Jess talks to a little girl
Disclaimer: Work of fiction. Don't own anything. Yada, yada.
Author's Note: sighs It has been a while, hasn't it? But I'm so not the most reliable person in the world. Heck, I'm posting this tonight, and chances are that by the time I get around to mailing people on the mailing list they'll already have read this chapter.
Thanks to all the reviewers. I don't like to do individual replies (because I blab way too much and it detracts from the story), but I do appreciate them immensely. I love how you all hate Paul. Yes he is a jerk, and in my opinion, worse than Dean… Rory really knows how to pick 'em, doesn't she? Even when it's me doing the choosing.
Chapter 3: A need for Nine Stitches
Rory sighs as she wakes. The bed is still slightly warm beside her, but Paul is no longer in the room. It had taken longer than expected for Paul to return the night before, so Rory had retired to bed after cleaning the kitchen. Rory rises from the bed slowly. She pulls on her dressing gown and makes her way to the kitchen. The sight warms her heart.
Dani is seated at the kitchen table in her pink cow pyjamas. She has a plastic cup half full of orange juice beside her and a nibbled slice of toast with raspberry jam smeared on it, and consequently, her. "Good morning, mommy," she calls happily.
Paul is standing at the stovetop frying eggs, bacon and tomatoes. He completes the second half of a perfect Sunday morning picture.
"Good morning, Dani," Rory greets her daughter, kissing her gently on the forehead. Rory wipes the jam from her lips with her left hand before approaching Paul.
He turns to greet her with a stiff smile; a sign that he hasn't yet forgiven her for whatever it is she's done wrong. She kisses him sweetly on the cheek anyway. He gently encircles her waist with his right arm and returns the small peck. Rory relaxes. Maybe he has forgiven her after all.
"It smells delicious," Rory comments with a deep inhale.
"But not as great as Luke's, right?"
The mention of her stepfather's name brings Rory's thoughts to his nephew. Her eyes drift shut as she imagines a different arm that once held her securely around the waist.
"Rory?" Paul queries, bringing her from her pleasant thoughts.
Rory fakes a yawn and stretches slightly. "You know it's just as good."
"Right," Paul says sceptically.
"What you lack in culinary skill is more than made up for in husbandly love."
Paul smiles genuinely down at her before removing his arm and switching off the gas. "Is 'husbandly' even a word?"
"Yes," Rory laughs. "As the resident literary buff-"
"And writer of New York's finest column," Paul interrupts.
"That too," Rory acknowledges with a smug smirk. "As I was saying, it is my decree that 'husbandly' is a word, despite what any dictionary may say to the contrary."
Paul still has an eyebrow raised in questioning.
"Seriously, honey. It's a word."
Paul places the fried breakfast onto two plates, and Rory grabs toast from the toaster.
"Come on, chickadee," Paul says, leading Rory to the breakfast table.
"That's what you call Dani," Rory protests futilely. She sits beside her daughter and her husband places a plate before her.
"Mommy," Dani interrupts Rory before she can take a knife to her bacon. She gets out of her chair and stands beside her mother. "I'm done. Can I watch Miss Sparkles now?"
Rory observes her daughter's jam-streaked face.
"I think we need to clean your face, first," Rory states.
"No!" Dani exclaims.
"Listen to your mother, Danielle," Paul commands icily.
"Yes daddy," Dani says glumly.
Rory cannot bear this look on her daughter's face. "Why didn't you want me to help you clean your face?" she asks.
"Because I can do it myself," Dani states.
Rory is sceptical of this proclamation but decides to see what will happen anyway. "Well, all right, then. Just don't forget to show mommy when you're done."
Dani lights up. "Thanks mommy."
Dani rushes off for her first bathroom adventure by herself.
"Are you sure you should let her do that by herself?" Paul asks Rory from across the breakfast table.
"Why not?" Rory asks, slicing her bacon.
"She's only three," Paul states. "She's not tall enough to turn the taps on by herself."
"She'll manage," Rory shrugs. "She has a stool."
"What if she turns the faucets on too much and floods the bathroom?"
"I'll mop it up?"
"And if she slips and cracks open her head and dies?"
Rory glares at her husband. "Would you stop being so melodramatic, Paul? She's just gone to the bathroom to wash her face. The worst thing that's going to happen is that it's still dirty when she comes out."
Paul eyes Rory with a frown. "Sometimes I worry about your priorities, Rory."
"Excuse me? My priorities? You're the one that's away on business half the time."
"And why am I always away on business? So that we can live here, in this house."
Rory's eyes narrow. "It's not as though this place is a mansion. My salary isn't that low. Don't go playing 'I make the bigger sacrifice' with me, mister." Suddenly Rory wasn't hungry anymore.
