Six
Rory and Jess entered the Gilmore mansion as the maid ushered them in, nervously taking their coats before telling them Emily and Richard were in the living room and then scampering away to hide in the kitchen. Jess squeezed Rory's hand, reassuring himself and her at the same time, somehow building a kind of strength to make it through the evening. Then, they made their way towards the living room.
"Rory!" Emily greeted cheerfully from her place in front of the couch before noticing Jess. "And… Jess, what a lovely surprise," she continued, her smile turning false and her eyes going cold.
"Mrs. Gilmore," Jess greeted, offering her his own tightlipped smile.
"Your mother called, Rory. It seems she had some sort of work emergency and can't join us tonight."
A wave of something like relief joined with disappointment washed over Rory at her grandmother's announcement and she nodded her understanding, fearing words would give her away.
Richard then entered the room with a smile on his face.
"Rory! And Jess, what a nice surprise!" he beamed, obviously much more excited to see his granddaughter's boyfriend than Emily was.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm well, thank you," Jess said.
Rory smiled slightly at the interaction, reminding herself to hold onto that image when everything inevitably exploded later in the evening.
"Please, sit. Can I get you two some drinks?"
Rory gulped. She had forgotten she would have to refuse alcohol. She glanced at Jess sitting next to her and saw him wearing an apprehensive expression that she was sure matched her own.
She cleared her throat. "Um, I'll just take a soda. I'm driving tonight."
Jess slyly smirked at her while Richard's back was turned, offering her silent applause for coming up with an excuse on the spot.
"Alright, and Jess?"
"I'll just have whatever," Jess said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
"We have everything, Jess," Emily said coolly. "Except for beer. We would have gotten some had we known you were coming."
Jess cleared his throat and focused intently on not fidgeting with the cuticle on his thumb – a nervous habit he'd picked up from Rory.
"I'll just have soda. Don't want Rory to be the only one not partaking."
"If she's driving, then why shouldn't you drink?" Emily asked. "Really, what would you like? We have whiskey, scotch, wine, gin. We can make any cocktail you might want."
Emily was in fine form, plastering on the hostess mode and pigeonholing Jess all at the same time. Rory sat in silent horror, unable to speak up.
Jess resisted the urge to scowl. "Wine sounds great," he finally said.
"Red or white?" Richard asked, pouring himself some expensive-looking amber liquor and searching the cart for a wine glass.
Great, another decision thus prolonging the conversation.
"Red is fine."
Rory snickered beside him.
"Since when do you drink red wine?" she whispered to him as Richard and Emily had their attention on the drinks.
Jess gave a panicked shrug.
Richard came around with Jess's drink and sat next to Emily on the couch facing Jess and Rory. Rory sipped her soda carefully, hoping it would alleviate the nausea that was threatening to worsen. Her nervous stomach had joined forces with her regular nausea. It seemed, in the planning of tonight's dinner, she had forgotten that it occurred during the time of day in which she was sickest.
Damn that pregnancy brain.
"Now, Rory, you've started back at Yale I assume?" Richard asked.
Rory nodded, offering a tightlipped smile and taking another cautious sip.
"And how is that going? Senior year, editing the paper. You must be busy."
Rory swallowed, doing her best to keep the sick feeling at bay.
"Yeah, but it's good to be back. It kind of blows my mind that I'm almost done."
"Of course. Time flies, doesn't it?" Richard said with a nostalgic smile.
"Jess, how is your business?" Emily interjected abruptly, almost making Jess jump.
"It's fine."
"Any details? Good things? Bad things? Funny anecdotes?"
Jess took a sip of his drink as he noticed Rory stiffen next to him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and noticed how pale she had gone, and it suddenly occurred to him Rory's routine activity at this time of night. Just as he remembered, Rory stood up and excused herself to the restroom, exiting the room quickly.
It was silent in the room after she left, Richard and Emily looking at Jess expectantly. He avoided eye contact and took another nervous sip of his wine, doing his best not to grimace as the bitterness rolled through his mouth. Of all nights to be left alone in the room with Rory's grandparents…
"Well?" Emily asked, her composure never faltering.
"Hm?" Jess asked, having already forgotten whatever inane question she had asked.
"Do tell us what running a publishing company is like."
"Yes, I think I'd rather like to know myself," Richard said, genuinely interested in Jess's answer. Jess got some sort of sick pleasure in observing how oblivious Richard seemed to be of his wife's casual interrogation.
Jess shifted in his seat yet again.
"Um, nothing too exciting. People send us their things, we read them, see if they're worth giving a chance at publishing. If they are, one of us works directly with the author to edit it. We also sell books out of our small bookstore."
"Are you writing anything new?" Richard asked. "I have to say, though it wasn't my usual forte, I quite enjoyed The Subsect."
