Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls. Although owning Jared Padalecki would be nice.

AN: This is the first time that I have written anything for this story in almost two years. Please bear with me as I pick it up again. Hopefully there are some of you still reading. If not, I'll still post. Who knows, maybe someone new will take a liking to it.

Rory and Aiden had been home less than an hour when Tristan realized that he had forgotten to go the store before picking them up from the hospital. Lorelai had offered to go, but Tristan turned her down saying that it was his fault; he would be the one to go grocery shopping.

Rory sat in the glider in the boy's room, rocking Aiden when someone knocked on the door. She could hear Lorelai speaking to the person quietly when Maddie's door opened. Maddie came down the hall and Rory cleared her throat to get her attention.

"Who is it?" she mouthed.

"It's Casey." she answered.

Casey and Jess hadn't come to the hospital to see Aiden and that had made Rory worry. They were his God parents, and had come into town so that they could see him. She knew that they were leaving tomorrow, but that didn't make her worry about the fact that Jess wasn't with Casey.

Casey came to stand in the doorway of the boy's room, staring at Rory sadly. Something was seriously wrong. Rory gingerly stood from the glider and set Aiden in his basinet gently. She crossed the room and opened her arms as she stood in front of Casey. Casey collapsed against her before sobbing quietly into her chest. Rory rubbed her back soothingly wondering what was going on.

"Skylar," Casey moaned softly.

"What's wrong with Skylar?" Rory asked worriedly.

"She…" Casey sobbed.

"Mom?" Rory called quietly.

"I'm on the phone with Jess trying to find out what's going on. He's in Stars Hollow." Lorelai explained from the living room.

"Let's go sit down." Rory offered, leading Casey down the hall.

Casey sat in Tristan's recliner with a sigh as Rory listened to her mom's end of the conversation.

"It's operable?" she asked.

Rory heard Jess mumble a reply but wasn't able to make out what he said. She was looking at Casey skeptically when Tristan came in a minute later. Lorelai hung up and took some of the bags from him before walking into the kitchen with him. Rory moved to follow them but Lorelai stopped her.

"I want to know what is going on." Rory said with determination.

"I'll explain in a few minutes. Just stay with her." Lorelai promised.

Rory sat down on the couch across from Casey when Maddie came through the living room to the kitchen. She heard Jake in his room and she stood to get him before he woke up the baby. She picked him up from his bed, holding him close to her. She took in his scent, a mix of Johnson's Baby Shampoo and the aftershave that Tristan wore that Jake had insisted he put on him that morning. She kissed his forehead as he rested his head on her chest.

She sat down with him on the couch and he immediately scrambled out of her lap and across the room to the play area. He played with his Matchbox cars, making car sounds as he played. Her mom had been the one to point out that she hadn't been able to play quietly when she was a child either and she thought that Rory was now getting her retribution.

Lorelai came out of the kitchen still on the phone. She held out the phone to Rory before kneeling in front of Casey. Rory put the phone to her ear, worried out of her mind.

"Hello?" she said unsurely.

"I didn't expect her to come over there. I am sorry that you have to see her like that." Jess apologized.

"What is going on? No one will tell me anything." she asked.

"Skylar has leukemia. We found out yesterday. She needs a bone marrow transplant. I'm at your mom and Luke's talking to Luke about seeing if he is a match." he explained.

"What if he isn't?" she asked in concern.

"Then I'll talk to my dad."

"You've told your dad?" she asked in shock.

"He was the first person we called after Casey's parents."

"I'm really sorry." Rory said sympathetically.

"You don't have to apologize."

Aiden wailed from the bedroom and Rory stood to go and get him. The baby hadn't been able to sleep for longer than half an hour at a time since he had been born. It had taken her nearly an hour to get him back to sleep this last time. It was going to take some getting used to.

"Let me talk to Case." Jess said.

Rory handed Casey the phone before walking out of the room. Aiden was whimpering when Rory came into the room. He was almost asleep as she watched him from the door. She didn't want him to know that she was there if he was going to right back to sleep. Tristan came to stand behind her with his hands on her hips and his chin resting on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

"I'm fine. I just wish that we could have one day where there was no excitement to shake everyone up." she mused.

