AN: I know this is really short, but I wanted to get out Lorelai's pov
Working on more already, but wanted to get this part out. As always enjoy! and please Read and Review!
Chapter 25
Lorelai was sitting on one of the oversized chairs in the lobby of the Dragonfly Inn staring at the newspaper in front of her. The headline "Lorelai "Rory" Gilmore becomes the bride of Logan Huntzberger" was displayed across the top of the society pages in pretty much every major newspaper and had even made it to the front page of a few mainstream magazines. Below the headline were varying pictures depending on the publication; but the one she was looking at was of the two of them coming out of the church. The smiles on both of their faces cut straight to her heart and she had to wipe the tears away as they were falling down her face. It appeared to be a perfect moment suspended in time; the birdseed and petals frozen mid air, doves with their wings spread wide and flying toward the sky; Rory had one hand entwined with Logan's and the other holding her flowers high above her head while the two of them were lip-locked, Logan's other hand coming up to cup her face. She looked in the background and saw the smiles of all of the bridal party as they took in the happy couple.
She hardly recognized Lane, her hair was done so beautifully and her makeup flawless, the dress probably cost more than she normally would make in a month; she couldn't believe that it had been 26 years since she and Rory had met in Kindergarten and become the best of friends, the kind of friend that apparently was going to last a lifetime.
As she looked at the other smiling faces, she saw Paris who was holding hands with a dark haired man who she recognized as one of Logan's friends who she had run into when bailing Rory out of jail after the yacht incident; she looked happier and more carefree than she had ever seen her look in all the years she had known her. She didn't recognize the other two blonde girls but she was sure that one of them must be Logan's sister; they both looked natural in such extravagant attire, they had to come from old money.
She studied it closer and saw the smiling faces of her mother, Christopher, Shira and Mitchum. Everyone was looking at the couple with a smile that reached every single one of their eyes; there were no fake or forced or obligatory society smiles that she would have expected to see from the family that had once told Rory that she wasn't good enough for them and that she wouldn't ever fit into the Huntzberger family.
A pang of jealousy shot through her soul, she felt it in the tips of her fingers and the bottom of her toes; she couldn't believe she had missed it. She missed her only child's wedding; and as if that didn't hurt her enough, it didn't look like it had fazed a single one of them.
She had received the invitation in the mail right after their dinner before Thanksgiving; she had probably pulled it out and stared at it, unable to make a decision, a hundred times in the weeks leading up to the wedding. The invitation just didn't look like Rory; it had been lined with real pearls for crying out loud, and if that didn't scream Emily Gilmore she wasn't sure what would. There had been no personalization to it, no note from Rory asking her to come, just the insert for the RSVP asking if she wanted to chicken, vegetarian, or beef for her dinner option, listing the dress code as 1920s formal, and a spot to indicate if she was bringing a plus one.
Luke had tried to bring it up once, telling her to swallow her pride and RSVP and reminding her of Rory's 21st birthday party debacle; but, it had just ended with the two of them in a fight with him frustrated and her angry because he wasn't on her side. He had told her how much it would mean to him to be able to see Rory, who had been like a daughter to him for pretty much her entire life, get married but if she wasn't going to go, he wasn't going to go without her. After he said his piece, he didn't bring it up again.
She struggled with it daily and at one point had even checked the box for one chicken and one beef dish and RSVPd with her plus one and put the card in the pre-stamped and addressed envelope; but she never made it to the mailbox, wasn't able to take that step of sending it off. She didn't agree with the marriage, she didn't think it was a good step for her daughter, and she didn't want to ruin her day by accidently getting the verbal diarrhea, which she was prone to get when she was uncomfortable, or by being unable to mask her disdain for the situation. So, in the end, she chose not to go and as she sat and looked at the newspaper, she knew that it was the absolute worst decision she had ever made in her life.