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 arrived home that evening to find Rory in the kitchen. He smelled something relatively pleasant, and his stomach rumbled revealing his hunger. After Rory had called, his mind had wondered to what might have made her sick. Of course her being pregnant fluttered through his mind, but they had just started trying last week. There was no way she'd already be getting sick. At least, he didn't think so. He hadn't ever known much about pregnancy, he'd really tried to avoid the topic altogether, until now.
"Honey, I'm home," he called, teasingly.
"Hey!" She turned and kissed him. She moved away from him and he pulled her back to him into a hug. He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better. I took a nap when I got home, it seems to have helped."
"Tell me you aren't trying to cook again," he released her, and inspected the contents on the stove.
"Hey, the last few times haven't been that disastrous."
"What are you making?"
"Fettuccine alfredo with spinach and garlic bread."
"Adventurous."
"Not really. It's all pre-made, I just have to heat it all up."
"That's my girl. Wouldn't let me starve," he said, as he scooted quickly out of her reach and towards the bedroom to change. After she took all the food off the stove and out of the oven to cool, she strolled into the bedroom.
"Come for a free show?"
"Hah. I just came to say that dinner is ready."
"Thanks. I'll be right out," he promised. He was standing half dressed, in his closet. He'd ditched the suit he'd worn today and was now in mesh shorts and no shirt. He hated wearing suits, but as he was used to it, he just compromised by changing the moment he got home. She didn't retreat back into the kitchen as he expected, but sat down on the bed, looking at him.
"Rory? You feeling bad again?"
"No, I was just thinking. You don't think we could already be pregnant, do you?"
"I was wondering that too. But isn't it too soon to know? It's only been like a week."
Rory shrugged. "I was trying to remember the time Paris thought she might be pregnant, but I can't remember anything other than she was sick. But she wasn't pregnant anyways, so that idea seemed to be a bust."
"We could look up pregnancy signs online," he suggested.
"I did."
"And?"
"And to me, I couldn't see where I fit the description. I mean, yeah, I was tired this morning, but we drove a long way, and I was nauseated, but that could be anything. I don't have any other symptoms they listed, and from what I could see, you can't really get the symptoms this early. So I'm guessing it's just a bug or whatever."
"Okay," Tristan listened to her and nodded.
"So unless I get sick the next two weeks in a row at the same time, I'm not going to read into this."
"Probably smart. We should keep our expectations low, right?"
"Right. This should be fun and exciting, not disappointing and depressing."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I am. Let's go eat."
"Okay," he hugged her again, for good measure and led her into the kitchen.
Lorelai came home late from the inn that night. She got home and found no one around. Usually this time of night, Luke had left the diner and he and Will had dinner ready for her. Except Sunday nights, when he stayed late to close himself and do inventory. She frowned, looking around the house and found a note on the refrigerator.
'Problem at the diner, we're there. Come over when you get home. Love, Luke.'
She groaned a little. She'd been running around the inn all day, and her feet felt like they needed to be replaced. She slipped off her high heels and muttered at them about being of the devil as she threw them in the back of her closet and pulled out her favorite pair of sneakers. She slipped out of her suit and into some jeans and a sweater and made her way slowly down stairs. She grabbed the keys to the Jeep, since there was no way she was walking tonight, and headed to the diner. Walking into the warm diner, she smiled as she saw Will at the counter, attempting a game of bagel hockey with Kirk. It seemed as if Kirk were reluctant to play. He kept yelling at Will to stop assaulting him with baked goods. She giggled and walked up behind her youngest protégé, hugging his small frame.
"Mommy! Will you play with me?"
"Sure--," she said at the same time Luke said, "No!"
She looked up at Luke and stuck out her bottom lip. "If he doesn't get practice, how will he get any good? One of these days, he'll go up against Rory, and she's really good. We don't want him being beaten by a girl, it'll crush him. Think of what that could do to stunt his development!"
"Lorelai, the only thing that is going to stunt his growth is the coffee you insist on sneaking him."
