thank you for reading/reviewing!
Rated M Scene ahead
enjoy xoxo
disclaimer: I own nothing
She has seen injustices that will forever make her skin crawl. She has witnessed the aftermaths of acts so horrific her eyes wanted to fly out of her head and seek something beautiful to cope. But it is on her fifth, and final trip, to a country that has managed to keep fighting in the face of needless violence and cruelty, that she discovers a breathtaking kind of hope. On this particular trip, she has made it her theme to seek out and talk to individuals that have survived and escaped the seizing of their hometowns. She purposely wanted to end her journalistic journey here on a heartening note, wanting to show the world that there are people still living beautiful lives in this country. That don't want to leave completely or backdown; that there's love and loyalty in unexpected places. And a sense of community that isn't so easily found in the rest of the world.
It's her last day of the trip. She sits in the cozy home of a lovely young woman, with a translator to help them communicate. She has explained that her husband volunteered to fight for his country, and although they keep in touch, she has not been able to see him in months. Rory at first found this situation particularly sad, because this woman is eight months pregnant. She found out about the baby a month into the country being invaded. And she immediately made plans to move west. At the end of their interview, Rory asks the question that's been on her mind the whole time. She didn't expect to get an answer that would change her own life so quickly (but that is one of the beautiful things about her work, the ability to continuously be learning about herself and others).
"How do you feel about bringing a baby into this world now?" she asks the question with sensitivity; voice soft and eyes focused kindly on her. But as her words are translated, she is surprised to see the woman grin warmly.
She responds in her language, and the translator tells Rory,
"I feel good. I'm happy and excited. There is so much death and sadness in this world. I am looking forward to bringing life into it."
Her words leave Rory speechless as she lets them sink in. Suddenly, all of her own personal fears and uncertainties clear out of her head. Because it is such a profound way for this person to think about her situation. And Rory realizes, it was insolent to view this woman's pregnancy as another dark corner of her life. She is on a level that Rory has been trying to work towards for years; she's more in tune with the vibrancies of existence than Rory could ever hope to be. Sometimes it doesn't have to be complex. Sometimes, she realizes, the answer to the dark spots in life is to shine that light on them. Perhaps the best way to get over her fears and the grief of that miscarriage, is to go forth with more purposeful attempts to bring life into the world.
In her endeavor to find counter stories to the ever-flowing gloomy narratives about the situation in Ukraine, she has stumbled upon a counter story of her own. One with visions of growing and sustaining beautiful lives through her and Jess's love and care. And visions of being satisfied with the short and fast career she's had in her dream role, because there is more to life, and she doesn't have to give all of it to this.
The sounds of the woman's Slavic language awake her from her thoughts. And as she turns to the translator, she realizes her vision is blurry.
"She asks if you're okay?" the translator explains. Rory takes a breath, then swipes a knuckle under each eye.
"I'll be honest, Nadiia. You just blew my mind. And so, I want to tell you first that, when I go back home, I'm going to slow down at my job, and I'm going to try and have a baby. With the love of my life."
As the translator speaks to Nadiia with a sort of confused look on her face, the woman breaks into a warm smile.
"I know you don't know me, but that's a decision I've been working towards for years now. And…you've inspired me to finally do it despite my fears. And I think I'm going to be so happy."
The woman smiles wider and lets out a sweet laugh.
"She says, 'you seem happy anyway, which is a wonderful place to start. I am excited for you to experience this different kind of joy'."
After she finishes writing her article at the end of the trip, she writes for herself. In the old pregnancy journal she found in Stars Hollow a month ago. Writing from a more self-aware perspective than she had all those years ago, when having an unexpected baby became the answer to all of the questions in her life before it was taken from her. Now, she has most of those previously pestering questions answered, and hopefully she'll get to have that baby too.
With a fresh and heartening view on her future, all sorts of other truths become clear to her. Creativity is the pulse of life, and Rory can now acknowledge the multitude of ways that this can be exercised. It is okay if she wants to turn from her journalist dream that held her ambitious attention from a young age to focus on creating something else. It's okay to slow down, take a breath, and live a more normal life with Jess in New York. She can forever hold space for all versions of herself, and it is in her power to do that with pride.
She doesn't sleep a wink on her flight home from this trip. Her reality is rich with promises that she doesn't need to close her eyes to see.
It's her first day back at the office after that trip. Her stomach has been full of butterflies all morning at the prospect of starting towards such a huge change. To the point that she didn't finish the pancake breakfast Jess made her, and he asked if she was feeling sick. She has a meeting scheduled with her boss after lunch, but she can't relax enough to sit down and eat. She calls Jess to see if he wants to meet for coffee at a park nearby, and then she's on her way there. She walks the handful of blocks with her head in the clouds and she's sure that Jess has been watching her for a good minute before she realizes he's standing right at the entrance of the park with a coffee in each hand and an adoring smirk on his face.
"Sometimes you walk around like you're still new to this city," he quips as she approaches him. She chuckles and places a chaste kiss on his mouth.
"Well, we don't live in this neighborhood. And I haven't been in the office very much since I started this job. Maybe parts of it are still new to me."
He grins and holds out a paper cup of coffee to her, "I planned to get you a blueberry scone too, but they were all out. And I know you don't like the lemon ones."
"It's the thought that counts, thanks. And correct, they need to add more sugar in those citrus pastries."
"Uh, huh, I've heard the diatribe before," he teases and wraps an arm around her shoulders, "should we find an empty bench?"
"Um," she hums in thought, looking around the park, "I think I'd rather walk around today. It's one of those idyllic winter days in New York. Sunny and not too cold, with just a small amount of pretty white snow on all the trees."
"As you wish," he replies, and with his arm still around her, they begin strolling around the park.
"Not that I'm not happy to be here, but any special reason you wanted to meet for coffee today? Thought you'd be slammed your first day back in the office."
Something tugs in her stomach.
"Just wanted to see you," she shrugs and gives him a sweet smile. He matches it.
"I like that reason a lot."
"How's your day so far?"
"Pretty mundane morning at the office, but you seem to have set the tone for the rest of my day with this impromptu meetup. Liam texted me on the way here that he's bringing his little brother in with him this afternoon. So, I'll be entertaining a six year old from 2pm on. Have any tips?"
She bites down her smile, "don't curse in front of him this time."
"That was not my fault. I didn't know he was awake. He looked like he was napping."
"I'm sure Liam was totally understanding when he heard his baby brother say 'mother fucker' for the first time."
He rolls his eyes, "any other tips?"
She giggles and looks up at the sky as if in thought. She looks back at him and shrugs.
"You'll be fine. It's not the first time you've hung out with him," then, she attempts to add on casually, "you're always great with kids."
He looks her over with smile that's a mix of gratitude and interest.
"I am?"
She blushes slightly, "yes! That's not news. Liam's brother, Doula, and Matt and Chris's kids love you."