"Sorry, alright. It's just that whenever I think about when Dani was really little."
Rory stands. "You did not just bring that up."
"Rory, honey, please. Sit down."
"No," Rory states firmly. "You cannot bring things like that up. I'm a completely different person now. I wouldn't do that."
"I know, sweetie. I know."
"Don't you be all patronising to me, Paul!" Rory points a finger at him.
"You think I'm being patronising?" Paul is furious. "It's because I'm a father. And if you were half the parent I am, you'd realise that we cannot be having this argument now."
"Not now, huh?" Rory asks. "When, then? When you make time for it in your busy schedule? Why are you home early, anyway? I was looking forward to an extra couple of days just me, and Dani."
"Excuse me for thinking my wife would be glad to see me a few days earlier because our client decided not to sue."
"Decided not to sue?" Rory queries. "Or decided to drop you as their lawyer?"
"That was below the belt," Paul's face is slowly turning red.
"Face it Paul, you're a crappy lawyer." She softens slightly, "I didn't marry you because you were a good one. I married you because I was in love with you."
"And I married you because I thought you'd support me. I guess I was wrong about that."
Rory starts to tear up. "I do support you," she states sadly.
"Maybe you did, but these days, I don't know anymore."
Tears leak from Rory's eyes. "I want to support you Paul."
"Funny way you have of showing it. I go away for less than a week and already you bring old boyfriends home."
"What?" Rory is incredulous. Where did that come from?
"Jess and I had a little talk."
"A little talk?" Rory shakes her head. "Is that why you took so long getting home? Because you were pumping him for information? And I thought you offered to take him home because otherwise he'd be walking in the rain."
"Rory," Paul begins, taking a step around the table.
"No," Rory says, holding a hand up and cradling herself with the other. "You don't have the right. It's his personal life. He doesn't have to tell you about it just because you're a little worried that your wife's been cheating on you. Do you really think I would do that?"
"I don't," Paul says quickly, taking another step forward.
"Then what, Paul? Because that's what it sounded like to me."
Paul's third step brings him right in front of Rory. She takes a step backwards. "I get insecure," he tries to shrug it off.
"Insecure, is that how you explain it? Maybe if you were around more often you'd feel secure."
"Don't you understand, Rory? It kills me to be here."
"What?" Rory is utterly confused, and heartbroken. "You hate being with me."
"That's not what I meant."
"No." Everything is suddenly clear in Rory's mind. "You do. You hate it here. That's why you're always away. I don't know why and frankly I don't care. Get out, Paul."
"You want me to get out?" Paul seems perplexed.
"You hate being here. So go away."
"It kills me to be away from you, too. Away from Dani."
"Alright, fine." Rory gathers herself and turns to leave the room.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving. You won't leave. It's clear that one of us has to go. Normal, functioning, happy couples don't have arguments like this." She shakes her head as she heads upstairs.
Paul follows. "Rory, don't go."
"I have to," she states simply as she enters their bedroom. She begins packing by grabbing an overnight bag.
"You can't go. What about Dani?"
"You said it yourself. You're a great father. You don't need me." She grabs a change of clothes from her closet and shoves them into the bag. The old, ordered Rory would never have dealt with this situation very well.
"She needs a mother."
Rory rolls her eyes to herself as she begins slipping out of her pyjamas. "I'm not going away forever."
Paul breathes a sigh of relief. "Then when are you coming back? I have to be in to work tomorrow."
Rory shrugs as she slips on a pair of jeans. "I don't know when I'll be back."
"But what am I going to do?"
Rory looks at him as she buttons her shirt. "Here's the problem. This isn't about you. My going away is all about me."
Paul opens his mouth to protest but Rory interrupts again.
"So, super-dad. Shouldn't you be seeing whether or not our daughter has cracked her skull open on the bathroom floor?"
"I'm sure she's fine," Paul dismisses her comment. "I'm more worried about you."
Rory heads into the bathroom and grabs some toiletries. Then she takes her planner from the bedside table, and grabs her purse.
"Goodbye, Paul."
He cannot think of a word to say to stop her.
She leaves the room and heads downstairs to her daughter.
"Can I watch Miss Sparkles now?" a damp, ignorant Dani asks.
"Sure, sweetie," Rory says, kneeling so that she is eye-level with her daughter. "I'm going to go away for a little while. So get daddy to put the tape in."
Dani nods, not understanding that a little while isn't going to be a twenty minute trip to the grocery store.
"I love you," Rory states, kissing her gently on the cheek. She turns away before Dani can see the tears falling down her face.
But Dani doesn't allow her mother to leave. She races after her and hugs her tightly around the waist, as though somewhere in her mind she does understand that her mother might be gone for a long time. "Bye, mommy."
"Goodbye, sweetheart."
