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.
"Tristan, calm down," Rory urged.
"You want me to be calm, Rory, my mom is bringing a date. To a major holiday and social event."
"So?"
"So? Okay, I know you don't know much about the goings on of the Hartford elite, but it's the equivalent of telling Ms. Patty in Stars Hollow. This is big, this is permanent."
"Tristan, it can't be that serious, you haven't even heard of the guy."
"How did you hear about this, exactly?"
"She evidently told Grandma when she called for a headcount. Grandma told Mom."
"Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, it's not like my parents have kept me the best informed of their lives, ever."
"Tristan, come on. Give her a chance."
"Whatever. Are you okay with your dad coming?"
"I can't stop him. Not that I care if he comes or not."
"Maybe he's trying."
"Trying to do what? Ruin Christmas? Cause a scene? It's what he's good at."
"I told you we should have spent Christmas alone in New York."
"Maybe we should both be sick tomorrow."
"'Cause that'll work."
"We've got to face it all."
"Yep."
"All at once."
"Yep."
"At least there'll be apple tarts."
"There is that."
Rory glanced at Tristan. He looked as unsure as she felt. At least she knew the insanity that faced her—Sherry. God, she disliked her. Tristan had plenty of time to come up with many horrifying scenarios before they got there, and then face the true insanity. They finally agreed to suck it up and try not to think about it.
The following evening, Tristan and Rory showed up at the Gilmore Dane's residence, as Lorelai insisted on calling it, at 5:20. They'd spent the entire morning not talking about how horrific this evening might turn out being. They ended up discussing what painful activities they'd rather be doing than face their parents that night. Will answered the door, and Rory picked him up as she walked in.
"Why are you answering the door?"
"Mommy yelled and told me to."
"Where is she?"
"Upstairs."
"Mom?"
"Half dressed, give me five minutes!" Came the frenzied response from upstairs.
Luke came down the stairs, messing with his tie. Rory handed Will to Tristan and walked to Luke, swatting his hands from the tie. She expertly fixed it for him and stepped back, smiling.
"There."
"You're good at that."
"Thank you. Just one of my many talents."
"Your mom is going nuts."
"About dad?"
"She won't say, but yeah. She's worried about you."
"I'm fine."
"Really? Cause you say the word, and he's out of there."
"Thanks Luke. I can always trust you to put men in headlocks for me, can't I?"
"I try. Hey, you, you ready?" he turned his attention to Will, who was being tickled by Tristan. Both looked up to Luke, and Tristan put Will down. Luke had commented earlier about how unfair it was that Will was the only guy excused from the dress code, although Lorelai had bought him a nice sweater and khaki pants for the occasion. Luke saw no point in buying an outfit he'd only wear once in his life, but Lorelai had insisted Emily would throw a fit if he weren't at least somewhat presentable. And in new clothes.
"I'm ready. When are we going to eat?"
"Uh, a couple of hours?" Luke guessed.
"I'm hungry now."
"I'll take him for a quick snack while mom finishes," Rory offered, leading Will into the kitchen.
Luke looked over at Tristan, who had sat down on the couch. Tristan looked up when he felt eyes on him and looked around a bit.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. I just—you'll keep close to Rory tonight, won't you?"
"Sure—why?"
"I just don't want Chris to say anything to upset her. He's sort of good at that."
"I know. She doesn't seem to want to see him much. I'm hoping the guy takes a hint, says hello and Merry Christmas and leaves."
Luke nodded, and looked at his watch. "LOR! Come on, we have to go!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming, geesh, you people, don't you know you can't rush perfection?" she commented as she came strolling down the stairs.
"You look beautiful. Now get your ass in the car."
"Where are my kids?"
"I'll get them," Tristan jumped up to grab the others while Luke and Lorelai headed out to the Jeep.
"You really do look beautiful. Too bad we have to waste this evening at your parents," Luke said, taking her into his arms.
"Oh, yeah? Well, I'm sure we could get someone to watch Will tomorrow night, if you'd like to take me out somewhere."
"Who needs to go out?"
"What, no wining and dining first?" she grinned, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"Whatever you like," he whispered, kissing her softly.
The rest of the family piled into the Jeep and they headed off to Hartford. No one spoke much, and before they knew it, they all stood before the large wooden door of the Gilmore residence. Luke, realizing no one else was making the first move, stepped forward and rang the doorbell.
"There you all are! Right on time, come in, come in!" Emily exclaimed, stepping back to let the group in. she took Will from Lorelai's arms, and took him into the main room.
