A/N: Okay, so the truth is I get a little bored of trying to rewrite the holiday season in all my fics that hit that time of year, so this chapter gets us from Thanksgiving, through Christmas, and New Year too. I hope you'll like it anyway, but I felt the need to do this to get to other more interesting things. Also, thanks to all the lovely reviewers who never fail to make me smile :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 16

Nobody could have predicted how well the holiday season would go. It was true enough that Rory had expected the usual family festivities, amplified tenfold since there were more people to share in the joy. Still, there could have been issues, but everything seemed to run smoothly and a good time was had by all.

Paris in Stars Hollow was always entertaining, if not a little scary. She came to hang out with Rory and/or Jess at times, but that restricted Ms Geller to the Crap Shack or the diner apartment as a rule. Thanksgiving put her right in the middle of things, literally.

Lorelai and Rory had to do the rounds, go see the grandparents, plus the Kims, and also Sookie and Jackson. Luke and Jess had to run things at the diner in the morning, planning to close after lunch so they could have dinner with Paris and the Gilmore girls. With Paris having shown up earlier than expected, she was left just hanging out at the counter of Luke's with only a book for company. Nobody had been ready for her to suddenly decide to help out. Jess got back from the bathroom and Luke from the kitchen almost at the same moment to find Paris wearing an apron, serving coffee to Babette and Maury with one hand, whilst berating Kirk for letting a cat get the best of him at the same time.

Of course, she had worked in the diner before, as she pointed out when the guys looked at her with mouths agape. When Uncle Louie died and his funeral arrangements were top priority, Paris had pitched in. Jess said she was the most unlikely natural, and way more of the diner patrons than expected complimented Paris on her style. She was becoming loved in the Hollow, and as much as she claimed not to care what the townsfolk of some crack-pot town thought of her, it was impossible for Rory and Lorelai not to notice how she smiled when she told the story.

Dinner was as good as expected and the company was the only thing that outranked Luke's excellent food. It was enough fun that they started to make plans for Christmas to be extremely similar. In the end, Paris got a better offer. She and Jamie kept in contact via phone for the most part, and the next thing she knew she had been invited to spend the winter break in its entirety with his family. Rory was sure she had never seen her friend grin so much. She was thrilled for her, and gave any good advice she could about clothes to pack and topics to talk about. Jess said very little about it, only sending a warning via Paris to Jamie that if he screwed up he would pay. It was sweet of him to care, Paris knew, but she at least pretended to be offended that her brother thought she needed any kind of protection. She could handle herself, and she was not dumb enough to jump into bed with a guy like that, especially in his parents' house!

Back in Stars Hollow, Luke and Jess went over to the Gilmore house to spend Christmas with their girlfriends, in a way only the Gilmore girls would think to celebrate. Cereal with red and green M&Ms, stockings on the bannister rail, and crappy holiday movies were the order of the day. They walked out in the snow that had come right on time for Christmas Eve, having snowball fights and chasing each other like kids in the winter wonderland.

Days later, it was New Year's Eve, and it suddenly occurred to Rory that she and Jess ought to have something special planned. She mentioned it to her mom in a state of panic.

"Shouldn't I have got him a gift or something? I mean, I know I already did for Christmas, but this is a big deal, right? A first anniversary? My first anniversary with Dean he started building me a car! What if Jess gets me a car?"

"Jess has more class than that." Lorelai shrugged. "Hey, maybe he's building you a plane!"

"Not helping," Rory grumbled at the ill-timed joke. "Mom, seriously, help me!"

"Sweets, I get that your first anniversary is a big deal, and I absolutely think it's a nice idea to get Jess a gift, but - and I know I'm setting feminism back a century here - he is the guy. He should be making arrangements and sweeping you off your feet. It's how these things are supposed to work," she insisted.

"But that's so sexist." Rory sighed. "I don't want to just expect him to do everything. Jess has done so much for me lately. He did the Dance Marathon and he hated that."

"Oh, he got his reward for that from what I hear," said Lorelai, immediately shuddering when she realised what she had referred to.

"Mom, I didn't... It wasn't about that," Rory insisted.

"I know, babe, I didn't mean... Never mind. Subject change!" she insisted. "Um, I know Jess does nice things for you, but he loves you, Rory, he's supposed to do that, just like you do nice things for him. That first edition you got him for Christmas was pretty cool."

"I think so, but now I really want to do something for our anniversary. Something special. I can't cook dinner."

"Ain't that the truth!"

"Exactly. I could buy a gift but I don't know what I'd get and I'm kind of broke since Christmas. I guess there's... um, well, I could order in food and maybe make a romantic kind of a night here, if you were going to be elsewhere."

She looked so awkward it was almost cute. The adorableness was unfortunately overshadowed by Lorelai's knowledge of what Rory was talking about. She was pretty much asking her mother to go out so she could have her boyfriend over for sex. Lorelai was doing her best to be okay with the daughter being sexually active, but it was not coming easy at all.

"Okay," she said eventually, clearing her throat twice before she could manage more. "I mean, yeah, sure. I wouldn't mind spending New Years with Luke. In fact, it'd be kind of cool," she considered.

Rory smiled at that. She knew how her mom was struggling with her and Jess being together as they were now, but she really appreciated the effort Lorelai was making.

"I love you, Mom," she said, reaching out to hug her. "You know you're the best, right?"

