Chapter 26 – Plans, Plans, Plans
This is another long chapter. Enjoy!
HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed:)
"So, so far we have, Patty, Babette, Sookie, Jackson, Michel…" Lorelai said as she read down the guest list.
"Grandma and grandpa…" Rory added.
"Liz, T.J…"
"Dad…"
"Taylor, Andrew, Kirk…"
"Mom!" Rory yelled.
"What?"
"Stop ignoring me."
"I'm not ignoring you."
"I think you are."
"Do you think Lane will be able to come?"
"See, now you're just avoiding it."
"Rory, I am not avoiding anything."
"Dad doesn't have to come. I mean, it's your wedding."
"I know." Lorelai looked down at her hands. "I think I'll ask Luke what he thinks."
"Oh look, she responds."
"And as for mom and dad, I'm going to pretend they're not coming."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
"So, I'll send an invitation to the Kim's that way it doesn't look so shady."
"Sounds good."
"Don't mention that there will be alcohol there."
"I won't if you won't."
"So, May 7th…."
"It's a good date."
"Ya think?"
"Yes. It's perfect."
"Yeah, and Luke liked it too."
"Actually he said he didn't care."
Lorelai smiled. "He said as long as we got married..."
"He likes you." Rory said in a little kid voice.
"Yeah, he does."
"I'll finally have a daddy."
Lorelai laughed softly. "Yeah I guess you will."
Rory's smile suddenly faded.
"You ok?" Lorelai asked.
"What? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Rory said nervously.
"Ya sure you don't wanna tell me?"
Rory bit her bottom lip and looked up at her mother. "So, today in class, Paris was talking about the paper…"
"And she said this issue must be a bazillion pages!"
"No, she said that she wanted us to come and work on the paper on Saturday."
"Oh…"
"And I said I couldn't."
"Oh no, Rory, if you have to work on the paper that's fine."
"I said I couldn't because I had to help my mother look for a wedding dress."
"And she said that is no excuse!"
"I think Mr. Medina heard me."
"What?"
"We were in Lit. class."
"Oh…"
"He must have heard me because when we sat down at our desks he looked shocked. Like, uneasy, or uncomfortable."
"Oh."
"I wasn't going to tell you, but I thought that if it came up or something, I didn't want you to get mad that I didn't tell you."
"Oh, it's ok. I mean, he was bound to find out sometime, right?"
"Yeah I guess."
"So, now he knows."
"I felt horrible."
Lorelai reached across the table and grabbed Rory's hand. "Oh hon. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"Yeah."
"Don't worry about it, ok?"
"Ok. I'm gonna go do some homework."
"So, we'll get some invitations tomorrow?"
"Yeah, we can order then through the stationary store."
"Authentic Stars Hollow invitations."
"Elegant, yet understated."
"Much like myself."
Rory laughed. "Yep."
Lorelai turned back around to face the table and went over the list again, but her mind started to wonder. It wasn't to long ago that she was engaged to Max. Engaged. He must have felt horrible when he heard about it. She did move on kind of quickly. He probably felt like he didn't mean anything to her. But, that wasn't true. He just wasn't the one for her.
She sighed heavily as she came back to reality.
"I sure know how to break a heart." She mumbled to herself.
"So, you've taken up talking to yourself?" Luke said as he walked into the kitchen.
Lorelai put her hand on her chest. "Oh god! You scared the hell out of me."
"Nice to see you too."
"I didn't even hear you come in."
"I'm sorry."
"You're like a creepy stalker man or something."
"Ok…"
She got up and kissed him softly. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"There was a lull so I figured I'd come see how the plans are coming."
"Well, they're going great. We have the guest list, so we can go get the invitations tomorrow, but we still need to decide on location. Square or inn?"
"Whatever you want."
"Luke, come on, this is your wedding too. You should have some input."
"How about we have the wedding at the inn and the reception in the square?"
"That's a perfect idea! It's like we get both!"
"We do get both."
"Great, then, that's settled."
"Just one request…"
"Sure, babe, anything."
"Make sure Taylor has absolutely nothing to do with the reception, even though it's in the square."
Lorelai smiled. "You got it."
