Elsie had a very important question to ask her grandparents.

She did go over how things would be different, how their lives would change, and she knew there would be disagreements.

But once she explained her side of things, her grandparents would have to agree.

It took careful planning, going over questions that Emily and Richard might ask and preparing answers.

So, all that was left was to ask the question.

She had to rip the Band-Aid off.

So, over dinner with Emily and Richard, Elsie asked, "Can Skye move in with us?"

"Of course, dear," Emily replied. She looked at Richard, "Richard?"

Richard looked up from his food, "What a splendid idea." He went back to eating.

Elsie was confused, "Really?"

"I don't like the idea of that poor girl being alone in that house for months on end," Emily replied.

"Especially since Tristan was forced to go to military school," Richard added.

Emily smiled, "What a good idea, having her move in, Elsie."

"Very good idea," Richard added, with his own smile.

So, in short, that was how a very happy Skye ended up moving into a room next to Elsie's.

Although Elsie was embarrassed when Skye said, "Let me know when you have Cass sneak over, so I can leave and not hear you two screwing."

Elsie was surprised when she got a call from Christopher. Sure, they talked every now and then, but he hadn't been calling that much lately. He was probably too busy with his new girlfriend, Sherry, to even bother.

He had sent a postcard with a picture of him and Sherry on it.

Sherry was pretty, although she reminded Elsie of Shelly from Twin Peaks. Hell, even their names were close enough.

So, as she was looking over the postcard, when Christopher called her.

Elsie said, "Hello?"

"Hey," greeted Christopher. "I was wondering if over Christmas break, you can come stay with me and Sherry in Boston."

As much as that seemed fun, Elsie wasn't sure. She still felt the sting of him ditching her for Stars Hollow after the debutante ball, which Cassian had made up for, and the sting of him not coming to the play, even though he sent her flowers to make up for missing it.

It just felt two too many.

"I'm not sure yet," Elsie replied.

"We even sent you and Rory up a room for you two," Christopher added. "Well, Sherry fixed it up."

Elsie frowned, "I don't know, Dad. I'll think about it."

"No pressure," Christopher told her. "You can think it over. No hurt feelings if you said no."

"Yeah, let me think about it first," Elsie replied. "See what kind of plans Grandma and Grandpa have first. And see what Skye is going to do too."

"Like I said, 'no pressure and no hard feelings if you don't want to come," Christopher repeated.

"I know," Elsie replied.

"Bye," Christopher replied.

"Yeah, bye," replied Elsie, and Christopher hung up.

Skye was looking over, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Elsie replied, hanging up the phone. "My dad wants me to stay with him and Sherry for Christmas."

"Oh," replied Skye. "What do you want?"

"I don't want to go because he didn't come to see me in the play, even though he apologized by sending me flowers," Elsie replied. "And I still feel the sting of him choosing to go to Stars Hollow after the debutante ball. It's petty, I know."

"Still up to you," Skye replied. "But I get what you mean. He hurt you, so you want him to hurt too."

"Putting it like that makes me sound mean," Elsie replied. Was she mean? Well, she ignored Cassian for an entire month, especially when he wanted to talk to her. She should've heard him out...

"No, it just makes you human," Skye replied. "Just think about it, okay?"

"Yeah, I will," Elsie replied. "He said no rush and there won't be any hurt feelings if I said no. I think he will be sad if I didn't go."

Skye shrugged, "Your call."

When the Friday Night Dinner rolled around, Elsie still hadn't made up her mind about going to Boston to visit Christopher and Sherry.

Things were silent over dinner, although Lorelai kept looking at Skye, because it was like the fourth dinner with Skye there. The first three times, Lorelai and Rory just didn't say anything.

Skye seemingly didn't notice Lorelai's distraction with her.

After the fifth time Lorelai looked at Skye, Elsie finally asked, "What?"

"What do you mean 'what?'" asked Lorelai.

"Why are you looking at Skye like that?" asked Elsie.

"I'm just wondering why she's here for the fourth Friday in a roll," replied Lorelai.

"What are you talking about?" Emily said, "Skye's been here for almost a month now."

Lorelai seemed confused, "What? Did she move in? Did you adopt and is this your way of telling us?"

