A/N: Rah, rah, dissertation whine. And job application whine. And everything whine. Make my day, leave a review ;).

Open House

"So, Rory, where is Jess tonight?" Emily asked, handing the young woman a glass.

"Working." She smiled. "Truncheon's having an open house tomorrow night and he's going to be busy until it's done, so I decided to come over for the night and not have him worry about me being alone in the house for hours." She shot her mother a look. "And don't even try to mock that."

"I wasn't going…"

"Mom."

"Ok, fine, I was. But you've got to admit…"

"It's overprotective, I know." She smiled, her hand resting on her bump. "But it makes him feel better and he's my husband, so making sure he's happy is part of my job."

"No, no, silly, he has to make you happy. The other way around is completely optional."

"Lorelai." Emily glared at her daughter and Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"I'll get a sign that says joke and lift it in the air every time you're supposed to laugh." Seeing her mother's icy glare, she sunk deeper in the chair. "Or I'll just shut up instead."

"If only." Emily looked at Lorelai, sipping from her glass.

"Grandpa is still at work?"

"Yes. He assures me he's going to retire before the end of the year."

"Hasn't he been saying that…?"

"For the past three years. Yes." She sighed wistfully.

"Can you get his doctors on your side?"

"I tried. But Richard will do whatever he wants."

"Maybe we should organize an intervention."

"Lorelai." Emily called her name again, exasperated.

"Sheesh, I'm getting Lorelai-ed a lot tonight."

"You did say you were going to be quiet." Rory pointed out, smiling.

"Ingrate. You're supposed to be on my side."

"I'm going to go check on dinner and let you two finish this, ok?" Emily stood up, rolling her eyes and the two women grimaced.

"Sorry, grandma."

"Yes. Sorry."

"Your sincerity is so overwhelming."

"How's it going?" Rory grinned when Jess picked up the phone, sipping from her coffee cup.

"Thought I told you we could handle it."

"But…"

"Ror." Jess rolled his eyes, smirking.

"It's purely selfish, you see. I want Truncheon to do well so you can have a job and I don't have to be the sole breadwinner in the family."

"We've got it covered." He laughed, shaking his head. "I thought you'd gone away so I didn't have to have this conversation a million times."

"No, it was so you wouldn't have to strap me down to a chair to keep me from helping."

Looking around to make sure he was alone in the room, Jess lowered his voice. "The strapping down…"

"Don't finish that."

"Only if you hang up the phone and let me finish working instead."

"You'd prefer organizing stuff for an open house to talking to your wife? I'm hurt." She fake pouted, struggling not to burst out laughing.

"No, but I really want to get this over and done with so we can all get more than three hours of sleep tonight."

"I will kill all of you if you don't."

"Then let me work."

"You sure you don't want me to drive back early and help out tomorrow?"

"Yes. And to answer your next question, very sure."

"Stubborn." She stuck out her tongue even though he couldn't see her, laughing. "Please get some sleep."

"I'll try."

"Try?"

"I will." He corrected himself, shaking his head. "Go."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Hanging up the phone, Rory walked back in her mother's living room, sitting on the couch next to her.

"How is he?"

"He says he has everything under control."

"And you…?"

"I believe him, I just feel weird not helping out. This is the first open house they've had since we got back together when I'm not there to help with the set up."

"You were complaining you can't bend over to tie your shoes anymore but you think you could help them with that?"

"Hey, way to be supportive."

"Hon, relax." Lorelai grinned, handing her the ice cream box. "You're big and uncoordinated and you wouldn't be of any use there so sit here with mommy and let's watch a movie."

"But…"

"Rory." Lorelai looked at her daughter and she exhaled loudly, taking the ice cream.

"Fine. But only because you make a good point about being uncoordinated."

"You're making pregnant women all over the world hate you by actually wanting to do anything other than sit on the couch all day long."

"It's nesting, only the house is already clean because of grandma's visit so I'm left with nothing to do. I reorganized my desk at work three times."

"That's not bad."

"And then I washed all of Brett's clothes, again, and rearranged her closet. Jess is lucky I didn't make him paint the room."

"Ok, now we're getting somewhere."

"I did mention that this was in the past 24 hours, right?" She pointed out, digging through the ice cream with a spoon, trying to get as much as possible.

"If you feel the need to clean tonight, don't let me stop you."

"How kind."

"No, I mean it. Just don't vacuum, you'll wake Will up and he's cranky when he doesn't get his sleep."

"I'm going to stop listening to you now."

"But I'm your mother, you have to listen to me."

"Whatever you need to think to help you through the night."

"You're mean."

"I'm just calling it like it is."

"You're calling it meanly."

"Whatever, mother." Rory smiled, shoving the spoon in her mouth.

"Hey, Rory. You look fabulous." Matthew greeted her as she walked in Truncheon on Saturday afternoon, giving her a quick hug.

"See, this is why I like coming over, you lie so nicely." She grinned.

"Does your husband now tell you that every day? 'Cause I'll kill him."

"No need, I promise." She reassured the man before looking around her. "Place looks good."

"How pissed off are you not being allowed to help?"

