AN: I skipped ahead again… I really hate myself, but I feel like it's time to move on. There can still drama and love and stuff as I move ahead. Of course, there will be, Idk… probably either gonna skip until I find a place I like or I'm gonna just keep skipping every chapter. I think I might just kinda go around for a few years, write a few chapters in those years, and then maybe skip ahead again. I don't want to make this like a thousand chapters, but I want to get into the future, ya know? I might just stay here for a little while cause I do like this area… Idk.. also so sorry about that wait! I have been really busy and I'm on spring break, so I have and don't have time at the exact same time! Well, I hope you enjoy this! Have a great week, and please review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Time flew by too quickly, Rory thought as she sat at the kitchen table one September morning. In the living room her the two-year-old daughters were playing in good view of their mother. Her and Jess's wedding was quickly approaching. He was keeping true to his word; and in an odd fashion, they were getting married at 4:03 on October 8, the minute she would be turning twenty-five. She continued to munch on her pumpkin bread, listening intently when the girls grew the slightest bit quiet.

She was able to breathe again when Lola giggled causing Lena to giggle. It was never good when her two toddlers became quiet, almost always foreshadowing something awful. The girls were quickly taking on Jess's rambunctious streak, and Rory was in constant fear of what they would do next. Too many times has she had to put them in time out or had to take care of whatever odd scrape they had now gotten. But, they did everything together, and that made the punishing and nursing a little bit worth it. Rory had hoped when they took Lena in that one day the girls would get along, and now they were best friends.

After being one-hundred percent sure that neither of her daughters were going to harm themselves, Rory pulled out her laptop to begin some work. She had been writing her own book as per Jess's suggestion. After finishing her online school, Rory had tried to find work as a journalist, but everything either kept her from home too much or needed her to move far away which she was not willing to do. For a while she had worked for an online newspaper, but it wasn't that fulfilling, and then one night Jess had brought up the thought of her writing a book. Although writing time was scarce, the hours were good, and her boss (herself) was pretty flexible.

The sound of the garage door opening snapped Rory from her writing induced stupor. She heard the pitter patter of little girl feet as they ran to welcome their daddy home. Jess came into her view, the girls held each in one arm. They looked like total opposites; one with brown hair and blue eyes the other with blonde hair and brown eyes, but as they ran off their pudgy toddler hands grasping the other's tightly. Jess stepped forward, dropping a kiss on his fiancée's forehead.

"Oh, gross!" Cam exclaimed, covering her face with her hands. "You two are all cutesy-wootesy all the time, and it's gross!"

Just to annoy their friend, Jess dipped Rory back and kissed her for a long time while Cam yelled in protest. They continued to be in that position long after Cam had retreated from the room. "You ready?" Jess asked, righting his fiancée. Rory nodded, a blissful smile gracing her visage. He held her hand as they walked out of the house, and he opened the car door for her to which she mocked him.

"Jess, I know how to open a door without hurting myself. Have been doing it for many moons." She smiled as her hand moved towards the radio to change the station. Jess laughed, and her grin grew. "What?"

"You just sound like such a mom," he chuckled. She scrunched up her nose in confusion.

"I am a mom," she reminded him.

"Well, it's just such a mom phrase. Your mom says it, my mom started saying when she heard your mom, Lane says it, and now you. It's just a mom phrase."

"No, I think a mom phrase is 'I'm pregnant' because that is the phrase that actually makes someone a mom."

"Point." They pulled up in front of a doctor's office, and once again Jess grabbed her door for her. Rory stuck out her tongue childishly, and he threw his arm around her shoulder as they walked in. She moved closer to him, burrowing into his hold. They walked up to an unamused secretary who rudely asked for her name.

"Uh, Rory Ma—I mean Gilmore." She blushed, and Jess pressed another kiss to her head. In a few weeks, she would be able to tell people his name, but for now she was still Rory Gilmore. Not like there was anything wrong with being Rory Gilmore, but she was more than ready to be Rory Mariano after the past few years they had been through. The secretary seemed to shoot daggers her way, especially after Jess had begun kissing her cheek as she filled out her paperwork.

