Title: The Grown Up Socialites

Author: Lady Eliza

Characters: All Characters

Rating: T

Summary: Sequel to 'Life and Times of a Socialite' it takes place six years after the first story ends. Rory and Logan have children, they're friends and family surround them, and they still have a jam-packed social calendar. How do socialites deal with being married, having kids and still attend the social gatherings of the year?

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of its characters.

Chapter 14 A Mother's Anguish

Rory Huntzberger was late for a meeting of the Daughter's of the American Revolution planning committee. She was heading this particular meeting instead of Honor Greenspan so it couldn't start without her, for which she was ever so grateful. The children had gotten into an argument again over who got to kiss mummy first, they fought over the oddest things.

Rory smiled when she noticed Frank, her driver, had made good time getting to the 'Four Seasons' where the meeting was to take place. The ladies had decided on this location for their annual fundraiser and were planning to go through the tedious details for such an event. Rory couldn't wait to see the rest of the girls, although Paris would most likely show up half way through the meeting because of her duties as councilwoman.

Rory breezed into the conference room the DAR had taken, apologizing profusely for her lateness, although it looked as though she was earlier than half the committee. It was a good thing that Honor had put her in charge of said committee because if her formidable sister-in-law saw the slowness of preparations, she would've been on the war path.

"Don't worry Rory darling, its just one of those days," said Cousin Caroline who was good at reading Rory's emotions.

"Yeah, most of the children refuse to listen to mommy and daddy this morning," someone was heard murmuring.

Rory smirked, so she wasn't the only one with children misbehaving or being unreasonable for some odd reason. She scrunched up her nose and thought about what could've made the upper crust children behave naughty, curiously looking at her water and wondering if there was something in what the younglings were drinking.

As the ladies waited on their remaining members they chattered about the most mundane of topics, for them anyways: their children, country homes, the rather disastrous attempts to broker peace in the Mideast, the rather alarming turn of the economy, and last but not least Madame President's woeful choice in wardrobe; pumpkin orange did not work on just anyone.

The rest of the members trickled in as the conversation was taking place; they added their two-cents as they seated themselves. The wait-staff at the Four Seasons had impeccable timing since they started serving tea, coffee, and pastries to the members in their ever efficient manner.

"Welcome ladies, to the Daughter's of the American Revolution event committee meeting. We are, of course, throwing a Gala Ball for a charity that has, as of yet, not be disclosed by our President Honor Greenspan. I've been told that attendance to our charity fundraiser has been on the decline these past five years or so. I would now like to take some ideas," said Rory as she took her seat and nodded to Edie Covington-Smith.

"I'm afraid these charity fundraisers are thought to be stodgy events. The women who used to run these committees didn't think outside the box. The only event that was absolutely sold out was the one Rory organized with the USO theme."

Rory smiled remembering the fun she had organizing the event as she had been pregnant with Nicholas. She'd decided to do it out of sheer boredom because Logan had forbidden her to do any work or anything else until she'd delivered, what he didn't know was that she had browbeaten her grandmother for the job just to have something to do. She had an amazing time and had joined the DAR after that.

"Didn't you get Paris to work as a member of the wait-staff?" asked a confused Louise.

"She lost a bet and it improved her awareness of the world," said Rory smirking like her a certain Logan Huntzberger.

"I don't even want to know," said Louise. "So, what should the theme be for this particular fundraiser? This should be one of the events of the season. People need to respect the DAR, we're not old biddies, well not all of us are anyways. We are sexy, young woman, with careers and families."

"Preaching to the choir sister," said Madeline who had started using the slang she'd picked up during a movie night with her husband Finn.

Rory let the chit chat of the women as they bounced themes at each other drift away. She knew that guests were getting fed up with the same gala or debutante ball. She sat back with coffee in hand and pictured an event with dancing, merriment, and surprises.

Louise was trying to sell the idea of a karaoke-themed event, while the others were just giving her dirty looks. Madeline was the only one who looked like she was going to agree with her best friend.

Paris Gellar breezed into the room with a cell phone in one hand and her son on the other. Poor Teddy looked liked he wanted to crawl under the table as his mother ordered him to a side table with his backpack, while yelling at someone on her cell phone. He smiled at Rory and his godmothers, Madeline and Louise.

"Sorry I'm late. I have incompetent fools working for me. What've I missed?" asked Paris in her bossy way.

