Rory dreams she is in Camelot a handmaiden at the round table friend of Guinevere and pursued relentlessly by Lancelot, she is championed by and weds Tristan – In her waking world she is pursued by Logan after the bridesmaid debacle and surprised when Tristan appears to save the day. Was her dream prophetic? Who will she choose? (AU)
Disclaimer: Still not mine, only borrowed to make my stories more interesting.
Chapter 7 – Reunions
Rory was excited for her mother's impending wedding, she was happy with her growing relationship with Francine and had even been on outings with her and GiGi it was nice. Now she wanted her grandmothers to be friends again, Francine needed friends in this difficult time. She had spoken with both grandmothers and they agreed to meet with Rory for lunch and work on becoming friends again. Emily could only imagine the pain it would cause to lose Richard, she wanted to reach out to her old friend and if Rory could forgive, so could she. Together they even brought Richard to the fold, the last element was Lorelai. Rory had arranged for a brunch at a local hotspot in order to appease the grandmother's and with Tristan's help she had convinced Lorelai to come.
"Has hell frozen over, and I don't mean the one in Michigan?" Lorelai whispered to her daughter as she approached the table where Francine and Tristan sat with her parents.
"No Mom, just be nice and go with it, it is all very good." Rory held a sigh as she sat beside her boyfriend and her mother took her place beside Emily.
"Lorelai, lovely to see you again, it has been ages. How have you been?" Francine began.
Rory held Lorelai's hand in a warning, "I have been well Francine, so sorry for your loss." Lorelai reached for her water wishing it were a Martini.
Conversation was clumsy at first but began to improve as Francine thanked Lorelai for raising such a charming and forgiving child. She lamented Straub would never know and vowed to be more a part of both of their lives. The meal progressed and Lorelai and Francine seemed to bury the hatchet as Emily and Francine had, Lorelai even relented to bi-monthly DAR meetings at the Dragon Fly, they both even seemed to be at peace with it. Rory watched carefully, it seemed Francine was more mom to Lorelai than Emily, she suddenly understood the total betrayal.
Lunch was going pretty well when an older man approached the table, "Tristan? I didn't know you were in Hartford, why didn't you call? Emily, Francine, good to see you again, Lorelai, you haven't changed a bit. This lovely young lady must be the sweet Rory, I have heard nothing but good things about you from Richard when we golf, he just goes on and on."
The ladies nodded and smiled, Tristan rose and took the short steps to greet his grandfather, "Grandfather, good to see you and ye this is my girlfriend Rory.
"Of course, come here Rory and let me greet you properly, if my ne'er-do-well grandson is calling you his girlfriend you must be special indeed." Janlan waited for her to come to him and gave her a slight hug, then kissed her hand. "My you are lovely, is he treating you well? How long have you been together?"
The man pulled out a chair and joined the group who were only still chatting over beverages. Tristan and Rory returned to their seats and Tristan gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"We have been together just over six months now, we went to Chilton together and it turned out she was at Yale so we had a chance to become reacquainted." Tristan explained.
"Well that explains why you didn't balk at going to the Gilmore Christmas party or the DAR fundraiser, you were really going to be with her weren't you? Your parents don't know yet either do they?"
"Grandpa, can we not discuss this now, it is not the time or place." Tristan sighed.
Emily and Francine exchanged meaningful looks, "He is right Janlan, this should be addressed more privately." Emily spoke in a firm tone as if instructing him in the rules of behavior.
Janlan sighed, "Apologies ladies, I was just taken by the news. Tristan give me a call we can finish this discussion and you may want to arrange a dinner with your parents to meet your girlfriend before they run into the pair of you unexpectedly as I have." He rose from the chair, "Good day ladies, Tristan." Then strolled away.
Tristan knew by the hurt look on Rory's face and the confusion on the others he had better have a very good explanation.
