Work Text:
Maybe he shouldn't be there.
That only occurred to Jess shortly after he arrived at the Hartford Hospital's maternity ward. But the moment Luke called to say that Rory had gone into labor earlier that morning, he grabbed his car keys and drove up the road from New York to Hartford without stopping to analyze the situation. He and Rory had grown closer in recent months, the publisher he worked for had bought the rights to the book she was writing and they frequently exchanged emails partly discussing the plot and writing of the book and partly talking about books, movies and other random stuff.
Luke and Lorelai at least didn't seem surprised by his presence there, and said that as soon as Paris and Lane left the room he could go see Rory.
“You brought me a duck!” was the first thing Rory said when he entered the room, referring to the stuffed animal Jess carried in his arms.
“There were no more teddy bears available in the hospital shop”
“And it’s purple.”
“Well I thought you might appreciate something other than pink, to disentangle the dichotomy of blue for boys and pink for girls.”
“You thought it right, it’s also very cute.”
“And hypoallergenic.”
"On behalf of my daughter's lungs I thank you."
“Yeah…I wasn't sure if I should come”
“Of course you should you are—”
Then Rory hesitated, Jess wondered what words were running through her head. A friend? A colleague? Part of the family? He really hoped the word cousin hadn't crossed her mind.
“You're Jess,” Rory continued “I'm always happy to see you.”
"So when does Logan arrive? I didn't see him in the waiting room."
"Tomorrow afternoon. He won't be able to come today, important meetings in London."
"More important than the birth of his daughter?"
"Don't make that face, he's not a bad person."
"A not bad person who cheats on his fiancée, gets another woman pregnant and still goes ahead with his plans to marry the fiancée he cheated on. And doesn't come to see his daughter’s birth? Really disney prince material that one."
"I wonder what you must think of me then."
"I...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."
"Why not? It's true."
"Because you just had a baby."
"And you feel sorry for me."
"No I'm happy for you my god Rory you had a baby. A new life it’s in the world because of you this is amazing and she is going to be amazing too I have no doubt. I'm sure there's a lot more of you in her than from her father."
"Well genetics says it's going to be 50% me 50% Logan but thanks anyway."
“Can I hold her?”
“Yes.” Rory said and handed the baby to him, she was quite small with very thin black hair. The moment Jess held her her eyes fluttered open and he saw that these were a brilliant blue like her grandmother's and mother's. He feared she would start to cry but she just closed her eyes again.
"So your daughter will be Lorelai Gilmore the third of her name?"
"The fourth one actually, my great-grandmother was also Lorelai. And yes it will be, keeping the tradition. I also like the idea of passing my name on to her. Do you think that is too narcissistic of me?"
“No, I think it's perfect.”