Well here, my friends is the final instalment of this story. I have loved every minute of this. I am proud of it and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. I am terrible with thanking people for my reviews so I took a little time the other day and went through every review I have received for this story. Thank you to:
EternalConfusion, LittleGGLover, LukelovesLorelai, LorelaiAkaCoffeeAddict, LLfreak8285, AndyPrueForever, Joeysangel1534, orangesherbert7, Kylie1403, crimsonlorelai, Java Lava, VeroSNM, Lazy-Hazy-Crazy-Dayz (formally Marcel-Marceau-chicken), KangaRoo526, TheCoffeeBean, lorelai gilmore danes1, Lolabelle26, primesetter31, Scottjunkie, suusjie 32, TheSecretsSafeWithMe, LorelaiLukeForever, bellybuttonsrool, Roxton 7, Gilmoregrl519, hollyfan4eva, midnite star watcher, inge-loves-lost, Suz22, lukelorelai-en, javajunkie711, walkingonsunshine01, MarcyH, LaurenIsMe, ProFfeSseR, Labyrith, Tears4Chris, junkieangel, OyWithThePoodlesAlready13, ShortiLuvsRedSox, javajunkie 22, rubberducky3399, catiegirl916010, A-Karana, Diana2901, ahbat, Javamaniac, Bayleigh Anne, Luke's Girl, LoVeLuKe, Lukeslorelailuva160, Rory Danes, lollysamantha, Magical Princess, that70slover, LukeandLorelai4ever, bittersweety, Muffin Is Injured, Angelp316, Lorelai Gilmore46, GGLUVER, politicaldonkey, rcytiger8888, javarox, GilmoreDanes4, beautifulbutterfly, Mimimoon, LorelaiandLukefan, AHJNKCES, Chapster4, Gilmoremajorfan, Shawnee89, Gilmoregrl06, COBbabygirl89, Amanda Michelle, Mrs. Scott Patterson, JavaJunkiE006, xxnicole033xx, gilmoregirlkk, scubaluver, LukeNlorelaifan, oth2007, Gilmoregurl, TYLER23, RYLI23, irishdancingolfteamplayingchick, StAnDsTiLlKiSsEs, dreamtramp1974.
Anne, meg, misskitten, Stephanie, Nat, lynnyb, s.roman, holla, smr, Sarah, Lauren, Paige, emiliee, noam, SJ, Brandy, Kelly, Emma, yoshi, gilmorefan4life, C, Katie, Sammi, Anon, annemieke, Christine, Nicole, biscuit, SciikRo, Amanda.
I hope I managed to include everyone and that I managed to get all your names correct. A special thanks to LukeNlorelaifan who was the first reviewer for this story.
Disclaimer: Still not mine
On with the story then.
Previously:
Lorelai turned to Luke and noticed that he was encouraging her to let Rory take William. Though she still thought something was up, and that everyone was acting weird, Lorelai handed William over and hugged Luke close. Rory walked back over to the table and sat down, ready to watch what Luke had planned.
'I have a surprise for you.' Luke whispered in Lorelai's ear as he started to lead her away.
'Dirty' she whispered back
'Ah jeez, its not dirty.' Luke couldn't help but smile. He had waited all evening for this one moment.
As they finished walking to their destination, Luke and Lorelai both had similar thoughts rolling around in their head. Life just doesn't get better than this.
As Luke finished guiding Lorelai in the direction of the gazebo, one of her favourite spots in this her town, Luke took her hands and sat her down on the bench. A short moment later all the lights in the town square went out.
'Luke?' Lorelai called. But there was no answer. 'Luke?' she tried again just a bit louder. ' What's going on, where are you?' she asked when no response was heard.
The town too was very very quiet. Nobody seemed to be affected by the lights going out. It would seem that they all knew it was coming.
'Luke, please tell me what's going on?' Lorelai pleaded.
Instead of receiving a verbal response like she was expecting, Lorelai was stunned when the gazebo lit up. It was covered in tiny fairy lights. Before her stood Luke with a big grin on his face.
'Did you do something dirty while the lights were out?' Lorelai asked teasingly.
Luke didn't answer; he just stood there looking into Lorelai's eyes. Lorelai broke the gaze and looked around. The whole town had formed a crowd around the gazebo. They all had huge smiles, some genuine happy smiles, and some looked rather wicked. Lorelai noted that they all had their hands behind their back, except Rory who was still holding William. On closer inspection of the crowd Lorelai could see her parents standing back, they didn't have the same excited faces that the town had, but they looked content.
After what seemed like forever, Luke managed to get Lorelai's gaze back fixed with his. As if on cue, a song began to play softly in the background. Lorelai strained to hear the words over her own heartbeat.