With the innocence of her youth, Dani runs back to the living room as soon as her mother hugs her back, eager to watch a rerun of her favourite television series.
Rory heads to the garage, throws her bags onto the backseat and leaves the house. She turns a corner, pulls over and then begins to cry.
She sobs for a long while before finally composing herself, wiping the tears from her eyes. She needs somewhere to stay where she'll be accepted without question. Rory knows exactly the place, but it's going to take some time, and mental awareness, to get there.
8 8
Jess finds himself waking with the sun. He never used to be a morning person, prizing sleep far too much, but these days he finds the extra hour refreshing. It is a time for him to gather himself before facing the day. Today he really needs some gathering.
A moment later, Jess rises and heads straight for the bathroom. He showers and dresses, then thinks about breakfast. Since it's a Sunday, he has time for a fairly large and long breakfast, but Jess has never liked eating much in the morning. He has a bowl of granola and banana slices, and a glass of orange juice for extra vitamins. He heads out to retrieve the paper, then retires to his back room – an east-facing one that's always nice in the mornings. Jess reads for an hour, entertaining himself with Rory's column. She's outdone herself this week, and Jess feels just a little more cheery for having read it.
At a quarter to ten, Jess grabs his jacket from the hall closet, after carefully placing the newspaper on the coffee table in the front sitting room, and heads out. Two streets away is the local Catholic church, St Dominic's. Jess walks in and is greeted warmly by the priest.
"Good morning, Jess," the priest smiles.
Jess doesn't return the smile, but he nods politely. "Good morning, Father." Around him, various people are drifting into the church. Some people ignore Jess and the priests. Some greet the priest with a friendly hello, and then there are some who greet both the priest and Jess.
A man with greying hair and bright blue eyes in his mid-fifties greets is one such person. "Good morning Father Ryan, Jess."
Jess nods in turn. "How are you, Jake?"
"Not bad, not bad," Jake smiles.
"Well, you boys had best be getting inside," Father Ryan smiles. Jake is older than the priest by at least ten years, and Jess is not much his junior, but Father Ryan has always called the pair his boys.
"We'll see you after Mass," Jake says. He heads straight in, but Jess takes a detour, grabbing a collection plate from another friendly usher.
Jake is seated towards the front of the church, at the left, waiting for Jess. Jess blesses himself before entering, and genuflects before entering the pew. It is the usual Sunday tradition. He kneels for a moment, silently praying before the Mass begins.
After Mass, Jake and Jess greet Father Ryan again. The courtyard is now full as various families mill about, catching up with old friends.
"Good Homily today, Father," one man comments to Father Ryan, as his small son high-fives the priest.
"What did you think?" Father asks the child.
With the naivety of someone so small he asks "What's a Homily?"
The priest laughs, and leaves if for the boy's father to explain.
Jess notes that the man is having difficulty explaining this. "It's not that difficult," he comments to Jake. "It's the boring part."
Jake smirks. "I thought that was called a Mass."
"Is that really what you boys think of my sermon?" Father Ryan asks.
"We're thinking from the point of view of a small child, Father," Jake explains. "You must admit that it's more difficult to engage with what you're saying."
"Hence why they're provided with a soundproof room and a box of toys," Jess adds.
Father Ryan chuckles. "So what did you boys think?"
"You definitely bring a new perspective to the meaning of the Eucharist," Jake states.
"And managed to steer clear from the stereotypical, obvious, 'God provides', 'Love thy neighbour', 'Do unto others'," Jess adds, blandly.
The three men laugh together. It is an old joke. The first was something Father Ryan once stated as his goal for all sermons. The latter was something Jake had stated the first time he was asked about the Homily. He'd fallen asleep during it and was merely grasping at straws.
"Well," Father Ryan states. "I'll leave you boys to get some lunch. I have a Baptism to take care of."
"If you're missing a godfather," Jake jokes. "Jess is more than willing to offer his services. After all, we all know how great he is with children."
Jess doesn't find this amusing. Instead he is drawn back into thinking about yesterday when he was alone with Dani. Rory didn't seem to think he'd done too badly with her. "Goodbye Father," Jess says, shaking himself. "We'll see you next week."
"Goodbye boys," Father Ryan waves as Jess and Jake leave the courtyard.
Half an hour later, the pair are seated at a table in a small café a few streets away.
"So you ran into your old girlfriend?" Jake clarifies as Jess recounts the previous day's events.
"Yeah. And the husband wasn't too friendly. A bit overprotective, like her first boyfriend."
A spark lights in Jake's eye. "Didn't you once say you stole her away from said boyfriend?"
Jess frowns. "I have no intention of stealing her away from her husband. I haven't even thought of her in years."
"So she's not the same Rory Gilmore that writes that column you read every week?"
