Chapter 3

A/N: If you haven't read Being Thankful part 1, this chapter will be confusing. So as the author of course I would suggest you read it, but if you don't want to, I'll try to help. In that story you meet Buddy and Maisy's family. Buddy and Maisy have a daughter Claudia and twin sons Leo and Sam. Claudia and her husband, Danny, are teachers and have two kids Charlie (14) and Zoey (12). Leo and Sam both went to Yale law school, and Sam has his own law practice in New York. Leo, on the other hand, became frustrated practicing law and moved home to work at Sniffy's. Sam has been married for just over a year to Lisa, who's a nurse. Leo married a waitress from Sniffy's named Margaret who prefers to be called Maggie. - 10 points if you know what TV show inspired the names of all these new characters.

And now …. On with the show ….

XoXoXoXoXoXo

April 2007

Luke was clearing some tables as the breakfast rush was dying down when the phone rang. He placed the plates at the passthrough and picked up the phone, "Luke's."

"Lucas, it's Maisy."

"Hey, what's wrong? You sound -"

"We're heading to the hospital," she interrupted. "It's Lisa. She went into labour."

"That's great, isn't it?"

"We're all worried that it's too early," Maisy explained. "Thankfully she was working at the hospital when it happened so she's getting excellent and immediate care. But Sam is a wreck so we're heading to New York."

"What can I do," Luke asked without hesitation.

"Leo and Maggie want to be there, but their car won't start. Could you lend them your truck?"

"What? No! I'll head over there and drive them myself. They're probably scared, the last thing they should be doing is driving a car they're not used to. I'm going to call Lorelai on my way, can you call Leo and tell him I'm coming?"

"I will Sweetheart. Thank you so much," Maisy cried.

"No thanks needed, you're family! I'm leaving now."

He hung up the phone, quickly let Caesar know what was going on and told him to call Isabelle, Berta's daughter who worked part time at the diner and part time at the Inn, to help cover for the rest of the day. He then grabbed his coat and pulled his cellphone from his pocket. But before he could make the call it began to ring.

"Hello," he barked.

"Luke? It's me," Lorelai greeted. "I just talked to Claudia. I'm on my way to pick you up."

"What?"

"You can't give Leo and Maggie a lift in your truck. You should take my Jeep, everyone will be more comfortable. Plus the truck only holds three and I'm coming with you."

"You are," Luke asked in awe as he saw her pull up in front of the diner.

"Of course I'm coming. We're married, remember? Your family is my family. You were there for me when my Dad had his first heart thing when we were just friends. Now quit gawking at me and get into the car. I'll drive to Sniffy's and you can take over from there."

Amazed at the woman he was lucky enough to call his wife, Luke shook his head and got into the car.

They kissed hello and she began to drive.

"Hey wait," she said. "We should go home first and pack an overnight bag."

"You think?"

"This is going to be a long stressful drive and an even longer day. I can't imagine we'll be up to driving home. We'll grab a motel or something."

"Yeah, okay, I guess that makes sense."

"Call Leo and tell him and Maggie to do the same, they might not be thinking straight."

"Good thinking," he sighed. "My phonebook is at home though."

"Oh my sweet not-so-tech-savvy man! I programmed your phone weeks ago with all your important numbers. Hit that book looking button and then scroll through."

"You really are amazing," he smiled.

An hour later Luke was driving the Jeep with Lorelai at his side with Leo and Maggie in the back seats.

"Did I mention that you didn't have to do this? We could have rented a car or something," Leo said.

"Would you shut up already," Luke grunted. "We're family, remember?"

"Lorelai, how's your Mom," Maggie asked.

Lorelai shot Luke a confused look before turning to look at Maggie, "She's fine. Why do you ask?"

"I spent some time with her at your wedding. She's such a hoot! I was laughing so hard."

"Laughing? You mean AT her, right?"

Maggie laughed, "No! She's so funny. Talking about the people in the town and stuff."

"Oh man, was she making fun of what people were wearing? I know Stars Hollow is a little too low brow for her, but I thought she would keep it to herself."

