Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them so that they can have their happy ending.
Author's Note: For a story that wasn't originally going to extend beyond chapter two, this one found its way pretty firmly into my heart, and I'm a little sad to be wrapping it up. Thank you so much for sticking with this story and leaving such thoughtful feedback. It's meant the world to me.
I also have to give huge thanks to the betas: CineFille, iheartbridges, and Lula Bo, for reading this twice because I get neurotic about endings, and for feeding me lines when I get stuck. This whole story is so very much better for their having been a part of it that I really can't thank them enough.
When she'd first brought up the dinner invitation, in the few days between Christopher's phone call and her long talk with Luke, it had been a lighthearted attempt to pull Luke out of his 'I'm upset that you won't talk to me but I'm covering it up with understanding and patience' mood. She'd joked about how Luke had been summoned to fill the gap at the table caused by Rory's attendance at some business function of Logan's. She'd mentioned that if Luke knew what was good for him, he'd make sure that he had other plans for Friday.
He didn't, he'd said rather insistently, and so here they stand at the front door of her parents' house. He gives her hand a gentle squeeze and she marvels that somehow it's always Luke calming her down before seeing her parents and not the other way around.
Emily is surprisingly gracious when she comes to the door, and though Lorelai searches her expression for some level of contempt, she comes up empty for the moment. When they join Richard in the living room for cocktails, Emily offers Luke a beer. Lorelai watches him, can see him glance at the pitcher of martinis, then give a little determined smile and say, "Thank you. A beer sounds good." Emily nods without a hint of disdain and it's only the first of several opportunities for one of her subtle but pointed barbs that she lets pass. As the small talk portion of the evening commences with polite questions from Emily and Richard about April and the diner, Lorelai finds herself studying her mother and wondering at her restraint.
It seems to fall away a bit at the dinner table. They're only a few bites into their salads when Emily asks Luke, "So, you've resolved your legal issues, then?"
Lorelai blurts out, "Mom!"
At the same time, Luke starts, "What?" He pauses then, realizing. "Oh, you mean the custody suit?"
"Yes," Emily says. "You don't have any other unresolved legal issues, do you?"
Lorelai glares at her mother as Luke answers. "Uh, no. No legal issues. Just the custody thing, which is resolved." He gives a faint smile and notes with confidence and with a touch of pride. "I was able to get the visitation rights I asked for."
Emily nods. "April stays with you then?"
"Yes, she's with me two afternoons a week and every other weekend."
"Well that seems like a reasonable arrangement," Richard adds from the other end of the table. "Is it all going well for you then?"
"So far so good," Luke says. "We're still getting used to the routine, but it's been going well."
"She'll be with you next weekend?" Emily asks casually. When Luke nods, she continues as if it's a matter of fact, "You'll have to bring her to dinner then. Wouldn't that be nice, Richard?"
Richard barely has a chance to nod and say, "Of course," before Emily continues speaking.
"We'd love to meet her, especially considering…" She glances at Lorelai, arching her eyebrow as her gaze slips to the ring hanging around her neck. "The two of you," she adds nebulously.
Lorelai gulps and says a little desperately, "Mom, what's the rush? There will be plenty of time to meet April. Why don't you let her and Luke have some time together before you start claiming their Fridays?"
"Well, your father and I certainly don't want to impose," Emily says with all of the sincerity of one of her DAR friends fawning over a new hair-style or bit of jewelry. "Luke, if it's inconvenient for you and April to come to dinner next week, we can arrange another time."
He's clearly heard the tone in her voice that contradicts her gracious words and says simply, "We'll try to make it." Watching him, Lorelai has to wonder what has changed that Luke now seems equal to the challenge of her family in a way he's never been before.
With that concession, Emily seems satisfied to move the conversation onto other topics, such as the hideous fashions at the latest gala to benefit some obscure disease of the pancreas, as well as speculation about Rory's post-graduation plans.
Later, as they finish up their after dinner drinks and get up to leave, Lorelai says, "Hey, Mom, could I talk to you for a minute?"
Emily nods. "I suppose."
Lorelai is exchanging a look with Luke when she hears her father say, "Well, I've got something I'd like to show Luke in my study, so we'll leave you two ladies to talk."
