"Okay, so we're getting married," Rory stated, having calmed down from an emotional morning, taken a shower and had a cup of real coffee alongside a peanut butter sandwich Logan had made her. This was beginning to sink in.
"Friday work for you?" Logan asked, as if scheduling a simple date. He'd waited for a long time for this, and while it could've seemed like rushing, he just didn't want anything to come in between.
"Actually, yes," she replied, marking it down in her calendar. As she'd finally said it, she really had no arguments for delaying it.
"Alright, we'll need to get a license first in person and then it just depends on their schedule," he browsed the homepage of City of Hartford on his laptop. "We can just fill in the form right now, print it out and bring it along," he suggested, opening the form.
"Birthplace?" he asked.
"Hartford," Rory replied.
"New York," he said, as he wrote down his.
"Father's full name?" he inquired.
"Christopher Joseph Hayden," she replied.
"Mitchum Linus Huntzberger. Father's birthplace?" he continued.
"This is getting difficult, isn't it?" she sighed, "Hartford? As far as I know," Rory added.
"Scarsdale," he said. "Mother's?" he asked.
"Hartford," Rory replied.
"Austin" he added. "Number of this marriage?" he inquired with a smirk.
Rory replied only with a wide grin.
"Number of civil unions 'zero'. Social security nr?" he asked.
Rory handed over her social security card, and he wrote down the number, a minute later filling in his.
"They will fill in the details of the officator themselves, the town where the ceremony will be performed: Hartford. Right, all done with this," he concluded.
"What do we do with the name?" he asked a minute later, looking through an elopement checklist he'd found online.
"Honestly, I have nothing against your name, but I am not sure I feel very enthusiastic about the Huntzberger name," Rory replied. Giving up the Gilmore name felt like giving up the Gilmore in her, and that was not something she wanted to do, especially in exchange for Hunzberger.
"And I totally get that, so you just want to keep yours?" he asked. He certainly wasn't going to let that be the dealbreaker. She'd always be one of the Gilmore girls to him, no matter the name.
"I don't know, I kind of would like us to have the same name, and I want the baby to share our name, ideally both of our's," she explained.
"Would you be willing to hyphenate?" he asked.
"I guess," she replied. She couldn't certainly expect Logan to switch to Gilmore. There were no other options.
"Then we'll both do it, I have nothing against the Gilmore name," he added determinedly.
"Are you sure? You'd be willing to do that?" Rory asked, surprisedly. She'd never imagined Logan as anything other than a Huntzberger.
"I'd call it a compromise, but it really wouldn't be. It would simply be meeting on middle ground," he said.
"We'll both hyphenate then. Boy, that'll be a mouthful," she sighed.
"Alright, then afterwards we need to go to the SSA or the DMV to get that fixed with the marriage certificate," he commented.
"Lorelai Leigh Huntzberger-Gilmore, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore-Huntzberger, Rory Huntzberger-Gilmore, Rory Gilmore-Huntzberger," she tried saying the names out loud. "Sounds long and complicated, but I think Huntzberger-Gilmore sounds a little better," she added.
"Logan Elias Huntzberger-Gilmore," he said, thinking. "I kind of like it, it almost feels like a fresh identity, it sort of mellows the Huntzberger out," he said.
"Is it just going to be us two, or do we invite some people?" he asked.
"I think my mom is going to be sad when she finds out we did it behind her back," Rory realized. Lorelai would understand but she certainly wouldn't be happy.
"Same with Honor," he replied. But telling her was the issue, there was no way she was going to keep her reaction under wraps.
"So we invite them," she added. "Anybody else that absolutely has to be there?" she asked.
"Finn maybe, but he doesn't absolutely have to be there," he hesitated.
"Same with Paris, she might be a little angry but she'd get it I think," Rory said. "Maybe we just throw a small party for them later, invite them for dinner or something," she suggested.
"So just Lorelai and Honor at the ceremony," he noted. "Evening out the guest list has never been easier," Logan said smugly, recalling some of the guest list drama before Honor's wedding.
"Maybe we can just tell them to meet us somewhere near the Town Hall on Friday and not tell them why until they get there," she suggested. "Oh, I know. Let's say we'll be going to lunch at La Boheme, but actually make the reservation a few hours later," she added.
"Alright, that might work," he agreed.
"You're dad is going to be furious if you don't call your lawyers though," Rory noted.
"You mean for a prenup?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied.
"You want to protect your inheritage?" he smirked jokingly, knowing too well what she meant.
"Logan," she frowned.
"I don't need a prenup, do you?" he said, still pretending to be clueless.
"Are you sure?" she asked, suddenly feeling the disparity in their financial situation.
"I don't plan on divorcing you, so why would I?" he stated boldly, taking a sip of coffee.
"I need to find a dress. I don't want anything flashy but I do think my wardrobe is a little thin on things that actually fit me," she noted a few minutes later.
