Flashback

Luke was wiping down the counter at the diner when the phone rang. He turned to it and thought about ignoring it. After it rang for a fifth time, he picked it up and barked into the phone.

"Luke?" someone asked from the other line. The voice was familiar and the same way it had been when he lived in Luke's apartment a year ago.

"Jess?" Luke asked, placing one hand on the counter, the rag still clutched firmly into the other one. Luke's mind was working furiously. He's hurt, Luke thought. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you that I moved," Jess said. "I got a job at a publishing house and the pay is pretty good. Good enough for me to get an apartment all to myself in the Village. I just wanted to tell you in case you tried to reach me…"

"Well, thanks, alright. Let me just write down the address," Luke said, picking up a pad and pulling the pencil out from behind his ear. Jess repeated a number, a street name, and an apartment number.

"Do you want my phone number?" Jess asked.

"Sure," Luke said and jotted down the number given to him. "So you're good?"

"Great," Jess said. "Anything new with you?"

"Nope, still my same old self," Luke said, nervously tugging on his cap.

"You ask out Lorelai yet?" Jess asked.

"Bye Jess," Luke snapped and placed the phone back on its cradle. He then started the tiny slip of paper that looked so small it seemed easy to loose it. To pretend the conversation never happened. The bell over the door chimed and he heard a familiar voice.

"Coffee?" someone called. "Luke, my dear boy, bring a dame a cup of coffee before she dies of exhaustion!" Lorelai yelled, flinging herself onto the stool in front of the counter. Luke looked down at her and then up at Rory.

"What's her deal?" he asked, pouring them some coffee.

"We decided last night seemed the best night to watch all the Monty Python movies," Rory began to explain, "but mom forgot she had an early appointment at the inn. She went to bed like three hours ago and I just woke her up to get some coffee."

"And everything makes sense," Luke said sarcastically. He placed a cup in front of Lorelai who took it, her eyes bleary.

"Luke? Is that you? I can't seem to see anything! Where is my daughter?" Lorelai called, running her hand down Rory's face.

"Mom-Stop it," Rory said huffily as Lorelai drank her coffee. She calmed down some as the caffeine settled into her system. Rory watched Luke walked behind the counter. A slip of paper caught her eye instantly and she glanced at it. When she saw the name her heart began to beast faster than ever and blood began to pound in her ears. The entire diner seemed to slow down around her as the address came shooting off the paper and burned into her mind.

"Uh-" Luke said, slipping it under the register. Rory didn't look up at him and pretended she never saw it. Instead she pointed to what she could have been looking at.

"New calendar?" she asked, pointing to it. Luke looked relieved and turned around to it.

"Yeah, thought I should update it," Luke said with a shrug.

"Especially since you haven't since 1996," Lorelai commented.

"Ah, look who's perked up," Luke muttered and began to wash counters again. Rory glanced back down at the paper, then to Luke, and then to her mother.

"Mom, why don't you get us some bagels?" Rory suggested. Lorelai turned to her, fake shock written all over her face.

"You want me to stir up trouble with Luke?" Lorelai asked, her voice also showing fake shock. "I think you may just be coming around to my wicked ways. Watch my purse." Rory watched her mother get up and walk around the counter. Luke, who must have some sort of alarm for that sort of thing, instantly stopped what he was doing and began to yell at Lorelai. Rory reached over the table and slid the slip of paper out from under the register. It was in her pocket before Lorelai came back with two bagels in her hand, a pout on her face.

End Flashback

Jess was now upstairs in Luke's apartment letting out some steam as Lorelai like to call it. Actually, he was using some pretty colorful language and kept gesturing wildly. Lorelai wasn't allowed in so all she could see were their disfigured shadows from the glass on the door.

"Almost a year!" Jess bellowed. "I've been back on speaking terms with you for almost a year! What, did it slip your mind or something? Did you just happen to forget that she was pregnant?"

"Keep your voice down," Luke hissed.

"NO! I will not keep my voice down! You must have known it was mine! Rory would have known, she would have told Lorelai and Lorelai would have come running to you!" Jess yelled. Lorelai raised her eyebrows in anger but didn't say anything out loud. She decided to let Jess yell his frustration.

"What would you have done? Come back and supported her?" Luke asked, his voice disbelieving.

