"Look Rory!" Lorelai pointed excitedly to the centre of town where a small crowd had gathered. It had been almost a month since TJ and Liz returned from their honeymoon and despite her earlier pledge to not want to spend more than one night a week at her mom's Rory had begun spending two with her mother, Thursday and Friday nights usually. "They're practicing for the Christmas procession."

"Christmas isn't for another three weeks almost," Rory argued. "Why are they starting now?"

"It's tradition. They always started early, to make sure they got it right. They like their routines."

"Well, their routines are stupid."

"Speaking of which, Mom and I were talking last night when you were in the bathroom."

"How is that a 'speaking of which'?"

"The Gilmores are hosting their annual Christmas party next week and you and I have been put back onto the guest list."

"Stupid routines, crazy early Christmas parties, got it." Rory commented, digging her hands deeper into her coat pockets.

"So, what do you think?"

"About being on one of Grandma and Grandpa's lists? As long as it's not the people I plan to kill this month list, I think I'm happy."

"About the party," Lorelai clarified. "You wanna go?"

"I don't know. I've never been to one of their parties. I've heard about a few, but I don't… Would it be bad?"

"Awful, probably. It's usually just dinner and drinks with a few of their friends, but we'll all be so incredibly uncomfortable you'll want to race upstairs and throw yourself out of the highest window you can find."

"Count me in," Rory muttered, sarcastically.

"But Mom makes these amazing apple tarts. I loved them so much when I was growing up. One year, I had the German measles; my face matched my polka-dot dress, it was that bad. But I still had to be at dinner. Mom serving the tarts was the only thing that kept me at the table that night. And they are the only reason I'm suggesting this to you."

"What if she doesn't make them this year? She could have stopped years ago,"

"Bite your tongue!" Lorelai ordered and Rory grinned.

"Ok, I guess we should go then. You've missed the tarts long enough, no sense in prolonging the torture is there?"

"Oh, thank you honey! I don't think they would have let me in without you. You're the only reason she brought it up, you know."

"That's not true. Is it?"

"I think it is. Those people really care about you little girl. Even if they recently thought you were a bit of a trouble maker."

"Well, who can blame them, really? I'm pretty irresistible, although I didn't make the best first impression."

"Actually, you did. Right after you were born, Mom and Dad came into my room at the hospital and I handed you over to Dad, you latched onto his finger and I didn't think you'd ever let go."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They adored you. Clearly they still do."

"Could we move onto something else, please?" Rory requested, feeling very uncomfortable. She had a feeling she would never adjust to people talking about when she was an adorable baby.

"Well, the important thing here is that in just a few short weeks you will get to taste the best food that was ever created."

"Better than Luke's coffee cake?" Rory asked, innocently. Since softening slightly towards her mom, she'd been trying to plant seeds in both her mind and Luke's; reminding them both of the good times. Not that she really knew anything at all about those, but a few well put questions to Sookie, Liz and even Miss Patty, who it seemed, remembered everything had helped immensely. She now had enough info to get the two adults thinking about the good old days, hopefully in a way that wouldn't cause any fighting.

She knew that after she first moved there, they had screamed at each other a little, while Luke believed she was out of the apartment but now it looked as if they were passed that. At least that's what she counting on.

"Alright, one of the best," Lorelai relented, as they walked through the door of the diner. Rory disappeared upstairs to drop off her bag and Lorelai made a beeline for the counter where Luke was dealing with another customer. She grabbed one of the cups sitting on the counter and waited for her turn, when Luke finally turned towards her she fixed him with a pitiful look.

"Please Luke. Please, please, please!"

"How many cups of coffee has your mom had this morning, Rory?" He asked over his shoulder of the girl coming back through the counter.

"None." She replied, the answer she had been instructed to give.

"Plus?"

"Three. But yours is so much better, trust me. That stuff she has in her apartment masquerading as coffee is doing such a poor job. It really can't fool anyone."

"And you've had how many?"

"Zero. Plus none, so while you're at it, fill up a cup for me, would you please?" she requested, leaning against the counter beside him, smiling sweetly.

"You're junkies, the both of you. You should join a support group or something."

"Yes, for people who are deprived of their coffee," Lorelai replied, still holding out her cup. "Fill please."

"I'm an enabler. I don't know why I let the two of you talk me into this." He muttered, pouring the drinks before walking away.

"I'll never get tired of doing that," Lorelai observed happily as Rory began wiping down the counter.

"He is fun to annoy early in the morning," she replied, looking up in time to catch the smile on her mother's face.

