Ok, peace offering. A couple of things first.

1. I LOVE that all I had to do was write Chris centric scenes to get you kids out to review. They were hilarious reviews, I laughed all day, thank you. Next time though, please read the authors note before you start in on me. Da Capo has reached the point of no return for the LL relationship. I HAVE A PLAN! DON'T WORRY!! Like I said, the Chris/Charlie bonding was requested a while ago, so there it ended up. The other Chris centric ones. . . I dunno. My excuse is the same one the show writers used: it was an interesting dramatic story line to explore. I got nothin' else.

2. I also love that the majority of the hate was from commenters with no accounts. Good job guys. Would it kill you to come out of the wood work at least once to tell me I done good?? Because that would be special. Really.

Charlie 7, Maddy's 1

"You think I'd be surprised by this by now!" Lorelai yelled out from the bathroom.

"Surprised by what?" Luke called back, taking a break from the book he was reading the Maddy and Charlie.

"The unexpected!" she called back, not elaborating any more. Luke paused as he thought about this for a moment.

"OK," he called back eventually before he went back to reading to the girls. He glanced down at Charlie when he heard the 7 year old giggle. "What?" he asked her.

"Momma's sick," she said, looking up at him.

"She's fine," he replied.

"Uh uh," Charlie said wtih a shake of her head and a smile on her face. Just as he was about to question her further, Maddy pulled her thumb out of her mouth long enough to give out a disgruntled cry as she smacked at the book Luke had stopped reading. He glanced over at his youngest before he started reading again.

"Tell me again," he asked Charlie as he lugged her down stairs to her bedroom.

"Tell you what again?" she asked with a yawn, not bothering to lift her head up from his shoulder.

"About your mother being sick," he prompted as he neglected the main light in the room in favour of the desk lamp.

"She's sick," Charlie replied simply, offering a bit of a shrug as she grabbed her blankie and got comfortable. "She's sick like she was before MAddy came," she answered simply. This made Luke pause in the middle of pulling the comforter up over Charlie.

"Really?" he asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah," she said, another yawn nearly splitting her face. Luke got his wits about him and finished tucking her in before he dashed upstairs. He stood in the door way and fixed a stare on Lorelai who was sitting at the foot of the bed.

"None of the others were planned, why should this one be so different?" she asked with a shrug.

"Well, at least we're consistent," he replied, still not moving from the door frame.

"Opinions?"

"Here's hoping it's a boy this time," he replied with a ghost of a smile and shrug as he finally pushed away from the door frame and came into the room. Lorelai couldn't help but smile and shake her head.

"Typical guy," was all she said. He didn't reply as he rummaged through the laundry basket for a pair of pyjammas.

"Charlie's put it together already," he told her, changing the subject slightly.

"I'm not surprised. She picks up on everything. She's giving Patty and Babette a run for their money."

"God help us all," he said as he headed into the bath room. Even shutting the door didn't drowned out Lorelai's laughter.

Charlie's about 2.5

"So, uh, what are you doing on Saturday?" Lorelai asked. Luke looked up from the reciepts he was wroking on to look at her.

"Me?" he asked, pointing to himself with the pencil that was in his hand.

"No, Duke, your alter ego diner owner," she said sarcastically with an eye roll. "Yes you."

"No, why?"

"I need some help with a building project," she said, trying to make 'converting Charlie's crib into a toddler bed' sound more manly.

"What kind of building project?" he asked calmly, giving up on his reciepts for the moment.

"Well, I finally got Rory's room rearranged so I can fit another bed in there."

"Okay," he said, blinking at her calmly.

"Well, my mother planned a head for once in her life and as Charlie grows, so does her bed," she said with a smile. Luke considered this for a moment.

"So you need me to move something heavy," he concluded.

"Well, yes. But I also need you to take something apart and rebuild it. LIke the 6 MIllion Dollar man, only more furnitury," she said, offering him a smile.

"What time?" he asked with a sigh.

"Mid morning? During the lull?" she asked hopefully.

"Fine. Should she be sleeping like that?" he asked as he nodded towards Charlie who was slumped over int he high chair, asleep on a picture book she had been flipping through. Lorelai looked over her shoulder at her youngest before turning back to the diner owner.

