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Chapter 3

"So tell me again how we got roped into this?" Olivia said as they walked up to the Gilmore Mansion's front door with Rory.

"Because we told Grandma we would." Rory said.

"But it's golf! It's the most boring sport ever!" Olivia grumbled.

"I know but this meant a lot to Grandma..."

"Grandpa clearly didn't want to do it though. It was obvious." Olivia pointed out.

"Just at least try to enjoy it." Rory said. "Please?"

"Fine." She sighed as Rory knocked on the door.

"Rory, Olivia, hello!" Emily smiled opening the door.

"Sorry we're a bit late." Rory said.

"Yeah the bus was delayed." Olivia said.

"Nonsense. You're right on time." Emily said.

"Hi, Grandpa." Rory smiled.

"Rory, Olivia, nice to see you both." Richard said.

"This is a perfect day for golfing, isn't it Richard?" Emily said with a pointed look.

"It was cooler at 8." Richard said.

"Told you we were late." Olivia whispered to Rory.

"Shh." She whispered back. "Are we dressed ok? We didn't have any of those short pant things." She said.

"Well, actually there is something missing. Oh, wait a minute..." She said going to retrieve two colourful hats and putting them on their hats.

"Here you go. Now you look just like Tiger Woods." Emily smiled.

"Wow, they're some hats..." Olivia said.

"Ok, off you go, you three. Have a wonderful time." Emily said.

"We will." Rory smiled.

"You bet." Richard said.

A while later, they were walking along the golf course.

"Is it hard to become a member here?" Rory asked.

"Everyone has to go through a thorough screening process." Richard nodded.

"What, kind of like the FBI?" Olivia joked.

"We're much more thorough than that." Richard replied, with a slight twinkle in his eye.

Olivia couldn't help but laugh. "Wow."

"Yes. Did you know the merger of Forscape and D.S.S.?" He said.

"Really?" Olivia said.

"International finance will never be the same and all because of a lost golfing bet." Richard nodded.

"That's crazy." Rory said.

"Well that's high finance." He said as they stopped walking. "Well, here we are. Now, what do you two know about golf?"

"That it's a good walk spoiled?" Olivia joked.

"Not much." Rory admitted, giving her sister a look.

"Well, your driver is the most powerful club in your bag and as such, it can be your most valuable asset or your greatest liability. To wield it properly requires a precise combination of confidence and humility." Richard said.

"Confidence and humility. Got it." Rory nodded.

"There you are." He said giving Rory the driver first. "That's a pretty good natural grip. Now, line the toe of your left foot up with the ball. That's right. Now, drop this shoulder a little bit. Now, keeping your left arm firm, draw the club back, swing it cleanly through the ball." He said guiding her through it.

Rory took a swing and hit the grass causing Olivia to smirk. "I'm betting that was wrong." Rory said.

"There are no rights and wrongs to the learning process. Try that again." Richard said.

Rory did but did the same thing causing Olivia to laugh this time. "Now I'm betting that was wrong." She said smirking slightly.

"Ok, why don't you try Olivia?" Richard said.

"Yeah, watch and learn from the expert." Olivia grinned.

"Oh yeah, when have you ever played golf before?" Rory retorted.

"Never but Jess made me watch some before." She said.

"I thought you said golf was the most boring sport ever?" Rory raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, well, Jess won a bet and that was my forfeit." Olivia said.

"Ok, let's carry on." Richard said, interrupting them.

Olivia took a deep breath and then swung at the ball which went flying. "I did it!" She exclaimed in surprise.

"That was very impressive." Richard said slightly surprised himself.

"Thank you!" She grinned. "I can thank Jess for that."

"I'm sure he'll be very proud." Rory rolled her eyes as she had another turn and finally hit the ball.

"Jess? Is this a friend of yours?" Richard asked as they continued walking.

"Yeah, we've known him since we were 5. He's the nephew of Luke who runs the diner in the town." Olivia said.

"He?" Richard said surprised.

"Yeah! We practically all grew up together." She smiled.

"Oh. Right." Richard said.

Rory saw the wistful look in his eyes. "I can't believe I actually hit the ball!" She said changing the subject.

"Urghh, give me coffee to go and make it a big one!" Lorelai exclaimed collapsing onto a stool at the counter at Luke's.

"Stressful day?" Luke asked pouring her some coffee.

"You could say that again! Did I tell you about this wedding at the inn?" She said.

