Author's Note: Okay…here's another one of those time jumps I was talking
about. I hope you're enjoying this so far! It will go through some skips
but then will get really tight towards the end because the most important
part of the fic. So please review…
Chapter 7
Mid January…
"Lorelai, please. Stop just flipping through that rack! Take so time to consider some of these!" Emily scolded.
Lorelai stopped her actions and looked up at her. They were standing in the middle of one of Hartford's finest bridal shops picking out the dress that Lorelai would wear down the aisle. Sookie was off looking in another part of the store while Emily insisted on dragging her off to look at some other dresses she had seen earlier.
"Mother, this rack has nothing but boring dresses! I want to be over there with Sookie looking at the fun dresses! Look! Look at this!" Lorelai held up one of the dresses. "It looks like a lace and bead factory exploded and this is the result! I don't think there is a yard of ACTUAL fabric here! It's just many, many layers of lace with little white beads sewn in all over the place in what appears to be random patterns! It's a giant puffball!" she exclaimed.
"Fine. It's your wedding." Emily said stiffly.
"Thank you." Lorelai said.
"These are like the dress I wore for my wedding." she mumbled under her breath as they walked towards the other end of the store.
"Oh god mother! Are you trying to guilt me into choosing the dress of your choice?" she said exasperatedly.
"No, I'm just saying…" Emily began.
"Mom, listen, I know I don't say it much but I love you, I really do. And try as I might to ignore it, your opinion does actually matter to me, it hurts when you say negative things about my style and how I live my life because you are my mother. I've been trying to make things right with you in case you haven't noticed mom!" Lorelai felt tears beginning to well up. "We have been known to have more fights in one sitting than most people have in a month! I have been trying to get along with you because for once in my life I am truly happy and I don't want anything to mess that up! Rory is happier now that she has a group of friends at Chilton, Jess is finally starting to warm up and act like a normal human, Luke is not fighting with me about coffee, and we have been getting along so well while we've been planning this wedding! All I ask is that you just please, don't mess that up by forcing me to do something that I don't want to do because that is what pushed me away in the first place!" Lorelai finished in tears.
Emily opened her mouth to say something but then closed her mouth. For the first time she saw Lorelai small and crying, not like all the other times after fights, this time she was seeing her as a vulnerable daughter needing her mother's support. Swallowing in attempts to hold back her own tears she pulled Lorelai into a hug and allowed Lorelai to cry on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Lorelai. I just want the best for you…but your right, it's your life and I shouldn't try to control it."
Lorelai pulled back in shock and blinked. "Who are you and what have you done with my mother?"
Emily laughed. "She's been replaced indefinitely."
"A clone with a sense of humor." Lorelai smirked.
Emily reached up and wiped Lorelai's tears away with a handkerchief from her purse. "Yes, well, don't tell anyone."
Lorelai laughed. "Thanks mom."
"Let's go see what Sookie has found." she suggested.
"Agreed." Lorelai said.
~
"I can not believe how gross this is!" Rory shrieked as they sat in bio class.
"What? You don't enjoy dissecting creepy crawlers?" Tristan said sarcastically under his breath.
"Why earthworms? Why?" she groaned.
"Just wait till we dissect cow eyes." he said as he concentrated on cutting the worm down the ventral.
"Eyes? Cow eyes? Great, just great! I'm going to have to dissect something while it looks back at me!" she said waving her arms for emphasis.
"Hey, drama queen, do you mind? I need you to start pinning this thing open. Unless you WANT me to cut the small intestine open so you can see what it was eating when it died? That would be a treat."
"Ew! Fine, just shut up and stay away from any internal organs that involve the digestion process." she winced as she complied with his request.
"So, how is your mom's wedding dress search going?" Tristan asked trying to take both their minds of the lab assignment.
"Good. She and Sookie took the day off from the inn to search. My grandma went with them."
"Interesting. So what are your bets for tonight's fine Friday dinner?" he asked.
"Okay…ten bucks says that Jess objects to three of my grandma's suggestions before dinner is even served." Rory smiled.
