Eleven

Jess and Rory were on the road to New York, finally on the way to celebrate the "big nameless event" as Rory had mentally dubbed Jess's birthday. Though his actual birthday was over soon, she had a few surprises planned for the entire weekend, starting from the second they arrived at the hotel and involving the matching camisole and panty set she'd bought at the mall the previous weekend.

But, it had been a busy day, and being pregnant just made every task that much more exhausting. So, try as she might to fight it, Rory dozed off not long after they hit the freeway.

When they pulled into the hotel parking lot, Jess almost hated having to wake her. She looked so peaceful with her head leaned against the widow, her arm draped around her slightly protruding stomach.

He reached across the center console and gently stroked her arm with the back of his hand, softly speaking her name until her eyelids fluttered open and she stretched, letting out a tiny squeak that brought a smirk to Jess's face.

"Wait, are we here?" Rory asked, suddenly wide awake, eyes darting around outside.

"Yep, you were out cold."

Rory pouted. "But I was looking forward to the road trip."

"We still have a drive home on Sunday. We'll get snacks, listen to music, play stupid road trip games. The whole nine yards."

That brought a smile to Rory's face.

"Wow, you do love me. I know how much you hate road trip games."

"Hey, I just don't see why you need to look for alphabet letters or license plates to enjoy a road trip!"

Rory pulled him closer to her and kissed him tenderly, softly, smiling against his lips.

"Love you, too," she said quietly.

With smiles on their faces, they checked in and made their way up to their room for the weekend. It wasn't anything particularly fancy, but it was nice for a relatively affordable hotel room with quick access to the subway, perfect for the excursions Rory had planned for the next day.

Once they settled into their room, Rory excused herself to the restroom with her overnight bag in hand. Jess eyed her suspiciously as she sauntered in and closed the door with a sly smile on her face.

While she was in there, he wandered around the room, checking out the view from the window and seeing what the mini fridge held. He was starting to unpack a few things when he heard the bathroom door open behind him. When he turned around, his jaw dropped.

There was Rory in a lacy, blue, two-piece thing… and Jess could no longer think coherent thought.

"Is it okay?" Rory asked shyly.

"Is it…?" Jess asked hoarsely. "It is. It is very much… yes, it is okay."

Rory blushed and laughed at Jess's sudden incapability to speak.

Jess just stood there, frozen, his eyes trailing up and down her body.

Rory slowly approached him and pressed her lips to his and he responded eagerly, running his hands down her body and playing with the hem of her top before sliding his hands underneath. He planted tiny kisses down her neck and her hands came up into his hair. Everything felt like fire, like electricity, every touch like a spark. The freedom and thrill of the promise of a time away together as them – just them – time to imagine futures and celebrate opportunity and revel in each other's love made every moment feel exciting and new and safe and familiar all at once.

It took very little time for their clothes to be forgotten on the floor.

Later, they lay in bed, Rory with her head on Jess's chest, Jess's arm draped around Rory's shoulder and his hand resting gently on her arm, their eyes heavy with sleep and their bodies more relaxed than they'd been in months. Jess couldn't remember the last time he felt so at peace, so content with life. Here he was, lying in bed with the woman of his dreams, who had gone to the great lengths of booking hotel rooms and reeling in her own exhilaration about the day to make sure his birthday was special in a way that he was comfortable with. To make it both lowkey and memorable. To make him feel loved.

He tilted his chin and placed a soft kiss on the top of Rory's head, eliciting a happy, sleepy hum from her.

"Thank you for today," he murmured into her hair.

She tilted her head up to meet his eyes.

"I didn't do much."

Jess chuckled.

"You did everything."

"If you say so," Rory said with a soft smile.

Jess reached down and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"It was a good birthday."

An excited grin spread across Rory's face.

"Really?"

Jess smirked.

"Really."

Rory's eyes filled with tears, filling Jess with concern.

"Hey, I take it back, it sucked," he joked, trying to lighten whatever mood had made her cry.

