A/N: I think this is now my favourite chapter. I hope you guys like it as much as I loved writing it. Also, I probably should have done this before but here goes. Disclaimer: I've never been pregnant and research can only take me so far. I'm sorry if I get something wrong. Thank you for the reviews.

Story time, movie time

Monday afternoon, Jess walked into their apartment, finding her sitting cross-legged on the couch, a book in her hands, reading out loud. Leaning in the doorway that separated the small hallway from the room, he smirked, crossing his arms against his chest.

"What are you doing?"

"Baby's starting to grow ears this week. I'm reading to it." She announced, grinning and he shook his head.

"Seriously?"

"I know she can't hear it, but let me be crazy pregnant lady. I've already missed celebrating her growing an appendix. I need to catch up."

"Oh, we didn't celebrate our kid growing a completely useless organ? We're awful parents, really." He finally chuckled, walking to her and sitting down on the couch.

"Do not be mean to baby."

"Embryo." Jess corrected her and she smiled, tilting her head to the side.

"Future baby?"

"I'll give you that one." He leaned over, kissing her, taking the book away from her in the same move, then looked at its title. "Rand? You're already corrupting our kid with this?"

"Hey, someone has to be on my side."

Putting his hand on her stomach and caressing her skin softly with his thumb, he smirked. "No longer earless embryo, I'm sorry this had to be your first introduction to literature. I can assure you that it's not all this boring." Looking back up at Rory, he smirked, kissing her again. "Now it will never want to read a book of fear that it's all this dragged on and rambling."

"Are you trying to get kicked to the couch tonight or is it just your charm working again?"

"You can't sleep without me."

"True." She nodded, kissing him. "Today was better. I only threw up twice."

"Well, good job?" Jess asked, letting out a small chuckle. "I don't know what to say to that one."

"Good job works, I think. I don't know, just thought I'd let you know. I'm not getting too excited, though, I'm sure it was just a fluke."

"Don't jinx it, maybe it wasn't." He ran his hand over her hair, smoothing it down and smiling.

"Mom wants to know if Matt is sure he doesn't want to bring Jane to Thanksgiving." She changed the subject after kissing him again.

"You honestly think that poor girl has to meet the crazy town at once? She hasn't even met you yet, or me in a non-Truncheon capacity. Let him have his fun before she runs away screaming. I think he said she's going away, in any case."

"She asked me, I'm just relaying the message."

"Are you sure you're up for this? We can always skip it." Jess tried not to sound too excited at the prospect of missing a family get-together, but she shook her head.

"I'll be ok. But I appreciate your completely selfish concern."

"Hey, we had to stop a million times yesterday so you could throw up. It's like living with someone with a constant hangover." He smirked, kissing her cheek.

"Yes, because living with a constant hangover is so much better. Really, Jess, I'm loving it. It's like McDonald's, only without the Happy Meals and the kiddie slide. No wait, the freaking kiddie gets to slide out of me. And I am using the word slide freely."

"I'm sorry." Jess sighed, suddenly serious and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head. "I was trying to make you laugh, not make you feel worse."

"I know." She mumbled, not looking up. "I'm just crabby again for no freaking reason. Pregnancy is fun."

Kissing the top of her head again, he pulled back, smiling. "I have nothing that will make you feel better."

"Bring up tomorrow, that will help." Rory grinned back at him then placed a quick kiss on his lips.

"You get to see our ear-growing, already owner of an appendix embryo tomorrow." He chuckled again and she shook her head, snickering.

"And toes! It's getting toes this week!"

"Well, how adorable. Toes." He tried not to laugh. Picking up her book again, Jess handed it to her before standing up and kissing the top of her head. "Go back to ruining our child, I'll go make dinner."

"Today's list is on the fridge."

"Convenient. How nice of you."

"Figured you need some guidance if you don't want me to see said dinner again under less than pleasant circumstances. And please close the door this time."

"Oh, yeah. Learned that one yesterday."

"Who knew boiling water had a smell?" She grinned before opening the book to the page she was on and starting to out loud read again as he headed to the kitchen.

