A/N: Wow. Fifty chapters. I am amazed at myself and proud and I want to say thank you to all the reviewers, readers, of you recommend this story anywhere...you're the best. You make me feel like I'm not alone and inspire me to continue on.

Though I am sad to say this story is getting close to a closing. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, I have extended it far more than I thought I could. But timing wise, I'm near the end so I felt since you've all been so amazing, you deserve a heads up on it. I'm gonna miss writing this timeline when it comes to an end.

"I can't believe I agreed to this," Jess groaned as he set up the couch for the night.

Rory tried to use of the power of her eyes on him. "You agreed because you love me."

"Yes I do but at what cost?" He smirked at her and she stuck out her tongue. "You think Evan's close to having his teeth brushed so I can use the bathroom?"

"I'm not sure," she laughed. "Go check on him. If anything, it'll speed him up."

"Fine," he kissed her quick and walked in the direction of the bathroom. She laughed as she watched him go and the bedroom door opened and out walked Luke. "Hey."

"Hey," Luke said awkwardly. "You guys gonna be okay out here?"

"We'll be fine," she waved off. "How's mom? She's settling in okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah...she's good. Right Noe she's talking in a southern voice imitating some character in a movie. I don't know which."

Rory laughed. "Well, that's one thing to do, I guess."

"How are you doing?" He asked. When she looked at him confused, he added. "Because of everything that went on between the two of you. I don't usually like to be involved but I was worried."

"I'm good," she smiled at her stepfather and sat down on the newly done couch. Luke said beside her. "We're good."

"Has Jess said what he's doing yet?" He asked. "Is he staying here?"

"Actually, he is," Rory answered. "He's gonna sell his other apartment and work from the city."

"Good," Luke nodded. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Luke?" She asked and he faced her. "Mom told me that you always supported me and Jess, even in high school. I just want to say thanks for that."

"You don't have to thank me for that," he shook his head.

"Yes, I do," she said. "Because there wasn't always people on our side and knowing you're on it is a nice relief."

He smiled softly at her. "But if anything happens...I might be tempted to take a side."

"We'll have to make sure nothing happens then, right?" She smiled bigger.

Jess walked from the direction of the bathroom with Evan behind him. He was smiling too. "This one is finished in there."

"I was doing fine!" Evan protested.

"You had toothpaste all over the sink!" Jess argued back.

Evan crossed his arms in defeat. "I meant to do that!"

"Whoa, is there a mess to clean up?" Rory asked and stood up.

"Its cleaned now," Jess told her.

"You all ready to sleep?" Luke asked his son who nodded in reply.

Evan nodded fast. "Jess gonna help me set my sleeping bag up."

"Not your old man?" Luke teased.

"Nope," Evan shook his head this time.

Rory laughed and Jess smiled. "Guess he's out-growing you, Uncle Luke."

"I wish you'd outgrow that nickname," he said back.

"Never," Jess grinned.

"Go set up the sleeping bag," he waved his nephew off.

Jess laughed and mock-saluted his uncle before leaving the room. He knocked on the bedroom door. "Men entering the room!"

He walked inside and she heard her mother say something. Rory laughed once more and then turned to Luke. "He loves you."

"Who, Jess?" He asked questionably.

"Both of them, really," she said. "Evan won't outgrow you just as much as Jess doesn't outgrow that nickname."

"He should outgrow that nickname," he said. "Do you think Evan's excited about the baby?"

"Of course he is!" She told him. "He says he wants to be in there when the baby's born. He doesn't know yet he doesn't want to be."

Luke smirked at that. "I've... I've been a little worried."

Rory tilted her head thoughtfully. "Because of what the doctors said? The chances?"

He nodded. "What if something goes wrong? The doctor said that it'd be hard for her to get pregnant again."

"But she did," she added. "And everything has been going great so far."

"That's true," he agreed. "I just can't shake this feeling."

