Lorelai, Charlotte, Rory, and Richard were sitting at the table at the Gilmore Mansion. Emily was standing at the doorway to the kitchen.

"Do it again, please!" She called through to the kitchen before taking her seat at the table again. "I'm not quite sure what other way there is to say no walnuts in the salad except to say no walnuts in the salad." She huffed.

"Mom, she just made a mistake." Lorelai said.

"She doesn't listen, she doesn't care, she has no work ethic." Emily said.

"She has some work ethic. You made her remake the salad four times." Lorelai pointed out.

"I like things done correctly." Emily said.

"Preferably the first time." Richard commented.

"Thank you, Richard." Emily said.

"You know, Mom, in Europe, they eat the salad last and the main course first." Lorelai said, feeling her stomach rumble.

"We're not in Europe."

"We could pretend." Charlotte quipped.

"Really girls, you can't wait ten minutes for another salad? The situation's that dire?" Emily exclaimed exasperated.

"Four salads ago, no, not dire. Right now it's your money for nothing and your chicks for free." Lorelai said.

"She's right. I'm starving!" Charlotte nodded her agreement.

"Rory?" Emily said.

"They didn't have lunch." Rory said.

Emily huffed. "Fine." She said getting up.

"Where are you going?" Richard asked.

"Apparently, we're going to be European tonight." She said before disappearing into the kitchen.

"Oh, wonderful. I was getting so tired of being American day after day after day." Richard said dryly.

"God, I'm starved." Lorelai said.

"Think about something else." Rory suggested.

"Like what?" She asked.

"Something disgusting that will take your appetite away." Rory said.

"Ari Fleischer?" Lorelai suggested.

"Ari Fleischer is our nation's mouthpiece, young lady." Richard frowned.

"Officially not hungry now." Lorelai pouted.

"Liliana will be right out with the sand dabs. I'm afraid we're going to have to let her go, Richard." Emily said coming back to the table.

"Ok, if that's how you feel, Emily." Richard said.

"You're firing someone over putting walnuts in a salad?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"I'm going to fire someone over putting walnuts in the salad after she was told not to put walnuts in the salad." Emily corrected.

"Mom, you know, if you're not a little nicer to your help, you might find yourself in a Frank Lloyd Wright situation."Lorelai warned.

"Frank Lloyd Wright?" Richard asked confused.

"What on earth does Frank Lloyd Wright have to do with my salad?" Emily asked just as confused.

"And your walnuts." Richard added.

"Mrs. Wright apparently had this major problem with her help. She was very rough on them and they totally hated her. So this guy who had worked for her forever, he had finally had enough. I believe the incident was over walnuts, wasn't it, girls?" Lorelai smiled at her daughters.

"Yep." Charlotte nodded.

"The exact cause has not been proven." Rory smirked, shaking her head at her mom and sister's antics.

"Anyhow, Mrs. Wright invites this whole posse of people over for dinner and they're all sitting around eating, and Mr. Disgruntled Servant Guy goes outside and locks all the doors and windows and douses the whole house in gasoline and sets the place on fire!" Lorelai exclaimed dramatically.

"My goodness." Emily commented.

"So the house is on fire and people are freaking out so they run to the doors but the doors are locked, so a few of them try to get out through the windows but Mr. Angry-Puss is standing outside with an axe hacking them to death and so they all died." Lorelai continued.

"Why on earth would you tell me that story?" Emily exclaimed.

"All I'm saying is sometimes eating a walnut is preferable to getting hacked to death or set on fire during dinner." Lorelai shrugged.

"One of these days I'm going to make you eat in your room." Emily said.

"I'm going to go get myself another soda. Would anyone else like something?" Rory asked.

"I'd like a big bag of walnuts and make sure you tell her they're for me." Lorelai grinned.

"I'll come with you." Charlotte said getting up as well.

"I believe I need a little more ice. Emily, are you fine?" Richard asked.

"Yes Richard, I'm fine thank you." Emily said.

Lorelai sniffed the air teasing her mother.

"Oh stop that!" Emily said.

Meanwhile in the kitchen Rory and Charlotte were getting sodas out of the fridge as Richard walked in. "Did you find it?" He smiled.

"Yes, we did thanks." Rory smiled.

"Good, good. Ah, here we are, ice." Richard smiled. "And...chocolates." He smirked.

"Bless you!" Charlotte exclaimed taking the chocolates and eating one.

