Disclaimer in first chapter, still don't own, if I did I would be working on the revival.
Thanks for all the reviews/favorites/follows.
Lorelai walked into Rory's room to find that once again Paul Anka had taken to the room, using the bed as his bed since he was inexplicably scared of the doggie bed that was purchased for him months ago. She ruffled his hair before setting the empty cardboard box down in the free space next to her dog. He gave a quick sniff of the box before deciding that it wasn't a threat to him, not like peas were, and squished around until he was back comfortable on the bed that reminded him of someone familiar that didn't come around too much.
"You know," Lorelai said speaking to the dog who didn't seem to know that she was talking to him, "You're going to have to give up this room too. Soon we'll have someone else staying here and she'll need this room. I don't think she'll like sleeping with a dog." When Paul Anka finally looked up at her, "I'm serious. You're going to have to learn to share with April, she's your sister too."
Lorelai jumped when she was startled by a voice directly behind her.
"Talking to the dog again?"
Lorelai turned and playfully slapped at the flannel-clad chest that she was met with, the man in said flannel wore a smirk on his face while she wore a pout on hers, though the humor in her eyes gave her away. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Don't sneak up on me like that. I thought you already left for the diner."
"I did," Luke informed her, resting his hands on his head and adjusting his well worn blue baseball cap. "I forgot my hat, had to come back for it."
Lorelai gasped then threw her hand over her mouth for extra effect, "You forgot your hat? Did the world end? Is this the apocalypse? If I look outside will I see fireballs raining down from the sky? You know I thought the end of the world would much more dramatic than this, this is frankly kind of dull," she quipped, not really to Luke's amusement.
"Are you done?"
Lorelai shook her head, a bright teasing grin was plastered on her face. "Did anyone see you? Did they recognize you? Did they think that you have been cloned but they forgot the most vital part of your wardrobe? Did your head feel empty? Did your hair thank you for finally letting it breathe?"
"If you have anymore, I'll find you a picture of me so you can continue this conversation. I really do have to get to the diner."
"No, no, there's no more, I'm done," Lorelai promised, reaching out and grabbing Luke's arm to turn him back towards her when it seemed like he was going to leave the room. "I swear, nothing else. At least for right now. If I think of anything else, I'll make sure to immediately call you and report it all back to you because I know how much you want to know."
"I look forward to it," Luke replied dryly. It was at that time he noticed what he failed to notice upon entering the room, a cardboard box with Rory's name scrawled across it in black marker. His eyes cut back to Lorelai, "What's that for? A Rory box?"
Lorelai nodded her head. "Thought it was time to finally kick her out of the house. Get rid of all her junk. She's old enough. I thought I might turn this into a roller disco or a room where I can finally reenact scenes from Xanadu."
"Might be a little too small for that," Luke observed.
"Well since you're set on ruining all of my ideas, I'll just have to stick to my original plan for this room which was to clear out a few things for April." Her hands went to her hips as she looked around the room taking mental notes of what could be moved out of the room and what should remain in the room. "I mean there's not a whole lot in here considering that Rory has her own place now and only stays here occasionally but I figured that I could move a few things out, give April some room to put whatever she wants, decorate, school stuff, you know just to make her feel at home."
"Are you okay with this?"
Lorelai titled her head slightly to the side, "Okay with what?"
Luke gestured to the room in which they were in. "This."
"Oh my god," Lorelai stressed, "Be more vague."
"I meant..." Luke sighed. "I know we need the room for April because she's staying here but are you okay with dumping Rory's stuff out of here? When April isn't staying with us, Rory might be here but her stuff won't be in the room because you moved it all out."
"Luke, hon, Rory's grown and already moved out of here. She hasn't stayed in this room full-time since she started at Yale and yes, she stayed here some during the summer and some weekends but she also has her own apartment now," Lorelai explained. "Well an apartment with Paris and Doyle. And April's going to need her own space while she's here, I don't want her to feel like she's just a guest here. I want her to feel like this is her home too. Yes, this has always been Rory's room but now it has to be April's room too."
