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"Happy Birthday, sleepyhead!"

Lorelai opened her eyes and groaned, gazing up at her daughter.

"Go away!"

"Come on, birthday girl!" Rory said, sitting beside her on the bed. "Time to get up! Doesn't someone want her presents?"

"Okay," Lorelai groaned, sitting up. "But do I get to keep the presents and still be forty-two?"

"Mom, you don't get to start aging backward until you're fifty, remember?"

"Well, we should have made it forty," Lorelai grumbled. "I don't feel like I'm in my forties."

"It's really not that old, Mom."

"What do you know?" Lorelai retorted. "You're a kid, you're still in your twenties!"

"When I'm forty you'll yell at me for complaining about that."

"When you're forty I'll be fifty-six," Lorelai said, eyes widening. "Now that's a scary thought. Okay, I'm up! I don't feel old anymore!"

"No?"

"Not as old as fifty-six," Lorelai said, getting out of bed. "That's when I'll start feeling like I'm really old."

"Don't tell Miss Patty that."

"Yeah, yeah!" Lorelai said, jumping up and down. "Is there cake for breakfast?"

"You definitely don't have to worry about being old," Rory said, rolling her eyes and Lorelai waved her hand impatiently.

"Is there cake?"

"Go see!"

Lorelai let out a whoop of excitement and Rory laughed, following her down the stairs. Lorelai let out another cry of joy when she saw the table. Her name was spelt out with chocolate cookies and in the centre was a large birthday cake.

"You are the best daughter ever," she said, kissing Rory's cheek. "Thank you, honey."

"Happy Birthday Mom."

Rory took one of the cookies her mother offered and laughed as Lorelai instantly replaced it and the one she ate from the box.

"What?" she shrugged. "I don't want to mess it up!"

"How long do you think you'll keep it like that for?"

"A week," Lorelai grinned and then asked, "Too ambitious?"

"A worthy goal."

"One I probably won't reach," Lorelai said, following her train of thought. "Okay, I still have some time before work. Did someone say something about presents?"

"Here."

Lorelai took the two wrapped boxes Rory gave her, delved into them and gasped.

"Oh, Rory!"

Rory gave her mother a silver bracelet and a new dress and she laughed as Lorelai hugged her tightly, squeezing the breath out of her.

"Thank you, I love it, I love it!"

"I couldn't tell," Rory teased. Lorelai beamed.

"I'm wearing it to the inn – the bracelet, I don't think the dress is really for work."

"Hey, it's classy!"

"Classy for a party, not the Dragonfly."

Lorelai fastened the bracelet around her wrist and kissed Rory. She cut into the cake, handing Rory a slice and shoving the one for herself into her mouth, scattering crumbs.

"I have to fly."

"Upgraded to wings?"

"Haha," Lorelai said, sticking her tongue out. "You made me run late."

"Hey, you the one who wanted to open your presents now."

"You taunted me! Still," Lorelai smirked, getting her purse, "there's still my party to look forward to, right?"

"Mom!"

"On Friday night, after Mom and Dad's? Huh? A big party in the town square and maybe some hunky guys Miss Patty called up?"

"Go," Rory said, pushing her towards the door. "It's disturbing hearing you talk about hunky guys, especially now that you're in your forties!"

Lorelai's mouth fell open.

"Mean!"

"Remember, you could be fifty-six," Rory retorted and Lorelai sang,

"No, because when I hit fifty I'll start aging backward! Bye!"

"Bye!" Rory laughed, waving and shutting the door. "Happy Birthday!"

The house felt strange once her mother had gone. The decorations Rory had rigged up the night before waved merrily in the breeze from the door, hanging expectantly. They looked cheerful but it made Rory feel sad to see them, the pink paper-chains and balloons bobbing around the door, when Lorelai had gone. Rory sat slowly down at the table and pensively ate a cookie. It felt strange being home for her mother's birthday. The last two years she'd been in California and missed it. She'd sent Lorelai a gift and talked to her on Skype but it was hardly the same, hardly good enough. Rory had felt guilty but Lorelai would remind her that they would see each other on Memorial Day, which was close enough. Rory remembered last year, sitting on the bridge at the lake, staring at her reflection as the parade sounded behind them. She stared and stared at the woman in the water, looking away only when Lorelai asked if everything was okay. Rory smiled, said she was just thinking, but not really what was bothering her. The Rory in the water looked lost, alone, and it wasn't the distortion of reflection.

