"Happy birthday kid"
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Sookie and Lorelai spent hours putting together the perfect part for the Gilmore twins. They wanted everything to be perfect for the girls' 16th birthday. Since the moment the girls were born Lorelai has wanted her daughters to have everything she never got to have. She wanted Cassie and Rory to have fun and grow up in a loving home, and she would be damned if that didn't happen.
So the two of them prepared cake and decorations and made a killer guest list, all for the Gilmore twins. When the twins were finally ready to enjoy their party half the town was in their living room.
The three Gilmores were living it up. This was the kind of party they wanted, not some stuck up one in Hartford. Cassie was walking around, making her rounds when she saw a certain blonde walk through her front door.
"You came," Cassie said with a hint of shock in her voice when she saw her.
"I wouldn't miss a party like this," Sophie said as she gave the youngest Gilmore a hug.
"Come in. You have to meet everybody," Cassie pushed the door closed as she pulled Sophie into her house.
"Cassie!" Babette came running over to the youngest Gilmore, giving her a big hug. "Look at you! All grown up!"
"Babette you saw me yesterday," Cassie laughed, hugging her back.
"And who are you?"
"Sophie. Chilton Friend," She answered with a smile.
"Oh! A girl like you must have a hot boyfriend, is he good in the sack?"
"Babette!" Cassie gasped as Sophie let out a loud laugh. Sophie knew at that moment that Stars Hollow would become a second home to her. Cassie didn't know it yet but Sophie was always looking for an escape from her life.
"I don't have a boyfriend," Sophie laughed.
"We'll fix that," Babette told her, causing the two teenage girls to laugh. "Don't worry honey, we'll find you one too."
"Oh I'm already working on that," Sophie informed her.
"Tell me, tell me."
"You better not be talking about..."
"His name is Josh," Sophie said, interrupting Cassie. "He's hot, and he has gorgeous eyes."
"Maybe you should date him," Cassie suggested.
"I already told you, I've known him too long to date him," Sophie reminded her. "He's too much like a brother, to me, but not to you."
"Oh my god," Cassie rolled her eyes.
"You'll keep me up to date?" Babette asked with excited eyes.
"Of course," Sophie smiled.
Babette waved to the girls before walking back over to Morey. The girls moved into the kitchen where they found Lorelai, Lane, and Rory grabbing drinks.
"Sophie?" Rory was obviously confused by seeing the Dugray girl in her kitchen. Rory suddenly switched over to panic as she looked around her house to make sure none of the other Chilton kids were there.
"Don't worry, it's just me," Sophie told her,seeing the panicked look on her face. "I didn't bring my cousin here."
"Oh thank god," Rory let out a sigh of relief. "No offense."
"None taken."
"Sorry," Lorelai interjected. "But who are you?"
"Oh," Sophie turned towards the twins' mom, "I'm Sophie... Dugray... Tristan's cousin and Cassie's only friend at Chilton."
"Hey!"
"It's true, babe," Sophie told her.
Cassie pouted but nodded her head. "Yeah it's kinda true."
"It's absolutely true," Rory added.
"I'm Lane," The Kim girl spoke up.
"Hi."
"Okay... time for presents," Lorelai wrapped her arms around her daughters, pulling them out to the kitchen. "Presents! Time for presents!"
Rory and Cassie sat down beside each other. Lorelai was on the other side of Cassie while Lane and Sophie sat together on the other side of the table. Two gifts were placed in front of the twins. One wrapped in gold wrapping paper the other in silver.
"Open it, open it," Lorelai sang as the twins undid the wrapping paper.
"No!"
"You're kidding!"
The twins jumped into Lorelai's arms when they each received a computer, something they've dreamed of having since they knew how to work a keyboard.
"Ah! You can take it back!"
"No! I love it!" Rory screamed.
"Best present ever!"
"They're blue and green and it has a handle," Lorelai said as she pointed to the boxes.
"It's way too expensive."
"I know. That's what I told the guy at the store."
"Okay! On three!" Sookie walked over carrying a giant cake in her hand. Everyone's eyes widened when they saw a picture of the twins in frosting on the cake. "One, two..."
Everyone started singing to the twins, Miss Patty adding in a couple of opera notes at the end of the song. Cassie and Rory shared a smile before they blew out the candles, the pink ones for Rory and the purple ones for Cassie, the same way it's been since they turned one.
Lorelai stood up, ready to give her big birthday speech. "Attention, please!" She cleared her throat, looking around at the group of people in her living room. "This is a very serious moment. Two priests, a rabbi, and a duck..." She began and everyone in the room laughed.
"Mom..."
"All right. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I would like to propose a toast to the two things in my life that are always good, that's always sweet, and without whom I would have no reason to get up in the morning- my pals Rory and Cassie. Cheers!"
"Happy birthday!"
"Cheers!"
"And in honor of these two very special girls, I now invite you all to help me eat their faces," She said, gesturing down to the cake.
"And you may have the first cut," Sookie told the twins as she handed them each a knife.
