A big, huge thanks to my beta BrokeDaisy. You are amazing :D

GG

Living with Jess was an adjustment for Luke. First were all the toys and books scattered across the floor. After Luke took Jess to get some toys-or books since the little boy seemed to be drawn to the children's books-he soon realized that the bookshelf thing wasn't such a bad idea. It could be a project he and Jess could do together.

Second, the bed wetting didn't come as a surprise so much as a rude awakening. The first time it happened had been Jess' first night. Luke had awoken to something warm and wet seeping into his clothes and smearing across his arm. Jess had another freak out when he realized what he did, and it took Luke almost ten minutes to convince him he wasn't going to hit him.

Third, were all the people who wanted to meet Jess. The kid was shy, Luke would be the first to admit that, and every time someone new tried to introduce themselves he would hide behind Luke's legs. It didn't bother him unless the diner was busy. It was kind of hard to maneuver around a crowded room with a three-year-old clinging to him.

But the biggest adjustment was Luke having to get used to having someone around. He could handle everything else. The bed wetting (even if he was getting a tad sick of washing his sheets every morning), the clutter, the clinginess, even the questions that Jess was prone to ask when he saw something he didn't understand. He just wasn't used to having anyone around, much less a kid.

It was Monday morning; he and Jess had been up since six. Luke had bought Jess some rubber pants to go over his underwear, hoping to staunch the flow when he peed in his sleep. Social Worker Angela told him it was completely normal at Jess' age and more so with a child in Jess' situation. She assured Luke that once the stress levels passed so should the bed wetting.

Luke was trying to serve as many customers as he could before he had to head to Hartford. He had had to get the application to apply for Jess' birth certificate. After he got the form he had to drive up to New York to pick up Liz's ashes. This was going to be another busy day.

At around eleven, he left Caesar in charge and he and Jess headed out. Jess spent a majority of the car ride to Hartford flipping through the books Luke brought with them, asking the odd question about certain pictures.

The courthouse had been busy and it took almost an hour before Luke was able to get a hold of someone. He managed to procure the application and promptly left, making a mental note to fill it out later. Lately, he had been making so many mental notes he wondered if he should invest in post it notes.

After he left the courthouse, he began the longer drive up to New York. For half of it, Jess slept. According to the books, usually toddlers had a nap schedule. Luke had been too busy to actually think about it. Once he had some spare time, he'd actually put some effort into getting Jess to take naps. But until then, he'd just rely on the kid to know when to sleep.

Jess had another nightmare when they crossed state lines, jerking awake. He damn near burst into tears, and Luke quickly tried to calm him down. When he was certain he avoided a meltdown, he turned the radio on and he and Jess listened to music the rest of the way.

Luke had no idea why he picked a funeral home in New York. He could have easily had Liz's body shipped to Hartford or somewhere closer to Star's Hallow, but it was almost like he wanted her body taken care of as quickly as possible.

GG

The man who ran the funeral home had an oily appearance about him. Not just in looks, but in the way he ran business. He wanted money and he'd do anything to get it.

He led Luke and Jess down a hallway, toward a small room. He told them to wait outside and he disappeared behind the door. He returned a moment later carrying a small urn. He handed the urn over, Luke paid him and filled out some paperwork, and he left as quickly as he could.

The drive home was quiet. Jess stared out the window, his books lying abandoned next to him. Liz sat between them, in a sense, making Luke really uncomfortable. He had no idea where he was going to put her, but he knew he'd have to put her somewhere.

"You hungry?" Luke asked some time later as they crossed state lines again. Jess nodded looking up to meet his uncle's blue eyes. "Then let's stop to eat." Luke drove a little ways, pulling into the parking lot of a familiar tavern. It probably wasn't responsible to bring a child to a tavern, but the place did sell food. And it wasn't like Luke was going to get drunk.

"What's dis place?"

"This is where my friends work," Luke responded shutting his truck off. He pulled the keys from the ignition, got out of the truck, and jogged around the vehicle to help Jess down. He carried his nephew into the busy tavern, setting him down when they were indoors.

"Lucas, is that you?" he heard Maisy's voice call from across the tavern. He spotted her moving around tables and customers, and soon she was right at his side. "We haven't heard from you since your sister…" her words trailed off into a sigh. She looked down, Jess scurrying behind Luke's legs. "This must be Jess."

"Yeah," Luke replied glancing down to see his nephew peek his head out. It was a repeat of the day he met Miss Patty. Actually, it was a repeat of the entire weekend.

"He looks like you," Maisy commented smiling down at the little boy. "Except those eyes. Those must be from his father."

"Yup."

Maisy gave Jess one more look before turning her attention to Luke. "A table just cleared. If you'd like to wait a minute, you can have it."

"Thanks."

She led them to the back of her restaurant, quickly clearing and wiping down the table before letting Luke and Jess sit down.

"Would you like a booster seat?" she asked when they were situated. Jess' head barely cleared the table, his brown eyes and curly mop the only thing Luke could see.

"Yeah, that would be great," Luke responded and Maisy disappeared to the back. She reappeared with a plastic booster chair and soon Jess could see over the table.