"We're brainstorming a theme for the gala ball," said a member who was not identifiable because she simply refused to call attention to herself.

"Great!" came the Paris' reply.

"I think I've got it," said Rory.

The other members simply listened to her and were amazed at her imagination. Apparently she'd seen it in a movie a while back. The planning committee got to work and poor Teddy Goodrich had to do his homework in such a noise.

-GG-

Emily Gilmore had decided that she wanted to talk to her daughter about that asinine fool Jess being in town; thus she stood looking around the dining room of the Dragonfly Inn for said daughter. She knew it was better to catch Lorelai off guard than announce her arrival and miss her by a few minutes. Her daughter found some chore to do if Emily called ahead to tell Lorelai that she was going to be dropping by.

'Such an exquisite place, the inn,' pondered Emily. She felt proud that her own daughter co-owned it, such a great accomplishment. Though Lorelai wasn't aware of it, Emily did suggest the quaint, little out-of-the-way inn to others. She knew her daughter would not appreciate the recommendation and would simply look on it with suspicion. Her relationship with Lorelai was fragile, if not hostile at times; they simply had no way of communicating without yelling.

"Hello welcome the Dragonfly Inn, how may I help you?" asked voice from behind Emily.

Emily turned with a polite smile and was about to ask for her daughter when she saw the woman who had greeted her. She felt like the breath had been knocked out of her…this woman she would remember, not that she wanted to, for the rest of her life. It had been years since their last conversation, but Emily would recognize this particular woman anywhere. It wasn't everyday that one came face-to-face with their replacement.

"I'm looking for Lorelai Gilmore," said Emily snidely.

Mia looked at the well-dressed woman and frowned. She looked familiar and it wasn't until a tilt of the head that she saw it. "Well hello, Emily right? I'm Mia."

"Yes, I'm perfectly aware of who you are. I came to speak to my daughter, do you know where I can find her?" asked Emily rather snidely.

Mia smiled politely, she could never imagine Emily being nice to her, but was determined to reach out. There was too much history between the two: resentment on Emily's side and guilt on Mia's part. It wasn't everyday that one was faced with the actual mother of the woman you thought of as a daughter.

"Mia, are you welcoming guests again. How many times do I have to tell you, you're on vaca…" trailed off Lorelai who had just entered the dining room from the kitchens and stopped dead in her tracks. She'd never seen these two particular women in her life together; one had given birth to her and the other had raised and loved her. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Really Lorelai! I don't need a reason to come visit with you. I decided to have lunch at the Inn," said Emily backtracking after seeing Mia.

"By yourself?"

"No, I thought you'd keep me company," said Emily.

"Sure, if that's what you want," said Lorelai looking at her mother weirdly. 'Why would Emily want to have lunch with her without an agenda?'

"I'm going to go talk to Sookie," said Mia when she saw the look on Emily's face.

Lorelai was about to invite the Mia to join them, but she saw the way her mother was looking at the other woman and decided that Mia's vacation should not involve being talked to snidely by Emily.

Emily was simply fuming at that woman's audacity. She'd thought that wound had healed, somewhat, but seeing Mia at the Dragonfly just aggravated her. "How could you not tell me that woman was here?"

Lorelai was simply taken aback by the anger in her mother's voice. "If you'd called me to let me know that you were going to come in for lunch I would have."

"I thought you told me that she wasn't up to travelling any longer. What is she doing here?" hissed Emily.

"She told me that, but apparently she wanted to come home. Why do you care if she's here or not mother? She has nothing to do with you or your life. She's staying with me until she has to go back," said Lorelai carelessly.

"I see."

"I never thought you knew Mia."

Emily looked at Lorelai and couldn't believe that she could be so dense. "I think I've lost my appetite so lunch will simply be a waste. I came by to ask you what you were thinking inviting Jess to that party and give you a piece of my mind."

"Ha! I knew there had to be a reason for you showing up here and seeing me. You don't usually come by for lunch," said Lorelai.

"If you invited me to lunch maybe I'd show up. Rory and I have lunches a few times a week at the club, or one of our houses," said Emily looking closely at Lorelai and seeing that the comment about Rory had hit its mark. "Elias mentioned something about you helping him get rid of Jess the first time around; Rory will not be pleased."

