I Think You Broke Him – Chapter 5 – Family Time

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Not mine, just amusing myself. I promise to put them back when I'm done.

A/N: Thanks to my betas Steph and Kylie. And to all my reviewers whose compliments were appreciated and threats went unheeded. I live in a neighborhood full of bubbas and it's hunting season, baby. Just try to get it out of me before it's ready. Ha! Just kidding. These boys won't shoot you unless you have feathers and quack. Happy New Year! On with the fluff!

The front door opened before they reached the end of the walk. Three women rushed out the door and descended on the three arrivals.

"Finn! Rory!"

"Come in! How was your flight?"

"Are you hungry? There's pie and coffee inside."

They were swept inside with a flurry of hugs, kisses and introductions.

"Callie and Marshall will be in later. They had a meeting with a client that they couldn't reschedule. Marshall told us to leave a little pie for them, but I told him I couldn't promise anything."

As Maxine Stevenson led the way through the house back to the family kitchen, Rory took in her surroundings. It was spacious and tastefully decorated, yet warm and inviting. It was huge, but as Finn had explained, with seven family members and a household staff that also lived there, it never felt big or lonely. The housekeeper and groundskeeper were a husband and wife team that had been with the family since before Callie was born. Their daughter Sophie was two years older and their twin sons Walter and Andrew were the same age as Marshall. Sophie had a family of her own, now, and had moved out years ago. Walter worked and lived at the vineyards and Andrew and his family still lived at the main house. Andrew was slowly but surely taking over most of the work from his aging father. Mr. Barrett was holding a mainly supervisory position these days. From the outside you'd never believe it, but sometimes the cavernous structure seemed filled to capacity.

"Maxine, your house is beautiful."

"Thank you, dear. You'll have to tell Marshall when he gets home. He's responsible for most of it. We've remodeled and added on to the original structure so much that I don't think his great-grandfather would ever recognize the place. It's the result of an architect inheriting an old house with potential."

There was a slight tussle as they all sat around the kitchen table. Finn was attempting to sit next to Rory. Marsha and Celia had other plans.

"Cows! What are you doing? I'd like to sit next to my girlfriend, please.!"

"Oh cool it, Cassanova! We want to talk to Rory. Meg got her chance in the car already. We want our turn," Marsha said as she grappled with her little brother.

"Finn, sit between me and Mum," Celia instructed. "That way you can catch up with her, we can get to know Rory, and you can still make moon eyes at your girlfriend," the last bit she sing-songed as she batted her eyelashes at him.

"Well, just for that, I'm going to steal your pie when you're not looking," he teased as he leaned over to hug his youngest sister. She giggled as she hugged him back.

Rory watched the exchange from her seat between Finn's sisters. She smiled and winked at him and Meg rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Meg, help me get plates and forks while I collect the pies."

"Yes, Mum."

Maxine disappeared into the butler's pantry and reemerged a few moments later with two armloads of pies and another woman followed her with just as many.

"Mrs. Barrett! C'mere gorgeous! How's my favorite girl?"

Finn stood up to hug the housekeeper. Finn's actual grandparents had passed on when he was very young, but the Barretts had done a good job of filling that gap.

Mrs. Barrett hugged him back and then pushed him back to arms length. "Now let me look at you. It's good to see you, dear. Don't stay gone so long next time. We've missed you."

"Yes ma'am."

"Now, introduce me to your young lady."

"Mrs. Barrett, this is Rory Gilmore."

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Barrett. Finn told me so much about you."

"It's my pleasure, dear. Let me know if you need anything. There are more pies out on the counter; coffee's in the carafe."

"Thank you, Mrs. B."

After they'd helped themselves to several slices of pie each and were reseated Maxine smiled at Rory.

"I understand that your mother is getting married in a few weeks."

"Yes, she is. I'm going to be her maid of honor," Rory pronounced with a proud grin.

"Oh! You must be so excited!" Marsha exclaimed.

"I am," she said with a nod, reaching to take a sip of coffee. They make each other very happy. And," she drew out the work for effect, "Luke makes the best coffee in the northern hemisphere, so it'll be nice to have in the family."

