As we walked towards Luke's I glanced in the window and froze in place. Babette and Miss Patty sat right in front with Kirk at the table beside them. Taylor was following Luke around and you could tell they were arguing. There was no way they wouldn't overhear our conversation. My news would be all over town before my mom and Luke said I Do for the second time. "Um guys let's either go somewhere else or get our food to go".
"Hon why would we go somewhere else? We always go to Luke's. Oh I see the yentas are all out bright and early. The whole town will know everything before we leave the diner. Plus poor Finn here's just too pretty and will definitely be groped at some point".
"I'm failing to see any problem here lovelies. I can handle a little friendly groping".
"Alright Ror here's what we are going to do. You head in with your Bambi eyes and tell Luke that we are in definite need of sustenance. Remind him that he can't see the bride before the wedding so we'll need to use the apartment upstairs. This way we'll still get to eat Luke's breakfast, talk about everything and walk away with only minimum amounts of groping to the resident pretty boy".
"Okay that might actually work". As I'm walking in I hear Finn ask "so what's this I hear about a wedding? Who's getting married and am I invited?"
"Luke and I and it all depends Finny boy on just how far you're willing to go to help our girl". I shake my head and am laughing as I walk in the diner to talk to Luke. He looks as frazzled as always when he's trying to deal with Taylor.
"Oh come on Luke this is a big day not just for you and Lorelai but the whole town. A publicized wedding like this could help us pull ahead of Woodbury".
"Enough Taylor! You already have my answer". Seeing that this was about to get ugly I decided to step in. "Luke can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure Ror no problem. What's up?"
"Rory maybe you could talk some sense into him and get him to agree. We would like to have the local news stations come and cover the wedding".
"Taylor it's already going on the front page of the Gazette and we will be uploading video to all Stars Hollow social media pages. A camera crew would be redundant".
"Oh well when you say it like that fine!" rolling my eyes I turned to Luke. "So we are starving and in dire need of sustenance but you aren't allowed to see the bride before the wedding. Can we use the apartment upstairs? You could hide in the back while mom runs up then Finn and I will come back down to get the food. Please Luke, please please please?"
"You have got to be kidding me, you can't honestly believe all that crap?!"
"Oh come on sugar, it's tradition". I glanced meaningfully towards Babette, Miss Patty and Kirk while I whispered that mom and I needed to talk.
"Alright fine. Wait who's Finn? Isn't he friends with" I quickly cut him off "yeah he came to see me. We'll explain later. I have a feeling he's going to be my escort at the wedding".
"Fine go get the crazy lady and I'll leave three cups of coffee on the counter for you". I grin and hug him "thanks Luke, you're the best!". After making sure Luke was safely tucked in the back and with the apartment key in my hand I waved the other two in. As soon as Finn walked through the door the cougar catcalling began. "well now who do we have here?"
"The little sugar has always had great taste in men". Before I even have a chance to respond Finn is turning on the charm. "Well darling now I know why you never allowed us here during the day. With so much classic beauty in one town I wouldn't even know where to start". Finn walked over and kissed the back of their hands "It's a pleasure ladies I'm Finn a friend of Rory's from Yale".
"So charming and such a gentleman. You remind me of my fourth husband God rest his soul. I bet you're a tiger in bed". I suddenly got a whiff of my moms coffee and stated feeling nauseous and woozy and decided to put an end to the introductions.
"Alright Casanova we have to go up so Luke can get back to work. Help mom grab the coffees please?" "Anything for you darling, ladies it's been lovely". I had to get out of there. My stomach was preparing to revolt and I wanted to be out of ear shot of the customers when it did. After five minutes of dry heaving I walked out and was handed dry toast and tea.
"I found when I was pregnant with you that if I ate a little dry toast and drank some hot tea my stomach would settle and I'd be able to eat. Of course it doesn't help that you haven't eaten in 24 hours".
"Thanks, what did you order me?"
"We got you some scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, chocolate chip pancakes and an orange juice. Finn said the OJ was for him".
"Thank you and you were right this is definitely helping". She hugged me and we both walked over and sat at the kitchen table. Finn and Cesar came up a minute later with our food. "So darling first things first. Do you want to meet him alone or would you be more comfortable in public?"
"Why am I darling now? I thought I was love".
"Well we don't want to confuse the natives dear. If they hear me calling you love and Logan starts making appearances in town they will be scandalized!" Laughing at the horrified look on his face I considered what he asked. I had an idea but it was crazy. I mean I wasn't even sure if I could pull it off. Looking at Finn though I knew if anyone could help it would be him.
