So I've literally just landed back in the UK but I've been writing on the plane so here's the next chapter! :) Hope you're all still with me! :)
Chapter 23
Lorelai and Luke arrived the following morning to pick up Charlotte and Jess and take them back to Stars Hollow. They had decided that they would stay at the Crap Shack for a few days before returning to their apartment. They arrived back to find Rory and Sam in the living room planning their spontaneous wedding.
"Hey!" Rory said getting up and going to give her sister a hug.
"Hey.." Charlotte gave her a small smile.
"Mommy, daddy!" A familiar voice exclaimed and Jack ran in.
"Hey sweetheart.." Charlotte smiled softly at their son.
"You going to be ok here for a bit? I promised this one I'd play some football with him in the square." Jess said squeezing Charlotte's shoulder.
"Of course. You go." Charlotte said softly. She knew they had not spent much time with Jack since the accident. It wasn't their fault, of course, as she was in hospital and they were spending most of their time with Lizzie but they had talked and they vowed to not let Jack feel left out at all.
"Ok. We won't be long." Jess said. "And then we can head back to see Lizzie together afterwards."
"Sounds good. Go. I'll be fine. Really." She assured him.
"Ok." Jess said.
Charlotte headed to her room and sat down on the bed, letting out a breath. After a moment she heard movement at the door and when she glanced over, she saw Luke standing their awkwardly.
"Hey.." She gave him a small smile.
"Hey.." Luke said hesitantly coming into her room. "How are you doing?" He asked before kicking himself. "Sorry, silly question." He said.
"I'm doing ok." Charlotte said.
Luke rubbed his hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry, Charlotte..."
"Thanks." She said quietly. She looked at him for a moment, noticing he was acting all weird. "Is something wrong?"
Luke glanced at her and then at the floor. "I'd get it if you hate me..." He said.
"What?" Charlotte said completely confused. "Why would I hate you?"
"Because I was driving. And because I was stupid enough to swerve right down the cliff when I could have gone the other way." He said.
"Luke..." Charlotte said softly.
"I wouldn't blame you and I'd understand..." Luke continued.
"Luke, I don't hate you!" She interrupted him.
Luke glanced at her. "You don't?" He said quietly.
"What happened was an accident. If anyone is to blame, it's the drunk driver who was driving the wrong way. He's the reason I lost my daughter, not you." She said.
"I still feel responsible." He admitted.
Charlotte sighed and got up, going over to him and giving him a hug. "Jess and I don't hate you." She assured him. "It was an accident." She glanced at him. "The..uh..hospital is holding a funeral for Olivia tomorrow." She said her voice cracking slightly. She glanced up at him. "Jess and I would really like it if you were there."
Luke felt his voice hitch a bit. "Of course." He said. "I'll be there." He said holding her close.
"Thanks." Charlotte said blinking back tears.
"I'm still so sorry." Luke said his voice hitching slightly.
"Thanks." Charlotte said quietly hugging him tightly. She glanced up at him. "And I'm sorry about Liz. If you need any help with funeral stuff at all, I'm here."
Luke was touched at her generosity and thoughtfulness, especially with what she was going through at the moment. "Thanks but I think I've got it. TJ obviously wants to help so I think we'll be good together." He said.
"Ok well if you need anything..."
"You're an amazing kid, you know that right?" Luke said.
Charlotte gave him a tremulous smile. "Well you're a pretty amazing step dad. So stop thinking you're not and get those other thoughts out your head as well." She said.
"Ok." He said quietly, just as Rory appeared at the door.
"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt..." She said.
"You're not." Luke assured her. "I'll leave you to it." He told them before walking off.
Meanwhile, Jess was kicking a ball around in the square with Jack. He smiled as he watched his son run after a stray ball. He sighed as he thought about how him and Charlotte had sidelined Jack a bit the past couple of days. It hadn't been intentional, of course, but they had felt bad when they realised just how much time they had spent with their son over the 48 hours.
"Daddy?" Jack said, bringing him out of his daze.
"Yeah?" Jess said looking over at his son who was standing nervously with the ball.
"Is...is it my fault?" He asked quietly.
