11 – I think we've had this conversation before

The entire living room was completely silent, everybody watching Rory and Logan intently. Rory, too, was quiet, staring at Logan, then the ring and back at Loganagain.

"Kinda waiting for an answer here, Ace." He said, half joking half serious.

"I... I..." Rory stuttered, but didn't finish the sentence.

"Yes or no will do just fine." Logan was starting to sound a little worried.

"Yes, of course yes!"

"Yes?" Logan asked, incredulous.

"Yes!" Rory repeated. Logan seemed to finally understand, and stood up, pulling Rory with him and into a hug.

"I can't believe you just did that." She mumbled into his neck.

"You better believe it." He replied, pulling back from her a little before leaning in for a kiss. "Happy?"

"Very." They kissed again, before being interrupted by Lorelai.

"You're getting married!" She exclaimed.

"I'm getting married!" Rory returned, throwing her arms around her mother, jumping up and down.

"You'll excuse me if I don't join in the jumping." Lorelai joked, pulling back a little. "My baby's getting married."

"Hey, don't start crying!" Rory frowned as she saw tears in her mother's eyes.

"Happy tears, happy tears." Lorelai assured her, wiping them away.

"OK, then." They hugged again as the others gathered around the newly engaged couple to give them their best wishes.

xxxxx

"OK, who's ready for presents?" Lorelai asked almost two hours later. Everybody had finished desert, which had consisted of three different flavors of home made ice cream, five different pies, a chocolate cake and muffins of several different shapes, sizes and sorts. The table had been cleared and everybody were waiting for the next part of the evening.

"Presents!" Davey exclaimed, causing the adults to laugh at his eagerness.

"I guess that settles it!" Lorelai declared, standing up from the table. "If the gentlemen would please remove the table?" She looked encouragingly at Luke first then Logan and Jackson in turn.

"You heard the lady, we have a table to move." Jackson stood up and everybody else followed.

"Now, grab some of the chairs, because there's not a lot of seats in here." Rory instructed, placing a few chairs around the coffee table.

"Mom wouldn't let me open any presents this morning." April told Rory as she helped her move the chairs. "She said I had to wait until we got here."

"I didn't get to open any either." Rory assured her.

"I thought I gave you a pretty nice present this morning." Logan whispered in Rory's ear, causing her to turn slightly red and slap him on the arm.

"You just pray that I don't change my mind." She threatened.

"You hurt my feelings." Logan complained.

"You'll recover."

"OK, everybody, take a seat and we'll get started." Lorelai announced from a chair next to the tree. Everyone sat down, and Lorelai reached for a present from under the tree, frowning as she sat back up. "OK, I'm gonna need some help with that." Luke hurriedly joined her by the tree, holding up another present. "Thank you." Lorelai smiled at him. "So, first one, and it's for... drumroll please... April!"

April came up to get her present, and Luke handed Lorelai the one he'd been holding.

"And this one's for... Lane!"

Lorelai continued the distribution of presents, with help from Luke, until everyone in the living room had a small pile next to them, some larger than others.

"OK, everybody. Three... two... one... OPEN!" Lorelai exclaimed and everyone tore into their presents.

"What's this?" Rory asked, opening an envelope with her name on it and extracting an official looking piece of paper.

"That shows that you now own a small piece of land, oh, about five minutes that way." Logan told her, pointing out through the living room window. "Consider it a combined Christmas/engagement present."

"Piece of land? What am I going to do with a piece of land?" Rory asked, frowning.

"Well, the house will be a wedding present." He replied.

"A house? You're buying me a house?"

"Actually, I'm building you a house." He corrected. "Well, I'm not building it with my bare hands, but I'm paying for it, so..."

"But... you want to live here?" Rory wondered.

"I know you want to be this big time reporter, so we'll probably have to live somewhere a little more newspaper-y, like you would say, but I thought you might like having a place closer to your mom, you know, for the summer, and holidays." He looked a little insecure. "You don't like it?"

