Luke POV

"And this is my bedroom," Rory said, leading Tristan inside. She didn't even think about shutting the door and let him look around. He walked over to the bookcase on the window and looked over the photos that sat on the otherwise empty shelf.

"How old were you here?" He asked. I didn't know what photo he was asking about, and she walked over to him on her crutches.

"I was 10 in that photo," She said, "I still have that hat somewhere but I don't feel the need to wear it these days."

"Any chance you stole it from Luke?" He asked and I almost laughed. I wasn't purposely listening, but since I was cooking in the kitchen, it wasn't like I could do anything else.

"No," Rory said with a laugh, "He offered it after the bandages were taken off and I was embarrassed."

Ah; it was the photo taken just after her brain surgery, with me holding her in my arms. That photo still sat in my wallet, but behind a more recent photo of her. I smiled to myself, remembering that time. It wasn't a good time in our lives, but it was also when she really became my kid and I couldn't pretend that it was all bad.

I heard an annoyed groan from Rory, and then she shouted, "Jess! Stop taking my books without telling me!"

That was the third book this week, and while he had returned them so far, it was something that annoyed her because he didn't tell her; he'd just take it. She didn't mind the actual borrowing though.

"You can have it back tomorrow," Jess called from the stairs. It was the only place he liked to sit for some reason and was driving both Lorelai and I insane.

I heard Lorelai's key in the front door, so I started dishing up, knowing she loved to have a meal on the table once she was in. Rory heard and dragged Tristan out of her room, ignoring the fact he wanted to look around a bit more. Lorelai snapped at Jess about the stairs as she rushed straight upstairs to get changed, and Jess joined us in a sulk, Rory's book in one hand and a pen in the other.

"Are you writing in that?" Tristan asked curiously. Jess smirked.

"I like to write down my own thoughts and Rory doesn't seem to mind," He said confidently.

"I draw the line at highlighting things; it's distracting," She said sternly, and then turned to Tristan, "I don't mind it as long as he doesn't defile any special editions."

"Who's defiling what?" Lorelai asked, joining us in the kitchen.

"Jess is not allowed to defile my books," Rory said, with a pointed look aimed at Jess. He stuck his tongue out in response as I brought the plates to the table. We dug in, easy conversation going around the table, talking about work and school, and obviously, the fact that Thanksgiving is next week.

Tristan's parents were going out of town the day before, leaving him with the butler and the maid, which prompted Lorelai to invite him to come with us to the Gilmore mansion for dinner (we usually alternated who would go where each year, with Emily and Richard joining us in Star Hollow every other year), and we often invited anyone who was alone to join us – Rory had decided that no one should spend holidays alone, so we tried to make sure no one was ever alone.

Rory was also getting her casts off a few days before Thanksgiving and was looking forward to returning to school afterwards; with her double cast and the crutches (and wheelchair previously), she hadn't been able to go because of the school's lack of accessibility, something she had actually written about in the school paper.

Between Paris (who I somehow hadn't met, yet), Tristan and Max, she had managed to keep her grades up with written work substituting for tests, except from maths; her maths teacher had come out and let her do tests at the kitchen table, which she had passed with no issues. All of her teachers had called it incredible, having expected her to fall behind. Headmaster Charleston had been willing to ignore the failure as long as she made it up when she went back, but she had worked hard and deserved exactly what she got.

And I was very proud of her.

When we knocked on the door, Emily opened it. Usually, it was a maid unless we were late, but she always did it herself on holidays.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Grandma," Rory said, immediately hugging her. It took Emily by surprise, but she wrapped her arms around her granddaughter anyway, enjoying the moment.

We were then let in, the maid taking our coats and Emily walked us through to the dining area, "I know we'd normally go to the living room first, but we don't have enough seats so I decided that we'd have our drinks in there, instead."

She directed the kids to one side of the table but told them to sit where they liked; Jess automatically went to sit in the middle, but Tristan subtly moved him over, trying to prevent any further bickering since they had been at it all morning and were still trying to mutter to each other. Tristan had done it a few times when he was tired of it and I found the whole thing rather funny, especially since he could get away with it as Rory's boyfriend.

Richard did catch it though and narrowed his eyes at them, trying to work it out. I discreetly mouthed 'later' at him when he turned to me, and he smiled to himself before starting to pour drinks for the adults.

"Where are your parents this year?" Richard asked Tristan and I could have sworn Tristan almost looked sad for a moment

"They're somewhere in South Carolina," He said, "Lucky them."

I looked at Lorelai and hoped she wouldn't say something, but I was surprised when Rory spoke up.

"It's the holidays. Unless it's business-related and absolutely cannot wait, they should be spending their time with their family. You know, their son, maybe?" She said, and then covered her mouth, a little shocked herself.

"How long have you been wanting to say that?" Tristan asked with a chuckle.

"Since you told us you'd be alone," She admitted, "I shouldn't have..."

He cut her off, "You're right. Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas are supposed to be about family, but they don't see it that way."

"If it helps, my Mom doesn't really want to spend time with me, even on holidays, But I'd rather spend time with people who want to spend time with me," Jess said.

The conversation picked up from there, with us ending up sharing stories about thanksgiving and other holidays. I kept an eye on Rory, who looked a little on edge, but she was generally okay.

AN: Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought.