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"Has this shit been on here since Lincoln was president?" Jess grunts, as he scrapes aggressively over the same spot of white paint he's been working on for half an hour. Liam huffs out a laugh across the room, where he's working on some stubborn paint himself. Music plays from a speaker nearby, and there are contractors across the hallway working on the bathroom.
Emily successfully helped Truncheon negotiate a more than fair price for the building within a week or so of their conversation (he thinks that her hastiness was partially due to her excitement at their surprise engagement). His agreement with Emily was that he would oversee renovations. To take care of the little things that are within his skillset, and to watch over contractors and make sure they aren't wasting time or charging for work they didn't do. Basically, she asked him to be project manager. And he was more than happy to do it, since it was his idea, and she was kind enough to back him on it. But the rest of September was a complete blur between he and Rory sharing their news with everyone, getting contractors aligned, and collaborating with his team on his plans for the space, and then starting on the project - he's been at Truncheon a lot. And it has certainly put a strain on his leisure time and his focus on other responsibilities.
He is reminded of that as he hears a phone alarm ringing somewhere. He turns around and sees Brooke in the doorway of the studio, waving his phone in the air.
"You forgot something in your office," the phone dings in her hand, "at first I thought I was having a stroke or something. Hearing a distant ringing. But nope, it was just your phone. Probably telling you that you were supposed to be out of here let's see…thirty minutes ago?"
His face drops and he tosses the paint scraper on the floor.
"Fuck fuck fuck," he grumbles, crossing the room in a matter of steps, "I gotta go. Liam, mind working on this until you're done for the day?"
He shrugs, not turning from the wall.
"Sure. I find it kinda relaxing."
"Great, text me to let me know how far along you get," he takes his phone from Brooke and sees a few missed calls from Rory, "thank you. I'm an idiot and Rory's going to kill me. Bye."
He rushes past her towards the staircase.
"I think she'll forgive you once she finds out what you're doing with this place!" Brooke shouts after him, but he is too in his head already to even acknowledge it.
He runs to his office and grabs his things and is quickly out the door. He of course didn't drive that day, because it was a nice morning, and was supposed to be a short one too. Guilt swishes in his stomach as he jogs down blocks to get to the apartment. He knows that Rory is both looking forward to and nervous about the Chilton reunion, mostly because she thinks she was a little bit of a mess the last time she went there with Paris. Despite his insistence that she should be flattered and not embarrassed that her old headmaster suggested she teach there, it hasn't seemed to get through to her. She hasn't been quite herself this week, surely made worse by the extra time he's been spending at work. He just knows that his tardiness is going to exacerbate those feelings.
He hustles up the stairs in their building, his phone vibrates in his pocket, but he doesn't bother grabbing it because he knows it's her. His breathing is rapid as he finally approaches the door, he turns the knob and is both relieved and annoyed that it's unlocked. She stands on the other side, fully dressed and ready to go with small suitcase nearby. He gives her a look as he stands in the doorway.
"Why is the door unlocked?"
She crosses both arms over her chest and throws his own annoyed look back at him.
"Why are you late?"
His face falls and he shuts the door behind him, shuffling quickly up to her. The guilt rolls through him again.
"I'm so sorry, I know I'm late," he places a timid hand on her shoulder, "I just need five minutes to pack and I'll be ready to go."
She exhales a disappointed breath as she looks him over. She lifts a hand to gesture to him.
"You have paint chips all over you! And dust on your shirt."
He blinks and looks down at himself, tilting his head in contemplation. He looks back at her apologetically.
"Okay, I need fifteen."
She frowns hard but nods, "please. Hurry. You know what traffic is like from here to Connecticut. We were supposed to leave half an hour ago. And we need time to go to the Dragonfly and check in first, so I can change into my dress for the party and do my makeup and Stars Hollow is thirty minutes from Chilton you know, and -"
"Rory," he squeezes her shoulder and gives her a small smile, "I know. I'm sorry. But let me go and get ready, I'll move as fast as I can. And then you have the entire ride to Connecticut to flog me for wrecking your carefully crafted schedule."
Usually she would find words like that amusing, but she really hates her schedule being messed with especially when she's already on edge. She sighs again and pulls away from him, opening her arm out to show him down the hallway.
"Go."
He flinches slightly at her lack of levity. He doesn't waste another second of her time and runs to shower and pack his bag.
"There's my favorite engaged couple!" Lorelai greets them at the front desk of the Dragonfly later that afternoon, "let me see the ring!"
Rory rolls her eyes but laughs and holds her hand out. Once they were in the car and on the road her mood lifted a bit, and then even more so when he made a very fast stop to get her a coffee on the way.
"You've seen it already, multiple times. On video, in person, and picture."
Lorelai grins and takes her hand, holding it close to her face.