"I love it, thank you so much!" She gave him a quick hug. "I have to show mom." She crossed the room to where her mother was sitting by the tree.

"Hey, get anything good yet? Except for my gift, of course." Lorelai asked, patting the chair that Luke had vacated a little earlier to join April and Anna for a while.

"I got a house." Rory said breathlessly. "Well, the property right now, I'll get the house when we get married."

"That's extortion." Lorelai joked. "Saying you'll get a house if you get married."

"It's not extortion, it's sweet." Rory replied, looking at her mother's pile of now opened presents. "So, get anything good?"

"Mostly baby stuff." Lorelai shrugged. "What are people thinking, I mean, that's what the baby shower was for. This is for me."

"You didn't like my gift?" Rory asked.

"No, honey, that one I loved!" Lorelai assured her. "And don't worry, I'll take you up on it as soon as I can." Rory had gotten Lorelai a weekend at a spa a couple of miles outside of Stars Hollow for two, and the promise to babysit that weekend.

"I'm glad you like it." Rory said. "I thought you could bring Sookie, or... you know, someone else..." She looked meaningly at her mother.

"Rory, hon, you have got to let it go." Lorelai told her.

"But I know that..."

"Rory, please!" Lorelai cut her off, a little more harshly than she intended.

"Sorry." Rory got up and went back to her place next to Logan on the couch.

"Crap!" Lorelai exclaimed. She hadn't wanted to snap at Rory like that, it was just that everytime the subject of Luke came up between them, Rory started pushing her to do something about the situation, insisting that she could tell that he still wanted to be more than friends. Lorelai tried to explain that she didn't want to jeopardize the relationship they had now, but Rory didn't want to hear it.

"What was that all about?" Luke asked, sitting back down on the chair next to Lorelai and looking at Rory.

"Oh, nothing, just a little holiday disagreement." Lorelai tried to shrug it off.

"You two never fight." Luke frowned.

"You seem to have forgotten that we went months without talking to each other just last year." Lorelai reminded.

"Well, yeah, but that was different." Luke argued.

"Really, it's nothing, we'll be fine." Lorelai assured him.

"So, what'd you get?" Luke asked, deciding to drop the subject.

"Tons of stuff, mostly for the baby." Lorelai replied, motioning the pile of opened presents.

"Didn't you get almost everything you needed at the baby shower?" Luke wondered.

"Exactly my point. Not that I'm not grateful or anything."

"Oh, wait, I almost forgot." Luke said, leaving the living room for a moment before returning. "This is for you." He handed Lorelai a rectangular box.

"You didn't have to do that." Lorelai tried to argue.

"What do you mean I didn't have to, it's Christmas." Luke looked at her like she had just told him that she was giving up coffee. "You got me a gift."

"But that was just a small thing, you didn't have to..."

"Will you just open it?" Luke interrupted.

"OK. Thank you." Lorelai started unwrapping the box.

"Wait until you see what it is to thank me, you may not like it at all." Luke told her.

"I'm sure I'll love it." Lorelai replied, dropping the paper on the floor and staring at the jewelry box she had uncovered. She wondered what was inside it. It could be a necklace, the box was the right size. Or a bracelet.

"You kinda have to open the box to see what it is." Luke instructed her. "Unless you've finally got that X-ray vision."

"I was just trying to figure out what it could be." Lorelai replied.

"You know another way of doing that? Opening the box."

"OK, OK." Lorelai slowly opened the velvet box. When she saw what was inside, she gasped. "Luke, this is... it's too much, I can't take it." She took the golden necklace from the box and helt it up in the light. It was a simple chain with a beautiful, heart shaped locket that you could open. The locket had a beautiful pattern of flowers on it.

"Of course you can, it's a Christmas present." Luke said in an obvious voice.

"But it looks really old." Lorelai noted.

"It is, it's been handed down for generations." Luke explained.

