Chapter 60

December rolled into town as the people of Stars Hollow prepared for Christmas. With Rachel not around this year, Shelby requested to have a tree put up in the apartment. Luke tried to point out there wasn't enough room until she came back with putting a tree up in the diner.

"Lorelai got to you, didn't she?" he asked of her, remembering what the woman had told him last year. Luke tried to fight it but as soon as Shelby brought out that face that can make him cave to her will, he agreed to put a Christmas tree up in the diner, for once. Unfortunately, Taylor had been in the diner at the same time and grew very excited the diner would be decorated for a change. Luke hated the fact Taylor was happy, but seeing his little buddy also happy, made things better. So, the next chance they got, Luke and Shelby went to pick out a tree which Shelby managed to get Jess involved, at least with the decorating. It helped when Luke quietly pointed out, "it's for Shelby." Jess just nodded.

The Monday after the camping trip, Ethan and Alan came over to play and meet Gexie, who was snoozing, only seeing a part of her back. So the kids just played instead. They were quiet for an hour but after a while; the kids came charging down the stairs, shooting each other with their Nerf guns, pretending the diner was a war ground.

Luke yelled at them. "Hey! Hey! Does this look like a playground to you?" He turned on his own kid who knew better. "Shelby Danes, how many times have I said, not to run down the stairs or play around in the diner?"

Shelby looked up at her dad with a pitiful, ashamed look. "Sorry, Dad," she apologized sincerely.

He softened upon seeing the guilt-ridden face. "It's okay, just remember next time. That goes for all you," Luke scanned around at all three kids, giving them a stern look to make sure they knew he meant business. "If I see you running in the diner again, I'm gonna hang you upside down by your toes. Do I make myself clear?"

The kids nodded.

"May we speak?" Alan asked, politely.

"Yes, you may," he nodded.

"You see, Mister Luke, this is why you're the scariest dad in all the second grade," the boy reminded him.

Luke just glared at him, who just shrugged innocently.

Finally, he told them, "Just... Go play outside," and pointed toward outside. The kids started to run for the door, but quickly remembered what Luke had just got done telling them and walked the rest of the way. He at least helped them get their jackets down from the coat rack, making sure the kids were bundled up before they hurried outside. Luke followed the kids to make sure they crossed the street and made it to the park safely where the kids resumed their war game.

It wasn't snowing yet, but it was still cold out, and getting colder by the day. The boys came by more often than usual to see if Gexie was awake. Occasionally, during the day, Luke would curiously check in on her, making sure she had enough water. Unlike most pets, Gexie didn't need to be fed every day. They had gotten canned insects, especially crickets, because of the extra care that would come with owning live crickets. Plus, there would be a smell with live insects and crickets made noise most of the time. It was also easier to dust her food with the calcium, in case Gexie didn't eat enough of it from her bowl.

One particular time the boys came over, Luke fed all three a snack, overhearing what the boys were asking Santa for. Shelby went along with it, saying she didn't have anything in mind she wanted at the moment. That is until Ethan said they were asking Santa for a Nintendo GameCube. That piqued her interest.

"Wha's tha'?"

"You haven't heard of the Nintendo GameCube yet?" asked Alan.

She shook her head.

"Dude, we just found out, too, some time ago," Ethan reminded his brother.

"Oh yeah," he remembered. "The GameCube has way better gra-fixs than the Nintendo 64."

"Wha' are gra-fix?" Shelby asked.

"What you see on the TV, like how the characters looks and the world. They are awesome, Shelb." The boys then started talking all about the different games on the Nintendo GameCube. What really got her attention was when Ethan mentioned Luigi, Mario's brother, even had his own game where he had to save Mario for a change.

Suddenly, Shelby climbed down from her stool and hurried over to where Luke was standing at the register.

"Dad," she said.

"Yes, Shell?" he acknowledged her without looking up from his orders.

Shelby had to get his full attention, motioning for him to move closer to her. Luke kneeled to her level, looking at her instead. Placing her hands on his shoulders as if to tell him something very important, like the secret to life or something, Shelby told him, "Nintendo has a new game sys-tem."

