Author's Note: So I haven't forgotten this story! It's just when you're working 70 hour work weeks for 3 months, you kind of don't have time for things like writing. Good thing that's over with! However, this chapter mostly pays homage to my other current obsession, and this weekend seemed the appropriate time to post. Also, my apologies if you haven't seen A Very Brady Christmas. It truly is one of those Christmas movies I have to watch every single year, and it never fails to be completely cheesy and mind-numbingly awful at the same time.

Enjoy!

Chapter Nine - All I Want for Christmas is You

Take back the holly and mistletoe
Silver bells on string
If I wrote a letter to Santa Claus
I would ask for just one thing
I don't need sleigh rides in the snow
Don't want a Christmas that's blue
Take back the tinsel, stockings, and bows
'Cause all I want for Christmas is you ~Vince Vance and the Valiants

The heavy apartment door swung open and Honor leaned against the frame, staring at her brother expectantly. "Well, what did you do now?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her.

Logan shook his head and pushed past her. "Why hello Honor, it's great to see you too, Me? I'm just dandy, thanks for asking!"

Honor rolled her eyes as she shut the door. "Oh I'm so sorry little brother. Please, by all means, come on in and sulk on my couch. I clearly had nothing better to do today than listen to you whine." She backed down slightly once she caught sight of the the look on his face. "Okay, maybe that was a little harsh, you look like crap."

"Why are all the women in my life telling me that? It's not good for the ego."

"I wasn't aware your ego needed boosting."

"After this week, it might." Logan collapsed on the couch and looked over at his sister again. "So. I left her."

"You left her," Honor repeated dumbly. Her eyes widened as she realized the meaning of his words. "Oh Logan." She perched herself on the couch next to him for a moment before jumping back up. "We need drinks," she said decisively. "I feel like I'm going to need a drink to hear this story." She moved toward the bar, fixing them each a drink and then bringing them back to the couch. "Okay wait." She handed one glass to Logan and then made a production of getting herself settled against the cushions. Taking a long drink from her glass, she nodded contentedly. "Okay, let's hear it."

"What's to hear? I already told you, I left her." Logan shrugged. "I walked out of the hotel this afternoon. Told her if she wanted us to be together, she was going to have to learn to trust me."

Honor blinked. "Sure. And what better way to prove you're trustworthy than to turn and walk away from her. Again." She shook her head. "Damn it, Logan. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Believe me, I know exactly what I'm doing," Logan said seriously. "She's going to come find me. She's going to say she's sorry for not trusting me, and she's going to admit that she wants to be in this relationship just as much as I do. She just needed a little bit of a push."

"A push?" Honor grabbed a pillow from the couch and hit him in the shoulder with it. "A push? My God, Logan. I thought you weren't going to play any games with this girl!" She hit him again. "This is quite possibly the stupidest thing you have ever done relationship-wise. You really think freaking reverse psychology is going to work here?"

He nodded. "I do, actually." He grabbed the pillow from Honor's hands before she hit him a third time. "Stop with the hitting, thank you. Look, maybe it's a little extreme, I will give you that, but Honor, trust me, this is going to work."

"You're an idiot," Honor said with a sigh. She took another drink and looked back up at him. "Do you love her, Logan?"

"Yes." His answer was automatic, decisive. He didn't need to think about it.

"Then why all of this? Logan, if you keep pushing Rory away one day she's not going to come back. And no stunt in the world will bring her back." Honor frowned. "This is all very confusing to me," she said. "I spent some time with Rory yesterday, and with the way she was talking, I thought things were going really well with the two of you. Really well," she emphasized, reflecting back on the lingerie she had witnessed the other girl buying during their shopping trip.

Logan sat up straighter. "That's right, you were with her. What did she say?"

Honor laughed. "Oh, it's precious you think I'd tell you that. She thought the same thing. Sorry, no. These lips are sealed on those secrets. But I can tell you that yes, I was under the impression things were moving along in the right direction."

"They were," Logan admitted. "You're right, things were going great."