"So, tell me, how's it going at school?" He asked them.

"It's good. It's crazy." Rory said.

"Definitely crazy." Charlotte nodded.

"Senior year." Richard said.

"Yep." Rory said.

"Preparing for college can be a daunting task. I remember when I was preparing for Yale." Richard said.

"Bad?" Rory asked.

"I don't believe I slept the entire year. I didn't even cut my hair for two months." Richard chuckled.

"Grandpa!" Charlotte laughed.

"Oh, yes, it was quite a scandal. But in the end, it was all worth it." He smiled.

"Yeah?" Rory asked.

"My years at Yale were absolutely the most gratifying ones of my life. Just the sheer freedom of knowing that anything I wanted to learn, I could learn right there. Plus, the history of the place, the heritage as well. My father went to Yale." He said.

"We know." Rory nodded.

"I also made wonderful friends there. Friends I still have today." He said.

"That must be nice." Charlotte said.

"I'm going to be going back there next week. There's going to be a little reunion of the Whiffenpoofs." He smiled.

"I'm sorry, the what?" Charlotte smirked.

"It's an acappella singing group I belonged to at Yale." He explained.

"A singing group?" Rory asked surprised.

"A very famous singing group, actually. Like the Beatles, but with better table manners." He joked.

"I've never heard you sing." Rory said.

"Well, I'm no Perry Como, but my shower hasn't kicked me out yet. Anyway, a group of us are going to get together at the old alma mater and have a little dinner, swap some war stories." He smiled.

"Sounds fun." Rory smiled.

Just then a maid walked by with a tray. "Excuse me." She said.

"Uh...did you see what I just saw?" Charlotte said.

"Walnuts." Richard nodded.

"Poor Grandma." Rory said.

"Poor us." Richard joked. He glanced at them. "You know, you might want to come with me next week." He said.

"Come with you where?" Rory asked.

"To Yale."

"What?" Rory asked surprised exchanging a glance with Charlotte.

"Oh I don't mean to the dinner, that would be boring for you, but you might enjoy seeing the school." He said.

"Well..." Rory said not really knowing what to say.

"Grandpa..." Charlotte tried.

"Your mother could come to. It would be a fun little adventure." He smiled.

"Wow..." Rory said.

"We could drive down, have a little roadside snack, get there about noon. Have a little tour, and then the three of you girls could go off and have fun, and the old folks can have a somber little dinner. I think you'd love to see it. I certainly would love to show it to you." He said.

Rory looked at their Grandpa's hopeful face. She glanced at Charlotte who just shrugged. "Well...ok." She said. "That would be nice."

"Wonderful. Oh, I'm thrilled!" Richard said happily. "Uh...do you want to tell your mother or shall I?" He asked.

"Oh, you know what, we can tell her." Rory said.

"Alright." Richard said. "We better get back in there."

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

Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory finally walked out of the house later that night. "Ok, I officially vote that we send my mother an anonymous note requesting that she never make us the sand dabs again." Lorelai joked.

"I'm not sure how anonymous it would be considering she said we were the first people she ever made them for." Rory said.

They get into the car and Lorelai started the engine.

"So we have to tell you something." Rory said.

"Ok." Lorelai said.

"Grandpa talked to us tonight." She said, causing Lorelai to turn off the engine. "Why did you turn the car off?"

"I'm just getting the sense that I shouldn't be driving a large vehicle when you tell me this." Lorelai said.

"It's no big deal." Charlotte chipped in.

"Ok..."

"It's not." Rory said.

"Then tell me." She said.

"Ok. Uh...well, Grandpa was mentioning that he and Grandma are going on a trip next week, a driving trip somewhere, and he invited me and Charlotte to go. And you. He invited you and me and Charlotte to go on a trip with him and Grandma." Rory said.

"Where?"

"What?"

"Where's the driving trip to?" Lorelai asked.

"Yale." Charlotte said.

Lorelai got out of the car and walked towards the porch. Rory and Charlotte got out and rushed after her.

"Mom, wait!" Charlotte said.

"No, it's okay, I got it." Lorelai said.

"He's going for some nostalgia thing. For a reunion of, I don't know, the Whiffenhoofs." Rory said.

"Poofs." Charlotte corrected her.

"What?" Rory said.

"It's the Whiffenpoofs." Charlotte said.

"Not much better." Rory said.

