Despite Jess's objections, Rory and Alex joined forces and covered the Truncheon: New York office with garlands and lights and ornaments galore the first week in December. In the girls' opinions, it was the perfect amount of Christmas spirit to brighten up the dark office space. In Jess's opinion, it looked like Christmas threw up all over his place of work. He sat at his desk, glowering as Alex and Rory pranced around the space, singing along to the tinny Christmas music playing on the radio while Ellie bobbed energetically in her playpen, transfixed by all of the bright and shiny decorations and lively music.

Jess had almost succeeded in totally blocking out the chaos around him in favor of getting some writing done when Rory skipped over and wrapped a garland around his neck like a scarf.

"You should wear green more often," she said cheerily, plopping down in his lap. "It brings out the green in your eyes."

"My eyes are brown, and this is itchy," Jess grumbled.

"Aw, come on, Jess. It looks great in here!"

"It looks like the mall scene in The Christmas Story," Jess retorted with a grimace.

Rory looked around, taking in the sheer amount of decoration. "Okay, maybe we went a little overboard."

"Thank you!" Jess breathed.

"Only a little! Because it's Ellie's first Christmas, it's important to make it special!"

"I agree, I just didn't realize that meant my office would smell a car air freshener and sprinkles for the next month."

"Scrooge," Rory pouted, poking him in the side.

"Bah humbug," he said with a smirk. "Hey, in all this, you put up any mistletoe?"

"Maybe…" Rory said, bumping her nose to Jess's.

"Wanna show me where?" Jess asked in a low voice, lips almost touching Rory's.

"If you ask nicely…"

"Okay, that's enough PDA for one day!" Alex interjected.

Rory jumped at the sound and let out a little yelp.

"Forget I was here?" Alex snorted.

"Maybe," Rory mumbled, face red.

"I feel very underappreciated right now."

"Sorry, Alex," Rory chuckled sheepishly.

"I'm not," Jess mumbled, earning an elbow to the ribs from Rory. "Ow—okay, fine, I'm sorry too."

"Come admire my superb decorating skills and I'll feel better," Alex said with a wide grin.

Rory and Jess wandered around the office space, and even Jess had to admit – it looked kind of nice.

Jeez, parenthood had made him mushy.

"I have to admit, I didn't expect you to be so into Christmas, Alex," Jess said.

"How come?"

"I don't know, you just don't strike me as the Hallmark heroine type."

Alex stared at him with narrowed eyes, tilting her head and putting her hands on her hips. "Is it the blue hair? The eyeliner? The black clothes?"

"Uh, well, yeah," Jess said, suddenly feeling like that was very much the wrong thing to say.

"Jess Mariano. A publisher, judging a book by its cover. Shameful," Alex said, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'll have you know, I love holidays. Just because I dress how I dress doesn't mean I'm anti-Christmas. I mean really, Jess, come on. The absolute audacity."

"Hey, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean—"

Rory and Alex lost control of her laughter simultaneously, startling Jess in the process.

"Wow, I really had you going," Alex said through her laughter.

"Jeez… okay, fine, I've learned my lesson," Jess mumbled, hastily making his way back to his desk.

"Hey, Alex, what are you doing for Christmas?" Rory asked as she hoisted Ellie up.

"Eh, probably nothing," Alex said with a shrug.

Rory frowned. "Nothing, like, nothing?"

"Yeah. My parents are going to my horrible, racist, sexist, homophobic aunt and uncle's and I don't feel like dealing with them."

"I don't blame you," Rory said with a sympathetic grimace. "So, you're just going to be home alone?"

"Yeah. My parents fought me on it, but I'm an adult now and I get to do what I want."

"Oh. Okay. As long as that's what you want," Rory said quietly.

"It is," Alex said with a reassuring smile before turning back to the tree she was hanging tinsel on.

Rory looked down at Ellie, imagining her all grown up and spending Christmas all alone. It broke her heart, actually made her tear up a little, made her hold her closer and bury her nose in her soft hair and pepper her face with kisses. She absolutely hated the idea of someone she cared about spending Christmas alone, but it wasn't like there was anything she could do about it.

