Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls of course, and no money was made from this ficlit. No copyright infringement is intended, and any similarity to any other story not my own is coincidence.

Reflecting Light; A Boot and a Shoe; Sam Phillips (The L&L waltz)

Title: Reflecting Light
Genre: Gilmore Girls ficlit, javajunkie, fluff, character study(Rory)
Rating: G
Timeline: Sometime in the future
Author's Note: Written a while ago, so it does not reflect the show as it is now... (ie... Luke and Lorelai are still together and Lane isn't married, etc.) Oh, and the twins are meant to be speaking that way, it is my attempt to make them sound the right age. *grin*



Reflecting Light


“There you two are. What are you doing up here? Why aren’t you in bed?” I asked the two dark haired twins crouched at the top of the stairs and hiding in the shadows.

“Shh,” they whispered in small voices. They held up chubby fingers to their lips in unison.

“Okay Twiddle Dee and Dum, let’s get to bed,” I said gently, trying to shoo my two younger siblings to their beds.

“No, no, no Worwy,” they protested. “Mommy and Daddy are home.”

“Precisely,” I said, hearing the sound of the doors of Luke’s green truck as they closed outside in the driveway. “They’re home and they’ll expect you two to be in bed.”

“But Worwy,” Sabrina protested.

“Dey dance,” Lucas completed the statement.

“What?” I asked as I crouched down next to them.

“Dey dance,” Sabrina replied in her serious two and a half year old voice, her twin nodding vigorously in agreement.

“An we wanna see,” Lucas added.

I sighed quietly and started to stand back up, once more preparing to herd my troublesome siblings back to bed.

“Admit it Luke,” I heard my mom’s voice as she entered the foyer from the front door. Startled, and feeling a little embarrassed, I ducked down on impulse, much to the amusement of the twins.

“There was a second there when Ingrid was walking to the plane that there were a few tears in your eyes.”

“I’ve seen Casablanca before Lorelai, with you in fact. Why would I cry when I knew what was coming?” Luke asked as he entered the foyer after his wife.

“Because my friend, lurking beneath that cool exterior, there’s really a hopeless romantic,” my mom teased, giving Luke a quick kiss.

“I don’t think so,” he replied.

“Do I have to remind a certain Scorpio about something he still keeps in his wallet?” My mom said before she giggled.

“Yeah well, you still haven’t left me alone.”

“And I never will,” she replied.

“Good,” he replied softly. “Because I love you crazy lady.”

My mom laughed lightly and kissed Luke quickly in response once more before she headed into the kitchen.

“We just had dinner, how can you still be hungry?” Luke asked in amazement.

“There’s always room for J-E-L-L-O,” my mom sang happily.

“Where’s Rory?” Luke asked when she walked back into the living room, eating a small bowl of cherry jello with whipped cream on top.

Mom smiled. “She probably fell asleep in the twins’ room again, reading them a bedtime story. I should probably go wake her so she can get back to Lane’s.”

She turned to head back in the direction of my old room that now belonged to the twins. On the stairs, sitting next to my younger brother and sister, I felt myself tense.

“In a minute,” Luke replied, reaching out for his wife’s hand. She smiled as he took the jello from her other hand and set it on the coffee table.

On the stairs, the twins beamed matching smiles in my direction and scooted toward me, cuddling close. From downstairs then came the strains of a soft guitar waltz. “And the moon’s never seen me before, but I’m reflecting light…”

“We could dance,” Luke whispered.

“You do know how to waltz,” mom replied softly as Luke took her in his arms.

I watched as my mom danced slowly with Luke, wrapping herself up in his arms.

“Was this really what my brother and sister wanted to see,” I thought. “They wanted to see mom dance with Luke?”

I looked first to Sabrina on my right and then Lucas on my left. Matching smiles lit their faces as they watched their parents dancing below. I shook my head, who would have thought?

“Give up the ground under your feet. Hold on to nothing for good…”

I had to admit, it was like a scene out of an old movie or something. Luke had his right arm wrapped around my mother’s waist, his hand resting on the small of her back and holding her tight against him, where she fit perfectly. His other hand held hers gently as he lead her in a slow waltz. And my mom and lain her head on his shoulder, so when they turned just so, I could see the quiet smile curving her lips. Even Luke was smiling.

My brother and sister giggled quietly and cuddled closer to me. I was surprised then to feel a quick flash of jealousy.

“Of course they wanted to see this,” I thought. “Their mom and dad are together, happy and wrapped up in each other. It’s practically a Capra movie.”

