Chapter 9
Colin POV
The next morning when I woke up, I felt like I had been hit by a train. I looked for Rory and I didn't see her. I sat up in the bed and looked at the bedside table. There was a glass of water and some aspirin, along with a note. I picked up the note to read it.
'Col -
I love you. I've gone to the hospital to start making arrangements. I'll be back in time to get ready for the wedding. Take the aspirin and drink the water. And don't worry I called Alexis. See you later.
- R'
God, I loved that woman. She was amazing. She was taking care of everything. She had even called my sister and told her about my Dad. I drank the water and took the aspirin. I decided to take a shower, hoping that it would help feel a little better. When I came out of the bathroom, Rory was sitting at the little kitchenette table, drinking a cup of coffee and on her phone.
"No, that's not acceptable. I want black roses, or I'll take my business elsewhere." She said. "Thank you. That'll be fine." She said. She was obviously on the phone with the florist. She was planning my father's funeral halfway across the world. "Thank you, I'll be in touch." She said hanging up after another five minutes. She sat her phone on the table and looked over at me. "Hi honey. Did you get any sleep?" She said.
"Yeah, I did, but only because of the liquor last night." I said, pouring myself a cup of coffee, before walking over and joining her. "You've been busy." I said.
"Yeah. I couldn't sleep so I decided to get started on everything. Alexis is going to meet us at your father's house Monday afternoon." She said.
"Why Monday?" I asked.
"Because that's when I'm flying home. You have to be back tomorrow. You have court Monday." She said.
"Have I told you lately how incredible you are?" I said, reaching across the table and grabbing her hand. "I love you so much."
"Col, I love you too. When we found out about your Dad's cancer, I told you that I would help you with anything. Now, I have to get take a shower and start getting ready. Steph and I are meeting for drinks downstairs before we head to the church." She said.
Rory POV
After taking a shower and getting dressed, I walked into the living room of our hotel suite and poured myself another cup of coffee. Colin had already headed to the church with Finn to meet up with Logan and Josh. Steph and I were meeting downstairs in the hotel bar before we headed over to the church. I had just walked in and sat next to her at the bar. We ordered our drinks. "How's Colin?" She asked me.
"Okay, I think. I mean, we knew that this was coming. He was surprised this morning when I told him that I had everything worked out." I told her.
"Look at you." She said. "First a spur of the moment wedding and now planning a funeral halfway across the world…what's next?"
"World domination?" I said, sarcastically. We both laughed. Steph and I had a few drinks before we headed over to the church. When we walked in, we immediately found our seats.
The ceremony was beautiful. Of course, you could tell it was exactly what would be expected for a society wedding…even if it was halfway across the world. Odette's dress had been gorgeous. It was straight out of a fairy tale. While I watched the ceremony, I played with my wedding ring on my finger and I thought about the day that Colin and I got married.
***FLASHBACK***
Colin and I were waiting for the judge to come in. After a few minutes he walked in. "Now are the two of you sure about this? You know that marriage isn't something to be entered into lightly." The judge said.
"We know. We're sure." Colin said, and I smiled at him.
"Okay. Then we'll proceed." He said. "Do you have rings?" He asked.
Colin pulled our rings out of his pocket. "Yes." Colin said handing them to the judge.
"Great." The judge said. "Do you Colin Andrew McCrae, take Lorelai Leigh Gilmore to be your wife?"
I stared into Colin's eyes. "I do." Colin said. The judge handed him a ring and he placed it on my hand with the matching engagement ring.
"Do you Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, take Colin Andrew McCrae to be your husband?"
"I do." I said, and he handed me a ring to place on Colin's hand.
"Now by the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
***END FLASHBACK***
I felt a tear fall down my face. I looked up and realized that I had zoned out and the ceremony was ending. I turned to Steph. "Are you okay?" She asked me.
I wiped the tears from my face, "You know, weddings. Plus, I might have zoned out and thought about when Col and I got married." I said.
She pulled me into a hug. "There's something about weddings." She said.
"Can we go get a drink now?" I asked.
"Absolutely. Let's go find the guys." She said, and we headed off to find Colin and Finn.
We made our way outside to where we found Colin and Finn. I kissed Colin. "You okay?" He asked when I pulled back.
"I'm fine." He raised an eyebrow at me. "Promise. I need a drink though."
"Alright let's go." He said.
When we got to the reception hall, he said that he saw someone that he needed to talk to. I told him to go, that I'd see him at the table. I found the bar and ordered a martini. "You clean up well, Miss Gilmore." A familiar voice said.
"It's Mrs. McCrae, actually." I said, turning to see the owner of the voice. "Tristan?"
"Hi, Rory." He said, as the bartender handed me my Martini. Tristan ordered himself a scotch.
I took a drink of my Martini. "How are you?" I asked.
"Good. And you? I see your married."
"Yeah, it's new. Spur of the moment." I said. I couldn't believe that Tristan was standing in front of me.
"Marriage was spur of the moment?" He asked.
"It was for me. I was having a good day, came home and told my boyfriend that we should get married." I said, drinking my martini.
"Ah. Well it was good to see you. I should go congratulate my cousin." He said.
"Logan's your cousin?"
"Yep. See you around." He said.
