Chapter 20

Once Luke and Lorelai returned from their honeymoon, Jess and Rory packed their things, said their goodbyes – rather tearful ones in Rory and Lorelai's case – and made the journey to Jess's apartment in Philadelphia. The closer they got, the more excited Rory became. She was really getting to live with Jess for two whole months. Maybe that wasn't a lot of time in the long run, but considering that until this past month they'd only seen each other on weekends and communicating mostly via phone and text, two more months felt like a beautiful eternity.

When they arrived, Jess bashfully showed Rory the drawers and closet space he'd made for her, claiming it wasn't that big of a deal and trying to brush it off. Rory wouldn't let him get away with it that easy, though. As soon as she saw the space he'd made in his life for her, both literally and figuratively, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him before excitedly unpacking her bags and putting her clothes in the dresser. There was something about seeing her clothes in drawers in the same dresser as Jess's own that sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

It took a few days for living together to not be awkward now that Matt and Chris lived in the same apartment, but before long they all found their rhythm and routine. For Jess and Rory, their day-to-day life was the most wonderful monotony of waking up and going to bed together, working together in Truncheon, and sharing meals and movies with each other and their roommates.

After just a week in Philly, Rory and Jess made the drive back to Stars Hollow for Lane's wedding. Only Lane and Zack could have a wedding as simultaneously traditional and untraditional as theirs was. They were married twice – once in a Buddhist ceremony to appease Lane's grandmother (Mrs. Kim is a secret Seventh Day Adventist – who knew?), and once in a Christian ceremony for her mother. Having two ceremonies made her wedding day all the more special to Lane, and she was happy to make her mother happy.

Rory was honored to be standing next to Lane on the happiest day of her life, and her face reflected it as she stood in front of the group of many Korean relatives and a few Stars Hollow friends. She caught Jess's eye in the audience and he gave her an encouraging wink that only made her smile wider, and saw her mother watching the ceremony with teary, nostalgic eyes. Yes, life was changing. But Rory was starting to feel more and more okay with that fact.

Lane's reception was so incredibly Lane, Rory couldn't help but laugh. Of course, Hep Alien played for the first time since the night everything had fallen apart, and Rory actually got Jess to jump around and dance with her to the songs they played. Lorelai pestered Luke to dance, but alas, she was unsuccessful. The evening went almost entirely flawlessly, save for Kirk's bartenders being fired for being "too yummy" and the smiles never left Lane and Zack's faces. Lorelai got tipsy and got up on stage to gush about how amazing Lane was and how incredible it was that they were both married women now until Luke ushered her off stage and took her home Rory gave her Maid of Honor toast and adequately embarrassed Lane, danced until her feet hurt, and once she was adequately tired out and the bride and groom had left for their honeymoon, she collapsed onto Jess's lap and let her head droop onto his shoulder.

"Tired…" she mumbled with her eyes closed.

Jess smirked and tucked Rory's hair behind her ear. "You ready to head to the apartment?" he asked in a hushed tone.

Rory smiled and opened her tired eyes the tiniest bit. "No, let's go for a walk."

Jess eyed her curiously but agreed, nonetheless.

Rory picked up her discarded shoes, said their goodbyes, and headed off someone aimlessly. Rory led them in the direction of what she considered to be their bridge.

Jess smiled widely when he realized where they were.

"So, is this pure nostalgia or do you have a reason for leading me here?" he asked teasingly.

Rory giggled. "A little of both. I'm feeling nostalgic, so I wanted to come down here and make out for a while."

Jess laughed. "Well, who am I to argue with that kind of reasoning?"

They sat down on the edge of the bridge and let their legs dangle over the edge. Rory intertwined her fingers into Jess's own and looked up at the stars.

"Remember the first time we were here together?" she asked.

Jess chuckled. "How could I forget? I pissed off Dean and got to go on a date with you that day. It was one of the best days of my life."

Rory laughed and blushed. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who considers that our first date," she said quietly. "God, it feels like it was forever ago, even though it's only been a few years…"

"Five years, to be exact. That's not exactly a short amount of time," he challenged.

"We were so young, so innocent… whatever happened to that?" she teased.

Jess barked a laugh. "Sure, you were innocent. I was far from it."

"Oh, and you're saying I'm not anymore?"

Jess raised his hands in defense. "I didn't say it, you did." He paused. "I simply implied it," he added with a smirk.

Rory laughed and shoved Jess gently, her face warming.

