Having made the morning coffee and not hearing any of the normal sounds of the morning, he wanders back up the stairs, rubbing a hand over his face. It was an early morning, earlier than usual, but still, he thought she'd be up and running around like a mad woman on this big day. She, of all people, knows what will happen if they're late, and he'd really rather not deal with that today. After all, this day doesn't belong to them, as much as Lorelai thought that every day belonged to her. He chuckles to himself as he thinks about this, wandering into their bedroom.
There she stands like a mannequin in a department store. A perfect shapely body to fit only the smallest sizes. Posed in a manner in which one does not normally stand, all her weight on her right leg, the left leg jutted out to the side, her right hand on her hip and her left hand touching her mouth, slowly chewing on her index finger. Seeing as how she's completely naked except for her black bra and panties, if he had seen her in a lingerie store, he might have wondered if she was even real. Although, sometimes he wonders that anyhow. But there she stands in front of her open closet, still except for the slight movements of her teeth on her finger, like the only thing that keeps him from wondering if Medusa got to her is the small up and down movements of her chest as she breathes and the sheer radiance of her healthy, peachy skin.
Even as he walks up next to her, she doesn't move, which is surprising because she always seems to feel his presence even when he doesn't actually make a sound. Similar to how he knows it's her walking into the diner before he even looks over at the door. The bell doesn't ring any differently. He feels it more than he hears it, his heart beats differently, it matches hers, and he feels more whole, because quite literally she has become his other half.
Draping his eyes over her, he reaches out and runs his index finger over the smooth bony prominence of her hip, listening to her take in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "You okay?" he asks, not quite worried about the state he's found her in, he's noticed she's been different in the past few months, more pensive. Her silences have become longer, not that he's constantly searching to understand her, but maybe she knows those are the times he understands her the best. In the in-between times, only when they're alone, she's become more apt to say exactly what she's thinking, tell him how she's feeling, straight out, a few pop references thrown in, because that only comes naturally. No more hiding behind fake smiles and uncontrolled rants that in the end left him more confused than he was to start with. When they're in public she's just as witty and exasperating as always, her mask of the Lorelai she perfected over the years never dented even a bit, keeping the inner-Lorelai, the real Lorelai Victoria Gilmore Danes, as a person only he could know as her trust in him had grown and never faltered again.
"Nothing's jumping out at me. I think maybe I need to go shopping again," she says seriously but he knows she's joking. As he chuckles, she glances over at him and winks. He smiles at her, the adorable, boyish smile that she loves, because it always makes him seem so young, so loveable. Only the feeling of his finger moving up from her hip, tracing up and down her bare side, causing shivers to run similarly on her spine, making her blink, and she moves her gaze from his sexy blue eyes and flirtatious little smile, down his body which is clad only in sweatpants, to his tanned gorgeous chest and abs, so hard that she knows she could punch him and he would barely move, she knows this well, she's tried it. Without realizing it, she's removed her hand from her mouth and has placed it on his chest, rememorizing the feel of his thick skin beneath her hand, that she feels fits to his body so perfectly.
Silently, he moves his hand to her lower back, rubbing in circles as she turns into him, like a movement they've perfected. Somehow he's found that his fingers are always attached to her. Moreover, in the months since their reunion, he's found that he barely can keep his hands off of her, not just in a sexual fashion, but for example, as they walk, he'll keep his hand in hers or on her lower back. It's like he thinks this constantly reminds her of his love, not that she would ever again doubt it, he's made sure of that, but a reminder never hurts. Maybe it's a reminder for himself again, to remind him what he almost lost, that he might never again have been able to just have these simple moments with her, much less the much more passionate times they share in their bedroom and a few times on the kitchen floor when she was feeling especially randy or he had gotten especially drunk.
While his mind has been wandering, her hand has been traveling down and down further until she can feel his length through his pants. He groans in response, bucking his hips into her hand. She smiles up at him, a sultry and mischievous smile, their eyes fixed on each other, as they had since she turned to face him. He opens his mouth to say something, but she increases the pressure on him and all he can do is groan and tip his head down, finally capturing her lips with hers. "You can drive a sane man crazy," he mutters against her lips making her grin as he wraps his other arm around her waist, pressing both of his hands into her lower back, pulling her closer, letting her wrap her free arm around his neck.
