"Rory!" Miss Patty came tumbling out of the crowd of people and took Rory in her arms.
Lorelai was completely dumbfounded. She wasn't sure to be impressed or angry. It was not like Emily Gilmore to be nice or to do something that was actually "good." Lorelai finally turned to her mother in a desperate need for an answer. "What is this?"
Emily smiled. "It's your dinner party."
"These are all of our friends." Lorelai noted.
"I know." Emily gleamed with pride.
"You did this? You called them?" Lorelai pointed towards the room full of people. As she did so, she noticed Luke smiling at her. "Luke?" She jerked back to her mother. "You got Luke?"
"I did." Emily nodded.
"Wow." Lorelai immediately took a seat, fearing she would surely fall to the floor is she didn't.
"When your mother called us." Sookie began "We all thought it would be a wonderful idea."
"Your house is simply beautiful!" Miss Patty added. "Lorelai, I never knew you came from such fine taste."
As the evening progressed, the dinner party went over splendid. There was laughter, there were jokes, there was love and happiness flowing throughout the Gilmore mansion. Lorelai was convinced this had to be some type of an abomination, but nevertheless, she continued to partake in the enchanted behavior everyone was engulfed in, including Emily. After a couple of hours, Rory had grown tired of the stories and the people telling them. They all wanted to talk about her and how special she was. Rory didn't feel very special at all and she was becoming quiet annoyed with everyone's opinion on when she would regain all her memory. Finding a moment to slip away, Rory found herself alone in the kitchen.
Rory was head was aching, and she felt as if she hadn't slept in days. By any and all means she was ready to leave this party and go home. She understood this was obviously a very rare occasion in the Gilmore house to have such unity and peace, but she didn't believe she could withhold another minute of parading around like a circus freak for everyone to poke at.
"Rory?" Emily asked as she stepped into the kitchen. "There you are. Come back to the party." Emily suggested.
"I don't feel well." Rory replied, holding her head.
"Oh, nonsense." Emily remarked. "Come along, you can't keep your fans waiting."
"Fans?" Rory asked. "They're not my fans."
"Well, just a figure of speech, child." Emily replied, her voice hardening a bit.
Lorelai glanced around the room noticing that Rory and Emily were both absent from it. "Oh, no." Lorelai whispered. Just then, Luke came walking over.
"Hey." He smiled. "How about we ditch the black tie affair? I could whip up some burgers. I noticed you didn't eat much earlier."
Lorelai's heart began to warm and her body tingle. "I would love that." she replied as her blue eyes focused on his.
"Great." he answered.
"But..." She interjected. "Hold that thought." Lorelai hurried off into the kitchen.
"Honestly, Rory, when a party is in your honor it's very unfashionable to hide away in the kitchen. These people came to see and talk with you." Emily scoffed.
"Grandma, I just want to go home." Rory pouted. "I don't want to talk to them or hear anymore of their stories."
"Well, sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. That is a part of life, my girl, and you're going to have to learn to accept it."
Lorelai knew the evening was too good to be true. "Get your coat, Rory." Lorelai calmly stated, announcing her presence in the kitchen. "We're leaving."
Rory let a marvelous sigh of relief after hearing her mother's words. She walked towards the door, but Emily stopped her. "Wait just a minute. You two can't leave."
"Why not, mom?"
"What am I to do with your guests? I certainly do not want to entertain them myself."
"Tell you what," Lorelai replied. "We'll take them with us."
Rory and Lorelai exited the kitchen. Emily stormed after them. "You never can be satisfied!" Emily whaled. "Here I've done an extraordinary thing for the both of you, and you mock me for it!"
"Go ahead and get your coat, sweetie." Lorelai sent Rory on ahead, as she stood in the dinning room ready to battle the beast. "Mom, what you did tonight was nice. I'll admit that. But now enough is enough. We are all tired and ready to go home."
"You're going to have to have a talk with Rory." Emily replied. "She's acting as if she is six instead of sixteen."
"She's fine, mom." Lorelai replied becoming annoyed.
"She's not." Emily shot back. "She plays you like a tune, Lorelai."
Lorelai laughed. "You're not serious?"
"I most certainly am." Emily confirmed. "She manipulates you into doing whatever it is she desires. You see it as innocense and your blinded by her being your "sweet" little Rory. Why, if you could have heard the way she spoke to me in the kitchen. You must take your child in hand, Lorelai."
Lorelai exhaled deeply. "Why do you want to attack her?" Emily didn't respond. "This used to the apple of your eye, the great white hope for the Gilmore family. She is everything I never was. I don't understand why you're treating her this way. Is it because she doesn't remember? Is it because she doesn't like your dinner parties? Cause, I'll tell ya, she never liked your dinner parties to begin with, she was just better at covering it up before the coma." Lorelai paused. "Tell me." Lorelai demanded. "Tell me what it is that is eating you inside about Rory."
Emily's mouth stiffened. "She'll never make it." Lorelai awaited more of an explanation. "She'll never go to Harvard or Yale or any Ivy league college. She'll never even graduate from Chilton." Emily continued. "She isn't the great white hope any longer, Lorelai." Emily's voice became cold. "Her life is now useless."
Lorelai's eyes began to fill with tears. "If your love for Rory is measured by those things, then I suppose I'll never again wonder why you are the way you are." Lorelai swallowed heavily. "Well, it won't be an issue any longer. It's over, mom. Our relationship. Our weekly dinners. Our weekly phone calls. If you can't be supportive of Rory's new life, then you won't be a apart of it at all." Lorelai turned and stomped out of the dining room leaving Emily standing in complete awe.