The clock ticked and Rory jumped, half the cookie still in her hand. A glance at the clock showed she would be running late too if she didn't hurry and Rory shoved the rest of the cookie in her mouth, grabbed her jacket and hurried out. It was only when she was halfway to work that she realised she'd forgotten to fix the pattern.

The rest of the week passed pleasantly. Rory gave Lorelai little birthday gifts every day, Luke extra fries and dessert, and though Lorelai complained that they were spoiling her she certainly didn't mind. On Friday they went to Emily and Richard's and, as per course, Lorelai was served a large cake with candles which she was not allowed to blow out.

"When was the last time you got to?" Rory asked, laughing and Lorelai said,

"Sixteen."

Her tone was bright but her eyes looked sad for a moment. Richard coughed and Emily said loudly,

"You're certainly not sixteen now, Lorelai, though your behaviour displays the opposite."

"What a nice birthday wish, Mom!"

"Oh, stop it," Emily huffed. "I merely think it's ridiculous to want to blow out your candles like a child every year. Why, if I wanted to do that, I'd be blowing out –"

She stopped abruptly and Lorelai needled,

"How many, Mother?"

"You can do the math," Emily retorted. "Anyway, it's not my birthday. Let's go into the living room for drinks and gifts, hm?"

"I'll drink to that!"

They filed into the living room and settled on the couch. Richard handed Lorelai an envelope and Emily a wrapped gift.

"Happy Birthday, Lorelai."

Lorelai opened the gift first, or rather, ripped into it. She tore away the paper, much to Emily's disgust, to reveal a new set of coffee cups and small china jug.

"Oh Mom, thank you!"

"I thought you could use a teaset of taste," Emily commented. "Heaven knows you could use one. You have Charlie's Angels plates and Powerpuff Girls glasses!"

"How do you know about the Powerpuff Girls?" Lorelai laughed. "Thank you, Mom, I love it."

"You're welcome," Emily said, sounding touched as her daughter went over to kiss her. "There's a voucher in there, too."

"There is?"

Lorelai lifted the coffee cups to see a small envelope. Inside was a voucher for an expensive clothes store in Hartford.

"Oh, Mom, thank you!"

"It's from both of us."

"Well, thank you both," Lorelai said. "I'm buying Jimmy Choos with them!"

"Which I dare say you'll spill coffee over," Emily remarked, but she smiled all the same. "Happy Birthday, dear."

Lorelai was still admiring the cups when Rory nudged her, pointing at the envelope beside her.

"Right!" Lorelai exclaimed, putting the box down. "What's this?"

"This is from me," Richard told her. "A little extra something."

Lorelai opened the envelope and gasped.

"Oh, Dad, that's way too much!"

Rory looked over and Lorelai showed her a cheque for three hundred dollars.

"Nonsense. You can use the money."

"Dad, I'm not the one going travelling," Lorelai said. She laughed but her voice was serious as she said, "It's too much for someone who isn't going to Fez."

"It absolutely isn't. Treat yourself to something special."

Lorelai went over and hugged him.

"Thank you, Daddy."

"Yes, well," Richard said, sounding awkward but pleased as he patted his daughter's back. "I invested in your name the day you were born and see no reason to stop now. Happy Birthday."

Lorelai hugged him tightly and they broke away only when the maid came in with slices of cake.

"Well," Emily said, as they started to eat. "It makes a wonderful change, having both my girls here for Lorelai's birthday. I've missed this."

"Me too," Rory said quietly. She felt unable to say anything else but smiled as she reached her mother's eyes, shining with happiness.

"It's been the best birthday," Lorelai said. "Or birthday week, I should say."

"Birthday week," Emily sighed. "You really do act like you're sixteen, Lorelai!"

"Hey, it's no bad thing, Mom."

"Eat your cake."

Lorelai bent over, digging in with her fork. She snuck an arm around her daughter's shoulders and they sent each other a secret smile.

They left a little later, Lorelai putting her foot on the pedal harder than necessary.

"Slow down, Mom!"

"No, we stayed too late!" Lorelai exclaimed. "We're going to miss my party!"

She looked at Rory who refused to give an answer.

"There's a party, right?"

"Just drive!"