"Maybe they just think I'm funny."
"I mean, entertaining kids is a big responsibility," she teases with a smile, "so, like I said, you're great with them. And don't be modest, they all respect you."
"Hmmm," he hums thoughtfully, "anyway, I was thinking about stopping to get an easy Lego set on my way back to the office. You think he would like that?"
The butterflies intensify in her stomach, and she mindlessly places a hand there in an effort to calm it. She takes a breath and smiles at him.
"I think he would love that."
He returns her smile but then stops walking to look at her.
"You okay today? You didn't finish breakfast this morning, you've only taken one small sip of your coffee, and now you have your hand on your stomach."
Her face heats caught off guard, and she drops her hand quickly.
"I'm okay, sorry. My stomach is just bothering me a little bit today."
"You want me to get you Pepto or something? There's a Duane Reade close by."
She shakes her head and pats his arm, "I'm okay, thank you. I should get back to the office though. And you need time to stop for Legos."
"You sure?" he asks, running a hand down her arm, "that was a quick walk. I have time."
She lifts her wrist to check her watch, "I don't have much. I have a meeting coming up so I should get back."
"What a tease," he jokes with a wink, "I guess I will just wait impatiently to see you at home again later."
"Well, you'll be busy babysitting it sounds like, so you won't have time to miss me too much."
He taps his head, "I've always got a space reserved in here for you."
Her smile brightens and she steps forward to give him a hot kiss.
"Mmm, on second thought, why don't I walk you back to work? And then walk you into an empty office and lock the door and have my way with you?"
She bites at her bottom lip and shakes her head, trying to calm her smile.
"I think not. That will definitely make me late for my meeting."
"Fine," he sighs, "what's the meeting for? Anything exciting?"
Her smile drops slightly and her face warms. She shakes her head.
"Nope, just a routine check in meeting with my boss David. We have them weekly when I'm in the office."
"Right, tell him I said hi and to please not send you anywhere disastrous for a long time. I need a good year to recover," he brings a hand up to run through his hair, "Let him know I plan to send him my salon bill too. Going to have to start dyeing all these grays you've given me."
Rory takes a deep breath and nods through her desire to confess to him her plans. She wants to make sure they are in motion first.
"Noted. Have fun with Liam's brother. I should be home by six thirty tonight," she hugs him once more.
"Perfect, I'll be home at six. You want leftovers or something new?" he asks, and while the question is ordinary, a surge of love runs through her.
"Leftovers sound great! I love your baked ziti."
"Leftovers it is," he leans in and kisses her cheek, "but I'll grab Italian bread on the way home and make garlic bread too."
"Oh my god, get out of here before I start drooling."
He smirks and kisses her once more before they part ways.
As she walks back to the New York Times building, she passes the drug store Jess mentioned. She's inside before she recognizes her own plan and checks all the aisles until she finds what she's looking for. She looks over the selection with scrutiny, but as her eyes land on prenatal vitamins she smiles to herself. She carefully takes them off the shelf, and looks over them, pretending as though she knows what should be in them. But she's sold as soon as she sees they are flavored gummies and purchases them quickly. She tucks them away in her purse and walks back to work.
Ten minutes later, she's knocking on David's door for their meeting. He looks up from his computer and stands up to greet her.
"Rory, come on in," he gestures to the empty seat in front of his desk and takes a seat again, "I'm glad you scheduled this meeting, I have something pretty cool to tell you."
She looks at him curiously, "what's that?"
"You go first, this is your meeting," he responds with a smile. She takes a breath and nods.
"Okay," she pauses to gather her thoughts, "let me start by saying, it has been an amazing opportunity being in this role for the past five years."
David's face drops, "you're quitting?"
She shakes her head rapidly.
"No! At least I hope not. I've been thinking about this for some time now, since my third trip to Ukraine to be specific."
He nods in serious understanding, "I know that was an especially hard one."
"It was. And being amongst that turmoil and feeling that kind of adrenaline for days…and then coming home to such a calm life…it made me start thinking more about my future. My personal future. Which my work affects. I think that it might be time for me to travel less. If that's a possibility."
He asks with a raised eyebrow, "travel less or not at all?"
She bites her lip in thought.
"Well…it depends on the definition of traveling. Like I have no problem driving out to the suburbs of New York."
He chuckles and then says, "Got it. You want to be close to home."
"Yes. And I'm not expecting you to…wave a wand and just make this happen for me. But it would be nice to stay with the New York Times, if you think there is a way I could do that?"
He sits back in his chair and clasps his hands together in thought.
"We do have plenty of other departments. But I think you would be a great fit for local news reporting. I remember the articles you wrote at the beginning of your career here, before we started sending you out into the field. They were very good - thorough yet enjoyable to read."
She smiles softly, "Thank you. I would be happy to do that if that's an option?"
"It can be," he shrugs, "I don't know that there is anything available in that type of role right now but…let's keep an eye on it? There isn't a lot of turnover in that department but I promise to try and get you locked in as soon as something comes up, if you can wait. It will be worth your while, the pay will be a little higher since it doesn't include paying for travel and hotels."
"Okay, I understand," she nods slowly, "I can be patient."
"Okay," he nods with a grin, "I'll keep you apprise to opportunities."
"Thank you so much," she gives him a grateful smile, "now it's your turn. What did you want to tell me?"
"Ah, yes," he pushes his chair back and pulls a piece of paper out of a drawer. He places it on his desk and pushes it over to her. She leans forward and looks at it curiously. As her eyes scour it, she gasps.
"Oh my god! Jess's book is in the top ten best books of 2022?!"
David smiles wide, "that's exactly right. Now, that's the critics choices -"
"I know, I know! That's even better than the bestseller list. I mean, Jess will definitely feel that way. Wow! This is amazing," she exclaims giddily, "this is being published next week right?"
He nods in confirmation.
"This is so exciting! I can't wait to tell him," she jumps up from her seat, then hesitates and asks, "am I allowed to tell him?"
He chuckles, "why do you think I showed you early?"
She bounces on her feet, "thank you so much! I gotta go, I have a very important call to make to my boyfriend. Actually…would you mind if I leave a little early today?"
"Not at all. I trust you have your workload handled."
"Thank you!"
Later that afternoon, she steps into Truncheon with an excited smile on her face. About the book news she will share with Jess, and about having taken the first step towards mobilizing their family plans. She nods a hello to Brooke who is helping a customer and heads back to Jess's office. The door is open, so she steps inside. She finds Jess on the floor with a young boy, building a large Lego ship with intense concentration. Liam stands watching them with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face.
She gapes at the size of their creation, "I thought you said you were getting easy Legos?"
All three sets of eyes turn to her; Jess blinks and then slowly a grin forms on his face.
"Hi. I'm glad you're here, we could use another brain on this."
She chuckles in confusion, "you already have three?"
