Disclaimer: Everything Gilmore Girls related is not mine. Just the idea.

A/N: Only a short one today, I promise. A few days ago Jessjunky wrote me a PM and told me how much she loved this story and couldn't wait to read another chapter, and it somehow got me so motivated, that I sat down and wrote the whole chapter down. And I'm quite happy about it. :)

Naturally, my biggest thanks go to my wonderful reviewers. Without them I wouldn't write, so many, many, many thanks. Also to Kass, my wonderful Beta.

That's it. Hope you enjoy. Please remember: reviews are love. ;)

Best, Tina

GETTING MARRIED

- Chapter 2 -

Getting Informed

Monday mornings were the worst.

On Mondays Luke would wake up an hour earlier than normal, because on Monday the breakfast rush started half an hour earlier than usual. People other than her were more motivated to get up on Monday, it seemed.

On Mondays her shower seemed to hate her also, because every week she had to have cold shower. Funny thing was that this only happened on Mondays – and only ever with her – because every time she told Luke, the warm water miraculously worked again.

The third thing being awful about Mondays: It was Bagels-day at Luke's. It's not that she didn't like Bagels. No, she loved Bagels. All kinds of them (except the ones with the raisins, they were simply wrong). But she liked Pancakes more. And Waffles. And Pie. And Bagels simply weren't her idea of starting the week in the correct way.

So all in all it just wasn't her favorite day of the week. And it seemed as if this Monday wouldn't be an exception, because she just had the most amazing dream about swimming in a pool full of pink cupcake frosting when her alarm started going off. Only when she was conscious enough she realized that it wasn't the alarm (surprise, it went off about 45 minutes ago) but the house phone.

"'ello?"

"Hello to you too, darling mother!"

"Why are you so chipper? It's Monday morning and you're chipper. I can't believe it's me who raised you. A daughter of mine would know that you're not allowed to be chipper on Monday mornings." She finally rolled out of her bed (she was already 45 minutes late, so no need to hurry now) and searched with her feet for her Hello-Kitty-slippers.

"I have every reason to be chipper on a Monday morning, after such a great weekend."

"Oh … blech! I don't want to hear about the sexscapades of you and your hoodlum. Just another thing to add on my anti-Monday-morning-list, thanks a lot!" Lorelai finally found the second slipper and started to leave her bedroom. Coffee was needed. After the first three cups everything would be at least a little bit more bearable.

Rory giggled. "Think what you want, Mom, but me being chipper has nothing to do with sex," she paused for a second, "Or at least not entirely."

"Geez, Rory! Please! At least wait til I've had my first cup. Mommy's not the youngest anymore!" The kitchen was just in front of Lorelai and she could already smell the pot of fresh coffee Luke had left for her before going to work, when Rory dropped the bomb, "I got engaged, Mom."

It's not often that coffee gets forgotten in a Gilmore household, but this was one of the rare occasions.

"You what?" The older Gilmore was thankful for the chair in reaching distance.

"I've got a pretty ring myself now, Mommy. You have to take a look on Friday when we're visiting."

Rory sounded so blissful. And she literally beamed through the telephone, streaks of the before mentioned chipper-ness, and contentment, and joy streaming in her voice. And Lorelai could feel her daughter was nearly bursting out of happiness.

Monday mornings were the best.

oOo

Although Jess didn't stay that long with his father and his new family they still made peace with each other. They talked regularly, wrote e-mails at least once a week, and even visited each other twice a year. It took a while, but now Jimmy was revered to as 'Dad', and when talked about Jess he was always called 'my son'.

That didn't mean that they stopped arguing every now and then.

"Why are you so passive aggressive?"

"Geez, do you even know what passive aggressive means?"

"Exactly that kind of statement, Jess. What happened?" Jimmy pressed the cell phone between his ear and his shoulder and started to prepare a hotdog for a guy in a business suit.

"Why do you think anything happened? Can't I just call my father and ask him how he is?"

