9 – Home, sweet home
"You can park over there, behind my car." Lorelai instructed Luke as he pulled in in front of her house. "I'm not going anywhere for a while."
"You are not going anywhere, period." Luke corrected her. "The doctor said to take it easy for a couple of days."
"So I can't even leave the house?" Lorelai complained.
"You can leave the house, but not alone." Luke told her. "Take Rory with you, or Sookie."
"Rory's at school and Sookie's busy at the inn." Lorelai moped.
"It's only for a few days." Luke consoled her. "I'll bring you breakfast and lunch and dinner, and you can watch movies in bed. Doesn't that sound good? And April will be here to entertain you."
"I guess I can take it." Lorelai admitted, sounding a little happier at the thought of food being brought to her door and spending the time watching her beloved movies.
"That's the spirit." Luke turned the car off and jumped out, walking around the truck to help Lorelai out.
"Thank you." She said as she stood on the ground. "Your truck is way too high."
"I never have a problem with it." Luke argued, following her across the lawn.
"Well, swallow a ten pound basketball and say that again." Lorelai countered, and Luke chuckled.
"I'll bring a stepladder next time." He joked, and Lorelai glared at him over her shoulder.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you to watch what you say around a pregnant woman? We tend to get very emotional." She said, fumbling for the key in her purse.
"I'll keep that in mind." Luke replied, leaning against the porch rail as he waited for Lorelai to find her key.
"Lorelai, sugar, you're back!" They heard from across the yard, and they both looked over to find Babette running towards them. "We were so worried about you!"
"Well, I'm fine, like you can see." Lorelai replied, not wanting to get into a long conversation with the neighbor.
"I know, Rory told us, but still, you know Morey and I care about you, hon." Babette said.
"I know, Babette, and I really appreciate it." Lorelai's voice softened a little. They were just concerned about her, after all.
"Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and to tell you that we're right across the yard. If you need us just holler." Babette started to walk back towards her house, not paying any attention to Luke whatsoever. Lorelai looked at him and frowned, Luke only shrugged.
"I'll be right back." Lorelai told him and followed Babette. "Babette? Can I talk to you for a moment?" She called after her, and the older woman stopped.
"What's the matter, sugar?" She asked, and Lorelai raised an eyebrow at her.
"What was that, back there?" She wondered.
"What was what?" Babette tried to look innocent.
"You were completely ignoring Luke, unless you have gone partially blind since the last time I saw you." Lorelai said.
"I was just supporting you, hon." Babette explained.
"Supporting me? What do you mean?" Lorelai frowned.
"Well, we all saw the two of you fighting in the square yesterday, so Taylor started handing out the ribbons again." Babette revealed.
"He did what?" Lorelai half-yelled.
"Don't worry, sugar, you're winning by a landslide." Babette assured her. "Nobody likes Luke anymore, after he left the way he did."
"I don't care about that, Babette!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Look, Luke and I aren't fighting, everything's fine."
"Oh, you two are back together, how sweet!" Babette gushed. "Morey, Lorelai and...!" She yelled into the house, but Lorelai shushed her.
"No, we're not back together, but we're friends, OK?"
"But, honey, you're having a baby together, that's not something friends do." Babette argued.
"Well, we are." Lorelai replied. "Could you spread the news around town, get rid of the ribbons?"
"Sure thing, sugar, you can count on me!"
xxxxx
"Sorry about that." Lorelai apologized as she rejoined Luke on the porch. "She's just a little... overprotective. The whole town is, really."
"I get that." Luke nodded. "I mean, they don't know what's been going on, it's only natural for them to blame me."
"I never told them that us breaking up was entirely your fault." Lorelai tried to defend herself. She finally found the keys and unlocked the door. "I said that it was a mutual understanding, which I guess was kind of true."
"It's OK, you don't have to explain anything." Luke assured her, following her into the house. "You were the one who was here every day, it's not weird that they take your side."
"I told Babette to spread around that we're not fighting and that everything is OK." Lorelai said, closing the door behind her.
"Good, the whole town will know within the hour then." Luke joked, but on the inside he was screaming. But everything isn't OK!
"Yeah, she'll get Patty to help her and then everything will be back to normal in no time." Lorelai smiled a little. Only it won't. It never will.
"So, how about a tour of the new and improved Crap Shack?" Luke suggested, and Lorelai nodded.
"Let me just get rid of my purse." She led the way into the kitchen, and Luke followed her. "Nothing's really different in here, we never use the kitchen, as you're well aware of." She joked. "That's April's room, but I'll let her show it to you later, I think she'll want to." She pointed to a door that was where the back door had used to be, only it didn't lead to the back porch anymore. On it was a puple sign with April in white letters.
"I think she'd like that, too." Luke agreed.
"OK, so I guess we're heading upstairs then!" Lorelai walked back through the hallway and started climbing the stairs. "The living room's pretty much the same."
