❝DREAM BIG, KID❞
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⋆𐙚₊˚⊹ chapter seven, pre Gilmore Girls

December 6th, 1998

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[ LUKE'S POV ]

LUCIANA WAS BORN AT 4:44am ON THE 6TH DECEMBER, 1984.

     I wasn't there for her birth, something I hate because I missed the first few seconds of her life. However, every single year since she could talk, I would wake up at 4:44am— a time I need to wake up anyway because I have a diner to run— and I'd sit alongside Lucy as she stirs awake.

     Which I do right now, my arm around her shoulders as she sits up and leans against the bed frame, a yawn leaving her mouth as she looks to me.

     "Happy birthday," I say, nudging her.

     She leans her head against my shoulder. "Thank you," she whispers.

I pat a hand against her head, brushing her hair away from her face as she yawns again, her arm cuddling around my arm.

"I can't believe how fast you're growing up." It's been a shocking fourteen years of Lucy being in my life, and these fourteen years have been the most perfect, most stressful, and most incredible years of my life. I wouldn't trade them in for anything in the world, and I definitely wouldn't trade this moment with my daughter for anything.

Lucy hasn't been a huge fan of parties on her birthday since her grandfather died six days before her birthday, but I've made it a tradition to wake her up at the time she was born and sit with her until she inevitably falls asleep again.

Lucy groans, her arms stretching out in front of her. "Why was I born so early?"

"Beats me, kiddo."

Lucy looks up to me, her eyes tired. She seems more tired this year than she did the previous year but I continue to talk to her, "Are you satisfied with your life so far?"

I ask that question every year and she always has the same response.

"Hmm. I don't have any complaints," she says. She never does have complaints about her life which pleases me. "I think it's good, don't you?"

"Oh, I think I'm a bit bias." I grin, rubbing my hand up and down her arm.

She shifts in her bed, her face looking back up at mine. "Do I look older?" she asks, which is another question she asks me every year.

I look down at her and say what I always say, "Walk into a bar and you'll be served."

A satisfied smile overtakes her face. "Good."

I shift on her bed, my body hanging off because this bed isn't exactly the biggest thing in the world. "So you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you're a great kid" — something I tell her every year— "and you're the best friend a guy could ask for."

Lucy tightens her arm around mine, signalling she feels the same. "Right back at you, Dad."

I love this kid. She's been the light of my life since she entered it fourteen years ago. I've never loved anyone as much as I love this kid, and maybe it's ridiculous that I would choose my kid over anyone else in the world, but I don't care. It's not going to be surprising if I end up alone in the future because of how much I prefer my kid over anyone.

     However, I don't seem to mind that.

     Because since she was born, I haven't been alone at any point in my life, and I can't complain because she's the best company a guy could ask for.

     "I remember the day you were born—" I know I wasn't there when she was actually born, and she knows that, but we act as if I was which eases the guilt in my chest whenever I think about not being there on the day she was born. "You had the biggest eyes in the world, and you scared me at first but then—"

"You had the biggest smile on your face," she quips, her eyes closing for a second as a smile brightens her face.

"Exactly," I reply, finding it amusing that she remembers the same story I tell every year. "Because you make me feel less alone. You make me happier, kid."

     "You're always soppy this time of year," she comments, her eyes rolling. "It's quite annoying."

     Anytime it's her birthday, I'm more sentimental for some strange reason, probably because Lucy is getting older every year and it terrifies me. It feels like yesterday when I was holding her in the hospital with tears in my eyes. Now she's fourteen, she's happy, and everything is perfect for us.

     I push a kiss against her head. "Any big plans for this year?"

     She shakes her head, her eyes squeezed shut. "Study. Study. And study."

     "You're fourteen, kid. What are you studying for?"

     Lucy takes school extremely seriously, showing that she's already very different for me. I hated school, only going for sports games, but Lucy loves school a crazy amount. She studies all the time, talks my ear off about books she's reading, and she's constantly making lists and plans for her upcoming tests and academic future.

