"Tomorrow, our lawyer, Joseph Stanford, is coming by," Emily announced one Friday night at dinner.
Lorelai made a face. "Ugh. Crazy Sissy's dad."
"That's terrible!" Emily exclaimed. "Sissy was a good friend of yours."
"Mom, Sissy talked to her stuffed animals and they answered her. I bet Jules has run into her in the psych ward a time or two," Lorelai quipped.
Juliet frowned at her. "That's not nice."
Lorelai's mouth dropped open in mock horror. "Et tu, Brute?"
"Wrong play, Lor," Juliet said with a smirk.
"If we could continue our discussion of Shakespeare's works another time," Richard broke in. "Your mother was speaking."
Emily smiled at her husband. "Thank you. Now, where was I?"
Rory looked up from her plate. "Uh, Joseph Stanford is coming tomorrow."
"Yes," Emily nodded. "So, Rory, your grandfather and I thought it might be nice after dinner for you to go around the house and pick out what you'd like us to leave you in our wills."
"Take a look at that desk in my office," Richard said proudly. "It's a really fine Georgian piece."
"Why don't I ever bring a tape recorder to these dinners?" Lorelai whispered to Juliet out of the corner of her mouth.
Rory shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Oh, well, anything you want to leave me is fine."
"Nonsense! You should have what you like," Emily protested with a smile. "So, look around and when you see something you like, stick a post-it on it."
"Okay, you two have officially hit a new level of weird that even I marvel at," Lorelai said, her eyes wide.
"We're all gonna die sometime," Juliet pointed out, glancing over at Lorelai as she took a sip of her wine.
"Of course, we are, Whizzer," Lorelai countered with a pout. "But that doesn't mean we have to talk about it."
"We should," Juliet argued, swirling some leftover sauce around on her plate. "Every time a patient dies, their families don't even have time to grieve because they're so busy debating burial versus cremation, because they didn't bother to ask the person while they were still alive."
Lorelai leaned forward on the table, turning to her sister with a challenging smirk. "So, what do you want, Jules? Buried or cremated? Or do you want to be tossed out to sea?"
"Please," Emily broke in, her tone annoyed. "This is no conversation for the dinner table."
"Hey, you started it!" Lorelai reminded her, holding her hands up in surrender as the maid brought out dessert.
Juliet craned her neck to peer into her bowl, smiling when she saw it contained chocolate pudding instead of some fancy French dessert.
"Oh cool!" Rory exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.
Lorelai's brow furrowed. "What's that?"
"It's dessert," Emily answered shortly.
"It's pudding!" Lorelai exclaimed in disbelief.
"It's good pudding!" Juliet added, taking another spoonful. "This is way better than the stuff we have at work."
"Well, it's not as though Lucinda used a packet of Jell-O to make it," Emily pointed out archly.
"I've never had pudding from a crystal bowl before," Rory marveled.
"You like the bowl?" At Rory's enthusiastic nod, Emily leaned in conspiratorially. "Put a post-it on it when you're done."
After dinner, the three younger Gilmores stood in the living room, putting Post-its on various pieces of furniture.
Lorelai stood in front of a giant vase, her brow furrowed in disturbed concentration. "So, what do we think of this?"
Rory frowned. "Where would we put it?"
"Maybe we'll use it to store Jules' ashes after she's cremated," Lorelai quipped, wrapping an arm around her sister.
Juliet gave her a wry smile, raising her eyebrows. "You'll probably die first, since you're older."
"Stop talking about who's going to die first!" Rory exclaimed, her eyes wide with horror.
"Oh good, you're still here," Emily said, her heels clicking as she walked up to them. Placing a hand on Rory's shoulder, she gave her granddaughter a smile. "Any special requests for dinner next week?"
"O-oh! Well –" Rory stammered, looking at her mother for help.
"Mom, Jules and I want to talk to you for a minute," Lorelai began, giving Emily a nervous smile, then addressed her daughter out of the corner of her mouth. "Rory, why don't you go say goodbye to Grandpa?"
"Very smooth," Juliet remarked sarcastically as Rory left the room. Lorelai just narrowed her eyes in response. Deciding to get the ball rolling, Juliet turned to their mother. "So, uh, Mom, you know how Rory's birthday is next Friday?"
"Yes," Emily replied, dragging the word out warily.
"Yeah! Um," Lorelai tugged on the hem of her sweater anxiously. "We were thinking that maybe we could push our dinner next week to Saturday."
"What are you going to do on Friday?" Emily asked, a falsely sweet smile on her face.
The sisters exchanged a nonchalant little smile, and Lorelai shrugged at their mother in reply. "Oh, I don't know."
"Well, perfect. You'll come here and we'll have a little party," Emily decided, as though she'd come up with the perfect solution.
A muscle twitched in Lorelai's jaw. "I was just hoping we could do it another night."
"Well, why come on another night when her birthday falls on the exact night that you do come here?" Emily goaded, folding her hands primly.
"Mom, please?" Juliet beseeched, pulling out her patented 'baby of the family' eyes that hadn't worked since Rory was born.
Emily shrugged in mock apology. "I'm sorry. Friday nights are my nights. That's what we agreed on when you borrowed money for her school. The rules haven't changed."
Juliet and Lorelai exchanged an exasperated look, and Juliet broke in, sensing her sister's self-control wearing thin. "Mom, come on. It's not like she's asking to cancel dinner. We just want to reschedule."
"Juliet, this does not involve you," Emily warned, her voice beginning to simmer.
Juliet resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "She's my niece."
