Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea.
A/N: See Chapter One for full premise. To sum up, this is an AU (Alternate Universe) in which Jess Mariano never existed. In his place, Jessie Danes, daughter of Liz, has come to live with her Uncle Luke for the summer. This is still not beta'ed to be gentle. I am very pleased that so far people are enjoying this. Reviews are always welcome, no matter how short or long.
June: Arriving and Adjusting
Chapter Three
~~
Jessie hopped up onto the stool at the counter a few minutes later looking much the same as she had yesterday. Her overalls, knotted plaid shirt and hat were the same, the only thing she'd changed was that color of her tank top underneath, which was now purple. Her hair was even pulled back into another messy ponytail.
"You didn't take a shower?" Luke inquired conversationally.
"I don't take showers," Jessie replied as if speaking to a child. "I take baths."
"Luke, coffee!" Lorelai handily interrupted them.
"Well, I don't have a bathtub," Luke countered as he filled Lorelai's mug. "And you need to bathe."
"Hi, Jessie," sang Lorelai in a good mood.
"Hey, Lorelai," replied Jessie with a smile, easily ignoring her uncle.
"Lorelai, tell her she needs to bathe," ordered Luke.
"Jessie you need to bathe," Lorelai repeated.
"But Mommy always gives me a bath," glowered Jessie.
"Showers are fun," Lorelai reasoned, noting the look of frustration on Luke's face.
"Fun?" asked Jessie dubiously.
"Yeah, fun. You can sing in the shower."
"I don't sing."
"What if one day you're a famous ballerina and they need you to sing. Are you going to turn them down because you've never sung before? You should get some practice in."
"Ballerinas don't sing," Jessie scoffed.
"Okay, you got me there, but Luke's right. You look like you could use a little freshening up. My daughter Rory was about your age when she switched from baths to showers. You might like it."
"You have a daughter?" Jessie asked skeptically.
"Yup."
"How old is she?"
"She's nineteen."
"Wow, that's old," Jessie noted with amazement.
"So what does that make us?" Luke probed with a wrinkled brow.
"Really old."
"Oh, snap! That was harsh, but I guess we walked into it, huh?" Lorelai laughed.
Jessie giggled.
"Very nice," said Luke, rolling his eyes. "You're having a shower before bed tonight, young lady. Now, what do you want for breakfast?"
"French toast."
"Cornflakes?" Luke confirmed. "An excellent choice. Coming right up."
"Can I have French toast if I eat all my cereal?" Jessie pouted.
"It's a deal. And for you?" he asked Lorelai.
"Just coffee for now."
Luke left to get more coffee.
"Can I come see the horses today?" Jessie asked when he was gone.
"Sure," Lorelai nodded. "I'm on my way there right after this, so you can come with me as long as it's okay with Luke."
After eating her bowl of cornflakes and half an order of French toast, Jessie got Luke's permission, and headed off to the Dragonfly, pulling Lorelai by hand behind her.
Eight hours later, Lorelai dragged a stumbling Jessie back to the diner. If she was just dirty before, she was absolutely filthy now. And she smelled like horse.
The diner was crowded, but with both Lane and Caesar working, Luke wasn't as crazy busy as he usually was. He saw them coming and met them at the door.
"Hey," he said with a smile as they entered.
"Luke," Lorelai whined. "We are a couple of girls who need some fuel. Lead us to the coffee."
Lorelai trudged to the counter and Jessie sagged along beside her.
"Did you have fun?" he asked a she poured Lorelai a coffee and Jessie a soda.
"It was so much fun," Jessie said with a yawn. "I got to ride all day." She dropped her chin into her hand and sipped slowly on the drink.
Luke's lips twitched as he tried to hold in a smile and said, "You must be exhausted."
Lorelai hit him with a full-on grin as she whispered, "She is."
"You want some dinner?"
Jessie shrugged, hardly able to keep her eyes open as she sucked down more of her soda.
"Well, you definitely need a shower. Why don't you have something to eat, get cleaned up and then sack out on the couch upstairs for a while?"
"Okay," Jessie said, finally bringing her chin up off her palm. Her brown eyes were heavily lidded and he hoped she wouldn't fall asleep on the counter.
Luke went to the kitchen and got the plate he'd been saving for Jessie from the warmer and placed in front of her. "Here you go. Dinner." Jessie looked at the plate and saw pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and a dinner roll.
