Sorry for the delay! It's been crazy here with the snow and work and stuff. Plus I've not been feeling the best either. But I wanted to get a chapter out for you so I hope you enjoy! :) Thanks for your continued support!
Chapter 9
"Jack, come on! Your grandpa will be here any minute!" Charlotte shouted.
"I'm looking for my shoes!" Jack called back.
"You've been looking for those shoes for 10 minutes!" Charlotte called back.
"Well he's like you with getting ready." Jess smirked from the couch.
"Well you could help him." Charlotte raised her eyebrows at him.
"It won't make him learn not to just put his shoes anywhere if I go and find them for him." Jess pointed out.
"Jess, please!" Charlotte said. "I told Rory we'd meet them at 12 as the bid-a-basket auction starts at 12:30. I want to get there at least today!" She said as the doorbell to their apartment rang. "And that's dad! Please Jess!"
"Fine." He sighed getting up and disappearing off to find Jack and his shoes.
"Hey dad." Charlotte smiled as she opened the door. "He's nearly ready, Jess is just helping him find his shoes." She said.
"Ok." Chris smiled. "I'm really looking forward to spending today with him. Thanks for letting me."
"You've spent time with him before, dad." She laughed.
"I know but it's never really been just the two of us and not for the whole day either." Chris said.
"Well Jack's looking forward to it too." Charlotte smiled.
"So you're spending today with Rory and Sam, right?" He asked.
"Yep! Rory's leaving at the weekend so I want to spend as much time with her as I can." She said.
"I can't believe everything has happened so quickly." Chris said.
"I know! But she applied a few weeks ago and they interviewed her over skype and she was given it a few days later. They want her pretty much straight away so...yeah." She sighed.
"Is she excited?"
"I think so." Charlotte nodded. "We all loved London when we went on our Europe trip after Chilton so I think she's excited in that respect and there are so many options there as well."
"Grandpa!" Jack came racing in and running over to hug him.
"Hey!" Chris smiled at his grandson.
"You found them then?" Charlotte smirked at Jess.
"Oh yeah, they were under his bed. You'd think that would be the first place he'd look don't you? But someone was a bit more interested in his Lego when I went in." Jess smirked.
"Oh Jack!" Charlotte laughed.
"Sorry." Jack said.
"Right, well have a good time! And be good!" Charlotte said giving her son a hug.
"Yeah no misbehaving. We will find out." Jess said ruffling his hair.
"Are we going to the park?" Jack asked Chris excitedly.
"If you want. Today's all about you. We'll do whatever you want." He smiled. He glanced at Charlotte. "I'll drop him back about 6?" He checked.
"6 is fine. We should be back by then." Charlotte nodded.
"Good. Ok, let's hit the road, mister!" Chris ruffled Jack's hair.
"If the point of today is to spend time with Rory, then why do we have to take part in this stupid basket auction?" Jess grumbled as they walked down the street in Stars Hollow.
"Because it's tradition!" Charlotte said.
"But we do it every year!" Jess said.
"Exactly my point. That's what tradition means." Charlotte smirked.
"But the point of the auction is to have a picnic with whoever bids on your basket so you won't be spending time with Rory anyway!" Jess pointed out.
"Well, this year we're double dating." She grinned.
"Huh." Jess said.
"Come on, just admit it. You love it really!" Charlotte grinned, giving him a painful nudge.
"No, I just tolerate it because you love it." Jess said with a slight smirk.
"Sure ok." She smirked. "Oh there they are!" She said spotting her sister and Sam just coming out of Andrew's bookstore. "Rory!" She called as they walked up to them. "Hey!"
"Hey!" Rory smiled. "Ready for the auction?" She asked.
"Yep, got my basket." Charlotte nodded holding it up. "Although this one has done nothing but grumble about it all morning." She smirked.
"As usual!" Rory laughed.
"You're not really into this town's crazy events are you? Come on, you have to be on my side!" Jess tried to appeal to Sam.
"Sorry mate. I'd do anything if it means spending time with Rory, so I'm easy." Sam grinned.
"Coward." Jess smirked.
"No, loving fiance!" Rory corrected him, giving Sam a peck on the cheek.
"This is sickening." Jess joked.
"We should head over there." Rory said. "Looks like everyone's starting to gather."
"Let's go!" Charlotte grinned. "Mom's making Luke take part, isn't she?"
"Why would this year be any different?" Rory joked.
"Well..." Charlotte said, thinking back to his heart scare a few weeks ago now.
"Mom says he's doing well." Rory said. "Besides, this isn't exactly stressful. You know Luke secretly loves these things." She smirked.
"True." Charlotte laughed. "Come on, we better hurry!" She said.
About an hour later, the four of them were sat on the bridge by the lake hanging their legs over the edge and already tucking into the food in their baskets.
"I still don't see the point of the basket auction when it was Sam and I who actually cooked the food that went into the baskets." Jess said.
"Oh shush grump!" Charlotte grinned. "Unless you want to take a dip in the lake."
"Duly noted." Jess smirked slightly.
"Plus you love us, that's why you did it." She said.
"Well that's true." Jess said.
"Definitely true." Sam nodded.
"We're nearly out of food. Sam and I can go get some more and meet you guys back here." Jess said.
"Sure. Thanks." Charlotte smiled at him.
"See you in a bit." He said giving her a quick kiss before leaving with Sam.
