A/N: Thank you so much my wonderful readers & reviewers - you make me want to write and write and write! :) Now, Rory & Jess head home to Stars Hollow - what will Lorelai say?

(For disclaimer, etc. - see Prologue)

Chapter 12

It had taken shockingly little planning to leave New York and head back to Stars Hollow. The city ought to feel like home to Jess. It was where he was born and raised for most of his life, and where he always seemed to migrate back to in the end. It was still weird to him, that a place he had lived for only a couple of years off-and-on during his teen years felt much more like it should earn the title of home. He suspected it was less the town than a specific person. Whilst his own parents were pretty useless a not small part of the time, Jess knew that Luke had always done his best for him. He may be his uncle in reality, but Jess saw a father when he looked at Luke. He wouldn't ever tell him, but it was true, and he was sure on some level he knew anyway. So much for all that talk of paying him back one day, now he was about to land up on his ex-guardian's doorstep again asking for more. He hated that, but Jess also knew he had no choice.

Rory knew it too. She was no more enamoured with facing her mother right now than Jess was when it came to settling in Connecticut for the foreseeable, but they were out of options. She would be too pregnant to work before long and was already suffering from stress and not eating enough. Jess had physically collapsed with exhaustion, spending two expensive days in the hospital just sleeping and getting fixed up. They were short on cash, desperate for help, and with a baby on the way it just wasn't the same as playing house, just the two of them. They might've coped if Rory wasn't pregnant, but she was, and the child she carried had to matter more than anything else.

Mrs Rossini was genuinely sad to see them go. She urged them to visit whenever they could, and Jess was quick to give her details about Stars Hollow, where to find Luke's diner, and a number for his cell phone so she could call if she needed them.

"What would I need?" she had shrugged her old boney shoulders and clasped Jess' face in both hands. "You are the ones who need the help, and now, with family all around you, you will get it," she smiled, even as tears came to her eyes. "You are a good boy, Jess Mariano. You will make Rory happy, and you will be a good father, I know."

"I'm gonna try, Mrs R," he promised.

Unsurprisingly, Rory got emotional as she said goodbye to Mrs Rossini too. It was hugs and tears aplenty in the cold stairwell and then it was time to leave or risk missing the bus out of town. The trip took hours and Rory tried to sleep most of the way. Jess knew that much of the time she was faking, but he let her be. Her head was too busy to quit and he knew how that went, because he felt the same. There was no way either of them were going to be welcomed back with open arms exactly, not with circumstances being as they were. Lorelai was going to go crazy when she realised Rory was not only back with Jess but also pregnant. Luke was likely to be disappointed too, and that cut Jess deep. He didn't want to hurt his uncle, not for anything. He only hoped that he wouldn't look at him the way he looked at Liz sometimes, with that tired kind of pity. Jess couldn't take that.

Shifting in the seat, he pulled Rory in tighter to his side and kissed her hair. She stirred in her almost-sleep and sighed. Just a few miles left and he would have to wake her up, let her prepare for the moment when they re-entered Stars Hollow, facing not just Lorelai and Luke, but Taylor, Miss Patty, Babette, every gossip in town, not to mention Dean Forester. Jess forced down a growl at the very thought of that particular person. Last tall, dark and forehead knew about things, he and Rory had just slept together. She hadn't said much to Jess about it, apart from the fact that it happened, though he felt the need to ask how she had left things when they made the firm decision to come back to Stars Hollow. Rory was honest enough to admit that she didn't really know. Dean was still married to Lindsay, and as far as she was concerned, that was that. Whether Dean realised it, Rory couldn't say for sure. Sleeping with her ex had been such a mistake in her eyes, and Jess was torn between feeling very glad she thought so and desperately sorry for her. First times mattered so much to girls, especially ones like Rory, and it hadn't work out like it should. Jess tried to make it better, not least because he felt at least somewhat responsible. His behaviour hadn't helped, his running out over and over certainly hadn't. He should've stayed, should've been there and tried harder, maybe then he and Rory would have been together this whole time and he would have been her first.