"I don't see that happening. It's going to take some getting used to. Why don't you go lay down? I can handle him if he wakes up again."

"Come lay down with me?" she asked.

"I'll go tell your mom." he murmured before pulling away from her.

She went to their room and closed the blinds before turning down the bed. She turned off the baby monitor before getting into bed. Tristan came into the room pulling his shirt over his head. he stripped down to his boxers before climbing into bed. In all the time that they had been together Rory had never known him to wear anything but boxers to sleep. It could be freezing in the room and he would still insist on stripping down. She would wake up most mornings to find that she had curled into him during the night and he was so warm that she found herself not wanting to get out of bed.

She closed the gap between them to lay her head in the crook of his shoulder. He draped his arm over her shoulders before kissing her temple. She shut out the rest of the world and was asleep within minutes.

XXXX

There was a time when Jess had thought that nothing would be able to bring him back to Stars Hollow. People were still leery of trusting him because of all the damage he had caused. Taylor had banned him from the store until the day that he died. Kurt had made a motion to remove the ban once he became town manager. Jess still didn't know why he had done it.

Now if only Dean saw things that way. Jess knew that he had made a mess of things between Dean and Rory when they were teenagers but they were grown now; married with children of their own. That didn't stop Dean from looking at him with contempt. He couldn't go anywhere without seeing Dean and his wife. Lorelai had told him not long after they had gotten married that Tara, Dean's wife wasn't able to have children and that they were looking to adopt. He didn't know why she had told him that but he wished Dean all the best.

He sat at the counter of the diner waiting for Luke's shift to be over. There wasn't an empty to be seen and Lane was making rounds with a coffee carafe, apologizing to every person who stopped her to complain. Jess stopped her as she stopped to fill his coffee mug.

"Where's Zach?" he asked.

"The twins are sick today. He's at home taking care of them." she explained before moving on to Babette.

There were at least ten orders up that were in danger of getting cold before Lane got around to taking them to the tables. He stood and walked around the counter. He placed plates on his arms to balance them before making his way through the restaurant. People stopped him to ask him for various things and he would call for Lane to bring them.

Twenty minutes later things were starting to settle down when Jess stopped at a table to take the order of someone who had just come in.

"We're going to need a few minutes. I'm not sure what I want yet." A woman said.

Jess looked up from the order form to the two people sitting at the table. Dean looked down at his hands while his wife smiled apologetically up at Jess.

"Take your time." Jess said with a nod.

He got the check for a few tables before walking back to Dean and Tara. She had set the menu down to let him know that she was ready to order.

"What can I get for you?" Jess asked politely.

"I'll have a Spanish omelet with hash browns."

"Okay. And you?"

"Blueberry waffles." Dean said, finally acknowledging him.

"It's going to be a little while since we're short staffed this morning."

"That's fine. We understand." Tara reassured him.

Jess nodded with a tight lipped smile before walking away. He placed the order and grabbed four more plates. Luke called out to him and he called over his shoulder that he would be right back. He took the plates to the respective tables and grabbed the checks for two other tables before finding Luke in the store room.

"Is there any special reason why you are here? Not that I don't appreciate the help, but I do believe that it was you who said that you would never come to work here again because dealing with everyone here was emotionally draining for you." Luke pointed out.

"I am not the teenager that you took in fourteen years ago. And yes, I do have a reason for being here. I thought that you could also use the help since I was here."

"I know that you have changed. No one is more proud of you than I am. And I do appreciate you coming in, I do. It's just that everyone tends to remember you for all of the things you did as a teenager. You only come to town once every four years so it's not like they know any better."

"Then you should tell them to mind their own business." Jess said darkly.

"I'll do that when you give Dean a break."

"Hey, I was nothing but nice to him a few minutes ago." Jess said in defense.

"I'm not talking about being nice to him once in a blue moon. You don't know what he's going through."

"Lorelai told me that his wife couldn't have kids. There are other ways of raising children. He can become a mentor or they can adopt."

