A/N: Thank you once again for all the fantabulous reviews, peops! :) Now, time for the two sides of Jess' family to figure out some stuff...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 9

They were going to have dinner. After some back and forth and severe deliberation, it had been decided that the plan Sasha had tried to make before the 'we're all related' blow-out should go ahead. Lorelai, Luke, and Rory would all come over to the Mariano-Horne house for a civilised dinner. Jimmy agreed, for his son's sake as much as anything. He knew how messed up this whole situation was and seemed pretty certain Luke was going to rip his head off, either literally or figuratively, at the first opportunity, but he was doing it anyway. That meant a lot to Jess. His father knew what Rory meant to him, even after so short a time. He knew because that was how it had been for him with Sasha. As the old song went, 'just one look, and I knew'.

It was kind of weird when Jess thought about all that had happened in the last few days. He had known Rory less than two weeks and already they were talking the big L word. He meant what he told her about his feelings and was sure she did too. In the hotel room the other day, they were sailing past second base when a knock on the door parted them and Lorelai came in to see if they were okay. They passed off their embarrassment as awkwardness over the days revelation about Jess being related to Luke, but Lorelai probably saw through that. Still, it had to be a good thing that they'd been stopped before things went too far. There was way too much to figure out before that kind of thing happened.

"I feel ridiculous," said Jess, emerging from his room, messing around with the cuff on his button down shirt. "Dressing up for dinner? It's not normal for us."

"It is when we have guests," said Sasha definitely. "We just don't have them that often."

"Or ever," said Jimmy with a look, pulling at the collar of his own shirt. "Y'know this is just a waste of a good shirt, right? If Luke has his way, I'll be bloody before dessert."

"Will you stop?" Sasha told him with a significant look towards Lilly.

Thankfully she didn't seem to be paying any attention to the quiet conversation near the table. She was curled up into the corner of the couch with a book in her lap, as usual, wearing what Jess could only describe as a princess dress. She wasn't usually into that kind of thing, at least, she didn't seem to be. Of course when she heard how important this dinner was and how folks were dressing up, she suddenly became determined to look the part.

Sasha said before she was concerned that talk of Jess' absent mother would bring on talk of her own daughter's absent father. She hoped that wasn't the case, and so far Lil hadn't brought up dear old dad. It made Jess glad too. He liked the idea of Lilly being his sister and would rather not have too many reminders that they weren't really related. That part of this was maybe what hurt the most in a weird way.

"Hey, munchkin? You wanna sit next to me or next to Rory for dinner?" he asked her with a smile.

"Can't I sit with both of you?" she asked hopefully.

"Um, yeah, I guess so," Sasha considered. "I'm thinking we can get the three of you on this side, Lorelai and Luke on the other side, me and Jimmy at either end. Does that work?"

"I guess so, yeah." Jimmy nodded, rubbing the back of his neck at the same time. "Er, I'll go get that extra chair from the bedroom."

He made a hasty exit, and after a moment's consideration, Jess went after him. This was so many kinds of awkward, he didn't even like to count, but it had to be done. There was no choice.

"Hey," he said, catching up to his father.

Jimmy was stood in the bedroom, hands braced on the back of the chair he was supposed to be fetching. He didn't move an inch or turn to look at Jess at all, just kept on staring straight out the window towards the ocean view.

"Y'know for a while there I actually thought we were gonna make it," he said, almost too quietly for Jess to hear. "I thought we could have this life, and that'd be it. You'd never get curious, Liz'd never come looking. Maybe I was selfish."

"You were not selfish," said Jess definitely, moving up behind him, a hand on is shoulder. "You took me out of there. You did your best for me, I get that."

Jimmy turned to look at him and found a smile for his son.

"I took you away from your mom."

"No." Jess shook his head. "She's my mother, but she is not my mom. She never raised me. She couldn't keep sober and clean when she carried me, for crying out loud! What kind of mom do you think she would've made?"

The answer to that was easy. A crappy one. They both knew it, and that was why Jimmy had taken baby Jess from the hospital and bolted as far as he could get.

"It seemed like the right thing at the time, and I never regretted my decision, no matter how tough things got. Sometimes though... I wondered if I shouldn't have tried harder with Liz, at least given her a chance. If not her, then Luke and William. They would've been good. A good uncle, a good grandfather. You could've had more family..." he said, shaking his head. "Luke's gonna hate me," he said then, meeting Jess' eyes. "That guy's... He's not always the easiest to get along with, but he really, really believes in family. I took away his only nephew. His sister's kid. He's not just gonna forgive me for that, man."

"Well, he's going to have to," said Jess definitely. "The past is the past, it's done. Okay, maybe you shouldn't have taken me away from New York, or you should've called and told him where we were, maybe," he agreed, "but he could've looked. Liz could've looked. It's been almost eighteen years. If they did try, it can't have been very hard. They didn't know my name but they did know yours."