Lorelai felt her breath hitch. She never knew her mother could be so vicious as to put her relationship with her daughter at risk. "Why are you doing this? Is it because you want to ruin the relationship I have with my daughter? Are you jealous that you and I could never get it right and you're punishing me for something that I have no control over? ANSWER ME DAMMIT!"

Emily wore a stony expression as she faced Lorelai. How had it come to this? "Anything I may say or do has nothing whatsoever to do with you. You're not the centre of the universe; don't flatter yourself Lorelai. Rory has a right to know exactly what you did to get rid of Jess the first time."

"Yes, of course, Rory has a right to know. Tell me mother, do you get pleasure out of this? The mighty Lorelai, mother of the year has fallen? Is that what this is about? There is no reason she has to know. She's my kid and I was doing right by her," said Lorelai vehemently.

"Now who's dictating whose life? You've accused me of running your life and yet you can't let Rory go. She's a married woman Lorelai; let her live her own life."

"How dare you! You're giving me motherly advice. Mia was a better mother than you can ever hope to be. You don't care about me or what relationship we have, and now you're tarnishing whatever relationship my daughter and I had."

Emily stood up and walked out of the dining room. "Goodbye Lorelai. I'm having high tea at the Huntzberger Estate."

Lorelai was breathing deeply as she heard her mother's car start and leave the Dragonfly Inn.

Mia who had come in when the volume of the voices had increased, left by the kitchen entrance and sighed. There would be repercussions from that conversation.

-GG-

Logan was hiding in his study; it was common practice when his grandmother-in-law came to visit with his wife. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy Emily's company, but the women in the Gilmore family had vicious tempers and they tended to yell... a lot. Case in point: Lottie Huntzberger's practice of yelling at her older and younger brothers when they wouldn't let her participate in one of their games.

Although during this particular visit it seemed as though Emily was crying, and it all had to do with her visit to the Dragonfly Inn. He knew who Mia was and he could certainly understand how Emily would resent the woman. Lorelai had run away from home, her mother, and everything she knew and it was this Mia who had been the mother she had always wanted. It had to have hurt to be rejected in such an obvious way, although it seemed as though Emily had the relationship she yearned from her own daughter with Rory.

Logan was at the moment, trying to get his head around Lorelai helping his grandfather get rid of Jess before he and Rory had been married. He couldn't fathom those two working together to get rid of the incessant bother that was Jess. He thought it was a great idea, and he approved, but Rory was on her high horse. He didn't have a good relationship with his parents and they tended to arrange his life like Lorelai had done, so maybe that was why he could swallow such an unexpected turn of events. Rory was not taking the underhanded deviousness of Lorelai very well, his wife did not approve of others running their lives and she was going to do something drastic. Logan wished whoever was in her way good luck because Rory could be really ferocious when pissed off. Hell, angry always worked for her.

There was one thing he knew for sure, Lorelai was not going to be happy with her relationship with Rory when all was said and done. Rory and Emily were close, Logan could see that, and his wife was going to get in some payback for Lorelai's comment about Mia being a better mother than Emily. Rory Huntzberger's revenge was not going to pretty, it was going to make Lorelai hurt as much as possible. Logan wondered how Richard put up with his women always fighting against each other, he decided to get his grandfather-in-law a nice box of Cubans and invite him to the guys' next poker night.

-GG-

Beatrice Aretemis Goodrich walked into the offices of the New York Times wearing her dignified Oscar de la Renta suit in crème white. She was raised in the lap of luxury, went to fine boarding schools, and in her one act of rebellion attended Yale majoring in journalism, instead of Princeton like her family had for many generations. She had met and later married Benjamin Goodrich, whom she had met through mutual friends. Her life had never been hard, she had enjoyed journalism as a hobby and knew when she was getting her degree that she would not pursue a career in the field, no she saw herself as a mother and wife. Although she had only been able to have one child she passed her love of writing to her beloved son.

As Beatrice walked with a purpose to her son's office she was attracting some attention from the staff. It wasn't everyday that someone walked into the offices that looked like her, she had a self-assured air about her and knew where she was going.

Unfortunately, for Doyle Goodrich he happened to be in a meeting with his senior writers as his mother was making waves with her presence in the offices. Another unfortunate incident for the editor, Simon Albright happened to be walking by the newsroom when Beatrice walked into Doyle's office.

