WHAT IT IS: A sequel, to my other Trory, What Happens When. Now, I had no intentions at all to do a sequel. However, you're getting one, because of all the Jess/Dean/Rory angst currently on the show—it's stressing me out. So, since I had decided that fluff was probably all I'd get out of a sequel and fluff is what I need right now (it's either fluff or unbearable angst coming out of me right now)—here's a sequel.
WHAT I OWN: Nada.
RATING: PG-13, just to be safe. It is fluff after all.
Tristan woke up early the next morning in an empty bed. He moved his arm over to where Rory should be, but felt only pillows. He opened his eyes and sat up a little, but she wasn't in the room. Confused, he pulled on some clothes and wandered downstairs to the dining room. Rory was sitting next to Sookie and the kids, Davey, Anna and Will. There were plates and plates of food on the table they were sitting at, and Rory waved Tristan over when she noticed him standing in the doorway to the dining room.
"Hey, sleepyhead!"
"Sleepyhead? How is it possible that you got up so early? It's only just now seven!" Tristan said in disbelief as he placed some apple pancakes and bacon on his plate, sitting down next her.
"Well, I woke up when I smelled all this food! I'm a sucker for Sookie's famous apple pancakes. When I got downstairs, Mom was dropping off the kids."
Tristan nodded, still in disbelief. Until he tasted the pancakes, that is. They were the best he'd ever tasted. His eyes widened in happiness.
"These are the best pancakes I've ever tasted!"
"See? How can anyone sleep through the smell of those babies?"
"Mommy makes the best food," Davey explained to Tristan.
"I know, kid, I know. Never again will I sleep though an apple pancake morning," Tristan promised.
"So, Will, what are you guys up to today?" Rory asked.
"Dunno. Mom didn't say. She just dropped us off here."
"I think she and Luke were having breakfast alone today," Sookie emphasized, winking at Rory.
"Ooh, right."
"Why don't they come join us?"
"Luke's making Lorelai something special for breakfast," Sookie explained to Davey.
"Well, I'm now not so hungry," Rory pushed her plate back, at Sookie's double meaning.
"Rory, how come you aren't making me something special for breakfast?" Tristan leaned over and whispered to her.
Davey turned to Will and said rather loudly, "Grownups are weird."
Will nodded and the kids finished eating their breakfasts. Rory gave in and dug in for seconds, as did Tristan. Around eight o'clock, Jess showed up and sat down next to Will.
"Hey, kid, you're with me today."
"Really? Can Davey come too?"
"That's up to Sookie. All I know is your mom called me a few minutes ago and asked me to take you all day. Is that okay with you?"
"YEAH!"
"What's up with mom?" Rory asked.
"She said the two of you were going shopping. You didn't know?"
Rory shook her head.
"So I'm out of commission today, too, huh?" Tristan inquired.
"You can come with us!" Will told him, excitedly.
Rory, Jess and Tristan all exchanged uncomfortable looks.
"You don't have to, if you don't want to," Rory offered.
"You're welcome to come along," Jess assured.
Tristan looked from his wife to her ex-boyfriend. Then he looked at Will, who looked really excited at the thought.
"Sure, I'll come. Come on, guys, let's go ask Sookie if Davey can come too." Tristan stood up and took the two boys into the kitchen to find Sookie.
"Jess, that's really nice of you, to include Tristan."
"Well, Will did invite him," Jess said, taking food onto his plate and beginning to eat.
"He's pretty irresistible, huh? Guess he got the Gilmore charm," Rory mused.
"Something like that," Jess agreed, looking sidelong at Rory.
Rory looked around uncomfortably, realizing what she just said and to who. She cleared her throat a little and began again.
"So, did Mom mention anything about where I'm supposed to meet her?"
"She said she'd come here around 9 to get you. Luke's working at the diner all day, so I'm supposed to drop Will off there later."
"Thanks. Guess I better go get ready. I'll see you later."
Jess nodded as Rory disappeared up the stairs. He couldn't help but feeling like he'd slipped into some alternate reality. How did they get from being two in-love teenagers to a strange version of the Brady Bunch? He snapped out of his thoughts as Tristan came back into the room.
"So, what's the plan for today?"
