Disclaimer: I don't own anyone you may recognize.

A/N: This is a sequel to a previous story called Jessie; reviews are devoured with cake and ice cream. Oh, and ZZtop? Still ruling.

Also, thanks to Linz for everything. My little bird is leaving the nest.

xoxoxo

Chapter Five

Jess woke up on Saturday morning to find that Sam had sprawled out of the sleeping bag on the floor and was taking up quite a bit of room. Carefully tip-toeing around her, Jess pulled on her bathrobe over the worn cotton pajamas she loved and left her room. Uncle Luke hadn't come in to say goodnight as was his custom and she was half wondering if she might be walking into another scene in the kitchen.

Luke stood at the kitchen island sipping green tea and looking at the front page of the New York Times. As Jess shuffled in she reflected that the placed hadn't changed much since she and Luke had moved into it eight years ago. In fact, the kitchen table in the corner was where she herself had proposed to Lorelai with the bowl of ice cream and diamond solitaire.

"Morning," she said sleepily.

"Morning," he replied briefly looking up. "The water's still hot if you want some."

"Thanks." She got herself a teabag and doused it with the boiling water from the teapot. Steam rolled and curled around her nose and she drank in the delicate scent of green tea.

"Any news about Rory?" She was sitting on one of the island bar stools opposite Luke blowing carefully on the hot drink.

Luke looked up from the article he was reading and said, "Lorelai called about an hour ago. Rory had a girl."

Jess' face split into a toothy smile. "That's great!"

Nodding, Luke agreed and over Jess' shoulder his eyes focused on something. Jess cocked her head over her shoulder and saw Will there, looking as neatly pressed in his pajamas and bathrobe as if he'd spent the night sitting upright in a chair. The bed head and pillow creases along one cheek were the only evidence she could detect in his otherwise perfect appearance.

"Morning," Jess greeted him.

"Hi," he said still sleepy. Will walked over and joined Jess on the other stool all the while looking at Luke with worried eyes. Luke took it in stride and went about fixing his son's cereal.

"When will Mommy be home?" Will asked when Luke put the bowl in front of him.

"Rory had the baby late last night. Mommy stayed at the hospital until about an hour ago. She's going to go to your grandparents house and get a few hours sleep then go visit Rory one more time and then come home," Luke explained.

Home, Jess thought and cringed. She had a feeling she was going to get into trouble, but it had to be done. "By the way Sam is here."

Luke looked at her sharply and said, "What do you mean she's here?"

"She came in through my window last night," Jess said trying not to feel guilty for not telling him immediately.

Luke picked up the phone and started dialing. "You should have told me right away. Her mother is probably worried."

Jess snorted and Luke answered with another sharp look. He would have said more but someone on the other end of the phone picked up and Jess listened intently to his end of the conversation, hoping Joanne wouldn't be too mad. "Joanne? Luke Danes, how are you? Yes, I know it's early, but there's a reason I'm calling. Apparently Sam came over last night and slept over with Jess. I just found out and wanted to make sure you weren't worried or anything. Okay. Okay, good. Thanks. Bye."

She watched her uncle as he put the phone down and said, "She didn't care did she?"

"That doesn't make it okay. Now what can I get you to eat?"

"Corn flakes."

Luke heaved a passive-aggressive sigh but didn't argue. He did, however, slice a banana into the bowl before placing it in front of her. To his delight, she didn't argue. He pushed the sugar bowl toward her and she pushed it back.

"Don't forget, Sam and I are going shopping today."

"I didn't forget, just be back for dinner."

Later, at the mall in Hartford, Jess was having trouble convincing Sam that she didn't want to buy a particularly low-cut top.

"I have nothing to fill it out with," she argued. "I look like an ironing board when I put it on."

"You didn't let me see it when you tried it on," Sam said pointedly, "which means you're going on your opinion and we all know you're your own worst critic."

Jess rolled her eyes and said, "I'm not getting it."

"Fine. Tim Zachary can drool over Melissa Harrington who has one exactly like it."

"Melissa Harrington is at least a C-cup," Jess pointed out reasonably.

Suddenly, Sam had a revelation. "We should get you a Wonder Bra."

"No," Jess said with finality. "No way."

"Why not?"

Jess would have listed the arguments against but Sam had already dragged her into the next store down with was a Victoria's Secret. Jess blushed hoped no one was staring at her. "I don't belong in here," she hissed at Sam. "There are guys in here! How am I supposed to buy underwear with guys around?"

