WHAT IT IS: A sequel, to my other Trory, What Happens When. Now, I had no intentions at all to do a sequel. However, you're getting one, because of all the Jess/Dean/Rory angst currently on the show—it's stressing me out. So, since I had decided that fluff was probably all I'd get out of a sequel and fluff is what I need right now (it's either fluff or unbearable angst coming out of me right now)—here's a sequel.

WHAT I OWN: Nada.

RATING: PG-13, just to be safe. It is fluff after all.

Luke was sound asleep next to Lorelai when he felt something pulling on his arm. He shrugged it off and tried to roll over and curl up with his wife, but the tugging was instantly back. He opened his eyes to see Will standing next to the bed, still pulling on his arm.

"Will?" Luke whispered softly.

"Daddy, can I sleep with you?"

"What's wrong?"

Will stood there, not saying anything, looking on the verge of tears. Luke furrowed his brow and reached out to his son.

"Did you have that dream again?"

Will nodded.

"Come on," Luke said as he hoisted his son up into the bed with him. He placed him between himself and Lorelai, and wrapped an arm around the small boy, as they both drifted off to sleep.

Two hours later, Lorelai stirred in her sleep. She rolled over to face Luke, but saw Will instead. She smiled as she saw Luke's arm wrapped protectively around their son. She kissed the top of Will's head and patted Luke's shoulder. Luke opened one eye to look at her, and smiled groggily.

"Did he have the dream again?"

"If you hadn't let him watch that movie, he wouldn't be doing this."

"What? House on Haunted Hill is a classic! And it was Halloween. Besides, it was the original Vincent Price, it's not like I showed him the new one. THAT would have been scary."

Luke rolled his eyes, and kissed her cheek. "Whatever you say, crazy lady. This," he pointed to Will, "is your doing. He'll be fifteen and still sleeping with us."

"Uh, Luke that would be a whole different problem all together."

"I have to go to work. Why do I even bother to argue with you?"

"I have no idea. Hey," she stopped him before he stepped out of the room.

"Yeah," laughter tinted his voice.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Lorelai smiled and lay back down next to Will, drifting back off to sleep until she had to get up. They'd been married three years now, and had a son, but she was still thankful everyday for what they had. Every moment like this one. She remembered all to vividly the years they spent trying to deny they should be together. Life was perfect for them now. They had it all with Rory, Will, the diner and the Inn.

Luke got to work and opened up to the usual crowd. About two hours later, Jess came into the diner. He sat at the counter and asked for coffee.

"Why aren't you eating at the Inn?"

"I just wanted to tell you something."

"Go for it."

"I'm going back to New York today. Just for a couple of days, I'll be back on Monday."

"Why?"

"I have to drop some stuff off at work, check my mail, check my messages, that kind of thing."

Luke cocked his head as Jess spoke, wondering what was going on.

"Jess, Christmas is next Tuesday. Lorelai has a ton of family stuff planned, and you said you were going to be around. We've been including you in our plans."

"I will be at stuff. Just not this weekend."

"Is something going on? Is this because of Rory, because I know,"

"Luke, stop. This isn't about Rory. I mean, it's a little weird, but I like Tristan. I really just have to go do some work things, and since I'm making the drive I thought I'd stay the weekend, miss that party at the Gilmore's in Hartford," he trailed off.

"A-HAH! I knew you had a reason."

"That is not my reason."

"You're afraid of Emily, aren't you?"

"I'm not afraid of her. Not that she likes me, but I'm not afraid of her."

"Uh-huh. Have fun, I'll tell Lorelai that something came up. But you be back by Monday afternoon. Santa will be in the town square, and they're lighting the tree that night. Will'll want you to be there."

"I'll be here. For sure," Jess promised.

Luke nodded and waved him off as Jess took his to-go coffee and headed out to his car. He wasn't really looking forward to the annual Gilmore Christmas party either, but Emily and Richard were always very nice to him. And they adored Will. Luke knew that the only time Jess had met the elder Gilmores, well, Emily at least, it hadn't run too smoothly. He'd shown up with a black eye he'd received from a swan (he chuckled to himself yet again) and he and Rory had gotten into their first fight. Good times, he thought. 'I'd skip town, too,' he thought, getting back to work.

