Chapter 28: The End

This is it, guys. I hope you enjoyed the ride.

This last chapter takes place four years after the proposal, a few months after the wedding.

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Luke was stretched out on a lounge chair in front of Jen's Coronado home … not quite asleep, but in a deep state of relaxation. Amy and Jen were handling the dishes—Amy had something to discuss with Jen privately, so Luke was, for once, banished from the kitchen. The waves droned relentlessly, pounding a steady rhythm against the sand. The ocean stretched out endlessly in front of the house, a view that Luke felt he would never tire of.

It was Christmas Eve. Luke couldn't believe he was in shorts and a t-shirt outside on Christmas Eve. Jen's family—father, brother, sister-in-law and their two kids—had come over for a late lunch. Luke made an old-fashioned New England crab boil over camp stove in the back yard, using fresh West Coast seafood. It was delicious, messy, and delightfully nontraditional. The day was unseasonably warm, even for a San Diego Christmas, and Luke shifted his chair a little out of the sun. Jim was on the other end of the porch, snoozing in a chaise. Just before he closed his eyes, Jen's brother Brian joined him on the porch and handed him a cold beer.

"I got kicked out," Brian grinned.

"Me too," Luke replied. He took a sip of the beer. "Thanks."

"No problemo," Brian said as he eased into a chair next to Luke. He sighed appreciatively. "Damn, this is a nice porch. I forget how great it is out here. I really should come down here more often."

Luke agreed. "When we leave, this is what I miss the most."

Brian glanced over at Luke. "Do you ever—" he stopped abruptly. "Never mind. I'm not going to ask you that."

Luke turned his head. "Ask me what?"

"Just … well … do ever think about staying? For good?" Brian asked. "I mean, you've got the place already."

"I'd never thought about it," Luke replied honestly. "I mean, I've got the diner to run. Stars Hollow is home."

"Of course it is," Brian looked back out at the sea. "I just wondered if it ever came up."

Luke shook his head but didn't say anything. Brian changed the subject. "So, what are the girls talking about?"

"I have no idea," Luke replied, and they both relaxed further into their chairs, but Luke's thoughts lingered on what Brian had asked before.

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An hour later, Luke and Jen waved goodbye to the family amid promises to go up to Brian's house tomorrow for breakfast and presents. Luke stretched, then pulled Jen into his arms and gave her a kiss. She leaned back in his arms and looked up at his face, smiling. "Did you have a good time?" she asked him.

"Yes. You?" he asked her with a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh, yes," Jen replied, "Very."

"What were you and Amy holed up in the kitchen for?" Luke asked curiously.

"You'll find out soon enough," Jen replied vaguely. And then, without warning, she wrapped her arms tightly around Luke and pressed her cheek against his hard chest. She let out a long, almost wistful sigh. "I love you, you know."

Luke wrapped his arms around Jen's shoulders and kissed the top of her glossy head. "I do know. I love you, too, honey." They stood there for a long minute before Luke asked gently, "Hey—you okay?"

Jen nodded and pulled away. "Yeah. I was just thinking how nice it is to spend the holiday with those guys." She smiled up at him again before she turned to go inside.

Luke held on to her hand. "I'm going for a walk down the beach," he said. "Want to come?"

She shook her head, "No, you go. I'm going to finish wrapping gifts." She disappeared through the big front door without looking back.

Luke hesitated and looked after her before he turned and walked down the stairs, across the street, and onto the sand, warmed from the late afternoon sun. He looked left and right, then decided on left and headed down the beach, his footsteps just at the edge of the waterline. As he walked, he kept his head up and looked at the ocean and the Mexican coastline curving ahead of him, and not for the first time—or hundredth, truth be told—thought about how lucky he was.

Brian's casual comment had weighed on his mind all afternoon. Do you ever think about staying? For good? It was surprising to Luke that no, the subject had never come up. Why not? Brian was right, they did have the place already. Family was here—Jen's close group of friends. My friends, he thought. Because we live in Stars Hollow, that's why.

Luke's bare feet kept walking mechanically up the shoreline, but his mind kept turning back, back to the first week he had known Jen. He asked her to stay, to uproot and move to a different coast. She doesn't regret it. She had assured him of that, and he believed her. They had a wonderful life in Stars Hollow—he had the diner, the two of them had made the Alamo into a beautiful home. All at once, a wave rushed in and splashed up Luke's bare leg. The tide is coming in.

