Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls. Obviously.

Not so Secret Santa

Lorelai was waiting patiently (well, in the broadest sense of the word) at the airport for her only daughter to arrive. It had been half a year since they had seen each other and the anticipation was killing her. She had already been yelled at twice by airport security for standing too close to the gate. They were not amused when she pointed out that terrorists usually attempt to board planes that are taking off, not landing. So now she was banned to the waiting area chairs, watching the plane touch down outside, a time bomb waiting to explode with excitement as soon as her daughter came into view. Which was about to happen any second now.

Rory ran down the terminal, practically pushing everyone out of her way in the process, muttering apologies to those in her path. Luckily she had been blessed with her mother's height and they were able to spot each other easily. The path to each other magically cleared when the other passengers heard the shrieks of joy in front and behind them and quickly moved to either side, bewildered. About ten minutes later, after the hugging, crying, and laughter subsided a bit, the two women gathered the belongings of the younger and fled the angry glares of the airport workers.

The ride from Hartford to Stars Hollow was too short for the mother/daughter pair to share all the stories from the last few months with each other, though they did try, taking turns talking in one big ramble that only they could understand. It also helped that it was the end of December and the snow began to fall heavily right when they started driving, making traffic move extra slow. As they pulled up to their house and Lorelai stopped the car, she turned to her daughter and took a deep breath. Rory saw her mother's "serious face" and demanded she to know what was going on.

"Jess is coming in for Christmas" Lorelai said quickly. She had known for a few weeks now, but had never found the right time to tell her daughter.

"Oh. Okay" Rory replied, trying to sound surprised and failing miserably.

"You know? How do you know? Did Luke call you? I told him not to call you. He didn't think I'd ever tell you. I'll show him…" she began in a tirade.

"Mom!" Rory practically shouted to interrupt her mother, "Luke didn't tell me. Jess did."

"Jess told you? When did you talk to Jess? Why didn't you tell me you were talking to Jess?"

"I met up with him while I was in Philly. We had coffee… and dinner. We talked and before I left town, he told me he'd see me at Christmas. It was nothing" Rory answered in a hurry.

Okay, so that last part had been a lie. It hadn't been nothing, but the whole thing was too complicated and she wanted to see how things went when they saw each other again before opening that can of worms. Her mother seemed to know she was downplaying the situation, but she didn't press it for once, which made Rory feel very relieved. At least the cat had poked it's head out of the bag and that would have to do for now. Dinner with Luke and Jess that night, however, was going to be another story all together.