"They're just husbands or boyfriends," Sam said with a wave of her hand, as if this made it all better. She led Jess over to a rack of lacy bras in all different colors and pulled one down. It had odd pads inside the lace and Jess examined it closely. "I really don't want to do this," she said.

"Try it on and then tell me you don't want to do this." Jess sighed miserably. Sam could be very pushy.

In the dressing room, Jess peeled down the leotard she was wearing and unhooked the plain white cotton bra Lorelai had bought for her. The Wonder Bra looked completely wrong on her. Sam had chosen red and the blatant sexiness of it made her feel like she was looking at someone else. The bra certainly did its job, though. She was padded and pushed until what little cleavage her pathetic A-cups could offer was right there, front and center.

She took it off and put her own bra back on, pulled the leotard back up and left the dressing room taking the red Wonder Bra with her. As she hunted for Sam in the store, she thought about what Uncle Luke had said about sex being complicated. She thought maybe she knew what he'd meant.

Rounding a corner still clutching the gaudy bra, she found herself face-to-face with Tim Zachary and his crew. Her mouth fell open and stared at him in surprise.

"You got panties to match?"

"What?" Jess asked, horrified to have been caught in a Victoria's Secret, clutching the embarrassing underwear.

"Panties to go with that," Tim said, pointing to her now trembling hand. Jess flushed as cherry-red as the bra itself and stammered, "I'm not b-buying it, I was just trying it on. My friend made me," she added in a rush.

Tim leered at her and said, "You can try it on for me one day." His friends hooted with laughter at this and they gave high-fives all around. Jess blushed even harder and ducked her head wanting to die.

The boys started to move away from her and she looked up when Tim called back, "See ya later, Red!"

Jess put her hand to her eyes and hunched her shoulders wanting to crawl under a rock and never come out. The humiliation was too much.

Feeling utterly mortified, Jess decided she was done shopping for the day. She tossed the bra into a bin of marked-down panties and left the store. Sam caught up with her before she'd gone too far.

"I'm going," Jess said without ceremony.

"Already?"

"I'm going to visit Rory and take the bus back from the hospital."

"Okay," Sam agreed, not sure what had happened to change the plans.

"I'll call you," Jess muttered and turned away, still reeling from her shame.

When Jess arrived at the hospital, she walked around for several minutes first looking for maternity and then looking for Rory's room. Lorelai was gone by this time, back in Stars Hollow, no doubt, so Jess wasn't sure what exactly she'd find.

Behind the glass case, the babies were placed in row after row of clear bins, as if they were on sale or something and they all needed to be properly displayed and labeled. Jess couldn't find Baby Gilmore or Baby Banks (she wasn't sure which last name to look for since Rory had not changed her name when she married Marty), so she headed for where she thought Rory's room might be.

Once the room was found, Jess knocked twice and then, when she heard a "Come on in!" she opened the door and found she wasn't the only visitor. Richard stood near the window holding his great-granddaughter while Emily stood beside him and cooing wildly. Rory was in bed looking pale but happy with Marty sitting in the chair beside her trying not to nod off in front of company.

"Long night," Jess ventured.

"You can say that again," Rory agreed.

Jess walked over to Richard and Emily and peered at the baby, the miniature human person, who was wrapped up tighter than a drum in some white blankets. "Do you want to hold her?" Richard asked.

"No," Jess said quickly. "I don't want to drop her or anything."

"Nonsense," Emily said, beaming at everyone and everything.

But Richard didn't move to give her the baby and Jess was happy about that. "Do you have a name picked out yet?"

Emily beamed some more and trilled, "Tell her, Rory!"

Rory rolled her eyes, as if she regretted having done whatever it was that was making Emily beam the way she was beaming. "The baby's name is Emily Victoria Gilmore Banks."

With a wide smile, Jess caught Emily's eye before taking little Emily's hand and brushing the tip of her finger along the sleeping infant's knuckles, unable to fully comprehend that yesterday, she had been inside of Rory.

Turning now to Rory she said, "Did it hurt?"

"God yes," Rory answered. "Doing the splits on a crate of dynamite doesn't even begin to describe it."

Jess shivered and fought the urge to sit down and cross her legs. Emily tutted over Rory's candid reply and Richard ignore them all together. "Another generation of Gilmores," he murmured. Jess thought she saw him fighting back a tear or two and she smiled to herself.