"Hey, do you think you can get covered for work this weekend?" Rory's voice came from the phone on the bathroom counter.
"I got a coworker that owes me. Why?" She was kneeling by the tub to clean it after bathing the pets.
"Logan invited us to do a Valentine's weekend at Martha's Vineyard," Rory told her.
"Us?" She wonders.
"Me, you, Mom, Luke, and Jess." She listed. "You can bring Naruto and Sasuke."
"Why does Logan want to invite us for a getaway weekend?" She thought it could be romantic instead of a family trip.
"We thought it would be a good opportunity to get to know each other more." She wanted them to be more comfortable with her boyfriend.
"Okay, I'll try to talk Jess into it." She glares at Sauke who jumps up on the counter beside her phone.
"Please, Jess does anything you ask." Rory giggles. Sasuke stares at the phone and tilts his head at the object making noise.
"Yes, but you only see the result. You don't know the perfect planning that goes into persuading Jess…. Sasuke!" The cat pushed the phone off the counter. Anna threw her body down on the ground so the phone would have a softer place to land.
"What happened?" Rory was alarmed.
"Sasuke was getting back at me for giving him a bath by trying to break my phone…. I'll see you this weekend." She hangs up the phone to look up at him unimpressed. "Don't you think about it?" She warns as he gets into a crouching position. He jumps down onto her stomach, knocking the air out of her, and runs out of the bathroom.
"I have to stop falling for Thai food, Metallica on the stereo, and a new novel combo." Jess put the suitcases in a guest room at the Huntzberger's vacation home.
"If all else fails you got Luke." She set up Sauke's litter box in the attached bathroom.
"And you?" He tilts his head.
"Me, oh no. I'm a social butterfly that everyone falls in love with. You might not even see me this weekend. These are people who hardly get to see me. They are going to compete for my time. I'm surprised the door is not being knocked on by my enthusiastic fans." She did an impression of Audrey Hepburn as she pointed dramatically to the door.
Jess rolled his eyes at her horrible acting. "I think I hear your mom now." He opens the door. "Oh, I was sure someone would be here." He pretends to be surprised at no one waiting for her. Anna shook her head at him ruining her fun. She follows him out with her feline tail following her.
"Hey Mom, Luke." Anna waves as she goes over to them.
"Hey, honey. For a second I thought Logan had a dog that looked like Naruto." She laughs. Naruto was basking in Luke's presence. She kneels to be at eye level with the animals. "I see Sauske is still a mama's boy." She waves to the cat that sits by her daughter's feet. "He got that cat that will steal your soul thing down." She stood up not wanting to look into his glaring eyes.
"Hey, Jess." She waves. He gave her a head nod that got on her nerves.
"Hey Anna, Jess." Luke shakes their hands.
"Hey, I hope Naruto isn't bothering you too much." She watches her dog sniff him up.
"He is smelling Paul Anika." Luke knew it was natural.
"We should tell you guys about the house's peculiarities." Rory didn't want them to think it was haunted like she did.
"It's a grandma, so it got its kinks," Logan explains.
"Some of the hardwood floors have buckled, so watch your step." She had tripped putting her things away.
"The French doors are warped from the winter. So you have to give them a yank when you open them." He demonstrated how much force was needed by opening an invisible door.
"And that noise you may hear outside your window in the morning…" She smiles.
"That would be Stan." Logan finishes her sentences.
"Gardener?" Lorelai asks.
"Raccoon." Rory corrects.
Anna gasps with a smile on her face. "No, no, no, we are not going to be in the emergency room because you need a rabies shot." Jess shook his head.
"He's been living on the property longer than my family has. So we give him free reign." Logan gave the animal backstory.
"Oh, I'm going to throw him some food in the morning." Anna claps.
"And the showers, there are three of them. Run any two at the same time and they turn to ice. So give everyone a heads-up before you take a dive." Rory warns.
"Good to know." Anna smiles a little too mischievously for everyone's taste.
"And in the morning, we'll have stuff here to eat or you can go up the street to Joe's cafe for breakfast. We'll show you guys to your room." Rory guides the older couple upstairs.
"So, I'm hoping to get parents' approval this weekend. Do you think that's possible?" Logan asks once they are out of earshot.
"My mom is going to try to like you because she loves Rory. Luke is going to be harder. He is very protective." She was honest.
"I had a hard time getting his approval and I'm related to him." Jess agrees.
