Thank you for your continued support! I know I repeat myself a lot but I really do appreciate it, so thank you! :) Here's the next chapter!
Chapter 6
Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory were busy making a snowman in the middle of the square.
"How do you like that mouth?" Lorelai asked, making finishing touches to it.
"It's not very mouthlike." Rory said doubtfully.
"At all!" Charlotte agreed.
"Oh, I think it works." Lorelai shrugged.
"It's tilted to the side!" Rory pointed out.
"Yeah, but that was intentional. It gives her a unique expression." Lorelai joked.
"Like she had a stroke?" Charlotte chipped in.
"Fine!" Lorelai relented. "I'll just use the Mrs. Potato Head lips."
"No, forget it, leave it. It's not like we're going to win this anyway." Rory said.
"Whoa, bad attitude!" Lorelai said.
"Come on Mom! We all know that is the single most incredible snowman we have ever seen." Charlotte said gesturing to the man working on an elaborate snow sculpture behind them.
"No I'm sorry, that snowman is way over the top. It's way too showy." Lorelai shook her head.
"That's kind of the point of a snowman-building contest." Rory pointed out.
"Urgh, I hate this man with every fibre of my being." Lorelai grimaced as he gave them a smile.
"He looks nice." Rory said.
"He's a ringer."
"How do you know that?"
"It's obvious. Someone must have recruited him, promised him a handsome sum of money, then financed his snowman making skills just so he could snatch victory away from a more deserving local of the town in order to bag the contest prize for himself." Lorelai said.
"Uh mom? That seems a little elaborate considering that the prize is a set of new US quarters." Charlotte smirked.
"Urgh, well we should ignore him now." Lorelai said. "So, what are we all going to do on your school break?" She smiled at them.
"Nothing." Rory said.
"Sounds good." Lorelai nodded.
"Plus some homework." Rory added.
"And lots of movies." Lorelai grinned.
"Ooh, we have to rent Godfather 3 on DVD." Rory exclaimed.
"You're kidding." Lorelai laughed.
"No! In the audio commentary, Coppola actually defends casting Sofia." Rory grinned.
"Now that is fatherly love." Lorelai said. "What's all this homework you have to do?" She asked.
"Just stuff for the paper." Rory sighed.
"What? Why?"
"Because Paris wants the first issue back to be a double issue, so we have to prepare it over break and she says the news never sleeps."
"What about Paris, does she ever sleep?" Lorelai joked.
"I think she periodically makes a whirring noise and then just shuts down. Like a computer." Rory joked.
"Well, you can't work the whole time." Lorelai complained.
"I won't, I promise." Rory assured her.
Lorelai then looked at Charlotte. "You've gone pretty quiet. Any plans for your school break apart from spending every waking minute with your fabulous mother and sister, of course!" She grinned.
"Oh..well.." Charlotte said hesitantly.
"What?" Lorelai asked.
"Jess and I were going to hang out a bit. He's off school too and we were going to go to Andrew's bookstore and..well, just...hang." Charlotte said.
"Oh...well of course!" Lorelai said forcing a smile on her face. "Of course the two of you would want to hang out. It's what boyfriends and girlfriends do. Just...hang out..." Lorelai said.
"Mom..." Charlotte said. She knew her mom had been struggling with the idea of her and Jess. She had tried to hide it but she wasn't very good a it.
"Oh my God!" Rory suddenly exclaimed.
"What?" Lorelai asked.
"He's power buffing!"
Lorelai and Charlotte turned round. "Right, now that is just wrong!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"We're competing against the Michelangelo of snow." Charlotte smirked.
"And we're that boy from 'The Snowman'.
"We shouldn't look at him anymore." Rory said.
"You're right. Heads down, stay focused." Lorelai said.
"We can do this!" Rory nodded.
"Absolutely!" Lorelai said.
Charlotte smirked as their snowman's head fell. "So...coffee?" She suggested.
"Right behind you." Lorelai sighed as she and Rory followed Charlotte to Luke's.
They sat at a table by the window once they entered the diner.
"I'll get the coffee." Lorelai said getting up.
"No, I'll get it." Charlotte said quickly spotting Jess by the till, getting up and heading over to the counter.
Rory watched their mom watch Charlotte and Jess with a worried look on her face. "She's happy, mom." She said softly.
"Huh what?" Lorelai said taking her gaze away from Charlotte and Jess for a second.
"Charlie. She seems really happy with Jess." Rory said.
"Yeah...she does." Lorelai said quietly.
"Can't you give him a second chance? He seems to really like her too." Rory said quietly. "It would mean a lot to her."
Lorelai sighed. "I don't have to like him, Rory. I can't do anything about them being together but it doesn't mean I have to like him."
