A/N: Thank you all so much for the positive response to this story. I'm having a great time writing it; very few things inspiring me like Jess & Rory's relationship and all the possibilities it presents. I find Rory's pregnancy to be the biggest challenge I've ever been presented as a literati fanatic, and I hope I'm doing it justice. Enjoy!
Seven
Two weeks later
"She's perfect." Lorelai said, tears welling in her eyes as she held her granddaughter. "Like, Gerber Baby perfect."
"You literally say that every time you hold her." Rory said, setting up the changing table so she could get her daughter into a new diaper. She reached out and took her from Lorelai. "C'mon, Trix. Let's get you changed."
"What did my mom say when you told her?" Lorelai asked. Rory had named her daughter Lorelai Annabelle Gilmore, and decided to call her Trix in honor of her grandfather and his affectionate nickname for his mother.
"She cried. Then she laughed. Then she cried again." Rory said, smiling down at her daughter as she removed her old diaper. "Did she tell you she's coming in next week?"
"Unfortunately." Lorelai said, reaching out and touching Trix's hand. "As long as we have this little angel as a buffer, maybe we'll actually survive it."
"This changing table is so beautiful." Rory said. "All the furniture is. Luke is amazing."
"He certainly is." Lorelai agreed, her affection for her husband written on her face. "He's bringing the bookcases over today."
"Bookcases? Plural? How many did he make?" Rory asked, lifting Trix up and giving her a series of kisses all over her face.
"I think I convinced him to stop at three." Lorelai said.
The doorbell rang and Rory gave Trix more kisses and said, "Come on, let's go see Grandpa Luke."
Rory walked towards the front door and called, "It's open, Luke."
The door slowly opened, but it wasn't Luke standing there. It was Jess.
"Hi." Rory said, standing up a little taller and holding Trix a little closer to her chest.
"Hey." Jess said. "Luke is loading the first bookcase on the dolly. Where do you want them?"
"In Trix's room." Rory said, shifting her feet awkwardly. "Luke knows where it is."
"Trix?" Jess asked, his mouth quirking up in a smirk.
Rory's face split into a proud, loving smile as she closed the space between them. "Jess Mariano, meet Lorelai Annabelle Gilmore. More commonly known as Trix, for my grandfather."
Jess swallowed thickly and took a step forward to peer into the baby's face. She had fine, wispy blonde hairs and big blue eyes that stared up at him.
"Gilmore?" He asked, still looking at Rory's daughter. "Not Blonde Dick at Yale?"
Rory smiled wryly and shook her head as she looked at her daughter. She'd already had to answer this question for her grandmother at least five times. "No, not Huntzberger. She's a Gilmore, through and through. Can't you tell?"
"Yeah, I guess I can. Welcome to the world, Trix." Jess said quietly. He reached out to touch her, but stopped himself before he did. "I have to go help Luke."
"Ok." Rory said, forcing her face not to waver. "I'm going to go into my room and feed her. Don't leave without saying goodbye."
Jess stopped in his tracks and turned to smile at Rory over his shoulder. "You know I don't do that anymore."
"Yeah." Rory said quietly as he retreated out the door. "I know."
"Rory, you've got to come see the bookcases!" Lorelai exclaimed, opening the door and walking into Rory's bedroom.
Rory was smiling down at Trix, who had fallen asleep after eating. Rory pulled her bra back into place and said, "Here, take her while I get myself put together here."
"Babe, button-down shirts. They'll be your best friend while you're breastfeeding, I swear."
"I know, I know." Rory said, pulling her t-shirt down and straightening it. It was black with a picture of Westley and Buttercup from The Princess Bride on it. "It's just a fairy tale kind of day."
Lorelai was grinning as she snuggled Trix and said, "Come see what the boys did."
Rory followed her mom into Trix's room and gasped loudly at the sight in front of her. Three bookcases now lined the far wall, and they were absolutely perfect. They were beautifully put together, and painted white like the rest of the furniture Luke had made for Trix. The backboards behind the shelves were all covered in pages from fairy tales and children's books. Rory walked over to inspect them and saw that the sides were covered as well. She reached out to touch an illustration from Cinderella, tears filling her eyes.
"They're amazing. They're…" Tears started to fall. "Luke, I can't believe you did this." She crossed over to give him a hug, and he awkwardly reciprocated and patted her on the head.
"Jeez." He said. "I just built them. Jess did the thing with the books."
Rory squeezed Luke once more to show her gratitude, and turned to Jess. He was leaning casually against the doorjamb with his arms crossed, smirking at her.
"Jess…"
He shrugged. "Luke was building them anyway, I just made them cooler"
As he finished talking, Rory tackled him in a fierce hug, pushing him against the wall and throwing her arms around his neck.
"They're perfect." Rory whispered. "Thank you so much."
"I'm glad you like them." Jess said, tentatively returning her embrace.
Lorelai cleared her throat and Rory hesitantly pulled away from Jess. He was smirking at her as he said, "I'm here for a few more days. I want to talk to you about that last chapter you sent me, if you have some time."
"How about now?" Rory asked, looking over to where Trix was snoozing in Lorelai's arms. "She'll probably sleep for another hour or so."
"Sure, if you want."
