Five

Jess was quiet the entire drive back to New Haven, only responding to Rory's excited rambling about Lane and Zack's basically awful honeymoon with single syllables. He was happy to see Rory in such high spirits after her visit with Lane and he didn't want to tell her about his interaction with Lorelai and have it all come crashing down.

"So, their honeymoon was a total bust, but guess what?" Rory said with a gleam in her eye.

"What?" Jess asked distractedly.

"Lane's pregnant, too."

That snapped Jess out of his thoughts.

"What?" he asked with a disbelieving laugh.

"Apparently if you combine sex on the beach, discount Mexican condoms, and just generally bad conditions, you get a surprise baby."

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

He shook his head, smirking. "So, she's totally freaking out right?"

Rory laughed. "Oh, totally."

"And Zack?"

Rory grimaced. "Zack doesn't know yet."

"Yikes."

"She said she'd tell him soon. I think she just needs to process for a bit first."

Jess nodded, returning to his thoughts.

"How was Luke?"

"Good. He appreciated the picture and the 'Grandpa' title."

Rory smiled. "Really?"

Jess nodded and smirked.

"Um… did he mention Mom at all?" she asked tentatively.

Jess froze. "Uh, briefly, yeah."

"And?"

Jess's fists clenched on the steering wheel. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

"Jess? What's going on?"

Rory started to look more and more scared as Jess remained quiet, trying to figure out how to tell her.

"Jess?" Rory asked in a small voice.

Jess cleared his throat. "They're… not fighting necessarily, just… not getting along."

"What?" Rory breathed. "Why?"

Jess sighed heavily. "In Luke's words, they have different opinions about the whole… pregnancy… thing…"

Tears filled Rory eyes as she sunk back in her seat.

"I can't believe I didn't think that this could get between them…" she said quietly, shaking her head.

Jess shook his head. "If it's getting between them, it's their fault. They need to deal with their crap."

"What if they get divorced because of this? What if our baby is the reason their marriage ends?"

"Whoa, no." Jess pulled onto the shoulder of the freeway, putting the car in park and turning in his seat to face Rory.

"Rory, look at me."

Rory turned to face Jess with tears in her eyes and a crease between her eyebrows, her expression pure concern.

"You cannot blame yourself for whatever is happening between them, Rory. It isn't up to you to fix them. If they're fighting because of what's going on in our lives, it's up to them to figure it out. And they're not going to get divorced. It's Luke and Lorelai, they'll be fine. Everything will be okay."

Rory sniffed and wiped at her eyes.

Jess hesitated to tell her about his literal run-in with Lorelai. She needed to know, but he'd hate to hurt or worry her further. But the longer Jess kept it from her, the worse he felt.

"Take a second and then let me know when you're ready to hear about what happened in between seeing Luke and coming to get you," he said quietly.

Rory furrowed her brow. "What?"

"I saw Lorelai," he said quietly.

Rory's eyes widened in shock. "What happened?"

"She tried to ask how you were and I just… she doesn't get to know how you are. After the things she said to you, there's no way in hell I'm gonna let her act like everything's just fine!"

"Okay…" Rory said quietly, searching Jess's face.

"So… I told her that. In a lot more words, and most of them weren't super sunshine and rainbows." He shook his head. "She just pissed me off, trying to act like she didn't say really awful things about you or the baby, and I just couldn't take it and I ended up yelling at her."

Rory remained silent, just staring at Jess and scaring him to death. He knew he should have stayed out of it, should have let them figure it out on their own.

"I'm sorry Rory, I shouldn't have said everything I said or just, I don't know, walked away. It's not my place to try and get between you and your mom with this stuff, I-"

Rory interrupted him with a kiss. Jess melted into it, placing his hand on her jaw and pulling her closer.

He drew away after a few seconds. "What was that for?" he asked quietly.

"For standing up to Mom for me," Rory said with a soft smile.

Jess frowned. "Rory, there's a chance I made everything worse."

"No. I don't think you did. And even if you did, there wasn't much worse it could get. Plus, she deserved a little yelling at. So thank you, Jess."

Jess breathed a sigh of relief, offering Rory a weak smile. He put the car back into drive and merged back onto the freeway.

