A/N: Back with a new chapter. It's probably the one everyone has been waiting for. I hope you enjoy it. Niamh, once again, thank you.
Chapter 13: Let the Girls Handle It
"Come on, Mom! We really have to go! I'm on a tight schedule!" Rory calls up the stairs.
"Can you at least tell me where we're going?" I call back, "I have no idea what to wear!"
"I already told you!" Rory says exasperated, "Just wear a nice dress!"
I appear at the top of the stairs in a black skirt and my bra. "Have you learned nothing these past 23 years? I need to know the occasion for the right dress. I have casual, sexy, fancy—" I count on my fingers, before Rory cuts me off.
She points at me, "That's not even a dress."
I roll my eyes at her, already unzipping my skirt. "I don't know what to wear!" I say exasperated.
Rory stamps up the stairs and walks into my room. She opens the closet and goes through my clothes in the hanging area. "Aha!" she says triumphantly when she finds what she was looking for. She holds a blue simple dress in front of me.
I look at her wide-eyed. "That one fits in the category 'downright sexy'," I say as I take the hanger from her, "Please tell me you're not setting me up."
"No Mom, I'm not. We're just going to have a girl's night out. We're gonna hit some clubs and you know… you might meet a nice man."
"Hit some clubs?" I repeat with a snort, "Then I'm not wearing this. Too much attention."
"Mom!" Rory says, loosing her temper, "Would you just trust me? This dress is perfect for this evening. Wear it."
"Fine," I give in, dropping the skirt to the already clothes covered floor and taking the dress of the hanger. "Clubs…" I mumble, "Explains why Elly and Abby can't come."
"Would you just hurry?" Rory asks, "I'll be downstairs. Here are your shoes."
A few minutes later, I walk down the stairs, fully dressed and ready to go. "I feel way too exposed for a girls' night out," I complain, "It's usually joggers on the couch."
"Mom, you look amazing," Rory says a bit exasperated.
"Well, obviously," I say with a roll of my eyes. "Let's go then?"
"Just one more thing," Rory says, walking behind me, ready to bind a red scarf over my eyes.
"What are you doing?" I ask bewildered, taking a step away from her.
"I'm blindfolding you," Rory answers in a 'duh' voice. When she sees my doubtful face, she adds, "It's part of the surprise." I remind myself how much I love surprises, before I turn my back to Rory and let her blindfold me.
She walks me out of the house and into her car. I try to navigate where she's going: left, right, right, right, right again, left, probably a traffic light, U-turn… "U-turn?" I ask myself confusedly, before it dawns on me that Rory probably purposefully takes wrong turns to throw me off, and I stop paying attention.
"So what did I do to deserve such a well-outthought surprise? Did I miss an anniversary or something?" I ask with a chuckle.
"No," Rory answers, "I just wanted to do something nice, because I love you. You've been through a rough couple of years."
"Awh," I say, truly touched by her statement, before I add, "That was cheesy."
Rory only laughs. "We're here," she announces.
"Where's here?" I ask eagerly, reaching for the scarf.
"Nuh uh, no peeking," Rory says strictly, "It's getting of when I say it will, not sooner."
"Bossy," I whine, pouting in her direction.
She gets out of the car and before I detect the handle to open my door, she already opens it for me, helping me out and walking me through a door. She lets me walk a bit further into the building, before she takes off my blindfold. It takes a little while for me to adjust to the sudden light bursting through my squinted eyes, so I hear his voice before I see him.
"Lorelai? Rory? What's going on?" Luke asks confusedly.
I stare surprised at him for a little while before I turn to Rory and fold my arms. "I'd like to know that too," I say a little harsher than normal.
It is then that April decides to walk back into the dining area, wearing an apron. "It's a date, of course," she says, setting down a candle on Luke's familiar table in Sniffy's Tavern and lighting it.
I look at Luke and it's obvious he had no idea either. "April, you're in on this?"
"Well, duh," April replies with a cheeky smile, "Why do you think I insisted on coming here?"
"Look, girls," I say, as I come back to my senses, looking from Rory to April and back again, "I get why you're doing this, I really do, but this is not a good idea." I take one step towards the exit before Rory blocks my path.
"I think it is," April says.
"We just had a fight," I try.
"Perfect opportunity to make up," April argues quickly.
"April—" Luke starts, but he's caught off by Rory.
"You can't leave now," Rory says with big, innocent eyes, "They have been excited for this all day."
