Author's Note: In a way, I'm kind of sad to see this story ending. Still, as I write this, I am in the planning stages of another fic-possibly a "what might have been" season eight story, though I haven't ironed out plans yet. Anyway, after this, there's one left. Kind of sad, yes...but I DO bring back a very important prop in this chapter, that I introduced several chapters back. I've been planning to for a while now, so i'm glad to finally do so. Anyway, please review..let me know what you think?


As the weeks went by, Lorelai became increasingly aware. She began buying things, thinking things-Michel had more than once warned her about leaning against his front desk. Still, as the wedding day became closer and closer, Lorelai began to realize more and more how much her life had changed over the past year. Over her life. Marrying Luke would be one of the best, happiest decisions she could ever make.

Though sad that Rory would soon be leaving-her job in New York starting in just a week-Lorelai knew that it would be for the best. She spent as much time with her daughter as she could-staying up late to watch movies, going out shopping. Mother and Daughter things. While she hadn't braved cooking, as she had learned the hard way last time, Lorelai watched as Rory attempted to. Apparently, she thought, she had been taking lessons from Sookie...or at least someone else other than her.

The day came like any other. Lorelai woke up, ready to start the day. As she headed downstairs, she found the coffee Luke had left on, knowing she would drink it, yet still stop by the diner, anyway. Still, today was different. Because as Lorelai took one last look in the mirror before heading out the door, she stared down at the calendar, too. June 2nd.


"Good Morning, coffee man."Lorelai chimed, entering the diner.

"You know, you could tone it down on the coffee during the next twenty four hours. Because the last thing you need tomorrow is to be all hyper active."Luke said, passing her a doughnut.

Lorelai shrugged, sitting down. "But coffee is my friend. Coffee would never hurt me."

"Oh, so staining your teeth and stunting your health...that's got nothing to do with it, right?"Luke asked with a smile. "Sorry about leaving early today. We got a shipment of stuff, and I had to work Caesar through some things before we leave for a week."

"Where are we going, anyway?"Lorelai asked. "Because honestly, I have to know what to bring. Because otherwise, I'd pack bathing suits, and we would wind up in Antartica."

"Antartica?"Luke asked, pouring her coffee.

Lorelai shrugged, smiling. "Just naming random places, trying to see if you'll crack."

Sighing, Luke leaned against the counter. "I am not going to crack. You, Lorelai...will have to wait."

"Me? Lorelai?...Wait?"Lorelai asked, surprised. "Do you have any idea what kind of thing you are asking me to do?"

"I dunno...doesn't sound that impossible to me. Anyway, Jackson was here earlier, and-"

"Jackson? As in Sookie's husband Jackson?"Lorelai interjected. "What was he doing here?"

"You'll probably have to ask Sookie. But all I know is he invited me out for a beer...at Sniffy's I guess. Something. Anyway, it's probably some failed attempt at a bachelor party or something. But if you're just gonna stay at home, there's no need."Luke replied, pushing down the idea as if it were nothing.

Lorelai's eyes widened, shaking her head. "No, No...you are going. You are going, Luke..and you are going to have fun."

"What? Why?"He asked, pausing in his wiping down the counter.

Setting her coffee cup down, Lorelai tilted her head, thinking of the best way to explain it to him. "You know that luck thing? Yeah, well it...we..we need to stick to the rules this time."

Luke stared down at the counter, focusing on a clod of syrup someone had left. "Yeah, of course. I just..."

"It's your last night as a single man, Luke. Go...have fun. Just don't come home with some random barbie woman and everything will be fine."

"Some random barbie what?"Luke retorted. "All I'm sayin' is that a night..it's just a night. But fine. You wanna stick to the rules, we're gonna stick to the rules."

Lorelai frowned at him, wondering what he meant. "Luke wha..what do you mean? What are you...implying?"

"I'm implying that we follow these supersticious rules. Okay? To the letter-"

"Which letter? There are twenty-six of them, Luke."

He rolled his eyes, stifling back a laugh. "Meaning you can't randomly call me during the night to you know..tell me about the dream you had. You can't...sneak into the room at the Inn tomorrow morning to give me a kiss or...whatever. After you leave, no talking or touching or...whatever it is...until tomorrow."

Mulling it over in her mind, Lorelai decided that it was for the best. Sticking out her hand to him, she smiled. "Deal."

Luke smiled, sticking out his hand to shake hers.

She stood up from her stool, walking until they stood face to face. A smile adorned her face as she laughed.

"Are you okay?"Luke asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just...I find it kind of funny. Us-by the book. We're never...by-"Lorelai stopped, nodding. She drew a deep breath, nodding. "So the next time I see you...wow..."

