Late update, still hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Still don't own.

"Lorelai! Come get your friend!"

Lorelai blew out an exasperated breath, tearing her eyes away from the parade on television and pushing herself up from the couch. She followed the sounds of squabbling, courtesy of her best friend and husband, to the kitchen where the two cooks (or chef as Sookie preferred) were standing in front of one another in a face-off. An outcome that was to be expected when Lorelai suggested to Luke that they invite Sookie and Jackson over for Thanksgiving to give the new parents a reprieve from the craziness of the beginning of the holiday season. That seemed like a good idea in hindsight but if this morning was any indication this day was going to be just as crazy as the day she was trying to avoid, perhaps even more. And that wasn't even factoring in her parents who were set to arrive later today.

"Luke if you would just –"

"No! My turkey, my stuffing, my kitchen, my rules!"

"I'm just trying to save people from eating dry turkey."

"My turkey is not dry!"

"Ding, ding, ding," Lorelai chimed loudly enough until the two bickering adults turned to face her. "And that's the end of round one. Or should I say round two, since Luke woke me up this morning by arguing with you over the phone before you ever showed up."

"Well if your husband wasn't a stubborn ass, none of this arguing would be happening!" Sookie fumed, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm just offering a few suggestions that would improve the turkey and everyone's experience today but he's refusing to listen."

"That's because I have my own way, a specially developed rub and stuffing that I use every year," Luke argued. "Never had any complaints from anyone in town."

"That's because they've never had mine!"

"Okay, okay," Lorelai said, stepping in between the two adults before kitchen utensils were drawn as weapons and there was bloodshed on a day that was supposed to be about food. Or thanks, depending on the way a person thought. "Simmer down now." When her attempt at a kitchen joke was only met with blank stares, she added on, "Let's stop the arguing, at least for a moment."

Lorelai placed her hands on Luke's chest and gently pushed him back, she took hold of his shoulders and turned him back towards the stove, "Now you work on your turkey or whatever you were doing before I had to come in here and play referee." She stretched up enough to press a kiss on his cheek, "Play nice."

She then turned her attention to Sookie, taking the shorter woman by her shoulders and gently guiding her away from the stove and therefore the turkey and Luke. "Sookie remember what we discussed would happen today?"

"Yes, but..."

"No buts," Lorelai cut in, "Now what did we discuss?"

Sookie sighed. "That Luke would handle the turkey and then we would split sides and desserts because I had a baby a few weeks ago and you wanted me to take it easy and not stress so much," she repeated diligently, going on to sound more like a five year old than a mother to a newborn.

"Very good," Lorelai complimented, she guided Sookie to the counter where a cutting board, a knife, and freshly cut veggies lie. "I know you love cooking and the turkey is the main attraction but everyone will love whatever you make, you know that. You're an amazing chef."

Lorelai took a step back as Sookie grumbled something else about the turkey but since Luke didn't seem to hear her, she didn't feel the end to jump in and remedy the problem. She watched on as both of them worked silently on their individual tasks, grateful that they weren't arguing for now. But if past experiences with Luke and Sookie sharing a kitchen had taught her anything, it would only be a matter of time before the arguing started up again. Whether or not they would reach some form of understanding by the end of the day, as it happened sometimes, was up in the air and would require at least a few more hours.

The sound of the front door opening and Rory calling out for her caught Lorelai's attention.

"Can I trust you two to not kill each other if I leave the kitchen?" Lorelai asked, the chefs were quiet and focused on their work but both gave nods of their head. She started to slowly back out the kitchen while giving them a warning. "If I have to come back in here again, I'm taking away knives."

Lorelai turned on her heel and swiftly exited the kitchen. Back in the living room, she peeked into the portable bassinet set up near the couch and checked in on the sleeping baby that had no idea of the crazy his mother possessed when it came to control in the kitchen. He would know in time but for now he was far off in dreamland, evident by the smile on his face. With Sookie in the kitchen and Jackson currently not at the house since he was taking care of his vegetables in the chilly November air, she was on baby duty. She let him sleep and met Rory at the front door where she was struggling to carry a few bouquets of flowers while trying to take off her coat.

"Ooh, nice selection today," Lorelai said, taking the flowers from her daughter and bringing them up to her nose to sniff.

Rory slid off her coat and hung it up on the coat rack. "Don't tell me you and Luke are going to argue over flowers and vases again this year, you're married so it wouldn't make sense."

"But it's tradition!"

"A tradition that really makes no sense now."

