Happily Ever After/Wedding in the Fall (Tristin's POV)
A/N: I do not own anything. Copyrights remain with their respective owners.
Thank You Gilmoregirls1197, JJsMommy27 and Realityorfiction for reviewing. This is the second last chapter.
Tristin Dugray was nervous as he waited in the garden at the Dragonfly Inn. Even though he knew that the love of his life, Rory Gilmore, soon to be Rory Dugray was on her way, and the weather was perfect for their wedding, it was still a big step in his life to be married.
The back garden of the Dragonfly Inn was perfect for today, the leaves in fall that had fallen had been swept away, but the brown of the leaves still on the trees, the green on the grass beneath his feet, the red of the carpet that had been set up in the aisle, and the white of the arch behind him made the perfect picturesque fall wedding scene. The intimate setting of the inn's garden had been what both Tristin and Rory had wanted, nothing too flashy or grand like most other Hartford weddings. For Tristin, the cosiness of the setting eased his nerves a lot, and it was, to him, perfect for his wedding.
He had always dreamed of being married to Rory Gilmore, even when he was sixteen and foolish, and over the past year since he and Rory had re-met, he had dreamed of the small picturesque wedding that they were about to have. Even though she was different to what she had been when they were both sixteen, over the past year he realised that he loved her for who she was now, not the dream that he had chased when he was sixteen. And that the real Rory Gilmore soon to be Dugray was even more satisfying than his sixteen year old dream Mary.
His parents and her grandparents had wanted a big Hartford wedding, as befit their social status, but it wasn't what Rory and Tristin had wanted, so after a little persuasion, Rory and Tristin had agreed to allow them to throw the reception party in Hartford, but the wedding would be as Rory and Tristin envisioned it. As he stood waiting, reflecting on what had occurred and what was to come, he looked over at the crowd that had gathered to celebrate with him, the happiest day of his life so far.
His best man, Colonel Jacob 'Jake' Burns, a Marine that he had known since his time at Cedar Pines military school, stood with next to him, his other grooms-men, his best friend from Stanford, Edward Crossman and one of his fellow cast members from Superspies that he had grown close to, Alex Standish.
He saw his two older brothers, Lucas, with his wife Serena and their little boy Matthew, and Charlie with his son, Cole. His parents sat with them in the front row, his father had a smile on his face which Tristin put down to the connection to the Hayden's that this marriage would bring Dugray Global. His mother, he could see managed a small smile, though he knew she was hiding her distaste for his bride to be purely because Rory wouldn't be beholden to Emma Dugray for patronage at DAR meetings, being the granddaughter of Emily Gilmore. He could see that pregnant Serena was gently rocking Matthew, who was now almost two years old. His five year old nephew, Cole Dugray was reading a book, keeping him quiet whilst he sat next to Tristin's brother Charlie.
Behind his family, a lot of the wealthy Hartford families had come to the wedding. He saw Louise and Madeline, both now married with their rich businessmen husbands, looking like the perfect Hartford trophy wives and quite content with what they had. Otherwise, most of the Hartford elite who had come were all his parents friends. He had lost touch with most of his Chilton 'friends', after he had left for military school, but he was sure that some were in attendance anyway.
A smattering of his friends from Stanford and LA had come to Connecticut to attend his wedding and were staying at the Dragonfly Inn or a hotel in Hartford. Most of his military school 'brothers' had come up from all around the US to attend as well. The Dragonfly Inn was in fact full of guests who were attending the wedding much to Lorelai's delight. Some of his co-stars from Manhattan, the new show that he was joining which filmed in New York, came as well. He could see them chatting away while they were waiting for Rory to arrive.
He looked over at Rory's side of the family, Luke and his daughter April, Rory's half sister, Gigi, and her father Chris. Most of the town of Stars Hollow had turned out for the wedding. Miss Patty, Kirk and Taylor were all in attendance. Paris's husband Doyle with her parents who were chatting away with the Emily and Richard.
He saw Liz, his brother's girlfriend, and one of the bridesmaids start to make her way down the aisle towards the front, followed by his childhood friend Paris and then Rory's best friend, and matron of honour, Lane. And then finally, in a classic white wedding dress, escorted by her mother was Rory. He watched her, mesmerised, as she walked down the aisle. When Rory and Lorelai reached the end of the red carpet, Lorelai handed her off to Tristin. "Take care of her," Lorelai whispered.
"I will," Tristin replied, as Lorelai took her seat. He looked into Rory's eyes through the veil, blue-on-blue seeing the love that they shared. He stood still, now wanting nothing more than the ceremony to be over with, so that he and Rory could be married. It was his dream come true, something that he had wanted ever since he first knew Rory. He tense with anticipation as the reverend began the ceremony.
The reverend began to speak. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today," he said, "to join this man and this woman, in holy matrimony. If anyone here has a legitimate reason why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace." The reverend allowed a small window of silence before continuing.