"So what happened?"

Knowing she wouldn't stop until he gave in, Logan found himself relaying the whole story to Honor. He told her everything, from Rory's twisted ankle turning their night out to a night spent inside, to the disastrous morning after and everything in between. With a sigh, he took another drink before setting his glass down and faced the judgmental look of his sister.

"Why are you looking at me like this is all my fault?"

"Oh it's not just your fault, you're both idiots!" Honor threw her hands up in frustration. "You were right there! You both were finally in the same place at the same time and then you go and fuck it up by jumping to asinine conclusions and she makes things even worse by being absolutely ridiculous and stubborn." She grabbed another pillow and hit him again. "What the hell is wrong with the two of you?" she asked, hitting him another time for good measure.

"What do you want me to say, Honor?" he asked, irritated. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh really?" She shot back. "So what? Sleeping with her minutes before leaving her was the right thing to do?"

He hung his head, having the decency to look ashamed. "I didn't mean for that to happen, it was kind of an accident."

"An accident?" Honor rolled her eyes, "Did she accidentally fall onto your dick?"

Logan winced, never wanting to hear those words come from his sister ever again, even if they were partially true. "Kind of," he admitted with a smirk. "But you're right, that was an asshole move on my part."

"As long as you know that." Honor sighed and looked at him for a long time. "So now what?" she asked finally.

He shrugged. "Now nothing. I wait. You'll see, she'll come find me."

Honor raised an eyebrow at this. "If you say so." She refilled both of their glasses and sat back down. "So what? Did Dad let you off for the day? It's not Christmas yet, I thought for sure you'd still be at the office."

"I thought so too, but Mom called." Honor nodded in understanding, rolling her eyes. "Apparently, there was a last minute invitation to a dinner at the Campbells' and she wouldn't attend alone." Logan laughed. "Dad told me to go ahead and take off as well, no need to report back to work until after the holidays." Honor raised an eyebrow at this. "Believe me, I know," Logan said with a laugh. "I wasn't going to question it though."

"Go after her, Logan."

He shook his head. "I can't do that, Honor. I've chased her for almost two weeks now."

"That was your own doing!"

"Well maybe I was wrong. I shouldn't have to chase after her."

"You do if you're the one to push her away."

"She'll come after me," Logan said again. "You'll see." He looked away from the look she was giving him. "So did I interrupt any big plans for the night?"

"Nah, Josh is gone until tomorrow so I figured I'd make dinner and then watch a movie. Don't give me that look, I can cook well and you know it! Magda taught me summer mom couldn't keep a nanny, remember?"

"I remember." Logan shook his head. "What happened to my big sister who was always at the front of every VIP line in the city?"

"She grew up and got married. You'll see, wait until it happens to you and Rory. If it happens now."

He ignored her. "So, what movie are we watching?" He grimaced as she held up the pink and white DVD cover. "Really? Again?"

"Hey, you're the one that interrupted my night in, you don't get to be picky." Honor laughed and picked up the remote to press play. "You know, this might be good for you. You kind of remind me of Big."

"Of who?"

"Wait and see, Little Brother, wait and see."

"Hey, feeling better?" Lorelai asked as Rory emerged from her bedroom. After finding her daughter in the bathroom earlier that afternoon, she had gotten her up off the floor, into the shower, and then suggested a nap before they talked about why Rory was back from New York in such a state. Rory had been too worn out to do anything but agree, and now nearly four hours later, here they were.

Rory shrugged. "Is there coffee?" Lorelai handed her a mug wordlessly, which she accepted gratefully and plopped down at the table. "Thanks."

"No problem. So, I figured we'd do dinner at the diner because you probably don't feel like cooking and I don't cook and there aren't any other options."

"I don't want to go to the diner," Rory said as she dropped her head to the table. "Too many people, too many questions. I don't want to have to talk about Logan."

"You mean you don't want to talk about him to other people, right? Because you and I? We are totally talking about him," Lorelai said as she dropped a pop tart on the table next to her daughter's head.

