Rory was finally going to tell Jess that she was pregnant. It would finally be the moment of truth. He could be excited, he could be just as scared as the next guy, or he could just bolt altogether. She texted him and they were going to meet in the apartment above the diner. She walked up the steps and could feel her anxiety radiate but she had to do it. She stopped in front of the door, took a long deep breath and knocked four times. He opened the door and invited her in.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi."
"Look Jess, I'm sorry I completely shut you down. Please though, I need you to forget all that and just listen."
"Okay," he said. "I'll listen." They walked over to the kitchen table and she took a seat. "I made you coffee," he said and poured her a cup. He set it on the table and sat across from her.
"Oh, thanks." She didn't take a drink but stared at the cup instead. She didn't know what else to do, she read that coffee was unhealthy for pregnant women. She was already going through some major withdrawals and not being able to drink it only made it seem harder."
"You're not drinking," he said. "You can tell me if you don't like my coffee, I won't be hurt Rory. I know that Luke makes the best cup."
"No, it's not that. I'm sorry, I'm just not in the mood right now," she said.
"Rory Gilmore not into the mood for coffee? What is is?"
"Jess," she took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."
He sat back in his chair, "Logan's?"
She shook her head, "No. It's yours Jess."
He paused for a minute thinking to himself before speaking again. "Are you sure?" She couldn't tell if he was happy, sad or just confused.
"Yes," she nodded and the tears started to flow.
He stood up from his chair and paced a little, trying to come up with the right words to say. "Rory, I'm in love with you."
"What?"
"Don't act so confused, Rory. I love you, always have. All these years, it hasn't gone away. I tried so hard to let go of you and it's entirely impossible."
She stood up and she ran into his arms; he covered her in a warm embrace. "I love you too," she said. "For years, it's been the same for me too." She wiped away her tears with her sleeve. He kissed and held each other. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening. For once, she was certain about him and had a positive feeling. She could feel in her heart that he wasn't going to pick up and leave this time.
"I'm not gonna go away," he said and she rested her head on his chest. "I promise." He grabbed her hand and they walked over to the couch. They took a seat and continued to hold hands. "So, I'm guessing you're gonna be drinking decaf coffee from now on?"
She laughed, "It's terribly sad. But...yes, decaf coffee. I think I'll just pretend it has caffeine and my body might actually start to believe that it's the real thing."
"I just realized that we actually have to tell Luke," he said.
"Yes," she said. "My mom is the only one that knows. She promised that she wouldn't say anything to him. She would rather have me tell him myself."
"So was she mad when you told her that it's my kid?"
"No, she's she's actually quite supportive. I was surprised. Jess, I'm scared as hell."
"Me too," he said. "We really have to get our shit together now."
"Yeah," she said. "I got offered the position to be the editor of the Star's Hollow Gazette. I wasn't sure at first but I'm going to take it."
"That's great," he said. "I still don't know what I'm going to do." He rushed his hand through his hair with worry. "I'm going to ask Luke for help...I've never asked him for help before. He's offered and I always refused to take it."
"He'll understand," she said.
/ / /
Luke and Lorelai were planning on having both Rory and Jess over for dinner that night. Luke was still completely out of the loop and hadn't had the slightest clue as to what was going on. Lorelai felt terrible for keeping it a secret from him, especially since they vowed not to keep secrets from each other. Luke had been more to a father to Rory all of these years than Christopher had ever been. Even though she wasn't his, Luke always looked at Rory like she was his and was very protective of her. Rory also looked at him like a father and felt the same way, which is why telling him the news was going to be so hard. Lorelai, Rory and Jess were all crossing their fingers, hoping that Rory's pregnancy wasn't going to crush him. The fact that she was pregnant wasn't going to upset him, but that Jess was the one who got her pregnant. Since Jess had come back to Star's Hollow, they had become closer and were finally on good terms. Luke was also finally seeing that Jess was patching up his life and becoming more mature as an adult.