Jimmy sighed, stopped with the hotdog, and held the phone out to his nineteen year old step-daughter, who helped out at Dante's Inferno for a couple of days during her mid-term break because Sanchez (the best hotdog vendor in Venice Beach, hell even in all of L.A.) was sick.

"You talk, I don't get him."

Lily Hatterthorn (thanks Great-Great-Gramps, for the most ridiculous name ever!) – secretly called the Jess-whisperer – took the cell from Jimmy while putting a pickle in her mouth.

"What's up, bro?" she cheered, mouth full and a huge smile on her face.

"Oh, geez! Don't tell me you went all alternative at this fancy college of yours!"

"Whoa, you're really passive aggressive today." Her smile grew when she imagined the scowl surely appearing on his face right at this moment.

"Not you, too!" Jess sighed and started to regret his decision to call his family on the other side of the country.

"Now tell your lil' Sis what's bothering you, sweetheart." Lily knew he hated it when she gave him nicknames. She also knew that this was the best way to get any information out of him.

"Give Dad the phone back."

"Nuh-uh," she sing-sang, "first I want some details, brother dearest."

"I'm getting married. Now give Dad the damn phone."

"Cool," she answered, before holding the phone out to her stepfather with a shrug of her shoulders and deadpanned, "He's getting married."

"What?" Jimmy grabbed the phone again, "how comes Lily talks ten seconds with you and gets all the details? Why didn't you just say so?"

"Hey, who's passive aggressive now?"

The older Mariano could hear the smirk in his son's voice, so he just smiled and replied, "Congrats, Jess. This is great news. I'm really happy for the both of you."

"Me, too!" Lily called from beside before biting into another pickle.

"Thanks, Dad." The younger Mariano couldn't hold back the smile, knowing his father and his 'sister' were genuinely happy for him and Rory. "Listen, I need to go now. I have an appointment with a potential author in about 30 minutes and still need to prepare some stuff. I …," he paused but then decided to just say it, "I just wanted to tell you first."

Jimmy beamed, "Thank you, Jess. Once again, this is great news."

They bid each other goodbye and hung up. For a few seconds the older man just stared at his phone when a small cough interrupted his musings. He looked up and saw the man in the business suit standing there and waiting for his hotdog.

"Sorry, man," Jimmy apologized before holding out the just prepared hotdog with a huge smile, "On the house. My son is getting married."

oOo

Lane was nervous. Ever since a few months ago, when she visited her best friend (one of the rare occasions she got Mama Kim to watch the twins for a whole weekend), all she felt was nervousness. She should have never walked into that room. She should have never decided to wear contact lenses that day, but should have stuck with her glasses. She should have knocked on that damn bathroom door.

If she had done that she would have never seen the ring. She would have never gasped in utter disbelieve. She would have never surprised Jess standing in front of the bathroom mirror, practicing his proposal. She would have never needed to help him get out of the bathtub, which he fell into out of surprise after Lane stormed into the room.

But as it is with the infamous 'if': it died a long time ago. Because fact was, she did walk into that bathroom that day, and she did see Jess practicing. And ever since he made her promise to not. Say. A goddamn. Word. EVER. She was a nervous wreck.

Every time when the phone rang she nearly jumped out of her skin, her heart racing a mile a minute.

Zack told her if she wouldn't stop being nervous soon, she wasn't allowed to eat anymore candy. And no more 'Backyardigans' with the boys (although the boys were too old for it anyway and didn't even like the show that much, it was herself loving it).

Truth to be told, she wanted to stop being nervous just as much as her husband. It just wasn't in her hands. Even her weekly threatening-call to Mr. Mariano didn't bring the desired result. The proposal failed to happen, Lane kept tense.

It was a Monday afternoon when she got released.

"He proposed, Lane!" Rory called in the phone, the beaming smile clearly recognizable.

"Finally! This was killing me!" The Korean dropped down on the sofa, a relieved sigh on her lips.

