Thanksgiving has always been one of Rory's favorite holidays; something about gorging yourself on food while surrounded by those nearest and dearest to you has delighted her since she was little. Perhaps it was the way her mother, Mia, and Sookie would make it special for her at the Independence Inn when she was little, without the stiff formality that was expected at the Gilmore family Christmas.

So it was of little surprise that she woke on Thanksgiving morning excited to head to Stars Hollow and the weekend that awaited her.

"Ace, it's not even eight," Logan complains, half muffled by the pillow and the blankets piled on the bed.

"Yeah, but it's Thanksgiving morning!" she replies, nevertheless burrowing into the covers and closer to the warmth radiating from his body.

"You're like a kid on Christmas, except instead of presents you just get to eat food." His eyes remain closed, but his hands slip from under the pillow and over to her, up under her tank top and down the front of her sleep shorts.

"Oh," she breathes, shifting and arching into his touch.

Logan moves suddenly, rolling her onto her back. "Your love of unexpected holidays is part of your charm," he murmurs while kissing his way down her body, taking her tank top with him.

"What else do you find charming?"

"Compliment-hungry today, are we?" he laughs from just above her navel.

"Oh, I'm definitely hungry," she says, innuendo thick her her voice.

"Well, I've never been one to leave my best girl wanting, have I?" he said, beginning to pull down her shorts.

Several hours later Logan enters Stars Hollow with unconcealed anticipation on his face. "How should I announce my presence? Speed through town? Run the one red light? Create some sort of disturbance?"

She smacks his arm playfully. "Don't be two, Logan. Besides, I think the Tesla announces your presence enough on its own. There aren't many luxury vehicles in Stars Hollow."

"C'mon, Ror, I want to see Taylor," he whines, looking around town.

"I suppose we can stop at Luke's for coffee and then hit Doose's on some trumped-up errand," she concedes, "as long as you behave yourself."

"Will you punish me if I'm naughty?" His voice drops suggestively.

"Um, we're staying at my Grandmother's this weekend and I doubt we'll be in the pool house, so any punishments would have to wait until we return to the city," she flirts with a wink. "But I'm sure one could be arranged if you're a very, very bad boy."

"Excellent. You're always so creative with them."

"Oh. My. God. You have to get this out of your system before we see my family!" she exclaims as he parks in front of Luke's. "No innuendo, no double entendres, nothing."

They get out of the car and take in the sight of the town square decorated for Thanksgiving. "When your town commits, it commits," Logan comments, seemingly taken aback by the sheer volume of decorations adorning every available space in the square.

"Yeah, we don't do anything halfway." Rory stares through Luke's large windows, not even paying attention to the square. "So, uh, I should have realized something but I didn't and I don't want this to be a problem. It's not one for me and I'm hoping it's not one for you," she rambles, twisting her hands nervously.

"Whoa, what's going on?"

"Jess is here." She gestures to the diner. "Luke's nephew? I guess I should have assumed, he's Luke's nephew and Liz and TJ will be at the Inn for dinner." Logan stares through the diner window, nonplussed. "But your last meeting was not really the greatest showing for either of you, but he and I do generally get along…" she trails off.

"Hey, hey, hey, no need to babble your way into an anxiety attack. Last time I met the guy was ten years ago, I was pissed at my dad, and took it out on him. No fights in the middle of Luke's, promise," he says, dropping a kiss onto her nose and taking her hand into his own. "Now why don't you go re-introduce me and I will show you how nicely I can behave?"

She fixes him a stern look. "Okay, but only because I am dying for coffee since someone kept me in bed an hour later than planned this morning."

They walk into the diner, greeted by an enthusiastic Luke, who pulls Rory in for a hug. "I'm glad you're both here for Thanksgiving," he said, gesturing to an empty table by the window. "I'll get some coffee."

They take their table and Rory says hi to Babette and Morey. "Is that the boyfriend Lorelai hates, sugar?" Babette calls.

Rory winces. "This is Logan, Babette. And I'm sure Mom doesn't hate him."

"The same Logan you were dating at Yale, right?"

She nods. Babette leans over to Morey and stage whispers, "She and Lorelai have been fighting about this one for ages."

"Sill taken in by the small town charm?" she quips as Luke pours them coffee.

"I'd say you obviously don't want to eat because you're saving room for the feast Sookie is cooking, but I know you too well and figured you'd want a burger. Are you as crazy as she is?" He fixes a slightly narrowed gaze on Logan.

"Uh, I was actually planning to skip lunch because I've heard about Sookie's Thanksgiving -" he trails off at Rory's outraged expression. "But obviously if Rory's eating, I'm eating. A burger sounds great," he amends quickly.

"Coming right up."

They settle into easy conversation, and the re-meeting of Jess and Logan goes very smoothly, much to Rory's relief. "Last time we met, I was actively trying to be an ass, Ace, I told you, this would be fine," he says easily, tucking into his burger.