He shakes his head, "No, Liam is just here to annoy us. In fact, he needs to get back out front because his break ended five minutes ago."
Liam rolls his eyes and turns towards the door.
"Fine," he stops and looks Rory over, "huh. No bun in the oven I guess."
Her head cocks in disbelief, "excuse me?"
"Ignore him. Please," Jess insists, standing up from the floor with a quiet grunt. He waves Liam out the door and then it's just the two of them and what she assumes is Liam's brother.
"Okay then," she nods, and turns to the kid, "are you Liam's brother?"
The young boy nods in confirmation, his eyes and hair identical to his brother's.
"Rory, this is Connor. Liam told me he likes boats, so that's why I got this instead of something simple," Jess explains, then places a hand on Rory's arm, "and Connor, this is my girlfriend Rory. I don't know if she likes boats, but she did win an award on one once."
Connor's small face breaks into a smile, "cool! What kind of boat?"
"It was a yacht," she replies with a kind grin. She walks over to Jess's desk and sits on its edge while talking to him, "we went around the Hudson river. It was pretty cool."
"What's a yacht?"
"It's a giant boat that serves no purpose other than being a toy for the wealthy," Jess sighs out his response with his arms crossed over his chest, "but it was pretty cool."
Rory shoots him a look, "no need to make him a pessimist so young."
He smirks, "he's already a pessimist. He didn't think we'd be able to complete this Lego set before the end of the day."
Connor looks down at the many still unattached pieces of the boat on the floor, "I still don't think we will."
"Oh, well, I don't believe that," Rory argues, setting herself down on the floor near him, "I'll help. I have great problem-solving skills. So. What do we need to do?"
Jess takes a breath to calm the swelling in his chest at this image, and then joins them on the floor.
"We're having a particularly annoying time figuring out these orange pieces."
"He doesn't believe me that they go on last," Connor tattles earning him a playful dirty look from the man in question.
"Where's the box?"
"That's cheating," Jess argues. Rory rolls her eyes.
"Don't be silly. You're supposed to use the instructions, you know. Let me see it."
He huffs and crawls to pull it out from under his desk. He hands it to Rory, and she looks it over. She puts it down with a smug look.
"Connor's right. Orange definitely goes on last. It's a good thing I'm here, isn't it?"
Jess sighs but he can't hide the grin on his face. She meets his eyes, and they share a playful look.
"It's great that you're here."
Between the three of them, the Lego set is finished within an hour. Jess has carefully packed it up in a brown box so Connor can take it home with him to play with in actual water. The hour spent as a group of three has sweet ideas sprouting in both Jess and Rory's mind about the future. Jess's care and playful teasing with Connor has made Rory feel even more sure about the decisions she's finally making. And Jess, watching her kindness and warm energy towards a child that she's never met before, but a child that actually means a lot to him, has his heart bursting with feeling.
Connor now sits in the corner of Jess's office, on a child size bean bag chair that Jess bought for him. He has headphones on as he streams his favorite show on a spare laptop from Truncheon. Rory sits in the chair across from Jess at his desk with a smile on her face.
"He's sweet."
"I know," Jess nods in agreement, then mutters, "it's a wonder he's Liam's brother…"
"Jess!"
"What? He's a sarcastic pain in the ass."
"Uh huh, a sarcastic pain in the ass that you care about enough to babysit his little brother for him so he can work and make money."
He shrugs, "I'm sure I would care about Satan if his future was in my hands too."
She levels him with a look. He only smirks and winks at her in reply.
"What brings you here anyway, Gilmore?" he finally asks, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head, "last we spoke, you said you were going to make me pine for you until six thirty tonight."
"I'm so glad you asked," she smiles brightly and takes the piece of paper from her purse to place in front of him, "this is why I'm here."
He moves his hands to the arms of the chair and leans forward, surveying the object.
"What's this?"
"This," she starts enthusiastically, "is the New York Times critic's choice list of best books in 2022. And guess what's in the top ten?"
Jess looks up at her with wide eyes and then back down to the paper, swiftly analyzing each title until he sees it.
"Holy," he starts and then his eyes dart over to Connor in the corner, and so he whispers, "fuck! Are you serious?! Are you sure?"
"Yes! I'm serious and I'm sure."
"Really?" he double checks, looking between her and the paper, "because, not that I don't believe you, but this piece of paper doesn't look very official?"
She chuckles and places a hand on top of his on the desk.
"Jess, I'm sure. David said it will be published in an issue next week. He gave me the scoop early. But I promise it's official."
His face cracks wide open with an excited grin. He leans across the desk and places both hands on Rory's face to give her a deep kiss.
She pulls away breathless and chastises him, "Jess! Connor is right there."
"So? He should see what healthy love looks like," he contends with a tender smile and then adds softly, "it's not like he gets to see that at home."
Her heart flutters, and she can't argue with his logic.
He sits back down and asserts as he picks up his phone, "I need to call the guys and tell them."
He doesn't wait another moment, and has his phone on speaker as he dials Matt.
"Hey Jess," he answers, "what's up?"
"Are you with Chris?"
"Not right this moment. We don't share an office anymore, remember? I moved into your old office."
"Yeah, yeah. Can you get him? I've got some news."
Matt gasps, "did you ask Rory to marry you?"
"No!" Jess exclaims with an eye roll, "it's work related news, dummy."
"Alright, alright. No need to toss names around. Okay Chris is officially with me and you're on speakerphone."
"Great. Rory is here, and she has brought some very neat news with her," Jess smirks, meeting her eyes across the desk.
"Oh my god is she pregnant?!" Chris exclaims and then he hears him say 'ow' as Matt definitely smacks him.
"It's work related, dummy," Matt repeats Jess's words. Rory and Jess share an amused laugh.
"Sorry," Chris mutters, "what's the news?"
Jess gestures to Rory, conveying that he wants her to tell them. She smiles.
"Well, I had a meeting this afternoon with my boss, and he gave me a little gift before it gets published in the paper. I have in my hands the New York Times critic's choice list of top books of 2022. And guess who is in the top ten?"
They both gasp, and Matt exclaims, "no fucking way! Our moody, broody guy with his short stories?!"
Jess rolls his eyes, and Rory bites back a laugh.
"Yes, Jess's book is in the top ten! Number eight. Though I personally think it's on the wrong side of number five, the top ten is still the top ten!"
"Oh Rory, this is amazing news," Chris harps, "I could kiss you!"
"I'd like to see you try," Jess replies humorlessly.
"It's a figure of speech, you can put the fists away," Chris sighs, "anyway, congratulations man! That is well deserved. And it's going to mean bookoo sales for us, right before Christmas too and our end of the year split. I'm going to start planning Chloe's first trip to Disney World!"
"Jeez, I think you're overselling me a little bit. Just because the book is on the list doesn't mean it's going to appeal to everyone that reads the Times."
