A/N: It took two years since I had the idea, neglect of my other story, and more revisions than I've ever done before, so I'm glad to have it all posted now, when it's clear Gigi is not much of a priority in the world she was created in. Thank you to TL22, for previewing the story as I wrote it and providing feedback. And a big Thank You to you all for reading and reviewing!

Epilogue: A Year in the Life

Gigi pulled on a glove as she watched Sloan take a swing at her golf ball. It went a respectable 170 yards out on the driving range and rolled a bit farther. Sloan had been on the school golf team since high school. She had excellent technique and handicaps in the low teens.

"Nice," Gigi said. She put her ball on the tee and swung.

Sloan shielded the sun with her hand. "How do you hit it 200 yards on your first swing?"

Gigi squinted out at her ball. "I've always been aggressive." She looked over at her friend. "The good balance and flexibility helps too." That's what that golfing coach at the club had told her, when she took a couple lessons. She had to be able to play, with clients.

Sloan shuttered. "I don't need to know any more about how flexible you are." She took another shot and watched where it landed. "I'll get more roll when it's dry at the end of summer." She swung at another ball. "Have you started looking at apartments yet?"

"No." Gigi took a swing. "Anything available now will probably be taken by next May. We have plenty of time to find something. If I agree by then."

"You will. Start looking at three bedroom apartments, to find out what you like," Sloan said after a swing that took her ball 175 yards.

"We don't need that many rooms. I can dance at the studio." Gigi taught beginners two nights a week. It turned out she was not the only little girl whose mother wanted a ballerina. She admired Michelle's ability to talk with demanding parents about their child's skills and desires to dance.

"Fine, two bedrooms then. And two bathrooms. Ooh a duplex would be nice."

"We'll see."

They hit some balls in silence for a few minutes. When Gigi's phone buzzed from her back pocket, she read a message from her dad. He was at lunch with Rory. Gigi read, "Rory says hi." Say hi back, she typed.

Sloan glanced over. "When was the last time you saw her?"

Gigi pocketed her phone and thought about it. "Uh, I guess it's been a while. There's usually an obligatory holiday visit, but I was in Paris this past Christmas." That had a rocky start, due to Xavier's big mouth.

"This is Xavier Stiles, my boyfriend," Gigi had introduced.

He shook the older woman's hand and confidently said, "I'm going to marry her."

Sherry's eyes widened and she turned back to Gigi. "You're engaged?"

Gigi gave him an unappreciative look. He grinned and lowered his head, pretending to be ashamed. "No."

"Are you going to have kids?" Sherry asked hopefully.

Gigi stared, incredulous.

"Oh, not for a long long time," Xavier said hastily. "I'm very immature."

"You don't want to be too old, so you can still play with them."

Gigi's eyes widened and she raised a brow at Xavier pointedly.

"Well my dad, he was 41 when my sister . . ." He had put his hands at his waist, now in the train wreck. "You know, we're pretty jet lagged, we just wanted to stop in and say hi before we nap."

Gigi swung extra hard at her ball. That one went over 200 yards. "The year before that I was at your house, and I'm going to ask my mom to come here for Christmas this year." It was only fair. "So Rory and I might miss each other again."

Sloan took a swing. "That's crazy. It isn't like you live far apart."

Gigi shrugged. "That's just how it is. It's par for the course for us to see each other once every couple of years. Rory doesn't need a sister, she has Lorelai."

Sloan shook her head.

"If cameras followed Rory and Lorelai around for a year, they could run into everyone they've ever met and still not see me."

Sloan's brows furrowed. "Why would cameras follow them for a year?"

"I don't know, like if they got their own reality show on TLC, or a streaming service, or something."

"Your sister oozes that much personality and charisma?"

Gigi took a swing and looked to the other girl. "Well, she's Rory."

"What does that mean?"

"Personality and charisma are probably in the eye of the beholder."

Sloan smirked a little and lined up her ball. "I'm pretty sure you'd get some screen time if it documented an entire year."

Gigi shook her head. "My dad might show up, and he would mention me. Or Rory might ask about me in passing, because she's good and nice and totally totally cares about me." She continued, "And he'd explain that I'm out of town on business. Or visiting my grandma, or mom. I'm very easily outsourced." She hit another ball.

Sloan argued, "If Rory totally cared, she'd see you within any given year."

Brightly, Gigi tapped on her nose and pointed at Sloan. "And yet, she doesn't." She said, "Your dad could be in it."

"In what?"

"In the year of the Gilmores. He has history with them."

"What, like a million years ago?" Sloan asked. "He has his own life, why would he show up in theirs out of nowhere?"

Gigi thought about it as she placed a ball on her tee. "Obviously, to fight my dad and Luke over Lorelai. Winner takes all."

Sloan stopped to turn and frown. "My dad wouldn't get in a fight. And what about my mom?"

