FADE IN:
EXT. BEACH HOUSE - LATE AFTERNOON
A grey station wagon pulls up and parks very carefully between a sports car and an SUV. The doors open simultaneously and a variety of people spew out. Several more people exit from the beach house to greet them.
"Hey everyone. It's wonderful to see you all. We thought you'd never get here." Exclaimed Glenda, leading the welcoming committee. She tottered down the wooden steps in her heels wearing a tight dress, with her fake bosoms protruding, her botox smile beaming and her short red hair bobbed. A very well maintained 44 year old, if not a little over dressed.
"We would have been here hours ago if Mike hadn't decided to take the I40." Cursed Elizabeth. She was less curvy than her cosmetically enhanced sister but had the same colour hair, although hers was much longer and free flowing. She was prettier too. And three years younger. She was wearing a short lime green skirt and as she walked towards Glenda, she ran her hands across her pert backside to smooth out the wrinkles she had accumulated during the trip. They hugged.
"No not the I40." Corrected Glenda. "Always the I95. Brings you most of the way in. Doesn't it Bryce?" She turned to her young husband for confirmation.
"Always the I95 dearest." Replied her preppily dressed lover.
"I think Mike was trying to be smart." Said Elizabeth. Her tone suggested this had been a topic of conversation long before they had arrived.
"If I was being smart I would have stayed at home." Mike muttered. He was standing by the trunk removing copious amounts of luggage and hoped nobody would hear. He was wrong.
"Oh come on Mike. Let's be nice." Glenda tried to encourage him. "It's Tracey's big day tomorrow, let's all be upbeat. Now come inside everyone, I've got some mimosas ready."
"What's a mimosa?" Inquired Lucy.
"It's Aunt Glenda's favourite drink." Mike replied, making sure he was not overheard this time.
"Oh good," Lucy enthused. "I'll have two."
"No you won't. You're fourteen and it's alcoholic." Elizabeth explained to her daughter, who then pouted up the steps into the house.
Most of the welcoming committee had gone inside, leaving Mike and Greg to bring in the cases, bags and other assorted accoutrements required for a wedding. Only one person remained. That person was Lorelai. She stood on the porch and watched the two men heave everything up the steps. She appeared to have been texting on her phone most of the time and oblivious to all that was happening. Until now. She raised her phone and snapped a photo of Greg which startled him. Lorelai was dressed so much differently to her mother. She was wearing baggy sweatpants and a short t-shirt which enabled her to display her pierced navel. Her hair was just longer than shoulder length but she chose to wear it in pigtails. The epitome of casual. She smiled at Greg.
"I'm glad you could make it." She told him in a subdued tone. She was leaning against a wooden pillar, her feet in a brand new pair of Nike's and looked about fifteen. Greg knew that was impossible because she was about fifteen when they last met and that was two years ago. He smiled at her and she followed them inside, her attention now regained by her phone.
INT. BEACH HOUSE - LATER THAT AFTERNOON
After everything had been reposited in their allocated rooms, the Matthews retired to the expansive lounge where the Mulgrew family awaited them with Mimosas, a variety of soft drinks and an array of prepared fruit.
"Well isn't this just fabulous? Here we are all together as one family." Glenda raised her substantially full glass and proposed a toast. "To family. And to Tracey and Tony. Hoping their wedding day is as special as ours." She smiled and turned to Bryce, who smiled and downed his drink in one.
"To family." Said Elizabeth and Mike in unison, their earlier spat now forgotten. Greg took a sip of his drink and screwed up his face. Alcohol was not his thing. He could drink a few beers but really nothing else. And particularly not wine. He looked across at Lorelai who had seen his reaction and was trying to supress a giggle. He blushed.
"What's funny, Lolo" Asked Anne, her younger sister, who was sitting next to her like she always did. She called her 'Lolo' because when she was younger she found it difficult pronouncing Lorelai and it kind of stuck.
"You. You're funny. Funny looking." She tweaked Anne's nose and they laughed together. Greg watched her. He watched her and Anne chat and laugh together. Anne was twelve. He knew that because she was two years younger than Lucy. Both were born in February. Anne was a plain girl with blondish hair. A little slow of thought but Greg had always liked her. He wished Lucy was more like her, more happy-go-lucky. Instead Lucy was a brat. An oafish, self-centred annoying little brat. And right on cue, almost as if she could hear his thoughts, Lucy stumbled off a bar stool knocked over a tray of drinks, sending glass and ice all across the floor. Pandemonium broke out and Lorelai made a dash for the door, grabbing Greg's hand and pulling him with her. Anne instinctively followed her sister.
EXT. BEACH HOUSE PORCH - APPROACHING TWILIGHT
Lorelai and Greg found themselves sat together on the Love Swing facing towards the beach. It was growing dark and the last remnants of the sun's rays danced on the surface of the ocean. Anne bounced along the wooden slatted porch and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of her sister and cousin. They all seemed relieved to be in each other's company and away from the parents.
"What a fucking relief." Lorelai exhaled with a deep breath.
"Yep. My sister's a pain in ass." He looked down at Anne, who looked knowingly back at him.
"It's ok. I won't tell her you said." He winked at Anne who chuckled.
"How old are you Greg?" She asked, with all the tact a twelve-year old could muster.
"Eighteen and a half." His reply made Lorelai snigger.
"And a half? Really?" She echoed derisively.
"Yeah. Actually, seven months but I rounded it down." He threw a glance at her and she was staring right back at him. "And you must be seventeen then?"
"Eighteen. Eighteen and three days. No rounding." Greg eyes opened wide in astonishment but he turned away to hide it.
"Well happy belated birthday." He acknowledged.