Do You Love Me? Chapter 18: The Wedding, a gilmore girls fanfic

Liz was waiting in Luke's apartment when Lorelai and Rory arrived. When she saw Lorelai, Liz hugged her tightly, then turned and hugged Rory. "I'm so glad you said yes," she said. "You deserve to be happy."

"Thanks, Liz," Lorelai replied. "I'm glad we're going to be sisters."

Liz squeezed Lorelai's hand, then turned to Luke's closet. "This is your dress," she said to Lorelai.

Lorelai's hands were shaking as she took the dress and took the garment bag off. When she saw the dress, she gasped. It was a cream white, silky. The strapless bodice had a lace trim, which would work to conceal her growing belly. The skirt rippled softly as it hung from the hanger.

It was perfect.

Everything she had wanted for a wedding dress.

She was marrying the perfect man.

"Oh my God," she mumbled.

"It's beautiful," Rory whispered.

"Did you help him pick this out?" Lorelai asked Liz.

Liz shook her head. "I didn't even know he was planning until a couple of hours ago. He did everything by herself," she said.

Lorelai reached out and ran a hand over the soft silk, loving the way it felt beneath her fingers. "I can't believe him," she said softly.

"He loves you, Mom," Rory said softly. "He wanted you to have everything you want."

Lorelai swallowed hard, then turned to Liz. "I want to see your and Rory's dress," she said.

Liz gestured to the dress hanging over the bathroom door. It was lavender and had spaghetti straps that scooped into a sweetheart neckline. "That's mine," she said as she reached into the closet. "And this is Rory's."

She held out the dress and Rory took it. It was the same color as Liz's, but it was a halter top, with thin straps that tied around the neck. She smiled as she felt the silky fabric and shook her head. "I can't believe Luke did this," she said.

Liz smiled. "The town still doesn't know what's going on," she said. "But Luke said that things can start whenever you're ready, so let's get started."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay," she said. "So…hair, make up or dress first?"

Rory tilted her head and Liz furrowed her brow. Finally, Rory spoke up, "Let's do your make up, then your hair, then the dress."

"Okay," Lorelai said. "Liz, you're up for putting on my make up."

An hour later, Lorelai's make up was perfectly applied, and her hair was twisted into a bun on the top of her head with a few curls escaping here and there. She swallowed hard as she stood and looked at her dress.

"I hope it will fit," she said.

Liz and Rory exchanged a glance; they were both hoping the same thing.

"I'm sure it will be fine," Liz finally said.

"My jeans don't fit anymore," Lorelai replied. "I'm wearing sweatpants all the time now."

"Well, you're never going to know if you don't try," Rory replied.

Lorelai nodded and slid her clothes off. When Rory saw Lorelai in just her bra and underwear, she winced to herself. Her belly was more pronounced, and with her clothes off she was obviously pregnant.

Lorelai stepped into the dress and pulled it up, holding the front of it to her chest. Liz stepped up behind her and started to pull the zipper up. About halfway up, the zipper caught, and Lorelai's breath stopped. "It doesn't fit," she said. "Oh my God, I can't even fit into my own wedding dress."

"Calm down, Mom," Rory said. "We can't zip this if you're moving around like that. The zipper's caught, there's plenty of room."

Lorelai bounced from foot to foot, hoping that the dress would fit and unable to contain her energy. "Lorelai, honey, you're going to rip the dress," Liz said.

"Sorry," Lorelai replied. She stood still, trying not to move too much.

Rory finally pulled the zipper up and hooked the hook at the top, stepping back to look at Lorelai.

"It fits?" Lorelai cried in delight. "Thank God, it fits."

Rory smiled as she watched Lorelai admire herself in the mirror. "You look beautiful, Mom," she said softly.

"What are you doing?" Lorelai cried. "You two need to get dressed so I can get married!"

Rory and Liz smiled as they started to get dressed. Lorelai turned back to the mirror, adjusting her veil over her hair and smiling as she looked at her reflection.

XXXXXXXX

After Liz came back down to the diner to tell Luke that Lorelai and Rory were ready, Luke let out a sigh of relief. Before he could say anything, the door opened and Jess walked in.

Luke stormed over to him. "What are you doing here?" he demanded. Without waiting for an answer, he turned to Liz and asked, "What is he doing here?"

Jess took a step back. "Whoa," he said. "I was told that there was an emergency and I needed to get here as soon as possible."

"Hey, don't blame me," Liz said, when Luke turned his gaze on her. "You called and told me to drive all the way from Maine as fast as possible. I thought that something was wrong, and I thought Jess should be here."

