Disclaimer: Although I'm growing quite tired of coming up with a new and clever disclaimer for each chapter, I suppose I should at least try. But not today… we'll just go with "Gilmore Girls is not mine" and see how that works.
A/N: Thanks so much to all the reviewers! The notes you're leaving mean a lot to me and keep me motivated to continue with the story! Keep 'em coming! Okay, flashbacks are in italics. Thoughts are in //italics//.
Chapter 14
The Joys of Apple Tarts
In the car:
Luke is driving, Lorelai is in the front seat, and Jess and Rory are sitting together in the back.
"Can't you drive faster?" Lorelai whined.
"What? You actually want to get to your parent's house?" Luke asked, surprised.
"Hello!! Do the words APPLE TARTS mean anything to you??"
"You're hungry again?"
"I'm always hungry."
Luke sighed, "This is true."
"Rory!" Lorelai suddenly said.
Startled, Rory looked up at her mother.
"Can I change my vote?"
"What?"
"From ten minutes to under five?"
Rory giggled, "Sure Mom. Five it is."
"Here we are." Luke announced pulling up to the house.
A man in a red jacket rushed to the car.
"Your parents have a valet at their house?" Luke asked.
Lorelai just shrugged, and Luke rolled down the window.
"How much?"
"Fifteen dollars sir."
"FIFTEEN DOLLARS!? That's insane!" Luke yelled, "I am NOT going to pay you fifteen dollars to park my car!"
"Ahem! MY car!" Lorelai reminded.
Then, she turned her attention to the valet man, "We don't need to pay." She told him.
"Excuse me?"
"This is my parent's house."
"You are the daughter of the Gilmore's?"
"Of course."
"Oh. I'm very sorry." The man continued to apologize and the four got out of the Jeep and went inside, immediately to be greeted by Emily.
"Lorelai, Rory!" Emily greeted, "How wonderful, you made it!"
"Start the clocks." Lorelai mumbled under her breath, "Hey Mom. You remember Luke and Jess don't you?"
"Of course, it's good of you both to come."
Across the room, Richard spotted them. Rory raised a hand to wave to her grandfather. Her left hand.
Emily's eye immediately caught sight of a flash of sparkle coming from Rory's hand. Her eyes widened as she looked from Rory to Jess.
She turned to call to Richard, "Richard! Come here!"
She motioned for him to meet them in the dining room, and she pushed the four in ahead of her. Luke, Lorelai, Rory, and Jess sat down as Richard entered.
"What is it Emily? Is something wrong?" he asked.
Emily went to Rory and grabbed her hand pulling it up for Richard to see, "It seems that Rory is wearing a very exquisite ring on a VERY important finger!"
"I WIN!!" Lorelai yelled, jumping up and down, and tugging on Luke's arm, "I WIN!!"
Luke quickly shushed her and she sat down again.
"Well Rory, do you have something to say?" Emily pressed.
Rory just smiled as she took Jess's hand in her own, "Jess and I are getting married."
"You're what?!" Emily shouted, angry.
"Calm down Emily, this is wonderful news! Congratulations Rory!" Richard said, going to give Rory a hug.
"Thanks Grandpa."
"You mean to tell me you're condoning this Richard?" Richard just shrugged.
"And you, Lorelai! You think this is okay? Oh, what am I saying? You!" Emily cried, pointing at Luke.
"How did I get into this?!"
"You are the level headed one are you not?"
"Out of this group? It seems that way…"
"Then talk them out of it!"
"Why?"
"Why? Because they're still in college!"
Lorelai decided to speak up, "Mom, last time I checked, kids turn into adults at 18. Ror's almost 20, therefore an adult- and she can marry whoever she wants."
"Why are you not so shocked by this?" Emily demanded to know.
"Um, because I knew it was going to happen even before Rory did."
Emily, surprised turned to Jess, "You asked Lorelai first?"
Jess nodded.
"Well then. I suppose that's more promising behavior than what I've seen thus far."
"Oh, is that so? I was under the impression that the last time I came here for dinner I made it very well known that I love Rory. At the time you had accepted that- did something change all of a sudden?" Jess argued.
Emily sighed and stared at her hands. She quietly spoke.
"Didn't quite catch that one Mom."
"I said I'm sorry."
"You are?" Rory asked, getting up from her chair.
"Yes. I know you love Jess, and I know he'll take care of you. I just wasn't ready to let you go quite yet."
Lorelai nodded, she had felt the same way when Jess first called. She still felt a little lost. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Luke saw, and quickly brushed it away with his hand. Lorelai gave him a small smile as he put his arm around her shoulders.
"I know," Luke said gently, "I know, me too."
