Author's Note: Another fairly short one, and I apologize for that. I just wanted to keep the Stars Hollow First Annual Father-Daughter/Mother-Son Ball in its own chapter. Also, this story includes the events of the show up to The Prodigal Daughter, except for anything involving Christopher. I'm not sure how the April thing is going to pan out, so I'm not sure if she'll be included, but I do know that in this story, Lorelai cut off all contact with Chris from the vow renewal until the boys were two.
Chapter Seven: Got off and looked up…
Luke and Jack piled into the truck Saturday evening to go retrieve their dates for that night's town event. Will, who had spent the day running around celebrating the end of his punishment and Chilton's victory without him the night before, was escorting Lorelai from their house, each dressed to the nines and fully embracing the formal attire of the evening.
The two more reserved Danes men climbed the steps of the Crap Shack and knocked on the door with flowers in hand.
"Hi guys," Rory smiled as she opened the door and greeted each with a kiss on the cheek. "Come on in. We're almost done primping."
They entered the house and waited on the couch, each extremely uncomfortable in their suits.
"So good game last night," Luke praised as they waited for the girls. "Don't know if I got a chance to talk to you about that last night since you got in so late."
"The damn bus took like an hour longer to get here from Litchfield than everyone else. Not sure why, though," Jack griped. "But thanks. It wasn't one of my best, but I thought it went pretty well."
"That was nice fake in the third quarter."
Jack smiled. "That was a plan Grayson and I came up with on the bus ride there, actually."
"Well, it worked."
"All right," Rory interrupted, calling from the stairs. "Drum roll, please."
Luke and Jack stood up in anticipation, but made no sound.
"Jacky! Drum roll!" Laylee cried.
Jack sighed and rolled his eyes, Luke smirking at him as the boy leaned down and beat out an awkward drum roll on the coffee table.
With that, Laylee scampered down the stairs, her curls (even tighter than usual) bouncing with every step, though she was careful not to step on her pretty red dress.
"You look stunning," Jack complimented, stealing a line Will used on about every girl he met. He handed over the flowers with a bow, and Laylee took them with a curtsy before giggling and throwing her arms around his waist.
"You look cute, too, Jacky," Laylee assured him. "Mom, do we have a vase?"
"In the third cabinet to the left," Rory informed, taking the flowers from Luke with a smile. "Get me one, too."
Laylee hurried back in with two vases filled with water, just spilling a little bit before she set them down on the coffee table.
"Look, Mom! The flowers Luka got you match your dress. Luka, how'd you know?"
"Lucky guess," Luke told her, looking from the pink Gerbera daisies to Rory's dress.
"Very lucky. Can we go now?" Laylee begged, slipping her hand into Jack's. "I wanna see Nonna's dress and Will's tux. Did they let you see them yet?"
"Yep," Jack laughed. "They match."
"No way! Will has a purple vest and bowtie?"
Luke nodded. "And it gets better."
"Ooh, I can't wait. Do you have the camera, Mom?"
"Right here," Rory confirmed as she placed the camera in her handbag. "Let's get on the road."
The quartet made their way out to the car and to the main square, where the bash was taking place. The girls each had a wrap with them to fend off the fall bite in the air.
Sure enough, a matching Will and Lorelai greeted them exuberantly, already having started the party. Will's ensemble included a cane, white gloves, and bowler hat. The latter was a throwback to when he was younger and wore the bowler Rory had sent home from England wherever he went. Lorelai, on Will's arm, wore a deep purple evening gown with her hair curled like Laylee's and a smile plastered on her face.
"C'mon, slow pokes, you're missing the fun!" Lorelai hurried them as Jack and Luke helped their dates out of the car.
"Wow, you guys look awesome!" Laylee gushed, still hanging onto Jack's hand as she surveyed the lighted square.
"You look snazzy yourself, Miss Gilmore," Lorelai smiled and hugged her granddaughter.
"Of course. It's genetic."