"The double wedding with the twins?" Luke said.

"Yep! But we met the grooms today and guess who they are?" She grinned.

"Who?"

"They're only twins as well!" Lorelai grinned.

"No way!" He chuckled.

"Yep! I will so be glad when this is over though. The brides keep arguing over everything and their mother wants to be anywhere but there." She said.

"I'm sure you can handle it." He said.

"I'm just complaining." She sighed. "It will actually give us a lot of promotion at least. People are coming for all over the country." She said.

"That's good." Luke said.

"Anyway, I better get back. Thanks for letting me vent." She said.

"I'm always here." He said.

"Thanks." She smiled. "Oh and can you save us some pie this evening? Rory and Olivia are at the country club with my dad. I think they might need some pie."

"Sure." Luke nodded.

"Thanks, you're the best." She grinned.

"I try." He smirked. "Good luck with the wedding."

"Thanks." Lorelai sighed, before giving him a smile and a wave before leaving.

"This place is so beautiful. I could see just coming here to think or read. But that probably defeats the purpose of the holes with the flag thing." Rory smiled as they walked towards the country club after finishing their golf lesson.

"There is something rather serene about walking around here." Richard said.

"I'd love to come here and just read on a bench or somewhere." Rory said.

"That would be nice." Richard smiled. "How about you, Olivia?"

"I like reading but I'd much prefer to come here and listen to my walkman." She admitted.

"Music is also good for the youth." He said. "I have several records at home that I sometimes like to listen to in my study after a stressful day."

"You've got records?" Olivia asked interested.

"Quite a few." He nodded. He glanced at his granddaughter. "I'd be happy to show it to you sometime if you'd like." He offered.

"Like? I'd love that!" She grinned. "I'm still saving up to buy a record player."

"Well, it's a date then." Richard smiled. "And Rory, I'd be more than happy to show you my library of books."

"That sounds great!" Rory smiled.

"It's a plan then." He nodded.

"Can we go now?" Olivia asked.

"What?" Richard said in surprise.

"Please? It just might be hard to do it on Friday because we wouldn't want to leave mom and Grandma." She said.

"Well...I guess you're right. I was going to offer to buy you some lunch at the country club though." He said.

"Well, we could get lunch and then head back to yours?" Rory suggested. "We'll let our mom know we'll be back a bit later."

"Ok. If you're both sure?" Richard said.

"We'd love to!" Olivia smiled.

"Ok then." He smiled slightly. "Well let's retire to the steam room and then meet back at the club." He said.

"It's a plan!" Rory said.

"So how are you doing in here?" Richard asked as he came into his study to find Olivia looking through his selection of records.

"These are amazing, Grandpa! You have all the classics!" She exclaimed.

"I have tried and gather a good selection over the years." Richard said. "Anytime you want to come and listen to them, you're welcome to."

Olivia glanced at him and smiled. "Thanks, Grandpa." She said softly.

"I'll just go check on your sister and then you two should probably get on your way back or else your mother will worry." He said.

"Yeah, you're probably right." She sighed getting up. "Hey Grandpa?" She said.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for today." She said. "It was fun." She smiled softly.

Richard smiled softly. "It was, wasn't it?"

Olivia smiled as she watched him leave the study. She had to admit she had been dreading the day but she actually turned out having fun. Her and Rory had a lot more in common with their grandfather than she had thought.

Later that day, Rory and Olivia were sat at Luke's waiting for their mom.

"Interesting hats." Luke commented coming up to their table with two slices of pie.

"We went golfing with our grandfather today." Rory told him.

"Did you know that golf courses are an environmental blight because of the chemicals they use to keep the grass green?" Luke said.

"Geez do you have to be such a downer, Uncle Luke?" Jess smirked appearing next to him.

Luke smirked slightly. "Sorry." He said before walking away.

"So how was it?" Jess asked sitting down with them.

"It was good actually." Olivia said.

"Seriously?" Jess said surprised.

"I'm surprised too!" Olivia laughed.

"Yeah you should have heard the amount of complaining on the way there." Rory teased.

"Hey, you weren't sure either!" She retorted.

"You're right." Rory admitted. "But it was nice. Grandpa started to relax after a bit and we actually had a lot in common."

"So that's good then huh?" Jess said.

"Yeah." Olivia nodded smiling.