"Oh, someone's feeling risky. I'll make that bet but only because I know we'll be late and Emily will make us sit down for dinner upon our immediate arrival, leaving no time for talking." Tristan countered, pointing the scalpel at her.
"Oh, how you think you know the workings of my family." she mused patting his head with one of her gloved hands.
"Hey!" Tristan objected. "No earthworm juices in my hair thank you very much!"
"Yeah, yeah. So what is your wager?"
"Well, five bucks says that Lorelai has an argument about the food…"
"That always happens." Rory interrupted.
"You didn't let me finish!"
"Sorry, continue." Rory put in another set of pins in the worm.
"Okay, she has an argument about the food and makes Luke talk to it."
Rory looked up and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Specifically, during the…second course." Tristan added seeing her skeptical look.
"Well, if you want to make a ridiculous bet like that. Seems like the odds are in my favor. Rule number one, don't narrow down you playing field like that, you increase your chances of losing."
"Since you're so confident why don't we raise that bet?" he put down the scalpel.
"Ten bucks?" Rory offered.
"Fifteen." he replied.
"Hmm, getting into the hard stuff huh? Well, there is another town book sale coming up and I could use the money…make that twenty."
"You'll lose." he warned her.
"Ego check Mac."
"Fine Mary. You wanna play, we'll play. All bets final?" he offered her a hand.
"Deal." she shook his hand.
"So, now that that is out of the way," he returned to the worm, "what time are we meeting the rest of the Gilmore/Danes entourage at that bridal place?"
"Three-thirty. No time to stay around and hang with your groupies today." Rory teased.
Tristan rolled his eyes. "You would think they'd have lost interest in me by now but no, they refuse to accept that I'm done playing their little games."
Rory laughed. "You have to give them some credit, they are truly dedicated to the cause." she said in mock sincerity.
"I just wish they would give up."
"You miss it and you know it." she punched his arm playfully.
Unfortunately this shove forced the arm he was cutting with to pitch forward. Almost immediately a thick dark substance filled the cavity of the worm.
"Oh, gross what is that stuff?" Rory asked.
"That would be the stuff that the worm was eating. You made me cut the small intestine!" he exclaimed.
Try as he might to be angry with her he found it impossible as she tried to hold back her giggles. No longer able to hold in the laughs, he found himself laughing with her. Throwing the scalpel down on the tray he sat back down on his stool and leaned against the counter. He looked over at her a grinned.
"Well?" he questioned. "What now?"
She cleared her throat and raised her hand. "Um, Miss Caldwell? We need another worm."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I look like a penguin." Jess grumbled.
"Oh, you do not." Luke said through the dressing room door. He stood fully dressed in the tux that he was to wear for the big day. It was Emily's idea to have everything early to leave room for alterations and such.
"You're not seeing what I'm seeing." came back the disgruntled response.
"Just come out of there and we'll see about alterations."
"That's not going to help."
"Jess, just get your butt out here!"
Jess stepped out of the dressing room visibly not amused. Luke looked at the ensemble and bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing. His nephew stood wearing black slacks that were about two inches too short, a white shirt with a straight black tie, a jacket that had coattails going back to just behind his knees, white gloves, and a top hat to cap it all off. Bring on the monocle and put him in a Batman movie. Tristan walked out of the next dressing room over straightening his bow tie. He stopped and blinked at Jess.
"You look like a penguin." he said bluntly.
"Ya, I noticed." he retorted.
"Whoa, now hold on, Jess I don't think that is your tux it looks nothing like Tristan's or mine. They must have made a mistake." Luke reasoned.
"Yeah, unless Emily purposely wanted to turn you into a the villain in a comic book." Tristan snorted.
"Shut up." Jess narrowed his eyes.
"Don't worry I'll see about the mix up, in the meantime, just change…" Luke broke down in laughs and held up a hand in apology, "I'm sorry…it's just that it's so…" he laughed again and cleared his throat, "I'll just go fix the order."
"So sorry I'm late, I got stuck in horrible traffic and…" Richard began entering the back rooms with his tux in hand, "…Luke didn't pick THAT for you boys did he?" Richard asked upon seeing Jess.
"No, sir, it was a mistake on the order." Tristan answered.