She is still staring after Luke and her father when Emily cuts in. "Well, what did you want to talk about?"
"Mom," she says, ignoring her mother's question. "What is he going to show Luke?"
"I honestly have no idea, Lorelai. Now did you-"
"Do you think you can ease up on Luke a bit?"
"Ease up? I don't know to what you are referring. Your father and I have been nothing but polite to him all evening."
What's perhaps most surprising about the evening is that she's actually correct, but it isn't really what Lorelai had in mind. "That's not what I meant. You actually have been polite, as strange as that is. It's just, can you back off about April?"
Emily seems to pass right over the comment about her behavior and asks sharply, "Is there some reason you're trying to keep me away from Luke's daughter?" She narrows her eyes. "Is he still preventing you two from spending time together?"
"No, of course not," Lorelai answers impatiently.
"I'm not sure why you think that's such an odd question. Wasn't that what broke you up last spring?"
"Yes, but we've worked through that and I'm spending a lot of time with April."
"So, what's the problem? Are you that ashamed of us? Do you think that I won't be able to conduct myself in a manner acceptable to a thirteen-year-old?" She says the last with condescension and Lorelai sighs.
"No, but Mom, you have a strong personality. I don't want you to scare her."
"So now I'm some sort of monster?"
Lorelai sighs again, shaking her head as she looks down to where her toe is tracing the pattern in the carpet.
"Lorelai, that little girl is going to be your stepdaughter at some point, and I haven't even been allowed to meet her yet."
"No need to jump the gun there, Mom," Lorelai says lightly, thinking that she'd never have thought that her mother would be talking about a wedding between her and Luke without cringing, especially when she and Luke have yet to truly discuss it.
"Oh, so you're not getting married? Then why do you have an engagement ring?"
"I didn't say that." Lorelai falters. "It's just…we don't have specific plans."
"Then what does that mean?" Emily glances pointedly at the chain around her neck.
Lorelai takes in a breath and lets it out in a long, slow sigh. "It means that we're getting there. We're working it out."
"An engagement ring is meant to be worn on your finger, Lorelai."
"Well, we're going radical, Luke and I," she quips. Her mother shakes her head, then Lorelai lets out a long sigh. "Does it really matter where it is, if the end result is the same?" she asks wearily.
Emily softens a bit. "I'm not quite sure what you're waiting for."
Lorelai meets her eyes and says quietly, "It's just nice not being in a hurry."
Emily looks back at her as though she can't quite understand this woman in front of her. Any further questioning, though, is cut off by Richard's voice as he and Luke exit his study. "You give these a read, son, and we'll have to plan a time to get together for a round."
Luke responds graciously, tilting his head toward the two books he's holding in his hands.
As soon as they're outside, Lorelai tugs at his arm. "What the hell did he give you?"
She looks at the titles as he answers, "Books about golf. To improve my game." He glances sideways at her with a pleading look. "Please, please tell me that I'm not going to have to have a weekly golf date with your dad."
"I don't know," Lorelai answers teasingly. "You took the books. Now it's only a matter of time before you join the club and start smoking cigars over scotch."
"Hey, you're the one who needed to talk to your mother," he accuses. "What was that about anyway?"
She starts to brush it off, but then admits with a shrug, "I just asked her to chill out about April."
"Why? Are you really that worried about it?"
"You're not?" she asks, giving him a skeptical look. He just shrugs and she sighs, "It's just…It's my parents. And she's so not my parents that I don't want her to run screaming."
"Well, she's going to have to meet them at some point."
"Are you sure about that? We can't just keep them each in their own bubbles?" Luke lifts his eyebrows and Lorelai drops her shoulders in defeat. "I guess not."
Luke chuckles, but takes her hand and gives it a squeeze. "They do seem to have mellowed a bit, especially your mother."
"Yeah, they have," Lorelai answers warily. "I just hope it's not an illusion."
It's that thought that occupies her on the way home – the way that Emily has come to accept, encourage even, this relationship she's barely tolerated in the past.
When they'd been at the cabin, Lorelai had likened her relationship with Luke to a cross-country road trip, and she still sees it that way. As she and Luke have grown more comfortable with each other again, just spending time together has been as enjoyable as the sights they've seen along the way.
