The phone line rings for what seems like an eternity. Rory sits on her bed, well after midnight waiting for a boy to answer her phone call. She expects that he won't answer. She anticipates that he will avoid her, at all costs after.
"Hello?" A voice on the other end answers.
"Jess," she responds.
"Rory," she can hear him furrowing his brow questioningly on the other end of the line.
"I am sorry to be calling so late," she apologizes.
"How did you get this number?" He wonders.
"Luke gave it to me. I told him that it was an urgent time sensitive matter."
"You have made your feelings clear," he reminds her.
"Don't hang up," she insists.
"Why not?"
"I have something that I need to tell you."
"I thought that based on our last phone call that you had stated your piece."
"The phone call where you were too much of a coward to say anything?"
"Rory it is one thirty in the morning, what are you even doing up? Why are you calling me, of all people, anyway?"
"I am trying to give you the benefit of the doubt."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I want to give you the chance to make a conscious decision regarding an important matter."
"What important matter? I thought that you were done with me."
"It seems my life has become very complicated since we last spoke, because of you."
"What do you mean? Yale is making your life complicated?"
"I haven't started yet. That isn't what I am referring to."
"If you have something to say, then say it."
"I'm pregnant."
"Terrific. Thanks for the update," he responds in a snarky tone.
"I thought you might want to know."
"Why would I want to know?"
"I just thought you would want to know that someday in the near future I will be having a baby. Your baby."
The line falls silent. For a moment she wonders if he's hung up.
"Jess, are you still there?"
She hears him exhale into the receiver, "Yeah, I'm still here."
"I just thought that you should know."
"When did you find out?"
"Somewhere between London, and Dublin."
"Huh?"
"I found out when I was in Europe. I just got back."
"It was just the one time," he points out.
"Apparently that is all it took."
"What do you want me to say? What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to say, or do whatever you want to."
"If you're telling me does that mean that you're keeping it?"
"Yes."
"How are you going to finish Yale, if you have a baby?"
"I don't know," she admits, candidly.
"I wasn't expecting this," he admits.
"You think that I was?"
"No."
"Take some time to digest this. I don't expect an immediate response. I know this is a lot to process. I have having a hard enough time myself, and I have known for quite some time."
"Okay," he agrees.
Lorelai wakes up when there is just a hint of light in the sky to the sound of someone knocking at her door. She rolls over, opening her eyes, praying that it is just a dream. She glances at the clock, and it reminds her despite the fact that it is Sunday she has been awaked before six o'clock. She pulls on a robe, and races down the stairs. She pulls the door open ready to throttle whoever is standing on the other side. She finds Jess standing in front of her, with a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Yes," he nods in confirmation.
"What are you doing here?"
"Can I come in?"
She takes a step back, and allows him to step inside. "Rory is sleeping," she informs him as her door closes. She flips on the lamp in the foyer.
"I'm not surprised."
"And judging by the fact that she didn't wake up to the pounding that could raise the dead, I suspect she is in a deep sleep."
"I'm sorry," the words clumsily fall from his mouth.
Lorelai falls silent. She stares at the rebellious teenager, who she hates to admit reminds her of the male version of herself. Her initial instinct is to kick him, or even throttle him. He has dark circles under his eyes, as if he hasn't yet been to sleep.
"Explain yourself. Jess what are you doing here? It is the middle of the night. Everyone in Stars Hollow, with the exception, of maybe Luke is sound asleep. Why are you here in my foyer?"
"Rory called me. She told me that she's pregnant."
"So you know…" she trails off, choosing not to divulge information he may not know.
"She's having my baby."
"What are you doing here? Where did you come from?"
"I was in New York. I laid there for about five minutes after she called, with the hopes of going back to sleep, but I couldn't. I couldn't do it. I can't just go about my life, and pretend that she didn't call and say, what she did."
"It isn't even six o'clock in the morning."
"I just hopped on a train, and then a bus, and came right here."
"Why?"
"I have screwed up nearly every single opportunity that I have ever been given."
"I am not going to argue that point."
"I am not my father. I am not going to walk away. I am not going to abandon my child."
Lorelai softens for a brief moment. She temporarily comes out of her anger induced haze, as she leads him into the living room to have a seat. He takes a seat on the couch, as she hovers over him, in front of the coffee table.
He shakes his head, "I have no idea what I am doing. I don't know what my next move is. All I know is that I am going to be in my kid's life."