As the four Gilmore women sat at the dinner table, Emily looked up from her plate, smiling at Rory. "Your grandfather called last night and told me to let you know he's bringing you back something very special from Prague."

Rory smiled, awed. "Wow, Prague. How amazing is it that he's going to Prague?"

Emily nodded in agreement. "It's supposed to be lovely, very dramatic, castles everywhere."

"Did you know the cell that Václav Havel was held in is now a hostel? You can stay there for like $50 a night," Rory turned to her mother and aunt excitedly. "Maybe on our big trip to Europe, we could go to Prague and stay in his cell!"

"Absolutely. And then we can go to Turkey and stay in that place from Midnight Express," Lorelai quipped, wiping her avocado-laden fork on Juliet's plate.

Juliet leaned over Lorelai's salad with her fork, spearing another avocado piece. "You missed one."

Emily put her fork down with a sigh. "What are you two doing?"

"I'm giving my avocado to Juliet," Lorelai explained, pointing her fork at her sister. Noticing another stray piece, she shook it into Juliet's salad.

Emily frowned. "Since when do you not like avocado?"

Lorelai gave a wry shrug. "Since the day I said, 'Gross. What is this?' and you said, 'avocado'."

Emily rolled her eyes, turning to Rory. "I'm focusing on you now. Tell me all about the Chilton formal next week!"

Juliet looked up at her niece, smiling. "Ooh, yeah! Do you have a dress yet?"

"Wait, there's a formal?" Lorelai asked blankly, her eyes wide.

Rory looked at her grandmother in shock. "How do you know about the formal?"

"How do you know about the formal?" Lorelai asked Juliet with a confused frown.

Juliet gave her sister a pointed look and a kick under the table. "You told me, remember?"

Lorelai's eyes widened as she realized how Juliet knew about the formal, and hastened to cover for her. "Right, right! I forgot I told you!"

"How could you have told her, Lorelai?" Emily asked, a gleam in her eye at catching her daughters in a lie. "Up until thirty seconds ago, you didn't know there was a formal."

"I forgot about it!" Lorelai protested, her voice high. Gesturing to her head, she added, "A lot gets lost up here."

"Hm," Emily pursed her lips, unconvinced. "So you read about the formal in your Chilton newsletter?"

Lorelai nodded, not blinking. "Uh, yep."

"What was the picture on the cover?" Emily challenged, arching an eyebrow.

Lorelai hesitated, squinting. "It was a picture of a really rich kid in plaid."

"It was a spotted owl," Emily corrected smugly.

Lorelai brandished her fork at her mother. "In plaid."

Rory and Juliet exchanged a smirk. Emily picked up her wine glass, swirling the liquid around as she smiled at her youngest. "So how did you know about the formal, Juliet? Since Lorelai clearly didn't read her newsletter."

"I told Mom," Rory lied, looking away from her aunt to her grandmother with a casual shrug. "And I guess she told Auntie Jules."

Juliet shot her a grateful smile, and Rory glanced studiously down at her plate to avoid Emily's scrutinizing gaze.

"Well, why didn't you just say that, Lorelai?" Emily admonished with a sigh.

Lorelai rolled her eyes with a huff and turned to Rory. "So, tell us about the formal."

Rory shrugged again. "There's not much to tell. I don't think I'm going to go."

"Nonsense. Of course you're going," Emily said dismissively.

"Mom, if Rory doesn't want to go she doesn't have to go," Lorelai said with forced calmness.

Emily gave a martyr-like shrug. "Well, I don't understand why she wouldn't want to go."

Juliet gave her mother a quelling look. "Mom –"

Emily cut her off with a glare, keeping her tone carefully patient. "This does not concern you, Juliet."

"I'm gonna go get another Coke," Rory said uncomfortably, standing and escaping from the tension in the dining room.

Emily whirled on her oldest, an accusing glint in her eye. "What did you say to her?"

Lorelai frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"If she doesn't want to go it must be because of something you said," Emily said, frowning.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Mom, I promise. All I ever said to her about dances is that you go, you dance, you have punch, you eat, you take a picture, and then you get auctioned off to a biker gang from Sausalito."

Juliet laughed into her salad, and Emily shot her a glare before turning back to Lorelai. "Lorelai, this is serious."

Juliet looked at her mother pleadingly. "She didn't say anything, Mom."

"Yeah, Rory's disdain of formals is totally her own," Lorelai said quickly, taking a bite of her salad. "Let's just drop it, please."

Emily looked between her daughters with pursed lips, raising her eyebrows before going back to her food. "Fine."

"Fine," Lorelai said, fishing a tomato from her salad and dropping it into Juliet's.

Juliet glanced over at her sister. "What's wrong with it?"

"It was fraternizing with the enemy," Lorelai whispered with a grin.

