"Hey guys!" Lorelai greeted, as she saw Jess and Celeste step into her Inn Annex, having expected them. I have your keys right here," she said, handing them the keycards as Michel was dealing with a big group reservation at the time by the front desk, not wanting to keep them waiting.

"Hey," the two greeted in unison.

"Was the drive okay?" she asked, already leading them along the hallway to the back of the building.

"Yeah, we had to make a few stops, my thigh keeps going numb on me if I sit too long," Celeste explained, Lorelai nodding understandingly.

"I have your room right here, room 110, it's closest to the pool, and you can book your procedures you want on the app, though if I remember correctly Celeste you had an hour's massage already booked at 2 PM, but I can double check," Lorelai explained, sounding very much in her element.

"Sounds good," Celeste replied, Jess already opening their room door to stroll their two small suitcases in, having not bothered with the bellboy.

"And I'm off around 5, dinner should be ready around 7, but feel free to drop by earlier if you want. I have some movies planned, cookie decorating, too much food, you know, the usual," Lorelai blurted.

"We'll be there," Jess assured, nodding her goodbye.

"Do you mind if we go for a walk? I'm still feeling kind of stiff," Celeste asked Jess, before either had a chance to take off their coats.

"Sure," he replied. It felt a little weird for him to be staying at the Inn in Stars Hollow, him being usually the guy to crash any sofa that was available, but somehow the combination of having a pregnant wife and actually the ability to splurge a little, felt strange in this combination.

"The town looks nice," Celeste commented as she observed the small town wrapped in a blanket of snow, the gazebo lit up in Christmas lights, the results of the recently ended snow man competitions prominently displayed and a stand selling hot beverages and gingerbread.

"It has a certain charm…," Jess admitted, adding, "in small doses," Celeste holding onto his arm that he'd tucked into his coat pocket, having forgotten his gloves. Having this small town experience had actually helped him a lot in his writing, adding some diversity on sites in a few of his books. The journalist's question at the gala had awakened something in him, reminding him of the thought that he did miss the writing, wondering when he would actually get a chance to try out a couple of ideas that he'd been bouncing around in his head.

"Well-well-well, if it isn't Jess Mariano," a seductive low voice spoke from behind them, causing them to turn.

The voice belonged to Mrs. Patty, standing alongside Babette, glancing Jess from head to toe.

"Like fine wine, I tell ya," Babette commented to Mrs. Patty, causing Celeste to almost burst into laughter, getting a scolding look from Jess on how amused she seemed in this situation.

"Mrs. Patty, Babette, Merry Christmas," Jess said politely. "My wife Celeste," he introduced her, seeing them clearly expecting an introduction of the newcomer.

"Oh, we didn't know! Luke didn't tell us!" Babette grumbled. That was really no wonder, Luke never being much for spreading news like that. And Liz probably had just been busy with her crafts this season, her Etsy business usually picking up just before Christmas.

"Well, congratulations," Mrs. Patty said.

"Yeah, congratulations," Babette added.

"Thank you," Celeste replied for the both of them, Jess simply nodding.

"Alright, we won't keep you, Merry Christmas," Babette added, continuing to estimate between the two of them, how far along Celeste must've been as they walked off.

"You see - small doses," Jess repeated to Celeste, as they walked over towards Luke's. They weren't particularly hungry, but Celeste had never actually set foot inside the place before, having just been in and out of Stars Hollow the last two times. This time it was as if they were tourists almost, with Jess' inside scoop and stories.

They grabbed some hot cocoa to go, and walked some more, Celeste enjoying the possibility of stretching herself after the long drive. He showed her all the places that he used to hang out - the bookstore, the benches by the gazebo, even the lake.

"You got punched by a swan?!" Celeste exclaimed, after Jess had finished telling her the story, having just been by the lake.

"Yep," he replied. "Rory thought I fought with her ex, I was too embarrassed to tell her," he explained.

"Swans can be tough, there have been incidents in Paris of swans attacking people, so I believe you," Celeste added.

"Yeah, but for an 18-year-old it was the equivalent of getting beaten up by a girl scout or something," he chuckled.

They headed back to the Inn, Celeste doing a few laps around the pool before her massage and Jess simply settling for gym and swimming while he waited, having missed a lot of workouts himself the last few months. As suspected, Celeste had been exhausted afterwards, snuggling into Jess' arms to nap while he decided to watch a little TV. He hadn't done that in months, not having a TV at home, only occasionally checking a few literary talk shows on his laptop. With little, he considered watch-worthy, on, he dozed off soon as well, waking to the sudden to the jolt of her body, her muscles stiffening and sensing the cool sweat on her body.

"You okay?" he asked, watching her lip tremble as she opened her eyes.

"Bad dream," Celeste muttered, sitting up. It hadn't been the same dream, thankfully, but the context was not too much different along with the eerie feeling like something would go wrong. She'd dreamt of herself being in labor, and passing out mid push, the sounds around her going out last. She took a few deep breaths, trying to gather herself, but let out a whimper instead.

