Disclaimer: I do not own.
A/N: Here's a nice long chapter for you. I suppose you deserve it since I've been neglecting this story for a while. I had kind of forgotten about it, so hopefully you remember what has been going on! Enjoy!
The car ride home had, so far, been silent. Lorelai was driving and Rory was sitting in the front passenger seat. Jess, Aaron and Emma were in the back of the minivan. Lorelai had finally broken down and got one when Aaron and Emma were born. She still had her old friend, the Jeep, but she didn't drive it as much anymore, since Aaron and Emma were pretty much always with her. Normally Rory and Jess took the Prius to Friday Night Dinner, but tonight they had all decided to ride together. Lorelai was grateful for that, because this way she could watch Rory and try to gage her feelings. At least, Lorelai was grateful they had all ridden together, until her son, with as much tact as Luke had (which wasn't much), opened his mouth.
"Mommy…does this mean we don't have to go to Friday Night Dinners anymore?" Aaron asked. "Ow!" He then yelped. "Emma, that hurt!" Emma had just elbowed him in the ribs.
"Aaron," Rory said as all eyes snapped to her. This was the first time she had spoken since they had left the Gilmore's house. "You never fail to make me smile. No, we don't have to go to Friday Night Dinners."
"For a while at least," Jess whispered to Aaron. "You might actually be old enough to beg off before we have to go back."
Aaron's eyes lit up. This was what he had wished for since they had started going.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think a stop at Luke's and a great big cup of coffee is in order!" Lorelai said, to get off the subject of Friday Night Dinner for a while.
"Mom, I'm just…super tired," Rory said and Lorelai immediately nodded.
"We'll take you home," Lorelai agreed without preamble.
"You should still go though," Rory said. "Jess, you should go too."
"When have I ever wanted a cup of coffee?" Jess asked Rory. "Besides, being in there at night reminds me too much about working there."
Rory rolled her eyes. She knew he loved going into Luke's regardless of what he might say. He just had to complain to keep up his image, just like Luke had to be grumpy all the time and couldn't be known as a softy.
Emma, on the other hand, called Jess out. "You're such a liar! You love it."
Emma and Jess continued to bicker with each other and Aaron even jumped in a few times in the course of the argument. Rory shook her head and looked at her mom. "He's such a kid."
Lorelai's ears were attuned to the bickering in the backseat as well and her lips curled into a small smile. "It's nice, isn't it."
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After Lorelai dropped Rory and Jess off (with a few significant looks at Jess), Rory went straight up to their bedroom. Jess watched her retreat to the bedroom and sighed. He wished he could have gotten a few good swings in at Emily that night, but he knew even if he had the chance, he would have never followed through. Hitting women wasn't something he would ever engage in. He also knew that hitting Emily Gilmore wouldn't put him in good graces with any of the family, even Lorelai and Rory would have been disappointed.
Jess sighed again. He wished he could do something for Rory to erase the hurt she was feeling right now. If he could do tonight over, he would fake some kind of illness so they wouldn't have had to go. He would push her harder to not tell Emily about the Save the Date card. Regardless of what had happened tonight though, all hell would have broken loose when Emily got the Save the Date card anyway. Jess wanted to do something, anything, for Rory. He suddenly smiled. He may not be able to take away the hurt but he could certainly make her forget.
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"Oh, Luuuuuuuuuuuuuke!" Lorelai yelled out, walking into the diner. Emma giggled at her mom's antics while Aaron gave an eye roll that was so similar to Luke's there was no question about where he learned that from.
Luke was in the kitchen and he smiled when he heard Lorelai call his name. He always told her not to do that, but he couldn't help but smile. He always told her not to shout, she always did and he always smiled, but tried to hide it. It was one of their many routines they had developed over the years.
"How many times have I told you not to do that?" Luke asked Lorelai, rhetorically after coming out of the kitchen.
Lorelai shrugged. "Not enough apparently," Aaron answered. Luke smiled at his son while Lorelai looked aghast. "Hey you!" Lorelai said to Aaron. "You are supposed to be on my side."
Aaron shook his head. "Not when you're wrong."
Emma and Lorelai shook their head while Luke and Aaron smiled. "How was Friday Night Dinner?" Luke asked, because he always asked after they got back.
Aaron and Emma's heads snapped toward Lorelai, expecting her to answer for them.
"What happened?" Luke sighed. He knew something was wrong, especially because Emma didn't answer. Most of the time, Aaron and Lorelai weren't too talkative after Friday Night Dinner, but Emma always was.