"And she's my granddaughter," Emily contested, smiling smugly at them both. "So. Either be here on Friday for Rory's birthday, or you can find another way to pay for Chilton."
Lorelai blinked at her mother, looking like a million retorts were at the ready. Juliet stepped slightly closer to her sister, barely touching her elbow with her hand. Lorelai took a deep breath. "Fine. We'll see you Friday."
She took Juliet's arm and marched her out of the living room, leaving a trail of steam behind her.
"And dress appropriately!" Emily called after them gaily.
"She's gonna need that will real soon," Lorelai hissed in Juliet's ear.
On Wednesday, Juliet plopped into the driver's seat of her car after another grueling shift, resting her forehead on the steering wheel. After a minute or five, her cell phone rang, and she let out a groan, hoping it was the one person she could tolerate a conversation with right then.
"Hello?" Juliet answered.
"Your sister and I are going shopping tomorrow," her mother informed her without greeting.
Juliet's head jerked back in surprise, momentarily jolted out of her exhaustion. "You are?"
"Don't act so shocked, Juliet. It is not at all unheard of for a mother and daughter to go shopping together. Some women even enjoy shopping with their mothers."
"Sorry," Juliet backtracked, trying to explain herself tactfully. "You and Lorelai just. . . have different tastes."
"Of course. Lorelai's so stylish, while my taste is frumpy and old-fashioned," Emily lamented bitingly.
Juliet ignored the obvious manipulation tactic, grateful her mother couldn't see her eye roll through the phone. "So, you guys are going shopping tomorrow?"
"We are. For Rory's birthday. And since you and Lorelai can't seem to function unless you're attached at the hip, I figured I'd invite you along."
That was disarming too. Emily tended to go for the 'divide and conquer' approach when interacting with her daughters.
"Um, okay," Juliet agreed, too surprised to question her mother's motivations. "That's actually great, because I haven't gotten her anything yet either."
"Oh. Well, good. We're meeting at Damion's at three," Emily informed her.
Juliet scratched her nose, mentally running through her work schedule. "That works. I'll be coming straight from work, so, I'll um. . . I'll be in scrubs. Just so you know."
Emily sighed, as though Juliet had told her she'd be covered in bodily fluids too. "That's fine. I'm sure your sister will show up in a firefighter's uniform or something equally ridiculous. They'll build a Spirit Halloween around us."
"Mom!" Juliet chastised.
Static crackled in the phone at the force of Emily's sigh. "What, is Lorelai the only one allowed to make jokes? Nothing that comes out of my mouth could possibly be funny?"
Juliet rubbed at her eyes, too tired to come up with the type of response her library of self-help books would advise. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She quickly hung up the phone, blinking back tears of frustration. Why was talking to her mother so hard? Emily was right: mothers and daughters often shopped together and enjoyed it, while the closest Juliet came to a positive interaction with her mother was the lengthy discussions she and Lorelai had about her.
At 2:55 the next day, Juliet walked through the automatic doors at Damion's, looking left and right for her mother. Not seeing her yet, she took the time to quickly shake out and finger-comb her hair, wanting to give Emily as little ammunition as possible for her little digs.
"Jules!" she heard Lorelai call from behind her, waving madly.
Juliet felt some of the tension leave her shoulders, and hugged Lorelai briefly. "Hey! Look who's early!"
"Well, I don't want to anger Emily Post, do I?" Lorelai quipped, smiling.
Juliet raised a skeptical eyebrow at her sister. "When have you not wanted to make Mom mad?"
"I don't know," Lorelai shrugged, ducking her head a little. "It feels like she's been making an effort lately. Maybe I should too."
Juliet made a face, looking at Lorelai incredulously. "How has she been making an effort? When we talked yesterday, she was just as passive-aggressive as usual"
"The pudding!" Lorelai declared, jerking her hand forward as though that explained everything.
"The pudding," Juliet repeated, raising her eyebrows.
"You really haven't learned to read my mind after twenty-nine years, Jules?" Lorelai sighed, tucking her hair behind her ears as she prepared to explain. "She served pudding for dessert last week because she knows we like it, and she asked for our help buying Rory's birthday gift!"
Juliet considered this for a moment. "You know, it was weird that she invited me along today. She usually likes us better one-on-one."
"See, pudding!" Lorelai exclaimed, pointing a finger in her face.
"Oh! Speaking of pudding," Juliet began rummaging in her purse and produced a pudding cup. "One of my patients didn't want theirs."
Lorelai placed a hand to her heart, sticking out her bottom lip. "And you thought of me?"
"Just making sure you don't replace me with Mom," Juliet shrugged.
"Oh, well, that depends on whether this is chocolate or vanilla," Lorelai teased, peeling off the lid.
"Swirl."
Lorelai gasped, wrapping her free arm around Juliet and smacking a loud kiss to her cheek. "You're my favorite sister."
"Wow, I'm honored," Juliet laughed, leaning her head against her shoulder.
Pulling away, Lorelai ducked her head under the bottom of the pudding cup. "There's no spoon attached!"
"Use the lid," Juliet advised, rolling up the tin into a makeshift spoon.
Lorelai nodded her satisfaction and began eating her pudding happily. Unfortunately, that was how Emily Gilmore found her daughters; one dressed in her clothes from the hospital, and the other eating hospital pudding with a spoon made of rolled-up tin foil and plastic.
"Lorelai Gilmore! You cannot eat pudding in a department store! It could stain the clothes!"
"Ess her faul'," Lorelai said around a mouthful of pudding, pointing at Juliet.
"It is not!" Juliet said indignantly.
