Title: Like Jess, Like Eliza
Author: Hadlee May
Spoilers: Unless you didn't watch seasons, 1 - 4, then, no.
Summary: A 'prequel' to 'Worth Something', 16 years of Jess raising his daughter all by himself in less then 16 chapters.
Disclaimer: Unless I woke up this morning Jewish and with the name, Amy Sherman-Palidino, then I don't own Gilmore Girls…I do though own Eliza, since I created her.
AN: Wow, it's been forever, yeah? Sorry. I got distracted…attacked my a nasty case of writer's block…and it seems the only thing I've been able to manage is one shots, and the only one I wrote was on firefly, so, yeah. : ). This is the last chapter. I figured it was best to tie it up since I blank so much. Truthfully, I would have shot me had I been the reader and just stopped updating, since I get aggravated when people do it, so shame on me. Here it is. Have fun. Enjoy. Please review.
/ Final Chapter /
To tell you the truth, Jess quite enjoyed birthdays. Not so much his, but Eliza's. Celebrating Eliza's birthday meant that he got to wake her up early and bug her the entire day, since it was usually the only day that she would permit him to keep her out of school. This birthday, of course, wasn't much different save for the fact that he wouldn't be alone in his bothering and celebrating this year. For Eliza's sixteenth birthday, they were both heading to Stars Hollow where he would join Eliza with Lorelai in an all day shopping spree at the local Hartford mall.
And to be straight, Jess hated shopping. He found no solace in spending the entire day whipping out his credit card and buying things that he would find no use for a few months down the road. And he'd hoped he'd raised Eliza in the same belief. No. He was confident he had, but who was going to deny an entire day of buying things one wouldn't need two months down the road when they weren't the ones spending the money.
Stirring from his sleep, Jess quickly found himself one of the living. Brown eyes opened and were greeted with the plain white ceilings of his New York City apartment. Despite the time (5:00 am) he easily climbed out of bed, stretched, and wondered into the living room where he was surprised to see Eliza already up, her eyes glued to the television.
"They still play re-runs of Buffy?" He asked, shocked.
"They have been for the past two years, Dad." She stated, not looking at him, but taking a sip of the bottle of coke that had been resting between her legs.
"Am I seeing things?" Jess asked, plopping on the couch next to her. "I've missed two years of Buffy and find out that it's been playing from my daughter who is, surprisingly, wide awake on her sixteenth birthday."
"Well, you only turn sixteen once." She smirked.
"Huh." Jess replied…shaking his head and reaching for Eliza's bottle of coke. She obediently slapped his hand away. "Huh." He muttered again.
"Anyway, Lorelai woke me up at four this morning." Eliza replied, "Why she was up that early, don't ask me…but she's all jumpy and excited."
"Scary." Jess said, for a moment picturing Lorelai Gilmore wide awake, jumpy and excited at four o'clock in the morning. "I bet she's driving Luke crazy…especially after she's downed six or seven cups of coffee." Jess sniggered.
"He's probably sent her home and banned her from entering the diner until she's finished with the shopping." Eliza giggled.
"So, you ready to get going, or do you want to finish watching Buffy?" Jess stood up meandering into the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of coke from the fridge.
"Why should I finish, you've got all seven seasons, plus to straight to video movies somewhere in this apartment, besides, I can always tune in after we get back." She stood up, setting her coke down and following Jess into the kitchen.
"Don't tell me they have evening showings, too." Jess laughed, "why didn't you inform me?" He was playfully astonished.
"And what, support your love for Willow Rosenberg, I think not." She teased. "I'm ready when you are." She told him.
The ride to Stars Hollow was noisy. Eliza had insisted upon a My Chemical Romance reunion album to be played. When Jess had refused, she'd forcefully reminded him of who's day it was and he'd relented. He'd also frowned the two hours it took to get to Stars Hollow, wishing he could cover his ears and wondering where he had gone wrong in teaching Eliza the proper way to choose music.
But who was he to force her to listen to the music he loved…especially when his mother had tried to, and he distinctly remembered hating that.
"You know what's the greatest thing about Stars Hollow?" She asked as the drove into town, she looked over at Jess before continuing. "It always stays the same. No matter what scandal has recently been had, or what holiday, or festival it's had, it's always the same."