"But you see loinfruit, that's where you're wrong," Lorelai informed her daughter as she led her away from the front door and through the living room. "It's not that we'll argue over not having a vase because we do have a vase but what we will argue over is the fact that I'll go to reach for the vase but since it's in a cabinet that's just a little too high for me, Luke will argue that he'll need to get it down so I don't exert myself too much by stretching because that might be bad for the baby when in fact, I will be fine and can do it by myself with no harm to the baby at all."

"Wow, you've really thought about this."

"Hard not to with Mr. Protective in there," Lorelai replied as she once again stopped by the bassinet. She shifted the bouquets of flowers in her arms then stroked her finger over little Davey's cheek. "I'm just glad he's not as bad as Jackson because I would not be able to survive that." She turned back to her daughter and noticed she was absent one person. "Jess isn't with you?"

Rory shook her head, "Nope. He decided to stay and help with the dinner at the diner since Cesar is running it this year and seems a little lost even though Luke left him very clear instructions. He'll be over later, that's if he survives Miss Patty. She was already there and had plenty of leering comments for him."

"That's Miss Patty for ya."

Rory plopped down on the couch, grabbing the remote and switching from the parade that was now over until she landed on something that she wanted to watch. She gestured for her mom to do the same but Lorelai gestured to the bouquets in her hands that needed some water and a vase.

"Sounds quiet in there," Rory observed after she didn't hear anything coming from the kitchen besides the clanging of pans and opening and shutting of cabinets. "Is Sookie still even in there?"

"Oh just wait for it," Lorelai instructed.

It had been quiet far too long. When working together in the kitchen, Sookie and Luke were never quiet for long. There was always arguing over the other person's choices in spices, rubs, secret ingredients that they were sure the other one was going to steal, and the meddling with the other person's dishes when they thought they weren't looking. Even when they weren't getting along it wasn't quiet because Sookie had a tendency to get over excited over new culinary discoveries. The mother and daughter didn't have to wait long before a thunderous roar erupted from the kitchen.

"What did you do to the turkey?"

"Nothing! I swear."

"It did not look like that when I put it in there."

Lorelai spoke up again when Sookie began to explain that what she did was really best for the turkey and what was best for the turkey was best for everyone in general. "That's my cue to go mediate yet another argument, this time with flowers." She cleared her throat before declaring, "Okay, knives down! I was serious about taking them away."

Hours later, the house was filled with the delicious and mouth-watering scents of the feast that Luke and Sookie had prepared, the two finally coming to an understanding and appreciation of the other person's culinary skills that would only last until the next time they shared a kitchen. The table was set and decorated with mismatched vases that held the bouquets of flowers that Rory brought earlier and, as she predicted, Lorelai and Luke fought about when she went to reach for a vase that was placed far too overheard for her to reach without stretching as far as she could. And Lorelai was happy since she managed to avoid her parents since they arrived, leaving them alone in a room with Jackson under the pretense that she was needed in the kitchen helped since he could talk vegetables with nearly anyone. Then when his veggie-related stories no longer amused anyone, Rory and Jess managed to keep the conversation flowing with the elder Gilmores' while Lorelai avoided them for the moment.

"This all smells amazing," Lorelai complimented as she lingered in the kitchen, sneaking tiny samples of the dishes when she thought no one was looking though they definitely noticed. "Is everything ready because I am starving. I'm eating for two here people."

"Almost," Sookie answered. "Just putting the finishing touches on and then I'll be done."

"You're still starving after sneaking food?" Luke asked, coming up behind Lorelai just as she was about to sneak another marshmallow away from the sweet potatoes.

Lorelai quickly brought her hand back to her side and smiled as innocently as she could up at her husband. "Why I have no idea what you're talking about. I never sneak food before it's ready, I'm appalled that you would think that."

Luke's eyes traveled to her sweater, appropriate for the day as it was embellished with little turkeys, and noticed the crumbs that she had yet to brush away. "And the crumbs on your sweater?"

Lorelai didn't look but still swiped at where she thought the crumbs might be. "Those are from cookies not any of the food in here that you two spent most of the day cooking."

"The cookies that I made last night and brought over here for today?" Sookie asked, done with her finishing touches and interested in their conversation.

"That is besides the point, the point of today is food. Lots and lots of food," Lorelai attempted to change the subject. "Today is all about food and that should be celebrated."

"Today is about giving thanks."

"Says the man who isn't even big on traditions though his actions would beg to differ most of the time," Lorelai replied. She sighed. "Can we eat now?"

"Everything is ready, Sookie and I will set the table, you go get everyone to the table," Luke answered.

