"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas," Lorelai sang loudly as she twirled into the kitchen with her arms outstretched. "Everywhere you go." Jess squealed when Lorelai picked him up from his highchair and started dancing him around the kitchen table. "There's a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well, the sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow."

Rory slapped her palms against the tray of her highchair. "Me, Mama, me, me." Lorelai stopped dancing to pick up Rory.

Jess was not happy that Lorelai had stopped dancing. "La La! Mo! Wan mo, La La!"

"More, huh? Okay." Lorelai balanced the babies on her hips and resumed singing, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." She bounced Jess and Rory in time to the music. "Soon the bells will start and the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing right within your heart." Finishing the song with a flourish, Lorelai spun around one last time, but continued to rock the babies side to side.

Dumbfounded, Luke watched the entire scene from the stove where he was scrambling eggs and frying bacon. "What are you doing?"

"Singing and dancing, duh."

"Why?"

"I smell snow!"

"What?"

"I smell snow. It's going to snow tomorrow."

"You're crazy. It's not going to snow tomorrow. There's no snow in the forecast until closer to Christmas. That's still more than two weeks away."

"The forecast is wrong. I'm right. You'll see."

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Lorelai woke up shortly after midnight with a smile on her face. "It's snowing," she whispered into the darkness. Eager to see the first snow of the season, she rolled out of bed and crept to the window.

After confirming that it was snowing, Lorelai raced to Luke's bedroom, opened the door quietly, and snuck across the room to his bed. She leaned over him and whispered in his ear, "Oh, Lucas."

"What?" he mumbled unintelligently.

"Wake up."

"Don't want to."

"It's snowing."

"Hmm."

She started to shake his shoulder. "We have to go outside now."

Luke finally opened his eyes. "Lorelai, what are you doing in here?"

Sighing dramatically, Lorelai explained again, "It's snowing. We have to go outside now."

"Why?" Luke asked sleepily.

"To take a walk in the first snow of the season." She threw back Luke's blankets and took his hand to pull him out of bed. "Come on."

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Luke shivered as he walked down the street with Lorelai holding onto his arm. "Why are we doing this?" he asked through chattering teeth.

"Because the first snow of the season is magical."

"What?"

Lorelai stopped, let go of Luke's arm, and turned to face him. "When I was five, I had a really bad ear infection. I had been home in bed for a week and I was very sad, so I wished really hard that something wonderful would happen to me. I woke up the next morning and it had snowed. I was sure that some fairy godmother had done it just for me. It was my little present," she told him, her voice full of wonder.

"Your parents never explained the concept of weather to you?"

"I am making a point, Mouthy McGee. Of course, many years later, I realized that, logically, the snow was not there for me personally, but, still, when it snows, something inside me says 'hey, that's your present.' I don't think it'll ever change."

"You're serious."

"Yep!" She grabbed his hand and began pulling him down the street again.

"You're nuts!"

"Quite possibly."

"Going inside now."

"But…," she protested weakly.

"One more whiff and so are you." He let go of her hand and headed back to the house.

"Luke," Lorelai pouted. He kept walking and she turned her attention back to the falling snow.

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"No, Dada. Wan La La," Jess whined pitifully, sniffling after each word. He balled up the corner of his blanket and rubbed it across his tear streaked face. "La La, Dada. Wan La La."

Luke sighed heavily. He was frustrated. His sleep had been interrupted first by Lorelai's walk in the snow and then by Jess' coughing. To make things worse, Jess wouldn't take his medicine and was insisting on seeing Lorelai. "La La is sleeping, Jess," Luke tried to explain.

"La La. Wan La La," Jess whimpered, burying his face in Luke's chest to avoid taking his medicine.

Taking a deep breath, Luke struggled not to take his frustration out on his sick son. "Okay. Let's go wake up La La." Luke carried Jess out of the room and to Lorelai's bedroom door. He knocked softly, then did his best to comfort Jess while they waited.

The knocking woke Lorelai from a deep sleep. Dazed, she rolled out of bed and stumbled to the door, dragging her blanket halfway across the room in the process. Her brow furrowed in confusion when she opened the door to see Luke and Jess. "Luke, what's wrong? It's too early to be awake."

"La La," Jess moaned miserably, reaching for Lorelai.

Lorelai took Jess, wrapped him in his blanket, and cuddled him against her chest. "What's wrong, sweet boy?" she cooed.

"He's sick, won't take his medicine, and only wants you," Luke told her.

"Poor baby." She reached for the medicine, which Luke happily gave her.

"He won't take it," he warned.

"Sure, he will. Won't you, Jess?" She helped Jess drink the medicine. "See?"

"Seriously?" Luke asked in exasperation.

"It's not personal, Luke."

"I know." He rubbed his hand over his face. "I know. I just want him to let me take care of him."