"Lorelai, seriously! Your Mom was awesome. She was describing the parties she and your Dad normally attend and how the people who attend those parties would react to Stars Hollow and vice versa. She was doing voices and all. It was really funny, not derogatory."

Lorelai shrugged, "My Mom is funny, who knew?" She smiled at Luke.

Leo's phone rang and he frantically dug it out of his pocket.

"Hello? Oh hey Claud, how's Lisa? What do you know?"

"Put it on speaker," Maggie whispered.

Leo pressed a button, "Okay Sis, I put you on speaker. I'm in the car with Maggie, Luke and Lorelai."

"Oh hi guys," Claudia sighed.

"Hi," Luke, Lorelai and Maggie said in unison.

"So the doctor was trying to stop the contractions, but it didn't work. So the baby is here, they swept him away to the NICU for testing. Lisa is physically okay but she's panicked. Sam is trying to be strong, you know. Mom is nervous so he's trying to make her okay. Where are you guys? I could really use the backup. Everyone is so much better behaved when Luke's around. Plus Danny is trying to keep Charlie and Zoey entertained, poor Charlie is traumatized over a few things he's seen in the hall here."

"We just entered New York, we should be at the hospital in about fifteen minutes," Luke piped up. "Let Charlie know I'm happy to sit outside the hospital with him."

Lorelai rubbed Luke's arm comfortingly. "Yeah, Luke and I would be happy to take the kids out to eat or something."

"You guys are great," Claudia answered. "Just get here and we'll make plans. Sam didn't want to tell us the baby's name until you were here.

When they got to the hospital the foursome hustled through the main entrance and followed Claudia's instructions to find her on the fifth floor.

"Hey," Claudia smiled when the group emerged from the elevator. "Follow me, Lisa's settled in a room. The doctor just left with great news. The baby's check up went really well and although he's early and pretty small, they think once they get his weight up a bit, he'll be perfect."

"Oh that's great news," Maggie beamed as she squeezed Leo's arm.

Claudia knocked on the door of room 543 and opened it slowly, "Is it all clear for more visitors?"

"Yes, yes, come in," Lisa called. "Sam just took Danny, Charlie and Zoey to the nursery to see what the stork brought."

Maggie had gently pushed ahead to hug Lisa, Leo smiled on while he waited his turn.

When the whole family was back in Lisa's room Sam stood by her side and smiled, "Now that you're all here we want to officially introduce you to our son. Weighting in at a modest four pounds and twelve ounces,"

The door opened and a nurse was carrying the baby in, "He just had some formula, feeding went wonderfully." She informed the room while placing the baby in his Mother's arms.

"Thank you Stephanie," Lisa smiled.

"WELL," Maisy said with exasperation. "What is his name?!"

"Family, please say hi to Tobias William Fortner," Lisa smiled.

Sam looked at Luke, "We haven't filled out the paperwork yet, so if you're not cool with it, we'll pick another name, no harm no foul."

Luke shook his head and cleared his throat, "My Dad would be honoured, you know he loved you guys so much! Really it's great," he nodded and tried to hide his forming tears.

Lorelai stood close to him with her hand on his back.

The rest of the family had begun passing the baby around.

A little while later the family was in the waiting room while Lisa was feeding the baby.

"We need to eat and figure out who's staying and who's going home," Claudia said, getting into planning mode. "We should get the kids home, so they can go to school tomorrow."

"I have to go home," Zoey whined. "Can I go hang out with Lisa and the baby until I have to go? Please!"

"Yeah, go ahead." Danny nodded, "Make sure you knock before going in," he called after her.

"Okay, so I know you want to stay," Leo said to Claudia. "Which cars are here?"

Soon it was decided that Danny would take the kids home, bringing Leo and Maggie with them. Claudia, Buddy and Maisy wanted to stay with Sam and Lisa for at least another day and would stay at Sam and Lisa's place.

Lorelai suggested she and Luke go with Danny and the gang that were leaving, grab dinner. Afterwards she and Luke could drive BUddy, Maisy and Claudia off at Sam's and find a hotel nearby.

