"Are you alright? What did you want to tell me?" Jess said renewing his attention from Luke to Rory.

"Oh, it's nothing. Are you feeling up to regaining your title belt against the great Emily Gilmore?" Rory asked with mock seriousness. She decided not to tell him tonight. This was already an emotional day and maybe it would be too much to handle before dinner.

"Oh ha ha." Jess said sarcastically. "I am just going to keep my head down and hold my tongue. From what I've heard, Lorelei can antagonize her enough for the rest of us. I'd like to sit and enjoy the show." Jess had a grin that brought Rory out of her own head space.

"I'm going to get ready and then I'll meet you downstairs?" Rory asked quietly.

Jess gave her a kiss on the cheek and started bringing dishes downstairs.


Surrounded by her town favorites and reenacting a thanksgiving scene from a lifetime ago, Rory and Jess sat with Luke and Lorelei and ate their first Thanksgiving of the night.

"We are definitely a weird little family aren't we?" Lorelei said over her second helping of mashed potatoes. Luke gave her a sweet quiet smile and looked at his most content. Rory looked to Jess and wondered if they would be here together like this every year. Jess looked so peaceful even while he feigned disgust at the mushy moment. The quartet ate rather quietly and listened to the stories of neighbors around them. Luke started to clean up and Jess followed suit in clearing tables so that they could leave soon. Lorelei kicked Rory under the table.

"What's wrong with you?" She whispered behind a roll to Rory.

Rory's eyes widened in small panic but she adjusted and shrugged towards her mom.

"Why? Nothing's wrong."

"You barely ate and you didn't say anything at dinner. Did you guys have a fight? I'll kill him if he.."

"I'm fine, we didn't fight. Jess and I are good. I'm just saving my energy for grandma's." Rory lied through her teeth and hoped her mom would drop the investigation.

Lorelei sighed at the mention of her mother. She redirected her gaze back to Rory.

"After dinner you get to tell me what's really going on, okay?" Lorelei said gently and Rory nodded knowing she was caught.


At Emily's, Luke and Jess did their best impressions of statues and Lorelei fell into maintaining the conversation out of discomfort of the silence. Emily did her best to engage Rory in information of her life and Rory answered everything politely but without enthusiasm. She was altogether not present in the moment and it was wearing on Emily to carry on the one-sided conversation. She turned her attack on Jess, who was trying his best to stay invisible.

"Well Jess, you have certainly grown up. Rory told me you wrote a book a few years ago. Are you still pursuing the life of a vagabond author? That's hardly how a man should be living at your age" Jess choked a little on a mini carrot and Luke held back his chuckle as best he could.

"I have written two more novels Mrs. Gilmore, but I primarily run a publishing company with a few friends of mine." Jess tried to stand his ground and Rory gave his hand a squeeze under the table for encouragement.

"Well, I would like to read these novels you have written." Emily said with less malice and something resembling a smile. Lorelei looked beyond shocked at the lack of formal attack on her mother's part. She almost opened her mouth to strengthen her mother's armory against Jess but then she remembered that she liked the guy. More importantly, Rory really liked the guy. Emily was letting him off easy, for Rory.


Lorelei made an excuse to drive Rory home and made Luke ride with Jess back to Stars Hollow after dinner. Rory kept her panic internal and agreed without a fight. She gave Jess a small kiss and said she would meet him back at the house instead of the apartment. Lorelei hurried them along into her Jeep and once the doors were shut, she looked at Rory expectantly. Rory sighed and knew she wouldn't be able to lie her way home.

"So, spill it shortcakes." Lorelei said starting the drive home.

"Well, my period is really late and.."

"YOU"RE PREGNANT?" Lorelei said stopping the Jeep abruptly in the middle of the road.

"I-I don't know definitely yet." Rory said into her lap and Lorelei resumed function and started driving slowly. Her jaw hung slack as she bumbled her next question.

"Whose is it? It's too soon for it to be Jess' wouldn't it? Other than the first time, but that was months ago, you would have known by now. Right?"

