"Mom!"

"Rory!" Lorelai rushed over and hugged her daughter. Rory smiled, leading her mom into Truncheon.

"You just missed Jess, he said he was going to meet Luke for a bite," Rory said, leading her mom towards the office and pouring them each a cup of coffee, "And then I think go do man-stuff like Home Depot or whatever."

"You do a great job keeping tabs on that boyfriend of yours," Lorelai smirked, "But yeah, that's the gist that I got. I think they're just trying to avoid us while we go into wedding craziness."

"Smart men," Rory grinned, "I have a whole agenda."

"Of course you do. How long's the list?"

"Only about ten places."

"Ten?!"

"Twelve if we're ambitious. Fourteen if we really want to get ahead."

"Nutjob. Five."

"Let's just see how it goes."

"Wait…is that…oh no," Lorelai said, her eyes following a car pulling into the Truncheon parking lot, "Did you invite my mother?"

"Grandma?" Rory said, alarmed, "She's here? At Truncheon?"

"So I take it that's a no," Lorelai said grimly, watching Emily's car park in the lot, and seeing her mother emerge from the driver's seat. Rory sighed.

"No. We haven't even really been talking, so I'm not sure how she…"

"Crap. I think that one's on me. She called earlier this week to 'talk'. I should've known. I think she did ask when I was coming down here."

"Mom!"

"I'm sorry! I'm trying to be friendlier to her! You see what happens when I try to get along?"

"Rory? Lorelai?" they heard Emily call from the entrance. Lorelai and Rory saw Chris approaching her, and quickly went to head him off.

"Rory's in the back…is there anything I can help you with, ma'am?"

"I should hope not," Emily said, looking him up and down appraisingly, "I'm just looking for my daughter and my granddaughter. Apparently this is where she resides now. And you are…?"

"Done talking to my mother," Lorelai said firmly, grabbing Chris tightly by the arm, "Mom, this is Chris. He's one of the co-owners of Truncheon with Jess."

"So Jess doesn't even own this tiny enterprise by himself?"

"Hi Grandma," Rory sighed heavily, pulling her grandmother in for a hug, mostly to try to stop her talking. She met Chris' deeply amused gaze and rolled her eyes. "What a nice surprise. What are you doing here?"

"Well, Lorelai mentioned that she was coming here to do some errands in preparation for the wedding, and I thought, I'm free, why don't I go offer to help? Heaven knows I've had my experience negotiating."

"Like you haven't," Rory muttered under her breath to Lorelai. Lorelai nudged her back.

"Wow, that's very sweet, Mom. Sure, we'd love to have you join us," Lorelai said tightly. Emily smiled broadly.

"Wonderful. That settles it. Rory, I'm sure we have plenty to be getting on with, but do we have time for a tour of…"

"I'm afraid not, Grandma, our first appointment is in half an hour," Rory lied, "And we're a twenty minute drive away. You got here just in time. Maybe when we're closed I can give you a proper tour. Would you like some coffee to take with you?"

"Is it palatable?"

"One way to find out," Lorelai responded, handing her mom her cup. Emily took a dainty sip, followed by a much larger gulp. "Mom! That's mine!"

"Honestly, Lorelai," Emily said, rolling her eyes, "Yes, Rory, that would be lovely. Thank you. We'll take my car."

"And so it begins," Lorelai said under her breath to Rory.

Three hours later, all three women sat down to coffee, thoroughly exhausted. They had managed to make six stops already (probably goaded on by Emily's grating on Lorelai's nerves, thus making her happier to rush through the process). That said, it wasn't as simple as it had been with June 3rd. They already knew the venue (the Dragonfly), the catering (all food would be via Sookie, who patently refused to have anyone involved beyond the team she would bring in herself), and the general timeframe. They looked to be moving into late February for the date, on a Saturday (to accommodate the entire town, along with anybody else). But dresses for the bridal party, flowers, all of that was still up in the air. Lorelai was still leaning towards the dress she'd seen before, which miraculously was still available, but had tried to convince herself into several others, much to Emily's chagrin when she summarily rejected them.

"I still don't understand what was wrong with the Donna Karan," Emily sighed over her coffee, taking a small biscotti out of the basket, "It was stunning."

