Chapter 4: Strike a Deal

Today was Rory's first day at Chilton. Luke drove her to nearby Hartford in his truck. He had to admit, he was slowly improving on this whole father thing. Christopher had not returned since storming the diner the day Rory had been adopted.

Pulling up to the school, Rory gathered her things and prepared to disembark. "Have a good day at school, princess," Luke smiled.

Rory turned back around and hugged him. Then, she did something she had never done before and pecked his cheek. "Bye, Daddy!"

She had been calling Luke that for several weeks now, but that did not mean Luke did not feel a flurry of pride when she said it. Watching his new reason for living disappear into the building, Luke turned around for home.

Upon returning to the diner, Caesar approached Luke as he walked in the door. "Luke, there's a lady here to see you."

Luke frowned. "Why? Who is she?" He racked his brain. He had no appointment today. Was it the landlord? Someone from the bank? He was sure he had gotten his finances in order for Rory to attend Chilton.

Crossing around the counter, Luke approached a lady in a pink dress. "May I help you?"

"Are you the diner man who is apparently now raising my granddaughter?" the lady barked.

Luke blinked. Oh, boy... here we go... "And you must be Emily. Lorelai told me quite a bit about you." Like how you were a control-freak. Oh, and did you know her baby daddy is a whiny little bitch?

"I need to speak with Rory."

"She's in school at the moment."

Emily bristled. "A good institution, I hope?"

Luke briefly debated whether to say where Rory attended. "Chilton. Your daughter had gotten her accepted there just before she died."

"No thanks to you, I'm sure," Emily postulated snootily. Luke wanted to hit her. Lorelai had gotten Rory accepted there, but he was the one who was paying, thank you very much!

"Anything else?"

"I want Rory to pack her things when she comes home. She is leaving with me."

"Like hell she is," Luke snarled.

Emily blinked in astonishment; Luke wondered if she had ever been refused anything in her entire life. "It was her mother's wishes! Our wishes! My husband's especially!"

"And that's a damn lie!" Luke barked. He recalled the last thing Christopher had said before leaving the diner, about Rory breaking her grandfather's word. When he had questioned his adopted daughter about it later, she had claimed she had no idea what he had been talking about. And even if such an arrangement were true, it would have been annulled when Lorelai changed her will. "Those may have been your wishes, but they weren't your daughter's!"

Emily turned her nose up at him. "And who are you to pretend to know what Lorelai wanted?"

Luke's eyes narrowed. "Do you want proof?" he growled.

Emily looked so taken aback, she actually nodded. Luke exited to the back of the diner, retrieving the safe he kept hidden. Unlocking it, he pulled out two documents before returning to the front and showing them to Emily. The first was Lorelai's last Will and Testament. The second was a copy of the custody adoption papers Luke and Rory had signed. Upon reading the will, Emily blanched. "It's not possible..."

"Oh, it's possible, all right. Lorelai changed her will several months before she died. We were friends for years. I fed her and Rory every day!" Luke got emotional just remembering. "And on her deathbed, she needed someone to look after Rory, and it certainly wasn't going to be you! She asked me! She made me promise to raise your granddaughter! I've been doing it for over a month now!"

Emily's gaze was hard, defiant. "And look where we're standing, Luke."

Luke didn't back down. "Go ahead. Go round up your lawyers and try to come after me. I have Lorelai on my side and I have the documentation on my side, too! You can't fight that!"

Slowly, Emily's gaze deflated. She was a very stubborn woman, but even she could see when the deck was stacked against her, rare though those moments might be. She straightened. "Fine," she sniffed. "I'll make you a deal."

Luke stiffened. "What?"

"You get to keep and raise Rory. In return, you both come to our house for dinner every Friday. Richard and I deserve the right to see our grandchild. Do we have a deal?"

Luke thought for a moment. A part of himself still didn't trust Emily as far as he could throw her. But, Rory did deserve to have a relationship with her grandparents. And maybe Lorelai would have wanted that, at the very least. He held out a hand. "Deal."

Emily shook, giving him a satisfied, but still somewhat fake, smile. "See you on Friday." And she swept out of the diner.

Luke scratched at his shirt collar as he pulled his truck up to the immaculate Gilmore mansion. Looking over to the shotgun seat, he watched as Rory nervously smoothed down her dress. She was biting her lip - the telltale sign that she was anxious.

"Ready, princess?"

"No."

"It's only once a week."

"For the rest of our natural lives?" Rory finished almost in horror.

"Nah. Just until you go to college," though in reality, he wasn't sure. Regardless, if this was the hoop he had to jump through to keep Rory, he would do it for the rest of his natural life if he had to. Adopted father and daughter got out and approached the front door. Both stood awkwardly, waiting for the other to make the first move.

"We'll never get to leave it you don't push it, you know," Luke pointed out, which prompted Rory to finally ring the doorbell. After a moment, Emily answered.

"Rory!" she hugged her granddaughter, not noticing the grimace Rory sent Luke's way over her shoulder. "Lucas!" she now actually hugged Luke, who flinched at the formal use of his name. As the guests followed Emily into the foyer, Luke hissed to his daughter, "You've got to tell her right now to not call me Lucas. It's Luke."

"I'll try, but don't get your hopes up. Mama used to say she is very formal."

Luke met Richard, Rory's grandfather - a somewhat portly but still jovial man. Luke recalled Lorelai once telling him that he was a lawyer.

The meal started off quietly, at first. Then, Richard broke the ice: "So, Luke, Emily tells me you run a diner?"

Luke nodded. "Yes, sir. My apartment's right above it, and that's where Rory and I live."

"And you're paying for Chilton?" Emily gasped. Luke quickly saw through her attempt to sound impressed as a veiled and snooty disbelief. "Richard, we should cover some of the cost!"

"Oh, no, that's fine, I got it..." Luke tried to explain.

"Nonsense! Those tuition bills take quite the hit on your checkbook!" Richard nodded from experience. "Remember how much we paid for Lorelai's schooling?" he asked his wife.

"Oh, yes, I've never seen so many zeros!" Emily laughed, as if Richard had just told some really funny joke.

"I've got it," Luke insisted, the phrase coming out a little too loudly. "Rory's mine. I got it."

An awkward silence fell over the table.

Luke and Rory left for Stars Hollow a few hours later. The rest of the dinner had gone by cordially, but Luke could not shake the feeling that he had said something wrong.

"There were just trying to help, you know," Rory finally spoke up, clearly referring to the tuition issue.

Luke looked to her. "You don't think I can do it alone?"

"No!" Rory looked almost frightened that she had angered him or hurt his pride. "I'm just saying we don't know what might happen in the future financially. Leave the door open, at least."

Luke nodded, understanding her advice. He patted her knee affectionately. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, princess."