"I totally agree." Lorelai said.

"Mom, he got all sentimental and he really just wants to show us the campus. It's no big deal." Rory said.

"It's a huge deal." Lorelai disagreed.

"Mom..." Rory said.

"There's a reason he wants to drag you out there, Rory. He's manipulating you. Both of you. Trust me, I know, he's a master at it." She said.

"Ok, fine, maybe he is, but he really wants us to go, I can tell." Charlotte said. "And you don't have to go. I mean, he invited you and we would really love it if you could come, but really you can stay home. Just please don't make a big thing out of this. This doesn't have to be a fight."

"Charlotte..." Lorelai groaned.

"We go. We look. Hi Yale. Bye Yale. It's over. No harm, no foul." Charlotte said. "Please mom. You should have seen his face when we agreed. Please."

Lorelai sighed. "Fine." She relented. "But I'm not happy with it."

"We know." Rory said. "But hey, maybe you'll be surprised. Maybe it will be a nice trip."

"I doubt it." Lorelai said but headed back to the car with them. "Luke's on the way home? I could seriously do with some coffee."

"Sure." Rory nodded.

"Sounds good." Charlotte said.

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

Charlotte walked into the diner the following afternoon. She passed Kirk just as he was leaving. "Hey Kirk." She said.

"Charlotte." He nodded before sneaking a peak into her backpack.

"What are you doing?" Charlotte asked.

"Where were you this morning at about ten?" He asked.

"At school." She answered.

"Do you have any witnesses?"

"Yes."

"Can you get them to make a short statement?"

"No."

"Oh...well...ok." He said before leaving.

She smirked as she went up to the counter where Luke was. "Hey!" She said. "Someone take his trophy again?"

"Apparently." Luke nodded.

"Every year." Charlotte smirked.

"Your mom didn't have anything to do with it, did she?" He smirked.

Charlotte laughed. "Nah, as much as she was devastated by the loss, that's not her style." She joked.

Luke chuckled. "So you want some food?"

"A burger please!" Charlotte grinned. "Is Jess upstairs?"

"He should be, yeah." Luke nodded.

"Ok. I just need to talk to him about something. Can I go up?" She asked.

"Sure." Luke nodded. "The burger will only be a few minutes though." He said.

"Ok, I won't be long." Charlotte said.

"Good. Good." He said.

Charlotte smirked to herself as she headed upstairs. It was the same every day. Luke always made an excuse about why Charlotte couldn't spend more than a few minutes upstairs alone with Jess. She knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Jess' voice called.

"Hey!" She smiled as she entered the apartment.

"Oh hey." He smiled getting up from his usual armchair.

Charlotte gave him a quick kiss before they headed to the couch and sat down.

"Luke making you some food?" Jess asked.

"Yep. It'll only take a few minutes." Charlotte said.

"Figures." Jess chuckled.

"I don't know what he thinks would happen if we spent more than a few minutes up here alone." Charlotte said.

"I think it's pretty obvious what he thinks." Jess commented.

Charlotte glanced across at him. "And is that something you would want to happen?" She asked hesitantly.

Jess glanced at her. "Only when we're both ready for it." He replied cautiously.

Charlotte gave him a small smile and just nodded. "So, I can't hang out tomorrow. Sorry." She said, changing the subject.

"How come?" Jess asked.

"Our Grandpa asked me and Rory to visit Yale with him. And mom's coming along too." Charlotte told him.

"Yale? Really?" Jess asked surprised. "I bet your mom was happy with that."

"On the contrary." Charlotte sighed.

"Are you ok?" Jess asked.

She sighed. "Mom hates the idea of either of us going to Yale. She has it in her head that Rory's going to go to Harvard and I don't even know what she thinks I will do. Yale is a big no in her eyes though. She has it in her head that it means our Grandpa wins or something. Or that it links us with them in some way."

"But..." Jess prompted knowing she was holding something back.

"But...I sort of want to go and look around." Charlotte admitted. "I've been looking into colleges and Yale has a great art course."

"Yale is a great university." Jess commented.

Charlotte glanced at him. They hadn't really talked much about what would happen after school. "Have you thought anything about colleges?" She asked cautiously.

"Not really." He shrugged.

"Jess..." Charlotte said.

"It's not really for me." He admitted. "School's not for me but I sort of have to go but college...nah..." He glanced at her as she stayed quiet. "But I think it's good you're thinking about Yale."

