Thank you for your continued support! I'm really enjoying writing this so I hope you're enjoying it! :) Here's the next chapter!
Chapter 28
"Jamie, you didn't need to do this. You didn't need to take me away for the weekend. The meal yesterday was enough." April said.
"You deserve a break." Jamie said.
"Where are we going anyway?" She asked looking out the passenger side window.
"Check the sign."
April's face suddenly lit up and she turned to Jamie. "Stars Hollow?" She smiled softly.
"Thought you'd like a break and I know you love it here." He smiled.
"I do." She said softly. "But what if they're busy? Do they know we're coming?"
"I messaged Charlotte so she knows. Reckon we'd leave it a surprise for your dad." Jamie said. He saw April glance out the window and smile as she saw the familiar surroundings. "Is this ok?" He asked.
April smiled at him and leaned over carefully, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you." She said softly.
"Hi Luke, making my sister work now are we?" Charlotte grinned as she and Jack walked into the diner and sat at the counter, seeing Mia by the till.
"She wanted to help." Luke said.
"Sure she did!" Charlotte teased.
"Hey, remember you and Rory always used to help out here when you were younger. You liked it." Luke pointed out.
"Yeah I remember. I just like teasing you." She grinned.
"Just like your mom." Luke shook his head. "Want your usuals?" He asked.
"Yes please." She grinned.
"Can I work here when I'm older?" Jack asked.
"Maybe." Charlotte smirked.
"Where's Jess?" Luke asked.
"With Doula. He promised her he'd spend the day with her." She smiled.
"Are you not going to the hospital today then?" Luke asked bringing them their food after a while.
"No I am but I need to find someone to watch this one first." Charlotte said gesturing to Jack.
"You know I would but I'm stuck here all day and I'm watching this one as well." Luke said gesturing to Mia.
"It's fine. I might go and see if Lane is free." She said. She smiled as she glanced out of the window though. "But first, there's a surprise for you."
"What do you mean?" Luke said.
"Look outside." Charlotte said.
Luke was surprised to see April getting out a car with Jamie. "April? What is she doing here?" He asked.
"Came to visit. Jamie messaged me yesterday to ask if it was ok. I think he wanted to cheer her up a bit. It's ok right?" Charlotte said.
"Of course! April!" Luke smiled, going over to her daughter as she entered the diner and gave her hug. "It's good to see you."
"You too, dad." April smiled, reciprocating the action. "Charlotte, hey!" She smiled giving her a hug too.
"Hey!" Charlotte smiled. "You two made good time." She said.
"Not much traffic." Jamie said.
"It's ok that we've gatecrashed your weekend right?" April checked.
"Of course. April, you know you're always welcome. Anytime." Luke smiled.
"Thanks." April smiled softly.
"I'm actually about to head to the hospital to see Lizzie. Want to come?" Charlotte asked April.
"If you're sure." April said.
"Yeah! Jess is with Doula so it would be nice to have company. I just need to find someone to watch Jack." She said.
"I can." Jamie offered.
"Really?" Charlotte asked surprised.
"I don't mind. If you're stuck, I'm happy to help." Jamie said.
"If you're sure, that would be great. Thanks Jamie." Charlotte smiled. "Right, you be good ok? And I'll be back soon." She told Jack.
"Ok." Jack said.
"Love you." She said kissing the top of his head. "Ok let's go." She smiled at April. "Bye Luke!" She said.
"See ya." Luke waved.
Jess watched Doula as she fed the ducks. TJ had dropped her off in the morning and she had the biggest smile on her face and had given him the biggest hug. It made him feel bad that he hadn't made more of an effort to spend time with her. He vowed there and then that he would keep his promise to her to spend one day a week with her.
"Jess, can we go and get something to eat?" Doula asked after she had got rid of all her bread.
"Yeah come on. What would you like?" He asked getting up.
"Can we get pizza?" She asked.
"Pizza it is." Jess nodded and they headed off in search for some pizza.
After getting a takeaway pizza, Jess took Doula to the bridge in Stars Hollow. "Now this is my favourite place in the whole town." He told her.
"The bridge?" Doula asked.
"Yep."
"Why?"
"It's peaceful. I used to like to come here and read." Jess told her.
"Do you come with Charlotte?" She asked.
"Sometimes. She likes to sketch here as well." He smiled as they sat down.
"It is nice." Doula said quietly as she started eating their food and looked out at the water.
Jess glanced at her. "Are you ok?" He asked cautiously.
"Do you miss mommy?" She asked quietly.
Jess sighed and put his arm round her. "Of course I do." He said softly.
"Daddy wants to move house." She sniffed.
"What?" Jess said surprised.
"He said he wants to move closer to you. He said it would be what mommy would want. He said she would want us to be near you and Uncle Luke." She said quietly.
"And how do you feel about that?" He asked cautiously.
Doula shrugged. "I want to be close to you and Uncle Luke but...the house has lots of mommy's stuff. I don't want to get rid of it." She sniffed.
"I'm sure your daddy doesn't want to either. I'm sure he's planning to take it all with you." Jess assured her. "He's really wanting to move closer to us?" He asked.
Doula nodded. She glanced up at him. "Is that ok? That we will be closer to you."
Jess smiled softly at her and pulled her close. "Of course. I'd love to have you close."
Doula smiled slightly. "Can we go get ice cream now?" She asked.
Jess smirked slightly. "Boy you know how to play me, don't you?" He joked. "Come on then, let's get your ice cream."
"So how are you doing?" Charlotte asked April as they sat next to Lizzie at the hospital.
"I should ask you that. It's your daughter we're sat with at the hospital." April pointed out.
"Yeah but she's getting better and stronger every day. She's out of danger now. It's just a matter of time." Charlotte said. "So I ask again, how are you doing?"