Luke turned around and headed home. Home. He grinned to himself at the thought, then frowned. He knew he was a changed man … for the better. The Luke of five years ago would never be found prowling a California beach wearing shorts and no shoes. The transformation had been thorough. Jen made me the man I didn't know I wanted to be. His heart warmed the way it always did when he thought of Jen, but then his footsteps stopped suddenly. She had seemed a little down as her family left. Another wave slapped into his leg, splashing his side and drenching his shirt. Luke pulled it off and balled it into his fist.

Jen thinks about staying. The epiphany hit Luke just like the wave. She has, but she never mentioned it. Luke knew immediately that he was to blame for that—in all their time together, Jen had accepted without question or complaint that Stars Hollow was where their life would be. Luke's life was there. My life was there, he corrected himself. She's my life, now. His circumstances had altered dramatically in the past four years. He had moved into the Alamo and married the love of his life. They traveled a lot. He worked less often and had transferred more and more of the responsibility of the diner to Cesar. His town, his routine—it didn't have the same hold on him. His wife's happiness, now … there was nothing more important to him. She's not unhappy, though. Right?

The sun was starting to sink lower into the sky—the light became rich and golden, the shadows stretched longer and darker. Luke saw the house appear on the street above him as he walked home. Jen was sitting on the porch steps looking out across the water.

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Jen tied the ribbon on the last gift and set it aside with a satisfied, "Done!" She loved giving gifts, but she hated wrapping and always left it to the last minute. She got up off of the wooden floor and walked stiffly out onto the porch to watch the sunset.

Jen had felt a little nostalgic this afternoon. It's natural at Christmastime, she thought. Her west coast Christmases were so different from the way it was done in Stars Hollow. Although she could not deny that she loved the tradition, the snow, the formality the holiday seemed to have there—it was so different from the casual get-togethers people have in San Diego. She had enjoyed their little party so much today. They had all laughed and joked and made plans to meet for Christmas in Stars Hollow next year, but Jen knew that wouldn't happen. Not next year, anyway. Jen felt a little stab of disappointment before she corrected herself. One holiday at a time.

It was hard for Brian and Amy to visit the East Coast. They had school, and schedules, and soccer practice. And she was busy in Stars Hollow, too. I am happy there. Still, there was a little part of her that, despite all her friends in Connecticut, and her wonderful house, and Luke—yes, even Luke—missed San Diego and her roots here. I'd miss Luke more, she thought, and with that, was done feeling sorry for herself. Luke was everything to her, and if his home is Stars Hollow, then hers would be, too. It was that simple.

Just then, she caught a glimpse of Luke down on the beach. He was wearing board shorts, his feet and strong torso were bare. He was turned to the side, gazing out across the ocean. Jen caught her breath—this was the same vision she had years ago, on the back patio of Sniffy's tavern. She pulled that memory forward, and remembered Luke standing in the moonlight, saying, for the first time, what was in his heart:

"I don't want you to leave," he had said bluntly. "I know that was what you said all along, but I don't want you to go away and come back, 'maybe next summer.'" He shook his head at her, and hesitated, then a look of resolve came over his face. "Oh, what the hell. Look … I know I shouldn't ask this, but I'm going to anyway." He fixed his eyes to hers. "Stay."

Stay. Even then, Jen had wanted to say yes, but she argued that her life was here, in San Diego. At the time, that life was admittedly in shambles, but was still the only life she had known. Luke had thought small-town living wouldn't be enough for her, but that had proved untrue—her time in Stars Hollow, with him and his support, had healed her battered soul and given her the strength to remember who she had been, who she wanted to be.

She remembered him crouched in front of her. "All I know is — I want more time with you. I want you to stay." And as she looked into his eyes, she had a vision of him, just as he was at this very moment, standing in front of her house in Coronado looking into the sea. The vision merged with reality, and Luke looked up at her and started across the street and up the stairs.

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Christmas morning dawned clear and bright. As Jen woke and stretched, she edged closer toward Luke. His arm circled her shoulders automatically, even in his sleep, and Jen laid her head onto his chest and wrapped an arm around his torso. Luke stirred, and mumbled, "Merry Christmas, honey." He kissed the top of her head.

"Merry Christmas," Jen replied, and stretched up to catch his lips with hers. Luke groaned with pleasure, then gathered her in his arms. They made love, slowly and without speaking, giving and not taking—each trying to show the other the love in their hearts.

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They sat on the floor next to the tiny Christmas tree in the living room, amidst a small pile of torn gift wrap. Luke rested against the couch, and Jen leaned into him, gazing fondly at the pair of rosy pearl stud earrings that Luke had given her.

"Did this really belong to John Wayne?" Luke asked, closely examining the blade of a pocketknife.