"I can't wait to see the look on his face."
"Me either."
"So, I should probably get back to the diner."
"Just one more thing."
"Ok."
"Maybe we should sit." Lorelai said as she sat down at the table.
"Ok…"
"So, there is one more issue we have to talk about."
"And…"
"Well, do you think Christopher should be invited?"
"If you want him to."
"Luke!"
"What?"
"That's not the answer I was looking for."
"What were you looking for?"
"A real answer."
"I gave you a real answer."
"No, a real answer is yes or no."
"I can't make that decision. He's closer to you than he is to me."
"So, it's my decision?"
"I think so."
"Oh."
"If you think it would bother me, it won't. I want you to have whoever you want to be there."
"Oh, I know…"
"But thank you for asking me."
Lorelai smiled. "You're welcome."
"I'll see ya tonight." Luke said as he got up.
"Wait." Lorelai said as she grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him down to her.
He opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by Lorelai's lips crashing onto his. He could feel her smiling against his lips and this made him smile. He gave her one more long kiss and then stood up.
"There's more where that came from, mister." Lorelai said.
Luke rolled his eyes. "See ya later."
-----
"What about this one?" Rory asked as she held up an invitation sample.
"Too many flowers." Lorelai responded.
"Ok, no flowers."
"I like this one." Lorelai said as she pointed to the invitation.
"That's a birthday party invitation."
"But look at all the cool colors and the dancing bears!"
"You're ok with dancing bears but not flowers?"
"Don't judge."
"What about that one? It's not too flowery or sappy."
"I don't know…"
"Mom, they are just invitations."
"Just invitations? Just Invitations!"
"Oh boy…" Rory said, regretting her last statement.
"This is only the most important day of my life!"
"I know. I'm sorry, I'm just tired."
"And crabby."
"I'm not crabby."
Lorelai shut her eyes and began waving her hand over the invitations.
"What are you doing?"
She stopped waving her hand and landed on a random invitation.
"This one." Lorelai said.
"That's how you're gonna pick?"
"We've been here too long. I just wanted to pick one."
"But, when I told you that you yelled at me!" Rory said, frustrated.
"See this one is pretty. And it has sparkles on it. I like sparkles."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Ok, sparkly one it is."
"Have you decided?" Kirk asked from behind the counter.
"Yes, we'd like these, please." Lorelai said.
"Ah, yes. Good choice." Kirk said.
"Hey Kirk, when did you start working here?" Rory asked.
"About a week ago."
"Right."
"We should have these for you in a few days. Some one will contact you when they're ready to pick up."
"Thanks Kirk."
"You're welcome."
"Does he keep a job longer than a month?" Rory whispered as they left the store.
Lorelai giggled. "I doubt it."
"So, what next?"
"I think we're done until this weekend."
"We should get stamps."
"Stamps?"
"To put on the invitations…"
"They don't mail them for you?"
"You're kidding, right?"
"Yeah." Lorelai laughed nervously.
"Ok….so, stamps?"
"Stamps!"
------
It was early Saturday morning, too early according to Lorelai, when Rory and Lorelai went to Luke's to get a quick breakfast before heading out to find the perfect wedding dress.
"Mom, come on. It's not that early." Rory said as they walked into the diner.
"Coffee." Lorelai said.
They sat down at a table and Lorelai laid her head on the table and closed her eyes.
"I didn't expect to see you guys for a couple of hours." Luke said as he placed two mugs on the table and filled them with coffee.
"We're going dress shopping today." Rory said cheerfully.
"I see."
"I hate early." Lorelai mumbled.
"Pancakes?" Luke asked.
"And bacon." Rory added.
"And keep the coffee coming." Lorelai said as she lifted her head up.
"Wow, she is alive." Luke teased.
"Keep that up and you won't get any tonight."
"Oh gross!" Rory said as she covered her ears.
Lorelai laughed. "Thanks Rory. I'm awake now."
Luke rolled his eyes. "I'll go get your food."
Lorelai winked. "I want extra bacon with mine."
"Again, gross." Rory said.
-----
"Mom, come out! I wanna see it!" Rory said as she stood outside the dressing room.
"I look like an idiot." Lorelai said plainly.
