It's been a while, hope you're still interested in this story. I was just busy and didn't have a ton of time to write, that and the lack of motivation to actually sit down and get the ideas out on the page.
Anyways. Part of this serves as my attempt to kind of establish the timeline, just where we're at season/holiday wise so everything from here on out flows a little smoother since a lot of these chapters have a little elements of S7 but not really. Working on that though. Updates should be quicker from now on!
Lorelai glided her fingers along the smooth marble counter-top of the island as she made her way through the kitchen of the house that had the very real potential of being a wedding present. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed her mother carefully watching her. Just moments ago, Emily was going on and on, boasting about the benefits of the house in comparison to the house that was currently being lived in. She had since fallen silent and even sent the real estate agent away, insisting that maybe the couple would like some time to themselves to discuss the house that they just spent the last hour walking through and exploring the different rooms inside as well as walking through the snow-covered yard that held a small pond and stables.
Lorelai couldn't deny that she actually liked the place; the walk-in closet in the spacious master bedroom was almost enough for her to agree to the house right then and there. But the house had more purpose than just a closet that practically begged her for a shopping spree so it wouldn't look so sad and empty with her and Luke's combined wardrobe. The master bedroom shared the upstairs with three additional bedrooms, two of which were conjoined by a shared bathroom. The third bedroom upstairs roomed next door to a smaller but still functional bathroom.
The staircase led down into the foyer. To the left of the foyer, the dining room rolled into an expansive kitchen that rolled into a sun porch just separated by french doors. To the right of the foyer, the living room opened up. Beyond the foyer, a hallway led to an additional bathroom and bedroom as well as a room that featured high bookcases and was rightfully declared as a small library or, if preferred, office space.
In comparison to her current and well-loved house, this place was sprawling. There was more than enough room for Rory and April both to have their own space so it would no longer be only having one of their girls stay at the house at a time. They could each have their own choice of a bedroom without having to share anymore. Though she knew realistically that Rory didn't spend nearly as much time at home as she used to and that there was a good chance she would stay at home even less than now in the future, but she would always need her own room.
Lorelai's heels clicked against the hardwood floor as she walked towards Luke who had emerged from the dining room and made his way back into the kitchen. When she was close to him, she leaned back against the counter and nodded in acknowledgment when her mother announced that she was going to go retrieve their real-estate agent, Lorene.
"So what do you think?" Lorelai asked as soon as her mother was out of ear-shot.
"It's a great house," Luke answered. "Plenty of space, this kitchen is amazing, a little on the bigger side which isn't always a bad thing," he stopped when he caught the smirk forming on Lorelai's face, "I know, dirty."
She smiled but waved off the comment. "That one was too easy." She sighed and then gazed around the room. "You know the room upstairs, next to the master bedroom?"
Luke turned to look at her. "What about it?"
"When the time comes, I think it will make a great room for a nursery," Lorelai replied wistfully.
He couldn't help but smile at that, as the thought of that certain room being a nursery had crossed his mind earlier too. "When the time comes, it would make a great nursery."
A tender smile crossed her face at the sound of his vocal agreement. She leaned closer and was just about to kiss him when Emily and Lorene both re-entered the room and interrupted their almost embrace. They had caught the tail end of the couples conversation and both questioned the need for a nursery, whether it would be needed sooner rather than later because if needed, and if they wanted the house, they could make sure they were in as soon as possible. She quickly dispelled the idea that a nursery would be needed in just a few shorts months since she was definitely not pregnant, but just that one day that particular room could potentially serve as a nursery for someone.
"So what do we think about the house?" Lorene asked, adjusting the portfolio she held in her hands. "As I said before the current owners are willing to throw in any of the furniture and appliances that you might like."
"It's a wonderful house," Lorelai admitted to which Luke agreed to with a silent nod of his head. "I don't think we're going to make a final decision today though, we still need a little time to discuss."
"Oh of course," Lorene replied. "You're welcome to take all the time you need though I do have another couple that is potentially interested in this house so the sooner you let me know whether or not you want the house, the better."