There was no use covering old ground now and Jess knew it. The present and the future were what mattered, taking life one day at a time and hoping for the best. The sign-post read 'Welcome to Stars Hollow' and the bus station was within sight. This was it.

"Rory?" he said softly, jostling her shoulder. "Wake up, sweetheart. We're home," he told her with half a smile.

Waking slowly, she looked up at him and returned the expression. It was both a blessing and a curse to be back here and each of them knew it. Rory sat herself up, leaned over to kiss her boyfriend's lips.

"We can do this," she said with a little more confidence than she felt.

"We can do anything," he winked, gripping her hand tight in his own as the bus came to a halt at last.

They didn't have much in the way of luggage to offload. The meagre furniture and appliances that Jess actually owned were sold for as much as they could get, and between them their clothes and books were quite minimal. Jess carried his backpack, duffel, and a large hold-all, allowing Rory only to bring a much smaller lighter bag of her own. She insisted she was fine, but he insisted better that she had to be careful.

"Where first?" he asked as they set off walking down the street, eyes wide open as they watched out for anyone they recognised or who might recognise them.

Rory knew the question was whether they should see Luke or Lorelai first and she really didn't have an answer. Her heart pulled her towards home to her mother, but she dreaded the reaction she would get there. At the same time, she felt she was probably adding insult to injury if she kept her Mom out of the loop any longer than necessary by going to Luke before her.

"My house," she said eventually.

Given it was Saturday afternoon, Lorelai was likely to be home. If she wasn't, at least they could dump the luggage and make a decision for where they tried next or if they just waited it out. Jess agreed to Rory's decision without question and they set off in the right direction for the Gilmore House. The route they took off the main streets was deliberate, even though it was longer, then suddenly they were on the driveway of Rory's home, and tears welled in her eyes at the sight of it.

"You ready?" asked Jess, wishing he could hug her right now, but all the luggage kind of got in the way of any kind of closeness.

"Yeah," she forced out, swallowing hard and stepping forward.

Jess followed dutifully behind up to the front door and watched as Rory looked confused a moment and then knocked. She had her key and if no-one was home she would probably use it, he supposed, but if Lorelai was in it seemed better if she was given the chance to answer. There was an agonising wait of less than ten seconds, and then the door opened.

"Rory!"

Lorelai had her baby girl in her arms in a second as Jess looked on. She was thrilled to have Rory back, as Jess always knew she would be. Of course, Lorelai would be underwhelmed when she looked up and realised he was there to, or what their exact circumstances were. In her over-sized sweater, it was hard to tell Rory was pregnant and that was a deliberate move. She needed to drop that bombshell as gently as possible, after the dust had settled from too many others, Jess included.

"Where have you been? Why didn't you call me? Rory, those messages nearly killed me! I missed you so much!" Lorelai was rambling and she knew it, and Rory cried into her shoulder about how sorry she was for hurting her Mom that much.

It took a couple of minutes before Lorelai paid proper attention to the fact that her daughter was not alone.

"Jess?" she gasped at the sight of him, barely releasing Rory from her arms even now, like she thought she might disappear again the second she stopped touching her to ensure she was real.

"Hi," he answered simply, not sure what else was the right thing to say.

"I don't understand..." she shook her head, looking from him to Rory and back.

"It's a long story, Mom," her daughter told her. "If we could go inside?"

"Sure, okay. Yeah, inside is good," Lorelai nodded, ushering Rory in, though her eyes were still on Jess and her stare was not welcoming.

He did his best to ignore it as he gathered up the luggage and hefted it into the entrance hall. He followed on into the living room then, taking the armchair when Lorelai led Rory to the couch. He wanted to be beside his girlfriend, holding her hand, letting her know he was there for her. Surprise, surprise, Lorelai was not allowing that.

"So, when you left, it was with him?" she asked Rory.

"No, Jess was already gone when I left, but I did go to him," she admitted. "We've been living in New York."

"In New York. Okay, but see, you could've called me and told me that."

"Yeah, 'cause you'd've been thrilled," Jess rolled his eyes, immediately regretting it when Lorelai glared at him.