They moved to the chairs, and Jess smirked at her as she looked around the waiting room. "What?" she asked, feeling his eyes on her. She didn't even have to be looking in his direction to know he was watching her.

He played with her hands, smiling to himself. "Nothing," he twisted the engagement ring on her finger. "You gonna change your name?" he asked, catching her slightly off-guard, but not too much.

"I was thinking about it. I mean, it would be best if we all had the same last name. Keep from confusing the girls, or anyone else who comes along." Her hand dropped to her stomach, and he smiled brighter. Before he could say anything, a nurse called Rory's name, and the couple eagerly followed.

Inside the exam room, Rory played with her hair nervously. She had last been in this doctor's office more than a year before, and it wasn't under the best of circumstances. Now, though, she was in a state of euphoria instead of a state of distress. She knew that Jess was too when he squeezed her hand. Now was the right time. Their wedding was a few weeks away; the girls were growing; now was the time.

Dr. Smith happily sauntered in; her smile less off-putting this time around. "Congratulations!" she said upon entering the room. "On both the wedding and the baby." She took note of Rory's left ring finger.

"Actually, we've been engaged for about two years. Just finally getting to the wedding and ring parts," Rory laughed playfully nudging Jess, who rolled his eyes whenever she mentioned the tardiness of getting the ring. "I'm kidding, Babe."

"I know," Jess said. "I can always take it back…" He smirked devilishly, and Rory drew her hand close to her body to guard the ring.

"Anyway," Dr. Smith interrupted. "Let's talk about this baby. So, Rory, you're taking your prenatal vitamins, I assume." Rory nodded. "Everything else seems to be doing well… shall we take a look?" The two shared a smile, nodding furiously; well, Rory nodding more furiously than Jess, who gave a slight move of his chin.

Rory watched the monitor, tears spilling out of her eyes. She looked at Jess—completely enraptured with the moments he had missed out on Lena—and her smile grew when they exchanged glances. He wasn't going to cry (she didn't expect him to), but inside a whole myriad of emotions were coursing through him. That thing on the monitor was theirs, all theirs. No one else's.

Neither paid attention as Dr. Smith talked and printed out a few pictures for them. She gave the two of them a moment, mentioning offhandedly about seeing them at the next appointment. When she finally left, Rory let out a noise that sounded a cross between a sob and a laugh. Jess was immediately moving closer, throwing his arms around her. But he started cracking up when she exclaimed, "I'm not gonna fit into my dress!"

"Your mom can alter it," he told her lovingly. She shook her head. "Who cares about the dress?"

"You're only married once," she responded.

"Well…" That was what got him slapped. "Hey, I was gonna say vow renewals, but whatever." His smile was too contagious, and she was still walking on cloud nine.

Life was perfect.

XXX

Life was not perfect. Two weeks had passed, and now it was the morning of their wedding. Most brides-to-be wouldn't have been able to sleep from their excitement. Rory had been throwing up. She had been too excited as of late, and she now remembered all the bad that came with growing a person inside of her. The worst being the morning meetings she had with her toilet. Not to mention they had planned to get married at the exact minute she turned twenty-five; 4:03 was currently her prime puking time.

So, as Rory's morning sickness got worse, they told the town that the time would be moved exactly twelve hours ahead to avoid a horrible mishap. They couldn't have the bride throwing up mid-ceremony, and no one knew yet. Not even Lorelai. They were going to tell everyone at the reception because the town would immediately get suspicious when Rory wasn't drinking at her own reception. Also, they had a cutes-y idea—that Jess had almost shot down—on how to go about with the reveal, but that wasn't happening until that afternoon.

Through it all, Jess had been great. They had actually wanted to go the weird traditional not the seeing the bride on the wedding day, but Rory wasn't going to be able to make it through another early morning bout of sickness without her family catching on. Instead, they were not going to see each other after she left to get ready. That was why they had asked to stay at the apartment above the diner—a perfectly understandable option since their friends were at the inn, and April was in Rory's room—so no one would be suspicious.

As Rory hung onto the side of the toilet bowl, she knew they had made the right decision to stay at Luke's. She was more sick this time around than she could ever have imagined with Lola. Throughout the night, she would switch between sleeping on the bathroom floor and in the bed to only return to the bathroom floor. Each move she made, Jess followed. He rubbed her back, kissed her forehead, held her close, told her it was almost over, did everything to make the night just that much better than how horrible it was.

