It's Right There

by CoffeeDrinker

[Complete] Luke/Lorelai. She looked him in the eye, she saw something there, and she realized she felt the same way. (Update: As of 10/31/14, the story is back to its original M-rated version)

12. Parts 57 to 58

"It's Right There – parts 57-58"

. . .

PART 57

. . .

They walked into the house, and Lorelai grabbed her address book from the hallway desk. "We should start writing out the addresses."

"I'm gonna go take a shower first," Luke said.

"Okay, but I'm gonna need the addresses of your friends," Lorelai told him. "I don't have them in my book."

"Yeah, I'll get 'em later," he said as he climbed the staircase.

Rory followed Lorelai into the kitchen and they sat down at the table. "Okay, do you wanna find the addresses in the book and read them aloud, or do you wanna write them down?" Rory asked.

"I wanna sit here and watch you do both," Lorelai replied.

"Forget it," Rory said. "One or the other."

Lorelai wrinkled her nose and thought for a moment. "Um, I'll read, you write."

Rory tore out the guest list and handed it to her, then flipped to a blank page in the notebook. She picked up the pen and poised herself to write. "Okay, start."

. . .

Twenty minutes later, Luke walked into the kitchen in a T-shirt and sweatpants, his hair wet from his shower. As he walked to the refrigerator, he asked, "How's it coming along?"

"We're about a third of the way through," Rory replied.

Luke grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, then walked over to the table. "That's it? What's taking so long?"

"It's a long process," Lorelai informed him.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Because every time she turns to a new page, she finds someone else to invite."

"Like?" Luke prompted.

Lorelai glanced down at the paper in front of her. "Uh, you know, just . . .people."

Luke rolled his eyes and nodded. "Oh, good, people. Well, that makes me feel better, 'cause for a minute there I thought you might've been inviting farm animals."

Lorelai snickered. "Duh, you can't invite farm animals to a wedding. They don't own the proper attire. Plus, they would ruin the whole 'wedding day' smell."

"And instead of asking you to describe what a wedding day smells like, I'll just move on and ask who else you invited," Luke said. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.

Lorelai shrugged. "Oh, just, you know . . .Harry, Andrew, Al, Mrs. – "

Luke held up his hand. "Whoa, whoa – wait a second. Al who? Pancake World Al?"

Lorelai slowly nodded.

"She thinks if we don't invite him, he'll take it personally and get mad and then refuse to serve us anymore," Rory said.

Luke rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt that he would take it personally. Plus, he wouldn't come anyhow. He rarely ever leaves that restaurant."

"Hey, it doesn't matter if he comes or not, but if we send him an invitation, then he can't say we didn't think about him, and thus, won't prohibit us from patronizing his establishment," Lorelai explained.

Luke rolled his eyes. "How many people did you add?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know, like seven."

"I thought we were trying to keep it intimate," Luke said.

Lorelai nodded. "We are."

"Okay, so when did Al become one of your intimate friends?" Luke asked.

"When I gave him a lap dance in exchange for free coffee," Lorelai replied. Luke cocked his head to the side, and Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "Point taken." She grabbed the pen from Rory and scribbled out a few names. "No more invites out of desperation or pity."

"Good," he said.

Lorelai smiled. "Okay. . .so, you wanna go get me those addresses?"

"Hm?"

"Your friends' addresses," Lorelai reminded him.

"Oh, right, right. Yeah, I'll go get them now." Luke stood up and walked toward the living room.

Lorelai turned to Rory and handed her back the pen. "Okay, ready for the next one?"

Rory nodded. "Shoot."

. . .

The next morning, Lorelai and Rory walked into the inn, each carrying a takeout cup from the diner. As she placed her purse under the desk, Lorelai scanned the surrounding area, then checked her watch. "Huh, I wonder where Michel is," she said. "He's usually here by now."

"Maybe he's helping one of the guests," Rory suggested with a shrug.

"Hm, maybe," Lorelai agreed. She glanced down at the stack of mail waiting to be opened, then looked at Rory. "Hm, should we actually get started on doing work or should we go milk Sookie for non-dirty honeymoon details?"

Rory smiled and rubbed her hands together. "Details."

They set their cups on the desk, then walked across the lobby to the kitchen. As they walked through the door, they saw Michel standing near the coffee maker. "Oh, there you are. What are you doing in here?" Lorelai asked as they walked over to him.

Michel finished pouring himself a cup of coffee, then turned around and held up the mug. "Figure it out," he said dryly.

Lorelai took the coffee mug from him. "Aw, for me? Thanks, Michel." She took a sip, then nodded approvingly. "Mm, that's good stuff." She handed the cup back to him. "But I don't need it, I already have some out on the front desk."

Michel scowled at her and huffed, "Why, why are you so annoying?" He turned around, set the mug on the counter, and began pouring himself another cup of coffee in a different mug.

Lorelai shrugged at Rory. "That was a rhetorical question, right?"

"I think so," Rory answered.

Michel finished pouring his coffee, and with an annoyed look, walked past them and returned to the lobby.

Rory looked around the kitchen. "Where's Sookie?"

Lorelai narrowed her eyes and shrugged. "What, did I get here before you or something? How should I know?" They walked toward the center of the kitchen, and each of them grabbed a strawberry from a bowl of fruit on the counter.

While they were chewing, Sookie walked out of the storage closet carrying a bag of sugar. Jackson followed behind her, wiping his hands on the side of his overalls. Sookie saw the girls and smiled. "Hey!"

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Hm, what were you two doing in there? Oh, wait!" She covered Rory's ears with her hands. "What were you two doing in there?" she repeated with a smirk.

Sookie rolled her eyes. "Putting away the crate of corn Jackson brought me, and getting this package of sugar." She set the sugar on the counter.

"Oh." Lorelai removed her hands from Rory's ears. "Nothing dirty," she informed her.

"I didn't think so," Rory replied. She smiled at Sookie and Jackson. "So, come on, tell us about the honeymoon!"

Sookie grinned. "Oh, it was beautiful. Walking on the beach at sunset, drinking Mai Tais by the hotel pool, watching the natives do their tribal dances at the luaus. . ."

"Sookie informing the natives that the technique they were using for roasting the pig was not the most efficient way," Jackson added with an eyeroll. "Can you believe that?"

Lorelai and Rory both laughed, and Lorelai said, "Oh God, I can picture you running up to the pit, pushing the guy manning the spit-roast down on the ground, and throwing a bunch of herbs on the poor little piggy as you screamed, 'It tastes better like this!'"

"Trust me, she tried to but I held her back," Jackson said.

Sookie nudged Jackson with her elbow. "Hey, it's no worse than you arguing for ten minutes with that street vendor that his pineapples were overripe."

"Ooh, was there a brawl?" Rory asked.

"Hm, two guys in Hawaiian shirts and sandals arguing about fruit," Lorelai mused. "I bet Jerry Falwell would have some interesting things to say about that."

Jackson checked his watch. "I have to get going." He kissed Sookie on the cheek. "Goodbye. Bye you two," he added to Rory and Lorelai.

"Bye," Rory replied.