"There is a party!" Lorelai said gleefully and, ignoring her daughter's protests, drove even faster.

They reached Stars Hollow ten minutes earlier than usual and Rory didn't say anything when her mother knowingly parked in town rather than by their house. Lorelai looped an arm around her and they walked towards the square in silence.

"How about my father, huh?" Lorelai sighed. "Giving me that cheque!"

"It was nice of him."

"It was more than nice!" Lorelai exclaimed. "And Mom – I still can't believe she knows about the Powerpuff girls."

"I had a calendar of it once, remember?" Rory said. "I showed it to her when she came to visit us at the inn."

"That's right," Lorelai said fondly. "How could I forget that phase? And it was such a neat calendar, too. All your commitments written out –"

"Stop it!"

"Two o'clock, Lane's. Three o'clock, library. Four o'clock, TV time. A very well-organised schedule for a fourteen-year-old."

"You're just jealous because you didn't have one."

"I had a Charlie's Angel calendar! How could you compete with that?"

Rory rolled her eyes and Lorelai squeezed her shoulder.

"It's been the best birthday, babe."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I hope you like this," Rory smiled. She stopped as Lorelai looked up and gasped, staring at the town square.

"Oh, Rory!"

The town square was alight, sparkling with fairy lights and filled with food and music. Miss Patty had a troupe of small girls tap-dancing in the gazebo and Lorelai laughed out loud.

"Are they dancing to Hungry Like the Wolf?!"

"Hey, I said I wanted songs from all your favourite bands. Didn't you love Duran Duran?"

"Didn't I? I still do! Rory, this is awesome!"

"Happy Birthday, Mom."

Lorelai kissed her cheek.

"Thank you, sweets. It's better than I ever imagined."

"Sorry about the lack of hunky guys," Rory teased. "There was a shortage."

"Hey, we can't have everything in life," Lorelai teased. "This is better. Let's go grab some cake!"

Two hours later and the party was in full swing. Lorelai had made a thank-you speech, gotten the little girls to dance to Duran Duran again and attempted to join in herself before almost falling over. After that she was satisfied with simply observing the dancing and eating the endless array of food Sookie had prepared. Her and Lane's kids ran endlessly around the square, Mrs Kim pushing Nico in a stroller, as Lane, Zach and Brian played Lorelai a set of songs from the year she was sixteen. Rory went over to them when they finished and gave Lane a hug.

"That was awesome!"

"Hep Alien plays again!" Lane said joyfully, before adding more soberly, "for one night at least."

"It was great, Lane."

"This is great," Lane said, gesturing around at the party. "Lorelai hasn't had a party like this in years."

"She deserves one. I missed the last two."

"Rory."

"I'm okay," Rory insisted. "Really."

"Are you sure it wasn't awful, going back to California?" Lane asked in concern. "You haven't talked about it much."

Rory shrugged. She hadn't talked about it much to anyone, not even Lorelai.

"There isn't a lot to tell."

"Rory!"

"I went to say goodbye to Logan," she said. "That's all it was. Really. I'm fine."

Lane opened her mouth to say more but got up after seeing Mrs Kim gesturing for her to come over.

"Mama needs me, or Nico does," she sighed. "I might head off soon."

"Lane, you should stay!"

"I have to put the kids to bed," Lane said sadly. "Thanks for tonight, Rory. It was wonderful."

She hugged her friend again and hurried off. Rory watched her go before wandering over to the tables, sagging with the weight of food. She idly put a pastry in her mouth, not noticing what she chose, when she looked up and almost choked. Jess was standing in the corner, at the edge of the celebrations, and Rory had to look twice. Heart thumping, she walked slowly over to him. Jess was dressed in a T-shirt and black pants for the warm weather and shyly she said,

"Hey."

"Hey yourself," Jess said. "You look nice."

"Oh – thanks."

Rory was wearing a light blue dress, smart enough for the Gilmores but casual enough for the party. The two looked at each other awkwardly for a moment and Jess said,

"Luke invited me."

"He did?"

"Yeah," Jess said, scratching behind his ear. "Said you'd arranged a party for Lorelai and I should come."

"Oh." Rory's mouth dried up and Jess smiled.

"It's very impressive."

"Not really."

"Not really? If anyone drove past they'd think there was a dedication to the eighties going on, especially seeing as there's kids dressed like they're in Flashdance."

