Anna was on top of Tristan. They were attached by the mouth as their tongues twirl together. Tristan's hands were under her skirt fondling her ass. He kept it over the panties, not wanting her to bite his tongue as she threatened. Being with her for Tristan was like being with a wild bobcat. Like a bobcat, she was so adorable that he wanted to cuddle and kiss her, but she was wild. If he crosses the natural boundaries, she can and would rip him to shreds. Despite the danger, he found himself enjoying being with her these past few weeks. But, he knew the reason she let him stick to her like glue at school and went to his house afterwards was to showcase her position of power to a rival wild cat that would be Paris in this analogy.

She sat up to straddle his waist. Tristan tried to follow her to reattach his mouth to her, but she put her hands on his chest to push him down on his bed. "Okay, you have to give me something useful for the test on Monday." She reminds him of the reason she came over today.

"What are you talking about? You're smart, you'll be fine." He tries to sit up again, but she pushes him back down.

"I promise Rory that I would get something useful." She told him.

"Oh god, I never met someone so dedicated to their sibling." He groans in frustration. This wasn't how he hoped for this afternoon to go.

"Rory is just as loyal to me. She always helps me study for every test, makes sure I'll be on time, and most important that I never go too far." She didn't like the way he implied that Rory didn't give as much as she did. In the 16 years of being sisters, they have never broken a promise to each other.

"Alright, I'll show you a trick to that equation you're been having a hard time with." He pouts like a child being forced to eat vegetables.

Anna claps in happiness as she gets off him. She grabs her pink unicorn folder and pulls out a piece of paper. "I'm ready." She put a crowned pencil to the paper. He pulled up a chair next to her and worked with her until she got it.

He throws himself back on the bed. "Okay, now come back." He beckons her over with two fingers.

She looks up at the clock hanging on his wall. "No, can do? I got to get to my grandparent's house." She put her things back in her bag. He got up and carried her bag for her to his Porsche.


The tense was awkward at the Gilmore dining table. Anna was able to ignore it and focus on the beautiful French dish that was in front of her.

"Dinner was lovely, Emily." Richard broke the silence. Anna wasn't sure why he was complimenting her, she didn't make it. She guesses her grandmother was the one who decided what dinner was going to be.

"Mira does make a perfect cassoulet." She agrees with her husband.

"Who's Mira?" Lorelai asks her mother.

"Our cook," She told her like it was obvious.

"I thought the cook was Heidi." She had a hard time keeping up with her mom's employees. She fired and rehired so many times.

"No, we let Heidi go months ago. She had a problem closing things. The door, the refrigerator..." She thought of all the problems she had with her last personal chef.

"The liquor bottle," Richard adds. Lorelai snorted. Anna nods, happy that they had a real reason for firing this one.

"Then it was Trina, then Sophia." Emily named her other chiefs.

"I liked Sophia." He points at his wife.

"You did not." She smiles at her husband's claim since he was the one that hated her.

"I didn't?" He looks confused.

"She was the one who sang." She reminds him.

"That's right. Terrible woman," He looks over at Rory and Anna to shiver, thinking about the woman's high pitch screech made his skin crawl.

"And after Sophia, we had Anton," Emily said the last chief name she could remember.

"That's right. Anton was the one that I liked." Richard nods.

"I'm sorry. Dad, how do you mix up Anton and Sophia?" Lorelai looks at her father in disbelief.

"What do you mean?" He turns to his daughter.

"One is a man and one is a woman." She states the obvious.

"And your point being," He looks to her to explain her point more.

"That one is a man and one is a woman." She repeats herself.

"I have a lot to do in a day, Lorelai. I don't have time to keep up with the multitudes of people that your mother employs." He spoke down to her.

Lorelai looks small for a second before looking back up with a smile and playfully says, "But one is a man and one is a woman." A lady came in wearing an odd fashion maid outfit and put down a beautiful cake. Anna licks her lips as she stares at it.

"The dinner was so wonderful, Mira." Lorelai compliments her.

"It's Sarah." She looks offended. She thought Lorelai was one of those rich people that were too good to even remember the help's name.