Jess almost gaped at the man.
"You read it?"
"Why, yes. I had my secretary find me a copy after you told me about it. You are a very talented writer, young man."
Jess didn't know what to do with the compliment. Knowing Richard's impressive taste in literature meant that such kind words meant a great deal coming from him. Jess opened his mouth once before closing it, trying to find the words – any words.
"Thank you, sir," he finally said, giving him a small, kind smirk. "I appreciate it, really."
Emily looked like she wanted to scream. Just as she was gearing up to ask another question, the maid entered and announced that dinner was ready.
"Well, we should wait for Rory, shouldn't we?" Emily asked in a sickly-sweet voice. "I wonder what's taking her so long, I hope she's alright."
Jess took the out.
"I'll go check on her, I'm sure she's fine." He placed his glass on the coffee table and exited the living room. As soon as he was in the foyer, he realized he had no idea where the restroom was and halted his movement. The maid caught sight of him looking lost and discretely pointed towards the bathroom. He smiled his thanks and made his way there.
He knocked on the door.
"Rory? It's me."
The door opened in front of him, and there Rory stood, her eyes red and her nose runny.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
"I'm fine, I just have the evidence that I just puked written all over my face!" she hissed, gesturing wildly to her watery eyes. "I would just splash some cold water on face but I'm wearing makeup and that would just make everything worse and, ugh, they're out there interrogating you and I can't speak up for you because I'm afraid if I open my mouth, I'm just gonna spew all over the living room…" She put her face in her hands.
Jess grimaced at the mental image. He placed his hands on her shoulders, running his hands up and down her biceps in a way he hoped was comforting.
"Just take a breath before you go in there and then act like nothing's wrong."
Rory almost laughed. "You really think that'll work?"
Jess shrugged. "Worth a try. Plus, we're going to tell them soon, they'll figure it out eventually."
Rory sighed and nodded resolutely.
"Okay, you're right. Let's go."
They made their way to the dining room where Richard and Emily were waiting. Rory did her best to hide her face with her hair as she sat down, Jess pushing her chair in for her before making his way to the chair opposite her as the maid served the salads.
"Are you quite alright?" Emily asked Rory, eyeing her suspiciously.
Rory looked up at her, plastering on a façade of innocence.
"Yeah, Grandma, fine. Why?"
Emily shook her head. "Nothing, just wanted to make sure."
Jess nudged Rory's foot with his own under the table and shot her a smirk before returning his attention to his salad and frowning – seriously, what was with the damn raisins?
"So, Jess," Emily started. All three sets of eyes in the room darted in her direction. "What brings you to the area? You must have work. I can't imagine helping run a business offers much free time."
Jess eyed Rory before turning back to Emily.
"Jess is staying here, Grandma," Rory interrupted before Jess could speak. "He's moving to New Haven."
"Well, whatever for? And how will he work?" Emily asked, apparently scandalized.
"To be near me. He's going to work through phone calls and over email. Editing and revising people's books doesn't require a whole lot of face-to-face interaction, and when it does, he'll be able to drive to Philadelphia."
"That can't be enough, running a business takes real work," Emily said causally, taking a bite of her salad.
Rory stiffened and shot her grandmother a glare.
"It actually works out really well for Truncheon," Jess interjected before Rory could get a bitter word in. "I'm going to be doing some marketing and looking for some authors in the area. It's kind of a miniature expansion project," Jess explained. He'd never put it that way before, but it sounded like something Richard and Emily would appreciate.
"Well, that's fantastic. Good for you, Jess," Richard said as he took a bite of his salad, and Jess could have sworn he almost sounded proud. Emily, on the other hand, scowled at Jess.
The main course came, and the group managed some polite small talk. Rory discussed her classes and her work at the paper and Richard discussed his current various work ventures.
"I actually have a small announcement," Richard said. All eyes were on him. "An opportunity at Yale has arisen. One of the university's current economics professors is going on sabbatical, and they've offered me the position of interim professor. If it's alright with you, Rory, I'd like to take it."
Rory beamed at her grandfather. "Yes, Grandpa! That sounds amazing. Take it, please."
Richard smiled. "Well, if you insist."
"You have to tell me what classes you'll be teaching so I can take them!"
"Now, I don't know about that…" Richard said, appearing somewhat embarrassed but simultaneously flattered.
"Yes! I want to see you in action!" Rory said enthusiastically.
"I'll consider it, but I think we could work something out," Richard said, a gleam in his eye.
The main course was cleared away and thus came the time for their own announcement. Rory took a deep breath and made eye contact with Jess, who nodded reassuringly.
"Um, Grandma, Grandpa…" She paused as they both looked in her direction. "Jess and I actually have an announcement of our own," she said quietly.
"Oh my God…" Emily practically whispered. "You're getting married, aren't you?"