"I'm glad. I'm never sure when one of you will be…prickly. And we'll have enough of that later with my mom and grandma," she replies, rolling her eyes. "All they do is snipe at each other."

"Well, won't I be there to draw fire? From your mother, at least?"

"No, she promised to be nice, remember? Actually," she smiles, "Jess will more than likely draw her fire. If there's one person at that dinner my mom hates more than you, it's Jess."

He looks at her curiously. "Why so much Jess hate?"

"I was a rebellious youth," Jess says dryly, refilling Rory's coffee mug, "and was largely unimpressed with Lorelai Gilmore. That didn't sit well with her. Do you want more coffee?"

"Sure. So what does 'unimpressed' mean exactly?"

Jess sits at their table, pouring himself a mug of coffee. "I dated Rory over her objections. I didn't particularly care what she thought about me. I didn't care what anyone in town but Rory thought about me. I didn't find her comedy bits funny and didn't pretend I did."

"Ah, so you didn't play the game with her."

"Yeah, and I might have mouthed off to her a few times."

"And there's the whole crashed my car and broke her daughter's wrist part. Oh, and the broke her daughter's heart and left town without saying anything part. Don't want to leave those out," Rory chimes in.

"Thanks for bringing those up; we would definitely hate for Logan to not have the full picture of what a little shit I was," Jess snarks.

"Hey, she didn't talk to Luke for almost five months after the car accident, that's how big of a deal it was! She kept going to Weston's or Sookie's for breakfast and coffee, she grew so desperate."

"Speaking of Sookie," Logan interjects, checking his watch, "should we start heading to the Inn? It's almost two."

"You guys head over, Luke and I are showing up around four." Jess shoves back from the table and waves away Rory's cash. "Your money isn't good here, you know that."

"You get good service," Logan comments as he helps Rory into her coat. "Now, what can we get from Doose's?"

"He might not even be there, you know, so don't get your hopes up."

"A man can dream."

If Logan has any misgivings about seeing Lorelai as they stroll up to the Dragonfly a short time later (no Taylor in sight at the market, sadly), Rory can't detect a trace of it. Then again, self-assuredness - arrogance, some might say - was never Logan's problem.

"Rory and Logan! Thank God!" Lorelai pops out onto the porch looking relieved to see them and more than a little frazzled.

"Uh, hey, Mom. Oh!" Lorelai sweeps Rory into a fierce hug, practically knocking her off of her feet. "Great to see you, too, but what's with this welcome?"

"My mother has been here over an hour. I don't know if she got the time wrong, or I told her the wrong time, or she deliberately showed up hours early, but you. need. to. distract. her." She turns to Logan. "He should help with the distraction. Hi, Logan."

"Hey, Lorelai, thanks for the invitation. The Inn looks beautiful."

"We can talk about my decorating later. Get inside!" She shoves them through the front door and towards Emily who was sitting in the front room of the Inn with tea, a book, and a look of severe displeasure on her face.

"Lorelai," she starts in a strident tone, but her face breaks into a smile at the sight of Rory and Logan.

"Look who's here, Mom: the kids! And I think Sookie's calling me from the kitchen, so I'll send out some wine and snacks and they'll visit with you, okay?" Lorelai beats a hasty retreat back to the kitchen.

"'Visit with me,' like I'm old and infirm," Emily mutters to herself before rising to greet them."It is lovely to see you both, though, particularly after Rory's insistent assertions that you were 'just friends' earlier this fall."

"Oh, Grandma, things weren't entirely…settled, I guess. Didn't want to get your hopes up," Rory laughs, kissing her cheek. "We are looking forward to spending some time with you this weekend."

"I'm very grateful for the company, especially since I'm approving Richard's gravestone this weekend."

Logan shoots Rory a quizzical look before kissing Emily hello. "I thought that had already been delivered?"

"The granite company is completely incompetent! I will spare you the ugly details, but they have displayed a truly shocking level of uselessness I wouldn't have believed possible of an otherwise seemingly prosperous business."

Rory and Logan exchange amused glances and steer the conversation towards their work and Emily's social life instead.

"This bedroom is horrifying," Logan remarks many hours later as he flops back on her pink coverlet. "From the 98 Degrees poster to the stuffed animals to all this pink…I'm so grateful I've never seen this before."

"Mom's room is even worse," she replies, poking through her overnight bag for her toiletries. "There are like, fifteen dolls just staring at you in her room." He groans at the thought. "I think what makes this room so awful is that she decorated it for me when I was sixteen. It was a nice gesture, but I was horrified by the decor even then. The pool house was much more to my liking."

"No dolls staring at us in the pool house. Any chance of a move?"

"I wish," she flops next to him on the bed, "we share a wall with her bedroom in here."

"Christ. In our thirties and still getting cockblocked by the elders. And I thought my family was devious." He scrubs a hand over his face.

"Even the almighty Huntzbergers have nothing on Emily Gilmore."

