SPOILERS - None.
SUMMARY - Same as the other chapters, PG-13
DISCLAIMER - The WB, Amy Sherman-Palladino, et al owns it all.
A/N: A special thanks goes to NYC radio station WPLJ for playing Bob Marley's "We're Jammin'" on my commute to work - it gave me ideas for the story! A/N2: Oh, and for those eagle-eyes out there, I'm moving the whole thing to the Royal St. Lucian (check it out on the net! I'd like to go there!) - it's a much more upscale hotel with both beach and bay views (which makes a sunrise wedding as nice as a sunset one.)
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Chapter Fifteen (Tuesday)
We got back to the amazing Royal St. Lucian hotel and walked over to reception. "Why don't you two go get a table for lunch and we'll check in and get organized? Ror, just order me that excellent crab salad I had the other day, okay?" I motioned to Rory and Lorelai.
"Yeah, the sooner we eat, the sooner we can get to our spa appointments!" Rory said looking at Lorelai, who's eye brightened at the sound of the suggestion.
Lorelai looked at Luke. "Yeah, crab salad sounds good for me," he nodded in agreement. The two women headed towards the restaurant and I could hear Rory say "and coconut drinks!" followed by laughter from both of them. I turned around and saw her and her mom, arm-in-arm, her head turned around towards me, smiling. I smiled back and shook my head at her.
"So, Jess, are you really going to do this?" Luke asked me, breaking my stare. "Reservation for Danes," he said to the hotel clerk.
"Yes, Uncle Luke. I. AM. GOING. TO. DO. THIS. I love Rory, I always have," I said emphatically. I pulled out my wallet and gave the clerk my credit card. "And I'm paying for this," I said to both of them.
Luke immediately protested. "No, Jess, we're guests at your wedding." he said trying to push the credit card away.
"No, Luke, you're the best man and matron of honor, our witnesses, and we interrupted your own honeymoon to come here, there's no way I'm going to let you pay for this," I insisted, waving the clerk off with my card.
"Well, then at least let us pay for dinner tonight?" he offered.
"Sounds good," I replied. We got the keycard for his room and carried the luggage up. Luke unpacked the few things of his from one of the bags (two pairs of dress pants, two shirts, toiletries) - most of the stuff in the two huge suitcases belonged to Lorelai, of course. We dragged the balance of the stuff up to my room and set it aside for her to deal with. I grabbed my garment bag and put the white pants and white dress shirt for the wedding in it, followed by a pair of black pants and a floral shirt with a black background on it for dinner, as well as my toiletries. I grabbed my computer case and stuffed my notes into it and slung it over my shoulder.
"You're not going to work tonight, are you? I thought we were going to celebrate a little!" Luke said, surprised at my action.
"We'll see. I've got to at least get this article started, Bill is going to want it finished and on his desk by mid-day on Thursday," I explained, making a mental note that I need to talk to the island photographer this afternoon to be sure I can get copies of the wedding shots from the couple I interviewed, as well as our pictures to get published in the paper's wedding column. And shit! I have to get our return flights booked. Geez, I'm letting a lot of stuff slip, I've got to get my head together! We went back down to the other room where I threw my stuff on the desk. "Hey, Luke, could you go down and join the ladies? I've got to make a call or two. I'll be down there as soon as I can," I said, pulling out my cell phone and some of my notes.
Luke looked a little annoyed, but then shook his head, amused by how 'grown up' I was now. "Um, yeah, sure, be down soon, I don't know if I'll be able to handle both of them if those coconut drinks are anything like the ones that Lorelai and I have been drinking in Barbados!" he said with a laugh as he walked out the door. I flipped open my phone and hit my speed dial. "Hey, Heather, do you miss me?" I asked with a smile.
"Jess! Are you married yet?" she asked quickly.
"Nope, tomorrow morning, sunrise ceremony," I answered.
"Awwww, that's so sweet! Don't forget, I want pictures!!" I could see her smiling over the phone.
"Yeah, yeah, you'll get your pictures. Listen, I need to book our flights back. I'll fly back to Laguardia and Rory to Dulles, tomorrow afternoon," I said, looking through my date book.
