a/n: I just wanted to make it clear that in this story I won't be having any 'conflict archaeology' (a lame term I picked up from eighth grade project peace that is the only way to describe rory and Tristan's past) basically no underlying issues and no arguments about 'u ditched me before the play.' If you wanna read one of those, go read my other stories north carolina or rory and lori, theres a lot of that in there. In the first chapter of this story I had Tristan tell rory he liked her a long time ago just so that it clears all that up. I can guarantee that the Chilton days will probably never be referred to again. Just clearing some stuff up. Thanks for reading all this!!!!

And as always thank you SOOOO much for the reviews, you guys really know how to keep me happy and make me love you even more!

***Chapter 2: Meet the Parents

The sight Rory found when they pulled into the Dugrey driveway was amazing. The house was by far the largest house she had ever seen. It was three stories tall and had dozens of large windows that were all brightly glowing in the dark night. The front yard was enormous; it had taken them nearly three or four minutes to reach the house after they had driven through the front gates. In the dark night shadows Rory could make out the silhouettes of fountains and fancy shrubs. She knew this was no ordinary house.

"Bienvenido a mi casa," Tristan said. "Welcome to my house."

"It's huge," Rory said, unable to hide her amazement.

"Yah, and this is just the pool house," he answered.

"Really?" she asked, shocked.

"No, I'm just kidding. But the pool house is pretty impressive. It's got four bedrooms and four baths."

"Jeez," Rory said.

Tristan got out and went around the car to open Rory's door. She smiled at his nice manners as he helped her out of the car.

"Here, stand under my umbrella," he instructed. "It's starting to rain again."

They crossed the remaining distance from the driveway to the front door under his umbrella. As Tristan fumbled with the keys, Rory's ring caught the reflection of the moon, and she stood for a minute looking at it.

It was a three stone 'eternity' ring, representing love yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The two outer stones were eight karats each, and the inner stone was a pink twelve-karat stone. The band was fourteen-karat gold and fit comfortably on her ring finger.

When they had arrived at the jewelers, the store was closed, but Tristan had made a call and the owner opened it for them. Tristan didn't tell Rory the price, and she didn't ask, knowing that the cost would make her feel guilty for wanting a ring in the first place. It had been just a joke, but he had insisted upon it, and now that she had the ring, Rory was glad he had.

"Tristan, you are very late. Your father is angry," the maid whispered to him as they walked towards the sitting room.

"I know. Thanks Linda." He winked at the young woman and she giggled, causing Rory to wonder if they had a relationship other than maid-employer. She quickly put the thought out of her head.

They came to a room that was full of people dressed in formal attire. Rory felt underdressed in her skirt set she had worn for dinner with her grandmother. She took comfort that Tristan wasn't dressed up either, and wondered how the 'dinner with several clients' that Tristan had told her about had turned into this huge crowd.

"Tristan, you're here!" Lauren cried, setting down her martini on the baby-grand piano. She crossed the room to give Tristan a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi Mom," he said fondly. Rory understood for the first time that though Tristan hated his father, he loved hi mother very much. "Is my father in this crowd anywhere?"

"He's over there," she said, pointing across the room to where a group of men were standing near a small bar. "Rory, how nice to see you again. I hope you had a pleasant evening with my son."

"Yes Mrs. Dugrey, we had a wonderful time."

"Please, don't call me Mrs. Dugrey, it makes me sound like Richard's mother."

"And that is something you will never want to be," Tristan added. "She's probably the meanest old woman in the world."

His mother nodded. "Please, call me Lauren."

"All right Lauren," Rory said, testing the name.

"We're going to go tell Dad that Rory and I are engaged," he added a wink for emphasis, and his mother caught his meaning.

"I knew you would figure a way out of the 'merger marriage.' I tried to talk your father out of it, but you know how he chooses not to listen to me. Good work Tristan! I knew that Ivy League schools were good for something!"

Tristan laughed and led Rory over to his father, slipping his arm around her as he did so. She was glad that Tristan had told his mother the truth because the whole ride to the house Rory had been wondering how to ask him if she could tell Lorelai. She liked the fact that Lauren was on their side. It made the Dugrey clan seem a whole lot less scary.

"So here's my boy now," Richard said to the group of men he was standing with. "And I'm assuming this is the lucky lady."

"Dad, this is Rory Gilmore. Rory, Richard Dugrey."

Richard reached for Rory's hand, but instead of taking her right hand to shake he took her left hand to examine her ring.