"I know, but it's just so pretty! And it looks so lovely, and sleek, and romantic on your hand. Jess and my mother did a great job!"
He smirks, Rory meets his eyes with a happy grin.
"Yes they did."
"Tell me again how it all happened," Lorelai muses, dropping Rory's hand to lean her elbows on the counter and hold her head up dreamily.
"Mom, I told you so many times."
"Yes, yes. You were on the beach and Jess had a sudden attack of burning love for you, and he ripped his shirt off, dropped down to his knee and said 'I can't live without you, Rory. I'll die. Be mine. Forever. And ever and ever and ever!'"
"And then we got hot and heavy right there in the sand. See, you do know the story already," Jess teases, winking at Rory's annoyed look.
"Don't encourage her! That is not what happened. Can we get our room keys please? I need to start getting ready."
Lorelai sighs, "the reunion doesn't start until seven. You have three hours!"
"It's a thirty minute drive from here, mom. I still need to do my hair and my makeup and pick one of the many outfits I packed because I don't know what to wear! You know how these people talk, they're all gossipy and cliquey, and I'm having flashbacks already to being kidnapped in the middle of the night to join a cult!"
"Honey, you don't care about what those people think. Why are you worrying yourself about it now?"
"Because! Last time I was there, my life was such a mess that Headmaster Charleston told me to teach."
Lorelai feigns a gasp, "oh! That is just despicable. But Rory, you have a life that you love and you're happy with and a super cool, super impressive job. What is really bothering you?"
"It doesn't matter. They already have that image of me," she argues, "can I have the keys please? I'm already behind schedule because Jess was late getting home from work today."
"Well at least you have someone to blame," Lorelai shoots Jess a sympathetic look at the irritated undertone of her daughter's words. He shrugs.
"It is my fault. I know better than to mess with her schedule."
"It's a lesson I've had to learn many times myself," Lorelai sighs, "Alright, alright. Here are your keys. Sorry I couldn't get you the love shack this time," she wiggles her brows and Rory mimics gagging, "but you've got yourself a nice suite upstairs. Plenty of space to bounce your insanity off of. Or, if you have time, have a nice little romp to calm your nerves before going in a time machine back to high school with Paris."
"Okay, going up to the room now. Bye!"
"Bye sweets, I'll see you later! Perhaps at 4:03am?"
Rory stops walking towards the rooms and turns back to her with an almost relaxed grin.
"Maybe. But try to only wake me up."
"I second that," Jess nods.
"Well," she pouts, "that's no fun. But I'll try."
...
"You are beautiful," he mumbles in her ear as they get out of the car at Chilton. She smiles slightly and looks down at the little black dress she decided to go with.
"Really? I feel like this dress might be too short."
He smirks and wraps an arm around her back and begins walking them both towards the school.
"I personally wish it was shorter," he kisses beneath her ear, "the heels too."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be taller than you."
"I don't care about that. I'm more afraid you're going to hurt yourself."
"I can handle heels!"
"If you say so," he shrugs and kisses her neck again, "look, some idiot is arriving in a limo."
Rory releases a subdued laugh, but as they get closer to it, the person gets out and Rory gapes.
"A limo Paris? Really?!" she exclaims, standing a few feet away from her now. Paris smirks and shrugs.
"I need these airheads to recognize my power."
And that for some reason calms Rory's nerves. To see that even Paris, who is the most impressive person she knows, feels some type of way about going back to high school too.
"Paris, you don't need a limo for that! All of these people have always been afraid of you. Including the teachers."
"I think it's very Elizabeth Taylor of you," Jess compliments with a short shrug.
"Didn't you just say 'look some idiot is arriving in a limo'?!"
"Well, I imagined it would be a dude. Douchey and compensating for something. But since it's Paris…very cool."
"Thanks Bukowski. Maybe I'll even steal some husbands tonight, who knows," she nods her head once in appreciation, she then turns towards the gargoyle framed old building, "alright, let's get in there and watch people cower like the scared little puppies they are. I see a few ducking their heads by the door right now," she cackles to herself, "it's good to be back."
Rory sips on a Mai Tai in the corner of the decked out gymnasium a couple hours later. She has so far only needed to mediate a couple of interactions: once between Paris and Francie, and then she had to stop Paris from making Brad cry - just the same as high school. Paris and Jess abandoned Rory a while ago to play blackjack. She stayed and watched a few hands but grew tired of standing around and not understanding what was happening, and also having to try and hold conversations with old classmates that she didn't quite recognize or remember or that didn't recognize or remember her. So, she grabbed herself a tropical drink at the bar and retreated to a corner where she could survey everyone else and hide. She's been nervy all day and night, feeling a little unsettled being back in an old haunt like this. While she loved school and has a lot of good memories here, it's always strange to step back in time. Plus the weird return she had seven years ago unexpectedly came back to plague her mind; it makes no sense, because she does love her life and is proud of what she does now. But it has made her feel weird all week.
