Monday morning, Jess got to Truncheon, unlocked the door, and started to go about his morning routine, getting the office ready for a week of work. Making coffee, turning on lights, turning on computers, et cetera, only this time, he also had to set up the playpen for Ellie.

This task was no easy feat by himself.

Ellie squawked and squealed in the stroller as Jess cursed the supposedly easy-set-up portable playpen and put some toys in it. By the time he was done fighting with the contraption, he was almost sweating.

He picked Ellie up out of the stroller then and proceeded to give her a tour of the place, walking around with her sitting in the crook of one arm and pointing at things with the other as he explained what everything was. Five minutes later, the door opened and Jess turned to see Alex frozen in the doorway, thermos of tea in one hand and a backpack halfway down the other arm, face scrunched up in confusion.

"That's a baby."

"Good job, maybe later you can identify a puppy."

"Why… who…"

"You are aware I have a daughter, right?" Jess chuckled.

"Oh my God, this is her?" Alex practically yelled, face lighting up as she rushed toward them, dropping her bag and jacket on the way.

"Ellie, Alex. Alex, Ellie."

"Hi, Ellie," Alex cooed with a soft smile.

Ellie just looked at Alex warily, tucking her head against Jess's shoulder.

"She's not exactly used to meeting new people yet," Jess said, running a hand up and down Ellie's back.

"No worries, I have tons of baby cousins, I get it. I'll get her liking me before you know it," Alex said confidently as she moved to her desk.

Jess lowered Ellie into her playpen in front of a little plastic mirror with which Ellie became immediately transfixed.

"I didn't peg you as a baby person."

"Well, that's because I'm a fully grown adult person," Alex said with a grin.

Jess rolled his eyes and tried not to laugh. "You're hilarious," he said dryly as he checked on Ellie and then sat at his desk, checking his own emails.

"Thanks, Dad," Alex said with a smirk as she started in on checking emails and messages for the day.

"Jeez, would you stop calling me that? I'm like four years older than you!"

"You've got the baby, you've got the weird protectiveness, you've got the dad jokes—"

"Hey, I do not have dad jokes."

"Debatable. Hey, what's with this email from Colin Moore? Also, who's Colin Moore?"

"He's the owner of that new indie bookstore in Brooklyn."

"He wants to come in for a meeting."

"Check our schedules and set it up."

"Really?" Alex asked, smiling. Jess had always been the one to communicate with clients while Alex stayed more behind the scenes, editing small projects, answering the phone, and working on the zine. But, she'd conquered everything that the job threw at her, so Jess decided it was time for her to try on some more responsibility.

"Don't screw it up," Jess warned with a gleam in his eye that was hidden from Alex behind the computer screen.

"No problem, Dad," Alex said with a playful salute.

"Stop!"

Before they knew it, Jess and Rory's first birthdays as parents had passed, crunchy and brightly colored leaves lined the sidewalk outside their apartment, Ellie was seven months old, and Halloween was upon them.

Rory and Jess had both taken a long weekend to be able to take Ellie trick-or-treating in Stars Hollow, but she'd barely slept on the drive there, and so Halloween evening found them on the floor in Luke and Lorelai's living room trying to force an incredibly fussy Ellie into a pumpkin costume.

"C'mon Ellie girl, let me get your arms through this…" Rory muttered, trying to get Ellie to stop locking her elbows in defiance of her doom to be shoved into a pumpkin.

Ellie simply screamed in response.

"Why are we even going trick or treating?" Jess asked. "She's seven months old, she can't eat the candy. Hell, she can't even ring the doorbells."

"Because! It's her first Halloween!" Rory shouted at him.

"She hates the costume!"

"Jess…" Rory said shortly, exasperated.

"She's overtired, Rory. She's not gonna stop screaming until she's in her pajamas and in bed!"

"If you're gonna stand there, at least do something helpful and hand me that hat!" Rory snapped.

"Let's just wait until next year," Jess said, reluctantly handing Rory the pumpkin hat with a curly green stem made of felt. "She'll be able to walk and—"

"No!" Rory shouted. "This is her first Halloween, and we are going to celebrate! Now either get on board or leave me alone to try and get her ready!"

"Rory, stop! I didn't do anything to you, why are you yelling at me?"

"Because, you're… you're…" Rory faltered, at a loss for a viable reason. "You're being annoying!"

Jess thought of responding, even opened his mouth to say something back, but instead just scoffed and retreated to the kitchen where Luke and Lorelai were sitting, both with sheepish expressions.

