Lorelai did not sleep very well last night. She was too excited. Perhaps she should have had a little more to drink at her bachelorette party which would have helped her sleep, but she wanted to be completely aware of everything today. She wanted to remember every detail of the day.

"Good Morning, Sunshine!" Rory and Sookie strolled in, carrying a tray full of breakfast foods and coffee.

"Coffee! Hmmm." Lorelai breathed in the aroma. "And Luke's coffee! Did Luke make this coffee?"

"Of course, Luke made this coffee," Rory answered. "I had to give you your favorite coffee on your wedding day! I just came from Luke's to pick it up as Sookie made your breakfast."

Sookie placed a checkered tablecloth on Lorelai's sheets and Rory set down the large bamboo breakfast tray, which they borrowed from the inn. Lorelai continued to inhale the aroma as Sookie poured coffee from the large stainless steel thermos into the accompanying thermos cup.

Lorelai gulped from the cup immediately after it was handed to her. "Hmmm. That's SO good… How can you two be so wide awake this morning when you both drank much more than me last night?"

"You're the master!" Sookie answered, "You taught us how to function after a night of drinking and debauchery!"

"Yeah, Mom. It's all about the carbs. You taught me that after my first hangover!"

"So I made us blueberry pancakes, apple fritters, potatoes au gratin, homemade pain du chocolat, and of course, the all important coffee! But, since you didn't drink as much as us last night, I made your breakfast a little more balanced to get you through the day," Sookie said, turning to the tray and pointing to each item. "So for you, we have a brie and asparagus frittata, maple turkey bacon which I marinated in maple syrup myself, with blueberry pancakes, apple fritters, and a chocolate croissant for you too! I'm sorry to say your daughter finished the potatoes au gratin."

"Yeah, Rory doesn't share potatoes well," Lorelai replied as she started to try a little of everything on her plate. "Even when we split an order of fries, if I don't make sure I get my fair share, she'll eat them all."

"What can I say? I'm just a potato junkie! I would've done well living in Ireland in the 19th century. Of course, until the Great Potato Famine in 1845, then I would've suffered like everyone else."

"I don't think any bride has had a more decadent breakfast on their wedding day, Sookie. This is incredible!" After swallowing a bite of the frittata, Lorelai waved her arms in the air and happily shouted, "Yay! It's my wedding day!"

"It is your wedding day," Rory answered. "So for the rest of the day, you're not to worry about a thing. Michel's overseeing the finishing touches here in the Town Square and also at the Hartford Club. He understands your vision better than anyone. And Sookie and I'll be at your beckon call all day!"

"Was Michel complaining about all he had to do today?"

"Of course, he was complaining! He had to be himself," Sookie responded. "But you know deep down, he wanted to do it, and if we hadn't expected him to oversee everything, he would've been very offended."

"Sookie, what about your kids and Jackson? How can you just abandon them for the day?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, we had a babysitter planned all day to help Jackson during the day with the kids, and then to watch the kids tonight. But then, all of a sudden, out of the blue, Jackson's parents decided they wanted to come help us with the kids this weekend. So they showed up yesterday and we cancelled the babysitter. But since we cancelled at the last minute, we still had to pay her for last night and part of today! Therefore, Jackson is with his parents and the three kids for most of the day. And my catering to you lends well to my avoiding the crazy in-laws and the even crazier motley crew. Without a doubt, Jackson's going to have one doozy of a headache for most of the day. The kids alone will do that to him, and the parents are just the finishing touch."

"You know, Sookie, I know you love your three little ones dearly," Lorelai commented. "But it seems to me that having the third baby seemed to put you over the edge. I think it just tipped the scale a little too far over the chaotic line."

"Yup! That's my life these days, just a little beyond chaos. And you can thank my husband's fear of the snipping procedure for that one!"

"Oh yeah! I didn't mean to bring up that sore spot again."

Sookie smiled. "It's not all bad though. Chaos has its finer points too. I mean, the way Davey and Martha are with little Corey is so precious. They take turns helping me take care of the baby. They don't freak out by poopy diapers either as you might think. Even I, at times, want to shrink away from a really stinky diaper, and I've changed hundreds of them in the last five years. Martha loves changing the baby's diapers no matter what. She's really such a little helper. Davey too. And they love playing with Corey. It's the cutest thing watching my three little ones all together. All with their chubby red cheeks, big blue eyes, and then they all have that touch of red in their hair, even Davey, whose hair's mostly brown now, but you can still see the red streaks in the sun."

"I can't believe Jackson let you name the baby 'Coriander'!" Rory exclaimed.

Lorelai and Sookie laughed.