Everything has gone smoothly though, and she feels silly for being so anxious about it. She looks around, and as she sees someone wearing an all white outfit, she chuckles to herself because she is reminded of jousting with Paris in this very gym. And she thinks her eyes are deceiving her, that she's experiencing a mirage, as she spies a familiar face walking towards her near the person in all white.
"Mr. Medina?"
"Oh, please," he starts, stepping up to her with his hands in his pockets, "you can call me Max, Rory. It's great to see you."
She smiles, and after a beat opens her arms to hug him. He graciously accepts and pats her on the back.
"I thought you didn't work at Chilton anymore?"
"I don't," he confirms as they part, and he goes back to his somewhat shy stance, "but I was invited for the reunion. I guess some students liked me."
"Everyone liked you! You were a great teacher," she leans in and says quietly, "and can I say that I'm relieved Headmaster Charleston didn't come? I heard he retired and was invited."
"I'm sure you're not the only one that feels that way," he chuckles, "So, I know you work for the New York Times, Rory. I've read some of your articles. Absolutely brilliant."
She blushes slightly, and any remaining anxiousness she had about not being enough amongst these people fades completely. She has always appreciated his candor as an authoritative figure in her life, even when it felt like he was being unfair to her as a new student but was really just following the rules. And while she would never ever wish away her mom's relationship with Luke, she holds a special place in her heart for what could have been for their family.
"Really? Thank you. Yes, I've worked there for…over six years now. It's been great, I love it."
"That's wonderful," he nods, lips twitching towards a proud smile, "I know that was a dream of yours. You deserve to live your dreams. All the Gilmores do."
Her smile softens. He looks away before turning back and asking carefully,
"Um, how is your mom, by the way?"
She feels a little bad about it, but she grins.
"She's so good. The Inn is doing amazing, they actually expanded and opened a spa. She's so happy. She married the love of her life," she cringes as soon as the words are out of her mouth, "sorry."
He shakes his head and gives her a kind look, holding up his left hand to show her a wedding ring.
"No, no. Nothing to be sorry for. I'm happy to hear that. I wasn't asking for any other reason than genuine curiosity. I want her to be happy and do well," he nods his head towards her drink, "I see that someone else is getting married too?"
She brings that hand towards her chest and plays with the ring there.
"Yes," her smile is fully smitten, "it's new. The engagement, I mean. He proposed last month. But we've been together for a while, and we actually dated before in high school."
"Congratulations," he says sincerely with a short bow, "anyone I know? Someone from Chilton?"
"God no," she clears her throat and looks around in case someone heard, "sorry, that was rude. No. I don't think you ever met him. His name is Jess, and he's here. I would introduce you to him but he's currently trying to rob Chilton of all the funds they've collected tonight."
He laughs and waves his hand, "ah, they don't need it. Do you have any idea what they're charging to go here now? It's…exponentially higher than it was when you were a student. And that was already too much."
"I don't think I want to know," she makes a face, "even though I loved it, I don't think I'll send my kids to private school."
His eyebrows raise, "oh you have kids? Have any pictures?"
"Sorry, no," she waves her hand in the air, trying to erase her confusing slip up, "I realize how that sounded. I don't have kids yet, but I mean, when I do."
"Right, right. Well, I don't blame you. I have a twelve year old son actually, and we didn't send him to private school either. I mean, look at this place. It's beautiful, but it's unnecessarily opulent. Public schools could use the money more than them. Plus, you know, he does have the benefit of having a teacher for a father."
"Max Medina. I trust you won't be making out with anyone's mother in a classroom tonight?"
"Paris," he chuckles and shakes his head as she joins the group, dirty martini in hand, "it's a pleasure to see you again. And no, I'm married to a lovely woman that is only the mother to my own child."
She sips her drink and shrugs, "never stopped my father from cheating on my mother. Lorelai is happily married now, by the way. And I know Rory is the spitting image of her, but don't get any ideas. She's engaged."
"Paris!" Rory elbows her friend, burning with a blush at her gross implication.
"Alright ladies," Max sighs and starts to turn away, "it was great to see you both, and I'm thrilled to see your friendship has stood the test of time. Have fun tonight."
"Bye! It was good to see you," Rory enthuses and watches him walk away before elbowing Paris again, "what is wrong with you?"
"What? I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time an old teacher has tried hooking up with their grown student."
"But it's Mr. Medina!"
"Men usually abandon all principles at the possibility of fulfilling weird fantasies. It's pathological."
Rory looks over her friend.
"I'm starting to think you don't actually like men."
