"Mom, I think it's really great that you want to throw an engagement party for them, but couldn't it wait until Rory is done with her treatments?"
"And when exactly would we do that, Lorelai? Most likely she won't be done until you're about to or have just given birth. Then we need to wait a respectable amount of time after the twins' Christening… that makes it middle of February or even March before we can have a party, and that is simply much too close if they plan to get married in the Spring or Summer of next year.
"Who said they're getting married in the Spring or Summer of next year? I certainly haven't heard anything about that. She just got out of the hospital 10 days ago, and I know that shook them up pretty good, I think they were just trying to take a breath, together."
Oh Goodie. Looks like it's going to be another fun afternoon at the Chemo Clinic! Rory was coming back from the car where she had left her bag of bridal magazines, because today was one of their planning days. She entered the room, kind of hoping the conversation would just die. To think she thought the worst part of today would be having all those bags of poison pumped through her bloodstream...
"Now Rory, I know that there has been a lot on your plate, but we really should be thinking about a date before we do much planning. We've certainly gotten a better feel for your general aesthetic, but really the two most important decisions are going to come down to the date and the dress. Have you and Logan discussed a date any further?"
No such luck, Gilmore. Dammit, Logan was supposed to be joining them with lunch any time, where the hell was he?
"Well, a little bit Grandma. We know what we want, but aren't quite ready to commit to anything until my next two scans come in showing we're on track."
"Well, can you maybe clue us into what you and Logan were thinking in terms of when? Humor your poor, old grandmother."
"Now, Emily, we both know that you grow younger every single day, so I'm not sure that's the appropriate threat to use with Rory." Oh thank God, Logan was here.
"Logan, you are far too charming for your own good, you know that, right?"
"Yes, Mom, we've taken to texting it to him on a daily basis."
"It's a flaw, Emily, I'm working on it, I promise." He moved about the room perfectly comfortable, kissing Emily on the cheek, nodding to Lorelai before he settled the large box of food Luke had sent for today's lunch- burgers and fries for all but Emily, she ordered a Cobb salad, dressing on the side, naturally. "Now, what is the topic of the day, how can I be of assistance?" He began to unpack the food, a small table available to put it out on for each person to grab what they wanted; everyone had been amazed the first day Emily came to treatment and ate out of her lap as though she was at a picnic, a sight that had strangely warmed Lorelai's heart, watching her mom try so hard.
"We were just discussing when you were going to make an honest woman of my sullied daughter." Rory almost spit out her coke.
"Mom!"
"Really, Lorelai, the things you say."
Ignoring her daughter, she decided to try a different tactic.
"So, Logan, in all this time, I haven't heard much from you about what you're envisioning for your wedding. Everything today is so modern, so many grooms asking for input into the planning."
"Well, Emily, I can't say I have a great deal to tell you, other than I would like it to be the second Ace is feeling up to it, I'm tired of waiting." He took her hand and leaned in to give her a short kiss.
"Aren't you two just darling? Lorelai, aren't they just the sweetest couple?"
"Yes mom, I'm currently being tested for gestational diabetes from being around all of the sweetness too much."
"Oh, and it's so much fun to watch you and Dad taking advantage of 2nd trimester hormones?" Rory shot back after having caught her parents in particularly compromising situations more than once in the last month.
"Now Rory, I don't know to what you could be referring?"
"The car outside of the poolhouse!"
"LORELAI!" Emily exclaimed, shocked.
"Well, it's not exactly like it was a new spot for us. And you took the really good spot, the poolhouse may or may not have been a very enjoyable place for us in the past."
"So Emily, you were asking about any ideas I have for a wedding?"
"Logan, once again I have to thank you for bringing a level of class and sophistication to an otherwise sophomoric and crass afternoon."
"I live to serve."
"Now, for starters, did you have a date in mind? Maybe just a time of year?" Logan leaned in, kissing Rory's intertwined hand before he spoke.
"Well, I wasn't kidding when I said it can't come soon enough. But, I want to make sure Rory gets to enjoy being a bride, planning everything and going to showers, so we need to be well clear of all of this. Realistically, maybe next June? Or even September? As for where, I personally, but I'm flexible on this, was thinking something at a beach in New England would be nice."