"It was," Lorelai agreed, sighing, "But I just don't think I'm…Donna Karan. You know?"

"Always with the character, the vintage. Wouldn't you like to wear a wedding dress nobody else has worn before?"

"Honestly, Mom, I don't care about that. And I can't stop thinking about that dress. But I know that it's not the most…"

"Mom, you have been fantasizing about it for weeks. Let's just go back and get it."

"It's all the way back near Stars Hollow," Lorelai pointed out. Emily shrugged.

"I have to go back to Hartford anyway. And don't you have to go home at some point too, Lorelai?"

"I'm here till Sunday, Mom," Lorelai sighed.

"What about the Inn? How can…"

"Fine. Rory, let's strike the other four and head back there today. And then we can have another coffee with you before you go home, Mom."

Rory smirked. She knew Lorelai was just dying to get away from her mother. But she also knew it was time for her Mom to buy the dress.

"That would be lovely," Emily smiled, "Though honestly, I don't know why you didn't just do all of this in Hartford. Philadelphia is such a dirty city."

"And on that note, Rory and I will take the Jeep, since you're going home after. I'll send you the address."

Rory and Lorelai got into the Jeep, where Lorelai sighed. "Are you sure you didn't con Mom into coming so I'd go get this dress?" she asked jokingly. Rory smirked.

"No, but I wish I'd thought of it sooner. Mom, it's the dress. You know it."

"I do. I guess it's just scary to really do it, you know? After…"

"This won't be like last time," Rory promised softly, grabbing her hand, "It's going to be amazing. And it's time, and you deserve it. So let's go buy your dress and then get Grandma back to her house where she belongs."

"I gotta admit, you're really selling the whole plan on the last bit there," Lorelai rolled her eyes, but smiled a little, brushing away a tear as she tore down the highway towards Stars Hollow. Rory sent Jess a quick text, letting him know that they'd be home late and to plan on a late dinner.

They pulled in ten minutes before the shop closed. "Hi! We're so sorry to come in late," Rory smiled as she pushed through the door, "But my mom is here to buy her wedding dress."

"Oh, we have a few," the salesperson smiled, friendly.

"No need. We're coming back for hers. She tried it on a few weeks ago."

"I can't believe you still have it," Lorelai said softly. She'd already found the dress, pushed to the back of the correct shelf, and was pulling it out. Emily walked over.

"I want to see it on you," Emily pronounced. Lorelai sighed.

"Mom, I've already…"

"They're almost cl…"

"No buts. If my daughter is wearing it to her wedding, I should get to see it before it goes down the aisle, at minimum. And if you're going to wear a used dress, I need to make sure it doesn't have any obvious defects."

The salesperson looked at Emily, taken aback. Lorelai sighed.

"Mind if we take a minute?"

"Take all the time you need. Just call if you need me." they answered, shooting Emily a curious look before disappearing into the back. Lorelai rolled her eyes, and then moved over to the tiny dressing area.

"Lorelai, why are you changing in the middle of the store?"

"This is their dressing area, Mom."

"It's not even a room. It's just an old curtain hung over a space."

"That's why I called it an area, not a room," Lorelai huffed, "Rory, can you come help me with the back?"

"Got it," Rory nodded, coming in and lacing the ties on the back of the dress.

"Can't wait to see what she finds to complain about this time," Lorelai muttered, rolling her eyes. They stepped out of the room, but Emily's eyes were immediately glued to Lorelai.

"Well, Mom? What's wrong with it? Beside it being old, used, ine…"

"Lorelai." Emily stopped her, walking over and touching the fabric. "It's beautiful. This is your dress."

"…wait, really?"

"You don't…"

"It's made for you. Whoever wore it before was an imposter. You have to get it. I'm getting it for you."

"Mom, no…"

"It's already done. Excuse me!"

The salesperson reappeared. "Yes?"

"I'd like to buy this for my daughter. Do you take American Express?"

"Sure," they said, smiling, "We'll wrap it up."

"Please do. Lorelai, I'll take it to my tailor to see that they make any necessary repairs and do a thorough cleaning. I don't think you really need many alterations, but I'll set that up too."

"Mom…thank you."

"Thanks for letting me do this for you," Emily said softly, smiling to herself.