CUT TO:
INT. LORELAI'S HOUSE - A SHORT WHILE LATER
LUKE and LORELAI are in LORELAI'S bedroom getting ready. LUKE is wearing a suit and is fixing his tie in the mirror. LORELAI is wearing a dress and heels. She puts on some earrings, sharing the same mirror as LUKE.
LUKE: Did you tell Rory yet?
LORELAI: About what?
LUKE: That Jess is coming.
LORELAI: Oh. Yeah I mentioned something along those lines.
LUKE: Well?
LORELAI: Well what?
LUKE: Well, what did she say?
LORELAI: Pass the syrup.
LUKE: She said pass the syrup?
LORELAI: We were eating breakfast.
LUKE: What else did she say?
LORELAI: That was it.
LUKE: Oh. Maybe I should go talk to her.
LORELAI: What are you gonna say?
LUKE: I'll improvise something based on whatever mood she's in. Besides, it's probably easier for her to talk to me about Jess seeing as how I don't hate him.
LORELAI: I don't hate Jess.
LUKE: Yes you do.
LORELAI: No, I don't.
LUKE: If I pretend to like your parents, will you pretend to like Jess?
LORELAI: Oh, you don't have to pretend to like my parents. Even I won't be doing that.
LUKE: I'm gonna go talk to RORY.
CUT TO:
INT. RORY'S BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER
RORY is sitting on her bed putting on earrings. She is dressed in a fancy dress and heels with her hair up. There is a KNOCK at the door.
RORY: Come in.
LUKE enters.
RORY: (smiles) Hey.
LUKE: Hey. You look nice.
RORY: You don't look too shabby yourself.
LUKE: Can I…(he gestures towards a chair)
RORY: Sure. LUKE sits down.
LUKE: So you know that Jess is coming today.
RORY: I've been informed.
LUKE: So is everything okay?
RORY: Yeah. Everything's great. I mean I haven't spoken to him in two weeks, but everything's fine.
LUKE: I thought he called you.
RORY: He called. Quite a few times actually. And I missed his first few calls, and then I freaked out and never called him back.
LUKE: He thinks you don't wanna see him.
RORY: I do.
LUKE: I know.
There is a moment of silence. RORY and LUKE stare at the floor.
RORY: I probably won't get much of a chance to talk with him alone at dinner with Grandma and Grandpa there.
LUKE: Your boyfriend isn't coming, is he?
RORY: No, he's with his family.
LUKE: That's good. I'll tell you what, I'll try to talk Lorelai into letting Jess stay here if you want, he's gonna be here like a week and it would give you guys some time together. If that's what you want.
RORY nods.
RORY: That'd be nice. I don't think mom will go for it, but it'd be nice.
LUKE: I'll talk her into it.
RORY: Thanks Luke.
They hug.
LUKE: You don't have to tell your mom I told you this, but, just for the record, even though you have a boyfriend, I think it's kind of nice that you and Jess are…talking again.
RORY smiles.
LUKE (CON'T): I'll let you finish getting ready. He leaves. RORY reaches across her bed for JESS'S leather jacket and holds it against herself.
CUT TO:
INT. ELDER GILMORE HOUSE - AFTERNOON
CLASSICAL music is playing. The DOORBELL rings. EMILY answers the door.
LORELAI, RORY, and LUKE are at the door.
EMILY: (smiling) Lorelai, Rory, Luke! How lovely to see you! Come in, come in.
The three enter. A MAID standing nearby takes their jackets.
LORELAI: Sookie and Jackson are on their way. They had to find a sitter for the kids, they didn't have room for them in the car since they're bringing The Last Supper with them.
RORY sees LOGAN standing in the next room over, talking to RICHARD. LOGAN notices that RORY has arrived and goes to meet her.
RORY: Logan…this is a surprise…
They kiss.
LOGAN: Well Ace, I thought I'd surprise you.
RORY: But…your family…
LOGAN: I told them that if they weren't okay with me coming to have Thanksgiving dinner with your family, we could always have your whole family over there.
RORY: Ah. You threatened them with Gilmores.
LOGAN: Colin and Finn are here too.
RORY: (looks puzzled) Colin…and Finn? Don't they have families?
They begin walking into the other room.
LOGAN: Yeah, they do, but your house has more alcohol.
CUT TO:
LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
EMILY (CON'T): Luke, I thought your family was coming.
LUKE: They are, they followed us up here, they should be here any-
LIZ, TJ, and JESS enter through the open front door.
TJ: Now this is a big house. Now that I'm in escrow, I think we could have a house like this. (Noticing Emily) I'm TJ, Luke's brother in law. Nice to meet you. (shaking her hand) You must be in escrow too with a house this big.
EMILY: (looking at him strangely, she forces a smile) Hello TJ. A pleasure to meet you.
LIZ: (shaking EMILY'S hand) Hi, I'm Liz, Luke's sister.
JESS is wearing a suit and has his hair straightened neatly. He steps away from the crowd at the door, looking uncomfortable. LORELAI walks over to him.