"I never!" She tried to appear innocent, but Luke wasn't buying it. He'd caught her putting some in his baby bottles when Will was still an infant.
"Huh."
"So, what was the big emergency?"
"We got a huge rush, and Caesar got sick. He called after I'd gotten home and I had to come back in."
"That sucks. Do you need some help?"
Luke had hired a string of teenagers to help out every now and then. Ever since Jess had lived with him, he knew how beneficial it was to have someone extra around. Lane had done it for a couple of years until her band took off. Now there was a girl named Megan that came in four afternoons and evenings a week, and every other Saturday. Jess still helped out the random weekends he came up to see Will and visit. He was actually looking forward to the day that Will would be old enough to help out.
"Sure. But you should eat first."
"Well, duh. You don't think I'll work completely for free, do you?"
"Right. So, you heard from Rory?"
"Please, Luke, she just left this morning. I don't have to talk to her all the time."
"Sorry."
"I talked to her twice. She left work early, she was sick."
"Sick? She was fine this morning."
"I know. I think there's something afoot."
"Afoot?"
"I think they're up to something."
"Who?"
"Rory and Tristan. I think they're planning the pitter patter of little feet."
"You can't be serious. They're kids themselves."
"Luke, they're ages older than I was when I had Rory. Mid-twenties is a great age to have kids. You're old enough to support them, and young enough to still play with them. It's us old fogies who creak and crack when the bend down to pick up their kids," she winked at him.
"It happened once. My knee isn't allowed to pop?"
"It was your hip, grandpa," she teased.
"Did I mention we're low on coffee? All I can give you is decaf?"
"I'm sorry, you're so very young. Let's have another one."
"What?" He stood stock still in front of her.
"Relax! I was kidding. Well, not that I don't think that would be nice, but I didn't mean this second."
"You want another kid?"
"Don't you?"
"I hadn't thought about it. The one was a surprise."
They stood there, staring at each other, and all of a sudden, Lorelai was struck by something in the side of her arm. She looked over to see Will, who'd just lobbed the bagel at her.
"You'll pay for that, little man!" she promised, leaning over to pull him into her lap. He giggled and she planted a kiss on his cheek.
"What do you think, Will? Do you want a brother or sister?"
The little boy thought about this question for a moment, and looked at his mother decidedly. "Brother."
Luke's eyebrows raised, and looked at his son, intrigued.
"I meant, in general, but okay, why a brother?"
"Cause I already have a sister."
"That makes sense. I'll see what we can do for you, okay?"
"Can I go upstairs and play, Daddy?"
"Go ahead," Luke nodded and smiled, watching his son scamper up the stairs.
"Come on, he needs a playmate," Lorelai hedged.
"You just want to be pregnant with Rory. It's a sick connection you two have," he informed her.
"She's not pregnant! At least, she hasn't told me she is. Why can't we?"
Luke sighed and cocked his head at her. "You really want to?"
"Don't you think it would at least be fun to try?"
"Well, I guess if we want another one, we shouldn't be putting it off much longer. One of these days we'll be grandparents, then it'd just have to go in the Guinness book, so yeah, okay. Let's do it now."
Lorelai bobbed up and down on her stool, and leaned across the counter to pull Luke into a deep kiss. "I sort of want another girl," she whispered.
"Fine. But she's not allowed to date 'til she's 45."
"Deal."
Jess collapsed into his bed that night. It's been a long, though productive and successful day on all fronts. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and lose himself to sleep. He'd just drifted off when his phone rang. He groaned, rolling over to glance at the clock. He'd been late getting out of the meeting he was in at work, and after work, he'd hit the gym. He ate on the way home, and it was now past 10. He'd been up since 4:30 this morning, and he could barely hold his eyes open. He wanted to answer it, in hopes it would be Erin, but the other option was it was his mom. He really needed to get that caller id thing, he thought to himself as he picked up the receiver.
"'Lo?"
"Jess! Honey, I've been calling like mad! Where've you been?"
