Saturday morning found Rory suddenly awakened by a blonde-haired bundle of energy who had launched onto her bed.
"Mommy, wake up! Finny is taking me dress shopping this morning!" Emma exclaimed happily to her mom. Emma had been so excited about today's shopping that she'd been hard to get to bed the previous night.
"You're not excited, are you, baby girl?" Rory chuckled.
"Yes, I'm excited, Mommy! Get ready!" Emma commanded as she bounded back out of the room, already fully dressed.
Rory laughed at her daughter's excitement and padded to the kitchen to start the coffee before hopping in the shower. An hour and a half later they were ready, Rory was caffeinated, and Finn was walking through the front door to pick them up.
"How are my girls?" Finn asked as he walked in the room. He smiled as Emma took off across the room toward him and ran into his arms.
"Finny, I'm so excited!" Emma squealed.
"I'm so excited, too, little love. Do you want to take my car or Mommy's?" Finn asked.
"I like your car, Finny," Emma told him.
"My car it is, sweet girl," he told her as he walked over toward Rory and kissed her sweetly as he wrapped his free arm around her. "Good morning, kitten," he greeted Rory.
"Morning, handsome. Are you ready for the craziness of shopping with two Gilmore girls?"
"I'm certain I can handle it," Finn chuckled.
He led the girls out to his SUV, opening Rory's door before situating Emma in her carseat and then getting himself into the driver's seat. He drove to a nearby cafe that had the best french toast he'd ever eaten and they were quickly seated at a booth. They ordered their food and soon were lost in conversation. He'd grown quite fond of their almost-daily meals together. He had grown up with a family that ate together around the dinner table, talking about their days and lives, and he relished being able to have that experience with Rory and Emma now. It seemed as though his becoming such a family man for his nieces was helping him adjust quite easily to his girlfriend also being a mom.
He drove to the Hartford mall after breakfast and Emma's excitement was almost uncontainable. She was continually talking about getting to be a princess and her upcoming date with Prince Finn, and it warmed his heart to see her excitement. She might not know her father, but he would move heaven and earth to make sure that she didn't miss out on having a strong male influence in her daily life.
He led the girls to Nordstrom and watched Emma's eyes light up as she looked at dress after dress, holding them up and spinning around as she pointed out what she liked about each one.
"Oh, this one, Mommy!" Emma squealed as she saw a pale pink dress. It had a chiffon bodice and a full tulle skirt and looked quite fit for a princess.
"Are there any others you want to try on, love?" Finn asked.
"Ummm..that one and that one," Emma added pointing to a purple chiffon dress and a light green satin dress. Finn picked up the dresses that Emma liked and carried them to the fitting room door, kissing Rory as he handed the dresses to her and sat down in the chair outside the door.
Rory brought Emma into a fitting room and helped her into the green dress first. She had a feeling that the pink dress would be the dress, and she wanted to save it for last. Emma pranced out to where Finn was waiting after she had the green dress on and twirled as she looked at herself in the three-way mirrors.
"It's not very princess-y," she told Finn as she wrinkled up her nose. Finn recognized that adorable face as one he'd seen her mom make many times, and it was just as cute coming from the daughter.
"Well, you do look lovely, but I'm afraid you're right. It just isn't something a princess would wear to a big party, is it?" Finn asked Emma.
"Nope!" Emma replied as she hurried back to the fitting room. "It's not a princess dress, Mommy," Emma informed her mom. Rory just laughed as she took in her daughter. She was such a precocious little girl.
"Well, we can't have that, can we? Let's try on the purple dress next," Rory told her as she began to take the green dress off of Emma and help her into the purple dress.
"What do you think, baby girl?" Rory asked as she finished buttoning the dress and tied the bow.
"I need to ask Finn, Mommy!" Emma told her mom in a tone that clearly told Rory that Emma couldn't believe she'd dared think Emma would make a decision on a dress without Finn's input. Emma bounced back out to Finn, twirling in front of him and looking in the mirrors just as she had in the green dress.
"Still not very princess-y," she lamented to Finn.
"We certainly can't have that," Finn told her. "I'm certain that the right dress is here somewhere though, Em. Want to have your Mom help you try on the pink dress?"
"Yeah!" Emma answered as she ran back to the fitting room once more.
"What did Finn think?" Rory asked her daughter.
"Still not princess-y enough," Emma replied.
Rory chuckled as she helped Emma take off the purple dress and slip into the pink dress. Looking at her daughter, Rory couldn't help but think that Emma definitely looked like a princess in this dress. Emma's face lit up when she saw herself in the dressing room mirror and she ran out to Finn excitedly.
"What about this one, Finn?" she asked, her love for the dress evident all over her face.
"Oh, Emma. I think that is the perfect princess dress for you, sweet girl. You look beautiful," Finn told her. She smiled broadly and hugged Finn after hearing his thoughts on her dress.
"Can I have this one please, Finn?" she asked him, her eyes pleading with him.
"Absolutely, Princess Emma. Why don't you have your mom help you change back into your clothes and we'll find you some shoes and tights?" Finn asked.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Finny!" Emma exclaimed happily as she returned to the fitting room.
"Your daughter is beautiful," the saleslady who had seen the entire exchange told him.
"Thank you," Finn said. "She's actually my girlfriend's daughter."
"Well, they're both lucky to have you. My husband is fantastic with our kids, but that's not the norm."
"Thank you," Finn answered, feeling almost shy at the compliment. Just then Rory and Emma walked back to Finn. Finn wrapped his arm around Rory and kissed her on the forehead, taking Emma's hand with his free hand.
"Oh wow, your girlfriend is also gorgeous. I think you might be as lucky to have them as they are to have you," the saleslady joked.
"Don't I know it," Finn returned as they walked off towards the shoe department.
Half an hour later, they had purchased the dress, matching pink dress shoes, and sparkly white tights, and Emma was bubbling over with excitement. Finn sent the two girls to the food court to satiate their never-ending appetites and snuck back into Nordstrom on his own, where he grabbed a pink dress shirt to match Emma's dress, a tie that would look nice with the shirt, and then he walked over to the jewelry cases for a surprise for Emma. He picked out an appropriate gold necklace with a charm that was a heart with a pink sapphire on it, taking care to ensure that it wasn't anything too extravagant for her. He felt certain that Rory would see to it that the necklace was well taken care of. Happy with his purchases, he took his bags and walked to the food court to find his girls.