Disclaimer: (It's been so long, I feel like I should have another one) All I own is the first TWO seasons on dvd, AND a Gilmore Girls coffee mug. :-D But nope, I don't own Gilmore Girls… not yet anyway.
A/N: I'm horrible. I leave you with a terrible cliffhanger and then it takes me forever to update. I haven't thought about this story in a while. But I thought and I wrote and I posted, so here you go.
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The few months after Liz and TJ's death were extremely hard, especially for Luke. He had now lost everybody in his immediate family. It was just Luke and Jess; at least they had each other. And of course, who could forget baby Jacquelyn. She really didn't like people forgetting about her, so she always made her presence known. Although she still couldn't do much, she did give the Dane's men and Gilmore girls something else to focus on besides the loss. She made their lives a little brighter and a little simpler which is important when something so complicated happens.
After some deliberation and debate and meetings with lawyers over Liz's informal and incomplete will, items were divided, decisions were made, and everything necessary was settled.
Chilton- AfternoonRory listens closely to the advice that Paris Gellar gives in her Valedictorian speech to the Chilton class of 2003. Rory had always thought that if she had given her schoolwork as much time as it deserved, she may have been able to beat Paris out for this honor. Due to her unusual and unexpected circumstances she had given up her dream to be Chilton's Valedictorian. She didn't know how she would feel once the time came when she would have to watch someone else being recognized for this accomplishment. Now that the time has come, she is nothing but thrilled for Paris. After all, she had been at this school for nearly her entire life, so she deserves it. Harvard would appreciate that. Rory could not be happier for Paris that her Harvard dream was going to come true.
Using her hand to shield her eyes from the sun, Rory tried to get a more clear view of Paris and tried to focus on her words of wisdom.
Rory looked down at her left ring finger. Jess had given her a small silver band as a promise ring after his mother and stepfather were killed. He explained that he needed to know that he and Rory were going to be together forever because he could not bear to lose Rory who meant the world to him. Rory saw her band glimmer in the sun. She looked back a few rows and spotted Jess. She sent him a loving glance.
After graduation, the couple, along with their guardians and Jacquelyn gathered at Luke's for a small celebration. Sookie had watched the baby for the day. Jacquelyn had taken quite a liking to Davie, and he to her as well.
As soon as Rory walked into Luke's, she headed immediately over to the baby, whom she now knew and loved as if she were her own baby girl. Jacquelyn cooed and begged to be handed over to Rory from Sookie. Rory took her and hugged her tightly.
Jess came over and smiled at the baby.
Her eyes lit up and she pointed at Jess, exclaiming, "Dess!!" She was learning to talk. That was pretty close.
"Yes Lyn, I'm Jess. Who's that again?" he asks referring to Rory.
"Ro-Ro!" She explained.
"Correct. Let's get some food, Ro-ro," Jess teased.
"Lead the way, Dess," Rory countered.
As the couple found plates and food, Jacquelyn alternated who got to hold her. Every few minutes she begged to be handed over to a new set of arms. She got what she wanted.
The graduation party was small, but included those who were important to Jess and Rory.
Lane walked into Luke's. She shrieked and ran to Rory's side. Jacquelyn was already in Rory's arms, but once Lane appeared she begged to be handed over to Lane who gladly took her and kissed her and explained to her how awesome Rory is. Lane then turned her attention away from Jacquelyn and began addressing Rory. Jacquelyn quickly became bored and upon seeing Lorelai's face, reached her small arms out to her. Lorelai obeyed her wishes.
Lane opened her arms to Rory and they hugged.
"Congratulations!" Lane exclaimed.
"Congratulations to you, too! I'm not the only one who graduated," Rory told her.
"It's so exciting! We're going to go to college!"
"I'm so glad Mrs. Kim is allowing you to choose your own college. We're going to have the greatest time! With you and Dave studying music in the city. It's going to be amazing!" Rory shrieks and continues. "You're going to be assigned a roommate and you can educate her about music of all kind and you can display your CDs and wow everybody with your knowledge and your overall awesomeness. Then you can make the other girls jealous by inviting Dave over and letting them ogle over him only to let them know that he is yours."
"That'll be the best! And you and Jess! You guys are the greatest. You'll totally have to invite Dave and me over to your place because I, no doubt will be stuck with a girl who will be listening to her Jessica and Ashlee CDs, not just to drive me crazy… but because she actually likes them. Then she'll spend her time joining a sorority, but when she invites four bubbly, girly, sparkly Britney wannabe's, I'm going to need somewhere to go. You will be getting a call."
