Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory arrived at the Gilmore Mansion for their weekly dinner.

"Thanks mom." Lorelai said as her mom opened the door. "God, it's cold out there!" She exclaimed.

"I know, I'm freezing!" Charlotte nodded.

"Me too!" Rory said.

"Well, come on in and sit by the fire." Emily said. "I'll make you all a drink and then we can talk."

"About what?" Rory asked.

"Antennas up." Lorelai whispered to both of her daughters.

"Aye aye, captain!" Charlotte said.

They followed Emily through to the living room and sat down on the couches. "So Lorelai, how are you?" She asked as she prepared the drinks.

"Uh, I'm fine Mom." Lorelai said.

"Rory? Charlotte?" Emily asked.

"We're fine too, Grandma." Charlotte answered.

"How are you, Mom?" Lorelai asked.

"Also fine." Emily smiled giving them all their drinks and then sitting down next to Lorelai.

"Oh well will you look at that! All four of us fine!" Lorelai joked.

"So Lorelai, are you dating?" Emily asked suddenly.

"Uh...no mom, I'm not dating." Lorelai said, glaring at her daughters who had nearly choked on their drinks trying to hide their laughter.

"Really? There's no one at all?" She pressed on.

"No, I'm totally single." Lorelai said confused.

"Any chance you will get back with Max?" She asked.

"What? No mom, there's no chance." Lorelai frowned.

"What about the man at the diner, the one who refuses to shave?" Emily asked.

"You mean Luke?" Charlotte smirked. "Well some people would say they were..."

"He's just a friend, mom." Lorelai interrupted Charlotte.

"Do you think you'll be single your entire life?" Emily kept going.

"What?" Lorelai asked totally confused.

"I mean, in terms of you finding someone, what do you think the odds are?"

"Ok, what is going on?" She gave in.

"Well, I visited the family mausoleum today." Emily told them.

"It's never what you think it's going to be!" Lorelai said to Rory and Charlotte who laughed.

"I just wanted to check on things and make sure they were keeping it up. Like changing the flowers and stuff, you know?" She said.

"Sure." Lorelai said.

"So I went inside and looked around and it occurred to me that there's very limited space left there." Emily continued.

"Ok..."

"Now of course there's a slot open for me and Richard and you, Charlotte and Rory. But after the three of you, that's it. There's no more room for anyone else." She said.

"Ah..." Lorelai said now understanding.

"Yes. So if you actually do meet someone someday, I don't know where to put him."

"Well, maybe we could just dump him at the local pool hall." Lorelai joked.

"Oh don't be silly!"

"No, because this is definitely not a conversation for that." Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"I've looked into expanding into the crypt next door but the family that owns it wouldn't even discuss it with me." Emily said frustrated.

"Ok I'm getting a little creeped out here." Rory said.

"So I talked to the head of the cemetery and he suggested that we buy an annex." Emily continued.

"An annex?" Charlotte asked amused by the conversation.

"Yes. So if we do get the annex and you do eventually someday get married..." She said.

"Mom, just say it. Fat chance." Lorelai said.

"No, I just meant that we'll have to decide who to move to the annex." Emily said.

"Oh...well...uh...ooh! Why don't we move Aunt Cecile? She was always so annoying at parties. She loved the knock-knock jokes." Lorelai suggested.

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed.

"What?"

"You can't just kick out Aunt Cecile!" Rory exclaimed.

"Knock-knock. Who's there? Pineapple. Pineapple who? That's where it ended! Never fully grasped the knock-knock concept." Lorelai said.

"Yeah move her! Anyone who can't tell a knock-knock joke should get punished." Charlotte grinned.

"She was a complete idiot." Emily nodded. "Ok, it's decided. Cecile goes." She said.

"Good." Lorelai nodded.

"Look, just put me in the annex." Rory said.

"What, and leave me with our insane family?" Charlotte quipped. "No thanks! I need you there next to me."

"Hey!" Lorelai said indignantly.

"Well I'm not going to be held responsible for somebody being kicked out of their eternal resting place." Rory said.

"Ooh, I have an idea!" Lorelai grinned. "I'll probably go first, right? So when Rory and Charlotte kick the bucket, just throw them in with me."

"Uh no! I'd like my own space if you don't mind." Rory said.

"Me too!" Charlotte said.

"Why? It would be so much fun to be there together. Plus I plan to be buried with all the good CD's and my rock star belt." Lorelai joked.

