The rest of December flew past. Rory and Finn attended the Morgan holiday party with little fanfare. Rory had already met Finn's parents, Finnegan and Charlotte, several times by this point. Finn had been correct his family wasn't the usual society family, they actually enjoyed being around each other.

Finn and Rory had spent a Saturday in December decorating Rory's apartment for Christmas, it was bigger than Finn's apartment, and she would be around for longer in the run up to Christmas so they had agreed to only get one tree and place it there. They hung garlands and tinsel, and placed fairy lights everywhere. Finn even lifted Rory up so she could put the star on the top of the tree. Once they were finished decorating, Finn surprised Rory by taking her ice skating at the Rockefeller centre, they then walked to the Magnolia bakery at the back of Rockerfeller plaza and each got a hot chocolate. They also got cupcakes and banana pudding to bring back to Rory's place to share. It was a perfect Christmas time date.

Finn was leaving for Australia on the twenty third with his family so they would be at their house for Christmas Day, this meant that Rory would be flying there on her own on boxing day. Rory didn't mind but Finn felt guilty for making her fly twenty hours alone. She told him she would take her jet to LA, and then fly commercial to Sydney, she had lots of reading to catch up on and she was sure she probably would have some work to do also.


The twenty second fell on a Saturday so Rory and Finn declared that their Christmas day. They woke up late, had warm cinnamon buns in bed, with peppermint mochas and whipped cream. Finn decided to put the whipped cream to other uses and that kept them in bed for a few more hours. Once they had showered and cleaned up, they happily and satiedly sat on the couch curled up together and watched Home Alone and Home Alone two. Rory ordered them chinese food to share while they watched the movies.

After the movies they had agreed to exchange gifts as they each wanted to do it in person and not after Christmas. They had also agreed not to get each other anything extravagant for Christmas, they each had money and could buy whatever they wanted so they agreed to focus on smaller, more meaningful gifts instead. They each sat in front of the Christmas tree cross legged on the floor like they were children.

"So would you like a big present or a small present to start Kitten?"

"You weren't supposed to get me lots of presents," Rory replied.

"So you mean that stack of presents you have there with my name written on them aren't for me?"

"Okay you got me there. How about we start small?"

"Then here you go Kitten," he said, handing her a gift box. The first present was a box of various popcorn seasonings for her to try over movie nights. Finn's first present was a pair of Iron Man socks. They continued exchanging gifts. Finn got Rory: a selection of chocolate bars from her favourite store, Minnie Mouse socks, Daisy duck pjs and a robe, magnetic bookmarks with book quotes on them. Rory had gotten Finn: some baby groot pj pants, a box with a variety of his favourite candy from Dylan's Candy Bar, a poster with a hundred movie bucket list where you scratched off the square of each movie as you watched it, a bag of bourbon infused coffee beans.

Finn handed Rory another gift box to open which contained a silver engraved picture frame that held two pictures- on one side it had the picture of them in front of the castle from Disneyland Paris and the other was the picture of them kissing in front of the Disneyworld Castle. It said 'Where Dreams Come True' underneath. The picture was the perfect size for her desk at work. When Rory opened it she laughed, before tearing up and handing Finn a similar sized present. She had gotten him the same thing, except she had engraved it "The Most Magical Place on Earth is in your arms." Once Finn opened his, he also teared up slightly and pulled Rory into his arms.

"Great minds think alike I see, I love you Rory." He leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss.

"I love you too Finn" she said looking up at him.

"This is your final present, Finn," Rory said hesitantly, handing over an envelope.

"I don't think this is another great minds' think alike moment, but here is your final present as well," said Finn, as he also handed her an envelope, before opening his own.

Rory had signed him up for a bottle of the Month Club, where each month he would receive a bottle of scotch from different distilleries, flavour profiles, ages, and regions giving him the opportunity to try some more obscure brands.

"Thank you Rory, this is awesome. Now open yours," he said looking at her.

Rory opened her envelope to see Finn had signed her up to Harvard's Signed First Edition club, where each month they send a signed first printing of a newly published book, selected for both its literary merit and potential collectibility.

"Oh My God, Finn, this is amazing." Rory pulled him over for a kiss, "this is one of the most thoughtful presents I've ever received. Thank you," she gushed, kissing him again.

Somehow, with no beforehand discussion they had managed to get each other the same number of similar presents. They also each showed how well they knew the other. The rest of the evening was spent curled up together basking in the glow from the Christmas tree quietly watching It's a Wonderful Life as they both silently thought about how much the other had managed to show how well they knew them and how well suited they were. They both knew this relationship was for the long haul, but knew that right before they spent Christmas separately wasn't the time to discuss it. They were both scared the other wouldn't feel the same way.


As the sun rose on Christmas Day in Sydney, Finn awoke alone in his childhood bedroom. He reached for his phone to check the time and saw he already had a text from Rory. The time difference meant that while it was nine am for him on Christmas day, it was only seven pm for her on Christmas eve.

