Jess and Rory sat at their kitchen table, attention rapt and eyes focused on their daughter and the orange puree that she was currently using as a finger paint to decorate herself and her highchair.

"Does she like it?" Jess asked, brow furrowed.

"I mean, she's not gagging like she did with the peas…" Rory said, sticking the little plastic spoon back into the jar of baby food.

"True…"

Ellie remained focused on her fist full of sweet potato, shoving it into her mouth with fervor before gleefully swiping back through the mess on the tray while kicking her feet and giggling.

"I'm gonna call this a win," Rory laughed, marking it on the chart of foods that Ellie liked and disliked.

"Jeez, I didn't realize that starting solid food meant she would need a bath after every meal," Jess groaned as he unclipped the tray from the highchair and extracted his sticky, slimy, happy little girl. Despite having to resign himself to getting mashed yams all over his t-shirt in order to hold Ellie, he couldn't help but return her smile as she looked up at him with puree in her hair.

"I blame your genes, I hated being messy as a baby. Mom couldn't get me to touch grass until I was four, and anytime I had a peanut butter and honey sandwich, I had to have a wet napkin next to me to use after every bite," Rory chuckled, opening a new tub of wipes to give the highchair a thorough cleaning.

Jess was using a baby wipe in an attempt to get the majority of the food off of Ellie while she squirmed and fussed and tried to wipe her hands on Jess's face, succeeding once or twice before Jess caught her fist and cleaned it off, much to Ellie's dismay. "I'll take the blame, I was the kid that played with my food before eating it."

Rory smiled. "Aw, cute."

Jess threw away the once-white-now-bright-orange wipe and examined Ellie. "Yeah, this one requires a bath."

Rory turned to look at the two of them to find Jess, slobber and baby food on his cheek, and Ellie, still stained a little orange, hair spiked up with puree hair gel.

She burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Jess asked, smirking.

"She's you in high school!" Rory said, holding her stomach as she giggled.

Jess looked back down at Ellie and couldn't help but snort. Her hair really was spiked up in a way that was eerily akin to how he styled his hair as a teenager.

"Alright, time to wash your hair before Mama laughs so hard, she throws up. How's that sound, Lee? Wanna take a bath?"

Ellie squealed and kicked in response, ecstatic about the idea.

"That's what I thought," Jess said with a soft smile that he reserved for his girlfriend and his daughter, hoisting Ellie up a little. "Let's get this mess off you before I turn into a slip'n'slide."

Rory continued to giggle as she cleaned up after Ellie's dinner. She was thankful Ellie was so interested in this food, having almost vomited at her first taste of both peas and pears. Whether it was the texture or the flavor, Ellie was very much not a fan. Plus, introducing solid foods was terrifying. The concept of giving a human that had only been around for six months food that she could potentially be allergic to or choke on just seemed a little absurd to this new mom. Rory constantly watched Ellie for signs of food allergies or reactions to what she was eating, constantly monitored her to make sure she wasn't aspirating anything she was eating. Thankfully, nothing had happened yet, but Rory dreaded the day they decided to introduce peanut butter. Still, her enjoying sweet potatoes meant that she could participate a little more in her first Thanksgiving the following month.

As she started to cook her and Jess's dinner, she could hear Jess laughing and talking to Ellie, Ellie giggling and splashing in return. Outside, she saw the wind blowing the autumn leaves off the trees, the clouds threatening rain. It was the perfect, cozy, October night.

Rory never learned to cook throughout her childhood. Between spending the first ten years of her life living in a shed with no kitchen and then living with a mother who didn't cook anything that didn't come from a box, the opportunity had just never arisen.

Then came college.