"Sure, sure," she agreed, hugging her back. "But you come a real close second," she teased her.

Rory laughed, before running off to her room to call Lane. Apparently she needed romantic music options, and then she had to decide what food to order and what clothes to wear. Lorelai smiled and rolled her eyes at her daughter's excitement. As much as she would love to have her stay a little girl forever, that just wasn't possible. Rory was growing up, she was eighteen and had a steady boyfriend that stayed over nights. She was pretty much a woman, and that made Lorelai feel just a little old. Then she thought of Luke, and the romantic night she could have herself with her man. Maybe she wasn't so old.

Jess really hadn't been expecting the reception he got at the Crap Shack for New Years. Sure, he knew it was kind of an anniversary for him and Rory. It was why he showed up at her door with a gift in his pocket that he hoped to surprise her with. He was the one who got the shock when she appeared in a pretty special dress and her hair done in curls. The candlelit dinner wasn't home-made, and Jess thanked God for it given the complete lack of kitchen skills in the Gilmore girls household, but Rory had ordered in the good stuff from Luigis and that was not to be argued with.

It was a standard issue date for the most part, talking about everything, making out on the couch and all. Jess had pressed his luck in a distinctly bedroom direction after a while and was a little confused when Rory put on the brakes. After all, they did this before, and tonight sure seemed like the kind of occasion that could involve sex. It made even less sense when Rory kept on checking her watch and the clock on the wall simultaneously. Eventually, Jess had to call her on her weird behaviour and she made her confession.

Their anniversary was officially at midnight, when she and Jess had kissed and effectively sealed the deal on their romantic relationship. This year, she wanted to expand on the tradition apparently, and Jess hadn't objected to waiting an hour to get what he craved. Making love at midnight was as good as it sounded.

For only the second time in their relationship, Jess and Rory got to fall asleep together and wake up just the same. Jess had checked that Lorelai was staying over with Luke before he got comfortable in Rory's too small bed, and despite the lack of room, they both slept really well, at least until a buzzing from somewhere on the floor disturbed one of them.

Jess figured out pretty fast that he had left his cell switched on, presumably on vibrate from the noise is wasn't making. He was reluctant to wake Rory who had her head on his chest and her arm across his body as she slept on, snoring softly. Still, if he didn't move to see who was calling, they might try the house phone next, and that would definitely bring her round.

Manoeuvring carefully, Jess laid Rory's head on the pillow, kissing her hair before he slipped out of bed. He pulled on his jeans, scrambling to grab his cell from his jacket pocket and took his shirt with him as he crept out of the room without making a sound. The kitchen floor was cold and he shivered, wishing he had put his feet into his shoes too, but too late now. Flipping open the phone he put it to his ear and walked through to the living room.

"Somebody better be dead."

"And a Happy New Year to you too, brother."

Jess smirked as much at her tone as the words she said.

"Happy New Year, Paris," he replied, pinching the bridge of his nose as he dropped down into the couch. "Sorry. You woke me up."

"Big night, huh?" she said. "I figured, given that you and Rory officially started dating at last year's New Years party and everything. It's why I didn't call at midnight."

"I appreciate that," said Jess, knowing she could never understand how much, and he certainly wasn't going to explain it to her. "So, how are things at Casa de Jamie?" he asked then, with an edge to his voice that Paris couldn't miss.

"Things are good," she assured him. "They'd be better if you could actually say Jamie's name without the acid reflux."

"What can I say? I don't like guys messing with my sister."

"Which would be adorable if I needed your protection," said Paris with an eye-roll he could hear. "Besides, even if Jamie was the jerk you seem to think he is, what could he possibly get away with in a house full of his family? There are so many people here. It's like an entire family reunion. I never knew one person who had so many relatives that they actually like."

"Yeah, I get that," Jess sympathised.

For all that they had very different starts in life, both he and Paris were no strangers to the lonely life. They grew up practically parent-less and without siblings or extended family to turn to. They were all but alone, until they were thrown together in the weirdest step-family situation ever known. It worked out though. Now they had each other, potentially for life. That seemed to be the unspoken plan they were working to, and neither was willing to complain about it so far.

"When do you get home?"

"Plane leaves tomorrow at four, so I'll be back in good time for school."

"Don't remind me that we have to go back there so soon" Jess groaned. "Rory's been excited to get back into the whole Chilton Senior Year extravaganza for days now. I love her to death, but I really do not get how you two find anything thrilling about school."

"For someone who doesn't care about education, you do pretty well at it," Paris reminded him. "And you can't hate the idea of school so much. You applied to college."

"I told you, I plead temporary insanity."

They talked a little while longer about nothing of importance. Honestly, it was just cool to catch up. Jess hadn't expected to miss Paris quite as much as he had these past couple of weeks. He figured she must've felt the same or she never would've called at eight in the morning on the first day of a new year when she was coming home in a day or so.

When they finally ended their call, Jess went back to Rory's room and found her still sleeping yet. He stood watching her breathing in and out a moment, smiling at the sight of the pendant he gave her rising and falling on her chest, currently the only thing she was wearing. He thought about joining her, of waking her up in a way guaranteed to make him popular but then figured maybe he should put the coffee machine on first. A Gilmore girl first thing in the morning would always need coffee, regardless of what other pleasures you planned on giving her afterwards.

To Be Continued...