cassievalentine (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cassievalentine) wrote2007-06-08 10:53 pm
cassievalentine) wrote2007-06-08 10:53 pm
Entry tags:
Fic: Split second
Title Split Second
Fandom Gilmore Girls
Rating PG 13
Summary People make split second decisions every day. How will a split second decision made by Chris affect Luke and Lorelai's lives and relationship?
Spoilers None.
Notes A/U of Season 5. Specifically, it starts in Norman Mailer, I'm Pregnant!.
***
“So, any complaints?” Lorelai whispered into Luke’s ear as he drifted off, naked and satiated. Having been unable to come up with a better plan, Lorelai had fallen back on her original plan of seducing Luke and distracting him with really hot, really dirty sex.
“None at all,” he muttered as he rolled over and pulled her close to him.
“Good,” she replied quietly, a smile on her face as she snuggled under the covers next to him. She laid awake for a long moment, listening to the wind rustling through the tree leaves. “So, Christopher called me today,” she told Luke quietly. He muttered something, but didn’t stir. “He needs a sitter for GG for the afternoon and I agreed to do it.” Lorelai held her breath as she waited for Luke to respond. When he stayed quiet, she finally rolled over and started to drift off her self.
“Wait,” he said suddenly, sitting up in bed. “He’s bringing his kid here?”
“Just for the afternoon,” she replied quietly. The pair locked eyes for a moment.
“You told me this wasn’t going to happen again.”
“No, technically I said I wouldn’t go up to Boston again,” she clarified. Luke sent her a look and she quickly began rationalizing her agreement to baby sit GG. Luke listened to her for a moment before he scrubbed his hands over his face and convinced her to stop.
“Don’t do this again,” he told her simply before he laid back down, but turned away from him. Lorelai sat up in bed for a moment watching Luke before she laid down as well. She stared at the ceiling for another long moment before she finally drifted off as well.
***
"Hey kid!" Lorelai said brightly when she saw GG and Chris come up the walk way the next afternoon. The morning had been rather silent for Luke and Lorelai, but eventually he had relented and told her it would be ok, but he would be expecting her to show up at the diner at least twice during the day and again after Chris had picked the baby up so he could reassert his claim her over. She had giggled and kissed him hard, again repeating that she like it when he was all possessive of her.
"Hey Lor," Chris greeted her. He picked the toddler up and reintroduced her to Lorelai again before she led them all into the house. Chris put the baby down and she slowly began to explore the house as Chris rattled off what he had packed in the bag. "Are you going to be driving? Because I can leave her seat. How about I leave it, just in case?" he asked quickly, pointing over his shoulder with a thumb.
"Sure," Lorelai said as she glanced over her shoulder to check on GG. "Leave the car seat, I can remember how it works," she assured him. Chris nodded and offered her a smile before he promised to leave it on the front porch before he left. She waved to him as he dropped the seat off on the front porch before she turned her attention to the toddler who was starting to dig through her bag, looking for something to do.
***
Lorelai’s day passed relatively quickly. She was surprised how easily she remembered all the things she used to do with Rory when she was little. She and GG spent the morning at home and after a lunch of left-overs from the fridge and a nap, the pair soon found themselves stopping at the Dragonfly briefly to check in before they headed to the small park behind Miss Patty’s to play.
Lorelai was also surprised at the lack of questions regarding the little blonde girl. If Stars Hollow loved anything as much as it’s festivals, it was gossip and this, she was sure, was good gossip.
After a few more slides and another questioning look or two, Lorelai finally wrestled GG into her arms so they could head across the street to make the second of Luke’s requested drop ins. Lorelai offered Luke a bright smile as she headed to the counter. The fact that he glanced around the diner before turning to the coffee pot wasn’t lost on her. She was also pretty sure that she’d heard a drop in volume when she had walked in as well.
"So, how did the day go?" Luke asked as he served Lorelai a cup of coffee. GG and Luke took each other in as Lorelai dug through the baby bag that had been slung over her shoulder.
"Not bad," she said as she handed GG a container of Cheerio‘s before handing Luke a sippy cup from the bag. He stared at the cup for a moment. “Apple juice?” she asked him. "She’s a good kid, quiet, fun . . . it kind of reminded me of when Rory was little," she said as she accepted the now full sippy cup from Luke.
"You think she looks like Rory?" Luke asked as he and GG locked eyes. Lorelai frowned a little as she looked at Luke before she lifted GG and turned her so she could get a good look at her face. She studied the little girl for a moment before settling her on her lap again.
