Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except the poem, it's my first one since middle school so forgive me.
The time flew by and before Rory knew it, her mother's wedding had arrived. It was the first Saturday in December and the snow was falling gently, as if blessing the event itself.
"It looks like a snow globe outside!" Rory said as she entered the back of the church. Lorelei smiled weakly as she turned around in her dress.
"What do you think?" She asked, wanting help with her veil and other wardrobe issues. Rory just stopped.
"You look so beautiful." Rory said, tearing up.
"No crying." Lorelei said, stubbornly stomping her foot on the floor. "I can't cry yet."
"It's your wedding, you can cry if you want to." Rory said, fixing her mother's train and handing her the flowers.
"Great, now that song's going to be stuck in my head." Lorelei muttered. "Hey, have you seen Luke?" She asked, getting nervous.
"Yep, he's ready and waiting at the front of the church."
"Is he nervous?" Rory shrugged.
"It's Luke, he never shows any emotion."
"True." She said. "Okay, are you ready to give me away?" She asked as she took one last look in the mirror.
"Are you ready to be given away?" Lorelei nodded. They walked to the doors and Rory knocked, letting them know that they were ready. The music started to play and Martha, the flower girl, began walking down the aisle, dropping rose petals everywhere. Sookie and Jackson were both so proud, taking photos and waving at the young girl.
"This is it." Rory said as the march began to play.
"Love you kid." She said as she gave her daughter a big hug.
"Love you too Mom." The entire crowd gasped as Lorelei entered the church. The whole town was there and everyone was emotionally involved. As she walked down the aisle, Lorelei was met with memories of every person in the church, and then she finally allowed herself to lock eyes with Luke. He looked good in his tux. He refused to take his eyes off of her. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
"She's all yours Luke." Rory smiled as she handed her mother over to her new stepfather.
"Thanks Rory." He smiled as she stood to the side. She gave a wink to Tristan and turned her attention towards the happy couple. The rest of the ceremony was short, but beautiful and Rory could hardly believe when it ended. She and Jess followed Luke and Lorelei out of the church.
"I guess we're cousins now, huh?" Jess said.
"That's the way it usually works."
"I can handle that." He said with a smile.
"So, what did you write for your speech?" She asked him, unsure of her own writing.
"What speech?" He asked. Rory stopped dead in her tracks. "I'm kidding. I got it." He said as he patted his jacket pocket. She whacked him with her bouquet.
"So not funny."
OOOOO
The party raged on until Rory finally got up and cleared her throat, trying to get everyone's attention.
"Okay, I would just like to say a few words." She said with a smile. "My mother and I met Luke when I was twelve. He had just opened the diner and we quickly became regular customers, partially because neither one of us cooks, and partially because the coffee was out of this world."
"Here, here!" Lorelei said.
"But we kept coming and eventually, Luke became a part of our family. He made me coffeecake on my birthday, he was there when I got the chicken pox and could only eat mashed potatoes for a week, he was there crying at my high school graduation." She teased him as he turned red. "He was there to help me move into Yale, and out of Yale, and back into Yale, never letting me slip through the cracks, and always there to cheer me up with a big cup of coffee. I don't know how or why it happened, but looking back, Luke has always been a father figure to me and to a lot of us in this town. I don't know anyone who would say otherwise. So no, in answer to all of your questions, I don't have to start calling Luke Dad because in a way, I always have. I love you guys." She said as everyone awed around them. Everyone in the room was getting emotional except Richard and Emily, who were looking indifferent to the speech. They both were thinking of Christopher and the family that should have been.
"I guess it's my turn." Jess said, the room got quiet once again mostly out of anticipation of what he would say. "I'm not very good at this whole public speaking thing, so I figured I would let Rory win everyone over and I would just write what I know. This poem came from a conversation I had with Lorelei one day at the diner.
"He wrote us a poem?" Luke asked Lorelei.
"Shhh. Maybe it's dirty!" She said with a twinkle in her eye as she shushed him to listen.