"They?" I ask, squinting my eyes at her.
"Now!" Rory calls to the direction of the kitchen doors, which immediately swing open. Elly and Abby walk eagerly towards us, both dressed in black with a red waiter's skirt around their hips.
April takes a step back from the table as Elly walks towards Luke and tells him to sit down, pointing towards the seat he had vacated only minutes before.
Abby uses a different approach. She walks behind me and puts two hands on my ass as she pushes me to the table. "Sit," she orders and I do as I'm told.
"Good evening," Elly says professionally, "We'll be your waiters for tonight. Here are your menus." She holds a piece of paper out to Luke, who takes it, the surprise written on his face. I can't help but smile at Elly's practiced words.
Abby also pushes a menu into my hands, upside down. "Thanks, sweets," I tell her and she smiles proudly at me. I watch them walk away together, whispering something, before I turn the paper around in my hands. I look at Rory. "This is blackmail."
"If that's the only thing that works, then so be it," Rory says with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Well said," April chimes in, placing her arm around Rory's back. "You two just sit back and enjoy."
"I'll get you back for this," Luke tells his daughter, pointing a stern finger at her.
"I'll be at Mom's tomorrow," April answers quickly, her smile brightening.
"Hey, is Sookie here?" I ask, as I read 'Sookie's famous risotto' on the menu.
"Of course. When you plan a dinner, you need a cook," Rory states simply.
"I hate you all," I mumble.
"Me too," Luke agrees quietly, before turning his attention to his own menu.
"Alrighty," April says chipper, not touched by our statements.
"We're gonna go now," Rory says.
"And enjoy your evening," April chimes in and then they walk away together, giggling.
I take a deep sigh, looking at Luke. "This menu looks amazing," I tell him.
"Yeah," he agrees.
"I guess we'll just try to make best of it?"
"Guess so."
"Can't let good food go to waste."
Luke only rolls his eyes.
"And they put so much effort into it."
"Let's just eat, let them have their fun and then we can leave, okay?" Luke says a bit harshly.
"Okay," I say in a small voice, a little taken aback by his tone. I stare at the menu for a little while, before I put it down with a sigh. "Are you still mad at me?" I ask eventually.
"Hm?" he asks distracted.
"You heard me."
He puts his menu down as well. "No, Lorelai, I'm not. I'm just annoyed."
"At me?"
"At this… thing," he says pointing around him.
I look around the empty restaurant. "Yeah, well… Scowling isn't going to work, so can we just try and have a nice dinner?"
"You're right," he says, "It's not your fault either. Sorry."
"It's okay."
"And I'm sorry about that stupid fight."
"I thought we were gonna forget about that," I say with a chuckle.
"Uh, yeah," he says awkwardly, "It's just… I never should have done that. The relationship thing, I mean," he adds for clarification.
"It certainly brought Rory to ideas," I say with a laugh.
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"Well, this," I say, pointing between us.
"You told her about that fight?" Luke asks indignantly.
I shake my head. "She was in the house. She heard everything, including some things she didn't know yet."
"Like?" Luke asks, trying to remember what he had said.
"That we had sex, rather recently."
"Ah geez," Luke grumbles, scratching at his head, "I'm sorry."
I shrug my shoulders. "It's okay. You were jealous," I state.
"I was…" Luke wants to repeat, but then his head shoots up, "No I wasn't!"
"Then what exactly was that?"
"Anger," he states a little irritated.
"Anger about me dating."
"No. I was angry about the whole April thing."
"So naturally you bring up another guy."
"Lorelai…" he says with a sigh.
"Luke," I state.
"Fine," he admits, "Maybe I was a little jealous."
I grin victoriously. "Thank you," I say sweetly, "And apology accepted."
"Oh boy," Luke mumbles as he points his chin in the direction of the kitchen and I look around the wall to see Abby coming towards us, carefully holding a bottle of champagne in one hand and two glasses in the other.
I let out a chuckle. "Awh, if it isn't our little alcoholic," I drawl as I watch the concentration on her face.
"That's not funny," Luke mumbles, before Abby arrives at our table and places the bottle on our table as if it's really heavy. She then looks doubtfully down at the glasses in her hand, the legs of the champagne glasses put carefully between her fingers.
I reach out to take the glasses from her before she drops them. I place one in front of Luke and one in front of myself. "Thank you, Hon," I say to Abby, putting a loose, curly string of her hair behind her ear.
