RNM 10 Well, Damn

"Get away from me, Kirk," growled Luke.

"But I thought that everyone is supposed to greet you with a hug. Don't you want a hug, Luke?" Kirk reached for Luke yet again.

"Don't touch me!" he hissed as he sprang out of Kirk's reach. "Sit over there! I'll get to you later."

He crooked his head at Lorelai and Rory as they laughed at his strange samba with Kirk. He clamped his lips together to prevent a rant on the perils of PDA in the diner. Kirk was a peril he'd rather not face again.

On the other hand, though, he was glad he didn't refuse the cause of Kirk's mistaken assumption. When Lorelai and Rory entered the diner on Friday morning, they immediately glommed themselves onto him in a giant hug in spite of the plates he carried.

As the plates of oatmeal, toast, eggs and pancakes teetered dangerously on the brink of total disaster, Luke Danes knew that Lorelai had righted their family ship again. If Rory's "Sorry, Luke" and Lorelai's "I missed you" weren't enough to put him at ease, Lorelai's phone call late last night did. She gave him the gist of her evening with Rory, reassuring him that his favorite mother/daughter pair was on track again.

After their orders came up and Luke delivered them to their table, taking a moment to sync up with Rory so she knew he wasn't mad, he stepped to the next table to clean it. His back was turned to them as he heard Rory speak.

"Which one would Luke get, Mom?"

Lorelai looked at her boyfriend to see if he was following the conversation, but Luke Danes' practiced ability to look like he ignored the many embarrassing and occasionally criminal things discussed within his diner fooled even her.

"Let's see. You get the mini-me and Emily gets the grumpy one. I guess he'll have to take the one that picks up worms, wants to gut fish and has an unhealthy obsession with pocket knives. I can't stand any of those things."

Luke might have let that sentence pass as he carried a tower of dirty dishes back to the kitchen, if it hadn't been for the fact that she had perfectly described his childhood. Could she be talking about … Nah! Impossible. Right? Out of the question.

His hand jerked a tiny bit as the word 'baby' forced itself into his consciousness, sending the cups and saucers on top of the stack flying. He quick-stepped to the pass-through window, barely managing to set the rest of the dishes down before the mess got bigger.

As he swept up the shards, he surreptitiously glanced at Lorelai. She said goodbye to Rory with her usual "Bye, sweets," then innocently gave her pancakes her full attention.

He went into the kitchen, then turned around and spied on her again. She didn't have that 'baby look' that he saw on his cousin's faces the last time he attended a family wedding, so he breathed a sigh of relief. He loved Lorelai and knew that she loved him, but it was way too soon to discuss babies. Way too soon. Definitely. It was, however, something to ponder. No freaking out. Something to ponder, and maybe even discuss one day. One day. Not today.

He moved the dishes back to the dishwasher, but couldn't resist straining his neck to take another look. She looked normal. Coincidentally looking up at him as he stared wide-eyed at her, she flashed her brilliant smile. His eyes widened in shock and he disappeared from her sight.

He rested his forehead on the cool steel of the dishwasher and tried to breathe normally again. There was nothing going on. She hadn't said anything. He was imagining it all. He must be imagining it.

"Order up, Luke," said Caesar, not at all bothered by Luke's behavior. Gilmore girls had been causing these reactions in him for years. He worked himself up into a state, then whatever worry he had would be suddenly popped by said Gilmore girl.

"I have to ask," Luke said to himself, ignoring his advice to himself about pondering and not freaking out. "Now."

Casting about for ideas, he went to the front, picked up the telephone, dialed and took shelter inside the kitchen again.

Lorelai frowned as the display on her ringing phone read 'Luke's Diner.' She looked for him, but didn't see him anywhere, finally noticing that the phone cord had been pulled inside the kitchen.

Walking to the kitchen to find out for herself what was going on, she was met by a wild-eyed Luke.

"I'm on the phone!" he whispered frantically.

"Uh, yeah, you called me, remember?"

He looked at her cell phone, then her, then pointed to the door.

"What? No! You called me!" she stammered.

He continued to point and glower at her, so she shook her head and moved toward the door, looking back every few steps. Sighing, she walked out onto the sidewalk.

"You know this is crazy, right?" she asked.