"Maybe the eyes," she said after a moment. "And some of the mannerisms, other than that? No." He studied the baby for a moment longer before he headed off refill some of the coffee cups around the diner. Lorelai frowned a little as she turned to watch him go.
"When's he pickin' her up?" he asked as he returned to the counter. He set the coffee pot back on the element before he cleared a couple of plates that had been left empty on the counter.
"Soon," she said as she watched him head to the cash register to make some change. "We should head home to meet him, pack up her stuff. I promised to have her bathed and in her pyjamas by the time he got here."
“It’s 4 in the afternoon,” he pointed out as he finally focused his attention on her.
“Hey, when you’re almost 2 a bath can last for hours,” she said with a shrug. “I also don’t know if he’s planning on spending the night in Hartford or driving home to Boston.” Luke shook his head. Why anyone would want to make a 4 hour drive with a 2 year old, let alone a tired and grumpy one, was beyond him.
"Good luck with that," he said as he moved the Cheerio’s container to sweep up the O’s that had gotten away from the toddler. GG stared hard at Luke, trying to decide if she should make a fuss about what he was doing. In the end, she decided not to.
"Meet me at home?" Lorelai asked as she finished her coffee before she stood, tossing the bag back over her shoulder and grabbing the container from the counter, snapping the lid closed again.
"I'll be around after close," he assured her. They shared a kiss over the counter before she rested GG on her hip and strode out of the diner.
***
Unlike the day, the evening dragged on. GG had to be the only kid in the world that didn’t enjoy playing in the tub. Eventually however, Lorelai managed to get her bathed and into a pair of sleepers before the pair camped out in the living room to wait for Chris. As GG flipped through a book, a bottle in her mouth, Lorelai casually flipped through her movie collection until she found one to watch.
As the movie dragged on and GG began to droop, Lorelai began to worry a little. Chris was normally good about calling when he was late, but this time. . . Not so much apparently. Realizing that GG was nearly asleep, Lorelai paused the movie and dashed upstairs to find some spare blankets. She quickly returned and set up a little nest for the toddler, tucking her in securely before she stood up and headed over to the phone, paranoid that she had missed Chris’ call.
Lorelai sighed heavily as she checked her answering machine to make sure she hadn't missed any messages. She checked her phone as well to make sure that she hadn't missed and calls or voice mails. She frowned as she checked the time yet again before returning to the couch and pressing play again on the movie she was watching.
"Hey," Luke called out as he walked into the house. Lorelai shushed him as she looked towards the toddler who was sleep amid a nest of blankets on the floor. GG snuffled but didn't really stir. "What?" Luke asked, a quieter tone as he took his coat off and walked over to her.
"Chris is late," she said, nodding to the toddler on the floor. Luke frowned when he saw the blonde baby asleep in the blankets.
"How late?" he asked her as he slipped his coat off, still focusing on the baby.
"A couple of hours now," she said, glancing at the clock. "He's not answering his cell phone or his home phone, no one is at his office any more, I don't really know who else to call." Luke finally dropped his coat over the back of the couch and moved towards the arm chair.
"His parents?" he suggested as he took a seat in the chair across from the couch. He glanced at Lorelai briefly before he began untying his shoes.
"They're in Europe somewhere," she said as she grabbed the phone and hung on to it, hoping to will Christopher into calling. "I called all the contact numbers he left me and it's all going to voice mail or answering machines or it's just not being picked up." The pair stared at each other for a moment before he heaved a sigh. He asked her what her plan was and all Lorelai could do was shrug. "He said he'd phone if he was going to be late. What if something happened to him?" Luke didn't really have an answer for her. The two stared at each other for a long moment as they tried to decide what to do. "Look," she finally said. "Why don't you go to bed, I mean, you must be tired."
"I am," he confirmed as he finally toed off his shoes and sat back in the chair.
"I'll stay down here with her. He's bound to show up by the time the movie's over," she said confidently, glancing at the phone in her hand one more time before turning her attention back to him and offering, what she hoped was a confident smile.
"And if he doesn't?" Luke asked. He trusted Christopher about as far as he could throw him and had absolutely no problems playing devil’s advocate.
"Sookie left a play pen here at one point. It's either in the closet or the attic. I guess I'll have to pull it out," she said with a shrug. He sighed and heaved himself out of the chair, telling her that he'd pull it out. "In the bedroom please? I don't want to have to make a mad dash down to the living room at 3 am."
