A/N: Thanks for all the reviews on the previous chapter. Y'know, eventually, Rory had to admit to herself, as well as somebody else, that she was falling for Jess. I genuinely did consider having her feel more for Logan for a while there, but in the end, the Literati just has to win out - sorry to those who are disappointed by that :/

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 21

"I still can't believe they won't let you take time off for Christmas. That's barbaric!" Lorelai complained. "It's downright unconstitutional!"

"Mom, the news never sleeps," her daughter reminded her. "They try to run on a skeleton staff over the holidays, but I didn't realise how crazy the rush to take off Christmas really was. Besides, I got the whole long weekend for Thanksgiving last month and that was really, really lucky, especially when I'm so new to the paper."

"It's understandable, Lorelai," Luke told her, his hand over hers on the table. "And it's not Rory's fault. How about we try to enjoy the time we have rather than complain about what we don't have... again," he advised her kindly.

Lorelai sighed and blew out a breath. She definitely was not happy that Christmas with her daughter involved a rushed afternoon of gift giving and dinner at a packed restaurant in New York on Christmas Eve, but she supposed both Rory and Luke did have a point. It was foolish to believe that she would get to continue on as they had when Rory was a child. Things changed, life moved on. This time next year, things would be all different again. Maybe that was another reason why she felt so tense.

Dinner was served in that moment, starters laid in front of Luke, Lorelai, and Rory with a flourish.

"I'm surprised you went for the fruit, Mom. You're usually a shrimp cocktail kind of a girl," said Rory, eyeing the melon in front of Lorelai warily.

"Well, y'know, sometimes you just... Um, yeah, so the thing is," she started over, placing the spoon she had only just picked up back onto the table and allowing Luke to pick up her hand again. "The thing is that I'm kind of not allowed the seafood right now. Also you might see me actively avoiding soft cheese and, as tragic as it sounds and it truly is, caffeine," she said pointedly. "Rory, sweetie, the truth is... I'm pregnant."

They really weren't sure how she was going to take this. Luke and Lorelai had only known of the pregnancy themselves for a few days and though nobody ought to be told the news until twelve weeks had passed, Lorelai knew she had to tell her daughter and it had to be face to face. Now was the moment, the only one she was going to get apparently. Unfortunately, she had taken her chance and so far received nothing but silence in response.

"Babe?" she prompted when Rory only stared at her.

"Rory?" Luke tried.

Eventually coming out of her daze with a shake of her head, Rory smiled, and relief ran through both her mother and father-figure.

"Congraulations!" she enthused. "Oh my God, I... I'm sorry, I'm just so surprised, but this is great!" she said genuinely as she hopped up from her seat to hug them both.

Lorelai was so happy to see Rory happy. She had been just a little nervous about announcing her pregnancy like this. She and Rory had been the Gilmore girls, out on their own for so long. Accepting Luke into their lives had come easy in a lot of ways, but a new baby was a very big deal. Rory was already a half-sister to GG but little Miss Hayden was rarely seen these days and as awful as it sounded, kind of easy to forget most of the time. This was a whole other ballgame. This was a half-sibling that was going to be around all of the time, a big part of all their lives.

"You're sure you're happy about this?" asked Luke as Rory pulled away after their hug. "I mean, I'm glad you are but-"

"There is no but, Luke," she promised him, retaking her seat and looking from him to her mother. "I swear, it was a surprise, but I am so happy. I know how much this means to the both of you."

"Sweets, you don't know how pleased I am to hear you say that," said Lorelai, tearing up immediately. "And y'know, as much as we're gonna love this kid, it's not going to change how much we love you... or April," she said definitely. "You're always going to be so important and special to us."

"I know." Rory nodded. "Mom, I'm twenty three, not three. I understand," she said with a smile. "This is good news."

"We think so," Luke agreed, picking up Lorelai's hand and kissing it.

She grinned at him, wiping a happy tear away with her free hand.

"Wow. That went well," she said with a sigh. "Now we can eat."

They talked about everything from then on, including Lorelai's pregnancy, but also all kinds of other things they needed to catch up on. Naturally, plans for Christmas Day itself came around before they ever reached dessert.

"I'm only working a few hours," Rory explained. "Jess and Logan are working too, and their schedules tend to be a little less clear. We'll eat together at some point, I guess. Jess is going to make something akin to real food instead of the TV dinner kind they usually have, but it's not... We're not doing gifts or anything. It's kind of a non-Christmas," she admitted, trying for a smile but failing some in her efforts.

"Well, hopefully next year you'll be able to get some time off and come home to Stars Hollow," said Luke kindly. "It'll be nice to have you there for the first Christmas with baby Gilmore-Danes."