     She yawns, her head nuzzling against my arm. "I'm gonna go to an Ivy League school," she says, and I can't fight the smile on my face because I'm so damn proud of her.

     She's been talking about going to an Ivy League school since an old student of Stars Hollow High— a Yale alumnus— came to the school last year to talk with students about how they can go to an Ivy League school even if they don't attend a prestigious private school like Chilton, and Lucy is now set on going to Yale.

     Lucy has made a plan to major in English at Yale before going on to study at Stanford Law— her dream school— and I've never been more proud of her in my life. She has a plan, she has motivation, and she has the determination to became the genius of the family.

     Heck, she already is the genius of the family.

     "Ah, right." I nod, trying to understand that my fourteen-year-old wants to study instead of live her life.

     "I'm doing this so I can take care of you when you're old and senile," she says, nudging my arm, and I laugh because she will likely be taking the best care of me when I'm old which I can't exactly be disappointed about.

     "I appreciate that," I reply. "But then who will look after you?"

     "I'm sure I'll have a dog or something." She shrugs, acting as if she's going to be alone when she's old but I imagine she won't be. I'd like to think she'll find her person— even if I haven't exactly found mine— and she'll live a happy and long life.

     Maybe she'll only have one great love in her life which makes me happy and terrified at the same time.

     I hope she finds her one person the first time.

     I don't want her to have a miserable love life like me— the man who finds himself waiting for Lorelai Gilmore to walk through the door of my diner because I'm hung up on her. I want her to be happy, and I hope that I've not made her think she can't love anyone because I can't commit to a single person.

     I push a kiss against her head. "I love you, kid. Happy birthday."

     She hums gently, her body cuddling against mine. "I love you too, Dad."

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SNIFFY'S TAVERN has been a delicacy in our small town in Connecticut for years. It's a restaurant that's been known to my family for years, and it's Lucy's all-time favourite place to be in the world— especially on her birthday.

      It's a beautiful restaurant that tells a story the second you open the door.

    We sit in our usual seats, something Maisie doesn't like us doing but she can't resist Lucy on her birthday or any day for that matter. The second we sit down, Lucy does the one thing she always does, and that's reading the back of the menu about the story of this restaurant, despite reading it a hundred times since the past. She also always says the same thing after reading it, "This is so sad," and all I do is nod.

     "Lucy!" Maisie is opening her arms out, capturing the girl in her arms.

     This woman has loved Lucy like a grandchild since she met her fourteen years ago, and I really appreciate all the help she's given me over the last few years.

    Her husband, Buddy, another friend of my family, also loves Lucy like a grandchild. He's always offering her his somewhat lame jokes, and Lucy always, always laughs. Maisie and Buddy bring a different kind of smile out of Lucy, something I love seeing, especially since we come here quite a lot.

     I've been coming to this restaurant years before Lucy was born with my dad and sister. Maisie and Buddy opened this restaurant while my dad owned the hardware store, and when I wanted to convert the hardware store into a diner after my dad died, Buddy gave me all the help he could offer. He helped with insurance, with the structure and building, and he gave me some fatherly advice about owning my own business officially.

     Sure, I took over my dad's hardware store for a short time after he died but working there had never been my passion. I knew that, and deep down, my dad knew that. It's honestly no surprise that I decided to convert the store into something more suitable to me.

     Maisie, on the other hand, taught me a few recipes over the years. I don't cook all the food she once taught me, only cooking it for me and Lucy upstairs in our apartment, but without her guidance, I wouldn't even be able to flip a burger.

     Buddy steps over to the table, his hand resting against Lucy's back. "Happy birthday, Lucy."

     She looks up to Buddy with a wide grin on her face. "Thanks, old man," she quips, and Buddy simply shakes his head and chuckles.

     "Anything you want today is on the house," Maisie tells me, and I shake my head because I can't take anymore free food from them.

     "Oh, no I—"

     She covers Lucy's ears, and she shifts uncomfortably on the spot, her eyes darting upwards to look at Maisie who speaks to me, "It's your little girl's birthday, I insist."

     "You never bring us what we order," I say.

