Chapter 24 Notes: Jeremy gets to celebrate his birthday with his family in Stars Hollow. Michel makes a brief appearance, and was very fun to write. Thanks for all the thoughtful and kind reviews and to everyone still following and reading this story. Every time I put up a new post and realize what chapter number I'm on, I feel like I should start heading into a wrap-up, but I still have several more story lines that I want to include in Stars Hollow. I'm grateful for all the readers who are still with me even though this story is getting pretty darn long! Thank you guys! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own obsession with Gilmore Girls

Jess was feeling good as he walked over to the Dragonfly Inn the next morning. He had a job to start on January first. His kid had started a job the night before. They would have money coming in soon and be able to start tucking something away for Jeremy's college. And the cherry on top was the email Jess had received from Jeremy's former social worker this morning. The one with the electronic version of the picture of Jeremy's mom that had burned in the fire. Jess had remembered hearing in his foster care class that social workers make copies of important papers and photos that children bring into the system with them for safekeeping, in case children lose them or they are destroyed somehow. Jess figured it had been worth a shot to call and check, and Ms. Garcia hadn't disappointed, telling him to give her a few days to go look through her old files. He had kept it a secret from Jeremy, not wanting to get the boy's hopes up if nothing came of it, and now he was planning to print out the picture and present it to Jeremy in a card after they returned from dinner at Luke's. He could still remember holding Jeremy in the car while the boy sobbed over losing the original. He knew it was too personal and emotional a gift to give Jeremy at dinner when the rest of the family was giving him their presents. He was hoping for happy tears this time around. He just needed access to a color printer, and Luke had sent him over to the Inn to use Lorelai's because they didn't have one at the house.

Things were definitely on an upswing in Stars Hollow. The only thing currently bothering Jess, other than the big picture state of his life that he tried not to let himself think about, was that Jeremy's grounding was turning out to not be much of a punishment at all. Last night, they had worked out how having a job would affect his grounding and had come to the understanding that Jeremy would now be allowed out of the apartment for school, work, and Jess-approved family events. And with all the family they had in Stars Hollow, Jess knew that Jeremy would be spending a lot of time out. Jess thought about the coming weekend and how they were celebrating Jeremy's birthday tonight at Luke and Lorelai's, then Christmas Eve tomorrow and Christmas on Sunday. It's not like he wanted to torture the kid, but he didn't want to be a pushover about this either. He could still remember how out of his mind with worry he had been while Jeremy was off running around New York with his girlfriend until three a.m. and he wanted the boy to suffer some sort of consequence for his behavior. The only thing that seemed to be bothering Jeremy at all right now was not being able to text Melissa, so Jess definitely intended to stick to the no-phone aspect of the boy's punishment. It occurred to him that Jeremy knew what drawer Jess had put his phone in, and he wondered if he should be checking to make sure Jeremy wasn't using it behind his back. He knew the chances were good that he himself would have done that in Jeremy's shoes. And, Jeremy was a good kid, but even good kids could be tempted when they wanted something bad enough…..Maybe it had been naive to just put the phone in Luke's old desk drawer and declare it off-limits. Maybe he should have asked Luke to keep it as his place, in an undisclosed location. Or maybe he was being paranoid and suspicious for no reason. Jess didn't want to be that kind of parent. He trusted his kid. Then again, Jeremy had given in to temptation and gone to New York to begin with….

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"Hey, Jess!" Lorelai came out from behind the reception desk as if to hug Jess. Jess saw the look of hesitation in her eye as she got close and realized what she was doing and seemed to think better of it. She had almost dropped her arms when Jess met her halfway. The result was an extremely brief and awkward half-hug that left Jess feeling off balance. He wasn't even sure why he had done it. Or why she had started it. And he had wasted the effort, with Michel as the only witness, without Luke there to see it and give him credit for his show of goodwill. Jess couldn't remember he and Lorelai ever hugging before. In light of his last few weeks in Philly, holding a grudge against Lorelai didn't seem as important as it used to, especially when she was graciously willing to let him use her printer.