Was there?

That weekend, Rory curled up on the couch with a notebook on her lap and a pen in her hand, jotting down notes and plans for their week and a half in Stars Hollow. Making packing lists, confirming they had gifts bought for everyone, organizing when they were seeing who, and basically making sure every detail of Ellie's first Christmas and New Year's was going to be as perfect as possible. The only thing that she hadn't ironed down was their potential extra guest.

Rory had worked it all out. Alex could stay at the inn and join them for all the festivities, giving her a true Stars Hollow Christmas while also giving her the option to retreat to her own space if she wanted to be alone. Rory just had begun to feel sort of protective of Alex in the time since she'd started working for Jess and she wanted to make sure she was as happy and comfortable as possible. She worried at her lip with her teeth, trying to figure out the last piece of the puzzle – how to broach the subject of inviting Alex to their family Christmas with Jess.

She was pulled out of her musings by Ellie as she used the couch to pull herself into a standing position and gurgled happily at Rory, who smiled back and lifted Ellie to sit on her stomach as she lay on the couch, legs bent at the knee.

"What do you think, Ellie? You want Alex to spend Christmas with us?"

"Buh."

"I'll take that as, 'sure, Mommy, but what's Christmas?'"

"Mmma."

"Yeah, Mama, that's me," Rory said softly.

"Babababa!" Ellie yelled emphatically.

"You'll get there soon, I guess."

Ellie grinned in apparent agreement before settling back against Rory's thighs and babbling quietly to herself while Rory continued to go over her lists, talking softly to Ellie in the process.

"… and you're gonna give Grandpa and Grandma that handprint art you made. I think they'll like that, even if you didn't like getting painty. Mama got all painty one time, did you know that?"

Ellie watched Rory inquisitively.

"Yep. I got all covered in paint to look like a famous painting and then I sat really, really still. I'll show you pictures sometime, okay?"

Ellie smiled back at Rory.

"You're going to get to see Stars Hollow all covered in snow. You haven't really played in snow yet since the snow here is already kind of gross. Plus, a girl's first snow walk has got to be in Stars Hollow. It's tradition. Won't be at midnight since that's way past your bedtime, but I think Grandma will let plans change for you cause you're just so cute."

Ellie babbled back to Rory, conversing with her in her own way about what Rory imagined to be snow and Christmas and the toys she would get from Santa. Once she was quiet and seemingly falling asleep on her lap, Rory moved to get her up and in her crib for a nap. As she shifted, however, Ellie startled, throwing off her already unstable balance and sending her forward, forehead colliding with Rory's nose with a dull thunk that sent pain radiating through Rory's face.

"Ow! Oh my God ow…" Rory cried as Ellie began to wail.

"What's wrong?" Jess called from the bedroom as Rory tried to sit up while keeping Ellie perched on her lap.

"Our daughter broke my face!" Rory yelled back, voice muffled and watery as tears sprung to her eyes. "I'm okay, baby, it's okay," she mumbled, trying to calm Ellie while examining her for injury and thankfully finding nothing but a red splotch of irritated skin where head had met nose.

"What?" Jess said, frantic, running to the living room.

"She fell or something, I don't know, but she landed right on my nose," Rory said thickly, taking her hand away, dismayed to find it stained with red. "Oh my God, I'm bleeding!" she cried in shock. "Take her, calm her down, I'll be right back," she said, running to the bathroom to grab a handful of tissues.

When she'd finally got the bleeding to stop, she exited the bathroom with wads of tissues stuck up her to protect against any residual bleeding, shuffling over to the freezer to find some ice for her face. She found Jess on the couch with Ellie in his lap, a soft, bear-shaped icepack gently pressed to her forehead.

"Is she okay?" Rory asked, voice thick and congested as she placed the cool gel pack on her face.

"She might have a little bruise but she's all good, Are you okay?" Jess asked, moving to Rory's side with worry in his eyes.

"I don't know, it really hurts. Do you think it's broken?"