"Right," he stated, "the couple before us today have written their own vows. They will now recite the vows."
Tristin began to recite his vows, "Rory Gilmore, you are my light, my life, my love. From the very first time that I saw you, I knew that there was something about you that I wanted to cherish forever. You were so honest, so real in the sea of falsehood that surrounded me. When we kissed the first time it was a moment of magic. When we kissed the second time, the magic had not gone away." Tristin saw that Rory's eyes began to mist up. "And through the time we've spent together, I know that the magic will never go away. You are the light of my life, I will love you forever, Rory."
As he finished he slipped the simple gold wedding band that they had chosen onto her ring finger. He saw that Rory looked up, into his eyes, blue matching blue as she began to speak. "When I first met you, I knew there was something about you that made me want to know you more," she continued, "in getting to know you, I found someone who I can share the rest of my life with, someone I love, more than anyone else in the world. We make each other whole." As Tristin listened to Rory speak of her love for him, his heart soared, knowing that they were destined to be together.
As Rory finished, the Reverend began to speak, "then by the power vested in me, by the State of Connecticut, and before God, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Tristin's hands took hold of the veil and lifted it up and, as he stared into her loving eyes, his hands bought her head up towards his own. He saw her love for him, and he bought his lips down towards her own, capturing hers in a swift kiss. Even though the cheers resonated around him, in Tristin's mind they were in another world, alone, just for Rory and himself.
And, as the kiss ended, the Reverend announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, Mr and Mrs Tristin Dugray," the end of the Reverend's words were lost in the loud applause and cheering, as the newly-weds began to call family up to the front for photos.
Eight years later, it was Lorelai Marie Dugray's second birthday and the weekend after her parents eighth wedding anniversary. Last weekend, she and older brother Janlen had spent the weekend with Will and Emily Danes, their half-uncle and half-aunt in Stars Hollow while mummy and daddy had gone away for a weekend. But this weekend it was all about her birthday. The birthday girl sat on her chair in a cute little dress, sipping her cup of milk...or was if coffee or some combination thereof that her mother Rory Dugray had given her? She continued to drink from her sippy cup as she watched the people around her playing in the large garden full of bright green grass.
Little Lorelai Marie or Mary as she liked to be called, watched as her older brother Janlen, who was four and a half, and starting kindergarten soon, play ball with his older cousins Matt and Michael. Like their father, Lucas, both Matt and Michael loved to play basketball. She saw the basketball go up into the air and then into Janlen's hands as he caught the basketball. She saw Janlen throw the basketball back towards Michael.
Little Lorelai Marie swung her eyes towards her eldest cousin, the teenage Cole Dugray, sat strumming away at his guitar with his father, uncle Charlie. Little Mary loved to hear cousin Cole play the guitar. Aunty Lizzie rocked little baby Nessa Dugray gently to the rhythm whilst singing softly to the baby.
Daddy Tristin was manning the barbecue along with Uncle Lucas. The summer sun shone brightly over the picturesque garden which overlooked the bay. Mummy Rory and Aunty Serena were busy filling drinks and tossing creamy potato salad. Like her mummy Rory, little Lorelai Marie did not like greens. Apparently, that was something she inherited from grandma Lorelai.
Soon, the time came for lunch, and the Dugray clan sat and ate lunch, kids and adults chatting, laughing, having fun with one another in the garden of the Dugray house in the Hamptons.
Lorelai Marie ate her food quickly, and sipped some more milk and coffee from her sippy cup. She looked around at everyone at the table, and saw all of the genuine smiles, the genuine caring that everyone in this family had for each other. She was pleased to see daddy Tristin and mummy Rory sit together, and eat together. She saw daddy Tristin feed mummy Rory a piece of steak which she happily ate off his fork.
She saw Uncle Lucas and Aunty Serena, cousin Matthew and Michael eat their food, Aunty Serena telling the boys not to play with their food and to finish their vegetables.
She saw her oldest cousin, Cole hold little baby Nessa, his half-sister allowing Charlie and Liz to eat some food, before Nessa would need to be fed again or be put to bed. She took another sip from her sippy cup.
As lunch finished, little Lorelai Marie saw her birthday cake appear on the table. As everyone sang happy birthday, little Lorelai Marie knew that she was lucky, lucky to have one of the best families in the world. She knew deep down that she was blessed.
A/N: Please read and reviews are very much appreciated. I'm new to this fandom so any help on characterization and facts and tidbits is very much appreciated.
A/N2: The last chapter is actually an AU. Remember back in 'A Dugray Boys Weekend' I mentioned that Tristin's father was actually the second brother and that his elder brother Jon had died. This last oneshot to come is an AU on what if Jon had survived and Tristin's father Jason hadn't become the heir to Dugray Global. It involves Alternate Universe Tristin and Rory meeting for the first time.