"Will, my goodness, you're getting so big!"
"Mommy says I'm a weed."
"How nice. Tell me, Will, what did you ask Santa for this year?"
"I haven't seen Santa yet."
"Why ever not?"
"He's coming next Tuesday to Stars Hollow, Mom," Lorelai interjected, as Will nodded excitedly.
"Oh, well, what are you going to ask for then?"
Will started rambling off his list, and Tristan laughed.
"What?" Rory asked, walking over to get something to drink.
"I've heard that kid's list. It's not short, she'll be here all night listening to him."
"Well, she asked. Serves her right. Hey there's Janlan," she pointed out. He intertwined his hand with hers, and headed over to his grandfather.
"Tristan! Rory, how wonderful to see you!" Janlan exclaimed, hugging them both.
"Merry Christmas," they said in unison.
"Have you been in town long?"
"Just a couple of days."
"You should stop by and have lunch with us at the club before you leave. Richard and I will be playing golf a week from tomorrow."
"We should be able to swing that. We're leaving New Years Day for New York."
"How's that internship treating you?" Richard came up beside Janlan.
"Very good. My supervisor says there will most likely be a permanent position there for me when I'm done with my rotation."
"Excellent. And Rory, how is your career coming?"
"Really well. They've been giving me a lot of work, various columns and reports. They're definitely keeping me busy."
"Your grandmother has been cutting out all your stories, and putting them in some sort of a scrapbook, I believe."
"That's sweet. Mom's doing the same thing."
"Gramps, is Mom here yet?"
"No, she said she might be a little late."
Rory gave Tristan's hand a little squeeze, reminding him to stay calm.
"Did she say why?"
"No, she didn't."
Richard and Janlan began discussing something as Rory and Tristan wandered off to mingle.
"Oh, look, apple tarts!"
"You're so easy."
"Hey, they're good," she countered.
"Tristan!"
He turned around to see his mother and a man about her age walking towards him. She waved quickly to him, and he gave her a kiss on the cheek as she stopped in front of him.
"Mother, how are you?"
"Oh, I'm doing just fine. I do wish you two would come up to visit more often."
"Well, I'm sure you've been busy," he added, looking at the man next to her. Rory stepped up and slipped an arm around his waist.
"Oh, good, Rory! Kids, I want you to meet Bill. Bill, this is my son Tristan, and his wife, Rory."
Bill extended a hand to Tristan and smiled. Tristan shook his hand after feeling a small pinch in his side from his wife.
"It's so nice to meet you, your mother talks nonstop about you," Bill said.
"Really? Interesting you should say that, Bill," Tristan added.
"Bill, is it? Bill you should try these apple tarts," Rory said, taking Bill by the hand and leading him over to the buffet table. Tristan looked at his mom insistently.
"What, dear?"
"When were you going to tell me about Bill?"
"Tonight."
"Mom! Come on, bringing him here—you might as well announce your engagement!"
"Tristan, don't be silly. I've just been seeing him a couple of months. You'd know as much if you ever bothered to call or visit."
"This is my punishment for working?"
"No, this isn't punishment at all. I like Bill. Don't I deserve to have what you have?"
"Of course you do, but I just thought you could have told me first."
"If it had been that serious, of course you would have known. I didn't mean to keep this from you."
"Okay," Tristan complied.
"So, what do you think of him?"
"He has a firm handshake?"
"Tristan, be serious."
"You look happy, Mom. As long as you are, that's all I need to know."
"I am."
"They aren't working you too hard at that internship, are they?"
"It's hard work, but it's worth it."
"Are they even paying you?"
"A little. Don't worry, Rory's raking in the big bucks."
"I see her name all over that paper, I'm quite impressed."
"Yes, she's good. I'm just glad they've recognized it so quickly."
"But, Tristan, how long will she be able to keep up that pace?"
"What's that mean?"
"Well, you two want kids, don't you?"
"Mom, please. She's a writer. She can write with kids."
"She can't do investigative journalism with small kids running about."
"She's good at multitasking."
"Tristan, get serious."
"Mom, we'll deal with it when it arises."
Seeing the look on his face, she decided to drop it, as Rory and Bill wandered over to them again.
"We're going to go say hi to your grandfather. We'll see you two later," Elizabeth said, squeezing Rory's shoulder as they walked past.
"She looks happy."
"He doesn't," Tristan said, pointing towards the door. Christopher, Sherry and Georgia had just arrived.
"Oh, man. Look at Mom," Rory commented.
