1 year later
"I hate you," Rory hissed glaring at Jess, being forced to drink her stupid apple juice. "I hate you!"
"You decided on your own that you weren't going to drink coffee of any kind the whole time during your pregnancy. I had no say in it, Rory," Jess smirked sitting at the table with her. "A few more days and you can drink all the coffee in the world." Rory sighed.
"It might be longer than that, though. At the time I clearly wasn't thinking straight. I was so excited that we were going to be parents." It was easier to make a decision like that when you're gonna be told no coffee, anyway. At first it really hadn't bothered her, the months seemed to drag out, and that's when she wanted to drink coffee. The fact she couldn't have it, made her want it that much more.
"See, not my fault, totally his fault," Jess told her gently rubbing Rory's oversized stomach. He smiled feeling his son's foot press against his hand. He was going to be a father soon, and that was a thought that had once scared him, but now it filled him with excitement, a sense of belonging. He couldn't wait for his baby boy to be born.
"Blaming our son already?" Rory asked with a small smirk.
"It needs to be done," he smirked kissing her soft lips. "I need to go and get things set up for tomorrow then go get Matt and Chris, you'll be fine?" Jess asked holding her hand in his.
"Yeah, mom will be by shortly," Rory responded. Jess gave her one last kiss and headed out.
Finding out she was pregnant, she was excited to know that her and Jess had created a little human that were going to be responsible for. It was that thought that had her freaked out. Jess had found out the same time she had. And he was quieter than normal. She was scared that he would pull a vanishing act on her. She believed he wouldn't and he had assured her that he had no plans of doing such a thing, but what if he did turn out to be like Jimmy? Or like Christopher? They had talked about it for hours and when they finished, she was no longer scared that he would leave her and his baby, rather she was scared that they were going to screw their poor child up.
"Oh, child of mine, what are you doing?" Lorelai asked with a puzzled look on her face.
"Jess, hid the coffee pot and the coffee, I'm trying to find them. He keeps moving them," she explained shutting the cupboard door.
"Oh, sweets, just a few more days. This was something you wanted to do for your child, in hopes he's not addicted to the sweet stuff like we are. Plus it's for the best, you can't give into temptation now," she told her daughter. "You can hang in there," she assured her daughter rubbing her baby bump.
"I know," Rory sighed. "So what's the plan for the day?" Rory asked.
"Do you feel up to doing a little shopping for the baby?"
"It's only after 3, but I already feel exhausted and my feet are sore, I was hoping we could pig out and watch movies. Ya know have a movie afternoon? God I sound so old already," Rory said pulling a face.
"Not old, just pregnant. And movies are fine. Why don't you go get comfy and I'll get the food and the movie taken care. Rory nodded wobbling to the living room.
A few minutes later Lorelai walked into the room to see her daughter was out cold. She put the bowl of chips and popcorn on the coffee table, she went and got a blanket, draping it over daughter's sleeping form. She kissed her daughter's head and quietly made her way out of the house.
When they had showed up for her wedding, she wasn't happy to hear that Rory had given Jess another chance to break her heart. But she was wrong. Once she got past the hate she had for the once hoodlum, she could see just how much Jess really cared and loved her daughter. He wouldn't have been the guy she picked for her daughter to spend the rest of her life with, but he was a close second. He had proved himself and really stepped up. He had changed and Lorelai was now proud to call him her son-in-law. It had taken sometime to get use to them being together. Once she heard they were expecting a child, red flags had went off in her head. She figured, Jess wasn't ready for that type of commitment. But he had proved her wrong once again. He had stepped up and made sure Rory was taken care of every step of the way during her pregnancy. He was going to be an alright father and a loving husband. Now she couldn't pick anyone over Jess. She already knew that Rory was going to make an amazing mother.
"No rude comments about her being pregnant, either, Matthew," Jess hissed pulling the car up to the house.
"Why don't you get on, Chris' case?" Matt asked hurt. He wasn't going to say anything about Rory being pregnant. Nothing that would hurt her. He had been around a few pregnant women before, he knew their hormones were at crazy levels. He didn't need his head bit off.
"I have more manners than you," Chris replied from the backseat.
"Whatever," Matt huffed getting out of the car letting his door slam shut. Jess cringed hoping that the noise hadn't woke Rory up if she was still asleep.
"Doofus, I told you to be quiet," Jess hissed smacking the back his friends head. Matt glared at him rubbing the spot that had got hit.
