Jess and Anna were driving to Star Hollow for the weekend to attend his mother's wedding. "That was weird." She hung up the phone.
"What?" He drank the cherry Slurpee he got at their last stop.
"I called my grandma to set up a mani-pedi. She agreed but when I said I would pick her up from the house, she got weird." She stares at the phone like it could explain what happened.
"Weird how?" He asks.
"She was talking fast, so what I could understand was she forgot about a DAR meeting. She hung up on me. Something is wrong." She pushed two where she had her mother on speed dial.
"She forgot a meeting and maybe she was in a rush." He shrugged.
"We didn't set up a day or a time yet." She waited for the ringing to stop. "Hello, mom."
"Hey Anna, you're heading over today, right?" She walked around the Inn.
"Yes, I called Grandma so we can do our nails together. She was excited until I said I would pick her up. She made up an excuse when we didn't set a time or day yet." She explained the odd behavior.
"Oh well… I ah…. Was hoping to put this off as long as possible, but you're coming this Friday night so I should tell you." She was dancing around it.
"Tell me what?" She was getting worried.
"Emily and Richard are separated." She told her.
"What?" She screamed, making Sauske sit up on her lap to look up at her. "How do you know that? Did they tell you?"
"No, I noticed they were being odd. Their details of what they did that day weren't matching up. So, I hid in the bushes after dinner and saw her get into a car with a bag. I called all the hotels and found out she was staying in one." She informed her.
"So, they don't know we know." She was trying to process it.
"No. Rory hasn't been any help in getting them to crack, so you have to help me." She knew she could count on her.
"What happens after they crack?" She wondered about the game plan.
"We can get to the bottom of the problem and see if we can help." She gave the rest of her plan.
"Okay, I will do that. I'm surprised that you want to help them." She thought she would be fine if they got a divorce.
"Of course. If they break up, that would double the holiday events and weekly dinners." She wasn't going to suffer more.
"Okay, you can pretend that's the motive. I'll see you in a couple of hours." She said I love you and goodbye before hanging up.
"So, what's going on?" Jess wonders.
"My grandparents are separated. They are trying to keep it a secret. My mom and I have to drag it out of them this Friday to get to the bottom of the problem and get them back together." She pets the ragdoll on her lap slowly.
"You look like an evil genius when you do that." Jess watches her go into deep thought about how to make them crack.
Anna was sitting with Liz and her bridesmaid at Lukes's. They were having drinks before they were going to the spa to kick off Liz's bachelorette party. "And it's not just guys, girls aren't supposed to be monogamous either. We're homo sapiens, not rocks." Carrie Duncan, known around town for her promiscuous nature, took out a flask to pour into her soda.
"That's so unromantic." Liz scolds.
"Oh, you can say that you got lucky." Ariene, a pretty redhead, playful wacks her hand.
"Yeah, TJ is yum yum." Helen, a curly hair blonde, hummed.
"I did get lucky, didn't I?" She smiled.
"We're animals and animals in the wild don't mate for life except for Tiger but they're retarded." She snickers.
"Tigers don't mate for life." Anna corrected.
"What?" She turned to her.
"They mate for a week. But they're not pack animals." She informs.
"So, not even tigers." She furthers her point. Anna was going to tell her the list of animals that do mate for life when she went on with her rant. "Men are good for two things… making that one and the one thing they're not that good at." The tables laughed as she drank her spiked Sprite.
"Excuse me, sorry to break up the festivities but do you have any idea if I'm doing this right?" He never cooked with a rotisserie oven before.
"Most guys don't know if they're doing it right." Carrie snickers.
"I can help you, Luke." Anna got up to take a look at the mini convection oven. "It looks like you're doing good." She looked at the setting.
"Any tips?" He asked.
"Remember that these cook faster by 25 percent." She told him.
"Good to know." He was now worried that the ones he already cooked were dry.
Jess came down the stairs. "I'm going to walk Naruto. Sasuke wasn't interested." He was leading him by the leash.
"Jess, come meet my friends." His mom waves for him to come over.
"Watch out for the one on the left," Luke advises.
"Thanks." He walks over to get flirty greetings from the older women.
"He's going to walk me down the aisle. Is that cool or what?" Liz stood up to put her hand on his shoulder.
"It's not a big deal." Jess wasn't comfortable with her gushing about him.
"It's a very big deal." Liz knew he hadn't forgiven her for everything, so it was a big deal that he was looking past it to be there for her.