"Yes, you have to be there for that!" Lorelai said definitely. "And on the subject of your room-mates, I guess you can tell them about the baby, if you want to. Jess is kind of family now that I think about it, so if you want to."

"You don't want to tell him yourself?" Rory asked Luke.

He looked immediately uncomfortable. They had talked a little today back at the apartment when Lorelai and Luke came to exchange gifts with Rory before heading out to dinner, but it was clear uncle and nephew were still unsure on how to properly communicate.

"You can break the news," Luke assured her. "We're going to tell April also, but everybody else will have to wait until twelve weeks have passed."

"We're talking the middle of February, which seems like forever right now!" Lorelai declared. "But there will be a major celebration in town that day, I swear."

"I believe it." Rory smiled wider.

Inside she was hurting, but there was no way she would let it show. Rory already knew how bad her mom felt about not getting to spend Christmas together properly, and in her condition, the last thing Lorelai needed was further distress. Knowing all that she was already missing and all she may yet miss in the future in Stars Hollow, it hurt for Rory to think about it, but life moved on and she had to go with it. There was no other choice.

It was the middle of the afternoon on Christmas Day when Rory finally got in from work. She found Jess already there, but Logan currently absent.

"Hey," she greeted him with a wave. "Um, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you," he replied with a smile that was still a little forced.

They hadn't talked much these past few weeks. Since Thanksgiving, everything had gotten awkward again. Rory did her best, but Jess just seemed to want to get away from her as much as possible. She thought about calling him on it, but every time she considered it, Rory ended up backing out. It was the same when she thought about apologising a second time about the kiss in Stars Hollow. It would be massively fat-headed to believe that was his problem still, and yet Rory knew things had changed in that moment on the bridge. Jess liked her, she knew it, and screwing with the balance that had been painful to find in the first place was all her own doing. She kept hoping it could be found again, and yet.

"Logan texted a while back," said Jess then. "He should be home within an hour, so I started on dinner, since you said you planned on being no later than four."

"I made good time," Rory realised, checking her watch and seeing it was a little after two thirty. "You need help with the food?"

"You don't cook," he reminded her. "Unless we want Pop Tarts for Christmas dinner," he said, smiling amiably enough.

"Very true." Rory nodded. "I was really just being polite. Maybe I'd be better off going to get changed."

"Sounds like a plan," Jess agreed, the two sharing a smile as Rory slipped away to her room.

The moment she was gone, Jess ran a hand over his face and moved off to the kitchen, pouring himself a healthy shot of scotch. Usually he wasn't much of a hard liquor kind of guy, but Logan got the bottle in for the festivities and Jess had a feeling today was going to be a long day. Drinking in the middle of the afternoon was more Liz's style than his own, but for once Jess was okay with following the family tradition. Besides, it was the Holidays. Whilst Jess was pretty sure the birth of Christ was not supposed to be used as an excuse to get drunk, a lot of people used it for that, and just this once, he was going to have to join their ranks. Special circumstances. God would probably understand.

When Rory emerged from her room, Jess had hoped she wouldn't look too good. In dark jeans and a red top bearing a picture of Rudolph, she should have been more amusing than sexy, and yet. Jess put his eyes back on the stove and eyed his half drunk scotch on the worktop. Longest day ever.

"You sure I really can't do anything?" she asked from somewhere behind him. "I mean, I have been known to chop vegetables a little or at least wash some pans or whatever."

"Er, could you maybe just watch that pan for a minute" asked Jess. "Seriously, it's not a major task, just yell if it starts to bubble over the top, okay?"

"Sure, yeah. I can do that." Rory nodded, moving to step forward just as Jess stepped back.

They moved past each other awkwardly, the entire lengths of their bodies seemed to brush together in the best and worst ways. They shrugged it off as best they could, but it didn't come easy. Rory shook her head, concentrated on the task at hand. She had watched pans before, it was no big deal, she did it for Luke once, as she recalled. That put her in mind of him and her mom, and then she realised she hadn't really talked to Jess since before her dinner with the folks.

"Oh, I have news for you," she said, barely glancing at him in his busy work before returning her eyes to the very important almost-boiling pan. "When I was out with my mom and Luke last night, they kind of had an announcement. She's pregnant."

"Oh yeah?" said Jess, smiling a little as they glanced at each other. "That's cool. It's what they wanted, right?"

"Yeah. I mean, I don't think they planned for it to happen right now exactly, but they planned to have kids at some point," Rory agreed. "I'm really happy for them."