"Yes," Jess snapped. There was a long silence and Lorelai felt her heart stop. "I would have come and got her. She was having my baby."

"If you haven't forgotten, you left her!" Luke snapped.

"We obviously worked it out if we got close enough to make a god damn baby!" Jess yelled. Lorelai could see a lot of arm waving. "It was miraculous conception!"

"If Rory didn't want you to know then it wasn't my place to tell you," Luke snapped. There was a long silence.

"I'm outta here," Jess snarled and Lorelai saw his disfigured body walk over to a chair and pluck something off of it.

"Jess, don't you dare go looking for her," Luke warned. Jess didn't answer, instead he flung the door open to reveal Lorelai, crouched down slightly. He hesitated when he saw her.

"Sorry," he snapped and walked down the stairs. She watched him walk down the stairs then walked back into the apartment where Luke was pacing back and forth.

"Should we go after him?" Lorelai asked. "I mean, my first instinct is to kick the crap out of that kid. I don't want him to hurt Rory again but I don't know if keeping him away is helping her any. I did everything in my power to keep Christopher away and I don't know if that's the right thing for her."

"So, you're saying you should have married Christopher?" Luke asked suddenly. Lorelai turned to him sharply.

"Never," Lorelai replied. "I'm saying that for Rory, Jess is probably the best and worst thing that ever happened to her. He is the baby's father. He deserves at least a minute of her time."

"I think we should find them and invite them back to your house to really talk it out," Luke suggested. "I don't want them out on the loose. I want him right where I can see him."

One Hour Later

Rory had come home in tears after her confrontation with Jess. She didn't want him to find out like this of all of the times and places, it shouldn't of been now. She had planned to see him within the year. She would go for a long weekend and just talk to him. If he was alright with everything she was saying, she would talk him back and let him visit with Lola. She wanted to take their time with this.

Shortly after she got home her mother came barreling into the house looking for her. "Rory!" Lorelai screamed. "Rory, are you home? Rory!"

"Here," Rory said, sniffing back more tears and walking into the kitchen. Her mother stopped spinning in circles and glanced at Rory who was crying slightly.

"Oh, kid," Lorelai said sadly.

"He ran away," Rory sobbed as her mother wrapped her into a tight hug. "I told him what happened and he ran away!" Lorelai sighed.

"Maybe that was the only thing he could think to do," Lorelai suggested softly. "Believe me when I say that your father did not act anything as calm as Jess did. I think it was the only time I've ever seen Christopher scream, swear, and cry all at once."

"Did you see Jess?" Rory asked suddenly. She stepped back from her mother and looked at her questioningly. "Why did you see Jess?"

"Well-" Lorelai began. She was cut off when there was a knock on the door. "I'll go get that."

"Mom!" Rory snapped but Lorelai had already ran to the door.

Lorelai opened it and came face to face with a very angry looking Jess. "Hello, Jess."

"Lorelai," Jess replied. "Is she here."

"Yes," Lorelai said. There was a moment's pause.

"Can I see her?" Jess snapped.

"No," Lorelai replied.

"I really need to talk to her," Jess insisted. "I think I have a right to come in and talk with her. I honestly don't believe she doesn't want to talk to me."

Lorelai hesitated and glared at Jess. "Come in, sit down, don't speak," she ordered and stepped aside for him to walk in.

"Thank you," he said sarcastically. He sat down on one of the couches and heard Lorelai step back into the kitchen. A moment later there were soft voices coming from Rory's bedroom. Jess glanced around and suddenly spotted a small bassinet sitting by the far end of the couch. He got up and slowly walked over to it. What he saw nearly made him keel over from shock. Sleeping inside of the covering was a small baby that had curly brown hair. Jess started at it for a moment when it moved slightly. He jumped back completely startled and saw it move its small hand over it's cheek. Before Jess understood what he was doing, his hand was extending over the smooth flesh of the sleeping baby. It moved again and opened its eyes. Jess felt himself smile at the familiar blue that stared up at him. "Wow," he whispered. He heard footsteps and quickly stood up straight and turned around. Rory was standing in the foyer. Her hair was slightly longer than he remembered and seemed lighter as though she had colored it. She seemed slightly chubbier than her usual thin as a twig self.

"Hello Jess," she said in a soft voice.

"Hello Rory," he replied.

A/N Please read and review.