"She's fine," she said with a sigh. "She refused to nap this afternoon so I knew the crash was coming eventually. HAve I mentioned that I love having a 2 year old recently?"

"No, you haven't," he said dryly as he went back to his reciepts.

"Because I totally do," she said, flashing him one last smile before she drained her coffee cup. "So, Saturday, around 10?"

"Saturday around 10," he confirmed as he watched her get up and head to the back corner. She dropped enough money on the table to cover their meal and a tip before she shoved Charlie's things back into her bag and gathered up the sleeping toddler. "Night Luke," she said quietly as she headed for the door.

"Night," he said as he met her at hte door and held it open for her. He watched the two of them head down the street for a moment before he flipped hte sign to closed and locked the door.

"Come in!" Lorelai yelled from the couch on Saturday morning. While she had managed to get dressed, Charlie was still in her fleecy blue foottie pyjammas, playing with some noisy toy her grandparents had bought her.

"Your handy man is here," Luke commented as he came in after stamping some snow off of his boots.

"Hi Bert," Lorelai called out absently as she watched the end of Sponge Bob before she got up off the couch. This caught Charlie's attention and she followed her mother across the living room. When she saw Luke, she quickly jumped up and rushed over as fast as she could.

"Luke!" she called out to him to get his attention. "Dat?" she asked, patting his tool box.

"That's Bert," Lorelai said quickly.

"Beht?" Charlie asked, cocking her head to the side as she looked at the tool box again.

"It's a tool box," Luke corrected as he finished taking off his coat, scarf and gloves.

"Beht," Charlie confirmed with a nod. "Ooooooooooh," she said with a shiver as she touched Bert. "Cowd," she explained.

"Well don't touch it then," Lorelai said with a smile. "Go play," she told Charlie as Luke picked Bert up. Charlie studied the pair for a moment before she wandered back over to her toy and Lorelai led Luke upstairs. "Look, not only did I find the instructions for you, I cleaned too," she told him, quite proud of her self. Luke glanced around the bedroom.

"Impressive," he admitted as he looked around at the nearly clean bedroom. As he dropped his tool box and picked up the instruction booklet on how to turnt he crib into a toddler bed, Lorelai sat down on the foot of the bed. "This is gonna take a while," he eventually told her.

"I know," she replied as she continued to sit.

"You could go and play with your kid or watch more cartoons," he said. "I don't really need to be supervised."

"I know," she replied again.

"So, aren't you going to. . . " he trailed off when he saw Charlie pop her head in the door way.

"Momma!" she exclaimed happily as she hurried over and climbed up onto the bed.

"Everyone loves a good handy man show," she replied with a smile. LUke shook his head as he cleared his throat and went back to reading.

"You can go back to the diner if you have to," Lorelai said a few hours later. Taking apart hte crib was taking way longer than either of them expected.

"It's fine," he said. "I told Caesar to call here if things got too busy for him to handle alone."

"Ok," she said as she glanced over at Charlie who was working her way through a chicken finger and some apple slices.

"Okay," he said after a moment. "That should do it," he said as he removed the last screw. Lorelai and Charlie both jumped a little as the crib sagged under its own weight. Luke carefully stacked the individual parts against the wall before he started lugging things downstairs. "Where are you setting this up?" he yelled up to her.

"Stay here," she told Charlie as she slid off the bed and dashed down stairs. She quickly joined him in Rory's room and explained how she wanted it set up.

"Very nice," Lorelai commented as hse and Luke took in the newly completed toddler bed. "Timings a little off, but very nice." Charlie had fallen asleep on her bed a few moments before she had come downstairs. He sent her a look and she simply gave him a smile.

"See you for dinner?' he asked as he packed up.

"We'll be around," she said casually.

"Good. Let's not do this again, ok?" he asked. She smiled and agreed, telling him that it would be a couple of years before she asked him to do this again. He shook his head as tey headed to the foyer.

"By Bert," she said to the tool box as Luke put on his winter gear. "It was nice to see you again."

"Nutty," was all Luke said to her as he grabbed the tool box and headed back to the diner. Lorelai called out her thanks once more before she shut hte bed and went to find clean sheets for Charlie's new old bed.