Kids? Had Luke 'throw 'em out of my diner unless they're old enough to talk' Danes just mentioned the K word?

Before Lorelai could form a coherent sentence he was gone, denim clad butt galloping up the stairs as if the devil himself was in pursuit. Old Nick may have had better things to do, however Lorelai hadn't. This concerned her damn it, at least she hoped it did. Unless Luke had any other kids stashed away somewhere... A sudden vision of identical triplets all dressed in flannel shirts and baseball caps entered her brain making her wonder if this wasn't another crazy dream.

"Luke!" she called out as she climbed the stairs. Lorelai knew which bedroom he'd be in but she wanted to give him a few seconds to compose himself, get back to the gruff, argumentative fellow that she knew and loved.

Sure enough, when she pushed open the door, Luke was already hitting things with a hammer, a curiously male technique that always backfired when she tried it.

"Luke?" she said again.

"What? Aw crap!"

In turning to look at her, he had managed to hit his thumb with the hammer.

"You see that's was usually happens to me," Lorelai grinned.

"Don't creep up on me like that."

"In these heels on wood floors? Something on your mind Lucas?"

"No."

He went back to his hammering. After carefully shutting the door, Lorelai sat down on the bed, wondering if this weren't the time to quit teasing and have that serious conversation.

"It's just that you mentioned kids and…" she began.

"Forget I said anything."

"Right."

"And for the record I don't hate all children. Some of them… Rory for example… well… they can be okay."

"I never said you hated..."

"But you were thinking it."

She had to admit that he was right. There was so much about this man that she didn't understand. Just about every day brought a surprise, keeping the relationship fresh and exciting. But somehow, Lorelai couldn't help wishing for the day when they understood each other completely and they could just be.

"So my kids are okay?" she asked, innocently.

Lorelai watched as Luke closed his eyes and sighed. He knew he'd been defeated and like it or not he was going to have to talk about this. She smiled in triumph as he joined her on the bed.

"Maybe," he admitted. "It's just lately I've been thinking that…"

"What?"

"It would be nice, you know."

"Kids with me?"

He looked down at his hands.

"Yeah, if you wanted."

"I want," Lorelai whispered, reaching towards him.

"I only have ten minutes," Luke warned.

"Rory only took two. You'd still have eight whole minutes to fix stuff."

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Michel had perfected the art of the sneer but even his carefully practised expression was hitched up a notch as he watched his employer walking down the stairs with the Neanderthal she called her boyfriend. He watched as she kissed Luke goodbye, the latter's hand trailing across her stomach before he left.

"I will never go in that room again!" Michel exclaimed.

"But the window is fixed and the banister. Luke can multitask."

"You are disgusting!"

She wasn't listening to him. No one ever listened to him. Paw-Paw and Chin-Chin had better manners. Look at her standing there with a stupid 'I've just had sex' expression on her face. Michel knew that he would rather clean the stables than stand here any longer.

"I am going out," he announced.

Lorelai didn't reply. She was too busy sniffing a sickening flower. With no one paying any attention to him, Michel found that slamming the door wasn't as satisfying as it might have been.