sighing, she threw herself unceremoniously and dramatically against the back of the couch. "See, this is why I don't watch football. The rules are confusing. Not even the tight-fitting pants make this worth watching."

Luke chuckled as he watched a small pout form on her face. Reaching out, he took her empty punch cup and stood up. "I'm going to get us some more to drink. I expect you to give me a full play by play of what I missed when I get back." He smirked.

Slapping his abs playfully and she stuck her tongue out at him. "Whatever...I'll remember that next time I leave the living room when Friends is on, and I need you to give me a recap."

In Luke's absence, and not to Lorelai's surprise, Patty took a seat quickly beside her. "So, Lorelai, are you enjoying the party?"

"Yeah… this really isn't my cup of tea, but Luke is having a good time, so…"

"Speaking of that hunk of a man," Patty grinned naughtily, her eyes trailing over and lingering on Luke as he stood in line at the drink table. "I'm assuming things with the two of you are going well."

Laughing at Patty's obvious ogling of Luke, Lorelai nudged her with her elbow. "Remember, look but don't touch."

"Oh, I know. He only has the hots for you my dear." She let her gaze linger a little longer before looking back at Lorelai. "That man is so smitten, he won't give any woman the time of day."

"I can't say that I mind," Lorelai smiled.

"I wouldn't if I were you. I would love for him to give me all of his attention," Patty laughed. "So…is there any news that I should know about? I heard you had dinner with your folks last week."

Shaking her head at her not-so-subtle prodding for information, Lorelai patted Patty's knee. "It was just a regular dinner with family… but if there is news in the future, don't worry, I'll let you know. Eastside Tilly won't get the scoop before you do."

"Thanks, dear, that's very sweet of you." Seeing Luke approaching, Patty stood up quickly. "It was nice talking to you, Lorelai."

Sitting back down in his place, Luke handed her her drink with an arched brow. "What did she want?"

"Nothing but gossip," Lorelai smiled as she shook her head. "Apparently she heard we had dinner with my parents last week and thought that we were making things more… official."

To his luck, Luke's quick tense at her words went unnoticed. Not wanting her to realize that he had actually mentioned something to her father about that very thing, he covered his bases by throwing in his usual eye roll. "I swear, people can't keep their noses in their own business in this town."

"Tell me about it…" Leaning back into his side, Lorelai continued after taking a drink of her punch. "But just so you know, I told Patty that she would get the inside scoop before Tilly, so when it does happen, you better keep your mouth shut…"

"Because I have such a hard time avoiding talking to them now," He scoffed.

"I didn't think so..." Nudging his knee with hers, she pointed back at the TV screen. "So, that guy who has the ball, why does he run through all the other big guys? Why doesn't he turn around and run to the other box-end zone- thing? That seems so much easier?"

"Goal!"

Luke rolled his eyes as he pulled Lorelai back towards the couch. "For the last time, it's a touchdown."

Plopping down back to her spot beside him, she grinned. "I know that. I just like to see the looks on people's faces when I say it." Resting her head on his shoulder, she spoke a little lower. "Especially yours... you have no idea how sexy frustrated Luke is."

His arm came to rest around her shoulder, and she immediately snuggled into his side, her eyes everywhere but the game. "Then I must be irresistible all the time."

Leaning up, Lorelai brought her lips to the shell of his ear. "You have no idea… What do you say to springing this joint and playing a little game on our own?"

Before she could start what he assumed she was about to do, Luke turned his head quickly and planted a kiss to her lips. "You're drunk."

With an offended look, Lorelai countered, "I'm not drunk."

"Oh really? Then what do you call this?" He raised his eyebrows and gestured to her.

"Honestly, I'm not. I'm a little buzzed off my punch, but I'm not drunk." Noticing no one else was looking, she stole a quick but hard kiss. "I've just got the hots for ya," She replied saucily with a grin as she pulled back

"Well keep those hots and your hands to yourself until we get back home." He chuckled, stopping her hand that was slowly riding up his thigh.

