Lorelai, Rory, Anna, Michel, and Sookie are sitting at a table in the dining room of the Inn. They were listening to the song I Can't Get Started by Ella Fitzgerald. Sookie stops the music to ask for everyone's opinion.
"Sookie, you've gotta be kidding." Lorelai voiced what everyone was thinking.
"What?" She didn't see the problem.
"You cannot walk down the aisle to that." She would not allow her best friend to do this.
"Why?" She whines.
"It's depressing." She looked around at everyone's sad faces.
"It's Ella." Sookie loved her.
"It's morbid." She pointed out.
"It's a classic song." She defends her choice.
"A classic song with lyrics about a woman who can't make her relationship work, whose life is filled with emptiness and regret and pain." It wasn't something to walk down the aisle to.
"Oh, who listens to the lyrics?" She said getting a scoff from Michel and Anna.
"Anybody not hanging out with Annie Sullivan by the water pump." Lorelai sighes.
Rory got up to grab a basket of CDs. "What are these?"
"Oh, those are some alternative songs, but I like this one the best." She told them.
"Alternative songs, good. Let's see. Hey Jude." Lorelai got up to look through them.
"Paul wrote it for Julian to cheer him up." Sookie smiled. Michel looked at her like she was stupid.
"Seasons in the Sun?" She read the next one.
"Oh, a sentimental favorite." Sookie nods.
"Cat's in the Cradle?" She read, making Anna look at Sookie like she grew a second head.
"Oh, it makes you re-examine your priorities." She defends herself.
"Don't Cry Out Loud? Sookie, do you even like Jackson?" She threw the CD back in the basket.
"Okay, I have a wonderful suggestion." Michel stood up.
"Great, let's hear it." Lorelai nods for him to take the floor.
"Okay, here we go. How about I leave?" He requests.
"And then do what?" Loralei wondered what he would do. Was he going to look up bands or google wedding songs?
"That's it. I leave and I don't have to listen to this insanity anymore. What do you think, huh? Because I love it." He gave his wonderful suggestion.
"Michel, I am in the wedding, which means you have to run the wedding all by yourself, something you've never done before." She let him know why he had to stay.
"Oh, please." He sighs dramatically.
"I'll tell you what, Sookie. How about Lane, Anna, and I come up with a few more suggestions for you? Still melodic, but not quite as Girl, Interrupted." Rory sat down.
"Alright, fine." She wraps up a lavender to go in the bouquet.
"Great. Michel, how's the RSVP list coming?" Lorelai turns to him.
"Well, I must say this has been especially challenging for me. I mean, when you are talking about a wedding with up to forty people all living within a five-mile radius, how can one person be expected to keep track of all of that?" He picked up the paper that had the list of people.
"Just an answer will do." She sings through gritted teeth. She wishes he would take this more seriously.
"I mean, it got a little hairy there for a moment... I almost had to use a second sheet of paper, you know." He held out the paper.
"You know, I'm not gonna let you annoy me out of making you handle this." She took it from him.
"Oh, we'll see." He shot her a smug smile before walking out of the room.
Lorelai sat down at the table. "Hey, my cousin Carl canceled so I have two empty seats. Anyone else you wanna invite?" Sookie looks around the table.
"I've got Lane, I've got Dean, I'm good." Rory shook her head.
"I got Thomas. Everyone else is busy so..." Anna shrugs.
"What about Emily and Richard?" Sookie looks at Lorelai.
"Emily and Richard who?" She squints.
"Your Emily and Richard." She giggled.
"Oh, Sookie, you are way too sweet." She picked up the roll of pink ribbons.
"What? She went to all that trouble to help me plan the first phase of the wedding." She did have fun with Emily.
"The crazy phase of the wedding." Lorelai unties the end to make the centerpieces.
"It was still sweet and I appreciated it. I mean, if it wasn't for your mother, I never would've settled on the color pink." She thought of the one thing she kept from Emily's plans.
"Why is that?" Lorelai asks.
"Well, I wanted yellow and she said no," Sookie told them.
"Oh, with logic like that." Lorelai rolled her eyes.
"Come on, just ask her. I want you to." She begs.
"Okay, I'll ask her." She sighs.
"Good." She pushes play on the radio.
"What are you doing?" Lorelai narrows her eyes.
"It's happier the second time you hear it." She dances. "Huh? Snappier, isn't it?" The Gilmore Girls groaned in response.
