A/N: Hey, kids! I'm back, I'm writing, and I've seen the revival! (For further ramblings on that last topic, please refer to my Profile Page and take the spaces out of the link) So, there will be new fics from me in the future that deal with the post-revival world, but in the meantime, let's stick to this happy future I created long before A Year In The Life ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 38

When Rory woke, she found Jess already sitting up in bed with a book in his hand. He had gotten so used to being an early riser for the diner, it was rare that he slept in even when he could. Rory was well used to finding him already busy writing, reading, or absent from the bed altogether because he was packing lunches for the kids or fixing something around the house. It amused her still that he was such a morning person. She had never learnt to be that way, even after all these years, and much like her mother required multiple alarms if she had to be up early.

"Morning, handsome man," she said, when staring at him for a couple of minutes did no good - he was just too engrossed in the book.

"Hey, beautiful," he replied with a smile, leaning down to kiss her. "You sleep better last night?"

"I did," she said, shifting closer to her husband.

Jess put the book down and wrapped his arms round Rory, kissing the top of her head. So much for easing her stress levels, this past week had not been good for her. The death of Forester's father dragged up all the pain of her grandfather's passing, as well as the loss of Mrs R in a way. It was weird how you never completely got over those kind of tragedies, how the sadness could creep up on you when you least expected it. There had been more than one random crying jag in the Mariano house in the last few days. At least now, the day after Mr Forester's funeral, they could start to move on.

It was a good thing that it had all happened so fast, Jess thought. Since the old mam knew he was on the way out, he had put in place all the arrangements for his final send off. The funeral took next to no real planning from what the townsfolk had been saying, and it was a decent respectable ceremony from what Jess saw of it.

As bad as it was of him to think so, Jess was kind of glad Mr Forester was laid to rest already. In part, his reasons were sympathetic. Better for the poor guy to be at peace than suffering indefinitely. The other reasons were selfish, and Jess didn't mind knowing that. Dean and Lindsay had no plans to stick around in the Hollow now that their purpose for coming back was done. They were headed back to wherever the hell they had come from a few months earlier, taking their bitchy little princess with them. Just as soon as the school year was done, they'd be gone. For Jack's sake more than anyone else's, Jess was glad.

"Hmm, you think anybody would notice if we just didn't get up today?" asked Rory, clinging to Jess.

"Probably," he replied, meaning to say more but getting altogether distracted when his wife started to plant kisses on his chest. "Ror," he groaned as he felt her hand slip beneath the covers.

"You don't have anywhere to be right now, do you?" she asked, pausing in her ministrations to glance up at him with one eyebrow raised. "Something better to do than this?"

Jess' eyes strayed to the clock just for a second. The kids wouldn't be out of bed for another half hour at least, and he really didn't need to be anywhere specific. Besides, it had been a while, and even if it hadn't, he would be a fool to refuse her.

"And they always said I was the bad influence on you," he said with a smirk, crashing is lips against hers before she could make any kind of smart reply.

Rory only giggled against his mouth, and then lost all sense of reality in the best way as Jess' hands ran over her skin. Maybe it was worth waking up early, just sometimes.

It was an hour later that Rory and Jess finally got out of bed, both smiling widely. Getting dressed, they headed for the stairs and almost literally ran into Jack at the top.

"I can't find my watch."

"Good morning to you too, and where'd you have it last?" asked Rory, half-expecting the 'I don't know' response before it ever came. "Okay, let's start with the obvious places," she said, turning her son around and ushering him back towards his room.

"I'll make a start on breakfast," said Jess, running down the stairs to do just that.

Checking the fridge and the cupboards, he was glad to find everything he needed. Before long there was bacon frying in the skillet, eggs in the pan, and batter in the waffle iron. Tori followed the beautiful smell of breakfast into the kitchen, practically floating on the scent like she was in a cartoon.

"This is Monday, right?" she checked with her father. "Because this rarely happens on a regular day."

"And a good morning to you, Tor," Jess greeted her with a grin. "You want some of this?" he offered, gesturing to the pots and pans, already sure he knew the answer.

"Does Buffy stake vampires?"

"Last time I checked."

Jess made up a plate of breakfast for Tori and handed it to her. She already had a glass of juice and a cup of coffee poured out for herself and delightedly tucked into her food. Jack and Rory could be heard coming down the stairs together by then, and Jess started plating up food for the two of them as well. Jack was fastening his watch at his wrist and delighting in the special breakfast just as much as his sister had. Rory looked a little green, which made Jess frown. She had been in a real good mood not so long ago.

