March 20th 1999
Lorelai sat at the kitchen table as she watched her husband get ready for work. It was still early, especially for a Saturday morning and both teens were still hours from waking up. Lorelai, however, had grown accustomed over the last year or so to waking up to see Luke off to work at least once a week. Not that it was easy for the sleep lover to wake up so early on a Saturday morning when it wasn't absolutely necessary, but it was worth it to have those few minutes of alone time with her spouse. Once she saw him off she would always crawl back into bed for a few more hours, even if the sheets felt somewhat less inviting without her husband's protective arm wrapped around her.
"You know I love that you have your own business, and I'm not going to lie the cooking thing is a huge turn-on, but I still hate that you have to work on Saturday," Lorelai voiced.
"I know, I promise I'll be home by noon though," Luke reminded as he grabbed his keys on the desk.
Lorelai smiled, "I do, however, love that you're taking this so seriously and actually making an attempt to give up some of your control at work. I know it's not easy for you."
"I promised that I would," Luke shrugged like it was no big deal.
"I know," she nodded back, "I just want you to know that I appreciate it... and you," she smiled lovingly as she went in for a kiss.
Luke accepted the gesture before pulling apart once more, "See you at noon?"
"I'll be sitting her all by my lonesome until then," Lorelai drawled dramatically.
"What are the kids doing today?"
She shrugged, "I'm not sure, but I'm gonna bet it's not hanging out with little ol' Mom."
"Make sure they clean up the disaster that was Friday movie night before they go anywhere, I can barely move in here," he complained as he shuffled passed the living room and towards the door.
Lorelai nodded as she hugged the side of the door and watched him move towards his truck.
"Be home soon," he called as he pulled out and Lorelai sighed tiredly, heading back to bed.
She awoke again at around nine, basking in the silence until around ten-thirty when the teens had shuffled out of their respective rooms in search of cereal.
"Jess did you eat all the Cocoa Puffs again?" Rory complained as she shook the last of the crumbs from the box.
"I'm pretty sure we've already established that it was you who ate them all last time," Jess rebuked, "Besides you know I don't eat those unless we're out of Frosted Flakes and that rarely happens."
"Yeah because Frosted Flakes are so gross nobody but you eats them! It's like eating soggy pieces of sugary paper," Rory scrunched up her nose.
"Alright we're not getting into the great cereal debate again," Lorelai interjected, "What are you two up to today?"
Rory settled for Captain Crunch, pouring herself a bowl as she answered her mom.
"Lane needs help with her history paper and then we're going to watch Jess and Pete play basketball for a bit. I'm supposed to write some sort of sports article for English and I think it would probably be beneficial to at least watch a few minutes of some type of sport."
"Definitely couldn't hurt," Lorelai agreed as she pulled out a chair to sit with the kids, "Just do me a favour Hun and don't try to attempt any of the sport move thingies again, we all know how that went with baseball."
"Luke only had a limp for a week," Jess smirked as Rory stuck her tongue out at him.
"Ok so I don't have the best hand/eye coordination, at least I admit it," Rory rolled her eyes at the banter, "I wasn't planning on moving from my spot on the bench this time anyhow."
"Jess, see to it that she doesn't," Lorelai added playfully, and her step-son nodded seriously, accepting the duty, "So that's all you've got planned for the day?"
"Well, actually, Rory wanted to know if we could go to Pete's tonight for a bonfire," Jess spoke up swiftly.
"Hey, you're the one who wants to go so bad!" Rory countered.
"Are his parents home?" Was Lorelai's first question.
"Yes and don't worry Lorelai we'll even stay a full meter away from the fire at all times," Jess promised brashly.
"Hey don't get sassy with me boy, especially when you're asking for something! Have I taught you nothing!?" Lorelai chastised lightly, "It's fine with me, but I'm going to run it by Luke too. Drop by the diner around lunch and I'll let you know then, and keep those eyes front and center mister! I swear we're going to have to get a doctor's opinion if they keep rolling around like that!"
"Thanks Mom, we'll be there for lunch," Rory spoke up before her brother ruined it all together.
"Oh and make sure you pick up the living room before you go, I think Luke is going to have an aneurysm if he steps in another plate full of marshmallow and syrup," she reminded getting up.
She made herself another cup of coffee as she listened to the kids getting to work in the other room. She sipped slowly, wondering what she was going to do with her day until Luke finished work.
