She walked into the living room and sat on her father's sleeping form, book in hand. "Did you really write all these notes?"

If Jess Mariano had been anyone other than Jess Mariano, his daughter's weight on his legs would have startled him. Instead, it merely woke him up. He sat up a little on the couch, and squinted at her. "What?"

Stella held up the old, yellowing copy of Ginsburg. "It's your handwriting in here."

He sighed and rubbed his face with the palms of his hands. "What time is it?"

"Seven-thirty."

"What day is it?"

"Saturday."

Jess groaned. "It's today, isn't it?"

"I am wearing all black."

"You always wear all black."

"That is beside the point," Stella replied, getting to her feet, book still in hand. "Grandma Lorelai has ordered me to wake you up. You have to get ready."

At that moment, Lorelai came down the stairs, wearing a nice, black dress. Her graying brown hair lay in chunky curls around her gracefully aging face, and her high heels made soft clicks against the wooden floor. "Jess! Up!"

"Lorelai. No."

Luke walked down behind Lorelai, wearing a black suit, his remaining hair nicely combed. "Come on, Jess, get off the couch and get ready, we're gonna be late."

Jess just sat there.

Lorelai sighed. "Stella, go upstairs and help your sister with her hair."

Stella rolled her eyes and climbed the stairs, her big, black combat boots making noise as she went.

Lorelai stalked over to the couch, snatched Jess by his ear, and dragged him to his feet.

"Ah... god... ow... Lorelai... get the hell off... ow..."

Lorelai glared at him. "You get showered. And shaved. And dressed, and you meet us by the car, or I will take you over my knee and give you the worst spanking of your life."

Jess smirked tiredly. "I don't know... Rory's were pretty top-notch."

Lorelai growled. Literally growled. "GO!"

Jess shook his head and passed Luke on the way to the bathroom. "How do you put up with her?"

"The same way I put up with you," Luke muttered. "Get your ass moving, Jess."

*****

Stella wasn't even paying attention to what was going on around her. She was too busy reading the Ginsburg she'd found in her mother's old room.

If her father had been paying attention, he would have been mad as hell, but his eyes were fixed straight ahead of him, staring off at nothing. His expression was unreadable, as the minister droned on and on.

Stella only looked up from her book when her grandmother approached the front of the crowd, tears in her eyes.

'Oh, please,' Stella thought, sitting back in her chair. 'This is ridiculous. This isn't what Mom wanted. Mom wanted a movie party for her funeral. With onion rings and coffee, and burgers, and- ... I'm really hungry.'

It was then that she decided she was going to go and find something to eat. She got up right in the middle of her grandmother's eulogy and headed away from the gathered group.

Jess leaned his head back and looked at the sky pleadingly. "God," he muttered. He whispered to Luke to watch Julia, and then slid out of his own chair and followed Stella.

When they were far enough away from the funeral proceedings, Jess spoke up.

"What the hell, Stella?"

She turned, not surprised in the least bit to see him standing there, and shrugged. "I'm hungry."

Jess blinked. "You... you're... you have got to be kidding me."

She shook her head. "Nope. I'm hungry. I want something to eat, and that was getting old."

"Getting old?" Jess shot. "This is your mother's funeral."

"Yeah, and you didn't even wanna come," Stella accused. "You were perfectly content to lie on that god-damned couch and miss it, and you would have if Grandma and Uncle Luke hadn't dragged your ass out the door!"

"I was wrong!" Jess cried. "It would have been wrong of me to miss it! And it's wrong of you right now! Now you march yourself back over there, and you sit through it!"

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Stella asked. "Who are you?"

"I am your father, and what I say goes."

"Whatever happened to the democracy?" Stella snapped. "That die along with Mom?"

"This is hard for everybody, Stella, not just you."

She rolled her eyes. "This isn't what she wanted. This stupid funeral. This stupid town! All those people who barely knew her!" She paused and sniffed, and forced herself to hold back her tears. "She wanted movies and music. She wanted you to read something poetic, just because you hate poetry! She wanted there to be onion rings!"

Jess stared at her.

She looked as if she would break down. As if she would finally let tears fall. As if maybe she would run and throw her arms around him and just cry.

Instead, she whirled around and stormed off, leaving her father to stare after her.