"No, but wouldn't it be easier for everyone if you at least tried to be civil?" She pointed out. Both of them looked over at the counter when they heard laughter and they saw Charlotte laughing at whatever Jess had said and him smirking in return. "I've not seen her this happy since...well, ever." Rory said. "I'm pretty sure he's the cause of that."
Lorelai sighed and watched her other daughter chat and laugh with Jess. "Fine, I'll be civil but that's it." She said.
"Thanks mom." Rory smiled at her.
"Three coffees and our food's coming." Charlotte grinned as she returned to the table.
Later that day, Lorelai and Sookie had been listening to some music auditions for The Bracebridge Dinner they were having at the inn that week. As she was listening to a harpist play, her cell rang.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Hey Lor, it's me." Chris said.
"Oh, hi Chris! How are you?" She smiled.
"Good, good. Have you..uh..got a minute?" He asked.
"Uh oh." Lorelai said.
"It's not an uh oh." He laughed. "I just wanted to run an idea by you."
"Oh ok. Run it." She smiled.
"Now it's totally your call and I don't want to step on any plans you've already made. But I know Rory and Charlotte have a break in school coming up, and I was wondering if you'd be cool with them coming to visit for a couple of days." He said.
"Oh..uh..a couple of days? You mean they'd stay the night?" Lorelai asked her smile faltering.
"Yeah, it's totally your call though." He said. "Where are you, heaven?" He joked hearing the harp play in the background.
"Do you even have room for them to stay?" Lorelai asked, hoping he didn't.
"Not just room, a room." He said. "A designated guest room with two twin beds. Sherry fixed it up really nice" He smiled.
"Aw, good for her." Lorelai said unconvincingly.
"So what do you think?" He asked.
"I don't know. It's awfully last minute." She said trying to stall.
"It's totally last minute. You can say no and there'll be no hard feelings at all." Chris assured her.
"Well..." She said, really not being able to come up with an excuse to say no. "...it's really up to Rory and Charlotte to say yes or no."
"So you're cool with it?" He asked.
"Yeah...sure! If they are, yeah."
"Great, that's great. Thank you." He smiled. "Well I'll let you run it past them and you can get back to me whenever. No pressure."
"No pressure." She forced a smile.
"Talk to you later." He smiled.
"Yeah, talk to you later." She said before hanging up and sighing.
The three of them were at their weekly Friday Night Dinner but this week, there wasn't that much conversation. Rory and Charlotte exchanged a look before looking at their mom and gesturing for her to say something.
"So what are your travel plans, Dad?" She asked.
"Hmm..what?" Richard asked looking up.
"You and mom, you always go out of town this time of year." Lorelai smiled.
"Last year it was the Bahamas." Rory said.
"Oh yeah, I was so jealous!" Charlotte chipped in.
"Yes, that's right, it was." Richard said.
"I remember you had fun too." Lorelai said. "You said the Bahama…mians were real nice. The Bahamites? The Bahamamamamians?" She asked looking at her daughters for guidance.
"The Bahamians." Rory nodded.
"Yes. You said they were really nice." Lorelai nodded.
"They were nice." Emily agreed.
"So, what are your plans then?"
"We're not going anywhere this year." Emily said sullenly.
"Why not?" Rory asked. Emily gestured towards Richard who had gone back to his food. "Oh...well it can be really nice just to stay at home sometimes as well because you can do fun things that you normally wouldn't have time for." She said trying to put a positive spin on it.
"Yeah, like play Running Charades. Oooh or getting out that Slip 'n Slide." Charlotte joked.
"We'll see." Richard said.
"Yes, we'll see." Emily sighed.
"Would you all excuse me?" Richard said suddenly getting up. "I have to make some calls. Say goodbye before you leave, will you?"
"Yeah...uh...sure Dad." Lorelai said and they all watched him leave the room. She turned back to her mother. "God when is all this awfulness with work going to resolve itself?" She exclaimed.
"I don't know!" Emily exclaimed. "The man is so sensitive. He reads so much into every little perceived slight."
"Yeah. I remember one time when I was a kid, Dad had put on some weight, and he bought a new suit to try to cover it up. And he wore it for us and he asked us how he looked and I told him he looked fat." Lorelai said but stopped, glancing up at her daughters who were smirking and her mother who was glaring at her. "But I guess that wasn't really a perceived slight..." She said. "I'll think of another example."
Lorelai, Sookie, Charlotte and Rory were all sat at a table at Luke's looking miserable.
"I've got thirty pounds of aged beef, trays and trays of trout and mountains of pruned tarts. I diced pumpkins until my hands turned orange. I've got pumpkin hands! Sookie exclaimed.
