AN: Thank you for the reviews, so sweet. I'm not a writer. After finishing A Year in the Life, I had a vision on my head of how it would play out and I felt the need to get it out. :) Thank you again.

3 Months Later

Rory telling Lorelai the news at the town gazebo had started it all, since that moment everything had simply been a blur of awkward announcements to family, friends, members of Stars Hollow. She had yet to get up the nerve to tell Logan. Rory was now starting to think that maybe she didn't need to tell Logan. She knew, however, that was the coward in her talking.

She was now 5 months pregnant and as Lorelai loved to remind her, she showed like she had…. Just barely. If she had tried Rory easily could have hidden it but at this point there was no reason – everyone currently in her life knew.

"So the Gazette? You're sure about that?" Lorelai asked as she stood on the porch of their home and Rory closed the door behind them. The two, well three, Gilmores were bundled up against the fierce cold of Winter.

"Mom, the Stars Hollow Gazette means a lot to me, and it has a lot of problems… A LOT of problems. I've been trying to get them to install wifi for weeks now… but I can't just abandon it." The two walked carefully down the slick steps of their porch and headed into town in the search for early morning coffee. "Besides, I can still do pieces for The New Yorker when they'll have me, I can still send in work, that's the wonderful thing about writing, it can really be done from anywhere. The book is in progress, and once I get notes from some people I'll be busy with that and the Gazette - I won't even miss the busy bustle of all the travel."

"So now you're telling me that you will simply be satisfied with a life in Stars Hollow writing pieces for Huff-Po, The New Yorker, your own book, and running The Gazette…" Lorelai paused and smiled widely. "How your pretty little head doesn't explode is beyond me." She teased as she linked her arm through Rory's as they walked. "Luke will be happy. He has kept me up every night going on and on about you packing your bags and leaving us, he speaks of the world as if once you walk across state lines the mobs are waiting to end you. He's very overprotective." The two walked into town center and there seemed to be an instant shift in energy level among the towns members of Stars Hollow. "He's so…" Lorelai noticed the oddity and looked around a bit confused. "… dramatic." Rory noticed almost instantly as well.

"If we just walked into The Walking Dead, I am not prepared. I need a barbed wired bat." Rory mumbled noticing how tired and out of it everyone appeared to me.

"Maybe we just need coffee…" Lorelai tried to reason before walking into the nearest café and walking out within only minutes with two cups in hand. Lorelai took a sip right away, and the disgusted face she made meant it was decaf. "This is yours." She said handing it to Rory before taking a sip of the other one. "Ugh! Is this one yours too?" She looked at both cups. "Ok, it was a mistake. Let's go to Luke's."

Rory happily drank away at her cup as they walked, holding her cup in one hand and Lorelai's rejected coffee in the other. Her mother's arm remained slipped through hers to prevent any slips on the icy sidewalk.

It only took a few blocks before they walked into Luke's and the same sight fell upon them. Tables were filled with very tired regulars.

"The hell?" Rory asked taking in the sight before she went to the counter and sat at one of the open seats. Lorelai came up behind her.

"I'm not waiting for Luke!" The eldest Lorelai exclaimed before going behind the counter and pouring herself a cup of much needed coffee. Luke came from the kitchen and let out a pretty restrained groan.

"Don't," Lorelai said knowing he hated when she came behind the counter. "What's mine is yours now, buddy!" She brought the warm mug to her lips and took a sip only to make the same disgusted face.

"What the hell is this, Luke Danes?" She asked almost wild eye-d.

"What do you mean?" He feigned confusion as he took a rag and bused one of the spaces at the counter.

"Decaf. Decaf." She said waving the cup around in front of him. Luke merely rolled his eyes.

"Last night Taylor and Kirk went to every establishment in Stars Hollow and replaced all of the caffeinated coffee with decaf. They didn't think anyone would notice." Luke said in a somewhat hushed tone.