They'd gotten lost briefly in the wake of Christopher's distraction, but together they had found their way back to where they'd been. And when they had it was with a renewed determination to not be deterred from their trip.
So it's with a bit of frustration that Lorelai processes her conversation with her mother. She knows that in her own odd way, Emily is trying to be supportive and Lorelai can't help being a little irritated with herself for not fully appreciating that. The thing is, though, as much as she knows that there's something wonderful waiting at the end of this trip - something life-changing, even - she doesn't want to rush past everything else there is to see along the way. She wants to see the endless cornfields of Nebraska and glory in the majestic mountains of the Rockies. Even experience the heat of the desert.
She thinks maybe that's what went wrong before. They got so fixed, or at least she did, on where they were going that she forgot to just enjoy the journey. And so now, she just wants to sit back and ride for a while.
They do all go to Friday Night Dinner the following week, and strangely, it's not horrible. Rory comes home to Stars Hollow beforehand and she and Lorelai pick up Luke and April at the diner. Riding together, standing as a group on the front porch, the sense of cohesiveness is so strong that Lorelai, in spite of what she'd told her mother, can't help but flash forward to a time when they will be a family.
Throughout the evening, her parents continue in their courteous deference to Luke. Even more surprising, Emily and April find an odd kind of synergy, April's outgoing nature an unexpected fit for Emily's tendency to ask probing questions. Lorelai finds herself almost gaping in bewilderment as she watches the two of them converse.
After dinner, they all head back to the diner. Lorelai settles at the counter with a cup of coffee while Rory takes her mug to sit with April at a table. Luke leans on the counter, resting his weight on his forearms. "That was…" he starts.
"A little weird?" she finishes. "It was weird, right?"
He nods. "April and your mother. Who would have thought?"
"Who indeed?" Lorelai says, chuckling. "It's good though, I think."
"Yeah. It is strange though, how nice your parents have been lately." He seems to have a hard time with the word 'nice,' as though he can't quite reconcile it in the same sentence as her parents.
"I know," Lorelai agrees. She pauses for a moment and when she speaks, her voice is soft, tentative. "It's almost like they actually accept everything – you, April…me even."
Luke just takes her hands between his and gives her a gentle smile. "It is, isn't it?" After a moment, he adds, "Your mother does seem particularly interested in my living arrangements though. Is there some reason she asked all those questions about my apartment?"
"Yeah, well…" Lorelai sighs.
"What?" His eyebrows rise curiously. "Has she said anything to you?"
"There is the little matter of the house," she says, staring down into her coffee cup.
"Your house? What about the house?"
"No, not my house," she mumbles. "The house they want to buy for us."
His eyes widen. "Buy us? They want to buy us a house?"
"Yeah." The confirmation lands as a soft little thud between them.
"When? When did she tell you this?" Lorelai winces a bit and it doesn't escape his notice. "What?"
She bites her lip. "Last spring they-"
"You've known about this since last spring and you never told me?" There's a touch of annoyance mixed with the surprise in his voice, and the way that the dissonant combination rattles in her ears makes her both defensive and sad.
"Well it was…she didn't tell me until after April's birthday party and things were," she lets out a sharp huff, "well, it was pretty much the thing that made me realize it wasn't happening. I saw these pictures of this amazing house that my parents picked out for us, and my mom was already dreaming up ways to get you to accept it, and I just knew it wasn't going to happen." Her voice has dropped to almost a whisper, but she manages to keep it even. It hurts, remembering. It's a wound that's not completely healed; the scar is still pink and even a little tender to the touch. But at the same time, they can look at it, face it, knowing that they are whole again. And that, after everything, they're actually stronger than before.
Luke squeezes her hands tightly and whispers, "I'm sor-"
"Don't," she says, cutting him off. "Don't. It's in the past. Well, except for the house thing anyway."
Lines of confusion form in the space between his eyes. "What?"
"My mom's been 'keeping them occupied with negotiations,'" Lorelai answers dryly, using air quotes for emphasis.
Luke looks a little alarmed. "What does that mean?"
Lorelai spreads her hands in a gesture of ambiguity. "I think it means they still want to buy it for us."
"Oh," he says, understanding now. "So she's getting impatient."
Lorelai nods slowly. "Yeah, I guess that about sums it up."