"Hey, Lorelai. It's good to see you." That was something he was pretty sure he had never said before.

"Hey, you, too." Lorelai was all smiles and Jess realized that she had always been better at being civil to him than he had to her, or at least she had become better at it once she had started dating Luke. He needed to get better at. If there's one thing the last few weeks had taught him, it was the importance of being on good terms with your family when you were in a bind, and whether or not he liked it, he could admit that Lorelai was in his family now. "I'm so glad you guys are going to be here for Christmas this year."

"Uh, yeah. Yeah. Me too." Jess pulled off his knit hat and shoved it in his jacket pocket. "Thanks for letting us crash your holiday."

"Hey, you're not crashing!" Lorelai said. "I think it's so fun that Luke and I get to have you guys here for Leelee and Jeremy's first Christmas. Well, I know it's not Jeremy's first Christmas. He's obviously had other Christmases, it's not like he was just born like Leelee, but what I meant was that it's his first Christmas as a part of the Gilmore family, er, the Danes-Mariano family-" Lorelai cut herself off and took a deep breath and Jess realized that she was as nervous as he was. It had felt ok to not get along when they had seen each other briefly a couple of times a year, but now that he was moving back and wanted to have one big happy family for Jeremy, the stakes seemed higher. He was getting the impression they did to her as well, and he thought about how they both had one thing in common. They both loved Luke and wanted to make him happy.

"I know what you mean. I'm looking forward to his first Christmas with us, too." Jess felt like that was a diplomatic answer. 'Us' could include Lorelai or not, it was up to her interpretation. "And, his birthday. Thanks for having us over for that tonight, by the way. I know it means a lot to Jeremy to have family members who want to celebrate his birthday, so thank you."

"Well, I'd tell you you're welcome and take credit for any part of it, but I think we both know it will be all Luke in the kitchen tonight. He's been researching vegetarian recipes online all week."

"I'm sure Jeremy will appreciate that." Jess huffed out a laugh. "Though he might be the only one."

Lorelai laughed. "I know, right! I was pushing for a side of sliders and tater tots for the rest of us, but Luke said absolutely not. You know how he can be."

"Yep." Jess nodded, worried they were running out of small talk.

Lorelai must have felt it, too. "So, uh, Michel here will let you on the computer. The printer's right over there." She pointed to the small printer on the counter behind the reception desk. "I need to run back and check on something in the kitchen. You're in good hands." She turned to Michel with a serious look. "Right, Michel?"

Jess watched the man look up from the computer with a bored expression on his face. "Yes, Lorelai. Your beloved step-nephew will be safe with me."

"Ok, then." Lorelai smiled at Jess.

"Thanks for this, Lorelai. I really appreciate it."

"Of course, it's no problem." Lorelai smiled and waved and hurried off toward the kitchen.

When Jess turned back toward the desk, Michel was openly staring at him and it was making Jess a little uncomfortable. "Thanks for helping me out like this, Michel. This should only take a couple of minutes-"

"So, mini mountain man. I hear you are moving back to Stars Hollow. Tell me, did the real world eat you up and spit you out like it did with little Lorelai?"

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Thirty minutes later, Michel had finally reached what he considered 'a suitable stopping point' in whatever he had been doing and allowed Jess to use the computer while he took his break. Jess had quickly logged into his email account and printed the photo. He had set it on the desk while he got himself ready to head back out. Lorelai walked up then, and halted in surprise. "Oh, you're still here!"

"Yeah." Jess acknowledged as he pulled his jacket back on. "Michel was in the middle of something, so I had to wait a while to get on the computer."

Lorelai made an apologetic face. "I'm sorry about that. I should have stayed to chaperone. Michel doesn't always play well with new people."

"It's fine." Jess assured her, as he zipped up his jacket. "He did give me the free piece of life advice that I should shave more frequently. So, I got that out of it."