"I'm sorry." She apologizes. The chief gives her a nod and walks out. Anna held in her giggle until the chief was in the kitchen. She didn't want the worker to think she was laughing at her. "Mom, her name is Sarah." She whispers to her mother.

"I thought she said, Mira." Emily shrugs, not seeing the big deal.

"Grandma, these plates are really pretty." Rory looks down at it.

"Thank you, Rory. They were your great-grandmother." Emily told her.

"Lorelai I," Richard had the biggest smile on.

"I thought mom was the first." Rory looks over at her mother.

"Not in the name." Emily shook her head.

"No, but in so many other things, I was a regular trailblazer, just finishing your thought, Mom." She smiles at her mother, who shot her a dirty look.

"Lorelai I was my mother," Richard explained to them.

"What was she like?" Anna was curious about the woman. She never saw her grandpa smile like that for anyone.

"She was an extremely accomplished equestrian, a distinguished patron of the arts and she was also world-famous for her masquerade balls. She was quite a woman, my mother." He beams with pride.

"Masquerade balls, are there pictures?" Anna gasps in excitement.

"I'll dig them out for you next Friday. Mira, come cut the cake, please." Emily cut the conversation short, not wanting to talk about that woman.

"Yes, and why don't you bring Sarah out here with you?" Lorelai yells. Sarah came out and cut each of them a slice.

"Thank you." Anna nodded when she got her slice.

"So, Lorelai, how are things at that charming little inn of yours?" Emily looks at her daughter.

"It's still charming and little. We're crossing our fingers that it doesn't assert itself and become rude and large." She crosses her fingers. Anna looks between her mom and grandma. She wasn't sure which way to call this one. Her grandma's question could have been innocently word wrong, but one could never truly know with Emily Gilmore. She was the queen of sly digs that made you unsure if you were being insulted or not. It left one feeling confused and degraded. Anna would admire it greatly if it wasn't aimed at her mother.

"Mom's having a huge wedding there this week." Rory came to her mother's defenses. Anna was happy she did because she was too busy stuffing her face.

"Really?" Emily seems genuinely interested.

"Yeah, people are coming from all over the country." Lorelai smiled proudly, it was the biggest event they ever had.

"Isn't that nice?" She gave her a nod of acknowledgment.

"Yeah," Lorelai smiled, happy to be on a topic she was comfortable with.

"Rory, Anna how's Chilton?" Emily changed the topic so quickly it could have given someone whiplash.

"Okay, done with me now." She sighs, just like her mother to make her feel good then rip the rug out from under her.

"I'm sorry, was there more to the story?" She looks back at her.

Emily was a master at this, if Lorelai pushes to talk about her it would look like she wanted to be the center of attention rather than her children. She took the safe route. "They have to pick a team sport to play."

"It's a requirement," Rory said with her sister groaning dramatically on the side of her.

"Physical fitness is as important as intellectual fitness. So says Plato, and so say I." Richard gave Anna a pointed look.

"What sport are you going to pick?" Emily looks over at them.

"I'm not sure. I'm not the athletic type." Rory explains. She wouldn't have even played regular child games like tag if Anna didn't drag her along.

"The requirement is to try out for a team, not make one. So, I'm going for the one I have no business doing which is the track team." Her time was pathetic. From her inside source, being Henry and Tristan, she knew that there were enough skilled people that there was no way she would make the team. She ignores her grandfather's disapproval huff.

"I told her she should go out for the debating team." Lorelai points at Rory.

"That's not a sport." Rory smiles back at her mother. She didn't know how many times she was going to say that to her. If it came down to it she makes an ass out of herself with her sister, but she was trying to avoid that.

"It is the way the Gilmores play." Lorelai gave her mother a big smile.

Emily gave an innocent look like she didn't know what her daughter was referring too. "So, what are your choices?" She asks Rory.

"God, there are a thousand of them; Basketball, lacrosse, swimming, track, golf." She thought about the list they gave her.

"Golf?" Emily perks up.

"Yeah," She nods.

"Your grandfather is a golf player." She looks over at Richard.

"Ops," Lorelai grimaces.