Things had been improving with almost everyone since the wedding. It seemed they'd all been waiting for a cue from Liz, and with her personally inviting Lorelai people took that as a sign that they too could ease up on her. Of course some were still a little standoffish, but the reduction of pressure had made Lorelai feel more comfortable as well as Luke and they had begun to speak a little easier each day, even throwing in a little banter from time to time.

"And as much as I'd like to help you continue that-"

"You were the ring-leader on the torture!" Rory objected.

"Semantics honey. I have to be getting over to the inn. Mia's dropping in today and Sookie said if I show up and look dedicated enough they might be able to find me something."

"What about the video store gig?"

"What about it? That place is great if you're in high school, or… Kirk. But for a woman my age, rewinding videos all day long – in a time when DVDs are taking over the world – it's a little demeaning,"

"So that's why the freak out this morning over your clothes, and the fancy outfit you finally settled on?"

"Well, yeah. The last time I saw Mia I was a bit of a wreck; seventeen, wild, out of control hair, every item of clothing I owned covered in spit-up. I'd like to think I could at least try to make a good impression on her."

"Well good luck then."

"Thanks, I'll come by later, let you know how it went. Maybe I'll even be able to convince her to join me, because that woman really loved you, you know?"

"Oh, good another one of those people."

"Stop. Get to work would you? Luke, are you paying this girl to just stand around, chatting to the customers?" Lorelai addressed the man making his way passed her to drop off someone's order slip in the kitchen.

"No. The table in the corner is waiting for refills; can you handle that for me?"

"Since when do the tables drink?" Rory asked.

"Just take that pot there," he pointed to the fresh pot waiting in the coffeemaker, "over to that table and fill their cups, alright?"

"You're right Mom; that is a lot of fun."

"Glad I could enlighten you. Well I'll be off then." She stood and flew out the door, stirring up a flurry of snow as she made her way along the street.

"She was in a good mood," Luke commented, when Rory returned to the counter.

"Yeah. Apparently someone named Mia is going to be in town today. She's really jazzed about that. And the apple tarts we'll be sampling next week at the grandparents Christmas party."

"Mia's coming?" he asked, a smile lighting up his face. "How come Sookie didn't say anything?"

"I got the impression it was sort of a spur of the moment thing. Mom only got Sookie's message when we got home from dinner last night, we were a little late too."

"Oh, ok." Luke returned to filling the coffeemaker for a moment. "Christmas isn't for three weeks." he grumbled, looking at Rory in confusion. "Why so early?"

"I have no idea. But that doesn't seem to be a concern for many people. Have you seen what's going on out there?" she asked, pointing to the windows.

"This entire town is run by freaks."

"My sentiments exactly." She responded before they split up to get back to work once more.

"What if she yells?" Lorelai asked, sitting at a work counter in Sookie's kitchen, nursing a coffee.

"Taste this," Sookie requested, turning from the stove and holding out a spoon.

"Mmm, good. Do you think she'll be mad?" she asked after swallowing the sauce.

"I want to serve that over the dessert tonight. Do you think its good enough? I mean, I know Mia always says not to make a fuss, that it's not a big deal. But it is,"

"I haven't seen her since Rory was one," Lorelai said at the same time. "And, I know we weren't all that close but still, she was important to me and I just don't want to go through everything I just went through with every single person in town. And my parents, you know?"

"What?" both women asked, turning to look at one another.

"Let's start over, here," Sookie suggested. "How's the sauce?"

"It's great. On a scale of one to one thousand, how pissed do you think Mia will be?" Lorelai returned.

"I don't think she will be at all. You know Mia, she-"

"Correction; I knew Mia, a long time ago. For all I know she's turned into Emily since I saw her last."

"Emily Post?"

"Emily Gilmore."

"Oh, right. Sorry. Well, I don't think she has, if that helps at all. I think she'll just be so happy to see you and Rory all grown up. There shouldn't be any yelling."

"Shouldn't be?" Lorelai repeated.

"Won't be. Now, come on let's get out there, see if she-"

"Sookie! Lorelai!" Mia burst through the door, startling the small staff assembled there as well as the two women who had just been talking about her.

"Mia!" they cried out together, just as loud and all three moved closer for a big hug.

"Back up now, come on, I need to inspect the two of you here." She instructed and both did. "Oh you're both just too beautiful I can't stand it. Tell me, how have you been?"

Sookie launched into an explanation about the kitchen, Jackson and life post-wedding while Lorelai stood back and looked the older woman over.

She certainly looked and sounded like the same old Mia, and Lorelai knew that that meant there would be a serious talk later on.

