Author's Note: My story, "Accidents Happen," is based on the wonderful "Gilmore Girls" television series and the amazing characters created by…not me!
Chapter 21 - Two Sides of the Same Coin
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome the wedding party! First, let's give it up for the adorable ring bearer and flower girl, Davey and Martha Bellville!" Lane said from her microphone and with a smile. The guests in the dining room cheered for those children as they walked into the dining room, making a beeline for their father.
"The daughter of the groom, April Nardini, the lovely junior bridesmaid," Lane said happily. "And the beautiful and talented Sookie St. James, who is multi-tasking as matron of honor and chef for today's festivities." April and Sookie both walked into the dining room and sat at the head table. "As the maid of honor and the best man, ladies and gentlemen, we have my best friend, the gorgeous Rory Gilmore, the daughter of the bride, and the dashing Jess Mariano, nephew of the groom."
"Somebody put something in her drink," Jess muttered as they entered the dining room hand in hand, smiling broadly, and they walked to the head table.
"Nah," Rory said with a flirtatious smile. "You are dashing!" Rory winked and waved playfully at Lane as they took their places at the head table.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment we've all been waiting for. And, I must say, we've been waiting for a very, very, very long time! We want to welcome our guests of honor. Please stand up and raise your glasses to Stars Hollow's own Luke and Lorelai, Mr. and Mrs. Danes!" Luke and Lorelai came into the dining room amid clapping, hooting, hollering, and whistling. As soon as they got to their place at the head table, the loud clinking of silver against crystal beckoned the newlyweds to kiss.
"Before we get dinner on the table, there are a few guests wishing to make toasts to the happy couple. First, the father of the bride, Mr. Richard Gilmore."
"Thank you, Lane," Richard said, taking the microphone from Lane. "And thank you everyone for coming today to celebrate my daughter's marriage. Her mother and I have been waiting for this day for some time, but today is a day that this joyous event was meant to happen, neither one minute earlier nor one minute later. Today is the day that I gained a son, a partner for my daughter, and a step-father for my granddaughter. Today, I want to raise my glass to my beautiful daughter and to her wonderful husband. To Lorelai and to Luke."
"Now, for the best man, Jess Mariano." Richard handed the microphone to Jess before he returned to his seat.
"I am a man of few spoken words, but a man of many on paper," Jess said, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket with a sly smile, which was met with soft laughter. "So, please forgive me for writing down notes for what I planned to say tonight." Jess paused and took a sip of water before continuing to speak.
"When I first saw Luke and Lorelai together, I thought they were already a couple. I, like the rest of Stars Hollow, could see that they were obviously made for each other, like two sides of the same coin. For some reason, though, it took them a bit longer to see and then to admit to what was right in front of them. Now that they are starting their lives together, it is with great pride and pleasure that I toast my uncle and my new aunt into this next stage, which is their future. I am so happy that you are both such a big part of my life. You are both my family and my friends. And, Lorelai, I promise that I will never, ever, refer to you as my aunt again. To Luke and Lorelai."
"To Luke and Lorelai," the guests chorused and drank the toast.
On cue, servers started bringing the first course out of the kitchen. Soon, the dining room was a buzz of dinner conversation and the din of silver and china. The courses were brought out quickly. Sookie was unable to sit back and relax during the serving. She wanted to be in control. Michel had to kick her out of the kitchen three times during the evening.
After dinner was cleared, Lane got back on the microphone to announce the bride and groom's first dance, which was to Lane and Zack singing a duet to the classic Nat King Cole song, Love. The next dance was a special song for the families to dance. Lorelai danced with her father and Luke danced with his sister, Liz, to The Beatles' song In My Life. The bridal party danced to Eric Clapton's song Wonderful Tonight each with a significant other in their life: Sookie and Jackson, Rory and Jess, April and TJ. After all the formal dances, Lane got to doing her job as DJ, which was to get the party rocking.
About an hour into the dancing, it was time for the bouquet and garter tosses. Rory gave Lorelai her toss bouquet, which was a smaller version of her own bouquet, and Jess handed Luke a gaudier satin, lace, and feather version of the garter that was on Lorelai's leg.
"I still get to take the garter off her, though, right?" Luke said with a flirty wink.
"Oh absolutely," Lorelai said in her sexy voice.
"Oh, gross!" Rory and Jess said in unison as they walked away, leaving Luke and Lorelai in the middle of the dance floor.
"Okay, ladies first," Lane said cheerfully into the microphone. "I need all the single women right now, front and center. And I really do mean all of the single women. Even you, Rory Gilmore, since single means that you don't have a wedding band on your finger!"
The women moved onto the dance floor and jockeyed for position. Rory tried to get herself to the back of the pack. Once everyone was in position, Lane blasted Kool & the Gang's Ladies Night. Lorelai spun backwards and rocketed the bouquet over her shoulder. The bouquet was like a Rory-seeking missile that was launched directly at her. Even the uncoordinated, non-athletic Rory Gilmore was able to catch it. As soon as it was in her hand, everyone whopped and hollered.
"Congratulation, Rory Gilmore! Now, come on up here and hug your mom!" Lane announced excitedly into the microphone. The photographer snapped some pictures of them together with the bouquet. "Now, it's time for the garter toss, but first things first. Luke, my man, you've gotta get that garter off Lorelai!"
Luke took Lorelai's hand and walked her to the chair in the middle of the dance floor. Luke pulled his baseball cap from his back pocket and put it on as the music started playing. The song he picked was You Can Leave Your Hat On by Joe Cocker.