Lorelai laughed. "All right. Let's get this party started. Now, for all of you under 21, what's the rule?"
"Stay away from the punch," Jack, Will, and Laylee recited in unison.
"Well done, troops," Lorelai praised.
The family paired off and moved about the festivities, even Jack and Luke relaxing amidst the general gaiety.
Laylee and Jack immediately went to the refreshment table to get Laylee one of Aunt Sookie's cookies. There Natalie met up with them, dressed in a beautiful black and pale pink strapless dress that made Jack swallow hard.
"Wow, Nat, you look…"
"You don't look so bad yourself, Jack," Natalie teased as she playfully covered Laylee's eyes and kissed him hello.
"Alright, alright, less kissy-kissy," Laylee groaned.
"Well, you, young lady, look absolutely beautiful tonight," Natalie turned to embrace the little girl. "Is he being a good date so far?"
"Thanks. Yup. Seems you trained him well."
"I like to think so."
"Where's your dad?" Laylee questioned.
"On the dance floor with my mom and Connor, probably doing trying to break dance," Natalie shuddered. "I just saw Lorelai and Will. They look great! Will's such a playboy."
Jack looked over to the dance floor where his mom and brother had taken up residence with their usual eccentricity.
"They're pretty crazy, huh?" Jack smiled.
"Just a bit," Natalie agreed.
"Let's go dance with them!" Laylee cried excitedly.
"Uh, I dunno, Lay…"
"C'mon, Jacky! You're my date!" She looked up at him with a Lorelai pout, and he succumbed.
"All right, but if Miss Patty tries to dance with me, you two have to save me."
"Okay," Laylee agreed happily, dragging her uncle towards the dance floor, making sure to brightly greet everyone they met on the way. A few yards from the floor, they were intercepted by the Bellevilles, including Davey and Martha.
"Hey guys!" Sookie greeted with much excitement, embracing Jack and Laylee quickly. "Look who came into town to escort us!"
Jack smiled as he greeted his childhood playmates, a handshake for Davey and a hug for Martha.
"How's college life treating you, Marty?" he questioned of the UConn freshman.
The blue-eyed red head grinned. "Oh, it's just awesome! You should come over and visit sometime. It's pretty close."
"Will do."
"I hear you're keeping the team together for me," Davey, a former SHHS linebacker and current Quinnipiac junior, said playfully.
"He's doing better than that, Davey!" Laylee assured proudly. "We're going to the championship again this year. I don't remember you going to any championships games."
"Down girl," Jack teased.
They talked to the Bellevilles for a few more minutes before Laylee insisted the trio head to the dance floor as originally planned.
There they spent the rest of the night, intermittently allowing Jack a few minutes of rest at one of the scattered tables. It was towards the end of the event, while Laylee danced with Connor and Natalie danced with her father, that Jack walked past his brother, who had danced with every female in attendance that night already, even Miss Patty, just as Will leaned over to whisper something in Aunt Liz's ear. She laughed and whispered something back, and Will kissed her cheek as he walked towards the DJ booth, first running into Jack.
"What are you up to, Will?" Jack asked, a teasing smile barely upturning his lips.
"Well… you remember the story, right?"
"Will, we grew up down the street from Miss Patty, there've been hundreds of stories."
Will ignored the sarcasm. "The story of Mom and Dad's first dance."
"Okay, yeah."
"It was at Aunt Liz and Uncle TJ's wedding, their first dance as husband and wife."
"Right."
"So, I was thinking, Mom and Dad have been really busy lately and don't really get enough alone time. They seem to not be as close."
"Will, what are you talking about? Our parents are freakishly close. Like, they've been known to still make out like teenagers close. Like, I'm absolutely terrified to knock on their closed bedroom door close. Like…"
"Alright, alright, I get the picture. Less disgusting mental imagery. My point is: it's still nice to give them a little romantic moment every now and then. So I asked Aunt Liz what the name of the song was, since she obviously remembers the first song she danced to at her wedding."