When Luke and Lorelai finally pulled themselves from their own little world, they saw Richard and Emily leaving the room. Rory and Jess followed close behind them.
"Well Rory, I think we have lots to talk about then hm? Planning a wedding is going to be a tough job." Emily said, more cheerfully than before.
Rory smiled at her. Once outside, Richard and Emily went off to greet their other guests. Jess stepped in front of Rory and took her hands in his own.
"Hey."
"Hey." Rory smiled brightly.
"Well you look happy."
"Never been happier." Rory responded as Jess wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He kissed her briefly then pulled her into a warm embrace.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Dining Room:
"I guess they made up and decided to go back to the party." Lorelai said.
"Must have."
The two sat in a comfortable silence for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.
"It's kinda scary."
"What is?" Luke asked, looking into Lorelai's bright eyes.
"That… that yesterday Rory was a baby and now she's getting married." She said sadly.
"Yeah…" //How to lighten the mood?// Luke thought, //Gotta do something…// Then it came to him.
"I remember the first time she ever set foot in the diner." Luke said with a smile.
Lorelai smiled too, recalling the memory. "What was she, 6?"
"Something like that."
Luke looked up from behind the counter when he heard the chime above the door sound. He watched a little girl with dark hair and big blue eyes walk up to the counter and sit on one of the stools.
"Hey Luke!"
"Hi Rory." Luke had greeted her. At this time, he and Lorelai were friends, and seen each other in passing a few times, but Rory had never come to the diner before.
"Can I have coffee?"
Luke sighed and poured her a small cup, "I'll never understand why your mom lets you have that stuff."
"This is a baby cup."
"It is not."
"Is too! I want a bigger one!"
"Rory, just drink that one for now."
"You learned your lesson pretty quickly huh?"
"What, to never give a human-sized portion of coffee to a Gilmore? Sure, I learned that in no time."
Lorelai laughed.
"You feel a little better?"
"A little."
Luke took a deep breath. He couldn't believe he was about to do this.
"Well what do you say we go find some of those apple tarts?"
Lorelai's eyes danced with excitement, "Really? You'll eat one too?"
"Sure. Let's go."
Later that night, four hours, much champagne, and about nine million apple tarts later, Luke, Lorelai, Jess, and Rory were back in the car headed home. Once they arrived at the Gilmore house, they all got out of the car. Luke helped a very tipsy Lorelai upstairs to her room. She saw her bed and fell face down onto it immediately.
"So tired."
"I bet."
"Shoes."
"What?"
"Get my shoes?"
Luke looked around, "Take them off?"
"Yeah, they hurt."
Luke sat down on the bed next to Lorelai and carefully removed her shoes. "There you go."
"Gracias."
Lorelai began to doze off, so Luke pulled the blankets from under her and tucked her in.
"Night Lorelai." He called as he left the room.
"Night Lukey," Lorelai called into the dark, "Thanks for taking me home."
"Not a problem. Get some sleep."
"Hey Jess, ready to go?" Luke asked when he reached the living room.
"Nah, I'll stay here."
"For the night?"
"Yeah, if that's okay…" Jess looked to Rory and she nodded.
Luke studied them both carefully, "Fine…But remember Lorelai's upstairs."
Rory and Jess nodded and Luke made his way to the door.
"Jess." He called, turning back into the house for a moment.
"Yeah?"
"Don't you dare do anything I'll want to kill you for later okay?"
Jess groaned, "Sorry Ror, I guess that bank robbery is off."
"Oh darn! I was looking forward to it!"
"Jess you know what I mean." Luke insisted sternly.
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry about it." Jess assured him and Luke left the house.
Rory and Jess watched Luke walk off in the direction of the diner out of the window.
"I'm gonna go change. Be right back!" Rory said, going to her bedroom. She took off her dress and slipped into a pair of blue pajama pants with hot pink coffee cups on them, and pulled on a pink sweatshirt. She ran a brush through her hair and returned to the living room.
"Hey." Jess said when he saw her.
"Want to come read for a bit?" Rory suggested.
"Sure."
Rory and Jess went into her room. Rory went to her suitcase to find a book, and Jess took off his shirt and shoes and sat on the bed. Triumphantly pulling Oliver Twist from the depths of her suitcase, Rory laid next to Jess on the bed, pulling the covers around them.
"From the beginning?" Jess asked, taking the book.
"Yeah."
They read for a long time, and they both were growing very tired. Jess placed the book on the bedside table. He turned off the light and took Rory in his arms, kissing her forehead softly.
"Merry Christmas Rory." He said quietly, but Rory was already asleep. Jess looked at her- she was so beautiful. He took her hand in his, gently feeling her engagement ring. //Falling asleep on Christmas with my fiancée// Jess thought, //Nope, it doesn't get much better than this.//