"See ya," Lorelai said. As Jackson walked out the back door, Lorelai looked at Rory and said, "Yeah, we should get back to the lobby, especially since Michel's out there unsupervised with our coffee cups."

"Oh, great," Rory said. "He might've tried to poison you and accidentally put it in mine."

"Yeah, we'll get fresh coffee before we go out there," Lorelai said. She turned to Sookie. "We'll do lunch later and milk you for more details about life out of Connecticut."

Sookie smiled. "Sounds good." She opened the bag of sugar while Lorelai and Rory walked over to the coffee maker, poured themselves some coffee, and walked into the lobby.

. . .

That night after work, Luke arrived home to a quiet house. He walked to the living room and found a sleeping Lorelai curled up in a ball on the couch. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and one arm was hanging over the side of the couch. A notebook was open on the floor next to her, and the cordless phone sat on top of it. Her hair was covering her face, and Luke brushed it aside as he sat down next to her.

He sat there for a few minutes, enjoying the image of watching her sleep peacefully, before he began rubbing her thigh to wake her up. "Lorelai," he said softly. When she didn't respond to it, he said it slightly louder. "Lorelai."

Lorelai groaned softly and opened her eyes. She slowly turned her head to look at Luke, and she muttered, "Not tonight, Luke. I have a headache." She closed her eyes and rested her head back against the arm of the couch.

Luke grabbed her shoulder and shook her gently to wake her. "Lorelai, wake up."

Lorelai slowly opened her eyes again, and she stared up at Luke. "What time is it?"

He checked his watch. "Uh, almost ten."

She stretched her legs out across his lap as she adjusted her body to face him better. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, then folded her hands in her lap. "How was work?"

"Fine, it was fine," he replied. "What about you? I haven't seen you all day."

Lorelai yawned again as she nodded. "I know, I was busy. I got a lot done, though. I made the appointment for my blood test, I'm going tomorrow morning. Did you call your doctor?"

"Yup, I'm going on Wednesday," he replied.

"Okay, good. I was gonna call and remind you but I forgot," Lorelai said. "Uh, I also called my mother and told her that the guest list was ready, so she called up her invitation guy and got us an appointment for tomorrow night at seven. Can you do that? And you better say yes because I'm not gonna meet with my mother all by myself."

"Yeah, I can do that," Luke assured her.

"Good. And. . .what else, what else?" She stared up at the ceiling for a moment. "Oh yeah, I booked the reverend."

"Oh, good," Luke replied. "Which one?"

"Reverend Nichols," she replied. "And I came up with some potential honeymoon spots, all within good driving distance." She reached down and picked up the notebook from the floor, then handed it to him.

His eyes were immediately drawn to the side of the page, and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Uh, why is the margin filled with pictures of knives and. . ." He squinted down at the page. "What the hell is this – a noose?" he asked, pointing to a picture.

Lorelai leaned forward to look at it. "Um, yeah. I was just doodling while I was on the phone with my mom," she informed him.

Luke looked at her warily. "You need help."

She pointed to the notebook. "Just read the list, please."

He looked back down at the page and read through her list. When he was finished, he looked up and gave her an unimpressed shrug. "Uh, well. . ."

Lorelai grabbed the notebook from him. "What's wrong with my ideas?"

"The only ones on there that I like are Maine or Vermont," Luke told her. "Why would you even think that I'd have fun in New York City?"

"Because even though you're not a city man, I know how much you love to stand around and watch me shop," she said. "And New York City would provide lots of opportunities for you to do just that."

"Forget it." Luke rolled his eyes. "And you know I don't like gambling."

"Okay, Atlantic City was a long shot," Lorelai admitted.

"Very long. And all the others are kind of iffy, too," Luke said. "So it's down to Maine or Vermont. Wanna toss a coin?"

"No. Out of those two, I'd rather go to Vermont," Lorelai said. She smiled and added, "And more specifically, anywhere in the immediate vicinity of Waterbury."

"What's in Waterbury?" Luke asked curiously.

Lorelai stood up from the couch and patted him on the head. "You'll see when we get there." She started walking toward the staircase.

Luke stood up and followed her. "Lorelai." He grabbed her hand and turned her around to face him. "What is it? Something I'm gonna hate?"

Lorelai smiled. "Probably, but we're doing it anyway."

Luke folded his arms across his chest. "Doing what?"

"Taking a tour of Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory," Lorelai announced with a grin.

Luke groaned. "You've got to be kidding me."

"It's one of Vermont's biggest tourist attractions," Lorelai told him.

"So you picked Vermont as a honeymoon destination based on the sole intention of touring an ice cream factory?" Luke asked skeptically.

Lorelai reached up and draped her arms over his shoulders. "No, I picked Vermont as a honeymoon destination with the sole intention of making love to you as much as possible in a state that smells like maple syrup." She pressed her lips against his and kissed him passionately, then pulled back and smiled. "The ice cream factory is just an added bonus."

Luke kissed her again, then hugged her tightly. "You know you're crazy, right?"

Lorelai smiled as she hugged him back. "Yes."

"Just checking." Luke pulled back. "So, how many days – three, four?"

"For what?" Lorelai asked. "The honeymoon?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah." He thought for a moment, staring up at the ceiling pensively, then said, "We can leave the morning after the wedding, drive up there, stay a day or two, then drive back on Wednesday or Thursday."

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Okay," Luke said. "I'll take care of the honeymoon stuff. You have enough to worry about."

"Near the factory?" she asked hopefully.

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'll look for something within a nice driving distance from the stupid factory, yes."

Lorelai smiled. "Thank you."

. . .

The next evening, Lorelai and Luke met Emily in the parking lot of the stationery store in Hartford. As they walked over to her, Lorelai saw Emily check her watch. Lorelai checked her own watch and announced, "It's only 6:57, Mom. You can't yell at us for making you wait when we weren't supposed to be here for three more minutes."

Emily scoffed. "I was not going to yell at you. I was merely checking the time." She smiled at Luke. "Hello Luke. How are you?"

Luke nodded. "Fine, Emily, and yourself?"

"Very good, thank you," Emily replied. She looked at Lorelai. "You brought the guest list with addresses, right?"

Lorelai reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. "Yup, got it right here."

Emily eyed the paper curiously. "It doesn't look very long."

"That's probably because it isn't," Lorelai replied.

Emily took the paper and read it over. "Lorelai, what kind of guest list is this?"

Lorelai glanced at Luke questioningly, then turned back to Emily and shrugged. "Uh, one written in cursive?"

Emily pursed her lips. "Lorelai, there's hardly anyone on here. You should not be able to fit all of your wedding guests into a closet."

"Mom – " Lorelai started.

"Where're all of our relatives?" Emily pressed. "I don't see any of them listed on here."

"Oh, you mean the relatives that I see once every few years?" Lorelai asked. "The ones that I don't recognize unless they're wearing a nametag? Those relatives? You're right – why wouldn't I want practical-strangers helping me celebrate one of the biggest days of my life?" She slapped her forehead. "I must've forgotten to write them down. My mistake, sorry."

"Regardless of how often you see them, they are still your relatives and they would want to be there," Emily insisted.