Just before noon, Lorelai wandered through the town and into the diner. After having a relaxing hour to herself, she had decided to meet her husband at the diner and have some lunch before he would be hers for the afternoon.
"Hey Babe," she greeted, leaning over the counter for a kiss.
"Hey, want some lunch?"
"Cheeseburger and chili fries if you would be so kind," she smiled batting her eyelashes.
"Good morning?" Luke questioned when he came back from putting her order in.
"Quiet. Kids went out for the day, I was able to catch up on my morning soaps. Which reminds me, by the way, Rory and Jess want to go to a bonfire at Peter's tonight, they said the parents are home. I said it was okay, but that I needed to ask you first."
"Ah so I am the bad guy if I say no then, right?" Luke smirked.
"No, just showing that we are both on the same page. What if they had already asked you and you said no and I wasn't aware?"
"Well they never asked and it's fine by me as long as they're home by ten."
Lorelai nodded, "I told them they had to come by the diner for lunch anyway, you can tell them that yourself. I guess that means we have the house to ourselves tonight."
"We're not watching a Lifetime movie!"
"Oh come ON Luke! You know the kids always complain when I do!"
"I can't believe we have the house to ourselves and you want to watch a movie."
"Well we could give baby making a try, but we've both agreed we don't want any more kids right now."
It was true the discussion had come up more than once in the couple's short marriage. At first they both had thought that maybe a baby, one that was a perfect mixture of both Luke and Lorelai might be nice. However, with the blending of their families together, the home renovations, both parent's full-time jobs and rapidly growing kids, the couple had agreed that the longing for a newborn wasn't as strong anymore. It hadn't been ruled out completely, they were still relatively young parent's after all, but as of now the pair was perfectly content with their family of four.
Luke gave his wife a somewhat annoyed, yet equally bemused look and the woman caved, "Alright, I think I can scrounge up the party favour from my eighth grade health class and give you a little somethin' somethin'."
"Lorelai!" She watched as the man's face grew red and eyes darted around the room.
"Chill Babe, nobody's listening," she laughed at his expense.
"This is Stars Hollow, everybody's listening," Luke countered.
However, before she could reply she was interrupted by the sound of their dependents entering the building, their mostly playful bickering announcing their presence far before the bell above the door had done its duty.
"Rory stole our basketball and ended up smacking herself in the face," Jess tattletaled like they were five-years-old, his snickers earning him a smack to the arm from his sister.
"I did not steal the ball! It rolled over to me. No comment on the smacking myself in the face part," her face blushed pink, aiding to blend in the slight discolour from where the ball no doubt had hit her.
"I thought we agreed you were to go nowhere near the ball Missy! Jess you were supposed to be watching her!" Lorelai reminded in faux disappointment.
Jess raised his hands up in defence, "Hey I was running after it! It's not my fault she picked it up and decided to try bouncing it back to me!"
"Basketballs are unpredictable! They never go the way they are supposed to," Rory defended meekly.
"I'll get you some ice Rory," Luke smiled sympathetically if not somewhat amused by the conversations he seemed to find himself watching on a daily basis.
"Thanks Luke."
"So other than the minor bruising did you get everything you needed to write your paper?" Lorelai asked.
"I think so, though this might be the first time Jess can actually help me with my homework instead of the other way around," she joked.
"I never need your help," Jess retorted.
"No you just want me to do it for you," the girl countered.
"Alright, I think this is the point of the conversation that Mommy is supposed to tune out," Lorelai spoke up. She knew that Jess' enthusiasm over school was less than satisfactory and though the couple tried their hardest to get Jess more engaged in his work, she also trusted her daughter to help her brother out whenever she could. She would, however, like to keep the mindset of that involving tutoring, and not cheating. She knew Rory though. She was a good kid, and above all took her work seriously. Lorelai knew if there was a bit more help from Rory's department than she would care to admit, she also knew that Rory wouldn't allow it to get too out of hand. They all were well aware that Jess was more than capable of doing the work himself after all.
Luke finally returned, passing the bagged ice over to Rory who pressed it gingerly to her face, wincing slightly from the harsh coolness that bit beneath. Luke turned around once more, grabbing three plates of food, guessing what the kids might want as well as fulfilling Lorelai's request. Neither teen spoke about their lack of option as they dug into the plates placed in front of them eagerly. Luke would swear they were both in a growth spurt again with how much food they seemed to be indulging in lately. He noticed, especially Jess, had seemed to be hitting growth spurts every few months now, and it was definitely showing in the way that the boy's ankles were on display in nearly all his pants now. Another trip to the mall would need to be scheduled again, the uncle mused. He had been hoping they could have at least lasted the spring since the new clothes would only be needed for another few weeks before they would be into summer clothes and the boy would no doubt need a whole new set of warmer clothes again by fall.
