The next morning the couple slept in until eleven. As they munched on the brunch platter that Logan ordered from the kitchen they planned and prepared for their day. Their plan was to spend the rest of the day in Austria, seeing the sights that they hadn't yet seen, before they caught a flight to Venice that evening.
"What if we extended our trip by a few more days," Logan asked, "After all, this is our honeymoon."
"I would love to; but what about the all important meeting with your parents?" Rory asked.
"I'm sure we can push it back a little. My Dad will probably cancel it himself; he's always double-booked and his business meetings always trump personal ones," Logan said.
"If you think it wouldn't be a big deal; I would love to have more time away with you," Rory said.
"Speak of the devil," Logan said as he pulled his vibrating cell phone from his pocket, "Hello, Dad!"
"Logan," Mitchum said sternly, "Explain to me why my papers have gotten multiple calls this morning offering to sell us exclusive first photos of the secret Salzberg wedding of the Huntzberger heir and his fiancé."
Logan paled noticeably as his face assumed an expression of horror, "I'm not sure what to say, Dad."
"Well, you could confirm or deny the validity of these photos, Logan," Mitchum shouted, losing patience. Stalling for time and completely clueless as far as what he should say, Logan remained silent. Mitchum tried again to extract an answer from his son, "How's your wife this morning."
Sighing in defeat Logan replied, "My wife is fine, Dad." Across the room Rory gasped in alarm as she fully grasped the purpose of Mitchum's call and Logan shrugged his shoulders at her helplessly.
"So it's true then?" Mitchum asked, "What were you thinking?"
Finally finding his voice Logan forcefully said, "I was thinking that I love her and she loves me and we didn't want to wait any longer to be together. And we certainly didn't want to come home and let you and Mom tear us apart."
"Why would you think your mother and I are plotting to break the two of you up?" Mitchum asked coldly.
"Before you decided she was good enough I'm pretty sure that was exactly what your intention was." Logan spat.
"As hard as this might be to believe I am actually calling to try and protect you," Mitchum said. "I will buy all the photos and negatives I can get my hands on and destroy them. I will also pay these people off to keep their silence."
"Why would you do that?" Logan asked, confused as to his father's intentions.
"Despite our initial disapproval of your engagement your mother and I were starting to look forward to seeing you settle down. Your mother will be crushed if she finds out that you got married secretly. Not to mention your sister, Rory's Grandparents and the countless other friends and family who were not included," Mitchum said.
"What about you Dad," Logan said, "Were you disappointed?"
"That is beside the point," Mitchum snapped clearly trying to hide the fact that he indeed had been disappointed too, "What is important is that we get rid of any existing evidence and keep this whole thing under wraps."
"Um, thanks, Dad," Logan said, obviously not used to his father displaying this kind of generosity, "If I can ask; who are these sellers?"
"I'm assuming you are worried about the integrity of the photographer you hired," Mitchum said, "Not to worry. It seems there was a group from Boston who were there on a guided tour and they knew exactly who you were. Had it not been for them your secret probably would have remained protected."
"Listen, Dad, Rory and I were thinking about extending our trip by a few days being as this is our honeymoon; can we push the meeting with you and Mom back a little."
"That will be fine," Mitchum said, "In light of the current situation though; it might be better if we left your mother out of this meeting; don't you agree."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Logan agreed.
"Let me talk to my daughter-in-law for a minute," Mitchum commanded.
"Sure, hold on," Logan said warily. Covering the mouthpiece of the phone Logan turned to Rory who was sitting on the bed wringing her hands in despair and said, "He wants to talk to you."
Fear filled her bright blue eyes as she accepted the phone from Logan and grasped his hand for support, "Hello?"
"Rory, I understand congratulations are in order," Mitchum said with the tiniest hint of warmth in his voice, "Welcome to the family."
"Thank you, sir," Rory said slowly, unsure of herself in this position.
"As I explained to Logan I have been getting offers all morning to buy exclusive first photos of your wedding. I think we can keep this whole thing under wraps and avoid any hurt feelings. I will buy up any photos and negatives I can and pay off the sellers to keep quiet. I can't guarantee that the news won't still slip out somehow; but we'll do our best to prevent it," Mitchum explained.
