15 years later...

"Maria!" Luke calls upstairs from the counter. None of the customers mind, because once it happens mostly everyday, you get used to it.

"I'm coming!" Luke hears kind of a muffled call back. Then Luke kind of hears some stumbling and he see's his fifteen year old daughter come stumbling out of the curtains. "Well, that was graceful" he says

"I try" Maria says.

Luke gives her an once-over, like he does everyday, to see his 5'2, brown haired, blue eyed daughter, wearing blue jeans, a red STARS HOLLOW HIGH tee-shirt, and her hair in a ponytail. He gives a nod of approval, even though it would go on deaf ears if he disapproved anyway.

"Dad, I talked to Mr. Clemet's yesterday and he said that I could switch by two hours of study time to the morning so that way I can work here and after school work at the Inn." Maria explained to her father.

Speaking of the Inn, at that moment, the bells above the door ring and Lorelai walks in. "Ah, there's the reason I come here" and she walks over to both Luke and Maria. She then proceeds to pick up her usual cup and pour herself a cup of coffee.

"And here I thought you were talking about me" Maria says only half joking.

"O, baby, you should know better by now" Lorelai says with a smile on her face.

Maria gets a smile on her face and asks "Don't you to have something to say to me"

They both ponder for a little bit but then get smiles on their faces.

"That reminds me," Luke says. "Taylor called and said that shipment of ketchup that we ordered is in, so I need you to go get that for me"

Lorelai adds by saying "And I need you to work till eight tonight instead of six because we have short of help this week"

Maria smile goes away and she says ok to both of them. Then she grabs her jean jacket and heads to Doose's.

At Doose's, she looks around for Taylor, when Dean sees her and calls her over. "Happy Birthday" he says and gives her a hug. (She is turning sixteen, so he is only two years older, hey it could happen. Jess and Rory are going out, so Dean is available)

"Well, thanks. You're the only one who seems to remember." Maria says after they break up.

"What's that mean?" Dean questions.

"Well, my mom or dad didn't say anything. Neither did Miss Patty or Babette. And usually they tell me like 10 times each year. And it's about eight-thirty right now, so my grandparents should have called by now. It's like no one beside you even remembers." She says in a huff.

"I'm sure they'll remember and if they don't, call me. I'll come over and we can do something tonight to celebrate" Dean offers.

"Ok, then" Maria says with a smile. She can never figure out why Rory picked Jess, Dean's cute, smart, and funny. Oh well, Rory's loss, her gain.

"Um… do you have our ketchup order?" Maria asks after a while of silence.

After school, Maria went to the Independence Inn, expecting to find this huge cake from Sookie. But when she went into the kitchen, no, cake, no decorations, not even Sookie. "Sookie, where are you?" Maria called out.

"Over here, sweetie" A voice calls out from somewhere in the back.

Maria goes over to the stove and finds Sookie, on the ground, with a big pot between her legs. "Come down here, try this" Sookie said and Maria could not resist. She opens her mouth to find the greatest chocolate syrup that she has ever tasted.

"Oh, that's fantastic, Sook" Maria said when her mouth was empty.

"Thanks honey. I have this important event tonight and they just love chocolate." She explained.

"Oh, and what would that be?" Maria asks with a smile on her face.

"Apparently, Jackson's family is coming in tonight and they are interested in having me cook for this big event that they are having in New York, so I want to make the best" Sookie says.

"Oh" Maria says in the same sad way that she said this morning.

So she leaves the kitchen and goes on working till eight, she is a part time maid, part time server at Luke's. She steps outside and pulls out her cell phone. She scrolls down to Dean's face and clicks send. "Hey Dean? Yeah this is Maria. No, still no one. Could you meet me at the gazebo? You can? Great thanks." And she hangs up and practically runs to get there.

When she gets there, she sees Dean waiting with flowers. "Ah, Dean you didn't have to" Maria says when he hands them to her.

"Well, you seemed down on the phone and I would too, so I thought that this could cheer you up. Where are you staying this week?" Dean says and asks.

"My dads" Maria answers.

"Well, why don't we put theses in some water?" Dean says as he holds out his hand.

They talk and laugh the whole way and Dean lets Maria go in first.

"SURPRISE" Most of the town yells when she opens the door. Maria has the biggest smile on her face when she sees this and her mom and dad in front with very proud smiles on their faces. She turns to Dean, "Did you know about this?"

Dean smiles at her and says "Well, I was the decoy, right before you called me, your mom called and told me, the dinner wasn't ready yet, so I was about to call you."

"That's a lot of calling" Maria jokes and then she sees the cake. "Sookie! You lied to me?" she jokes.

"And I hated doing it, but when you came by, you surprised me, so I had to come up with something" Sookie says and looks at everyone else

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Maria, happy birthday to you" they all sing.

Luke almost has tears in eyes to see that his baby girl is all grown up, and then Lorelai speaks. "Oh, honey those flowers are beautiful, where did you get them?"

"Dean gave them to me" Maria says with a smile on her face. She then puts them on the counter and goes to all her guest.

Luke whispers in Lorelai's ear "We told him to stall her, not to give her flowers"

Lorelai turns to him and smiles "Well, she is sixteen and Dean is cute" and with that she walks away to leave Luke shocked, surprised, and a little mad that his baby girl is growing up.