AN: Hey guys! Oh my gosh have you seen all those new trailer snippets?! AAAAHHH! Just makes it all the more real that the revival is a week from today! Oh my gosh I am so excited! OK, so back to the story. I am currently working on chapter seven of this, so I hope I'm at a good pace, and since next week is Thanksgiving I'll have soooo much time to work on this! When I'm not screaming about the revival of course! Well, happy reading and please please please review! They keep me going!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Jess decided to go home a bit earlier that day. He knew he should work, but he hadn't told the guys why he couldn't go out with them for drinks. That was a can of worms he did not want to open, and as long as he was at work they would keep pestering him. So, his best decision was to go home. He stepped through the door and was met with annoyed groaning.

It confused him, so Jess tentatively shuffled into the living room. In front of him was the oddest thing he had ever seen. Rory was sitting crisscrossed on the couch; two laundry baskets by her side. One full of rumpled clothes, the other neatly folded clothes. In the baby carrier was Lola, sleeping peacefully. On the TV was some show or other, but it had Rory completely enamored. Her jaw was dropped in a defensive and surprised way, and Jess had to keep from laughing.

She was watching a soap opera.

And she was doing laundry, but that was beside the point. Rory freakin' Gilmore was watching a soap opera, and getting extremely into it. Jess cleared his throat, finally gaining her attention. Her head shot up, another hilarious expression gracing her features. He could no longer hold it in; the writer busted out laughing. Rory blushed profusely, throwing a pair of sweatpants his way. "Are you doing my laundry?"

"I got bored!" She exclaimed. Jess only laughed harder. "And when was the last time you did laundry, Mister? I'm surprised you had a clean outfit to go to work in." She harrumphed before grabbing another shirt to fold. He rolled his eyes good naturedly, dodging when she hit him with a towel that had somehow ended up there.

"So, what'd you do today?" He joked. Rory threw her arms out, gesturing to all the laundry she had been doing. It made him chuckle softly. Jess stooped down to pick up a now awake Lola, who was looking around the room with her bright blue eyes. He was growing extremely fond of the baby after only two days. It probably helped that her mother was someone whom he had once loved.

They continued to sit in the glow of the TV. Rory folding laundry; Jess keeping Lola's attention for as long as possible. It was oddly domestic. "You could come with me to work tomorrow…" He wondered aloud. The blue eyed woman stopped her folding and turned to watch him. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Lola's smiling face, and she had to admit that he was incredibly sweet with the baby.

"Um, that would be fun." She returned to folding as soon as his eyes fell on her face. She hadn't noticed his change of concentration until Lola whined, and Jess was still staring at her intently. He had a slight smirk on his face, turning his attentions back to the baby.

"Just the diaper." He smelled near Lola's bum. Rory giggled when he scrunched his nose in disgust. "Come on, Blondie. Let's get you all cleaned up!" He cooed in a baby voice. The brunette smiled brightly watching him interact with her daughter. She repressed a few more giggles from hearing his baby voice; she never thought Jess would ever use a voice like that.

Rory reached for the take-out menu that she had been looking at before Jess had come back. She had been thinking about ordering soon, and now seemed like the best time. She called, ordering almost all of the chicken section when Jess walked back in. Lola was once again smiling, and Rory eagerly held her close. "Chinese good?" She asked after hanging up the phone.

The brown eyed man nodded and grabbed a laundry basket. He took the basket to his room, and caught a bit of Rory's one sided conversation to Lola upon his return. "You like it here huh, Baby?" She now was using the same baby voice he had moments before. Lola gurgled in response. "Me too. And Jess likes you, huh? But of course he would, cause you're the cutest!" She pressed a kiss to Lola's soft blonde hair. "Mwah!" She smacked her lips loudly.

Rory was brought from her attention when the delivery man knocked on the door. She didn't have time to place Lola in her seat, so she took her with her. She continued using the breathy tone, and Jess almost lost it when she used the voice on the delivery man. "I, uh… Sorry," Rory blushed.

"I got it, Ror." Jess smoothly stepped in. She nodded, and began talking in her baby voice now that no one would judge her. "Sorry, man. She's been home alone all day. She's still getting used to talking to adults." He didn't register how domestic that had sounded. The delivery man nodded shyly, took the money, and left quickly. Jess headed towards the kitchen to get forks and spoons, holding in his laughter when he saw Rory shaking on the couch.

