A/N: Thank you for the reviews, guys. You're all every shade of awesome there is.

Different shades of crazy

"We've ruined her life." Rory announced, walking into the office a few days later.

"Whose life?" He mumbled in reply, not looking up.

"Brett's. What, are we responsible for more than one person and you didn't tell me?"

"My mistake. I'm sorry." Jess smirked, putting his book down with a sigh of regret. "How did we ruin her life now?"

"We didn't plan her better!"

"We didn't plan her at all. It's really hard to do something better when you never did it in the first place."

"Not the point, Jess. Focus."

"What am I focusing on?"

"On the fact that we've pretty much guaranteed that she will never have any friends over for her birthday parties."

"What?" He looked at her confused and Rory started pacing around the room, her hands rubbing her stomach.

"Everyone's going to be hungover or away or whatever and they'll never come to her parties. And what if she's born a day early, hm? Poor baby's going to have to settle for just having us there all the time."

"Poor baby will live."

"She's going to be miserable." Rory pouted, waling to him and ruffling his hair. "If we have another one, we're planning it."

"But then Brett will hate us for not giving the other one a bad birthday."

"You're mocking me, aren't you?"

"A bit, yeah." He smirked, standing up and pointing with his head at his arm chair. "Sit down."

"Ranting is much easier when I can pace."

"Pace on the inside or something."

Rolling her eyes, Rory sat down down. "You're ridiculous." Pulling the chair from the desk in front of her, he sat down as well, his hands resting on her knees. "I don't want her to be unhappy." She pouted, looking down at her bump.

"She won't be. She'll have other kids there."

"What if she's born on the 4th?"

"Then we'll name her Ron instead." He smirked, leaning over and placing a quick kiss on her lips. "Plus she'll get fireworks. Fireworks on your birthday would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?"

"Suppose so."

"And it will be hot outside so we could have her parties in the yard or a park or something."

"Maybe even a water park? When she's bigger?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Whatever you two want. Water park, un-birthdays, anything."

"You need to stop being so nice to me."

"No." He shook his head, smiling. "I have to, I read it in the husband's rulebook."

"Well, if it's in the rules…" Rory giggled. "She won't hate us?"

"Nah. Not for this, anyway." Rubbing her knees, he smirked. "Do you have some sort of weekly freak out planned about how we're going to do something and she's going to hate us?"

"Bi-weekly, in fact." She laughed again, ruffling his hair again. "It's not my fault that she's making it really hard for me to think about anything other than her by kicking the hell out of me."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. I'm taking it as even more of nature's way of getting me ready for motherhood. I just wish everyone would stop telling me it gets worse. I'm fully aware of the fact that she can only get bigger and of course it's going to be more uncomfortable but I don't want to be reminded of it." Taking a deep breath, she grinned. "Ok, done ranting, help me up."

Shaking his head at her, Jess stood up, taking her hands and helping her to her feet. "Lunatic."

"That's a new one."

"I know, I got bored of calling you crazy."

"You so need to be nicer to me." Rory joked, standing in the doorway. "Is it ok with you if I call for dinner? I'm starving."

"Sure."

"Pizza?"

"Yeah." He nodded, picking his book up again.

"Ok. I'll come get you when it's here." She started leaving the room, but Jess smirked.

"Was this outburst by any chance caused by Sixteen candles?"

"I'm going to not answer that." She giggled, blowing him a kiss before leaving the room.

"Ok, I'm panicking now." Jess let out a breath as his uncle picked up the phone.

"What?"

"You asked me a few weeks ago if I was panicking. I wasn't. However, I am now."

"What brought this on?"

"Ten weeks left. Let's start with that, we'll take it from there." Throwing himself in the chair again, he ran a hand through his hair. "And since I can't really go to Jimmy for wise advise on fatherhood, you'll have to do."

"So nice of you to say that."

"Screw this. If you're not going to help…"

"Oh, jeez, I didn't say I wasn't going to help. Breathe."

"Luke, I swear to God…" Pressing his head against the back of the chair, he stared at the ceiling. "Tell me I'm gonna do fine."

"You're gonna do fine. And you're an idiot for doubting it."

"You're really good at the pep talks, aren't you? What, Dr. Phil doesn't sell a book on this?"

"Nice to know you can always be a smart ass."

"It's a skill."

"Jess, you're going to be alright." Luke tried to reassure him, smiling. "Babies are pretty hard to kill. Just love her and Rory, be there for them and it's going to work out."

"You make it sound easy."

"Because if I told you how hard the fact that you're responsible for another human be is going to hit you, you'd panic even more." The man shrugged. "But you don't have any other options than to stick with it even when it's terrifying."

"Yeah, I know."

"Oh, and Jess? The good definitely outweighs the bad by a long shot."

"Thanks." He smiled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm gonna go. Thanks for the talk."

"You sure? We can…"

"I'm sure." He interrupted the man. "Bye."