"What the hell?" Jess shrugged pushing the house door open. "Did we miss the party?" Matt asked spotting all the containers of take out spread out in front of Rory.
"Nope," Rory replied digging in her box of kung pow chicken. "We wanted pizza, but after that got here, we wanted Indian food, but a few minutes after I order that, we wanted some Chinese and Thai, we just couldn't figure out what we really wanted. Help yourself's, there's plenty."
"Plates are in the cupboard by the fridge," Jess told them pointing to the kitchen. "How you feeling?" Jess asked sitting next to her.
"Stuffed, like I'm ready to explode," she explained leaning into him. "Ah, and this is the most comfortable I've felt all day."
"We can have any of this?" Matt asked eying the food up.
"Yep, eat it all, because I can't eat no more," Rory explained with a yawn.
"You can go to bed, if you want," Jess suggested his hand massaging her back.
"I'm tired of sleeping," she told him. She didn't care if that made sense or not. She was sick of sleeping her days away. She really wanted to evict her son from the womb. She wanted to be able to hold her son and see how much he looks like his father. "They have a room at the Dragonfly, you know that, right?"
"Are you trying to kick us out?" Matt asked stuffing a bite of pizza into his mouth.
"You are eating me out of house and home," Rory told him hiding her smile.
"You told us to eat," Matt huffed pointing his pizza crust at her.
"Doesn't mean you had to listen to me," Rory replied shaking her head hearing Jess chuckle lightly.
"That maybe rules of being grounded for a month, I think," Jess said adding his advice.
"A week without having any supper, too," Rory added on.
"Dude, you best quit, before they make you sleep outside like a dog," Chris told him.
"That's an excellent idea," Jess said snapping his fingers.
"You guys make horrible parents, I think child services need to show up and take your child away," Matt deadpanned.
"Good thing you're not our son, then," Rory told him with a serious face. "Otherwise they would have taken you to the physic ward," Rory gave him a smile. Jess burst out in laughter.
"You guys are mean and deserve each other," Matt pouted grabbing a food container.
"Now don't cry on us, Matt," Chris mocked.
"Funny," Matt replied flipping his friend off. "Seriously though, I'm proud of you Jess. You've come along way since that night in Philly."
"You have, and it's nice to see that you've got your wish of being far away from us," Chris joked with a serious vibe to his words.
"Thanks, guys. I'm gonna miss it all in a way," Jess replied.
The conversation from there turned into a friendly one. Rory had excused herself to soak in the tub, letting the warm water relax her stiff and sore muscles. It wasn't much longer after Rory had left the room that the three men called it a night. Chris and Matt left walking the distance to the Dragonfly. Jess had offered to give them a ride, but they politely declined saying they wanted to get a better look at the town that Jess had once abhorred. Jess quickly got the takeout containers put away. Most of them went into the trash, leaving a handful to sit in the fridge.
By the time he made it bed, Rory was already passed out. Jess smiled dropping a kiss to her forehead. He got ready for bed, keeping an eye on his wife. She looked so peaceful sound asleep. She looked every part of an angel with cast of the moon resting against her smooth skin. He never grew tired of seeing her in their bed, having her in his arms. It seemed the wait for her had paid off, their lives were finally in the same place at the same time and now instead of their lives being separate they were one.
In her sleep she could feel the bed dip down. She curled into his side. Tomorrow was going to be a long and tiring day. They both needed the comfort from the one they loved.
Rory stood outside what use to be the Independence Inn, now Truncheon Books. With everything Jess had done with the place, it looked different but in a sense it looked the same. The place had the whole log cabin, rustic feel to it. Just from a glimpse of the place, she felt her heart sink a tab, seeing that old shed hadn't with stood the tests of time and came to its end. It was hard to see what she considered her first home, was now gone. The memories this place held for her, were so many. Her favorite one, the spot where she saw Jess at Sookie's wedding. The heart-melting kiss, that confused her even more so at that age. Now it was time for her memories to mix with that of her husbands.
"The real party is inside," Jess spoke bring Rory to turn around to see the fresh tears in her eyes. "Rory, what's wrong?" Jess asked quickly moving to embrace her against his body, giving her the comfort that always soothes her.
"Nothing," Rory whispered clinging onto him, afraid if she let go, he would vanish. It was silly to think such a thought after everything they have been through, but she couldn't lose him now, not when they had so much going for them. "Memories and such," she told him further explaining the sudden tears. Jess said nothing letting the palm of his hands massage her back. "It's weird to think of all the time, I spent here, the great memories I made and now, it's your turn to make your own memories here."
