A/N: Thank you for the reviews.

Trips

Friday night, Jess leaned over to Rory who was sleeping in the passenger seat, placing a soft kiss on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she blinked rapidly, twisting her neck.

"God, we need a car that's more comfortable to sleep in."

"You should have grabbed a pillow." He smiled, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "We're here."

"Are we late?"

"Not yet. Your mom's waiting for us."

Nodding and yawning one more time, Rory got out of the car, waiting for Jess to join her before walking to her mother, hugging her.

"Hey."

"Child! You're here!" Lorelai wrapped her arms around her daughter, smiling. She waved at Jess, mouthing 'Hi' and he nodded in response, watching the two women who were still hugging. "It's a girl!" Lorelai grinned again, making Rory nod before finally releasing her grip.

"I know!"

"Are you telling them…" Lorelai jerked her head in the direction of the house, rolling her eyes. "…tonight or waiting for a bit longer?"

"Why should we wait?"

"I don't know, my self-preservation instincts tell me it's always a good idea to not share information with my parents until you have to."

"So, what, you want me to wait until she's born?"

"I think you can drag it for a few more years after that. You'd have to be careful, of course, but nothing that can't be handled."

"You're insane and we need to go inside before we're late." Rory shook her head, laughing softly before heading for the front door. Turning around and looking at the two people standing behind her, sour expressions on their faces, she put on a fake, exaggerated smile. "Smile and pretend you're happy to be here."

"She's bossy." Lorelai laughed, looking at Jess.

"Hey, she's your daughter."

"Your wife."

"What does that…?"

"Quiet!" Rory interrupted him, ringing the doorbell. After a few seconds, a maid let them in and guided to the leaving room, taking their coats on her way out. Standing up, Emily gave Rory a quick hug.

"Hey, grandma!"

"Rory, you look lovely tonight. Positively glowing."

"Aw, thanks."

"Hello, Lorelai. Jess."

Nodding at her, the two tried to smile.

"Sit down, I'll get everyone drinks. Is Luke not joining us tonight?"

"The babysitter called in sick and he's home with Will. We'd have brought him with us, but lately he gets very fussy if he stays up past his bedtime and I didn't think everyone would enjoy dealing with a screaming toddler. Where's dad?" Lorelai looked at Emily as soon as she was sitting down in the chair.

"Work trip."

"Really? Didn't he say he was going to slow down?"

"Well, yes. But 'it's just one more trip, Emily, and then I'll stop. I need to go to this one; the people in our Chicago office are imbeciles!'." She mimicked her husband's voice, making a face.

"How many last trips does this make now?"

"Twelve."

"Shoot…and we have news to share." Rory pouted and Jess placed a quick kiss on her shoulder, making sure Emily wasn't watching. Handing them their drinks, the older woman grabbed the last glass before sitting down on the couch on front of them.

"You can tell me your news. I should at least hear them first if Richard decides to not keep his promises."

"Sounds fair to me!" Lorelai announced, nodding once while looking at her daughter.

"Ok." The young woman smiled, taking Jess' hand in hers before taking a deep breath. "So I'm going to start with the less exciting one in my opinion, even though it really is exciting and had it happened any other week, it would totally get top billing but…"

"Rory, you're rambling." Lorelai snickered, drinking from her martini.

"Well, I'm…"

"Excited, yeah, we got that." Jess smirked and Rory glared at him before looking back at her grandmother.

"I don't know how much Tammy's told you, but you know we found a house last week, right?"

"Yes."

"The inspector said everything's just fine and we put an offer in and the guys accepted it. We sign on Monday!"

"That is excellent news."

"I know." Rory smiled.

"Do you know when you move in yet?"

"Not really, but I'll let you know as soon as we find out. And we really want to have you and grandpa over as soon as we're settled in, if the drive isn't too long."

"We'd love to visit." Emily smiled politely.