The next week came and went, and thus arrived the day Rory and Jess had been dreading.

They barely slept the night before, both just lying in each other's arms and wishing away the morning. But, despite their hopes, the sun rose and dawn came, bringing with it the Saturday in which Jess had to return to Philadelphia.

They went about their morning in silence, staying as close to each other as possible as they performed their routines and Jess finished getting his things together. Before they knew it, they were outside at his car, delaying their goodbyes.

"I don't want you to go," Rory whispered, crossing her arms tightly.

"I don't want to go," Jess whispered back, cupping Rory's face in his palm and gently stroking her cheekbone with his thumb.

"I don't know how I'm going to do this when you're not here all the time."

"You'll be okay. We'll talk on the phone every day and I'll come up as much as possible."

Rory sniffed and bit her lip. "Promise?"

"Promise," Jess whispered back, tucking Rory's hair behind her ear. He leaned down to kiss her softly, her tears wetting his lips. He drew back and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly and trying to memorize exactly how she smelled, exactly what holding her felt like. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Rory whispered into Jess's shoulder.

After what simultaneously felt like many hours and few seconds, Jess pulled away and tipped his chin to kiss Rory on the forehead. "I have to go," he mumbled into her hair, his throat tightening.

Rory let go of her grasp on him. "I know."

"I'll see you soon."

Rory nodded and gave him a weak, tearful smile. Jess returned her smile and climbed into the car, turning the key in the ignition and waving at Rory as he pulled out of the parking spot.

In his rearview mirror, Jess saw Rory return his wave and then use her hand to wipe away her tears. His chest constricted at the sight of her getting smaller and smaller in the distance and he took a deep, rattling breath and made himself focus on the road in front of him.

Little did Rory know, Jess's first piece of business when he returned to Truncheon was talking to Matt and Chris about how he could work for them from New Haven.

He didn't want to get her hopes up if it didn't work, but after a few late nights of trouble shooting, he was pretty sure he'd worked out a plan they would go for. He'd communicate with authors over the phone and through email, he'd work on his own material when he could, and he'd make weekly or biweekly trips to Truncheon for meetings. To make it sound more appealing to the guys, he was going to offer to market in the New Haven and Hartford areas to scout for more up-and-coming authors to sign or bookstores to distribute to.

He'd do anything to be able to stay in New Haven. Leaving Rory alone with the blob over and over again would be too painful – just leaving her that morning hurt like hell, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he wasn't there for every pregnancy milestone. Rory showing for the first time. The first kick. Finding out the sex. Everything.

He needed to step up and to do everything in his power to be there as much as humanly possible.

The next few weeks brought their own challenges and successes.

When he returned to Truncheon, Jess sat Matt and Chris down for a sort of informal pitch meeting. Though they were of course sad to not see Jess as often, they agreed that his plan was feasible and that if he felt he needed to be with Rory, they could make it work. But with the transition from working in person to working remotely came a lot of time-consuming tasks. The work kept him in Philadelphia, and thus had hadn't been able to go visit Rory once since he'd left. They talked on the phone at least once a day and Rory would update him on how she and the blob were doing, but his heart ached to be there with her. He just had to keep reminding himself that soon enough, he'd be able to tell Rory that, should she want him to, he could move to New Haven.

Jess had also been in touch with Paris since his return to Philadelphia. Considering Paris and Doyle lived there, too, he wanted to make sure they'd be okay with him moving there if the stars aligned and it ended up being possible. It took some bargaining, some promises to pay for his share of utilities, and a reminder that Jess would be the one taking care of Rory when she needed it and Paris could focus on her studies, but she eventually agreed. Doyle couldn't have cared less – as long as Jess didn't eat Doyle's food, it didn't make a difference to him.

As Jess was ironing out his future, Rory was jumping headfirst into senior year at Yale. She was already tired and school just exhausted her more, but it was luxurious to have something else to focus on outside of missing Jess, missing her mom, and freaking out about the baby. She was also back at the paper and their first issue of the year that went out was her pride and joy, covering the faculty changes that occurred over the summer including a piece questioning the meaning behind the replacement of one of the university's most beloved professors. Though her evening shifts at the paper were spent trying to disguise her many trips to the bathroom so her staff didn't start to ask questions, she was beyond grateful to be back.