He nodded, "Okay. What about it?" It was obvious what Shelby was about to tell him.

She shook him a little by his shoulders. "You don' under'tand, Dad. There is a new Nintendo, and Wee-gee has his own game." It made Luke chuckle, having never seen this side of his little buddy before. "I' nuh funny, Dad."

"I know, I'm sorry, kiddo. Would you like a GameCube for Christmas?" he tried to ask as sincere as possible. This kid was just too darn cute.

"How much do I have saved?"

"The last I checked, I think around two hundred. You don't want to buy Christmas gifts again, this year?"

Shelby moaned when he reminded her. "Yeah, I do. Okay, after Christmas, I want to 'tar' saving for a GameCube," she decided with a nod.

"That's fine, but do you not remember our deal? You can either save up your own money, or you can receive video games for your birthday or Christmas. Remember?"

"Oh yeah," she remembered, but frowned. "But I like saving for my own games."

"Yeah, and you've done great saving for your games, but I bet both Jess and I would love to get this for you, and I'm sure Jess would be willing to use his discount to help lower the cost. And you could get it sooner if you wait for Christmas than save for it on your own." Mostly, Luke was thinking on how nice it was that Shelby wanted to put everyone ahead of her own even though it was for something she really wanted. But he was also thinking about how hard she had been working despite the year she's had.

Shelby agreed. "Okay, I can wait until Christmas," she nodded.

"Okay," he said with a smile. "I'll talk it over with Jess later and we'll see what we can do."

With that settled, Shelby hurried back over to her friends.

The next chance he got, Luke pulled Jess to the side, asking if he could look into how much a GameCube cost at Walmart, and asked if Jess would be willing to split the cost between them to get one for Shelby, pointing out he didn't have to if he didn't want to.

Jess shrugged it off with a "sure," and told him he'd get back to him.

When Lorelai heard they were both pitching in to get Shelby a new game console, she too wanted to pitch in some money.

"You don't have to," Luke told her, modestly.

"I know I don't, but I want to," she assured him. "Trust me when I say that kid deserves something nice like that, and I will get her a game, too."

"You sure?"

"Yep," she smiled at him. Lorelai was sitting across from him at the counter. She had stopped by for a midday coffee break before getting back to the inn. "What kind of game should I get?"

Luke shrugged. "Not sure. Apparently, this thing's been out for a year. Maybe look for any Pokemon games. "

"Yeah, sure, I can look for any Pokemon games. If there aren't any, I'll look out for Mario, too since I know she likes him."

"I bet she'll like that. Thanks." Luke smiled at her.

"No problem. Anything for Shelby." she smiled in return before standing to her feet. When she went to pay for her coffee, Luke assured her it was on the house which she thanked him for. "Still liking the tree there," Lorelai motioned her head towards the decorated Christmas tree. She had quite the fun when Lorelai found out Shelby had talked him into decorating the diner.

The last week of school before winter break, Stars Hollow woke up to a blanket of snow covering the ground. Luke made sure Shelby bundled up well, before sending her off with Jess, to school.

The night of the last day, Shelby had a winter performance at the school. Of course she talked Jess into coming. In the upcoming weeks, Shelby practiced in front of him and Luke, and also Lorelai and Rory when she spent a Saturday at their house, and also at the end of the town meetings.

This time, Luke had Shelby dress nice for the school performance, having her wear her red collared shirt with a pair of jeans. Over her hat, she wore reindeer's antlers made from brown construction paper, stapled together. Shelby still held her hands behind her back, but at least she didn't need to turn her hat around to shield her eyes from the crowd. Not only did she want Jess and Luke there, Lorelai and Rory came to see her performance. Her class sang several Christmas carols, starting with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Rebecca and her family also came along with her mother. She called beforehand, asking if both of her parents could come see Shelby's performance. Luke said no to her father, not wanting a repeat of last time. Not if Lloyd couldn't behave. Edna was invited, though, bringing her camera once again to film it.

During the performance, Shelby kept looking towards the stage in front of her. Her mouth was moving, so it seemed like she was singing along with the other kids. After the show, Shelby hurried over to meet everyone who was waiting to congratulate her.

