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Few more parts here, jumping all over the place. Are you keeping up?
v
Emily stroked a roll of luxuriant fabric to her left. "I started planning my wedding when I was eight years old, and I got to have two in the end," she smiled happily.
"Oh yeah, me too," Liz laughed. "I got to have a lot more than two. But, at least one was a keeper."
"How many times did you get married, anyway?" Lorelai asked her.
"Three. Well, four depending on how you count it."
Everyone in the group shared a look at that statement, and wisely decided not to pursue it.
"What about you, Rory? What does your dream wedding look like?" Emily asked her. "Mine absolutely had to have at least four strings, two French horns, and a flautist, as well as a giant ice sculpture shaped like the Eiffel Tower. I always dreamed about living in Paris. I would rework my mother's wedding dress into something a little more modern, and men with coats with tails would chauffer people in little stage coaches."
Rory shrugged awkwardly. "I never really imagined it."
"That's right." Richard puffed up proudly. "Our Rory was probably dreaming about winning the Nobel Prize, and not a silly wedding." He caught the glares of every woman around him. "And that's my cue to take leave of you, ladies. Emily, shall I meet you at the usual spot at three?"
"Yes, enjoy looking at identical golf clubs."
He assured her that he would, and left. The women resumed their shopping. Every few steps, someone would pick up a fabric and present it to Lorelai, who would invariably refuse it. Pinks, yellows, greens, creams, ivories- all were discarded with mounting frustration.
"You know, Mom," Rory said finally, "you don't have to make our bridesmaids' dresses. We can buy something."
"Absolutely not." Lorelai was stern. "You and Sookie will get a Lorelai Gilmore Original, and you shall go to the ball!"
"We at least need to decide on a basic colour palette."
Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "Is this your way of pressuring me into choosing my colours?"
"No," Rory sighed. "Though, you do need to decide soon. But you need to have an idea. Otherwise these might end up clashing if you decide to have, for example, a black and white wedding."
Lorelai crinkled her nose. "No thanks. Too Tim Burton for me."
"Rory's right, Lorelai," Emily informed her. "You need to make a decision and stick to it. I always thought an icy blue would look fabulous with Rory's eyes."
"I'm looking for inspiration. One of these fabrics will just be it."
"Lorelai, one does not design one's wedding around a bridesmaid's dress. You choose your dress based on your wedding theme." Emily sighed as if she were attempting to teach etiquette to a squirrel.
"Let's just keep an open mind," Lorelai suggested stubbornly.
"What about this?" Rory called from several button stands away, and held up a gold shimmery material.
"No," Lorelai said immediately. "What if I want silver on the table centrepieces?"
"Do you want silver?" Emily asked her.
"No, I hate silver."
Emily clenched her hands into fists and worked her jaw furiously as she held back everything she wanted to say.
"You know, Lorelai, I know you said you don't want a themed wedding like I had with TJ, but I gotta tell you, they make everything a lot easier," Liz shouted from behind a rack of ribbons. "These little details just kind of sort themselves out."
"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but she has a point," Emily said. "You're running out of time."
"Liz planned her wedding in a week!"
"Yeah, and that was the longest time I had to plan out of the three," Liz came up behind them, wearing a pink straw hat and carrying a pile of swatches in both arms. "I married Jimmy on the Staten Island Ferry when I was seven months pregnant."
"That could be romantic," Lorelai said, trying to be positive.
"It wasn't. We only did it because we were getting high with a minister on Staten Island and he stayed with us in Brooklyn. There was a storm, and everyone was throwing up around us. Probably an omen. It could also be the reason Jess gets so seasick."
"So that's boats off the list," Emily cut in. "But we need some kind of connecting theme, Lorelai. Won't you consider the sleighs and fur muffs?"
"I'd like to keep the muffs to a minimum, Mom. Plus, Luke and I don't want anything fancy. Something small and tasteful."
"I know!" Emily said suddenly. "Paris in the '20s!"
Lorelai stared at her. "No!"
"What about La Belle Époque?"
"No, what is wrong with you? Rory will be Zelda Fitzgerald, Luke will dress as Dali and the rest of us will wear can-can dresses?"
"One era or the other, not both together. That would be ridiculous."
"Mom, no part of the Moulin Rouge was small or tasteful!" She turned around and started combing through Liz's swatches, huffily. "Anyway, no way would Luke agree to that, and we won't have a best man if there are coat tails involved, I can tell you that."
"I don't know about that, Mom," Rory said as she reappeared covered in glitter and sneezing. "Jackson wore that get-up for the Bracebridge Dinner; he'd probably consent to tails."
"Yes, but Jackson isn't the best man, Jess is," Lorelai said distractedly. "And I'm fairly certain I can't get Jess into tails."
"It'd cut him off at the knees," Liz agreed. "He's too short to pull it off."
"He can be Toulouse-Lautrec!" Emily clapped her hands together delightedly.
"Jess is your best man? Jess?" Rory asked, looking distinctly shocked.
"Yeah, I told you that. Didn't I?" Lorelai looked up at her daughter and caught her expression. "I didn't. Ok, I'm sorry. Luke asked Jess to be his best man. I assumed it wouldn't be a problem."