"Everything will be fine," she said. "She's pretty much eight months in now. Mom and baby are both healthy, Evan is excited, the baby room is done."

"I'm probably just being my non-optimistic self, aren't I?" He asked with a small smile.

"Tiny bit," she squeezed her fingers to a show a small slot of space.

She hugged him then pulled away. "I guess I'll go get ready to sleep too."

"Okay," Rory nodded as he stood up and walked in the direction of the bedroom then bathroom.

The bedroom door opened seconds later and out walked Jess. "Your mom has gone crazier."

"What's she done now?" Rory laughed.

"She thinks I'm her servant while she's here," he answered and sank down onto the couch. "Says I should buy her a bell."

"Poor baby," Rory laughed and kissed his cheek. "But since its my mom, maybe she's right."

He gave her a strange look. "You think she's right in wanting me wait on her?"

"Humor her," she teased. "She's eight months pregnant and she's only gonna be here a week. Just play along."

"I've never played along with anything Lorelai Gilmore has asked," he reminded her.

"You've played along with this Lorelai Gilmore," she grinned.

"Well, it'd be weird if I played with your mother like that," he nudged her.

Rory made a disgusted face. "Oh. Ew. Don't say that again."

"Did that change your mind?" He hoped.

"No," she shook her head. "It did give me an idea, though."

Jess was curious. "What's that?"

She didn't answer. Instead she leaned toward him, her teeth bit playfully on his ear and he made a sound in his throat. "I'll make it up to you."

"I'm listening," he whispered.

Rory grinned widely and he felt her breath on his ear. "I'll do that thing you've been asking me to do."

His eyes widened. "You mean -?"

"Uh-huh," she took his ear between her teeth again.

"Deal," he said and turned his face as long as his ear was free. Jess kissed her intensely, deepening it and almost fully pulling her onto his lap. The thing that stopped her from completely being over him was a throat clearing.

The two of them looked over to see who ot was though they had an idea. Both Rory and Jess felt like teenagers in that moment. They were eighteen, upstairs in the diner apartment, on the couch, caught by none other than the man who stood in front of them - Luke Danes.

Rory peeled herself away and off of Jess, retreating to her own spot on the couch. Jess, however, seemed casual. "Hey, Uncle Luke."

"None of that while we're here," he pointed a finger between them.

"None of what, Uncle Luke?" Jess innocently asked with a smirk.

"You know what," he said. "Its not just for me and Lorelai. Evan's here so..."

"None of that," Jess finished. "Got it."

Luke walked into the bedroom and as soon as he was gone, Rory turned a deep shade of red. "I really forgot someone could walk in just then."

"Not used to it anymore?" He questioned and she shook her head. Jess laughed and put his arm around her, pulling her closer. "Its only a week."

"God, it just kicked in how we can't get carried away for a week," she replied.

Jess laughed. "You afraid you can't resist me that long?"

"Oh, I know I can resist you," she said despite his raised eyebrows. "Its more... you make me not want to."

"Huh," he smirked.

She hit him on the chest. "Wipe that smirk off of your face."

"I said nothing," he said and the smirk faded.

The bedroom door opened again and Rory quickly moved out of Jess' arms. Lorelai smiled brightly at them. "Don't stop on my account."

"Hey, mom," Rory blushed again as she thought of the previous topic.

"Hello, child of mine," she replied then looked to Jess. "Man defiling child of mine. Heard I missed some kind of make-out in here?"

"We weren't making out," Rory defended. "We were just kissing."

"Sure," Jess agreed. "She was in my lap, tongue down my throat -"

Rory elbowed him and Lorelai held her hands up. "Okay. I definitely understand Luke's side of this now."

"He is exaggerating," she stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend.

Jess pointed at her. "There it is again! See, she can't resist me!"

Lorelai nodded, laughing. "Poor daughter. Getting teased by a man in the Danes family who is supposed to love you. I know this feeling well."