This time, Rebecca brought her some flowers. Shelby didn't seem all that impressed but said thank you with a thumb's up. She then suggested going out to eat while Lorelai, Rory, and the rest of their friends who came, headed home. Luke told Jess he could head home if he wanted to, so only he and Shelby went with Rebecca and her family. During dinner was also when Rebecca and her family gave Shelby her first Christmas presents.

They decided to give Shelby her gifts while they were waiting for their food to arrive. The first present was a thin wrapped box of clothes. There was a couple nice turtle-neck, long-sleeved shirts with a couple pairs of nice pants to match. Shelby frowned at them but gave her aunt and uncle a thumb's up, anyway. Thankfully, Rebecca included a few Pokemon and Harry Potter T-shirts, and another basketball jersey for her favorite team. They also included, which Mike pointed out was his idea, a Patriots' football jersey. There were also some new pairs of jeans. The second present Shelby opened was a shoebox. Inside was a brand new pair of Jordans her size.

The third and final present of theirs was in a large Christmas bag with a cartoon snowman on each side. Several small gifts were inside, wrapped in tissue paper. Shelby pulled one out and ripped off the tissue paper to find an action figure of Harry Potter from the second movie. Another was a copy of the movie Space Jam, a cartoon/live action kids' basketball movie about Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes.

One of Rebecca and Rachel's brothers, Rob, who was one of two without kids, had come along. And because he didn't have any kids of his own, nor was he married or seeing someone, he was the uncle who spoiled the nieces and nephews. The present was a long rectangular shape wrapped in red Santa Claus wrapping paper. Shelby started on one of the ends and ripped a piece right along the top to reveal the Razor scooter logo. Intrigued, she ripped off some more until they could see it was a brand new Razor push scooter. Parts of the scooter were green, along with the grey metal color.

Her mouth and eyes widened in awe to see the scooter sitting right in front of her and immediately gave her uncle a big thumb's up.

Rob chuckled. "You're welcome, Shelby. Got your cousin, Katie one too."

Luke looked at the boxed scooter. The thing looked like a thin skateboard with handlebars. Not something he remembered from his childhood, that's for sure.

Tapping interrupted his thoughts. Luke looked down at Shelby, acknowledging her. "Can I ride this when we ge' home?" she whispered in his ear.

"Tomorrow, okay? It'll be too late and too cold to play outside."

Shelby looked bummed, but agreed anyway.

Last, Edna gave Shelby her last present from their side of the family, passing down a gift bag with Santa's sleigh on both sides. Her grandmother also gave Shelby some clothes. None of them were girly, nor was it a dress or skirt, but it was still intended for girls. Thankfully, Edna also included some more Pokemon and sports T-shirts, with a few more jeans to go with them. Included in the bag was a Precious Moments coloring book with a box of 64 crayons. As she was pulling everything out, Luke had been refolding everything to place nicely back into the bag, afterwards. Once Edna's was all looked at, Shelby gave her grandmother a thumb's up. Shortly after Shelby finished opening her gifts, their food arrived. Luke, with Rob's help, moved everything to the floor underneath the table.

Shelby's winter show for school ended up not being her only performance. On Christmas eve, the church had its Christmas eve service where the kids were involved in a retelling of the Christmas story. Shelby wasn't actually in the pageant. She was part of the choir that sang while the other kids acted it out.

Of course, Luke had to go since it was his kid in the show. It had been the first time sitting inside the church aside from weddings and funerals. The kids who were singing in the choir were all given plastic candles on the count of what happened a few years ago, the last time they used real candles. Thankfully, the fire never could grow larger than a small fire that several of the guys were able to stomp out.

It was also Jess' first time, who also got talked into coming. Rory told him she thought it was so sweet he was supporting his little cousin in stuff like this as Jess tried to hold a tough front. Lorelai pointed out it felt like she was watching a Peanuts Christmas special and couldn't help call out, asking where the sad little tree was. It wasn't to be mean or anything. She admitted after the pageant it was cute.

The next morning, as she did the year before, Shelby did a Superman leap right on top of her dad, instantly waking him as Luke nearly lost the air out of him.

