Authors Note: Thanks Liz, llanoestacado and Riska for your very kind reviews. They mean so much to me. Hope you enjoy this one, too.

Chapter 24: The Party

It's Friday – Rory must be here any minute – thank God she's never late. My hairdresser is upstairs waiting for her - and the jewellery, too. Richard came over an hour ago, to help me taking care of the last preparations – I was truly amazed. It's not that it's his job or that I'd need help - but it's nice. When he was coming he even complimented my brown dress. It's nearly as if this whole separation weren't happening. But maybe he's just trying to play his role, so that we're used to it, when the guests will arrive.

I'm not totally satisfied with the decoration – maybe it's too much blue. Just when I'm instructing the men to place the furniture in a decent way (really you have to take a look at everything, if the chairs are too narrow together, people have trouble moving from one place to another – which makes them feel uncomfortable) it may be only a detail, but the details are important. That's why my parties are famous – because I pay attention to detail – now they're too far apart - sometimes I'm feeling I'm the only competent one in here. I hear the doorbell and Rory comes in.

"Hey, Grandma."

"Rory - oh, look at you. Will you look at her? - I said look at her! Isn't she beautiful?" I ask the caterer, getting angry with him – really I'm the only one in here, noticing beautiful things.

"Yes, very beautiful."

Yes that was sounding convincing. I'm focussing on Rory again. She looks adorable. Really. No need to get her changed into Lorelai's dress. But her hair… Well good that I've taken care of that.

"I love this dress - very elegant."

"Thanks, Grandma. The place looks wonderful."

"Oh, there's too much blue."

"It's Yale alumni. There can't be too much blue."

Hm – that's the same Richard said, when I was pointing it out to him. Speaking of Richard, he's just coming over – of course he is – Rory is here.

"Emily, I noticed the bartenders weren't planning on using proper martini glasses. Oh - well, Rory, how lovely you look tonight."

As I said, if you don't have a look at everything – wrong martini glasses – good he spotted that. So what first – Rory or the glasses? – Rory!

"Doesn't she? This dress is divine, but you know what? My hairdresser's upstairs in my bedroom right now. Why don't you go on up and have her do a little something with your hair?"

"My hair?"

She's not too pleased with this offer, but she'll do it – I just know it.

"Just for kicks. Come on, I'll take you up. Richard, could you?"

If you're here anyway you can just as well handle the martini glasses.

"I have it all under control."

"Thank you. Come on."

I'm taking her upstairs.

„Grandma, do you really think that's a good idea? I mean what is wrong with my hair?"

"It's just so normal – I want you to look special tonight. And she's a professional hairdresser so don't be afraid. - Come on Rory, it would make me very happy."

"Well, okay. As long as it makes you happy."

"Thank you Sweetie. - Here we are, Sarah. What do you think of her hair? I thought maybe you could pin it up?"

"That would look lovely Mrs Gilmore."

"Rory?"

"Well if that's what you want."

Sarah is starting to make her hair and it looks adorable. Much better than before.

"Well that looks lovely Sarah – now what about a little make-up?"

"Of course ma'am. "

That was one of my best ideas – she gets prettier every minute. Rory isn't saying much, but she will agree that this is a good idea, once we're finished. If not she must be blind.

"Oh, yes, that's very nice. I love the lashes."

"Grandma, this is really nice, but –"

"Just a little more cheeks." I say to Sarah – ignoring Rory.

"Shouldn't we be getting down to the party?"

She's asking that since we heard the first guests arrive – how often do I have to tell her, that if you want to create a special moment entering the party, you have to wait until most of the guests are there – otherwise no one will be noticing you.

"Yes, one more minute, now. Let's see here. This might do it."

I'm walking over to get the jewellery – first the necklace.

"Grandma, I couldn't."

Nonsense.

"Diamond necklaces were invented to be worn. They're doing nobody any good just sitting in a box." I say fastening it around her neck.

"Perfect. Do you like it?"

I watch her in the mirror – she looks lovely – everything is turning out the way I planned it.

"Well - yes, it's beautiful, but –"

"It needs earrings. I agree." I say, getting them.

"No it's, it's fine on its own, really."

"Your grandfather bought me these earrings on our first trip to Denmark. He swears he bought them off the ne'er-do-well brother of the king, who stole them from the queen. Have you ever heard such a thing?"