Lorelai moved to sit on the chest at the end of Rory's bed. "And it's not like I'm dumping all of her stuff, it's just being stored away. I couldn't keep this room as a shrine to her forever, I mean I could if I was an old spinster with several cats but even then I might just hand the room over to the cats because I don't really like cats that much. But since I'm not an old spinster and I have you and we're developing into our own little family, this room has other uses. I'm totally okay with this, there's no reason not to be okay with this."
During her speech, Luke had moved to sit next to Lorelai. His hand rested on her knee, he gave it a little squeeze. "I was just checking."
"I know you were."
"You know, I've been thinking about that," Luke replied. He decided to elaborate when he noticed that Lorelai looked confused. "How to make April feel more at home here, with this room, make her feel like this is her own space, you know what I'm talking about."
"Right. So what's going on in that pretty, little, hardly ever hat-less head of yours?"
"Well I thought about going shopping, buy her some stuff for this room, new stuff, some pillows, a lamp or something, I don't know," Luke kind of drifted off but quickly picked back up again. "But then I remembered the birthday present incident and how you saved that so I decided that I should wait until April is actually here so she can get her own stuff if she wants it."
Lorelai couldn't help but smile at the man next to her, "Now who says you can't be smart and hot because you are clearly proving those people wrong. You're learning."
"I've had some help."
"Good help?"
"Great help."
Lorelai arched an eyebrow, "Only great help?" she inquired. "Not fantastic, amazing, best help you've ever had in your life?"
Luke's lips twitched with the beginning of a smirk. "Dirty."
"Hey," Lorelai nudged him, "That's my line."
Luke smiled at her before leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "I should get back to the diner now."
"Yes you should," Lorelai said as Luke stood up and pulled her up to a standing position. "Because if you don't get there soon then people might freak out and think that your hat-less clone has kidnapped you in an attempt to take over your life where he would enjoy all the same things, just without the backwards baseball cap."
Luke pressed another kiss to her lips, lingering just a bit long than he did just moments ago. "I'll see you later tonight."
"Remember we have dinner with my parents tonight," Lorelai called after Luke as he left the room.
When she heard confirmation from him that he did remember and that he would be home in time to go to Friday Night dinner, she stood up and began to move around the room. Occasionally she would pick up a few items and dump them onto the mattress instead of in the cardboard box. Most were just little trinkets that Rory picked up on school field trips and small items bought for cheap to liven up her room when they first moved into the house and her budget was scarce. Nothing major, nothing that Rory would terribly miss if it was all packed up and stored in a box, which is exactly where she intended it to go. None of it would really be a problem to clear out of the room in anticipation of April's visit. The only problem she thought she might run into was the case of the clothes left behind by Rory, some she knew were left her on weekend visits and wasn't sure if Rory needed them right away but she also suspected that some of the clothes in her daughter's room were actually hers that were borrowed and never returned. In that case, they would once again find their rightful home in her closet upstairs. And if some of Rory's left behind clothes ended up there and Rory noticed then she would just say that she was simply saving the clothes from a life of sadness by never being worn.
After Luke talked with his lawyer to better understand the details surrounding his custody arrangement, he had to sit down with Anna and fine-tune the details involving April so they could get the ball rolling on their plan for custody. Surprisingly his talk with Anna went smoothly. Or smoother than Luke or Lorelai expected given everything she had thrown their way over the past few months. With the judge's orders in place for custody, which is the sole reason that Lorelai thought Anna was being as compliant as she was, it was easier to decide when to split up weeks between the two parents. Ultimately, after talks with both their lawyers and one another, it was decided that their time with April would be split up so she would spend up to two weeks with her father before going back to her mother. The biggest struggle came when it was time to split up the major holidays. Anna was a bit unrelenting then since she couldn't bear the thought of being away from April on certain holidays but after negotiations and arguments from Luke that he didn't even know his daughter for twelve years so he wasn't able to spend any holidays with her, a settlement was finally reached in which holidays were evenly split between the two parents.