"Thank god. Reminds me of a character from a ridiculous movie Lorelai forced Emily and I to watch. Something involving a man dressed in a cape of some sort."
"Great! Even the grandfather mocks me!" Jess threw his hands up in the air before disappearing into his room.
~
"Lorelai that's it!" Emily exclaimed. "That's the dress!"
"What's the dress?" Sookie hurried out of her dressing room though the current dress she was trying on was only halfway buttoned. "Oh my gosh! That dress is perfect!"
"Which one is perfect?" Rory asked coming out from her respective fitting room wearing her Chilton uniform which she threw on in the rush to see what the commotion was about.
"This is." Lorelai turned to face the two in the dress.
They opened their mouths to speak but could not. Lorelai stood in a perfect white dress with a full train and a off the shoulder sleeves. The top was heavily embroidered and then "V"-ed off into the silky satin that made up the skirt.
"So what do you think?" Lorelai asked.
"I think I'm going to cry." Sookie gushed.
"That bad?" Lorelai teased.
"It's perfect!" Sookie exclaimed.
"That's what I said." Emily agreed.
"Very 'Rachel' from Friends mom." Rory added.
"So this is it? Do you all agree that this is THE dress?" Lorelai asked.
Emily, Rory, and Sookie merely nodded in awe.
"Of course, you're going to need to make a few alterations. It's about two inches too long, of course you'll be wearing heels so that will make up for one inch. You might consider shortening the train a bit. Also it seems just a bit too lose around the sleeves." Emily said as she circled Lorelai making note of everything.
"Well, then it's a good thing we found this dress now. Plenty of time to fix it all."
"Oh, mom, we have to meet the guys at the Starbucks in ten minutes." Rory interrupted looking down at her watch.
"No worries. We'll have the lady at the register hold it for us and we can place the order for alterations when we come back tomorrow to pick out your guy's bridesmaid dresses." Lorelai said hopping down from the platform she stood on and gliding into her dressing room.
~
"Where are they?" Jess complained. "They're fifteen minutes late!"
"Relax, Jess, they're women. You must be patient with them." Richard soothed.
"And when that doesn't work just focus on trying not to say anything stupid to make them mad when they finally do show up." Luke said gruffly.
"Won't have to wait too long. I think Lorelai and Rory are due for their caffeine fixes in about, oh, three, two, one…"
"Coffee! Need coffee!" Lorelai stormed in with Rory at her side. Emily and Sookie trailed behind.
"Here!" Luke called their attention.
Both girls rushed over and grabbed the two closest cups waiting for them and promptly drank nearly half of the contents.
"Oh, that felt good." Lorelai mused.
"So, did the search go well?" Luke asked.
"Mom found the perfect dress!" Rory gushed.
"You'll turned to pudding when you see her in it." Sookie added.
"What about you four, did the tuxes fit well?" Emily asked.
"With the exception of a few minor alterations, everything is according to schedule." Luke assured her.
"Minor alterations?!" Tristan exclaimed. "Are we forgetting penguin boy over here?" he pointed his thumb at Jess.
This began an eruption of laughs.
"Oh my gosh, I want to here about this." Lorelai mused.
"It was nothing." Jess said through a clenched jaw.
"No, it was something." Tristan countered. "Picture Jess in coattails, pants that are too short, white gloves, black tie, and top hat."
More laughs ensued now that the mental image was introduced.
"Can we go now? We have Friday dinner." Jess said grumpily.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go." Luke agreed.
Everyone moved towards the door but Lorelai stayed behind and stepped in line for another cup of coffee.
"Hey, Junkie, no more we're leaving." Luke said grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the others.
"But, but, but…" she protested. "Angel." she whined.
"I said no." he said forcefully. "We're leaving."
"People, I refuse to be late to my own dinner." Emily interrupted.
"Yes, of course that would be breaking the cardinal rule of etiquette." Lorelai said sarcastically before everyone climbed into there respective cars.
~
"I simply can not believe that this is taking so long." Emily huffed for the third time in the past five minutes.