"He plays every week at the club. He could teach you to play like a pro. He could take you there on Saturday. It's perfect." She made plans without even asking the two parties and both of them didn't look excited about it.

"It's not something you can teach in an afternoon." To Richard golf was his relaxing time.

"That's okay. Rory can pick something else." Lorelai calms down her father.

"Why should she? She needs to learn a sport, and Richard can teach her a sport. You can use your mother's old golf clubs. They're gathering dust along with the rest of her potential." Emily couldn't help but throw that punch. Even, Anna thought she went too far.

"Okay. Mom, could I maybe talk to you for a minute?" She put her napkin down on the table.

"We're having dessert." She looks down at her plate that had a half-eaten cake on it.

"I know, but I'd like to talk to you fast before the sugar sets in and makes me crazy." Lorelai gave her a big fake smile.

"You are the oddest person." Emily got up. They walk into the living room.

"Well, I'm going to have another slice." Anna got up to put another slice of cake on her plate.


"Did you get blind-sided? I'm so sorry." Lorelai apologizes to Rory as they walk to the car.

"That's okay." Rory nods.

"I tried to stop it, I swear." She told her.

"I know. Maybe it won't be that bad." Rory hopes.

"Maybe it won't." Lorelai giggled.

"Maybe I'll like it." Rory kept up her upbeat attitude.

"Maybe you will." Anna snickers.

"Maybe one of you could come with me." Rory looks over at them with a big smile.

"Is there a you're crazy team? 'Cause they'd make you captain." Lorelai laughs.

"You should have told them you were trying out for track. I told you, we're going to get ice cream after." She skips over to the jeep.

"Please. I'll love whoever does it more." Rory pleads.

"I would take a bullet for you. But I'd rather stick a sharp thing in my ear than go to the club with you." Her mother put her hands on Rory's shoulders.

"Fine," She sighs.

"I'd rather slide down a banister of razor blades and land in a pool of alcohol than go to the club with you." Anna joins in on the fun.

"I got it." Rory huffs and tries to walk over to the jeep but her mom stopped her.

"Don't stop me, I got one better than that. I'd rather eat my hand than go to the club with you." She giggles.

"I'd rather surgically alter my face to look like the mad rich lady with the lion head than go to the club with you." Anna challenged her.

"Would you like me to drive so you guys can continue your diatribe?" Rory held out her hand.

"Would you? Thanks." She passed Rory the keys. "I'd rather cut off my head and use it as a punch bowl than go to the club with you." She got into the jeep.


"Oh, I'm so sad that I did badly, I don't know what will be able to lift my spirit." Anna fake sobs into her hands as she walks out of the girl's locker room. She was wearing a white tank top that had gold buttons down the middle with a black polyester jacket over it. She had on black ripped jeans and black high top boot that she folded over to show the red flannel inside with studs on the toe part. She kept her hair and makeup simple since she knew Henry and their friends were waiting for her. She put her hair up in a high ponytail. She only put on tinted lip gloss and mascara.

"May I offer the fair maiden some ice cream?" Henry bows to her.

"As long as it's Cold Stone," She put her cat-eye sunglasses on top of her head.

"Oh, you guys are going for ice cream?" Madeline came out of the locker room. Louise and her 'tried out' for the track team too.

"Yeah, you guys can come too if you want." Henry offers.

"Su..." Louise nudges Madeline to stop her from accepting.

"If you guys have to check with your overlord first we understand," Anna smirks.

"Hey, ready to go?" Tristan came down the hall, in a pair of fitted jeans and a gray t-shirt.

"What are you doing here?" Anna asked. He 'tried out' for the basketball team yesterday. He had no reason to be staying late today.

"You said all of you guys were going out for ice cream. I figure I should come along to help carpool." He shrugs.

"Your Porsche fits like three people." She raises an eyebrow at him.

"Four, it can fit two people in the backseat if they're skinny." He corrects her.

"Sounds like Madeline and me," Louise grabbed onto her friend's arm.

"Oh, you're coming now?" She looks over at the two girls.

"Of course," The blonde said like it was never up for debate.

"Let's get going," Henry said, knowing how aggressive his new friend could be. Everyone walked to the parking lot and got in their cars to meet at the nearest Cold Stone.