"On it!"

While Sookie and Luke each grabbed a dish and headed from the kitchen to the dining room, Lorelai went the opposite direction heading into the living room and announcing that everyone could now make their way to the dining room since dinner was ready and to be served in just a few minutes. As everyone was seated, Lorelai didn't miss her mother's comments about the choice in vases and how none of them matched and were absurd choices for vases and how she was sure Lorelai had more refined and matching vases stashed somewhere that she just refused to use but she chose to brush those comments away. However she wasn't quite as ready to brush away comments when there were comments made, by both her mother and father, on how all the food was arranged on the table and not stashed away in the kitchen.

"Are we supposed to just serve ourselves?" Emily asked.

"Well not right now," Lorelai answered as she took her seat. While Luke would take his seat at the head of the table, she chose to sit near him instead of at the opposite end of the table. Her seating choice put her directly in front of her parents. "Once Luke brings the turkey out, he'll carve it then we can all pass the food around until you get what you want. That way you can make your own plate."

"As much or as little at you want," Rory chimed in. She sat next to her mother. "It's the way we do family dinners. Well not all the time because sometimes Luke fixes mom's plate for her."

"Which he always overloads with vegetables," Lorelai said.

"And now that you're pregnant, you don't complain nearly as much as you did before," Rory pointed out.

"This baby does love the veggies," Lorelai replied just as Luke walked into the dining room with the turkey while Sookie squealed about how beautiful the turkey was thanks to her help, unwanted as it may have been earlier today.

At first the honor of carving the turkey was going to fall to Sookie but as a precaution and not wanting ay injuries on this day either to the accident-prone chef herself or to anyone else that was invited over, it was decided that Luke's duties wouldn't stop at cooking the turkey but carving it as well. The changing of carvers proved to be a good idea seeing as Lorelai already had to breakout the band-aids twice today and tend to her friend's injuries. She liked watching the more than just ceremonial carving of the turkey that went on at her parents house not just because it meant dinner would soon be underway but it was also a sign of her own family traditions forming right before her eyes and a sign of what was to come in the many, many years she would share with Luke.

The turkey was carved and Lorelai requested the first, and biggest, piece which was a request filled by Luke. Soon after plates were filled with the carved turkey and offerings from the various prepared dishes that threatened to overwhelm the table. While she filled her plate, Lorelai noticed just how out of place her parents seemed to feel with the passing around of dishes instead of simply being served what was for dinner. She also noticed that while her parents made comments about the food, the table set-up, and even Davey whose bassinet was brought into the dining room so the concerned parents could watch over him while they ate, they weren't really speaking to one another just speaking around one another.

Since the last time she spoke to her father was when he blamed her for the argument she had with her mother over the nursery, she was glad that he chose to focus on Rory at the dinner table. He asked her questions about school; the course-load, the upcoming exams, and surprisingly her social life since she couldn't spend her college years holed away in her room studying all the time. Lorelai, for the most part, had put the whole nursery thing behind her. She didn't like her father blaming her for the argument but she knew that hell would freeze over before Emily Gilmore would apologize for her actions and, in the end and after the whole ordeal, she still had her chance to decorate her baby's nursery the way she wanted. Worrying about it wasn't really worth it, not with everything else she currently had on her plate. Figuratively not literally. And even though she did her best to ignore them earlier, she decided to be the adult and strike up a conversation with her parents. At least with her mother who was silent yet nodding along as Richard continued to talk with Rory and Jess.

"So Mom," Lorelai called out, picking up her glass of juice and taking a sip making sure she had the older woman's attention before she carried on. "How are things?"

Emily stopped mid-cut of the piece of turkey on her plate and looked up at her daughter, "Things?"

Lorelai nodded. "Things. Your life, the DAR, your…gardening?" she struggled to finish off her list, making the last option sound more like a question because she had no idea how to start this conversation.

"My life doesn't revolve around the DAR Lorelai."

"I didn't say that," Lorelai replied confused by her mother's sudden hostile tone. But by the way her mother cut her eyes to her father for a split second and made a comment about how she had more going on in her life than just buying things and planning events for people who didn't appreciate them, she had a feeling that the hostility wasn't directed towards her at all.

Well maybe just a little.

"Thing are fine Lorelai," Emily insisted though her tone said otherwise. "I'm fine, your father's fine, his business partner Jason is fine and apparently knows best, just drop it."

"Fine," Lorelai parroted, ducking her head to look at her plate of food and only lifting her head when she felt Luke place his hand on top of hers and give it a gentle squeeze.

