Truly, Madly, Deeply

Chapter 33: Rehearsal Dinner

They showered and got dressed. Everyone was up and moving around very slowly. Tristan had taken aspirin and drank a lot of water. He ate some tacos for the hangover and was feeling better before the rehearsal dinner.

They arrived at the venue and did their walk-through. They spoke to the chaplain. They had to do the rehearsals a few times to ensure everything was right.

Once they finished, the limo drove them to the restaurant. Rory and Tristan sat at the head of the table. They held hands and smiled. Both of their parents were there, her grandparents and his grandfather Janlon, plus Shira and Sue's mom Sally, their entire wedding party, and the chaplain.

Tristan stood with his glass as he held Rory's hand. "Rory and I would like to thank everyone for showing up tonight, for standing by us, and for loving us. Each one of you here tonight means so much to us. Some are family, others are friends, but we love you all. Most of all, I would like to thank my beautiful bride-to-be. We met in tenth grade, and she was new to our school. I immediately fell in love with her, but I was young and dumb and didn't do anything right."

"I dubbed her Mary because she was so innocent and shy. Which drove her crazy, and she and her mother called me a few names, Bible boy and Spawn of Satan." Everyone laughed. "I tried to tell her that I was crazy about her at her sixteenth birthday party. I told her I was deeply and madly in love with her, and she thought I was just being me, so I made a joke and told her I couldn't sleep at night. I had even told her a few times that I liked someone else when she was trying to set me up with Paris."

"She never realized that she was the one I liked. I even bought us tickets for some person. I can't even remember the name now, but she refused to go with me. At this point, she was all about Bag Boy in her hometown, Dean. We were Romeo and Juliet, and I wanted to be with her so badly. I would mess up the lines so that we would have to kiss again. I was so jealous that Dean was her boyfriend because I wanted it to be me so badly. We even kissed one night at a party; she and Dean had broken up the day before, and she was upset. My ex-girlfriend Summer and I had broken up at the same party. We kissed, and she really deflated my ego when she ran away crying. Then I messed up and got sent to Military school."

"While I was gone, I would think about my Mary frequently. Her beautiful face and those gorgeous blue eyes got me through my time there. I always wondered if I would ever see her again. I often wondered if she or Paris had killed each other because they hated each other. Paris liked me, and yet I liked Rory. It drove her crazy, and Paris could make life hell. Then I graduated and came back home. I started school at Yale, and two weeks later, I saw my Mary standing at a coffee cart with a very young girl. They were talking, and I spoke to her. Begged her not to tell Paris that I went to Yale. A few weeks later, I saw her again, this time talking to a guy. I invited myself out to dinner with her that night, and the rest is history."

"She didn't trust me at first because I had a reputation I'm not proud of, but it wasn't very good. I was known as the Playboy at Chilton. We became friends, and as time went on, she started to trust that I wasn't just out to sleep with her. We started dating, moved in together, got engaged, found out we were expecting, and now we are getting married. So, Rory, thank you for trusting me with your heart, thank you for loving me, and thank you for marrying me. I love you with all my heart, babe. Also, thank you to Chris and Lorelai for creating such an amazing, beautiful woman inside and out for me to love. I promise I will always treat her with respect, and we will raise our child to be loved and to know love by watching us."

Rory was crying as she tried to smile at him; she jumped up and hugged him. Then they kissed. "Tristan, you have become a very important person in my life. Yes, you drove me crazy in school, picking at me by calling me Mary. I was so young when we first met that I was a little dumb when it came to boys. I never knew that he really liked me at Chilton. The kiss at the party wasn't bad I was mad at myself because of Dean. I had just started to have feelings for you when you got sent off, and that night, when we were talking, I really wanted to kiss you, but Dean was watching us. I did think about you while you were gone, wondering where you were and if you were doing good."