Good Morning

He dozed in and out of consciousness during the night. He loved awakening to Rory asleep, her naked body all over his. He never woke her up, though – he just caressed her lightly, and smelled her hair, and enjoyed the cute whimpers she would make when hugging her close.

The sunlight awoke him early in the morning, but Rory wasn't by his side. He heard a rattle of pots and pans in the kitchen. He put on his pajamas and followed the noise. Rory had cleaned up the mess from last night's dinner and was making some coffee. She was still wearing his robe.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

He closed the distance between them and grabbed her face to kiss her. "Come back, Ror. It's still early."

"But the coffee…"

"It doesn't even do anything to you anymore – it's decaf."

She smiled and kissed him back. "OK."

The next time he woke up Rory was sleeping soundly by him. He stood still, afraid of waking her up – she looked so peaceful. He felt at peace, as well: they had finally been together in the way he had so many times dreamed of, only it had been better than a dream. Some things he could have never imagined, like the clusters of freckles all over her legs and back, or the exact proportions of her naked body, or how her sex looked – imagination was somehow mass produced, simplifying and ignoring those tiny real details that made one different and at the same time more and less perfect than any idealized fantasy. Her belly. He loved her belly. He hadn't given it much thought before seeing her naked – he hadn't really had much time to do so – but he loved it, and it was weird. He loved it at first sight, it was a beautiful thing, but he wondered if he shouldn't, if it was wrong or twisted to be so drawn to it. It was that blonde dick's creation, after all.

Yes, that. He felt suddenly very sad. He knew he didn't have a right to feel mad at Rory for being pregnant with someone else's baby, but he felt a jealousy he had never felt – and he had been very jealous of Rory's love interests in the past. He still loved the belly, though – he just regretted life, cruel and cunning. Still, he had gotten a chance he thought he would never get, and everything was perfect… even if it really wasn't. But what was perfect in life, anyway? She had asked for a month as a trial, but he didn't think he would need it. The things he had always known he still knew, they weren't changed by that massive growing curveball. And there were new, unexpected things, like intimacy. He suddenly felt at home. He had settled in the past years, but he had never felt anything similar to what he had felt the day before – it was warmth, and happiness, and companionship. He had always fantasized about the flashy things: nakedness, passion, lust. But he had forgotten about the little details – about sharing food and toilet, or seeing his socks on her, perhaps because he had never known what a true home looked like. Had she felt anything similar to that? Were things unraveling as fast to her as they did to him? She moved beside him and he noticed her eyes were open.

"A penny for your thoughts, Mariano."

He smiled and shook his head. "You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine."

She stretched slowly. "Your bed is so comfortable."

"Is it the bed, really? Because you've been mostly sleeping on me."

"Was it too bad?"

He caressed her waist. "No, it was quite the opposite."

She kissed him and stroked his abdomen. "Good morning, Jess."

"Good morning, Rory. I'm glad we came back to bed – I really wanted to wake up beside you."

"Me too. I just didn't want you to clean up, which I knew you would do even if I offered to do it myself."

"When do you need to be back?"

A shadow crossed her face. "Tonight, any time is fine as long as I sleep in the diner to open tomorrow. I really don't want to go."

"I don't want you to go either."

"I'm glad."

"Did you doubt it for one second?" She hid her face against the pillow. He shook her arm. "Ror?"

"I don't know." Her voice was muffled by the pillow.

"Ror, look at me." She stayed put. "Ror, come on. What's up?"

She turned and faced him. She was wearing a full Gilmore blush. "Can we spend New Year's Eve together?"

He laughed. "Sure. Why was that so hard?"

"I didn't know if you were going to agree."

"How could I not?" She lowered her gaze and he understood she was dreading that he didn't need a month to start thinking about the big questions. "Hey, come here." He pressed his body against hers and stroke her hair. "I couldn't imagine a better start of the year than spending it with you."

She gave him a dazzling smile. "So… what about a shower?"