December 15th

Lorelai grabbed at his hand as he refilled her coffee mug at breakfast. "It's going to snow," she confided to him in an excited whisper.

Luke turned up his sarcasm level to counteract the effect her sparkling blue eyes had on him. "Gee, in December? In Connecticut? Ten days before Christmas? Wow, that's a shocker, all right."

"No, silly!" She was still bubbling over, apparently immune to his attempt to settle her down. "I don't mean the wispy little flakes and frozen ice pellets Queen Frostine has sent our way so far. I mean snow. Today it's going to snow."

"Mom always knows." Rory nodded solemnly, confirming her mother's meteorological insights.

Luke hadn't watched the news or weather report so far today. "They're predicting snow, are they?"

Lorelai scoffed, twisting back and forth in her seat. "I have no use for maps and radar images foisted on the gullible public by the media. I rely on this." She tapped against her nose.

"You can smell snow?" Luke asked, amused in spite of himself.

"Smell it, feel it, taste it," she insisted.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. And today the air smells like snow. It feels like snow. The air has that extra little snap of moisture in it. Mark my words, my friend, we'll have snow before nightfall."

He could tell she was putting on a show for his benefit, but yet there seemed to be something more sincere behind it. "You like snow, huh?"

Again, that scoff of superiority. "Who doesn't like snow?"

"The people who have to shovel it, drive in it, or walk through it," he countered.

"Oh, ye of such narrow weather-mindedness. There's nothing more glorious and uplifting than a blanket of new-fallen snow."

"I'll remind you of that when you're getting ready to shovel for the umpteenth time in March."

"Oh…" Her snow cheer dimmed a little bit. "Yeah, I guess I haven't had to be concerned with the handling of it much. At the Inn, Mia always sent Ethan or Mark down to shovel us a path." She looked perplexed. "That's probably not going to happen at the Crapshack, is it?"

"Nope."

"Guess I should get a shovel."

"Guess you should. Or maybe Santa will bring you one, if you ask nice enough."

Lorelai glanced outside at the sky, monitoring the clouds. "Probably going to need it before Christmas," she concluded.

"It's OK, Mom," Rory told her, putting the last bite of toast into her mouth. "I'll help you shovel. I like snow, too."

"That's my girl." Lorelai patted Rory's head as if she was a stuffed animal. She raised her shoulder towards Luke. "We'll show him what snow's all about, won't we?"

"Definitely," Rory agreed, grinning at him.

Suppressing a grin of his own, he shook his head at both of them, grudgingly leaving their presence to go refill other coffee cups before Lorelai begged for what was left in the pot.

Mid-afternoon, Luke heard people stomping their feet when they entered the diner. Glancing outside, he saw billows of snowflakes drifting by the window.

"Well, what do you know," he murmured to himself, still wondering if Lorelai hadn't been watching the Weather Channel before she came in that morning. He was ready to head back to the kitchen when he caught a glimpse of her tearing up the street. He waited until she'd burst through the door.

"Come on," she told him breathlessly, taking his hand and trying to tug him towards the door.

"What? Why?" he protested, putting on the brakes.

"Snow!" she said, as if no other word was necessary.

"Yes, I see that."

"So come on! We need to walk in it."

"Again I ask, why?"

"Because it's a thing! I need to walk outside in the first snow."

Luke waved his arm at the scene outside the window. "Go ahead. No one's stopping you from getting frostbite."

"No, no, no!" She began tugging at his arm again. "It doesn't count if I do it alone. Normally Rory goes with me, but she's still in school. So lucky you, you have been chosen."

"Lucky me," Luke deadpanned, although the idea of taking a walk with her actually sounded tremendously appealing.

"So come on already! Let's go!" She danced over to the door, then turned and gave him that eager, pleading look he was powerless to resist.

He felt all opposition crumble away. "Let me get my coat and gloves on. And tell everyone I'm leaving for a bit."

"Yay!" she cheered, and then hopped up and down impatiently by the door until he was ready to go.

"Snow, huh?"

"Snow," she said happily, sliding her feet through what was already piling up on the sidewalk.

"What's the deal with snow?"

Lorelai ducked her head. "You'll laugh at me."

"Probably." Luke smiled. "Doesn't mean I don't want to hear it though."

