Celeste had had an active day with going to the hairdressers, doing some shopping, and finally attending a yoga class the day before, and she had decided to give herself one long morning in bed. The softness of the stone washed linen under her skin felt divine, the warmth of the down blanket contrasting against the cool winter weather outside, which in itself didn't seem too appealing - appearing as overwhelming greyness. Jess had already left for work a few hours ago, the echo of his kiss on her lips still imprinted into her memory, from the moment when she'd been barely awake.
She rolled onto her back for a moment, stretching out her limbs, and turned to the other side once it got uncomfortable, her other side having gone a bit numb. Her palm traced her bump, that was beginning to feel like it couldn't possibly stretch out even bigger to accommodate Evie. She'd been spared from a lot of unpleasant pregnancy symptoms like large stretch marks or swollen feet, but the way she'd been feeling exhausted, her back being a little achy and struggling to catch her breath when doing anything hastily, the past few weeks was just torture, espcially when considering that she didn't want to do anything that could contribute to more nightmares. She had only had one bad dream since the one in Stars Hollow, but that had been less dramatic - mostly about packing up to go to the hospital and feeling like she was not going to be late, unable to find some important items she'd wanted to bring. Thought the thought itself was ridiculous - one couldn't be late to one's own labor. But as much as she'd read about it, that seemed to be quite the common dream that many expectant mothers seemed to have. The dream had resulted in packing up the hospital bag the very same day. After packing the postpartum panties, nipple cream, her robe and other necessities for her, her heart melted as she picked out the cutest wrap body with matching pink leggings, silk cap and tiny socks. She couldn't wait to meet her. The car seat already waited in the corner of their living room, a cosy footmuff already installed. She was only doing this once and she'd put a small fortune into getting Evie the very best, not necessarily the most expencive but the most praised, even having ordered a few items across the Atlantic.
Celeste pulled her legs up and rolled them out of bed, steadying herself as she sat there, feeling the pull of gravitation change, clearly waking Evie as well with the motion. She'd been very active in the evening, and frankly it had been a relief she'd let her sleep as long as she had.
She took a deep breath and stood up, beginning to drag herself over to the bathroom. But to her surprise she felt a little different - suddenly it was not as hard to breathe, but walking was even more tricky.
She reached the bathroom and took off her clothes, getting ready to step into the shower. Then she could see it - her bump seemed to have changed shape overnight, appearing a little lower.
"So this must be the lightening," she muttered to herself, feeling suddenly quite relieved but at the same time a little anxious, hoping Evie wasn't in a hurry.
She went back to the bedroom to grab her phone and took a sideways picture of herself, covering her breasts with her arm, momentarily feeling a little sad she hadn't made pictures continuously every week to note the difference. But still, it was another milestone.
She sent the picture over to Jess with a text - "notice anything different?" feeling a little giddy at the same time. Surely, this would cheer up his day too?
Jess was a little amazed by how quickly Celeste had pulled herself together from the initial fright that she'd had with Noah. She used to be the one to allow her brain to slowball, but it was like she was the one in the relationship with two legs on the ground, taking in fact by fact and day by day. She seemed to believe that she'd done everything she could - and she had, she'd done everything right - and while she had no intentions of confirming anything to anybody, she behaved as if it was time to let go - take whatever was coming to her. Maybe it was that she had her priorities elsewhere, taking care of herself and Evie first, as if not really caring anymore what people thought about her or her past.
Jess still felt a little guilty, unsure of how not hiring the guy would've helped either, but nevertheless the following week at work he was definitely distracted, observing Noah more carefully than usual. But Noah had just gone on with his day.
"Hey, did Celeste ever decide what she wants to do with her drawings?" Jenn asked one day while they were having their morning coffee together at the office - as they sometimes did to casually discuss industry-related things, that were not strictly work related, to keep each other in the loop about news and contacts that they'd made.
Jess knew Cleste had shown Jenn her drawings, but with Noah at the same table, he was a little hesitant on how much he should say on anything that concerned Celeste.
"Not really, but she has a new few ideas that she's been working on," Jess added, after swallowing a sip of coffee.
"What does she draw?" Noah asked, sounding a little surprised.
"She came to me with a graphic novel idea, but it was a little unfocused," Jenn replied, before Jess had a chance to reply. "I just remembered that I ran into the owner of the Iron Circle the other day, I think they would quite like her style if she aims to continue with the more adult version," she added.