The line went silent and Lane realized her faux-pas. Holy moly, now she was in trouble! It took a few moments before Rory found her voice again.

"What do you mean with 'finally'?"

oOo

She wasn't allowed to open the door when nobody was around. Mommy and Daddy had told her a hundred times. Even Aunty Lorelai was on their side, although she was normally always on her side.

But – come on – she was nearly seven, a big girl. She could bind her own shoes. She could write all of the ABC's already (although they didn't learn the difficult letters in school yet, like the X, and the Q , and the Z). She lived in Stars Hollow.

Therefore – although not being allowed – she rushed to the door when hearing the bell.

"Doula Marie Reynolds! How often do I need to tell you to not open the door when no adult is around?"

"Aw, Mom!" This was just her luck, always getting caught. The girl leaned to the window beside the front door and sighed, "But it's only Uncle Luke!"

"No discussion, young lady!" Elizabeth Danes stepped to her daughter while reaching out for the doorknob, "this means no dessert for you tonight."

"But Jess is coming over tonight! Uncle Luke made strawberry pie for the celebration!" the kid exclaimed horror-stricken.

Liz just shrugged, "Maybe you'll remember this the next time."

"This is so unfair!" With a huff the young girl turned around and ran to her room. In the meantime the woman opened the door and greeted her brother.

Luke only was able to see the retreating back of his niece, and with raised eyebrows he simply said: "The door again?" Liz just nodded and her brother stepped into the house, holding before mentioned strawberry pie in his hands.

"I just wanted to bring over the pie for tonight. Lorelai had her eye on it ever since she saw it in the Diner's kitchen and I didn't want to risk not having Jess' favorite tonight."

They walked to the kitchen and the man put the dessert down on the countertop. Liz smiled and half-hugged Luke, "You are such a sweetie, big brother. Jess will love his pie." Her smile grew when thinking about her oldest, "I still can't believe he's getting married."

"It's a good thing." Luke agreed, patting his sister's shoulder.

"It's the best thing." Liz replied, giddily clapping her hands.

It took Lorelai 7 minutes and 34 seconds after she got the call from Rory to come to the Diner. Her hair was a mess, her feet were still in the Hello-Kitty-slippers, and on her face was one of the biggest smiles he had ever seen on her. Not even uttering a single word, she grabbed the plates out of his hands, placed them in front of Patty and Babette (even though it was the breakfast for Lulu and Kirk), and afterwards pushed him in the direction of his old upstairs-apartment. The occupants of the Diner were more than curious why Lorelai would arrive, not saying a word, beaming at her husband. And all of that in her PJ's.

After a few minutes they returned from upstairs, now both of them smiling. Lorelai gave him a kiss and was gone again. This was the most silent Stars Hollow's inhabitants had ever experienced a Gilmore Girl.

All week they tried to figure out what the early morning visit was about, while at the same time all sorts of rumors were making the rounds. None of them turned out to be true.

For the first time ever the people of Stars Hollow were absolutely clueless.

oOo

Sissy Willoughby just raised her obnoxious voice to comment on the flower bouquets for the next DAR-function when Richard stepped into the sitting room and asked if the Ladies would excuse them for a minute.

Emily – although never admitting something like that out loud – silently thanked Richard for his exceptional timing. They walked to his study. It was only after he closed the door behind them that she discovered the pleased smiled on her husband's face.

"I've got news, Emily." He started while stepping to the side table with the beverages, taking two champagne flutes, and pouring the sparkling liquid out of a recently opened bottle. The woman felt that something big was to be announced.

"Don't tantalize me, Richard. What is it? Why the champagne?"

The man pressed one of the flutes to her hand, and after clinging the glasses together announced, "Rory is getting married."

The flute slipped out of her hand, the champagne splashed over the expensive Persian carpet, and she shrieked, "Please don't tell me she's marrying that hoodlum!"