Without even a hint of a complaint, Jessie picked up her fork. She was starving and didn't have the energy to complain about the food.
"Hey! You didn't even ask if I wanted any!" Lorelai sulked.
"I didn't want to assume," he replied defensively.
Well, serve it up, Chef Puck, both your girls are hungry!"
Luke tried to pretend that she hadn't just referred to herself as one of "his girls". He simply went to the kitchen and got a plate ready for Lorelai, too.
When they had finished eating, Jessie looked even more exhausted. Just as she was about to lay her head on the counter, Luke came around the counter and lifted her up.
"Come on, Jess, time for some R&R," he said softly.
She slung her arms over his shoulders and let them hang there as her feet did the same around his waist. "Can I watch TV again after my shower?" she mumbled into his plaid shoulder.
"Sure," he promised, as he nodded goodnight to Lorelai who seemed to be looking at him strangely. He had to be mistaken, but she almost looked…wistful.
Brushing it off, Luke carried Jessie upstairs and into the bathroom. He set her down on the closed toilet seat and turned the shower on so that it was warm. "I'll go get your pajamas ready. You get undressed and into the shower. Use the soap and the shampoo, okay?"
Jessie nodded and stood up as he left the small room. In her little closet area, he found her pajamas and noticed that she really didn't have much with her. He'd have to call Liz tomorrow and have her send more clothes.
Knocking on the door, he waited for her to answer before he entered, put her clean pjs on the toilet seat and set out a fresh towel.
In the kitchen he began to make some microwave popcorn. As the kernels started popping, he heard the water in the bathroom turn off and after a few minutes, Jessie emerged in her pink and yellow jammies. The shower had given her a second wind as she bounded over to the couch and turned the tv on. Immediately finding the Cartoon Network she snuggled deep into the cushions and found the throw she'd been using the night before. Luke joined her a moment later with a bowl full of popcorn. She scooted closer to him and helped herself.
"So you had fun today?" Luke asked.
Nodding, she said, "Yeah, it was great. I got to ride Cletus and we walked and then we trotted and they even let me lope a little bit. Then we had lunch and I met Sookie and Jackson and Davey and then I got to ride Cletus again. I like Lorelai."
"Yeah, she's great," he agreed.
"She likes you a lot," Jessie commented still watching tv.
"Well, she's my friend," Luke answered trying to quell the urge to make her recount every word uttered by Lorelai that day.
Stuffing a handful of popcorn into her mouth, Jessie crunch happily as she concentrated on the Powerpuff Girls.
"What did you do with your dirty clothes?" Luke asked after a while, the thought just occurring to him.
"They're in the bathroom."
"In the hamper?" he hoped.
"On the floor," she corrected absently.
"Well, that's not where they go, now, is it?"
With a tremendous eye-roll, Jessie pulled her gaze from the television screen to her uncle's stoic features. "I don't know," she replied with a straight face.
"Yes you do."
"You never told me."
"If there's a hamper available, common sense should tell you that you always use it."
"I'm eight!" she argued stubbornly. "I don't have common sense yet!"
"If you're able to use an argument like that, then you do have common sense, you just choose to ignore it," he pointed out.
"Humph!" she replied and pushed more popcorn into her mouth. Her dark hair was starting to dry and it was getting all curly. He slung an elbow over the back of the couch and dropped his hand on her head to get her attention.
"Jessie," he said.
"What," she pouted.
"As long as you live here you have to pick up after yourself," he admonished quietly.
"Fine," she replied with a huge sigh.
"Good. And tomorrow when you wake up, I'll be downstairs again, okay?"
"Okay," she replied with a bit more sleepiness than before.
She leaned into his side and fed herself another handful of popcorn.
After a few minutes he looked down and she was asleep. He put the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and carried her into her room.
After calling downstairs to make sure everything was all right, he turned the station to ESPN, watched for a few hours, beer in hand, and then went to bed.
He was only a little surprised when something poked his shoulder in the middle of the night. He opened his eyes and sure enough, Jessie was standing there with wide eyes and messy hair.
"What's wrong?"
"Can I sleep with you? My room is scary."
"It's not scary –" he began.
"Please!" she begged.
"Fine," he relented and she scrambled into bed with him.
He really needed to establish some boundaries, he told himself as he dropped off again.