"Ah jeez," he complained, his shoulders sagging slightly. "She's gonna wake up at 3 am?" Lorelai shrugged and said she didn't know if she would or not, but that she didn't want to find out. Luke shook his head as he headed over to the closet, thankfully finding the play pen right away. "See you in a bit," he said as he dragged it upstairs.
"Yeah," she called up after him. She cast one last look out the window, hoping to see a pair of headlights. With a sigh, she turned her attention back to the TV, phone still in her hand.
***
As the credits of her movie rolled across the television screen, Lorelai quickly hit the mute button and headed over to the window. She pulled the curtain aside and stared out into the dark for a while. With a dejected sigh, she quickly headed back over to the couch, grabbed the phone and angrily dialled Chris’ cell phone once again.
“Damn it, Christopher! Pick up the phone!” she all but yelled when his voice mail picked up again. “Chris, it’s. . . some ungodly hour in the morning and, well, you’re not here. Where are you? You better be dead or dying or in a coma or something REALLY good because, I swear to God, I will kill you when I get my hands on you,” she growled into the phone. She quickly ended the call as his voice mail beeped that it was full and placed the phone back in the base to recharge with a little more force than was necessary. She quickly headed over to where she had tucked GG in and scooped her up before heading upstairs and depositing her in the playpen Luke had managed to set up at the foot of the bed.
After making sure that GG had snuggled herself down again and was asleep, Lorelai quietly crawled in next to Luke.
***
Christopher ignored his phone as it vibrated away on his hip. He was busy signing his name and making sure he had all his papers in order.
“And you’re sure every thing’s in order?” he asked his friend who was notarizing the papers as he signed them.
“How many time do I have to tell you that yes, everything is in order,” the second man said, trying to keep the exasperated tone out of his voice. Chris sighed heavily as his hand hesitated over the last paper for a moment before he finally placed pen to paper and signed everything. He quickly pulled the stack of papers back in front of himself and slipped through them, making sure he hadn’t missed and lines to sign while checking that all the papers were there.
With one last glance, Chris shoved the papers into a legal envelope, sealed it and handed it to his companion.
“Make sure it goes out tonight and will be there in no more than 36 hours.”
“Cutting it close.”
“Just do it,” Chris said as he tossed the pen onto the table, grabbed his coat and hurried out of the room. His companion watched him go before he turned his attention to the envelope in his hand, taking a moment to read the address before tucking it into his own bag and heading out to send it off to it’s destination.
***
Fandom Gilmore Girls
Rating PG 13
Summary People make split second decisions every day. How will a split second decision made by Chris affect Luke and Lorelai's lives and relationship?
Spoilers None.
Notes A/U of Season 5. Specifically, it starts in Norman Mailer, I'm Pregnant!.
***
“So, any complaints?” Lorelai whispered into Luke’s ear as he drifted off, naked and satiated. Having been unable to come up with a better plan, Lorelai had fallen back on her original plan of seducing Luke and distracting him with really hot, really dirty sex.
“None at all,” he muttered as he rolled over and pulled her close to him.
“Good,” she replied quietly, a smile on her face as she snuggled under the covers next to him. She laid awake for a long moment, listening to the wind rustling through the tree leaves. “So, Christopher called me today,” she told Luke quietly. He muttered something, but didn’t stir. “He needs a sitter for GG for the afternoon and I agreed to do it.” Lorelai held her breath as she waited for Luke to respond. When he stayed quiet, she finally rolled over and started to drift off her self.
“Wait,” he said suddenly, sitting up in bed. “He’s bringing his kid here?”
“Just for the afternoon,” she replied quietly. The pair locked eyes for a moment.
“You told me this wasn’t going to happen again.”
“No, technically I said I wouldn’t go up to Boston again,” she clarified. Luke sent her a look and she quickly began rationalizing her agreement to baby sit GG. Luke listened to her for a moment before he scrubbed his hands over his face and convinced her to stop.
“Don’t do this again,” he told her simply before he laid back down, but turned away from him. Lorelai sat up in bed for a moment watching Luke before she laid down as well. She stared at the ceiling for another long moment before she finally drifted off as well.
***
"Hey kid!" Lorelai said brightly when she saw GG and Chris come up the walk way the next afternoon. The morning had been rather silent for Luke and Lorelai, but eventually he had relented and told her it would be ok, but he would be expecting her to show up at the diner at least twice during the day and again after Chris had picked the baby up so he could reassert his claim her over. She had giggled and kissed him hard, again repeating that she like it when he was all possessive of her.
