The Other Gilmore

Wedding Planning Begins

"Girls?" Lorelai shouted from her room.

"Living room!" they called back in unison. The twins were sitting on the couch, Rory reading a book and Frankie watching television.

The girls' mother walked down the stairs. "I need your advice on something."

The twins glanced up and gave Lorelai confused looks.

"What do you think?"

"Huh." Rory had her mouth open her eyebrows furrowed.

"Uh..." Frankie was raising an eyebrow, a half smile on her face.

"Not good?"

"I'm not sure. Have you tried the arts and leisure section?" Rory joked, causing Frankie to chuckle.

The mother of two huffed. "I need you to be serious."

"You're wearing a newspaper on your head," Frankie exclaimed, gesturing to her mother.

"I know."

"And you need us to be serious?"

"I am trying to figure out veil lengths here," Lorelai stated as she walked over and sat in front of the girls.

"Got it. Okay." The twins sat up and gave their mother their full attention.

Lorelai went on to explain her ideas, then went on a rant about wedding dress stores. Frankie tried to keep up, but her mother's mind was a mystery to her. She was able to jump from topic to topic without missing a beat, and it could give Frankie a headache. This was one of those times. The only thing that brought Frankie back to reality was her mother and sister heading out the door to go to a wedding dress shop together, and Frankie decided to tag along.

It was the Friday after the disastrous dinner with Dean, and Emily was rushing everyone to eat. Richard had an early flight the following morning, so the girls were brought directly to the table. Richard came in a bit after everyone else and asked to speak to Rory. She agreed, and the two walked away to talk in private.

While they were gone, Lorelai tried to get Emily to talk, but she was having none of it. She was practically ignoring every word that came out of her daughter's mouth. Frankie could tell that it was bothering Lorelai, but wasn't sure what to do. Just as she was about to speak, she saw her mother move her engagement ring from her right hand to her left. Her eyes widened. Oh, boy, she's gonna tell her now, Frankie thought.

Once Lorelai was finished telling her mother the news, Emily's reaction was not what either of them were expecting.

"Well, I think that's very nice. I certainly hope we'll be in town for it, but if not, I promise we'll send a nice gift. Now excuse me. I'm going to check on the roast."

"Are you okay?" Frankie asked her mother as they walked through Stars Hollow after dinner.

"I'm perfect."

"Really?"

"I have hit a level of perfection that has rarely been seen outside the Victoria's Secret catalog."

"I'm really sorry," Rory said, slightly choked up.

"What happened tonight was inevitable. I should've known not to tell my mother."

Lorelai went on to ramble about her mother, and telling her mother about getting married, and how she shouldn't have done it. Frankie listened, but didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She felt horrible, but aside from turning back time, there wasn't much the girl could do.

The trio walked into Luke's and sat down at a table. Lorelai was still crabby, but told Luke about the dinner anyway, which only made Luke go on a rant about weddings. Frankie furrowed her eyebrows, confused by the man's outburst. As he walked away, she chuckled, unsure of where he came up with some of his examples. Possibly some weird life experiences? That thought made her chuckle again.

It was now officially summer. School was out, so Frankie was spending every waking moment she had at Ms. Patty's. She also was trying to avoid Rory who was acting like a maniac. She had been stressing about her extracurricular activities for Harvard, and had been yelling at everyone who came too close. Frankie didn't want to be yelled at again, so she stayed as far away as possible.

Sookie had been planning a surprise bridal shower for Lorelai and Max, with the help of the whole town, and the twins were very excited. Lane was the DJ, Sookie had made all the delicious food and treats, and Frankie and Rory had helped plan the party. Frankie walked around, taking it all in, smiling as she watched her mother and Max talking on their thrones that were set up in the middle of the town square.

She walked over to the gazebo, just in time to see the girls she taught tap dancing to start their dance with Ms. Patty. Frankie was smiling at them when Kirk walked over to her.

"What's up Kirk?"

"I don't think this gazebo will hold all these hoofers. They didn't do a trial run like I requested."

"It'll be fine, Kirk."

"Oh, for Pete's sake." Kirk was looking over Frankie's shoulder, then raised his megaphone to his lips. "No tossing of the Jordan almonds! I repeat, put the almonds down!"

Frankie watched as Kirk walked away, a wide grin on her face as a chuckle escaped her lips.

"Frankie!"

The girl turned at the sound of her name, seeing Lane running towards her.

"Oh, my God, Lane!" The two girls met in the middle and gave each other a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry I haven't been there for you more."

"Hey, don't worry. Just promise to write me, and get me out if necessary. Okay?" she cracked a small smile as the friends pulled away from each other.

"Absolutely. I'll write every day."

"Okay, good."

"And I'll find some really obscure bands and I'll save all the CDs for when you're back," Frankie said with a smile.

"Deal." Lane gave Frankie one last hug before running back to her house and getting into the car, driving away from Stars Hollow.

Frankie sighed and waved Lane off, then sadly walked over to Luke's diner.

"Need something, Frankie?" Luke asked as the bell above the door chimed.

"Coffee, please," she responded, looking down.

"You know coffee stunts your growth, right?"

She chuckled. "Good thing I'm not growing anymore."

Luke nodded, going to fill up a mug. He turned back around and placed in front of the girl. "You okay?"

"Lane just left. Mom's getting married. Life is moving really fast right now and I wish it would slow down."

The grumpy man shrugged. "You're young. You'll be okay."

Frankie chuckled as Luke turned away, leaving her to drink her coffee in silence.