"Hmmm," he ponders, his mouth curving into a small, amused smile. "So is it a nice house?"
She allows herself to remember and because of that, her voice comes out more wistful than she'd have liked. It had been something she'd wanted so desperately, that house, that life. Something she thought she could never have. "It's beautiful. Big, but beautiful. There'd be room for April and Rory to have their own rooms. There's land, a fishing hole, stables." Telling him about it, she knows she still wants it, really, really wants it, but now she can see it, imagine it without sadness and despair.
He lifts one eyebrow. "Fishing, huh?"
"Yeah."
"And your parents picked it out?"
"Yeah."
"Wow." He shakes his head in disbelief. "Your parents want to buy us a house."
She just laughs softly.
"Well, that's very interesting," he muses. "Very interesting indeed."
The next day Rory and Lorelai lounge on the couch, watching as a Leave it to Beavermarathon winds down on TVLand, and anticipating a much more relaxed family dinner. Saturday night dinner has become routine, whether April is with Luke or not. This is the first time, however, that Rory has been able to join them, and the first time April will have a meal at Lorelai's house. Lorelai looks forward to the three of them tormenting Luke with talk of television, celebrity gossip and makeup tips.
With that thought, she fills Rory in on her idea to have a Project Runway season finale bash. They begin to plot out some of the details, considering Luke's insistence that he'll watch a reality show over his 'dead body,' and the fact that Luke has to have April home before the show starts.
"We may just have to tape it and watch it later," Lorelai finally says as she stretches and lets her head drop against the back of the sofa.
"I guess," Rory answers, "but it'll be hard to keep from finding out who wins."
Lorelai laughs. "For you, maybe. I'll be fine as long as I spend most of my time with Luke. I think Taylor would be more likely to know the Project Runway winner than Luke."
Rory rolls her head toward her mother and gives a wide smile. "You're right about that. Do you think you'll be able to talk him into this?"
Lorelai gives a sly grin. "Don't worry. Between me, April, and you, he'll be there whether he likes it or not."
"And complaining the whole time."
"Just like we like it," Lorelai says, grabbing the remote as the credits roll on the last episode of the marathon.
They're quiet while she flips through the channels, but when they've been through most of them without settling on anything Rory shifts so that she's sitting sideways on the couch and says, "How about you? You're really not coming to my party?"
Lorelai feels a tug as Rory is all of a sudden eight years old again, but she takes a breath and shakes her head, "No, I can't." She tilts her head to the side. "I'm sorry."
Rory wrinkles her nose, questioning, "Is it about seeing Dad? Would that make you uncomfortable?" He voice softens. "Or is it because of Luke?"
Lorelai thinks before answering. "No, it's not that. I'm not worried about seeing him. And it's not Luke," she says confidently, more sure than ever about that. "It's just better this way. For all of us."
"Okay," Rory responds hesitantly. "But is that the way it's going to be all the time?" She screws up her face in consternation. "If he's there, you're not? Because I'm not sure I'm okay with that."
"It's not like that at all," Lorelai assures her quickly. "Don't you even think that I'm going to miss out on stuff to avoid your dad." She gives a wry smile, realizing the irony of what she's just said, and explaining, "I just think that this time, it's important for me to not be there. For you. And for your dad. I just want to make sure that he knows that he can be your dad without me."
Rory looks up at that. "Mom?" She holds her gaze, eyes serious. "Did something happen?"
Lorelai considers not telling her – thinks that she shouldn't tell her because it will hurt her - but Rory's not a kid anymore who needs protecting from her father's behavior, so she lets out a long breath and says quietly, "He called me, to talk to me about planning the party."
"He called you?" Rory looks angry. And disappointed. "He promised me he wouldn't." Her voice falls. "He promised."
She can't really bear that look in her daughter's eye so she falls back on old habits, explaining and excusing, the words tumbling out of her mouth quickly. "Look, he wanted to run the idea by me, and see if I wanted to help. I'm sure he just didn't want me to feel left out. Plus," she emphasizes with her index finger, "he's always run everything by me before. He probably didn't think about the fact that you're so grown up now."
"Mom." Rory gives her a knowing look.