"How do I stop him?" Rory asked and he mock gasped beside her in surprise.

"Let him think he's winning then get him back," Lorelai winked.

Rory looked over at Jess with an evil expression. "Will do."

He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "What does that exactly mean?"

"You'll see," his girlfriend grinned.

Lorelai walked over to them and hugged her daughter. "I am saying good night, loin fruit. Because Luke has gone to sleep already and Evan is awaiting a story."

"Goodnight, Mom," Rory smiled and hugged her back.

Lorelai moved over to Jess and hugged him quickly. "Night, Jess."

"Ma'am," he smirked and that led to a glare that could freeze a fire.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that," Lorelai warned but walked off to the bathroom too now.

Rory turned to Jess. "It is pretty late. We should sleep, too."

"Okay," he nodded and they both stood up.

Rory told him to lay down first and she crawled under the blankets with him once he was comfortable. She was glad she already did everything she needed to before going to sleep. "This is nice."

"Yeah, it is," he wrapped his arms around her.

"What if we get uncomfortable during the night?" Rory asked.

"I don't see how lying with you closely to me can get uncomfortable but..." He smiled.

"Be serious," she smiled. "Should one of us move if it does?"

"Okay if it gets too uncomfortable, I'll move to the floor," he offered. "Deal?"

"Deal," she snuggled closer. "I really hope you don't though because youre a pretty good pillow."

Jess smiled once again and they both closed their eyes. Lorelai walked out of the bathroom to see the two of them already asleep on the couch. She smiled to herself and went over to shut a lamp before going back to her husband and son in the other room.

...

The next morning, both Rory and Jess woke up not entirely uncomfortable but also not comfortable. She awoke first, smelling coffee and smiled to herself. She rose her arms over her head and stretched. She carefully got herself out of Jess' arms and covered him back up.

She padded into the kitchen and saw her stepfather, mother and brother sitting at the counter. "Morning."

"Morning," Lorelai said and kissed her daughter on the cheek.

Evan jumped into her arms and hugged her. Luke handed her a coffee cup and she inhaled gratefully. "So were you ever going to wake us?"

"No," Lorelai shook her head and drank out of her own cup.

"I was going to but they told me not to," Luke pointed out.

"Mom made me take a picture," Evan told his sister.

Rory's jaw dropped. "What? You didn't."

"I wanted to document the memory for you," she shrugged.

"I want to see this picture," she said.

Evan sat up straighter in his seat. "Its on her phone."

"Which is charging," Lorelai said.

Luke leaned toward his stepdaughter. "I had no part of any of this."

"I believe you," she said and glared at both her mother and brother teasingly.

"Everyone's awake," she heard a sleepy, familiar voice and smiled.

Jess walked into the kitchen and he kissed Rory on the head as he stood behind her. "Morning, Jess."

"Lorelai," he nodded as he remembered her suspicious advice to her daughter the previous night. He turned to Evan and ruffled his hair. "Hey, kid."

"Not the hair!" Evan put his hands on top of his head and both Gilmore girls laughed.

"He's so a mini-Jess right now," Rory giggled.

"Not that hair thing again," he grumbled and sat down next to her.

She reached out and touched his own hair. He smiled at her and they started to eat the breakfast Luke had made for them.

...

"I want to go to the Empire State Building," Lorelai pouted.

Rory laughed at her child-like behavior. "You will be exhausted."

"But they have elevators!" She argued. "Come on. Its a tourist thing and I've never done it!"

"Okay, fine," Rory said. "But I'm not gonna be the one who tells your husband."

"I'll tell him as long as you take me there," Lorelai replied.

"Okay, okay," she nodded and looped her arm with her mother's. "We'll do touristy stuff after we eat, okay? Because I'm starving and I'm not sure I'll make it without eating."

"That sounds like a good idea to me," Lorelai agreed. "You know my answer to food, especially now."

Rory smiled. "Hey, Mom? Are you worried?"