"We certainly did not adopt," Emily replied.

"I moved in because my parents didn't want me anymore," Skye told Lorelai.

It had been a rude shock to walk by Skye's old house to find a For Sale sign on the fence, then they noticed that the house had been cleaned out too, leaving it empty.

It seemed like they certainly didn't waste any time on moving to wherever they've been staying at.

Skye ended up crying because it looked like her parents really didn't want her.

"Oh," Lorelai replied. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Skye replied. "They're not the first parent I encountered that abandoned their child."

To avoid an argument, Rory asked, "So, are you traveling this year?"

"Yeah, you, Mom, and Elsie always go out of town this time of year," Lorelai agreed.

"Last year it was the Bahamas," Rory said.

"Yes, that's right, it was," Richard replied.

"I remember you had fun too," Lorelai said. "You said the Bahama – mians were real nice." She seemed to consider what the proper term was to call them, "The Bahamites? The Bahamamamamians?"

"You had it right the first time," Skye told Lorelai in a dark tone. "They're the Bahamians."

"Yes," Lorelai replied. "They were nice."

"They were nice," Emily agreed.

"So, what are you plans?" asked Lorelai.

"We're not going anywhere this year," Emily replied.

"Why not?" asked Rory.

Elsie shrugged, "Because we just don't have plans to go anywhere."

"Oh, well, yeah," Rory replied. "It can be really nice just to stay at home sometimes because you can do fun things that you normally wouldn't have time for."

"Yeah," Lorelai said. "Like playing Running Charades and get out that Slip 'N Slide."

"We'll see," replied Richard.

"Yes, we'll see," Emily replied.

"Would you all excuse me?" Richard said, "I have to make some calls. Say goodbye before you leave, will you?"

"Yeah, sure Dad," Lorelai said, and Richard left the dining room. "When is this awfulness with work gonna resolve itself?"

"I don't know," Emily replied. "The man is so sensitive. He reads so much into every little perceived slight."

"Yeah." Lorelai said, "I remember one time when I was a kid, Dad had put on some weight, and he bought a new suit to try to cover it up. And he wore it for us, and he said, 'How do I look?' and I said, 'You look fat.'"

"How is that a perceived slight?" Skye said, looking horrified, "You flat out insulted the man."

"I'll think of another example," Lorelai replied.

"To live in your world," Skye said, "it must be fascinating."

The weirdest thing happened. It seemed like Richard became very chipper overnight. It was kind of weird to see, especially when Richard started being chipper.

Skye, Pepper, Cassian, Vivian, and Anthony were a little freaked out by the sudden happiness.

Elsie finally asked Emily, "At the end of the week, we're taking Grandpa to a psychiatrist, right?"

"More like the mental hospital," Emily replied. "But you and I get to take the credit."

Elsie smiled, "I expect nothing less."

When they walked into the Independence Inn, they went to Lorelai and Rory.

It looked like Lorelai muttered something to Rory.

"Hello, girls," Richard greeted with a big smile. "You look particularly lovely tonight."

"Thanks, Grandpa," Rory replied, looking a little weirded out.

"Thanks, Dad," Lorelai replied. "You guys look nice yourselves."

Elsie glanced at her outfit.

"Seems like the occasion called for it," Emily explained.

"The air seems crisper here than Hartford," Richard said. "It's wonderful."

The air was crisper because of the lack of pollution since everyone walked everywhere, Elsie wanted to point out.

"Hey, Dad," Lorelai started. "You didn't grab the wrong prescription bottle earlier today, did you?"

"What?" asked Richard, not getting that it was one of Lorelai's 'jokes'.

"Nothing," Rory cut in.

"I think she was just making one of her jokes," Elsie told Richard.

"Oh, went straight over my head," Richard replied.

"Let me get someone to help you with your bags," Lorelai told them.

Elsie felt her grip tighten on the handle of her wheelie bag that had a smaller bag stacked on top of it.

"No, no, I've got them," Richard said. "Just point me to the rooms."

"You and Grandma are in room 31, best room in the place," Rory said, handing the key over. "Elsie, you're in room 35. Sorry, but you're going to have to share with Paris."

Elsie took the key that Rory handed her, "It's fine."

