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~~~ Self Quarantine Day 70 ~~~
Our air conditioner died yesterday. It's 81 degrees inside my house, and 90 outside. This pretty much sucks!
I hope you are all doing well, and continue to remain healthy and happy.
Lorelai was beaming as she walked through her Inn, seeing all of her favorite people mingling with the guests that were staying for the weekend. She had gone all out with the decorations this year, turning the Inn into the North Pole, decorating the inside to look like Santa's workshop. It was her favorite time of year, and since she was going to be spending the holidays in New York with Rory and Logan, she hadn't done much decorating at her house, instead focusing all of her time and creativity exclusively on the Dragonfly. There were Christmas trees in the corner of every room, large trees downstairs, and small table top trees in the guest rooms. Lorelai had strung garland along the stairs, with ribbons, holly, and stockings for every person on staff. There were twinkling lights and colorful decorations everywhere you looked, and even mistletoe hung from the ceiling in the corner of the library. The dining room looked especially festive, with every holiday food favorite on the tables, ready to be eaten. There was turkey and ham ready to be eaten, along with yams, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, rolls, beans, several kinds of casserole, and every vegetable you could possibly get your hands on during the winter. It all smelled completely amazing, and Lorelai couldn't wait to dig in with her guests. She was just waiting for Sookie to say she was ready, so they could announce dinner to their guests. Lorelai walked over to the reception desk and smiled at the dancing Santa that played Feliz Navidad. She had loved it when she saw the Santa sitting on the shelf in a Christmas store, and immediately bought two of them, planning to give one to Rory as an early Christmas gift.
"Lorelai, this place looks absolutely amazing! You did an incredible job!" April said as she joined Lorelai at the desk, admiring their gorgeous surroundings.
"Thank you April! I think I've definitely outdone myself this year. I love it all!"
"Thank you so much for inviting me!"
"It wouldn't be Christmas without you here. I'm so glad the entire family will be together this year."
"I see that. Aunt Liz! Hello! Hi Doula! Wow, you looks just like your Mom!" April said seeing Luke's sister and niece walk in the door, followed by the rest of their family.
"April!" Doula cheered, running to April and throwing her arms around her older cousin's waist.
"April, you look gorgeous!" Liz told her, giving her niece a hug. "Merry Christmas!"
"Thank you! Merry Christmas to you!"
"Jess, TJ, look who's here!" Liz said, calling behind her to her husband and son.
"April, hello!" TJ smiled.
"Hey Cuz! Long time, no see." Jess greeted her, giving her a brief hug. "Hey Lorelai."
"Hi Jess. It's nice to see you again. Thank you all so much for joining us!"
"Oh, it's our pleasure! Lorelai, this place looks absolutely incredible! I feel like I took a trip to the North Pole to visit Santa's house."
"Well thank you! That is exactly what I was going for."
"I love it! It's everything you see in pictures of Santa's workshop. Did you do all of this yourself?"
"I did."
"Wow! You are so creative! You should be a professional decorator."
"Thank you, you are so sweet!"
"Did Rory make it back this year?"
"She did. She's here somewhere, with her husband."
"Luke told me she married a doctor."
"She did. She's known him for years."
"So you like this guy?"
"I do, he's really good to her. I wasn't thrilled with him when they first met, but he's changed a lot, and he makes her incredibly happy."
"When did she get married?"
"A couple months ago. It was spur of the moment thing, but it's been a long time coming. They promised to do a big ceremony and party for everyone to enjoy, sometime next year."
"That sounds so fun!"
"I'm definitely looking forward to it. I was pretty bummed when she told me that they ran off and eloped, but I understand it. And I've been there, so it's not like I can be upset about it. She is my daughter after all."
"You are such an amazing mother! Rory is very lucky to have you."
"Thank you Liz, you are so sweet!"
"Excuse me, Lorelai, can I borrow you for a minute?" Sookie asked, stepping up behind Lorelai. "Hey Liz! It's nice to see you!"
"Hey Sookie!" Liz greeted. "You guys did amazing decorating this place! It looks incredible! And it smells even better."
