AN: I thought about splitting this into two parts, when I realized how long it was getting, but then I changed my mind. You can all spare a few extra minutes right? Well, I hope so. I hope that this is alright, I didn't want to just use the transcript and add bits in, so I've sort of written around it, hopefully that worked out ok.
"Mom?" Jess called out as he returned to the house, carrying coffees and a couple of take-away containers from the diner.
"Upstairs!"
"I've got breakfast, so make sure you come down and eat something alright," he told her, making his way through to the kitchen.
"I'll be down in a minute," she returned. As he put everything down on the table and moved to collect some plates, Jess could hear her racing around from one room to the next above his head. She had been up late the night before, only just going to bed a few hours earlier.
She was nervous.
What with today being her wedding day and all, it made sense she'd be a little on edge, but the few glimpses he'd caught of her before he went out to get sustenance for the day, he could tell that although she was slightly terrified, she was also very happy.
"Ok, I'm here, what have we got?" Liz asked, gliding into the room. My mother is gliding. Wow, this must really be it then, I guess.
"Blueberry pancakes for the bride to be, with a side of bacon and hash browns. Also, coffee. Because, who, really, can function without a little jolt from Luke's - or, shall we say, my - coffee?"
"Bless you, my beautiful boy!" Liz threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly for a moment. "Have I told you how grateful I am that you're here with me? It just means so much that you're here, willing to do this, even though, I know you aren't all that thrilled about it."
"Mom, you really don't have to keep thanking me, you know I'd do just about anything, coz, like you're always telling me, you gave me life, and I'll have to spend the rest of that life making up to you for that painful experience."
"I've trained you well, haven't I?" Liz asked with a wistful smile.
"You certainly have."
"Good. Ok, well, let's eat before this gets cold." Jess handed her a plate and she sat down, ready to dig into her food. "Did you see how things were going out there?"
"Kirk is torturing Patty, as are the Banyan boys."
"Oh no! Why? What's happened?"
"He's just bummed that he isn't the dance captain, so he's encouraging them to make the may-pole as unorganized as possible."
"I didn't want that! I thought it would be best to leave that decision up to Patty, she is the expert after all."
"Yeah, and he's Kirk. Don't worry, he'll get over it. You just have to concentrate on you, alright?"
"Ok." Liz took a deep breathe and then picked up her coffee. "Alright, I won't think about Kirk anymore, I'll finish my breakfast and go have a nice relaxing bath before Carrie arrives."
"That sounds like a very good plan. Except for the part about Carrie arriving,"
"Oh stop, she's one of my oldest friends; your god-mother."
"I know that, but it doesn't make her any less insane."
"Jess,"
"Sorry, forget I said anything. I'm going to head back to the diner soon, see if there's anything I can help Luke with."
"Or possibly just go so you can avoid Carrie and make eyes at Rory?"
"No, really. I think he needs help with the turkey legs. He's a little out of his depth when it comes to that sort of thing."
"Apologize to him again for me, would you? I really didn't mean for all of that stuff to be dumped on him."
"I don't think he minds all that much Mom. He just wants this day to be perfect for you. Everyone does."
"God this is a good town!" Liz gushed, a big smile on her face. Jess reached across the table and squeezed her hand.
"Glad you like it, well, I'm off. I'll see you in a little bit, ok?"
"But you didn't eat anything!"
"I'll just grab something while I'm over there. I told you, don't worry."
"I'll try," she replied as he stood up and left the room.
Rory stared down at the thing in front of her, her face scrunched up in confusion. "Luke! I don't think this is right!" she called out and he came rushing into the kitchen, to look over her shoulder.
"What's wrong with 'em?"
"Well, I don't know if you know this, but I am not exactly an expert at cooking turkey legs. Seeing as I wasn't around four hundred years ago, when this food was in vogue, I have no idea what this is supposed to look like."
"Well, its… they're supposed to look like drumsticks, I think. Big drumsticks. And not that pale, so I say we just chuck them back into the oven for a little while longer and see how we go."