Rory, Anna, and Lorelai are sitting in the living room before dinner. Emily was at the bartending cart making them drinks. "Huh. Do you know what I just realized? Oy is the funniest word in the entire world." Lorelai turns to her daughters. "I mean, think about it. You never hear the word oy and not smile. Impossible. Funny, funny word."
"Oh, dear God." Emily passes them their drinks.
"Poodle is another funny word." Lorelai went on.
"Please drink your drink, Lorelai." Emily sat down on the armchair next to the couch.
"If you put oy and poodle together in the same sentence, you'd have a great new catchphrase, you know? Like, oy with the poodles already." Her daughters humored her with a fake chuckle. "So from now on, when the perfect circumstances arise, we will use our favorite new catchphrase."
"Oy with the poodles already," Rory said dryly.
"I'm telling you, it's knocking whatcha talkin 'bout, Willis? right out of first place." She smiled with pride.
"Lorelai, for God's sake, be quiet." Emily didn't know why she had to say such ridiculous things.
"Dinner's ready, Mrs. Gilmore." The maid walks in to tell them.
"Bless you, Inga. Please go tell Mr. Gilmore. He's in his den." She was never so thankful to see a maid in her life.
"Yes, ma'am." She went to get Richard.
"Shall we?" Emily stood up. They walk to the dining room.
"Oh, hey Mom, uh, Sookie wanted to know if you and Dad would like to come to her wedding," Lorelia asks.
"Really?" She was surprised to get an invitation after getting pushed out of the plans.
"Yeah, it's gonna be great. Small, low-key, but fun. She's catering it herself so the food will be fantastic, and you'd get to see us walk down the aisle in three of the least obnoxious bridesmaid dresses ever created." They sat down at the table.
"Well, that sounds very nice. When is it?" Emily smiled.
"A week from Sunday," Lorelai told her.
"A week from Sunday?" Her smile disappeared.
"Yes." She nods.
"The wedding is in one week?" She rephrases the question.
"Yes." She repeats herself. Rory and Anna looked at Emily, wondering what the problem was.
"So this is a pity invite?" She scoffs.
"A what?" Lorelai had never heard that term before.
"Someone canceled at the last minute and rather than being left with two empty seats, Sookie asked you to ask us. How nice." Emily had guessed right, but it wasn't with bad intentions like she thought.
"That's not what happened." Lorelai never knew how her mother's mind worked.
"No, that's quite all right. Far be it from me to be invited with the first batch of actually wanted guests. This is just fine." Emily put her napkin on her lap, pretending not to be bothered.
"Mom, it's not a pity invite. She wants you to come." Lorelai didn't want Sookie looking bad.
"Is that so?" She tilts her head.
"Yes, that's so." She nods.
"Where's our invitation?" She asks.
"What?" Lorelai didn't see that coming.
"Our invitation. I mean, she must've at least given you an invitation to give us." She thought that would be the least she could get.
"She thought it would be more special coming directly from me." Lorelai tried to cover for it.
"So she was out of invitations. I never felt so special." She looked at her granddaughters. They never felt so awkward in their lives.
"Mom, she wants you to come. There's no reason to be insulted here." She didn't want this mention anytime Sookie's name came up.
"I guess I should be thrilled that I didn't get a call from the road as you were on your way there." She shrugs.
"Do not turn this into something that it's not." Lorelai sighes.
"Do we have a choice between chicken or fish, or at this point do we just bring our own?" She asks.
"Stop." She whines.
"Perhaps she would also like us to pick up some extra ice along the way, or help out by parking the cars." She pretends to offer.
"Mom, look, isn't Rory and Anna pretty?" She looked over at her children. Rory smiled innocently while Anna did a pose.
"Apologies all around. I could not get Adamson off the phone." Richard walks into the room.
"Dad, glad you're here. We're just talking about how pretty Rory and Anna are. Big eyes, babies." She points at her kids. They play along for their mother.
"Oh, Rory and Anna get lovelier every day." He smiled at them as he sat down.
"Why, thank you, Grandpa." They smiled.
"Oh, Richard?" Emily got her husband's attention.
"Oh my God." Lorelai sighed while keeping a smile on.
"Guess what Lorelai just told me?" She too was wearing a smile.
"What?" He asks.
"We are invited to Sookie's wedding." She told him.
"Oh, how nice. When is it?" Richard smiled.
"A week from Sunday." She relayed the message.
"Oh, so it's a pity invite." His smile disappeared.
