September 5, 2012
Black, White, and Read
06:15 hours

Lulu and Kirk Gleason made their way into the Black, White, and Read bookstore. It was a cool Northeastern morning and the leaves were already starting to change. They had received a phone call a week ago that informed them that they were to meet their replacements at the bookstore. Taylor hadn't gotten into any more trouble since the incident 15 years before, and they, like their predecessor, were ready to retire and hand his care over to new blood.

Kirk opened the door for his wife as the bells rang out, "We'll be there in a sec, make yourselves comfortable." They heard from the back room, a voice that was most definitely was not Andrew's, as they walked toward the miss-matched collection of furniture and took a seat. Before long they were met by a tall man with dirty blond hair. "Marshal Matthew Wentworth," The younger man offered his hand. "It is nice to meet you Marshals Gleason. I'm sorry my partner is not here to meet you as well; he is currently at home sleeping as he spent all of last night in the hospital.

"Well that's highly unprofessional," Kirk balked, "The night Boy-Kirk was born I was up all night with Lulu and still showed for work the next day."

"That's different, Darling," The older woman cooed at her husband, "You only had to go as far as my bedside to participate in the morning briefing. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything is fine," The younger man smiled gently, "It was just a false alarm."

"Well I'm glad," Lulu nodded, "I hope they stay that way. Are you and your partner briefed and up to date with the subject's dossier?"

"Yes ma'am, we have both been thoroughly briefed," Marshal Davis nodded "We are going to use the bookstore as our cover, similar to how retired Marshal Danes used the diner."

"So you will be keeping it as a bookstore?" Kirk's eyes widened, "May I have a job?"

"No," The younger marshal shook his head, "We already have staffing well in hand; besides we've been warned about you already. This bookstore will serve as an extension location to a store we own in Philadelphia."

"Warned?" Kirk practically screamed, "Warned by whom?"

Before Matt could answer, the phone rang, causing him to step away. "I'm sorry, but this is an important call from a vendor and he is very difficult to get in contact with. I assure you everything is well in hand." Matt informed them, "You are officially relieved of your duties."

"But…" Kirk started before being interrupted by his wife.

"We must be on our way, Darling, it's little Kirk's first day of school," Lulu took Kirk's hand guiding him from the store in the same manner as she would their son.

Matt just shook his head and returned to his call. "So, how is she?"

"Stubborn as ever" His partner chuckled, "Insisted on working today."

"Let her, next time she may not have the option." Matt rolled his eyes.

"I know, but what was she thinking taking this job so close to her due date?" Came the frustrated sigh.

"Probably the same thing you were thinking, it would keep her occupied until Sid or Nancy is born." Matt chuckled. "If it makes you feel any better, I had a similar argument about the working environment at Truncheon Prime the other day. Seems Bridgette is driving Chris just as crazy as your wife is driving you."

"What were we thinking, both our wives getting pregnant at the same time?" His partner chuckled.

"'Ersatz cousins for the kids would be kind of cool.' I believe was the consensus." Matt shook his head as if his partner could see him. "You coming in soon?"

"Yeah, I want to make sure she gets to work okay." His friend shrugged.

"It's not as if she doesn't already know the way." Matt laughed.

"I know, I'm more concerned about her getting distracted."

"You know he won't let her." Matt reminded him.

"Allow me my indulgences, will you?" Matt could almost see his friend's smirk over the phone line. "I'll see you later."

"See ya."

Jess' Car
0645 hours

"You know, you didn't have to drive me," Rory rolled her eyes as her husband navigated the roads of the upscale area where her new job was located.

"I know, I just wanted to." Jess shrugged. "You will call me if anything, you know, happens."

"Of course," Rory smiled, placing her hand over his on the gear shift. "I would have to; you have the car."

Jess just rolled his eyes and pulled into the parking lot. "I still can't believe you work here." He sighed looking up at the imposing stone building.

"Well I have to work and you were the one who decided to resign the Secret Service and move." Rory reminded him.

"I didn't hear any complaints out of you," Jess countered, "I believe your exact words were 'Thank God I can finally quit the press corps.' I thought you liked your job."

"I did but the travel and everything else was so demanding," She sighed.

"So's this." Jess chuckled.

"True, but this is the kind of demanding I can deal with while curled up with my husband on the sofa." She kissed his cheek before grabbing her old messenger bag and kissing Jess' cheek, "I should be done around 5, pick me up then."

"Is this what the next few weeks are going to be like?" Jess teased, "Me up at the ass-crack of dawn to drag you to work only to come back in rush hour traffic to pick you up and go back into the aforementioned rush hour traffic to come home."

"Hey," Came a low voice from beside Rory. The young man was the spitting image of his father, pale blue eyes, and light brown hair, built like a linebacker which was clear under his uniform, "Give me a bit and I can take my performance exam for my license."

"Of course you will, Billy," Rory cooed, patting her little brother – how now stood nearly a foot taller than her – on the cheek. "Then poor, put out, Jess won't have to worry about shuttling his very pregnant wife to and from work."