"Hartford. I have to get out of this town."
"Rory mentioned you didn't care for Stars Hollow so much."
"Yeah, well, it's not as bad as it used to be for me, but I usually do well to leave every few days, just to keep my sanity."
"Well, I know anywhere you'd want to go in Hartford."
"Basically we're just going downtown, there's a couple of record shops I've introduced Will to."
"He's three."
"He likes good music. Plus it kills Luke. Which I still kind of enjoy," Jess smirked and shoved the last bite of pancake into his mouth. "Those are damn good pancakes," he added.
Tristan nodded and smiled. This was going to be a strange day. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that this Christmas he'd be spending time with Rory's ex. Especially a boy's day out with him and two small children.
"I'm going to run upstairs and change. I'll meet you guys in the lobby in ten minutes, okay?" Tristan told Jess, and headed up towards his and Rory's room. When he opened the door, he heard a familiar squeak, the sound of his wife being surprised. He looked up as she whirled around, her bare back facing him. He smiled and walked over to her.
"My, my. I know you're shy. Let me help you cover yourself," Tristan wrapped himself around her, pulling her in close and was now grazing her neck with his teeth.
"Tris—tann, oh, you have got to, uh, come on, stop," she choked out, unconvincingly.
"C'mon, I have to meet my mom," she tried again.
"Give me five minutes. I told Jess I'd meet him in ten. And it's ten 'til 9. We have time."
"Only five minutes? What kind of fun can we have in five minutes?"
Ten minutes later, a flushed Rory and a triumphant Tristan came strolling down the stairs, arm in arm. Lorelai was holding Will and talking with Jess. Will had his head on his mom's shoulder, and she was absent-mindedly stroking his back. Jess and Lorelai looked up at the couple approaching them at the same time, and very different expressions hit their faces. Lorelai smiled knowingly and Jess shifted his eyes and let out an incoherent mumble that sounded something like, 'get a room'. Lorelai giggled and muttered back, "looks like they already did."
"So, hun, you ready to go?" Lorelai said louder, her eyes brightening.
"Yep. What are you boys going to do today?"
"Stuff."
Rory turned to her mother and shook her head. She kissed Tristan one last time lightly on the cheek and informed him to behave. He gave her his famous smile, that while it still managed to give her weak knees, did not instill her with assurance that he would behave himself. She narrowed her eyes a little, to show him that she meant business, but the look on his face didn't falter. Giving up, she linked arms with her mother, who'd put Will down next to Jess. They said their goodbyes and headed out to on their shopping spree.
"So, how did you manage to get you and me time?"
"Finesse."
"Uh huh. You bossed people around."
"Never!"
"Sure. Jess just volunteered to take Will today."
"Well, he does all the time. So I figured he wouldn't mind if I called him up early this morning to tell him that this was one of those days."
"I still can't believe that. Jess takes care of Will. On a semi-regular basis. You'd think it would put a crimp in his style."
"Honey, no one talks like that anymore. Besides, Jess is good with Will."
"Since when do you like Jess?"
"Honey, I know you say it's all 'cool' with you and Jess now, but are you sure you're not harboring some bitterness somewhere?"
"Why would you even say that? There's no bitterness."
"It's just, you seem to have this block against seeing Jess for what that he's become. He's really turned himself around. He's getting a 4.0 at NYU, he's on the Dean's List, has been for three years, and has been working full time to support himself all this time. He's responsible now. And who would have thought it, he's good with kids."
"Wow. You need an 'I heart Jess' t-shirt. Maybe that's what you'll get for Christmas from the Dugrey's."
"Honey, I just, I hope you guys can move past the history you have, and any weirdness that might be there now. You're cousins now, after all."
"Don't remind me."
"Man, how weird would it have been if you two had stayed together? You'd be kissing cousins!"
"Mom, eww, shut up!"
"Man, it's really good you never had sex!"
"Seriously, I don't even know you," Rory exclaimed as she tried to walk away from her overly giggly mother, who was chasing after her.
Tristan and Jess opened the car doors and helped Davey and Will out of the backseat of Jess' car. The two boys ran in front of them and entered the music store excitedly.
"Man, I've never seen little kids so excited about CD's."