LORELAI: (impressed) Wow. You sure clean up nicely.
JESS: (shrugs) I wanted to look nice…
The camera zooms in on RORY and LOGAN kissing in the next room over.
JESS (CON'T): Don't know why. (turning to look at LORELAI) How long does this thing last?
LORELAI: Three hours 47 minutes and counting.
LORELAI picks up a martini off of a tray on a nearby table, drinks it in one swig, puts the glass down and walks away.
CUT TO:
INT. DINING ROOM- MOMENTS LATER
LORELAI walks into the dining room with a martini glass in each hand, sipping one. She nearly chokes.
LORELAI: Christopher!
CHRISTOPHER is sitting at the dining room table. He stands up to greet LORELAI.
CHRISTOPHER: Hello Lorelai.
LORELAI puts her martini glasses down on the table.
LORELAI: Wow. This is…
CHRISTOPHER: Awkward, I know.
LORELAI: A surprise. What are you doing here?
CHRISTOPHER: Well, I came to see you. And Rory. I wanted to apologize for the way things went down at the vow renewal. I haven't stopped thinking about it.
LORELAI: Oh…that…yeah that was bad.
CHRISTOPHER: I wanna make up for lost time. I want things to be okay between me and Rory again.
LORELAI: Rory has a lot on her mind right now.
CHRISTOPHER: I know, her third year of college-
LORELAI: She's not going to college.
CHRISTOPHER: What?
LORELAI: Rory's taking some time off.
CHRISTOPHER: Wait, when did Hell freeze over?
LORELAI: I know, it's not like her.
CHRISTOPHER: Not like her? This is like George Bush actually giving a good speech on TV. This is impossible.
LORELAI: I know.
CHRISTOPHER: What happened?
LORELAI: …A lot. I don't know if she would want me to tell you about all of it.
CHRISTOPHER: Lor, I'm her father.
LORELAI: Really, cause I couldn't tell with the way you've been around so much lately.
CHRISTOPHER: I know. I'm gonna make up for lost time. That's why I'm here.
LORELAI: You always say that! And then you go making promises you can't keep and hurting people like me and Rory!
CHRISTOPHER: Not this time. I've thought long and hard about this and this is what I want. I want to be there for you and Rory. And I want to make peace with Luke, cause apparently he's part of the family now too.
He gestures towards her engagement ring.
LORELAI: (flaunting it) Oh, this old thing. Yeah, he's a pretty permanent member.
CHRISTOPHER: When did that happen?
LORELAI: Early summer.
CHRISTOPHER: Congratulations.
LORELAI: Thank you.
CHRISTOPHER takes his drink and lifts it up. LOREALI takes hers and they toast.
CUT TO:
INT. LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER
The DOORBELL rings. The MAID answers. SOOKIE AND JACKSON arrive. JACKSON is holding a turkey on a platter. SOOKIE has her arms full of Tupperware containers.
JACKSON: (passing by the MAID) 'Scuse me, coming through, big turkey here!
JACKSON heads straight into the house, stops, and looks back at SOOKIE.
JACKSON (CON'T): Where's the kitchen?
SOOKIE smiles. Follow me. I've been here before.
JACKSON: (looking around in awe) This place is huge…we should move to Hartford…
SOOKIE: Jackson?
JACKSON: Yeah?
SOOKIE: The food?
JACKSON: Oh. Right.
They heard for the kitchen.
CUT TO:
INT. KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER
SOOKIE and JACKSON pass by LORELAI on their way to the kitchen.
LORELAI: Sookie! (pulling her aside) You'll never guess who's here.
JACKSON heads into the kitchen.
SOOKIE: Rory's boyfriend? I saw him on the way in.
LORELAI: Well, yeah, him too.
SOOKIE (walking into the kitchen and putting down the food) Yeah, that's bad for Jess. Is he around or did he bail?
LORELAI: Lurking in the shadows somewhere. Say, back to that guessing game we were playing.
SOOKIE: Oh. Right. Well give me a hint.
LORELAI: Uh, Rory's father.
SOOKIE: (shocked) Christopher's here?
LORELAI: He's in the dining room.
SOOKIE: Has Luke seen him yet?
LORELAI: I'm not sure, I was talking to him for a while and then I went to go tell Luke that he was here but then I couldn't find him, and then I saw you…
SOOKIE: Wow.
LOREALI: Yeah.
SOOKIE: What's he doing here?
LORELAI: He says he wants to make up for lost time. SOOKIE: He's said that before.
LORELAI: Yeah, I know. But this time it seems like he means it.
SOOKIE: He always seems like he means it.
LORELAI: I'd better go find Tyson and Holyfield before someone's ear gets bitten off.
SOOKIE: Good thinking. Oh- does he eat meat? Cause I was gonna get a Tofurky, but I asked everyone who I knew was going to be here if they ate meat, and everyone does…
LORELAI: He eats meat.