Lorelai just shook her head and glanced at the kids quickly. Luke understood her silent language and knew she would tell him when they got home. "Well, I was just cleaning the grill. Let me finish that and dump this coffee out and then we can leave."
"NO!" Lorelai and Emma both shouted.
"The coffee!" Lorelai said. "Don't dump it out. We'll drink it."
"It's stale," Luke told them.
"It's coffee!" Lorelai said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"It's probably cold," Luke tried again.
"It's coffee!" Emma said, just like her mother, completely unfazed.
Luke rolled his eyes. "Fine, if you want to kill yourself." He poured Lorelai coffee in her usual mug and he gave Emma a small cup.
"How come Mommy gets more than me!" Emma questioned Luke.
"You always ask me this," Luke reminded her. "And I always tell you the same thing. When you get older you will get a mug like hers. Although I keep hoping you won't like coffee when that day comes."
"Not a chance, hon," Lorelai told him. "Once a coffee lover…"
Emma finished for her, "Always a coffee lover."
"You'll be sorry when you die from so much coffee!" Aaron exclaimed.
"I can't really be sorry for anything after I'm dead, Aaron," Emma said, completely calm, slowly sipping her coffee.
Lorelai burst out laughing and even Luke had to turn around and go back to the kitchen to continue cleaning the grill if he didn't want the rest of his family to see the smile that had appeared on his face from Emma's remark. She was obviously a Gilmore.
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Jess walked upstairs to see Rory sitting on their bed. She had her laptop open and resting on her legs under the pretense of working. He knew she wasn't though. For one thing, she was staring off into space; he would be willing to bet she didn't even see him come in. For another thing, she still looked incredibly sad, and she wouldn't look like this if she had been working. Maybe seducing her wouldn't be the best course of action tonight to make her forget.
"Rory," Jess said, making her jump slightly. "You've got to stop stewing over this."
"I'm not stewing," Rory argued. "I'm working."
"You're stewing," Jess told her decidedly and came to sit beside her, moving her laptop (which was open to a blank Word document, more proof that she wasn't working) from resting on her legs to the floor beside the bed and gently closed it. "Listen, you know your grandmother didn't mean what she said. She loves you, she would never think anything bad about you."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Stop defending her. And stop skirting around the issue. I was a mistake. A…horrible mistake."
Jess winced at the hurt in her voice. "Rory, honey—"
Rory cut him off. "No! Let's face it, I was a mistake. Something that never should have happened."
"Hey, Ms. Yale graduate," Jess tried to tease. "That's not what mistake means. You're missing a vital part of the definition. A mistake is something that shouldn't have happened, something that the person regrets. What you were defining was an accident."
"So, I was an accident!" Rory exclaimed. "Jess, that's not much better!"
He shook his head. "You were not an accident. A surprise. A wonderful surprise. A blessing; anything but a mistake. Lorelai, Luke, Christopher, they don't regret having and meeting you. No one could ever regret meeting you."
Rory scrubbed her hands down her face. "I know this shouldn't bother me. I'm proud of where I am in my life, I'm proud of what I've done. I am at a good place and most of my successes have been because of me and me only. I mean, yeah, they did give me money to go to Chilton, but that's it. I caught up with the work and managed to graduate valedictorian. That wouldn't have happened just because they gave me some money. I got accepted to Harvard, Princeton AND Yale. Three prestigious schools accepted me because of what I did in Chilton. And yeah, again, they gave me money for Yale, but I still did well on my own. I'm now working at the Hartford Gazette and I have a pretty good job. I mean, sure, I'm not Christine Amanpour, but I honestly think I could be getting close if I didn't want to watch Aaron and Emma grow up and become amazing people. But still, my stories get on the front page and people actually read them. I even managed to meet some famous names in their high society. I met Paris, and might even call her my friend. Then there was Tristan DuGrey, whom I didn't know for very long, but was still my acquaintance. I also met the Huntsburgers, who were HUGE in grandma and grandpa's high society. I also have amazing people in Stars Hollow who love me and would drop everything in a second if I needed it. I have an incredible fiancé who I love and who loves me. I have Lorelai, who is the best mom a girl could ever ask for, and Luke is fantastic as my dad. I am proud of where I am. I'm proud of who I know. I really am. But I just keep thinking…if I wasn't born maybe another smart girl would've gotten into Chilton. Maybe my mom and grandma wouldn't have such a rocky relationship. Maybe you could've met a girl whose grandmother wouldn't harass you just because you want to be a teacher and want to go to training."
