My notes: Here it is. Another gulp of fresh air lies ahead. Jess and Rory deserved some happy moments and here they are. In this chapter - Jess is still in New York; Rory/Lorelai interaction; Rory/Annie interaction; Jess came home with the news. Enjoy reading!:)
Story: Four years after Philadelphia, Rory and Jess meet again. (In my story that night ended different. Keep that in mind.)This time in Stars Hollow for Luke and Lorelai's wedding. Each of them keep a secret. Secret, that can change a life.
Chapter 53 Come Home
Rory woke up from constant tickling on her nose. She frowned and tried to sleep again, but the tickling continued along with childish laugh.
'C'mon mommy! Wake up! It's time for lunch already!' Annie giggled and tried to tickle her again. Rory opened her eyes and grabbed the little girl in her arms.
'You are the tickling monster!' she said and started to kiss her.
'No, I'm not!' Annie said through laugh. 'Granny said that you have to wake up!'
'Well, if granny said that…' Rory released Annie and tried to stand up from the bed, but she felt little dizzy and sat back.
'Mommy needs help?' Annie was so serious that touched Rory's heart and she gulped painfully.
'No, hun!' Rory answered. 'Mommy just needs to sit for awhile. Go tell granny that I'm coming after a minute.'
'Okay!' Annie hugged her mother and walked through the door.
Rory sat on the bed for a minute. When she felt better, she went straight downstairs. She didn't want to worry her mother or her daughter.
'Sweet child of mine!' Lorelai yelled from the kitchen and Rory heard Annie's laugh. 'Come here in our festivity!'
Rory appeared in the kitchen with dragging feat and fell on the near chair yawning.
'Good afternoon, sleepy head!' Lorelai smiled.
Rory put her elbows on the table and leaned her head on her hands. She yawned again instead of an answer.
'I cooked.' Lorelai said with serious face, but Annie laughed.
'Grandpa Luke come earlier granny! Don't lie!' then her face turned serious. 'Daddy said that it's not good!'
Rory smiled proudly and caressed her daughter on the hair.
'That's right, honey! Your daddy is right! You have to listen to him!' she said and Annie grinned.
Rory turned her eyes to Lorelai.
'Jess called?'
Lorelai nodded.
'About an hour ago. He said that he is already in the hospital.'
Rory nodded with relief.
'That's good.'
Lorelai put the plate with boiled potatoes in front of her and leaned her head.
'Oh, boy! You missed him already?' she said with knowing voice and Rory blushed.
'Kind of…' she grabbed the fork and began to rummage in her plate.
'You don't have to be ashamed of that!' Lorelai smiled softly. 'It's normal…'
'Yeah, I know. It's just…'
'You are concerned about him?' her mother put another plate in front of Annie and the little girl began to eat.
'I'm supposed to be with him!' Rory said and bit of her potatoes.
Lorelai took her plate too and joined Annie and Rory at the table.
'You're supposed to be here!' she said and took her fork. 'You're pregnant and you have to take care for yourself!'
'It's funny! Jess said the same thing last night.' Rory smiled.
'Good, we have the same opinion!' Lorelai bit of her meal and smirked.
Rory smiled. Her mother sounded really glad about that. It sounded like she was already fully accepted Jess in her life. Maybe their recent conversation had opened her eyes for him. Hard kick in her stomach turned her back in the reality. She rubbed it subconsciously.
'What?' Lorelai began serious. 'Are you okay?'
'Yeah just… The kicking is hard. Not like with Annie.' She turned to her daughter, who looked at her with curiosity in her childish eyes. 'My little Annie was good baby and did not kick me that strong. '
Annie grinned.
'Can I touch your belly, mommy? I want to feel my brother too.' She said almost shy.
Rory smiled and raised one eyebrow.
'Brother?'
'It has to be brother! I am the sister! ' she said and made Rory laugh. Only if she knew that she may have not only brother but sister too… 'Can I feel him?'
'Sure.' Rory said and took the hand of her daughter. She put her palm on her stomach and they both waited. Second later there was another kick.
'Whoa!' Annie giggled and pulled back her hand. 'That was cool!'
Rory blinked ironically and looked at her mother.
'Only if it wasn't so hard and it wasn't in almost all the time.'
Lorelai crooked her face and laughed.
'That baby really keeping you busy…'
'At least it let me sleep through the night.' Rory said and blinked again. 'It's hyperactive when I wake up and before I go to bed, later at night.'
'What do you do about that?' Lorelai asked her until she picked up the plates from the table.
Rory gulped from her water and smiled.
'Me? I do nothing. Jess massages me.'
Lorelai almost dropped the plates in the sink and that made Rory laughed.
'Mommy, can I go watch DVD?' Annie asked her and Rory stroked her hair.
'Sure, hon! Do you want me to help you?'
'Nope!' Annie grinned and jumped from the chair. 'Daddy showed me how to do it!'
'Okay! We'll come after minute!' Rory said and looked how Annie disappeared in the living room.
'Did that help you?' Lorelai asked and began to wash the plates.
'What?' Rory looked back at her mother.
'Jess…'
'Oh, you mean when he massaged me?'
Lorelai nodded.
'It helps a lot.' Rory inhaled and stretched her back. She started to feel pain because of the long sitting. Lorelai caught that move and quickly turned off the water of the sink.
'C'mon my sweet child, let's go in the living room.' Lorelai said and helped Rory to stand up from the chair. 'It would be better for you if you lay down for awhile.'