"Tomorrow afternoon? But what about your honeymoon?" she asked as she was writing it down.
I laughed. "We've been having our honeymoon over the last couple days, Heather, calm down. Anyway, I've still got a story to write, I'm not down here just for my wedding, you know, and Bill wants that story by Thursday. Oh, don't forget, her name will be Lorelai Mariano, but you'd better book it as Lorelai Gilmore-Mariano just in case," I reminded her.
"Yup, no problem, I'll email you with the information. Ugh, are you checking your email?" she sounded disgusted. She's one of those people who never takes her work home with her.
"I haven't been checking it since we got here, but I will tomorrow. Listen, I've got to go, I'll see you on Thursday, thanks!" I said quickly.
"Bye Jess, and congratulations to you and Mrs. Mariano!" she said and hung up. Wow, Mrs. Mariano. Weird. I called the wedding photographer and double-checked the arrangements for both getting the other pictures and having him there for our wedding. I also arranged to have the wedding videotaped. I'm sure that Rory will appreciate being able to share it with her friends and her grandparents. Hell, they'll probably show it at Miss Patty's after a town meeting. Now that would be a sight! I could just picture Miss Patty and Babette crying, Dean scowling, Taylor complaining that having the wedding there took away revenue from Stars Hollow, how funny it would be to see that. I also called the concierge to arrange for dinner. I found a place in the travel guide called "Bang" which was a pretty exclusive restaurant in the southern St. Lucia town of Soufriere, best accessible by boat. So I made an 8:30 dinner reservation then chartered a boat to take us there from Marigot Bay Marina at 7:00, with a return at 10:30. This will be a great surprise.
I got down stairs just as the food was being served and Rory was already giving me a pouty face. "Stop. I had to get our flights arranged and move my stuff in with Luke," I explained. Move my stuff in with Luke. I never thought I'd hear myself say THAT again. We had a great lunch, with the two girls gabbing non-stop. They then ran off for their spa appointments with their drink umbrellas in their hair, leaving Luke and I alone. "So? Don't tell me, you want to hit the gym," I said to Luke after we paid the check.
He laughed. "How'd you know?"
"I saw the gym clothes, I had a feeling that your wife hasn't given you much time for working out, except for HER kind of work out," I smirked.
"You've got that right! We've done just about every activity that the hotel has to offer, but plenty of THAT," he said with a little embarrassment. We walked over to the elevators and went up to 'our' room. "You coming with?" he asked as he grabbed his workout clothes and changed into them.
"Nah, I'll pass. I need to get some work done, and I might do some laps in the pool or something later," I answered, opening up my computer.
"Okay, then, I'll see you in a few hours," Luke said as he walked out. "Don't work TOO hard," he added before leaving. I checked my email, nothing big going on there, good. I started writing my story, just starting out with the background information on the couple I interviewed, the package deals the resorts offer versus what a 'normal' wedding costs in the states, stuff like that. I had a pretty good outline of where I was going to go with the story with one exception - how to write in my own personal experience. I kind of wished that I was able to go with Rory yesterday to make the arrangements, that would have been better. I ran downstairs to the wedding planning offices and asked a couple more questions to fill in the holes in my story. Helen, the planner that Rory was working with, was very helpful, but a bit confused with all of my questions. I also mentioned what song I wanted played at our ceremony, and she made a note of that. I guess she just thought that I was just a groom being nervous and double-checking my fiance's plans; I guess the woman I had met with yesterday didn't tell her about the story I'm doing. She made a comment about people forgetting their wedding rings in the rooms, and it dawned on me that I didn't get her one! I quickly excused myself and jumped in the car, heading back towards the town where we had dinner the night before - I remember seeing some jewelry stores nearby. I ran into the first one I saw and the man behind the counter recognized my panicked face right away.
"Ah, man, you getting married, but forgot a little somethin'?" he asked, good-naturedly.