"In Stars Hollow."
Great, it was his mom. Maybe he could just explain how tired he was, and she'd get off the phone. And maybe monkeys would fly out of his butt. Now his mind was completely off track, but she pulled him back to reality.
"Aw, that's nice. Did you stay with Luke and Lorelai?"
"I stayed at her inn, yeah."
"So, do you miss your mother?"
"Mom, it's really late. Can we do this some other time?"
"Jess, come on! I haven't talked to you in weeks!"
"Fine."
"So, how was Christmas?"
"It was fine. I was with Luke," he reiterated.
"Did you have special New Years plans?"
"I was with Luke."
"Is that your resident answer for everything I ask you?"
"Its just where I've been. That and work."
"Jess, you need to get out more. Date people. Have a life."
"Mom, I have a life. Really. I just really need sleep."
"Jess, I--," beep, beep, "hoped that," beep, beep.
"Mom, the call waiting's going off. I need to get that."
"Fine. But you call me as soon as you can."
"Alright. Bye."
"Bye, Whoever this is, thank you," he clicked over.
"Wow, that is the strangest way to answer the phone ever."
"Erin?"
"Yeah. So I guess I didn't wake you up?"
"No, my mother did. And you saved me from talking to her any longer. Thus, the gratitude."
She laughed. "So, I was thinking about earlier."
"Yeah."
"Well, you said you really wanted to try with me, right?"
"I meant it," he reassured her.
"I know. It's just that my brother just called me. Him and his boyfriend had reserved a weekend at an inn in Vermont this weekend, but they just had a wicked fight and broke up. He called and wanted to see if I wanted to use it instead. It's all prepaid for, non-refundable. He says it might as well go to good use. Are you free?"
"You want to take me?"
"You don't have to. I'd understand, I'll just take Gretchen or Kat or someone. I just thought, since we just decided to give this a try, getting away and just getting to spend some one on one getting to know you time might be good. See if it's worth anything, you know?"
"Sort of kill or be killed?"
"Exactly!"
He laughed, and found himself liking the idea of getting away one last weekend before classes started. And not to Stars Hollow, but away, with her.
"Sure."
"Great. I just have to be back early on Monday, my first class is at 8!"
"Damn. I've successfully gotten my last few classes down to perfect afternoon times. Of course, that just means I get to work in the am."
"Graduate school isn't as pick and choose as undergrad. But you'll understand that soon enough."
"Hey, I don't have that scholarship yet," he reminded. That was how they met, she had been accepted to NYU in the English department's graduate program on a full scholarship, and had interned just like Jess did when she was a senior. She worked as a receptionist for them still, because the money was good. They'd promised her a nice position when she graduated. Jess had been on the same track, and when she got wind of his situation through his boss, she talked about the program she was in with him. They'd met for dinner to discuss it, and that lead to another true date. Those kept piling on and before he knew it, they were in this relationship. That was when the holidays hit and he freaked out.
"You're a shoe in," she assured him, yawning. "I should get going. Night, Jess."
"Yeah, night."
He lay back in his bed, now suddenly awake, and smiled. They were going away together. This was new to him, too, the idea of going away with someone. Usually the point of his escape was to get away from someone. Maybe he'd call Rory or Tristan before he left, just to keep some sense in his head. Thinking that maybe some family was good for something, he rolled over and once again found the perfect position to lull him back to sleep.
AN: Ah! Who'll get pregnant? Maybe everyone (remember, Sookie already is!). Maybe no one! Heh heh heh! I feel a little evil and I enjoy it. Ooh, or maybe it'll be a race. . . Just kidding. There's a rough plan, I promise. I'm just enjoying the fluff. Oh, and I had this ready to go up 5/26 but ff.net wasn't cooperating with me. Grr. Wouldn't let me log in to upload this chap. Bit of a frustration in the middle of the night, when I am all sleep deprived and hopped up on caffeine, I digress.
WHAT I OWN: Nada.
