Chapter 29: "Yeah and I want to keep that so I'm thinking in a few months I'll starting signing my name as Rory Gilmore-Mariano,"


The week before Thanksgiving, Rory and Jess were flooded with phone calls and emails from friends and family who had received their 'save the date' cards, but hadn't yet heard in person from them or anyone else in the family about their engagement. Rory was surprised by a few of the calls she received. Emily had managed to track down addresses for a few people from Chilton and surprised Rory by inviting them.

"So Madeline and Louise are coming to the wedding," Rory told Paris when she called to discuss when Paris would be able to come to Stars Hollow for Lorelai to take measurements for her dress.

"Really? I didn't know you still talked to them. The last time I saw them was when we went to Florida for spring break," Paris said.

"Me too. That was the last I saw or spoke to them, but I guess Grandma ran into Louise's grandma at the club and they were talking about different things and when the subject of grandchildren came up and they realized Louise and I went to Chilton together, Grandma asked for her address to invite her to the wedding," Rory told her, "She and Madeline are living together in this big apartment in New York."

"How do you know they're coming? Just because they got their 'save the date' card doesn't mean they're going to come," Paris said.

"Louise called me. As soon as she got the card in the mail she called up her grandmother to track down my phone number," Rory said, "Jess and I are having dinner with her and Madeline when go back to Connecticut for Thanksgiving next week."

"In New York or are they going to be in Hartford?" Paris asked.

"Hartford. They're visiting for the weekend and asked if we'd join them for dinner Saturday night," Rory said.

"Saturday night? They're giving up a date night to have dinner with you and Jess," Paris said, "My how things have changed."

"It surprised me, too, but they are both dating, though," Rory told her, "Madeline is seeing some lawyer and Louise has been on a few dates with a doctor. They're both working through the holiday."

"Huh, well, Doyle and I were planning on staying in Boston for Thanksgiving, but maybe come down for the day and join you guys. Give Jess another guy around for the evening," Paris said.

"Yeah, that sounds good. It's not going to be anything fancy. Just dinner at Salute. I can talk to Mom and see about a room for you and Doyle if you don't want to drive back to Boston after," Rory said.

"Great. Thanks," Paris said, "Okay, well I have to go, but I'll talk to you soon."

"Yeah, talk to you soon. Bye, Paris," Rory said.

"Bye," Paris replied.


"What's going on with Paris?" Jess asked when he came into the apartment that evening and caught the end of Rory's conversation.

"Nothing, really. We were discussing when she'll be able to go to Stars Hollow so Mom can measure her for her dress," Rory told him.

"Did you tell her about Madeline and Louise?" he asked.

"Yeah. And she and Doyle are going to come down Saturday to join us for dinner," she said.

"Good. It will be good to have another guy around and I can actually have a decent conversation with Paris. I never met the other two, but from how you've described them I think I'll be glad to have Paris around," Jess said.

"I agree. I like Madeline and Louise and I got along with them fine back at Chilton, but they can be a bit…" Rory began.

"Shallow?" Jess offered.

"Yeah. Though, I am looking forward to finding out what they've been up to. I haven't seen them in years. I wonder if they still look the same, what kind of jobs they have," Rory said.

"I guess it will be nice to catch up with them. You haven't seen them since that spring break you had in Florida, right?" Jess asked.

"Right and Paris hasn't either," Rory said, "So it will be nice for the both of us to see them again."

"Yeah, so dinner?" he asked.

"I have a ton of research to do so I was thinking we could just order a pizza," she said.

"Works for me. I'll let you get to work and call up Pete's," Jess said, "Special no onions?"

"Get some mac and cheese bites, too," Rory said.

"Okay."


Wednesday after work, the day before Thanksgiving Rory and Jess drove up to Connecticut. Since they were getting in late they went straight to the diner to turn in for the evening before they had to be up early to help the dinner Luke was going to be cooking at the house. Since it was Hunter's first Thanksgiving, Lorelai wanted to have a small family dinner at home. April was staying in New Mexico for Thanksgiving and Liz and TJ were at a renaissance fair so dinner would just be the five of them plus Richard and Emily.

"Mom, Luke?" Rory called as she walked into her childhood home Thanksgiving morning.

"Hey, Rory. Hey, Jess," Luke said, coming out of the kitchen, "Your Mom is upstairs giving Hunter a bath."