"How did you-?" Jess begins to ask before changing his mind. I don't want to know. It's not Gilmore anymore. It's Bancroft."
"Many women choose to change their names," Jake dismisses it, thinking the discussion over. He lifts the menu to examine their dining prospects. "I think I'll have focaccia."
Jess doesn't even pretend to see the menu. "She has a daughter. Why didn't anyone tell me that she had a daughter? Her daughter is friends with my sister."
Jake looks at Jess. This is a side of his friend that he's never seen before.
"Would you believe that Jacqui gets Dani, Rory's daughter, to call her Aunt Jacqui?"
"Aunt Jacqui?" Jake queries. "Why?"
"They're second cousins." Jess ponders this statement for a moment. "Second step-cousins? I must admit it's just the sort of thing that Jacqui would do. She was raised by my mother and TJ."
"Wait a second," Jake raises a hand. "You and Rory are related?"
"Her mother is married to my uncle. I swear I told you this before. When I went to the wedding."
"That was what, ten years ago? Do you think I cared who your uncle was marrying?"
"You're right," Jess agrees. "I'm dwelling."
Jake hadn't realised that he'd made that statement. "Anyway, I take back what I said about you and her. You're related. It's gross."
Jess finally picks up the menu and a waitress approaches.
"Are you ready to order?" she asks, pen already poised over pad.
"Jess?" Jake asks, wondering if Jess wants another minute.
"You order, I'll have picked something by then."
"Okay," Jake states. "I'll have your Jet Set Focaccia, and a lemon iced tea."
The waitress nods and turns to Jess.
"I'll have a bacon, lettuce and tomato wholemeal bagel," Jess looks to the waitress for confirmation. She looks up and indicates for him to continue. "And a lemonade."
The waitress smiles. "Your drinks will be out in a moment."
Jake looks at Jess, shaking his head. "Only you would say 'bacon, lettuce and tomato' instead of BLT."
"It's what's written on the menu," Jess protests.
Jake only smirks before changing the subject.
8 8
Rory is hungry by the time she reaches her destination. It is long past her lunchtime, and she never did eat breakfast. She pulls into the driveway of the house hoping that her mother is now at home, and not still with Luke at the diner. She rings the door bell and eight-year-old Anabelle answers the door.
"Rory!" she cries excitedly, embracing her older sister.
"Hi Ana," Rory smiles, immediately calmed. "Is mom home?"
Her sister needn't reply because Lorelai wanders in from the direction of the kitchen.
"Rory," Lorelai looks at her daughter slightly worriedly. "How unexpected."
Rory is confused. Her mother is meant to greet her in much the same way as Anabelle has. "Hi mom."
Lorelai walks forward and hugs Rory gently. "Sweetheart, where's Dani?"
Rory frowns. "Where do you think she is? She's with Paul of course."
"I thought he was still away on business."
"He came back a few days early."
"Well, that's good, isn't it?"
Rory frowns. "Not really."
Lorelai notices that Ana is still in the room. "Honey, why don't you go see what your brother is doing?"
Anabelle doesn't quite understand why she is being sent away, but goes without complaint. The older, no-longer-Gilmore girls sit on the couch together. Lorelai holds her daughter's hands comfortingly.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" she asks.
"Paul and I got into another argument this morning."
"Oh honey," Lorelai is sympathetic. "What about?"
"I don't know," Rory sighs, disentangling her fingers from her mother's and leaning back against the sofa, staring at the ceiling. "It started out about Dani, and we basically covered everything." She leans forward, elbows on knees. "He hates me, mom."
"I'm sure he doesn't," Lorelai attempts to comfort her, placing an arm around Rory.
"He does," Rory insists. "He pretty much just said it to me. He says it kills him to be there, with me."
"I'm sure he didn't mean that he hates you. Probably the complete opposite. He's in a very stressful job."
"It doesn't give him the right to treat me like that," Rory states, glumly. She is the picture of pathetic.
"No, it doesn't excuse it. But it does make it more understandable. He's not perfect."
"But he's trying to be," Rory complains. "And his version of perfect definitely isn't the same as mine."
"You're different people. That's what made you guys so great together in the first place." Lorelai sat up slightly. "You're going to have to talk to him about this, you know."
Rory sighs. "I know."
"You used to try to be perfect, too."
"Yeah…" Rory trails off, then remembers a further reason to despise her husband at the moment. "He accused me of cheating on him."
"What?" Lorelai is shocked that he would think such a thing of her daughter. Abstract hate is completely different to the accusation of infidelity.
"I met up with Jess yesterday, when I took Dani to the park."
"Jess?"
"Jess Mariano."
"Jess as in Luke's nephew, Jess?"
"Yes."
"Jess as in Liz's Jess?"
"Yes!"