"Hey Lor," Chris greeted her. He picked the toddler up and reintroduced her to Lorelai again before she led them all into the house. Chris put the baby down and she slowly began to explore the house as Chris rattled off what he had packed in the bag. "Are you going to be driving? Because I can leave her seat. How about I leave it, just in case?" he asked quickly, pointing over his shoulder with a thumb.
"Sure," Lorelai said as she glanced over her shoulder to check on GG. "Leave the car seat, I can remember how it works," she assured him. Chris nodded and offered her a smile before he promised to leave it on the front porch before he left. She waved to him as he dropped the seat off on the front porch before she turned her attention to the toddler who was starting to dig through her bag, looking for something to do.
***
Lorelai’s day passed relatively quickly. She was surprised how easily she remembered all the things she used to do with Rory when she was little. She and GG spent the morning at home and after a lunch of left-overs from the fridge and a nap, the pair soon found themselves stopping at the Dragonfly briefly to check in before they headed to the small park behind Miss Patty’s to play.
Lorelai was also surprised at the lack of questions regarding the little blonde girl. If Stars Hollow loved anything as much as it’s festivals, it was gossip and this, she was sure, was good gossip.
After a few more slides and another questioning look or two, Lorelai finally wrestled GG into her arms so they could head across the street to make the second of Luke’s requested drop ins. Lorelai offered Luke a bright smile as she headed to the counter. The fact that he glanced around the diner before turning to the coffee pot wasn’t lost on her. She was also pretty sure that she’d heard a drop in volume when she had walked in as well.
"So, how did the day go?" Luke asked as he served Lorelai a cup of coffee. GG and Luke took each other in as Lorelai dug through the baby bag that had been slung over her shoulder.
"Not bad," she said as she handed GG a container of Cheerio‘s before handing Luke a sippy cup from the bag. He stared at the cup for a moment. “Apple juice?” she asked him. "She’s a good kid, quiet, fun . . . it kind of reminded me of when Rory was little," she said as she accepted the now full sippy cup from Luke.
"You think she looks like Rory?" Luke asked as he and GG locked eyes. Lorelai frowned a little as she looked at Luke before she lifted GG and turned her so she could get a good look at her face. She studied the little girl for a moment before settling her on her lap again.
"Maybe the eyes," she said after a moment. "And some of the mannerisms, other than that? No." He studied the baby for a moment longer before he headed off refill some of the coffee cups around the diner. Lorelai frowned a little as she turned to watch him go.
"When's he pickin' her up?" he asked as he returned to the counter. He set the coffee pot back on the element before he cleared a couple of plates that had been left empty on the counter.
"Soon," she said as she watched him head to the cash register to make some change. "We should head home to meet him, pack up her stuff. I promised to have her bathed and in her pyjamas by the time he got here."
“It’s 4 in the afternoon,” he pointed out as he finally focused his attention on her.
“Hey, when you’re almost 2 a bath can last for hours,” she said with a shrug. “I also don’t know if he’s planning on spending the night in Hartford or driving home to Boston.” Luke shook his head. Why anyone would want to make a 4 hour drive with a 2 year old, let alone a tired and grumpy one, was beyond him.
"Good luck with that," he said as he moved the Cheerio’s container to sweep up the O’s that had gotten away from the toddler. GG stared hard at Luke, trying to decide if she should make a fuss about what he was doing. In the end, she decided not to.
"Meet me at home?" Lorelai asked as she finished her coffee before she stood, tossing the bag back over her shoulder and grabbing the container from the counter, snapping the lid closed again.
"I'll be around after close," he assured her. They shared a kiss over the counter before she rested GG on her hip and strode out of the diner.
***
Unlike the day, the evening dragged on. GG had to be the only kid in the world that didn’t enjoy playing in the tub. Eventually however, Lorelai managed to get her bathed and into a pair of sleepers before the pair camped out in the living room to wait for Chris. As GG flipped through a book, a bottle in her mouth, Lorelai casually flipped through her movie collection until she found one to watch.
As the movie dragged on and GG began to droop, Lorelai began to worry a little. Chris was normally good about calling when he was late, but this time. . . Not so much apparently. Realizing that GG was nearly asleep, Lorelai paused the movie and dashed upstairs to find some spare blankets. She quickly returned and set up a little nest for the toddler, tucking her in securely before she stood up and headed over to the phone, paranoid that she had missed Chris’ call.
Lorelai sighed heavily as she checked her answering machine to make sure she hadn't missed any messages. She checked her phone as well to make sure that she hadn't missed and calls or voice mails. She frowned as she checked the time yet again before returning to the couch and pressing play again on the movie she was watching.
