A/N: So, the general consensus is that I can in fact write Paris pretty well - yay for that! Now, fun at the diner with... well, everybody, I guess ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 18

Jess was kind of hoping today would get better as it went along. Sure, he had to work, but it was a full day at the diner, waiting tables when needed, and doing inventory when not. That was preferable to his other job at Walmart, which he could pretty much do with his eyes closed, but he really didn't get along with any of the people there and breaks were more painful than working in that kind of situation. At least at the diner he knew Luke would cut him some slack if needed and he could hold a decent conversation with the guy. Plus Lane was pretty chatty these days. That was a little weird, since they really didn't talk much when they went to school together, just a few brief conversations about music they both liked or in reference to Rory, that was all. Now it was as if she was actively trying to be his friend, and though Jess didn't mind that so much, it was kind of unnerving. He really expected that when he came back here it would be to more anger and venom from those that loved Rory almost as much as he did. Instead they all seemed to want to welcome him into the fold suddenly. It was nice, he supposed, but strange.

The breakfast rush was as busy as usual, then Jess had started inventory in the store room. He took his break when Rory came in to get coffees for her and Lorelai and then got back to work. Now it was lunch time, and though things were once again getting the crazy kind of busy, working with Lane made things easier. She and Jess weren't just becoming a strange kind of friends, but they had a rhythm down for serving the patrons of Luke's diner. It was the owner himself who noticed, standing back behind the counter with his arms folded and a smile on his face. It was impressive to see them move like a well-oiled machine, trading plates as they crossed paths, calling out instructions and comments as they went.

"What are you smiling at?" asked his nephew as he headed for the kitchen.

"It's actually kind of beautiful... and terrifying," Luke considered with a varying expression. "It's almost as if you two could handle this place without me," he said then, looking suddenly less proud and more panicked.

"Don't worry, Uncle Luke, we couldn't have this diner without you in it," he promised, his tone teasing as ever. "Right, Lane?"

"Oh, of course not," she agreed, smiling as widely as Jess was. "You couldn't have Luke's without Luke. Though I suppose we could just change the name to Jess and Lane's," she smirked wickedly then.

Luke went from panicked to annoyed in two seconds flat, as his staff knew he would. Still, their laughter turned out to be infectious and he gave in and laughed too at their jokes. It was nice to have a little fun in the place, and Luke was in the mood to enjoy it these days. Since he got together with Lorelai, well, at first things still hadn't been great with Rory gone AWOL, but now she was back and everything was settling down a little bit. Happiness was the watchword, even if things were never going to be smooth sailing with Rory and Jess back together and a baby on the way. For the time being at least, everybody was getting along and smiling. That suited Luke down to the ground.

It was because of his strangely good mood lately that Jess knew he was safe in teasing his uncle to no end. He and Lane had a very similar sense of humour it seemed, so tag-teaming gags against Luke was pretty easy and broke up a busy day nicely. Jess could see now why Rory and Lane got along so well, intelligent and sarcastic as they could both be. What he couldn't wrap his head around was their taste in men. In spite of everything, how much he loved Rory and all, Jess knew he wasn't really good enough for her. In the same way, Zach Van Gerbig was even less worthy of a girl like Lane, but she seemed to adore him.

"Sometime you gotta explain that to me," said Jess as he walked behind Lane who was now stationary by the window, staring out longingly at her band-mates on the sidewalk.

"What?" she asked absently, not even turning around.

"You and your weird-ass crush on that," he gestured towards the blond beyond the glass. "He's not exactly a mastermind, and... well, you're not really his speed, y'know?"

Lane did know. She knew and she hated it. It was true enough that Zach wasn't as intellectual as she liked to believe she was herself, but he knew the things he needed to know and he was happy. He was a nice person, thoughtful sometimes, sweet even. He also dated a lot, or rather he just brought a lot of girls home for fooling around and other things that Lane knew very little of. What Jess said about not being Zach's speed, there was no denying it was true. It bothered Lane to no end because she really, really liked him.

"Lane, c'mon!" Jess snapped at her when he came by again and found her still stood in exactly the same place.

She was holding the same two plates that were supposed to be across the room in front of a pair of waiting customers, still staring outside.

"What do I do, Jess?" she sighed heavily as she turned to face him.

"First off, you take the food to the table in the corner," he advised. "The less tables we turn over, the less tips we make, and I need the money right now."

"I mean about Zach," she rolled her eyes, though she went and served the food as he had suggested.