At first, she had been able to just eat at the dining hall, and then a lot of the time she spent living with her grandparents she ate food prepared by a chef. But once tensions started to rise with them, before they booted her into the main house, she'd successfully avoided family dinners by learning to prepare food for herself. The front desk librarian had given Rory a few curious glances the day she checked out almost every beginner's cookbook they had, and after that, every spare moment Rory had was spent with her nose buried in a kind of book she'd never thought to read before. Her basic kitchen skills were especially helpful when she moved in with Paris and had to pay rent and didn't have money for constant takeout, and at that point she'd also taken some tips from both Luke and Sookie, and though she was far from a master chef, she was proud to say she could keep her family fed and alive.

Though the stir fry she was currently making wasn't exactly perfect – the chicken was on the dry side and rice a little soggy – she felt pretty proud of herself and honestly, like she was a successful adult. Even though she had a full-time job and lived with her boyfriend with plans to someday get married to said boyfriend and had a literal child, she still felt like she was playing pretend or faking her way through adulthood a lot of the time.

As she added some snow peas and water chestnuts to the pan of sizzling vegetables, Jess's arms were suddenly sliding around her waist, his chin rested on her shoulder.

"Ellie's all clean and in her crib," he said softly, kissing her cheek.

Rory smiled to herself, finding Jess's hand with her left while her right was busy with a spatula.

"I'll go kiss her goodnight as soon as this is done," she said, tilting her head against Jess's.

Jess nodded, burying his nose in the crook of her neck and inhaling deeply, body relaxing on the exhale. "What's for dinner?"

"Stir fry with beautiful veggies, chicken so dry you'll have to chew it twice, and rice," Rory said proudly.

Jess snorted against her shoulder. "My favorite," he mumbled into her skin.

"Hey, how do we keep the rice from getting all gluey like this?" Rory asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Less water."

"I thought I added less this time…"

"We could get a rice cooker."

Rory gasped in delight and excitement. "Yes! We could stick it on the counter right here!"

Jess chuckled breathily, tickling the hair on Rory's neck. "We'll head to the Asian market this weekend," he said, tightening his grasp on her and nuzzling his nose against her pulse point.

Rory sighed contentedly. Despite knowing each other for years and dating for a good amount of that and living together off and on for two years, Jess never expressed any lessened desire to take his hands off of her. To stop touching her. He just seemed to adore physical contact with her, like just touching her grounded him. He'd always been that way and Rory was pretty sure he always would. Her hand in his when they were out as a family. Fingers tracing little designs on her leg when they were lounging together on the couch. An arm wrapped around her in the kitchen and in the bed. And Rory ate it up, loved feeling desired and loved and close to him. If he was near, she felt at ease.

Five minutes later, Jess remained latched onto Rory, his breath even almost like he was falling asleep on his feet.

Rory turned off the stove and bent to place a kiss on Jess's head.

"You okay?" she asked softly.

"Tired," Jess mumbled. "Long week."

Rory nodded understandingly. "Alex still out sick?"

Jess grumbled an umph into Rory's shoulder. "Yes. She tried to come in the other day but was snotting everywhere and was too dizzy to get anything done. I had to arm myself with a can of Lysol to get her to go home."

Rory snorted. "Dinner and bed?"

Jess simply nodded, sighing heavily as he released his hold on Rory. "When did we get old?"

"I think right about the time I pushed a human out of me."

Jess chuckled. "You go say g'night to Lee, I'll serve up dinner."

Rory nodded and pressed a tender kiss to Jess's lips, both of them smiling through it.

And after saying goodnight to an already-sleepy Ellie, eating a quick dinner in front of the TV, Rory and Jess brushed their teeth, changed into their PJ's, and climbed into bed, both of them falling asleep almost immediately after their heads hit the pillows. But, before knocking out entirely, Rory turned to Jess, and wrapped her arm around his waist, and kissed his shoulder blade tenderly.

"Love you," she said with a squeeze.

"Lu'you…" Jess breathed, already almost unconscious.

With the rain pattering softly against the window and Jess and Ellie both snoring quietly, Rory fell asleep with a smile.