"Why would it be a problem?" Rory smiled, a little forcefully. "After all, he is my future cousin, or something." Her expression changed into one of mild disgust.
"Oh, and he'll be staying at our place."
"Why not Luke's?"
"Because Luke wants him to stay at ours and in relationships you have to make compromises," Lorelai monotoned.
"Why does that name sound familiar?" Emily pondered.
Lorelai and Rory exchanged panicked looks.
"He's Liz's son, Mom. You must have heard her talking about him," Lorelai said quickly.
"Oh, really? How nice. And what does he do?" she addressed Liz.
"He's a writer, and a publisher," Liz gushed.
"Well, that's fantastic. What age is he?"
"Twenty-four."
"It's very impressive to see someone so young with so much ambition."
"Well, it's small-scale, but I'm very proud of him. He reminds me so much of my dad."
"I look forward to meeting him. I'm sure Richard and he will have a lot to talk about. You never know, Rory, if this magazine job doesn't work out, you could work with this Jess."
Lorelai grabbed Rory's arm in shock, as they both gaped at Emily. Rory recovered first. "M-maybe, Grandma."
"If you are stuck, I'm sure he'd be glad to help," Liz said kindly.
"I'm not stuck," Rory protested with no conviction at all. "I'm just a little frustrated."
"Of course you are, it's an abominable situation! The former editor of the Yale Daily News writing about committee meetings and socialite engagements- it's a travesty!" Emily complained as if the society column wasn't her reason for living.
"It's just a stepping stone, Grandma. Times are hard; newspapers are shutting down all over the country. I'm happy to have a job at all."
Emily looked ready to argue further, but she happened to look down at Lorelai sitting on the floor among her swatches. She was holding one in her hand and staring at it like it held the secret to eternal life. "What's wrong with you?" Emily snapped.
"This is nice," Lorelai breathed. The swatch was a bright fuchsia, flowy but not too light for winter.
"I'm seeing orchids," Emily announced.
"Yeah," Lorelai said quietly.
The three women above her glanced at each other and with one sudden movement, hauled Lorelai to her feet and ushered her quickly over to the cash register.
vi
"You know we could run now, if we have to. Go on another road trip, not to The Chesire Cat Innagain because I'm sure that the exorcists have taken care of that evil, evil monstrosity but we could go somewhere else. Guam, maybe? I know you've always wanted to go to Guam, and not just to find out what their stance is on guacamole. Or Paris again, maybe? Or somewhere we've never been before, like…Iceland. We can just get in a car and go, if that's what you want, Mom. As long as you're happy."
"Honey. Rory, Rory stop."
"Well?"
A beam. "I'm getting married today."
Two beams. "You're sure?"
A nod.
"You look beautiful."
"Thanks. I'm really happy, hun."
"Thank God, because I can't drive in these heels."
vii
"What time is Rory coming at?"
"She's not sure. Her flight comes in a little after five, and then my parents are picking her up and they're all coming here." Lorelai sat down on the couch. "What time is Anna bringing over April?"
Luke sat down beside her and handed her a cup of coffee. She took it gratefully and wrapped her hands around the sides. "Turns out April has some exhibition she really wants to see and it ends tomorrow so Anna's going to drop her over tomorrow night."
Lorelai's house was the dead centre of the storm. The whole room was covered in papers, fabrics, flowers and swatches. Lorelai gripped her mug tighter.
"And when is, uh-" The words seemed to stick in her throat.
"Jess will be here, and this is a direct quote, 'some time later.'"
Lorelai exhaled heavily. "We'll have to make a hole in the debris for him to sleep."
"I'll sort it out. Something on your mind?"
"Rory's face when I told her Jess was best man," Lorelai sighed. "I shouldn't have told her in front of my mother and her mother, but with everything that's been going on I completely lost track. Plus, you know, it's Jess, and whenever the two of them are near each other something goes kapoosh." She spread out her fingers to mimic an explosion.
"They're both adults," Luke tried to reassure her. "They'll find their way eventually."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Lorelai said glumly.
"Hey," Luke said sternly. "You said you were going to try with Jess. He's a lot better now, believe me. He's still a wiseass, but he's doing a lot better."
"I know," Lorelai put her head in her hands. "I will. I'll try."
Luke put a gentle hand to her temple. "What else is bothering you?"
"Everything," came Lorelai's muffled response. "This whole wedding is getting out of hand. I feel like I'm losing control of everything."
"Screw that," Luke said quietly. "We're getting married in a week. I don't care about a damn thing in this world other than that."
Lorelai raised her head from her palms and smiled tiredly. "Thanks for the perspective." She leaned over and kissed him softly. Luke stood up and took her hand.
"Come on, you need a nap."
"It's not even lunchtime. I have to call the florists, and the bands and the-"
"Sookie can do that. In fact, I know I heard her offer several times."
"Maybe," Lorelai considered.
"Come on,"
"Well…" Lorelai conceded.
"Come on, you're exhausted," he pulled her off her feet and upstairs.
She slept all afternoon, and Jess spent his first night sleeping on a couch covered in plastic flowers and sparkly ribbons that kept him brushing glitter off himself for days.
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