Chapter 4: Mrs. Gilmore-Harrison
Marty found a place to rent in Stars Hollow, and made sure to be in town every other weekend when he wasn't traveling for his books. He and Rory would happily go on date nights, occasionally concluding with hot sex in the loft above Luke's Diner. It was during one of these lovemaking sessions that Rory helplessly confessed. "I love you. More than I've ever loved anyone. It was you; I was just too blind to see it. It's always been you."
Rather scandalously, Luke found his stepdaughter wrapped in the arms of her lover one morning as he came to open the Diner. Her mortified face flaming red, Rory had introduced Marty as Winnie's father. Luke had then taken them each aside individually, telling Marty to treat his stepdaughter and grandbaby right, or there would be consequences. When he and Rory spoke privately, Luke was shocked to learn of Rory's plans to marry, when Marty got up the courage to ask her again.
"Again? He's proposed to you before?"
Her cheeks rouging, Rory tellingly refused to elaborate.
"Rory..." Luke eyed her seriously. "Don't do this because you think you need a complete home for Winnie. It's not like what you're grandmother says: 'A child needs a mother and a father'" he threw his voice high in a pretty good imitation of Emily.
Rory's eyes flashed in offense. "It's not like that! By that logic, my parents would still be together, and you'd be married to Anna Nardini!"
Luke took in her response curiously. Then he smiled. "Well, OK, princess. If you're sure... I will support you one hundred percent." Stepfather and stepdaughter smiled and embraced.
During the days, Marty spent every waking moment of his free time being with Winnie. Father and daughter warmed up to each other quickly, and Winnie loved hearing stories about her parents' time at Yale.
Finally, close to a year later, at Winnie's 12th birthday party, Marty got down on one knee and popped the question. Rory happily accepted, with Lorelai and Winnie squealing over her saying Yes.
The wedding was thrown together quickly over the course of that winter and spring, with Rory and Marty opting for a summer, June wedding. The nuptials were held on the solstice, with Reverend Skinner and Rabbi Barans jointly officiating, Winnie as the Flower Girl, and Luke giving Rory away. The holy men blessed them, after which Rory and Marty exchanged rings and vows.
"I love you. I'm sorry I made you wait so long, and I know it is really simple compared to your wonderful, sweet words, but I love you." As the sun finally set, Rory beamed as she said with conviction, "I love my husband. I love the father of my baby."
Two minutes later, Rory and Marty were pronounced husband and wife, and with deep smiles, the couple happily embraced and kissed. The whole of Stars Hollow clapped and cheered, and the newlyweds partied with their daughter Winnie long into the night.
It was a hot July day, just over a year into their marriage, when Rory sensed her water break.
Marty drove his wife calmly over to the hospital, from the former Twickham House which the Gilmore-Harrisons had bought. Rory had felt no qualms about taking her husband's name, but in the interest of also maintaining her independence, she found the need to hyphenate it. To Marty's happy surprise, Winnie had asked her parents if she could also change her name, so that her legal name became Winnifred Lorelai Gilmore-Harrison.
23 hours of labor later, in the presence of Lorelai, Luke, April, Jess, Winnie, and Marty, Rory gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. She named him Richard Martin Gilmore-Harrison, in memory of the baby's great-grandfather and in honor of his father. Fawning over him, Marty and Rory tenderly kissed.
Rory had not set out for this to be her path. But now that she had it, she couldn't have imagined her life ending up any way else. The mother of two gorgeous children, and the wife of a man who had always loved her. Happily Ever After.