She took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. "I was a little kid – five, I think." As she began to lose herself in her story, she wrapped her hand around his arm, leaning on him as they continued to walk. "I was really sick with an ear infection, and had been for at least a week. But you know how that feels to a kid – a week's forever, if not longer. And I remember wishing so hard for something magical to happen, just something to make me feel better. And the next morning I looked out and it had snowed. Everything looked so beautiful. Like fairyland had arrived overnight, just for me."

"Egotistical from a very early age, I see." But he bumped his shoulder gently into hers. "Did the snow make you feel better?"

"You know, I can't remember!" Lorelai chuckled. "But I never got over the magic that happens when snow arrives. Everything can be dead and brown and ugly, but put a layer of glistening snow over it and it looks brand new and perfect. It's like getting a second chance."

"That's a nice way of looking at it." Luke could feel what he thought of as the 'Lorelai Effect' beginning to work on him, making him mellow and tolerant. He pushed back one more time, before he was completely taken over by her optimism. "Guess that holds true until the snow starts to melt and it gets muddy and dirty and slushy again."

"Hush, you!" She gave him a small smack on the arm, which he'd been expecting. He smiled.

They walked another half a block in companionable silence. "Your love of snow is all cosmetic? You love the way it makes things look?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "And it's been like a good luck charm for me. Good things happen when it snows."

"How so?"

"One year it snowed really late, in April, on my birthday. And that was the best birthday I ever had."

"Oh yeah? What happened?"

She ran her shoulder into him playfully. "I don't think you know me intimately enough to hear that story yet."

Luke rolled his eyes. In spite of her penchant for trying to shock him and the rest of the town, he suspected 'best birthday ever' meant she'd had two birthday cakes and unlimited ice cream.

"And the first year that I moved here with Rory, it snowed just a couple of weeks after we got settled in. I bundled her up and took her outside to see it. That was so…" She paused and stopped walking for a minute, so Luke did too, waiting for her to continue. "Liberating, I guess is the word I'm searching for. Back with my parents, everything I did with Rory came under their scrutiny. 'Don't take her outside, Lorelai, it's too cold.' 'Lorelai, for heaven's sake, it's too late for the baby to be up.' Just – no matter what I did, it was wrong." She sighed heavily. "And that night, when the first snow came, there was nobody around to tell me no. I was really her mom, finally. So I made sure she was warm, and I carried her outside. She was so excited! She kept trying to catch snowflakes on her mittens the way she tried to catch bubbles in the bathtub. I stood her on her feet, holding her teeny little hands, and suddenly she pulled her hands out of mine and took a couple of wobbly steps, trying to follow the snowflakes. Those were her first steps. I'll never forget that night. Everything was just so…so perfect," she finished up, looking at him with gleaming, hopeful eyes, trusting that he'd understand the importance of what she'd just told him.

He had to swallow a couple of times before he dared to speak. "All right, you've convinced me," he said, trying to sound like his normal cranky self. "Snow is magical."

She laughed, thrilled at his capitulation. "It is! You'll see! Walking in the first snow will bring you luck."

"I hope so," he said. They began walking again, and without calling attention to it, he reached for her hand, lacing his gloved fingers between hers. "I guess we'll see if it does."

Lorelai laughed again, and began swinging their linked hands between them as they continued down the street.

"So I've wanted to talk to you without Rory being around," Luke said after another peaceful pause. "What did your parents really think about the presents she gave them?"

"Ha!" She gave his hand a couple of quick tugs. "Didn't you hear her say they loved them?"

"Yes, but I didn't know if that was just them being polite. I wanted to hear the truth from you. I figured you could tell what they really thought."

Lorelai tossed her head about. "My staid, conservative, bow-tie wearing father carried at least one of the bookends around with him all night. No one was allowed to leave the party without first having the chance to marvel over the craftsmanship displayed by his talented granddaughter."

"He really did like them, then?"

"Luke, he loved them! And the way you had Rory etch her initials into the underneath side of one of them?"

"Yeah?"

"Genius. That was the one he kept carrying around. He wanted everyone to see her initials, proving that she had made them."

Luke gave a half-sigh of relief. "And your mom?" he asked, still apprehensive.