Instead of trying to talk with her parents again who were in moods of their own, Lorelai carried on conversation with Luke and then Sookie, who sat at the opposite end of the table, and then with her daughter. Conversation jumped from person to person, switching topics at lightening speed, all in between stuffing herself full of all the yummy food that Luke and Sookie had spent most of their day preparing. Soon after everyone had eaten their fill of turkey, side dishes, and rolls. They were ready to move onto dessert which was the only thing that wasn't on the table. By this time, Sookie had already left the table to nurse Davey in Lorelai's bedroom since she insisted on somewhere private, Rory and Jess had left the table and retired to the living room as had Emily and Richard, at Rory's insistence, leaving Jackson, Luke, and Lorelai still all at the table.

Luke stood up from the table and closed the small gap between where his chair was placed and where his wife sat. He bent down and pressed a kiss to her head, "I'll go put on some coffee, cut the pie, and bring you slice, sound good?"

Lorelai pushed away from the table, "I can help. I'll help you clear the table and get the dessert ready."

"You don't have to do that," Luke insisted, "You can go rest, watch tv, I've got this. I can clean up."

Lorelai stacked her empty plate on top of Rory's and then a few others that were discarded at the table, "It's fine, honestly. I've got it. I want to help," she managed a small smile before she disappeared into the kitchen.

Jackson made it clear to Luke that he help with the clean-up and he could handle everything else that was left on the table if Luke wanted to follow Lorelai into the kitchen. Luke muttered a quick 'thanks' before he grabbed a few dishes even though Jackson insisted that he didn't have to do that and followed Lorelai into the kitchen. He found his wife at the coffee pot dumping coffee grounds into a filter before placing it in the machine and turning it on, her movements jerky as she spilled some coffee grounds on the counter. He approached her from behind, placing his hand on the small of her back when he got close enough.

"What's wrong Lorelai?"

Lorelai turned around to face her husband. "Just my parents, you saw them. I tried to be the one to put things behind us and then their attitude is still directed towards me." She sighed. "And the thing is, I don't even think it's me. They were barely talking to each other, I think my mom is upset with my father over something but she just ignored him and shut me down when I asked a simple question. I mean it's not any different than normal, they're just so frustrating."

"Well that is one of the words to describe your parents. I've heard you use many others before, some I don't want to repeat," Luke replied causing Lorelai to smile at him, a genuine smile this time. "Do you want me to get them to leave? It worked once on your mother."

Lorelai shook her head. "We shouldn't let them leave without pie, that would just be evil."

"Right, we can at least serve them pie."

"Now if you want to serve them pie without whipped cream, well I wouldn't be opposed to that," Lorelai replied causing Luke to chuckle and call her 'Crazy Lady.' She relaxed a little more when he pressed a kiss to her head and insisted that he could finish clean up so she could rest if she wanted. But she wanted to help, mainly to wash a few dishes because for some reason that was always soothing to her.

Lorelai took her place at the sink, filling it with water and dish soap as both Luke and Jackson brought her dishes that she wanted to wash instead of just placing them in the dishwasher. Humming quietly to herself, she submerged her hands into the warm, soapy water and focused on nothing but cleaning the little bits of food from the dishes. She wasn't a big cleaner, always wanting to leave things until the last minute, but there was just something about washing dishes that she tended to do when frustrated and surrounded by dirty dishes that seemed to relax her.

After a round of pie and coffee, starting with regular at first and then switching to decaf, all the adults sat around the living room. Jess and Rory had left just moments ago, just heading outside to spend a little time by themselves. Surprisingly, Emily and Richard still stuck around and only heightened Lorelai's suspicions when they still just talked around one another. She managed to chat with them just a little, mainly her mother since her father excused himself a couple of times to take calls even though it was a holiday and his wife wasn't happy about the interruption. Lorelai cooed over Davey and insisted Luke hold the baby to help him become more comfortable around people of the infant variety. She was slowly drifting off on Luke's shoulder when he nudged her and pointed out the fact that for some reason her mother was headed upstairs. She rubbed at her eyes until she was fully awake and noticed that her father was missing, presumably on another call, and her mother was almost upstairs.

"Be right back," Lorelai told Luke as she got up from the couch and began to follow her mother.

Lorelai stopped at the staircase when she noticed her mother standing in front of the door that led to the nursery. The freshly painted nursery that gave off a feeling of warmth when the sun shone through the window. She approached slowly and cautiously, not wanting to startle her mother but also trying to find out what in the hell was going on with her.

