The next few weeks flew by quickly.  Rory's final segment of "The Ladies of the White House" was released and received rave reviews. Rory had accepted the writing project with Laura Bush and had already begun to prepare her staff.  She was working closely with her assistant editor to teach him all the details of the job so that he could take over while she concentrated on the book.  Rory would be flying to Texas to begin the interviews mid January.

Rory blocked out thoughts of work as she dressed for her grandparents annual Christmas party.  This year it was being held on Christmas Eve.  Logan was attending the Christmas Eve party with Rory at Richard and Emily's house.  Then they were heading to Stars Hollow to spend the night and celebrate Christmas morning with her mother and Luke.  In a last minute decision, Shira and Mitchum decided to spend the holiday in Mustique.  Shira claimed the holidays were too stressful and she needed to get away.  Logan suspected she was embarrassed and did not want to face Rory or her family.  Rory didn't really care, but was relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with Shira on Christmas.

Rory finished applying the last of her makeup and left the bedroom to find Logan.  "Hey, are you about ready to go?  Grandma left me three messages that the party starts at 7."

"Yup.  I was just about to come get you.  You look beautiful,"  Logan said kissing her forehead.  He looked Rory up and down.  Rory was wearing a red v-neck sweater with big cuffs at the wrist with a knee length black skirt.  She had on black leather zip up boots that came nearly to her knee.  She kept her makeup simple and light.  Her hair was down and curled.

"Thank you.  You don't look so bad yourself,"  she said.  Logan was wearing a casual deep grey suit.  He opted not to wear a tie as the party was formal but relaxed.

Logan grabbed their overnight bags and they headed to the car.  He stuffed the duffel bags in the back around all the Christmas presents they were bringing for the next morning.  "I almost forgot how Gilmore Girls do holidays.  My car looks like Santa's sleigh!"

"I am so glad you are coming!  You are going to love this.  You've told me about your family's Christmases.  Trust me when I say, ours are nothing at all like yours.  Well, the one at mom's at least.  Grandma's may be similar to yours,"  Rory said grinning.

"As long as I don't have to put on a white beard, I am game,"  Logan said.  "Although, maybe if you had let me get you that cute little elf costume we saw..."

"Eyes and mind on the road, Huntzberger,"  Rory said smiling.

The Gilmore mansion was lit brightly when they pulled up.  Once again, Emily had hired valets to assist guests with parking.  Logan handed over the keys as Rory straightened her skirt and smoothed her hair.  They walked up to the door and rang the bell.  Emily herself answered.  "Rory!  Logan!  Welcome.  Come in, come in. Merry Christmas!"  She hugged both Rory and Logan."

"Merry Christmas Grandma.  The place looks wonderful.  Where's Grandpa?"  Rory asked.

 "I think your Grandfather is in the parlor.  And I believe your mother is pilfering apple tarts from the platter to her purse.  Every single year the same thing.  The insides of her handbags must be disgusting," Emily said shaking her head.  The door bell rang again.  Emily went to answer, but said over her shoulder,  "If you go in there, kindly tell her to stop.  I set aside a small tray for her to take home in the kitchen."

Logan looked at Rory questioningly.  "Grandma's apple tarts are amazing.  You're going to wish you had a purse."

"I'll take your word for it, Ace.  I have several pockets if they are that good," he said smiling.  "Richard, good to see you,"  he said as Richard approached.

"Merry Christmas, Logan,"  he said shaking Logan's hand.  "Rory, Merry Christmas, my dear.  I read your latest article, Rory.  It is truly a masterpiece.  It is no wonder Mrs. Bush requested you to write her biography," he said proudly.  Someone called him from across the room, so he said,  "I was just making the rounds.  Head over to the bar, Emily ordered a special holiday beverage.  We'll catch up later."

Near the bar, they found Luke looking skeptically at the green concoction in his hand. "Rory, Logan, Merry Christmas," he said.

"Hi Luke,"  Rory said hugging him.  "What are you drinking there?"

