Chapter 8: "So this is the famous Washington Square Park,"


After they finished opening their gifts Christmas morning, Luke made everyone breakfast before they got ready to go to Hartford for the day. Francine Hayden had invited everyone to her house to spend the holiday together, then at the end of the week, Rory and Jess left for New York to spend the weekend and New Year's Eve in the city with their friends.

"What time are they getting in today?" Rory asked Jess as they sat together on the round bed in their room of the three bedroom suite they got at The Plaza to share with their friends. The two of them checked in Friday night and got everyone's key's while Matt and Chris would be coming up with Kara and Lacey later Saturday morning.

"Probably not until later this morning or early afternoon," Jess said, taking a bite of his omelette. They decided not to go out and had breakfast delivered to their room, "You know the guys. They're not exactly morning people."

"True. Kara and Lacey aren't either," Rory said, taking a bite of her oatmeal that she had asked to have mixed with mashed carrots.

"How can you eat that?" Jess asked.

"Easy. It's delicious," she said.

"But it's oatmeal and carrots," he said.

"Yes and with the cinnamon and brown sugar that's in the oatmeal, it tastes like carrot cake," she told him.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Serious, here try a bite," she said, holding a spoonful out for him to try.

"Wow, you're right, it does," he said.

"Told you it was good," she said.

"I never said it was good. I just said you were right. It tastes like carrot cake, but I don't like carrot cake," he said.


Just before noon there was a knock on their suite door and as Jess got off the couch in the living room they were laying on while they watched a movie, Rory stopped him.

"Wait," she said.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"They have food. I can smell it and… oh no," Rory said, covering her mouth as she took off to the bathroom while Jess got up to answer the door.

"Get rid of whatever you brought that has bacon on it and come inside," Jess said when he opened the door.

"What? How did you know we had bacon?" Matt asked, holding on to the bag of burgers they stopped to pick up from the diner down the street.

"Seriously, we bring lunch for you and Rory and you want us to dump it?" Chris asked.

"Yes, I'll pay you back and explain why, but first you need to get rid of it," Jess said, letting them inside.

"Fine," Matt said, walking towards the garbage can near the door.

"No, not in here. Take it far, far away," Jess told him.

"You are seriously wacked man, you know that," Matt said, grabbing a key card off the counter, "I'll take it downstairs and when I get back you're telling me what the hell this is all about."

"Thank you," Jess said.

"Hey, where's Rory?" Lacey asked.

"Bathroom," Jess told her, "Make yourselves at home. I'm going to go check on her."

"That was seriously weird," Kara said once Jess left the room.

"Yeah, what was up with that?" Chris asked, taking a seat next to Lacey on the couch, placing an arm around her.

"Hey, guys, welcome to The Plaza," Rory said, walking in to greet them.

"Are you alright, Rory? You look a little pale," Lacey said.

"I'm fine," she said, "I'm sorry to cause so much trouble."

"It's no trouble, babe," Jess said, kissing the side of her head, "They didn't know."

"Didn't know what?" Chris asked.

"That the smell of bacon makes me nauseous," Rory said.

"Since when?" Kara asked.

"Oh about six weeks ago," Rory told them, laying a hand on her stomach.

"You're pregnant?" Lacey asked.

"Yeah, just shy of twelve weeks," Rory said.

"Oh my gosh, this is so awesome," Kara said as she and Lacey both enveloped Rory in a hug.

"So that explains those mornings off you've had," Lacey said.

"Yeah, and that fridge under your desk," Kara said, "You said you were just tired of Daniel trying to swap your junk food for healthy food."

"Nope, I got it to keep juice, ginger ale, snacks, and other stuff close by if I felt nauseous or needed a pick me up to get me through the day," Rory said.

"Congratulations you guys," Chris said, "It's nice to know why we had to get rid of the bacon, but I'm confused as to how you know we had it."