"Great. I'll go give her a hand," Rory said, giving Luke a hug and kissing Jess on the cheek before going upstairs.

"You want to give me a hand?" Luke asked Jess.

"Sure, I'd be happy to," Jess said before following Luke into the kitchen.

"So how is everything?" Luke asked.

"Good. Really good. Things are going well at the store. The guys are begging me to write another book, but right now I've got nothing more than a few sentences scribbled into a notebook," Jess said.

"And you and Rory? Everything's good there?" he asked.

"Yeah. We're good. We've got passed the whole almost pregnancy thing. We talked about, what we want. We're good," Jess told him.

"Well, good. You know you can always come to me if you need to. Call me anytime Jess, you know that," Luke said.

"I know. Thank you," Jess said.

"You're welcome," Luke said.

"Okay, so what can I do? Put me to work Uncle Luke," Jess said.

"How do you feel about peeling potatoes?" Luke asked.

"I hate it," Jess said with a laugh, "But the instant stuff suck so give me a peeler and I'll get to work."

While the guys worked on getting the Thanksgiving meal going, Rory helped Lorelai give her baby brother a bath and discussed their shopping plans for the weekend.

"Are you sure Jess will be okay watching Hunter tomorrow?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes, he's looking forward to it," Rory told her, "Plus he's going to be watching him in the diner apartment so Luke will be right downstairs if he needs him. It will be fine. Trust me."

"I know. I do and trust Jess, too. He loves Hunter and I'm glad he wants to watch him," Lorelai said, "It's good practice."

"Yeah. He does love this little guy," Rory said, picking up her brother from his bath and wrapping him in a towel, "So do I."

"He is quite lovable," Lorelai said.

"That he is," Rory said, kissing his forehead as she laid him down on the changing table to dress him for the day.

"You look good with him," Lorelai said, "You're going to be a great Mom, you know."

"I hope so, but we've got a while before that happens. Jess and I talked about it and we're going to wait until we've been married for awhile before we try for a baby," Rory told her.

"That's not a bad idea. Enjoy being together and married for a bit before adding a third person to the mix," Lorelai said.

"Yeah. We want a baby that's for sure, but we want to enjoy just being Mr. and Mrs. Mariano for a while first," Rory said.

"Mrs. Mariano. Wow that sounds to weird," Lorelai said.

"Good weird though," Rory said.

"Yeah, definitely good weird," Lorelai agreed, "So you're taking his name?"

"I'm thinking of hyphenating like you did. I like being a Gilmore and that's what people know," Rory said.

"And you've made a name for yourself with your writing as a Gilmore," Lorelai said.

"Yeah and I want to keep that so I'm thinking in a few months I'll starting signing my name as Rory Gilmore-Mariano," she said.


After an enjoyable meal and spending time catching up, Richard and Emily went back to Hartford so Emily could get to bed to rest up before going shopping with Rory and Lorelai in the morning. Rory and Jess quickly followed after them to go back to the diner. Early Friday morning Jess got up and got a pot of coffee going for his fiancee and future mother-in-law before waking Rory up to get ready for her day of Black Friday shopping.

"What are we shopping for?" Lorelai asked as she and Rory drove to the Gilmore house in Hartford.

"I don't know. Anything, everything," Rory said, "It's not like I really need anything."

"Yeah, I guess I don't either," Lorelai said, "I suppose we'll just look and buy whatever jumps out at us."

"Sounds good to me," Rory said as they pulled into the driveway, "Looks like Grandma hired a car for the day."

"Looks like it," Lorelai said as they walked pass the limo towards the front door.

"Morning girls," Emily said, "Come in."

"Good morning, Grandma," Rory said, greeting her with a hug and kissing her cheek.

"Morning, Mom," Lorelai said, "Francine?"

"Good morning Lorelai, Rory," Francine, "I hope you don't mind, but I was speaking to Emily the other day and she mentioned your little shopping trip. I would like to come if that's alright with you."

"Of course, Grandmother, that's absolutely alright," Rory said, giving her other grandmother a hug, "It's good to see you."

"You, too, dear," Francine said.

"Alright, shall we?" Emily asked.

"Let's go. Time's a-wasting," Lorelai said before the four women headed out to the limo to enjoy their day of shopping.