The peaceful evening was short lived, however. A mere five hours after they'd gone to bed, before the sun had a chance to rise, Rory was abruptly awoken by Ellie screaming from her crib across the room. Rory was out of bed before she even processed that she was awake, was at Ellie's bedside in five seconds flat while Jess sat up in bed with fear in his eyes and scrambling out of the tangled sheets and across the bed.

Rory reached down into the crib, whispering comfortingly to Ellie, but her hand recoiled when it touched Ellie's face.

"Oh my God, she's burning up!"

Ellie continued to wail as Jess picked her up, holding her to his chest as he winced. Her face radiated warmth, her skin was clammy, and her poor little voice was hoarse as she cried into Jess's t-shirt.

"Crap…" Jess muttered, softly stroking Ellie's back.

"She's sick," Rory whimpered, biting her thumb. "I… I just forgot everything I read about what to do when your baby has a fever."

"Let's get the thermometer, see how bad it is," Jess said, already moving towards the bathroom with a serious expression on his face.

"Great, yeah, that sounds like a good first step," Rory mumbled, quickly following after Jess. "Glad your brain is functioning because that makes one of us."

Once in the bathroom, Jess handed Ellie over to Rory who held her little girl close while Jess searched through the medicine cabinet for the new thermometer.

"Jess, she's really warm…" Rory said, practically whimpering, distraught at the thought of her baby being so uncomfortable. "God, how did I not notice she was getting sick?"

"It's not like she can verbalize that she feels gross," Jess said, finally procuring the thermometer and placing the tip of it in Ellie's ear and having to gently hold her head in place as she tried to pull away from the uncomfortable sensation.

Finally, the thermometer beeped, and Jess examined the screen with a frown.

"100.9."

Rory clutched Ellie a little tighter, gently stroking her back to try to offer her some comfort. "Okay, um… Motrin. We have Motrin, right?"

"Yeah, uh…" Jess spun around to search for the Motrin in the medicine cabinet, finding it and a syringe and dosing the medicine before sticking the syringe in Ellie's mouth. She pulled away immediately, just as Jess pushed the syringe, resulting in pink medicine all over Ellie's face.

"Jeez… think she got any of that?"

Rory used the hem of her shirt to wipe the Motrin off Ellie's chin. "No, anything that made it in her mouth she just spat out."

Jess frowned and refilled the syringe, hoping that the second time would be the charm.

Thankfully, that seemed to be the case, and though she resisted it, Ellie swallowed almost all of the medicine she needed to. After thirty minutes, they took her temperature again, just to find it had only gone down one degree, so they got Ellie set up in a bath of lukewarm water to try to cool her down. Jess and Rory both just sat outside the tub of shallow water, frowns on their faces as they stroked their baby girl's damp hair. Ellie frowned with them and lifted her teething toy up to Jess's face with a rough little cough.

"That's yours, baby," he said gently.

Ellie just furrowed her brow and grunted at him, so he took it from her with a soft, "thank you."

She seemed appeased after that, turning to kick her feet in the water a little while Rory ran a cool washcloth over Ellie's head and back.

"If I thought being sick sucked…" Rory mumbled.

"Watching your kid be sick is a hundred times worse," Jess finished for her.

"I wish I could do more to help her feel better."

"I'll run down to the pharmacy when they open to get some supplies."

Rory nodded, offering Jess a weak smile before turning her attention back to Ellie.

Jess leaned over, pressing a kiss to Rory's head.

"She'll be okay," he mumbled into her hair, trying to convince both Rory and himself.

"I know…"

The day passed slowly, almost painfully so. After getting out of the bath and being put into some fresh, soft pajamas, Ellie passed out on Rory's chest while they watched TV. And, as promised, Jess ran to the store as soon as the sun was up, returning with baby Tylenol and a humidifier and easy-to-prepare food for himself and Rory, and called the pediatrician as soon as the office opened. They didn't want to seem like panicked new parents, freaking out about a simple flu, but… they were panicked new parents. They'd rather be safe than sorry, and it was reassuring to hear that they were doing everything right and to only bring Ellie in if her symptoms drastically worsened.

