Finding Rory

Chapter 60: The Big Moment

"So, I was thinking - what would you think about having a barbecue at our house in a couple of weeks to celebrate our engagement? You've never met some of my friends from military school and college, and I'd like to get everyone together. We could invite all of our friends, make it casual - food, beer, cake, and friends," Tristan said as they were driving back to Hartford from Stars Hollow.

"You know, that would be really nice," Rory agreed. "When should we do it? I know we're supposed to go to Nantucket to see my grandma this weekend."

"Maybe the next weekend? That should give everyone time to plan," Tristan offered.

"Yeah, that sounds great. Let's do it."

"You know, Neil and Fitz aren't going to believe I'm engaged to my Mary," Tristan chuckled.

"Tell me about them."

"Fitz - his name is actually Jacob Fitzpatrick - was my roommate in military school. He and his wife live in Maryland; he's a military lawyer. You'll also meet Neil - he was my roommate at Stanford. He actually works for the Hayden Law Firm now, so you'll be seeing a lot more of him, I'm sure. He's recently divorced. It was a crappy situation - his wife was an actress, and she was screwing around every chance she got," Tristan told her.

"You know, my dad kept mentioning one of the other lawyers at his firm that he wanted to set me up with earlier in the year, and I'm pretty sure he said that the guy was divorced. I wonder if it was Neil?" Rory mused out loud.

"That actually wouldn't surprise me - Neil and your dad are good friends," Tristan chuckled.

"Well, it doesn't matter now - I'm all yours," Rory said as they pulled up to the pool house.

"Ready to get the first load of your stuff, babe?" Tristan asked.

Rory looked up at the house, considering the unspoken question that was lingering in the air. Was she ready to completely combine her life with Tristan's? She would lose some of her independence and freedom in the process, but she would gain a partner in life - someone who would be there for all of the good moments as well as the hard times - and the possibility of starting a family.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's do this," Rory said before she turned to Tristan and kissed him.

"I can't believe you're moving in and we're getting married," Tristan said with a smile as they walked into the pool house.

"Good or bad? Because they were both your ideas," Rory teased.

"Both good, Mare," he said with a laugh.

They walked into the pool house and Tristan loaded Rory's clothes into the Escalade while she packed up her makeup, toiletries, personal items and a few books to get her by until she came back for the next load.

"I'll come back tomorrow while you're at work and start packing everything else up," Rory said as they got back in the car.

"Good. I can't wait for you to be completely moved in. It will be nice to share a home," replied Tristan.

"It really will," she agreed.

"Tomorrow at work, I'll start the process of adding you to the deed for my house and the titles for cars. I can handle the paperwork for the Prius too, if you'd like." Rory was silent for a minute and Tristan reached over and took her hand. "You okay there?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just - it's really big. I've never done this before - this whole what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine thing."

"I haven't either, but that's kind of nice. This is a new step we're taking together," Tristan whispered.