A/N: Time to tie this baby up. Thanks to all those that have stuck with me throughout this story, and especially to those who have written supportive reviews - whether you sent one or twenty five, you're all fab, thank you! :) Now, lets get this inn open and find us a happy ever after ending...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 26
"I'm so nervous. Why am I so nervous?" asked Lorelai, quite literally flapping around at this point.
"Hey, take a breath," Luke advised, gently taking a hold of her and making her focus. "It's natural to be nervous, because this inn is a big deal for you, but it's going to go great. You're all set for this, Lorelai. You and Sookie, you've done an amazing job. You have nothing to worry about," he promised her.
"Have I told you lately that I love you?" she said, calming down just a little.
"You may have mentioned it," he agreed, smiling wide at the sound of those words anyway.
"I couldn't have done this without you, Luke. Seriously. You and Rory and Jess, you've all been so amazing. This place is literally a dream come true for me and... and I just want this weekend to go well."
"It will," he said definitely, holding her close. "It already is. The guests are here, the doors are on the rooms. So far, so good, right?"
"Yes. So far, so good," she echoed, breathing deeply. "It's going to go fine. Maybe better than fine."
"Exactly." Luke nodded, kissing her temple as he hugged her.
Their sweet moment was unfortunately interrupted by the arrival of the two people guaranteed to damage Lorelai's calm in a second.
"Mr and Mrs Gilmore!" Michel enthused as he greeted them.
Lorelai buried her face in Luke' shoulder and he didn't have to ask why.
"It's fine," he reiterated in a whisper, rubbing her back. "They're here to support you, and if they say anything to upset you, I'll stick Kirk on them."
That at least got a laugh out of Lorelai, and one quick kiss set her up perfectly for facing her mom and dad. Richard and Emily were at least complimentary about the decor and seemed pleased that they got to test out the honeymoon suite for the duration of the weekend. Lorelai was just relieved to have them in the private separate room away from everybody else. She loved her parents dearly, but a little distance was always useful, especially when she was feeling stressed enough already.
"You're the last to arrive," she explained. "Everybody's present and correct, so I guess the dry run has officially begun now."
"Keep breathing," Luke reminded her one more time when she seemed to have forgotten again. "You're doing great."
"Indeed you are, Lorelai," Richard agreed. "Though I must say it is nice to see your young man supporting you like this. Being a business owner himself, I'm sure Luke is full of good advice."
"I do my best, sir."
"Richard, please. Sir makes me feel so old," he insisted with a pleasant smile.
"I hardly think running a diner compares to running an inn, Richard," said Emily sharply. "Though I'm sure Luke is doing his best to be useful."
Luke bit his lip so hard he thought it was going to bleed. Lorelai's hand on his arm reminded him why he was trying to hold in the words bubbling up his throat.
"Keep breathing," she said, echoing his words with a smile she couldn't help.
Thankfully both of them managed not to say anything they shouldn't until after Emily and Richard had been escorted out to their suite by Michel.
"That woman is... She's a snob, Lorelai!"
"Hey, preaching to the choir, babe," she sympathised. "But I liked your plan about throwing Kirk at them when they get really bad. That might just work. My usual choice is to distract them with the wonder that is Rory, but she's a little distracted herself this weekend."
"She and Jess do seem to be joined at the hip lately," said Luke.
"Dirty!" Lorelai declared.
"I didn't mean... Ah, jeez!"
Lorelai laughed. "I know you didn't, hon. Can't deny it's pretty accurate though."
"Are you really okay with them being together?"
"I don't know, Luke. I'm not sure I'd be thrilled knowing my baby girl was sleeping with anybody, and you know Jess and I never got along before, but it's different now. The kid has grown up. He's holding down two jobs, paying rent on an apartment, and he's treating Rory way better than the last time," Lorelai explained. "He's making her happy, she's making him happy. What's not the like about that? Besides, they're both over eighteen, and they're being smart about precautions and all," she said pointedly. "For as long as they want this, who are we to argue?"
