A/N: Last chapter guys. And it's my longest one yet. Let's do this!

Warning... mild birthing description ahead. In case you get squeamish about that stuff...

Eight and a Half

By Imagine Backstory

Chapter Thirty - Endings & Beginnings

Jess

It was crowded as hell, but for once I didn't mind it. Our Brownstone's small size made it easy to feel full when too many people were crammed inside, especially when it was a crowd as lively and loud as the Gilmore/Danes clan.

Rory's dude date was set for a week after her thirtieth birthday, so we couldn't chance a trip out to Stars Hollow to celebrate. So, naturally, everyone came to New York for the party. Lorelai, Luke and Emerson had been the first to arrive, followed swiftly by Rory's grandparents. Liz, TJ and Doula practically invited themselves, and April showed up with Mark because she'd happened to be in town for a weekend getaway. So, yeah. We had a full house.

Furnishing the place hadn't been a problem; in fact, between mine and Rory's stuff, we'd had a hard time deciding what would stay and what we'd have to give away. We'd ended up keeping most of Rory's stuff, since stylistically it matched the house a bit more, and I'd given the rest of my stuff to Nora, who'd found a place with a couple friends in New Jersey, and had been in need of furniture anyway.

We'd spent most of September getting the place family-ready. Moving in was more stressful than I'd have liked; co-ordinating the moving trucks and renting out our apartments had been a huge ordeal. It was all worth it, though, when Rory and I stood in our house for the first time, surrounded by plastic-wrapped furniture and boxes and other random crap, and of course we'd kissed and then promptly christened almost every room in the house. Then we had organized and painted and bought what we didn't already have-that ended up being mostly baby stuff, and we'd put together the sweetest nursery in the room on the top floor.

I knew the term nesting would definitely apply to us over the past couple of months. It was insane. It was so unlike anything I'd expected myself to jump into, yet here I was, head first and excited as all hell. We were starting a new chapter, Rory and me. And the baby, of course, though Rory still hadn't told me the name she'd picked out.

And now here we were: October 8th, Rory's thirtieth birthday.

"Wake up, birthday girl," I'd cooed earlier that morning, crouching over her sleeping form on the bed. I planted kisses all over her face as she groaned in protest and rolled over. "Happy Birthday, Ror."

"Don't remind me," she moaned, but she was already smiling as she returned my kisses. For a moment I forgot that downstairs was our entire family, but then I heard the harsh whispers and noise in the kitchen and I knew we'd have to get up and join the festivities eventually.

Later on we were having dinner at the makeshift table we'd put together. Of course, Rory and I didn't have a table big enough for everyone so we'd pushed four smaller tables together and covered it with a giant table cloth. It was mismatched and uneven, but it suited our family perfectly.

I wasn't entirely in on the conversation around the table, as I'd been put on baby duty. I sat next to Emerson in his high chair and helped him eat. He was old enough now to use his own utensils, but he still managed to make a huge mess. I laughed as he spilled spaghetti sauce all down his front and onto the tray, and caught Rory's eye across the table. She was watching me with a private, fond expression, one which I returned gratefully.

Once the meal was through Lorelai stood to begin collecting plates. Rory started to stand to help her, but the older Gilmore girl pushed her daughter back down into her eat. "You sit your butt down, birthday girl," she scolded with a smile, then beckoned me into the kitchen instead.

As I helped Lorelai rinse all the dishes and place them in the dishwasher, she gave me a knowing look. "So, here we are," she said, lowering her voice so they wouldn't hear us in the other room.

"Here we are," I repeated. I had a haunch as to where this conversation was going.

"She looks so happy," Lorelai said, looking over her shoulder at her daughter, who was chatting animatedly with April and Mark. "Happier than I think I've ever seen her."

"It's the pregnancy glow," I deflected in a joking tone, but I had to agree with Lorelai. Rory did look so happy, and it made my heart swell.

Lorelai was studying me in that all-knowing way of hers, and I felt naked and vulnerable again. "I'm glad you came to your senses," she said quietly. "It's about time."

"What do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean," she replied, nudging me. "You guys were always gonna end up together."

I turned to her, incredulous. "But you hated me."

"When you were a punk seventeen-year-old, sure," she replied with a shrug and a smile. "But you're different now, both of you are. So much has happened. And maybe when you guys were younger it would have killed me to admit it, but I think I secretly always felt you guys would figure it out eventually."