April sighed. "Not great." She admitted. "I've tried to move on from it, I really have but...people are still whispering when I walk past them. People are still badmouthing me. They all think I lied." She said. "Jamie tells me to just ignore them. I know I should and I shouldn't care what they think but I do. I can't help it. Every time I step out of my dorm room, I'm reminded about what happened."
"Yeah I get that." Charlotte said sympathetically. She saw April look at her confused. "I mean, I obviously don't know exactly what you're going through. But I do know what it's like to have everyone talking about you. Remember I got pregnant not that much older than you are now. Do you really think this town just kept quiet about it?"
"But this town loves you!" April said surprised.
"Didn't stop them talking about it all the time though. To them, it was the biggest story they'd had in months." Charlotte said. "Plus I had that thing going on with my mom at the time."
"How did you deal with all the whispering?" April asked quietly.
"I ignored it." She shrugged. "They got bored in the end. I know it's hard to be the centre of attention especially when you don't want to be. But they will get over it and when they see that you don't care what they think, they'll get bored. They're doing it to get a reaction. Don't give them one."
"That's what Jamie said." She said quietly.
"Well he's right." Charlotte said. She glanced at April. "You and Jamie...you seem to have worked things out." She said cautiously.
April smiled slightly. "Yeah. He's been great through everything." She admitted. "I..I think he might be the one. I know I'm still young and people might think that's crazy but I knew the day I met him that there was something special there. I just felt that spark with him and that hasn't left. He's been so supportive lately as well. I just...I love him."
Charlotte smiled. "It's a nice feeling, isn't it?" She said softly.
April smiled coyly. "Yeah it is." She said softly.
Sam looked up from the kitchen table as the door opened. "Hey." He smiled.
"Hey!" Rory smiled. "Any luck?" She asked gesturing to his laptop where he was still job hunting.
"I've found a couple of book stores that are looking for assistant managers. Figured since I've actually opened one with Jess, I should be qualified for them." He said.
"You definitely are!" Rory nodded, giving him a quick peck before going to the fridge and getting some food out for lunch.
"I've applied for them but I don't hear back until the end of this week." He said.
"Well I'm sure you'll get called for an interview." Rory smiled.
"You have too much faith in me." Sam chuckled.
"Because I know you're amazing, that's why. They'd be fools not to want you." She said.
"So how's work going?" He asked.
"Good..." Rory said slowly. "Really good actually..."
"Ok why do I think you have something to share with me?" He said.
"My boss called me in today." She admitted. "Seeing as I'm nearing the end of my contract, I was sort of expecting it."
"And?" Sam asked.
"He told me he loved what I was doing and that he definitely didn't want to let me go." She said. She glanced at me. "He's offered me a year's contract." She admitted.
"Wow!" Sam said. "Wow, Ror, that's amazing! I'm so proud of you!" He exclaimed getting up and hugging her.
"Yeah?" Rory said, letting out a breath.
"Of course!" He smiled. "Why, did you think I wouldn't be happy?"
"It just would mean us having to stay here for another year..." Rory said.
Sam smiled at her. "Hey, when I married you, I vowed that I would be by your side whatever. And I meant that. I knew there was a chance you'd stay on here and there's nowhere else I'd rather be than right here with you." He assured her.
Rory smiled. "Thanks." She said softly.
"Guess this means I sort of need to start getting interviews!" He joked.
Rory smirked. "You will. I'm sure of it." She smiled. "Now are you free for a bit to have lunch with me before I have to get back?"
"What are we having?" Sam smiled.
Charlotte and April returned to Stars Hollow later that afternoon and found Jamie and Jack playing with a football in the square. Charlotte glanced at April who was smiling as she watched Jamie.
"Makes your heart swoon, doesn't it?" Charlotte smirked.
"What?" April said coming out of her daze.
"Seeing him with Jack. I still get it when I see Jess with a kid. It still makes my heart go." She smiled. "Makes you think about the future..." She teased.
"Oh! No, I'm so not ready for that yet!" April said quickly.
Charlotte smirked. "I'm sure your dad will be happy to hear that."
April smirked slightly. "But yes...it does make my heart swoon." She admitted, watching Jamie celebrate Jack's goal by picking him up and spinning him round.
"Knew it!" Charlotte grinned.
"Charlotte!" A voice shouted.
Charlotte turned and smiled as she saw Doula and Jess walking towards them. "Hey!" She smiled at them, giving Doula a hug.
"Can I go play with Jack?" Doula asked Jess as she spotted him in the square.
"Sure. I'll just let your daddy know where we are." Jess said.
"Come on, I'll go with you." April smiled, taking Doula's hand and walking off towards Jamie and Jack.
"Good day?" Charlotte asked Jess after he had got off the phone to TJ.
"Yeah it was good." Jess nodded. "They're going to move closer to us apparently."
"They're moving house?" Charlotte asked surprised.
"Apparently so." He said.
"And how do you feel about that?" She asked, glancing at him.
Jess glanced over to the square and saw Doula and Jack excitedly playing together and smiled. "I think it could be pretty cool." He admitted.
"Yeah. Me too." Charlotte smiled.
"How was Lizzie?" He asked.
"Good. Improving all the time." She said happily.
"Good." He smiled.
She glanced at him and smirked. "Want to join in?" She said gesturing to the football game that had started between Jack, Doula, Jamie and April.
"You want play football?" Jess raised his eyebrows.
"No. I just want to kick your ass." She grinned.
"Oh now there's a challenge." He chuckled. "You're on."
"Yes! Come on, bagsy on Jack's team!" She grinned as she dragged Jess towards everyone else. "We're so going to beat you!"
"We'll see." Jess smirked.
So I hope you liked it! :) Let me know what you think! Thanks again for all your support! :)