Later that night, they were both lying in bed, her back turned to him as he read. Jess put his book down, his hand rubbing her back gently.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Not tired, I guess."

"You expect me to buy that? Lately you're out by 10 on a school night."

"It's stupid." She admitted, turning around to look at him.

"But it's still keeping you awake."

"I'm scared." She bit her lip and he slid further down the bed to see her better.

"Of?"

"God, I don't even know where to start."

"I don't care."

"I'm scared the doctor will find something wrong with the baby tomorrow."

"That's not stupid." Jess shook his head slowly, his hand taking hers. "But we can't control it. This is a cross fingers and hope for the best thing and you know it."

"That doesn't mean I'm any less scared. I don't know what I'd do."

"We'd get over it. Together."

"Promise? You'll still love me even if something is wrong with the baby?"

"Ror, those two are so unconnected…what, you think I've been with you all this time because I knew someday you were going to get pregnant?"

"No, but if something is wrong, it will be because of me."

"No, it wouldn't be." Leaning in, he crushed his mouth to hers, trying to make her feel better. "You've been crazy obsessive about this. If something is wrong, then that's how it is. You have nothing to do with it. And God, I would still love you. Trust me."

"Thank you." She smiled back at him, her fingers running through his hair.

"Nope. Not for this one. Anything else keeping you awake?"

Biting her lip, Rory looked away from him, not knowing how to say what she wanted to say.

"Go on, it can't be that bad."

"I'm just...if I tell you this, you have to promise first that you won't take it the wrong way or think any less of me. Or hate me. "

"What's so bad that requires a million promises from me? Have you been sleeping around?" He smirked, his thumb tracing her bottom lip, hoping to make her smile.

"No. This is different."

"What is it?"

"I'm scared I won't love this baby like I'm supposed to. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about it, but I want to love it and I don't think I do yet and I am so scared that will never happen and I'll end up being this awful mother and ruin his or her life."

"Come here." He motioned for her to move closer and she cuddled up to him, her head resting on his chest while he wrapped both his arms around her, holding her as close to him as he could. Placing a small kiss on the top of her head, he rubbed her arm, sighing. "You're insane."

"I'm not. I don't know how this works and when it should start and I'm afraid to ask mom or Lane because what if they loved their kids from the first moment they found out about them and I'm just horrible and will never really love my own child?"

"Story time." Jess announced after a few seconds of silence and she looked up, confused.

"What?"

"I'm going to tell you a story. If it doesn't make you feel better, maybe it will make you sleep. Win, win really."

"Jess, I'm serious."

"So am I." He smiled, placing a quick kiss on her lips before she moved back. Pulling the blanket up to cover her, he took a deep breath. "Once upon a time, and I'm only starting with that because that's how every story starts but this once upon a time is more like a few months ago, this random guy lived in his random apartment in his random city with his princess."

"Why does she get to be a princess and he has to be a random guy? I don't like that."

"Quiet, this is my story. I get to make the rules. Anyway, one day, our random guy walks into his random apartment only to find the princess packing her bag even though it was going to be their weekend, when he was going to do nothing but lounge in bed, preferably with said princess. Slightly annoyed, he walked to her, trying to figure out what was going on and she smiled the biggest, goofiest, happiest smile he'd ever seen and announced that her baby brother had smiled for the first time and she was going to be damned if she was going to miss that so she was going to her mother's house for the weekend and random guy had a choice if he wanted to come or not, but her baby brother had smiled, did she mention that enough times and she had to see that. Now you really think that this absolutely incredible princess who can love her brother so much that she can't wait a week to see that really won't love her own baby? Because, if you do, you are absolutely crazy. And I have about a million more stories about how amazing and kind she actually is and what an absolutely incredible capacity to love she has to prove your madness."

When she didn't say anything for a few minutes, he rubbed her arm again, kissing her head.

"I didn't think you'd actually fall asleep."

"I didn't." She shook her head slowly, her voice quivering and he moved away looking at her only to find tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Ok, see, crying was also not what I was hoping for."

Suddenly, she shot from her place, kissing him until they were both out of breath. Pulling back, she cupped his face in her hand, placing quick kisses on his lips, making him smirk.

