xi

Rory halted at the door suddenly. She didn't move her head, didn't turn around. Her hands lay limply at her sides, her right hand clutching the straps of her sandals. She heard a second rustle behind her, and sighed.

"Please," she croaked, but her voice failed her any further. She lowered her head and rubbed her brow with a shaking hand.

Her threw her purse to her and turned back into the shadows, twisting up the stairs.

"I'm sorry," she said. Her voice shook with heightening panic, halting him. "I didn't mean for this. I need-"

"What?" he asked sharply, his sudden anger slicing through the room. "What can you possibly need? What has to change?"

She swallowed heavily. "I need time."

"Time?" he barked. "Is that a joke?"

She opened her mouth and he waved his hand to stop her. "You know what, just go. Forget I interrupted your running away. I shouldn't be surprised. It's what you do."

"That's not fair," she protested. "You-"

"I stopped running a long time ago, Rory."

He stormed up the stairs, leaving her standing at the door of the inn, moonlight streaming through the door behind her.

xii

April twirled around in her pink dress. One of the straps fell off the top, and she hastened to grab it before half the torso of her dress went with it.

"Hmmm," Lorelai mused. "I think it needs some more work."

April sighed. "I wish I wasn't so flat-chested."

"Don't worry, hun," Lorelai said with a mouthful of pins. "They'll turn up when you least expect it."

She pinned up the hem of the dress and shortened the straps. "Ok, off with that," she pointed at the dress finally, "and be careful not to rip anything or lose any pins."

April dashed off into Rory's room just as Rory was leaving it. Rory handed her mother her pinned dress and flopped down on the couch. "Watch the pin cushion," Lorelai said distractedly, as she poked Sookie with a needle.

Rory shot up almost as fast as she had sat down. She glared at her mother's back and sat down in the armchair instead. She opened Dead Souls as Lorelai worked on April's hem.

"What's on your mind?" Rory heard her say to April, far in the distance as she read about Chichikov working as a customs officer.

A few pages later, and only a few more words has penetrated her little bubble of consciousness. "Baby," April said. "Eleven."

"Behaved," Lorelai said. "Early."

Rory paid no heed to anything until she was hit in the face with a pillow. "Can you hear me now?"

"What?" she asked dumbly.

"April wants to know if she can call you for help the day after the wedding, if needs be. I'll be in Mexico by then." Lorelai made a face.

"Sure," Rory rubbed her head. "Do you need help with your homework?"

"April's practicing for motherhood."

"What?"

"Liz asked me to babysit," April explained.

"You couldn't do a worse job than TJ and Liz, but ok."

"That's what I just said!" Lorelai said exasperatedly.

xiii

Rory was late to the rehearsal dinner because she had an interview with Johnson Smith for a position at the New Haven Register. Smith had told her in no uncertain terms that he was a busy man who could not meet her until 8pm and even then he only had fifteen minutes to spare.

Now she slipped into the Inn through the back door and changed quickly in the staff bathroom. She wore a little navy dress, uncomfortably tight after a rushed dinner, with strappy sandals that did not feel comfortable even after three minutes. She was glad she had not had to attend the whole rehearsal in this ensemble. Her hair was mussed and windswept, but she did not have a brush, so she settled for raking her hands through it to tame the frizz and introduce some shape.

When she emerged from the bathroom, she stashed her bags in a broom cupboard and made her way through the kitchen to the dining room. That, at least, had been her intention. Instead, she was halted in the kitchen by a familiar presence.

"I should have guessed I would find you here." She leaned against the doorframe and smiled.

Jess was sitting on the counter beside the refrigerator, drinking a beer and looking very much like a man in hiding. He had pulled his feet up on the counter as well and rested his hand on his knee. At the sound of her voice, he smirked a little and turned around to look at her.

"I've lasted-" he checked his watch, "-two hours and forty five minutes. I'd call that a success."

The staff had been ordered home by Lorelai, even though there was lots of cleaning to do and even more to prepare for tomorrow. The kitchen was littered with dirty plates and half-prepared dishes.

"It sounds busy out there," she noted, clearing the counter to pull herself up beside him.

"They are working their way through the alphabet of show tunes. I don't know what this is, but I think I heard Cabaret about twenty minutes ago." As he was talking, he reached his left hand back to open the refrigerator and hand her a cold beer.

