YAY!!!! FINALLY!! Yes it is true, I have finally updated. And yes it only because I am on Spring Break, but hey I'll take it, at least I updated right?
I know it's pretty short, but there are some important things happening in this chapter. Also, I have created a time line for this story. It looks like it will end up being four or five more chapters, with the possibility of an epilogue.
This chapter is not beta-ed because I wanted to get it up instead of waiting, but I have read over it, so the grammar and stuff should be fine. Also, Lorelai is a few months along in her pregnancy by now, same as last chapter.
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Previously on What Now?
"Do you have anything going on today?"
"No, I have to be at the diner in about a half hour," he answered, looking at the clock and handing Lorelai her finished breakfast. "What about you? Do you have anything other than the inn today?"
"Actually, Rory and I are going to go to the mall today. Shop, hang out, just have a girl's day. We haven't hung out in awhile," Lorelai answered, with her plate already halfway cleared.
Meanwhile, Luke was driving around Hartford, looking for jewelry stores.
...he realized that he was missing the most important element of a marriage proposal…the ring.
Walking into the mall, Luke looked around and decided to try to get this over with as soon as possible.
A frustrated Luke was staring at another case of engagement rings that seemed to be yet again unsuccessful, when he looked up and saw a flustered Rory quickly leading her confused mother away.
...as he struggled to get through the thick crowd, he heard a voice he knew and loved call his name.
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Luke stopped and slowly turned around, frantically trying to create made-up stories in his head that would explain his presence at the mall that day.
"What are you doing here?" Lorelai asked the much dreaded question, and Luke answered with the first thing that popped into his head.
He walked over to her and gave her a quick peck on the lips, trying to buy all the time he could. "Um, well, you see, the diner was pretty slow and I came here to shop for your birthday present. I completely forgot you guys were going to be here today," he rambled, hoping he sounded like less of an idiot than he thought he did.
"Babe, my birthday is months away," Lorelai said, still confused by the entire situation.
Rory stood silently to the side, wanting to see how the whole scene played out, and slightly enjoying watching Luke squirm under the pressure.
"Yeah, well, you know me. I just wanted to get an early start," he tried to explain. "It doesn't really matter anyway. I didn't find much," he told her truthfully, still disappointed by the trip's lack of success.
"Okay, well we still have a few more stores we wanted to hit, so we'll see you later," Lorelai told him, still wondering about what had caused the trip in the first place, not fully believing the birthday story, but deciding she would figure it out later.
"Right, and I should get back to the diner. Are you going to stop by when you are done?"
"Of course; where else would we get our food?" Lorelai responded with a smile.
"Okay, well bye," Luke returned the smile and moved to kiss Lorelai and kissed Rory on the cheek. He turned and walked away, happy to have gotten out of the uncomfortable situation so quickly, but at the same time knowing it would not be solved so easily. He knew Lorelai would ask him about it later, and he had to have something to say to her when she did.
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At the diner, Luke was still annoyed by the wasted trip, and he was having trouble focusing on what he was doing. The girls had come and gone for dinner and were back at the house while he closed up the diner. When he was almost ready to leave, he realized he needed to get something from the safe in the apartment upstairs.
Walking up the stairs, he thought about what his next step towards proposing would be. He realized he might have to get some help. As he opened the door of the old office and walked over to the safe in the corner of the room, putting in the combination and pulling out what he needed, he considered asking Sookie for her suggestions on stores to go to. As he was about to close the small door again, something caught his eye. He pulled out a box from the back that he didn't remember putting there, wondering what was in it.
He opened the box to find old mementos of his parents' life together. There were wedding pictures, photos from family vacations, and many other random objects that he knew probably had held some significance to his parents. He continued sifting through the box and found some old baby clothes of his and Liz's. He remembered happily of the fun times he had with his mother and father during his childhood, purposely avoiding thinking about anything that would remind him of the hard times his family was forced to go through.
He was preparing to put everything back into the box when he saw something that seemed too perfect to be true. He recognized a small black velvet box. Opening it, he regained all the hope he had lost during his day. He opened the box to see his mother's engagement ring. The ring was beautiful. He no longer cared that he had wasted an entire day at the mall, trying but failing to find the perfect ring. He was only disappointed he hadn't thought about his mother's ring in the first place.
He gazed at the ring for a moment longer, knowing he had, in fact, found the perfect ring. He put everything back into the safe with the exception of the ring, which he stuffed in his jeans pocket. He knew everything was falling into place and he started developing a plan to propose in his head, knowing it was only a matter of time now that he had the ring.
He quickly finished up at the diner so he could get home, wanting to see Lorelai more now than ever. As he drove home, he thought about the day's unexpected turnaround, knowing his mood had done a complete one-eighty.
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If there is anybody out there still reading this, please review. I know it has been longer than awhile, but I would really appreciate it.