AN: Okay, I know it is another short one. . . .I just couldn't get my groove going on it. . . . .I am working on what comes next but I am kind of stumped about what direction I want the next chapter to go. If you have any suggestions, PLEASE IM me. It took me forever to get this chapter done, my muse just wasn't there. . . . I am trying to chug away on the next chapter, but it may be a few days!

Chapter 26

Rory was sitting in the study going through the wedding proofs; there were so many great shots and was trying to choose which ones she wanted in what size. She had already decided on a wedding book that had pretty much every single edited picture the photographer gave her to look through; but the ones that would actually be framed and would adorn the walls of her home and her family's (to include the Huntzbergers now) homes was such a hard decision!

She stopped at a picture of the reception with Finn raising his glass in the air, his face adorned with his usual 'up to no good smirk' and Paris's eyes shooting daggers at him while she still had a smile on her face, and she thought back to his glorious best man speech.

"Ladies and Gentleman, excuse me" Finn stood up and started to clink his butter knife on his champagne flute "Can I have your attention please, yes that's right all of you lovely people who have joined us here today; oh hello love, I love your red hair, how have I not seen you yet…." His head snapped to the side as Paris made it a point to clear her throat very loudly, he sheepishly looked at her "Just kidding love, I am a one woman man these days, and she is terrifying, she would destroy you…" he heard another throat clearing, this time from Rory. "Ah yes, anyway where was I. Ahhh yes, my toast to my best mate and his reporter girl. Now, it took me a lot of convincing to get Rory and Logan to let me give a toast tonight, but being one of his oldest friends and having been there on the day that the two of them met for the very first time, I could not miss this moment to let all of you know how absolutely amazing and perfect the two of them are for one another. They have had a long road full of ups and downs, and when it first started, well to be honest we thought she hated him. He was able to wear her down though, and for the first time ever, Logan Huntzberger became a one woman man, she had him hooked. I have enjoyed seeing the changes over the years, the adventures that we have all experienced together all over the world and I am so happy the two of them found their way back to one another, right where they belong. I have no doubt the two of you will be blissfully happy for the remainder of your days, and I can't wait to meet my neice and nephew and teach them all the secrets of the trade, to see them go to Yale one day and carry on all our traditions, even though I am sure Rory wants me to do nothing of the sort, I am exotic and I have my way of convincing her to do things." Another throat cleared, this time it came from Logan. "Ah, yes but I digress. Anyhow, I shall conclude my fine Best Man speech with a reminder to always live every day as if it were your last, to never go to bed angry with one another, to always end your phone calls with I love you, and remember Im Omnia Paratus!"

All the members of the LDB, past and present, resounded with a firm Im Omnia Paratus! It surprised Rory when she saw her grandmother mouthing the words and raising her glass and the two of them shared a knowing look. Rory had never even suspected that her grandparents had been members, but it made sense when she really thought about it.

"To Rory and Logan!" He finished as he held up his glass high, then took a rather surprisingly normal size drink and re-took his seat next to Logan.

Rory shook her head and laughed to herself as she thought about his interesting speech. If she were being honest, it was nothing like the toast she thought he would give, but it was perfectly Finn.

She still couldn't believe that Finn and Paris were an official couple, she had not seen that coming at all; but, when Paris called her right after Thanksgiving and told her that she and Finn had slept together and she thought that it was going to become a regular thing, Rory just went with it. The two were an oddly perfect pair, they were definitely both certifiable, but they also balanced each other out. Finn made Paris take things less seriously, and she occasionally got Finn to behave like a man in his 30s. She was definitely interested to see where this relationship was going.

She continued to look through the photos and she stopped at the one of her and her dad and GiGi. It was a posed shot that was taken in between the ceremony and the reception; the three of them were standing in front of a brick wall, the two girls on either side of their dad. The smiles were so big and genuine and she knew that she was going to frame it, it was too perfect not to.

Next she saw the picture of her and her grandmother, it was a candid shot during the ceremony with Rory and Logan in the background holding hands and slightly blurred with Emily in the foreground. The look of love on her face as she stared at the two exchanging vows hit Rory really hard. It was such a beautiful moment in time, and the emotion in her glistening eyes could not be faked. It really made Rory stop and think about how lucky she was to have her grandmother in here life the way she was now and it made her feel guilty for the way she had treated her when she was younger, especially during the tail end of the dark days of Yale. She had really taken for granted everything that her grandparents had done for her over the years; but now that she was older and becoming a mother herself, she was starting to understand how much hurt her grandmother had felt at the hands of her and her mother.

And there it was, the final connection to the one person that she had been doing everything she could NOT to think about; her mother. Rory still could not believe that her mom did not come to the wedding and her heart was breaking. She knew that her mom didn't agree with her decisions, she never did when they differed from her own views of what Rory's life should look like, but she really didn't think that her mom would actually miss her wedding. She had checked every day for the RSVP from her and Luke to come in the mail, and every day her heart broke a little bit more when it didn't come.

She had lost count of the number of times she picked up the phone to call her, see if she was coming, if the RSVP had gotten lost in the mail, if she hadn't sent one because as the mother of the bride it was a given that she would be there, all the different reasons why an RSVP had not arrived that she could think of; but she never actually pressed the button, never actually called her, because she was too scared to have the conversation she knew she would have; the conversation where her mother tells her that she isn't coming to her wedding. So instead, she took the typical Gilmore girl route, and just avoided the situation all together.

She had held out hope that she would come, that she would show up that morning in the dressing room, dress in hand ready to help Rory get ready for her big day; give her some speech about how sorry she was that she had put her own feelings ahead of Rory's and how while she didn't understand the decisions that Rory was making, she supported her because she is her daughter and that is what moms do. They would hug it out, Rory would tell her she understood her reservations but they were unwarranted and that with time she would see how great Logan was for her, and how happy she is. But none of that happened. Every time the door opened she had perked up, hoping it was her, but it never was, and every time her heart broke a little more.

Rory was not sure if she would be able to forgive her mom for missing her wedding, the most important day in her life so far, because of her pride and her disdain for the choices that Rory had made. She understood that Lorelai didn't agree with her decision to not work, and that she never wanted Rory to be in the society world; but, at some point she was going to have to realize that this was where Rory wanted to be, that she felt comfortable here despite the fact that Lorelai never had.

She hated that it was like this between the two of them, and she really wished it were different; but this was the way it was going to be from here forward. A line had been drawn in the sand. Her mom cared more about her own feelings than she did Rory's, and she wasn't really sure where to go from here.

She wiped away the tears and reached down to lay her hand on her stomach; vowing to herself and her two babies growing inside her that she would do everything in her power to never do that to her own children.