"Hey," Luke called out as he walked into the house. Lorelai shushed him as she looked towards the toddler who was sleep amid a nest of blankets on the floor. GG snuffled but didn't really stir. "What?" Luke asked, a quieter tone as he took his coat off and walked over to her.
"Chris is late," she said, nodding to the toddler on the floor. Luke frowned when he saw the blonde baby asleep in the blankets.
"How late?" he asked her as he slipped his coat off, still focusing on the baby.
"A couple of hours now," she said, glancing at the clock. "He's not answering his cell phone or his home phone, no one is at his office any more, I don't really know who else to call." Luke finally dropped his coat over the back of the couch and moved towards the arm chair.
"His parents?" he suggested as he took a seat in the chair across from the couch. He glanced at Lorelai briefly before he began untying his shoes.
"They're in Europe somewhere," she said as she grabbed the phone and hung on to it, hoping to will Christopher into calling. "I called all the contact numbers he left me and it's all going to voice mail or answering machines or it's just not being picked up." The pair stared at each other for a moment before he heaved a sigh. He asked her what her plan was and all Lorelai could do was shrug. "He said he'd phone if he was going to be late. What if something happened to him?" Luke didn't really have an answer for her. The two stared at each other for a long moment as they tried to decide what to do. "Look," she finally said. "Why don't you go to bed, I mean, you must be tired."
"I am," he confirmed as he finally toed off his shoes and sat back in the chair.
"I'll stay down here with her. He's bound to show up by the time the movie's over," she said confidently, glancing at the phone in her hand one more time before turning her attention back to him and offering, what she hoped was a confident smile.
"And if he doesn't?" Luke asked. He trusted Christopher about as far as he could throw him and had absolutely no problems playing devil’s advocate.
"Sookie left a play pen here at one point. It's either in the closet or the attic. I guess I'll have to pull it out," she said with a shrug. He sighed and heaved himself out of the chair, telling her that he'd pull it out. "In the bedroom please? I don't want to have to make a mad dash down to the living room at 3 am."
"Ah jeez," he complained, his shoulders sagging slightly. "She's gonna wake up at 3 am?" Lorelai shrugged and said she didn't know if she would or not, but that she didn't want to find out. Luke shook his head as he headed over to the closet, thankfully finding the play pen right away. "See you in a bit," he said as he dragged it upstairs.
"Yeah," she called up after him. She cast one last look out the window, hoping to see a pair of headlights. With a sigh, she turned her attention back to the TV, phone still in her hand.
***
As the credits of her movie rolled across the television screen, Lorelai quickly hit the mute button and headed over to the window. She pulled the curtain aside and stared out into the dark for a while. With a dejected sigh, she quickly headed back over to the couch, grabbed the phone and angrily dialled Chris’ cell phone once again.
“Damn it, Christopher! Pick up the phone!” she all but yelled when his voice mail picked up again. “Chris, it’s. . . some ungodly hour in the morning and, well, you’re not here. Where are you? You better be dead or dying or in a coma or something REALLY good because, I swear to God, I will kill you when I get my hands on you,” she growled into the phone. She quickly ended the call as his voice mail beeped that it was full and placed the phone back in the base to recharge with a little more force than was necessary. She quickly headed over to where she had tucked GG in and scooped her up before heading upstairs and depositing her in the playpen Luke had managed to set up at the foot of the bed.
After making sure that GG had snuggled herself down again and was asleep, Lorelai quietly crawled in next to Luke.
***
Christopher ignored his phone as it vibrated away on his hip. He was busy signing his name and making sure he had all his papers in order.
“And you’re sure every thing’s in order?” he asked his friend who was notarizing the papers as he signed them.
“How many time do I have to tell you that yes, everything is in order,” the second man said, trying to keep the exasperated tone out of his voice. Chris sighed heavily as his hand hesitated over the last paper for a moment before he finally placed pen to paper and signed everything. He quickly pulled the stack of papers back in front of himself and slipped through them, making sure he hadn’t missed and lines to sign while checking that all the papers were there.
With one last glance, Chris shoved the papers into a legal envelope, sealed it and handed it to his companion.
“Make sure it goes out tonight and will be there in no more than 36 hours.”
“Cutting it close.”
“Just do it,” Chris said as he tossed the pen onto the table, grabbed his coat and hurried out of the room. His companion watched him go before he turned his attention to the envelope in his hand, taking a moment to read the address before tucking it into his own bag and heading out to send it off to it’s destination.
***