"I'm home," Lorelai called as she entered the house after a long day at work.

William walked out of the kitchen. "Hi, Lorelai," he greeted her warmly.

"Hi, William. Where are Luke and the kids?" she asked while hanging up her coat.

"They're still had the hardware store. Luke said they would be home in time for dinner."

"Okay. I'm going to change out of this uniform and then I'll help you with dinner."

"I'd appreciate the help, but I think you better call your mother."

Lorelai had been walking toward the stairs, but came to a sudden stop at William's suggestion. Slowly, she turned to look at him. "Why would I do that?"

"She called a little while ago and asked me to have you call her back tonight. I don't think she believed me when I said you weren't here. Is she always so suspicious?"

"Only where I'm concerned."

William grunted in disgust. "Are you going to call her?"

"Yes, I'll call her."

"Tonight?"

"Right after I change clothes," Lorelai promised.

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Sitting down on the edge of her bed, Lorelai took several deep breaths and dialed her parents' phone number. Within seconds, her mother answered the phone. "Gilmore residence."

"Hi, Mom."

"Hello, Lorelai. Thank you for calling me back."

"You don't need to sound so surprised."

"Well, you did avoid my call earlier."

"I was at work. I'm sure William told you that."

"He mentioned it, but I figured you were just refusing to come to the phone."

"I've never refused to come to the phone when you've called." Emily didn't respond. Instead, she chose to let the silence grow heavy with her disbelief. Realizing there was little point in trying to convince her mother that she was telling the truth, Lorelai sighed in exasperation and asked, "Why did you call, Mom?"

"I want you to bring Rory for a visit."

"Luke and I would be happy to bring Rory and Jess for a visit sometime soon," Lorelai told her, emphasizing Luke and Jess' names in an obvious attempt to force her mother to acknowledge her husband and son.

"Fine. We'll see you all on Friday for dinner."

"We can't make it this Friday."

"Why not? What could you possibly have to do that is more important than having dinner with your parents?" Emily sniped bitterly.

"Work, Mom."

"Work? Really, Lorelai, you expect me to believe that you'll be working at the exact time I want you to come to dinner?"

"I don't care if you believe me. I'm working the night shift this weekend, so we can't come to dinner on Friday. Pick another day."

"Very well. I suppose your father and I could both be available for dinner on Friday the twenty-third."

"I'm free, but I'll have to check with Luke and get back to you."

"Of course, you do."

Lorelai ignored Emily's snide remark. "Did you need anything else?"

"No."

"Fine. I need to go help William make dinner. I'll talk to you later."

"Goodbye, Lorelai."

"Bye, Mom."

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After dinner, Luke and William took the kids to the living room to play while Lorelai washed the dishes. They were only gone for a few minutes before Luke returned to the kitchen. He walked up behind Lorelai, who was standing at the sink, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he watched her vigorously scrub a pot. When she didn't stop scrubbing even after the pot was clean, he commented, "I think it's clean now." Lorelai set the pot on the towel she had laid out earlier to let it air dry and picked up a plate. "Do you want to tell me why you're upset?" Lorelai began scrubbing the plate, but Luke took it out of her hands and set it down in the sink. "You can't take your frustration with your mother out on the plate," he told her as he turned her around to face him. "It will break."

"William told you."

"Only that your mom called. He didn't say why."

"She wants us to bring the kids to visit, so I told her we would visit soon."

"I don't understand why that would upset you."

"It didn't. I'm upset because she started out by saying that she didn't believe that I was at work and that I must be avoiding her calls. Then, she didn't want to include you and Jess in the family dinner, which she tried to insist had to happen this Friday."

"You're working Friday night."

"I know. She didn't believe that either and acted like it was a huge inconvenience to pick a different day."

"I'm sure you were able to convince her."

"Yeah, but I don't know why I bothered."

"She's your mom," Luke stated as if it explained everything. Lorelai shrugged noncommittally. Luke kissed her forehead, then asked, "When are we going to dinner?"

"The twenty-third, if that works for you."

"I'll make it work."

"I'll let my mom know."

"Wait until tomorrow."

"Fine. Can I finish washing the dishes now?"

"Only if you promise not to break them."

"I promise," Lorelai agreed, smiling for the first time since she learned of her mother's call.

"Good. I'll dry."

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Fifteen minutes prior to the arrival time mandated by Lorelai's mother, Luke pulled into the Gilmores' driveway. He parked the truck and unbuckled his seatbelt, but Lorelai touched his forearm to stop him from getting out of the truck. Recognizing her need for a moment of peace before facing an evening with her mother, Luke settled back in his seat to wait.

Eventually, Lorelai said, "We better go inside."

"Are you sure you're ready?"

"No, but it will be worse if we're late."

"Okay. Let's go inside." Luke glanced over his shoulder to see Jess and Rory quietly looking at picture books in the backseat. "It's time to go see Grandma and Grandpa, so you need to put the books away." He watched as they closed their books without complaint and put them down on the seat. "Thank you."