"No." she says.

"Huh - I have a wonderful idea. Have you ever worn a tiara?" I ask her pretending I just had this idea.

And this will be the crowning moment – I've always wanted to do this with Lorelai, but she would never allow that. I'm so happy that Rory is different.

"Well... when I was 4."

I carefully place it on her hair and watch her in the mirror – she looks exactly like I wanted her to look – my little princess. I'm so proud of her.

"You look like a princess."

"Grandma, are you sure you want me wearing all this stuff? They must be very expensive, and if something should happen –"

"Nothing's going to happen. And, yes, you look exactly the way I want my granddaughter to look to all our guests. Shall we?"

"Okay."

"It's going to be a wonderful evening." I say excitedly while walking to the stairs.

"Come on Rory – there's no need to be shy – you'll be the queen of the evening."

She's coming and I walk her down the stairs proudly – again something I always wanted to do with Lorelai. Looking downstairs I see that everyone is ready.

"Everyone, here's Rory."

Everyone is looking up to us – adoring her. Richard comes to greet us on the lower stairs. I can just see that he's as proud as I am. I wonder whether he has to think of Lorelai, too.

"You look absolutely royal." he says to her.

"Well, it's probably the crown." she answers.

It's a tiara, but well – Richard is leaning towards me.

"Emily, you did a fine job."

I'm flattered.

"Thank you, Richard."

Then we're following Rory, who's waiting for us downstairs, and we begin to make the rounds. First the Heads, then the Andersons – I'm quite proud of her – she knows how to do small talk – again Lorelai would've never done this – no matter what I would've threatened to do. But I have to focus on Rory now. I always make sure to tell the boys to talk with her later. And I also make sure to stand behind her, sometimes my hand on her back – to give her safety and to be able to lead her where I want her to go.

When we're talking with the Barnes, Rory is interrupting the small-talk.

"Um, Kip, will you excuse us for a minute? I need to talk to my Grandparents. It was nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Barnes."

Well I would lie when I'd say I wouldn't have thought that this would happen. But she's still very polite – except that she wants to push me away. But I manage to tell Kip to talk to her later before following her and Richard.

"Are you enjoying the party?" I ask her innocently.

"The party is very nice, Grandma. I was just wondering, do your alumni friends have any daughters?"

"Daughters? What do you mean?"

"Well, I was just noticing that there are a lot of boys here, but not that many girls."

Richard and I look around the room innocently. Just when I wonder what to say now, Richard is jumping in.

"Really? I hadn't noticed. Did you notice, Emily?"

"Why, no, I hadn't. Huh. Well, I will have to pay more attention to the guest list next time, won't I, Richard?"

"Yes, you will."

Oh yes, we're in great form tonight – a real team.

"I promise you, we will throw another party just for our friends with girls, but in the meantime-"

"Ah, the Campbell boy is here." Richard announces and leaves to greet them.

Good – the perfect opportunity to end this conversation – not that she ever had a chance to win it.

"Oh, good. Let's go. Campbell, like the soup." I excitedly inform her – taking her hands in mine to guide her to them.

Finally we've introduced her to everyone – I must admit that I'm even a little exhausted – always the same small talk – the same smile, but well I wanted to give her a wide selection and that I have.

She's standing together with some of the boys – oh yes I have an eye on her – but unfortunately she's looking quite bored. Just when I'm thinking about going over to them, I see her leaving for Richard's study. I wonder what she's doing there. Part of me wants to go over to her to give her a piece of my mind – she could at least try to socialize with them. But then, she's Lorelai's daughter and I know she would rebel when I'm pushing too hard – so I decide to give her a few minutes on her own – after all everything was a surprise for her. Perhaps she just has to adjust herself to the situation.

Lorelai – of course she's in the study to call her mother – to tell her about this, I can just imagine what Lorelai will do. In my mind I'm preparing for another fight. But maybe she isn't calling Lorelai but Dean? But she wouldn't dare to call him to rescue her, would she? No I think she's calling Lorelai. Finally she's coming out, heading for the lanai. I'm looking around and see Jordan standing there – all on his own.

"Hello Jordan – I hope you're enjoying the party?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Well – why don't you go over to my granddaughter? I'm sure she would love to talk to you."

I smile encouragingly at him.

"Well sure – yes ma'am."