RATING: PG-13, just to be safe. It is fluff after all.
Tristan arrived home that evening to find Rory in the kitchen. He smelled something relatively pleasant, and his stomach rumbled revealing his hunger. After Rory had called, his mind had wondered to what might have made her sick. Of course her being pregnant fluttered through his mind, but they had just started trying last week. There was no way she'd already be getting sick. At least, he didn't think so. He hadn't ever known much about pregnancy, he'd really tried to avoid the topic altogether, until now.
"Honey, I'm home," he called, teasingly.
"Hey!" She turned and kissed him. She moved away from him and he pulled her back to him into a hug. He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better. I took a nap when I got home, it seems to have helped."
"Tell me you aren't trying to cook again," he released her, and inspected the contents on the stove.
"Hey, the last few times haven't been that disastrous."
"What are you making?"
"Fettuccine alfredo with spinach and garlic bread."
"Adventurous."
"Not really. It's all pre-made, I just have to heat it all up."
"That's my girl. Wouldn't let me starve," he said, as he scooted quickly out of her reach and towards the bedroom to change. After she took all the food off the stove and out of the oven to cool, she strolled into the bedroom.
"Come for a free show?"
"Hah. I just came to say that dinner is ready."
"Thanks. I'll be right out," he promised. He was standing half dressed, in his closet. He'd ditched the suit he'd worn today and was now in mesh shorts and no shirt. He hated wearing suits, but as he was used to it, he just compromised by changing the moment he got home. She didn't retreat back into the kitchen as he expected, but sat down on the bed, looking at him.
"Rory? You feeling bad again?"
"No, I was just thinking. You don't think we could already be pregnant, do you?"
"I was wondering that too. But isn't it too soon to know? It's only been like a week."
Rory shrugged. "I was trying to remember the time Paris thought she might be pregnant, but I can't remember anything other than she was sick. But she wasn't pregnant anyways, so that idea seemed to be a bust."
"We could look up pregnancy signs online," he suggested.
"I did."
"And?"
"And to me, I couldn't see where I fit the description. I mean, yeah, I was tired this morning, but we drove a long way, and I was nauseated, but that could be anything. I don't have any other symptoms they listed, and from what I could see, you can't really get the symptoms this early. So I'm guessing it's just a bug or whatever."
"Okay," Tristan listened to her and nodded.
"So unless I get sick the next two weeks in a row at the same time, I'm not going to read into this."
"Probably smart. We should keep our expectations low, right?"
"Right. This should be fun and exciting, not disappointing and depressing."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I am. Let's go eat."
"Okay," he hugged her again, for good measure and led her into the kitchen.
Lorelai came home late from the inn that night. She got home and found no one around. Usually this time of night, Luke had left the diner and he and Will had dinner ready for her. Except Sunday nights, when he stayed late to close himself and do inventory. She frowned, looking around the house and found a note on the refrigerator.
'Problem at the diner, we're there. Come over when you get home. Love, Luke.'
She groaned a little. She'd been running around the inn all day, and her feet felt like they needed to be replaced. She slipped off her high heels and muttered at them about being of the devil as she threw them in the back of her closet and pulled out her favorite pair of sneakers. She slipped out of her suit and into some jeans and a sweater and made her way slowly down stairs. She grabbed the keys to the Jeep, since there was no way she was walking tonight, and headed to the diner. Walking into the warm diner, she smiled as she saw Will at the counter, attempting a game of bagel hockey with Kirk. It seemed as if Kirk were reluctant to play. He kept yelling at Will to stop assaulting him with baked goods. She giggled and walked up behind her youngest protégé, hugging his small frame.
"Mommy! Will you play with me?"
"Sure--," she said at the same time Luke said, "No!"
She looked up at Luke and stuck out her bottom lip. "If he doesn't get practice, how will he get any good? One of these days, he'll go up against Rory, and she's really good. We don't want him being beaten by a girl, it'll crush him. Think of what that could do to stunt his development!"
