A/N: I do not own anything, Sorry for the long time between uploading, I had a bit of writer's block, especially for this dinner then life got in the way. I have lots of chapters written but lots of edit and fix so hopefully now that I'm over this hurdle, I will try to upload more regularly.

Chapter 18

"Don't hate me, don't hate me, don't hate me!"

Rory pleaded into the phone when Marty called.

"I could never hate you. And I think you know that very well." Marty's calm voice came through the receiver.

"We've been summoned! We have been summoned! " Rory said quickly, hoping Marty understood her panic without having to spell it out.

"Summoned?" Marty asked, with cluelessness in his voice. "By who? Or whom? I never know which is grammatically more correct."

Rory couldn't help but smile as Marty's awareness of grammatical correctness.

"To a dinner, at my grandparents' house," Rory said, still panicked, hoping at least he was understanding the implication of this invitation.

"What's the problem with that? You go to that all the time. Every week, it's part of the deal with you attending Yale," Marty said, still not comprehending.

"Did you miss the part where I said 'we'? They want to meet you, officially. My mom, with her big mouth, spilled the beans on us last week! So now they want to formally meet you." Rory mapped out.

"Oh."

"Yes, indeed, oh." Rory repeated. She had been pacing as she was on the phone.

After a brief silence from the other end, Marty said: "Okay, let's do it."

"What? Really?" Rory paused her walk to make sure she heard him right. " Really? Are you sure?"

"Yes, sure. Why not? They are a part of your life; figures they would want to know the people in yours."

"I guess," Rory said with a weak agreement, but she could not help but think of introductions of her previous suitors to her grandparents.

Dean was a flat-out disaster and Jess was no better. Both had ended with subsequent arguments which her mother had filled her in later about how her grandparents argued that they were just not right for her and her future. She was honestly scared of what they would say about Marty because he was very different from Dean and Jess but he was still not from a prominent family nor from wealth, which they had implied that they favoured.

"Wait, didn't I meet your grandparents once at the football game? Are these the same set of grandparents?" Marty asked, clearly hearing Rory's silent panic through the phone.

"Yes, yes, you did," Rory said. "Yes, but then you were only a friend then, but now you're my boyfriend..."

Marty chuckled, softly on the other end of the line.

"What? What's so funny?" Rory wondered.

"Nothing. It's just adorable how you said that." Marty explained. "I will meet your grandparents if that is what they want. I love you and they're a part of you, so I want to know them too.

Rory, who was chewing at her lips in nervousness, warmed at his declaration. She still could not help thinking of how Marty had been so different the others and hoped that the elder Gilmores would also see that, at dinner.

OOO

At promptly six o'clock on the subsequent Friday, Marty and Rory were standing outside of the Gilmore residence and the time honorary tradition of standing outside the massive, adorned door.

Rory turned to Marty and asked, "Are you sure you really want to do this? I am wearing heels, and they are not the kind I can run in. Once I rang that doorbell, there's no going back."

Marty simply smiled at her and stepped forward to press the doorbell.

As if Emily was waiting on the other side of the door, it opened moments after, and they were suddenly asked to remove their coats and step further into the house.

"Richard, they're here." Her grandmother called to her husband.

Richard Gilmore came from the direction of his study. Richard, who was quite a tall man, simply beamed at the guests, Marty and Rory. He had an interesting expression, Rory noted, as he looked from his granddaughter to her suitor.

"Well, how was the drive down?" He asked, politely.

"Same as it always does, Grandpa," Rory replied.

"Well, what can I get you two to drink?" Her grandmother asked as they were ushered to the sitting room.

Rory asked for a club soda and Marty mirrored her order, settling next to Rory on the decorative loveseat.

"You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Gilmore." Marty said to Emily.

"Thank you." Her grandmother responded.

There was an awkward pause. The elder couple was looking at the younger couple.