The custody arrangement would officially start on Sunday with Anna dropping April off to spend two weeks with her father and Lorelai in Stars Hollow. Lorelai planned on having the room prepped and ready for April by that point. She only needed to clear a few things out and wash the linens and bedspread so they were fresh and clean and smelling less like dog as they currently did. For now, she would take over the clearing out of the room and leave the laundry for Luke to do, he was better at it anyways. At least that's what she liked to tell him when she wanted to avoid the inevitable laundry duty.
Lorelai carefully packed the few trinkets that she dumped on the bed earlier into the cardboard box and then set it aside. She made a few more trips around the room, clearing space off the desk, nightstand, and dresser in the room so April wouldn't feel crowded in the room by the amount of stuff that was still in there, and carefully packed it away into the box as well. She decided to leave the books on the shelves that Rory left behind in case April wanted to read one night, she still wasn't too sure of all of her interests and hobbies. Once she decided that enough stuff was cleared away for now, she decided to tackle the issue of clearing out the dresser drawers and wardrobe already deciding where to throw the clothes that she wanted to sneak back up to her room, where to throw the ones that would remain in the room, and where to throw the ones that were up to Rory to decide what to do with.
"Well I guess since Rory is busy tonight, that it's just us," Emily said taking her seat only after fixing and handing out the drinks for her company. Martini for Lorelai, beer for Luke which she assured him was now kept on hand as she intended to see him at a few more Friday Night dinners.
"Mhm," Lorelai nodded along while taking a sip from her glass. "Where's Dad tonight?"
"He's in his study on a call," Emily informed the couple. "He knows that dinner is to be served at seven, I'm sure he'll join us in a minute." She sipped on her martini before directing her attention to Luke. "We haven't seen you at dinner in a while Luke."
Despite Lorelai's re-entrance to Friday Night dinners a couple of weeks ago, the dinners restarting once summer ended, Luke had not attended alongside her. He had not attended many before that for different reasons, some which Lorelai didn't want to dwell on now, but now that things were better for them they hadn't discussed Friday Night dinners and Luke's role in them. Tonight just happened to be a night where Luke tagged along with Lorelai.
Back before the revelation that her parents were thinking of buying them a house as a wedding present, which she saw as their way of showing they actually support her decision to marry Luke, she didn't like to subject Luke to that many dinners seeing as snide comments were more abundant than usual. But now with the new, somewhat improved albeit strange relationship she had forged with her mother and the willingness to incorporate Luke into the family through offering help and the idea of an extravagant wedding present, Lorelai wasn't sure how Friday Night dinners would factor into their lives.
"Yeah, well, I do have the diner, I like to give the other workers Friday night off usually because they have plans and I don't mind closing," Luke tried to explain his absence but ultimately turned to Lorelai for guidance.
"Mom he owns a business, he can't be at every dinner. I'm not even at every single dinner we have," Lorelai had wanted to say more but was interrupted by Emily who decided to speak and make her opinion known.
"I understand but these dinners are a weekly thing, have been for years. They are something that you know about every week. What I'm saying is that you two are engaged, when you do get married Luke will be family and these dinners are for family," Emily explained to the couple that sat in front of her. "I know some dinners cannot be made because of work-related reasons or such but I would like to see both you and Luke here."
Lorelai patted Luke's knee for reassurance, "We'll see Mom."
The maid, which Lorelai noted had lasted more than a week under the reign of Emily and didn't seem to cower of the sight of the lady in mention, entered the room to announce the dinner was ready the same time that Richard emerged from his study. Emily dropped the issue of the attendance of Friday Night dinners, for now, and ushered everyone into dining room for dinner to be served.