"And now you're going to go request it."
"Nope, we're going to request it."
Jack sighed, "All right. Get to it, Cupid."
Will tipped his hat with a wink and mounted the DJ platform to whisper something in Kirk's ear. Kirk nodded, and Will hopped down from the booth, grabbing Jack's arm as he continued past him.
"Where're we going?"
"To see their faces when they first hear it."
"Hopeless romantic," Jack accused as the boys sought out their parents, who were on a bench on the outskirts of the festivities snuggled up against the chill in the air.
They struck up easy conversation, making fun of all the spastic dancers among the townspeople. The current song ended, and they saw a bouncing Laylee collapse against her mom and her Aunt Lane, who she'd been dancing with.
"This next song is a special request from the Danes boys," Kirk's voice came over the town square. "A personal favorite, as well. Afterwards we will Chicken Dance."
Lorelai laughed. "What'd you boys do?"
Will and Jack tried their best to look innocent as the opening strains of "Reflecting Light" slipped into the air. Her eyes lit up as her mouth fell open into a wide smile.
"You didn't!"
"We did," Will confirmed with a grin. "Now get on out there and show this town how it's really done."
"Wow, that sounded a lot like the pep talks Coach gives us," Jack teased his brother as they watched their mother pull their father off of the bench and towards the dance floor.
"Yeah, well, my spontaneous is broken," Will shrugged, seating himself on the bench his parents had vacated, making sure he had a good view of his handy-work. He let out a sigh, "You know, Jack, we've got something special."
"I think that's illegal, Will."
Will shot him a glare that said now was not the time.
"I meant our family. Our parents. Most parents don't love each other as much as ours do, at least most of my peers' don't."
"I know what you mean." Jack sat down beside his brother, following Will's gaze to where their parents waltzed like all they had been born to do was dance with each other, freely and naturally.
"You know they were dancing when I realized that we were different," Will continued to wax poetic. "At Grandma and Grandpa's fiftieth."
The seven-year-old Danes twins were dressed in black tuxes, one grudgingly so, and had been acting like perfect gentlemen all evening while their grandparents' friends cooed and pinched at them. Rory and one-year-old Laylee had faced similar attention, but the baby had fallen asleep an hour ago, and now all they had to suffer through were hushed "Isn't she precious?" statements.
Will had spent the first hour and a half charming the entire party with handshakes, smiles, and conversation, but now even he grew weary of the people. Running a hand over his slicked back red-gold hair, he sought out his father first, but found him trapped in conversation with one of the cousins. Instead, Will went in search of his mother and found her seated at a table near the rear of the party hall, Jack leaning back in her lap with his head just under her chin. She was whispering something in his ear, and a tired grin blossomed on his brother's face.
"Hey there, Casanova," she greeted Will, using one hand to pull over an empty seat next to them. She patted the seat and continued, "I was just telling Jack how proud I am of you two tonight. You've been very polite and charming. Grandma and Grandpa's friends love you."
"They also smell funny," a sleepy Jack added, turning his head to look at the brother who had snuggled up next to them, his head on Lorelai's shoulder.
"I second that," Will offered.
"I third it," their mother grinned.
"I fourth it," Jack played along.
"I fifth it." Will again.
"I sixth it." Lorelai.
"I seven it." Jack.
"I ate it," Will said without thinking. "Darn it!"
Lorelai laughed, shaking her boys as they snuggled up further.
"You fall for it every time, Will," Lorelai admonished him playfully. "Work on that, please."
"Yes, ma'am."
They sat like that for a few more minutes, talking softly and watching the party from the outskirts.
Luke finally escaped conversation with cousin Marion and slipped over to his family. He paused to take it all in, first noting Rory and a sleeping Laylee off to the side, then his boys, snuggled up against his wife, murmuring a sleepy commentary on the party. A song by Old Blue Eyes had just begun in the background, and Luke leaned into his sons, a hand cradling the head of each.