Rory started giggling hysterically as tears spilled from her eyes, only confusing Jess further.

"Ignore this," she said through her laughter, gesturing to her face. "Hormones." She sniffed and took a breath, attempting to calm herself. "I'm glad it was a good birthday. Good enough for you to acknowledge it, even."

Jess, though still dealing with the mild whiplash that came from Rory's small outburst, smiled softly at her, placed a small kiss on the tip of her nose.

Rory smiled, cuddled back against his chest and closed her eyes, falling asleep within seconds.

Jess closed his eyes and wrapped his arms back around Rory, holding her close. That night, he fell asleep happy on his birthday for the first time since he was very, very small.

Jess awoke Friday morning in an unfamiliar bed.

When he blinked his eyes open, he remembered the hotel and the weekend away and smiled to himself. He turned over and found Rory still asleep. The light filtered in through the curtains and landed on her like a spotlight, shining on her and highlighting her beauty as she slept, peacefully curled into a ball at his side. He could never resist the smile that snuck onto his face at times like this, moments of peace and tranquility and perfection – innocent little moments of pure joy that he wanted imprinted in his mind forever. Call him crazy for enjoying lying in bed next to his sleeping girlfriend that much, but it was times like this that reminded him he would get to wake up like this forever. His smile only widened as he was reminded that there'd soon be another tiny being in the picture.

Rory's eyelids fluttered open and a sleepy smile crossed her lips when she met his gaze. Jess's hand came up and brushed the hair out of her face and stroked her cheek.

"G'morning," he mumbled half into his pillow.

"Were you watching me sleep?" Rory asked.

"No."

Rory snorted. "Liar."

Jess smiled and scooched closer to her, pulling her over to him and burying his nose in her hair before planting a kiss on the crown of her head. Rory tilted her chin up and pressed her lips to his – morning breath be damned. She leaned her forehead against his chin, a smile creeping onto her face.

"I never want to leave this bed," she mumbled.

"Me neither. Let's stay here."

Rory laughed. "Just forget about our lives? Our families?"

"Screw 'em, we have this bed."

Rory giggled, and suddenly Jess was reminded of Rory's fit of tears and laughter from the previous night. He pulled back from her and looked into her eyes seriously.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Last night's emotional roller coaster?" he asked tentatively.

Rory snorted. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"I am, really. Are you okay? You look scared."

Jess sat up in bed with his back against the pillows, leading Rory to do the same. Jess felt a little bit like an idiot for being so worried.

He shrugged. "Never mind, I just wanted to make sure you were good."

Rory smiled. "I'm good. I can't say something like that won't happen again, but I'm good."

"Again?" he asked nervously.

"Oh yeah. Pregnancy hormones do not seem to be joking around. We've got months left for me to totally lose it."

Jess sighed heavily. "Great," he groaned. "Just tell me when it's the baby crazies and when I actually need to worry?"

Rory failed to swallow a laugh resulting in a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a snort.

"Promise. Even though I know you're going to worry either way."

"Well, yeah!" he objected. "When my girlfriend exhibits the entire range of human emotion in the span of, like, five minutes, I'm gonna get a little worried!"

Rory smirked at him, cupping his face in her hand.

"This is so cute! You're being so overprotective!" she teased.

"Stop," he groaned, pulling away from her touch.

"You are! You're going to be such a helicopter dad!"

"Oh, the hell I am."

"Aw, you're going to freak out every time the baby gets a boo-boo, aren't you?" Rory teased.

Jess rolled his eyes and pried himself out of bed, half annoyed at her teasing and half annoyed at how right she probably was.

"Wait, no, come back!" she whined, flopping on the bed and grabbing at him.

"Look at the clock, the hotel breakfast is almost over."

Rory gasped. "But the hotel waffles!"

"I know, that's why we need to get going," Jess said, getting his things out of his duffle bag.

"Can we bring them back up and eat in the comfy bed?" she asked.

"I thought that was obvious."