"You okay?" he checked in a low voice as the kids fought over the syrup bottle like children of half their age might.

"Yeah, sure," she said, nodding her head. "I... I'll tell you later," she whispered, waving away his concern.

Clearly there was something she didn't want to say in front of Jack and Tori. Jess couldn't imagine what it would be but he guessed he would find out later. In the meantime, he was pleased to see the smile come back to Rory's face when he handed her some breakfast and threw the last of everything onto a plate for himself.

It was nice to have all the family together around the table, all eating a good breakfast and talking about happier things. After all the drama the last few weeks and months had brought, it was altogether refreshing.

Tori's phone beeped then and she pulled it from her pocket to check the screen. The grin on her face and the way she immediately hammered out a message with her thumbs proved she just got a text from Dax. Jess cleared his throat and took a drink of juice. Tori glanced up at him and sheepishly put her phone away.

"Sorry," she muttered, going back to eating.

"This isn't the diner," Rory pointed out. "There's no anti-cell phone policy here."

"I know," her daughter said, nodding.

"Hey," Jess got her attention easily. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I'm trying to be cool with the whole dating thing you have going on, but it does not come natural for a father, okay? Maybe... maybe you could have this Dax come over for dinner sometime. Maybe I can learn to not want to punch a wall every time I think about him," he said, looking over at Rory on the other side of the table.

"Wow. That would be progress," she quipped. "Next thing you know you'll be trying to like Kirk."

"Don't push it," her husband warned with a smirk he couldn't help. "But seriously, Tor, if this kid really means so much to you-"

"He does," she confirmed. "And he's a really nice guy, Dad, I swear. Y'know I asked him to the movies last weekend and he wouldn't even let me pay. He insisted that being the guy he should do it, which I personally think is adorable."

"Setting the feminist movement back a decade, Toria," her brother teased her.

Tori stuck out her tongue. "I never said I was a feminist. Hey, I'm all for women doing whatever they want to do, but the same applies for men, and if my boyfriend wants to spend his money on making me happy, why would I argue with him?"

"Spoken like a true Gilmore girl," said Rory, clearly amused. "Repeat that to your Grandma Lorelai, she will not fight you on the theory."

Jess rolled his eyes and got up to clear the dishes off the table. Rory helped and caught sight of the clock in the process.

"As great as this breakfast was, Jess, have you seen the time?"

"Ah, geez," he complained on seeing what she meant.

"Kids, grab your stuff and move your butts," Rory advised. "Today isn't just special breakfast day but also catch a free ride to school day, since there's no way walking is going to get you there on time now."

"I'm heading into town anyway, I'll drive," Jess told her. "The dishes will still be here when I get back."

"Could you maybe drop me off too? I could use a few things from the store, and I wanted to drop in on Lane also."

"Sure, no problem," he agreed. "But now the kids are elsewhere, what was the look when you came down this morning?" he checked.

"Nothing to worry about, I promise," said Rory, loving how concerned he looked. "I just... That thing I was waiting on? The Mother Nature thing? Pretty sure it's no more than a couple of exits away," she said pointedly.

Jess smiled and kissed her forehead, almost as relieved as she was that her body clock was getting back to normal. The kids came back into the room and that conversation was done for now. Jess concentrated on getting his family into the car, then cranked up the stereo and peeled out of the driveway complete with squealing tyres. It was such a stupid teenage thing to do, but sometimes he was okay with reverting to the hoodlum he used to be. Rory rolled her eyes, but she was wearing the biggest smile he had seen on her face for too long. The kids found the whole thing equal parts amusing and embarrassing if the looks on their faces in the rear-view were anything to go by.

As the Mariano clan arrived in the town square, there was quite the commotion going on. It took a while for them to realise just what the trouble was.

"Graffiti? In Stars Hollow?" said Rory, staring out of the window and then looking to Jess. "It can't be."

"Doesn't exactly look like vandalism," her husband noted with a frown.

In the back seat, Jack and Tori shared a significant look. The style of the pictures that seemed to be spread around everywhere in town was all too familiar to them, but it would be crazy to think that she had done this.

Jess parked up close by the diner when he realised what was happening. Luke and Taylor were having one of their infamous disagreements on the sidewalk, bound to come to blows at any second if somebody didn't intervene. Somehow that had become Jess' job over the years, unless Lorelai was around - she wasn't.