"Any advice." He put his hands in his pockets.
"Don't be too nice. It makes him feel uncomfortable when people are kissing his ass." Anna knew how aggressive Luke got when that happened.
"No compliments got it." He mentally noted.
Anna and Jess were having egg benedict at Joe's Cafe. "I can't believe you brought the skateboard." She looks at the wood underneath the table.
"I can look up things too." It was the only thing he would want to do.
"I can't wait to see you in action. Can you do an ollie?" She asks.
"How do you know what an ollie is?" He tilts his head.
"X-games are the only sports that are watched in our house. Mom likes the thrill of good tricks or nasty falls." She sips her coffee.
"Then maybe you can try the half-pipe?" He teases.
"Let's not get crazy. I don't even bring a helmet." She wasn't going to try it without all the protective gear.
"I know what I'm putting in the fish bowl." He takes his last bite.
"I'm sorry, but this picture just doesn't compute." Lorelai stops at the entrance to the kitchen. Rory was wearing an apron helping Anna.
"Stop! I told you, Anna taught me some things. I helped out the chiefs at grandma." She didn't know why her mom was acting amazed.
"I know but to see you wielding a knife. And you're wearing an apron." She went around the island to get a better look.
"It's so my clothes don't get wrecked." She cut up a cucumber.
"You haven't worn an apron since you watched The Sound of Music, so you'd look like Sister Maria and you made a big crucifix out of popsicle sticks." She teases.
"Rory, can you get me the juicer?" Anna asked.
"Sure thing." She hands it to her.
"Wow!" Lorelai's mouth pops.
"What?" Rory tilts her head.
"You went to that drawer and got that thingamabob like that's what you intended all along. You know where things are." She made it seem like she solved a case.
"I cooked here before." She smiles.
"I may need to be resuscitated." She put a hand on the counter pretending she needed it to stand.
"Okay, do you want to help or keep the rift going?" Anna put her sister out of her mercy.
"I want to help." She nods eagerly.
"Logan is taking care of the lobster for us outside. We are making a salad, mashed potatoes, and bruschetta." Rory told her the menu.
"What's this?" She grabbed something to flap it around.
"A garlic press." She took it from her before she broke it.
"This could do a foot." She swung around the knife.
"No." Anna took it from before she cut someone.
"What about this?" She held a small strainer in the air.
"How about you wait for instruction and take a step back." Anna took it from her and pushed her away from the counter.
"Hi, Luke." Rory smiles.
"Hey." He nods.
"When will I get a task?" Lorleai whines.
"After you wash your hands." Anna pointed to the sink.
"The food looks good." Luke looks at the spread.
"Anna is going to let me chop something." Lorelai lathers up her hands.
"Is that wise?" Luke pretends to whisper.
"I didn't say that, but you may do the celery." She hands her mom a butter knife.
"No, a real knife." She pushed it away.
"Be careful, please." Rory hands her the regular knife.
"I am Mario Batali and Ina Garten's love child." She holds it tightly.
"You're holding it wrong." Anna shows her the right way to do it.
"Logan and Jess are outside dealing with the lobsters. Logan was nice and kept them hidden when they weren't dead unlike someone else, who stuck the knife in their head." She glares at the sister.
"I say if you can't handle the slaughter then become a vegetarian." Anna helps Logan prep the lobsters.
"Ew, undead, slaughter, I don't like the behind-the-scenes foodstuff." She swings the knife in the air.
"Do you want that taken from you?" Anna put a hand on her arm to force the knife down.
"No." She pouts.
"Then you don't put it more than a foot off the chopping board." She gave her a rule.
"What did you mean by" could do a foot?" Rory wonders.
"I'm going to see what's going on out there?" Luke walks out to the deck and is surprised to see Jess and Logan laughing by the grill.
"Did you get kicked out of the house?" Logan nods when he notices him.
"Kind of. What are we talking about?" Luke stands by his nephew.
"Jess was talking about the skate park they went to after Joe's Cafe. I used to go as a kid. We are trading stories." He told him the conversation. "Hey, I never thought to ask but do you guys like lobster?"
"I never tried it." Luke leaned against the deck's railing.
"With Anna, there's nothing I haven't tried. We had snails last week." He shivers.
"If I make it right, you'll like it. Making lobster is a time-honored Huntzberger family tradition. It's in our blood." He routes the lobsters.