"To be fully honest…" Jess started, staring out at the water. "I think that was probably the first time since moving to Stars Hollow that I felt truly happy."

Rory turned to Jess and started to tear up.

"Sure, the food sucked at first," he snorted. "Thanks a lot for that, by the way. But the talking, and the pizza, and the books, and you calling me that night… you made me feel like I was worth something. Worth someone's time. I'd almost never felt that way before." He turned to Rory who was doing everything to keep tears from streaming down her cheeks and reached up with his free hand to stroke her face.

"Wow, Jess…" she sniffed. "I'm… God, you made me speechless. Not an easy feat with a Gilmore."

Jess closed the space between them and kissed her, leaning his forehead on hers when they parted.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For telling me."

"No problem," he whispered back.

"No, Jess, seriously. I know how hard it is for you to open up about stuff like that. So, thank you." She sniffed. "For all it's worth, that day was the first time I felt myself falling for you."

Jess leaned away slightly and smirked. "I know."

Rory opened her mouth in surprise. "What? How do you know that?"

Jess shrugged. "Just a feeling. Knew then, too."

Rory scoffed. "I didn't even know then, how did you?" she demanded.

"Rory, you chose to spend time with me over avoiding a fight with Dean," he stated as if it were obvious.

Rory's jaw dropped in shock. "Oh my God… you're right. You're totally right. I had no idea that I liked you then!" She pouted. "Not fair, you knew I liked you before I knew I liked you."

Jess laughed. "Maybe I'm just very observant."

Rory smiled. "Well, it all worked out eventually, right?"

Jess returned her smile and kissed her. "Right."

Rory closed the space and kissed Jess deeply, passionately, not stopping until she absolutely had to breathe. She pulled away and leaned her head on Jess's shoulder. They sat there together like that, watching the lake, until Rory stifled another yawn. Jess squeezed Rory's hand and urged her to stand up.

"Come on, let's get you home."

Rory pouted but obliged, stumbling a little as her tired feet tripped over her high heels. Jess caught her and wrapped an arm around her waist, supporting her as she leaned against him. Rory rested her head on his shoulder and Jess sighed contentedly as they walked back towards the diner, bypassing the still raging wedding reception in the town square.

Rory found herself really enjoying working at Truncheon. She spent her time restocking shelves – Truncheon's and her own as she found books that she decided needed to be a part of her collection – as well as helping Matt edit their zine. When she wasn't working with Truncheon directly, she was trying her hand at editing Jess's second novel. He was right, it was barely anything yet. But what he had written was totally different and entirely as incredible as The Subsect, and as he continued to write it only got better. Though there wasn't much for her to edit as of yet, Jess requested Rory's thoughts and opinions as he reached small milestones. Rory loved getting a chance to see into Jess's mind, witnessing his creative process firsthand. Apparently, he didn't even let Matt and Chris read his work until he had at least a complete first draft, so Rory felt honored to be the first one to see his work.

Rory had a natural talent for both people management and writing. She was thriving at Truncheon, and as every day passed, she felt a little gnawing feeling in her stomach, knowing her time there was going to have to end eventually. She hated how focused she was on the end, desiring to just enjoy each day as it came, but that little voice in her head that kept reminding her that her current job and living situation wasn't forever.

But, as the days passed, she did her best to relish every moment. She bonded with Matt and Chris, telling them stories of a teenage Jess that pulled pranks to get her attention and wrote notes in the margins of the books he borrowed. Jess wasn't exactly thrilled about the way they were growing close, and he made that known every time she told a story in his general vicinity, but he appreciated the friendships that seemed to be blossoming. Those three people were, beside Luke, the most important people in his life. He would never admit it out loud, but he was beyond thankful they got along so well.

Jess had similar mental reminders of how fast their time was passing. He hated to think of what would happen when they stumbled into the end of August and Rory would have to move back to New Haven and start her senior year. They'd have to start thinking about their futures, and soon. They both knew they were all in, but they hadn't discussed exactly what that looked like in the near months. Wherever Rory ended up, Jess would follow. Sure, Truncheon would make that a bit of a challenge, but he had the ability to work somewhat remotely, communicating over email and phone, using his laptop to edit and write. It would be challenging at first, but what was he if not accustomed to challenge? All he knew was that he wanted – no, needed – to end up wherever Rory was.

