The First Thanksgiving

Pairing: Rory/Finn

Summary: It's the first major holiday since Rory and Finn have been together. Both of their families are coming together and Rory's nervous. For obvious reasons.

Rory POV

It was finally here. The first major holiday that Finn and I would be spending together. For some reason, I'd let everyone convince me that it would be a good idea to get both families together for this holiday. What the hell was I thinking? Not only would it be Finn and I, but it would be his parents, his sister, Mom and Luke, April, Dad and Francine, and Richard and Emily. I had this feeling that it was going to be a disaster.

When Finn and I pulled into his parents driveway fortunately none of my family had arrived yet. "It's going to be fine, Kitten." Finn told me.

"I hope so. You know how bad that dinner was when I met Logan's family. I just want everything to go well." I told him.

"It will. Come on, let's get you some coffee." Finn said.

I nodded. Finn and I climbed out of the car and made our way inside the house. "Mom!" Finn shouted.

"Living room." We heard.

We walked into the living room where Alicia was sitting drinking a cup of coffee. I walked over and sat on the loveseat and poured myself a cup. "So, Rory…I'm so excited to finally get to meet your family." Alicia said.

I took a drink of my coffee. "Me too." I said.

"She's a little nervous Mom." Finn told her.

"Oh, honey. Everything will be fine. You'll see." Alicia said and I nodded.

Soon after we heard the front door open. "Mom, you here?" Annabeth called.

"Living room, dear." Alicia called.

A few seconds later Annabeth walked into the living room. "Oh good, Rory you're here already." She said. I smiled. Annabeth and I had hit it off instantly when she'd popped into the New York offices a few weeks earlier. "I had an idea that I wanted to run by you and Mom." She said and I looked at her curiously.

"Sure dear, the three of us can get lunch in the next couple of days and discuss it before you head home." Alicia told her.

"Absolutely." I said.

It was about forty-five minutes and three cups of coffee later, that the doorbell started ringing. "Showtime." Alicia said. Alicia, Finn and I headed to the front door to greet guests. When Alicia opened the front door, I saw that Mom, Luke and April were the first to arrive. "Welcome." Alicia said.

"Alicia, this is my Mom Lorelai, my stepdad Luke and my sister April." I told her.

"It's so nice to finally meet you all. I've been wanting to meet you all it seems like forever, but Rory and I just couldn't get schedules to line up." Alicia told them.

"Oh it's no trouble. We were actually surprised that you extended an invite to the entire family. It was really very generous." Mom said. I could tell that she was using her society voice.

"Mom…" I said and she looked at me. "Be yourself. This isn't one of Grandma's parties." I told her.

"Really?" She asked me and I nodded. "That's a relief. I really need coffee." Luke just shook his head, while April and I busted out laughing.

I showed the three of them to the living room and told mom there was coffee. By the time I made it back to the entryway, Grandma and Grandpa were making their way to the door. "Alicia, you remember my grandparents Richard and Emily Gilmore, right?" I asked her.

"Of course, Emily it's so good to see you. It's been too long." Alicia said to Grandma as she hugged her. I think Grandma was surprised. "Richard, how are you? Finnegan is in the backyard smoking a cigar if you'd like to join him. I'm sure that I could get Finn to show you the way."

"That sounds marvelous, Alicia. Thank you." Grandpa said. Sure enough Finn came walking out of the living room.

"Luke, Lorelai and April are in the living room if you'd like to join Lorelai for some coffee, Emily." Finn said.

"Sounds wonderful." Grandma said as they followed Finn.

Maybe Finn and Alicia were right. Maybe I didn't have anything to worry about. Alicia looked outside and didn't see anyone else so she closed the front door and we headed back to the living room to finish our coffee. This time I sat beside Grandma and I noticed that Luke was gone. "Luke?" I asked mom.

"He went with the boys. He told me not to corrupt April." Mom said.

"More than you already have?" I asked.

"Right." Mom said and we laughed.

After about ten minutes Alicia looked over at me. "Your father did say they were coming didn't he?" She asked me.

I nodded. "That's what he said. I'm just not sure if their coming from Boston or Hartford." I told her, and it was the truth. I knew that Dad didn't spend much time in Boston these days but he never actually said where they would be coming from.

"It's okay. Maria hasn't quite finished dinner yet." Alicia said and I nodded.

It was another twenty minutes, before we finally heard the doorbell again. Alicia and I went to answer it. "Dad, finally." I whispered. "Alicia, this is my Dad, Chris Hayden and my grandmother Francine Hayden." I told her. "Dad, this is Finn's mom, Alicia." I said introducing them.

"Thank you so much for inviting us." Dad said.

