Two and a Half Years Later
It's a warm, sunny day outside. Lorelai is outside with the kids, watching them ride their bikes up and down the driveway. All of a sudden, Samantha loses her balance and falls off her tricycle. She immediately bursts into tears. Lorelai rushes over and helps her up. She examines Sam's body for any injures and sees that her knee is a bit scraped. Sam is still crying so Lorelai gets Will to stop biking and they go inside.
Inside, Lorelai takes Sam to the bathroom and gets a Barbie Band-Aid from the cabinet. She gently presses the Band-Aid to Sam's knee. Sam watches her, but she doesn't stop crying once the Band-Aid is on.
"Do you want me to kiss it better?" Lorelai asks.
"No… Sam whines, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I want… Daddy to kiss it,"
Lorelai sighs, "But Daddy's not here, honey. Daddy's at the diner, he's working."
Sam continues to cry and murmurs, "I… want… Daddy."
Lorelai frowns, then gives Sam a small smile. "Okay. Why don't we go visit Daddy for lunch? He can make you a yummy grilled cheese. But, you have to promise me that you'll stop crying first."
Sam nods. Lorelai reaches out and wipes at Sam's tears with the pads of her thumbs. "Okay, let's go." She finds Will sitting on the couch, watching TV.
"Will, come on. We're going to the diner for lunch." Lorelai tells him.
"Okay." Will replies. He turns off the TV and gets up and walks over to Lorelai and Sam. Lorelai picks up Sam and carries her to the car. Will gets in the car as Lorelai puts Sam in her car seat.
Ten minutes later, they arrive at the diner. Will walks in front of Lorelai and Sam and opens the door. He holds it open as Lorelai and Sam walk in. "Thank you, sweetie." Lorelai says with a smile. Sam runs behind the counter and shouts "Daddy!"
Lorelai sees that Luke is pouring coffee into a customer's mug at a table in the back corner of the diner. Luke looks up when he hears Sam's voice. He meets Lorelai's eyes and she gestures behind the counter. Luke finishes pouring the coffee and walks behind the counter. "Sam? What are you doing behind the counter?" He asks when he sees her. Sam grins and runs over to him. "Daddy!" She wraps her small arms around his legs. He picks her up. "Daddy, I fell of my bike and got hurt." Luke frowns and sets her on the counter. "Look… see?" Sam points to her knee. "Kiss it, Daddy?" She asks.
Luke looks up to see Lorelai, Miss Patty and Babette and the other customer staring at him. "Aw jeez." He whispers. "Daddy?" Sam asks, sounding upset. Luke smiles down at her and leans down and quickly presses a kiss on top of Sam's Band-Aid.
"How sweet. He's really like a big teddy bear, isn't he, Lorelai?" Luke hears Miss Patty ask Lorelai.
Lorelai nods, "He's the sweetest when no one's around. I don't know why he's so grumpy when he's in public."
Luke rolls his eyes. His attention is brought back to Sam when she says: "Daddy, can I have a grilled cheese?"
"Sure, sweetie," Luke replies.
Lorelai walks over to the counter with Will. "She wanted you to kiss her boo-boo, so I figured we could just come here for lunch. I don't know what I'd end up feeding them if we stayed home."
Luke nods, knowing that Lorelai isn't handy in the kitchen. "Okay, go grab a table." He picks up Sam and sets her on the floor. Lorelai and Will sit down at a table and Sam and Luke walk over to them. Luke helps Sam into a chair. Once she's sitting, he asks Will what he wants to eat. "Um, chicken nuggets and fries and… a vanilla milkshake, please." Will says. Luke nods and asks Lorelai what she wants. "A cheeseburger and chili fries and coffee." Lorelai replies with a smile. Luke sighs; he hasn't been able to convince Lorelai to change her eating habits after all these years. "All right, coming right up." Luke says and he walks back to the kitchen.
While waiting for their food, Lorelai and the kids chat with Miss Patty and Babette. Twenty minutes later, Luke comes back carrying the kids' food. He sets the plates down and turns around and walks back to get Lorelai's food. When he comes back and sets down Lorelai's plate and coffee, Lorelai touches his arm and says: "Hey, hon sit down and eat with us."
"I already ate, and I need to serve the customers." Luke replies.
"Uh, there's no one here but Miss Patty, Babette and that guy over there. You have time to sit with us." Lorelai tells him.
"Fine." Luke replies. He sits next to Lorelai.
After they finish eating, Lorelai asks Luke: "Hey, do you remember when I gave you a Barbie Band-Aid?"
"Yeah, I cut my hand on your window." Luke deadpans.