"Hey there, guys. Do ya mind if I steal Mom for a few minutes?"
Jack shook his head with a yawn and slid off his mother, slumping back into the chair as soon as Lorelai vacated it. Will nodded his consent as well while leaning against Jack for support. Their mother dropped kisses on their heads as their father led her away to the dance floor.
The brothers watched their parents through drooping eyelids, a grin gracing Will's small features at the tenderness with which his parents held each other. Most kids his age, even his brother, saw any sign of affection between parents as absolutely disgusting. For Will, on the other hand, these instances just made him feel safe, secure, and loved. And lucky. He glanced over at his sister and niece, Rory smiling lovingly over at him. He smiled and leaned against his brother more, head on Jack's shoulder, as out on the dance floor his parents swayed in time with the music.
"You two," Rory interrupted Will's reverie, her smile so large it translated into her voice. "Such softies."
"All him," Jack deflected, nodding towards Will as he held up his hands in defense.
"Try and avoid it all you want, Jack," Rory grinned, collapsing onto the bench with them. "I know the real you."
Jack sighed contentedly and leaned back on the bench. "Whatever you say, Sis. Will's the one going all sentimental, they're-so-cute on us."
Rory laughed and met Will's eyes knowingly. She and her brother had shared numerous discussions on the topic since he was very young. Will was a dreamer; Jack was a doer.
The song drew to an end, the last notes tripping over the square, quickly replaced by the opening lines of the Chicken Dance. The siblings watched as their parents, oblivious to flapping going on around them, shared a quick, discreet kiss before retreating from the dance floor.
"Jacky!" Laylee cried, hurdling across the square to her uncle's side. "I'm hungry. Can we get ice cream?"
"Lay, the soda shoppe and Doose's are closed tonight."
"Alright, let's go to Woodbury!"
"Laylee…"
"I've got a craving!"
Jack looked to Rory. "The dance is almost over anyway. Can Laylee and I drive over to Woodbury for some ice cream?"
"It's fine with me if it's okay with Mom and Luke," Rory agreed, "As long as you have her home by eleven, you can run home and borrow my car."
"Alright, Laylee, I'll go ask Mom and Dad."
His parents agreed, and Jack and Laylee headed back to the Crap Shack on foot. Well, Jack was on foot: Laylee was on his back.
The festivities were dying down, and the townspeople were trickling out of the square. Will said goodnight to his parents and Rory, who were headed over to the Crap Shack for a movie night. He promised to be home by midnight curfew. From there, he crossed the square towards the Forresters' house. Mr. and Mrs. Forrester were out of town, and their five children were throwing a party. The oldest, Jamie, was a senior, and the youngest, Jake, was Laylee's age. Jake and his twelve-year-old sister Lily were spending the night at Connor Makepeace's house. The other two middle children, Ryan, 14, and Gracie, 16, were helping Jamie host the party.
Natalie met him halfway through the square. "Is Jack coming over after they get back from ice cream?"
"If he knows you're there. What did you tell your parents?"
"The truth," she shrugged. "That I was going over to the Forresters. Gracie and I are friends, so that's quite believable."
"They just don't know that there's a party," Will grinned.
Natalie shrugged again. "I didn't lie. If they'd asked if there was a party, I would've said yes. What did you tell Luke and Lorelai?"
"I just didn't. I said I was going to hang around town, probably do something that annoyed Taylor, and be home by midnight."
"They didn't ask questions?"
"Mom had a lot of punch," he laughed. "Plus, that's enough. They trust me not to do something stupid."
"Does that mean you won't be drinking tonight, William?" she teased. "Jack wouldn't approve."
"Well Jackman worries too much."
Natalie laughed as they mounted the front steps to the Forrester household, breaking off to join her friends as soon as they were inside. Will noticed Julia Porter (his current interest) standing off to the side, grinned, and sought her out.