"She looks, man, is he in trouble," Tristan replied.
"Is it too late to hide upstairs?"
"Yes."
"What did I decide I'd rather be doing than this?"
"I believe it was jamming a rusty nail into your eye while dipping your feet into boiling oil."
"Yeah, still works for me."
"Rory!" Chris called, looking relieved. Sherry stayed over near the entrance with Georgia.
"Hey, Dad," she welcomed him, as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Tristan, how are you?"
"Fine, Chris, and yourself?"
"Oh, we're all fine. Look, Rory, I can't stay long, I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and give you this," Chris handed her an envelope.
"What's this?"
"A gift."
"Thanks," she commented. She glanced at her mother, who was being secured in place by Luke.
"Should I go talk to your mom?"
"Uh, I'd say no."
"I'm sorry, you know, that every thing's, well, screwed up like this."
"I know."
"I don't think you do, honey. This isn't what I wanted," Chris started to explain. Rory's eyes welled up a little at the break in his voice. Just then, Will came bounding up and tugged on Rory's skirt.
"Rory?"
"Yeah?" She said, picking him up.
"Who's this?"
"Will, this is my dad, Chris."
"Luke's our dad."
The look on Chris' face turned from regret to sheer pain.
"No, honey, Luke is your daddy. This is my dad."
Will looked at Chris, then to Rory.
"Dad, this is Will."
"It's nice to meet you, Will," Chris said to the little boy. "Man, he got big since your wedding."
Chris looked back at Sherry and Georgia, then to Rory.
"I should probably leave. Give your mom and Emily my best."
Rory nodded. As Chris turned to leave, she stopped him.
"Dad! You should come down sometime, bring Georgia. I'll take her shopping in the city."
"She'd like that. I'll give you a call."
"Bye, Dad."
Chris walked off and the three left. Rory put a squirming Will down, and she turned to face Tristan.
"You did really good, babe," he offered.
"When did we have to become grownups with our parents?"
"I know. We're mature."
"I need a drink."
"What we really need is a code."
"A code?"
"Yeah, all married couples have them. We're new to this, so we need to make ours up."
"What kind of code?"
"You know, to get us out of unpleasant social situations, so the one will rescue the other."
"What, like 'my head is on fire, come help'?"
"No, like if you say 'apple tarts', I know to come up with some fake illness that means we have to leave."
"We would have had to leave like five times already," she giggled.
"And we would have missed several unpleasant moments," he pointed out.
"Who has these codes?"
"Everyone."
"You watch too much TV. Besides, we can't escape our parents."
"True. Too bad, isn't it?"
"It isn't too bad. No bloodshed, right?"
"Your dad seemed sincere."
"That's the problem. He always is. It's just really complicated."
"I know. Come on; let's go join your mom. Look's like Luke's winning over the Gilmores."
They walked over to Lorelai and Luke, who were talking with Emily and Richard and a few other guests.
"So, Luke, Lorelai mentioned Jess was in town with you this Christmas. Where is he?"
"Oh, he was sorry he couldn't make it, he had to check in at work."
"Sure, he did."
"Actually, I have to tell you, Emily, that boy was so nervous the time he met you. He was so crazy about Rory," he went on, not realizing Rory and Tristan had joined the group, "that he went out to the park to read and relax before he went to your house. While he was there, down by the docks, a swan swam up to him. The thing came right up to him, and being from the city, he didn't know to avoid them, and it beaked him in the eye!"
"He was beaked?" Lorelai squeaked out in laughter.
"Oh, my! I thought he was just some hoodlum!"
"Well, Mom, he sort of was," Lorelai assured her.
"He came back and told me that you two had assumed he'd been in a fight, he was so embarrassed about how it really happened, then upset that he'd made the impression that he had."
"Oh, my. I do feel bad now, I just assumed he'd been in some brawl," Emily thought back.
"He got beaked in the eye?" Rory said, in awe.
"He never told you?"
"No, he told me that he got hit in the eye with a football."
"Huh, well, it was the swan at Larson's Dock."
Rory shook her head in disbelief. He'd been ever more of a liar to her than she'd thought. She snapped out of her thoughts as the laughter of everyone else filled the room at Luke's explanation. Luke went on to tell Emily how well Jess was doing in school, and the party went on until Will got too sleepy to go on being carried around. Lorelai then called it a night. After saying a last Merry Christmas to everyone, they all piled presents into the car and headed home for Stars Hollow.
WHAT I OWN: Nada.
