Thanks for the feedback! Another chapter starring Jess with a baby!
Rory emits a loud yawn. Charlotte didn't permit her to get much sleep last night and stayed fussy most of the morning. For now, she sits in her high chair, chewing on a toy duck with a thoughtful expression. As her daughter seems reasonably occupied, Rory goes to the fridge and hastily lops some cream cheese onto a bagel. Daring to grab a bag of chips, she takes both over to the table but just as Rory's about to take a bite Charlotte drops the duck and starts screaming.
"Come on," Rory groans, putting the food down. "Can't Mommy at least have some lunch?"
Charlotte cries in reply and Rory sighs. Getting up, she goes over and lifts Charlotte out of the high chair, kissing her curly mop of hair.
"Hey," she says, bouncing her daughter up and down. "What was wrong with the duck? Undercooked? You should try the duck Grandma made, well, her cook that is – Grandma didn't know where the cookie sheets were. Anyway, she always served an excellent duck. Really made some of those Friday Night dinners worth it. That duck will totally pale in comparison."
Charlotte stares at her mother, hiccupping into silence and looking confused, and Rory groans, wiping a hand through her tangled hair.
"I sound crazy. I'm putting that on you, little miss. The rambling was always there, and I'm blaming that on Mom, but the craziness is you keeping me up all night. Okay, maybe some of that's Mom too…"
Rory's thoughts are halted as she noticed a streak of white in her hair, decorated with crumbs, courtesy of the cream cheese on the bagel and groans again. Her brief musing on when she can take a shower is broken by Charlotte crying again and Rory grits her teeth as she settles her. Like there's any point trying to keep clean with a baby anyway. Charlotte stops crying, reaching for the duck, and Rory gently lowers her back into the high chair, handing her the duck.
"There you are, sweets. Go nuts."
Charlotte shoves the duck's head in her mouth, screws up her face and throws it onto the floor, starting to scream.
"So you really don't like the duck, huh?" Rory asks as her daughter's decibels ring through her ears. "Did I oversell Emily's?"
Charlotte screams even louder in response and Rory closes her eyes, summoning the strength for round two of calming her down. It seems like most of the day is spent during those rounds. Did Lorelai ever have afternoons like these? Lifting her daughter back up, Rory manages to soothe her into silence and holds her breath as she lowers her into the seat.
"So duck's off the menu?" Rory asks Charlotte. "Can I interest you in a bear?"
Charlotte stares back, a small frown on her face, but mercifully doesn't cry. Just then the front door opens and Jess appears, tossing his keys to the side and asking, "Hey! How are my girls?"
"Experimenting with palate."
"Huh. How's it going?"
"That's Charlotte's opinion," Rory says, pointing at the floor where the duck lies in a sorry position. "Poor thing didn't have a chance."
"Too bad," Jess says seriously. "Can't say duck's my meal of choice either. Just as long as it's not a total rejection of the bird….I want to introduce Charlotte to Duck Soup."
"I've got dibs on that," Rory argues, but her smile is faint. Part of her doesn't think the baby years will ever end. Jess kisses her cheek, lifting up a strand of hair.
"What's this?"
"Bagel," Rory says simply and Jess nods. "The duck stopped me from actually eating it."
"So it has an agenda."
Rory laughs, noticing the bag in Jess's hand.
"Hey, what's this?"
Jess opens it, a sheepish expression on his face as he gets out a tiny leather jacket.
"Jess!" Rory exclaims, taking it from him. "Where did you even…? It's so small!"
"I know it's kind of extravagant," Jess admits. "She'll grow out of it in no time but it was just too perfect."
Before Rory can reply Charlotte starts crying and Jess lifts her out of the high chair, kissing her firmly on the head and dancing with her around the room.
"Listen to those lungs, little lady!" he exclaims. "You've got one hell of a pair of pipes!"
Rory starts laughing at them, leaning against the table as Jess starts humming a rock tune.
"Newest member of The Clash right here," he announces as Charlotte screams. "Lead singer for sure! That's right, Charlotte, shout it out!"
Rory grins but feels a little sting as their daughter settles in her father's arms, sucking her thumb. Charlotte's crying never seems to bother Jess and she always stops much sooner with him, staying silent for longer. Part of Rory wonders if he makes her happier but she pushes that thought away as Jess moves over to her, catching his breath.
"Too much?" he asks, nodding at the jacket in Rory's hand. "It was kind of an impulse buy…"
"No, I love it," Rory says honestly. "It's going to look so cute."
"Let's put it on her," Jess grins, and then groans, shifting Charlotte in his arms. "Right after I deal with what I'm sensing is a dangerous diaper situation."
"You're the man for the job."
"That's right," Jess says wryly. "We'll be right back."
