A/N: (This will be a long one)

Neeve and I have both been reading a lot of fanfiction lately. We've been obsessed with Jewels12 and Mag68, writers of awesome JavaJunkie fanfics and two of the main writers of "Virtual Gilmore". Jules and Mags have inspired us to start writing fanfiction ourselves. We're scared, we're excited, and we're exhilarated.

Mag68 wrote the beautiful ff series "Good at Dating" (Seriously guys, read it!). In part 4 "Packaged Goods", there was this chapter in which Luke had a dream about the future. In this dream his and Lorelai's kids were teenagers in all their teen-glory. Neeve and I realized we had never read a fanfiction about Luke and Lorelai and their teen-kids before, yet we really, really enjoyed said chapter. Therefore, we decided to write this story together.

Navy, it's been a blessing working with you. Our ideas seem to fit well together and accommodate each other perfectly, our writing seems very in sync (apart from me AmericaniZing your parts -sorry, if I skipped some things. I'm not American, you see) and, well, you're just a cool gal, HONNY ;). Love ya!

Jules, Mags, this chapter is dedicated to you both for the beautiful words you've put together for years with so much love, care and patience, to make sure Gilmore Girls is honored and still very much alive, as it should be. We thank you both!

– M

Chapter 1: The many joys of family

Lorelai awoke to the warm summer sunlight streaming through the bedroom curtains. She groggily opened her eyes and turned to catch a glance at the clock on her nightstand, which flashed '08:34'. She let out a gentle sigh and turned to face Luke. He lay flat on his back, his lips parted, a small snore escaping them and his arm tucked behind his head. She moved over to him, resting her head on his chest. Luke started to stir as she gently raked her nails over his cotton cladded stomach.

"Good morning, handsome," she said softly, resting her chin on Luke's chest and looking up at him.

"Hey," he rasped, wrapping his arm around Lorelai and pulling her closer to him.

"Did you not have to open today?"

"Nope. I told Caesar I wanted Saturday morning with my girl," he said playfully, smiling down at her and brushing a lock of hair from her face.

"Aw, well aren't you just the cutest!" she teased, snuggling into him.

Luke chuckled, placing a kiss to the top of her curls and breathing in the smell of her raspberry shampoo. He smiled happily, rhythmically rubbing small circles on her arm.

Lorelai lifted her head to look into his dark blue eyes again. "Now that you have the morning with your girl, what do you intend to do with her?" she asked teasingly, her eyes sparkling bright blue with pleasure, a smile plastered on her face and her eyebrows lifted as though she was thinking deeply of something they could do.

"I have some ideas," Luke mumbled before he bent down and pressed his lips on hers. As the kiss grew deeper and more passionate, Lorelai let out a moan, before pulling away to catch her breath. She started pressing wet kisses to his cheek and down to his neck and his cladded collarbone, while her hand traveled up under his shirt, raking her nails through the hair on his stomach and up to his chest.

Luke's head dropped back to his pillow, his neck tired from keeping it up earlier to kiss her, and he closed his eyes to enjoy the feel of her light touches. He held one arm firmly around her to keep her close, while his other hand lay useless next to him.

They were interrupted by a loud bang as their bedroom door hit the wall and Rick stormed into their room.

"Mom! You forgot…," he started to yell, but trailed off when he saw his parents jerk up and quickly move a little further away from each other. "Ah geez!" he yelled, his arms swaying around in frustration, before covering his eyes dramatically with his hand and spinning around to leave the room.

"Thanks for the knock," Luke mumbled as his face flushed a slight pink color.

"Hon, what's wrong?" Lorelai asked sincerely as she sat up straight in bed.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?!" Rick said in a shocked tone as he faced them again, "Oh, I don't know. Why don't you just take a look at my hair?! Not to mention walking in on you two being way too comfortable together! It's only half past eight and my morning already completely sucks!"

"Your hair looks fine to me," Lorelai said, shrugging her shoulders and ignoring his last statement.

"It does not look fine, because someone forgot to buy me new hair gel!" he shouted looking pointedly at Lorelai, "I have to work today, but I can't go out like this! Geez!"

"And good morning to you too," Luke mumbled, annoyed by his son's rude interruption over something as stupid as hair gel.

"You think this is funny?!" Rick sneered at his father and opened his mouth to continue his shouting match.

"Shh! Your sister's still sleeping," Lorelai said in a loud whisper.

