A/N: Thank you for the reviews, you're all great.

Peaches

Monday afternoon, Rory walked into the kitchen of their flat, finding Jess sitting at the table, his laptop in front of him. Leaning down, she wrapped her arms around him, kissing his cheek.

"Hey, future husband and father of my child. What are you doing?"

Smirking, he turned his head around and kissed her then waited for her to walk next to him and pulled her down so she was sitting on his lap. "Ror, I love you. I am very happy about this baby and if you wanted to, I would marry you tomorrow. But could you please stick to using my name?"

She giggled, kissing the corner of his mouth. "Nope."

"What have I gotten myself into?" He shook his head slowly and she laughed again.

"I don't know, but it's going to hurt." She kissed him softly and he smiled, hugging her closer to him.

"Just for the record, you're turning more into your mother with every passing day."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." She laughed and he shook his head, kissing her again.

"How was your day?"

"Called the doctor. Went back to the pharmacy and bought prenatal vitamins. Everyone at work sends their congratulations on the engagement. Had to work very hard not to blurt the other news yet."

"What did the doctor say?"

"That home tests are very accurate and she would normally schedule me for a visit in a couple of weeks but since this is the first time and she knows how first time mothers to be are, I could go have a blood test done if I wanted to, just to make sure."

"So what time tomorrow?" He chuckled and she made a face, then kissed the corner of his mouth.

"Lunch break."

"Leave me the address and I'll meet you there."

"Jess, you don't have to come. It's a blood test."

"I want to."

"God, I love you." She whispered, cupping his face in her hands and kissing him. When she pulled back, she turned around to look at the computer screen. "What were you doing when I came in?"

"Looking at ads for places to rent."

"Any luck?"

"Not really. Of course, considering that I have no idea what kind of place I'm looking for, that isn't entirely surprising."

"Just…something big enough for all of us?" Rory stood up, pointing towards the full pot of coffee in the coffee machine. "Decaf?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "And what exactly would be big enough for all of us? Because I'm starting to think we might need an office or something like that, just so we no longer have books all over the place."

"Definitely." She nodded, pouring herself a cup of coffee and sitting on the other chair. "Our bedroom is a book-laden death trap for a baby."

"Ok, maybe I wouldn't go that far…"

"Baby crawls, bumps into stack of books…"

"And books fall on him or her, it cries for a while, maybe gets a bruise. I highly doubt a book will kill the kid." Jess smirked, rubbing her knee under the table. "Unless it's your Compact Oxford English Dictionary. That could kill a grown man."

"My point is no more books on the floor until the kid is old enough to know better."

"I'm sorry, but considering you walk into them and knock one of the stacks over at least once a week, what exactly is old enough to know better? Is the kid going to live with us until it turns 30?"

She laughed softly, leaning over and kissing him. "Maybe. And that's why we might need a basement."

"So we're adding Willard to the list of potential baby names? And, for what it's worth, I would really prefer it if it wouldn't take 30 years to have you just to myself again." Jess smiled, squeezing her hand.

"Willard's not even born and you already want him out of the house?" She giggled, looking at him.

"No, I'm just saying it better have a life. Also, I know I started it, but there's no way we're giving the kid a dog's name."

"Willard is not a dog's name."

"I'm sorry, you're not seriously defending that name choice?"

"No, just saying it can be used for humans." She stood up, walking to the fridge. "Better than naming our potential son Bono." She opened the door to the fridge, then peaked her head from behind it, looking back at Jess. "What's with all the fruit?"

"You didn't think I was joking about making you eat healthy food?"

"Jess, baby steps. First we leave the salad on hamburgers. Then we go from ther…oh, peaches!" She exclaimed happily, grabbing one and closing the fridge door again.

"I'm sorry, could you say that again? I believe I just heard you get excited over peaches. I might have to get my hearing checked."

Rory washed the peach and sat back down on her chair, taking a bite out of it. "What?"

"And glasses. Definitely need glasses."

"I'm sorry, you did want me to eat fruit, right? That's why you bought it? Not because you think it might be good decoration for our fridge?"