Gigi frowned back. What didn't Sloan understand about good drama? "Fine, I guess she could be with him." She paused. "But only so Lorelai can self-reflect on her own life."

"Can't she just go on Facebook for that, like everyone else?"

Gigi grinned and took a shot. "Actually, it would be better if your mom wasn't the CEO, so Rory's ex-boyfriend could have the job."

"That isn't what happened," Sloan said. "And she wouldn't hand it back without a fight."

"But it would be more convenient. Rory's career is lackluster, so someone in high places who is likely still in love with her could hook her up with a job that she totally deserves anyway," Gigi said. "I mean, she's Rory, she's done everything right and got terrific grades in school."

"Well that's too damn bad. She'll have to make due on her own," Sloan said, returning to the ball she had on the tee. "This is all sounding scripted . . . poorly."

"Hey, it's not my fault it's a Gilmore world and we're just living in it—or off to the side, just out of camera shot."

Sloan hit her ball. It went 210 yards. "I think you should stick to insurance."

XXX

"So she doesn't want to live together unless they're married?" Jennifer asked. "I think that's reasonable."

Jason lifted his palm and protested, "I think moving in together implies a level of commitment, and permanence. It means you want to see each other as much as possible, and blend your lives together—share responsibilities. Why isn't that enough?"

"Well, as a woman, I can understand the need to be moving toward something—something more than an address change," Jenny said from behind the bar in their basement. "Especially as she gets older, and she knows what she wants in life. The legal promise to stay together is important."

"But all or nothing? She left no room for compromise. Isn't that throwing the baby out with the bathwater?"

"As I understand it, it isn't all or nothing, just that the change in living arrangements is a no-go without a ring." She took a tray of snacks to the coffee table in front of the couch, where Xavier was lying. She asked, "Is a breakup the alternative?"

"No," he answered without taking his eyes away from the pre-game show.

She had a pointed look when she returned to the bar. "See? No."

"But still, it all changes or nothing changes. All or nothing," Jason said.

Jenny outstretched her arms at the big basement room, but indicated the whole house, or perhaps, their life. "I can't believe I'm even debating this with you."

He waved a hand. "That's different, we had a kid."

"There's a kid to think about here. It's not that different."

Jason shook his head at his wife. "Why is it so black and white with you?"

"I'm aware of the grey area," Jenny said. "I can see why he isn't eager to rush into marriage, even though he has been in the past."

"Exactly. I think he's sensitive about what people will say, how he'll be perceived."

"How will cohabitating will stop that?"

He conceded, "There will probably still be some snickering." He added, "From people like you."

Her jaw dropped. "I do not snicker. I talk about people's personal lives when they aren't in the room, as respectfully as possible." She went on, "But other people—society—can't dictate what will make two people happy. If she can handle what might be said, there's no reason not to go for it."

Jason looked at her for a moment, then tilted his head. "Alright, if it's important to her, he should sign the piece of paper."

She scoffed, "God, you're romantic."

The doorbell chimed throughout the house, and Xavier sat up on the couch. "That's Chris. I'll go get it." The guys were watching a Patriots-Seahawks game. "Maybe stop talking about him by the time we get down here."

When he'd disappeared up to the main floor of the house, Jason commented, "Chris Hayden is my friend. That was a life twist I did not see coming."

Jenny gave him a strange look. "You once found out you had a three year old boy. What's the bigger twist?"

"This, by far," Jason said.

"Xavier, he's a good kid," Chris had said, over the pitcher of beer they had ordered the first time they met up, the first time they'd seen each other since camp.

Jason nodded. "He is. He's my pal. We're glad he's back." He said, "And Gigi, she works really hard. I usually forget she's your daughter—no offense."

"None taken." After confirmation that Jason's wife was an executive, Chris commented, "You know, I would have guessed that you were running your dad's company, and maybe unhappily married."

Jason nodded again. "Me too." He added, "I actually made do as a bachelor for so long, I think that's why I'm the ideal corporate spouse."

It turned out they actually had things in common. They'd each raised girls, and being the corporate spouse that he was, Jason had done a large chunk of the raising on his own, while also working.

A few drinks later, "Okay, Lena Dunham, and did we already say Selena Gomez?"

Chris nodded. "Got her."

"I always hoped she and Justin Beiber would work it out. I didn't like him, but then he sang that I'm Sorry song, and I thought, okay," Jason said with a shrug.

"Yeah, me too."

Jason told Jenny, "He meandered and skirted responsibility for years." He added, "He probably came on his motorcycle."

"You could drive a—" Jenny stopped and turned around. She was covering her mouth with her hand when she turned back. "I couldn't finish the sentence." She chuckled.

"You know, Chris Hayden is a cautionary tale," Jason said. "In fact, he's the cautionary tale. He took way too long to get his act together, so by the time he married the mother of his child, it didn't work." Jason shook his head. "You can't expect someone to wait forever."

