Rudy Can't Fail #17

"So let me get this straight," Jess said, trying to hold back laughter. "You…lost the ribbon war with Lorelai…You bought a Reggae CD…you found Kirk, naked, in Lorelai's garage, and Emily Gilmore showed up at the diner again, to tell you off about…uhm…not getting back together with Lorelai, even though you already did?"

Luke nodded as he carried a box of CD's up to Jess's apartment. "That about sums it up."

"And then Lorelai told her to shut up?"

"That she did," Luke nodded again.

"That's some week," Jess commented as he opened his door and set down the box he'd been carrying.

"How was yours?" Luke asked as he sat on one of the two couches that now inhabited the small living room area.

"I worked…I tried to get Nadia to pack…I worked some more…I read about three books…and I wound up packing most of Nadia's stuff."

"What?" Luke asked.

Jess sighed. "It turns out, that when it comes to packing, my girlfriend is the biggest procrastinator in the entire world."

"Oh, yeah?"

"She would spend about ten minutes packing, and then remember some weird thing she had to do," Jess explained. "She packed three pairs of jeans, and then curled her hair…she packed part of her movie collection and then had to go out and buy a metronome."

"That's…"

"Freakish?" Jess asked.

"Don't tell me you're having second thoughts," Luke teased.

"No," Jess replied stubbornly. "I just…" He sighed. "I've never done this before."

"First time for everything," Luke replied. "I've never been yelled at by Emily Gilmore before."

Jess tried not to laugh.

"Hey!"

"I'm sorry," Jess chuckled. "It's just…you're Luke. You yell at everybody. You've kicked entire rooms full of people out into the cold…just the image of that woman yelling at you…"

"Don't joke," Luke snapped. "A couple of years ago that could have been your fate."

Jess sighed. "And now I have Rita Henderson asking what we plan on naming her grandchildren."

"I really gotta meet Nadia's parents sometime."

"I don't know about that," Jess warned. "They're pretty different from us…and her sister? Scary."

"Sheila, right?"

Jess nodded. "Sheila. Crazy girl; likes to pinch cheeks."

"Ow," Luke muttered.

The door opened and closed and Nadia walked in, carrying a couple of bags. She looked over the room and grinned from ear to ear. "We have two couches."

"How many times is she gonna say that?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"God only knows," Jess replied.

Nadia plopped down on Jess's lap and smiled. "Two couches. I've never had two couches before." She turned to Jess, her grin still in place. "We could build a fort with two couches!"

"We could."

"Can we build a fort?" Nadia asked.

Jess shook his head. "We've got a bedroom."

"But forts are fun," Nadia pleaded. "We can turn off all the lights and sit there and…"

Jess raised an eyebrow. "And…?"

"You're right," Nadia shrugged. "We have a bedroom."

Luke's cell phone rang and he sighed as he dug it out of his pocket. "Hello?"

He heard Lorelai smile from the other. "Hi!"

Luke smirked. "Hey." He mouthed "Lorelai" to Nadia and Jess.

Nadia made kissing noises, and Jess rolled his eyes.

Lorelai snickered. "Hanging out in New York, huh?"

"Nadia moved the rest of her stuff into Jess's apartment today," Luke explained. "Thought I'd help…and, y'know, mock."

"Good plan," Lorelai said. "You gonna be around tonight?"

"Most likely," Luke replied.

"You gonna drag those crazy, crazy kids back with you?" Lorelai asked. "I wanna mock Jess for being able to commit."

"You're a cruel woman," Luke shook his head. He sighed. "If they're not too busy, I might bring them along."

"We have two couches!" Nadia yelled, loud enough for Lorelai to hear.

"They have two couches," Lorelai repeated.

"Two couches?" asked a voice on Lorelai's end.

"Rory's there with you?" Luke asked.

"She is," Lorelai said. "We're doing lunch."

"Ah," Luke nodded. "Tell her I say hi."

"I say hi, too," Jess chimed in.

Nadia smiled. "Oh! Me, too! Hi, Rory!"

Lorelai laughed. "They say hi."

"Hi," Rory's voice sounded again, this time with a tinge of laughter.

"She says hi," Luke told the couple on the other couch.

Nadia smiled, and then looked around. "Two couches!"

Jess shook his head and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. "Crazy."

She kissed his forehead. "Sorry."

Luke sighed into the phone. "I'll let you ladies get back to your lunch and see what I can do about getting Nadia unpacked."

"Good luck," Lorelai smiled. "Bye."

Luke hung up his phone and then turned to Jess and Nadia. "So…unpacking."

Nadia nodded, and then something like realization dawned on her. "Dry cleaning!" She hopped up from Jess's lap and headed for the door.

Jess groaned. "Here we go again."

Luke smirked and shook his head.