"Shelby," he groaned. "What have I said about jumping on top of me?" Luke turned on his side, moaning in pain.

"Sorry, Dad," she apologized sincerely. "I'm jus' so exci'ed."

Luke looked up at his little buddy. If anyone could stay mad at this kid, they had a heart made of stone. His heart was basically putty in her hands. "Merry Christmas, kiddo," he told her.

Shelby smiled. "Merry Chris'mas, Dad."

Luke sat up, nudging the kid off of him. Shelby wanted to do a Superman leap right on her cousin, too, but Luke told her not to. If she was going to wake him up, doing it in a way that a slew of cuss words wouldn't be involved was probably a good idea, knowing not to hold his nephew accountability for any words said while being awakened forcibly.

So, Shelby made her way back to her side of the apartment, climbing on Jess' bunk, crawling around his feet. "Jess. Jess. Wake up, Jess. I's Chris'mas."

Luke could hear Jess moan, no doubt turning over onto his other side. He called over for Shelby to let her cousin sleep if he wants to and to come help him fix breakfast.

Just as they did the year before, Luke and Shelby made cinnamon French toast and scrambled eggs. Like it worked last Christmas, it worked again. Once the apartment filled with the aroma of cinnamon French toast and eggs, Jess finally emerged.

Without letting Jess catch him, Luke gave Shelby a quick wink as Shelby smirked up at him.

Before doing their own gift exchange, Shelby dropped in a couple crickets for Gexie, and let the critter have the first present. Of course, she ripped off the paper for her, having bought a new hide for her new friend with her own money. It was a tree stump made to look like a house with an opening for the door and a window to the right of the door. Asking her dad for help to place the hide, Shelby told him where to place it. They waited to see if Gexie would go in there. Since it was still dark outside, Gexie was still awake. However, she didn't seem interested just yet. Luke assured Shelby to leave Gexie alone for now and let her check her Christmas present out at her leisure, then explained what leisure meant. Luke, Shelby, and Jess headed downstairs where the presents for the humans were.

Shelby tried to jump up and switch on the light once they got downstairs, but missed. Luke came up behind her, lifting the kid up so Shelby could reach, then set her back down.

They put down the chairs at the table closest to the tree Luke plugged in before passing out the gifts, setting them on the table. He let Jess and Shelby open theirs, which Shelby went first. He told her to open the perfectly cubed shaped present, pushing it closer to her.

"Lorelai and Rory helped pitch in to get it for ya," he told her before Shelby tore into the cartoon reindeer wrapping paper. Only one side was open when a non-human noise erupted from the kid's mouth as she screamed in excitement.

The noise caught both guys off guard to hear such a loud noise come out of Shelby.

Jess held a hand to his ear, flinching. "Dude, you knew you were getting it," he pointed out in an annoyed tone. "Why scream for?"

"I don' know. I'm jus' so happy." She climbed down from her chair to run around the corner of the table, hugging and thanking her dad first, then ran around to hug and thank her cousin before running back around to her seat to finish tearing off the wrapping paper. It was even a platinum GameCube console since Jess had access to latest shipment working in the back of the store.

Jess opened one next, unwrapping another book from Luke he wanted. Luke had told Jess he didn't have to get him anything, but Jess did anyway, stating there was a sale on ladles.

Luke couldn't help smirk at his nephew.

"What?" he questioned.

"Nothing." But Luke kept right on smirking.

"Look, we were doing the gift exchange, anyway. It was on sale. I knew you would get me something, so I thought I would reciprocate. It's not a big deal," Jess shrugged it off, playing it cool. Or trying to. "Alright?"

"Alright," Luke told him. Though, he knew there was some care. Even if it was just to reciprocate, Jess technically didn't have to get him anything. He could have just taken the gift and left it at that, aside from a simple thank you. But he didn't.

Shelby took another turn. This time, she unwrapped a game for the GameCube, the game with Luigi being in the spotlight for once and having to be the one to save his brother instead of the other way around. One of the huge differences between her other console to this one was instead of a cartridge, the game was a disc that was smaller than a regular music CD and came in a case like a DVD.