Rick snorted. "It'd be good for her to get out early for once and maybe do something useful." He took a breath. "Well?" he looked questioningly at his mother.

"Well, what? " Lorelai asked confused.

Rick sighed loudly. "Did you or did you not buy me new hair gel?!" he sneered impatiently, hopping from one leg to the other.

Luke had heard enough. "Don't use that tone with your mother," he said strictly. "Besides, it wasn't her time to do groceries, it was mine. Did you write it down?"

"Of course I wrote it down! I'm not an idiot! I didn't want to run out of it and look like an idiot either, you know? But hey, look at me now!" he spoke to his father as though he had just told him he was a little child, his voice rising again.

"In that case, I'm sorry," Luke said calmly. "I was in a hurry, I must have overlooked it. You'll just have to deal today, we'll get it for you this afternoon."

"Are you sure we have nothing left, Hon?" Lorelai asked as she made an attempt to get out of bed.

Rick held out his hand to stop her, just like Luke would do, and said, "Yeah, I'm sure. I checked everywhere. Never mind," He swirled around and walked out of the room. Luke and Lorelai heard him mumbling under his breath, "You'll just have to deal," followed by a loud snort.

"Wear a hat! It works for me!" Luke called, before the door was slammed shut.

Lorelai sighed and turned to Luke, "That temper, he got from you."

"That vanity, he got from you," Luke shot back with a slight smile and Lorelai laughed.

"Nice one," she quickly pecked his lips, "but you're pretty vain too, you know."

"Was it the wide assortment in my wardrobe that gave me away," Luke asked dryly. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" he asked, grabbing her arm as she attempted to get out of bed.

Lorelai looked backed at him. "Moment's kinda gone, don't you think? Besides, Rick is up and will probably start nagging you for breakfast soon and I wouldn't be surprised if Emmy's up thanks to that nice shouting match Rick just gave us. Not such a good morning after all."

"We could make it a good morning," Luke said, raising his eyebrows suggestively but Lorelai shook her head. "A quickie?" Luke asked pleadingly, his dark blue eyes big of hope and a begging look on his face.

Lorelai couldn't resist. "Man, you're good," she said with a laugh, gliding back into bed and scooting closer to him.

Luke immediately captured her lips with his, rolled on top of her and pressed her down into the mattress, the bulge in his sweatpants very present against her thigh.

Lorelai trudged down the stairs in her pajamas and bunny slippers, a content smile on her face. She stopped as she reached the bottom step, glancing around suspiciously and sniffing dramatically. Following the smell, she slowly made her way to the living room, gently opening the door and peering in.

Emma was led out on the couch, her legs wrapped in a blanket and her head turned towards the TV; she had both hands wrapped tightly around a brightly colored coffee mug. As Lorelai walked further into the room, Emma turned to face her and froze, holding her mug in mid-air so that only her wide blue eyes could be seen over the rim.

Lorelai stared open mouthed at her, "Emma Rebecca Danes! Are you drinking coffee?" Lorelai said in a slight mock stern voice.

Emma slowly lowered the mug and looked at her Mom with innocent eyes, "Uh, nooo… See, I made you a cup of coffee but you weren't up yet, so I brought it in here with me, so that I could, uh, keep it warm," she gave Lorelai a bright smile, to cover her unconvincing lie.

"Uh huh, nice try," Lorelai said with a grin as she moved over and sat on the couch next to her daughter. Lifting the blanket and draping it over her own legs, she situated herself and then swiftly swiped the mug from Emma's hand.

"Hey!" Emma shouted in protest.

"I thought you said it was for me?" Lorelai teased, taking a healthy glug of the coffee and releasing an exaggerated 'ah' in pleasure. Emma crossed her arms over her chest, falling back against the couch and letting out a loud huff. "Hey, I'm doing you a favor. If your Dad knew you were drinking this he'd kill you. I, on the other hand, just tease," Lorelai added, taking another sip "mmm, so good!" she said playfully.

Emma sank further into the couch cushions, "This is so unfair. You guys said I could drink coffee once I turned thirteen!"

"I know we did," Lorelai said giving her a tender smile and tucking a strand of Emma's dark hair behind her ear.

"Then why can't I?!"

"You can, just only… " Lorelai said weakly.

"Twice a week," Emma deadpanned, giving her a frustrated frown.

Lorelai giggled slightly and gave her a sympathetic smile, "Look, hon, you know how your Dad is and trust me, you have no idea how hard it was to get him to agree to the twice a week thing."