RATING: PG-13, just to be safe. It is fluff after all.
"Tristan, calm down," Rory urged.
"You want me to be calm, Rory, my mom is bringing a date. To a major holiday and social event."
"So?"
"So? Okay, I know you don't know much about the goings on of the Hartford elite, but it's the equivalent of telling Ms. Patty in Stars Hollow. This is big, this is permanent."
"Tristan, it can't be that serious, you haven't even heard of the guy."
"How did you hear about this, exactly?"
"She evidently told Grandma when she called for a headcount. Grandma told Mom."
"Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, it's not like my parents have kept me the best informed of their lives, ever."
"Tristan, come on. Give her a chance."
"Whatever. Are you okay with your dad coming?"
"I can't stop him. Not that I care if he comes or not."
"Maybe he's trying."
"Trying to do what? Ruin Christmas? Cause a scene? It's what he's good at."
"I told you we should have spent Christmas alone in New York."
"Maybe we should both be sick tomorrow."
"'Cause that'll work."
"We've got to face it all."
"Yep."
"All at once."
"Yep."
"At least there'll be apple tarts."
"There is that."
Rory glanced at Tristan. He looked as unsure as she felt. At least she knew the insanity that faced her—Sherry. God, she disliked her. Tristan had plenty of time to come up with many horrifying scenarios before they got there, and then face the true insanity. They finally agreed to suck it up and try not to think about it.
The following evening, Tristan and Rory showed up at the Gilmore Dane's residence, as Lorelai insisted on calling it, at 5:20. They'd spent the entire morning not talking about how horrific this evening might turn out being. They ended up discussing what painful activities they'd rather be doing than face their parents that night. Will answered the door, and Rory picked him up as she walked in.
"Why are you answering the door?"
"Mommy yelled and told me to."
"Where is she?"
"Upstairs."
"Mom?"
"Half dressed, give me five minutes!" Came the frenzied response from upstairs.
Luke came down the stairs, messing with his tie. Rory handed Will to Tristan and walked to Luke, swatting his hands from the tie. She expertly fixed it for him and stepped back, smiling.
"There."
"You're good at that."
"Thank you. Just one of my many talents."
"Your mom is going nuts."
"About dad?"
"She won't say, but yeah. She's worried about you."
"I'm fine."
"Really? Cause you say the word, and he's out of there."
"Thanks Luke. I can always trust you to put men in headlocks for me, can't I?"
"I try. Hey, you, you ready?" he turned his attention to Will, who was being tickled by Tristan. Both looked up to Luke, and Tristan put Will down. Luke had commented earlier about how unfair it was that Will was the only guy excused from the dress code, although Lorelai had bought him a nice sweater and khaki pants for the occasion. Luke saw no point in buying an outfit he'd only wear once in his life, but Lorelai had insisted Emily would throw a fit if he weren't at least somewhat presentable. And in new clothes.
"I'm ready. When are we going to eat?"
"Uh, a couple of hours?" Luke guessed.
"I'm hungry now."
"I'll take him for a quick snack while mom finishes," Rory offered, leading Will into the kitchen.
Luke looked over at Tristan, who had sat down on the couch. Tristan looked up when he felt eyes on him and looked around a bit.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. I just—you'll keep close to Rory tonight, won't you?"
"Sure—why?"
"I just don't want Chris to say anything to upset her. He's sort of good at that."
"I know. She doesn't seem to want to see him much. I'm hoping the guy takes a hint, says hello and Merry Christmas and leaves."
Luke nodded, and looked at his watch. "LOR! Come on, we have to go!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming, geesh, you people, don't you know you can't rush perfection?" she commented as she came strolling down the stairs.
"You look beautiful. Now get your ass in the car."
"Where are my kids?"
"I'll get them," Tristan jumped up to grab the others while Luke and Lorelai headed out to the Jeep.
"You really do look beautiful. Too bad we have to waste this evening at your parents," Luke said, taking her into his arms.
"Oh, yeah? Well, I'm sure we could get someone to watch Will tomorrow night, if you'd like to take me out somewhere."
"Who needs to go out?"
"What, no wining and dining first?" she grinned, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"Whatever you like," he whispered, kissing her softly.
The rest of the family piled into the Jeep and they headed off to Hartford. No one spoke much, and before they knew it, they all stood before the large wooden door of the Gilmore residence. Luke, realizing no one else was making the first move, stepped forward and rang the doorbell.
"There you all are! Right on time, come in, come in!" Emily exclaimed, stepping back to let the group in. she took Will from Lorelai's arms, and took him into the main room.