******

"She's your kid, Jess. You have to keep her under control."

"I'm trying."

"You let her walk off!" Lorelai cried.

They were in heated argument in the apartment above the diner. Beneath them, the wake was in full swing, with the majority of the town's residents, along with other assorted characters who had known Rory.

"Oh, like it would have been really great to bring her back to the funeral when she was ranting about onion rings. That would have gone over well."

"Jess, you can't just let her have her way!"

"How is she getting her way, Lorelai?!" Jess yelled. "Explain to me how she can possibly be getting her way when her mother was buried under six feet of dirt this morning!!"

Lorelai stared for a moment, before bursting into tears, and rushing past him and out of the apartment.

Jess stared after her and sighed.

"And the award for most sensitive male goes to..."

Jess turned. "Lane."

Lane Rygalski gave him the most tired smile he'd ever seen on her. "Hey."

Jess sighed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks. "I screwed up."

"So I see," she replied. She walked up to him slowly and gave him a light hug. They'd never been too close, but she'd grown to tolerate, and eventually like him over the years. "I'm so sorry, Jess."

He nodded and hugged her back, just as lightly. "Me, too."

"I saw Julia downstairs," Lane said. "She's looking for you."

Jess sighed. "She's barely let me out of her sight in the past three days."

Lane sat down on the old couch and sighed, looking at the empty coffee table. The apartment had been cleared out almost completely when Luke had moved in with Lorelai. "She's six, and she just lost her mother."

"And she's afraid she's going to lose me, too, I know," he nodded. "I just... This whole day has been a nightmare."

Lane nodded. "It really has... if it's any consolation, I sent Sid to go look for Stella."

Jess cracked a smirk and shook his head. "I still can't believe you named your son Sidney Vicious Rygalski."

"Oh," Lane quipped, rolling her eyes. "And Stella Guinevere Mariano is any better?"

"Rory was re-reading Streetcar Named Desire and I was re-reading Once and Future King. Sue us. At least her middle name is an actual name, if somewhat bizarre."

She snorted.

"And we named the other one normally," Jess went one. "Julia Lorelai... as opposed to Coltrane Davis."

"They were great jazz musicians."

"And junkies."

Lane laughed a little. "Quit it."

"Sorry." He sat down next to her and sighed. "...Weren't you guys supposed to tour until school started?"

"We ended early for the funeral... I heard, and I just..." she sighed. "I miss her already."

Jess nodded. "Yeah."

*****

She was kicked lightly from behind. She looked up and saw the smirking face of Sidney Rygalski. He wore a black dress shirt with a dark paid kilt. His brown hair was spiked carefully.

"Hey, Sid."

He sat down next to her on the bridge. "Got antsy, huh?"

Stella shrugged. "Hungry." She glanced over at him. "Please tell me you're wearing your underwear beneath that thing."

He nodded. "That, I am. I am, I am... so ah... I'm really sorry about Aunt Rory. I know you guys were close and all."

She nodded and pulled a cigarette out.

"Aw, Stel, do you gotta?" He asked, looking pained at the site of the cigarette.

"I'll quit tomorrow."

"You're mom hated those things."

Stella rolled her eyes. "Well, she can't voice her opinion anymore, can she?"

Sid flinched. "I... I guess not... sorry..."

"Stop being sorry, you didn't kill her."

"Wow... more people... Twice in the last twenty-four hours."

They looked up to see Paul standing there.

Sid rolled his eyes. "Forrester..."

Paul raised a wary eyebrow. "Rygalski..."

Stella didn't really notice them, as she lit her cigarette. "Hey, Paul."

Paul nodded. "Hey, Stella."

"You know him?" Sid asked his best friend.

Stella shrugged. "We met last night. I was sitting. He was walking. It happens sometimes."

Paul cleared his throat. "So ah... I'm really sorry about your mom, Stella."

She nodded, and took a drag, blowing out some smoke.

Silence overcame them, and all they could hear were the birds chirping.

"Hey, Forrester," Sid snapped. "Three's a crowd."

"It's a public place," Paul glared.

Stella sighed and got to her feet. "Why don't I make this easy for both of you. I'll leave." With that, she walked off, leaving the two boys to stare after her, and then glare at each other.