"My God, this day! The swans, the tulle, my head...Luke, I need the largest cheeseburger in the world. Let's break a record here, mister!" Lorelai exclaimed coming in and joining them at the table. "So, the wedding is a nightmare. We got these ten boxes of creepy larvae that are supposed to swarm into beautiful butterflies on the wedding day. They swarmed a little early! What's with the hats?" She laughed looking at her daughters.

"Grandma gave them to us." Rory said.

"Oh, now that's just mean." Lorelai said.

"They're not that bad." She said.

"Do you want a mirror?" Lorelai joked.

"Fine, it's coming off." Rory sighed taking hers off.

"Well I'm keeping mine on." Olivia shrugged.

"So how come you ended back at theirs? I would have thought you'd want to escape as soon as you could." Lorelai said.

"Grandpa wanted to show us his library and record collection." Olivia said.

"Oh. Right." Lorelai said.

"It was our choice. We asked him if we could." Olivia said. "It was actually quite fun. And it meant we got to talk to Grandpa a bit more instead of just talking about golf."

"Right. Sure." She said.

"It was fun, mom. We golfed, we had a steam and then we had lunch at the club. And then we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's." Rory said.

"Huh. So seems like you two had a pretty packed day then." Lorelai said.

"Yeah." Rory nodded.

"And you really had a good time?" She questioned.

"Yeah..." Olivia said glancing at her. "Is everything ok?"

"Sorry, I just...I'm surprised. I thought you were both going to be bored."

"We were kind of surprised too. I don't know , it was pretty there and Grandpa and we talked a lot." Rory said.

"Well...good then." Lorelai forced a smile on her face.

"Do you really not like the hat?" Rory asked putting it back on.

Olivia watched her mom carefully. She smiled softly when their mom smiled at Rory. "Nah, I think it's cute." She said.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Tristan smirked as he leant against the lockers next to where Rory and Olivia were putting books away.

"You don't. You're at our lockers." Rory said before walking off.

"Did I say something?" He said.

"Not everything is about you." Olivia snapped before walking off.

"Hey, wait up! Olivia, wait!" Tristan said chasing after her.

"What?" Olivia said surprised.

"What what?" He said confused.

"You called me Olivia. You never call me by my name." She said.

"Yeah, well, you look like you could bite my head off so I thought it would be safer not to bait you anymore." He joked.

Olivia smirked slightly. "Sorry." She said.

"Did I say something wrong?" He asked.

Olivia sighed. "No, it's not you. We're just in the middle of something with our mom at the moment. It's weighing down on both of us a bit."

"Oh. Right." Tristan said. "Sorry."

"It's hardly your fault." Olivia shrugged. She sighed. "We went golfing with our grandfather last weekend and our mom doesn't have the best relationship with our grandparents so I think she was just a bit taken aback that we enjoyed it as much as we did."

"Ah." Tristan said. "Family conflict sucks."

"It really does." She said glumly.

"I know how to cheer you up." He smirked.

"How?"

"Come out and grab a coffee with me?" He grinned.

"Tristan, I can't date you." Olivia said.

"Why not?"

"Because...because..." She tried to come up with an answer.

"See, you don't have a reason not to!" Tristan quipped.

"Bye Tristan." Olivia rolled her eyes heading for the exit.

"I'll be waiting!" He called.

"It will be for a long time then." She called.

"Bye Mary!" He grinned.

Olivia couldn't help but smirk slightly. "Bye Joseph!" She said before leaving the school and heading home.

Olivia and Rory headed to the inn as they had promised to help out at the wedding that afternoon. They were sitting down manning the guest book as all the guests enjoyed the reception and party afterwards. Olivia saw their mom talk to a few guests. "Mom loves these events doesn't she?" She told Rory.

"Yeah. She's so good at being the hostess." Rory smiled. She sighed. "I wish she wasn't so angry with us."

Olivia sighed. "I don't think she's angry. I think she's just...I don't. Feeling left out or something." She said.

"It's not our fault that we got on with Grandpa though. She can't be mad at that." Rory said.

"Look, remember she didn't have the best relationship with them when she was our age. Think about our relationship with her now. We're like best friends. She never had that with them. And now, she sees us hanging out with them and actually enjoying it. It makes sense that it would upset her a bit or make her feel left out." She said. "She shouldn't have kicked off like she did with you but just think about it from her point of view. They...well, from what we heard, they never really made the effort with her and now, here they are, making an effort with us. It must hurt a bit."

Rory sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right..." She said as she saw their mom walk over and sit down next to them.