"Dinner's almost ready. We're having Sole meuniere, I hope you that's alright? It's a classical French dish. - Oh, I'm sorry I forgot to ask if you are allergic to shellfish, I certainly hope not because it's short notice to prepare another entrée." Emily stated, realizing her manners.

Rory glanced at her grandma, as she noticed that this was something dismissive in her tone. Her gaze shifted from Emily to Marty.

"No, no," Marty replied. "I love seafood, even though my hometown is landlocked Illinois."

"Illinois? How quaint." Emily said.

"Where in Illinois are you from?" Richard asked.

"Oh, I'm from a small town outside of Chicago." Marty answered.

"How charming." Emily remarked. Rory sensed that her grandmother's response was tinged with a touch of sarcasm, but she wasn't entirely certain.

After a moment of silence, Richard asks, "So, what sort of books do you read for pleasure? As a Yale student, surely you read a lot? A Yalie should be well versed in literature to portray the university's superiority."

Rory was surprised by this question because she should have expected this line of questions, and mentally kicked herself for not prepping with Marty for answers for questions of this kind.

"Truth be told, Mr. Gilmore," Marty said smoothy, "I don't have much as time to read, as I would like, what with a hefty course load, but I have been loving the Iliad in its original Greek."

"Ah, Homer. How classic." Richard said, seemingly delighted with this answer.

Marty who must've sensed that Rory's grandfather seemed pleased, decided to add. "But, I would welcome any recommendations you offer, Mr. Gilmore.

"Oh well, if you are enjoying the Iliad, then maybe Ovid's Metamorphoses would be a good next move. Or keep going with adventurer genre like Gulliver Travels or similar."

"Appreciated, Mr. Gilmore." Marty said. "I was thinking of tackling some Chaucer or an old piece like Beowulf or maybe I will just peruse Rory's extensive collection for ideas," Marty shot a small grin at Rory. "Assuming she'll let me."

"Dinner is ready," The maid that quietly entered to the room, announced.

"Shall we?" Emily stood and looked expectantly at the rest of the people in the room. Rory stood, grabbing a hold of Marty's elbow and walking with him.

Rory leaned into Marty and asked, "How you doing over there?"

"Good." Marty answered simply, shooting another grin her way and patted her hand lightly in reassurance. "Relax, everything's fine."

Dinner was smoother than Rory expected. Her grandparents politely asked about Marty's parents, his classes and his career aspirations, all of which Marty answered adequately. While the Gilmores' inquiries seemed genuine, Rory had her guard up and was inwardly trying to decipher what her grandparents really thought of her boyfriend. She could not help wanting to shield him from the Gilmores, but Marty seemed to be holding his own. Marty, naturally praised Emily about the meal and her decorative taste and expressed interest in Richard's business and his various other hobbies.

Rory mostly contributed short sentences to the conversation and simply observed, trying to decipher how Marty was being perceived. Her grandfather seemed to be relaxed and even smiled a few times which juxtaposed her grandmother's stoic and poised look, giving away nothing.

By the time dinner came to a close, Rory was thoroughly confused as to how the dinner had gone. While they were taking their coats, Richard extended a hand to Marty to shake. Rory placed a kiss on each grandparents' cheek before pulling Marty through the door into the night.

Halfway down the drive, Rory exhaled softly, hoping Marty didn't hear. But as he grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"I think that went well," started Marty, hoping to ease Rory's residual discomfort.

"Are you sure?" Rory said as she thumbed his hand back. "Because I need them to like you."

"I hope so," Marty said as he comfortingly squeezed her hand. "Because I'd love to keep dating you."

Rory's face looked over in concern, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I know this is important to you, and I know their opinions influence your life," Marty said casually. "Whether you let them or not."

"I don't know. Adopting a ballet dancer? The whole thing sounds very shady." Lorelai stated as she carried some of Rory's boxes from Rory's car to her own in a gas station parking lot.

OOO

"It's good to support the arts any way we can, even the shady-sounding ways," Rory responded.

Rory and Lorelai were loading boxes back and from Rory's trunk to her mother's Jeep.