After dinner, Lorelai, Rory, and Juliet stepped onto the front porch, Lorelai smiling at the snow swirling around them.

Rory turned to her aunt as she wrapped her coat more tightly around her. "So I guess you haven't told Grandma about you and Mr. Medina yet?"

"Ooh, it's so fun when you call him that!" Lorelai laughed. "Makes it sound like we're in a Jane Austen novel."

Rory rolled her eyes with a laugh. "What else would I call him? 'Uncle Max'?"

Lorelai snorted, bumping Rory with her hip. "I'll give you fifty bucks to call him that on Monday."

"You're on!" Rory laughed, shaking hands with her mother.

"Please don't," Juliet begged, fighting a smile of her own. She placed a hand on Rory's wrist briefly, forcing her to make eye contact with her. "Hey. The teacher thing's not too weird, is it? Because if it is. . ."

"For the millionth time, it's not too weird," Rory said, her tone growing exasperated. She shrugged. "It's not like anything's changed for me, you know? We don't live together, and it's not like he's treating me any different. Like yesterday, he gave me an A minus on a paper, and his comments were just as nitpicky as usual."

"An A minus?" Lorelai gasped, putting a hand to her heart. She turned to Juliet with raised eyebrows. "Our inside woman's not doing her job right if Uncle Max is giving you A minuses."

Juliet shot her a glare. "Stop calling him that."

"Ooh, do you think he'll buy me a puppet show?" Rory asked, clapping her hands.

"And come to our house and eat strudel?" Lorelai added, glancing at Juliet over her shoulder, an impish smile on her face.

"You both are enjoying this way too much," Juliet said, rolling her eyes.

Saturday afternoon, Lorelai, Rory, and Juliet walked arm-in-arm through the Jo-Ann in Southington, picking out different fabrics and draping them over Rory's shoulder.

"Remember that one med prom dress you wore a few years ago?" Lorelai asked her sister. "It was like a blueish gray? That's kind of what color I'm thinking for Rory."

Juliet frowned, selecting a blue velvety fabric and showing it to Lorelai. "Like this?"

"Not that," Rory said, wrinkling her nose. "I'll boil in that."

"What kind of fabric do you want?" Lorelai asked, cocking her head.

Rory screwed up her face in thought. "Nothing that shows pit stains."

"Smart woman," Lorelai said with a smile. "So, sleeveless then?"

"Sleeveless," Rory agreed, nodding. She glanced over at her aunt, opened her mouth, then closed it firmly again, looking studiously at the miles of fabric before them. "Auntie Jules?"

Juliet looked away from the fabric quarters she was sifting through. "Yeah?"

Rory bit her lip nervously, still avoiding her aunt's eyes. "Is Mr. Medina your boyfriend?"

Juliet looked up sharply, sending her sister a panicked glance, while Lorelai placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Honey, you know I was just kidding about the Uncle Max thing, right? I don't want you getting your hopes –"

"No, not that, God," Rory rolled her eyes, shaking her mother's hand away. She shrugged with forced nonchalance. "I was just wondering, you know, generally. When does the boyfriend thing happen? Like, labels are so arbitrary, but is there a general rule? Do you need to have a talk with him at a certain point?"

A smug smile broke out across Lorelai's face, and she wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders. "Oh, this is about Dean! You wanna know if Dean's your boyfriend!"

"No, it's just idle curiosity," Rory insisted primly, blushing. She looked at Juliet with wide eyes. "So, when?"

"Well, it's different for everyone, I guess," Juliet hedged, glancing at Lorelai for guidance, unsure how to answer both the spoken and unspoken questions her niece was asking. "Um, I'd say direct communication is usually the best way to go, so yes on the talking thing."

"That's great, 'cause if there's one thing we Gilmores are good at, it's talking!" Lorelai said with a self-deprecating laugh. "Not so much at the actual communicating part, but hey, maybe you'll get whatever recessive gene Auntie Jules got, huh, kid?"

"And as for the when part, I don't know," Juliet shrugged with a short laugh. "After more than one date, at least."

"Well, break out the old label maker, 'cause you and Max have had two dates," Lorelai pointed out with a teasing smirk.

"Walking around Stars Hollow with you and Luke doesn't count," Juliet scoffed. She raised her eyebrows innocently, pointing at Lorelai. "Unless . . were you guys on a date?"

"No," Lorelai scowled, annoyed at the teasing being turned on her. "It was a chaperoning excursion."

Rory and Juliet exchanged a smirk. Juliet nodded in mock understanding. "Uh-huh."

"We had to make sure Mr. Medina didn't take any liberties with your honor!" Lorelai said in an exaggeratedly posh British accent, folding her hands like Jennifer Ehle. "Like human chastity belts!"

Rory wrinkled her nose. "Gross. New topic, please?"