At the dining room table, Richard first struck up a conversation with Luke, curious to see how the diner business was doing and to see if there were any tips he could offer the proprietor. He even offered up the chance to franchise the diner again, starting with a few locations close to home, if Luke ever wanted to go down that road. When Luke, once again, turned down the offer since his diner was enough for him, conversation flowed towards the business at the Dragonfly and Lorelai's life, as if her mother hadn't called earlier this week to check in on things and scout around for any new information into her daughter's life. Lorelai had the sneaking suspicion that her mother was waiting for an announcement that an official wedding date had been set since some of her questions seemed to tip in that direction but there was still no development in that area.
Emily and Richard had requested to be kept up to date on Luke's custody battle with Anna and they were, Lorelai had informed them of the verdict and April's upcoming visits to Stars Hollow that came along with the announcement that Luke had won in this custody battle. So it wasn't completely surprising when her name came up in the conversation at the dinner table.
"When will April come to stay with you?" Emily asked, directly asking Luke. "Soon?"
"Yeah," Luke gave a nod of his head. "Her mom is supposed to drop her off Sunday and she's going to stay with us for two weeks."
"That's good news," Emily replied cheerfully, immediately sending off suspicious vibes, at least to Lorelai.
"It is," Luke agreed while across the table Lorelai was trying to figure out her mother's angle and cheerful disposition.
"Isn't that good news Lorelai?" Emily asked. "I'm sure you're happy about April coming to stay with you two, give you bonding time as a family."
"Right, yeah," Lorelai agreed, she carefully studied her mother while she spoke. "I spent time today getting her room ready for her when she is dropped off on Sunday."
"She'll stay in Rory's room?" Emily inquired, "What if Rory needs her room for something while April is there?"
"Well, Mom, Rory does have an apartment so I don't think she'll need the room for anything besides maybe trying to find something she lost in there," Lorelai replied. "Rory knows that April will be staying with us, besides she doesn't spend much time at home now anyways, it's not like we're displacing her or anything."
"More room in your house would still be helpful, especially if Rory wanted to spend the weekend at home," Emily led on. "Another add-on to the house or just, perhaps, a new house."
"Like I said, Rory knows that April will be with us so I don't see her trying to spend the night anytime soon. We're working with what we have for now," Lorelai explained.
"I see."
Lorelai had speared her asparagus and it was half-way to her mouth when she heard the question that she should have known her mother would throw out there. She should have known it wouldn't stop at inquiries about the house and where April would stay and if it would be in Rory's room.
"Will April be attending Friday Night dinner with you while she is staying with you?" Emily asked, peering over the rim of her glass at Lorelai then Luke.
"Uh..." Lorelai locked eyes with Luke across the table as she tried to think of her response. She tried to read his expression but that didn't lead her anywhere. "Well, um..."
"Um is not an answer," Richard chimed in, having been quiet for most of latter part of the conversation.
"Your father's right. Answer the question Lorelai, will April be joining us for Friday Night dinner?" Emily asked again. "I would like to plan ahead and if I know that she's coming, I would like to have something that she'll eat."
Lorelai kept her eyes locked with Luke's. "We haven't talked about that Mom."
"Well what's there to talk about? She'll be a part of the family when you two get married, these dinners are for family, you'll be attending the dinner anyways, it makes sense that April would attend with you," Emily replied.
Lorelai sighed. "These are different circumstances."
"I would like to get to know April and I'm sure your father would as well," Emily replied.
Lorelai nodded her head, "Right, but still these are different circumstances. I've barely spent any time around April myself and I'm not sure if this is the best decision."
When Emily didn't let up, not that anyone thought she would right away, Lorelai looked across the table at Luke and silently pleaded with him to say something about the situation and not to just be silent. He was April's father after all and this was more his decision than hers, since she still didn't know how much she should assert herself in decisions for April's life.
