A/N: Chapter Twelve! Have fun – this is going to be good.

I have over 175 reviews! You guys are wonderful. I'm so happy! *dances around the room* Okay, well, I'll try to calm down and get on with the chapter …

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: R/T, R/J

Disclaimer: I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

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Rory was standing towards the back of the room with Tristan and Tricia when Sookie called attention to the front. It was time for the bouquet. Tricia glanced at her mom, who nodded, before running towards the throng of women gathered at the front of the room. Tristan stayed where he was while Rory followed her daughter at a more leisurely pace. She didn't really think that she was going to get married anytime soon and didn't want to spoil anyone's fun.

Lorelai threw the bouquet. It was going really far. In fact, it was headed straight for Rory. She automatically leaped to catch it. She wouldn't want to be made a fool of for missing the bouquet, of course. Lorelai turned around and blushed when she saw that Rory had caught it – and Rory was still about halfway to the throng of unmarried women.

People immediately rushed towards her and talk broke out about how wasn't it funny that she would catch it, and Tristan seeming so close to proposing again? Rory couldn't hear these rumors, but she quickly extricated herself from the crowd and went outside. She made her way towards the bridge at a slow pace, fingering the bouquet. Her mother's bouquet. While holding this, Lorelai had committed herself to Luke for the rest of their lives. She would only do that if she really, truly loved him. Rory hoped that she would feel the same when her wedding day came. She didn't want there to be any doubts.

Sitting down after brushing away some dust, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore looked out over the water. There was so much of it. Always moving, changing, growing, but also staying the same. Her own life was much the same. She had grown up a lot because of Tricia. Instead of the Ivy-league dreams of her youth, she had gone to community college until she'd earned an Associate of Arts, then transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University. A good school, but nowhere near the excellence of Harvard or Yale. She should have worked harder. If she had only gotten that scholarhip … Well, much too late to fret now.

No matter what, she still had Tricia and her mother, both of whom were definitely the most important in her life. The only others that came close were Luke, Jess, and Tristan. Christopher had never made his way into that category. He'd never been there when she needed him, and that one time, fourteen years ago, when he'd made a promise he hadn't kept …

"So I'm guessing your mom talked to you?" Christopher Hayden asked his seventeen-year-old daughter. They were walking, with no particular destination in mind, the noise from the wedding in the background.

"She talks to me all the time, frequently when I'm begging her not to." Rory joked.

Her dad actually seemed serious. "And she told you what we discussed?

"She mentioned something about it, yes." Rory said, eyeing him thoughtfully.

"And what do you think about all this?" He seemed nervous.

"I don't know. What exactly are your intentions?"

"Excuse me?" Chris looked confused.

"Your intentions – are they honorable?" Rory was completely serious.

"Completely honorable."

"Yeah? Because we have been waiting for this for a really long time and we take disappointment extremely hard. I mean it, property damage is often involved." She knew it sounded as though she was joking, but she meant every word. She only hoped she'd never have to keep it.

Then he'd gotten a call. She'd found out later that it had been Sherry, calling to inform her ex-boyfriend about her pregnancy. She really hadn't talked to him after that. Tristan had been wonderful through all of it. But she'd never really gotten her dad back. She thought about Luke. He'd been the only real stabilizing male force in her life, the only man she had ever counted on completely. He was more a father to her than Christopher ever had been.

Tricia needed that. She needed a stabilizing male force in her life, a man she could count on, someone who was a good person, with good ideals, who wasn't skipping town as soon as the wind changed. She had a stable mother (well, Rory liked to think so), but she didn't have a father figure. A kid needed that.

Rory shook her head, trying to assure herself that she would. For the second time that day, she assured herself that Tricia would have a stable father figure in her life.

***

Tristan took a deep breath. He was standing in the men's room at the Independence Inn, waiting for … actually, he wasn't waiting for anything. He reached into his pocket and fingered the box that he'd presented only once before, though he had offered it twice. Walking out of the bathroom he scanned the room, frowning when he didn't see the blue dress she'd worn. He smiled. It matched her eyes to perfection. He looked around again, and saw Lorelai dancing with Taylor. He almost laughed at the expression on her face. He hurried forward to relieve her of her dance partner.

"Excuse me, Taylor? May I steal the bride?" Tristan grinned at the older man, who looked a little overwhelmed, but still suspicious. He'd always been suspicious of Tristan. He was almost a young hoodlum – except for the fact that he had a rich background, of course. And the former, of course, made Taylor narrow his eyes at the young man before leaving Lorelai to him. They danced for another minute before Lorelai broke the silence.

"Alright, what is it?"

He glanced up. "Nothing. Why?"

"You looked like you wanted to ask me something."

"Yes – well – uh." The song drew to a close. "You know what? I think I'm going to go find Rory. Do you have any idea where she is?"

"Last I saw, she was heading out the back door, trying to escape the hordes of people. She caught the bouquet, you know."

Tristan smiled. "Yeah, I know."

***

Jess walked outside. He needed some fresh air. Well, he also wanted a cigarette, but he'd given them up almost fourteen years earlier when Rory had mentioned that she didn't like it. Just about everything he'd done, he'd done it to earn her approval. He'd even worked himself through a couple years of college, just so he could say he'd gotten a college degree. It was nothing big, just an Associate of Sciences. His counselor had said that an A.S. degree would give him more possibilities if he decided to pursue a higher degree.

He'd cleaned up his act towards the end of junior year in high school, after she'd started tutoring him. And when classes had started up at the end of August, he'd been a different person, almost. He'd gotten into college. He hadn't known that Rory was pregnant until about the middle of September of their first year of college. She hadn't started showing yet, but she'd given up coffee, and Luke wanted to know why. Well, everyone was also wondering why their Ivy-league-bound sweetheart was going to the local community college. So she told him, and Jess. Miss Patty had found out within ten minutes. Apparently someone had eavesdropped.

The whole town had known by midnight that Rory was pregnant. At first, many had thought the child might have been Jess', mostly because of the bad boy image – despite the fact that he hadn't done anything to deserve the title within the past four months. But then they'd found out it was Tristan's, and, luckily for him – although Jess suspected Rory had warned him – Tristan hadn't visited the town again till Christmas, by which time tempers had cooled.

Jess walked towards the bridge. He needed to think, and he always thought best while there. He wasn't completely sure why, though he suspected it had something to do with Rory. He'd almost reached it when he heard voices.

"Rory?" It was Tristan. As Jess got closer to the bridge, he saw Rory seated upon it with Tristan standing a few feet away. Jess narrowed his eyes as he saw Tristan fiddling with something in his pocket. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she said quietly. She seemed distracted, staring across the water, not looking at the man who stood next to her.

Tristan laughed nervously. "You know, this would be easier if you were standing." Rory looked confused, but stood anyway. Tristan got down on one knee and pulled out the box he had been fiddling with. Rory's eyes widened as she realized what he was about to do. "Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, will you do me the tremendous honor of becoming my wife?"

Jess watched as numerous emotions flickered across the brunette's face: joy, happiness, shock, amazement, and even a little bit of fear. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. He was more than a little upset that Tristan had proposed, but, he reminded himself, it isn't as though you have any reason to feel that way. You and Rory are just friends.

It didn't work.

Rory finally managed to speak. "Tristan …" she trailed off as tears poured down her face. Tristan stood and stepped forward, wiping her eyes with his thumb. They stood that way for a few minutes before Rory moved forward. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a long, passionate kiss. Jess looked away, wishing he were in Tristan's place. He kept looking at them through the corner of his eye though, and when they finally came up for breath he turned towards them again. Rory was smiling.

"Yes."

That was all she needed to say.