"I have no idea. It smells like Christmas. But it's liquid.  And it has things in it.  It's green Christmas drink with things,"  Luke said. "Your grandmother handed it to me."

Rory grabbed one off a platter a waiter carried through the room,"Ok, I'll be the brave one," she said as she took small sip. "It tastes like mint mistletoe with cranberries, like mouthwash with fruit.  That's awful."

"I figured it would be.  I haven't tried it.  I've just been carrying it  around for the past twenty minutes looking for a place to dump it,"  Luke said as he drank from a beer that was in his other hand. 

"I'll take it off your hands.  I was going to find Mom.  I can dump it in the kitchen,"  Rory said.

"Bless you, Rory,"  Luke said holding it out to her.  Then he turned to Logan and they began chatting as Rory wandered towards the dining room to find Lorelai. She set both of the green concoctions on an empty serving tray and hoped a server would discard of them.

"She's on to you.  Abort plan.  Step away from the tarts,"  Rory said in Lorelai's ear as she snuck up on her.

Lorelai jumped a little and put down the apple tart in her hand.  "Rory!  Oh good, you have your purse.  Looks like we can fit about a half dozen in there.  Open it.  I'll wrap them in napkins and keep slipping them to you."

"Mom, do we really have to do this every year?"  Rory asked.

"You know as well as I do the special plate she set aside for us only has like four tarts.  We used to eat those before hitting the Hartford city limits sign.  Then we would sulk the rest of the ride and plan to swipe more the next year.  Our most successful year, we walked away with a nice booty, enough for the drive and the first half of It's a Wonderful Life at home.  We have guests this year, gotta stock up, kid," Lorelai said as she slipped Rory a third tart.  Rory shook her head, but made more room in her purse and helped her mother hide the tarts.

The rest of the party went well.  Emily and Richard had a big crowd.  The invitations simply said a start time and that the party would be open house style, people could come and go as they pleased.  So there was a constant flow of guests coming and going all evening.  Rory found herself talking about work and her articles to all of Richard and Emily's friends.  It seemed everyone already knew about her upcoming feature on Laura Bush.  Obviously Emily had done some major bragging about her granddaughter.  It was a pleasant and uneventful evening overall, a nice change from their last social outing.

"Thank you so much for having us Richard and Emily.  It was a great time," Logan said as they stood in the foyer saying their goodbyes.

"It was our pleasure, Logan,"  Emily said hugging Logan and then Rory.  "Merry Christmas to both of you. And thank you again for the lovely mantle clock.  It will look just perfect in the sitting room.  Rory, just remember I will need your list of names and addresses so the calligrapher can fill out the invitations in the next couple weeks. I'm so glad the printer in New York fixed that little error so quickly."

"The one you couldn't see without a magnifying glass under direct sunlight?" Lorelai asked.

"It was a glaring smudge-like imperfection, Lorelai.  It could be seen in the dark,"  Emily said.

"Yeah, with military grade night vision googles, which I am sure you have,"  Lorelai said.

"They look amazing, Grandma.  Thank you for seeing to that.  Thank you for sending back the candles with the off-center wick too.  Oh, and thank you for meeting with the florist four times already too.  I am sure they understand we need the pure white peonies now though.  You probably don't need to run out there again with more photos.  I'm sure your four visits got the point across,"  Rory said.

"It's no trouble at all, dear.  The didn't seem to understand what pure white meant.  I just want to make sure it is all perfect,"  Emily said.

"I'm sure it will be, Grandma.  And I love the bracelet from you and Grandpa,"  Rory said. She turned to hug her Grandpa, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Rory," Richard said.  Then he turned to Logan, "Merry Christmas to you too, Logan.  I will save two of the cigars you two brought me for your next visit."

"I'll look forward to that, Richard,"  Logan said.

The two couples walked towards their cars.  "Alright, we'll see you back at the Hollow," Lorelai said.  She looked at Rory, "We agreed to only eat one tart on the way home, remember?"