The Aftermath - A Gilmore Girls Revival Fan Fiction

Chapter 16

"Hey!" I said with a smile, meeting up with Jess outside the Hartford airport. 

I was freezing, even though I was bundled to the max in my puffy coat, fuzzy hat and gloves, and a scarf that looked like it'd been wrapped around me about eight times.

He laughed when he saw me.  "Did you go to New York or Antarctica?" He teased, holding his passenger door open for me to get in.

"Oh my gosh, it's so warm and toasty in here!" I exclaimed happily.

"Miserable like the burning depths of hell is a bit more accurate" he teased with a smirk.

"Ohhh man! You know what I really wish I had right now that would make me even warmer?" I asked, kicking myself for not thinking to grab a cup of coffee from inside. 

"Check the cup holder" he said tonelessly, but he looked over at me with a smile. 

There it was - a delicious cup of coffee just sitting there, waiting for me in the cup holder.  I took a sip and smiled, breathing it in deeply.

"And it's not even decaf," I whispered, leaning back into the seat, closing my eyes in glorious happiness.

"We need to get you enrolled into an AA for coffee program" he teased and kept driving.

*********

When we got back to the diner, we ran into Kirk taking Petal for a walk. 

"Hi Kirk, hi Petal" I said with a smile. 

"Oh, Rory?" Kirk said as we were about to walk through the door. 

"Yes, Kirk?" I asked, in amusement. 

"I couldn't help but notice that you've been being followed by Luke's nephew, Jess.  I just wanted to let you know that I've started a new company, and it's called Tie Bow.  I teach kickboxing as self defense for situations just as this" he said. 

"You can't use the name Tae Bo, Kirk.  It's already taken" I told him. 

"No, not Tae Bo, it's called Tie Bow" he said in all seriousness. 

"Okay...   and who taught you the self-defense that you plan to teach others?" I asked curiously. 

"Well, if you must know, mother and I found some very informative videos on You Tube.  I can demonstrate for you if you'd like me to take out this scoundrel.  For a small fee, of course" he said proudly. 

Jess jumped at him - Kirk was so scared that he threw his wallet at him and ran away screaming, Petal in tow. 

"Wow. Stars Hollow sure is safer now that Kirk teaches self defense..." Jess teased.

"That was just mean" I said with a laugh as I walked through the door.

"Do you want me to bring anything up for you when I head upstairs?" He asked. 

"I'm going to jump in the shower first, but I wouldn't say no to the Tuesday night special" I said with a smile, and then headed off that direction.

"And here I thought she ate a lot BEFORE she got pregnant" he said with a laugh.

"I heard that!" I called.

*******

Later on that night after Jess and I had each showered, the diner was closed down for the night and I'd eaten my (second) dinner, we were both sitting on the couch, each reading our own books in silence. 

It was one of those comfortable silences, not forced or awkward, just two people enjoying each others' company while engrossed in their own novel adventures.

All of a sudden, Jess lowered his book and turned to me.  "So, your mom and Luke are coming home on Thursday" he said.

"Yeah, I know!  I've missed my mom like crazy, and Luke - well - Luke makes better pancakes than you do" I teased. 

"Is that so?" He smirked.

I smiled, "But your French toast is better than his, so it balances back out" I said with a laugh.

He laughed, but then he stopped.  "You know I'm going back to Philadelphia when they get back, right?" He asked.

That hit hard.  I mean, I'm sure I expected it, and on some level I'm sure I knew, but I never really gave it too much thought.

"Yeah, I guess you will have to, huh?" I asked realizingly with a nod.

"It's not like I won't be back to visit, though" he said with a shrug.

"Yeah, 'cause you visited so often before?" I asked with a laugh.

"I didn't visit much before because I didn't know how to be around you without getting past the - well - past.  But this time together has really helped with that" he said. 

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Absolutely!  And besides, who else is going to find as much comic relief in watching you attempt to handle motherhood as I will?" he teased.

"Oh my god" I whispered, a stoic expression on my face.

"What?" He asked, his eyes darting around in concern.

"Oh my god, I'm going to be somebody's MOTHER" I whispered.

"You're... just now figuring this out?  You know, maybe you're not as smart as we've thought all these years..." he teased.

"Well yeah, I mean NO, but...  Yeah!  How the hell did this happen!?  Who the hell up there in the universe somewhere decided I was ready to become somebody's MOTHER!?  Oh my gosh, I can't breathe!  What if I suck at being a mom!?  What if my kid hates me!?  Oh my god, my kid's going to hate me!  My kids going to hate me and it's going to do something crazy in retaliation like burn all my favorite books in protest just to punish me!" I exclaimed.

"Whoa!  WOW, that - escalated quickly.  Look on the bright side, it'll be a couple of years before it learns to play with matches, so your books are probably safe for at least a little while longer" he teased. 

"This isn't funny, Jess!  I don't know what the hell I'm going to do..." I whispered, breaking down into sobs.

He sighed and pulled me into his arms. "Sure you do.  You're going to Lorelai Gilmore that baby, and that baby is going to Rory Gilmore you" he said.

I just looked at him and all I could do was smile.  I know what he said made absolutely no sense at all, but in the sweetest way possible, somehow it did.