They basically spent the entire day hovering around Ellie. Making sure she was breathing okay, making sure she wasn't getting dehydrated, making sure her fever stayed low. By the end of it, they were exhausted.

It was like the newborn days all over again.

By seven that evening, Jess was unconscious on the floor serving as a bed for Ellie as she slept on his stomach, and Rory was watching a movie with half-shut eyelids, only to be startled to attention by her phone ringing.

Lorelai hadn't been answering her calls all day, which was frankly annoying even though Rory knew there was a huge wedding at the Dragonfly that weekend. So when Lorelai's name popped up on Rory's caller ID, she answered it as quickly as possible.

"Mo—"

"Who's dead?" Lorelai demanded.

"What?"

"Who's dead or hurt or—"

"Mom, calm down!"

"No! I don't have to calm down when my kid called me seven times in one day!"

"It's fine, we're all fine…" Rory assured. "Relatively."

"Relatively?!"

"Ellie has the flu or something, she woke up with a fever and a cough last night. I was just calling to get tips. Don't freak out, okay crazy lady?"

"My grandbaby is sick?" Lorelai whimpered.

"Wait, Ellie's sick?" came Luke's voice in the background.

"Stop! You both sound worried!" Rory objected with a pout. "I'm already worried, you can't be worried too!"

"I'm not worried, I just feel bad," Lorelai insisted, despite the concerned tone in her voice.

"Put it on speaker!" Luke demanded. After some rustling over the phone, Luke's voice came in clearer. "She's sick? Isn't this the first time?"

"Yeah…" Rory said sadly. "I feel so helpless. We're doing everything we're supposed to but she feels lousy and her little face is so red…"

"She'll be okay, kid," Lorelai soothed.

"And I know that! I just hate that she's sick."

"Trust me, I get it. I still remember the first time you got sick. It's burned into my memory."

"And it wasn't exactly her first time getting sick, but I definitely panicked when April had appendicitis," Luke added. "If it weren't for your mom, I don't know what I would have done."

"Guess it's just one of those sucky parts of parenthood…" Rory mumbled. "Any advice?"

"Sounds like you're doing just about everything. Now you just have to wait it out."

"Rats…"

"I know," Lorelai said sympathetically.

Just then, Ellie and Jess started to shift awake, and Rory handed Jess the phone to talk to Luke and Lorelai while she fed Ellie, and before long, they were all in bed for a restless night of sleep.

Rory was out cold the minute they were in bed, exhausted from being up and caring for a sick baby for something like seventeen hours, but Jess couldn't get himself to calm down enough to sleep. Every time he started to drift off, he swore he heard Ellie breathing funny and would startle awake to make his way to Ellie's crib, just to see that she was sleeping peacefully, if a little congested. By two in the morning, he was basically stationed at her bedside, ensuring she was comfortable and safe, that the humidifier was working, that her fever was staying down. After an hour of standing there watching her and forcing his eyes to stay open, Ellie stirred, whimpering and letting out a few raspy coughs. Jess didn't hesitate even a second before picking Ellie up out of her crib and holding her close, kissing her head and stroking her back.

"It's okay, Daddy's got you," he whispered to her as she softly whined and rubbed her face against Jess's chest. "You'll feel better soon, okay? God, being sick when you're so little and new must suck."

Ellie let out a small grunt as if agreeing with Jess.

"I know. It's all new to you. You're just going about life then all the sudden you feel like crap and Mom and Dad are freaking out and making you take cold baths and forcing medicine down your throat. I get it. But I've got you, Ellie girl. Everything will be okay."

Ellie let out a shuddering sigh as she fell back to sleep, and Jess smiled down at her, kissing her soft hair once more before trying to lower her into the crib. When he tried to step away, however, Ellie let out a hoarse squawk of defiance, looking at Jess like he'd betrayed her.