"Lovely little peace of jewelry," he said. "Lovely little lady as well. Are you related to Richard and Emily Gilmore?"

"They are my grandparents sir," Rory answered, struggling to stay polite. She already didn't like the man.

"Fine people the Gilmore's are. I didn't know they had any children."

"Just my mother Lorelai," Rory answered.

"Oh yes, I remember hearing about her. She ran away when she was seventeen, didn't she? Such a scandal."

"Father, I really don't think this appropriate," Tristan said, pulling Rory closer to him protectively.

"Nonsense. We're all going to be family here, aren't we? We might as well get all the skeletons out of the closet as they say. So, are you in school?"

"I just graduated from Yale."

"What major?"

"Journalism sir."

"Do you have a job yet?"

"I just had an interview with the New York Times," Rory answered remembering her interview earlier that day. She thought it had been successful, but she didn't want to jinx anything.

"We need an investigative reporter at Dugrey Industries," Richard said.

"Dad, DI is a home loan and real estate company. You couldn't possibly need a reporter."

"We need a publicist," Richard offered.

"Thank you sir, but I am applying to be a foreign correspondent. I always wanted to live in Europe."

"Oh well, there aren't any females at DI anyway," Richard said. "We might as well keep it that way. Women don't need to be involved in business in politics."

Rory could feel the muscles in Tristan's arm around her tighten. He was obviously getting aggravated. She understood. His father was frustrating.

"So when is the big day?" another man asked them, politely trying to draw the group out of Richard's awkward views.

"We haven't really decided," Tristan answered. "We're still getting used to being engaged."

"Perfectly understandable," the man answered. "You two are still young. No need to rush into anything."

"Exactly," Tristan answered. "Now if you will excuse us, Rory and I have to be going to Stars Hollow to tell her mother the big news."

*****

"Wait, wait, wait." Lorelai said, laughing hysterically. "You're telling me you're going to marry BIBLE BOY?" she said in peals of laughter.

"Pretend, Mom. We're pretending to be engaged."

"Bible boy?" Tristan asked, clearly confused.

"When Mom told me tonight that you went out with Tristan Dugrey I was positive that she had got the name wrong. But then you show up and say you're engaged? MY GOD! Look at that rock!" she said, snapping out of her laughter when she saw Rory's ring.

"Bible Boy? Tristan repeated.

"Just a nickname from high school," Rory answered. He continued looking at her quizzically. "If you got to call me Mary, you got to be Bible Boy. It fits." He nodded as if accepting her answer.

"Are all those real?" Lorelai asked, finally tearing her eyes away from the ring.

"Yah," Tristan answered. "All of them."

"I taught you right Rory," Lorelai said, completely pleased. "See, now my daughter is going to marry a billionaire and I can forever sit in the lap of luxury."

"Billionaire?" Rory asked.

Tristan shrugged.

"You didn't know? The Dugrey's are the richest family in Connecticut. I read this article in TIME about how they own all these summerhouses in Europe, and the largest house on Martha's Vineyard. Wouldn't that be cool? To have a house between the Kennedy's and the Dugrey's? They also own…"

"And one of them is also sitting right here," Tristan said, clearly uncomfortable. "Yes I have a lot of money, but I don't care about all that stuff."

Rory was still in a complete state of shock. "I knew you were rich, but not that rich."

"Once again, can we please drop it?"

"See Ror, you can be a billionaire. Oh this is exciting!"

"Mom, we're not actually getting married, did you miss that part of our story?"

"You say that now, but things will change."

"Excuse me?" Tristan said.

"Nothing, nothing. Well, all I can say is who wants movies and pizza?"

"Will you stay Tris?" Rory asked.

"Why not. What are we watching?"

"How about For Richer, For Poorer, or The Billion Dollar Scandal. Ooh! I know. The Millionaire Playboy is excellent, but it's a little under your income."

"Ha ha. Actually, you're not very funny."

"Mom, just drop it."

"Hey, sorry sorry. Just trying to celebrate our new fortune," she said, walking into the kitchen to get snacks. "How about Annie?"

Rory got up to put the DVD in. "Hey! This is about a billionaire too," she realized once the movie had started and they were all settled in.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Lorelai cried triumphantly but no one bothered to change it. By the end of the movie they had all fallen asleep, Lorelai spread out on the couch, and Rory resting on Tristan's chest on the floor. It was the best sleep either she or Tristan had in a long time.