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Before Luke could knock on the front door, Lorelai turned to him and said, "I've changed my mind, let's go home."

"It won't be that bad," he attempted to reassure her.

"Have you met my mother?"

"Good point," he conceded. "Your dad will be here, right?"

"He's supposed to be."

"Things have been better with him recently."

"I guess."

"We'll survive."

"Are you sure?"

"We did last time." Lorelai appeared skeptical, so he added, "The sooner we go in, the sooner we can go home."

"Fine," Lorelai conceded begrudgingly. Luke leaned over to kiss her cheek, then he knocked on the front door, which was opened immediately.

"Finally. I thought you were going to wait out here all night," Emily greeted her daughter's family.

"Hi, Mom."

"Hello, Lorelai. Luke. Children."

"Can we come in?"

Emily stepped aside to allow Luke and Lorelai to carry Jess and Rory into the house. Once the maid had taken their coats, Emily led her guests into the sitting room. Lorelai was relieved to see that her father was already there and pouring drinks. "Good evening," Richard said cheerfully as everybody took their seats.

"Hi, Dad."

"Hello, Mr. Gilmore."

Richard began distributing the drinks. "I trust you all had a merry Christmas."

"We did," Lorelai confirmed. "Santa was very good to the kids."

"That's nice. Your mother and I got them each a gift as well. Just something small."

"You didn't have to do that," Lorelai protested.

"Nonsense. They're in my study. I'll go get them now," Richard declared.

"Surely that could wait until after dinner," Emily argued.

"It could, but why should it?" Richard left the sitting room, but quickly returned holding two professionally wrapped Christmas presents. He handed the presents to the kids and slipped an envelope to Lorelai. "A little something for you and Luke."

"Thank you." Lorelai put the envelope in her purse to open later.

"You're welcome." Turning to Luke, who had prevented Jess and Rory from opening the presents, Richard said, "Those are more fun to open than to stare at."

With their father's silent consent, Jess and Rory tore open the presents to find they had each received several illustrated classic Christmas stories. "I thought these were perfect for our young bibliophiles," Richard explained from where he now sat next to Emily.

"They are perfect, Dad."

Rory began waiving The Nutcracker and the Mouse King in Lorelai's face. "Wead, Mama," she demanded.

"Dada, wead," Jess insisted while pushing How the Grinch Stole Christmas! into Luke's hands.

"What do you say to your grandparents?" Lorelai prompted, while gently pushing Rory's book away from her face.

Jess and Rory turned to face their grandparents and chorused, "Bank you!"

"You're very welcome," Richard responded with a smile.

"We're glad you like them," Emily replied primly.

"Bring those over here and we'll read them together."

"You don't have to do that, Dad. They can wait until we get home."

"Yes, Richard, dinner will be ready soon. Enjoy your drink," Emily suggested.

Richard ignored his wife. "If I'm going to keep up with these two, I need to brush up on my children's literature. What better time to start? Send them over here."

Luke and Lorelai helped the kids to the floor. "Take your books to Grandpa," Lorelai encouraged. Jess and Rory hurried to their grandfather, eager to read their new books. Richard helped them settle on his lap and opened the first book.

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Richard had just finished telling Jess and Rory how the Grinch's heart had grown three sizes when the maid appeared in the entrance of the sitting room to inform Emily that dinner was ready. The family moved into the dining room and took their seats around the table.

"How are things going with the adoptions?" Richard inquired as he draped his napkin across his lap.

"Everything's fine. Both adoptions should be finished in April."

"How does Christopher feel about you letting Luke adopt Rory?" Emily asked Lorelai.

"Emily," Richard warned.

Glaring at her mother, Lorelai snapped, "If he knew about it, I doubt he would feel anything."

"You haven't told him?"

"I don't talk to him at all, so why would I tell him this?"

"He's Rory's…"

"That's enough, Emily," Richard forcefully interrupted his wife.

"It's a perfectly valid point, Richard."

"No, it's not," Lorelai stated, her tone scathing.

"I'll handle this, Lorelai," Richard said coolly, never taking his eyes off his wife. With barely restrained anger, he stated, "It is not a valid point, Emily. You are well aware that Christopher chose to terminate his parental rights. He did not want to be a father and now he is not a father. Luke has chosen to act as Rory's father and Lorelai has decided to make it legal. You need to accept that. You also need to accept that Lorelai has chosen to treat Jess as her son and Luke has decided to make that relationship legal. If you don't, we may lose our daughter and both of our grandchildren. That is an outcome that I refuse to accept."

Luke, Lorelai, and the kids watched in stunned silence as Emily glared at Richard for several tense moments. When Richard refused to back down, Emily began eating her dinner. The meal was punctuated by Emily angrily stabbing each bite with her fork.

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During the drive back to Stars Hollow, Lorelai suddenly burst into laughter. Concerned, Luke hesitantly asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just can't believe we ate dinner in total silence. Even Jess and Rory were quiet."

"It wasn't total silence."

"What do you mean?"

"Your dad asked me to pass the broccoli." Lorelai laughed harder.