[karana]

“Lorelai…”he said when he reached her and she stood in front of the sink scrubbing a pan aggressively.

“No, don’t Lorelai me. This is disgusting. You don’t wanna marry me and I don’t…. They force us into this and they use Rory to make sure we can’t escape. And then we should sit out there, make small-talk and act like the perfect family while they keep insulting you? What kind of parents marry their daughter off to a man they despise? How much can you hate own kid?” she said loudly and Luke saw that her eyes watered.

“Hey..” he just wanted to sooth her when Emily burst through the kitchen door.

“You two, come back to the table”, she ordered.

“Is this what it's gonna be like once a month? We come over and play happy family while you force us into something so.. urgh!”

“You're being very dramatic” Emily snorted

“Dramatic? Were you in that room last Monday? You are forcing us into marriage!”, Lorelai said and yelled the last word.

“Yes, I was, and I think you took what we said the wrong way”

“The wrong way? How could I have taken it the wrong way? What was open to interpretation?“ Lorelai yelled

“Keep your voice down”

“No, Mother. I can't take it anymore. All this just seems like a nightmare” she said and looked surprised when Luke handed her a towel.

“You're dripping all over the floor”, he shrugged.

“Emily actually we wanted to talk to you about that.. uhm… arrangement”, he turned his attention to Emily then and hoped that Lorelai would use the time to cool of.

“What is there to talk about?” she asked him.

“We need more time”, he said simply.

“More time? To do what?” Luke took a deep breath to be able to stay calm, while he lay his hand on Lorelai’s shoulder to keep her from attacking her mother.

“Look, we both know what this letter says and I am sure you are just as aware as we are that this is a crazy thing to demand. You did, we accepted to pay our.. dues. But we need more time to arrange a wedding, because I am sure my mother hadn’t want me to marry in a two minute ceremony without guests and without family. If this should last as long Rory is going to Chilton without that we’ll get the town crown for the craziest people there, we need time. We have to send out invitations, talk to our friends and neighbors, Lorelai needs dress, we need a church.. and so on. We can’t do that until the day after tomorrow, there’s just no way.”

“Well, I must say I am surprised”, Emily said.

“Well, it’s what my mother wanted and I want to do it the right way,” he played her.

“Okay, I will give you two time until Rory finished her first semester at Chilton. But then you’ll have to be married, otherwise we will stop paying and you Luke will have to pay us back everything at once”.

“Thank you Emily”, Luke shrugged and really felt somehow relieved.

“And you will move in together”, Emily said then.

“What?” Lorelai exclaimed.

“You two will move in together on Friday. You can stay at your or Luke’s house or we’ll buy you a house, but you will move in together to get used to it. I’m not dumb, Lorelai. I know that you are trying to get out of this”

“That's not true” Lorelai shook her head, Luke’s hand on her shoulder still calming her somehow.

“Why would do we have to get married? Is that really necessary?” she started again.

“A child needs a mother and a father”, Emily just said, tired of the discussion.

“Luke doesn’t want to marry me. Ask him mom. He doesn’t want to marry me and he doesn’t want to play daddy to Rory” Lorelai tried it again and felt Luke tense beside her.

“That’s too bad, because you two will get married. And this discussion is now over. I gave you two more time, that’s it!” Emily decided and Lorelai and Luke realized that there really wasn’t a way out of this.

“We don’t want Rory to know about the deal or where I have the money from”, Lorelai spat out.

“Are you too proud to tell her you will marry a dinner-owner”, Emily tried to get a reaction out of her. She wanted Lorelai to stand up for Luke again, to show him how she felt, because these few hours with the two of them in the same room had shown her that the wish Abby and she always had, had already come true, those two were only too stubborn to admit it. The rumors were true.

“Was I too proud to come here and beg for money?” Lorelai shot back instead.

“No, you certainly weren't. But you're too proud to let her know where you got it from, aren't you? Well, fine, you have your precious pride and I have you two married. We all win”, Emily said and marched out of the kitchen.

While Luke focused on the floor, Lorelai was breathing hard from yelling at her mother. She thought it would do her good, but she actually felt worse. She had said some things about Luke, that she shouldn’t have said.

“I’m sorry”, she said meekly.

“It’s okay”, he shrugged, hiding how he really felt. The comment that he didn’t want to play daddy for Rory had hurt him. Then what had he been doing all these years?

“No, Luke really. I know you don’t mind. I mean.. I know… you don’t want to marry me, but…” she stuttered.

“I get it”, he shrugged again and Lorelai knew that he wouldn’t discuss this any further.

“You wanna move in with us on Friday? I’ll even clear a drawer for you?” she asked him some seconds later and gave him a small smile.

“Okay”, he nodded and smiled back before they both left the kitchen, unaware that Rory had heard every word of their fight with Emily in the dinning-room.

They sat back down at the table and Lorelai whispered “She's got supporters in high up places Who turn their heads to the city sun Jo'anna give them the fancy money Oh to tempt anyone who'd come. Gimme hope Jo’ana…” Luke just sighed.

TBC