"Cool," she said, looking at the back of the case, thrilled.

"That's from me, kiddo," Luke told her.

"Thank you, Dad," Shelby told him, looking up from the game case.

"You're welcome, kiddo."

The spotlight switched back to Jess, who opened Shelby's next. This time, she got him a new watch.

"Nice. Thanks, Scout," he told her.

"You're welcome, Jess. I though' you would like i' and I didn' know wha' else to ge' you," she shrugged, and added, "besides more books, and I wanted to ge' you something special to go with your walle' from las' year."

"Well, I appreciate it." Jess reached over and playfully punched her in the arm.

Luke also opened Shelby's gift, ripping into the wrapping paper. He could tell the kid wrapped it herself as it was wrapped with a lot of tape and more wrapping paper than needed.

"I asked Lor-lai to help me ge' i', but I paid for it," she pointed out as Luke had to yank on it until finally he was able to rip the present open. It was safe to assume Rachel had helped her last year. He wished Lorelai or Jess even could have helped her this time. She tried though, and it's the thought that counts.

Inside all the wrapping paper and tape was a swiss army knife with many other tools attached.

"I's for when we go camping," she explained. "So you can have wha' you need on you."

Luke smiled at the tool. "Thanks, kiddo. This is awesome." He could see it made her happy to see they liked their gifts. Now, only Shelby and Jess had one more gift, each. Shelby opened her last one from Jess. His was also a game called NBA Courtside 2002, a basketball game while Jess got a music CD from his uncle, also a recommendation from him.

With all the presents unwrapped, they threw away the wrapping paper. Before she could go play her new game, Luke had Shelby help prepare the diner for the day. In exchange, he helped unplug her Nintendo 64 and hooked the Nintendo GameCube to the TV. There was an unfortunate discovery when Shelby booted up Luigi's game and the screen said there wasn't a memory card plugged in.

Luke stared at it. "What the hell is a memory card?"

Shelby shrugged. "I don' know," she replied, not knowing Luke was talking to himself out loud.

"Can you still play the game?" he asked her this time.

Shelby tried it, choosing a game file on the main menu screen. Luke had to jump in quick to stop her from going too fast so he can read anything that the game tells them. The game informed them it could be played, but progress won't be saved.

"Well, at least you can play it," he shrugged, looking on the positive side. "Some time in the next few days we'll look into getting a memory card, whatever that is." Truthfully, that was crawling under his skin. Luke held a potential rant in since it would just confuse his kid. But of course if companies wanted to make good money off of something, they have to make added equipment to sell separately that would be needed to fully enjoy the game. Besides, Lorelai usually ends up the one getting his rants anyway, which was exactly what happened.

Lorelai and Rory ended up coming early for breakfast. Usually, they come during the early afternoon on Christmas, so it was a surprise when they got there. Jess poured their coffee for them, kissing Rory in the process. Luke told them he'd go let Shelby know they were there, but not before finally letting out his rant that has been building up inside of him, going on and on about it until finally, Lorelai stopped him and told Luke to go get Shelby. Apologizing awkwardly, Luke did just that.

Shelby hurried downstairs and dashed right over to the girls, happy to see them, wishing Lorelai and Rory a Merry Christmas. She then hurried over to fetch their presents, passing them both out.

Rory opened hers first. Shelby's present to Rory was a bracelet. It wasn't anything fancy or real. It had fake plastic stones on it. It also came in a clear, plastic wrapping.

"I saw you weren' wearing your brace-a-le' anymore so I though' you los' i' and go' you a new one. Do you like i'?"

"I love it. Thanks, Shelby." Rory wrapped an arm around the little girl to hug her.

"You're welcome," she replied, happy Rory liked the present.

Lorelai went next, ripping off the wrapping paper. Shelby knew the woman all too well. She laughed. "I love it, sweetheart." It was a tall coffee mug that had a cartoon dog standing on its hind legs while wearing a nightshirt and matching cap, holding a coffee mug with steam coming out on one side and said in colorful lettering on the other side, I NEED COFFEE TO FUNCTION... It also had a small bag of coffee beans inside the mug. "Thank you so much." Lorelai also wrapped an arm around the little girl.