Paris cackles, "are you kidding? Of course I don't! But you can't help who you're attracted to, unfortunately. Trust me, I've tried batting for the other team. I wasn't in to it."
"Really? You never told me that."
"Well, I did. And it turns out that an integral part of my happiness in relationships is the ability to overpower the opposite sex," she shrugs, "speaking of men, turns out Jess and I make a great team."
Rory swallows the bite of pineapple she just took and scoffs, "oh, would you like to take my engagement ring now or later?"
"Put your claws away, Jesus. That ring is made for a fairy anyway, it's not my style at all. I meant in blackjack. We're up a thousand between the two of us."
"Oh. Where is he then?"
"I got bored of winning," she shrugs and takes a gulp of her drink, "but I guess he didn't. He moved to roulette."
Her eyes search the room, and she finds the table with a wheel surrounded by people. She finds him and sees him putting chips on the table with a tame smile. Her brows furrow.
"Wow, I had no idea he was such a fiend."
Paris follows her look and shrugs.
"It's good he's having fun, right? This isn't exactly his crowd. Or his scene."
She softens and takes a guilty sip of her drink.
"Yeah. It is good he's having fun."
"And maybe he will win enough money to pay for the wedding."
"Oh, we're not getting married any time soon."
Paris chuckles dryly and throws the rest of her drink back.
"Why doesn't that surprise me? You are so weird with certain commitments."
"I am not!" she argues, and then confesses quietly, "we want to have kids first. He wasn't even supposed to propose until after we had a baby. That was the plan."
"Oh wow, he went off book and proposed early? Did that drive you crazy? I hate it when a man doesn't listen to me. Or anyone else for that matter."
"No! Not at all. I loved it. It was a totally welcome and pleasant surprise. And I hadn't really thought about it before, but why not get engaged now? People can be engaged for a long time."
"Yes, and I'm sure it won't be annoying at all every time someone asks you about wedding plans that you won't be starting on any time soon."
"Hey, don't rain on my parade."
"Sorry. It won't be any time soon though, right?" Paris inquires with a raised brow, she looks Rory over and looks at the drink in her hand, "how's the baby making going?"
She scrutinizes Paris, "I'm not supposed to fall for that. You told me not to let you in yet."
She rolls her eyes, "I'm asking as a friend. Not a doctor."
Rory looks her over again, and finally shrugs.
"We're definitely putting the work in."
"But no results yet. Got it."
"Nope. I just keep getting my period."
Paris hums in thought.
"When was your last one?"
"Paris…"
"I'm just asking in case you're wasting a precious fertility window right now on this stupid party. I would allow you to leave to have sex because I know how important this is to you."
"That's kinda nice, thanks."
"Right, so when was it?"
"Gosh, I don't know. You made me delete the app, remember? But Jess would know. He's been in charge of keeping track of things for us," she looks out to the crowd, "looks like he's still gambling his life away though."
"We can interrupt him. This is important business."
Rory chuckles and puts down her mostly empty drink.
"Hold on, let me think before we bother him," she looks up at the ceiling in thought, "I remember I had it when I pitched writing an article about Truncheon to my boss. So, first week of September?"
Paris stares at her for a moment, "really? That's the last time you had your period?"
"I think so," Rory nods slowly, "I haven't had it since we've been engaged."
"Rory. Look at your calendar."
The seriousness in her friend's voice causes her face to drop, and she quickly opens her phone calendar.
"If you had your period the first week of September…"
Rory gasps as she catches on, counting the weeks back. She looks up at her friend with her jaw dropped.
"I should have had it last week. Right!?"
"Assuming you're regular, then yes. And even if you had a short period, you would have had it again by now for sure."
She gasps again and puts both hands over her mouth momentarily. Her stomach twists as she looks over at the alcoholic drink she just had and looks back at Paris who offers her an uncharacteristically kind smile.
"It's no big deal."
She drops her hands and looks around the room.
"Oh my god. I need to talk to Jess. I need to make sure that was the right date and I'm not crazy," she fans herself with her hand as her whole body heats up, and her words speed up, "god, he was supposed to be keeping track of this!"
"Rory-" Paris starts, but she is walking quickly away from her already.
She walks as fast as she can in her four inch heels, beelining straight for the roulette table. As she approaches, she sees Jess making a bet, and she tries not to be irritated at his lack of attention to her. She walks up to him and taps him on the shoulder.
"I need to talk to you," she mutters closely to his ear, crossing her arms over her chest. He turns to her in surprise and gives her a happy smile as he wraps an arm around her shoulders.
"There's my beautiful fiancée," he announces, kissing her on the head and receiving little comments from people around him. She finds it both cute and frustrating, because she is not in the mood for playing right now.
"Can we please go talk?" she asks again, face not changing from its hard seriousness.