"What was that about?" he demanded, then immediately softened his tone. "No, sorry. Yes. You're right. This is crazy."

"OK, honey, take it easy. You can ask me anything. Apparently not to my face, but why don't you just tell me what's going on?" She faced the diner, still seeing no sign of Luke, just the phone cord pulled taut.

He cautiously looked out the kitchen door, and locked eyes with her.

"Which one would Luke get? What does that mean?"

She stared at him, trying to figure out where that came from. Suddenly his weirdness became clear.

"Luke, you need to relax. I can see the vein throbbing in your head from here. There's no need to freak out. I was just answering Rory's questions. Hypothetical questions."

"Oh." He edged sideways until she could see his full body in the doorway.

"Can I come in so we can discuss this properly?"

"Can't. I'm too embarrassed."

"Would you rather be too embarrassed for the next two minutes while we discuss it now, or do you prefer to be embarrassed all day long while crazy thoughts fly through your brain as you worry about what I do and don't mean, which will result in you jumping to conclusions about what I meant, and we'll have an argument, then we won't talk for days, but we'll ultimately have the discussion, after which your embarrassment will go completely away, because it's actually a simple thing to discuss?"

"You said all that without taking a breath," he said admiringly. Her words calmed him.

"Hey, I got skills," she grinned.

Détente was achieved upstairs in the apartment within ten minutes. Two minutes were required to explain to Luke exactly what had been discussed, and once he understood that Rory's worries were easily resolved, they spent the next eight minutes sealing the deal with a kiss or twenty.

"Hey. You know I'm not opposed to the whole kids thing, right?"

"Well, you never really said anything, but the way you treat Rory kinda makes me think you'd be pretty amazing at the whole dad thing."

"Family is important to me, Lorelai." He shifted his weight from his left foot to the right as they stood in the apartment holding each other. "I wouldn't mind having a larger family one day, that is, if you'd like it, too."

"Since you want it, and Rory wants it, and our babies would be so, so pretty, we kinda owe it to the world, don't we?" she giggled before a flash of shyness overtook her. "A baby would be nice."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Don't surprise me, though. I don't react well to surprises, OK?"

"Yeah, I kinda noticed that this morning." She kissed him on the nose before gathering her purse to go to work. "So, I might throw you a non-surprise surprise birthday party this year."

"No." He looked around for his cap, which had as usual been flung to a far corner of the room during their makeout session.

She bent down, reached under the sofa and pulled out the cap.

Placing the cap affectionately back in place, she offered, "There will be presents. You like presents, don't you?"

"Presents are just surprises with goofy paper wrapped around them."

"Presents are fun! I love presents."

"You can have presents. Presents for you are OK, I'll know what's inside those. I don't want presents," he said, emphasizing the 'I.' They're all stupid bows and frilly stuff."

"Hey mister, you like untying bows on my frilly outfit the other night, didn't you?"

"I already knew what was inside." He grinned rascally at the memory.

Lorelai lay the back of her hand against her forehead dramatically. "Sigh. All the mystery has gone out of our relationship. I can't surprise you anymore."

He pulled her to him one more time as they briefly stopped on the stairs.

"Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, you will never fail to surprise me."

"Emily, are we expecting Lorelai and Rory again tonight?" asked Richard without looking up from his newspaper.

"Yes, Richard, it's going to be a wonderful evening! We are going to have such a good time."

He folded his newspaper in his lap and looked affectionately at his wife. "That's different from the last few times the girls have been here, Emily. Do you have something special planned?"

"We talked about it, remember? Everything has been planned and is ready to go. Not even the maid has ruined anything yet," she said smugly.

"Well, then, I'd better do my part and make sure the drinks are perfect too." Standing, he patted her arm as he made his way to the cocktail wagon. "So you've got everything arranged, like we agreed?"

"All done. It will be so nice having everything finally in place, the way it should be."

Emily paced nervously, checking everything between the entry and the cocktail cart repeatedly. She moved the candles infinitesimally closer, then further apart. One slightly browning flower was unceremoniously removed from the bouquet on the table in the foyer. She checked the place settings, reviewing the menu in her head as she checked each place for the proper number and placement of the silver. Rebellious napkins were crisply re-pointed.