"Jess as in Jacqui and Brian's older half-brother Jess?"
"Yes!" Rory exclaims emphatically, exasperated by her mother's disbelief.
"Wow," she finally processes it. "So what happened?"
It didn't take long for Rory to describe her day with Jess, though once again she left out the part where she'd been asleep for nearly half an hour. It was far more pleasant to discuss her interaction with Jess. Even their argument wasn't stressing. She'd almost forgotten that it had happened.
"A bubble fight?" Lorelai's eyes are bright with mirth. "I am so going to have to tease him about that."
Rory laughs. "If you see him again. He didn't seem too inclined towards seeing me again. And I know he likes me better than you."
"Well, I'll just store it in my catalogue. Or I'll get Luke to call him and make him come over."
"Paul drove Jess home last night. I'm sure he can drop you."
"That's the spirit!" Lorelai roars, raising her hands. "You just mentioned Paul subconsciously without flinching."
Rory smiles. Maybe she won't need to spend the night after all.
"This requires a celebratory coffee," Lorelai announced, rising. "To Luke's!"
Luke is pleased to see all his girls (and one of his boys) when they enter the diner, especially since Rory is smiling. Lorelai wanders over and they share a kiss over the counter before she says a word. "Hey Mr Diner Man."
"Not one of your more inane nicknames," Luke comments.
Lorelai smirks. "I thought I'd hold off just this once, sailor." She is pleased that she and Luke don't have the same problems that Rory and Paul have.
He gets two mugs for Lorelai and Rory and fills them with coffee. The four arrivals settle themselves onto the stools at the counter, Ana's favourite place to sit.
"You look happy," Luke comments. "Did you do something dirty without me?"
"Ew!" Rory covers her ears and shuts her eyes. "I did not need to hear a man in his fifties, who I consider a father by the way, say that to my mother."
Lorelai merely laughs. "I've rubbed off on you at last."
"Seriously, why are you back again so soon? You're going to spoil your appetites."
"A Gilmore may eat for twenty-four hours straight and never tire of food," Lorelai proclaims.
"I haven't eaten all day," Rory states, suddenly realising this.
Luke and Lorelai observe her worriedly.
"I walked out of breakfast then drove here."
Luke walks into the kitchen without another word and begins preparing something. It is late in the day, so Caesar has time off before the dinner rush.
"Mommy, I want a sundae," little William states.
"You know what, Liam? I think I'd like a sundae, too."
"Me too!" Ana shouts.
"Rory?" Lorelai inquires, standing ready to grab her children before they race out of the diner.
"Banana split with extra nuts," she states.
"Sure thing," Lorelai states, and takes the twins next door.
Rory plays with a napkin and sips her coffee as she waits for her food to come. She doesn't wait long.
Luke bustles back in and places a basket of fries before her. "Eat. The rest of your food'll be out in a minute."
A moment later, Luke comes out with a stack of pancakes and a cheeseburger.
"Pancakes?" Rory wonders.
"You said you missed breakfast," Luke explains.
Rory grins. "I love you."
Luke blushes and heads to the register to take the last customers' bills. Rory eats determinedly and is halfway through her lunch when Lorelai and the twins return with their sundaes.
"Oh no," Luke complains. "You are not eating those in here."
Lorelai pouts. "The shop doesn't even belong to Taylor anymore."
"No, Lorelai." Luke stays firm. "What will the other customers think?"
"There's no one here but us."
"There's Rory," Luke states. He knows he's fighting a losing battle when he's counting on Rory to back him up in an argument about food.
"Extra nuts?" Rory asks her mother.
Lorelai hands over the plastic container, complete with bright pink spoon. "Extra nuts," she nods.
Luke groans in frustration. He is even more disturbed when Rory begins to eat the dessert while the rest of her meal is unfinished. "You're eating dessert in the middle of your lunch."
"I wouldn't want it to melt," Rory offers in explanation. "And technically since I've only eaten my pancakes I'm between breakfast and lunch."
"Don't worry, Daddy," Ana comforts. "I'm eating healthy. I asked for strawberry. That's fruit."
"Your mother has taught you well." Luke shakes his head.
8 8
Jess arrives home in the afternoon at about three o'clock. After lunch, he and Jake took their usual stroll around town. Some Sundays they'd go and watch a movie. Or they'd make the drive into New York City. Today isn't one of those Sundays. Today is a laze about the house by yourself sort of Sunday, or so Jess thinks. So after their little walk, Jess heads straight home.
There is nothing on TV. Jess has lain in front of the television for about an hour, now, channel surfing. There is nothing to do but ponder life. Jess thinks about calling Luke, if only to complain that he'd seen Rory and he hadn't been informed that she had a daughter. While he did know that she lived in New York State, he'd never realised that she lived so nearby. And when Dani had first approached him, Jess might have known to be more careful, and left her, without caring if she started crying. It really bothers him when kids start crying. Not that he cares about their wellbeing or anything, it just irks him.