"Just a second, baby," he squeezes her shoulder, eyes not moving from the wheel that's about to spin, and mutters, "I just put a pretty penny on number eight, for your birthday. I haven't seen that number come up since I've been here, I'm feeling pretty good about it."
His playful nature, and his unwillingness to take his focus from the table to her, fills her with hot agitation. And she doesn't care that she's surrounded by old classmates and upper class socialites; she stomps her foot like a child, and slightly raises her voice.
"Jess!" she exclaims, and he jumps slightly at her volume, finally turning to face her. She looks him hard in the eyes and says again, "I need to talk to you. Now."
His face falls completely, and he immediately nods. He turns back to the table just as the wheel stops spinning, and even though it lands on his number and he has a bunch of chips pushed towards him, he exhibits no excitement. He picks them up quickly, filling his pockets and his hands up; there is still a small stack left on the table, and he turns to Rory with a nervous look.
"Um. Do you mind grabbing those? Sorry," he asks.
She gives him a critical look, and he turns to the dealer, "enjoy your tip."
Rory rolls her eyes and starts walking swiftly away, Jess trying to keep up behind her with chips clinking in his pockets.
"What's going on? What's wrong?" he questions breathlessly, "Jesus, I didn't know you could walk this fast. And in those heels. Are you secretly a supermodel?"'
She ignores him, and heads towards an exit. He looks down at the chips in his hands, and calls to her, "wait!"
She abruptly stops and turns around with an expectant look. With a bit of shame, he holds up his hands to show her the chips.
"If we're leaving I need to cash out," he mumbles nervously, "or are we coming back? This goes on for a couple more hours, right? I have time. I can see in your eyes that you don't want to deal with this right now so, if we can come back - "
"Oh my god!" she exclaims, throwing an angry arm towards the cashier, "go cash out, Jess. Because there is a ninety percent chance that we are leaving and absolutely not coming back after this conversation. I'll be out here in the hall."
She walks into the hallway without another word to him, and steps around groups of people until she finds a secluded space to wait. Her head is spinning, her emotions are a pendulum between frustration and cautious excitement. She closes her eyes and places a hand on her stomach, forcing herself to take a couple of calming breaths. When she opens them, she looks at her surroundings and notices she is near the classroom where the school paper operated from. She pensively walks towards it, looking inside the window panel at the dark room. Her mind takes her back to that time, and as she pictures her young self, she can't help but bring her hand to her belly again; hoping that there's a life in there she gets to help through difficult things like that first year at Chilton.
"Hey," she hears his voice and his hurried steps, and turns from the door to face him, "sorry, took me a minute to find you. You would think people would congregate inside the event and not in these giant, labyrinth like hallways."
He steps up to her, pockets and hands quiet and empty now, with a somewhat anxious look on his face. She stands up straight and crosses her arms over her chest.
"When was my last period?"
He blinks at her in confusion, before taking his phone from his pocket. Her eyes roll up towards the ceiling, because, yes, she did expect him to know.
He holds the phone up to show her the app.
"Last week."
She frowns, and her eyes start to mist.
"No!" she replies, dropping her arms to hold fists at her side, "no Jess! I didn't get my period last week."
His eyes widen, and he slowly puts his phone away, looking her over.
"What do you mean?"
Annoyed that her eyes are burning with tears, she lifts her arm to wipe across her face.
"You were supposed to be in charge of this! You're supposed to be keeping track, you're supposed to know."
He gulps, mouth moving silently as he tries to make sense of the situation. He steps a little closer to her.
"Why didn't you ask me if I got my period last week?!"
"I…I'm sorry, I assumed since you didn't say anything, that you got it."
"But how would I know that I was supposed to get it? You're the one keeping track! And we even had sex that week, didn't you think you would have noticed if I was bleeding?"
He runs a hand through his hair anxiously, "Fuck, Rory."
She laughs humorlessly, "you haven't been checking it, have you? Because you've been so busy at Truncheon. Jess, if you didn't want to be in charge of this then why did you offer and promise me that you would take care of it? I understand your work is important, I wouldn't have blamed you."
He covers his face with his hands and mutters another expletive.
"Shit. I'm so sorry," he drops his hands and steps to place them on her shoulders, "I'm really fucking sorry, Rory. You're right. I haven't been paying attention these last few weeks. But…I promise it's for a good reason. What I'm working on at Truncheon. Please trust me."
She looks back at him and softens at his genuine and eager look; she can see guilt and concern in his eyes, and the angry part of her starts to dwindle.
"I fucked up," he states with a sigh, "when did you get your period then? I'll put it in my app, and I promise this won't happen again."
He drops his hands from her shoulders to get his phone again from his pocket.
