A/N: I got some truly amazing and wonderful comments after the last chapter, and I am truly and unbelievably grateful for your love and support. Unfortunately, I lost my father in May and I've been going through the hardest time in my life. I finally felt inspired to write again, and I hope you enjoy this final chapter. The epilogue will follow shortly.

Fourteen

Rory lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. She was exhausted beyond measure, but she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she was flooded with thoughts of Jess- covering Trix with a blanket when she shivered, getting up to check on her every time she stirred in the hospital bed, leaving to find apple juice for her when she woke up thirsty. Doing everything you'd expect from a worried father.

But he wasn't Trix's father. Rory kept coming back to that thought above all others. No matter how sweet he was with her, no matter how much he cared for her, he wasn't her father and he'd made it perfectly clear that he didn't want to be.

Had he? Rory contemplated the situation, and realized he'd never really said that. He'd said that he didn't know how he fit into their life, and that he didn't know if just caring about them was enough. He admitted he was scared he wasn't enough for them, but he never said he didn't want to be enough for them. The distinction had seemed irrelevant a year ago, but now it seemed like a huge one. Jess was a good man, and Rory was in love with him.

Rory sat straight up in bed as her overtired brain finally jumped to the obvious conclusion she'd been ignoring for months. She was in love with Jess. Rory could feel her heart thudding in her chest as she nervously chewed on her thumbnail. God, how could she have been so stupid? She'd told him, and herself, that they'd tried and it didn't work- it was just too complicated to work. She'd convinced herself that it wasn't a big deal, that they'd move on and be happy as friends. How stupid had she been to believe that was true? To think that she could ever be happy being just his friend. There was more between them; there always had been. An energy, a connection that she'd never been able to ignore. And now that she was being completely honest with herself, she could admit she didn't want to ignore it anymore.

Rory leaned back against the headboard, her mind buzzing with thoughts. She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there like that when she started hearing noise on Trix's baby monitor.

"What'll it be, Trixie girl? Want to hear a story?" Jess sounded as tired as Rory felt, but she could tell he was keeping his tone pleasant for Trix's sake.

"Sing pwease." Trix's little voice said, and she sounded moments away from falling asleep herself.

"Geez, I'm not so good with the singing." Jess protested weakly. There was a moment of quiet and Rory knew from Jess's defeated sigh that Trix had turned her big, blue eyes on him. The next sound Rory heard was Jess's soft, off-key voice singing Time Bomb by Rancid. Rory clapped both hands over her mouth to stop from laughing.

Rory swung her legs over the side of the bed and pushed herself up before padding over to Trix's nursery. She stopped in the doorway and watched Jess sitting in the rocking chair with Trix in his lap, gently murmuring "black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, the boy's a time bomb."

Trix's eyes closed and her breathing evened out as she fell asleep. Jess gently lifted her in his arms and kissed her forehead before placing her in her crib. Her turned toward the door and smiled sheepishly when he saw Rory standing there.

He walked out of the nursery and quietly closed the door behind him before asking, "Any chance you didn't hear me singing?"

Rory pushed Jess up against the wall and crushed her mouth to his. Jess's response was immediate. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss and pressing his body against hers. He effortlessly lifted Rory off her feet and spun her around so she was the one with her back against the wall. She wrapped her arms around his neck as they continued to kiss, Jess's hands roaming over her. He finally pulled away from her, breathless.

"The fact we haven't done that in almost a year is a travesty." Jess said seriously, tucking Rory's hair behind her ear.

"Yeah?" Rory asked, biting her lip thoughtfully. "You're sure you mean that and you're not just delirious with exhaustion?"

"Rory…" Jess started.

"I was a fucking idiot." He said, at the same time Rory said, "I think I was wrong."

They both laughed, and Jess brought his hands to Rory's face as he looked in her eyes. He kissed her again, sweetly at first but it quickly became more passionate. Rory grabbed his hand and pulled him into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

"Rory, we don't-."

"Shut up, Jess." Rory said firmly, kissing him again and pushing him back onto her bed.

Rory curled up against Jess and laid her head on his chest, completely spent and happy.

"That was long overdue." Jess murmured, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her forehead.

"Mmm." Rory said, not capable of forming any words. Exhaustion was finally taking over and her eyes felt heavy as she closed them.

"I love you, you know." Jess said from beside her, and Rory's eyes popped back open. She sat up in bed and pulled the sheet up over her, suddenly aware of her state of undress. Jess sat up too, but seemed to have no problems with the fact that he was naked.

"I love you too." Rory said quietly, feeling heat flood her cheeks. Jess smirked and pulled her to him, placing a lingering kiss on her mouth. Rory accepted his kiss, but immediately sprung out of bed to pull on her underwear and a t-shirt. She knew it was stupid to feel self-conscious after what they'd just said, not to mention the things they'd been doing before, but Rory couldn't help it.

"If you're trying to keep me from seeing that tattoo, it's too late for that." Jess's voice turned into a low growl and Rory turned to face him, blushing again at the heated look in his eyes. She hadn't even been thinking about the dumb tattoo she'd gotten, but now she lifted the hem of the shirt so they could both look at the to-go coffee cup on her hip.

"My mom and I got matching ones." Rory declared, looking down at it and the stretch marks surrounding it.. "When I turned 30. That's what you noticed?"

"Not the only thing." Jess assured her, his eyes still dark and his voice tantalizingly low. He offered his hand and when Rory took it, he pulled her down into his lap and began kissing her neck.

Rory giggled and felt immediately stupid for thinking he cared about her stretch marks or that her stomach wasn't perfectly flat like it had been when they were teenagers. He didn't look the same as he had back then either, and that was a good thing. He'd grown into an unbelievably sexy man. And he loved her, which just made him even sexier.

"I got one too." Jess confessed conspiratorially, whispering in her ear and making her shiver.

"A coffee cup tattoo?" Rory asked skeptically, making him chuckle.

"Not a coffee cup." Jess said, shifting his position so she could see his back. Inked in between his shoulder blades in a font that looked like typewriting were the words 'passionate bright young things' followed by a small, black star.

Rory traced the words lightly with her finger and said, "I knew you took Bowie's death harder than you let on."

Jess shrugged and turned back to face her. "Who didn't?"

"Touche." Rory murmured. She put a hand on the side of Jess's face and leaned her forehead against his. She closed her eyes and heard Jess chuckle.

"C'mon." He said, guiding her so she laid back down. "Get some sleep before Trixie wakes up."

"You too." Rory commanded sleepily, snuggling up against him.

"Love you." Rory murmured. Even though she was exhausted, she took great reverence in being able to say those words to him.

"Love you too." Jess whispered, and they both finally fell asleep.