A man in a tight UPS uniform came into the diner. "Can I help you?" Luke thought Lorelai got something delivered here again.
"Got a package. It's a very important package." He lifted the box.
"There is no address on it." Luke was confused.
Jess gave an unimpressed look to the ladies. "No lap dances," He told Anna before heading to the door. "Have fun." He nods to Luke while going out.
"Have fun with what?" He yelled at the door.
"This package is for Liz Danes." He looks at the women.
"Oh, that's me." She stood up and put her hand in the air. The other women were pointing at her.
"Do you accept the delivery?" He put the box on the side.
"I guess." She sat down and looked back at her friend with a smile. He pulled a radio out of the box and pushed play.
"Shake for Mama!" Carrie yelled. Anna sat on a bar stool and gave a wolf whistle as the stripped yanked his shirt off.
"No shaking in here." Luke looks at the floor as he moves to escape the situation.
"Make this 20 into one, Luke!" Helen and Ariene shook their money in the air.
"You nasty rats!" Liz giggled when he put his hat on her. Luke rushed up the stairs when he pulled off his pants to reveal a tiny red Speedo. Anna got up to make changes for the ladies.
The Gilmore Girls were surrounding the dinner table. Anna had been side-eyeing Emily to see if there were any signs that she was troubled. "I'm sorry you have a final tomorrow. I thought you were free as a bird tonight." Emily apologizes to Rory.
"Them the breaks." She shrugged.
"You could've stayed at school and studied if you had to. I hope you know that." Emily didn't want her grade to suffer.
"You're playing different music." Lorelai perks up when she realizes what was different. It had been bugging her. Emily looks at her confused. "The music, it's different. Some chick is singing."
"It's Blossom Dearie. You don't like it?" She thought it was lovely.
"No, I like it fine. You've just never played it. You and Dad always play classical music." She pointed out. Anna stops to listen to the music. She wonders if Emily wasn't that fond of classical music and she played it for Richard.
"We just thought we'd try something new tonight." She shrugged.
"We?" She eats a cherry tomato.
"He's out of town but you know what I mean. We talked about changing the music." She was getting annoyed.
"Does it matter? Do you have to put him into consideration when he is not here? You can play whatever music you want. When Jess isn't there I play all the pop I like." She was theorizing where things went wrong in their relationship. Maybe it was the pressure of being an extension of him all the time.
"I guess not." She turns to Rory to get off the topic of Richard. "So, when will you be done with your final tomorrow?"
"Around noon, depending on how fast I write." She couldn't wait for this semester to be over.
"Any friends left behind to keep you company, girlfriend, boyfriends?" She kept the conversation going. Lorelai and Anna were looking at each other. Silently communicating on their failure to make her crack.
"My roommates are gone along with 95 percent of the class." She told her.
"And you don't have a boyfriend?" She noticed the unanswered question.
"No." She shook her head.
"Why do you?" Lorelai got a glare for that. "Making a joke." She went back to her plate. Anna facepalm at the sad attempt.
"I was just wondering if we haven't talked about your love life in a while. I get to ask sometimes, don't I?" She smiled. Rory nodded.
"Hey, where did you say Dad was?" Lorelai asks.
"In Philadelphia." Rory stretches out.
"Thanks, Mom." She sneers. "So Philadelphia, that is a shame. He is there when Anna is here."
"Is it?" She nods. "I'm going to see if Kiki put the raspberry souffle in." She gets up.
"Doesn't Grandpa date raspberries?" Anna tilts her head.
"No, he doesn't." She walked to the kitchen.
"Sorry, I must be thinking of someone else." She yelled to her back.
"What's going on?" Rory put her fork down.
"Trying to get her to spill about the separation." Lorelai thought it was obvious.
"No, me! Am I cloaked in loneliness or something? Everyone has been pestering me about my love life this week." She felt like she was constantly defending herself.
"That wasn't about you. That was avoiding my questions. It's a classic Sun Tzu Art of War maneuver. If you're being attacked from the east, attack whoever's to your west and you are the west. I've never read the book but it's full of crap like that." Lorelai reassures her that Emily didn't think she was lonely.
"Well, you guys need to stop attacking her so she'll stop attacking me." Rory couldn't answer why she wasn't asked out at all this semester.
"Then don't butt into my line of inquiry. She was about ready to crack." Lorelia felt like Rory was interfering.