He decides against calling Luke. It is a stupid reason to call. Luke would only tease him about it. After all, why is he getting so worked up about seeing Rory again? Nothing has happened. And he'll probably never see her again. They've been living quite close together for at least a year, maybe more. He can't quite remember which holiday it was when Rory's movement to New Yorks had been brought up.
Ten minutes later, Jess decides that he is hungry and heads to the kitchen for a snack. Sticking his head into the refrigerator, he realises that there is nothing in there that he wants to eat. He contemplates leaving the house again for a moment before deciding against it. Rummaging through the pantry, he finds a packet of graham crackers and decides to eat them. Plain, of course.
He is seated in the kitchen when a foreign sound greets his ears. It is the doorbell. Jess hasn't heard it ring in a while. He's a fairly anti-social kind of guy. He doesn't receive packages often. But he can't forget the sound of a doorbell. Who knows how many he rang while working for Jake in his early twenties?
Curious, Jess heads toward the door. Looking through the window beside the door he discerns a male figure. Still confused, Jess opens the door. He sees that it is Paul, Rory's husband. Jess is immediately on guard and doesn't open the screen door.
"Yes?" he asks, raising and eyebrow, arms crossed over his chest.
Paul looks quite serious. "Can we come in?"
Before Jess can ask who 'we' is, Dani peeks out from behind her father. "Hi Uncle Jess!" she chirps.
Paul's look turns murderous.
Jess throws his hands up. "I swear that wasn't my idea." He unlocks the door, letting them in.
"Where's Rory?" Paul asks once he's inside.
"Rory?" Jess wonders. The man appears to have lost his wife.
"She left this morning after we had a disagreement. I rang Lane's and she wasn't there. And no one picked up at her mom's."
"Well she's not here," Jess becomes defensive. Paul probably doesn't even care where Rory is and is just tired of looking after his daughter.
Paul narrows his eyes. "Look, my wife is missing. I don't know where she is. She's never done this before. And yesterday, she was hanging out with you, which would make, you and me the last people to see her before the accident. I don't have your number, but I do know where you live. So I've come to see if you know anything about where she is. Do you?"
Jess shakes his head. "I have no idea where she is."
Paul seems to be on the verge of becoming aggressive, thinking that Jess is purposely withholding information.
"Uncle Jess," Dani interrupts, tugging his sleeve. "Can I watch Miss Sparkles?"
"I don't have any Miss Sparkles tapes," Jess states. "Sorry," he adds as an afterthought.
"That's okay!" she exclaims brightly. "Daddy put mine in the car."
"Why don't you ask your dad to get it for you, then?"
Paul and Dani head out to the car to retrieve the tape. Jess restrains himself from locking them out and calling the police. He can't do that to Dani, and most likely Paul would find some way to turn the whole thing against him. Instead, he heads to the living room to make sure that the room is presentable. It is, of course. The house is always immaculate. Jess knows he doesn't stay home enough, or have enough stuff to make a mess. And he doesn't ever have other people over who would make a mess.
Paul and Dani are back within minutes. Dani is skipping and carrying a stuffed giraffe. Mr Longneck, Jess recalls. He never did get to 'meet' the giraffe yesterday. Paul is carrying a pink backpack over one shoulder. It looks completely out of place. In fact, the very fact that he is with Dani, dressed in a bright yellow dress with white bows (akin to her mother's the day before), hair neatly brushed, but not fixed in any way, is out of place.
As though noticing that Jess' gaze has lingered on her hair, Dani asks "Can you fix my hair? Daddy can't tie bows."
Jess shrugs. "Sorry."
Dani looks put out. "Where's mommy? Daddy said she would be here. She needs to do my hair."
"She's not here," Jess tells her. "I haven't seen her since yesterday."
"Oh," Dani says. She looks as though she is about to cry. Definitely something Jess does not want to deal with.
Jess motions for Paul to hand him the bag. He does. Jess opens it and takes out the DVD, slipping it in the player.
"Cupcake," Paul says, as he settles his daughter onto Jess' couch. "Do you mind watching by yourself while Jess and I-?"
"Uncle Jess," she corrects.
Paul is obviously fighting back a complaint when he continues "Your uncle Jess and I are going to talk in the other room. Will you be okay in here?"
Dani nods enthusiastically, eyes already glued to the screen.
"The electronic babysitter," Jess notes before following Paul out of the room.
"I don't know where my wife is," Paul states glumly.
Jess is honestly concerned. He doesn't believe that Rory has gone for good, though.
"You said you called Lorelai. Did you call the diner?"
"The diner?"