"Yeah, I know," Emma exhaled loudly, turning back towards the TV, "Still unfair though," she muttered under her breath, eliciting a playful eye roll from Lorelai.

"Your brother still upstairs?" Lorelai asked her daughter after a short silence between them.

"No, he already left," she said distractedly, her eyes focused on the TV, "and he looked kinda funny".

"He ran out of gel and he was not happy."

"That explains my way too early wake up call. Not the voice I wanna wake up to," Emma whined.

Lorelai gently rubbed her leg through the blanket and asked, "Did he have any breakfast."

"He grabbed a poptart on the way out," she said, waving her hand to silence Lorelai and laughing loudly at something funny on the TV.

Lorelai sighed, got up and walked to the kitchen. Rick had completely emptied the coffeepot, so she had to make new one. She took out a coffee filter, while sipping on the cup she'd just stolen from Emma.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Luke asked as he entered the kitchen, freshly showered and fully dressed, and he pressed a kiss on her cheek.

"Ooh, eggs with bacon and toast! No, no, Pancakes. Fluffy chocolate pancakes with lots of whipped cream!" she answered excitedly.

"No chocolate and no whipped cream," Luke answered gruffly. "You can have normal pancakes."

"I can't decide," Lorelai said. "Emmy! Pancakes or eggs?" she shouted.

"Whichever," came her uninterested voice from the living-room.

Lorelai pouted and looked at Luke. "She really has to start appreciating good food. I'm starting to wonder if she's really my daughter."

"She's thirteen and she's addicted to coffee. She's yours," Luke said dryly, rolling his eyes.

Lorelai smirked and nodded. "I'll take the pancakes please," she said as she put the filter in the coffeemaker, "but can you make your delicious, special Luke's coffee for me first?"

"What's that in your hand?" he asked without looking at her while taking out the ingredients he needed from the fridge.

Lorelai looked down, as though she didn't know what he meant. "You mean this?" she held up the coffee cup. When Luke nodded, she started to whine, "There was only half a cup left. Rick took the rest!" afraid that he would deny her a fresh pot.

Luke sighed and shook his head, but he walked over to where she was standing and playfully bumped his hip against hers to move her out of the way.

Lorelai sat down at the kitchen table with a content smile, as she watched her man move around the kitchen, doing the things he did best, while waiting for her much needed coffee.

"Em, breakfast is ready!" Luke said, his head peering into the living room.

Emma slowly got off of the couch and slumbered to the kitchen in her own bunny slippers, that matched Lorelai's, muttering something on the way about her program not having finished yet.

Luke put the plate of fluffy pancakes on the table and Lorelai and Emma quickly attacked the food, as Luke sat down to eat some toast with smoked salmon, onions and lettuce.

"April just called. She wants to come over next weekend," Luke said with a smile to Lorelai.

Lorelai smiled at him and touched his hand. "See? She hasn't forgotten you. She misses you too. Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Luke nodded. "She said Harvard has been keeping her incredibly busy, but now she has some more time. She's at Anna's this weekend. They both say 'hi', by the way."

Lorelai nodded her understanding, before a big grin spread across her face. "Rory's coming over next weekend too. We'll have the whole family together again. Finally."

"Yeah, it's been a while," Luke said as he smiled back at her pleased face. "Finish your pancakes, before Emmy eats them all," he pointed at the food and received a loud giggle from Emma.

Emma's head then bolted up in recognition, turning her head to face Lorelai, "Wait! Did you say Rory's coming over?!" a wide smile spreading across her face.

"For this, I get your attention, but earlier, I talked about pancakes and nothing! Seriously, Em, where are your priorities?" Lorelai said in an exasperated tone, using her hands to emphasize her point. When Emma sighed and gave her an impatient look, in a way that was uncannily like her father, Lorelai smiled, "Yes, her and Dan are coming over around lunchtime,"

"Dan too?! Oh, yay! I can't wait!" Emma squealed with glee.

Luke ceased the opportunity to hastily add: "April will be spending the weekend over here too,"

Emma had now returned her gaze and concentration to her pancakes, "Uh huh," resuming her uninterested tone.

Luke exchanged a glance with Lorelai, who gave him a sympathetic shrug. "Emma?" Luke asked, trying to keep the agitation from his voice.

"Mhm?" Emma asked unresponsively in between shoveling a forkful of pancake into her mouth.