"So tell me," Mia began, sidling up to Lorelai as she stood behind the registration desk, observing Michel doing his thing. "What was so important that you had to run off to New York City? It wasn't a boy was it? Because, I thought the one you had here was pretty spectacular. Possibly the best."

"It wasn't a boy. The boys there were… well, really there was no contest. I-I still don't have a good reason for why I did it, even after all this time and the many times I've tried explaining myself. But I'm back now."

"For good?" Mia checked.

"And for bad, I swear. I'm finally making some progress here and I'm not about to skip out now and screw it all up again."

"Well, I'm very glad to hear that." The older woman replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "And I think it's about time you stopped hiding that little girl of yours from me. She's working in the diner, correct?"

"Yeah, she is. But, Mia, I was sort of hoping we could talk about-"

"You'll start tomorrow, Michel will show you how things go around here, and we'll just keep you working the desk for a little while, before giving you more responsibility, bit by bit. How does that sound?"

"I love you!" Lorelai replied, happily, throwing her arms around her.

"Oh, thank you." Mia hugged her back while Michel watched them, disapprovingly. "Shall we go then? Ever since Sookie told me that you and Rory were here I've just been dying to see the two of you together."

"Ok, sure, let's go." Lorelai grabbed her purse and together with Mia, walked outside into the sunlight. She'd been expecting that talking-to to be a lot worse, but Sookie was right it seemed, Mia really was just happy to see her. "Now, you should know that Rory's a little different than the last time you saw her," Lorelai began as they climbed into Mia's rental car and drove along one of the dirt roads leading to the centre of town.

"I should hope so. If she hadn't changed at all in fifteen years I'd be a little worried, actually."

"No. I mean, she's… well she's been through some stuff. We had a bit of a hard life in New York but things have improved immensely since she first got here, so… and it suddenly occurred to me that you have nothing to compare this Rory to, because you didn't know her before. I'll shut up now and just let you see her."

"I wish you wouldn't. Shut up, I mean." Mia clarified. "After all this time it's very refreshing to listen to you ramble on in an unintelligible way. Please, feel free to continue."

"No, that's ok. Maybe later," Lorelai replied a little self consciously. Mia nodded and they continued to drive in silence for a moment before they reached Luke's diner.

"Oh would you look at this place? It's exactly the same." Mia remarked as she walked through the door.

"Mia, hey!" Luke called out coming over and throwing his arms around her. "I heard a rumor you'd be nearby today."

"It's good to see you Lucas,"

"Oh, I forgot we could call you Lucas. Why didn't you remind me?"

"Because you can't. There are exactly three people in the world I will answer to when that name is called. You are not on that very short list."

"Whatever Lucas,"

"How are Maisey and Buddy?" Mia asked as Luke led her over to a table.

"They're great. I saw them, couple days ago, 'bout a week probably. They're doing good."

"I'm so glad. Now, tell me, where is the famous Rory that I keep hearing about? And that gorgeous nephew of yours, I assume he's around here somewhere as well?"

"Oh yeah. They're um …" Luke turned around scanning the room for the two teens and glared once he spotted them. "Excuse me, I need to go and speak with my employees for a moment." He explained before walking away.

"That's Rory over there, attached to miniature Luke's lips." Lorelai said as she and Mia watched Luke march across the room and start gesturing around the room, while having a hushed conversation with the two teens.

"Ah, like mother, like daughter, I see."

"God, I hope not."

"Stop that, you were a lovely girl when I first met you."

"Whereas now I am an evil psycho bitch,"

"That's not what I meant."

"No, I know. I just-"

"Hi Mia."

"Jess Mariano, is that really you?"

"'Fraid so."

"You've grown far too much, but since I'm never here to see you, I suppose I'll have to forgive you. Are you going to introduce me to your friend here?" she enquired, glancing at their entwined hands.

"Um, sure. This is Lorelai's daughter, Rory. Rory, Mia."

"Hi, it's really nice to meet you; Jess and Luke have been-"

"Oh my goodness, you look just like a young girl I met seventeen years ago." Mia interrupted, standing up and enveloping her in a hug. Rory stood frozen for a moment; just like she had the night she'd first gone to her grandparent's house and met them. "Do the two of you have time to sit and entertain and old woman?" Mia asked after releasing Rory and returning to her seat.

"Well, Luke actually-"

"Sit down." Luke instructed stopping by the table. "You're clearly no use to me when you so openly violate my rules."

"I guess we can sit." Jess replied, pulling out a chair.