Just then Richard came down the stairs. "Sorry I'm late. What did I miss?" He asked.

"We were just discussing who to move to the annex." Emily told him.

"Oh. Well I vote for Cecile. Horrible woman, and those terrible jokes..." He said.

"See! What did I tell you?" Lorelai told her daughters.

"This is a cold, cold family." Rory shook her head.

"Yeah but it's our family." Charlotte grinned at her sister.

Later that evening, they were all sat round the dining room table eating dinner.

"This is really good." Lorelai complimented.

"Yeah, what is it?" Rory asked.

"Well, it's..." Emily started.

"No don't tell us!" Charlotte interrupted.

"I agree!" Lorelai said.

"Why not?" Rory asked.

"Because every time in my life that I've tasted something great but I didn't know what it was, it turned out to be something really disgusting!" Lorelai said. "If I had known what I was eating I never would have tried it in the first place."

"Example?" Rory asked.

"Snails." Lorelai said.

"Gross."

"Exactly my point! Eat in ignorance and enjoy it, my friend." Lorelai said.

"Gladly."

"So Grandpa, how's retired life treating you?" Charlotte asked.

"Fascinating actually." He said. "I find myself noticing things, everyday things that I must have witnessed a hundred times before but just walked right past. Like yesterday, your mother moved a vase, the one in the hall, and she didn't do it in front of me. And she had only moved it a little but as I passed it by, I noticed it had been moved."

"Impressive." Rory said, stifling a smirk when she looked across at Charlotte.

"And every day's a new discovery. Your mother changed her hair. Or she wore shoes that didn't match her purse." He continued.

"Richard!" Emily protested.

"Last Thursday." He pointed out.

"Oh, for heaven's sake." She exclaimed.

"You know what else I noticed?" He asked.

"What?" Rory asked.

"A first edition Flaubert, mint condition, shoved behind several of my Churchill biographies." He smiled.

"No way!" Rory exclaimed excitedly.

"Interested?" He asked.

"Definitely!" She grinned.

"Follow me." He smiled getting up and Rory followed him to his study.

"Ooh Dad, see if you can find a pair of the new Chanel patent leather pirate boots stuffed back behind your Churchills!" Lorelai joked.

"Or some state of the art paints!" Charlotte quipped.

"Hmm..." He said.

"I suddenly don't feel very important." Charlotte joked.

Lorelai smirked at her daughter and then noticed her mother looking stressed. "What's up mom?" She asked.

"Nothing's up." She said.

"You were twitching. I saw you." Lorelai pointed out.

"You did not see me twitching." Emily protested.

"I saw it too, Grandma. It was when Grandpa was talking about the vase." Charlotte said.

"Is something wrong?" Lorelai asked.

"No, nothing's wrong." Emily repeated.

"Hmm...ok, nothing's wrong." Lorelai shrugged.

"It's just that things are a little strange lately." Emily sighed.

"What is?" Charlotte asked.

"Having him home. We've never really been home at the same time. I mean, we got married, we went to Europe, we came back, he went to work, and it's been that way ever since." She said.

"Well...so now it's different." Lorelai said.

"It's very different! He's always here! Watching me and noticing when I move a vase and...I don't know, it's silly." She sighed. "So he noticed my hair was different. Women die for that sort of thing."

"Aw Mom, it's just an adjustment. You've had your routine, he's had his routine. You guys just need to figure out a new routine." Lorelai tried to reassure her.

"I guess so." She sighed.

"Yeah, it'll just take some time, Grandma!" Charlotte encouraged.

"Yes, you're probably right." She agreed.

"Ok, I give." Lorelai said. "What is this?" She asked gesturing to her food.

"Mom, no!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Sweetbreads." Emily told her.

"And that is...?" Lorelai asked.

"It's none of our business, that's what it is!" Charlotte said.

"Pancreas." Emily said.

"Thanks mom!" Charlotte grimaced pushing her plate away from her. "You just had to ask..."

*******************************

"How about a triple feature?" Lorelai said as she walked into the video store with Charlotte and Rory.

"Ooh we could do a Ruth Gordon film festival!" Rory suggested. "Harold and Maude, Rosemary's Baby, and that really great episode of Taxi."

"No way!" Charlotte said.

"I've got it. How about Cool as Ice, Hudson Hawk, and Electric Bugaloo?" Lorelai said.

"Sold." Rory said.

