Jess covered his ears at the squeals that came from Rory beside him as they saw Lorelai come through the gate, he watched her run towards her and they collided strongly both of them tumbling to the floor, he was concerned until he saw then both laughing wildly while still sat there. Luke walked straight past them and to his side. He allowed his uncle to give him a short hug as a hello, he had never seen him smile so broadly, he was glad the trip had gone down so well. They looked back to see the girls had finally got off the floor and were making their way towards them.

"Ah, my hero!" He sighed loudly as Lorelai grabbed him into a hug of her own. "Seriously great present, the best present."

"I'm glad you enjoyed. Both of you, you look really happy." He had managed to work himself out of Lorelai's arms as he spoke.

"Very happy." Luke just nodded as Lorelai answered him.

"Good, let's go get the piles of luggage you took." He walked with Luke as the girl fell into pace behind them.

"I was right, she didn't use half of what she took, there's one bag we didn't even open the whole time we were away." He heard Lorelai laugh from behind them.

It wasn't long until they were all back in the car and on the way back to Stars Hollow.

"So, how was your alone time with Jess, or do I not want to know?" Rory laughed as her mum asked the question.

"Mum, seriously!" Her mum laughed back at her.

"Well, the two of you, having the whole house to yourself for four days."

"Mum, I'm so not having this conversation with you." Her mum just laughed at her as she blushed, it was cut short as the guys returned from the kitchen.

"Do I even want to know?" Jess sounded confused as he sat next to her.

"No you don't." He laughed at her responce.

They spent the evening talking about the Paris trip, all the things they could share with the present company anyway. Rory smiled as she listened to all the stories, both of them seemed to have really enjoyed their trip. When both Luke and Lorelai started yawning widely it was time to turn in for the night.

"How long are you guys staying here?" Lorelai directed the question towards Jess.

"We leave Monday morning, so you've got a few days of us left. Oh, and Liz wants us all over for dinner one night." He laughed as he saw the look that came onto Luke's face at that.

"We are wanted at the grandparents for Friday night dinner too." The addition from Rory made Lorelai pull a similar face. "Welcome home!" Jess laughed out loud then and heard Rory join in.

"We should get to bed before you fall asleep mid sentence." Luke directed his statement towards Lorelai who nodded slowly, already looking like she was falling asleep already.

Jess stood up then and took Rory's hand as she stood up with him. She hugged her mum and Luke goodnight while keeping hold of his hand, she heard him laugh at the awkwardness of the transaction. Luke saw them out of the house, he offered both of them the apartment above the diner for the next few days and they had gratefully taken him up on it.

"What time are we meeting your mum today?" It was early morning when Jess had felt Rory stir beside him.

"Not until this afternoon, they needed the sleep."

"What's the plan?" He felt Rory laugh as she still lay against him.

"I don't think there is any plan."

"Sounds about right."

"They seem really happy, don't they?"

"Yeah, they do. They finally got there, took them long enough." He felt her laugh again.

"I didn't really realise it at the time, but it was a long time in the making for them two."

"How do you mean?" He hadn't heard much about their relationship from before he knew them.

"All through my childhood he was there, he was the one she call whenever she needed someone. She could get him to do anything, things he would never do for anyone else. Then I just saw him a close friend, someone we could both depend on completely. Looking back on all the interactions now though, there was always something there."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the way they look at each other. I should have seen it coming for years."

"I saw it the first day I met your mum."

"You did not!"

"I did, I was a jerk about it but ask her. I accused her of sleeping with him."

"You're kidding?"

"I genuinly thought they had something going on, she was telling me how great he was and how lucky I was to have him in my life. Like I said, I was a complete jerk to her about it, but I saw something there."

"I guess it was around that time that I started to notice things between them, but I never really put the pieces together."

"Probably because both of them were adament there was nothing there." She laughed at him again then and he saw her nod her head, he heard a slight grumble coming from her stomach. "Time to get you fed."

"So, when are you dragging us to Liz's?" Luke came to join Jess at his table at the diner.

"She says Saturday night is best for her." Jess answered him. "It shouldn't be so bad."

"No, I'm sure the Gilmore dinner will be worse for us all, just have to convince her to let me cook." He heard Jess laugh at him then. "Where are the girls?"

"Something about cake."

"Cake?"

"Yeah, Rory saw a sign at Weston's about some new cake, she grabbed Lorelai and swooped her off to get some. She said they would bring some back for us."

"That's likely." Jess laughed again then and it was cut short by the girls coming into the diner. "Hey, sit. Lunch."

"Wow, the romance is already dead. Less than a week married and we are down to single word sentences." Both Rory and Jess laughed at the interaction between them.

"I brought you cake." Rory exclaimed to him as she sat down next to him, Lorelai was still standing and talking.

"Lunch first?" She looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Fine. Please sit down so I can bring you lunch for you to eat?" Both of them looked back up at the sudden exclamation from Luke, Lorelai was smiling widely as she sat down opposite Rory. "She's crazy." Rory laughed as Luke turned to her.

"Oh I know."

Luke went to the counter to grab the food and was bringing it back when he saw both of the girls opening the boxes of cake they had brought back. In a swift motion he had taken the cake from Lorelai and replaced it with her burger.

"Hey!"

"You'll get it back. I know you've already had at least one piece, burger next." She pouted but picked up her burger. He noticed Jess was having no luck getting Rory to do the same, her burger being neglected while she ate the cake.

"I thought this was for me?"

"What's yours is mine." The group laughed loudly at Rory's statement and Jess's attempt to get a spoonful of the cake.

The next few days went by too quickly for Rory's liking and she noticed Jess getting more anxious the closer it got to Friday. She knew how much she hated going to her grandparents and with dinner with Liz being the night after, tensions were running high. Luke had managed to talk Liz into letting him do the cooking but it had taken many loud phone calls.

"She's insane, now she knows I'm cooking she wants a three course gourmet meal. Apparently she was going to cook it all, but since I offered..."

"I'm sorry hun. Just cook whatever you want, it'll be great." Lorelai attempted to cheer him up after the last phone call.

"Yeah. She doesn't think TJ will be there, some bust up between them."

"That can't be good."

"Could be an eventful evening. Tonight won't be much better."

"My dad is really start to like you and Jess for that matter."

"It's your mum, she can't stand either of us."

"She'll come round." She heard him laugh then. "Ok, no she won't but she will survive."