"And what do I do to you?" she teases, placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth and kissing down to her favorite spot on the side of his neck. He runs his hands up and down her bare back, just letting her go at it, his nerves tingling from her lips on his neck and her hand working magic lower down. His hands catch on her bra and after fumbling for a moment due to the fog that's settling on his brain, he unhooks it, letting it drop to the ground, his hands coming around to cup her breasts, receiving a soft sweet moan from her in response. She tilts her head up once again to kiss him fully on the mouth, her tongue easily slipping inside.
He's struggling to contain himself as her hand hasn't stopped moving since she first touched it to his skin. There's something amazing to him about her hands, so small, with long graceful fingers that seem to know every each of his body even with her eyes closed. "Lorelai," he groans out in that way she loves, like each syllable is its own sensual meaning. Sometimes all he has to do is say her name, slowly and in that sensual way he has about it, to turn her on. He grabs her hand, pulling it off him as his other concentrates on her nipple, rolling it between his fingers, knowing that he's going to make her gasp his name, which she does. As he lets go of her hand, both of hers grab onto the waist band of his sweats, pulling them down. "Feeling a little randy this morning?" he teases, but actually growls.
"It's you, Baby. Look what you do to me, people are gonna start thinking I'm a nympho," she responds as he guides her towards their bed, kicking off his boxers and pants in the process. His fingers instantly go for her panties, allowing her to wriggle out of them as she walks backwards. Her knees hit the bed and she lays down, grabbing onto his upper arms and pulling him down on top of her. They lay like that, their arms around each other, their faces barely a centimeter apart, staring into each other's eyes. "Hello," she says softly.
"You, Lorelai, you're so beautiful," he tells her, never taking his eyes from hers, making her blush at his true, loving words. She stares back at him, feeling the intensity of the moment. So different is their love making than with any other man she had ever been with, it's not just movements, it's not just moments of pleasure, it's that each touch, each kiss, each thrust, is out of love. Even now it's different than it was early on in their relationship, like everything has more meaning, like learning what it was be without each other, to be lost, made their times together more passionate, more tender, more demonstrative that each action reveal a bit more of the love they share.
After a time, she can again feel his arousal on her thigh as well as her own heat and circles her hips beneath to him to remind him of the exact reason why they are lying there on the bed. "Make love to me, Luke," she says and he leans down and places a soft kiss on her lips. He takes her hands in his, interlacing their fingers, repeating his affections over and over like a song she wants to hear again and again. As he enters her, he repeats it with more meaning, the strong emotional and physical sensations stirring something inside of him that only makes him love her more with each passing moment. She wraps her legs around him as he begins to move inside, gentle at first, but knowing exactly the speed and pressure to make her gasp and moan, filling his ears with a musical melody that seems to harmonize his soft murmurs of adoration until the song becomes nothing more than cries of each other's name.
She smiles to herself as he rolls off of her and pulls her against his chest, soothing her with his hand and his lips. She doesn't really mind waking up early anymore if it means having sex with Luke.
Being late has its consequences, she's now learning as Luke pulls into a spot at the back of the large parking lot, which is actually the second parking lot back. She stares straight ahead with a dismayed look on her face, seeing how far she's going to have to walk to reach the field where the graduation is being held. "You know, I used to be on time for things until I married you," Luke grumps from outside the car as he's reaching to lift Gabriel into his arms. She rolls her eyes and gets out, grabbing her purse.
"Well you have your choice in the matter, playing the white rabbit or divorce," she responds cattily as she takes the baby bag from April, slinging it over her shoulder. Lorelai and Luke exchange smirks as they both walk to the front of the car. "Besides I thought I made being late a nice compromise," she flirts, her voice low so that April doesn't hear, thankfully April's still glancing around at the scene around her. Luke heaves a sigh, feeling his face go hot as he remembers their early morning activity. It was worth it, he decides.
