Deck the Halls
Do not touch the tree until I get back.
Spoilers: None
Rating: G
Characters: Luke/Loralei
Disclaimer: ASP and Co. own them all.
Notes:or Chicklet, who's only really big request was that Rory not be mentioned. :) Thanks, Sus and Em for all your help!
"Ok, I have the tree," Luke said as he stood in the doorway of Lorelai's house. "Now where do you want this thing?"
"Over there," she said, pointing towards a corner of the living room. As soon as Luke lugged it there, though, she realized what a bad location it was. "Wait… no, that won't do. It'll block the TV. Over there," she said, pointing to another corner and frowning when he leaned it against the wall there. "No, that blocks the view of Babette's. How about over there?" she asked, pointing to the wall opposite the windows. "Or there. Over there. Near the desk. Oh wait, that will block the –"
"How about I put it right over here?" Luke suggested, dropping the tree onto the floor next to the chair.
Lorelai beamed at his choice of location. "Perfect!"
"Do you have the stand?"
Lorelai frowned. "The stand?"
"Plastic or metal thing that goes underneath, holds water and supports the thing?" he reminded her.
She laughed and waved her hand at him. "Oh, one of those things. No. We don't use a stand. We just put it in a bucket," she said.
"Well, do you have the bucket?"
"I did but then I remembered that I'd used it last summer to put fish in and –" she took one look at Luke's face and stopped. "No, no bucket."
Luke sighed. "I have a few empty spackle buckets at the diner. I'll be right back." With one hand on the doorknob, he pointed at her with the other. "Do not touch the tree until I get back."
She stared at him open-mouthed. "What? Why? I need to make it look all sparkly and shiny and –"
"If it's not on a base – or in a bucket – it'll fall over the minute you try to put any of those crazy ornaments of yours on it. Or worse, Paul Anka will run into it."
"Paul Anka?" she scoffed. "I'm sorry, have you met my dog? Paul Anka does not run. He waddles, he stumbles, he lays there and plays dead. He does not run."
"Fine. Whatever. Just don't start decorating it yet."
She held up her fingers. "I will not start decorating it yet," she vowed. "Scouts honor."
"That's for the boy scouts."
"Boys, shmoys."
"Just… don't touch the tree." He nodded towards her front porch. "And don’t even try doing the lights outside. You'll fall off the ladder. Just wait until I get back and finish setting up the tree. I'll do the lights after that."
Her eyes lit up. "You will?"
"Yeah."
"My hero," she said in a sing song voice.
"Just don't touch anything," he repeated gruffly as he opened the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Go!"
Lorelai waved him off and then stood back to admire the tree. It was tall, but not too tall, and full and bushy with just the right kind of branch up at the top to put the star on. Maybe she could do that. Just the one little star. Surely that wouldn't hurt…
She stepped on the first rung of the stepladder and nearly tumbled to the floor as her heel caught on the edge
Stepping back onto terra firma, she made a mental note to ask Luke to do the star, too. After all, what good was having your very own handyman if you couldn't ask him to put a star on your tree?
~End~
Posted by Cassie on 01:11 PM