"He's jealous of you." Luke said honestly.

"How? He doesn't know me."

"Lorelai brags about you and Rory all the time. Did you think that he wouldn't eventually hear how well you're doing or that you're a father now?"

"Oh how the tables have turned." Jess muttered, astonished.

"What?"

"Did you ever stop to wonder why I was so jealous of him when we were younger?"

"You were jealous of him?" Luke asked in shock.

"He had Rory, he had everyone in town's trust. I got blamed for things that I didn't even do half the time!" Jess said exasperatedly.

"I never looked at it that way. You have a point." Luke thought out loud.

"Are the two of you going to be much longer? People are coming in left and right." Lane called through the door.

"We'll be right there." Luke answered.

Jess opened the door and grabbed an arm full of plates. He saved Tara and Dean's for last.

"Sorry for the wait. It's on the house."

"You don't have to do that." Tara said in protest.

"We didn't mind waiting." Dean said in agreement.

"It's fine. I've already paid for it. Enjoy." Jess said before walking away.

Jess was wiping down the counter an hour later when someone came to stand in front of him. He craned his neck, his eyes coming in contact with Dean's. After all these years his height still intimidated him. He cocked an eyebrow, wondering what Dean could want.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did."

"No thanks needed." Jess said with a shake of his head.

"I also wanted to apologize for the way I've treated you over the years."

"You weren't completely at fault. I did steal your girlfriend." Jess reasoned.

"I know. I'm passed that, I mean since you left. You hadn't done anything warrant the way I treated you."

"It's fine. Apology accepted." Jess said with a nod.

"I should go. Are you going to be around for a while?"

"I'm just here for today."

"Then I'll see you around." Dean said with a small smile.

Jess nodded in agreement wondering why he hadn't realized what was going on sooner. Luke came to stand next to him, nudging him to get his attention. He turned his head to look at him with tired eyes.

"Do you want to go upstairs? I have to be back down here in an hour to pick up Zach's shift."

"Sure."

Jess followed Luke silently and once they were in the apartment that was now April's Luke sat at the table while Jess stood at the counter facing away from him, gripping the counter for support.

"What's going on?" Luke prodded.

"I've just got a lot going on. I needed a break for few hours." Jess murmured.

"What could be so bad that you came all the way here to escape it?"

"I'm not escaping anything. I came here to talk to you."

"So talk to me, because the way you are acting is starting to scare me."

"Skylar has leukemia." Jess said with a sigh.

"What?"

"We found out the day Aiden was born. Casey noticed a bruise on Sky's back last month, but didn't think anything about it because it wasn't that big. She said she didn't know how she had gotten it. The day before we left Georgia she was complaining that she didn't feel well. She didn't have a temperature so I sent her off to school. When I got to Rory and Tristan's after Rory was taken to the hospital I noticed that Sky wasn't acting like herself. She said that she didn't feel well and when I took her temperature it was over a hundred. I had Maddie got across the hall to ask their neighbor if she would stay with the kids and I took Skylar to the emergency room. They ran a bunch of test on her and everything was coming back that she was fine. Then I noticed the bruise on her back. I asked her about it and she said that Casey had asked her about it so I told the doctor and he ran more test. I had to find out that my daughter has cancer by myself. Do you know how scary that was?" Jess asked with a ragged sigh.

"Where was Casey?" Luke ventured.

"She was with Rory, I didn't want her to worry unless it was something serious."

"What does the doctor think that you should do?"

"He says that Skylar needs a bone marrow transplant. The person has to be more than a ninety five percent match for them to be a donor. Casey and I aren't but I was closer. I was a seventy five percent match. We thought that we would talk to my family first since I was a closer match."

"I'll get tested." Luke promised.

Jess flopped down into the closest chair with a grunt. Now that he had unloaded his burden he felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He had never been able to handle stress well. Finding out that Skylar was sick had nearly sent him into panic mode. He had to be strong for Casey and for Skylar. She needed her Daddy more than ever now and he was going to be there for her through it all.