"Hell on Earth, I agree." Jess replied. Eliza smiled.
2.
Shopping had been worse then he could ever had assumed. Lorelai had dragged both him and Eliza from store to store, her mouth going a mile a minute and Jess found that all he could do was complain. A complaint would be matched with a snarl from Lorelai and a curt, 'You can just leave if you're going to complain', to which Jess would shut up for a short span of time and continue following.
Of course, Eliza had been on her best behavior, only rolling her eyes when she was once again taken into another shoe shop.
3.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to another shop. The mall is famous for it's numerous amounts of shoe shops." Lorelai pouted as Jess, thankful, sat behind the wheel of Lorelai's jeep, watching the road carefully.
"Yeah. I'm sure. I think I have enough shoes to last me through graduation." She said, smiling at her grandmother in a thankful way. Lorelai's pout got bigger, but she didn't say anything.
"I'm not sure we'll have enough closet room." Jess teased, only earning yet another glare from Lorelai.
4.
"Dad! I'm on the phone!" Eliza groaned out as her father once again attempted to say something. "James, hold on, I have to go push my father down the stairs." Eliza said setting the phone down on the couch and gently pushing her father towards the door.
"What is the point of talking to your little boyfriend, he's coming to your party." Jess laughed.
"So, I'm preparing him for the madness, now go!" She smirked at him before pushing him out the door and closing it behind him.
Walking back to the couch she picked up the phone and smiled, "Back. My dad can be such a dork sometimes." She laughed as she sat down and went back to talking about the tiny town in which he and his father were about to embark on in a matter of an hour.
5.
"So, sixteen, eh?" Luke asked as he took a seat next to his great niece who was sitting on one of the stools, observing the going ons.
"Yeah. It's no big deal, just another year." She smiled.
"No big deal? Are you kidding me? That's sixteen years you managed to survive with your dad as your guardian. And hey, you're not half bad. Less sarcastic, and easy to manage then your dad, so…that's a reason to celebrate."
"Dad wasn't that bad was he?"
"Hell on Earth. I promised myself to never raise a teenage boy again."
"Noble plan. Too bad it didn't work." She teased. Luke rolled his eyes. "So. What did you think about James?" She asked, looking down at her lap.
"He's great. As long as he keeps his hands to himself." Luke grunted out.
"Ugh. Uncle Luke. We're just friends."
"Just friends my ass." Luke chuckled out, "hey, I think your dad's looking for you. Must be time to go."
"Yeah. Thanks for this, Uncle Luke." She gave him a tight hug before joining her father in the center of the diner.
"You ready, kiddo? I believe you and James have a pop quiz tomorrow or something."
James, who stood next to his father, a much older Tristan DuGray, groaned, rolling his eyes. "I certainly hope not." The foursome headed out of the diner and said their goodbyes before going to their respective rides.
6.
"Buffy again?" Jess asked plopping down next to his daughter, a bowl of cereal in his hands.
"I told you it's on twice a day. It's classic." Eliza teased.
"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah."
"Well hey, I'm gonna go to bed, I got school tomorrow, after all." She smiled.
"You sure you can't take tomorrow off, too? You might to sleep off Lorelai's shopping excursion. I think I might need a week." Jess yawned.
"Nah. That's fine. Night Dad." She headed towards her room.
"Night, Eliza, happy birthday."
"Thanks Dad. I love you." She stopped suddenly and walked back to him, wrapping her arms around him, trying her best not to spill his snack.
"I love you, too Dad." She whispered, kissing his cheek before heading back to her room.
Outside on the couch, Jess smiled.
AN: AHAHA! FINISHED! Sorry it took so long to get out, I've been all crazy and unable to finish due to a blockage of brain power. It's fine. Sorry if it wasn't what anyone wanted. I've taken up a bad habbit of skipping scenes. I don't like detail and I've been so rushed about everything recently. But, it's fine. I sort of like the mysterious, and the lacking. It gives people a way to think about what could have happened in-between scenes. At least I think.
Anyways, thanks for reading. Please Review!
-Hadlee May