"He was the man in flannel, in the backwards baseball cap,
She was the girl at the counter, always giving him crap.
He kept her from starving, and her house from falling down,
She kept his old heart beating, and wiped away his frown.
He thought that she was insane, a little crazy in the head.
But when she walked in for coffee, she stole his heart instead.
One day he couldn't take it, he just had to ask
And her answer surprised him, "Are you up to the task?"
He swore he was hers forever, and promised to do the work
Now she knows that he must love her, because she's got a lot of quirks.
"It takes a lot" She said, "To give this thing a whirl"
"Lord knows that it's not easy, to love a Gilmore Girl."
Tristan laughed out loud, fully appreciating that last sentence. Rory slapped him, knowing that he was completely right, but still.
"I think that it's going to be easier than you think, Lorelei." Jess said. "Good luck you two." He said as he raised his glass. Rory walked over to Jess and gave him a huge hug.
"Brilliant. I want a copy." She yelled over the music as it began to play. He nodded as Tristan found her, ready to dance.
"That was amazing." Tristan said. "You never told me he wrote poetry."
"I never knew!" She laughed.
OOOOO
"God that was a good wedding." Tristan said as they collapsed in bed.
"Hey, there's only about forty minutes until sunrise, wanna stay up and watch it?" She asked.
"Sure." He laughed. "Why not." She had long kicked off her shoes, but she changed out of her dress and into her pajamas. Tristan threw his jacket on the closest chair and joined her in changing clothes.
"Ah, that feels so much better." She sighed as she found her way into his arms again.
"I agree."
"So what was the best part of the wedding?" Rory asked him, wanting his opinion.
"Kirk singing karaoke." Tristan said with a chuckle. "I had no idea he could sing."
"Mm, that was eventful." He looked down and saw that her eyes were closed and smiled.
"What about you?" He asked, knowing that she was going to be asleep long before the sun rose.
"Jess's speech." She muttered. "He surprised me."
"Yeah, it was good." He paused. "Hey Ror?"
"Hmm?"
"Can we go to sleep?" He asked, even though he wasn't planning on sleeping. He figured he was up for the night, his random doctor hours shining through. In military school he had a tight schedule, but med school had demolished any sense of a system in him. She nodded before curling up tighter against him. He threw a comforter over them. He felt her breathing even out as her chest rhythmically pressed against his. It was in that moment that he knew without a doubt that he wanted to spend the rest of his life tucking her in. He closed his eyes, letting that certainty wash over him and soon, he was sleeping too.
OOOOO
"Tristan." Rory whispered before blowing gently in his ear. "It's time to wake up." Without opening his eyes, he knew that she was already showered and ready to go. She smelled fantastic.
"Mmm." He muttered as he turned over to ignore her.
"I'm serious, we've got to check out, they need the room."
"What time is it?" He wanted to know.
"One." He groaned out his response as she tore the covers off his body. "Come on, I mean it."
"You are going to make a great mom someday." He said as he sat up. Rory smiled and rolled her eyes.
"I'll take that as a compliment, now move."
"I'm going…" He said as he stood up and walked towards the bathroom.
OOOOO
Later that evening, when they had finally returned home, Rory made dinner, a pleasant change from their usual routine of ordering out.
"You're starting to freak me out." He said as he sat down at the table. "What's with being Suzy Homemaker recently?"
"I don't know." She said. "It just seems to be my mood lately. Don't get used to it." She added with a smile.
"I won't." He said as he started eating. Rory watched him for a second before starting in on her own meal. "This is delicious." He said, sounding surprised. "I'm sorry, why don't you cook more?"
"Pure laziness." She replied honestly. "Oh, your mom called, she wanted to talk to you about your Christmas plans."
"Right, Christmas." He remembered.
"I was thinking that maybe you could invite her to Stars Hollow to spend Christmas with us at the Inn?" Rory mentioned.
"Really?" He asked, unsure of how that would work.
