Sorry for the delay, but I was really busy during winter break, I hope this chapter will make it up to you, thanks for the reviews and special thanks to nessquik13, your review actually made me write another chapter, since I has trouble continuing.

Still don´t own them….

Rating: T may go up though!

Short recap: Rory's had a child, which isn't Jess's, but he's still with her, raising the baby. At first they had trouble since rory was suffering from the " baby blues" but she finally got over it. Jess and Rory also set a date for their wedding, October 8th, Rory's birthday. In this chapter someone long forgotten is coming again in the picture, how will jess react?

Happy 2006 to you all, hope this year is better than the last …lol

Jess's POV: (again) tell me if I should write another's POV, maybe Lorelai´s? )

I was sitting at the kitchen table in Lorelai´s house, weird that I was still referring to it at lorelai´s house, since Luke had moved in quite some time ago.

We had been celebrating the good news all night and Rory, since she stopped breastfeeding Tate a week ago, had a little too much to drink. I had to smile when I thought about her, standing on the living room table, tipsy and proclaiming that she was the luckiest woman in the world. Hopefully she wouldn´t remember this particular action. I had to drag her to bed at about 4 o'clock in the morning, or she wouldn´t have gotten any sleep at all. And she, well we really needed that sleep, because Tate would wake us up at exactly 6 am, every morning, I have no idea, where he got that from since rory was always sleeping in late if she had the chance. This made me think about the other genes in Tate's body, those that weren't mine…

I rubbed my temples and tried to concentrate on my typing. I really was behind considering the fact that I still had to edit about a million articles.

Lorelai had dragged Rory out of bed this morning, insisting that the two of them hadn't gone shopping in a while, and since rory was getting married ( to you she would add with a fake accusing tone in her voice) they needed to start looking for the perfect dress.

After they had left I went shopping myself. Rory did the proposal part and now it was my duty and even pleasure to do the ring buying part.

The weirdest thing happened to me when I was entering the first jewellery store. I saw the perfect ring at once. It was a small silver wedding band with a small little ocean blue diamond attached to it.

I saw it and bought it instantly, I knew this was the right one, rory would love it. I wanted it to be special and so I decided to have it engraved. In picturesque old-fashioned letters " dodger" was clearly visible on the inside.

Tate was lying next to me in Rory's old crib and was fast asleep. I concentrated again on my editing when the doorbell rang. I sighed and got up, annoyed and at the same time relieved for the interruption. I made my way over to the door fast so that whoever was on the other side wouldn´t ring again and would wake up Tate.

When I opened the door, I was faced with a guy my age, maybe a couple of years older. Blonde hair and blue eyes. How I noticed that he had blue eyes? I had no idea. Something about that guy made me feel uncomfortable, was it the way he was dressed? Was it the way his eyes were staring right into mine, as if he was checking me out?

I finally found m voice and decided to be polite.

" Can I help you?" I asked simply. Maybe the guy was in business with Lorelai.

" Well, I'm looking for Rory Gilmore? A friend of hers told me to try it at her Mom's house." he suddenly looked around, avoiding my eyes. And for the first time I noticed that he was tense, maybe nervous? I looked at his hands and saw that he was gripping the coat he was holding a little bit too tightly. He spoke up again.

" This is Lorelai Gilmore's house, right? I mean, some guy I met in the street told me it was and…"

He started rambling; I hated people who rambled, except rory.

" Yeah, she's not home though. Rory and her went shopping." I stopped, waiting for the guy to tell me what the hell he wanted from rory.

"O ok. Tell her I stopped by?" he was turning around and I suddenly realized that I had no idea who that guy was, so I called after him.

" Hey! Who should I tell her stopped by?"

The man laughed slightly. I hated his laugh.

" Oh, of course, I was being impolite, I'm Steven." Steven? Where have I heard that name before? And suddenly it hit me

"Look, Jess, Rory is sorry about what happened, she didn't mean to hurt you, really, it was just … she had too much to drink and Steven started hitting on her, I mean, she tried to stay out of it, but she is human after all, wow, I would not have thought she had told you yet."

Steven!

Flashback

" Hey rory?" I asked her while she was running around in the kitchen, attempting to make dinner. Her stomach was still only barely visible, although she was five months along.

" Yeah?" she replied distracted.

" The guy…. I mean, you know, that guy you slept with, who is he?"

Abruptly rory stopped whatever she was doing and looked at me.

" No one."

" Excuse me? No one?" I replied sarcastically.

" Just the name, Ror." I continued.