"I'll be back with a menu," she said and scurried away.

"Kid, we are going to have to work on your shyness," Luke informed Jess as the little boy let his eyes scan the room. "Take it from personal experience; it's not always good to be a hermit..." Luke's words trailed off as Maisy returned with one menu, two place mats, and a bucket of crayons.

Luke could tell she wanted to say something else, but her name was called and, with a promise to return to take their order, she hurried away again. He knew it was useless, she was going to bring them what she thought was best.

"Can I color?" Jess asked pointing at the bucket.

"Yeah," Luke replied moving the menu, leaving access to the blank place mat. He dumped the crayons across the surface, placing the bucket under the table, near his feet.

While Jess busied himself with his drawing, Luke glanced down at the menu, scanning the back story of how Sniffy's came to be. Luke had read through it once, a long time ago, and wasn't sure he could read through it again. So, he just opened it, skimming the food choices even though he had the menu memorized.

"You know you shouldn't bring kids to places like these," a new voice said, "especially when the owner is an old coot." Luke put the menu down, smiling up at Buddy.

"Hey, I was wondering where you were."

"We're breaking in a new employee. He keeps breaking things." He glanced down at Jess, who had stopped drawing and was looking up at Buddy with wide eyes. "This must be Jess." He crouched down to the little boy's eye level. "What's that behind your ear?" he asked reached behind Jess' head, the little boy almost flinching, only to freeze when Buddy showed him the quarter in his hand.

"You should clean your ears more," Buddy commented handing Jess the quarter. Carefully, the little boy took the quarter, staring at it. Luke opened his mouth to tell him to say 'thank you' but was surprised when Jess quietly said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Buddy replied smiling. A crash sounded from the kitchen, over the sea of voices, and the older man's smile fell from his face with a sigh. "I have to go check on that. I'll be back." He headed back to the kitchen, zig-zagging around the crowd.

"What do you have?" Luke asked turning his attention back to Jess.

"A dime?" he guessed still looking at the quarter.

"Nope, that's a quarter," Luke corrected slowly.

"Qwarty?

"Yeah, and it's worth twenty-five cents."

"Tenty-five cents?"

"Exactly," Luke informed the kid with a smile. "You're a smart kid, you know?" Jess didn't respond. He carefully put the quarter on the table and returned to his drawing.

GG

Luke had ordered grilled chicken for him and chicken fingers for Jess. What he was served was grilled salmon and Jess ended up with a grilled cheese and a handful of fries. Luke was used to Maisy doing this and didn't give it much thought. She did it to everyone.

He and Jess ate in silence, the latter continuing to draw while he ate. When they finished, Luke stayed a while and talked to Maisy and Buddy. The tavern began to clear out as it got later, and Jess began to get tired. By the time they left, a half asleep Jess handed his drawing to Buddy.

"Look," he said showing Maisy and then she showed Luke. He couldn't tell what it was, but whatever Jess tried to draw caught Maisy's attention.

"I'm going to hang it up," she announced smiling Jess' way.

"I think it's time we went home," Luke said gathering his nephew into his arms. "Thanks guys."

"You take care, Luke."

Maisy and Buddy walked him to the exit, giving Luke a wave as he headed toward his truck. He placed Jess in the passenger seat, buckled his seat belt, and closed the door as quietly as he could. He waved back at his old friends before jogging around the driver side, getting in the cab, and bringing the truck to life.

The drive home was completely silent. Jess slept the whole way, and Luke was glad he hadn't had another nightmare. He had a feeling one would most likely hit sometime tonight, but at least they waited until they were home.

GG

Luke hated bath time, just like Jess did. Nephew or not, he felt a little awkward helping a child get clean. But, since they'd had to have bath time a lot, mostly in the morning when Jess had his accidents, Luke was starting to get used to it. And Tuesday morning was no different.

Jess sat in the tub, trying hard not to shake, his curly mop plastered to his head as Luke poured one, final cup of water over him. "There, the soaps out," he said putting the cup down.

"I-I don't like that," Jess stammered crossing his arms and gripping his shoulders with his hands. "I gets soap in my eyes."

"We'll get you a washrag next time," Luke told him as he got a towel. "Let's get you out." He hauled his nephew from the tub, helped him dry off, and handed him a set of clothes to change into.

Once Jess was dressed, Luke carefully ran a comb through his hair, Jess wincing when he caught a snarl, and soon the little boy looked ready for the day.

Luke stripped his bed, again, and took his sheets into the bathroom. His washer and dryer were shoved against the wall, next to the sink. It was the only place he could put it without it getting in the way. He shoved them in the washer, added soap, and turned it on.

"Okay," he said walking out of the bathroom. He grabbed his hat from the counter, cramming it on his head. "Let's go open the diner." Jess collected Zeke and The Cat in the Hat and followed Luke out of the apartment.

Jess had gotten used to only one person in the five days he had lived with Luke: Caesar. It was probably because Caesar was always around, the one constant at Luke's no matter what time of day. Or it could be because Caesar snuck him cookies when he thought Luke wasn't looking.

