When Sherman Burned Atlanta- We Went To Go Get Coffee
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own nothing of it and in fact I am not sure who owns it at this point. But here's to Amy, Dan, Dave, and everyone else…even the CW. This is brilliant television and thank you for the gift.
Summary: Takes place some time after S7 and three years into the future. This is a one-shot which I have never done but was inspired to do after watching S6 and S7. It's my take on one day in the life of our Gilmore Girls. It is happily dedicated to my own Starshollow. Definite Java Junkie here. Sorry but it is reflected briefly in this story.
Author's Note: While I grew-up outside Atl. I am not sure if the details are 100 correct. Suspension of disbelief kids…pretend it exists. I love Georgia. Read and review if you wish and enjoy the cake. ; )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"MY B-A-B-Y!"
"Oh. My. God. Mom, could you stop?" Lorelai "Rory" Gilmore protested through gritted teeth as her mother flung herself into the elegant suite of the Hyatt.
"But you are soooo… getting married in like forty-five minutes and if I don't wail now, I will wail in the wedding which will ruin my perfectly placed mascara and cause to run on your flowers, or your dress, or EVEN WORSE…gasp, my shoes!" Lorelai continued to respond in her dramatic flair.
"Glad to know your priorities are right. First your shoes; then my dress."
"What can I say…these ARE REALLY GREAT shoes. Seriously."
Rory could do little but smile. She wanted to stop smiling. She thought of every horrible disaster: both national and personal and yet the smile would not fade. God, she wasn't supposed to be this happy. She wasn't supposed to be smiling for the past two weeks. She needed to be angsty for Pete's SAKE---she was a writer and what was a writer without angst? What was a writer without drama?
Oh sure, she had drama. She had drama since the day she agreed to become a "blushing-not-so-blushing" bride. Emily. Richard. Lorelai. Luke. Emily. Christopher. The ENTIRE town of Starshollow. April. Emily. Paris. Doyle. Emily. And she was sure, even the youngest member of the Gilmore-Danes Clan, Paul, had opinion on her nuptials. Since she became engaged, Paul Gilmore Danes had slept only between the hours of 4 am and 12:32 pm. Rory was supposed to believe he was upset for being slighted as ring bear; or so Lorelai had told her. Rory merely rolled her eyes gave her baby brother a large kiss on the cheek and promised him her next wedding. The following joke had only incurred the wrath of Emily and a 2 and half hour lecture on the sanctity of marriage and "making it last." (Okay, Grandma we'll just forget the fact you separated from your husband and kissed another guy…Rory thought with pure frustration.)
A subtle knock pulled Rory away from the lectures and tantrums and hoots of others to the moment. The door opened slowly to Luke Danes holding in his arms a dark haired-brunette boy with chubby cheeks and a glimmer in his blue eyes. Luke stood in a moment of awe as he gazed at Rory Gilmore. "Wow…you look…you know…I can't believe…"
"Honey, try an adjective. Beautiful is a good one for today." Lorelai said, saving her adorably bashful husband and taking from his arms their big baby boy. Labor with Paul was proof that no woman could ever eat that much and not be punished. Punishment was a 10lb baby being pushed threw a straw known as her uterus without enough drugs to lessen the pain. But he was worth it. Not to say Rory wasn't, but doing the whole marriage first and then baby bit was kinda nice. It was fun cussing at Luke, squeezing Luke's hand, pelting Luke with ice chips, and watching him nearly pass out during the labor process. She wasn't alone this time.
"You look beautiful and they are ready for you." Luke gave Lorelai a small kiss and small hug to Rory as he dashed off. He'd experienced the joys of raising two daughters. Rory and April. Rory was an accomplished young woman working as a news writer and soon to be foreign correspondent for CNN. April was 15, beginning her second year at Chilton, and seemed involved in everything. Luke wasn't sure he deserved any credit but he basked in the wonder of being a father to two such girls. Pride was his middle name and who would have ever thought?
The room was quiet. Emily had left an hour ago to make sure the photographer was in the right place…well, photographers. She was beside herself with the wedding in Atlanta. A southern wedding for an elite Connecticut Gilmore? On what planet? Nevertheless, in true Gilmore fashion, Emily adjusted and managed to plan and coordinate a wedding beyond imagination. The downtown Lutheran church was a gorgeous location and perfect area to follow to the reception which was being held a rented Cheesecake Factory. Of course Emily had not approved but it was Rory's favorite place to eat in Atlanta and a great excuse for a wedding cheesecake. Plus, Emily Gilmore had been the first person ever to book the entire place for the day and night. Parking would be a travesty but Emily could only do so much.
Rory looked at her mom and wondered how she did it? They were ages apart but souls so close. Lorelai had just married Luke two years ago; followed soon after by Paul's appearance. Now, here she was following once again in the stylish, charming, and fabulous footsteps of her mother.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Do we need to have the talk?"
"No. Grandma and the pastor and Dean took care of that…"
"Are you sure you're not pregnant?"
"Mom…"
"What?!? I had to make sure. I mean you're marrying a guy I thoroughly love, my parents actually approve of and who just might make you happy for the rest of your life. You're not my daughter." Lorelai smirked and hugged her daughter.
"DNA tests say otherwise…" Rory chuckled through burgeoning tears.
