Disclaimer - I don't own Gilmore girls...sigh...
AN - Apologies. This is my first fanfic and it came out alot fluffier than expected...Hope you enjoy anyway.
Shout Out - Hell why not...Hi Tott!
He was in the process of finishing up a chapter for his latest novel; when his thoughts were interrupted by the annoyingly loud ringing of his desk phone. Finding a synonym for 'flawlessly' would have to wait, he thought to himself, as he reached over the masses of papers covering his desk to grab for the phone.
"Hello." He spoke quietly into the phone, hoping that the ringing hadn't already woken the sleeping forms in the adjoining rooms.
"Uh, hey Jess? It's me; Luke." A brusque voice answered from the other end of the line.
Jess couldn't help the small smirk that formed at the familiar, comforting sound of his uncle's voice. "Yeah, hey." He replied in a slightly warmer tone.
"Hey." Came the quick and expected response. The line when quiet for a minute as both decided how best to start the actual conversation.
It still somewhat surprised Jess that although these phone calls had become a regular occurrence, they still had a bit of trouble with awkward silences and uncomfortable pauses. He had come to the conclusion that it just wouldn't have been 'them' without their own unique form of communication.
"So…Uh…How's things?" Luke's voice interrupted his wandering thoughts.
"Things are good" He replied; his monosyllabic tendencies clearly showing.
"Well good. That's good." Luke said; his voice sounding more enthused with the progress they were making.
After another pause Jess relented to the fact that it was his turn to speak; "And you?" He asked; still sticking to his simple wording.
"Yeah good, everything's good." Luke replied. Jess imagined him nodding along with the phone to his ear and found him self smiling slightly at the image.
"Diner?" He asked, knowing full well the answer would be the same, as nothing in that town ever truly changed.
"The Diners great. Yeap." Luke said. Again Jess got the sense that he was nodding along as if to an invisible form in front of him.
"Cool." Jess replied calmly.
After another few moments of silence, Luke gave up all pretense of being polite and decided to 'dive in'. "You know a conversation implies two willing participants and you are not helping at all. Is this a bad time or something? You sound distracted."
Jess smirked as his uncle cracked yet again next to his brief and unhelpful replies. This was how most of there conversations ended up anyway, so he thought why bother postponing the inevitable.
"Nope. Now's fine." Jess replied coolly, silently baiting him.
"Smart ass." Luke practically sighed into the phone.
Another silence followed, though this one was slightly more comfortable than the last.
This time Jess broke it willingly. "Rory's got morning sickness."
He heard Luke quietly chuckle to himself. "Oh I bet your enjoying that."
Jess quickly jumped to his own defense. "Hey, there's no way I'm letting that happen again, and if by some small chance it does; then there's no way I'm telling you about it." Now he was also grinning along with the memory of Rory's response to a certain time involving raw meat, and a bad case of morning sickness.
"Well if I don't hear it from you, I'll probably still hear it from Lorelai." Luke said. Now glad to be one up on his nephew.
"Damn women." Jess muttered under his breath.
Luke wasn't even trying to hide his amusement now as he quickly moved to another topic. "So how's that book of yours going?"
"It's going." Jess simply replied.
"Having some trouble?" He asked, showing a real interest.
"Just a bit of writers block is all." Jess replied. "It'll pass."
"You know you work too hard. You should take a break; maybe come and stay up here for a weekend? Hell bring the whole family, I miss seeing the little tyke."
Jess saw straight through his nervous rant. "Lorelai's bugging you huh?"
Luke sighed heavily into the phone. "Like you wouldn't believe." Luke then smiled affectionately. "She's just missing Rory and seeing Sam, and she's got it in her head that you're the only one who can convince her to take time off and get her to visit because god knows she's tried but it doesn't seem to work. Now she's all paranoid thinking her persuasive powers are weakening with age and she keeps asking me to ask you so here I am asking you and rambling along as well…" He trailed off after his small speech, hoping it had done its job.
"You know you're starting to sound more and more like them all the time." Jess chuckled back, dragging out his answer to the extended invitation.
"I know. It's really starting to scare me." Luke said. "So, do you think you can help me out a bit here?"
"Tell you what," Jess replied. "Your birthdays coming up soon right? I'll see if we can make it down for the special occasion." He grinned, knowing he probably just made Luke's week.
"I always knew you were a good kid." Luke said, silently thanking Jess and mocking him at the same time.
"Yeah, Yeah, don't get all mushy on me now. I'll check it with Rory and let you know by Thursday ok?"
"Withhold coffee if you have to." Luke said partly out of desperation.
Jess chuckled. "Hey just because you're almost suicidal doesn't mean I am."
"Yet. Just you wait till she starts with all the secret tricks she learnt from her mother to get her own way. At first you'll be able to resist but then they slowly wear you down till your just a puddle of willing goo, and all you can do is nod along and agree with every single thing they say because you know that if you even think of disagreeing with them or offering another opinion that they'll just look at you like your crazy! Which is just irony slapping you in the face really." Luke stopped to take a deep breath.
