Thanks, everyone for the fabulous reviews. I'm thinking there will be another two chapters after this - make it a nice, even twenty. Now, how's about we get back to the story…

The Dragonfly Inn was abuzz with activity. Pots and pans were clanging and banging in the kitchen. The walls and baseboards were transforming with every brushstroke. Doors were being fixed; flowers were being planted. Wood was being split (very lovingly) and friendships were being mended. Well…maybe not quite mended. The point is, things were happening and the Inn was looking very much like an Inn – ready for business.

Lorelai took a moment to revel in the atmosphere that surrounded her. This was it. Her dream was finally coming true. She felt completely indebted to these people. These wonderful, generous, (slightly annoying,) but completely devoted, people. Friends.

Never in her life had she felt so lucky.

She turned on her heel and re-entered the kitchen. "Oh, Sookie, it smells incredible."

"Thanks, hon. It'll be ready before you know it." Sookie had a very determined look. She concentrated heavily on the task at hand, displaying her mastery. There hadn't been any culinary accidents in a while. Perhaps the on-call ambulance was unwarranted. This was going to be a dinner to rival any.

Lorelai smiled proudly, "I can't believe it, you know, how everything is coming together. This is our new Inn, Sookie. The Dragonfly Inn."

Sookie sighed merrily, "Our Inn."

"Our Inn," Lorelai repeated, equally content.

"And speaking of our Inn," Sookie began, "It seems as though someone took it upon herself to christen this place."

Lorelai flushed slightly. "Why, my dear child, whatever do you mean?" she feigned innocence, in a southern accent.

"C'mon, Lorelai! I'm desperate. You know how much these details mean to me."

"Yes. And that concerns me," Lorelai stated melodramatically.

Sookie huffed impatiently, "Don't make me turn off this stove!" she warned.

"All right, all right," she paused briefly, "Luke and I professed our love to each other. Then he asked for my hand in marriage. We're to be married a week from Sunday. He wants seven children, but he's willing to negotiate." Lorelai fought hard to keep a straight face.

Sookie shook her head, "You never stop, do you? I've waited years for the two of you to finally get your heads straight and see what's right in front of you. For god sakes, give me some details. How was he? And who initiated what? Oh, how does he look naked? Oh, oh, I bet he talks during sex…does he talk during sex?" She invested far too much into this.

Lorelai couldn't help but chuckle. "Whoa, whoa, one question at a time. First of all, no, Luke doesn't talk during sex…"

Sookie began, "He doe…"

Lorelai continued, "He grunts," she smirked.

Sookie's coloration could be compared to that of a tomato. But the smile on her face was beyond huge. She broke into a fit of giggles.

"And," Lorelai pressed on, despite her friend's gasps for air, "he looks great naked. I took pictures."

Sookie stopped giggling. "You did?"

Lorelai shook her head, laughing, "No. We had a portrait done instead."

Sookie rolled her eyes. "Please, focus on the main event, Lorelai. Dinner's almost ready." I suppose this wasn't dinner-appropriate conversation.

"Right, ok. Well, it was lunchtime, and Luke and I were just finishing up in room seven…with the door. Finishing up with the door installation," she clarified. "And low and behold, the damn thing wouldn't open. We were locked in. So, Luke gets some sort of sign from God, that this was fate and it was now or never. Long story short…he put the moves on me."

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Sookie was beside herself.

"And it was good…really good, actually. Good, as in looking forward to the sequel kind of good. The man has talent."

Sookie had no words. "Oh my god!" Except for those three.

"We haven't really had a chance to talk about things yet. There were a few too many interruptions. But you know all about that, don't you?" Lorelai accused the cook.

Sookie shrugged, "It wasn't my idea, Lorelai. I swear."

"God, the look on my mother's face is permanently emblazoned in my mind. Poor Luke. One sexual rendezvous with me and he's got a spread in GQ magazine."

"I'm subscribing," Sookie giggled some more.

Lorelai laughed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luke and Gypsy were a few twists and turns away from a repaired door. Their cooperation during this process was commendable.

"So, you're a boxers guy, huh?" Gypsy quipped. Apparently she had grown a little too comfortable in Luke's company.

His screwdriver fell to the floor. "What?"

"Nothing," she hesitated before adding, "As long as you're not going commando."

He sharply secured, "I'm not."

"Cause that's where I draw the line," she was unrelenting.

"Can we just work, please?"

She nodded. A few minutes passed and she was back at it again, "Man, it must chafe like hell."

Luke groaned.

"Boxers on the other hand…it looks like they breathe."

"Lorelai!" Luke shouted. He quickly started for the staircase. Serenity now.

"Hey, what about the door?" Gypsy called in vain to the disappearing figure.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luke came thundering into the kitchen, causing both Sookie and Lorelai to jump. "I can't work with her anymore. I won't work with her anymore. I'm done!" he roared.

Lorelai grabbed Luke by the shoulder and escorted him outside the back door. They stopped near a tree, leaning against it for support.

"She's driving me crazy. This whole damn town…I can't take it anymore." Luke was particularly aggravated.

Lorelai placed her hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at her. "What's the matter, hon? You're not having any regrets about today, are you?" There was more significance in that statement than she realized.

Luke sighed, "No. Never. Just, people. They get on my nerves."

"I know," she kissed his cheek softly.

He immediately relaxed. "What about you? Any regrets?" he cautiously asked Lorelai.

"No regrets," she confidently assured him. "What's the opposite of regret?"

He thought a moment, "I don't know." Where was Rory when you needed her? Oh yeah, she's not in this story.

"Well, that's what I'm feeling," she smiled.

He smiled back, "Me too."

They hugged tenderly. Lorelai felt something strange…a vibration. Luke felt it too. Was it love? Not quite.

Lorelai backed away from Luke and retrieved her cell phone. Without looking at the number displayed, she pressed the device to her ear, "Might be Tom," she justified to Luke. "Hello?" she answered.

"What in God's name are you thinking, Lorelai? Having an affair with that filthy, uncouth, roughest man I have ever met. It's enough to send your father and I to an early grave." Emily Gilmore strikes again.

Lorelai shook her head in disdain. "Mom, this is none of your business. I seriously don't have time for this."

"Then make time! I won't have my only daughter traipsing all over town, fastened to that abomination of a man."

"I guess you haven't heard about the matching tattoos yet?"

Lorelai could feel the heat of her mother's fuming breaths through the phone. "People will talk, Lorelai. And do you know what they will say? They'll say, 'There goes another failure.' My god, Lorelai, to be associated with that Neanderthal. I just don't understand you." The disapproving tone of Emily's voice was enough to warrant the migraine of the century.

And then, the greatest sound of all…"DINNER!" Sookie shouted.

"Ah, there is a God," Lorelai praised aloud. "Mom, I'm gonna have to cut this invaluable conversation short. Just write down all the other adjectives that are steaming in that…steam-filled head of yours, and I promise I'll never read them."

"Lorelai, I'm not finished…"

"Good-bye, mom." Click.

Luke grabbed Lorelai by the arm, ushering her inside. Bring on the food.

TBC…