"Take a sip." Lorelai said sympathetically gesturing to her coffee.
"How can you stay so calm about this? We've been organising this event for a week!" Sookie said.
"I know but there's nothing we can do about it." Lorelai sighed.
"I can't believe they got snowed in." Rory said.
"All that work, all that extra help we hired." She sighed. "At least they paid for it already. We didn't lose any money."
"Yeah I guess." Sookie sighed. "You know, I could still make up the dinner for the four of us." She suggested.
"Yeah, but then it would be like the four of us, all alone in the dining room." Charlotte said.
"Yeah it would be like The Shining, except instead of Jack Nicholson, we have Rune." Lorelai joked.
Just then Luke walked over to them. "Do you want anything besides coffee?" He asked.
"Hey, what about Luke?" Sookie said suddenly.
"What about him?" Lorelai asked.
"He eats, and Jess eats." She said turning to Charlotte. "Doesn't Jess eat?" She asked.
Charlotte smirked. "Yep I can confirm that Jess eats." She nodded.
"What's she doing?" Luke asked Lorelai.
"I think she's inviting you for dinner." Lorelai smiled.
"Yeah, come on, join us! It'll be fun, I promise." Sookie grinned. "Do you like Peacock Pie?"
"I'm a hundred percent sure I don't." Luke said dryly.
"There'll be normal food too." Charlotte grinned at him.
"And decorations." Rory quipped.
"And music." Sookie added.
"Come on, it'll be fun!" Lorelai grinned.
"Well..." Luke said.
"Hey, you know what?" Lorelai said warming up to the idea. "Let's invite everyone!"
"Everyone who?" Sookie asked.
"Everyone everyone!"
"Everyone everyone who?" Sookie asked not getting it.
"Everyone we know, everyone we like! Everyone from this town!" Lorelai beamed.
" Yeah and they could even stay in the inn. All those empty rooms, all those uneaten pillow mints." Rory said.
"Cool! An out of control, over the top slumber party!" Charlotte grinned.
"I love it!" Sookie grinned.
"Me too!" Lorelai grinned. She turned to Luke. "Done! Spread the word!"
"I haven't said I'd come yet so I'm certainly not about to become your messenger boy." He grumbled. He sighed as Lorelai pouted at him. "Eight o'clock?"
"Seven." She grinned.
"Right." He sighed walking off.
Lorelai was sat on the couch in the Crap Shack while Charlotte was sat in the armchair. Rory walked in with some drinks.
"Hey, did Bootsy RSVP?" She asked.
"Yeah, he's coming." Rory nodded.
"Thanks. Is he bringing anybody?" Lorelai asked.
"He's coming solo." Rory said.
"Do you think he just suddenly got a girlfriend?" Charlotte joked.
"Well you never know." Lorelai grinned. "Ok, I'm going to put him in room 16 with Luke." She joked looking down at her room plan.
"You're mean." Rory laughed.
"Come on, let me have my fun!" Lorelai joked.
"You forget Jess is coming too." Rory pointed out.
"Well, I'll put Jess in with Miss Patty." She grinned.
"Mom!" Charlotte exclaimed. "There would be no Jess left in the morning." She said. "If you really want to put Luke with Bootsy, Jess and I can share a room." She joked.
"What?" Lorelai whipped her head off. "No. No way!" She said quickly.
"Mom, I was just kidding." Charlotte laughed. "Geez, you need to chill..."
"Oh...well..." Lorelai said trying to get the image of her daughter and Jess sharing a room out of her head. "So Jess and Luke in room 16." She said focusing back on her room plan.
Rory gave her sister a look for trying to stir things up before picking up a pile of cards from the table. "Are these last year's cards or this year's?" She asked trying to change the subject.
"This year's, of course." Lorelai said.
"Hey, don't scoff! Last year's set were still sitting here until Halloween." She pointed out.
"If that's a crack at my housekeeping skills...well then, okay." Lorelai shrugged.
"Ooh let me see too! I haven't seen these yet." Charlotte said.
Rory sat on the arm of the armchair with Charlotte and they flipped through them together. "Oh hey, it's dad." She said as they both looked at their dad's Christmas card.
"And the woman I'm assuming is Sherry." Charlotte said looking at it with interest.
"Uh...did I not show you that?" Lorelai asked cringing.
"Aw they've got a cute little puppy and everything." Charlotte said.
"I must have put it in the stack and forgotten to tell you both about it." Lorelai rambled. "Well, there it is."
"Nice looking lady." Rory commented.
"Yeah...she is...like a young Tammy Faye Baker." Lorelai said uncomfortably.
"Prettier than that." Charlotte said.