Lorelai's jaw dropped. "Why? Why? Why?" She asked starting to panic that she wouldn't get her much needed coffee fix. Luke's eyes travelled to a very happy Rory who had already began on the reject coffee, her cup now empty. Neither had a clue that Rory had just ignored more calls from both Logan, Paris, and Lane. She was living in a bubble right now, and she deserved a break. All Paris wanted to talk about was how this was going to ruin her career, Lane was excited but too excited, it made Rory feel guilty for not being more excited. And Logan? Well, Logan was still trying to remain in her life despite his upcoming nuptials. Rory had no intention of being a professional mistress and since Logan had offered her that house that was the vibes she had been getting from him.

"I'll just go to Doose's and get some more." Lorelai declared and Luke instantly shook his head. "Tried that, gone from the shelves."

"So you are telling me the town came together to ban coffee… because I'm pregnant." Rory asked looking at her mother as if she had lost her mind. "I know that they get a little too involved sometimes but not that involved." She reasoned as they headed back to The Gilmore house.

"I'm telling you, kid. They have crossed a line. Town Hall meeting tonight, I'm going to go and give a piece of my tired, tired mind." Finally, they walked through their front door and Lorelai went straight to the kitchen to find their own stash as Rory lingered near the door of her childhood bedroom. Not the time, she thought to herself. Wait until she's had some caffeine.

"AH HA!" Lorelai exclaimed causing Rory to jump a bit.

"You found it?" She asked her mom to be met with the sound of the coffee maker. It only took a few minutes before Lorelai came out of the kitchen with a mug in her hands a huge smile on her face.

"Coffee." She sighed happily before taking a few much needed gulps.

"Mom…" Rory began, her eyes flickering back to her bedroom before returning to her mother who was now making herself comfortable on the couch, the coldness in the air instinctually making them both want to curl up.

"Yeah, kid?" Lorelai asked before grabbing a blankets from the back of the couch. Rory came over and sat next to her mother and Lorelai threw half of the blanket on top of her daughter's lap. Sure, they could turn up the heat in the house, but they both enjoyed having an excuse to be close. It made Rory feel 16 and carefree and it made Lorelai feel as if she was still the only influence in her daughter's life.

"I love you and Luke, so before you think this is about the two of you, it isn't…"

"Uh oh…" Lorelai tensed sensing she wasn't going to like where this conversation was going.

"No! No 'uh oh'." Rory swore. "It's just… I'm in my 30s. I'm pregnant… and I'm living in my childhood bedroom. Sleeping in the same bed that I once daydreamed about marrying Aaron Carter. This alone would make be inherent president of the Thirty-Something Gang."

"Mhmmm…" Lorelai hummed suspiciously as she took another large gulp of her sweet caffeinated beverage.

"And I still want to be as close to you and Luke as possible because no matter the brave face I've been putting on… I'm pretty terrified about all that's to come…" She admitted as her thumb absent-mindedly slid over her covered swollen stomach. "If it is ok with Luke… I'd like to move into the apartment above the Diner." And before Lorelai could speak Rory laid out her reasoning like a well-trained academic. "It is only about 2 blocks from the Gazette, it's close to you and Luke while still giving me ounce of freedom, I can work on the book, and before you say it's too small, let me remind you that we used to live in a shed."

Lorelai looked at her daughter for a few beats remaining silent. Like any mother her first thought was that her daughter was leaving her and taking her grandchild with her…. Wow. Where did that come from? Emily Gilmore, anybody? Lorelai shook her head of those thoughts.

"I think it's a good idea." She told Rory, partially fueled by wanting to be as un-Emily as possible. "You took very good care of yourself the past 10 years and if Luke asks we can tell him it's not because I'm a smothering mother, but because he keeps making you eat salads. It may guilt him out of it long enough for me to smuggle some Cheetos into this house." Rory smiled before reaching over and wrapping her arms around her mom.

"Thank you…" You won't hate me, like grandma hated you? She wanted to ask. She had been wanting to ask since the moment she told her mother she was pregnant. She never quite had the guts to force the words out, for both fear of being a disappointment paired with logic of knowing that could never be true.

"No problem, kid." Lorelai snugged against Rory. "I want what's best for you, and being pregnant with you gave me some of the most defining moments of my life and I want you to have a bit of freedom to grow from this." Once the two pulled apart Lorelai grinned one of her mischievous grins.

