Author: Lady Eliza
Characters: All Characters
Rating: T
Summary: Total AU Rory and Logan Spoiler Warning
Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of its characters.
AN: Thank you to my reviewers for their wonderful feedback. If you cannot view the tiara, I'll try to upload it onto my blogspot very soon so keep checking for that. I'm so glad that many of you liked the last chapter and the way Logan proposed. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please continue to review.
Chapter 32: The Welcoming Committee
Rory and Logan were flying back to the States on the Huntzberger jet after their stay in England. The two of them hadn't slept after Logan had proposed since they had been otherwise occupied. When they had come down to breakfast the next day everyone had known that they were engaged and started celebrating. Logan and Rory had discussed how they would announce it to the family, but everything had gone to hell in a hand basket when the Queen had phoned the Gilmores and the Huntzbergers to congratulate them.
The couple's cell phones were turned off because the immediate and extended families were phoning to congratulate them and trying to get gossip. As far as the couple knew the press wasn't aware of the engagement so they still had some semblance of privacy, that is until the families decided it was time to put out a wedding announcement.
Rory looked down at her ring finger for the umpteenth time since Logan had slid the ring in it's rightful place. She had been acting giddy since Logan had popped the question. Lorelai had been the first person to be notified and then Logan did the obligatory thing by calling his parents. The couple had decided to wait to call the grandparents but that had been a fatal mistake since the Queen had ended up notifying them of the good news.
The couple had had to grovel since they got an earful from Emily, Richard, Francine, and Elias on proper decorum of announcing that one is engaged. Now they were finally going back home and they couldn't wait to see their loved ones. Rory was just imagining seeing Shira, Emily, and Francine doing the happy dance after they found out about the engagement.
Logan had been happy to see Rory so enthralled with the ring that he had chosen for her. It was quite mesmerizing when one stared at it for too long. He couldn't stop grinning since Rory had uttered the word 'Yes' and he didn't think the foolish grin was going anywhere. He wished they had a few more days in London alone before they faced their families since, if he knew his mother, Emily, and Francine, they would have the couple doing millions of activities to get ready for the engagement party and the wedding. He could just see the trio yelling at the photographer who, most likely, has already been hired to take the engagement pictures.
"Rory, we should have stayed in London and enjoyed our time alone together. I just know the minute we touch down at the airport it's going to be engagement party, wedding, honeymoon, and babies in that specific order," said Logan.
Rory sat in the seat opposite to Logan and took his hand, "Honey, we will take some time for ourselves in this huge event that our families will be hosting. But no one and I mean no one is going to push us into setting a date for the wedding until we're ready. This is our wedding and we will pick the damn day," replied Rory.
"Ace, we should discuss that before we face the family. Do you want to get married right away or do you want to wait until we've graduated from Yale?" asked Logan.
Rory smiled, "I know this is cheesy but I want to be your wife as soon as possible. I don't think we can last till after we've graduated since we would want to live under the same roof and you know how that will go over with the family. Besides I think we should choose our battles with them," said Rory.
"I'm glad you said that since I can't wait for the two of us to be married as well. You're correct on your insight of our families about picking our battles. Here is what I think we should do…" and Logan proceeded to explain his ideas to his future bride.
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The private airstrip where the Huntzberger jet would be landing was filled to capacity with the Gilmores, Huntzbergers, Haydens, Finn, Colin, Stephanie, Paris, Doyle, Lane, Zack, and Luke. Quite a welcoming committee for the newly engaged couple. News had spread from Lorelai to Luke to Lane to Zack. Then it had spread again from Shira to Portia Rothschild to Finn to Colin to Stephanie to Paris and finally to Doyle.
Logan and Rory's friends hadn't expected this announcement for another year, not until after the couple had graduated. But they were pleasantly surprised.
Emily and Shira had gone over several details for the engagement party that that nuisance of a boy Jess would be attending. Now Logan and Rory didn't have to pretend they were engaged since they were for real. Francine had added her two cents to the party planning when she was shown the details. The three women were at the moment on the phone with their respective florists to see how many Orchids could be delivered to the Huntzberger residents by Friday afternoon.
Richard, Mitchum, Christopher, and Elias had broken out the cigars and celebrated in style while discussing the pre-nup and property agreements. Luke had graciously bowed out of the cigar smoking since he knew what cigars did to one's lungs. He had celebrated Rory and Logan's engagement by toasting them with orange juice this morning with his breakfast.
Lorelai couldn't stop the tears from coming. Her baby was all grown up and engaged. She ended up bringing along photo albums and showing them to everyone assembled to welcome the couple back.
Finn was chatting with Gigi. He had no idea what she was saying, but he asked her to escort him to the supermarket soon. Gigi looked adoringly at Finn and said, "Ninny, kiss?" so Finn obliged her and gave her a kiss on her cheek. He loved hanging out with Gigi since she seemed to be in love with him. He secretly loved children and couldn't wait to be a daddy, but he's never told anyone that. He envied Logan for being a step closer to starting a family. Finn wished he could settle down like his other friends.