Lorelai chuckled. "Hey, who's the pretty lady?"

Jess looked over at Lorelai as he pulled his hat out of his jacket pocket and saw that she was checking out the picture he had printed. "That's Jeremy's mother."

"Oh."

"Jeremy had the original of that picture. It was all he had left of her, and it got destroyed in the fire. I was able to track down a copy with his social worker." Jess took a step toward Lorelai and looked down, studying the picture alongside her. "You're printer's really good. It's not quite the same as a real photo, but it's much better than I thought it would look."

"He's going to love that you found this for him." Jess could hear the warmth in Lorelai's voice for Jeremy and it made him feel an unexpected fondness toward her.

"Yeah. I think he's going to be pretty happy to have it back. He was really broken up when he lost the original. I felt awful for him." "He's such a good kid, and all these bad things keep happening to him. It just feels so…..unfair."

Jess felt a hand lightly and tentatively pat the back of his jacket, and he realized how close he and Lorelai were standing.

"It's a really great thing you've done for him, hon."

"It wasn't a big deal, really. All it took was a call to his social worker."

Jess felt two more gentle pats on the back, his eyes still trained on Jeremy's mother's face. "Sure. Because that's all I was talking about." He could hear the playful sarcasm in Lorelai's voice and for once it didn't piss him off.

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"This is really nice of Luke and Lorelai to have us over for my birthday like this." Jeremy was reflecting on how little fanfare there had been for his birthday the past couple of years at the group home. Birthdays had been celebrated at dinner and the birthday boy got to pick what he wanted served from the list of about ten rotating options. He also got to pick a present from a list of stuff that could be provided by donation from a foster parent association. Last year he had picked a gift card to a clothing store. There was a half-hearted rendition of happy birthday sung mostly by the group home staff as a cake with candles was brought out, but the whole thing always felt impersonal and sad. The other kids could have cared less when it was someone's birthday, and the staff were being paid to celebrate it. Jeremy felt a wave of sadness hit him at the memory of how lonely he had felt on most of his birthdays. He looked away from Jess and blinked a few times to keep his eyes from welling up and ruining everything. They were walking over to Luke's house since it was an unseasonably warm evening and he didn't want to have to explain his tears to Jess when this was supposed to be a good night.

"Well, they're nice people. And they care about you. They want your first birthday with us to be special." Jess said. Jeremy kept his eyes on Winston, who was walking along in front of him. They were bringing him over to socialize with Paul Anka, even though Paul Anka had yet to get anywhere near Winston. The two dogs mostly stayed on opposite sides of the living room from each other and eyed each other suspiciously, but they didn't fight or bark at each other, so it made Jeremy happy to think that Winston had a canine friend, and it beat the alternative of leaving Winston home by himself.

"They are nice people." Jeremy agreed. It still sometimes amazed him that he was now part of a family of nice people.

"So, Liz and TJ and Doula are going to be there, too."

"I know. You told me." Jeremy said. "I've been working on some new signs. I learned how to ask Doula if she's excited for Christmas and if she likes to play in the snow." Jeremy laughed lightly. "Of course, if she signs back anything more detailed than a yes or no answer, I'll be stuck, but I figure it's a start."

"It's a great start. I love that you're learning ASL, Jeremy. Even if you're not a pro yet, she's really going to appreciate the effort."

"I hope so." Jeremy frowned. "I just worry about moving my hand a little wrong and saying something stupid by mistake."

"It'll happen at some point. At least, it did to me when I was learning. She would just laugh at me and then we'd get over it. So." Jess paused and Jeremy looked over at him expectantly. "I want to talk to you about something. And, just so you know, there's no pressure here. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do and everything will be fine either way."

Jess was making him nervous. "Ok. What are you talking about?"

Jess looked slightly uncomfortable and it made Jeremy feel even more uneasy. "It's come to my attention that Liz and TJ would really like it if you would call them grandma and grandpa. But, you don't have to." Jess rushed to add. "If you're comfortable doing it, they would like it, but if you aren't, they'll live and they'll still care about you and be your grandparents."