"Wait 'til we hit the bookstore on Main," Jess warned.
Tristan shook his head and followed Jess into the store. They kept the boys in sight without trying to make it obvious. They stayed a few racks away, glancing at them every so often, while looking for themselves, too.
"So, Tristan. Where are you guys at in New York?"
"Upper West Side."
"Huh. I used to spend a lot of time up there."
"Well, it's close to work. I work at the hospital and with the police department up there, and Rory's working at the Times."
"Yeah, I've seen some of her articles."
"She's good."
"Yeah, she has talent," Jess agreed. He thought for a moment, and then continued.
"So, is she still thinking about the international correspondent thing?"
"She was for a long time. She went back and forth about it for the longest time. Finally after junior year at school, she spent a summer abroad taking some journalism courses. She missed everyone so bad she decided that national news suited her just fine. I kept telling her I would go anywhere with her, and we could always fly her mom and everyone anywhere, plus we'd be based out of New York probably anyhow, but her senior year she put her foot down."
Jess nodded. That sounded like Rory. But he still remembered promising her that he'd make sure she made it someday as a foreign correspondent. Back then, she'd feared she didn't have what it took. He always knew she'd be great at whatever she'd wanted to do.
"Besides, you guys'll want to have kids. Sort of hard to travel in wars with an infant, huh?" Jess mentioned, immediately kicking himself for even saying the words.
"That's what she said. I finally convinced her that I was fine with staying home with kids. But she insisted that she didn't want to miss out on any milestones, you know? Family's really important to her," Tristan added, as he walked over to Will and steered him out of the section he'd wandered into.
"Why are those ones covered up?" Will pointed to some DVD's on a higher shelf than he could reach.
"'Cause you have to be 18 to see them."
"When will I be 18?"
"In fifteen years."
"How long is that?"
"A long time."
"Oh. Are you 18?"
"I'm 23."
"You're old."
"Thanks, Will. Let's go finish the Rock section, shall we?"
"You are old, man."
"Hah."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Rory's happy, right? I mean, she didn't give up any of her dreams, seriously?"
"I wouldn't have let her give up on anything. Not easily anyways. She's really happy."
"Good. I mean, you know."
"You guys were tight for a while, huh?"
"You could say that."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Why did you do it? I mean, I can't ever imagine walking away from her." Tristan looked at Jess in disbelief. He was surprised the words even came out of his mouth. But the entire situation had always seemed so unbelievable to him.
"She didn't, you know, ask you to," Jess began uncomfortably.
"No, man, honestly, I just wondered. You don't have to tell me, but I won't say anything to her."
"She knows why. Not that we've talked about it, but she knows. I just, I wasn't in a good place in my life. I wasn't ready for her; I couldn't be what she needed me to be. She deserved better."
Tristan nodded. He understood the reasoning, but still he couldn't imagine giving her up. For anything. He'd do anything to keep her.
"Besides, we're cousins now, so it's a good thing we broke up, huh?" Jess joked.
"That's just bizarre."
"Jess! I found one!" Will came running up to Jess with a CD in his hands, which he thrust out for Jess to see.
"Will, you're supposed to be looking for other people, not yourself. We're Christmas shopping," Jess reminded.
"Well, can I put it on my list for other people to get me?"
Jess and Tristan exchanged bemused looks.
"Will, if your list gets any longer, Santa won't be able to get it onto his sleigh."
Will's brow furrowed for a moment, and suddenly turned and stalked off in defeat.
"Wow, he really is Lorelai's kid."
"That he is," Jess agreed, as they all continued looking through the racks.
After a full day of shopping, everyone reconvened at Luke's. The girls were the first to come back. They were loaded down with bags, and barely made it through the door. Luke's eyes widened at the site of them.
"Are there things left for other people to buy in Hartford?"
"Three. But two of them are Tickle-Me-Elmo's," Lorelai commented.
"Geez. Where are you going with all that stuff?"
"Well, upstairs. Since it's pretty empty up there, we thought we could hide the rugrat's stuff up there, and wrap it later. Besides, this is just the first trip in from the car."
"The first trip? Lorelai!"
"Well, it's Christmas. And it's going to snow; I give it five hours, tops. You know how I get!" she pleaded with him, smiling lovingly.