"New topic," Lorelai agreed, looping her arms through each of theirs. "Do you know how you wanna do your hair?"

Rory tapped her chin, pretending to think. "Like Marge Simpson."

On Wednesday night, Juliet was getting ready for her second (or third, according to Lorelai) date with Max, staring at a closet full of clothes she suddenly hated when her cell phone rang.

Checking the number on the screen, she breathed a sigh of relief, flipping it open. "Why don't I own anything remotely sexy?"

"Aw, Jules, you own plenty of sexy clothes. Wear one of your green dresses, you always look good in green. Or your Leisl Von Trapp dress!" Lorelai suggested with forced perkiness, an audible grimace in her voice.

Juliet frowned in concern. "What's wrong with you? You sound awful."

"Mom? Is that you? Sorry, I could've sworn I was talking to Juliet," Lorelai quipped, her voice tight.

"Sorry," Juliet apologized. "I just mean you sound like you're in pain or something."

Lorelai huffed out a sigh that turned into a whimper of pain. "Yeah, Rory's dress made a pass at me and I think I pulled something getting up. So I thought I'd consult my in-house medical professional, figure out which pill to take from the pharmacy Sookie left on my coffee table."

"Take an Advil," Juliet advised, running a hand through her hair. "And don't touch anything Sookie gave you!"

"This is not Advil pain, Jules!" Lorelai whined. "I need the good stuff! Aren't there exceptions to the whole 'no writing prescriptions for family' rule for emergencies?"

Juliet's brow creased in sympathy. "If it's life or death, yeah."

"It's getting there!" Lorelai said dramatically, but Juliet could hear the genuine pain in her voice.

Juliet frowned. "Do you want me to come over? I can cancel with Max, no big deal."

"No, don't cancel with Max. I'll take the Advil," Lorelai promised, her tone sobering. "Tell me about it later though, huh? Let us old folk live vicariously through you."

Juliet rolled her eyes. "You're not old."

Lorelai barked out a laugh. "I think my back would disagree with you there."

"Oh! Try icing it too," Juliet added, worrying her lower lip. "Are you sure, Lor? It's really not a big deal."

"I'm sure. I'm just being a baby. Go hang out with your not-boyfriend," Lorelai insisted. "I'll still be alive and in pain on Friday, you can take care of me then."

"Oh, lucky me," Juliet deadpanned, but smiled, relieved that her sister was still feeling well enough to joke.

"Oh, by the way, Mom's gonna be there," Lorelai told her, in a voice dripping with dread.

Juliet grimaced. "She is?"

"I know! She was all mad that you're skipping out on dinner to help Rory get ready, so I, like an idiot, invited her here," Lorelai sighed. "She wants to see Rory all dressed up, which I guess I can't blame her for."

"Mama's girl," Juliet teased with a smirk.

"Yeah, that's me," Lorelai grumbled. "Countess Dracula and I are like two peas in a pod. God, why do I let her manipulate me like this? I was looking forward to an Emily-free Friday night, and now . . ."

"I mean, we'd be seeing her anyway, wouldn't we?" Juliet rationalized with a shrug. "It'll probably take less time than dinner usually does."

Lorelai blew out a breath. "Yeah, I guess."

Juliet pressed the phone to her shoulder and moved her hair to the side as she zipped herself up. "And maybe she'll be nicer when she's on your turf."

"She'll probably be even worse. When we go over there, all she can criticize is my outfit. There's way more material she can use here!" Lorelai lamented with a groan. "God, I'm gonna have to deep clean the whole house before Friday."

"I'll do it when I get there," Juliet promised, swiping on a coat of mascara. "You don't wanna make your back worse."

"Yes, Dr. Gilmore," Lorelai teased. "Hey. Have fun tonight. Just relax, be your charming self, don't worry about dumb stuff. No waiting until he goes to the bathroom to take bites, okay?"

Juliet made a face. "I hate dinner dates."

"I know you do, hon," Lorelai said sympathetically.

"I mean, eating in public is bad enough, but in front of a guy I barely know? When I want him to think I'm attractive?"

"I know, hon," Lorelai said again.

Juliet frowned at the way her sister was babying her. "Do you think I'm being stupid?"

"I think you're pretty," Lorelai dodged her question, her teasing smirk audible. "Have fun, I love you, and I'll see you Friday if I haven't keeled over in pain."

"I love you too," Juliet snorted, hanging up.

Juliet drove up to Lorelai's house Friday night, armed with lidocaine patches, ice packs, and Thai food. She hopped up the stairs, the plastic bags she carried swinging side to side.

She didn't bother to knock, pushing the door open and kicking off her shoes. "Hey!"

"Hey! What's up, doc?" Lorelai's disembodied voice called. As Juliet padded into the living room, Lorelai gestured to her sister's scrubs with a smile. "Wow, really committing to the bit there, huh, Jules?"