"Yeah, help!" I said with half a laugh. I picked out a pretty platinum band to match Rory's engagement ring, then searched the men's section for a ring for me. I was hoping to find one with sapphires on it, but he didn't have anything like that. I spotted a platinum ring with three X's engraved into it. That would be perfect. I was given three chances to be with Rory, so it would be a great symbol. I paid for the rings and jumped back into the car to head back to the hotel before anyone would notice I was missing. I ran back to my room and shoved the rings in my white pants, then went up and left a note on Rory's nightstand that we would be leaving the hotel at 6:30 for dinner. I looked at my watch. It was already 5:00. I changed into my swim trunks and went down to the hotel pool and did a couple quick laps. I got out of the pool and as I was walking over to get a towel, Rory and Lorelai came out of the spa and spotted me.
"Hey," I called out to them. Rory and Lorelai returned the 'hey' and Rory gave me a kiss, carefully avoiding bumping me with her wet nails. "I guess no fooling around before dinner, huh? Because it's been a couple of hours, and all this exercise." I asked with a smirk. She gave me another quick peck on the lips.
"I love you when you're horny, you know that? See you in a few!" she winked and they were off to get ready for dinner. I went upstairs and Luke had just finished showering and was putting on a nice pair of khakis and a pale blue shirt. I went and took my shower and changed, and we met the girls in the lobby at 6:30. Rory was dragging Lorelai, of course, who wasn't completely ready. Lorelai was wearing the baby blue sundress that Rory had worn a few nights before, and Rory was wearing a black halter dress with heels. We all stopped and looked at each other. Rory and I were both in black and Lorelai and Luke were both in light blue. How weird was that?
"You know, Lorelai, why did you make me drag all of your clothes to St. Lucia for one night if you were going to steal your daughter's clothes anyway?" Luke grumbled. Lorelai smacked him in the arm affectionately.
"Do you want me to go change? It'll only take an hour or so." she started.
"No!" both Luke and I said at the same time, then we all broke into a laugh. "Let's go," I said, taking Rory's hand. We started driving, when Rory asked where we were going. "It's a surprise," I said with a smile. Luke and Lorelai looked at each other in confusion. We got to the Marigot Bay Marina and I parked the car.
"We're eating at a marina? Ew!" Lorelai protested, holding her nose to the fishy smell. I shook my head, took Rory's hand and we all walked down to the cabin cruiser that was waiting for us.
"Mr. Mariano?" the captain asked. I nodded. "Good sir, we're ready to go," he motioned for the deck hand to help everyone on board. Rory's eyes were wide and Luke and Lorelai looked shocked.
"Let's go, guys," I said, getting onto the boat. We had a few drinks and appetizers during the hour-long boat ride down to Soufriere. When we docked, it was a short walk to the restaurant, and our table was waiting for us. We had an excellent meal, unbelievable service. I have to remember to do a write-up on this place for my article. We were finishing our desserts when the servers started to open up the glass doors leading towards the beach where the band was outside playing.
"Oooh, dancing!" Lorelai said excitedly. Luke rolled his eyes and groaned. I'm guessing that she's had him out dancing every night at their hotel, too, and I laughed. The band started to play 'We're Jammin'" and Lorelai jumped up. "Come on, Lukie!" she bounced. Luke shook his head no.
"I'll dance with you, Lorelai," I chimed up, getting open-mouthed shocked looks from all three of them. I stood up and set my napkin down and headed for the dance floor. "You comin' or not?" I said over my shoulder. She looked at Rory with amusement and fell into step beside me. We found a spot on the dance floor and started dancing. She was staring at me, amazed by the fact that I actually knew how to dance and did it pretty well. At one point I held her in my arms and did some merengue moves, she was pretty good at following a lead, and she smiled at me, obviously enjoying the dance. The sound ended and we walked back to the table, Rory was smiling brightly at me and Luke still looked shocked. "What?" I asked.
"Wow," Rory gasped.
"Yeah, wow," Luke added.
"Yeah, wow!" Lorelai contributed, smacking me on the back. "This man has some nice mooooooves!" she added, making me blush a little.
"I'm sorry Lorelai, I didn't mean to get that 'personal' with my mother-in- law to be, but the dance is just that kind of way." I started to stammer.
"Don't apologize, Jess! Just, please, teach Luke how to move like that!" she teased. Luke gave her a stern look.