"So," said boy spoke up, mouth full of chili fries, "Tonight?" he questioned eagerly.
"Yes you may go," Lorelai obliged.
"You will be home by ten though," Luke added.
"It's Saturday!" Jess predictably argued.
"Yeah and you're fourteen," Luke reminded.
"Fifteen," Jess countered seemingly offended by being demoted from his newly established title of fifteen-year-old.
"Whatever, Rory's still fourteen and you're barely fifteen. You do not need to be out until all hours of the night. Now it can be ten or not at all, your choice."
Jess huffed, but Rory spoke up first, "Well I don't know about Jess, but I choose ten. It will be too cold to be out too late anyway Jess," she encouraged the boy to see reason.
"Fine," Jess agreed and Luke was grateful he didn't try for round two.
Luke wasn't too worried. If his nephew had been going alone he would have been more prone to wondering if Jess had only agreed to the ten o'clock curfew to get the man off his back, deciding to himself that he would stay out until whenever he wished and accepting the grounding when he got home. However, Luke knew that with Rory accompanying the boy, the two were much more likely to get home in one piece at the designated hour. Rory just seemed to have a way with Jess that neither of the parents could quite reach.
"Good choice," Lorelai praised, clapping the boy on the back, "Now will you guys be home for supper first?"
"No Pete said we were going to roast hotdogs on the fire if that's okay?" Rory asked.
"Sounds fun," the mom smiled, "Well it looks like a dinner date and a nice Lifetime movie are in the cards for us Lukey!"
Her three family members groaned loudly, and Lorelai happily set off to defend her beloved source of entertainment.
March 21st
Jess was lying on the couch as his open book rested neatly on his stomach, held up by one hand while the other arm draped tiredly over his forehead. His eyes were fixed in concentration, not even noticing his uncle coming down the stairs until he was standing over him. Jess threw his eyes back, looking upside down at his uncle expectantly.
"Yes?"
"Good morning to you too," Luke greeted, "I didn't expect you to be up this early after last night."
"And again you're under the false pretense that ten is an outrageously late time to be out," the boy lipped sarcastically, "I could also counter that I wouldn't have expected you up so early after last night," he added, fixing the man with a scandalous look.
"Please stop making assumptions about mine and Lorelai's alone time. You know your last loud remark caused me a week of annoyances from this nosey town, and it wasn't true might I add."
"Hey, I don't know what you two get up to up there, all I can go by is what I see with my own two eyes."
"You watched that stupid bird at the fair bite me with your own two eyes Jess! Telling the town it was a love bite from Lorelai was just being a nuisance!"
Jess bite back his laughter, following his uncle into the kitchen, "Are you making breakfast? I'm starving!"
"You're always starving," Luke pointed out, "And I should let you starve for all the trouble you cause me," he threatened, already reaching for the fry pan in the drawer.
"You'd never do that to me. Besides, I'm ten times more annoying when I'm hungry," Jess warned.
"Do you want eggs or pancakes as your last meal?" the uncle spoke dryly.
Jess pretended to ponder the question for a moment before answering his uncle, "Well I suppose if this is my last meal, then I should have both, shouldn't I? I'll want it to last me a while and though pancakes are quite filling they never really last too long. The protein in the eggs will keep me going for hours, though."
"You're going to eat me out of house and home one day, you know that?"
"Oh and your wife isn't?" Jess laughed.
Luke couldn't argue there, "Alright enough out of you, come help me with the eggs. If you ever want to be able to do more than bus tables at the diner you're going to have to learn how to cook."
"You mean someday you're actually going to treat me like a big boy and let me cook?" Jess asked in awe.
"Maybe when you're actually old enough to be allowed there by law," Luke countered, "Now get some eggs to crack."
It wasn't the first time the boys had cooked together. Luke had fond memories of helping his mom out in the kitchen when he had been small and he was grateful for those memories, as well as the skills it taught him to be able to cook for himself. He wanted his nephew to develop those same skills so that he could cook for himself when he was grown up and out on his own. That was what he would tell his nephew anyway, and it was true, but secretly Luke could also admit that the time spent with the boy, especially as fast as he was growing, was nice. Cooking also seemed to be a task that both boys shared a liking to, which was a bonus when trying to bond with a teenager.