Lorelai swallowed. "Is too!"
"Honestly," Emily broke in, rolling her eyes. "You'd think I was shopping with two seven-year-olds from the way you two bicker." She let out a soft gasp. "Oh, look! This pashmina is lovely!"
She held up a royal blue pashmina, rubbing the soft cashmere between her fingers reverently.
"Mom," Lorelai began, glancing at Juliet with an amused smile. "Rory's not much of a pashmina gal."
"But the blue would look so wonderful with her eyes!" Emily protested, hugging the scarf like it was a purring kitten. Lorelai just shook her head no. Emily pursed her lips, dropping the pashmina in resignation.
As Lorelai tried to re-fold the scarf neatly, Juliet glanced around the store and then gasped in delight, pointing at a t-shirt a few feet away. "Lor, look! Farrah Fawcett!"
"Farrah!" Lorelai squealed, practically bouncing over to the display. She took the shirt off its rack and held it up to her front. "Get this for her, Mom. She'll love it!"
"Both of you, be serious," Emily admonished. "We're shopping for Rory."
"No, Mom," Lorelai corrected, gesturing between Juliet and herself. "We're shopping for Rory. You're shopping for your imaginary granddaughter, Consuelo Vanderbilt."
"I just want to get my granddaughter something nice," Emily insisted, an edge to her voice. "Am I so horrible for that?"
"Hey, I think this mall has a Barnes & Noble. Why don't we go there instead?" Juliet suggested, wanting to cut through the rising tension.
"Good idea, Jules. That sound okay, Mom? You can't go wrong with Rory and books," Lorelai said in a sing-song voice, smiling enticingly at their mother.
Emily gave her oldest a tight smile and nodded. "Fine."
The three women walked the short distance from Damion's to Barnes & Noble, and separated almost immediately; Emily gravitating toward the history section, while Lorelai led Juliet over to the display of iBooks.
"See if they have it in blue," Lorelai instructed, looping her arm through Juliet's, then giggled at the display that held nothing but blue computers. "Never mind."
Lorelai grabbed the closest one and turned back around, searching the crowded bookstore. "Where'd Mom go?"
"I'm not sure," Juliet said, frowning. "Hey, Rory hasn't read Parable of the Talents yet, right?"
Lorelai shook her head. "No, not yet. But she loved Parable of the Sower, so that's a good idea."
After Juliet grabbed a copy of Parable of the Talents, they found Emily in the display of historical romance novels, studying the back of Julia Quinn's The Duke and I. She looked up, a faint blush tinting her cheeks when she saw her daughters in front of her.
"Uh, Mom," Lorelai began hesitantly, "you're not getting that for Rory, are you? I'm just – I'm not sure it's her thing."
Emily huffed. "No, Lorelai, I am not getting this for Rory. One of the ladies in the DAR recommended it to me, so I figured I'd read it for myself."
"Well – Mom," Juliet warned, exchanging an uncomfortable look with Lorelai. "You know it's kind of . . . suggestive, right? From what I've heard."
"Yes, well, I'm a person too, Juliet," Emily said tightly, avoiding her daughter's eyes as her cheeks turned an even deeper pink. She exhaled, holding up a biography of Anne Boleyn. "Do you think Rory would like this?"
Lorelai nodded vigorously. "That's really good."
"Are you sure?" Emily asked, frowning at the price tag. "It's only twelve dollars."
"It's perfect, Mom," Juliet reassured her. "Rory loves Anne Boleyn."
Emily's eyebrows lifted, a small smile appearing on her face. "Really?"
"Oh yeah," Lorelai laughed. "Ever since she saw Genevieve Bujold's hair in Anne of the Thousand Days, she was hooked."
Emily's smile faded. "The costumes in that film were wildly inaccurate."
"Well then, this'll help her see the light," Lorelai said wryly, tapping the book's cover. "Come on, let's check out."
Emily walked toward the checkout counter, and her daughters followed after a moment.
"Mom's buying porn!" Lorelai whispered in Juliet's ear with a chortle.
"Shhh!" Juliet shushed her, trying to contain her own horrified giggle. "Try not to think about it!"
"I can't believe Mom didn't buy you a poofy dress!" Lorelai complained on the phone later that night.
Juliet raised an eyebrow, even though her sister couldn't see her. "Really? You want a third dress to turn into something that doesn't resemble a cupcake?"
"I guess not," Lorelai allowed, and Juliet could hear the whirring of her sewing machine over the phone. "I will say that this whole 'revamping my dress for the ball' thing is totally making me feel like Cinderella. All I need is a pair of glass slippers. And a prince, I guess."
"Or a duke," Juliet added, snickering.
"Gah!" Lorelai cried. "I thought we agreed never to speak of that!"
"Oh Simon," Juliet swooned in an awful British accent. "Marry me so my brother doesn't kill you!"
They both giggled, still slightly scarred by the reminder that their mother was just as much of a woman as Shania Twain.
"Oh, hey, speaking of proposals . . ." Lorelai began.
Juliet furrowed her brow. "We weren't talking about proposals."
"Marriage, proposals. Same category," Lorelai argued dismissively.
"Okaay," Juliet allowed, shrugging. "What about proposals?"
"Luke . . .kind of proposed to me."
Juliet, who had been lying on her couch, sat up straight. "Whoa, that was fast!"
"As a joke!" Lorelai added hastily. "He was joking!"
"Wow, I can't believe it," Juliet said, shaking her head in mock wonder. "I'm finally getting a big brother!"
"It was a joke, Jules," Lorelai repeated, her tone exasperated.