"Abby!" comes a loud whisper voice from the bar, "You have to pour."
"Why?" Abby asks Rory stubbornly, folding her arms over her chest.
I look around the corner of the wall once again and smirk at Rory. She shakes her head and mumbles, "Never mind."
"Daddy can do it," Abby reasons as Luke takes my glass, ready to pour.
"She's too much like you for her own good," Rory tells me as Abby walks away and I innocently shrug my shoulders at her.
"Couldn't agree more," Luke mumbles, handing me a now filled glass of champagne.
"Thank you," I say sweetly, before adding to Luke, "I'm not that stubborn."
Luke lets out a smirk. "Right, and I'm Mr Magoo," he says sarcastically.
I snap my fingers at him. "That's it! I always knew you looked familiar!"
Luke simply rolls his eyes at me and holds up his glass. I follow suit. "To our stubborn girls," he toasts.
"Are you including the big ones?" I ask, earning another eye roll.
"They are just as stubborn, aren't they?" he asks rhetorically.
"Well, yes," I answer, "But they don't really deserve a toast after this." I wave my free hand around Sniffy's Tavern, indicating our arranged date.
"True," Luke agrees. "To our stubborn little girls then," he concludes, still holding up his glass.
"Perfect," I say as I clink my own glass against his' and we both take a sip.
Luke's face disfigures. "I really do hate champagne."
"Only more for me," I say cheekily, reaching for the bottle and placing it closer to me on the table.
Luke chuckles. "Who's the alcoholic now, huh?" he teases.
"Hm," I mumble thoughtfully, placing my hand on my chin as if thinking deeply. "Maybe she does look like me," I say, "but that stubbornness is all you, Quincy!"
"'Cause you're Miss Flexibility over here?" Luke asks sarcastically.
"Hey! I can be flexible!" I say defiantly
"Please," Luke smirks.
"I can. As long as everything is exactly the way I want it, I'm totally flexible."
"Ah, well, my mistake," he counters.
"This is actually kinda nice, huh?" I ask Luke. He just stares at me. "Come on, admit it!" I add.
"Never."
"Spoilsport," I say with a pout.
"Here we go, your first course," April announces, placing a bowl of soup first in front of me and then in front of her father.
"Thank you, Hon," I say, smelling the red liquid.
"Before you, you find Sookie St. James' own recipe for a delicious tomato bisque soup," she continues expertly, "From own experience I can tell you, it's like heaven in a bowl. Enjoy."
I laugh a bit at her professionalism. "No Elly or Abby this time?" I ask her, "I thought they were our waiters?"
"Uh, yes, but the hot soup was a bit too dangerous," April explains.
"Right," I agree. "As their mother, I probably should have thought of that, shouldn't I?" I ask Luke rhetorically, laughing stupidly.
"Probably," Luke grumbles at me. "Thanks April," he adds, smiling at his daughter.
"You're welcome," she replies, and she attempts to walk away.
"Actually," Luke continues doubtfully, "Do you mind getting me a beer?"
"Sure. Coming right up," April says in a chipper tone as she walks towards the bar to pass on the order to Rory.
I take a careful sip of my soup. "Mmm," I say dreamily, "April's right. This is really really good."
"Your beer, Sir," Rory chimes in, placing a bottle and a glass in front of Luke.
"Thanks," he grumbles, taking a bit himself.
Rory hovers a bit, looking from me to Luke and back at me again, a gleeful expression on her face. I look up at her expectantly. "So, how is it going?"
"Heavenly," I reply and I see her smile grow even wider. "I mean, have you tried this soup?" I add, causing Rory to roll her eyes.
"I should have known you were gonna talk about the food. How are you doing?" she clarifies.
"We're fine," Luke says.
"Just fine?" Rory tries unsubtly.
"Yes, Rory, just fine," I say exasperatedly, trying to will her to stop talking, "It's a very friendly environment here."
"Alright then," Rory says with a pout, clearly disappointed, "I'll guess I'll leave you two to be just friendly then," and she walks away.
"What was that about?" Luke asks.
I roll my eyes at him. "She's trying to get us back together, obviously."
"Oh right," Luke mumbles, "because I brought ideas in her head."
I smile at him, stirring my soup while doubting whether I should say something, and how I should say it. "Actually…" I start doubtfully and he looks up, "Rory said something the other night that got me thinking."
"Well, what is it?" Luke asks impatiently when I don't immediately continue.