With that he's going after her – slowly - and I excuse myself to go to the kitchen. I have to take care of something else.

"Attention please everyone!" I exclaim and everyone is looking at me.

"The Party is going great so far and I don't want that to change – means I don't want to be interrupted. So whenever the phone is ringing, Juanita you will answer – in Spanish. Pretend that you don't know any English, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." Juanita says nodding.

"And I mean any phone call – no matter who it is – even my daughter. I only want to speak to her after the party."

As soon as I've said this the phone is ringing – yes I knew it – she called Lorelai. I nod at Juanita. She takes the phone and she's doing great. I nod approvingly at her. When she's finished she looks at me again.

"Very good Juanita – until the party ends this will be your job."

With that I'm leaving the kitchen. I'm looking for Rory but I can't find her. Richard is looking at me from the other end of the room, motioning outside with his head. He knows exactly whom I was looking for. So she's outside, right I saw her going there before – yes she's outside with some boys. Well it's equal to me where she is, at least she's interacting with them. But I would like to have an eye on her. I'm looking at Richard again and he nods – then he goes outside. Really we know each other so well. Tonight it is like the last months hadn't happened.

After some time Richard is coming back in walking towards me.

"She's with Logan."

Logan – well that's nice.

"Did they know each other before?"

"I'm not quite sure, but it seemed that way."

We're both smiling at each other. Knowing she's in good hands we're focusing on our guests again.

I haven't seen her for a while – looking out on the patio, there is no one either. I wonder where she is – and some of the boys are missing, too. Finally I can't take it anymore, so I'm going out onto the patio – the place where I've seen her the last time. Well she's not there, but I'm hearing voices from the pool-house – so there they are. I wonder if I should go over there – it's not appropriate for her to be there alone with the boys – but then I wanted her to make contacts and what could happen anyway – it's not that she's there with one boy… Suddenly everyone is coming out of the pool-house and I'm hurrying inside. They seem to have fun – but they're not stopping here – they're walking right through the house to the front-door. The boys stop at the front door, but I can't see Rory anymore…

I'm going to one of the windows – Dean – I can't believe it, what's he doing here? Did she really call him? But then she's already called Lorelai, so did she call them both? Honestly he doesn't belong here. It's a pity that right now Bunny is coming towards me to talk about some gossip – I'm missing half of what's happening outside. And of course Bunny shouldn't see Dean, so I pretend not to look outside. Finally I see Rory coming in again – at least she didn't leave (good for her – she didn't dare doing that). And Logan's still with her. Looking outside Dean has left. I hope he finally understood that she's too good for him. But looking at Rory's face right now, I almost feel guilty for hosting this party for her – she looks like they've broken up. If only they have…then my plan would've succeeded sooner than I thought – at least the first part of it – and with Logan around, the second could be in the making. Of course she's sad right now, but after some time, she'll see that this was the right decision. They're heading over to the pool-house again.

The guests are beginning to leave. Rory and the boys are just coming over from the pool-house. They're drunk – but I'm not saying anything. They look as if they had fun – and that's good.

"Rory, I'll tell our driver to bring you home – you shouldn't drive right now. You can get your car tomorrow."

"Or you can come with us – I've got the limousine, come on Ace, that would be fun – of course only if that's alright with you Emily?" Logan says – looking at me.

Am I alright with it? And Ace? What's that about? I don't want something to happen – but he did say us, didn't he?

"I would bring her home first – and then the boys." Logan continues – I wonder if he had read my thoughts – Rory is just looking at me.

"Of course that's alright with me – Rory?"

"Yeah – sounds like fun."

They start to say their goodbyes to me.

"It was a wonderful party Emily – I bet my mother will be talking the whole week about it." Logan says.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it – and make sure to get her home safely."

"Of course ma'am."

"Goodnight Grandma." Rory says – kissing me on the cheek.

"Goodnight Sweetie."

She doesn't seem mad anymore – I knew this was a good idea. I'm looking through the window to watch them drive away. I'm so glad she's leaving in the limousine and not in Dean's car.

"That was quite a success, wasn't it Emily?"

"Yes it was Richard. They seem like a nice couple, don't they?"

"Emily – don't get your hopes up too early."

Men – I'm not replying anything to this. Now I have to clean up – going over the floor I notice it's sticky – great. I wonder what they've dropped on it. But first I'm having a look at the kitchen.