"Why is no one staying at Sam's place?" Danny asked.

Claudia sighed with relief, "A perfect plan. Thank you. This way, tomorrow, Mom, Dad and I will split our time between the hospital and their place, cleaning and getting things ready for them to bring Toby home." She then took off to let the other in on the plan.

Lorelai stepped away to call Rory, "Hey Kid, how's it going?"

"Pretty good," Rory said, but Lorelai could hear something in her voice.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

Ignoring her instinct that something was wrong with her daughter, Lorelai barreled on, "I wanted to let you know that Luke and I will be spending the night in New York."

"New York?! Is this a surprise romantic getaway?"

"No, I wish. Lisa went into labour early. We drove Leo and Maggie and we've been here for a while, sorry I didn't call you when we were on our way, today has just been a crazy day. Anyway, we're so tired so we're going to find a hotel and eat with some of the gang. What have you been up to today?"

Rory inhaled, "Well, funny story, I'm in Philly."

"What? Why?," she asked and moved further away from the group.

"I've been meaning to tell you," Rory said hesitantly. "Jess and I are talking about dating again. We were talking on the phone and emailing for a few weeks, just seeing how we felt and stuff. It's been going really well but I was nervous to tell you and Luke because he's kind of my cousin now."

"Wow, Sweets that's so cool. I mean I can't believe you didn't tell me."

"Oh ah - nothing's for sure yet, we were just getting to know each other again and -"

"It's okay, you're an adult. And you and Jess dated before Luke and I did. I'll try to keep the 'kissing cousins' jokes to a minimum."

Rory sighed happily, "Thanks, Jess has been surprising me with stuff. He's grown up so much, you should hear how he talks about Luke and Liz. He finally is able to see that Liz was the way she was because of her addiction and he's so grateful to Luke. He even realizes that you and him have a lot in common. He's really happy that I made the time to come this weekend so he took me to this fabulous bookstore yesterday and an amazing Korean place for dinner. There's a performance night at Truncheon tonight, I'm so excited to help out."

"That all sounds really good. I'm glad you're getting this break from all the school stress. But I hope you know that Luke and I just want you to be happy, Jess too for that matter. You don't have to hide stuff from me. Or Luke, he loves you both."

"I know," Rory sighed. "I just wasn't really sure where this was going so I wanted to wait."

"Okay well it looks like the groups are breaking up here so I gotta get with Luke and figure our stuff out. Love you, Kid."

"Bye Mom. Love you too."

Luke and Lorelai said goodnight to Sam, Lisa, before joining everyone else for dinner. The family somehow silently agreed to let Charlie pick a place to eat near Sam and Lisa's condo. He wanted to go to Chili's after he found out that Lorelai watched his favourite show "The Office". Luke always had mixed feelings when he saw Lorelai get along so well with Charlie and Zoey, he was thrilled that she fit in with people he viewed as family and then he would be devastated by the fact that he kept April from her. He wondered how long that guilt and self loathing would last. Thankfully the restaurant had a baseball game on to distract him. Although the group was lively with conversation, Buddy and Maisy were uncharacteristically quiet watching the action all around them. It worried Luke.

"Hey you," Lorelai leaned close to him, her hand slid around his shoulders. "Are you okay?" Her head was close to his and she kissed his cheek.

"Do they seem okay," he asked, nodding towards Buddy and Maisy.

"Yeah, they're fine," she assured him. "They just look like tired parents who were worried about their kid and grandkid all day."

Luke grunted, "Yeah, I guess. Hey, have I thanked you for everything today?"

She reached up and massaged his neck, "You remember that we're married, right? Everything I did today was textbook wife stuff."

He turned and looked at her like she was the only woman in the world, "You're incredible. Have I told you how lucky I am to have you?"

"You realize that you've been there for me through all the good and bad things in my life practically since we met and then you say it's 'no big deal', but the minute I do the same thing for you, you think I'm incredible."

"So?" He grinned.

"So, maybe I'm the lucky one!"

"Maybe."

They shared a kiss and then Lorelai went back to chatting while Luke went back to worrying about Buddy and Maisy.