"Oh, I didn't mean not pretty." Lorelai said quickly. "Hey, question about the room list?" She said trying to take the attention away from the card.
"Yeah?" Rory asked.
"Room 31. Why is it empty?" She asked.
Rory and Charlotte exchanged a glance. "Oh yeah...well we wanted to run an idea by you." Rory said.
"Run it."
"We thought maybe a certain depressed man and his wife could stay there." Rory said hesitantly.
"Who?" Lorelai asked.
"Grandma and Grandpa." Charlotte said.
"Urgh, you've got to be kidding." Lorelai groaned.
"But this could help to cheer him up." Rory protested.
"Yeah come on, mom! Grandma would like it as well." Charlotte said.
"Urgh fine...I'll pencil them in, but they'll probably say no." Lorelai said.
"Yeah, but we're not going hope that they say no, right?" Rory raised her eyebrows.
"Oh yeah sure!" Lorelai said totally unconvincingly.
The night of the Bracebridge Dinner finally arrived and Charlotte and Rory were in the lobby of the inn ready to greet their guests.
"How's Sookie doing in there?" Charlotte asked as Lorelai joined them.
"Oh well, you know, she's paper bagging it." Lorelai said.
"What?" Rory asked confused.
"You know..." Lorelai said miming breathing into a pretend bag.
"Oh, so she's right on schedule then." Charlotte laughed.
"She'll be fine." Lorelai nodded.
Babette and Morey walked into the inn at that moment.
"Hey dolls!" Babette smiled at the three of them.
"Hey!" Lorelai smiled fondly at their eccentric neighbours.
"Hi, welcome!" Rory smiled.
"Are we the first ones here?" Morey asked.
"Yep!" Charlotte said.
"Now don't you freak out." Babette told Morey. "Morey hates being the first anywhere. He thinks it hurts his street credibility." She told them.
"Charlie Parker was late to everything." Morey said.
"You guys arre in room 8. It's all ready for you." Charlotte said hiding a smirk as she handed them their key.
"Thanks, doll." Babette smiled at her. "Come on Morey. We can be late for dinner if it'll make you feel better." She said as they walked off.
Lane walked in at that moment and rushed over to them. "Hey!" She smiled at them.
"Hey!" Rory smiled.
"Are you alone?" Charlotte asked.
"Lane!" Mrs Kim's voice rang out as she entered the inn.
"My wedding night's going to be very interesting." She joked.
"Hi Mrs. Kim. I'm glad you guys could come. You are in room 12." Rory smiled politely at her.
"Thank you. Hello Lorelai, thank you for inviting us." Mrs Kim said politely.
"Oh it's our pleasure." Lorelai smiled. "Do you need help bringing in the rest of your stuff?"
"This is my stuff. I don't need any more stuff. People have too much stuff." Mrs Kim said firmly.
"You know you're right." Lorelai nodded. "People have too much stuff. Absolutely!"
"Says the woman with 64 pairs of shoes." Charlotte smirked. "Poor Lane."
"At least she's still here." Rory said.
"Hey, what is Paris doing here?" Lorelai asked as she saw Paris walk in. "And Tristan...?" She said surprised as he came in after Paris.
"Paris had to bring me the newspaper stuff tonight. She just couldn't wait." Rory said. "I have no idea what Tristan is doing here though." She frowned, looking at Charlotte. "Do you know?"
"I may have mentioned it to him." She shrugged.
"What? When?" Rory exclaimed.
"Uh...I don't know. The other day. We are friends. We do talk, you know." Charlotte said.
"Why did you have to invite him to this though?"
"I didn't." Charlotte said. "Maybe he wanted to see you." She shrugged.
"Charlie!"
Charlotte sighed. "Look I'll go talk to him. You deal with Paris." She said walking off to Tristan.
Rory sighed as she watched Charlotte chat with Tristan. She walked over to Paris to deal with the newspaper stuff.
"Hey!" Charlotte smiled at Tristan.
"Hey." He said. "Thought I'd come to check this out." He said.
"Or check someone out." Charlotte smirked, glancing over at Rory.
"What? No." He protested weakly. "I didn't know this was a Chilton get together though." He joked gesturing over to Paris.
"Newspaper stuff." Charlotte explained.
"Oh." Tristan said understanding.
"So are you going to stay for the dinner?" She asked him.
"Will that be allowed?" Tristan asked glancing over at Rory.
"Oh it'll be cool." Charlotte said. "Looks like Rory may have just invited Paris so why not?"
"Sure ok. Why not?" Tristan said.
"Great!" Charlotte grinned. She was distracted by Luke and Jess walking in. "I need to go. See you later." She smiled at Tristan and then went to join her mom in greeting Luke and Jess.
