A/N: Wow, that is A LOT of reviews! Thanks, all. You're wonderful people :) I had no idea my foray into the post-revival world would be so popular. Well, let's hope you enjoy the rest of this story as much as you liked the first chapter. Here we go, leaping ahead in time, to the Summer of this very year :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 2 - 12th August 2017

He didn't know what he was doing here. Actually, that was a lie, he did know exactly, but maybe he just wished he didn't. Heading out of the back door, Jess forced a breath through his lungs, tried to be ready for the sight about to meet his eyes. It didn't help. He didn't expect it to.

"Knock, knock?"

Rory looked up sharply at the voice she knew so well and yet it was the very last person she expected to be visiting. It was tough to say who looked more shocked when Jess realised quite what he had walked in on. He turned his back immediately and Rory moved the baby away from her breast, covering herself up fast. Jacob was pretty much done feeding anyway and half asleep in her arms, so he wouldn't care much.

"All clear," she said, clearing her throat, knowing she was blushing seven different shades of red.

Thankfully, Jess looked more embarrassed than she did when he faced her again, even if he did manage to do that while remaining his usual colour.

"When Lorelai said you were out here, she didn't mention what exactly you were doing," he said awkwardly, starting to gesture with his hand and then deciding against. "Probably on purpose, just for maximum cruelty."

"Probably," Rory agreed with a forced smile. "Um, introductions," she said then, shaking her head. "Jess Mariano, I'd like you to officially meet Jacob Lucas Richard Gilmore."

"Wow," he said, staring down at the tiny infant in Rory's arms. "He has more names than he has mass right now."

"Could be a few years before that changes," she agreed, "but as much as I wanted him to have his own unique moniker, I couldn't stand to leave either of them out," she explained, moving over so Jess could share the porch swing with her. "He was almost Jacob Richard Lucas, but mom started making Dallas references."

"That sounds about right."

Silence fell over the yard in the very next moment. If things had been awkward with them before when Rory was pregnant, the weird vibe increased ten-fold now that her son was here in the world. It was almost possible to ignore the fact she was carrying a child in the beginning. Jess wasn't in Stars Hollow all that much, he couldn't afford to be. He was needed in Philly, New York, a bunch of other places that kept him conveniently away, but he had been as good as his word when it came to being there for Rory. If she needed a friend, a sounding board, an editor, a shoulder, he was there. He never failed her. Answered every call even if he was busy or it was the middle of the night. Replied to every rambling email whether it was about her writing, her swollen ankles, or the latest crazy town event. Jess was the best friend she had begged for him to be, and it was actually okay. Not seeing her, skimming over the stuff she mentioned about the pregnancy, the baby, Logan frickin' Huntzberger, Jess could let himself pretend it wasn't happening for a long while. No chance of that anymore.

"Um, I wasn't expecting you," said Rory eventually. "Last we talked you never mentioned a visit."

"Didn't know myself until yesterday," Jess admitted, eyes fixed on some spot far across the back yard rather than on Rory or Jacob. "I had a meeting in New York, and y'know, you made me promise to drop by next time that happened."

"You've become a real man of your word."

Rory smiled when she said it. Jess didn't have to look at her to know she was wearing the expression, he heard it, felt it.

"Better late than never," he muttered in reply, not allowing her a chance to counter before he continued. "So, I guess the book has been on hold for a while now, with... everything."

He was making vague gestures with his hands again, now towards the baby in her arms. Rory saw him struggling and wasn't sure whether to feel bad for him or defensive for herself. It wasn't as if Jess hadn't known that she was pregnant or that her condition would lead to a baby. After Jacob was born, Luke had called him with the news, but Rory emailed soon after, enclosing a picture and all the less-gory details. Jess had seemed fine then. Now he was here and it was different, and not in a good way.

"You don't have to be here if you don't want to be," she told him, trying to keep her tone even.

It seemed wrong to accuse him of anything, after all he had done for her, but at the same time, she didn't like that he was acting as if she did something wrong. This wasn't his child, and she wasn't his girlfriend. He had no place to judge her. He had told her as much months ago now and promised he never would be that guy.

"It's not... I want to be here, Rory," he promised her then, making himself meet her eyes. "I'm sorry. This takes a little getting used to is all, you and the whole mother thing."

"You think it's weird for you? Try being me," Rory told him with an odd note of almost delirious humour in her voice. "Jess, I had nine months to get used to the idea that I was about to be a mom, but now Jacob is here... I couldn't love him more, but it feels so strange. I keep expecting someone to show up and tell me it was all a mistake. To wake up and realise this was all a weird dream." She sighed and shook her head. "I don't really know how to do this. I can't imagine how my mom coped, at sixteen, all by herself. I have everybody here to help me and yet most days I feel so... so overwhelmed."

"You gotta give yourself a little time, Ror," Jess advised her, one hand going to her shoulder and gently squeezing. "It's only been a few weeks, you'll get used to it. And you cannot keep on comparing yorself to Lorelai. For all the similarities between you two, you're not the same person. Just because she dealt with things the way she did, you're allowed to be scared or lost or overwhelmed. Pretty sure that's normal."