"Jess, please," Rory urged him to be civil. "This hasn't been easy on anyone, and a lot of it is my fault. Probably all of it actually. Mom, I know you and Jess never really got along, but... well, the fact is I love him and he loves me, and we've been so happy these last few weeks."

"Uh-huh," Lorelai nodded, though she didn't sound convinced.

"I know what this looks like," Jess told her. "It looks like I stole your daughter away like the big bad wolf and kept her from you, but I didn't. I swear, Lorelai, I was the one telling her she should call you, every other damn day, until she got so upset about it, I had to stop."

Lorelai looked taken aback by that little speech and neither of the kids wondered at it. To her, that wouldn't seem like a Jess thing to do, to consider another person's feelings and do the right thing. Somehow they seemed to have entered a topsy turvy world where Rory was the irresponsible one and Jess was the adult. Lorelai felt dizzy.

"I still can't understand why you wouldn't want to call me," she sighed, looking back to Rory. "Honey, I know we had that fight and things were weird when you left for Europe, but to disappear altogether and not even let me know you were okay. That's not cool."

"I know," Rory hung her head in shame. "I never meant for things to go so far. I just... I had to get away, and then everything seemed so much easier, not having to face up to what I did with Dean or how I hurt you," she admitted, tears filling her eyes all over again. "It was like living in a bubble where there was just us and we were happy, and I did miss you, Mom, I did but... things got complicated, and..."

"So you two are...? You're back together," said Lorelai, a statement not a question because it was pretty obvious at this point. "You love each other, which is great, I guess, but when you left here..." she said, looking to Rory. "Honey, before you left for Europe you were telling me how much you loved Dean."

She wasn't sparing anyone's feelings, that was for sure, and Jess felt the familiar jolt of pain at the mention of Forester, and more so what happened between him and Rory. Still, he didn't let it show, it didn't matter now, it couldn't.

"I was so confused," he heard Rory tell Lorelai then. "Dean was... he said he still loved me, and that things weren't working out with Lindsay. I felt sorry for him, and for myself, because... well, I felt so bad making Jess go away but at the same time I was mad at him for making me feel so confused all over again. I should never have slept with Dean. I don't love him anymore, not that way. I haven't for a long time and for a while I stupidly let myself believe that I did. It was the biggest mistake I ever made, Mom."

"Well, yeah, it's right up there, kid, I'll give you that," Lorelai agreed. "But so is running out on me, not calling, and then showing up again with him."

"Gee, thanks," said Jess, even though he could kind of understand where she was coming from.

Lorelai never liked him, and as much as he and Rory both protested the fact, it was still looking kind of like Jess kept the Gilmore girls apart somehow. As much as he wanted to dive into this situation, he knew he had to let them figure it out alone. He was here for when the bomb dropped, when Rory gave Lorelai the big news, but until then he was going to try his best to keep quiet.

"Mom, I made a lot of mistakes, I know that," she said then. "But one regret I don't have is getting back together with Jess. This is right, Mom, I know that it is," she said desperately, gripping Lorelai's hands in her own.

"Well, maybe," she agreed awkwardly, feeling that for as long as she kept her back to Jess she could almost imagine he wasn't there. "I should be more mad at you, but I am so glad to have you home, baby," she said, reaching out to tuck Rory's hair behind her ear and smiling widely.

"That's so weird that you should call me that," her daughter squirmed a little.

Lorelai was a smart woman, but she probably couldn't imagine what Rory was implying could ever be true. Jess wasn't getting anything from the back of Lorelai's head. All he could do was meet Rory's nervous gaze, give her an encouraging smile and nod that he hoped would help.

"Mom, I... well, Jess and I, we're... we're having a baby," she said at last, trying for a smile, even though she knew an explosion was probably imminent.

"What?!"

To Be Continued...

A/N2: As I said on the latest update on my other GG fic, if you read this fic, then you're great; if you review, then you're awesome. If you go to my Profile Page and vote for the next GG fic you'd like me to write, that'd be helpful - thanks :)