"Thanks," I said sincerely, unsure of what else to say. "I think we felt that way, too."

Lorelai placed a hand over mine. "Just, do me a favour?"

"'Course."

"Don't propose to her."

I blinked. "What?"

"Not yet, at least. You know Rory, she gets overwhelmed with big changes. The baby is gonna come, and it's gonna take awhile for you guys to find your groove. Just...if you want my advice-don't worry, I'm gonna give it to you whether you want it or not-don't pop the question until things have settled a bit. I know my daughter. I know she'll say yes no matter when you ask it...but just...play your cards right."

I snapped my fingers, feigning disappointment. "Damn. I had the ring in my pocket and everything." Lorelai looked surprised, not catching on quick enough that I was messing with her. I grinned. "I was actually gonna stand in front of the entire room and get on one knee and put her on the spot. Because I know how much she'd love that sort of thing."

Finally, Lorelai realized I was kidding. She smacked me with the dish towel just as Rory walked in with her empty water glass. She eyed us both wearily. "What's going on in here?" she asked suspiciously as she poured more water into her glass.

"Just talking about you," Lorelai replied with a sweet, innocent smile.

Rory rolled her eyes. "I never expected the two of you to be conspiring in the kitchen."

"You need to sit down," I said, pushing her gently back towards the dining room.

"I'm fine," she protested. "I'm not made of glass, I can stand every once in awhile, you know. Just because I'm nine months pregnant doesn't mean I'm useless."

"Trust me," I said, kissing her forehead.

With another roll of her eyes, she obeyed. When she was gone, Lorelai hurried to the fridge and removed the cake, and I retrieved the candles and lighter from a drawer. I arranged the candles into three X's, the same way Lorelai had prepared mine on my thirtieth. Before we walked in we exchanged a look that was one of pure understanding, and I was glad I could really see myself getting along with my-probably, eventually-future mother-in-law.

We began singing happy birthday as I followed Lorelai back into the dining room, her carrying the cake, and me shielding the candles so they wouldn't burn out. We placed it in front of a beaming Rory, who promptly blew them out when the song ended, purposefully leaving one lit for me. I smiled at her as she blew that one out separately. "One boyfriend!" she chimed as Richard leaned forward to cut the cake for her.

After the cake had been consumed we all convened in the living room, where a lively and competitive game of charades took place. It was guys versus girls and so far they were totally kicking our butts. I blamed it on the fact that Rory and Lorelai could practically read each-other's minds, but April, Emily and Liz were just as on point with their game; even Doula contributed more than one point to her team. We guys were outnumbered because Emerson wasn't old enough to play, but Luke, Richard, Mark, TJ and I still gave it our all, and at the last round we ended up tying the game.

We decided to hold a sudden death round to determine who would win. Rory and I were selected to play the last round, and we both got up in front of our respective teams. I had to act out Full Metal Jacket, and when the timer started, I acted out putting on a jacket as best as I could, focusing only on conveying my message to the guys. I barely heard the women start screeching and gasping, but finally I registered they were making far too much noise for a regular game of charades.

It turned around and saw them all, frozen, staring at Rory, who was standing open-mouthed with her legs spread apart, and a puddle collecting on the floor beneath her.

I sprang into action so fast it was as though no one could quite process my movements. I sprinted to the cupboard under the stairs, where we had stashed the emergency suitcases, and reached for mine and Rory's phones, wallets and keys. I grabbed her jacket and helped her into it, moving her arms manually since she seemed to be frozen in place. "Luke," I called, approaching Rory and putting an arm around her. "Give me a hand here."

Luke obeyed, springing forward to help, and together we got Rory out to my car. Lorelai came hurrying out after us, carrying a change of clothes for Rory, her face pinched with concern and excitement all at once. I could see the rest of the family's faces pressed against the window, watching us from inside the Brownstone.

"Want me to come with you?" Luke asked as I gently closed the passenger side door behind Rory.

I shivered as a breeze hit me; in my haste to get Rory ready and into the car, I'd forgotten to grab my jacket. October this year was colder than it normally was by New York standards. I was surprised when Lorelai handed it to me; she must have grabbed it on her way out. I smiled in appreciation as I shrugged it on. "No, you stay here with everyone," I said to Luke. I nodded at Lorelai, gesturing to the car. "You should come though. I think Rory wants you to be with her."