As they entered the middle of July, the midsummer heat hit the non-airconditioned apartment. The four housemates begrudgingly put on their "responsible adult" costumes every day for work, the men complaining about having to wear button down shirts and jeans to give customers and clients the idea that they were running a legitimate business, and Rory had never been so happy that sundresses could be counted as professional wear. But once the workday was over, the professional wear was traded for shorts and tank tops. Rory was pretty sure she'd never seen Jess wear shorts ever, but when it was ninety degrees inside, compromises were made.

They spent their evenings in the dark apartment, eating discount popsicles with cold washcloths on their necks, not daring to open the blinds or turn on the lights for fear of brining more warmth into the room. They had pitched together to buy a couple of cheap box fans for the main room, but they did little when the air they were blowing was already warm. It was downright miserable.

The heat started to get to Rory after about a week, much to Jess's concern. She spent much of her time feeling slightly sick and dizzy, but she assured Jess she was drinking plenty of water and once the heatwave passed, she would be fine. Jess wasn't convinced, however, but didn't push her further and simply worried about her from a distance.

It took two weeks for everyone to reach their breaking point. The heat made everyone irritable, and of course there was only each other to take out their frustrations out on. Every little thing they did got on each other's nerves. Rory sipped water too loudly, Jess typed too obnoxiously, Matt sneezed too much, and Chris bit his nails. Not too much or anything, it just bothered the others that he bit his nails.

One evening, all four of them were moping around the apartment, trying to ignore the sweltering temperatures and praying for the time when the sun would be down long enough for there to be a lukewarm breeze to sweep the majority of the heat away for the night. Jess had been attempting to work on his book, but the temperature made it impossible to focus. Matt and Chris were sitting in front of one of the dinky fans, attempting to rest. Rory's nausea hit hard in the evening as the heat peaked, so she spent her evenings on the cool floor with a wet washcloth over her face. No one said a word, until Rory took a drink of her water. Matt responded with a groan, which is when Jess's apparently annoying typing restarted, making Chris growl. Chris's complaint resulted in Jess pausing and turning to face the rest of the household.

"Can I help you?" he snapped.

"I don't know, can you?" Chris snapped back.

"What are you, five?" Jess bit.

"Oh my God, you're both five…" Rory groaned.

"Oh, don't get me started on you!" Matt shouted.

"Me?" Rory cried indignantly, sitting up. "What about you? How are those allergies today, huh?" she yelled.

"Well, you're the one who has a problem with them, so you tell me!"

"Trust me, she's not the only one…" Jess grumbled.

"Oh, of course, taking the girlfriend's side…" Matt snipped back.

"Excuse me?" Jess shouted.

"You heard me!" Matt yelled.

"Oh, shut up!" Chris yelled back.

"Not until you start using nail clippers like a normal person!" Matt shouted.

"It's an anxious habit, sorry if it bothers you!"

"Oh, yeah, you sound real sorry…" Jess muttered.

"You wanna say that to my face, jerk?" Chris bellowed, standing up.

"Maybe I do, asshole!" Jess fired back, walking towards Chris.

"Oh, real mature guys, God…" Matt sneered.

Suddenly, all three men were on their feet, toe to toe, yelling in each other's faces as Rory looked on in horror.

"Guys," she said, a little too quietly.

The bickering continued.

"Guys!" she said, a little louder, though equally ineffectively.

"Guys!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, finally getting their attention. "Jeez, it's like living with a bunch of preschoolers…" she grumbled. "Just… we're all miserable. This heatwave sucks. So, let's just do our best to not take it out on each other, okay? Otherwise we're gonna be even more miserable," Rory said.

The three men looked at each other, embarrassed.

"Yeah, Rory's right," Chris said quietly. "Sorry."

Jess and Matt responded with their own apologies before returning to their corners of the main room.

Rory looked outside and realized the sun had finally gone down, so she opened the window and let in a breeze. For the first time in weeks, it was cool air coming into the apartment.

Rory gasped. "A breeze!" she squealed.

They all rushed to the window and embraced the fresh air – as fresh as city air got.

"Oh my God, I've never been so happy to feel wind," Chris mumbled, closing his eyes and savoring the feeling of the air on his face.

"I'm going for a walk, I'll be back in a bit," Rory announced.

"By yourself? At night?" Jess asked, concerned.

"I'll be fine, I'm just going to go around the block. Enjoy the breeze, clear my head. I'll be back soon." She smiled and kissed Jess's cheek before leaving.

Jess watched the clock for thirty minutes, bouncing his leg anxiously the entire time. Sure, they didn't live in the sketchiest part of Philly, but it wasn't Stars Hollow safe, that was for sure. When he couldn't take it anymore, he slipped on his shoes and went out to see if he could find Rory. It didn't take long until he rounded the corner and found her doubled over, vomiting into a bush.