Pouting, turned to where she could lean back against him. "Fine, but once we shut Rory's door tonight, you're mine."

"Looking forward to it."

The final quarter passed quickly, and the clock finally showed there was around two minutes left in the game. Luke along with many of the other men, had gathered closer to the TV. As the Giants made a field goal to take the lead, the entire group groaned and yelled, and Luke stomped heavily over to the couch.

Smiling at him, she patted the seat beside her in invitation. "I'm guessing whatever just happened on the screen was not good."

Not even taking the time to show his displeasure at her teasing, Luke sat down heavily. "The Bills were a favorite by 7! They don't have a damn reason to be behind like this!"

"Maybe they were afraid to hurt the Giants feelings by winning, so they're letting them win."

Looking at her with a leer, he spoke roughly. "Are you trying to be cute?"

"Yep, and I can tell by the look on your face that it's working." She noted teasingly and grabbed his hand. Taking her eyes back to the TV, she pointed to the clock. "Relax, babe. The TV says they have 2:16 left. That's enough time for the quarterback to score a kick or something to make them win right?"

He couldn't help the upturn of his lips at her attempt to console him. "You couldn't be more wrong in what you just said, but thanks for trying to console me." Quickly out of his bad mood, he planted a kiss on her lips watched the rest of the game with hope that they Bills could pull it off.

Luke's hope was short lived, though, when the Bills missed a game winning field goal. "Well there goes my bet." He grumbled

Looking at him with surprise, her jaw dropped. "You bet on the game? What happened to your "bets are stupid" rant."

"Bets are stupid everywhere but sports." Shifting in his seat, he continued grouchily. "I swear if Bootsy beats me again this year, I might throw him through a wall."

Seeing a slight pout form on his lips, Lorelai couldn't help but laugh and patted his knee. "Well, look over there and find out Bootsy's fate. It looks like Patty is going through prediction sheet thingies."

They both turned, as did the rest of the party, and watched in anticipation as Patty looked through the entries. A minute or so in, she began to laugh. "Babette come over here! You won't believe this!" The blonde scrambled over to stand by Patty and looked at the bottom of the first sheet and immediately started cackling. "No way!"

Sitting the sheet to the side, they went through the rest of the bets quickly and picked the sheet back up. Speaking through another laugh, Patty announced, "Well, everyone. We have one person who got the score spot on..."

From somewhere in the crowd, someone called out "Who the hell was dumb enough to pick the Giants to win!"

"Can it, Bootsy!" Babette yelled back then cackled a laugh. "You're just a sore loser!"

"Anyway, as I was saying," Patty continued smoothly, "Picking 20 for the Giants and 19 for the Bills, Lorelai won!" Began to laugh.

A unanimous sigh and groan filled the room as Lorelai fist pumped and jumped up. "Wooo! Yeah! Who knew this sports thing could be so fun!" Walking over she took her winnings. Sticking her tongue out, she called, "Take that, Bootsy! You can all now bow to me, Queen Lorelai, the master at all things football."

When she walked back over to the couch and stood in front of him, Luke looked up at her with a frown. "You have got to be kidding me... how the hell did you come up with that score?"

"Because I can predict the future!" At his raised eyebrows she smiled and nudged his knees together and plopped in his lap.

His cheeks immediately flushed. "Lorelai..." he warned as she wiggled to get comfortable, "There are people here."

"And a majority of them too drunk to care." She smiled, kissing him quickly. "I picked my numbers because 20 is my favorite number, and I think Giants are better than Buffalos, so I gave that number to them. I asked Rory to pick a number for the other score and she said 19 because she was on page 19 of her book."

"You're kidding me?"

"Nope. Completely serious." Lorelai giggled. "Trust the process babe."

Luke shook his head but couldn't keep the grin off his face. "You never cease to amaze me."

"And I never will..." Giving him a soft kiss and hopping off his lap, she extended her hand to him. "Come on, doll, let's go home."