"Heightened sense of smell," Rory told him, taking a seat in Jess' lap when he sat on one of the chairs in the living room, "Where's Matt?"

"Getting rid of the bacon," Jess told her.

"Ah, okay," she said.

"Alright, I'm back. I got rid of the frickin' bacon," Matt said, coming into the room and sitting down next to Kara, "Is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Rory's pregnant," Kara told him.

"What? She is? You are?" Matt asked.

"I am," Rory said, with a smile as Jess placed his hands on her stomach.

"And the smell of the bacon made you nauseous," Matt said.

"Yep," Rory told him, "Sorry you had to get rid of your lunch."

"It was worth it now," Matt said, getting up to give Rory a hug and kiss her cheek, "Congratulations, you guys."

"Thanks, Matt," Jess said, shaking his friend's hand.


Since they had to get rid of the burgers, Rory and Jess decided to treat their friends to a late lunch of Chinese food. Once they got all their things settled into their rooms, the six of them headed out into the city. They found a restaurant a few blocks away from the hotel called China Grill.

"This is place is perfect," Kara said, as Matt held out her chair for her to sit down.

"Yeah, everything smells amazing," Lacey said, "I can't wait to order."

"Me, either," Rory said, looking over the menu, "Everything sounds so good and what's better, no bacon in Chinese food."

Over the next couple of hours the six of them feasted on dishes of beef, chicken, and dumplings. Rory took a liking to one of the fried rice dishes they ordered that contained avocado. After lunch the girls insisted on going to Serendipity 3 so they could get frozen hot chocolate even though it was thirty degrees out. The rest of the evening was spent watching movies and snacking on room service in the hotel before everyone headed to bed early.

Sunday morning after having breakfast in the hotel's restaurant, the group parted ways. The girls decided they had to go shopping and cash in on all the end of the year sales the stores were having. Jess took the guys to Washington Square Park to discuss an idea he had with them.

"So this is the famous Washington Square Park," Chris said as they walked through the park and Jess stopped at his and Rory's bench.

"And this must be the bench," Matt said, taking a seat next to Jess.

"This is where it all started, huh," Chris said, "You and Rory."

"Well, technically, it started in Stars Hollow," Jess told him, "When we first met, but yes, this is the bench. I was sitting here the day she decided to skip school and come see me, all because I didn't say goodbye."

"And now she's stuck with you," Matt said with a laugh.

After sitting in the park for a few minutes, Jess led the guys to a building a few blocks away with for sale sign in the window of an old bookstore. He loved Philly. That city had been a great home to him and he was happy there, but he would always love New York.

"So, I've been thinking," Jess told them.

"About buying this place?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, it's a great location and it couldn't hurt to have a second bookstore," Jess said, "You could still do all the publishing in Philly, but this could be a second hand bookstore that also sold all of our books we publish."

"You want to move back to New York?" Matt asked.

"I'm thinking about it," he told them.

"Does Rory know?" Chris asked.

"Not yet. I'm going to show it to her this afternoon," Jess said.

"You think she'd be up for moving?" Matt asked.

"She loves her job at The Inquirer, but her dream is The New York Times," Jess said, "She told me once when we were here a few years and we walked by the Times building. She said it would take awhile, but she wanted it, she wants to work there."

"So, you want to do this," Chris said.

"Yeah, the building needs some work so it will be awhile before it's ready to open and I'll need to hire a few people to help out and find us a place to live after I talk to Rory about it," Jess said, "But yeah, I want to do this."

"Okay, then we'll help however we can," Matt said, "We'll miss having you around, but if this is what you both want, then we support you."

"Yeah, you have our full support, whatever you need," Chris said.

"Thanks, guys," Jess said.


"We should go to a spa," Kara said as they walked out of their third store, "Or somewhere to get manicures or something."

"Yeah, a mani-pedi would be amazing," Lacey said, "What do you think, Rory?"

"I'm could go for some pampering," Rory said.