"Sounds like it's going well in there," Lorelai said quietly.

Jess just scowled and grabbed a beer out of the fridge before falling into a chair across from Luke.

"Can one of you explain why this is such a big deal to her?" he whispered.

Luke just gave a puzzled shrug, but Lorelai smiled in wistful sympathy.

"I think it's a mom thing. Rory's first Halloween was before she was even a month old and I still put her in a little costume of sorts. Plus… Rory has great memories of Halloween here. Mia used to have her dress up and trick or treat at the inn, and then eventually we all started going to the carnival and trick or treating around town with Lane... I think Rory just wants that for Ellie."

"Lane's mom let her go trick or treating?" Jess asked, confused.

"She wasn't allowed to take any candy and was required to give a pamphlet on how Halloween was a celebration of the devil with every house we went to."

"Makes sense," Jess said with a wince on childhood Lane's behalf. He sighed. "It's just that... Ellie isn't even a year old yet."

"Jess, how recent does Ellie's birth feel?"

"God, like yesterday and a thousand years ago…"

"Right. Time passes faster than we might realize. Rory just wants to make as many memories as possible."

Jess sighed and sipped his drink. "I guess I can understand that." He turned to face Luke. "Any advice from you?"

"Let her be crazy. If she's anything like her mom, it'll probably work out in the end," Luke said, smiling sweetly at Lorelai.

"God, you are such a sap," Jess chuckled as Lorelai grinned blissfully at Luke.

Silence fell over the trio, and that's when Jess realized that it was silence in the whole house, the adjacent living room suddenly lacking its previous pandemonium. A few seconds later, Rory shuffled in with a frown on her face.

"You lose our kid?" Jess joked, tugging playfully at the hem of Rory's sweater.

"She fell asleep while I was putting on her jack-o-lantern socks…" Rory mumbled.

"Are we still going trick or treating?" Jess asked softly.

"No…" Rory pouted.

"C'mere." Jess grabbed Rory's hand and pulled her down into his lap while Luke and Lorelai not-so-subtly gave them the room, Lorelai physically shooing Luke away by pushing him into the living room.

Rory leaned her head against Jess's shoulder, fiddled with the collar of Jess's shirt absentmindedly.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you."

Jess trailed his fingers up and down Rory's arm. "It's okay. I'm sorry for sniping."

"I just want to make everything special for her. I want to go all out like Mom did for me."

"I get that. But she's too young to remember this."

"I'm not…" Rory mumbled into Jess's neck.

Jess let out a breathy laugh, realization dawning on him as to just why Rory was so insistent on making memories. It wasn't for Ellie. It was for her.

"We were gonna meet up with Lane and Zack and the boys and wander around town and bob for apples and watch the pumpkin carving competition that Taylor always takes way too seriously and Kirk ends up needing stitches and Lane and I were gonna recreate our Halloween memories for the kids."

"You still can, when they're older."

Rory let out a sigh. "Yeah, I guess you're right…"

"What do you say we put Ellie to bed, you call Lane, I run to Doose's to get some candy, and we have a Halloween movie marathon instead? We can even give some of that candy to trick or treaters if they come by."

"Really?" Rory asked as she sat up, a smile creeping onto her face.

"Yeah, but only the crap candy like candy corn and smarties and tootsie rolls."

"Hey, there is no tootsie roll bashing under this roof! The other two can go, but tootsie rolls are sacred."

"I disagree, but Luke suggested my life would be easier if I let you be crazy, so I guess I'll let you have your tootsie rolls," Jess said as he and Rory stood.

"Hey, I am not crazy!"

Jess placed a quick kiss on Rory's nose before making his way towards the door, calling a "love you!" over his shoulder.

Though it wasn't exactly what she pictured, Halloween ended up being one for the books. Rory called Lane just to find out Steve and Kwan had had similar meltdowns and were also unconscious, leaving Lane and Zack stuck at home with them. But Rory and Lorelai donned their costumes – Lorelai's being a flannel, a backwards baseball cap, and a spatula, while Rory put on a spiky black wig, Jess's old denim jacket, and some baggy jeans complete with a well-loved paperback book in the back pocket – while the guys scowled at the girls' terrible impressions, poorly hidden amusement dancing in their eyes. They handed out candy to trick or treaters for a grand total of fifteen minutes before turning off the porch light and claiming the rest of the candy for themselves and gorged themselves while watching every b-rated and made-for-tv Halloween movie Lorelai had on tape.