Today was no different. As the day wore on, and more and more people came and went from the diner, Jess would either stick to Luke like glue or sit at the counter and ask Caesar question after question about his activities.

At two, Luke and Jess headed out so he could drop off the application for Jess' birth certificate. The lady at the courthouse informed Luke it should arrive, special delivery, at his diner, in five work days. While he was there, he asked for a new social security card for Jess.

Before she'd give it to him, he had to prove he was Jess' uncle. So, he gave her Social Worker Angela's number so she could confirm he was trying to get custody of Jess. Though not one-hundred percent convinced, the file clerk had to hand over a copy of Jess' social security card when everything checked out.

It was around four when Jess and Luke returned home. A few customers were eating dinner, but the place wasn't too busy. Luke placed Jess at the counter, leaving him with a coloring book and crayons (curtsey of Maisy), and grabbed a pot of coffee to refresh anyone's cup.

"Luke, we haven't seen much of you lately," Babette commented when he stopped by her table.

"Yeah, man," her husband Maury replied holding a fork full of potatoes.

"I've been busy," Luke informed her, pouring steaming liquid into her mug.

"With the little guy?" Babette questioned with a smile, nodding her head towards Jess. "He's such a cutie. He'll be a looker when he gets older." Luke chose not to respond and walked back behind the counter. This town was full of crazies.

GG

The morning Jess' birth certificate arrived, found Luke's place busier than usual. While the business side of him was thrilled, the hermit side didn't want to deal with all these people. He was a torn individual.

Every half hour, Luke would check on Jess, who had hidden in the stairway leading up to the apartment. A few times he had poked his head out, but otherwise had stayed out of the way. It was as if he could sense Luke needed him to lay low for a while, just until business died down. Or he was avoiding the mess of people. Luke was banking on the latter.

Around eleven, Luke was taking Gypsy's order when he felt someone poke him between the shoulder blades. "One second," he said without turning around, writing down the last of the mechanic's order.

"And don't forget to make the bacon extra crispy," Gypsy informed him and Luke nodded, feeling another prod.

"One second," he repeated turning to see a dark haired, blue eyes girl standing behind him.

"Hi, I would like some coffee," she said smiling up at him.

"One second," he said a third time maneuvering around her to give Gypsy's ticket to Caesar.

"You don't understand," the girl exclaimed chasing after him, her words almost meshing together. "I need coffee. You don't know how bad I need it. It's like Tony Montana and his coke addiction, except much, much worse. I can feel my hands shaking. Look." She ran ahead of him, waving her (quite steady) hand in his face.

"Your hand looks fine," he grumbled grabbing her shoulder and turning her so he had access to Caesar. "Extra crispy bacon," he informed the younger man. He then grabbed a plate full of food, turning to see the girl still standing a few inches from him, and said, "Get out from behind here, go sit down, and I will get to you. A few minutes isn't going to kill you."

"But it could. Or it could cause me to turn around, take your cook's spatula, and start murdering everyone in here. Do you want your diner to become a crime scene?" the girl continued to follow him through the diner.

"Wait your turn," Luke snapped setting the plate of food in front of Rabbi Barns.

"Oh if only I could, but I can't. I just can't," the girl responded and began coughing. "You see (cough) if I don't get any coffee (cough) I could die." She gave another, more horrible fake cough.

"You're being annoying. Go sit down." He moved past her, towards the counter again.

"I want to speak to your manager," she demanded stopping short of the counter.

"I own the place," he retorted turning to face her.

"Then when's your birthday?" she changed tactics, leaning against the surface, confusing Luke.

"What? I'm not telling you…"

"I'll sing The Bangles. I mean it." she opened her mouth, no doubt ready to sing, so Luke relented, "November 8."

"Okay." She turned to Bootsy, who was reading a newspaper, and asked, "Can I see that?"

"Sure," he said handing her the paper. Curiously, Luke watched as she scoured the pages, obviously looking for something. When she found it, her blue eyes lit up and she ripped it from the paper. She handed the rest of the newspaper back to Bootsy, reached over the counter to take Luke's pen from his pocket, and hid the page with her arm as she began to write.

"What are you…?"

"Shh," she snapped and continued to write. Once she was done she handed it over and said, "There ya go." Luke looked down at the scrap of paper, rolling his eyes as he read: You'll meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she'll go away.

"Fine," he snapped back just wanting her to go away. He grabbed the coffee pot, snatched up a to-go cup, and poured some coffee into it. He put a lid on top, shoving it towards the woman.

"Thank you," she responded smiling, handing his pen back. "I'd hold onto that horoscope if I were you. Keep it in your wallet."

"And why would I do that?" Luke questioned curiously.

"It could bring you luck," she replied throwing a couple ones on the counter. "Nice meeting you, Duke." And she left, Luke shaking his head slowly back and forth. Yep, definitely full of crazies.

GG

Yes, as promised, I introduced Lorelai early. I couldn't help myself. I hope you guys/gals don't mind :)

Thanks so much for the reviews, alerts, and just plain reading last chapter. You guys are amazing.

So, drop me a comment if you want, I do not own these characters, and I'm going to go.

PEACE OUT...