Jess walked out of the jeweller's already a week and a half later with a brushed gold bezel engagement ring. The jeweller actually remembered them from the first time they'd visited, recalling also Celeste being pregnant and suggested a matching thin chain to go along with the ring so she could wear it around her neck for now. The boutique was not really much for velvet boxes, packing it into a simple but stylish white cardboard envelope instead, which he now, having tucked into his coat pocket, appreciated so it'd be easier to keep hidden until he figured out the right way to do this.

As he walked home that evening, he found it easier to think how he wasn't going to do it - it was a little like when they first started going out - him knowing more of what she didn't want than about what she would. Celeste wouldn't want a big spectacle, especially in front of other people, she also wouldn't want some corny gesture that threw money at candle-light dinners at fancy establishments or private musicians or stunts. But somehow all the things that seemed most like them - their lazy mornings in bed, their weekend walks or the little date nights - they just didn't seem to do the question justice. He even knew that it wasn't really a question - he was pretty confident of her reply, but still he felt like the gesture needed to be more than just a matter of formulating the question.

He'd thought of just leaving it out for her to find, maybe even leaving her a note or a trail of notes. He even considered writing her something. He even tried doing that a few times but it just felt forced - maybe he was just working too hard, his creativeness just not flowing. He even thought about just asking out right the moment he got home that evening, but reconsidered just as he walked up the stairs of their brownstone. While he was very certain he wanted this more than anything - he just felt tongue tied, feeling like he needed to do something more.

"Hey," he greeted her as he got home, sensing already the smell of something buttery coming from the kitchen.

"Hey!" she replied from the midst of the cooking noises.

He hung up his coat, the ring remaining safely in his coat pocket for now - waiting. He kissed her in greeting - two kisses on the cheeks, one on the lips, his palm stroking her belly. Surely, he would know when it was the right time?


"I'm here!" Celeste announced as she arrived at the penthouse, having promised to let Rory have a few hours to finish up a school assignment that was due in a few hours. She'd just spent an hour at the Marriott spa - swimming. It was the place they used to frequent with Rory due to its connection to Finn, getting VIP treatment and semi secluded swimming privileges. Celeste was finally getting what Rory had been talking about, saying how good water felt at later stages of pregnancy - nothing ached, everything feeling light and soothing from the moment she stepped into the water. She'd done a few slow laps, hastier movement having become something of the past, and a few stretches, mostly just enjoying the sensation of floating. Evie liked it too, letting herself be known by vigorous kicks against the side of her belly. She would've gladly crawled into bed for a nap herself right about now, the exercise having left her yawning, but surely she could help her out for a couple of hours.

"Thank you," Rory replied, letting Celeste wash her hands before handing her 6-week-old who'd gained nearly 4 lbs since birth to her arms.

"Hey my little Finny, you are getting so big!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide, at the blue-eyed charmer who was beginning to hold up his head a little.

"He is, and my back knows it," Rory grumbled. "Do you mind if I just dive in? I just need to finish a few paragraphs and proofread it a couple of times, it shouldn't be too long," she explained. She felt bad asking for help like this, especially this last minute, but Logan's meeting had been rescheduled and she didn't want to ask her professor for special treatment either - besides it seemed Celeste was almost always willing to help out.

"Go ahead, we'll be fine. Has he eaten?" she asked, having done this a number of times by now and beginning to feel a lot more confident with babies, which would come in handy.

"Yeah, just fifteen minutes ago, he'll probably play a little, hopefully take a nap in an hour or so," she added, slipping into her office, leaving the door ajar.

She played with Finny a little, introducing a few different rattles to him, showing him her hand mirror which he seemed to enjoy and patting his own tummy with his hands along an old French nursery rhyme. As his attention began to scatter, seeming a little sleepy, along with Celeste's own yawns, she held him onto her chest, walking back and forth along the kitchen humming a low tune. Her back ached a little, as it often did by the end of the night, but she kept going.

"I'm done," Rory said as she returned, lowering her voice as she noticed them - Finny close to falling asleep. She'd hurried, probably not having checked her assignment as well as she would've liked, but she felt a little guilty for dragging Celeste over there like she had.

"You want to put him to sleep?" Celeste asked in whisper.

"I don't dare at this stage," Rory replied quietly, seeing his eyes fall shut and open and then fall shut again. She'd made that mistake several times.

She continued to walk on a steady rhythm for a few more minutes, then carefully setting him down into a bassinet they kept in the living room soon enough.

"You are amazing, you know that?" Rory sighed, hugging her.

"Good practice," she replied. It was true, but the fact that her back ached and she was tired, cast a shadow on her enthusiasm. But nonetheless it was great to see Rory so much more back in her element ever since she got back to her studies.

Knowing Rory wouldn't mind, Celeste lay down onto the couch on her side, popping Rory's nursing pillow under her bump for support, letting her back rest a little.

"What are your plans for Thanksgiving?" Rory asked, casually rocking the bassinet a little.

"We were thinking of inviting everybody to our place actually," Celeste said. She had lied - it wasn't them thinking it, just her, and she hadn't even told Jess about her idea yet. She felt a strong need to surround herself with people these days, any extended family included. She wasn't even a big fan of the holiday, but as she searched for her new identity she wanted to give it a try.

"Oh, that might be fun, people can stay overnight even," Rory commented.

"I was hoping you three might come too. Unless of course you have plans with the Huntzbergers or Honor," she added.

"Honor is at the Rothchild's on Thursday, so we'll see them over the weekend. So I suppose, unless we're completely sleep deprived we should be able to make it," Rory replied.

