A/N: I'm very sorry that I haven't updated in a long time again. Summer is just a crazy period. Let's leave it to that. But school started again, although I won't be inside the building to much. I started my graduation project and if all goes okay, I'll be graduating college in Februari. How cool is that :D

So anyway, I finished another chapter. On special request this chapter will contain Friday night dinner. It continues the day after the previous chapter, in which Lorelai had a doctor's appointment and had a high blood pressure. She also had a fight with Luke because he forgot the appointment and she visited her father who wants to give Rory a house as a graduation gift and Lucan broke his grandmother's vase when he didn't got enough attention. And well, you'll find out soon enough what's in this one. Enjoy it and please leave me a review when you're finished!

Chapter 26 Friday night dinner

"Lucan NO!" Lorelai watched how her son threw one of his cars towards the television. Fortunately the car missed the TV screen by a few centimeters, but managed to hit the candle standing next to it. She couldn't respond fast enough to prevent the candle from falling on the floor and shattering into small pieces. She stood up and watched the scene in shock for a few seconds before she kneeled down in front of Lucan. She took both his hands in hers and said "You are not allowed to throw your toys away." Her voice was slightly raised and firm and the little boy looked at his mother in shock for a few seconds before he started crying. Her first instinct was to take him in her arms and to comfort him, but she realized that was just what he wanted all along, so she pushed him away. It broke her heart just a little bit to do so, but he had to learn that this was not the right way to ask for attention.

She stood up and walked to the shattered glass and started picking it up. Lucan had followed her though and hold her leg tight while he cried. She dropped the glass on the floor and freed herself from her son. "No. I'm not picking you up when you're crying." This confused him even more, so he started crying louder. At the exact same moment Luke entered the house. Lucan looked up at his father and ran off towards him. Just before he could kneel down to pick him up, Lorelai said. "No, leave him."

Luke looked at her confused. "But he's crying."

"I know. I was watching TV while he was playing on the floor. Apparently he didn't got enough attention so he threw one of his cars towards the television. He missed the TV, but managed to hit a candle."

Luke looked down at the floor and saw the broken glass. He smiled slightly. "He'll make it to the football team one day."

"Don't laugh. This is serious Luke. Yesterday it was my mother's vase, and now it's one of our candle holders. What's coming next?"

"I don't know." He ignored Lucan who was clinging to his leg, crying for his dada.

"I've thought about how to punish him. Putting him in the playpen isn't an option because A, we want to be able to put him in there when we can't have him walking around, plus B, not everywhere we go is a playpen to put him in. And since he's trying to get our attention, I think the best thing to do is getting down on his level, telling him what he did wrong and then just ignore him."

"But we can't just ignore him."

"Why not? I mean, we're not really ignoring him because we have to see what he's doing next. He can't knock down more stuff. But it is working because right now he's crying so furiously only because he's realizing that he's not getting the attention he wants. He has to calm down first, and then we can pick him up."

"I don't know."

"Why don't you clean up the glass, and I'll deal with him? We have to leave in 15 minutes and we can't be late."

He nodded. "Okay."

Lorelai stood up and walked towards Lucan. She kneeled down in front of him and detached him from his father. "You have to stop crying sweetie."

"Mama." He sat down on the floor and started sobbing. "Mama."

Lorelai stood up and glanced at Luke with tears in her eyes. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe this wasn't the right approach after all. But after a few minutes Lucan's crying subsided and eventually it stopped at all. He stood up and walked towards his toys and picked up his stuffed bear. With the bear in his arms he walked towards Lorelai. "Mama."

Lorelai looked down at her son with a smile. She kneeled down next to him. "What do you have there?"

"Buh."

"A bear. Yeah, that's a bear." She took her son in her arms and kissed him on top of his head. "Good boy." She put him back on the floor and stood up.

Luke watched the scene with open mouth. He hadn't expected the ignoring technique to work, but once Lucan realized that he wasn't getting his parent's attention by crying, he just gave up and went back to playing. "You're amazing."

Lorelai just raised her shoulders. "I saw it on one of those TV shows this morning. It worked there so I thought, why shouldn't it work for us? But it's harder than I thought because, man it's hard to let him cry."

He nodded. "But I guess that if we don't do anything now, it'll only get worse."

"Yeah exactly. I guess this is the only way to get through this new phase of his. When he gets older we can find other ways of punishing him, but right now he just needs to learn what he can do and can't do."