She couldn't believe it! Was her granddaughter out of her mind? How could she even consider getting married to such a man? He didn't even finish high school, just got his GED later at some point. Went to no college, not even a community college. He was sarcastic, and rude, always said his opinion, no matter if it was appropriate or not.

When Rory first moved to Philadelphia (a completely wrong decision, in her opinion, when New York or Hartford were the better options with more opportunities) Emily was shocked to hear that it was because he lived there. When they decided to move in together (she was powerless to prevent this from happening), her and Richard wanted to buy an apartment for Rory. He straightforward refused, explaining that they would 'make their own way and also find their own apartment'. Rory agreed (although Emily was sure only because she didn't want to argue with him).

But the absolute impertinence happened the previous year, when Emily threw a party for Rory's 27th birthday. Of course Logan got invited, too. He was one of Rory's friends from college and also a friend of the family. And what did this rogue do? After everyone was gone, only the closest family left, he stepped up to her and said in a calm voice, so only she was able to hear him, that she should be ashamed not trusting her granddaughter to make her own decisions. To always try to interfere with everyone's life until every little piece and part was to her liking. To not even attempt to respect Rory's and Lorelai's wishes. That he pitied her.

He got her by surprise; she wasn't even able to respond. How dare he!

And now that. Rory wanted to marry him. He was going to be family in the near future.

Richard put an arm around the shoulders of his wife and with a slightly patronizing smile confirmed, "She is. And she is happy, dear. Happier than she was ever with Logan. Or anyone else. He's a fine young man, he just had a rough start in life, Emily. So yes, he says his opinion, appropriate or not. He is sarcastic, and sometimes he is rude. But he is always genuine. He has the best attempts when it comes to Rory. He loves her. They love each other. And isn't that the important thing? Don't you think it's time you give him a second chance?"

oOo

After calling her grandparents, Rory informed her father, and after that called Paris.

"I can't believe you said yes! This was the worst proposal ever."

"No, it was not!" Rory exclaimed shocked, "It was perfect!"

"He threw the ring box at you while you were fighting!" Sometimes it was really hard to like Paris, the ever obvious, fact-stating realist.

"So what?" Rory therefore answered, "In the end there's only one important thing: He loves me and he wants to marry me. And the fact that he was carrying this ring around for months, tried to ask at least half a dozen times, but fate seemed to have something against it and he still tried it all over again, makes me the happiest woman on earth and this proposal the most perfect one I could wish for."

Paris didn't argue that.

oOo

After strawberry pie, and after gushing, and squealing, and giggling over the ring, after thousand and one hugs from his mother, and after about a million bedtime stories for his little sister, Rory and him were finally back at the apartment above Luke's, making themselves ready for bed.

"I still can't believe that Stars Hollow's citizens didn't have a clue. Not even Patty or Babette. I mean, that is a first!" She rubbed the cream into her hands and sat down on her side of the bed.

Jess just stepped out of the bathroom, turning off the big light on his way out.

"Baby, there is a first for everything."

They slipped under the covers – both on their respective sides – turned to the beside tables and turned off the last lights in the room as well, before scooting to the middle of the bed and – nearly automatically – embracing each other.

"I'm happy that everybody finally knows." Rory sighed, putting her head on his chest. She felt his heartbeat thumping soothingly.

Jess smirked, "This was the easy part, Ror. Now the organizing starts. And although you're the Energizer Bunny when it comes to organizing stuff, this will be totally different."

Rory sighed, "I know. I'm still excited, although organizing this will be hell."

"I'm sure we will do just fine." His fingers started to play with her hair.

It was her turn to smirk now, "Did it ever occur to you that you are going to have to behave for a whole day? And spend it with Emily Gilmore?"

"Geez!" he rolled over and was now lying above her, his fingers brushing over her cheeks, before he responded playfully, "Maybe we have to elope then."

She laughed out loud and wrapped her arms around his torso, before leaning in and pressing her lips to his.

TBC