Lorelai glances over to where Rory and Lane are having their conversation.
"Yeah, you're totally welcome over anytime. But I mean, who knows how my roommate is going to be," Rory shot Lane a look.
"But I thought…" Lane started.
"Nope, I don't know who my roommate is either. We should find out at the end of the summer."
Lane raised her eyebrows at Rory. "Oh, I must have heard you wrong… anyway, we should get going. Dave has family coming for the big ceremony next week. We need to get the house ready. You'll be there, right?"
"Wouldn't miss it," Rory told her. Lane and Dave said their goodbyes and were on their way.
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After the party, Luke sent Jess and Rory upstairs with Jacquelyn while Lorelai kept Luke company downstairs.
Luke's Apartment-Rory walked out of the bathroom and silently watched Jess lay Jacquelyn down to bed and stroke her cheek with the back of his index finger.
She crept over to him and they watched the child in unison. Rory lovingly rubbed Jess's back. She rubbed a little harder, a little more excitedly, kissed his cheek, promised she'd be right back and walked out of the room.
Rory entered the room a few minutes later with a shiny gift bag.
She was smiling. "For you," she held the bag out so it was within Jess's reach.
"Rory, I thought we agreed we weren't getting each other presents for graduation."
"Well, I lied. Plus, it's not that big of a deal. Plus, I owe you. Just open it."
"Fine. Hand it over." Rory followed directions and Jess unraveled the tissue paper to discover the contents of the bag.
He held a bright red mug in front of him with "Gilmore" written in script on either side. She and her mother had matching ones and always used them when they were drinking coffee at home.
"Rory..." Jess started.
"I want you to have it."
"I'm sorry… I don't understand. What do you want me to do with this?"
"Allow me to explain. You gave me a promise ring. I know that you are all in this relationship. I figured it was my turn to reciprocate. And I was thinking, what could I give Jess so that he would know that I would always need him. I love coffee almost as much as I love you. I figured as long as you own my favorite and most prized coffee mug, you know that I am yours and that you can't get rid of me… at least until I get my mug back."
"That's sweet Rory. This is going to mean that you're going to be at Luke's more than you were before, if that's even possible."
"Bad?" Rory smirked at him.
"Not at all," Jess gave her a peck and tried to deepen the kiss, but Rory pulled away.
R: "Jess."
J: "Rory."
R: "I have something serious to discuss with you. We really need to take our time and talk about this together before we can talk about it with other people like my mom and Luke."
J: "Rory, what's this about?"
R: "We need to discuss, once and for all, our living arrangements for next year."
J: "Okay, we're living together. Done." Jess smiles and tries to kiss Rory again. She stops him.
R: "I've been thinking about this a lot, and I hope you're not joking because I think that would be the best arrangement."
J: "Ror, we've already talked about this. Of course I'd rather live with you than live with someone random that they somehow believe I will be able to get along with when a lifetimes worth of experience would seem to prove those odds as very unlikely."
R: "So if it was you, me, and Jacquelyn, do you think we could work it out?"
J: "Yeah. One of us will take early morning classes and one of us will take classes in the afternoon and evening. Thereby sharing the babysitting responsibility and if we get in a jam, there is a daycare center on campus."
R: "We will be using that the least amount possible, but it is an option."
J: "Agreed."
R: "Do you think we're going to be able to handle Jacky without the help of Luke and Mom?"
Jess looked from Rory to the crib.
J: "I'm sure of it."
R: "So, now what?"
J: "Road trip?"
R: "What? Why?"
J: "We need to find a place."
R: "We need to tell Luke and Lorelai that this is our final decision. We need to make sure they're going to be okay with it. You know, they have offered to take care of her."
J: "I know."
R: "But, they both work, and they both need to work during the day. It will be much easier for us to work out."
J: "Ror, this is not about convenience. It is something of a lifetime commitment."
R: "I know it is, you're right. I do want this. I'm sure I'm ready for it."
J: "Good, so we'll tell Luke and Lorelai."
R: "Yes we will."
J: "Then we'll take a road trip." Jess smirks, Rory smirks back.
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A/N: Thanks for reading. Once again I apologize for not updating sooner. Hopefully more will be up soon. If you review... I'll give you a cookie!