The group had returned to the Gilmore household and changed into the more formal clothes expected of them for Friday dinner only to find that the cook had been late and the dinner was not ready. Of course, Rory had no objections to this while Tristan on the other hand was on the edge of his seat. Two things DuGrey's did not do: love or lose. Now they all gathered in the study waiting.
"Jess dear, why don't you take a seat?" Emily offered.
"No, that's all right I prefer to stand." he objected.
Rory shot Tristan a smug look. He cleared his throat.
"Do you need anything to drink Tristan?" Emily asked politely.
"No thank you Mrs. Gilmore."
"So anyway, mom do you think that you and dad are going to come over tomorrow to check out the town square?" Lorelai asked.
"What for dear?" Richard asked.
"Um…to help with the placement of the chairs and stuff. You know cuz, that's where the wedding is going to be." she said nervously.
"In the middle of town? Why not in a church here in Hartford?" Richard objected.
"You didn't know?" Luke asked.
"Mom, you didn't tell him?" Lorelai said shocked.
"Emily you knew?" Richard turned to his wife.
"Is it my fault that the topic never came up?" Emily said defensively.
"Isn't it amazing that my family can carry on nearly an entire conversation in just questions?" Rory whispered to Tristan.
"Isn't it amazing that we're doing the same thing now?" Tristan whispered back.
"What are you two all hush-hush about?" Jess interrupted, leaning down on the back of the loveseat the couple sat on.
Rory and Tristan exchanged amused looks and turned their attention back to the adults.
"If you're sure you want an outdoor wedding." Richard said reluctantly.
"Yes, we're sure." Lorelai answered.
"So, anyway, when are you going to get the invitations printed up?" Emily asked.
"Well, I was thinking that we could take them in this weekend." Lorelai answered.
"Well, why don't you ask Jess to bring those in?" Emily suggested.
"Um, no, I wouldn't know what to do." Jess objected.
"That's two." Rory whispered.
"It wasn't directed towards him, it was directed to Lorelai." he countered.
"About him. It still counts."
"Fine. But you'll never make it." Tristan mumbled.
"Jess, why don't you make a toast at the reception?" Emily asked.
"No way. I'm not so great at making speeches." Jess replied.
"Dinner is served." Margaret, the maid, said.
"And that's three. Ten bucks richer." Rory gloated.
"I would have had it." Tristan grumbled.
"Thank you Rosa." Emily waved her off.
"Margaret, miss." the maid corrected.
"What?" Emily asked.
"My name's Margaret."
"I thought her name was Rosa." Richard put in.
"No dad, Rosa was fired a LONG time ago." Lorelai corrected.
"Are you sure?" Richard asked.
Lorelai opened her mouth but Emily cut her off. "Why don't we all go in now." Emily recommended pointedly.
~
"Okay, okay. Cough it up." Rory smirked as they exited the house after dinner.
"Me? You owe me ten!" Tristan said.
"What? How?" Rory asked as he walked her to her car.
"Okay, granted you did win the ten bucks for the first bet but…I do believe a certain mother made her fiancé talk to a tomato in what course?"
"Second." Rory grumbled.
"And I believe the wager was twenty dollars." Tristan rubbed in.
"Fine, I'll give you the money Monday." she grumbled.
"No, save your money, I'll think of other ways you can repay me later." he threw her the ever-famous smirk.
"Oh I shudder to think!"
"Stop flirting, we've got to get the Royal Highness and her majesty the Queen home." Jess interrupted.
"Shut it stable boy." Rory rolled her eyes.
"Stable boy now yes, but come June 12th we'll be on equal footing." he teased.
"Whatever." Rory rolled her eyes and turned back to Tristan. "Okay, so I'll see you later."
"Later." he waved as she and Jess climbed into the back of the Jeep with Luke at the wheel and Lorelai in the passenger side talking animatedly about something Tristan fortunately could not hear. Sighing contently he turned back to his own vehicle fully prepared to go home and have a dreamless sleep. Oh, if only he could have been so lucky…
`
AN: Okay, you know the drill review please. I can't guarantee any ACTUAL Trory action in the near future but I'm working on a happy substitute, please, no tomato throwing.