"I though' of you when I saw i'," Shelby nodded confidently.

"Well, I appreciate it." Lorelai chuckled as she smiled at the little girl. She then picked up a Christmas gift bag off the floor, on the other side of her chair. "This is for you."

Shelby took it, looking inside at the tissue paper sticking out. She looked back up at Lorelai with a puzzled expression. "Bu' Dad said you helped paid for my GameCube. Isn' tha' from you?"

"Yes, but I wanted to get you something else to go with it," she nodded. "Because you're awesome."

"Oh. Thank you." Shelby pulled out the tissue paper and causally tossed it over her shoulder. Rory's quick reflexes caught it just in time. She then pulled out yet another game, plus a grey, small, thin, squared cartridge, factory sealed in a plastic case.

"The guy at the store says that's needed in order to save your game," she explained, pointing at the cartridge. "I figured neither your dad nor cousin probably would know about it, so I got one just in case." When Shelby heard it was a memory card they were needing earlier, she instantly jumped on the woman, ambushing her.

"Thank you," she told her, squeezing onto Lorelai, tight. So it looks like Lorelai ended up saving the day on that one.

Shelby stepped back, wearing a big smile on her face.

That's when Rory handed her, her present. "I know it's not a game, but I got you something just as good, if not better," she said.

"What?"

"Open it and find out."

Shelby set the game and memory card on the table so she could open Rory's present. Inside the wrapping paper was a book.

"I got you the gift of reading, the best gift, in my opinion, and a Christmas classic," she explained.

That piqued Jess' interest, bringing the guy over with curiosity. "And what's that?" he asked.

"Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol."

Jess nodded in agreement. "That is a good one."

"Can you read i' to me, Jess?" Shelby asked.

"Why can't you read it? You've gotten better at reading," he pointed out.

"Yeah, bu' I like i' when you read to me. You know all the big words."

"Well, I think you should read this one for yourself," Jess told her in assurance.

Staring right at him with a serious look, she told him, "I'll make you read Captain Underpan's again."

Jess scoffed, smirking over at his cousin. "Yeah right, you can't blackmail me, Scout. So don't even try." Her expression then turned to a puppy dog one. Luke noticed it made the guy start to squirm. "That's not going to work," he tried to hold on, strong. But Shelby wasn't giving in until Jess agreed. "Okay, fine. I'll read it tonight. Are you happy now?"

Shelby grinned a tooth grin. She nodded at him.

Jess walked away in defeat, muttering out loud, "Brat."

"Love you, big brother!" she called after him. Luke couldn't help catch a shade of red appearing on his nephew's face, who was trying to hide it. When he turned back, Luke noticed Rory could see it too, smiling over at the guy.

While Shelby visited with the Gilmores, eating their late breakfast, the twins also stopped by on their way to Ron's boss' house. Ron had stopped by the diner a couple weeks ago for coffee and to ask Luke beforehand, so he knew the reason for the visit.

Shelby leaped off her seat to meet her friends, halfway. "Guess wha' I go' for Chris'mas!" she told them, excited.

Ethan seemed a little upset. "Guess what we didn't get for Christmas." At the same time, both kids exclaimed, "A GameCube!" That didn't seem to sit well with the boy. "You got a GameCube?"

She nodded. "Yeah, and three games for i', too." Shelby held up three fingers.

Ethan pretty much lost it. "That's not fair! You didn't even know 'bout it till we told you!"

"My dad, and Jess, and our friends go' i' for me." The smile she once wore had now turned into a frown.

Ethan repeated his protest. "That's not fair!" Folding his arms tightly across his chest, he added. "Don't talk to me ever again, Shelby." With that said, the boy turned and stormed away. Luke watched him walk over to one of the empty tables and slumped down in the chair to pout. When Luke looked back, he saw Shelby looked close to tears.

"It's okay, Shelby," Alan spoke up at that point. "I'm not mad." He shook his head.

"You and Ethan can come over and play i' with me," she pointed out, sincerely. "If Ethan really wan's i', he can have i', though."