"Why did we think this was a good idea?" she groaned, placing her cheek against the cool porcelain. Jess shook his head, grunting in response because of the early hour. Rory heard him laugh lightly, and she shot him a glare. "It's your demon spawn in here." She pointed to her stomach, believing him to be laughing at her misfortune.

He shook his head good-naturedly, extending his arm to show her the time. "Happy Birthday, Rory." He kissed her forehead, avoiding her mouth at all costs. Before his lips had left her head, Rory leaned forward over the toilet again, gagging loudly as she threw up what felt like her entire stomach. "Am I that bad of a kisser?" He tried to lighten the mood.

"No, but your bad at putting on a condom." She wiped her mouth, throwing him another glare.

"Thought we planned this one," he responded.

"No, I let you talk me into this one," she muttered, assured that the worst of it had passed. "Never gonna happen again." Rory brought herself to a wobbly standing position, but she stumbled back and crashed against Jess's chest. He wrapped his arms around her to steady her walk back towards the bed. Rory was so exhausted she crumpled into a ball above the comforter, and her breathing was nearly evened out.

"Mama!" Lena shouted from Jess's old room. Rory's eyes snapped open as she sucked in a deep breath. Jess placed his hand on her shoulder, pushing her down, and left the room. On the full sized bed between the two removeable bed rails, Lena was now awake next to a still sleeping Lola. Her little fingers opened and closed as tears streamed down her face.

"Daddy's here, Lee." Jess eased her into his arms. Lena's hands scrunched up the collar of his shirt, and her chin rested on his shoulder. She hiccupped, but had begun to calm down once in Jess's arms. His hand rubbed up and down her little back, and he slowly sank onto the couch. Lena had her short arms now splayed out, reaching Jess's shoulders and squeezing at his baggy shirt some more.

"Daddy," Lena whispered, now beginning to fall asleep. Jess kissed the top of her dark hair, and relished in the moment. Lena was his baby girl; and even though she often called for Rory, nothing could take away the bond of father and daughter. Lena was also the cuddlier of the two girls which Jess had never been one for that with his mother being overly drunkenly affectionate. However, Lena—and to an extent Lola—had snuggled up to him, and he was perfectly happy with that.

When Jess felt Lena grow heavier with the weight of sleep, he began taking her back to his old room. Although, Lena only gripped his shirt tighter while he tried to lay her back down. She whimpered, now awake, and Jess had no other choice than to bring her with him to the bed he was sharing with Rory.

As they walked toward the room, Jess whispered to Lena, "Baby, your Mama's sick, ok? So you gotta be a good girl and not wake her up. But Mama would probably like it if you hugged her." He watched Lena sleepily nod, rubbing her droopy blue eyes with her tiny fists. When he placed her on the bed, Lena curled around Rory's arm. Jess smiled before joining the two out of his three girls. Once he was there, Lena moved a bit closer to him, and Jess easily wrapped her in his strong arms.

A few seconds later, Jess felt Lena's finger on his cheek. "Daddy?" she asked, blue eyes alert. He opened his eyes to see his daughter's face very close to his. "Water?" Jess nodded getting up, but stooping back down when Lena reached her arms towards his. She nestled herself in his arms, and drank heartily when he handed her a sippy cup.

He finally was able to get the two of them back into the big bed that he was sharing with Rory. However, once he and Lena returned, Rory wasn't in sight. Jess heard muffled gagging from the adjacent bathroom. He glanced at the clock and realized it was now five in the morning. If they were lucky, Lena would go back to sleep for an hour or two, but in that same amount of time Lola would be up.

Some wedding this was going to be. The bride was doubled over with morning sickness, the groom had not slept the night before, and the two flower girls were either going to be too full of energy or too tired to make it down the aisle. Jess put Lena back down and headed into the bathroom.

Rory now slept on a pile of towels with her hands holding tightly to her stomach. She felt her fiancé lay down beside her when she stopped throwing up, and she tried to get what little uncomfortable sleep she could get on the bathroom floor.