Jess just rolled his eyes, "I love you, be careful."

"I will," Rory promised for the 20th time that day and giving him a brief kiss. "I love you too."

"You keep an eye on her." Jess turned his sights to the young man.

"Yes sir," Billy executed a sharp solute.

"Smart ass," Jess muttered as he slowly pulled passed the pair and out of the parking lot.

"Don't think you're going to get bonus points for driving me once you do get that license." She poked her brother's side after checking that no one was looking.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Billy smiled and ran ahead, "See you later, Mrs. Mariano!"

"No running in the halls, Mr. Danes!" She called after him, a laugh in her voice.

Truncheon Two
0745 hours

"What is the meaning of calling me here at this hour?" Taylor demanded, barging into the transitioning bookstore. "Don't you know who I am? I have a business to run!"

"I'm sure that your staff are more than capable of opening the grocery, and I know you don't open the ice cream shoppe until after 3:30 so as to not entice children to cut class to get a frozen treat." The young man behind the counter responded.

"And just who the hell are you?" The older man nearly growled at the young man's impertinence.

"My name is Matt," The young man offered his hand, "My partner will be by in a bit to explain it all to you. He's just running a bit behind, please take a seat."

Taylor muttered to himself as he lowered himself into one of the overstuffed arm chairs in the center of the room. He had just picked up the local paper to peruse the front page when another young man bustled in. Taylor couldn't see his face, but there was something strangely familiar about the new comer. Something in the way he moved echoed back to another place in time. He watched as the young man moved with a sure step toward the back room as he swiftly removed his leather jacket, the collar of which was turned up, hiding his face. If you stopped to notice the dark wash jeans and converse on the man's feet, you could almost mistake him for someone performing at Danny Zuko. Taylor heard banging from the back room and a slamming door then silence followed shortly thereafter by the sound of a door opening and closing once more and the rhythmic sounds of someone descending stairs.

A moment later, the young man returned, now that his jacket was gone, it revealed that he was wearing a grey t-shirt with a long-sleeved blue oxford shirt which was unbuttoned. If you looked close enough, you could see the holster the shirt hid. It seemed Matt also had one, something that made Taylor blanch at the implication of these two armed men wanting to speak with him in an urgent matter. "At the risk of being rude, what am I doing here?"

"Mr. Doose," The darker haired man took a seat across from him, the blonde man just to the side, "As you may already know the Gleasons have resigned their commission. We are your new security detail."

Taylor took in the young man in front of him, from his dark hair, deep brown eyes, olive skin, he looked so familiar but the older man was still having difficulty placing him. "Have we met?"

"Yeah, a long time ago." The young man smirked, "The name's Jess Mariano, Matt over here," He shot a thumb at his partner, "Is my partner. We are the new marshals assigned to you."

"You're Luke's nephew? The one who married Rory?" The older man pieced it together. "The one who figured out who those thugs…"

"Guess they wanted to put it back in the family for your protection." Jess shrugged, before more could be said a shrill sound rang out through the store. "Excuse me." Jess stood removing his cell phone from his back pocket, "Hello? …Billy, slow down… uh huh… uh huh…. Okay, you stay with her, I'll meet your there soon." He quickly shot an excited and nervous look at his partner. "Her water broke in the middle of her intro to English Lit class. Thank God Billy is in the class. I have to go."

"Go, give that wife of yours a kiss for me, let me know if it's a Sid or Nancy." Matt called after Jess who had run upstairs to disarm and grab his coat before rushing out the door.

"Will do!"

"Well, that was rude." Taylor huffed.

"It's his first kid, lay off." Matt rolled his eyes.

September 6, 2012
Hartford Memorial
0330 hours

"I see the head!" The doctor called as Rory bore down, squeezing the life out of her husband's hand.

"You're doing great, Hun." Jess promised.

"Go to hell," Rory grunted.

"Okay, one more, big push, 10, 9, 8…" The silence was broken by a loud wail. "Congratulations, it's a girl!"

"Lori," Rory sighed as the nurse placed the swaddled infant in her arms, "She's a Lori."

"You did so good," Jess looked at his little girl, "She looks just like you."

"No, she's all Mariano." Rory kissed the girl's nose.

"Is it here yet?" Lorelai asked from the door once the medical staff had cleaned Rory and the baby up and had left.

"Yes, she's here, you can come on in." Rory smiled up from where she sat nursing her child.

The full complement of Danes entered the room, "Aw jeeze," Rory chuckled at the stereo reactions from her father and brother.

"Oh get over it," Rory rolled her eyes, "This is how Mom fed all of us. I'm showing less skin than an underwear model." She watched both men shift uncomfortably refusing to meet her eyes. With a sigh, she gestured for Jess to hand her a receiving blanket and quickly covered herself and little Lori. "Okay, the boob has been put away, you bit babies."

"I want to meet my grandbaby!" Lorelai complained.

"You will in a minute." Rory informed her, "As soon as she's done eating since certain people here can't take the sight."

