Chapter 206

"You were right about the doughnuts," Jess said to Rory the next morning, handing her another, "Though I can't believe you had the self control to hold off."

"It was the exhaustion," Rory said, gratefully taking the last doughnut, "And the road trip snacks. An anomaly."

"Of course," Jess agreed, finishing his own doughnut, "Though I'm sure you still want diner breakfast too."

"I do. Mom's coming to meet me and Sookie here in about half an hour, and we'll eat before we leave."

"Sounds good," Jess nodded, "I'm gonna be working up here for a while, and then around noon Luke's going to take off and we'll catch up and get some stuff done ourselves. Do we know what's happening for dinner?"

"The Inn," Rory nodded, "Mom's gonna be working late so she and Sookie decided to just save us all a table. Jackson's coming too, and we can all catch up."

"Sounds good," Jess nodded, "Though we're gonna have a ton to do when we get back."

"Think that's pretty much gonna be the story of our next two weeks," Rory said, refilling both of their cups of coffee before walking over to her suitcase. She handed Jess his cup and then grabbed a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved tee out of the bag, and threw Jess basically the same outfit out of his.

"Thanks," he nodded, and they both went to get ready.

"Have you heard from Lane much lately?" Jess asked Rory as they continued getting ready. Rory sighed.

"Not really," she admitted, "I've heard from her occassionally, and it's all been pretty superficial. I think she's probably pretty overwhelmed trying to handle the boys, the situation with Zack, and everything happening with her mom."

"How's her mom doing?"

"It sounded like it's going about the same, last time we talked," Rory responded sadly, "I mean, she hasn't gotten worse, which is good. But she's not going to recover- it's just one of those things that keeps going, and maintaining everything that has to be maintained is hard. And Lane has a complicated relationship with her mom to begin with- I can't imagine how it's going for Lane living with her again."

"When are you seeing her?"

"Tomorrow," Rory said, "Mom and Sookie have an event at the Inn, so I'm spending most of the day with Lane, along with finalizing the paper."

"Sounds good," Jess nodded, "I think tomorrow's mostly a work day for me. I have an author call, so we'll see how the internet is for that type of thing in the diner." Jess grimaced at the thought. Rory nodded.

"I remember it being…not great. It's good at the Inn. Mom might let you use her office- if it's an event, she won't be in it much herself."

"I might ask her, in that case," Jess nodded, "It's an important call, we should be finalizing his manuscript for print, approving cover art, all that stuff."

"Which probably means a bunch more work with Matt in the days after?" Rory guessed.

"Exactly," Jess replied, "We'll be touching base every night this week, most likely."

"Well that's gotta be fun for him and his personal life," Rory joked. Jess shrugged noncommitally.

"It's a busy time. You get it. I'm sure Jane does too."

"Maybe," Rory said doubtfully.

"…what are you getting at?"

"She just doesn't seem like she would," Rory admitted, "Not that her job isn't hard, or important- it's both. But I don't get that sense of her being really passionate about what she does, like you guys are."

"Or like you are. Or Hannah."

"Well, I wasn't always. Things can change. Plus, I don't know her that well."

"Well, maybe that'll change at the wedding."

"That's what we said about New York."

"And?"

"Remember the hot dog stand?" Rory said plainly, giving Jess a look. He sighed.

"Fair," he admitted, "Well, regardless, I'm sure it'll go fine. Matt always puts his work first."

"True enough," Rory nodded, "That's what I've seen since I met him. I'm honestly surprised he's managed to keep the same relationship this long."

"An accomplishment that bewildered us all," Jess joked, before opening the door for Rory and following her down to the diner.

They walked into the diner to immediately find Luke serving three customers at the counter.

"Morning Rory, Jess," Luke nodded, "Table by the window."

"Thanks, Luke. You joining us?"

"Not with this rush," Luke answered apologetically, "But I'll catch you guys at dinner."

"Sounds good- thanks, Luke," Rory said gratefully.

"Jess, you mind grabbing your guys' coffees? I'm sorry to ask, but…"

"No apology necessary. I'll take the caffeine as soon as we can get it," Jess smiled.

"In that case, take the pot so you can stave off any of my fiance's crankiness too," Luke suggested. Jess smirked and nodded, taking the pot over to the table. The door opened and Lorelai and Sookie walked in, chatting.

