AN: I know I keep saying I'll try not to make you all wait very long and then I fail. What can I say? Life keeps getting in the way. And trust me, at times I would much rather be updating this than dealing with life (two words: car wreck. ugh.). Alas, here it is, finally. Also, if Jess seems a little sappy or whatever, I tried hard not to make it that way but I really feel like with age he would grow a lot especially with Rory. We saw a little glimpse of that in the show and so that's the way he comes out in my story. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 37

The Holidays were fast approaching and Rory realized that she had a lot more people to buy gifts for this year and she didn't really have any idea what to get them. With planning Paris's bachelorette party she didn't even really think about it until about three days before Christmas. She and Lane had decided to go shopping in Hartford. They met at Rory's apartment since Lane hadn't seen it yet and then headed to the mall. Lane had already gotten Zach a copy of a live recording of Vapor Rub from the tour where he was the lead guitar player and tons of gifts for her two boys. That just left finding something for Momma Kim plus all of Rory's gifts. Rory was able to find several things for Justin and Daniel as well as some kitchen things for Luke while Lane found a book on antiques for Mama Kim. That left Rory's mom, April and Jess. She finally found some great old classic books for April along with a catalogue about all the Ivy League colleges that Rory wished she had when she was trying to pick schools. She then found some great old 80's records on vinyl at a vintage record store for Lorelai. That left Jess. He was by far the hardest person on her list. He didn't care much about things and she really wanted it to be special. Last year he got her his book, before it was published, and they weren't even together yet. "I am seriously at a loss here Lane. I mean what do you give someone like Jess? I feel like we've been up and down this entire mall and I'm no closer than I was when we got here." Rory said frustrated.

"Well maybe we're looking in the wrong place. Why don't we go to a vintage book store or something?" Lane suggested.

"You know what? That's a great idea. Why I thought I would find the perfect gift for Jess Mariano in a mall I have no idea," she paused thinking for a moment. "And I know the perfect place!" Rory said a gleam in her eye as she pulled on Lane's arm and tugged her through the mall towards the exit. Once they got to her car she sped along the streets, past the big shopping areas and headed towards downtown.

"Rory where are we going? All the good stores are on the other side of town aren't they?" Lane asked a little worried as most of the shops they were passing looked a little sketchy.

"When I was living with my grandparents near the end after I was done with my community service I would get bored and so I came down to this part of town, I guess as a sort of rebellion to the life I let my grandmother get me sucked into."

"So you thought you'd come down here to re-live your rebellion days? Channel your inner Jess?" Lane asked confused and still a little spooked by the area.

"No," Rory answered chuckling. "Anyway, I would come down here and I found this great bookstore. It not only had lots of things for dirt cheap but they also carry a lot of early editions of novels. I was able to get a third edition of Huckleberry Finn. So I thought we should look here, see if they have any early edition Hemingway or anything like that."

"That's brilliant." Lane said. They got to the store and Rory looked all over using all the self-control that she could muster up to not just spend hours looking at all the rare and great books that were in the store. She finally asked the clerk if they had any early edition Hemingway.

"I'm sorry we don't currently. I can put your name on a watch list though?" The older gentleman running the store asked her.

"Thanks but it's a Christmas present so I'm running out of time. What other early editions do you have?" Rory asked disappointed that they didn't have Hemingway. The gentleman pulled out several old looking books from behind the front counter and displayed them for Rory to look at. She glanced at the titles for a few moments before her eyes stopped on two novels sitting next to each other. "Perfect!" She said picking up the two early editions and showing them to Lane. Lane grinned when she saw the titles. She knew Rory had found the perfect gift for Jess. Rory paid for the books, knowing that she may have to skip eating out a couple of times this week to make up for the hefty prices but believing it was worth it.

Christmas Eve found the suddenly large Gilmore-Danes crew at the elder Gilmore's for dinner in Hartford. Similarly to Thanksgiving to get the whole family there they needed two vehicles. Since it was the holidays and the first Christmas with the twins they were having dinner a little late so they were all sitting in the living room. Rory, Jess and April were on the couch, Rory and April each with a boy in their lap, while Luke and Lorelai sat on the love seat. Richard was in his arm chair and they were waiting for Emily to come downstairs. She claimed she had a surprise. They all turned around when they saw here carrying an armful of presents. Rory and April gasped.

"Well it's the boys first Christmas. I couldn't very well have my grandsons not have good gifts for Christmas. It's the grandparents' job to spoil them. Oh and we got everyone else gifts too."

"Mom you really didn't have to. We already got them way too much and if the huge stack of presents I saw at Rory's were any indication their big sister is spoiling them too." Loreali said.

"You haven't seen the apartment above the diner, Jess is just as bad." Luke said. "And I'm sure we just haven't seen April's stash."

Rory, Jess and April just looked away guiltily. Emily piped up again. "So they'll be the two most spoiled boys in Connecticut who cares?"