At long last Emily had come to terms with Lorelai and her willful life. This contract for dinners in exchange for Chilton tuition was paying off. Soon she'd have her daughter back where she belonged, in the heart of the family, Rory included. This was going to be a great evening indeed.

Her lithe dancer's legs skittered across the highly polished rare wood parquet floor as she dashed to the door. Stopping on the antique Tibetan silk rug, she composed herself before answering the door in response to Lorelai's ring. No one took a longer time between the sound of the car doors slamming and the press of the bell than Lorelai. Emily fondly recalled the discussions she and her sister Hope had standing in front of buildings before they entered. More than once the door was opened on them before they'd finished discussing the latest boyfriend, or the prospects of the party on the other side of the doors. She envied Lorelai that relationship with Rory.

Smoothing her already-perfect hair into place, she flung the door open. "Rory! Lorelai! So glad that you're here! Come in, come in!" she said a little too enthusiastically.

Lorelai briefly frowned, then greeted her mother politely. The first martini went down burning her throat, the second tasted better, but the third was perfect. She was now able to push Emily's harsh words about her relationship with Luke into the back of her mind and focus as usual on Rory's accomplishments.

The third martini didn't hide Lorelai's astonishment when Emily addressed her before asking about Rory's week.

"How was your week, Lorelai? Everything going well at the inn?" she asked politely as the two girls took seats next to each other on the sofa.

"Fine, Mom, the inn's fine. Luke and I went shopping for paint this week," she pushed this point forward, determined to not let Emily forget about her new relationship. "We're painting the diner this weekend."

Emily's nose pointed toward the ceiling as she sniffed out her still-polite reply. "How nice that you can help out the little people in Stars Hollow, Lorelai. It's a shame that you're not putting those skills to use at a bigger charity here in Hartford. Your talents are wasted there."

Lorelai's martini-induced good mood dissipated. "Little people? Luke is not a 'little' person, as a matter of fact Luke is … Uff!" Rory took the risk of offending her grandmother by jabbing Lorelai in the side hard.

"Uh, Grandma, how's Grandma Francine? It was so nice to meet her last weekend." She spoke fast, trying to get enough words into Emily's brain that she didn't think to bring up the tea and shopping on Tuesday, which Rory hadn't yet told Lorelai about.

Before Emily could say anything, the doorbell rang again. "I think you can ask her yourself, Rory, that must be her now," she said with a smile.

"Why is Francine here?" whispered Lorelai to Rory, who merely lifted one thin shoulder in confusion.

"There are my girls!" rang a familiar voice through the room.

"Christopher!" said both girls at once, Rory jumping up to hug her dad and Lorelai freezing in her place on the sofa.

"Lorelai, Christopher is here! Francine brought him," Emily said smugly.

"Yeah, Mom wouldn't ride on my motorcycle," he teased as he slithered next to Lorelai on the sofa, putting his arm behind her back, touching her without making a big PDA out of it. Still, knowing that Christopher knew about her relationship with Luke, she shuddered and stood up, going to the cocktail cart.

Rory intentionally grabbed Christopher's hand as he began to follow Lorelai, holding him in place. "Dad, sit here," she said.

"Grandma Francine, come sit with us on the sofa," she suggested. "There's just enough room for the three of us." Lorelai shot her daughter a look of gratitude.

As Rory chatted with Francine, she observed Emily's frantic looks and gestures at Christopher behind Lorelai's back. Suddenly he stood up and followed Lorelai to the cocktail cart.

"Nice shirt," he joked quietly, "Take it off."

"I'm wearing a dress," she replied coolly.

"Can we talk?" he said in a low voice.

"About Rory? Sure. What's on your mind?"

"Can we go somewhere else? I don't feel comfortable here."

"No, we can't, Christopher. Dinner is about to start and you know how much Emily hates a late start to dinner. She's fired maids for less."

"Dinner is served, ma'am," said Gracie, the maid of the day.

"My saving Gracie," thought Lorelai, as she smirked at Christopher and waved her hand toward the dining room. Rory slipped in between her parents and hooked her hand into Christopher's arm so he had to escort her to the table.

As Christopher reached to take her elbow with the other hand, Lorelai stepped sideways over to Rory and made sure that they sat next to each other, leaving Francine and Christopher to take seats on the other side of the table.