Rory shook her head. "No, not that…"
"Oh, thank God!" Emily cried, her shoulders dropping in relief. "You are much too young to be married, and, well, it just wouldn't be right."
Rory shot another glare at her grandmother, her irritation continuing to rise.
"If it's not that, then what is it?" Emily asked, her hands folded primly in front of her.
Rory cleared her throat and glanced down at the able, drawing a breath to give her courage.
"Um, here goes… I'm pregnant."
It felt as if time stood still. The only movement in the room was the maid slowly and silently retreating into the kitchen with dessert in her hands. Having heard the announcement, she did her best to make it to safe ground before the fallout began.
"You're what?" Emily asked, her voice low and controlled in a way that told them that one little thing would make her combust.
"I'm pregnant," Rory said, growing more confident in her declaration. "I'm thirteen weeks today. We found out a little over a month ago, everything looks great, and we're excited."
Richard remained silent, staring down at the table with his hands clasped in front of his face. Emily, however, was turning various shades of red. Jess clenched his jaw in anticipation of the explosion.
"Rory, how could you?" Emily cried. "You're supposed to know better than this – do better than this! Did you learn nothing from your mother?"
"Yes, I learned a lot from Mom," Rory said in a forcibly calm and even tone.
"You," Emily shouted, pointing at Jess. "You did this."
The look in Jess's eyes was one Rory had never seen before; pure anger mixed with a newfound protectiveness and a shame that almost made want to her cry.
"It takes two people for this to happen, Grandma," Rory seethed, rapidly losing what little patience she had started with.
"Years ago, I told Lorelai that this boy was bad for you and clearly I was right. I knew he would screw up your life, I knew he wasn't good enough for you! And now look! He's gone and gotten you pregnant and completely thrown off your life. How are you two going to raise a child? You're still in college and he's a writer, for God's sake! How can you expect him to support you? He's left enough times before, how do you know he won't do it again?"
"That's enough!" Rory yelled, standing up from the table, eliciting shocked gazes from everyone in the room. "If you're going to yell at anyone, yell at me. Me, Grandma. I'm the one that's pregnant, be as mad at me as you want. But I will not let you talk about Jess like that. Jess is a kind, impressive, intelligent man that is way too good for me. From the second we found out, he has been caring and attentive and committed. He loves me and he loves this baby, and I won't stand for anyone to talk about him like he's some kind of heartless, careless piece of trash. So leave him alone," Rory seethed.
Emily's nostrils flared in anger. "I'm going to bed," she announced, standing up and leaving the room.
Rory fell back into her chair, doing her best to keep the tears at bay. Jess sat silently, staring at his folded hands in his lap.
With a deep, shuddering breath, Rory turned to look at Richard.
"Grandpa?" she whispered.
Richard looked up, his eyes misty.
"I'm going to be a great grandfather?" he asked quietly.
Rory smiled nervously.
"Yeah, you are."
Richard nodded stoically before a small, almost imperceptible smile sneaked onto his face.
"I see."
Rory waited anxiously for more of her grandfather's reaction, her eyes transfixed and watching him apparently experience the full range of human emotion.
He reached over and took Rory's hand, squeezing it lovingly and offering her a warm smile. Then, he stood and buttoned his suit jacket.
"Well, I should go check on your grandmother."
With that, he exited the room, leaving Rory and Jess at the table alone.
"What just happened?" Rory asked quietly. Jess simply shrugged and offered her a sympathetic look.
The maid then carried out two desserts, some sort of chocolate souffle, and set them in front of Jess and Rory.
"Congratulations, both of you," she said quietly, smiling kindly at them before retreating into the kitchen.
Rory's eyes welled with tears as she poked at her dessert. "More of a congratulations from the maid then from my own grandparents," she said sadly before taking a bite of souffle and sighing. "At least we still got dessert."
Saturday night, Rory sat curled up on the couch in her apartment, reading a book for class. Doing her best to read, that is. She had homework she needed to get done for the next week, but she'd just gotten off the phone after telling her father about the baby and was waiting for Jess to return from telling his mother, and after the last few days she'd had, all she wanted to do was spend time with Jess when he got home.
Home.
Rory smiled softly. As soon as it was possible for him to move, this apartment would be his home, too. As stressful and emotionally draining as the past forty-eight hours had been, that was one good thing that came out of it.
The clicking of locks startled Rory out of her reverie and announced Jess's return. She looked at him expectantly as he entered the apartment, closing the door behind him and collapsing on the couch next to Rory looking exhausted. Rory turned in her seat to face him and put her book aside.
"Well? How'd she take it?" she asked eagerly, anxiously.
Jess rubbed at his eyes, trying to rid himself of the desire to close them and not open them for a very long time.