Rory grinned and hopped out of bed, pulling on some clothes and shoes, opting for a shirt of Jess's instead of her own. Jess smirked at her as he quickly got dressed and followed her downstairs to get their food and bring it back up to their room.

After a luxurious breakfast in bed that involved Rory eating an amount of sugar that kind of both horrified and impressed Jess, they reluctantly pried themselves back out of the lovely bed and out into the city. Once in the fresh air, the last hints of summer melding with the first notes of fall, they felt a little happier about not spending the entire weekend in their room.

Unbeknownst to Jess, Rory had planned a day that mirrored their excursion in New York the day she had skipped school in favor of seeing a boy that, at the time, was very much not her boyfriend. The one thing she would change from that day would be to make it back in time for Lorelai's graduation – every other thing she would keep exactly the same.

They took the subway and walked the rest of the way to Washington Square Park where they lounged and read and only left because they were hungry. They then found what was most likely not the same hotdog cart but one that sufficed for lunch, and then spent over an hour perusing the stacks of albums at the record store, competing to see who could find the most outrageous album cover or least-known artist. The entire day, both Rory and Jess celebrated being able to hold the other person's hand, to touch them, to kiss them whenever they felt like it, enjoying the lack of awkward nervousness thick silences that had been present when they were seventeen.

All in all, it was a pretty perfect day, and finding a hole in the wall pizza joint for dinner only made it better.

As the sun began to set, they made it back to their hotel for an evening in, both exhausted from the day's outing. They opted for a shower and a movie in that bed they wished they could take home with them, planning to just relax together for the evening. But once their heads hit their pillows, a movie was suddenly too large a task, and they were asleep within minutes, Rory's back to Jess's chest and his arms wrapped around her and his hands resting comfortably on her slightly rounded stomach, a content smile on both of their faces.

Saturday morning, Rory woke first, and it was her turn to simply lounge in the bed and watch Jess sleep. He was sprawled on his stomach with his head turned towards her, his hair dried funny against the pillow, his messy waves out in full force. His hair had grown out the tiniest bit in the past few months and though he was desperate to have it cut, Rory quite enjoyed when it began to get a little unruly. She gently ran her fingers through the tangles in his bangs, tracing his features with tiny strokes. As she did this, she tried to imagine those features in miniature, combined with some of her own. The picture in her mind wouldn't quite form and all she was left with was a blurry mental image of a generic, nondescript baby, but the concept made her grin nonetheless. As her fingertips ran back through his hair, his eyelids fluttered open and a sleepy smile spread across his face.

"Good morning," she whispered as Jess reached out and pulled her closer to him, planting a kiss on her forehead and wrapping her in his arms as he sighed. She would never get over how cuddly he was first thing in the morning. It always gave her butterflies when he was that soft and mushy.

"Now who's watching who sleep?" he mumbled, fighting to wake up fully.

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," Rory said innocently.

A sleepy chuckle escaped Jess and he looked at her through his lashes, his eyes heavy and tired still. He nuzzled his nose against hers.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked.

Rory hummed happily. "This right here sounds pretty good to me."

Jess smiled. "We'll miss breakfast."

"Eh, we'll order room service when we feel like it."

Jess frowned and leaned back a bit.

"With whose money? We spent everything we had budgeted for the trip."

Rory smiled timidly. "Mom may have given me some money to, and these are her words, not mine, 'enjoy New York without getting dressed'."

Jess groaned as Rory giggled. "I am not comfortable with your mother thinking about you and me like that."

"She's Lorelai Gilmore, Queen of Finding the Dirty in Everything, what did you expect?"

"I don't know, but I guess I shouldn't put it past her to make jokes about her own daughter's sex life."

"Well, I am pregnant, I'm pretty sure she knows we've had sex."

"Hey, for all she knows, this kid could be a miracle," Jess teased.

"Right, like she'd believe her grandkid was immaculately conceived," Rory laughed.

