"Gabriela and Timoteo, can you please come to the kitchen, there's something we need to talk to you about," Paris said, her hands crossed on the table determinedly, preparing herself to have the talk with her kids.

Finn sat opposite to her at the dinner table, his leg bouncing nervously under the table, as the two kids quickly took their usual seats as well.

"We have some news," she began, hoping this would go over smoothly. "Remember how you dad married Jessica just before Christmas?" Paris continued.

"Yea, we flew to California for that," Timoteo replied.

"Finn and I have decided to get married, so we are also going to have a wedding," Paris continued.

"So there's going to be a party? Can I wear a pink dress?" Gabriela asked.

"Yes, and sure you can wear a pink dress," Paris replied patiently.

"Does that mean Finn is going to be our dad?" Timoteo inquired after a brief moment. He had always been the more emotional and slightly introvert of the twins, while Gabriela was more outgoing and outspoken.

"Your dad will still be your dad even if he is in California, but I suppose I will sort of be like your dad, but you don't have to call me that. Finn is fine," Finn replied, looking at Paris in approval.

"Finn is going to be living with us," Paris added, making sure they got the concept.

"But where is he going to sleep?" Gabriela asked worriedly.

Finn almost laughed at the cuteness of that question, yet he managed to keep a straight face.

"This will mean that we are going to move. The place is too small for us. Leah will also come to live with us some of the time," Paris explained.

"Are we getting our own rooms?" Gabriela exclaimed hopefully.

"That will depend on the house, but we will try to find something like that, yes," Paris replied.

"Can I go finish my puzzle?" Timoteo asked, the topic at hand already becoming too boring for him.

"Of course you can," she replied.

"That went better than I expected," Finn sighed after the kids had moved to the living room. 6-year-olds were still unfamiliar terrain for him, what had worked a couple of times didn't necessarily work with them the next time. He was always a little bit on edge with them trying to figure out how to behave around them. Too familiar might have been too much like trying to replace their father, and too distant wouldn't be involved enough, there was a balance that needed practice.

"Well, I think it's too soon to judge, their brains work differently than ours. They need time to digest it, and they might not realize that all of what it involves," Paris tried to explain cautiously.

Her parenting approach was largely book-based and practice adapted. She could throw facts and theories around like nobody's business applying them capably. Finn adored this about her, he learned from her a number of things already and that without actually having to work for it. He knew that everything he learned he'd also get a chance to apply to Leah.


"So Rory, how have you been?" Cara asked, beginning another session.

"Alright I guess. I am really happy how the book is coming along and actually I want to ask you to read it from a professional point of view just in case to make sure there is nothing flawed in it," Rory replied.

"It's a little unusual position I suppose, but I can give it a try," she agreed, adding, "but that aside, I would still like to know what you are feeling - did speaking about all this publicly influence you in any way?"

"I was actually quite surprised how calm I went after. It was like a shot had been fired into the water," she described. "Everyone knows that I am writing this, and so it's out there, you know. This is now something I have to follow through on. And I guess this also means that I have to work through every corner of my brain to really do that," she explained.

"So what parts do you think are still not covered?" she asked.

"For one thing there is the aspect of considering having another baby," Rory began, "I know Logan definitely wants to have at least one of his own. It's sort of unspoken at this point, but it's even planned into the house we are building, even if we call the extra rooms guestrooms and studies for now. He has been utterly discrete about the whole thing, there has been no insinuating or pushing, and I am very thankful for that. But I've even asked around a bit and as I understand the stakes of encountering PPD again are quite high for someone like me," she continued.

"They can be, yes," Cara reflected. "How do you feel about having another kid?" she continued.

"Financially we're set, physically...neither of us is getting any younger, I know we're not in a rush, but I sort of feel like I'd prefer to be a young mother, and not to think about this when it has increased risks or may not happen at all. I don't want to postpone something just because it might happen again, just as it might happen again even after years. I really did not like the person I became the first few months with Leah, but I suppose this time I do have an idea of what PPD looks and feels like and I know how to get help, I might end up seeing you the entire time just as a precaution," she explained.

"I know you are having a very good moment right now - things are really working out - you seem happy with your relationships, you are studying and writing something you care about. You've been handling your thoughts a lot better and you notice when your thinking is flawed and you mostly fix it yourself, you sound in control and optimistic. This is all great. But you need to remember not to overwhelm yourself. Having a baby is more than an extra workload. I am not urging you to not consider it, this is your choice, but I want you to remember that that energy, that capacity, has to come from somewhere," Cara cautioned.