"Will, my goodness, you're getting so big!"
"Mommy says I'm a weed."
"How nice. Tell me, Will, what did you ask Santa for this year?"
"I haven't seen Santa yet."
"Why ever not?"
"He's coming next Tuesday to Stars Hollow, Mom," Lorelai interjected, as Will nodded excitedly.
"Oh, well, what are you going to ask for then?"
Will started rambling off his list, and Tristan laughed.
"What?" Rory asked, walking over to get something to drink.
"I've heard that kid's list. It's not short, she'll be here all night listening to him."
"Well, she asked. Serves her right. Hey there's Janlan," she pointed out. He intertwined his hand with hers, and headed over to his grandfather.
"Tristan! Rory, how wonderful to see you!" Janlan exclaimed, hugging them both.
"Merry Christmas," they said in unison.
"Have you been in town long?"
"Just a couple of days."
"You should stop by and have lunch with us at the club before you leave. Richard and I will be playing golf a week from tomorrow."
"We should be able to swing that. We're leaving New Years Day for New York."
"How's that internship treating you?" Richard came up beside Janlan.
"Very good. My supervisor says there will most likely be a permanent position there for me when I'm done with my rotation."
"Excellent. And Rory, how is your career coming?"
"Really well. They've been giving me a lot of work, various columns and reports. They're definitely keeping me busy."
"Your grandmother has been cutting out all your stories, and putting them in some sort of a scrapbook, I believe."
"That's sweet. Mom's doing the same thing."
"Gramps, is Mom here yet?"
"No, she said she might be a little late."
Rory gave Tristan's hand a little squeeze, reminding him to stay calm.
"Did she say why?"
"No, she didn't."
Richard and Janlan began discussing something as Rory and Tristan wandered off to mingle.
"Oh, look, apple tarts!"
"You're so easy."
"Hey, they're good," she countered.
"Tristan!"
He turned around to see his mother and a man about her age walking towards him. She waved quickly to him, and he gave her a kiss on the cheek as she stopped in front of him.
"Mother, how are you?"
"Oh, I'm doing just fine. I do wish you two would come up to visit more often."
"Well, I'm sure you've been busy," he added, looking at the man next to her. Rory stepped up and slipped an arm around his waist.
"Oh, good, Rory! Kids, I want you to meet Bill. Bill, this is my son Tristan, and his wife, Rory."
Bill extended a hand to Tristan and smiled. Tristan shook his hand after feeling a small pinch in his side from his wife.
"It's so nice to meet you, your mother talks nonstop about you," Bill said.
"Really? Interesting you should say that, Bill," Tristan added.
"Bill, is it? Bill you should try these apple tarts," Rory said, taking Bill by the hand and leading him over to the buffet table. Tristan looked at his mom insistently.
"What, dear?"
"When were you going to tell me about Bill?"
"Tonight."
"Mom! Come on, bringing him here—you might as well announce your engagement!"
"Tristan, don't be silly. I've just been seeing him a couple of months. You'd know as much if you ever bothered to call or visit."
"This is my punishment for working?"
"No, this isn't punishment at all. I like Bill. Don't I deserve to have what you have?"
"Of course you do, but I just thought you could have told me first."
"If it had been that serious, of course you would have known. I didn't mean to keep this from you."
"Okay," Tristan complied.
"So, what do you think of him?"
"He has a firm handshake?"
"Tristan, be serious."
"You look happy, Mom. As long as you are, that's all I need to know."
"I am."
"They aren't working you too hard at that internship, are they?"
"It's hard work, but it's worth it."
"Are they even paying you?"
"A little. Don't worry, Rory's raking in the big bucks."
"I see her name all over that paper, I'm quite impressed."
"Yes, she's good. I'm just glad they've recognized it so quickly."
"But, Tristan, how long will she be able to keep up that pace?"
"What's that mean?"
"Well, you two want kids, don't you?"
"Mom, please. She's a writer. She can write with kids."
"She can't do investigative journalism with small kids running about."
"She's good at multitasking."
"Tristan, get serious."
"Mom, we'll deal with it when it arises."
Seeing the look on his face, she decided to drop it, as Rory and Bill wandered over to them again.
"We're going to go say hi to your grandfather. We'll see you two later," Elizabeth said, squeezing Rory's shoulder as they walked past.
"She looks happy."
"He doesn't," Tristan said, pointing towards the door. Christopher, Sherry and Georgia had just arrived.
