Thirteen
Birthday weekend for Rory involved an all-expenses paid shopping trip to the store of her choosing, a classic Gilmore movie marathon complete with every kind of candy that Doose's Market carried, and a surprise party on Sunday afternoon that Rory had yet to find out about.
But, of course, Rory's birthday wouldn't be complete without Lorelai slipping into her daughter's bed at exactly 4:03 the morning of October eighth to recount the story of Rory's birth. Jess sleeping in the trundle bed below Rory didn't stop Lorelai from following through with tradition.
Lorelai carefully climbed into bed with her little girl, and Rory stirred at the movement, smiling as her mother joined her on her pillow.
"Happy birthday, kiddo," Lorelai whispered.
Rory grinned. "Thanks, Mommy."
"So, do I get to tell the story twice since I didn't get to do this last year?"
Rory snickered. "I think once is fine. And keep your voice down, Jess is asleep."
"Eh, he's fine," Lorelai dismissed in a whisper. She sighed wistfully. "I can't believe how old you are all the sudden."
"I'm not old."
"Yes you are, and that means I'm old…"
"Yeah you are, Grandma," Rory teased.
Lorelai squawked indignantly. "Hush, I have months until I have to choose what the babe's gonna call me."
"Yeah, yeah…"
Lorelai hummed thoughtfully. "So, what do you think of your life so far?"
Rory thought for a second. "Crazier than I ever would have imagined."
"In a good way, or in a bad way?"
"In the best way possible," Rory whispered with a smile.
Lorelai chuckled softly. "Life definitely has a way of throwing the unexpected at you."
"No kidding."
Lorelai paused for a second, becoming pensive. "You're a pretty cool kid, you know that?"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. You're out there, following your dreams, becoming a mom, and just growing up into this amazing, inspiring person."
Rory's eyes filled with tears. "Thanks, Mom," she whispered tearfully, tucking herself into Lorelai's arms.
"I couldn't be prouder of you, hon," Lorelai whispered hoarsely.
"Stop it, you're making your pregnant, hormonal daughter cry."
Lorelai laughed. "Sorry, sorry." She sniffed and took a deep breath. "I think, considering your circumstances and what you're going to experience in a few short months, that it's even crazier that many, many moons ago, I was lying in a hospital bed, in exactly the same position…"
"Oh, here we go…"
"Only I had a huge stomach and big, fat ankles and I was swearing like a sailor."
"On leave," Rory said, dutifully completing her mother's sentence.
"Right, on leave. And there I was, in labor, contracting and all that good stuff. And while some people may call it the most meaningful moment of your life, to me it was more like…"
"Doing the splits over a crate of dynamite," Rory finished. "You know, this story is even more horrifying now that I have to experience it myself soon."
"Ah, you'll be fine. I'll even let you throw ice chips at me."
"Thanks, that's all I could ever ask for," Rory giggled.
"And I'll keep Grandma out so she doesn't hear your screaming and swearing, too."
"Now that I appreciate!"
After a beat of silence, Lorelai burst into laughter.
"What?" Rory laughed.
"I was just picturing your grandmother reacting to you dropping an f-bomb," Lorelai giggled. "I think she might have a stroke right then and there."
Rory joined her mother in the giggles, Lorelai's volume increasing once Rory's laughter melded with her own.
"Shh, I said not to wake Jess!" Rory whispered loudly at Lorelai's outburst, trying to quell her laughter.
"Jess is awake," came a sleepy grumble from below them. "What the hell is going on?" he asked, sitting up in bed and squinting at the two Gilmores in front of him, his hair wild and his brow furrowed as he tried to get his tired eyes to focus.
"Just a cute little tradition you can carry on with your kid someday," Lorelai explained, crawling out of Rory's bed.
"What?" Jess asked Rory sleepily.
"Just go back to sleep, I'll explain in the morning," Rory said, kissing Jess on the head.
Jess gave a short grunt of acknowledgment before falling back against his pillow and pulling the blanket up over his head.
"Is he always this grumpy in the middle of the night?" Lorelai whispered from the doorway.
Rory grinned and nodded. "He's not a fan of losing sleep."