"It's worth a try. Why don't you tell her and see how she reacts?" Jess smirked.

Rory made a face somewhere between a grimace and a smirk. "I have to admit… she helped me pick out that lingerie."

"Ah, jeez!" Jess groaned, sounding so much like Luke it sent Rory into a fit of giggles. "Why would you tell me that?"

"I'm sorry!" Rory did her best to stifle her laughter. "You know, I could put it back on and try and make it up to you."

Jess's resolve melted only slightly as he continued to glare.

Rory took his lack of response as a challenge to improve his mood, to get him to accept her apology, shifting across the bed and wrapping her leg around his waist as she kissed him. Reluctant at first, but succumbing quickly as Rory's hands trailed his chest, Jess returned her kiss eagerly, his on hand running down her side.

"You're forgiven," he whispered against her mouth.

They really did spend the whole day in bed, lounging, reading, napping, and repeating their activities from that morning. They had taken full advantage of the money Lorelai gave them and ordered way too much food for two people, but Rory was sure it would get eaten, claiming that she was not only eating for two, but eating for two Gilmores, and Jess knew better than to argue with the stomach of a Gilmore.

As they laid in bed reading, Jess sprawled on his stomach with his head at the foot of the bed and his hand idly stroking Rory's leg and Rory propped up against the headboard, Rory decided it was time to bring up the all-encompassing topic of their future.

Her stomach flipped at the thought of a heavy discussion, but she was doing her best to learn how to have important adult conversations, and this was one of those times when it was necessary.

Taking a deep breath, she ventured in.

"Hey, question."

Jess put his book down and craned his neck to face her.

"What's up?"

"Where do you see us living?"

Jess's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Rory fiddled with the bedsheet in her hand. "Like when the baby comes. I just… I was talking to Mom the other day and it made me realize that the apartment was already pretty crowded without an infant and all the stuff an infant comes with. Plus, I doubt Paris and Doyle want a screaming baby invading their lives and their space. So, I guess… what do you think?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.

Jess rousted himself from his position and moved to sit next to Rory, taking her hand. "I've been thinking about that, too," he admitted quietly.

Rory was slightly taken aback. "You have?"

Jess nodded.

"Okay," she nodded back. "So… any consensus?"

"Other than thinking we probably need to find our own place and a way to pay for it, not really."

Rory hummed thoughtfully. Just then, Jess's phone began ringing and he picked it up off the nightstand and answered it.

"Hello?" There was a pause as Jess shifted in place, slightly uncomfortably. "Yeah, this is him."

He immediately tensed at whatever the caller said to him, alerting Rory.

"Oh, uh…" He glanced at Rory nervously. "Great, thanks. Yeah, I'll let you know. Bye."

"Who was that?" Rory asked anxiously as Jess put his phone back down on the nightstand.

Jess sighed resolutely. He was suddenly acutely aware that he should have had this conversation before this moment. Should have talked to Rory about what he was up to. But, he guessed it was now or never at this point.

"Jess?"

"It was the manager of the bar a few blocks from the apartment."

"What?" she asked, almost laughing. "Why?"

"I applied to work there," Jess admitted nonchalantly. "As a waiter or bartender. They were just calling to say I got the job if I wanted it. It's not a big deal."

Rory felt her breath catch, anxiety coursing through her.

"But… what? What about Truncheon? Did something happen?"

"I still work for Truncheon," Jess said, growing impatient with himself and annoyed at Rory's prying.

"Okay, so you thought you'd apply to work a second job… just for fun?" Rory asked with an edge to her voice. Her fear was quickly being overcome by defiance, anger at being left out of the loop.

"I'm not getting paid as much now that I'm working from here. We need the money, Rory, especially if we're looking to move," Jess said defensively.

Rory halted.

"Jess, how long have you had a plan to find another job and eventually move?"

He paused a second before forcing the words out, knowing she would only grow more upset.

"Since I moved to New Haven."

Rory was speechless. Furious. Confused. Hurt. And so many more things. She clambered out of the bed and started pacing the room.

