(for disclaimers, etc. - see 1.)

23. Christmas with the Gilmore-Marianos
'Verse: (post-)canon / A Literati Christmas - This Is Now
Date/Timeline: December 2023 (present day)

Jess never considered himself the sentimental type. If accused of such a thing, he would always deny it. Of course, when he caught himself standing in the doorway to the living room, staring in at his perfect little family and getting dewy-eyed over the sight, he had to admit, if only to himself, that maybe, just maybe, there was some sentimentality in him, after all. If anyone was worth getting that kind of sappy over, Jess had to believe it was Rory and Ella and Joe.

"Daddy! Come see what Santa brought!" his daughter urged him, rushing to grab at his hand and drag him towards the tree. "Joe has the biggest box of all!"

"Not all good gifts come in the big boxes, El," Rory was saying as Jess joined her on the couch, handing off the coffee he just fetched from the kitchen. "Some don't come in boxes at all," she noted, sharing a significant look with her husband.

"Can't argue with that," he said, smiling back at her,

Of course, within moments, their attention was back on the kids and their excited gift-opening, but Jess let his free hand slide down to find Rory's own and hold on tight. Christmas may be for kids, in a lot of ways, but there was no way to forget the memories that were his and his wife's alone, and he wouldn't want to let go of any of them either. The year they kissed under the mistletoe and realised it was worth them taking one last shot at making it work between them. A while later, when Rory's gift to Jess was the chance to officially adopt Ella, and later still, when she handed him a box containing the positive pregnancy test that proved Joe was on the way.

"Hey, Mr Thoughtful," said Rory softly, leaning very close so he would hear and the kids wouldn't. "You feeling okay?"

"Better than just okay," he promised, turning his head to briefly kiss her cheek. "You know how happy you make me, right? I mean, all the time, but the whole Christmas thing... I was never a kid who got excited about this time of year. Liz never exactly made it special and there was almost always a cash-flow problem..." He stopped and shook his head. "Since you and me got back together, it's been so different. Us two and Ella, and then Joe, and... God, could you stop me already? I'm making an idiot out of myself," he realised almost too late.

Rory had what he hoped were happy tears in her eyes as she shook her head then.

"You're not an idiot, Jess. It's like you said to me, on that first year when we got back together, when I tried to tell you that I was such a disaster. You told me I was still the girl you fell in love with all those years ago and that you had never stopped. Well, I never stopped either. I couldn't tell you when I fell for you the first time, Jess Mariano, but that day in the kitchen, under the mistletoe, I know I fell all over again. I could not be more in love with you than I am right now, and I could not love our family or our life together any more than I do. You make me insanely happy," she told him, smiling widely, even as one stray tear slipped down her cheek. "I wouldn't change anything about what we have for the whole world."

"Me either," he told her, gently wiping away her tear and kissing her lips.

"Look, Daddy! Look, Mommy!" Ella and Joe both flung themselves towards the couch, right into the middle of their parents moment, and yet, neither one of them could really find it in them to mind one bit.

No, Jess never considered himself the sentimental type, not before, but these days, he would have to say that he most definitely was, especially when it came Rory and Ella and Joe, at Christmastime. He had no reason to want to deny it anymore.

A/N: For those readers who are here purely for the Gilmore Girls/Literati, this is the end of the Advent Calendar for you. I hope you have enjoyed the ride :) Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, as is applicable, and I hope you will join me again for more GG/Lit fic in 2024 ;)