She twisted it open and smashed it to her mouth, relishing the cool refreshment after a hectic few hours. She didn't care that her lipstick was being smeared across her face.

"How was your interview?"

"Don't wanna talk about it," she mumbled with her mouth still attached to the beer bottle. The sound echoed strangely through the glass.

He shrugged sympathetically.

"I can't believe my Grandma set this up," she said, partly to change the subject. "I expected something more…"

"Stuffy?"

"I was going to say restrained, but yes, that's the general gist."

Jess leaned towards her and whispered in her ear conspiratorially, "There may have been an incident earlier. Don't believe the rumours, though." His breath tickled the hairs on her neck.

She swallowed a big mouthful of beer. "I don't think I want to know. Hey," she reached over suddenly. "You've got some glitter on your shirt."

Jess sighed and brushed it off. "It's everywhere. I've taken about ten showers but it doesn't budge."

"The trick is to rub your skin with oil," Rory offered, and then regretted saying it when Jess raised an eyebrow.

"The stripper tell you that?"

"I'm doing an interview with him," Rory shook her head a little to divest her brain of any imagery it was playing on a loop in her head and sat up straighter. "He's very interesting. He has a lot of great advice. The glitter one is from going to Miss Patty's plays though. The audience always gets covered in confetti, or glitter or something."

"Sounds like hell," Jess said, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

Rory listened to the music in the background, trying to discern who was singing.

"Liz talked to me," Jess said finally. He looked even more uncomfortable than he usually did when talking about his mother. "She wanted me to talk to you about working for Truncheon."

Rory buried her head in her hands. "Oh, God! I told her not to."

"I assumed," he reassured her. "Look, though…if you are really stuck…"

"Jess, stop." She raised her hands awkwardly. "It's unfathomable."

He shifted uncomfortably. "Hear me out. We have this e-zine that comes out once a month. You know, local talent, book reviews, stirring in-depth articles on the state of society. We'd be happy to publish a column, if you wanted. You wouldn't have to come to Philadelphia or anything. You could write whatever you wanted. The pay would be peanuts, but it could be something to add to your portfolio."

"I'll think about it," she promised, although they both knew she would say no.

The door opened and Luke arrived in a flurry of panic. "There you are," he pointed at Rory. "Your mother is looking everywhere for you."

"That's my cue," Rory smiled, and slipped off the counter. She handed the bottle of beer to Luke, knowing her grandmother would have a fit if she saw her. "Is my lipstick smeared?"

Luke and Jess shrugged. "It just looks like your lips," Luke said.

"It's the same colour as my lips, for a natural look."

"I don't understand," the two men said together, looking at her blankly.

"Never mind," she said, "Grandma will tell me straight away if I'm a mess."

She left to join the party, finding her mother quickly among the crowd. Lorelai was sitting on the sofa, smiling contentedly as she watched Kirk and Lulu dancing in the middle of the room with Miss Patty and a reluctant Taylor. She smiled even more brightly when she saw Rory.

"You look happy," Rory said to her as she hugged her, and plopped down beside her.

"I am," Lorelai sighed, and pulled Rory over to her. "I am also a little bit drunk."

"I guessed," Rory grinned. "How was the rehearsal? Did it go off without a hitch?"

"It was one hitch after another," Lorelai laughed. "April tripped over her own feet and TJ had to pick her up off the ground. Then Doula had a tantrum. And of course there was the fact that every man there had a raging hangover."

"Luke looks a little peaky," Rory agreed. "Do you think they enjoyed themselves?"

"They're a lot quieter about their strippers than we are, so it's hard to tell."

"I think it was very tame. Where are your parents?"

"Self-medicating, I think. I may have changed my mind about the type of party I wanted to have five minutes after it started. Emily is not pleased. Hey, how was your interview?"

"Terrible," Rory said. "He was rude and self-important and did not want to be there."

"I'm sorry," Lorelai patted her hand. "Next time."

"Next time," Rory said for the fourth time that month.

xiv

"I don't think we need to go through this again, Mom."

"Lorelai, we have to be sure. Walk around the room one more time, Rory."

Rory circled the room one more time, trying to look graceful and not like she was going to go nuts, like Lorelai currently did.

"Stop slouching. Why are you slouching?"

