A/N- So this is the real chapter 1!
Author's POV
"Jess," Liz called her four year old son.
He came running from his room a minute later, "Yeah mom?"
"Uncle Luke called and wanted to know if you want to go to the zoo with him, Aunt Lorelai, and Rory." She told him.
"Yeah! Can I?" he asked excitedly.
"Of course sweetheart, go get your coat and we'll walk over to Luke's." she smiled at him. Jess ran up the stairs to his room, he grabbed his coat and the book he had been reading then ran back down to the kitchen where his mom was waiting for him. "Ready?" she asked.
He nodded and they walked out the door. When they got to the diner he ran inside, he saw Rory sitting at the counter her feet dangling from the stool, he walked up behind her and tickled her sides. She squealed and turned to face him, glaring.
"Jess!" she yelled hopping of the stool and tackling him. They fell to the floor and she tickled him.
"Rory, stop!" he begged.
"Never!"
Luke laughed and walked over to separate the two, "Okay, Ror I think he's had enough." He said picking her up and sitting her back on her stool.
"But dad," she whined. Luke was her step father but she called him dad, her father was never around. Luke and Lorelai had gotten married about a year ago, technically Rory and Jess were step cousins but, whenever somebody said that they objected firmly.
He smiled at his step daughter, "Mommy went to the market to get you and Jess cameras why don't you guy's run over and find her."
"Okay," she agreed. She turned to Jess, "Race ya." She called running out the door. Jess ran after her and the two of them ran laughing to Dossee's. "Hi Taylor!" she called to the man at the cash register.
"Hello Rory, your mom is right over there." He said pointing. The young girl grabbed Jess' arm and ran to where Taylor had pointed.
"Mommy!" she yelled.
"Hey sweets! And how are you my favorite nephew?" she asked hugging them both.
"Hi Aunt Lor," Jess said his voice muffled in her shoulder.
"So Ror, I've been trying to decide. Do you want Hello Kitty or Sleeping Beauty?" Lorelai asked holding up two cameras.
"Hm…Hello Kitty!" Rory decided.
"Okay and Jess, Star Wars or Lion King?" she asked. Jess looked at her skeptically. "Look they don't make The Clash disposable cameras and unless you want Sleeping Beauty…"
"Star Wars," he decided.
"Okay then now for travel supplies," she said walking to the candy isle the kids trailing behind her. "So we need twizlers, malomars, m&m's, skittles, marshmallows, and we'll get coffee from Luke's so we're all set." The three of them walked to the cash register, Lorelai paid and they walked back to Luke's. "Luke, honey!" Lorelai called entering the diner. "Are you ready? Cause we sure are!"
"Yeah Dad, we wanna see lion's and tiger's and bear's!" Rory yelled.
"Oh my!" Jess added to her sentence.
"I'm coming!" Luke called from the store room. He emerged and looked at them, "You guy's ready?"
"Duh." The other three said in unison. The four of them walked out the door to the jeep, Rory and Jess climbed in the back, Luke drove and Lorelai sat in the passenger seat flipping through the radio stations.
In the back seat Jess showed Rory the book he had brought along, the two of them started reading it silently. About an hour later they arrived at the zoo. Rory and Jess jumped out of the car and, ran to the entrance where there was a giant statue of a bear.
"Mommy, Daddy look!" Rory yelled excitedly.
"You guy's want me to take a picture of you with it?" Lorelai asked the children.
"Yeah!" they agreed. Jess put his arm around Rory's shoulders and she wrapped her arm around his waist, they smiled at Lorelai as she took the picture.
"How about a group picture under the sign? Excuse me sir could you take a picture for us?" Lorelai asked an older man who was standing by the entrance.
"Of course." He smiled.
Lorelai and Luke walked over to join the kids; they knelt behind them with their arms around each other. The four smiled as the man took the picture.
"Thank you sir," Rory smiled.
"You're very welcome!" he smiled before walking away.
"Come on kids, let's go!" Lorelai called. They wandered around the zoo for two hours, looking at all the animals and taking lots of pictures. In every picture Rory and Jess wrapped their arms around each other so tight it seemed they were afraid to let go.
On the way out Rory spotted a petting zoo, so they stopped to look. Rory was playing with the animals but, Jess stood back with a scared look on his face.
"Come on Jess, feed the goat!" Rory said excitedly.
"No way!" he said stepping back.
Rory walked over and led him by the hand to the goats, "Come on, it's not gonna hurt you." She prompted.
"No!" Jess answered trying unsuccessfully to free his hand from her grasp.
"Jess is scared! Jess is scared!" she sang.
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Then why don't you feed it? Chicken!" she teased.
"Fine!" he relented. He walked over to the feeder and filled his hand before walking hesitantly towards the goat. "I will bite back." He warned. The goat ate peacefully from his hand before walking over to another child with food.
After they finished in the petting zoo, they left for the day and drove back to Star's Hollow. They pulled up to the diner and Rory and Jess jumped out and ran inside to tell Caesar about their day. Lorelai and Luke followed at a slower pace.
"Hey kids, why don't you head over to the Pharmacy and ask Bob to develop your pictures. Then head back to the house, I'll call Liz and ask if Jess can stay over." Lorelai proposed taking a seat next to them at the counter.
"Okay!" They said running out the door, they ran all the way to the Pharmacy. Once they were inside they approached the counter where Bob, the man who owned the Pharmacy, was sitting.
"Hello kids, what can I do for you?" he asked smiling at them.
"We went to the zoo today! We took lots of pictures; can you develop them for us?" Rory asked.
"I sure can, tell your mom she can pick them up tomorrow after noon." He said.
"Thank you Bob." They chorused.
They walked back to Rory's house in silence, Jess had his arm around her shoulders and she was resting her head on his shoulder. To an outsider this might seem odd but, all the townspeople had seen it a million times before and, they all knew that one day the two children would realize why they refused to be called cousins.
A/N- So what do you think? Please review and if you have any questions ask away!