Jess frowned. "Is what your fault?"
"Is it because I said I didn't want sisters? Because I didn't mean it!" Jack said, fighting back tears now.
Jess was shocked. Did their son honestly believe this was all his fault? "Ok stop. Come here." He said softly. Jack nervously went over to him and Jess knelt down and took hold of his hands. "Jack, none of this is your fault." He said.
"But...but I said I didn't want sisters and now you and mommy lost one of your babies and the other is really sick!" Jack sniffed. "I don't want you and mommy to hate me. I...I didn't mean what I said about sisters and I...I promise to be the best big brother!" He cried.
Jess' heart wrenched listening to his son. "Jack, your mommy and I could never hate you. What happened was an accident. An awful accident but an accident. It was no one's fault." Jess said softly. "And you don't need to promise to be the best big brother because we both already know you will be." He said.
"You don't hate me?" Jack sniffed.
"Never." Jess said pulling his son into a hug. "Never." He repeated.
"So...how are the wedding plans going?" Charlotte asked as they both sat on her bed.
"Yeah..uh..ok." Rory said hesistantly. "We don't want anything fancy. Just a small ceremony with all of you guys there." She said.
"Sounds nice." Charlotte said.
Rory glanced at her. "We don't have to do it now if you don't feel like it..." she said hesitantly.
"What?" Charlotte said surprised.
"Well..uh..you're going through a lot at the moment, you and Jess. I don't want you to think we're rubbing our happiness in your face because that's not what we're doing. We don't want you to think..." Rory said quickly.
"Rory, stop." Charlotte said. "I really need something happy to look forward to at the moment and Jess and I couldn't be happier for you and Sam. This wedding is exactly what our family needs at the moment." She smiled softly. "I'm really happy for you." She said sincerely.
Rory let out a breath. "Thanks Charlie." She said softly. "You'll be my maid of honour right?"
Charlotte gave her a tremulous smile. "I'd be honoured." She said giving her sister a hug.
"Rory, Charlotte, door!" They suddenly heard Sam call from the living room.
They wandered through and were surprised to see who it was. "Dad!" Charlotte said surprised.
"I know! I know it's been a few days since the accident and I know you probably think it's lame that I chose to turn up now and not earlier and I'm really sorry because I promised you that I'd be a better dad to you. And I know you'll probably think it's the same old excuse but I had this really important presentation at work. I tried so hard to get out of it but my boss wouldn't let me. I really did try. I'm so sorry about what happened. I'm here for you now, for anything you need. If you'll let me, that is..." Chris said nervously, letting out a big breath after his rambling speech. He was surprised when he was nearly knocked over by the force of Charlotte rushing forward and wrapping her hands around him.
"Thanks for coming, dad." She said quietly.
Chris let out a relieved breath and held his daughter close. "I'm so sorry I couldn't come earlier." He said softly.
"I don't care." Charlotte said. "You're here now. That's what matters."
"Penny wanted to come too but Gigi had really been looking forward to this sleepover she's having so she said she'd stay with her and come down at the weekend." Chris said.
"Tell her thanks and not to worry." Charlotte said.
"How's Gigi doing?" Rory asked.
"She's good. It took her a while to settle into the new school but she's made some nice friends now so she's happier." Chris said. "When did you get back?" He asked her.
"Yesterday. When I heard what happened, I had to be here." Rory said.
"Of course." Chris nodded understanding.
"Hey Chris." Lorelai smiled softly, appearing from upstairs.
"Hey.." He said softly. "How's Luke doing?"
"He's ok. Well as ok as he can be." She said. "He's with Mia upstairs at the moment. She's been a bit clingy since the accident."
"That's understandable." He said." And you're ok?" He said.
"Physically yeah." She nodded. "Emotionally, well..." She said with a sad shrug. "It's good that you came." She smiled softly.
"I wanted to be here." He said sincerely.
"It's actually good timing for another reason..." Charlotte said glancing at Rory.
"Yeah..uh..there's actually something I want to talk to you about." Rory said.
"Sure." He nodded.
Rory glanced nervously at Sam before gesturing for her dad to follow her. She led him into her bedroom.
