A/N: Sorry I'm late posting chapters this week, life's just...interesting. Thank you for the reviews and the patience, I hope you like it.

Old folks home

Sunday morning, Jess rolled over in bed, opening one eye, finding Rory sitting up, reading. Yawning, he moved closer to her, resting his head on her legs. She put her book down, running her fingers through his hair.

"Good morning."

"Why are you awake?" Jess grumbled.

"Because it's almost 11."

"So?"

"You know me better than to ask that." She ruffled his hair, grinning. "Did you sleep well?"

Nodding, Jess placed a quick kiss on her leg before looking up. "You?"

"Yeah. Almost walked into the wall a couple of times before it registered that the bathroom door's in a different place."

"At least you didn't fall down the stairs." He sat up, giving up on sleep and kissed her quickly. "Breakfast?"

"Yes, please."

"Have you been waiting for me to wake up and make you food?"

"I had a couple of Pop-Tarts." Rory smiled before standing up, taking his hand. "I would have bought breakfast, but I don't know any places around here yet and driving back to Sonia's seemed overkill."

Standing up, he wrapped his arms around her, trailing kisses down her jaw. "Does this mean we're going to go have a look around the neighborhood after we're done with breakfast?"

"We have books to unpack." She pouted slightly, weighing the options in her head.

"We can do that this week, it will be something to look forward to."

"Deal." She kissed him before taking his hand, starting to drag him down the stairs. A few seconds later, she turned on the coffee machine, watching Jess open cupboards, looking for the pans. Walking up to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, kissing his shoulder before pointing to a door.

"There."

"Why?"

"Hey, you can rearrange everything if you feel like it. This just made sense to me." Rory laughed before letting go and picking up a mug, waiting impatiently for her coffee to be done.

"I'll get used to it." He smirked before opening the fridge, looking through it. "Anything in particular you're in the mood for?"

"Must you ask?"

Walking up to her, he hugged her from behind, kissing his neck while his hands played on her stomach. "You're going to be very fat on your bacon diet."

"Tell your daughter that, this is her doing."

"Uh-huh." He mumbled, his mouth not moving away from her skin. "Does telling yourself that make you feel better?"

Turning around in his arms, Rory grinned, kissing him before lifting her hands to his chest, pushing him away from her. "Food!"

"You only use me for my cooking." He pretended to pout, dropping a pan on the stove and picking some stuff up from the fridge.

"No, you also have very awesome feet rubbing skills."

Abandoning his cooking again, he closed the distance between them, his hands moving to her sides, starting to tickle her as she tried to fight him off, laughing at the same time.

"No, please, Jess, no!" She tried to pull away from him but he just followed, smirking.

"So…nothing else?"

"Jess!" Rory called his name again, trying to catch her breath. "Uncle!" She called, making him stop. Crashing in his arms, she smiled, hugging him tightly. "Do not do that. Ever." She tried to sound mad, but ended up giggling again, before pressing a kiss on his cheek. "You're a jerk."

"You love me."

"Of course I do, I married you because of it." She lifted his hand, pulling back a bit and kissing his palm right next to the ring. "You woke Brett up."

"Morning, spawn." Jess mumbled, ducking down and kissing her bump, as her smile grew even bigger before straightening back up and heading for the stove. "Better feed you both then."

"Thank you." She nodded, pouring coffee in two mugs as he turned on the stove, waiting for the pan to heat up before dropping the bacon in. After dropping a mug filled with coffee next to Jess and kissing his shoulder again, Rory went back to standing out of the way, waiting for her coffee to cool down. Rubbing her stomach as she watched her husband, she realized something and bit her lip, trying not to cry as she walked to him, making him turn around to look at her.

"What are you…?"

"Shut up and give me your hand." She smiled excitedly, kissing his bottom lip as she waited for his hand.

"Ror, the food's gonna burn."

"Trust me." She grinned, impatiently grabbing his hand as he dropped the spatula and pushed the pan off the stove. Placing his hand on her stomach, she tapped her foot, looking down. "Come on, Brett."

Feeling something kick against his palm, Jess looked from their hands to his wife. "Was that…?"

"Yeah." Rory nodded, letting a couple of tears drop down her cheeks. "That's our daughter."

"This is…" Jess shook his head, not knowing what to say and just smiled, looking back down. "I love you." He whispered after a few seconds and she kissed him, careful not to move their hands away.

"I love you too." She laughed softly, watching him. "So…good enough reason to interrupt you from cooking?"