"Why am I doing the cooking for your sister's wedding anyway? I am not good at cooking. Shouldn't Sookie be here, or something?"
"Sookie's doing all the other food, plus she's running the kitchen at the inn, so the wedding is a favor. We just have to work these out."
"You're running the diner, so- I'll stop now, before I say something I'm going to regret, and end up having to finish this all myself."
"I think that would be wise." Luke replied. "I've gotta go out for a few minutes, are you alright with these?"
"Uhh, yeah. I guess, I'll just turn up the heat for a bit. Hopefully that'll do the trick."
"Hopefully,"
"What can I do to help?" Lorelai asked, popping through the doorway. Luke and Rory just stood staring at her. "Seriously guys, I know that you've probably got a lot that needs to be done, and since you're both supposed to be enjoying this wedding I want to help so there's minimal strain on you. Since I can't do anything about the demon children making Miss Patty's life a living hell, I want to do something here. So, give me a job, any job."
"Turkey legs!" Rory cried out, the first to recover from the shock of Lorelai's offer.
"What?"
"We're cooking turkey legs. But Luke has to be somewhere, and I need to get back out to the customers, so, could you keep an eye on the turkey legs?"
"Sure. I can even help with the customers, if you want. It looks as if the entire town has decided to come here for breakfast."
"It's their weird way of supporting Liz, I think." Luke explained as Lorelai crossed over to the oven and Rory went out to help Caesar. "Somehow they think that it's helpful to kill me just hours before the ceremony."
"Well, we can't have that, can we? You go do what you need to do to get ready and I'll take care of the turkey legs." She replied, crouching down to look inside the oven. "There's a sentence I never thought I'd say."
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes! I want this day to go as smoothly as possible, and that means keeping the brother of the bride alive. I need to help, and I think its best that I do that behind the scenes so as not to upset anyone. You go, I've got this,"
"Ok. Thanks. I'll be back in a little while; I just want to go see Liz for a bit."
"Sure, sure. Everything's under control, so you do whatever." Luke nodded and after a moment walked out the door. "Ok boys, let's see how we're doing," Lorelai muttered, looking between a cookbook on the counter and the things in the oven.
"Alright, muffin me, and then I can help with the- You're not Luke," Jess stopped in the doorway, looking at Lorelai curiously.
"No. But I am in his kitchen, and my name starts with the same letter, so I can see how you'd get confused. Although, I'm a woman, and he's not, so that's-"
"Where is Luke?"
"He just left to go see your mom. Didn't Rory tell you?"
"Rory?"
"Yeah, you know, 'bout five feet tall, dark hair, sparkly blue eyes, likes to read and kiss ya?"
"I- I didn't see Rory." Jess replied, looking at his shoes. Why did her mother have to say that? Her mother!
"Oh, well, she was out there a second ago, maybe she's been swallowed by the mob."
"We are unusually busy today." He agreed,
"I've noticed that. Ok, well, these seem to be doing fine, I don't think staring at them will help all that much, it'll probably just make them self-conscious. So, you said something about a muffin and help?"
"Yes, I just need something quick to eat, and it's a good thing Luke isn't here actually because he hates it when I don't have a 'proper breakfast'. Then I can get to work with whatever needs to be done."
"That's very good to hear. Well, you have your breakfast and I'll see you out there, among the crazy." Lorelai pointed as she headed towards the door.
"You bet,"
"Liz? You here?"
"Luke? What are you doing here?"
"I, ah, I wanted to talk to you. Where are you?" Luke replied, walking through to the kitchen. There was half a plate full of food abandoned on the table. But of course, the coffee cups had been drained. …addicts,
"In my room,"
"Oh, well, I can wait for-"
"Get up here!"
"Ok, I'll be right there…" Luke ascended the stairs and walked slowly down the hall towards his sister's bedroom.
"Hey, what are you doing here? Don't you have a business to be running?"
"That's being taken care of, I just wanted to see you before… the day got too crazy."
"Taken care of? Did you join the mafia or something?"
"No. I've just got some help." He explained, sitting on her bed as she continued moving around.
"You left your business in the hands of a temperamental Hispanic man and a sixteen year-old delinquent?"
