Anna's eye twitches violently under her dry eyelid. It felt gross because she could feel her eye sticking to the lid. "You need to get that checked out." Jaci notices her friend jerk.

"I'm scared for my eyes." She rubs her eyes, trying to force the tears for some relief. As of lately, her eyes have been twitching. Her vision has been blurry in the morning.

"Exactly why you need to get it checked out before it gets worse." She sighs.

"Jess made an appointment for tomorrow. I hate when they put the drops in." She sips her coffee.

"Good for him." Jaci nods in approval.

"Time to get back to work." She sighs, getting up.


Anna was clocking out for the day with Jaci. "Hey Anna," Mindy, a waitress friend, ran into the kitchen to get to her before she walked out the backdoor.

"Hey, you need something before I go?" She turned to her.

"An older woman is asking her for you. She says it's important." She pointed at the dining area.

"Go ahead, I'll see you later." She nods to Jaci.

"Alright, call me if you need me to watch the animals or anything." She worried that she would need to rush home for a family emergency.

"I will." She assumes the worst when she walks out. She expected to see her mom or grandma in tears. She was surprised when Mindy pointed out a woman that she had never seen before. "Thanks, Min." She walked up to the table. "I'm sorry, I think you might have the wrong person."

"Are you Susanna Gilmore? From Stars Hollow?" She asked.

"Yes." She took a seat. "How…"

"I'm sorry, I'm freaking you out. I'm Liz Dan. Jess's mom." She stuck out her hand. Anna shook it. "Don't be mad at him but Luke updates me on Jess."

"Of course," She nods. "Does Jess know you're here?"

"No, he wouldn't want to talk to me after everything." She rubs her face. "I was horrible to him. I'm sure you know."

"Jess doesn't talk much about his childhood but he has a fondness for New York so some good things had to have happened." She had heard stories with his friends but never any stories with his mom.

"I suppose. I know it's a lot to ask in the first…" She looks down at her watch. "... five minutes of meeting someone but do you think you could help me reconnect with him." Anna was silent, not knowing how to answer that question. She couldn't force Jess to forgive his mom. She knew bits and pieces of things like drug abuse, domestic violence with her boyfriends, and leaving him for weeks at a time. She had a hard time forgiving her dad for his absence, how could she ask Jess to forgive abuse? "I've changed a lot. I got my own jewelry business that is doing well on the renaissance market."

"Renaissance market?" She tilts her head.

"I have a stand at the renaissance fair that travels. I'm in a healthy relationship. I'm not using. I'm doing well. I wouldn't be trying to reconnect with him if I wasn't. He was a part of so much of my bad. I want him to be a part of my good too." Liz wanted him to know that his mom wasn't a piece of shit.

"Okay…um… I'll try to set up a meeting but I can't make any promises. Jess is stubborn." She knew this was going to be hard.

"Thank you." She nods. "And thank you for helping Jess too. Luke says he changed a lot because of you."

"I wouldn't say he changed. Jess likes to set his own goals and he resents the ones that society sets for him. I inspire him to make a life out here. But, all of Jess's success falls on him." She knew a lot of people in Stars Hollow felt that she saved Jess. She didn't see it like that. Jess works hard to support her through her dream.

"I tried to tell the schools that but they kept saying he was lazy and a punk." She was happy that someone else got Jess. Everyone wrote him off as a delinquent that had no drive.

"Oh yeah, Star Hollow High thought the same too." She nods.

"I'm sure." She laughed. "So, tell me about yourself."

"Well, I work here as a prep cook and I'm going to culinary school. I have a dog and a cat. I have recently gotten into gardening." She described the things that came to her.

"What about your family?" She asked.

"I was raised by my mom. I have a sister. I am close to my grandparents. I'm close with all of them." She thought of her family relationship. "What about you?"

"Luke's my brother. I had a loving family. I'm a wanderer. I never like staying in one place for long." It is why the renaissance fair was perfect for her.

"We both grew up in Star Hollow." Anna thought of something they had in common.

"Oh yeah, I hated how everyone was in my business as a teen. I ran the first chance I got." She wanted to see the world.

"That's what I like about Star Hollow. I like that everywhere you go you run into a friend. Everyone cares about each other. My mom never ran out of babysitters for Rory and me." Sure some residents couldn't keep their judgy comments to themselves, but the community always came together when someone was in need.

"Do you plan on moving back there?" She asked.