PS: Thanks to "im" for pointing out my mistake about the Angel/Junkie mix- up. I fixed that for ya! (well…it's sort of fixed anyway).
Chapter 7
Mid January…
"Lorelai, please. Stop just flipping through that rack! Take so time to consider some of these!" Emily scolded.
Lorelai stopped her actions and looked up at her. They were standing in the middle of one of Hartford's finest bridal shops picking out the dress that Lorelai would wear down the aisle. Sookie was off looking in another part of the store while Emily insisted on dragging her off to look at some other dresses she had seen earlier.
"Mother, this rack has nothing but boring dresses! I want to be over there with Sookie looking at the fun dresses! Look! Look at this!" Lorelai held up one of the dresses. "It looks like a lace and bead factory exploded and this is the result! I don't think there is a yard of ACTUAL fabric here! It's just many, many layers of lace with little white beads sewn in all over the place in what appears to be random patterns! It's a giant puffball!" she exclaimed.
"Fine. It's your wedding." Emily said stiffly.
"Thank you." Lorelai said.
"These are like the dress I wore for my wedding." she mumbled under her breath as they walked towards the other end of the store.
"Oh god mother! Are you trying to guilt me into choosing the dress of your choice?" she said exasperatedly.
"No, I'm just saying…" Emily began.
"Mom, listen, I know I don't say it much but I love you, I really do. And try as I might to ignore it, your opinion does actually matter to me, it hurts when you say negative things about my style and how I live my life because you are my mother. I've been trying to make things right with you in case you haven't noticed mom!" Lorelai felt tears beginning to well up. "We have been known to have more fights in one sitting than most people have in a month! I have been trying to get along with you because for once in my life I am truly happy and I don't want anything to mess that up! Rory is happier now that she has a group of friends at Chilton, Jess is finally starting to warm up and act like a normal human, Luke is not fighting with me about coffee, and we have been getting along so well while we've been planning this wedding! All I ask is that you just please, don't mess that up by forcing me to do something that I don't want to do because that is what pushed me away in the first place!" Lorelai finished in tears.
Emily opened her mouth to say something but then closed her mouth. For the first time she saw Lorelai small and crying, not like all the other times after fights, this time she was seeing her as a vulnerable daughter needing her mother's support. Swallowing in attempts to hold back her own tears she pulled Lorelai into a hug and allowed Lorelai to cry on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Lorelai. I just want the best for you…but your right, it's your life and I shouldn't try to control it."
Lorelai pulled back in shock and blinked. "Who are you and what have you done with my mother?"
Emily laughed. "She's been replaced indefinitely."
"A clone with a sense of humor." Lorelai smirked.
Emily reached up and wiped Lorelai's tears away with a handkerchief from her purse. "Yes, well, don't tell anyone."
Lorelai laughed. "Thanks mom."
"Let's go see what Sookie has found." she suggested.
"Agreed." Lorelai said.
~
"I can not believe how gross this is!" Rory shrieked as they sat in bio class.
"What? You don't enjoy dissecting creepy crawlers?" Tristan said sarcastically under his breath.
"Why earthworms? Why?" she groaned.
"Just wait till we dissect cow eyes." he said as he concentrated on cutting the worm down the ventral.
"Eyes? Cow eyes? Great, just great! I'm going to have to dissect something while it looks back at me!" she said waving her arms for emphasis.
"Hey, drama queen, do you mind? I need you to start pinning this thing open. Unless you WANT me to cut the small intestine open so you can see what it was eating when it died? That would be a treat."
"Ew! Fine, just shut up and stay away from any internal organs that involve the digestion process." she winced as she complied with his request.
"So, how is your mom's wedding dress search going?" Tristan asked trying to take both their minds of the lab assignment.
"Good. She and Sookie took the day off from the inn to search. My grandma went with them."
"Interesting. So what are your bets for tonight's fine Friday dinner?" he asked.
"Okay…ten bucks says that Jess objects to three of my grandma's suggestions before dinner is even served." Rory smiled.
"Oh, someone's feeling risky. I'll make that bet but only because I know we'll be late and Emily will make us sit down for dinner upon our immediate arrival, leaving no time for talking." Tristan countered, pointing the scalpel at her.