"Let me get this straight," she said sharply. "For weeks now, you've been planning our lives, and not talking to me about any of it?"

"Stop, that's hardly what I was doing," Jess objected, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"No, Jess! That's exactly what you were doing!"

"How?" he demanded, looking over his shoulder at her.

Rory laughed humorlessly. "'How?' he asks. Jess, you decided that we would need another income and another apartment! All on your own, without any consult from me. This affects me too!"

Jess stood and walked over to her. "God, Rory, I know it affects you! You really think I don't? You just said we need to find our own place!"

"Yes! I did! I told you! I talked to you about it! I didn't just go out and set things in motion without talking to you first!"

Jess rolled his eyes. "Jeez, it's not like a signed a lease."

"No, Jess, God…" Rory buried her face in her hands as she grew more exasperated. "How do you not see this?"

"See what?" he barked.

"That you should have told me!"

"Fine, I know I should have told you, but I have a plan! I didn't want to give you more to worry about, so I took care of it!" he shouted. "I was handling it, alright?"

"Dammit, Jess, you can't 'just handle' it anymore!"

"Why not?" he demanded.

"Because you aren't just you anymore!" Rory shouted.

Jess felt like he'd been punched in the gut as Rory's words hit him.

She was right. He wasn't just him anymore. He was a partner and soon he would be a dad and...

And he wasn't alone anymore.

He had people to count on and people that counted on him. People that wanted to work things out with him and didn't need him to just take charge and figure things out. People that genuinely cared about him, wanted to make plans and figure out solutions to problems together.

He wasn't just him anymore.

"You're right," he said hoarsely after a few seconds of strained silence.

"What?" Rory asked, still breathing heavily.

"I should have told you. I should have let you in on the plans, I…" He ran his hand through his hair, the other hand on his hip. "I-I'm not used to this. I guess I didn't realize that what I was doing. Which is crap, I should have considered that you needed to be a part of this, but I'm just so used to just figuring this stuff out when something comes up. But you're right, you deserve to know what's going on. You deserve to be a part of figuring things out. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I—"

"Shut up."

Jess blinked in surprise. "What?"

Amidst Jess's rambling – another annoying habit he'd picked up from Rory – he had failed to notice Rory's eyes go wide and her attention zero in on her stomach. She was no longer listening to his words but instead focusing on a very new sensation.

When Jess finally processed the image in front of him, he started to freak out a little bit, crossing the room in a few long strides.

"What? What is it? Is it the baby? Is something wrong?" His voice had gone shaky and his questions were asked in rapid succession.

Rory shook her head as her eyes grew misty. "Nothing's wrong, it's…" A trepidatious smile slowly spread across Rory's face, her hands resting on her stomach. She let out a small giggle. "I read about this. I…"

"Full sentences Gilmore, I'm begging you."

She grinned and met his fearful eyes.

"I think I can feel the baby moving," she whispered.

Surprise and excitement showed on Jess's face and his hands flew to the bump.

"I don't think you can't feel it from the outside yet," Rory said sadly.

Jess's shoulders dropped slightly, a little jealous that he couldn't share the experience quite yet.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry."

"What? Why are you sorry?"

"You were so excited," she frowned. "I feel bad."

Jess chuckled and took her face in his hands. "Do not apologize for that. I'll get to feel it eventually."

Rory nodded and looked down at her tummy.

"Is it still happening?"

Rory shook her head. "No, it was really brief. I don't think he or she liked the yelling," she chuckled.

Jess huffed out a slightly bitter laugh.

"Probably trying to tell me to take my head out of my ass," he mumbled to the floor.

Rory looked up at him with a frown.

"I just need you to talk to me," she whispered. "It scares me when you don't."

Jess's heart ached with regret and remorse.

"I'm sorry," he whispered roughly, swallowing the lump that had grown in his throat, blinking away the burning behind his eyes. "I promise, from now on I'll do my best to talk to you."