"Worried about what?" She asked.

"The baby," Rory said. "Luke said some things last night. He sounded really worried. Very worried for Luke."

Lorelai waved it off. "He's been worrying since we found out a out the baby."

"And that's...that doesn't make you worry too?" She asked.

"No, kid," she smiled a genuine smile. "It doesn't. Because the doctor told me it'd be hard to get pregnant, not for me to carry. And here I am, pregnant."

"You're really not worried?" She wondered. "Not even a little?"

Her mother shook her head. "Not even a little."

Rory led them in the direction of a pizza place. "Good. Because he's worrying enough for the both of you."

Lorelai laughed. "Yeah, he is. But I like that you asked. It's good to know you still worry about your old mommy."

"Youre not old," she argued. "And I'll always worry."

"Good to know," she nodded. "And same here. Like with what my husband's walking in on in the living room."

"He didn't walk in on anything," she objected. "We were just kissing."

"Uh-huh," she said disbelieving. "It sounded more intense than what I walked in on back in high school."

"Well, we are adults now," she teased. "I don't think you need to give us a sex talk, Mom."

"Oh, trust me, I know," she replied and Rory pouted at her in shock.

"You wanna talk about not needing a sex talk?" Rory asked and pointed to her mother's very pregnant belly.

"Hey, I'm the mom here," she gasped.

"Truce then?" Rory laughed.

"Truce," Lorelai agreed and they walked into the pizzeria.

...

Jess wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to do with his uncle and cousin. If it had been his choice, he'd have taken them to a bookstore and browsed around. As it was, they walked around hoping Evan spotted something he would want to do.

None of them had noticed until it was too late that someone wasn't paying attention to where they were walking. Jess bumped right into someone and immediately started talking. "Sorry."

The other person looked at him and smiled. "Jess. Hi."

"Jen," he said. "This is..."

"A coincidence?" She asked.

"I was gonna say weird," he said then turned to the others with him. "You remember Luke."

"I do," she smiled. "How are you?"

"Doing good," Luke nodded. "What about you?"

"Good," she nodded back. "Who's this?"

"This is Evan, Luke and Lorelai's son," Jess introduced.

"Oh!" She gasped. "I've heard about you! Nice to finally put a name to the face."

"I never heard of you," Evan commented.

Jess laughed awkwardly. He wasn't really sure of the protocol for running into ex's on the street. He hadn't exactly had a good track record. "They're visiting for the week."

"Oh, that's nice," she said. "And Lorelai is Rory's mom, right?"

"Who's Lorelai?" Evan asked. "Rory's mom is mom."

"Mom is Lorelai, kid," Jess told him.

"Dad?" He asked and Luke nodded in reply.

"Its the truth," he agreed.

"Sorry to be so quick about this but I have to go," Jen pointed out. "Jordan's waiting for me."

"Oh," Jess said. "It was good seeing you. Again."

"Yeah, again," she laughed and turned to Luke and Evan. "Good to see you again, too and to meet you."

"Same here," Luke nodded and she walked off in her own direction.

"Bye, Jen!" Evan yelled at her.

She smiled and turned around to wave at him. Jess stuffed his hands in his pocket. "Let's go."

"So you saw her again," Luke said. "Rory knows and it's not weird?"

"Rory knows and its not weird," he confirmed.

"And?" He waited.

"And what?" Jess asked. "I'm a little surprised you're asking me about this."

"I'm asking for Rory's sake," he defended.

"Rory knows," he said. "She's the one who told me to see her."

"Okay," Luke nodded. He could tell Jess didn't want to talk about it, probably because it could bring up Rory's birthday. So instead, he let it drop and they continued on their walk through the city.

...

That night, Rory, Lorelai and Evan sat on the couch while they waited for Luke and Jess to pick up dinner. They were watching a black and white movie they found on a classic movies channel. Neither had seen it before or knew the title, which surprised the men before they left. But they had started to enjoy it so they left it on.