"Thank you Liz! We should be ready to eat very soon. Lorelai, I just need you in the kitchen for a quick minute."
"Sure, lead the way." Lorelai said, then followed Sookie back to the kitchen.
In the library, Rory was hanging out with Logan chatting with Babbette and Patty about her pregnancy when Doula and Liz came over to say hi.
"Rory, welcome back!" Liz said as she joined the group.
"Hey Liz! It's great to see you. Hi Doula!" Rory smiled.
"How are you doing? Your mom and Luke told me that you got married recently. Congratulations!"
"Thank you so much! This is my husband, Logan Huntzberger. Logan, this is Liz, she's Luke's younger sister, and this is her little girl, Doula."
"Hi Liz, it's a pleasure to meet you." Logan said holding out his hand to shake hers in greeting. "Hi Doula. That is a pretty dress you're wearing. Red is my favorite color."
"Thank you." Doula smiled shyly.
"Hi Logan. It's great to meet you. I hear you are a doctor." Liz told him.
"Yes, I am."
"That is so cool! What kind of doctor are you?"
"Right now I work in the ER, but I majored in Immunology and Genetics, and got my MD in Internal Medicine. I'm actually opening up my own clinic soon, so I will only be in the ER for a couple more months."
"Oh wow! That sounds like a ton of work!"
"It really is. But I love it!"
"Lorelai says you two have known each other for years."
"Yes, we have." Rory answered. "We met back in college."
"Did you guys date back then?"
"We did, for 3 years."
"So he's the one who asked you to marry him at your graduation then?"
"Wow, you heard about that?"
"I didn't hear too much. Just that you were asked, but that you split up, and went out on the road working for Obama."
"Yeah, it's a long story. I wasn't ready to get married back then. But it's been almost 9 years, and things change, you know?"
"And now I see that you're pregnant?"
"I am. Due in May."
"That is so awesome! Congratulations Honey! Babies are so exciting! You will be a great mom, just like Lorelai."
"Thanks Liz, that means a lot to me." Rory told her.
"Mommy, I'm hungry." Doula said, tugging on Liz's hand.
"Sorry, excuse us. We're going to go find something to eat." Liz said, then led Doula away.
"Is it bad that I forgot that Luke has a sister?" Logan asked as they watched Liz walk away. "Should we invite them to join us for Christmas too?"
"Uh . . . They probably have plans . . ." Rory said softly, as her eyes locked on something across the room.
"What's wrong?"
"Um . . . You remember Luke's nephew Jess, right?"
"Jess? Like the guy you dated before me? The one I met back at Yale?"
"Yeah . . . Um, that's him over there with Luke."
"Did you know that he was coming?"
"No, no one told me. I wonder if Mom and Luke even knew. He's Liz's son, so I'm sure he's here with her . . ."
"Liz is his Mom?"
"Yep."
"Interesting."
"Logan, I'm sorry. I had no idea they would be here. I would have told you right away."
"It's fine." Logan said, wrapping his arm around Rory's shoulders.
"Really?" Rory asked, looking up at him.
"You've got my ring on your finger, right?"
"Yeah . . ."
"So then I won! He showed up all those years ago, we both acted like jerks, but you married me, so I won. I got the girl that we were both in love with."
"So you're really not upset about him being here?"
"You said he's Luke's nephew, right? Which makes him family. So we probably shouldn't be surprised when we run into him at events and stuff."
"That's a good point. But inviting them to our house for Christmas . . . That's a little much don't you think?"
"Yeah, I don't think I'm too comfortable spending Christmas with your ex-boyfriend."
"Me either."
"At least not this year. I might have won, but he's still your ex."
"But you're ok with him being here?"
"I'm fine with it if you are. I mean, I don't have anything to worry about, right?"
"No, of course not. I married you, didn't I?"
"Then I have nothing to be jealous of."
"So you're not going to snap and suddenly turn into asshole caveman Logan?"
"I have no reason to. I promise, I'll be nice." Logan told her.
~ ~ ~ Meanwhile . . . ~ ~ ~
"Hey Luke, who's that guy over there with Rory?" Jess asked his uncle, as they stood, talking in the foyer.