"Rory's not a delinquent, she's just… Never mind, its fine, ok? The diner is fine. How are you doing?"
"I'm great!"
"Great. really?"
"Well, a little shaky, see?" she held her hand out and Luke noticed that it was wobbling a bit. "But otherwise, great. I'm really happy about this big brother."
"Good, I'm glad."
"You are?" Liz asked, skeptically, coming to sit beside him.
"I'm not TJ's biggest fan, but, yes. I am very happy that you've found someone who loves you and wants to be with you. The fact that he fits into this town so easily is a little worrisome, but, other than that, its all good. As long as you're happy, I'm happy."
"Thank you."
"Now, I've got… Before he died, Dad made me promise to always look out for you and Jess, so I just-"
"You have. You've always been there for us, and I can't possibly thank you enough."
"Well, I had to. Even if he hadn't said that to me, you're my baby sister, and it's my job to make sure you're ok. You're getting married, though, so I can finally have a little peace. You're TJ's headache now."
"Oh! Luke, you can't be mean to me today! That's not fair."
"No, I know. I'm sorry. What I mean to say is… I love you, Liz. No matter what happens, remember that I'm always here for you. Anything you need, you can always come to me."
Liz covered her face biting her lip before she stood up and paced the room. "Can I just say how glad I am you came and did this now? Before I was dressed and had my make-up on and all that. Because you would have just set us way back and we'd have to start all over. Thank you."
"For making you cry?"
"For what you said, I just wish… I wish they could be here. They would love the man you've become."
"They'd be proud of all you accomplished too, little sister."
"Don't! You're gonna make me…" she took a deep breathe, trying to stop any more teas from escaping. "That was a close one,"
"Ok, well, at the risk of causing even more water works, I'll give you this, and get out of here," Luke explained, removing a small box from his pocket.
"What is this?" Liz asked, smiling at him as she took the box and opened it.
"Just, you know, something old. Or borrowed, maybe, if you want to keep your dress as something old and give this back later. But you should keep it. I don't know if you have your something new and blue yet, but you should have this."
"Luke, these are Mom's… I can't-"
"They should have gone to you anyway. I don't know exactly what anyone was thinking, giving me a string of pearls, but they did, which means they're mine to do what ever with and I want you to have them, so, there you go."
"Thank you so much. I just… Oh, God! You can't do this to me all day, ok? It's not fair, I'll be all blotchy and horrible."
"You look beautiful," Luke objected.
"Oh get out of here!"
"Liz? I come bearing champagne," Carrie called out from downstairs, and Luke looked trapped suddenly.
"Coming!" she took her brother's hand and stood up. "Don't worry I'll keep her distracted in the kitchen long enough for you to sneak out the front, ok?"
"Thanks. I'm just not really up for discussing 'the night' again."
"I understand. Thank you for this, and what you said. I'll see you later at Patty's ok?"
"Sure." Luke nodded and looked nervously down the stairs. Liz went down first, got her friends attention and pulled her towards the kitchen giving Luke the chance to tiptoe down the stairs and race out the front door.
Liz and Carrie walked into the diner a little later, and sat at an empty table. The place had quieted down a lot; people had realized how little patience Luke had for them on this particular day, it seemed and so they mostly cleared out. Either that or they didn't want to be there when Lorelai was supposedly running things.
"Well, this is nice, isn't it? One last Luke's fix as a single woman," Liz commented, looking around. A few people waved and smiled at her.
"I still don't see why you're doing it Liz." Carrie told her, picking up a menu as Jill and Anna came in and took seats at the table.
"Because I love him! You should understand this, you're married."
"Exactly, I'm married, that's why I don't understand. Haven't you been listening to me all these years?"
"No. I've tried not to."
"Hi, ladies, what can I get you?" Lorelai asked and all four women turned to look at her.
"What are you doing here?" Carrie demanded.
"Shouldn't you be on your way to Maine now, or something?" Anna added.
"Maine?"