"No, you're just being pessimistic," Matt argues, "Chris is right. This is really good for you, and by proxy us. And Rory's grandmother, and all of our employees and the students. We should definitely be able to increase bonuses this year."
"I truly did not expect this phone call to take such a corporate turn," Rory teases.
"Oh my god, I have an idea," Matt exclaims with a snap of his fingers, "you have to do a book tour. It's been years since you've done one, Jess. This is the perfect opportunity."
Rory's stomach drops a little bit at those words, but she manages to keep the genuine smile on her face as Jess seems to contemplate this idea.
"I don't know. People can be so annoying. And plus, I have the students here and…" his eyes cast over to Connor in the corner of the room, who is still fully engrossed in his show, "I've been sort of taking care of one of their little brother's. He hangs in my office with me at least once a week."
"Okay, I can understand that," Chris replies slowly as if in thought, "but there are three of us. Matt and I could figure out a plan to cover you. We both have kids, so we would be happy to babysit too if everyone involved is comfortable with that. What do you think?"
Rory begins to chew gently on her bottom lip. Jess looks over at her, and she quickly forms a smile. He surveys her for a moment before replying.
"Let me think about it. And let's see what demand is actually like after this comes out," he reasons with a shrug, "no sense in investing in all that if no one wants to talk to me."
Chris scoffs, "people have been wanting to talk to you! You've just been extremely picky about it."
Rory gives him a look, unaware of this information. He rolls his eyes.
"Yeah, all the same places that wrote sob or savior stories about me when my last book came out. I've learned my lesson."
"Whatever, this won't be those type of people anyway. It will be real, genuine fans."
"Not fans. Readers," Jess quickly corrects.
"What is with your aversion to that word?"
"It's just not appropriate. They're not interested because of me, they're interesting because of my work."
"Yeah, I don't get the distinction," Matt replies, "and you definitely have fans anyway. Lady fans."
He rolls his eyes, and Rory bites her lip to stop from laughing.
"That's enough. Let's just wait for this to come out and see what happens, please."
"Fine," Matt complies, "we'll revisit in a couple weeks. But think about it, okay?"
"Yeah Jess, it could be a big deal for all of us. And your readers," Chris adds on, "I'm envisioning West and East coast to start. Then maybe some major cities in the middle before you come home."
The smile on Rory's face wilts and she gulps.
"That sounds like it could be a long time," she notes with a small laugh, that she tries to pass off as genuine, but definitely sounds nervous. Jess meets her eyes. She can only take his stare for a second before she turns away, pretending to check on Connor.
"Yeah, when he used to do them he'd be traveling for a few months at a time. But, it's at Jess's discretion, of course. He can come home in between, skip some places, whatever. We have time to iron out the details," Matt tells her, surely hearing some hesitance in her voice.
"Of course, I was just saying," she clears her throat, and puts hair behind her ear, "I think it all sounds great."
"See Jess?" Chris speaks, "Girlfriend approved already."
"Uh huh," he sounds in response, eyes examining Rory again, "like I said, let me think about it."
"Alright, alright. We'll talk soon," Matt concedes, "Congrats again, Jess. You deserve that spot."
"Yeah you do. Congrats, can't wait to pick up a copy," Chris adds. Rory smiles genuinely now.
"I'll let you guys know as soon as the issue is out."
"Thanks! See you guys.'"
"Bye."
He ends the call and their eyes meet. She gives him a warm smile and places a hand on top of his on the desk.
"I'm so proud of you."
His eyes gaze over her face, and then his mouth quirks up on one side.
"It's pretty cool," he nods slowly, "I've been on book lists before but not in the top ten and definitely not in the New York Times."
Her smile grows and she pats his hand before standing up. She leans over to kiss his mouth once.
"Well, we have something to celebrate so now leftovers just won't do," she takes her coat and scarf off the chair behind her and starts layering up, "I'm going to order us something special. I'll meet you at home?"
He stands, placing his hands in his pockets, and looks her over.
"Why? I'm happy to celebrate with leftovers. I'm no snob."
She chuckles, and tightens her scarf, "I'll be a snob for the both of us. You deserve something extra great. And do you remember if we have wine or something equally fancy at home?"
He smirks, "not unless you consider fireball fancy."
"Ugh, that's going to be in the freezer forever. Why did I think I would like a fireball hot toddy?"
"Your mother promised you would."
"And I used to believe she was right about everything," she shakes her head playfully, "I'll pick up wine too." She goes to say goodbye again, and her eyes land on the child in the room. Her stomach turns; she tries not to let it show on her face that she's seeing a striking reminder of what is still out of reach. Jess nods and holds his finger up, misinterpreting her look. He walks over to Connor, tapping him gently on the shoulder. The boy takes his headphones off and looks up at him.
"Rory is leaving, she wants to say goodbye."
He looks over at her with a shy smile and waves with one hand. She takes a breath and grins, waving back
"Bye Connor! It was really nice to meet you."
"Thanks for showing me pictures of the yacht. I hope I go on one one day," he says, with an adorable look on his face. Jess looks down at him with a sweet half smile, and Rory feels it down to her hips.
"I think you will. But if not, there are plenty of other great boats," she promises, waving once more, "bye guys."
And she hastily leaves the office, rushing out the back door of Truncheon so she doesn't run into anyone she knows up front. She stares at the sidewalk, her head a flurry of thoughts, as she treks forward towards their home. She stops at a liquor store for a bottle of wine. Standing in front of a shelf of options, she looks them over but focuses on nothing. She blinks as she feels a familiar sting of heat at the back of her eyes. Her hand reaches out and grabs something, just so she can check out and get out of the store. She manages to steady her feelings as she calls to order their dinner for delivery while speedwalking the rest of the way home.
She climbs up to their apartment, gets inside and places everything down on the coffee table. Her arms reach out to brace herself against it. Her head bows down, and she lets her emotions run free. Because she realizes that even five years into their serious relationship, the timing for something can still be wrong. And while she knows it's a good thing for Jess, the ride that she's been on to get to this decision is crushing her under its pressure.
After letting some tears fall, she takes a breath and stands up straight. Her eyes flit around the room with indecision. She looks down as she hears the cat scamper across the floor, and then watches her rub against her leg. She leans down to pet Sabrina while still in deep thought. Then, suddenly, she stands up and takes her phone out of her pocket to call a friend.
"Rory! Welcome back," Lane's cheerful voice picks up the phone.
"I need to let Jess go on a book tour, right?" she frantically responds, pacing around the apartment.
"Uh, sure? I mean, I'm a supporter of any kind of tour."
"Right, and because he's supported me and my work for so long! Right?"
"Um."
"It would be selfish and inconsiderate to drop the news on him that I want to start a family now, right when his book is about to blow up. Right!?"
"Whoa, wait, what?!" Lane exclaims, "you want to what?"
She rips off her coat and scarf as she starts to sweat from her movements and emotions.
