Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the storyline and Jessie.
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 has been a really crazy week for me work-wise. I meant to have this up much sooner than this. Also, for some reason, there was no author alert for the last chapter and that was irritating. I hope everyone who wants to is able to read this.
Thank you to all the reviewers. You have no idea who gratifying it is to read all your thoughts and opinions. A special thanks goes out to Lindsay for letting me bounce all my crazy ideas off of her. And another big thanks goes out to my beta-reader and friend, Sarah, for taking the time to read these chapters and make them as good as they can be.
July: Cowboys and Ballerinas
Chapter Nineteen
~~
Later that night Jessie woke Luke out of a dead sleep by standing near his head and sneezing loudly. Jerking awake, Luke shouted, "Jesus! What are you doing?"
"I think I'b sick," she explained morosely as she climbed into bed.
"I told you not to get sick," Luke replied, too irritated to be reasonable.
Jessie settled in next to him and breathed loudly through her mouth. "Make id stob."
"You can't just make it stop, Jess. You have to let the cold run its course," he informed before heaving himself out of bed and stumbling to the bathroom hoping against hope there was something in there that he could give her. Naturally, though, the Children's Tylenol fairy had not gotten to them yet. Groggily, Luke stared at the half-empty bottle of Nyquil before dismissing the idea as a bad one.
"Jess!" he called.
"Whaaa?" she yelled back from the bed.
"What does your mom give you when you get sick?"
"How should I 'dow?" she demanded crossly.
Luke was practically growling at this point as he stalked back toward her. His flannel pajama bottoms hung low on his hips and the old t-shirt was threadbare and soft. The perfect sleeping clothes, he'd always thought. Now, though, he impatiently threw a sweatshirt over his head and sat down to fumble with socks and sneakers.
"Where are you going?" Jessie demanded pitifully.
"I don't have any cold medicine for you. We gotta go get some," he told her.
She made an impatient noise and griped, "Bud I don' wadda go oud."
"We've got two choices," Luke said as he finished tying his shoes. "We can stay here and you can feel sick for the rest of the night or we can go out, get you some medicine and you can sleep."
"You go," Jessie ordered petulantly.
Exhausted, he said, "I'm not leaving you here alone in the middle of the night."
"You're so bean!" she cried. "Other kids my age get to stay hobe alone."
"We're not having this argument," he told her with weary firmness. "You don't have to get dressed, just put socks and shoes on and let's go. There's a 24 hour drug store in Litchfield. We can be there and back in an hour."
With a deep sigh that she hoped would convey her complete lack of agreement with this idea, Jessie lumbered out of bed in her pink jammies and slipped her feet into her flip-flops. "Weady," she told him in a voice which she hoped would clearly show how put-upon she was.
Luke led her downstairs and out to his truck where they got in and drove to Litchfield. As he pulled open the door to the all-night drugstore, their faces bunched up and their eyes squinted at the harsh fluorescent lighting.
"Come on," Luke said, taking her by the hand. As they walked toward the medicines, Jessie turned her head toward his arm and sneezed mightily. "Good God!" he said, exasperated. "Cover you nose!"
"You wan' be da sdeeze in by hand?" Jessie asked incredulously.
"Yes," he told her decisively.
Tugging her along behind him, Luke found his way to the cold medicines and after much deliberation and argument…
"What are your symptoms?"
"Huh?"
"Your symptoms, what's wrong with you?"
"My dose is stuffy and my throat is scratchy."
"Would you say your throat is more itchy or scratchy?"
"I don' 'dow!"
…Luke purchased three different brands and just hoped for the best.
When they got back, Luke dragged a now sleepy Jessie back upstairs where he gave her some medicine and led her into the bathroom. After closing the door, he turned the shower on hot and sat down on the closed toilet seat. Jessie climbed into his lap where she leaned against him and closed her eyes. Luke wrapped an arm around her and they sat quietly while the little room filled with steam. Within ten minutes, Jessie could breathe again and she gratefully slid off his lap as he reached in and turned off the shower.
They were hot, tired and cranky and as he tucked her back in, she grumpily demanded to sleep with him.