"Just a dream, you're safe" he sighed as he held her, stroking her back.

"What if something really does happen?" Celeste sobbed, burying her face into his t-shirt. She was really scared.

He wished that there was something to wipe away her fears, but there really wasn't - they just had the doctor's optimistic prognosis, but no guarantees. They stayed like that for a while, Celeste, calming after a few minutes, then continuing to simply stare at the random tv show that had been left on before Jess fell asleep.

"Ugh, why does my mind have to do this to me," she sighed, feeling a little embarrassed by her burst of emotions. She'd wanted to enjoy this last stretch of pregnancy as much as she could - even promising herself to take it a little easier when it came to work, but now she was beginning to even hate the idea of napping.


"So this is where Rory grew up?" Celeste asked as they walked over to the Crap Shack an hour later, wrapped cosily in their warmest clothes, the temperature having dropped below 20 degrees. SHe had a certain admiration towards Rory's upbringing - simple, humble and homey - everything hers hadn't been.

"Pretty much," Jess replied, not going into the details of them having once lived at the Independence Inn.

The decorations showed clearly that the house belonged to someone quite enthusiastic about Christmas - the porch and windows decorated in extravagant Christmas lights and two large wreaths on the double-sided door and lanterns lit on the path leading up to the stairs and porch.

Jess could barely knock as Luke opened the door for them.

"Hey, good to see you," Luke greeted them with a hug.

After hanging up their coats he led them into the living room, mentioning in passing that food was in the oven.

"And this is April," Luke introduced April, who had just stood up from the couch.

"Hi, nice to meet you," she offered her hand to Celeste. April had gone through a bit of a whirlwind of self discovery after her summer in Germany, her cannabis fanaticism having subsided and exchanged to a much more withheld April, still with a bit of a left-wing facination.

"Likewise," Celeste replied, as Luke gestured her towards the couch, Jess already settling comfortably into the armchair he usually preferred in this house.

"Oh, and congratulations… on everything," April said, gesturing with her hands towards her belly and her rings.

"Thanks," Celeste replied.

"And I'm really grateful that you're okay with me staying with you, I know it's a huge favor," April said, feeling clearly a little uncomfortable in this position, having had Luke inquire into this for her. While April and Jess called every once in a while, especially when he wanted to hear the sound of fact-based reason, they weren't terribly close, not exactly keeping up in each-other's every activity.

The verdict was still out, actually, Celeste having wanted to meet her first, but she relented, not saying anything, seeing that April seemed 'okay' in every sense of the word, even after just the brief exchange of words. Surely she would have more than enough time to get to know her now.

"Where's Lorelai?" Jess asked curiously.

"Oh, she forgot the eggnog," Luke added.

"And no Rory?" Jess asked just as Lorelai stepped through the door, still hearing his question.

"Rory and Logan are hosting Shira Huntzberger tonight," Lorelai said with some spite in her voice. "Serves them right for skipping Stars Hollow Christmas," she added. Almost everyone in the room could see it was about more than that, but almost all also knew that it probably hadn't been the easiest decision for Rory either.

"Pre-Christmas," Luke corrected.

"Pre-Christmas - Christmas, what's the difference," Lorelai huffed landing on the armchair by the stairs.

Luke didn't want to get into that discussion, Lorelai having explained her thoroughly already a few days ago the fundamental differences between Christmas and Pre-Christmas.

"So April," Jess began. "What's the internship?" he asked, curious to her reasons for moving from Boston to Brooklyn.

"Oh, it's at IBM Research, it's generally on healthcare and life sciences, something about computational biology, but I'm not exactly sure what I'd be working on," April explained.

"Our assistant at Trunchedon used to intern with them, I think," Jess commented.

"As far as I've understood it's a pretty big deal, and there was quite a competition to get that spot," Luke added proudly, not really understanding what computational biology even meant.

"It's not that big of a deal, not everyone ends up getting hired after an internship either. But it's a good opportunity nonetheless, even for an unpaid internship," April added.

Celeste and Jess exchanged glances, the latter coming as news to them. Jess eyed Luke in response who was staring at a blank spot in front of him absentmindedly, Jess realizing that Luke was taking on covering her costs at least now. He had discussed it with Celeste and since April was family, they were only really planning on having her pay a modest rent, nowhere near the market price, but still… to Jess it always felt like Luke was spoiling her a little and now their original plan of asking Luke for the rent seemed unjust. But then again they didn't really want to have that discussion over (Pre-)Christmas dinner either.

"So, April, I don't know how much furniture you have, but we have the bedroom set up more-or-less, but I haven't gotten a desk or a proper couch. There might be some items that are there from Jess' place in Philly still that could work, but we haven't really looked into them," Celeste added.

"Oh, I'm sure, I'll be fine. I've been fine staying in a dorm room for three years," April added, humbly, before the oven timer went off and Luke rose to go check it out, Lorelai going along to help out with setting the table.

They continued to talk about everyone's lives, April taking the lead in getting to know Celeste a bit better and vice-versa, Lorelai learning a thing or two about Celeste too.