"Jess," he looks up at the gentle sound of his name and is frozen with curiosity at the big smile on her face, "I haven't had my period since the beginning of September."
He stares back at her, still frozen as he takes in her words. Slowly, but surely, the implication of them washes over him. His whole face morphs into surprised excitement.
"Holy shit," he swallows, and she releases a much needed laugh at his response. At the sound of this, he steps back into motion and takes her in his arms. He kisses her hard, but squeezes her gently, mindful of the delicate possibility between their bodies.
"Let's go," he commands as they break apart, "fuck, all of our tests are in New York."
She takes his hand and heads for the building exit, "it's okay, Hartford is much more normal than Stars Hollow. There are stores open now."
"Yes. Okay. Let's find a Walgreens or something," he opens the passenger door for her and then walks to get in on the driver's side. He looks over at her after starting the car, they share a bright look, and he leans over to kiss her on the lips.
"Let me take care of all this, okay?" he mumbles as they pull away, "I'll buy the tests, get you lots of water and snacks, I'll take you back to the inn and hide them and you from your mother, and then dispose of them so no one in that nosy town will see. I messed up, and I should have realized this possibility before you. Please let me take care of this part."
Her heart warms, and she replies softly, "okay."
"I'm scared to look."
"Okay, we can wait longer."
"But we probably shouldn't wait too long, right? It might give an inaccurate reading?"
"Okay, then I'll go look first."
"But I want to find out together."
He looks over at her, and that slight pouting of her lips makes him grin. His arm is already around her, sitting on the bed in their hotel room as they stare at the bathroom door across from them. It took them a while to get to this point of the night; having ran right into Lorelai as they got back to the Inn. She made them sit down for cake and coffee (which Jess 'accidentally' spilled on the floor and offered to pour Rory another one in order to sneak her decaf), and then talk about the event and other things in their life for over an hour. Rory didn't put up much of a fight, and he thinks it's because of this: her nervousness about what the test results might be. He takes his other hand and brings it to her face, cupping her cheek and gently stroking the skin near her ear. The ridges of his callused fingers make her shiver and take the pout away from her face.
"Come on," he urges gently, nodding towards the bathroom, "those Clearblue tests aren't going to read themselves. And I highly doubt they are as invested in the outcome as us. They do this all the time, you know."
His silly joke successfully disarms her of her trepidation, and she moves to stand up. He follows and takes her hand, and they walk in step together to the bathroom door. He opens it, and gestures for her to enter first. She looks at him, then at the open room, and walks inside. When he steps in, she is still looking at him; refusing to look down at the tests on the counter. He holds her gaze, squeezes her hand, and he nods. At the same time, they look down at the three tests that she managed to take one after the other, thanks to the Mai tai, decaf coffee and the liter of water she drank on the drive between the pharmacy and the Inn.
"Jess," she gasps, throwing a hand up to her chest, "they all say pregnant. Right? Do you see that too? All three of them say pregnant!"
Her voice picks up in volume and astonishment, and he feels similar emotions building in him too as he looks down at the three positive tests as well. He still has one of her hands in his, and he brings it to his mouth and kisses it over and over again, unable to give her words just yet. After a moment of taking in what's in front of them, their eyes meet; they both release a happy laugh as watery eyes meet watery eyes. He looks at her in wonder, still grasping for the right words. Eventually he exhales a shaky breath and pulls her tightly in his arms.
"Oh Rory," he murmurs against her head and her hair. She wraps her arms around him, and a few of those happy tears escape against his neck. Feeling them, he brings his hands to her face and holds her out in front of him. Their excitement is evident all over both of them, on their face and in the slight trembling of their bodies. But he asks anyway, soft and tender,
"Are you happy?"
The question makes her eyes water more, and despite the sob that comes out of her, she is smiling and nodding. He breathes out an emotional chuckle, and nods with her.
"Me too, Rory," he sniffs and grins warmly at her, "me too."
She beams and wraps her arms around him again, resting her head against his shoulder. He places one hand on her back and one on her head, rubbing loving circles near her hips and weaving his fingers into the silky strands of her hair, muttering loving words against her ear.
"I drank a Mai Tai earlier," she states after a few minutes like this.
He pulls back and gives her a kind look because he can tell she feels so guilty about it.
"That's basically fruit, isn't it?"
"No! It's actually pretty strong."
"It's okay, don't stress about it. It's not like you've been throwing them back for the last, what, four or five weeks?"
She thinks over it. Her face relaxes and she shrugs. Then, she gasps as realization dawns on her.
"Jess…it happened in Nantucket!"
His grin is wide and displays satisfaction, as he thinks about his mission on that trip.
"That's what I was trying to do that. The app told me you were ovulating that weekend. Guess it was right."
She laughs and grins happily.
"Aw, I wonder if it was the day you proposed to me."