"Lorelai, why don't you swap with Francine? That way, Rory will sit between both of her grandmothers," suggested Emily with an ulterior motive. She was determined to give Christopher as many chances with Lorelai as she could.

"Oh, sorry, Mom, I've already used my napkin and silverware," said Lorelai innocently, picking up a fork and taking a bite of salad.

During the next half hour, Rory was not on the grandmothers' minds as they tag-teamed a Christopher pep rally. New job prospects, so intelligent, such a handsome man! Rory and Lorelai exchanged eye rolls trying to keep their dinner down. Richard offered the occasional small contribution, such as the possibility of getting a Technology Officer job at his firm, or bringing up how clever the boy must be to work in high tech in California.

Lorelai wished for a peaceful place to relax for a few minutes, wanting to have a little relief from the pressure her mother was putting her under.

"You know, Francine, Lorelai has never married," said Emily.

"Really? Neither has Christopher," replied Francine obediently.

"I am, however, happily involved with someone," interjected Lorelai. Someone who loves both Rory and me very much."

Gracie served the main course, which inspired a flurry of chatter between Rory and Lorelai.

"Mom! Look! Cajun shrimp and dirty rice! Two days in a row, man, how lucky can we get?" cried Rory.

Lorelai hungrily took a large bite, chewed, then frowned. "It's not as good as Luke's," she stated. "Nobody north of the Mason-Dixon line can make Cajun shrimp better than Luke."

"Nonsense, Lorelai, this was prepared with a recipe from and 3 Michelin star restaurant. It's the best Cajun shrimp in the US. I should know, I paid for the recipe," sniffed Emily.

"Sorry, Grandma, it's not as good as Luke's," added Rory. Her back stiffened. No one was going to tear Luke down around her. He was her friend; he was also the best thing that ever happened to her mother.

"Who is this Luke you're talking about, Rory?" asked Francine.

"Luke is Mom's boyfriend. He owns a diner and he makes the best food. He cooks for us every day."

"Don't forget the coffee," smiled Lorelai.

"Oh yeah," said Rory enthusiastically. "Mom fell in love with him over his coffee. For years they flirted over coffee, until this year it finally clicked and they saw that they loved each other."

"Lorelai, do you let this cook around Rory?" asked Francine tentatively, making the term 'cook' sound rather like a criminal. She looked at Emily for encouragement.

"He owns his own restaurant, Francine. Rory actually met him first, when she was about 12. She and her friend Lane went into the diner one day and he refused to give her coffee," said Lorelai. "I didn't meet him until later that day when I rushed in for a minute to get a coffee to go. And the rest, as they say, is history."

Lorelai had been missing Luke ever since Christopher tried to wrap himself around her like a slimy python on the sofa. Her heart warmed even more as she recalled the first encounters the Gilmore Girls had with their beloved diner owner.

"The history of true love," teased Rory.

"It's hardly a relationship," argued Emily. "They're not even engaged."

Lorelai's ire was roused by this comment and she began waving her shrimp, pointing it at her mother.

"Mom! We're together! Period!"

"What you call 'together' is not married. Together is not even engaged," Emily said snidely.

Before either of them could raise the Defcon level any further, a voice from the hallway interrupted them both.

"Francine!"

Richard turned his head at the sound of Straub's voice.

Whatever plan Emily had for Lorelai and Christopher was cut short by Straub's invasion. After an embarrassing introduction to her other grandfather, Rory retreated to the next room at her mother's request. Unfortunately that room was both within earshot and had a nearly full view of the action.

It was like watching a TV family, more like Ewings than the Bradys, but still surreal. She giggled at the thought of Emily as JR, because no way was she like either Sue Ellen or Miss Ellie. Her mirth quickly subsided as the argument escalated into cruel words about Lorelai and her choices.

Rory was torn between both worlds. Her mother meant everything to her, but she always said that she would support her dad when he wanted to spend more time with her, and that was exactly what he had done this week. He showed up and paid attention to her, yet Rory had a hard time telling her mother about it.