"Mom, they don't even know me," Lorelai said loudly. "I told you before that this wedding would be small and quaint, with just close friends and family, and as difficult as it may be, you just have to deal with it. Now, come on, we're gonna be late for the appointment."

Emily glanced from Lorelai to Luke, who was standing uncomfortably behind Lorelai with his hands shoved in his pockets. Emily pursed her lips and handed the list back to Lorelai with a sigh. "Fine, let's go in." As they started walking toward the door, Emily asked, "So what's the final count anyway?"

"Um, I think it's around thirty-five," Lorelai said. "Give or take a few."

"Thirty-five people at a wedding," Emily muttered, shaking her head. "Well, at least you can save money by not having a regular-sized cake. You can just have everyone split a donut." She pulled open the door and stepped inside, holding open the door for Lorelai.

Lorelai grabbed hold of the door, then stopped walking as Emily continued inside. Lorelai let the door fall closed, then she turned around, a fake smile plastered on her face. She fingered the collar of Luke's shirt as she said, "Hey, uh, hon, I was thinking that maybe we could just forget the invitations and possibly get the hell out of this town before I kill myself." She looked up at him hopefully. "What do you say?"

"I say, everything will be fine," Luke assured her. "We'll go in there, pick out invitations, and leave. It'll be quick and painless, I promise."

Lorelai held out her arm to him, where a small bandage was covering the slight bruise from her blood test. "Can I at least rip off the Bandaid and tell her that I was shooting heroin earlier just to freak her out?"

Luke shook his head. "No." As she began to pout, he took her hand and led her into the store.

. . .

The next afternoon, Lorelai and Rory were standing at the front desk of the inn. Lorelai was stuffing envelopes with reservation confirmations, then passing them to Rory, who sealed and addressed them. "So when are your invitations gonna be ready?" Rory asked.

"Tomorrow," Lorelai replied. "My mom's gonna pick them up for me. They're printing up the envelopes, too, so when we get them, all we have to do is put stamps on them and mail them."

"Nice and simple," Rory said.

"Yup." Lorelai handed Rory the next envelope, then said, "So my mother said that your Grandpa can't stop talking about the tour."

"Yeah, he sounded excited on the phone," Rory said.

"When is it? Next Wednesday?" Lorelai asked.

"Next Thursday," Rory corrected her.

Lorelai nodded. "Right, Thursday, got it."

Rory stared at her mother for a few seconds. "You know, Mom, you don't have to go if you don't have time."

Lorelai stopped what she was doing and looked at Rory. "You don't want me to go?" she asked, slightly disappointed.

"No, of course I want you to go," Rory insisted. "But I know you're swamped with doing the wedding plans, and having to do this tour thing right in the middle of all that probably isn't . . . something you need to worry about right now."

Lorelai shook her head. "No, I know the wedding's been taking up a lot of my time lately, but – "

"We can always go on another tour after the wedding," Rory interrupted.

"No, honey, I wanna go on the first one with you," Lorelai said. "Just because things are hectic in my life right now doesn't mean the lives of everyone around me should stop. I will be coming with you and Grandpa next week, end of story."

Rory smiled and nodded. "Okay, good." Lorelai handed her the next envelope, and she addressed it. "So tonight should be fun. . .dress shopping."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah. I'm glad I put those three dresses on reserve the last time we went there with Sookie. That should make things much easier."

"Yeah, but you didn't try them on," Rory reminded her. "So you might get there and try them on and realize that they're not as nice on you as they were on the hanger. Or maybe your taste has changed in the past few weeks and you'll realize that you don't like the style of those dresses anymore."

Lorelai frowned. "Hi, let's take the negativity, attach it to an anchor, then throw it out into the lake, okay?"

"I'm just being realistic. You can't say for sure that one of those dresses is definitely going to be the one that you pick," Rory pointed out. "Wedding dress shopping is not a simple process. You may have to do some more looking."

Lorelai shrugged. "Yes, well, we'll just have to wait and see what happens tonight."

Rory nodded. "And the bridesmaid dresses. . ."

"Are totally up to you and Sookie," Lorelai said, raising her hands innocently. "You guys can wear whatever the heck you want. They don't even have to match each other. It can be a dress you already have or a brand new one – whatever you want is fine with me."

Rory nodded. "Sounds good."

. . .

That night, Lorelai and Rory were in the dressing room of the bridal shop. Lorelai pulled on the first of the three reserved dresses and Rory zipped it up for her.

Lorelai stepped back and looked at it in the mirror, and her eyes widened. "Oh my God. Is that me or the dress?" She put her hands on her stomach and tried to push down the fabric.

"It's the dress," Rory said. "It's definitely the dress."

"I've heard that cameras add ten pounds, but I didn't think wedding dresses did, too," Lorelai said, making a face. "Ugh, I look gross in this one. Take it off."

Rory unzipped the dress, and Lorelai let it fall to the floor. As Rory hung it back on the hanger, she asked, "Which one next? The strapless one or the sleeveless one?"

Lorelai bit her bottom lip pensively as she stared at the two dresses hanging on the door. "Hm, neither."

Rory turned around and raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean, neither?"

Lorelai put her hands on Rory's shoulders. "Do me a favor – run out there and ask the lady at the desk if I can try on the one from the front window. The one with the spaghetti straps and the scoop neck."

Rory smiled. "The satin one with the embroidered flowers?"

Lorelai nodded. "It caught my eye when we came in."

"Mine, too," Rory told her. "I'll go get it."

Lorelai smiled. "Thanks." Rory slipped out of the dressing room, and Lorelai locked the door behind her. She ran her fingers through her hair as she sat down on the bench in the corner. She patted her knees aimlessly and started humming as she waited for Rory to return.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. "Mom, it's me," Rory said. Lorelai stood up and opened the door, and Rory walked in with the dress. "Victory."

Lorelai smiled. "Great. What took so long?"

"We had to take it off the mannequin," Rory said.

"Right. Okay, let's try it on," Lorelai said. Rory helped her step into the dress, and Lorelai closed her eyes as Rory zipped it up. "Okay, before I look in the mirror, tell me – am I going to wanna cry when I see myself?" Her eyes still closed, she turned around to face Rory.

Rory's eyes widened as she eyed the dress up and down. "Oh my God."

Lorelai opened her eyes. "What? What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Rory shook her head. "Nothing's wrong. Turn around." She pointed to the mirror. "Just look."

Lorelai took a deep breath and slowly turned around to face the mirror. Rory stepped up behind her, and as a slow smile appeared on Lorelai's face, Rory smiled and nodded. "This is it."

Lorelai turned to the side and looked at herself from another angle. She ran her hands down the front of the dress, letting her fingers outline the delicate embroidery of the bodice. The stems of the embroidered flowers trailed off at the waist, providing a subtle transition to the smooth satin skirt of the dress.

Lorelai let out a small gasp and placed a hand on the center of her chest. "Wow." She felt tears forming in her eyes as she turned to Rory. "This is definitely the one."

Rory nodded in agreement. "You look beautiful, Mom. It's perfect."

Lorelai reached out and hugged Rory as she felt a few tears run down her cheeks. She sniffled, then let out a small laugh. "You know, Sookie cried when she found her perfect dress, and now. . .here I am, doing the same thing."

