Thursday, December 24, 2009

"Home sweet home," Luke muttered, turning off the road and into the snowy drive way.

The moment the engine switched off, the cabin lights flickered on and blinded Rory for half a second. She glanced at her phone screen, unsurprised to find it to be just as dead as the last time she checked it.

In the front seat, Luke unbuckled himself and leaned across the isle to brush back a few strands of loose hair from his wife's face. "Lor, we're home," he whispered. "Lorelai?"

Rory stashed her phone in her purse. "Is she out?"

"Like a light." Luke turned to the backseat. "How's Will?"

"Also unplugged," Rory nodded, reaching over to tuck her brother's hand down under the knit lilac blanket. "I'll take him if you take her?"

"Sounds like a deal," Luke nodded, cracking his door and sliding out into the wintery night. Rory followed suit, shouldering her bag before sliding open the van door. Her block heels might be sturdier than most of her fancy shoes, but in a foot of snow they weren't exactly the optimal winter footwear. After a careful trek around the car, Rory managed to wrestle Will's car seat out of the car and started her journey towards the warmth of the house.

She was the first inside, though Luke followed with a cradled and sleeping Lorelai not long after.

"Do you think you can handle him?" Luke asked, bumping the front door shut with his hip.

"Definitely," Rory nodded, setting Will's seat down so that she could shed her jacket. "You go take care of her, I'll get him to bed."

"Thanks, Rory."

"Merry Christmas, Luke," Rory smiled, crouching down in front of Will's seat.

"Merry Christmas, Rory." He turned and, very carefully so as not to hit Lorelai's head on anything, carried her toward the stairs.

Rory folded Will's car blanket and set it aside before unbuckling his many clasps and straps. When the one-year-old was finally freed from his safety prison, Rory picked him up and hugged him to her shoulder.

"Geez, kid," she mumbled, adjusting a little once she realized that she should have taken off her shoes first. "When did you get so heavy?"

Anticipating that her somewhat intoxicated mother might wake and make some noise, Rory didn't immediately take Will upstairs. Instead, she carried her brother into the living room and laid him down on the couch. After locating one of the handful of diaper bags scattered around the first floor, Rory returned to her brother's side. Within a matter of minutes, his diaper was changed and his fancy Christmas outfit was replaced with a onesie and a matching pair of elephant sweatpants.

She was pretty good at the big sister stuff, surprisingly enough. She hadn't gotten this opportunity with GG and, with the way things were with her dad, she didn't know if she'd get the chance.

While she was wiping away the remnants of his green mush dinner, Rory heard the front door swing open. She'd have thought that it was the wind, but the heavy footsteps that followed told a different story. She didn't even have time to wonder who was walking into the house after ten at night because before she could stand and walk to the front room, Jess poked his head out into the hall.

"Is everyone asleep?" He asked, walking into the hallway and glancing up the stairwell. When he peeled off his winter hat, his loose curls bounced back into place.

He wasn't supposed to be in town for two more days. What changed? Why was she thrilled?

"Just about," Rory nodded, setting down the wipes and gathering up her baby brother. "I've got to go put him down for bed. Luke went upstairs to talk to my mother before she passed out, but that was twenty minutes ago, so I'm guessing he's down for the count, too."

"Oh," Jess sighed, his cheeks puffing out cutely. "Luke said he'd be awake late tonight, but I didn't have too much faith in that."

"Smart man," Rory nodded, standing and walking toward the stairs. "I can go check in and see if he's still awake, but I wouldn't hold out hope."

"Yeah, yeah. I guess I'll just head back to the diner, then?" He concluded, taking a half-step backwards.

She knew she should let him leave.

"You don't have to," Rory shrugged. "I'll be back down as soon as he's in his crib. Just give me five? And take off your boots. If Luke does come down here, he might crucify you for tracking in mud."

With that, she climbed the stairs. Once she got to the top, she took a chance and peeked into her mother's room. Her nice dress was hanging on the closet door and her shoes were beneath it. It looked like Luke got her dressed in her pajamas and tucked her in before collapsing onto the bed in his own Christmas morning outfit. He evidently didn't even have the energy to turn off the lights before passing out, so Rory obliged on her way to the nursery.

"Alright, kiddo," Rory said softly, approaching the crib. She carefully lowered her brother down to the mattress. Once he was comfortably laying down, she moved his stuffed moose to snuggle up to his side and turned on the white noise machine.