"Because she is tired, Mom. Can't we just agree that the dress fits fine, moves fine, twirls fine, and whatever else you want it to do and we can have dinner?"

Emily looked at her sharply. "Oh, all right. If you don't care, why should I?"

"I have been waiting for you to utter those words my entire life!"

"I'll check the food," Emily said, ignoring her.

When she had left, the two Lorelais collapsed on the sofa in a heap.

"I wish I were dead," Lorelai moaned.

"I wish I were dead," Rory whined.

"Why do we drink? What is the point?"

"Why did you schedule this, or anything, for the day after your bachelorette party?"

"I couldn't think of a good excuse. If she found out about the party, she'd have wanted to come."

"You could have called this morning and invented an emergency."

"Rory," Lorelai raised her head from her hands. "I was unconscious for most of the morning and a good portion of the afternoon. You were the one swanning around and banging doors."

"I banged on one door, accidentally. And I couldn't sleep for more than a half hour at a time. I was way too sick. What's she cooking anyway? It smells like fish."

"Ugh," Lorelai groaned and almost retched.

Divine Intervention struck with her phone suddenly ringing. "Lorelai speaking," she croaked into the phone as Emily re-emerged from the kitchen. "Luke? Luke, slow down. What's wrong? I'll be right there." She snapped her phone shut and jumped to her feet.

"What's happening?" Rory asked.

"I don't know. Luke's in a complete panic. We'd better go. Sorry, Mom."

"But…" Emily tried to protest as she followed them to the hall.

"It was great to see you, Grandma."

"But…"

"We'll see you for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow."

"I…"

"See ya!"

xv

"Wild. Wild?"

"Yes. Haven't you been listening?"

"Let me get this straight. You called me in a blind panic, and made me leave dinner with my mother, because you are afraid that your bachelor party will be too wild?"

"Jess has this glint in his eye today. I know what that look means! And I know TJ too; he's probably in on it. Whatever happens, your father is going to have a heart attack at some point. It's not too late to cancel, is it?"

"Yes."

"Damn."

"Luke?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

xvi

"Ok," Reverend Skinner said, "April, just pick yourself up and keep going." His words were lost, however, in the din.

TJ came to April's aid, just as the organ kicked up again.

"No, no, no," Reverend Skinner shouted, "not yet!"

He put his head in his hands and sighed magnificently. "Okay, I think we should start that part again. Yes, Kirk?"

Kirk had raised his hand. Lorelai and Luke both looked at him in shock. "Kirk, what the hell?" Lorelai asked. "You aren't in the bridal party. What are you doing here?"

"I'm the photographer," Kirk said, as if any of this made sense. "I am here to observe." He turned to address the Reverend directly. "I'd like your time for a few moments please, I have some questions on the lighting arrangements."

"Did you do this?" Lorelai asked Luke, who had his head in his hands.

"Oh, God, maybe. I can't remember." He turned to the front pew of the church, where Jess was reading. "JESS," he called over. "DID I SAY THAT KIRK-"

"YEP," Jess shouted back, before he could finish. He did not even raise his eyes from The Subterraneans.

"Goddamit!" Luke sighed. "Were we supposed to have a real photographer?"

"My mother has someone lined up," Lorelai sighed. She looked over to Kirk, who had brought his own lamps. How had she not noticed him before? She gave up. "Let him do it, why the hell not? It will keep him occupied. He can do the candid shots, or something."

"I think I broke my ankle," April called out. She was still standing in the centre of the aisle.

"It looks real bad," TJ, who had caught her, shouted. "Look at that, I've never seen anything that colour before. Is it more of a blue or purple do you think?"

"It's swelling up pretty bad," Liz agreed, moving over to inspect her foot. The movement disrupted Doula, who had been playing contentedly. She let out an earth-shattering wail, kicking her feet wildly. Around the church, people clapped their hands over their ears.

Luke looked as though he might cry.

Xvii

It transpired that Doula was a terribly fussy baby, and poor April had a lot of trouble pacifying her. She called Rory an hour and a half into the evening, almost in tears herself. Doula just could not be placated, either through feeding or changing or entertaining. Rory was as much at a loss as to how to deal with her as April was, though she tried to put on a brave face for April's sake. She was already terrified she would drop her on her head or something.