Rory knew that Cara was right. Having a baby was like another full time job if not more. Even with a support system and a nanny, having a second child was hard on anyone, let alone for someone with a history of overworking herself to the verge of breaking down on top of her diagnosis.


"Hey Leah! Did you miss me?" Finn exclaimed, catching Leah who was running towards him. He was feeling a little better and had mastered the art of crutch-walking and crutch-leaning enabling him to actually pick up her daughter skillfully. Leah hadn't stayed at Finn's for over a month now, first due to his trip and later due to his cast, which made running after her and caring fully for her impossible all by himself. Paris was over often to help out but he still lived alone. He felt bad for not having Leah over more, both for missing Leah and also for putting that extra strain on Rory and their joint support system. It was a Saturday and Rory and Logan had come over to his place to just hang out, giving him a chance to bond with Leah some more with the help of some other adults, if he needed it.

"How are you guys?" Finn added after receiving a hug from his daughter.

"We're good," Logan replied, adding, "workload is decreasing a little now that summer is approaching, a welcome change, I've been in the City too much recently," looking at Rory apologetically.

"Book is progressing, school is okay I guess - slightly lagging but I think I can manage. Have a big presentation coming up in a few weeks," Rory explained.

"And the house?" he inquired.

"Permits are all set and they are breaking ground next week," Logan said happily.

"I hate the idea of having to start packing again but I can honestly say I can't wait to see the place finished," Rory said. She'd already been looking up decorators to help with the interior, browsing Pinterest and numerous interior design sites to communicate what both she and Logan wanted to see in their new home. 'Their new home' - she liked the sound of that.

"Must be exciting," Finn commented, placing Leah on the couch next to him where he'd placed some of her favourite toys and books.

"Sure is. But that aside, I believe congratulations are in order to you and Paris as well," Logan said, having not seen Finn for a while.

"Thank you," he replied, feeling notably proud. "We're going to have to do some house shopping of our own soon," he added.

"That's going to be one big house," Rory noted, not quite picturing Finn in the same house with Paris' kids.

For a few moments, everyone observed quietly as Leah browse her picture book, looking unusually focused. It went without saying that she looked like a miniature Rory already.

"It's definitely going to be loud and busy," he noted with a sigh. He was happy for a step forward but it hadn't quite registered to him until they announced their plans to Paris' kids that it had hit her. Despite what they called him, he was still going to be a father figure to them and he could already feel the responsibility seeping up.


"So what exactly are we shopping for?" Lorelai asked, browsing through a shoe store in Hartford.

"I need two pairs of blue shoes," Rory replied.

"Why blue?" Lorelai asked, sounding confused.

"You know, something blue..," she said.

"Oh, wedding shoes, right," Lorelai caught up.

"However it seems blue shoes are a deficit," Rory noted.

They walked out of the store empty handed walking along the street, as Lorelai stopped in front of a Vintage boutique, showcasing glittery 80s dresses and knee-high boots on the window .

"I got my first leather jacket from this place. It used to be rather a drift store than a Vintage boutique back then though, the way I remember it. That of course if its still the same place at all," she recalled.

"You want to go in?" Rory asked.

Lorelai replied by stepping into the store, and Rory followed her.

The place contained beautiful one-off pieces from the 20s upwards, from glittery to casual. Lorelai walked along the clothing racks, browsing anything that caught her eye, while Rory marched straight to the shoe shelf. She didn't have to look for long, until her eyes caught an amazing pair of blue velvet T-bone peep-toe sandals. As faith, they were right her size and barely a minute later she walked over to Lorelai wearing them.

"What do you think?" she asked her.

Lorelai looked at her, not quite understanding what she was supposed to comment on, until she noticed Rory had suddenly grown a good 4 inches.

"Oh," she looked down, realizing it was the shoes. "Turn," she ordered. "Looks good to me," she commented.

"Okay, then I have one pair down, one to go," Rory said, walking back to her sneakers.

Lorelai continued to browse out of inertia, but her mind wandered - even though they were really just shoes, it reminded her that it was still her Rory underneath that soon-to-be high society career woman image. She hadn't driven to the boutiques of New York City to shop for designer shoes or wrinkled her nose for wearing someone else's old shoes, Rory cared about the essence of things. This made Lorelai smile a little.