"Hey, you took my book bag. I need that." Rory exclaimed.

"Oops, sorry." Lorelai said as she picked up Rory's book bag from the box now in her trunk. "So, you really think that transferring your stuff bit by bit like this is the way to go, huh? Easier than renting something? Doing it all at once?"

"Oh, you really want to relive the U-Haul incident of May 2004?" Rory countered.

"You make one iffy U turn." Lorelai gasped.

"We were in a tunnel!" Rory stated.

"A wide tunnel," defended Lorelai

"Going the wrong way, down a one-way street," finished Rory.

"They don't let you forget." Lorelai summarized.

"Yeah. I've got that elephant's memory when it comes to nearly dying." Rory rationalized, then realized. "Hey, you took my book bag again."

Lorelai grunted and returned to the book bag again to her daughter's car.

"So, hey, let's finalize our plans for Thursday..." Rory said, in effort to change the topic.

"Right, So, Jackson says Sookie has been napping between 11:00 and 12:30 every day, we can count on it," Lorelai answered, taking the bait.

"It must be nice to nap without feeling guilty," Rory commented.

"Then get pregnant, you'll have an excuse," Lorelai responded.

"No, thanks. Don't even joke." Rory scowled.

"So, meet me at their house at noon, bring decorations, and she'll wake up to a nice, fun, surprise baby shower. " Lorelai continued.

"You got it." Rory confirmed.

"I think it's cool we waited this long to throw it. She's totally not gonna expect it." Lorelai added.

"Plus, we forgot." Rory added.

"Only we know that." Lorelai scolded.

"And I'm not telling." Rory stated. "Mum's the word."

"Good." Lorelai went to say goodbye to Rory, "Bye, hon."

"Bye." Rory turned to go but realized. "Mom, my purse!"

"Oh right." Lorelai looked at the packed up, trunk and presumably, Rory's purse was buried somewhere in it.

Rory turned and walked back to her vehicle.

"Wait, you never told me how the dinner with Marty and the grandparents went? " Lorelai asked.

"Really? Here?" Rory indicated. "Why? Did you hear something? Did they say something?"

"Woah, no. I didn't hear anything but by your reaction, was it that bad?" Lorelai replied with her own questions. "Did something bad happen?"

"No. No. But it was smooth and uneventful. Too smooth and uneventful." Rory said, honestly.

In the last few days since the dinner, Rory had been on alert for anything to indicate what her grandparents' opinions on Marty had truly been, but they were not giving up anything on this front. She had asked Marty several other times about how he thought the dinner went but all he did was comfort and reassure her that all was well. She had debated on letting in her mom on her anxiety about this whole ordeal, but she had resisted. But now that her mom asked, she could not omit or lie because her mother knew her far better than that.

"And? Isn't that good?" Lorelai asked cluelessly.

"This is Richard and Emily Gilmore we are talking about! They have never liked any of my previous boyfriends, so why wouldn't they have isues?" Rory all but exclaimed. "They hated all of them: Dean, Jess…"

Lorelai seemed to finally understand why her daughter's explosion. "Yes, but neither Jess nor Dean were a Yalie. Those boys had no future ahead of them, well none that my parents wanted to see you a part of. Marty has potential. He's a student with you in an Ivy League school working towards an education. That man does not want to get in your way to hold you back, he wants you to get everything."

"You think?" Rory said, disbelieving.

"I know, hon." Lorelai gently smiled at her daughter. "He's leaps and bounds ahead of Dean and Jess in my books, and my parents haven't witnessed all that I have but even they can't deny how Marty looks at you when you two are together. At this point, there is no reason why the Gilmores should have objections."

"He looks at me differently?" Rory stammered.

"Yes, of course he does. He's in love with you." Lorelai affirmed.

"Yeah. Yes, he does." Rory agreed. "Well, on that note, I am going to go visit him. Thanks, Mom!"

"Anytime, sweets." Lorelai said before she got into her car to drive away.