Family Portrait

A/N: At the beginning of the story I never would have guessed that any of this would've happened, but it has. I'm really devoted to finishing his story off but I have no idea how long it is going to be. I know you guys have waited a long time and I'm sorry, I hope this is as good as the rest has been, if not better, and I hope it's all you built it up to be. I promise I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP. In the meantime, please read and review!

Chapter 13 The Longest Day: Part 1

Rory glanced nervously at Tristan as they stood in the line waiting to sign-in to the dance marathon. She was wide awake, having been up all night contemplating how she was supposed to tell Tristan he was about to become the father of her baby. Next to her Tristan's eyes drooped with sleepiness and his blonde hair fell in front of his eyes. He had arrived in Stars Hollow Friday afternoon and had stayed at the Inn; Rory had woken him up less than a half-hour earlier.

They stepped up to the table where Babette was sitting with the paper they were supposed to sign with. Stars Hollow High loomed ahead, a monument of Rory's past. Babette grinned up at the couple; they had been getting that a lot since they had showed up together that morning. The town saw this as a sign that Rory was finally over Luke's hooligan nephew from New York. "Morning sugar," Babette greeted, "You look wonderful".

"Thanks," Rory smiled and leaned over to sign her and Tristan in.

"Okay you two, go and get you physicals," Babette told them, "And then take your release forms in to get your numbers."

"Alright," Rory nodded and dragged Tristan away down the sidewalk.

"This better be good," Tristan grumbled sleepily.

"It will be," Rory assured him, "Andrew and his date will get into a fight fifteen minutes in. Taylor will get drunk at hour fifteen and talk about how he always wanted to be a magician. And if Kirk wins, my mother will kill us as he does his victory lap to the Rocky theme."

"Any chance I can sneak any of that stuff Taylor will be drinking?" Tristan asked.

"Not a chance," Rory shook her head. She spotted Lane and Dave then, heading towards them; their numbers already pinned on. Lane noticed them too and raced over.

"Hey!" she greeted, too perky for that early in the morning.

"Hi," Rory nodded, "You two get your physical yet?"

"Yeah," Lane nodded, "We're going to go see if we can grab a spot on the floor and maybe find Paris and Jamie. They were ahead of us when we got here."

"Just like Paris," Rory shrugged, "Always has to be the first to everything." Lane waved and ran off to join Dave. Rory watched them go, they were really going to last forever. That much Rory knew. Their love was the only thing that in the universe that didn't seem in ruins.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Tristan mentioned to her after they finished their physicals. Rory looked him over and grinned. Her mom had fixed up the clothes she had made Luke last year after convincing him to be her dance partner. They had lost, of course, Luke having let go of Lorelai's hand after Kirk had provoked him.

"It'll be fun," Rory assured him, dragging Tristan over to the coffee stand Luke was setting up. "Hey Luke, Mom said you had coffee for us."

"Here," Luke grudgingly handed Rory the thermos of coffee, knowing better than to deprive her of coffee that morning.

"Thank you," Rory chirped as she and Tristan headed off towards the stands.

Jess sullenly followed Kate onto the dance floor. As usual she carried her camera with her but Jess was certain that she would put it away within an hour of starting the marathon. He didn't know how she had convinced him to come here, and participate on top of that. She wore a dress she had found at a thrift shop in New York, it was a pale blue and ended just above her knees.

Looking around Jess spotted Lane and Dave chatting with Paris and her boyfriend Jamie, past them on the stands was Rory in a pink poodle skirt and white blouse beside her was her date, a blonde man, Tristan, he remembered. They were drinking coffee from a thermos that Jess guessed Luke had given them.

The music already hummed lightly and Jess noticed other townies joining them on the dance floor. Some gave him odd looks; other just ignored him completely. Jess didn't care. He didn't like them either. They were nuts as far as he was concerned. "Jess?" he heard Kate call him, and Jess turned to her.

"Huh?" Jess asked.

"You okay with doing this?" she wondered, "I know you're not much of a joiner."

"It's fine," Jess shrugged.

"I'm going to go snap some shots before this starts," Kate informed him. Jess nodded and watched Kate walk off, snapping a photo every once and a while. She wouldn't ask people to pose for her, Kate preferred to capture real life than just people putting on faces.

Jess watched Kate for a while before he headed over to see Luke at his coffee stand. Luke looked up and nodded hello to Jess. "The town's crazy," Luke grumbled.

"Just noticing now?" Jess inquired.

"Lorelai should be here later," Luke said, "With Lucas. And Liza." Jess nodded, he figured as much.

