Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls.
Hey, guys, I know it's been a while, but I just wanted to say I am sorry. Life has been hectic and I appreciate you guys for staying with me. I will be posting more, hopefully, really soon.
Jess hesitantly knocked on the door to the house for the second time in two nights. It was even scarier the second night, just because of what happened the night before, even though he and Rory had talked about it this afternoon didn't make it any less awkward..
"It's open!" Rory yelled from the living room where she was holding Madeline. She wanted to be near Jess when he entered the house, playing peacemaker between her mother and Jess.
Jess walked into the room and smiled when he saw Rory sitting there. She smiled too, and then got up and hugged him, putting Madeline down first, however.
"Mom, Luke, Jess is here!" she shouted into the kitchen.
"Oh, no, I didn't hear the door open," Lorelei said sarcastically from the kitchen she stood in with her husband. Luke shot her a glare. "What?"
"Just…try to be nice tonight. Last night wasn't his fault," he said, stirring his pasta sauce.
"But it's so hard."
"It isn't when you realize that your granddaughter made a mistake and you realize you are not the perfect example of a mother and daughter pair."
Jess looked at Rory, who had her eyebrows raised. They looked at each other and entered the kitchen. Rory put her daughter in the high chair and sat down herself as Luke dished out the penne and sauce evenly onto everyone's plates.
Dinner was tense, to say the least. Last night's tension still clouded over dinner, occasional looks at Madeline made the baby nervous, however, when Jess spoke. Plus, the fight between Luke and Lorelei was still in the air.
Finally, Lorelei put her fork down and said, "What do you mean Rory and I aren't the perfect example of a mother and daughter pair?"
"I just meant that both of you guys have made mistakes in your relationship, that's all," Luke said, focused more on his pasta than his wife.
"And how does that relate last night, exactly?"
"Let's be honest here, her father was gone most of her life, popping in and out every now and then, new stepmother, half-sister. Madeline rarely sees her father and will have a new sibling in just a few months. I'm sure Rory hasn't been the perfect daughter and neither will Maddie."
"But Rory never called anybody else 'Daddy'," Lorelei pointed out.
"Listen, all I'm saying is that she made a mistake and surely we'll all laugh about it in years to come, but right now, let's enjoy this pasta," Luke said calmly.
"Who wants more peas?" Rory blurted out. She turned to Jess. "Jess?"
"Oh, yeah, totally," Jess said, taking the bowl of peas from Rory and scooping some onto his plate.
"Jess!" Madeline yelled and clapped.
The tension was lowered slightly when Madeline didn't say the "D" word, but that didn't make Lorelei and Luke's argument less important.
Luke and Jess just sat, watching back and forth as the married couple fought about Rory, Lorelei and Madeline.
"STOP IT!" Rory shouted finally, having enough of the yelling. "Maddie made a mistake. She obviously has learned from it, we're talking to Logan tomorrow, she knows who her father is, and she knows it isn't Jess. She's still learning. Yes, all of us Gilmore girls have made mistakes, but we've all learned from them. So let's shut up and have a nice dinner."
That shut the entire room up. Jess shot her a congratulatory smile and Rory blushed, smiling back, something that didn't go unnoticed by Lorelei.
Dinner was quiet the rest of the night. Luke and Rory tried to get Jess to stay for a movie, but he claimed that he had had a long day of riding horses and needed to get work done back in his room.
"The whole reason for this trip was so you could get away from work," Luke debated.
"Yeah, but the guys need me to help on something. They've been texting all night for this one thing," Jess said.
"Jess, just stay for two hours. Just a quick movie," Rory offered.
"I'm good, thanks. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast, Lorelei and I'll stop by at the newspaper to actually see you in action, and maybe read some of that book?"
Rory and Lorelei nodded and Luke gave his nephew a hug. All three waved goodbye.
Rory carried Maddie into her bedroom, not once looking back at her mother and step-father. Not once caring that tomorrow she had to face Maddie's father. Not once caring that she was crying.
Her mother had, once again, ruined a perfectly good night. And she knew that she had to make it up to her ex soon, or he might run before she figured out if she wanted him or not.
In the car on the way back to the inn, Jess got into his car. He took one last look at the Gilmore residence and drove back to the quaint place he was staying. He parked in a tight space, and looked both ways as he got out of the car, ready to cross the street.
Street lamps were on and he saw no cars in sight. Well, until a car came barreling down the gravel road, the driver drunk as could be, and Jess didn't get out of the way fast enough.