"Any idea where we should go?" Kara asked.

"Yeah it's Sunday and the day before New Year's Eve. Most places are closed and if they're open, I'm sure they are busy," Lacey said.

"I know a place," Rory said, taking her phone out of her pocket, "Let me just make a call."

Thirty minutes later the three of them were walking into Grant and Lynn. Six months after Rory and Jess' wedding Louise found a storefront to sell her clothes. The building she found was big and had previously been a hair salon so she asked Madeline to join her and the two of them opened Grant and Lynn, a combination beauty salon and boutique.

"Thanks so much for opening up for us, you guys," Rory told Madeline and Louise as Madeline got to work on her nails.

"Of course, Rory, we're happy to," Louise said, offering her glass, "Champagne?"

"Oh, um, do you have any club soda or sparkling cider?" Rory asked, smiling as she placed a hand on her stomach.

"No! Seriously! That's so great, Rory," Louise said, giving her a hug.

"What?" Madeline asked.

"Rory's pregnant," Louise told her.

"Congratulations," Madeline said.

"Thanks," Rory said.

"So, how far along are you?" Louise asked.

"Twelve weeks," Rory said, accepting the glass of club soda Louise offered her, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Louise told her, "So how long are you in the city for?"

"We go back to Philly on Wednesday," Rory said, "I have to be back at the paper on Thursday and get my article turned in for my column on Friday."

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Madeline asked.

"I'm not sure," Rory said, "The guys were doing all the planning, why?"

"Well, we're having a party at our place if you're interested," Louise told her.

"Yeah, you should totally come and you'll finally get to meet our boyfriends," Madeline said.

"I'll talk to Jess about it, but yeah, I'd like that," Rory said as Madeline finished up her nails, "This color is fantastic, thank you."

"Louise, your designs are amazing," Kara said as she and Lacey looked through the racks of clothes.

"Thanks, I keep a few pieces readily available to sell for anyone who walks in, but I mostly do special orders," Louise told her.

"I don't know what yet, but I am definitely going to have you make me something," Lacey said.

"Anytime, just let me know," Louise said.


Sunday afternoon after everyone met back at the hotel, Jess took Rory to show her the building he was looking into buying.

"You brought me to an empty bookstore. How depressing," Rory said as they stopped in front of the empty storefront.

"Well, it's empty right now," he told her, "But it could be full of books again, Truncheon Books to be exact."

"The guys want to open a store here?" Rory asked.

"Sort of. They support the idea, but it was mine, actually," Jess said.

"You want to buy this building?" Rory asked

"Yeah, it's a great location and it's a really great price," he said, "What do you think?"

"Who would run it?" she asked.

"I would with help from whoever I find to hire," he told her.

"You want to move back to New York?"

"If you want to."

"Well, I don't really have a choice if you're already making plans to open a bookstore here. When were you planning on telling me? After you've already picked out an apartment and signed the lease?"

"No, of course not. I only just discovered this place a few weeks ago and figured I would show you this weekend when we were here."

"But you've been thinking about it longer though, haven't you?"

"Since you told me you were going to work for The New York Times someday."

"That was three years ago. You've been thinking about this that long?"

"Yeah. I can write anywhere, Rory, but having a store would give me something to do on a daily basis so when we found out you were pregnant I started looking for places to open a store," he told her, "So what do you think? Do you like it?"

"If we lived in New York it would be a lot closer to Mom and Luke," Rory said.

"True," he said.

"Which would make it easier if we needed help when the baby gets here or just to visit," she said, "It would be nice to have a job at The Times already, but it's not necessary."

"No, it's not. You could always look for a job at another paper in the city if you wanted," he said.

"Or I could take a break for awhile," she said, "I mean, I'm going to be taking maternity leave anyway and it's not like we need the money."

"No, we don't," he said, "So?"

"So, I say we start looking for places to live," she said.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, "Let's move to New York."