"Stop talking about me," Jess groused into his pillow.
Lorelai clapped her hand over her mouth to contain her laughter and Rory pressed her finger to her lips, silently shushing her mother as her shoulders shook with her own suppressed giggles.
"Night you two," Lorelai whispered, exiting the room and closing the door behind her.
"Your relationship with your mother is far from normal," Jess mumbled, already halfway back to sleep.
Rory grinned as she curled back down under the covers. "I know."
Rory awoke again hours later, this time to Jess softly running his fingers through her hair and caressing her features, as if he were trying to commit to memory the shape of her nose and the curve of her cheeks and the dimple in her chin. Her eyelids fluttered open and she smiled, reaching out and inviting him up to her bed. The October chill had crept into the house and he was radiating warmth, so she lifted the covers and he crawled in next to her, wrapping his arm around her and gently stroking thumb up and down her spine.
"Happy birthday," he said with a kiss.
Rory hummed happily. "Thank you."
"So, was I hallucinating or did your mother climb into bed with you and tell you a horrifying story at four in the morning?"
Rory laughed. "Yeah, it's her thing."
"Her thing?"
"She wakes me up at the time I was born and tells me the story of my birth."
"That sounds…"
"Traumatizing?"
"A little."
Rory chuckled. "Maybe it should be, but it's tradition. I kind of like it."
"I will never fully understand the two of you."
"I think we could be studied by professionals and still be a mystery to the world."
Jess chuckled. "So, any requests for the day?"
Rory thought for a moment, playfully running her fingers up and down Jess's chest. "You know, I was trying to come up with a list of crazy things that I could only have on my birthday, but honestly I just want a peaceful day in Stars Hollow."
"Really?"
Rory nodded. "But I could do with a magnificent breakfast at Luke's."
"Luke lives here, he can make you breakfast and you can eat it in bed."
"But see, at the diner, he's always made me a special breakfast and even blown up balloons for me," Rory explained.
"Yeah, he tried to do that for me once but I wouldn't let him."
"Grump," Rory said affectionately.
"I was seventeen, can you blame me for not wanting a million balloons announcing my birthday to the people with no concept of personal boundaries?"
"Alright, fine, I guess I understand. But still, I want to go to the diner. It won't be tradition if it happens here."
Jess sighed resignedly. "Fine, it's your birthday, you get whatever your crazy heart desires."
"Yes!" Rory said triumphantly.
Jess smiled and pressed his lips to Rory's. Her hand came up onto his face and he tightened his grip around her, pulling her closer. Just as he was deepening the kiss, preparing to run his hand up the back of her shirt, she pulled away.
"I'm so sorry, I love you and this and all I want is to stay here, but the baby is playing the drums on my bladder," Rory said suddenly, quickly throwing back the covers, pulling on some pajama pants, and hurrying from the room.
Jess sat alone in Rory's bed with a frown on his face, feeling a little dejected. As he waited for Rory to return, he realized he was wearing nothing but his boxers was in full view of the kitchen, so he rushed to put on clothes to prevent an awkward encounter with Lorelai or Luke. Once he was dressed, he found the gift he'd gotten Rory and pulled it out of his bag.
He'd felt unsure about his choice of gift since he decided to get it for her. He'd never felt like he was great at giving gifts, and trying to spend minimal amounts of money only made it that much more challenging. But he'd found this at a bookstore he was working with for Truncheon and something in him just gravitated toward it. So now it lay in his hands, wrapped in blue tissue paper that matched Rory's eyes, feeling more and more like a stupid idea for a birthday present.
Rory walked back into the room and found Jess sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at the small, rectangular object in his hands.
"Don't tell me you got me a present," she said softly.
Jess startled and looked up at her as she joined him on the edge of the bed.
"It's nothing, really. I just saw it a couple weeks ago and thought you might like it."
"Wow, you really know how to sell a gift," Rory teased.
"It's probably stupid, I'm just trying to set expectations!"
"Stop, it's not stupid," Rory objected.
"You don't even know what it is yet."
"But you got it for me. That makes it not stupid."