With a big, broad smile, Luke reached under Lorelai's dress for a moment before he went under head first. Lorelai started to giggle, but quickly started laughing loudly as Luke emerged from beneath the layers of skirt with the garter between his teeth. Luke got to his feet, kissed a blushing Lorelai deeply, and helped her up from the chair. He escorted her off the dance floor and safely tucked the garter into his pocket, switching it with the garter he would be tossing.
"Alright, all you single gents, it's time for you to get out on the floor and see which one of you will be lucky enough to put the garter on Rory," Lane said, getting the guys onto the dance floor. Luke stood at the front of the group of men and launched the garter with his fingers like he was using it as a sling shot. Just like the bouquet, the garter flew right at Jess.
Jess had a vested interest in catching the garter, not just to prevent anyone else from touching Rory or dancing with Rory, but to keep up with the possibility that fate really did exist. As the story goes, the woman who catches the bouquet and the man who catches the garter are supposed to be the next to get married. And, as it turned out, Jess was a new found follower of fate.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Jess Mariano caught the garter. I'm starting to wonder, was this toss rigged? The maid of honor and the best man, who happen to be dating and Stars Hollow's other resident super couple, both make the catch? Oh, well. Come on, Jess, and get your photo taken with your uncle Luke."
Jess made his way to Luke and posed for the pictures before the music changed to Going to the Chapel. Jess walked to the dance floor, which had been cleared except for the chair where Rory was sitting. Jess gave Rory a sly smile and hammed it up for the camera a bit before getting down on his knee to slip the garter up her leg. After the requirements were completed, Jess took Rory by the hand and let her away from the chair to dance through the rest of the song.
"So, do you think they really rigged it?" Rory asked.
"Are you kidding? Of course they did."
"I really wish that they didn't," Rory sighed quietly.
"Why? Rory, we're talking about your mom and Luke. Rory, what's going on?" Jess asked quickly, feeling deflated as he thought about the engagement ring he had looked at in the store window earlier that week.
"It's like they cheated," Rory said. "You know I can't stand it when people cheat!"
"What? Oh, Rory, sweetie, I swear, nobody cheated! Your mom threw the bouquet at you and Luke threw the garter at me. They threw them to us, Ror, but we caught them. Besides, it's a tradition, the maid of honor and best man thing. Everyone in this room expected us to catch the garter and bouquet," Jess said.
"I know. I don't know. I'm sorry."
"That was the most incoherent series of sentences ever uttered."
"I guess it's just the fact that here we are, in front of everyone, as a couple and now they're going to be expecting something from us."
"Rory, isn't this exactly why we're moving to New York and getting out of Stars Hollow?" Jess asked emphatically. "We will never be able to be just us if we stay in Stars Hollow. We won't be able to get our lives on track while we're trying to live up to everyone else's expectations. We just need to be us, you know?"
"I know."
"We need to see what it's like to be Rory and Jess without everyone butting in!"
"Do you really think that everyone butts in?" Rory asked.
"Oh, come on," Jess said. "We're talking about Stars Hollow here, Rory. Think about it, will you? Knowing other people's business is the town's pastime. This way, we'll be able to do things our way and it won't matter what Taylor or Babette and Miss Patty think."
"You're right. God, Jess, you're absolutely right! I'm sorry. I've been acting totally crazy lately."
"There is nothing for you to apologize for. You've been perfect."
"You're biased," Rory reminded him with a smile. "I guess today is just too emotional for me, you know? I mean, think about it. My mom and Luke are finally married. They're finally going to get their chance to be happy."
"They have waited for this for a long time," Jess said. "We've all been waiting for this for a long time, Rory. I just don't want us to wait that long to be happy. Just look at how much time they have already missed out on. I don't want us to make the same mistakes they did."
"And we won't," Rory said firmly. "We'll learn from their mistakes. We won't let history repeat itself. I'm not Lorelai junior. Well, I sort of am, but we aren't identical. We're not the same person. I'm not her clone. And you aren't Luke. We'll do things our way, Jess. I promise!"
"I know. You're right, Rory, you are absolutely right! This is our chance to be happy, too. For now, let's just live our lives one day at a time."
"That sounds perfect to me," Rory said, smiling and kissing Jess softly. "Absolutely perfect." Jess twirled and dipped Rory as the song ended with applause.
Lane quickly put on a fast-paced song to keep the momentum of the reception going. Everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time, especially the bride and groom. They danced to every song, talked and laughed with all of their guests, and ate and drank to their hearts' content. They cut the cake and fed it to each other, playing with the frosting.
As the party started winding down, Luke grabbed the microphone from Lane.
"It's my turn to make a toast," he began. "I want to toast my wife, Lorelai, who is a beautiful bride today and always. Thank you for giving us another chance at happiness. Thank you for accepting my daughter into our life and letting me be a permanent part of your daughter's life. Thank you for accepting my proposal and for making me the happiest man in the world! April, you are a wonderful daughter and I am excited to watch you grow and to give you a bunch of little brothers and sisters to boss around. Rory, I've always thought of you as my daughter and now I am lucky enough to actually have you as one. It's been an honor to watch you grow and I will be proud to be your future children's grandfather. Jess, you gave me a crash course in being responsible for someone else, and you gave me a run for my money. I look at you now and see the young man I always knew you could be. Now, if she's ready, I want to take my lovely bride on our honeymoon."
"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" Lorelai asked.
"I'll tell you when we get to the airport," Luke promised.