"And then I said, 'I demand to see Santa Claus'," Finn said gallantly, finishing retelling a story about his Christmas holiday he'd spent with his sister and her kids in Lapland. The group of friends burst into laughter. It was great to hang out again, just like old times.
"So Logan, Rory tells me you're actually teaching at Yale these days?" Robert asked sceptically a moment later, taking a sip of scotch while lounging on their red velvet couch.
Logan could tell Robert was already getting ideas by the sound of that question. They'd always loved pranks, and some of their practical jokes had carried well into adulthood, especially if any one of them was going through an unexpected change in their lives. They'd done it to Colin when he moved to Chicago in the middle of winter by switching his suitcase with an identical one filled with swimwear and Hawaiian shirts.
"It's two hours of my work week. It's not a big deal," Logan replied modestly.
"Maybe we should pay his class a visit?" Colin suggested playfully, reading the look of dread on Logan's face, throwing back his third scotch.
"You really should, guys," Rory agreed, dismissing Logan's pleading look momentarily, recalling how embarrassed she had been during their little theatrical number during Prof. Bell's class.
"Ace, don't forget you already had your payback," Logan reminded her with a grin. Richard's little act had left him speechless for several hours until he finally figured it out.
Rory grinned in return. Being the only one not drinking, for obvious reasons, to celebrate Logan's birthday, must've earned her some credit to tease him.
"Oh, I know!," Finn exclaimed. "Maybe a chorus of "Happy Birthday"? That'd put him in the center of attention," he suggested.
"That's quite alright, Finn, I am already the center of attention but for better reasons. Besides my birthday was already three days ago," Logan replied, hoping they'd forget their scheming when they sobered up.
"Are the Yale sheilas still as gorgeous as they used to be?" Finn asked, reminiscing his conquests a few moments later, while swirling his scotch in his hand.
"Haven't really noticed," Logan replied tactfully. The others were ahead of him with a few drinks and clearly beginning to lose their filters.
"Do you remember Josie? Oh, god, she was gorgeous," Colin commented.
"Oh, and what was her name, the blonde with the double D-s, what was her name? Bloody hell, she was amazing," Finn continued.
"That's it, I am cutting you off and heading upstairs," Rory said, snatching their nearly empty bottle of Macallan. She could not listen to this while sober.
"Hey, that's not fair," Finn begged, making a praying hand gesture while landing onto his knees.
"It was wonderful seeing you guys, and thanks for the wedding present," she said lovingly, referring to the case of Macallan they'd already begun to empty.
"Alright, guys. I think the lady has spoken. Finish up and then I am kicking you out of our house," Logan stated calmly. It was nearly 1 AM already, they were both tired from their week.
It was ten minutes later, when the last of the guys had sat into his Uber, and Logan finally shut the front door behind him.
"Come on, let's get you to bed," he said, placing his arm around Rory, who was leaning against the stairs from the side, and kissing her temple.
Rory was tired, she was always tired these days, but she wasn't particularly sleepy.
"That was fun," she noted, as they walked up the stairs. The guys had dropped by unannounced, but they weren't bothered. It was almost expected that they'd just show up around their birthdays and other important events, at some point.
"Yeah, it always is until they drink enough and start with the word vomit," he laughed, reaching their bedroom.
Rory pushed off her fuzzy slippers, and threw her oversized cardigan onto the armchair. She'd spent the day in her leggings and a long t-shirt, first working and later entertaining their guests. The guys had seen her in worse, but that was really all she felt like wearing these days, hiding herself a little.
"You know it's okay, Logan," she began, taking a deep breath,"for you to notice other women," she added a few seconds later.
"Where did that just come from?" he asked, feeling a little offended she'd even suggest something like that. He realized this was not it, but it sounded too much like suggesting something they'd only too recently shaken. He had thought those days were behind them for good. He had no doubt these were the hormones at work, nevertheless, it wasn't something he liked hearing.
"Come on, I know you are not blind, Logan, it's okay if you admit it. I don't want to hear about it all the time, but you don't have to pretend you don't enjoy the sight of some pretty college students or whatever," she blurted.
Now he got it, he had barely noticed what he'd replied to Finn's casual banter.
"I don't exactly spend a lot of time just hanging out, people watching, Rory. I'm there to do the lecture and answer a few questions," he added. He understood that Rory was insecure with her changing body but this was just ridiculous. The truth was that he did notice, but that was all that it was. He'd never really had a shortage of beautiful women around him, at Yale they were just a little younger than usual, but they were like background noise to him. The abundance had almost made him numb towards it, it meant little when there was no character behind it, and Rory certainly had plenty of that, despite her current self-esteem.
"I just mean it must be quite a big contrast from last year, so I'm saying I wouldn't be jealous if you did look," she continued, uncomfortably. She recalled some glimpses of photographs of Logan on the red carpet around this time last year, when it hadn't been with Odette, it had been some other long-legged beauty.
"Oh yea, you wouldn't be jealous?" he smirked, not believing a word she was saying. The pregnancy was clearly really getting to her head. It was almost hilarious. "Rory, you've always been my first choice, you know that right?" he said a moment later, wrapping his arms around her.
