Chilton Academy Front Yard

After the graduation, Lorelai waits with Sookie, Jackson and Luke in the back for Rory to get her things together and meet her. Emily and Richard are off talking to friends of theirs. "I'm not sure I got enough pictures," Sookie worries.

"Did you get enough of the steeple? I want to see if I could get something like that built on our house," Jackson says.

"You are not building a steeple on our roof!" Sookie responds, hitting Jackson playfully. "Besides we have to save money so Baby here can go to a fancy schmancy place like this," she adds, placing a hand on her belly.

"Well, how about we build the steeple on our house and charge admission for people to go to the top of it? That will raise enough money for Baby to go here."

"Jackson!" Sookie exclaims.

"Aw, you're destroying all of Jackson's dreams that he is Ty Pennington," Lorelai teases. Jackson glares at her.

"None of you understand my true genius!" Jackson exclaims. Sookie and Lorelai giggle. "Tell Rory congratulations, but Sookie and I have to go home to have a discussion about respect." Lorelai nods. Jackson walks off.

"How about respecting the woman carrying your child!" Sookie yells after him. Jackson doesn't respond but keeps walking. She looks over at Lorelai sadly. "I'd better go before I destroy any chance of us having money for Baby to go to college. Tell Rory congrats."

"I will," Lorelai answers, sympathetically. She squeezes Sookie's hand.

"Call us later and we'll meet you for dinner," Sookie says and then walks away. Lorelai and Luke watch her. Then they both turn quickly to face each other, banging heads in the process.

"Ow!" they both exclaim, each rubbing his or her head.

"Wow, is your head hard!" Lorelai complains.

"Sorry about that," Luke responds. Lorelai looks at him, one eye open and one eye closed, still rubbing her head.

"You going to be okay?" she asks. Luke nods. He takes her hand off her head to get a better look at her bruise, but she moves out of his way. "Hey, no, Luke," she whines. Luke huffs but lets her go. She looks up at him forlornly. "Well, I guess you'll definitely have something to remember me by while we're in Europe," Lorelai notes.

"I would have remembered you anyways," Luke responds in a gruff voice. Lorelai nods. "You sure you want to do this?" Lorelai gives him a look that tells him she doesn't want to go into this again. "Okay."

"Promise me that you're really going to be thinking things over," Lorelai pleads. Luke's look tells her that he doesn't want to do that, but he sighs.

"Yes, Lorelai, I really will think things over," he promises. Lorelai nods. She turns away from him, watching all the Chilton families, most of them perfect rich families with Dad, Mom and kid, and Lorelai looks sad, which Luke notices. "Do you ever wish things worked out with Christopher?" he asks. Lorelai gives him a stifling look. Luke grimaces and turns around looking for Rory.

"No," Lorelai says softly. Luke glances over at her, not sure he heard her correctly. "I never wanted things to work out with Christopher." She slowly looks up at him, an apologetic expression on her face.

"Hey!" Rory exclaims, suddenly standing next to Lorelai, who jumps, letting out a surprised giggle.

"Whoa, you're like Tigger today," Lorelai says, her hand flying to her heart, as she struggles to breath normally again.

"Hey Luke," Rory says. Luke's face breaks into a smile. "I'm glad you came."

"You looked great up there Rory. I really liked your speech, it was – very heartfelt," Luke says. Rory smiles.

"Yeah, it was really sweet Rory. You even got him to cry, Big Baby," Lorelai teases, winking at Luke, who smiles softly at Lorelai.

"Oh Luke, you old softy," Rory adds. Luke sighs, but not unhappily. "So Mom, I got all my things together but I was looking for Gramma and Grampa, and I can't seem to find them."

"Oh, I'm sure they're around somewhere, just look for the glow of self-righteousness," Lorelai jokes and she pretends to look around for them. Rory sighs, rolling her eyes.

"Fine, I will go look for them, you don't move," Rory warns, pointing a finger at Lorelai.

"Wait, Rory," Luke says. She pauses and looks up at him. "Sorry, I've gotta get back to the diner before Caesar serves some really questionable meat and I wanted to give you this." He hands Rory a small box. Rory looks up at him questioningly.

"Open it," Lorelai urges. Rory opens the small box revealing a small silver jewelry box. "Wow, it's beautiful," Lorelai says, in awe. Rory slowly takes it out looking at it.

"It was my grandmother's, one of the few things she brought over with her from Ireland. She gave it to my mother when she died and Liz was never a big fan of jewelry boxes," Luke explains. "There's a bracelet inside with a matching engraving." He does his little pointing thing. Rory looks surprised. She opens up the jewelry box and takes out the bracelet.

"Wow, it is beautiful. Thank you so much, Luke," Rory says, gratefully. She throws her arms around a surprised Luke. He gives in and hugs her too. He smiles uncomfortably at her, as he lets her go. Lorelai can't take the smile off her face.

"You're welcome, I'm proud of you Rory," Luke says. Rory opens her mouth to answer. "Don't – call me a softy again," he adds quickly. Rory and Lorelai share a smile. "You're going to do great things."

"Thank you Daddy Warbucks," Rory answers teasingly but also appreciative of all that Luke's done for her.

"Okay, well I'm going to get back to the diner. Come by when you get back from your scorched earth destruction of Europe," Luke says, smiling at Rory and then looking pointedly over at Lorelai. She doesn't respond.

"We will," Rory assures him, for both her and Lorelai. Luke nods. He waves, glancing at Lorelai who gives him a small smile, and walks away. Lorelai watches him walk away and he glances at back her. She nods to him, winking. Luke smiles back, feeling a little better after this exchange and walks away. Lorelai still watches him, looking a little unsure of her decision. "You okay?" Rory asks. Lorelai looks back at Rory and smiles brightly.

"Mom's cool, she's strong. And she has to be to carry 800 maps and 900 pairs of shoes across Europe so that her crazy daughter can bring an insane number of phrase books." Rory smiles. Lorelai reaches out and touches Rory's arm lightly. "Did I tell you I'm proud of you?"

"You did."

"Did I tell you your speech was wonderful?"

"You did."

"Did I tell you I couldn't be happier to have you as my beautiful intelligent daughter?"

"You did."

"Did I tell you that I'm planning on doing various reenactments of Eurotrip through out the vacation?"

"You did and I agreed as long as you don't play Scotty Doesn't Know more than two times." They smile at each other and then hug. "I love you Mom."

"Love ya too, Kid." They let go. "Now go find those pretentious grandparents of yours." Rory shakes her head.

"Kay." Rory runs off. Lorelai smiles to herself. She glances back in the direction that Luke had gone when he walked away, a hint of sadness in her eyes. She purses her lips, sighing. Then she turns and follows Rory's path over to where Rory has found Richard and Emily.