Sure, it wasn't what she pictured, but if asked, Rory would admit it was officially one of her favorite Halloweens to date.

November passed just as quickly as October. Once the days started getting shorter and the sun started setting earlier, each day bled into the next. While work picked up for both Rory and Jess – Rory writing a few pieces here and there on top of her normal editorial tasks and Jess taking on more clients while simultaneously working on his own book – but they quickly settled into a smooth albeit slightly hectic routine, trading off who had Ellie, who worked from home or went to the office, and who did the cooking and the shopping for the week. Yeah, their days were chaotic at times, but they made a point of spending every evening together as a family. Dinner, movies, reading, and lots of time spent cuddling and playing with Ellie. They were constantly in awe of how she was changing and developing every day. She loved to bounce, crawl, and get into everything that was remotely close to her level, and was very intent on communicating with just a few simple sounds – "ba," and "da," and "ma" – the latter two making Jess and Rory's heart skip a beat when they thought she was about to address them for the first time.

The day before Thanksgiving found them making the journey to Stars Hollow for the holiday weekend, immediately going to the diner for a late lunch. As usual, they were met with a crowd of Ellie's adoring fans the second they sat down.

"Oh, isn't she just precious!" Miss Patty cooed.

"She just keeps getting bigger and bigger!" Babette yelled with a grin. "What are you feedin' this kid?"

"Well, right now her favorite food besides milk is banana but – oh," Rory said, cheeks going pink. "You were just joking."

"She's not fully on solids yet?" Miss Patty asked with apparent concern.

"Well, no, she's only eight months old."

"Should she still be nursing?"

"Guys, she's less than a year old!" Rory said, growing annoyed. "She eats plenty of real food, but she still needs to nurse."

"We're just tryin' to help, Sugar," Babette said.

"I appreciate it, but we've got it under control," Rory said with a smile in hopes that for once they'd take the hint and leave her alone.

"What's going on?" Jess asked as he approached the table, putting a mug in front of Rory.

"Apparently I'm breastfeeding our daughter too long," she said, taking a sip of coffee.

"My mother breastfed me until I was four and I turned out fine," Kirk chimed in casually, taking a bite of his peanut butter and jelly.

"Oh my God!" Rory spluttered.

"Aw, jeez, I'm gonna need to bleach my brain to get rid of that image!" Jess said in disgust, rubbing his face as if to try and erase the mental picture.

Luke approached just then, signature scowl in place as he set two plates down and shooed everyone away.

"All of you, knock it off and let them raise their kid and eat their food. Now you," he said to Rory, a smile sneaking through, "give me my granddaughter."

Ellie kicked and squealed in delight as soon as she was in Luke's arms, and without another word, Luke was off pouring refills of coffee, now with a smiley, chatty accessory in the crook of his arm.

"I think he just kidnapped our daughter," Rory said with a grin, dipping a fry into a mixture of salt and pepper.

Jess shrugged. "Eh, we'll get her back when she poops."

Rory snorted before diving into her burger. "God, I missed Luke's burgers and coffee."

Jess nodded in agreement before looking at Rory inquisitively. "Hey, you know what this is?"

"What?" Rory asked past a mouthful of food.

"Our first baby-free meal out in about eight months."

"Seriously?" Rory asked, wide-eyed. "Wow. I think you're right."

The two continued eating in silence, hyperaware of the sound Ellie giggling at diner patrons.

"Kind of overrated," Rory said with a frown.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go get her," Jess said as he stood from his chair and went to retrieve Ellie from Luke.

As Jess went to try to steal his daughter back from Luke, who argued that she was good for business and that Jess deserved a break, Rory went back to eating her burger, only to be interrupted by the bell above the door chiming as a flurry of scarves and dark hair collapsed in the chair to her left.

"Rory? Rory, is that you?" Lorelai asked, eyes shut as she blindly reached out and felt at Rory's face.

"It's only been a month," Rory laughed, batting her hands away. "Also, hi to you, too."

"A month is way too long, especially when my granddaughter is growing like a weed. Speaking of where's the kid?"

"Luke took her ten minutes ago and won't give her back," Rory said, gesturing to where Jess was standing by the counter and watching Luke and Ellie serve food with a scowl. When she caught Jess's eye, she beckoned him back over.

"Make your husband give me my kid," Jess grumbled to Lorelai, falling back into his chair and picking at his food.

"No can do. Once he has her, he won't give her up. Which, hey, thanks a lot for coming here before coming to see me. Now Luke has first dibs and I'm gonna have to pry Ellie away from him just to give her a kiss," Lorelai pouted.