Everyone remained quiet; Luke still had not uttered a word. After a short moment he took Lorelai's hands in his and pulled her up and towards him, pulling her into a tight embrace and kissing her tenderly on the lips.
'You do know this doesn't get anymore public?' Lorelai told him when he pulled out of the kiss.
'I know'
'He speaks!' Lorelai mocks with a big grin on his face.
'Will you just be quiet.' Luke told her sternly even though the smile was still fixed on his face.
'But I want to know what's going on here' Lorelai said like a little child.
'Patience is a virtue'
'How long have you know me?'
'Good point'
'So... what's this surprise you have for me'?
Again if on cue, Lorelai noted, Kirk brought up a box wrapped in stunning paper.
'I know how you like opening gifts, so I decided to wrap this one up'
'Can I open it now?' Lorelai asked getting overly excited
'Not yet' Luke held her tightly.
'But that's mean, showing me a present then not letting me have it.' Lorelai pouted.
'Just be patient and you will get what you deserve'
'Okay' Lorelai said smiling; she was enjoying this side of Luke.
Kirk returned to where he was standing before and Babette joined them in the gazebo, placing her present down next to Kirk's.
'Two presents!' Lorelai exclaimed
'Nope' Luke answered casually even though Lorelai hadn't really posed a question
'You're confusing me,' Lorelai told Luke while frowning
'That's not difficult'
'Hey!' Lorelai slapped Luke's chest. He responded by just pulling her closer.
'There's more if you want to see.'
'Yes please' Lorelai said, grinning like a little child again.
Babette had returned to the crowd, letting Miss Patty on to the gazebo to drop her present off. Lorelai noted each present varied in size. One was shoebox size and the others were smaller.
'Can I open them now?' Lorelai pleaded
'Patience'
'You keep saying that and I am trying but...' Luke cut her off with a soft kiss.
'There's one more'
'Yay for me!' Lorelai screamed jumping up and down in Luke's arms causing him to smile more, if that was possible.
Miss Patty returned to the crowd and Rory walked up the stairs and over to the presents. Williams was laying quietly, in her arms, almost asleep.
'Where's the present?' Lorelai asked confused again.
'Well you see the thing is; only one present contains the thing I want to give you. The others are just bonuses. You need to choose which of the four presents you want, and if you don't chose the correct one first then you don't get any.'
'But there are only 3'
'Rory has the fourth present'
'Ooohhh let me see then.'
'I can't show you it' Rory told her mother, trying her best not to give anything away with her smile.
'How do I know which one to chose?' Lorelai whined.
'It's easy, just think logically'
'What so that if I get it wrong I can be both out of a present and feel stupid.'
'You're not stupid, take a guess.'
'Luke?'
'Okay I will give you a clue, each person knows what present they had and it is fitting to their personality.'
'What type of clue is that, its no help.'
'Okay then I will eliminate Rory; she has one of the bonuses' Luke told her reluctantly.
'Rory, be the bestest daughter ever and tell mommy which one.' Lorelai pouted
'I cant tell you, Luke didn't trust me enough to tell me who had it. Anyways even if I knew I wouldn't tell you and that pout wouldn't work either, I'm immune.' Rory answered smugly.
'Aaahhh! But you know what the present is, so you can tell me that and then I can guess whose personality matches it.
'Nope, not telling you otherwise there was no point trying to do all this and surprise you. Luke went through a lot of trouble.'
Lorelai looked from her daughter and son over to Luke, the man she loved with all her heart. She tried pleading with her eyes and she tried pouting and bashing her eyelids but today it would seem was the day that Luke was finally going to learn how to not give in. After much internal debate, Lorelai made her decision, the decision she hoped would yield the present she thought Luke might have for her.
'I have made my choice!' she announced proudly. Which elicited shouts of joy from the patient crowd.
'Okay then, open the one you chose.' Luke slowly let go of Lorelai and she walked over picking up the present she wanted and sat on the bench. 'What are you waiting for?' Luke asked when Lorelai just sat there with the present unopened in her lap.
'What if I made the wrong choice, then I don't get my present and then this was all a waste of time.' Lorelai told him in a whisper, losing some of the happiness in her voice.
'Put that gorgeous smile back on your face cause you make the correct choice.'
'I did?' Lorelai said in shock
'I told you you weren't stupid, now are you going to open it or not?'
With the smile plastered on her face again, Lorelai started to tear into the wrapping. Excitement filled the air. Only 3 people knew what was in the present. Luke, Rory, and apparently Miss Patty as it was her gift. Lorelai looked up just as she got to the plain brown cardboard box, looking over to Miss Patty who had sat down out of exhaustion from jumping up and down. Lorelai opened the box getting a whiff of a beautiful smell. Immediately she began shifting through the petals of some of her favourite flowers, until she found it. It was gorgeous and sparkled and it was more than she could ever have wanted or imagined. Tears immediately began to spill out of pure happiness. With an instant Luke was on his knees in front of her, he might have been worried about the tears if it weren't for the huge, Cheshire cat smile Lorelai wore.