"I was kind of thinking I will have to wear you down. Maybe after two weeks of getting tired of pushing the healthy stuff out of the way to reach the Chinese leftovers, you'd give it a try."

Biting down on the peach again, she smiled, crossing one leg under her on the chair. "This is so good. Why did we never have peaches in the house before?"

"Because they would have rotted before you even went near them? And I'm pretty sure you can cancel that blood test now."

"You know, it's not nice to mock the woman that's pregnant with your child."

"Ever think that maybe I'm not a nice guy?" He smirked, rubbing her knee again.

"Most of the time." She smiled back at him, leaning in a kissing him. "But I love you anyway."

"Good to know."

Rory stood up, throwing the pit in the trash and then leaned in and kissing his cheek, as he wrapped one arm around her. "I'm going to go and sleep for a bit. Join me?"

"And apartment hunting?" Jess pointed to the computer screen and she shook her head.

"It can wait." She straightened up and took his hand, while he turned off his computer and they both walked to the bedroom.

The next day, at the doctor's office, Rory was sitting in a chair in the waiting room, waiting to be called in. After a few minutes, Jess walked in, holding a cup of coffee in his hand. Spotting her, he sat down in the chair next to hers, leaning over and placing a small kiss on her lips.

"Sorry I'm late, traffic was insane." He handed her the cup, smiling. "Here you go. Decaf."

"Thanks. They're running a bit behind." She smiled, taking the cup from him and then taking his hand in hers, squeezing it tightly.

"What's wrong?" Jess leaned over and whispered in her ear, lifting their hands and kissing her fingers softly.

"Nothing…I'm just…worried it won't actually be real. That we'll get a phone call in a few days saying it was all a mistake. It's stupid." She tried to brush it off and he let go of her hand, wrapping his arm around her instead and kissing her temple.

"It's not stupid." He rubbed her arm and she rested her head on his shoulder. "But it will be ok."

"I really want this baby."

"I know." He kissed the top of her head, trying to find the right words but before he could say anything, a nurse walked up to them.

"Miss Gilmore? Laura will see you now."

"Thanks." She stood up and Jess followed, taking her hand and squeezing it reassuringly.

"It will be ok, I promise."

Turning around to look at him, Rory smiled and brushed her thumb over his hand, then they both walked inside the office, where a middle aged woman wearing a white coat greeted them at the door, smiling warmly.

"Good to see you again, Rory."

"Good to see you too."

"Go on, sit down." The woman pointed to two chairs, then sat down as well on the other side of a desk. "He's the dad?" She pointed at Jess and he smirked.

"Nope, I just tag along to doctor appointments. I have weird hobbies."

Laughing softly, the woman looked at Rory. "I like him."

"He's not all that bad." She smiled, squeezing his hand.

"Ok, let's deal with this first. How many tests did you take?"

"Three." She answered and Jess shook his head, trying not to laugh.

"As Debra told you on the phone, home tests are really accurate so don't worry about that. You're definitely pregnant, ok?"

"Just want to make sure."

"I know. Before we get on with the blood test, do you have any questions?"

"Can I drink coffee?"

"There are about a million studies about it and they all contradict each other, because that's what we doctors do. But if you stick to something around a cup a day, it's fine. Just don't go too overboard with it."

"Ok. Thanks."

Pointing to the paper cup in Rory's hand, the doctor smiled. "Decaf?"

"I'm paranoid."

"I prefer you this way. Other than the coffee thing, no drinking or smoking, obviously, because while some coffee won't harm the baby, a bottle of gin a night will."

"But vodka's fine, right?" Jess deadpanned, making the two women laugh.

"Yeah, sure, why would that be a problem?" The older woman smiled at him. "Stay away from all alcohol, eat as many vegetables and fruit as you can, but, if you do get morning sickness and the only thing you can eat are biscuits or chicken wings or whatever, don't feel guilty over it. The goal is to have both mom and baby happy and fed, ok?"

"Ok." Rory nodded.

"Other than that, if you have any pain, cramping or bleeding, call me and go to an emergency room immediately."

"Yes."

"You'll make sure of that?" She looked at Jess and he nodded.