Rory's voice shook before she lapsed into silence and Jess shook his head. "No. I can be harassed by Emily Gilmore until doomsday and I will still want you. Everybody wants you. Chilton would have missed a vital part of their student body if they didn't have you. Paris would've had no competition and wouldn't have gotten president, because a person who everyone likes, you, wouldn't have been her vice president. Everyone in Stars Hollow would be deprived of a great girl if they didn't know you. Lorelai would still be a crazy kid if she never had you. You made her grow up and made her be the best mother ever. Luke wouldn't be the father he is today if he hadn't gotten to practice on you and he definitely wouldn't have known what to do with me. And I...I would be completely lost without you in my life. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me."
Rory sighed. "Why can't I listen to myself? Why can't I listen to my mom, listen to you and believe it? Why don't I believe it?" Rory's voice lowered to such a quiet whisper it was questionable to her if Jess could even hear it. "Why does it hurt so much?"
Jess was at a loss. He gathered her into his arms and let her head rest on his chest. He wished he could do something more for her, wished he could say something more. But what was he supposed to say to her that he hadn't already said? What could he say to lessen the pain of her grandmother calling her a mistake? He didn't think there was anything.
Jess wondered if she knew how many people knew she wasn't a mistake, knew that she was wonderful. He wondered if she knew how many people actually wanted her. He was definitely one of them. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he wondered again about his original plan. He had come up to the bedroom with the intention of seducing her, making her forget. Maybe he could show her how much she was wanted.
"Rory," Jess whispered in her ear. "There are so many people that love you, so many people who want you."
Rory looked up at him with tears still in her eyes and some on her cheeks. "Prove it."
Jess sighed. If she was asking, he didn't feel so guilty anymore. To tell the truth, he still wasn't sure he should do this, but he was sure it could make her forget and he wasn't sure he could handle rejecting her tonight. He could never really deny her anything, and after her grandmother's words tonight, this would feel like a rejection to Rory; more proof that she was a "mistake." He wiped the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs and brought his lips to hover over hers. Before he connected their lips and let his mind concentrate solely on showing Rory how much he loved her and how much he wanted her, he whispered, "My pleasure."
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"I'll kill her!" Luke shouted.
"Be quiet!" Lorelai commanded. "Aaron and Emma are asleep."
"I'll kill her," Luke growled, quieter this time, but still as angry.
"You're not going to kill my mother," Lorelai told him.
"Can't I inflict some kind of pain on her?" Luke asked.
"Are we having some kind of Freaky Friday moment?" Lorelai asked rhetorically. "Because you are definitely acting a lot like me right now, and I am definitely being you."
"Freaky Friday?" Luke asked, momentarily distracted.
Lorelai rolled her eyes. She may have married him, but he had gotten no better in the movie department. "I repeat, you cannot kill my mother, or inflict any kind of pain on her."
Luke shook his head in confusion. "She hurt Rory. Don't you want to kill her?"
Lorelai sighed. "Yes and no. I mean, I yelled at her and told her I hated her, and I pretty much do. At the same time though, there is a part of me that knows eventually everything will be okay again. Of course, I'm not sure when that day will be, and ultimately it's totally up to Rory, but if I know my daughter, this fight can't last too long. She loves her grandparents too much."
Luke shook his head again. "I don't know. This has to have cut pretty deep. Are you sure I can't do anything at all to Emily?"
Lorelai laughed. "You can yell at her. She might be scared of you…although I doubt that would help her like you any better."
"That's hardly satisfying," Luke complained.
"Sorry, hon," Lorelai said, smiling. Moments like these made her fall in love with Luke all over again. She just loved how much Luke loved Rory, a child who wasn't even his flesh and blood. How he would threaten to kill anyone who hurt her, and probably inflict bodily harm on Emily if Lorelai let him. She was sure he wouldn't kill Emily, because she wasn't sure he could kill anyone, but he would definitely hurt her.
"What?" Luke asked, after Lorelai had been staring at him for a few minutes.
Lorelai shrugged. "I love you, that's all."
Luke smiled as he moved over to stand in front of her. "I love you, too."
Lorelai stood up on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck and press her lips to his. Luke felt himself begin to kiss her back and felt his body respond. From that moment on, they lost themselves in each other and all thoughts of Emily and her angry words fled from their minds.
Quick note. When I started this series I ignored the fight between Rory and Lorelai, which means I'm also ignoring the time when Rory moved out of her grandparent's house and was in a fight with them. Therefore, that never happened, so at this point, she has never really been in a fight with them before. Anyway, tell me how you felt about this chapter in a review please!