Jimmy had to nod and agree that he had a point. Luke could hate Jimmy, but if he really wanted to track his ex-brother-in-law down, he could've done it, there were ways. He couldn't have cared that much or it wouldn't have taken such a strange coincidence to bring them all back together like this.

"Jimmy? Jess?" Sasha called from the living room. "They're here!"

"Why do I feel like I'm about to walk into battle?" asked Jimmy, hefting the chair into his arms.

"We few, we happy few," quoted Jess, slapping him on the back as they went out to meet their guests.

"We band of brothers. In-law," Jimmy noted. "Oh, geez!"

Nobody was talking. It was ironic that a meeting of this mixed up family had been called almost entirely so the people present could converse, and yet silence reigned across the dinner table right now. Three times Sasha had tried to start a conversation, not about anything important, just the weather, the food, innocuous things just to get some words out there. It didn't work. Lorelai made an effort too, but nobody else, not even Lilly. Clearly she was picking up on the tension and got scared of making it worse. Rory and Jess would only look at their food or each other. Jimmy and Luke seemed to be avoiding looking at each other at all costs and neither appeared to be anywhere close to happy. Jess supposed they should all be glad the two guys hadn't punched each other in the face yet, but it felt like such a small victory.

"That was amazing, Sasha," said Lorelai as she put her flatware down on an empty plate. "I wish I could cook like that. In fact, I wish I could cook at all. Of course, we have Luke to cook for us, so it doesn't really matter anymore that I can't even boil water, but yeah, sometimes I kinda wish I had any kitchen skills."

"I'm sure Luke could teach you," said Sasha kindly.

"Ha!" Lorelai laughed overly loudly at that. "Yeah, patience is not always dear hubby's strong point, and I am seriously beyond useless for anything expect occasionally stirring, and one button microwaving," she explained. "That and making coffee. Coffee I can do."

She kept on laughing, Sasha smiled, and even Rory made an effort to look happy, but it wasn't working. Jess felt like he should be using his knife to cut the tension between Jimmy and Luke rather than to continue dividing his fish into smaller and smaller pieces. He wasn't eating anyway, he couldn't bear to. The knot in his stomach was getting bigger all the time, and he seriously could not take much more of this.

"Sookie's a great cook too," said Rory suddenly. "She works with my mom at the inn. She's amazing."

She looked at Jess as soon as she got done talking and gave him a smile. Poor Rory, she was really trying, but it wasn't going to happen. Small talk was not going to help this situation. Jimmy and Luke needed to hash out whatever issues they were having and that wasn't going to happen unless one of them started. If they wouldn't initiate the conversation, the fight, whatever it was they needed to have, then Jess would.

"Okay, let's do this," he said, turning his chair a little to face Luke in the opposite corner. "Do you blame Jimmy for taking me away from you and your sister?"

"What?" asked Luke, apparently shocked by the question.

"C'mon, man, you're not this stupid," Jess snapped.

"Please, don't," Rory urged them both, but Jess already knew he couldn't spare her feelings on this one - he wished he could, but he couldn't.

"I did not come here to be insulted," said Luke, slamming down his fork.

"Then what did you come here for?" asked Jess, just as crossly. "To get to know me? To glare at my dad? What? What are you here for?"

"Jess."

Jimmy looked caught between mad and sad as his hand landed on his son's arm and their eyes met. This wasn't how he wanted this to go down. Well, boo-freakin'-hoo. Jess didn't want any of this and if he was going to have to go through it, then he was having it his way for a change.

"No," he said, pulling his arm free from Jimmy's grip. "I want this figured out now," he said definitely, getting up from his chair and facing Luke again. "Anything you wanna say about Jimmy or Liz or me, let's have it."

"You wanna know what I have to say?" asked Luke, getting to his feet too now. "I don't have any fight with you, Jess. I just feel sorry for you," he said, more sad than angry it seemed. "You could've had a family - a mother, and an uncle, and a grandfather - but no. No, the great Jimmy Mariano knows better than everybody else. He made the decisions and damn the consequences to anybody in the blast zone!"

"Hey, that's not fair!" said Jimmy, joining the fray. "You know how bad things were."

"Okay, I'm thinking, hasty exit. Who's with me?" said Lorelai, looking around the faces of the girls present.

Jess didn't protest when Sasha led them all away from the table. This was what needed to happen, the blow out to end all blow outs, just so it was over with. Then at least they could find a way to move on.

"You have no idea what you did to Liz when you left with her son like that!" said Luke angrily.

Jimmy remained oddly impassive to the daggers being shot from his former brother-in-law's eyes. Jess might have been impressed, but quite honestly he would rather his dad stand up for himself a little more than this.