They're on the Hudson Parkway, nearly back to the City, when Rory gets the text from Lorelai. "Thanks for coming up this weekend and for spending more than just Thanksgiving. I know it's partly Logan's bizarre obsession with Taylor, but still." She's about to text back when three dots appear again, so she holds off, waiting for more. "I might have been wrong…it's occasionally been known to happen. ;) Can you and blondie come and spend some time at Christmas?"

"Wellll," she drawls, grinning. "Guess your charm has won over the last holdout among the Gilmore women. You've been invited at Christmas."

"Wow. That turnaround was swift."

"Yeah, I think my ultimatum freaked her out. I don't think she liked be on the other end of a freeze-out." She leans her head back against the seat. "I so don't want to go to work tomorrow. And I have a crap ton of laundry to do."

"Adulting is hard," he sympathizes.

"Says the man who sends his laundry out and owns the company so can show up whenever," Rory scoffs.

"It's efficient to send out laundry!" he protests. "Plus, I'm contributing to the economy and ensuring I stay appropriately dressed, since I really don't know how to work an iron."

"Still?"

"Yeah, the only reason there was one in our apartment at Yale was because you bought it," he admits sheepishly. "And I am always punctual to the office, don't you go slandering my good name."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

They share a contented smile.

"So I take it this laundry talk means you need to spend the night at your place?"

"I don't think there's anything in my bag or at yours that I can wear to work," she replies regretfully. "You could stay at mine, though."

"Your bed is smaller than mine and not very comfortable," he grouses. "But I could probably make do for a night with what's in my bag and at your place already."

"Well, we don't all live in multi-million lofts in the West Village with fancy mattresses, Logan," she reminds him saucily. "Besides, better my uncomfortable mattress and no Emily than the comfortable bed surrounded by pink damask and boy band posters and stuffed animals, right?"

"God, yes, anything is better than that nightmare of a room."

"Even my teeny tiny Hells Kitchen apartment with its miserable mattress and suspect elevator?"

"Even that hole of an apartment you shared with Paris at Yale was better," he says dryly.

"Wow. You must really hate that room because you loathed that apartment," she comments.

"So," he begins, steering the car off the Parkway and onto surface streets, "are you going to give any further thought to what my Dad brought up at dinner?"

"Ah, yes, the poaching." She's silent, watching the Upper West Side flash past outside. "We joked about it before Thanksgiving, but it's something else to hear him offer it in person."

"And?" he prompts quietly.

"I just can't see it right now, Logan. I love the Times. I've been working towards it for years. Years. And a fairly large part of me still remembers your dad telling me I 'didn't have it', and I'm not sure I'll ever get past that with him. I can smile at dinner and be polite because he's your dad, but that wrecked me for a long time, and you know that."

He slides the car into a parking spot on 74th. "I know there's no way you have food at your place, so I figured we'd stop at Fairway and stock up before we head home."

Her eyes light up. "Ooh, good call." She turns to face him in the confines of the car. "You haven't weighed in with an opinion on the HPG stuff yet."

"I get not wanting to work for my Dad. More than anyone could possibly understand," he smiles, and she lets out a small laugh. "He won't be there forever, though, and when that happens I will do everything in my power to bring you on board as HPG's newest acquisition."

Her breath catches in her throat at the determined look he is giving her. "I just want to be clear that rejecting his offer is not a rejection of you."

He lifts her hand to his lips and kisses the back of it. "Understood. I know what the Times means to you." They move to exit the car into the brisk New York City air. "Huntzbergers take their acquisitions very seriously, you know," he remarks casually.

"Do they?" she replies absentmindedly, running through a mental grocery list.

"Yep. And you're definitely on the radar for acquisition by the Huntzbergers."

She stops short. "The Group or the family?"

"Maybe both," he says quietly.

She stops on the street and turns to face him, smiling. "Oh really?"

He slides a hand into her coat and wraps an arm around her waist to pull her against him. "Definitely on the radar," he murmurs before leaning in to kiss her.

"Good to know," she says against his lips before pulling away and looking around them, embarrassed. "We are in the middle of the sidewalk."

"Discussing mergers and acquisitions is a perfectly acceptable street conversation, Ace," he says with a grin in her direction. He releases her waist and grabs her hand.

"We have always merged rather well," Rory says as they walk into the market.

"I thought this was an innuendo-free weekend!"

"No more parents or grandparents," she says condescendingly as if it were obvious, the 'duh' implicit in her voice. "Ban lifted."

"Damn, and I completely forgot to accrue a punishment this weekend," he says with mock sadness.

"I'm sure something can be arranged after dinner."

AN: Thanks for sticking with me through the longer time in between posting chapters. ICYMI, I posted two one-shots since I posted my last chapter, both available via my profile. Those are both A Year In The Life compliant, whereas this is...not. Please let me know your thoughts via a review - it seriously makes my day to get your comments, feedback, etc.