Love, Marriage, and Moving Vans (7/12)
Title: Love, Marriage and Moving Vans (7/12)
Author: lorelaisquared
Rating: R Characters:Lorelai, Luke, Rory,
Word Count: 3013
Summary: Sequel to Secret Desires and Nameless Fears. Lots of changes are in store for Stars Hollow's favourite family: Luke and Lorelai finally tie the knot, Rory starts her new job, and someone in town is facing a big move. Second story in the Good Things Come in Threes series.
Authors Note: The title of this chapter, suggested by Jewels12, comes from a song by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Thank you Jewels for the beta. Your suggestions always make my writing better.
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6
Our House, Is a Very, Very, Very Fine House
A ray of sunlight danced across her creamy expanse of skin as Lorelai slept. Luke awoke beside her, his arm draped loosely around her waist. He tightened his grip, moving himself closer to her as he leaned in and kissed her shoulder where the light was glistening. She stirred, emitting a soft moan. Luke's breath caught, struck by how much he loved everything about her, even the sounds she made. He continued to kiss his way along her shoulder, his heartbeat thumping wildly within his chest as she began to wake up, squirming against him.
He came to the delicate skin at the base of her neck and he nuzzled her, grinning as he felt the tremor that ran through her body. He continued to kiss her smooth skin, meandering his way to her ear. He blew softly, barely giving her time to shudder at the sensation, before drawing the ear between his lips and suckling gently.
She groaned, wriggling her body so she was facing him. She cast him a lazy smile, her eyes sparkling with a mixture of satisfaction from the night before, and lust from his actions this morning. She traced her thumb over his jaw-line, pausing as it brushed against the corner of his mouth. Without thinking about it, or planning it, she closed the distance between them, capturing his lips with hers.
Luke wound his arms around her and spun them so she was lying on her back, her long hair - still curly from their wedding the day before - sprawled across the pillow. He kissed her hungrily, devouring every inch of her mouth that he could reach with his tongue. Lorelai grazed her teeth along his bottom lip, and she felt it swell slightly as she sucked it.
The phone rang and Luke cursed, reluctantly releasing his grip on his wife to roll to the edge of the bed and answer the phone. He instantly wished he hadn't answered it, when he was greeted by the annoying and sarcastic tones of Michel's voice, babbling nonsense about bookings and sticky notes. Luke grumbled, irritated at the French man's knack for interrupting them at exactly the wrong time. He tossed the phone to Lorelai and took his watch off the bedside table. He noted the time, realizing with dismay that they had to be at the realtor's office in twenty minutes. Sighing, he swung himself out of bed and headed for the bathroom. A cold shower would have to do.
xxxxx
It was nothing short of a miracle that Lorelai and Luke arrived at the real estate office only ten minutes late. They had actually been ready to leave in time, but as soon as they had descended the stairs of the Dragonfly, Michel and Sookie had cornered them, both demanding Lorelai's immediate attention over some sort of dispute. Lorelai had handled it as quickly as possible and they made a hasty escape, vowing that next time, they'd stay at someone else's inn.
Emily and Richard were already seated in the waiting room when Luke and Lorelai entered.
“There you are,” Emily said impatiently. “You're late.”
Lorelai sighed. “I'm sorry, Mom. We got held up by an issue at the inn. We're here now.”
Before Emily could respond, a blond woman, with short hair that clung to her head in tight curls, approached them. She held her hand out to Lorelai, her perfectly manicured nails painted a bright shade of pink that matched the jacket she was wearing. “You must be Lorelai,” she said politely, shaking Lorelai's hand. She turned to Luke. “And you would be the lucky groom?”
“Luke Danes.” He took the offered hand and shook it firmly.
“Excellent. I'm Kirsteen. Let me just grab the keys and we can get going. You're going to love this property. It's a real find, trust me.” She dashed off, returning a moment later with the keys. “Let's go.”
They followed Kirsteen out to the parking lot where a stylish, black sedan with the logo of the real estate agency painted on it, was waiting for them. Luke and Lorelai climbed into the back of the vehicle, expecting that Emily or Richard would take the front. Much to their surprise, Emily and Richard walked to their own vehicle instead.
“Aren't you coming with us?” Lorelai called to them.
“Oh, no,” Richard told her, “We've already seen it and we don't want to influence your decision.”
“We were only here to take care of some paperwork before hand,” Emily added, upon seeing Lorelai's sceptical expression.
Richard held the passenger door open for his wife. “Give us a call once you've made up your mind.” He sat in the driver's seat and started the engine. “Good luck.”
xxxxx
Ten minutes later, Kirsteen drove down a small country road. The street was edged with cherry blossom trees, creating a beautiful, pink and white arbor. There were only four properties on the street, each marked with a mailbox and an endlessly long driveway. They turned into the last driveway on the right. At first, all they could see were lush fruit trees. Then they came over a small hill, and suddenly, the whole scope of the property was visible.