"With Martha, we took care of all the names he was thinking of, so it was my turn to the name the baby. Remember when I was pregnant, I couldn't get enough spicy food? I was on a spice fix during most of my pregnancy, and coriander has always been my favorite spice. So I just gravitated to that name. Plus, I loved that we could call the baby 'Corey' whether it was a boy or a girl."

"Hopefully, people won't think you named your baby after one of the Spice Girls," Lorelai added.

"I'll set anyone straight who thinks that!" Sookie chimed in.

"Do you worry that anyone will think that 'Coriander' isn't the most masculine name on the planet?" Rory asked.

"It's not masculine," Sookie said. "It's more unisex. No one will be able to tell by his name if he's male or female. I love that. I always loved names like that Robin, Dana, Chris, and now the more modern names like Dakota, Bailey and Harley. And then there's little Rory, who's not so little anymore. It didn't bother you having a name that people couldn't immediately tell whether it was a boy's or girl's name. Sookie's like that too. No one knows what to make of my name. Even your grandmother! When I first met your grandparents, your mother told your grandmother that I made all the food for your 16th Birthday party. Emily then asked, 'What's a Sookie?'" Sookie laughed. "She didn't know what to make of 'Sookie St. James'!"

"I guess that's true. I used to enjoy watching people get all confused by my name." Rory answered, smiling.

"Why don't you finish your food, Sweetie, while it's still hot and fresh," Sookie suggested to Lorelai, straightening out the tray as she spoke.

Lorelai swatted Sookie's hands away. "Stay off my food! It's mine, and I will finish it!"

"Then do so, now!" Sookie responded pointing to the tray.

"Yes, mother!" Lorelai replied.

"Are you saying that I sounded like a mother, or your mother? A mother would be okay, being referred to your mother by you, I don't know how I should take that."

"I was talking about your acting motherly in general. Not my mother. If you were my mother, you wouldn't have made me breakfast in bed at all! You would have me come down to the table to eat, and I couldn't have worn my bedclothes either!"

Sookie chuckled. "Okay. Being motherly it is. I can handle that because I am a mother."

Lorelai now was plowing into the last of her meal. "I need more coffee," she retorted as chewed and pointed to her empty cup. "Pronto!"

"Yes, Mistress!" Rory replied as she poured Lorelai more coffee. "Now as you finish that up, we're going to draw you a bath with some Eucalyptus oils that will help relax you."

"Ooooo! That sounds wonderful!"

"All part of the bridal treatment today!" Sookie added.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


"Dad! You need to relax!"

"You need to stop telling me to relax, April. There's stuff I need to see to today. I can't just goof off!"

"I would like to see you goof off any day," Jess remarked.

"Okay, smart ass, make yourself useful! Go see if Caesar needs any help!"

"Caesar's fine, Dad," April responded. "He has Zach and Lane helping him right now, and then after the breakfast rush, he can handle things the rest of the day. Tonight, most of your regular customers are going to be at the wedding anyway! Jess is here as your best man to help you for the rest of the day."

"That's what you're here for, to help out your old man."

"No, I'm not! I'll be here for a while, but then since I'm a bridesmaid, I have to join the rest of the girls and do my bridesmaid's duties. You'll have Jess all day, then T.J. and Zach'll come and help later. Jackson won't have time to do any pre-wedding groomsman duties, but he will definitely be there later. Kirk offered his help if we needed another groomsman."

"You've got Larry, Curly and Moe to help me? I don't think so! I think Jess and I can manage things until Jackson can get away."

"Which one's Curly?" April asked. "I never thought of Zach as Curly. He must be Larry, because he's definitely not so incompetent. He seems to handle things pretty well in the diner. And you seem to give him lots of responsibility when you're not there. And Kirk who does tend to make messes of things, I'm not so sure he's Curly. He must be a long lost Stooge Brother. I can definitely see T.J. as Curly. Wow! I think you hit that one dead on, Dad!"

"Do you always have to go off on such tangents?" Jess asked.

"I didn't go off on any tangent. Dad's the one who mentioned 'The Three Stooges.' He was also the one who compared Zach, Kirk and T.J. to Larry, Curly and Moe. I didn't bring that up. I was just going along with what he said," April responded, pointing to her father.

Jess looked at Luke who was just looking at him smiling with pride and answered, "Some statements are rhetorical and don't need any kind of response."

"What about your comment?" April asked.

Luke laughed. "She's got you there, Cowboy!"

"Can we just get on with whatever it is we need to do?" Jess asked.

"Sure. I know Dad thinks there's all this stuff to do, but there really isn't. Everything's being handled by other people. We just have to make sure he shows up wearing his suit and all the groomsmen are dressed appropriately too."

"There are definitely things to do!" Luke stressed. "I need to pack up everything, then clean this place from top to bottom. I'm sure there are places in this apartment that haven't been properly cleaned in years. After tonight, I'll bring most of my things over to Lorelai's. April, you should too. I'm sorry, for now, you and Rory'll have to share a room. Then when we get back from the honeymoon, one of the first things on our agenda is to look for a bigger house so you and Rory can have your own rooms."