Anna opens the Porsche passenger door and pushes the seat up for Louise and Madeline. "Why do you get to sit in the front? We should let Tristan decide." Louise nods over to the amused blonde.

"Fine," Anna looked at him also.

"It doesn't matter to me." He shrugs.

"Oh, it doesn't matter to you." She glares at him before turning to the girls. "Okay, I'll sit in the back. The question is who will sit in the back with me?" The girls share a panicked look before getting backseat. "That's what I thought." She puts the seat up and throws her backpack on the floor before getting in.

Tristan chuckled as he got into the car. He started it up and pulled out of the parking lot. "So, do you want to go to Cold Stone?" He glances at the passenger seat.

"Why, what else do you have in mind?" Madeline leans forward with a mischief smile to ask.

"We're going. We already told Henry that we would." Anna glares at the driver.

"What so fucking great about Henry anyways?" He yelled. He wanted to keep his jealous under wraps, but fuck it if she got scared away then whatever it wasn't like he had her anyways. The fact that it was in front of Paris's friends made it a little sweeter for him. Considering she only gave him the time of day to anger the girl.

"What? He's a good friend. I like talking to him." She leans back in her chair. She never saw him mad before.

"Oh, and you can't talk to me. What am I only good for making out and dry humping?" He rolls his eyes. The girls in the back gasp. Anna felt like an asshole. She assumes that Tristan was some shallow guy that didn't mind her using him as long as he got a little action. Even then that had to be frustrating for him since they only have gone to second base. She felt stupid if that all he wanted he would have pushed for more, but he never did. He actually helps with her school work. He told her so many things about himself. She thought it was because he liked talking about himself. It was clear now that he was trying to get closer to her.

The rest of the ride was silent. He parked in front of Cold Stone. "Call me if you need a ride?" He said without looking at her.

She got out of the car to let Madeline and Louise out. "I know it's a lot to ask, but do you think you can find another ride home?" She asks them.

"Don't worry. I can always call for a car." Madeline pulls her friend into the ice cream parlor.

She got back in the Porsche. "You don't have to stay with me out of pity." He sneered still not looking at her.

"I think I should clear something up. My flirty type is bantering. I have never bantered with Henry." She told him. He looks over at her confused by the new information. He noticed the excited gleam she would get in her eyes when they argued but thought it was because she had a good comeback coming. "I'm sorry. I was so distracted with my hatred for Paris that I didn't notice that I was fucking up something good. Do you want to go to Luke's?" She asks him out for the first time with the intention of getting to know him.

"Luke's, like the place you work, where you found your love for cooking?" He remembers the picture he saw hanging in her locker. If he knew all he had to do was open up about his frustration to tame his Bobcat, he would have done it as soon as he felt the green monster rise when he saw her and Henry laughing in front of her locker.

"Yeah, I'll even give you a tour of the town. It's not the glam you're used to but it's home." She smiles at him.


"So, what's the deal with you and Paris anyways?" Anna looks across the table at Tristan.

"I kissed her on a dare once in the sixth grade." He sighs.

"Must have been some kiss." She wasn't sure if she should laugh or be concerned about Paris's mental state.

"You kissed me so you know." He smirks.

"You did what?" Luke screams making the teens jump.

"Hi Luke, this is Tristan. He goes to Chilton with me. Tristan, this is Luke. My boss, mentor, role model," She introduces the two.

"Does your mother know you're here with a boy?" He asked.

"Sort of," She shrugs.

"What do you mean you sort of?" He put his hands on his hips.

"She thought I was going to be on a group outing where there would be boys." She explains.

"So, you lied?" Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"No, I thought I was going to, but I had a change of plans." She rubs the back of her neck.

"She knows your ki...kissing." He chokes out the last word.

"She knows that we've been on a couple of dates. She's not naive." She told him.

"I need a minute." He drops his order pad and walks off.

"He's known me since I was in diapers." She explains to Tristan. She grabs a pen from her bag.

"You want a burger right?" She asks.

"It's the best right?" He asks. She spoke about the burger for almost the whole ride here. He had to taste it for himself.