"I'm dancing," Jess told his uncle.

"What?" that seemed to surprise Luke. Jess hadn't told anyone but Rory that he and Kate were entering.

"Kate's making me," he shrugged.

"Huh," Luke grunted.

"Yeah..." Jess looked out into the crowd, he looked over to Rory, "He the father?"

"You know?" Luke furrowed his eyebrows, more surprised by this than by the fact that Jess had entered the marathon.

"Yeah," Jess nodded, "She told me."

"He is," Luke confirmed, "Jess..."

"I'm not going to do anything," Jess cut off.

"Good," Luke cleared his throat and looked at his nephew. Even after four years, their communication skills had not improved.

"ALL DANCERS REPORT TO THE DANCE FLOOR," Taylor's voice boomed on the microphone, "FIVE MINUTES UNTIL THE START OF THE MARATHON."

"I better go find Kate," Jess announced and nodded his goodbye to Luke.

Rory and Tristan joined Lane, Dave, Paris and Jamie on the dance floor just as Taylor began to make the announcement about all the rules and regulations of the dance marathon. Tristan looks over at Rory in disbelief as Taylor blew the air horn.

When Taylor was done Rory left Tristan to return to the coffee and wandered over to where she had spotted Sookie and Jackson on the dance floor. The couple saw Rory approaching and Sookie broke away from her husband. "Hey!" she greeted, "Lorelai called me and told me everything."

"I figured she would," Rory shrugged, "How you guys doing?"

"Fine, fine," Sookie waved her hands about, "So, which one is he?"

"Which one is who?" Rory asked, raising a brow. It was too early in the morning for her and honestly, she could never be quite sure what Sookie St. James was talking about.

"Tristan," Sookie clarified.

"Oh, that would be the blonde way over there with the coffee thermos," Rory told her, pointing across the room, "He's not much of a morning person."

"Wow, you're mother said he was good-looking," Sookie grinned, "But, wow."

"Sookie," Jackson reminded his wife that he was present.

"Oh, hush," Sookie shook her head at Jackson, "I'm allowed to look."

"Well, I better get back there before the marathon start," Rory told them, "I just wanted to say hi."

"Ok, well, hi!" Sookie giggled and waved as Rory returned to Tristan.

"Hey," she greeted, "Ready to start?"

"Sure we can't back out?" Tristan wondered.

"Do you want my mother to kill us?" Rory reminded him. Tristan contemplated that a second before offering Rory his arm. "Good choice," Rory grinned.

It was fifteen minutes into the dance before the two couples ran into each other. Rory and Tristan had been having as much of a good time as possible when she looked up the find Jess and Kate swaying near by. Of course, Rory couldn't help but mumble a hello to him.

"Hey," Jess nodded in return.

"Rory!" Kate exclaimed, "Who's your date?"

"Oh, Tristan this is Jess and Kate," Rory introduced, "Guys this is Tristan. We used to go to Chilton together." Kate smiled at Tristan and removed her hand from Jess' shoulder to shake Tristan's, the two men just nodded silently at each other.

"Is Lorelai bringing Liza by later?" Kate wanted to know, "I have something to give her. If you don't mind."

"Not at all," Rory shook her head, "Liza always loves getting gifts, and she really likes you too."

"I'm glad," Kate smiled, "She's such a wonderful kid."

"I know," Rory couldn't help but smile as well, "She's as good as they come."

"She is," Kate nodded, "I just wanted to make sure it was alright with you. I mean, I didn't want you to feel like I was imposing."

"Not at all," Rory kept her smile plastered on even though now it had sunk its way down to fake. It wasn't Kate having a present for Liza that bothered her; it was the situation they were in right now.

"Great," Kate nodded happily. Silence ensued that comment. There wasn't much else to say, the men were beginning to size each other up and both Tristan and Jess had a fixed glare on each other. Only Rory seemed to notice this because she was the only one looking for it.

Tristan whirled Rory away as soon as the conversation was apparently over. Rory sighed and looked up at him. If only he knew that he were about to be in Jess' shoes, almost. You couldn't exactly compare the two situations but they were similar. Rory glanced over at the countdown clock and her frown deepened, only 20 minutes had passed since the marathon had commenced.

"Everything alright?" Tristan asked. Rory turned back to face him and tried her hardest to smile.

"Fine," she shrugged.

"You know what Fine stands for right?" Tristan wondered with a smirk.

"Don't you dare quote The Italian Job Tristan DuGray," Rory warned, "Or I will not speak to you for the rest of the night."