Evan pointed to a blonde in the film. "She reminds me of Jen!"

Rory looked over at him and laughed. "Jen?"

Her little brother nodded. "Yeah! The girl we ran into today."

Lorelai looked over at her son too now. "You ran into a Jen today?"

"Well, Jess did but me and Dad were there," he added.

"And?" Lorelai asked.

"And she was nice," he nodded happily.

Rory slumped in her seat, quiet. Lorelai looked over to her and told Evan to go wash his hands because the food might be back soon. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking Jess ran into a friend who happens to be his ex," she replied. "I guess I can't expect him to never see her that he's back here."

"And are you okay with that?" Her mother asked.

"I trust Jess," she answered. "I don't think I have any reason not to. And I don't feel like I need to worry. Its just...the whole situation is weird."

"Right," Lorelai agreed. "Its not like you have his ex coming to town with the daughter he didn't know about right?"

"You ever find out why Anna came?" Rory asked.

"April wants to move to Stars Hollow, permanently," Lorelai explained. "And Anna does not like that. So she wanted to come and ask Luke about how everything there and of course, it brought up that horrible custody hearing years ago."

"Oh," Rory sighed. "That's not good. April moving to Stars hollow is, though."

"Yeah, we all want her there but Anna seems to not," she sighed. "She wants her closer to her so they can visit easier and you know, so Anna doesn't need to come to Stars Hollow."

"That's quite an impasse," the younger girl nodded.

"That's what I said," Lorelai pointed out. "And April is determined to come there no matter what. She's done with school and she wants to be closer to her dad."

"I think its a good idea," Rory mused.

"I do, too," Lorelai agreed. "I just hope she doesn't try to cause any more drama about it."

"I hope not."

The door opened and in walked Jess and Luke. They carried a giant box of take-out and the girls smiled brightly at them. Evan rushed out of the bathroom, his hands soaking wet still and hugged his father.

"Time to eat," Jess said.

...

"Hey, Jess?" Rory snuggled closer to him on the couch.

"Hmm?" He murmered with his eyes closed.

"Evan mentioned something today," she took a breath. His breathing didn't change at all so either he expected this or had no idea where she could be going with this. "He said you ran into Jen today."

Jess laughed. "Oh, I did. Literally ran into her."

"Oh, ow," she made a scrunched face. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he tightened his arm around her.

"Jess?" She asked and got another hmm in return. "Are you guys - are you friends again?"

"We never really stopped being friends," he opened his eyes.

"Oh," she said. "Then I guess I'm asking if, are you hanging out again?"

"No," he said.

"No?"

"No."

"But I told you go to lunch with her," she argued. "And now Evan's meeting her..."

"Evan met her because I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking," he replied.

"Its okay if you do hang out," she backtracked.

"We're not hanging out," he said. "She's actually going back to Philly."

That surprised Rory. She lifted herself a little so she could look into his eyes. "What?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "Told me yesterday at lunch. I didn't get the chance to tell you."

"What about the times?" She asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I guess she'll take another job."

"But why?" She continued.

Another shrug. "I didn't exactly ask."

She kissed him sweetly, lips lingering close together after she pulled away. "Okay."

"Should I be offended?" He asked.

"No," she smiled. "Complimented. Because I know how I felt as your ex. I still wanted you."

"That feeling was mutual," he smirked and put a piece of hair behind her ear. "You have nothing to worry about."

"I know," she shook her head. "I'm sorry. Having a hot boyfriend definitely clouds over my rationality sometimes."

"I know the feeling since I have a hot girlfriend," Jess kept smirking.

"I knew there wasn't just me," she teased and he kissed her softly.

"Sleep," he held her to him once again. "Youre stuck with me. I think its time you get used to it."

"I think I can manage," she smiled.

Pretty soon, both of them had drifted off to sleep. Rory still lay cuddled in Jess' arms all through the night. Neither ever became uncomfortable