"Just hurry up. They guys should be back here any minute."
"I just hope they didn't kill each other," Rory commented.
"Worried?" Lorelai asked, as they trudged up the steps.
"A little. I never thought of Jess and Tristan meeting, it's just weird. I hope they got along."
"You hope they didn't talk about you," Lorelai corrected.
"Yes, mother," Rory mocked. Lorelai reached out to swat her, but Rory ran down the stairs in search of her next load of bags, and almost ran smack into Jess. He caught her and helped her re-stabilize her balance.
"Whoa, there. In a hurry?"
"Mom was—never mind. I just need to finish getting some stuff from the car," she brushed past Jess, and gave Tristan a kiss on the cheek as she hurried outside. Will was on Tristan's back, half asleep.
"There's my big boy!"
"Why, Lorelai, nice to see you too!" Tristan joked, allowing her to untangle Will out of the piggy back ride he was receiving.
"So, you all look like you're all in one piece. Where are your bags?"
"Trunk," Jess answered.
"Mono-syllable boy is back!" Lorelai gasped.
"Funny. Are we going to eat?"
"Yeah, yeah. Jess, come help me back here."
"Luke, I'm a visitor. You aren't supposed to make guests work."
"You're staying at the Inn for free aren't you?"
"Fine. But I want a Christmas bonus."
"Bah humbug."
"He's cranky," Jess whispered to Lorelai before going back to behind the counter and getting the coffee to do refills.
Tristan wondered outside to see if Rory needed help. She was trying to grab all the rest of the bags, but was seemingly unsuccessful.
"Which ones are mine?" he asked from behind her.
"OH! Man, you scared me! None of your business, mister."
"Do you need some help?" he laughed.
She nodded, gratefully. "I think they're multiplying."
He raised his eyebrows at her, "I'd like to join them."
"Later, help now. Reward later."
"Yes ma'am." Tristan mock saluted.
"So, how was your day?"
"Pleasant."
"You spent a day with Jess and two small boys, and you say pleasant?"
"Jess is cool," Tristan shrugged.
"Yes, he is." Rory smiled at her husband, relieved that this wasn't going to be a problem for the two men to get along. She led him up to the old apartment, turned back into solely an office area so they could drop off the remaining bags, and then they joined the rest of the group for dinner.
WHAT I OWN: Nada.
RATING: PG-13, just to be safe. It is fluff after all.
Tristan woke up early the next morning in an empty bed. He moved his arm over to where Rory should be, but felt only pillows. He opened his eyes and sat up a little, but she wasn't in the room. Confused, he pulled on some clothes and wandered downstairs to the dining room. Rory was sitting next to Sookie and the kids, Davey, Anna and Will. There were plates and plates of food on the table they were sitting at, and Rory waved Tristan over when she noticed him standing in the doorway to the dining room.
"Hey, sleepyhead!"
"Sleepyhead? How is it possible that you got up so early? It's only just now seven!" Tristan said in disbelief as he placed some apple pancakes and bacon on his plate, sitting down next her.
"Well, I woke up when I smelled all this food! I'm a sucker for Sookie's famous apple pancakes. When I got downstairs, Mom was dropping off the kids."
Tristan nodded, still in disbelief. Until he tasted the pancakes, that is. They were the best he'd ever tasted. His eyes widened in happiness.
"These are the best pancakes I've ever tasted!"
"See? How can anyone sleep through the smell of those babies?"
"Mommy makes the best food," Davey explained to Tristan.
"I know, kid, I know. Never again will I sleep though an apple pancake morning," Tristan promised.
"So, Will, what are you guys up to today?" Rory asked.
"Dunno. Mom didn't say. She just dropped us off here."
"I think she and Luke were having breakfast alone today," Sookie emphasized, winking at Rory.
"Ooh, right."
"Why don't they come join us?"
"Luke's making Lorelai something special for breakfast," Sookie explained to Davey.
"Well, I'm now not so hungry," Rory pushed her plate back, at Sookie's double meaning.
"Rory, how come you aren't making me something special for breakfast?" Tristan leaned over and whispered to her.
Davey turned to Will and said rather loudly, "Grownups are weird."