Logan pulled out a credit card from his wallet that was already open on the desk. "Here, take this, Ace. I want you to have something you like," he said. It was her special day after all, even if it was low-key.
"Logan, I can't take this," she objected.
"Yes, you can. What's mine is yours, you better start getting used to it. You can pay for dinner later if it makes you feel better," he said, noting down 'call accountant'.
Rory took the card reluctantly. This certainly needed some getting used to.
"You got a suit, you can wear?" she asked. She knew he had a dozen suits and a number of garment bags holding probably all kinds of eventwear.
"Okay if I reuse one from a wedding I went to last year?" he asked.
"If you like it, I see no problem with that. I'd reuse something I own too, but I won't fit into them unfortunately," she said.
"Any preferences on the rings?" he asked.
"Something simple? You have good taste, I trust you to pick them," she said. "I'll book the restaurant for later, just us four," she suggested. "Or maybe we just go for tacos or something? Would be kind of cool," she suggested.
"That would be a great story for the kids, and my parents," he agreed laughingly.
"Kids, Logan? Really?" she asked, trying not to think about the other part of that sentence.
"A man can dream," he replied smugly, adding, "no rush, Ace."
"Can I help you?" the shop assistant asked, as Rory browsed through one of the bridal shops in East-Hartford.
"Maybe you can," she began. "I need something that you have available on very short notice and will fit this," she said pointing at her stomach," she asked. She found it a little challenging to shop for herself, all alone.
"How short notice are we talking about here?" she asked.
"I'd need it by Friday," Rory clarified.
"Oh, then we'd need to check what we have in stock now," she replied, hearing the somewhat unusual request.
"I'd prefer something low key, simple, can be a little shorter, tea-length maybe," Rory explained.
"I'll go check," she said.
While she waited, she thought back to her mother's recent wedding. She'd eloped too, and she'd done it once before. Waiting and then suddenly not waiting was almost like it was in their blood.
"Okay, so if you'll step this way, I'll show you a couple you could try out," she offered, leading her to the dressing room area, where she'd hung up a couple of options.
One of them was just too glittery for her taste, the second a short lace fitted maternity dress and the third a knee-length with a polka dot tulle bodice.
Minutes later she was in the dressing room trying out her options. Her bump was just the sort of middle size, not quite large enough to fill out most of the maternity dresses fully. She tried another regular with an empire waist, but that was just way too princessy to her liking.
"Here's one more option, if you'd like," the shop assistant handed her a short-sleeve sheath dress reaching just above the knee with pleated accents above the empire waistline. It was simple enough, but still the ivory tone of it made it feel a little special.
Trying on dresses was almost like exercise to a pregnant woman and frankly she was getting a little tired already. She sighed in relief once the assistant helped to zip her up.
"This really isn't bad," she said, stepping out of the dressing room, and looking herself over in front of the large mirror.
"I think it looks great on you," the assistant said.
"God, now I wish my mom was here," she sighed with a tremble in her voice, feeling the tears form in her throat. Her hormones were clearly all over the place.
"Oh, here," she offered her a tissue, "I'll just give you a moment," she offered.
The dress looked amazing, simple and elegant, just what she wanted. Nevertheless, she missed her mom.
"Mom?" she called a second later, still wearing the dress.
"Rory, everything okay?" Lorelai asked, hearing her sob.
"I'm shopping in Hartford. I missed you," she sighed.
"Oh honey, what's the matter?" she asked.
"Please don't tell anyone, I was going to call you later and ask you to meet me on Friday in Hartford, but I just couldn't hold it in," she began.
"What honey?" she repeated, beginning to worry.
"We're eloping on Friday," she announced, "I'm trying on the dress right now. I missed having you here," she sobbed.
"Hey, don't cry. That's great news, isn't it?" she said, adding "send me a picture."
Rory wiped her nose and cheeks, then switching her phone to Facetime, she showed her mother what she was wearing.
"It looks amazing, hon," Lorelai said.
"You really think so?" Rory asked.
"I really do. Logan will love it," she assured.
"So you're not mad I didn't tell you?" Rory asked, adding, "Do you think Luke will be mad?"
"Not telling people is the whole idea of eloping, Rory, I should know. And Luke will be fine," she replied. "So Friday what time?" she asked to the point.
"11," she sighed.
"Town hall?" she asked.
"Yes," Rory replied.
"I'll be there, hon. But really, you look beautiful in that, you should definitely get that dress," she assured. "Anything else you need me to help you with?" she asked.
"It's fine, thanks mom," she added, trying to stop her tears.
"Are you alright?" the assistant asked compassionately, as she ended the call.
"I'm fantastic, it's just the hormones." she explained, laughter beginning to mix in with her tears. "I'll take the dress, how much was this?" she said, wiping her tears away.