"More like a Freudian slip," Juliet said under her breath.
Lorelai sighed. "Okay, new topic, please?"
"So when's the wedding?" Juliet continued teasingly. "I'm your maid of honor, right? And Rory might be a little old to be a flower girl, but I think we could talk her into it."
"Jules," Lorelai pleaded.
"Okay, sorry," Juliet backed off. "New topic."
"Thank God. So, are you gonna call Maaaax?" Lorelai sang, her tone so smug that Juliet could see her smirk over the phone.
"I don't know," Juliet sighed, picking at a piece of lint on her sweatpants. "I mean, I'm not blind. He's an attractive guy. And he's charming and everything, but I just . . ."
"You just?" Lorelai prodded, her tone compassionate.
Juliet bit the inside of her cheek. "I just don't think he likes me, you know?"
"Not this again," Lorelai groaned. "Of course he likes you! He asked you out, not me, didn't he?"
"And that flirty message he left on your answering machine a few weeks ago? Was that meant for me too?" Juliet asked sarcastically.
"He was being polite!" Lorelai protested, her voice high.
"Uh-huh," Juliet said skeptically.
Lorelai sighed. "Look, Jules. We could spend hours on the spinning teacup ride of 'Which one of us does Max actually want?' but he asked you out, okay? That's gotta count for something, huh?"
"I guess," Juliet allowed, exhaling shakily. "I'll think about it, okay?"
"Okay," Lorelai agreed softly. "And when you decide to go out with him –"
"If," Juliet corrected.
"If you decide to go out with him, we'll give Rory a heads-up."
"Sounds like a plan," Juliet nodded. She sat up straighter, shaking her head. "Okay, no more boy talk."
"Deal," Lorelai laughed. "Hey, how many different shades of red do you think I'll get if I give Mom the Bridgerton sequel for Christmas?"
"Hmmm," Juliet pretended to consider this. "Ten, plus the vein in the forehead."
"Ten? I'd guess fifteen, at least," Lorelai scoffed.
"Well, you'll have to give it to her and we'll see," Juliet said with a shrug. "Oh, hey, do you want me to bring anything to your house on Saturday? Wine, chips, ice?"
"Nope! We've got plenty of wine, Sookie's making all the food, and there's enough ice in my fridge to sink the Titanic. Just get your cute butt over here after Mom's party and help us set up," Lorelai said cheerily.
Juliet shook her head disbelievingly. "God, I can't believe Rory's sixteen. It feels like yesterday we were reading Cosmo in the waiting room while you were in labor."
"And you were completely swallowed by the scrubs they gave you," Lorelai giggled.
"You'd think they'd have more than one size!" Juliet griped, but she was laughing too.
"She grew up so fast," Lorelai lamented softly.
So did we, Juliet thought.
After work, Juliet dressed slightly more formally than she usually did on Friday nights, pulling on a delicately beaded dress in a shade of green that looked especially nice with her hair, which she'd only pinned up halfway. Checking her makeup in the mirror one last time, she grabbed Rory's present and left for her parents' house.
The mansion was still relatively barren when she arrived, but judging by the expression on her mother's face, Juliet had gotten there later than expected.
"Where's Lorelai and Rory?" she asked Emily, giving the maid who took her coat a quick smile. "Thanks."
"Rory's changing out of her uniform, and Lorelai's probably already found the bar," Emily said disapprovingly. Taking Juliet's arm, she hissed in her ear, "Did you see what she did with the dress I bought her? It's like she's paying homage to Marilyn Monroe."
"I haven't seen her yet," Juliet said, giving her mother a look. "But I'm sure she looks fine."
"Of course, you'd say that," Emily scoffed, rolling her eyes. She looked Juliet up and down appraisingly with a sigh. "Oh Juliet, did you have to wear your hair down? You look like an extra from Braveheart."
Juliet ran a hand over her hair self-consciously, not knowing how to respond to that. "Um, I'm gonna find Lor."
"Tell her to pace herself with the drinks!" Emily called to her retreating back. "And run a comb through your hair, Juliet, honestly!"
Juliet forced herself to take a deep breath. It only took her a moment to find Lorelai, who looked stunning in her midnight blue evening gown, and Juliet felt herself bubbling with envy as green as her own dress. Shaking it off, she placed a hand on her sister's shoulder in greeting.
"Jules, hey! You look great!" Lorelai complimented, stepping back so she could see her dress more fully.
"Thanks, so do you!" Juliet smiled as she finger-combed her hair. "You did an amazing job with the dress!"
Lorelai smiled proudly, glancing down at her front. "Thanks."
"So, how's the fiance?" Juliet teased, nudging her sister with her foot.
To Juliet's amusement, Lorelai turned bright pink. She shook her head, smiling. "God, he should've waited until today to propose. Did you know he baked Rory a coffee cake?"
Juliet's face melted into a smile. "Really?"
"I know," Lorelai agreed, fanning herself exaggeratedly. "When Rory told me about it I was ready to jump him or something."
"Riiight," Juliet dragged out, smirking. "And that's just because of the coffee cake."
Lorelai shoved her lightly, chuckling. "Shut up."
Just as Juliet opened her mouth to make another teasing comment, a vaguely familiar woman in a stiff skirt suit approached them.
"Lorelai? Juliet?"
"Hi," Juliet greeted, hoping the look on her face didn't betray the fact that she had no memory of this woman.
"Oh my God!" Lorelai exclaimed, her eyes widening in recognition. "Oh, Mitzie, wow, I haven't seen you since –" Mitzie! That was her name!
