Chapter Ten
"Who gives this woman?" Reverend Skinner asked. "Not that she is in any way property."
Everyone laughed as Lorelai got to her feet.
"I do."
"Thank you," the reverend smiled. "Now, Jess and Rory have elected to say a few words of their own, in lieu of traditional vows"
"I guess I'll start," Jess offered. "Um, I'm not one for words, which is pretty ironic when you think about it, but I've never had trouble coming up with words when it comes to you. Rory Gilmore, you are the best thing that ever happened to me. From the first day I met you, I knew you were something special and I've spent every day since then trying to be good enough for you. I got turned around a couple times and I broke your heart, but as Hemingway says, 'the first draft of anything is shit' and I've spent the last five years trying to make that first draft up to you. And now, here we are at the first chapter of a story that no one has read yet, where every chapter is better than the last and the first one starts like this: 'Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl and her laughter was the question that he wanted to spend his whole life answering.'"
Rory had tears in her eyes as she listened to him speak, laughing at the Hemingway reference and trying not to sob when he finished with one of her favourite pieces of poetry.
"Rory?" Reverend Skinner turned to her.
"I don't know how to top that," she sniffled and took the piece of paper Lane offered her. "I've read hundreds of books in my life, written thousands of words about every subject under the sun," she read, "But I was still at a loss when I sat down to write this, so I may have borrowed a little bit."
Jess chuckled, squeezing her hand encouragingly.
"From the day you walked into my life and asked me to climb out my bedroom window with you, I knew you were different. And then you stole and vandalized my books, and I didn't know what to think of you! You made me excited and intrigued and you made me think about everything differently. From that day on, our lives became a tangled web that I never wanted to escape. When you showed up again five years ago, it was like coming up for air when I didn't even realize I was drowning. 'You are a part of my existence, part of my soul. You have been in every line I've ever read.' You have been my biggest support in everything I've done and I will never be able to properly thank you for that. I spent a long time trying to get over you, but now I know that that never would have happened. Our love is like a razor's edge, drawing up through the center of my life and cutting everything in two, before you and after you, and I never want to look back. Wherever you are, I've always known that that was where I belonged, that I was safe there. You've proven that time and time again, especially in these last few months, when I've needed you more than ever. Thank you for keeping me safe, for being my shelter in the storm. I love you, Dodger, more than anything in the world and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."
She could barely get the last couple sentences out through her tears and from the corner of her eye she could see her mother, grandmother and Mia crying with her.
"And now for the legal vows," Reverend Skinner sniffled discreetly. "Do you Jess Mariano, take Lorelai Leigh Gilmore to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Jess beamed.
"And do you, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, take Jess Mariano to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Rory sniffled.
"The rings?"
Rory turned to Lane and took the ring she held out as Jess did the same with Luke.
"Now, repeat after me," the reverend instructed. "With this ring, I thee wed."
"With this ring," Jess slipped the ring onto Rory's finger with minimal difficulties. "I thee wed."
"And Rory," Reverend Skinner prompted.
"With this ring," Rory tried to put the ring on Jess's finger but couldn't get it past his knuckle. "Mother fucker," she cursed under her breath, making everyone in earshot laugh.
"It's good enough," Reverend Skinner told her, trying not to look amused at her foul language. "Just say, I thee wed."
"I thee wed," Rory frowned, then allowed Jess to twist the ring on himself.
"Well that's never coming off," he observed.
"Good," Rory grinned.
"By the power vested in me by the state of Connecticut," Reverend Skinner smiled brightly. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
The church erupted into cheers and applause as Rory jumped into Jess's arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him senseless.
As they made their way up the aisle a minute later, accompanied by their families, confetti and glitter was thrown all over the place, causing them all to duck and run as quickly as they could.
"So, now what?" Jess asked once they were outside, still grinning like a madman.
"Wanna go make out behind the church?" Rory shrugged.
"Forget it!" Lorelai grabbed her daughter's arm before she could run off with her husband. "You have guests to hug."
"Screw that," Jess shook his head. "I'm starving!"
"Me too!" Rory agreed. "So how about, instead of hugging people, we get food?"
"Rory, you have to thank your guests," her grandmother scolded.
"We will!" Rory promised. "After there's food. Come on."
She grabbed Jess's hand and ran off to the square.
"Oh my God!" She gasped. "It's perfect."
Twinkle lights covered the square and the tables were decorated exactly as Rory had wanted them. It was simple, sure, but everything she could have wished for. Music was already playing over the speaker system, Lane's pre-mixed CD playing to get the party started, while Kirk ordered around his latest bar company- 'Adequately Attractive Bartenders for Adequately Attractive Affairs'.
Sookie had set up an appetizers table and Rory and Jess attacked it with a vengeance, neither one of them having eaten since very early that morning.
Once they had eaten, they started to make the rounds, thanking everyone for coming blah, blah, blah. Jess was thoroughly bored by this and kept trying to sneak away with Rory to find somewhere to make out, unfortunately Luke, Lorelai, Mia and Emily kept getting in his way.
"Jess, I swear to God I'm going to send your mother over next time," Lorelai threatened the third time she found them hiding.
"Low blow," Jess cringed.
"Stop trying to bail on your own wedding!"
Rory snickered and pulled her husband (she was never going to get tired of that phrase) back into the thick of things. "Come on, let's go talk to my dad."
"The place looks great!" Chris complimented his daughter as they approached.
"Thanks," Rory hugged him. "It was all Jess and April's doing. I was banned."
"Only for the morning," Jess rolled his eyes.
"Still banned."
"Rory!" April came running over excitedly. "Lorelai says it's time to sit for dinner."
"Awesome!" Rory beamed. "Come on!"
She grabbed Jess and April and pulled them towards the head table, leaving her father to take his own seat.
Rory had spent hours trying to put together the seating chart for this wedding, turning it into a full on military procedure- complete with visual aids.
"Wow, this looks like an episode of The West Wing," Lorelai had observed when she found Rory set up in the kitchen.
"My life is too complicated!" Rory had cried. "What the hell am I supposed to do with everyone?"
"I don't know, but I beg of you, put Grandma and TJ at the same table!"
"Oh!" Rory's eyes lit up at the suggestion.
"Don't do that!" Luke had joined them, figuring someone needed to be the voice of reason.
"Why not?" Rory cried. "Think about how fun it will be!"
"Think about how long it will take for her to stop complaining about it," Luke countered.
"It's so worth it," Rory shook her head and adjusted the respective cards. "Okay, so Grandma, Liz, TJ and Doula will sit at the Estella and Pip table."
"That's only three and a half," Lorelai took a seat. "Tables seat eight."
"Dad can sit there too," Rory added her father's name to the table. "With Zach and Brian and the twins."
"That's nine," Luke pointed out.
"Yeah, but Doula, Steve and Kwan probably won't be doing much sitting," Rory reasoned. "Next table."
The first four tables were planned out, after that Rory decided to let the town work it out themselves. Right in front of the head table sat all of Jess and Rory's closest friends from Philadelphia, along with Paris and Doyle, Lucy and Olivia, and Rory's business partner, Shelly. This turned out to be terrible planning on Rory's part. As soon as everyone was seated, Chris and Matt started heckling them and were quickly joined by Lucy and Olivia.
"Would you shut up!" Rory finally yelled at the table, throwing a dinner roll at Matt's head. "I'm trying to eat."
"You're no fun!" Matt ducked the flying bread.
"Let us eat in peace, or I'm revoking your access to the open bar," Jess challenged.
"As you were," Matt gave a scared salute.
"That's what I thought," Rory returned to her dinner smugly.