"Hey, strangers." She said hesitantly.

"Hey." Rory said quietly.

"Hi mom." Olivia smiled softly.

"Good turnout?" She asked.

"Yep." Rory said.

"Do you want something to drink?" She asked.

"Are you trying to make up?" Rory said.

"No, I'm trying to hydrate you." She said.

"I'm fine, thanks." Rory said.

Lorelai sighed. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok.." She said quietly, glancing at their mom.

"A crazy evil spirit obsessed with bra size took over my body." Lorelai said.

"It happens." Olivia smirked slightly.

"She's gone now." Lorelai assured them.

"Good to know." Rory smiled softly.

"You know, I'm glad you're bonding with your grandparents." She sighed.

"No you're not." Rory said.

She sighed. "Yes I am. It's just weird for me is all. I just can't relate to it."

"We know, mom." Olivia said softly. "We didn't plan it to happen. It just...happened."

"I know." Lorelai said. "I didn't mean to cut you both off from them so completely, you know. It just happened. Not having them in my life just felt so right. I just never thought...well, I'm sorry." She said sincerely.

"It's ok." Rory smiled softly.

They suddenly saw an angry woman make their daughter sit down on a seat. "I did not pay $500 for this dress so you could run around and mess it up. Now you sit and be still. Cross your legs. You're a lady." She said.

"God, I must have had a million dresses like that when I was a kid." Lorelai told them.

"It doesn't really scream you." Rory said.

"No. I did all the screaming." She smirked slightly.

"Hey mom?" Olivia said.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for not putting us in dresses like that." She said.

"You're welcome." She smiled. "Of course wearing those dresses...not all bad." She said.

"No?" Rory said.

"Oh no! They really fly up when you twirl around." Lorelai grinned.

"Huh." Olivia laughed.

"And if you're wearing that ruffled underwear...big crowd pleaser." She nodded.

"If it makes you feel better, I think I got a fungus from the steam room." Rory said after a moment.

Lorelai smiled. "It does. Thank you." She said softly.

"Hey, let's go dance!" Olivia grinned. "Can we, mom?"

"Sure, go ahead. Enjoy yourselves. I've just got to check with Sookie in the kitchen and then I'll be back out." Lorelai said.

"Ok!" Olivia smiled, grabbing Rory's hand and leading her to the party.

They were stood watching the dancing from the porch when someone came and stood beside them. "Hey.."

"Dean..uh..hi!" Rory said surprised. "What..uh..what are you doing here?"

"My parents weirdly know the family so they were invited." Dean explained. "So...here I am."

"Here you are." Rory said.

"Do you..uh..do you want to dance?" He asked Rory.

"Oh..uh.." Rory said glancing at Olivia.

"Go, it's fine." Olivia smiled.

"Are you sure?" Rory asked, feeling bad at abandoning her.

"I'm sure. Go." She said.

Rory glanced at Dean and gave a shy smile. "Lead the way then." She said.

Dean smiled and they headed off to the dance floor. Olivia watched for a bit, smiling as she saw Rory laugh at something Dean said.

"So this is where you're hiding..." A voice said.

Olivia grinned. "What are you doing here?"

"Luke said you and Rory were helping out. I had a couple hours free so I thought I'd pop by." Jess said.

"You? Jess Mariano? Voluntarily at a wedding?" Olivia teased.

"I know. Don't tell anyone. I've got a rep to keep." Jess smirked. "I just...I've felt like I haven't seen you guys much lately." He said.

"Aw, have you missed us?" She teased.

"A bit." He admitted gruffly. "So where's Rory?"

"Oh..uh..well, she's sort of over there dancing...with..uh..with Dean." Olivia said hesitantly.

Jess looked over and saw Rory and Dean chatting and laughing. "Huh." He said.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly.

Jess glanced at her. "Nothing to be sorry about."

"His parents know the family." Olivia said. "So...yeah..."

"It's fine." He said.

"Really?" She said glancing at him.

"Hey, do you want to dance?" He asked suddenly.

"What?" She laughed. "I don't think I've ever seen you dance before. Ever."

"First time for everything." Jess smirked. "So what do you say?"

Olivia raised her eyebrows at him but then grinned. "I say lead the way!" She grinned.

"Follow me then." He smiled, taking her hand and walking towards the dance floor.

So I hope you liked it! :) Please do let me know what you think. It really does motivate me to write knowing you guys are reading. :) Thank you for your continued support! :)