Luke nodded. "Well, I threw away all the glass. All we have to do now is vacuum, but I think we can better do that when we get back."

"Okay."

Lorelai went to get hers and Lucan's coat and kneeled down next to him again. "Come here boy." Lucan stood up and walked the last few steps towards his mother, the bear still tight in his arms. Lorelai smiled. "Can you give mommy the bear so I can put your coat on?"

He hugged the bear against his chest.

"Can mommy hold the bear for you?" She tried to take the bear from his strong grip.

"No. Buh."

Luke laughed. "He's never going to give you the bear."

"I can't put you in your coat Lucan. Come on, we have to leave now."

Luke shook his head in laughter as Lucan still refused to give the bear away. He kneeled down next to Lorelai and took the bear from Lucan's hands. He started crying immediately but Lorelai managed to get him in his coat. Once the zipper was closed Luke handed Lucan the bear back. "Hey that wasn't so bad now was it?"

Lucan didn't say anything. He just hugged the bear tight against him.

-xxxxxx-

Lucan had fallen asleep even before they left Stars Hallow. The boy was exhausted from all the crying he had done that morning. When Luke parked the car he took Lucan out of his car seat and the little boy remained sleeping. They entered dr. Elder's office and checked in. It didn't took long before dr. Elder called them inside.

"Hello Lorelai, Luke." They all sat down. "He's a lot quieter than yesterday." She pointed at Lucan.

"Yeah. He broke a candle holder just before we left and that was exhausting for the both of us."

She raised her eyebrows. "How so?"

"Well, he has to learn that this is not the right way to get our attention. And I've thought about the best way to punish him and I came up with ignoring him. Of course that came with a lot of crying which was physically exhausting for him and emotionally for me, because I had to learn not to give in to his crying. And that's pretty hard."

"I can imagine. But as long as it's working."

"It is."

"Good. So, how are you feeling today, besides the situation with Lucan?"

"Okay. Luke let me sleep in this morning. He took Lucan to work and I picked him up when I went over there for breakfast. I've decided to take time off at work completely. I won't be going back until after the twins are born. I could never forgive myself if anything went wrong."

"That's a good decision. And you'll learn to enjoy it."

"Yeah, I think I will. Plus, when I feel like working I can do the paperwork from home. And I can always go over there for a cup of tea or something. But I don't want to create the situation I was in with Lucan."

"That's a very wise decision. I think you won't regret it. Now, let's check your blood pressure, since that's why you're here for."

Lorelai nodded. "I hope it's better than yesterday."

"We'll know soon." Dr. Elder attached the blood pressure monitor to Lorelai's left arm. 125 over 80. That's a perfect blood pressure."

"It is?"

"Absolutely. That means that we don't have to worry about yesterday's blood pressure. It was probably just stress related. I do want to see you once a week now so we can monitor everything carefully."

"We'll make an appointment on our way out."

"That's good. Do you have any questions for now?"

"No, I don't think so. Luke?"

He shook his head. "I can't think of anything."

"Good. Then take it slowly and I'll see you guys next week."

Lorelai nodded. "Thank you."

-xxxxxx-

"My parents want to give Rory a house when she's graduating college." Luke and Lorelai were on their way to Friday night dinner.

"What?"

"I know. That's what I said. They already gave her a car when she graduated high school and now she and Warren are getting married, they want to buy her a house."

"But that's crazy."

"I know. That's what I told them. I tried to explain to my father that I want Rory to work for it. A house is a big thing. I know that they will make enough money to rent an apartment and if they can't manage, we'll help them out. But I don't want everything to go easy for her. I mean, is that selfish?"

"Why would it be?"

"Because I worked hard for everything myself."

"Your parents would have bought everything for you if you'd let them."

"I know. I never wanted their help, and now I'm refusing them to help Rory. Am I a bad mother because of that?"

"I don't think so."

"I worked really hard to buy that house for us. I know we've been living in a potting shed for 10 years before that, but we were doing just fine. I don't think I was a bad mother because we didn't live in a real house. Plus, it was even more special when I finally could buy that house for us. I want all our kids to learn that you have to work hard when you want to reach something. And I know she worked real hard at school and now she's graduating college."

"Uhuh…"

"Maybe I am selfish. It's very nice of my parents that they want to help her out. The truth is that I would buy her a house myself if I could, but I can't. So maybe that's why I won't let my parents buy her a house. Because I can't, they can't either."

"That's ridicules."