"I am not close to my family, especially since they sent me to military school and how they reacted when I enlisted. I have been trying to avoid the pressures they will put on us and the expectations they will have for Rory. I know Rory wants a career and I respect that, they will not, they want me to have a trophy wife, one who will schedule my events and dress for the occasion and never have an opinion of her own. You all should know I care for Rory deeply and would never put her in an awkward situation. Honestly Francine this is one of those times I miss Straub, he was good at helping me talk to them." He said this while clasping Rory's hands in both of his, hoping she really understood.
"So your parents are like the Huntzbergers, stuck in the dark ages where men worked and women had a cocktail waiting when you get home. How very Mad Men of them." Lorelai scoffed.
Francine cleared her throat, "I may not be Straub, but I do have some sway with your parents, if you would like I could host the introductory meal, they won't misbehave on my watch."
Emily agreed, "I will help you, they can't possibly have any objection if Richard and I are there as well, a united front, that is what we need. You children consult your calendars and tell us which Friday night is best and it should be soon, like in the next two weeks."
Rory and Tristan consulted their smartphones and quickly reserved the following Friday. They shared the date with the table.
"Lorelai, can we count on your attendance, I know Christopher will want to be there, you can bring your fiancé if you wish." Francine advanced and Emily made a face.
"I would love to Francine, thank you for inviting Luke, I am sure he will want to support the kiddos as well." She smirked at her mother.
The group rose from the table having come to an agreement and they all left for their respective homes.
Tristan took note of Rory's silence as they drove, he noticed the rest stop they had first committed to each other in and pulled in to park. He noticed she was just staring straight ahead and got out of the car, opened her door, undid her belt and pulled her into his arms.
"Rory, honey, look at me." Rory raised her face and he could see her eyes were brimming with tears and he kissed each one in turn, then kissed her cheeks and finally kissed her lips, he licked her lips and she opened to him, they kissed deeply and with heart for many moments. He pulled slightly away and pressed his forehead to hers. "I Love you Mary, you need to know that, I Love you with all I am and no matter what anyone says ever that will never change."
Rory looked into the deep blue of his eyes, "I Love You too, I have for sometime I was just afraid to tell you. Are you sure you want to do this though, us? I don't want to make things worse with your parents. I know Logan's parents are happier I am out of the picture, they hated me. You would be surprised at the lengths they went to in order to keep us apart."
"Things were never great with my parents, and after the way they treated me for signing up, you have no idea how little I want to please them. If it weren't for the fact I actually like law, I wouldn't be considering taking over the firm one day." Tristan reassured and pulled her in for a deep and meaningful kiss,"Are we OK now, ready to return home? Have you mentioned to Lorelai we moved in together yet?"
Rory blushed, "No I was going to but, well with her engagement, the whole Francine thing, I just haven't found the right time."
"You know the longer you wait the harder it will be." He gently scolded.
Rory took a breath and opened her phone.
"Long lost daughter of mine, to what do I owe this call? missing mommy already?" Lorelai laughed.
"Actually, I just remembered I forgot to give you something." Rory paused, "My address."
"Your address, oh goody you let daddy get you out of that hovel you share with Paris and Doyle. I am going to have to find out how he did it, you seemed so determined..." Rory cut her mom off.
"I moved in with Tristan actually, he has a really nice place and it's really large, and we have a doorman, just like in 'The Jefferson's'."
Lorelai laughed, "You moved in with Tristan, you have only been together for like a minute, you were with Logan for two years before you made that move and then it was because Paris threw you out. Is there something else I should know?"
"No, we just agreed I was safer living with him than having a do-wop group. He is just taking care of me and I him, we love each other mom. I just thought you should know. I will talk to you later. Love you mom, bye." Rory hung up quickly not giving her mom a chance to ask how long.
"That was slick, ending it before she asked when, you should have told her months ago." He scolded gently, but understood after the whole situation with Logan, Lorelai would expect Rory to be more cautious. Tristan held her close and kissed her head. "Let's go home Mary.