"I just want to say that I believe this house would be perfect for the two of you and your family," Emily chimed in. "Of course, your house has it's own charms Lorelai but the two of you with Rory and April may just be outgrowing it, and this would be a wonderful property that would give everyone their own space. Especially if you two choose to have another kid."
"That one is awfully pushy about more grandchildren today," Lorelai joked, earning her low and amused chuckles from Luke and a disapproving look from her mother.
"What? Is it that unreasonable to that you two might have more children one day?" Emily asked in a tone that made it evident she was not looking for an answer. "It's a reasonable consideration that comes up between two people when they are about to be married."
"Okay, I was just joking," Lorelai stressed. "No need to get all snippy."
"I'm not getting all snippy," Emily replied.
The silence that had fallen over the room was swiftly broken when Luke's cell-phone began to ring. Knowing that it could very well be April or Liz, seeing as he didn't receive many calls from anyone else besides them two and the person standing by his side, he reached into the pocket of his jacket and retrieved his phone. As his sister's number flashed on the screen, he explained to Lorelai who it was before excusing himself to take the call.
"Who is Liz?" Emily asked once Luke left the room.
"Luke's sister," Lorelai explained. "She's pregnant and kind of cutting it close to her due date so this could be an important call. He needed to take it."
"I understand," Emily gave a nod of her head. She looked to see if Lorene was listening and when she found the woman focused on the portfolio in her hands, she continued on, "You're not getting any younger, you know."
Baffled, Lorelai tried to hold back her confusion as she replied, "Wow, well if it isn't the queen of the segues."
"I'm just saying that women of your age can have some trouble conceiving. It's not impossible for you to get pregnant but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy either," Emily tried to explain. "And it's not just women, men too. You both seem like you want more children and I want you to know the struggles that a woman of your age can face when trying to conceive."
Lorelai crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from her mother, deciding rather to focus on the dark hardwood floors and her heels that matched perfectly with the dress she had chosen to wear but didn't do to well for a walk out in the snow that happened just moments earlier. She wasn't well-versed on the topic of fertility and advancing age but she did understand that there was the very real possibility that she and Luke could certainly face more challenges than a younger couple as they tried to conceive. Getting pregnant seemed easier in theory than the reality of what could be their near future.
Luckily she soon heard the familiar clomping sound of Luke's boots and was able to push the topic of her waning fertility to the back of her mind. Grateful for the distraction, she looked up as he came to a stop in front of her and asked about Liz. "How is she? Is she having the baby?"
Luke shook his head. "No, she's not having the baby. But she did call to ask if I could come over to her house and help out with the nursery."
"I thought they were finished with it," Lorelai replied. "I thought when Liz called the other day, she was excited about it and wanted us to come over to see it."
"They were finished," Luke explained. He blew out a harsh breath and then continued on. "Apparently T.J. had the bright idea that he had to test out the crib to see if it was comfortable to sleep in, so he climbed in, and because he's an adult man who thought bouncing in the crib would test it out, it broke."
"Oh no," Lorelai sighed, more out of the same exasperation that Luke felt over T.J.'s tiresome antics than actual concern but she still had to ask, "Well is he okay?"
"He's an idiot but he didn't get hurt," Luke answered. "So, of course now Liz isn't speaking to him and refuses to let him handle anything in the nursery which led to her calling me. She's freaking out about how the baby is due soon and her incompetent husband broke the crib, so now I have to go over there and help out. Try to get a new crib or something."
"A grown man that you know, that you're related to, climbed into a crib to test it out?" Emily asked incredulously. She exchanged a look with Lorene who stood beside her. "And this man is going to be a father soon?"
"That's just T.J.," Lorelai replied. "It would take too long to even try and explain."
"Trust me, I don't want to be related to him. That was all Liz's idea," Luke admitted. "I couldn't even start to explain it."