Tristan nodded and watched as Paris talked on the phone in Portuguese, probably to her nanny. He slowly walked over to Rory. "So..uh..Charlotte invited me to stay for the dinner? Is that ok?"
"Doesn't matter to me." Rory said.
"Really?" Tristan asked.
"Well Charlotte invited you. I can hardly say no, can I?" She said.
"Oh...right." Tristan said despondently.
"I need to say hi to my grandparents." She suddenly said seeing them come in.
"Oh ok." He said watching her walk away.
After greeting their grandparents who were surprisingly in a good mood, Rory and Charlotte waited in the reception area chatting with guests while Lorelai went to check in with Sookie. The guests were mingling when Lorelai reappeared.
"Hey everybody, will you gather round?" She smiled. "First of all, I want to welcome you to the first annual and probably never ever to be held again because Sookie's on the verge of a nervous breakdown Bracebridge Dinner." She joked.
"I'm fine, everything's fine." Sookie said nervously.
"I also want to thank Mother Nature for snowing in the Trelling Paper Company in Chicago so I can throw this great party for all my friends instead." She continued "It's a very special night. And so, since I don't get to eat unbelievably strange food with my friends everyday, I have arranged a little surprise. Outside, as we speak, is a line of horse drawn sleighs and everybody gets a ride. So line up and keep it orderly. There's two per sleigh and no cutting in front of each other. That goes for everyone." She said. "Except me, because I'll be damned if I'm going to miss a ride in a horse drawn sleigh. Come on." She grinned.
Charlotte wandered over to Luke and Jess and overheard their conversation.
"You going to go?" Luke asked Jess.
"I think I'll wait for the clog dancing." Jess said dryly.
Charlotte smirked. "So you don't want to go on a sleigh with me then? Bummer. I guess I'll have to find some other guy to accompany me." She joked.
Jess smirked. "Well when you put it like that, I guess I could make an exception." He said.
"Yay! Come on!" She grinned grabbing his arm and dragging him outside.
Lorelai was sat in one of the sleighs outside the inn when she spotted Luke admiring the horses. "Hey you in the belt! Get in!" She grinned.
"What?" Luke said looking up. "Oh, no, I was just sort of checking things out." He said.
"Come on. We can take down Taylor's sleigh." She joked.
"I don't know, I..." Luke said trying to protest.
"Aw, come on Luke! I can't be all school marmy and ride by myself. Please?" She said.
Luke sighed. "Well, ok." He said getting into the sleigh.
Lorelai grinned and their sleigh started moving. "God the town looks beautiful doesn't it?" She smiled.
"Same as always." Luke said.
"No, it's always different his time of year. It's magical." Lorelai insisted.
"If you say so, sure." Luke said. "Oh look, there's the magical plumbing supply store where I bought a magical float for my toilet last week." He mocked.
"You disappoint me." Lorelai shook her head.
"Oh and look over there! There's the magical Luke's Diner right underneath the apartment that Jess magically lit by leaving every stinking light on." He said.
Lorelai glanced over at him. "How's it going with you guys?" She asked.
"Me and Jess? Great." Luke nodded.
"Great? Really?"
"Really."
"Well, good." Lorelai said.
Luke glanced over at her. "You don't have to pretend." He said.
"What?" She said surprised.
"I know you aren't exactly Jess' biggest fan." He said.
"Luke..." Lorelai said quietly.
"No it's fine. I get it." He said. "I understand why you'd be worried. He's dating your daughter. It's natural."
Lorelai sighed. "I just...I don't want Charlotte to get hurt. I know you probably don't want to hear this but I don't trust that kid. There's something about him." She said.
"I get it." Luke said. "If it was my daughter, I'd probably feel the same. But Charlotte's a good influence on Jess. And I think he really likes her. Do you really think I'd let this happen if I didn't believe that? I don't want Charlotte getting hurt either."
Lorelai's expression softened. "I know." She said. "I just...I've tried. But it's hard."
"Well try a bit harder then. I know Jess isn't exactly the easiest person to get along with but you might get surprised if you get to know him." He said. "He's a good kid deep down."
Lorelai sighed. "I know you're right ok?" She said. "I'll try but if he hurts her..."
"Then we will kill him together." Luke joked.
Lorelai smirked. "Sounds like a plan."
Luke nodded.
Lorelai glanced at him. "I'm sorry." She said.
"It's fine." He assured her.
"You seem mad..." She said cautiously.
"Not at you." He said.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
Luke sighed. "You know Jess has some time off from school? I'm assuming Rory and Charlotte do too." He said getting a nod in return. "Well his mom knew that and she never called." He said.