Jess couldn't help but laugh. "Issues with Lorelai there Luke?"
"What? No, no everything's fine, just choosing more paint colors, it's nothing." Luke answered and coughed to cover up the slight waver in his voice.
"Uh huh." Jess replied. "Well I can tell you now that no secret persuasive actions have been used as of yet, but I'll keep an eye out. Thanks for the warning."
Luke was about to reply when another voice interrupted. "Excuse me? I seem to recall some small amount of persuading being done on Friday night."
Both men fell silent at the realization that there conversation hadn't been as private as they first thought. "Rory?" Luke hesitantly asked.
"Hey Luke." Rory answered, bright and bubbly as ever. "How's Mum? And the house? And the town? Oh and Paul Anka?"
"Uh… Everything's great. Your Mums working late, the house is half painted and still standing, towns got some big festival thing coming up and Paul Anka's been eating my socks, but he's fine too." Luke replied; still half in shock at the interesting turn their phone exchange had taken.
"Rory how long have you been listening?" Jess asked with fake annoyance, as soon as Luke was done.
She giggled. "Not too long; since about the age weakening persuasive powers or something? You guys talk about the weirdest things, and you think me and mum are the nutty ones."
"Well you are. Especially when you listen in on other people's private conversations and then jump in and scare the crap out of them." Jess said; still keeping up with the annoyed charade.
She giggled again, louder this time. "Oh don't worry, I'll leave you two alone now to finish off your mighty manly discussion about fishing and beer and what not. Bye Luke."
"See you Rory." He replied; still unsure exactly how to act.
They heard the quiet click of the bedroom line hanging up and both sighed with relief.
"Hey sorry about that, I thought she was asleep up there." Jess said; half apologizing to Luke.
Luke was now laughing quietly. "Oh don't worry about it, her Mums always pulling little stunts like that. Sure freaked you out though, which I always find highly entertaining."
Jess couldn't help but appreciate the humorous situation. "Ha Ha. Need I remind you of your total embarrassment involving Lorelai's towel?" He knew he was asking for it but somehow just couldn't resist.
Luke quickly turned a deep shade of red at the reminder. "Well it was your own fault! You don't come for a surprise visit to a man's house on a Sunday!"
"Oh believe me I learnt that lesson too. No more surprise visits ever, and that goes for you too." He answered with a certain hint at the last part.
"Aw jeez." Luke said to the not so subtle insinuation.
"And on that note." Jess sat up straighter in the chair.
"Oh right, yeah I should let you go. So you'll let me know about the weekend?" Luke asked.
"Yeap Thursday" Jess answered.
"Thursday, Ok." Luke said; once again making small nodding motions with his head.
Jess grinned at his need to be reassured. "Bye Luke."
The affectionate grin returned as Luke replied. "Bye."
Jess waited, listening to the click and then the dial tone as Luke hung up. He did the same and tossed the phone back onto one of the heaps of paper covering his desk.
He got up and walked out of his office and quietly to the next room. He stood in the doorway watching the small figure sleeping in the bed in the corner, under a brightly colored Spiderman duvet. He smiled to himself as he remembered how, only hours earlier, he had overheard his son trying to convince his mother, that he thought daddy was actually the superhero in real life. To which she had replied with; "No Sammy, Daddy isn't Spiderman." Then under her breath; "Because he wouldn't be caught dead wearing tights."
He quietly closed the door and followed the hallway to the next bedroom, where his wife was laying in their bed. She had her eyes closed as if she were asleep, but he could see the tell-tale smirk that adorned her features; showing she was in fact awake and waiting for him.
He half-closed the bedroom door behind him and walked to the wardrobe, where he changed into sweats and an old t-shirt to sleep in. He then climbed into bed beside her and curled her into his side.
They stayed quiet for awhile, listening to each others breathing till he broke the silence. "That was rude." He spoke quietly to her.
Her giggles were muffled as she burrowed into his chest. "That was fun."
He couldn't help the little bark of laughter that came out. "Not for Luke." He said.
She was now fighting hysterics, trying to muffle her voice in his shirt. He used his arm around the back of her neck to pull her closer and kiss the top of her head.
When her giggles had settled down he spoke again. "So, weekend?" He asked.
"Yeah sure. Think it's time we let Sammy loose on the town again." She replied.
He chuckled quietly. "Look out Taylor." Then he remembered to ask; "You going to be ok with the baby?"
She smiled at his thoughtfulness. "We'll be fine. You can take a break from holding my hair back and leave it to Mum."
"I don't mind." He replied; almost too quiet for her to hear.
She lifted her head up off his chest, as his face turned towards hers. They shared a lasting, chaste kiss and both settled back in to go to sleep.
After a while he listened as her breathing deepened. His thoughts had gone back to his book and the work that he had done that night. It suddenly caught his attention; the sought after synonym for 'flawlessly'. Perfect.