"Because it's a happy moment," Rory said, hugging her mom tighter.

Lorelai pulled back and wiped her tears. She took a deep breath, then looked in the mirror again. "Oh my God, I love it."

"Does it feel okay?" Rory asked. "It looks like it fits perfectly."

Lorelai nodded. "It does. I don't think anything needs to be altered." She ran her hands over the spaghetti straps. "Straps feel good." She moved her hands down to her chest. "Chest feels good." She brought her hands down to her stomach. "Waist feels good. It all feels good."

"And it all looks good," Rory added.

"Okay, now do me a favor and see how the price looks," Lorelai said, biting her thumbnail nervously. "Tell me that looks good, too."

Rory looked at the tag tied to the zipper, then exhaled slowly. "Okay, well, the good news is that it's on sale."

"What's the bad news?" Lorelai asked.

"That even while it's on sale, it's almost six hundred dollars," Rory said.

"Oh," Lorelai said, surprised. "That's actually lower than I thought you were gonna say."

"So you're gonna get it?" Rory asked. Lorelai nodded, and Rory smiled. "Good. Take it off, let's go buy it."

"Wait, let's buy shoes and a headpiece while we're here, and get it all out of the way," Lorelai said. "That way we can make sure it all goes with the dress."

"Good idea. Tiara or veil this time?" Rory asked.

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "I'm not sure. We'll have to see what looks good with it."

Rory nodded. "Okay. Let's go look."

. . .

That night, Lorelai and Rory pulled up to their house and saw Luke's truck out front. "Shoot, why is he here?" Lorelai whined.

"Because he lives here, Mom," Rory reminded her.

Lorelai sighed. "How are we going to get the dress to your room without him seeing? I don't want him to know that it's here." She paused, then shrugged and said, "We're gonna have to sneak it in. See if you can shove it under your shirt without it looking like there's anything under there."

Rory raised her eyebrows. "Okay, one, that's impossible, and two, maybe he's upstairs and we won't need to sneak it in."

Lorelai pointed up to her bedroom window. "The lights are off."

"So maybe he's sleeping already," Rory suggested.

"Or maybe he's in the living room waiting for us to walk in with the dress and he's going to grab it and push us out of the way so he can get a peek at it," Lorelai said.

Rory rolled her eyes. "I highly doubt it. What's the big deal anyway? He knows you went dress shopping, he's gonna expect you to walk in with a dress. What, are you gonna lie to him and say we didn't get one?"

"No, I'm gonna tell him we got a dress but that I'm storing it at Sookie's house," Lorelai said.

"So, why don't we just take it to Sookie's?" Rory asked. "Or, better yet, to Babette's?"

"Because it's late, I don't wanna bother them," Lorelai replied.

"Then let's just leave it in the car," Rory said.

Lorelai gasped. "Rory, we are not leaving seven hundred dollars worth of bridal wear in the car for someone to just come along and steal!"

"Mom, this is Stars Hollow," Rory reminded her. "People don't steal here."

"Yes, well, there's a first time for everything," Lorelai said. She took a deep breath. "Okay, this is what we'll do. I'll go in, and if he's downstairs, I'll get him to come upstairs with me, and when we get up there, I'll give you a signal, and that's when you bring the stuff in and hide it in your closet, okay?"

Rory sighed. "What's the signal?"

Lorelai thought for a moment, then glanced toward her bedroom window. "Ooh, I'll turn my bedroom light on and off a couple of times."

"Okay, fine, just hurry up," Rory said.

Lorelai climbed out of the car and walked to the house. As she stepped through the front door, she called, "Luke, I'm home!" She set her purse and keys on the bench in the entryway, then walked into the living room. "Luke!"

"Upstairs," he said from the top of the steps.

He started to walk down, and Lorelai rushed over to the staircase and started walking up. "Where ya going?" she asked anxiously. "Let's stay upstairs."

"I just did some laundry, now I'm gonna get a snack," Luke said.

"Oh, well, uh. . . can't you do that in a little bit?" Lorelai asked. "I want you to help me do something first."

"What is it?" he asked.

Lorelai glanced down at the floor for a second as she thought of what to say. When something finally popped into her mind, she stepped up onto the same step as him and raised her eyebrows suggestively. "Take a shower."

"What?"

Lorelai grabbed his hand. "Come on, take a shower with me. We haven't done that in forever."

"We did it last week," he reminded her.

"Well, it feels like it's been forever," Lorelai said. She pouted and said, "Please, please, please!"

"Can't we do that after I eat?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shook her head. "I might not be in the mood by the time you're done eating."

Luke let out a small laugh. "I'm not cooking a turkey dinner, Lorelai," he said. "I'm only getting an apple. It'll be five minutes." He walked toward the kitchen, and Lorelai sighed as she reluctantly followed him. "Where's Rory?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, she's . . . out taking a walk," Lorelai said quickly. "You know, after that long ride back from Hartford, she needed to stretch out her legs a little, so she's just out there. . .walking around. . ."

Luke narrowed his eyes with suspicion, which he shrugged off as he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the table. He took a bite as he sat down. "Did you get a dress?"

Lorelai smiled as she sat down across from him. "Yes, I did."

Luke smiled. "Yeah?"

Lorelai nodded. "Mmhmm." She glanced down at the table as she added, "It's at Sookie's house."

Luke took a bite of his apple. "Well, what's it look like?"

Lorelai smirked. "I can't tell you, it's bad luck."

"I'm not supposed to see it," Luke said. "That doesn't mean I can't hear about it."

"Well, it's white," Lorelai said. "That's all you're getting from me."

He took another bite of his apple and chewed it slowly, and Lorelai strummed her fingers on the table while she watched him. As he bit into it again, she asked, "What, are you trying to set a record as the slowest apple eater in the world? Some of us are in the mood here."

Luke raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, a crabby one."

Lorelai scoffed. "No, not a crabby one. An impatient 'I'm waiting to take a shower with my fiancé but he's taking too long' kind of mood. Now hurry the hell up, please!"

Luke gave her an impressed nod. "Wow, crankiness and cursing – you sure know how to set a romantic tone for the evening."

Lorelai laughed at his sarcasm, then she leaned forward across the table and whined, "Come on, I can't wait anymore! Just picture it – our wet bodies pressed up against each other, me holding onto the shower curtain rod while you run your hands all over my body. . .what more of an image do you need to get you in the mood?"

Luke took one last bite of his apple before he stood up. "Let's go." She jumped up from the table as he tossed the apple into the garbage and started walking toward the living room.

Lorelai followed him up the stairs, and as he walked to the bathroom, she said, "Hold on, I'm just gonna get my robe." She walked into the bedroom, flicked the lights on and off several times, then grabbed her robe from the closet and walked to the bathroom.

Outside, Rory let out a sigh of relief as she saw the flickering lights in the bedroom. "Finally," she muttered. She climbed out of the Jeep, grabbed both the small bag of accessories and the garment bag containing the wedding dress, then walked toward the house. She brought them to her bedroom and set them on her bed, then cleared some space in the closet for them.

. . .