"I know, but he's sick and fussy." She looked down at Jess. "And already asleep," she added with a chuckle. "Look, it's my day off, so I can take care of him today."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, but if you want to help, you could take Rory to work with you today."

"I could do that. You know, so she isn't bored or in the way."

Lorelai smiled knowingly. "I'm sure she'd like that."

"Okay. Good. I'll come get her when I'm ready to leave."

"Fine. Don't knock though. Just come in and get her. Jess and I will be sleeping."

"Okay. Goodnight. Again."

"Goodnight," Lorelai said with a giggle. She gave him a quick kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." He kissed Jess' head and Lorelai's cheek before watching her step back into her bedroom and close the door. He went back to his bedroom in the hope of getting a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep.

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When Lorelai and Jess woke up again several hours later, Luke had already taken Rory to meet William at the hardware store. Jess was curled against Lorelai's side and didn't seem to want to move. Stroking his hair, Lorelai asked, "Are you ready to get up, sweet boy?" Jess responded by snuggling closer to Lorelai's side. She shifted him onto her chest and sat up. "I know, Jess. You feel awful, poor baby. Let's go get you some more medicine."

They went to the bathroom to find the medicine and found that Luke had already poured the next dose. "Look, Dada got your medicine ready for you. Let's take it, so you can feel better." Lorelai helped Jess take his medicine, then said, "Good job, sweet boy. Now, cartoons are the one good thing about being sick, so do you want to watch Sesame Street?"

"Wan La La."

"I'm not going anywhere," she explained patiently, then kissed his cheek. "We'll watch Sesame Street together. Okay?"

Jess rested his head on Lorelai's shoulder and nodded lethargically. She carried him to the living room and found one of the tapes of Sesame Street episodes that William kept available for the babies. As the tape began to play, Lorelai laid down on the couch with Jess on her chest and softly stroked his back while he sucked his thumb contentedly.

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Just before dinnertime, Luke ushered Rory toward the house. She walked slowly, struggling to keep hold of the bills and letters the mailman had handed her as she walked up the driveway holding Luke's hand. When they finally made it inside, Luke guided Rory toward the living room to look for Lorelai and Jess. They found Lorelai and Jess fast asleep on the couch.

Rory was excited to see her mother and raced toward the couch, dropping the mail on the floor along the way. "Mama! Mama! Mama!"

Lorelai woke up, smiling. "Hi, sweet girl." She reached out to help Rory climb onto the couch.

Rory snuggled against Lorelai's side and patted Jess on the back. "Ess. Ess."

"Shh. Jess is sick. Don't wake him up." Rory nodded in understanding. "Did you have a good day at the hardware store with Luke and William?"

Rory struggled to roll over to look at Luke, repeatedly elbowing Lorelai in the process. "Lu!" she squealed.

Lorelai looked at Luke, who was picking up the mail Rory had scattered on the living room floor. "Yes, that's Luke," she said to Rory, then asked Luke, "Was she good today?"

"Yeah. She mostly sat behind the counter and looked at her books."

"Of course, she did," Lorelai replied with a chuckle.

"How was Jess?" Luke asked as he sat down on the couch next to Lorelai's hip and rested his hand gently on Jess' head.

"Good. He took all of his medicine, drank some chicken broth, watched Sesame Street, and slept."

"Is he feeling better?"

"I don't think so. He's not any worse though."

"I guess that's something." He began to sort through the mail. One envelope caught his attention and he read the return address twice before looking up at Lorelai. "Hey, um, there's a letter for you. It's, uh, it's from your mother."

"You're kidding."

"I wish."

"What could she possibly have to say to me after what happened on Thanksgiving?"

"Only one way to find out?" He held the letter out to her.

Grimacing, Lorelai tentatively took the letter and held it gingerly by the corner. "I don't want to read this."

"Maybe it's an apology."

"Emily Gilmore doesn't apologize. Especially to me."

"Maybe your dad convinced her she was wrong."

"Ha!"

"You'll have to read it to know for sure."

Lorelai pouted, but opened the envelope. After she finished reading the letter, she handed it to Luke. "It's just an invitation to the Christmas party my parents throw every year."

Luke skimmed the letter. "She doesn't say anything about Thanksgiving."

"Not a word."

"That's insane."

"That's Emily Gilmore."

"Do you, um, want to go?"

"No!"

"Thank God! I was hoping you would just say no."

"I'll call tomorrow and leave a message with the maid."

"Okay. Good. Since that's settled, I guess I should start dinner."

"I'll be here letting Jess use me as a pillow."

"Rory, do you want to help me make dinner?"

Rory shook her head and rolled over to cuddle against Lorelai's side again. "Mama! Ess!" she stated emphatically.

Luke chuckled. "Okay. You stay here with Mama and Jess." He kissed Rory's cheek, Jess' head, and Lorelai's lips, then stood up. "I'll come get all of you when dinner is ready."