"Mom..."

"Don't mom me. I come home today to find you a sobbing mess in the bathroom and that's a scene I never wanted to see again after the last time, you know that. Rory, what happened?"

"I really don't want to talk about it righ-"

"Rory." Lorelai gave her a pointed stare. "You kept saying something about needing to get him back. That you needed my help to get him back? You can understand why I'm confused."

"I'm confused too," she said wearily. "Things were going really well, Mom. At least, I thought they were. Up until this morning, everything was great."

"What happened this morning?" Lorelai flinched. "And what happened last night to make everything great? Do I really want to know?"

Rory lifted her head from the table. "From the minute I surprised him in the hotel, we were off to a good start. I went to business dinners with him, Mitchum was pleasant toward the both of us, we were having a great time. And then yesterday we were supposed to go out to dinner, but on the way I jacked my ankle up because of my shoes and-"

"You hurt your ankle? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just sore." Rory waved off the injury and continued on with her story. Once she got into it, she didn't stop, barely pausing to breathe as she detailed the past evening and the events of the morning. Lorelai listened intently, trying to keep her opinions in check the whole time.

"And then he just left. And I watched him leave. And I came home." Rory's head fell back to the table. "Why did I let him leave?"

"Back up," Lorelai said, holding a hand in the air. "Mitchum told you to go for it with Logan? Mitchum Huntzberger?"

"I know! It was so bizarre."

"Well, do you?" Lorelai asked suddenly.

"Do I what?"

"Trust Logan. Do you?"

"Mom."

"Because if you don't, then really, what's the point? If you don't trust him, then there's no reason to get back together with him. And honestly, Rory, I don't know what to make of the whole do and ditch stunt he pulled."

"That wasn't entirely his fault," Rory admitted, blushing.

Lorelai shook her head. "Regardless, if you don't trust him, there's no point. So do you?"

"I want to."

"Rory." Lorelai sighed. "Cut the passive aggressive crap. Do you trust him enough to make this work?"

"I want this to work," Rory said emphatically. "I do, Mom, and I know you don't want to hear this, but I want Logan."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay then. What should we do about it?"

Rory shrugged her shoulders pathetically. "I was hoping you could tell me," she admitted.

Lorelai sighed. "I'm going to need a drink to get through this one. Come on, we're going to KC's."

"What about the diner? I haven't eaten since this morning."

"We're not going to the diner. The last thing Luke wants to hear about is how you slept with Logan last night. And this morning."

"And last week," Rory murmured before she could stop herself. She smiled guiltily at Lorelai. "Sorry."

"Oh yes, Long Islands for me," Lorelai muttered as she grabbed her purse. "Let's go." Rory didn't protest much as she figured a drink wouldn't be such a bad thing, and anyone who was there would be too busy drowning their own sorrows to be worrying about hers.

"So." Lorelai looked at Rory expectantly. It wasn't much later and they had just ordered a first round of drinks as well as half of the appetizers on the menu. "I think we both know the easy solution here. You call him."

Rory blinked. "Okay, but if I call him, then he gets all of the power in this relationship, won't he?" she argued. "He will then realize that he can pull stupid stunts like issuing ultimatums and walking away, knowing I will bend over and do whatever he wants me to do!"

"So, you don't want to call him back?" Lorelai questioned.

"No, I do."

"Right." Lorelai gave her a confused look. "Are you sure this is your first drink of the day?" she asked with a nod to the drink sitting in front of her.

Rory took a long drink from the glass and refused to make eye contact with her mother. "Is it supposed to be this hard?" she asked. "Relationships in general, are they supposed to be this hard, even when they're the right ones?"

"Generally, no," Lorelai admitted. "But let's be honest here, you and Logan are the ones making this harder for each other than it needs to be. You're both really into this whole game playing thing and Rory, I gotta tell you, that's not going to work. For either of you. First of all, you're not kids anymore. Like it or not, you're adults and this right here is a real live grown-up relationship. The sooner the two of you realize that, the better off both of you will be. And then, only then, when you both are on the same page in that circumstance, does this relationship have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving."