"Liz cannot wait to be a grandmother."
Rory furrowed her brow. "You say that like it's a bad thing. It's one of the best reactions we've gotten so far."
Jess sighed. "I don't know… it's Liz. I just don't know how comfortable I am with her being involved," he said quietly.
Rory wilted.
"Oh, Jess…"
"I know," he interrupted. "I should be happy for her. She seems to be… better now. She's clean, apparently. Has been since before she married TJ. I just have a hard time believing she's really…"
He paused, looking for the word that fit and coming up empty.
"Changed," Rory finished for him.
Jess nodded.
"I get it. It's not exactly the same with my dad, but every time he's tried to be involved again, I've gotten my hopes up. And every time, I've gotten hurt. So," she shrugged. "I stopped getting my hopes up."
Jess took Rory's hand. "How'd calling your dad go, by the way?"
It was Rory's turn to sigh. "He was surprised. He said congratulations. He asked where to send a gift. The whole conversation lasted about ten minutes." She shrugged. "About as good as I could have asked it to."
Jess nodded.
Rory chuckled. "You know, for two products of accidental teen pregnancy, we're doing okay. I mean, we're both almost twenty-two. That's six years older than my parents were and four years older than yours."
Jess laughed. "Well, when you put it that way…"
"Doesn't seem so bad, does it?" Rory smiled. "Can you believe these are going to be our last birthdays as just us? Next year this time, we'll have a baby."
Jess nodded slowly, ruminating on the concept.
"Pretty crazy," he agreed.
"How are you feeling about… everything?"
Jess turned to look at her with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"
Rory shrugged and looked down at her and Jess's intertwined hands resting on the couch before meeting his eyes.
"I just want to make sure you're okay. Not secretly scared to death. Happy."
Jess reached up with his free hand to stroke Rory's face. "I'm okay."
"Okay?"
"I'm scared, but… I think it's a normal amount."
Rory nodded.
"I never really imagined myself here, y'know?" he whispered. "Never saw myself as a dad. But now that it's happening… yeah, I think I'm happy."
Rory smiled, a warmth filling. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Jess smiled back. "You?"
"I'm okay. Sometimes it's scarier than others, sometimes it doesn't feel real. It's easy to forget when I'm busy. Then something will smell weird, or I'll feel more tired or sick than normal, and I'll remember. And it's exciting and terrifying all at the same time."
Jess nodded. "When's the next appointment?"
"Next Friday afternoon," Rory smiled.
Jess smiled back. "I'll be there."
"You know you don't have to be there for every single appointment," Rory said hesitantly.
The smile faded from Jess's face. "Do you not want me there?" he asked quietly, a strange dread seeping in suddenly.
"No!" Rory quickly corrected. "No, I do. I just don't want you to feel obligated to drive all the way up here just for one appointment."
Jess shook his head. "I'm not coming because I feel obligated to, I'm coming because I want to be there, Rory. I told you, I'm in this. You and me."
"And the blob," Rory smiled.
Jess's smile returned. "And the blob."
They sat in silence, Rory stroking her hand over her small bump as Jess started to drift to sleep, his heavy eyelids winning the battle he had been fighting.
"Hey," she said.
"Hmm?" Jess replied sleepily.
"If it's a boy, can we name it Billy?"
Jess chuckled, his eyes still closed. "What?"
"And if it's a girl," she said, giggling, "we can name it Kate."
Jess blinked his eyes open in confusion. "Are you trying to name our kid after the actors in Almost Famous?"
Rory giggled even harder. "Maybe."
"No, you cannot name it Kate or Billy," Jess grumbled sleepily.
"Aw come on!" Rory objected "It was our movie!"
"It was not 'our movie'. It was just a movie I was freakishly obsessed with at eighteen."
Rory continued to laugh. "What do you mean, 'was'? You still love it!"
Jess blushed slightly and looked away.
"Ha! You're squirming! You still love it!"
Jess shifted out from under Rory and stood up from the couch. "I do not," he mumbled.
"Aw, you're grumpy when you're tired," Rory said with a smile as she stood up.
"Am not!" Jess called as he shuffled to the bedroom.
"Come on, let's get you to bed," Rory said, following Jess. She stopped in her tracks, however, when her cellphone began ringing.
"It's late, call them back tomorrow," Jess muttered from his place leaning against the doorframe with his eyes closed. He opened them when Rory didn't respond and saw her staring at her phone with her mouth open in shock. "Rory?"
Rory looked up at him, an expression of apprehension replacing the smirk that had been on her face.
"It's Mom."
A/N: Are we surprised about Emily's reaction? No. Are we confused about Richard's reaction? Maybe. Fair warning, we are not exactly fans of Christopher or Liz in this universe! (Sorry not sorry about all the recent cliffhangers.) Thanks for reading!