"No." Lorelai made a pouty face. "Don't start, I will NEVER be able to dance like THAT!" he protested.
Rory ran her hand along my arm. "Well, I wouldn't mind if you would dance like THAT with me, Jess," she said seductively. I got up and took her hand.
"For the rest of your life, Rory," I said, giving her a wink. We walked to the dance floor and joined the crowd on the floor.
"This is the best day of my life!" Rory said with a huge smile. I smiled back at her and kissed her.
"Well, it would be even better if we could go back to hotel tonight and make love." I started. Rory pressed her forehead to mine.
"Yeah, you're right, that would be better than our current dorm arrangement," she pouted. We finished the song and I checked my watch as we walked back to the table.
"We'd better get going, the boat needs to leave soon," I said picking up the check.
"Nope, I got it, we agreed," Luke interrupted, taking the bill from me. I acquiesced, thanking him. We all walked back to the boat, Lorelai complaining that she ate too much as always, and boarded for the hour ride back. We all sat back and watched the waves and the stars as we headed back. I had my arm around Rory and Luke had his arm around Lorelai. Both of the girls were nodding off, snuggled up to us. I looked over to Luke, who gave me an understanding nod. 'This is nice' he mouthed to me. 'Yeah,' I mouthed back, returning the nod. We got in the car and headed back to the hotel. As soon as we got there, Lorelai and Rory both seemed to get a second wind.
"Let's get coconuts and go back to the room!" Lorelai said excitedly to Rory.
"Yeah!" she answered back and they both ran towards the bar.
"So, Luke, how about we go to the bar and get a real drink?" I asked, looking after them.
"Sounds good, those coconut drinks are freaking me out a little," he smirked. We got to the bar where the girls were just getting their drinks. "I've got it," Luke said, laying a bill on the bar.
Rory walked over to me and I put my arms around her. She couldn't with the huge coconut in her hand. "I guess this is goodnight, then, princess?" I asked, trying to mimic her pouty face.
"Yeah, I guess so.I'll see you bright and early tomorrow, though! Sweet dreams, Jess, I love you," she said reaching up for a long kiss.
"6:00 am, my love, sweet dreams to you, I love you," I said back and gave her another kiss.
Luke and Lorelai were kissing also. "Goodnight Lukie, don't miss me too much," she said.
"I'm already missing you," Luke shot back as she started to walk away. Both Lorelai and Rory let out an 'awww' sound and giggled off towards the elevators.
"So when do the strippers get here?" I asked loudly enough for them to both hear me. They both stopped dead in their tracks and turned around with their hands on their hips. Luke and I busted out laughing at them.
"That was great!" Luke snorted, turning back towards the bar when they realized I was kidding. "Two scotches," he asked the bartender, looking at me first for confirmation. I shook my head yes and we sat down on the stools.
"So, is it everything you've been dreaming about for the past, oh, 20 years or so?" I asked as we got our drinks.
"Everything and more," Luke answered solemnly. "I just never thought it would happen, I thought for the longest time that I'd be alone for the rest of my life, destined to pine after her while she would meet someone else and get married to him right in front of my face, never seeing me.thanks for waking me up," he sighed.
"Me? What the hell did I do except yell at you and make you feel like shit about it?" I was shocked that he'd give me credit.
"You opened my eyes. Remember that whole 'dog leash' thing we had when I had to do that speech at the high school? I never forgot that. And when Nicole left me, she said the exact same thing that Rachel said - 'don't wait too long to tell her that you love her' - and although I freaked a little that both of them would say the same thing, I realized that you were all right. So I told her. And she freaked. But then she came around and realized that she felt the same way about me. It was great. And I guess the rest, they say, is history." he said, draining his glass.
"I'm glad you're here, Luke," I said staring at my glass. I really was. He was the only father figure I've ever had in my life.
"Me too, Jess," he said, giving me a pat on the back. "Drink up and let's get some sleep, we've got an early start," he said seriously.
"Okay, Uncle Luke," I said, draining my glass and heading to the elevators right behind him.