"Ok, now for the really, really great news!" Rory exclaimed, biting her lip in excitement. "We had the doctor's appointment yesterday and everything with the baby is just fine. We also got new pictures and we found out its sex." She pointed at her stomach, grinning before starting to dig through her small purse again, looking for the latest set of ultrasound pictures. Pulling one of them out, she handed it to Emily. "This is your great-granddaughter."

Looking at the picture, the older woman smiled. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, grandma. You can keep that picture if you want, I made a million copies."

"Thank you." Emily looked up at them, trying to keep her composure. "It's amazing what technology can do these days."

"Yeah, the one sad, pathetic ultrasound I got with you looked like one of those pictures that you have to stare at for hours before you get to see it."

"Not that you did anything else." Emily smiled again before standing up. "I'm going to go check on dinner."

Later that night, walking into Lorelai's house, Rory grinned, seeing the pink balloons tied to the hallway table, trying to bite down happy tears.

"You got me balloons."

"I said I would." Wrapping her arm around her daughter's shoulders, Lorelai smiled. "This deserves celebrating."

"Mom…thank you. Thank you so much."

"No thanking me!" She shook her head, leading them towards the living room. "I'll go make some coffee, can I get you something?"

"Orange juice?"

"Coming right up."

Walking into the kitchen, Lorelai found a fresh pot of coffee in the machine, smiling to herself at her husband's gesture. Opening the door to Will's room, she peaked in, seeing the toddler fast asleep so she closed it again, grabbing her coffee and a glass of juice for Rory before going back to the living room and sitting on the couch next to her daughter.

"Ok, tell me everything!"

"Everything, what? There's nothing else."

"How did Jess react to the baby being a girl?"

"Jess is… being Jess. I don't think he's stopped smiling since we found out." Rory looked down at her glass, her teeth biting her lip again. "He's amazing."

Earlier that day.

Leaning in the doorway to their bedroom, a hand hidden behind his back, Jess looked at his wife, who was lying on the bed, reading.

"Hard at work?"

"Hey, I'm done packing. Even your stuff. I was just waiting for you to get home. And now that you have, we can go. Soon or we'll be late."

Hesitating slightly, Jess walked to the bed, sitting down on the edge, his hand still behind his back.

"What are you hiding? Oh, is it a book?"

"No." He shook his head before moving his hand, pulling out a stuffed giraffe wearing a red and black tutu. "I was going to meet this guy and I saw this in a shop window and…" Jess squirmed, grimacing. "It's slightly stupid but I kind of wanted to do something and…" He shrugged, not finishing this sentence either and Rory sat up, smiling as she placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"It's not stupid." Taking the toy from him, she hugged it to her chest, wiping her cheeks with the back of her other hand. "It's perfect."

"Think she'll like it?"

"I think she'll love it." She kissed him again, cupping his face in her hand. "She'll absolutely love it."

"Wait, so Jess walked all by himself into a toy shop?"

"Yes." Pulling out her phone, Rory showed her mother a picture of the toy, still beaming with joy.

"That is ridiculously adorable."

"He's totally going to be the favorite." She laughed, drinking from her glass. "Unless she hates him for the name."

"How's the middle name debate going?"

"Slowly. The list is stupidly long."

"Any favorites?"

"Not really. Since he picked the first name, I get to choose whatever I want, even though he has veto power if he absolutely hates it, but I can't make up my mind."

"What's on the list?"

"Everything from Audrey to Vivian."

"Need any help?"

"Not yet. There's more than enough time, and I still have Catherine as a last option in case I can't find anything else I love as much."

Suddenly moving from her place, Lorelai hugged Rory.

"What was that for?" Rory asked when her mother let go, a confused look on her face.

"You just…look so excited and in love and I'm so happy for you, kid, you have no idea."

"You're going to help, right? Because I don't stand a chance of being even half as incredible as you were without your help."

"Yes, you do. You are going to be an amazing mother to that child no matter what. Trust me, ok?" Lorelai tried to reassure her daughter, rubbing her arm. "But I am going to be here, helping you with everything you need."