Jeremy reflected on how much he would like to call Jess 'dad.' And, maybe Lorelai and Luke 'aunt' and 'uncle.' He could honestly say that what he called Liz and TJ was the lowest on his list of priorities. Because of Jess's obviously strained relationship with them, he figured they would be in his life less than Luke and his family. But, he had never had grandparents and he liked the idea of being able to call someone in his new family by a family name, even if it wasn't his top choice of person. It was something, a start. And, if they had asked Jess for him to do it, it must mean something to them. He must mean more to them than he thought.

"Sure."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I'm happy to call them grandma and grandpa if that's what they want."

Jess was smiling his warm smile at him and Jeremy knew he had made the right decision. "Ok. Thanks, Jeremy. I think that's going to make them really happy."

Jeremy shrugged. "It will be nice for me, too. I've never had grandparents before." He paused, weighing his options. Now seemed like the perfect time to ask about calling Jess 'dad', but he was too chicken, too scared of how deeply the rejection, even just a laugh in response, or a hesitation before agreeing, would cut him. He went the safer route, hoping Jess would take the hint. "So…...does this mean I should start calling Lorelai and Luke 'aunt' and 'uncle', too, while I'm at it?"

Jess put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him gently to his side. "That's between you and them, but I have a feeling that they would be happy with whatever you wanted to call them."

Jeremy tried to look up at Jess, but he couldn't turn enough to see the man's face with the way Jess was holding his shoulders. He wondered if he was supposed to be taking a hint of his own from Jess's words.

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Jess slowly picked up a forkful of chocolate cake and brought it to his mouth as he watched Lorelai lean over in her chair and whisper something to Luke. After the butternut squash baked risotto they had had for dinner, Jess barely had room for the birthday cake. He watched Luke smile and nod and whisper a response before turning back to the table. "What do you guys think? Is it present time?"

"Yes." Liz agreed, smiling broadly. "It's definitely present time!"

"Yay for presents." Rory added. Leelee was asleep in her room, and Rory seemed to be enjoying herself at dinner, chatting with Jeremy and Liz and TJ. Jess couldn't tell if she was putting on her enthusiasm for Jeremy's sake, or if she was just going so stir crazy from spending most of her time home alone with a baby that talking to Liz and TJ seemed appealing. "Can I go first? Mine might be the least exciting, though still lovingly selected gift, so it should go first to better manage expectations."

Luke smiled at his step-daughter. "You go ahead, Rory. I want to go last."

"You should." Rory agreed. "You definitely have the showstopper." Jess watched their exchange carefully, getting the feeling of being on the outside that he sometimes got when watching Luke with Rory since she had moved home and was in his day to day life, while Jess wasn't. He supposed that would change now that he was back in town, too. He wondered what Luke's gift was. He really hoped he hadn't bought the kid a car, or anything else too over the top. Jess wasn't sure if he could see Luke doing that without getting his permission first.

Rory walked away from the table and returned with a flat, shirt-sized box wrapped in sparkly blue and green paper. "Happy birthday, Jeremy. I don't claim to know what boys like, but I did my best." Jess heard Lorelai chuckle.

"Thanks, Rory." Jess smiled, watching Jeremy sign his thanks as he spoke, the faint blush rising on Jeremy's cheeks as the boy pushed his empty cake plate out of the way and accepted the box from Rory. Jess reached over and picked up the boy's plate, stacking it on top of his own mostly empty plate in front of him. Jess knew how much Jeremy appreciated having people who wanted to celebrate his birthday with him, but at the same time, the kid was always uncomfortable being the center of attention and having everyone watch him open presents on top of that seemed to be compounding his embarrassment. Jeremy carefully unwrapped the box and laid the colorful paper neatly to one side. Jess's heart clenched with emotion as he watched his kid. His kid. He still sometimes felt overwhelmed at the idea that he was someone's dad.