"You two call dibs on our daughter?" Rory chuckled.

"Uh, yeah! Otherwise, we start bickering about who got more time with her. Especially because you guys don't visit even close to often enough."

"I apologize that we both work full time and have busy schedules and live two hours away."

"Thank you," Lorelai said.

"You know, you could visit us, too."

"She could?" Jess asked in horror.

"I could?" Lorelai said, realization dawning in her eyes. "I could!"

"You could," Rory said with a pointed look at Jess. "You'd have to sleep on the couch, but you could."

"As long as you don't tell me the horrible, traumatizing things that couch has seen, you might have yourself a deal."

Jess snorted into his soda as Rory's face warmed. "No problem."

"Great! Who knows when because it's tourist season at the inn, and then it's Christmas and New Year's… but someday I'll come visit!" Lorelai said, stealing one of Rory's fries.

"Hey, get your own!" Rory complained.

At that, Lorelai turned to Jess with a wide grin.

"Steal my fries and lose a hand."

Lorelai squawked in indignation. "So violent! So cruel, depriving your child's grandmother of food!"

"You're married to the chef, I think you get food for yourself just fine."

Lorelai just pouted and stood before flitting off in search of food and Ellie while Jess and Rory returned to their food.

"This is what the rest of my life is going to look like, isn't it?" Jess asked wearily.

"Yep," Rory said, taking a sip of coffee.

Thanksgiving was the usual all day grand affair with multiple stops – the Kim's, the Gilmore's, and then back to Luke and Lorelai's – but the day was a little more hectic than in the past as Rory and Jess had to plan their day around Ellie's feeding and nap schedule. Unfortunately, she fell asleep at the Kim's and woke up grumpy on the way to Emily and Richard's.

"So, what are the odds your grandma lets us leave early because we have a sleepy baby?" Jess asked as he drove.

"Earlier than we're already leaving? We're only staying for drinks and hors d'oeuvres."

"How important are hors d'oeuvres anyways?"

"Grandma's already upset we're not staying for dinner. Plus, Grandma and Grandpa's friends are gonna be there and they're going to want to show her off."

"God…" Jess groaned, his head falling against the headrest with a dull thump.

"You'll survive."

"I'm not so sure about that. We still have Thanksgiving at Luke and Lorelai's."

"That'll be way more lowkey though!" Rory said as she pulled into her grandparents' driveway and parked behind Luke's truck. "We'll stop at the apartment and change out of our fancy clothes and then head over and gorge ourselves on Luke's turkey and mashed potatoes."

"Yes, but my mother will be there," Jess groaned as he got out of the car.

"And your sister!" Rory retorted, unlatching Ellie's car seat and carrying her toward the door.

"And TJ."

Rory grimaced. "Okay, fine you got me there."

"Just promise me we can hole up in the apartment tomorrow and talk to as little extended family as possible?" Jess whined.

"Promise," Rory said with a kiss before reaching toward the doorbell. Before she could ring it, the door swung open to reveal a slightly frazzled looking Lorelai.

"You're late!" she said through a pained grin.

"Like five minutes – whoa!"

Lorelai grabbed Rory's baby-carrier-free arm and yanked her inside. "You left me alone with your grandmother on a holiday and I will never forgive you."

"Alone– there's like eight other people here, including Luke," Rory said as she and Jess were wrangled out of their coats.

"Yes, but Luke isn't as good a buffer as you. And the baby will be even better!"

"I'm fine being the buffer but I draw the line at using my daughter as one!" Rory said seriously as Jess took the baby carrier from her.

"Fine, you'll do."

"Really feelin' the love," Rory chuckled as they all made their way into the living room for drinks.

"Rory!" Emily said gleefully as they entered.

"Hi, Grandma! Happy Thanksgiving!"

"And Jess too, how lovely," Emily said, her smile stiffening.

"Mrs. Gilmore," Jess greeted with a nod.

"Everyone, this is my granddaughter, Rory, and her fiancé, Jess."

Rory and Jess both quickly blinked in surprise, exchanging confused glances as Luke and Lorelai looked on with shock.

"Um, Grandma—"

"Oh, good, you brought the baby!" Emily cheered, apparently just noticing Ellie.

"What else would we have done with her, leave her in the car?" Jess asked.

"Of course not," Emily said with a forced laugh. "I just didn't know if you had left her with a babysitter or not."

"Nope."