"Ha!" Emily gave her daughter a smug look.
"Oy with the poodles already." Lorelai looks at Anna who was giggling.
The Chilton Junior students were in the auditorium listening to the people running for Student Body President, at the moment Paris was behind the podium. Well, some were listening while others were talking. "My dress is going to be blue." Anna was telling her wedding date.
"Yeah, I got it. I'll be matching. Now onto more important matters, will there be hot girls that I can get with there?" Thomas asks.
"God, Thomas." Eleanor sneers.
"What? Weddings are perfect places to meet girls. They're all desperate to meet someone, so picking them up is like shooting fish in a barrel." Thomas smiled mischievously.
"Don't take advantage of vulnerable girls." She smacked him in the back of the head.
"I would be helping them through an emotional time. You should come, Henry." He would invite Roger, but Eleanor would kill him.
"Ahh..." He wouldn't feel comfortable doing that.
"Oh, that's right you're sort of ex lives there." He nods before turning back to Anna.
"Sometimes I wonder how I'm friends with you." She sighs.
"What?" He shouted to get shh by the teacher in front of them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank Reese McGinly, Schatzi Leason, and Paris Gellar, your presidential candidates for next year. Elections will be held this Friday. Good luck to all of you. This concludes today's assembly. You are all dismissed." A teacher spoke into the mic.
They got up to exit the auditorium. "Do we have to dance at this thing?" Thomas asks.
"Oh, we can. It put my dance lesson I got from Miss Patty to use… What?" She asked when she saw his panicked face. "You don't know how to dance. I thought you would have been a lot of girl's debutante date."
"A Lot asked but I never accepted." He wasn't graceful enough for that. He could do the bump and grind at parties and the slow side to side at school functions but that's it.
"I guess, Pretty Boy can't do everything," Roger smirks.
"Shut up." He pouts.
Anna laughs. "Don't worry, I can teach you."
"You?" He looked doubtful.
"Or I can get Miss Patty too?" She offers.
"No thanks. I don't need her groping me…. There is a sentence I never thought I would say." He looks disappointed in himself.
Anna sits on the exam table. Lorelai and Rory stand next to her. "So, how do you feel?" Lorelai asks.
"Great." She was excited to get it off. She would be able to use two hands again. She didn't realize how much she used her left hand until the past few weeks.
"Not at all sad?" Lorelai was surprised.
"About getting my arm back? No." She shook her head.
"I'm excited too. I won't be getting hit with it anymore." Rory had got hit accidentally multiple times when Anna would talk with her hands on the bus.
"Really? 'Cause I've kind of gotten used to Casty over here. I mean, we decorated him, we talked to him, we protected him from getting wet in the shower." She pets the cast.
"Okay, it's time to wean you off of getting attached to inanimate objects." Rory rolls her eyes.
"Casty, no one understands you like I do. What? No, I did not know Mr. Band-Aid said that to you. Ugh, I will talk to him when we get home." She baby-talks to the cast.
The doctor walks into the room. "How are you doing?"
"Good, Dr. Sue. Happy to see you." Anna smiled.
"Okay. So Anna, let's get this thing off your arm, huh? What do you say?" He pats the cast.
"It can't happen sooner." She smiled.
"This one here? Wait, which one? Hey, you in the white, come on, point a finger." They heard a familiar voice in the hallway.
"Christopher?" She opened the door.
"Aha, there you are. Is it still on?" He rushes into the room.
"What are you doing?" Rory smiled.
"Oh, great, I didn't miss it. Hey, doctor, I'm the dad." He shook the doctor's hand.
"Hey, nice to meet you, Dad." He smiled.
"I can't believe you're here." Lorelai was amazed that he showed up.
"Why? I told you last week I wanted to come down for the big unveiling." He thought they should have been expecting him.
"I know, but I didn't think you would drive from Boston again. You were just here." She pointed out.
"You getting sick of me?" He teases.
"Frankly, yes." She smiles from ear to ear.
"Okay, is everyone here now?" The doctor grabs the tool to get it off.
"Yes." Anna nods.
"Okay, then let's do it." He put it against the cast.
"Great, and doctor, if at all possible, we'd like to keep the arm." He put an arm around Lorelai and another around Rory.
"Oh, I'll try my best." He did his job.
Lorelai, Rory, Anna, and Christopher were walking down the street. "So where to next?" He asks them.
"I have to teach Thomas how to dance," Anna told them.
"Thomas? Is he the new boyfriend?" He wonders.