Lorelai smiles, "I remember I met Liz that day and she said that I looked like your type… she thought I was your wife. It seems like everyone thought we were perfect for each other. We were like every cliché of a guy and a girl being just friends but everyone thought they should be more."
Luke nods. "I never told you this, but those earrings that I gave you at the Firelight Festival… Liz said I could give them to you, or my wife… I chose to give them to you because… well I guess I thought they'd look good on you."
Lorelai gently hits his arm, "You said Liz wanted me to have them. I never would have thought that you wanted me to have them. You were so pining for me when you were married to Nicole." She accuses him.
"Who's Nicole?" Will asks suddenly.
"Oh, um she was your Dad's first wife." Lorelai tells him, then regrets saying that as there's no reason for their kids to know about Nicole.
"Dad was married to another girl before he married you?" Will seems to be puzzled.
"It's complicated and it doesn't matter." Luke mutters. He doesn't want to talk about it in front of the kids and he doesn't want to think about the fact that Lorelai married Christopher.
"Okay." Will smiles and drops the subject.
A group of people walk into the diner. Lorelai stands up and gestures for the kids to do the same. "We'd better get back home."
Luke nods. "Thanks for stopping by." He says quietly.
Lorelai smiles as Sam hugs Luke's legs. Luke puts a hand on her head and ruffles her hair. "Bye Sam."
Sam lets go of Luke after a few seconds. "Bye Dad." Will says with a small wave.
"See you later, buddy." Luke says.
"Bye, doll." Lorelai leans in and quickly kisses Luke's cheek.
After Lorelai and the kids leave, Babette says. "You have yourself a sweet little family there, sugar."
Luke just gives her a knowing smile.
Two Weeks Later
Will plays baseball on the Stars Hollow Elementary team. Today is one of their first games. Luke, Lorelai and Sam sit in the bleachers and watch him.
Lorelai smiles at Luke "It's just a simple little game, but I feel so proud of him."
Luke smiles back, "Yeah. Me too."
Lorelai looks away to see Richard walking towards the bleachers, "Hey is that my dad or am I seeing things?" She asks.
Luke looks over and sees Richard. "Yeah that's him. Didn't you tell your parents that Will had a game today?"
"Yeah, but they said they were busy so I didn't expect to see either of them."
Richard makes it to the bleachers and walks over to Luke, Lorelai and Sam.
"Hello, Lorelai, Luke. Did the game start yet?" Richard asks.
"Hey, Dad, I thought you couldn't make it. The game just started. Is Mom coming too?"
"I finished my work early so I thought I'd come. You mother can't make it unfortunately. She has a D.A.R function to attend to."
"Oh, well I'm glad you could make it." Lorelai tells him.
Sam looks away from the game at that moment and notices Richard. "Hi, Gampy."
Richard smiles, "Hello, sweetheart." Are you excited to see your big brother play baseball?"
Sam just nods. They all watch the game together. When Will comes up to bat, Richard shouts, "Go, William!"
Lorelai gently puts a hand on Richard's arm and says: "Stop it Dad, you'll embarrass him."
"But I want him to know that I'm here, supporting him." Richard replies.
Lorelai smiles softly. "He knows you love him."
Richard nods, keeping his eyes on Will. After a couple strikes, Will hits the ball. Luke stands up and claps and whistles. Lorelai smiles to herself. Sam cheers, "Yay!"
Will makes it to second base. Luke sits back down and casually wraps his arm around Lorelai's shoulder. She leans into him. When his teammate hits the ball, Will runs home. Everyone cheers and claps. Will sees his family and smiles shyly at them.
After the game is over, the family goes to the field to meet Will. "Good game. You played very well." Richard tells Will.
Will frowns, "Thanks, Grandpa, but we lost."
"Hey, that's alright. You had fun playing, right? That's all that matters." Luke tells Will.
Will nods. "Yeah, I guess."
"Why don't we go and get some ice cream?" Lorelai says, trying to cheer him up a little.
"Okay. Grandpa, can you come?" Will asks.
Richard looks at his watch then smiles down at Will. "I'd like that."
Will grins and Sam grabs onto Richard's hand. "We can get cotton candy ice cream, Grampy!" She says with a smile.
Richard smiles back. "Of course, I know that's your favourite."
Richard, Will and Sam walk together in front of Luke and Lorelai.
"Are you going to get a big fat, sugar filled scoop of ice cream?" Lorelai asks Luke sarcastically, knowing that he hates ice cream because it's too sugary.
"Maybe I'll get a frozen yogurt." Luke replies. He wraps his arm around her waist and she wraps her arm around him so that her hand rests above his hip. They follow Richard and the kids to the parking lot.