Walking through the door of the house, Rory found herself exhausted and ready for a nap. However, knowing that the house was a mess and of course dinner wasn't going to cook itself, she shrugged off her jacket and hung it in the hall closet. Taking in a much needed deep breath that she hadn't allowed until now, she sighed and began to work.
First on the list was the kitchen; crumbs, old newspapers that were still rolled, sitting on top of the counter. Some day old dishes, as well as some that had been sitting in the sink for at least the last week, neglected and unwashed. The rounded oak table was the same way; home to piles of papers, her laptop computer sitting just beyond that pile. Since taking her dream job, she also found opportunities stacking up and appearing.
Taking all newspapers off the counter, she shifted them onto the table. As much as she wanted to throw them in the recycling bin immediately, she still had a duty on keeping up with the daily news, competition and articles. But she had a feeling that reading and catching up would have to wait until another day.
Walking back up to the kitchen sink to grab a washcloth, she then proceeded to wash off the counter and loaded all dirty dishes into the dishwasher. All that was left in the sink then was a large pan; while a cutting board, spatula, and a glass bowl sat to the side.
Filling up the sink, she washed all the dishes and stacked them carefully in the drainer. By the time she had finished it was already one forty-five and she was drained. Eyeing the table chair that had already been pulled back, her legs wobbled slightly and then she remembered that she had been standing all day long, as well as on and off for probably for the last week.
Placing her hands on the counter, she wondered when the last time she had drank anything. Between the shock of pregnancy, work, and constant nausea, it had probably been awhile. Well besides the strawberry shake at lunch that she now realized had not quenched her thirst.
Grabbing a glass out of the cabinet, she filled up her glass and eagerly gulped it down just as quickly as she had filled it up. Setting her glass down, she took a moment to look around. The kitchen was clean, well besides the table. But maybe that could wait as she still had a lot of work to do, and relocating before it had been all finished would not help any. Especially since she had managed to get half of it down, as well as a partial amount when she had gotten off the phone with her mom earlier this morning.
Both the family room and living room still needed to be vacuumed; In fact she wasn't sure when the last time they had been. Just the thought made her thirsty and she filled up her glass once more, this time however she drank a bit slower. The nausea was returning and she didn't like the sound of kneeling over Benji once more, releasing that hamburger, fries and shake that she had gobbled up during lunch.
Perhaps it would be better if she went to go lay down for a little while. Leaving her glass on the counter, she made her way to the couch and laid down. Closing her eyes, she hoped that if she laid here for a little while, she would be okay and the nausea would go away if she stayed still.
However when she stirred from what she thought was only a short nap, Rory laid there with slight disorientation and wondered what had woken her. The house was silent, that she knew for sure. If Jess had come home, he would have at least come to check up on her, wouldn't he? Sitting up, she looked around. The kitchen light that she had left on before abruptly going to lay down was still on. The rest of the house was dark and almost too eerily quiet.
She perked an ear towards the stairs, nothing came. Towards the kitchen, still quietness. So that most likely meant that he was still likely at work. What time was it any way? Rory stood and headed into the kitchen, peering at the microwave for the time. She had left her watch upstairs after it had started pinching her wrist. Noting the time, she sucked in a deep breath. Any other day Jess would come bounding through the garage door into the house, briefcase in hand. No matter what he always had a kiss for her.
That had been when they had time to talk, to tell each other of their days--before they had both become so busy that they had forgotten what it had meant to be a couple, for what they had left behind about their marriage and life. In fact their kid conversation seemed a bit ironic now that she thought about it; if having a kid would let them ruin their career. What kid ruins a career? But rather a kid is considered a blessing, a true blessing. Same would go with marriage. One that you truly love should be a blessing, and yet marriage should not ever be allowed to fall into ruins.
Unfortunately they had forgotten that. It wasn't that they were worried about a child, or even about their own marriage. It was that they had let their careers take over their lives; in the place of the other, of a child--and what was most important. The connection of their lives, the building of a family and a relationship.
----
They had talked, but not for the right reasons. He had taken care of her with a calm, almost unnerving assertion that a celebration of their anniversary would be perfect. In reality it had been the total opposite; when he saw his wife sick, he knew already somewhere deep inside that day was going to be a lot different. He just didn't know how much, until she had asked him to grab a pregnancy test.
That right there had caught him by surprise. They had been married for three years now and they had talked about having children, but no matter how hard he fought to stay positive about the whole thing, he just couldn't and found himself slipping ever so quickly. He needed to get out of the house and when he did, he found himself coming undone as he looked upon the shelves of the store for a pregnancy test.
A store worker had pointed him in the way of an effective pregnancy test. He had numbly thanked him, grabbed the rest of the items that he had come for, paid for them and promptly left. Mind running in different directions, he then found himself sitting behind the steering wheel, keys hanging from the ignition. Sudden thoughts of running appeared in full force but then he saw a little child sitting there in a chair, crying. That's when he realized that running was not an option, especially since he had almost the love of his life. He couldn't stand for losing Rory again, or having his own child hating him and despising the very same reason he thought was right for leaving.
And when he had arrived home, he had gotten his answer. But Jess already knew that if he was going to do this; be a complete father to this unborn child, he was going to have to take care of something that he had left unsettled for years. The last time he had left to see his father, it hadn't exactly been for good intentions. He had been angry, and Jess had told him what he thought about him leaving and for being a lousy father.
This time however he would make sure his father knew of Rory's pregnancy if she was, and that if his father wanted to get involved with his grandchild then he would either have to, (a) Stick around for his or her entire life, or (b.) Stay out completely and never get a chance to be a part of his grandchild's life--ever. There would be no second chances to give, and Jess would make that clear as ice of his intentions when he got there. The same with his mother; if she wanted to skip around and hold hands with whatever man of the hour she was with rather than be with her own grandchild, then she didn't have to be there.
But when Jess had walked out of the house today, he had good intentions to not fail like his father and mother had. He knew that this was something that he had to do on his own. Yeah, he was still uneasy with calling himself father material, but inside both Jess and Rory knew that they would make it. Heck, Luke was a good person. Of course so was Lorelai. At least they could be counted on to be there if they were needed. Which Jess thought, there would be a high chance of that happening. He was sure of that.
Already he was sure that Lorelai had been to Rory's aid this morning after he had become speechless and unable to relay his thoughts to his wife about her being pregnant. Intentionally he had hoped that it would go that way, at least until he could get back. Until then; a note that he had written and hid in a place Rory would not see until the time was right. And until that happened, he would use to the time to think about his kid's future. He would do anything not to see their life go down the same road his or Rory's had.
-----
It had been fifteen minutes since she had called his office. Since that time she had been sitting in front of her closed computer, chin resting on the palm of her hand. She thought it wouldn't do any good to pace back and forth any longer than she had to after finding out that Jess had never been to his office today, and rather that he had called to cancel all meetings and anything that would progress and promote his new book.
The one book she had never read; the one that had been kept under wraps and one that she had been told that she could read when she felt better and could keep down a whole meal; but she wasn't hungry at this time so that wasn't relevant right now. Standing up, Rory noted that she was feeling better--in fact she felt more confusion that he had kept her in the dark, and her confusion was even more so when she found Jess' cell phone to be turned off.
Stepping away from the computer, Rory opened the closet door and grabbed her jacket. Since he wasn't available to answer her wrath, she was just going to have to go find out what he was doing, and she had a feeling that the answers she was seeking wouldn't be found anywhere close to home.