Disclaimer: ...blah, blah, blah... I still don't own 'em... but if you guys wanna pitch in, I'll share :)...

AN: I kind of swore off updating this piece while the site was acting all goofy (why! I hear you cry). I don't know, I just got this gigantic humungo (is that even a word?) writer's block and couldn't add another chapter. So this stuff is mostly filler, and I have no idea why I felt the need to explain how Rory and Dean's living situation in her tiny little bedroom is being dealt with. I'm weird like that, I guess. Ha. So, after the first couple sentences, I know I'm going to get several reviews screaming "WHAT!" but believe me, it's all going to play out right in the end... I think. -smiles sheepishly- I hope at least.

Chapter 20

-- Several Weeks Later --

June 3rd came and went. Lorelai mourned it with regret, and Luke seemed none the wiser. There were a few days where Lorelai snapped and barked short comments and insults at him, but it eventually passed. In fact, it had stopped once Luke started to bring April over a lot more. And with Dean and Rory's advice after they replayed the events of the wedding after party, he showered Lorelai with a lot more attention and affection, and was gracious to her for letting them wait to get married. Lorelai, of course, did not remember a thing about her drunken speech like Christopher had said, and the town, after much persuasion from Rory and Dean, had let it go.

Rory's semester at Yale ended, and she signed up to take several classes over the summer. She would have to take a lot of time off after the baby was born, and she knew that if she didn't finish getting her degree now, she wouldn't want to do it later. So she met with her advisor and he insisted that she take as many courses over the summer as she could, and then he'd talk to her professors for next year about letting her take their courses online while she was at home with the baby. Her advisor seemed thrilled, actually, that she was going to finish school, and that she was aiming for finishing it as soon as possible. If all went as planned, Rory would be graduating on time.

Though, even with the graduation subject nailed and taken care of, Rory was still left with dealing with the Yale Dailey News. Dean had begged her to keep her position as Editor in Chief, but she knew it would detract too much time away from her school work and the baby. Besides, if she had free time to do that, she had free time to get a job that actually paid her something for her work. Much to the dismay of the staff, Rory handed her position back over to Paris. There was a silent pack made at that moment that if the staff mutinized Paris out of office, Rory would go with her.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Rory didn't like going into Hartford all alone. At least before the summer ended, she'd carpool with Dean, and he'd pick her up after her classes were over. But, while she took summer courses to graduate on time, Dean took up double shifts with Tom to save up money. "Yale's graduation is much more important than a degree from a community college," Dean had said. Rory didn't like him putting his education on the back burner just because they needed a little extra money - she could always get a job too. She'd worked internships for two very prominent papers - one, she regretted to even take; the other, she regretted to leave - and she was sure she could find a job. But Dean didn't want her over-exerting herself with work, school, and the baby.

"I'm fat," Rory said one evening as she was looking in the mirror. Dean had gotten off of work early, and they'd made a date to watch a movie.

That was another thing that Rory hated. Since she was so self-conscious with flaunting about the obvious fact that she was pregnant to the entire town of Stars Hollow, she had been forced to wear very loose clothing like flow-y tank tops and/or with light jackets, to hide her growing belly. It wasn't so much obvious that she was pregnant, just that she was gaining weight, and all of Stars Hollow knew the Gilmore Girls could put away food and not gain an ounce.

"You're beautiful," Dean said from his reclined position on their bed.

With Dean's help and Lorelai's burden, Rory had managed to clean out her room. She'd packed her old books away in boxes and stored them in the garage on shelves. She still had an abundance of books left in her room, but Dean had built her new bookcases to replace her desk - which, because of Lorelai's objection to its sentimental value, went in the garage with the boxes of books and Luke's father's boat. Dean and Luke also built a new dresser and wardrobe for Rory's room - the wardrobe had two sides on it to allow more space for Rory and Dean's clothes, and the dresser was as tall as Dean, with a shelf built in for a television. Once all the unnecessary items were packed away in boxes and stored in the garage or the extra closet in the apartment above Luke's diner - and once, Lorelai had stopped trying to sneak the little things back in because "they were cold" or because "they were lonely" - Rory's old bed was stored in the apartment above the diner, and Rory and Dean bought themselves a double bed.

"Because I'm having a baby, and I need more room than you," Rory had explained nonchalantly in the store when they'd gone to buy a new bed.

Of course, the room seemed a lot smaller than before with less floor space, but it worked for the two of them. And the closeness was really starting to grow on them - they had silently and without realize, become a couple again. And it felt good to be that close to one another. So no complaints.

"I'm fat," Rory said again. She finally tore her gaze away from the mirror at the back of their wardrobe and settled on the edge of the bed, looking at Dean. "Do you still love me?"

"Always and forever," he replied with a smile. He tugged her arm and pulled her down next to him, wrapping his arm around her and resting it on her stomach. It had become a comfort position for them; a routine. He kissed the top of her head and reached for the remote on the other side on him. "Now, let's not worry about anything but the movie."

"What movie did you rent?" she inquired curiously, dancing her fingers along his forearm, her eyes mesmerized by it.

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

She shifted her gaze to his, her eyes sparkling with a light that played on her smile. "Our first date?"

"Oh, only the classic," Dean replied with a wave of his hand, leaning in to give her a kiss on the lips.

The movie started, and Rory couldn't help but feel as though this had been the plan all along. She was happy and content with how everything was going now in her life. She was always only happy and content when Dean was in her life. But something felt off; a little wrong with the whole picture. Deciding to worry about it later, and chalking it up to a weird hormonal change since she was experiencing those a lot lately, Rory settled in close to Dean and watched the first movie she'd ever watched with him. And it was perfect again.

AN: If you have any doubts that I'm not a certain shipper (see the first sentence), then check my profile page. I assure you I am all for the two of them. I promise! It'll all work out in the end, you'll see. Also, sorry this isn't much of an update... I've been distracted with another Narco fic that I'm experimenting with - I'll post it as soon as I finish the first chapter of that (if I'm satisfied with it, ha).

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