The following Monday, Rose had invited Rory over to talk. She was surprised when she opened the door and Rose seemed unusually happy. In fact, when Rose hugged her she surreptitiously checked her breath to see if she'd been drinking. It seemed she had not. "Come on, Rory, come in, come in."

Rory cautiously entered the apartment and wondered if she perhaps shouldn't have brought Rose a cup of coffee. As they sat at the table Rory placed the cup in front of Rose anyway and took a sip of her own, watching Rose cautiously.

"Okay, I just wanted to talk to you about the store. You can run it for as long as you like until the baby's born. I'll run it for the three months after. Then you can come back and run it. I'm going to Europe."

"What do you mean you're going to Europe?"

"For a trip, I don't know for how long yet. I've been planning my trip and it's going to be wonderful. Paris, Rome, London, you mentioned Fez once? There too. I'm going to travel all over Europe. Venice, Prague, Amsterdam. I'm going to visit small towns too, I'll learn their names in time. I'm going to go everywhere."

"How long are you going for?"

"I don't know."

"For years?"

"Maybe, I don't know"

"How are you going to pay for it? The store's profitable, but not that profitable, especially when you're paying someone else to run it."

"Oh don't worry about that. I'm obscenely rich, I have been since my trust fund kicked in when I turned 25. That's how I bought the bookstore. I always wanted to own and run a bookstore. It's funny, when you don't have to work for it, it really isn't as amazing."

"But you built it into a profitable business, you worked for it, you worked in it."

"Oh, yes, but I've been doing that for a few years now. I'm not tied here anymore. With my mom… well I have no reason to stay."

"Jim?"

"Well I told him he can come with me. He won't though, he's being stubborn."

"I don't think it's just stubborn. He has a life here, he has a kid here. It's not that simple."

"I told him I'd pay for everything, but he was all funny about that, what is it with men?"

"Umm, I think it's a pride thing."

"He won't even come for a few months."

"He has Aiden, you know he can't be away from him for months."

"I told him he can bring him."

"What about his mother? You think she'll just agree to it and wave him off at the airport?"

"Why are you being like this?"

"Like what?"

"A drag."

"I'm being a drag? Are you serious? I thought you were in love with Jim. He's been sitting around missing you while you've been gone. You should have been gone and he understood, because of your mom. But, he missed you and now you're just going to go off to Europe and leave him here?"

"I thought I could sit around in this little town for the rest of my life but I was wrong. I love Jim, but I can't just stay here. I have things I want to do, things I want to see. I'm 28 years old and both of my parents died before they were 50, my life could be more than half over."

"Rose, come on. Your life is not half over."

"How do you know that?"

Rory sighed. "So, the bookstore?"

"I'm done with the bookstore. I still love the bookstore, but I don't need to run it anymore, I just like knowing it's being taken care of. Actually, you can have it if you want."

"Rose!"

"I'll transfer ownership to you before I leave."

"Rose, no. I don't want you to do that. It's your store. I'm happy just running it."

"Well, you've been working hard in it. You've done great things, with the ordering system and the new suppliers. I'll make you a profit participant, I'll keep paying you, but you'll get bonuses when it does well."

"Rose you don't have to. You're already paying me generously."

"You want to go to college, don't you? I'll give you money for college. I'll buy you a car. They say money doesn't buy happiness, but it sure makes life easier. I don't think I could spend all of this money in a lifetime, especially if it's short."

"I don't want you to do any of that. My grandparents would probably do all of that if I wanted someone to, but I don't. Don't you want kids? I thought you wanted kids."

"I do want kids, Jim's not sure yet."

"If he was sure, would you stay?"

"No, I can do it when I get back. If not with him with someone else. Maybe this time, with me in Europe, will help him decide for sure."

"What if I told you I wouldn't run the store?"

"I guess I'd just sell it, I couldn't just leave it sitting here."

"You could stay and run it yourself."

""No, Rory."

"So, there's no changing your mind on this?"

"No."

"Okay."

"You know, I've been thinking I might start closing the store on Tuesdays too. I don't think it would lose any business. I want a couple of days off in a row when I'm working here when you're on maternity leave, and I think you could do with it when you have the baby, especially so you can go back to Stars Hollow. You can use my car when I'm in Europe, it will just be sitting there. On the weekend we get a lot of tourists so I think we'd lose money if we closed then, but during the week the locals just come in when we're open. With me making you a profit participant, you'd still be making a bit more than you are now if we closed another day."

"I told you, you don't need to do that, Rose. And you don't need to let me use your car."

"Come on, Rory. I'm leaving you to run the business and going to Europe for I don't even know how long. You've been so great running the store while I've been… busy lately. I can tell you care about it, I just want to acknowledge that. Can't I at least do that, Rory? It's not for nothing, it's for not just being an employee, you've gone above and beyond, you didn't have to improve anything, all you had to do was come in and keep it running."