Juliet rolled her eyes, setting the bag down on the coffee table. "My stuff was already in the car, so I just came straight from work."

"And stopped to buy out a CVS, apparently," Lorelai teased, rummaging through the bag and pulling out a lidocaine patch. "Is this supposed to help me quit smoking?"

Juliet gave her a dry smile, holding her hand out for the package and perching on the arm of the couch behind Lorelai. "It goes on your back. Want me to do it?"

"You're the expert," Lorelai said with forced cheer, leaning forward with a grimace.

Juliet smoothed the patch over the tense muscles, wincing when she heard Lorelai suck in a pained breath at the light touch. "Where's Rory?"

"Plucking each leg hair individually, for how long she's taking," Lorelai said with a laugh. "Rory, get out here! Let Auntie Jules marvel at your beauty!"

Rory stuck her coiffed head out briefly and smiled. "Hi, Auntie Jules!"

"Hi, Rory," Juliet waved, smiling back. Nudging Lorelai's head, she asked, "How'd the dress turn out? Worth the back pain?"

"Oh yeah, Stars Hollow's Rose Bertin has outdone herself yet again," Lorelai quipped with a proud smile. "Rory, come on! What's taking so long?"

"I'm primping!" Rory called from her room.

Lorelai rolled her eyes in Juliet's direction, smirking. "Primp faster! We're not getting any younger here!"

Rory flipped the light switch as she left her room, wearing a silky blue dress, her hair in an elaborately braided bun.

"Look at you! You look so pretty!" Juliet exclaimed, standing up and stepping closer to Rory. She reached out and touched the flowers adorning her niece's hair. "I love the baby's breath."

"You look beautiful, honey," Lorelai agreed, beaming. "Give us a twirl so we can see the full effect."

Rolling her eyes, Rory spun in a circle with a little giggle. Bounding over to her mother, she leaned down and kissed her cheek. "The dress is amazing, thank you."

"Of course, babe," Lorelai said, smoothing her hands over the shiny fabric. "Go grab the hairspray for Auntie Jules, and eat your pad thai before it gets cold, kay?"

"Kay!" Rory kissed her mother one more time before sashaying to her room, her poofy skirt swishing behind her.

Juliet snatched up the takeout bag and followed her. "I got mild and spicy, which one do you want?"

"Hm, mild," Rory said as she came into the kitchen, holding out the can of hairspray. As Juliet took the lid off, Rory glanced at the table. "None of the boxes are open, right?"

"Nope. Close your eyes," Juliet ordered, spraying a generous cloud around her niece's head. Coughing a little, she waved a hand in front of her face. "Feel good? Shake your head around a little."

Rory opened her eyes and vigorously shook her head from side to side. "I feel like Animal from The Muppets."

Juliet huffed out a laugh as the doorbell rang. From her place on the couch, Lorelai called, "You got it, Jules?"

"I got it! The box on the left is mild, chopsticks are in the bag," Juliet told Rory, pointing at the table. She walked briskly to the foyer and opened the door wide for her mother. "Hi, Mom."

"Hello, Juliet," Emily pursed her lips in a frown, her heels clicking as she stepped inside. "You make your guests answer your door for you, Lorelai?"

"Juliet practically lives here, Mom," Lorelai said with forced patience, rolling her eyes at her sister when their mother's back was turned.

"How nice," Emily said with a sardonic lift of her eyebrows. Her face melted into a genuine smile as she held up an expensive-looking camera. "Now, where's my granddaughter?"

Lorelai jerked her chin toward the kitchen. "Kitchen."

Emily pulled off the lens cap and positioned herself in front of the kitchen. "Rory, come in here, please."

Rory walked in, a dish towel covering her dress as she slurped noodles straight from the takeout box. "Hey, Grandma."

Emily rolled her eyes, looking at Lorelai tiredly. "She has lived with you too long."

Lorelai craned her neck to smile at her daughter. "Honey, lose the bib and the pad thai, come back out, and let Grandma take the pretty picture."

"Okay!" Rory acquiesced happily, turning around and walking back to the kitchen.

Emily glanced around the room, her eyes landing on the CVS bag on the coffee table. She pointed to it with a frown. "What's that for? Are you sick?"

"No, Mom," Lorelai said with a sigh. "It's nothing, just –"

She was cut off as Emily leaned forward, rooting through the bag. "Lidocaine patches, lidocaine cream, Advil . . . what do you need all this for?"

"It's always good to have, right?" Juliet lied, shrugging. "I mean, you never know when you'll need it."

Emily's shrewd eyes scanned between her daughters, flicking from the one who was standing and walking without trouble to the one who sat uncharacteristically still on the couch. "Are you hurt, Lorelai?"