"Great," Celeste replied, glancing at the time. Jess was supposed to pick her up after his meeting at HPG where he was discussing Truncheon's recruitment needs, which should be over soon.

"How have you been feeling?" Rory inquired, noting her getting fuller and fuller with each week.

"Pretty good, a little tired at the end of the day, you know," she added with a weak sigh.

Rory nodded - she did remember.

"Are you scared yet?" Rory asked, recalling fairly well how somehow from half-term onwards she was hit with a bang of fear about giving birth and dealing with a newborn.

"A little I suppose, though I think Jess might be more worried even, though he tries not to show it," Celeste explained. The yoga class she'd ended up in had proved a pretty decent one - not only doing the exercises but also discussing birthing stories and advice for labor, which seemed to have calmed her significantly. She knew in theory how to breathe, she knew how to try to sleep in between contractions and she now knew that one should stock up on energy gels - having learned the two latter from Rory. So if things went normally she didn't feel like she feared it, the need to meet Evie exceeding all fears.

"Yeah, I can imagine him being the kind that would never admit to it," Rory commented. What Rory didn't know was that Jess had expressed quite a few times on how various aspects of this made him scared and insecure, and in a way she liked knowing that this was a side that he only showed to her. Jess didn't need to hide from her.

Celeste's phone beeped and she looked, hoping to get a message from Jess that he was on his way. To her surprise it was a message from Maria.

"I know it's a little weird asking like this, but would you like to have lunch with me some time," Maria asked.

"What?" Rory asked, seeing Celeste's face go all confused.

"I think I just got asked on a friend-date or something like that. I'm not really sure what this is. It's one of Jess' authors… I guess I just got talking to her the other night at her launch party, and now she wants to have lunch," Celeste explained.

"Well, that's good right? You've been telling me how you could use more friends," Rory explained, recalling Celeste telling her about having lost a lot of her former contacts since spring.

"I guess, I don't know - I would've taken this as completely normal in France or even UK, but here usually there is this invisible line between small talk and actual friendship that I can't always detect. Like how does one cross over from that - maybe we did - talking about babies or something - I sometimes feel a little culturally incompetent here," Celeste explained laughingly.

"Well, unless you think it is weird because of the workplace, I can't see any harm in exploring it - it might be fun," Rory suggested, feeling a little guilty for not being able to offer more of herself to hang out with Celeste, like they used to.

"I guess you're right," she replied, typing a quick reply of "Sure, why not," and exchange a few more messages about date and time, while Rory continued to rock Finny gently. As she'd sent it, Jess also texted, saying he would be there in 5.

"Alright, I better get going, Jess is almost here," Celeste said and tried to pull herself upright, feeling momentarily a little dizzy like she often did when rising too quickly.

"Thanks for coming, you really saved my evening," Rory replied. What kind of professor sets a deadline at 6 PM not midnight - right?

"No problem - we'll see you next Thursday then, okay?" Celeste replied, knowing she was going to have a full week ahead of her.

"Let us know if you want us to bring anything," Rory suggested.

Celeste pulled on her oversized puffy coat, and headed downstairs to wait for Jess so he wouldn't have to bother finding a parking spot. The weather had gotten cold rather quickly - dropping just below 32 degrees, and she felt a sense of relief as the familiar BMW appeared in sight, promising a warm interior, Celeste making a mental note to get warmer leggings.

They were almost half way out of Manhattan, Celeste having asked about Jess' meeting, which had gone well, when she knew she needed to tell Jess about her Thanksgiving idea.

"Hey, Jess," she began. That beginning becoming a trademark of her wanting something of him, and he almost anticipated the type of question to follow by now. "I kind of want to have Thanksgiving at our place this year. We could invite everybody, we could cook, they could stay over," Celeste suggested.

"That's a lot of people, a lot of work. You feel like you'd be up for that?" he asked, knowing how 8 nights out of 10 she'd be the one tired by 9 PM and wanting to put her legs up by 7.

"Yeah, but it would be nice, wouldn't it? Maybe next year we'll be too preoccupied to even consider this. We could even have part of it catered or something if you don't feel like cooking everything ourselves," she suggested.

"You already asked them, didn't you?" Jess asked, raising the corner of his mouth.

"Just Rory," she admitted.

"And you'd really want them all there - for the entire night?" Jess asked, doubtful of the fact she really knew what she was getting herself into.

"Yeah, I mean - Doula would love it, I'm sure. We'd need to get a bed for the downstairs bedroom, Doula could have the study," she suggested.

Jess felt a little conflicted - having just spent a few grand on the ring, safely tucked into his pocket as they spoke, and a little earlier a small fortune on baby gear, he didn't particularly like the idea of having to furniture shop this short notice, not to mention cater a large feast for his entire family. He was not broke but he knew she saw money a lot differently, having more of a comfortable buffer, not really being used to having to think like he did. He didn't want to get into it right now either, feeling exhausted from the budget talk over at the HPG.

"Okay," he sighed, adding, "but do you mind taking care of the downstairs, I just have a ton of work to do this week, I'm not sure if I have time to think about it," he fibbed. "Have all the food delivered. I don't want you hauling all that home by yourself and I'll help with the cooking, okay," he suggested.

"Of course, don't worry - I'll take care of everything. I'll even call Luke and your mom myself tomorrow," she offered and yawned of her exhaustion, which didn't go unnoticed by Jess.

He worried a little, seeing her trying to do everything - for the past few weeks she'd been working, while keeping up all of her usual activities, plus she'd been helping Rory and taken up a few web courses in her own field to freshen her skills. He didn't want to wear herself out.