"Will you please just try and be nicer this time?" Luke implored, resting his hands on the kitchen table and looking at her intently.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma asked loudly, anger beginning to creep into her voice.

"You know full well what that means, Emma!" he shouted, his annoyance now starting to surface, his voice coming out slightly louder than he had intended.

"Hey, honey, calm down," Lorelai said softly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder to pacify him. Luke softened at her touch and tried to keep his anger in check.

Emma looked down at her plate; toying with her pancake and scoffed, "I don't know what you're talking about,"

"Oh come on, Emmy! Every time she's here you make no effort whatsoever! You practically ignore her; of course that's when you're not making any snide remarks. She's your sister, you can't keep treating her this way!" Luke spoke angrily, but kept his voice at an acceptable volume, his eyes now locked with Emma's.

"She's a big girl, Dad, I think she can take it," Emma countered sarcastically.

"EMMA!" Luke growled warningly as he stood up from the chair, almost knocking it over in the process, towering over his daughter and his patience running thin.

"Luke, please," Lorelai implored, more firmly this time as she got up too and pressed senseless on his shoulder to make him sit down again.

"Fine! I'll try to behave," Emma drawled sarcastically, ignoring her mother's attempts to placate. "Geez!" she sighed, as she stood up and quickly made her way for the stairs.

"Hon, you didn't finish your pancakes," Lorelai called after her, slight desperation in her voice.

"I'm not hungry!" Emma called down the stairs as she began to jog up them and towards her room.

Lorelai and Luke both flinched when they heard Emma's bedroom door slam shut. Luke took off his ball cap and ran his fingers through his greying hair, as Lorelai slowly slumped into the seat that Emma had just vacated.

"What the hell is her problem?" Luke exclaimed to Lorelai, his finger pointing behind him in the direction that Emma had just walked off in.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I don't know, babe," she sighed heavily.

"I just don't understand it, I mean, she's fine with Rory!" Luke pointed it out, starting to pace a little.

"Yeah, but Em spent the first four years of her life with Rory; it's different," Lorelai reasoned, rising from the chair and walking towards him, placing her hands on his forearms, and slowly rubbing them to calm him.

"I guess," Luke shrugged sadly "I just want her to have some sort of relationship with April, you know?"

"I know, babe," Lorelai spoke sincerely, "I'll talk to her, okay?" Lorelai suggested, looking up into his troubled blue eyes.

Luke nodded silently, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in for a tight embrace before placing a kiss to the top of her curls.

"Who is it?" Emma's muffled voice called in response to Lorelai's gentle knock on her bedroom door.

"It's me," Lorelai said softly with her hand on the doorknob, "Can I come in, please?"

After a pause, Emma unconvincingly said, "Sure," and her mother walked into the room.

Emma lay stretched out on the bed, her face buried in her pillow. Lorelai could just hear the uneven breathing of her sobs. "Oh, hon," she sighed sympathetically, as she walked over to her daughter. Lorelai sat on the edge of her bed, Emma's back facing her and began stroking Emma's long brown curls that cascaded down her back and pooled around her pillow.

Emma turned around and looked at her mom, her dark blue eyes filled with tears, before she threw herself at Lorelai. Lorelai caught her and held her in a tight embrace, patiently waiting for Emma's sobs to subside while stroking her back affectionately.

After about ten minutes, Emma sighed deeply, sat backwards and looked at her mom, who used the pads of her thumb to gently swipe away the tears from her face. Emma opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again quickly.

"Emmy, you can tell me," Lorelai said, encouragingly nodding at her and trying to make eye-contact, "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Emma looked into her mother's determined and patient eyes and sighed, "It's just so unfair."

"What is, hon?" Lorelai asked when Emma didn't continue.

She took a deep breath, before answering, "Dad loves April more than me," her voice not louder than a whisper and her eyes fixed on her hands in her lap.

"What?" Lorelai asked incredulously, "That's not true, Em! Dad loves you just as much, if not more."

Emma shook her head vehemently and was unable to contain her tears anymore. "It is true!" she said loudly through her sobs, "and it's not fair, 'cause I was here first! She just swoops into our lives and takes my dad from me!"

"Emma," Lorelai exclaimed quietly, "She did not take Luke from you. He's here with you day in, day out. He barely sees April once a month and is lucky if he even gets to talk to her once a week."