"It is." She wrote down their orders and got up to put it on the ticket wheel. She turns around to see Miss. Patty and Babette at her table. "You've got to be kidding me?" She made her way over to save him.

"Hey, Miss Patty, Babette," She smiles at them.

"Hello dear, are you with the handsome Porsche owner." Patty reaches over to squeeze his bicep.

"His name is Tristian. This is Miss Patty, she teaches dance. She taught me the maypole dance." She points to her favorite person to gossip with.

"A pole dance?" He asks with a large smile on.

"The Maypole dances with the ribbons," She rolls her eyes at his dirty mind.

"Never heard of it," He shrugs.

"Anna will just have to bring you to the next one." Patty put a hand on her shoulder.

Her neighbor clears her throat. "This is Babette, she's my neighbor. She has the cutest cat." She sat down in her seat.

"Oh honey, Cinnamon will be over the moon when I tell her you said that." She put a hand over her heart. "Come on, Patty. Let's leave them to their date." She pulls her friend over to the counter to get a coffee and muffin.

"We hope to see you around here more often." Miss Patty waves to him.

"You weren't kidding when you said this town is filled with colorful characters. They were talking about the car when they came in, so I told them it was mine. They were all over me." He told her.

"With that face, they would have been all over even without the car." She reaches over to pinch his cheek.


"I never thought I would say this, but I had a good time and I didn't even have to take my clothes off." Tristan jokes. They were walking back to his car that was parked in front of Luke's.

"I'm telling you the small-town life is the best." She skips alongside him.

"But, what's up with that Taylor guy," He asks.

"He owns the grocery store. He's the town selectman, but he makes like he's the mayor. It's a little sad though because no one takes him seriously, except for maybe Kirk." She explains to him.

"Kirk is the squirm guy who has a bunch of different jobs." He remembers the guy threatens him to keep his hands to himself. He found it hilarious how mortified Anna was.

"Sorry again about him. I don't know why he did that or got into that stance. I think it was supposed to be karate." She stops in front of the Porsche.

"Don't worry, your face made it worthwhile." He laughs.

"Hahaha, well hurry up and kiss me goodbye, unless you're ready to meet my mom." She tilts her head up and puckers her lips.

"I think I met enough people today." He leans down to kiss her. She wraps her arms around his neck to make it more intense.

"I'll call later." She promises before going into Luke's. She sat down at the table Rory was on.

"You don't get to just sit there after that display." Rory points at the window that shows Tristan getting into his car.

"Sometimes you think someone's a self-centered asshole and you find out you're the self-center asshole." She summed up her day.

Rory was going to question her on what that meant when Luke, who fortunately was in the back and didn't see the kiss, turned to Rory not ready to face Anna. "Interesting hat," He nods to the colorful knitted hat in her hands.

"I went golfing with my grandfather today." She put the ugly hat on.

"Did you know golf courses are an environmental blight because of the chemicals used to keep the grass green?" He asks.

"I did." She nods. He gave her a serious face like if you knew then why did you go. "Bad joke. Sorry." She apologizes. He walks away.

Lorelai entered the diner. "My God this day, the swans, the tulle, my head, I need the largest cheeseburger in the world. Let's break a record, mister." She shouts to Luke before sitting down at the table next to Anna. "So, the wedding is a nightmare. We got these 10 boxes of creepy larvae that are supposed to swarm into butterflies on the wedding day. They swarmed a little early. What's with the hat?" She points to the hat on Rory's head.

"Grandma gave it to me," Rory told them.

"Grandma normally has good taste." Anna looks at the hat.

"That's just mean." Lorelai felt bad for her daughter.

"It's not that bad." She rolls her eyes at them.

"Do you want a mirror?" Lorelai asks.

"I'm taking it off." She took it off her head and smooth out her hair.

"So, Rory's golfing adventure. Tell me." She seems excited to hear about it. Anna didn't know why golf was boring for her.

"It was fine." She shrugs.

"I brought you some of Sookie's chocolate cake to make you feel better." She passes her the cake.

"You didn't get me any cake." Anna whines.

"There was only one slice left and you didn't spend your day in hell." She told her youngest.