"My mom is my mom, and Emily Gilmore rarely cracks in public. But I did see her surreptitiously wipe her eyes when she thought no one was looking."

Luke frowned. "That's good, right?"

"That's…incredible, is what it is. And later she had Rory come upstairs with her to find just the perfect place to put it. Guess it's going on the wall next to her dressing table. Too bad for the Renoir that used to hang there."

"So it was all OK, then? From the moment that Rory suggested making them something, I was worried that they'd hurt her feelings about it somehow. Your stories about them make them seem so proper. I was concerned that they really wouldn't appreciate them, and Rory would be crushed."

"No, it was all good. They were touched and amazed. And of course she made sure they knew you were the one who helped her every step of the way, so now your stock with them is even higher. They probably like you much more than they like me by now."

"I doubt that."

"Oh, trust me about that. Of course, they like the gardener more than me too, so take that endorsement with a grain of salt."

Luke was discovering that he enjoyed walking in the snow. At least, he enjoyed it with Lorelai. The sidewalks were deserted and the softly falling snow made the space around them seem private and secluded, as if the two of them were isolated from everyone else living in Stars Hollow. The atmosphere surrounding them was quiet and everything else seemed muted, allowing every word spoken between them, even the half-whispered ones, easy to hear.

"Can I ask you something?" Luke asked, as they turned down another residential street. Oak View, he thought. Everything looked different in the falling snow, even the streets he'd been on a million times.

"I thought we were past the stage where you needed to ask that. Don't we already talk about everything?"

"Almost everything." Involuntarily, he gave her hand a nervous squeeze. "I was wondering about Rory's dad."

He felt her withdraw, just a tad. "What about him?"

"Rory didn't mention a gift for him. Do you guys not see him for Christmas?"

"Geez, ask a hard question next time, why don't you? Ask me to explain the theory of relativity or something."

"Sorry, I don't mean to put you on the spot."

"No, it's not that. Not exactly. It's just…hard to put it all into words. This…link…between us has evolved through the years, and it's difficult to explain it from someone else's perspective. But the short answer to your question is no, I don't expect we'll see him at Christmas."

Luke let her statement lay between them for a few beats, waiting to see if she'd expand on that. When she didn't, he pushed ahead.

"And you're OK with that? Rory's OK with that?"

She blew out a big breath of air and tilted her face up to meet the snowflakes for a moment. "It's all that Rory knows, so I guess she's OK with it. If he comes to town to spend Christmas with his folks, then he lets us know and we make arrangements to see him on neutral territory somewhere. I think he feels that his parents are less likely to make trouble about it that way. You know, that it doesn't count if he's not actually coming here to see us."

"That's just so wrong, Lorelai. Shame on them."

"Eh, I don't know. It might be for the best this way. At least with no contact I don't have to worry about Rory being around them and having them fill her head with hatefulness."

He waited through another period of silence from her. "And you don't try to go see him?"

That query brought forth another gusty sigh from Lorelai. "He hasn't always been close enough for that to be feasible, and even if it was, I didn't necessarily want to travel in winter weather with a little girl in an undependable car."

Luke fought his desire to tell her exactly what he thought about Rory's poor excuse of a father. When the urge to kill passed, he spoke calmly again. "He doesn't even send her gifts? Call her on the phone?"

"Oh yeah, he sends gifts. Well, usually. Sometimes he sends me money and asks me to buy something from him, because he went through a spell where he was still sending her baby dolls and things she'd outgrown years before. He wants to make sure it's something she wants or needs. And he does call. That's gotten easier, now that she's old enough to hold her own in a conversation."

Luke turned some things over in his head before he spoke. "You know how I feel about Rory."

Lorelai looked over at him, her face shining. "Yeah. I know."

He nodded. "So it's just impossible for me to get inside this guy's head. I can't imagine why he would not want to spend time with his daughter. It would kill me not to see her."

Lorelai wrapped her fingers tighter around his hand. "You can't miss what you don't know."

Luke shook his head slowly, but Lorelai continued on this time. "I know the bare facts make him sound like a real jerk, but he's not. He's smart, and quick-witted, and –"

"And good looking," Luke cut in.

Her head reared back. "Are you asking for yourself, or…?"