"Probably best if you don't," Lorelai added on. "Do you want me to go out there with you? I could be a great help, help with Liz and try to keep her calm even though pregnancy hormones can be killer. Or help out with the shopping, if that's what you need to do."
"I think I can handle it," Luke answered. "I know that we had plans to go out to dinner tonight, I'll try to help them out as fast as I can, help with a crib and try to get them talking again though Liz made it clear that she never wanted to see or speak to him again."
"Those are the hormones talking," Lorelai replied. "Well with a little of T.J. being an idiot mixed in, still mainly hormones. And don't worry about dinner tonight, we'll go out some other night. Right now, you need to go help your sister and help her get ready for your future niece. Or nephew?"
"They're waiting until it's born to find out," Luke explained.
"Now, are you sure you don't want me to go with you today? I really don't mind," Lorelai offered. "You know how you get around T.J."
He didn't take her up on her offer once again. "No, I think we'll be okay. I can go shopping with her, help her out with a crib, and try to get her to talk to T.J. again."
A smile beamed across her face. "You're a great man Luke Danes."
When he said that he had to go before Liz made good on her promise to harm T.J. in such a way that he wouldn't be able to see their child once it was born, Lorelai cupped her hand along the side of his face and kissed his lips softly. When he pulled away, he promised to try and be back as soon as he could and also promised, after Lorelai offered again, that if he did need any help he would not hesitate to call her. She smiled as she watched him go and then remembered that he had picked her up from the inn and drove her over here for their appointment. With the house technically sitting on the border of Stars Hollow, there was an added distance to the inn that she didn't want to walk.
"Shoot," Lorelai mumbled under her breath at the very thought of trekking back to the inn in her current attire. "Really should have asked him for a ride back."
"What was that?" Emily asked, though a finely tuned ear managed to pick up on her daughter's mumbling under her breath over the years.
"Uh...nothing," Lorelai dismissed then backtracked. "It's just that Luke and I kind of came here together and he's left so he's not here anymore but I'm still here so..."
"You need a ride," Emily finished the sentence. Before her daughter had a chance to argue against the idea, she turned to Lorene and thanked her for the day. "Thank you for today Lorene, the tour was excellent. We'll give you a call as soon as they have an answer."
"I look forward to it," Lorene replied. She then spoke just to Lorelai. "I do hope you decide to take the house. I think it's a great fit for the two of you."
Lorene then guided them to the foyer where she handed over her business card to Lorelai as well as a sheet of paper filled with details on the house they were currently standing in. Lorelai slid the business card into the pocket of her coat and followed her mother out of the house after thanking Lorene once again for allowing them to take a tour of the house. Once they reached the car, Lorelai climbed into the passenger seat and waited for her mother.
Emily leaned slightly forward to put the key in the ignition but didn't start the car. Instead, she glanced over to the passenger seat. "I'm not going anywhere until you buckle your seat belt."
"Oh come on Mom," Lorelai started to reply. "The inn isn't that far and the speed limit through Stars Hollow is a solid twelve. I'm sure no seat belt will be fine."
Emily folded her arms across her chest. "I'm serious Lorelai. We're not going anywhere until you buckle your seat belt."
"I'm not five."
A staring contest followed Lorelai's comment and featured a withering stare from Emily that Lorelai crumpled under as she reached for her seat belt and secured it around her body, muttering the entire time that the speed limit in Stars Hollow really twelve and it's not as if anyone patrolled the area carefully since nothing ever happened in the town. Emily had a smug and she-got-her-way smile on her face as she pulled away from the house and followed Lorelai's not-really-needed directions on how to get to the inn.
"I know how to get to your inn Lorelai."
"Just trying to help."
Emily kept her hands on the wheel, driving to their destination and making casual conversation. "April's coming to stay with you and Luke soon, right?"
Lorelai gave a nod of head and was thankful that they didn't pick up on their previous conversation. "Yep, she'll be here this weekend."
"And what about Thursday?"
"What about Thursday Mom?"