"Freaked-Out, Insecure, Neurotic and…" Tristan continued on, but Rory cut him off.

"I wonder why I even try," she groaned.

"Come on Mary, you know that you wouldn't last twenty-four hours without talking to me," Tristan chuckled.

"Want to bet?" Rory questioned, "We Gilmores are pretty good at holding a grudge. Just ask Luke."

"I'll take your word for it," Tristan smirked. Lane and Dave danced up to them then, Lane's brilliant smile never fading.

"Hey!" Lane greeted, "How's it going?"

"It's only been twenty minutes," Tristan mentioned, "And I'm ready to leave."

"This is only my second Dance Marathon," Dave told him, "I watched them every other year until Lorelai convinced Lane that we had to help her bring Kirk down."

"She did not," Lane protested, "I just thought it would be fun."

"And another way to rebel against Mama Kim since she's taken a liking to Dave," Rory added, "How are Paris and Jamie doing?"

"I think they're in a fight," Lane informed Rory, "It sounded pretty nasty."

"It's Jamie and Paris though," Rory shrugged, "They fight and then make up."

"I don't know Ror," Lane gave her friend a sad look, "I've heard them fight too, but nothing like this."

Paris was fuming. Twenty minutes into this stupid Stars Hollow event and Jamie had already picked a fight with her. She wanted to yell and lash out at him but they were in the middle of a dance floor with most of Stars Hollow around them. "This is great," Paris hissed, "You do this in the middle of a crowd where you know I can't yell at you!"

"Do what?" Jamie asked defensively.

"Pick this stupid argument with me!" Paris exclaimed, "You're always doing this!"

"Paris it was just a simple question," Jamie reminded her, "It's something we've talked about."

"And I told you what I thought!" Paris tone was rising, "And you still asked me! In the middle of this dance marathon!"

"I love you, you know that right?" Jamie asked.

"That doesn't matter!" Paris argued.

"Yes it does!" Jamie snapped, "I just asked you to marry me and you're blowing up at me. Most girls would say yes and cry after they've been with their boyfriend after four years! I didn't expect you to cry, but to start yelling at me! To act like I just broke up with you!"

"But I told you already!" Paris took a deep breath, "I don't want to get married. We talked about this."

"Well I want to get married," Jamie mentioned, "I want to have a wedding and kids."

"Marriage always ends up with both people being miserable," Paris said, "Look at my parents! Look at your parent!"

"They didn't love each other," Jamie pointed out, "Not like us."

"You are so naïve!" Paris was shouting now, people were turning and looking at them, "Love this, love that! Love doesn't solve everything."

"Paris I can't stay with you if this is going nowhere," Jamie sighed, letting go of Paris' hand and walking odd.

"You can't walk away from me Jamie!" Paris shouted after him, following him off the dance floor. Her temper was rising. The nerve of that man, asking her to marry him and in a public place on top of that.

Rory watched Paris and Jamie storm off the dance floor and the number of couples flip down one. She wanted to run after Paris and remind her that Jamie was supposed to be her one true love and that was reason enough to get married. Rory had head Paris' marriage argument before and disagreed completely with it. She knew that one day maybe Paris would change her mind about marriage, she just hoped that it wouldn't be too late.

"You have your yellow card," Tristan reminded her, "Go after her."

"Okay," Rory nodded and pulled out the yellow card, flashing it in the air and she ran off the dance floor and after her roommates.

It took her a minute to find Paris sitting alone in the gazebo, tears streaming down her cheeks. Rory approached her friend and sat down next to her. "He's gone," Paris muttered, "Got into his car and drove off."

"He'll come back," Rory assured her, "He always does. He just needs to cool down."

"I blew it Rory," Paris muttered, "I really blew it. He's not coming back, not this time."

"Paris..." Rory trailed.

"No," Paris shook her head brusquely, "Don't. Go back there. You have enough to deal with without trying to comfort me and my lame problems."

"They're not..." Rory began but Paris cut her off.

"Go!" she exclaimed. Rory sighed and obeyed Paris, heading back to the dance floor where Tristan, Lane, and Dave were all waiting for her.

When she got back they all gave her questioning looks and Rory shook her head, "He's gone."

"Shit," Tristan cursed, "How's Paris holding up?" Tristan had only met Jamie a month ago but he knew that he was good for Paris and that Paris loved him a lot. The two were perfect for each other, complemented each other in every way. He had gotten all of this from only one real encounter with the two of them, but it was true. Tristan also knew Paris well enough from all those years in high school. She wouldn't take this well.