She looked at me what seemed like an eternity. Finally she whispered,

" Steven, his name is Steven."

Flashback end

I didn´t know what possessed me in this moment but I heard myself ask if he wanted to wait for her inside.

I held the door open and Steven, what kind of a name is that anyhow, stepped in.

I shut the door slowly and motioned him to sit down in the living room. I then took a deep breath, closed my eyes for a second to collect myself and went after him.

" You want anything to drink?" I asked the man sitting on the couch. I had no idea why I was acting so politely but somehow I knew it was the right thing to do.

He looked up to me and nodded.

" I don´t know, something alcoholic sounds great actually." He was nervous, why the hell would that be? I just nodded and went to the kitchen to get a beer for him and a soda for me; I needed to be sober in this, although the thought of getting wasted didn´t sound too unappealing then.

When I got back Steven was still seated in the very same position, he hadn't moved at all.

I handed him the beer and sat down as well.

" By the way, I'm Jess." I looked up to him to see his reaction. Did he know about my existence?

Realization hit him as he made a face and took a deep breath.

" Should I run? Are there any weapons in the house that could be used to severely harm me? "

I just shrugged and decided not to answer.

He continued.

" Why aren't you beating me up?" He asked, and I was not so sure if he was serious or not.

I held up my soda can.

" That's why I need to stay sober." He relaxed a little, not completely but noticeably.

" Fair enough. Fair enough!"

After several minutes of really uncomfortable silence I excused myself.

" Sorry, but I have some work to do. I think they'll be here pretty soon."

I didn´t have to entertain him, I had nothing to do with him.

I sat back down at the kitchen table and tried to work, I couldn't concentrate though, and the only thing that was on my mind was. Why the hell did he choose that very moment to show up? Why the hell did he show up at all? Things were going well, no even better. I started to not think about his existence every day, I started to feel like a real father and I couldn't help but be scared of him. What did he want?

My thoughts were interrupted when rory and lorelai burst through the back door, both holding a couple of shopping bags.

" Coffee!" lorelai and rory yelled at the same time and then plopped on the chairs next to mine. Exhausted.

Rory leaned over and gave me a peck on the lips. When I wouldn´t respond, she pulled away and observed me. She wrinkled her nose.

" You ok? You look troubled." I forced myself to smile, it was fake and I knew rory could tell.

" You got a visitor, he's in the living room." she looked at me, confused.

" Who is it?" she asked still wondering why I was acting so weird.

" Steven." I simply told her as if it was obvious.

Her eyes shot open and she took in a deep breath. Lorelai choked on her coffee and started coughing.

I looked up to her to make sure she was okay, I really wouldn´t need it now if lorelai was dying on us.

Lorelai waved her hands symbolizing that she was doing fine, that she was indeed not dying.

Rory broke the silence.

" What does he want?" I just shrugged.

" You should ask him." I replied and pointed to the living room.

Rory searched for my eyes and when she found them, they were blank. I was back being a jerk.

As rory got up and made her way over to the living room, Tate started crying.

She turned around, but I stopped her.

" I'll take care of him. Go ask him." she just nodded sadly and left the kitchen.

I picked Tate up and rocked him softly in my arms. I could feel Lorelai´s eyes on me, burning holes in my body.

She finally couldn't take it anymore.

" You okay, Jess?" was I okay? I smirked to hide my feelings.

" Yeah, I will be." I was still looking at the computer screen.

Tate finally calmed down, he didn´t seem to need anything.

" Hey lorelai? Could you take Tate for a while? I'm going for a walk."

" Sure, kiddo. Take your time." I silently thanked her and handed Tate over to her.

I grabbed my coat, made sure that its pocket contained a pack of cigarettes and left through the back door.

The minute I was outside I took a cigarette and lit it. The smoke filled lungs and for once I liked this feeling. The first drag I took made me choke but after that I felt comforted by the familiar taste.

I hadn't smoked a lot lately, mainly not to annoy Rory and of course because of Tate, but that's what I needed right now. I walked down the driveway and before I knew it I was standing in front of the diner. I could see Luke standing behind the counter through the window. I took an altoid out of my coat pocket and went in. The bell above the diner door announced my arrival and I caught Luke's eyes. I sat down at the counter and asked Luke if I could have a cup of coffee.

" Shouldn't you be working?" Luke asked while he was pouring some coffee into my cup. I had to smirk. After all those years he still wanted to make sure I was doing my things.

I shrugged.

" I got interrupted." Luke nodded and let go.