"Oh, man. Look at Mom," Rory commented.
"She looks, man, is he in trouble," Tristan replied.
"Is it too late to hide upstairs?"
"Yes."
"What did I decide I'd rather be doing than this?"
"I believe it was jamming a rusty nail into your eye while dipping your feet into boiling oil."
"Yeah, still works for me."
"Rory!" Chris called, looking relieved. Sherry stayed over near the entrance with Georgia.
"Hey, Dad," she welcomed him, as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Tristan, how are you?"
"Fine, Chris, and yourself?"
"Oh, we're all fine. Look, Rory, I can't stay long, I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and give you this," Chris handed her an envelope.
"What's this?"
"A gift."
"Thanks," she commented. She glanced at her mother, who was being secured in place by Luke.
"Should I go talk to your mom?"
"Uh, I'd say no."
"I'm sorry, you know, that every thing's, well, screwed up like this."
"I know."
"I don't think you do, honey. This isn't what I wanted," Chris started to explain. Rory's eyes welled up a little at the break in his voice. Just then, Will came bounding up and tugged on Rory's skirt.
"Rory?"
"Yeah?" She said, picking him up.
"Who's this?"
"Will, this is my dad, Chris."
"Luke's our dad."
The look on Chris' face turned from regret to sheer pain.
"No, honey, Luke is your daddy. This is my dad."
Will looked at Chris, then to Rory.
"Dad, this is Will."
"It's nice to meet you, Will," Chris said to the little boy. "Man, he got big since your wedding."
Chris looked back at Sherry and Georgia, then to Rory.
"I should probably leave. Give your mom and Emily my best."
Rory nodded. As Chris turned to leave, she stopped him.
"Dad! You should come down sometime, bring Georgia. I'll take her shopping in the city."
"She'd like that. I'll give you a call."
"Bye, Dad."
Chris walked off and the three left. Rory put a squirming Will down, and she turned to face Tristan.
"You did really good, babe," he offered.
"When did we have to become grownups with our parents?"
"I know. We're mature."
"I need a drink."
"What we really need is a code."
"A code?"
"Yeah, all married couples have them. We're new to this, so we need to make ours up."
"What kind of code?"
"You know, to get us out of unpleasant social situations, so the one will rescue the other."
"What, like 'my head is on fire, come help'?"
"No, like if you say 'apple tarts', I know to come up with some fake illness that means we have to leave."
"We would have had to leave like five times already," she giggled.
"And we would have missed several unpleasant moments," he pointed out.
"Who has these codes?"
"Everyone."
"You watch too much TV. Besides, we can't escape our parents."
"True. Too bad, isn't it?"
"It isn't too bad. No bloodshed, right?"
"Your dad seemed sincere."
"That's the problem. He always is. It's just really complicated."
"I know. Come on; let's go join your mom. Look's like Luke's winning over the Gilmores."
They walked over to Lorelai and Luke, who were talking with Emily and Richard and a few other guests.
"So, Luke, Lorelai mentioned Jess was in town with you this Christmas. Where is he?"
"Oh, he was sorry he couldn't make it, he had to check in at work."
"Sure, he did."
"Actually, I have to tell you, Emily, that boy was so nervous the time he met you. He was so crazy about Rory," he went on, not realizing Rory and Tristan had joined the group, "that he went out to the park to read and relax before he went to your house. While he was there, down by the docks, a swan swam up to him. The thing came right up to him, and being from the city, he didn't know to avoid them, and it beaked him in the eye!"
"He was beaked?" Lorelai squeaked out in laughter.
"Oh, my! I thought he was just some hoodlum!"
"Well, Mom, he sort of was," Lorelai assured her.
"He came back and told me that you two had assumed he'd been in a fight, he was so embarrassed about how it really happened, then upset that he'd made the impression that he had."
"Oh, my. I do feel bad now, I just assumed he'd been in some brawl," Emily thought back.
"He got beaked in the eye?" Rory said, in awe.
"He never told you?"
"No, he told me that he got hit in the eye with a football."
"Huh, well, it was the swan at Larson's Dock."
Rory shook her head in disbelief. He'd been ever more of a liar to her than she'd thought. She snapped out of her thoughts as the laughter of everyone else filled the room at Luke's explanation. Luke went on to tell Emily how well Jess was doing in school, and the party went on until Will got too sleepy to go on being carried around. Lorelai then called it a night. After saying a last Merry Christmas to everyone, they all piled presents into the car and headed home for Stars Hollow.