PART 58

. . .

The alarm clock went off at six the next morning, and Lorelai swatted at it until it stopped buzzing. She rolled onto her back and rubbed her eyes, then turned to look at Luke. He was on his side facing away from her, and she ran her hand over his bare back. "Luke."

Luke opened his eyes slightly. "What?"

"Time to get up," Lorelai said, stifling her yawn.

"Yeah, I heard," he muttered. He rolled onto his back and yawned loudly as he rested his hands behind his head.

They were both quiet for a few minutes as they adjusted to being awake, then Lorelai said, "Oh, did I mention I'm working late tonight?"

"No," Luke replied.

"Some accounting firm is having a business dinner, and it's a pretty large group so I told Michel I'd hang around and help out with things," Lorelai said. "I don't know how late I'll be."

Luke nodded. "So what's on your agenda for today, wedding-wise?"

"Well, let's see," Lorelai said. "My mom's gonna bring me the invitations, hopefully in time for me to get them out in the mail today. Ooh, which reminds me, I need to pick up some stamps on the way to work. Remind me before I leave."

"Will do."

Lorelai continued with her to-do list. "And I need to remind Sookie to get a couple of servers to help out with serving the food and cleaning up. I have to get in contact with the inn's usual DJ and book him. I have to get people to bring the tables and chairs and the dance floor over and set them up in the yard that morning. Oh, and the tent. . . we decided that we wanted a tent, right?"

"Yeah, we want the tent," Luke confirmed.

"Okay, so, all of the aforementioned duties, plus a few thousand more, need to be done today," Lorelai said with a sigh. "I now realize why people plan these things years in advance. I'm gonna have a heart attack soon." She snuggled up against him and rested her head on his chest.

Luke brought his arms up around her and kissed the top of her head. He was quiet for a moment before he asked, "Do you wanna change the date of the wedding?"

Surprised, Lorelai lifted her head to look at him. "No. Why, do you?"

"No, but if you think we should, then. . . I'd rather postpone the wedding than see you have a stroke from the preparations."

Lorelai shook her head. "No, I'll be okay. It's just a lot more work than I realized, but I think I'll be able to get it all done."

Luke stared at her, unconvinced. "You sure?"

Lorelai nodded. "I'm sure." She kissed him on the cheek, then started to climb out of the bed. Luke reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled her back toward him.

She laughed as she fell back onto the bed. "Luke!" she giggled. She leaned back against her pillow as he rolled over on top of her, and she closed her eyes as he began kissing across her neck. As he ran his tongue across her soft skin, she wrinkled her nose and said, "You know, now my body's gonna smell like your morning breath."

Luke pulled back from her and unbuttoned her pajama top to expose her chest. A surge of arousal rushed through her body as he ran the tip of his tongue over one of her breasts. She moaned at the contact, and he pulled back. "So, you want me to stop?" he asked nonchalantly. Lorelai smiled and quickly shook her head, and Luke smirked as he lowered his mouth back down to her chest.

. . .

That afternoon at the inn, Lorelai was in the dining room checking on the preparations for the upcoming business dinner when Michel walked up to her waving an envelope. "Do you know what this is?" Michel asked haughtily.

"Uh, looks like an envelope," Lorelai said with a shrug. She made a few notes on her clipboard, then started walking toward the lobby.

Michel followed behind her. "Yes, it is the check you were supposed to mail three days ago for the new China! I just found it under the front desk."

Lorelai turned around and gasped. "Oh my God, I completely forgot!"

"I was going to put it in the regular outgoing mail pile, but you insisted on taking it directly to the post office so it would get there sooner. A lot of good that did!" Michel huffed.

"Michel, I'm sorry, I forgot," Lorelai said. "Calm down."

"This needs to get to the office in Bridgeport by four o'clock today or they won't send the shipment out tomorrow," Michel reminded her. "And then they'll charge us a fee for not paying on time."

Lorelai sighed loudly and took the envelope from him. "Okay, okay, I'll take care of it. I'll drive it down there myself, then come back and help you with the business dinner."

"Fine." Michel checked his watch. "You better go now or you're not gonna make it."

Lorelai handed him the clipboard. "Here, take this, I'll be back as soon as I can." Lorelai walked quickly across the lobby and grabbed her purse from the front desk. She walked toward the front door and stepped onto the porch just as Emily was walking up the steps carrying a box. Lorelai's eyes widened. "Mom!"

Emily smiled. "Lorelai, perfect timing. I brought your invitations, and I checked them over, everything looks fine. They're all ready to be stamped and mailed out."

"Oh, great," Lorelai said quickly, taking the box from Emily. "Thanks for bringing them by, Mom."

"Don't you wanna look at them?" Emily asked.

"I will later. I'm kind of swamped right now." Lorelai walked past Emily down the porch steps. "See you tomorrow night."

Emily's eyes widened and she followed Lorelai. "Where are you going? You're being very rude. I drove all the way out here as a favor to you and – "

Lorelai turned around and interrupted, "Mom, I know, and I really, really appreciate it, but I have to run an errand for work so I don't have time for wedding stuff right now." Lorelai held up the envelope. "I have to get this to Bridgeport by four, and it's now. . ." She looked down at her watch. ". . . 2:41, so as you can see, I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Oh. . ."

"Yeah, so I have to go," Lorelai said. "See you tomorrow night, Mom." She turned around and resumed walking toward the car.

"But you should really get those invitations out in the mail today, Lorelai," Emily said, following behind her.

"Mom, did you hear what I just said?" Lorelai glanced over her shoulder at Emily as she continued walking. "I don't have time for wedding stuff right now. In fact, the whole reason that I'm in a hurry is because I got caught up with doing wedding stuff at work the other day and completely forgot to take this letter to the post office, so the wedding stuff's gonna have to wait until the work stuff is done. I'm sorry if that hurts the wedding stuff's feelings, but it's gonna have to deal with it. And please don't give me your 'I told you a month was not enough time to plan a wedding' speech, I've heard it already."

Emily walked faster to catch up to Lorelai. "Lorelai, I'm not doing anything right now. I can handle the invitations."

Lorelai suddenly turned around, causing Emily to almost crash into her. "Whoa, sorry." She took a step back. "What'd you say?"

"I said that I can handle the invitations," Emily repeated.

Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "No 'I told you so'?"

Emily shook her head. "No. Come on, you're too busy and I have some free time, let me help you."

Lorelai was surprised, and stammered, "Uh. . .no, really. . .it's. . .I can just do it tomorrow."

Emily exhaled loudly. "Lorelai, they really should get out in the mail as soon as possible, and I'm perfectly capable of stuffing envelopes and putting stamps on them."

"You are?" Lorelai asked incredulously. "I'd think that that kind of manual labor would be beneath you."

Emily rolled her eyes and reached for the box. "Just let me have them. I'll take care of them." Lorelai resisted at first, then allowed Emily to pull the box out of her hands. "Now, do you have stamps, or do you need me to pick some up?"

"No, actually, I bought them this morning. They're in the car," Lorelai replied. She waved for Emily to follow her as she turned and walked over to the Jeep. She pulled open the driver's side door and leaned into the car to grab the stamps from the passenger seat. She turned and handed them to Emily. "Here you go. You sure you don't mind doing this, Mom? Because I can just – "

"I don't mind," Emily interrupted. "Go run your errand."