Even though he was sad to see his little buddy sad, Luke couldn't help smile at her generosity.

"Really, Shelby?" Alan asked.

She nodded. "If i' means tha' much to him."

Alan was about to call over to his brother when Cheryl stepped in.

"That's very nice of you, Shelby. But it's alright. The boys have a Nintendo already."

"Not a GameCube," Ethan pointed out from across the room.

"Ethan James, that's enough," Ron scolded. "We have to be at Mr. Richard's house in an hour. Come over here so we can tell you your last Christmas present from your mom and I."

Ethan aggressively turned away to face towards the kitchen. "Shelby is spoiled. She gets everything and always gets a new game."

Ron held his hands on his sides, staring over at his son. "Spoiled, huh? Other kids can say the same about you at what I'm about to tell you. Now get your butt over here or we're gonna be chatting in the car when we get to Mr. Richard's house." With the threat made, Ethan slowly slid off the chair and made his way over. He didn't unfold his arms or change the pouting face, though.

With all three kids standing before them, Ron began, directing towards his boys first. "You know how we go to Grandma and Grandpa's during the summer?"

"Yeah," Alan was the one to answer.

"Well, this year, your mom and I talked it over with your grandparents about us taking a trip to see Disney World while we're there, this coming summer." Alan immediately cheered while Shelby looked puzzled again. Ron turned to her, "and you get to come with us, Shelby."

Alan cheered some more. "Yay, Shelby can come too. You're gonna like our Grandma and Grandpa's house. Our Grandpa has paintball guns, and he lets us shoot at targets."

"Bu' wha's Disney World?" she asked, still confused.

"It's stupid, is what it is," Ethan spat and turned back to his dad. "I wanted a GameCube, not Disney World!"

"Ethan James, that is enough. Just because you can't have what you want does not mean you act like this," Cheryl scolded him.

Ethan just pouted towards the floor.

"I'm happy, Mom," Alan assured their mom, "especially because Shelby gets to come with us." He turned back to her to explain what Disney World was. "Disney World's this big amusement park where you can ride all these rides and meet Mickey Mouse and all his friends."

"Mickey Mouse is a cartoon," Shelby pointed out.

"I know. It's just a guy in a costume, but it's still awesome to get your picture taken with him." It didn't seem fun to Luke, but he figured it would to a kid. However, Shelby didn't seem all that happy. She kept looking over at where Ethan was still pouting, sad one of her best friends was unhappy.

"We thought you'd like to come, Shelby," Ron told her. "How about it? We're going to the beach, too, and a couple other places. My parents' house is like a fun summer camp with lots of fun things to do around on their large acre land."

"Can my dad come?" she asked.

Ron stole a quick glance with Luke. "Well, there wouldn't be much room for your dad and we don't have an extra ticket for both a plane and Disney World for your dad."

"You'd be spending part of the summer with our family if that's okay with you," said Cheryl. "Since you spend so much time with us anyway, it's already like you're part of the family."

"Go, Shelby," Lorelai urged her. "You can bring us back a set of Mickey Mouse ears, and some shells from the beach."

"You don't have to decide right away," Ron assured the little girl. "You have plenty of time, it's not until June. Just think it over and let us know when you're ready. Okay?"

Shelby nodded up at the boys' dad. She then hurried over to the Christmas tree, grabbing four Christmas presents. Shelby brought them back, offering them to her friends and their parents and brother. Ethan refused to take his, turning away.

"Ethan," his dad said in a warning tone.

"I don't want it. I'm never speaking to her again." Ethan turned on his heel, turning his back on one of his best friends.

Ron calmly told him to get out to the van, leaving his mother and brothers.

Derek and Alan opened theirs. Alan's was a Lego figure of a Pokémon while Derek's was a Star Wars bobble head of Darth Vader. The boys thanked her before Cheryl opened the one for both her and her husband. Theirs was a candle that smells like a field of flowers. They always had candles in their home, so Shelby wanted to add to their collection. Cheryl gave her a hug as she thanked the little girl.

"Don't worry about Ethan, sweetie. He's really not mad at you. He's just upset about not getting what he wanted."