"Promise?"

"Try and keep me away." Lorelai nodded, smiling. "You're going to have to get restraining orders against me to stop me from helping."

"Thanks."

"It's in the job description, I already told you!" Hugging Rory again, Lorelai smoothed her hair down before going back to her spot, taking the remote. "Movie time?"

"Yes. I'll call Al's."

"There's cake in the fridge."

"So?" Rory tilted her head to the side, pretending to be confused.

"Good point."

Saturday afternoon, Rory and Lorelai walked into the diner, finding Jess sitting at a table, reading and drinking coffee. Sitting down, Rory dropped the bags she was holding before giving him a quick kiss.

"We're back."

"How much crap did you buy?"

"Seriously, hoodlum? You're asking two women who were dropped with credit cards in shops filled with tiny dresses?"

Pulling out a small ruffly black dress with a safety pin drawn on it, Rory grinned, showing it to Jess. "How cute is this?" Smirking, the man shook his head.

"I see you've embraced the punk revolution when it comes to this kid's clothing."

"Well, she's your daughter." Rory stuck out her tongue. "There's a lot of pastel in there, I just figured you might like this one."

"It's cute." Jess nodded, kissing her quickly. Walking to their table, Luke dropped a couple of mugs on it, leaning down and kissing his wife.

"Good trip?"

Looking in one of her bags, Lorelai pulled out a blue t-shirt and showed it to him. "Look!"

"My parents are exhausted." Luke smiled, reading the inscription on the shirt. "You were the one worried that he'd never walk."

"Now we can't seem to catch him." She grinned at her husband again before putting the shirt back in the bag. "Most of the stuff is for their kid though, so don't worry."

"Will already has too many clothes."

"No such thing." Rory smiled, picking up another dress to show her husband. "See? Pastel."

"I like the first one better." He smirked, drinking from his coffee.

"By the way, the town knows. We ran into Miss Patty earlier and she caught me looking at dresses."

"Does this mean I don't have to go tell Liz? I'm sure someone's already informed her."

"Good try."

"Had to." He shrugged, chuckling before pointing at a menu. "Now or do you need lunch before?"

"We can go now, we've already had lunch with Lane. Can I just get some coffee and two donuts to go, please, Luke?"

"Because clearly you need food for the 5 minute walk." Jess smirked, standing up and kissing the top of her head. "I'll go drop all this upstairs and then we can go."

"I'll go get your food. Lorelai?"

"Same as her, I need to go by the inn."

"Ok."

A few minutes later, they walked in Liz's living room, following the woman. Looking away from the TV, Doula saw her brother and jumped from her place, wrapping her arms around Jess' legs, smiling up at him.

"I missed you!"

Smiling uncomfortable, Jess ruffled her hair, looking from Liz to Rory in the hopes that one of them would save him. Nodding slightly, Rory crouched down in front of the girl.

"Do I get a hug?"

Letting go of Jess, Doula threw her arms around Rory's neck, hugging her as hard as she could. "I have a new doll, wanna see?"

"A bit later, ok?"

"Ok." Letting go of Rory, Doula settled herself in front of the TV again, while everyone else tool their seats.

"Can I get you something to eat or drink?"

"Nope, we come prepared." Rory smiled, lifting her cup of decaf in the air. "We were just at the diner."

"We're just passing by." Jess added, squeezing Rory's free hand. "We kind of have news."

"Good news?"

"Yeah." Jess smiled. "Rory had her ultrasound this week. Everything's fine with the baby."

"Aw, honey, that's great."

"What baby?" Doula jumped from her place again, sitting down in an armchair next to her mother's.

"Doula, we've talked about interrupting grownups when they're talking before, haven't?"

"Uh-huh."

"And?"

"And I shouldn't!" She announced victoriously, making the three adults laugh. "Is this the baby that Miss Patty asks me at ballet?"