"That would be her husband, Logan." Luke answered.
"Her husband? Rory is married?"
"She got married a couple months ago. You didn't know?"
"No."
"Oh! I thought that Liz would have told you."
"Mom didn't tell me anything. The last time I was around, was at your wedding, and I only briefly talked to Rory then, and she said she wasn't dating anyone."
"They ran into each other a few months ago when Rory got hurt at work."
"Rory got hurt at work?"
"Yeah, but she's fine. She had a little accident, and some scissors went through the palm of her hand."
"That sounds super painful."
"She said it was. But she's fine now. He bandaged her up, and they got back together a couple days later."
"He bandaged her up? Did she at least go see a doctor?"
"He's the doctor. The ambulance took Rory to Columbia Presbyterian, and Logan was the doctor on duty."
"Wow! So she definitely married rich then."
"Rory is worth way more than he is."
"She is? But isn't he from a rich family or something?" Jess asked.
"I don't really know all the details, but he bailed on the family, went to medical school, and his parents don't support him. After he got back together with Rory, his Dad had a heart attack, and Logan refused to step up to take over the family's company, so he talked Rory into doing it. She's now the CEO and worth millions."
"Rory is worth millions?! I thought she worked for the New York Times?"
"She used to."
"Wow! That's a lot of changes since I last saw you all over the summer."
"Yeah, things have been a little crazy around here."
"I can see that."
"Please be nice to them. Rory is really happy, and Logan treats her really well. Even Lorelai likes him."
"Wait, Lorelai likes him? I thought Lorelai hated that guy?"
"She used to. She definitely wasn't his biggest fan when they first got together, but he's changed. Lorelai sees a lot of herself in him. And he treats Rory really well, which is all that matters. They're happy, and they have a really good life together."
"So you don't hate him?"
"I have no reason to. He knows that I'll hunt him down if he dares hurt her, but so far I haven't had any reason to."
"So you think it's safe if I go say hi?"
"I think it's probably rude not to."
"You don't think he'll try to kill me?"
"I think he probably knows a lot of different ways to do it, and that he could easily get by with it if he wanted to. But there are an awful lot of witnesses here, so he would be crazy to try."
"Gee, thanks Luke!" Jess laughed.
"Just be polite. Don't say anything to upset Rory. This is the happiest that I've ever seen her."
"Hey Everyone!" Lorelai's voice rang out above all of the noise, and everybody turned to see her standing tall on the beautifully decorated stairs. "I just wanted to say thank you all for being here tonight, to celebrate the holidays with us. There is nothing that I love more, than being surrounded by all of my favorite people. Everyone here tonight means a lot to all of us here at the Dragonfly Inn, and because of that, we just wanted to be able to say thank you with this amazing party tonight. So I hope you all enjoy yourselves, and please, eat up. Dinner is served in the dining room, and there is TONS of food, so stuff your faces all you want."
Several cheers rang out, as people started heading to the dining room to eat.
"Well well well, if it isn't Rory Gilmore, the smartest girl in Stars Hollow." Jess said, stepping up next to Rory and Logan.
"Ha! I don't know about being the smartest girl in the Hollow, April can definitely give me a run for that title. It's nice to see you, Jess. You remember Logan, right?"
"I do. I hear you two got married recently. Congratulations."
"Thank you!" Logan smiled.
"What are you up to these days?" Rory asked.
"Not much, just working a lot. Same as before. Nothing like what I've heard you've been up to lately. Your life sounds a little insane."
"That is definitely one way to look at it." Rory laughed.
"Luke said you had a little accident at work."
"Yeah, I did. I knocked my tool caddy off my desk while setting down my coffee cup, and stupidly reached out trying to catch stuff as it fell, and my scissors went right through my hand."
"Ouch! That sounds really painful."
"It was. But Logan stitched it all up, and put me in a cast for a few weeks. It's healed really well, but it's going to be scared for a while."
"You got a cast with your stitches? That sounds odd."
"Somebody knows me too well." Rory chuckled, pointing her thumb toward Logan.
"I had to immobilize her hand so she couldn't use it, or she would have gone right back to working, popped all of her stitches, and bled out.