"Hey, you were the one starving." He smirked. When the kicking stopped, Jess looked back at his wife, a questioning expression on his face.

"She does that." Rory tried to explain, stepping back and taking a small sip out of her coffee. "She kicks for a bit, then stops and goes back to sleep. She'll be more awake tonight, hopefully you'll get to play with her again."

"Maybe she got pissed off at me for waking her up." Jess tried to joke, still smiling.

"Well, she's your kid, she's bound to have an opinion on being woken up at this hour on a Sunday."

"I thought she was the mailman's."

"Shoot, I forgot you knew about that."

Walking up to Rory, Jess crushed his mouth to hers while his hands cupped her face. When he pulled back, she rested her forehead against his, beaming with joy.

"Should I take that as a sign you're happy?"

Smiling back and placing a kiss on the tip of her nose, Jess nodded. "You have no idea."

"Good." She kissed him again.

"Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for?"

"For letting me be a part of this." He shrugged, looking into her eyes.

"Jess, I'm not letting…" She stressed the word. "…you, I need you to be a part of this. Plus, I'd never keep you out of our kid's life."

"I know." He nodded, smiling softly. "But that doesn't mean I don't feel incredibly lucky every single day I wake up next to you and now this…"

"Me too." Rory bit her lip, lifting her hand to caress his face. "Trust me, you're not the only one who got lucky here." Pausing for a second, she rubbed her bump. "You think Brett's going to have someone that loves her as much as I love you?"

"Ror, one at a time, I don't think I can take the thought of her being a grown up just yet."

"Not a grown up, just…in high school?" She laughed and he moved away, grabbing a chair and moving it closer to his wife, making her roll her eyes. "You're…"

"Overprotective, yes, I've heard that one before. And…I don't know." Jess shrugged, flipping a chair over and sitting down as well. "I hope so."

"What, no threats of killing boys?" Rory laughed, picking up her coffee cup again.

"I don't have to kill boys, didn't you hear I have Matt and Chris for that?" He smirked, turning around and grabbing his coffee as well, remembering the half-cooked bacon on the stove. "I should try and salvage that."

"Yes, please." Realizing she was still starving, she pushed her bottom lip out, giving him the puppy eyes.

"Oh, god, I'll be dead with two of you doing that." Jess chuckled, standing up and kissing the top of her head before turning on the stove again. "We'll be old by the time she's in high school anyway, it doesn't matter."

"Speak for yourself, I plan on being 27 for the next 20 years or so."

"Taking a leaf out of Lorelai's book?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, mom's 39." Rory grinned, finishing her almost cold coffee.

"Fine, I'll be the only old one here."

"It's ok, I'll still think you're cute. A bit of gray around the temples…" Walking to him, she ruffled his hair before pouring herself more coffee. "You'd make it look good."

"When did we get so old again?" He smirked, turning around and glancing at her while pulling out a couple of eggs from the fridge.

"Somewhere in between the marriage and the mortgage. But you can go out clubbing or something if it will make you feel less old."

"Nah, I'm good."

A couple of nights later, Rory walked into their office, finding Jess sitting in the armchair, scribbling in a notebook.

"We need a smaller house." She smiled, leaning in the doorway, looking at him and he closed the notebook, motioning for her to come closer.

"We just moved in here, you really want to go through that again?"

"I'm just saying it would have taken me 30 seconds to find you in our old place." Walking up to him, she let out a small yelp when he pulled her down to sit in his lap. "Jess, I'm too heavy."

"I'll deal. What are you doing up?" Jess smiled back as he wrapped his arms tighter around her.

"Brett's kicking and it's keeping me awake. I haven't yet become the expert at sleeping through her soccer sessions that mom says I'll be."

"I'm sorry." He offered, smirking, before leaning closer to her stomach and kissing it. "Be nicer to your mom, kid."

"Maybe she just missed you." Rory grinned, taking his hand and placing it on her bump again. "Watching your expression when she does that still hasn't gotten old."

"Matt is buzzing about this. He's going to drive you crazy with it Saturday night."

"Let him, I don't mind. The girls at work play with her as well."

"Somehow, in my head, I'm always a part of this whole other women touching you thing. Or at least in the same room." He smirked and she slapped his shoulder, laughing.

"You're a pig."

"Sure, tell any guy that other women are rubbing…"

"Don't finish that thought, I beg you."