"Thank you, that is very generous of you," Rory said.
"Rory, I know that my family and I have not treated you very well in the past and I feel badly about that. I hope that we can move beyond that and become family. After all you are married to my son; you are one of us now," Mitchum said.
"Thank you; I hope so too," Rory said.
"Tell Logan that I'll see you two when ever you decide to return to Hartford and we'll get things squared away," Mitchum said, "Enjoy Europe."
"I will. Good-bye," Rory said before snapping the phone shut and handing it back to Logan.
The two sat in stunned silence for a moment before Logan said, "Well that was extremely out of character for my father. I hope he is being genuine and not trying to find another way to turn things to his advantage."
"Me too," Rory said quietly.
"What's wrong, Ace," Logan asked carefully, sensing her hesitation, "Regretting marrying me, already?"
"You're not the problem," Rory said as she snuggled closer to him, "But your family scares the crap out of me."
"Yeah, me too," Logan agreed, "Let's finish packing so we can get out of here and enjoy the rest of our day."
When the couple let the hotel they had included hats and dark sunglasses in their wardrobe. They didn't want any surprise photos captured of them on their honeymoon. The smartest thing to do would have probably been to leave Salzberg immediately and head to Venice. Considering it briefly the couple decided that they were not going to let a few nosy tourists looking to make an easy buck ruin their plans. The couple checked out of their hotel room but left their luggage behind as they left to see the last few sights on their list. They would return later in the day and catch a taxi from the hotel to the airport.
"What's left on the list, Ace," Logan asked.
"The Hohensalzberg Fortress, Mozart's birthplace and residence museum and Mozart Square," Rory read from her list.
The Hohensalzburg Fortress is the most prominent landmark in Salzburg's silhouette. Standing grandly over the city rooftops, it dominates the cityscape. Built in 1077 by Archbishop Gebhard during the investiture controversy it was meant to protect the clergy and the population. The 900-year-old structure is the biggest and most fully-preserved fort in Europe. Logan and Rory took a guided tour of the old buildings; enjoying the secret rooms, niches and battlements that they got a first hand look at. After a quick snack from a street side vendor the couple moved onto the Mozart birthplace and residence museum. In the middle of the Getreidegasse, Salzburg's famous medieval shopping ally is the birthplace of Mozart. The museum presented an extensive history of the famous composer including some of Mozart's original instruments, portraits and letters; which the couple enjoyed thoroughly. Upon leaving the museum they stopped at Mozart Square which was located nearby. Mozart Square is situated in the center of the city and owes it special character to the impressive Mozart memorial, created by Ludwig von Schwanthaler in 1842. Visitors can enjoy listening to the world famous Salzburg carillon, which sounds daily from the archbishop's palace.
It was late afternoon and soon the couple would need to return to the hotel to catch a taxi to the airport. But they had a few extra minutes and decided to simply sit on a bench by the Salzach River and enjoy the scenery one last time. Logan wrapped an arm around Rory's shoulders and she rested her head on him. Sighing contentedly Rory glanced up at her husband and smiled. Preparing to thank him again for their amazing wedding and honeymoon, Rory was cut short by the ringing of her cell phone.
Looking at the caller id her Mom's picture flashed on the screen, "Hey Mom," Rory answered happily, "Did you make it home safely?"
"Yes, but that's not why I'm calling," Lorelai said with a hint of doom in her voice, "I wanted to warn you that the news of your wedding is all over the newspapers this morning."
"No," Rory gasped, "I guess I'm not surprised. Mitchum called us this morning saying that his newspapers had been getting offers to purchase pictures of our wedding all morning. He was going to try and buy up and destroy whatever he could; but I guess some other paper's got offers too."
"I think you can probably expect a phone call from my irate mother any second now. She called here just a few minutes ago demanding I tell her what I know," Lorelai said.
Just then Rory's call waiting started to beep, "Mom, I have another call coming in and it's probably Grandma. I better take this."