Jeremy lifted the lid and opened the nest of polka dotted tissue paper to reveal a navy blue wool sweater. "Oh, wow! Thank you, Rory." Jeremy pulled out the sweater and held it up. It was simple but nice, and it looked expensive to Jess's eye.

"You're welcome, Jeremy." Rory was smiling.

"It's so nice, and it looks really warm. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it." Jess reflected on how grateful Jeremy always was for everything that anyone did for him. It was an endearing trait that seemed to belong on a much younger child, but one Jess hoped the kid never outgrew it.

"I'm glad you like it." Rory responded. "I figured you can't go wrong with a warm sweater in winter in New England."

"I love it. Thank you."

"Ok, me next!" Lorelai said. She walked into the kitchen and returned with a flat box about half the size of Rory's gift that she presented to Jeremy. "Luke and I got you something else, but this is just something small that I made for you. It goes with Rory's gift. Happy birthday, kiddo."

"Coordinating gifts. That is a very classy thing to do, there." TJ said, signing as he spoke.

"Thank you, Lorelai." Jeremy signed before accepting the gift and placed it on the table in front of him, opening it just as carefully as he had Rory's. He pulled out a navy blue hat and scarf that did come very close to matching the sweater from Rory. "Oh, wow! You made these? Like, you knitted them?"

Lorelai was smiling. "I sure did. Do you like 'em?"

"I love them so much!" Jeremy's smiling expression turned solemn for a moment. "No one's ever made me anything like this before." Jeremy was running his hand over the scarf. "It's so soft." He looked up at Lorelai with a big grin. "Thank you so much, Lorelai."

"You're welcome, Jeremy." Lorelai smiles as she watched Jeremy fit the hat onto his head and gently wrap the scarf around his neck. "It's a good color on you. It brings out your eyes."

"Yeah?" Jess could see the slight self-consciousness on Jeremy's face, even as he was being charmed by Lorelai.

"Oh, definitely. I think blue's your color. It's mine, too, so you can trust me on this. We of the pretty blue eyes should wear as much blue as possible."

Jess shot a glance at his mother and saw her watching Lorelai and Jeremy. Her lips were turned up slightly at the sides, but the smile didn't reach her eyes, and Jess felt a twinge of an emotion that he didn't normally feel in relation to his mother. He was pretty sure it was empathy. He watched TJ take Liz's hand in his, and his mother turn to his step-father with a small but appreciative smile as they shared a private look.

"All right." Luke said turning to TJ and Liz. "You guys are up." Luke met Jess's eye across the table and there was teasing and amusement there. Jess was curious as to what Jeremy's grandparents were giving him.

"Ok!" Jess noted the big grin that was back on Liz's face, and he wondered how often she was faking happiness around him. "Doula, sweetie. Why don't you get the envelope from my purse and give it to Jeremy?" Liz's hands were moving quickly, signing to the little girl as she spoke.

Doula got out of her chair and obediently fetched a blue envelope that she carried over to Jeremy. She leaned into his side and hugged him, and Jeremy wrapped one arm around her small frame in return. "Hold that right there." Jess signed before pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and quickly snapping a picture. As he put his phone down, he caught the warm, amused look that Luke was aiming at him.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing, Nephew. I just get a kick out of watching you do dad stuff."

Doula had released Jeremy and stepped back and Jeremy was signing 'thank you' to her. The boy spoke without taking his eyes off Doula. "I like it when he does dad stuff, too."

Jess watched the boy blush at his own admission as he shot a quick glance toward Jess. Jess smiled warmly at him. "Hey, doing dad stuff comes with the job, of you know, being a dad."

"Aww." Rory said. "You guys are so cute!"

"So, you gonna open that up or what?" TJ spoke to Jeremy, automatically signing as he glanced at Jess with the hint of a teasing smile on his face.