"Just because I'm ready, doesn't mean it's the right time. I mean, he's probably been ready for a long time now and has had to be patient with me!"
"Rory…"
She questions in a cry, "So why does it feel so devastating to wait longer?"
"Rory," Lane says in a comforting tone that finally lets her pause her dizzying movements, "it feels like there is a lot of information here I'm missing out on. But, from what I'm hearing, you're putting a lot of pressure on this decision. And, hey, you've always been a determined, willful person. Getting into Harvard and Yale, catching up at Chilton. Talking a newspaper into hiring you by showing up every day until they offered you something. Reading books longer than the Bible. Helping me sneak CDs into my childhood home! You're headstrong, that's nothing new."
Rory takes a breath and takes a seat on the couch, waiting for her friend to go on.
"But with a decision like this, I think you need to have a little more patience and grace. It's not all or nothing. And it's probably not a good place to start - putting all this pressure on you and Jess to get in line with the plans your brain has made."
She releases her bottom lip from her mouth and sighs.
"You're right. I haven't even been transferred to a local news position yet. I shouldn't even think about trying to get pregnant when I'm still expected to be on the road."
"Yeah, see? You're getting ahead of yourself, and that's not unlike you either," Lane teases kindly, "I know it's a big deal that you're ready to do this. And I know that you might be a little afraid of waiting because you think you might talk yourself out of it or something. Am I right?"
She swallows, "maybe. I think I'm also afraid of taking more time. Because what if my body can do it now, but can't do it six months or a year or however long it will take for us to get to the perfect place for this?"
"You can check with Paris on this, but I don't think one miscarriage determines the rest of your experiences conceiving. And if for some reason that is the case, you won't know because you're not going to be trying right now. I don't know the details of this Jess thing, but I do know that you have long been his number one supporter."
She thinks over Lane's words silently for a moment. Then concurs, "I'm putting too much pressure on this. If I'm ready now, I should be ready when it is the right time. And if I'm not, maybe I wasn't really ready in the first place."
"Maybe."
"And I want Jess to do this. It's a really good thing. He hasn't been on a book tour in a long time. His work is amazing and I'm sure lots of people would love to talk to him about it and meet him. He deserves all of the praise and the love."
"See," Lane says, and she can hear a smile in her voice, "number one supporter. So go support your man."
Rory chuckles and nods, "thank you. You're the best."
"Any time."
"Lane, I really wanted to tell Jess about this before anyone else," she says carefully, "and I'm not planning on telling anyone else until it's the right time to tell him. So…only you and I know. Oh, and Nadiia in Ukraine."
Lane laughs, "Consider it all forgotten, as soon as I hang up the phone. Men in black style."
"I love you, Lane. Thank you. I'll be in Stars Hollow this weekend, can we please hang out?"
"Yes please! But you'll have to remind me because, you know, I will be erasing my memory of this phone call."
She laughs genuinely, her spirit feeling much lighter now.
"I will. I need to go get dinner together and try to convince Jess that any hesitancy he saw in my face earlier was a figment of his imagination."
"You can do it," she assures her, "And Rory, I'm really happy for you. This is a big deal, and you should be so proud of yourself."
She grins in appreciation of Lane's words, "thank you. I am."
"Good. Bye Rory!"
"Bye!"
...
Jess walks through the door an hour later. He hears a Leonard Cohen record playing in the living room and follows the sound with a curious smile. As he crosses the distance between rooms, he's first greeted with the unmistakable smells of his favorite foods. Then, when he comes around the corner, he sees Rory pouring glasses of wine next to plates of Thai food. She's pulled their dining table into the living room, and it's properly set with candles and silverware. It's much different than their usual setting for eating, on the couch in front of the tv. She looks up at him with a big smile that has him easily matching it. He takes her all the way in as she steps up to him; she wears a short white dress with long flowing sleeves and the book locket necklace he got her a few years ago hanging around her neck. He grins and as he wraps his arms around her, he feels her bare back against his hands. He holds her close and kisses the side of her head.
"What's all this?" he mumbles with an enchanted grin as he looks into her eyes. She smiles back, and his hand glides from her shoulder to gently hold her elbow.
"It's a special dinner for my favorite author," she gives him a cheeky smile and then gestures to the table, "sit down, let's eat. I don't want our food getting cold. It was delivered faster than I expected, and I've been trying to keep it warm until you got here."
He smirks and tosses his things near the couch.
"You really put your back into this meal," he teases, taking a seat where she has pulled it out for him.
"Yes, I did. You better enjoy every bite."
"If it's my favorite drunken noodles in the city, I absolutely will."
She smiles wide as she takes a seat at the table across from him.
"It is, with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc that I accidentally spent too much money on, so you better enjoy every sip of this too," she laughs, picking up her glass to meet his. Her smile shifts in a look of pride and love, "Cheers to you, Jess. You work so hard, and you care so much about what you do. You dig into the hardest parts of your life to create something so beautiful for other people to read. You deserve to be on that list and every other great book list out there."
He melts under her words, his face softening into a sentimental look. He opens his mouth, but she clinks her glass to his to stop him from refuting any of her words. He chuckles before giving in with a, "thank you," and sipping from his glass. They begin to eat, and she feels his eyes looking her over. Quickly, she brings up a topic other than his work.
"How was the rest of your time with Connor?"
His whole face brightens at the topic, and he finishes chewing his bite of food before replying.
"Good. It's hard to get work done when he's there, but it's also hard to care about that," he smiles guiltily, "I enjoy his company. He's quiet, but not in a way that you think he might be plotting murder or something. You know what I mean?"
She covers her mouth to keep food from spitting out as she laughs, "I most surely don't! What?!"
"You know," he shrugs, amused smile on his face, "some little kids that are quiet just kinda sit there and stare at you with scary eyes."
She tries not to laugh again, "where is this coming from?"
He takes another bite of food and shrugs again, "I had to watch Connor and two of his friends once. Liam said their parents were nowhere to be found so he brought them to Truncheon. The friends were a little weird. I thought they were plotting to kill me."
She holds a hand to her chest and stares at him in disbelief.
"You had to watch three kids at once? When did that happen? God, I know how hard that is. I watched Paris' kids a few times when they were smaller."
"It wasn't too bad. Besides the fact they didn't really talk to me, they just watched a movie in my office."
Her upbeat, supportive energy falters slightly, as she pictures Jess taking care of three little kids in her head. But as she sees him take a drink of their celebratory wine, she shakes that off. It's his time to shine.
"Ready for dessert?" she asks once their plates are close to empty.
His brow raises, "dessert?"
"Yes," she nods, and pulls what looks like a notebook from behind her chair.
She gives him a clever smile, "it's food for thought."
His whole face is etched in confusion, mixed with an intrigued smile.
"Go on."
She opens the notebook and clears her throat.