"She was not ready to crack. She was ready to say he's in Philadelphia." She scoffs that she thought she could outsmart Emily that easily.
"Anna, tell me did he sound like he was in Philadelphia when he called." She asked her youngest. Emily had put him on speaker when he called so he could say hi to them.
"Did you mean did I hear someone yelling about a cheese steak?" She rolled her eyes.
"I need to know what's going on with them." She whines.
"They're having some type of marriage problems and you guys pressuring her isn't going to help." She picked up a roll.
"But, I'm dying here. I mean if he's not out of town is she staying here instead of that hotel she checks into? Or is she staying here permanently and he's the one at the hotel... Or." She stopped talking when she heard footsteps.
"Well, thank god I checked or we would have been souffle-less." She sat in her seat.
"Thank god, I need a souffle." Anna nods.
"Does Dad like souffles?" Lorelai made Emily roll her eyes. Anna sighed knowing that they weren't getting anywhere tonight.
Anna was sitting on the chair in front of her mom's vanity. Lorelai was giving her a half-up half-down fishtail braid that had flowers in them. Her eyeshadow was pinkish purple and her lips and cheeks pink. "All done." She sings.
"Thank you." She got up to unzip her dress bag and pulled out the purple and cream Renaissance dress.
"Oh, you're going all out." She watches her slip into the dress.
"I saw it at the fair and decided why not." She put on black vintage lace-up boots. "Look, Liz made these for me." She showed her the purple and silver ball earring.
"They're pretty. She is talented." She grabbed the pink flower dress.
"What are you wearing?" She asked.
"I don't have anything like that." She pointed at the purple dress.
"You can use my extra flower crown." She grabbed the pink flower crown. "I brought it just in case the flower wouldn't stay in my hair."
"So, you and Jess seem to be doing well." She sat down so her daughter could do her makeup.
"Yeah." She nods.
"With the wedding going on, are you thinking about your own?" She didn't know if they were ready for that.
"Yeah, it's a natural thing. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to get married in the town square." She put on the eyeshadow.
"Do you think it'll be soon?" She wonders.
"No, I want to graduate from culinary school and Jess' business to get off the ground." She grabbed a lip gloss.
"So, do you think you'll live in Philly permanently because of his business?" She asked.
"I didn't know. The guys are hoping to have multiple locations of Truncheon Books. They want to help struggling artists get their word out. I'm hoping Jess can run one close to here." She was happy that they wanted to be a small chain.
"I hope so too." She smiled.
"I'm done. Let's meet our dates." She grabbed a pouch that held her camera since she was the wedding photographer.
"Luke is not my date." She denies it while following her out.
"He asked you to go to the wedding with him. You are his date." She walked down the stairs.
"As a friend, so he can have someone to talk to." She locks the door behind them
"Luke needs someone to talk to? He's known half the people at the wedding for his whole life." She scoffs.
"So, you think it's a date?" She realized that it was a date. She was more uncomfortable that she wasn't upset about it.
"Greeting my lord." Lorelai ran up to Luke. Anna slipped into the diner to meet Jess.
"Hey!" She kissed her boyfriend's cheek. He was wearing slacks and a yellow button-up shirt. "I'm sad you didn't get an outfit." She pouts.
"You are not sad." He knew she didn't care if he dressed up.
"I'll be in the time and you won't." She shrugged.
"Your makeup, fake nails, and you're carrying around a camera." He pointed out that she wasn't fitting in like she thought she was.
"It's not a special event unless I have nice nails." She clicks them.
"Let's go get my mom." He looks down at the time.
They walked to the dance studio where Miss Patty was helping Liz get ready. They found Lorelai helping her with a rip on the side of the dress. "Are you ready? The crowd's getting restless." Jess knocks on the wall to get everyone's attention.
"You're getting restless." She saw through his lie. "To think that we might be related through marriage one day because of these two." She looks at Lorelai and nods to the couple.
"Well… I mean…" Anna blush at the thought. Jess rolled his eyes at his mom for embarrassing him.
"Okay, all done." Lorelai finished the stitching.
"A miracle worker." Patty praised.
"We'll let everyone know." Anna grabs Jess's arm to pull him out. "You let the wedding party know and I'll let the musician and officiant know." She walks to the town square. After telling the men, she started her job as a wedding photographer. She took pictures of the musicians and the guests.