Lorelai gave her an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Mom."

Emily took a few steps back from the Jeep and smiled. "You're welcome."

Lorelai climbed into the Jeep, closed the door, and started the ignition. Emily started to walk away, but Lorelai suddenly opened the door and said, "Mom, hold on a second."

Emily turned around and walked back to the Jeep. "Yes?"

Lorelai pointed toward the box. "I wanna see them before I go."

Emily smiled and opened the box, and Lorelai took out one of the invitations. She smiled as she read over it, and as she ran her finger over the embossed text, she said, "Wow, it's beautiful, huh?"

"Yes, they're quite lovely," Emily agreed. Lorelai stared at it for a few more seconds before Emily said, "Uh, you'd better go, Lorelai."

Lorelai glanced at her watch. "Ooh, shoot, you're right. Thanks." She smiled and held up the invitation. "I'm taking this with me."

"Take it, there are plenty of extras," Emily said. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye." Lorelai closed the door and put on her seatbelt as Emily walked away. Lorelai pulled out of the parking space, sped out of the lot, and began the forty minute drive to Bridgeport.

. . .

An hour later, Lorelai had delivered the check and was sitting in front of a coffee shop in Bridgeport. She took a long sip of her coffee, then pulled her cell phone out of her purse and dialed the diner. As she listened to the ringing, she tapped her hands on the steering wheel impatiently and muttered, "Come on, answer the phone. . .it's the thing making noise on the wall. . . "

After the fifth ring, a voice answered, "Luke's."

Lorelai frowned when it wasn't the voice she was expecting. "Caesar, it's Lorelai – is Luke there?"

"Uh, no, he had to run to the store," he replied. "Should I tell him to call you?"

Disappointed, Lorelai sunk back down against her seat. "Oh, no thanks," she replied. "Just tell him I'll call back later."

"Okay," he replied. "Bye."

"Bye." Lorelai turned off the phone and dropped it onto the passenger seat, then started the car and headed back to the inn.

. . .

That night, Lorelai arrived home slightly after eight. As she walked through the front door, she saw Luke sitting on the couch watching television. "Hey."

Luke turned around and nodded toward her. "Hey."

Lorelai kicked off her heels and dropped her purse and keys on the floor next to them. "Is Rory home?"

"Nope, movies," Luke replied. She nodded and walked down the hall to the kitchen as Luke said, "Uh, Caesar said you were gonna call back. I was waiting for ya."

"Yeah, well, I had other things to do," Lorelai snapped from the kitchen. She walked back to the living room with a beer, and she stopped at the stairway to take a long sip.

It was obvious to Luke that she was in a mood, though he was uncertain of the reason behind it. "Uh, how was your day?" he asked hesitantly.

Lorelai let out a laugh and shook her head. "Oh, well, it was just peachy. I had to drive down to Bridgeport just to deliver a stupid check that, had my mind not been focused on doing things for the wedding, I could've remembered to put in the mail three days ago."

"Oh, you shouldn't do wedding stuff at work, then," Luke commented.

Lorelai scoffed. "When the hell else am I gonna do it, Luke?"

"At night, when you get home," he replied with a shrug.

"All the places I need to call are usually closed by the time I get home," she retorted. "Not that you would know what any of those places are!"

Luke stood up and walked over to her with his arms folded across his chest. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Lorelai set her beer on the hall table, then mimicked his pose by folding her arms across her chest. "It means that I'm doing everything for this wedding!"

"That's not true and you know it," Luke said sternly.

"Oh yeah? What have you done to help?" she challenged him.

Luke began ticking things off on his fingers. "I went to get a stupid blood test for the stupid marriage license. . . I drove to Hartford to help you pick out the invitations. . . and today I booked the hotel for the honeymoon!" Luke declared loudly. He rolled his eyes and added, "Which, you'll be happy to know, is fifteen minutes away from the stupid ice cream factory!"

"Wow, you've done three things, Luke!" Lorelai yelled. "Out of a million things to do for this wedding, you've done three – leaving me with the other 999,997 things to do!

"Well, then tell me what you need me to do and I'll do it!" Luke yelled, his face reddening with frustration.

Lorelai clenched her fists together. "You know what needs to be done, Luke! There are lists and lists of things that need to be done – just pick something and do it!"

"Fine, I will!" Luke announced loudly.

"Good, 'cause I can't do everything by myself anymore!" Lorelai yelled. She stared at him for a few seconds, breathing heavily to control her emotions, then covered her face with her hands and sighed loudly. "I can't do everything by myself, Luke," she muttered softly, her voice quivering. "It's too much."

The anger that had started to rise up in him disappeared as he stared at her. He frowned sympathetically, and scolded himself for not realizing earlier that the stress was getting to her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his chest. "Hey, come on. . . it'll be okay."

Lorelai sniffled as she hugged him back and rested her head on the center of his chest. Her body relaxed against the strong arms wrapped around her, and she sighed softly.

"Look, you need to take a break from the wedding stuff for a day or two," Luke said. "When's the last time we did anything fun?"

Lorelai sniffled and muttered, "Um, I think it was this morning in bed. . .around 6:07."

"No, I mean, when's the last time we actually went out and did something?" Luke asked.

Lorelai lifted her head to look at him as she pondered. Finally, she shrugged and said, "I have no idea."

"Yeah, me either," he replied. "So. . .Saturday night we'll go out and do something – dinner, movie, whatever you want. No worrying about wedding stuff, no talking about wedding stuff, just us hanging out."

"But what about all the – "

"And then," he interrupted. ". . .the next day, we'll sit down with all the wedding to-do lists and we'll divide up all the stuff that needs to be done so you're not stressing out and contemplating suicide every time you hear the word wedding." He leaned down and kissed her gently. "Okay?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Okay." She kissed him, then rested her head back against his chest. He began stroking her hair as she closed her eyes and inhaled the faint scent of cologne on his T-shirt.

After a minute of silence, Lorelai opened her eyes and looked up at him. "It's really only fifteen minutes from the ice cream factory?"

Luke smirked. "Yup."

Lorelai grinned as her eyes widened with excitement. "Have I mentioned lately that I'm madly in love with you?"

Luke let out a small laugh, then shook his head. "Not today."

"Well, I am," she told him, nodding enthusiastically.

Luke smiled and brushed her hair away from her face. "Back at ya."

. . .

On Saturday night, Lorelai was in the bathroom putting on her makeup while Rory leaned against the doorway and watched her. "I'm not sure what time we'll be home," Lorelai said.

"Me either," Rory replied.

Lorelai leaned toward the mirror as she applied her lipstick. "You and Lane are just gonna scope out some malls?"

"Yup," Rory replied. "We're gonna try to find dresses for the wedding."

"Does her mom know where she's going?" Lorelai asked.

"No, Lane told her that we were going to see Jesus Christ Superstar," Rory replied with a laugh.

Lorelai nodded. "Ah. . . and that they might be giving away dresses to some lucky audience members?"

