Jess' appointments had gone from once a week to once every two, it's not that he was becoming lazy or just didn't want to go. Dr Bishop could see his progress, and he no longer needed weekly sessions. At the last session, Jess had opened up about his mother, he confessed that he had been calling her, listening to her voice and hanging up.

"Why do you hang up?" She asked him, he shrugged not willing to answer her to begin with. She assumed that maybe he didn't have a clear answer, maybe he just didn't know what to say. She didn't push him, she waited watching his brows go up and down as he thought about it.

"It's like I have the power to talk or to hang up and I choose to hang up every time." He confessed, relief washing over his face as he felt the chip fall from his shoulders.

He already knew what she was going to say next, he had prepared himself for this.

"Maybe you should talk to her next time."

He remembered that conversation as he sat in his living room, Rory was out shopping, it was the first time he had been alone in a while. He had talked himself into dialling six times, hanging up every attempt, sometimes even before she had even answered. This was the seventh, he was kicking himself for being such a coward but this time he was determined he wouldn't chicken out.

"Hello?" She asked on the other line, he panicked pulling the phone away from his ear. He shook, physically his whole body was plagued by a slight shaking, his hands, his legs, he didn't even know why. "Hello?" Liz repeated, "Is this the wrong number or something?" He could hear her voice from the other end, he pressed the receiver back to his ear. "You selling something?" She asked, still on the line. If it were him, he'd have yelled and hung up by now.

A deep breath exhaled past his lips. "Mom." He spoke shakily, gripping the phone tightly.

"Jess?" Her voice changed, he could hear her choking on her tears.

"Don't cry, please just don't." He told her, shaking his head.

"Okay, I'll try." She promised. "It's nice hearing your voice." She whispered, he listened to the sounds of her sniffing against what he assumed was a tissue.

"If you're going to cry, I'll just call you back some other time."

"No, I'm not crying." She insisted, and Jess rolled his eyes, thankful she couldn't see him.

"So, how're things in Stars Hollow?" He asked awkwardly, not really know where this conversation was headed. He just needed to talk to her, as stupid as it sounded, it helped hearing her voice.

"They're good, your sister has been asking about you a lot." She told him, Jess smiled, he hadn't had much to do with his sister over the years but Luke was always talking about her, updating him. They'd met a few times, even talked on the phone during the times when she was staying with Lorelai and Luke.

"Oh yeah? What's she been saying?" He asked, flopping himself down on the sofa.

Liz cleared her throat, looking over towards the fridge, a painting of Doula and Jess displayed right there in the middle. "She wants to call you sometime, she wants to get to know her big brother."

"I hope she's not expecting me to be a Luke." Jess told her, knowing how big of an influence Liz's own brother had on her life.

"She wants you to be Jess, her big brother, nothing more, nothing less."

He liked the sound of that, being someone's big brother, someone's Jess. He had seen Rory with Gigi, despite their age difference, they still got along alright. He longed for that kind of relationship, a family.

"When does she get home from school?" He asked, considering the idea in his head.

"3:30." Liz told him, a smile on her tired face.

"I'll give her a call." He promised.

"She'll love that, she will. Thank-you Jess." He could hear the emotion in her voice, she was happy. He could just about picture the smile on her face, the way her eyes crinkled when she was truly pleased about something.

"Okay, well I'll call back in a few hours alright?"

"Yeah, okay Jess. Thanks for the call." She sounded disappointed, but he wasn't going to dwell on it.

"Bye Mom."

He stared at the wall, not sure of how he was feeling, he knew he only had a few minutes before Rory would walk in the front door, her arms full of shopping bags, he would rush to help her, and they'd talk about mall madness and he'd forget to mention the phone call completely. He could see it now, he hated that he knew himself so well.

A banging outside of the apartment interrupted his self pitying. He rushed to open the door, Rory was suffering from too many bags, not enough arms. He relieved her, grabbing more than half of her purchases.

"Did you leave anything in the stores?" He teased, dropping the bags down on the sofa, standing back to inspect the scene.

"A few boring things." She joked, wrapping her arms around his waist. He melted into her touch, immediately calming by her presence.

"What did you get up to while I was gone?" She asked him curiously.

"Nothing too exciting, but you've got to show me what's in those bags."

She smiled, letting go of his body as she started explaining all of her purchases, he smiled watching her excitement as she showed him all the baby things she bought for her baby brother, he quickly imagined having to buy a new house just to fit all the baby things she would buy when they had their own children.

"I know I went overboard, but they're just so cute." She gushed, pulling things from bags left right and centre.

"I talked to Liz."

She stopped talking, her eyes fell onto his face. He couldn't believe he had actually said those words out loud. It was too late to take it back now.

"I'm going to call Doula after school."

"Aww, I'm happy for you. She adores you." She smiled, squeezing his arm.

He nodded, a small smile appeared on his face.

The phone started ringing before either of them could say another word. Jess moved away, assuming it was for him.

Rory began searching through bags, reminding herself of the purchases she'd made.

"Rory" Jess called over to her, she turned toward him, dropping the onesie onto the sofa.

"Your mom's in labor."