Lorelai immediately started to make snoring noises and said, "Well that sounds dull. C'mon, husband, let's leave the book nerds to it."
"I prefer book rebel, if you don't mind." Jess said, making a face at Lorelai. She made a face back at him before gently setting Trix down in her crib.
Rory grabbed the baby monitor before showing Luke and Lorelai out of the house, knowing her mom would probably be back in a few hours. She was a helicopter grandparent for sure, but Rory couldn't complain. She was so grateful to have so many wonderful people helping her with her daughter.
Jess sank down on the couch and picked up small teddy bear that was sitting there. "How does it feel to not be pregnant anymore?"
"Wonderful." Rory said, sprawling out on the opposite end of the couch. "It was getting pretty rough towards the end there. But now I'm a mom, and that's actually terrifying."
"It's cool though. I mean, Trix is beautiful."
Rory tilted her head and looked at Jess with a quizzical smile on her face. It equal parts surprised and thrilled her to hear Jess compliment her daughter.
"You know," He continued brusquely, "For a baby."
Rory laughed. "You sound more like Luke all the time."
Jess smirked again. "Could be worse, right?"
"Way worse." Rory agreed. "So what did you think of the last chapter?"
Jess's smirk fell and he looked at her thoughtfully for a second before saying, "It's a lie."
Rory involuntarily sucked in a breath, feeling like she'd been punched in the stomach. "Excuse me?"
"All those things you said about me saving you when you dropped out of Yale. It's just not true. You saved yourself." Jess said seriously, which was funny only because he was still holding the teddy bear.
"Jess…" Rory started quietly. "You really...you really don't know?"
"Know what?" Jess asked, finally putting the stuffed animal down, but still not making eye contact with Rory.
"Jess, you did save me." Rory said. She scooted closer to him and tucked her legs underneath her as she turned to fully face him. "I was drowning. I didn't even recognize myself, and you- brilliant, self-critical you- reminded me."
Jess shook his head. "You would've gotten there on your own."
Rory chuckled at that. "I still haven't gotten there! But I'm on my way, and I have always, always attributed that to you. God, if you hadn't showed up when you did, I might still be drinking myself into oblivion and planning society functions. God, I might be president of the D.A.R by now." Rory shuddered at the thought.
Jess laughed lightly at that. He opened his mouth to speak, but Rory cut him off before he could get out a single word.
"And you just did it again!" She exclaimed, reaching over and slapping him on the shoulder. "You walked into the Gazette and put me back on track when I was going off the rails! You told me to write this book, and it's the best thing I've ever done! Second best. That little girl in there is first."
"That's really how you feel?" Jess asked, leaning forward. Only then did Rory realize how close they'd gotten. It reminded her of the last time they'd been on a couch together, after the wedding when she'd told him she was pregnant.
"It's absolutely how I feel." Rory said insistently. "And I am not changing a word of it in the book."
"Well, maybe a few." Jess said. "I haven't taken my red pen to it yet."
Rory smiled at him and leaned back, putting her feet in his lap. "I can't wait to see what you do with it." She said, closing her eyes.
Jess looked down at her feet thoughtfully, then up at her. She smiled at him again, but didn't manage to say anything before she fell asleep.
When Rory woke, she was alone on the couch and Trix was whimpering on the other end of the baby monitor. Rory looked down at her phone and realized she'd been asleep for almost two hours. She couldn't believe Trix had slept that long. She frowned, wondering when Jess had left. She shouldn't have dozed off when they'd been having such a serious conversation, but she couldn't help it. She was just exhausted, and expected she would be for at least the next 10 years.
Rory stood and stretched, and then padded down the hall to Trix's room. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Jess's voice, speaking in soft tones to her daughter.
"And the moral of that story is that you can't just tell a girl you love her and run away before she can answer. So if anyone ever does that to you, make sure you don't let him back into your life. No matter how many mediocre books he writes."
"We'll have to agree to disagree on the moral of that story, Mariano." Rory said, walking in to see him sitting in the rocking chair with Trix up over his shoulder as he rubbed her back. Jess looked up at her and his smile was shy and unsure.
"Hey, hope this is ok. I figured you could use the sleep." He said sheepishly.
"Thanks." Rory said, grateful and awed by the sight before her. "I didn't know you were any good with babies."
"I do have three half-sisters." Jess reminded her with a smirk.
"I always forget." Rory admitted. "Doula, Rainbow, and…"
"Beth." Jess said, rolling his eyes. "They're pretty great kids, despite their insane parents."
"Or maybe because of them." Rory pointed out, and Jess shrugged.
"She's just starting to fuss. It's probably about time for her to eat." Jess said, standing up and handing Trix to her mother.
"Thanks." Rory said quietly.
"I'll leave you to it." Jess said. "Maybe I'll stop by tomorrow? If that's ok?"
"It's definitely ok." Rory agreed, nodding.
"Good. I'll see you." Jess lightly touched her shoulder as he walked past her. Then he stopped, but didn't turn around to face Rory. "I'm not hanging out with Cece anymore."
"Huh." Rory said to herself, watching Jess retreat without looking back at her. She kissed Trix on the top of the head and took her over to the rocking chair so she could feed her. The chair was still warm from when Jess had occupied it only a few moments earlier.