Juliet waved her hand dismissively. "It's nothing, she'll be fine."

"How can it be nothing when there's an entire pharmacy in this bag and Lorelai hasn't moved all evening?" Emily asked incredulously. She arched an eyebrow at her youngest. "I hope for your patients' sake that you're not this cavalier about their health, Juliet."

Juliet bit the inside of her cheek to keep from responding. There was a brief reprieve from Emily's probing as Rory came out and posed for a picture, followed by a brief kerfuffle over whether Dean should come inside to pick her up or not. But finally, Rory and Dean left for the dance, promising to return before Dean's car turned back into a pumpkin at midnight.

After the door shut, Emily turned to her daughters. "What do you know about this boy?"

"I know that Rory likes him, and that his parole officer has high hopes for his rehabilitation," Lorelai quipped, smirking.

Wanting to avoid another bickering match, Juliet added, "He's from Chicago."

"Chicago?" Emily arched an eyebrow. "Chicago has a rather high crime rate, doesn't it?"

Lorelai put a finger to her chin in mock contemplation. "You know, coincidentally, it dropped off right after he moved here."

Juliet shrugged, playing along with an amused smile. "Huh. I wonder why."

"Will the two of you be serious for one minute, please?" Emily begged, throwing up her hands. She huffed out a frustrated sigh. "Is it so wrong for me to care about the type of person my granddaughter associates with? Am I such a villain for that?"

Juliet rolled her eyes at the obvious manipulation ploy, while Lorelai pressed her lips together. "No, but Dean's a good kid, Mom. We wouldn't be letting him hang out with Rory if he wasn't."

"But we'll call you tomorrow and tell you how it went," Juliet promised, stepping toward the foyer in hopes that their mother would take the hint and follow her out.

"What about Lorelai?" Emily protested, not moving.

Juliet frowned in confusion. "What about Lorelai?"

"Yeah, what about me?" Lorelai echoed, her eyes flicking between her mother and sister warily.

Emily scoffed, gesturing to her eldest. "Well, she certainly can't be left alone."

"I won't be alone," Lorelai argued, pointing to Juliet with a wry smile. "I've got the best doctor in Connecticut here to keep me company!"

Juliet rolled her eyes fondly at the hyperbole, flicking Lorelai in the forehead.

"Oh yes, I'm sure it will be a great comfort to be asked whether your feelings are hurt, as well as your back," Emily sneered, folding her hands primly.

"Mom!" Lorelai chastised, her head jerking back in righteous indignation.

Emily shrugged innocently. "What? Psychiatrists don't treat muscle pain, Lorelai, that's just a fact."

Juliet clenched her jaw, closing her eyes briefly in frustration. "I still went to medical school, Mom."

Emily ignored her, eyeing her eldest with rare maternal concern. "Perhaps I should stay."

Lorelai sent a panicked look to Juliet. "Mom, no, that's okay –"

"I've got it, Mom," Juliet reassured her, holding a hand out. "I'll take good care of her."

Emily looked away from Lorelai reluctantly, raising her eyebrows at Juliet. "Doctors have assistants, don't they? Nurses and such?"

Juliet hesitated, and the sisters exchanged another frantic glance. "Well, yeah, but –"

"Really, Juliet, is the prospect of an evening with me so awful that you would refuse an extra hand for your sister's sake?" Emily asked, laying the guilt on thick.

Lorelai sighed. "No, Mom, but –"

"I mean, I may not have been trained in a psychiatric ward, but I can be of some assistance," Emily said self importantly, her voice rising.

Sensing this was a losing battle, Juliet grabbed one of the ice packs from the plastic bag and handed it to her mother. "Can you put this in the freezer for me?"

"Of course," Emily accepted the ice pack, turning on her heel and striding into the kitchen.

Lorelai glared at her sister. "I'm gonna need the psych ward soon."

Part 2:

"Aren't you going to change, Juliet, or should I put on my pinafore and red cross cap?" Emily asked, arching an eyebrow.

Juliet glanced down, remembering she was still in her scrubs. "Um, my clothes are in my bag. I'll just . . . go change upstairs, I guess."

Lorelai shot her a look of don't leave me alone with her!, her eyes wide. Juliet just gave an apologetic shrug in response.

"I'll be right back," she promised, leaning down for the overnight bag at her feet.

Lorelai gave her a manic smile. "Hurry back!"

Juliet bounded upstairs and changed into her favorite floral pajamas, soft with use and countless washing machine cycles. She brushed her teeth and washed her face in a hurry, wanting to be back downstairs as quickly as possible.

Emily turned to face Juliet at the sound of her feet on the stairs. "Did you know your sister traded the Baccarat candlesticks I gave her for a monkey lamp?"

Juliet paused halfway down, her hand on the railing. "Um . . . kind of?"