"At least it's called morning sickness for a reason," Jess laughed; his hands resting above Rory's.

"Which I've been getting well into the afternoon," she told him as she scrambled to a sitting position again. She spit into the toilet for good measure and swatted at his hands when he tried to hold her. "Mom's gonna notice."

"Just drink a bunch of ginger ale and crackers. Call it wedding day jitters. I think she'll believe that." Jess patted the side of the tub where he had moved to when she brushed her teeth.

"You did this to me," Rory mumbled, placing her head on his shoulder.

"You didn't stop me," he replied. If she had more strength, Rory would have slapped him into next week. "Come on," Jess pulled her to a standing position. "We're getting married today, and neither one of us has slept tonight."

Rory hummed happily thinking about their upcoming wedding. She sunk down into the bed for hopefully the final time that morning. As she finally drifted off to sleep, she heard Jess whisper, "Kid, be nicer to your mom." With his hand placed firmly on her abdomen. She liked that.

XXX

For the rest of the day, Rory was careful to stay away from any sight, smell, or food that would make her nausea return. She didn't want her mother to get suspicious because she needed this to be a surprise. Even if that meant squeezing into a snug wedding dress and staying away from all normally delicious foods. She also had to keep from crying, but that was a bit more understandable on a day like today.

"Patty!" Babette yelled. "She needs more makeup. She's looking a little green!" The women were getting ready at Miss Patty's while the men were getting ready at Luke's. Rory wanted to throw her hands up and get the women off of her, but that wasn't what anyone would expect of her on her wedding day. Hearing green, Lorelai came and sat in front of her daughter.

"How's it going, Elphaba?" She joked, bouncing Lola on her legs. Rory groaned, dropping her head in her hands.

"I just want to get this over with. We've been practically married for, like, two years. I don't need a wedding!" Rory exclaimed as she clenched her jaw to hopefully set her returning nausea at bay.

"Babe, you wanted one. You've been so excited for this. What changed?"

"Nothing changed. I'm just really tired. Lena didn't sleep well last night." She told the truth, omitting the whole morning sickness part of it. Lorelai nodded and stood up, Lola trying to bounce herself on her grandmother's hip. They shared a look, but Luke interrupted them from the doorway.

"Uh, time to get this show on the road," he stuttered, smiling at his wife's and step-daughter's beauty (Luke and Lorelai had gotten married the previous year, and no one was happier than Rory). Lola came bounding towards her grandfather after growing tired of Lorelai, and Luke smiled even brighter as he picked up the little girl.

"Alright," Rory continued to clench her jaw, being hit with a wave of nausea when she stood. "Let's go."

The women ushered out of the dance studio, and Rory took hold of Luke's arm. "You okay?" he asked, noticing how tightly she gripped his arm and her tight smile. Rory only nodded, afraid if she spoke it wouldn't be words leaving her mouth. "Well, you look beautiful." When he said that, Rory felt the beginnings of tears pricking at her eyes. Luke was like a father to her (probably more so than her own father who wasn't walking her down the aisle), and she knew that he had been rooting for her and Jess from the very beginning.

When they reached the square, all the townspeople stood, and Rory's eyes locked on Jess's. She didn't let herself focus on anything else beside the man who was going to be her husband in a few short minutes. Then, Luke handed her off, and her smile grew larger while her eyes grew waterier. She heard Jess faintly whisper something to her, but she didn't catch it as Reverend Skinner began speaking.

Frankly, neither one really paid attention to what was going on, and they were more than happy to kiss at the end of the long spiel. They were married, and it had been just like he promised. They walked hand in hand back down the aisle, and everyone followed them to where the reception would be held.

At the front, Jess and Rory sat with their daughters and Luke and Lorelai. Everyone else was placed at different mismatched tables. Surprisingly, Rory was able to get a few things to stay down, and she didn't need to lean on Jess when they cut the cake. She was feeling a lot better than she had that morning which was always a blessing; definitely now, on her wedding day.

Before the dancing could begin, the happy couple stood before all of their friends and family with bright smiles on their faces. "We have an announcement!" Rory shouted into the microphone to get everyone's attention. They shared another smile before turning back to the town. "We're having another baby!"

Then, they got ambushed.