Jess pulled the icepack away and closely examined the damage. "Nah, probably not broken, but definitely bruised. Jeez, how hard is the kid's head?"

"Hard," Rory groaned, tears coming to her eyes again as it continued to throb. "You're sure she's okay?" Rory asked, scrutinizing Ellie's face.

"She's fine, Rory. Just a bump on the head."

Rory seemed unconvinced, frowning at Ellie's watery eyes and blotchy face.

Jess sighed. "Do you want to call the doctor to see what they think?"

"Yes…"

In the end, the doctor and the nurse help line sided with Jess, saying these kinds of injuries happen more often than they think and that babies are more resilient than most give them credit for. Rory remained dubious, constantly checking her over for the next few days as her own face continued to show evidence of the injury.

"This has got to be the stupidest injury I've ever gotten," Rory groaned, examining her minor black eye in the mirror.

"The doctor said babies knock into their parents and shit all the time since they're so wobbly, so at least you're not alone," Jess snickered.

"At least I wasn't beaked!"

"Hey, you said you'd never bring that up again!"

"Then stop teasing me about this!"

"Fine. Deal," Jess grumbled, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, looking at her reflection in the mirror. "If you keep poking at it, it's just gonna make it worse."

"That's pimples, not bruises," Rory pouted, leaning back against Jess.

"Well it can't help," he said with a kiss on her cheek. "I'm sorry our daughter gave you your first shiner."

"How do you know it's my first?"

"I'm sorry, did you and Paris duke it out one time and I'm just unaware?

Rory frowned. "No…"

"Didn't think so." At Rory's persistent pout, Jess turned her around in his arms. "Hey, not getting in fights isn't a bad thing. Trust me."

"I know… I'm just tired of always being perceived as dainty or weak."

"Hey, you are not weak. Far from it, actually. You're just not aggressive. Again, not a bad thing. But you're one of the strongest people I know, and the claws come out when you need them."

"I'm really one of the strongest people you know?" Rory asked, a shy smile gracing her lips.

"Maybe the strongest," Jess whispered as he tucked Rory's hair behind her ear.

"Thank you. Same goes for you, by the way," Rory said with a grin.

"Thank you," Jess smiled. He leaned forward and placed a tiny kiss on Rory's nose, causing Rory to grimace in pain. "Sorry," Jess said, wincing in sympathy.

"S'okay. Just ready to not look like a raccoon anymore."

Jess nodded. "Do you need anything, Popeye?" he asked, smirking.

"God, you're so annoying!" Rory pulled herself out of Jess's grasp as he laughed, stomping out of the bathroom. "I'm buying Ellie a stuffed swan!"

"Don't you dare!"

A week went by, Rory's bruise faded, and Christmas was rapidly approaching. Alex continued to insist that she was fine having nothing to do for the holiday and that she was planning to rent Die Hard – because Home Alone was a little too on the nose – and order her favorite takeout, but Rory refused to believe she would be happy all alone in her house on Christmas. So, she decided it was time to bring up her idea with Jess.

"I have a proposition."

"What's up?" Jess asked distractedly, barely pulling his attention away from his notebook.

"What would you say to the idea of inviting Alex to Stars Hollow for Christmas?"

Jess's head spun to look at Rory. "What?"

"She's all alone because her family sucks and it's her first Christmas away from them. She could stay at the inn and have Christmas dinner with us and you two could mock Stars Hollow together. And she totally doesn't have to come, I just keep picturing her all sad and alone in the dark on Christmas."

"I doubt she'll be stuck in the cold with a bowl of gruel asking, 'please sir, can I have some more?'."

"You mock, but you never know."

Jess eyed Rory curiously. "You're really serious about this."

"I am. I feel weirdly protective of her. I mean, she's just a kid. I can't imagine being alone on a holiday."

Jess glanced down at the journal in his lap and cleared his throat, and Rory's heart sunk into her gut.

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"How old were you?" Rory asked softly.

"Nine or ten. Liz had some new guy, both of them were high off their asses. I'm not even sure they knew it was Christmas or remembered I was there."

