"That hardly looks like dinner."

--☆--☆--☆--

Rory and Cassie were sitting at the dining room table with their books in front of them. Well actually, Cassie was reading while Rory was staring at her, waiting for her to break down and tell her all about Josh. She knew Cassie would break eventually. Cassie couldn't keep a secret for the life of her, especially not from Rory. 

Emily was on the phone, pacing around the room while Richard sat in the living room with a newspaper in his hand. Richard always seemed to have a newspaper. It made Cassie wonder if he was actually reading the paper or if he just held it up so he wouldn't have to talk to anyone. If that was true then Cassie respected him deeply for it.

"I don't understand why you waited so long to call," Emily said into the phone. "Are you sure?... Fine.... All right. Yes. Goodbye," Emily hung up the phone then walked over to Richard. "Well, I don't know what I'm gonna do now."

"What's the problem, Emily?"

"The problem is that apparently Florence cannot get here because of the storm," Emily told her husband.

"Florence?"

"Our cook."

"Oh," Richard sighed as he flipped the pages in his newspaper. "Well, we'll just have to go out then."

"Oh please. Richard, pay attention. We can't go out. It's miserable out there."

"Cassie," Rory whispered, only to get ignored.

"We'll figure something out," Richard said, still not looking up from his newspaper.

"What? What will we figure out? I hate the damn snow," Emily said, shaking her head.

"Emily, calm down."

"Cassie," Rory tried to get her sister's attention again, but once again, nothing.

"This is a serious problem," Emily said, now in distress. "These Friday dinners are the only proper food those girls eat all week."

"Rory, Cassidy, are you in any way malnourished or in need of some international relief organization to recruit a celebrity to raise money on your account?" Richard asked them, still not looking up from his magazine.

"I'm good."

"All sunshines over here Grandpa," Cassie told him.

"They're good, Emily."

Emily shook her head at her husband. "Your sense of humor rears its ugly head at the oddest of times Richard."

"Emily, I am not the mastermind behind some great scheme to spoil your dinner plans and I don't care to be treated as such."

"So you're fine with having no dinner tonight, is that it?" Emily asked him.

And finally the newspaper was set down as Richard looked up at his wife. "I certainly am not." He told her as Rory and Cassie came to stand beside them.

"Hey, how about we check the fridge?" Rory suggested. "I'm sure there's something in there we could whip up."

"Whip up?" Emily questioned.

Cassie nodded her head at her grandmother. "Yeah, come on. It'll be fun, I promise." She said before she and Rory started walking towards the kitchen.

"Well, come on 'Mister We'll Figure it Out'." Emily said before following the twins into the kitchen.

Rory opened the freezer and the four of them stared into it. Now for Rory and Cassie they saw a bunch of food, but they weren't cooks. But Emily and Richard saw an empty freezer.

"Nothing."

"Not a blessed thing."

"Hey, there's frozen pizza."

"Oo, pizza," Cassie smiled when her eyes landed on the box.

"How in the world did that get there?" Emily asked with that questioning look she often had around her daughter and her granddaughters.

"Maybe you bought it and forgot about it," Rory guessed.

" I have never bought frozen pizza. It must belong to Anna."

"The maid," Richard guessed.

"Yes."

"A maid and a cook," Cassie whispered quiet enough that neither of her grandparents heard her.

"Ah, got one," Richard smiled proudly as Rory pulled the pizza box out of the freezer.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked, her face shifted into discomfort.

"I'm gonna make it," Rory announced

"Oh, Rory, you're not serious," Emily said as she and Richard moved to the other side of the counter.

"That hardly looks like dinner."

"I agree," Emily announced as she nodded at her husband.

"It's really good Grandma," Cassie told her but Emily simply shook her head.

"Girls, that's food you eat at a carnival. Or in a Turkish prison."

"I promise you're gonna love it," Rory told them.

"But..."

