A/N: Flashback-y chapter for your enjoyment. Hopefully, anyway. Thank you for the reviews, you're all so very awesome.

Packing, take 1!

Saturday morning, Jess walked into the kitchen, finding Rory chewing on a Pop-Tart, an almost empty cup of coffee next to her. Putting her book down, she smiled at him, standing up and giving him a quick kiss.

"Coffee?"

"You're awake." He grumbled, making a face. "Why are you awake?"

"I wanted to start packing."

"Come back to bed." Starting to trace kisses down her jaw, he smiled, sensing her resolution starting to falter. Pulling back suddenly, she shook her head.

"Can't. Need to pack. You can go back to sleep if you want." She kissed the corner of his mouth quickly before going to the coffee machine.

"I said bed, not sleep." Jess smirked again, walking to her and putting his arms on either side of her, kissing her again. "We'll pack later."

"Jess, I was too tired to do anything last night. Now, while you know well enough I wouldn't refuse your offer on a normal day, I really want to get this done as soon as possible."

"But it's a Saturday. We won't get to stay in bed as long as we want for much longer." He ran his thumb over her stomach, smiling. Rolling her eyes and smiling, she tangled her fingers through his.

"I suppose a couple of hours..."

"Good call." He smirked, placing another kiss on her lips.

"You're a bad influence."

Later that afternoon, Rory walked up to her husband, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing the back of his neck.

"Let me help."

"You're helping. You're putting boxes together." He smirked, turning around to look at her, a couple of books in each hand.

"Jess, I've made so many boxes we could pack the entire state if we wanted to. Let me help." She asked again, rolling her eyes.

"I don't have much left really." He shook his head again.

"How about I go pack our summer clothes? It's not like I can hurt myself with clothes."

"Most of the t-shirts are on the top shelf. The dresser's old. It could fall and hurt you." He kissed her cheek, making her grumble. "You managed to make things fall while putting away books, humor me on this."

"But Jess..."

"I know I'm being insane. I am fully aware of that. But it's just…" He hesitated, shrugging and Rory nodded.

"I'll go label and tape the boxes you finished." She smiled, kissing him quickly before heading to the pile of boxes.

"Thanks." Jess smiled before dropping the books in another box. A few minutes later, Rory put down the black marker she had been using, looking back at him.

"Remember when we moved in here?"

"You're going to get all sentimental now? I thought I had one more week before that happened." He smirked, still packing the books.

"Just…thinking."

A few years before.

Picking up the phone, she waited for Jess to answer, tapping her foot impatiently.

"'Ello." He grumbled, his voice tired and coarse.

"I woke you up. Shoot." Realizing, Rory smiled apologetically even though he couldn't see her. "I didn't mean to."

"We went drinking last night. What time is it?"

"Your time? 11."

"Shit." He cursed, sitting up in bed. "I don't think Truncheon's going to be open for business today."

"Must be nice to be able to do that." She smiled, remembering why she had called him. "Oh, I have news!"

"Can it wait for coffee? I'd appreciate them much more if the pounding in my head stopped."

"Aw, you poor thing."

"Drinking bad, okay?" He smirked, standing up and going to the kitchen, turning on the coffee machine.

"Drinking very bad. How's the coffee going?" She asked anxiously.

"Getting there. Tell me." He smiled, knowing she didn't want to wait.

"But you're…"

"Ror?"

"I have an interview!" She grinned, biting her lip. "I know it's kind of jumping the gun scheduling interviews already when I'm not even done with this job yet but I really want to do this!"

"What's the job?" He poured coffee in a mug, taking a sip before spitting it back as the too hot liquid burned his mouth. "In the future, remind me…"

"To let the coffee cool down before you drink it?"

"Yes."

"And maybe drink water before going to sleep." She smiled.

"That too. Ok, you were telling me about your interview."

"Oh, yeah, I was just getting to the best part. Guess what paper it's for!"