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.end of chapter 15. Ha! And you thought I was going to get to the wedding in this chapter! Don't be mad, it'll be worth it!!!
A/N: A special thanks goes to NYC radio station WPLJ for playing Bob Marley's "We're Jammin'" on my commute to work - it gave me ideas for the story! A/N2: Oh, and for those eagle-eyes out there, I'm moving the whole thing to the Royal St. Lucian (check it out on the net! I'd like to go there!) - it's a much more upscale hotel with both beach and bay views (which makes a sunrise wedding as nice as a sunset one.)
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Chapter Fifteen (Tuesday)
We got back to the amazing Royal St. Lucian hotel and walked over to reception. "Why don't you two go get a table for lunch and we'll check in and get organized? Ror, just order me that excellent crab salad I had the other day, okay?" I motioned to Rory and Lorelai.
"Yeah, the sooner we eat, the sooner we can get to our spa appointments!" Rory said looking at Lorelai, who's eye brightened at the sound of the suggestion.
Lorelai looked at Luke. "Yeah, crab salad sounds good for me," he nodded in agreement. The two women headed towards the restaurant and I could hear Rory say "and coconut drinks!" followed by laughter from both of them. I turned around and saw her and her mom, arm-in-arm, her head turned around towards me, smiling. I smiled back and shook my head at her.
"So, Jess, are you really going to do this?" Luke asked me, breaking my stare. "Reservation for Danes," he said to the hotel clerk.
"Yes, Uncle Luke. I. AM. GOING. TO. DO. THIS. I love Rory, I always have," I said emphatically. I pulled out my wallet and gave the clerk my credit card. "And I'm paying for this," I said to both of them.
Luke immediately protested. "No, Jess, we're guests at your wedding." he said trying to push the credit card away.
"No, Luke, you're the best man and matron of honor, our witnesses, and we interrupted your own honeymoon to come here, there's no way I'm going to let you pay for this," I insisted, waving the clerk off with my card.
"Well, then at least let us pay for dinner tonight?" he offered.
"Sounds good," I replied. We got the keycard for his room and carried the luggage up. Luke unpacked the few things of his from one of the bags (two pairs of dress pants, two shirts, toiletries) - most of the stuff in the two huge suitcases belonged to Lorelai, of course. We dragged the balance of the stuff up to my room and set it aside for her to deal with. I grabbed my garment bag and put the white pants and white dress shirt for the wedding in it, followed by a pair of black pants and a floral shirt with a black background on it for dinner, as well as my toiletries. I grabbed my computer case and stuffed my notes into it and slung it over my shoulder.
"You're not going to work tonight, are you? I thought we were going to celebrate a little!" Luke said, surprised at my action.
"We'll see. I've got to at least get this article started, Bill is going to want it finished and on his desk by mid-day on Thursday," I explained, making a mental note that I need to talk to the island photographer this afternoon to be sure I can get copies of the wedding shots from the couple I interviewed, as well as our pictures to get published in the paper's wedding column. And shit! I have to get our return flights booked. Geez, I'm letting a lot of stuff slip, I've got to get my head together! We went back down to the other room where I threw my stuff on the desk. "Hey, Luke, could you go down and join the ladies? I've got to make a call or two. I'll be down there as soon as I can," I said, pulling out my cell phone and some of my notes.
Luke looked a little annoyed, but then shook his head, amused by how 'grown up' I was now. "Um, yeah, sure, be down soon, I don't know if I'll be able to handle both of them if those coconut drinks are anything like the ones that Lorelai and I have been drinking in Barbados!" he said with a laugh as he walked out the door. I flipped open my phone and hit my speed dial. "Hey, Heather, do you miss me?" I asked with a smile.
"Jess! Are you married yet?" she asked quickly.
"Nope, tomorrow morning, sunrise ceremony," I answered.
"Awwww, that's so sweet! Don't forget, I want pictures!!" I could see her smiling over the phone.
"Yeah, yeah, you'll get your pictures. Listen, I need to book our flights back. I'll fly back to Laguardia and Rory to Dulles, tomorrow afternoon," I said, looking through my date book.
"Tomorrow afternoon? But what about your honeymoon?" she asked as she was writing it down.