Emma shook her head. "Whenever April comes here, dad only has eyes for her. They do things together that she likes and I'm not allowed to come along. He never does that with me. She always gets the special treatment! All I get is him whining over what I do wrong and how I should study more so I can go to Yale like Rory, or Harvard like saint April. Have you guys ever seen my straight A's list?"

"That's not the only thing those Ivy-League colleges look at. Your dad's only concerned. If you want to go to Yale or Harvard…"

"I don't want to go to Harvard," Emma said snidely, emphasizing 'Harvard' as though it was a dirty word.

"Alright, Yale then," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes, "if you want to go to Yale you gotta do more than watch TV," she said pointedly.

"I know," Emma said softly with a sigh, "I don't know I want to, though. I know it's some sort of family thing and Grandma and Grandpa would probably kill me, but I'm not like Rory, April or Rick. I don't like to study. Besides, you and Dad didn't go to university and you both turned out fine. I might go to college, maybe, I'm just not sure an Ivy-League school is for me,"

Lorelai smiled at her daughter. "That's alright, kid," she said as she put a string of her dark curls behind her ear. "You still have enough time to decide."

Emma nodded and let out a relieved breath, "So you're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" Lorelai asked surprised.

"I thought you wanted me to go to an Ivy-League school? I just assumed you'd be mad when you found out that I didn't want to," Emma said, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt and lifting one shoulder in a shrug.

"Of course I'm not mad! I want you to do whatever you want to do. Be a clown, be a ballerina, whatever, just as long as it's what you want to do," Lorelai said, with a small laugh.

"And Dad?" she wondered aloud.

"Dad too. Trust me," Lorelai said confidently.

Emma gave her mother a watery smile and threw herself into Lorelai's arms again, "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she chanted, as she clung to Lorelai, hugging her tightly.

"Of course, sweets," Lorelai laughed, as she pulled back to look into the red eyes of her beautiful daughter, "and about April ... I think your dad still feels a bit guilty for not being there the first twelve years of her life, but you should talk to him about that, okay?"

"Okay," Emma said more confidently than she felt.

Lorelai kissed her cheek and ran her hand over her hair, before she stood up to leave the room. "I'll send him up," she said as she opened the door and Emma nodded.

Luke peeked his head into the open door. "Your mom said you wanted to talk to me?" he asked her, trying to sound neutral.

"Well, basically she told me to talk to you, but sure, come in," Emma said, keeping her eyes on her phone, as Luke walked into the room, fidgeting with his hands and looking around nervously.

"So," Luke said, drawing out the word, ready to start a conversation with his daughter, while keeping his temper in check.

"I suppose Mom told you what we talked about?" she asked before he could continue speaking.

"Um, no. She wouldn't say. She said it was yours to decide what you wanted to tell me and what not," Luke said and Emma looked up from her phone in surprise.

Luke took her desk-chair, placed it near her bed and sat down. "I assume this talk was bound to happen, right?" he said with a nervous laugh, "Can't avoid it anymore,"

"I suppose not," Emma said casually, while typing something on her phone, followed by a buzzing sound that announced a received massage.

"Emma," Luke sighed, "Please put that phone away and tell my why you hate April so much."

"I don't hate her," Emma said, looking at her father.

"Fine, then tell me why you dislike her," Luke said, rolling his eyes.

Emma sighed hard and placed her phone on her nightstand, "come on, Dad. You and I both know she's your favorite."

"What?" Luke asked, taken aback by her words, "She's not my 'favorite'! I don't do favorites!"

"Well, you certainly do a great job at showing that," Emma said sarcastically.

"Emma!" Luke gasped, her tone hurting him right in the core. They were used to Rick speaking to them like that, but Emma was always very in control, very sweet, apart from when she spoke to April.

"No, dad! Don't 'Emma' me!" she said loudly, "Whenever she's here, she gets your undivided attention. You don't care about the rest of us. You ask what she wants to do, what she wants to eat, and you do whatever she tells you to. Remember last time, when you guys went to that stupid biology museum? I asked to come, didn't I? I asked, but you said 'no'!" Emma ranted in a way that could easily beat her father, the rant-King.

"I thought you wouldn't like that," Luke whispered as he hung his head.

"You're right, I wouldn't," Emma continued her rant, "but you don't like museums or biology either. We could have gone there together, mocking everything, while April's being all serious about her future and stuff. We could have had fun. You would probably have had more fun with a mocking-companion there,"

"Yeah, that would have been fun," Luke said sadly, looking up at her, "So you feel like I've been neglecting you when April's here?"