"And the China tea set I gave to you?" Emily asked, her hands on her hips, lips pursed in disapproval. "Did you exchange it for a Victoria's Secret gift card?"

The tea set sat in the back of her coat closet, still in its original packaging, but Juliet hadn't exchanged it. She shook her head. "No, I still have it."

"See, Lorelai? Juliet knows it's bad breeding to return a gift, I don't know how that particular lesson went over your head," Emily said snidely, giving Lorelai a look of reproach.

Juliet gave her mother a chiding look, then eyed Lorelai with a look of concern. "Do you want another Advil? When was the last time you had one?"

Lorelai thought for a moment. "Right before you got here. But I'm okay. Your anti-smoking patch is helping a lot."

Juliet nodded as she walked to the couch, sitting beside Lorelai. She laughed and rolled her eyes when Lorelai tucked her toes beneath her thigh, feeling the icy cold of her sister's feet through her pajama pants. Lorelai just gave her an innocent smile in response.

"Are either of you hungry? I could heat something up," Emily offered, still feeling the need to be maternal. "Or, I could make mashed banana on toast, like I did when you were children."

Juliet made a face, while Lorelai's brow creased in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Mashed banana on toast," Emily repeated slowly, as though talking to a preschooler. "I made it all the time for the two of you when you were sick."

"It was so gross, don't you remember?" Juliet turned to her sister, eyes wide. When Lorelai shook her head, Juliet flopped back into the cushions. "You probably blocked it out."

"Oh, please, it can't have been that bad," Emily waved her hand dismissively. "You loved it."

"Oh my God!" Lorelai exclaimed, remembering. She slapped Juliet's arm. "You were in Puke City for days after getting your tonsils out, was that why?"

Juliet nodded vigorously. Emily rolled her eyes. "I assume you don't want it, then?"

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "I'll pass, thanks."

"There's a bunch of Thai food in the kitchen," Juliet said, standing up. "I'll go get it."

"No, no, that's alright," Emily said hurriedly, making her way to the kitchen. "Lorelai, where do you keep your plates?"

"We can just eat out of the boxes," Lorelai called back.

"Oh. Alright," Emily's voice came from the kitchen, sounding subdued.

Lorelai sighed, giving Juliet a grim smile as she took pity on their mother. "Plates are in the cabinet above the stove!"

Juliet smirked at her. "Mama's girl."

Later, Juliet felt her eyelids drooping as the three of them sat on the couch watching one of the old movies in Lorelai's extensive collection. Lorelai glanced away from the TV, pulling the throw pillow behind her back out and placing it on her lap, patting it invitingly.

Juliet blinked a few times, trying to force her eyes open. "Are you sure? Won't that hurt?"

Lorelai snorted. "My back's broken, Jules, not my legs."

"Your back's not broken," Juliet said with a short laugh, curling her legs up and resting her head on Lorelai's lap.

"Ow!" Lorelai cried, laughing when Juliet's head shot up. "Gotcha."

"Mean," Juliet grumbled, laying her head back down.

Lorelai looked down at her with a fond smile, stroking the hair at the nape of her neck soothingly.

"I thought doctors weren't supposed to sleep on the job," Emily said from her place on the couch, her lips pressed together tightly as her eyes flicked over to them.

"Thank God she's off the clock, 'cause they're not supposed to treat family members either," Lorelai quipped, lightly scratching her sister's arm.

Emily chuckled, and Juliet heard the conversation shift to Barbara Stanwyck as she drifted off, the sound of her sister and mother's voices a strangely comforting lullaby.

Lorelai carded her fingers through Juliet's hair, smiling when she burrowed further into her lap, her breathing deep and even. Lorelai glanced over at her mother, who was watching her daughters with an unreadable expression on her face.

Emily nodded to Juliet. "She was tired, wasn't she?"

"Yeah," Lorelai agreed, running a hand over Juliet's cheek. "She's always wiped out at the end of the week. And I don't blame her. I mean, God, I'm exhausted after forty hours, I can't imagine doing sixty."

Emily hummed in agreement, her eyes still on her youngest's sleep-relaxed features. "But that will change soon, won't it?"

"Yeah, once her residency's over – I think in May – it should be closer to forty," Lorelai said, frowning as she tried to recall. A surge of protectiveness rose up as she remembered Emily's earlier dismissal of Juliet's career, and she gave her mother a pointed look. "She's really good at her job, you know."

"I know," Emily said, bristling. "She's always been an excellent judge of character. I imagine that would translate well."

"Yeah, she is," Lorelai nodded, mollified. "You should tell her that."

Emily's jaw worked a little, but she avoided Lorelai's comment. "Can you believe she's going to be thirty in March?"