"Oh, how you think you know the workings of my family." she mused patting his head with one of her gloved hands.
"Hey!" Tristan objected. "No earthworm juices in my hair thank you very much!"
"Yeah, yeah. So what is your wager?"
"Well, five bucks says that Lorelai has an argument about the food…"
"That always happens." Rory interrupted.
"You didn't let me finish!"
"Sorry, continue." Rory put in another set of pins in the worm.
"Okay, she has an argument about the food and makes Luke talk to it."
Rory looked up and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Specifically, during the…second course." Tristan added seeing her skeptical look.
"Well, if you want to make a ridiculous bet like that. Seems like the odds are in my favor. Rule number one, don't narrow down you playing field like that, you increase your chances of losing."
"Since you're so confident why don't we raise that bet?" he put down the scalpel.
"Ten bucks?" Rory offered.
"Fifteen." he replied.
"Hmm, getting into the hard stuff huh? Well, there is another town book sale coming up and I could use the money…make that twenty."
"You'll lose." he warned her.
"Ego check Mac."
"Fine Mary. You wanna play, we'll play. All bets final?" he offered her a hand.
"Deal." she shook his hand.
"So, now that that is out of the way," he returned to the worm, "what time are we meeting the rest of the Gilmore/Danes entourage at that bridal place?"
"Three-thirty. No time to stay around and hang with your groupies today." Rory teased.
Tristan rolled his eyes. "You would think they'd have lost interest in me by now but no, they refuse to accept that I'm done playing their little games."
Rory laughed. "You have to give them some credit, they are truly dedicated to the cause." she said in mock sincerity.
"I just wish they would give up."
"You miss it and you know it." she punched his arm playfully.
Unfortunately this shove forced the arm he was cutting with to pitch forward. Almost immediately a thick dark substance filled the cavity of the worm.
"Oh, gross what is that stuff?" Rory asked.
"That would be the stuff that the worm was eating. You made me cut the small intestine!" he exclaimed.
Try as he might to be angry with her he found it impossible as she tried to hold back her giggles. No longer able to hold in the laughs, he found himself laughing with her. Throwing the scalpel down on the tray he sat back down on his stool and leaned against the counter. He looked over at her a grinned.
"Well?" he questioned. "What now?"
She cleared her throat and raised her hand. "Um, Miss Caldwell? We need another worm."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I look like a penguin." Jess grumbled.
"Oh, you do not." Luke said through the dressing room door. He stood fully dressed in the tux that he was to wear for the big day. It was Emily's idea to have everything early to leave room for alterations and such.
"You're not seeing what I'm seeing." came back the disgruntled response.
"Just come out of there and we'll see about alterations."
"That's not going to help."
"Jess, just get your butt out here!"
Jess stepped out of the dressing room visibly not amused. Luke looked at the ensemble and bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing. His nephew stood wearing black slacks that were about two inches too short, a white shirt with a straight black tie, a jacket that had coattails going back to just behind his knees, white gloves, and a top hat to cap it all off. Bring on the monocle and put him in a Batman movie. Tristan walked out of the next dressing room over straightening his bow tie. He stopped and blinked at Jess.
"You look like a penguin." he said bluntly.
"Ya, I noticed." he retorted.
"Whoa, now hold on, Jess I don't think that is your tux it looks nothing like Tristan's or mine. They must have made a mistake." Luke reasoned.
"Yeah, unless Emily purposely wanted to turn you into a the villain in a comic book." Tristan snorted.
"Shut up." Jess narrowed his eyes.
"Don't worry I'll see about the mix up, in the meantime, just change…" Luke broke down in laughs and held up a hand in apology, "I'm sorry…it's just that it's so…" he laughed again and cleared his throat, "I'll just go fix the order."
"So sorry I'm late, I got stuck in horrible traffic and…" Richard began entering the back rooms with his tux in hand, "…Luke didn't pick THAT for you boys did he?" Richard asked upon seeing Jess.
"No, sir, it was a mistake on the order." Tristan answered.
"Thank god. Reminds me of a character from a ridiculous movie Lorelai forced Emily and I to watch. Something involving a man dressed in a cape of some sort."