The house sat at the top of the long driveway. To the right, Lorelai spotted a structure that she recognized as being the stables.
“Look, Luke, you'll be able to teach Jack and Jill here how to fish in our own back yard.” She pointed to a gleaming area in the distance where the sun was reflecting off of the water in the pond.
Luke narrowed his eyes at her. “Don't you mean, I'll be able to teach them how to put a line in the water without any hooks, so we don't hurt the fish that you'll inevitably name within the first three minutes of us living here?”
Lorelai laughed. “Of course that's what I meant.” She took his hand and pulled him to the front porch where Kirsteen was waiting. “Come on, let's see what it looks like inside.”
As they climbed the steps, Luke bounced slightly, testing the quality of the wood. Satisfied, he followed Lorelai and the realtor through the front door.
To his right, was a spiral staircase that lead up to the second storey. The railing was stained a deep, reddish-brown, and looked as though it had been crafted by hand. Below the staircase, double French doors led to a brightly lit room lined with shelves. The ceiling was tapered, following the incline of the staircase above it, resulting in taller bookcases at the far end of the room. These book cases had a ladder attached so that you could climb up to reach the books on the top shelves.
Lorelai's eyes lit up as she surveyed this impressive library. “Wow. Rory would love this. And there's enough room in the centre here that we could both have a work area, as well as plenty of comfy chairs for reading.”
At the mention of Rory, Luke frowned. ”Where is Rory? Wasn't she going to join us?”
“Oh, you're right. In all the craziness at the inn, I completely forgot.” She pulled out her cell phone. “I'll call her right now.”
Just as she punched in the number, there was a knock at the door and Rory's voice called out, “Hello?”
Lorelai put her phone away and bounded to the door to greet her daughter. “Are your ears burning? We were just talking about you.”
Rory laughed and gave her mother a quick hug before following her into the library. “Hi, Luke,” she said brightly. “Sorry I'm late. I got held up at work and I arrived at the real estate office just after you left. I had to call Grandma to get directions.” She looked up, noticing her surroundings for the first time. “Oh my God. Mom, this room is amazing! We'd have room for all of our books, plus the ones I keep finding at the book shop when I work for Andrew.” Rory ran over to the ladder, climbing up a few steps and running her hand over one of the shelves, a dreamy expression stamped over her features.
“See?” Lorelai told Luke, “I knew she'd love it.”
Luke didn't bother answering. Kirsteen was urging them into the next room and he guided Lorelai back through the double doors.
“As you can tell, the house has been modernized and renovated over the years, though the original style and the integrity of the design has been kept intact,” Kirsteen was saying when Rory joined them.
She showed them the living room next. It was a large, open space with a fire place and plenty of room for their furniture. A curved archway led from the living room to the dining area, which in turn, flowed into the kitchen.
The kitchen was large and newly updated, with dark wooden cabinets and ample counter space that jutted out into an island on one end. A sliding glass door near the eating area, opened onto the side deck, offering a gorgeous view of the pond and garden. Across from the kitchen, and next to the library, was a spacious utility and laundry room, complete with a built-in ironing board, a sink, and even a rod for hanging clothing to dry. Beside this, was the first of the four and a half bathrooms and Lorelai was quick to make use of it before they continued their tour on the second level.
High windows surrounded the spiral staircase, filling the room with light and casting shadows as they walked past. The second floor featured a long hallway that was painted bright aquamarine blue.
Luke caught the looks of disgust and horror that Lorelai and Rory exchanged. “We can paint it,” he muttered.
Lorelai's eyes lit up. “Oooooh. I love painting.”
Luke fought to keep a straight face. “I know you do. But you wouldn't be doing the painting.”
The pout was instantaneous. “But I want to paint,” Lorelai whined.
“Yes. But paint fumes are bad for babies. I'll do the painting.”
Lorelai stopped walking. “You? You hate painting.”
“I do, but I don't mind painting if it's for you.” He shrugged. “Besides, I'm sure I can rope someone into helping me.”
“Who, TJ?” Lorelai teased.
Luke groaned. “I was thinking more along the lines of Jackson, or maybe even Kirk. TJ would probably paint it neon pink by mistake.”
“I'll help,” Rory volunteered.
The both gaped at her. “You?” Lorelai said, stunned.
“Sure, why not? I'm a much safer option than Kirk.”
“Very true, but you loathe physical exertion.”
“I do not. Just because I haven't done it before, doesn't mean I don't like painting. Besides, like Luke said, it's for you.”