"I'll just get a cob salad, thanks, Lorelai." Liz interrupted. "Girls?" they all ordered and Lorelai moved away to organize their food. "I'll be right back." Liz told her friends, before following the other woman into the kitchen. Jess stood at the grill, flipping burgers, and keeping an eye on the fries as well. "Honey, would you mind giving Lorelai and me a moment alone?" she requested and he looked at the food and back at her.
"Um, sure…" removing the basket of fries from the oil, Jess took one last look at the two women before leaving.
"Sorry, did you want-"
"I'm sorry about the girls. And about Carrie especially, for what she said the other week,"
"Oh, no. It's totally fine."
"It is not." Liz objected, giving Lorelai a wry smile.
"No. Not really, but I get it. You all hate me and I understand it, completely."
"I don't hate you, I don't hate anyone. I think out of all the people I dislike, you are pretty close to the top. But I don't hate you."
"That's actually really nice to hear. Thanks Liz."
"Well, I just wanted you to know that. So don't give up, ok? I know that I've been pretty awful to you lately and to Rory too, but I really… he's my brother."
"Yeah, I know."
"Remember this is a close-knit community, so if everyone's acting like Carrie, Anna and Jill, don't take it personally. They just love Luke a lot and want to protect him."
"I got that."
"And, um, I don't know what you have on today, and I totally understand if you don't want to, because this just came to me and it sounds completely insane in my head. I probably should have checked first, because it's not just me to consider, but I'm still going to ask." Lorelai frowned as Liz rambled on a little, unsure of how this conversation would turn out. "Would you like to come today?"
"Come to the wedding?"
"Yeah. It would be nice to have my old friend there when I get married."
"I-- Liz, I'd love to."
"Good. And you don't have to dress up as a minstrel or anything, because this is really short notice, so just wear whatever you're comfortable with, ok?"
"Sure. I'm sure I could find something. Thank you."
"Your welcome, ok, well, I should get back out there, before they think we've killed one another. Jess, you can come back in now." She called out, making her way to the door.
Lorelai watched Jess return to the stove, looking a little sheepish. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I was just… the food needed me."
"The food needed you?" Lorelai repeated slowly. "I think you've been spending a little too much time with a certain Gilmore girl," she observed.
"We should probably start getting ready soon, ok Jess?" Luke suggested, poking his head in the door "I'm gonna close up, so after this lot clears out I want you to go home and get cleaned up."
"I don't need to; I brought my stuff over here."
"You did?"
"Yeah, it's up in my- in Rory's room."
"Well, where's Rory's stuff? Where's Rory?" He asked after a second of thought. "I haven't seen her in a while."
"She went over to Patty's to check if there was anything that needed doing there." Lorelai explained. "I said it should be alright, I hope you don't mind."
"Oh, no. That's good. Alright, well, I'll just get rid of these people and then… I guess we'll get ready."
"I also told her to go to my place when she was done, so you won't have to deal with a teenaged girl taking over the bathroom when you need to shower… or shave or whatever you need to… Um, customers? I'll go get rid of the… excuse me,"
Luke and Jess both watched as a flustered Lorelai made her way out of the room. "That was… interesting,"
"Go upstairs." Luke instructed.
"But we haven't finished-"
"Just go upstairs; I'll be up in a minute."
"Where's my brother-in-law to be?" TJ cried out as he came into the diner. "Where's my future step son? There you guys are! What are we doing? We gotta get ready, coz I'm gettin' married today!"
"Yeah, yeah, TJ we know. Jess is gonna take you upstairs, show you where everything is, and I'll be up soon, ok?"
"Well you'd better hurry Luke, coz I think this is one of those important bonding things that family is supposed to do."
"Don't wanna miss that," Jess told his uncle, patting him on the shoulder, before leading TJ out of the room.
"No, that would be tragic."
"… thanks so much. We'll see you later. Bye!" Lorelai waved as the last customer left and then she turned to where Luke stood, holding a plate of fries. "Um, I sort of announced to the room that you were closing early and I guess, they all knew why, 'cause they all lined up at the register right away. All the food was paid for, even the stuff that didn't make it out to the tables so, now you've got something to snack on while you're getting ready, I guess."
