Lorelai and Rory stood outside the Gilmore Mansion and rung the doorbell, both of them silently wondering if the same maid from last week would answer the door. It swung open, revealing a familiar face.
"Hey, Angela, you survived!" Lorelai exclaimed and Angela returned a polite but knowing smile.
"Congratulations, most don't make it past the three-day mark." Rory echoed, handing Angela her coat.
"I'll let Mrs. Gilmore know that you're here," She smiled, taking Lorelai's coat and disappearing as Lorelai and Rory made their way to the parlor.
"Oh, my girls are here!" Emily said as she came down the stairs. "What can I get you to drink?"
"White wine please," Lorelai requested of her mother
"Water is fine" Rory said.
"Are you sure Rory? I've got sodas, I could even make you a Shirley Temple," Emily said sweetly.
"Uh, sure Grandma, a Shirley Temple would be great."
"Mom, you sure are extra chipper tonight." Lorelai accused.
"Lorelai, don't be silly, I was just excited to see my daughter and granddaughter, is that crazy?"
"You've never been that excited to see me before," Lorelai muttered.
"So, where's Grandpa?" Rory asked, trying to redirect the conversation before it got ugly.
"He's just in his office, I had something I wanted to ask you before he came out."
"Oh, there it is!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"Lorelai," Her mother warned. "Rory, I wanted to ask you if you'd be interested in coming out."
"Mom!" Lorelai exclaimed
"Wait, wait, what does that mean?" Rory asked.
"Rory, you don't have to do this. Don't let her make you do this."
"Lorelai!" Emily exclaimed "of course she doesn't have to do it, she doesn't have to do anything."
"I'd have a lot easier time deciding whether or not I'd do it if someone would just tell me what it is!" Rory tried to pipe in.
"It's basically the modern-day ritual for joining the cult of true womanhood." Lorelai explained, much to Emily's chagrin.
"It's a debutante ball. It's a ceremony, a very nice ceremony, that celebrates you becoming a woman. You get to wear a gown, that Dean could escort you if you can get him to take a shower and put on a tux-"
"Dean's not in the picture anymore, Grandma." Rory explained.
"Oh, that's neither here nor there then, we'll set you up with some nice young boy. I think Mitchum Huntzberger's son is about your age. Anyway, you get to wear a beautiful gown, you dance, we have a meal. It's a lovely time."
"Sure Grandma, I'll do it. " Rory answered, much to Lorelai's shock.
"Oh, marvelous!" Emily exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. "Richard," Emily called towards the study. "Rory has decided to come out."
"Well, that's just wonderful!" Richard said, emerging from the study. "You'll make a beautiful debutante."
"I can't believe this is happening, I'm watching my daughter slip between my fingers and fall into the clutches of high society right before my eyes!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"Oh mom, relax, it's one day. I want to wear a pretty princess gown," she begged teasingly.
"And that you will!" Emily exclaimed, "Oh, I'm just so excited."
"I can't believe my baby girl is a debutante," Lorelai exclaimed as she and Rory walked through the diner and to the counter, sitting at a barstool.
"A debu-what?" Luke asked, appearing from the kitchen with a pot of coffee that Lorelai was eyeing longingly.
"A debutante," Rory answered Luke.
"Which means…" he asked, clearly looking for more answers as he poured coffee into mugs for the two of them.
"It's a ceremony to let the high society of Hartford know that Lorelai Leigh Gilmore is now of suitable marrying age," Lorelai answered, rolling her eyes.
"What? She's fifteen!" Luke exclaimed.
"I don't have to get married," Rory rolled her eyes but smiled at her mother's antics. "I get to wear a pretty dress and dance with boys in tuxedos," she teased further.
"Can't you wear a pretty dress in your own home where no boys can see you?" Luke asked, begging a little.
"And risk breaking my grandmother's heart? Never!" Rory said, looking over the pamphlets her grandmother had given her before she'd left the house. "Oh," she said, deflating a little.
"What's wrong?" Lorelai asked immediately.
"It just says here that the debutante's father is supposed to present her."
"So we'll call him. Maybe send him a picture of your patented pout in the mail."
"You think he'll come?" Rory asked.
"Well, who could say no to that pout?" Lorelai echoed, giving Luke a look that let him know she wasn't so sure.
