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It’s very early in the morning. The day is cold, and the sun is just beginning to wake up. Between REM cycles, Rory stirs in bed and turns to the left, where Jess lies on his stomach, one leg stretching off the mattress. Before she can fall back into deep sleep, she hears the almost imperceptible sound of a knob turning, and the thinnest beam of light begins to invade the room. Rory smiles despite herself as she hears soft footsteps slowly approaching the bed.
Like a cat, the mattress dips slightly under the newcomer’s weight as Daisy begins crawling to her favorite spot: right between the two of them. Little hands grab Jess’s shirt. He’s clearly the favorite at this moment, and Rory doesn’t mind. In fact, there’s nothing she appreciates more than knowing their children are as devoted to her husband as she is.
She places a hand on top of her daughter’s head, her fingers brushing against a thick mess of dark, curly hair. Her heart fills with love as she takes in this sweet, quiet moment. It only lasts about a minute.
The door swings right open.
“It’s Christmas!” Ricky announces, far too loudly for the time of day. He darts to the bed, knocking Jess out of his sleep in a way that’s surprising and at the same time, not completely unexpected.
Daisy giggles, Jess groans, and Rory quickly wraps her arms around her son’s stomach, pulling him closer to herself.
“Daddy is grumpy,” Daisy says, covering her mouth.
“He’s the Grinch,” Ricky declares.
Rory can’t help but laugh too.
Jess groans again, this one more theatrical than the last, and rolls onto his back. Daisy climbs onto his stomach and settles there, perched like a little saddle as if he’s her horse.
“Oof,” Jess says, exhaling. “And here I thought I was done being climbed on today.”
Daisy beams at him, delighted. She pats his chest once, then again, like she’s encouraging him forward. “Giddy up, Daddy. Stars Hollow!”
“We need to stop sharing all our holiday plans with the children,” Jess says, gently picking his daughter up as he sits up in bed. “They think they get to decide when we actually leave.”
Rory hums in agreement, sitting up as well. Ricky immediately scoots in between her legs, leaning back against her. She adjusts slightly to make room for him, one hand resting over the gentle curve of her stomach. “We’re already outnumbered,” she says mildly.
Jess glances at her. “Barely.”
“Not for long,” Rory replies with a smile.
“Not for long,” he agrees. Then, after a beat, “Okay. Then we definitely need to think this through before they unionize.”
Jess stands up and turns his back for Daisy to climb, the movement already second nature to the two of them. Ricky quickly gets out of bed and offers his hand for Rory to take, like a true gentleman.
Thanks to their eager little helpers, breakfast takes almost one hour longer to be ready, but it is certainly more fun than if they were allowed to do everything themselves with their quiet efficiency. This is better, Rory declared, and Jess couldn’t help but agree.
After breakfast, Daisy and Ricky help their parents fill up their car with the presents before they take the road. On the road, Ricky plays on his phone, the one Logan gave him for Christmas despite Rory’s and Jess’s reservations while Daisy falls back to sleep, waking up every now and then just to mutter:
“Are we there yet?” Without even waiting for the answer before she’s back to dreamland.
Rory mostly sleeps through the trip as well, the lack of caffeine draining her energy even as she’s reached the middle of the second trimester.
When they finally park in front of Lorelai’s house, it’s Doula who’s the first one to greet them. She’s sitting on the bench in the front porch, a sketchpad in hand. Her hair is changed again. Now, she has an edgy mullet with shaved sides and green streaks.
Doula reaches the car before Jess even kills the engine.
“Doula!” Ricky cries, trying to get off the car, but Jess has the child’s lock on. He releases it before Ricky can protest and Doula and Ricky hug each other as if they hadn’t seen each other for years, instead of almost a month ago, during Thanksgiving.
Daisy joins them a few minutes later, as soon as Rory is able to release her seatbelt. Her tiny frame trying to find its place in their embrace.
Rory helps Jess with the truck, closing it once all the presents are out.
“I can’t wait to hug this little one as well,” Doula says warmly, her hand hovering inches above Rory’s belly.
Rory smiles. “Hey Doula, nice haircut again.”
“Mom was horrified,” Doula replies. “Says I look like a parakeet. Guess this means I’m going to have to keep it.”
The teenager takes a few of the gifts from Jess’s hands and immediately starts inspecting the packages, trying to guess which ones are hers.
Inside, Ricky has already planted himself by Lorelai’s side, showing her his school report with pride. Great grades, and a comment from a teacher: “Ricky is a lively, intelligent student with great social skills. A little too talkative at times.”
“Well, that settles it, the boy is definitely my grandson,” Lorelai laughs.