"I know. Maybe I should just tell them that it's okay."

"You don't believe that's the right thing to do."

She shook her head. "No I don't. But it's really nice of them that they want to help her out."

"It is nice, but you're right. She has to learn how to do things by herself. Your parents won't always be around to help her."

"Exactly. Plus, if they buy a house for Rory now, what about their other grandchildren?"

"They're way to young to live on their own. The twins aren't even born yet."

"I know that. But one day they'll be old enough to own their own houses. And they will expect my parents to buy them a house too. I don't want that."

"I agree. It's very nice of them, but if they want to help her in some way, they just have to think of something else."

"Exactly. So, what will we buy her?"

He raised his shoulders.

"You're no help. The ceremony is two weeks from now."

"So you have two weeks to think of something. I can't imagine you have nothing in mind anyway. The two of you have been working towards this moment for so long. You must have thought of something."

"Mmm… yeah maybe that's true." She smiled lightly. "Oh look, we're here."

Luke parked the car. "Yeah we are." He shook his head as he got out of the car and opened the back door. He unbuckled Lucan and took the boy out of the car seat. He hung the diaper bag over his shoulder. "Tell me later."

"I will." She smiled again.

The walked to the door and Lorelai rang the door bell. The maid opened. "Hello Mr. Danes, Mrs. Danes."

"Hello Sophia." They handed their coats to the maid. "Are my parents in the living room?"

"Your father and your daughter and her fiancée are. Your mother is upstairs."

"Okay thank you." They entered the living room. "Hello everyone."

"Hello Lorelai, Luke." Richard stood up to take Lucan from Luke. "Hello Lucan."

"Hey mom, Luke."

"Hey."

They sat down. "Where's mom?"

"She's upstairs."

"Is she okay?"

"She just needed a few minutes for herself. She should be down soon."

"Do you mind if I go upstairs to check on her?"

Richard shook his head.

Lorelai stood up and climbed the stairs. She stopped when she reached her parent's bedroom and knocked on the door. "Mom?"

"Go away."

Lorelai opened the door and saw how her mother was sitting on the bed facing the window. From the way her shoulders were shaking she could tell her mother was crying. Lorelai ran the last few steps and sat down next to her mother. "Mom, what's wrong?"

Emily shook her head. "I just need a few minutes."

"What happened?"

"Nothing really. It's stupid."

"What is? Talk to me mom."

Emily wiped away her tears. "I just feel so stupid. I'm tired all the time. I mean, I had to invite you over an hour early. We never had dinner at 6 before. And your father, I'm going to bed at 8 o clock every day. The only time we spend together normally, I spend in bed?"

"It doesn't matter mom. So what if you're tired? All that matters to us is that you're going to be okay. And to be honest, the past two weeks or so there's not one night I've gone to bed after nine. And do you think Luke cares about that? Most of the time he goes to bed with me, and trust me when I say that there's nothing else happening in there than sleeping."

Emily looked at her daughter with tears in her eyes. "Do you think that it will change?"

"Of course. The truth is that you're sick. What do you expect? That nothing changes? That's stupid mom. It's totally understandable that you're tired. And you just have to think of yourself or else it's only going to get worse. You have to go to bed when you're tired or else you're going to be a wreck the following day. If you have visitors, you either kick them out or you leave them alone with dad. And if they don't like that it's their problem."

"It's not that simple Lorelai."

"It is mom. If you haven't learned that over the past year, it's about time you learn it now. If they don't understand, they're not really your friends mom. Nobody should expect anything from you right now, besides the truth. It's all I expect anyway. I love you mom, and so do dad and Rory and Lucan and Luke and Warren. We care about you mom, and we want you to be honest with us, and most of all with yourself. So don't worry about dinner being an hour early. I'm really hungry already anyway. Carrying twins does that to you." She smiled.

"Your father said that your blood pressure was high yesterday."

"Yeah, but I went back today and today it was completely normal. It was probably just stress. We both know I had enough of that. Plus, Luke didn't make it to the appointment and I was a little fed up over that."

Emily smiled.

"Okay, a lot." Lorelai smiled now too. "But all that matters is that they are okay. I decided to stop working. I went to the inn after the appointment yesterday and said that I'm not coming back. I'll be doing some paperwork at home, and they have to do the rest. And if they can't make it, I'll hire someone else, because all that matters is that the twins will be born when they are ready and that they will be healthy. I'll miss work, but if I have to lay in bed for the next 3 months in order for them to get born around the due date, that's what I'll do. But fortunately if I don't work anymore, and just take it easy, that won't be necessary."