"Lorelai, the only thing that is going to stunt his growth is the coffee you insist on sneaking him."
"I never!" She tried to appear innocent, but Luke wasn't buying it. He'd caught her putting some in his baby bottles when Will was still an infant.
"Huh."
"So, what was the big emergency?"
"We got a huge rush, and Caesar got sick. He called after I'd gotten home and I had to come back in."
"That sucks. Do you need some help?"
Luke had hired a string of teenagers to help out every now and then. Ever since Jess had lived with him, he knew how beneficial it was to have someone extra around. Lane had done it for a couple of years until her band took off. Now there was a girl named Megan that came in four afternoons and evenings a week, and every other Saturday. Jess still helped out the random weekends he came up to see Will and visit. He was actually looking forward to the day that Will would be old enough to help out.
"Sure. But you should eat first."
"Well, duh. You don't think I'll work completely for free, do you?"
"Right. So, you heard from Rory?"
"Please, Luke, she just left this morning. I don't have to talk to her all the time."
"Sorry."
"I talked to her twice. She left work early, she was sick."
"Sick? She was fine this morning."
"I know. I think there's something afoot."
"Afoot?"
"I think they're up to something."
"Who?"
"Rory and Tristan. I think they're planning the pitter patter of little feet."
"You can't be serious. They're kids themselves."
"Luke, they're ages older than I was when I had Rory. Mid-twenties is a great age to have kids. You're old enough to support them, and young enough to still play with them. It's us old fogies who creak and crack when the bend down to pick up their kids," she winked at him.
"It happened once. My knee isn't allowed to pop?"
"It was your hip, grandpa," she teased.
"Did I mention we're low on coffee? All I can give you is decaf?"
"I'm sorry, you're so very young. Let's have another one."
"What?" He stood stock still in front of her.
"Relax! I was kidding. Well, not that I don't think that would be nice, but I didn't mean this second."
"You want another kid?"
"Don't you?"
"I hadn't thought about it. The one was a surprise."
They stood there, staring at each other, and all of a sudden, Lorelai was struck by something in the side of her arm. She looked over to see Will, who'd just lobbed the bagel at her.
"You'll pay for that, little man!" she promised, leaning over to pull him into her lap. He giggled and she planted a kiss on his cheek.
"What do you think, Will? Do you want a brother or sister?"
The little boy thought about this question for a moment, and looked at his mother decidedly. "Brother."
Luke's eyebrows raised, and looked at his son, intrigued.
"I meant, in general, but okay, why a brother?"
"Cause I already have a sister."
"That makes sense. I'll see what we can do for you, okay?"
"Can I go upstairs and play, Daddy?"
"Go ahead," Luke nodded and smiled, watching his son scamper up the stairs.
"Come on, he needs a playmate," Lorelai hedged.
"You just want to be pregnant with Rory. It's a sick connection you two have," he informed her.
"She's not pregnant! At least, she hasn't told me she is. Why can't we?"
Luke sighed and cocked his head at her. "You really want to?"
"Don't you think it would at least be fun to try?"
"Well, I guess if we want another one, we shouldn't be putting it off much longer. One of these days we'll be grandparents, then it'd just have to go in the Guinness book, so yeah, okay. Let's do it now."
Lorelai bobbed up and down on her stool, and leaned across the counter to pull Luke into a deep kiss. "I sort of want another girl," she whispered.
"Fine. But she's not allowed to date 'til she's 45."
"Deal."
Jess collapsed into his bed that night. It's been a long, though productive and successful day on all fronts. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and lose himself to sleep. He'd just drifted off when his phone rang. He groaned, rolling over to glance at the clock. He'd been late getting out of the meeting he was in at work, and after work, he'd hit the gym. He ate on the way home, and it was now past 10. He'd been up since 4:30 this morning, and he could barely hold his eyes open. He wanted to answer it, in hopes it would be Erin, but the other option was it was his mom. He really needed to get that caller id thing, he thought to himself as he picked up the receiver.
"'Lo?"