"Enjoy this moment Rory. Don't let go of it too soon."
"I won't."
"And never forget, I loved you first."
"I can't."
Mother and daughter (And brother in the middle…) hugged once more. Then turned and wound their way to a waiting limousine. Today, Lorelai had never felt so much like a mom-in the strictest sense of the word. She was Rory's best friend but today she was a mom letting go of her daughter. She only had good things to pray for- hope for Rory but she relished handing over a piece of their bond to someone else. But someone elses came along in both their lives and it was time for the Gilmore Girls to grow-up. Lorelai sat quietly in the limo with Paul in his child's seat and baby tux. The trip to the church was too short.
Luke opened the doors and took Lorelai's empty hand as they followed her into the narthex of the large downtown church. Waiting were Rory's other two bridesmaids: Lane and Paris. Paris, who was still Paris and shockingly a single mother to a sadistic two year old little girl Autumn, mechanically hugged Rory and told her she gave it two years. (Which in Paris verse was a high compliment…) Lane shrugged Paris' statement off.
"I give it forever."
"Any advice old wise married sage?"
"Close your eyes and think of England."
"Always do."
Two little girls laughed in the distance as the echoes of two women laughing followed.
The music cued. Enter the bridesmaids. Enter the matron of honor and child to be handed off at the end of the aisle to a waiting Sookie. Enter bride and bride's escort down the aisle.
While others balked at Rory's decision, others thought it splendid. Luke escorted Rory down to the middle where they were joined by Christopher. He hadn't been there in the beginning. He hadn't fixed her birthday coffee cake or brought pie when she tossed pencils. But in the end, even after the painful annulment, he was there. These men were her two dads. (Suddenly the theme song to her favorite campy show popped in her head, which she immediately pushed out the moment they reached the altar…)
"Who gives this woman in holy matrimony?"
"WE DO."
It just wasn't Christopher, Lorelai, Luke, Emily and Richard but Kirk, Miss Patty, Babette, Taylor, Sookie, Jackson, Michel, and even Mrs. Kim. It didn't take the village to raise the child but the town of Starshollow to love her. The guests on the Groom's side were a bit taken back by the unison chorus but Rory kept smiling. Her day, her wedding and the people she loved most handing her over and finally bidding her goodbye. Luke, Christopher and baby Paul took their seats as Lorelai helped Rory to her place beside the Groom.
"Dearly beloved we are gathered here this day to be witnesses of this miracle between these two special people; Lorelai Leigh "Rory" Gilmore and David Kent "Marty" James..."
The Reverend's words' droned on over Rory's thoughts. Three years ago her world fell apart when she caught Logan with another woman, Billie to be exact, in their apartment. Besides the thrill of throwing out words only sailors' used and hurling "Henry" into the local recycling bin; her only ailment had been the job offer in Atlanta to work at CNN. She fled the scene in her mother's fashion and settled into life in the land from Gone With the Wind. In her first year she was stopping at a Starbucks every morning at exactly 7:15 am. She ordered her three coffees: one for herself, another for her boss, and another for her boss' boss.
One morning she arrived at 7. Fifteen minutes early and she needed only to order her one coffee with her boss and boss' boss being on holiday. Her routine was out of synch and she had no clue what to order feeling spontaneous that odd day. She was looking over the large menu when someone spoke to her.
"She'll take Peppermint Hot Chocolate Venti with extra whip crème and extra peppermint sprinkles."
She turned around to face Marty James, her old friend and the boy who had loved her. Startled and amused the two former Yale graduates struck up a conversation. Rory never made it to work that day. Neither did Marty, a P.R. representative for Coca-Cola. They spent the day talking about Yale, jobs, moving from cold winters to hot muggy summers, and everything else in between.
One week. That's how long it took Rory to see what she had wished she seen earlier. One week of realizing she most likely blew the chance and another week to accept what she had missed.
It took one week more for Marty to prove to her that chances were still good for them. Another week for them to begin seriously dating and spending inappropriate amounts of time with each other.
One year later, he proposed at a U2 concert with her mom there. Best proposal ever…according to Lorelai and Lane who both thought especially romantic and possibly planned that he proposed right after I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Marty told Rory he disagreed with Bono; he found what he'd been looking for and what he wanted to look at the rest of his life. Marty had done it right. He asked Lorelai; then Luke; then Chris; then Richard and Emily; and lastly the town in a SUPER SECRET TOWN MEETING.
"You're not paying attention." Marty whispered into Rory's ear; startling her.
"Is it my turn?"
"No, I think he's praying for us."
"Oh."
"Are you nervous?"
"No. Are YOU nervous?"
"Yes."
"WHY?!?"
"I'm still waiting for you to realize you made a mistake and bolt."
Rory smiled. "You could bolt on me, you know."
"Why would I do that?" Marty laughed, catching her point.
"Will you still bring me food when we're married?"
"Forever."
"Even when my metabolism dies and all this incessant eating catches up with me and I weigh so much I have to be on Oprah…"
"Especially then. You know it's perfect we got married in Atlanta."
Rory amused, asked, "Why is that?"
"You know what Sherman did after he burned the city…"
"Something military I assume…"
Marty leaned in, snuck a kiss behind her ear and whispered, "He went for coffee."
Rory laughed, held tighter to his hand, and loved him even more.
One hour later- they were married.