Incoming
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. Not even the computer I wrote it on.
Summary: Jess shows up at Richard and Emily's vow renewal. Luke has something to say about it. Rory is less than happy. Lorelai has to deal with Christopher. And the day is definitely not everything Emily hoped it would be.
Feedback: Reviews are fun. Like a barrel of monkeys. Why anyone would put monkeys in a barrel…I don't know, but it's supposedly a lot of fun.
A/N: Sorry, this took so long to update, but I was on vacation, and then I had a family emergency.
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Tiny giggles floated through the diner as Simon walked in with a tiny girl thrown over his shoulder.
When he got to the counter, he set her down with a loud, dramatic sigh. "Jesus, kid. You're getting almost too big for me to be lugging around like this.
"Am not." She said. "Mommy said so."
"Really?"
"Yep. And Mommy always carries me."
"That's because mommies have superpowers. Whereas, I, as a man, do not. Ya know?"
She smiled brightly. "You're silly."
"She's not wrong." Jess said, leaning on the counter. "I'd whip out the thesaurus on that one, but she's got the right idea."
"Funny." Simon nodded a greeting. "Bec, this is my friend, Jess. The one that I told you about."
She held out her hand for him to shake. "Hi, I'm Rebecca and I'm five and a half years old."
"I'm Jess. I'm twenty-one and a quarter years old."
"Nice to meet you."
"Hey, Bec." Simon said. "See that guy over there?" He pointed to the end of the counter.
"The one with the smiley face pancakes?"
"Yea. His name is Kirk. And I bet he would love to hear about what you got for Easter."
Her eyes widened in excitement. "Really?"
"Yea. Go on over."
"Can I have smiley pancakes too?"
"Of course."
"Okay." She smiled and ran over to Kirk, climbing onto the stool next to him after she introduced herself.
"Cute kid." Jess said. "Is she yours?"
"My sister's. I've got her for the day so Mommy and Daddy can sleep while the new baby does."
"Is that what she got for Easter?"
He nodded. "New baby brother. Just what she's always wanted." He shrugged. "I give her two years before she regrets that."
"So what are you doing here?"
"Breakfast."
"You drove a half an hour to get breakfast?"
"Sarah, my sister, thought I should show Rebecca this 'Stars Hollow that Uncle Simon talks about so much'. She wanted to see it too, but sleep won out over traveling forty miles from home with a newborn."
"Hey." Luke wiped his hands on his jeans as he walked out of the kitchen. "You wanna run some food over to the inn?"
"I'll do it." Simon volunteered immediately.
Luke pointed at him. "No." Then to Jess. "You."
Simon frowned. "Hey, why not me?"
"You don't work here."
"So."
"So, you just want to see Lorelai."
He rolled his eyes and sighed. "I promise I'll stop hitting on her."
Luke narrowed his eyes, but relented. "Fine." He answered, and walked to the kitchen to get the food.
"Why do you want to go to the inn?" Jess asked when Luke was gone.
"Lorelai's pretty and Sookie gives me free scones. And that French guy hates me. It's great."
"He hates everyone."
Simon smiled then looked over at where his niece and Kirk were having an animated conversation. "Is it alright if she stays here while I run the food over?"
"Oh, yea. Luke loves kids."
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"Gilmore!"
Rory stopped in the doorway of the Yale Daily News office and let out a groan. She spun on her heel raised her eyebrows. "Paris, it's Thursday night, I don't have any classes tomorrow, and I just want to go home. Can this please wait until Monday?"
Paris waved a sheet of paper in Rory's face. "Look at this!"
She moved her head from side to side, in an attempt to keep her eyes on the paper. "I'm trying." Finally she grabbed it out of her friend's hand and looked it over. "What is this?"
"It's sad is what it is." She took the paper back and pointed to the first name on the list. "Damons has more than either of us."
"More what? What is that a list of?"
"Bylines! I counted up the number of bylines everyone has had up until now. And let me tell you, I am not happy with the results."