Meanwhile, Gabriel is reaching his arms to Lorelai, for some reason preferring her over his uncle at the moment in time. With a sigh, they exchange baby for baby bag, in a move they've quickly perfected so that Gabriel is moved from person to person with little fuss from the boy. She places a kiss on his forehead as she adjusts him on her hip and he grabs the back of her dress in his pudgy little fist. "You going to be okay holding him this whole time? I mean having to walk and holding a baby is quite a lot of exercise for you," he teases and she sticks out her tongue at him. Luke motions for April to follow them as he places his hand on Lorelai's lower back, guiding her through the cars and towards their destination.
April keeps up quite nicely with her father and step-mother, though her eyes are quickly darting from building to building, car to car, completely amazed with her surroundings. Her time spent chattering with Rory at her father's house is never enough. Though she wasn't sure at first about Lorelai, she seemed nice, her eyes were beautiful, her smile was gregarious, her love of life was infectious, somehow that uncertainty faded quicker than it had with most people. Many would be surprised to think of her, April, as a shy person, she knows full well when she's around her friends she'll let out a stream of words that they're all searching to follow, but strangers, they were a completely different story. It was like her comfort level dropped to absolute zero when there were people around for her to meet, in fact she almost felt like her temperature had dropped to there too as she froze. Somehow Lorelai had made it easy, maybe it was because of the light she saw in her father's eyes the moment she stepped into the diner the day of her 13th birthday party or the way he grinned in pride when she reintroduced herself to April, placing a tiara on her head and April, in turn, had grinned back. There was no way not to smile around the woman.
More than that, she knew that her father loved Lorelai, before he even said it, from the moment he walked back into the diner on the first day she had met Lorelai but not been formally introduced. She had glanced out the window after Lorelai had walked away and he looked defeated. Although she barely knew him, she felt a connection with him, like somehow if she had passed him on the street years back, she would have glanced back behind her, staring at him, wondering what that strange feeling was that just ran through her. For a moment, that day in the diner, she thought about going out there and throwing her arms around him, but that might have been a little much, that might have scared him off. Maybe she should have run after Lorelai instead, maybe she should have explained that it was her fault, maybe she should have convinced Lorelai she wasn't trying to take him away, maybe she should have told Lorelai how much he already meant to her.
She remembers when she was young how she would ask about her father and her mother would coax her away from the subject. Still, when her mother had found about her science project, long after it was already complete, she had been warned that the consequences might be having to get to know a stranger, having to get to know someone who might never love her, who could never understand her. That was why she had hid out for a while after seeing him at the science fair. A couple times she had ridden her bike back to Stars Hollow and watched him through the window, seeing the way he worked, understanding how he talked to people like they were just customers but knowing that he cared more than he showed. It made her wonder how he would treat her, his own daughter. Would he act like he didn't care or would he actually try his hardest to let her in? After meeting him and spending time with him, really understanding why some girls were Daddy's girls, because even though it seemed he was so different from her, deep down, they were so similar, they just wanted to love and be loved, they just wanted to trust that the ones they let in would never leave.
Now her life had become so much fuller with her father as well as her step-mother, step-sister and soon-to-be half-brother. She knows she'll never forget that day in the park when he tried to get her play on the playground, disappointed that his plan wasn't what she wanted, but she also knows she'll never tell him how much to meant that he tried so hard. She'll never forget the first time Lorelai hugged her or the first time Rory let her borrow a book, as books were Rory's pride and joy, but she also wonders how she'll ever make it clear to Lorelai and Rory and eventually Gabriel, how complete her life now feels with them in it.
"Guess I'm not the only one running late," comes a voice to Lorelai's right as they first step into the field where the graduation is being held. For a second, she stops breathing, it's possible that her heart even stops. She leans closer to Luke to check if she's still alive or to see if he's still there, she's not sure which. He knows that voice too and he feels her tense beneath his hand the instant he hears the voice. Somehow in the midst of April and Gabriel and everything, he had forgotten Rory's real father, the one title that, try as he may, he'll never actually be able to achieve unless he somehow manages to get his hand on H.G. Wells' time machine and conceives a child with Lorelai back in 1984 instead of Christopher. The idea of it makes him chuckle for a moment and Lorelai looks up at him strangely, wondering how on earth her ex's presence had made him laugh.