"Sounds about right for Rory. Luke says you're a doctor now."
"I am."
"That's a lot of studying."
"You're telling me! Hey Ace, I'm going to go grab some food, do you want me to get you a plate?" Logan asked, looking at his wife.
"Yeah, that would be great. I'll eat whatever."
"Alright, I'll be right back."
"Thanks Babe!" Rory smiled, giving Logan a quick kiss, then watching as he walked away.
"So you're happy?" Jess asked.
"Yeah, of course."
"So things are good then?"
"Everything is great!"
"I heard you don't work for the Times anymore."
"Not for a few months. I took over as CEO for the Huntzberger Publishing Group."
"I heard something to that extent. Care to elaborate?"
"Logan's Dad had a massive heart attack, and has been out recovering. He's not able to work, so they needed someone to step up to run the company, and neither Logan or his sister Honor wanted to do it, but they didn't want the company falling into anyone else's hands, and not having a family member running the place, so Logan asked me to step in. I know the newspaper business pretty well, and Logan has been right there helping me learn everything else as much as he can."
"And you're pregnant on top of everything."
"Yeah." Rory laughed, moving her hands to rub her baby bump. "There's been a lot going on lately."
"Do you know what you're having yet?"
"We're having a little girl."
"Another Gilmore girl. I bet Lorelai is excited."
"Oh yeah. The entire family is over the moon. Logan's sister is pregnant too. It's pretty cool. She lives across the street from us, so we hang out with her a lot."
"Where are you living now?"
"We have a house right outside Manhattan. Are you still in Philadelphia?"
"Yep, still in the city. Nothing has really changed for me lately."
"You still running the publishing house?"
"I am. It's going really well. We've grown a little bit."
"Hey, growth is good."
"Yeah, it's definitely good. We're nowhere as big as your company though."
"Yeah, HPG is pretty insane. You know, you can hit me up if you ever need help with anything. I don't know everything about book publishing, but I'm learning as I go. We have a large in house book department."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. You guys are kind of our competitor though."
"I know, but I promise to do my best to not steal any clients from you."
"Thanks, I appreciate that . . . You might not know this, but Mr. Huntzberger tried to buy us earlier this year."
"He did?"
"He made us a decent offer, but I didn't like the idea of selling to Logan's family, so I talked the guys into turning him down."
"Until I took over, Logan had nothing to do with the company."
"But still. After what happened the day I met him, I couldn't stand the thought of being a part of that company. I don't want to have that name hanging over my head. No offense to you of course."
"No, I totally get it. Until a few months ago, I couldn't fault you for that at all. I had no interest in ever being a part of the company until Logan talked me into taking over. It's kind of a slap in the face to the family members that treated me badly. I now own them."
"That's pretty awesome!" Jess agreed.
"Hey Logan. Where's Rory?" Lorelai asked as Logan stepped up next to her in line for the buffet.
"She's back in the library talking to Jess."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that he was coming. I would have given you guys a heads up."
"Don't worry about it, everything is fine. Rory and I were fine."
"Really? You're fine? Because last I heard, you guys got into a fight last time you were in the same place at the same time."
"That was a long time ago. I was a completely different person back then. I'm not the same jealous guy that I was back at Yale."
"You're not?"
"You've gotta grow up sometime, right? Besides . . . I already won. Rory married me. She's got my ring on her finger, and my daughter in her stomach. I won the girl that we were both in love with."
"So you're ok with them talking over there?"
"Yeah. I was polite to him, and said hi. I just don't really have any interest in having an in depth conversation with the guy, so I thought it would be better if I walked away to get us some food."
"That was really big of you."
"You don't think that I have anything to worry about, do you?"
"Absolutely not!" Lorelai told him. "You said it yourself, Rory has your ring on her finger, and your daughter in her stomach. She's the happiest I've ever seen her. Jess is just an old friend."
"But sometimes it's the old friends that you have to look out for."
"You can trust Rory though. There's nothing going on between her and Jess."
"I know he's family, but is it bad that he still kind of rubs me the wrong way?"