"Actually, Luke, before you get too far I wanted to ask if you'd have dinner with me tonight? All of you, I want to hear everything that's been happening since the last time I was here."

"Uh, sure. I guess, if you want."

"And you'll let Liz know? I can't remember when I saw her last."

"I can do that." Jess replied."I guess you'll want to meet her husband as well?"

"Oh that's right! Liz got married. That was recent, wasn't it?"

"Last month."

"That's wonderful. Yes, of course I want to meet him. And when we get back to the inn to hash out the details of your new job," she added to Lorelai, "we'll see if Sookie and Jackson are free."

"Sounds like a party," Luke replied. "But I should be getting back. If the two of you suddenly acquire a work ethic, feel free to join me in the kitchen, ok?"

"Yeah. If that happens, we'll see you there." Rory responded smartly.

"Excuse me for one second, would you?" Lorelai requested as she stood up and followed Luke. "Hey,"

"Hi. You need something?"

"No. I just wanted to um… I was just thinking, if you'd prefer that I not be at dinner tonight, I can make some-"

"No it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Mia's missed you, you should be there."

"And you'd be ok with-"

"Hey, I sat through dinner with your parents a few months ago, I've handled living with a teenaged girl; I think one dinner should be ok. I mean, we did sit together for a bit at the wedding anyway, so,"

"So what you're saying is I can come?" Lorelai asked. Whoa, de ja vu, what's with asking everyone's permission all of a sudden?

"No. I'm not saying you can come. It's not up to me. I'm saying you can do what you want, and if what you want is to come to this dinner then that's fine with me."

"Ok. Great, thanks. I'm glad we cleared that up."

"So you're working at the inn again?" Luke asked, as Lorelai shifted from foot to foot.

"Yeah, reception. It's a step up from maid duties I'd say. I just hope my parents have less of a problem with it this time around."

"I'm sure they'll be fine."

"Yeah. So, you should probably be getting back to work, huh?"

"Probably a good idea."

"Ok."

"Ok."

"I'm just so glad you could all make it tonight," Mia gushed, looking around the faces at the table later as the nine of them sat around a table at the Independence Inn. "I've missed you so much, and it makes me so happy to see you all together." She continued.

"We've missed you too Mia," Liz replied, holding onto TJ's hand tightly.

"Yeah. You should move back here." Luke told her.

"Or at least visit more." Jess added. "You used to visit all the time but now you're never around."

"Maybe I will, who knows? I can't stand Santa Barbara, so I'm sure I could be persuaded to leave the damn sunshine a little more often."

"Really?" Sookie grinned. "That would just be the best."

Rory looked at all the smiling faces and wished she knew exactly what this woman was supposed to mean to all of these people, what she would have meant to her, had she remembered meeting her before this day.

When she couldn't, she was surprised to find that she wasn't angry. Ever since arriving in Stars Hollow when she couldn't conjure up the feelings she believed she was supposed to have for certain people, places, she'd been overcome with fury at her mother for ruining it all. But this time, she didn't feel that. All she thought was how nice it was to be around for this particular evening.

"Yeah, ever since Jess came home at lunch, Lizzie's been telling me all these stories about you." TJ added.

"Nothing bad I hope."

"No, no. Just about the speakeasy you ran for a little while. The cock fights… nothing major." Liz replied, grinning.

"She's totally jazzed that you're here."

"I'm thrilled to be here. And I just can't believe that little Lizzie Danes got married. I'm so happy for you both."

"I decided that I just couldn't put it off any longer, you know? Just had to bite the bullet,"

"Next thing you know, it'll be those two," Mia added, pointing to Rory and Jess. They both looked up at her, wide eyed and slightly terrified. "I mean… when you're older, and ready, and with the person of your choice. I won't be involved in the picking, I promise."

"We got tones of photos." Liz added after a moment. "If you look through them fast enough, it's like a flip book or something you'll almost feel like you're there. I meant to bring them, but I was just so excited about seeing you that I sort of forgot to put them in my purse. I guess you'll just have to stop by the house at some point before you go."

"I suppose I will,"

"Hey, does anyone remember that wedding at the inn?" Lorelai asked. "It must have been… eighty-three I think. Right in the middle of July, hottest day of the year."

"Oh! That was one of the first that I coordinated. I didn't think anyone would ever want to have their wedding here again after all the problems we had that day."

"The cake melted, didn't it?" Sookie asked, trying to remember, Lorelai nodded.

"Was it an ice-cream cake?" Jess wondered.