I laughed. "We've been having our honeymoon over the last couple days, Heather, calm down. Anyway, I've still got a story to write, I'm not down here just for my wedding, you know, and Bill wants that story by Thursday. Oh, don't forget, her name will be Lorelai Mariano, but you'd better book it as Lorelai Gilmore-Mariano just in case," I reminded her.
"Yup, no problem, I'll email you with the information. Ugh, are you checking your email?" she sounded disgusted. She's one of those people who never takes her work home with her.
"I haven't been checking it since we got here, but I will tomorrow. Listen, I've got to go, I'll see you on Thursday, thanks!" I said quickly.
"Bye Jess, and congratulations to you and Mrs. Mariano!" she said and hung up. Wow, Mrs. Mariano. Weird. I called the wedding photographer and double-checked the arrangements for both getting the other pictures and having him there for our wedding. I also arranged to have the wedding videotaped. I'm sure that Rory will appreciate being able to share it with her friends and her grandparents. Hell, they'll probably show it at Miss Patty's after a town meeting. Now that would be a sight! I could just picture Miss Patty and Babette crying, Dean scowling, Taylor complaining that having the wedding there took away revenue from Stars Hollow, how funny it would be to see that. I also called the concierge to arrange for dinner. I found a place in the travel guide called "Bang" which was a pretty exclusive restaurant in the southern St. Lucia town of Soufriere, best accessible by boat. So I made an 8:30 dinner reservation then chartered a boat to take us there from Marigot Bay Marina at 7:00, with a return at 10:30. This will be a great surprise.
I got down stairs just as the food was being served and Rory was already giving me a pouty face. "Stop. I had to get our flights arranged and move my stuff in with Luke," I explained. Move my stuff in with Luke. I never thought I'd hear myself say THAT again. We had a great lunch, with the two girls gabbing non-stop. They then ran off for their spa appointments with their drink umbrellas in their hair, leaving Luke and I alone. "So? Don't tell me, you want to hit the gym," I said to Luke after we paid the check.
He laughed. "How'd you know?"
"I saw the gym clothes, I had a feeling that your wife hasn't given you much time for working out, except for HER kind of work out," I smirked.
"You've got that right! We've done just about every activity that the hotel has to offer, but plenty of THAT," he said with a little embarrassment. We walked over to the elevators and went up to 'our' room. "You coming with?" he asked as he grabbed his workout clothes and changed into them.
"Nah, I'll pass. I need to get some work done, and I might do some laps in the pool or something later," I answered, opening up my computer.
"Okay, then, I'll see you in a few hours," Luke said as he walked out. "Don't work TOO hard," he added before leaving. I checked my email, nothing big going on there, good. I started writing my story, just starting out with the background information on the couple I interviewed, the package deals the resorts offer versus what a 'normal' wedding costs in the states, stuff like that. I had a pretty good outline of where I was going to go with the story with one exception - how to write in my own personal experience. I kind of wished that I was able to go with Rory yesterday to make the arrangements, that would have been better. I ran downstairs to the wedding planning offices and asked a couple more questions to fill in the holes in my story. Helen, the planner that Rory was working with, was very helpful, but a bit confused with all of my questions. I also mentioned what song I wanted played at our ceremony, and she made a note of that. I guess she just thought that I was just a groom being nervous and double-checking my fiance's plans; I guess the woman I had met with yesterday didn't tell her about the story I'm doing. She made a comment about people forgetting their wedding rings in the rooms, and it dawned on me that I didn't get her one! I quickly excused myself and jumped in the car, heading back towards the town where we had dinner the night before - I remember seeing some jewelry stores nearby. I ran into the first one I saw and the man behind the counter recognized my panicked face right away.
"Ah, man, you getting married, but forgot a little somethin'?" he asked, good-naturedly.