"It's just … I had you for myself for five years. I was your little girl, your only little girl and you adored me," Emma said as the tears started to run down her cheeks for the third time that morning. "I remember that day when I sat at the diner table, drawing, and this cheerful girl with a crazy bike helmet came to sit with me, admiring my 'art', as she called it. I really liked her, until that crazy, pink-helmeted girl stole my father from me."

"Yeah, I was pretty self-centered that time," Luke said, his face flushing a bit, "and trust me, your mom made that very clear to me. Bad times."

"Not just then, Dad. It's still that way. You don't really involve any of us when April's here. Okay, maybe Mom, but not Rick and me. And when she's not here, it's 'April this and April that'." Emma swallowed as her voice started to break and she had trouble speaking due to her sobs, "I used to be your only little girl and then she comes in and I'm not anymore. I hate her for that. I know that's selfish, I'm selfish that way, but …"

Luke moved from the chair to her bed and Emma immediately put her arms around him as her tears dampened his flannel. "It's okay. It's okay," Luke said as he stroked her back with one hand and her hair with the other, "Shh, it's okay,"

When she dialed down a bit, Luke said, while still holding her close to him, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never meant for you to feel that way. It's just … I've missed out on so much with April, you know?" he felt her nodding against his flannel cladded chest and continued, "I feel like, if I don't make her feel at home here, she'll just leave. She lived without me for twelve years, she could easily live without me again, while, with you, I've been so lucky to have seen it all, to have seen you grow up, to be one of the people you rely on most. I feel safe that I won't ever lose you."

Emma pulled back and shook her head, "No, Dad, you won't lose me, but you know what? You won't lose April either. You have a way of worming your way into someone's heart. She loves you. Mom once said: 'Once Luke Danes is in your life, he's in your life forever'," she shrugged her shoulders, "April feels the same."

Luke smiled. "You're pretty confident about this, aren't you?" When Emma nodded, he said in a sincere tone, "Thanks, kid."

"I love you, Daddy," Emma said in a choked voice.

"I love you too, Emmy," Luke said, a warm feeling floating through him at her words.

"So I should involve you in April and mine museum-visits, huh?" he asked, jokingly, trying to relieve some of the tension.

Emma shook her head and smiled at him, "Nah, you don't have to involve me in your April-time, but you could do something fun with me some time, you know, just you and me."

"That would be nice," Luke said, smiling at the daughter that looked so much like Lorelai, apart from the color of her eyes and her nose, those were his eyes and his nose. He trailed his finger over her nose, like he did when she was just a baby and asked, "How about Wednesday? You get out of school early and I can get the day off."

"Perfect," Emma cried happily and she hugged her father again quickly.

He placed a kiss on her cheek and got up. "I'm gonna go, so you can go back to your important conversation," he said as he pointed to her phone, "seriously, that thing just won't stop buzzing, popular girl," Luke teasingly shook his head.

Emma beamed at him and he walked to the door. Before he exited the room, he looked back to see Emma vehemently typing on her phone with a broad smile on her face, and he couldn't help but smile himself.

"And? How was it? What did she say?" Lorelai immediately started interrogating when Luke walked down the stairs. He walked right past her, sat on the couch and buried his face in his hands. "Hon, what is it?" Lorelai asked concerned as she sat down next to him and put her arm around his back, stoking his shoulder tenderly.

When Luke looked up at her, she saw the tears running down his face and she swallowed at the sight. "I've been trying to catch up with twelve lost years with one of my daughters and it turns out I've been neglecting the other. What the hell is wrong with me?" Luke asked.

"Nothing's wrong with you, Luke," Lorelai said reassuringly as she rubbed her right hand over his right bicep, while still stroking his left shoulder with the other, "You've not neglected Emma. Trust me, I was here,"

Luke shook his head, "She seems to feel that way."

"She said that?" Lorelai asked doubtfully.

Luke thought for a moment and wiped his tears away with his hands, "No, I suppose it's only when April's here. Though, she does think that I talk about her too much, maybe even eulogize her, or something, and she's kinda jealous that April and I go out together, but not her and me.

"Understandable," Lorelai said as she nodded.

