Finally where we should be

Breakfast at Luke's

Rory wasn't planning to be out of the house at 7.00 AM on a Sunday. Of course, the girl already knew that sleeping late was a thing of the past. But she didn't have high expectations in mind. All she was wishing for was a simple lazy morning, which seemed reasonable for a mother of a four-month-old baby.

If today had played out as she expected, the young Gilmore would be peacefully enjoying a cup of coffee and a newspaper in her pajamas at the kitchen table. Instead, she was awakened at the crack of dawn by a very cranky Ellie. And Rory has learned by now that her child was an outdoorsy person, just like Logan.

So, when the crying persisted even after a diaper change and a bottle, the only thing left to do was taking the baby out for a walk - because driving around only works to calm her at night.

As Ellie got distracted exploring the sounds, colors and shapes of the town, Rory made her way to the diner. If she was going to start the day so soon, the new mom wanted at least some fresh pancakes and a nice cup of coffee.

On a normal weekend, Luke would be home to cook. However, he and Lorelai were in Boston today. April had finished her masters at MIT and she was going to present her thesis in a nerdy conference. Therefore, even though he was not a science guy, the proud father wanted to be in the audience. And Lorelai was so surprised when he invited her to be part of the moment that she completely ignored how much she hated The Big Bang Theory.

Rory, on the other hand, wasn't feeling ready to face a two-hour drive and an academic event with the baby. She tried to arrange for Logan to stay with Ellie, but the conference date didn't work with his visitation schedule in September. So, the young Gilmore congratulated April over the phone and decided to stay in Stars Hollow this time.

After marching the streets to the sound of her own thoughts and some occasional whining of a fussy baby, Rory finally entered the diner and was shocked to see so many early-birds on a Sunday. If the girl was wearing her old plaid skirt, it would feel just like the days when she used to be up early every morning to have breakfast at Luke's before getting on the bus to Chilton.

Standing with Ellie in the middle of the crowd of hungry people, Rory started to scan the room to identify someone with just a few bites left on the plate. It was an old technique developed by Lorelai to get a seat fast. It consisted in parking next to the targeted table and talking loudly about embarrassing things until people were forced to leave. She had already an idea to pull this off with a baby as a partner in crime.

Half way through the search, Rory spotted a very concentrated Dean working on his laptop at a table by the window in the back. He was using earphones and seemed to be completely unaware of the buzz inside the diner. Without thinking too much, Rory walked in his direction and then ducked her head to get to his eye level.

"Hey!" Rory said when he noticed her.

Dean took his earbuds off to greet her back. "Rory, hi."

"There's a 'No headphones' policy in this establishment, you know?

"Well, these are technically airpods. They do not fall under the headphone category. The guy at the store assured me I was paying for a completely new product," he joshed.

"I see you've been through this with Kirk already." She said, making a head gesture to point at the pale man with a judgemental look sitting at a table nearby.

"Yeah... And since he is 100% committed to the 'No phones' rule, he didn't have anything at hand to check whether my point was valid or not."

"Using the rules to fight against the system. You've got some nerve, my friend." Rory laughed sheepishly and observed the papers on the table. "I can see that you are busy. I promise I won't take long. I just wanted to thank you for the other night."