Jess rolled his eyes and smirked, handing over the gift. He watched as she opened it, anxiously biting his lip and bouncing his leg.
When Rory's eyes fell upon the gift – a scrapbook full of prompts to track your baby's milestones with a recent ultrasound photo already affixed to the cover – her breath caught in her throat. She was entirely overwhelmed by emotion, so captivated by such a meaningful gift and so in love with the man who gave it to her that she could hardly breathe.
"So?" he asked nervously. "It's pretty cheesy. If you don't like it, that's fine."
"Jess, I…" she started before the happy tears began to pour down her cheeks. "Thank you. I love it."
"Really?"
Rory wiped the tears from her eyes and giggled. "Yes, so much. This is… I don't even care what happens the rest of the day, this gift just made this the best birthday ever."
Jess cracked a smile. "Don't speak too soon, you don't know what your mom has planned for the day."
Rory shook her head. "Doesn't matter. I'll still love whatever she does, but it won't top this."
"You sure this isn't just the hormones?" Jess teased.
"I blame the hormones for the blubbering, but that doesn't mean I don't love it."
Jess pulled Rory to him and kissed her temple. "I'm glad you like it," he whispered.
"I can't wait to start filling it with stuff," she said as she flipped through the prompts.
Just then, Lorelai came into the room, knocking on the open door.
"Mom, look what Jess got me!" Rory gushed, rushing to her mother and flipping through the book.
Jess immediately turned bashful. He clammed up and refused to look directly at them as they oohed and awed over it, both becoming a little emotional as they dreamed of the pictures and notes that would get written in it.
"Jess, this is really sweet," Lorelai gushed.
"It's nothing, really."
Lorelai frowned slightly at Jess's dismissal but Rory just smiled and gestured for her mom to let it go. As much as he had grown more comfortable with vulnerability since his teen years, being sappy and emotional in front of anyone – especially Lorelai – was still very much out of the question.
"I'm gonna go get dressed, then we'll head to Luke's. Sound good?" Rory said as she gathered her clothes.
Jess nodded and smiled and Rory left the room. Lorelai watched her until she was out of sight then closed the door, trapping her and Jess in the room.
"What…" Jess asked, his eyes wide at his sudden lack of escape.
"You have to keep her away from the diner," Lorelai said in a hushed and urgent tone.
"What? Why?"
"We're setting up for her surprise party all day!"
"It's happening at the diner?" Jess hissed. "I promised her we could get breakfast there!"
"Too bad! I need you to deliver her there at two this afternoon and no sooner!"
"Lorelai—" Jess started to object.
"Take her to Lane's, they can talk baby stuff for hours! Or Andrew's, you guys can spend days in a bookstore without knowing it! Or, or, the bridge! Go buy her books from Andrew's then take her to the bridge! You can read and make out and make googly eyes at each other there until it's time for the party!"
Jess glared in frustration.
"Just anywhere but Luke's. Please," Lorelai practically begged.
"Fine," Jess sighed. "But you have to help convince her that breakfast at the diner isn't a good idea!"
Lorelai grinned. "Deal."
Rory's bedroom door swung open and Jess and Lorelai both jumped.
Rory squinted at them suspiciously.
"What's going on here?" she asked, pointing back and forth between them.
"Nothing!" Lorelai said cheerfully.
"Hey, why don't we revisit the idea of breakfast here?" Jess suggested, trying his best to feign nonchalance.
"But the special breakfast. And I want to see people!" Rory pouted.
"Yeah, but I make better pancakes."
Lorelai gasped. "Sacrilege!"
Rory nodded shyly. "Jess makes really good pancakes, Mom."
"Bah!" Lorelai objected. "You just think that cause you love him or whatever."
Jess felt his face go pink, but he tried to ignore it. "I'll make you pancakes and bacon and won't try to force feed you any fruits or vegetables."
Rory pondered. Luke had been trying to get her to eat more produce since she'd been pregnant and the only one that she'd been receptive to was grapes.
"Plus, you don't have to deal with overly personal questions and people's sticky hands on your belly here," Lorelai offered.
