A/N: I have a million things to do(and stories to update), but this one has been bugging me for a week, to the point where most of it was written on post-its and notebooks in between lectures and microscope sessions. So here is another story in the Cate saga(of 'And four months!' and 'A tale of buses and goodbyes' fame). Because I love her and she's awesome. Enjoy :).
Muck-a-Duck
"Tell me a story." The little girl walked up to her father, holding a toy giraffe in one hand, wearing a pair or pink pajamas.
"You're supposed to be asleep, aren't you?"
"But I'm not tired." She pushed her bottom lip out, forming the way too familiar to him pout, as her eyes widened. "I want a story."
"Didn't mom already tell you one?"
"Yes." She drew out the word, sheepishly, poking his knee with her index finger. "But your stories are better." She announced, looking at him again, a toothless grin on her face.
"Huh, I seem to remember you telling your mom the exact same thing last night." Jess chuckled, picking the girl up and setting her down in his lap, wrapping one arm around her.
"Please, daddy. Pretty please?" She looked up at him, reaching with her small arms around his neck, trying to hug him.
"Ok, fine, but if you try to pull this again, I will not be so nice." He chuckled, knowing full well that she did it at least three times a week, making his wife accuse him of having passed his impossible sleeping habits to their daughter.
"You said that last time as well." The little girl laughed as well, standing up slightly and kissing his cheek.
"Oh, so you admit to having done this before, huh? Off to bed with you." Standing up, making sure he had a good grip of the girl, he walked out of the office and towards the stairs as she started protesting, kicking her feet.
"No, daddy, no, please, no!" She tried to beg him, laughing at the same time, used to their game.
"No way. You're going to bed and that's final."
"I won't do it again, daddy." She laughed again and he stopped, shifting his grip so that his hands were holding her under her arms before lifting her up to look her in the eyes.
"Never again?"
"Never ever ever." She nodded, still smiling.
"Why don't I believe you?" Jess put her down with a resigned sigh, pointing to the stairs. "Race you to your room." After giving her a head start, he started chasing after her, reaching the pink room seconds after the girl. Sitting in the arm chair, pretending to catch his breath, he looked at her. "You're getting too good at this, Cate. Flo-Jo wouldn't stand a chance against you." He smirked as the girl pounced on him, sitting on his lap again. "What story do you want to hear?" He smiled, placing a small kiss on the top of her head as she cuddled up to him.
A playful look on her face, she lifted her head, bringing her mouth next to his ear and putting both her hands around it. "Tell me about how you and mommy got together."
"You already know that one."
"I know the Cinderella one as well, but grandma still reads it to me. She's silly."
"Who, grandma?"
"Yeah." Cate nodded, smirking. "She does the voices and everything." Poking him with her index finger in the chest, she pouted again. "Tell me about you and mommy."
Sighing, resigned to his faith, he smiled. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything." The girl announced, laughing.
"Settle down and I'll tell you the story."
Nodding enthusiastically, she hugged her giraffe again, lying down in his lap, her legs thrown over the arm of the chair. Lowering one hand, he started running it through her hair slowly as the other one kept her from sliding off.
"Tell me." Cate smiled again, flipping around until she was comfortable.
"Many, many moons ago, back when I was still cool..."
"You're still cool, daddy."
"At least you think so." He smirked, flicking her nose with his index finger, making her laugh. "So, as I was saying, many moons ago, I met your mom. I had just moved in with your grandpa Luke..."
"Why?"
"Because." He chuckled, shaking his head, not wanting to get into more details than that. "You're going to stop interrupting if you don't want me to drop you right back in bed."
Closing an imaginary zipper over her mouth, she nodded, trying not to laugh.
"And they key?" Jess smiled, lifting his eyebrows and the girl moved her hand, throwing away the imaginary key.
"Good." He nodded again, ruffling her hair. "Your grandpa Luke, at grandma Lor's insistence, I'm sure, decided to drag me over for dinner to her house the night I got to Stars Hollow. Sookie and Jackson were there, with lemons and potatoes and a ton of food." He drew out the last words, making the girl laugh again. "So, in a desperate attempt to escape their attempt to make me eat lemons..." He made a face, chuckling. "I ducked into your mom's old room. And there she was, nose in her schoolbooks. And, no matter what she tells you, she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen." He looked up at his wife, who was leaning in the doorway, smiling when he saw her blush. "She then started talking a million miles a minute, kind of like you do..."
"But I've been quiet!" Cate announced, pride in her voice and Jess started laughing again.