"So," Luke spoke casually, "How have you been doing lately? Anything new?"
Jess shrugged, and Luke expected it. Still, he always liked to try to catch up with his nephew when it was just the two of them. He knew that the boy was going through some things right now. Luke guessed it was most likely just growing up and being a teenager, but he still worried for the boy. It was easier when he was younger, when he could (usually) convince him to talk. These days the boy was quieter and though he was more than comfortable living with the girls, the uncle still found it hard to get his nephew talking about his problems while they were around.
"Same old same old," was Jess' vague response as he concentrated on cracking an egg over the fry pan, causing a satisfying sizzle.
"There's got to be something interesting you've got to share," Luke pressed, "How're the guys? Pete good? He ever tell that girl he liked her yet?"
"Kim? Nah, he's been over her for weeks," Jess informed.
"What? He was head over heels for that girl!"
"Yeah, but that was before Briana transferred to our school. You'd understand if you saw Briana," the boy added when he saw his uncle's flabbergasted expression.
Luke let the conversation drop after that, not willing to get into the dramatics that was Stars Hollow High School. He had been out of there a lot of years now and sometimes the stories his nephew brought home from that place made him wonder how he ever made it through those years. Jess himself seemed to mostly stay out of the drama. He had yet to get a girlfriend of his own, even though Luke had noticed his increasing interest in girls as early as his thirteenth birthday. But still, his nephew had his small circle of friends and was perfectly content with watching the hysteria from the sidelines, most of the time at least. Luke was glad that the boy was doing a much better job these days about staying out of fights with the other students, now if only he could keep his mouth kinder towards the teachers.
"So, I was thinking..." Jess started once more after the boys worked a few minutes in mostly silence.
"Oh no," Luke responded. Usually when Jess 'thought' it was either really good or really bad.
"It's not bad. I was actually hoping we could spend the day together, now how terrible is that?" Jess asked in mock hurt.
"And the catch would be," Luke pressed on.
"No catch," Jess shrugged, watching his uncle give him a look. "Fine," he sighed, "I have birthday money left and I was hoping you could drive me to Hartford to that really awesome bookstore so that I could spend it."
"So you need a chauffeur."
"C'mon Uncle Luke, don't make me beg. In another year I can drive myself and I'll be out of your hair."
"Oh yeah that really makes me feel better," responded Luke, not wishing to think about his nephew loose on the streets with wheels.
Jess fixed his uncle with his best pleading eyes, the same look he had been using on his uncle since he was eleven and Luke caved, "Fine."
Jess smiled wide before nodding his head casually and tending to his food once more.
"Now were you hoping to have just a you and me day or do you want to invite the girls as well? It's up to you."
"No, they can come if they want to," Jess answered honestly, "I know Rory loves that bookstore as much as me."
Luke nodded, glad that his nephew never seemed to have an issue with sharing his uncle. It probably helped that at least one day a month the boys took a day to themselves while the girls did the same. It was great that the family all got along so well, but those bonding days proved to be incredibly important as well.
"Ok great, maybe we can go see a movie or something while we're there."
"Rory's probably going to want to drive by Chilton too," Jess smirked, knowing full well how much the girl wanted to be accepted at the school.
"Well we might as well make an outing of it if we're going. Why don't you go wake Rory and I'll finish breakfast."
Jess nodded, passing the spatula over to the man and disappearing through the girl's doorway. Luke smiled as he finished up the breakfast. He and Jess had made many trips to Hartford over the years, yet their first venture still stood out to Luke as the best. He could still remember Jess' silent pout when the uncle had beat him over and over at go-karting, as well as the triumphant grin when he had finally crossed the finish line first. That was the same trip that the uncle had introduced Jess to the special bookstore for the first time and Luke would swear he had never seen a kid's eyes bulge out as much as that. Jess was right, it wouldn't be long before the teens had their driver's licenses and they would be hanging out with their parents even less than now. It seemed they had transformed into teenagers overnight and every day he noticed them getting more independent. He could feel the clock ticking and he decided that he was going to enjoy these days while he could.
A/N- The filleriest of filler chapters, but I wanted to establish a bit more of the family life before diving into the plot. The next chapter will be more interesting I promise! I have a lot more of this story planned then I did the last one and I think that actually makes it harder to write these types of chapters because I just want to get to my plans already! Please review if you have a moment and thank you so much to everyone who favourited, followed and reviewed chapter 1!