Emily nodded.

"And mom?"

"What is it?"

"If you're bored at home, just call me. Because it'd be so much more fun to do absolutely nothing together."

Emily smiled. "I'd like that."

"Good. So, are you ready to go downstairs now? I think they're starting to wonder what we're doing up here."

"Yeah, let's go downstairs."

-xxxxxx-

They were all sitting at the dinner table half an hour later. Sophia just served dinner. Lucan was sitting in a high chair in between Luke and Lorelai and Rory and Warren were sitting at the other side of the table. Richard and Emily were both sitting in their regular seats.

"So Rory. Are you ready for graduation?" Richard looked at his granddaughter.

"Yeah. I finished everything this week so all I have to do now is wait for the results. I'll probably get them back next week and if everything is okay, I'll get my diploma two weeks from now."

"Have you thought about the gift you want for your graduation?"

"Grandpa, you don't have to give me anything. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be graduating college right now."

"Nonsense." Emily looked at her granddaughter. "You're graduating college only once in your life. That asks for a special gift." She looked at Richard who glanced at Lorelai in return. Ignoring the way she looked at him he nodded slightly. "Your grandfather and I are thinking about buying you a house."

Rory looked at her grandmother in shock, and then turned to look at her grandfather. "What?"

"A house. You and Warren are getting married so you need a place to live."

Slightly recovering from the shock, Rory stammered. "You don't have to buy me a house."

"But we want to."

Rory turned to look at Warren for help, but he just shrugged his shoulders. She shook her head. "No, grandma no. We're going to be fine. Warren has another year at Yale and I'm going to get a job so I can pay for an apartment."

"But you don't have to live in an apartment. We're more than willing to help you out."

Rory nodded and looked at her mother for help.

"Mom, I've talked to dad about this yesterday. Rory and Warren are doing fine on their own. They don't want your help."

"Then I want Rory to tell me that."

"I just did grandma. I really really appreciate that you want to help us out here, but it's something I want to do on my own."

"So you can live in a filthy old apartment? They have the size of an old shack."

"So that's what this is all about." Lorelai stood up. "I was 17 years old mom and I needed a place to live."

"You had a place to live Lorelai."

Lorelai shook her head. "I can't believe we're going to do this again." She turned to look at Luke. "Can you please take Lucan out of the room. I don't want him to hear this."

Luke shook his head and turned to look at Warren. "Would you mind?"

"No of course not." Warren stood up and walked around the table where Lucan was sitting in his high chair. "Come on buddy, let's go for a walk."

Lucan lifted his arms in the air happily.

Warren lifted Lucan out of the chair and put him on his hip. "We're in the backyard if anyone is looking for us."

Lorelai nodded and turned to look at her mother again. "I know that I was living here, but I didn't feel at home. I need a place for Rory and me and Mia gave me one."

"An old potting shed."

"Yeah. And tell you what. That place was more a home to me than this house has ever been. I lived there because it was the only place I could afford at the time. And tell you what, I did great. It was a great place. I put up flower wallpaper and sewed curtains. And after working hard for a long time I was able to afford a real house. But Rory doesn't have to live in a potting shed anymore mom. She can afford a real apartment and you're judging without even knowing where Rory and Warren are planning on living." She shook her head.

"There was no need for you to live in a shed Lorelai. We would have helped you out."

"You wouldn't have allowed me to live on my own back then. You wouldn't have accepted that I wanted to do it by myself."

"You don't know that."

"But mom I do know that." Lorelai's voice shook. "I do know that mom" She felt that she was losing control of herself and turned around and walked away without saying another worth.

Luke looked how Lorelai left the room and wanted to follow her right away, but turned around instead. "I don't understand how it got to this. You've both been through so much and you've been without fights for so long. I understand you had your problems, but this is not the right time to fight. You need her and she needs you. The last thing she needs right now is to get fed up. Her blood pressure was high enough as it was yesterday. She will never forgive you if anything happens to the babies." And with that he turned around to follow Lorelai.

Emily sank down in her chair. "I didn't mean for this to happen." She looked at Rory helplessly. "All I want is what's best for you."

Rory shook her head. "Grandma, I already have everything that I want. I'm graduating college and I'm getting married. There's nothing else I want."