"Hey, we're all good. I'll stay," Jess whispered, reaching into the crib to place a comforting hand on Ellie's tummy. Ellie, in turn, grabbed ahold of Jess's thumb and held on with all her strength.

Jess sighed. There was no way he was making it back to his and Rory's bed tonight.

"Scooch over, kid."

Jess carefully lowered the crib gate as quietly as possible before climbing in and raising it again, laying on his side and propping his head up on his hand as he looked down at Ellie.

"K, we officially exceed the amount of people that are supposed to be in here, so no going and trying to get Mommy to join us. Got it?"

Ellie simply responded with a little snore, already unconscious now that she had her daddy next to her. Jess just smiled and ran his thumb back and forth across Ellie's stomach as she slept, and before he knew it, he was out, too.

Rory awoke the next morning to an empty, cold bed. Frowning, worrying that Ellie had woken Jess up early and she didn't even hear it, she sat up and looked around.

"Jess?"

There was no answer, so she climbed out of bed and wandered over to check on Ellie. What she found warmed her heart and had her running for the camera, snatching a picture of Daddy and Daughter unconscious in the crib together. Jess had one arm bent awkwardly behind his head and the other slung protectively around Ellie, and Ellie hugged Jess's arm to her chest.

"Jess, babe, wake up," Rory whispered, running her fingers through his hair.

Jess woke up with a sharp intake of breath, blinking against the sunlight in the room.

"W'time 's'it?"

"Almost nine."

"She slept 'til nine?" Jess asked, spinning his head to check on Ellie and frowning. "Jeez, poor kid must feel miserable."

"Or she's just cozy with her daddy," Rory giggled.

"Yeah, well, Daddy's neck hurts and his arm's asleep," Jess yawned. "But actually, that was the best sleep I've had in ages."

"Maybe I'll take a turn in the crib tonight," Rory laughed.

"You joke, but it's a great way to make sure she's safe. I kept thinking I heard her breathing funny last night," Jess whispered, gazing down at Ellie at his side as she stirred in her sleep.

Rory frowned empathetically. "She's safe, Jess."

"I know," Jess nodded.

"And overdue for breakfast."

"Huh?" Jess asked, still lost in thought.

Rory simply pointed at the wet spots on her shirt where milk was leaking.

"Oh, crap, sorry, let's wake her up then."

As Rory and Ellie settled on the couch and Jess made coffee, Rory chuckled to herself.

"What's so funny?" Jess asked from the kitchen.

"I told you that you were gonna me a helicopter dad," Rory laughed.

"Oh, shut up…" Jess grumbled.

Okay, fine. As much as he hated to admit it, it was at least a little true. Plus, he felt guilty, like it was his fault that Ellie was sick since he was the one who most likely brought home the germs. Thus, he cuddled with Ellie as much as possible. He continued to take the night shift in the crib with her so Rory could sleep, he held her whenever she made even the slightest whimper, and basically stuck to her like glue to make sure she wasn't getting worse.

The rest of the weekend went similarly. Sleeping periodically, lots of skin-to-skin and tepid baths with Ellie to help regulate her temperature, and generally, lots of worrying done by both Jess and Rory. By the time they made it to Monday, they barely knew who they were anymore. Jess had to go into work with Alex still out sick while Rory managed to send a quick email to work letting them know her daughter was sick and that she'd be out of the office until further notice.

Jess hated having to leave Rory to handle this by herself, even if just for a day. He felt bad that he got to leave the house for a few hours while Rory was stuck inside with a sick baby. All day at work, it was even harder to focus than normal. He got distracted while trying to make his way through the final edits for a client's novel, he almost forgot about a meeting with a local printing press, and he couldn't get out of the office soon enough.

He picked up takeout on the way home to try to take some of the stress off of Rory, and entering the apartment, he found Rory and Ellie both unconscious on the couch. Silently, he smiled, hoping most of the day was spent like that, and got to plating the Chinese food.