"This book is brutal in the best ways. Mariano rips your heart out with his raw recollections, and then puts it back together again with healing stories showing the powers of unexpected paternal love."
Jess stares at her; eyebrow and the side of his mouth raised up as he listens intently, trying to figure out if she's doing what he thinks she's doing. She continues,
"This work proves once again that Jess Mariano has this profound ability to connect to all of his readers. Even me, who had a completely normal white bread childhood. He captures emotions like no one else I've read in the last twenty years, that easily transcend any story he's telling."
"I've loved Jess Mariano's work since I discovered 'The Subsect' at a small bookstore in New York. He has steadily and repeatedly produced beautiful works of abstract art through his literature. I don't live in New York anymore, but if I did I would definitely stop by his bookstore there to meet the man! His words pass through my mind all the time."
"Rory. What is this?" he asks with a confused laugh. She takes a breath, and her eyes glance up to him for just a moment before she reads more.
"Jess Mariano somehow elucidates the internal turmoil of wanting to both be the bigger person, and also hold a grudge when it comes to having shitty parents. These stories encapsulate well the many complexities of our humanity. The struggle of wanting to have relationships with those that have hurt us but being unable to let our guard down. Or being hurt over and over again when we actually do try to make amends. He definitely gets me."
"Okay, seriously," he tries again, "what's going on?"
She slowly smiles and puts the notebook down.
"These are real reader's reviews of your latest book."
He nods slowly, "they're all…very nice. Too nice."
She clicks her tongue indignantly, "not 'too nice'! Do you not read your reviews?"
"I try not to," he shrugs, "I let Chris and Matt do that part and they pretty much just give me the overview."
She looks over him, her eyes big and proud, and lips in a loving smile.
"Jess, you need to go on a book tour. All of these people love you and want to meet you!" her voice and excitement escalates, "your work means so much to so many people. You need to do this!"
He blinks at her; his face is still screwed up in confusion, and Rory thinks he might be annoyed with her theatrics. Her shoulders fall slightly, and she goes to do damage control, but then she sees the grin slowly forming on his face.
"This is…really cute."
She makes a face, "cute?!"
"Yes, cute," he chuckles and leans slightly towards her across the table, "you're cute. And what I mean by that is, this was a very sweet and romantic gesture."
"But why do you sound like you're patronizing me?"
"I'm not!" he promises, "not at all. I appreciate all the effort."
"But…?" she beckons him to explain himself. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair.
"But…I just got you back. After a very stressful work year for you, for us. I don't want to separate again so soon, and I definitely don't want to be the reason for it."
She softens and reaches across the table for his hand. He looks down at it with a small grin and places one on top of hers.
"Don't let that hold you back. I'm sure they will have me traveling again in the next couple months anyway."
"Doesn't matter," he shakes his head, "that's your work. Mine doesn't require me to travel, so I won't."
"Jess…"
"Even you said it sounds like a long time," he points out, giving her a look, "what they have in mind could easily be four or five months on the road."
"That's not that bad," she argues, shaking her head, "even five month's isn't that bad."
"Rory," he sighs, and fixes her with a knowing look, "I saw your face while we were on the phone. You weren't into the idea."
"That's not true!"
His eyebrow raises, begging her to try and tell him he isn't good at reading her. She sighs.
"Okay, I was taken aback at first. Because, you're right. I just got home and I…felt some type of way about the idea of you leaving. But that was just a moment, Jess. I don't really feel that way. It was just a reaction. I want you to do this, I want you to travel and meet people that love your work. I want you to hear and feel all the praise and love, because you deserve it."
He listens to her speak, taking in her sincere demeanor and her heartfelt words. Their eyes are locked, and he sees none of the hesitance there that he saw earlier. He looks down at their tangled hands; he rubs his thumb across her fingers, his senses focused on the soft feeling of her skin while he thinks. It has been a long time, and there are lots of bookstores across the country that he would love to spend some time in again. And he may never be in the New York Times again. Or, he thinks, if something like this does happen again, what if there is more than Rory that he wants to stay home for?
It becomes clear to him how right the circumstances are, and he's sure he knows what the answer would be if he made one of Rory's pros and cons lists. And as if she's reading his mind, he looks up at her as she asks, "do you want to make a pros and cons list?"
His infamous smirk makes an appearance, and she relaxes with a smile.
"Not necessary. You're right. The guys are right," he squeezes her hand with a look, "but don't tell them I said that."
Her smile grows and she bounces in her seat.
"You're going on a book tour?"
He shrugs, "As long as the people want me, I will."
"Oh, they want you," she gives him a knowing look and pulls out her notebook again, "I saved the best for last. Listen to these."
"Uh oh."
"The only part of this book I didn't like is the dedication. I don't know if Rory is a man or a woman, but I would kill to trade places with them. Jess Mariano is a dream."
"Oh god," Jess rolls his eyes and sits back in his chair, "you want to send me out in the world? To talk to people like this?"
She shrugs, "I happen to agree with them. You are a dream. I'm very lucky."
His perturbed look turns into an appreciative smile. They share a sweet look and then her lips curve into a naughty looking grin.
"Now this one, I really had to dig through the countless praising, respectful reviews for. Yes, this one…it came straight from the gutter."
His eyebrows raise, "what the hell does that mean?"
Her lips lift higher, and she turns her eyes down to her notebook.
"With all this trauma, I just know this man likes to be called daddy in bed. And if he's reading this, please call me because I would love for you to be my daddy."
His eyes widen, and his lip raises high in disgust.
"That's lovely, really fucking lovely," he mutters, shaking his head in disbelief. She pulls her bottom lip in her mouth, trying so hard not to laugh. But it's a pointless attempt because he can see her chest shaking. He raises an eyebrow at her.
"That was disturbing, Rory. Not funny."
Irrepressible giggles escape her, and he watches with an annoyed look as she falls into fits of laughter across from him.
"Are you okay?" he asks, staring at her with his arms crossed impatiently. She settles down and nods.
"Yes," she replies, forcing a serious look. But she's smirking again quickly as she says, "maybe you should call her, if you're secretly into that. I'm not sure I would ever be comfortable using that term. You should go after what your heart truly desires!"
He fixes her with a disgruntled look that makes her start laughing again.
"That's not my kink, you know that," he finally replies with an exasperated look. She takes a breath and relaxes her laughter into an entertained smile.
"I don't know, you could have been holding out on me," she shrugs, and then asks curiously, "What is your kink?"
His discontented look shifts into a compelling smirk.
"Want me to show you?"
Her face drops - serious but intrigued. She sees challenge written all over his face; she throws her shoulders back slightly and gives a confident nod.
"Yes. Show me."
He grins and stands up from the table. She reaches out and takes the hand he's outstretched to her, letting him lead her to their bedroom. He flips on the light and moves so he's standing behind her, holding her by the hips as he pushes her towards the bed. He nuzzles his face in the crook between her head and shoulder, lips gently pressing kisses there.