Luke knew there was no argument to make. Certainly he was sure he hadn't seen Jess or Rory this happy in a while. They belonged together, no matter how tough things had been before or how bad they had gotten. It sure seemed fixed up now, and Luke did at least trust them to be responsible when it came to not getting pregnant or something like that. He didn't exactly hate having his nephew close by again either. Family always mattered a lot to Luke, and with Jess living in New Haven and working in Stars Hollow, he didn't have to worry about him so much.
"I guess there is no arguing with those two being happy," he conceded. "I mean, what more could we ask for, right?"
"Not much," said Lorelai, leaning in to kiss his lips.
The weekend ran pretty smoothly. With Emily and Richard secreted away in their own room, they really didn't get much chance to bug Lorelai. They only joined the others for dinner, and then they were quite deliberately seated amongst the likes of Miss Patty, Babette, and Taylor so they were well distracted.
Jess was most definitely on Lorelai's side when it came to staying away from Emily at least, though he hadn't minded so much when Richard made a point of meeting him and shaking his hand. Rory's grandpa seemed like the decent kind, liked to talk about books, and was impressed that Jess could keep up with him.
"Well, at least I have one grandparent that likes you," said Rory as they sat across from each other at a table for two in the corner of the dining room. "That's not bad."
"And Lorelai doesn't hate me anymore either. Two out of three ain't bad."
"Well said, Meat Loaf." Rory grinned. "Y'know I was a little worried about this weekend, or not so much worried as nervous for Mom and for Sookie, but they really pulled it off. Everything worked out so well."
"Most things do if you give them enough time," said Jess knowingly.
Rory smiled wider, knowing just exactly what he meant. She leaned over the table to kiss him but hardly made contact before Lorelai appeared, looking a little agitated.
"Hon, I'm sorry, I need a favour," she told her. "Could you maybe run over to the house and grab some CDs? Music is the one thing I forgot."
"Sure, no problem."
Rory got up, kissed Jess as she walked by and then headed out. Lorelai rushed back to whatever she had been doing before, and left Jess all by himself. He was okay with that actually, or he would have been if he hadn't suddenly realised Emily Gilmore was approaching his table. He wondered if he could make an escape without her realising, but no such luck. All exits were blocked and she was right there at Rory's empty seat before he had a chance to bolt.
"Er, Rory just went to run an errand-"
"I didn't come over here to speak to my granddaughter," said Emily, apparently letting Miss Manners go for a moment as she interrupted him without a care. "I think it's about time you and I set some things straight, Jess," she said, hands on the back of the chair.
"Be my guest," he said, gesturing for her to sit, which she did.
Emily folded her hands on the table and looked him right in the eye.
"I think we both know that you are not the sort of young man I want my granddaughter to be seeing. Rory is a very special young woman, with a bright future ahead of her. I don't want anything or anyone holding her back from that."
"If you think that's what I want to do, then you don't know me at all," said Jess, firm in his words but not at all rude.
"Yes, I think perhaps that is the problem here. I really don't know you, do I? Now I have to say, you made an appalling first impression the day you came to dinner at my house last year. However, first impressions can be wrong. Certainly from what I've seen this weekend, and from what both Lorelai and Rory have said about you, there's a good chance that you're not quite the abominable thug I had considered you before."
"High praise," Jess muttered.
Emily pretended not to hear as she rose from her seat.
"I would like you to come to dinner, next Friday, with Rory and Lorelai. I intend to invite your uncle also," she said, smoothing her skirt and barely looking at Jess at all. "I think perhaps it might be time we started again."
"I'll be there," said Jess, however much it pained him to do so. "And, er, for what it's worth, I'm sorry, about the last time."
Emily nodded once and walked away, returning to her husband who was in deep conversation with Miss Patty and seemed not to have even noticed his wife was ever gone. Jess looked around the rest of the dining room, at all the smiling faces and general hilarity. It was cool, but the crowd of folks and the absence of Rory made him want to bolt. Throwing his napkin on the table, he got up, circumvented the rest of the room and slipped out through the kitchen. He grabbed a beer from the fridge on the way, figuring it wouldn't be missed.