Once the aroma hit Rory, she woke with a start.

"Hey, you're home," she said groggily. "And you brought food!"

"Chinese from the place by Truncheon," he said with a smile, going over to the couch to kiss Rory and Ellie's heads. "How's she doing?"

"Better. Still sniffly, but she hasn't spiked a fever all day and she seems a little happier."

"Sounds like a win to me. How are you?"

"Tired, but okay," Rory yawned. "Glad she's better. Glad you're home."

Jess carefully took the sweaty, sleepy Ellie from on top of Rory and held her close, filled with relief that her face was no longer radiating heat. "Go get some food, I'll get her changed and in bed."

By the middle of the week, they all felt a little bit more human. Rory took Ellie with her to a coffee shop one afternoon to check in at the paper while Ellie napped in the stroller. A true Gilmore, she seemed to enjoy the aroma of roasted coffee, seemed to find it comforting, and was sleeping soundly within five minutes of Rory finding a table for them. After getting Ellie settled and getting a good dose of caffeine in her own system, she opened her laptop.

Her stomach dropped when she saw her inbox.

"Oh. Oh no…" she whispered, eyes frantically scanning the many emails from her boss.

She'd had a meeting on Monday.

A meeting with a prospective investor.

A meeting with an investor who was a fellow Yale alumnus who had voiced that he was very excited to potentially work with another Eli.

Rory had obviously not been at that meeting.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap…"

She quickly gave up on trying to reply to emails and immediately grabbed her phone, opting to call George instead.

"Weekly Briefing, this is George, how can I help you?"

"George, hi, Rory Gilmore. Listen, I—"

"Oh, good, you're alive," George said shortly.

"I am so, so sorry. My daughter was sick and—"

"Listen, I really don't care why you weren't here. It's irresponsible to take time off without requesting it and without periodically checking in. I understand that it was a mistake, but we are a small company, and without you, we almost didn't get that investor."

"But we did get him?"

"We did. You didn't. Rory… we can't risk losing opportunities like this. It cannot happen again."

"It won't, I swear," Rory said, barely keeping her voice steady.

"Good. I'll see you in the office on Friday."

"See you then."

Rory ended the call and took a deep, shaky breath. Her head was spinning and she was barely keeping it together but refused to break down in public. Hurriedly, she packed her belongings back up and walked her and Ellie home as quickly as possible, just barely making it inside before promptly bursting into tears.

She didn't feel like she could do anything right. She missed that Ellie was sick because she was too focused on work, she missed an important meeting because she was focused on Ellie… she felt like she was half-assing everything she did and everything was just slipping out from under her like sand.

She grabbed her phone and speed-dialed her mother, desperate for some words of wisdom and comfort.

"Hello, dear child of mine!" Lorelai answered.

"Mom?" Rory said thickly.

"Rory?" Lorelai asked, urgency and fear in her voice. "What's wrong?"

"I screwed up. At work. And with Ellie and I just… I can't do this! I'm failing! At work and at parenting and I just can't, there's too much, I don't know how to do both, I want to—"

"Rory, honey, breathe."

"I want to stay home with Ellie all the time but I also really miss going to the office every day. I just… I missed a really important meeting at work because Ellie was sick and my boss is so upset with me…"

"You're gonna make mistakes. In parenting and at work. These things just happen. But Rory, you are not failing!"

"I am! I'm supposed to balance everything and I can't!"

"Well, you're balancing a lot! And you're new to all of this still. Kid, starting a new job fresh out of college, moving to a new city, and raising a baby all at once is not easy!"

"But—"

"No. No buts. Things are just overwhelming right now. It'll get better, alright?"

Rory simply replied with a sniff.

"Have you told Jess any of this?" Lorelai asked softly.

"No, Mom, I can't. He loves working at Truncheon, I can't take that away from him."

"I never said you had to. You're just… it seems like you're doing all the balancing and not keeping Jess in the loop on how much it's all affecting you."