Rory grimaced as she recalled the incident from the previous evening.
...
Lorelai had taken Rory on her shopping spree, where Rory picked out a few select items for herself and then went a little crazy picking out furniture, clothes, and room décor for the baby. Sure, they didn't know what they were having yet, but she'd found a myriad of adorable gender-neutral things that she couldn't wait to show Jess.
After the shopping trip, the girls had stopped in town to pick up dinner from Al's – a must for every visit Rory made to Stars Hollow. But, of course, as soon as she left, she was practically attacked by Babette and Miss Patty, both energetically asking a variety of questions, including inquiries about the baby's gender, when she had gotten pregnant, when she was due, how had she been feeling, and more – some more intrusive than others. After asking their questions, they'd simultaneously reached for Rory's stomach.
"Whoa, hold on there, nothing to feel yet guys," Rory said, laughing uncomfortably and trying to back up. Her movement led to the band on her jeans shifting, which Patty took as baby movement and announced it as such.
"There! I felt it! Oh my goodness, darling, did you feel that on your end? Babette, get in here…"
Babette pushed her way into the mix.
"I'm telling you! That was just my pants!"
"Guys, come on, there's nothing to feel yet, leave Rory alone," Lorelai said, trying to push her way between Rory and the crowd. Her movement did nothing to deter them, however, and only made them get closer, knocking into Rory and almost sending her into the bushes.
Lorelai just barely grabbed Rory's elbow in time, catching her mid fall and awkwardly pulling her back into an upright position and then quickly away from the duo.
Lorelai and Rory made a mad dash into Doose's to get snacks for their movie night and to try to escape prying eyes. Unfortunately for them, Taylor had taken a position behind the counter that evening, and he was deeply focused on planning some sort of birth announcement. A birth announcement for the baby that wasn't due for five months.
While Rory was stocking up on candy, Taylor cornered her and began to interrogate her.
"… and I know you haven't been told what the baby's going to be, but could you just use that fantastic intuition mothers have and figure it out? I'll need to know what color to make the decorations."
"Taylor. I don't know what it is. I've said so a hundred times. Now stop," Rory said, growing more and more tired, resisting the urge to just lean her head on the shelf and take a nap standing up.
"Well, yes, but…"
"Taylor!" Rory hissed, to which Taylor shrank back with an insulted look on his face.
"Young lady, you know better than to talk to your elders like that…"
Rory groaned as Taylor continued to go on, and she caught sight of Lorelai and hastened her over. Lorelai then interrupted Taylor, slyly directing Rory out the door and taking her place with Taylor as he rapidly fired questions at her.
Rory took the bags of food from Al's and held them in front of her. She was not looking where she was going as she exited the store, attempting to find a less-straining way to hold the bags, cradling them in her arms as opposed to holding them by the handles, and promptly ran into what felt like a very tall brick wall. When she looked up, eyes wide, she was met with a shocked-looking Dean with his arms out as if to catch the potential avalanche of Chinese food.
"Dean. Hi."
Dean offered Rory a slightly uncomfortable looking smile.
"Hey, Rory."
"You're in town," Rory stated rather than questioned, recalling that Dean had temporarily moved back to Chicago to spend time with his grandparents.
"So are you," Dean chuckled, shifting his feet awkwardly.
"Birthday," Rory explained.
"Right, right… um, happy birthday, I guess."
"Ha, thanks…"
"I'm here for Clara's recital."
"Aw, nice."
Rory shifted the bags, grabbing the handles and lowering her arms to her sides.
Deans eyes went so wide Rory was a little scared his eyeballs might pop out of his head.
"Whoa," Dean murmured, staring openly at Rory's stomach.
"Oh," Rory said dumbly. "Whole town's talking about it. Surprised you hadn't heard yet."
"I got here about five minutes ago," Dean said, still staring at the bump.
Rory stood frozen, trying to figure out how to break Dean's trance.
"It doesn't do tricks."
Dean's eyes snapped up to Rory's face.
"Right. Sorry." He cleared his throat, glancing away. "So, that guy from your grandmother's party?"