"Your seventh month," Mitzie finished for her.
Lorelai blinked in surprise, glancing over at Juliet with a look of 'Did she really just say that?' "I was going to say high school, but okay."
Mitzie, for her part, looked genuinely apologetic. "Oh, no, did I say something rude?"
Lorelai shook her head. "No, no."
"No, I did. I said something rude. I've been trying to work on that," Mitzie said with a nod. "Ever since my divorce, I've been really trying to work on myself. You know, I just - I want to grow."
Juliet smiled, nodding. "That's great. I work with a ton of really good therapists if you ever want some recommendations."
Mitzie stared at Juliet for a moment, trying to figure out if her offer was genuine or simply a veiled insult, then smiled brightly.
"The Gilmore sisters, the scandal girls!" she exclaimed. She placed a hand on Lorelai's forearm, her eyes hungry for gossip. "Now, tell me, whatever happened with Christopher? Which sister did he end up choosing?"
Okay. That was unexpected. Juliet blinked in surprise, sending a nervous glance over to Lorelai. She forced herself to smile at Mitzie. "Uh, neither. Neither of us."
"We chose each other," Lorelai said, wrapping an arm around Juliet's shoulders.
"Wow, sappy," Juliet commented, turning her head to smile up at her sister.
"Yeah, well, you bring it out in me," Lorelai quipped. She turned back to Mitzie. "Um, he calls like once a week, and we see him at Christmas, sometimes Easter. It's all very civil."
Sensing that Mitzie was coming up with another invasive question, Juliet looped an arm through Lorelai's, beginning to lead her away. "Well, we need to find our mom. But it was nice to see you!"
"Bye, Mitz!" Lorelai called over her shoulder. She leaned in closer to Juliet. "Man, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition!"
Later, the sisters stood talking with their mother when Rory approached them, looking frazzled.
"Oh, there you are!" Emily greeted. "I think it's time that you said a few words to your guests."
Rory looked like she was about to cry. "What?"
Juliet felt her heart clench in sympathy for her niece, remembering how much of a nightmare those birthday speeches were, especially for more introverted people like Rory and Juliet. Even Lorelai had hated them, and she thrived in the spotlight.
Emily smiled primly. "Just a little speech to say thank you and tell everyone how it feels to be one year older."
"Mom, I don't think she wants –" Lorelai began.
"She's the hostess, Lorelai," Emily cut her oldest off. "This is her responsibility."
Like a long-dormant volcano, Rory exploded. "I am not the hostess! You are!"
"Whoa, Rory!" Juliet exclaimed in surprise, exchanging a wide-eyed glance with Lorelai.
Lorelai reached out a hand to touch her daughter's shoulder. "Hey, honey, hold on."
Rory shook her mother's hand off, zeroing in on her grandmother. "This is your party, and these are your guests, and I don't have anything to say to them, so you give the speech!"
"Rory!" Emily chided, glancing around to make sure no one was witnessing Rory's outburst.
"Excuse me," Rory muttered, storming up the stairs.
The sisters exchanged another confused look, and Lorelai turned to Emily with a bewildered frown. "What was that all about?"
"Lorelai, your daughter has no manners whatsoever," Emily said in a low voice. "You should be ashamed of yourself."
Lorelai laughed disbelievingly as Emily stormed off too. "Okay, how did this become my fault?"
"I don't know," Juliet looked around the crowded room, perplexed. "What just happened?"
"I don't know. I mean, Rory doesn't just blow up like this!" Lorelai said, shaking her head.
"No, she doesn't," Juliet agreed, looking past Lorelai up the stairs. "Should we go after her?"
Lorelai sighed. "One of us should probably check on Mom."
"I'll go," Juliet volunteered, patting her sister's arm as she walked down the hallway where Emily had disappeared, squeezing past members of the catering staff with an apologetic smile.
She found her mother in the kitchen, picking a fight with one of the servers over how best to arrange hors d'oeuvres.
Juliet lingered by the doorway, stepping aside to let the server by. "Mom? Are you okay?"
"Now is not the time, Juliet," Emily said shortly, avoiding her daughter's eyes.
"Okay," Juliet nodded, turning to leave. Changing her mind, she turned back, taking a few tentative steps toward her mother. She offered Emily a hesitant smile. "I don't think anyone noticed."
"Oh, people noticed. They were just too polite to acknowledge it," Emily barked out a laugh, shaking her head. "That girl. She's every bit as bad as her mother."
"Mom," Juliet chastised softly, tilting her head.
"And you!" Emily added, whipping her head around and pointing a finger at her youngest. "All you do is insert yourself unnecessarily into conflicts that don't involve you! It's as though you and Lorelai take no greater pleasure than in painting me the villain in every interaction we have!"
Juliet fought to keep her face a mask of neutral compassion. "I'm sorry you feel that way. That must be hard."
Emily's nostrils flared. "Do not patronize me, Juliet Leigh. I am in no mood for your clichéd therapist lines."
"I'm not trying to be patronizing, Mom," Juliet said, forcing her voice to remain even.
"Oh, please," Emily scoffed. "You love to lord your Psychology degree over me, with your 'academic perspectives' and 'professional opinions', as though my perspective on this family doesn't matter!"
Juliet felt her jaw tighten. "Of course, it matters, Mom, but –"
"There it is!" Emily declared triumphantly. She mockingly imitated Juliet's tone. "'I'm sorry you feel that way', 'Of course your opinions matter'! It's incredibly patronizing."