"Urgh, that makes me sick." Lorelai said actually feeling a pang of sympathy for Jess.
"I decided just to keep Jess with me, and I know him and Charlotte have made plans anyway so I told him that his mom wanted him to come home but I thought since he just got there and was still adjusting that I thought he should stay. I told him his mom was really upset but I insisted." Luke said.
"You think he bought that?" Lorelai asked.
Luke shrugged. "I don't know."
"Well at least he will know you want him here." Lorelai said.
"Yeah I guess..." Luke sighed.
Lorelai looked at him and felt like a jerk for slagging off Jess in front of him when it was obvious he was just trying to do right by his family. "I'm sorry." She said sincerely.
"It's not your fault." He said.
"I'm going to try ok? I mean it." She said softly.
Luke glanced at her and gave him a small smile. "Thank you." He said.
Meanwhile a few sleighs in front of them was Charlotte and Jess. Jess was being unusually quiet.
"Are you ok?" Charlotte asked.
"Yeah I'm fine." He said.
"How did you get that cut under your eye?" She asked.
"Oh it was nothing." He said.
"Jess?" Charlotte frowned.
"I got in a fight at school, that's all." Jess said gruffly.
"A fight? Why?" Charlotte exclaimed.
"Because Chuck Presby's a jerk." He grumbled.
"You were fighting Chuck Presby?
"Yup."
"Oh, he is a jerk." Charlotte nodded. She glanced at him. "Have you heard from your mom at all?"
"Nope." He said.
"Doesn't that bother you?" She asked.
"Nope." He said.
Charlotte sighed. "Now who's turn is it to be succinct." She mumbled.
"Well not everyone can have a crazy close relationship with their mom." Jess retorted.
"Hey!" Charlotte said hurt.
"Sorry." Jess said regretting it. "Look, what I meant is that I don't care. She has her life, I have mine. I'd much rather stay here." He shrugged.
"Really?" She asked surprised. "I thought you hated it here."
"Yeah, well it isn't too bad." Jess said giving her a small smile.
Charlotte reciprocated the action. "Well I'm glad you're here." She said softly snuggling up to him under the blanket.
Jess put his arm round her. "I'm sorry about what I said about your relationship with your mom. I don't think it's crazy. I envy it." He admitted. "You're lucky."
Charlotte smiled at that. "Yeah I am lucky." She said thinking about her mom. She glanced at him. "I know you and my mom started off on the wrong foot..."
"She hates me." He said.
"She doesn't." Charlotte protested.
"Really?" Jess said raising his eyebrows.
"Ok maybe she isn't your biggest fan but can you blame her? She never told me what you said to her that first night but I can imagine. Can't you both just try to get along? For my sake?" She asked. "It would really mean a lot to me."
Jess sighed. "Fine." He said.
"Thank you." Charlotte smiled.
"That's good." Jess said nodding towards the snowmen.
"What?"
"Your snowman. Snowwoman, actually." He smirked.
"You know which one is ours?" Charlotte asked excitedly.
"It definitely has the most personality. Kind of looks like Bjork." He nodded.
"That's what we were going for." She grinned.
"Yeah?"
"Everyone thinks the one on the end is going to be the winner though." Charlotte sighed.
"Really? It's so overdone." Jess said.
"We thought that." Charlotte said.
"You should win."
"No argument." She grinned.
Rory had gotten into a sleigh and was ready to enjoy the peaceful ride when suddenly Tristan jumped in next to her. "What are you doing?" She exclaimed.
"Your mom said it was no less than two to a sleigh. You were breaking the rules." He smirked.
"You could have hurt yourself." She said.
"I live on the edge." He shrugged. "I can jump out if you want."
"Makes no difference to me." Rory said crossing her arms.
"Ok." Tristan said. He glanced at her. "Ok it kind of looks like it does make a difference to you." He commented.
"You really do think highly of yourself don't you?" She retorted.
Tristan put his hands up in mock surrender. "Ok. You don't care. Fine." He said looking out at the town.
Rory glanced at him. "Why did you really come?" She asked after a moment.
"What?" He asked turning to her.
"Why did you come here today?" She repeated.
"Charlotte told me about it. I thought I'd check it out." Tristan shrugged.
"That's it? That's the only reason you came? To check out the event?" Rory narrowed her eyes.
"Why? What other reason do you expect me to say?" He challenged her.
"Nothing. I was just..." She faltered. "Doesn't matter." She grumbled.
"Ok." Tristan said.
"Look I just broke up with Dean ok?" She said but her voice was less accusing and a bit softer.
"Ok.." Tristan said confused.
"I...I'm not ready for another relationship yet." She admitted. "I need time to...wallow." She said. "And you constantly being around and coming here...isn't helping me."