Daisy is in the kitchen, where Luke has already prepared a fruit bowl just for her. Luke is finishing the salad while TJ cuts the vegetables “all wrong,” according to Luke himself.
Liz is meddling in the argument, clearly taking her husband’s side.
“My baby!” she exclaims once she notices Jess going into the kitchen.
She pulls Jess into a hug, which he resists at first. TJ taps Jess heavily on the shoulder. Jess’s eyes stay fixed on Luke, on the exhaustion he doesn’t bother hiding.
“Mayday?” Jess asks, eyebrows raised.
“Just... get them out of my kitchen,” Luke replies with a thankful smile.
“Oh,” Liz says suddenly. “Where’s my future grandchild? Come TJ, come say hi!”
With that, they squeeze into the hallway and back to the living room, leaving Luke and Jess alone, standing awkwardly next to each other.
“Did you have a safe trip?” Luke breaks the silence.
Jess nods. “Lots of traffic. Not many jams.”
Dinner is as loud as anyone who knows the family would expect. Plates are passed back and forth, bowls scraped clean, chairs bumped as people shift and lean.
The adult table claims most of the living room, crowded with elbows and wine glasses—and a glass of apple cider just for Rory—while Doula, Daisy, and Ricky are gathered around the coffee table, sitting on the floor.
Rory sits between Jess and Lorelai, her knee brushing Jess’s under the table every time she shifts. Luke is across from them, posture stiff despite the familiarity of the room, while Liz and TJ take up the remaining space, TJ talking animatedly with his mouth half-full.
At the kids’ table, Daisy is entirely focused on her food, meticulously separating peas from carrots before eating them in the order she’s decided is correct. Ricky, on the other hand, has finished early and is already bored. Rory has taken away his phone and his attention drifts. First, to the adult table, then to Doula.
Doula hasn’t looked up from her phone in several minutes, and every time Ricky tries to start a conversation, she replies with a noncommittal hum.
Liz notices.
She tries not to at first. She really does. She keeps eating, nodding along to TJ, laughing a beat too late at something Lorelai says. But then Doula lets out a quiet snort of laughter, eyes still glued to the screen.
“Doula,” Liz says, voice tight but pleasant. “Honey. We’re eating.”
Doula hums in acknowledgment without looking up.
Ricky leans closer, craning his neck to see the screen. “Who are you texting?”
“No one,” Doula replies, immediately locking her phone and pressing it against her chest. “It’s just college stuff.”
Liz’s fork clinks against her plate. “Phones away at the table,” she says, louder now. “We’ve talked about this.”
Doula finally looks up, eyes flicking to her mother. “We’ve talked about a lot of things.”
Lorelai presses her lips together, clearly enjoying this more than she should.
“Is it Maya?” Daisy asks innocently.
All eyes turn to the little girl, who apparently knows more than anyone else in the room, and then back to Doula.
“It’s nothing,” Doula replies defensively. “She’s just a friend. We’re talking about college.”
“You know, Rory and I were also just friends at one point,” Jess teases, eyebrows raised.
Rory nudges him under the table, a warning sign for him to stop poking fun at his sister.
“Doula has a girlfriend,” Ricky sing-songs. “Ewww.”
“Ricky,” Rory warns him.
“I don’t mean ‘ew’ because it’s a girl,” Ricky quickly corrects. “I just mean kissing is disgusting.”
Doula sighs, long and dramatic, then slumps back against the couch behind her. “Okay. Fine. It’s not nothing.”
Liz straightens immediately. TJ pauses mid-bite. Rory looks over, interested but careful not to stare.
Doula glances around the room, then at the kids’ table. “You’re all being very weird about this.”
“We’re being attentive,” Liz says.
Doula rolls her eyes, but there’s a smile tugging at her mouth now. She picks up her phone again, this time not to hide it, but to gesture with it. “Her name is Maya. She’s in my structures class.”
“Maya,” Daisy repeats, satisfied, and goes back to her peas.
“She wants to be a civil engineer,” Doula continues. “Very into load paths. And bridges. Like, really into bridges.”
Luke snorts before he can stop himself.
Doula points at him. “Exactly. Meanwhile, I’m over here trying to talk about light and space and how buildings are supposed to make you feel, and she’s like, ‘Yes, but will it stand?’”
TJ huffs a laugh. “Well, that’s a valid concern.”
“They’re both valid,” Doula shoots back automatically, then catches herself. She shrugs. “We just… argue. A lot. About buildings.”
Ricky frowns. “That sounds boring.”
“It’s not,” Doula says, immediate and sincere. “It’s actually kind of fun.”
“And you text,” Lorelai adds, “because clearly this is a debate that cannot wait until daylight hours. Or the end of the holiday season.”