Back at home, they saw Sookie off and tucked Rory in. As they climbed the stairs together, Lorelai leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Tonight was fun." She spoke quietly

"It wasn't bad..." He squeezed her waist. "But I'm sure it was good for you because racked up on your random bet."

"What can I say? A little extra money never hurt anyone." She shrugged. Falling back on the bed heavily as they entered their room, Lorelai watched Luke as he changed. "Luke?"

"Huh?" Luke replied, quickly pulling his shirt over his head and looking at her.

"You know that whole "You're mine when Rory's door closes" thing I mentioned earlier?"

"Yeah."

Propping herself up on one her elbows, she traced the outline of a shape on their comforter before questioning, "Can we take a rain check?"

Chuckling, he walked over to lay beside her. "Alcohol finally getting to you?"

She held up fingers showing a little space between them. "Just a little."

"It's fine; I've got to open tomorrow anyway."

As she started to get off the bed to change herself, Luke reached out for her and tugged her back down, making her squeal with laughter. "Luke!"

Moving over her, he planted a hard kiss to her lips. "But tomorrow, you're mine."

"I thought you were supposed to be mine?"

Luke shook his head and kissed her again. "You're the one who asked for the rain check, so you lose your claim...Unless you have something better to do tomorrow."

"To do?" A naughty grin immediately grew on her face. "Dirty..."

With an eye roll, he moved off of her. Patting her ass as she stood up, he smirked. "Get ready for bed, crazy lady."

Lorelai changed and brushed her teeth quickly. Coming back into the bedroom, she dove under the covers immediately and curled up behind him. She laughed quietly as she heard him hiss when her cold feet burrowed under his legs, but not saying anything else or trying to move away, Luke laid quietly in acceptance of her body curled around his.

Waiting until she heard his breathing even out, a sure sign that he was almost asleep, she called out quietly, "Hey, Luke?"

"Huh?" He answered drowsily

"Good night." She waited a few moments before adding in another. "Hey, Luke?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

He squeezed her hand that was wrapped around his waist. "I love you too."

"Hey, Luke?"

Turning over, he looked at her questioningly. "Yes, Lorelai?"

Unable to help it, she smiled at him with bright eyes. "I'm a winner. I kicked your butt in the sports thing today."

Rolling his eyes, he closed them and pulled her closer. "You just got lucky."

"And apparently tomorrow night I am going to, too."

"You can count on it." Planting a kiss to her forehead, he ran a hand through her curls. "Now go to sleep or I'm gonna wake you up with me."

"Good night, Luke."

"Good night, Lorelai."

Luke woke up slowly to a still darkened room. Something in him knew it wasn't time for him to wake up yet, but he wasn't sure why he was awake. After a moment, he finally registered something poking at his foot. Looking down at the end of the bed, he saw Rory's form and sat up quickly. "Rory?"

Though barely audible, he heard her sniffle as she walked over to his side. "I had a bad dream. I tried to get mommy, but she wouldn't wake up." She whimpered.

Reaching out to turn on the lamp, he immediately saw tears on her face and still pooled in her eyes. The sound and sight of her tugged at his heart. Holding out his arms, he motioned her to him. "Come here, princess."

When one of his arms came around her, he her tightly as she let herself cry. As she buried her face in his neck, he reached over with one hand, nudging Lorelai to get her awake.

After a few seconds, she groaned. "I went to sleep when you said. You better have a damn good reason for waking me this early."

"It's Rory."

As soon as the words left his lips, she shot up in bed. "What about Rory?" She spoke alarmed, still trying to get her bearings in the darkened room brushed her hair out of her face. After taking a second, she finally noticed the soft cry and looked over at him to see Rory looking at her. "Oh, Rory, come here."

To neither of their surprise, Rory scrambled over to her. "Shhhhh, it's okay." Lorelai soothed. "It's okay. Mommy's got you." Finally, she looked back up at Luke. "What happened?"