"We should tell them at the town meeting tonight that leaving me without caffeine has made me insufferable and that I forced you to move out. They'll feel so guilty that before you know it there will be a Rory Gilmore parade."

"Oh…. The town meeting… Jess actually promised to make a trip down here this evening. He was already planning to because apparently he has other business in town… whatever that means. But he also finished reading the first three chapters of my book and I wanted to get his notes as well as to give him the next chapter." Rory gave Lorelai a strained grin. "Sorry mom, you're going to have to torture the town solo tonight."

Different.

Different. How different?

Beautiful.

Radiant.

These were the thoughts that crossed Jess Mariano's mind as his feet crunched against the snow and he made his way towards a cold looking Rory Gilmore who was standing on the porch.

"Popsicle."

The word threw him from these thoughts and he laughed. "What did you call me, Gilmore?" Jess teased as he followed her into the house.

"I called you a popsicle." She explained before reaching for a pre-prepared cup of coffee and handing it too the frozen thirty-something book publisher. Jess noted that she had the coffee waiting for him. Sweet. As always.

He was barely able to get a sip in before her face was practically next to his, a giant smile on her face. "So….." she cooed excitedly.

"So?" He feigned - acting as if he had no idea what it was she wanted.

She swatted at his snow dusted leather jacket. "Stop. What do you think so far? The first three chapters? Your opinions and my mom's opinion are really the only ones that matter to me but she won't read it until it's done." Jess laughed at this, very Lorelai. He set his coffee down and pulled his scarf off before hanging it on the back of the nearest chair.

"Cool your jets, let a man sit." Jess then pulled off his jacket before walking into the kitchen and sitting at the dining table, and pulling the manuscript from his bag. Rory was hot on his trail.

"First of all, I hate to say it… but…" Jess signed and Rory's eye's widened, fear that it was garbage. Utter garbage. Yale? What did Yale know? The New Yorker, they must have been drunk. Was she truly a terrible writer deep down or… or… had she been more distracted than she realized when she wrote it?

"It's honest. It's relatable. It's… perfect so far." Jess finished with a knowing smile. Rory let out a long breath of all the anxiety she had been holding in. "I wrote down more thorough notes, obviously, but that's the gist."

"I really love the part where the handsome stranger Jed outwits the small town Don and wins the heart of the young maiden." Jess teased and Rory groaned before she pulled the manuscript from him.

"We haven't even gotten to that part yet."

Jess just laughed and shook his head before taking a sip from his mug. Truth was he was nervous for that; would he be mentioned in the book? Was he a villain in the life of Rory Gilmore? They had never truly talked about what had happened all those years ago. Being the angry kid that he was he knew he had been a disappointment in her life - it was why he had left. They hadn't truly ever had a heart to heart, not that either of them owed it to each other. Not that it mattered now.

"Rory… I…"

"Jess!" Luke announced as he walked into the Gilmore kitchen, giving the boy a pat on the shoulder. "I'm just heading out to the Town Meeting, your mother…" he said nodding to Rory. "…is about to lay down the law and I want to get there in time to see that look Taylor gets on his face when he's scared of her." Luke grabbed a pop tart box from the cabinet, looked at it, groaned, he couldn't believe he was bringing these to Lorelai.

"What is everyone up in a rile about now?" Jess said finding the small town amusing. "Someone litter again? The agony."

Luke snorted, he found the town just as amusing as Jess did, only a thousand times more annoying as well.

"Taylor and Kirk went on a midnight ride last night to hide caffeine in the town so Rory wouldn't accidently consume any. She can be a resident of another state and a soon to be mother and still be this town's reigning Princess." Luke grabbed his coat. "See you both soon… hopefully with Taylor's head in a bag."

The slam of the back door indicated Luke was gone. Rory looked at Jess. Jess was quiet, his eyes focused on his coffee.

Surely Luke had told him before now. Liz? TJ? Someone told him. This can't be the first time he was finding out. Right?

Rory was no psychic but she was observant enough to see the look of forced coolness on Jess's face. The look of a man with racing thoughts but using every ounce of strength to find it.

