This short tale popped into my head today, probably because in my current story, Luke and Lorelai have been reminiscing so much about their early days in the diner. Hope you enjoy!

The playing cards slapped rhythmically against the counter, some of them ending up at a slight tilt because of a few gouges in the well-used wooden surface.

Luke Danes studied the solitaire game he'd just dealt himself, looked up at the empty diner, and then, with a sigh, bent his head once more to the cards.

The diner had only been open for a couple of years, but already Luke was learning the seasonal eating patterns of Stars Hollow. Today, Mother's Day, he knew not to expect a crowd. A small town diner, with nothing special on the menu besides the normal patty melts and fries, wasn't the place to bring Mom to celebrate her big day. The regular breakfast customers had been in early, along with the handful of church-goers grabbing danishes on the way to services. Dinnertime would see a trickle of those wanting salads or sandwiches, something light to offset the heavy buffets they'd tackled in Hartford, or the home-cooked carry-ins they'd eaten at their daughters' houses. He'd already known he was facing a slow day, but he wasn't expecting it to move by at such a glacial pace. He was glad, though, that he hadn't scheduled anyone to work besides himself. It was bad enough that he was stuck here.

Another sigh and he moved a red queen on top of a black king, wondering if he should just close the diner for a couple of hours. Go upstairs and watch a baseball game, maybe. Anything to break up the monotony of this long Sunday afternoon.

The bells over the door jingled suddenly in the quiet. The unexpected noise made him jump, and the black jack he'd just turned over went flying to the floor.

It was a girl, dark-haired and neat, tiptoeing her way up to the counter. She was at that age Luke distrusted the most, past childhood but not yet a teenager. Right at that age when smart mouths and attitudes flourished, minus any maturity to regulate them. And this one was alone, without a parent close by to try and maintain control.

Great. Just what the afternoon needed.

"Help you?" he asked brusquely, not even bothering with all of the words needed to make it a complete sentence.

The girl nodded, giving him a sort of embarrassed smile.

The smile made him look at her more closely. He knew, then, who she was, and that made him even more uneasy. She was the daughter of that woman. The pretty, annoying one. Lorelai. He hated to think what her kid would be like without adult supervision.

He frowned. "So, what do you want?"

She took a big breath. "I'd like a cup of coffee, please."

He snorted a contemptuous laugh. "Yeah, right. That'll happen right after I run next door and buy you a pack of cigarettes. Forget it, kid."

The girl flushed and her eyes got bigger. "No, I don't mean I want a cup of coffee. I want to get a cup of coffee for my mom."

Luke made a show of looking all around the empty diner. "Funny, I don't see your mother here."

"No, she's at home. I want to get a cup of coffee and take it home, to surprise her."

"She doesn't already have coffee at home?"

"Yeah, but she likes yours better." The girl bobbed her head, an imitation of a move he'd already seen the mother make numerous times. "She says there's nothing she loves more than your coffee. Except me." The girl gave him that shy smile again, taking him so by surprise that he almost smiled back.

He pulled his face back into sternness. "You got money?"

She nodded, sliding a hand into the pocket of her jeans.

"What'd you do, rob your piggy bank?" he questioned, watching her stack coins on the counter.

Her cheeks went pink again. "Sort of."

Luke quirked his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest, silently letting her know that she was going to have to give him more of an explanation than that before he was going to trust her with a cup of coffee.

She licked her lips and looked down at her feet, giving a deep sigh before she met his gaze again. "Today's Mother's Day," she said.

"I'm aware of that."

She nodded. "And Mom always says that she wouldn't get to celebrate Mother's Day at all if it wasn't for having me, so instead of me getting her a gift, we always go out and do something together. I usually make her a card, and before we moved to our own house, Sookie or Mia would help me make her some cookies or something. Since we live at our own home now, I don't see them as much. But it's Mother's Day, and Mom's taking a bath with the good scented bubble bath before we go to the zoo, and I thought I'd sneak out and be ready to surprise her with a cup of coffee when she got out. I checked on the menu, so I know how much it costs." She pointed at the coins she'd carefully arranged on the counter.

Luke chewed his bottom lip. As much as he wanted to trust the kid, there was still something not quite adding up for him. "Where's your father?" he asked abruptly, thinking that might help to clarify the situation for him. "Can't he help you get something for her?"

She tipped her face up, her deep blue eyes snapping. "My mother isn't interested in dating anyone right now," she informed him haughtily.

"Geez!" Luke raised his hands at her in alarm. "Where'd that come from? All I asked is where your father is."

"And that question is usually followed up by an offer to 'help' my mother with something, usually over drinks," the girl said pointedly. "So I'm saving you some trouble by letting you know she's not looking to date anyone right now."