"I should call him," Rory said quietly.

"You should," Lorelai agreed. "And now preferably, and not when you've had seven drinks. You don't need a plan, Rory. You don't need a way to get him back, you simply just need to pick up the phone and call him."

"You're right." Rory looked down at the phone lying next to her glass. "Tomorrow," she said abruptly and Lorelai resisted the urge to slam her head into the table.

"Tomorrow," she repeated. "Why tomorrow?"

"Because there's just a couple of things more I need to figure out," Rory said firmly. "I will call him tomorrow. Tonight, we will drink."

"If you say so," Lorelai said, knowing this was a very bad idea. She raised her glass in Rory's direction and saluted her. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Rory smiled half-halfheartedly and took another drink herself. She hoped so too.

December 23, 2009

"I'm still not seeing the problem, Honor," Logan argued as he reached over to the table and grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl. "Big clearly ended up being the good guy in this, why do you keep calling me an ass?"

"Big?" Finn cut in. "Oh come on, Logan, Aiden clearly should have been the winner of Carrie's Prada-covered heart."

"Right," Colin scoffed as he rolled his eyes. "What about the Russian?"

"Of course you'd like the Russian," Finn sneered.

Honor smirked as she watched the three men discuss the great loves of Carrie Bradshaw and wished she had thought to record them. What had started out with her making Logan watch the movie yesterday had turned into a lengthy discussion on just how exactly, Logan had become toxic to Rory just as Big had to Carrie. That discussion had led to the need to watch a couple of specific episodes and somehow, Colin and Finn had joined in on the fun.

"My point is simple, Logan," Honor cut in as the argument grew heated. "Big put Carrie through a lot of crap before he figured it out and did things the right way; much like how you're putting Rory through an awful lot of crap yourself. And have for years."

Logan glared at her. "So this is all my fault? Really, Honor?"

"Not all, but let's face it, you've broken the girl's heart a few times." Honor shrugged. "But she seems to be willing to let that all go so more power to her. I just wish the two of you would quit being such babies this time around."

"Who's side are you on, Honor?"

"Yours, of course," she assured him quickly. "Always yours, someone has to look out for you. And I know happy you've been these past couple of weeks. I know you want things to work out with her. You just need to learn ultimatums are never the way to go."

"So what was I supposed to do?" Logan shot back. He glanced quickly at Colin and Finn who were still arguing between themselves. They stopped mid-debate to shrug their shoulders and resumed without batting an eye. Sighing, he turned back to Honor.

Honor shrugged. "That I don't know. But you better really be sure Rory's going to come after you." She looked at her watch. "It's already been twenty-four hours and not a word from her. How long do you think she'll take?"

Logan had to admit, Honor had a point. He had expected to hear from Rory before he had gone to sleep the night before, and was surprised to wake up to not even a missed phone call. "Soon," he answered feebly.

"Soon?" Honor raised her eyebrow at him. "How soon? In case you hadn't realized it, tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we're due at Mom and Dad's any minute. Do you really think Rory's going to face that firing squad?" She shook her head and jerked her thumb toward the other guys. "Unless these two have a plan?"

Finn snorted. "Not likely, we thought Logan had this one in the bag." Hi eyes glinted. "Now Honor, tell us. Which of the ladies are you? Samantha, right?"

"Oh please!" Colin scoffed. "She's a total Charlotte."

"Hey!"

Logan slumped back against the pillows on the couch and stared miserably at the screen as a new argument brewed around him. In his mind, he had been doing the right thing. Rory needed that push, and how else was he supposed to have done that?

He stared feebly at the television screen as Big and Carrie argued over the placement of dominoes. As cheesy as the sentiment was, and even though it was a heavy-handed metaphor, he could see the point of the episode. Relationships were much like the domino pattern Carrie and Big had created. One false step and the whole thing would come crashing down around them. He didn't much care for that idea.