"But…"

"No. Listen to me. I know how it seems that we lived in a potting shed, but really, it was a great place to grow up. I had a roof over my head. It was a safe place and I could see my mom wherever I went. And we were at the inn a lot. We ate there, I helped mom when she was working." Rory smiled at the memories. "I can say, without a doubt, that there's no place where I would have rather lived than the place where I grew up. When we first moved into the house, I was afraid. It was so huge and I wasn't used to it. Of course it was great to have my own room at that age, but I really missed our old home. It took me a few months before I was used to it."

"But…"

Rory raised her hand. "I'm not done yet. Grandma, I know that you want what's best for me. And I really appreciate that, but there are some things I have to do on my own. Just like my mom did. You have no idea how grateful I am for everything you've done for me. Without you guys I wouldn't be graduating right now. I wouldn't have spend a year in London and I wouldn't have met Warren. I will never forget everything you've done for me and if I need your help with anything, I'll let you know. But right now I'm doing fine. Honestly, I have a job interview on Monday."

"You do?"

She nodded. "Yeah. At the New Haven Independent. I know that it's not really big or anything, but it is a writer's job. It's great for experience and it will only get better after that. I don't know how many people they are interviewing, but they sounded very positive over the phone."

"They'd be crazy not to hire you." Richard smiled at his granddaughter. "I'm very proud of you Rory. And if you say that you want to do it yourself, your grandmother and I will respect that."

Rory turned to look at her grandmother who nodded. "I'm sorry Rory."

"That's okay. I think you have to go talk to my mother though. I'm going to see how Warren is doing."

Emily watched how Rory stood up and then looked at Richard. "We should have listened to Lorelai."

He nodded. "It's too late for that now. Rory's is right, you should talk to her."

"I will."

She stood up and walked up the stairs and knocked on Lorelai's old bedroom door. There was no response at first, then she heard some voices and after that she heard how someone walked to the door. It opened and Luke stepped outside.

"Please don't pick another fight with her."

"I won't." She went inside and saw how Lorelai wiped away a few tears. She cursed inwardly. "Can I come in?"

Lorelai nodded.

Emily walked inside and sat down on the bed next to Lorelai. "I'm so sorry for the things I said. I had no right."

Lorelai shook her head. "I thought we were past this mom. I thought that you made peace with everything. I thought we were not doing this anymore."

"I know. So did I. I have no idea why I said what I did. I just want what's best for Rory."

"So do I mom. She's my daughter."

Emily nodded. "I just don't understand why you're so against this."

Lorelai took in a shaky breath. "I've been asking myself the same question for the past two days. And I keep coming up with the same thing. I had to fight for everything I reached, and that made me the person I am today. If Rory gets everything from you and dad, she won't be able to do that. She won't have the chance to develop herself into something she can be. She needs the experience of doing things herself. I want her to feel it mom. I want her to feel the pride you feel when you buy your first house. I want her to have that mom."

Emily nodded. "Okay. Then I'll respect that. Rory made it very clear that this is something she wants to do by herself. I guess that means that your father and I have to think of something else to buy her."

Lorelai nodded. "Are we okay?"

"Absolutely. I'm sorry for what I said Lorelai, I really am. Do you know that I saw the shed you lived in?"

Lorelai shook her head.

"Rory was 16 when she gave me a tour around Stars Hallow. She showed me the inn and the potting shed. My breath got stuck in my throat when I saw where you lived for so many years. You deserved so much better."

"But you're wrong about that mom. It was the best place I could have ever lived. I will never forget living there and it breaks my heart that it doesn't exists anymore. It was my first home mom, and I wouldn't have missed that experience for the world. I know that to you it seems so much less than it was. It just breaks my heart that you can't understand how much that place meant to me, and how hard it is that I have to keep defending myself and the choices I made back then. But really, what it does it matter now? There wouldn't be any place in the world where I'd rather be then exactly where I am now mom. And all the experiences that it took me to get here, I wouldn't have missed them either because I am who I am because of it. I made mistakes. There were bad moments, but more than anything there are good memories. It makes me sad that I can't share them with you though. Not without being judged."

Emily shook her head. "I don't want to judge you Lorelai. I'm proud of who you are and what you did with your life. I just feel like it could have been so much easier for you."

"And that's exactly what I'm trying to tell you mom. I didn't want easy. That's just not me."