"Yeah, help!" I said with half a laugh. I picked out a pretty platinum band to match Rory's engagement ring, then searched the men's section for a ring for me. I was hoping to find one with sapphires on it, but he didn't have anything like that. I spotted a platinum ring with three X's engraved into it. That would be perfect. I was given three chances to be with Rory, so it would be a great symbol. I paid for the rings and jumped back into the car to head back to the hotel before anyone would notice I was missing. I ran back to my room and shoved the rings in my white pants, then went up and left a note on Rory's nightstand that we would be leaving the hotel at 6:30 for dinner. I looked at my watch. It was already 5:00. I changed into my swim trunks and went down to the hotel pool and did a couple quick laps. I got out of the pool and as I was walking over to get a towel, Rory and Lorelai came out of the spa and spotted me.
"Hey," I called out to them. Rory and Lorelai returned the 'hey' and Rory gave me a kiss, carefully avoiding bumping me with her wet nails. "I guess no fooling around before dinner, huh? Because it's been a couple of hours, and all this exercise." I asked with a smirk. She gave me another quick peck on the lips.
"I love you when you're horny, you know that? See you in a few!" she winked and they were off to get ready for dinner. I went upstairs and Luke had just finished showering and was putting on a nice pair of khakis and a pale blue shirt. I went and took my shower and changed, and we met the girls in the lobby at 6:30. Rory was dragging Lorelai, of course, who wasn't completely ready. Lorelai was wearing the baby blue sundress that Rory had worn a few nights before, and Rory was wearing a black halter dress with heels. We all stopped and looked at each other. Rory and I were both in black and Lorelai and Luke were both in light blue. How weird was that?
"You know, Lorelai, why did you make me drag all of your clothes to St. Lucia for one night if you were going to steal your daughter's clothes anyway?" Luke grumbled. Lorelai smacked him in the arm affectionately.
"Do you want me to go change? It'll only take an hour or so." she started.
"No!" both Luke and I said at the same time, then we all broke into a laugh. "Let's go," I said, taking Rory's hand. We started driving, when Rory asked where we were going. "It's a surprise," I said with a smile. Luke and Lorelai looked at each other in confusion. We got to the Marigot Bay Marina and I parked the car.
"We're eating at a marina? Ew!" Lorelai protested, holding her nose to the fishy smell. I shook my head, took Rory's hand and we all walked down to the cabin cruiser that was waiting for us.
"Mr. Mariano?" the captain asked. I nodded. "Good sir, we're ready to go," he motioned for the deck hand to help everyone on board. Rory's eyes were wide and Luke and Lorelai looked shocked.
"Let's go, guys," I said, getting onto the boat. We had a few drinks and appetizers during the hour-long boat ride down to Soufriere. When we docked, it was a short walk to the restaurant, and our table was waiting for us. We had an excellent meal, unbelievable service. I have to remember to do a write-up on this place for my article. We were finishing our desserts when the servers started to open up the glass doors leading towards the beach where the band was outside playing.
"Oooh, dancing!" Lorelai said excitedly. Luke rolled his eyes and groaned. I'm guessing that she's had him out dancing every night at their hotel, too, and I laughed. The band started to play 'We're Jammin'" and Lorelai jumped up. "Come on, Lukie!" she bounced. Luke shook his head no.
"I'll dance with you, Lorelai," I chimed up, getting open-mouthed shocked looks from all three of them. I stood up and set my napkin down and headed for the dance floor. "You comin' or not?" I said over my shoulder. She looked at Rory with amusement and fell into step beside me. We found a spot on the dance floor and started dancing. She was staring at me, amazed by the fact that I actually knew how to dance and did it pretty well. At one point I held her in my arms and did some merengue moves, she was pretty good at following a lead, and she smiled at me, obviously enjoying the dance. The sound ended and we walked back to the table, Rory was smiling brightly at me and Luke still looked shocked. "What?" I asked.
"Wow," Rory gasped.
"Yeah, wow," Luke added.
"Yeah, wow!" Lorelai contributed, smacking me on the back. "This man has some nice mooooooves!" she added, making me blush a little.
"I'm sorry Lorelai, I didn't mean to get that 'personal' with my mother-in- law to be, but the dance is just that kind of way." I started to stammer.
"Don't apologize, Jess! Just, please, teach Luke how to move like that!" she teased. Luke gave her a stern look.
