They drove almost three hours straight, only stopping for gas and two short snack stops. When they pulled off the highway to Stars Hollow, Lorelai gave him the directions to the house her parents bought. Luke was expecting to hate it, thinking that there was no way something Emily Gilmore picked out would be where he wanted to live. His only hope was how excited Lorelai was about it.

When he rounded the corner he found a sweeping driveway lined with mature trees leading to a sprawling estate. The home's exterior had intricate stonework, charming gables, and a wraparound porch where he could already picture Lorelai having her morning coffee and him a tea while they relaxed and enjoyed the serene surroundings.

"Wow," he breathed. He pulled the car close to the house. When he got out of the Jeep he looked down the way, to see the pond and stable.

Lorelai came around the car and touched his shoulder, "Wanna see inside?"

Upon entering the house, he was greeted by a grand foyer with a sweeping staircase to the upper levels. The house had a classic feel and charm with the original hardwood floors, intricate mouldings, and a large fireplace in the living room.

The living and dining rooms were perfect for entertaining guests, with high ceilings, large windows, and elegant chandeliers.

"I thought we could modernize it a bit with the paint colours we choose and maybe change some of the light fixtures," Lorelai said softly. "I know they're beautiful, but they seem too fancy for our style."

Luke nodded, taking it all in. He headed through the rooms slowly, imagining different family scenes playing out in each spot. Then he came to a halt as he saw the heart of the home: the cozy kitchen that featured a vintage stove, a butler's pantry, and a breakfast nook with built-in seating. He pictured Lorelai, Rory, April and Jess all sitting there hollering their orders while he cooked. Maybe down the road some small seats and plates for a little boy wearing his own backwards hat and a little girl with bright blue eyes and dark hair.

"I'd want to update the appliances," he said, not realizing he spoke aloud.

"Of course. Mom thought you would, but she figured for someone like you who actually would use the appliances yourself, that we should let you pick them out." Her excitement was building watching him take in the place. "Come check out upstairs with me," she whispered and offered her hand.

He took her hand, smiling as she led him up the steps, their hands still in each other's.

"You think by walking up the stairs all sexy like this it will convince me to live here?"

"No. I was thinking that when I got you up here and jumped you in the master bedroom, that would do the trick."

His laugh echoed through the house, warming her from the inside out. When they reached the top step he pulled her close to him, the hand not holding hers reached up and tangled into her hair, he lowered his lips to hers making her moan when he kissed her.

"Where's our bedroom," he growled.

She pulled him into the spacious master suite. It had a private sitting area, walk-in closet, and a luxurious bathroom complete with a soaking tub and separate shower. "I'll replace the sink with a double. I know you like that."

"You really want to live here," she asked hopefully.

"Like you said, it still needs a little work to make it more ours. But yeah, there's a place for Rory, April and when we have other kids, room for them too. We can host great holidays here, maybe even convince your Mom that we'll host every second Friday. That way I'll only have to wear a tie twice a month instead of every week. You said you wished they could have been at a dinner like at Claudia's. Hell, there's enough room that we could make a guest house out there somewhere."

"Actually when I was talking to Tom, he mentioned that he looked at this place for the real estate company and he thinks we could turn the attic into a living space."

"That's a good option too," Luke nodded. "You know I'm going to have to find a way to repay your parents. I don't know how yet, but I can't just take this house."

"We'll figure something out," Lorelai agreed. "She actually found a maid she really likes. And this woman, Berta, has a lot of family. They were doing odd jobs around her house for her and they are really nice. I was thinking that I might see about hiring some of them at the Inn. Maybe some of them cook and you could use the help at the diner."

"Sounds like a good place to start. So you mentioned something about jumping me?"