"Great." He nods.
"So FYI, I'm probably going to do the present thing at dinner." He lets them know.
"The present thing?" Luke asks.
"I just wanted to give you a heads up. I don't want to complicate your life." He flips a few.
"You got Rory a present." Luke was putting the pieces together.
"Jeez, Luke it's Valentine's Day. Did you forget?" Jess shook his head.
"No, I don't do Valentine's Day. She knows that." Luke saw the young men's unimpressed faces. "It's not until Tuesday, I have a couple more days."
"Right." Logan nods.
"You got Anna a gift?" Luke looked at his nephew.
"Yeah." He nods.
"But, you think it's a commercial holiday too." They agreed that holidays were too materialistic.
"Yeah, but Anna loves it. Being with me is not going to be why she doesn't get to celebrate it." He shrugged like he didn't just say something touching.
Luke suddenly felt like a big jerk. "Is there anything open nearby?" He looks at Logan.
"Only if you want to buy a windchime or boating equipment. Look, I went a little nuts and got two things for Rory. Let me give you one to give to Loreali." He put the tongs on the side to wipe his hands with a towel.
"No. No. No." He shook his head.
"Yes." He sings out the symbols. "I got a necklace and a tennis bracelet. She doesn't need both. Take one, whichever one."
"I can't do that." Luke put his hands in his pocket.
"Dude, it's Valentine's Day. You got to give your girl a gift." He insisted.
"Well, maybe I will take one." He gave in to pressure.
"Which one?" He asks.
"The necklace." He decides.
"Perfect." He nods.
"Mainly because I have no idea what a tennis bracelet is." He gave his reasoning. Jess shook his head. "You know what it is?"
"Emily gave one to Anna for Christmas. She's been wearing it to act out scenes from Breakfast at Tiffany's. Her Audrey Hepburn impression is getting good, but I'll never admit that to her." He sips a beer.
"Let me finish up here. I'll show it to you. I left them in the car, so Rory wouldn't find them." Logan looks at the grill.
"You don't have to do this." Luke felt bad.
"I'm happy too. We men have to stick together." He was happy to have something to make Luke like him.
Lorelai giggled as she mashed the potatoes. "Enough." Anna took the masher from her.
"Now that you're a professional chef, you are an awful boss in the kitchen." She pouts.
"Everyone will thank me when the mashed potatoes aren't falling off the plate." She took the bowl to add seasoning.
"So, have I told you what Logan and I are thinking for the end of the school year?" She sips from a glass of wine. "Get this Asia?"
"Asia… wow." Anna thought of visiting a whole continent.
"Well, some of Asia. China, Thailand, Vietnam. We're thinking about six weeks." They came up with the plan when she told Logan she went to Europe for her High School graduation.
"Sounds exciting, hon." Lorelai smiles.
"We haven't finalized anything yet but I bought the books. I'm doing the research." She was looking forward to it.
"It's official. You're become too fabulous to hang out with me." She watches Rory place the tomato slice on the salad to look pretty.
"How is it going in here?" Logan came in with Luke and Jess.
"Good as long as you don't stick a toe out of line with Commander Anna." She got her hand smacked when she tried to grab the bowl.
"My everyday life," Jess smirks.
"Where are you two going?" Rory watches Luke and Logan head for the door.
"I need the other tongs and they're buried in the garage. Luke is going to help me find them." He gave her a peck before they left.
"I'm going to wash up." He hadn't showered since skating.
"You should." Anna teases. He stuck his tongue out while leaving the room. "Always charming."
"It's weird, you know?" Rory picks up the bruschetta and puts it on the dining table.
"What's weird?" She asks.
"It's weird that these could be the ones. We are all with the ones." She moves the salad over.
"Yeah, weird." Lorelai nods half-heartedly.
They were sitting around a table on the deck. "Luke, weren't you a lobster neophyte? Looks like you liked it." Rory looked at his clean plates.
"It's good. I can't believe I never had it before. You cooked them perfectly." Luke smiles at Logan.
"Here. Here." Lorelai claps, getting the others to join.
"Thanks very much. You're too kind. It's the garlic butter that gives it flavor." He raises a glass to Anna. They continue to clap for her.
"Oh stop." She waves her hands for them to quit it.
"Not that I'm hunting for a compliment but that celery I cut, huh?" Loreali pops one in her mouth.