His lips perk up on one side, "maybe there is a God then, and we had to wait until we were engaged to have a baby."
She laughs again, "whatever the reason, it's…amazing. I'm so happy."
He presses his lips to hers.
"It is amazing," he mumbles, but adds on, "I think it was all me, though. I did a good job of getting realllllly in here," he teases with a smirk, moving his hand around her body to sit between her hips. She playfully rolls her eyes.
"Okay, caveman. You did a great job of planting your seed."
He winks, "and you, Venus. Did a great job of creating something with it."
Feeling overwhelmingly happy, and also charmed by the comparison to a goddess, she kisses him hard.
"I need to make a doctor's appointment. To make sure," she realizes as they part, brows furrowing slightly. He brings his thumb to her forehead and rubs between her brows until her features calm again.
"We'll do that Monday," he promises, and replaces his thumb with his lips momentarily, "You're pregnant, Rory. It's not a false alarm. We have all the evidence we need for now, okay?"
Her face glows before his eyes, and they take a calming breath at the same time. Her eyes are watering once again, and she confirms,
"We're having a baby."
As he moves his arm to hold her face, he catches the time on his watch and grins.
"Happy birthday, Rory."
He lifts his watch to show her that it's after midnight. She bounces on her feet, mouth lifted high, and then she jumps forward into his arms.
She whispers in his ear, "best birthday ever."
..
She wakes to a light shaking of her arm in the pitch black room later that night.
"Hello birthday girl," Lorelai whispers, and Rory turns her head to see her form crouched next to the bed, "it's that time. That you decided to come into the world, thirty-nine years ago. Which is crazy, because I'm still thirty-two! Us Gilmores really do defy all logic."
Rory releases a mixture of a giggle and a groan, as she turns on her side, eyes now adjusting to see Lorelai's face better.
"Well, you do look younger in the dark."
"Wow, that must be why Luke likes to do it with the lights off!"
"Ugh, mom," she whines.
"Sorry but you were asking for it," she replies matter of factly, "now, where were we. Oh yes, labor -"
"Can you not keep Rory awake for too long? We only went to bed a few hours ago," Jess's sleepy grumble sounds from the other side of the bed.
"Excuse me, but this little lady put me through the most painful experience of my life! I will keep her up as long as I want to."
"Lorelai-"
"Relax, little Luke. I will let your fairy princess get her beauty rest. But first I need to remind her of what she did to me. It was like-
"'Doing the splits on a crate of dynamite', I've heard it before," Jess finishes her sentence.
"Hey now, this is our tradition. You're lucky I don't kick you out so we can practice it in peace!"
"Mom," Rory's voice interrupts them, and its softness calls both of their attention, "was labor really that bad?"
Jess turns to lie on his back at her words and finds her hand to hold in the dark.
"Oh, honey," Lorelai starts, "it was horrible."
She sucks in a breath at that response.
"But," Lorelai continues, "it was worth every second of discomfort. Totally worth it, babe. I would give birth to you a hundred more times if I had to in order to bring you into this world."
Rory laughs, "that doesn't make sense, but I understand. I'm glad you wouldn't trade me for the pain."
"Of course not," Lorelai insists, placing a hand on her daughter's head to play with her hair, "why are you asking?"
She pauses, considering for a very quick second telling her mom. But with her hand still in Jess's, his fingers wrapping around to nestle hers warmly against his palm, she realizes that she wants to keep the sacred news between them for now.
"I'm just…curious. You've always described it the same way. I didn't know if maybe you were just being dramatic."
"Uh huh. I'll believe that's the reason because you want me to. So, tell me, what do you think of your life so far?"
Rory is grateful for her mother's unusual discretion, moving past that somewhat sensitive topic breezily. And even in the dark, everyone in the room can hear the smile in her voice when she responds,
"I would say…I'm satisfied."
"Any complaints?"
"Not this year."
"Mommy is glad to hear that," Lorelai responds, grunting as she stands up from the floor, "can I lodge a complaint since you're not using yours? Getting older sucks."
She laughs, "mom, you don't get older. You're the most youthful person I know."
"Maybe in my heart but not in my knees!"
"The heart is the most important place to stay young," Rory sighs, "isn't it?"
"According to Sinatra, yes," Jess mumbles. Lorelai leans over the bed to place a kiss on her daughter's head.
"Yes, sweets. It is. I'm forever sixteen, and you're forever forty-five."
"What?!"
"You came out of the womb an adult, honey. You'll be forever young soon enough."
"Does the tradition usually last this long?"
"Stop trying to come between a mother and her daughter!"
"I would never," Jess insists, "unless it's affecting my health. Which it is. I would love to be asleep right now."
"Jeez, maybe you're the fairy princess here."