"I just figure he is." He deliberately looked away. "Right?"

She took her time answering. "He's easy on the eyes, yes."

"Figured," he said flatly.

She yanked her hand out of his. "And I'm sure Rachel is sooo ugly, right?"

He pressed his lips together briefly. "Point taken," he allowed.

Lorelai crossed her arms over her chest and walked faster than they had been, soon ending up a foot or so ahead of him. Luke hated that the mood had altered so drastically between them. He wasn't even sure where it had gone wrong.

He took a couple of big strides in order to catch up with her, and once he did, he put his hands on her shoulders, stopping her. "Hey."

She looked down at the ground, scowling.

"Look," he said gently. He lowered his head so it was right next to hers. "It's snowing," he whispered. "Everything gets a second chance, right? Even me?"

She shook her head, but couldn't suppress a smile.

"Look at the snowflakes," he urged her, pointing. "Pretty, right? Look at the pretty snow. Makes you feel all happy inside, right?" he insisted, hamming it up.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice." She smiled and turned her face up to meet the snowflakes again.

Luke couldn't stop his gloved finger from reaching out and softly tracing over the bridge of her nose. "You have freckles," he announced in amazement.

"I do," she said grudgingly, starting to walk again.

"Why have I never noticed that before?"

"Because usually I keep a nice coat of concealer over them. The snow must have washed it off."

"You don't like them?"

"No," she said shortly.

"Why not?"

"Because…Heidi has freckles. Anne of Green Gables has freckles. The spunky sidekick has freckles. The perfectly pale models in all of the fashion magazines never do."

"Since when do you care about stuff like that?"

She cut her eyes at him. "Since always."

"Did you get teased about them or something?"

"Sort of. Or it was more like everyone was always pointing them out, I guess. So as soon as I could, I made them disappear."

"They were probably pointing them out because they made you look so cute."

"I didn't want to be cute! I wanted to be pretty!"

"You are pretty," Luke disputed without thinking.

Lorelai stopped again, but this time she was smirking. "You think I'm pretty?"

"You're not hideous," he hedged, not wanting to reveal too much of how gorgeous he truly thought she was.

"You do! You think I'm pret-ty," she stated in a sing-song fashion. "You think I'm bea-u-ti-ful!"

"You're…easy on the eyes," he slyly allowed, hoping it wasn't too soon to use her own term.

She laughed loudly at his response, gave him another frisky smack, then took his arm again as they resumed walking.

"Can I ask one more Christopher-related question?" he chanced asking after a few steps.

"If you must."

"I'm still curious why Rory didn't want to make him a gift."

"That's because we actually have a tradition concerning that. Every year we send him two CDs."

"Music?"

"Yeah. Music was a big thing with us. So now we send him one CD from a group that he likes, or something new that I'm pretty sure he'll love, and then we try to find him something absolutely ridiculous, like African Bushmen chanting with goats bleating in the background or something. The weirder the better. It's fun for us to look for something offbeat all year, and he gets a kick out of it, too. He can't wait to get our package."

"That's…nice," Luke grudgingly admitted.

"Again, with Rory getting older, music is something she and her dad can talk about now. It's cute, hearing her debate pros and cons with him. He enjoys it, I can tell."

Jealousy shut Luke's mouth.

"So is it time for me to ask you probing questions?" Lorelai wondered a little while later. "How about you and your sister? Do you have plans to visit her over the holidays?"

"No." He glanced over at Lorelai, wondering why she'd ask such a thing.

"Well, why not?"

"Because…" He shrugged. "Liz has her own life. She works, she's got Jess, her own friends. Usually a guy living with her."

"And just because she has other people in her life, she doesn't want to see you?"

"No, that's not…I didn't say that. Just…she has other things to do."

"You don't want to see her? You don't want to see your nephew?"

"Well, sure, when you put it like that. Of course I want to see them."

"When was the last time you did?"

"Uh…" Luke had a sudden flash of memory, one of Jess toddling around, sucking on a teddy bear's bedraggled ear. "It's been a while, I guess."

"They're only a couple of hours away, right? You should go see them for Christmas."

"I don't…Maybe someday, OK? It's just, right now –"

"Not so much fun when the third degree is directed at you, is it?"