As Christopher approaches, Luke watches how the corners of Lorelai's lips twitch, like she's trying to smile but failing miserably. He might have thought he'd feel a little jealous at this moment, but he doesn't. Protective. That's how he feels. He remembers how many times this man has hurt the woman he loves and the step-daughter that he also loves, like the night Lorelai broke down at the counter in his diner even though she was fighting with him at the time, wondering why she'll never get her whole package, wishing she could have it already, though not really saying that Christopher was the one she wanted it with, just that he was getting it and she wasn't. He had gone all out to convince Luke that he wasn't good enough for Lorelai, that they weren't forever. And there had been two in that room that night a year ago, his broken, destroyed wife and the man who let her drive herself deeper into the hole she had fallen into, instead of being a friend and letting her cry and then offering her a hand and helping her out.
Christopher smiles and nods to both her and Luke as he reaches them, but she notices his eyes focus on neither of them, but actually the child on her hip. "Oh, um, Christopher, you remember my husband, Luke," she says, motioning to her left, the word 'husband' rolling off her tongue easily without a thought. It is only after the words had left her mouth that she realizes what she said and hopes that Luke doesn't think she's trying to prove anything by it. She remembers the stony look on his face back at the vow renewal when she had gone all out to make it quite apparent that she was dating Luke. She has nothing to prove now, she feels quite secure in her relationship with her husband.
"Yeah, uh, hey," Christopher responds nervously, receiving only a nod from Luke. He glances at April, and quickly figures out who she is, remembering what Lorelai had told him between her mournful and aching sobs that night a year ago. As he looks over at the boy in Lorelai's arms, he's stuck, nothing comes to mind. Glancing back up at Lorelai's face, he watches as she shares a look with her husband and his heart drops. Her husband. After all of that, after hurting her, after breaking up with her, then keeping her at arms length, then making her feel like she's not worthy of him, at least that's what Christopher had gotten from her late night rant, between choked back sobs and cries of indignation, after all of that, somehow Luke had still won her. There was nothing he could do about it anymore, they were married, she has his rings on her finger, and when she looks into Luke's eyes, her eyes are sparkling, like they're reflecting light. "And who is this?" Christopher manages, motioning to the child in Lorelai's arms.
Unconsciously, she pulls the child even closer against her. "This is Gabriel. My, our nephew, well soon-to-be son, actually. We're adopting him. I've seen Oliver one too many times to want that for him," she explains, hoping that her little joke eased the tension. A year, she thinks to herself, it has been exactly a year since she's seen this man, and it almost amazes her that she hasn't missed him for a second. This reminds her of the years when Rory was growing up, the years he was in California, pretending to make his way but really living off his parents' money. She hardly thought of him at all then until he would call out of the blue or show up randomly at her parents' Christmas party. "Hey you want to take him and maybe see if the King and Queen of Righteous Indignation have saved us a few seats? I gotta…" Lorelai asks of her husband, motioning with her head over at Christopher. Luke nods, not wanting to leave her, not wanting to take his hand off her, wishing only that he could hold her in his arms and protect her forever. She carefully hands over Gabriel, who begins to cry, reaching back for her, so that when Luke adjust the boy on his shoulder, Gabriel begins to cry into his dress shirt, balling the shirt in his fists. With a sympathetic frown, Lorelai rubs the boy's back and kisses his head. "We'll just be a moment, like lickety-split," she promises.
"Sure, come on April," Luke says and walks away. With a fond smile on her face, she watches her husband and children disappear into the crowds, leaving her with this man, who she used to know, but now seems a complete stranger. And she feels empty, like her life is walking away and she has to use all her self-control not to run after them. She'll never understand why she ever believed she could be happy with anyone but Luke. He was the only person who had ever made her feel whole.