After a while, I was still sitting at the counter, staring into my still filled cup of coffee that had to be cold by now.

Luke again appeared in front of me and I could hear him sigh.

" Okay, let's cut the crap. What's wrong?" Luke's voice was showing concern.

" What makes you think something's wrong? I just needed a break." I still wouldn´t look up.

" Jess, you come here, all by yourself may I add, you order coffee, which I know isn't your beverage of choice and then you wouldn´t even touch it. You stare off into space, and you ask me what makes me think something's wrong? Come on jess, I thought we were over that."

I decided that maybe it wouldn´t be so wrong to talk about it.

" Steven came by." I looked up and saw confusion written all over his face.

" Steven? Who's that?" I chuckled and took a sip of my coffee. It tasted disgusting.

" Jess? Now, you're freaking me out here."

" Steven is the guy who knocked up rory." I knew, that sounded harsh, and it was, but I couldn't care less at that moment.

" Oh." that was all Luke could muster up.

" Yeah, exactly. Oh."

" What.. I mean, how, well, what does he want?"

" I guess, I will find out later, Rory's talking to him right now."

"Ok then, I guess. You wanna talk about it?" Luke inquired.

I shook my head.

" Nah, not really. There's nothing to talk about, is there?"

" You tell me, Jess."

" I guess, it´s just weird, I mean, him showing up out of the blue, it makes it … it makes it all real." the last few words were only barely audible.

Luke nodded and looked at me intensively.

" You know, there's nothing to be scared of, right? It´s not that this is gonna change anything between you and rory." I chose not to reply, because I knew Luke was right. It´s not gonna change anything.

" Hey, I'm taking a walk, that's what I wanted to do in the first place." I got up from my seat and went to the door. As I reached it I looked around in the diner. It was pretty empty.

I turned around.

" Hey Luke?" my voice sounded strange somehow.

" Yeah?"

" Thanks." Luke adjusted his cap and shrugged.

" Anytime kid, anytime." I nodded and left the diner.

While I was walking to the bridge, I was wondering about the fact that Luke and Lorelai started referring to me as a kid whenever they tried to comfort me, and when I sat down on the old wood I had come to the conclusion that it was their way of showing they cared. I liked it.

I started playing with the jewellery boy in my pocket and drifted off with my thoughts.

After a while I heard footsteps coming closer, the sound changing when the feet hit the wood. I knew it was her. I could tell by the way she walked that she was unsure of what to do. She would stop every once in a while. Finally she reached me and sat down next to me, close only a couple of inches away.

" He's gone." she said, her voice sounded exhausted. When I wouldn´t answer she continued.

" He just wanted to make sure that I was doing okay. He saw the birth announcement in the paper and just… I don´t know, I just think he wanted to make sure I don´t blame him or something. He offered money, which of course I wouldn´t take, because it´s the parents who take care of that. And he's not the parent, you are. He's involved with someone and I guess he just wanted to make sure that I wouldn´t start.. I don´t know, they are pretty serious and they are talking about getting married and well, he just wanted this out of his way I guess. Jess, this doesn't mean anything to me, he doesn't. You know that, right?" I let her finish her rant. I was tired of her feeling guilty, we'd been through this already too my times.

I took her hand in mine.

" You know, I wanted to wait for the right moment and this seems to be it. After all we are sitting on the very bridge where we started being an us, and I think it´s about time that finally everyone knows, that you're taken. " I sighed.

" Taken for good." I added and took the ring out of my pocket. Her eyes went wide as she followed my eyes to my hand. I looked her in the eye, not blinking once; someone even might call that staring.

Her eyes started to tear up and her hands started shaking violently as I took her left ring finger and slipped the ring on it, slowly, delicately. She looked down at her finger, swallowing hard not believing what was happening.

" It´s beautiful, Jess. I … I …." I put a finger on her lips to silent her.

" No words necessary. You're mine, I'm yours, body and soul." I would really have lost my reputation if anyone had heard that, but I wanted to make sure that she knew that she meant the world to me.

She hugged me tightly, breathing heavily. I could feel her tears on my neck.

She repeated my words.

" You're mine, I'm yours, body and soul." I smiled at this and she added:

" Forever mine, dodger. You won´t get out of this."

So? What do you think? Long chapter, huh? Fluff, drama, some more fluff, they might be out of character, well but they are mine in this story …lol REVIEW please. Please. Didn´t get so many reviews for the last chapter, makes me wonder if you still read the story, thanks if you do.