Thank you for your reviews! Just to say I'm going away this weekend so won't be able to update until Sunday evening, sorry! Here's the next chapter! :)

Chapter 20

"So are you going to tell them?" Rory asked her mom as they stood outside the Gilmore Mansion.

"Probably not." Lorelai said.

"Mom..." Rory said. "Remember what happened with Max!"

"Yeh but they're not exactly going to be thrilled, are they? You saw them last dinner." Lorelai said.

"I know but if they see you're serious..." Rory said. "Mom why don't you just get it over with and tell them or else they're going to find out another way?"

Lorelai sighed. "Fine..."

"I could tell them I'm going to Yale today as well if it helps? Then they might be in a happy mood." Rory suggested.

"I've got an idea. Why don't you just tell them you're going to Yale and I say nothing?" Lorelai said.

"Mom..."

"Yeh I know.." Lorelai pouted.

Suddenly the door opened and Emily was stood there. "Are you two going to stand here all evening or were you going to ring the doorbell?" She asked.

"Hi Grandma!" Rory smiled going in and giving her a hug.

"Hello Rory." Emily smiled.

"Hi Mom." Lorelai said.

"Lorelai." She nodded.

They went through to the living room where Richard was sat. They greeted him and then had drinks. They chatted a bit before dinner was announced so they went through to the dining room.

"So anything new?" Emily asked.

"Well actually..." Rory said. "I got my college acceptance letters back. Harvard, Princeton and Yale. And after taking time to decide, I'm going to Yale." She said.

Richard and Emily exchanged glances and then looked at Rory. Rory smiled at them. She suddenly saw their faces break into smiles and they got up simultaneously to give her a hug and then go off to ring their friends to boast.

Rory looked across at her mom. "See they're happy. When they come back it's your go." She said.

After a few minutes, Emily and Richard returned to the table and started chatting excitedly about Yale, Richard talking about all the landmarks there. Rory smiled at them and then glanced at her mom. "Actually, Grandma, Grandpa, mom has something to tell you." She said.

Emily and Richard turned to look at Lorelai. "Well? What is it?" Emily asked.

"Uh..well..." Lorelai said. She looked down at Luke's mother's ring. She slowly took it off the finger she had it on and slowly put it on the proper finger. "On my birthday, uh...Luke proposed..." She said nervously. "I said yes." She said looking at her parents who weren't saying anything. "I'm getting married." She said. Still her parents said nothing. She looked over at Rory. "Am I speaking english? I did say that out loud right?" She asked to which Rory nodded.

"So you're getting married to the diner man?" Emily asked.

"His name's Luke. And yes." Lorelai said.

"So you're actually going to make it to the church this time?" Emily said spitefully.

Lorelai bit her tongue and gritted her teeth. "Yes mom. This is going to happen and nothing you say or do will stop it. I love Luke and he loves me and we are going to get married. Luke's different to Max." She said firmly.

"He is definitely different to a well qualified teacher." Emily said. "Well it's your life. You don't listen to me anything." She said and then just got up and left the room.

Lorelai sighed. She glanced at her dad. "Dad?" She said quietly. "I'm really happy about it. I really want this and this is going to happen. I love Luke so much." She said.

Richard put down his cutlery and looked at his daughter. "This is really what you want? He makes you happy?"

"Very happy." Lorelai nodded.

"And how about you, Rory? Do you approve of this?" Richard asked turning to his granddaughter.

Rory nodded. "Luke's great, Grandpa. He even asked for my permission to ask mom before he did it. He wanted my blessing first." She smiled.

Richard was surprised. "He did?"

"Yeh." Rory smiled. "He wouldn't have asked if I had said no. But he's been part of our family for so long anyway. This will just make it official."

"Well who am I to go against it then?" He said. He looked at Lorelai and gave her a small smile. "Congratulations."

"Thank you dad." Lorelai smiled.

After dinner, Lorelai and Rory headed home. Emily hadn't returned for the rest of the meal but Lorelai had expected that. She didn't care what her mother thought. It wouldn't stop her from marrying Luke.

They went inside the Crap Shack and Lorelai spotted Rory's yearbook out on the table in the living room. "Oooh did you get this today?" Lorelai asked excitedly.

"Yeh." Rory said heading into the kitchen.

Lorelai picked it up and opened it. "Someone's popular!" She called.

"Everyone signs everyone's yearbook. It's what we do." Rory called back.

"When were you in South Pacific?" Lorelai asked.

"What?"

"Some girl called Shauna thinks you were in South Pacific!"

"Oh she tends to get people mixed up!" Rory called.

Lorelai smiled as she read messages from Tristan, Paris, Madeline and Louise and even Jess had signed it even though he didn't go to Chilton. She then noticed a few similar messages and a small smile appeared on her face. She walked into the kitchen where Rory was getting a drink. "Hey funny thing, a lot of them are calling you valedictorian. Is that some sort of dirty code for something?" She asked.

Rory didn't say anything and turned round to face her.

"Were you named valedictorian?" Lorelai smiled softly.

"Yeh and you know what that means? One more stupid speech to write!" Rory exclaimed.

"Look, I'm going to let you stress out and study as much as you want but after your last exam, we are going to celebrate this because this is amazing." Lorelai smiled proudly.

"Yeh?" Rory said quietly, giving her a small smile.

"Yeh. Come here." Lorelai smiled pulling her into a hug. "You have no idea how proud I am of you."

"Thanks mom." Rory smiled.

"Ok you can go study now." Lorelai smiled. "Go make yourself crazy."

Rory smirked. "Thanks. And then I think I'm going to go straight to bed. Night." She said.

"Night hon." Lorelai smiled. She watched her daughter disappear into her bedroom so she went to the living room. She picked up the phone and dialled a familiar number.

"Hello?" Luke answered.

"Hey!" Lorelai smiled.

"Hey! How was dinner?" Luke asked.

"It was ok." Lorelai said.

"How did your parents take it? You did tell them right?" Luke asked.

"Yeh I did." Lorelai sighed. "Dad was ok. Mom was well mom." She said.

"Didn't take it well?" Luke grimaced.

"Not really but I don't care what she thinks. Nothing's going to stop me from marrying you." Lorelai said.

"Lorelai..." Luke said.

"I'm fine, Luke." She assured him. "Mom reacted how I thought she would. Now let's talk about something happy. I have something to share with you." She smiled.

"Yeh, what?" He asked.

"Rory was named valedictorian!" Lorelai beamed proudly.

"Yeh? That's great!" Luke smiled. "Tell her congratulations from me. She deserves it."

"I will." Lorelai smiled.

"I should go. I've got an early delivery tomorrow." Luke said.

"Ok." Lorelai said.

"See you for breakfast?" He asked.

"You bet!" Lorelai smiled.

"Ok night Lorelai." He smiled.

"Night Luke."

"I love you." Luke said.

Lorelai smiled. Him saying that still gave her a warm fuzzy feeling inside her. "Love you too." She said. She then hung up and she knew she had a giddy smile on her face but she didn't care. She settled down to watch some tv.

So sort of a filler chapter there but the next one may be Rory's graduation! :) Please keep the reviews coming as I love hearing what you think! Thanks! :)