Rory couldn't help laughing and Jess said more seriously,

"It's really great, Rory. I don't think anyone else could pull it off."

"Lorelai could."

"Then you must get it from her."

"I must, huh?"

The two smiled and looked back at the party. Luke and Lorelai were standing by the gazebo, away from everyone else, and starting to kiss.

"So that happened," Rory said, stating the obvious, and Jess chuckled.

"I heard about that. Does it seem weird to you?"

"No," Rory said staunchly, and, seeing her mother kiss again, "a little. Not really used to that. I'm glad though. She and Luke belong together, don't you think?"

Jess nodded but didn't say anything and Rory smiled shyly at him.

"Hey," he said, taking her hand. "Want to go for a walk?"

Rory nodded and they strolled silently away from the party and out into town, onto the bridge by the lake. The sounds of celebration were more distant now. They looked at each other, Jess's eyes bright in the moonlight and Rory swallowed.

"So how's Philadelphia?"

"It's good," Jess said. "Kind of feels weird not living here anymore. I keep thinking I'll head back to my apartment after this and then I remember it's not there anymore."

"it feels weird to me too," Rory confessed. Jess nodded and said,

"Luke told me you went to California."

"Really?"

Jess nodded and Rory's words faded again. She sat on the bridge, her feet nearly touching the water, and Jess sat beside her, the water dark in the moonlight. Rory was reminded of the night of the dance marathon, where Jess had found her staring into the water. Her throat felt tight.

"Are you okay?" Jess asked. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine," Rory said, quickly looking up. "I am, I'm not just saying that."

Jess looked at her and asked,

"Why did you go there?"

"I went to see Logan," Rory said simply. "I didn't know what I wanted to say, when I got on the plane, but I said what I needed. I told him it was done, all of it, that it would never have worked out. He took back his wedding ring."

Jess reached her eyes and held her gaze for a moment.

"You're okay," he said eventually. It was a statement, not a question, and Rory nodded.

"I feel strange inside," she said. "I feel...happy's not the right word. I don't feel happy. I feel good that I've said it, but at the same time...it's all really over. And I want it to be, but I'm still sad. I'm sad I'm not sad anymore. How's that for a paradox?"

"That's not a paradox," Jess said quietly. Rory sighed and looked out over the lake.

"How was your trip?" he asked. "Beyond the whole great time, wish you were here line on the postcard."

Rory giggled.

"I didn't say wish you were here."

"Well, the general sentiment," Jess grinned. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes," Rory said seriously. "It was more wonderful than I ever imagined."

"Good," Jess said. "That's...that's good."

Rory looked at him. She wondered about telling him about Alex but then Jess reached for her hand.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too," Rory said. Their fingers laced together. She opened her mouth to say something else, something of worth, but the words didn't come. Jess was looking at her, his hair soft in the moonlight and before she knew what she was doing Rory leaned over and kissed him.

Jess kissed her back, gently at first. They pulled away, looked into each other's eyes, and then kissed more fervently, reacquainting themselves. Jess pulled Rory closer to him and she breathed in his scent. She knew it, he would always be familiar to her despite the passage of time and she sucked in her breath as Jess pulled away, sorry to have stopped.

"Jess –"

"Rory."

"Jess, I –"

"Rory," Jess said again. He held her hand in gentle strength and gazed at her. "I love you."

Rory stared at him, his mouth still warm in hers. She struggled to say something.

"I..."

"You don't need to say anything," Jess said. "You don't have to tell me you do."

"I kissed someone else," Rory said, surprising herself with the admittance. "In Greece."

Jess looked at her for a moment and then said quietly,

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't change anything, for me."

Rory bit her lip. She wanted to say something, anything, and Jess slowly got to his feet.

"I should head back," he said. "It's getting late. Tell your mom Happy Birthday from me."

"Jess! Wait!"

Rory struggled to her feet and Jess stopped, turning around.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked. "I'll get it if you are."

"I'm not mad. I can't say it to you," she said. "But it means a lot, to me."

"I don't want you to say it back," Jess said. "I mean, I do, but I don't need you to. I don't expect you to. I wasn't going to say it but I...I wound up saying it. I love you, Rory."

Rory smiled but didn't say a word. Jess made to go and she reached up and haltingly kissed him, the mosquitoes humming in the air around them.

"Goodnight, Jess."

"Goodnight, Rory."