"I know," Lorelai chuckled, looking down at her sister's still-youthful face. "Makes me feel like Gloria Stuart in Titanic."

"You think you feel old, I'm the one who gave birth to her," Emily reminded her with a short laugh. "Wait until Rory hits thirty, then you'll feel ancient."

"Oh, God, I can't even imagine," Lorelai said with a laugh.

"You did a good job with her. With Rory," Emily clarified, looking her daughter in the eye.

Lorelai felt an embarrassing heat behind her eyes at her mother's words. Blinking rapidly, she looked away. "Thank you. I had a good teammate."

"Yes, it was always you two against the world," Emily agreed with a surprising lack of bitterness.

Lorelai glanced down again, tucking a stray tendril of hair behind her sister's ear. "Still is."

Juliet woke up to the pillow underneath her head jostling. She pushed herself onto her elbows, disoriented, realizing that the shaking beneath her head was Lorelai's lap as Emily shook her awake.

"Lorelai! Juliet! Both of you, get up! Rory's not home!"

Juliet sat up fully, eyes widening. "What?"

Lorelai pushed herself off the couch in an instant, her back pain forgotten as she walked quickly to Rory's room. "Rory? Rory?"

"She's not there! Aren't you listening?" Emily asked as she followed her into the kitchen.

Juliet stood too, hurrying to the bathroom, pushing the door open. and flicking on the light. "Did you check the bathroom upstairs? Maybe she went to take a shower."

"She's not in the shower, how stupid are you?" Emily asked incredulously. "We'd hear the water running! Lorelai, call the police. We need to call the police!"

Lorelai looked frantically around the room, not answering her mother. Emily's panic-laced voice rose higher. "What are you doing? Call the police! Call the police!"

Lorelai ignored her, looking under the clutter in the living room and kitchen. "Jules, where's the phone? Help me look for the phone!"

Emily followed Lorelai around the room, continuing to berate her. "Why don't you ever clean up around here? This is an emergency, and you can't even find the phone! What if there was a fire? What if Rory was choking?"

"Mom! Not helping! Either help us look or be quiet!" Juliet ordered, her tone leaving no room for argument. She pointed upstairs, clenching her other hand into a fist. "My cell phone's in my bag upstairs, stop yelling and go get it."

Emily obeyed, too taken aback by the authority in her usually mousy daughter's voice to protest. Lorelai continued to flip couch cushions over, her eyes filling with tears. Juliet forced herself to inhale deeply again, squeezing her eyes shut. When she opened them again, she noticed the phone sitting on a pile of papers on top of the cluttered hall table.

"Found it," Juliet called, reaching for the phone just as it began to ring.

Lorelai snatched it away from her grip. "Rory?" There was a pause. "Oh, Patty," another pause. "What?" A longer pause. "Okay, thanks," she paused again, listening. "No, thank you so much. Okay, bye," She hung up, giving Juliet a shaky smile. "She's okay."

"She's okay?" Juliet repeated, finally allowing her eyes to well up.

"She's on her way from Miss Patty's," Lorelai said, choking on a relieved sob. She pulled Juliet into a tight hug, burying her face in her sister's shoulder. "I was so scared, Jules. I didn't know where she was. She wasn't here! She wasn't here!"

"Shh, I know," Juliet soothed, running a hand over Lorelai's dark hair, feeling tears coursing down her own cheeks. "But she's okay. Everything's okay."

They clung to one another for another moment, until they heard the sound of Emily's heels clicking on the stairs. They pulled apart only slightly, wiping their eyes.

"Rory's fine," Lorelai said with a wet chuckle, turning to face her mother. "She's on her way."

Emily's shoulders relaxed slightly as she handed Juliet her cell phone. "Where was she? What happened?"

Lorelai sniffled, wiping her nose. "She and Dean were at Miss Patty's."

"What is that, a motel?" Emily asked, relief giving way to suspicion.

Lorelai tucked her hair behind her ears with another sniffle. "Um, it's a dance studio. Patty called, she said that she found them asleep, and woke them up, and Rory's on her way home."

Emily's eyebrows went up. "In what state were they found in?"

"Let's not speculate. Rory's okay, that's all that matters," Juliet said calmly, rubbing Lorelai's back.

"That is not 'all that matters', Juliet!" Emily said, irate. "She spent the night out with a boy, what do you think happened? What do you think is going to happen? I'll tell you what: she's going to get pregnant!"

Lorelai shook her head with a scowl. "No, she's not!"

"What kind of mother are you to allow this to happen to her?" Emily asked incredulously.

"Oh, I don't know, Mom. What kind of mother were you?" Lorelai shot back, giving her mother a withering gaze.

Emily arched an eyebrow, crossing her arms sanctimoniously. "One of my daughters left the house without getting pregnant, can you say the same?"

"No. Don't do that," Juliet said forcefully, shaking her head. "You don't get to do that."