Jess followed her across the diner and over to the register where she rang up a purchase and put away some cash. When nobody was around to hear, he leant in closer and spoke quietly.

"What do you want me to say to you?" he asked. "If you like Zach, just tell him."

"How can I? Like you said, we're not a good match, not really, and he... he likes girls that know things, do things, I can't... I'm not like that."

Jess really didn't want to be having this conversation with her, but apparently he didn't have a choice.

"Look, that really doesn't matter all that much," he told her seriously. "I mean, yeah, it's a part of the whole thing, but... well, you think Rory and me were in the same place when we started dating? You know we weren't," he reminded her. "Just... just talk to him," he advised. "All I know for sure is me and Rory never got anywhere until we got serious about how we felt and told each other," he moved to walk away then but immediately came back, grabbing Lane's arm before she got away. "You tell anybody about this conversation and me giving you dating advice, I'll deny it, okay?"

Lane smiled and nodded her agreement.

"Thanks, Jess," she said sincerely.

He smiled, mostly because he was glad to have Lane back concentrating on work for five seconds. Seriously though, it was kind of nice to have a friend, a real one that appreciated him. People who liked Jess Mariano for real were few and far between, and he never expected the list to grow when he returned to Stars Hollow. Maybe he should have guessed such strange things could happen in a town as wacky as this one.

"Hello, happy worker bees!" said Lorelai too loudly as she suddenly made an entrance with Rory beside her.

"Hey," Jess greeted his girlfriend as she came to lean over the counter and kiss his lips. "Twice in one day, huh? I'm going to start thinking you like me or something."

"Er, no," Lorelai rolled her eyes as she hopped up onto a stool beside the couple. "Like I've been telling Luke for years now, you guys have the coffee. Without that? You wouldn't stand a chance with chicks like us," she winked.

Jess rolled his eyes at her usual odd sense of humour and fetched the regular coffee pot for Lorelai, then switched back for the decaff to serve Rory's drink. She made a face but he chose to ignore it since technically she probably shouldn't be drinking as much coffee as she was anyway. Even decaff had some caffeine, but he knew there was no stopping her without making her miserable. He just poured her a not-quite-full cup and hoped she understood.

"So, I have news," she told him as she accepted her coffee with thanks. "And I don't know if you'll like it but, yeah, it's newsworthy," she smiled awkwardly.

Jess wasn't sure he liked the sound of this and yet he forced his expression to remain neutral and asked what was up. His eyes flicked to Lorelai as he waited for an answer, but she refused to show any kind of expression or say a word about what was going on. She clearly thought this ought to be dealt with by the young couple alone without her interference. Jess appreciated that, even if it did make him all the more nervous somehow.

"Okay," said Rory, setting her mug down carefully on the counter. "So later, when I'm really pregnant, the third trimester, really fat, can hardly move kind of pregnant, then obviously I'll be at home most of the time, taking care of myself and the him or her that's in here," she said, hand straying briefly to her stomach. "But for now, I just thought it would make sense if I had a job, a part time job," she quickly amended. "Just something local and easy, where my boss would be understanding of the situation... and it's not that I don't think I can trust you to make enough money, Jess, I swear, it's just..."

"I think it's a good idea," he cut in, thinking it was best to do so before Rory started hyperventilating.

Rory looked bemused.

"What? I'm not the old-fashioned, hunter-gatherer, Donna Reed Show type. You know this," he told her, looking amazed that she had ever considered such a thing. "If you want a job you should have a job. Rory, you know what you can handle, and if you don't, we're here to remind you," he said, gesturing between himself, Lorelai, and Luke who was now serving tables with Lane since Jess had become distracted by his girlfriend. "It's not like New York where things could get dangerous, this is Stars Hollow. Hell, I can't imagine there's a job you couldn't walk to from your house without meeting at least six friendly neighbours who want to check on your health," he rolled his eyes at the very idea.

"The man has a point," said Lorelai, when it became clear her daughter was going to do nothing but beam at her amazing man that never stopped surprising her. "Besides, it's not like Andrew is going to work her into the ground. It's only a small store."

"Andrew?" Jess echoed, looking back at Rory who nodded her head.

"Yeah, he said I could help out in the book store", she confirmed. "Kirk's been spreading himself a little thin even for Kirk, and Andrew would like to work less shifts himself, spend more time with his family," she explained. "So, he said I could have the job, and he knows it's only temporary, what with the baby and Yale next year."