"Considering how long it takes me to tie my own shoes, not that much. I doubt I could have helped much."

"Hey." Jess walked out from the back room, holding a stack of book in his hands. "You're not supposed to be here yet."

"Mom had things to do and I apparently get dressed much faster if you're not around for me to whine to about being fat."

"Remind me to show you pictures of my sister when she was pregnant. She looked like she'd swallowed one of those giant gym balls when she was about two weeks in." He laughed, making Rory shake her head.

"It's about how I feel, trust me." Walking to Jess who was trying to find space for the books, before dropping them on the floor, frustrated, she kissed him quickly, running a hand through his hair. "How's this going?"

"Fine. Go upstairs and have coffee."

"No."

"You're not allowed to help." Matt chimed in as well, going back to pushing one of the tables to the opposite side of the room.

"You too?"

"Of course."

"I'll go find Chris, maybe he needs something." She stuck out her tongue, trying to get away but Jess caught her hand in his, stopping her.

"No."

"It's ok, Chris doesn't need any help." Chris yelled from the other room. "Hey, Rory."

"You too, Brutus?"

"Even if I wanted you to help, you think I could get it past your protectors?" He smiled as he joined the others in the front room, bringing some bottles with him. "Not that I want you to." He replied when he saw both Jess and Matthew glare at him. "Sheesh, you two take me way to seriously."

"I highly doubt that." Jess smirked, placing a kiss on Rory's temple before heading for the store room.

"Jane's upstairs, you can go hang out with her." Matt shrugged, looking at the stairs.

"Has she been relegated to a no helping role as well?"

"Maybe. We're mostly moving stuff now, we don't need you two here to get in our way." He smiled and Rory shook her head.

"You're all crazy." Walking to the office, she found Jane sitting down on the floor, looking over a notebook, chewing on a pencil.

"Hey."

"Oh, hi!" The other woman greeted enthusiastically, waving. "Did they kick you out?"

Pointing at her stomach, Rory smiled. "I thought it was only because of the being pregnant thing, but it seems they've decided to explore the limits of misogyny."

"They're sweet."

"Yeah, they are." Rory gushed as well, rubbing her bump. "I'm going to go find something to drink, can I get you something?"

"I think there's some Coke in the fridge up here."

Walking to the fridge, Rory picked up a couple of cans, handing Jane one before sitting down in an arm chair. "God, this place looks so different."

"You lived here when it was still an apartment, didn't you?"

"For a few months while Jess and I were trying to find our own place. I still can't get used to the thought that it's an office and it's been years."

"I almost fell asleep on the exercise bench my parents put in my room after I moved out. I get it." She smiled sympathetically.

"Nice to know I'm not alone." Realizing the other woman still had a notebook in her lap, she shook her head. "Sorry. I'm distracting you by being emotional and silly."

"You're only distracting me from doodling." Jane laughed, lifting her notebook to show Rory. "How are things with the baby?"

"Good. She's getting bigger by the day and my ribs are starting to take more of a beating, but it's all great."

"You sound excited."

"I am. Other than missing not being the size of a small country, there are no downsides. Don't get me started on talking about this, I may never stop."

"You can talk all you want, I love babies."

"Trust me, you don't want to hear all of this. I wasn't kidding about the not stopping." She laughed, shaking her head. "How are things with you and Matt?"

"So good. He's incredible."

"Who is?" Jess asked, walking in the room.

"Girl talk." Rory faked a glare, making him smirk. "You kicked us out, you don't get to know what we're talking about."

"Promise?" He kissed the top of her head, smoothing her hair down. "Have you had anything to eat today?"

"You mean other than the giant breakfast Luke made?"

"Yes."

"Grabbed a burger before I drove back here."

"Promise?"

"No, I've gone without food for a whole day." She laughed, running her hand down her leg. "I'm good, don't worry about me."

"Sorry, job description." Running his fingers through her hair again, he turned to look at Jane. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, thanks. You sure you haven't changed your minds on us helping?"

"Wouldn't want to interrupt the girl talk." Jess smirked, shaking his head. "Yell loudly if you need something."

"Or just get it ourselves?"

"Suppose you could do that. We're almost done, you can come help with the final touches."

"We're allowed to do something?" Jane asked, trying to fake shock. "Be still my beating heart."

"I know, right? I can barely contain my enthusiasm."

"Keep that up and I'm locking you both up here until people start arriving." He threatened and Rory laughed.

"Go away."

"Yes, dear." He laughed, leaning down and kissing her quickly.

"You two are adorable." Jane remarked when they were alone, making Rory blush.

"My mother calls us nauseating. Not that she's that much better with her husband."

"The infamous Lorelai."

"She'd take great pleasure in being called infamous."

"Matt's told me a lot of stories about her."

"You really should come with him next time we all go to Stars Hollow. It's a weird place, but fun."

"I'm dying to meet Kirk."

"I'm still not convinced he's not some sort of half breed alien species."

"Oh, do you have any more stories?" Excitement building up, Jane threw the notebook away, leaning closer to Rory.

"Far too many."

