A Few Months Later (April 26th)

Luke woke up and immediately looked next to him to find Lorelai fast asleep. He removes his arm from around her waist and gets up out of bed. His cellphone beeps. He picks it up from the nightstand and turns on the screen. A message was on the screen, a reminder: Don't forget Lorelai's birthday today. It said. He did forget… he didn't get anything. He checks the time; it's just after 7:00. Lorelai will need to be up in about a half hour to get ready for work. He quickly decides to go to the store to get a present for her. He sets the alarm clock to make sure she wakes up if he's not back on time. He also checks on Sam and Will, who are still sleeping.

Lorelai awakens to the sound of the alarm clock. She frowns, surprised to hear it as Luke usually wakes her up. She gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom. A few minutes later, she goes into Sam's room to find her awake, not crying. She picks up Sam and quickly changes her diaper before walking to Will's room. Will is still sleeping so she leaves him there.
"Luke?" She calls out, expecting him to answer her, but she hears no response. She walks into the kitchen and is surprised that Luke isn't there either. She looks around the kitchen for a note but doesn't find one. She puts Sam in her high chair and pours juice in a sippy cup and puts it in front of Sam. As she starts preparing breakfast, she hears the front door open. Luke walks into the kitchen a minute later.
"Hey, where were you?" Lorelai asks him.

"I was getting you these. Happy Birthday." Luke replies, pulling a bouquet of flowers from behind his back and he holds out an envelope in his other hand.

Lorelai grins, "Oh, hon you didn't have to get me anything. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiles back. She sets the flowers down and takes the card out of the envelope.

"To: My wonderful wife." She reads the front of the card out loud and looks at him with a surprised expression. He's doesn't usually buy a card, especially not ones that say mushy things. She smiles when she sees that he signed it: Love, Luke.
"Aww, you're such a softy Luke." She says.

He just rolls his eyes and asks: "So you like the flowers then?"

"Yeah, of course. They're beautiful."

He steps closer to her and leans down to kiss her softly. "Mmm" She murmurs against his lips. She kisses him back, deepening the kiss. After a few seconds, he pulls back, smiles and says: "You better get ready for work."

She frowns and says: "Way to kill the mood." She sighs, "I have to work on my birthday… so much fun… not."
He just gives her a sad smile before she leaves the room.

Twenty minutes later, Lorelai stands at the door and kisses Will, Sam and Luke goodbye.
That evening, Lorelai returns home from work and immediately walks up to Luke and hugs him.
He rubs her back and asks: "Long day?" She nods into his shoulder. He kisses her forehead before she lets go of him.
"I'm so tired I feel like I'm going to fall asleep at the table if I sit down." She tells him.

"Go get some sleep. I can handle the kids." He replies.

"Okay." She immediately agrees. "Thanks, babe." She gives him a quick kiss before going upstairs.

A Few Weeks Later

On the morning of Samantha's first birthday, Luke wakes up earlier than usual. He gets up and puts on his blue hat, he feels a little weird not wearing it every day, and then he goes to Sam's room. He finds her still fast asleep. He watches her sleep with a smile on her face. A few minutes later, she wakes up and stretches. He picks her up and carries her over to the changing table. Luke changes her diaper then carries her over to the rocking chair and sits down. He holds her under her arms and stands her on his lap. He smiles at her and she looks back at him before reaching up and touches his hat. He gently takes her hand in his and brings it to his mouth to kiss it.
"How sweet." He hears Lorelai's voice from the doorway. He looks over to see her standing there with a smile on her face.

"How long were you standing there?" He asks her.

"Long enough to see that sweet moment. How's the birthday girl?"

Luke gazes down at Sam and says: "She seems happy."

Lorelai walks into the room, "That's probably because she has a great daddy." She tells

Luke. Luke smirks at her, "Well, she has a great mom too."

Lorelai walks over to him and holds out her arms, wanting to hold Sam. He passes Sam to her and she holds her in front of her and whispers "Happy birthday, sweets."

Luke raises his eyebrows at her and says: "I thought it wasn't officially her birthday until it's the exact time she was born…. noon wasn't it?"

Lorelai shakes her head, "It was twelve oh four and yeah, but that's only a few hours away anyway."

Luke nods, "What are you doing up so early anyway? I thought you'd want to sleep in on your day off."

"Well I woke up to go to the bathroom and I saw you weren't there so I decided you come find you since the bed feels a little empty without you so I didn't want to go back to sleep." She tells him.

He gives her a small smile and stands up. She passes Sam back to him and says, "I'm gonna go check on Will, you can give her breakfast if you want."
He nods and follows her out of the room.

Twenty minutes later, Lorelai comes downstairs to find Luke and Sam in the living room. Luke is sitting on the couch and Sam is playing on the floor. She sits next to Luke.
"Will has a small fever. I calmed him down and he fell back asleep." Lorelai tells Luke.

"Oh, I was wondering why you two hadn't come downstairs." Luke replies.

"Yeah, he should be fine… can you believe that he's starting kindergarten in a few months? And Sam's already one…"

"I know, these past few years have flew by. I feel like every parent probably says this, but I feel a little sad that they're growing up too fast…" He laughs a little. "They won't need me in a few years."

"Luke, they'll always need your advice and support and… just your love. You're their father; they'll always look up to you." She tells him, reaching out to rub his arm.

Luke nods, "But when they get to be April's age and go to college, they won't need us as much, and that makes me feel… I don't know a little sad I guess."

"Hey, we have years before they're that age. Let's just enjoy right now." Lorelai responds.

Luke smiles and drapes his arm over her shoulder. "Come here." He whispers.

Lorelai raises her eyebrows at him and moves to sit on his lap, "Here?" She asks, a flirty tone to her voice. He nods and tilts his head up to kiss her. They kiss for a bit before Lorelai pulls away and looks over at Sam to see her standing up. She gasps, "Is she gonna walk?"
Luke takes his eyes off Lorelai and looks at Sam. Sam takes the tiniest step and falls. She immediately starts crying. Lorelai slides off Luke's lap and he gets up and gets to Sam first, bends down and picks her up. "It's okay, sweetie." He whispers to her and kisses the top of her head. Lorelai smiles and walks over to them. She puts a hand on Sam's head and runs her hand down her short brown hair. Luke puts his other arm around Lorelai's waist and they stand there for a little while, enjoying spending time with their daughter.