Chapter 4: Hollow of the Apes
It was the day of Rory's first doctor's appointment since learning of her pregnancy. Luke and Lorelai willingly went with her; Jess was conscripted into going.
As the DNA results were obtained and then sent for analysis, Jess waited very nervously. Should he be nervous? He had done nothing wrong….. had he?
At last the doctor returned. He addressed Jess. "Mr. Mariano, our testing shows that you are the baby's father. Congratulations."
Jess about fell out of his chair. No….. no…..
It had happened once. It had been hasty and hazy, but he knew it did happen.
One evening in late summer, Luke and Lorelai had gone out for the evening. Jess had visited Rory at home to keep her company. Further discussion had been put towards Rory's potential book, but conversation had soon turned to Rory's financial concerns. As he had that day in the Stars Hollow Gazette offices, Jess had offered to lend her the money. Overwhelmed, Rory had impulsively kissed him. One thing had led to another, eventually leading to the pair having sex on Lorelai's couch. All had been cleaned up by the time Rory's mom and Jess's uncle returned.
Oh, and then there was that moment a few weeks ago in the Gilmore kitchen. Rory's decision to write the book had led to sharing drinks to celebrate. Inhibitions went down like ninepins, leading to another round on the kitchen counter.
Either of these two encounters had now resulted in a conception.
The doctor left the family alone to discuss things. The Gilmores and Jess exited to the lobby. Jess shakily turned to find his uncle giving him a look of pure stone. He was going to die. He was going to die at his uncle's hands.
"I just want you to know that even though you lied to me, revenge is not an idea we promote in my house." Luke told Jess.
Jess sighed with relief. Maybe he would get out of being murdered after all. "Oh. Oh, that's good."
"But we're not in my house….. are we?" Luke hissed, getting right into Jess's face.
"No….."
Luke suddenly let out a purely animal growl and lunged for his nephew. The two men tumbled out of the lobby and into the parking lot. In the struggle, Jess was launched headfirst into the side of Lorelai's Jeep Wrangler. Amazingly, he was only dazed. Jess staggered to his feet, now mad.
"OK! COME ON! YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?!" Jess came at Luke, but the elder man slugged him with a good punch to the face. The young Mariano probably should have known better than to pick a fight. Once upon a time, Luke had kicked the living shit out of Christopher, in a duel over Lorelai many Christmases ago. Regardless, Jess recovered quickly and tackled his uncle to the pavement, wailing on him again and again.
Although there was probably not anything more entertaining than watching an uncle and nephew try to kill each other, the fact remained that…. there was still an uncle and nephew trying to kill each other. So thinking, Lorelai and Rory rushed out of the hospital screaming, trying to pull the men apart.
"Luke! Stop it!"
"Jess! Don't!"
But someone else broke off the fight. A third pair of hands suddenly managed to wrench Jess off of Luke….. only to then send a giant punch into the former's stomach.
"THAT'S FOR KNOCKING UP MY DAUGHTER, YOU PUNK!"
Rory stared. "Daddy?"
Christopher had joined the fray, having been invited by Lorelai as a kind of peace offering. Or at least, what had been expected to be a peace offering. This, however, was anything but peaceful.
Jess looked between Rory's two father figures. He was trapped like a rat. Should he try to run? He made a break for it. Flight won out over fight. But neither Christopher nor Luke were having it.
"Box him out; box him out!" Christopher called, as if he was a coach at a basketball game. Working together, the former rivals managed to corner Jess against Luke's truck. Jess was about to give his last words when he was inevitably prompted, when Rory suddenly jumped between all three.
"STOP! No more!"
"Rory…." Christopher tried to placate.
"Don't 'Rory' me! Daddy….. you're drunk." Christopher blinked, wondering how his daughter could have figured that out. "Go home. Go home to Gigi."
All of a sudden, a fourth figure broke the stalemate, diving for Jess and knocking him against the truck. It was Logan, whom Rory had called for on the possibility that he was the father. The Huntzberger heir had overheard everything.
"YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH! CHEATING WITH MY GIRLFRIEND!"
"Hey!" Luke now worked to pull the younger males apart.
"ENOUGH!" Everyone froze. Lorelai was standing in the empty parking lot, her eyes blazing with rage. She began pointing at each man in turn, barking out orders. "Logan: go home! Christopher: you go home! This doesn't concern either of you! Luke: one more punch, and we are getting a divorce! Jess…" All she could do was shake her head in disappointment.
Exhausted, everyone went home and their separate ways.
A/N: I did not really want to wait until all the reviews came in by 11:59. So, I made my decisions based on the ones so far. Hope you all like it!
