Chapter 193

The next Tuesday, Jess and Rory had just returned to their apartment after a long day of work. The previous weekend had been overwhelming, to say the least.

They'd left Philadelphia right after Rory finished work on Friday afternoon and had driven straight to Stars Hollow, where they were crashing at the diner. First thing the following morning, Rory had gone over to her mom's to work on planning- somehow even this close, there were changes to the seating chart to finalize, bridesmaid dress issues, final decisions that had to happen with the food, and coordination of all of the guests. All on top of Lorelai's full time job running the Dragonfly, where business was absolutely booming. Things weren't much calmer on Luke's side, where there were tuxedos to be selected, bachelor gathering plans to make, Kirk and Jackson enthusiastic help offers to fend off, and yet another business to keep running.

That was to say nothing of Rory and Jess' committments at home. Sure, they'd gone to Stars Hollow on the weekend, but their work situations were so hectic that more work was required than a regular nine to five schedule, weekdays only. They both had work to do every day each weekend, which was the reality of their businesses- the paper had to get out no matter what, and Truncheon operated daily. There was only so much weekend that existed even in the best of times for Rory and Jess, and having to be gone was truly making that much harder to manage. Jess was very grateful that he, Matt and Chris were dividing labor the way they currently were. They'd sort of shared all responsibilities before, with some light leanings based on proclivity and aptitude, but recently they were each leaning further into their own sphere. Chris was really on top of the day-to-day of the store and the community engagement piece, Matt was handling all the business stuff writ large, including the business development side, and Jess was working with and developing individual authors. As stressful and less than ideal than the current situation was, the balance of responsibilites was helping Jess a great deal. Rory couldn't quite say the same. She had a great team, and they were doing better and better being less dependent on her, to the degree that made sense. But the harsh reality was that the format of a newspaper specifically, especially one localized to a particular city, meant that things were much harder to handle remotely in an effective way. One reason for that was the level of red tape. Rory was the features editor, which was a fairly high level position. But she still reported to the Editor in Chief, and had several people under her, and collaborated with other departments, all of which meant a lot more hoops to jump through to get anything done. Red tape, Rory had found, was often easier to cut through in person than remotely, and so far, her experience was proving her right.

All that said, things were still trucking on, and they were happy to be with their family, doing all of this and being involved in such an important moment in Luke and Lorelai's lives. They were also, admittedly, very happy to be home. Monday had passed in a fervor- they'd returned very late Sunday night, barrelled through work the next day, and had ordered takeout, exhausted, immediately upon getting home, and gone to bed shortly after. Tuesday had been a bit more normalizing, and they'd both just come home, after what was still a long day, but caught up on sleep and heading into a more normal evening. Or so they had thought, until Rory's phone began to ring.

"Paris?" Rory answered, furrowing her brow. She knew that the Truncheon men had just spoken to Paris on Friday about next steps on their work, and that they were all planning to have their next virtual meeting in two weeks. Given everything else going on, Rory wasn't expecting to hear from Paris so soon.

"She's here," Paris said breathlessly. Rory's eyebrows shot up as she gasped in shock.

"What?"

"She's early. She came early. She's safe, healthy…normal weight, so technically she doesn't even have to be in NICU. They're gonna keep us both a couple days extra just to be safe, but she's perfect. She's here."

"Paris, that's…"

"Her name is Simone."

"You changed it?"

"I did," Paris said, her voice clear, confident and sure, "She's Simone. Simone Geller."

"Paris…wow. I mean, wow. Congratulations," Rory said, stunned, "I'm so happy she's healthy, and so happy she's with you. You're gonna be an amazing mother."

"I think so too," Paris admitted. Rory could hear the smile in her voice. Rory looked at Jess, who was staring at her curiously.

"Can I put you on speaker for a minute? Jess is here," Rory said.

"Sure!" Paris agreed. Rory put the phone on speaker.

"…Jess, my daughter is here."

"Congratulations, Paris. That's incredible. Is she…"

"Perfectly healthy. We'll be here an extra few days, just for observation. Her name is Simone."

"Like de Beauvior?" Jess said, furrowing his brow.

"You figured it out," Paris said, sounding delighted. Rory grinned at Jess.

"…it's a gorgeous name. What happened to Marie?"

"It didn't feel like her," Paris mused. She stroked her daughters head as she continued to nurse. "I knew it right away."

"I'm so happy for you. How's Doyle holding up?" Rory asked tenatively. She and Jess exchanged apprehensive glances.

"Fine," Paris said. Her voice sounded fairly indifferent, "He was here. He fainted. He's not good with blood, so we kind of expected that."

"Where is he now?" Rory asked curiously.

"I sent him out for supplies. He was kind of skittish about holding her, and offered to go grab stuff. I think it's a comfort zone thing."

"Sure," Jess nodded, while shooting Rory a doubtful look.

"Well, tell me about Simone. What color hair does she have? Does she have hair? What color are her eyes?" Rory asked, her face lighting up. Jess smiled in spite of himself at Rory's excitement.

"Can you come this weekend, Rory? Please? I know you're helping your mom with the wedding, but…I really want you to meet her."

"I'll be there," Rory promised, "I'll make it work. Paris, I'm so, so happy for you."

"Thanks, Rory," Paris smiled at her daughter as she wrapped up the call, "I can't wait to see you."

Miles and miles away, Paris cradled her daughter to her chest. Simone was nursing peacefully, falling asleep. Rory had been her first call, but something was eating at her. She opened her phone again, and pulled up a text message she'd received over a day ago now, that had gotten lost in labor, delivery and everything happening. Paris took a beat, and then attached one of the many photos she'd taken of her daughter since her birth the night before. She sent the picture in response to the waiting text, with the simple caption. "Simone Geller."

Back in Philadelphia, Rory was practically bouncing.

"Jess! Paris is a mom!"

"Yeah, I heard," Jess laughed, watching Rory buzz with excitement.

"No, really though. She's a mom, Jess. She has a daughter. Simone is gonna grow up with Paris as her mom. And honestly…I think she's going to be amazing at it. I've never heard her happier."

"…me either," Jess admitted, watching Rory, his eyes alight, "You're a great friend."

"Why?" Rory asked, her energy still spreading joy through the whole room. Jess smiled at her, his gaze never leaving hers.

"…you're so excited for her."

"Of course I am. It's amazing! I mean, it's just…it's gonna change her whole world, you know?" Rory said. Right after, she paused, as if realizing what she had just said. She looked at Jess and bit her lip.

"Um…"

"…Rory, it's okay. Don't tone this down for me. Especially since I think you're just realizing it yourself for the first time."

"…I never really felt it before," Rory admitted, no longer meeting Jess' eyes, but keeping her voice steady, "It's weird."

"…to realize that you want it?"

"…to realize that I'm sure I do," Rory admitted, finally looking up at him, a little bit of apprehension in her eyes. Jess met her gaze steadily.

"Rory, I want kids too," he said clearly, holding her look with love, "And no, I'm not gonna equivocate about it to avoid the awkwardness- if things go well, and we both want kids, I hope we have some someday. What exactly that process will look like for us, I don't know. But, if you want it…I think you'd be an amazing mom."

"Really?"

"Really," he promised, leaning over to put his hand on her cheek, "Any kid would be very lucky to have you for their mom. Just like Paris' daughter is so lucky to have her."

"Simone," Rory said, smiling, "…I really like the name. It's much better, don't you think?"

"I do," Jess nodded, "I think it's exactly what I would imagine for Paris' daughter." He leaned in and kissed Rory deeply, and they put the conversation to bed for the time being.