"Perfect timing," Jess said, gesturing to them to sit down, "Luke just gave me the coffee pot."

"Dangerous choice from him," Lorelai joked, "Give me the whole thing and I'll give you my firstborn."

"Seriously? You're bartering me?"

"Don't worry, we can run away any time you want," Lorelai stage whispered. Sookie giggled and Jess rolled his eyes.

"One cup for each of you, and the pot goes back to Luke."

"Mean!"

"Hey, my girlfriend's spending all day with you, I need to make sure you don't drive her crazy."

"How can I drive her if she's already there?" Lorelai asked innocently. Rory narrowed her eyes.

"A cup for everyone but Mom, Jess."

"No, wait! I'll play nice," Lorelai begged, grinning. Jess laughed, filling both of their cups, then Sookie's, then his own.

"I'm giving this back to Luke. You guys can't be trusted with it. Rory, guard my cup."

"Of course," Rory smiled beatifically. Jess narrowed his eyes.

"On second thought, Sookie? You got it?"

"Sure," Sookie laughed, pulling it towards her. Rory narrowed her eyes.

"Traitor."

"Addict."

Jess walked over to the counter and returned the coffee pot.

"Need any help?"

"Too much for you to handle unassisted?" Luke joked, nodding at the table. Jess smirked.

"They're a formidable bunch."

"They're loud and overcaffeinated."

"Also true. Hence my returning the pot."

"Proof that your sense of judgment has improved since high school."

"My judgment was excellent. Babette's yard had exactly one too many gnomes. Really threw off the balance."

"I forgot about the gnome," Luke said, shaking his head with disappointment. Or was it amusement? Jess couldn't tell. "Go hang with them. They need adult supervision."

"That's your wife-to-be you're talking about."

"Then we probably need at least one more adult at the table," Luke joked. Jess laughed. "Tell them food's coming. I know what you guys like. It'll be out in a minute." Jess nodded and walked back to the girls' table.

"I protected it," Sookie said, passing him his coffee as he sat down, "No easy feat. These women are determined."

"She wouldn't even let me bribe her with doughnuts," Rory pouted.

"That's because you don't have any doughnuts," Sookie pointed out, laughing.

"True," Rory admitted. She turned to Jess. "Jess, can you get me some doughnuts?"

"…man, you're gonna be the Abbott and Costello of every bridal-related errand you run this week, aren't you?"

"Yup," Lorelai said cheerfully, "Hey, we should order."

"Luke said he took care of it," Jess responded, "He knows what we like, apparently."

"Well, we'll be the judge of that," Rory joked. Just then, Cesar came out with plates.

"French toast with whipped cream and strawberries, two sides of bacon and hash browns," he said, setting one dish in front of Rory. "Bacon and cheddar omelette, double bacon, double cheddar, with hash browns mixed into it and a side of bacon," he continued, setting another dish in front of Lorelai. "And an English muffin with raspberry jam, a three-egg omelette, two eggs, one egg white, with peppers, goat cheese, extra crispy bacon and a side of breakfast potatoes," he said, setting the third plate down in front of Sookie. "And Jess…same as Lorelai, but with a side of rye toast."

"…thanks, Cesar," Jess said. Cesar nodded and walked away.

"…yeah, he knows what we like," Rory admitted, grinning as she started diving into her french toast.

"I knew there was a reason I decided to marry that man," Lorelai joked, beaming as she started on her breakfast.

"I have to admit, he did a good job. Well, as good a job as you can when you're using bacon instead of pancetta," Sookie admitted grudgingly. Jess laughed.

"Well, they're having breakfast at the Inn on Monday, so they can decide for themselves," Lorelai reminded Sookie. Rory furrowed her brow.

"What's Monday?"

"We're meeting the officiant."

"So you finally picked one?"

"Two. They're coming one after the other, and we're going to decide. Which is why you're both coming. To help." Jess and Rory nodded.

"…well, it makes sense that we'll need to be fortified," Rory said, smiling at Sookie, who grinned.

"In that case, I'll make some brown-sugar bacon too."

"…we should come here more often," Jess joked, taking another gulp of coffee.