Charlotte glanced at Rory. "So...mom seems to be taking you getting this job a bit better this time..." She said.
"Well her reaction couldn't exactly be any worse than before." Rory pointed out.
"True." She conceded. She glanced at her sister as she gazed out at the water. "So are you excited?" She asked.
"Yeah." Rory nodded honestly. "But...well I'm nervous as well. And I'm worried..." She admitted.
"Worried? About what?" Charlotte asked. She saw her sister sigh and then she realised. "About you and Sam?" She guessed.
"I tried long distance before, remember?" Rory sighed. "It didn't exactly end well..."
"But that was different." Charlotte said.
"How?"
"Ok, you and Tristan were serious. But you and Sam are different. You're engaged to Sam, Rory. You know you want to spend the rest of your life with him right?" She said.
"Of course!" Rory nodded.
"And he wants to spend the rest of his life with you as well. You're committed to each other. You'll be fine." Charlotte assured her.
"You really think so?" She said quietly, biting her lip.
"I do." She nodded. "You love Sam. You're the happiest you've ever been in a relationship. Look, I knew the minute I met Jess that he was the one. You knew with Sam as well, didn't you?"
Rory smiled slightly thinking about Sam. "Yeah I did." She admitted.
"Well there you go. You two will be fine. And it's not like you took the year job, you'll be away for six months. I know that seems long but you'll be fine. You can come and visit here and I'm sure Sam's already booked his first visit already."
"In a month's time." Rory admitted, blushing slightly.
"There you go then." Charlotte smirked.
Rory glanced at her and smiled softly. "Thanks Charlie."
"What are sisters for eh?" She smiled.
Rory glanced at her as it was her turn to gaze out at the water. "I'll miss you too as well, you know." She said softly.
Charlotte glanced back at her and smiled softly. "I'll miss you too." She said.
Meanwhile, Jess and Sam had headed to Luke's and got some more food and were heading back towards the bridge. "So how are you feeling about Saturday?" Jess asked his friend, glancing at him
"She's going to do her dream job. I'm happy for her." Sam shrugged.
"Yeah and that was convincing." Jess rolled his eyes.
Sam sighed. "I am happy for her. But...I don't know. I thought we'd be getting married within the next six months but now we've had to postpone that until she's back."
"It must be tough." Jess said. "When I was in Philadelphia and Charlotte was at Yale, we found it hard too. I mean I know it's not as far away as you and Rory will be and it wasn't for as long but we still made it work."
"I'm worried she'll figure out that she's too good for me and realise she doesn't want to marry me." Sam admitted.
Jess glanced at his friend in surprise. "Seriously?"
"Well who am I really? All I am is your hoodlum friend who stalks the streets of New York doing an unworthy job." He shrugged.
"Emily Gilmore really does have a way with words, doesn't she?" Jess said smirking slightly.
Sam did smile at that. "Yeah." He chuckled slightly. "I don't care about that really. It's just...I'm worried Rory will realise that she might actually be right."
"Emily Gilmore is never right." Jess said. He glanced over at Sam and sighed. "Look, Rory loves you. She's agreed to marry you. She wouldn't do that if she wasn't totally sure that you were what she wanted." He said. "Come on man, she didn't even need a pro/con list. That says something in Rory's world." He joked.
Sam chuckled slightly. "Yeah I guess..." He said. He glanced at Jess. "Thanks mate." He smiled.
"I'm only saying the truth." Jess said.
"So how's Charlotte doing with the pregnancy?" He asked.
"Yeah good." He nodded. "We've got another scan this weekend but she's good." He nodded.
"You excited?" Sam smiled.
"Yeah." Jess said not being able to help the smile that appeared on his face.
"I'm happy for you guys. And Jack's coming round to the idea?" He said.
"Yeah, he's getting there." Jess nodded.
"Good." Sam smiled as they walked over the bridge back to the girls. "We come bearing food." He said.
"Our saviours!" Rory grinned, giving Sam a quick kiss as he sat back down next to her. "I love you." She said quietly.
"I love you too." Sam smiled softly.
"Admit it, this is fun." Charlotte teased Jess.
"Yeah ok." Jess smirked.
"I knew it!" She grinned, thrusting her fist up in the air in victory just as her cell started ringing. "Oh it's dad!" She smiled, answering it. "Hey dad!"
Jess saw her expression change completely though straight away. "Charlotte?" He said concerned.
"Wh...what do you mean you can't find him?" Charlotte exclaimed, getting up and pacing back and forth. "Well why weren't you watching him?!"
"Charlotte?" Jess said getting worried now, standing up next to her.
"Well where are you?" Charlotte asked. "We're coming now!" She said hanging up the phone. "I can't believe it!" She exclaimed, tears in her eyes.
"What's happened? You're scaring me now!" Jess said.
"He's lost Jack!" She exclaimed terrified.
"What do you mean lost him?" Jess exclaimed.
"He's lost him! They were in the park, he went to take a call and then he turned round and he wasn't there! What if...what if...?" Charlotte said tremulously. "Jess..." She said tearfully.
"We'll find him." Jess said.
"Jess..." Charlotte said breaking down.
"We'll find him." Jess repeated, pulling her into a hug. "I promise we'll find him." He tried to reassure her but he knew he was just trying to reassure himself as well.
So a twist at the end there! Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you think! :) Thanks again for all your support! :)