"It's Thanksgiving Lorelai," Emily answered. "I don't know how you two are handling holidays with the custody that Luke was granted and I just wanted to know if we were going to see April for Thanksgiving. I need to know so I can make sure there are enough place settings."
"She'll be here," Lorelai replied. "And you'll see us."
There had been arguments over how they were going to split up the holidays, with Anna unrelenting at first on their traditions and the face that this week was still her time with April. But with recent news and confusion over whether Rory or not would be around at Christmas-time and Anna claiming that April would spend Christmas with her as they already had plans, they finally came to an agreement over where their daughter would spend the holiday. Even if it meant they only had her for a few hours before having to bring her back home before picking her up again just over a day later.
"Very well."
Aside from a few biting comments as to not knowing anything about the latest wedding plans that was followed up by assurances from Lorelai that there was nothing else to know, the rest of the drive was fairly quiet. She was happy for that thought it did allow her mother's comments from earlier about her age and having babies to creep back to the forefront of her mind. Work could be a distraction once she got there but she knew that it wasn't something that she could distract herself from for much longer since she and Luke genuinely did want to extend their family tree. Her mother must have noticed that she was deep in thought because as they parked in front of the Dragonfly, she was questioned on what was wrong. She brushed it off, said everything was fine and that she was just thinking about their house before she thanked her mother for the ride as she was getting out of the car and swiftly made her way up to the inn's porch where she did immediately began to busy herself.
Luke crouched down by the newly repaired crib and made sure that his last few hours work actually worked and that he didn't have to tack on a couple hours more to go out and fix up a new crib. Luckily, T.J.'s antics caused the crib to fall apart without too much damage to the structure so he was able to piece it back together and have it come out more secure than before, at least in his opinion. And luckily again, with Liz freaking out and getting angry at T.J., the man was no where around to annoy him while he worked. Instead Liz stayed with him in the nursery and kept him company, with the one exception of the time that she passed out on the couch saying that carrying around a child inside her made her tired.
"Did you fix it?" Liz asked, watching Luke take one last glance at the assembled crib before standing back up and turning to face her.
"Good as new," Luke replied as he tapped his knuckles on the railing of the crib. "Maybe better than before."
Liz smiled and stepped forward to hug him, which he quickly reciprocated. "Oh thank you big brother, I had no doubts that you could fix it."
"No problem," Luke brushed off the comment as they broke the hug. "Just make sure that T.J. doesn't climb in it anymore. A crib is strictly for a baby."
Liz gave a shake of her head. "Sometimes he acts more like a baby."
"I cannot argue with that," Luke replied.
"I swear that man..."
"It's not good for you to get worked up like this," Luke intervened. "Yes, he's an idiot who does stupid things a majority of the time but you chose to marry him for some reason, you're going to have to talk to him at some point."
"I know," Liz sighed. A mixture of a frown and a scowl formed on her face. "He just makes me so crazy."
Remembering what Lorelai said earlier and her many tales of Sookie's hormone-induced wackiness, he said, "That's probably just the hormones talking." He tried to be comforting. "I'm not T.J.'s biggest fan but you're having a baby with him. You can't keep him out of this house forever."
"You're right," Liz acknowledged. "You're always so right about everything big brother."
"Not everything," Luke replied.
"Yes everything," Liz complimented wholeheartedly. The smile was back on her face. "Thank you for helping me out today."
"No problem."
"You should probably go home to Lorelai," Liz said, watching as her brother started to pack up his tools in his rusty old toolbox. "I've kept you here long enough. You two probably had plans, maybe some wedding planning, your wedding is going to be beautiful...ooh what about babies?" she asked, going head-on into rambling. "You two would have beautiful babies. Please tell me that you're going to have a baby, mine will need someone to play with."
Luke stopped packing up his tools long enough to look over at his sister, who stood there still smiling and with a hand over her obviously pregnant belly. "It's been discussed."
Liz squealed. "They're going to be cousins, this is going to be so great. They can grow up together and play together!"