"No." Lorelai made a pouty face. "Don't start, I will NEVER be able to dance like THAT!" he protested.
Rory ran her hand along my arm. "Well, I wouldn't mind if you would dance like THAT with me, Jess," she said seductively. I got up and took her hand.
"For the rest of your life, Rory," I said, giving her a wink. We walked to the dance floor and joined the crowd on the floor.
"This is the best day of my life!" Rory said with a huge smile. I smiled back at her and kissed her.
"Well, it would be even better if we could go back to hotel tonight and make love." I started. Rory pressed her forehead to mine.
"Yeah, you're right, that would be better than our current dorm arrangement," she pouted. We finished the song and I checked my watch as we walked back to the table.
"We'd better get going, the boat needs to leave soon," I said picking up the check.
"Nope, I got it, we agreed," Luke interrupted, taking the bill from me. I acquiesced, thanking him. We all walked back to the boat, Lorelai complaining that she ate too much as always, and boarded for the hour ride back. We all sat back and watched the waves and the stars as we headed back. I had my arm around Rory and Luke had his arm around Lorelai. Both of the girls were nodding off, snuggled up to us. I looked over to Luke, who gave me an understanding nod. 'This is nice' he mouthed to me. 'Yeah,' I mouthed back, returning the nod. We got in the car and headed back to the hotel. As soon as we got there, Lorelai and Rory both seemed to get a second wind.
"Let's get coconuts and go back to the room!" Lorelai said excitedly to Rory.
"Yeah!" she answered back and they both ran towards the bar.
"So, Luke, how about we go to the bar and get a real drink?" I asked, looking after them.
"Sounds good, those coconut drinks are freaking me out a little," he smirked. We got to the bar where the girls were just getting their drinks. "I've got it," Luke said, laying a bill on the bar.
Rory walked over to me and I put my arms around her. She couldn't with the huge coconut in her hand. "I guess this is goodnight, then, princess?" I asked, trying to mimic her pouty face.
"Yeah, I guess so.I'll see you bright and early tomorrow, though! Sweet dreams, Jess, I love you," she said reaching up for a long kiss.
"6:00 am, my love, sweet dreams to you, I love you," I said back and gave her another kiss.
Luke and Lorelai were kissing also. "Goodnight Lukie, don't miss me too much," she said.
"I'm already missing you," Luke shot back as she started to walk away. Both Lorelai and Rory let out an 'awww' sound and giggled off towards the elevators.
"So when do the strippers get here?" I asked loudly enough for them to both hear me. They both stopped dead in their tracks and turned around with their hands on their hips. Luke and I busted out laughing at them.
"That was great!" Luke snorted, turning back towards the bar when they realized I was kidding. "Two scotches," he asked the bartender, looking at me first for confirmation. I shook my head yes and we sat down on the stools.
"So, is it everything you've been dreaming about for the past, oh, 20 years or so?" I asked as we got our drinks.
"Everything and more," Luke answered solemnly. "I just never thought it would happen, I thought for the longest time that I'd be alone for the rest of my life, destined to pine after her while she would meet someone else and get married to him right in front of my face, never seeing me.thanks for waking me up," he sighed.
"Me? What the hell did I do except yell at you and make you feel like shit about it?" I was shocked that he'd give me credit.
"You opened my eyes. Remember that whole 'dog leash' thing we had when I had to do that speech at the high school? I never forgot that. And when Nicole left me, she said the exact same thing that Rachel said - 'don't wait too long to tell her that you love her' - and although I freaked a little that both of them would say the same thing, I realized that you were all right. So I told her. And she freaked. But then she came around and realized that she felt the same way about me. It was great. And I guess the rest, they say, is history." he said, draining his glass.
"I'm glad you're here, Luke," I said staring at my glass. I really was. He was the only father figure I've ever had in my life.
"Me too, Jess," he said, giving me a pat on the back. "Drink up and let's get some sleep, we've got an early start," he said seriously.
"Okay, Uncle Luke," I said, draining my glass and heading to the elevators right behind him.
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.end of chapter 15. Ha! And you thought I was going to get to the wedding in this chapter! Don't be mad, it'll be worth it!!!