"Well, I'll tell her, though I think she's not in any hurry right now," Jess replied, wanting Celeste to take things easier now. He wasn't used to speaking for her like this. He knew she was spending a lot more time at home these days - reading, drawing, trading and giving the nursery its final touches. But the details of her hopes in this path she'd been trying out, he didn't know that much about - he knew she wanted to be the kind of mother that was truly around, and she'd told him more than once that she wasn't looking for a big career, having already done that. So whether this was just a creative outlet or perhaps a little self-realization, having somewhat limited work alternatives at the moment or something she was truly serious about, he wasn't sure. Partially it was his fault too, having been working a lot, trying to get a lot of things done before the due date, and with the added stress from her health and Noah, he had been too distracted to focus on her artistic aspirations.
"I could help too," Noah suggested, adding a little hesitantly, "if she wants my help….I worked on the Duarte and Corrigan books a few years ago," Noah suggested.
Jess nodded, knowing too well himself that he'd worked on those, the very books being the ones Celeste had at home and pretty much used as reference.
"Alright, I better get back to work," Jenn heaved herself up and headed for her desk, taking her coffee cup along, after she'd glanced at the time.
"Jess, I really didn't want to get off on the wrong foot here," Noah began, after a moment's pause, having sensed Jess close off noticeably ever since he'd spoken to Celeste at the night of the launch event. "I just wanted to be honest, and I really don't want this thing to influence our work dynamic, I really do like it here," he added.
Jess took another sip of his coffee, wondering what he could or should say not to confirm anything. Or perhaps silence and the awkwardness was confirmation enough already?
"Then why mention something like that altogether?" Jess asked, feeling like he needed to say something. "I don't need my wife stressing about things like this right now," he huffed in a low tone.
"I'm sorry, I thought it would've been weirder if it came out someday that I knew and hid it," Noah explained.
Jess did understand, his logic seemed to make sense. And Celeste herself had pointed out that it would've been a lot easier for him not to sign the contract at all if he meant to do something with that information. Of course neither of them had really asked him what he knew or what he thought he knew either.
"I just notice these things more easily than most people, I can't help it. And whatever her reasons, it doesn't matter. I just genuinely think you are nice people and professionally I'd like to help if she wants it," he added apologetically.
"For the record, she loves Corrigan's novel," Jess added, trying to focus on things he could say, "but whether she'll come and talk to you, is up to her," he added with a sigh. He appreciated his attempt to smooth things over, but it left Jess wondering nevertheless what it would really take to begin to fully trust him.
"So how's the internship going?" Jess asked as he took a seat at the dinner table. They'd invited April for dinner one evening. Jess had been feeling like she'd neglected her a bit, despite Celeste and April interacting more often, he hadn't really seen much of her.
"It's okay," April replied, adding, "I guess it's just the beginning that they've stuck me with a bunch of data entry and clerical stuff, I hope it develops into something more specific," and bit into the taco she'd just filled with beef and peppers.
"I must've spent my entire first year hand-binding calendars and delivering books," Jess noted, recalling his first year when he'd only worked at Truncheon part time, the doing another full shift each day at a printing house, doing all the dirty work as his internship.
"What did you used to do, I don't think I've ever asked?" April asked, turning to Celeste.
Celeste and Jess exchanged glances, Celeste knowing too well the protocol, but with half the family knowing some of the original story, it was always a bit of a struggle to choose, which road to take.
"I worked in PR, and my first internship was pretty much running errands and sitting in on meetings," Celeste replied in half truth - the field was right, she'd attended meetings since she was 15, but she'd never done anything that the family company's assistants had been hired to take care of. She felt sick of the lying, the half truths, having to think every time what to say if someone asked. Her plan had seemed so solid, the background story Jess wrote for her explaining almost everything, but what she hadn't accounted for was that she'd grown tired of it and had no way to really do anything differently. Noah was just a drop in the bucket for her to really begin to hate the fake background she felt forced to use. She wished she could just jump in time, having already created a new life for her so she wouldn't need to fib.
"I almost thought that you were some sort of an event planner or something, with all the dresses upstairs," April noted.
"Well I did that too, and I guess I just moved in crowds that held a lot of events like that," Celeste explained, after swallowing a bite.
"How did you guys meet anyways?" April inquired, friendlily.
"We met through Logan actually, he invited both of us for dinner and I guess we just sort of clicked," Jess said, taking Celeste's hand across the table. Technically the dinner had taken place at Celeste's house, but that would've needed a more elaborate explanation neither of them really wanted to give. But despite the messy details, to Jess that evening in it's serendipity had been life changing - her scent, her touch, her sound and presence all having hit him like a train going full speed from a direction he hadn't anticipated.
"Aw, you're too cute," April noted, seeing how they looked at each other.
"Sorry," Jess apologized, feeling like his lingering gaze had been a little impolite, Celeste simply smiling in response.
"It's fine, you're newlyweds, your house… just tell me when you want me to leave the room," April chuckled.
"Nah, come on. Eat!" he urged, making himself another taco as well.