Her face was bright red, and she was shaking from holding back her laughter. Eventually, the man lost it, sending the both of them into loud roars. They quieted down when Lola protested in her shrill way. "I'm gonna need to find a new place that delivers," He chuckled. Rory nodded, still laughing uncontrollably. The shaking of her body seemed to have calmed down Lola all on its own. One less thing for them to worry about.

With Jess now in the room, Rory decided she should probably change the channel to something other than soap operas. She was currently flipping through the channels while eating her kung pow chicken. Lola was peacefully watching from her car seat. The young mother stopped on a rerun of The X-Files. She hid her face into the crook of Jess's neck. "This one is so sad!"

He watched as a little girl was quarantined while Scully ran around frantically. He remembered this one. The X-Files hadn't been his favorite show growing up, but he remembered catching a glimpse of this particular episode. He remembered wondering how someone could love their child, whom they had barely known, that much. He remembered wondering if his mother would ever do that if he had been in the hospital. Probably not.

"It made me cry when I was a kid, and it's going to make me cry now," She stood abruptly. "I'm going to put Lola to bed." Rory left Jess alone with the TV. He shifted uncomfortably on the couch as the commercials started up. Ten minutes later, the blue eyed mother returned. She returned to her place on the couch, trying to keep from crying when Scully cradled Emily in the hospital.

Her eyes welled up, and a few tears slipped down her cheeks. She brushed them aside, moaning quietly. "Every damn time." Jess pulled her close. "I guess it's worse, now that I'm a mother." Her gaze flew to the baby on the floor. The man beside her bobbed his head, looking in the same direction.

"Yeah, you really need human contact. Something Mulder lacked." He pressed a kiss to her hair, chuckling softly. He smiled when she laughed too.

XXX

The next morning, Rory got dressed and ready at the same time as Jess. She was excited to be back out into the world, and that world full of books called Truncheon. She felt a bit self-conscious wearing her cheap jeans and sweatshirt, but it was all she had. She could at least dress Lola up cute.

Jess had grinned largely when Rory brought out Lola wearing the onesie he had picked out. She was also wrapped up against the chilly December air in a fuzzy blanket Rory had bought a month before her birth. The same day she had realized she couldn't return to Yale. The same day she had had the falling out with her mother. She pushed the thoughts away when she handed Lola to Jess, so she could get the baby bag ready.

Stepping into Truncheon took Rory back nearly a year. Back when she thought she knew what she wanted, when she had a boyfriend and a good relationship with her mother, when she didn't have a baby. She was surprised when a woman, maybe a year or two older than herself, popped up, pointing at Jess. "When did this happen?" Her question resonated in the quiet store.

"This," The writer pointed between himself, Rory, and Lola. "Did not happen. Cam, this is Rory. She's staying with me for a while. And this, is her daughter Lola. Rory and I grew up together." He acted like he was talking to a two-year-old. Cam rolled her eyes and smacked his arm. She then turned to the other woman in the room.

"Nice to meet you, Rory. I'm Cam, short for Camille, not Cameron." She sent a glare Jess's way. He held up his hands after placing Lola down. Rory shook the woman's hand and smiled. Cam seemed nice enough with her light brown eyes shining at Lola. "Aww, she is so cute! I want one."

"Don't let Matt hear you say that." The man behind them chuckled.

"Nah, it's fine with me. Our children will be the color of a mocha latte." Matt then came down the stairs, wrapping an arm around Cam's waste. "Good God, Mariano. What have you done?" He asked when he spotted the baby carrier on the ground. Jess rolled his eyes and ran his hand down his face. He did catch Rory's eye; it didn't go unnoticed how she had pressed her palm to her mouth in an attempt to quiet a few giggles.

"I did nothing, it was all her!" He pointed at the very red Rory. She cowered sarcastically. "I am not related to this kid at all." He gained a few pointed looks from his friends. "I swear!"

Suddenly, a look of recognition passed over Matt's face. "I remember you!" He pointed at Rory like Jess had seconds before. "You were at the open house!" He seemed rather excited that he was remembering it that easily. He then turned his attention back to Lola. "You sure it's all hers, Mariano?" Matt asked, making Rory blush, and Jess hide his face.