Though it was a hard thing for her to completely understand, why he had left her empty for all those months even as they were still technically together, and it had taken a long time to see why he had let her hurt so much for so long, she could still say that he hadn't been malicious in his intent. Somehow he had felt safe and secure. Somehow he felt she had understood. Somehow he had thought that the brave front she put up, that the support she gave him continuously for his choices, meant she trusted in him, that she felt as secure that he wanted what was best for both her and April. Even the shock that she was doubting that they would ever be married and, more than that, doubting his love for her, back on Martha's Vineyard, set him back only enough that he thought he had calmed her fears by reminding her of his love, by promising that they would be married, by worshiping her that night during every moment of their lovemaking.
She shouldn't have been surprised. He was Luke, he was wonderful, he had a heart of gold and he was just so amazing to her, her protector and her support throughout everything, but he was still a guy, he was still the guy who needed think things through, he wasn't perfect, he still had a hard time seeing what was right in front of him. Hell, he had waited 8 years to get up the nerve to ask her out! To think that he could adjust to having April in his life in an instant must have been insane, that was her, not him. Sure, it had hurt to be pushed aside, to realize that he was working April into his life, not their life, but it was all he could think of to do. And she had said nothing. That was the worst truth. Her idea of support was to deny him the information he needed to really see her, to shove her fears aside in the extreme hope that he would just walk in her house one day and tell her that he was ready to get married. She could laugh at herself for being that ridiculous, to think that it was okay to curl up and die on the inside and not tell her fiancé who would try to fix things, who would put his arms around her and hold her until she didn't feel so scared anymore. That was how he was. She had felt him slipping away and instead of telling him her fears, she had just tried to hold on for dear life, feeling pieces of her breaking down as she held it all in, cracking as she slowly lost him and it wasn't until that night just a few months ago when he had promised her commitment and communication and everything he could possibly give her, that she had finally felt intact once again.
Taking a deep breath she looks back over at Christopher, running a hand quickly through her hair. "So… you wanted to talk…" Christopher says awkwardly. She bites her lower lip nervously.
"Chris, I…we've known each other forever. I can barely remember when I said 'You can sit here Forrest'," Lorelai says smirking a little at her joke. "But this whole thing has made me realize something, I don't need you in my life." She licks her lips as she lets that sink in, her heart breaking for him. "You can be whatever you want to Rory, she's 22, she can handle her own life. But I can't have you in my life. It's not that I don't trust myself around you, because God knows what a foolish mistake it was to sleep with you that night. But Chris... the thing is, I'm happy, happier with Luke and Gabriel and the girls than I've ever been in my entire life. I don't need you. I don't need you coming in and screwing up my life like you have every time you've come back into it and I know it's partly my fault, but that's how it is." She takes another deep breath. "Chris, I swear, if you care anything for me, you'll just want me to be happy."
"I do, Lor," Chris finally responds and she does her best not to react to his pronunciation of her name, such a difference from the way Luke says it. The way Christopher says it, it's like they're kids again, little Chris and Lor playing together on the playground, but with Luke it's Luke and Lorelai, this grown up, completely unified couple, and their names just roll off the tongue together, the two Ls, completely made for each other. That's what it is really, Christopher is the guy she couldn't live without as a kid, even as she got older but never really matured, he was the guy she missed, but just being with Luke, she had finally come to be an adult, she had finally become ready for an adult relationship, commitment, eternal love, family, what she had said to him that night when she mourned the loss of her whole package: love, comfort, and safety. That's what Luke gave to her. He was the only one.
"I get it," Chris says. She nods, not knowing what to say, feeling like she's said all she needs to. "Well I'll… I'll see you around."
She smiles faintly and nods. "See you around Chris," she responds and walks away and back over to her family.
Meanwhile, from a distance, April and Luke watch them intently. "Who is that?" April asks and Luke glances down at his daughter in surprise.
"That's Rory's father," Luke responds trying to hide the bitterness in his voice.
"Did she always know him?" April asks.
Luke shrugs, watching his wife, her arms crossed over her chest as she speaks to her ex. "Well… I guess he always knew her, he knew her from the start. I'm not sure how well she ever knew him," Luke answers, hoping that explains it. April nods, staring at the man, as if trying to figure him out. Silently she wraps a hand around her father's elbow.