Once the situation has been handled Rory carefully places the jacket on Charlotte, laughing with delight at the result.
"Jess, it's amazing!"
"That's my girl!" Jess says proudly. "Don't you look cool?"
Charlotte stares at them, her big blue eyes wide and confused, and Rory laughs, kissing her cheek.
"Charlotte looks like a real rockstar!"
"She's that already," Jess says seriously. "Jacket just adds the final touch."
"I've got to send a picture to Mom. She'll go wild!"
"She'll want to do a whole photoshoot," Jess remarks. "Ask us to hire out some drums."
"Yup. Too bad Lane's not here."
"Hey, that's a cool idea," Jess says, slipping the jacket off Charlotte who's starting to fuss. "Lane's drums."
"What about Lane's drums?"
"I'm done with work for the day. Why don't we go see Lane and take Charlotte's picture with the band?"
"That would be cool," Rory says thoughtfully. "Lane might be working though…it's kind of short notice."
"Worth a shot."
"I guess. Plus this way Mom can go wild in person."
"Jeez," Jess groans, but he grins. "Go call Lane."
"Your wish is my command. At least, it will be once I wash this cheese out of my hair!"
Lane says a photoshoot sounds like an excellent afternoon, so Rory and Jess start driving as soon as possible and by some miracle Charlotte only cries once. Lorelai calls Rory back to say she'll be over as soon as she can get away from Dragonfly, saying that Luke is excited too.
"I bet Luke is wondering why he became part of this family," Rory says, relaying the message to Jess who shakes his head.
"Nah. You've seen how much he gets into the whole grandfather thing. He even lets Charlotte have a whole table for her toys in the diner!"
"Like me with my books," Rory says, smiling and glancing back at Charlotte. "Luke's an old softie."
"He is at that."
Brian and Gil are at the house along with Lane who has the drums set up. They all exclaim as Rory puts the jacket on Charlotte who snuffles for a moment before settling.
"Very rock and roll," Lane remarks. "And for a little finish…!"
She lifts up a pair of sunglasses and, laughing, Rory puts them on Charlotte's face after placing her against the drumkit. Quickly, Jess snaps three photos and on cue Charlotte bursts into tears the moment they're taken.
"We're sorry," Rory says, hastening over and picking her daughter up. "We just wanted an adorable picture of you."
"We're embarrassing parents already," Jess adds, kissing Charlotte's head as Rory takes off the sunglasses. "Got a good picture and that's what counts, right? We'll embarrass you with it for years to come."
"She'll thank you for that," Lane comments as the twins come in from school. "Right, boys? Don't I do a great job with the embarrassing mom thing?"
"What answer do you want us to give?" Steve asks as Kwan replies, "Not as much as Dad. He carries our baby pictures in his wallet. When's that going to stop?"
"Never. Sorry to break it to you. Hey, come say hi to Aunt Rory and Uncle Jess!"
Lorelai calls quickly after that to tell Rory she's dropping off some things at the house but will be over soon. Handing Charlotte to Jess, Rory tells him she's going to meet Lorelai there and walk back over. Jess seems mildly confused but nods, kissing Rory before she tugs on her jacket and heads out.
Paul Anka is at the door when Rory enters, wagging his tail wildly in greeting.
"Hey boy," Rory says, absently patting his head. "Where's Mom?"
"Kitchen!" comes Lorelai's call and, as Rory enters, says, "Hey! What are you doing here? I thought I was meeting you at Lane's!"
"I thought I'd come say hi here."
"Okay," Lorelai says, slightly surprised. "Coffee?"
"Do you have to ask?"
Lorelai pours them a cup each and, as they sit to drink, asks, "So what's this I hear about a leather jacket?"
"Jess bought it for Charlotte. I didn't even know they made jackets that small!"
"That's so sweet."
"She does look adorable in it," Rory admits. "I think Jess is going to want her to wear it all the time now."
"I bet."
"He loves being her dad. He's so great at it too."
"It's funny watching Jess doting on a baby. Not that I'm complaining – I'm glad he's there."
"Me too," Rory says, but she glances away until her mother cups her chin, making her look up.
"Hey. What's going on?"
"Nothing," Rory says automatically but Lorelai looks at her knowingly, and Rory sighs. "Charlotte cries a lot."
"Yes, she does. She's a Gilmore girl. She's getting in practice for when she can talk."
Rory smiles but feels as desperate as she says, "I'm happy Charlotte's vocal but she cries so much, Mom."
"I know," Lorelai says gently and Rory exhales.
"Charlotte doesn't cry as much with Jess. He can always calm her down. Until he got home Charlotte was screaming on and off all day and nothing was wrong…she was just crying. But when Jess got back she stopped almost instantly. It's like that all the time."
