Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with The Gilmore Girls; it is all the property of Amy Sherman-Palladino. I do own a few individual characters as well as the plot, but there's really no point in suing me because I don't own anything of value.

Chapter Six

Christmas Eve arrived in a hurry. Lorelai had invited Jess and Anna over to dinner that night with the Kim's, Sookie, Jackson and their three children.

Jess spent the day helping out at the diner and playing with his daughter. Luke had left early to help Lorelai set up, leaving Jess to close up. He did so before changing his and Anna's clothes and bundling her into the car, driving over to the Gilmore house.

"Hey."

"What are you doing out here? It's freezing."

Luke was sitting on the porch steps, alone. Leaving Anna in the warm car, Jess took a seat next to him.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing, I'm fine."

"Uncle Luke, you're not fine."

"Don't call me that," Luke grumbled. "Alright, but if I tell you, you can't tell anyone."

"Sure. Well, actually, I might tell Anna, but I doubt she'll spread it around town."

Jess smirked as Luke chuckled.

"Tonight, I'm going to, um, ask Lorelai to marry me."

"What!"

"Yeah. I mean, I've wanted to do it for a while, but it never felt right. Now it does, so I'm gonna do it."

"Luke, that's really great."

"You think so?"

"Yeah," Jess replied, smiling slightly. "It's great."

"So, you'll be my best man?"

"If she says yes, sure."

All the colour in Luke's face drained.

"You don't think she'll say yes?"

"Of course she will! Geez, Uncle Luke, I was kidding."

Jess stood up to collect Anna. Rolling his eyes at Luke, he made his way into the house.

"Lorelai?"

"Hey, Jess. Hello baby," Lorelai cooed, taking Anna from Jess's arms. "Thanks for coming."

Jess followed Lorelai into the living room. He spotted Rory and David seated on the floor, laughing quietly at something. Lane and her mother were sitting on the couch, neither speaking. Jackson was standing, nursing a baby girl in his arms as two toddlers, a boy and a girl, played together on the floor.

After saying hello to everyone, Jess sat down in an armchair. As Lorelai was still cooing over Anna, Jess struck up a casual conversation with Lane, receiving glares from Mrs. Kim the entire time.

"Oh, Jess," Lorelai interrupted. "These are Sookie and Jackson's kids. That's Davey and Martha, and that one is Penny."

"How old is Penny?" Jess asked Jackson.

"Almost six months. And Anna?"

"Almost three months."

The two men chatted a little about their babies before Sookie came barreling into the living room.

"Okay every- oh, hi Jess!"

Jess' eyes went wide as Sookie pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Hi Sookie."

"Dinners ready everyone!"

They settled around the dining table, after Anna and Penny had been placed in a portable crib in Rory's room. Luke had come back inside, still looking extremely nervous, but managed to chat amicably with the entire table.

Jess couldn't help but smile. While, years earlier, he would have found such a scene nauseating, he found himself enjoying the company of what seemed like one big happy family. He found himself glad that his daughter would be raised amidst such wonderful people.