"I'm sure you don't."
"You're not lookin' at what I'm lookin' at."
"Mom."
"Ok, fine."
Lorelai walked out of the dressing room and into the huge open display room. She stepped on top of the pedestal and looked in the huge mirror.
"It's a little poofy." Rory said.
"It's a lot poofy."
"So, not a winner?"
"Definitely not a winner."
"Ok, try on the next one."
"I'm sick of trying stuff on."
"Go."
"Gah!"
"Come one. We haven't got all day."
"Smart girls are mean."
Rory rolled her eyes and Lorelai walked back into the dressing room.
A few minutes passed and Rory was about to yell to her mother, but she heard something coming from the dressing room.
"Mom?" Rory called.
"Oh my god." Lorelai said softly.
"Mom, what's going on?"
"Rory, this dress…"
"Is hideous?"
"No."
"No?"
"This dress…it's…perfect."
"Let me see!" Rory said excitedly.
Lorelai slowly emerged from the dressing room and walked back into the main room.
"Oh mom…" Rory said. "You're beautiful."
A huge smile spread across her face. "You like it?"
"I love it. It's gorgeous."
"Do you think Luke will like it?"
"I think you could show up in your pj's and he would think you're beautiful. But, this dress will stun him. He won't be able to speak."
"So, it's perfect."
"It's perfect."
"Wow. I can't believe this is happening."
"I know."
"Check in the back for a price tag."
Rory looked at the back of the dress and they was a tiny tag hanging off the zipper. When she saw the price she almost fainted. Her heart sank. There was no way they would be able to afford this.
"Uh, mom…"
"How much is it?"
"Uh, ya know, I think that's not important right now."
"Rory…" Lorelai said nervously. "How much?"
"Just enjoy wearing it for now, ok?"
Lorelai stood there for a few more minutes gazing at her self in the mirror. She looked at Rory who was trying her best not to show her concern. She walked back into the dressing room and took the dress off. She found the tag and looked at the price.
"Are you kidding me?!" Lorelai yelled.
"I see you found the tag." Rory said.
"I can't afford this."
"Well…"
"I mean, if we don't want anything else, like a cake or honeymoon, or a band."
"You know what you could do…"
"Sell my organs on the black market?"
"Ask grandma and grandpa."
"No."
"You won't even consider it?"
"No."
"Mom!"
"They will not have anything to do with this wedding."
"I'm sure they would be happy to do it."
"I know they would love to do it."
"So…"
"No."
"Mom!"
"Rory, no."
"But this dress is perfect."
"I know."
"It's so gorgeous."
"I know."
"And I bet if you let grandma buy you the dress she wouldn't always bring up how she wasn't involved in your wedding."
"I do like the sound of that…"
"We're already in Hartford so we could call her right now. No time would be lost."
Lorelai thought a minute. She stared at the dress in her hands. It was the perfect dress. She had waited for this day for a long time and she deserved to get the dress she wanted.
"Ok, let's call her."
"Yay!"
Lorelai reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed the number and after three rings she picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hi mom, it's Lorelai."
"Lorelai, what a nice surprise."
"So, I actually called to ask you something."
"Alright. What is it?"
"Well, Rory and I are at the wedding dress store on 3rd and main, and we found this amazing dress."
"I see."
"And since you haven't had much involvement in the whole wedding planning process, I thought you might want to come down and see it."
"Really?"
"Yes. I want your opinion." Lorelai cringed when she spoke those words.
"You want me to come down to the store and tell you whether I like the dress you've picked out or not?"
"Yes."
"Well, alright then. I'll be there in ten minutes."
"Ok, great. See ya then."
So, I'm kinda frustrated with this story. No, I'm REALLY frustrated with this story. There is so much I wanna write and I can't get it all organized and write a good chapter. I feel like I've been really distracted and scattered lately. So, I know this chapter is really random and kinda sporadic and I'm sorry for that. I just wanted to update because I don't want to let you guys down. Because you're pretty big deal. (haha, anchorman…) ANYWAY, I'm going to try my best to organize my thoughts. Also, I think this story will only have about 2 more chapters. It's time to bring it to a close.