After dinner was done, Claudia, Buddy and Maisy headed back to the hospital with food for Sam and Lisa. Danny, Leo, Maggie and the kids piled into Danny's minivan and headed home. Luke and Lorelai made their way to the hotel. Luke was so impressed how Lorelai chatted with the woman behind the desk that she upgraded them to a bigger room. She thanked her by giving her business card and saying if she ever came to the Dragonfly that she would eat for free.

When Lorelai emerged from the washroom, face clean, hair clipped back and dressed in a sky blue satin camisole top with white laced edges and matching satin short shorts, she found Luke sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed staring off into space.

"Hey," she greeted quietly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he shook his head to shake off his random thoughts and turned to see his wife. "Wow! Look at you," he stood up and stalked over to her, slipping his hands up and down her sides, grazing the sides of her breasts and then down to her hips. "Let me go into the washroom for two minutes, and I'll show you how much I like this."

She stepped back and turned to go to the bed, "Hurry," she smiled over her shoulder.

He chuckled knowing she was teasing him with her breathy voice. So he swatted her butt on his way to the washroom leaving her in a fit of giggles.

Her phone dinged, and she reached into her purse to grab it, "Hey, Claudia sent some pictures."

"I'll be there in a second," he answered.

He came back into the room drying his face and armpits after having a quick shower. "Is everyone still okay," he asked with a touch of worry in his voice.

"Yeah, Claudia just got some great shots of the sleeping family." She held out her phone to reveal a picture of Lisa asleep with baby Toby in her arms while Sam had his arm wrapped around her, he was also fast asleep.

Luke just smiled.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Luke sighed as he sat back down on the bed with a towel wrapped around his waist. "I think any time I'm in a situation like this, you know meeting a new baby, or actually being at the hospital when one is born, I'm going to have this sadness or anger you know. All I can think about is what I missed with April. I used to think about how I missed it all with Rory, but that wasn't anyone's fault. I just started loving her like she was my own, and I wished I was there from the start. It's part of why I hate Christopher, I hate when people can't see what they have right in front of them. But I didn't know what I had, you know? I would have been there."

With tears in her eyes, Lorelai gently rubbed his back, "I know, Hon."

"And every time I see her now it's like she's grown in height and maturity and I feel like I'm missing it all again," he sighed and finally looked her in the eye, "What would you say if I wanted to push for more time? I mean I had to go to court last time and she brought up some of my past. I don't know what will happen now that we're married." His shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, look at you," he pointed to her sexy sleepwear. "I'm killing the mood."

Lorelai smiled and moved to sit across his lap, her arm wrapped around his shoulders, "Let me tell you something," she tilted his chin up to force him to look her in the eyes. "Talking about the kids only makes me love and want you more. Don't worry about the mood, we have all night and all the rest of our nights, right? If you want to talk about this now let's do it. If you don't, that's fine too. But what I will say is, please don't ever doubt that I want April in our life. I've come to love her, and she's your daughter! You wanting her around just makes me love you more. We'll figure something out, I promise."

He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck, "I love you so much."

"How much," she teased.

XoXoXoXoXoXo

The next morning Luke and Lorelai arrived at the hospital with coffee, pastries, flowers for Lisa and an adorable Gund puppy for Toby. They spent some more time with the family, Luke noticed that Lorelai was happy when she was holding baby Toby, she couldn't stop smiling down at him. So Luke made his way to her side, sliding his arm around her waist and looked down at the baby in her arms. She rested her head on his shoulder. They didn't notice Maisy picking up Lorelai's camera and snapping a few pictures.

"You two make that look good," Sam remarked.

"It feels good too," Luke said and then kissed Lorelai's cheek.

"Are you two planning anything," Claudia asked.

"Sorry man," Sam smiled at Luke. "She can't help being a big sister. Now that she can't bug Lisa and I about the kid thing, she's turning it on to you. Bet you miss Leo right about now."

"It's okay," Luke smiled. "We definitely have talked about it and you all will be among the first to know if or when there's any news."