Straub continued ranting, making Rory feel uncomfortable. Grandma Francine was really sweet, but this guy, her grandfather, he was mean. First he insulted her dad, then yelled at his wife for spending time with Rory behind his back. Rory pushed back into the chair cushions as Straub dismissed Lorelai as out of control, a complete failure, and the person who had ruined his son's life.

Tears filled Rory's eyes as she saw the hurt on both Emily's and Lorelai's faces. The shouting as the Haydens stormed out of the house helped her repress the irrational notion that she was at the root of all of this fighting. At least it was quiet again. Lorelai had run upstairs, Christopher had apparently followed her, and Richard and Emily were still at the front door.

Wandering to the kitchen in the hope of finding food, Rory was soon joined by Emily. As she pulled delicate slender spears of asparagus and placed them on a plate for Rory, she reminded her of the most important thing – Rory herself had no part in the disappointments and bitterness that the grandparents had themselves caused almost 20 years earlier.

Rory watched her grandmother's preparations, wishing for two things. One, that there was any other food in the world to eat besides asparagus, and two, that Emily and her grandfather would one day realize how they had hurt Lorelai, and how they continued to punish her today.

The urgent ring of the doorbell called Emily away, whereupon Rory slid the asparagus back into the storage container and searched through the refrigerator until she located both cheese and chocolate.

While Emily looked for Rory in the kitchen, Lorelai outpaced Christopher, turned a corner and, seeing her father in his study, she took refuge there. She closed the door carefully, her heart racing as she let her emotions about her parents run free for once.

She was grateful to her parents. Normally they took every opportunity to continue to punish her for running away, but this time they had finally defended her, finally supported her as they demanded that Straub apologize to her and stop insulting her.

Her eyes moist, she haltingly uttered her thanks to her father. Finally they're accepting me again. Maybe I won't spend the rest of Rory's school years being abused and punished by them every week.

"You don't need to be protected, Lorelai. You've made it very clear that you can look after yourself and that you need nothing from anyone," Richard barked.

Her reply was stuck in her throat as her father began shouting at her, telling her that she was completely irrelevant because he was defending the Gilmore honor, not her. She winced as he told her of the hell she had put them through for the past 16 years.

Moist eyes from misplaced gratitude and affection for her father became bitter unshed tears as he put his reputation and social status before his daughter's well-being.

"That must have been devastating," she replied sarcastically, hoping he would discern some small part of the cruel way they treated her when she wouldn't marry Christopher.

It was not to be. The months that Emily and Richard berated Lorelai daily for her independence, and after Rory arrived, their attempts to control every moment of the baby's life as well, were as cruel and punishing as anything Straub had heaped on her before the baby was born.

After 16 years, Richard and Emily were no closer to wanting a reconciliation with Lorelai than they were the day she left Hartford for a place unknown. Emily wallowed for a month after Lorelai left? Richard had no idea what it had been like in the potting shed with an infant.

Those cold winter months when she was glad to share her bed with baby Rory, because she knew she would be too cold in her makeshift crib in a nearly uninsulated room. She was barely able to sleep because she was fearful of rolling over and injuring her, even though she needed to keep the baby warm by holding her to her body. Wallowing was a luxury she couldn't allow herself. Staying in bed for a month was a fantasy, hell, staying in bed for an extra two hours on her day off was an impossibility.

When Richard maintained that they were completely innocent and Lorelai completely at fault, she gave up. There was no way, even after all these years, that they were going to forgive her.

"Sometimes one has to sacrifice something in order to do what is right," Richard lectured her.

A bitter laugh nearly escaped as Lorelai realized that she believed exactly the same thing. The only difference was Richard's 'right thing' was marriage to a boy she already knew to be unreliable and unfaithful, who cared more about motorcycles than his child, who'd never worked for anything in his life and had no intentions of doing so until his trust fund ran out.

Lorelai's 'right thing' was to be a loving mother caring for her child, really in her life, giving her the love and support that Lorelai had never received.

"I feel indescribably sad for you right now, Dad."

"I'll take a few minutes to wallow right now," Lorelai said to her pillow as she flopped down onto her childhood bed. That failed quickly and she escaped to the balcony, angrily wiping tears away as she stared into the darkness.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she heard Christopher joining her on the balcony, telling her how great she looked. Damned fool, if he thinks flattery is going to give him another chance at me.