"Definitely."

"Good." Drinking from her own cup that was on the table, she smiled again. "So, what do you want it to be? Boy or girl?"

"Boy. I think."

"And you?"

"Girl. Just so Rory has something to fight with me over." Jess looked at his fiancée, who smiled back at him. "And because if I say I don't care, she'll kick me to the couch again."

The older woman laughed again, looking at them. "You should come to all the appointments. You're way funnier than most of the future dads I see. When I see them."

"Don't tell him he's funny! He might believe it." Rory smiled playfully at both of them.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I actually caught your name…?"

"Jess." He shook the other woman's hand.

"Laura. Or Dr. Jones, if you feel like being formal, not that anyone is around here or that you won't get people looking at you like you're mad if you call me that."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"So, any other questions or can we get going with the blood test?"

"Nope, I think we're fine." Rory nodded.

"If you think of anything else, call me. There's always someone here to answer questions." Picking up her phone, she pushed one of the buttons. "Debra, can you send Jane in to take some blood?" After a short pause, she nodded. "Thanks." Looking back at Rory and Jess, she smiled again. "She'll be here in a minute."

"Thank you."

"No problem. So, how excited is everyone over this baby?"

"Baby books, list making, have to move now excited." Jess smirked. "Which in her world, is about a 50 on a 1 to 10 scale of excitement."

"Don't suppose there's a pill that will make him stop mocking me, is there?"

"Just make a list of all the comments he makes, then mysteriously start craving something crazy in the middle of the night so he has to go get it for every single one of them. That's what I did."

"How's Tommy?"

"Started kindergarten a couple of months ago. There's nothing like a kid to make you realize how old you actually are."

After a short knock on the door, another woman walked in and smiled at everyone, then walked to Rory. "Can you just hop on the table for me for a second?"

"Sure." Rory stood up and Jess walked with her, holding her other hand while the nurse drew the blood. Once she was done, she smiled again and walked out of the room.

"Needles suck."

"Oh, I agree." Laura let out a small chuckle. "So, we should have the results of that in a couple of days and I'll give you a call. Other than that, I can schedule you for an ultrasound in…3 weeks? Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so you can share pictures with everyone over dinner?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Can we make it for lunch again?"

"Sure." The woman wrote down the date quickly in her notebook. "Just remember to tell Debra on your way out, so she can do the official scheduling."

"Ok. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome."

Rory and Jess stood up, and the other woman followed. Smiling, she shook Rory's hand. "Congratulations."

"Thank you."

Shaking Jess' hand as well, she looked at him. "It was nice meeting you. And congratulations to you too."

"Thanks. Nice meeting you too."

"I'll see you in a few weeks, then."

"Yes, you will." Rory nodded, picking up her cup of coffee from the table and they both walked to the door. "Thank you again."

"My pleasure. Babies are fun." Laura smiled as they walked out, waving. After Rory signed up for her next appointment, they both walked out and Rory hugged Jess, smiling happily.

"Thank you for being there."

"I wanted to be there. And she seems nice."

"She's awesome. And…she said that it's real."

"I heard." Jess smiled, putting his hand on the small of her back and pulling her closer to him. "Feeling better about this now?"

"Yes. Of course, I can offer no guaranties that I won't be worried again in three hours."

Pulling back a bit, Jess kissed her, cupping her face in his other hand. "Just call me if that happens and I'll remind you of what the doctor said."

"I will." She kissed him one more time before letting go of him. "I have to get back to work."

"Ok." Placing a small kiss on her lips, he opened his messenger bag and pulled a couple of smaller bags out of it. "I kind of figured that you won't have time for lunch so here you go. I stopped for food before I came here." He handed her the bags. "A couple of sandwiches and some peaches, just in case that's still sticking."

"Jess…" She whispered, crushing her mouth to his. "You're amazing."

"Leave the tomatoes on this time, will you?"

"I will." Rory smiled and he kissed her softly. "I have to go if I don't want to be late."

"Ok. I love you." Jess reminded her and she dropped the bags in her purse, then squeezed his hand in hers, smiling again.

"Love you too."