"Really?" Rory looked up at Logan, this was the first she was hearing of it.
"Well, I just love to think about our weekends at the Vineyard together, eating steak and lobster, reading by the fire… or how we got engaged in Nantucket. We could even leave the reception on a sailboat, celebrating other important milestones of ours."
"Wow, that sounds beautiful." Rory smiled, but not the kind that reached her eyes.
"Ok, so that sounds like a pretty big swing and a miss." He couldn't help but be a little hurt that she was not at all interested in this picture. "What were you thinking? Because I gotta say, while I agree that the Library of Congress would be spectacular, I'd imagine the wait list is a bit longer than I can bear." He tried to make a small joke.
"No, that's not what I was… Wait. The Library of Congress? Can you get married there?" Her eyes went huge as she took two seconds to imagine getting married to the man of her dreams in one of the largest and most gorgeous libraries in the world…
"Earth to Rory…" Lorelai practically sang to her daughter, bringing her out of her daydream.
"What? Sorry. No, I do not want to get married at the Library of Congress- it's gorgeous, and I kind of wish it was my style, but no." She turned to Logan, looking him in the eye. "Honestly, your idea is beautiful, and I can see it, and if it's really important to you, I want to talk about it. But, I always grew up dreaming about getting married at the Independence Inn. I know that isn't an option anymore, and the Dragonfly isn't really built for a wedding the size of ours, but I think I'd like to see if we could find a place that feels like the Independence Inn. It used to be so beautiful, that big veranda out back, the lake with the swans waddling about, the weeping willow trees and the stunning gardens; Sookie catering and making a cake beyond anything you could ever find in London, Paris or New York City… Everyone from Stars Hollow would be there, Mory playing piano out back… we could even do pictures at the Gazebo. Well, I guess that doesn't seem likely, I don't think there's an inn like the Independence close enough to the Hollow. But… Oh, I don't know, I guess it's silly. I know the Inn is gone."
And she did know that, she just… she'd only ever pictured her wedding in a hypothetical kind of way, like, it was a beautiful garden setting near the water. She never really realized it was the Inn she was picturing until she started to look at magazines and websites, trying to figure out her dream wedding.
"Well, I'm sure we can find something, Rory. Perhaps we can even find something out by the Cape or the Vineyard so that both of you are happy. I'm going to make a few calls. I think that given the families involved and Logan being in California and Rory… being here, this is the exact situation in which a wedding planner is warranted" Lorelai was about to say something when Emily cut her off, "No, Lorelai, not the genius I hired for you that you so thoroughly tormented; I doubt he would even take my calls at this point."
She glared at her daughter, still annoyed by that entire ordeal, the things he was able to accomplish, it would have been absolutely spectacular.
"Now, Mom, our wedding was absolutely beautiful and we didn't need all that other stuff."
"Well of course it was beautiful, but just think how spectacular it could have been!"
"I know it could have been all that, but that just wasn't us, Mom. And I somewhat doubt it's what Rory and Logan want either."
"Don't be silly, Lorelai, this is a Gilmore-Hayden marrying a Huntzberger for God's sake, of course it's going to be perfect."
"Whoa, Grandma, hold on there, I don't think that's what-"
"Yeah, Emily, you do understand that this isn't so much about a Gilmore-Hayden marrying a Huntzberger as it is a Gilmore-Hayden marrying me, Logan- intense disappointment who hasn't talked to any Huntzberger of note in the last year. I'm not even sure Mitchum and Shira would open the invitation."
"Oh Logan, I think you'll find that given the right circumstances, all fences can be easily mended."
"Be that as it may, Grandma, I think we should discuss the kind of wedding we want. While I understand that you and Grandpa and maybe even Dad are going to be excited to make it a big thing… well, we really aren't looking for 300 guests and 4 days of events." She looked at Logan and he nodded, this they were in perfect agreement on.