"Out loud or in my head? Because if it's the latter, I have some bad news." Jess chuckled, placing kisses wherever he could reach, making her laugh even harder. Feeling a slightly stronger kick against his hand, he kissed her bump again. "Ok, I get it, I'm annoying you."

"She's very opinionated, isn't she?"

"She's your child, of course she is. I think we need to start looking into military schools, it may be our only hope."

"Nope, mom and I decided that she couldn't possibly be mine." Rory grinned, giggling. "This whole kicking for the first time and then hard enough for you to feel while in the kitchen is clearly proof she has none of the Gilmore genes."

"I think I should give you a crash course in biology here. Also, have you and Lorelai considered it could be because that's where the food is, since you two can eat like there's no tomorrow?"

"You raise a valid point. Speaking of food…"

"Again?"

"Hey, feeding two here!"

"Go on then." Jess shook his head, waiting for her to stand up before following her into the kitchen. Leaning against a wall, he watched his wife as she made a sandwich before sitting down.

"What were you writing when I interrupted?" Rory looked up, taking a bite out of her food.

"Nothing. Just…random stuff."

"You're only evasive when it's something cheesy."

"It's nothing big yet."

"I get to read it when it's done?"

"You always do."

"True." She nodded, chewing on her food. "Is Matt still bringing Jane on Saturday?"

"Said he is."

"How is she? Is she nice? Is she pretty?"

"This again?" He smirked, lifting an eyebrow. "And you really want me to comment on another woman's attractiveness?"

"Ok, maybe not. But you've met her, come on, give me something!"

"She's nice."

"That's it?"

"You'll meet her soon, you can decide if you like her or not then. How many shops are we hitting on Saturday morning?" Jess changed the subject.

"Just a couple, I really have my heart set on the cherry wood one."

"So…why aren't we just buying that one?"

"Jess, that's not how you shop properly!"

"Ok, how many websites have you looked at in the past 4 months?"

"A few…" Rory hesitated, smiling as she took another bite from her sandwich.

"And have you seen anything you like more than that one?"

"No, but that doesn't mean…"

"Yes, it does." Jess nodded, smirking. "Now, I will go with you to as many shops you want. Granted, I'll probably be muttering about it, but that's how it goes. But wouldn't you rather just get that one and then spend the time we would have spent looking at various other sets just to end up buying the first one anyway, looking at toys and clothes and whatever else you want for her?"

"I really hate it when you're reasonable, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, you keep mentioning it."

"Don't you want to have a choice in the crib and furniture?"

"Is it safe?"

"Jess, you know I wouldn't buy something for our kid that wasn't safe."

"I'm good then." He smiled as she stood up, wrapping her arms around his waist before placing a quick kiss on his lips.

"You're very easy to please."

"I suggest we go upstairs and test that theory."

Sitting down in a rocking chair in the corner of a shop, Rory smiled softly, resting her hands on her bump while Jess looked at her.

"What do you think?"

"I like it."

"And it's really plain, so if we decide to go themed, we can just find a cute crib set."

"Didn't we rule out themes?"

"Well, yeah, but they have the sweetest bear one." She beamed happily, biting her lip.

"Show me." He smiled back before helping her stand up and taking her hand, letting her drag them to the bedding area.

"See?" She pointed to a bedding set, glancing back at him. "What do you think?"

"I think we can get it if you like it."

"I want to look around some more. I'll grab mom and we can go bedding shopping. You'll be spared spending time in baby shops and I still get to have my fun."

"I don't mind being here."

"You're bored out of your mind." She laughed, kissing the corner of his mouth.

"I'm n…that obvious, huh?" He finally admitted, letting out a breath. "I'm sorry."

"Jess, you don't have to do all this stuff with me. Not wanting to spend hours looking at tiny dresses doesn't make you less of a dad. It just makes you a normal guy."

"It's all the freaking same. Shelf after shelf of pastel crap."

"Ok, let's go buy the furniture and then we'll get out of here."

"But…" He tried to argue but she cut him off, kissing him quickly.

"I don't mind. I'll go to Hartford with mom next weekend. As long as the furniture's done, I'll feel like we've actually started getting ready for this."

"We can get the car seat you've been going on and on about, this way you won't start crying again about us not being able to bring Brett home from the hospital."

"You're perfect!" She wrapped her arms around his neck, grinning as she hugged him tightly.

"Nope, I've just been with you long enough to know what gets me hugs." Jess placed a kiss on her cheek, wrapping one arm around her as well. "You can show it to me once you've let go."