"No, he's the best friend. You heard about him before." Anna corrects him.
"Well, I thought he got an upgrade." He shrugs.
"I'll see you guys later." She walks away to meet him at their house.
Sookie's house was full of people for the rehearsal dinner. Kirk starts tapping on his glass. "Ooh, ooh, a toast, everybody, a toast!" Miss Patty shouted to get the room to pay attention to him.
"Ladies, gentlemen, honored guests. Who owns the silver Volvo 'cause you're blocking me in?" Kirk shouted. Everyone groaned while Thomas crackled.
"That's hilarious." He snickers.
"It's also my dad's car." Anna giggled.
"Come on, I've gotta go. My mom is waiting. This isn't funny!" Kirk shouted.
"I disagree." Thomas hid behind his friend to laugh. When he was able to collect himself he was surprised by his friend's serious face. "What?"
"My dad and mom sneak off outside." She nods to the door.
"So..." He didn't see the big deal.
"So, he and Sherry aren't doing well. And now he is showing up all the time. They're getting along well... A little too well." She was able to drag it out of her dad a few weeks ago when he was all gloomy on the phone. She promised she wouldn't say anything to anyone.
"So..." He asks again.
"So, they are great friends but not more. We have a great thing going right now and I don't want it ruined." She wishes they would stop making a mess of things.
"Well, you don't know that it will. So don't stress about it. Hey… how about we show everyone what you taught me." He went to the stereo to put another song on. When the music changes, everyone looks over at him. He grabs Anna's hand. They did the waltz. In the end, everyone clapped while Miss Patty praised them.
"Can't wait to tell Roger that the Pretty Boy can dance now." He smirks.
Before the wedding, people are mingling in the yard of the Independence Inn. Babette and Patty were singing at the piano with Morey playing. Anna and Thomas were watching from afar. He was afraid to get close. The last time he was near a drunk Patty, he got his butt slapped.
"They look fun and innocent from here." He whispers.
"Well, they are fun." She smiled.
"Hey, this is the best part about being a grown-up." Lorelai sips her drink.
"The best part about most high school parties," Thomas smirks.
"I'm going to ignore that since you two have been to those." She waves him off with a beaming smile.
"I got to share the lesson with Rory." She walks over to her other daughter.
"She got laid." Thomas watches her walk off.
"What?" Anna shouted.
"I know the glow of a woman who is satisfied." He winks. Reading a woman's body language was something he was well versed on.
"God, keep certain information to yourself." She whines.
"What? You knew it was going to happen." He sips his spike punch.
"Pour some more into mine." She held out her glass. He looks around before pulling out his flash from his breast pocket to give her some more liquor.
Christopher pulled Anna aside. They were walking along the pond at the Inn. "You and I, we've been closer than ever lately. We are not near you and your mom's level yet but I'm hoping to get there. So, I feel like I should discuss some current events with you..."
"Please don't call sleeping with mom a current event." She whines.
"She told you about that." He was surprised.
"No, Thomas can tell when a woman has gotten laid or needed to. It's a talent of his." She explained.
"Impressive…. So how do you feel about it?" He asks.
"Worried." She answers.
"Worried?" He thought she would be excited at the thought of them being a whole family.
"You haven't officially ended things with Sherry. You're on a break at best. I feel like you and mom have this ideal image of each other in your heads. You think if time and place are right then you'll be perfect for each other. But, you don't know that. I don't want you to get distant again if it doesn't work out." She spilled her thoughts to him.
"Hey," He pulled her into a hug. "Don't matter what happens I'm gonna be there for you."
"Promise." She whispers.
"Promise." He let you go to kiss her forehead. "I got to talk with Rory." He walks off.
She let out a sigh as she turned around to jump when she saw someone standing a few feet away from her. "Jess?" She recognized the figure.
"Hey," He nods.
"What… I… are you in town for the wedding? Because, if so, I have to say you're underdressed and it's going to be embarrassing for you." She walks over to him.
"I'm moving back." He told her.
"What? But, I thought school and work were too much." She didn't understand, things here were the same so why would he do that.
"I want to give it another try. I want to put more effort into it." He looks into her eyes, letting her know he wasn't talking about school.
"Really?" She thought he was happy to be back in New York.
"The highlight of my week is your letter, so why wouldn't I get that highlight every day if I could." He kissed her. She threw her arms around his neck to pull him in as deep as she could. All their kisses were passionate, but this one was filled with desperation.