"Oh, sorry!" Jeremy opened the envelope and slid out two long pieces of thin cardboard. It looked like tickets to Jess. Jess's curiosity grew as the boy stared dumbfounded at them for a moment before smiling broadly. His reaction looked authentic enough on the surface, and Jess hoped he was the only one who could tell it was forced. "This is so cool! I've never been to a Renaissance Faire before!"

Jess felt a smile forming on his own face as he held in his laughter, a task that became more difficult as he met Luke's eye and saw that his uncle was doing the same.

"You haven't? Oh, man!" Liz was back to her normal, overly enthusiastic self, signing quickly as she spoke. "See?" This was aimed at TJ and Doula. "I knew this was the right gift for Jeremy. He's never even been to a Ren Faire!" She turned her attention back to her grandson. "And, it's not just for one day. Those are season passes to the faire in Connecticut that TJ and I work at in the fall. You can go as many times as you want! There's so much to see!"

The idea struck Jess as painful and unwarranted punishment, for Jeremy and for himself. But, he liked the idea that Jeremy was now a permanent member of the family that could be included in future plans. He remembered the first time he had brought Jeremy to Stars Hollow and how awkward it had been when April and Luke had brought up camping trips and Fenway in the spring without knowing if Jeremy would still be around then.

"Wow, that's awesome. Thank you so much!" Jess had to admit that Jeremy was a good little actor. And, he appreciated that the boy was thoughtful enough to put in the effort.

Liz leaned forward and spoke to Jeremy conspiratorially. "You know, Jess has never been to a Ren Faire either. I bet he'd love to take you and check it out, too."

"I bet he would!" TJ said, shooting Jess a teasing look. "And, don't worry, Jess, I'll help you with your period costume. I've got some tights you can borrow, and-" "Wait! I'm having an amazing idea! Lizzie, how great would Jess look in my old Robin Hood costume? It doesn't fit me anymore, but Jess could wear it. Someone should get some use out of it. It has a bow and arrow and everything."

"That's a fantastic idea, TJ!" Liz said. "It won't cost you anything, Jess, and you'd make such a charming Robin Hood. I can just picture you."

"Well, that makes one of us." Jess said. He watched Doula giggle as she followed his and her parents' signing.

"Oh, c'mon, Jess." Lorelai said, clearly amused. "I think you'd be a cute Robin Hood. It's perfect for you. He's even got that little delinquent streak in him of stealing from the rich."

Jess laughed. He met Jeremy's eye and gave the boy a smile and a comical eye roll as he responded. "I don't know. I don't want to steal Jeremy's thunder. I think he'd made a pretty great Robin Hood."

Jeremy was blushing. "Do you have to dress up to go?"

Luke shook his head. "No, you don't have to dress up, Jeremy. You can do whatever you're comfortable with. Lots of people go in normal clothes. I helped Liz and TJ out one summer at a faire in Maine and I never dressed up once."

"Yeah, but you're a party pooper, Luke." TJ said, grinning. "I think these two guys, here." He looked from Jeremy to Jess. "Are going to want to do it right."

"What's really great." Jess said. "Is that since these are season passes, we can all share them. If there's a time when Jeremy and I can't go, I bet Luke and Lorelai would love to go. And, I know that Rory wants to expose Leelee to art. I bet Leelee would love to see some installation art like a Ren Faire. What do you think, Rory? I'm thinking everyone can benefit from these."

Rory smiled. "I think Leelee would be game. And, the rest of us have all been before, Jess, so you can't scare us with your season passes."

"Yeah, Jess." TJ said. "You're the only one who's never come by to check it out. The faire in Connecticut is only about forty-five minutes from here. It'll be fun."

"Well, I guess this will have to be the year." Jess gave in.

"You'll love it, Jeremy!" Liz said. "There's jousting, and sword fights and acrobats, and all these women dressed in skimpy chainmail outfits, or with their boobs popping out of their corsets. I'm talking a lot of boobs-"

"Liz!" Luke admonished.

"What?" She protested. "He's an eighteen year-old boy! I'm sure he likes boobs. You like boobs, don't you Jeremy?"