"Nope. Just regular wedding cake. You have no idea what this heat was like." Luke explained, taking up the story telling. "It was so crazy. For some reason they decided they wanted ice sculptures of cherubs or something ridiculous like that. But those had melted by the time the ceremony started. And since they were all around the aisle, there were huge puddles all over the ground. The bride slipped on her way up to the alter-"

"And she pulled her father down with her; he broke his leg in the fall." Lorelai continued. "Right before the best man announced that he couldn't let anything continue, because he was in love with the groom."

"Oh! I'd blocked that part out." Sookie admitted.

"You're making this up," Jackson objected.

"No, it all happened, I promise." Mia told him, as everyone fought to catch their breath from laughing so hard. "We probably still have photos somewhere around here."

"How did you get photos if the wedding didn't go ahead?" Rory asked, confused.

"Who said it didn't go ahead?"

"The father of the bride had a broken leg, the best man was in love with the groom and they still got married?" Jess checked.

"Of course. Just because things around them weren't going so smoothly, doesn't mean that those two people's feelings were changed at all. They still wanted to get married, and they did."

"Didn't I hear something about then getting divorced three months later?" Liz asked, as the two teens and the two husbands who hadn't been present looked on, dumbfounded.

"Yes!" Lorelai cried out. "That's right, because he decided he wanted to play for the other team for a while, see what it was like."

"And she caught him?" Jackson asked.

"No. The best man came clean, told her everything,"

"Suddenly our wedding seems very mundane compared to this one," Liz remarked.

"Yours? What about ours. We just had a regular ceremony out the back; you had people prancing around in tights, and a weird guy singing something about Battleship and Yahtzee!" Sookie reminded her.

"Well, Jackson's kilt was plenty festive," Jess added, earning an eye roll from the man.

"At least neither of you had to deal with those cream puff dressed with the puffy up sleeves that were so popular during Muffin's era."

"M-Muffin?" Rory looked at her mother confused.

"The bride."

"Of course, what was her husband's name? Chocolate chip?"

"Just Chip,"

"Oh my God!"

"Well if my parents had had their way, I'd have been shoved into one of those gowns as well. Muffin and I could have been twins."

Everyone at the table went completely silent at Lorelai's comment, and they all became extremely interested in the napkins in their laps.

"I'm just… um, I'll check on dessert. Be right back." Sookie announced, shoving her chair back, causing it to screech loudly as the legs grated against the floor.

"I'll help." Lorelai replied, following suite and jumping up as well.

"Why did you say that?" Sookie demanded once they were out of earshot.

"I don't know! It just came out, I shouldn't have even brought up Muffin, but I just… I wanted to contribute something to the conversation. I really didn't want to be the reason for the extreme discomfort, though. I thought I'd leave that role up for grabs this time around."

"Well," Sookie replied, nudging one of her staff out of the way to fuss over the dessert plates. "Sorry to break it to you, but-"

"I know! Bow down to your queen of rubbing salt in really old wounds, Lorelai Gilmore."

"It's ok," Sookie reassured her, spooning the amazing sauce she'd created over the desserts. "We'll just go back out there with the food, everyone will eat and everything will be fine. Their mouths will be full so no one will be able to say anything about it, and by the time we finish, I'm sure they'll all have forgotten."

"That I brought up Christopher? Yeah, sure, TJ maybe, but what about the others? Rory, Luke-"

"They'll be fine. You were telling a story. I'm sure they understand that you were just caught up in the memories. Just breathe and we can eat."

"Ok, alright. Let's go." Lorelai nodded and they each picked up a tray filled with plates before heading back out to the dining room.

"… had just started walking," Mia was saying when they returned and started handing out plates. "I was watching the two of them while Liz and Lorelai were at work. I looked away for a moment, and when I turned back, Jess was attempting to run away from Rory as she tried to kiss him."

"I didn't really do that, did I?" Rory asked, hiding behind her hands.

"If only I'd known about this." Jess grinned. "I would have spent a lot less time trying to work out whether you liked me or not."

"I remember that day," Luke nodded as he thought back on it. "I came to pick them up and you were smiling really weird, but I couldn't figure out why. A couple of weeks later Rory was doing it again and you told me that she'd been doing it a lot."

"Shut up, please! I don't want to hear any more of this!" Rory begged, covering her ears.

"Oh, just stop pretending. You've been pining for me all this time, admit it."

"That's not true, because I had no memory of you before I got here, if you would recall."

"Details." He shook his head. Lorelai sat back in her seat and shared a smile with Sookie. It looked as if everyone would be able to get passed her faux pas after all.