Lorelai nodded and hopped into the backseat without hesitation, kissing Luke briefly on the lips as she went. I gave Luke a firm hug and then climbed into the driver's seat, gunning the engine and coaxing my Comet out onto the street.

The whole ride to the hospital Rory was quiet and calm, focusing on her breathing like she'd been taught. Even with Lorelai's concerned questions from the backseat ("Any contractions yet? How far apart? Do you need anything? A neck massage? A hand to hold? A nice hard drink?"), Rory was collected and assertive, her jaw set determinedly. I resented my car in that moment for being a stick; if I didn't need to manually shift the gear every two seconds, I'd be holding her hand the whole way. However, she was so ready and prepared for this, and I couldn't be more proud of her.

Still, my fingers twitched on the wheel, and I suddenly craved a cigarette for the first time in months. I'd up and quit as soon as I'd found out Rory was pregnant, not wanting for her to catch second-hand smoke or whatever. It had been relatively easy to quit, actually, but at that moment I don't think I'd ever wanted a cigarette more in my life.

When we finally got to New York Presbyterian (it was a pretty short drive in actuality but it felt like forever to get there), I helped Rory out of the car while Lorelai took care of the suitcases and shit. As I slung her arm across my shoulders, Rory spoke for the first time since her water broke. "I'm fine, Jess, let me walk, please." I obeyed, staying very close to her all the same, and let her waddle to the sliding doors by herself.

Her freedom was short-lived, however, because as soon as the nurses in the ER saw her they approached with a wheelchair and insisted she sit in it. Unhappy at all the fuss, Rory did as she was told begrudgingly, and she gripped my hand as we all headed down the hall to the maternity ward. I could definitely tell she was having contractions now, and I made a mental note to wear a baseball glove on my hand on the off chance I was ever by a woman in labour's side again. Ouch.

"You have to text James," Rory whined out after a particularly rough contraction. "He wanted to know when I was in labour. His number's in my phone."

I reached into the pocket of Rory's jacket and extracted her phone, quickly opening a new message addressed to James. Rory's in labour. At the hospital now. Everything fine so far. Will update you. I decided against signing it, knowing James would figure it out.

I'd heard horror stories of labours lasting twenty hours or more, but almost as soon as Rory was in her hospital gown and lying in her bed, a nurse came in to get her hooked up to an IV and check her progression. "The doctor will be in in a minute," the nurse explained as she secured the needle to Rory's wrist. "You're quite far along already."

Rory's lip quivered but she stayed brave. She didn't let go of my hand once. I looked up and met Lorelai's gaze across the bed; she was standing solemnly at her daughter's side, holding everyone's folded jackets over her arms, biting her lip in a way which reminded me very much of Rory.

The doctor came in then, dressed in scrubs, a clipboard in his hand. "Alright, Miss Gilmore, looks like we've got to get you this epidural ASAP. Your little man is gonna be here very soon," he added with a bright smile.

Rory had to sit on the edge of the bed and lean forward. I knelt in front of her while the doctors prepped the needle, holding both her hands in mine, and looked up into her face. She was flushed and her eyes were watering when they weren't squeezed shut against a contraction. I reached up and brushed her hair out of her face gently. "I'm right here," I reminded her, squeezing her hand. "I'm right here, baby."

She nodded in understanding, grinning at me appreciatively.

"Alright, here we go...you're gonna feel this one, so take a deep breath," the nurse said, placing a hand on Rory's back as she prepared to inject the epidural.

Rory let out a long, steady breath as it happened, her eyes closed tightly, her fingers locked with mine. I didn't move, didn't keep my eyes off of her. Even now, in this distressed, nervous state, and in such pain, she looked so beautiful.

The nurses left and came back not ten minutes later, the doctor in tow, who informed us jovially that they had to move Rory to a delivery room. "Do you want me to come with you, hon?" Lorelai asked, brushing damp hair from her daughters forehead.

"Both of you," Rory replied, looking between her mother and me pleadingly. "Please."

We each took a hand and smiled down at her. "Of course, kid," Lorelai answered for both of us.

Later, Rory was taking a snooze as Lorelai and I waited alone in her room with her. She'd dilated to seven centimetres quite quickly and then stopped, so they'd decided she needed more time. More time slowly turned into hours. It was late, nearly midnight, and I felt exhaustion creep up on me as I realized we'd already been at the hospital for about five hours. Lorelai was slowly pacing the room, chewing on her thumbnail, while I sat in a chair by the window, my elbows on my knees, running my hand through my hair continuously. I looked up at the elder Gilmore girl, watching her worry over her daughter in silence. I peered over at Rory to make sure she was really asleep when I spoke. "I have a ring," I said quietly.