"Rory!" he cried as he ran to her side. As soon as he reached her, he pulled her hair back away from her face with one hand and rubbed small circles on her back with the other.

Once she had finished and sat up, wiping her mouth with a tissue Jess had handed her, he looked her in the eye, his brow furrowed in worry.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked quietly.

Rory nodded. "Jess, really, I'm fine. The heat does this to me sometimes. Either that or I picked up a stomach bug, probably from that group of kids that came into the store a few weeks ago."

Jess looked her in the eye and sighed heavily. He knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with her on this, so he decided to do the only other thing he could think of.

"Can I at least take care of you until you feel better?" he whispered, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Rory frowned and was about to object, not wanting to be babied, but she suddenly saw a look of worry in Jess's eyes that she'd never seen before. It was a look of such pure concern for her wellbeing that it melted her heart.

"If you really want to," she whispered back.

"Thank you. We'll go home, I'll go get you some Jell-o and ginger ale and another fan to cool you off, and we'll get you feeling better in no time." He kissed the side of her head.

Rory smiled. "How on earth can you still want to kiss me right now? You just watched me re-enact the exorcist into the bushes on the side of the road. My nose is running and I'm pretty sure my eyes are still all bloodshot. It's, like, the least sexy I've ever been."

Jess smirked and shrugged. "Comes with the territory, I guess."

"What territory?" Rory asked with a smirk.

"Loving you," Jess said with a smile.

Rory melted slightly at Jess's words. She still loved the little moments in which Jess let her in on his soft side - a part of him he reserved only for her. So, despite a churning stomach and a sour-tasting mouth, Rory couldn't even try to suppress the smile that spread across her face as they began the walk back to the apartment.

Once they made it home, Jess stayed true to his word and ran to get stomach flu and heatwave supplies. Matt and Chris took the evening to go to an air-conditioned bar while Rory and Jess stayed home in front of the brand-new fan eating Jell-o and saltines and watching a movie. It was the least date-like thing she'd ever experienced, but somehow, she'd never felt more loved.

After another week, Rory's nausea and dizziness had yet to leave her alone. She'd convinced herself it was just a virus, but there was an annoying thought in the back of her mind reminding her that none of her roommates had gotten sick. Still, she trudged on with her life and almost successfully ignored the nagging feeling in her gut that something wasn't right.

It wasn't until she was having lunch with Paris one afternoon that she put the pieces together.

Paris was in town to visit Rory, taking advantage of the long weekend that her internship had given her to come and see her best friend. They met at a café a few blocks from Truncheon, and Paris almost immediately knew that something was up with Rory.

"Paris, stop, I'm fine. You're pre-med, you're conditioned to see major illnesses everywhere." Rory had spent the past thirty minutes trying to convince Pairs that she didn't need immediate medical help and that she was just getting over a bug.

"Just tell me your symptoms!" Paris demanded. "Come on, Gilmore, you've barely touched your food. You've got to admit that's not normal for you. Maybe normal for every other woman to try and maintain your physique, but not you."

Rory wrinkled her nose. "Stop talking about my physique and stop asking me what my symptoms are!" Rory took a sip of her water. "Can we please just enjoy lunch together? It's been weeks since I've seen you, I missed you! Tell me what's going on in your life!"

That seemed to successfully get Paris off her back. Paris launched into a monologue about Doyle, their relationship, the fact that she'd grown her craft corner and was able to take on more intense things, and her internship at a law firm in New Haven. Only Paris could somehow manage being both pre-med and pre-law, but Rory only admired her for it. She was in the middle of a story about a client she'd interacted with, a woman with a haircut and a blazer that apparently screamed she needed a new divorce lawyer, when Rory suddenly felt faint.

Paris stopped her story abruptly as the color drained from Rory's face. "Rory?"

Rory shook her head and attempted to refocus. "Huh?"

"God, you scared me. Just all the sudden you're white as a sheet and you've got this look in your eye like you were about to drop."

Rory felt herself come out of her dizzy spell and blushed, embarrassed. "Sorry, Paris, I just got a little dizzy. I'm fine, really," she said, trying to convince herself right along with Paris.

"Can you please tell me what your symptoms are? Because this is far from fine."

The scared expression on Paris's normally stern, strong face tore down all the shields within Rory.

