Chapter 19: Sentenced to Stars Hollow

"Well, that was fun." Lorelai said, while putting her skirt back on.

"I'd say." Luke chuckled, still a little out of breath.

It's been 6 months since Lorelai first thought about having another baby. She spent some time with the idea, wondering whether she was really ready for it. Then she decided to confide in Luke, who luckily was on the same page as her. Still, they took some time to think about logistics, of whether they could handle the new baby with their heavy work load and with Rory. After a while they both agreed that there was never a perfect time to have a baby. But they both had jobs, steady income and a house with an extra room. So they decided to just go for it. And as of last month they were officially trying. They didn't want to drive each other crazy, with the thought of a new baby consuming their every second. So they both agreed that they would just try with no pressure and see what happens. If the baby was in their future, great. If not, they already had Rory and each other - they didn't need anything more. And as it turned out, trying was crazy fun. When Lorelai went to Luke's for lunch, they somehow ended up in their old upstairs apartment.

"I have to go back to the inn. Will you hand me my shirt?" She looked at the clock and sighed heavily. "Now thanks to you I didn't actually eat anything for lunch" She pouted jokingly.

"Thanks to me?" He asked, rolling his eyes. "If I recall correctly, I was just standing behind the counter, pouring you a cup of coffee, when you took me by the hand and led me here."

"It's still your fault. You know I find you incredibly sexy with a coffee pot in your hand."

"My mistake. I'm sorry then. For seducing you with my unbelievably sexy coffee pouring skills."

"I guess I can let it slide this time. But you're gonna have to bring me a really good burger from the diner for dinner, to make it up to me."

"You got it."

"Shoot, I really have to go, I have a meeting in 15 minutes. Bye, love. See you tonight." She gave him a quick kiss and was out the door.

"No, Liz, you're not listening to me, damnit." Lorelai walked to the house and immediately heard Luke's yelling. He was standing in the hallway, talking on the phone and clearly very upset. Rory was sitting on the couch, quietly watching TV. "Because I have my own family to take care of. And you're 25 for God's sake. You're not a kid anymore, act like it." He mouthed an apology to Lorelai and just gestured to the phone. The conversation was clearly important so she let him be and sat on the sofa, next to Rory.

"Hi, hon. Do you have any idea what this is all about?" She asked her.

"No idea. Aunt Liz called about 20 minutes ago and he's been arguing with her ever since. There's a lot of yelling about family, responsibility but I didn't get much sense out of it." She shrugged her shoulders. "Are you hungry? Dad brought burgers for us from work. I already ate mine, but I can keep you company in the kitchen."

"Come on, Liz! Don't you hear how crazy you sound? The answer is no. He is your kid!" Luke yelled angrily. Lorelai was trying to connect the dots. Obviously it had something to do with Jess and Liz being irresponsible but she couldn't figure out what it was exactly. She let it go, as she knew that Luke would tell her everything once he'd finish talking to Liz.

"Sure, let's go to the kitchen and give your dad some room to finish his conversation."

She was able to eat her dinner and a box of pop tarts, all while discussing Rory's school, gossiping about Lane's new hiding places for CDs not approved by Mrs Kim and scandalous boarding school stories which Rory heard from Honor. And only then, after about 30 minutes, Luke finally hung up the phone.

"I'm sorry about that. But my sister has gone insane. I mean I love her, but man, she's a lot of work." Luke sighed, frustrated with his conversation.

"What happened?" Lorelai asked.

"She met a new guy and is apparently in love. She let him move in to her house and Jess started acting out - rightfully so, if you ask me, since she barely knows this guy. So she called to say that she "can't handle" Jess right now and she needs us to take him for a while. Can you believe it? He's her 9-year-old kid, not some college class that you can drop if you can't handle it." He huffed, angry. Both Lorelai and Rory were quiet for a while, trying to process this information.

"Well, it would be kind of cool if Jess could live with us." Rory stated. She couldn't understand how her aunt Liz wouldn't like to live with her own son, but it seemed like a fun idea for Rory to have her cousin around.

"It's not about that Rory. You know we all love Jess, he's family and we would be lucky to have him here. But it's about Liz. She needs to be there for Jess, not send him away. Every child needs his mother." Lorelai explained. She was shocked by Luke's news. She couldn't imagine a scenario in which some guy would mean more to her than her own child.

The topic hasn't left the Danes family for the whole day. It was unbelievable to all of them. After Rory went to bed, Luke and Lorelai sat on the couch and continued to discuss it.

"I still can't believe it. My sister has done a lot of crazy things in her life but this one is without a doubt the most insane. I look at Rory and she means everything. I could never imagine giving her away. You know, I always had sympathy for Liz. We had each other and she had to do it all alone. So I was always happy to take Jess for a few days here and then. But to just dump him completely.. that's horrible."

"I know, babe. It is crazy. But let's just give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she wasn't thinking clearly. She still drops off Jess here for the weekend, right? We scheduled a weekend at your father's cabin a while ago. Jess will hang out with Rory, Logan and Lane, and Liz will have a minute to herself. They'll take a quick break from each other and everything will be back to normal by Monday. You'll see." Lorelai said, trying to make him feel better. She wanted to believe that it was just a temporal insanity that led Liz to make such a decision. Or maybe one weekend would be enough for Liz to realize that some strange guy was not worth losing her son over. She, like Luke, always felt bad for Liz. She and Luke were in this together from the moment she found out she was pregnant. She couldn't imagine what it was like to try to find someone while raising a kid. But it still didn't mean that it was okay to just dump her child to explore her new relationship.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'm still gonna have a talk with Liz on Friday, though. Just to explain to her how this is not okay."