"Sorry?" He said still confused.
Rory sighed. "No you don't have to be sorry. I just...look there might be something between us ok?" She admitted. "But I need to take some time."
"Ok." He nodded. "Can we be friends though?" He asked.
Rory smiled at that. "I'd like that." She said.
Tristan smiled. "Ok well as your friend, can we go out for coffee sometime?" He said with his trademark smirk.
"Tristan!" Rory laughed. "What did I just say?"
"Hey, don't friends get coffee together?" He smirked.
"I guess..." She said.
"Well why can't we then? If we're friends, what's to stop us?" He asked.
"You don't give up, do you?" Rory said with a slight smirk.
"Nope." Tristan smirked. "So what do you say?"
"If it will shut you up then yes, I will go get some coffee with you sometime." She rolled her eyes.
"Ok. I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship Louis." He smirked.
"You watched it!" She grinned.
"Yep." He nodded. "Great film."
"It is a great film." She grinned.
After the dinner ended successfully, apart from Richard admitting he had retired from his work, Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory were in their room at the inn getting ready for bed.
"Isn't it always nice to end a big festive meal with a big festive fight?" Lorelai joked.
"Most people didn't notice anything." Rory said.
"I guess. Bootsy singing Hotel California accompanied by spoons drew people's attention away." Lorelai nodded.
"Did Grandma and Grandpa say a word to each other the rest of the night?" Charlotte asked.
"No." Lorelai said.
"Why didn't he tell anyone?" Rory asked.
"I'm sorry, are you asking me to interpret my parents' motives?"
"My mistake. So which bed do you want?" Rory rolled her eyes.
"You two take the one by the window." She said
"Ok. Hey, have you heard from Dad recently?" Rory asked.
"What dad? Your dad?" Lorelai asked shiftily.
"Yeah, our dad..." Rory said exchanged a confused look with Charlotte.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because he usually checks in this time of year and he hasn't checked in yet." Charlotte said. "I mean, I know he's probably busy with Sherry and the new apartment and...what?" She said as she noticed their mom's look.
"There may have been a call." She admitted.
"There may have been? You don't remember?" Rory asked confused.
"Well things have been so hectic, you know, with the Bracebridge Dinner, and...uh...building a snowwoman..." She rambled quickly.
"Mom?" Charlotte frowned.
"Yes, he called!" She admitted. "He called ok? He called and invited you both and it's not too late to go." She said. "He called and invited you, so there you go. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"He invited us over?" Rory clarified.
"Yes! What, are you deaf?" She exclaimed.
"No, I'm just trying to separate the gist from the ubububah!" Rory said.
"Well the gist is he invited you, ok?" Lorelai sighed.
"Why didn't he invite us himself?" Charlotte asked.
"Because he's pretending to be considerate by running it past me first." She said.
"Was he maybe not pretending to be considerate, and actually being considerate?" Rory asked.
"Maybe." She sighed. "But I wouldn't put it past him to be inconsiderate. The guy doesn't have the greatest track record." She pointed out.
"Why didn't you tell us? He's probably waiting for our answer, and holding off making plans." Charlotte said.
"Because I have dibs on this time of year with you, not him! Me! And yes, he acknowledged that, and that was cool and all, but still! It stinks! Because he put me in a very difficult position because we were supposed to watch a lot of movies and make fun of Godfather 3, and the thing that I really really hate about this is...is the idea of you not hanging out with me because you're hanging out there with your stupid stepmother." Lorelai ranted.
"You're calling Sherry our stepmother?" Charlotte asked amused.
"Well, she practically is." Lorelai said.
"You're wigging." Rory shook her head.
"There is something wrong with that woman!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"You don't even know her." Rory pointed out.
"You think I'm overreacting?"
"I think you're jealous of Sherry." Rory nodded.
"Ha! I'm not jealous of Sherry." Lorelai denied.
"Please, you so are!" Charlotte said.
"But we understand...your territory has been threatened." Rory said.
"Excuse me?" Lorelai asked.
"Yeah but relax, there are ways to work through situations like this. Compromises can be struck." Charlotte nodded playing along.
"Oh, what are you going on about?
"Well, you know, we can still call you Mom and we'll call her Mommy Sherry." Rory smirked.
"Don't be mean." Lorelai mumbled.
"And we can split up holidays evenly. Like, we'll be with you on Labor Day..." Charlotte smirked.
"Ok..." Lorelai sighed.
"Yeah and her on Memorial Day." Rory nodded.
"Ok enough." Lorelai said.
"We'll have to find out about her religion though to see how Chanukah will factor into this, unless you want to convert to Judaism and then take over Chanukah for yourself." Charlotte grinned.
