Chapter 13: Occasions

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*Rory*

"Rory."

I groan.

"Rory. Rory!"

"What?" I ask, rolling onto my back.

"Come on, you gotta wake up."

"Nuh-uh," I protest, rolling back onto my stomach and covering my head with my pillow.

"I gotta get to work, Ror." The bed leans toward Jess as he settles next to my head.

"No." I wrap my arms around his waist and plop my head in his lap. He starts absentmindedly smoothing my hair.

"What time did you get home last night?"

I open my eyes and blearily stare at my digital clock. When I finally comprehend the numbers, I hit Jess.

"It's 7:15!"

"And you got home...when?"

"Four!"

"Aw, poor baby." He kisses me quickly on my forehead, and then slides from under me and stands up. I groan again and grab my pillow.

"Turn the light off when you leave."

"You have to watch Brett."

"So, give her a sedative and throw her in here. We'll conk out together."

Jess sighs, and I hear his footsteps retreat. I snuggle into my pillow and wish for sleep.

Ah.

Silence.

"NO! I WANT KITTY!"

My eyes pop open, and I sigh. I roll onto the floor and stand up, blinking in the stupid fluorescent light Jess left on. I curse him silently and shuffle into the living room. Jess and Brett are standing in front of the couch, arguing. Brett has my black cat Yin in her arms, and Jess is trying to get him.

"Come on, give me the cat."

"NO!" Brett screams again, angling her body more away from Jess. He sighs and rubs his forehead.

"Jess, it's okay," I say softly, leaning against the doorjamb. Jess just nods and continues rubbing his forehead. I walk over to him and kiss his cheek. "Go to work. I'll handle it here."

He nods. "Okay. Bye, Brett."

Brett waves, and runs over to my legs. "We gonna haf fun!"

"First, we're gonna have some sleep."

"Fun sweep?"

"We'll see. Bye, Jess."

He waves as he exits. I lead Brett back to my room; she's still got an almost death-grip on Yin, but releases him as we make it to my bed. She crawls on top and jumps. "Fun!"

"Uh-huh, well, we're gonna watch a fun movie! Whaddya say?"

"Yay!" she bounces into a sitting position and then crawls on top of my pillows. She lays on her back and puts her hands behind her head.

"You just kick back," I laugh. She grins her Jess smug smile and obliges.

~*~

*Lorelai*

Okay, flowers. One, two, three, four bouquets, twenty centerpieces for tables of five each, arch flowers for the chuppah, provided by Stars Hollow Florists, check.

Music. Ceremony, reception, guitar in the corner in case Luke wants to "spontaneously" serenade me, check.

Photography, place cards, favors, etc., check.

Reception: wedding cake, made by Sookie, catering by Sookie, bar, site, etc., provided free of cost by Dragonfly Inn, check.

Wedding Attire. Oh, God.

"DAMN YOU, MODERN BRIDE!! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!"

The other four women in the boutique glance at me strangely. A saleslady who walks like she's got a literal stick up her ass waddles over.

"Excuse me, Miss, we can't have outbursts like that here! I'm afraid if you yell a fourth time I'm going to have security escort you out."

"But, you don't understand! My wedding's in six days, and I'm stupid fat and my fiancée's gonna divorce me while I come up the aisle if I don't look pretty and as of right now my wedding dress situation is so dire I'm thinking of just wearing my daughter's coffee-cup pajamas and skipping down the aisle!" I throw the damn Modern Bride magazine to the floor as I wrap up my ramble. "Stupid magazine!" I lift my foot to grind it into the floor but the saleslady touches my leg and stops me.

"Miss, I think you'd be better suited going to a therapist instead of traveling down the aisle."

"Look, are you going to sell me a dress or not? At this stage, I'll buy the worst crap you've got."

"I'll see what's in the back."

"Thank you."

The mean lady waddles off, somehow waddling and managing to convey exasperated-ness at the same time.

I lift the magazine from the floor and glance through it again. Ooh...chocolate. I throw the magazine back down. I want chocolate now.

I whine. I hate being pregnant. I especially hate the first stage. Morning sickness, weird cravings, swinging moods, and the beginnings of pre-baby baby fat. It's like having a combination of a hangover and PMS at the same time for three months, except you can't drink coffee and it's not after a fun night of alcohol.

A nice-looking saleslady wanders over; she's wearing the same uniform as the other lady, but she looks relaxed. She smiles to a woman coming from the dressing rooms. The other lady is carrying a bundle of white fabric over one arm, and she's grinning. That's her--that's my saleslady.

I spring to my feet and run across the store. The first saleslady spins around as I fly past her. I ignore her and slam to a stop in front of the nice-looking lady.

"Hi," I say breathlessly.

"Hi." She smiles. "Can I help you?"

"Lorelai. Shopping for a wedding dress." I stick my hand in her face. She shakes it.

"Rosa. Surrounded by hundreds of just what you're looking for."

"Great." I smile, and she leads me off to a corner. I turn around once and stick my tongue out at stick-up-the-ass lady. She looks miffed. I feel happy.

~*~

*Jess*

I come home to find Rory's apartment quiet. One of her cats--the white one--wanders to the door and rubs itself against my leg. I rub my hand across its head and continue through the apartment. It's almost painfully quiet--it's never this quiet.

Suddenly there's a scream, and then long strings of giggles. I follow the noise into Rory's guest room, now unofficially Brett's room. Brett's sitting in the middle of the three-quarters full suitcase on the floor, and Rory's cross-legged between the dresser and the suitcase. They're both giggling, and every few seconds, Rory will throw another piece of clothing into the suitcase, causing Brett to giggle more. I smile, and lean against the doorjamb.

"You guys almost ready to go?"

"Hey!" Rory smiles and jumps to her feet. She picks up Brett, settles her on her hip, and walks over to me. She kisses me on the cheek. "Yep, I've just got a few more things."

I reach to take Brett from Rory, but she clings to Rory's shoulder and sticks her tongue out at me. Rory laughs.

"Boys are stinky."

"Yeah, 'tinky." Brett's mispronunciation causes Rory to laugh more, and they walk back over to the suitcase and continue their game. I just stay where I am, watching my girlfriend play with my daughter, and having both of them like it.

"No, Mommy, like this!" Brett demonstrates the right way to throw the clothes at herself, but Rory and I are both frozen. She glances at me, quickly. I nod.

Rory's look of shock disappears and she grins. She closes her dresser drawer and wraps her arms around Brett, squeezing just enough so that when Rory stands, she brings Brett with her. She starts jumping up and down and laughing, and Brett's laughing, and they jump and laugh over to me, and we dissolve into a family-like little hug....

Like a family.