Jenny was quiet for a moment. Then, "Huh."

"What?"

"I was just struck by your context. What can happen if you wait too long?"

"A lot of things."

"Things, or people?" she asked. "Like a kid with the 'wrong' woman?"

"Well . . . yeah," he said slowly. "Okay, I hear it now."

"Gigi's a person too, not just an inconvenient plot twist in someone else's life. And our son came back in large part because of her," Jenny said. "Good thing Chris had that interlude."

Wryly, Jason said, "I'll be sure to send him a thank you note."

Xavier returned then, accompanied by Gigi's father, who shook Jason's hand and complimented Jennifer on their house.

"Thanks," she said with a smile. "Hey, maybe today you guys will finally be able to list all the members of Taylor Swift's squad."

Chris shook his head. "We always come up two short."

"It really bothers me," Jason said.

Chris looked over at the TV in the corner. "Ooh, is that plasma?"

Jason nodded and headed over. "It is."

XXX

"It's so nice you could make it out," Rory said to Gigi, putting down the menu at Luke's.

"I hope it's okay Xavier came along," Gigi said, though he was not at the table with them. "He read something about a Revolutionary War reenactment on the town's website and wanted to see it since snow was in the forecast."

They had arrived early this evening, and had observed Luke's impatience with some of the customers. He'd even yelled at one and suggested the patron go somewhere else.

Xavier had leaned in to whisper, "If this is an offshoot of Ed Debevic's, the wait staff is supposed to do a song and dance number up on the countertop."

"Of course it's fine," Rory said. She glanced outside, where it had started to flurry. "Looks like Mom was right."

Gigi glanced out too. Right about what?

When Luke came over, they placed their orders, then Rory asked, "So what have you been up to? I haven't seen you in forever."

"I've been busy with work, and the Junior League," Gigi said. "I had a function to go to the other night."

"Hm, I've never thought of it before, but it's interesting," Rory said. "We both could have ended up with that life, but you did and I didn't. We could be in a nature versus nurture study."

That life. So dramatic. Leave it to a Gilmore to think she's fascinating enough to merit a study.

Gigi had a good job and went to functions here and there. It wasn't that critical, and she wasn't pushed into anything. She made her life choices on her own, regardless of what anyone else thought about it. She wondered if Rory needed a reminder that of the two of them, Gigi had not been the debutante.

She changed the subject, "How was your Christmas?"

"Good," Rory said. "I was here with Mom and Luke. How was yours?"

"It was nice. My mom came for a week. We had dinner and went shopping."

"That's good, that she came to see you. I always used to wish Dad would come for Christmas," Rory said. She seemed to remember who she was talking to. "Well, we were all together that one year, of course."

Gigi wondered if Rory remembered that the whole holiday had been delayed for her.

"It was nice having you guys here. You were cute in my antlers. Remember when we made cookies by scratching?"

Gigi nodded. "Right. And we strung popcorn strands." She frowned in thought. "Did your mom really get a typewriter just to write a letter to Santa?"

"What?"

"When we were making popcorn strands at the table, Lorelai was telling us about writing a letter—or having trouble writing a letter, to Santa," Gigi said, squinting in thought. "But she thought a typewriter would help. I could hear typing from up in her room."

Rory looked like a deer in the headlights for a moment, not knowing what Gigi was talking about, and then she just barely flushed. "Oh, um, yeah, she—it was important to her that you really feel the magic of Christmas," she said. "Kids grow up so fast. She wanted to you be a kid as long as possible." And then, a triumphant epiphany, "His dry cleaning! Remember? You saw her old Santa suit, so she said she did his dry cleaning. And she wanted you to know she took that job very seriously, hence the letter."

Gigi tilted her head, slightly perplexed at Rory's blabbering to avoid Something. So the letter had been for someone else, not Santa. It certainly didn't matter anymore. Gigi only said, "That was really nice of her."

Relieved that Gigi totally bought it, Rory nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Mom's the best." She changed the subject, "Dad said you got him a drone for Christmas. That's cool."

"Yeah," Gigi said. She gave Xavier the same thing. Then she brought it up in therapy. When the bell over the door jingled, Xavier walked in and joined them. She asked, "How was it?"

"Mm, they didn't really do much," he said as he took off his coat.

"Yeah," Rory said. "It was a long night of waiting. In the snow."

He pointed a thumb outside. "Those guys had shoes, so I don't think they did a lot of research."

Gigi asked, "Did they at least break out into freestyle?"

"They did not."

"Bummer."

XXX

Gigi was standing up on a chair so she could pull things down from the closet in the spare room across from her childhood bedroom. A lot of her stuff had migrated over when she lived here. When they moved in, it was once mentioned that the room should be designated as Rory's—of course she should have a space in their house, and Gigi liked that it was right across from hers. To her naive four year old brain, it hadn't seemed completely absurd to expect Rory to spend the night with them. Now, the room was getting a permanent occupant.