"Mom," Lorelai called softly as she approached. "What are you doing up here?"

"The nursery is a nice color," Emily commented without turning to face her daughter. "A little bright for my taste but a decent color."

"It's a very soft yellow...soothing, warm, homey," Lorelai described, she moved to stand beside her mother whose gaze was still focused in the almost empty room. The only thing in there being an old dresser and a teddy bear Lorelai picked up from the store just days ago. "I think it's a perfect color for the nursery."

"Well it is your house, yours to do with what you please. If you think the color is nice then you should paint it that color," Emily replied.

"Okay." Lorelai tilted her head until she could look her mother in the eyes, "Mom, what's going on?"

"I don't know what you mean," Emily avoided the question.

"So you know nothing about the whole tundra between you and Dad?" Lorelai asked, "You've barely spoken two words to each other all day."

"When have we had the time to talk? He's always on the phone with Jason or some client even though it's a holiday and he should be spending it with his family," Emily replied, catching herself before she said anymore.

"Jealous of Digger?" Lorelai quipped.

"Lorelai," Emily said in that no-nonsense tone that Lorelai recognized as the one that always used right before another argument would break-out between them.

Lorelai relented. "Fine. Besides, it's not like you can be jealous of him. His name is Digger. Just use that if he's around too much, it's sure to annoy him as much as he apparently annoys you."

"He's your father's business partner."

"But not yours, to you he's just someone that makes unwanted trips to your house and calls your husband on holidays. Call him Digger," Lorelai encouraged, even going as far to nudge her mother with her elbow.

For the briefest of moments, she shared a smile with her mother but that was quickly replied by a stony expression by the elder Gilmore. She turned away from her daughter and once again looked into the nursery. "I see you haven't made much progress in this room. You need to start, you don't need to wait until the last minute."

"We're working on it," Lorelai replied. "I mean, it doesn't look like because there's really nothing in the room but we are working in it. Luke is building the crib."

"He's building a crib?" Emily asked.

Lorelai nodded, "Yeah. He went out and bought the proper wood, looked at pictures of his old crib that his father made for him, and created a sketch or diagram or whatever from that, and he started work on making the crib himself."

"And that will be safe?"

"Of course," Lorelai insisted. "Luke wouldn't say he could do that if it was going to harm his child in some way. I know that he can do this and I've seen some of the work he's done on it and it's great. Beautiful really."

"I had no idea," Emily replied.

Lorelai sighed. "That's part of the reason that I didn't want you to buy all that crap for the nursery. We're already working on it, Luke is building the crib and as for everything else, I'm going to work it around the crib and the color of the room. And the other reason is what I've already told you, that wasn't my style at all."

"I didn't know about the crib. I thought I would do something for you, help you in some way. I see now that it wasn't needed," Emily said honestly and with just a hint in vulnerability in her voice that Lorelai almost didn't detect since it passed by so fast and she never really imagined her mother as vulnerable

"Mom..."

"Dinner was lovely Lorelai," Emily replied, the subject already changed in her mind. "It's getting late, your father and I should really get going that way we don't hit any traffic on the way home."

Lorelai didn't have a chance to reply as her mother moved around her and down the staircase and out of view at a surprisingly fast speed. Moving that fast wasn't ladylike, as least she assumed that's what her mother would say. By the time she got to the bottom of the staircase and back to where Luke, Sookie, and Jackson were, her parents were gone. Just seconds after, Sookie and Jackson excused themselves wanting to get Davey home for their nighttime ritual.

Once everyone was gone, Luke walked up to Lorelai, "Why did your mother go upstairs? What happened?"

"It was weird," Lorelai replied, only giving him that until she fully digested the conversation with her mother herself. She leaned into Luke's side, "I think baby wants more pie."

"Baby or you?" Luke asked.

Lorelai smiled, her hand resting on her baby bump. "Which answer gets me more pie?"

Luke pressed his hand to hers that rested on her baby bump before he stroked it over the material of her sweater that stretched over her midsection. It was a fleeting moment before he turned and walked towards the kitchen. "You want whipped cream?" he called over his shoulder.

"On the pie or on you?" Lorelai teased, calling after him.

"That's a yes," Luke acknowledged which caused his wife to giggle and then follow after him.

Leave it there for you to imagine what you want about the whipped cream.

We all know that Emily doesn't exactly apologize directly so decided to tie in the Richard/Emily stuff from Season 4 to my own little story-line, at least the first hints of something wrong to go along with Emily's actions in some parts. Hope you enjoyed!

As always, reviews are appreciated.