She paused because that was something she didn't discuss with Jess yet. "Maybe, eventually. But, here is gonna be my home for a bit." Originally she planned to do the two-year program and move back to Star Hollow to work under Luke and Sookie but Jess was starting a business. She knew it might be a while before she could live in her hometown. "So… Do you have any cute baby Jess stories?" She hoped she didn't make things awkward.

"I'll tell you some if you tell me some cute current Jess stories." She smiles.

"Deal." She nods.


She came home from her doctor's appointment with a small bag. Jess finished working construction. He came home to shower and rest before going to meet with the guys to look at places. "What did the doctor say?" He looked up from the couch.

"The worst thing ever." She whines.

"What? Are you going blind? Are you…. You're not dying are you?" He got up to hug her.

"No… but it's just as bad. He said I have to cut down on coffee. Two cups a day." She cried onto his shoulder.

"Oh my god," He pushed her away. "You made me scared for nothing."

"Jess, I'm so sad. I told him all about my problem. He looked at my eyes and asked me about my caffeine intake. Like an idiot, I answered honestly. After saying he never heard of someone drinking that much. He called it excessive and said that the caffeine is stopping my eyes from making tears. I have to cut it down to three cups. Three cups! How am I supposed to live like that?" She threw herself down on the couch. Naruto licked her hand. She pets him to thank him for the comfort.

"You'll live." He scoffed.

"But will I want to go on?" She hid her face in her arms.

"Is it two or three?" He asked.

"It's two, or three if I don't have any other caffeine products." She braced herself when she saw Sauske running towards her. He was bigger but he still liked pouncing on her. "Sasuke." She sat up so he fell from her chest to her lap. "So… someone visited me at my job yesterday."

"Who was it? Your mom, Rory, Lane, Thomas. Just tell me who is going to be on the couch." He knew she had a long list of friends that missed her. While he didn't like someone invading his space, he understood that she was a social person.

"No one's going to be on the couch. It was your mom." She told him.

"Did she ask you for money? We're not giving her shit. I can't believe that Luke told her where we were." He sneers.

"She didn't ask me for money. She wants a moment of your time to say sorry. She wants to talk to you, to catch up. She wants to build a relationship." She could tell Liz regretted that she wasn't mature enough to raise Jess.

"Then she should have come to me, not you." He was upset that she was using Anna's kind nature to get him to talk to her.

"I'm easier to track than you." His job changes location every few weeks.

"You want me to meet her, don't you?" He took a seat on the recliner.

"I do, but I understand if you're not ready. I have her number so you can think about it. She is in town for the rest of the weekend before she has to take a flight to Dallas for the renaissance fair." She hands him the number.

"So you wouldn't be here for it." Jess knew she had an event.

"It's my grandpa's launch party, but we can do it tomorrow. But, maybe I shouldn't be there for it." She thought it needed to be a one-on-one conversation.

"What?" He yelled. It made Sauske eye him as his back hair stood up.

"It's not that I don't want to be there for you. I don't want either of you to feel like you have to hold anything back because I'm there." She explains to him her thought process behind it.

"What do you mean hold back?" He asked.

"You don't like to talk about your home life before coming to Stars Hollow with me." She was going to go on but Jess cut her off.

"I don't talk about it with anyone." He wasn't planning on talking about it with my mom.

"But, maybe you need to, to have a relationship with her." She knew she needed that with her dad for them to move forward.

"What are you an expert on repairing relationships? I don't see you and your daddy being buddy-buddy." He scoffs.

"Don't be nasty because you're uncomfortable." She had to hold back from yelling a mean comment back. "I am in the process of repairing my relationship with my dad. The first step was an uncomfortable conversation." When he stayed silent, she picked Sasuke up to stand up. "You have the number, call, don't call. It's your mom." She went to the balcony.


She was driving to the dog park when her grandma called. "Hi, Grandma." She put the phone on speaker.

"Hi dear, I called to let you know that you don't have to come down this weekend if you don't want to. The launch party got canceled." She was robotic in the way she was talking. Which let Anna know she was trying to distance herself from the topic.

"Why? Is everything okay? Did Jason and Grandpa decide not to be partners?" She asked.

"I wish." She huffs. "Your grandpa and Jason decided to go in a different direction."

"Then a party, what are they going to do to take them on a fun trip to Atlantic City to show that they are different?" She snorted.

"That's what they decided to do." She was surprised she guessed that. "Maybe Jason is right about what the younger generation wants."