Simon wasn't one to go looking for Goodrich. 'Why would a woman such as that go into the offices of a lackey like Doyle? He decided to make himself useful for the lady since she looked like she could be good for networking. Simon wasn't one who knew expensive things, only that he liked them, but the suit the old broad was wearing looked like it probably cost about a few months worth of his salary.

He put on his best social smile and said, "Hello ma'am. Are you lost?"

Beatrice was not a woman one patronized in such a condescending manner. She was born into one of America's elite families and didn't like sleazy men such as the one before her talking down to her. She stood up straight and lifted a perfectly plucked eyebrow in a manner that made Albright swallow and said, "I don't believe you are in charge around here. What business is it of yours that you deem to question a person who has a legitimate reason to be here? You could do with a lesson in manners and decorum. I'll have a word with young Huntzberger about attitude of his employees."

Simon knowing he was in hot water said, "I apologize. Would you like me to locate the person you're here to see?"

"As you see I am in Doyle Goodrich's office. Do you know where he is?" asked Beatrice in an authoritative manner.

"I believe there is a senior writer's meeting that he's in, at the moment."

"Good lead the way." The lady was already out the door before Simon could ask her why she was looking for the editor. He didn't want to insult her again so he walked after her and led her to the conference room that had been booked for this particular meeting. The way Simon's mind worked he assumed Doyle had done something dumb and the woman was here to yell at him, so he stuck around to see the fallout.

The senior writers were leaving the conference room and only a handful were left when the lady walked in as if she owned the place. The look on Doyle's face would've made his friends laugh since his wife was known to put that look there with her bright ideas.

"Doyle darling, there are some rude people who work here. I was going to meet you in your office as per your instructions, but this man had the audacity to ask me what I was doing there. I have half of mind to bring this up at our next dinner party within hearing distance of Mitchum Huntzberger."

Doyle lost all the colour he had in his face and sat down rather heavily while three of his senior writers and Simon Albright watched on with bizarre fascination. "Do not undermine Logan's authority. Nothing will be spoken of; have I made myself clear?"

Simon decided that Goodrich had gone up in his estimation after that last remark. He couldn't take on the dragon lady, but it seemed as though Doyle had the balls for it. Although he was confused as to how they knew each other.

Beatrice did not believe it was seemly for a woman such as she to roll her eyes; therefore she gave a dignified nod and looked pointedly at her wayward son. She was proud to notice that he stood up almost immediately and went into introduction mode.

"May I present three of my senior writers Jenkins Scribo, Wally Lego-Leviathan, and McGregor 'Mac' Fides. Oh…and this is Simon Albright from the business division of the paper. Gentleman, my mother Bea-"

"I am Beatrice Aretemis Mellon Goodrich," came the haughty reply and a pointed look in the direction of Simon Albright. She turned to the writers and smiled politely.

Doyle looked at his mother oddly. She never introduced herself with her maiden name unless she was trying to prove a point. Many wouldn't recognize the Goodrich name unless part of their circle, but Mellon was a name that anyone would recognize. He wished he's told his mother he'd meet her at the restaurant instead of having her show up at his office. Albright looked like he was full of questions.

Simon was shocked. He'd never figure that the woman before him was the mother of Doyle Goodrich. She looked like she belonged in a country club, while he looked like he would happily live with a printing press. Although the mother's last name did clear up how Goodrich got into Yale: nepotism. The woman probably married down and the family had cut themselves off from her; yeah that made sense. Simon was glad he'd figured it out.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Mrs. Goodrich. Have a nice day," said Simon as he left the room to go back to work.

"He is the most odious man alive," declared Beatrice with a look of distaste on her face. The others in the room burst out laughing.

While her son finished speaking with the rest of his staff, Beatrice pondered Simon Albright. She had gotten a call from young Carnegie, who was a distant cousin of hers, and told about the insolent whelp who was working with Doyle. She did not believe that snobbery got one anywhere, but people such as Mr. Albright liked fawning over those he believed would help him get far in life. She couldn't wait until he discovered exactly who Doyle was and for Simon to meet Paris Gellar-Goodrich. She chuckled; poor man didn't know where his attitude would get him when he realized he'd insulted the husband of a future president.

AN: Thank you to all my readers and reviewers for the remarks in the last chapter. If anyone is interested my yahoo group has extra information on this stories and pdf versions of all my stories. Please continue to review.