"Thank you," Rory said earnestly. Her eyes went wide and shot down to her stomach once more, bringing a timid smile to Jess's face.

"Is it happening again?"

Rory grinned and nodded.

"Just a little bit."

"What does it feel like?" he asked shyly.

"Kind of like a really soft, fluttery tickle from the inside."

Jess shook his head in amazement.

"Weird…"

"You're telling me," Rory laughed.

Jess sighed and leaned his forehead against Rory's, placing his hands on her arms.

"I love you," he whispered.

Rory smiled. "I love you, too."

When Rory woke the next morning, she was alone in bed. Frowning, she sat up and found a note on Jess's pillow, and inside it read:

Rory,

Woke up early, thought you could use breakfast and coffee for the road. Be back soon. Love you.

- J

Rory smiled to herself before climbing out of bed and getting dressed.

Sadly, their weekend was coming to an end, and they would have to bid their lovely, roommate-free hotel room adieu in the next couple hours. She went about the room, gathering their things and packing them back into their luggage. She had just finished and was clicking through the hotel's TV channels when the door unlocked and Jess walked in. Her heart melted when her eyes fell on him as he came towards her carrying a bag of breakfast, a coffee, and a bouquet of flowers.

"You got me flowers?" she asked softly, tears slightly blurring her vision.

Jess shrugged and offered her his signature smirk as he handed them to her. It was a beautiful, handcrafted bouquet of roses and daisies and greenery and the sight of it, the sentiment behind it, kind of made her want to cry. But, like, in a good way.

"You've never gotten me flowers before," she said in a happy, wobbly voice as she buried her nose in the petals, inhaling their sweet fragrance deeply.

"Yeah, well… I'm sorry for not talking. For not including you in my plans for our... family."

That word felt so foreign in his mouth. But… he could definitely get used to it.

Rory smiled tearfully. "You're very much forgiven."

"And if there hadn't had been flowers?" he asked with a smirk.

Rory shrugged nonchalantly. "You'd at least be on your way to forgiveness. But the flowers are what really set you over the edge."

Jess smiled briefly before turning serious.

"How do you feel about everything? The job, the apartment…"

Rory sighed. "I hate the idea of you having to work even more."

"But?"

"But, if you feel like you can handle it, the extra money for a crib and a changing table and, God, an apartment would probably be good."

Jess nodded, sitting down on the foot of the bed.

"I could help with the money thing, too," Rory said. "I could tutor or something."

Jess shook his head. "You're already busy enough. You've got school, the paper, and you're growing a human being, so…" he smiled.

Rory cracked a smile. "Right, that last thing takes up all of my free time."

"Exactly, you get what I'm saying."

"But after this semester, the editor position goes to someone else. I know I don't get paid much, but it'll still be a loss."

Jess nodded. "Right."

"So, for next semester, I'll take on some tutoring or something."

Jess still looked hesitant, and the thought that Rory would be in her third trimester by then crossed her mind, but she pushed it away with the reminder that they really could use any extra money they could bring in.

Jess sighed. "Why don't we re-evaluate when we get closer?" he said, offering a sort of middle ground.

Though still a little insistent that she would be fine with it, she agreed.

"Fine. Deal?" she said, holding out her hand for him to shake.

Jess smiled and took her hand, placing a kiss on her knuckles.

"Deal."

Rory scooched down the bed to sit next to Jess and cupped his face in her flower-free hand, bringing him closer and pressing her lips to his.

"Thank you for talking to me," she whispered.

Jess nodded. "Y'know, not as hard as I thought it would be."

"Yeah?" Rory grinned.

Jess returned her smile.

"Yeah."

A/N: Okay, yes, another argument. I know they've been having a lot of those lately. BUT. I think Rory finally got through to Jess, don't you? I'd say it was a successful weekend in New York! Also, we never got to see Jess's birthday in the show (something we were totally robbed of) so I decided he had a September birthday because why not. Thanks for reading!