Will nodded and the kids finished eating their breakfasts. Rory gave in and dug in for seconds, as did Tristan. Around eight o'clock, Jess showed up and sat down next to Will.
"Hey, kid, you're with me today."
"Really? Can Davey come too?"
"That's up to Sookie. All I know is your mom called me a few minutes ago and asked me to take you all day. Is that okay with you?"
"YEAH!"
"What's up with mom?" Rory asked.
"She said the two of you were going shopping. You didn't know?"
Rory shook her head.
"So I'm out of commission today, too, huh?" Tristan inquired.
"You can come with us!" Will told him, excitedly.
Rory, Jess and Tristan all exchanged uncomfortable looks.
"You don't have to, if you don't want to," Rory offered.
"You're welcome to come along," Jess assured.
Tristan looked from his wife to her ex-boyfriend. Then he looked at Will, who looked really excited at the thought.
"Sure, I'll come. Come on, guys, let's go ask Sookie if Davey can come too." Tristan stood up and took the two boys into the kitchen to find Sookie.
"Jess, that's really nice of you, to include Tristan."
"Well, Will did invite him," Jess said, taking food onto his plate and beginning to eat.
"He's pretty irresistible, huh? Guess he got the Gilmore charm," Rory mused.
"Something like that," Jess agreed, looking sidelong at Rory.
Rory looked around uncomfortably, realizing what she just said and to who. She cleared her throat a little and began again.
"So, did Mom mention anything about where I'm supposed to meet her?"
"She said she'd come here around 9 to get you. Luke's working at the diner all day, so I'm supposed to drop Will off there later."
"Thanks. Guess I better go get ready. I'll see you later."
Jess nodded as Rory disappeared up the stairs. He couldn't help but feeling like he'd slipped into some alternate reality. How did they get from being two in-love teenagers to a strange version of the Brady Bunch? He snapped out of his thoughts as Tristan came back into the room.
"So, what's the plan for today?"
"Hartford. I have to get out of this town."
"Rory mentioned you didn't care for Stars Hollow so much."
"Yeah, well, it's not as bad as it used to be for me, but I usually do well to leave every few days, just to keep my sanity."
"Well, I know anywhere you'd want to go in Hartford."
"Basically we're just going downtown, there's a couple of record shops I've introduced Will to."
"He's three."
"He likes good music. Plus it kills Luke. Which I still kind of enjoy," Jess smirked and shoved the last bite of pancake into his mouth. "Those are damn good pancakes," he added.
Tristan nodded and smiled. This was going to be a strange day. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that this Christmas he'd be spending time with Rory's ex. Especially a boy's day out with him and two small children.
"I'm going to run upstairs and change. I'll meet you guys in the lobby in ten minutes, okay?" Tristan told Jess, and headed up towards his and Rory's room. When he opened the door, he heard a familiar squeak, the sound of his wife being surprised. He looked up as she whirled around, her bare back facing him. He smiled and walked over to her.
"My, my. I know you're shy. Let me help you cover yourself," Tristan wrapped himself around her, pulling her in close and was now grazing her neck with his teeth.
"Tris—tann, oh, you have got to, uh, come on, stop," she choked out, unconvincingly.
"C'mon, I have to meet my mom," she tried again.
"Give me five minutes. I told Jess I'd meet him in ten. And it's ten 'til 9. We have time."
"Only five minutes? What kind of fun can we have in five minutes?"
Ten minutes later, a flushed Rory and a triumphant Tristan came strolling down the stairs, arm in arm. Lorelai was holding Will and talking with Jess. Will had his head on his mom's shoulder, and she was absent-mindedly stroking his back. Jess and Lorelai looked up at the couple approaching them at the same time, and very different expressions hit their faces. Lorelai smiled knowingly and Jess shifted his eyes and let out an incoherent mumble that sounded something like, 'get a room'. Lorelai giggled and muttered back, "looks like they already did."
"So, hun, you ready to go?" Lorelai said louder, her eyes brightening.
"Yep. What are you boys going to do today?"
"Stuff."
