She had just been planning on wearing one of her clean sundresses to the courthouse, but as soon as she asked Mia to be one of their witnesses, the older woman insisted on getting Lorelai a white one. She made a joke that no one would believe she's a virgin if her kid is coming to the wedding with her. Lorelai examined herself in the mirror of the Inn. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she actually liked the dress Mia found at a thrift store in Hartford; simple white with lace on top that stopped mid thigh. Of course, Lorelai stuck to her guns about her shoes and still wore her regular Doc Martens. They clashed with her dress and her delicately curled hair, but Lorelai argued that she had to have something old.
"You're pretty, Momma," Rory said, clutching Burt to her chest on the bed. Mia had even convinced Rory into a frilly red dress that Lorelai was annoyed that she was cute in.
"Thanks, kid. You look pretty sharp yourself," Lorelai said with a slight smirk. "Now, you know what's happening today, right? Momma's getting married."
"Momma's getting married," Rory parroted back.
"Do you know what that means?" Lorelai asked. Rory shook her head, making Lorelai laugh. "That means we're going to spend more time with Luke," She explained. "Is that okay?"
"Yes!" Rory said. "Luke is fun."
"Oh, sweetie, you are the first person to think that," Lorelai joked. "It also means we're going to move out of the shed and we're going to live in town, closer to your school."
"Okay," Rory nodded thoughtfully.
"Are you ready to go?" Lorelai asked. Rory nodded. "Okay, and how about Burt?"
"Him too," Rory said.
Lorelai held out her hand and Rory crawled off the bed, grabbing it and walking with her out the door, where they collided with someone outside of it. The woman fell to the floor, laughing a bit. She was a short woman with pigtails. She didn't seem bothered at all by the fall, her smile never leaving her friendly, round face.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry," she said, hoisting herself up and grabbing the basket she dropped. "Are you Lorelai?"
"I am," Lorelai said. The woman stuck out her free hand for Lorelai to shake.
"Sookie," She said. "I'm the new sous chef. Mia wanted me to bring you something special for today, she left early to the courthouse. I hear congratulations are in order."
Lorelai rolled her eyes but thanked the sous chef. "It's not too big of a deal, really."
"Not a big deal!" Sookie said. "It's your wedding day. How long have you been together?"
"We haven't," Lorelai said, putting a confused look on Sookie's face. "It's a long story."
"Alrighty then," Sookie said. "Dinner's going to be here at six."
"It is?" Lorelai asked.
"Shoot, I wasn't supposed to tell you that," Sookie said. "Sorry, forget I said anything."
"Don't worry about it," Lorelai laughed.
"I'm such an airhead sometimes," Sookie said. She opened the basket, producing a delicately frosted cupcake. "I heard these were someone's favourites." She bent down, handing it over to Rory.
"Thank you!" Rory said, immediately staining her previously clean face with chocolate. Lorelai took the basket from Sookie and thanked her again.
The Gilmore girls walked down the stairs, to the entrance of the inn. Lorelai has never thought much about marriage. She was never one of those girls who planned their wedding from the day she was born, but since she started working at the inn, she liked the idea of getting married in the garden.
Lorelai heard the rumble of Luke's truck as he pulled up outside. As always, he was right on time. The girls walked outside into the brisk autumn air. Luke hopped out of his truck, looking up the steps at Lorelai, his eyes wide.
She had never seen Luke in anything but jeans and a flannel, but it looked like Mia had gotten to him as well. He left the baseball cap at home and wore black slacks and a nice button up, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
"You look really...," Luke started, his voice catching a little as he stared at her. "Pretty."
Lorelai blushed slightly as she walked down the steps. "You do too."
"Not as pretty as Rory, though," Luke said, turning his attention to the little girl, who giggled and held tighter to her bear.
Luke opened the passenger door for Lorelai to slide in before he got around to his side. The pulled out of the driveway, and onto the road with only the sound of the radio between them as they drove through Stars Hollow.
"This is awkward, isn't it?" Lorelai asked finally. Luke laughed.
"Yeah, a bit," He said.
"I really can't thank you enough for doing this," Lorelai said. "It's such a weird favor."
"Don't worry about it," Luke said. "Honestly, it's just a piece of paper and it'll help you out a lot. I don't mind."
"You don't plan on getting married for real then?" Lorelai asked. She realized what she said and blushed brighter. "Not to me, obviously, just like in general."