"Okay. It's very generous of you, thank you."

Rose smiled, "Thank you for letting me Rory. You really are more than just an employee."

"Until the profit participant stuff is sorted I'll just keep paying you for Tuesday, but you don't have to work"

"Rose you don't..."

But Rose had already moved on, Rory sighed. "And the car? I'm not giving it to you. It has insurance so there's not really any risk. It's not like you'd be driving it much, just to Stars Hollow sometimes. Or into town to get supplies every now and then, right? Besides, it's not good to leave a car sitting around without being driven. You can just maintain it."

"Okay, okay." Rory gave in. "Thank you."

"What do you think will happen with you and Jim? Are you going to stay together while you're gone indefinitely? Are you just going to leave him waiting for you?"

"We need to talk about that still, but I don't know how long I'm going for, I don't think I can really ask him to wait for me."

"But, he probably still will."

"If he doesn't I guess I'll just have to accept it."

"And while you're away, you'll be… faithful?"

"Probably, I don't know, I can't predict the future. I want to be with him for the rest of my life. This is just something I've always dreamed of doing. I love Aiden so I'd never wish he didn't exist, but I wish he didn't… complicate this. I wish Jim could come with me."

Rory just nodded. After a few minutes of silence, Rory said "My mom and I were going to go to Europe when I graduated. We can't really do that now. Actually Mom was going to go when she graduated, but then she had me. Maybe if this one doesn't get pregnant at 16 we can go when she graduates…" Rory said rubbing her stomach. She paused thinking for a moment, then said "Maybe we should just go one summer before she turns 16."

Rose laughed. "I guess you can only wait and see what happens. I don't suppose you or your mom ever thought you'd be pregnant at 16."

Rory shook her head, "No."

"Have you decided on a name yet?"

"Yeah. I'm not telling anyone yet, I've been thinking about it since I found out she was a girl, I've only just decided for sure this week. I haven't told Mom yet because I know she'll nag me until I tell her. I'm not telling anyone until she's born. Partly because I might change my mind when she's born, there were two names I was deciding between."

"So, no chance you'll tell me?" Rose joked.

"None." Rory said giggling.

Just when Rory sat down on the couch after getting back from Rose's there was frantic knocking on her door and she heard Jim calling her name. "It's open." She said, not wanting to get all of the way up again, which wasn't as easy as it used to be.

"She's going to Europe. I can't believe she's going to Europe. She's just going to leave. I thought she loved me. I thought we had something special." He was pacing in front of her. "She told you right? What the hell is she thinking? I mean her mom just… and now she's… she wants me to go with her. I can't go with her. Does she want me to just sit around here, pining for her? She won't even tell me how long she's going for. She's talking about going to all of these places, doing all of this stuff. It's going to take forever to get through the list. Maybe she won't even come back."

"Jim!" Rory said, trying to get his attention.

He apparently didn't hear her, "I told her. I told her I'd have a baby with her now if she wants. I'd do anything if she would stay. It's been so hard lately and now she's going to leave me. Just to go to Europe. I tried to tell her we could go when Aiden's older. I would too, I'll travel around Europe with her when Aiden's older. I can't leave him now though. Not for that long. Maybe when he's at college or something."

"Jim!" Rory yelled, trying to get him to snap out of it. When that still didn't get his attention Rory took to tugging on his arm, to get his attention, or get him to sit or something.

"She must know that. That I can't leave Aiden. She said he could come but Kate would never allow that. Not that I blame her, it's for the same reasons I don't want to go without him. I have him for a few weeks over the summer. I could take him then, but she's not going for a few weeks over the summer."

Finally he noticed Rory tugging on his arm. "What?" He asked.

"Will you sit down and shut up for a minute?" She asked.

He sat as she asked. "Maybe that's the answer." Rory said. "I mean, I know it's not ideal and it's probably not really what you want. But you said you'd do anything to be with her and well it would sort of mean you could. You could go to Europe for a couple of weeks at a time. Maybe 2 weeks out of 4. You could even go on Mondays and come back on Fridays, so you could be gone for nearly 2 weeks and only miss 1 weekend with him. You said you have him for a few weeks over summer you could both go over then."

"Rory, it's expensive to fly to Europe." Jim said, still thinking about though.

"Rose said she's obscenely rich, those were her exact words. She said she couldn't spend all of her trust fund in a lifetime. I'm sure she'd pay for the flights."

"I'm not having her pay for flights."

"Jim, come on. If you had to choose between her paying for flights and getting to see her half of the month or her not paying for flights and you not seeing her, which are you going to choose. It's not like I'm saying let her get you a bachelor pad in the city or something. This is flights, to see your girlfriend, who is going to Europe, possibly for years, without you. Unless you figure something out. Are you really ready to let her go?"