"Fine, I'll try to do better," Juliet acquiesced, pinching the bridge of her nose as her patience wore thin. She sighed, lifting her head to meet her mother's eyes. "I don't want to fight, Mom. I really just came to make sure you were okay."
"Because Lorelai asked you to?" Emily probed, arching an eyebrow. Juliet ducked her head, unable to refute her mother's claim. Emily chuckled bitterly. "That's what I thought."
"Mom," Juliet began, unsure how she was going to finish.
Emily gave her a resigned smile. "We should rejoin the party."
As the last of the guests left, Lorelai, Rory, and Juliet walked to the foyer to say goodbye to Emily.
"Hey, Mom. Great party. One of your best. I even liked those brown mushroom things," Lorelai complimented awkwardly.
"And the cake was really good," Juliet added with a tight smile.
Rory took a shaky breath. "Grandma, can I talk to you for a sec?"
Emily ignored her. "Richard, the girls are leaving!"
Richard came up to them, smiling genially at Rory. "Well, Rory, I hope you had a good time."
"Yeah," Rory said, ducking her head. "I did."
"Now, I know that your grandmother has already bought you a gift. However, I feel this occasion calls for something a little extra," he said, pulling an envelope from his pocket. "Put that towards your trip to Fez."
Rory cracked her first real smile of the evening. "Oh, Grandpa!"
Richard beamed at his granddaughter. "You're a good girl, Rory. Happy birthday."
"I don't deserve this," Rory marveled to her mother and aunt as Richard walked away.
"Fine, hand it over," Lorelai quipped.
"You girls should get going. You've got quite a drive ahead of you," Emily said with forced calmness. She glanced over at Juliet, her lips pursed. "You too. I assume you're staying with them tonight?"
"I am," Juliet confirmed, slightly miffed that their mother seemed to be taking offense to her daughters' sleeping arrangements. Didn't most parents want their children to get along?
"Grandma, we're having a party tomorrow, at our house, and –" Rory began hesitantly. "I mean, it won't be anything like this, but it will be fun, and maybe you and Grandpa can come?"
Emily gave her granddaughter a falsely saccharine smile. "That's very sweet, dear, but I'm afraid we already have plans."
"Oh, okay," Rory said, deflating.
"Have a safe trip. Lock the door behind you, okay?" Emily said tightly as she walked away.
Juliet, recognizing the determined look in her sister's eye that meant a fight was brewing between her and their mother, put an arm around Rory's shoulders. "Hey, let's go help load the presents into your mom's car."
Lorelai nodded, giving Juliet a grateful look. "Good idea. I'll meet you out there in a minute."
Juliet led her niece out to the driveway, rubbing the girl's arm when she saw that she was blinking back tears. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I ruined everything," Rory sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Now there won't be any pudding."
"God, what is it with you guys and pudding?" Juliet asked, giving Rory a one-armed squeeze. "I work at a hospital. I can get you all the free pudding you want."
Rory let out a laugh that was half-sob. "No, Mom and Grandma are in there, fighting, because of me! And Grandma won't even look at me, and then she'll tell Grandpa what an awful kid I am, and then he'll hate me too!"
"You're not an awful kid, Rory," Juliet promised, smoothing her niece's hair away from her face. "And your mom and grandma have been fighting for way longer than you've existed."
"But I yelled at Grandma," Rory protested.
"And you've tried to apologize like, three times," Juliet reminded her. "What else can you do?"
Rory didn't seem to have an answer for that, and glanced down at her shoes in lieu of a response.
"Your grandma," Juliet began hesitantly, not sure if this was appropriate information to share with her sixteen-year-old niece. "Has a way of bringing out the worst in people. I mean, you've seen the way she talks to your mom. I'm a psychiatrist, for God's sake, and I still feel like a little kid whenever I'm around her."
Rory nodded and sniffled, bringing the sleeve of her cardigan up to her nose before seeming to think better of it. "I think Mom has some napkins in the car."
Juliet nodded, wrapping an arm around Rory as they walked to the car together. "Let's go get some."
"Dirty," Rory quipped half-heartedly, sniffling again.
Juliet laughed, giving her niece a squeeze. Behind them, the front door opened, and Lorelai shuffled out with a sigh, slinging an arm around Juliet's shoulders and blowing out a breath.
Rory, the sweet, wise kid that she was, sensed that the sisters needed a moment alone, and held out her hand for the keys to the Jeep. "I'm gonna go warm up the car."
Lorelai gave her daughter a quick smile. "Okay, babe. Be right there."
"That woman," Lorelai spat, shaking her head. Juliet could see tears glistening in her eyes, and she snaked her free arm around her sister's waist, leaning her head against her shoulder. Lorelai rested her cheek against her hair, which Juliet felt becoming slightly damp with saltwater.
"I guess it didn't go well in there?" Juliet asked sarcastically.
"Understatement of the century," Lorelai sighed, rubbing Juliet's arm up and down vigorously, as though she was the one who needed comforting. Juliet felt, rather than heard, Lorelai's shaky inhale against the top of her head, and craned her neck so she could make eye contact with her sister.
"Are you okay?" Juliet asked, even though she knew the answer already.
Lorelai blinked rapidly, focusing intently on a distant streetlight. Juliet leaned her head back on Lorelai's shoulder, and waited.
"She doesn't know me. And she doesn't know you," Lorelai declared, her voice choked. "She doesn't know us. She's not allowed to know us."
Juliet nodded against her sister's shoulder, wrapping her other arm around Lorelai as her sister did the same, pressing a kiss to the top of Juliet's head.
"I just – I wish I wanted her to know us," Juliet confessed. "You know?"