"Who would have thought that anyone would cry this much at missing TJ," Rory tried to joke, as she paced up and down the room with the crying baby in her hands. She was getting tired, shifting the baby from one hip to the other and bobbing up and down in a jerky attempt to rock her.

"I broke her," April cried. She looked a little teary, Rory realised, and it only caused her to panic a little further. This was not how she wanted to spend her hangover. She wanted to be in bed, curled up and listening to Morrissey and relishing in the particular paranoia that only alcohol and doing something ill-advised with your ex-boyfriend could cause.

"Don't be silly," she tried to reassure the teenager, who was sniffling into her sleeve. "This is what babies do. We just need to ride it out."

An hour later, she was getting a little teary herself. She tried to call her mother, who was ostensibly enjoying her honeymoon and did not pick up. She tried to call Liz and TJ, but got their voicemail. They would not be back until eleven, she knew. That was two hours away. And that was a pretty optimistic estimate, because they were always late for everything.

Just when she got to the point where she thought that she could not bear it, the last person she wanted to see opened the front door.

Jess was wearing sweats and no shoes, only socks. He had evidently driven from Luke's without bothering with shoes or anything so sensible. He had the distinct appearance of one who had recently woken up, his hair sticking out at strange angles and sleepiness in his eyes.

"Jess!" April squealed, and hugged him tightly, clearly surprising him. "Please help! She won't stop crying. I've tried everything, I swear I changed her and fed her and sang to her and rocked her and Rory did the same and it's been hours and I'm really sorry, I wanted to do it but I can't, kids hate me-"

"Whoa," Jess raised a hand and April quietened, breathing heavily. "One word at a time please."

He looked to Rory for the first time, who tried to look at anything but him. She rocked the baby awkwardly. Doula responded by raising her voice to the highest volume yet.

Jess winced. "She's fine, she's been like this for a few days."

"She has?" April asked, inappropriately happy to hear that a baby was ill.

"Liz thinks she might be coming down with something. Of course she didn't tell you," he muttered, mostly to himself. "That would be the responsible, sensible thing to do."

He took Doula from Rory without making contact with her, either physical or eye contact, and took the baby to the kitchen. "Is she worse when lying down or sitting?" he asked.

"Uh, lying down, I think," Rory said. If April noticed her flaming cheeks, she did not say.

"Probably an ear infection. She'll be fine, I'll take it from here."

"Aren't you writing?" April asked. "Liz said I wasn't to disturb you."

"Liz isn't allowed to disturb me," Jess said. "But you're ok."

"Shouldn't we get a doctor?" Rory asked, voice high and neck flushed. "Doesn't she need medicine?"

"She doesn't even have a fever," Jess said to April. "I'll give her some baby aspirin and monitor her, but it'll probably clear up on its own."

Already Doula seemed a little calmer, Rory noted with irrational irritation. She was curled up into Jess as he navigated the kitchen with one hand, the other hand propping up her bottom. Though her cheeks were red, she was curling her legs against his side comfortably. Jess found the baby aspirin, and showed April how to give it to her, making the teenager feel ten times more capable. Then, he shooed them away, telling them to go home.

"Don't you need to work?" Rory asked him. He ignored her, banging at the cupboard door. "Jess?"

Rory did not think that she had ever failed to get a reaction from Jess, but it seemed that she had crossed a new line with him. She felt like crying. "Jess," she said, very quietly, but at that moment, Jess turned to her with an impassive expression. He hoisted the baby further up his hip and placed a gentle hand on April's head, a gesture that reminded her of Luke. Then he looked at Rory briefly, eyes blank, and walked out of the room.

"Well," April said when the door clicked behind them. "What the hell did you do?"

Xviii

"Didn't she look beautiful?" the women were saying, hands clasped and eyes bright.

"It was nice," the men grudgingly agreed.

"Their first dance, swoon!" Miss Patty said.

Jess stuffed a bread roll in his mouth when they looked to him expectantly. He was supposed to comment, he knew. It was expected of him to say something. "Nice food," he said thickly, swallowing in one large gulp and nearly gagging.

"Hear, hear," Jackson said, looking to Sookie, who was preparing to dart out of her seat at any moment to supervise the next course.

Everyone raised their glasses in a toast, and Jess rolled his eyes.