Lorelai stopped her movement immediately and stared at me. "What?" she whispered.

"I got Rory a ring," I repeated, clasping my hands in front of me. "I got it a couple weeks after we started seeing each-other. I don't have any plans to do anything with it. But I have it." Lorelai was watching me closely, and she didn't say a word, knowing, somehow, that I wasn't done talking. "I saw it in the store," I continued, proving her right. "And I just...got it. I had to. Is that crazy?"

To my surprise, Lorelai's lips curled into a closed-mouthed smile. "No, kid," she said with a gentle shake of her head. "It's not crazy."

Just then the doctor came in to check on Rory. He gently tapped her shoulder to wake her and then checked her progression. "Alright, Rory," he said, nodding to the nurses by his side and reaching for a box of medical gloves. "It's time."

Lorelai and I stood on either side of Rory's bed and each took a hand as the medical staff prepared themselves, placing Rory's legs in the stirrups and snapping gloves on. Rory looked up at me with huge, panicked blue eyes. I leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. "You got this, Gilmore," I assured her with a gentle smile.

She nodded, but her eyes still pooled with tears. "I'm scared," she admitted.

"We're here for you, hon," Lorelai replied, nodding at me and squeezing her daughter's hand.

"Yeah," I confirmed. "We are."

At eleven fifty-three on October 8th, a new baby's cries filled room C57 at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Rory

When I heard his cries, it was as though everything in my life had led up to this moment. Nothing else mattered but his tiny, desperate wails as he took his first breaths, tiny hands splayed and reaching for the world he had just been extracted into. And he was beautiful. I caught a glimpse of him as the doctor handed him to a nurse, who cut the umbilical cord and set about cleaning him up.

I was mildly aware of Jess and Lorelai clasping my shoulders, murmuring excitedly in my ear thoughts of amazement, encouragement and celebration. "There he is," they were saying. "You did it, Ror!" "You're amazing." "He's perfect." But I was straining my neck to get a better glimpse of my boy, peering around bodies and periwinkle scrubs and fluorescent lights.

Finally, the doctor lifted the tiny human and placed him in my arms. He barely weighed a thing. He was the tiniest, softest, most precious thing in the world. His eyes were squeezed shut as he let out little gasping cries, still processing that he was out in the big wide world.

The doctor and nurses weighed him and bathed him, wrapping him in a blanket before giving him back to me, and then cleared out. Lorelai kissed me on the forehead, smoother her thumb delicately over the baby's brow, and then excused herself to get coffee and no doubt give Jess and me some privacy.

Jess was sitting on the edge of the bed near me, and he quickly held up my phone to snap a photo of me and the baby to send to James. Then he put it away and crawled up the bed to sit next to me, kicking his legs out parallel to mine. He leaned into me to get a better look at the baby, who by now was sound asleep in my arms, his tiny face squished in slumber. Jess looked up at me and smiled, putting his arm around me. "You're amazing, you know that?" he asked, kissing my temple.

I just smiled back, too emotional to really say anything, and gazed down at my boy, my son, tucked into my arms. I couldn't imagine a time now when he hadn't been there. It was as though my whole life, my arms had existed for the sole purpose of holding this human.

Jess was staring, too. Neither of us could tear our gaze from him. "Are you gonna tell me his name now?" Jess asked quietly, his breath hot on my ear.

I grinned as a wayward tear leaked from my eye. "Jack," I told him.

"As in Kerouac?" Jess asked, raising an eyebrow playfully.

I nodded and shrugged at once. "Sure." I paused as Jack stirred a little, his mouth opening and closing a couple times as he settled into a deeper sleep. "I was gonna name him Oliver," I admitted, tearing my gaze away so as to look into Jess' wide brown eyes. "I was dead set on it. But...when I saw him, it...it just feels too..."

Jess understood. "Yeah."

Jess knew. He knew I couldn't name the baby Oliver, because that was a name so contentious to Jess and me, but not between James and I. It didn't seem right. I hadn't really thought about it until I held James' son in my arms, and then I realized I couldn't give him that name. And besides, he looked like a Jack. But none of those things made me any less in love with him.