"What got into him?" asked Lorelai.

"He's totally different," Rory added.

"We know," Emily said, referring to her and Elsie. "He's been that way for two days. I have no idea why, but Elsie and I are taking the credit."

Emily followed Richard.

Lorelai groaned, "A hostess's job is never done." She went to greet the new guests. "Hi."

Rory asked Elsie, "You sure you and Grandma don't know why Grandpa is acting different?"

Before Elsie can reply, Rory turned to look at a guy who was looking at a painting. Elsie angled her head to look at the dude and Rory looked at the folder, but Elsie saw that the guy was smiling.

Elsie whispered to Rory, "Is that Jess?"

"Yes, and stop staring at him," Rory replied.

Elsie looked at Rory, "At least he looks more exciting than Dean." Rory glared at her for that. "You need to dump Dean because you like Jess."

"I don't like him," Rory replied.

"Yes, you do," Elsie replied. "I used to deny liking Cass and then look what happened."

"I don't," Rory denied.

"Look, just dump Dean instead of leading him on, because you lost interest in him." Elsie added, "At least Madeline and Louise have the decency to dump their boyfriends once they lose interest in them."

"I haven't lost interest in Dean," Rory replied. "And I don't have feelings for Jess."

Elsie didn't believe her, "Keep telling yourself that. Just dump Dean before he actually gets hurt."

They gathered in the lobby, and Elsie went to stand with Paris.

Elsie asked Paris, "What brings you here?"

"Newspaper stuff," Paris told Elsie.

Lorelai went to the front to speak, "Hey, everybody, will you gather 'round? Everyone, everyone!" Once everyone gathered, Lorelai continued, "First of all, I want to welcome you to the first annual and probably never ever to be held again, because Sookie's on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Bracebridge Dinner!"

Elsie looked at the woman, Sookie, who said, "I'm fine! Everything's fine."

"I also want to thank Mother Nature for snowing in the Trelling Paper Company in Chicago so I can throw this great party for all my friends, instead. It's a very special night. And so, since I don't get to eat unbelievably strange food with my friends every day, I have arranged a little surprise. Outside as we speak, is a line of horse drawn sleighs and everybody gets a ride. So, uh, line up and keep it orderly. There's two per sleigh and no cutting in front of each other – that goes for everyone. Except me, 'cause I'll be damned if I'm gonna miss a ride in a horse drawn sleigh. Come on."

Elsie went over to Paris, so Paris doesn't have to sit next to some random creep. 

When they got in a carriage, they rode in silence for a moment before Paris said, "I hate it."

"Hate what?" asked Elsie. She thought the inn was nice, including their shared room. The carriage ride wasn't bad, it was just a little cold. It would be nice if she had a blanket, some coffee, and maybe Cassian with her...

"The fact that Madeline and Louise can go through guys without a care," Paris said. "All they have to do is give dirty alley eyes to some guy and they'll have them hook, line, and sinker."

"You hate that they have boyfriends?" asked Elsie.

"No, I mean, I just...when you screwed up with Cassian, he still took you back, even more deeply and grossly in love with you anyway," Paris replied. "Why can't I have that? Why is that when I look a guy, all I do is scare them off?"

"Because everyone at Chilton is weak-willed?" Elsie said, "Look, we have senior year. You'll find someone that'll get turned on by you glaring at him."

"I suppose," Paris replied. "It's just that now, after Tristan is gone, I can solely focus on my work."

"Tristan would've made a great trophy husband to you," Elsie told her.

After the sleigh ride, Richard and Emily came up with Elsie and Paris. Richard had said, "One day, Elsie, we're all going to go on a roller coaster." He looked at Paris, "You can take Paris with you and Skye."

Elsie had no clue what to say to that statement.

"We can go on spring break," Paris said, looking a little intrigued at the thought of going on a roller coaster.

"Excellent," Richard replied, beaming. "We just need to find a roller coaster."

"I'll look into them when I get home and I'll get back to Elsie on that," Paris replied.

Richard just smiled, "You go do that."

When Paris and Elsie headed for their shared room, Paris asked Elsie, "Is your grandfather okay?"

"I'm beginning to think no," Elsie replied.