"What?" Luke asked shocked, "How is it understandable? I didn't even know Emma still wanted to hang out with her old man! I thought she was too cool for that now,"

Lorelai laughed, 'Hon, she's a thirteen year old girl. She might act all tough, but seriously, she's still anxious to hang with her father every now and then; talk, joke, laugh, get spoiled …" she shrugged her shoulders and let her right hand fall to his thigh, squeezing it gently. "Every young girl feels that way," she said by way of explanation.

"Really?" Luke asked as he adjusted his hat.

"Well, yeah," Lorelai said a bit surprised that he didn't know that. "Remember Rory with Christopher? All she wanted was a little attention from him and she was disappointed every time he let her down. And even I wanted some alone time with dad every now and then."

"I'll remember that," he said, looking into her bright blue eyes, her polite smile very apparent in them, "But what on earth could Emma and I do together?"

"Well, let's see. She likes to play sports and you like sports … No, you're right. This is too difficult. I have no idea. Hm, maybe we should call Doctor Phil, huh?" Lorelai said teasingly, rolling her eyes.

Luke laughed slightly at her antics and placed his hand on top of hers on his thigh, before he shook his head and squeezed her hand a bit. "Correction: she used to like to play sports and I used to love to play with her. Now she just likes to lie on the couch and watch TV," he said sadly.

Lorelai snorted, "Hon, really, have you ever seen her grades?" When Luke nodded, his face confused, not knowing what her grades had anything to do with this, Lorelai simply said, "She has an A for gym."

"Ye-es," Luke said slowly when it was apparent she wasn't going to expand in her explanation.

As she moved her hand from his shoulder to tap it playfully on the top of his baseball cap, she laughed at his ignorance and said, "Trust me, no girl gets an A in gym if she's not completely into it. I mean, look at me. Look at Rory. Look at April. Hell, even look at Ross Geller! 'Math: A; Science: A; History: A; Gym…'" She rattled off in her best Ross Geller impression and paused a little while to think, while Luke chuckled at her ability to once again make good use of her interest for the TV. "Okay, now I know Ross is not a girl," she continued, trying to defend her argument, "but in this case, he might as well be!"

"Sure," Luke said amused.

"Anyway, I never thought I'd produce a girl that's into sports," Lorelai told Luke, "Or that I would ever admit that my own daughter's a sports fan, for that matter, but Emma … She's a lot more like you than you think."

"You think?" Luke asked.

"I know," she said confidently. When Luke still looked doubtfully, she continued, "She might have my ability to talk your ears off, but when something's bothering her, she's a silent sufferer until she finally snaps, like you; she hates it when people get too involved in her private life, like you, though she's a bit more polite about defending her honor; she's very generous and always willing to help others, just like you, while I'm way more selfish; and Hon, she's really into sports and that, without a doubt, is all you."

Luke shook his head, showing that he was not convinced, "You know that she told me a few years ago she didn't want to play anymore."

Lorelai let out a laugh, "Oh, Lucky Luke, you were obsessed. You wanted to play ball day in, day out. It became a commitment instead of just something fun to do with her dad and big bro. You were a little over-enthusiastic. And when I say 'a little', what I really mean is 'a lot'. But that doesn't mean she doesn't want to go back on the field every now and then to sweat and sweat and sweat until you'll die of the stench if you get to close to her. Really, why anyone would want to do that beats me, but she does. So, just ask her!"

Luke looked at Lorelai's face, watching every little detail with an amused smile as she spoke. "I'll ask her," he said with a nod, "Thank you," he said and leaned in to press a kiss on her lips. "Don't ever call me 'Lucky Luke' again," he said slowly as he pulled back, but Lorelai just smiled.

Luke looked at his watch. "Well, time surely goes fast when you're having fun," he said sarcastically, followed by an eye role that earned a giggle from Lorelai. When he looked sternly at her, she quickly made her giggle into an unconvincing cough and smiled contently at him.

Luke got up as he mumbled, "This is not how I pictured my morning off, damn it."

Lorelai looked up at him with a pout and said sarcastically, "Sure, let me spread my legs for you again," When Luke turned to look at her with a shocked expression on his face, before quickly looking around to see if they were alone and beamed at him, pleased that she had made him uncomfortable.

"Don't talk about it that way again. It sounds wrong," Luke said sternly, pointing a finger at her.

Lorelai also got up, placed her hands on his chest and leaned into him. "I'm not your Vivian Ward, you know," she whispered.

"Who?" Luke asked confused.

Lorelai pecked his lips, before she stated, "'Pretty Woman, Hon."