"I know my mom would love to meet her. Plus, it has to be a hard time of the year, now that she's all alone…"
"I'll ask her." He said.
"Good." She smiled as if she had won an argument. Tristan inwardly smiled. They finished their meal in relative silence and he watched as she got up and carried her plate to the sink. He followed her. She started to fill the sink with warm water when she felt two hands on her hips.
"I love you." He whispered. His long fingers swept the hair from off her neck, exposing her flesh to him as if he were a vampire. He kissed her, slowly. She turned off the water and leaned back into him, letting him have his way with her. She was completely at his mercy. He sucked gently on her earlobe and she let out an audible sigh. His hands started to roam as he turned her around to face him. When his lips finally met hers, he relished every taste of her. Their movements were painstakingly slow, leaving a trail of goosebumps covering both of them.
"Tris." She whispered, her eyes fluttering shut as she placed her forehead against his. The need in her voice surprised even her. Without saying a word, he lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom.
OOOOO
"I love you." She said later as she brushed his hair back and trailed her fingers down the side of his face. He captured her arm, stopping it so he could kiss the soft flesh on the inside of her wrist. "These past six months have been the best of my life."
"We've only been dating for six months." He said, as if realizing it for the first time. He shook his head in disbelief.
"Tris, let me finish?" She asked. He shut up, unaware that she had a point that she was trying to make.
"Sorry."
"It's okay. I just…" She paused and started over. "When I told you that I didn't want to marry you right now, that was a lie." He knew how serious she was being and it took him by surprise. "I do want to marry you." She reached into her side table drawer and pulled out his Tiffany box that he had thought he had hidden pretty well in his drawer. He sighed, knowing he had been caught. This is what happened when you lived with a reporter. So much for Christmas…
"When did you…"
"Doesn't matter. Ask me." She said as she handed the box to him.
"Right now? Like this?" She nodded.
"Please?" He sighed and removed the lid. He dumped the velvet box into his other hand and paused. He realized she was tensing up out of anticipation.
"Are you sure?" He asked, just teasing her at this point.
"Yes!" He smiled and opened the box, revealing the ring for the first time.
"Will you marry me?"
"Yes!" She said in the same tone before jumping happily into his arms. He smiled and kissed her.
"Merry Christmas." He said as he slid the ring onto her finger.
"Thank you." She said, proud of herself.
"Are you happy?" He asked, already knowing the answer. She nodded.
"I got your gift too, if you want to open it." He stared at her, debating.
"Well it's only fair." He said. She reached into the drawer again, this time pulling out a long black envelope. She handed it to him and he shook it. "Is it a savings bond?" He teased.
"Just open it." He did and pulled out two tickets, to the Red Sox. "Opening day, box seats, with a chance to meet the players." She said quickly, excited to tell him her news.
"What?" He said, unable to process what she was telling him. "Who did you have to kill to get these?"
"Read the note." He reached back into the envelope and pulled out the sheet of paper.
"I hope this clears up any confusion with your boyfriend. It's the least I could do. Mike Levrett." He smiled as he put the note down.
"Are you happy?" She turned the tables on him. His grin was huge. He just shrugged, unable to convey just how happy he was.
"You're the best. Come here." He said, wanting to kiss her some more. She obliged him but pulled away.
"Hey Tris."
"Hmm."
"There's more."
"How could there possibly be more?" She climbed out of bed and reached into the closet. She threw the box at him. Looking down, he was confronted by the Victoria's secret logo. "If I didn't just propose to you…" He said, as he opened the box happily. He closed his eyes and swallowed. Rory smiled at his reaction.
"You like it?" She asked.
"Hurry up." He said as he threw the box back at her. "I want to see you in it once before I rip it off your body." She grinned.
"Best Christmas ever." She smiled before heading into the bathroom.
"Best Christmas ever." He agreed.
A/N: Okay, this was the last chapter! Thanks to everyone for reading!!! I have already started a new idea in my head for the next one. First I have to finish Friends though.