After getting dressed, Elsie went down to sit in the dining room.

She ended up sitting next to Luke, who just simply smiled at her and said, "Good evening, Elsie. You look nice."

Elsie still didn't understand why Luke wanted to form some kind of relationship with her. "Thanks?"

"Elsie, this is my nephew, Jess," Luke added. Elsie had to angle her head to look at Jess, who just looked bored. "Jess, this is Rory's twin sister, Elsie."

Jess now seemed a little more interested in the mention of Rory. "Ah, so this is the sister that Lorelai abandoned."

"Jess," Luke started.

"Well, it's true," Elsie added.

The guests started gathering and once everyone was seated, Lorelai stood at the head of the table with a camera.

Elsie didn't trust Lorelai to take the picture because she got her thumb in one of the pictures.

"Quiet, please, everybody. Before the, uh, button popping and the bloating can commence, say cheese," Lorelai said.

"Cheese!" called the guests, Elsie stayed silent as Lorelai took the picture.

"Uh, now, ladies and gentlemen, damen und herren, um, the moment you've been waiting for, I give you the Bracebridge Dinner," said Lorelai.

There was applause, but Sookie came out, "Whoa, whoa, hold it. We just need a quick minute, please."

"Which will be starting in one quick minute," Lorelai said.

The guests applauded.

A guy next to Elsie leaned over said, "You ever think about that? You can't have a quick minute, because it's always sixty seconds."

"You'll be feeling this fork in your jugular in sixty seconds," Elsie warned.

"Leave her alone, Bootsy," Luke added.

While Lorelai started going down the table, Elsie watched as 'Bootsy' took a drink of what looked to be beer from a rather large glass.

Miss Patty asked, "Lorelai darling, who is the silver fox with the tight knee socks?"

"Oh, that's Claude," Lorelai said. "He's one of our regular servers, divorced and on the market."

"Oh, well, the uniform is...interesting," Miss Patty stated.

"All right." Lorelai joked, "I'll have him bathed, powdered, and sent to your room." She chuckled.

"What?" Miss Patty asked, "Oh, you joke? Was that a joke?"

Lorelai patted Paris on the shoulder and walked away.

"Lorelai, this is just beautiful." Richard said as Lorelai stood in between him and Emily. "It's like something out of Architectural Digest. You should be very proud."

"Thanks, Dad," Lorelai replied. 

"Your dress needs pressing," Emily told her.

"Thanks, Mom," Lorelai replied and went to sit next to Rory. They had a hushed conversation.

Three men came out and one guy said, "Welcome Lords...and Ladies. I call upon these sprightly horns to commence our proceedings." Two men started playing some horns. The man pushed one horn away from his ear, "Hey Chuck Mangione, you wanna back up a step?"

Elsie couldn't help but chuckle at that.

The man continued, "And now, fair people, I present my Lord and Master, the honorable Squire Bracebridge."

A different man walked in dressed as a squire, "Lo! Now has come our joyfullest feast. Let every man be jolly."

Elsie heard Jess say, "We should've eaten before we came."

Luke shushed him then said, "And yeah."

The squire said, "Humble servant, bring us the first course to dine with pleasure. Mmm, methinks it be a butternut squash soup."

The guy in purple said, "Ah, methinks you're right Squire Bracebridge, thus and verily."

"And verily thus," the squire said.

"And thus, I am verily bored," Elsie whispered to Luke, who tried to stifle a chuckle.

The squire ate some soup, "'Tis perfection, but extremely hot."

"My Lord, do you need aid?" the man asked. "Wouldst thou have thee icy thy tongue?"

"Ah nay, Rune, nay," the squire said. "To the guests thou shall serve the soup!"

The food was served, but Jess and Luke stared at their food.

"What's the white stuff?" asked Jess.

"I think it's cheese," Luke replied. "Or cream."

Elsie rolled her eyes, "It's cream and the green stuff is cilantro."

Luke was silent before saying, "I think it's best picked off." He and Jess picked the garnish off.

A woman said, "No one says grace?"

Lane replied, "I think they all do, Mama, uh, silently."

Lane's mom asked a blonde woman, "Did you say silent grace?"