Rory turned to her mother and shook her head. She kissed Tristan one last time lightly on the cheek and informed him to behave. He gave her his famous smile, that while it still managed to give her weak knees, did not instill her with assurance that he would behave himself. She narrowed her eyes a little, to show him that she meant business, but the look on his face didn't falter. Giving up, she linked arms with her mother, who'd put Will down next to Jess. They said their goodbyes and headed out to on their shopping spree.
"So, how did you manage to get you and me time?"
"Finesse."
"Uh huh. You bossed people around."
"Never!"
"Sure. Jess just volunteered to take Will today."
"Well, he does all the time. So I figured he wouldn't mind if I called him up early this morning to tell him that this was one of those days."
"I still can't believe that. Jess takes care of Will. On a semi-regular basis. You'd think it would put a crimp in his style."
"Honey, no one talks like that anymore. Besides, Jess is good with Will."
"Since when do you like Jess?"
"Honey, I know you say it's all 'cool' with you and Jess now, but are you sure you're not harboring some bitterness somewhere?"
"Why would you even say that? There's no bitterness."
"It's just, you seem to have this block against seeing Jess for what that he's become. He's really turned himself around. He's getting a 4.0 at NYU, he's on the Dean's List, has been for three years, and has been working full time to support himself all this time. He's responsible now. And who would have thought it, he's good with kids."
"Wow. You need an 'I heart Jess' t-shirt. Maybe that's what you'll get for Christmas from the Dugrey's."
"Honey, I just, I hope you guys can move past the history you have, and any weirdness that might be there now. You're cousins now, after all."
"Don't remind me."
"Man, how weird would it have been if you two had stayed together? You'd be kissing cousins!"
"Mom, eww, shut up!"
"Man, it's really good you never had sex!"
"Seriously, I don't even know you," Rory exclaimed as she tried to walk away from her overly giggly mother, who was chasing after her.
Tristan and Jess opened the car doors and helped Davey and Will out of the backseat of Jess' car. The two boys ran in front of them and entered the music store excitedly.
"Man, I've never seen little kids so excited about CD's."
"Wait 'til we hit the bookstore on Main," Jess warned.
Tristan shook his head and followed Jess into the store. They kept the boys in sight without trying to make it obvious. They stayed a few racks away, glancing at them every so often, while looking for themselves, too.
"So, Tristan. Where are you guys at in New York?"
"Upper West Side."
"Huh. I used to spend a lot of time up there."
"Well, it's close to work. I work at the hospital and with the police department up there, and Rory's working at the Times."
"Yeah, I've seen some of her articles."
"She's good."
"Yeah, she has talent," Jess agreed. He thought for a moment, and then continued.
"So, is she still thinking about the international correspondent thing?"
"She was for a long time. She went back and forth about it for the longest time. Finally after junior year at school, she spent a summer abroad taking some journalism courses. She missed everyone so bad she decided that national news suited her just fine. I kept telling her I would go anywhere with her, and we could always fly her mom and everyone anywhere, plus we'd be based out of New York probably anyhow, but her senior year she put her foot down."
Jess nodded. That sounded like Rory. But he still remembered promising her that he'd make sure she made it someday as a foreign correspondent. Back then, she'd feared she didn't have what it took. He always knew she'd be great at whatever she'd wanted to do.
"Besides, you guys'll want to have kids. Sort of hard to travel in wars with an infant, huh?" Jess mentioned, immediately kicking himself for even saying the words.
"That's what she said. I finally convinced her that I was fine with staying home with kids. But she insisted that she didn't want to miss out on any milestones, you know? Family's really important to her," Tristan added, as he walked over to Will and steered him out of the section he'd wandered into.
"Why are those ones covered up?" Will pointed to some DVD's on a higher shelf than he could reach.
"'Cause you have to be 18 to see them."
"When will I be 18?"
"In fifteen years."
"How long is that?"
"A long time."
"Oh. Are you 18?"
"I'm 23."
"You're old."
"Thanks, Will. Let's go finish the Rock section, shall we?"
"You are old, man."
"Hah."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Rory's happy, right? I mean, she didn't give up any of her dreams, seriously?"
"I wouldn't have let her give up on anything. Not easily anyways. She's really happy."
"Good. I mean, you know."
"You guys were tight for a while, huh?"