"Should I be worried?" Chris chuckled nervously.
"No, not at all!" Rory laughed nervously. "It's just...uh...with everything that has happened, it's made Sam and I realise that life's too short to wait. So..uh..we're getting married, here, in Stars Hollow. Before I go back to London. Which means it will probably be within the next two weeks." She said.
"Oh, wow!" Chris said. He knew they were engaged but he was surprised by the sudden speed.
"And since you're here, I'd love you to be there..." Rory said.
"Of course!" He smiled.
"The thing is..." She said biting her lip nervously. "I want to ask Luke to give me away..."
Chris was quiet for a moment before nodding. "Well that makes sense..." He said.
"No, you don't understand! I want you to give me away as well. I want you both to give me away. But..uh..I wanted to make sure you'd be ok doing it with Luke..." Rory said hesitantly.
Chris smiled slightly. "Rory, I don't care if you have 100 people giving you away. So long as I'm one of them, I'm happy." He assured her.
"Really?" Rory said relieved.
"Luke and I buried the hatchet years ago. I know how much he deserves this. He deserves it more than me to be truthful, I know that. So hearing you want me to give you away has made me so happy. I'd be privileged." He said sincerely.
"Thanks dad." Rory said relieved giving him a hug.
"I love you kiddo." He said.
"I love you too." She said.
Jess returned a bit later with Jack and he was surprised to see Jack excitedly greet Chris who was sat in the living room with everyone.
"Grandpa Chris!" Jack exclaimed.
"Hey buddy!" Chris smiled ruffling his grandson's hair. He glanced at Jess. "I'm sorry about Olivia. And about your mom. It's awful." He said.
"Thanks." Jess said quietly. He glanced at Charlotte. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah." She nodded getting up.
"I told Jack he could come. That's ok right?" He said having texted Charlotte about Jack's admission earlier that day.
"Of course." She smiled at her son. She then glanced at her dad. "We're going to the hospital to see Lizzie. Do you want to come meet your granddaughter?"
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude." Chris said glancing between them.
"You wouldn't be." Charlotte said. "Right?" She said to Jess.
"No, not at all." Jess gave him a small smile. "Everyone else has met her now. You should come."
"If you're sure, I'd love to." Chris smiled. "Thanks."
Lorelai and Luke were lying in bed snuggled up that night.
"How are you doing today?" Lorelai asked softly.
"I'm ok." Luke said.
"Truthfully?"
Luke sighed. "Yeah. I..uh..I actually talked to Charlotte for a bit today. She put my mind at rest a bit." He admitted.
"That's good." Lorelai smiled softly. "For what it's worth, I think you were a hero that day. You helped everyone get out of that van. You were so brave. You kept me calm." She said sincerely.
Luke glanced at her before pulling her closer to him. "Thanks." He said softly.
Rory and Sam were lying in bed snuggled up that night.
"So how did your talk with your dad go?" Sam asked.
"It was good." Rory said. "He said he was just happy to be asked to be one of the people giving me away. He said Luke deserved to be asked."
"Good." Sam smiled. He pulled her closer to her. "Have I told you how much I can't wait to be married to you?" He said softly kissing her top of her head.
Rory smiled. "Many times." She said. "And the feeling's mutual." She said softly.
"Night Ror." Sam said softly.
"Night." Rory smiled closing her eyes.
Charlotte and Jess were lying in bed snuggled up that night.
"I can't believe Jack thought that..." Charlotte said quietly.
"I know." Jess sighed. "I think he's ok now though. I assured him it wasn't true."
"Good." Charlotte sighed. "We need to make sure we include him more now. Now more than ever. He needs to feel involved."
"Yeah you're right. We need to stick together as a family." Jess said.
"Yeah..." Charlotte said quietly. She was quiet for a moment before glancing at him. "So tomorrow..." She said nervously, wondering how she was going to make it through her own daughter's funeral.
"Yeah, tomorrow..." Jess said quietly, thinking the exact same thing.
"Together yeah?" Charlotte gave him a small smile.
"Yeah, together." Jess said giving her a kiss. "Together." He repeated.
So I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think as I love reading your reviews! Thank you for your continued support! :)