"Sure, I get that, you married me. But it's okay for you to admit that this isn't exactly the most satisfying time in your life - I'm not exactly hopping around like a Playboy bunny here," she said gesturing at her current wardrobe. "I know you are used to more, and I am sorry I'm not able to offer that just now. So at the very least you should know you are free to look. And you don't have to pretend you don't," Rory explained.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. Rory, you are having my baby, there is something incredibly sexy about that. I'm a little surprised myself how much I adore the sight of you like this. Maybe that makes me weird even, but I am not lying," he said smilingly.
"Logan, come on, I look gross," she objected.
"No you don't. You just think you do," he said, before kissing her passionately.
"So what are we shopping for?" Honor asked, walking with Rory, arms linked, along the street, before stepping into Bébé d'amour in Manhattan.
"Pretty much everything," Rory noted. They'd done a bit of browsing online with Logan for a few weeks now. But other than noting each-other's tastes in baby gear and agreeing on what they truly hated, no decisions had been made so far.
"Oh really?" Honor commented. The thing about having babies she had loved the most, other than actually falling in love with them, was the frivolous shopping that she could do, and she certainly aimed to spoil Logan's and Rory's baby just the same.
"I am terrified already," Rory laughed at her tone of voice. She knew what Honor meant by that, but that was also one of the reason she'd agreed to go shopping with her in the first place, hoping she would make decisions a little easier.
"Have you at least got the nursery set up?" Honor inquired.
"Nope, just the wallpaper," she replied. They'd settled on some fairly minimalistic brush dotted wallpaper on white background.
"Oh, this is going to be so much fun," she exclaimed excitedly.
"I just promised to send Logan pictures," she added, pulling out her phone.
"And hey, this place is not just about the baby, it's about the mom too. How about we begin from over here," Honor gestured towards the back of the store signed "For mommies" in pink lettering.
"I've already got a bunch of maternity wear," Rory resisted briefly. But as soon as she saw this section, she realized this was not just some ordinary shop. The places contained a series of beautiful and colorful dresses, tops and skirts, the basics hidden away on lower shelves. While the stores she'd been to until now seemed to focus on covering the expectant mother up, this selection was almost celebratory, emphasising the joy of it. It made her smile a little.
"And you know what's great about this place?" Honor began, adding, "You can buy whatever you like and you can just send them back whatever you don't want to keep, so you get to try on everything at home," she noted. The price tags were a little heavier that usual, but Logan had specifically told her that she should let Honor take charge of the spending. He'd also told Honor to let Rory have whatever she wanted and needed. What she needed the most was to get some of her confidence back.
After leaving a pile of spring dresses, colorful leggings, a few blouses and a body pillow, Honor swore by, at the register they continued to the second floor baby section where they had the furniture show room. Rory snapped a few pictures asking for Logan's opinion on the cribs, and soon got a 'thumbs up' on a white convertible Babyletto Harlow bed. Honor and the sales assistant soon talked Rory into buying a LullaMe innovative mattress that was supposed to rock the baby asleep.
"I swear, I wish I had had this when I Conrad was born," Honor commented approvingly.
"Right, now I just need changing table," Rory said, handing the sales assistant a few sets of bedding, she'd just picked out.
"Just take a matching set?" Honor suggested, referring to the Babyletto drawer-changing table combo.
"Sure, add that too," Rory told the assistant. They were having most of the things delivered anyways.
"So now - strollers and carseats," Honor suggested, leading her back downstairs.
"God, this is tiring," Rory sighed already.
"You don't have to buy everything today you know, but I think while we're here you might just want to get a feel of some of the stuff. You can just order them online once you have some idea. Once we've done that, we'll go have some lunch and the pedi," she suggested, having taken a full day to just indulge.
"I had an older version of this," Honor noted, moving around the Silver Cross Surf 3 stroller. "But this seems like a whole different stroller now, much smoother," she commented.
"Looks fancy," Rory noted.
"It is, Silver Cross is amazing, they have a lot of custom made stuff and limited editions," Honor said, admiring the leather detailing. "But of course there are other good options," she said, referring down the long line of strollers. "This place only has good options, this is why I love this place," she added.
Rory tried out a few different strollers, an Uppababy, a Joolz and a Bugaboo, on Honor's demand. The sales assistant placed a weighted doll into the stroller and suggested she stroll around a small obstacle course of different street textures they'd set up just for this purpose, which Rory did.
"Oh and you must try folding these," Honor insisted, referring to the three strollers.
"I don't think I'm flexible enough for this," she replied, drawing circles on the side of her bump.
"Is he kicking a lot?" Honor asked.
"He is," Rory smiled briefly.
"Can I?" she asked, getting a quick nod in return.
"Hey there little nephew," Honor said smilingly, feeling his kick. "Do you have a name picked out yet?" she inquired.
"Not yet. We're accepting suggestions," she added. They'd played the name game nearly every day now, but nothing seemed quite right.
"I'll be sure to do that. It's so much fun," she replied smilingly.
"Hey, Ms., could you show us how these three fold?" Honor asked the shop assistant, sensing Rory was already a little overwhelmed.