SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN AGES!

UPDATE: GENERAL CONSENSUS IS A LOGAN X MACIE ROMANCE BUT WE'LL SEE WHERE THE STORY GOES!

THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS XX


YEAR 2002:

Lorelai entered the kitchen at the Independence Inn to see Sookie sprinting around the kitchen madly, "Rhiana, run it through the sieve again, I want it smooth as glass. Don't cut corners, people!" Sookie growled at her kitchen staff, clearly worried about leaving them unattended.

"Is she melting down?" Lorelai whispered to Michel, who was sipping his morning coffee, definitely enjoying Sookie's stressing.

Michel chuckled, "Like butter on a skillet."

Lorelai sighed, moving award from Michel, "Sookie. . ." She called, attempting to get her friends attention.

"Just a sec, hon." She replied, still bustling around the kitchen. "How's your love life, Pete? A little frustrated, I bet. Wondering how I know that? 'Cause you're taking it out on my egg whites. Gently, fold them gently. Cheryl – you're slicing not dicing, I can hear it in the chop. Adjust, my friend."

"Sookie, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Lorelai said, attempting to pull her friend away from the kitchen. "Hey, let's talk." She suggested, seeing how flustered Sookie was. "What's going on?" Lorelai questioned, rubbing Sookie's sides comfortingly.

Sookie raised a questionable eyebrow at Lorelai, "Uh, chaos? Uh, a travesty of cooking? It's a salmonella laboratory in here!" She shrieked, knowing that she won't be in the kitchen to ensure the night runs smoothly.

"Sookie, the kitchen will be in good hands," Lorelai reassured her friend.

"But not in my hands." She counted, glancing around the kitchen once more.

"It'll be in Bob's hands. Bob has great hands." Lorelai rubbed Sookie's shoulder comfortingly with attempts to calm the woman down.

Sookie seemed as though she was about to fume, "No, you know what Bob has? Bob has two seconds to get the hollandaise off the flame before I break his neck!" She shouted across the kitchen before Lorelai could stop her.

Lorelai shook her head, "Sookie, listen, you hired Bob. You trained him in your image. He's great, and he's subbed for you before." The brunette woman reasoned with the clearly frazzled chef.

Sookie disagreed though, "But this is Thanksgiving, he has never done Thanksgiving."

"Sookie, he's ready, he'll sub for you seamlessly. Even Big Joe News anchor's have substitutes."

The woman shook her head, "And that's the thing. They still say, 'And now the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.' You see? Dan is still associated with it even though he's off snorkelling or something, just like I'm gonna be associated with the dinner because Bob is substituting for Sookie. Excuse me one minute." She said before rummaging through the trash can beside the kitchen workbench.

Michel chuckled, as he leaned on the bench behind him. "Oh, this can only be good."

"Sookie, that's the garbage," Lorelai said, confused as to why Sookie was rummaging through the leftover food scraps. "Stop rooting through the garbage!"

"I will when people stop throwing away useful stuff!"

Lorelai disagreed with her best friend. "Drop, drop the, drop the tops, drop 'em, drop 'em. Come here, come here, come here. Now, Sookie, listen to me because you're torturing yourself here."

Sookie's eyes averted from Lorelai's when she noticed Emily walk into the kitchen. "Emily, hi." She greeted politely.

"Oh, that's nice." Lorelai sasses, barely registering that her friend was serious. "That's very high school. Stick with me here."

Sookie instead, kept trying to hint at the fact her mother was standing behind her. "Good to see you."

Lorelai stared at Sookie confused, "Yeah, ah, that's funny. You know who's behind you? It's Joseph Stalin, my good friend. What are you doing back from the dead, Joe?"

"Lorelai." Emily interrupted her daughter.

Lorelai felt as though her heart had just leapt out of her chest. "Oh, Mom! Ah, geez, you scared me."

"You heard Sookie greet me." Emily reasoned, fully aware that her daughter hadn't noticed her presence.

Lorelai let out a soft chuckle, sending Sookie a knowing look. "Oh, I thought it was a joke."

Emily raised an eyebrow at her daughter response, "Like comparing me to Joseph Stalin?"

"I wasn't comparing you to Joseph Stalin."

Emily simply ignored the last comment, "I'm in a hurry. Can we speak for a minute?" She pressed, looking down at her watch.

Lorelai nodded, moving away from Sookie, "Yeah, I guess, for a minute. So, were you in the area or something?"

"Not really." Emily shook her head, knowing the only way to talk to her daughter was to physically trap her into a conversation at work.

"Then what are you doing here?" Lorelai questioned, knowing there was a reason behind her mother coming all the way down from Hartford.

"I wanted to talk to you." Her mother replied simply.

Lorelai rolled her eyes, "Phone's out of order?"

"Let's not play games here," Emily suggested, moving closer to her daughter.

"Games?" Lorelai raised an eyebrow, pretending to look through paperwork as her mother spoke.

Emily sighed, realising she wasn't getting anyway with her daughter, "I've called several times the past few weeks and you've skillfully avoided every call."