"I get your point ok? I overreacted. Please stop." She said.
"You totally overreacted. God!" Rory said getting into the bed alongisde Charlotte.
Lorelai looked over at them. "So do you think you're going to go and stay with them?" She asked hesitantly.
"I'll have to think about it." Rory said.
"Me too." Charlotte said.
"Do you have to think about it because you know that it's killing me not to know whether you're going or not and you want to torture me like that?" Lorelai said.
"Nope, I just don't know if I want to do it." Rory admitted.
"Same here." Charlotte agreed.
"Oh. Ok." Lorelai said.
Just then there was a knock on the door. Lorelai went to open it and Emily burst in.
"I need a new room." She demanded.
"What?" Lorelai asked.
"I can't stay in that room!"
"There are no other rooms, Mom."
"Well, then I'll go home!" She exclaimed dramatically.
"Grandma, it's late." Rory said.
"And pitch black." Charlotte said. "The roads are icy. It's dangerous."
"Well, I'm not going back to that room." She said stubbornly.
"I'm guessing you and Dad had it out about the job thing?" Lorelai asked.
"We haven't even spoken since dinner. I'm so upset, I wouldn't know where to begin. And I couldn't take being around him anymore. What he did is inexcusable. Not letting me know he left his job...as if it didn't affect me!" Emily exclaimed.
"Mom, try to calm down. Here, you can share my bed." Lorelai sighed.
"I'm just a burden." She said quietly.
"You're not a burden, Mom." Lorelai said softly.
"Well, ok, thank you. Can I use the mirror in the bathroom for a second?" She asked.
"Yes, I'll use the one out here." Lorelai said.
Charlotte and Rory watched as both their mom and Grandma applied cream to their faces and exchanged an amused look.
"Wow." Rory said.
"What?" Lorelai asked.
"Behold our future." Charlotte joked. They both laughed as their mom realised what they meant.
"How do you turn out the light?" Emily asked coming out of the bathroom.
"I'll get it." Lorelai said.
"I still can't believe it." She said getting into the bed. "It was so irresponsible."
"Maybe he had no choice?"
"Of course he had a choice. Go to sleep Lorelai." Emily snapped.
"That job was killing him, Mom. It was killing him." Lorelai said softly.
Emily suddenly got up after a moment. "I'm going for a little walk." She said.
"Grandma, it's late." Rory said.
"I'm not tired." She said before leaving the room.
"Our family ladies and gentlemen!" Lorelai joked.
"I think I'm going to go and check on her." Charlotte said getting up heading for the door.
"Hang on a minute." Lorelai said sitting up.
"What?" Charlotte said innocently.
"You're going to check on your Grandma?" Lorelai asked.
"Yeah.." Charlotte said.
"So you're not going to meet up with a certain leather jacket wearing guy in a previously discussed location?" Lorelai raised her eyebrows.
"I don't know who you're talking about." She said innocently.
"Charlie..."
Charlotte sighed. "We were just going to hang in the library." She said. "We hardly got to talk to each other all evening. I know you don't like him but I do and I just want some time with him..." She rambled quickly.
"Go." Lorelai said.
"And we're not going to do anything. We'll just hang out in the library and...wait what?" Charlotte said surprised.
"Go see Jess." She said.
"Seriously?"
"Look, I'm not completely happy with you and Jess but I'm trying ok? So go." She said. "Before I change my mind." She added with a slight smirk.
"I love you mom!" Charlotte grinned rushing over to give her a hug and then rushed out of the room.
"I love you too." Lorelai said quietly after she had left.
After saying goodbye to all their guests the following morning, Lorelai turned to her daughters. "Let's go home." She smiled.
"Are we coming to get our bags later?" Rory asked.
"Why?" Lorelai asked.
"Because we're walking home. I don't want to carry them." Rory said.
"Who says we're walking?" Lorelai grinned leading them outside where a horse-drawn sleigh was waiting for them.
"This is the only way to ride." Charlotte grinned as they rode through the town.
"I wholeheartedly agree." Lorelai grinned. "Whoa, what happened there?" She said gesturing over to the smashed elaborate overdone snowman.
"I have no idea." Rory said.
"Me neither." Charlotte said with a slight smirk.
"Bad news for ringer guy. But guess who wins by default?" Lorelai grinned.
"I guess that would be us." Rory smiled.
"Yep!" Charlotte grinned.
Rory glanced over at Charlotte and smirked. "So you and Jess stay in the library all the time last night?" She asked quietly so that their mom couldn't hear.
"I plead the fifth." Charlotte said innocently, her eyes twinkling.
I hope you liked it! I really do love reading your reviews so please keep them coming! Thanks! :)