Lorelai had just finished getting Will dressed and was pouring cereal for the both of them when the phone rang. She handed Will a spoon and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Lorelai? Oh, good, I caught you."

"In the act."

"What?"

"Nothing, Mom. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I was just wondering how many to expect on Friday?"

"Uh, let me think. There's me, Luke, Will, Rory, Tristan, so five, I guess. You have Janlan and Elizabeth on a separate phone call, right?"

"Yes, I've just spoken to Elizabeth. She's bringing a date."

"Really? Does Tristan know?"

"I don't know. But she was gushing all about this man, she seems quite taken with him."

"Well, that's nice. I think," Lorelai said, turning her attention to Will, who was now blowing bubbles in his milk with a straw. She tapped on the table with her spoon, which caught his attention for a moment long enough to smile at her, and he began again. She sighed, which caused Emily to speak louder.

"What, am I boring you, Lorelai?"

"Huh? No, Mom, the sigh wasn't directed at you. I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"Well, I called to tell you that Christopher would be joining us."

"Christopher? My Chris?"

"Well, dear, he's hardly yours anymore."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, and he's bringing that wife of his, and their daughter."

"Well, that's. . . nice," she managed.

"Do you want me to tell them not to come? He called, he knows when the party is, you know, and he said they'd be in town to see his parents, and wanted to stop in."

"No, no, it's fine. He's Rory's dad, it's Christmas. He should see his kid sometime."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, and finally Emily spoke again.

"Yes, well, I have you down for five. I'll see you all about six?"

"Yeah, mom. We'll see you then."

Lorelai hung up and immediately took the straw out of Will's milk, shaking her head 'no'. He stuck his bottom lip out for a moment, before taking the glass with both hands and downing the rest of the still bubbly milk. When he took the glass away from his face, he had a large milk mustache, which caused Lorelai to giggle and grab a towel from the counter, which she smeared over his whole face. He jumped down and ran, giggling, and she chased after him.

Tristan and Rory walked around the town square aimlessly that afternoon, his arm around her shoulders and crunching snow under their feet. They had wandered in and out of stores, and were headed to the gazebo to rest for a moment.

"Why are we resting in the gazebo? Luke's is right there," Rory pointed out.

"Fresh air is good for you. We'll get coffee later."

"Fine," she gave in, sitting, and took an exaggerated breath in. Tristan shook his head in amusement and pulled her closer.

"Besides, Luke always yells when I do this," he leaned over and kissed her, "in the diner. Something about sanitation."

"Don't listen to Luke, he's a hypocrite," Rory smiled, bringing her lips back to his again quickly.

"So, Jess didn't pound on the walls last night," Rory commented when she pulled back, a little more out of breath.

"I bought him some ear plugs yesterday."

"You did NOT!"

"I did."

"You're evil."

"What, he laughed!"

"Just tell me you guys didn't talk about me."

"What else is there for us to talk about? It got interesting, we starting breaking down and rating your kissing technique. Don't you want to know how you rated?" Tristan teased.

"You're horrible. You're going to hell."

"See, he was giving you high marks for tongue action, but I was trying to tell him that you were better at—,"

Rory cut him off with a kiss. It was the only thing she'd ever found to effectively shut him up. When she pulled back, he looked into her eyes with longing. Shaking her head, she turned slightly away from him.

"I'm just glad you guys are getting along."

"We are. You have nothing to worry about. Except the annual Gilmore holiday party tomorrow."

"What will be worrisome about that? Good food, presents, fun."

"'So, when are you two going to have kids? We want grandkids/great- grandkids!'" Tristan went on in a high-pitched voice.

"That's attractive. You sound like someone just kneed you in the groin."

"You know I'm right."

"Whatever. We'll just tell them the truth."

"What, that we are too selfish and enjoy having sex in any room of the house without someone small coming in to interrupt us?"

"NO! That we haven't even discussed when we're going to be ready yet."

"Oh, that."

"It'll be fun. I promise."

Tristan nodded and stood up, holding his hand out for her. She took it, and he pulled her up to join him.

"Your coffee awaits, Madame," he drawled, leading her down the steps and towards Luke's.