"Well, thanks for that. And everything, this morning. You were a great help."
"Sure. It was fun. So, I'll be off now and I'll see you… Later." Luke nodded as Lorelai walked out and then he turned to go up to his apartment and get ready for his little sister's wedding.
"Would you look at the pretty girl in my apartment?" Lorelai came in and dropped her purse on the couch, looking at Rory as she adjusted her dress in front of the mirror on the back of the bathroom door.
"That's a great dress, sweetie."
"Thanks Mom. I feel kind of idiotic,"
"You don't look it, definitely no idiocy in that outfit at all. Did you want some help with your hair?"
"I was thinking I'd just… like this?" she pulled part of it back and Lorelai nodded, before rummaging through a draw.
"Here, tie it up with this," she suggested, handing over a ribbon, almost the exact same shade of purple as Rory's dress. She wore a full-length skirt, attached to a corset and underneath that was a white peasant-style top, with puffy sleeves that she kept readjusting. "You nervous?"
"I don't know why." Rory replied, tying a neat bow in her hair, before scowling at it, pulling it out and trying again with just a simple knot. "I mean, it's not like I'm the one getting married. But I don't think I've ever actually been to a wedding before and…"
"Definitely never your boyfriend's mother's wedding. Yes, I see why you're slightly freaked, but you've got nothing to worry about. You look amazing in that dress, Jess will love it, and everyone will think you fit in so well with the fair that they may even try to convince you to join them on the road."
"That's not a very helpful thought,"
"You wouldn't enjoy living like a peasant, selling jewellery, or crossbows? What about the fruit-ice?"
"What are you talking about?" Rory asked, trying not to laugh. She'd decided that was the best course of action where her mother was concerned; not showing too much emotion.
"I overheard some stuff at the diner, when Liz was talking to her friends."
"You saw her? How was that?"
"Not… too bad. Actually, she, um, how would you feel about me coming to the wedding? I have the permission of the bride and everything."
Rory turned away from inspecting herself and looked directly at Lorelai.
This wasn't supposed to happen. She was trying to keep a little distance between them, how could she do that if her mom kept showing up everywhere? In town, at the diner, Liz' wedding? It was impossible to keep up a barrier with the woman constantly trying to get in.
'But then again,' she thought, 'maybe I don't really need to?' Jess had said she wasn't going to become nothingness, and she was inclined to believe him, because his thoughts on the subject had been a lot nicer than hers. 'So maybe it won't be all bad?'
"I… well, I don't know. Have you talked to anyone else about it?"
"I'm assuming you mean Luke, and no."
"Should you? It would probably be more his decision than mine."
"I probably should, but I'm asking you. What do you think? If you don't want me there, I'll be more than happy to find some other way to spend my day. You just say the word."
"Ok."
"Ok?"
"You can come. God, that sounded like I'm all-controlling, didn't it? I mean, it's ok with me, if you come. If you want to,"
"Thank you Rory. That really does mean a lot to me. You know, Liz and I were friends once too, and I just feel like if I can, I should make every effort to fix my relationships. Obviously you and my parents have top billing, but then there's Luke and Liz and just, everyone, All of my friends, I just abandoned every one of them and I need to make it up to them."
"Well, ok. I guess you'd better get cracking then. Do you have something to wear?"
"Yeah, I think. But you should get going, shouldn't you?"
"Why?"
"Don't you want to go see how things are progressing? You have a backstage pass to your very first wedding. Take advantage of it Kid."
"Alright, I guess I'll see you there then," Lorelai nodded and started for her room, but a knock at the door stopped her. Rory froze too, and they turned to look at one another. "Who is that?"
"I don't know. Everyone we know is on their way to this wedding, and almost all of those people… I don't know."
"I'll get it, you go get dressed."
"Ok, thanks sweets. I'll see you in a bit." Lorelai continued out of the room and Rory reached for the doorknob. Opening the door, she didn't even bother to hide her displeasure.
"What are you doing here?"
"Greetings my lady, your lord hath come to escort you forthwith." Tristan announced before bowing.