Caught, she meets her daughter's eyes and sighs. "HonestlyI don't know why he called. Maybe it was to be polite, maybe it was to gloat that he was having a party and I wasn't, maybe it was…" She shakes her head. "It really doesn't matter. But I do need him to see that I'm serious. That he and I are your parents, nothing more."
"God," Rory says, twisting her fingers together in her lap. "Why can't he just…" Her voice trails off, sober and defeated. "Why don't I ever learn?" She's the eight-year-old Rory again, her lower lip poked out just so and her body slumped to the right into the back of the couch.
Lorelai watches for a few moments, then reaches out, resting her hand on Rory's shoulder. "Hey," she says softly. Rory looks up at her from under her long lashes.
"I'm not going to tell you what to think, but you guys have been good – with the sushi and with Gigi and I'd just hate to see you throw that away over a phone call." She can see that Rory's hearing her advice, but her expression is wary, and it fills Lorelai with regret. She rubs the bridge of her nose and lets out a sharp breath. "You know, it makes me think…makes me wonder if I'd gotten out of the way sooner, if you two would've had a stronger relationship. I just hung on too long."
Rory sits up straighter and shakes her head. "No, Mom. It's not like you were hanging onto nothing. You had feelings. I know you did. And that…" She shrugs. "That complicated things, but you can't discount your own feelings. And you can't take responsibility for this. I mean, I know that you always have, but Dad is what he is, and I can deal with that."
It's somehow both heartbreaking and reassuring to hear those words from her daughter. She can feel tears in the corners of her eyes and has to work to blink them back. It's a few moments before she can speak and when she does her voice is steadier than she'd have expected. "Just so you know that he's always loved you. He's never quite known what to do with that, but he's always loved you."
Rory rubs her chin between her thumb and forefinger thoughtfully. "I know. I do. The rest is…we'll work it out, I guess." She looks up at Lorelai. "No matter what, though, it's not going to change anything between us. You know that, right?"
All Lorelai can do is give a tremulous smile and pull Rory into her arms. Holding tightly, she finally whispers, "I'm sorry if I made it worse."
Rory responds immediately. "You didn't."
They stay like that for a long time, before Rory pulls back with a glint in her eye and asks, "So, how are you going to make it up to me?" Lorelai stares blankly at her and Rory clarifies, "The party. We're going to need a pretty fabulous substitute event."
"Well," Lorelai says, drawing out the word playfully. "I did have some spa thoughts, maybe girly movies the night before?" She looks over at her daughter tentatively, then adds, "Oh, and Luke wants to make you dinner too. April won't be around, but he did insist that I let him make you a cake."
"Well, if you insist," Rory says, laughing. She stretches her legs out onto the coffee table and leans over to rest her head on Lorelai's shoulder. After a moment, she says nonchalantly, "So, speaking of Luke?"
"Yes?" Lorelai asks suspiciously.
"That ring's been hanging around your neck for a while now…" She lets the sentence trail off, her words an obvious hint.
"Oh my god!" Lorelai protests. "Did Emily get to you too?"
"No." Rory shrugs. "It's just that you're happy. Really happy."
Lorelai can't help but smile a little giddily. "I am. Everything's really coming together."
"So, when's the wedding?"
"You have been talking to your grandmother," she answers, deflecting.
Rory just smiles wryly and ignores her mother's attempt to avoid the question. "So, soon?"
"I assume at some point," Lorelai says casually.
Rory eyes her curiously. "You want to marry him, right?"
"Of course I do. Why would you…?"
"It's just that before you were so eager you were going to jump in a car and do it right then, and now…you're so patient. It's not like you." Rory's forehead is wrinkled in concern.
"Gee, thanks," Lorelai says wryly.
"Well, you have to admit Mom, you've never been the poster child for waiting your turn in line. I just want to make sure you're not having second thoughts. I mean, I know it's not a good idea to rush, but…" Her voice trails off and Lorelai almost laughs at the worry in her eyes.