Like a professional, she was in-and-out in three minutes.

Rory descended the stairs to an empty living room and thought that Jess had decided to go back to the diner. Disappointment threatened to send her to bed, but she wouldn't have much alone time for the next few days. Plus, she'd see him in the morning. She peeled off her heels at the bottom of the stairs, picking them up by the straps and walking back toward her childhood bedroom. In the kitchen, she found Jess sitting at the table with a worn-out book she didn't recognize.

"Hey, I'm just going to change. I'll be right out." Jess nodded in acknowledgement. He didn't look up at her long enough to catch the excited glint in her eyes.

He didn't leave.

Rory took her time choosing a pair of sweatpants and a loose hoodie, undoing her fancy braids and feathering out her hair. Once her make up was thoroughly washed away, she took the time to apply her lotion and tinted chapstick. There was no ulterior motive for that. Finished for the time being, Rory stood and headed back out to the kitchen where she'd left Jess.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" Rory asked, crossing to the coffee maker.

"It's almost ten thirty," he responded, setting down his book. It was a copy of Anna Karenina.

"That's not what I asked," she pointed out, measuring out enough for both of them. "It's the decaf that Luke bought, anyway. I'm not as insane as my mother," she pointed out.

Jess hesitated, but ultimately nodded in agreement. "I guess a cup can't hurt."

Rory scoffed quietly, hearing Luke in his tone. He was starting to pick up more of his uncle's mannerisms as time went on, even living states apart.

"Did you change my room back yet?" She asked, sitting opposite Jess once the brew was started.

"I moved the desk back into the room," Jess shrugged, drumming his fingers on the table. "I'm not going to get rid of the bed, I think. It's nice to have a guest room. I figure it'd keep TJ from doing his calisthenics in the living room, at least."

"Is he still on the health kick?"

"Yeah, it seems like it might be a forever-thing at this point. Usually he keeps something up if he can do it for more than three months in a row."

"Their poor neighbors," Rory sighed, imagining having to wake up to the sound of T.J.'s 6 am exercise every day.

"I doubt that's the straw that'll break their back," Jess shrugged, "But I guess I'll find out if it's gotten any more disruptive tomorrow night, right?"

"Yeah, right," Rory nodded. "Good luck with the traffic, I guess. Aren't you going to be in the city until New Years?"

"Yeah, I'm flying out to California on the second," he nodded. "I'm going to meet a few friends in the city to watch the ball drop on New Years Eve."

"You're going to the ball drop?" Rory raised her brows. "I thought that was a big no-no for you native New Yorkers."

Jess smirked, though his response was interrupted by the long beep of the coffee maker. He popped up out of his seat and headed toward the cupboard to get them some mugs before Rory could. She instead moved to grab the pot. "Not all of the friends are from New York. You wouldn't catch me within ten miles of Times Square if it weren't for the tourists I know."

"Anybody I know?" Rory asked, pouring coffee into the mugs that Jess brought her.

"Yeah, Matt is coming up. He basically begged me to take him and that girl he's been seeing to the ball drop. I told him that he could go on his own and he insisted, so it'll be me, him, and a handful of others."

They both settled down at the table again and Rory took a long sip of coffee before asking what she really wanted to ask. "Is Nadia coming up with them?"

Jess's slight hesitation showed Rory raised the hair on the back of her neck, but he answered nonetheless. "I think she has other plans for New Years."

Maybe this was a stupid line of questioning, but since when did she know her limits?

"She didn't tell you?"

"No, I don't know. I don't think I ever asked," he shrugged.

"You should ask."

One of Jess's eyebrows shot up for a moment, but he quickly wrangled it back into place. After another sip, he responded. "Yeah? It's only a week until New Years. I doubt she wants to drive into New York on such short notice."

"If she likes you, she'll do it," Rory responded nonchalantly.

"You think so?" Jess asked, setting down his mug.

"I did," Rory pointed out, "And I didn't even have a car."

For the stretch of silence that followed, Rory could feel the same pull that made her catch the bus to New York. One moment she was seventeen and standing in a record shop, pretending not to like the boy that she was with, then she blinked and she was back at her kitchen table. Twenty-five years old again. Not much had really changed, had it?

It didn't seem like Jess was going to speak up.