"There may have been a time between then and now that I didn't mention." Rory said quietly. "It could only be his, I didn't see anyone else."

"Would have time you didn't mention happen to be the reason why you two were fighting?" Lorelei asked trying to maintain a helpful demeanor instead of a stressful one.

"I made him leave. I was definitely punishing him for past hurt and he didn't deserve that from me. I haven't told him yet. I don't want to scare him off. We just decided to get serious and date again."

"Well, nothing is more serious than a kid. You have to tell him, maybe not today but soon. Don't push him out of this, he wouldn't run. Rory, that boy has been in love with you for a decade. I think he learned to stop running a long time ago, don't you?" Lorelei surprised herself by how much she was defending Jess tonight. She could see how terrified her daughter was and knew exactly how she felt.

"You know, you don't have to keep it, but you should still tell Jess." Lorelei whispered as they were entering town.

"I want to keep it." Rory said quickly. More to herself than to her mom. Lorelei smiled to herself and nodded. She knew Rory would. They were starting to get close to the house and Rory started tensing up. She was going to have to leave tonight to get back for work in the city and it felt like the worst time to leave. Lorelei gave Rory's shoulder a squeeze and a smile.

"If you need anything Rory, please ask. You aren't alone in this." Rory tried hard to bottle up the tears that laid waiting to spring forward. Mother and daughter shared a smile and looked at the house in front of them with their boys inside.


"How long are you staying in Stars Hollow? I have to be back to work in the morning." Rory said to Jess as the sat together on the couch. She tried to relax and enjoy him but she was a tornado inside.

"Oh, I should have left an hour ago but I wanted to make sure we had our plan ready before I had to leave." Jess smiled but still looked nervous.

"I need to put in my notice at work and get my apartment cleaned out, so I have a few weeks I still need to be in New York." Rory was focusing on details and avoiding the elephant in her stomach.

"I can visit a few times and start moving your things into my place. You don't seem as excited about this as before. Are you having second thoughts?" Jess was starting to get frustrated but kept his tone concerned instead of upset.

"Jess, before we move in together I have to tell you something." Rory let the pause sit longer than it should and Jess' mind was racing with terrible what-ifs. He stayed silent and waited as he saw her getting cagey.

Rory looked at Jess and her throat felt tighten and she knew she was going to start crying. Jess' brow started to grow tense and he thought the worst. She could see his jaw clenched and his patience wearing but she couldn't get the words out.

"Jess, I'm. Well, I'm pretty sure that I am. Uh, Jess, I am pregnant." Rory mumbled as nervously as she could. She wouldn't look at him, she kept her eyes on her hands. Jess reached a hand over to tilt her chin towards him. She cast blurry eyes towards him and saw that he looked inquisitive and worried. But he didn't look angry, and he didn't look scared.

"Are you okay? Is this why you've been weird all day?" Jess asked quietly and she nodded into his outstretched hand.

"I think you should call your office tomorrow and let them know you got sick over the holidays and you need a few days at home." He said brushing tears off her cheeks.

"I shouldn't stay here all week, I need to start cleaning out my apartment and they wouldn't believe I was sick anyway."

"I think you should come home with me, if that's what you still want." Jess said with a shred of doubt in Rory's plan for how he equated in this new situation.

"You still want to do this?" Rory said trying not to leak more tears.

"I can't let you do this alone, even though it's not mine. I want to help as much as you'll let me."

"Of course it's yours!" Rory practically spat out and remembered that they weren't alone in the house. Jess' face sat in shock and then he swallowed Rory up into a full hug and held her to his chest.

Rory released the tense in her shoulders that she had been holding all day and melted into Jess and he held her tighter than he ever had. His shoulders started jiggling and she didn't know if he was laughing or crying. Rory was running through his response in her head. He was going to take her, even if she was pregnant with someone else's kid. How did she deserve his affection after everything?

"I'm going to be a dad." Jess whispered to himself and unwound Rory so that he could kiss her.