"The northern hemisphere, then, hmm? What's brought this on?" Finn asked with innocent eyes.

Rory laughed, "This has to be the best coffee I've ever tasted. I never thought it'd happen, but Luke's just got bumped down the list."

Celia giggled. "Mrs. Barrett makes the best coffee. She has us all totally spoiled. She's always sending us with thermoses of the stuff. I don't think I've ever actually bought a cup of coffee my entire life."

The conversation continued with happy chatter welcoming Finn home and bubbling questions directed at Rory. Maxine and Marsha were very interested in the upcoming wedding. Meg and Finn caught up on his activities at Yale and her stories of their mutual friends. Celia sat back in her chair contributing to both conversations and watching the cozy scene.

"I'm amazed your mother is doing everything all on her own."

Rory smiled and tilted her head to one side as she answered, "Well, she's had plenty of practice getting things accomplished on her own. Plus, she's got the connections from running the inn. They've had other wedding out there before so she has a really good idea of who to call and everything. She has this vision in her head and I think between her and Sookie they'll have everything ready by the time my plane lands in New York."

"You know we've talked about opening up the vineyards to wedding parties. You know, not just allowing use as a site, but as a full service wedding planner. I'm just not sure about being able to run the vineyards and plan weddings and play hostess."

"Marsha, that's a great idea," Finn told his older sister. "You should look into hiring somebody."

The conversation continued in this vein as the Stevenson family discussed Marsha's plans for the vineyard. Meg perked up at the mention of wedding and party planning. She and Marsha started brainstorming ideas and the others added thoughts on various points of discussion. They continued this way until Callie and Marshall appeared in the doorway.

The both looked exhausted. Callie had kicked off her heels at the door and was carrying them by the strap and was untucking her blouse from the charcoal gray knee length skirt she was wearing. Marshall's tie was undone and hanging around his neck while worked at the top two buttons of his dark blue dress shirt.

Celia noticed the tension in both of their shoulders and shouted, "Pie and coffee! Stat!" She and Meg hopped up and immediately filled two mugs of coffee and two platefuls of the pie selections.

While they saw to that, introductions to the two remaining Stevensons were made.

"Dad, Callie, I'd like you to meet Rory Gilmore. Love, this is my dad and his mini-me."

Callie rolled her eyes. It was true. She was daddy's girl. No one had been surprised when she followed in his architectural footsteps.

"Rory, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. You'll have to excuse the dramatic entrance. We had a lengthy meeting this afternoon."

"Which started this morning," Callie added as she embraced Rory and Finn in turn.

"Anything wrong?" Maxine inquired.

"Oh, no. Just the usual squabbles that go along with these large projects."

Marshall Stevenson sighed as he lowered his tall, lean frame into an open chair. He was an older version of Finn with laugh lines around his eyes and graying hair at his temples.

"Cal, please remind me why I agreed to do this project?"

"It's a children's hospital, we're funding 65 of the project through the Stevenson Estate, and because you owe John Douglas a lot of favors." Callie ticked off each reason on her fingers in between bites of pie. "And because you're a sucker for all those adorable children that made postcards for you," she added with a smirk that she tried to hide behind her coffee mug. He simply nodded in agreement. He was a sucker.

"Aww. I see where Finn gets his soft side from," Rory said to Maxine who had moved to sit next her when Marshall and Callie had arrived.

"Rory, I have one word for you," Maxine said with a small smile curving her lips upward.

"Scrapbook."

Rory gave a squeal and did a happy dance in her chair.

Finn, who had been caught up in the discussion of his father's latest project, felt something prickle his senses. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion as his mum stood and left the room. Rory looked as if she'd just been promised an unlimited supply of ice cream.

When he saw his mom return holding a large brown leather binder, he caught on.

"Mum, please?" he pleaded, knowing full well that his attempt was useless.

As Rory got up from her chair she passed by Finn on her way to join Maxine in the den. She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Don't worry. I'll make it up to you later," she whispered before pulling away with a wink and a smile. She walked away rubbing her hands in anticipation of yet more blackmail material.