"I can see that." Luke looked around the familiar room. It looked just like he remembered it. Paul Anka, who was asleep on the couch, looked up at his voice, but when he saw who it was, he just went back to sleep again.
"OK, so that's my bedroom, you know that, nothing new there." Lorelai started to babble a little. It had been so long since they had been alone together in the house like this, she was a little nervous. "And here's the nursery." She opened a door opposite the bathroom and stepped inside. Luke followed.
"It looks really nice." He said, studying the room. The walls were painted in an off-white color and the room was filled with wooden furniture, a crib, a cradle, a dresser, a rocking chair, a book case.
"Yeah, Rory and April painted the walls, they wouldn't even let me near the cans." Lorelai said.
"They were right, you shouldn't paint when you're pregnant." Luke told her, and Lorelai rolled her eyes.
"I know, I know." She agreed. "So we decided that I would do the final touches after the baby's born, add a little blue or pink, you know? Everything else, the town gave me."
"The town gave you all of this?" Luke was amazed.
"And more, they're really something." Lorelai nodded. "They threw me this wonderful baby shower with tons of presents, so I hardly had to get anything myself."
"I never would have seen that coming." Luke noted.
"I didn't either. But they really wanted to help, with everything, since..." Lorelai cut herself off and looked down at her feet.
"It's OK, you can say it." Luke said. "Since I wasn't here."
"Let's not think about that, OK?" Lorelai suggested. "I mean, you're back now, let's just focus on the future, OK?"
"OK." Luke agreed.
"Oh, wait, I have something for you." Lorelai walked over to the book case and pulled out what looked like a photo album. "Let's go downstairs."
Luke followed her down the stairs again and into the kitchen, where Lorelai sat down at the table and placed the album in front of her.
"Have a seat." She patted the chair next to her, and he obliged.
"What's this?" He asked, nodding at the album.
"This is a baby book." Lorelai told him, flipping the album open. "I wanted to make one, since I didn't really do that with Rory, and I thought that you might like one, too, since you've missed a lot of the 'process'." She turned to an empty page halfway through the album, got the photo from the ultrasound from her purse and attached it to the page. Grabbing a pen, she wrote something under it. "There." She slid the album towards him, and he looked at the photo. Under the picture, Lorelai had written 'Baby Gilmore-Danes, week 31'. Luke flipped back through the pages.
"Thank you." He said, looking up at Lorelai and smiling at her.
"You're welcome." She replied, smiling back. "So, how about you go pick up that daughter of yours and I'll take a nap?" Lorelai yawned a little. "I'm kinda tired."
"You just slept, like, twelve hours last night." Luke reminded her, closing the album.
"Well, baby's sleepy. And you don't argue with the baby."
"Fine." Luke chuckled. "I'll go pick up April, and we'll bring lunch back, that sound good?"
"Sounds great." Lorelai headed towards the stairs.
"See you in a while." Luke said as he opened the front door.
"Bye."
xxxxx
"Luke!" April yelled as she spotted him outside her school.
"Hey, April." He replied a little quieter, moments before being tackled into the side of his truck when April attacked him with a hug.
"I've missed you." She mumbled into an area somewhere close to his stomach, and he uncomfortably returned the hug.
"I missed you too, kid." He said, holding her a little closer for a moment before letting go.
"Where's Lorelai?" April asked, looking inside the car.
"The doctor told her to take it easy for a couple of days, so she's home in bed." Luke told her, opening the car door for her. "I thought we'd stop by the diner and get some lunch for the three of us, how does that sound?"
"Great." April replied, climbing into the car. "I'm starving."
xxxxx
Several heads turned as Luke and April walked into the diner, but most of the diner patrons only nodded and went back to their food. Kirk, however, shot Luke a somewhat frightening look – or as frightening as a look from Kirk could be. Luke frowned at first, but then decided to just let it go. It was Kirk after all.
"So, you finally decided to drop by." Lane said sarcastically as she rounded the counter.
"Well, I couldn't trust the two of you not to burn the place down for much longer, could I?" Luke joked, and Lane smiled a little.
"It's good to have you back." She gave him a pat on the back as she passed him with the coffee pot.
"Hey, boss!" Came Ceasar's cheerful voice from the kitchen. "Glad you're back."
"Thanks, Ceasar, it's good to be back." Luke called back. "Could you whip up a couple of burgers and fries, and a chicken sallad to go?"
"Sure thing, boss."
"Why don't you sit down at the counter, I'm gonna help Lane out a little, they seem swamped." Luke said to April, noticing that the diner was practically full and Lane was running around with the coffee pot.
"OK." April agreed and chose a stool at the counter. Luke went behind it and approached Kirk, who was hiding behind a menu.
"Kirk, what can I get you?" He asked.
"I'm fine, thanks." Kirk mumbled from behind the menu.