"Don't you dare start in on my grandkids, Taylor. Just don't do it!" Luke was bellowing as Jess approached the scene, Rory and the kids right behind him.

"Can you think of more likely candidates for this kind of vandalism than the son and daughter of your hoodlum nephew?"

"Hey, pipe down, Taylor!" yelled Jess crossly. "My kids did not do this."

"Ah, if it isn't the ex-pavement artist himself," the selectman retorted, arms folded across his chest. "Don't think I've forgotten the body outline outside my store."

"Taylor, that was twenty years ago!" said Rory, hardly able to believe he was bringing up such a thing. "Let it go. There's no way Jack and Tori did any of this."

"And what exactly is wrong with it anyway, Taylor?" asked Babette, jumping right into the fray. "There's nothin' offensive or dirty out here, just pretty pictures. You guys see the beautiful portrait of Patty over at the dance studio? Takes years off her!" she told the Mariano family.

Rory started looking more closely at the pictures then. Some were on walls and pavements, stencilled on with spray-chalk for the most part, whilst others were on paper that was stuck to windows and poles. Each one was a person she knew or a place that was familiar. These were stylised imitations of Stars Hollows finest residents and destinations, and it was all just beautiful.

"It's a tribute," she realised aloud.

"It's gorgeous is what it is!" said Babette, waving her arms at all the artwork. "When Maurey told me, I came rushing out so fast to see, I didn't even put on socks!"

"We should get to school," said Jack, pulling on Tori's sleeve until she went with him.

They hurried across to SHS, both looking around for the same person. All around them, men, women, and children alike were delighting at the artwork that appeared all over town. Smiling faces were seen in both the pictures and on the people staring at the art. Somebody had seriously made an effort here, and it really could only be one person.

"How did she do this?" asked Martha the moment Jack appeared at her side. "How? I mean, I know she can draw and she loves her art but... I can't believe she did all this," she said, fingers running along the edge of a large sheet of paper tacked to the outside wall of the school.

"You didn't know? Seriously?"

"I knew when I saw the pictures that the style was familiar," she said, shaking her head, "but it's only now I see this paper... She really did all this."

"She did," said Davey, walking up with his arm around a strangely embarrassed Jaime. "My kid sister, people. She's pretty damn talented."

"And the best secret keeper in the world!" declared Tori, hugging her 'cousin'. "Jaime, all of this is... I can't believe it!"

"It's my art project," she shrugged as if it were nothing at all. "I knew it had to be big, and it had to mean something. I couldn't choose just one person or one place. Everything and everyone here means so much. We all had to be included. That's the Stars Hollow way," she said with a smile.

"I should be puking at how mushy that is," said Doula from behind them. "But you have a point, J, and this whole thing is pretty incredible."

"Definitely not a point for debate," Kwan agreed, walking up with his cell in his hand. "But one thing I gotta ask; is this me?" he checked, showing Jaime a picture on the screen.

It wasn't really clear to all the teens who crowded around if the drawing was of Kwan, his twin, or someone else entirely. The way Jaime smiled proved that she knew and she had a reason too.

"That is you," she confirmed. "And Doula," she added, glancing at the girl in question.

Doula frowned, grabbing Kwan's cell from his hand for a closer look, despite his 'hey' of protest. The picture was gorgeous, all rainbow colours around two manga style figures that were evidently her and Kwan. They both stood on a star each, arms outstretched, slightly too far apart to reach each other, but they were smiling. If the pictures were a cartoon in motion, they would end up embracing a few frames later, Doula was sure.

"C'mon, guys!" said Jaime, rolling her eyes when the not-a-couple continued to look confused. "Life's too short!" she said eventually, turning to walk away and encouraging her friends and family to go with her into the school building.

"She has a point," said Steve, the final one to leave the scene, patting his brother on the shoulder as he went.

Doula watched them go then looked back at Kwan, actually blushing as he stared right back at her.

"Um, here," she said, handing over his cell. "I, er... I never..."

"So, you maybe wanna hang out sometime?" asked Kwan before Doula even managed to find a sentence to say. "Just us?"

"As friends, right?" she checked. "Because I know you're not really interested."

"That was before," he shrugged. "This is now, and apparently, life is short."

Doula smiled and Kwan smiled right back. Right now she felt like the picture of herself that Jaime drew, floating high on a star somewhere. It felt good.

To Be Continued...