"Oh it was nothing at all. Finnegan and I have been wanting to meet you all for so long. Please do come in. The girls and I were just having some coffee before dinner. And all of the guys are out back enjoying a cigar. Would you care to join them, Chris?" She asked.

"No, thank you. I've never been much for a cigar. I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee though." Dad said and I couldn't help but laugh. Granted he didn't like it as much as Mom and I but he still liked it better than tea.

"Of course. We'll just go right in here to the living room." Alicia said, leading them to the living room while I closed the front door.

Needless to say, Grandma was a little shocked to see Francine. I don't think that they'd seen each other since I was sixteen. I don't even think that she and Grandpa had gone to Straub's funeral when he'd died last year. However, they remained pleasant for my sake. "I'll just go tell Finn and Finnegan that everyone has arrived." I said, making my escape towards the backyard.

When I walked into the backyard, it was strange. Finnegan, Grandpa and Finn were all three smoking cigars while Luke stood there clearly out of his element. I walked over and wrapped my arms around Finn's waist. "Hey guys." I said.

"Rory. I was wondering where you were hiding. No doubt Alicia's been monopolizing all your time again." Finnegan said, and I laughed.

"Not this time. I wanted to be nearby for when my family arrived." He smiled and nodded at me. "Just wanted to let you guys know that everyone's arrived." I told them.

"Wonderful. I'll just pop into the kitchen and check with Maria about dinner." Finnegan said.

"I can do, so you can finish your cigar." I offered.

Finnegan leaned over and kissed the top of my head. "Have I told you lately that your my favorite?" He asked.

I laughed. "Only every day since you've met me." I said, before I made my way back inside the house. I ducked down the side hallway and stepped inside the kitchen. "Hey Maria." I said, cheerfully.

She turned to look at me as I perched myself onto a bar stool at the kitchen island. "Hi Miss Rory. How are you?" She asked me.

"I'm good. Finnegan wanted me to check with you and see about how much longer until dinner." I said.

"Not too much longer." She said.

"Thanks Maria. I'll let them know." I said. I returned to the backyard and told the guys that dinner was almost done. When I was finished, I headed back to the living room.

"Rory, there you are. I was beginning to worry." Grandma said.

"No need Grandma. Finn and I spend a lot of time with Finnegan and Alicia. I know this house as well as I do yours." I told her.

"Well that's good dear." Grandma said. I just smiled at her.

"Alicia" I said getting her attention. "I checked with Maria so Finnegan could finish his cigar and she said that dinner is just about done." I told her.

"Perfect. Thank you for that, dear." Alicia said.

"No problem." I said.

"Should we make our way to the dining room?" Alicia asked and everyone agreed. "Normally we just let everyone grab a seat wherever, but with some many people today, Rory and I thought it might be nice to make name cards for the table. We usually only do it for company events, but I think they came out nice. Rory, what do you think?" She asked me.

I walked over to the table and picked up one of the name cards. It was white and the lettering had been done in golden writing and it was calligraphy style. "They came out really good." I told her.

"Excellent." Alicia said. "I'm just going to go grab a couple bottles of wine and April, would you like a soda or juice?" Alicia asked.

"Soda would be nice thank you." April told her and Alicia smiled at her.

When Alicia had walked out of the room, Grandma turned her glare on me. "What?" I asked.

"Why is everything so casual?" Grandma asked.

I looked at her confused. I guess Grandma had never seen Alicia like this. "It's always like this. Even at work and work events. This is normal for Alicia. Finn and I do dinner with you guys on Friday nights and we have brunch with them on Sundays." I told her and she looked shocked. About thirty seconds later, Annabeth walked in. "Where've you been?" I asked her.

"Sorry. There was an emergency at the hotel in Melbourne. I'm gonna have to leave earlier than anticipated and I'm gonna need you to fly back with me." Annabeth said.

"What's happened?" I asked, quickly going into work mode.

Annabeth ran a hand over her face. "The hotel manager found a body in the pool when he arrived." Annabeth told me.

"This is gonna be a PR nightmare." I said.

"Absolutely. What are our options?" She asked.

I had no idea what I was going to do. I was trying to think when all of a sudden all of the guys walked in. "What's going on?" Finn asked me.

"We have a problem." I said.

"What?" Finnegan asked.

"As soon as dinner is done, Annabeth and I need the jet. They found a body in the pool at Melbourne." I told him.

"Jesus!" Finn said.

I nodded. "Okay. Let's eat, then you and Finn can go pack you a bag while I call the pilot. Is this something that you and Annabeth can handle or should I come as well?" Finnegan asked.

"I'm hoping that just Annabeth and I can handle it. I need to make a call though." I told him. He nodded.

I made my way out of the dining room and back into the living room. I quickly pulled my phone out of my purse, scrolling through my contacts until I found the number I was looking for. "Hello?"