Luke nodded his head firmly at Lorelai. "Lorelai's right, we haven't talked about it. I think we should talk about it before any decision is made."
Lorelai gave him a small smile, grateful that he finally spoke up. She turned to face her mother, "We'll talk."
"Listen about what my mother said at dinner tonight, about April attending them," Lorelai said as she slid into bed next to Luke. "I know I said and you that we should talk about it, but I think it should be your decision, April's your daughter, you should decide if you want her to go. I can offer my opinion on the subject though."
Luke blew out a breath. "I don't know about bringing her over. I guess she should get to know them at some point but she's just getting to know you and I don't know about bringing her over to your parents."
"Besides who knows how my parents will act if she does go."
"I know your parents aren't the warmest people in the world," Luke said, earning a scoff and 'you think?' from Lorelai. "But you don't think that they'll do anything."
Lorelai shook her head, "Oh no, I don't think they'll do anything. I mean my mom was trying to get to know that random kid at the diner because she thought she was yours. She was somewhat warm to her at first until she discovered that she wasn't your kid then that was a different story. My relationship with them has been different lately, not as terrible, but I don't know...that's your decision."
"Why is it only my decision, they're your parents," Luke replied.
"And April's your daughter," Lorelai replied. "She's just coming into your life, I'm just getting to know her, you went through this whole custody battle with Anna. You're the father, I'm dad's fiancée. I'm here to help with April but I don't know my role as far as decisions go. Do I help with small ones like this? Big ones should probably be left up to you and Anna. I can give opinions and my opinion for this would be to wait Friday Night dinners include all of us."
"I honestly don't know either," Luke confessed causing Lorelai to chuckle. "I thought about it and of course I want you involved in her life..."
"Well it would kind of be hard for me to avoid being involved in her life if she's staying in the house."
"I feel like there should be a balance because we will get married, you will be April's step-mom and a part in her life, I don't know what that balance should be though. I don't know the right thing to do."
"Hey don't look at me, I don't know either. I never had this problem with Christopher," Lorelai replied. "Well sort of when she was older and then I freaked out but that was still different from this. He still wasn't that involved and Rory kind of made her own decisions."
"Right."
Lorelai gave him a reassuring smile. "You'll figure it out." She leaned in a pressed a kiss to his lips. "And by the way, I moved some stuff out of Rory's room so April will have space, the only thing left to do is to wash the sheets."
"And let me guess," Luke said, as both he and Lorelai began to get more comfortable in the bed, both taking their sides and sinking down into the covers, "You left the laundry for me to do?"
"Well you are the best at it."
Luke saw this as his second opportunity today and he couldn't resist. "Dirty."
Lorelai's smile slowly turned into a smirk as Luke moved above her, his hand slowly and teasingly inching up underneath her pajama top. "You know there's something else that you're the best at."
"Really?" Luke asked and Lorelai answered him with a nod. "What's that?"
"Making coffee," she teased, noting his handiwork as his hand was no longer under her top but had worked the buttons loose so she now lay exposed to him.
A moan escaped her throat as it was now his turn to tease her which he took his time doing, peppering soft kisses along her exposed skin while his hands toyed with the waistband of her pajama pants. Her hands were busy as well, bunching up his shirt and pulling it over his head as soon as she got the chance. She ran her fingers through his hair holding him in place as he paid very close attention to her chest, finally she pulled him up to her connecting their lips in a passionate kiss.
She thought she should tell him that he was better than coffee though she knew that he already knew that without the words ever having to be spoken but she decided, like Luke's train of thought, that she would let her actions speak. Then he would get the memo. Coffee just couldn't compare to him.
A little Luke/Lorelai time that was needed seeing as there wasn't much alone time for them in previous chapters.
As always, reviews are appreciated.
As far as the revival goes, I'm pretty excited. Especially now that Sutton Foster has been added to the cast list. As far as any returning ex-boyfriends, I can take them or leave them. I do like Jess more than any of them though.