I looked back at Jack, tilting my head to the side to get a different view of him. "Maybe next time," I wondered aloud. I almost didn't realize I'd actually said it, and I felt Jess tense slightly next to me. I looked back to him, gauging his reaction. He had a vulnerable look on his face as he gazed off towards the TV in the corner of the room, his lower lip slightly tucked under his upper. "Jess?" I prompted.

He swiveled his gaze back to me and gave me one of his signature smirks, then kissed me on the temple again. I was satisfied with that answer, figuring as far as Jess was concerned, it probably couldn't have gone better.

Jess

I groaned as the all-too-familiar whimpers roused me from the shallow sleep I felt I'd only just attained. Beside me, Rory rolled over with a grunt of her own, taking most of the covers with her. "Your turn," she muttered into her pillow, yawning.

"Your kid," I retorted with a growl, barely moving in determination to get back to sleep as fast as possible.

In a huff, Rory got up, tossing the covers aside and stomping across the room to the crib I'd picked out a Home Depot, where Jack was fussing noisily. "You can't use that excuse anymore," she snapped as she gently laid the infant on her shoulder and began to sway back and forth. "It's really not fucking funny."

I sighed, throwing an arm over my eyes as I realized it was gonna be another one of those nights. We'd only had a few of them in the three weeks we'd been home with Jack, but they sucked every time. None of us got any sleep and Rory and I would end up getting short and frustrated with each-other as a direct result, which often led to her in tears and me pacing the kitchen, fingers aching for a cigarette. We'd been told by several people that it was all a part of the adjustment phase; we'd been perpetually exhausted for another eighteen years, apparently, so might as well get used to it now. But as it turned out, poor Jack had colic, so we had it a bit tougher than most as the poor little guy was constantly in a state of pain.

I hauled my ass out of bed and approached Rory where she stood with Jack, taking them both into my arms and swaying with them. I was determined not to let it be one of those nights. Rory took this notion gratefully and played along, resting her forehead against my neck as Jack's strangled cries quieted over time. Eventually, he seemed to be asleep again, but we stood there still, encircled in each-other, for a bit longer than necessary.

Outside, I could hear the distant traffic from the city beyond, and the soft whooshing of wind hitting the roof. It would be Halloween soon. Lorelai was apparently making Jack some sort of "adorable" costume. For some reason, I kept imagining that the costume consisted of Jack sitting naked in a larger-than-life mug, supposedly full of coffee. But I'm sure that was just the lack of sleep talking.

The kid looked like James. There was no denying it. Soft blue eyes, blond curly hair.

It had been equal parts humbling and painful to watch James see his son for the first time over Skype. He'd burst into tears, of course, and asked Rory all sorts of questions. I'd excused myself over awhile, giving the little family some privacy. Rory had found me afterwards in the kitchen and scolded me for thinking of them as the family, excluding myself. Clearly she knew me too damn well.

I knew this whole thing was going to be hard. It was going to be a huge adjustment. There were things I'd have to accept I didn't want to accept.

But in that moment, standing in our bedroom with the sleeping babe in our arms, none of that mattered. We were a family, in spite of anything. And I wouldn't give that up for the world.

Epilogue

The familiar sound of the bell tinkling over the door to Luke's brought an enormous, slightly unexpected wave of nostalgia as Jess crossed the threshold into his uncle's world. He navigated through the doorway with some difficulty, somehow managing to use the stroller as a means to hold the door open while fitting his body and the massive diaper bag through as well.

Luke watched with amusement from behind the counter, his hand poised with a pencil over an order pad as usual. "Need some help there?" he asked his nephew, but made no move to actually help out.

"Go it," Jess grunted as he half-stumbled the rest of the way into the diner. The toddler in the stroller squealed and clapped gleefully as he took in the new surroundings; they weren't actually new, but it seemed the kid had the memory of a goldfish at this point, so Jess doubted he remembered the good half dozen times he'd already been here in his two years of life. Jess came round the stroller to crouch in front of the kid so as to replace the shoe the babe had once again managed to kick off.

"He's gettin' big," Luke commented, coming round the counter for a better look.

"You say that every time," Jess responded dryly as he tied the little laces. Toddler-sized Timberlands: what a joke.

"That's because he gets bigger every time," Luke replied with the same level of sarcasm. He leaned down to be nearly at eye level with the baby. "Hey, Ollie," he greeted with an uninhibited smile.