Rory smiled at her mother and nodded with agreement. They went at the living room where Annie already had stretched her legs at the armchair and watched 'The Beauty and the Beast'.
'I kept you the sofa, mommy!' she turned her head to her mother and shined. 'Daddy said that you have to lay more!'
Rory smiled and lay down on the sofa. The pain in her back disappeared almost immediately.
'Are you always doing what your father told you to do, Annie?' Lorelai asked and took the other armchair.
Annie nodded.
'I'm a good girl! Daddy said that he is proud with me!' she grinned again.
Lorelai laughed.
'Man, he is really done well here!
This time Annie looked her with frowned face.
'Sh-hh, the movie starts! Keep quiet!' she turned her eyes to the TV.
'Okay!' Lorelai whispered and smiled again. She looked at Rory. Her daughter pretended to be calm, but her eyes were nervous and jumped time to time on the phone. She could not calm until Jess was not at home.
Rory fell asleep soon after the movie began. Her pregnancy was very exhausting and she slept more than usual. Lorelai felt tears in her eyes when she saw Annie's face. The little girl saw that her mother fell asleep and turned the volume down almost immediately. She looked at her granny and put one finger on her lips.
'Daddy said that we have to be quiet when mommy sleeps!' she whispered and turned her eyes back on the TV.
Lorelai felt proud of Annie. Jess had taught her what she had to do without to traumatize her and made her scary and she followed his words. That is why Annie thought herself as a good girl. Lorelai had to admit that Jess had done pretty good job.
They looked the TV almost all afternoon. Then Annie decided that she wants to paint and ran upstairs. Lorelai stayed with Rory. She woke up just for the dinner. Luke brought them some food from the diner and they sat around the table. Lorelai noticed the enormous appetite of her daughter. She ate three portions and then leaned back at her chair with very smiley face.
'Jess called.' Lorelai said when they where at the living room again.
'When?' Rory leaned back on the sofa.
'You're sleeping at that time.' Lorelai looked closely at her face. Her daughter looked worried.
'Did he say something? How he sounds?'
'He said only that he'll be back later that night. He sounds normally.'
Rory smiled and whispered to herself.
'He is coming home…'
'Who is coming home?' Annie lifted her head from her paintings.
'Your daddy honey!' Rory said and Annie grinned.
'Daddy is coming? I cannot wait. When?'
Rory and Lorelai laughed. It looked like Annie was more impatient even from Rory.
'Late honey. You'll see him tomorrow!' Rory answered and Annie shrugged.
'Still, it's cool!' she turned her attention back on her paintings.
When Jess parked his car in front of the house it was almost midnight. Rory and Annie were at their bed, sleeping. Luke and Lorelai waited for him at the living room. When he closed the front door behind him and dropped the bag on the floor, he heard Lorelai's yelling.
'Come here son of mine!'
Jess smiled. He was really tired, but he was happy that he finally had arrived at home.
'Coming!' he said and went at living room.
Luke hugged him and Lorelai gave him a smile.
'So…' she asked eager for news.
Jess's smile widened.
'I'm fine and Doctor Smith said that everything is good and I'm recovering well.'
'That's my boy!' Luke hit him on the back. 'I'm really happy for you!'
'Thanks!' Jess inhaled with relief.
When he heard the news today, he almost did not believe it. Everything was good, Doctor Smith assured him. His recovery was really reveling well and his doctor was happy. So as Jess. He was happy more than ever. Now, he had the opportunity to take care for Rory. She needed him right now and he would be there for her.
'You probably want to see your family, so we have to go!' Lorelai said and both with Luke walked to the door.
'Thank you for staying here today!' Jess said.
Lorelai winked.
'Hey, no problem! Bye now!'
'Bye!' he said and almost ran through the stairs.
Jess went first to see Annie. He stood awhile next to her bad then leaned and kissed her forehead. She opened her sleepy eyes and smiled at him.
'Daddy, you're home!' she reached her little hands to hug him. That melted his heart and he hugged her gently, before took her back at the bed.
'I'm sorry that I awake you! Go to sleep now…' he whispered and watched her until she fell asleep again. This time with smile at her lips.
Then Jess walked at the bedroom. He took off his clothes and slipped into bed next to Rory. She inhaled quietly and opened her eyes.
'Hey…' she whispered in the dark. Her eyes shined against his.
'Hey…' he leaned and kissed her soft lips.
'You came home…'
'Yes I am.'
'How are you?'
Jess smiled and stroked her hair.
'I'm more than fine. The results are very good and my recovery runs well!'
'Oh, Jess!' Rory caressed his cheek. 'I'm so happy!'
'Yeah, I am too!' he said but frowned. 'You look tired.'
'I was worrying about you…' she confessed and continued to caress him. 'But I slept almost all day, although the twins here didn't give me too much time for break.'
Jess smiled again.
'So they are fine…' he slipped his hand and touched her stomach. Immediately he felt one kick under his palm. 'How is their mommy?'
'Mommy is tired and missed daddy all day!'
'Well, daddy is here now, so mommy can sleep and relax.' Jess leaned and kissed her again. He felt her smile under his lips and smiled back.
Rory buried her face under his chin and inhaled deeply.
'Could you please, rub my back for awhile? It hurts a little…' she said and felt his hand slipped on her back.
'Is that okay?' he asked.
She moaned instead of answer and he laughed quietly.
'I missed you…' Jess heard her whisper and smiled.
'I missed you too…' he answered and felt one soft kiss on his chest. Jess closed his eyes to sleep with smile on his lips. He was at home.