"I'll get the Hawk." Lorelai said.

"And we'll get the Bugaloo." Charlotte said.

Her and Rory headed off to the right section. They leant down to look through the bottom shelf of the videos. Two boys were sitting on the floor looking at a movie box which Charlotte noticed.

"See, I told you." One of the boys were saying.

"Wow." The other boy said.

"Hey guys, can we get in there?" Charlotte asked.

"Oh, yeah." The first boy said and they walked off.

Charlotte picked up the movie they were looking at. She frowned and showed it to Rory who also frowned. They found the movie they were looking for and headed to the till to pay.

"Got it!" Lorelai joined them. "Plus four boxes of Red Vines." She grinned.

"Great!" Charlotte said. "Let's pay."

"Hi Kirk." Lorelai said.

"Good evening Lorelai." Kirk said politely.

"Uh...I forgot my card at home but I think my number's 6247." She smiled sweetly at him.

"You forgot your card?" He said.

"I might have lost it." She grinned.

"She did lose it." Charlotte smirked.

"Traitor!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"You lost your card?" Kirk asked.

"Maybe." Lorelai said.

"Was it temporary or laminated?" He asked.

"Laminated." Lorelai said.

"That's a permanent card. You lost a permanent card." He said accusingly.

"You can just get me a new card Kirk." Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but I hope you understand the gravity of the situation here." Kirk said sternly.

"I'm trying to grasp it." She joked.

"I mean, these cards are agreements. It's an agreement between you and the Stars Hollow Video Store stating that you will take care of your card, that you will honour your card, that you will be very, very nice to your card..." He said.

"Kirk!" Lorelai said, getting out her cell phone which had started to ring.

"I'll be right back." He said.

"Thanks." She rolled her eyes. "I'll just take it outside. The signal sucks in here." She told Rory and Charlotte.

"Ok." Rory said.

"It'll be ready in a minute." Kirk returned.

"Hey Kirk, there were a couple of little kids over there and they were..uh.. looking at this tape cover that was kind of mature." Charlotte said. "You might want to put that stuff on a higher shelf or something."

"Mature? How mature?" He asked.

"It was a half-naked woman just standing there." Rory said.

"Is she a blonde?" Kirk asked.

"What?" Charlotte asked confused.

"I'll check it out right now." He said walking off.

"It's like talking to a kid." Charlotte joked.

*******************************

The following morning, Charlotte and Rory were in their bedroom getting ready for school as Lorelai walked in.

"Oh my God, the most horrible thing just happened!" Lorelai exclaimed dramatically. "Headmaster Charleston's office called. He's been kidnapped! Two guys broke into his house and threw him in a hefty bag, used those twisty ties and carted him off. Classes have been cancelled until further notice."

"We're going to school, mom." Rory rolled her eyes.

"Girls, come on! It's just one day. I'll write you a note. 'Dear Nazis, Charlotte and Rory have to miss school today on account of saving their mom from spending the entire day with her father who often looks at her like she has three heads.'" She exclaimed.

"Move please." Charlotte said getting something out of her wardrobe.

"Do you know the last time my father and I were alone together for a long period of time?" Lorelai asked.

"Nope." Rory said.

"I'm sure you're about to tell us though." Charlotte said.

"I was kicked out of summer class for refusing to call the camp counsellor Peaches because I thought the entire concept of the counsellors choosing summer fruit names was stupid." Lorelai exclaimed. "So they called my dad and he came to get me and it was just the two of us alone in the car all the way from Maine with nothing to talk about but my camp failure. Luckily I had also flashed the swim team or even that subject would have gone stale." She said.

"Mom, I have the Franklin today. I can't miss it. Unless you want to incur the wrath of Paris." Rory said pointedly.

Lorelai groaned. "Ok fine! But Charlotte, you're not on the paper! You can skip!" She said.

"I have art and we're being given our main assignment today. I can't miss that." Charlotte said.

"Girls! I can't handle the entire day with him. I can't!"

"Just make it until the afternoon, drama queen and then we promise we'll come right home and take Grandpa off your hands." Charlotte said.

"Fine." She grumbled.

"It'll be fine." Rory said.

"It is not going to be fine. It's going to be horrible." Lorelai said just as the doorbell rang. "And that would be him." She sighed.

"It's not going to be that bad. Be nice." Rory said pointedly as they all walked to the front door together.

"Hi Dad." Lorelai forced a smile on her face as she opened the door.