"Were there more phone calls Juanita?"

"Yes, ma'am."

I thought so.

"Well from now on you can talk English again."

She nods and I'm about to leave, when the phone is ringing – yes that's my Lorelai – always trying again. And I'm right – soon I'm hearing the words.

"It's for you, Mrs. Gilmore."

I'm taking the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mom, it's me."

Yes I thought so.

"Well, hello, Lorelai. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Can I talk to you and dad for a minute?"

"Your father's paying the caterers."

"Well this will just take a minute. Could you maybe go in the study on the speakerphone - seriously, just one minute?"

I knew this would come – so prepare yourself Emily.

"All right, hold on."

I'm putting the phone on hold and go over to Richard

"Richard, Lorelai's wants to speak to us on the speakerphone." I say giving him the look.

"I have to pay the caterers, Emily."

"That's what I told her, but she wants to talk to us."

"I'll be there soon."

I'm going a few steps away – somehow I don't want to talk to her alone – I'm exhausted and well she wants to speak to both of us, so I can just as good wait for Richard. I'm looking at the floor – it really is sticky.

Richard is coming over and we're going into his study – together – he sitting on his chair and I standing next to him. The same positions we had when calling Rory – the same position we had numerous times before – it gives me safety. But moving on to Lorelai.

"All right, we're both here." I say.

"Hello, Lorelai. What can we do for you?"

"I just wanted to touch base with you about this little party you threw for Rory tonight."

"The party was not for Rory. It was for our Yale alumni." I correct her

"Oh, it was not. It was a trick, and you know it, and I know it, so let's - just know it together."

"What do you want, Lorelai?" Richard asks her.

"You lied to your granddaughter tonight. You lied to a kid who trusted you. You tricked her."

"It was a party." I say.

"It was a mating ritual."

Oh please.

"What are you talking about?" Richard asks.

"All boys, Mom? Seriously, what is that about?"

Well have a guess.

"It's good for her to interact with her peers." I explain.

"Lorelai, Rory is in a new phase of her life now, and she needs to be exposed to different things, different people -- that's all we were trying to do." Richard backs me up. It's good to be a team again.

"She has a boyfriend."

"Oh, so what?" I say.

Besides that's over anyhow – if not now then it will be over soon.

"So she has a boyfriend, which means she doesn't need another one."

"She's 20 years old, Lorelai. She is not going to be with that boy forever." Richard says and I nod approvingly – I wonder what he knows about tonights events.

"uh-huh." Lorelai murmurs.

"That's right, and when she's ready to move on, she'll have met some nice young man who will represent the new phase in her life." I'm backing him up this time.

"I am sure that Dean is a very nice young man, but he is certainly not good enough for Rory."

"That's right." I confirm – and well we don't have to discuss him anymore, if I'm not very mistaken.

"Now she is young, but young people need guidance, and since you seem so little help in this department, we have to step in." Richard goes on. It is as if we're having the same thoughts.

"Well, step on out again, because this is none of your business."

That's not for you to decide.

"Lorelai, I am tired, and the caterers have caked the floor with something sticky, and I don't have time for this. We want more for her, period. Now, obviously, it's too late for you, but it is not too late for Rory and we are going to make sure that she has the life she deserves."

"You know, it doesn't matter what you think of me, okay? Rory will choose her own path in life, and there's nothing either one of you can do about it."

We'll see. And I'm not discussing this right now.

"I'm hanging up."

"Well, me too."

Richard hangs up and we're looking at each other both sighing. Then there's silence.

"Well I'll go looking after the floor." I say to him, half turning around.

"You don't need me anymore, do you Emily?"

"No – I have it all under control."

"Good – then I'm going over to the pool-house. I think I saw the kids in there – I wonder how it's looking."

"Yes, - do you want me to come with you?"

"I think I have it covered – goodnight Emily."

"Goodnight Richard."

We're looking at each other – finally he's leaving. Why do I have the feeling, that we've only changed for tonight? That tomorrow everything will be as it was the weeks before. Why did he leave so early? The pool-house was only an excuse – I just know it. Talking about our parties afterwards, mocking some people – that was half the fun of it. Somehow I was looking forward to it, thinking he would stay given the fact that he came so early, but now… Well I have to focus on the floor.

Be kind and tell me your thoughts.