Hi lame jokes about frisking for weapons and individual cones of silence fell on deaf ears as Lorelai couldn't let her father's words go. Christopher remembered Emily's warning not to let this chance pass him by.

Pulling out a flask of tequila, he toasted, "Here's to Mrs. Dominski's underalls."

"Aw, you're holding out on me," she said.

"Take it. And in an effort to further chronicle this balcony's history, we are now in the immediate vicinity of the spot upon which was Rory's initial emanation."

"Yes, here we are. Here's to Rory." The tequila finally helped her put a lid on the memories brought up by her father's callousness.

Christopher leaned in to kiss Lorelai, but when she put up a hand in warning, he smiled obsequiously and took the bottle of tequila back from her.

"You've met my boyfriend, right?" she asked with a touch of snark. "Tall, muscular, not a stranger to smashing lemon lamps and swinging a baseball bat?"

"Rory's a great kid, Lor. I wish I could say I see more of myself in her other than we have similar left ear lobes, but she's all you – chip off the old … perfect block."

"Why the hell are you here?"

"Behold the queen of the subtle transition."

"Why are you here?"

"You're gonna force me to lawyer up officer."

"Christopher."

"OK, look. I've been making some changes, especially in my career and I think I finally have all my ducks lined up in a row."

"No, I mean, what brought you to Hartford?"

"I don't know how much your dad has told you but I'm on the verge of kind of a big success. It's for real this time. I've got a company with an actual cash flow, I've got employees, I've got an accountant for God's sake. He wears a tie and says words like 'fiduciary' and 'ironically.' I mean it's for real this time Lor."

"I would love to believe it is."

Christopher sighed petulantly. "Emily has more faith in me than you. I was actually talking to fiduciary guy the day she called and invited me to visit."

"A-HA! I knew Emily was behind this!" Once again Lorelai was justified in her choice to not tell her parents about her personal life. Emily must have gone straight to the phone the night Lorelai told her that she was in love and Rory loved Luke as well. She took the tequila back and had a longer drink this time.

"It wasn't just Emily," he pleaded. "There's some things I need to do … to take care of."

"Like?"

"I haven't been enough a part of Rory's life. So I wanna be around more, to be a pal she can depend on. I mean I'm not crazy, I know there's already a life going on here and God knows she doesn't need anyone besides you but … if you give me a chance …"

"I've always had the door to Rory open for you. You didn't need Emily's call to come here."

"I know."

"You've hardly ever used the door."

"Well, I wanna use it now. Is that OK?"

"Of course it is."

"Good." He reached for her, pulling her to him. "Seal it with a kiss?"

"I am not a door," she said, pushing him away. She turned on her heel, stepped back through the window, closing it and locking it behind her. Leaving her bedroom, she flipped off the light, ignoring Christopher's pleas for help.

"Oh my god," she said as Luke answered the phone.

"Yes my child?" he asked, grinning goofily as he enjoyed the sound of her voice. He continued cleaning and refilling each of the condiment bottles, placing each one neatly to the side as he finished it.

"Are you trying to be funny?"

"What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly turning serious. She didn't use that tone of voice unless something bad was happening.

"Emily invited Christopher here."

"To dinner? That's not a surprise since he's staying with his mom and she was going, right?" he said cautiously as his stomach turned sour.

"Oh no, no, no, Bucko. Welcome to Emily world. She called Christopher and invited him to Connecticut."

"To Connecticut? You mean …" He began moving condiment bottles at random to different places on the counter as his hands tried to keep busy even though they were no longer receiving signals from his brain.

"Yes. I told her I'm involved with you and Rory loves you as much as I do, and WHAM! She makes Christopher appear like winged monkeys called out by the Wicked Witch of the West, only with Emily, it's the East, since Christopher was in the West, and Connecticut is in the East, so …"

"I got it. Take a breath."

"So Christopher was called to come sweep me off my feet and whisk Rory and me off to Happy Hartford-land, where everyone wears Chanel and has pocket Chihuahuas in their Birkin bags."

He began to get worried, but couldn't quite believe that Emily would do such a thing to her own daughter. "Lorelai, tell me in Luke-ish. I can't understand this Lorelai-speak."