Oliver Lucas Gilmore beamed up at his great uncle with that adorable, toothy grin Luke had come to love. His warm brown eyes were rimmed with thick, dark lashes, and his dark hair cascaded over his forehead in perfect curls. The absolute spitting image of his father (no kidding-Liz had sent Jess a baby picture of himself and the resemblance was uncanny).

The door to the diner opened once more and a very different looking child hurried in, his fire-engine red galoshes squelching loudly on the linoleum floor. He ran right at Jess and thew himself at the raven-haired man, clutching a particularly plain looking stone in his hand. "Look, Daddy!" the child squealed, holding the stone proudly on display. "It's for my collection!"

Jess rolled his eyes and caught Luke's satisfied grin as he watched the interaction. Clearly, this kid was his mother's son.

Speaking of which, the door opened a third time and Rory walked in, breathless, tossing her scarf over her shoulder as she went forward to hug and kiss Luke. "Hi, Luke," she said with a tired smile. "Sorry we're late."

He waved the apology away. "Don't worry about it. What kind of Gilmore-Danes clan meeting ever starts on time anyway?"

Rory approached the boy with the stone and placed his toque back on his head, fluffing the pompom on top for good measure. "Jack, you're going to lose your hat permanently one day if you keep it up," she chided, licking her thumb to scrub a streak of dirt off her son's face.

The blond-haired, blue-eyed boy grinned up at his mother and showed her the rock as well. "I found it outside," he explained animatedly, letting his mother hold the prized possession in question.

"You sure he isn't yours?" Rory asked Jess jokingly, pulling Jack Gilmore to her side and kissing the top of his head noisily.

"There's my birthday boy," Lorelai cried as she, too, burst into the diner.

Jack took off like a rocket, careening into Lorelai's open arms. "Nana!" he squealed as Lorelai twirled around with him in her arms.

"Oh, my boy, you are getting so big!" Lorelai exclaimed.

Oliver fidgeted in the strolled, twisting around so as to see what all the fuss was about. Jess unbuckled the toddler from his prison and lifted him into his arms, propping him on his hip solidly while Rory set the strolled aside and out of the way, tossing the diaper bag on top of it for good measure. The family of four were a whirlwind of activity, always, and seemed to always left a path of destruction behind them. Rory did her best to minimize the damage, but when they were having fun, she often couldn't find it within herself to care.

When Lorelai had set her oldest grandson back down she strode forward to greet her youngest, blowing a big raspberry on Ollie's plump cheek. He let out a peal of laughter, delighted, and kissed his grandmother back.

"Hi, birthday girl," Lorelai said with a huge smile as she approached her daughter for a big hug. "Don't think I forgot," she added with a wink.

Rory rolled her eyes playfully. "Don't worry, after five years of sharing a birthday with this kid, I'm used to it." She gazed fondly at her eldest son. Much like Oliver, Jack bore striking resemblance to his father. Of course, the boys had different fathers, so they looked totally different. At least Jack had inherited the Gilmore-blue eyes. Oliver was all Danes.

The whole family had agreed to give both boys the last name Gilmore. It just made sense. It would be less confusing to them and others as they grew up, and Rory was their parent in common, anyway. She hadn't wanted to give them different names or hyphenate them both. So Jack and Oliver Gilmore it was.

The faint sound of small feet on wooden stairs was heard and suddenly Emerson appeared from behind the curtain to the upstairs apartment. His eyes widened when he saw the new arrivals and he bounded forward to greet his big sister. "Rory!" he cried as she took him up into her arms.

"Hey, buddy!" she replied happily, squeezing the seven-year-old tightly.

"Happy birthday," Emerson said when she set him back down. The kid would be a stunner when he grew up. He had Gilmore colouring, but his facial expressions were all Luke, complete with an exasperated eye-roll and a knowing smirk. Sometimes he even reminded Rory of Jess, a fact which frankly gave her the creeps. Emerson was tall, too, for his age, with big hands and feet that indicated he'd grow to tower over everyone.

Rory noted with satisfaction that Emerson was wearing Lorelai's old Police t-shirt. "Nice shirt," she chided with a wink in her mother's direction. It was returned mischievously.

Emerson hugged Jack, and tugged Jess arm down to he could kiss Oliver. Once again, it struck Rory and Jess that Emerson was technically their sons' uncle, despite the mere two and five year age difference between them respectively.