Rory reached over and wove her fingers in with Jess's, caressing his knuckles with her thumb in a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Jess offered a shrug. "S'okay."

"It's not, but we don't have to get into how not okay it is."

Jess looked at her gratefully as he released a sigh. "C'mere," he whispered, pulling Rory into his side where she curled up.

"Thank you for sharing this stuff with me," Rory said quietly.

"Thank you for listening."

Rory tilted her head to look up at Jess, eyes soft as she kissed his jaw. "Always."

In the end, it was decided that Alex would be invited to the Gilmore-Mariano-Danes Christmas. They cleared it with everyone at home and confirmed there would be a place for her to stay, though initially there was a small complication; the inn was booked solid for the holidays.

"I'm sorry, hon. Tourists love small towns in the winter, we've been booked for Christmas since August," Lorelai explained sadly.

"Damn those responsible travelers! You're sure?"

"I'll check again in the morning, but I'm almost positive that even if she was about to give birth to our Lord and Savior, there would be no room at the inn."

"How long have you been waiting to use that?" Rory snickered.

"So long."

"No manger we can stick her in?"

"Unless she wants to bunk with Cletus, nope."

"Drat…"

Rory ended the call with Lorelai and wandered out into the living room, falling onto the couch with a pout.

"What's with the face?" Jess asked, looking up from his place on the floor with Ellie in his lap.

"The Dragonfly is totally booked for Christmas, so now we have to come up with another place for Alex to stay if we want her to come home with us."

"If only she was pregnant with Jesus."

Rory snorted out a laugh. "Sometimes it's like you and Mom share a braincell."

"Take that back immediately," Jess said in horror.

Rory only laughed harder.

Thankfully for them, Lorelai got a call the next day with a cancelation, thus checking off the last box Rory needed to complete before she even invited Alex. Sure, she was a little nervous all the effort would be for naught, but she wanted to prepare in the chance that Alex said yes.

Which is what ended up happening, much to Rory's delight.

When she called Alex with the invitation, she was first met with hesitation and confusion. But after some convincing, Alex seemed very happy to not be spending Christmas alone after all. In fact, Rory was certain she'd heard a smile in her voice by the end of the call.

By the time Christmas week had arrived, to Rory and Jess it felt like they were surrounded by a sort of organized chaos. Presents tucked in the corner in various stages of wrapping, suitcases half packed and laying around the bedroom, work projects being finalized before their time off, and a baby that was confused and concerned about the harried state of all the adults around her. Somehow they survived and two days before Christmas, they made it into the car with what felt like everything they owned and more, and were off to Stars Hollow for a full two weeks.

Once they passed the welcome sign, everything calmed. Everything suddenly felt right. Rory felt her heart settle in her chest as a smile crossed her face. She was home, and not only that, but she was about to celebrate her baby's first Christmas in her hometown.

The whole town was covered in a blanket of snow, haphazardly built snowmen were gathered around the gazebo, and Christmas lights lit up the square.

It was perfect.

They pulled into driveway and Luke and Lorelai rushed out to meet them, both with wide grins on their faces.

"Merry Christmas Eve Eve!" Lorelai squealed as she enveloped Rory in a hug.

"'Eve Eve'?" Jess questioned.

"Yeah, it's the eve before Christmas eve, duh," Rory said, unbuckling Ellie.

"Oh, of course, how could I be so stupid," Jess grumbled sarcastically.

"I thought you knew to go along with their bits by now?" Luke chuckled.

"Y'know, you would assume that…" Jess said as he leaned against the car next to Luke.

"How has this kid grown since Thanksgiving?" Lorelai pouted, bouncing Ellie up and down.

"No kidding. And she is getting so close to her first word. I can just feel it."

"Can you say Grandma, Ellie? Try it, Grandma," Lorelai cooed, drawing out the syllables.

Ellie just stared at her blankly.

"Good try, kid. Hey, has she played in the snow yet?"

"Nope, wanted to save that for here. Plus, the snow in the city is all mucky and gross."

"Listen to you. 'The snow in the city.' You're like a total native now."