"No, no it's not." Luke put his arm around her shoulders, hoping for a truce. "Let's just enjoy the snow, what do you say?"

"Pretty snow," Lorelai cooed, apparently willing to drop the questions.

Luke glanced at his watch. "It's almost time for school to get out. Do you want to walk over and surprise Rory?"

"Great idea!" Lorelai agreed.

They'd barely reached the school when the doors opened and students began piling out. In a few minutes Rory stepped out and spotted them immediately.

"Mom! It snowed!" She raced over, barreling into her mother, who caught her and laughed, even though both of them almost ended up on the ground. "Hi, Luke!" she added.

Lane had followed her friend over, and Lorelai put a warm arm around her, too. "Hey, sweetie. How was school today, you two?"

Luke loved watching her with the girls. He loved how affectionate she was with Lane, giving her a taste of the warmth her own mother seemed to be lacking, and going out of her way to include Lane in their little family.

"Boring," Lane decreed. She smiled at Luke in hello.

"It started snowing right during our history quiz," Rory said. "I wanted to ask to be excused, so I could come home and walk with you, but I didn't figure Mrs. Walker would allow that."

Lorelai gasped in pretend outrage. "Don't they know that the First Day of Snow is a national holiday?"

"Followed closely by National Head-Cold Day," Luke chimed in. "Or National Dry Out Your Boots Day." He shuffled his feet, showing off his soaked footwear.

The girls both giggled and Lorelai shook her head at him in disappointment.

"I've got to go," Lane said reluctantly. "Piano lessons this afternoon." She said goodbye and left quickly, not wanting her mother to come looking for her.

Luke reached for Rory's backpack. "Why don't I take this, and then you girls can go have your walk in the snow?"

"Really?" Rory yelped, delightedly looking back and forth between them.

"Sure." Luke shouldered the bright purple and turquoise pack without a grimace. "Stop by the diner on the way home to pick this up, and I'll have some cocoa waiting for you. You'll need a warm-up by then, I bet."

"That's fantastic!" Rory gave him a big hug, while Lorelai looked at him affectionately, thanking him silently.

"Have fun," he told them. He hadn't gone very many steps when he heard them squealing. Turning back, he saw them throwing handfuls of snow at each other. It was hard to tell which of them had started it, or who was having more fun.

Contentedly he trudged back to the diner through the magical snow, toting the girlish backpack without a care.

December 23rd , afternoon

Luke didn't need the omnipresent reminders that the Christmas shopping days were melting away. He was very much aware of that fact. So far today he'd made two laps around the square, sticking his head into every store facing it. Well, every store except for Claire's, which sold nothing but women's underwear and nightgowns, because no matter how desperate he was, he wasn't buying Lorelai anything from that store. At least, not except in his dreams.

He leaned against the gazebo for a moment, trying to organize his thoughts. He'd had an easy time getting gifts for Rory. Too easy, even. He was worried that he was on the verge of spoiling her. She'd taken to mitering so quickly and efficiently that he'd picked up a miter box and a saw for her. Then, concerned that the gift was too industrial for a young girl, he'd glammed it up by adhering a sequined sticker to the side of the wooden box. He'd also discovered that his linen supplier had restaurant-style aprons in smaller sizes, so he'd ordered one of them for her, requesting that "Rory" be embroidered onto it. And lastly, after he heard her mention that she'd never been ice skating, he'd decided to buy her a pair of skates and take her out onto the ice for lessons. Then he realized he'd need to take her to the store and have her try on the skates to get the right size, so he put together a coupon of sorts to give her. Not wanting to just hand a piece of paper to her, he went over to the bookstore to ask Andrew if he had a skating book that Rory might enjoy, thinking he'd tuck the coupon inside of it. Andrew said that he had a copy of a book that was currently out of print, "Skating Shoes," and even though it was aimed at girls below Rory's reading level, the bookstore owner assured Luke that she'd love it.

So Rory's gifts were done.

He'd delivered a poinsettia to Mia's office, sort of a tradition with him. And he'd taken a big wreath to some other family friends who owned a restaurant not too far from Stars Hollow, because although their restaurant always got decorated for the holidays, somehow they never managed to find the time to do the same at their own house.