"I was being sarcastic. I don't want to think that my insurance guy is partying it up." She never heard her Grandma so down. "You had made plans, booked people so they should do the party then do the trip for a first anniversary or something."

"Jason doesn't like the idea of a party. He said they were boring and stuffy. They are outdated, along with the people who plan them." She sobs.

"No, parties are good. These high-paying clients are busy. I bet not all of them can or want to take a weekend off to spend time with their insurance agent. Did Jason say all that to you?" She was ready to murder that guy.

"In so many words. Your grandpa thinks it is a good idea." She was most hurt by that.

"I'm coming down for the weekend anyways." She hoped she ran into Jason.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing you. I gotta go, I have a lot of calls to make." She looks down at the list.

"What if you don't call them?" An idea pops into her head.

"What?" She questions.

"It's last minute, so you have to pay them anyways, so why not invite all your friends over? We can have a big tea party, make it a Mad Hatter theme." She was getting excited at the idea.

"Maybe, okay. I'll see you Friday." Her voice was peppier.


She brought Naruto home to see Jess in the kitchen. "What are you doing?" She watches him.

"Trying to make you Luke's burger to apologize for being an ass." He flips the patty.

"I will accept the apology if the burger is good." She sat down on the stool at the breakfast counter.

"I called her." He told her.

"Yeah?" She put her head on her fist.

"I'm going to meet up with her for dinner Friday." He was a little nervous about it.

"I'll be spending Friday cheering up my grandma because my grandpa's asshole partner told her that her party was boring and out of date. He wants to take the clients to Atlantic City." She put some chips on her plate when he put a burger in front of her.

"I would go to Atlantic City rather than a business party." He shrugged.

"I don't want to go on a vacation with my insurance agent and their other clients." She didn't want to have to go by their itinerary either.

"If they're paying I would." He would take a free trip.

"Jess, you're paying, they are insurance agents. The budgets coming for the monthly fees." She reminds him.

"Oh, true. Do you think the party cost as much as the vacation?" He wonders.

"No, I'm sure they are staying at a fancy hotel and everyone wants their own room." She didn't see rich people sharing. "Is there anything you want to talk to your mom about?"

"Plenty but I don't know. I'll see where she's at on Friday." He hopes everything went well.

"She's very charming." She had a nice lunch with her.

"That's my mom, she has loads of charm. What she lacks is consistency and stability." He wasn't surprised that Anna liked her. His mom was a good time.

"Maybe her new man has inspired her to be better like I have you." She teased.

"Just shove the burger in your mouth." He picks it up to force her to eat it. She laughed as she took a large bite.


Anna walks down the stairs for the tea party. She was wearing a March Hare costume that she got from the clearance rack at an after-Halloween sale. The maid let in a man with a beard. "Hello, are those ears?" He was shocked to see a young woman wearing a funky dress.

"I don't tell my business to strangers." She looks him up and down, unimpressed.

"I'm Jason Stiles." He introduces himself.

"I'm Susanna Gilmore." She shook his hand harder than necessary.

"I guess you don't like me." He took note of her glare and handshake.

"I don't like anyone who makes my grandma cry." She put a hand on her hip.

"I never made her cry." He denies.

"Not in front of you. You tell a woman she is obsolete, how is she supposed to act?" She needs him to know to not step on her grandma's toes again.

"I did not call her that. I call the party that." He defends.

"She has spent her life planning them: for chastity, for celebration, for my grandpa's business. So, you did, Jason, you did." She crosses her arms.

"Should I apologize to her?" He offers.

"No, I have her in a good mood for the party." She shook her head.

"Is it someone's birthday?" He wonders.

"No, see you communicated too late about your trip. My grandma already paid for the food and service so we're throwing an unbirthday party." She plays with her hat.

"Well, that sounds more fun than a business party. And I didn't know she was planning a party." He defends himself.

"And, they didn't know you were planning a trip. It sounds like you and your business partner don't communicate. I would work that out soon if I were you." She crosses her arms. His jaw dropped because he didn't know what to say to that.

"I got to take a break from Sookie's breakdown." Lorelai was wearing a white dress with an Ace card pattern on it.

"Lorelai!" He smiled at seeing her.

"Oh god." Anna groaned as she went outside to the sitting area. She knew her mom would probably go for it because he was cute enough and her grandma hated him.