Rory spun around to face Jess with a wide grin. "Ha!" she said triumphantly.

"Aw, jeez, I'm never gonna hear the end of this…"

Luke and Lorelai exchanged confused glances.

"What?" Lorelai laughed.

"Nothing. Inside joke," Rory grinned.

"O-kay." Lorelai hoisted Ellie higher on her hip and gestured to her with a tip of her head. "Shall we?"

Rory looked back at Jess with a grin. "Let's do it."

The group circled around Ellie who was slowly lowered to the ground with a confused expression on her face. Once on the ground, she remained still and silent, staring at the cold, fluffy, white substance on the ground and wiggling her fingers around in it.

It took no less than ten seconds for her to screw up her face and let out an ear-piercing wail.

"No!" Lorelai gasped.

Jess quickly lifted Ellie into his arms, holding her close and stroking her back soothingly with a smirk on his face at Lorelai's dismay.

"That's my girl," Luke beamed.

"The betrayal!" Lorelai groaned, covering her face with her hands.

"It was probably just scary for her, Mom," Rory said with a frown, wiping the tears from her daughter's cheeks as Ellie tucked her face against Jess's neck with a whimper.

"Snow?" Lorelai said incredulously. "Sweet, innocent snow was scary?"

"It's cold and weird and unfamiliar, so yes, to my nine-month-old daughter, snow is scary!" Rory laughed. "Give her time, Mom. She's a Gilmore girl, she'll come around."

"She better," Lorelai pouted as Luke wrapped his arm around her shoulders and leaned in, pressing a kiss to her temple.

The group made their way into town for lunch at the diner, Rory and Lorelai talking a mile a minute while Luke and Jess simply listened with smiles on their faces, both begrudgingly basking in the Christmas spirit that surrounded them.

The group was settled in at a table, Luke having been convinced not to jump back into working in favor of spending time with family, munching on leftover pieces of French fries and salad while catching up and making plans for the week when the bell above the door jingled and a lost-looking teenager entered the diner. The second Rory saw her, she shot up from her place at the table with a bright smile, running over to greet her.

"Alex! You made it!"

"I did!" Alex chuckled nervously as Rory embraced her. "How come this diner says it's a hardware store? I drove in circles for ten minutes before I saw the right sign."

"Oh, sorry about that. It used to be Luke's dad's hardware store, but Luke turned it into a diner when his dad died."

"Because of course he did," Alex laughed, eyes scanning the diner interior. "This place is cute. Homey."

"If you say that when you meet him, you'll win big points with Mom and Jess," Rory said with a mischievous look in her eye. "Come on, come join the table!"

Rory led Alex through the diner, weaving in between the tables until they reached their own.

"Mom, Luke, this is Alex," Rory introduced with a wide grin. Jess smiled fondly at her enthusiasm as he adjusted his hold on the sleeping baby in his arms.

Alex smiled shyly as she shook Luke and Lorelai's hands and then was ushered into a chair at the table where she sat, taking in everything around her. She was amazed at the fast-paced conversation between Rory and Lorelai, was bombarded by a woman with a grating voice and wild hair who was apparently the Gilmore's neighbor Babette, and even got to witness a classic Luke versus Taylor argument about the lack of Christmas decorations around the diner. By the time they all left, she felt drained and a little bit stunned.

"So… that's Stars Hollow," Jess said with a wince.

"It's…"

"Crazy? Exhausting? Maddening?"

"I was just gonna say a lot," Alex said.

"Then you're being nice."

"Luke and Lorelai seem great."

"Don't tell them I said this, but they kind of are," Jess said quietly, watching Rory and Lorelai figure out the plans for the evening.

"And the town is really pretty."

"If you like that sort of thing."

"I don't think I've ever been to such a small town. Like, this is just it, isn't it?"

"Minus a few neighborhoods, the old inn, the lake, and a farm… yeah pretty much."

"That's wild," Alex breathed, her words coming out in a puff of white vapor in the cold air.

Jess snorted as Rory and Lorelai joined him and Alex.