The woman finished drinking and laughed, "Good one." Lane's mother stared her down and the woman lowered her head, then nudged for the guy wearing sunglasses next to her, to do the same.

Later, Rune asked Jackson, "My Lord, shall dessert be served?"

"Anon, humble servant," replied Jackson.

Lorelai gone up to Paris, "Hey, Paris, how's it going?"

"Fine, good," Paris replied. "Thanks for having me."

"Oh, it was our pleasure," Lorelai replied.

Paris asked, "Did you notice the anachronisms?"

Lorelai seemed confused, "The what?"

"The period discrepancies. They were pretty blatant." Paris explained, "I mean, forget that the nineteenth century didn't include recessed lighting or the Fossil watch that your server was wearing, but water in that period would not have been served with cubed ice."

"Right," replied Lorelai.

"And your servers are wearing nylon blend shirts, and nylon was invented by a scientist at Dupont in the 1920s," Paris continued. "It shattered the illusion."

Lorelai waved her hands, "Floggings will be administered."

Elsie just smiled at Paris.

"So there we are, it's a beautiful moonlit Prague night, and we're strolling across the Charles Bridge when we come across this group of kids blasting this song by that – oh, that awful woman. Who is she?" Richard said, "The tall bony one, married to the deceased mustachioed congressman."

Elsie was confused, "Are you talking about Cher?"

"That's the one!" replied Emily.

"The year of 'Do you believe in life after love?'" replied Lorelai.

"A difficult time for all of us," Rory added.

"I like that song," Michel replied.

"Well, I was appalled." Richard said, "Prague has played host to some of the greatest composers in history. Mozart named a symphony after it, for heaven's sake. So, what did I do?"

"I have tried so hard to forget this," added Emily.

Richard stated, "I stood beside them and their boombox and I hummed Mozart's Prague Symphony as loud as I could." He started humming. Elsie guessed that Whiffenpoofs a cappella group came in handy.

"A bizzarro Battle of the Bands," Lorelai stated.

A guy asked, "And did it work?"

"Well, they quickly packed up and went their way," Richard replied.

"But then he kept on humming the Mozart. He wouldn't stop," Emily added.

"Well, at that point I was hoping for some gullible tourists to drop money at my feet," Richard replied.

"And two of them did," Emily added.

"And I kept it!" replied Richard.

"You know, this might be the most interesting conversation I've ever had with an insurance man," the guy stated.

"Aww, I'm hurt," Richard replied.

"I'm sorry Richard," that guy said. "What I meant was that—"

"No, what you meant was that people in the insurance industry are drones." Richard said, "Well I agree. They are a dull, dull lot, and I am glad to be rid of them."

Elsie was confused, "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, are you retired Richard?" asked that guy.

Richard started, "Well, uh..."

"Of course he's not," Emily replied. She paused, "Richard? Richard?"

"Actually, I am," Richard replied.

Later that night, Elsie was wide awake. The thought of her grandfather retiring wasn't upsetting, what was upsetting was that he didn't tell them.

"Sorry your grandfather didn't tell you about retiring," Paris told Elsie.

Elsie was silent, "It makes a lot of sense now, though. How he's around a bit more and very happy." She added, "Stress-free."

"I guess he does seem very happy," Paris replied.

Elsie nodded, "Yeah."

"Hey, do you think him retiring is going to cut in on us going on a roller coaster?" Paris said, "Because I already started a plan on our day, and I was wondering if him retiring is somehow going effect our schedule."

Elsie shrugged, "I honestly don't know."

When it was time to go, they went down to the lobby.

"Hey, Mom," Lorelai greeted. "You didn't make it back to the room last night. Did you get lucky?"

Elsie noticed how Richard just exhaled.

"Could you be any cruder?" asked Emily.

"Yeah, I can be cruder," Lorelai said. "Hey Mom, did you get la—"

"You shouldn't have even started," Elsie interrupted, talking to Emily.

"You're right," Emily replied. "I shouldn't have."

"Thanks for coming," Rory said, going to hug and kiss Richard. "It was fun. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's okay," Richard replied.

"We'll see you next Friday," Emily replied.

"Bye," Lorelai said. "Bye, Dad."

"Bye Lorelai," Richard replied as they ended for the exit.