And after the insightful talk he'd had with Lorelai in the snow, he'd handled gift-giving to his sister and her son differently. Normally he sent them a check; told Liz to buy herself and Jess something that they needed. But he didn't want to seem as uninvolved as Rory's dad, so this year, along with the generous check, he also sent something just for Jess. He had Rory help him pick out a book she thought Jess might like. Inside he put a gift card from Barnes and Noble, so that his nephew could also have the joy of selecting something on his own. He'd checked first to make sure that they had a store close by, so Jess would be able to get to it. The other thing he'd sent them was the carousel horse and a butterfly ornament that Liz had always loved. Lorelai had helped him ready the fragile pieces for shipment in a mass of bubble wrap. He hadn't heard from Liz yet, but he hoped they had gotten to her in one piece.

So everyone in his life had been marked off the list. Except for Lorelai. He never imagined that shopping for her would be so difficult.

Luke looked at the buildings surrounding the square one more time, hoping for inspiration. Something twinkled in a window display, drawing his attention and making him stand up straight. Amazingly, there was one store he'd missed.

Well, not missed exactly, he admitted to himself as he slowly started to walk over to the jewelry store. He'd just been afraid that giving jewelry was somehow too fraught with additional meaning to be an appropriate gift for Lorelai. But hey, she liked jewelry, right? Surely he could find some sort of bauble she'd appreciate. Maybe even a necklace she could hang on the holder Rory was giving her. Feeling more confident, he began to walk faster.

A discreet chime sounded as he pushed open the door. The carpet was plush and the Christmas carols playing in the background were instrumental only and tastefully subdued. The lighting was aimed at the display cases, making the items underneath the glass sparkle and shine in a way that made him think he couldn't afford most of them.

"Be with you in a second!" called out the well-dressed salesman, who was showing Mrs. Slutsky something on a long golden chain.

Luke nodded, and continued rather aimlessly perusing the cases. He didn't have a clue where to begin his search.

After a few minutes the man came over to him. "Hello, Luke."

"Hi," Luke replied, glancing at him. It didn't surprise him too much that he'd been greeted by name, that was one of those small-town things that happened pretty often. The young man didn't look familiar to him, though.

The guy grinned. "You don't remember me, do you?"

Luke looked at him closer. "Sorry, no."

"I'm not surprised. Thankfully I've changed a lot since freshman year." He held out his hand. "I'm Jeremy Dawson, Kyle's little brother."

"Oh, sure!" Luke shook his hand more enthusiastically than normal, to make up for not recognizing him in the first place. "I'd heard you were back in town."

"Yeah, the plan was that Kyle was supposed to take over the store when Dad was ready to retire, but he went to college in Florida, met a girl there and married her, and now doesn't want to come back to cold, snowy Connecticut. So I got tapped to come home instead."

Luke was having a hard time reconciling the scrawny little kid he remembered with the poised, confident man standing so assuredly before him in the handsome suit. "I'm sure that made your dad happy."

"Luckily I'd majored in business and had helped out with the store quite a bit before I'd moved to Boston for a spell, so I've been able to reacquaint myself pretty easily. And of course, Stars Hollow never changes, so it hasn't been very hard to fit back into town again, either."

"Right, right," Luke murmured, while trying to recollect if Kyle had been as tall as Jeremy was now. Easy on the eyes, too, he could imagine Lorelai saying with a meaningful smirk. "Stars Hollow is always Stars Hollow," he agreed.

"Exactly!" Jeremy gave him a knowing smile. "So, shopping for someone special today?"

"Special?" The emphasis Jeremy had put on the word was making him sweat. "Well, for a friend, so, uh…Yeah, special, I guess you could say."

Jeremy leaned his hip against a display case and crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly taking Luke's measure. "For Lorelai, is it?"

Luke nearly choked. "Um, yeah…For…yeah. Her."

Jeremy chuckled, apparently at some memory he had. "She's great, by the way. Really a funny gal. How's the watch working out for you?"

It all began to make sense, as Luke realized that Lorelai had come here to get his dad's watch fixed. "It's running perfectly," he said, displaying the watch on his wrist.

"That's good to hear." Jeremy turned businesslike. "So Luke, did you have something particular in mind for Lorelai?" he asked with salesman-like smoothness.