"Okay, here's the plan. Alex, if you're cool with it, Mom will ride with you in your car back to the inn so you can get settled in your room while Jess and I move into the apartment. Mom and Luke both have to work tonight, so Alex, you're welcome to have dinner at the inn – which will be amazing, Sookie is an incredible chef – or you can come back here and we can order takeout from Al's for dinner."

"Al's?" Alex questioned, her mind spinning a little.

"Al's Pancake World."

"Oh, I'm not really a breakfast for dinner kind of person."

"Al's is a pancake place only in name," Jess explained. "What's he doing this month?"

"Japanese, including the unusual but traditional Japanese Christmas dinner of fried chicken," Lorelai explained.

"Huh. Sounds almost promising."

"It is if you stay away from the sushi."

"God, Al's serving sushi?" Jess questioned with disgust, stomach rolling with nausea at the sheer thought.

"Um, I think I'll just eat at the inn and turn in early, I'm pretty tired from the drive," Alex interjected, anxiety at the new environment and people rising by the second.

"Sounds great!" Rory chirped. "Want to meet here for breakfast and a tour of the town tomorrow?"

"Sure, why not," Alex said with a smile.

The group said their goodbyes as Lorelai and Alex made their way to the inn and Rory and Jess wandered back to the house to retrieve their car.

"You're really a natural host," Jess said to Rory, pride glinting in his eyes.

"God, stop, I'm getting flashbacks to my days in the DAR," Rory said with a groan.

"Fine, I'll stop. But I'm getting visions of our place being the best one for playdates and slumber parties because Ellie's mom will always go all out," he said softly, leaning in to place a kiss on Rory's chilled pink cheek as she grinned.

"Okay, I can look forward to that," she said, smiling.

Christmas 2007 went off without a hitch. Emily and Richard were out of the country, so Christmas Eve was spent relaxing at the house where everyone crashed so they could wake up on Christmas morning together, and Christmas day was spent simply enjoying each other's company. Liz and TJ had taken Doula to TJ's mother's for Christmas and Anna had April for this holiday according to their custody agreement, so miraculously, it was just the six of them at home. Ellie had no idea what was going on but would laugh hysterically every time someone ripped their wrapping paper, which would then set off the adults who would laugh until tears sprung to their eyes. Alex was made to feel as if she were a member of the family, and it made Christmas a million times better than she thought it was going to be. They all gorged themselves on Christmas candy and Luke and Jess together made an incredible Christmas dinner that left everyone full, content, and happy, and all fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

The next day, as Jess took Alex into Hartford for some business, Rory and Ellie ventured over to see Lane and the boys. The second Lane opened the door, she squealed and enveloped Rory in a tight hug.

"Whoa, hey, hi there. Glad I wasn't holding the baby," Rory chuckled, returning Lane's hug.

"Hi, sorry!" Lane said, releasing her grip and holding Rory at arm's length. "I just missed you!"

"I missed you too," Rory said with a smile, just as Ellie kicked in frustration from her place in the stroller. "Looks like she missed you too!"

"Oh my God, how is she so big?" Lane gushed, quickly extracting Ellie from her seat.

"You have two her same age, aren't they big too?"

"Well, yeah, but I see them every day. I've gotten used to their big-ness. It happened gradually, slowly, and it snuck up on me and wow now I'm sad about how big all our kids are." Lane held Ellie close, squishing her face against her own.

"Well let me in, I wanna see yours too!"

Lane happily ushered them into the apartment, holding Ellie close as Rory rushed over to greet the equally grown Steve and Kwan, joy welling in her chest at their squeals of joy at the sight of their Aunty Rory. After getting the babies settled with some toys and refamiliarizing them with each other, Lane and Rory got settled on the couch with some coffee.

"I'm totally lacking in being a good best friend," Lane gushed apologetically. "I feel like I don't know anything that's happening in your life right now."

"Lane, stop, it's fine. We're parents with jobs and lives. I know you're always there, even if we're not in constant communication."

"You're right, you're right… so, what is going on in your life?"