"Come on buddy, work with me here," Jess said to Hunter as he held the almost four month little boy in his arms trying to feed him a bottle, "I know it's not quite the same getting it this way, but the milk's the same, so please, Hunter. Please, just drink the bottle. I know you're hungry. Oh, thank God."

"Not so easy is it?" Luke asked, walking into the apartment after hearing Jess' conversation with Hunter.

"No, I don't know how you do it," Jess said looking at the boy in his arms, finally drinking from the bottle Jess offered him.

"You just have to relax. Babies can sense when you're stressed. Lorelai has the same problem. If she's worried about something, Hunter can sense it and refuses to eat," Luke told him, "But once you calm down he's good. You did good, nephew, talking to him the way you did. You're pretty good at this yourself."

"You think so?" Jess asked.

"Absolutely and so does Lorelai and Rory. Lorelai wouldn't have been so cool with you watching him today if she didn't think you could handle it," Luke said.

"He's pretty cool for a baby," Jess said, placing the now empty bottle on the table and laying Hunter across his shoulder to burp him.

"You want to come down to the diner for a bit after you lay him down? You can bring the monitor with you," Luke said.

"No thanks. I think I'm going to write for a bit actually," Jess said.

"You get inspired all of a sudden?" Luke asked.

"Maybe. I'm not sure if it will turn into anything, but I think I just got an idea for a new book," Jess said.


As soon as she walked in the door, Lorelai threw her purse on the counter and ran up the stairs to see her baby boy, but shocked at what she saw she quickly made her way back downstairs to grab Luke and Rory to bring them upstairs with her.

"You guys have too this," Lorelai said, leading them up the stairs, "But be quiet."

"Aww! How cute," Rory said when they walked in, "I wonder how long they've been like this?"

"I'm not sure," Luke said, "I brought Jess up a plate of food a couple of hours ago and Hunter was in the crib."

"Well he's not now," Rory said, tearing up a bit as she snapped a few pictures of her fiance sleeping with her baby brother asleep on his chest, Jess' laptop laying next to them with his latest writings open for them to see, "Oh my."

"What?" Lorelai asked.

"Hunter's Tale," Rory said, pointing out the words on the screen to her mother, "I'm guessing it's a working title, but it looks like Jess is writing a children's book."

"With Hunter as the star," Lorelai said with a smile, "Why don't Luke and I go back downstairs so you can wake him."

"That's a good idea. Knowing Jess he'll be embarrassed if he wakes up to all three of us," Luke said.

"Definitely," Rory said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed next to Jess, running her fingers through his hair, "Wake up sleepy head."

"Rory?" Jess mumbled, opening his eyes slightly as he adjusted to the light.

"Hey. You two look pretty comfy," Rory said and Jess opened his eyes wider, noticing Hunter on his chest.

"Huh, I don't remember falling asleep. I was writing and he started crying. He wasn't wet and he didn't want a bottle so I just laid down with him and eventually stopped," Jess said, sitting up and handing Hunter to Rory to place him in his crib.

"You're writing a children's book?" Rory asked.

"You ready that?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, sorry. It was there and you looked so adorable asleep with Hunter I didn't want to disturb you. How long have you been writing that?" she asked.

"I got the idea today," Jess told her, "I was feeding Hunter this morning and I don't know it just came to me."

"Well, I like what you have so far," Rory told him, "I can't wait to read more. Do you have any plans for it?"

"Not really. For now I'm just writing. I don't know if it will be a book of short stories or a series of little books," Jess said.

"I think it's sweet that you're drawing inspiration from my baby brother," Rory said, kissing him.

"Thank you," Jess said before standing up to put the laptop away, "I'm guessing Lorelai is downstairs."

"Yep, we just got back," Rory said.

"And I'm sure she would like her son back so why don't you take him down there and I'll grab his stuff," Jess said.

"Okay," Rory said, kissing him again before going to pick up her still sleeping brother, "I love you."

"I love you, too."


Saturday night, Rory and Jess met Paris and Doyle in Hartford and the four of them went to the Italian restaurant, Salute to meet up with Madeline and Louise for dinner. They were sitting at the table having just ordered drinks when the arrival of the two was announced by the two of them shouting out Rory and Paris' names as soon as they saw them.

"Rory Gilmore, you look fantastic," Louise said, giving her a hug, "Is this a new dress?"