"Y'know that reminds me, I meant to call Luke today, do the whole 'Merry Christmas' thing, thank him for the gift card," said Jess thoughtfully. "You okay with those pans for another five minutes?"

"Sure, I'm good," Rory promised, as he left the room, taking his glass of scotch with him.

Downing the rest of his drink, Jess dialled Luke's number. He really did mean to call the guy but at the same time he was happy to escape from being in close quarters with Rory for a little while. The conversation with his estranged uncle was all fairly standard, the usual holiday greetings that one would expect, plus thanks for the gift and congrats on the baby. It was a fairly short call in the end, which was fine by both awkward relations. It worked out well since almost the second Jess hung up he heard Rory yelling. Rushing back into the kitchen he found a pan tipped over on the stove top, hot water sloshing everywhere, and Rory gripping her own hand, trying not to cry.

"It boiled over so I tried to move it. It was very hot and... ow!" Rory winced when she dared to take a look at her hand and found it was as red raw as it felt.

Jess wasted no time in rushing her to the sink and plunging her hand under a steady stream of cold water. It was only when the initial panic had passed that they realised quite the position they were in. Rory was pressed against the counter top with Jess tight against her back. It was the closest they had been since she kissed him, and even then they had not been quite so intimately pressed together.

Rory swallowed hard, and turned as much as she dare to look at Jess, which wasn't an easy manoeuvre.

"Thanks," she said more softly than she meant to.

"Rory..." he began to reply when suddenly the front door slammed open.

"Merry Christmas!" yelled Logan from the living room. "Hello?" he tried when no answer came.

As he got to the kitchen door, Rory and Jess sprung apart like shrapnel, and it was impossible for Logan not to notice.

"Hey, what happened?" he asked, watching Jess shut off the faucet and Rory grab for the papertowels.

"Nothing really, just a minor kitchen incident," she mumbled. "Um, Merry Christmas," she forced out then, finding a smile.

"And to you too." Logan grinned, his hand coming out from behind his back and showing the mistletoe he carried. "What do you say, Ace? Give a guy a break for the Holidays?" he teased.

Deciding it couldn't really hurt and feeling a strange need to sort of even things out, if that made any sense, Rory moved forward, past Jess who was now fixing things on the stove top, and threw an arm around Logan's neck as she kissed him full on the lips. Honestly, even he seemed surprised by the force of her kiss, but he didn't complain at all and got all he could out of the moment. Logan had a plan here. He was going to make Rory and Jess admit to their feelings if it was the last thing he did, and if jealousy was the only way to prise a confession out of his friends, so be it.

"Wow. Now I really do wish it was Christmas every day," he said when he and Rory parted.

She blushed furiously but didn't exactly look ashamed at what she had done.

"You wanna borrow this and share the love around?" he offered Rory then, profering the mistletoe in the general direction of her and Jess.

Rory wasn't so sure she wanted to go for it. Actually, that wasn't true, the larger part of her really did want to but it didn't seem like the best idea. She waited to see what Jess would say and tried not to look disappointed by his eventual reaction.

"Guys, I'm trying to cook here," he told them, sounding oddly like Luke, Rory thought. "Could you just get out of the way for a while?" he urged, all in good nature it seemed.

Rory was still disappointed and it showed.

"C'mon, Ace. Let's go find some trashy Christmas movie on TV," Logan offered, his arm around her shoulders.

Today was not going according to the plan at all, and things did not improve as the day went on. Logan hated that. They ate their food (which was delicious), pulled crackers and made jokes, but just as soon as the meal was done, things took a turn. Logan offered to do the dishes, since Jess cooked, and Rory said she would help. Logan told her no, she did all the decorating for Christmas so the dishes would be his contribution. Besides, he had a plan to leave Rory and Jess alone and hope for the best. Unfortunately, by the time he was done with the dishes, they were both gone behind two slamming bedroom doors. Logan had heard no yelling so he had to assume they just both wanted to be alone.

"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night," he said to hismelf, sitting down on the couch alone with the rest of the bottle of scotch.

It would be the next morning that Logan awoke to find himself still alone, and feeling the cold. There was a slam as he came to that he almost thought must have been his head thudding from too much booze. It took a while for him to realise it was more likely to have been the front door.

With a mouth like carpet and a head beating like a drum, Logan tried to sit up and take notice, then he spotted the note on the table. Taking three attempts to focus his eyes, he eventually managed to read the words in recognisable penmanship.

'Gone to Philly for a few days.

I'll see you when I see you.

J.'

Logan practically growled and crumpled the note in his hand.

"Damnit, Jess!"

To Be Continued...

A/N2: And that was Christmas! Tune in next time for New Year's Eve...