     Not that I complain, I just know that I never actually get the food I ask for because they believe they know what you want more than yourself.

     Lucy leans against Maisie who wraps an arm around her shoulders. "That's because you order wrong," Maisie responds, patting her hand against Lucy's arm and prompting her to take a seat.

     "Anything you want is on us today, okay?" Buddy says, slapping his palm against my shoulder.

     I know I can't argue with them. "Okay."

     Lucy grins wickedly as Maisie and Buddy step away from our table. "Don't you love free food?"

     "We come for my birthday and I don't get free food." It's only on Lucy's birthday we get free food, and I don't understand why because I've been around a lot longer than she has. However, since the day I brought Lucy into the Tavern all those years ago, Maisie and Buddy fell head over heels for the baby girl in my arms, as did I.

     "That's because I'm the favourite," she says, clasping her hands together on top of the table.

     Maisie and Buddy come rushing over with the drinks. I always get given a beer— unless I'm on a date— and Lucy is always handed a cherry coke which she drinks before the meal comes out so they have to give her another.

     "Any big plans for fourteen, Luce?"

     "Nope." She sips her drink through her straw before pulling back and saying, "Think I'm gonna have a pretty uneventful year, Maisie."

     The woman smiles, her hand clasping my daughter's. "No year is uneventful with you, sweetheart. I'm sure you'll find something to do, even if it's just keeping your dad in check," she whispers the last part but I hear her loud and clear.

     "I think I'm the adult here," I argue.

     "Have you met your kid, Luke? She's a thirty-year-old in a fourteen-year-old's body—"

     "Hey!" Lucy interjects, her hand pulling back from Maisie's immediately. "I'm not as old as Dad."

     She says I'm old— and in some ways thirty-four can be seen as old— but I happen to be the second youngest parent— after Lorelai Gilmore— at Stars Hollow High. However, I am the youngest dad so I'll take that title even if Lucy wants to call me old repeatedly.

     "Oh, honey. Your dad isn't old." Maisie looks towards me, and I smile gratefully because I'm not old.

     "He is," she argues, her body falling back against her chair. "He used to be the youngest parent at school but now he isn't."

     "Oh, really? Who stole your title, Lucas?"

     Before I can answer, Lucy speaks, "Lorelai Gilmore." Her grin is wicked, and there's nothing kind about the way she laughs. "She's very pretty and Dad's in love with her."

     "Oh, is he?" Maisie moves her eyes towards me, her eyebrow raising, and I really wish I wasn't here right now. "Well, I must meet this woman. I have to see if she's good enough for you, Lucas."

     "I'm sure you will one day," Lucy says, her body leaning over the table. She finds this amusing, I know she does from the look on her face, and she also knows I can't fight her on this because it's her birthday— and she's not wrong— so I have to stay silent.

     Maisie hums in satisfaction. "Well, I look forward to the day."

     When she walks away from the table, I lightly kick Lucy's leg under the table. "Ow!"

     "You really have to stop telling people I'm in love with Lorelai, Lucy."

     In some ways, I'm not joking because the amount of times Lucy has said it recently is teetering on the line of insane. I'm not in love with the woman. She's insufferable and annoying, and she has an unhealthy fixation on coffee and fast food— two things I hate— but Lucy loves the woman, and Lucy also loves Lorelai's daughter, Rory who is the same age as her. The two girls sit next to each other in English and they've formed something of a friendship over the last two years which I don't mind because Rory isn't as bad as her mother.

     Lucy likes to imagine that I'll be with Lorelai one day but I'm not too sure I will be, not that I mind being alone.

     "Am I wrong?"

     "Yes," I say without hesitation because she's not right either.

     Lucy pouts, her body falling against the seat again in a huff. She doesn't like being told she's wrong even if she's technically right in a way.

     I roll my eyes, sipping my beer as I watch Lucy snatch her drink off the table and take a sip for herself. "Hey, if we get back early, you can probably meet Addy or something," I suggest, knowing that she loves Addy a ridiculous amount. Those two are practically joined at the hip which is a little unsettling.

