Author's Note: Just a shoutout to my lahvely, mahvelous, wahnderful reviewers - I adore you all! Thanks for your feedback, and as long as you keep reviewing, I'll keep posting everyday. And will I ever run out of clocks? I think not, for I am the AMAZING CLOCK WOMAN, and I have a room in my house dedicated solely to CLOCKS! Well, I don't really, but it would be kind of cool if I did, wouldn't it? Thanks again, keep reading and reviewing!

CH4P7R 53V3N.

Only 48 hours had gone by before Shira and Emily were in pure party planning mode. Rory walked into the Gilmore house to find dozens of people milling around, some bringing flowers, some swatches of fabric, and some food.

Emily and Shira sat at the middle of it all, laughing at some joke that Emily had just told. "Ah, Rory!" Emily exclaimed when she saw her granddaughter approach the table.

"Hi Grandma, Hello Mrs.Huntzberger."

"Please, please, call me Shira." Shira corrected Rory with her best socialite smile.

"Um, okay… Shira."

"Yes, yes." Shira waved her hand, indicating Rory should sit. "Now, Rory. Your Grandmother still hasn't clarified the theme of your… wedding, but I see lots of bright colors strewn around. Do tell, what was Logan thinking?"

Rory noticed that she had paused before saying wedding, and assumed that Logan had come up with the theme. This obviously wasn't her idea. So why was she doing it?

"Um, the theme is Alice in Wonderland…" Rory said quietly. Shira's face fell slightly before regaining composure in a happy, fake expression.

"Dear, that is interesting. But are you sure it is appropriate for a wedding?" Shira chose her words carefully.

"I think it's very unique." Emily interrupted the steady dialogue to say. "No one has ever done that and I think it would be marvelous. Very whimsical."

Shira nodded. "But perhaps a bit too whimsical for a wedding? I thought maybe something classic… White roses, pea green accents… The dress could have a pea green sash, and the bridesmaids would wear green from head to toe…"

"It sounds lovely, Shira, but it not for us. We agreed on Alice and we want Alice." Rory was kind but firm as she said it.

"Imagine a chandelier above you, strings of the best roses in the world intertwined between crystals… This is a Huntzberger wedding, after all... There are certain standards to live up to."

"Shira." Emily interrupted, "I am allowing you to help plan this event for the happy couple. Not for yourself. Trust me, Shira, if I wanted to, I could break your family. I know as well as you do that you only agreed to do this to avoid a scandal. The Gilmore name is a fine one to marry into. I could break your family, Shira. Trust me; there is at least one girl in every office that Mitchum owns who has slept with him. Do you think none of them have every gotten pregnant? I could cause a scandal bigger than you could cause by pulling out of this wedding."

Rory stared at her grandmother, stunned. After a minute or so of awkward pauses, Shira cleared her throat. "So, Alice in Wonderland… That will be different, but if you're sure…"

Rory nodded. "Here, we've already made the guest list. Um, the groomsmen are going to be Colin, Doyle and Zach, and Finn will be the best man. The bridesmaids are going to be Steph, Paris and Lane, and my mom is going to be the maid of honor."

Shira nodded. "Who will give you away?" She asked. She had never even bothered to find out who Rory's father was.

"Um, my dad." Rory said, as if it were obvious. Looking at Shira's puzzled face, she realized that Shira had no idea who that was. "Christopher Hayden." She clarified.

Shira nodded again. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad marriage after all. The Hayden's were a nice, respectable family, and she knew that Christopher had recently inherited a fairly large sum of money.

A man bearing a book of color chips approached the three. Emily nodded to him, and he opened the book up to a series of vivid paint chips.

"Rory, we are going to have the room painted for you, so be a dear and pick a few colors, please."

Together, Rory and Emily chose bright pinks, greens, purples and oranges to paint the abstract forest scene. Shira sat quietly with a very bright smile on her face, refusing to look defeated as she felt.

After the paint man left, a woman came with a large book. The book was full of pictures of clocks, enough clocks to make anyone scream. Rory needed to choose one for the bonbonière. She flipped through several pages impassively, and then found the one she wanted.

It was made of glass, streaks of bright colors blown in randomly. The hands were squiggles that curled lightly at the ends, and the numbers were all clustered at the bottom, made to look as if they had fallen down. It hung on a delicate silver chain. It was perfect.

"Grandma!" She exclaimed. "I want this clock!" She pointed at the page for emphasis, and naturally, it ripped.

"Rory!" Emily scolded, taking the catalog away from her and handing her one filled with pictures of cakes.

"At least it wasn't a real one…" Rory muttered, leaving the two women very confused. Rory sighed audibly and looked at the cakes that could probably be sold as art. If only Logan were here.