"Does your dad have any papers in Australia?" I asked.

"Rory?" He asked.

"Yes. Does he?" I asked him. It was the first time that we'd spoken since we'd broken up.

"Yeah. He has a couple why?" Logan said.

"I'm going to need his help." I said, sighing. I wasn't exactly proud of this moment. But I also knew that I needed to use whatever connections I could come up with right now.

"What's going on?" He asked me.

"I've been working as a publicist and media consultant for Morgan Industries. There's been an incident at one of the hotels in Australia. I'm flying out there tonight. I'm willing to give HPG the exclusive. Do you think he'll take it?" I asked Logan.

"I'm sure he will. I can call him if you want." Logan said.

"Thank you Logan. Let me know when you talk to him. Finn and I are with our families right now, but I'll be checking my phone." I told him.

"Sure thing, Ace." Logan said, then disconnected the call.

"Do you really think that was a good idea?" I looked up to see Finn standing in the doorway to the living room.

I shrugged. "I don't know. But I honestly don't see any other options right now." I told him.

He nodded. "Come on, let's go eat. You have a flight to catch." He said.

I stood up from my spot on the couch and walked over to him. I leaned up and gently kissed him.

When Finn and I walked back into the dining room, I quickly spoke. "I am so sorry everyone. There's never any time off for me." I told them.

"It's okay dear. It seems like you have a very important job." Francine said, surprising me as I took my seat across from Annabeth and Alicia.

I nodded. "I do. I actually work for Finnegan. I'm there publicist. It's a very demanding job." I told her.

"Yes, but she's great at it. She makes sure that there's not a single negative word about us in the news." Finnegan said.

"I do try. Sometimes it's hard trying to be a publicist for over a hundred hotels and fifty resorts." I said.

"Really? You handle all of it?" Francine asked.

"I do. I love it though. I told Dad, that I'd always imagined working in print journalism but then Finnegan offered me the publicist position with absolute creative freedom and I love it. I didn't think that I would but I do. He even loans me to Mom and her business partner to help them for things. He knows that Mom can't really afford a decent publicist so he pays me for that as well." I told them.

Mom looked up shocked. "You do?" She asked Finnegan.

He nodded. "Rory is very talented at her job. She's even created a magazine for the company. She gives highlights of all of our properties. It includes things about the property as well as things to do nearby. It was genius. The board loved it when she brought it to their attention. Lorelai, I know what it's like starting a company as does Richard. I just wanted to do something to help." Finnegan said and I couldn't help but smile.

Mom sat back in her chair. "Well thank you. I'll have to get Sookie to bake you a cake or something." Mom said.

"I like red velvet." Finnegan said causing everyone to laugh.

A few minutes later, Maria began bringing everything out and sat it on the table. Before everyone began fixing their plates, Finnegan stood up, clearing his throat. "On behalf of Alicia and myself, I want to thank all of you for joining us. Chris, Lorelai, we want you to know that you have raised an amazing daughter. We are so thankful that she and Finn found their way to each other. I truly hope that this is the first of many holidays that we will all be together." Finnegan said, holding up his wine glass. "To family!"

"To family." Everyone said.

In between dinner and dessert, Francine had asked if she could speak with me. I nodded and Finnegan offered me his study. I led her into the study and closed the door behind us. "I owe you an apology." She said as soon as the door was shut.

I looked at the floor. "What for?" I asked.

"When you were sixteen, Straub and I let our feelings about your parents cloud our feelings about you cloud our head. It wasn't your fault that they had you so young. It took me a while after that day to realize that we never once took the chance to get to know you. It wasn't until Straub died that I finally felt that I could take the time and get to know you. I've kept up with you over the years. Most of it through Christopher, obviously. I've read everything you've ever written. After Richard and Emily told us that day that you were at Chilton, I called the next day and subscribed to the parent newsletter and well as the school newspaper. When I heard you were at Yale and on the paper, I did the same thing. I've made you a scrapbook that I'd love to show you some time." Francine said.

I was shocked. "Umm…thank you. That actually sounds really nice." I told her. She gave me a small smile.

"I know that you have some things going on at work right now, but when you have time…I'd love for you to come by my house. There's something that I need to show you." She said.

I nodded, again. "Sure. When I get back from Australia, I'll call you and we can set something up." I told her. She nodded.

By the end of the night, I was exhausted. Once everyone had left, Finn and I headed to our house with Annabeth so that I could quickly pack a bag. While I was packing, Logan had texted me and told me that Mitchum wanted the exclusive and that Logan had volunteered to get it. He was flying down with us. Finn quickly decided that he was going. He didn't want to take a chance of Logan saying something to me to upset me. This was clearly going to be a fun trip.