"That doesn't offend me. Yes, I'm a fairy princess and I need my rest so I have the energy to give your daughter magical moments."
"Jess!"
"Ugh, I'm leaving," Lorelai states, opening the hotel room door, "happy birthday and goodnight!"
"Thanks Mom, goodnight."
As they hear the door close, Jess turns on his side to face Rory's back.
"Okay time to go back to sleep," he pulls her to him, "your body needs a lot of rest."
"Especially since you put it to work before bed."
"Can you blame a man?" he questions, kissing her ear, "a man who just found out he's going to be a father. How could I keep my hands off the beautiful woman who's making me one?"
"Mmm. You're going to be a father," she repeats with a tone of disbelief, "I can't wait to see that."
"I can't wait to see you be a mother, Rory. Eight more months. Right?"
"I think it's still nine. Pregnancy is technically ten."
"Nothing is fair for women, is it?"
"Nope. But it's okay. I'm looking forward to it. All of it. Even the scary parts like labor."
He chuckles and kisses her head.
"Me too."
It's silent as sleep begins to take hold of them again, Jess cuddles her body to his. His hand resting on her belly. As he starts to feel the prickling feeling of drifting into dreams, he hears a quiet laugh next to him that vibrates against his hand on her stomach.
"What?" He mumbles dozily. She giggles again.
"I just feel a little dumb."
"Why?"
"Because," she explains, "I asked for extra pineapple with my drink at Chilton."
In his half asleep state, it takes him a moment to understand, but when he does, he laughs too.
"And I was irritable with you all morning."
"Hmm, and you didn't finish your dessert the other night," he hums, "this is fun. It's like playing Clue."
She laughs loudly now.
"The answer is 'Jess Mariano in Nantucket with his pregnancy tricks'."
"Pregnancy tricks?"
"I know about lifting legs in the air. It's a cliche in any movie when someone is trying to get pregnant."
"Hey, they are cliches for a reason."
"Evidently," she laughs, placing her hand over his on her belly, "I wonder if that's why I felt nauseous after drinking two cups of coffee in a row last week. I thought it was because I made it too strong."
"Oh god," Jess groans, "our baby is going to be a caffeinated mutant."
"Lots of powerful people have been fueled by coffee. Like Teddy Roosevelt! He drank a gallon of coffee a day sometimes."
"Wasn't he a eugenicist?"
"Well, yes. But I don't think the coffee is to blame."
"I'm sure it didn't help," he mutters, "I will never let our kids get anywhere close to drinking that much coffee in one week, let alone one day. Now go to sleep. Gotta do healthy things to cancel out the bad."
"Well, it's hard to fall back asleep now. I've got our future on my mind."
He smiles against her hair and brushes his thumb over the skin between her shirt and shorts.
"Sleep is necessary to stay alive. Staying alive is how you get to live out that future. Does that fact help?"
"Mmmm not so much," she sighs. He presses his lips to her head and continues to stroke his fingers on her skin.
"Rory," he says her name after a silent minute of retrospection, "I'm sorry I've been so busy lately with Truncheon. I'm going to do a better job of delegating. "
She turns on her back to face him in the dark.
"It's okay. Your work is just as important to me as it is to you. I was just being cranky, and I'm sure it will happen again many times."
"No, it's not okay," he insists vehemently, "I promised to do something, and I messed it up. You let me be in charge of something so significant, and I know what that means. You don't give up control easily. I'm sorry for letting you down."
"You didn't let me down, Jess," she promises, squeezing his hand that still rests on her body, "you did exactly what I asked you to do. You helped us start our family. It's really okay. I'm sorry if I was hard on you earlier, at Chilton. I was nervous and stressed and excited all at once. It was a lot."
"Of course you were. I get it, and I deserved it whether you think so or not," he lifts her hand to his lips for a soft kiss, "I'm still going to delegate better, so I'm not away from home more than I need to be. I promised to take care of you through all of this. I'm not going to screw that up too."
"You could never."
He places their entwined hands on her chest now, near her heart. She leans her head down and kisses his fingers; the gesture makes his heart swell.
"Hey," she whispers, "how much money did you win today by the way?"
He chuckles, but he was so rushed cashing out his chips he hardly noticed the amount.
"Enough to treat my pregnant fiancée to the entire breakfast menu at the diner tomorrow."
"Yum," she hums, and then she playfully hits him, "hey, Luke doesn't charge us anything!"
A rumbling laugh shakes his chest, he grabs her hand and brings it to his lips.
"I don't know how much," he kisses her knuckles, "but I know whatever it is, it's nowhere near as valuable as what you've given us tonight."
AN: and so they begin this part of their journey :') didn't make you wait too long did i?
ps - sorry i could not help myself - i have always loved max (not more than luke!) and wanted to include him somehow