"You know how you said you still loved me, but you didn't trust me?"
"I-uh, yeah…" Luke trails off shamefully.
"Well, Rory asked if there wasn't something I could do to win your trust back. So I was thinking… I mean, is there? This is the last time I try something to reconcile us, I promise."
Luke looks a bit taken aback. "Uh… I-I don't know," he mumbles, looking down at his food.
"Because you didn't just trust me the moment we met, right? You had to get to know me first," I continue.
"I… Yeah, I guess."
"What about dating? Start right from the beginning again. Getting to know each other all over. Would you…" I swallow hard, "Is that something you'd want to do?"
"Dating?" Luke asks doubtfully.
"Uh huh."
"I hate dating," he grumbles.
I roll my eyes at him with a smile. "You hate first dates," I correct him, "What do you think this is?"
"Start dating again?" he asks again.
"Yep," I answer more confidently than I feel.
He looks in the direction of the closed kitchen doors and I know he's taking Elly and Abby in consideration as well. "I-I guess we could uh-," he clears his throat, "possibly, you know, do that."
I extend my hand to him and he takes it confusedly. "Lorelai Gilmore. It's nice to meet you," I say with a cheeky grin.
"Geez!" Luke exclaims, quickly pulling his hand back.
"So, tell me a little something about yourself," I continue, enjoying the familiarity of teasing him, "I hear you own a diner?"
Luke rolls his eyes at me. "I've changed my mind," he grumbles, causing me to laugh loudly. "Can we go back to this just being friendly thing?"
"I'm afraid not," I answer in a fake sad tone, "You're stuck with me as your date; whether it's a good date, or a bad one."
Luke sighs loudly. "See, this is why I hate first dates," Luke explains, causing me to giggle.
"Can you believe this?" I ask admirably, looking around me at the empty restaurant. "Buddy and Maisy must have closed the Tavern today, just so the girls could pull this off. That's pretty amazing."
"Yeah, it is," Luke replies, looking around as well, "They must really care about us."
"Or they love to make us feel uncomfortable."
"Or that," Luke chuckles. He nods his head in the direction of the kitchen. "Next course," he informs me.
Elly and Abby each carefully carry a plate full of food to our table. Elly puts hers in front of me. "Thanks, sweets. It looks delicious," I tell her.
"I'll pass that on to Auntie Sookie," she says with a joyous smile.
"You do that."
"But you have to eat your veggies," she informs me.
I chuckle as she uses one of Luke's famous phrases. "I promise," I say, wrapping my arm around her back to pull her in for a peck.
"Mommy! I'm working," she says, pushing my arm away.
"Sorry," I say, holding my hands up in surrender.
"Come on, Abby," Elly informs her sister, but Abby doesn't listen. I look at her and see that she's staring intently at Luke's food. "Abby!" Elly tries again.
"What is it, Abs?" Luke asks.
"Daddy," she says sweetly, finally looking up at her father, a persuasive pout on her face, "May I have some of your fries?"
"Uh, sure," Luke says, unable to reject the Gilmore pout.
With a victorious smile, Abby reaches out her small hand, and takes as much fries as she can possibly hold.
"Careful! It might be hot!" I say, suddenly concerned.
"That's okay," Abby replies as she places her handful of fries in the front pocket of her apron, and then wiping her hand clean on it. I can't help but laugh loudly at her antics, while Luke looks on horrified.
"Abby, you already ate!" Elly hisses at her.
"You can have some as well," I tell Elly after I catch my breath.
She takes only one and thanks me politely. As they walk away, Elly puts the single fry in her mouth, while Abby fishes in her pocket and takes out a few, which she crams in her mouth.
"Unbelievable," Luke says slowly, shaking his head as his eyes follow Abby.
"I know right?" I say with a bright smile, "Isn't she hilarious?!"
"Oh yeah, totally," he replies sarcastically, "A true Gilmore."
"And proud to be so," I answer for Abby.
I look happily into Luke's eyes and I see his expression change from annoyed to something that resembles happy.
"You know what," he breaks the silence, extending his hand on the table, "This is nice."
I break into an even bigger grin, feeling light-headed as if I drank too much champagne as I place my hand into his.
A/N: Please leave a review. I really do appreciate them.
A/N-2: I already finished next chapter. Just waiting for it to be beta'd and then I'm back to bother you guys.
A/N-3: Yes, Abby is cute.