XoXoXoXoXoXo

The next few weeks were filled with action. Luke had called Tom the day after Lorelai showed him the house and work started immediately. The crew remembered working for Luke and were happy to start again. Lorelai brought them muffins and pastries each morning. Luke had lunch delivered to them and they were magically sticking to the rushed schedule. They were refinishing the hardwood floors, painting the entire house inside and out, turning the attic into a studio apartment and turning the stables into a work space for Luke that they could also park the cars in. Lorelai said she didn't need to park her car in a garage, but Luke knew that the only way he would ever convince her to buy a new car whenever kids came along, would be if she could also keep the Jeep. So he planned to store it. He also knew that if he would talk the talk he would have to walk the walk and one day get a truck with a second row of seating, so he too could drive their children around. But he would never trade in his truck, so he could hardly expect her to trade in hers.

While Luke was busy overseeing the house stuff he was busy with the diner too. He had promoted Caesar and Lane. He gave Caesar the full run of the place when he wasn't there, even agreeing to keep bananas in the fridge and adding a few things to the menu because he felt that Caesar had earned the right to be a part of decision making and the customers seemed to enjoy his ideas. Zack didn't want to be a regular waiter, but he would help out when someone else needed time off. Lane was in charge of scheduling and helped with orders.

Lorelai was also swamped, she was trying to plan a Winter wedding. Luke insisted they get married when there was a chance it would snow. He knew how much she loved snow, and this way it had to happen fast. There were talks of a Christmas wedding which quickly got nixed. They decided that in the future if they ever wanted to be alone on their anniversary they wouldn't be able to pull it off during the holidays. While she was sitting in her office she thought about the conversation that happened a few nights ago at Luke's. She was talking wedding plans with Sookie at a table while Luke worked around them.

"So January it is," Sookie smiled.

"Why not December," Luke asked.

Sookie laughed, "Do you have any idea how busy your fiancée is in December?"

"Come on, she loves to shop,"

"This isn't about her Christmas shopping, Luke," Sookie's voice was losing its jovial quality. "You know she runs a business, right? We are fully booked from now until January 3rd. And that's just the rooms! We have private parties up the wazoo. Our weekends are filled with holiday parties that businesses treat their employees to. During the week there are lunches for the smaller businesses' and local groups having their parties. Some families have made it a tradition to have their holiday gatherings at the Dragonfly. She has party after party, event after event, to plan and help execute all month long. How do you not know that?"

"Hey, calm down." Lorelai smiled at Sookie. "You can't blame him for wanting to get married."

"Sure, NOW," Sookie scoffed.

"HEY," Luke exploded.

"Okay, okay," Lorelai jumped to her feet and placed her hands on Luke's chest. "She didn't mean it. Sookie is just very protective of me, especially where this is concerned. You know that. And you two love each other so let's play nicely," Lorelai glared at Sookie.

"I'm sorry, Luke. I really am, we were going over the Inn's schedule today and I'm in awe of Lorelai and her way of getting everything done. She wants, no she deserves the perfect wedding and I don't like the idea of her settling for less because it's a rush. I'm sorry, we just had it all planned and perfect before."

"Sook," Lorelai warned.

"No," Luke said, "She's right. I postponed the last wedding, I ruined the plans last time, so I shouldn't get much of a say this time around. She's right. I'll get you two more coffee." He turned and headed back behind the counter.

Lorelai tilted her head at Sookie, "What are you doing?"

Sookie bristled, "You know I love you and I'm always going to stand up for you. I'm tired of people thinking all you do at the Inn is look pretty. The place wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for you and I still carry guilt about how I wasn't so helpful getting the place up and running.'
"Oh Sweetie, that's old news." Lorelai smiled.

"Luke may have apologized to you," Sookie said while looking at the wedding magazine on the table. "But he didn't just hurt you. Rory and I were really excited about the wedding, remember? It was ME that was with you the day you found your dress. You and I were so happy! The dress, the church, the caterer, the invitations, we did it all in that one day. We were so excited! Then I had to spend months watching you turn from a happy Bride-to-be to a shell of my best friend. Your smile disappeared, and you were desperately trying to hold on to hope. It was so painful to watch you be so hurt because you're the one who never wants to hurt anyone. I cried about it too, you know? I love you like family, I love HIM like family. He and I were friends before all this, but when he cut you out he stopped talking to me too. What did I do to deserve that? I'm happy you two are back together and everything is good between you two, but he didn't apologize to everyone, remember that, okay?"