Luke rolled his eyes. "This is just great," he muttered. "I knew things were going too well."

"What's going on?" Jess asked. "Why do you two look like you're going to a wedding?"

"Because we are," Liz replied, looking at Luke proudly.

Jess looked Luke over. "You're getting married?" he asked. "Lorelai finally realized?"

Luke rolled his eyes and turned to Liz. "Do you know what this means?" he asked.

Liz frowned at him. "That…Jess is going to be your best man?" she suggested.

"Well, it's sure as hell not going to be TJ or Kirk," Luke snapped back.

"Okay, I'm going to completely skip over the insult of my husband," Liz said. "And ask you again why the hell this is such a big deal."

"Rory is the maid of honor," Luke replied. "Which means she will have to walk down the aisle with Jess."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Don't you think you're making a big deal out of this?" she asked. "Today's about Lorelai and you, not Rory and Jess."

Luke thought for a moment. Then he turned to Jess and said, "You promise that you won't say or do anything to hurt her?"

Jess rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure I'm capable of talking to Rory," he said.

"You broke her heart," Luke countered.

"Well, she seemed to handle things okay last year," Jess said without thinking.

"You saw her last year?" Luke exclaimed. "When?"

"Okay, this has happened before," Jess replied. "I'm your nephew. You're supposed to take my side."

"All right, let's make things simple then," Luke said. "You hurt her in any way shape or form, and I will hurt you."

Before Jess could answer, they heard footsteps and Rory appeared from behind the curtain.

"The bride is ready," Rory announced. "But she requests that her groom meet her at the…Jess?"

Jess took a step towards Rory and cleared his throat. "Hey, Rory," he said softly. "How are you?"

Rory stared at him for a moment before she smiled and replied, "I'm good. How about you?"

"Good," Jess replied. He looked around the room, wondering what to say next.

"Well, I guess we're going to be walking down the aisle," Rory replied. "I mean, I'm assuming that you're the best man, and I'm the maid of honor, so…"

Luke took a step towards Rory. "Look, Rory, you don't have to do this. Jess can walk with Liz and I'll walk with you."

Rory shook her head. "No, Luke, it's not a big deal," she said. "You should walk with Liz."

"You sure?" Luke asked, not wanting Rory to feel uncomfortable.

"Completely positive," Rory said with a confident nod.

"Good," Luke said. He pulled Rory in for a hug, then kissed the top of her head.

After a moment, Rory pulled back and smiled up at him before they walked back to Liz and Jess.

"You ready, big brother?" Liz asked as she looped her arm through Luke's.

"Actually, I'm kind of enjoying watching the town suffer from this curiosity," Luke replied.

"You would," Jess mumbled from behind them

Luke shot him a look as they walked onto the sidewalk. Jess mumbled something under his breath, which Luke chose to believe was an apology.

As they walked across the street and down the aisle, the entire town was looking at them with great confusion."

"It looks like a wedding," Patty said to Babette from where they sat on the aisle.

"Lizzie's here," Babette said. "She hardly ever comes back unless something's going on with Luke."

"Do you think Luke's getting married?" Patty asked.

"No way," Babette replied. "The only girl Luke will ever marry is Lorelai and trust me, when I left the house this morning, she was in now way a glowing bride. I ran into her at the mailbox, and I don't think I've ever seen her look so unkempt."

When Lorelai stepped onto the sidewalk in her white gown, the crowd drew a collective gasp of surprise.

Patty tapped Babette on the shoulder. "Look!" she cried.

"Oh my God," Babette cried. "They are getting married!"

As Lorelai walked down the aisle, she kept her eyes locked on Luke's unable to believe that this moment was actually here, the moment she'd been waiting for for as long as she could remember.

When she reached Luke, he took her hand and brushed a soft kiss over the knuckles before he tucked it into the crook of his elbow.

"You look beautiful," Luke whispered as they walked up the steps of the gazebo.

"Luke, I can't believe you did all of this," Lorelai said softly. "The dress, the decorations, the guests…It's perfect."

Luke shrugged. "It was the least I could do," he said. "And I want you to have what you want."

Lorelai smiled and squeezed his hand. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," Luke whispered back with a hand squeeze of his own.

Reverend Skinner cleared his throat, and the couple turned to face him, their hands still connected. "We are here today to witness the joining of this man, Lucas Danes, and this woman, Lorelai Gilmore, in Holy Matrimony," Reverend Skinner. "There is no greater commitment than that of marriage, and they have asked us to share this joyous day with them. And now, since we have waited for a very very long time for this, I won't put it off any longer. Lucas, repeat after me. I, Lucas Danes…"

"I, Lucas Danes," Luke repeated.