"When you were a Teen Mom you kind of want to put distance from the wedding to the birth of the next child, you know, so your reputation isn't called out again," Lorelai said in a light voice.

"Oh Honey," Maisy sighed sympathetically. "Anyone who knows Luke even a little bit knew that he would have married you a long time ago, no one thinks you needed to trap this one!"

Lorelai shrugged trying to hide the tears in her eyes.

A nurse came in to take the baby for some tests so Luke decided that was a good time for him and Lorelai to make their exit. He made sure they knew to call him with any news or if they needed anything.

Both Luke and Lorelai were quiet on the drive home, as they were lost in their own thoughts. But once Luke was out of the city and settled into the highway drive he turned to look at her and got concerned.

"Are you okay? You look stressed."

Lorelai shook her head with a smile, "All good. I'm just thinking about Rory."

"Yeah? How's she doing?"

Realizing that she didn't tell him about the phone call, Lorelai shifted so her body was facing him to get more comfortable. "I talked to her yesterday and she dropped some news on me that I wasn't expecting."

Luke glances over quickly to try to get a read of her face before turning back to the road, "What's wrong?"

She exhaled and tried to downplay her concerns, "It's not a big deal, not bad at all, actually. And actually you might already know. Wait, you wouldn't know and not tell me? Would you? Did you? You said that you've been in touch with Jess more lately, right?"

Luke exhaled, "Would you just tell me?"

Lorelai snapped out of her babbling and giggled a little, "Sorry. I guess I got carried away. Rory told me that her and Jess are uh, testing the waters, I guess."

"Testing the waters? What does that mean?"

"I think they're dating again. Rory's in Philadelphia for the weekend. Apparently they have been emailing and talking on the phone for months and this was the next step. She was scared to tell us."

"Scared," Luke said horrified. "Lorelai! We have to fix this. Why would she be scared? Rory's never been scared to tell you anything. You two are best friends and now that you're married to me that changed?"

Lorelai rubbed his arm and sighed, "No babe, it's not that. And you're adorable if you think she was never scared to tell me anything in the past. She was scared to tell me that she had applied to other schools other than Harvard. You know that she was scared to tell me when Dean kissed her all those years ago. She was scared to tell me about her quote unquote performance review with Mitchum. So you need to calm down and not think that this is your fault. I think Rory wasn't sure how I would take her dating Jess again since I wasn't a fan the first time. Plus she mentioned something about them being kind of cousins. So I think she might be worried about what other people will think."

"But we're included in that, right? She's worried about what we'll think. We need to talk to her about that. She needs to know that we love her and that we'll support her. Jess too. I want them to be able to talk to us. God knows Rory can't go to Chris and Jess wouldn't talk to either of his parents. They need us."

"I love you so much," Lorelai gushed. "She said there's an event at Truncheon tonight, so we'll call them tomorrow and let them know that we don't want any secrets cause there's no need for them."

Luke smiled at her, "Yeah. That sounds good."

They sat in silence for a few moments before she looked at him carefully, "How are you doing?"

He exhaled a big sigh, his left elbow rested on the car door while his cheek rested in his hand. "It's been a lot. The panic that set in from the call, trying to be brave and strong while driving down. I could tell Leo was going out of his mind with worry but he has to be strong for his brother -"

"And Luke has to be strong for everyone else, hu?" She said knowingly as she reached out to rub his shoulder and neck.

He scoffed, "I'm not sure how I feel about them using my Dad's name."

"Really? Why?"

"I get that they saw him as an uncle. I mean, we've always felt like family. We were raised together, we are always there for each other. They all were so mad at me when they found out about Uncle Louie after the fact. But he's MY Dad and we're married. They know I want kids. Shouldn't they have let me - I mean - I don't know. Is this silly?"

"No! Not at all," she said emphatically. "I'm sure if you called Sam, or if you want me to -"

"No," he said softly but firmly. "I don't want to make them feel bad. And it's just the middle name, it's not like they'll use it often. Right?"

"Right," she agreed.