Out back, the stars were shining and the air was fresh. Jess felt relieved to have escaped and figured he'd just take a walk around the building until Rory got back. He never expected anybody else to be out there, but as he rounded the side of the inn and hit the front porch he found a lonely figure on the steps.
"Lorelai?" he checked. "You okay?"
"Hey, Jess," she said, smiling until she clocked the beer bottle.
Jess had the good grace to look a little awkward, especially when he experienced the same flashback as Lorelai must've been going through.
"Don't worry about it," she said, waving a hand. "You wanna sit?"
"Sure," he agreed, dropping down on the lower step to her left the moment she made a little room. "So, things have gone pretty good this weekend. I thought you'd be in there, basking in the glory."
Lorelai smiled. "Basking is nice, but honestly? It's all been a little intense. I just needed to breathe for a sec, y'know?"
"I get it," Jess agreed, sipping his beer and watching the world go by a moment.
The companionable silence was broken by a sudden burst of laughter from Lorelai which certainly got Jess' attention.
"I'm sorry," she said, still chuckling. "I was just thinking, I never saw things turning out this way. I mean, think about it, a couple of years ago, Rory was with Dean, we didn't even have the inn yet, Luke hadn't even met Nicole, and we were all certain Rory was going to Harvard. Two years and everything has turned out so different. Hey, I don't even hate you anymore!"
Jess smirked at that. "Same here," he noted. "Not that I ever hated you exactly."
"Really?" said Lorelai curiously. "I made your life pretty darn difficult where Rory was concerned, and there was a whole lot of bile coming out of you whenever I was around."
"I was a messed up teenager, so sue me." Jess shrugged. "Honestly? I think I was mostly just pissed that Rory got a mom like you and I didn't. Y'know Liz was no worse off than you when she had me, but she always made every excuse for being a basket-case. You held it together, you did this amazing job of being a mom and a decent human being. If you could do it, then Liz could've done it, but she didn't."
Lorelai's heart ached as she listened to him talk. There were things about Jess that she didn't like, even now, but she had grown to understand why he had some of the issues that he did. It wasn't all his fault, and at least he was trying now. She had to respect that.
"Y'know, Jess, you can't really compare me and Rory to Liz and you. Every person, every situation, it's different. Besides, you and me not getting along before was not all your fault," she admitted, shaking her head. "When I looked at you, I saw a little bit of Rory's father, but when I heard you talk, there was a whole lot of me coming out of you. The teenage rebellion, the whole question authority vibe, that was me at seventeen... and younger actually," she considered. "It scared me, I'll admit that, it really did scare me a whole lot, because I know how tough my life was back then, how crazy I could be. You liked Rory, and I could see her getting caught up in your mess. When Rory gets hurt, it kills me."
"I know the feeling," Jess said pointedly.
"I know you do." Lorelai nodded. "That's why I'm not scared anymore. You grew up, Jess. Rory did too. I think maybe you guys weren't quite ready for each other the first time around. Now you are."
"You're probably right," he agreed, just as the front door opened and Luke stepped out.
"What are you two doing out here?"
"That was going to be my question," asked Rory as she appeared from the other direction, CDs in hand. "Is something wrong?"
"Why would anything be wrong, sweets?" asked Lorelai, smiling.
"I don't know," Rory admitted as Jess pulled her down to sit beside him.
Luke took the top step behind Lorelai and rested his hands on her shoulders.
"It's going great in there," he told her. "Everybody getting along and all. Of course when your dad and Miss Patty started duetting something from the old time musicals I had to make a run for it."
"No!" Rory gasped, laughing out loud at the very idea. "I'm almost sorry I'm missing that!"
"We can go in if you want," Jess offered, even though he wasn't thrilled at the prospect.
Rory sighed and leaned in closer to him, letting her head drop onto his shoulder.
"Maybe in a little bit," she considered, looking up at the moon and stars, revelling in the feeling of being so comfortable. "Here is good for now."
"Not gonna argue with that, babe," said Lorelai, snuggling into Luke's embrace.
The guys shared a look over the girls' heads and shifted into more comfortable positions. It didn't seem like they would be going anywhere for a while yet, and that was fine by them.
The End