"Oh, honey."
"I'm not complaining," Rory says quickly. "I'm glad her dad can make her happy. But –"
"Rory. We've talked about this. You're stressed, that's all, and Charlotte's picking up on it."
"I don't want to be stressed around her!" Rory exclaims, feeling her chest clench up. "She's my little girl, I love her!"
"Angel, I know you do."
"It's just hard not to be stressed," Rory says. "I'm stressed because she's crying so much and she's crying because I'm stressed. It's a regular comedy routine."
"Rory, it won't always be like this. She won't always cry this way."
"What if she always cries like this when she's a baby?"
"You don't know that. Rory, sometimes I had really hard times with you, but they didn't last. These days aren't forever, they just feel like it."
"I'm so tired, Mom. I've never been this tired. I made a bagel earlier and instead of eating it I wound up with half of it in my hair." Rory lets out an exhausted laugh and says, "I'm not enjoying right now all that much. It's like being stuck on a loop."
"Rory, I promise it's not forever. It's going to get easier, I swear. And I'm right here, you can always call me."
"Your granddaughter will deafen you."
"Hey, I've got years of practice on her!"
Rory pauses and then says, "Charlotte spent a while today chewing on her duck. Then she decided she was done with that, started screaming and I wound up telling her that the duck Grandma served was a lot tastier. Maybe that added to her meltdown."
Lorelai laughs but is serious as Rory adds, "When Jess got home she pretty much stopped crying and he said he'll introduce her to Duck Soup, but that's going to be my thing. I want to watch that with Charlotte for the first time. But what if…Mom, what if she doesn't want to hang out with me? What if she's already figured out Jess is the fun parent and Charlotte doesn't like me?"
"Rory. No. No way."
"It doesn't seem that crazy when she's crying with me all day but is happy as soon as her dad gets home!"
"Rory, Charlotte won't always be a baby. This doesn't mean anything. You're her mom! And I just know that when Charlotte is old enough to talk and hang out she's going to love spending time with you. The times I'm not spoiling her."
Rory smiles at that but remarks, "I'm worrying. I'm already thinking about how one day I'll have to tell her about Logan and all the questions Charlotte's going to have."
"Worry about that in future," Lorelai says gently. "Just concentrate on loving her, more than you already do. Charlotte loves you. She's just a baby right now and everything's brand new!"
"Yeah," Rory says, smiling with some relief. "Thanks, Mom."
"Anytime, sweets. It's going to be okay."
They finish up the coffee, starting to walk over to Lane's and Lorelai remarks, "I always hated it when people said this to me but you know, it'll be different when she'd older. You'll miss some of the baby stuff."
"I will? Right now that doesn't seem likely."
"Things get more complicated as your kid grows up. Not worse, just different. You'll see."
"I'm sure," Rory says, putting her arm around her mother. "I'm glad you're here to help."
"She'll need a cool grandmother, that's for sure!"
Jess puts the jacket and sunglasses back on Charlotte for Lorelai to see, who exclaims with joy, saying they have show Luke. Unable to wait, Lorelai calls the diner, burbling down the phone to Luke about how he really does want see them in the diner, and that customers won't want to leave. As Lorelai argues about how the cuteness will outweigh the cost of taking a table, Charlotte starts fussing and Jess hands her to Steve and Kwan, who calm her down by playing the keyboard in the corner.
"Maybe we should look into that," Jess says to Rory, nodding at the instrument.
"No way," Rory says flatly. "We might buy her a leather jacket but the band factor stops there."
"Okay, okay. The daily Clash tryout can stop with Charlotte's bellowing."
"Yes," Rory says firmly, smiling as Jess puts his arms around her.
"You good? I know Charlotte cried a lot today."
"Try every day," Rory remarks but nods. "I'm good. We're going to be good."
"Tell me if you're not."
"No, I mean it. I'm just figuring out the mom thing, but I'm okay. Charlotte's going to be good too."
"Of course she is, she's got cool parents like us. She's already got a rockstar jacket."
"I was talking to Mom before. She said things'll get more complicated when Charlotte's older."
"Oh yeah?" Jess's tone is light but curious. "I guess so. Nothing we can't deal with."
"I for one can't wait for the teenage years. School, friendship drama and dating."
"Dating? No. Not happening."
"Jess!"
"Relax, I'm kidding. Kind of," Jess says with a grin, and he kisses Rory's cheeks. "We'll figure it out. Charlotte has the rockstar personality without the jacket and she got that from you."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"You're pretty cool too."
"I'll take that as a compliment, ma'am."
"You should."
Rory kisses him back, relaxing and smiling as Charlotte starts to laugh. They're figuring it out.