He had to admit that the thought of his and Lorelai's discussed/future child growing up surrounded by family sounded good, although it would mean spending more time with T.J. but then again he could always find a way around that. But that thought went away as soon as it came when T.J.'s voice sounded throughout the house, effectively squashing the good mood that Liz has worked herself into and instead replaced it with the angry mood that she was in when Luke had arrived earlier and learned that T.J. had been kicked out for his actions.
"T.J. I swear…" Liz started to curse her husband's name.
Luke sighed, took a minute to take a deep breath and then let it out, before following his waddling sister out of the room as she continued to yell at her incompetent husband. As much as he wanted to get home, he knew that he shouldn't leave them arguing like this. Liz had already threatened bodily harm once and it seemed like she was going back down that route now, at least according to her shrieks. He had to at least try and intervene before he could finally go home.
Much later that night, after moderating a fight between Liz and T.J. and finally getting them both to calm down, Luke trudged through the front door. He removed his jacket and hung it on the coat rack before continuing on through the house. After checking to see if Paul Anka needed anything and turning the television off, he made his way up the staircase and into the bedroom where Lorelai was leaning back against the headboard with her glasses on and a magazine in her hands. She looked up as he entered the room.
"Hey you, I was wondering when you were going to get home." She folded her magazine and set it to the side while he took off his shoes and gathered his usual pajamas of gray sweatpants and an olive-green t-shirt. "I didn't think you were going to be gone this long."
"I didn't either," Luke replied. He made his was over to her side of the bed. "I was ready to come home, I was going to since I was finished with the crib, but then T.J. came back and he and Liz started to argue and, well, you know the rest."
She looked into his eyes and gave him a sympathetic smile. "I know babe. Everything okay now though?"
"Everything's fine, at least they stopped arguing long enough to kind of talk to each other, I made T.J. promise not to test out the stuff they bought for the baby, and then I left," Luke answered. "Everything is okay, at least for now. They can handle it."
"Yeah but you'll be right back there if they need any help," Lorelai gently reminded him. "That's who you are."
"An idiot."
She laughed, shaking her head at him. "No, that's someone else. That more suits T.J. You are wonderful."
He smiled at her laughing face as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "How'd the rest of your day go? I didn't mean to leave you with no ride back to the inn."
"My mother drove me back, it's fine," Lorelai answered. "But the rest of my day did include shooting down Michel's idea of a doggy day-care at the inn, which would really just be an excuse for him to bring his dogs to work. Then I was going to hang out with Sookie tonight but they doing things as a family so Paul Anka and I vegged out in front of the TV. I discovered he's scared of the case that I keep my glasses in."
"But the glasses," Luke prompted.
"He has no problem with."
"And you put it on the list?"
"After I hid it from him, of course," Lorelai replied. "I'm a good mom."
"Never doubted that for a minute." He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "I'm going to go take a shower."
"I know that was your subtle way of trying to get me to join you but I have a little reading to do."
"Of course." Luke glanced at the magazine she had set on her nightstand. "Seems like very important reading."
"The most important." She kissed him again. "Now you go shower and when you get back, I'll tell you all about the ideas Michel had for the doggy day-care because I know that's a story you're dying to hear."
"Can't wait," Luke deadpanned.
As he moved off of her side of the bed and headed towards the bathroom, she adjusted the glasses on her face and reached for her magazine again. It had been a recent purchase from Bootsy earlier in the day and was promptly hidden in her purse so all the eyes of Stars Hollow wouldn't see. She had even managed to hide it from Bootsy himself. She opened the magazine back up to the article that jumped out at her as she searched through the shelves of magazines earlier and began to read.
Her conversation with her mother had prompted her to search out other magazines than the usual tabloids and recent wedding ones she had been purchasing, and instead purchase ones that contained articles specific to that conversation. The sound of the shower served as background noise while she studied that article on fertility after certain ages. Growing frustrated over the words on the page, the magazine was soon set aside as she moved down into the bed and waited for Luke to finish with his shower.
So if you're still with me, I hope you enjoyed.
As always, reviews are appreciated.