"Wow is right."Luke said, his hands resting on her waist. "I've got customers to take care of, but I'll uh..I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Bright and early."Lorelai replied.

Luke frowned. "Eleven..isn't bright and early."

She shrugged, linking her arms behind his neck. "Fine..I have to go to the Inn. And then home. Rory and I are gonna have a romantic comedy, candy, talking extravaganza thing. Sookie's coming over, and well..among other things paint nails and talk and..."She sighed in content. "I would squeal, but you'd roll your eyes and call me insane."

Luke gingerly reached down, pulling the coffee cup from her hands. "THAT...is why you don't need coffee tomorrow morning."

"You do realize I'm probably going to get some anyway, right?"Lorelai asked, knowing it was obvious.

He smiled, moving her hair out of her face. "Yeah, I know."

Lorelai leaned in, giving him a kiss. She knew she'd miss him, miss his arms wrapping tightly around her, keeping her safe. Still, she knew that the next day would bring things completely full circle. As she pulled back, Lorelai grinned, twisting in his arms. She was aware of the fact that by now, everyone in the diner was staring. But for once, she didn't care.


"Sook..."Lorelai said, walking into the kitchen.

"What? Oh...Lorelai, let's...go out here. Let's talk. You don't wanna go in there..."Sookie said, walking out towards her.

"Why...do I not want to go into the kitchen?"Lorelai asked.

Sookie looked around, searching for an excuse. Michel who was close by, ran to her aid. "There was a minor catastrophe earlier. Sookie was dealing with a visitor when she had tomato sauce on to cook. It started boiling, and ended up splattering all over the place. It is truly a mess in there, you do not want to see it."

"Yeah, yeah...tomato sauce, you know? Messy, messy tomato sauce..."Sookie squealed, mouthing a silent 'thank you' to Michel.

"If there's a mess, wouldn't you want help to clean it up?"Lorelai asked.

"Lorelai, there is a woman on the phone...she is looking to speak with you. Something about a party for her sister. Perhaps you could...deal with that for now."Michel suggested.

"You left a woman looking to speak to me on hold on the phone?"Lorelai asked. "Michel!"

He shrugged. "She started screaming at me, and you once told me to not hang up the phone. So I put her on hold. What else would you like me to do?"

"He..can help me clean up the tomato sauce."Sookie suggested, pulling him into the kitchen. "That was a nice save. I couldn't have thought of something that fast."

"Yes well, expect to be making it up to me. Tomorrow will be stressful as it is, organizing the help to get all of the guests out of here for the day."Michel said.

"Thank you, Michel. You're so..kind."Sookie said sarcastically. "I have to get the cake frosted before she sees...come on...help me get the rose on."


"Sweet or spicy?"Rory asked that night as Lorelai opened the door.

"I'm both, yes, now what were you saying?"Lorelai asked, grinning as she danced to the music. "You brought wings AND pizza? Are you crazy?"

"No, but I'm starting to think you are if you turn it down."Rory said, sitting them on the table.

"A night at home with my daughter, watching movies and eating candy. May be the perfect plan. Still, when Sook comes over later, she'll be spouting on about how I shouldn't be eating candy day before. I agree of course, but then there is pop corn and wings, and pizza..."

"Two."Rory said, opening the box.

Lorelai looked over at her, puzzled. "Two? Two what?"

Rory nodded, taking a bite of pizza. "Limit yourself to two. Two pieces of pizza..two of each kind of wing...make sense?"

"But what if they're good? What if they are so good that my hand gets a mind of it's own and wanders off to the box, pulling out another slice? We are talking major catastrophe here. You could wake up and every slice of pizza would be gone."

"You're very strange, you know that?"Rory asked her.

"Yeah, but the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree."Lorelai stated matter of factly as she picked up a slice. "But if I limit myself to two, shouldn't you?"

"Oh no, of course not...see, I...I am not the one getting married tomorrow. I am not the one who has to fit in a skinny white beautiful dress..."As she trailed off, the door bell rang, a signal that Sookie had arrived. "I'll get that."She said, running off.

"Yeah, you better run. And come back with the popcorn!"Lorelai said, settling on the couch. She knew it would be simple-a friend and her daughter. At best, it didn't even really qualify as a party. But still, she knew very well that when she woke up the next morning, she'd have to kick things into overdrive. Married. To Luke. A smile spread widely across her face as she thought she'd never been so content.

"Lorelai, I am so-"Sookie said as she walked into the living room.

"It's a good thing she was coming, otherwise you never would have heard me, Lorelai."