Jess interjected to defend his blushing child. "You don't need to answer that Jeremy."

"Of course, he doesn't." Liz said. "Because we all know the answer is yes!"

TJ laughed loudly, and Rory giggled as she tried to keep a straight face.

"Liz!" Luke repeated.

Jess met Jeremy's eye and smiled. The boy looked happy, and that was all that mattered to Jess, even if he did end up getting dragged to a Renaissance Faire.

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Jess was watching Luke come out of the garage with Jeremy's present. Jeremy was standing next to him with his hands covering his eyes as instructed. When Luke had told everyone to get their jackets and come outside, Jess had started worrying that Luke really had bought Jeremy a car. Jess wasn't really sure why the idea upset it as much as it did, but he figured it had something to do with the idea of Luke being able to do a parent type thing for Jeremy that he himself was currently not capable of. The last thing he could do right now was buy Jeremy a car. So, he had been relieved to see Luke wheeling out a shiny new, dark blue ten-speed bicycle. This gift he could live with.

Luke flipped the kickstand with his foot and stood the bike up a few feet in front of Jeremy. "Ok, Jeremy. You can look now."

Jeremy opened his eyes and the first fleeting expression Jess saw on the boy's face was shock, faintly colored by worry. Jess instinctively took a step closer to the boy. Jeremy quickly schooled his features into grateful happiness. "Oh, wow!" He looked at Luke and Lorelai. "You guys bought me a bike?"

Luke laughed. "We did. We figured you would need a way to get around town. And Stars Hollow is small enough that you should be able to get pretty much everywhere on this." Luke patted the bike seat.

"I rode my bike around for a while when I was having car problems and it was really fun." Lorelai said. "Of course, it was spring, but hey, this has been an unseasonably warm winter so far."

"Thank you guys so much. This is so great. I love it."

Luke grinned. "You want to hop on and test it out? Ride around the street a little and we can see how it fits you and make adjustments if we need to."

"Yeah, you gotta take this thing out for a test drive." TJ walked closer to inspect the bike. "This is a pretty sweet ride, kid."

Jeremy shot a blink-and-you'd-miss-it panicked glance over Luke's shoulder at Jess before resuming his smile.

Jess cut in. "I really don't think that's a good idea."

"What?" Luke looked at Jess. "What's not a good idea? A test drive? I got a helmet for him, too, if that's what you're worried about. I left it in the garage, but I'll go grab it."

"It's cold and dark and the street could be icy." Jess continued. "I don't want him taking it out now. He can test it out when it's daylight."

"Icy? What are you talking about? It's been in the high 30's all week."

"It's dark. I noticed a streetlight out in front of the house on the way in. Jeremy's dressed in dark colors. Someone in a car might not see him until it was too late." Jess said. "I just think it's better to be safe."

"Are you serious?" Luke asked, genuinely confused. "You're not going to let Jeremy try out his new bike?"

"C'mon, Jess." Liz coaxed. "Let the kid have some fun."

"Yeah, Jess." TJ was running a hand across the handlebars and playing with the hand brakes. "You're actually being less fun than Luke right now. That's saying something, and what it's sayin' ain't good, I'll tell you that much."

Jess held his right hand up by his shoulder, palm out. "Show of hands. Who here is Jeremy's parent?" He looked around as if checking for more hands. "Oh, just me? Huh. Interesting." Jess lowered his hand. "I just don't think it's safe. He can try it another time."

Luke, Liz and TJ were giving him disappointed looks, and he laughed. "Look, I don't see Jeremy complaining. He gets what I'm saying." Jess turned to Jeremy. "Don't you, Jeremy?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Jeremy said. "I can try it out another time when it's daylight out."

"It's getting cold. What about if we all go back in and play a game or something? Didn't I hear talk of Pictionary earlier?" Jess asked good-naturedly, not wanting this to spoil the night.

"Oooh, pictionary!" Rory clapped her hands together.