"We are never doing that again." Matt whined, taking a swig from his beer and Jane ruffled his hair.

"You say that every time." Rory pointed out.

"I mean it this time."

"I like the way you think." Chris nodded in agreement with his friend. "Jess?"

"Hey, I'm down with no more open houses."

"Until you start planning the next one." Rory pointed out.

"Sh, don't be rational during the complaining part of the evening." Matt grinned before banging his head on the table. "We're going for catharsis now." He mumbled as Jane smiled, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

"Maybe if you'd let us help, you'd be less tired."

"And interrupt their male punching chests, making gorilla noises time? Don't be silly!" Rory laughed. "We're women, we must be protected from the evil that is doing anything but making them sandwiches."

"I mean, next we're gonna want to vote!"

"Preposterous!"

"You two done?" Jess smirked, placing a quick kiss on Rory's shoulder.

"Not yet, I have to make a barefoot and pregnant comment."

"Chained to the stove?"

"Such is our fate." She grinned at Jane.

"Next time, you two can organize everything while we sit around drinking." Chris laughed, playing with his beer bottle.

"Next time, you keep your mouth shut." Jess laughed, shaking his head.

"You think people liked it?" Matthew lifted his head, drinking from his bottle.

"Right on cue." Jess checked his watch.

"Yes. And if you don't shut up about this, I will make you sure you don't live to see tomorrow." Chris chimed in as well.

"Hey!" Jane protested, making Matt smile.

"Ha! Someone is finally on my side."

"No fair, I've always defended you." Rory pouted.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I have the women on my side. I win."

"Isn't there some sort of rule that says you're supposed to be on my side before anyone else's?" Jess chuckled.

"Not when you're being mean." She pointed out, kissing his cheek.

"Fuck, I'm so tired." Jess groaned, throwing himself on the bed as Rory was trying to kick her shoes off. "I know, language." He laughed, lifting his head slightly.

"I'll give you a pass. " Rubbing her stomach, she smiled at it. "Settle down, kid."

"What's she up to?"

"Just kicking me like mad, nothing unusual. Want to play?"

Nodding, he waited for her to walk closer before sliding his hands under her shirt, placing them on her bump, smiling when he felt the kicks.

"Still think it's cool?"

"Yeah." He nodded again, pushing back gently against the kicks. "In a mind blowing sort of way."

"You're in a sappy mood, aren't you?"

Laughing softly, he shrugged, kissing her stomach. "Get changed and lie down, you've been on your feet too long tonight."

"Silly man." She smiled, ruffling his hair before creaking her neck, starting to take off her shirt. Walking to her, Jess wrapped his arms around her from behind, placing a kiss on her neck.

"Do I tell you often enough how happy I am to have you in my life?"

"Jess…"

"I mean, Truncheon and all that's good, but you're…pretty much everything."

"I love you." She smiled, squeezing his hand, trying to bite back happy tears.

"I love you too."

"And what you said? Definitely goes both ways."

"I know." He smiled, kissing her head. "I'm gonna go brush my teeth, you better be in bed when I get back."

"Overprotective!" She laughed, letting go of his hand as he stepped into the other room. "You think we would have made it work if I'd stayed that night?" Rory asked when he sat down in bed a few minutes later, pushing a stand of hair away from his face.

"What night?"

"First open house I came to. If I hadn't gotten back together with him before I came to see you."

"I don't know."

"Speculate." She giggled, lying down and he lay next to her, propping himself up with one arm.

"Why? We're making it work now, it's a bit late for hypotheticals."

"Jess, come on." She pouted, tracing his bottom lip with her thumb.

"Probably not."

"Why?"

"You were still in love with that bastard. It's really hard to make something work when one person's rebounding. Plus, we would have had to deal with the whole distance issue for much longer than we did."

"You don't think we could have…?"

"I'm not saying we definitely would have broken up." He shrugged, kissing her fingers. "But it would have taken a lot more effort."

"I think we would have made it." She smiled, moving her fingers down to his jaw. "I may have loved him, but you're you. You're different."

"I better be."

"Not what I meant. To me. How I felt for him is not even close to how I feel for you."

"Good to know." Leaning closer, he placed a soft kiss on her lips. "But you sort of proved that when you married me and not him."

"I had to marry you, silly. I got pregnant, it's what you do. Ask grandma."

"Right. Forgot about that." Chuckling, he shook his head. "Can I go to sleep now?"

"Yes." Extending her arm, she turned off the light, before trying to flip over. "We're seriously going to need a crane for me to move around soon. And I mean that in a matter of fact way, not a 'console me while I wine about being fat' way." She grumbled when she finally managed to settle down, making him smirk.

"We'll go shopping for one next week." He wrapped his arm around her, kissing her shoulder.

"Jess?" She whispered after a few seconds on silence, her fingers playing with his.

"Hm?"

"Knowing that I'm the only woman you've loved makes me really selfishly happy. I'm sorry I can't give you that."

"'S ok. I'll settle for being the last man you love."

"That I can do." She smiled, lifting his hand and placing a quick kiss on his palm. "Good night."

"Night."