Jess was nodding and agreeing that he understood, but a feeling akin to pain shot through him every time Rory mentioned school. She got this ghost of a look that passed over her face, almost imperceptible but Jess knew it was there. She said she was okay, that she would pick up her education next year, but he sometimes wondered if she really believed that. They hadn't made any concrete plans for how things were going to be after the baby came. Sure, he said he would do his part and help make it work so Rory could go back to Yale, but neither of them were really sure of the logistics and mechanics of that situation. Maybe she wasn't convinced that she would be abe to go back. If Jess thought too much about it, he wasn't all that sure himself.

"Oh, by the way," said Lorelai suddenly. "I got a call from your Dad today," she told Rory who looked confused. "Apparently he called the house last night but it was engaged and then again this morning... must've been bad timing, I don't know... anyway, he called my cell, just to check in, I think."

"Did you tell him?" asked Rory with wide eyes.

Lorelai shook her head.

"Honey, I would not do that to you," she promised her. "You and Jess made this baby, it is your news to tell, though if you ask me, your Dad does have a right to know."

Rory looked from her Mom to Jess and found that her boyfriend wouldn't meet her eyes. He looked around for a table to go serve, but Luke and Lane had it covered for now. There was nowhere to run, and yet he was trying for all he was worth to do anything but look at either Gilmore girl.

"Jess?" Lorelai called him on his evasive behaviour. "You don't think Christopher should know about the baby?"

"It's not that," he said awkwardly, making a big deal of wiping down the counter.

Lorelai put her hand on his to stop it and he looked up, almost guiltily at her, and then at Rory.

"I didn't exactly tell Liz yet either," he admitted. "I mean, we've been in touch, ever since the wedding, and... If I tell her, she's just gonna go crazy. She's gonna wanna come here and invade and take over," he shook his head. "She wasn't the world's worst mother, not completely, but she wasn't the best either, not by a long stretch. I just... I don't need her interfering."

Both Rory and Lorelai wanted to say something about his decision and yet they found they couldn't. Rory had never even met Liz so having an opinion on the woman was more or less impossible. She only knew what Jess had told her, and that wasn't much, and what she did know usually wasn't good stuff.

As for Lorelai, she did believe that Liz had as much right to know about this kid as Chris. On the other hand, she had a brief knowledge of what Jess' Mom was like, nice enough perhaps, but her string of men plus her smoking and drinking habits didn't exactly suggest she had been the best of mothers. Jess would hardly have turned out like he had as a teen if she were. Besides, Lorelai wasn't exactly a fan of sharing things with her mother either, and she knew how badly Emily had taken first her pregnancy and then Rory's own. She held her tongue when it came to Liz. Unfortunately, she couldn't keep as quiet when it came to her own parents. They were going to have to be faced again eventually, and potentially tonight.

"So, whilst I have your attention and your attention," she said, looking from Rory to Jess and back. "Today, as we all know, is Friday. So, what to do about the great Gilmore tradition of Friday night dinner."

"Well, Yale is on hold, so technically Grandma and Grandpa aren't paying any money... that should mean we don't have to go," said Rory thoughtfully. "But I would like to see Grandpa. He was so nice about everything," she smiled.

Lorelai felt awkward. As much as she could hate Emily sometimes and knew the way she spoke to Rory and Jess before was wrong, cutting her out of their lives completely would be messy and unpleasant for all concerned. The truth was she had thought about calling her mother several times this week in an attempt to get some sense into her head over Rory's pregnancy and being with Jess and all. She had bottled out every single time.

"Okay," she said eventually. "And I can't actually believe I'm saying this but, how about we go, you guys stay in the pool house and I will talk to Emily. I can check out the situation, see where she is on the scale of civil to full-on bitch mode, and then we'll see where to go from there."

"I can live with that," Jess shrugged non-comittally, watching Rory for a reaction.

"Yeah, I guess that'd be okay," she said eventually.

That agreed, the topic of conversation moved on to happier things, but Jess knew Rory was still thinking about her grandparents. As much as Richard was being nice about it, they all knew he wasn't really happy, and Emily had flipped her lid as spectacularly as expected. The last thing Rory Gilmore ever wanted to do was upset anyone, but this pregnancy had thrown everything into chaos. Unfortunately, there was little to nothing one person could do about another person's reactions to a situation. They were just going to have to stick together and ride out this storm for as long as it lasted.

To Be Continued...