The doorbell rang, right at the twins went in for the first cut. "There's something very strange about hacking into my own head."
"Jeez, who the hell's ringing the bell?" Lorelai yelled. "It's a party, get your ass in here!" She turned around just in time to see Emily and Richard walking into the room. Everyone grew quiet as they looked at the two people who didn't really belong there. "Or... asses. I guess."
"Grandma, grandpa! I can't believe you're here!" Rory jumped up from her seat, running over to her grandparents, but Cassie didn't move.
"Did you know they were coming?" Sophie asked her and Cassie shook her head in response.
"Everyone! These are our grandparents!" Rory said.
"Hi!"
"Hello."
"Cassie," Rory waved her hand, gesturing for her to join them on the other side of the room.
The youngest Gilmore reluctantly stood up from her seat going over to her grandparents. "Hi."
"Is that?" Emily tilted her head to the side. Sophie tried to duck but it was too late. "Sophie Dugray."
Sophie stood up slowly waving her hand as she said, "Hi, Mrs. Gilmore, Mr. Gilmore..."
"What on earth are you doing here?"
"I'm, uh, it's Cassie and Rory's birthday," She said, confused with her own answer or rather the question.
"Right, of course," Emily nodded, then she went to grab an appetizer. Richard turned around, and instead of talking to one of the many guests in the living room he decided to inspect the fireplace.
The four teenagers watched him, wondering why he decided now was the time to check out the fireplace. Cassie turned her head a few minutes later, finding Luke and Lorelai standing in the doorway.
"Incoming," She yelled before giving Luke a hug. He had to quickly drop the ice he came with before the youngest Gilmore made it to him.
"Happy birthday kid," He said, looking away from Emily who was staring at him with a judgemental look. He pulled something out of his back pocket before putting it on Cassie's head. "Add it to the collection."
Cassie took it off, inspecting the new Yankees hat Luke gave her. Every year since Luke discovered Cassie's love for the New York Yankees he's given her a piece of their merchandise every year for her birthday. The first year he gave her a baseball cap, and now she's getting a new one.
"I love it- oh, Grandma, Hi," Cassie turned around realizing that Emily was there. She put the hat back on her head as she stepped backwards from her grandmother.
Emily was giving all of them a strange look. She looked at the hat on Cassie's then the man who brought it for her and finally he gaze landed on Lorelai who was standing awkwardly. Emily was taking it all in, but she didn't like what she saw.
"I'd better get these in the freezer before they melt."
"I'll help," Cassie said, going to pick up one of the bags.
"I wouldn't-"
"Jesus, this thing is heavier than I am," Cassie groaned before walking over to the kitchen, Luke following close behind her. Lorelai looked at Emily, seeing the almost knowing look on Emily's face. Lorelai was confused but walked past her mother to follow Cassie and Luke into the kitchen.
"That was weird," Lorelai said from behind Cassie.
"What?"
"The look on mom's face," Lorelai answered quietly, but then she walked away going back out to the party.
Cassie shrugged then followed her mom back out to the party. She sat down next to Sophie on the floor and they listened while the people of Stars Hollow told stories about twins when they were little kids.
"Oh, Morey, you remember the time that the girls decided that our old tree stump was a fairy ring?" Babette asked as she looked up at her husband.
"I sure do."
Babette turned to Lorelai, looking at her before asking, "How old were they then, sugar?"
"I think they were about 10," Lorelai answered, looking from one daughter to the other with a smile on her face.
"Hey, all I know is that it matched the description," Rory held up her hands in surrender. "She was the one who picked out the book from the library," She added as she looked over at Cassie.
"You're the one who stole it and insisted we sit out there for hours," Cassie reminded her.
"Oh, God, they were cute. They used to sit out there with a peanut butter sandwich just waiting for the fairy to get hungry," Babette told them.
Sophie looked over at Cassie with a questioning look, causing Cassie to tell her. "Don't worry I stopped my fairy search a while ago."
"I was more of an elf person myself," Sophie joked.
"Ok, new story," Rory requested but Cassie was silently hoping that no one wanted to tell anymore stories about her childhood.
"I'm still crushed beyond belief that they quit their ballet lessons," Miss Patty announced as she looked at the girls. While Cassie could actually pass as good, Rory definitely could not.
"Oh, not me. Miss Perfect Work Ethic would prance around this room 24 hours a day. While this one would tell her she was doing it wrong every five seconds," Lorelai told the group.
"I'm a great coach," Cassie said defending her actions from when she was eleven years old.
"But I still stunk," Rory reminded her.
"I can vouch for that," Lane added.
"I said I was a great coach, not a miracle worker," Cassie told her sister with a cocky smile on her face making Rory roll her eyes.
"That's not true!" Miss Patty declared.
"She was pretty bad," Morey said quietly, making Cassie, Sophie, and Lane laugh.
Miss Patty shook her head then turned to face the older Gilmore daughter. "No, don't you listen to them. You had a true gift," She told Rory but everyone laughed, like Miss Patty told them the funniest joke they've heard in years. "What? She did. She was talented."