The look on Paul's face tells Jess that he didn't even think of this possibility. "Luke's. A Gilmore's second home."
"I don't have the number for the diner."
"You know Rory and you don't have the number for the diner. How long have you been married?"
"Four years," Paul grumbles. "Do you have the diner number?"
Jess smirks. "Of course. Luke is my uncle."
"Will you get it for me, then?"
Jess loses the smirk and heads for the phone in the kitchen. He dials as soon as he gets there. No point making Paul stick around for longer than necessary.
It rings twice before Luke picks up. "Luke's," he says into the phone. He doesn't seem his usual grumpy self.
"Hey Luke," Jess says. Paul is seething, staring at the man who just walked into his life and yet seems to know his wife better than himself.
"Oh," Luke is surprised. "Hi."
"Lorelai's there, isn't she?" Jess says, knowing that this would be the only reason why he didn't greet him with his first name.
"Yeah. You want to talk to her?"
"No," Jess said. "Is Rory there?"
Jess can almost see Luke become defensive. "Why would she be here? Why do you want to talk to her?"
"Chill, Luke. I don't want to talk to her. There's a man here. His name's Paul Bancroft, I think you know him."
"Rory!" Jess can hear Luke yelling to Rory.
He hands the phone to Paul. "She's all yours," he says, before leaving the room.
He doesn't eavesdrop on their conversation and instead goes back into the living room to see what Dani is doing. She is sitting calmly, much as she was the previous day. He sits on the couch near the end. She looks up when she feels the couch shift, and smiles when she sees that it's Jess. He sits calmly and quietly for a moment before the bright singing gets to him.
"Dani?" he asks.
The little girl turns to him. A curl of hair is covering one eye. He brushes it aside before asking "Do you mind if we turn off Miss Sparkles and we read a book instead?"
Dani's eyes light up. She remembers what she was thinking yesterday when she met Jess the first time. Now seems to be the perfect time to ask him. After all, her mommy's somewhere else. Where? "Where's my mommy, Uncle Jess?"
Jess is pleased that this time he can give her a proper answer, though he is careful not to let that show. "She's in Stars Hollow with your grandma and Luke."
"Grandpa Luke," she corrects.
"With your Grandpa Luke."
Dani is no longer worried about her mother. "Will you teach me how to read, Uncle Jess?"
"That's going to take a long time, Dani," Jess says. "And I think that's something your mom's going to want to do with you."
She pouts. "She's not here now. And I want to surprise her."
"Maybe you should ask your dad, then," Jess suggests.
"He's always busy," she complains, picking at the edge of her dress.
Jess takes the remote and turns off the television and removing the Miss Sparkles disc. "I can be busy too," Jess tells her.
"What's your job?" Dani asks.
"I'm a teacher," Jess informs her.
Her eyes widen. "I'm going to be a teacher when I grow up!"
He cannot help the lopsided smile that twists his features hearing her say that. "You might not want that by the time you get to high school."
She shakes her head. "No way." She seems to come to a realisation. "Hey, you have to teach me to read. You're a teacher."
Jess seems to realise that he's not going to able to get out of this for the moment. "Let's go get a book, then."
Dani takes his hand and he leads her to the bookshelf in the next room, a sort of study.
Dani takes one look around the room. "Those are boring books," she states.
Jess looks around taking in the titles of classics, and other adult fiction. "I guess you're right. Did your dad pack any books for you in your bag?"
Dani moves her eyes in what may have be an eye-rolling motion if she were older and had perfected the movement. "Boring books. Daddy packed books I haven't read in years."
Jess is sure this is an exaggeration as she is only three years old. He tries to think of where he could find a book to read to her. "I have more books upstairs. Just wait for me here."
"'kay," she agrees. There are many shiny things in the room to hold her interest.
Jess heads upstairs mentally preparing himself for what he is going to face. When he reaches the top of the staircase, he turns right instead of left towards his bedroom. The doors on this side of the house haven't been opened in a long time. Telling himself it's only a bedroom, Jess opens the door.
The room looks as though Jess never finished packing it up when he moved into his house. There are cardboard boxes all over the room. Some of them are open. Most of them are not. An unpainted crib sits to the left, pushed towards the side of the room, its miniature mattress leaning against it. A single white bookcase is pushed against the right wall, with two boxes stacked next to it, both just labelled 'Books'. The tape has been stripped from both, but no books are set out on the shelves.
He opens the first box and peers in at the haphazard array of books inside. He reads the titles: Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Kidnapped!, and The Jungle Book are some of the titles he can clearly see. This is the wrong box. This contains the old books that once belonged to Jess, somehow saved by his mother and gifted back to him a few years ago when Jacqui found them in the attic of their Stars Hollow home.