Loreali just laughed and grabbed Daniel from Rory while Luke grabbed Justin from April and they put the now crawling boys on the floor and helped them open their gifts. After opening what seemed like tons of toys and a few clothing items Emily announced that there was one more gift that couldn't be wrapped. She grabbed Justin while Richard picked up Daniel. "This is weird," Loreali whispered to Luke and Rory as they all followed them out to the back patio. She then gasped when they got out there. "Is that my old RadioFlyer wagon?" She asked amazed.

"Yes, we had it restored. We thought it would be nice in the spring time in that town of yours since you do a lot of walking around." Richard said, beaming slightly.

"That was very thoughtful Richard and Emily." Luke said sincerely.

"Yeah. Mom, Dad, I think this may be one of the best gifts you've ever given anyone." Lorelai said genuinely amazed.

"Shall we see how the boys like it?" Emily said. Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement while she and Richard put their grandsons gently into the wagon. Both boys cooed and clapped their hands excitedly.

"Well I think they like it!" Rory said laughing. The rest of the crew joined in and spent a few more minutes outside watching the boys try to figure out the wagon before heading inside to eat dinner. The dinner went well and afterwards the elder Gilmores gave the rest of the group their gifts. Rory and April both got several books that Richard insisted they read. Luke and Lorelai received some nice towels and things for their house. Everyone was a little surprised though at the fact that they also got a gift for Jess. It was a nice leather bag that would hold books as well as a laptop.

"We figured that you could use it for your trips back and forth from Hartford to Stars Hollow. It will keep manuscripts or books or your laptop or whatever you need for your publishing business." Richard said sounding almost proud of the gift.

"Wow. Thanks Richard, Emily. This was very thoughtful of you."

"Yeah Grandma and Grandpa thanks, you didn't have to." Rory told them still a little shocked.

"Nonsense." Emily said. Rory knew there was no use in arguing it so they just said thanks again and the small clan made their way to their cars to head back to Stars Hollow to prepare for Christmas the next morning. Lorelai insisted that Rory stay with them and even though Luke asked Jess if he was going to stay with his mom and TJ, Jess knew his mom was fine with him coming over later in the day so he was fine with staying on the couch at the crap shack. He'd rather be there anyway. It was more than just the fact that Rory was there. He felt more a part of the family with Luke, Lorelai, April, Rory and the boys than he did with his mom, TJ and Doula. TJ and Doula were like Liz's do-over family and as much as they tried to include Jess, it just wasn't the same. Jess didn't hold it against them, he used to, but he's grown a lot since then. Luke and Lorelai's family was the definition of a blended family. You had Lorelai's adult daughter that she had at age sixteen, Luke's almost sixteen year old daughter that he found about only three and a half years ago, and their two infant twin sons, who were actually not even legally adopted yet. Throwing in Jess, the nephew Luke took in and became like a father to when he was seventeen who also happened to be dating Lorelai's daughter, really didn't seem that out of place.

Christmas morning around 7:30 Daniel woke up crying, thus waking up Justin who started in and woke up the entire house. "Does this usually happen this early?" Rory asked tiredly to April.

"No, after about the first month it's been closer to 8:30 on weekends when they wake up. On weekdays Lorelai gets them up before she leaves for work. Maybe they know that it's Christmas." April said laughing as the two girls got up and got ready for the day.

"I'm going to go see if Jess is awake." Rory said as she walked from her room and into the living room couch. She smiled when she saw Jess still asleep curled up in a ball on the couch. She walked over and shook him gently. "Wake up sleeping beauty." She said playfully as he slowly opened his eyes.

"You know normally I would be mad that someone is waking me up before 8:00 on a day I have off but how can I stay mad at that face?" He said as he gave her a kiss. She smiled and then kissed him back.

"Hey mother in the room!" Lorelai exclaimed suddenly and the two broke apart to see her coming down the stair case, Daniel in her arms with Luke following behind her holding Justin. They set the boys down in their gated off play area in the room and went to the kitchen to get coffee and breakfast started. Jess gave Rory another kiss before getting up and heading to the bathroom to change and get ready for the day. Finally about twenty minutes later everyone was sitting in the living room with coffee and breakfast and waiting to open up presents. "It's been while since I've had little ones around to do Christmas, should we let them open presents first and then do ours?" Lorelai asked the group. They all agreed and spent the next ten minutes handing the boys gift after gift and helping them open them up. Justin and Daniel seemed to like the attention and loved playing with all the wrapping paper and boxes. Finally the last of their presents were opened and it was time for the adults.