"It's a family heirloom, now I really can't take it, you have to keep it in the family." Lorelai tried to give him the necklace but he refused to accept it.

"You are keeping it in the family." He replied. "I got this from my dad before he died, he gave it to my mom when I was born, and he told me to give it to my... I guess he had wife in mind, but you know, to give to my son when he got a little older."

"So you want me to give this to our son?" Luke nodded. "But what if it's a girl?"

"Oh, then I'll want it back." Luke said, completely serious. "Look, I don't really care about the tradition thing, but I want you to have this. And then, in twenty years or so, you can give it to our son, or daughter. OK?"

"OK." Lorelai nodded. "Thank you, it's beautiful."

"You really like it?"

"I love it." She assured him, holding up the necklace to him. "Put it on?"

Luke reached behind her and clasped the necklace.

"How does it look?" Lorelai asked, pulling up a pocket mirror.

"Beautiful." Luke replied.

Lorelai looked at herself in the mirror. The necklace really was amazing. She fingered the cold metal, trying to get it open.

"Here, let me." Luke helped her open the locket.

"There's a picture in there." Lorelai noted, trying to see what it was of.

"My mom always had a picture of me and Liz in there, I put a picture of Rory for you and then I thought you could put a picture of the baby, too." Luke explained.

Lorelai could feel tears staring to rise in her eyes. Damn hormones!

"Thank you. It's really... I love it." She said, wiping at a couple of tears.

"You're welcome." For a moment, Lorelai thought that he was about to kiss her, but then Davey dropped his new fire truck with a loud bang, and the moment was broken.

Lorelai looked around the room at her family and friends, meeting Rory's eyes just as her daughter raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged at her, and Rory shook her head. Neither of them noticed Emily, who had been watching the entire exchanged between Lorelai and Luke, and had a frown on her face.

xxxxx

"So, did you know about this?" Lorelai looked up at the sound of her mother's voice.

"Know about what, mom?" She asked, pouring more soda in her empty glass. They were alone in the kitchen, everybody else were gathered in the living room. The kids had been put to sleep in Rory's room and the grown ups were watching It's a wonderful life.

"About Logan proposing, of course." Emily said as if it was obvious.

"Did it look like I knew?" Lorelai replied, putting the soda back in the fridge.

"There's no need to be rude." Emily complained.

"I know, sorry mom. I just had a little argument with Rory, I guess I'm a little off." Lorelai explained.

"You had a fight? What about?" Emily questioned.

"It's nothing, mom, we're fine." Lorelai assured her.

"If you say so." Emily let the subject go. "So, are you at least excited about your daughter getting engaged?"

"Of course I am, mom, I was just a little surprised." Lorelai said.

"As were we all." Emily agreed. "But I think it's nice. Those two belong together."

"Just as long as they don't rush into anything." Lorelai interjected.

"Of course not." Emily replied. "The engagement should be at least a year. And as lovely as Christmas weddings are, I think a nice summer ceremony would be better. Maybe June, or July."

"We are talking a year and a half from now, right?" Lorelai asked.

"Obviously." Emily looked at Lorelai like she had suggested they travel to the moon in a plane. "We could never plan the wedding by this summer."

"Just wanted to make sure that we're on the same page here." Lorelai explained. They were both quiet for a moment before Emily spoke again.

"This is a lovely party, Lorelai, you should be proud."

"I really didn't do much, I had a lot of help." Lorelai replied.

"From Luke?" Emily asked.

"Among others." Lorelai said, wondering what her mother was getting at.

"You know, you could have told me that you two were back together." Emily fingered her purse as she spoke, not wanting to meet Lorelai's eyes.

"What?"

"I mean, it's not like I didn't expect it." Emily continued. "You are having a baby together, and I already knew that you were still in love with him."

"Mom, we're not back together." Lorelai shook her head.