"Hey Honor?"

"Yeah?"

"What if I made a mistake?"

"This is a mistake," Rory muttered as she looked down at the phone in her hands. "I can't do this, he doesn't want to hear from me."

Lorelai sighed but didn't look up from the television. "Of course he does. He's waiting for you to call him. You know this. You want to call him. You know this too. You just didn't want to call him right away because you didn't want him to know you're desperate."

"I'm not desperate!" she protested weakly.

Lorelai scoffed, still not taking her eyes off of the screen. She and Rory had spent the better part of the day watching the Lifetime Movie Network Christmas movie marathon and having this same argument. "Just call him already. The longer you wait, the more you're going to talk yourself out of it. And if you talk yourself out of it, then clearly, you don't want to be with him anyway."

"I do want to be with him!" Rory said stubbornly.

"Then call him." Lorelai scrunched up her face. "Do you think Lifetime just keeps a revolving door of washed-up actresses to rotate in their movies? And do they not realize we know we're watching the same exact movie, with the same exact plot, just different faces?"

Rory sighed and turned her eyes back to the movie. Her phone rang in that moment and she nearly jumped out of her skin, tossing the phone into Lorelai's lap.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and looked down at the phone. "It's not him," she said as she handed it back. She turned her attention back to the movie again.

Rory looked at the display and frowned before answering it. "Hello?"

"Rory!" Finn spoke in hushed tones. "Quick question, do you think Carrie should have ended up with Aiden or Big?"

"Finn?" Rory blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"Aiden or Big?"

"Aiden or Big?" she repeated. "You're seriously calling me to ask me if I prefer Aiden or Big? Really, Finn?"

"Aiden," Lorelai commented, not turning from the television. "Hands down."

"No way, Big!" Rory protested. "He and Carrie were the whole point of the show!"

"Thanks Rory, you've been a big help. Happy Holidays!" Finn disconnected the call, leaving Rory to stare speechless at the phone.

Lorelai finally looked away from the television. "Sounded like a most important call," she said.

Rory made a face. "I'm not sure what that was about. I'm not sure I want to know."

Lorelai laughed. "Hey, Logan is kind of like Big," she noted.

"You think?" Rory scrunched up her nose. "I'm not much like Carrie though. Except for the whole writer thing."

"That's true, my little Type A Miranda," Lorelai teased. "Ugh." She pointed at the television screen again. "This movie is going to end the exact same way the last one did, with the male lead surprising the whiny girl lead on Christmas Eve wearing a Santa suit. Lame. Hey!" She turned back to Rory. "Why don't you-"

"I'm not dressing up like Santa Claus," Rory said automatically.

"It clearly works," Lorelai protested. She slumped back against the couch at the look Rory gave her. "Fine, don't dress like Santa. Are you going to call him?"

Rory took a deep breath. "Yes." She picked up her phone and stood up. "Right now."

"It's a Christmas miracle!" Lorelai cried as Rory made her way to her bedroom to make the call. "Finally," she muttered as she turned her full attention back to the television.

In her bedroom, Rory quickly dialed Logan's number before she could lose her courage. She stared out the window as she waited for him to pick up the phone.

The phone only rang twice. "Hello?"

"Hey," she said quietly. "It's me."

There was a long pause on the other line. "I was wondering if you were going to call."

"I had some things to think about," she said defensively.

"Things huh?" Logan snickered. "Had a pro-con list to study?"

"Something like that." Her eyes flickered over to the sheet of paper lying on her bed. "Are you still in New York?"

"Just barely. Waiting on Honor to finish packing and we'll be on our way to Hartford." He hesitated. "I assume you made it back okay?"

"I did," she confirmed. "Yesterday afternoon."

"I didn't think, I should have made arrangements for-"

"It's okay," she said automatically. "I know my way from New York to Stars Hollow." She cringed at how awkward their conversation was.

Logan noticed it too. "I'm not sure what to say," he said honestly.