"Ok April how about you start." Lorelai said glad that her step-daughter got to spend the holiday with them. April's mom originally wasn't very happy about it but April argued that if she left right after Christmas she could stay longer because she would want to spend New Years with the parent she didn't spend Christmas with so she would have to leave after not as much time if she went earlier. That girl was smart and very persuasive and Lorelai loved that she wanted to spend Christmas with them, she had become such a part of their lives. April picked up the first gift which was from Loreali and Luke. She smiled when she saw a real science laboratory kit.

"Thank you so much this is awesome!" She said.

They continued opening gifts everyone getting things that weren't really surprising, lots of books for Jess and Rory, science stuff and books for April, kitchen supplies and tools for Luke and trinkets as well as some mother of babies stuff for Lorelai. The only gifts remaining were the couples' gifts to each other. Luke went first and smiled when he pulled out a blue baseball cap that said "my sons love me". The group all laughed as he put it on. A few years ago he would have seen something like that and not had understood it at all. But now he was an old softie, especially for his sons. Lorelai went next and opened up a small jewelry box. She gasped pulling out a ring with four stones on it. "It's called a mother's ring. It has a birthstone for all our kids the first two are for Rory and April and the last two are for Justin and Daniel." Luke explained.

"Wow. Luke that's so thoughtful. Now I have something that represents all my kids." She said beaming.

Rory opened Jess's next. It was a book written by one of their new authors. "It's not published yet but I was the editor on this one and I've read the final product, it's really good." Jess explained.

"Well, it's no Jess Mariano but I'm sure it's great. Thanks I love it." She said and then handed him her gift. He opened up the package and gasped pulling out the two old looking novels.

"A second edition of Howl and a third edition of Oliver Twist?" He said in disbelief. "Where did you find these?"

"A small bookstore in Hartford. I was looking for early edition Hemingway but they didn't have any. Then I saw these sitting right next to each other on the counter and decided it was fate, I had to get them."

Jess just continued to flip through the pages, amazed by the finds. Realizing all the gifts had been open everyone started to clean up the living room. Once everything was cleaned up Luke headed to the diner to get dinner started. They were going to do dinner with Liz and TJ and Doula and with such a big group the diner really was the best place, even more so this year than last year. Jess and Rory were going to head over to Liz and TJ's first to do a few gifts and things with them first and April was going to help Loreali get the boys ready and meet everyone over at the diner in a couple of hours. "You know you didn't have to come to my mom's with me." Jess said as the young couple walked arm and arm across town.

"I know but I wanted to. I'm in this for the long haul Jess and that means doing things with your family. Eventually they'll be my family too right?" She said looking up at him.

"As long as that's what you want." Jess said a little uneasy.

"Of course it is. Trust me, I would not have endured a long distance relationship for the first months of our relationship if I didn't see it lasting."

"Well good. Because I'm pretty fond of you and I plan on sticking around."

Rory just smiled and snuggled a little closer to him as they continued walking. They had never really had the talk about marriage or being together for the rest of their lives. It was kind of assumed but it was nice to actually say the things she was feeling out loud.

They got to Liz and TJ's and Doula greeted them at the door. "Jess! Rory!" The little girl exclaimed.

"Well hi Doula! Merry Christmas!" Rory stated giving the sweet girl a hug.

"Yeah kiddo Merry Christmas." Jess said in a genuine sweet voice while giving her a high five.

"Come on, I HAVE to show you all my presents!" The little girl said excitedly as she grabbed both of their hands and dragged them to her room to show them the variety of books, toys and clothes that she received from her parents and various other Stars Hollow residents. Rory smiled as she took in the girl's energy. She thought about the conversation she and Jess had and thought about having Doula as a sister-in-law. It was funny since she was so much younger than her but she already had a soft spot for the girl. Liz came in a few minutes later and told them it was time for presents in the living room. Rory and Jess gave Doula the books they found they thought she would like and gave TJ a new tool belt for his upcoming work on their garage and Liz an organizer for all of her jewelry supplies. Liz and TJ gave Jess a gift certificate to Andrew's book store and Liz made a necklace for Rory that brought out her piercing blue eyes. After everyone had opened gifts and talked for a while they decided to head on over to the diner for their dinner.

At the diner they exchanged gifts with Luke and Lorelai as well as April and told them they would drop off the gifts for the boys later in the day. Jess and Luke finished up the final touches on the meal while Liz, April, and Rory put several tables together, put a tablecloth on them and set the table, even adding some Christmas decorations. TJ and Loreali watched the children, which mostly consisted of helping Doula know what was appropriate play with the twins and what they couldn't do yet. Finally they all sat around the makeshift table to eat. Even with TJ and all his craziness and Liz complaining again about how she couldn't cook like her big brother, Jess realized that as much as it made him cringe to admit it, he loved his crazy, dysfunctional, blended family. And he knew a lot of it was due to the fact that Rory was sitting next to him looking like there was no where else she'd rather be.

AN: There you have it! I do hope to update soon, the good news is I have a very detailed outline going for the next few chapters so it should be coming quicker. Let me know what you think!