"Mom, it's 11:55." The casino didn't have any clocks, but Rory was wearing a watch. Timing was everything right now.

"But I'm doing so well! Look, I got two cherries this time instead of just one."

"Which is the equivalent of you losing another dollar to that machine. It has more money than you do right now."

"It's not fair. Everything's rigged here." Stupid slot machines. They just ate her money and didn't give her anything in return. And Rory wouldn't even let her try the roulette wheel.

"It's 11:56 and there are already people at our blackjack table."

"Oh my god, you so need to be 21 already. You are far too punctual when you're sober." Lorelai reached into her pocket to pull out another token for the machine but stopped when she saw Rory glaring at her. "Okay, okay. Let's blackjack."

As they walked across the casino, Lorelai took a long look at her daughter. In two minutes time she was going to be 21. Technically she wasn't actually 21 until 4:03 the next morning, but the casino didn't care about getting that specific. And it helped that Rory was already technically 21. But they were doing it up right. No drinking until midnight. After months of alternately not talking and fighting she could hardly believe they were going through with their plan, but here they were in Atlantic City. And only two months late.

"Mom, watch out," Rory said, pulling her away from the cocktail waitress she was about to crash in. "You're not drunk already, are you? Because we've got a long night ahead of us and I don't want to do everything alone."

"I'm not drunk." Rude. Accusing her of being drunk when she'd only had two margaritas. Maybe three margaritas. But she wasn't drunk. "But soon I will be. And so will you, my darling daughter! Almost 21. I can't believe it."

"My, how time has flown."

"Amen, sister. Hey, do you think we should've learned to play blackjack before we got here? Because we're going to need a lot of money to buy 21 things. And I don't want to lose."

"You just say 'hit me' until it seems like time to stop, right?" Rory didn't know how to play blackjack, but it wasn't really a surprise since Lorelai had never taught her. She wasn't exactly a card shark. Which was probably evident by the fact the fact that she would actually use the term card shark.

Lorelai considered this. "Absolutely," she said, smoothing out her skirt before sitting down at the table. She had bought matching (p)leather miniskirts for her and Rory, but Rory had not-so-politely declined to wear hers. Something about not wanting to be mistaken as "for sale". But Lorelai was wearing hers, along with her pink rhinestone-covered heels that Rory had tried to make her sell in the annual rummage sale for the past five years. Rory was wearing black pumps that didn't have rhinestones or a million straps. So refined and practical. Completely wrong for such an occasion. But that was Rory.

"Excuse me, can we get two martinis over here, please?"

"Hey! You are not 21 yet, missy," Lorelai said. "You're not allowed to order drinks." The waitress looked at Rory quizzically.

"Technically –"

"Technicalities are not allowed tonight. Hi, I'm her mother. I'm 21, so you can give me the martinis, right?"

"If she's not 21 then I can't legally serve her."

"She'll be 21 in like two minutes! And time is of the essence here because we have to be drinking them the second she turns 21. She has ID! Rory, show this nice young woman your ID so we can get our martinis." Rory had already dug her ID out of her bag, anticipating something like this. She was bound to be carded anyway, whether or not she was technically 21 already.

"This says you've been 21 for two months," the waitress said, looking it over.

"Yeah, I know. But we're doing it over." If the waitress thought it was weird she didn't say anything. She just handed the ID back and went to get the martinis.

"Hey, we should've ordered a Rory! Just like at your birthday party. Those were great."

"Mom, you still complain that you can feel the sugar in your mouth from the half of one you drank two months ago. We are never going to make one of those. And they probably wouldn't make one for us."

"Who mixes champagne and vodka? That's such a terrible idea."

"And the grenadine didn't help at all. That was a really bad drink."

"That was a really bad party. No offense."

"How could it be a good party? I only talked to you once." That whole party had been a disaster from start to finish. Rory had been so worried Lorelai wouldn't want to come and then when she did show up it was just awkward. The necklace Luke gave her was really pretty, though. And the chocolate boxes were good. Emily had great taste in chocolate.

"No, no. Let us never speak of that party again. It is behind us and now, dear daughter, it is your REAL 21st birthday. A rite of passage, if you will. And we are going to drink our martinis and be merry and then buy a lot of things we might regret once we get home."

"Hear, hear," Rory said, taking a martini from the waitress.

Lorelai tapped her glass against Rory's and looked at her expectantly. "Well? Is it time yet?"

Rory looked at her watch. "Close. Fifteen seconds."

"What? I can't wait that long! It has to be midnight now!"

"Excuse me, miss? Are you two actually going to play?" The blackjack dealer obviously didn't understand the ceremony behind this. He just looked impatient. As did the rest of the people at the table. Jeez, you would think they actually wanted to play blackjack or something.

"Can you give us 10 seconds?"

"It's five now."

"Four…"

"Three."

"Two!"

"Can you stand the pressure?"

"Quiet, little girl. That's midnight! Go!"

The big hand on Rory's watch finally hit the 12 and while it wasn't as exciting as an alarm (which Lorelai had been a big fan of), it was enough. Rory was officially 21 (again) and the Gilmore girls were back together again. Everything was perfect.

"If you're not going to play, ladies, please leave the table so other people can play."

Almost perfect.