"You do?" She asked.

"You're amazing at art. If Yale has a top art course, you should go." He nodded.

"You really think so?" She asked quietly.

"Sure." He said but didn't quite catch her gaze.

Charlotte was about to say something but just then Luke came in. "Here's your burger." He said.

"Oh thanks." She said getting up. She glanced at Jess. "See you tomorrow evening? I can tell you about my day."

"Sure." He nodded.

Charlotte gave him a small smile before leaving, leaving Jess staring after her before he sighed and went back to the book he was reading.

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

The five of them were walking through Yale's campus the following day.

"Wow, does that guy look smart! I mean it, he's got the smart look down. The glasses, the furrowed brow, the ticky walk." Lorelai commented as they passed some students.

"Well we are at Yale, you know. There are smart people here." Rory said.

"I know there are smart people here. I just didn't realise how many. I bet if I pulled my chequebook out now, twelve guys could help me balance it." She joked.

"Thirteen if you were near the right building." Richard commented.

"Grandpa, that art gallery was amazing! Thank you." Charlotte enthused.

"Yale has one of the finest collections of British art in the world." He told her.

"Louvre, schmouvre." Lorelai joked.

"It does?" Charlotte asked interested, ignoring her mom.

"Oh yes, I spent a lot of time in that gallery as a young man." Richard nodded.

"I'll say you did." Emily commented.

"What was that 'I'll say you did'?" Lorelai asked.

"I just remember that that gallery was one of your father's favourite places to bring the ladies." Emily smirked.

"What?" Rory asked.

"Really?" Charlotte grinned.

"Emily..." Richard said.

"It's where you took me on our first date." She shrugged.

"So Dad liked to impress them with the paintings." Lorelai smirked.

"Hey, it would work with me." Charlotte said.

"Why did you bring this up?" Richard asked Emily.

"He was a master of the frown, step back, wrinkle and sigh." Emily continued.

"The what?" Rory asked.

"Frown. Step back. Wrinkle. And sigh." Emily repeated but doing the actions along with it this time.

"I did no such thing!" Richard said.

"And then he would talk about the paintings he had seen in Paris and the colours of Titian and by the end of the date, you thought he was the most brilliant man in the entire world." Emily said with a small smile.

"You shouldn't tell them this. They'll think I was some kind of lothario." Richard said embarrassed.

"Well, you were." Emily said.

"I was just a young single man who wanted to experience life."

"Don't ever fall for that line." Lorelai told Rory and Charlotte who just grinned.

"You know, Emily, you weren't such an innocent little doe lost in the woods yourself." Richard fought back.

"I beg your pardon?" Emily said.

"They're turning on each other, I love it." Lorelai grinned.

"I'll have you know, I was happily involved in a very serious relationship when your mother decided she simply had to have me." Richard told them.

"Oh the size of your ego, I swear." She said.

"Linny Lott."

"That mouse?"

"Oh, that mouse and I were engaged." He pointed out.

"You were not." Emily scoffed.

"I had given her my pin and introduced her to my parents."

"So?"

"The date was set, invitations mailed out." Richard said.

"Grandma!" Charlotte laughed.

"Well, you couldn't marry Linny Lott. That woman needed directions to get to a point." Emily said.

"Ouch!" Lorelai smirked.

"Richard Gilmore, you are going to give these girls the wrong impression." Emily said.

"What impression is that, Grandma?" Rory grinned.

"I did not steal your grandfather, I simply gave him a choice." Emily told them.

"When you showed up at my fraternity party in that blue dress, I had no choice." Richard said with a wistful smile.

"You stole my father with fashion?" Lorelai asked.

"I can't believe you remember the dress." Emily said amazed.

"I can't believe you were the other woman." Lorelai quipped.

"This is ridiculous. Will you stop now?" Emily huffed.

"Do you remember?" Richard asked suddenly, smiling, as they stopped next to a trash can.

"What?" Emily asked confused. She then looked around. "Oh my god, this was where you proposed!" She exclaimed.

"That's right." Richard smiled.

"We were going to meet my girlfriends who were going to drive me back to school." Emily said remembering.

"And you were angry with me." Richard commented.

"Because you wouldn't commit to plans for the holidays."

"Because I was going to invite you to the house to meet my parents after I proposed!"

"Which I didn't know because you gave me no indication whatsoever!"