"Well, I see that now," Emily said in a falsely sweet voice. "Richard, come here, Ellie's here!"

Rory's grandfather suddenly emerged from the small crowd of guests as Rory unbuckled Ellie from her carrier and passed her over to Emily.

"Happy Thanksgiving Grandpa," Rory said with a bright grin.

"Rory, Jess, hello!" Richard greeted them cheerfully. "Come, come, I have some business partners I want to introduce you to."

Jess and Rory both suppressed groans as they were ushered through the living room.

"Just drinks and hors d'oeuvres, right?" Jess whispered to Rory.

"Promise," Rory whispered back, kissing Jess on the cheek. "Thirty minutes max."

The rest of their time at Richard and Emily's passed without major error, though it ended up being closer to an hour, and once Ellie started to get fussy from being tired and from being introduced to way too many people, Rory, Jess, Luke, and Lorelai used that as their cue to exit. Once the group made their way out to the driveway, feeling drained from the mingling, Luke and Jess walked to the cars and Lorelai turned to Rory.

"Hey, what was with that 'fiancé' thing? Does Mom know something I don't?"

"Definitely not," Rory said. "I have no idea what she was talking about."

"Weird."

"Definitely."

"Have you guys talked about that?"

"What?" Rory yawned.

"Marriage, the future."

"Um, yeah."

"'Um, yeah'? That doesn't sound very committal."

"Hey!" Rory shot back, hurt and annoyed.

"I'm just saying! It's something you need to talk about!"

"I'm well aware, but thanks for butting in," Rory spat, folding her arms across her chest and walking to the car.

"Rory! Hey!"

"What?" Rory snapped as she spun around.

"I'm just trying to help! I don't want you guys to be in relationship limbo forever!"

"We're not in relationship limbo, and I really don't feel like having this conversation right now!"

"Well, it seems like relationship limbo to me!"

"Maybe that's because you're just watching from the outside, because we're happy and healthy and we're the ones in the relationship! God, where is this coming from?"

"It's not 'coming from' anywhere! I just… Mom referring to Jess as your fiancé got me thinking and I just want to make sure you guys are okay."

"Well, we are," Rory said, softening slightly.

"Good," Lorelai said, a confused edge to her voice.

"Yeah," Rory said with a nod. "So, we'll see you at home."

"Good, that's… yeah, good."

Rory stalked back to the car and climbed into the passenger seat, doing her best to ignore Jess's inquisitive expression.

"What was that about?" he asked cautiously.

"I have no idea," Rory laughed bitterly. "We were leaving and then all the sudden she's grilling me on if we're getting married or not."

"What?"

"I know! Grandma calling you my fiancé flipped a switch or something and, I don't know, she just wigged. She just kept asking me if we were committed and 'okay,'" she said, putting air quotes around the word.

Jess remained silent as they drove back to Stars Hollow, the radio playing softly and Ellie snoring softly the only sounds in the car.

"Think we should tell her that we aren't just dating?" Jess asked, breaking the silence as they passed the rooster statue.

"Really?"

"Not that it's any of her business, but it might give her some peace of mind about the state of our relationship."

Rory paused, mulling that over.

"I'm surprised."

"Why?"

"I just never expected you to sacrifice your privacy to make Lorelai Gilmore happy."

"Hey, okay, one, I'm not sacrificing my privacy, and two, I'm only doing this so you aren't fighting with your mom."

"Well… thank you, Jess."

"Course. I also might have an idea as to why she wants to know."

"Oh?"

"She already gave me her blessing, she's probably just waiting for me to pop the question."

Rory's eyes widened in surprise. "Her blessing—what? Like you asked her if you could propose and—"

"No, no way. She just offered it to me. She made it very clear it wasn't a permission thing, just a… an approval, I guess."

"When was this?"

"Uh…" Jess chuckled. "When you were in labor."

"Oh my God!" Rory laughed. "Okay, I'm surprised Mom waited eight whole months to flip."

"Hey, you said it, not me."

"Wow. So, she finally approves of you?"

"That or she just wanted to make sure I didn't suddenly become either of our dads and bolt."

"Jess, no. If she gave you her blessing, it was definitely because she was okay with us being together."

Jess just gave her a dubious look.

"Alright, maybe 'definitely' is overdoing it. But she's at least probably okay."

"Good to know."

Rory sighed, a small smile alighting on her face. "So, then, if you're comfortable with it and I swear her to secrecy, I'll tell her that we're planning on getting married eventually."

"I'm comfortable with it," Jess said, nodding. "If you swear her to secrecy."