"Take thee, Lorelai Gilmore…"

"To be my lawfully wedded wife…"

"To have and to hold…"

"Until death do us part."

Lorelai felt the tears coming as she felt Luke push the gold wedding band onto her finger, joining his mother's engagement ring that now rested on her finger as a symbol of their commitment to each other.

Reverend Skinner turned to Lorelai and said, "Lorelai, you will now repeat after me. I, Lorelai Gilmore…"

"I, Lorelai Gilmore," Lorelai repeated.

"Take thee, Lucas Danes…"

"To be my lawfully wedded husband…"

"To have and to hold..."

"To have and to hold…"

"Until death do us part."

Luke smiled as Lorelai pushed the wedding band onto his finger, the first and only ring he had ever worn. He squeezed Lorelai's hands and smiled brightly at her, making her feel weak in the knees.

After Reverend Skinner had blessed their rings and their marriage, he said, "And now, by the power invested in me, by the state of Connecticut, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Luke leaned forward and kissed Lorelai passionately, a kiss that they usually never shared in public. Lorelai was surprised at the intensity of the kiss, but quickly responded. She would only get to kiss Luke at their wedding once, after all.

A moment later, they pulled apart and smiled at each other brightly. Lorelai looped her arm through Luke's, and they began to walk down the aisle, amidst cheers of congratulations

As soon as they were at the end of the aisle, Lorelai turned to look for Rory. When she saw her, she reached out and hugged her tightly. "I'm married!" she cried.

Rory hugged Lorelai tightly. "I know, Mom," she said. "I'm really happy for you."

When Lorelai finally let go of Rory, she turned to Liz, who was standing behind them with Jess.

"Congratulations, Lorelai," Liz said as she reached out to hug her. "We're sisters now."

"Thanks, Liz," Lorelai replied, hugging her back.

As Liz stepped over to hug Luke, Lorelai smiled at Jess. "It was great that you came," she said. "I mean, it probably means a lot to Luke."

Jess wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but decided to hold his tongue. "Yeah, I was glad he called me," he said.

Lorelai nodded, and before she could say anything else, she felt Luke's hand on her back. "Hun, they want us to start with the receiving line," he said.

Lorelai smiled up at him. "You just called me hun," she said. "You've never done that before."

Luke shrugged. "Well, you are my wife now," he said. "So I figure that I reserve that right."

Lorelai smiled as she leaned up to kiss him, then took his hand. "All right, let's go," she said.

First in line were Sookie and Jackson. When Lorelai saw Sookie, she hugged her tightly. "I can't believe that you did all of this without telling me," Sookie cried.

"Don't talk to me, talk to Luke," Lorelai replied. "About two hours ago, I was sitting on my couch eating chocolate. He did everything!"

Sookie turned to Luke with an amazed look. "I don't even know what to say," she said. "It's beautiful, I am very pleasantly surprised." She gaze him a quick hug, and Lorelai turned to the next people in line.

"Suga, you look fantastic," Babette exclaimed to Lorelai. "And I can't believe that the two of you pulled this off."

Rather than explaining the situation to everyone in town, Lorelai put on a smile and nodded. "Thanks, Babette. We're glad that you're here."

Babette gaze each of them a hug before she began hurrying back in the direction of her house.

"Hello darlings," Patty said. "Mmm, Lucas, you look fabulous in that tuxedo. You should wear something other than flannel more than once a year."

"Hey, Patty, that's my husband your talking about," Lorelai said with a laugh.

"I know, doll," Patty said. "And don't worry. He's far too young for me. And even if I wasn't, he's so in love with you, there will never be anyone else for him."

Lorelai cast a sideways smile at Luke. "Yeah," she said. "I think I'll keep him. For awhile at least."

Luke rolled his eyes. He knew that he had to get used to being subject to Lorelai's teasing for the rest of his life.

As Patty wandered away to mingle, Lorelai looked over the crowd, then turned to Luke. "I bet you've got some kind of fantastic spread prepared for this," she said.

Luke shrugged shyly, but Lorelai could tell that he was being modest. "Well, your child and I are hungry, so let's speed this up," she said. She turned back to the line and called, "All right, we're all hungry, so let's speed things up!"

"Lorelai," Luke hissed. "That's rude."

Lorelai shrugged. "We'll talk to them all at the reception anyways," she said. "But if I don't get some food soon, this baby is going to be very unhappy, and you don't want that, do you?"

Luke sighed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, well, then start things up," he urged.

Lorelai turned to the next people in line and accepted the congratulations, all the while anxious to get to the reception, and more looking forward to that night, when she brought Luke back to her house with her.