Title: Expect The Unexpected
Chapter 24: Surprises and Twist Endings
~~~~
"Jenny, if we want to get there on time, we have to leave now!"
"Just a second, let me finish the story!" Jen answered her husband. She heard a slight grumbling from his direction, but that was it, so she turned back to her twin daughters.
"After that week, I moved to Stars Hollow with my family and started going out with your father. We even went to the same college, Yale."
"What about your dads?"
"I'm getting there. After four and a half years of dating, your dad proposed."
"I love your ring," Jen's second daughter said dreamily.
"I know. I told my mom immediately, and she told your other grandmother. We told them not to tell our fathers, and then we went to this big party thrown by your great-granmother."
"I can't wait to see her again," the first twin said.
"Yeah, that's why I have to finish this story quick. At the big party, we announced to everyone we were getting married in two months."
"What did the grandpas do?"
"Yeah, what did they do?"
"They were okay for a while. But the day before the wedding, they got into a fight."
"Why?" the twins asked simultaneously.
"I dunno. They've never told us. But they didn't fight at the wedding, and we didn't let them get together for a while after that."
"And then we were born!"
"And everyone lived happily ever after!"
"Yeah, pretty much," Jen laughed.
"Jennifer Anne! We need to go!"
"Calm down, Chris! We're coming." Jen stood up, and the twins stood up and started following her. "Don't forget your invitations," she reminded.
The twins ran back to their spots on the floor and picked up the square pieces of paper.
"Why do we need invitations to go to a party our own grandparents are throwing?"
"Well, Maggie, they want to be formal."
"Yeah, Mags, it says so right here," Lori pointed to her invitation. "They 'formally invite us.'"
"Shut up, Lori! You don't always have to be right!"
"Yes I do! I'm older!"
"By two minutes! Only two!"
"I'm still older!"
"Lorelai, Margaret! Stop fighting!"
"Sorry, Mom." Both girls hung their heads and climbed into the minivan. As soon as their mother turned her head, they started shoving each other.
"That's it. Lori, into the back. Maggie, in the front." Chris declared from the driver's seat.
"Aww! I always have to go to the back."
"That's cause you're older." Chris pointed out.
"This stinks." Lori complained as she crawled into the back. Jen just smiled and stuck a DVD into the player. Both girls happily looked up as the opening titles came up and put their headphones on.
"There. Quiet for two hours, at least." Jen smiled at Chris, who smiled back.
"I hope there aren't any fights this time."
"Oh, there's hardly been any since the girls were born."
"I didn't mean between our fathers, I meant between our mothers and us."
"Oh, I don't think we'll fight too much."
"Are you kidding? They've been on us to have another kid since those two were out of diapers." Chris gestured to the twins in the back.
"Well, they're not gonna need to suggest anything this time."
"Whaddya mean?"
"Oh, try to guess, Chris. Think really hard."
Chris scrunched up his forehead in thought. "Oh!"
"Yeah," Jenny nodded.
"Really?" Chris turned to her.
"Oh, yeah. Definitely. Just got the call earlier. It's for sure."
"Wow. Another kid."
"At least the twins are eight, and they can help out a little."
"Yeah. That's good."
~~~~
"Hey, you! Yeah, you! Where are you going?" Seventy-three-year-old Lorelai Danes yelled at a young girl trying to sneak in to Jen and Chris' anniversary party.
"Uh, Grandma Lorelai? It's me, Laura." The twenty-year-old explained as she handed her invitation to her grandmother.
"Oh, yeah. I didn't recognize you with the...pink hair."
"Like it?"
"It's wonderful, sweetie. Now, go, run along, have fun! But not too much. You're not legal for another two years."
"Absolutely." Laura ran off to her friend Ashley Clarkson, also twenty. Lorelai sighed and sank back into her chair next to seventy-five-year-old Luke.
"I'm old."
"Yes."
"You're older."
"I've always been older, Lorelai."
"Yeah, I know." Lorelai leaned her head into Luke's shoulder. Rory came walking up.
"Aw, how sweet."
"Oh, Rory! Are they here yet?" Lorelai lifted her head.
"No, not yet." Fifty-eight-year-old Rory sat in a chair next to her mother.
"Well, who is here?" Lorelai asked impatiently.
"Dean, Margaret, Jon, Luke and Rachel, Laura and her friend Ashley, Lance and his wife Tonie, Lane and Henry, Kim, her husband Danny, their kids James, John, and Liz, Edie and Paul, Sookie and Jackson, Mike and his wife Claire, Mark and his wife Ginger, Karen, and Jess." Rory ticked off the names on her fingers.