Rory launched into a monologue about work, about how stressful it is to work at a real paper but how much she loves every second of it, about Alex and Truncheon and Jess, about Ellie and how much she changes with every passing day. All the while, Lane sat and listened happily.

"What about you, what's going in your life?" Rory asked, taking a sip of coffee.

"Not much… the boys are great, the band is good, Zack and I are getting a divorce…"

"What?!" Rory croaked, choking on her coffee. "Oh my God, what did he do?"

"Nothing! It's amicable and mutual we're totally fine. We just… rushed into things too quickly. And I love him, I do, it's just…"

"Just…" Rory urged, still trying to process the information.

"Not right? Which sounds like total cop out, but it's not. We just don't fit."

"Wow…"

"Yep," Lane said, nodding slowly.

"And you're… you're okay? Like emotionally?"

Lane sighed heavily. "I mean, yeah. Don't get me wrong, I'm sad, but I'm also relieved. And scared. And excited. And about a thousand other contradictory emotions that I don't know how to describe."

"Wow…" Rory repeated.

"I know!"

"How'd your mom take it?"

"Surprisingly well, actually. At first it was a whole speech on how God frowns on divorce, and how could we split up when there's kids involved, and how dare we give up on our marriage—"

"That doesn't exactly sound great to me," Rory said with a wince.

"No, yeah, that's not the good part. After she calmed down, we were able to explain everything. That we were still going to coparent and that we weren't giving up, we were just… changing. She still didn't quite understand, but as soon as she realized Zack wouldn't be her son-in-law anymore, she was more okay with it."

"Wow."

"Okay, you've got to find a new word."

"Sorry! It's just… a lot to process."

"Yeah, imagine how I feel…"

"God this is just… this is big. And adult. You sound so grown up."

"Yeah… when did that happen?"

"It snuck up on us for sure."

"I've been going through these cycles of panic and joy ever since we decided. Like, one minute I'm crying because I'm going to be an ex-wife and worrying about regretting our decision and feeling so freaking guilty that I feel sick to my stomach, and the next I'm pumped for what's coming next and for figuring out what life is going to look like."

"That makes sense. What is life going to look like, exactly? With living situations and parenting and all that."

"Well, now that you mention it, not very different actually."

"Oh?"

"Zack and I are going to look for a place where we can have separate rooms but still live together since the babies are still so young."

"So you're just going back to being roommates?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Well, what if he… or you… y'know…"

"What?" Lane asked, confused.

"What if one of you want to bring home a date?"

"Ah, that… yeah, we agreed no bringing home potential partners until the boys are old enough to understand."

"So… no dating?"

"No, we can date, just outside of the house."

Rory blinked. "You guys really have everything figured out, don't you?"

"Trust me, a lot of research and debate and quite a few arguments went into all this. And we for sure don't have everything figured out. I just hope it's enough for now."

"It sounds like it is," Rory said with a reassuring smile. "Lane?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you really okay?"

Lane's eyes darted down to her coffee as she swallowed thickly.

"Lane?"

Looking up and meeting Rory's gaze, Lane nodded. "I am. And I'm not. The two can apparently coexist," she said with a watery chuckle.

Rory set down her cup and reached pull Lane closer to her, holding her tight and rubbing a comforting hand up and down her bicep. "Call me if you need anything. Or, better yet, just show up at my apartment. Jess can babysit, take the kids to the park and give us some girl time. We can have coffee or wine or something stronger. Just, if you need to freak out or to cry or vent or—"

"Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"I get it. Thank you. Really."

"Of course, Lane."

The two sat there without words, thinking and listening to the babies babble across the room, arms wrapped around each other, Rory's cheek propped on the crown of her friend's head.

"You're getting divorced," Rory said softly.

"I am. I am… getting divorced."

"Wow…"

"Wow indeed."

A/N: Eee so yeah that's happening? I don't really have anything against Zack, per say, but I also don't love him, especially as a partner for Lane. Also, shout out to anxiouspotatorants on tumblr for the Lane and Zack divorce headcanon :) Thank you all for your lovely comments so far! Please let me know what you think!