"From your excitement, can I assume it's somewhere close to Philly?"

"It's better than close. It's for the Inquirer." Rory smiled taking a deep breath. "As in the one in Philadelphia!"

"That's…" He hesitated, not knowing what to say.

"That's not good?" Rory bit her lip, trying to not get too disappointed.

"No, Ror, that's good. That's…really good." Jess smiled, drinking from his coffee.

"You sure? You're not just saying that…?"

"I'm sure. It just took me a while to process. Slow moving brain today." He nodded, still smiling. "When is it?"

"Phone interview next week and then, if that goes well, a real one in three weeks after this job's done."

"Congrats."

"God, I can't believe I'm three weeks away from this being over. And that I could possibly be moving closer to you. It's like I've been doing this forever and I really want to be done so I can just…sleep on the same pillow for more than a week at a time."

"Not closer, with me." He shrugged, waiting for her reaction.

"What…?" She asked, breathless.

"If we're going to be in the same city, I want to live with you. It's stupid to have two separate places."

"But…you're…and…me…and…"

"I'm sorry, you have nothing to say? Really?" He accentuated the word 'you', smirking. "This is a first."

"Jess, this is…"

"We don't have to."

"No, I want to." She nodded, smiling again. "I really, really want to."

"You sure?"

"Hey, now that I've recovered from you springing it on me…yes." She nodded again. "I love you."

"I love you." Rory stood up again, walking to Jess and placing a kiss on his shoulder. "We have a lot of good memories of this place."

"Yeah, I have a few particularly good ones of that couch." He cocked an eyebrow and she slapped his arm, laughing.

"Well, better commit them to memory because there won't be any of that after the baby comes."

"I'm sure we can get away with some fun while she's still immobile." He smirked, kissing her.

Rubbing her bump, Rory looked down at it. "Cover your ears, Brett, your parents are being all disgusting again."

"We'll be paying for her therapy anyway, what's one more thing added to the list?"

"Poor kid, you don't stand a chance." Kissing him again, she smiled, running her fingers through his hair. "I'll miss all this."

"Please focus on the fact that you get to fix her room after we move, I don't want you to start crying again."

"I'm a girl, I'm allowed to be sentimental." Pressing one more kiss to his lips, she went back to her boxes. "How are you going to deal when there's two of us?"

"Hiding comes to mind."

"She's protesting your plans. You may be forced to watch Terms of Endearment countless times with us." Rory pointed at her bulging stomach, grinning.

"Kicking you again?"

"Like crazy."

"Ok, amuse yourself with that then while I finish packing the books."

"You're perfect."

"Five minutes ago I was overprotective and crazy."

"You're a man of many skills. You can be all those things at the same time." She grinned, picking up the roll of duct tape from the floor. "Whatever happened to cheese wheel guy?"

"He's somewhere in Iowa, painting wheat."

"You're kidding me."

"He sends us updates from time to time, promising to show his paintings at Truncheon next time he's in the state."

"I think I may have found us a place." Jess announced one evening, walking in his bedroom, where they had been living for the three months since Rory's campaign job had ended.

"Don't tease, I don't think I can take it." She smiled, looking up from her book.

"No, this sounds good. One of the painters is moving west and is looking for someone to take over his apartment. I've been there a couple of times, it's good. We can go see it tomorrow if we want to."

"How good is good?"

"One bedroom, great living room, windows, shelves…" Shrugging, he threw himself on the bed next to her and kissed her knee. "It's worth a look."

"Ok. What time?"

"Whenever, I'll give him a call."

"Thank you." She slid down the bed, kissing him. "Is he any good?"

"Who?"

"The painter."

"Does it make a difference?"

"I'm curious."

"He's the guy with the cheese wheels."

"Aw, he's moving? Mom loves his stuff."

"Like anyone needed more proof that your mother's insane." He chuckled, cupping her face in his hand and kissing her.

"He was a nice guy." Rory nodded, pocking her bump. "Your dad gets to meet really fun people."