"Really, Lorelai, you don't have to lie to me." Emily sounded annoyed. "I have eyes, you know, I see the way you look at him, the way he looks at you."

"And how is that?" Lorelai asked.

"I think we've had this conversation before." Emily replied. "I was right then, and I am right now. You just wait and see."

"Fine, mom, I'll do that." Lorelai took a deep breath as Emily left the kitchen. "Why did I do this, why?"

"Talking to yourself again? That's not a very good sign." Luke came into the kitchen, an empty popcorn bowl in his hands.

"Just wondering what in the world I was thinking when I invited my parents here tonight." Lorelai explained. "I should know better by now."

"I thought things were going better?" Luke said, setting the microwave.

"They were, it just... I don't know." Lorelai didn't want to tell him that the reason her relationship with her parents were on the track back to where it had been the previous year was that he was back.

"They'll get used to it." He told her.

"Get used to what?"

"Me being around." Luke replied.

"I didn't say that..."

"You didn't have to." He cut her off. "I've been enduring the death stare of Emily for the major part of the evening."

"I'm sorry." Lorelai apologized.

"Not your fault." Luke assured her. "Your dad, on the other hand, has been almost nice."

"He has?" Lorelai said, surprised.

"Yeah, he wished me a merry Christmas and everything."

"Well, he always did know when to admit defeat." Lorelai noted.

"He's trying." Luke gave her a stern look. "You should too."

"I am trying." Lorelai complained. "But if mom does anything to insult you, or..."

"I'll open the door so you can kick her out." Luke agreed. "But I don't think she'll try anything."

"Me neither." Lorelai admitted. "She knows that I wouldn't think twice about cutting her out of my life, again, and she really wants to be involved this time."

"Just give her some time to get used to it." Luke suggested.

"Yeah, I guess. Not a lot else I can do." Lorelai took a deep breath before grabbing her glass from the sink.

"Back into the lion's den?" Luke asked, getting the pop corn that were just done.

"You said it, my friend."

xxxxx

"Bye, guys, thanks for coming." Lorelai said as Lane and Zach left. Everyone else, except for her parents, had already gone home. Emily and Richard were currently talking to Logan about his time in England.

Lorelai closed the door behind Lane and Zach and went into the kitchen, where Luke had started the dishes.

"Could you tell my parents that I'll be right down, I'm just going to the bathroom?" She asked.

"Sure." He replied over his shoulder, watching as Lorelai left the kitchen. As she disappeared into the living room, he turned his attention back to the plates in the sink.

"Where did Lorelai go?" Luke turned as Emily spoke.

"She just went to the bathroom, she'll be down in a moment." He replied.

"Oh. We were about to leave." Emily said.

"She'll be right down." He repeated, returning to the dishes, expecting Emily to return to the living room.

"I'm glad we got a moment alone." She instead said, and Luke sighed before turning back to her.

"Really? And why is that?" He asked.

"There's no need to be smart with me." Emily snapped.

"Look, I get it. You don't want me here. Well, too bad, cause I'm not going anywhere." Luke started. "I know that this is your grandchild, but it's also my child. And you need to accept that, because there's nothing you can do about it."

"Don't you think I know that?" Emily retorted. "I came to terms with the fact that my daughter would be tied to you for the rest of her life a long time ago, long before you even had any idea about what was going on. And I'm fine with that. I have accepted it. Sure, it may not be what I wanted for her, but it's the way it is."

"So what's this about?" Luke asked, not understanding what the woman was going on about.

"I was here. When you took off, just left everything, I was here. Me and Rory and Sookie and that entire town of yours, we were the ones who had to pick up the pieces after you tore my daughter's heart apart." Luke could see how furious the older woman was. "And then you just waltz back here, and she forgives you like nothing happened..."

"You don't know everything that was going on before I left!" Luke intervened.

"I know enough." Emily retorted. "I know that my daughter wasn't herself for weeks, months, and as much as I hated her being with someone who wasn't good enough for her, I hated seeing her like that even more. So I just want to say this. You be very careful, because if you do anything to hurt my daughter again, you will be sorry."