Lorelai lifted her gaze off of the ring and looked deep into Luke's eyes. This was a moment she was never going to forget. Luke took the silence as a good thing. Without breaking the gaze he took the ring from Lorelai's grasp and held it between his thumb and pointer finger.
'Lorelai Gilmore, the woman I love with all my heart, the woman who has given me a child, who has given me all the happiness I could ever ask for. Will you do me the greatest honour and allow me the opportunity to live out the remainder of our lives as husband and wife. I want to spend everyday trying to make you as happy as you have made me.' Luke swallowed hard, then took in a deep breath and unintentionally held it waiting for Lorelai to speak.
'You are crazier than I ever thought if you for one second believe I could ever be happier than I am right now. I don't deserve someone as great as you, but you know what, that's not going to stop me from marrying you and making sure I live everyday trying to make myself worthy of you.'
'So can I take that as a yes?'
'Yes' Lorelai said softly. Luke placed the ring gently on her finger.
Again, the crowd, who had stood there without noise, erupted in huge applause and whistles as Luke and Lorelai kissed passionately sealing their engagement. Rory came rushing over from where she had been standing, she was crying. Even William had decided to join in, with a noise of his own. Luke stood up helping Lorelai up too. He immediately took William from Rory.
'I don't want you getting squashed in there' Luke whispered in Williams ear, while looking on at the Gilmore girls. Even while jumping up and down uncontrollably, Lorelai's gaze never left Luke's. Once the girls and William had calmed down. The four of them walked out of the gazebo. Luke patiently accepted the town's congratulations, he had to admit, he loved them all for going along with this whole plan even if they had no details. Rory broke off from her family and returned to the gazebo and retrieved the other presents, Lorelai would still get joy out of opening them later. Luke, Lorelai and William walked over to where Emily and Richard were still seated.
'Congratulations Luke, Lorelai' Richard said immediately, standing up and embracing his daughter, much to her surprise.
'Thanks dad' Lorelai squeezed him tightly before letting go and shifting her gaze to her mother.
'Yes, congratulation to the both of you'
'Thank you Mrs Gilmore'
'Please, Emily and Richard, you are family now' Richard told Luke.
'Its getting late, I should really try get William to sleep, but I will speak to you both more later if you are still around.'
'That sounds good.' Emily said, smiling softly. Lorelai took William from Luke and carried him back over to where his stuff was sitting
'I am glad that you could come and share this with us, I know it means a lot to both Lorelai and to me'
Luke smiled genuinely at his future mother and father-in-law before turning and joining Lorelai.
A little while later when Rory saw that William was asleep and Lorelai was resting her head on Luke's shoulder, holding her hand up, staring at the ring, she gathered the gifts and walked over.
'You never did get to open the other presents.'
'You're right, hand them over girly.' Lorelai said sitting up straight with arms outstretched.
'You are allowed to change the presents if you so wish, just not Rory's.'
'Okay?' Lorelai opened both boxes only to reveal pieces of paper. On the first was written Italy and on the second was Florida.
'I thought that maybe for our honeymoon we could go to Italy and then to Florida when we return.'
'That is really great Luke but I don't know if I would want to leave William behind for so long.'
'That's where my gift comes in' Rory spoke up. 'I will look after William while you are in Italy and then thanks to Luke, both William and I will join you for the second part of you honeymoon in Florida.
'Really?' Lorelai said smiling at Luke
'Really'
'I love you Luke Danes'
'And I love you Lorelai Gilmore'
'Danes'
'Lorelai Danes' Luke corrected himself
Luke leant forward placing a sweet lingering kiss on Lorelai's lips.
'We're getting married' Lorelai mumbled through the kiss. Luke just responded by kissing her harder. 'Hey Luke?' Lorelai said pulling away.
'What?'
'I think my question was worth asking'
'I could say the same about mine'
Luke pulled Lorelai closer and gestured for Rory to sit down with them. And that's where the perfect family sat that evening, under the envious gaze of passes by.
The End
Thank you again to everyone at the top who has ever taken a moment of your time to review this story. It would be greatly appreciated if everyone could review and possible tell me what you liked or didn't like about my writing or the speed at which I update. I would really like to know so that I can improve myself. (Do you think we can make over 400 reviews? cause it would make me happy now that this story is finished )
For all of you who read my other story 'after all this time,' there are probably only 2 chapters left and I am hoping to get them finished before Tuesday as I am heading back to South Africa for a few weeks and my internet access will be little to none.
Thank you again
Ronata