"Don't tell anyone this, but he rubs me the wrong way too. That guy treated Rory like trash. Even during your worst moments, you still treated my daughter better than he did."
"Thanks Mom. That means a lot to me."
"Come on, let's go get some food. You don't need to stand around watching them chat. I'm sure Rory will tell you about it later." Lorelai said as she handed Logan a plate. "What do you think we should get for Rory?"
"Everything looks and smells completely amazing!"
"Sookie has been cooking for days. She made everything she could think of."
"I think there are too many choices. I might have to eat everything in sight."
"Just eat like a Gilmore."
"I wish I had the Gilmore appetite." Logan laughed as he started loading food onto a plate. "I'm thinking I should just load up plates with a little bit of everything, and then Rory and I can share."
"Smorgasbord sounds perfect!" Lorelai agreed as she followed Logan down the line of tables covered in food.
"I can come back for seconds and thirds and tenths, right?"
"You can take home all the leftovers too."
"Have I told you that I love being part of this family?!"
"I have to say that I completely agree with that statement! Make sure you grab a bunch of those mini taquitos. They're Rory's favorite. And get a bunch of the funeral potatoes too."
"What are funeral potatoes?"
"Seriously?!"
"I've never heard of that."
"That casserole bowl right in front of you with the hash brown looking stuff. Load up on it. Like get an entire plate. You'll thank me later."
"They look really good."
"They're amazing! Sometimes I still forget that you were raised on rich people food like I was, and you haven't quite acclimated to the common folk life the way that Rory and I have."
"I had never had casserole before meeting you guys."
"Casserole is just a fancy word for mixed foods. You've probably never eaten vegetables topped with cereal."
"Sounds disgusting."
"Don't knock it until you try it. Get the green bean casserole right there to your right. You've had candied yams, right?"
"That I have had. I've even had them soaked in Bailey's."
"Sounds dangerous."
"It was interesting for sure."
"Rich people food can be pretty disgusting!"
"You're telling me!" Logan laughed.
"Why don't you go set these two plates down on a table, and grab Rory, and I'll work on finishing up this plate for you."
"Thank you Lorelai. I really appreciate everything you do for us."
"Hey, it's my pleasure. Go get your wife." Lorelai said gesturing for Logan to head toward where Rory was still standing in the library talking to Jess.
"Hey April, are these seats taken?" Logan asked approaching the table April was sitting at, chatting with Babbette.
"Nope, they're all yours."
"Thanks. I'm going to go grab Rory. I'll be right back."
"I can go get her for you, if you'd like."
"That's ok, you're already settled. I'll grab her." Logan said as he set the plates down, then headed through the dining room and back to the library. "Sorry, excuse me Jess. Rory, I've got your dinner all ready for you." Logan said as he interrupted the conversation, and slid his arm around his wife.
"Oh, excellent! Thanks Babe!"
"You should go eat. I've heard that being pregnant makes you permanently hungry." Jess told her.
"Among other things." Logan commented with a smirk, placing a kiss on Rory's head.
"Please, I don't see you complaining!" Rory laughed playfully slapping Logan's chest.
"Right . . . I think I'm going to go get some food. I'll catch up with you later." Jess said, then hurried away.
"You ready to eat?" Logan asked.
"You're not going to ask what we talked about?"
"Nope. I figured you would tell me later on. Your mom and I got a smorgasbord of food. I've got seats at a table with April."
"Thanks Logan!" Rory smiled, looking up at Logan and giving him a quick kiss.
"Lorelai pointed out some new foods for me to try."
"New foods? Like what?"
"Something called funeral potatoes and cereal covered green beans."
"Really?! There are funeral potatoes?!" Rory asked excitedly.
"Your mom said that I'll thank her later."
"Oh my gosh! I am so excited! You will definitely thank her for those, they are so good!"
"They must be for how excited you suddenly are."
"I guess I need to get more acclimated with what your mom calls 'common folk food'."
"Common folk food is the best food! It's not anything fancy, just really simple common things combined together that taste completely amazing!"
"Should we go eat?"
"Lead the way." Rory smiled, taking Logan's hand, to follow him to the dining room.