"Oh, Logan?" Rory laughed. "God no." She looked past Dean, a little scared to explain for fear of triggering an emotional eruption, before directly meeting his eyes, almost daring him to get upset over this. "Um, Jess, actually."
Dean's face was unreadable. Rory reminded herself she didn't really need to fear any potential outbursts anymore. He didn't control her or own her. She was her own person, and the man in front of her was her past. Still, she really didn't need a scene that night, and she braced herself for the tantrum.
Finally, Dean let out of huff of air that slightly resembled a bitter chuckle.
"It was always gonna be you two, wasn't it?" he asked quietly, a little residual hurt in his eyes.
Rory cracked a small smile.
"Yeah, I think so."
Dean looked down and nodded before meeting Rory's eyes once more.
"Congratulations, Rory."
Rory's shoulders relaxed, lowering about five whole inches as she realized there wouldn't be any yelling.
"Thanks, Dean," she said quietly.
Just then, Lorelai exited Doose's, her eyes widening at the sight in front of her.
"Hey, Dean," she said, an extremely forced smile painted onto her face.
"Hi, Lorelai." He shifted, moving towards the door. "Um, I better go. It was good to see you guys."
"Bye, Dean," Rory said, walking away from Doose's with her mother.
Lorelai released a deep breath, slumping forward slightly.
"So, weird night, right?"
"God, seriously."
When they returned to the house, they collapsed into the chairs at the kitchen table, retelling the story of the evening while Luke and Jess plated the takeout. Rory had tiptoed into the last part, and Jess had stiffened just slightly at the mention of Dean, but nothing happened as a result. No jealousy, no awkward discussion. With a breath of relief, Rory and Jess both relaxed with the knowledge that they could both move on from the drama that Dean had caused in their past.
The group then settled in for their movie night. They ate ungodly amounts of sugar while Luke lectured them about the lack of nutrition and then all turned in for the night, putting the weird, stressful day behind them.
...
"Fine, you win. Breakfast here." Rory eyed them curiously again. "How come you want me to have breakfast here so badly?"
"No reason, babe. Just looking out for you," Lorelai insisted, patting Rory on the head. She checked her watch and her eyes widened, realizing she needed to start setting up at the diner as soon as possible. "Crap, I've got to get to the inn."
"You're not going to be here for my birthday?" she asked sadly, a little frown pulling the corners of her mouth downwards.
"I'm sorry, kid. Michel emergency. There were threats to maim the guests."
"I get it," Rory nodded. She attempted to plaster on an understanding smile, but the crack in her voice betrayed her disappointment.
"I promise I'll be back this afternoon, okay? As soon as I make sure everyone's been able to get checked in without fearing for their lives, I'll be home and we'll celebrate."
Rory nodded again and kissed her mother on the cheek.
After Lorelai left, Jess made Rory a grand breakfast, and they spent the next few hours doing what Lorelai had suggested. They meandered the town, stopping at the bookstore to get a few books of baby names before they made their way to what they'd claimed as their bridge. Once there, they'd fully intended to make a list of names for both a boy and a girl, but that fell to the wayside when the making out started. Jess wouldn't admit it, but there was also some definite googly eyes happening in between everything else.
Before he knew it, it was two in the afternoon, and Jess casually announced that he was ready for lunch and thought they should go to Luke's since they hadn't gone for breakfast. Rory continued to eye him suspiciously the entire walk there, and the blinds were drawn when they got there, arousing even more suspicion. When they walked in, everything suddenly made sense.
A large group of people, including her mom, Luke, April, her grandparents, Lane, Paris, and many more, all shouted a cheerful "surprise" as soon as she opened the door.
She turned to Lorelai with a grin, happy tears rimming her eyes.
"So, that emergency at the inn?"
"A lie for your own good!" Lorelai said with a wide grin.
Rory moved to embrace her mother, pulling her into a tight hug.
"Thanks, Mom."
"Aw kid, anything for you."
Rory spent the rest of the day celebrating with her favorite people. The people who had helped raise her, that helped make her who she was. The people that loved her like their own.
