"Hey Rory, can we go in now?" Jess asked. "It's getting colder."
"That's the benefit of having a coat on." Rory pointed out.
"If you're cold go inside, we're going to enjoy the snow until dinner is ready." Lorelai suggested.
"Fine." Jess shrugged and headed inside. Luke followed him.
"You're just going to let her stay outside?"
"Luke, she does what she wants, she may be six and a half months pregnant but trust me telling her what to do is not an option. Besides which Sookie said we were eating at 2, that's in about five minutes so I think she'll be okay."
GG
Dinner had gone well; Rory had only had two extra servings of the main meal and then eaten most of Jess's desert insisting that she was hungry.
Emily and Richard seemed to have had a good time, despite their meeting with TJ. They had to depart almost as soon as dinner was over because they had another engagement that evening.
"Do you want a ride home?" Lorelai offered once everyone had left and the dining room tidied.
"No, I think we'll walk." Rory replied.
"Okay hun." Lorelai gave her a hug. "8.30 tomorrow."
"8.30 it is." Rory agreed.
"You're going to get up at 8.30 on a Friday morning when you took the day off work?" Luke questioned.
"It's tradition." Rory replied.
"What is?" Luke asked.
"Shopping. It's the first day of the sales." Lorelai stated.
"We go shop for a few hours, complain there are too many people and then get pie." Rory explained. "It's our post thanksgiving tradition."
"I can always get up early for shopping." Lorelai stated.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Rory told her grabbing her purse and coat. "Bye Luke."
"Bye." Jess added following Rory out.
GG
They ended up taking the long way home since Rory wanted to walk in the snow.
"Do you want some hot chocolate?" Jess asked when they got back.
"Hot chocolate would be good." Rory agreed. "I have to go to the bathroom."
"Don't you always?" Jess joked.
"Well there isn't a lot of room left in there and that's not going to change for a few months."
Jess had two cups on the table when Rory came out the bathroom.
"Thanks." She said when she sat down.
"Not a problem."
"Dinner was good. Especially desert."
"I wouldn't know, you ate mine." Jess reminded her.
"It was really good."
"I'll take your word for it."
"Sookie's food is always good."
"I wouldn't let Luke hear you say you prefer Sookie's food he might get offended. Speaking of Luke, he mentioned something to me."
"What's that?" Rory inquired.
"He's moving in officially with Lorelai."
"That's good."
"So he said I could stay here rent free as long as I pay the bills and don't have any wild parties and trash the place." Jess added.
"That's nice of him." Rory remarked.
"Umm." He paused. "Since we only had a short conversation about this this morning, it seems strange that she would pick today to ask him."
"Maybe she took the snow as a sign." Rory suggested.
"Or maybe you manipulated her into asking him."
"She just needed to know I was okay with it." Rory shrugged. "Besides it's the first time she's lived with a guy. She needed to get used to the idea."
"Right." Jess rolled his eyes.
"As long as they're happy right."
"Umm." Jess paused. "So it seems that you don't have anywhere to live when you finish school because of Lorelai's rule."
"That would be true." Rory agreed.
"And since I seem to have acquired apartment to myself, I might a roommate to help cover the rent."
"I don't know if I can afford it." Rory stated.
"I'm sure we can come to some arrangement. You can cook or something."
"Only if you want to die of food poisoning."
"All pretence aside do you want to move in permanently?"
"What about Luke?" Rory asked.
"He's okay with it."
"I'll think about it." Rory winked at him then smiled.
TBC