Author's note: Thank you for reading and reviewing.

Luke didn't realize how protective he had become of April until she mentioned she was going to a boy-girl party. He didn't want her to go, he didn't want some immature teenage boy to try and woo his way into his daughter's heart. April was way too young to have a boyfriend, way too young to kiss a boy. Luke asked if there would be kissing at the party and she freaked out, clearly not wanting to discuss that subject with him.

On the night of the party, he tells her not to kiss any boys (using the term "juggling" instead of kissing so she doesn't freak out). She told him that she wasn't feeling well, that she had a stomach-ache. He got worried, so he felt her forehead, it was hot, and she definitely had a fever. He told her that she couldn't go to the party. She was furious, claiming that he only didn't want her to go to the party, that she wasn't sick. But he held his ground, telling her that she was sick, that she couldn't go to the party.
She doesn't take this well, "You suck as a dad!" She shouts at him and she goes off to her bed. He sighs and sits down, feeling at a loss. He knows he did the right thing by not letting her go to the party, but he feels like he might have botched their relationship a little.

She didn't speak to him for about a half hour. He walks over to her bed and offers her some ginger ale, which she declines. Then he asks her if she wants to watch a movie, she doesn't respond. He tells her that there will be other parties. She just groans. He sighs and reaches down to feel her forehead again, it's hotter than before. He decides to call Lorelai. He knows that she'll know what to do. He hopes she'll help… even if they aren't exactly on speaking terms right now. She picks up after the first ring and he wonders if she looked at the caller ID. He frantically tells her that April's really sick and he doesn't know what to do. He tells her April's symptoms, hoping that she'll be able to tell him what to do.
"Okay. Slow down. Did she throw up?" Lorelai asks.
"No." Luke replies.
"Did she eat something bad?"
"No. She hasn't eaten anything all day." He tells her, just realizing this now.
"Aw, where does it hurt?" Lorelai asks, sounding sympathetic.
Luke takes a second to reply, something about the tone of her voice makes him feel reminiscent. "Uh, she's holding her side." He tells her.
"Which side?" Lorelai asks without missing a beat.
"Her right side. It seems to be getting worse." He tells her, worried that she'll say that April is dying…
"Oh, wow it could be appendicitis."
"Appendicitis…really?" He asks.
"Yeah, yeah it's gonna be okay, but you should take her right to the hospital. Take her to St. Joseph's." Lorelai tells him calmly, which eases his worries a little.
"Okay. Okay." He says. He hangs up the phone then realizes that he didn't thank Lorelai. He puts the phone down and rushes over to April.
"April? I have to take you to the hospital, okay? I called Lorelai and she thinks it's your appendix."
April groans again and whispers "Okay." Luke helps her up and tries to lift her into his arms. "Dad, I can walk." She tells him.
"Okay, but hurry up. We need to get to the truck."

A couple of hours later, Luke sits in the waiting room of the hospital. She'll be fine. Everything will be okay. He tells himself, repeating what the doctor said before he took off to move April to the recovery room.
"Hey." He hears and he looks up from his magazine to see Lorelai standing there.
"Oh, hey. Hi." He says as he stands up. He didn't expect her to come here.
"How is she?" Lorelai asks.
"Okay. It was appendicitis, like you said. But she's okay. I mean the operation went really great. They got it out, no problem. And she's gonna be fine. And I'm gonna be able to see her pretty soon." He tells her, looking directly at her face.
"Good, good." Lorelai looks and sounds relieved.
He tells her that she didn't have to come, but he thanks her for coming. It's nice to see that she still cares enough to be there for him when his kid is sick. He knows that he would do the same for her if Rory was in a similar situation.
She looks at him in the eye and he holds her gaze as she tells him that there's nothing worse than taking your kid to the emergency room, telling him about a time that Rory had food poisoning, making her feel like they were going to have to hook her up to an IV. Luke understands what she means, he looks away for a second, but then looks into her eyes again, feeling comfortable doing so. She's giving off some sort of energy that's making him feel relieved and safe. He tells her how he was feeling scared and panicked. That he was a little too out of his mind that he had the crazy thought that they could take his appendix and give it to April.
"Well, I'm glad she's gonna be okay." Lorelai tells him.
Luke nods, "Yeah she's gonna be alright.

Suddenly, a doctor comes up behind them. "Mr. and Mrs. Nardini?" He asks.
"Oh, no. Hi, I'm Luke Danes. I'm April's dad." Luke corrects him.
"Well, she's a little out of it right now, but you and you're wife can go in and see her."
Luke starts to tell him that Lorelai's not his wife, but stops and turns when he hears Lorelai say "No, I'm not, uh…" Her hand is on her chest, and he sees why the doctor thought she was his wife. Lorelai puts her hand back down, but it's too late, Luke already saw the ring. He stares at her hand, shocked. It must be Christopher. She married Christopher. He brings his eyes back to her face and gives her a look of disbelief. He wants an explanation. But the doctor asks if both of them would like to go see April. "You go." Is all Lorelai says. "Okay." They both say and Luke follows the doctor.

A few minutes later, Luke sits in the chair next to April's hospital bed and changes the channels on the T.V. He stops for a second to feel April's forehead and is relieved to find her fever is gone. He moves his hand down to hers and holds it there for a few seconds. He turns back to the T.V. and changes the channel again until he sees an old black and white movie that he can't remember the name of. It gets his attention, one of the characters says "…eloping to Maryland." Luke thoughts immediately drift to Lorelai. She married him. She married Christopher. She married Christopher after I came to her that morning, months ago, wanting to elope. But she had slept with Christopher. And now she had decided to marry him. Christopher is the one who gets to sleep next to her every night. He's the one that gets live with her in the remodelled house that I spent thousands of dollars on…

Luke is hurt, offended and just disappointed with Lorelai's actions. Then, it hits him. He still loves her. Even though he has tried to convince himself that it would be easier to try and forget her, try and to move on. Seeing her tonight made him come to the realization that he could never really let her go, he could never not love her. But there's nothing he can do about now because she's married to him.

His attention is drawn back to April when she wakes up and whispers "Dad?"
He turns to face her: "Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling?"
April gives him a small smile, "A lot better."
He smiles back, "That's great." They sit in silence for a few seconds.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks… for looking out for me. For making sure I didn't go to the party and for taking me to the hospital. I should have listened to you when you said I had a fever… I'm sorry I said that you suck as a dad, it's not true."
"April… it's alright. All that matters is that you're okay."
"I am… and Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
Luke swallows nervously. He's shocked to hear her say that. Then, he smiles softly and answers: "I love you too, April." He reaches out and takes her hand in his.