The music played. "Must be starting." She kneels to get a good shot of the aisle. She took a shot of the flower women skipping as they threw rose petals. A jester did flips down the aisle getting a clap from the audience.
"These tight, I'm telling you the best. I'm happy, my boys are happy and they don't ride up." TJ talks to the people as he walks down the aisle. "Still dry, thanks, buddy." He told Luke while lifting his arm. He winked at the camera when he came across Anna making her giggle.
Liz came on a chariot being pushed by men. Jess helped his mom get down. Anna's heart swells at seeing him walk his mom down the aisle. She kissed his cheek before going to stand across from her finance.
The minister walks up from the back of the gazebo.``As kids, we shared our toys with all the girls and boys. Barrel of monkeys. Your battleship stinks to me. Please recall the joy. Wheelo, clue, mousetrap, bash, and spirograph. Kaleidoscopes spinning. Yahtzee, I'm winning. Think of how we laugh." She got a good shot of Jess, Luke, and Lorleai smiling before they rolled their lips in to stop laughing. "But today we shared our love. Today we share our love. For love is the greatest joy around. Around. Around." He stopped playing when he got in front of the couple. "You may plant the ceremonial sword." TJ's brother hands it to them before they strike it down in the pot that had soil in it. "Hello friends, isn't it a beautiful day? The day that Liz and TJ share their love in front of those they love. Liz, do you want to tell TJ how you feel?" He asked.
"Yes, TJ." She had to call for his attention.
"Yeah?" He was so casual about it, you should have thought it was any other day.
"My heart just poured out to you. You have been so good to me and for me. I don't know where I would be without you. I'd be worse off I know that. You're something else." She looked deep into his eyes.
"TJ." The minister let him know it was his turn.
"Well, I wrote something down but for all the good points about tights and there are a lot. They don't have pockets so I got to go off the cuff. I love ya." His smile was genuine and sweet. It touched Anna's heart.
"It was beautiful." She took a break from taking pictures to look through what she got.
"It had its moments." Jess bites into a turkey leg.
"I've been to too many weddings. A Lot of them bleed together because they're the same thing. Or they're different for the sake of being different and it's obnoxious. This seems very natural. You can tell that they are a family." She looks around seeing the love between the misfits. Kirk being the DJ stopped the music and said some gibberish. "What did he say?"
"I don't know… oh, the first dance." Jess saw his mom and TJ takes the floor.
"Oh," She got up to take pictures of it. She took pictures of the other couples that joined them. She was gleeful to take one of Luke and her mom.
"You got enough pictures." Jess came up from behind her. "Let's dance."
She almost dropped the camera. "You want to dance?"
"Yes." He hoped she wasn't going to make it a big deal.
"Sure, yeah." She was going to put her camera down on the table.
Jess stopped her. "There are a lot of ex-con here. As much as I want to believe they're all reform, let's not take a chance." He put the camera in her purse that he brought with him.
She laughs as she wraps her arms around his neck. He put his hands on her hips. "It's good I have you around because I probably am too naive."
"I would be a bitter grump if I didn't have you." He kissed her.
"Hey!" Jess came into Luke's apartment. The owner of the place was taking his tie off. "I wanted to apologize for last time. No… not just last time but for everything."
"You don't have to do that." He waves it off. "I did go too far in stealing your car. I should've forced you to have an honest talk."
"No, I do. I'm sorry. I didn't appreciate anything you did for me. I want to pay you back, you wouldn't have to make an extension if it wasn't for me." He pointed to the door that led to the extra room.
"Hey, that is an investment. Owning property is never a bad thing. I'm making a profit off of Taylor." He was getting something out of it. "If you want to pay me back then take care of yourself and Anna."
"Luke, can you let me say sorry, so we can move on with a clean slate." He knew Luke wasn't comfortable talking about his feelings. He wasn't either so he needed Luke to work with him so he could get over it.
"Okay." He sat down.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't your responsibility, but you took me in any way. Even when I made your life hell, you didn't give up on me." He needs Luke to know that he saw him.
"I kicked you out, so I did give up." He felt guilty about that.
"No, you were giving me the tough love I needed. You taught me hard work and dependability. It is why when I was with my dad I worked hard to get my GED and learn construction. You gave me the tool to be a good man. I can't thank you enough for that. I wouldn't be in a relationship or have a business if it wasn't for you." He smiled.
"Oh, Jess." Luke hugged, taking him by surprise. It took him a second but he hugged Luke back.