"We will make memories here, Rory. We're married now, so this becomes yours, just as much as it's mine." Rory was quick to shake her head.
"Jess, this place is all yours. I have no say in what you do, and I'm ok with that. This is your business, not mine," She told him with content sigh. "We should get you back in there before they think they won with running you out of town."
"That's just Taylor. The rest of this crazy town has come to the conclusion I'm not so bad and they like me, Taylor, he'll always be the exasperating man he is." A chuckle escaped his lips, blowing a few stands of Rory's brown hair out-of-place.
"He's not always bad," Rory tried to defend the man, but even she knew how Taylor was all the time. Jess gave her a pointed look. "But still, you need to get back, this is your big moment after all."
They walked back hand in hand. The whole town had showed up. Kirk, Lulu and their little baby had showed up. Kirk wanted to name her after himself, but Kirk wasn't an acceptable name for a girl and Lulu wouldn't cave. So instead he had to settle for the name Luna.
Inside the place kept its rustic feel, bookshelf's where everywhere filling the place. Off in a corner there stood a stage for any performer. Jess felt he needed that part as well. It would do wonders for story time. Unique one of a kind art hung all around the place. There was even an upstairs that held more books and paintings. Along with a room for the staff. Jess' office was on the main floor, where he could see the people come and go.
Rory had no need to write notes down, she was writing the article for the gazette but everything had burned into her head. She had been with Jess since the start of it all. Been there through his ups and downs. She was proud of him. This place was him. She sat off by herself in a corner with her feet up. She wasn't going to be leaving until it was time for the place to close. She loved seeing Jess in action. Many of the townspeople had swarmed around him throughout the day.
"I didn't expect him to pull this off," Taylor announced standing by Rory. "I'm honestly surprised he did."
"I'm not," Rory told him keeping her eyes on Jess. "You were told he had changed, and he really did."
"That he has, it's remarkable. He's outdone himself," Taylor said walking off. Rory found it shocking that Taylor had praised Jess. She'd be sure to add that little comment in her article.
What had felt like seconds, which was really hours the place was empty. But with a book in hand it was easy to lose track of time. It never changed. Her smile faded feeling a sharp pain shot through her body. Jess was by her side in a hurry seeing her wince. He grabbed her hand.
"Rory," He said wincing when Rory squeezed down on his hand
"Our son is coming," Rory told him once the contraction had subsided. Jess stayed calm as he could. He quickly helped Rory get up and out to the car. On the way to the hospital in Hartford, Jess made a call to Lorelai to let her know what was going on and to get Rory's hospital bag. Lorelai said she would do just that and be on her way.
Hours had felt like days, Rory kept blaming Jess for the mess she was in, threatened to take sex away. Jess agreed, not wanting to upset Rory any further, and he had been told by Luke just to go along with whatever Rory told him, because it wasn't really her talking. By the time Rory was able to start pushing their son out, Jess felt as if his hand may have been broken from how hard Rory had squeezed it. But he didn't mind a few broken fingers to be able to meet his son; it was worth it.
"8 pounds and 6 ounces," Jess smiled walking out to the waiting room where Lorelai and Luke were waiting. They were the only ones that had mattered. They would call the rest come morning. He had Jess's black hair. He looked like a mix of his parents, but you could really see Jess in him.
"Can I see him?" Lorelai asked getting to her feet. "I bring coffee for that dear wife of yours." She held the cup of steaming hot coffee up. Jess nodded and told them to follow. Every step Lorelai took the excitement of meeting her grandson coursed through her. Lorelai traded coffee for the baby. "Name?" Lorelai asked looking down at her grandson.
"Oliver Lucas Mariano," Rory told them sipping her coffee. Luke had tears in his eyes. Rory motioned him over for a hug where he whispered a thank you in her ear. "It was only right to name him after you, Luke. You had helped raise me and you helped Jess along the way," Rory replied. Everything sure did seem perfect. Looking back over the last year and a half, she was happy that her impromptu road trip had paid off the way it did for her. Everything that remained between her and Jess, was still there and the pieces fit together perfectly. She was excited for the rest of her life as Jess' wife and the mother to his kids. They still needed to have that little girl. But she wasn't going to rush that. She was going to take everything as it came her way.
With that this ends the story. Thank you to everyone that has read, alerted, and followed. A special thank you to those of you that have taken the time to leave a review. They really did keep me going. I hope you all enjoyed this story, as much as I have enjoyed writing and sharing it with all of you.