"Listen," Rory said, stopping EMily before she could complain anymore. "Just leave it up to me and Cass. You guys go back into the living room and I'll call you when it's ready," Rory told them and they reluctantly agreed. Richard and Emily went to walk out of the kitchen but before they could, "Hey Grandma?"

"Yes?"

"What are the odds of you knowing where a cookie sheet would be?"

"I'd say very slim," Richard answered for her and Cassie accidentally laughed, earning herself a glare from Emily.

"Never mind. I'll find it."

"Very slim? Thank you for that," Emily said before she and Richard walked out of the kitchen.

"I love when Grandpa cracks jokes," Cassie said with a smile. "Makes him seem almost human."

"Yeah," Rory nodded, then went on the hunt for a cookie sheet while Cassie preheated the oven. "So are we gonna talk about it?"

"About what?"

"Josh."

"Rory-"

"I told you about Dean," Rory reminded her.

"This is different," Cassie told her as she began to help her sister search for a cookie sheet. "Found it."

"How is it different?"

Cassie sighed, as she put the cookie sheet down on the counter. She turned around, looking at her sister. "Dean is a good guy, he's sweet and so in love with you."

"He's not in love with me," Rory said, earning a 'really' look from her sister. "Why won't you just admit you like Josh? I admitted that I like Dean."

"It's different," Cassie said as she pulled the pizza out of the box. She looked over seeing the questioning look on her sister's face. "Because I don't know if he likes me or he's just trying to prove that I like him."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, am I just another girl at Chilton who likes Joshua Dawson?" Cassie explained and it began making sense to her.

"So you do like him?"

"I..." Cassie paused thinking about her answer. "Give me a minute," She said before leaving Rory alone in the kitchen to finish putting the pizza in the oven.

Cassie was in her mother's old bedroom, laying on her bed and staring at the ceiling. All she could think about was Josh, which seemed to be a common thing for her these days. Cassie didn't like it, she liked being the one who had the answers, not the one with all the questions. She was alone for a few minutes until Rory came into the room looking for her.

"Hey..."

"Hi," Cassie sat up, looking over at her sister.

Cassie watched as Rory walked further into the room, stopping for a moment to look at Lorelai's old doll house. Lorelai had told the twins about the doll house when they were young. It was her favorite part of her room as a kid.

Rory continued through the room, going over to Lorelai's desk. Cassie stood up from the bed, moving to stand beside her sister. Rory opened a drawer, pulling out some old books. Cassie watched as she picked one up, both of them looking down when something fell from between the pages. Rory picked up the picture and both the twins froze.

"Dad..." Cassie whispered.

They stared at the picture for a moment too long. While Rory longed for her father all Cassie could think about was all the moments she missed with Chris. Rory still wanted a relationship with him, but all Cassie wanted to do was let herself be free from the pain of missing her father.

Rory flipped the picture over, seeing the words Chris and Lorelai '83 written on the back with a heart around it. Cassie turned away from the picture, not wanting to look at it anymore while Rory put it in her pocket, knowing that she wanted to have it.

Rory's pager began to beep, causing her to go over to the phone. Cassie looked at her in confusion as she began talking to Lane. Cassie did her best to listen in on the conversation, but she couldn't hear much.

"Why would touch Rich Bloomenfeld's hair?"

"She touched his hair?" Cassie asked with an almost disturbed and definitely shocked look on her face.

Cassie continued to listen in, hearing the Kim girl rant about needing her best friend during this time of crisis. Cassie knew Lane wasn't exactly wrong here. Ever since Cassie and Rory started Chilton they've been so busy and now that Rory had Dean she was even more preoccupied. "Lane?"

"What happened?" Cassie asked.

"I don't know," Rory said in a confused voice right as Emily entered the room.

"There you girls are," Emily sighed once she located the twins.

"I think the phones went dead," Rory said as she held up the phone.

Emily shook her head dismissively. "It's probably just this horrible storm. You must come downstairs immediately."

"What's wrong?" Cassie asked her grandma with genuine concern

"The stove is buzzing."