"Yeah, it probably is." Rory smiled.

"I've explained to you that Rory and Jess are having a baby, Doula."

"Did the doctor tell you if it's a boy or a girl? Because mom said you don't know and I told her that's stupid because everyone knows what their baby is and then she laughed and said they only know because the doctor tells them and your doctor hadn't told you yet and…"

"Ok, that's enough!" Liz cut her daughter off, laughing.

"It's fine, Liz." Rory replied calmly. "Yes, the doctor told us."

"And?" She hopped down from the chair, walking closer to them, an anxious look on her face.

"It's a girl." Jess ruffled his sister's hair, smiling. Bouncing up and down, the little girl looked from the two to her mother.

"Did you hear that, mommy?"

"Yes, I heard."

"I told you it's going to be a girl because girls are so much better than boys and boys suck." Looking back at Jess, she made a face. "You don't suck and neither does daddy or uncle Luke but all the other boys suck!"

"Well, that's comforting to know." Jess smirked.

"What about Kwan?" Rory winked at the girl, making her blush.

"I…uh…I'm going to go watch TV!" She announced, sitting back down in front of the television. Digging though her purse, Rory pulled out a picture, handing it to Liz. "This is from the latest set, you can keep it if you want to."

"Thank you." Looking at the picture, Liz smiled. "She's very pretty. Have you chosen a name yet?"

"Brett." Jess answered, looking at his wife who was resting her hands on her bump again. "She gets to pick the middle name."

"I think it suits her."

Standing up, Jess looked at his mother. "We should get going; I promised Luke I'd help out with the afternoon rush."

"It was really good seeing you guys." Liz stood up, hugging Jess quickly before moving to hug Rory as well. "I'm so happy for you two."

"Thank you."

Later that night, Jess and Rory were in the upstairs apartment after the small get-together at Lorelai's house was over. Seeing her fold yet another dress, he smirked, putting his book down.

"Is she going to wear anything other than dresses?"

"We got her a few onesies. Plus, you have to remember, this isn't even close to the piles of clothes I plan on gathering for her before she's born."

"How exciting." He deadpanned, shaking his head slightly. "What it with everyone telling us she's pretty when they see the ultrasound picture?" He started ranting, taking a deep breath. "It's fucking ridiculous. Sure, she looks human now, but that's about it. The damned thing looks like every other ultrasound picture ever!"

"How many ultrasound pictures have you seen?"

"Enough to know they all look the freaking same!"

"Fine." Rory rolled her eyes, putting the dress in one of the piles before grabbing another one. "What do you want them to say then? 'What a nice child you're going to have, she looks human'?"

"Preferable."

"Jess, even you said she looks pretty."

"Well, she's our daughter. I'm allowed to." He chuckled, looking at her. Biting her lip, she wiped her cheeks quickly and Jess stood up, rushing to her when she saw the tears.

"What's wrong?" He put his hands on her arms but she smiled, sniffling as her hand went to rub her bump.

"Nothing. You just…you said 'our daughter'. And she has a name and I've felt her move and it all just felt so…real for a second."

"It is real."

"I know. But most of the time I'm worried or planning something or just trying to get to the end of the day without running into too many things because I keep expanding and I don't think about the fact that it will end sooner rather than later and we'll have a baby."

"It's not that soon." He pulled her into a hug, kissing her temple when she rested her head on his shoulder.

"It doesn't matter. They were happy tears."

"I give up." Jess chuckled, pulling back and kissing her softly.

"Good choice. And if you think this is confusing, wait until she's a teenager."

"I'll be too old to care by then." He smiled, running his thumb down her cheek, trying to wipe away a smudge. "Need any help with the folding?"

"You hate folding clothes."

"It will help you be done faster." He cocked an eyebrow, glancing at the bed.

"Go sit down, I don't have much left." Rory snickered, pushing him away.

"As you wish." Placing one last kiss on her lips, Jess crashed back down on the bed, picking up his book again.