Luke was in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Lorelai was sitting at the kitchen table reading Rory's articles in the newspaper to him. He was excited to have the family back together again and even if she didn't always show it, he was truly happy. Rory was in her bedroom working on edits for the newspaper. She was trying to keep her stress level down but wasn't making any progress. She couldn't stop wondering if Luke and Jess would start fighting again like they used to.
The doorbell rang and everyone in the house paused. Rory closed her laptop, "I'll get it!" She rushed to the front door and opened it to find Jess on the porch. She looked around to make sure her mom and Luke weren't heading to the door also. The coast was clear and she shut the door behind her, grabbing his hand. "Hey," she said and gave him a peck on the lips. "I have spent all day freaking out over this dinner. They think it's just a casual dinner."
"I know," he said. "Luke and I are finally cool too...he's gonna hate me."
"No fighting," she said. "Please?"
"Okay," he said and they walked inside. Rory let go of his hand quickly and they walked into the kitchen. Luke and Lorelai greeted Jess and they set the table for dinner.
They all began to eat and out of nowhere, Rory put her fork down and cleared her throat. "Luke," she said.
"Rory?"
"I have some news that I would like to share with you," she said and glanced at Jess. "Actually, we would like to share some news with you." He stopped eating and waited for Rory to break the news. "Jess and I are back together." Lorelai already knew and grabbed Luke's hand from underneath the table.
"That's great," said Luke. He picked up his fork and pointed it at Jess, "If you hurt her again I will kill you." He began to eat again.
"Wait," Jess said. He was extremely confused. "You mean to tell me that you're not mad?"
"No," said Luke. "I can see that you have changed. You have become more mature and I'm proud of you for settling down for the first time in your life. Actually, I have something I've been meaning to bring up...a proposition. How would you like to run the diner with me and be my partner?"
Lorelai was not expecting him to say that, "What? Luke, why didn't you tell me about this?"
Luke looked at Lorelai, "I'm sorry. I've been thinking that I would like to start spending more time with you here at home. This time we might actually have time to go on our honeymoon. I think taking a small break from the diner might be good for me, and good for us."
Lorelai smiled, "Well I'm all for it."
"Yes," Jess said. "I would like that...I would like that a lot. My life has been taking all sorts of turns lately," he said and looked at Rory.
Luke started to speak again when Rory cut him off and said, "Luke...there's something else we would like to share with you."
Luke glanced from Rory to Jess, and back to Rory again. He laughed and joked, "What are you pregnant or something?"
"Yes," she said. "Luke, I'm pregnant." Luke didn't say a word. He stood up from his chair immediately and put his coat on. He grabbed his keys that were hanging by the door and stormed out the back door. Rory got up from the chair and ran to the window to see him peeling away in his truck.
Lorelai walked over and put her arm around her daughter. "He just needs some time," she said. "Don't worry, he's not angry at you."
"No, he's pissed at me." Lorelai and Rory turned around to look at Jess. "I just know it," Jess said. "I'm gonna go after him." Jess put his jacket on and said, "I know where he's going."
/ / /
Jess drove to the lake, stepped out of his car and saw Luke standing on the dock. It was the same dock where he sat with Rory and fell completely in love with her. He tried to act cool but everyone in Star's Hollow treated him like the town idiot. It was the same lake that Luke pushed him into when he first arrived at the age of sixteen.
Luke looked out into the distance with crossed arms, breathing heavy. He could hear footsteps behind him and knew right away that it was Jess. He hated the fact that Jess dragged his feet when he walked and would always told him to pick up his feet when he was a teenager. When he turned around, Jess stopped walking and just looked at him. For the first time every, Jess actually looked helpless. "I'm sorry," said Jess. "I love her, I'm gonna stay."
Luke slowly walked over to Jess and hugged him. "When I said don't hurt her again, I mean it Jess. Don't make promises you can't keep. I can't have you leaving me again either, okay?"
"I promise," Jess said.