She giggled, then grunted, "Christopher club Lorelai, drag by her hair to California, Emily do happy dance. Unh."

Well, damn. She's better at that than I expected. A half-dozen bottles crashed to the floor. "I'll come pick you up."

"I've got it under control now, Luke. Don't come. I think Rory and I will be leaving soon."

He squeezed his temples with his hand, trying to prevent the headache he could feel coming on, and to prevent himself from hopping into his truck anyway.

"Lorelai, uh, I know I'm not good with words, and that Christopher, um, well, he talks a lot, and you like talking, and Emily wants you to choose him." He took a deep breath, then plunged ahead. "I know that you chose me, but that was before he came back, and now he wants you to choose him, and Emily wants you to choose him, and maybe Rory wants you to choose her dad, and it all seems so impossible, but … Well, damn! I – I … really just want you to choose me again."

"I can't, Luke." She paused as her heart filled with love for this man as he overcame his self-doubt and his fear of rejection to ask her one more time.

At that same pause, Luke's heart stopped, threatening to bring him to the ground if she said what he feared she might say.

"I can't choose you again, because I never un-chose you. I'm not going to un-choose you."

"No un-choosing?" He checked his pulse to make sure he still had one.

"Nope," she smiled. "Just you. Just me. Just Rory. We'll figure it out."

"I'll come pick you up," he repeated. They were still too far away for his comfort.

"How about if you turn the light on and wait for us at home instead? You're closed now, aren't you? It's gotten pretty late."

"Closed, yeah, but I've got a couple of things to clean up here," he said as he surveyed the ketchup and mustard spreading across the floor. "I'll see you at home."

Are they never going to figure out that I have ears? Rory stood in the kitchen, finishing some bread and cheese as Emily and Christopher talked right outside the kitchen door.

"Why were you outside, Christopher?" Emily asked.

"Uh, I kinda got turned around and the next thing I knew I was locked out, so I came around to the front door." No way was he going to tell Emily that Lorelai had locked him out of the house.

"How did it go?" she asked anxiously.

"No luck," he said. "She's pretty determined."

"It was all Straub's fault," Emily decided. "That ass just had to come in and ruin things like a bull in a china shop. Never mind, we'll have to go to Plan B."

"Plan B? You never mentioned a Plan B."

"I'll figure one out," she said unpleasantly, "now that it's clear that Lorelai won't see reason. Again. Honestly, I can't figure out what is wrong with that girl."

Emily pushed open the door to the kitchen. "Hi Rory! Did you have enough to eat? Christopher, come have a sandwich. There's some asparagus if Rory left us any," she said brightly.

Every light in and on the Crap Shack blazed like a beacon. He looked at the front yard, wondering if he still had time to install those little garden lights that he'd seen at the hardware store.

With no lights left to turn on, Luke paced on the front porch of the Crap Shack. The diner was clean and closed. He'd cleaned up their breakfast dishes and fixed the broken knob on the washer. On the porch, he'd checked the screws holding the swing to the ceiling and oiled the hinge on the shell of the key-holding turtle.

Finally he walked around the edge of the porch, checking the railing at every connection point to make sure it was stable. Every sound that could possibly be a Jeep motor made him turn and look. Finally one set of flashing headlights greeted him as Rory and Lorelai came home.

While Lorelai shut off the engine and gathered her things, Luke walked to the passenger side of the Jeep and opened the door for Rory. As she hopped down from her seat, she patted him on the elbow, quietly saying, "I kept my eye on things tonight."

"Thanks," he whispered in return. "I know you always do."

"I'm going inside and to bed now. Night Mom, night Luke," she waved at her mother, who helicoptered one arm in her direction as she was caught up in Luke's arms for her welcome home kiss.

"Well, damn," thought Lorelai, "that's a good kiss."

A/N: Lots of quotes and moments taken from Episodes S01E14 and S01E15, especially the balcony and Richard's office scenes. It surprised me how sincere Christopher's words were in the show as he tried to convince Lorelai once again that he wanted to be in Rory's life. Of course, we all know about his follow-through.

Also, I know that snakes aren't slimy. It was a shout out to Nancy and her opinion of Christopher. Christopher was slimy, not the python. I wouldn't want to insult the snakes.

Hi, Nancy, thanks for your reviews!