It was hard not to have Jess there with her. He'd been so supportive and encouraging every time Rory was upset or sick or tired, and not having that constant support wore on her a bit. Paris tried to help, but she had her own studies and assignments, and Rory hated to bother anyone with her problems – it wasn't Paris's job to take care of her. So, she put on a brave face and took each moment as it came, missing Jess's comfort more with every passing day.

Before she knew it, Rory was thirteen weeks pregnant and therefore at the end of her first trimester. One whole third of the pregnancy: check. That little benchmark filled her with excitement and anxiety. It was a little unsettling that it was going by so fast, but really it had only been a few weeks since she'd found out. Plus, the further along she got, the more she got to learn about her currently plum-sized baby.

With the thirteen-week benchmark came the time she and Jess had decided to let more people in on their secret, which was almost scarier than how quickly the time seemed to be passing. Liz, Christopher, Emily, and Richard were about to be told that there would be a new baby in the family, and Rory had guesses as to how everyone would react. Her predictions did nothing to ease her nerves.

What did ease her nerves was that in order to start telling people, Jess was coming back to New Haven for the first time in weeks.

Rory went through her classes and her work at the paper that Thursday with very little focus. She had officially entered the "pregnancy brain" stage, so it was already hard to concentrate during lectures on a good day. Throw in a visit from her boyfriend, a Friday Night Dinner planned for the following evening, and the task of telling Jess's mother and her father the night after that, and there was no way Rory was paying attention. She had never been more thankful for kind classmates that offered to share notes with anyone that needed them.

After class, Rory raced home as fast as possible. She practically ran up the three flights of stairs to her apartment, practically gasping for breath by the time her foot hit the landing. As she reached the top step and turned towards her front door, she was met with Jess's warm gaze and happy smirk as he leaned against the doorframe outside the apartment. She paused, grinning at him and just taking in the sight of him before running to him and launching herself into his arms.

Jess wound his arms around Rory as tightly as possible, burying his face in her neck and inhaling fully for what felt like the first time in weeks.

"Hi," he mumbled into her hair.

"Hi, yourself," she whispered back. She pulled back and looked deeply into his eyes before kissing him with everything she had in her, sending chills down each of their spines and butterflies into their stomachs. She only pulled away to breathe, her lungs still trying to catch up from her sprint up the stairs.

Jess stroked Rory's face and looked at her like he was trying to memorize her features, a blissful smile resting on his face the whole time.

Suddenly, the door opened behind them and a grumpy yet amused looking Paris stood where it had been.

"Are you two done fornicating out here or are you going to come in?" she asked.

Rory blushed. "We're coming in, Paris," she mumbled.

"Paris," Jess greeted with a smirk.

"Kerouac," Paris greeted with a matching smile.

Rory's glance bounced back and forth between the two suspiciously as they all entered the apartment. Paris retreated to her room without another word and Rory turned to Jess, looking at him questioningly.

"What was that?" she asked.

Jess shrugged. "We got to know each other a few weeks ago."

"How well?" Rory asked with a teasing glint in her eye.

Jess rolled his eyes. "Well enough." Jess paused, glancing down at Rory's stomach somewhat shyly. "How's the blob doing?"

Rory grinned. "Good. Stopped making me throw up as much, now it's only like once a day. Still feel sick every night, just not as much actual vomiting."

"That's… good?" Jess said with a raised eyebrow.

Rory laughed. "Yeah, makes it easier to hide from the staff at the paper."

"Right, we don't want any Yale pregnancy scandal rumors," Jess teased.

"No Ingrid's here," Rory teased back.

Jess pulled Rory closer to him and kissed her, sending electricity through her entire body. As their kiss turned more passionate, Rory began to walk them back towards her room, closing the door behind them and laughing as they collapsed on the bed together.

Rory and Jess spent all of Friday together. Rory gave Jess a tour of some of her favorite places on campus, introduced him to her staff at the paper, and enjoyed taking him to lunch at the dining hall. As they ate in a comfortable silence, Jess just couldn't keep it in anymore. He had to tell her about the plan he'd worked out.