"You mean insane. Brett's not going near Truncheon when the lunatics are there."

"Aw, but I want her to know Matthew." She grinned, laughing.

"He'll be the one exception." Putting the last books in a box, he walked to her, sitting down on the floor as well. "Books done. I've left room in that box for the ones in the bedroom, so we have enough to read this week but they'll still go somewhere. What next?"

"Summer clothes, I think. We have to leave the kitchen stuff for Friday or so."

"We can pack it now and live on take-away for the next week."

"Sounds good." She leaned closer, kissing him. "On one condition."

"Which I'm not going to like, am I?"

"Let me at least help wrap stuff. You can get everything out, I'll wrap it and put it in boxes. I promise I won't lift anything heavier than a plate. I'm feeling useless."

"Nothing heavier than a plate." He nodded, kissing her forehead.

"Finally!"

"Your mother can't humor me for even 10 minutes." Jess leaned down, kissing her bump.

"Hey, I'll have you know I've been good for an hour!" She tried to protest, still smiling. "I won't move boxes, I won't lift anything heavy. Promise."

"Thank you."

"You know that I love you even more for being insanely protective of us, right?" Rory rubbed her bump, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "It drives me crazy, but I like it."

"Don't say that, I'll never stop."

"Jess, I know my limits. I won't do anything to hurt myself or her."

"I know."

"Then?"

"I'll only tell you if you promise you won't mock me for this." He smirked, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Promise."

"I really should know better than this by now." He chuckled, kissing her forehead again while his hand cupped her face. "It's the only thing I can do."

"What?"

"It's not like you need me for much around here when it comes to the baby. Sure, I'd be useful for midnight store runs, in case that ever happened, but that's about it. And I'm fully aware that it's completely stupid, but at least this way I feel like I'm keeping you two safe. I know you can pack stuff and you wouldn't do anything to risk getting hurt, but I need to do something."

"I can send you to the store in the middle of the night." Rory smiled, cupping his face in both her hands and placing quick kisses on his cheeks and mouth, making him laugh again.

"I'm surprisingly good without that."

"I love you, Jess."

"I know, that's why you married me."

"And for your awesome sense of humor and ability to ruin moments." She snickered, pressing a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. "I don't have to pack if it will make you feel better."

"Do whatever makes you happy."

"You can get everything out, I'll wrap and pack. Deal?"

"Deal." He smirked, standing up and extending his hands, helping her up. "Kitchen or clothes?"

"Kitchen. It's the perfect excuse to justify my craving for Thai food."

Walking into the kitchen, Jess grabbed a couple of empty boxes on the way, dropping them on the counter. As he started to pull out the plates and put them on the counter, Rory wrapped her arms around him, kissing the back of his neck.

"I need you around here. We both do. Even though you don't think so, we do…trust me."

Squeezing her hand, he smiled before she let go, starting to wrap a plate.

"How is it that we barely own three plates and one bowl between the two of us?" Rory smiled, taking his hand as they walked through the store.

"Oh, please, I'm surprised you own any plates, giving you habit of living on take-away alone."

"Of course I do. I needed something to put food on to microwave it all at once." She grinned, kissing his cheek.

"Why are we looking at plates when we don't even have a place yet?"

"Because your painter couldn't show us around since he was inspired and asked us to come back in two hours."

"We could go for coffee. There's a coffee shop not far from here."

"No." Rory shook her head.

"Did you just refuse coffee? You dying or something?"

"No, but I don't want to find some great coffee place and get my hopes high and then not be able to go there every day if we hate the apartment."

"I told you it's a nice place."

"You'd say that about any place where we'd be able to live alone."

"Can you blame me? Chris had very unfortunate timing last night."

Blushing, she glared at him. "Nothing was going to happen."

"Considering where your hands were heading, I highly doubt it. Or, you know, what happened the second we were in my room."

"Keep that up and you're never getting any again."