"You got this all wrong, man," he said at last, getting up to face Luke head on. "You were always the big family man, I get that, but that's exactly what I was trying to be. I had a son, a baby that was lucky to be born normal after all the crap Liz put her body through when she was carrying him," he said, pointing at Jess but glaring at Luke still. "And you wanted me to put him in harm's way? To leave him with Liz when she was drinking every day, smoking weed every day-"

"It was not that bad," Luke protested.

Jimmy actually laughed.

"Are you kidding me, man? You're livin' in a fantasy, Luke. It was exactly that bad, and you know it!"

Jess felt like he was in the middle of a tennis match, eyes shooting back and forth between father and uncle as they did battle. He knew what Jimmy was saying had to be true. It was the story he'd related to him before, at least in part. Maybe Luke could have argued the finer points, but the fact he had suddenly gone very quiet proved to Jess that there was no valid fight to put up anymore.

"I know what she was like," said Luke eventually, one hand rubbing his forehead. "I do understand wanting to protect your kid, of course, I do, but... but we weren't like that. Me and my dad, we would've helped."

"I know." Jimmy nodded. "And I am sorry that you and William never got to be a part of Jess' life, Luke. I mean that, but I couldn't take the risk of getting in touch. You guys always forgave her. You're her family, you should, but... but this was my kid, y'know? I couldn't take chances anymore."

Jess never saw his father cry, not once, but he had a feeling that if he kept on watching he might just see it today. This was a lot for Jimmy to deal with, stuff he had buried over the years and hardly ever brought up with Jess unless he had to. He loved Liz once, he had to have done. Not that Jess was so naive as to think his parents got married for any reason other than the fact she fell pregnant with him, but they did love each other once upon a time. Talking about how he left, it didn't make Jimmy feel great and that was written all over his face. As Jess looked from him and to Luke, he could see his uncle was hardly less upset by all of this. At least some of the anger was fading now, without anyone taking a swing. That had to be a positive thing.

"I guess I can't blame you entirely," said Luke, almost too quietly to be heard, eyes down on the table. "A parent's first priority is the safety of their kid. I know it's not the same, but that's how I feel about Rory."

He looked at Jess then, and somehow the mood shifted. The look on his face had nothing to do with Jimmy taking Jess away from Liz and everything to do with Luke being a protective father.

"Hey, I would never, ever hurt Rory," Jess said definitely. "I know we haven't known each other a long time or anything, but I... She's special," he settled on eventually, not willing to tell this stranger who was his uncle that he was in love with his step-daughter. "Now you can be mad at Jimmy or thrown off by how this whole situation came up, but you are not gonna tell me and Rory that we can't be together!"

"You don't have the right to-"

"He has every right," Jimmy jumped in the moment Luke started to argue. "This is my house, and this is my son. I don't wanna make any of this worse than it already is, but you're the one who has no rights here, Luke," he said firmly, his hand on Jess' shoulder.

He looked mad. Jess watched all kinds of anger and frustration pass over Luke's face before he finally yelled for his wife and step-daughter. They emerged from the next room and Luke looked at them both, sadly shaking his head.

"We need to leave, please."

"Sure," Lorelai agreed. "If that's what you wanna do. Er, sweets?" she said, looking to Rory then. "If you want a minute with Jess...?"

"Yeah. Yes, I do," she agreed.

Jess nodded that he wanted that to, moving to take her hand and lead her through the kitchen, out the back door. He didn't really care a whole lot about what happened with regards to Luke. He lived without an uncle this long, Jess figured he could manage if he never got one now. The problem was that Luke and Rory were connected, and there was absolutely no way Jess could live without her, not now, not ever.

"Got pretty intense, huh?" she said as they stepped out into the summer sunshine.

"You could say that," Jess agreed. "Didn't exactly sign up for this, did we?"

Rory shook her head sadly, moving in closer. She wrapped her arms around Jess then and pulled him to her until their lips met. He couldn't object at all, he sure didn't want to as he kissed her back with everything he had. This was what they wanted, just a simple summer romance. Instead, they got way too much intense and serious family drama. As if there wasn't enough pressure in knowing they had barely more than a week left before they had to part forever.

"I don't regret meeting you," said Rory as they parted, holding onto him still. "I never expected any of this to happen, Jess. Not falling for you, not you and Luke being related, none of it, but I wouldn't change it, even if I could."

"Me either," he promised, pushing her hair back behind her ear. "We've gotta be crazy, you know that, right?"

"I know," she agreed, smiling in spite of everything. "Isn't that what makes it so good?"

"Maybe." Jess smiled right back at her, laying another kiss on her lips while he had the chance.

She had to leave within a minute and Jess sighed as he watched her walk away. At least he knew he could see her again, probably tomorrow or the next day. It wouldn't be long before she was gone for good, and somehow in between all that, he was going to have to figure out what happened next with him and Luke and Jimmy. The very idea of dealing with all that gave Jess a headache. He looked back into the house, giving it due consideration and then turned and started walking in the opposite direction. He didn't know where he was going, but out of here had to be better than the alternative right now.

To Be Continued...