"Luke will get to know."

"Sure"

"And Paul Anka."

"That guy really needs to learn to mind his own business," Jess said with a smirk.

Rory snorted. "Dork."

The grand finale of their Thanksgiving at Luke and Lorelai's was a nice holiday with family overlaid with a strange stress. Anna was in a mood all night due to apparently still harboring bitterness over not being granted full custody and feeling threatened by Lorelai, so she and Lorelai were very cordial with each other for Luke and April's sake while avoiding each other at all costs. Liz and TJ and Doula brought their own tornado of chaos, Liz trying desperately to force some kind of sibling bonding between Jess and Doula despite Doula barely being a year old. Jess did his best to be polite to his mother and TJ while busying himself with helping Luke in the kitchen and taking care of Ellie while Rory smiled politely and felt herself slip into hostess mode to try and smooth over the tangible tension in the house. To make matters worse, Ellie was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people she was surrounded by, all demanding to get close to her to coo at her along with being downright exhausted from the hectic day. After fussing all night, she promptly fell asleep in her highchair, a chubby fist full of sweet potatoes halfway to her mouth.

Mercifully, everyone survived. All the extended family left by ten o'clock and while Luke and Jess cleaned the kitchen, Rory grabbed a couple beers from the fridge and went in search of her mother, finding her wrapped in a cardigan and curled up on the porch swing.

"Hey," she said softly, handing her mother one of the bottles.

"Hey."

"Can I?" Rory asked, gesturing to the space next to Lorelai, sitting down when her mother nodded.

"Another Gilmore Thanksgiving for the books," Lorelai said, taking a sip.

"Is it just me, or do we gain more family members every year?"

"By the time Ellie's grown up, we'll need to rent an event space just to fit 'em all."

Rory chuckled, lifting her bottle to her lips and curling her legs under her with a shiver.

"Hey so… I'm sorry about freaking out on you earlier."

"It's okay. I get it."

"You do?" Lorelai asked, turning to Rory in surprise.

"I talked to Jess about it on the drive from Grandma and Grandpa's and he let me in on your guys' secret."

"To one day join forces and take over the music industry?"

"As simple as that sounds, no. He told me that you gave him your blessing to ask for my hand in marriage, or whatever."

"Oh. That secret," Lorelai breathed.

"Well, we talked about me letting you in on our secret."

Lorelai gasped, eyes going wide and searching Rory's left hand. "Oh my God, are you getting married?!"

"Well…"

"Oh my God!" Lorelai squealed.

"Okay, slow down, breathe," Rory laughed. "We aren't yet."

Lorelai's shoulders dropped and her eyebrows furrowed. "Okay, I'm confused."

"We're… engaged to be engaged."

"That's not a thing."

"Then we're making it a thing. We aren't ready to get married or even plan to get married, but we are getting married someday. Just on our own timeline."

"Oh… okay."

"Don't sound so excited," Rory chuckled.

"Well engaged to be engaged doesn't come with a pretty ring or wedding planning or the license to pester Jess about being his mother-in-law!"

"Sorry to disappoint."

"So, when?"

"When what?"

"When do you get the pretty ring and the dress and all that good stuff?"

"No, see, no asking questions like that. That's the whole reason we didn't tell anyone. We're doing this according to our plan when we feel ready. And, you're sworn to secrecy."

Lorelai squawked indignantly.

"You're allowed to tell Luke if you absolutely have to, but no one else. We don't need people like Grandma and Babette and Miss Patty harassing us with wedding venues and marriage advice. Got it?"

"Got it," Lorelai said through a pout. "Can I ask how long you've been… engaged to be engaged?" she asked, putting finger quotes around Rory's coined phrase.

"About eight months," Rory said casually, taking a sip of her drink.

"Uh-hey!" Lorelai objected. "You've been holding out on me!"

"We decided it the day Ellie was born," Rory chuckled.

"You trust Mama so little?"

"No, we just wanted to keep it to ourselves first."

"Hm. Fine, I guess I understand that."

"Thank you."

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"So, is pre-engagement sex any better than just-dating sex?"

"Mom!"

"Sorry, just had to ask!"

"I'm going inside," Rory laughed, face going red and throwing aside her blanket to charge into the house.

"Wait for me, I want more pie!" Lorelai called, quickly following after her.

A/N: Might be weird but this is actually one of my favorite chapters of this fic? so far at least. I just really love getting to write Rory and Jess (+ family) doing life together :) pls let me know what you think!