Rudy Can't Fail #8
Nadia smiled as they reached her parents' apartment door. "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be," Jess muttered.
"They're nice people," Nadia snickered. She took hold of the handle, and Jess stopped her for a moment.
"You don't knock?"
She gave him an odd glance. "Why would I?"
He shrugged uneasily. "I don't know."
Nadia sighed and turned to him, taking his hands. "Relax.... Carl and Rita Henderson are not flesh-eating zombies."
He nodded.
She smiled and kissed him briefly before swinging the door open. "Ma?! Dad?!"
"In the kitchen!"
She took Jess by the hand and led him through the spacious apartment and into the narrow kitchen, where Carl and Rita Henderson sat, Carl, with what looked to be a broken toaster in his hands, and Rita, with a half-knitted scarf.
"Hey!" Nadia smiled, hugging each parents in turn.
"Hi, Sweetie," Rita smiled. "Have a good week?"
Nadia gave a nod, and took Jess's hand again. "Ma, Dad, this is my boyfriend, Jess."
Rita smiled widely and got to her feet, holding out her hand. "Hi. I'm Nadia's mom."
He nodded and shook her hand. "Mrs. Henderson."
"Oh, please!" Rita snickered. "Call me Rita." She nudged Nadia and whispered. "My god, he's cute. Where did you find him?"
Nadia rolled her eyes. "Dad?"
"Just a minute, Nadia," he muttered, still tinkering with the toaster.
Jess blinked. "I uh... I can fix that... if..."
Carl looked up. "Can you? The only think I can seem to fix is a piano, these days."
Jess nodded and took the toaster from him. "Gotta fork?"
Nadia snickered.
"It's quite an interesting business," Carl explained. "Pianos are beautiful instruments..."
Jess nodded and stared blankly at the older man. Carl Henderson was a very thin man of about five-nine and had graying, thinning hair. He had been talking about making and fixing pianos for an hour.
Jess nodded again.
"So, how long have you two been seeing each other?" Rita asked as she and Nadia washed and dried the dishes.
"Not long... a little over a month now, I think."
Rita grinned. "He's adorable."
"He is," Nadia agreed.
"Your kids will be beautiful."
Nadia stopped drying the dishes. "Pardon?"
"I'm just saying..."
"Ma..."
"He'd probably be a wonderful father..."
Nadia's eyes widened. "Ma!"
"What?!"
Nadia rolled her eyes.
"Well, that was embarrassing," Nadia muttered as they entered Jess's apartment.
Jess smirked and rolled his eyes. "It wasn't bad."
Nadia raised an eyebrow at him. "My mother all but asked you if you were impotent."
Jess smirked. "It wasn't that bad."
"You're just saying that," she pouted.
"You know what's bad?" Jess asked. "Being introduced to your mother's boyfriend, who wants to draw your portrait on his Etch-E-Sketch."
Nadia gave him a blank stare.
He nodded. "Exactly."
Nadia snickered.
"Not so bad?" Jess asked.
She shook her head and wrapped her arms around him. "Not so bad."
He nodded and leaned down to kiss her. She pulled him closer, running a hand through his hair, and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
And then Jess's cell phone rang.
"Jeez," he muttered as he pulled away from her. He unhooked one arm from around Nadia and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Hello?"
"Jess?"
He tensed up. "Liz."
She sniffed. "Oh, Jess, it's awful! TJ threw this horrible temper tantrum!"
Jess sighed and rested his head on Nadia's shoulder. "Where are you?"
"Stars Hollow."
He lifted his head. "Why?"
"We bought a house here."
"Huh."
"And we were talking about..." she sniffled. "About getting some drapes, and we started arguing and I went into the other room and by the time I came back out he was gone!"
Jess sighed. "Jackass..."
"I know!" Liz squeaked. "Why do all the men in my life run away!"
Jess clenched his jaw.
"I mean, all of them! Well, except Luke, and..."
"I gotta go."
"Jess?"
"Bye, Liz." He hung up and stared at the phone.
Nadia ran a gentle hand down his cheek. "Hey."
He nodded.
"You okay?"
He gave another nod.
"You don't look okay," she told him.
He leaned down and kissed her.
Luke groaned when someone knocked on the door a few hours later. Liz and TJ were still fighting in his bedroom, and he'd busied himself with cleaning up after his date with Lorelai.
He walked over and swung to door open, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of the person on the other side. "Jess."
He sighed. "They here?"
Luke nodded, rolling his eyes. "They won't leave. They're still arguing."
"Jeez."
"What're you doing here?" Luke asked, letting him in.
Jess shrugged as he walked in and slumped onto the couch. "Just... wanted to stop by."
"Where's Nadia?"
"Sleeping," Jess replied. "I left her a note."
Luke nodded, and the fighting from the other room got louder.
"I remember that tone of voice," Jess mused. "She used that tone when she found pot in my room."
"Which is funny," Luke chuckled. "Because last year when she visited, she found a bag of pot she'd been hiding from dad for over nineteen years."
"Huh."
"Wanna beer?" Luke asked.
"Please."
Luke nodded and got up, heading for the fridge. "You stayin' here the night?"
"You mind?" Jess asked. "Tomorrow's my day off... I'll be out of your hair by noon."
"You haven't been in my hair for a while, Jess," Luke smirked. He walked back over, handing his nephew a bottle and sitting down next to him.
"Good to know," Jess replied. "Liz called me tonight... I guess right after their first fight."
"Oh yeah?"
Jess sighed and nodded.
"That bad, huh?"
He nodded again. "She's right. You're the only guy she's ever been close to who doesn't run away."
"Jess..."
"I don't wanna run anymore," he said softly. "I'm twenty... I'm too old to be running."
Luke stayed silent.
"I'm not Jimmy."
Luke sighed and pulled Jess into a gruff hug. "You're not."
"Feels like I am," Jess muttered, pulling away slowly.
"Jess-"The phone rang, cutting Luke off. He sighed, and leaned over to grab it. "Hello?"
"Hi, Cheesecake Man."
Luke smirked. "Hi. What's up?"
"Rory's here."
"Good. That was the plan, right?"
"She's really drunk," Lorelai sighed. "She just... stumbled in, slurred out a 'hi, Mom,' and went to bed... still in her dress and tiara."
"Tiara?" Luke asked.
Jess raised an eyebrow.
"I just don't know what to do," Lorelai sighed. "God... she's... she's turning into what I was supposed to be..."
"You want me to come over?"
"Are Liz and TJ still fighting?" Lorelai asked.
"Yeah, but Jess is here to keep them from hurting each other," Luke replied.
"Jess is there?" Lorelai asked.
"Yeah, Liz called him and he showed up."
"Wow," Lorelai said. "That's so... not Jess..."
"It is now," Luke replied, giving Jess's head a light shove. "You want me over or not?"
"Nah," Lorelai replied. "You stay there and bond. I'll call Sookie."
"You sure?"
"Yup. Go do manly things with your nephew."
Luke nodded. "Okay. See you tomorrow."
"You will," Lorelai said.
Luke hung up and sighed, glancing at Jess. "Wanna play cards?"
Jess smirked and nodded.