Chapter 27

"Jess, uh what are you doing here?" Rory asked stunned to see Jess.

"I could ask you the same thing." Jess said.

"It's good to see you Jess." Lucy said happily.

"You too, Luc. Now I ask you again, may I please take your order?"

"Yeah, two tacos with lettuce and cheese and apple juice." Rory said.

"Okay. It'll be ready in a few minutes." Since there was no one behind Rory and Lucy, Jess said, "So what brings you to Staten Island?"

"We're staying here for the weekend with Mom and Luke."

"So the two of them finally got together, huh?"

"Yeah…wait do you know they're getting married?" Rory asked.

"Married? No, I never heard it."

"Liz never told you?"

"Nope. Okay your food's ready."

"All that time in the diner finally paid off huh Jess?" Lucy said.

"Haha, you're funny. Maybe I'll talk to you later. Where are you staying?"

"We're staying at the Essex House in Manhattan."

"For how long?"

"We're going back Monday."

"Okay, I'll look you up. It's good to see you guys."

"You too. Why don't you go say 'hi' to Luke and Mom?"

"I'll catch them later."

"Okay…well bye Jess."

"Bye."

"Finally, what took you so long?" Lorelai said.

"We saw Jess. He was our server." Lucy said.

"Jess?" Luke said.

"Yeah."

"I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Lorelai asked. He didn't answer. Lorelai shrugged her shoulders. "Ew, apple juice, that's for babies."

"Stop complaining Mom." Rory said.

"Jess." Luke said.

"Well if it isn't Uncle Luke." Jess said sarcastically.

"What are you doing here?"

"Is everyone asking me that? I work here part time Luke, along with my other jobs."

"Other jobs?"

"Yes. I'm working to pay rent."

"Are you in school?"

"What is this, 20 Questions?"

"Answer the damn question."

"No, I'm not. I tried to get in, but I didn't."

"So you're throwing you're life away selling tacos? I always thought you were more than that, despite the fact that you weren't allowed to graduate."

"Hey, if you came here to give me lecture, I don't need it."

"I have an idea."

"What is it?" Jess said, but Luke left. "Luke, Luke!"

"What would you think if Jess moved back to Stars Hollow with us?"

"What?" Lorelai said.

"He isn't doing good on his own; I need to get him back on track."

"Well, I guess that's okay." Lorelai said unsurely.

"Okay." Luke said and nodded.

"Wait…Luke, Luke!"

"That was weird." Lucy said, taking a bite of Lorelai's taco.

"Hey, that's mine!" Lorelai said swatting her hand away.

"Jess, you're coming back to Stars Hollow." Luke said.

"What?" Jess said in shock.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you work here for the rest of your life? What about Liz?"

"What about Liz?"

"When was the last time you talked to her? No, no way, this is not healthy."

"I'm doing fine, Luke." Jess said unconvincingly.

"No you're not. I failed you Jess, and I'm not going to let it happen again."

"But-"

"No 'buts', meet us at the Essex Hotel in Manhattan tomorrow morning at 8:00. Is that understood?"

"Yes." Jess said reluctantly.

"Good. Now I'm gonna go back to…" Luke said pointing over to Lorelai.

"Oh yeah. Okay." Luke started to leave, but Jess said, "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Congratulations."

Luke smiled and said, "Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." He gave a little wave, and Jess nodded.

"What was that all about?" Lorelai said.

"I can't stand to see him like that. I had to do something. I'm not going to fail him again." Luke said sitting down beside Lorelai.

"When is he coming by?"

"I told him to meet us tomorrow morning at the hotel?"

"What's the sleeping arrangement going to be like then?" Rory asked.

"Ooh Rory's going to sleep with lover boy and I get the couch." Lucy teased.

"Shut up!"

"Oh shoot Rory, are you going to be okay with this?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, I mean sure it'll be a little awkward, but that's life."

"Okay."

"Sleeping arrangement s'il vous plait." Lucy said.

"English por favor." Lorelai said.

"That was French Mom."

"That was Spanish Lucy."

"Okay guys forget it." Rory said.

"Can we just go shopping now and figure out sleeping arrangements later?" Lucy asked.

"Fine. Let's go to…Babies R Us!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Ooh let's go!" Lucy said.

Lorelai, Rory, and Lucy got up and speed walked to Babies R Us, considering Lorelai wasn't able to run."

"Guys, wait up, Lorelai!" Luke called after them.

"Ooh check out this triple stroller!" Lorelai said in awe.

"It's so cute, look it even has cute little side pockets!" Lucy said.

"Aww, I want one." Lorelai said to Luke.

"You'll get one, we just don't need one yet." Luke said.

"Okay."

"Hey Luc, let's go look at baby clothes." Rory said.

"Okay." Lucy said. She and Rory went over to the clothes section while Luke and Lorelai continued to look at the strollers and car seats.

"Hey Luke?" Lorelai said.

"Yeah?" Luke said.

"Do you want to know the sex of the babies?"

"It doesn't matter, it's up to you."

"But you have a choice to you know. We can find out if you want to."

"Well, it would be nice to know, so you'll know what to buy, but on the other hand, I would also like to be surprised."

"Well, I don't really want to know. I like to be surprise, although I don't like surprises. It's kind of ironic actually. But I never knew for Rory and Lucy, so I guess we'll have to wait. If you want to, that is?"

"That's fine." Luke said giving Lorelai a kiss.

"Okay."

"Hey Mom, check out this cute 3 piece set for a girl, can we get it?" Lucy said excitedly.

"First of all, we don't even know what they are yet, and second of all, we don't want to." Lorelai said.

"Aww, why not?"

"We want to be surprised."

"But at least one of them has to be a girl."

"What makes you so sure?" Lorelai said raising her eyebrow.

"I have my ways."

"How about if we do get it, and there are no girls, you pay me back, and if there is a girl, it can be your present to her? How's that sound?"

"Yay!"

"Okay."

Author's Note: You guys are probably thinking that I have no idea what I'm doing. But I do. Don't forget to R&R!