Wearing a concerned look, he informed her, "She had a nightmare."

"It's been a while since she's had one." Looking down, she pulled Rory back from her shoulder. "You had a bad dream, huh?"

"Yeah," she whined softly with a nod. "I was by myself and someone was chasing me and I couldn't find you or Daddy Luke."

"I'm sorry, sweets," Lorelai answered quietly, planting a soft kiss to her forehead. "It was all a dream, though. Nothing bad happened to you. I'm right here and so is Daddy Luke."

Reaching his hand out, Luke ran his hand up and down Rory's back as Lorelai pulled her tighter, and they soothed her til her tears stopped.

As her tears and cries subsided, Lorelai leaned Rory back and brushed the hair stuck to her face gently back. "Are you okay now?"

Rory nodded almost imperceptibly

"Do you want to go back downstairs, or do you want to crash up here with us tonight?"

"With you..." Rory looked over at Luke hesitantly

Seeing Rory's look, Lorelai questioned him. "Are you okay with that, babe?"

Without a thought, he scooted over to make more room in the middle of the bed. "You know I am..." Patting the spot next to him in invitation, he continued, "Come on, Rory. Between me and your mom, I don't think any more nightmares will get to you tonight."

She smiled small and crawled to burrow in between them. Laying back on the pillow, she looked up at Lorleai, expecting her to do the same. When Lorelai did the same, Rory immediately burrowed into her chest. After a few minutes, much faster than they expected, the soft snores of Rory filled the room as Luke and Lorelai looked at each other across the pillows "Thanks Luke," she whispered.

Reaching out, he took her hand that was draped across her pillow. "I told you when I moved in that I would be fine if this ever happened."

"I know... It's just nice to see a promise come to fruition."

"Don't worry, they always will." He reassured her, and a smile came across her face to match his; a smile that they both wore as they drifted off to sleep as well.

Later in the morning, Luke woke up with weight against him, but it was lighter than usual. Looking over, he saw Rory curled up against him, her fist holding tight grip on his shirt. In the night, Lorelai curled up behind her, an arm thrown protectively around her, and, consequently, partially over his waist too. Shifting slowly and sliding off the bed, he turned to see them both sleeping soundly. In that moment, he was thankful that Rory was off of school because of a teacher work day and Lorelai was off to spend it with her. After the night they had, they needed the rest. Pulling the covers back over them, he quietly grabbed his clothes and headed to get ready, though he really didn't want to leave them at all.

As the clock struck 8, Caesar walked in the door of the diner. Seeing that the crowd had died down, and, knowing it probably wouldn't start growing again until later in the day, Luke finished the orders he took, and turned the business over to Caesar for the morning, letting him know that he'd be back in a while. Making it back home, Luke was relieved to find that the girls were still asleep, and decided to make breakfast, hoping that a morning in would start they day off right for them.

While cooking, Rory came padding downstairs and into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. Wordlessly, she walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Putting the egg down that he was about to crack, Luke reached down and rubbed her back. "Bad night, huh?"

She nodded in agreement against him, still clearly waking up.

"You know, if you want to go lay down for a little bit, I'll come get you when the toast is ready."

Much to his surprise, her grip tightened around him as she shook her head no.

"Is there anything you want to do?"

Looking up at him hesitantly, she spoke shyly. "Can I help?"

"Help what? Help me cook?"

"Yeah."

Looking around at what he was making, he didn't think anything would be too dangerous for her. "Uh, sure."

"Can we use my stuff you got me for my birthday?"

"If you want."

The light that appeared in her eyes at that moment looked so much like Lorelai, and he couldn't help but smile.

"I'll be back," she perked up as she turned away. "Don't do anything without me!"

Minutes later, she appeared at his side wearing her apron, carrying her bowl and whisk. "I'm ready!"

Taking the bowl and whisk from her, Luke laid them down then pulled up a chair for her to stand in. "Okay... we're making French toast. Have you ever helped Sookie make it before?"