"No. Not really. I mean, she's a – you know, a girl – and she likes…" Luke spread out his arms, indicating the contents of the store "…this kind of stuff, so…"

"Excellent idea. A necklace perhaps? A bracelet?" He started to move away, towards another case, but then hit Luke with one more option. "Or…a ring, possibly?"

That choking sensation was back. "No, I think…a necklace. Probably."

"Does she prefer gold or silver?"

Luke peered deep into his memory but his brain refused to visualize any piece of jewelry he'd ever seen Lorelai wear. "Silver," he decided, picking one at random.

"Let's try looking at these," Jeremy suggested, moving behind one of the cases lining the wall. "If you don't see anything you like in here, we'll try to narrow it down further."

"Great." Luke was happy to have been given something to do, to be able to bend his head away from Jeremy. He tried to focus on the gleaming jewels and silver on display in the cabinet. He could sense Jeremy watching him, a most uncomfortable feeling.

"The rumors must be true then. You and Lorelai are close?"

"We're, uh…Yeah, close. I guess you could say close." All of the pieces of jewelry below him were blurring together.

"You are dating? No one seems to know that for sure, although I've heard plenty of speculation."

"No, no. We're not dating," Luke said honestly. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Jeremy looking extremely pleased at his response. Smiling a smile that was altogether too smug. He saw him actually run a hand through his perfectly cut hair. Watched as the hair fell back into place.

Suddenly Luke stood up straight. Pulled his shoulders back. Nailed Jeremy with that 'man-to-man' sort of look. "Yet," he added.

"What?"

"We're not dating…" Luke turned his smile into one of pity, directed it towards this fancy-dressed fool. "…yet."

"Oh. I, uh…I see."

"You know, she's got her little girl to think about. We don't want to rush anything. We're taking it really slow, just to make sure she's OK with it."

"Sure. Uh, that makes sense," Jeremy muttered, his whole attitude deflating.

The light hit something blue in the case and Luke's eyes zeroed in on it. Instantly he knew he'd found the perfect thing. "Could I see that, please?"

"Which one? The snowflake?"

"Yeah." Luke watched Jeremy pull the necklace from the velvet holder. "She's crazy about snow," he mused, almost to himself. "Well, she's pretty much crazy period, but she's especially crazy about snow."

Jeremy draped the necklace over a stand and moved it so Luke could examine it. "The weight of the diamonds in it doesn't amount to much, but the blue topaz in the middle is actually quite lovely."

"I'll take it," Luke said decisively, knowing he could look all day and never find anything better. He gave Jeremy one more of those kind but pitying looks. "Thanks for your help. She'll love it."

"No problem. Happy to oblige," Jeremy said gloomily.

A few minutes later Luke left the jewelry store feeling pretty good. Lorelai's present was in his pocket, and lo and behold, it turned out he could lie when circumstances demanded it.

On the way back to the diner, Luke realized that maybe he hadn't actually lied to Jeremy after all. If things went the way he hoped, everything he'd said could be the truth very soon.

December 23rd , evening

"Hey! What are you doing in here? The action's outside!" Lorelai announced, rushing into the diner.

"Action?" Luke disputed. He glanced out towards the square. "Looks to me to be the same inaction I see every year before the Christmas pageant."

"Aw, come on! Where else are you going to see street theater like this?"

"Nowhere, with any luck."

"I'd thought we'd banished the Scrooge part of your personality." She hit him with the pouty mouth and the fluttering eyelashes. "You really don't want to come out and watch Rory?"

She had him there. He looked around at the empty diner, wavering. "Everyone else is gone for the night. I'm supposed to be open for another hour."

"Well, stay open then. There's no reason you can't step outside and watch for a couple of minutes with me. If we see anyone head to the diner, you can come back."

That did make sense, and as usual, Luke gave in. "All right, let me grab my coat. I'll meet you out there."

"Don't dawdle," she warned him sternly, shaking her finger at him. Then she smiled and hurried back out the door.

He found her easily once he crossed over to the square. As promised, she'd found a good vantage spot to watch both the diner's door and the rehearsal hijinks.

"Where's Rory?" he asked, as soon as he reached her side.