Doula exhales, nodding. “Exactly. And—” She hesitates, then adds, quieter, “We haven’t gone out or anything. We’re just… talking.”
Rory smiles. “It’s nice that she’s thinking of you while she’s with her family.”
“Yeah,” Doula says, her face suddenly very hot. “I just didn’t want it to be a whole thing.”
Ricky tilts his head. “So she’s not your girlfriend?”
Doula shakes her head. “Not yet.”
Ricky considers this, then nods solemnly. “Okay. Kissing is still gross, though.”
There’s a quiet stretch while everyone goes back to eating, the earlier tension dissolving into the clink of forks and low conversation.
“Can we do presents now?” Daisy asks, pushing her plate away.
“Now?” Lorelai echoes.
“My plate is clear,” the little girl says, holding it up for Lorelai to see.
Luke glances at the clock. “It’s a little early.”
Daisy frowns, thinking hard. Then: “But it’s Christmas. And I ate.”
“That is true,” Jess says mildly.
Rory gives him a look. “You’re not helping.”
Daisy turns to Rory, eyes wide and hopeful. “Please?”
Ricky leans forward. “She’s been waiting since yesterday.”
“That’s not helping either,” Rory says, but she’s already smiling.
Lorelai sighs, dramatic. “I mean… technically, there’s dessert.”
Daisy brightens immediately. “I can eat cookies and open presents.”
TJ laughs. “She’s four and already running the house.”
Luke exhales, defeated. “Fine, we can have dessert later.”
Daisy bolts for the tree before Luke has even finished his sentence, Ricky and Doula following close behind her.
They pass the presents around as Doula reads the names on the tags, Ricky and Daisy eager little helpers. The gifts range from practical to deeply emotional to awkwardly well-intentioned, but one of them catches Liz’s attention more than the others—Ricky’s gift for his little sister: a scale model of a spaceship.
Daisy stares at the box for half a second longer than necessary, eyes wide and unblinking, as if she’s making sure it’s real.
Then she lets out a small, breathless gasp.
“It’s a spaceship,” she says, reverent.
Ricky grins, rocking on his heels. “I knew it.”
Daisy drops the box on the floor and launches herself at him, arms wrapping tight around his middle. “Thank you,” she says into his sweater, voice muffled but fierce.
Ricky stiffens in surprise for exactly one second before hugging her back just as hard, chin resting awkwardly on the top of her head. “You’re welcome,” he says, proud.
Rory smiles at the sight of them, but her gaze flicks back to the spaceship, still lying open on the rug. It’s detailed. Too detailed. Definitely out of the price range she had discussed with Jess.
Her smile softens into something more cautious.
She leans closer to Jess. “Did you—”
Jess glances at the box, then at her. “What?”
Rory lowers her voice. “It’s… kind of expensive.”
Jess frowns. “I didn’t do it. I thought you did.”
“My father bought it for me,” Ricky explains.
Daisy is still circling the rug with the spaceship, making soft whooshing noises, when Rory notices the shift—Jess’s shoulders tight, Liz’s lingering look, the unspoken question sitting between the adults.
Rory blinks, then looks at Jess.
Jess exhales, the tension leaving him all at once. “Oh.”
Rory nods, understanding immediate. “Logan.”
“Yeah,” Ricky says. “He said Daisy would like it.”
Daisy looks up at the mention of her name. “I do like it,” she says firmly, as if that settles any remaining doubts.
Jess reaches out and squeezes Ricky’s shoulder. “Good call, buddy.”
Ricky beams at that. “Thanks, Dad.”
The word lands easily, naturally.
Liz watches them, something unreadable crossing her face.
“It’s a little… boyish, don’t you think?” Liz adds, glancing between the toy and Daisy, who is now carefully lifting the spaceship as if it might take off at any moment.
Daisy looks up at her. “It’s not boyish,” she says seriously. “It goes to space.”
Ricky nods in agreement. “Girls can go to space.”
“Yeah, like Laika,” Daisy adds.
There’s a beat of silence.
Luke blinks. “Laika as in... the dog?”
“A girl dog,” TJ emphasizes.
Daisy holds the spaceship closer to her chest, absorbing this. “My spaceship can have a dog.”
Ricky brightens. “Yeah. A space girl dog.”
Liz opens her mouth, then closes it again, watching Daisy carefully angle the ship as if choosing a launch path. Whatever she’d been about to say doesn’t seem worth it anymore.
“Well,” Liz concedes, softer now, “I guess space is for everyone.”
Luke nods once. “It is.”
“You just—You better make sure she’s not—” Liz trails off, unable to find words that don’t sound wrong.