"Bye."

Throwing his phone on the desk next to him, Jess looked around before standing up, walking to the nursery where Rory was sitting in the rocking chair, reading a book.

"Hey." She greeted, putting the book down and he rolled his eyes at his own stupidity.

"I freaked. And I called Luke."

"Freaked about how fast this is approaching?"

"I figured it was my turn to have a meltdown." He smirked, walking to her and pulling the foot rest closer, sitting on it. "You're actually calm for a change, the shoes were getting cold."

"What did Luke say?"

"Not much." He closed his eyes when her hand went in his hair, running through it softly. "I shouldn't have called him."

"Jess, you should talk to anyone you think can help. Or not talk. Or whatever you want."

"Yeah, I know. I just…he can't really tell me anything I don't already know."

"Yet you keep waiting for one day someone to give you the solution on how to be the world' greatest parent?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Let's say it's a feeling I know all too well."

"It scares me that I'm not going to be good enough." He whispered, his eyes still closed. "Admitting to you isn't great either."

"Now you're the crazy one." Rory smiled, grabbing the arms of the chair and pushing herself forward, close enough to kiss him. "You can tell me anything."

"I know. But it's not the easiest of thoughts to put in words."

"Listen to me." She kissed the tip of his nose, making him smile. "You can be afraid of anything you want. That you're going to drop her on her head or forget her in the car on a really hot day or read the wrong books to her and scar her for life or whatever. But you cannot think for even a second that you're not good enough for her."

"Rory…"

"No. You've taken care of both of us. You're sweet and gentle and kind and sure, you have your flaws, but you've never once not been here for me when I needed you, no matter how stupid the reason I needed you was. And you may not know that you're going to love her and be willing to do anything for her, but I do."

"I really wish loving her was as easy for me as it is for you."

"I have the advantage here, with all the hormones and crap."

"I don't not love her…I just…" He tried to explain but she stopped him again with a soft kiss.

"It's ok."

"You think?"

"I know." She took his hand in hers, squeezing it tightly. "Trust me."

"Why?"

"Don't I look trustworthy?" She giggled, remembering their first meeting. "Trust me because I know you better than anyone."

"When you put it like that."

"If you still feel like this after she's born, then we'll have to work on it. But right now? Don't worry."

"Fine." He gave in, finally smiling.

"And tell me things like these." She asked him, running her fingers over his cheek. "I know I talk a lot, but shut me up and tell me if anything scares you. Ever. Or makes you unhappy. I don't like the thought of you being unhappy. Just…talk to me about everything. It's what I'm here for."

"I try."

"I know. I don't want to imply you don't. Just reminding you that you can and should and I love you no matter what."

"Fine." He smirked, running his knuckles over her stomach. "I won't fail?"

"No. You won't."

"You're better at pep talks than Luke. Plus you'd look way better in the cheerleader outfit."

"Didn't we have this conversation before?"

"I can still dream." He laughed. "I still have no idea why the hell you have so much faith in me."

"It's easy, trust me."

"I highly doubt that."

"That's because you're an idiot."

"Rory, I know I didn't make it easy." He shrugged.

"I didn't either."

"But you're…well, you." Jess smirked, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You even had the pompoms out in high school and God knows I really didn't deserve them."

"Because I could always see that you had the potential to do really good things with your life. Plus, this time it was really easy because we were either going to make it or fail for good."

"And that made it easy?"

"I didn't want to not have you in my life, so I had to believe we were going to work. Which meant believing in you by extension. See? Easy."

"If you say so." He smirked, standing up. "I'm going to go grab a beer, you want me to make coffee?"

"I'll come with you, I'm about ready for leftovers. Plus I can sniff your beer and think back of the times when I used to be able to drink." She smiled, pulling herself up by grabbing the arms of the chair.

"How are you not pacing about this yet? Ten weeks ago, I woke up to you trying to pack in the middle of the night and now it's all so…oh, whatever?" Jess asked when they were in the kitchen, leaning against the fridge.

"She has a place to sleep, she has enough clothes to make it through the first weeks…"

"Weeks?"

"Maybe months."

"After you'll be done with the showers, the only thing left for us to buy will be her prom dress."

"You're exaggerating."

"Have you seen her closet?"

"Have you been around a baby in your life?" She countered, laughing. "They can go through fifty outfits in an hour."

"Oh, if only someone had invented clothes that can be worn again."

"Oh, if only you could resist the urge to be sarcastic for two minutes." Rory stuck out her tongue, ruffling his hair. "Go back to panicking, you're less annoying like that."

"Aw…" He fake pouted, making her laugh again. "I'm annoying?"

"Yes." She kissed him softly.

"Your mother's mean to me, kid." He flicked his thumb over her bump, smirking. "Still, all your babbling about clothes and furniture is unconvincing."