"Great! Even the grandfather mocks me!" Jess threw his hands up in the air before disappearing into his room.
~
"Lorelai that's it!" Emily exclaimed. "That's the dress!"
"What's the dress?" Sookie hurried out of her dressing room though the current dress she was trying on was only halfway buttoned. "Oh my gosh! That dress is perfect!"
"Which one is perfect?" Rory asked coming out from her respective fitting room wearing her Chilton uniform which she threw on in the rush to see what the commotion was about.
"This is." Lorelai turned to face the two in the dress.
They opened their mouths to speak but could not. Lorelai stood in a perfect white dress with a full train and a off the shoulder sleeves. The top was heavily embroidered and then "V"-ed off into the silky satin that made up the skirt.
"So what do you think?" Lorelai asked.
"I think I'm going to cry." Sookie gushed.
"That bad?" Lorelai teased.
"It's perfect!" Sookie exclaimed.
"That's what I said." Emily agreed.
"Very 'Rachel' from Friends mom." Rory added.
"So this is it? Do you all agree that this is THE dress?" Lorelai asked.
Emily, Rory, and Sookie merely nodded in awe.
"Of course, you're going to need to make a few alterations. It's about two inches too long, of course you'll be wearing heels so that will make up for one inch. You might consider shortening the train a bit. Also it seems just a bit too lose around the sleeves." Emily said as she circled Lorelai making note of everything.
"Well, then it's a good thing we found this dress now. Plenty of time to fix it all."
"Oh, mom, we have to meet the guys at the Starbucks in ten minutes." Rory interrupted looking down at her watch.
"No worries. We'll have the lady at the register hold it for us and we can place the order for alterations when we come back tomorrow to pick out your guy's bridesmaid dresses." Lorelai said hopping down from the platform she stood on and gliding into her dressing room.
~
"Where are they?" Jess complained. "They're fifteen minutes late!"
"Relax, Jess, they're women. You must be patient with them." Richard soothed.
"And when that doesn't work just focus on trying not to say anything stupid to make them mad when they finally do show up." Luke said gruffly.
"Won't have to wait too long. I think Lorelai and Rory are due for their caffeine fixes in about, oh, three, two, one…"
"Coffee! Need coffee!" Lorelai stormed in with Rory at her side. Emily and Sookie trailed behind.
"Here!" Luke called their attention.
Both girls rushed over and grabbed the two closest cups waiting for them and promptly drank nearly half of the contents.
"Oh, that felt good." Lorelai mused.
"So, did the search go well?" Luke asked.
"Mom found the perfect dress!" Rory gushed.
"You'll turned to pudding when you see her in it." Sookie added.
"What about you four, did the tuxes fit well?" Emily asked.
"With the exception of a few minor alterations, everything is according to schedule." Luke assured her.
"Minor alterations?!" Tristan exclaimed. "Are we forgetting penguin boy over here?" he pointed his thumb at Jess.
This began an eruption of laughs.
"Oh my gosh, I want to here about this." Lorelai mused.
"It was nothing." Jess said through a clenched jaw.
"No, it was something." Tristan countered. "Picture Jess in coattails, pants that are too short, white gloves, black tie, and top hat."
More laughs ensued now that the mental image was introduced.
"Can we go now? We have Friday dinner." Jess said grumpily.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go." Luke agreed.
Everyone moved towards the door but Lorelai stayed behind and stepped in line for another cup of coffee.
"Hey, Junkie, no more we're leaving." Luke said grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the others.
"But, but, but…" she protested. "Angel." she whined.
"I said no." he said forcefully. "We're leaving."
"People, I refuse to be late to my own dinner." Emily interrupted.
"Yes, of course that would be breaking the cardinal rule of etiquette." Lorelai said sarcastically before everyone climbed into there respective cars.
~
"I simply can not believe that this is taking so long." Emily huffed for the third time in the past five minutes.
The group had returned to the Gilmore household and changed into the more formal clothes expected of them for Friday dinner only to find that the cook had been late and the dinner was not ready. Of course, Rory had no objections to this while Tristan on the other hand was on the edge of his seat. Two things DuGrey's did not do: love or lose. Now they all gathered in the study waiting.