The seven of them exited the diner in another whirlwind of chaos and headed towards the town square, where a fall festival was in full swing. Jack and Emerson took off to play with some of the other kids, Luke and Lorelai at their heels, while Jess and Rory hung back, Jess still holding Oliver in his arms. They caught each-other's eye and smiled, and Jess put his free arm around Rory to pull her in to his side as they watched the town, their family, frolic across the square.

The past five years had been nothing short of a roller coaster, a ride which Rory and Jess had dutifully taken in stride. Truncheon and Cafe Livre were still running, with business better than ever, and the apartment upstairs still housed Chris and Matt. Isabel had returned to manage the Cafe after her show closed on Broadway. She and Justin had eloped to Vegas and got married in a white chapel by an Elvis impersonator, which was totally typical. They'd returned to New York and adopted a baby from Africa, so there was that.

Jess very seldom heard from Nora, but he'd heard from Isabel that she'd been sober since her stint in rehab, and had officially become an interior designer.

James was set to fly to New York over the summer to meet Jack for the first time. Rory had sat down with Jack a year ago to explain the true story of his heritage, and she'd let him Skype with his really father. The child had taken the news surprisingly well, but still insisted on calling Jess Daddy. It had happened naturally and there had been nothing Rory or Jess could do to stop it. In the end, neither of them wanted to. For all intents and purposes, Jess was Jack's father.

With Isabel back at the Cafe, Jess had finally found the time to put pen to paper again, and eight months later Truncheon published his second novel. This one, naturally, was completely different from The Subsect, as it was written in a totally different stage of Jess' life. But it had rocketed in popularity and was even #1 on the New York Times Best-Sellers list for a week. Rory may or may not have had something to do with that...

...Because Rory had returned to work at the Times, and had her own column which was printed weekly and discussed a wide variety of topics. Lately, of course, her stories were family-centric, and her sons had received an abundance of attention from readers over the past couple of years. New York had, funnily enough, fallen in love with the Gilmore boys.

Rory's grandfather, Richard, had sadly passed away a few days after Oliver was born, a day before the New Year. It had been a really rough time for everyone, especially with Jess and Rory dealing with a newborn and three-year-old Jack, who'd been a bit of a terror in his toddler years. They had all gotten through it together, but it certainly left a hole at most family gatherings now.

April and Mark had moved to Australia and were some sort of bio-engineers there. Jess didn't pretend to understand what it was they actually did for a living. According to Facebook, April had spent her twenty-sixth birthday rescuing some ducklings from a stagnant pond. Still, she looked happy. Luke, of course, wasn't thrilled that his only daughter had moved to the other side of the planet, but what could you do. She returned to the States once a year for Christmas.

Liz, TJ and Doula were very much the same as always. Doula's fourteenth year ended up confirming everyone's suspicions that she batted for the other team, and she now had a "girlfriend" (can one really have a significant other at fourteen?). They posted ridiculous photos of themselves on Facebook with their tongues sticking out or kissing and their hair dyed wacky colours. Jess resented the thought that his baby sister was even old enough to be on Facebook.

Rory and Jess hadn't gotten married, and had no plans to. They were simply too busy and things were really fine the way they were. Unbeknownst to Rory, though, Jess still had that little box hidden somewhere in their house, so who knows...

Jess found himself once again thinking about how crazy and eclectic his family really was. He smiled down at Rory and planted a sweet kiss on her lips before they both turned their attention to their son, who was gazing about the square with his huge baby browns.

Not a day went by that Rory and Jess didn't think of how truly incredible it was that after everything that had transpired between them in the past almost twenty years that they'd known each-other, they'd still managed to find each-other, to find family in each-other. As the town bustled around them and life went on, ever persistent, it was really just another day in Stars Hollow.

BREAK

A/N: That's it, that's all, folks. Hope you guys liked the epilogue... I wasn't sure if I was gonna write it, but I figured you'd want to know how everything turned out! Hopefully it wasn't too cheesy. It really just made me realize how much the characters had aged, and then I felt old...

Thanks to all of you who've stuck with me on this story! And a special thanks to those who stood by even during my long periods of absence. I loved reading your thoughts and musings after every chapter was posted. I really owe the completion of this story to you!

I have so many other ideas for stories I can't wait to start sharing with you. So follow me, maybe? And stay tuned ;)

Thanks again, y'all. It's been a slice.

- IB