"Yeah, it just felt weird to hear it. It was just another reason to kick myself for screwing things up with us. If I had done things properly, talked to you when -" he shook his head. "We could have already had our first kid by now, maybe already working on the second, you know."

"Oh Babe, mistakes were made all around," she admitted. "I could have dealt with the Rory situation differently and we could have been in a better place when April arrived so you not telling me wouldn't have crossed your mind. Please, don't do this to yourself. We are getting the Whole Package, I promise. And if there are six kids in this new generation of your family all named William, so what? That way there will always be someone around with that name so Taylor can never hassle you about taking your sign down again."

He laughed and turned to smile at her, "God, I love you." He took her hand from his shoulder and kissed it sweetly."

XoXoXoXoXoXo

The following week Luke was sitting in his truck looking out the windshield at the Yale students going to and fro. They mostly seemed happy, chatting with friends and laughing. There was the odd intense kid, walking with their face stuck in a book or at a high speed to get where they were going faster. There was a tightness in his chest when he remembered helping Rory move in on her first day here and all the things that have happened since then. Then he remembered how proud he was, how much love he felt for her when she graduated from Chilton and how amazing it was that he would be at her college graduation in a few months.

He was lost in thought, smiling, when the car door opened and Rory hopped into the cab.

"Hey," she smiled. "Were you thinking about the Birthday Girl just now?"

He chuckled, "Why do you ask?"

"That smile," she motioned to his face. "It's one of pure love."

"Really," he asked as he put the car in gear. "I'm glad that you said that. Because the person I was thinking about is you!"

"Me?"

"Why are you so shocked? I was waiting for you and started thinking about how proud I was when you graduated Chilton and how I never thought I could love you more, or be more proud." He stopped talking because the lump in his throat got too big.

"Okay, okay," she shook her head. "We're on a mission. Don't make me cry. And you're driving so we can't have tears in your eyes."

He smiled and nodded at her with the unshed tears in his eyes.

"Plus I want to be able to ask you if we can make a quick taco stop," she smirked. "I guess it's good that you're thinking about how much you love me."

"Well considering you are helping me with one of the most important gifts within my lifetime, I guess I owe you some junk food without a side of guilt. This is the first time I'm buying my Wife a birthday present and we both know how much she loves presents. Rory, I can't screw this up."

"Turn left at the light to get to the taco place," she pointed. "And for what it's worth, I think what you're doing for her birthday is brilliant and romantic."

"What do you mean," he asked, clearly confused.

"There! That's the taco place. I feel a little guilty every time I come here and don't get extra for Mom."

He laughed, "She says that almost every time she orders chili fries without you. But what gift were you talking about?"

"Today," she gestured. "We're picking up the Jeep you found on Craig's List to use the parts so she doesn't need to buy a new car. That's pretty romantic."

Again Luke laughed, "This isn't her birthday gift. This is just to help her keep the car. I would have done this no matter what time of year her car died. She loves that Jeep."

"She told me that she made you crazy when you took her shopping for another one, that it led to you actually drinking a milkshake, so it must have been bad."

"Here's a secret, I kind of like milkshakes."

"You DO?"

"Sometimes, and I'll deny it if you tell anyone, but sometimes I send Caesar to Taylor's to get me one," he smiled, watching her gawking at him. "I keep it in the back and drink it where no one can see."

"Wow, I need to start talking to Caesar more, the secrets he must know! I'll be right back." She got out of the car and ran into the restaurant.

Luke watched her greet the workers who had lit up when she arrived. She chatted with them pointing to the menu and then to him. She laughed as she took the bag, paid and waved off her change.

"So, it's not just my place where you're a regular," he greeted as she got back into the car.

Laughing, she shook her head, "Remember when Mom and I came into the diner with all those tacos after a day with Grandma and Grandpa?"

He laughed and nodded, "So you go way back with these guys?"

"I got you one," she smiled nervously.

He blew out a breath, "You certainly are a little Lorelai, aren't you?"

"I have to live up to my name," she smirked. "This one is veggie heavy and the protein is chicken," she explained as she held it towards him.

"I can't drive and unwrap at the same time."