“Rory and I have already discussed this,” Jess interrupts her. All adults turn to him.
“We’ll be very disappointed if she doesn’t turn into a dyke,” Jess says flatly.
The room stills. Rory and Lorelai snort a laugh. Luke chokes on his drink. Doula smiles proudly.
“What’s a dyke?” Daisy asks, stopping suddenly from weaving through the adults.
Jess glances at Doula, as if passing her the baton.
“A dyke is a very strong, confident woman who’s not afraid to show the world who she really is,” Doula explains, glancing at Liz with quiet defiance.
“I want to be a dyke!” Daisy declares. “Can I be a dyke in space?”
“As long as you promise to come down every now and then to see Grandma and Grandpa,” Lorelai replies, stretching her arms to give Daisy a hug.
The laughter lingers for a moment, then softens, folding back into the room like warmth after a door closes. Daisy is still tucked against Lorelai, spaceship clutched to her chest, while Ricky explains—very seriously—how gravity works “in pretend space.”
Rory watches them, smiling, her hand resting absently over her stomach.
Liz notices first.
She doesn’t say anything right away, just watches Rory for a beat longer than necessary. Then, gently, “How are you feeling?”
Rory blinks, momentarily caught. “Oh. Um—good. Tired,” she adds honestly. “But good.”
Jess glances at her, checking in without making a show of it.
“We thought you were done,” TJ comments.
“Apparently this is what happens when your kids spend a week in Vermont with Emily and you forget what silence does to you,” Rory replies with a laugh.
TJ snorts into his glass. “That tracks.”
Jess smirks. “We were very responsible. Just… briefly unsupervised.”
“Jeez,” Luke mutters. “Can we not?”
Liz’s expression softens. “Have you been to the doctor?”
“Yeah,” Rory says. “A few weeks ago. Everything looks good. Right on track.”
Luke nods, relieved. “That’s good.”
“They asked if we wanted to find out the sex,” Rory continues.
There’s a collective inhale around the room.
“And?” Lorelai asks immediately.
Jess answers before Rory can. “We said no.”
Liz tilts her head. “You don’t want to know?”
Jess shrugs. “We don’t need to. And I don’t really feel like assigning expectations before the kid even shows up.”
Liz opens her mouth, then closes it again.
Rory jumps in, lightening it instinctively. “We have picked the names, though.”
“Names?” Lorelai lights up. “Plural?”
“One of each,” Rory clarifies. “Just in case.”
Jess nods. “We’re prepared either way.”
Luke leans back in his chair, arms crossed. “Alright,” he says. “What are they?”
Rory glances at Jess, a quick check-in. He gives a small nod.
“If it’s a girl,” Rory says, “we’re thinking Amelia.”
Lorelai’s smile falters—not disappears, just softens into something deeper.
“Amelia,” she repeats.
“Mia,” Rory adds gently. “For short. Or not. She can decide.”
Lorelai blinks, clearly not expecting that. “You didn’t have to—”
“I know,” Rory says. “But we wanted to. It felt right.”
“And if it’s a boy?” TJ asks.
Jess answers this time. “William.”
The name hangs there.
Luke doesn’t move at first. He just stares at Jess, then down at the table, as if he needs a second to steady himself.
“My dad,” he says quietly.
Jess nods. “Yeah.”
Luke exhales slowly, emotion creeping in around the edges despite his best efforts to keep it contained. “That’s… that’s a good name.”
“They’re great names,” TJ corrects.
“We think so too,” Rory agrees with a smile. Jess takes her hand and kisses her knuckles.
There’s a quiet that follows, the kind that feels earned.
Luke clears his throat again, then stands up and busies himself with stacking plates that don’t really need stacking. Lorelai wipes at the corner of her eye and pretends it’s because of a crumb. Jess leans back, his hand covering Rory’s where it rests on her stomach. He watches the slow rise and fall of her breathing.
Daisy looks around at the adults, sensing—correctly—that something important just happened.
She waits a beat.
Then another.
“So,” she says, bright and decisive, “can we have dessert now?”
The spell breaks instantly.
Lorelai laughs. “Wow. Timing.”
“I waited,” Daisy points out. “A long time.”
Ricky nods solemnly. “She did. I did too.”
Luke sighs, already walking back to the kitchen. “Alright. Dessert.”
“Yes!” Daisy cheers, scrambling to her feet.
She grabs the spaceship with one hand and Ricky with the other, dragging him to follow Luke like this, too, has been decided.
As everyone starts to move, Rory catches Jess’s eye. He smiles at her before he stands up, then offers his hand to help her off the couch, just like their son did that same morning.