"That's more what I wanted."

"I love you so much, Jess." She whispered against his mouth, trying to stop crying. "And you are…God, I don't even have the words. But I am the luckiest person the world to have you, I hope you know I know that."

"You see, I think you should try harder. Tell me what makes me so amazing." He smirked, wiping her cheeks. "Or at least stop crying."

"I'm saving my 'why you're the most amazing man in the world' list for my vows." Rory smiled, kissing him again. "I love you."

"Yeah, you keep saying. I know I'm slow sometimes, but I got the point."

"You can't say stuff like that to your pregnant fiancée and then expect her not to cry and tell you over and over again how much she loves you. Your story would have me all blubbery on a normal day. Add hormones to this? I don't think I'll ever stop crying." She laughed, crushing her mouth to his and he cupped her face in his hand, wiping her cheek with his thumb.

"Not even if I ask you nicely?" He whispered when she pulled back, smirking again. "I hate seeing you cry."

"I'll try." Wiping her cheeks again, she took a deep breath, looking at him, smiling. "You are incredible."

"Thank you for noticing." Jess chuckled, lying on his back again and she moved to her previous position, the grin never leaving her lips. "Feeling less insane now?"

"I am just…massively in love with you right now." She nodded, kissing his chest. "And happy."

"Then go to sleep. You can show your appreciation in the morning. Start my fan club."

"I just might." Lifting her head again, she kissed him. "Thank you. For always making everything better."

"Sleep. Or you'll be too freaking tired tomorrow to enjoy seeing this baby for the first time." Smiling, he kissed her again before she moved back to her previous position.

"I love you." She whispered again, trying to move away from him but he stopped her.

"Good night, Ror." Kissing the top of her head, he picked up his book with one hand, the other one still holding her to him.

The next day, Jess walked into the waiting room of the doctor's office, sitting down in the chair next to Rory's. Leaning over and kissing her, he smiled.

"Matt said thank you for the offer to have Jane over, but she's going home to see her parents. He'll see you Thursday morning and wants to see pictures from today."

"Oh, yeah, can't wait to share photos on my uterus with the entire world."

"You should have just made a sex tape. Far more fun than this."

"You're disgusting." She made a face. "Watch what you're saying before I throw up on your shoes."

"Bad again?"

"Told you yesterday was a fluke."

"Sorry." He wrapped his arm around her, kissing her shoulder. "How much do you hate me right now?"

"What scale am I using here?"

"Your usual 'I got you pregnant, I must die' scale." He smirked again and Rory smiled, kissing him.

"I don't hate you. I still love you."

"Good to know. Slave boy gets some love."

"After last night, you get anything you want." Before Jess could answer, the young woman sitting behind the reception desk motioned to the door.

"Laura can see you now."

"Thanks." Standing up, Rory walked to the door, with Jess following closely behind.

"Hey, it's nice to see you guys again." Laura smiled, standing up and Rory smiled back at her.

"You too."

"Hello." Jess greeted, slightly uncomfortable.

"How's it going?"

"Morning sickness. Fun."

"I'm sorry." Rubbing her arm sympathetically, Laura looked at Jess. "Are you nice to her?"

"He is." Rory confirmed before he had a chance to reply. "He's amazing."

"Well, that's good. Ok, before we can get to the fun part of seeing this baby, there are talks to be had, questions to be asked and stuff to be done. So would you mind waiting outside, Jess? I'll have Debra call you when it's time for the movies."

"Sure." He nodded, his hand brushing Rory's back quickly before he walked out of the room again, leaving them alone. Almost half an hour later, the woman motioned for the door again and he knocked, walking in after Laura's voice confirmed it was ok for him to do so. Pointing to a chair next to the table Rory was laying on, she smiled.

"Excited?" She looked at the two of them and Rory nodded as her hand went on to hold Jess', squeezing it tightly.

"This is the only thing she's been talking about for the past 24 hours."

"Hey, it's normal to be excited. Laura, tell him it's normal."

"No need, I know my lesson. Be nice and agree to everything you say." Jess smirked, making Laura laugh.