"Is that it?"
"I think we're missing about two college roommates," Rory answered her mother.
"How do you keep all that in your head?" Luke asked.
"It's been expanded by coffee."
"Ha! I told you it's a good thing."
"She's your daughter, she's almost as strange as you are."
"Oh, shush, you."
"Ror! They're coming!" Jess yelled from the front door of the Dragonfly.
"Ooh. Bye, guys." Rory leapt out of her chair and walked over to the front door.
~~~~
"The sign says the building's closed," Chris observed as the minivan pulled into the Inn's parking lot.
"Lorelai just put that there so it's only us."
"Ah. How do you know more about my grandmother than I do?"
"I pay attention." Jen smiled at Chris and turned to the twins. "Come on, girls, let's go. Got your invitations?"
"Right here," Lori held up her envelope, and Maggie held up an identical one.
"Good." Chris smiled and started herding the girls up the steps. Jen knocked and Rory answered the door.
"Good afternoon, and welcome to the Dragonfly Inn. If you'll just read me your invitations."
"Go ahead, girls." Chris prompted. The girls cleared their throats and started.
"Dean and Margaret Forester and Jess and Rory Mariano formally invite you to the tenth anniversary of the joining of their children, Jennifer Anne Forester and Christopher Hayden Mariano in Holy Matrimony on August the sixteenth, the year of our Lord Two-Thousand Forty-Two."
"That was wonderful, girls! Come on in."
"Thank you, Grandma Rory." Lori said.
"Yeah, thanks, Grandma."
"Of course, darlings. You're always the sweetest things, I say." Rory smiled as the eight-year-olds walked into the Inn. "Well, Jen and Chris, how's the anniversary going so far?"
"Wonderfully, Mom."
"Thank you so much, Rory," Jen said as she hugged her mother-in-law.
"Oh, it's completely my pleasure. And of course, your mother's, too." Rory added as Margaret walked up to them.
"Of course," Jen smiled.
"By the way, we were wondering..."
"When we're going to be grandmothers again." Margaret finished.
"Hmm, I'd say about seven months."
"Yes!" Rory and Margaret both threw their arms around Jen, who laughed.
Chapter 24: Surprises and Twist Endings
~~~~
"Jenny, if we want to get there on time, we have to leave now!"
"Just a second, let me finish the story!" Jen answered her husband. She heard a slight grumbling from his direction, but that was it, so she turned back to her twin daughters.
"After that week, I moved to Stars Hollow with my family and started going out with your father. We even went to the same college, Yale."
"What about your dads?"
"I'm getting there. After four and a half years of dating, your dad proposed."
"I love your ring," Jen's second daughter said dreamily.
"I know. I told my mom immediately, and she told your other grandmother. We told them not to tell our fathers, and then we went to this big party thrown by your great-granmother."
"I can't wait to see her again," the first twin said.
"Yeah, that's why I have to finish this story quick. At the big party, we announced to everyone we were getting married in two months."
"What did the grandpas do?"
"Yeah, what did they do?"
"They were okay for a while. But the day before the wedding, they got into a fight."
"Why?" the twins asked simultaneously.
"I dunno. They've never told us. But they didn't fight at the wedding, and we didn't let them get together for a while after that."
"And then we were born!"
"And everyone lived happily ever after!"
"Yeah, pretty much," Jen laughed.
"Jennifer Anne! We need to go!"
"Calm down, Chris! We're coming." Jen stood up, and the twins stood up and started following her. "Don't forget your invitations," she reminded.
The twins ran back to their spots on the floor and picked up the square pieces of paper.
"Why do we need invitations to go to a party our own grandparents are throwing?"
"Well, Maggie, they want to be formal."
"Yeah, Mags, it says so right here," Lori pointed to her invitation. "They 'formally invite us.'"
"Shut up, Lori! You don't always have to be right!"
"Yes I do! I'm older!"
"By two minutes! Only two!"
"I'm still older!"
"Lorelai, Margaret! Stop fighting!"
"Sorry, Mom." Both girls hung their heads and climbed into the minivan. As soon as their mother turned her head, they started shoving each other.
"That's it. Lori, into the back. Maggie, in the front." Chris declared from the driver's seat.
"Aww! I always have to go to the back."
"That's cause you're older." Chris pointed out.
"This stinks." Lori complained as she crawled into the back. Jen just smiled and stuck a DVD into the player. Both girls happily looked up as the opening titles came up and put their headphones on.
