Chapter 11
Partial Disclosure
Jess sat alone with his thoughts on the bridge for an hour or so before standing up, returning his unopened book to his pocket and walking in the direction of Luke's. He told himself he just needed to get his car but deep down he knew he needed to talk. The bell over the door alerted his uncle to his arrival and the look on his face must've alerted him to the secrets he was keeping. Luke called back into the kitchen for someone to cover him and followed behind his nephew who was already through the curtain and heading up the stairs to their old home.
Luke grasped his fist in his opposite palm in a nervous, agitated manner. Jess ran his hands through his hair for the hundredth time that day avoiding his uncle's questioning gaze. Now that he was here he didn't know what to say. He didn't know how Rory would feel if she told Luke about what Dean had done to her, after all it wasn't his story to tell. He pulled out a chair at the old dining table, slumping into it as he had as a teenager. He looked over to Luke where he stood at the sink and decided he could tell him his part of the story.
Looking back to the table where his hands lay restlessly tapping a tuneless beat he took a deep breath and with a slight shake of his head the words "Rory's pregnant" came tumbling out of his mouth. He looked back to see his uncle's face change between pride, relief, anger and confusion.
"This is the good news part of the story Luke," he assured him. "Maybe I should've opened with that, huh?"
Luke couldn't contain his shock at first but then he came to sit beside his nephew at the table, raising his eyebrows at him in an attempt to encourage further explanation. Jess told him about what happened after the wedding, keeping it clean out of respect for both Rory and his uncle. He told him about Rory coming to see him in Philly 3 months later and the recent discovery of her pregnancy. He told him he loved her and was committed to this child and to Rory. He told him everything he felt he could but he left out the biggest factor in it all - Dean - and without that missing puzzle piece the story was adding up to look like Jess had screwed up yet again.
Luke shook his head, still processing what Jess had just told him. Rory and Jess. A baby. Lorelai was going to kill Jess when she found out! Did Lorelai know any of this? How would he keep this from her? He couldn't possibly keep this from her.
Snapping out of his reverie he put it to Jess, "does Lorelai know?"
Jess nodded in affirmation.
"Rory's over there now."
Luke jumped up from the table to head for the door but Jess's hand on his arm stopped him from running straight home to check on his wife and somehow minimise the stress of such an announcement. She was due in less than 2 months and stress was not good for the baby.
"Luke, there's more to the story but it's not mine to tell. Rory wanted to talk to her mum on her own and I had to respect that and you do too."
Luke stared blankly at this strange man inhabiting his nephew's body. He knew he had grown up and changed in the time between his mother's wedding and now. He was now overcome with pride and a deep conviction that he and Rory would make it work this time. His nephew was going to be a father. Hell, he was about to become one himself, well to a newborn anyway not a ready made teenager as had been the case with April and to a degree with Jess too. They were both standing now, 2 feet from the doorway.
Luke pulled his nephew into a firm embrace saying "congratulations" as he released him with an awkward slap on his shoulder.
"So I guess now we wait?" he asked.
"Yep," was Jess's reply.
The monosyllabic answer brought instant relief to them both. They closed the door behind them as they walked back down to the diner. Luke got back to work while Jess sat himself down at a table in the back corner. He pulled out his book for the second time that day only this time when he flipped it open he was able to focus on the words this time. He sat there reading and waiting, knowing that Rory would call him when she was ready.
As the closing credits rolled across the screen Rory and Lorelai stretched simultaneously causing them to both burst into laughter.
"I've missed you kid," Lorelai confessed, kissing her daughter on the forehead.
Rory smiled back at her "I've missed you too."
"There's one more thing I need to tell you," she continued. "Jess is here, he drove here with me so he could get his car and has been waiting for me to call him when we've had our talk. Are you okay with me calling him now?"
Lorelai settled herself back into the lounge as she nodded in agreement and waited while Rory found her phone and dialled his number. He picked up on the second ring and Rory could tell by the background noise that he was at Luke's.
"Ready?" he asked her.
"Ready." she replied.
Her mother rolled her eyes in jest, something's it seemed hadn't changed at all and she found that reassuring.
"Do you want to see if Luke can get away for a bit?" Rory asked him. "We might as well finish what we came here for."
"I already told him a little bit of the story Ror. Only those that were mine too to tell. None of the rest."
She understood and nodded redundantly into the phone.
"See you soon then?" she asked.
"Okay," he replied before ending the call.
He rose from his table, returning his book to his pocket for the second time that day and went to tell Luke their women were waiting for them.