The twins shared a quick look before Rory looked over at Emily, saying, "It's just the timer Grandma."

"I know it's the timer, Rory. What I don't know is where it's located or how to turn it off."

"But I really need to call Lane back," Rory said in a concerned tone. She needed to talk to her best friend, Lane needed her.

"There's nothing you can do now. The phones will come back on eventually. Now please come downstairs and help me stop the buzzing."

"But..."

"Emily, for heaven's sake get down here!" Richard yelled from down stairs.

"Okay, let's go," Rory sighed, pulling Cassie with her as the three of them walked out of Lorelai's old bedroom.

Cassie and Rory were the ones who cut the pizza and put them onto four separate plates. All while Emily and Richard watched them in confusion. It amazed the twins how their grandparents could know so little about such delicious food.

"It's good Grandma, I promise," Cassie said as she put the pizza out on the table.

"You wanna eat it before it gets cold," Rory said to their grandparents, watching as they examined the food. The twins smiled as Emily lifted the pizza with a fork before putting it in her mouth. "How is it?"

"Not cold!" Emily gasped upon putting the bite of pizza in her mouth.

The twins' attention shifted over to Richard, now watching as he took the first bite of pizza. "Mmmm. It's quite tasty. Emily, we should have this more often," He declared.

"What?"

"Perhaps instead of that horrible salmon that keeps showing up."

"That salmon is a fine delicacy," Emily reminded him, confused how her husband could enjoy food that comes in a box.

"Mm, potato, po-tah-to," Richard joked, earning two laughs from his granddaughters.

"Try it again Grandma, it's probably cooler now," Rory insisted as she looked back at her grandmother.

Emily shook her head. "No, thank you, I'm fine."

"Cheese," Cassie whispered to her sister who nodded her head at the idea.

"You know what?," Rory stood up from her seat, grabbing the block of Parmesan cheese they had placed on the table. "It's really good if you add some extra Parmesan on it."

"This is mom's special trick," Cassie told her grandparents, who nodded their heads slightly. Since Richard and Emily didn't have front row seats to the twins' childhoods they took in every piece of information the girls gave them. "Frozen pizza is a staple at our house."

"Mom's become a major doctoring genius. She'll put anything on it," Rory continued for her sister. "One time Sookie came and brought us some foie gras, and mom stuck it on a pizza."

Emily looked up at Rory with excitement, "How was it?"

"Pretty good once we took the foie gras off," Rory said with a smile while Cassie hummed in agreement. "Okay, that's good," Rory sat back down in her seat. "Try it. Please," Rory, Richard and Cassie all watched as Emily hesitantly picked up her utensils going in for the slice of pizza.

"You know Grandma, if you wanna get really crazy you can pick it up," Cassie suggested.

"Well, all right," Emily smiled, picking up the slice of pizza like she's done it a million times before. "Here goes nothing," She said before taking a bite. She was silent for a moment, trying to reach a verdict and then... "Mmm! That's wonderful!"

"See?"

"Rory pass me that cheese," Emily took the cheese from Rory then walked around to the other side of the table. She put some cheese on Richar's pizza, the same way Rory did for her. "Trust me, it makes all the difference."

"See, I knew you'd like it, grandma," Cassie said, earning a small smile from her grandmother.

"I'll be right back," Rory quickly exited the table, leaving her sister alone with her grandparents for a couple minutes while she grabbed the photo album from Lorelai's room. "I found this in mom's room."

"What's that?" Emily turned, looking to see what Rory brought down.

"Pictures."

"Oh my goodness, I haven't seen that in years," Emily gasped as she opened the book.

"Oh my gosh," Richard gasped.

"Ah. Look at this," Emily pointed to an old picture of Lorelai.

"Wow," Cassie laughed.

"That's one fluffy white dress," Rory smiled.

"Yes. There were 12 petticoats underneath it. We got it in London, remember Richard?"

"Uh yeah," Richard nodded, looking at the picture of his daughter.