"And I'm not interested in dating her!" Luke was offended, and oddly, a little embarrassed. "I already know your mother's crazy. And anyway, who'd try to ask out a woman through her kid?"

"You'd be surprised," she muttered darkly, all at once looking older than she had just a few minutes before.

"Geez," Luke sighed, despairing over the state of the world. He looked over at the carafe full of coffee. "You promise me this is going to her, right? You're not going to sneak some sips on the way home, are you?"

"No," she promised earnestly, making that 'cross my heart' motion over her chest.

"Well, I guess…" Still feeling hesitant, he nevertheless turned and started to walk over to the back counter.

"Thank you!" She walked closer to the cash register, watching him. "And, about my dad…I think maybe he's in Oregon right now."

"Oh?" Luke deliberately didn't look over at her.

"Yeah. He's not real good about keeping in touch."

Luke shook his head. "Sorry."

The girl shrugged. "We're kind of used to it."

Their home situation suddenly became clearer to Luke. The young woman, trying valiantly to make a home for her daughter. No father in the picture. The girl robbing a piggy bank to pay for a cup of coffee for her mom.

He swallowed hard, trying to separate a to-go cup from the stack.

"It doesn't cost anything to be nice, Luke. You'll always remember that, won't you, honey?"

He heard the voice as if the speaker was once again right beside him. He closed his eyes, picturing her sandy brown hair swinging back and forth in a ponytail. He could feel her loving arms around him, safely keeping him anchored on the stepstool so that he was tall enough to reach the counter. She was helping him stir up cake batter, because they were baking a cake to take to their neighbors. He couldn't remember why anymore. But his mother's words, said lightly to him on that long ago afternoon…those he remembered perfectly.

He put down the small to-go cup and picked up the largest one he had. He filled it up with coffee and snapped on the lid. And then, his mother's words still echoing in his memory, he grabbed a Styrofoam container and shoved two portions of apple pie into it. He closed the lid and set it and the cup in front of the girl.

"Here you go," he said gruffly.

"Oh, no, I can't…" Panicked, the girl pointed at the small puddle of coins on the counter.

"On the house," Luke insisted. "Mother's Day special."

"But –" she began, still protesting.

"Look, just have a nice day with your mom, OK?" His jaw tensed, trying not to let this young girl see what was prompting his sudden generosity. "Sometimes…those days go by too fast. So just enjoy this one with her, OK?"

She nodded, her big blue eyes now looking at him in awe.

"What's your name?" he asked, surprising himself by asking. He was even more surprised to realize he really wanted to know.

"Rory," she said, a little shyly again. "I'm named after my mother."

Luke frowned. "How can that be? Isn't her name Lorelai?"

"Yeah, my name's Lorelai, too, but I've always been called Rory."

"How the hell – heck – do you get Rory out of Lorelai?" he asked, flummoxed.

A mischievous glimmer settled down over her. "According to my mother, with much cursing and a lot of Demerol."

A laugh barked out of Luke before he could stop it, because he knew he shouldn't be laughing at such a grown up comment coming out of a pre-teen's mouth. He looked at her – Rory – with more interest. He saw the self-satisfied look on her face, having successful delivered the joke. He could see the pretty woman she was going to grow up to be, as pretty as her mother. And apparently with just as smart of a mouth, too.

He shook his head at himself, wondering how much torment these two might heap on him as the years went by.

"Thanks, Mr. Danes," Rory said, picking up the containers.

"It's Luke," he told her. "You don't have to bother with the Mr. Danes nonsense in here. And in fact, you might tell your mother my name's Luke, too. Seems like she can't quite get that through her head, in spite of my name being on every single menu and on the front window." He motioned towards the yellow script flowing across the glass, trying not to let the irritation over continually being called 'Duke' be too obvious.

"Oh, she knows your name," Rory said with her mother's cheeky grin, turning to leave.

"She does?" Luke asked skeptically.

"Oh, yeah." Rory turned at the door, smiling openly at him. "She just wants to see what you'll do to make her stop."

"She – she wants –" Luke sputtered.

"Bye, Luke. Thanks!" Rory said, before he could find his voice. She bobbed her head again and hurried out of the diner, carrying home her prizes.

The door closed behind her, the bells jingling again. Luke looked down at the cards, unable to work up any enthusiasm for his interrupted game. Instead he looked over at the phone on the wall. He wondered if he could find his sister's number. Maybe he'd call her. It had been a while since they'd talked.

Slowly he walked over to the phone, pulling out his wallet as he went, trying to remember where he'd written down her number.

Because no matter what, wishing somebody a happy Mother's Day would be a nice thing to do.