Those that could drink obliged, and Lorelai had gone to great lengths to find recipes for some fantastic mocktails for the pregnant birthday girl. There was cake, presents, laughter, music, and Rory felt so incredibly loved.
After hours of mingling and making the rounds, getting a little tired of answering the same questions about school, pregnancy, and life over and over again, she collapsed into a diner chair next to Lane.
"Oh my God, I can't party like I used to," she groaned, feeling exhausted, her joints aching.
Lane laughed. "Now imagine two humans inside of you," she grumbled affectionately, pointing to her already large stomach.
"Oh, please no. One is enough," Rory chuckled tiredly.
"Hey, when we were kids, did you ever see us here?" Lane asked. "Like, committed relationships, kids on the way…"
Rory laughed. "If you had told me this is how I would be spending my senior year of college, I would have told you you were crazy."
"You happy though?" Lane asked.
Rory watched Jess, Paris, and April in the corner animatedly discussing something Paris had heard in one of her classes, her mother and Luke making their own googly eyes at each other from behind the counter as Lorelai fought to make another pot of coffee, and even her grandparents chatting with Babette and Taylor at a table in the middle of the diner. She turned back to her best friend, who was happily married and expecting twins and living her dreams of being in a rock band. She grinned and ran her hand over her bump.
"Yeah, I'm happy."
It was already late by the time Rory and Jess were ready to leave Stars Hollow. If it weren't for work and school, they would have stayed another night. But, alas, they were adults with responsibilities and had to return home that night.
Jess loaded their things into the car, including the many gifts Rory had received, as Rory sat in the passenger seat with her eyes shut. She really did tire easily nowadays. It was perfectly normal but incredibly frustrating.
Jess climbed into the driver's seat and put the key into the ignition, pulled out of the driveway, and made their way back towards New Haven.
Rory sighed and stretched her arms.
"Okay, second wind."
Jess chuckled. "You Gilmores have more second winds than anyone I've ever known."
"One of the many things that make us intriguing," Rory smiled. "So," she said, thinking back to the conversation they'd paused on their drive to Stars Hollow. "How about you work at the bar two nights a week and I tutor on either Saturdays or Sundays?"
"Huh?"
"You said we could keep debating budgets and plans on the way back home."
Jess laughed. "Wow, you're serious about holding me to my word."
Rory grinned. "Yep. So, thoughts?"
Jess shook his head and opened his mouth to speak before Rory interrupted.
"Jess, it's one day. Literally just a few hours a week. I can charge a decent hourly rate and make a little extra money!"
Jess sighed. "I don't want you to wear yourself out, Rory. Just tonight, after a few hours at a party, you were exhausted. Imagine how tired you'd be after a week of classes and homework work at the paper and then add hours of trying to hammer knowledge into some idiot kid's head!"
Rory clenched her jaw and folded her arms across her chest. Jess glanced over at her and noted her posture.
"You're angry," he said in a low voice.
Rory scoffed. "Great deduction, Sherlock."
"Rory, stop, I do not want this to turn into a fight!"
"Too late!"
"Why are you insisting so hard on working?"
"Why are you being so overprotective?" Rory retorted.
Jess rolled his eyes. "I am not being overprotective, I'm just trying to take care of you."
"I don't need to be taken care of! I know how to take care of myself!"
"But you don't need to!" Jess yelled. When Rory was silent, he continued. "You don't need to take care of yourself. I'm here, to help you with whatever you need, to take care of you and the kid."
Rory remained quiet, staring out the window and chewing on her lip.
A realization washed over Jess.
"Your mom did this all on her own, right?" he asked quietly.
Rory gave a small nod.
"Rory, just because she did it by herself doesn't mean that you have to, too," Jess said softly. "I'm here. For all of it."
Rory still stared out the window. She brushed her fingers under her eyes, trying to hide the tears that were persistently trying to roll down her cheeks.
"I feel guilty," murmured.
"Why?"
"Because it's not fair to you, Jess! You're working two jobs and exhausting yourself and you don't have time to write and it's all because I can't manage a little extra on my plate!"
"I've told you over and over again, you're growing a person!"
"That shouldn't mean I can't take on extra work, Jess! Being pregnant doesn't make me fragile or mean I should just stay home all the time!"