"If I tell him I wish I could be in the office, he'll try to make it work by staying home and he can't do that."

"Maybe you two can find a way to trade off days?"

"Oh…" Rory mumbled. "I hadn't thought about that."

"And this is why we communicate."

Rory huffed. "I guess you're right."

"Mommy is always right."

Rory just snorted and thanked her mother for the advice before ending the call.

That night when Jess got home, Rory already had Ellie in bed. She sat Jess down, telling him she needed to talk, to which Jess responded with nervous glances. Once they were seated, however, Rory couldn't find the words.

"Rory, you're kind of freaking me out here," Jess said quietly before his eyes widened. "You're not pregnant—"

"Oh God no!" Rory exclaimed.

"You're sure? Not that I wouldn't be happy if we had another kid, but I was kind of imagining that would be somewhere in the very distant future."

"You thought about having more kids?" Rory said softly, feeling her insides melt a little.

"Focus please."

"Right. Sorry. Um, I haven't gotten a regular period back yet, but I'm not supposed to ovulate while I'm breastfeeding. Plus, you remember how sick I was at first? I'll take a test if you want me to, but I'm sure I'm not."

Jess breathed a sigh of relief. "I trust you and your intuition. If not that, what'd you want to talk about?"

"Oh, um… I think I want to find a way to go into the office more."

"O…kay?" Jess said, blinking in confusion.

"I missed a super important meeting on Monday and I just… I miss the environment and the people and I do not want you to quit working in the office or anything, I just…"

"I can bring Ellie to work with me," Jess said with a casual shrug. It was an idea he'd been pondering lately, a way for Rory to work easier and a way for Jess to take on more parenting more often, to not leave Rory with the bulk of it.

It was Rory's turn to blink in surprise.

"She's a little more independent than she was when we first moved here, and Alex has been dying to meet her."

"O-oh. Okay. Maybe… maybe trial basis at first?" Rory suggested with a small smile. "And not every day, but a couple days a week?"

"Sounds like a plan," Jess said softly, leaning to kiss Rory.

"Thank you, Jess," Rory breathed, amazed at how smoothly the conversation had gone and feeling a little silly at how long she had avoided it.

"Always," Jess whispered, kissing Rory again, sealing their deal. "But… why didn't you say anything?"

Rory looked at him quizzically.

"It just sounds like you've been struggling with this working parent thing for a while. Why didn't you come to me?"

Rory's heart ached at the hurt tone in Jess's voice. "I don't know," she shrugged weakly. "It was just something I needed to get through, I guess."

Jess turned toward her, grasping her hands in his. "But you didn't have to go through it alone. I keep saying I want to be bothered. I thought I was the one with communication issues, but…"

Rory pulled her hands back sharply. "I have communication issues?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Jess rubbed his forehead in aggravation. "I didn't mean it like that, I just—"

"No, obviously you meant something similar!"

Jess made a low noise in the back of his throat, almost like a growl. "Alright, yeah, maybe you do. But so do I!"

"Yeah, that much I know," Rory scoffed. She turned to look him in the eye and her face dropped at the hurt in his eyes. Rory sighed heavily, burying her face in her hands before smoothing her hair back away from her face. "I'm sorry. Maybe you're right, maybe I need to work on my communication skills."

"I just want to be included," Jess said quietly. "And I'll try to pay better attention to you, I know I've been busy with work…"

Rory relaxed in her seat. She hadn't even realized that she felt put on the back burner until that very moment. "That would be nice," she said with a small smile.

"C'mere," Jess whispered, raising an arm for her to curl under. As she tucked herself into his side, he pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Look at us, communicating like grown-ups," Rory chuckled.

"Had to happen someday."

Rory laughed, feeling lighter than she had in ages.

A/N: WHOOPS this chapter kind of just kept getting longer and longer OH WELL. Also I'm not a parent yet but WOW I dread the day I have a kid and they get sick :( thank you all for the lovely comments so far! :)