Emily nodded as she tried to understand what her daughter was saying. And then she smiled, realizing that even though they are so different from each other, they are also very much alike. "My parents never gave me much when I was a kid and I promised myself that if I could, I would give my children everything. I didn't want you to have the life I had Lorelai. I wanted to protect you from that. I wanted you to wear the beautiful dresses I wanted to have as a child. I wanted you to have all the dolls I liked so much as a child. I wanted you to have so much more than I ever had. I never realized that what I wanted for you wasn't what you wanted. I didn't understood why you didn't want it. But I think I understand now why you made the choices you made. Like I created a better life for myself when I married your father, you created the life you always dreamed of for you and Rory and you want her to do the same things. I'm sorry I didn't realized that sooner." Emily placed a hand on her daughter's knee. "I'm so sorry Lorelai. For everything, especially this fight. I hope I didn't put you and the babies in any danger by aggravating you."

Lorelai placed one hand on her stomach and one hand on top of her mother's. "They're fine. We all are."

"Are you sure?" Emily looked at her in concern.

"Positive. You can feel it yourself." She lifted Emily's hand and placed it on her stomach. "Do you feel that?"

"They're kicking against my hand." Emily smiled widely.

Lorelai nodded, her smile as big as her mother's. "I was so worried about them yesterday when my blood pressure was so high. I'm so glad that it was back to normal okay."

Emily nodded and moved her hand so she could feel the other baby. "Your father thought you were a boy when you were still in my stomach. He thought you would become a soccer player."

Lorelai laughed out loud. "He couldn't have been more wrong."

"I woke up every morning because you were kicking against my stomach or against my bladder. Then one morning I woke up and I realized I felt nothing. I excepted it to come later, but over an hour later I still hadn't felt you moved and I panicked. I went to emergency room and demanded someone to check me out. They made me wait for half an hour, and those were the hardest 30 minutes of my life. When they finally called me in they put one of those things on my stomach so I could hear your heartbeat. I never cried so hard in my life as the moment I heard the sound of the strong beating of your heart filling the room at that moment. And soon after that you started kicking again. Before I complained when you kicked me and even hurt me sometimes, but never again after that. I was so grateful for the feeling."

"I had that when I went into early labor with Lucan last year. Before I had complained that I couldn't wait for him to come out, but I've never been more scared before in my life. It was too early, and even though he probably would have been okay, even it he had been born that day, I wanted nothing more than to keep him inside me."

"And you did."

Lorelai nodded and without any notice her eyes filled with tears again. She wiped them away immediately, but Emily already saw them.

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing really. I'm just being crazy."

"You never are Lorelai."

Lorelai chuckled. "Think about how many times you've told me that I was acting crazy." She shook her head while she laughed and wiped away the tears. "Are we okay mom?"

Emily nodded. "Absolutely."

"Good."

Lorelai let out a sigh and placed her head against her mother's shoulder. "Hey mom?"

"Mmmm…"

"I know what you and dad can give Rory."

"What's that?"

"A trip to Fez."

Emily looked at her curiously.

"When Rory was 16 all she could talk about was going to Fez. But she never went, even though dad gave her several checks to add for her trip. So I was thinking, maybe that's a nice gift. A trip so she can finally go to Fez."

"You think she would like that?"

"She would love it. I think she'd be honored that you and dad remembered."

"I'll talk to your father about it. I think he'll like the idea as well."

"Good."

"How about we go downstairs? You haven't eaten anything yet so you must be hungry."

"I am." She climbed off the bed and together they walked downstairs. Warren and Richard were playing with Lucan on the floor, and Luke was chatting with Rory. He stood up immediately when he saw Lorelai approaching. Lorelai nodded at Emily that it was okay for her to go in the living room, while she and Luke walked into the hallway.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"And your mother?"

"We've talked about it and she apologized."

He nodded and pulled her in for a hug. "I'm sorry this happened tonight."

"It's okay. I just never realized that my mother was still holding things against me. But we've talked about it and we're okay now. I think that some things will never be perfect between us, and it kind of shocked me to realize that. But at least now we're able to talk about it and we listen to each other when we try to explain how we feel. And that's so many steps forward… It will never be a 100 okay, but I think that's impossible anyway. They say that when you fight, it means you care right? You and I fight, and even Rory and I fight sometimes. And if you see the difference between how it is now and how it used to be, I couldn't be happier."

"I'm glad to hear that." He pulled back a little and leaned in to kiss her. When he pulled away he put his arm around. "Let's get something to eat now."

"That's the best idea I've heard all night."

He chuckled and together they walked into the living room to find everybody else.

T.B.C.