"I need to marry you before that happens." He chuckled, putting his arm on her shoulders and kissing her head as she leaned closer.

"Don't say that, you'll get my hopes all high."

"What, you're hoping we'll never have sex again if we get married?"

"No, but I might start hoping we'll get married. Someday. Not any time soon." She rectified, looking at him.

"And? Why is that a bad thing?"

"Jess…I…" She shrugged, pulling back to be able to look at him better. "We don't have to have this conversation now."

"What conversation?" He smirked, slightly confused.

"Marriage is a big deal."

"I know. I don't see why you're so convinced you shouldn't think we'll get married someday."

"Because…I don't know." She bit her lip, moving to the side as someone tried to walk past them in the small aisle. "It never occurred to me you'd want that."

"Why wouldn't I?" He chuckled, amused by her squirming.

"Because you're you!"

"Uh-huh. Good line of thought, I can completely see your point now."

"Jess, I love you, you know that, but you don't exactly make me think picket fence, golden retriever, 2.4 kids."

"And that means you thought I'm opposed to marrying you?"

"Well, it seems silly if you say it like that." Rory smiled.

"It is silly." He hugged her, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "We'll do it someday."

"Properly? Something more than a courtroom wedding?"

"White dress, flowers, all that crap." Jess nodded, smirking as he kissed her again. "Although I'm not sure how good I'd look in a dress, I'll give it a try."

Shaking her head, Rory laughed before taking his hand, walking towards a set of plates on a shelf. "I like these ones."

As soon as they were done stacking most of the plates in a box, Rory turned around, pointing at a cabinet.

"Pots and pans after lunch?"

"Sure." He glanced at his watch quickly. "Although I think it may be a bit too late for lunch."

"Whatever. Let me grab different shoes first."

"Where are we going?"

"What about the coffee shop? We need to tell Sonia we're moving."

"She might go out of business without you here."

"I'll miss that place." Rory smiled before heading out of the room, changing her shoes. "We have to come back someday, she's been saying she can't wait to meet the baby."

"You need to be less friendly with everyone." Jess smirked, his arms crossed across his chest as he looked at her.

"I can't help it, it's Luke syndrome."

"Luke syndrome? This is going to be good, isn't it?"

"Well, he's always been so nice to me, even before him and mom started dating, that I can't help but think every diner owner is the same. Really, he's my step-father, that's got to tell you something."

"It's telling me you're insane, but that's not unusual."

"Why did I marry you?" Rory rolled her eyes, kissing him. "Your dad's very lucky I love him." She rubbed her stomach, grinning.

"Yeah, I am." Jess smiled, opening the door.

"Oh, my God, that place is awesome!" Rory gushed as an older woman walked up to their table, an order pad in her hand.

"What can I get you, guys?"

"Coffee, cheeseburger, fries, onion rings and cheery pie for dessert, please."

"I like a girl that can eat." The woman smiled before turning her attention to Jess. "You?"

"Just a burger and fries. And a Coke." He added and the woman nodded again.

"Ok, I'll go get this ready, holler if you need anything more. I'll send one of the girls over with your drinks."

"Did you see all the windows and the space and rent is decent and it's just perfect for us." Rory started again as soon as they were alone, holding Jess' hand. "You were right, it is good."

"Judging by your expression, you'd think it was the Taj Mahal."

"No, it's just everything we've been looking for."

"Ok, I'll call John back later and tell him we'll take it."

"John?" She asked, tilting her head to the side, slightly confused.

"Rainbow." Jess snorted, rolling his eyes. "His name's John."

"So he's voluntarily…"

"He's insane." He nodded, smirking. "Trust me, I won't miss him."

"We finally have our own place." She grinned, picking up his hand and placing a kiss on his palm. Walking up to their table, a waitress dropped their drinks before leaving again. Taking a sip from her coffee, Rory's smile grew even more, squeezing his hand again. "Definitely meant to be."