Lorelai had tears in her eyes and placed a hand on Sookie's arm. "I know. And I hope you know that I'm sorry you went through all this."

"I am too," Luke said from behind Sookie.

The women's head snapped up and they gawked at him when they realized Luke heard some, maybe all of what Sookie had said. Luke grabbed a chair and pulled it close to Sookie. He straddled the chair resting his arms against the back. "I know this might sound hollow now, but I really am sorry Sookie. You're right, I know that you love her and it couldn't be easy watching her get hurt. It hurt me too, that's why I started avoiding her and you. I'm sorry that I hurt you too. You were the world's best BFOTB there ever was, you and Lorelai planned the whole wedding by yourselves and I never thanked you. I never told you myself about April and I never asked you, my good friend, advice about how to deal with it all. I hurt you and I'm sorry."

Sookie's face crumbled. She let out a sob and she buried her face in her hands.

Luke's eyes were as wide as saucers when he looked at Lorelai.

She smiled and shrugged, "You okay, Sweetie?" She rubbed her friend's back.

Sookie lifted her head and wiped her tears, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened there. I've been having crazy mood swings today." She turned to Luke, "I know you didn't mean to hurt anyone, especially us. I really can't imagine what you were going through finding out about a long lost child. Of course I forgive you for not handling it perfectly. Just promise me in the future you'll talk to us."

"I'm really not expecting any other kids to pop up," Luke snarked.

"Like you were expecting this one," Sookie sassed.

Luke laughed, "Okay. You got me there. I promise! No more shutting out the people I love. I promised Lorelai, I promised Rory, I even promised Emily who dragged me aside on a random Friday night dinner. And I promise you. I do. Okay?"

Sookie locked eyes with Luke and finally gave him a genuine smile.

Luke smiled back, relieved that his friend was smiling at him again, "January twentieth," he asked. "Can we have a wedding planned by then?"

"We need to settle on a venue. Because it's so close we'll have to let the venue's availability dictate the wedding date," Sookie explained.

"Let's do it at the house," Luke suggested.

"What?" Sookie gasped.

"The work will be done soon, and we can put off buying or moving in all of our furniture so the main floor can hold more people. It can be the first big party we throw there."

"You're only saying this so we don't have to have a wedding and a housewarming party," Lorelai teased.

"Maybe," Luke shrugged. "But it's a good idea, right? If we control the venue, that's more than half the battle, right?"

Sookie and Lorelai looked at each other, both knowing the other's wheels were turning. Their faces told Luke that they were having one of their telepathic conversations. He never understood it, but he respected it.

"Do you want to go there now," Lorelai asked.

"Let's go!" Sookie jumped from her seat.

"I'm guessing you don't need me," Luke smiled at Lorelai.

"I'll always need you," she grinned. "But yeah, stay here. I'll call you later." She kissed him and the friends were off.

"Lorelai, this house is incredible!" Sookie looked around the open concept already picturing how she would have food distributed throughout the evening. "We can talk to Steve from the linen place, he's started doing table, chair and other rentals. We can get a couple of high top tables for hors d'oeuvres, we can use the same chairs for the ceremony and the dinner. Steve also rents tents, we can have a really nice one with space heaters. I think this can work out really nicely."

"Yeah, I do too," Lorelai smiled whimsically as she wandered around the main floor. "Do you have a caterer you like that we can use?"

"Shut your mouth, right now! I'll be planning everything that has to do with the food. On the day I will hand it over to Manny, you know I trust him with my kitchen!"

"Okay, great, so can I tell Luke to have his tux ready for January twentieth?"

Sooke giggled as she ran to hug her best friend. The two women held each other tight as they simultaneously laughed and cried.