"Must have been nice," April says decidedly. Luke glances down at his daughter and for the first time realizes that she's also wishing for what might have been, just as he had since the moment he first found out the truth. He wants to kiss her head and hug her tight, just as he would if he had known her all his life, but he considers that maybe it's still too soon. So he just places his hand on her opposite shoulder and squeezes it softly, letting her know that he understands, that he feels the same, and she lays her head against him, smiling, just smiling.
After the graduation, Rory stops to talk to Christopher for a bit before heading over to greet her family. Luke watches from a distance as she greets him, seems to smile as she talking to him, hugs him, chats with him, but when he looks over at his wife, he finds she's too absorbed in playing with Gabriel to even notice. It's over, he finally realizes. The guy is finally out of their lives forever, maybe not Rory's, but at least out of Lorelai's, and he can't help but feel relieved, not for himself, he's not worried about that, he trusts her completely, but he's thankful on her part that Christopher is gone, he can't hurt her ever again. As he watches his wife play with his son, he's reminded that there's nothing he won't do for this woman. If that man ever comes near her again, he'll have to get by Luke to get to her, to do anything to her that would remove that shining smile from her face.
When Rory leaves Christopher and walks over to them, Lorelai hands the baby over to Luke so she can completely wrap her arms around her daughter. Then Rory goes on to hug everyone in the group: Emily, Richard, April, Luke and even a little tickle and kiss for Gabriel. "Wow, a college graduate. Don't get any Dustin Hoffman like ideas, now Hun," Lorelai warns. Rory rolls her eyes and giggles as does April, who clearly gets the joke, while Luke tries to pretend he's not so befuddled.
"Okay, I'm going to go talk to Paris and then I have to drop off my gown, I'll be back in a few," Rory tells them.
"Wait, April and I will join," Lorelai says, glancing at April, who grins, clearly fascinated by her step-sister's life. "Be good," she whispers in Luke's ear, placing a quick kiss on his lips as she grabs April's hand and they walk away. Luke takes a deep breath, watching his 'girls' scamper off in the distance.
He looks over at Gabriel who blows raspberries in response. "Guess it's just me and the boys, eh Buddy?" Luke jokes and hears a small noise to his left. He glances over and sees his mother-in-law to his left, her arms closed over her chest and an eyebrow raised, almost exactly like Lorelai when she's annoyed with something he's done. However he knows he can't make it up to Emily the same way he can with Lorelai and suddenly he feels nauseous at his own thoughts. He smiles faintly at her. "And you too, of course, Emily." She nods like she's not sure if she should believe him and he grimaces. "Actually, I'm glad we're alone, I wanted to ask you if you have plans for August 23rd," he says.
"Why? Is that the night that you and your wife were planning on toilet papering our house?" Emily asks without a hint of a joke in her voice and for a moment, Luke wonders if she's actually serious.
He's not sure how to respond, whether he should act like she was joking or apologize for whatever she may believe about him. Deciding to go with a soft chuckle, he manages a small, uneasy smile. "Actually Lorelai and I have decided to renew our vows, you know, have a real wedding this time. And I know that, other than the kids, you are the most important people on her invite list. And I know that you tend to go away to Europe in the fall, so I'm asking now, before we make things definite, will you be able to attend on August 23rd?" Luke asks, trying to hide that he's scared out of his wits. Something about Emily Gilmore's impenetrable posture gives him an anxiety attack that makes him wonder if he has a disorder.
Emily and Richard share a look, sharing an understanding, something that Luke knows he does often with Lorelai. That's something that his in-laws have going for them, despite their insanity in how they deal with their wealth and their constant misunderstanding of their daughter, they really love each other, they have each other, they'll fight and make up and always know that they're each other's true love. It's something he respects them for. "We will be there," Emily promises, a smile playing on her lips.
"Welcome to the family, Son," Richard says warmly, sticking out his hand towards Luke, who almost jumps back in shock. He hesitates only a moment, before switching Gabriel to his other hip and shakes his father-in-law's hand.
"And thank you for welcoming us into your family," Emily adds, a sense of pride covering her face as her eyes move from her soon-to-be grandson, to her son-in-law.