"She's only a few days old. The timing and the fact that we didn't do anything means she is all hers." Jess poked Matt. He nodded, finally getting it, but then began arguing that it could all be a hoax. Cam looked over to Rory's hidden, red face, and felt sorry for her. She reached for the other woman's hand while the men bickered.

"Wanna get coffee? They'll be like this forever." She threw her head in the direction of an annoyed Jess and amused Matt. Rory nodded rapidly, picking up the baby carrier. "We're getting coffee!" Cam shouted to the men who weren't listening. Matt waved a hand absentmindedly, and Jess had his head in his hands.

The women scampered out of Truncheon, and Cam led Rory a few blocks away to a local coffee shop. She held the door open, and mother and baby entered quickly. Rory was overjoyed to be met with the strong smell of her favorite drink (the one thing she hadn't started drinking again until the day before). Cam moved to sit at a window table, and waited for the other woman to join her.

They made small talk for a few minutes until their orders were placed (Rory had to sadly order decaf again, but it was better than nothing). "So how do you know Jess?" Cam finally asked the question that had been weighing on her heavily. Rory nearly choked on her coffee.

"We, uh, we grew up together. In Stars Hollow." She managed, though her throat felt unnaturally raw. The dark-skinned woman across from her harrumphed.

"Did you guys date, or anything?" She already guessed the answer from how hesitant Rory had been.

"Yeah, our senior year of high school. But he went off to California without telling me, and it was over. Then he came back to town that winter, told me he loved me, ran off, and I didn't see him 'til the end of my freshman year. He asked me to run away with him… Then I didn't see him until last November when he told me he wrote a book, and then again at the open house. We kissed, I messed it up royally, and here we are…" She trailed. Rory hadn't told anyone the whole story before, and here she was spilling her guts to a near stranger.

Cam sat back a bit farther in her chair, her eyebrows furrowed. She opened her mouth to say something before clamping it shut. She did it a few more times before finally sputtering out, "W-why did you go to him?" She was rather curious, and it surprised Rory how easily she could reply to the woman.

"I don't even know. I mean, he's always been Jess. He always pushed me to do the things I needed to do. I currently don't have the best relationship with my family, and he's always been there. I knew he wouldn't judge me, not like my family did…" She couldn't think of any other reason, but she could tell the brown eyed woman on the other side of the table was mulling over a few other reasons. Rory waited for her reply, but was drawn from her thoughts when Lola elicited a squeak. The mother smiled when her daughter immediately calmed being in her arms.

Cam still didn't say anything, but she did smile at the two of them brightly. They finished off their coffees, exchanging little anecdotes and laughing like they had been friends for years. Occasionally, Cam would squeeze and love on Lola. "Looks like they should probably be done bickering now." The slightly older woman joked. Rory laughed lightly, placing Lola back in her carrier. They continued to joke and banter all the way back to Truncheon.

When they entered, they were ambushed by Jess. "Where were you?" The worry was evident in his voice. The women exchanged a confused glance. "I thought you went somewhere, and something or someone happened." His gaze was soft, and Rory had to keep from melting. She pulled him in for a hug, and Cam's knowing look was not ignored by the young mother.

"We got coffee," Cam butted in. "You would have known that if you and Matt weren't fighting forever!" She exasperated dramatically. Jess rolled his eyes in response and reached down to take Lola from her seat. His overdramatic friend feigned a content sigh, moving her eyes between the two ex-lovers.

"Whatever, I have to go meet with a writer." He returned the baby to her mother, throwing his hand up in mock annoyance. He turned to Rory, who was beaming down at Lola. "I'll see you in a few." He bent a bit further to smile at the bright eyed baby. "Bye, Blondie!" His voice raised a few octaves, and he placed his hand on her shock of blonde hair.

Cam shot her new friend another look which she cowered underneath. "I'm not saying anything!" She held up her hands, backing away towards the stairs. Rory let out a sigh and picked up her daughter. She smiled up at her mother, and Rory took that as the fact that she liked it here. Maybe she had made the best decision of her life by asking for Jess's help.

Her thought was proven true when he came back an hour later, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead when he thought she was sleeping. He turned his back, and she smiled profusely. Definitely a good decision.