R: Merry Christmas Finn, I love you. Wish I was with you already.

Finn checked when it had been sent, two hours ago. He decided to text her quickly on the off chance she had her cell near her. He knew she was meant to be at the Haydens Christmas Eve and if she was there already she wouldn't be able to freely text him.

F: Merry Christmas Eve Kitten, I love you too. Not long until you are here with me. X

R: Not sure why we thought this separate Christmas thing was a good idea. X

F: Maybe spend it together next year love? X

R: That sounds much better than this. X

R: Grandma Francine just called us to dinner, I'll text you or maybe call you before I go to bed tonight. Have a good morning with your family xx

F: I await your call with baited breath, (see you make me sound smarter). Have a good night xxx

Finn set his cell aside, and got up to wander downstairs in his groot pjs and a t-shirt. He walked into the kitchen to find his parents and his sister there, the smell of fresh coffee and pancakes overwhelmed him as he walked in. As he looked closer at the stacks of pancakes he saw that his sister, Olivia, had made double chocolate pancakes with pecans and caramel sauce. He grabbed a plate and started helping himself, giving his mom and sister both a kiss on the cheek on the way past.

"Merry Christmas everyone." Finn greeted as he sat down.

"Merry Christmas Finn, you're up early," his Mom greeted him. She was used to him sleeping late when he came home for the holidays.

"I wanted to catch Rory before she went to her Grandmother's for Christmas Eve dinner."

"Does she have you whipped already, Finn?" Olivia asked while laughing, she had yet to meet Rory as each time they had tried something had come up for one or the other of them.

"Haha, very funny," he replied while rolling his eyes.

"You will see yourself later this week, Olivia, he follows her like a little puppy," Finnegan said mockingly.

"Dad!"

"Oh My God! I can't wait to see this."

"I think it's adorable. I've waited a long time to see Finn settle down. I'm glad it's someone like Rory." Charlotte said.

"If Rory could hear you now, she was so worried you wouldn't approve of her," Finn stated.

"Who wouldn't approve of Rory, she's smart, funny and modest?" asked Finnegan.

"The Huntzbergers, they hated her while she was dating Logan at Yale, told her she would never be suitable for their family to even interact with, nevermind date." Finn's irritation was obvious even as he just said that sentence.

"Did I know Rory dated Logan?" Olivia asked.

"Shira and Mitchum always were full of their own self importance. Bet they just judged her and never bothered to get to know the darling girl." Charlotte responded.

"Yes Olivia, I told you before she dated Logan for over two years. And yes mom, they thought she was the pool boy's kid, never bothered to look into her family. Not like who her family are should matter anyway. I can't talk about it. I get too riled up and I want to enjoy Christmas."

"Finish your breakfast son and we can exchange presents," Finnegan said. The Morgans had agreed once the kids had grown up to set a fifty dollar spending limit and that no serious presents were allowed. They all had everything they needed so this worked better for them.

Finn spent the day with his family, they exchanged presents, and spent the day by the pool. Finnegan grilled Christmas dinner in the afternoon. For them Christmas day was firmly about a lowkey family quality time day. It was time to decompress and interact in a time and place that had no business involvement at all, as like any family that worked together, often when they were together conversation gravitated to work.


At around ten pm, Finn went upstairs to call Rory as he knew Lorelai would have dragged her out of bed at sunrise. She answered on the second ring.

"Rory the sleepy elf, how can I help you?"

"I like the new title, should I print it on some business cards for you?"

"Please. Merry Christmas Finn!"

"Merry Christmas baby, how early did your Mom wake you?"

"SIX!"

"Did she at least have coffee?"

"Yes, she values her life. How was your day?"

"I spent it by the pool, mainly while Dad grilled and Olivia made snacks. It was nice, quiet but missing you."

"I miss you too Finn, so you get a quiet Christmas and I have to deal with the madness of Lorelai, I feel like there is something wrong there."

"You know you love the Christmas craziness there, cookie decorating and candy cane coffee."

"I do, I just am not feeling it as much this year. I don't like you being on the other side of the world."

"Not long until you come out here to the sunshine, and I'm hoping you got a nice new blue bikini."

"Oh are you indeed? Not asking for much are you?"

"Rory get off the phone, you will see loverboy tomorrow!" Lorelai shouted.

"Mom, it's a twenty hour flight leaving tomorrow doesn't mean I will see him tomorrow."

"It's family time!" Lorelai shouted.

"Finn, I'm sorry I've got to go."

"It's okay, I heard her. I'll talk to you later or before you fly out in the morning. I love you, I hope you have an awesome rest of the day. You deserve it."

"Love you too, Finn and I miss you more than I ever thought I would. Merry Christmas."

"I miss you too, Merry Christmas," and with that Finn flopped down on his bed. He couldn't wait for her to arrive in forty or so hours, he thought as he went back downstairs to watch a movie with his family, to distract him from counting down to Rory's arrival.