"It is, bought it yesterday," Rory told her, "You look great, too Louise."

"Thanks, now introduce me us to that yummy fiance of yours," Louise said.

"Right, Louise, Madeline, I'd like you to meet my fiance, Jess Mariano," Rory said as Jess held a hand for them to shake, "Jess this is Louise Grant and Madeline Lynn."

"It's nice to meet you Jess," Madeline said, blushing a little as she shook his hand.

"I take it you're a fan," he said.

"Oh please, like Madeline reads," Paris said.

"You don't have to read his books to enjoy the picture of him inside, Paris," Louise said, ignoring Jess' outstretched hand to give him a hug, "It's a shame really that Gilmore always gets the hotties. I could have offered you so much."

"Louise!" Rory warned, "Don't hit on my fiance!"

"Fine, it's okay. I've got my own hottie now," she said as she took her seat after getting introduced to Doyle as well.

"Right, Rory said you're dating a doctor," Paris said.

"Yep, Joshua Kramer. He's in his second year of residency at New York Presbyterian," Louise said.

"What area is he in?" Paris asked.

"Obstetrics," Louise told her.

"How's he like it there?" Paris asked.

"He likes it. It's different. He grew up in the Midwest, but he always wanted to work in a big city," Louise said.

"And you like him?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, a lot. I mean we've only been out a few times in the month we've known each other with his busy schedule and mine, but I like him," she said.

"So, what are you doing, Louise?" Rory asked.

"I'm in the process of starting my own fashion line," she said, "I've always been into clothes and would make changes to clothes all the time so I figured why not."

"Plus your parents were sick of you just spending all their money," Madeline added.

"That's true, too," Louise said, "I don't have a lot yet. Just a few designs. I still need to find a place to set up shop to get my designs made and either set up a website or consider selling the designs to a store or something."

"That's great Louise. If you need anything just let me know," Rory said, "What about you Madeline."

"You are looking at one of the top beauticians in New York City," she told them.

"Really?" Rory asked.

"Yep. It all started when I went into my favorite salon a couple of years ago and my favorite stylist was out sick. I was fine with someone else doing my hair, but a few of the other people weren't. I've done my own hair a few times and I do Louise's all the time so I offered an opinion on what I thought would be a good look for this one lady and she loved it," Madeline said, "The owner asked if I worked anywhere and next thing I knew she was telling to go to beauty school so she could offer me a job."

"That's so cool and you like it?" Rory asked.

"I love it. I never thought I would like having a day to day job, but it's fun. I get to play with people's hair and makeup all day and get paid for it," Madeline said, "It's really cool."

"You'll have to show me some pictures and if I like what I see maybe I'll have you do my hair for the wedding," Rory said, "I already have a dress, sorry Louise."

"That's fine. Maybe I'll design something for the honeymoon," Louise said.

It turned out to be a nice evening for the six of them with Madeline and Louise telling Jess and Doyle stories about Paris and Rory from Chilton that they hadn't told the guys and even the kiss the two shared that they had neglected to tell their boyfriends about. Paris and Doyle stayed at the Dragonfly Saturday night and Sunday morning Paris met with Lorelai to get measurements so Lorelai could get to work on Paris' dress for the wedding.


When December came, Rory and Jess went back to Stars Hollow for Christmas, joining everyone at the Gilmore's for a big Christmas party. They even took a big family photo to honor Hunter's first Christmas. Rory and Jess were only able to stay in town for a few days before having to go back to work, but did come back for New Year's Eve.

Leaving the square just before midnight, Rory and Jess went to their bridge to ring in the new year, the year they were getting married in the place they were going to be exchanging their vows in less than five months.

"Only a few months to go," Jess said as they sat down with their feet hanging over the side of the bridge, "Are you excited?"

"Beyond excited," Rory told him as she laid her head on his shoulder when he placed an arm around her, "I can't wait to be Mrs. Mariano."

"And I can't wait for you to be Mrs. Mariano," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"It's almost midnight," Rory said as she looked at the time on the new watch Jess had given her for Christmas.

"Yep, thirty seconds to go," Jess said, placing a hand on her cheek as they listened to the townspeople counting down to the new year, "I love you, Rory!"

"I love you, too, Jess," she told him before placing her own hand on his cheek and kissing him, "Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year!"