"Yeah, Shelby. We're still friends. Ethan tells me that too, sometimes and we make up." Alan held an arm around Shelby. Shelby did the same, but she still looked close to tears.

Her friend and his family thanked both Luke and Shelby and told them good-bye as they turned to leave, needing to get to their Christmas dinner. Cheryl took Ethan's present, assuring Shelby she would make sure Ethan tell her thank you before they left.

Once they left, Luke caught a glint of a tear escape. Lorelai must have caught it too because she called Shelby over.

Shelby went over to Lorelai, who let her sit on her lap, wrapping her arms around the kid. Lorelai reassured what Cheryl had said as she rubbed Shelby's arm up and down.

"Lane and I have fights with each other, sometimes, and we always make up later. It's normal," Rory also told her.

Shelby looked over at the older girl with just her eyes. "We never had a figh' before. No' like tha'," she sniffed, holding her head against Lorelai's chest. "We only figh' abou' who's turn i' is when we play video games."

"Yeah?" Lorelai smiled while she continued to rub her arm.

"Yeah. Bu' he never said no' t-to t-talk t-to him any...m-more." Her voice was breaking now.

"I'm sorry, hun," Lorelai told her, apologetically. "Sookie and I have had fights where we don't talk to each other for a while, too."

"I don' wan' a Game...C-Cube anymore. No' if i-i' makes Ethan sad."

Luke came around to where Rory was sitting, kneeling to his little buddy's level. "Listen, kiddo. It's okay to have something you worked hard for. That's why I wanted to get it for you," he told her.

Shelby rubbed at her right eye. "I worked for it?" she asked, confused.

He nodded. "Yeah. You're working hard in school, you're doing great with your speech sounds. You do such a great job helping out in here, and I don't have to remind you to do your chores." That was mostly referred to Jess, slacking in his chores sometimes. "You earned to have something you really want. Plus, you buy most of your games and toys yourself with your own money. Don't feel bad about getting things you worked hard to have."

"Bu' I don' like seeing Ethan sad."

"We know you don't, hun, but you can't control how others feel," Lorelai told her. "You can only control how you feel. If Ethan chooses to be upset than being happy for a friend, that's his decision. Yes, you have something he was hoping he'd get too, and that's hard to see something someone else has that you really want."

"Remember how Ethan and Alan only had a Nintendo 64, and you had to go over to their house if you wanted to play it until you got your own?" Rory pointed out.

Shelby nodded, looking over at Rory with just her eyes.

"Well, now it'll be the other way around," she shrugged. "Now, if they want to play the GameCube, now they'll have to come over to your house to play it. So now you're swapped."

"See?" asked Lorelai. "Everything will be okay between the two of you. If Ethan is really your friend, you'll be able to work this out, and I bet become even closer pals." She chuckled as she gave Shelby a reassuring smile.

Shelby dropped her gaze to stare at nothing in particular. Eventually, she lifted her head to wipe her eyes dry.

"Feel better now?"

She shrugged.

"I know it's hard, but I do promise it'll work out the way it should," Lorelai assured her. "Now, why don't you go boot up your game and show Rory and me this new game thing you got." She nudged Shelby off her lap. When she did, Luke offered his little buddy a comforting hug, which Shelby accepted, grabbing onto his neck.

"Love you, kiddo," he told her.

"Love you too, Dad," she replied from his shoulder. Shelby let go to lead Lorelai and Rory upstairs.

Shelby played her new GameCube until the food was ready. Luke prepared ham and the rest of Christmas dinner, similar to what he did for Thanksgiving; friends stopped by along with customers passing through. Lorelai and Rory also joined them. Shelby started dinner by saying grace, making sure to include Ethan, asking that he would still be her best friend. After dinner, there was pie and cookies for dessert. Shelby had a slice of apple pie with two of the gingerbread cookies Luke had let her decorate the other day.

The diner closed early that evening and cleaned up before Luke and Shelby headed upstairs to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Once Shelby got ready for bed, she gave Gexie her last cricket before climbing onto Jess' bunk with her copy of A Christmas Carol, reminding him of his promise to close out their second Christmas together as a family.