"Rory, it's not…See, the thing is, I was rushing before because it was all falling apart and I was just trying so hard to hold it all together. It was like a grocery bag ripping on the way from the car and you're carrying it and everything is about to fall and you just know that if you drop it the soda bottle is going to burst and fall on the eggs and create some sort of toxic sludge that will cause you to grow a third arm with a chicken claw on the end of it if you touch it. But if you can just keep it from completely tearing apart until you make it into the house, then you'll be saved the mutant arm." She sighs and her voice falls. "I think I just thought if we could actually be married that it would solve all the problems with April and Anna and us. I was moving so fast, because I just knew that I had to get the bag across the threshold or it would be disaster, but all it got me was toxic sludge all over the porch."
She glances up at her daughter, who is wearing an expression somewhere between baffled and understanding, and Rory gives her a small nod.
The thing is though…" Lorelai wrinkles her nose. "If I'd made it, held it together long enough to get through the door, the toxic mess would have been in the entryway. It would have been a mistake to get married then." She gives her daughter a rueful look. "Not as bad a mistake as what did happen, but it would not have solved our problems. Now though…" Pausing for a moment, she smiles thoughtfully. "It's just nice to know that the bag is stronger and I can take my time getting to the door. So I guess I'm just reveling in being able to be patient."
Rory raises her eyebrow at that, but then smiles. "Okay, as long as when you do decide to get married I'm there."
"I wouldn't dream of doing it without you." Her mouth curves into a frown. "How screwed up must I have been to consider getting married without you there? If that wasn't a sure sign that eloping would have been a mistake, I'm not sure what was." Lorelai shakes her head at her own stupidity.
"Well, you won't be able to keep me away this time," Rory says decisively.
"Good," Lorelai says, reaching her arm around Rory and feeling her daughter's head fall down onto her shoulder. They sit there in comfortable silence for a moment, Lorelai's mind traveling back through heartbreak and separation and heartbreak again, trying to remember a time she'd felt this whole, this complete. Sighing happily, she lets herself just revel in that feeling.
She's still got that warm, contented feeling when she hears a key in the lock and Luke and April step into the house. She gives Rory one last hug then jumps up to greet Luke with a kiss and April with a hug. She leads them into the kitchen, Luke carrying bags of groceries from Doose's and April carrying a box of cooking supplies that Lorelai senses Luke has no intention of taking back to his apartment when he leaves.
As Luke sets up in the kitchen and April helps him, Lorelai watches him direct her, not in a casual way, but actually teaching her the crazed non-organizational system of Lorelai's kitchen. A few minutes later, he's fishing through the box, giving a frustrated groan. "I forgot to bring a whisk."
"Oh, I think I have one," Lorelai says, wrinkling her forehead as she tries to remember. "Umm…there." She points across the room. "I think it's in that drawer."
Luke lifts his eyebrows, looking almost impressed as April opens the drawer and stares skeptically.
"Is it there?" Lorelai asks.
"Yeah," she says, pulling it out. "Along with," she glances down, "a large supply of twist ties, four cookie cutters, and…" She holds up a short serrated knife with a bright orange plastic handle and a bright green paddle-shaped tool. "Several of these."
"Oh!" Lorelai hears Rory exclaim from across the kitchen. "That's where the pumpkin carving tools are."
"I know," Lorelai laughs. "We always go out and buy new ones every year."
"Oookay," April says doubtfully. "I really don't understand your organizational system."
"That's because there isn't one," Luke scoffs.
"Not true," Lorelai protests. "That's the special occasion drawer."
April just gives her another skeptical glance. "And the whisk is in there, why?"
Lorelai just chuckles, "Eh, who knows. It's as good a place as any, I guess." She pauses, shrugging. "You know, you should help me come up with a new system. Luke keeps bringing stuff over and leaving it here and it's throwing everything off." She gestures widely with her hands to emphasize 'everything,' grinning as she catches Luke's eye. She can hear Rory laughing from across the room and April nods enthusiastically as she glances around, probably already mentally cataloging the contents of the kitchen.
There's nothing particularly special about this moment, Lorelai thinks, but as she looks around she realizes it's the kind of scene she didn't want to rush through or skip over. She wants to experience all of the joy and laughter of simply being together.
At the same time, though, she can also see their future in this scene, and when she looks back toward Luke she can tell he sees that too. And that makes her look forward eagerly, to anticipate the moment when they reach their destination and she can dip her toes into the Pacific Ocean.
Fin
Author's Note: While this story is complete, the Road Home series will continue with two more chapters of Broken.