"Rory Gilmore, as I live and breathe; is that you? Something's… different." His eyes were fixed on her 24 week belly as he released that sarcastic sentence.

"You should host late night. There's got to be another old guy retiring soon," she retorted.

"So what's new?"

"Well in order to get Taylor to agree to her electrical permits, mom had to convince Luke to let him have a private family reunion dinner at his diner. It was priceless watching him turn red then concede. He didn't even argue because he gives into anything when she gives the pregnancy excuse."

"Wish I was there to witness that."

"Yeah, and obviously there is a little girl baking in this oven. Want to come upstairs? I just finished setting up everything in her nursery."

"Sure" he said as she was already leading him up the stairs. Luke was at the Dragonfly fixing things so he Cesar was watching the diner. "Oh, Wow. Nice digs Gilmore."

"yeah, My dad helped pay for the extension and I swear I'm paying rent. Plus mom and Luke can rent it out when I manage to get my own place someday."

"Looks like you wouldn't need to move."

"Of course I need to move. Christianne Amanpour had a child and a husband and she was still able to travel everywhere. I just need time to get my bearings but between me and Logan, this child will probably surmount innumerable frequent flyer miles."

"So you're together then?"

"Oh… Um no. We're not. We just have a custody agreement is all. It won't be much at first but he wants to spend time with the baby and he is her father."

"Cool. Sorry, didn't mean to pry," he said taking note of how awkward it seemed and she was blushing slightly. "I'm here for you too. Not that you need me because you're Stars Hollow's golden girl. But I'm here."

"I know. You're my cousin. You have to be." They both laughed.

"Have a seat," she directed him to the dining room table. "Water? Soda? I don't have scotch this time."

"Water's fine," he said as she opened the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water. "So tell me about this Luke situation you brought me in for. I'm not sure I can help but I owe him so anything he needs…"

"Well you know mom's pregnant too."

"yeah, it's a real 'Father of the Bride' situation."

"Shocked you know that movie."

"My girlfriend Rebecca made me watch it after I told her about you and Lorelai."

"Jess and Becky? Like Full House Jess and Becky?" she grinned.

"She would slap you for calling her Becky. She hates it. Rebecca or Becca are fine but she thinks Becky is trashy."

"Ok," she laughed and was really happy that he seemed happy and that he defended his lady when she wasn't around. "Well anyway, mom's older. She'll be 49 in on the 26th and it's made the pregnancy more high risk. On top of that, they found out one of the twins might have a heart condition."

"Oh, wow. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not my pregnancy in jeopardy."

"But I know you. You and Lorelai are almost one person and whatever affects her, affects you. It can't be easy for you either Rory."

Rory blushed. Jess did know her like no one else. He'd always been a driving force in her life. It's one thing for family to push you, but sometimes you need someone who you don't share a bathroom with to affirm you. Jess had always done that for her. 'Thanks she said. I'm fine though. It's Luke we need to worry about. He's driving mom bonkers and he just really needs someone to talk to. Mom tries but he wants to try to be macho for her."

"I see"

"So can you help?"

"I'll try. But I'm not sure we're going to hold hands and skip afterwards."

"Thanks Jess."

"Sure cousin."

Luke re-entered the diner grumbling about Michel's list and then went to the back to wash his hands and see how Cesar was doing. As he came back out, he saw a familiar crooked smile and leather jacket.

"Jess, what're you doing here? Did Liz and TJ get into more trouble?"

"Ah no, I'm here for you man. I was hoping we could have dinner and maybe a beer?"

"Well I need to cook dinner for Lorelai so you could come over but we don't have alcohol in the house right now."

"Lorelai and Rory are gonna have dinner together tonight." He saw the worry in Luke's face and added, "Rory promised to make something healthy."

Luke resigned himself. He did miss his nephew. They hadn't seen each other since the wedding. "Alright. Meet me here at 7?"

"Sure. I needed to talk to Andrew about some Truncheon business anyway. We're trying to expand our reach and so I'm trying to see if we can form a partnership."

"Wow. Jess, that's great! I'm so proud." Luke was beaming at the man standing in front of him.

Jess walked in just before 7 and Luke was handing out plates to the only taken table and he called to Cesar that he was taking off an he'd be back to close in a couple hours.

Jess took Luke to the secret bar and after they both ordered beers Jess took a breath and asked "How's it going man?" as he leaned back in his seat.

"Good. It's going good."

"Luke"

"Rory told you about Lorelai." It was a statement not a question.

"She's worried about you. And from what I hear Lorelai's contemplating eating you like a black widow before giving birth to your offspring."

"Wow. How do you know she's irritated?" Then he answered himself "Rory."

"Yeah, Lorelai mentioned you were driving her nuts."

"Got it. I don't mean to. I just feel so helpless. I'm supposed to be able to help her but I can't do anything. So I have that list Dr. Levitt gave us. I read it several times until I memorized and and I've just been trying to follow that because I don't know what else to do."

"What does the list say?"

"Eat healthy, no coffee, don't stress, exercise"

"Well it sounds to me like you're messing with the whole don't stress part."

"Yeah, I guess I just…"

"Luke" he interjected, "Just talk to her. ASK her how you can make it easier on her. She's probably trying to be strong for you too knowing Lorelai. You guys always get into trouble when you don't talk."

"When did you get so smart on relationships?"

"It was that book you gave me… and Becca. She makes me want to talk even though with other people I find talking to be completely mundane and irritating."

"Well thank Becca for me. She sounds like a good woman."

"She is."

Luke sighed, "I'm really irritating Lorelai?"

"From what I hear, she's started watching TV shows that explain how to get away with murder."

"Oh gosh, I'll talk to her. Thank you, Jess; I mean it."

"Any time- just don't tell anyone. I don't want them to think I'm a softie like you.

That night when he got home, Lorelai was in her pajamas watching a movie with lightly buttered popcorn- her new version of a 'treat' as Luke walked in.

"Hey babe"

He leaned in and kissed her forehead as he removed his coat, placed it on the chair and sat next to her.

"Can you please pause the movie? I know it's a movie rule, but I want to talk." Lorelai obliged with an eye roll. She was expecting him to start on another annoying rant.

"What's up?"

"I'm Sorry." He looked at her for confirmation that she understood why, but she seemed a little confused with where he was going so he continued. "I've been acting like a food Nazi and stressing you out and I'm sorry. I know you've said I need to chill out but I thought that was banter because I was wrapped up in my own fears. I wasn't listening for the sincerity and I should have been. I shouldn't be stressing you out. I just want… I want to fix it. I can't fix it and that scares me and I know we have that appointment on Monday and as much as I want everything to be perfectly ok for the babies, I also want you to know I'm here for you. I care what you're feeling. I just got scared Lorelai."

She took a deep breath, leaned in and kissed her husband. "Luke, I'm scared too. We've come so far on this communication thing but I think we need to work on it a bit. I just don't want to let you down. I feel like it's my fault. We were supposed to have a surrogate or adopt so my body wouldn't fail you but then this happened."

Luke wrapped his arms around her. "Hey, look at me. This is NOT your fault. Don't ever say that. This is a miracle and we are going to bring home 2 healthy babies."

"I know. It's just hard. I'm scared, but it comforts me that you're scared too. I love you."

"I love you too. We'll get through this," he said to comfort himself as much as his wife.