Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with The Gilmore Girls; it is all the property of Amy Sherman-Palladino. I do own a few individual characters as well as the plot, but there's really no point in suing me because I don't own anything of value.

Chapter Four

"What are you doing?" Luke asked.

Luke had just closed the diner and had come upstairs to the apartment to say goodbye to Jess and Anna. Jess was on his laptop, working on his latest book review.

"Work," he replied, not looking up from the screen.

"Hey, Jess," Luke said casually, sitting down. "You work from home right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, do you ever go into the office?"

"Not anymore," Jess said, finally looking up, curious as to where this conversation was heading. "Again, why?"

"Well I was just thinking. You've got a kid now and New York isn't the greatest place to raise one, especially not a girl."

"Luke, no."

"Jess come on, why not? She'd be happy here. I know you don't like it much, but it'd be the perfect place to raise her. You could still work for the Times or try and get a job at the Hartford Gazette."

"Luke, I'm not moving here. This place hates me, what makes you think they'll like my daughter?"

"Trust me, with a bit of persuasion from Lorelai, she'll be the new town princess."

"I don't want her to be the new town princess. I want her to be Anna Mariano, not Anna Gilmore."

"Jess-"

"No, Luke. She's not Rory, don't you, Lorelai or anyone else try to make her into some smaller version of her."

"Geez, Jess. I wasn't implying that. You're too presumptuous. The whole world isn't out to get you, least of all me. I'd just like you to stick around and I wouldn't mind seeing Anna grow up either."

Jess didn't reply.

"I'm going, don't bother opening up tomorrow, in fact don't even come down, we wouldn't want people to think Anna's turning out like Rory by spending time in the diner."

Luke turned on his heel and stalked out the door. If Anna hadn't been asleep, Jess was positive he would have slammed it. However, despite his anger, Luke had definitely given Jess something to think about.

The following day, Jess packed Anna into the car and headed to Hartford. He didn't feel much like spending the day in Stars Hollow and had his Christmas shopping to do anyway.

He pulled up at the biggest mall Hartford had and bundled Anna into her stroller. At first, Jess just walked past shop after shop but then he decided to start looking for gifts.

He bought Luke a flannel shirt with a matching flannel hat and bought Lorelai a coffee cup that said "Queen of Coffee". He bought a few friends from New York some gifts before he went to the bookstore to take a look.

He was browsing through the books when Anna dropped her teddy bear on the floor. However, before he could bend down to pick it up, an elderly man standing nearby did so, handing it back to Anna.

"That's a beautiful girl you've got there," the man said to Jess, smiling kindly.

"Thank you."

"Ah, Salinger, brilliant author," the man said, pointing at the book Jess had in his hands.

Jess had picked up Wonderful Town: New York Stories from the New Yorker by J.D Salinger as a possible gift idea for Rory.

"You like to read?" the man asked.

"Yeah, but this is a gift for an old friend."

"Who's your favourite author?"

"Hemingway."

"Ah, brilliant man."

"Yeah," Jess said, turning back to the bookshelf.

"So, what brings you to Hartford?" the man asked, breaking Jess' thoughts again. "You don't look like you're from around here."

"I'm not," Jess replied. "I'm from New York, I'm here visiting my uncle. He lives in Stars Hollow."

"Really," cried the man. "My daughter lives in Stars Hollow, maybe you know her. Her name is Lorelai Gilmore."

"You're Richard Gilmore?" Jess asked, remembering Rory's grandfather's name.

"Why yes, I am. Who are you and how do you know my name?"

"My name is Jess Mariano," Jess said sticking out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you Jess," Richard said, shaking his hand. "But I'm still confused as to how you know who I am."

"I'm afraid to tell you," Jess said. "You may not like me anymore."

"Well, I'll tell you what," Richard said. "Why don't we have a cup of coffee, discuss Hemingway some more, I'll decide if I like you and then you can tell me."

Jess agreed, not really wanting to but feeling obliged. He quickly paid for the book and pushed Anna after Richard, sitting down at a small café table.

"So Jess, do you attend college?" Richard asked after ordering them both a cappuccino.

"I do by correspondence," Jess replied. "The guy who hired me made me promise to do some sort of English course."

"What are you studying?"

"English Lit."

"Wonderful. And what do you do to raise this gorgeous little girl?" he asked, indicating toward Anna.

"I'm a book reviewer for The New York Times," Jess replied.

"Oh, wonderful. What's your penname? I find it annoying that you reviewers don't put your real name, but the penname's can be interesting. My favourite is Dodger, I read his or her reviews every week."

"Well, well, well," Jess said smiling. "Nice to know I've got a fan."

"You're Dodger?" Richard cried, his eyes widening. "My, my, my, what are the chances? I love your reviews; you provide an absolutely unique point of view, fantastic. My granddaughter and I have many intellectual debates about books and your reviews definitely give me a few pointers. Fortunately, she doesn't read your paper or I'd lose all the time."

Jess smiled. He too had had countless debates on books with Rory. He decided now was the best time to tell Richard exactly who he was. He opened his mouth to speak but was immediately interrupted.

"Mr Gilmore?'

Jess looked up and his mouth dropped open. The man he'd seen in the photo with Rory was standing beside him, smiling at Richard.

"David!" Richard greeted, getting up and shaking the other man's hand. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on my way up to see Rory and I thought I'd stop and do a bit of Christmas shopping."

"Ah yes," Richard replied smiling. "Oh, David, this is Jess. Jess, this is my granddaughters boyfriend. Jess somehow knows Lorelai but he won't tell me how."

"Nice to meet you Jess," David said, shaking his hand.

"You too," Jess mumbled.

"I didn't think you were arriving until after Christmas," Richard asked.

"Oh, I wasn't supposed to. But Rory rang me panicked. Apparently an ex-boyfriend of hers showed up with a baby and she wanted some re-enforcements. Anyhow, it was lovely to see you Richard, nice to meet you Jess, but I really must be off."

Richard didn't even reply as realization crept over his face. Jess grimaced.

"You're the boy who broke her arm."

"Told you you'd hate me," Jess said.

"I don't hate you, Jess," Richard said sighing, sitting back down. "After all, you do write one fantastic book review."

Jess smiled weakly, still expecting Richard to blow up at him.

"I do, however, hope you drive much more safely with this little one on board."

"Of course, Mr Gilmore."

"Please, call me Richard. Now, I'm curious, what exactly are your intentions with my granddaughter? Come back to woo her again?" he asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"Well," Jess began. He couldn't help but smile at his new friend; he could definitely be of a lot of use.