"Jess! Honey, I've been calling like mad! Where've you been?"
"In Stars Hollow."
Great, it was his mom. Maybe he could just explain how tired he was, and she'd get off the phone. And maybe monkeys would fly out of his butt. Now his mind was completely off track, but she pulled him back to reality.
"Aw, that's nice. Did you stay with Luke and Lorelai?"
"I stayed at her inn, yeah."
"So, do you miss your mother?"
"Mom, it's really late. Can we do this some other time?"
"Jess, come on! I haven't talked to you in weeks!"
"Fine."
"So, how was Christmas?"
"It was fine. I was with Luke," he reiterated.
"Did you have special New Years plans?"
"I was with Luke."
"Is that your resident answer for everything I ask you?"
"Its just where I've been. That and work."
"Jess, you need to get out more. Date people. Have a life."
"Mom, I have a life. Really. I just really need sleep."
"Jess, I--," beep, beep, "hoped that," beep, beep.
"Mom, the call waiting's going off. I need to get that."
"Fine. But you call me as soon as you can."
"Alright. Bye."
"Bye, Whoever this is, thank you," he clicked over.
"Wow, that is the strangest way to answer the phone ever."
"Erin?"
"Yeah. So I guess I didn't wake you up?"
"No, my mother did. And you saved me from talking to her any longer. Thus, the gratitude."
She laughed. "So, I was thinking about earlier."
"Yeah."
"Well, you said you really wanted to try with me, right?"
"I meant it," he reassured her.
"I know. It's just that my brother just called me. Him and his boyfriend had reserved a weekend at an inn in Vermont this weekend, but they just had a wicked fight and broke up. He called and wanted to see if I wanted to use it instead. It's all prepaid for, non-refundable. He says it might as well go to good use. Are you free?"
"You want to take me?"
"You don't have to. I'd understand, I'll just take Gretchen or Kat or someone. I just thought, since we just decided to give this a try, getting away and just getting to spend some one on one getting to know you time might be good. See if it's worth anything, you know?"
"Sort of kill or be killed?"
"Exactly!"
He laughed, and found himself liking the idea of getting away one last weekend before classes started. And not to Stars Hollow, but away, with her.
"Sure."
"Great. I just have to be back early on Monday, my first class is at 8!"
"Damn. I've successfully gotten my last few classes down to perfect afternoon times. Of course, that just means I get to work in the am."
"Graduate school isn't as pick and choose as undergrad. But you'll understand that soon enough."
"Hey, I don't have that scholarship yet," he reminded. That was how they met, she had been accepted to NYU in the English department's graduate program on a full scholarship, and had interned just like Jess did when she was a senior. She worked as a receptionist for them still, because the money was good. They'd promised her a nice position when she graduated. Jess had been on the same track, and when she got wind of his situation through his boss, she talked about the program she was in with him. They'd met for dinner to discuss it, and that lead to another true date. Those kept piling on and before he knew it, they were in this relationship. That was when the holidays hit and he freaked out.
"You're a shoe in," she assured him, yawning. "I should get going. Night, Jess."
"Yeah, night."
He lay back in his bed, now suddenly awake, and smiled. They were going away together. This was new to him, too, the idea of going away with someone. Usually the point of his escape was to get away from someone. Maybe he'd call Rory or Tristan before he left, just to keep some sense in his head. Thinking that maybe some family was good for something, he rolled over and once again found the perfect position to lull him back to sleep.
AN: Ah! Who'll get pregnant? Maybe everyone (remember, Sookie already is!). Maybe no one! Heh heh heh! I feel a little evil and I enjoy it. Ooh, or maybe it'll be a race. . . Just kidding. There's a rough plan, I promise. I'm just enjoying the fluff. Oh, and I had this ready to go up 5/26 but ff.net wasn't cooperating with me. Grr. Wouldn't let me log in to upload this chap. Bit of a frustration in the middle of the night, when I am all sleep deprived and hopped up on caffeine, I digress.