Paris was sitting down since Doyle wouldn't let her pace. From the time they had gotten engaged Doyle had been trying not to stress her out because he had read in the New York Times that it wasn't good for the baby. He made her a healthy breakfast everyday and made her sit at every opportunity even during newspaper meetings at the Yale Daily News. She was getting aggravated with all the attention he was giving her; in fact she was uneasy with it. When she had gotten the call from Stephanie about Logan and Rory's engagement she had wanted to be here to welcome them home.
Lane and Zack stood out in this crowd but they were all her for one reason and that was Rory and Logan. Lane had jumped up and down when she found out about the good news then proceeded to tell Zack. Zack was a little worried that since Lane's best friend was engaged she would want to be engaged as well. That put a lot of pressure on a guy.
Colin and Stephanie were in a world of their own. The couple had yet to tell their families about their relationship though Colin had a sneaking suspicion his mother knew and was already planning for the grandchildren to arrive. They were ecstatic for Logan and Rory and couldn't wait for the wedding.
Honor and Josh were so excited for Logan and Rory. The soon-to-be-married couple knew how much Logan and Rory meant to each other and they couldn't wait to wish them well upon their arrival.
Everyone saw the plane circled the airfield twice before getting the go-ahead to land. The group stopped what they were doing and waited for the couple to emerge from the jet.
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Rory and Logan had discussed their plan and were going to stick by it. The couple had talked about some important things such as living arrangements and starting a family. They had decided to live together in their final year at Yale and start of family after they graduate.
Before leaving the jet Logan kissed Rory sweetly. He grasped the back of her neck to deepen the kiss so they didn't have to face the people that would inevitably be waiting to welcome them home. Rory was the first to break the kiss and that was due to lack of oxygen.
They would have to face the music eventually so they kissed each other one more time and descended the stairs. The minute their feet's hit the ground their family and friends started making their way outside to greet them.
"Logan, my boy congratulations and Rory, my best wishes to you sweetheart," said Elias.
And so began the onslaught of congratulations to the future groom and best wishes to the bride-to-be. Lorelai was on the verge of tears when she hugged Rory and she even gave Logan a watery smile before she hugged him and surprised everyone by crying on his shoulder.
Logan was alarmed that he looked to Rory for help, but to his surprise she was crying so hard that Finn had to hold her up. He didn't know why Lorelai had decided to cry on him, so he had no other choice but to comfort his future mother-in-law.
Luckily for Logan, Luke saw his reaction and came to take Lorelai to the bathroom to clean her up. Logan went to get Rory so Finn wasn't inconvenienced. Logan looked around and found that people were being way too emotional for his well-being and decided to change the subject. "So mom, Emily how are the arrangements for the engagement party coming along?"
Emily, glad to have gotten back on track without embarrassing herself by crying said, "They are great your mother, Francine, and I were just hammering down some last minute details," said Emily.
"We're glad that you've all got the engagement party planned, since we were out of the country."
The group walked into the waiting area and sat down. They were going to leave when Logan and Rory's luggages could be brought out. Francine who had waited long enough to get the answer to the question that was on everyone's mind asked, "So tell us you two, when's the big day? So that we can plan it of course."
"Yeah, about that Granny. Logan and I will tell all of you our wedding date and all the other details when we decide upon them. We don't know if we want to get married now, during the summer or even after we graduate from Yale," lied Rory. She and Logan had actually decided on a date and the month, but they wanted to keep their families from going overboard with the wedding details. The couple had decided that four months before the wedding would give Emily, Shira, and Francine plenty of time to plan the wedding of the year since they had everything at their disposal. The found it necessary to deceive their loved one's since if it was up to their families the two them would be married immediately.
Emily looked like she was about to faint, Shira had lost all colour in her face, and Francine just stared at the couple. Emily said, "You've got to be kidding. What is there to think about? The two of you should be married immediately or at least by the end of the month. And don't think we will approve of the two of you moving in together before your are properly married."
"Logan, Rory, please think rationally. We want to see the two of you married soon. You shouldn't have to think about anything," pleaded Shira.
"I don't see the point of a long engagement. Back in my day when a couple was engaged they were married immediately or by the years end. This is unnecessary," said Francine.
"Listen, all of you, Rory and I have decided to do this our way and we don't want you all to interfere. Please respect our wishes," said Logan.
Elias who had been watching the whole exchange with rapt attention knew that minute Rory uttered the lie. He understood the couple's reason for lying since Emily, Shira, and Francine could be a tad intense. He wouldn't give the couple away since they would tell the family when the time came. "Alright, we will all obey Logan and Rory's wishes. They are adults and will notify us when they are ready to be married. Now, this is a special occasion so I would like to ask everyone back to the Huntzberger Estate for lunch."
Logan breathed a sigh of release when he heard his grandfather back him up. He took Rory by the hand and followed everyone to their cars. The limo was waiting outside for the couple so everyone could drive their own vehicles.
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Jess was at the local grocery store running an errand for Sacha. He hadn't heard from Elias Huntzberger yet so he had assumed the farce was up. Jess thought that the engagement was made up anyways and Elias had decided to drop the act.
Jess was at the cash register paying for the groceries when he happened to look at a magazine that was on a rack on the side. The picture and the headline caught his attention. The picture showed Rory and Logan looking at one another and smiling, but the headline stopped him dead in his tracks. 'No it couldn't be.'
"Heir And Heiress Engaged To Be Married"
AN: Please, Please, Please Review.