Making It Official

Bzzzz

"Jess, you're phone's ringing, again."

"It's just Liz," Jess called from the kitchen, "it's the fourth time she's called today."

Rory closed her laptop, grabbing his phone as she got up, and made her way into the kitchen. "Then it's probably important," she told him handing him the phone.

"It's not," he told her not looking up from the sauce pan he was adding herbs into.

"How do you know?"

"Because, it's Liz," he said turning and leaning in the counter. "I don't think she has ever had anything important to say in her entire life."

"Your sister could be sick or something."

"Then Luke or your mom would call."

Rory let out a frustrated growl. "Will you please just call your mother back so your phone will stop distracting me while I try to work?"

He held his arms out to her, hoping she would calm in his embrace. "Relax, Babe. I know your boss can be a real ****, but I'm sure you could come up with a way to get him to lay off," he said with his eyebrow cocked seductively, trying to lighten the mood.

"Isn't Matt technically my boss?"

"Either way," Jess shrugged nonchalantly, earning an elbow in the ribs from his girlfriend. "Let me get dinner finished. Then we'll get some food in you, which should put you in a better mood," he kissed her softly to avoid another assault, "and I will call Liz after we eat. Happy?"

Rory let out a "hrmpph" before leaving the kitchen and flopping down on the couch to wait for dinner, her brain was to fried to try to work on the zine right now, and Jess was right, she needed to eat to be able to function again.

After a dinner of baked ziti and a glass of red wine, Rory was indeed in a much better mood, and feeling a bit more relaxed, her laptop open in front of her and a second glass of wine on the end table to her left. Jess picked up his phone and reluctantly dialed his mother's number.

He didn't even get a proper greeting in before she started in on him. "Finally, I've been calling all day." She spoke into the phone loudly, as Liz was prone to do.

"Did you need something Liz?" Jess asked his tone bored and flat. He fought the urge to point out that calling during the day did her no good, since he was at work.

"I just wanted to get confirmation on a little rumor I heard today," when Jess made no attempt to respond she continued, " so, I heard my big brother and his wife today, and they were talking about my son and his girlfriend, a beautiful girl named Rory."

"Is there a point to this story?" Jess asked, Rory chuckled next to him.

"I didn't even know you and Rory were back together, much less living together."

"It's only been like a month."

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

"Didn't plan on it."

"You weren't going to tell your own mother that you and your soulmate were back together?" Jess rolled his eyes at Liz's insistence on referring to Rory that way and fell back into the couch in frustration. Rory sipped from her wineglass, more interested in his conversation than what she was working on.

"Sorry," Jess said shortly, "it didn't cross my mind. I figured Luke would tell you."

"Luke shouldn't have to," the anger was rising in her voice. I'm your mother, I should be on the list of people you tell these things to."

There was silence on the line, Jess hadn't heard his mother speak to him in anger very often in his life, she usually left that up to her boyfriends, and Luke. The last time she had spoken to him this way was when she decided to send him to Stars Hollow at seventeen.

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal," he said quietly, apologetically.

"It just would have been nice to know," her voice changed from anger to hurt. "I could have helped you move or something."

"There wasn't much moving to do, we just brought her stuff down in bags."

"We could have had like a special dinner or something to celebrate this momentous occasion." He chuckled slightly at Liz's ever present flare for the dramatic.

"I wouldn't call it a momentous occasion, but if it will get you off my back we could do that." He knew the subject wouldn't be easily dropped by his mother, and he would end up having to do this anyway, this just avoided weeks of teary phone calls.

Rory looked at him, confused from only hearing half the conversation. Jess looked at her and nodded, letting her know they would talk later.

"You'd do that?" Liz asked with joyful amazement in her voice. "You'll come out her for dinner?"

Jess was feeling a little guilty about this whole thing, and wondered how that was possible, because just minutes ago he was fighting the urge to yell at his mother that she didn't deserve to know anything about his life, since she didn't care about what happened to him for most of it. "We could do it here if you want. You've never been here before."

"Does next Saturday work? It's almost fair season, and we'll be gettin' pretty busy soon."

Jess already regretted his decision to invite her, realizing that meant her husband as well, but he felt he couldn't back out now. "Uh, sure, probably, let me get some things figured out and I will let you know." Liz happily agreed and told her son good bye.

He put his phone down and noticed the wide-eyed stare of his girlfriend. She had closed her laptop, and turned her body towards him on the couch with her legs pulled underneath her. "So, Liz is coming to dinner," was all he said before grabbing Rory's wine glass on his way to the kitchen for a beer.