"No." She frowned. "But you can teach me, right?"

"You got it, kid." Luke smiled. Grabbing two eggs from the fridge, he sat on down and held one out to her. "Can you crack an egg?"

"No."

"Okay. Then I'll teach you." Picking his egg up, he tapped it lightly on the edge of the bowl and cracked it into the bowl smoothly. "All you have to do is tap it a little, and when it is cracked some, you open it from there."

Looking down at the bowl to see the egg, she looked back up and eyed him warily. "I dont know if I can do that."

"Sure you can," He countered. Moving her hand towards the bowl, Luke pushed, "Just try it. If you mess up, we can fix it."

Reaching out slowly, she tapped the egg on the edge, making a good-sized crack. As she tried to break it open, part of the shell broke and followed the egg into the mix. "Oh no!" Rory gasped. A frown immediately taking over her face, she sighed. "I'm sorry, Daddy Luke."

Grabbing a fork quickly, he fished out the shell pieces while reaching out a hand to pat her shoulder softly. "It's okay, Rory. Shells aren't a big deal. It's easy to scoop them out. You'll get the hang of it. It takes practice."

Grabbing the cinnamon, vanilla, and milk for the rest if the mixture, he laid them down and handed the whisk out to her. "Alright, now I'm going to pour the rest of the ingredients in, and you stir. Can you do that?"

Excited for a task she already knew she could do, she nodded happily. "Yep!"

As they worked, Lorelai strolled in to the room, but saying nothing, neither of them noticed. Taking a seat at the far side of the table, she just watched them and noted Rory's attentiveness and eyes wide with awe and Luke's soft-spoken directions.

They went through the rest of the steps to make the egg mix and finally began cooking the toast. Down to the final slice, Luke looked down at Rory who was wearing a big smile. "Here's the hard part again. Are you ready to flip it?"

Taking her little hand and putting it on the spatula with his, she agreed. "Mhmmm."

"Okay, one, two, three." In a quick motion, they flipped the slice over.

"Yay! We did it!" Rory exclaimed.

Seeing them together tugged at Lorelai's heart strings, filling her with love and... something else. She didn't know what, but the feeling was good. As she clapped softly, they both turned around to her, Luke suddenly wearing an embarrassed look. "Bravo, my kitchen masters. You should have your own tv show."

"We cooked French toast, Mommy!" Rory exclaimed, getting down from the chair and running over.

Welcoming her daughters embrace, Lorelai smiled. "I saw hon. I bet it's gonna taste really good."

"It is!"

"Why don't you go wash your hands to clean them off all the cooking stuff on them and we'll sit down to eat after?"

"Okay!"

As Rory ran off to the bathroom, Lorelai stood up and walked to Luke who stood with his hands shoved in his pockets. "So I guess the grumpy diner man has turned into an in-house cooking, nice Daddy Luke..."

Nodding bashfully, he ran a hand through his hatless head of hair. "Yeah."

Pulling his other hand from his pocket, Lorelai put it on her waist and leaned up to kiss him. "You're so good with her. I know I tell you all the time, but you really are. Nightmares usually scare the hell out of her for the next day, but she isn't even acting like it happened. She's happy, Luke, and you made her that way." At his inability to hide it, she saw the bashful smile appear on his lips. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

"Yeah it does," Luke squeezed her waist. Slipping in a warm, soft kiss before the sound of little footsteps filled the room, Luke reached behind him for one of the French toast plates and handed it to her, chuckling softly as her eyes widened and lit up at the foods appearance. "Come on, let's eat. You've got a fun day to spend with Rory to get ready for."

A/N: Wasn't this a sweet chapter? I loved writing it, and I really hope you enjoyed it!

This chapter was a big pile of fluff, but I wanted to write it because we are about to dive into a MUCH AWAITED story line. Any guesses on what it is? I'm sure you already suspect, and I hope I can do it justice!

XOXO S