Rory could feel her words sticking together, being dragged sluggishly toward the tip of her tongue by her stupid good will. "If she likes you, there is no too late. I promise." With her advice, Rory offered a very small nod.

Her words seemed to move slowly through the air, that would be the only explanation for how long it took Jess to acknowledge them. "That's a big if," he said.

"She likes you. I saw it myself, there is no if." Those words seemed to need a hasty escape, maybe to avoid being trapped forever.

Time itself seemed to become achingly tired of their conversation once those words left her mouth. Or maybe it was only waiting for her to admit that she hadn't let go of her feelings for him. They were flourishing, healthy and stubborn, like weeds in rain-drenched earth.

"Maybe I'll call her, then," Jess murmured, more to his coffee mug than to Rory. His tone betrayed no suspicions.

"Good," she nodded, gulping down the last sips of her decaf. That was done, then. Even her own guilty conscience had to admit that she had done as much as she could be expected to do. If Jess didn't go after the girl, then he didn't want to. Rory knew exactly how tenacious he could be when he was set on something.

"Maybe I'll see you when you fly back from California," she suggested, moving their conversation to greener pastures. "You could see the fancy two bedroom I'm renting in Queens if you decide fly through New York."

"Two whole bedrooms all by yourself, huh? Sounds like you're moving up in the world, Gilmore." His smile wasn't genuine.

"You have no idea, Mariano. As of October, I became a trust fund kid," Rory revealed.

She had been surprised herself when her grandparents announced that Lorelai the first hadn't written her out of the will as promised. The woman was stubborn and often too judgmental, but she'd been immensely pleased that Rory seemed to be "repairing" the family's image. The backhanded compliment hurt a little less when she was able to put a good chunk of the cash away for both her little sister and brother's college funds - both Luke and her mother had refused to take even a small percentage for themselves and she hadn't even thought to offer cash to her father.

The only reason she hadn't told Jess was that every time she even suggested taking more than her already allotted household expenses, he would threaten to pre-pay all of the utilities. He said that friendships didn't work that way.

The new information did seem to surprise him enough to drive a wedge between him and his brooding. His eyebrows shot up and he sat back in his chair. "Since when have you had a trust fund?"

"That's a good question, actually. Either since I was born or fairly recently, but it doesn't matter either way. As of October, I have joined the upper echelon of society."

"Damn," he sighed, dramatically shaking his head. "And you still made me pay my own rent."

"Well, I can't let the poor people mooch off of me just 'cause they let me live with them for free despite my constant protests," Rory retorted, relieved to fall back into surface level banter. She stopped herself from wondering whether anyone else could appreciate how funny he could be at the drop of a hat.

"No, no. You're right," Jess nodded. "You and the Let Them Eat Cake Crew have to keep the wealth away from the masses. They wouldn't know how to handle that much money."

"Quite right," Rory's laugh bubbled out of her.

Maybe it was because Rory learned her lesson or maybe it was just because she was a coward, but she didn't mention their futures again that night. She didn't try to ask him about plans and he didn't ask her either, though he might not have been particularly interested.

In the end, it didn't matter. He had to leave around midnight because the storm was going to get worse. She leant him a pair of Luke's gloves and a thick scarf to wrap around his neck. She didn't tell him that she'd made the scarf, but the lack of quality in the knitting might have given that away.

She also didn't tell him that she watched him walk away from the window.

Thursday, December 25, 2009

Jess didn't show up until lunch time on Christmas day, but they waited for him. Lorelai was happy to have the time to create, execute, and tear down a 'Baby's First Christmas' photoshoot anyway. Luke had gotten her a fancy camera for her birthday, it gave her an excuse to pull it out again. Rory, however, categorically refused to participate in the JCPenny-style poses that her mother suggested.

Rory didn't really mind that he was late, anyway. It gave her time to prepare herself to face her mother's close inspection. She didn't mind it when he spent most of his time talking to Luke about work, they hardly saw each other in person lately. She didn't mind that he sat on the opposite side of the coffee table despite there being a spot on the couch to her left.

And she didn't mind that Jess gave her a $30 gift card to a bookstore in Queens. According to the packaging, it was close enough to her apartment that she could walk there. It was convenient. And thoughtful.

Author's Note: I haven't abandoned this story, but I am definitely not able to commit to constant updates. I'm working on it, though! 3