"For about two whole minutes."
"It still counts!"
"If you grow up to be a lawyer, I'm disowning you. Or throwing you to the wolves." He joked, tickling the girl until she started squirming in his lap, the giraffe dropping on the floor.
"I won't. I'm gonna be a writer, just like you are!"
"You are, huh?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "And then mommy can put my books next to yours on the shelf and I can go to work with you and uncle Matt and uncle Chris ever day!"
Deciding to postpone the explanation of his job and what being a writer entailed, he shrugged. "Want to hear the rest of the story, smartbutt?"
"Yes."
"When she finally let me get a word in, I decided to play it really, really cool. Because she was really pretty and I was an idiot. So I left, only to find out the next day that mommy was dating an ogre!"
"Was he a real ogre, dad? Like Shrek?"
"Just as tall and annoying, but less green." He glanced at Rory, who was trying very hard not to start laughing.
"But Shrek isn't annoying."
"Different perspectives, really." He laughed, messing up her hair again. "This meant that I had to wait patiently for your mom and the ogre to break up so I could...uh..." He hesitated, grimacing as he tried to think of a way to put it.
"Kiss her?"
"Sure, right, let's say that's what I had in mind." Jess chuckled, ignoring Rory's threatening glares. "Finally, after a long..." He drew out the word again. "...Long time, they finally broke up and I finally got a chance to tell your mom how pretty I thought she was. Only I mucked things up."
"Daddy, what's a muck?" She stopped her father again, pulling on his sleeve.
Pausing for a second, he grimaced. "A muck is a word daddy uses instead of a really bad one that would get him lectured by your mom and your grandmother and your great-grandmother, because if I ever said it near you, you'd go around repeating it to everyone and little girls should not use those words. Oh, and it also means dirt." He shrugged, looking at Rory, whose hands were covering her mouth, laughing silently.
"How did you muck things up?"
"You're not allowed to say that one either." He shook his head. "Not nohow."
"Fine." She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest before remembering the story. "Tell me about you two getting back together!"
Looking at the clock, Jess grimaced, realizing how late it was. "Ok, since your bedtime was a long time ago, I'm going to skip a few steps here. Many years later, at grandma and grandpa's wedding, we ran into each other. After a bit of convincing, I got to tell her again everything that was on my mind. Including the fact that she still was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. And a few more years after that, you happened, to constantly interrupt me from writing with your completely ridiculous demands for bedtime stories." He tried to sound annoyed, getting her to laugh again. "Hold on tight." He instructed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and Jess stood up, holding her in his arms before placing her on the bed, covering her with the pink blanket. "Now it's sleep time for you, kiddo. And don't go begging for more stories, or water, or any of your other tricks."
"I won't." She shook her head, closing her eyes. Leaning down, Jess kissed her forehead, making sure she was tucked in before straightening up again.
"Sleep well, Cate."
"Don't stay up too late writing!" She warned, making him laugh.
"Oh, I'll try not to."
"Mommy will get mad at you."
"I'm sure we'll work something out." Winking at Rory, he turned off the bedside lamp, leaving the room dark. "Good night, kid. I love you."
"Love you too, daddy."
Walking to Rory, he kissed her shoulder, smiling playfully. "She started it."
"Let's go." She laughed, taking his hand and dragging him away, closing the door behind them. Resting her head on his shoulder as they walked towards the office, his arm wrapped tightly around her, she smiled. "The prettiest girl you'd ever seen? Don't go lying to the kid about stuff like that now."
"Still are." He shrugged, kissing her head. "You're completely insane, but you're still the most beautiful woman I know."
Stopping him in the middle of the corridor, Rory hugged him tightly, making him chuckle. "I love you, Jess."
"Love you too." He smiled, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her. "Bed time for the grownups as well or do you want to watch a movie?"
"I thought you were writing tonight?"
"Too lazy. Go on, we can find something without any green monsters in it."
"Ok." She let go, starting to walk downstairs again.
Looking up from her pancakes the next morning, a bit of chocolate syrup in the corner of her mouth which Rory quickly wiped off, Cate smiled.
"Daddy, is it duck?"
"What is?" He looked at her confused before glancing at Rory who shrugged, just as lost as he was.
"The word you said you're not allowed to say near me? Because I like ducks but I don't wanna say it if it will get you in trouble."
"No." He shook his head, chuckling while Rory spluttered on her coffee.
"So I can say duck?"
"Yes." Jess nodded, ruffling the girl's hair. "You can say duck all you want."