"Don't worry, Dad. It's only one night that Rory and I'll have to share the room, and it'll be fun - a true sisters' adventure. Then Rory leaves to head back on the road tomorrow evening, and I'll have the room to myself for another two nights... But I'll miss my alcove here. I loved our times here even though it wasn't mine for all that long. We really got to know each other when I stayed with you. We bonded. It was like the best father-daughter movie you can think of! It was 'What a Girl Wants' but even better, except for the fact that my parents didn't end up together, but that's okay because Lorelai's perfect for you!"

"I loved having you here with me for those two months… And Jess slept here before you. In fact, I built this room when Jess came to live with me."

"I know, Dad. You've told me like a hundred times."

"Oh. Sorry about that."

"That's okay. So, Jess, do you have any nostalgic feelings about Dad giving up this apartment?"

"It's an apartment that was meant to be an office. What more can I say?"

"Come on, Jess," Luke said. "You were at home here for two years. The second time you came to stay, it was your choice!"

"Okay. It was nice. I liked it here. It had its…nuances."

Luke patted Jess on the back. "No need to get too sentimental, Son. It was just the place I tried to make a difference in your life. Set you on a positive path for the rest of your life."

"Are you ever gonna shut-up?" Jess asked, moving away from Luke and grabbing a soda from the fridge.

Luke smiled and shook his head as he winked at April.

All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door.

April answered the door to Zach and Lane carrying plates of food. Zach and Lane quickly deposited the dishes on the kitchen table.

"What's all this?" Luke asked.

"We arranged to have breakfast up here with you, away from the crowd," April answered.

"It's a Smörgåsbord!" Lane exclaimed. "Happy Wedding Day, Luke!" Lane came over and hugged Luke.

"Yeah, Happy Wedding Day, Boss," Zach said. "Enjoy it while you can, it'll be over before you know it!"

"Thanks, Guys," Luke responded, beginning to get all choked-up. He knew that today would be an emotional day, but right now he was feeling more than just emotional. He had a myriad of feelings, including nostalgic memories, coming to the surface. Today, a dream of his was finally coming to fruition. Many a time, it seemed like 'The Impossible Dream.' But it wasn't so impossible now. He knew it was going to happen, and he wasn't nervous about the wedding at all. Luke was, however, concerned about how Lorelai was faring today and wished he could share the preparations of the day with her. But she had insisted that they follow the tradition of not seeing one other for a full twenty-four hours before he saw her walk down the aisle.

"I figured you'd want your typical oatmeal," April continued, "and there's also a fresh fruit plate for you. For me, I'm having French toast with bananas and, of course, a side of extra crispy bacon. And Jess wanted 'The Everything Plate' with eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, French toast, and juice. But actually, Lane, technically this isn't a Smörgåsbord," April commented. "A Smörgåsbord is a buffet, and more specifically it's a buffet of first cold dishes then separated by either another table or served after the cold dishes, a buffet of different hot dishes."

"I just meant that you had the scope of different breakfast foods before you," Lane replied.

"Don't worry about it, Lane," Jess answered. "April's just a savant who has to take things too literally."

"We'll be right up with drinks and the extras," Zach said as he and Lane rushed out and back downstairs.

"Jess!" Luke bellowed. "Be nice to your cousin! She's not a savant! She's just my very brilliant daughter."

April smiled. "Thanks, Dad. But I didn't take offense to what Jess said. His comment is just Jess's way of showing his affection for me. Jess doesn't know how to have a close bond with family without sarcasm and caustic comments entering the picture. It was almost brotherly love I felt from him."

"Can you please stop trying to analyze me now?"

Luke chuckled. "It sounds to me like she has you pegged."

"I hope you don't treat your girlfriends the same way," April remarked. "I don't think that treating them this way is the best way to get into their pants."

"April! If you don't mind, I would rather not hear my 14-year-old daughter say such things around me!"

"Dad! I'm almost fifteen, and everyone talks that way!"

"Please! Just humor me, even if it's only for today. It's my wedding day, so that has to earn me some points for getting my way."

April sighed. "Okay. I won't say such comments anymore - "

Lane and Zach rushed back in with the freshly squeezed orange juice and some butter, jam and syrup. "Here you go," Zach came in saying as he placed everything out on the table. "We have to head back downstairs, it's a madhouse down there. I think everyone was hoping to get a glimpse of Luke on his wedding day."

"They can see me later in the Town Square when I'm standing under the chuppah," Luke said, as he took a seat at the table.

"Enjoy, all!" Lane exclaimed as she and Zach raced back downstairs.