Lorelai wakes and stretches up, rolling in bed, only to find Luke's side empty. She looks at the clock and gets out of bed, heading downstairs to the kitchen, where she knows she'll find her husband.
It's their first Thanksgiving together as a married couple, and she insisted on keeping every tradition - which included having lunch at Luke's, as well as at Mrs. Kim, at Sookie's, and then dinner at her parents.
When they arrive home from Hartford, they'll go to Sookie's, just to make sure she was ok, which she did every year since Jackson's deep-frying things became their tradition.
She enters the kitchen and sees Luke stuffing the turkey; the closed door of Rory's room means she and April are still asleep. The smell of coffee gets to her. She leans in the threshold, looking at her husband, a smile dancing on her lips as she recalls everything she's thankful for - her friends, the inn, her job, and mostly her family. She looks at the ring on her finger - which Luke has put there not even three weeks before - and her smile increases.
"Hey doll," she calls Luke, approaching him to kiss him good morning.
"Hey, babe. I just made coffee. The girls aren't up yet."
"Oh, the smell of coffee will wake Rory up in no time."
The girls get out of the room at that moment, laughing at whatever they have been saying.
"Morning, Mom, Luke," Rory says and goes straight to the cupboard to pick up a cup.
"Dad, Lorelai, good morning," Aprils speaks, and follows Rory.
She looks over his shoulder. "This looks good."
"I'm doing an extra for us to take to Mrs. Kim's," he tells them.
"Oh good, I don't think I can have tofurkey again," Lorelai replies.
"I don't know how you're planning on having four Thanksgiving meals," April tells them. "Or that we follow you there."
"Skip the rolls," Rory tells her.
"And three other meals, right?"
Lorelai chuckles. "It takes years of training to eat like us."
"I still don't know how you do it," Luke confesses, shaking his head.
He looks at his girls, the three of them sitting at the table drinking coffee and talking about the hot dogs of 99 and the taffy binge of 97, and wonders how it was worth the waiting and everything that he had gone through all those years just to be there with his family.
Mrs. Kim quickly comes to the door after they press the doorbell button, ''The Gilmore's... Happy Thanksgiving.''
''The Gilmore-Danes', actually... You know Luke...'' Lorelai touches his arm, and he gives a gentle smile saying hi, ''This is my stepdaughter, April,'' she points to the girl, who also smiles.
''Happy Thanksgiving'', they all say in unison.
''We brought flowers,'' Rory gives her the flowers. ''And cranberry sauce, our little Thanksgiving tradition...'' Lorelai adds, handing her the can. She continues, very excitedly ''This year we also brought a turkey.''
Mrs. Kim looks like she's in shock, staring at the plate in Luke's hand. ''Luke made it,'' Lorelai clarifies, and the older woman nods, smiling. ''Wonderful... come in.''
Lorelai and Rory exchange amused looks. ''She's in a good mood this year,'' Rory whispers just for her family. ''Behold the powers of being a married woman.''
''Thank God, civilization has arrived'' Sookie shouts, and the kids who were playing with each other run to them. Martha grabs Lorelai's leg, ''Auntie Lorelai! Auntie Lorelai!''
Lorelai takes the little girl into her arms, saying hello and kissing her on the cheek. Luke does the same, and then he starts to play with her and Lorelai. They have a very special bond with Lorelai's goddaughter.
Sookie looks from them to April and Rory. Davey runs to say hello to the girls, and Sookie tells them as a greeting, ''So, what do you girls think of having a little sister very soon?'' she jokes, looking at the couple, and the girls chuckle.
''So, how are you holding up?'' Lorelai interrupts them, pointing to Jackson, who is deep-frying something she doesn't even know what it is.
''After all these years of this, as long as he doesn't deep fry the kids, I don't care.''
''That one in there is safe,'' she points to Sookie's belly, ''but maybe we should watch Martha and Davey carefully,'' Lorelai says, and they smirk along.
''I brought a non-deep-fried-turkey, Sookie. I thought you would enjoy it,'' Luke hands the plate to Sookie.
She smiles very excited, but before she starts to eat it, she turns to Lorelai, ''You got one of the good ones, Lorelai.''
''Ok, team... This is the dangerous part of our day,'' Lorelai starts as she stares at the door, holding Rory's and April's arms, while Luke starts to follow them after locking the car. ''Let's go through this again.''
''Mom...''
''Luke, you do remember the drinks fortify us, right?!''
''Lorelai, seriously...''
''April, honey... I'm so sorry that you can't drink,'' both Rory and Luke look shocked at her, ''But I hope you remember that we're family, and if you're not comfortable with anything I got you, ok?'' she smiles, kissing the girl's head. Rory and Luke are still kinda shocked that she didn't tell a joke or something like this.
As April hugs her stepmother, saying thanks and that she knows they're family, Luke suddenly feels nostalgic. Now he knows why Lorelai proposed to him after he talked about Rory's Yale situation.
"You know what," Lorelai says as she, Luke, April, and Rory come home after the fourth and last dinner, "Jackson deep-frying everything has made me craving for deep-fried ice cream."
"Uh, I'm in," Rory says, and the both of them head to the kitchen.
"How can they eat anything else?" April asks Luke, who embraces his daughter saying, "Oh, that's one of the mysteries of the Gilmore Girls," he chuckles, heading to the kitchen still hold on to April, thinking how thankful he is for that Thanksgiving with his family - the first of many, he was sure.