"Jess?" Rory said when she came into the apartment.
"I was coming back down honest." He closed the closet door but was still holding a shoe box.
"What's with the box?"
"You left it here." Jess replied. "It's empty so I thought I'd put the cranes in there."
"Okay." Rory sat down by the table.
"Everything okay down there?" Jess asked.
"They want to be a part of the baby's life."
"That's what you wanted isn't it?" Jess sat down on another chair.
"It is." Rory sighed. "They want to give us money."
"Money is always good."
"Money from my grandparents always comes with strings attached. Friday night dinners started when Mom borrowed money to pay for Chilton. Grandma hated it when Mom paid her back so we weren't obligated to go. They started up again when I borrowed the money to pay for Yale."
"They want you to go back to Friday night dinners. That's not too bad." Jess conceded.
"There is a slight amendment."
"What kind of amendment?"
"You're invited too."
"Your grandparents invited me to dinner after what happened last time?"
"I think this is a permanent invitation without a 'no' option." Rory told him. "I tried to tell them that you had to work Friday nights."
"Ror, it's fine." Jess said noting the slight tone of panic in her voice.
"You shouldn't get stuck having to come to family dinners."
"Rory I hate to be the one to tell you this, they're always going to be your grandparents, and all they're probably always going to disapprove of me, but since I'm not going not going anywhere, I can learn to deal with them and I can sit through dinner for a couple of hours a week. Besides…"
"Besides what?" Rory asked.
"Liz called yesterday morning."
"Your Mom called?"
"It turns out that whole Renaissance Fair thing finishes at the end of the October so she's coming back to town and bring TJ with her."
"Why do I sense a tone?"
"Liz I could deal with just about, but not TJ. The guy drives me crazy; you know we got into a fight at his bachelor party."
"No."
"Apparently the whole not wanting to be there and reading a book pissed him off and got us thrown out."
"It will be nice to have her around." Rory said.
"I make you a deal, you deal with my crazy mother and her even crazier husband and ignore her suggestion that getting high is a good pain reliever and I'll deal with your grandparents."
"Deal." Rory held out her hand.
"I can think of a better way to seal the deal." Jess leaned over and kissed her.
"Sorry." Lorelai who had just opened the door apologised.
"It's okay Mom." Rory said.
"I just wanted to check that you weren't trying to find a quick way out of here." Lorelai said.
"Jess is going to come to Friday night dinners."
"You mean all the mental excuses I've come up with were wasted?" Lorelai asked.
"What kind of excuses?" Jess inquired.
"You're allergic to marble or wood or maids."
"Good excuses." Rory agreed. "Now I really do have to go to the bathroom."
"You agreed to come to Friday night dinners?" Lorelai asked once Rory closed the door.
"She looked like she was getting flustered about it, so it was easier just to tell her I'd go and suffer through it."
"You're not a bad man Charlie Brown."
"If I have to go to dinner, I'll make you a deal."
"You already agreed now you want to make a deal?" Lorelai questioned.
"Yes, if I have to go, you have to bring Luke at least twice a month."
"Luke's not going to like that." Lorelai stated.
"I'm sure you can talk him into, and I don't want to know how."
"Okay." Lorelai agreed. "I'll bring Luke to dinner twice a month." She paused. "There was another reason I came up here."
"What's that?"
"Babette mentioned that Rory was staying here when she was in town, they're going to want to see the place. I thought you might want to tidy up, but the place is actually pretty tidy apart from a few stacks of books."
"Ran out of shelf space." Jess shrugged.
TBC