"Fine," Lorelai sat on the side of her daughter's bed, sneaking glances under the blanket from time to time, "She looks a lot like Jess doesn't she?"

"Yeah, he doesn't believe it though." Rory chuckled before the sound in the room dissipated. "Okay now it's too quiet, someone entertain me, what's new in the Hollow?"

"I had just finished my meeting with Taylor when Billy called me to tell me you were in labor." Jess shrugged.

"We have a new boy at school, he's really cute." Mimi grinned, tossing her long strawberry blonde locks over her shoulder.

"You're too young." Luke reprimanded. "We have a new bread supplier." He added.

"I've decided to join the Marine JrROTC unit at Chilton." Billy spoke up with brought another cover of silence over the room.

"Bill…" Lorelai was the first to speak, a mix of concern, pride, and fear over her face. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," Billy nodded, "And it's not like I'm enlisting, I'm just going through ROTC in hopes of getting into a good college. Maybe even Navy."

"How far out are you thinking?" Luke asked the question that hung in everyone's mind, "Is this just a school-only kind of thing or are you thinking it might eventually be long term?"

"I don't know yet," Billy shrugged, meeting the eyes of both Luke and Jess, "I mean the officer route worked well for you two, and Grandpa so I can't completely discard it. I guess I'll just play it by ear for now and cross that bridge when I get to it."

"Whatever you choose, we're proud of you." Rory smiled as she quickly adjusted her position and the baby's and removed the blanket to burp the child. "Who knows, maybe one day you'll meet a crazy, but lovable caffeine addict of your own."

"You are pretty loveable," Jess kissed his wife's forehead.

"Sap." She chuckled.

"Only for my girls." He smiled.

"So, we've all been eagerly anticipating Baby Mariano's arrival," Lorelai spoke up, breaking the moment between her daughter and son-in-law, "Are you ever going to tell us her name?"

Rory and Jess shared a smile before Rory turned the little girl so everyone could see her, "We would like you to meet Lorelai Emily Mariano, or Lori." She smiled proudly as her mom and younger sister cooed over the little girl. Luke stood in the corner, a look of pride on his face, as he took in his wife, nephew, children, and now his first granddaughter; all healthy, all happy, and all safe. Finally, after all this time his world, once again, was complete.

"Hey Grandpa," Jess broke the older man's thoughts, somehow he had managed to get the little girl away from the women and was now holding her snug in his arms, "Do you want to meet your granddaughter?"

"I don't know," Luke shifted, "I don't want to drop her."

"It's okay," Jess gently passed the girl into Luke's arms, "Mimi and Billy have no permanent damage from the times you dropped them on their heads."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Luke rolled his eyes, a wry smile on his lips before taking a good look at his granddaughter. "She looks just like you, but she has Rory's eyes."

"That's what everyone keeps telling me." The younger man shrugged, "I don't see it."

"You know you're gonna be in big trouble when she's older."

"No more than you were and are." Jess smirked. "But I figure I'm okay, she's got me, her grandpa, and an uncle, all of whom would kick the ever-loving snot out of any guy who even looked at her the wrong way."

"'Ever-loving snot?'" Luke chuckled.

"I'm trying to watch my language around the kid." Jess shrugged, "Supposedly it's the grown-up thing to do."

"Rory's been good for you." Luke observed, "And you for her."

"Yeah she has," Jess agreed, "You and Lorelai had a big part of it too."

"Not so much," Luke shook his head, "We just provided space whenever you weren't in school or on tour of duty. She provided you with a knowledge of home."

"She is my home." Jess smiled softly, "Wherever she and Lori are, that's home."

"Exactly." Luke nodded before handing the sleeping girl back to her father, "Now go bond with your daughter and wife, I'm gonna take mine home."

"Good luck prying her from her daughter," Jess chuckled before heading over to the other side of Rory's bed. "Room for two more?"

"Always, but there seems to be a clingy monkey in my bed," Rory chuckled trying to scoot closer to her mom so as to hint for the older woman to vacate the area. "You better move before I lactate all over you."

"Aw jeeze," Billy groaned he had switched places with Jess and was now standing next to his father who looked equally disgusted, "Was that really necessary?"

"No, but it did the trick," Rory smiled smugly as her mother slid out and husband climbed into the bed with her. "Why don't you all go home? I know I could use some rest, and I'm sure Jess could too. Two nights in a row being here takes a lot out of you."

"Okay, bye, Mommy's proud of you." Lorelai kissed her forehead.

"Bye Princess," Luke smiled warmly at her before guiding his children from the room.

"We finally have it," Rory murmured.

"What?" Her husband, half asleep with the baby on his chest mumbled.

"The whole package," She smiled, kissing him and running a finger over their daughter's fresh skin, "A home, a baby, great jobs, and family close by. I couldn't ask for more."

"Me either," Jess smiled, "Now c'mere."

Rory snuggled into her husband's side, their hands joined over their daughter's back, as they drifted off to sleep, dreaming of their lives, past, present, and future.