"It really wasn't that bad," Rory repeated herself.

"You're the sweetest kid in the whole world. Where on earth did you get that from?" Lorelai smiles at her. "Luke! Am I mistaken, or did the sign on the door say "open"? So where were we?" She snaps at the man before turning back to Rory.

"Me golfing," She reminds her.

"Right Go," She waves.

"Okay. Well. By the end of the day, I could even hit the ball. Sometimes it wasn't my ball, but the intentions were good." Rory explains.

"Good intentions and no physical exertion whatsoever is what the game of golf was built on. So did you order?" Lorelai asks.

"I'm not hungry. I had a big lunch at the club." She plays with her hat.

"With all the other devastators of our land," Luke filled up Lorelai's mug.

"Luke, I'm really sorry. I didn't know." Rory apologizes to him as he walks away.

"You had a big lunch at the club?" Lorelai asks, thinking that they would only play golf.

"Yeah, it was quite good." She told them.

"Quite? What's with the quite?" She laughs to cover up her insecurity that her mother was right. Rory likes the high-end life that Lorelai took her away from.

"What do you mean?" She pushes her eyebrows together.

"You don't ever say quite." Lorelai narrowed her eyes, wondering what could have happened in one afternoon.

"I've said quite plenty of times." Rory didn't understand her mom's problem with the word. Anna was even more confused since she was never corrected on her swearing.

"Whatever. Besides the quite good lunch, you had, what else happened?" She took a sip of her coffee.

"Nothing, we played. I met his friends. I took a steam." She thought about her day.

"You took a steam?" Lorelai asked, thinking she heard wrong.

"Yeah, I sweated out all my toxins, and I stole a towel." She smiles.

"Aren't people naked in there? Old people," Anna gagged at the thought.

"No, you would love the steam. It's where people gossip." Her smile got bigger remembering the thing she heard.

"What rich people gossip? Did you hear that Kathy was wearing a fake Chanel," Anna made an uppity old lady voice.

"It's affairs and kinks." She said, making her sister's jaw drop.

"Sounds like you really had a good time," Lorelai's jaw drops also.

"I did." She nods.

"Really?" Lorelai looks for a hint that she was lying. They repeated the same words a few more times to each other before Rory ended it.

"Okay, a new word now," She slams her hands on the table.

"Sorry. I'm just surprised. I thought you were going to be bored." She was trying to wrap her head around the fact that Rory had a good day with her grandfather.

"I was kind of surprised, too. I don't know, it was pretty there. And Grandpa and I talked a lot." Rory was dreading going and it was awkward at first, but it turns out to be a good day. She was happy to have a growing relationship with her grandfather.

"You talked? Really?" She gasps.

"You're doing it again." Rory gave her a frustrated sigh.

"Sorry. You talked?" She puts on a small smile and nods her head.

"We talked about Fez," Rory told them.

"And he thought it was a hat." Lorelai made a face at what she thought was her dad's cluelessness.

"I told him about our backpacking trip, and he thought it was a great idea." She explains the topic that turns her day around.

"So you really had fun?" She gave her a customer service smile. Rory nods her head. "That's great. That is really, really great." Their mom said in a very strain voice, letting them know she thought it was anything but great.

Luke came over and put her mom's burger in front of her. "I thought you were starving." He said when she didn't attack her food like she normally did.

"Things change, move on." She hisses at him. He walks away, shaking his head.

"I took Tristan to Stars Hollow." Anna blurts out wanting to get out of the weird awkward air.

"What?" Her mother and sister looked at her in shock. Just yesterday she was telling them that Tristan was a fun way to irritate Paris. Anna told them all about her day.

"So, I'll be the last person to meet Tristan." Lorelai gasps for the hundred times that night.

"If it makes you feel better I feel like I just met Tristan today." Anna shrugs.

"As your mom, that doesn't make me feel good considering you've been making out with him for a few weeks now." She gave her daughter a fake glare.

"Exactly, you're my mom. Introducing him to everyone else is whatever, but you're different. You'll get a special meeting." She reassured her mother.

