Do You See Her Face? (A Jess Mariano Fanfiction)

EAT ME

Disclaimer: All Gilmore Girls content belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino.

.   .   .

With a toddler asleep on her chest and a five-year-old dozing in a makeshift fort on the floor below her, Ella finally got a moment of peace. The Iron Giant hummed at a low volume on the TV, a naptime movie to celebrate her last day babysitting. She loved her aunt's house, a hippie-dippie pad adorned with tapestries, iscense, and other random items. Ella herself wasn't into the holistic lifestyle, but she appreciated how much joy her aunt derived from it. The children, two little girls with red hair and big brown eyes, were gentle and silly. Alongside her new husband, Ella's aunt Julie filled the family household with joy and games. It made Ella nostalgic for a period of her childhood she almost couldn't remember. Sprawled across the floral print couch, Ella almost fell asleep herself but decided not to screw up her schedule when she was going to have to go back to early morning shifts at Luke's very soon. Instead, she stretched her arm over, careful not to wake Annie and grabbed the house phone.

After two rings, Luke's grumbly voice came through the line: "Luke's Diner."

"Hey, boss, is Jess there?" Ella spoke in a hushed tone, eyes on the baby as she tucked the afghan which covered the two of them tighter.

He sighed. "Hold on one second."

Ella smirked and waited, listening to the early afternoon commotion of the diner. She'd only called a few times since she'd been gone, and almost every time Luke had to pull Jess away from the mysterious new girl. But Jess always came to the phone, and she made a careful effort to avoid the topic of his girlfriend. Mostly, they discussed the merits of the Chuck Palanuik novel Jess had been reading. It was one of Ella's favorites.

"Jess Mariano, may I ask who's calling?" he began.

Ella rolled her eyes at his theatrics. "You're hilarious."

"It's been said," he replied, the usual amount of cocky. "Why are you whispering?"

"The kids are sleeping. The baby is literally lying on top of me."

"And when I'm asleep in the middle of the day, suddenly I'm a world-class slacker," he said.

"Well, the last time I remembered, you're not two years old."

Jess scoffed, disinterested. "Semantics."

"Whatever gets you through the night," she retorted.

"How's it been otherwise? Annie still crawling into the bed and kicking you in her sleep?" Jess asked, having caught her in a middle of a sleep-deprived haze the last time they spoke.

She laughed fondly. "Only a little. There was also one projectile vomiting incident, but, hey, at least I got to watch an Exorcist reenactment in real time."

"What a glamorous summer gig you scored."

"It's true."

"But you'll be back tomorrow, right?"

"Bright and early. You're gonna have to fill me in on everything I missed," she said, noticing how Erin had begun to snore from her place wrapped up in various throw blankets on the floor.

Jess hummed. "Well, let's see...I think Taylor might have shifted the stand outside the market about an inch. It was on the front page of the Gazette for a week straight."

"Riveting."

"That's one word for it."

"Oh! I finally finished The Lovely Bones. You've got to borrow it when I get b-"