"Come on!" She released his neck before taking his hand again, dragging him to the other end of the store. "It's perfect."

"It looks like a tank."

"It's safe."

"You're paranoid."

"Car crashes at 50 miles an hour. Would you rather have our daughter in this or in a flimsy one?"

"Why is the car crashing?"

"You have a track record."

"Once, 10 years ago does not mean track record." Jess chuckled, shaking his head.

"Fine, small furry animal jumps in front of the car and we hit a pole. I assume you'd prefer our daughter to survive."

"Yes."

"So what's your problem with this then?"

"Just that it looks like a tank."

Rolling her eyes, Rory smacked his arm. "You're impossible."

"Get this, get the furniture then we can leave."

"We're going to be so very poor." She grinned before waving the shop assistant over.

Later that night, Rory lead Matthew up the stairs to the baby's room, smiling as she opened the door.

"It's still in boxes, but there's furniture finally!"

"Awesome!" The man smiled, equally enthusiastic. "I like the car seat."

"Jess won't let me put it in the car yet."

"I hate to agree with him, but I think I do on this."

"And changing the subject completely, I like Jane!" She giggled happily, slapping his arm at the same time. "Why did you not bring her over before?"

"Really? You think I want her to spend more time with Chris and your husband than necessary? They're probably downstairs filling her head with wild stories about me!"

"You did the same with Jess. You told me everything. And whatever stories you didn't share with me, you told mom. Which is even worse." She stuck out her tongue before heading back down the stairs.

"That's completely different."

"How?"

"Erm…it just is." He chuckled before jumping off the bottom step and walking back in the living room, sitting next to his girlfriend. "What did they tell you?"

"Nothing, we swear." Chris lifted his hands in the air, laughing at the same time.

"Shit." Matthew grumbled, looking at Jane. "I didn't do it, they're lying."

"You really dyed your hair pink?"

"I have the photos to prove it." Jess smirked as Rory sat next to him, wrapping his arm around her at the same time.

"It was a phase!" Matt tried to protest, shaking his head at the same time. "I hate them."

"Only because you're an idiot that does stupid things with us around." Chris laughed.

"You are so not safe if you ever, and I do mean ever, start dating anyone." Matt grumbled, glancing at Jane. "Please don't ask to see the pictures."

"I won't…yet."

"I'm dead."

As soon as everyone was left, Rory walked in the kitchen, wrapping her arms around Jess' waist.

"How's it going?"

"Almost done. What do you say on us getting a dishwasher?"

"Whatever you want, the kitchen's your turf. I still cannot believe we own a house and we get to make those decisions without having to get anyone's permission. Or that we've lived in it for a week already."

"It's not that long."

"The week thing isn't. But the owning a house still blows my mind."

"More or less than us being old enough to have a kid without people giving us mean looks?"

"Speak for yourself, unless I'm wearing work clothes people still seem to think I'm too young for this. How mom didn't kill anyone while she was pregnant with me, I'll never know."

"Well, looking young will help you pretend you're 27 ten years from now."

"Twenty." She grinned, kissing the back of his neck. "Can you just leave the rest of the dishes for tomorrow and come to bed?"

"You're trying to get me in bed at half ten on a Saturday night? We are old."

"We can stay up and watch a movie."

"I'll dry my hands and make some coffee while you pick something."

"I love you, husband." Rory smiled, placing another kiss on his shoulder before walking out of the room. A while later, they were curled up on the couch, his arms wrapped tightly around her as the end credits rolled on the screen.

"So…good first week in this house?" Jess whispered in her ear, rubbing her stomach.

"Great first week." Looking down, she grinned. "You agree, baby?" Giggling when she felt another kick, she twisted her neck to look at Jess. "I'd say she agrees."

"She's been doing that all night, I don't think it means she has an opinion."

"Hush and let me pretend she does."

"Fine." He placed a small kiss on her head. "I love it when she does that." He admitted as he felt another kick in his palm.

"You've actually admitted that out loud? You have grown up."

"Don't sound so surprised, you had a lot to do with it."

"You're going to be great with her, you know that, right?"

"I hope so." He smiled, kissing her head again. "You already are. Go on, let's get you to bed before you fall asleep on the couch, because I don't think I can carry you around anymore."

"I'm not that fat." She tried to protest, standing up at the same time. "You're very lucky I haven't killed you yet, considering how many times you've called me fat."

"I can outrun you." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders as they headed up the stairs.