"Jess dear, why don't you take a seat?" Emily offered.
"No, that's all right I prefer to stand." he objected.
Rory shot Tristan a smug look. He cleared his throat.
"Do you need anything to drink Tristan?" Emily asked politely.
"No thank you Mrs. Gilmore."
"So anyway, mom do you think that you and dad are going to come over tomorrow to check out the town square?" Lorelai asked.
"What for dear?" Richard asked.
"Um…to help with the placement of the chairs and stuff. You know cuz, that's where the wedding is going to be." she said nervously.
"In the middle of town? Why not in a church here in Hartford?" Richard objected.
"You didn't know?" Luke asked.
"Mom, you didn't tell him?" Lorelai said shocked.
"Emily you knew?" Richard turned to his wife.
"Is it my fault that the topic never came up?" Emily said defensively.
"Isn't it amazing that my family can carry on nearly an entire conversation in just questions?" Rory whispered to Tristan.
"Isn't it amazing that we're doing the same thing now?" Tristan whispered back.
"What are you two all hush-hush about?" Jess interrupted, leaning down on the back of the loveseat the couple sat on.
Rory and Tristan exchanged amused looks and turned their attention back to the adults.
"If you're sure you want an outdoor wedding." Richard said reluctantly.
"Yes, we're sure." Lorelai answered.
"So, anyway, when are you going to get the invitations printed up?" Emily asked.
"Well, I was thinking that we could take them in this weekend." Lorelai answered.
"Well, why don't you ask Jess to bring those in?" Emily suggested.
"Um, no, I wouldn't know what to do." Jess objected.
"That's two." Rory whispered.
"It wasn't directed towards him, it was directed to Lorelai." he countered.
"About him. It still counts."
"Fine. But you'll never make it." Tristan mumbled.
"Jess, why don't you make a toast at the reception?" Emily asked.
"No way. I'm not so great at making speeches." Jess replied.
"Dinner is served." Margaret, the maid, said.
"And that's three. Ten bucks richer." Rory gloated.
"I would have had it." Tristan grumbled.
"Thank you Rosa." Emily waved her off.
"Margaret, miss." the maid corrected.
"What?" Emily asked.
"My name's Margaret."
"I thought her name was Rosa." Richard put in.
"No dad, Rosa was fired a LONG time ago." Lorelai corrected.
"Are you sure?" Richard asked.
Lorelai opened her mouth but Emily cut her off. "Why don't we all go in now." Emily recommended pointedly.
~
"Okay, okay. Cough it up." Rory smirked as they exited the house after dinner.
"Me? You owe me ten!" Tristan said.
"What? How?" Rory asked as he walked her to her car.
"Okay, granted you did win the ten bucks for the first bet but…I do believe a certain mother made her fiancé talk to a tomato in what course?"
"Second." Rory grumbled.
"And I believe the wager was twenty dollars." Tristan rubbed in.
"Fine, I'll give you the money Monday." she grumbled.
"No, save your money, I'll think of other ways you can repay me later." he threw her the ever-famous smirk.
"Oh I shudder to think!"
"Stop flirting, we've got to get the Royal Highness and her majesty the Queen home." Jess interrupted.
"Shut it stable boy." Rory rolled her eyes.
"Stable boy now yes, but come June 12th we'll be on equal footing." he teased.
"Whatever." Rory rolled her eyes and turned back to Tristan. "Okay, so I'll see you later."
"Later." he waved as she and Jess climbed into the back of the Jeep with Luke at the wheel and Lorelai in the passenger side talking animatedly about something Tristan fortunately could not hear. Sighing contently he turned back to his own vehicle fully prepared to go home and have a dreamless sleep. Oh, if only he could have been so lucky…
`
AN: Okay, you know the drill review please. I can't guarantee any ACTUAL Trory action in the near future but I'm working on a happy substitute, please, no tomato throwing.
PS: Thanks to "im" for pointing out my mistake about the Angel/Junkie mix- up. I fixed that for ya! (well…it's sort of fixed anyway).