"No, that's not true." Lorelai disagreed, knowing full well what she'd been doing, "I've left messages on your machine."

Emily nodded her head pretending to be pleased, "Yes, messages. And then if I happened to pick up, you'd hang up. Or if the maid picked up, you'd ask for me, then claim you were driving through a tunnel so you might get cut off, and then you'd make garbling noises and hang up."

Lorelai sighed, "Fine, Mom, we're talking now. What's up?"

"Are you feeling well?" Emily questioned randomly.

Lorelai groaned, "You came all the way out here to ask me that?"

"Well, you've been sick these past few Friday's for dinner, so I was concerned. That's why you didn't come, right, because you were sick?" Emily asked as though she already knew the answer though, "So are you better? You look fine."

Lorelai had suddenly realised what her mother was referring to, "Oh, it's the makeup. I'm still...uh, these allergies really just hit me like a ton of bricks." She pretended, running a hand through her hair.

Emily raised a questionable eyebrow at her daughter, "I've never heard you mention allergies before."

"I'm a silent sufferer." She mumbled, hoping to end the conversation soon.

"Well, I certainly hope you're feeling better now because I want you to come to dinner tomorrow night," Emily said, glancing down at her watch as if she had somewhere to be soon. It would seem as though neither woman wanted to be in each other's presences but that wasn't the case.

"Tomorrow? Tomorrow's Thanksgiving." Lorelai argued, only now noticing Macie standing at the coffee machine beside Michel.

"Yes, it is Thanksgiving. And before you sift through the dozen or so excuses you always have on hand, let me have my say. You've missed two dinners and avoided my calls because you're mad at us about what happened at Yale. But I want you and Rory at Thanksgiving this year." Emily argued, desperate to get her two girls at their dinner tomorrow night.

"Mum –"

Emily sighed, "If you have plans –"

"We do have plans." Lorelai protested.

Emily rolled her eyes, "Alter them. Now, there'll be other people there, so the focus won't be on you, and you may even be able to get by without saying more than 'hello', 'goodbye', and 'pass the gravy'."

Lorelai groaned at her mother, slapping her sides, "We already have plans throughout the entire day and Rory and I after all that are spending the evening with Macie,"

It was as though Lorelai had been completely ignored, "Your father and I are going out of town the next day and we'll be gone all of December, including Christmas, so it's the last chance for the family to be together for the rest of the year."

"Look-" Lorelai attempted to reason with her mother but knew it would be a pointless battle. "I'm spending it with Macie one way or another,"

Emily was fired up, "I want you to remember that I am not the one who set the meeting for Rory behind your back. I want you there, Lorelai. And if you're still sick, I don't want a doctor's note. I want your doctor himself to come to my house and convince me that it's true, got it?"

"Got it." Lorelai sighed defeated.

"See you tomorrow and make sure to invite that friend of yours over, I'm sure she'd still like to see you too." Emily reasoned before storming out of the kitchen triumphantly. Lorelai felt herself leaning against the bench behind her in worry.

"Did I just get invited to a Gilmore thanksgiving?" Macie breathed in shock. "Because last time I check Lorelai that wasn't the plan!"

Lorelai rubbed her forehead distressed, "I know, but you have to come now... you saw my mother!"

"Lorelai, I've only met your mother one other time and that was at Yale..." Macie argued, placing her hands on her hips, "I don't think your mother would want to see me again." She remarked matter-of-factly, "Even if I didn't directly met her... I'm sure from what I saw that I wouldn't be well-recepted..."

"But Macie!" Lorelai sighed, running a hand through her chocolate locks, "She's asked me to invite you, so if you don't show... I'm the one on the chopping block." She protested, knowing that she'd be more than happy to have Macie accompany her to her parents thanksgiving dinner... things would go much smoother.

The younger of the pair gave a groan, knowing that she couldn't let Lorelai down. Not after how much she's supported her throughout her life. "Okay, but you're coming over to mine after for pie and ice cream," Macie bargained as if she had a choice in going to the dinner at Lorelai's parents. "Promise?"

"Oh, I will more than promise to that!" Lorelai chuckled, pulling the friend into a tight embrace. "Plus it might take more than just your famous apple pie to get me through tomorrow night..." Lorelai sighed, rubbing her forehead, "something stronger and alcoholic might be required..."

"That's fine," Macie shook her head, suppressing a smile, "I'll be coming from the hospital so can I meet you there?" She questioned, knowing she tended to be held back when working afternoon shifts at the hospital.

Lorelai gave a nod, "Yeah, I'll text you the address tonight and I'll let Rory know that you're coming." She remarked, embracing her friend once more as she prepared to leave.

"Perfect," Macie agreed, "You owe me big time Lorelai!" The young girl chuckled, grabbing the lunch Sookie had prepared her before heading off to the hospital.


Thanks for reading the next chapter on this story!

I'm so for the delay in updating! I have been very busy!

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All rights go to Amy Sherman-Palladino for the creation of the characters and series!

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