"You're good. Give my husband lessons just in case we decide to have another one, will you?"

"I'm offering classes Monday through Friday nights for a modest fee of 500 dollars an hour. Someone's got to support this kid. I hear they're expensive."

Looking at him, Rory smiled and he squeezed her hand again as Laura turned on the screen to the ultrasound machine, flicking the plastic wand over Rory's abdomen, trying to find what she was looking for.

"Give me a minute here, guys, this baby's hiding from us."

"There is actually a baby, right? There's no chance this was just a massive false alarm?"

"Rory, what did I tell you last time?" Laura asked, her eyes not leaving the screen. "There's a baby, the only problem is that it's less than an inch right now. Not exactly easy…" She paused, a smile appearing on her face. "Right on cue here, kid. Rory, Jess, meet your baby." She pointed to a gray shape on the screen, smiling. "Everything looks fine." Looking back at Rory, who was biting her lip, trying very hard not to cry, she smiled again. "How do you feel?"

"I'm just…that's our baby." She squeezed Jess' hand even harder as a couple of happy tears ran down her face and Jess looked at her, kissing her temple quickly as he wiped her cheek with his other hand.

"You ok?" He whispered and she nodded, her teeth going back to chewing on her lip.

"I never thought something so small and fuzzy could be so beautiful." She smiled, making him smile as well.

"Kind of looks like alien pods to me." He smirked after a few seconds, making the two women laugh.

"Not the first time I've heard that one." Laura nodded, trying not to burst out laughing again.

"Damn it, I was aiming for originality points here." He chuckled, looking back at his fiancée. "Ror, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing is wrong, trust me." She shook her head, a huge grin spreading on her face. "But I am telling the kid about that one after it's born, just so you know."

"I need to move this away for a second, just to make sure there's only one baby around, ok? Don't worry, we're going back and getting you pictures." Laura motioned to the screen.

"Yeah." Rory nodded, her smile fading slightly when the image changed. Kissing her temple again when Laura wasn't looking, Jess smiled. Moving the plastic wand back to the baby, Laura nodded.

"Just one it and all looks fine. Let me just grab a few images for you to keep." A few minutes later, after pressing a few buttons, she nodded, smiling. "Done."

"Aw, damn it." Rory snickered as soon as the screen went black.

"Sorry." Laura smiled, starting to put stuff away. "Go get changed and I'll get the pictures ready to go."

"I'll be outside, ok?" Jess smiled, kissing Rory's temple again and she nodded. A few minutes later, she walked out of the office, holding an envelope in her hand. After talking to the receptionist, she walked to Jess, wrapping her arm around him as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You happy?" He kissed the top of her head, wrapping his arm around her as well as they headed for the door.

"Yeah." She nodded, looking up at him and kissing him as they walked outside, the smile back on her lips.

"Good. Go on, I'll drive you back to work so you can spend the next ten minutes staring at those pictures."

Pulling the pictures out and grinning, she looked at him. "What do you think?"

"I don't know, it looks more like the mailman than me." He chuckled, looking at the vaguely human shape.

"That's because it's not yours, silly." Rory shook her head, laughing as they reached the car and he backed her up against the door, his arms on either side of her, not letting her move and kissed her.

"So you have been sleeping around."

"Didn't I tell you? Must have slipped my mind."

"Lucky I like you enough to stick around."

"Very lucky." Rory smiled again, kissing him, then lifted one of the pictures again. "Our baby."

"It's cute." He admitted, smiling softly.

"It's perfect."

"It's official, there's no turning back now." Cupping her face in his hand, he kissed her, pulling her close to him. "I love you."

"I love you too." She whispered back, kissing him again.

"Get in the car before you're late for work." He smirked, kissing her one more time and she nodded, opening the car door. After a few minutes of driving in silence, Jess turned around and looked at her, smiling when he saw she was still looking at the pictures.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah." Rory nodded, looking at him. "Last night…I was crazy."

"Of course you were if you think I'll be ok with you reading Rand to the kid after it actually starts being able to hear you."

"That's not…"

"I know." He cut her off, running his hand over her leg, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Thank you."

"Anytime."