"Could you be more of a loser if you tried?" Rory asked, rolling her eyes and picking up her purse.
"If I tried?" he straightened up and cocked his head to the side, considering for a moment. "Yes, I believe so, you ready to go?"
"Are you forgetting something?" Tristan looked around for a moment and Rory shook her head. "I have a boyfriend. You might remember him; dark hair, carries a book with him just about everywhere, goes by the name of Jess, and, oh yeah, he's also, sort of your best friend."
"Oh yeah, he told me to come meet you. He's hanging out backstage for the time being, so he wanted to make sure that you had someone to keep you company."
"Hanging out backstage… what is with the two of you today?"
"The two of who?"
"You and my mother. You're both very odd. And it's whom."
"I knew that. You're just jealous because you don't understand our uniqueness. And plus, where he is right now technically is backstage, because it's in the back of Miss Patty's studio."
"Fine, you win this round, but I'd really prefer that you just refrained from speaking to me as much as possible. That way there's more of a chance that you make it to the end of today alive."
"Duly noted," Tristan nodded and then continued to walk silently beside Rory until they reached the dance studio.
"Ok, I think we're all set here, sweetie." Patty announced taking a last look at Liz' hair, "you ready to do this?"
"I am. Let's get this show on the- oh no!"
"Mom? What happened?" Jess turned away from the door to see his mother, clutching her side.
"I ripped my dress. I can't believe this, everyone's out there, ready to start, and I ripped my dress!"
"I'll go tell 'em they've gotta hold on, while you try and fix that," Carrie replied, heading for the door.
"Why did I never learn how to sew? My mother tried to teach me, but I just never paid enough attention."
"Oh who had the time? There are so many more important things to be doing in life than sitting around, sewing," Patty informed Liz as the door slid open and Lorelai snuck in.
"Word on the street is that we have a wardrobe malfunction."
"Oh, Lorelai thank God! I'm such a klutz, I was getting up ready to go, and I ripped it, now we're going to have to start late."
"Relax, today's your day, you get to hold everyone up. They're only here to see you. Let me see, what have we got here?" she took the sewing kit from Patty and in no time at all Liz was standing in her dress, looking absolutely perfect. "There, you're all done."
"You're a miracle worker," Patty announced and Lorelai ducked her head.
"I'll go let everyone know we're back on schedule. Have you got everything you need?"
"Got my dress, I've got my away-giver, I'm all set. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. I guess I'll go find a seat then. You look great," she added, before heading back outside.
"Mom, what's going on? I thought they were supposed to be starting by now? And I'm pretty sure, Luke's going to die soon if something doesn't distract Carrie. Either she'll suffocate him with her boobs, or he'll do some serious self-harming in order to get away from her."
"Yeah, that Carrie's a real treat. But it's ok. Everything is fixed now, so we'll find Luke, send Carrie back over to Liz and everyone will make it through this alive,"
"Good, because I think Jess is finally coming around to the idea and it would really suck if something were to go wrong now."
"Nothing is going to go wrong, come on." They headed off to find Luke and soon everyone was sitting in their seats, waiting for the ceremony to start.
"Ah jeez, do they have to make this the silliest thing ever?" Luke muttered as the minister strolled up to the gazebo singing and strumming a guitar. Rory, sitting between Luke and Lorelai rolled her eyes and her mom just bit down hard on her lip trying not to laugh aloud. Tristan looked riveted by the whole thing as he sat on Lorelai's other side. Once Jess had done his job of safely getting his mother from one end of the aisle to the other he came and sat in the empty seat between Rory and Luke.
"Very well done," Rory whispered.
"Thanks," he smiled as the two people up the front planted the ceremonial sword and told each other how they felt.
"I didn't realize you'd be here today," Luke commented as he and Lorelai headed over to where the food had been set up. Rory and Jess had run off somewhere with Lane, Tristan and Lindsey, this was the first time they'd been left alone all night.
"Oh, well, yeah. I'm not crashing or anything, if that's what you're thinking."
"No, I didn't mean-"
"Liz was in the diner and she invited me. I thought about not coming, but then I figured if she was ok with my being here then it should be alright."