"I love your neck," he murmurs against her skin, and the breeze of his words gives her goosebumps. The front of her legs are pressed up against the edge of the bed; his hands circle repeatedly over the width of her hips and the top of her thighs, right where her dress ends.
"Is that a kink?" she teases, "I suppose it is kind of a weird body part to love."
He chuckles softly into the spot behind her ear where his mouth sits. He lifts his hand from her left hip and brings it to her head, sweeping her hair back in a tantalizing, slow motion until her right ear is bare to him.
"It's not weird," he whispers, lips on the shell of her ear and fingers running gently up and down the side of her neck, "it keeps your beautiful head held high. This mind, this face...this mouth," his fingers find her lips, "they're all very important to me, you know. Your neck keeps them safe."
He turns his hand over to brush the back of his fingers over her cheeks; he can feel heat blooming there. But she takes him by surprise when she lifts her hand to cover his; she moves it back to her lips and sweetly kisses every callus across his palm.
"I love the way these feel on my skin," she murmurs against his hand.
He grins against her ear, then moves his hand across the front of her body to her shoulder and effortlessly spins her around to face him. Her lips are parted as she locks her eyes on his. He looks between her mouth and eyes before tilting his head to cover her lips with his, gently prodding his tongue into the open space. She closes her eyes and melts into his passionate kiss. She whimpers when he holds her face in his hands, those calluses she loves so much scratching sensationally over her skin. The dress she has on suddenly feels suffocating, and she reaches between them to pull it off, breaking their kiss as it goes over her head. He grins, taking an appreciative look over her practically see-through white bra and matching underwear, before locking his mouth to hers again. Her body is pressed into his and she takes the opportunity to put her hands underneath his shirt, fingers grabbing and gently scratching up and down the muscles of his bare back. His throat hums and he holds one hand again to her face, the other finding the clasp of her bra and snapping it open in one swift movement. They pull apart so he can watch with a satisfied grin as it falls down her arms and to the floor revealing her bare breasts to him.
She tugs at the hem of his shirt, and he hastily removes it; her hands immediately come to rest on the sculpted muscles of his chest. He smirks at the look of want on her face and watches it change to a look of pleasure as his fingers push her underwear to the side and sink inside of her. Her nails begin to gently claw at his pecs as he pumps them in and out of her. The feeling makes his skin tingle with desire, and he feels himself growing harder against his clothes. She whimpers as he pulls his fingers out of her, pouting up at him with her big eyes.
"Sorry baby," he apologizes with a sensual smirk, then his hands go to unfasten his jeans, "but we're wearing too many clothes."
She nods coyly in agreement, but doesn't remove her hands from his chest, enjoying the feeling of his muscles flexing and moving beneath her fingers as he gets naked. He continues to smirk at her, and places his hands on her hips, tugging at the band of her underwear. Before she can protest, he drops down to the floor. He pulls them down her body, following the path with kisses from her hips down to the top of her feet.
"Jess," she exhales his name, and his eyes flick up to hers. He doesn't need her to elaborate, because he can see the demanding look on her face resulting from a pounding desire between her legs. She needs more, and she needs it soon; his mouth and hands have teased her inside and out for long enough. And this is what gets him going more than anything - making her feel so sexually piqued that he can read it all over her body. He stands up and gives her a consuming kiss; his now full erection presses up against her middle and he moans as he feels her wetness against his skin.
In a moment, he breaks their kiss and moves around her to lay on his back on the bed. He puts pillows under his head to raise it.
"Come here," he beckons her with a hand, and when she merely crawls onto her knees on the mattress, he waves her over more, "gonna need you a little closer than that to put my face between your legs."
Redness floods her cheeks, and her bottom lip quickly disappears into her mouth as she bites down. She inches closer to him on the bed. When she's within reach, he grabs her by the hips. She squeals as he hoists her towards his face, forcing her to straddle his mouth. Her hands find the headboard for stability, and she looks down between her kneeling legs. He meets her look with a wink and smirk; his hands run up and down the inside of her thighs. As his lips move closer to where she needs it, she can't help but whisper,
"We don't usually do it this way."
His brow raises with his mouth, "I want to watch your face the whole time today."
Before she can ask any more questions, his lips and tongue enclose around her throbbing bud, making her immediately tremble with pleasure all over. She instinctively closes her eyes as her head lulls back at the feeling of his slick tongue circling and sucking on her clit. But as his hands move and grip her hard on the hips, her eyes snap open and meet his, and she knows he's reminding her that he wants to watch. She keeps her eyes on him while he makes out with every part of her vulva.
She moans, writhes and whimpers with delight against his tongue. From the way his eyes look up at her, enthralled, she can tell he's feeling deeply gratified at the reactions he's pulling from her. She imagines the position is doing something extra for him, and she releases one hand from the headboard to lean back and find out. She finds out she's right, as her hand grips his erection - feeling stiff as wood. He rumbles a groan against her, causing her to squirm on his face. But as she tries to stroke him, one of his hands reaches out and pulls her hand back towards him. He brings their entwined hands to his cheek, rubbing them there sweetly. And if he weren't also sucking her to the brink of a wild orgasm, she would teasingly call him out on the romantic gesture. His swirling tongue takes her over the edge, and she cries out an "oh fuck" as she falls apart on his mouth. He still holds tight on her hand, his other attempting to hold her in place at the hips. Breathless, she looks down at him and is turned on by the satisfied grin on his face and the remnants of her orgasm around his lips. Before he can say a word to her, she pushes herself down his body until she's on top of him.
"Fuck baby," he groans as she slowly bounces up and down. She watches with a grin, that she's sure matches the same one he was sporting just a few minutes ago, as she speeds up and his face emanates total pleasure.
"You like making me crazy, don't you?" he grunts out between moans with a devilish look on his face, "I love making you crazy too."
Suddenly he sits up and wraps an arm around her waist. Rory gasps in surprised delight as he seamlessly flips them over, never pulling out of her, so that he's now on top and in control of their pleasure.
"That was so hot," she can't help confessing, cheeks burning red and eyes wide with arousal, as he thrusts in and out of her. His mouth is open as he takes heavy breaths, but his lips form a smirk at her words. He leans forward on his hands to give her a burning kiss.
"I'm glad you liked it," he murmurs as he pulls away. He keeps one hand on the bed for leverage, and the other sensually grasps the side of her face and neck. She moans at the touch of his fingers on her, and his rhythmic pounding between her legs. He picks up speed, eyes locked on each other as the slapping sounds of their bodies and breathy moans surround them.
"Oh god," she squeaks moments later, as she reaches that precipice again. Her hands find and grip his biceps, and she squeezes and scratches as she tumbles into another orgasm. He quickly follows her with carnal growl, collapsing softly against her when he finishes.