"You could say that."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Why did you do it? I mean, I can't ever imagine walking away from her." Tristan looked at Jess in disbelief. He was surprised the words even came out of his mouth. But the entire situation had always seemed so unbelievable to him.
"She didn't, you know, ask you to," Jess began uncomfortably.
"No, man, honestly, I just wondered. You don't have to tell me, but I won't say anything to her."
"She knows why. Not that we've talked about it, but she knows. I just, I wasn't in a good place in my life. I wasn't ready for her; I couldn't be what she needed me to be. She deserved better."
Tristan nodded. He understood the reasoning, but still he couldn't imagine giving her up. For anything. He'd do anything to keep her.
"Besides, we're cousins now, so it's a good thing we broke up, huh?" Jess joked.
"That's just bizarre."
"Jess! I found one!" Will came running up to Jess with a CD in his hands, which he thrust out for Jess to see.
"Will, you're supposed to be looking for other people, not yourself. We're Christmas shopping," Jess reminded.
"Well, can I put it on my list for other people to get me?"
Jess and Tristan exchanged bemused looks.
"Will, if your list gets any longer, Santa won't be able to get it onto his sleigh."
Will's brow furrowed for a moment, and suddenly turned and stalked off in defeat.
"Wow, he really is Lorelai's kid."
"That he is," Jess agreed, as they all continued looking through the racks.
After a full day of shopping, everyone reconvened at Luke's. The girls were the first to come back. They were loaded down with bags, and barely made it through the door. Luke's eyes widened at the site of them.
"Are there things left for other people to buy in Hartford?"
"Three. But two of them are Tickle-Me-Elmo's," Lorelai commented.
"Geez. Where are you going with all that stuff?"
"Well, upstairs. Since it's pretty empty up there, we thought we could hide the rugrat's stuff up there, and wrap it later. Besides, this is just the first trip in from the car."
"The first trip? Lorelai!"
"Well, it's Christmas. And it's going to snow; I give it five hours, tops. You know how I get!" she pleaded with him, smiling lovingly.
"Just hurry up. They guys should be back here any minute."
"I just hope they didn't kill each other," Rory commented.
"Worried?" Lorelai asked, as they trudged up the steps.
"A little. I never thought of Jess and Tristan meeting, it's just weird. I hope they got along."
"You hope they didn't talk about you," Lorelai corrected.
"Yes, mother," Rory mocked. Lorelai reached out to swat her, but Rory ran down the stairs in search of her next load of bags, and almost ran smack into Jess. He caught her and helped her re-stabilize her balance.
"Whoa, there. In a hurry?"
"Mom was—never mind. I just need to finish getting some stuff from the car," she brushed past Jess, and gave Tristan a kiss on the cheek as she hurried outside. Will was on Tristan's back, half asleep.
"There's my big boy!"
"Why, Lorelai, nice to see you too!" Tristan joked, allowing her to untangle Will out of the piggy back ride he was receiving.
"So, you all look like you're all in one piece. Where are your bags?"
"Trunk," Jess answered.
"Mono-syllable boy is back!" Lorelai gasped.
"Funny. Are we going to eat?"
"Yeah, yeah. Jess, come help me back here."
"Luke, I'm a visitor. You aren't supposed to make guests work."
"You're staying at the Inn for free aren't you?"
"Fine. But I want a Christmas bonus."
"Bah humbug."
"He's cranky," Jess whispered to Lorelai before going back to behind the counter and getting the coffee to do refills.
Tristan wondered outside to see if Rory needed help. She was trying to grab all the rest of the bags, but was seemingly unsuccessful.
"Which ones are mine?" he asked from behind her.
"OH! Man, you scared me! None of your business, mister."
"Do you need some help?" he laughed.
She nodded, gratefully. "I think they're multiplying."
He raised his eyebrows at her, "I'd like to join them."
"Later, help now. Reward later."
"Yes ma'am." Tristan mock saluted.
"So, how was your day?"
"Pleasant."
"You spent a day with Jess and two small boys, and you say pleasant?"
"Jess is cool," Tristan shrugged.
"Yes, he is." Rory smiled at her husband, relieved that this wasn't going to be a problem for the two men to get along. She led him up to the old apartment, turned back into solely an office area so they could drop off the remaining bags, and then they joined the rest of the group for dinner.