"Yeah. No, I get that. I was just saying it was a bit of a surprise."
"A bad surprise?" Lorelai enquired as she pulled out a seat and sat down with her plate of turkey legs and an assortment of other foods.
"Well, I… um."
"Because I want you to know that I heard what you said after Rory's birthday, ok? I know we're over and that's all done, and it's fine. That isn't why I moved here."
"I know."
"You do?"
"You came here for Rory, so you could mend your relationship with her. I understand that."
"Good. I'm glad it's clear to at least one person."
"The others will realize in time. I think they just need to adjust."
"Right. And my being in their faces in the diner this morning and here now, that probably isn't helping, is it?"
"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but that's their problem. People are just going to have to deal with seeing you at these types of things."
"You know of another wedding coming up?" Lorelai joked, but Luke just shook his head.
"I mean, things around the town. The more they see you around, the less interested they'll be and eventually you'll just be another person that lives here, nothing special."
"Well I don't want that." she pouted and he couldn't help smiling.
"No, I suppose you wouldn't. You're Lorelai Gilmore, not one of the many," he replied, and then he realized that he had said her name with no difficulty at all. Usually he just stuck to her first name, because somehow, that was easier, but he'd said the whole thing (well, almost, but he never used to use her middle name anyway, so that didn't really matter.) and it was fine.
"Exactly."
"There you two are." Liz and TJ arrived in front of them, both beaming,. "My big brother, my hero, and our wedding savior," She added, giving Lorelai a small smile.
"Oh, I didn't really do anything,"
"Are you kidding? You guys should have seem the mess I made of this dress, but Lorelai came in and she had it all fixed in no time, it was amazing."
"Well, it was just… it was easy."
"Can you just let the woman thank you?" Luke asked and Lorelai nodded, biting her lip.
"Ok, you're welcome, Liz. It was a beautiful wedding."
"Thanks. Wasn't Jess great?"
"It wasn't like it was a hard thing for him to do," TJ commented, "but he did it pretty good."
"Yeah, he really did." Luke replied.
"I'm starving!" Liz realized suddenly.
"Well, come on then, let's go and get you some chow." Liz allowed her husband to lead her away and Lorelai sat back in her chair, smiling after them.
"She's amazing, that sister of yours."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. It just seems like some people are more suited to parenthood than others, they're better at dealing with the pressure. I mean, Jimmy and Chris and I, we were never really meant to be that great at it, I think. But you and Liz are just both amazing. Jess is a great kid; you guys did a terrific job with him. I guess Idid what I did, because I thought I could give Rory a better life than she would have had with my parents. But I screwed everything up."
"You did not." Luke argued. "I was there remember? I was with you all through your pregnancy and the first two years of Rory's life, I saw it all. You did nothing wrong – well, except for maybe, drinking coffee everyday while you were pregnant. But my point is, you were a- are a great mom. Things may not have been going too well for the last few years, but you did the right thing. This separation was good for both of you. Rory was... I don't want to tell you your kid was a monster, but-"
"No, I know. She really wasn't headed down a good path. But you're doing such a great job with her. She's made such a turnaround since she was at home with me. I don't think I could ever thank you enough for that."
"You want to thank me?" Luke asked, and Lorelai nodded.
"Of course I do."
"Don't run away again."
She smiled, "Not planning on it this time around. You know, I have friends-"
"We were here fourteen years ago."
"I also have a job, which, I know, I had one then too, but I'd like to think I'm a little more responsible than I was at eighteen."
"You are, I can see it. You shouldn't worry so much. Things are going so well for the two of you; just enjoy it for a bit, alright?"
"Thanks, I'll try." They were quiet for a moment until Kirk who had been given the job of DJ – over Lane's objections – announced that Liz and TJ 'wouldst enjoy others to join them in their modest wriggles.' They each looked up for a moment, caught sight of Rory and Jess out on the floor, looking a little embarrassed, and then glanced at each other. But ater a fe seconds of consideration, shook their heads and returned to their food.
AN2: How was that?