"Yeah," Lorelai agreed, her voice muffled by her sister's hair. "I know."
The difference between Rory's two birthday parties was like night and day. The only preparations had been Lorelai, Sookie, and Juliet dancing and singing to the Bangles as Sookie made enough food to feed a small country, and the sisters made enough sangria to get that country hammered.
"Juliet, help me with the cake?" Sookie asked, nodding to a giant sheet cake with Rory's face on it.
"Oh! Yeah, of course," Juliet set her glass down on the table, hurriedly wiping her hands on her jeans as she bent her knees to lift one side of the platter while Sookie handled the other. "It looks amazing! How'd you get the picture on there?"
"Oh, just my edible printer. I never get to use it!" Sookie answered, beaming as the two of them shuffled into the living room, their height difference making the maneuver more awkward. "Okay! On three, 'cause we're gonna drop it!"
They carefully placed the cake on the coffee table as everyone began to sing 'Happy Birthday', and Lorelai came up and wrapped an arm around Juliet, rubbing her shoulder up and down.
"We did good," Lorelai whispered, and Juliet smiled at her, knowing she wasn't just talking about the party.
"Yeah, we did," Juliet agreed, bumping her sister's hip with her own. "Mostly you, though."
"Hm, it was mostly me," Lorelai sighed with false vanity. "I think I deserve another drink for a job well done. Wanna get it for me?"
"Fine," Juliet relented, extricating herself from Lorelai's embrace. "Sangria still?"
Lorelai flashed her a smile. "You know it!"
Juliet smiled one more time over her shoulder, then made her way into the kitchen. She gave Sookie a quick smile as she grabbed a clean glass for Lorelai, and gestured to the cookie sheet Sookie had just pulled from the oven.
"Want help arranging those?" Juliet offered.
Sookie shook her head. "Nope, I'm good."
Juliet opened her mouth to insist on helping just as Lorelai burst into the kitchen, her eyes wide. "Um, okay, uh, Mom and Dad are here."
Juliet's head whipped around to look at Lorelai, her eyes wide. "Our Mom and Dad?"
"No, Macaulay Culkin's. Yes, our Mom and Dad!"
"Oh my God!" Sookie exclaimed.
Lorelai nodded frantically. "Yeah! I've cursed in front of them twice and Miss Patty already tried to hit on Dad, and I'm sure Mom's gonna call Child Protective Services."
"God," Sookie marveled. "When was the last time they were here?"
"Never," Juliet said, glancing at Lorelai. "Right?"
"Never," Lorelai confirmed. "Not since we moved here. I mean, they'd drive Jules down occasionally and chat for a bit when she'd visit us at the inn, but they have never been here."
Sookie huffed in disbelief. "Wow. That's big stuff."
"Is Rory thrilled?" Juliet asked, giving her sister a bittersweet smile.
Lorelai chuckled, shaking her head. "Through the roof."
"Oh, that's great," Sookie said happily.
A moment later, Emily pranced into the kitchen, raving about the hors d'oeuvres and trying to poach Sookie from the Inn, barely acknowledging her daughters' presence. As Emily folded up the paper napkin where Sookie's number was written and put it in her pocket, Sookie edged closer to Juliet and whispered,
"Oh my God, your mom looks just like you!"
"I know, don't remind me," Juliet said with a grimace. Pulling open the freezer and shutting it again, she glanced around the kitchen with a frown. "Hey, um, where's the rest of the ice?"
Sookie looked up from the dish she was plating. "It's all in the freezer."
"No, it's not," Juliet shook her head. "Did Lorelai move it outside or something?"
"I don't know," Sookie shrugged, beginning to look panicked. "I'll go ask her."
"It's not the end of the world," Juliet promised, putting a hand on Sookie's forearm. She gestured to the side door with her thumb. "I'll check outside, okay?"
"Okay," Sookie agreed, turning to find Lorelai.
Juliet pushed the screen door open, walking around the perimeter of the back porch. No ice. I should've brought some anyway, she thought, a rush of warm air hitting her in the face as she reentered the house.
Sookie bounced up to her giddily. "We have ice!"
"Oh, good!" Juliet said with a relieved smile. Sookie gave her arm one last pat as she flounced back into the living room.
Juliet made to follow her when she felt a hand on her elbow, pulling her back into the kitchen. She whipped her head around, and relaxed only marginally when she saw the vice grip belonged to her mother.
"Ow, Mom, that hurts," Juliet complained, pulling her arm free.
"What is going on between your sister and the ice man?" Emily hissed, leaning in close and pronouncing 'ice man' like a four-letter word.
"Ice man?" Juliet repeated, her forehead creasing in bewilderment. "Like a delivery guy? I don't think she has an ice guy."
Emily shook her head. "Not a delivery man. A man who came here just now, holding ice. An ice man!"
Juliet turned her head, searching the living room for someone holding ice. Emily threw her hands up in frustration.
"He's not holding ice anymore, Juliet. My God, you'd think a Yale education would sharpen your ability to read between the lines."
Juliet closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "What did this 'ice man' look like?"
"He had dark hair, and he wore a flannel shirt and a baseball hat."
"Oh," Juliet nodded, choosing her next words carefully. "That's Luke. He owns the diner in town. He's a good guy."
Emily lowered her voice, a cajoling smile on her face. "And he's just such a good man that your sister threw herself into his arms as soon as he walked in the door like he was the Lancelot to her Guinevere?"
What did Emily think? That Juliet was so desperate for a chance to gossip with her mother that she would break Lorelai's trust and tell her exactly how her sister felt about Luke?