Doula signed something quickly, looking eagerly up at her dad to translate. TJ barked out a laugh. "That's a good point, kid." TJ signed as they started walking back inside. "Doula thinks that Rory and Lorelai shouldn't be allowed on the same team this time. She thinks it's cheating since they pretty much share the same brain and everything."

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Later that night, after Rory and Jeremy were declared the winning team at Pictionary, Jess and Jeremy were walking home from Luke and Lorelai's house. Jess was holding Winston's leash in one hand and carrying a Doose's paper shopping bag containing Jeremy's sweater, season passes and bike helmet in the other. The boy hadn't taken off the hat and scarf from Lorelai since he had received them. Jeremy was walking his new bike by his side, his expression solemn for the first time all night.

"Hey, Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know how to ride a bike."

"I know. It's ok. We'll figure it out."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, stopping in the town square for Winston to choose a bathroom spot. Jess could feel himself smiling in the dark.

"What?" Jeremy asked.

"Huh?" Jess was pulled out of this thoughts. "Nothing. It just makes me kind of happy that I'm going to get to teach my little boy to ride a bike."

Jess listened to the boy huff out a quiet laugh. "Thanks for not letting on that you knew, by the way. At Luke and Lorelai's, I mean. It's embarrassing to not know how at my age."

Jess shifted the shopping bag into the same hand he was holding the leash with and reached out with his free hand to cup the back of Jeremy's neck, gently pulling the boy toward him and landing a kiss on the side of his head. "I've got your back, Jeremy. Always."

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When Jeremy went to bed that night, he found an envelope with his name on it laying on his pillow. He gently ripped open the envelope and opened the card inside. He wouldn't have thought anything could overshadow the card addressed by the people at Hallmark to 'son,' signed by 'dad,' with a handwritten message about how loved he was and how grateful Jess was to have him. But he would have been wrong. Jeremy picked up the picture that had fallen out of the card, took one look and had to sit down on his bed. Tears pooled in his eyes instantly and spilled down his face. He had thought he would never see his mother's familiar image again. The picture had been a source of comfort for Jeremy, sometimes his only one, through all his years in foster care, through all his placements, and even though he had a forever family now, the idea of losing his last connection to his mother had hurt him every single day, many times a day, since he had opened his shoe box to find it destroyed. He remembered crying at Melissa's house over the picture, her holding him on her bed, like Jess had in the car. He could still see her face as she had cried with him over his loss. He felt a deep surge of longing for Melissa, one more person he no longer had. Jeremy sat on his bed, alone and crying silent tears, thinking about how often he had done the exact same thing over the course of his life, the only difference being the location of the crying, whichever bed and room he had been assigned at the time. And, now the big difference, the man in the other room who wanted to be his family. Jeremy knew he had already let Jess see him cry way too many times for someone his age. But, he really wanted Jess now. He wanted a physical, tangible reminder of what he still had, that he was loved, that he wasn't alone.

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Jess sat on the couch for few minutes, perched on the edge, unable to relax, but not wanting to go to bed until he was sure Jeremy wasn't going to come out of his room. Jeremy had to have found the card and seen the picture by now, and Jess hoped the kid was ok. He was having doubts about leaving the picture for him the way he had. He could honestly say that in Jeremy's shoes, that was how he would like to receive something that emotional, in private, without an adult looking over his shoulder expectantly for his reaction, no matter how well-meaning. But, Jeremy was different. Jess stood up. He sat down, then back stood up again. He wondered if he should knock and check on Jeremy, or if that was too invasive. The kid knew how to come out of his room if he wanted to. But, maybe he thought Jess had already gone to bed.

Jess's attention snapped toward Jeremy's room as he heard the door knob turning quickly. Before he could react, Jeremy had crossed the room, his face tear stained, his arms wrapped around Jess, hugging him tightly. Jess hugged him back, feeling wetness seeping through the shoulder of his tee shirt, and feeling his own eyes getting damp. He knew he had no adequate words, so he just stood there, holding his child.