Everything comes back to you -J.MARIANO

[4.03]

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ꪻaryn and Jess were both forced to take an impromptu weekend out of work to help solve a family issue back in Stars Hollow. Compared to other years, they seemed to be traveling back far more often. Jess' mother and her husband Tj had somehow managed to get themselves involved in a cult - or a vegetable group as Daisy had been told. "So how did Grandma and Gramps end up in the vegetable group?" Daisy asked from the backseat of the car, her attention finally shifting away from watching the clouds move along with the car.

"Uh-" Jess trailed off as he stopped the car in the parking spot that Luke had stood in to save for them. "They have a habit of getting into situations like this."

Taryn snorted discreetly, attempting to hide it with her hand. Daisy didn't seem to notice and, as they climbed out of the car, proceeded to ask, "How?"

"They.... misread situations," Taryn explained as Luke and Jess hugged, unable to quite figure out how to explain such a situation to her child without ruining the image she had of them. As Jess and Luke broke their hug, Jess whipped off Luke's hat and threw it in Daisy's direction. She, without hesitation, caught the hat and started to run down the road with it.

"Daisy!" Luke yelled after her. His only reply was Daisy's giddy laughter that brought smiles to all their faces, even if Luke had a slight grumble due to the cold on his head. "Excellent job raising that kid...She's just like you."

Taryn laughed softly as Jess patted Luke on the shoulder, "Thanks Uncle Luke."

-

After the situation with Liz and Tj had been handed to the best of their abilities, the entire family sat down to dinner. It was an extremely rare occurrence to have nearly a single member of their extended family present in Stars Hollow at one given occasion so Luke instantly took it upon himself to host a dinner. Due to the sheer volume of people, it made little sense to hold such a gathering at anyone's home so they just covered the diner into one large table and Luke closed early for that day. There were ten chairs around the table (only missing Liz and Tj as they were still caught up in their million lives long contract) but it didn't feel too cramped somehow. Luke, Lorelai, Rory, April, Paul Anka, Daisy, Jess, Taryn and her two dads ate the delicious meal that Luke had prepared for them and the table was constantly alive with chatter. So many conversations occured all at once and Taryn sometimes struggled to keep up with it all, her gaze and focus drifting between so many people at once.

Deciding that it was all getting a little too much, she figured she could get a brief moment away to fill up the water jug. This would do Luke a favor and give her a moment away from the constant talking, which she loved entirely but found just a little overwhelming. So, without raising too much attention to herself, she reached for the jug and stood from her chair. Taryn had managed to get to the entrance to the kitchen before Luke's voice reached her ears, stopping all movements, "Woah woah where do you think you're going?"

She frowned, one foot inside the threshold of the kitchen, as she turned back to the table. "To get water..."

"No Taryn 's in the kitchen."

Taryn laughed, "Luke i'm-"

"No Taryn 's in the kitchen," he interrupted, repeating his earlier statement in the same tone he used to use when she would study in the diner. Whilst it momentarily did make her feel like a child and she minorly resented him for that, Taryn could not help but feel a wave of nostalgia crash across her mind. In desperation, she turned towards the rest of the table for help. When she did not find it within Jess (as he was silently laughing), she turned to her parents with hope pouring from her eyes

"Hey don't look at us we agree with him," her Da responded with a nod, the vacant look behind his eyes momentarily being replaced for one of pure joy.

She frowned further as Luke stood from the table, "I'm literally an adult."

"Who's not allowed in the kitchen," he responded before taking the jug from her hands. He moved into the kitchen but did so in a way that forced her to remove her foot from the tiled surface and back into the diner.

Taryn sighed as she returned to the table and quickly signed, ^Do you think he's just on a power trip?^

Her Dads and Daisy muffled their laughter and Jess hid his smirk as Luke returned to the table with a full jug of water. "Why aren't you allowed in the kitchen?" Daisy asked once she had managed to control her laughter, wanting to use conversation to distract from the laughter still echoing from one side of the table.

"She walked into a knife," he Dad announced in between laughs, vividly remembering the very day it had happened though Taryn's memories were slightly blurred.

"I did not!" she exclaimed. "The knife fell onto my foot when I walked into one of the counters and hit my head on the shelf, spilling chili flakes into about six peoples dinners."

Her Da grinned, "And that's less embarrassing?"

"Yes," Taryn nodded, choosing to stick to her response though it sounded entirely fake.

Lorelai gasped theatrically as if something had just dawned on her, "Is that when chili pancakes were invented?"

"Oh I miss chili pancakes," Rory added, showing the same strong fascination with the meal idea as her mother did.

Luke shook his head instantly, "Absolutely not!"

"Might be good for breakfast Dad," April suggested with a shrug, her gaze flickering back to her plate the second she had spoken in order to hide the subtle grin forming on her lips.

Luke grumbled, "Oh for Christ sakes."