A lot was happening all at once this spring.

She had already gone through her things in her bedroom. Chris had reassured her that she could keep keep it the way it was, but she thought she might as well do a thorough spring cleaning while she was at it. She had already cleaned out her second room at her apartment, including removing the mirrors. It was decided her apartment would suffice after all. There was plenty of room for two people.

Gigi took a large armful of bedding and dropped it on the floor. She looked at the pile and hopped down to pick up a duvet. "Hey, it's my scrunchy bunch. That's where it was."

Xavier glanced over from the books he was packing into a box. "Your what?"

"My scrunchy bunch." She demonstrated. "It scrunches, and bunches."

"Uh, okay."

Gigi smiled to herself and put it in the 'keep' box. When they were finished removing her things from the room, they carried the boxes downstairs.

They took a break for lunch at the dining table when Michelle and Ethan arrived with sandwiches for everyone. While they were all together, Gigi pulled out her phone and went to the wedding planner app. "Dad, did you get your suit dry cleaned?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's in my closet, ready to go." He shared a grin with Michelle.

Gigi turned to Ethan expectantly, who looked at his mother.

"His is at my mom's, where it won't get lost in the commotion."

"What about you?" she asked Xavier.

"I got a brand new one, actually."

Gigi raised a brow. "You have two whole suits?"

"The new one is even a three piece."

She put a hand on her chest. "Be still, my heart." She checked the tasks again. Dresses—she and Michelle had theirs ready. "The day before, Dad, you have to confirm with the restaurant, and Michelle the photographer. And the day of, I'm bringing the flowers to the chapel." She had liked the idea of pink roses cut short for centerpieces, so guests could talk, but Michelle thought it would be nice if Gigi and Rory carried small bouquets instead of wearing corsages. Then the flowers could go in vases on the tables at the restaurant for the centerpieces. Michelle was resourceful like that. To Xavier, Gigi said, "And you can help Ethan with his suit?"

"Yes."

"Can you tie a tie on another person?"

"Yes," he said, slightly indignant. "As long as I stand behind him."

"What's the final count for the dinner?" Chris asked.

Gigi checked. "13." It was bare minimum, immediate family and a few friends.

He thought about it a moment. "Is that with Rory, plus one?"

"Yes."

He shook his head. "I talked to her the other day, it'll just be her."

"Okay, then 12."

"Do you want to play World of Warcraft?" Ethan asked Xavier when he was finished eating.

"No," Michelle said. "We have to move our stuff in."

Xavier whispered to the boy, "Later."

While the others got started, Gigi and Xavier cleaned up. He asked, "Are you sure you want to stay at your apartment? You could look at other places, and re-think the whole thing."

She gave him a sidelong glance as they crumpled up the deli paper the sandwiches had been wrapped in. He was getting a bit sulky, feeling left out. She asked, "Hey, do you want to live with us?"

He looked at her. "You mean with my sister?"

"And me." Sloan was moving in with Gigi after she graduated in a couple weeks. "You're over a lot anyway, why not just live together?" She grinned cunningly and added, "We're going to do yoga and carpool to work. It's going to be fun."

"I wasn't planning on living with my sister again," he said. "It would be a regressive move, and not fun."

"No, no, it will. It could be like Three's Company."

"Have you ever seen Three's Company?"

"No, but wasn't it a guy and two girls? Like his girlfriend and their other friend?"

"I actually have no idea," Xavier said with a shake of his head. "I think I liked it better when you and Sloan were bitter rivals."

"We're still doing that, but without the bitterness." She accepted glasses and loaded them in the dishwasher after he dumped out the ice. "And obviously, this living arrangement is only temporary." She regarded him. "At least, I think. I give it one—two years, tops before we move into our own place."

"Which 'we' is that?"

She grinned. "You and me, we, silly."

"Then, no, I don't want to move in with you and Sloan. I can wait."

She picked her phone up from the table and put it back in her pocket. "You know, this might be my favorite of all my dad's weddings."

Gigi had reminded Chris two people could get married, if it's what they both wanted to do. It didn't matter what anyone else had to say about it. It wasn't their life. She asked him what he'd want to do if he hadn't been divorced. After some consideration, his answer was that he would marry Michelle.

"There will be no children at ours," Xavier told her.

"Uh, okay."

"I mean our own."

"Wedding? I got that."

"No, our own children will not be invited."

"Well that's not nice. Everyone loves a wedding."

He gave her a withering look. "I mean we will not have any, at that point—not that my parents' wedding wasn't lovely."

"Oh, optimistic," she said with a nod. As they headed out, "Come on, I'm getting a mom and a brother, let's get them moved in."

Fin