"I don't know," Rory told him honestly, "She's Paris, she never really lets you know what she's really feeling. She doesn't think he's coming back."

"What do you think?" Tristan asked, raising a brow and watching her carefully. Rory bit her lip and shrugged a little, looking up at him. She didn't know if Jamie was going to come back. She hoped to god that he would, for Paris' sake, for his own sake even. Paris needed him, and she loved him. Even though she didn't want to get married right now Rory was sure she would want to one day.

"I don't know," she finally replied, in words. Her voice cracked a little, sadness filling it. She hated seeing this happen, hated seeing people who cared so much for each other end their relationship like this. Hated seeing it end altogether. She had been there from the beginning of their relationship, had watched it grow and had watched how different Paris became around him, with him. Paris had never been happier than when Rory saw her with Jamie.

Fourteen hours had passed and Paris now sat sulking on the benches next to Lorelai, Lucas and Liza, who was happily playing with some her toys and keeping occupied. Rory's feet ached and she leaned her head on Tristan's shoulder, his arms were wrapped around her, keeping her up and they moved slowly. "Can we quit yet?" She muttered.

"Well, if you really want to," Tristan smirked, "But need I remind you of your mother sitting on those benches over there looking very intimidating despite the fact that she's very, very pregnant?"

Rory opened her mouth to speak but she froze when she heard the blare of a horn and Taylor starting to shout nonsense in his megaphone. She groaned loudly, remembering what came next, the run-around. She looked at Tristan apologetically, "I'm sorry."

Tristan raised a suspicious eyebrow at her, and stepped back a little to look at her better, "Sorry for what exactly?"

"For not telling about this," Rory mentioned as they began to run around the circle, trying their hardest not to be in the last five. Lane and Dave were ahead of them, keeping good pace, she sensed that Jess was behind her, a tingling feeling running up and down her spine but she didn't let that stop her. She kept running, letting Tristan lead her. Her legs felt like rubber and she was tired, she didn't know how she let her mother convince her to do this again.

"Oh. Right," Tristan huffed, he was a few paces in front of Rory but she kept a hold of his hand so she could keep up and wouldn't fall behind. Finally, the horn sounded again and Taylor called a ten minute break. Rory headed over to get more coffee from Luke and went to join Tristan by Liza and Lorelai. Lane and Dave were there as well, Lane sitting by Paris trying to talk to her and Dave was beside Liza playing with her toys.

She reached the benches at the same time Jess and Kate did, Jess' arm wrapped around Kate's shoulder who was smiling brightly, camera in hands again and snapping pictures here and there without any notice. Liza looked up and smiled, just as Kate clicked a picture of her. "Heya!"

"Hey Liza," Kate greeted merrily and took a seat at the end of the bench, changing her film. Jess sat next to her, but caught Rory's eye. She held his gaze for a moment, before turning away and looking up at her daughter.

"Momma!" Liza hopped down the bench and wrapped her arms around her mother, "Grams bought me a new doll and a new book and she let me have all the chocolate I wanted for breakfast!" She was grinning broadly up at her mother.

"That's great sweetie," Rory told her, looking up at Lorelai who did her best to look innocent. Liza nodded and hopped back over to play with Dave again and Rory handed Tristan a cup of coffee of his own and went over to where Paris and Lane were.

As soon as she sat down though, Paris stood up. "Look, before you two start your tag team interrogation I don't want to talk about what happened with me and Jamie!" She looked Rory in the eyes then, behind her sadness Rory saw the same, fire and determination, the same bossy Paris she'd always known, "Plus, you have something more important to take care of. I think it would be better to do it now."

"She's right," Rory's gaze shifted to Lane, who had just spoken then. Her best friend nodded. Rory sighed. She knew they were right, knew that Paris could take care of herself and that Lane was there for her.

Hesitating a moment, Rory pulled herself to her feet and walked down the bleachers to where Tristan was standing. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Rory's voice came out in a whisper, "I need to talk to you about something. Something really important."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Tristan nodded as she took his hand and led him away from the crowd of the dance marathon, away from the music and laughing and over to the gazebo. Once there she sat down and looked at him carefully, her hands resting on her lap. After a moment of staring she looked down at her hands and took a deep breath, contemplating for the hundredth time how she was going to tell him this.

"What is it Mary?" Tristan asked, the tone of his voice told her he was concerned with the way she was acting. She couldn't hold it off any longer.

Taking one last, deep breath she looked up again. "Tristan, there's something I've got to tell you, something that could be considered pretty life-changing," she paused a moment, letting this first bit sink in. Finally, she spoke again, "I'm pregnant."