As Rory was finishing her macaroni and cheese with a side of grapes – the blob had yet to let go of that craving – Jess put down his fork and looked at her.

Rory paused in her eating. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

Jess shook his head. "No, I wanted to talk about something."

"What's up?"

"How would you feel if I said I wanted to move here?"

Rory looked confused. "Jess, I'd love it. You know I would, I miss you like crazy when you're not here. But you have Truncheon. It wouldn't work."

Jess smirked.

A grin started to spread across Rory's face. "What did you do?" she asked quietly.

"Well, I've been talking to Matt and Chris, and we may have worked out a way for me to work remotely. I'd have to go to Truncheon a few times a month for meetings and stuff, but if you want… I could move here for the most part."

"You're kidding."

"Not even a little bit."

Rory's grin grew wider. "You'd really move all the way to New Haven for me?"

"For you and the blob," Jess said with a shy smile.

"But, work! And your life is in Philadelphia! You can't just pick up and move to New Haven!"

"I told you, work I can move here. Easily. And as for my life… it's wherever you are, so really it's already here."

Jess's words warmed Rory's heart and melted away any worries she had.

"Oh my God, you are so cheesy," she laughed.

"So, what do you say?"

Rory jumped up from her seat and ran around the table to hug Jess. "Yes, yes, please move here."

Jess laughed. "Well, if you insist." Rory pulled away. "I even okayed it with Paris."

Rory's face showed realization. "That's what that little exchange was about yesterday!" she exclaimed.

"Yep, we've been working out the details since I left."

"You're kind of amazing, you know that?" Rory asked quietly.

"So I've been told," Jess joked.

After lunch, they wandered aimlessly for a while, just enjoying the last rays of summer sunlight that September offered. Eventually, they found their way back and began getting ready for the evening. They went over their game plan, coming up with solutions for every possible reaction, before getting dressed. As Rory pulled on her skirt, however, she couldn't get it to zip. No matter how much she tugged, the two sides refused to meet.

"Crap!" she exclaimed in frustration.

"What's the matter?" Jess asked, tying his tie in the mirror with a grimace.

"My skirt's too small!"

"What?" he asked, turning around.

Rory gestured to the zipper where it lay open, exposing Rory's hip. "It won't zip. Maybe it shrunk?" Rory pulled off her blouse and stomped over to her closet. "Shoot, this was my lucky outfit…"

Jess stared at Rory, eyeing her stomach, as a grin slowly spread across his face.

"Slow down for a sec and c'mere," he said quietly. "How have your other clothes been fitting, Rory?" he asked with a smirk.

Rory padded over to him with a confused expression on her face. "A little tight, I guess, why?"

"Rory, your skirt didn't shrink. You grew."

Realization showed on her face and she made her way to the full length mirror, looking at herself from the side and lightly running her hand over her stomach.

"Wow… there's a little bump!" she breathed, turning to face Jess with a grin.

Jess walked over to her and held his hand out hesitantly. "Can I…?"

Rory nodded.

Jess reached out and ran his fingertips over Rory's slightly rounded tummy, smiling widely. "That's pretty cool. Our kid's in there."

Rory laughed. "Because the weeks of exhaustion and throwing up, not to mention the many positive tests and the ultrasound, didn't tell us that already."

"You know what I mean, this feels… real."

Rory hummed thoughtfully. "It is more tangible now."

"Yeah…" Jess said quietly.

Rory caught eye of the clock and noted the time. "Drat! I have nothing to wear, and we have to leave!"

"Nothing?"

"Well…" Rory said, pouting at her closet.

"I'll help, come on."

They found Rory a loose-fitting dress and jacket and made it out the door in the nick of time. They spent the drive to Hartford stuck between being happy about the bump and being majorly stressed about the task at hand. They made it to the Gilmore mansion and up to the door before Rory started to feel sick. This wasn't a pregnancy symptom, however. This was nerves.

Jess noticed Rory's pale face and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Ready?"

"Nope," Rory said as she rang the doorbell.

A/N: The bump has arrived and Jess is moving to New Haven! So exciting. But yikes time to see how Richard and Emily react.