     "Hmm, maybe." Lucy shrugs, and I notice the shift in her face from the mention of her best friend.

     Something's happened between them.

     "What's happened?" I ask, leaning forward on the table.

     Lucy shrugs. "I don't know. She's just been a bit... distant, I guess. She's missed a lot of school and every time I go to her house, her mom tells me she's busy or sick so... I don't know, I'm sure she's not mad at me but I think something is wrong with her."

     Lucy has a big heart, that much is obvious, and I admire that she cares so much and doesn't expect anything in return. She loves everybody, even those who don't deserve it, and she doesn't even care if they don't love her back. She cares about Addy, more than I've ever cared about another friend, and I imagine she's worried about her. Hell, even I'm worried about Addy after hearing Lucy's words.

     Addy has a difficult relationship with her mother but a perfect one with her father, similar to the relationship me and Lucy have. However, her dad travels a lot for work and Addy doesn't know what to say to her mother most days so she comes to the diner and sits with me and Lucy all day, everyday, and I honestly don't mind because I really do like the kid. She's great.

     I feel I'm slightly protective of Addy— not as much as I am with Lucy— but I care about Addy's wellbeing and I'm always there if she needs a parent. I've made her birthday cakes in the past, bought her ridiculous gifts, indulged in her's and Lucy's silly dances and songs when they were kids, and I've even watched her dance recitals, even when Lucy quit at the young age of twelve, claiming that she simply couldn't dance but Addy certainly had a talent for it. Hell, I pay for her dance classes now because her mother doesn't support her choices.

     In some ways, I look to Addy and see her as a second daughter, and I know she has two parents who love each other deeply, but I'm happy to be the substitute father if she ever needs one.

     "I'm sure she's okay," I offer. "We could stop by and see her tomorrow if you want?"

     Lucy lifts her head up, her eyes and smile wide in excitement. "Yeah?"

     "Yeah. Of course."

     After long conversations, an even longer dinner, and a horrible rendition of the happy birthday song, Lucy was full of cake and bubbling with joy as she bounced through the diner.

     I told her that she could stay up a couple hours longer if she promised to change out of her dress and brush her teeth. I even said that I'd watch any movie she wants tonight if she has a whole day of no studying tomorrow because that kid, even at fourteen, studies far too much for my liking. Yes, I want her to go to an Ivy League if that's her dream, but she needs a break every now and then.

     I can hear her rushing up the stairs to the apartment when the door of the diner opens, the bell jingling and catching me off guard because it's past ten and we closed hours ago due to it being Lucy's birthday.

     I look up from the till, my eyes catching onto a thirteen-year-old girl with the blondest hair, the reddest eyes, and the saddest smile on her face.

     "Addy?" I step around the counter, moving carefully towards Addy who stands by the door, her hands clutched at the fabric of her shirt. She sniffles, and I can tell she's been crying from the red rims around her eyes. "Addy. What's wrong?"

     "My..." Her bottom lip quivers, and she doesn't get her words out before she bursts into tears.

     On instinct, I rush forward and capture the girl in my arms before she falls to the floor in a heartbreaking defeat. She cries against my chest, her arms flailing around my torso, and she holds on hard, and cries even harder. God, this is cracking my heart in a way I don't expect, and I'm contemplating on whether or not I should get Lucy but these sobs sound like Addy needs somebody a little stronger to comfort her.

     So I place a hand against her hair, rub my other hand up and down her back and I do my best to comfort the girl crying in my arms.

     When her cries quieten, I pull away slightly, my hands holding her face so she looks up at me. "What's wrong, Ad?"

     She looks to me, her eyes heavy and broken. My heart is breaking for the girl in front of me, and she's not even my kid. She's my daughter's best friend but right now, she's my main priority and I need to know what's wrong.

     "Do you want me to get Lucy, I can—"

     And then Addy says, "My dad died," and my words are swallowed whole.

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authors note:

addy is a very important person in this story. she's the bestie, the emotional support, the partner in crime basically, and she's like a second daughter to luke :)

this is also the last pre-gilmore girls chapter