Rory smiled and leaned into his touch. He always knew what to say. Jess had a way with words that few could understand, at least when it came to the verbal thing. In writing, most were well aware of his skills as a wordsmith, but in front of a crowd of strangers, Jess could clam up faster than anybody Rory had ever met. It was always been different when they were alone. He rarely failed to say the right thing to her, just exactly what Rory needed to hear, even if not always what she wanted.

"You asked about the book," she said, sniffing some to keep the tears at bay. "It's done. At least, it's as done as I can do by myself. There were delays, for obvious reasons, and less obvious ones. My mom's part of the story seemed to come easy, even the start of mine, but later... It got complicated, and I got emotional," she admitted, blushing as she recalled how stupid she had felt for a while there. "Anyway, the first draft is done, and I've done a little editing myself. It could use a professional eye though, if the offer still stands?"

"Always," Jess assured her, finding her a smile at last. "Although I think professional might be pushing it."

"Jess, come on. You've worked at Truncheon more than ten years now. What you don't know about editing and publishing isn't worth knowing."

He might have answered that with something smart and quippy if their attention wasn't wholly taken by Jacob stirring in Rory's arms then. She adjusted her hold on him, rocking him gently and shushing him back to sleep. Jess couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he watched her.

"I don't know what you were so worried about. You're a natural," he told her easily.

"It's not always so easy," she admitted. "I'm guessing you don't want to..." she said, making a half-assed attempt at offering the chance to hold the baby and they both knew it.

"I don't really... I'd probably drop him or something," he said, shaking his head, before seeing the disappointment cloud her beautiful blue eyes, "but hey, if you're willing to risk it, hand him over."

Rory laughed, she couldn't help it. At least the joke he made broke some of the tension as she got up and carefully guided both the baby and Jess' arms until they came together in harmony.

Jess tried not to tense up, tried not to think of this kid as the reason he couldn't easily be with Rory. It wasn't Jacob's fault he had been born, and certainly not the kid's choice that his father was some dick that didn't care enough. It was easy to forget as he looked down at the perfect little bundle in his arms. Jacob was going to have dark hair, and hopefully his mother's eyes. That would help.

"Is it weird if I say he kinda looks like Lorelai?" he said then, realising with a frown that it was true.

"You're not the first to make that comment," Rory noted, leaning back on the swing beside him and apparently enjoying the view of Jess holding her son. "It's weird, because I thought I looked enough like Mom that people would say Jacob looked like me, but no, he's just like Grandma Lorelai."

"Oh, I'll bet she loves that title."

"I got her a T-shirt with it written on the front in glitter. She's adjusting."

Jess laughed at the picture in his head that conjured. He really hoped the reality was as good, and that he got to see it before this visit was over. When his attention went back to the baby, his smile never wavered. The kid was cute, and he was going to be a Gilmore, not a Huntzberger. Maybe in time it would be easy to forget where and what he came from. Jess suspected Jacob would be better off if that were true.

"Looks like you're a natural too," said Rory, watching him. "You never met Doula when she was this small, did you?"

"Nope," Jess confirmed. "This is kind of a first for me. Not as scary as I thought," he admitted.

Rory laughed lightly mostly because it kept her from crying. This could be a perfect moment, a perfect scene, a family photograph just waiting to happen. It was a shame it wasn't that simple, that the three of them were not the happy little unit they might appear to some unsuspecting viewer. Rory swallowed hard and thought of other things.

"Are you okay for a second while I go get the manuscript?"

"Um, yeah, I guess." Jess nodded, watching her get up and hurry to the back door.

When she was gone he let out a breath he hardly knew he had been holding. This was tougher than he thought in some ways, easier in others. It was so strange to be here like this, to see Rory as a mother. She looked hardly any different to the day they met here in this house, and yet so very much had changed.

"You're one lucky kid, you know that right?" he told the baby in his arms then. "You have got pretty much the greatest mom in the world. Some people will tell you you're missing out, because of the absent father thing, but trust me, you're better off. I'm not exactly the best example for how kids like us turn out, but Rory is. Your mom is amazing. I never met a woman as incredible as her, and I don't think I ever will. You'll be just fine with her, and your Grandma Lorelai, and Luke. And I'll be around too, as much as I can. You're never gonna be out on your own wondering why nobody cares, Jacob. That's not gonna happen to you."

Jess didn't hear the back door open and close again. Rory made sure he didn't. She had gotten as far as the threshold when she heard him talking and knew he could only be speaking to her son.

It would be a good ten minutes more before she had enough composure to face Jess, and even then, Rory wasn't sure how she didn't confess to hearing all he had said. He spoke of her being so amazing but Rory knew now more than ever that the word applied way more to him than anyone else. He had been everything she asked of him and more these past few months, and still he kept on helping her, supporting her. If what he said to Jacob was anything to go by, he didn't plan on stopping any time soon. Rory wasn't sure she deserved all of this, but damn it, she was going to try.