Lorelai pointed to the tallest angel in the line, the only one who seemed to be listening to Miss Patty's instructions on how to sing in excelsis deo properly.

"For once casting got it right, huh?" he murmured to her.

"Yes, exactly." She smiled back at him, proud of her daughter, pleased that he saw the same angelic tendencies in Rory that she did. Then she shivered.

"Cold?" He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Cold. Tired." Her arms were crossed over her chest. "It's been a long week so far."

"Why, what's going on?" he asked with concern, wondering how he'd missed whatever problem she was facing.

"Just the usual week before Christmas stuff. Lots of staff needing time off; lots of rooms filled as people arrive for the holiday. Tons to get done before the 25th." She threw him a tired smile. "Everybody's exhausted before Christmas."

He stepped behind her. "Here," he suggested, pulling back on her shoulders.

"What are you doing?" She struggled against him, fighting to keep her balance.

"No, here. Just lean back," he insisted, settling her against his chest. "Just relax for a little bit." He folded his arms around her, hoping to add a little warmth for her too.

For a moment or two she resisted, but gradually he felt her easing back, melting up against him. "Mmm," she finally sighed, letting her head fall back against his chest, too.

Slowly he let his chin drop, until it was resting on the top of her head. The scent of her shampoo, her perfume, her lipgloss – maybe even a hint of coffee – wafted up to him. He'd often wondered how women managed to smell so good all day, but now he knew the secret: they layered on so many aromas from so many products that it was no surprise that some of them managed to hang on until bedtime.

"So what's the plan for the rest of the night? Are you heading home after this?" His face was so close to hers, he didn't have to speak much above a whisper.

"I wish. No, this is just a break for me. I've got to be at the Inn until 11 tonight."

Luke frowned. "Where's Rory staying?"

"She's going over to Lane's, although Mrs. Kim is none too pleased about it. I didn't think it was that big a deal, since school's out, but apparently any weeknight is not appropriate for a sleepover."

"Then just have her come to the diner. I'll take care of her."

"Oh, Luke, no. It's an early morning for you, as usual. I don't want you to have to stay up, waiting on me."

"No, it's fine," Luke told her decisively, seeing how it could work out. "Just tell her to come to the diner, and I'll run her home after I finish closing up. That way she can go to sleep in her own bed when she wants to. I'll even tuck her in, and then I'll wait for you to come home."

"Then will you tuck me in, too?" Lorelai purred flirtatiously.

There was a small pause as her words reverberated between them. Then she pulled herself away from him.

"Oh, god. Luke, I'm sorry. That wasn't something I should have said. It just sort of popped out."

"Don't apologize."

"No, I should say sorry. That's not something I should tease about."

"Why not? We talk and tease about everything else. Why is that the one topic that's off limits?"

He could see that he'd surprised her. She bit at her bottom lip and stared at him, trying to come up with an answer.

"Maybe…maybe it shouldn't be." She turned thoughtful and gave a little shrug. "Maybe you're right. As long as we both know we're joking, what's the harm?"

He nodded, as if he agreed. "Or, here's an idea," he put forth, as calmly as he could. "Instead of merely joking about the attraction between us, maybe we should sit down someday and have a serious discussion about it."

If he'd surprised her before, this time she was in shock. Her mouth dropped open, but no words rolled off her usually quick tongue. Her eyes were big and round, watching him.

"What do you think?" he asked her, pressing his luck.

"I think…" Something over his shoulder drew her attention. "I think you should go wait on customers. Mr. and Mrs. Calhoun just walked into the diner."

He turned towards the diner to confirm that, and when he turned back to Lorelai, she was edging away.

"I'll go let Rory know about the change of plans. Thanks again. I'll see you later, OK?"

"Sure. See you when you get home." He stood for a moment, watching her walk away, before he crossed the street to the diner.

Christmas was only two days away. Was it too late to ask Santa for what he really wanted?

A note from DFC: There's one more installment coming for December, but I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a little bit longer to read it. Just like Lorelai, that pre-Christmas rush has hit me and I've run out of time to do more writing. I promise I'll get it finished up as soon as I can, plus there are a couple of other Christmas stories tumbling around in my head that I hope to get posted not too far into the new year. Thanks for your patience! Happy Holidays, everyone!