"Ammature," she scoffed as she peeled back the paper just a little so he could take a bite but the rest wouldn't fall out.

He took the offered snack and bit into it hesitantly. He chewed thoughtfully, feeling her staring at him. "It's pretty good," he shrugged. "Tastes like they make their own tortillas."

She lit up, "They do! How can you tell?"

"I make my own when I want fajitas or enchiladas."

"Wait, what?! You make that stuff?"

Luke laughed, "You thought I could only handle burgers, breakfast and coffee? I've made other things for you."

"I know. But you always acted like Mexican food was junk food."

"No, what I said was Taco Bell is garbage. Just like a McDonald's burger and mine are totally different."

"Because McDonald's doesn't ground broccoli into the beef to trick Mom and I into eating our greens?"

The two laughed.

"I did it once when I was mad at her, but that day everyone was raving about the burgers so now it's just part of my recipe. Anyway, I was going to take you to a jewellery store before we go to get the car, are you sure you have time?"

"I have time, but seriously Luke, I think the car is gift enough."

"Just come look with me."

A little while later Luke led Rory into a jewellery store he showed her the bracelet he liked. It had floral charms that looked similar to the flower necklace Lorelai loved in Hawaii, the one that she bought for herself, Rory and April. He wanted to get it with three flowers, one with Lorelai's birthstone, one with Rory's and one with his. He explained to her that he did a little research and this store had been around for years with no plans to leave and that this line of jewellery was a signature of theirs. When she looked confused he explained that he could come back in the future to get her charms with any future kids' birthstones as well.

"I think it's a really beautiful gift. But can I make one suggestion?"

"Yes! Please! That's why you're here," he insisted.

"If you're giving this to her now, you don't want to make the same mistakes from the past, do you?"

He looked at her completely confused.

"You need to have four charms on there, you need to give her one with April's birthstone!"

"Wow! You're right. How did I miss that?" He shook his head, upset with himself. "I was so happy in Hawaii when she got you and April the same necklace. It wasn't a second thought to her, she was buying for 'our girls'. That's what she called you two whenever we talked about you there. And she talked about you two a lot! Every vendor, every store owner, she talked about our daughters and how they both were so smart and beautiful. She kept showing them the picture of the two of you at the wedding that you sent to her. Of course April should be included. Thank you, so much."

"I guess it's hard with her so far away," Rory said softly.

"I hate it," he confessed. "I missed so much already."

"She hates it too," Rory said quietly.

"Do you two talk?"

"We've been in touch since before the wedding, that's okay isn't it?" She seemed scared.

"Okay? That's amazing! Thank you." This time he tried to hide the fact that he was tearing up.

When the purchase was complete and wrapped they thanked the woman who owned the store and left arm in arm.

"So I hear you're talking to Jess as well," Luke said as they climbed back into the truck.

Rory looked down as the blush rose in her cheeks, "I'm sorry we didn't tell you. It started around the wedding. We needed to fill each other in on some things being the Best Man and Maid of Honour and all that. And I was so impressed and proud of how much he's grown. The way he talked about you and Mom and how he handled things poorly. The respect and love he has for you is something we bonded over, you know. You're an easy guy to love."

Now Luke blushed, "Ha ha, yeah everyone loves Luke!"

"Yeah," she said seriously. "We all do! You know that, right?"

He waved her off.

"Everyone in town loves you. Mom and I adore you. I think you even managed to win over Richard and Emily Gilmore of all people. She still sings your praises to me for hiring Isabelle and she credits you for Mom hiring Berta's son for groundskeeping."

"It was your Mom's idea," Luke sighed.

"I know, but Grandma loves you so much she's going to give you credit for a lot of things."

"Who ever would have thought that you would say those words to me?"

Rory laughed, "Like I said, it's easy to love you."

"Ditto," he smiled, looking over at her. "So we're here. You'll drive the Jeep to Gypsy's and I'll follow you. Are you staying with us tonight or do you need a ride back to school?"

"I don't have class tomorrow morning so maybe I'll stay the night."

"Sounds good. Thanks again for this."

"My pleasure, Dad."