Luke came home early from work that night. The snowfall had been getting heavier and most people were staying in, so he closed up early to hang out with his family. He was doing that a lot the last few years, since Will came along. He came in to Christmas music blaring on the stereo in the front room. Lorelai had Will up on one hip and was swirling him around to the beat. He turned down the music when she didn't notice him coming in. She stopped abruptly and turned towards him.

"You're home!" she cried happily.

"Yeah, it's getting heavy out there. No customers," he explained.

"It's Daddy's turn!" Will exclaimed.

"Daddy's turn for what, dare I ask?"

"To dance with Mommy!"

"Ahh. I don't dance."

"Compulsive liar," Lorelai commented.

"Damn. I tell you too much, you know that?"

"You can't help it, I have certain effects on men's minds."

"I know all about that."

Will sat down and started playing with some toys on the couch as he lost interest in his parents' conversation. They continued dancing for a while, to cheesy Christmas music that Will loved.

"Oh, uh, I have some news."

"Shoot."

"Well, Emily called for a headcount today."

"Good thing I called about Jess not being around, then."

"Yeah, but that's not all. Chris is going to be there."

"Is that okay with you?"

"Well, I guess, I mean, he's Rory's dad, so I have to be okay with it, right? Mom said he invited himself."

"Has Rory really spoken to him much since Georgia was born?"

"Not really. I mean, they used to talk every week. But since he got married, he hasn't had much time, or so he says. He showed up for her wedding, I'll give him that."

"Have you told her yet?"

"No, she doesn't have her cell on, and she wasn't at the Inn all day. I'll try her later tonight. I need to tell her about Tristan's mom, too."

"What about her?"

"She's bringing a date."

"Well, she deserves to be happy after that jackass she married the first time."

"I know, but I don't think Tristan knows about any of this. As much as he hated his father, no kid likes to think about their parents with other people."

"Rory was fine with you and I."

"Luke, we're different. Rory's different. The whole situation is different," she explained.

"I know. Come on, I'll make dinner and you can call her later. Surely they'll be back soon, with the weather getting worse."

Lorelai nodded and followed Luke into the kitchen to help. Well, to stand and watch, anyways. After they ate, and got Will to bed, she finally got a hold of Rory.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hey, I've been trying to reach you all day!"

"Did something happen?"

"No, it's not that. I just had some stuff to tell you. What did you guys do all day?"

"Just wandered around. Had some coffee, did some last minute shopping, that kind of thing. We're finally done, just a few days to go."

"Good."

"Mom, what is it?"

"Well, I just wanted to touch base about tomorrow. Are you riding up with us?"

"Yeah, if that's okay. Or will there be room with Jess and all?"

"Jess had to run to New York for the weekend. He'll be back Monday, so there's plenty of room. We need to be there by six."

"Okay. Was that all? You sound like something's up."

"Well, I found something out. I'll let you be the judge of whether to tell Tristan. His mom's bringing a date."

"Oh. I'll tell him," she replied nonchalantly.

"He'll be cool with it?"

"I hope so. She should be happy."

"Good. It's rough to see your parents with other people. Or I would imagine. I know it would creep me out."

"Okay, so, we'll see you about five-thirty?"

"Yeah, oh, and your dad will be there."

"Oh. Um, okay." Her tone deadened.

"Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"Is that okay with you? I can call your Grandmother and tell her to call it off. She says she got ambushed by him, he invited himself."

"No, it's fine. Really."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Well, okay then. Have a good night, hun."

"You too."

Rory hung up and wandered over to the nearest window, staring out on the growing blanket of white on the ground. Moments later, she felt strong arms encircle her waist. She leaned back into his torso, relaxing.

"Was that Lorelai?"

"Yep."

"Is this about tomorrow?"

"Yep."

"What's up?"

"My dad's coming."

"Oh, shit."

"And your mom's bringing a date."

"WHAT?"

AN: hehehe. Gotta have a few cliffhangers. It's hard to write cliffhangers in fluff pieces! And it's really hard to stop with my line of thought going so well, but this just needs to be stopped here. Otherwise I'll end up with one big chapter and there's no fun or suspense in that. I'll update soon, I promise. Maybe even tonight, if you're good.