Rory shrugged. "I guess so."

Lorelai applied her mascara, then stepped back from the mirror and checked herself over. She brushed some lint off of her black pants, then smoothed out the front of her red sleeveless shirt. She turned to Rory and wrinkled her nose. "Well?"

"Looking good," Rory said.

"Good enough that if you were a guy at a bar and you saw me in this outfit, you would try to pick me up?" Lorelai asked.

Rory narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Just curious."

Rory folded her arms across her chest and eyed Lorelai's ensemble. "I'd have to say. . .probably not."

Lorelai frowned. "It's because I'm not wearing a skirt, isn't it? I'm more pick-upable when I'm showing some leg, right?"

"No, it's because you have a diamond on your hand that's screaming 'Don't come near me, I'm taken'," Rory said, gesturing to Lorelai's ring.

"Oh." Lorelai glanced down at the ring, then brought it up to her ear and pretended to listen to it. "Oh yeah, it is screaming that." She paused a moment as if listening to it some more, then smiled. "Aw, thank you." She kissed the ring, then stuck her tongue out at Rory. "The ring said that if she was a guy in a bar, she would try to pick me up in this outfit."

Rory rolled her eyes. "The ring's a suck-up."

"Yeah, well, the ring is my new best friend," Lorelai said. She walked toward the bedroom, and as she passed the stairway, she called, "I'll be ready in an hour!"

"You better be kidding!" Luke's voice yelled back.

Lorelai smirked. "Boy, I love teasing him." She walked into the bedroom, and Rory followed behind her. Lorelai grabbed her purse from the bed and pulled out her wallet, then removed one of her credit cards and handed it to Rory. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Rory replied. "Is there a spending cap?"

"Yeah, ten bucks," Lorelai replied.

"Okay, well, I guess we'll be looking for dresses at the dollar store," Rory said.

Lorelai smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "Good idea, then you can get ten of 'em. Can't ask for a better deal than that."

. . .

On Wednesday night, Lorelai arrived home from work, and she dropped her purse on the table by the door as she called, "Anyone home? I saw two cars out front, so I think you are. Unless you both went out for a walk, and thus I'm talking to myself right now."

"We're in the kitchen," Rory's voice called.

"Oh, good, I'm not talking to myself." Lorelai walked to the kitchen and found Luke and Rory sitting at the table. Luke had several envelopes in front of him, and Rory was writing in a notebook. "What're you guys doing?"

"Opening the reply cards that came in," Rory replied.

"And writing down who's coming and who's not," Luke added. "So far, everyone's coming."

Lorelai smiled. "Good. Where's the rest of the mail?"

As Luke opened up the last envelope, he told her, "Next to the coffee maker." Lorelai walked over to the counter as Luke pulled out the reply card. "And we have a. . .yes for Kirk."

As Rory wrote it down in the notebook, Lorelai grabbed an envelope from the mail pile and started opening it. She pulled out a letter and glanced over it. "Oh, hey, this is the form with my blood test results."

Luke stood up and walked over to her. "Oh yeah?"

"Yup." Lorelai read through it, then announced, "Everything's good."

"Good," Luke replied. "I guess mine should be coming soon, too."

"Yeah," Lorelai said. She stuck the letter back in the envelope and handed it to Luke. "Here, put this somewhere so we don't lose it."

"I'll go put it in the desk." Luke walked out of the kitchen.

Lorelai walked to the table and sat down next to Rory. "What's up? Ready for the tour tomorrow?"

Rory smiled. "Yup, I've got my 'I look like a smart high school senior' outfit all picked out."

"Oh, good," Lorelai said. "Later you can come upstairs and help me pick out my 'I look like the mother of a smart high school senior' outfit."

"Yeah, to achieve that look, you'll wanna avoid the Powerpuff Girls T-shirt," Rory advised.

Lorelai frowned. "Aw, man!" She took a grape from the fruit bowl and popped it in her mouth. "So what's the latest on my mother? First she was going, then she couldn't, then she was going again. What's the current status?"

"I talked to Grandpa a little while ago, and he said she's going," Rory said. "They're gonna pick us up tomorrow at 9:45."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Oh, that'll be a fun car ride, the four of us all together in an enclosed space like that."

"Okay, first, it's not that long of a ride, and secondly, you and them have been getting along fine lately," Rory pointed out.

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

"And you can tell that Grandma loves that you're talking to her about the wedding and kind of letting her be involved," Rory added. "She likes being apart of things."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, let's hope she doesn't get used to it."

. . .

The next morning, as Richard drove his Jaguar down the street past the buildings of Yale University, Rory stared out the window at the sights. "Wow."

"It's quite impressive, isn't it?" Richard asked.

"The online campus tour does not do this place justice," Rory remarked. "It's beautiful. . .isn't it, Mom?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "And huge. . . you're gonna need to resurrect Lewis and Clark and have them help you get from class to class."

"Oh, Rory's a fast leaner, I'm sure she'll have no trouble finding her way around," Emily remarked from the front seat.

Richard found an empty parking meter and parked the car on the street, and the four of them climbed out. As Richard put change into the meter, Rory stared at the campus spread all around her. "God, this place is so . . ."

"Impressive, beautiful, and huge," Lorelai replied quickly. "Yeah, we covered that ten seconds ago in the car, hon. Let's get going." She put her arm around Rory's shoulder, then glanced at Richard. "Where are we supposed to go, Dad?"

"The Office of Undergraduate Admissions," Richard replied, checking his watch. "Ah, and we're right on time."

"Well, lead the way," Lorelai announced. Richard and Emily began walking down the street, and Lorelai and Rory followed behind them.

. . .

Several hours later, Lorelai and Rory walked into the diner and sat down at an empty table, and Luke soon walked over to them. "Hey. How was the tour?"

Rory smiled. "Great. We walked the campus, saw the different academic buildings, heard about Yale's history – did you know that it's over 300 years old?"

"No, I didn't," Luke replied.

"It is," Rory confirmed. "We didn't get to sit in on any classes, though, because there aren't any in session right now."

"Not even summer classes?" Luke asked.

"No, they ended already," Lorelai told him.

"But they start in the beginning of September, so we're gonna go back sometime after that and go on another tour," Rory added. "Ooh, and check this out." She flipped open the Yale booklet she had brought with her. "Luke, did you know that the library holdings of Yale contain 10.7 million bound volumes?"

Luke smirked and shook his head. "No, I did not know that."

Rory smiled. "Well, now you do. And did you know that – "

Lorelai grabbed the booklet from Rory, then turned to Luke. "And did you know that she read the entire booklet aloud on the way home and if I hear any more Yale facts today my brain is going to explode?"

"Nope, I didn't know that either," Luke replied.

"Well, now you do." Lorelai held the booklet toward him. "Hide this from Rory." Luke took it and handed it back to Rory, and Lorelai frowned at him. "Mean."

"What do you guys want?" he asked. "Burgers?"

"Yup," Rory replied.

Lorelai nodded. "With onion rings."

Luke walked away, and a few seconds later, Lane walked into the diner and sat down with them. "Hey, I saw you come in so I thought I'd find out how your tour went."