"Ah, geez!" Luke said as he remembered the movie and he quickly turned around. He walked directly towards the door, grabbing his keys and wallet on his way out, as he ignored the evident pat on his ass. He slammed the door loudly shut, leaving Lorelai behind in a fit of giggles, her hands pressed on her stomach and bending over from laughter.

Later that afternoon, Lorelai sat on the couch, her feet propped up on the coffee table and a book in her hand. However, she had not read one page since sitting down, her mind elsewhere; she rested her head back and gazed intently at the opposite wall of the living room.

She heard the front door shut and then two big feet padding across the hall and into the kitchen. As Rick passed the door to the living room on his way, Lorelai called out to him, "Hey!"

"Hey," Rick grunted back, as he made his way into the kitchen.

"How was work?" Lorelai called.

"Good," he said monosyllabically, as he grabbed a Coke can from the fridge and headed for the stairs.

Lorelai let out a small laugh, rolling her eyes "Oy!" Rick stopped in his tracks, turning around to face her, a confused expression on his face. "Come talk to me," Lorelai said softly, patting the couch cushion next to her.

Rick let out an exhausted sigh, and made his way over to her, plopping down onto the couch with a groan, "Okaaay," Lorelai smiled at him, "Thank you," she said sincerely, eyeing him as he played with his hands. "So how come you were so late getting back?"

Rick hesitated for a moment, trying to remember the alibi he had decided on, "Oh, I did a couple of hours for Tom after my shift at Gypsy's," he supplied smoothly.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were working for Tom again?" Lorelai questioned, when Rick simply nodded, his face looking down towards his lap, she continued, "Don't work too hard though, okay? You'll have plenty of time for that later in life, believe me!" She covered his hands with hers and squeezed gently.

Lorelai eyed him suspiciously, "So what's with this silence thing you've got going on here? This morning you wouldn't shut up and now you can barely string a sentence together. I have to say it's freaking me out a little," she giggled. Rick smirked and let out a soft, muffled laugh, but he made no attempt to move his gaze.

Concern suddenly began to fill Lorelai, there was something troubling him, something he wasn't telling her, she could sense it. "Honey, are you okay?" she asked tenderly, sweeping the pads of her thumb across the back of his hand.

Rick was silent for a moment, mesmerized by the movement of her thumbs against his hands, a million thoughts whirring around his brain. "It's nothing, really. Honestly Mom, I'm fine," he said, shrugging his shoulders dismissively, he lifted his gaze to look at her and was met with a look that was laced with concern.

"You promise?" she asked worriedly, her eyes wide.

"I promise," he repeated slowly, nodding his head slightly.

An awkward silence fell on the room. Rick gave a sweeping glance around the room before standing up, causing Lorelai's hands to abruptly fall onto the couch. "I'll, uh, be upstairs," he mumbled, gesturing to the ceiling before making his way out of the room.

"Oy," Lorelai called softly.

Rick slowly spun around to face her, his lanky body leaning tiredly on the doorframe, "Is that your new favorite word or something?"

Lorelai giggled slightly before saying, "Kiss the Mommy before you go," tapping her index finger against her cheek with a smile.

Rick dropped his forehead into his palm while sighing, "Mom!"

Lorelai pouted at him, "Aw, come on, you can't deny me my Ricky love!" she teased playfully, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Fine, but only if you stop calling it that," he grumbled, as he made his way back over to the couch and reluctantly bent down, allowing her to kiss his cheek. As he began to walk towards the door, Lorelai grabbed his hand to stop him and held it between both of hers. Rick looked at her questioningly over his shoulder, his eyebrow raised slightly.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" she asked tenderly, tilting her head upwards to look into his bright blue eyes which looked so much like her own, willing him to understand the sincerity in her statement.

Rick nodded solemnly, "Yeah, I do," he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before heading for the stairs again

Lorelai watched him walk upstairs until she couldn't see him anymore and listened as she heard his bedroom door close, before she leaned back into the couch cushions with a sigh and turned her attention to her book.

A/N: Your many words of love and kindness and other praises are very welcome, but we are also very open to critic, so please, leave a review. We, ourselves, might think we rock, but mainly we are very curious of what you guys think. Thanks!

Also, as vacation time is coming up, we found out that our schedules don't match at all. We'll do our very best to keep writing, but it might take a while for chapter two to be uploaded. We apologize in advance and thank you so much for reading this chapter.

Finally, to all of you travelers out there -Safe trip and have fun!