"They're friends, Mom," she said, shrugging. "I hug my friends all the time."
"Even male friends?" Emily asked, raising an eyebrow.
Juliet didn't have any male friends, at least none she was close enough with to be physically affectionate towards, but her mother didn't need to know that. "Yes, even male friends."
"Hm," Emily pursed her lips in disapproval. "They're just friends?"
"They're just friends," Juliet confirmed with another nod. She picked up a glass of sangria, handing it to her mother. "Here's your drink, Mom."
Emily frowned, looking her daughter up and down to see if her expression betrayed anything. When she found nothing, she accepted the drink with pursed lips and walked into the living room.
As the party wore on for another hour, Juliet began to feel too socially drained to actually engage in conversation with someone, but didn't want to completely shut herself off from the action. So, 7:55 found her seated in a corner of Lorelai's living room alone, running her fingernail up and down along the outer seam of her jeans.
From across the room, she spotted Luke, and gave him an awkward little wave, which he returned. Glancing from left to right, he maneuvered through the crush of people in the living room to sit beside her. Juliet felt herself smiling, delighted that Luke seemed to enjoy the strange little introverts club they'd formed last week enough to seek it out again.
She glanced over at him with a teasing smile. "Hey, big brother."
Immediately, his head whipped around to face her, a look of raw anger and . . .hurt? in his eyes. Involuntarily, Juliet jerked her head back. Apparently, their tentative friendship hadn't progressed to the playful ribbing stage yet.
"Sorry," she apologized hastily, reaching out to pat his arm but pulling her hand back at the last second. "Sorry. You've probably gotten teased enough about that this week."
"Wha – oh, yeah," Luke ducked his head, then looked up a little sheepishly. "The proposal. Lorelai told you about that?"
Juliet nodded, still a little confused by his abrupt change in demeanor. "Very little happens to her that I don't hear about over the phone. Very little happens to me that I don't tell her about over the phone."
Luke regarded her for a moment, the anger gone from his expression, replaced by an emotion Juliet couldn't name. "That's nice. That you guys have that."
Wistful. That's what the look on his face was. Suddenly, Juliet realized that for all Lorelai had told her about the man next to her, his family was something her sister never brought up. She watched him for another moment, then turned away, sparing him from her psychoanalysis.
"Yeah," Juliet agreed with a nod. "We're lucky."
Quiet settled over the two of them again as they listened to the townies reminisce on Rory's idyllic childhood, and Lorelai sent a smile in Juliet's direction at the fond memories. Juliet began to return it, but caught Luke doing the same out of the corner of her eye. She ducked her head, realizing that Lorelai's big shiny smile hadn't been for her, and a pit of jealousy began to form in her stomach.
Shaking it off, she looked up just in time to see Emily stand up and climb the stairs that led to her sister's bedroom. This time, Lorelai did look at Juliet, furrowing her brow in confusion as she gestured with her eyes to their mother's retreating form. Juliet just shrugged in response, and Lorelai rolled her eyes in commiseration, getting up to follow Emily.
Juliet began to stand up too, but Lorelai stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and a quick smile at Luke. "No, stay down here."
Nodding in understanding, Juliet sat back down, watching her sister disappear up the stairs behind their mother.
A few minutes later, Lorelai hopped back down the stairs in front of their mother, who followed at a more subdued pace. Juliet stood up to meet them, and Lorelai slung a casual arm around her shoulders, while Emily gave her youngest a tight smile as she made her way to the front door.
"What happened up there?" Juliet asked, jerking her chin up the stairs.
Lorelai just rolled her eyes. "The Spanish Inquisition, part deux."
"Wouldn't it be dos?" Juliet reminded her, laughing when Lorelai flicked her in the forehead.
"Come on, let's go say goodbye" Lorelai dropped her arm from her sister's shoulders and led her by the wrist to the front porch. She smiled brightly at their parents. "Hey, so you guys leaving? The mud wrestling starts in ten minutes."
Emily smiled drolly. "Good night, Lorelai. We had a lovely time. Juliet, nice to see you."
Juliet gave her mother a small wave. "Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad."
"Thanks again for coming," Lorelai added with a wave of her own.
"Goodbye, Juliet," Richard said, patting her shoulder briefly. "Lorelai, I'd have that chimney inspected if I were you."
"I'll get right on that, Dad," Lorelai promised with an amused smile.
The Gilmores bid goodbye to Rory with a kiss on the cheek from each of them, and one more check from Richard. The younger Gilmores watched them leave, waving one more time as the door to their Jaguar closed.
"So. . ." Rory began, looking at her mother enticingly.
Lorelai smirked. "Food fight?"
Rory nodded gleefully.
"Oh, God," Juliet groaned.
As the three remaining Gilmores (plus Sookie) cleaned up after the party, Lorelai stood at the kitchen sink washing dishes. Juliet came up behind her, holding a pile of plates, which she dropped into the soapy water. She frowned after a moment, noticing that Lorelai wasn't actually washing anything, but staring out the window unblinkingly.
"Is there a bear out there or something?" Juliet joked, frowning when her sister jumped a foot in the air at the sound of her voice.
"No," Lorelai said softly, pointing outside. "Look."
Rory stood in the yard with a tall boy, their fingers laced together as they gazed adoringly at one another. And judging by the look on Lorelai's face, Rory hadn't mentioned this boy to her mother before.
"Wow," Juliet said with a breathy laugh. "She really is growing up."
"Yeah," Lorelai agreed with a sad smile. "She really is."