"Then why are you in my diner?" Luke wondered.
"Just wanted to hang out a little."
"Well, if you're not going to order, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." Luke told him.
"OK, fine, I'll order." Kirk agreed grudgingly. "But I want Lane to take my order."
"She's busy." Luke frowned, beginning to understand where the conversation was going.
"Then I'll wait."
"You haven't, by any chance, talked to Babette or Patty today, have you?" Luke asked, and Kirk finally put the menu down, letting Luke see that he was wearing a pink ribbon.
"I haven't spoken to anyone since last night, I've been locked in the cage." He said, causing April, who was sitting next to him, to raise her eyebrows.
"Why were you locked in a cage?" She asked, curious.
"Well, see, I've been thinking about getting a new pet, since I had to get rid of Cat Kirk." Kirk started. "And I've always wanted a bunny, but then I thought that I should probably put myself in the bunny's situation, so I would understand it better, and it wouldn't end up the way it did with Cat Kirk, so I had Lulu lock me in a cage once a week."
"OK." April nodded, turning away from him before she started laughing. Luke, however, spotted her grin.
"So you haven't talked to anyone today?" Luke asked, and Kirk shook his head. Luke reached out and took the ribbon from it's place on Kirk's shirt.
"Hey, that's mine." He tried to take it back, but Luke threw it in the trash.
"You haven't noticed that nobody else is wearing those stupid things anymore?" Luke half yelled at him.
"Well, no." Kirk said, looking around the diner to find that Luke was right.
"That's because there is no fight. Me and Lorelai are fine, we're friends, so there's no need for the ribbons. Not that there ever was."
"Oh." Kirk sat quiet for a moment. "I'm very sorry."
"It's fine, Kirk, just order."
"OK, I'll have a quarter caf, and a sugar free donut." He said, and Luke put the donut on a plate before pouring the coffee.
"Here you go."
"Thanks, Luke."
"Boss, your food's ready!" Ceasar called, and Luke took the bag he was holding,and grabbed a couple of sodas from the fridge before leaving.
xxxxx
"Food!" Lorelai exclaimed as Luke shut the door behind him.
"What are you doing up?" He asked, spotting her on the living room couch, Paul Anka on the floor next to her.
"Well, I'm not technically up." She argued. "Plus, you can't expect me to stay in bed the entire weekend. The couch is fine."
"You shouldn't climb those stairs." Luke argued, putting the food down on the living room table.
"Ooh, it smells good." Lorelai sniffed the air. "So I'll sleep in Rory's room, she won't be home until next weekend anyway."
"OK, good." Luke agreed. "Tell me what stuff you need and I'll bring it down here before I leave."
"Luke, I'm not a cripple, I can get it myself."
"I don't want you going upstairs." He said with a stern look.
"Fine, I won't" Lorelai surrendered. "But April will be here, so she can help me."
"Oh, trust me, I'd be sleeping on this couch if I didn't know she'd be here, keeping an eye on you." Luke assured her and Lorelai made a face. "Now, eat your food."
April was watching the interaction between the two adults from the doorway. Shaking her head, she went to join them for the improvised lunch. If only they could realize what was still there between them.
xxxxx
"So, has Babette been succesful yet?" Lorelai asked as they ate their food.
"Almost." April replied, giving Luke an amused look.
"Almost, what do you mean almost?" Lorelai frowned, popping a fry in her mouth.
"Well, I had a small run in with Kirk." Luke told her.
"That never ends well." Lorelai noted.
"Babette hadn't been able to talk to him yet." April explained.
"Why?" Lorelai asked, but then saw the look that Luke and April exchanged before they both started laughing. "Or don't I want to know?"
"I don't think I'll ever be able to get the image out of my head!" April giggled.
"I know, me either." Luke agreed.
"What image? Tell me, tell me!" Lorelai insisted.
"OK, Kirk said that he hadn't talked to anyone since yesterday and then went on to inform us that the reason of that was that he had been locked in a cage." Luke told her, still laughing a little. "And, of course, little Miss Genius over there had to ask why."
"You wanted to know too!" April countered.
"Well, I guess you have a point." Luke admitted. "Living in the same town as Kirk is never dull, I'll give you that."
"So, why was he locked in a cage?" Lorelai pressed on, as they seemed to have wandered from the subject.
"He wants to get a new pet." April revealed.
"Well, of course, because it went so well last time." Lorelai said.
"This time he wants to get a rabbit so, get this, he's tryin to understand how the rabbits feel." Luke started laughing out loud.
"Well, that just makes perfect sense." Lorelai shrugged. "If you're Kirk."
"I never thought Kirk would be one of the things that I would be glad to come back to." Luke said, having calmed down a little.
"It's home." Lorelai said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "It wouldn't be home without Kirk."
"I guess you're right." Luke agreed.
"Home, sweet home."