Luke sat on the edge of her bed and paused before saying gingerly, "You won't be able to sleep with me forever, Jess. You need to start thinking about sleeping in here the whole night through."
Scowling again, she wriggled out of the covers and said with a pout, "Bud I don' feel good and id's scary in here."
"All right," Luke gave in. He was such a pushover when it came to her.
The next morning Luke stayed upstairs to make sure Jessie's cold hadn't worsened. By the end of the week she was back to normal. Horseback riding at the inn and ballet classes occupied much of her time as usual, but on hot afternoons they headed down to the lake to cool off. Sometimes Lorelai would play hooky from the inn and join them. During the next couple of weeks Luke and Lorelai spent as much time together as possible, but anything overnight was out of the question as long as Jessie was staying above the diner with Luke and Rory was home for the summer.
On the last Thursday of July, just as Luke and Lorelai were leaving the diner with Jessie to take her to ballet, Taylor cornered them with a stern, "I realize you two are joined at the hip these days but will you please remember to join us for the Picnic Parade this weekend? We had a very sorry turnout last year and it reflects poorly on the entire town if we don't get at least eighty-five percent of town residents to participate."
Jessie stared up at Taylor fascinated with his two-tone hair. As if hypnotized, she cocked her head to one side and said, "Jackson says that's a rug. But it looks like fake hair."
Outraged, Taylor straightened his back and humphed away from the trio. Lorelai tossed her head back and guffawed loudly as they left the diner and stood waiting for the light to change so they could cross the street.
Luke on the other hand bent down so that he could look Jessie in the eye and said, "That was very rude, Jess. You should be more considerate when speaking with people. There's no need to point out the obvious. Especially if it might hurt someone's feelings."
"It's just Taylor," Lorelai pointed out reasonably.
"Yeah, it's just Taylor," Jessie parroted.
"I don't care who it was," Luke argued firmly. "It wasn't nice and there was no need for it."
Jessie rolled her eyes and said a "Sor-ry."
The light changed and the three of them headed for Miss Patty's who smiled suggestively at Luke and Lorelai before herding Jessie into the studio with the other arriving dancers.
On their way back to the diner Luke was quiet while Lorelai chattered about the upcoming Picnic Parade. "I can't believe Taylor is giving us crap! Rory and I both attended last year's and I remember seeing you there, too. What does he think? Now that we're 'joined at the hip' we'll stop going to town functions? He's such a tool! I loved it when Jessie asked him about the toupee!"
"You shouldn't encourage her," Luke said quietly.
"What are you talking about? I didn't say a word!"
"You laughed like a hyena," he pointed out.
"Are you calling me a filthy animal?" Lorelai asked indignantly.
"I'm just saying that she needs to learn better manners, especially when it comes to just saying what's in her head. She needs to start self-monitoring. If you laugh every time she says something inappropriate she'll keep saying inappropriate things."
"You're blowing this way out of proportion," she argued.
He stopped on the sidewalk and turned to her. "That's not the point."
"Well, what's the point?"
"The point is that Jessie is my responsibility. I wish you'd respect my decisions regarding her."
"I can't believe you're defending Taylor."
"You're not listening," Luke said impatiently.
"I'm hearing you say that I'm a bad influence."
Frustrated, Luke felt his voice rise as he argued, "That's not what I'm saying. All I want is for you to back me up when it comes to this stuff. She can't be getting mixed signals. When you laugh and I discipline it tells her that one of us is wrong."
"One of us is wrong," she replied with her arms crossed over her chest.
"So I'm wrong? You think I should just let her go around insulting anyone she wants? She won't get very far in life that way and she needs to know it. Not everyone is perfect like Rory!" he finished with an impatient hand gesture.
"Whatever. I'm gonna head home."
"I can't believe you!" he shouted.
"Me? You're the one calling me a bad parent."
"And you're undermining my authority."
They were at a stalemate. "I'll see you around," Lorelai said stubbornly.
"Fine," Luke agreed bitterly as he yanked the door open and stepped into the diner. Everyone was staring and he realized that his patrons had heard every word. "Eat!" he yelled before storming upstairs.