She jumped off the couch, eyes widening. "Mom...hi. What-what are you doing here?"

Emily approached, walking closer to her. As she surveyed the room-stereo volume high, pizza and wings boxes wide open with a bucket of cotton candy next to it, she shook her head. "If you think I am letting you spend the night before your wedding eating frivlous junk food and...sugar...Lorelai, all it will do is go straight to your thighs. Luke allows you to eat all of thise?"

"Well, usually he makes some remark about how it will kill me evetually, and then smiles and gives it to me anyway. What do you think his secret plan is?"Lorelai asked, grinning. "Look mom, I really appreciate it. But I have anything under control."

"So am I to assume that you have everything ready?...What were you planning on doing about your hair?"Emily asked, surveying the slightly fraying ends.

Lorelai twirled the ends of her hair around, shrugging. "I dunno...Sookie and Rory were planning on helping me tomorrow. Really...It'll be...up. A little."

"And your dress..it's prepared to go? It's a good thing it won't be raining tomorrow...your...guests-the ones that stay at the Inn..where will they be going for the duration of the ceremony?"Emily asked. In truth, she wasn't intending to be a burden. But she wanted Lorelai to have things under control as opposed to running around asking questions the next morning.

"Yes, mom...everything is ready. The guests are going to a summer retreat...thing...just outside of town. Look, everything here..it's not gonna implode of the happiest day of my life. Trust me, because if it does..it will have me to deal with."

Emily sighed, setting her bags down. "I really do wish that you could be a little bit more serious about this, Lorelai. But it's clear that you're happy with the way things are, so I see that I have no reason not to."

"Not to what?"Lorelai asked her as everyone settled in the living room. "Wait...you're staying?"

"Is that a problem for you, Lorelai? The ride from Hartford to Stars Hollow may not be all that long of one, but still..I must be here early enough, and getting up that early is simply not an availale option. Rory...do you have something...a little healthier than carbonated sugar to drink?"

Rory stifled back a laugh. "Luke packed the fridge with water bottles, so there's probably some in there."

Emily followed her out of the room, in an effect for Sookie and Lorelai to have a moment.

"What's that?"Lorelai asked about the box in her hands.

"Oh, this?"Sookie asked, shrugging. "Jackson stopped by the diner this morning, Luke gave it to him to give to you."

"But you're not Jackson."Lorelai said, wiggling. "So...what is it? Can I open it?"

Sookie shrugged, handing it to her. "You're going to anyway. Oh, I'm just so happy for you..."She said, pulling her tight.

"Yeah, um..Sook? Can't exactly...open a box..."Lorelai said as Sookie released her from her grasp. Lorelai openedthe box, tearing at the shiny paper. The box inside looked mishapen a little-like somethig had been stuffed inside. As she opened it, a gasp was heard. "Wow, he...he kept this."She said, tears forming as she stared at the mug she had gotten him for Christmas 2006...the mug with the initials 'LD' in blue cursive on the front. In the cup was a note that read 'Thought you could use this tomorrow-Luke'. "Wow..."Lorelai shook her head as she opened the box. She watched as the silver necklace came out. It was long, and at the end had little diamonds in the shape of a heart. Lorelai watched as it twirled around, shaking her head. "I didn't..I mean, I did get him something. But...I have to call him..I have to thank him..."

"What happened to keeping your distance until tomorrow, mom?"Rory asked as she and Emily returned from the kitchen.

Lorelai frowned, setting the mug on the table. "I didn't think it would be hard. Who told you?"

"Babbette may have been in the diner at the time, and may have said something..."Rory stated, shrugging. Just then, the phone rang, her and Lorelai staring at each other, debating as to who would answer. "Hello?...Oh, is everything alright? Uh-huh..."Rory pulled the phone away from her ear, handing it to Sookie. "It's Lane..."

"Lane?"Lorelai asked.

"Zach was watching the twins while she watched Martha and Davey."Sookie said, answering. "Lane, is everything okay?...Oh, wow. Um..okay. No, no. It's fine. Alright..."She hung up the phone sending Lorelai an apolegetic look. "Martha is sick...Lane's afraid of exposing the twins, but she still thinks it would be a good idea if I came home."

"Of...course. That's fine."Lorelai said, wishing Martha the best as Sookie left. "Well then, mom..do you still want to stay?"

Emily looked around, knowing she could end up regretting it. The look on Rory's face as she had DVDs sprawled out around her, Lorelai reaching for wings. Sighing, she nodded. If anything, they needed to stick together as a family. "Sure. I'm sure I can handle this for one night."

Lorelai smiled back, glad in that moment that they had reached an understanding. "Good. Rory, what are we watching?"