"Let's hear it for the celery chopper." Rory claps for everyone to join.
"This is so spontaneous and unexpected. Not quite loud enough. Thank you. Thank you." She waves like she is in a parade.
"So, should we clear?" Rory asks.
"It's so pretty out here, the sun will be down soon, so before it gets dark Happy Valentine's Day." He pulled out a black jewelry box with a bow on it.
"Oh my god, you humanely killed lobsters and got me a present?" She undoes the bow.
"I'm a multitasker." He watches her.
"It's a bracelet." She shows everyone.
"It's a tennis bracelet," Luke tells her.
"You know what a tennis bracelet is?" Lorelai squints at him.
"My sister makes jewelry. I picked up a few terms." He shrugged.
"I love it. Happy Valentine's Day." Rory leaned towards him.
"Back at you, Ace." They kiss.
"I guess it's my turn." Luke pulled out a black box of his own. Lorelai gasps. "Happy Valentine's Day."
"Really?" She stares at the box in shock.
"Really." He nods.
"Oh my god, Luke, it's beautiful." She opened the box.
"Good. It's going to look great on you." He smiles at her happiness.
"Look at this." She showed it to the table.
"It's you. And it goes well with mine." She was putting on her bracelet.
"They are almost matching." Lorelai smiles. Anna looked at Jess. His eyes let her know what happened.
"Luke and I sneaked out when you guys were in the kitchen. We found them in the same place." Logan covered for him.
"I can't believe you got me a Valentine's Day gift." Lorelai was sure he was sticking to his no-commercial holiday rule.
"I want the gift in your jacket." Anna looks at Jess.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He shrugged.
"Jess, I caught you wrapping it two days ago." She tugged on the leather jacket's collar.
"Gifts are given, not asked for, you brat." A smile was coming over his blank face.
"Jess!" She let out a childish whine.
"Fine. Fine. Fine." He hands the rectangle gift that was obviously under the jacket.
"You can't call her a brat, then reward when she acts like one." Rory teases.
Anna stuck her tongue out at her sister before ripping her gift open. "Eat, Pray, Love. This doesn't come out for two more days." She looks at him with a slack jaw.
"During the meeting for inventors, I met someone from the company that publishes it and I got an early release." The guy liked what Jess was trying to do.
"That's so cool, Jess." Rory got up to look over her sister's shoulder.
"So cool." Anna agreed, turning the book over to read the blurb. "I want to curl up next to the fire and read."
"Let's do it." Rory nods.
"There is only one book." She held it up.
"We can read it together like when we were little. I would sit between your legs and you would read over my shoulder. I'm taller now, so you could sit between mine." She suggests.
"How about I lend it to you when I'm done?" She didn't need Rory whining when she didn't read as fast as her.
"When will that be?" She asks.
"Next Friday." She thought of the next time they would see each other.
"Okay." She nods. "You can wear my tennis bracelet at dinner."
"Poor Logan." Anna is unpacking her suitcase at home. Logan's dad showed up and screamed at him for not going to a meeting in London. He shipped him off.
Jess shrugged. "I don't know, I mean he likes this lifestyle. He can't be on Dad's payroll forever."
"But, me and you, we're going after our dreams. I don't think the guy even had a chance to dream." She hangs her clothes up.
"Yeah, but being trained to handle an established multi-billion dollar company is something many would trade their dreams for." He knew in this hard process of getting a business off the ground he would have.
"Yeah, that's true. Rory was so hopeful for their summer plans." She thought about her smile when talking about Asia.
"That's what I mean. If you want to do things like that then you have to work. They're in their twenties planning an elaborate vacation with his daddy's money." Jess was disgusted by the prospect.
"I thought you liked Logan." They seemed to have gotten along when Logan was grilling.
"I do. He is fun to hang out with. He wants to be a frat boy all his life. I read his stuff, he's talented. So, I don't think it's a lack of interest but running away from responsibility." He gave his opinion.
"I agree with that. I can be sympathetic. She thinks he's the one." She told him.
"Maybe, he is." He shrugged. "Did it ruin your Valentine's Day?"
"No, my gift was too perfect for anything to ruin it." She beckons him over with her hands. He smiles while walking into her arms. She wraps them around his neck to kiss him. "So, we didn't get to make love on our Valentine's weekend. I think we should rectify that."
"Will Do." He tightens his arm around her to walk backward to the bed.