"Bylines…" Rory said distractedly as she dropped her jacket and purse onto the chair next to her. "Bylines…" She moved around her desk and leaned over the computer. "Bylines…Bylines, bylines, bylines…" She repeated as she typed. "Yes." She gave a quiet squeal of excitement as she jotted something down.
"Hey, Rainman," Paris said. "What the hell are you doing?"
She folded up the paper she was writing on and grabbed her purse and jacket. "Paris, this is perfect." She hugged her friend, yelled goodbye to Doyle, and walked out the door.
"You better not come back here with a bunch of Judge Wapner stories!" Paris yelled at her retreating form.
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"Oh, wonderful." Michel said as Simon set the Luke's bag on the desk. "You are here. My day is now complete."
Simon smiled. "Great to see you too, Michel. I missed ya, buddy."
He glared. "Do not speak to me."
He folded his arms and leaned on the desk. "So, is Lorelai around?"
Michel ignored him and went back to work.
"Ya know, the sooner you tell me, the sooner I'll leave."
He muttered a few French words that Simon assumed were curses then said, "Lorelai is in the kitchen."
He picked up the bag and gave Michel and wide smile. "Thank you."
"Simon!" Sookie said happily as soon as he walked through the kitchen doors.
"Wow. You're almost as happy as Michel was to see me." He set the food on the counter and started unpacking the containers.
She laughed. "How're you doing, sweetie?"
"Pretty good. I've got my niece for the day, so I thought I'd show her the town."
"Really? I didn't know you had a niece. Is she here?"
He shook his head. "She at the diner having smiley face pancakes with Kirk."
"Ohh, you should bring her by later, I'm making cookies."
"Definitely."
She held up and wooden spoon and beckoned him over. "Taste this."
He took a sip of the soup and groaned. "That is frickin' amazing. What is it?"
"It's Jackson's new triple hybrid squash."
He finished off what was left on the spoon and let out another groan. "God. I want to fill my tub with this stuff and just sit there on the bathroom floor with a spoon and one of those plastic bibs they give you when you eat lobster, so anything I spill I can just lick off the bib."
"I'll give you some to take home."
"I'm totally in love with you."
"Don't tell Jackson." Lorelai said as she walked through the back door.
Sookie started stirring the soup again. "Hey, what did Ray say?" She smiled happily. "Hee he, that rhymes."
"Cletus is fine. He's just got a little cold. But the guests will only be allowed to ride Desdemona for a few days."
"Aww, poor Cletus."
"Well, ladies," Simon put an arm around each of their shoulder. "I came, I delivered the food, got some free soup… Now, I have a five year old to get back to." He dropped his arms. "Lorelai, my darling, love of my life, would you care to walk me to the front door?"
She nodded. "Sure."
They walked out of the kitchen, towards the front door, arm in arm. "You know," Simon said. "If you're not too attached to Luke, you could come home with me tonight."
She laughed and went along with him. "Don't you have a five year old to get back to?"
"My niece. She's going to grandma's tonight."
She shook her head. "How many times did you promise Luke you'd stop hitting on me?"
He pretended to count for a minute. "Umm, fourteen. But today he did tell me that even though he loves you, he'd let you go if you really wanted to be with me."
She stopped when they got to the front porch. "I'm pretty attached to Luke. I mean, I did ask him to marry me."
"Right. I knew that." He dropped her arm then grasped her hands dramatically. "I guess that means it's over for us. You'll get married. I'll…have to start dating before I can do that. But I'll never forget you, Lorelai Victoria Gilmore."
She nodded. "So do you want to come over for a big movie night on Saturday?"
He shrugged. "Sure. Why not."
"Jess is bringing his friend, Matt, from work."
"Oh yea, I know him. He comes into the pub for lunch sometimes."
"Oh, good. Okay. So, I'll see you Saturday."
"Actually I'll be back a little later to pick up some of Sookie's squash soup."
She brought her hand up to her chest. "Ohh, that stuff is fantastic, isn't it."
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Rory shed her jacket as walked into the diner and hung it on the coat rack. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, surprised to see only Caesar, and one of the cashiers from Doose's, whose name she couldn't remember.
"Hey, Caesar." She greeted the cook as she sat down at the counter.