"We are willing to go up to 175 people, ABSOLUTE maximum, and that includes about 50 of our friends and 45 people from Stars Hollow. Both of our families are pretty small so there aren't a great deal of relatives to account for- especially with the Huntzberger estrangement. I'm perfectly open to the ladies I know from the DAR and anyone else I've met- but I'd like to keep business associates and friends of yours and grandpa's I've never met to an absolute minimum. TWO tables. I mean it, that's it." Emily was aghast.
"But Rory-"
"No, Emily, I'm going to stick up for my bride here. We've both been to enough society weddings to understand how impersonal and boring they are- more business deals than dancing and celebration and that isn't what we want. Now, once she thoroughly and completely convinced me that eloping in Vegas was not an option..." Emily went pale and Lorelai went a bit red- especially knowing she could never say a thing if her daughter did choose to elope and exclude her from being at her wedding. That was a bitter pill to swallow.
"Don't worry, Mom, as Logan said, he understands that's not on the table. I've always had my mind set on being walked down the aisle by you and dad, having Grandma and Grandpa there, Lane… trust me, there are a few things that are non-negotiable to me." Ouch, apparently there was still just a tiny bit of hostility there, but Lorelai understood.
"Anyways, Ace and I talked and compromised. I was willing to go up to 250 guests, but she wanted 100… 175 was a considerable compromise for us both. Emily, I'm sure that's disappointing to you, but I've already negotiated her up as high as we are going to be able to. But you should also consider, without the support of mein vater , I'm not entirely convinced it's going to be the must-attend event you'd like. I'm in the doghouse, I'm tainted goods."
"Now, Logan, that simply is not true. And if you two would allow us to announce the engagement and celebrate it properly, you would see that you have become quite the talk of the town. Not to mention, Rory, your portfolio, you've managed to win over quite a few people to your writing, even if not to your candidate. I think you will find your wedding to be the hot ticket."
"But Grandma, we don't want a wedding that's a 'hot ticket.' We want to be surrounded by just those we love and who love us. It's my wedding and I don't want to spend a moment of it speaking to people I don't know- I'm barely willing to spend any of it speaking to people I don't love."
"But Rory-"
"No, Emily, I'm sorry. We're excited to work with you on this, you're going to bring an elegance and attention to detail to the event that we're going to love, but we are going to insist on a few parameters." Emily sat there thinking. After a moment she shrewdly replied.
"Alright, so we're looking for an event of 175 people, somewhere with the feeling of the Independence Inn, but also on the water. Near enough that it's convenient to Stars Hollow, but elegant and sophisticated enough that all of us can proudly invite our business associates and friends. Sookie catering the affair is a detail I'm thrilled to sign onto. Now, do we have a preferred date?"
They looked at each other.
"Well, this is where I'd like to wait for my scans. We'd prefer next June. but it's possible Chemo or Radiation could go through March or April. And of course I'm going to be job searching between November and the spring. So while I'm not thrilled to push it out that far, we've also been thinking about September of next year."
"That's fine, I can work with either. Do you have any preference in colors? Flowers?"
"You know me, Grandma, and you have excellent taste. I'm fairly classic. I guess I've always imagined some kind of blue?" She looked up at Logan.
"Well, it's the color of Yale. And your eyes. I think blue works."
"And flowers?" Emily, at this point, was grinning like she didn't just eat the canary but a flock of them.
"Well, I suppose that depends on the date and the colors… I've always loved sunflowers and wildflowers." She could practically feel her grandmother wince, that felt so close to weeds in her patrician mind.
"I've always liked those romantic flower arrangements- lots of white and blush: peonies, hydrangea, roses and greenery."
"I'm sorry, you've always liked peonies and hydrangea?" Rory looked at him, very amused.
"What? I have a sister and friends who are girls. I gone to at least 60 beautifully planned events every year since I was 14- I know a few things about floral arrangements and centerpieces." That made Rory and Lorelai turn to each other, trying hard not to laugh. And failing.
"What is so funny about a cultured young man knowing what a peony is?" Emily asked, but mother and daughter couldn't stop laughing.
"I'm sorry, doe the Queer Eye Guys know about you Logan?" Lorelai couldn't help it- hearing her future son-in-law waxing on about blush peonies and white hydrangea was something she was… well, she looked at the way Rory and Logan looked at each other, smiling like idiots- and it was one of the best moments in her life.