"No." Jim said quietly. "You're right, If being with her means swallowing my pride and letting her pay for flights, if she's willing, then that's what I'll do. I guess she'll be paying for the hotel rooms too, although she would have been anyway. I love her. I have a ring, I've been waiting for the right time to propose. I wonder what her favorite city is. Maybe I can do it there. Paris is romantic, right? I wish I could provide for her, give her everything she wants, pay for all of this."

"Jim, that's not what she wants or needs from you. She has all of that. She wants you to love her and to be with her. She wants you to make her feel special and… going with her to Europe, letting her pay for it so that you can be there with her is more important than you being able to give her what she already has. Forget about all of that stupid men have to pay for everything stuff."

"You modern women, huh? Okay, well if it's what she wants, then I'll let her. She did say she'd pay for everything, but that wasn't flights every couple of weeks."

"I'm sure it won't change anything."

Jim nodded and sat there for a few minutes thinking. "I'm still not sure if I want to spend that much time in Europe. When I moved here, I thought this was where my life would be. Especially when I met Rose."

"But you want to spend that much time with Rose."

"Definitely. More, actually."

"Maybe she'll come back sometimes too."

"Maybe." Jim said nodding. "Thanks Rory. You've been a big help."

Jim stood up to go and see Rose, helping Rory to her feet when he saw her struggling to get up. "Thanks." She said.

Jim gave her a hug and kissed her on the forehead, "You're amazing. You're going to be a wonderful mom, I can tell." Jim said sincerely, wondering how he'd ever felt differently about her.

"Thanks Jim. You're going to be a wonderful husband." She said smiling at him.

"Only if she lets me."

"She will."

As Jim left she was beginning to think to herself what a crazy morning it had been.

She heard a knock on the external door and opened it to find Dean standing there.

"Hi Rory." Dean said excitedly.

"Hi Dean. What are you doing here?"

"It's your day off. I wanted to see you. I've missed you. Here, I got you these." he said, holding out a bunch of flowers.

"Sunflowers?" She asked.

"Yeah, they're your favorite aren't they? I got these too. How perfect are they?" He said, holding up a onesie with trucks and another with butterflies. "I know she's a girl, but I still think the truck one is cute. I tried not to buy her too much stuff, you know, because she's not even born yet. But, I saw this teddy bear too, isn't it cute? I was thinking about baby names too, I think we should start talking about names."

Rory couldn't help smiling. He remembered her favorite flower. He was excited about baby stuff. He was calling things cute. Her face fell when he mentioned baby names.

"I sort of already picked a name for her." Rory said.

"Oh." Dean said, his face falling. "Okay. I guess you don't need this then." He said about to chuck a piece of paper in the bin.

"Wait." She said. "I'm not 100% sure on her middle name, maybe we could see if there's one on there."

"Okay." Dean said brightening a bit more again, and giving her the list of 10 names. "They're in order of how much I like them."

"It's on the list."

"What?"

"The middle name I picked, it's already on the list. It's third, but it's there."

Dean hugged her excitedly. "So her first name…?" He asked.

"It's perfect." He said when she told him. Testing the whole name out loud.

"So, I've been looking into work in the area. In case you decide you want us to try. No pressure." He said, putting his hands up before she could protest. "Just, I thought I should check it out in case you agreed. There's nothing really in Silveroak, except maybe a little bit of part time. But there are towns about 20 minutes from here that have some unskilled labor jobs I might be able to get."

"What about school?"

"Rory, you were the one who was meant to finish school and go to college. I was never really going to go to college. This doesn't really change anything for me. Besides, I'm at least as responsible as you are for this. I'm actually excited about this, about being a father, helping raise her. Getting a job and earning money to support you two. Actually, even if you don't want us to be together I'm going to be getting a permanent job. I've been doing some casual labor work when I can get it already. I've been saving money for us. Do you need any money for anything now?"

She shook her head at his question.

"Have you thought about school and college. Maybe we can work something out." He said.

"I'm taking the GED test in a few weeks. I've been studying for it."

"That's a good start. Have you thought about college?"

"Well, I think Harvard's out. But maybe when she's older I can figure something out."

"Okay."

"Do you want to feel her kick? She's pretty active at the moment."

"I'd love to. Come and sit down though." He said, gently ushering her to the couch. "That's amazing." He said, feeling her stomach. "That's really her kicking?"

Rory nodded.

"I can't wait to be able to hold her." He said.

"I know, it's going to be amazing. I like that she's safe and protected where she is, but I almost want her to come out so I can look at her and cuddle her. Do you have to leave soon?"

"Nah, I just have to get back for work tomorrow."