Luke smiled at her awkwardness. "Not really, never thought about it."
They pulled up to the courthouse and Lorelai was only sort of surprised to see nearly everyone in town packed inside. "I'm going to kill Mia. She knows this is just an on paper thing."
Luke rubbed his neck uncomfortably with a laugh. "Yeah, but I've lived in this town my whole life. I think they're all just surprised I'm getting married. Real or not."
"This is going to be fun," Lorelai said sarcastically. She helped Rory out of the truck, taking her little hand in hers as they ascended the steps with Luke. "At least we get cake after."
"Just smile and pretend like you like me," Luke said. Lorelai felt the corners of her mouth turn up.
"There's no need to pretend," Lorelai said. "I can mostly stand you."
Luke returned her grin. "I can mostly stand you, too."
They walked into the courthouse, met with a roar of applause. Lorelai handed Rory off to Mia, giving her boss a stern look that Mia ignored completely. The ceremony took less than five minutes, as they did the traditional vows and had their very chaste first kiss as husband and wife. Lorelai was surprised to find his lips soft, different than his overworked hands would have suggested. Once they signed the papers confirming that she was now Mrs. Danes and they left the courthouse from a tunnel of cheering townspeople.
"I'll take Rory back to the inn," Mia said, coming up to them at the truck.
"Any reason I can't just take her?" Lorelai asked, eyebrow raised.
"No reason at all," Mia said with a smirk. "But be back by six, alright? I know it's your wedding day but you can save the hanky panky for later."
Luke turned red instantly, reaching up as if he wanted to fidget with his hat that wasn't there. "Mia, you know this is just-,"
"I know what I know," Mia said. "Now I've got to go wrangle Rory out of Miss Patty's arms before that woman casts her in the next lead role."
Lorelai shook her head as she watched Mia walk back into the crowd. "Guess we have an hour to kill," she said to Luke. "Now I have a husband that can buy me booze, you want to get drunk enough to deal with a reception?"
Luke laughed, rubbing his hand over his scruff. "That sounds like a plan," he said. "But I actually have something to show you first."
"Luke, you know that's not our arrangement," Lorelai joked.
Luke rolled his eyes, opening her door for her. "Funny. Now, get in."
Lorelai complied, hopping into the cab. She felt a strange warmth in her chest, being alone with Luke. She had been alone with him plenty before, she didn't know why now was different. And even though it was only brief and very public, her mind wandered back to the kiss. She looked over at Luke, driving with one hand on the wheel and the other draped lazily across the back of her seat, the feeling spreading to her stomach as well. She shook her head of the thought. She told herself that it was just because she felt grateful for what Luke had done, nothing else. She had known him for almost a year now. He cared about Rory almost as much as she did, enough to marry her just so she would have a fighting chance of keeping her. Despite their bickering, he was her best friend.
"We're here," Luke said, putting the truck in park. He got out, leaning against the side of the truck. Lorelai hadn't even noticed where they had been going, her attention focused on Luke.
"We are?" Lorelai asked, getting out and standing next to him. "You wanted to show me Babette's house?" Luke reached out, turning her from Babette's barn like home to the house next door. It was slightly run down, the paint chipped, a few shingles missing, and the lawn overgrown with weeds, but it had potential. She noticed a For Sale sign in the yard and laughed. "Yeah, okay, I can't afford to buy a house. I thought you said you knew place to rent for cheap?"
"All those places are either shitholes or the landlords are creeps, I'm not letting you and Rory live there," Luke said.
"Shitholes are the only thing I can afford," Lorelai said.
"I know," Luke said. He stepped into the yard, yanking the sign out of the grass and tossing it into the bed of the truck.
Lorelai stared at him open mouthed for a long moment before regaining her composure. "No way, no way," she said. "I'm not letting you buy me a house, Luke. You've already done too much."
"My dad left me some money when he passed away," Luke said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Flipping houses is a good investment. You can live here why I fix it up, it'll show the court you got a good place to live for Rory. I'll sell it when you can afford a place on your own."
"Luke-,"
"I'm not taking no for an answer, Lorelai," Luke said. "Which is why I already bought it."
"You did wh-? I can't-," Lorelai sputtered out, putting a smirk on Luke's face. "I'm paying you rent, at least," Lorelai said firmly. Luke shrugged. "I don't take handouts."
"It's not a hand out," Luke said. "I'm your husband, remember? It's kind of my job."
"Don't you start on that."