I don't know what it was but there was something about the way that Tristan told me that he'd see me around that sent chills down my spine. It made me feel like I was sixteen again. I watched Tristan walk away from me and I just shook my head. I turned back to the bar, I finished my Martini before ordering another. When I had my second Martini, I made my way to the table. There was only one problem…Shira Huntzberger. I was crossing the room to our table, when Shira stopped me. "Hello Rory." She said.
"Shira." I said, taking a drink of my Martini.
"I was hoping that we could chat." She said.
I put on my best society smile. "What about?" I asked, taking a drink.
"Why are you really here?" She asked me.
"I told you last night, but I will let you in on a little secret." I said, moving closer to her.
"Do tell." She said.
"Do you remember how you said that I wasn't suited to marry into the Huntzberger family?" I said, and she nodded. "Well, here's what you missed. I'm the double heiress." I told her.
"What? What are you talking about?" She asked.
"Well, you know about the Gilmore side of my family. But what you didn't know is about my father's side of the family."
"Who's your father's family?"
"Straub and Francine Hayden." I said, taking a drink of my martini.
"Your father is Christopher Hayden?" She asked me.
"Yes, he is. You should ask Logan about him. He met him when we were in college. Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to check on my husband." I said and walked around her. I made my way to the table and sat beside Colin. I handed him the glass of scotch that I had for him.
"Thanks, babe. What was that about?" Colin asked.
"I'm really not sure. I think…that Shira thinks that I have some ulterior motive for being here. But I really just shocked her." I said.
"How's that?"
"I clued her in about my father's family."
"Ah. So basically, she's going to be kicking herself for treating you so shitty all those years ago." Colin said.
"Exactly. How are you feeling, honey?"
"Ror, I'm okay. It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be." He said to me. The band started to play. "Dance with me." He said, taking my hand.
"I'd love to." I said.
He led me over to the dance floor. We started dancing to the music with the other couples. "You know, technically this is our first dance." He said.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Honey, we're only dancers when we have to be." I said. "But…your right. Technically this is our first dance as husband and wife." I said, laying my head on Colin's chest.
Colin and I stood there and danced for a while. "I've been thinking." He said, after a while.
I looked up at him. "About what?"
"After this next court case…I don't want to practice anymore. I just want to run the firm. I want to delegate the cases and be more of a consultant." He said.
I couldn't believe it. "Are you serious?" I asked him.
He nodded. "Yeah, I wanna be able to spend more time with you. Maybe start a family. Travel." He said. "You've got your book coming out. I want to be able to travel with you on the book tour."
"If there's a book tour."
"There will be."
"As long you're sure that this is what you want." I said.
"It is."
"Okay then." I said.
Colin and I danced a little longer before making our way back to the table where all of our friends were waiting for us. The rest of the night involved speeches, drinks, cake and celebrating Logan and Odette. Before Logan and Odette left, he pulled me aside. "I wanted to talk to you before we left." He said.
"Ok, what's on your mind?" I said, as we walked over to the bar.
"Why didn't you tell me that you knew my cousin?" He asked me.
The bartender hand me another Martini. "Because, until earlier this evening, I didn't know that I knew your cousin." I said.
"Your Mary." He said.
"God! Please don't start that. I've always hated that nickname." I said, taking a drink of my Martini.
"So, it's true."
I looked at Logan in confusion. "What's true?" I asked him.
The bartender handed him a scotch. "Tristan used to talk about this girl from his high school. He would ask her out and she would say no. So then one day he said that they kissed at a party. Two months later, he called me and said he didn't know what to do. He said that he had fallen in love with, but she had no idea because he couldn't tell her." Logan said.
"Logan, what are you saying? That your cousin, Tristan…Bible boy… Spawn of Satan… has actually been in love with me for fifteen years." I said.
He nodded. "Yes." He said.
"What am I supposed to do with this information? Have you forgotten that I'm married to your best friend?" I said, finishing my martini, just in time for the bartender to hand me another one.
"Do what you will with the information. I'm just laying it out there." He said.
"Your terrible." I said.
"I know. I gotta go, but we'll see you in Hartford next week for the funeral." He said.
"Thanks. It means a lot to him that you guys are postponing your honeymoon for the funeral." I told Logan as he started to walk away.
"Yeah, well, like you said…he's my best friend."
Tristan POV
"See you around." I said to Rory, turning and walking away from her. I saw Logan standing across the room talking to one of his idiotic college friends. Logan hadn't been good enough for Rory when he dated her…now one of his friends had gone and married her.
I made my way across the room to where Logan was. "Congrats cuz." I said.
"Thanks man. I didn't realize that you knew Rory." He said, causing his friend to join our conversation when he said her name.
"Yeah, we've known each other a long time. We went to high school together." I said, hoping that it would click in his mind.
After a minute, I saw the light bulb light up. "You don't mean…Rory is Mary?" He asked me.
I nodded. "Yep. Just like I also know that she's your ex-girlfriend Ace." I told him.
"How did you know? I never told you her name."
"Because, I know her so well that all you had to do was describe her to me. The first time you told me that she was addicted to coffee and always had her nose in a book…I knew it was her." I said.
A/N: Okay so that's chapter 9. I hope that you guys enjoyed it. Next chapter there's going to be a time jump. Read, Review and favorite.