Cassie turned around just as Emily stood up from her chair. She watched as her grandmother went up the stairs, and she silently prayed that Emily wouldn't go into her room. It's been a little while since she tidied up and she knew that Emily Gilmore would not be fond of a messy room. Lorelai stood up, following her mother up the stairs. The twins shared a look but then they both decided that it would be good for Lorelai and Emily to have a conversation without them in the room.
"Nice hat," Sophie took the Yankees hat off of Cassie's head, looking at it.
"Thanks, Luke gave it to me," She told her, causing a confused look to appear on Sophie's face.
"Is Luke the reason why you won't go out with Josh?" She asked her.
Cassie sighed, shaking her head at her new friend. She stood up, pulling Sophie with her. They went to the doorway of the kitchen where Luke and Sookie were arguing about the ice.
"That's Luke," Cassie told her.
"Oh," Sophie sighed but then she shook her head, crossed her arms, and turned to face Cassie.
"Uh oh, serious look," Cassie laughed. Sophie was quiet for a moment, giving Cassie enough time to figure out why Sophie had the serious look on her face. "Why are you still trying?"
"Why are you still fighting?"
"Sophie, you barely know me," Cassie reminded her.
The Dugray girl sighed, she had realized that if she wanted this couple to work then she needed to be a lot more subtle. Cassie was stubborn, she didn't think she wanted a guy like Josh Dawson. So Sophie needed it to be Cassie's idea.
"Okay," She put her hands up in surrender. "I'll stop trying."
"Thank you."
"I should go, my parents would flip if I'm out super late," Sophie told her before giving the Gilmore Girl a hug. "Happy birthday Cassie."
"Thanks."
She waved just as Sophie walked out the front door, and got back into her car. Rory walked up to her sister, without saying a word she grabbed Cassie's arm leading her outside.
"Where are we going?"
Rory didn't answer her but Cassie knew the answer to her question the second they made it to the front porch where Richard and Emily were standing alone.
"Girls, we're going to get going now," Emily told them.
"Thank you for coming," Rory said before subtly nudging Cassie.
"Yeah, it meant a lot to have you here," Cassie added.
Emily nodded graciously. "Thanks for asking me."
Richard let out a sigh as he closed his magazine and stood up. "Ah, lovely party. I enjoyed the reading material immensely."
"So what's the verdict?"
"I am an autumn," Richard answered proudly.
"I can totally see that," Cassie said with a small laugh earning a smile from her grandfather.
"Interesting."
"Isn't it?" Richard asked.
Lorelai walked out onto the front porch realizing that her parents were ready to leave the party. "Hey, so you guys leaving? The mud wrestling starts in ten minutes."
Emily sighed, shaking her head at her only daughter. "Good night, Lorelai. We had a lovely time."
"And with a straight face you said that."
"I'd have that chimney inspected if I were you," Richard informed her.
"I'll get right on that, Dad," Lorelai told him but they both knew it'd probably never happen.
Richard turned to the twins, handing them each an envelope just like he had done the night before. "For Fez."
"But Grandpa, you already took care of that."
"Fez is a very large city," He reminded them then he and Emily walked to their car leaving three of the Gilmore on the porch to watch them go.
"So..."
Lorelai put an arm around each of her daughters looking down at them with a smile on her face. "Food fight?"
"Absolutely," they said at the same time, then all three girls ran back into the house.
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Rory Gilmore didn't like keeping secrets from her mother and sister. First of all, she was terrible at keeping secrets, and second she never had anything to keep as a secret. But Dean was different. She wanted to get to know him without Cassie and Lorelai breathing down their necks.
Which is why she had asked Dean to meet her, in secret, after their birthday party. Lorelai, Cassie, and Sookie were all inside and none of them had noticed when she disappeared from the kitchen, or so she thought.
Rory didn't realize that the place where she chose to meet with Dean was also visible from the kitchen window. She also didn't realize that if they were talking loud enough their voices could be heard through the open window in Rory's room. So when Dean left Rory was surprised to find her sister sitting on her bed.
"Where'd you go?" Cassie asked her, not giving off any hints that she knew whatever came out of Rory's mouth would be a lie.
"I was... I was taking the trash out."
"So Dean's trash now?" Cassie asked her.
Rory froze, immediately caught off guard by her sister's comment. She looked over at Cassie, seeing the smirk on her face. Rory should've known she could keep a secret from her younger sister. Twin telepathy was oddly real, and it made moments like these difficult for the twins.
"No. He's not trash," Rory sighed sitting down on her bed beside Cassie.
"He was here to see you?" Cassie asked, then Rory nodded her head, trying to hide the smile on her face. "He wanted to see you on your birthday?" Rory nodded again. "Did he give you anything?"
Rory lifted her wrist showing Cassie the bracelet Dean got for her. "He made it."
"He made it?"
"Yeah," Rory looked down at her wrist, smiling down at it. "Yeah he did."
"You really like him, don't you?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah, I do."