"Me either," she admitted.

"I meant what I said yesterday," he said suddenly. "But I probably could have said it better than I did."

"You're right though," she said quickly. "You were right. About everything."

"So where does that leave us?" He paused. "Where does it leave you?"

"I know where I want to be," she said quietly. "With you."

"But?"

She sighed. "There's no but, Logan. I'm telling you what you wanted to hear! Why do you assume there has to be a but attached to it?"

"Because there usually is," he shot back. "You know, like, Logan I love you but I don't want to marry you?"

"Oh my God! Really Logan? You're really going to go there again?"

"We always seem to end up there."

"You always end up there!" she protested. "Usually minutes after you finish telling me you're not pushing me to get married."

"I'm not pushing you to do anything! I'm simply stating facts."

"And so am I. I don't know what else you want from me, Logan, I really don't. I'm telling you I want to be with you, but it doesn't seem to be good enough!"

"Maybe it's not." His words stunned the both of them.

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't mean that." Logan tried to backpedal but it was too late.

"No, I think you did." Rory sighed. "Well, I told you what I needed to tell you. And it's not enough. So I guess that leaves us right where we've been this entire time. Where we've been for two years. I'm not enough for you, Logan."

"Rory!"

"Well?" she challenged him. "Anything I say or do, it's never good enough. It's never as grand as a gestures as the ones you've shown me, it's never as flashy or extravagant, and you never seem to let me forget that."

"You're enough," he insisted. "I didn't mean what I said, what I was trying to say was that-"

"I know what you were trying to say," she said softly. And I get it, I do." She sighed. "Look, you and I both are going to be really busy these next two days, and we each have enough family drama to deal with on our own, so why don't we talk after the holiday, okay? We'll sit down and really talk."

"Rory..."

"Logan, it's okay," she said, trying to reassure him. "I'll see you in a couple of days, okay?"

"Fine," he said stonily, knowing he didn't have a choice. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," she promised. "Merry Christmas, Logan."

"Merry Christmas, Rory."

She dropped the phone on her dresser before collapsing on her bed, crumpling the pro-con list she had hastily scrawled out drunkenly the night before. That couldn't have gone worse if she had planned it to.

Next to her, her phone buzzed and she rolled over to grab it, reading the text message that had been sent.

You're enough. You're more than enough.She smiled slightly at this and resisted the urge to redial his phone number. She had meant what she said about waiting until after Christmas to talk to him. Instead, she sent off a text message of her own.

I will be.

December 24th, 2009

"Lorelai, we're leaving in ten minutes, I don't care if you're dressed or not," Luke yelled down the stairs at his wife, who was where she had been sitting for much of the last two days. The last thing either Luke or Lorelai wanted to do was go to the Gilmores' for the annual Christmas Eve party.

"I'm busy!" she hollered back, not tearing her eyes away from the television screen. She looked up as Rory entered the living room and sat down next to her. "You look very pretty," she said with a smile.

"Thanks." Rory glanced at the television. "Really Mom? A Very Brady Christmas?"

Lorelai nodded. "This is the epitome of Christmas cheese, Rory. Something that must be watched over and over, year after year. I mean, the drama! The antics! Will Carol and Mike surprise each other with vacations at the same time? Will Marcia's husband find another job? Oh my god, will Cindy get to eat dinner at the grown-up table?" Lorelai's voice rose dramatically with each question.

"Oh my god, will you get dressed already?" Luke yelled again from upstairs.

"I am dressed," she yelled back. She rolled her eyes at Rory. "Today's just shaping up to be tons of fun, isn't it?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, but there's apple tarts," Rory pointed out.

"That's true, there are apple tarts." Lorelai nodded at Rory's hands. "Where's your cell phone?"

"My phone? Why?"

"Why? Why? You mean you can actually last an hour without that thing glued to your hand?" Lorelai snorted. "I'm not blind, I've seen you texting every ten minutes since yesterday afternoon."