If my dad had ever been like that with my mom, it was long before I had entered the picture. And of course, I seriously doubted that two sixteen year olds would have ever been like that. I never had the Capra movie. I felt the quick flash of jealousy again.

“We wike when mommy and daddy dance,” Lucas whispered to me.

“Yeah,” his sister chimed in. “I fink it’s weally weally pweety.”

“An I’m happy Worwy’s wif us,” Lucas whispered in a solemn little voice.

“Me too,” Sabrina whispered in response. “Are you happy, Worwy?”

I sighed softly as a wave of guilt for my brief jealousy swept over me. I looked back down to where my mom was still dancing with the man that had loved her for forever. And I felt the warmth of my little brother and sister where they cuddled against me.

“Maybe I have the Capra movie now though,” I thought quietly.

I felt myself smile. “Yeah, yeah Munchin, I am.”

The last strains of the waltz ended and my mom laughed lightly as Luke whispered something in her ear and kissed her. Suddenly he released her and turned in the direction of the stairs.

“And now my little spies, it’s time for bed,” he called up the stairs with a grin in his voice.

My brother and sister squealed happily as their father rushed the stairs. Surprised, I hopped up and back to be safely out of the way. Luke gave me a friendly smile as he reached the twins and scooped one up in each arm. He laughed and kissed each dark head as he carried them down the stairs. When he reached my mom, she placed a kiss on each head as well before Luke carried them in the direction of their room.

“You knew the whole time?” I asked, embarrassed, as I made my own way down the steps.

My mother laughed lightly. “ ‘Fraid so, Kid.”

She pulled me into a quick hug. “The twins hid just fine, but you have to work on your covert spying skills. What is that Harvard Grad school teaching you anyway?” She teased.

“Oh, I guess they forgot to add ‘how to be an international spy’ to their course list. Now I’ll never get to be Jinx and have a Bond in my future,” I quipped.

“Shame,” my mother sighed dramatically. “Then again, Sean Connery is far too old for you, and we all know that he’s the only Bond.”

“I don’t know,” I replied slowly, “Dalton wasn’t all that bad.”

“You didn’t just say that Rory Gilmore!” My mother asked in mock horror. “Did you hear that?” She asked Luke as he walked into the living room from the direction of my old room.

“What?” Luke replied.

“My brilliant eldest daughter just suggested that Timothy Dalton was an acceptable Bond,” my mother explained.

Luke just rolled his eyes, much to my mother’s amusement.

I grabbed my coat and purse from the table behind the couch.

“Thanks for watching them, Rory,” Luke said. “We appreciate it.”

I smiled. “No problem. But next time I’m bring the complete History of the Peloponnesian War. If that doesn’t put them to sleep, nothing will.”

Luke gave me a small grin.

I slipped on my coat and walked in the direction of the foyer, my mother walking with me. I opened the door and stepped just outside before I turned to face her.

“Hey Mom, you guys seem really happy.”

“We are Kid, we really are,” she replied, a grin bright on her face.

“What?” She asked then as she looked me in the eye.

I took a deep breath, not sure how to say what I wanted to say. Finally I took a deep breath and plunged ahead, “You probably don’t remember, but, umm, a long time ago, you asked me if I ever pictured you together with dad.”

“Oh, yeah…?”

“Yeah. And I told you that only I did sometimes, but that I also pictured you with Pee Wee Herman, so it was all okay.”

My mother nodded.

“But, umm, what I didn’t tell you…” I took another deep breath. “Mostly… well… umm… I pictured you with Luke,” I said in a rush.

“Oh,” my mother said, her voice sounding a little surprised.

“I was always a little sad sometimes… that… well…,” I continued, embarrassed now that I was finally saying it aloud.

“It was nice, with Sabrina and Lucas tonight, on the top of the stairs. Somehow, I don’t know,” I tried another way of saying what I had felt. “I mean, I never needed anyone else but you, you know. But it was nice to kind of have… seeing you with Luke…” I fumbled, lost.

My mom smiled quietly. “I understand Sweets.”

I smiled back.

“Drive safe.”

“Thanks mom, and I will. Call you later.”

I hugged my mom briefly before walked to the porch steps, hearing my mom close the front door behind me. As I walked into the night then I heard, “Now that I’ve worn out, I’ve worn out the world, I’m on my knees in fascination, looking through the night. And the moon’s never seen me before, but I’m reflecting light…”

I smiled, thinking of Luke dancing with my mother, and somewhere in the past, a little dark haired girl in angel wings giggled happily…

fin