Her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Fine, um… I feel sick to my stomach, I've thrown up a couple times, I have these random dizzy spells like what just happened, I'm super tired all the time..."

"Does anything specific trigger the vomiting?" Paris asked, suddenly assuming the role of Rory's doctor.

She thought back. "Yeah, actually. It was a smell from a restaurant down the street from Truncheon."

"Okay," Paris said, nodding. "Anything else?"

"Um…" she faltered, blushing a little.

"What? If there's something else, spit it out Gilmore."

"Well, I have to pee all the time, too," Rory said in a hushed tone, suddenly very aware that they were in a restaurant.

Paris thought for a few seconds, mumbling Rory's list of symptoms to herself repeatedly, before an expression of shock and realization crossed her face.

"Rory, when was your last period?"

Epilogue

Lorelai quickened her pace as she walked towards Weston's. Rory was in town for a surprise visit and Michel had delayed relaying her message as long as was possible. Thus, Lorelai was very much late to meeting her daughter for coffee. Ever since her temporary move to Philadelphia a month and a half ago, she barely saw her little girl. Lorelai understood, of course, but she missed having her so close.

Lorelai spotted her daughter sitting at a table outside and smiled brightly. But as she approached the table, apologizing for her tardiness, she saw Rory was pale and slightly flushed. Her mom instincts immediately kicked in as she sat down across the table from Rory and looked at her questioningly, taking note of the small, tight smile on Rory's face that started and stopped at her mouth.

"Hey, kid, you okay?" Lorelai asked in a voice she hoped was more comforting than concerned.

Rory nodded slightly.

"You sure? You look… not great."

"I'm fine, Mom, really. Just… not been feeling well lately."

Lorelai felt her anxiety rise. "Rory, honey, what's going on? You're scaring me a little here."

A summer breeze blew through the square, carrying with it the many smells from around them. Any color remaining in Rory's face drained suddenly and she shot up from her chair.

"Um, I'll be right…" she trailed off, walking into the bakery rapidly with her fingers pressed lightly over her mouth.

Lorelai was officially scared. She tried to convince herself that everything was fine, Rory just had a virus or something. But she was acting like she was covering up whatever was going on, putting off telling Lorelai what was going on. Something was very obviously wrong with her little girl, and she wasn't being up front with it. Lorelai's head started to spin with worst case scenarios. Cancer, serious illnesses, parasites. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it was bad.

Rory returned to the table, her eyes slightly bloodshot and watery, her face blotchy. Her hair and her sundress flowed in the summer breeze and all Lorelai could see was her baby girl, age five and twenty-one all at the same time.

"Sorry about that," Rory said, smiling slightly and trying to brush it off. "What sounds good? Pie? Cake? I'm good with either, you choose."

"Rory."

"Really, Mom, either would be great. Or, you know what, we could do both if both sound good! Have a pie and cake day. Go crazy!"

"Rory."

Rory stopped her rambling and looked up at Lorelai, whose eyes were wide with fear.

"What?" Rory asked in a small voice.

"What's going on? Are you…" her voice broke. "Are you sick? Are you dying?" she whispered.

Rory's eyes went wide. "No! No, I'm not sick or dying."

Lorelai breathed a small sigh of relief. "Okay, thank God, you seriously scared me." She furrowed her brow in confusion. "But… something's going on, because the rambling and the throwing up and the surprise visit to meet at Weston's – the place where we seem to have all our serious talks – all point to you having something to tell me and I don't think it's good."

Rory inhaled sharply, avoiding eye contact and staring at the table in front of her.

Lorelai looked where Rory was looking and noticed only one cup of coffee, and it was on her own side of the table. She looked up at Rory.

"Why don't you have any coffee?" she asked, laughing slightly. "Is that your big news? Because if you brought me here to tell me you stopped drinking—" She froze, the smile falling off her face as she put the pieces together.

"Mom," Rory said, meeting Lorelai's eyes.

"Yeah?" Lorelai asked in a hoarse voice.

"I'm pregnant."

THE END

A/N: Aaand that's all folks! Oh my goodness, what a ride. Don't worry - this isn't the last you'll hear of me. I have other things written and planned, including a sequel to this here little story. Thank you to everyone that's stuck around to the end - to everyone who followed, reviewed, favorited: you mean the world to me! And a special "thank you" to Nancy: You are one of my most loyal readers. Thank you for your dedication to this story and to reviewing after every single chapter. Your reviews never failed to bring a smile to my face.

Continue to let me know what you think and keep an eye out for more coming soon...

Catch you next time!