Rory bit back the grin that threatened to grace her features. "So there's been some communication," she admitted. And there had been. Ever since their phone conversation the day before, Rory and Logan had been engaging in some high volume texting. They had tried to keep it light and impersonal, but as the hours wore on, the conversation had become heavier, and definitely personal. Her cheeks warmed as she recalled some of the late night texts that had transpired between them.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "I don't even want to know what you're thinking about."

"Sorry." Rory didn't sound sorry at all. She looked at her watch. "We're going to be late, and you don't want to give Grandma something to complain about before we're even through the front door, do you?"

"No, that's true." Lorelai craned her head toward the staircase. "Luke, come on! We're going to be late!" She snickered as Luke's muttering could be heard all the way to where they were seated on the couch. "He's being such a Grinch today."

"You're not exactly helping," Rory pointed out. Lorelai shrugged.

Luke came bounding down the stairs. He skidded to a halt at the foot of the step and glared at his wife and stepdaughter. "I thought you said you were ready," he complained.

"No, what I said was, we're going to be late," Lorelai pointed out. "I still need to find my shoes."

"Lorelai." Luke's voice held a warning note to it.

"But Luke," she whined, gesturing wildly to the television again. "We can't leave yet, I need to know how this ends."

"Oh really. You need to know how this ends? This movie right here? This movie you've made me watch three times this month alone?"

"Yes." Lorelai nodded emphatically. "What if this is the one time that Mike doesn't make it out of the collapsed building on time? What if Carol's heavenly voice doesn't save her husband? What if Sam the butcher doesn't come back for Alice?"

"What if I divorce my wife?" Luke asked sarcastically.

"On Christmas?" Lorelai pretended to look horrified. "That would be the worst Christmas gift ever." She finished buckling her shoe and stood up, turning the television off. "Okay, okay, let's go. We can't keep the Gilmores waiting!" She sailed past her husband and daughter and out the front door.

Rory smiled sympathetically at Luke as they left the house as well. "The holidays make her a little crazy," she reminded him. He just shook his head with a snort and they were on their way to Hartford.

Been here less than 1 hour and grandma has already mentioned that this time next year there could be a great-grandchild if I play my cards right. Guess she's heard you're back around.

Mom has disappeared for five smoke breaks in two hours. Dad still has yet to notice.

The apple tarts are especially tasty this year.

Grandfather just told me he fully expects me to run the company into the ground by summer. Merry Fucking Christmas."Hey."

Rory's head snapped up as Lorelai joined her on the sofa. "Hey. Where's Luke?"

"Discussing the finer points of a Civil War documentary he watched on television with my Dad and his friends." Lorelai rolled her eyes. She nodded at Rory's phone. "How's Logan's night?"

Rory shrugged. "It's dinner at the Huntzberger's," she said, not needing to explain anymore.

"You miss him, huh?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Your phone has adhered itself to your hand in the last twenty-four hours. You've only eaten three apple tarts, and you barely blinked when Mom pushed you for a holiday baby next year. Clearly, your head is somewhere else tonight."

Rory shrugged. "We're in a really weird spot right now," she admitted. Briefly, she explained the conversation from the day before; about how she still felt like Logan thought she wasn't good enough for him, how she had been racking her brain with trying to figure out how to prove him wrong.

"So." Lorelai lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. "Go to him."

"What?"

"Go. Right now, go to him, and make him believe you." She smiled slightly. "It's not always about grand gestures, but Hon, you've got to make some sort of move."

"We're about to sit down to dinner, Grandma won't-" Rory began to protest but Lorelai cut her off.

"Go," she repeated. "I'll cover with Emily. It'll be fine. Go." She smiled reassuringly and pulled Rory to her feet. "Go!"

"Thanks Mom," Rory said. She took her coat from the closet in the hallway and headed for the front door before she could change her mind. She was almost to the door when something on the Christmas tree in the foyer caught her eye.

It took her all of two seconds to grab the ornament from its branch and conceal it in her pocket before she was out the door.

At least now she had a plan.