"I better." She muttered, feeling for the first time like she was being pushed out of her daughters' lives.


Lorelai, Anna, and Rory were sitting around the small table on the porch. "Mom, don't you think Jackson and Sookie would be cute together?" Anna looked up from her history textbook to ask her mom who was reading for her business class.

"Not everyone thinks arguing is flirting, honey." She said, not looking up from her book.

"It's banter mom, not arguing. He cares for her. He brought her the strawberries even though the other day he swore he would never come back again. I mean, she did end up sending the strawberries back, but that's a minor detail." Anna explains to her mom what happened in the kitchen today. She was helping to prepare for the wedding this weekend.

"Maybe, I don't know. Sookie doesn't seem interested in a relationship." She told her youngest before turning to her oldest. "Should we leave you two alone?" She asks. Rory has been staring at herself in the hand mirror for some time now.

"I think I want to change my hair." She told them.

"Really? I think it looks quite good." She emphasized the word quite.

"You're funny. Do you want something to drink?" Rory rolls her eyes at her mother as she gets up.

"Yeah, water." Her mom nods.

"A coke, please." Anna smiles. Rory nods and walks into the house.

"So, you talked to Grandpa today?" Lorelai yells into the house.

"What?" She yelled back, not expecting anyone to talk to her so she wasn't listening.

"Grandpa, he called?" She repeated.

"Yeah," Rory yells back.

"Anything wrong," She asks.

"No, he just found this book we were talking about." She walks back out with her hands full. She put the drinks down before taking her seat. Anna grabs her bottled coke to take a sip.

"And he just called to tell you that?" Lorelai asked. He could have waited until Friday for that.

"Yeah, why," Rory didn't understand why her mom was being weird about the subject of her dad lately.

"Nothing, it's just weird. He doesn't call the inn that much. Or ever, actually," She twirls her pen around her in hand.

"He knew that I was looking for it, so..." She looks down at her homework.

"Oh, sure," Her mom nods.

"What book is it?" Anna asks, wondering if she would want to read it too.

"Mencken's Chrestomathy," Rory smiled, knowing that sister had a love-hate relationship with the author.

"H.L. Mencken. How can he write such strong women and then say that he thinks women should remain in the background of things and support their husbands?" She remembered how her heart broke when she read In Defense of Women.

"For his time..." Rory was going to defend him when Babette ran onto their porch.

"Cinnamon is stuck under our front porch again. Can I borrow some vegetable oil, a shoehorn, and Anna?" She asks.

"I'll get it." Rory got up with a smile on. She loves her wacky neighbors.

"I'll head over." Anna ran to the next house. She loved Cinnamon. She couldn't have her own pet, because her mom believed herself to be cursed since every animal they got died in her care. "Hi Morey," She greeted her neighbor.

"Thank god, you're here Anna. Try and call her out. She thinks of you as her big sister." He sighs in relief.

Anna sat down on the ground. "Come on Cinnamon. Come on out, my beautiful girl." She calls. The cat looked for a few seconds before slowly crawling towards her.

"She's coming out," Morey yells to his wife.

"Play me home, baby!" She requested. He got up and went into the house to play her a tune on the piano. Babette ran back home. Anna laughs at their cute relationship. Once Cinnamon was in her reach, she grabbed her and stood up. "Thank you, sugar." Babette took the cat from her and kissed her on the cheek.

"It's no problem. I wouldn't want him to get hurt under there." She gave the cat a pet.

"Come inside, you can have some cookies and lemonade as a thank you." Babette pulled her into the house. She sat down with her and talked about Cinnamon, Chilton, and Tristan. The last one was the topic that interested Babette the most.


Eventually, she went back home to find that her mom and sister got into an argument. "What, mom never cared before when you borrowed her stuff. We have a shared closet policy in this house." Anna was sitting down on her sister's bed.

"I know, she said I'm stretching out her sweater, which had to be you, not me. You have the biggest boobs in the house." Rory points at her sister's chest.

"Sorry, she yells at you for my mistake then." Anna felt bad that Rory was forced to take the blame for this.

"It's not you, it's her. She is the one who is going crazy." Rory lies down.