"There. Quiet for two hours, at least." Jen smiled at Chris, who smiled back.
"I hope there aren't any fights this time."
"Oh, there's hardly been any since the girls were born."
"I didn't mean between our fathers, I meant between our mothers and us."
"Oh, I don't think we'll fight too much."
"Are you kidding? They've been on us to have another kid since those two were out of diapers." Chris gestured to the twins in the back.
"Well, they're not gonna need to suggest anything this time."
"Whaddya mean?"
"Oh, try to guess, Chris. Think really hard."
Chris scrunched up his forehead in thought. "Oh!"
"Yeah," Jenny nodded.
"Really?" Chris turned to her.
"Oh, yeah. Definitely. Just got the call earlier. It's for sure."
"Wow. Another kid."
"At least the twins are eight, and they can help out a little."
"Yeah. That's good."
~~~~
"Hey, you! Yeah, you! Where are you going?" Seventy-three-year-old Lorelai Danes yelled at a young girl trying to sneak in to Jen and Chris' anniversary party.
"Uh, Grandma Lorelai? It's me, Laura." The twenty-year-old explained as she handed her invitation to her grandmother.
"Oh, yeah. I didn't recognize you with the...pink hair."
"Like it?"
"It's wonderful, sweetie. Now, go, run along, have fun! But not too much. You're not legal for another two years."
"Absolutely." Laura ran off to her friend Ashley Clarkson, also twenty. Lorelai sighed and sank back into her chair next to seventy-five-year-old Luke.
"I'm old."
"Yes."
"You're older."
"I've always been older, Lorelai."
"Yeah, I know." Lorelai leaned her head into Luke's shoulder. Rory came walking up.
"Aw, how sweet."
"Oh, Rory! Are they here yet?" Lorelai lifted her head.
"No, not yet." Fifty-eight-year-old Rory sat in a chair next to her mother.
"Well, who is here?" Lorelai asked impatiently.
"Dean, Margaret, Jon, Luke and Rachel, Laura and her friend Ashley, Lance and his wife Tonie, Lane and Henry, Kim, her husband Danny, their kids James, John, and Liz, Edie and Paul, Sookie and Jackson, Mike and his wife Claire, Mark and his wife Ginger, Karen, and Jess." Rory ticked off the names on her fingers.
"Is that it?"
"I think we're missing about two college roommates," Rory answered her mother.
"How do you keep all that in your head?" Luke asked.
"It's been expanded by coffee."
"Ha! I told you it's a good thing."
"She's your daughter, she's almost as strange as you are."
"Oh, shush, you."
"Ror! They're coming!" Jess yelled from the front door of the Dragonfly.
"Ooh. Bye, guys." Rory leapt out of her chair and walked over to the front door.
~~~~
"The sign says the building's closed," Chris observed as the minivan pulled into the Inn's parking lot.
"Lorelai just put that there so it's only us."
"Ah. How do you know more about my grandmother than I do?"
"I pay attention." Jen smiled at Chris and turned to the twins. "Come on, girls, let's go. Got your invitations?"
"Right here," Lori held up her envelope, and Maggie held up an identical one.
"Good." Chris smiled and started herding the girls up the steps. Jen knocked and Rory answered the door.
"Good afternoon, and welcome to the Dragonfly Inn. If you'll just read me your invitations."
"Go ahead, girls." Chris prompted. The girls cleared their throats and started.
"Dean and Margaret Forester and Jess and Rory Mariano formally invite you to the tenth anniversary of the joining of their children, Jennifer Anne Forester and Christopher Hayden Mariano in Holy Matrimony on August the sixteenth, the year of our Lord Two-Thousand Forty-Two."
"That was wonderful, girls! Come on in."
"Thank you, Grandma Rory." Lori said.
"Yeah, thanks, Grandma."
"Of course, darlings. You're always the sweetest things, I say." Rory smiled as the eight-year-olds walked into the Inn. "Well, Jen and Chris, how's the anniversary going so far?"
"Wonderfully, Mom."
"Thank you so much, Rory," Jen said as she hugged her mother-in-law.
"Oh, it's completely my pleasure. And of course, your mother's, too." Rory added as Margaret walked up to them.
"Of course," Jen smiled.
"By the way, we were wondering..."
"When we're going to be grandmothers again." Margaret finished.
"Hmm, I'd say about seven months."
"Yes!" Rory and Margaret both threw their arms around Jen, who laughed.