Logan squeezed Rory's knee as she ended the call with her mother and picked up with her grandmother, "Hi Grandma," Rory said with false cheer.
"Rory, how could you?" Emily spat into the phone, obviously hurt.
"I'm so sorry Grandma. We didn't mean to hurt anyone's feeling," Rory began.
"Well, you certainly hurt mine," Emily retorted.
"I know Grandma, and I feel terrible about that. Logan and I were afraid that when we returned home and spoke with his parents that they would find someway to keep us apart. We did this because we are deeply in love and were afraid of losing one another," Rory explained.
"Well, I can respect that," Emily sniffed, "But I am still hurt."
"Logan and I are still planning to have a ceremony at home in September," Rory said.
"It won't be your real wedding though," Emily sulked.
"Logan hired an excellent photographer and videographer to capture the entire event; as soon as we have the video and the pictures back I will come over and share them with you," Rory offered.
"I suppose that will have to be good enough," Emily retorted.
Rory drew in a deep breath; unable to believe what she was about to offer, "Grandma, since Logan and I have already had our own dream wedding here in Salzburg; how would you feel about planning the Hartford wedding for us?"
"Oh Rory," Emily gushed, "I would be honored. It will be the most beautiful wedding you have ever seen. I would love to. Thank you."
"No problem, Grandma," Rory said, pleased that her sacrifice had worked as she hoped it would.
"Well Rory I really should be going. I have a lot of planning to do," Emily said.
"Okay Grandma, have fun!" Rory responded, "By the way, we were thinking September 29th for the Hartford wedding."
"Sounds great, Rory. Enjoy your honeymoon," Emily cooed.
"Good-bye Grandma," Rory said with a small laugh.
As Rory ended her call with her Grandmother Logan's phone began to ring. Glancing at the call id he cringed a little; his mother was not going to be as easy to smooth over as Emily had been.
"Mom!" Logan answered.
"Logan Elias Huntzberger what were you thinking?" Shira asked.
"I was being spontaneous and impulsive. I was thinking that I love Rory and she loves me and why should we wait to get married. And honestly she and I have both a little nervous that you and Dad were going to try and break us up," Logan gushed, "I feel badly that some very important people like you, Dad and Honor couldn't be part of our big day; but I'm not sorry we went through with it. It was the best day in my entire life."
"I had no idea that your feelings about this whole thing with her were this strong," Shira said.
"What did you think?" Logan asked.
"I thought maybe you were just playing. Logan, you know that you've never been one for commitment. Why would I ever have reason to think that this was serious?" Shira asked.
"I've been dropping not so subtle hints for months that I was very serious about Rory and you, Dad and Grandpa just kept telling me that she wasn't good enough," Logan said bitterly.
"I'm sorry Logan; we should have taken you more seriously," Shira said, "So, now you're married. What happens next?"
"Rory and I plan to extend our trip a little bit. When we come back home we will still meet with you and Dad; as far as I know I am still disowned," Logan said, "We are still planning on having a wedding in Hartford in September for our family and friends. Emily is planning it; perhaps the two of you should collaborate."
"That might be fun." Shira said, sounding surprised, "I will give her a call."
"Sounds good, Mom," Logan said wearily.
"Logan," Shira began, "I'm sorry for giving Rory a hard time before. She does seem like a nice girl."
"She is," Logan said.
"And, congratulations," Shira said softly, "I can't believe my baby boy is married."
"Thanks Mom," Logan said, "But I should get going; Rory and I have a plane to Venice to catch shortly."
Rory and Logan walked slowly back to the hotel holding hands and each of them on their cell phones; which were ringing ceaselessly with calls of friends and family who had read the news in their morning paper. Most were thrilled for the couple and complemented them on how romantic their impromptu wedding was and for that the couple felt truly blessed.
Author's Note: Congratulations to those of you who figured out in advance that their secret would spill out. There were a few of you who guessed my plans in your reviews. Please continue to review—I still love to hear what people think of my story. Now that the couple has expanded their trip slightly I think we have room for one more destination after Venice—anyone have suggestions? Thanks!