With that she stormed out of the kitchen, leaving a baffled Luke behind.

xxxxx

"Dishes are all done, so I'll just be off." Luke said a little later. Logan had just joined Lorelai and Rory in the living room after helping Luke clean up.

"Don't go, we're watching a movie." Rory replied, looking up at him with a pout.

"You know, sooner or later that won't work anymore." He told her, but took his jacket off.

"Then I will exploit it as much as I can until then." Rory announced, resting her head on Logan's shoulder.

"Don't listen to him, the pout never stops working." Lorelai intervened, pouting at him as if to demonstrate. "Please, Luke, please."

"Please, please, please." Rory joined in.

"For the sake of everyone's sanity, especially mine, stay." Logan pleaded.

"OK, OK." Luke faked his surrender. "What are we watching?"

"Charlie and the chocolate factory." Rory told him, reaching for the popcorn bowl.

"It's on top of the DVD, could you start it?" Lorelai asked, pointing to the DVD case.

"I thought you guys only watched the original?" Luke stated as he popped the DVD in the player.

"We admitted defeat when Johnny Depp got the part as Willy Wonka." Rory explained.

"Well, of course." Luke wondered why he bothered. He would never fully understand the Gilmore girl's movie obsession.

"Sshh, it's starting." Lorelai shushed him.

"It's the FBI warning." Luke noted.

"Just be quiet, will you." Lorelai replied.

"Can I at least sit down?" Luke asked.

"Sure, but hurry up." Lorelai moved over a little, giving him space next to her. "But no squishing. And no talking during the movie, no moving around..."

"I know the rules." He cut her off, sitting down next to her on the couch, remembering the first time they had had a movie night together. Casablanca.

"Just reminding you." Lorelai said, taking a bite from a carrot stick.

"You're eating a vegetable." Luke stated, shocked.

"Sshh." Rory shushed.

"Why are you eating a carrot?" Luke whispered.

"I told you, I've cut down on the sugar." Lorelai replied, not taking her eyes of the TV where the movie had started.

"But vegetables?"

"Turns out carrots aren't so bad."

xxxxx

"I think we wore out your mother." Logan said quietly as the credits rolled on the TV.

"She's had a pretty busy day." Rory smiled at Lorelai, who had fallen asleep on the couch, her head resting on Luke's shoulder. "She can't sleep here, we'll have to wake her."

"No, I'll carry her upstairs." Luke stopped Rory's outstreched hand.

"You sure? She has put on some weight, you know." Rory told him.

"I think I can handle it." Luke replied, carefully picking Lorelai up and standing from the couch.

"Night, mom." Rory whispered, placing a kiss on her mother's forhead.

"I'll be right down." Luke said, heading for the stairs.

"We'll be here." Rory replied, sitting back down on the couch, watching Luke as he walked up the stairs. "See?" She said when he had disappeared.

"See what?" Logan asked.

"They are so still in love with each other, we have to do something." Rory exclaimed.

"I know, I've seen it too, but I still say that they'll find their way back to each other if they're supposed to." Logan replied.

"But what if it takes another eight years?" Rory objected. "They can both be very stubborn."

"Kind of like someon else I know." Logan joked.

"Logan, come on, I'm serious here."

"I know you are." Logan nodded. "I really think that you should let them deal with this themselves, but I guess a little meddling couldn't hurt."

"Great! Help me come up with a plan."

xxxxx

Luke carefully put Lorelai down on her bed, not bothering to remove the cover. He pulled her shoes off and found a blanket to cover her with.

"Merry Christmas, Lorelai." He whispered before tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Mmhmm... love you." Lorelai mumbled, and Luke froze. Had she really said that? He watched her for a few moments, but she was obviously asleep.

"Just a dream." He mumbled to himself as he left the room. "Just a dream."