"Well, there's this girl. Kelly. She has a baby boy who's about 3 months old. Well, I'm going over there this afternoon and tonight to spend time with her and the baby, Mark, for bath time and while he's being fed and, well, if you're not busy and if she's okay with it, do you want to come? I don't really know how to look after a baby and she was going to help me get used to it."

"That would be great, if she doesn't mind. I mean I was around Clara when she was a baby, but I was still pretty young then."

Rory sent Kelly a text and she said it was fine.

Rory and Dean had lunch together and walked around town, wandering around the lake, looking in shops.

When they arrived on Kelly's doorstep they heard crying. They gave each other a nervous look, then Rory knocked loudly on the door.

Kelly opened the door, "Come in, I'm just about to make him a bottle." Kelly said, inviting them in.

Kelly got out the bottle with Mark still crying on her shoulder. "Do you want me to hold him while you do that?" Rory asked. "I'd offer to make the bottle but I probably need to watch a couple of times before I can."

"Oh, that would be great, thanks." She said, gently placing Mark on her shoulder. He stopped crying for a moment, seemingly distracted by the strange person who held him, before going back to crying just as intensely as he had before.

"Sorry, he's hungry. It won't be long. Do you want to feed him?"

"I'd love to." Rory said. "Oh sorry, this is Dean, Dean, this is Kelly." She said introducing them as best she could over Mark's crying.

They shook hands briefly before Kelly went back to finishing his bottle. When it was ready, she helped Rory work out how to move him so that he was in a position that she could feed him in, Kelly helped and joked "It will be easier when you're not heavily pregnant."

As soon as he was in place and the bottle was in his mouth he greedily started drinking. When the bottle was about half finished, Rory asked Dean if we wanted to try feeding him.

"Uh, yeah. That would be great." Dean said nervously.

"It's okay, he doesn't bite." Rory said cheekily.

Dean grinned nervously at her. Kelly took Mark from Rory, deciding that Rory getting up in her state with a baby was probably not the best idea. She took Mark and showed Dean how to hold him, before handing him the bottle. Mark was starting to fuss, having had his meal interrupted.

"Sorry little guy." Dean apologized and the girls gave each other a look that basically said he looks really good with a baby. Rory managed to get herself up and went over to stand near Dean. Watching him with Mark was making him even more attractive to her. When they were done feeding him Kelly, they spent a couple of hours with Kelly and Mark, bathing him, changing him, cuddling him, before it was time for him to go to bed.

They thanked Kelly and arranged to visit again, both of them.

"Wow." Dean said when they were walking back to Rory's apartment.

"I know." Rory said. Dean took Rory's hand in his and they walked the rest of the way back holding hands and walking silently together.

When they got back to her apartment, they stood, talking excitedly about how amazing it their evening had been. Suddenly Rory kissed Dean, taking him by surprise. He kissed her back eagerly, before painfully pulling away, "Are you sure you want to be doing this?" He asked her anxiously.

She nodded. "I'm sure."

They kissed for several more minutes. "So do you want us to try to be a family? Or are we just…"

"I want to try to be a family. I love you, Dean. I was just angry about… well you know. I didn't think I could forgive you, but I know you didn't mean it and well, actually, I probably won't ever fully forgive you, but I mostly forgive you. Enough that I could be with you."

"Okay, so how do you want to do this?"

"Well, I think maybe we should just date until she's born. So you keep doing what you're doing, working casually or whatever, at your grandmother's and you can come here when you can. I'd come there but…"

"It's fine I know you don't have a car, I don't mind coming here."

"Okay, and well maybe I can see if I can get Mom to start building your reputation back up in Stars Hollow. Maybe you can go back there for a while, I'm going to be there after she's born for a few months. Then we can come back here and start our life together, if we both still want to. That way we're not rushing into anything and we have time to adjust. I don't think we can live in this apartment though, it's not really big enough for three, but we'll figure something out."

"It all sounds good to me. Are you sure your mom will be able to get me back in Stars Hollow? Are you sure she'll want to?"

"I'll talk to her. I'll figure it out. She wants me to be in Stars Hollow, so I should be able to convince her to try."

They went back to kissing for several more minutes. Finally Dean reluctantly said, "I should go."

"Can't you stay for a movie?" Rory asked, giving him her best puppy dog eyes and pout.

Dean almost gave him to them, "I have to be up early and I still have to get back. Maybe a quick TV show."

"Forget about TV." Rory said, resuming the kissing.

When Dean really did have to leave Rory wished he didn't have to. She wondered if maybe she should have just told him he could move in straight away, but she knew that wasn't a good idea. It wasn't really what she wanted anyway. She just knew she was going to miss him. They hugged for a long time before he finally managed to drag himself away from Rory.

"I love you, Rory."

"I love you too, Dean."

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and quickly started down the stairs before he had a chance to change his mind.