"Hey Grandpa." Charlotte smiled.

"Hi Grandpa." Rory smiled.

"Good morning girls." He smiled pleasantly at them.

"Did you have any trouble getting here?" Lorelai asked.

"Not at all, the directions were fine." He said.

"Well we have to get going, but we'll see you this afternoon." Rory smiled giving him a hug.

"Yeah bye Grandpa!" Charlotte smiled.

"I look forward to it." He smiled.

"Have fun!" Rory smiled, giving their mom a look before the two of them left.

"So good drive, huh?" Lorelai said.

*******************************

"Well, this is it, Luke's." Lorelai said as they walked into the diner.

"You know, when I was in college, there was this horrible little diner across from my apartment building. It was run by this terrible little couple. They were very angry. They would fight, break plates, curse, and I went in there every morning for three years and I had the most dreadful breakfast, just awful. I really miss that place." Richard said as they sat down.

"Morning." Luke said as he came up to his table.

"Hey!" Lorelai smiled up at Luke. "Oh Luke, do you remember my father?"

"Oh yeah, nice to see you again." Luke nodded politely at Richard.

"Nice to see you. This is quite a place you've got here." Richard said politely.

"It pays the bills." Luke said.

"Always a plus in business." He chuckled.

"Dad, do you know what you want?" Lorelai asked.

"Oh, I already ate." He said.

"You did? When?" Lorelai asked surprised.

"Oh, I had breakfast at home. I get up at 5:30 every morning."

"Wow. Why?"

"Well I've gotten up at 5:30 for as long as I can remember."

"Yeah, but that was when you had to work. Now you can afford to get a little crazy, get up at quarter to six." She smirked.

"Go ahead and order Lorelai." He sighed.

"Ok. I'll have a banana, pancakes, side of bacon, and lots and lots of coffee." She grinned up at Luke.

"Coming right up." He said walking away.

"You didn't order any grapefruit." Richard observed.

"Yeah, I don't really like grapefruit." Lorelai said.

"Oh, I always start my breakfast off with half a grapefruit." He said. "It's important to start the day off correctly, Lorelai. A grapefruit is brain food. It has vitamin C and folic acid and it helps with your digestion. It really is a terrific fruit."

"I feel like you're about to break into song." She joked.

"I'm serious about this, Lorelai." He said.

"I know you are but I still don't like grapefruit." She laughed.

"Well, there are many things in life that we don't like but the benefits they bring us far outweigh the temporary discomforts we have to endure."

"Ok!" She sighed. "Hold on a sec." She said going up to the counter. "Hey, I need a grapefruit." She told Luke.

"What?" Luke said.

"Yeah. Before my pancakes this morning I need half a grapefruit and...uh...preferably one that tastes like a donut." She groaned.

"I don't have grapefruit." He said.

"How can you not have grapefruit?" She exclaimed.

"I've never had grapefruit." He pointed out.

"I need a grapefruit!" She exclaimed. She then sighed. "Listen, I have my father with me all day, and so far there's been no major drama or yelling or ugliness but there will be if I don't somehow find a way to get half a grapefruit for breakfast this morning."

"I could go next door to Doose's and buy a grapefruit." Jess said appearing next to Luke.

"Really?" Lorelai asked surprised that Jess had just offered to do something for someone else.

"Beats getting bored stiff here." Jess shrugged.

"Like you ever do any work here anyway." Luke retorted.

"Hey, I can go back upstairs and watch tv if you want me to. But I'm assuming you're kind of needed in here and Charlotte would kill me if I let her mother kill herself because we didn't give her a grapefruit." Jess said dryly.

"Fine. Thanks." Luke said gruffly.

"Thank you!" Lorelai exclaimed. She walked back to the table. "Ok, the grapefruit is coming." She said.

"Oh, you won't be sorry." Richard smiled.

"So listen, I was thinking that maybe after we're done here, you might like to walk around town a little, see the sites." She said. "And then Charlotte and Rory usually get home around four. The three of you can hang out at the house until I get off work and the four of us can hook up for dinner. How does that sound?"

"Very sensible." He nodded.

"Good." She smiled.

*******************************

After school, Charlotte headed home while Rory had to stay behind with Paris to discuss The Franklin. She headed to the inn knowing that was where her mom and Grandpa were. She walked into the inn and was nearly suffocated by her mom's hug.

"Hey...mom...need...oxygen..." She said.