Jess moves the box from the top of the second and steels himself for a moment before opening the box to confirm what he thinks is inside. The books in here appear more ordered than those in the previous box. Unlike those in the previous box, they also appear brand new. He doesn't look at them long. He knows that it is the right box, and being in this room is making him think of things he'd rather not think about.
He picks up the box and takes it downstairs to his study, where he'd left Dani. He found her sitting on the floor, legs outstretched before her with a large atlas open on her lap. Jess dumps the box of books by the door and swiftly sits besides, her, lifting the atlas from her lap onto his. She pouts at him, but he is only thinking that the book was far too large to be resting on her little legs.
"What were you looking at, Dani?" he asks, looking down to where the atlas is opened to the map of Australia.
"Where's Stars Hollow, Uncle Jess?"
Jess almost laughs, but doesn't to protect her pride. "Not on this page, Dani. This is a map of Australia. We live in America."
"Oh," her mouth hangs open in the shape of the sound.
"If we want to find something in an atlas, what we do is we look the place up in the index." He flips through to the back. "An index is a list of all the things in a book. And since this is an atlas, it's a list of all the places."
"Wow," Dani peered at the small print with all the different names. She pointed at one randomly. "What does that say?"
"Timbuktu," Jess reads. "But we're looking for Stars Hollow, which is over here. He drags her finger gently to the opposite page, and rests it on Stars Hollow, Connecticut, USA. "Then we turn to that page," he says, flicking to the appropriate one. "And there it is." He places his index finger on the dot labelled Stars Hollow.
"And where are we?" Dani inquires.
Jess moves his finger down to New York. There was most of a page separating the two.
"That's far," Dani comments.
"Not really." Jess is surprised that she understands the concept of scaling and space. "Look," he flips to the world map at the beginning of the atlas. "Stars Hollow and New York are right here. I don't even have to move my finger because it's already on both of them."
"Cool," Dani grins, staring at the page. "It always seems like Daddy goes far away on his trips."
"Then we need to find you a smaller map," Jess states.
Dani giggles, then notices the box that Jess dumped by the door. "What's in there?" she asks.
"Books," Jess states, putting the atlas back into its place before dragging the box towards Dani. He lets her open it and pull some of the books out. It is an assortment of picture books and short novels. There are some longer ones too, mostly classics.
"I like these books."
"That's great," Jess states. "Because you can have all of them."
She stops rifling through the box and looks up at him. "To keep?"
Jess nods. "Yes."
"Forever?"
He nods again.
She flings her arms around him. "Thank you Uncle Jess!"
Jess begins to regret giving them to her. But it is a good thing. He will have fewer reminders in his house, now. Though perhaps he should have asked Paul before giving them to Dani. "Pick a book and we can read it," he says.
She picks Goodnight Moon from the box, and Jess puts the rest of the books back before they relocate to a couch in the study and begin reading.
Just as they finish the book, Paul shouts, looking for them.
"I think it's time for you to go home," Jess states.
Dani pouts. "But I want to read another book."
"I've given you lots of books," Jess says, taking Goodnight Moon and putting it back into the box. "You can get your mommy and daddy to read them to you another time."
"If they remember," Dani pouts.
"I'll make sure they do," Jess promises, ignoring any hidden meaning behind her statement.
He picks up the box as Paul finds them.
"Come on, Dani," he says, ignoring Jess. "We're going to Stars Hollow."
"Stars Hollow?" Dani asks. "Why?"
"To go see your mommy."
Dani brightens. "Will she do my hair?"
"I'm sure she will. So come on. The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll be there."
"And I can show her all my new books!" Dani exclaims.
"New books?" Paul asks.
"Uncle Jess gave them to me." She points and Jess is remembered.
"You go get your bag, while I talk to your Uncle Jess."
"Okay," she grins, and stumbles off.
"Here," Jess says, handing Paul the box. "Kids books. She wants to read, and I had these lying around."
Paul looks in the box. "These are new."
"Yeah?" Jess wonders what Paul's point is. "Why do you have new kids books?"
Jess fumbles for a lie. "I bought them for my sister, but she'd outgrown them, or already had a copy. She doesn't like to read much, either."
"And your sister is how old?" Paul asks.
Jess is bothered by Paul's nosiness, but replies anyway. "Nine. Jacqui. You might know her."
Dani comes back in with her backpack.
"Thanks for the books, then. I guess." And with that, Paul and Dani Bancroft leave Jess's house. Never to return again.
Jess could only think good riddance.
8 8
A/N: There you go. Sighs So much drama. And I am so not good with conflict. I'm not happy with the last bit, but it's done, so we can all move on to chapter four… if only I could remember what's meant to happen in that chapter… I'll think of something, and hopefully it won't take another eight months or however long it was… I don't think it was that long yet, was it?