Lorelai blinked. “Wow. Okay, but don't come moaning and groaning to me about your arm being sore.”
“Fine, fine.” Rory rolled her eyes. “Anyway, you haven't even bought the house yet. Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves? Shouldn't you at least see the bedrooms?”
“Rory, my ever-practical daughter. What would we ever do without you?”
“You'd be bored, I'm sure,” Rory said as she followed Kirsteen into the first bedroom on the right, leaving Luke and Lorelai to trail behind her.
The upstairs was just as nice as the main floor. Much to Lorelai's delight, the master bedroom had a massive, walk-in closet, complete with a shoe rack. The en suite bathroom was impressive, featuring both a large, Jacuzzi tub and a shower. Luke couldn't help casting a heated glance at Lorelai as he thought of the many ways they could put the room to use. She returned his gaze and held it for a moment before forcing herself to look away and move on to the next room, lest she jump him right then and there.
The room across the hall from the master bedroom, was Lorelai's favourite. It was painted pale yellow, with white wainscoting along the bottom portion of the walls. The large, bay window overlooked the front yard, the view stretching beyond the orchard so that you could see the very tops of the houses in the centre of Stars Hollow. Built in front of the window, was a window seat, covered with a plush, colourful cushion.
Lorelai spun around to face Luke. “I love it,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “This room would be perfect for the babies. Don't you think?”
Luke nodded, picturing the room furnished with a large changing table, and two matching cribs. She was right; this room was going to make a great nursery.
There were two other bedrooms on the second floor, both of which were also a good size, and featured hardwood floors and large windows. In addition, there were two more bathrooms, which Rory was rather excited about.
“I'll never have to share a bathroom with you again, Mom,” she said gleefully.
Lorelai feigned hurt. “Gee, thanks. Glad to know you love me so much.”
“Oh, I love you. I don't love sharing a bathroom. She's a bit of a bathroom hog,” Rory informed Luke.
“I knew that long before we started dating.” Luke playfully jabbed Lorelai's side. “She's a lot of work, this one.”
Rory laughed. “Believe me, I know.”
“Hey!” Lorelai cried. “No fair ganging up on the innocent, helpless, pregnant lady.”
The realtor was still talking, explaining the various renovations that had taken place in the past year and directing them to a door at the very end of the hallway. “This leads to the fifth, and final bedroom,” she told them, as she opened the door and started to climb the somewhat rickety stairs. “The attic was converted in 1925 when the original family grew in numbers. It was renovated about ten years ago by the last family, and a bathroom was added at that time so that it could be used as a guest room.” She stepped onto the landing and moved into the room.
Rory was the next to reach the top and she instantly gasped. “Wow. This is amazing.” The room was enormous, spanning the length of the whole house. There were windows on all four walls of the room, flooding the space with natural light. A bay window, almost identical to the one in the nursery, was located near one side of the room and also contained a window seat. The full bathroom was built onto the back corner of the room and beside that was an expansive closet.
Rory turned to her mother and Luke just as they arrived on the landing. “Can this be my room? I love it.”
Lorelai and Luke smiled at each other, amused by Rory's enthusiasm. “I don't see why not,” Lorelai replied. “It suits you. That is...” she cast a glance at Kirsteen and whispered, “if we buy it.”
Kirsteen began to descend the stairs. “I'll meet you all at the barn. I need to make a phone call.”
“Okay, thank you,” Luke said, grateful to her for giving them some privacy to discuss the house.
“How could you not buy it? It's incredible,” Rory exclaimed, once Kirsteen was gone.
“It is a pretty amazing house,” Luke admitted, walking closer to the centre of the room, where Lorelai and Rory were standing. He placed his hand on Lorelai's shoulder. “I know you don't really want to leave your house, but it's already cramped, and with two more family members on the way, we'll be tripping over each other.”
Lorelai sighed. “You're right; I know you are. And this place is amazing, but...” Lorelai choked on a sob and Luke pulled her into a comforting hug. Rory sensed their need for privacy and wordlessly slipped down the stairs.
“We could always keep the old house and rent it out. Maybe give it to Rory one day,” he suggested.
Lorelai perked up. “Really? That's an excellent idea. I think she'd really like that.”
“That's what we'll do then,” Luke assured her.
Lorelai smiled and surveyed the room again. “So, we're going to buy this house. Are you sure? What about the Twickham house?”
“This house suits us better and has even more character than the Twickam house. I can picture our future here. It really is perfect. Emily and Richard chose well.”
Lorelai smiled wanly. “They did, didn't they? Maybe they know us better than I thought.”
“You know, I think you may be right about that.” Luke took her hand and led her to the stairs. “Let's go tell Kirsteen.”
Together they walked back through the house, their house, each imagining the many happy years ahead of them in this space.
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