"Anna, are you sure about this?" Emily was wearing a blue dress that she already had in her closet. She had on a few Wonderland accessories.

"Yeah, you look cute." She insisted.

"Yeah, grandma, you look great. Today is going to be fun." Rory was wearing a Cheshire Cat dress.


"This is a blast. Oh, Emily, we need to have costume parties more often. This is fun." Holland was dressed like the white queen.

"That was Anna's idea. I thought it might be too silly." She admits.

"Nothing wrong with being silly." Bitty was dressed like a white rabbit.

"I say all the best people are mad." Anna tips her hat.

"This tea is really good." Rory sips the hibiscus tea.

"I love these tarts." Sally ate another broccoli tart.

"Thank you." Sookie in a three-of-heart dress walks by.

"Even the waitresses are in cute costumes." Marilyn admires attention to detail. "Emily, even when your party is at the last minute they are so detailed."

"That's why she's the head of every committee." Holland nudged her good friend.

"Stop it." She pretended to be humble.

"Hurray to Richard's new partner being an ass so we can have an amazing party." Sally raises her green tea.

"I'll drink to that." Anna raised her tea cup.


Jess and Liz were sitting in silence at his favorite Thai restaurant. "Your girlfriend is great." She commented on the girl she had lunch with.

"Yeah, she's cool." He nods.

"Jess, I want you to know that I'm in a good place. I'm in a stable relationship. I have a jewelry business that makes money." She wanted him to know that this time things were different. She wasn't making false promises of getting better.

"I'm in a good place too. I got a good-paying job and a nice apartment." He didn't want her to think she was going to come in and save him.

"You don't know how happy I am to hear that. I put you through a lot. With the constant moving and new boyfriend every few weeks. In my childhood, I never had to worry about the roof over my head or my next meal. I didn't do that for you. I can't say how sorry I am for that." She tears up.

Jess's face softened at seeing her cry over him. He had seen her cry a lot over boyfriends but never him. She had told him sorry before and that things were going to be different but it was drunk declarations after a breakup. This was the first sober apology. "You were going through a lot."

"That doesn't mean anything. Look at Lorelai, she was a teen and she got her shit together. I should have been able to look past my pain to see that I was causing you pain." She grabbed a napkin to wipe her tears.

"I get it. When I was in my pain, I made everything harder for the people around me. I made Luke's life hell. Made Anna cry a few times." He got that when you were hurt and didn't deal with the pain, you would hurt the people around you. "Continuing to have those relationships made me learn how to be a better person." He had to learn with Anna how to communicate and be considerate of someone else's needs and wants. Luke taught him a good work ethic is what makes stability.

"I had to hit rock bottom and take a hard look at myself. I went into rehab where I learned to make jewelry and got into the renaissance fair where I met T.J. He's a great guy, Jess. We took it slow, unlike all my other relationships. He asked me to marry him. I wanted you to walk me down the aisle." It was what gave her the courage to come here.

"Yeah." He didn't want to regret not being at his mom's wedding if they did repair their relationship.

"Really?" She smiled.

"Yeah, hey, do you want to hang out after at my place? Anna got an ice cream maker for her birthday so she's been experimenting. We got honey whiskey, Earl Gray, and Butterbeer." He listed.

"That sounds great." She smiled.


The Gilmores were sitting around the dinner table. "How have you been?" Richard asked Anna.

"I got bad news from the doctor this week." She told the table.

"Oh my, is it cancer?" He grips his cup.

"Don't even say the word." Emily scolds.

"Did you go to the doctor for the eye twitch?" Rory asks.

She nods. "Well, what did the doctor say?" Lorelai was getting nervous.

"He said my eyes were twitching and dry because I drank too much coffee. So, I'll only be able to drink two cups a day." She hated saying it.

Her grandparents stared in shock at how hard she was taking the news along with her mother and sister. "I'm so sorry, Honey." Lorelai grabbed her hand.

"I can't imagine." Rory shutters.

"It's been a hard couple of days." She admits.

"Of course." Lorelai squeezed her hand.

"This is great news. It could have been much worse." Emily scolds them for being so childish.

"They could have taken an eye out. My friend lost his eye because of an illness." Richard gave an example.

"If you could get a cat glass eye that would be cute." Lorelai wondered why people didn't do that. They didn't look real so why not have fun?

"You could be one of the witches from Hercules for Halloween." Rory gasps.

"Yeah, too bad I couldn't lose an eye instead of coffee." She whines.