He gave her a wide smile. "Hey, Rory. Are you looking for Jess? Because he's not here."
"Oh, do you know where he is?"
He nodded. "He went back to your house with Luke."
"Hmm." She turned to look out the window for a minute then turned her attention back to him. "That's pretty far away. I think I'm gonna have to eat something before I go."
"Sure. Do you want the usual burger and fries?"
"Actually, can I get a fry/onion ring mix? Ooh, and cheddar instead American on the burger."
"Coming right up." He smiled again and went back to the kitchen.
"Hey, Caesar," She called as she got up and made her way around the counter. "I'm gonna get some coffee, okay?"
"Okay." He yelled back.
She quickly filled a mug and put it in front of her spot on the counter. Then she looked over at the nameless cashier. "Do you want some more coffee?"
His eyes moved up to meet hers. "Me?"
She gestured to the otherwise empty diner. "Unless you can see someone I can't. And in that case, I definitely don't think you should be having caffeine."
"Right." He said with a laugh. "Uh, sure. That'd be great."
She smiled and walked to his table to top off his cup.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
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"Hey there." Simon bumped his hip against Rory's and gave her a big smile.
She stopped under the streetlight in front of the gazebo. "Hey, I didn't know you were in town."
"Yep, been here all day. Though I was gonna say the same to you."
"I just got back from school."
"Where's your car?"
She pointed to where it was sitting outside the diner. "I thought I'd walk."
"You think it's safe for a young innocent girl such as yourself to be walking such dangerous streets this late at night?"
"Well, luckily I ran into a big strong man to protect me from all the dangers of Stars Hollow."
He took the Luke's bag she was carrying, then slid his free arm around her shoulders. "So, it looks like it's not gonna work out with me and Lorelai."
"Aww," She put her arm around his waist. "That's too bad. I was really pulling for you two."
He shrugged. "What's in the bag?"
"Pie. For Mom." She turned her head to look at him. "So, what are you doing in town?"
"I brought my niece to visit."
"Ohh, I didn't know you had a niece. Where is she?"
"My mom actually just picked her up over at the inn. I'm headed back to your house now. There's a big pot of squash soup calling my name."
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"Hello?" Simon yelled, pushing open the front door of the house.
"In here!" Lorelai yelled back from the kitchen.
"Hey," He said. "Look who I ran into."
Lorelai jumped out of her chair at the sight of her daughter. "Rory!" She threw her arms around her. "Did I know you were coming home today?"
"Nope. I'm a surprise. And I come bearing gifts."
Simon held out the Luke's bag. "Here you go."
"Ooh, is it food?"
"Apple pie and blueberry pie." Rory answered.
"Did I ever tell you that you're my favorite daughter?"
"I bet you say that to all your daughters. But that's not the only gift." She looked around the room then back to Lorelai. "Where's Jess and Luke?"
"Luke is outside working on the boat, and Jess is on the phone with, I think, Lily in your room."
"Can you go get Luke? I need to tell you guys something."
Lorelai nodded. "Of course." She ran a hand over Rory's hair then walked out the back door.
"Should I…" Simon gestured towards the front door.
"No, no. Sit. And cheer up, it's good news."
He laughed and sat at the table. "Okay."
She smiled at him. "I'll be right back." She opened her bedroom door and dropped her purse on her desk.
Jess sat with his back to her as he spoke into the phone. "Yea, alright…yes…I promise. I'll call sometime next week…Okay, Sash…tell her I said bye back. Okay, bye." He hung up the phone and turned around.
"How's everything in California?" Rory asked.
"It's good. Sasha made me promise to call more often." He tilted his head as he stared at her. "I thought you weren't coming home until tomorrow night."
"My class got cancelled. You disappointed?"
He stepped forward and slid his hands down her arms to lace their fingers together. "You have no idea."
She kissed him softly then stepped back and started pulling him towards the door. "Come on, I have something to tell everybody."
She pushed him down onto the only empty chair at the kitchen table then stepped back to face him, Lorelai, Luke, and Simon. "Okay." She smiled and rubbed her hands together nervously. "I have a name for the club."
