Chapter 37
Satin or Lace?
The next morning Rory and Jess stayed in bed, exhausted from the events of the evening before. "The thing is, if you were to ask me if I thought the evening had gone well, I wouldn't even know how to answer that! I mean where would you begin your analysis? I'm so confused!" Rory buried her head in her hands, shaking it in frustration.
Jess stayed silent beside her, asking himself the exact same questions. He didn't have an opinion either way as to what answers he was hoping would be the right ones. After last night he was balanced on the fence trying to evaluate if there was anything to actually gain by being in Emily Gilmore's good books. He and Rory were grown ups and could live their own lives how they choose. Rory was the reason he had stayed civil despite Emily's poorly veiled barbs. The counselling sessions he'd been attending had been surprisingly insightful so far and he actually felt like he was making progress, starting to see things from a different perspective. The old Jess would've stormed out before dinner even made it to the table but this new version of himself recognised that every word out of Emily's mouth had far more to do with her and her own insecurities than anything he could ever have done.
Jess rolled onto his side to pull Rory into him, trying to stop her from driving herself crazy with overanalysing. "There is one thing Emily mentioned that I do think maybe we should discuss," he admitted. "What exactly might that be?" she asked. "Satin or lace Rory, what'll it be?" Jess laughed when he saw the shocked look on her face but he was only half joking, in fact, he thought they should probably have some kind of discussion about their wedding. "That ring isn't a prop you know," he teased her. "I just...I guess...I thought..." Rory couldn't even construct a sentence, so shocked was she by this unexpected conversation. Rory suddenly jumped out of bed and was half buried underneath it, surrounded by the pillows she'd discarded in her hurry to get into bed the night before. "Hey, don't run away Ror! Did I say something wrong?" Jess asked, concerned at her reaction to his change of topic. Rory came back to sit beside him on the bed, a sheepish look on her face. In her hands she held a folder of her own, only half the size of the volume Emily had shown them last night. She passed it to him now. "I have been thinking about it Jess," she admitted in a shy voice, a voice that took him back in time to the night after their first dinner at the Gilmore's.
Jess opened the folder and began to sift through magazine clippings and notebook pages and even a sample piece of paper and coordinating envelope. "Huh. I'm guessing we're going with a blue and white theme then," his voice was lightly mocking but he felt a strange feeling of reassurance settling over him as he looked through the rest of Rory's collection. She really did want to marry him. This wasn't just about a baby. This wasn't about running away from Dean. Rory wanted to be his wife. Rory smiled as she watched Jess examining the bits and pieces she'd been collecting and storing away in her folder. "I thought blue and white would be perfect for a spring wedding on the bridge," she confessed. "This spring?" Jess asked. "Well, no it doesn't have to be this Spring, I mean if you think that's too soon, if you want to wait until, well, until this is gone, or even longer," Rory gestured to her baby bump. "Hey, calm down! For the record, if I believed for a second you wouldn't regret it, I'd take us to Atlantic City and marry you today. To be honest, I like the idea of marrying you on the bridge back in Stars Hollow. And yes, a Spring wedding sounds nice. This Spring? Well, why not?" Jess finished his spiel to find Rory staring at him, a shocked look on her face. He kissed her until she smiled. "It'll be Spring next month you do realise?" she asked him. "You're due mid May so how about early April? We can even try and squeeze in a little honeymoon before we become the three of us," he suggested. Rory suspected Jess was keeping his own folder of plans tucked away under the bed. "Is there something you're not telling me?" she probed. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" he replied, suddenly evasive. "It just sounds suspiciously like you've been giving this a bit of thought yourself!" she teased. "Just in passing," he admitted before kissing her again, silencing her from wedding talk for the time being.
Rory and Jess spent the entire day talking and planning and making a list for the wedding, only leaving the bedroom for snacks and a leisurely shower. The first priorities would be getting a marriage licence and convincing Taylor to let them use the bridge. Jess deferred the task of talking to Taylor to Rory, not liking the odds if it was left up to him. He would take care of the licence and also find them a minister. Rory could make the invites by hand as they planned on only a dozen guests. Rory would also ask Sookie to make their cake and Jess would see if Luke would be willing to close the diner for the afternoon for a reception. Rory hoped her mum would agree to make her dress but had a backup in mind. Considering her mum had a newborn's needs to tend to, Rory wasn't sure she'd have the time but didn't want to upset her by excluding her, especially when everything else was planned. They were due for a visit to the Hollow and after a quick phone call to her mum Rory had booked them in for baby cuddles over lunch the next day. They could run their ideas by Lorelai and Luke then.
"I think we should spend every day in bed together, look how much we got done!" Rory pointed out, examining their to-do list one last time as she got ready for sleep that night. "I think we neglected to put something very important on that list," Jess replied, watching her as she stood before the mirror, brushing her hair. "I didn't bother adding it because we already did that this morning," Rory said matter-of-factly as she placed her brush down and switched off the light before hopping into bed beside him. "Well in that case, goodnight," Jess rolled over to turn out his lamp, then settled back on his pillow, feigning sleep. He tried not to smile as he felt two dainty hands creeping their way over the muscles of his back but when they reached his waist he gave in, turning over to face his future wife and take his turn to feel her skin beneath his fingers. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to practice this a little more before our wedding night," he conceded. "As if we ever needed practice when it came to this," Rory whispered in his ear before leaving a trail of kisses down his neck to his collarbone. "Yeah, whatever else happens, at least we know this part works, right?" Jess smiled as he found her lips in the dark and he felt her smiling back at him.