"Pregnant?" What else could he say? He had noticed she looked different but being the small girl that she was it hadn't been overtly obvious until now. Rory noticed his hands were moving a bit more now. Once calm and collected he had a finger tapping against his mug and the other hang grasping the manuscript.

"Yeah." She said simply. What else could she say? The two sat there in an awkward silence, a silence that shouldn't have existed. They had done well until this point. They would see each other, visit once in a while, smile, hug, pretend to be nothing more than old chums, the truth of heartbreak being ignored. Jess was starting to breathe a bit faster than before, his mind wrapping around this new fact.

"Who's…. no, I'm sorry, that's none of my business. That was a jerk thing to even think of asking." Jess stood up due to his anxious energy, his now sweaty palms running over his jeans. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden? Why was his heart beating a little extra fast? Was this what a panic attack felt like? He tried to hide his nervousness by picking up his mug and taking it over to the sink. As if this all was intentional.

"No, it's ok." Rory stood as well, she wanted to reach out and touch his arm, to calm this anxious energy he was giving off. What happened to the cool, apathetic Jess she had learned to be around without thinking of their past? "It's ok to ask… everyone else does."

Jess finished cleaning the mug he had used before setting it on the dish rack.

"Logan…. Do you remember him? You've met." She said thinking that maybe more information would make this less awkward. She was wrong.

Logan? The blond drunk guy? The guy who had almost gotten in the way of Yale? The guy who stole from Emily and Richard's the first night they met him? That guy? She was still with him? Of course this was all the information Jess had heard from Rory over the years apart from his own observations.

"Yeah. I remember him well." Jess said. He felt like such an idiot, just recently he thought that he and Rory may have had the opportunity for a new start. He had no idea she was with this guy.

"I should get going. I have some other business I need to get to." Jess said awkwardly grabbing the new chapter she had set on the table. "I'll look these over.' He assured her as he headed for the door, trying with each step to seem less and less like a bat out of hell. Rory grabbed his jacket and scarf and followed him. "Jess… wait… I thought…."

"I'm so happy for you, Rory. Really. Congratulations." Well that seems a little forced, Rory thought to herself.

Once at the door Jess turned and finally their eyes met for the first time since the word pregnant had filled the air. "You are going to make a great mother." Genuine.

Rory couldn't help but sense a hint of ache in his voice, the intensity in his eyes when they had met hers. It stunned her just long enough for him to get to his car. She looked down seeing his jacket and scarf in his hands.

"Wait…" she began but it was too late. "… your jacket." She mumbled the last part.

That had ended much quicker than she had anticipated.

"I should have told him. I should have called. I mean we're friends, right?" Rory asked Lorelai as they sat on the couch, T.V. playing, Chinese food strewn around. "We're actually friends and I didn't bother with even a call, a text, a well-written email? Of course he flew out of here freaked out. If when Lane was pregnant I had found out from an offhanded comment, I would have been a bundle of nerves as well." She reasoned refusing to question the real reason behind his reaction.

"Lane is your best friend; Jess is an ex-boyfriend. It's awkward, honey, no matter how long it's been." Lorelai grabbed one of the 20 bags of chocolate covered espresso beans from the coffee table. "Wherever he is now, at least we know he's cold."

"How is that comforting…. wait so Taylor really just gave you all those?" Rory asked looking at the loot her mother had come in with – which included 20 bags of espresso beans and 3 canisters of coffee.

"Uh huh… I told him that if he dares try to deny me caffeine again I would take every can of decaf coffee from Doose's and shove it where the sun doesn't shine. He panicked and gave me." Lorelai laughed amused at the outcome of this Town Meeting.

"So where are we on the Lori thing?" Lorelai asked her daughter and Rory instantly scoffed.

"I am not naming my possible daughter Lorelai the Third! I know you say we can call her Lori but imagine the three of us in one room? Imagine grandma having to introduce us to people. 'Hello, this is Lorelai, Lori, and Rory. 'Our mere presence would induce tongue twisters. Besides there is just much of a chance of her being a boy."

Lorelai scoffed. "You my daughter, the mirror of myself, will have a girl, and she will hence be forth known as Lorelai the Third."

"No."

"Yes."