"She looks like a little princess," Rory commented.

"Or a marshmallow," Cassie added.

"Yes, well, if memory serves about two minutes after that picture was taken her highness dumped a glass of grape juice all over it," Emily said.

"Sounds like mom," Cassie realized.

"Look Emily, it's Hopey," Richard pointed to another picture, causing the three women to look down at it.

"Hopey?"

"My younger sister," Emily told the girls.

"I didn't realize you had a sister," Cassie commented, making Emily nod her head, a slight frown on her face.

"Has she ever been here when I was here? I don't remember her," Rory said.

"Oh, she lives in Paris. Our great ex-patriot," Richard told them.

"Oh my Hopey, look at you. I haven't seen her in such a long time."

Cassie didn't know why but hearing her grandma say that struck a nerve in her. She didn't know what she'd do without Rory. And quite frankly she didn't want to imagine a life without her. Knowing that Emily never saw her sister made her sad, and Cassie prayed that she'd never be too far from Rory.

"Maybe we should take a trip this year," Richard suggested, seeing the somewhat upset look on his wife's face.

"That would be nice," Emily said with a smile.

"Maybe the girls could go with us," He added looking at his granddaughters who were both smiling.

"I don't have any plans," Cassie told them.

"I'll start packing tomorrow," Rory added before Emily flipped the page in the book. "Oh, is that you guys?"

"Yes it is."

"That is our wedding picture," Emily told them.

"It's an amazing dress," Rory complimented.

"It should've been. My mother had three seamstresses working around the clock making it."

"Do you still have it?"

"Its upstairs packed away somewhere," Emily said with yet another sigh. "I'll save it for you if you like."

"Oh Emily, the twins are too young to be thinking about things like that," Richard said with a wave of his hand.

"Oh, Richard, please. Every young girl thinks about her wedding. I know I did. I knew from the time I was twelve that I wanted lilies and orchids with a silver bow wrapped around them for my bouquet."

"Pretty."

"It was," Emily nodded.

"You also knew that you wanted to marry Errol Flynn," Richard added.

"Really?" Both Rory and Cassie gasped as they looked over at Emily. "Grandma had a thing for the pirate guy?"

"I did not have a thing for the pirate guy," Emily claimed but the look on her face suggested otherwise.

"It's okay grandma, Rory's first crush was a cartoon," Cassie informed her grandparents, causing the look on Rory's face to go from happy to annoyed.

"So was yours," Rory reminded her.

Cassie thought to herself for a second and her shoulders fell. "Oh yeah."

Rory turned the page and they all looked down at a picture of a teenage Lorelai in a white gown. "Wow. Mom looks really beautiful here."

The twins didn't fully pick up on it but the second that picture appeared on the page the mood in the room changed. "Yes she does."

"What was the occasion?" Cassie asked, looking down at how beautiful her mom looked.

"Who would like some coffee?" Richard asked. Now the twins picked up the energy change. They both looked between their grandparents wondering who would tell them first.

"That was her debutante gown for her coming out party," Emily explained.

"Mom had a coming out party?" Rory asked.

"No she didn't."

"Oh."

Both twins looked down, they knew what had happened. They happened. Their existence happened. Rory and Cassie weren't stupid, they knew that the news of their arrival was not a happy moment in the Gilmore household. They knew that once upon a time their existence brought shame to the Gilmore name. That's why they both tried so hard to be good kids.

"Yes, well, things happen don't they?"

"Excuse me, I have some business calls to make," Richard got out of his seat, making a quick exit from the room.

"I'll go get that coffee," Emily walked out too, leaving the girls alone, staring at the picture of their mom.

"You okay," Cassie said quietly and Rory just nodded.

"You?" Rory looked over watching as Cassie nodded. "Maybe we should just go to sleep."

"Good idea," Cassie nodded her head, and both the twins said good night to their grandparents. They tried to smile and pretend that they didn't see the frown on both Emily and Richard's face. Afterall there's nothing they could do about the past.