"Juliet, stay out of this," Emily warned, leaning forward and sticking a finger in her face. "This is none of your business."

"It is my business! It became my business the second you used me as a weapon against Lorelai!" Juliet burst out, her self-control snapping like an overstretched rubber band. "I'm so sick of this! I am so sick of you only pretending to be proud of me to get at her!"

"I am proud of you!" Emily insisted, reaching a hand out for her youngest. "I'm very proud of you!"

"No, you're not," Juliet laughed bitterly. "My whole life, you've made all these comments about how I'm stupid, how I'm not a real doctor, but then whenever you want to tear Lorelai down, I turn into the golden child!"

"Because no matter how superfluous your career choice is, it was still better than your sister getting pregnant and throwing her life away!" Emily spat.

Lorelai pointed at the door, furious. "Get out!"

Emily reared back. "What?"

Lorelai crossed her arms over her chest, leaning forward. "You will not come into my house, and degrade my sister, and tell me I threw my life away. Look around, Mom. This is a life. It has a little color in it so it may look a little unfamiliar to you, but it's a life. And you can brag all you want about how Juliet didn't get pregnant, how she's so much better than me, how she's so successful, but she did that, not you. You have absolutely no right to stand there and pretend like you were anything but an obstacle to her turning out as great as she did!"

"I was not an obstacle –"

Lorelai didn't let her finish. "And if I hadn't gotten pregnant, I wouldn't have Rory."

"You know that's not what I meant," Emily backtracked, her voice softening.

Lorelai pressed her lips together against a flood of tears. "Maybe I was some horrible, uncontrollable child, but Rory isn't. She's smart and careful and I trust her and she's gonna be fine and if you can't accept that or believe it, then I don't want you in this house!"

With a huff, Emily spun on her heel and left the house, the door slamming shut behind her. Hesitantly, Rory stepped inside, her wrap clutched tightly around her. "Mom, thank you for saying all those nice –"

Lorelai's head whipped around to face her daughter. "What were you thinking? Staying out all night! Are you insane?"

Rory wilted, looking at Juliet helplessly. "I'm sorry. It was an accident."

Lorelai laughed disbelievingly. "You're talking to the queen of staying out all night. I invented the concept! This is no accident! You can't do this! Period."

Juliet put a hand on Lorelai's arm to stop her. "Hey. We're all tired, why don't we take a couple minutes and cool off?"

Lorelai gave her a look, working her jaw. "I don't need to cool off."

"Lor," Juliet warned, raising her eyebrows with a pointed look. She turned to Rory wearily. "Sweetie, go take a shower and change out of your dress."

Rory hesitated, looking at her mother worriedly. Lorelai blew out a breath.

"We can talk later," she said, jerking her chin toward the bathroom. "Go wash off your makeup before you turn into that Chilton secretary."

Rory ducked her head, offering them a tremulous smile as she walked to her room. Lorelai plodded to the kitchen table and sat down, burying her face in her hands.

Juliet stepped hesitantly toward her. "Lor?"

"What if she's right?" Lorelai hissed, her eyes welling up. "What if she did sleep with him? What if she –"

"Then we'll talk her through her options, and help her if she decides to keep it," Juliet said, sitting beside her and squeezing her hand. "But that's a big 'if', Lor. You were right earlier. Rory's careful. You think the girl who makes pro-con lists for which shampoo to buy is gonna sleep with her boyfriend on a whim?"

Lorelai chuckled wetly, wiping her eyes with the heels of her hand. "Yeah, you're right."

Juliet squeezed her hand again. "Don't let Mom get to you. You know how she is. She knows how to push buttons, but that doesn't mean anything she said was true."

"I just feel so stupid," Lorelai confessed, rubbing at her eyebrow. "Letting my guard down like that. I mean, we had fun last night, but that's what, one percent of our relationship? The rest is what just happened."

"Yeah," Juliet agreed, running her free hand over the patterns in the wood. "She can be a bitch sometimes."

"Just sometimes?" Lorelai asked with a chortle.

Juliet snorted in agreement, scooting her chair closer to Lorelai's and resting her head on her shoulder. Lorelai brought her arms up around her sister, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Notes:

Okay, I asked the same question on ao3, but how do we feel about the way I break episodes up into 2 parts a lot of the time? The reason I do it is because I read somewhere online that novel chapters are usually between 2,000 and 5,000 words, so I try to keep it under that length and break it up if it's longer than that. I find it a little overwhelming when individual chapters are really long when I'm reading fanfic. I broke this chapter into 2 parts on ao3, and I'm trying the one long chapter on this site, so let me know if you prefer the 2 parts or if you'd rather have 1 longer chapter per episode! Also, as always let me know how you feel about the chapter itself! Thanks for reading!