He places gentle kisses against her shoulder, then her neck and face, as their bodies settle down. She turns and curls into him, and he wraps an arm around her to cuddle her closer. His lips land on the top of her head, and he leaves them there while catching his breath. A moment later, she leans her head back to look at him.
"You flipped me over."
He slowly grins.
"I remember."
"You've never done that before."
His eyebrow raises, "I would argue that I've done plenty of equally impressive things. I've picked you up many times. I even carried you home once or twice. Definitely carried you to this room and thrown you on the bed more than once."
She hits him playfully then gasps.
"Oh, is that your kink?! Manhandling me?"
A genuine laughing smile overtakes his smug smirk, and he holds her body tighter to him.
"No, it's not. But I do enjoy it."
"Okay then what is it?"
He looks up at the ceiling, pretending to think hard about it, then turns back to her and shrugs.
"Guess I don't have one."
She gapes and scoffs at him, "you said you would show me! You tricked me. You just wanted to have sex."
"You seemed to really enjoy it too, you know," his smug smirk is back. She huffs an exasperated sigh but quickly gets over her feigned outrage and grins.
"It was very good," she nods, and then thinks to ask, "right?"
His brows furrow momentarily before he gives her a comforting smile and holds her cheek.
"Amazing. You're always fucking amazing, Rory."
Her lips tick upward, "okay. Just checking. I sometimes worry that I'm not putting in enough effort."
"You're crazy," he declares with a laugh of disbelief, then he gives her a suggestive look, "it takes a lot of work to take all that I give you. And you do much more than that."
She crimsons from her cheeks to her chest. She shakes her head, tongue in cheek, as she looks back at her clever love - slickly patting himself on the back while also praising her. She doesn't feel the need to say any words, instead they both bask in the reflected smug yet admiring look shared between them. It's one of those moments where they both are feeling a similar appreciation of their love for each other, hearts full of sensual connection and playful pillow talk.
Eventually he takes a deep breath, leaning forward to place a caring kiss on her forehead. He looks down at her,
"How about some real dessert? Your food for thought was filling, but I'm sure you're still craving a sweet."
She laughs, "yes please. There's chunky monkey in the freezer! I bet it would go great with a nice, warm chocolate chip cookie."
"There are like five toppings in that ice cream already," he chuckles, "but okay. I'll warm up one of those Levain cookies from this weekend."
"You're the best! We have cherries in the fridge too."
He laughs again and kisses her once more.
"Come on then," he says, standing up and giving her bare bottom an affectionate smack, "let's go eat too much sugar."
She gleefully hops out of bed, grabbing a robe from the closet while he puts shorts on, and follows him to the kitchen.
Standing by the kitchen door, she watches him get to work. Her look turns judgmental as he takes the ice cream out.
"Oh, you're taking that out already?"
His eyes cast over to her, "what's the problem?"
"Nothing…just that it will probably be so soft by the time the cookie is ready, and then the cookie is going to be warm and make it even softer. It has the potential to turn into chunky monkey soup."
He sighs but puts it back in the freezer, "you know, I've made you dessert many times. I have surely never brought you ice cream soup."
"There's a first for everything," she shrugs, and watches him take out bowls from the cabinet, "oh those bowls are too small! That will only be like half a scoop of ice cream!"
He puts the bowls on the counter with a huff, and then turns to her with an eyebrow raised.
"Rory, would you like to make the sundaes yourself?"
She hums in thought and shakes her head, "no thanks. Just trying to help."
He nods and steps over to her with a patronizing smile, "and I really appreciate that. But I actually think you would be more of a help," he takes her by the shoulders and kicks open the kitchen door, walking her to the living room and sitting her on the couch, "right here."
"Hey!" she protests as he walks away.
"Be right back with dessert!" he calls behind him, the closing of the door muffling his voice. She crosses her arms petulantly, her eyes flick to the table where they had dinner just a little while ago. With a sigh, she decides to start cleaning it up. She stacks their plates and silverware, throws back the remaining bit of wine in their wine glasses. As she's about to lift the dishes and take them to the kitchen, with a plan to purposely annoy Jess while she's there, her eyes catch on her purse that's sitting on the coffee table from when she got home earlier.
She puts the dirty dishes down slowly and walks over to her bag. Thinking about her earlier purchase, she bites her lip and sticks her hand inside to carefully rummage through. Her fingers land on the unmistakable bulky, plastic cap and she pulls the vitamins gently out of her bag. She looks them over, contemplating on whether to take them or not. Eventually, she laughs at herself and mumbles, "it's just a vitamin."
She opens it and drops two gummies in her hand. She smiles softly and murmurs again to herself, "Doesn't mean I need to try and get pregnant tomorrow. This is good for me."
The kitchen door suddenly swings open, and she quickly drops the container back in her bag, holding on tight to the vitamins in her hand. Afraid to let Jess see what they are for, because she knows at this point that he can fully read her based on something as simple as buying prenatal vitamins.
"Perfectly soft sundaes for my perfectly peculiar girlfriend," he announces, walking towards the coffee table.
"Music to my hears," she grins up at him. He places the bowls down and nods towards her closed hand.
"What'd you got there?"
She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. She decides to open her fist and show him, and says,
"Just vitamins."
His eyebrow cocks, "really?"
She nods and pops them in her mouth. She explains, as she chews them,
"After that physical at the dance marathon, I realized I'm probably lacking important nutrients. And probably have been for years. I know it's a little late, but I thought I'd try to remedy that."
He gazes over her, scrutinizing her face and words. After a beat, a beautiful, genuine smile graces his features. He takes a seat next to her on the couch and kisses the side of her face.
"I think that's great, Rory."
Her limbs relax; she turns to him and brightens under his look.
"I find it so sexy when you take care of yourself," he winks, and then his jaw drops in realization, "hey, maybe that's my kink. It does get me hot."
"Jess!" she exclaims with a laughing smile, "I don't think that's how it works."
"Really? Next time we have sex, try talking dirty to me. Like 'I am so well rested' or 'I drank a lot of water today'. You'll see. I'll be so turned on you won't know what to do with me," then he nods towards his shorts, "see? I'm already twitching just thinking about it."
Her eyes drop to his lap, and she finds the sure sign that he's not lying. Her face is hot, and she brings a hand to cover her mouth as she bursts into laughter. The sound has him smiling from ear to ear, and he gets the sudden urge to tackle her until she's fully enclosed in his arms. Her body is caged under his against the couch, the sounds of her giggling laughter louder than before, as he plants multiple quick kisses all over her head and face. And she realizes, as she pretends to (unsuccessfully) push him away, that she can wait until the time is right for both of them. Because his love makes her feel like she can do anything. And it selfishly means that she will have all of this love to herself for that much longer. All of his private attention and (sometimes public) affections will stay hers until the time is right for it to be spread across a family. Her heart sings at the thought, and in contrast to how she felt earlier in his office, she's totally content with waiting a little bit longer.