"You know it's not about the sweater." Anna lay down next to her. Being that it was only a twin they were both half on half off the bed.

"I know, but we are allowed to have a relationship with our grandparents." Rory defends herself.

"I know, but I think I'll wait a while before I hint to grandma that I want to go to one of her tea parties," Anna said.

"You want to go to grandma's tea parties?" Rory props herself up on her elbows to look down at her sister in confusion.

"What? There are pastries there and I want to hear rich gossip now that you made it interesting." She put on a large goofy smile making Rory laugh.


Anna was happy that their mom and Rory made up, especially before Friday night dinner. Rory rang the doorbell as Lorelai's hands were full, holding the box cake. "Oh good, you're here." Emily opens the door.

"Hi Grandma," Her grandchildren greeted her as they walked inside.

"My goodness, what's that?" She looked at the box in her daughter's hands.

"We brought dessert." She told her.

"Really? How thoughtful! What is it?" She took the box from her.

"Blueberry shortcake, I helped make it." Anna puffs out her chest in pride.

"That's great, dear. I've never heard of blueberry shortcake." Emily opens the box.

"We didn't have any strawberries, so we decided to be different." She explains to her grandma.

"Why is it already cut?" She looks over at Lorelai.

"It's leftover from the wedding….at the inn," She added on when she felt pressure from her mother's stare.

"I know where the wedding was." She closed the box.

"Sorry. You were just doing that staring thing." Lorelai points at her face.

"You brought us used dessert?" She asks.

"I'm sorry, grandma. I didn't have time to make a new one. I wanted you to try it." Anna saved her mom from another uncomfortable conversation.

"I'm sure it's delicious, Anna. I'll just put it in the kitchen next to my half-empty box of cheer." She gave her daughter one last judgmental look before going into the kitchen, blaming her that Anna didn't make one just for them.

"She's in a good mood tonight," Lorelai commented since she let the used dessert sort of slide by.

"Can I get you a drink?" Emily passed the cake to the maid and came back to them.

"White wine would be great." She told her mother.

"Coke," Her granddaughter requested as they followed her into the living room.

"Did Rory tell you all about the wonderful time she had at the club?" Emily asked as she grabbed the glasses from the beverage cart. Rory, Lorelai, and Anna sat down on the couch.

"She sure did," Lorelai said through gritted teeth. She knew her mother was waiting all week to rub it in her face.

"Your father was simply flying all week. She really charmed him." Emily smiles as she puts ice in the cokes.

"If anybody could, it would be her." Lorelai pats Rory's knee.

"In this age of MTV and 100 television channels who would have thought a girl could still get a thrill spending a simple afternoon with her grandfather?" Emily was over the moon when Richard came home and said he had a great time.

"That wine would be really good right now." Lorelai points at the wine bottle, her mom had yet to touch.

"I think we should consider getting her a membership at the club." She poured the white wine into a glass.

"If she wants, sure," She shrugs, not wanting her mother to see she was bothered.

"To have a place to go where she can socialize, that's very important to a young girl." Emily pours herself a glass of wine too.

"Now especially that the crack den has closed down on the corner all her really good friends are gone," Lorelai said, getting an unimpressed look from her mother and a chuckle from Anna.

"What do you think, should I pursue a career in comedy?" She wanted that look gone from her mom's face.

"It's just very interesting the way things turn out, isn't it?" Emily smiled in triumph.

"Oh, you're here." Richard came into the room. "Rory, I have a surprise. Not only did I find that copy of Mencken's Chrestomathy we discussed, I also found the first edition of his memoirs as well." He looks over at his eldest granddaughter.

"You're kidding." She perks up.

"It's in my office if you'd like to see them." He offers.

"Oh, my God, I totally would." She hops out of her seat.

"Anna, you should come along too. Rory tells me you like his work, but not him. Maybe this will change your mind." He looks to his youngest granddaughter.

Anna smiled at him wanting to include her. "Only one way to find out," She hops out of her seat in the same manner as her sister. Their grandfather led them to his office.

"I'd like to take a look at that myself." Emily hands Lorelai her wine before following them out.

Lorelai drank her wine alone as her new reality settled in.