"That's what the certificate of authenticity says," Jen replied. "It's cool, isn't it?"

"It reminds me of that first week you were in Stars Hollow," Luke said in a low voice, "Remember? You were doing laundry at my house and when I came upstairs you had a John Wayne movie on."

"How could I forget you dragging me up there?" Jen replied with a laugh. There was a long pause before she continued. "I was actually thinking about that week just yesterday."

"Yeah?" Luke asked.

"Yeah. I was thinking about how much it meant to me that you wanted me to stay," Jen said to the pearls before she stretched her arm to set them carefully on the coffee table. "And how glad I am that I did."

Luke continued to look at his new blade for several long moments before he closed the knife decidedly and set it carefully next to the pearls.

"Hey, honey ... ?" he asked tentatively.

"Yeah?" Jen replied.

"I have something else for you," Luke said. Jen looked up at him with a smile, but her teasing reply died on her lips as his eyes, dark and thoughtful, flickered down to meet hers. Jen pulled away instinctively, but Luke grabbed her back. "Relax. It's something that I think you thought was impossible, but recently ... I've come to realize that it's something that you—well, we—need to have."

Jen didn't pull her eyes from his face, but she sat up straighter and turned to face him. "You sound serious."

"I am," Luke replied.

"Okay ... what is this gift that you think we need so badly?" Jen asked hesitantly. She was a little unnerved by his tone.

"A discussion," Luke said, and his eyes moved across the living room before he pulled Jen into his lap. He looked up into her face, into her bright brown eyes. "An open, honest discussion—about where we live."

A look of confusion colored the features of Jen's face before the meaning registered. "Luke," she started slowly, "No. This isn't the right time." She shook her head slightly and he reached up to push the hair out of her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time. He wanted to see them clearly.

"Why not?" Luke asked her frankly.

"Because I … because it's the holidays," Jen stammered. She looked away, not wanting Luke to read her face. Jen knew her longing would be written all over it right now.

"Jen," Luke said gently, "Look at me. Please." He reached up and tilted her chin toward him, and when he met Jen's eyes, he knew. "Oh, honey. Why didn't you say anything?"

She sighed. "I'm just feeling emotional because it's my first Christmas back. Having everyone here was so much fun. You know, the kids are so much older now it will be fun to watch them open presents. And with the new baby—" her eyes widened and she quickly looked away.

Luke tightened his grip and felt his heart spike. "What—"

She shook her head. "Not me. Amy," she said quickly, and Luke relaxed again.

"Amy's pregnant?"

Jen nodded. "She's going to tell everyone today at lunch. Please act surprised."

"Of course I will. I take it that's what you were talking about all afternoon yesterday?"

"Yeah. Amy wanted it to be a surprise, but she didn't know if … well … if it would make us feel bad," Jen looked back down at Luke. "I'm thrilled for them."

"Me too." He stretched up and kissed her nose. Luke knew Jen felt guilty about not being able to have children. "Honey, it's okay. Really. I have you, which is more than enough."

Jen gave him a wide smile and tightened her arm around his neck. "I am happy. So happy. You know that, right?"

"I thought I did," Luke said, "but yesterday … you were acting so … well, you seemed sad, and I didn't like it. And Brian said something to me on the porch that got me thinking about why the subject never came up. I know we talked about it right at first, but things are different now."

Jen answered quickly. "I love Stars Hollow, and I know you do, too. I have never once thought of asking you to choose. If I made it an issue, I'm sorry for that and I didn't mean to. But ... if I'm honest ... I can't deny that I miss being in San Diego."

Luke sat there for a moment, leaning against the vintage couch in that wonderful house by the ocean, holding his wife—the one person he loved more than anyone on earth. She had an arm around his neck in a trusting embrace, and he chose his words carefully. "I need to know you're living the life you want to live. That you and I are living our best life together. Neither of us can have any regrets." He paused. "I know there's no perfect answer … but before ... I wasn't ready to leave. To be honest, I'm not sure I am now. All I'm saying, at this moment, is that maybe we think about it a little. I want you to feel free to talk about it."

Jen leaned down and laid her head on Luke's, her heart overcome with love for this man who put her happiness above all else. "Okay. We'll talk about it."

THE END.

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Author's note:

Do you think they Jen and Luke would actually move?

Hey! Thanks for making it through 28 long chapters. I could have kept going—I have outlines for their trip to Cabo with the krewe, a honeymoon sketch and the wedding reception with the whole town, a visit with Liz and TJ and Jess ... but unfortunately, I have more ideas than time. Maybe someday I'll revisit the story. If you feel like leaving a review, I'd love to know what you think!