"I have an idea it may be crazy but I just want to do something special for him. I know he has to be struggling right now so I want him to have some fun before we talk. He's always performing grand gestures so I want to do the same. It would take a reunion of my three favorite Life and Death Brigade members though".
"Darling you know that's never a problem for us. We would drop anything to help you and Logan so tell us, what are you thinking?" mom sat quietly waiting to hear my reply.
"I want to give him a night out of one of his favorite books like he did for me in New Hampshire".
"That's bloody brilliant! Please tell me I get to be the Mad Hatter?!"
"Finn there was never any doubt". At this point mom looked really confused.
"So wait, are you saying you want to set up the Mad Hatter's tea party?" When I nodded yes she looked to Finn. "You're saying that it won't be a problem to set up the Mad Hatter's tea party? It is going to take a lot to pull that off and knowing Logan you don't have much time to work with".
"You're right we won't have much time. I'm figuring The longest he'll last is maybe 48 hours before he tries to make contact. Between Colin, Robert and I we have more contacts than the president. Plus if I call and ask Honor she would help any way she could. She has always loved Rory and has wanted them back together for years. The Huntzberger clout will be all the push we need".
"Okay so you have the what. Now for the when?"
"I'll start making calls now. The three of us are pros at pulling off things like this so I'm thinking two days. It'll make him sweat but we'll still come in before he runs out of patience. Now darling I'm assuming you were hoping to do this in New Hampshire am I correct?"
"I was thinking about it. You know returning to the same magical setting. Why is there a problem?"
"Possibly, Logan told me before I left that Herr Huntzberger is in London until Saturday morning. If we wait to do it here Logan may be on a flight here while we are headed there".
"Herr Huntzberger? Ror, I like this guy. You need to bring him around more often". Crap! One more thing to add to my craptastic year. A possible run in with Mitchum! I guess it was time to pull up my big girl underwear (if I could ever find them) and get over my aversion to the Huntzbergers. If I wanted things to work with Logan I had to start getting along with his parents.
"That's fine we'll go to him. Actually this could play even better into our plan. I'm assuming they have a Friday evening work dinner?"
"I'm afraid so".
"Perfect!"
"Um are you going to tell me why that's perfect?"
"I will but not yet" I said to Finn smiling.
"I must say if you pull all of this off kid I'm going to be seriously impressed. On that note I'm gonna sneak out of here and take a quick nap at home".
"Tell me my lady before you leave us, is there room at the Inn? There are three dashing, questionably mannered gentlemen that need shelter and sustenance this evening if we are to help your daughter. We'll spend the night in the Hollow then the four of us will fly out to London in the morning".
"Why don't you all come to the wedding. Luke and I are staying at the Dragon Fly so you guys can stay at the house".
"That's perfect thanks". We waited for mom to leave before continuing our conversation.
"So darling I'm guessing you're not going to want to talk while you're at the party so what's your plan?"
"Well it depends. If he's sober I would like to talk that night. If not then first thing Saturday morning. I want to start by clearing the air like he did with his letter. When that's done I'm going to tell him about the baby. I know this is a lot to ask but can you not say anything before I have the chance to talk to him? I already feel bad that you found out before him. You and my mom are the only people that know".
"I wouldn't dream of it. He deserves to hear the good news before the rest of his friends".
"Thanks. Hey Finn?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you doing all of this?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well you flew out here to hand deliver a letter. You've comforted and encouraged me and are taking care of all of the planning and preparations for the party. All of this with very little Finn type antics and I guess I just wondered why".
"Well today has not been a day for Finn type antics. I toned it down because that was what you needed. You've been through a lot lately then you add on that letter and an unplanned pregnancy it's a lot to handle. You know that we are crazy, reckless and wildly immature. What you don't know is that you've changed us. We've matured some and care more about other peoples opinions. You became our sister, our ride or die girl and the solid constant in all our lives. You were the first person brought into the fold that cared about us as individuals and not judging us for being crazy idiots. Plus what you and Logan have together has given us all hope. Hope that no matter how screwed up we may be or how crazy our families are, there is someone that could love us. We've all become incredibly protective of you and would do anything for you".
I find myself with tears once again running down my face. I walk over and hug him and let him hold me for a minute. "Thank you Finn and I love you too".
"Alright love, you need to get some rest. You're growing my niece or nephew and the next few days are going to be hectic". He walked me to the bed then tucked me in.
"I'm going to make some calls so you sleep and I'll wake you in a few hours to get you ready for the wedding". As my lids began to close and I finally allowed sleep to claim me I whispered back "good night my scarecrow".