"Should have known better than to try it on you." Rory laughed. "I guess I've been feeling so fat and uncomfortable lately that it's starting to outweigh the terror of actually giving birth and having to take care of a baby."

"Sorry."

"It's not like her being born now would be a better alternative, but I really wish someone would have taken care of the bad parts by now. Seriously, thousand of years and no one has figured some way of making it fun?" She ranted before taking a deep breath. "Ugh. Sorry, I'm sure you must be bored of listening to me rant."

"Hey, listening is about the only thing I can do."

"Yeah, but it was your turn to need me, instead of the other way 'round."

Brushing his finger over her cheek, he smiled, taking a swig from his beer. "I prefer you ranting, it gives me something else to think about. And by the time you're done, I completely forget what it was that had me scared in the first place."

"Good to know my venting is useful to you." She kissed his palm, smiling before walking to the microwave and taking her plate out. "Seriously though, if you…"

"Please stop worrying. I've said it, now it's done. I don't need babying."

"But…"

"Ror." He cocked an eyebrow, smirking.

"Sorry." She smiled, shaking her head.

"'S ok."

Looking up from her plate after a couple of minutes, she smiles, watching him drink from his bottle. "What do you think we'd be doing right now if I hadn't gotten pregnant?"

"You're seriously in a hypothetical mood these days, aren't you?"

"Maybe."

"I assume we'd be planning a wedding."

"Really?"

"Your obsessiveness would have taken over." Jess smirked, shrugging. "It would have taken you months to make sure everything was perfect."

"Hey, I thought we did quite well."

"I'm not saying we didn't, just that it would have been way more time consuming."

"Yeah, you're right." She conceded.

"I have to say, I prefer it this way. Quick, easy, way less mess."

"Nice to know that you liked our wedding because it wad convenient."

"You know it was more than that."

"I know." Rory smiled. "I don't think we could have done much better even if we'd planned it more."

"Good to know you think that, I like a woman that's easy to please."

Rolling her eyes, she laughed, putting her fork down. "Someday, your daughter is going to ask you to explain one of those jokes."

"I'll just tell her it's a grown up thing, just like booze. Given that she's not having any boys near her until she's out of the house, she may just buy it."

"I hadn't heard this speech in a while."

"You never take me seriously." He sighed, chuckling.

"No, I don't." Rory giggled. "She's your daughter, I'm pretty sure that even if we did try to keep her from dating, she would find some sort of way of going about it. And I'd rather know."

"I have no idea what you're trying to imply by that whole 'my daughter' comment."

"I'll get Luke back on the phone, he's sure to have some things to bring to this conversation."

"Nah. He doesn't." He smirked, rubbing her knee. "Done with food?"

"Yeah."

"You want to go watch a movie on the couch? I'll rub your feet and you can moan at me about how horrible I am for getting you pregnant."

"You're a great husband, you know that?"

"Yes." He stood up, extending his arms and helping her up. "Go pick something, I'll clean this up."

"I take that back. You're not great, you're the best husband ever." Rory grinned, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Jess…" Rory drew out his name, kissing his cheek late Saturday afternoon.

"Hm?"

"If I asked for a favor that you're going to think is silly, are you going to call me crazy?"

"Very likely."

"But that would be mean." She laughed, ruffling his hair. "And you don't want to be mean to your loving wife, do you?"

"I do if she refers to herself as my loving wife." He smirked, leaning over to Rory and kissing her quickly. "What do you want?"

"I'm not asking if you're going to think I'm insane."

"I already think that, you can go ahead."

"Suppose so." Biting her lip, she rested her hands on her stomach. "Can we put the car seat in?"

"Why?"

"Because I want to."

"You realize how much mocking we'd have to face from Lorelai and Luke and hell, pretty much everyone?"

"Yes."

"And you still want to do this?"

"It's silly. I told you that at the beginning." She bit her lip, giggling. "I would just feel better if it was there. If she's born now, I really don't think either one of us would feel up to doing that while we had her in the hospital. If she waits like she's supposed to and I don't have to ground her for life, I want you in the hospital as much as possible as you driving home to get this set up would interfere with that."

"And why can't that be done in the next few weeks?"

"Because I want to do it now?" She smiled, kissing his cheek. "So?"

"We can do a test. We'll put it in to make sure we can do it and then take it out and you will not bring it up again until June."

"Dirty!"

"That's it, you've been spending too much time with Lorelai."

"Impossible."

"So…? What do you say? It's my final offer."

"Fine. Suppose it'll have to do."

"If you're agreeing only because you think I'm going to change my mind and leave it there…? Not gonna happen."

"Damn you."

"Though luck." Jess smirked. "I know you too well."

"Yeah, you do. It's nice." She replied with a smile.

"Give me a minute, I'll go grab the thing."

"Thank you."

"You'll be standing by the car grinning like a maniac?"

"Yes!" Rory giggled again before sauntering out of the room, leaving Jess looking after her, an amused look on his face before he headed for the stairs.