"God, Rory, no, that is not what I mean!"
"Then what do you mean?" Rory demanded.
"I mean, your body is doing all this extra work and you're giving part of yourself over to literally build my kid – our kid. The least I can do is take on a few shifts a week to make some extra money to give that kid a freaking bed!"
Rory paused.
"So, you're not working extra just because I can't. You're working extra because…"
"Because I feel guilty that you have to go through morning sickness and exhaustion and pain and all the other crappy parts of pregnancy and I can't do anything to help with that," Jess said quietly as he pulled into their apartment parking lot, turning off the engine. "Yeah, I got a second job because we need the money. But also, it makes it feel like I'm helping somehow."
They sat in a heavy silence as Rory mulled over Jess's words. She took a deep breath.
"You don't need to feel guilty for not being able to help with the crappy parts of pregnancy. Because you do help. You being here helps."
Jess's mouth quirked up at the corner, just the slightest bit.
"And you don't need to feel guilty for not working extra, because you kind of are working extra. I know I don't know a lot about pregnancy still, but I do know that your body is working crazy hard."
It was Rory's turn to smile slightly.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," she said quietly.
"Me too."
Rory sighed. "I still don't like that you're working yourself to death and not writing."
"First, I'm not working myself to death. I've had to work more than this before, I know my limits."
Rory nodded in understanding.
Jess shifted. "Second… I am writing."
Rory's head snapped to her left.
"What?" she yelled, part excited and part in disbelief. "How? When?"
"When I have breaks at the bar, when I have free moments in between working on other people's stuff. I just… I don't want you to see it yet."
Rory frowned. "Why not?"
Jess shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it. I know I asked you to edit it but…" He cleared his throat. "When I write, it feels like I'm writing for you. I don't want you editing something I've written for you," he said quietly, not meeting her eyes.
Rory swallowed the lump in her throat. "Jess…"
"Before, when I said I couldn't have done this without you, I meant it, Rory. When you read whatever garbage I've written, I want it to be as good as possible."
Rory nodded, reaching up to put her hand on Jess's cheek. "As much as I wish I could read it right away, I get it. I do."
Jess leaned into her touch and smiled softly. "Thank you."
Rory released a shaky breath as a feeling of melancholy spread through Jess.
"I'm sorry this is how your birthday ended," he said quietly.
"It doesn't have to be," Rory smiled as she ran her fingertips through Jess's hair.
Jess smirked. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, I mean… we have a perfectly good apartment right up there," Rory said, pointing vaguely towards the complex.
Jess smiled and pressed his lips to hers, his hand coming up into her hair, his thumb just grazing Rory's cheek and sending chills down her spine. Their kiss grew rapidly, becoming desperate and fervent, Jess practically climbing over the center console to be as close to Rory as possible, running his hand down her side and sneaking under the hem of her shirt to stroke her rib.
As Jess pressed his lips to her neck, Rory broke away, trying to catch her breath. "K, let's actually go up to the apartment," she laughed.
Jess grinned and kissed her once more before exiting the car. Rory returned his smile and climbed out of the car, finding Jess holding their bags and already walking quickly across the parking lot.
"Jess, wait for me!" Rory laughed.
"Catch up!" he called back.
"I'm pregnant and tired!" she objected.
Jess snorted. "Now you pull the pregnant card?"
"Yes, now slow down," she said, finally catching up to him.
Jess shook his head and smirked. "You're insufferable," he said with a kiss.
Rory grinned. "And yet you love me."
Jess feigned confusion. "Huh. There must be something seriously wrong with me."
Rory playfully slapped his chest. "Oh shut up and take me upstairs."
Jess smirked. "Yes ma'am."
A/N: You know I couldn't write Rory's birthday without a recreation of Lorelai's little tradition. Also, attempting a teeny tiny flashback. Did it work? Who knows, I liked it. Also, seriously not a Dean fan, and though he of course wouldn't be happy about Rory's news, I do think he had really moved on after their weird attempt at a relationship in season 5. Thanks for reading, and happy Valentine's Day!