Rory smiled. "Oh, it was great! Look at this." She flipped open the Yale booklet.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and stood up. "I'll be right back, guys." She walked behind the counter and peeked through the kitchen doorway. She saw Luke standing at the sink washing his hands, and she walked over to him. "Hey."

He glanced at her and smiled. "Hey." He turned off the water and grabbed a dishtowel, then leaned over and kissed her as he dried his hands. "What are you doing back here?"

"Just visiting."

"Oh, come out back." Luke started walking toward the back door, and she followed him into the back alley. "How was it with your parents all morning?"

"Actually, not too bad," Lorelai said as she leaned against the side of the building. "My mom was bugging me about the wedding a little, but I told her if she stopped talking about it today, I'd talk about it tomorrow night at dinner." Lorelai smiled and added, "Speaking of tomorrow night. . . "

Luke smirked. "What about it?"

"What time are you leaving?"

"John's picking me up at six," Luke replied.

"How many other guys are going?"

"Last I heard, five."

"And you're just gonna do typical bachelor party type of things?" Lorelai asked. "Maybe do a little strip club hopping?"

Luke shoved his hands into his pockets. "I told them I'd rather not. I think we're gonna stick to regular bars."

Lorelai scoffed. "Aw, Luke, you can't! I want you to have a really, really good time, and the only way to have a really, really good time is for you to ogle at naked women."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Please, you know I'm not into doing stuff like that."

"No, I think that deep down you are, but you just don't want anyone to know it," Lorelai said. "I think the fact that you like watching the girls jumping on trampolines at the end of The Man Show is just a small indication that you're harboring a secret desire to go to a strip club, am I right?"

"No, it's because of my secret love of trampolines," Luke said.

Lorelai smiled and stepped toward him. "Come on, your future-wife is encouraging you to do something that very few other future-wives would encourage their future-husbands to do, and you're not even gonna take your future-wife up on it?"

Luke stared at her for a moment as he tried to process her words, then he finally shook his head.

"So you're perfectly content with the fact that my body is the only female nakedness you will see up close for the rest of your life?" Lorelai asked.

"Perfectly content," he confirmed. He leaned forward and pressed her back up against the side of the building as he kissed her.

As he pulled back from her, she draped her arms over his shoulders and smiled. "Okay, I guess I can't argue with that." She shook her finger at him. "But I'm telling you, if you don't hit any strip clubs, your bachelor party's gonna sound boring when you tell people about it."

"And who exactly am I going to be telling about it?" Luke asked.

"Uh, me," she replied as if it was obvious.

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'll make up some stories to tell you, okay?"

"Thank you."

"What are you doing for your party? It's Saturday, right?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah. Sookie was thinking about a karaoke place, but I'm not sure I'm prepared for the level of embarrassment that would bring."

Luke smirked. "Well, get drunk enough so that you won't remember it."

"Rory's gonna be there," Lorelai reminded him. "I can't get completely wasted in front of her. Slightly wasted, yes, but not completely. . .so I think we'll probably have to find something else to do." She pulled him close and kissed him, then said, "Okay, my stomach's growling. Time for you to make our burgers."

. . .

The next afternoon, Lorelai was at the front desk of the inn when the phone rang. "Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking," she answered.

"Hey," Luke replied.

Lorelai smiled. "Hey. What's up?"

"I just got my results back," Luke said. "They came to the apartment. I guess I forgot to change my address with the doctor's office."

"Oh, well, change it next time," Lorelai said. "Everything's good, right? I mean, the results?"

"Yup," he replied. "You wanna go get the marriage license tonight? You can come by after work and we can go to the clerk."

Lorelai giggled. "You made a rhyme."

Luke sighed. "Is that a yes?"

Lorelai twirled her finger in her hair. "Yeah, I'll stop home and pick up my form, then I'll be there around five. Taylor said it'll only take like fifteen minutes, so we'll be done in plenty of time for you to get home and shower and stuff before John gets there."

"Okay, sounds good," Luke replied. "See you later."

"Bye."

. . .

That night, it was slightly after six o'clock when Rory arrived home from Lane's house to get ready for dinner. "Mom!" she called. "Are you almost ready to go?"

"Uh, not quite!"

Rory followed the sound of Lorelai's voice toward the kitchen, and glanced around questioningly. "Where are you?"

"In here," Lorelai's voice came from Rory's bedroom.

Rory walked over to the door, which was closed. "What are you doing in my room?"

"Uh, you know, just . . .uh, well. . . hold on a second. I'll be right there."

Rory stared expectantly at the door, and finally Lorelai opened it slightly. Rory pushed it open and stepped into the room, and a small smile appeared on her face. She tilted her head to the side and asked, "Mom. . .what are you doing?"

Lorelai was standing near Rory's bed in her wedding dress, and she glanced down at the outfit. "Uh. . .just. . .you know, checking to make sure it still fits."

Rory shook her head slightly and walked over to her. "Turn around, let me help you." Lorelai smiled and turned around, and Rory zipped up the dress. As Lorelai walked over to the mirror, Rory lay down on the bed and watched her.

"What do you think? Still looks okay?" Lorelai asked.

"Yup, looks great," Rory replied.

Lorelai took a deep breath, then put her hand on her stomach. "I have this weird feeling in my stomach."

"You're hungry," Rory said. "Your stomach knows we're supposed to be at Grandma's soon for dinner."

Lorelai shook her head. "Nuh uh, it's not an 'I'm hungry' type of feeling, it's an 'I'm nervous' type of feeling."

Rory's eyes widened and she sat up. "Uh oh."

Lorelai scoffed. "It's not an 'uh oh.' Why would you think it would be an 'uh oh'?"

"Because you're nervous about the wedding, and you do very crazy things when you get nervous around the time of a wedding," Rory said.

"I didn't say that I'm specifically nervous about the wedding," Lorelai said.

"Well, when you put on a wedding dress and say that it makes you nervous, what else am I supposed to deduce from that?" Rory asked.

Lorelai folded her arms across her chest. "Well, you're not supposed to deduce that I'm gonna back out at the last minute, which is exactly what you're doing," Lorelai said pointedly.

Rory glanced down at her comforter and muttered, "Sorry."

Lorelai sighed as she walked over and sat next to Rory on the bed. "Listen to me, I'll admit that I'm nervous about the little things – you know, like tripping down the porch steps or spilling champagne on my dress, stuff like that. But not the actual idea of the wedding or the idea of marrying Luke." She paused a moment before she added, "Believe me, it's not gonna be like last time, okay?"

Rory nodded. "Okay."

Lorelai smiled and patted Rory on the leg. "Good." Her eyes widened and she said, "Ooh, I have an idea." She stood up and walked over to Rory's closet.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Well, we still have twenty minutes before we have to leave for dinner, so you have time to. . ." Lorelai pulled out Rory's sleeveless, cranberry-colored bridesmaid dress and smiled. "Play dress-up with me."

Rory laughed. "No way."

"Come on, please!" Lorelai begged. "Pretty please! I'll buy you lots of presents from the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory gift shop!"

Rory sighed and stood up from the bed. "Fine, but just for a few minutes."

. . .

To be continued. . . .