"Well, if anyone can get through to Liz it's you. So go for it. I hope it helps." Lorelai said honestly. "And in the meantime.. I'm still ovulating. So it would be a shame to miss this window of opportunity for a brand new cute little baby." And with that the topic of Liz and Jess was over.

"No way! This is awesome, thanks Logan." Jess said happily.

"I promised it to you a while ago. And I keep my promises." Logan answered with a smile. For a while now it was obvious that Logan, Rory and Jess shared the same interest - literature. For Logan it was sort of a given, strongly encouraged by his father from an early age. And what started out as a way to please his father ended up being actually interesting to him. And all of them were invested enough in this hobby that they were reading materials which somehow were even too complicated for Luke and Lorelai. For Jess, who hasn't even turned 10 years old, it was the work of Charles Bukowski, especially his poems. Logan's father knew him, so Logan promised Jess he would bring him a signed copy of his poetry collection. It took a while but he finally did it. "It's pretty valuable now, since his passing. So I would keep it somewhere safe."

"Great, one more creepy book signed by a dead guy. You guys have the weirdest interests." Lane, who was the only one in their friends group who wasn't into books, rolled her eyes.

"Says the girl in the R.E.M. t-shirt." Logan pointed out with a laugh.

"Hey, their latest album is awesome. You all thought so, when I played it to you." She reminded them. They were all also really into music, and it was Lane who introduced them to the majority of their favorite artists.

"You're right." Rory agreed.

"I agree." Jess chimed in. "Not as awesome as this book, though. Thanks again Logan."

Luke and Lorelai watched the kids' interaction with a smile. It was almost a tradition for them to take Rory and her friends to William's cabin every other month. And as the kids got older it was fun to Luke and Lorelai to watch them grow, get their own interest, shaping up their personalities. They were a little worried at first, when Liz dropped off Jess at their house. They were both in a bad mood, clearly arguing. Luke wanted to talk to her about their latest conversation but she was busy. She promised they would talk on Sunday once she came to pick him up. Jess was different than usual, a little closed off and sad. But once he got to spend some time with Rory and his friends he quickly came back to his usual self.

"Okay, guys, the plan for today. We go on a boat ride now, while it's still warm outside. Then back to the cabin, where we can eat a delicious dinner prepared by the amazing Luke Danes. The dinner will be followed by board games fun, everything from connect 4, through Twister, and all the way to the pictionary. Then my favorite part of the evening, which is roasting marshmallows by the fire. Any questions and/or complaints?" Lorelai asked.

"How is roasting marshmallows your favorite part?" Luke asked. "You know we could do it at home, without having to drive for 2 hours to the cabin?"

"Oh, absolutely not. It does not taste the same unless you're at the cabin." Lorelai argued.

"I have to agree with Lorelai on this one." Logan chimed in. "Remember when we were doing s'mores in your fireplace for Rory's 10th birthday? It did not taste the same. I think the fresh air of the woods and the lake makes it taste better." He added and Lorelai and the kids all nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'm surrounded by crazy people." Luke muttered to himself.

"All aboard SS William." Lorelai helped the kids get on the boat. It wasn't big and it was a pretty tight fit for 2 adults and 4 kids, but they made it work. The boat was too valuable to all of them to sell and replace with the bigger one. For Rory it brought the best memories of her time with Grandpa.

"I wish I was older when grandpa William was alive." Jess said sadly. "I barely remember him." He was only 3 when William passed and every memory of him was very blurry.

"I don't remember much, either." Rory admitted sadly. "Just that he loved this boat and we always had the best time when we were working on it."

"He did love this boat. But he loved his grandchildren even more. Both you and Rory." Luke said to Jess. "He was always very happy whenever you and your mom came to Stars Hollow." At the mention of his mom Jess' smile faded.

"Well, I don't think we're gonna be visiting Stars Hollow much in the future." He said. "I don't know if you had a chance to talk to my mom lately but she met this stupid guy named Steve, and he doesn't like to travel. So my mom wants to be in Philadelphia all the time. She barely agreed to drive me to Stars Hollow today."

"No way. She can't break up our group." Logan protested. "Rory's your family, I'm sure your mom will still drive you here. And if not I'm gonna make my dad pay for a car with the driver to come and drive you back and forth from Philadelphia." He said. Jess smiled at his words but his eyes were still sad. He knew it was unrealistic. If his mom wouldn't drive him she also wouldn't allow him to drive alone. He knew there was a big possibility that he didn't have a lot of time left with his friends.

The weekend passed quickly and before they knew it, it was already Sunday afternoon. They drove home, passing through Hartford and dropping off Logan at his parents. Then they made a stop at Mrs Kim, and they were left with Rory and Jess.

"Your mom should be here in an hour. I think we still have time for dinner." Luke said to Jess. When they made their way to their driveway, they immediately noticed a few large boxes on their porch. Luke looked at Lorelai questioningly. "Did you make some insanely large delivery and forgot to mention it to me?" He asked.

"Don't look at me. I have no idea what this is all about." She answered with a raised eyebrow.

They moved past the boxes and noticed a hand written letter taped to their front door. Luke read it carefully and then handed it to Lorelai, shocked. She quickly read the note:

"To my big brother and sister-in-law,

I'm sorry. I wish I was as strong as you. But I can't do it. I can't be a mother when I don't even know who I am. I have to find myself first. I wanted to do it right but I knew you wouldn't let me. I trust you can take care of Jess - I know he'll be better off with you. Don't bother looking for me, I'm long gone. I'll be back for him, when I'm better.

Liz."

Lorelai read it twice just to make sure she understood it right. But then she saw Jess' face and she forced herself to put on a fake smile.

"Good news, kid. It looks like you're gonna stay with us for a while."