"How is Nantucket this time of year, I've never been?" April inquired as they were digging into cranberry pear pie after dinner.
"Windy but I like that there aren't too many people around like in the summer," Luke replied, pouring Lorelai a cup of coffee.
"The Vineyard still gets pretty crowded," Celeste added, speaking from experience, forgetting for a moment that perhaps that addition needed an explanation as most of the people at that table didn't know she'd spent at least two Christmases there with Logan and Honor's family.
"Yeah, it's quieter, unless we're at the Sandcastle of course and behind every corner there is my mother. She's been looking forward to our visit so she has dozens of Friday night dinners worth of opinions and appropriate discussion topics just waiting…," Lorelai complained laughingly. Emily was a lot more relaxed these days, but it was clear she missed some of that day to day socializing, especially in the winter, which was poured out on anybody who was visiting.
"Yeah, but this time you can just play the 'baby is sleeping' card," Celeste noted, recalling that the dynamic between Lorelai and her mother wasn't exactly stellar either as she'd heard.
"We can hope," Lorelai added, bitterly, as the guys and April scattered to the living room, Lorelai having promised Luke the first choice in movies. Celeste helped herself to some tea, Lorelai remaining at the dinner table with her coffee.
"I saw your gala pictures," Lorelai said, "you guys looked great. Never thought I'd see Jess in a tail coat but… never say never…," she chuckled. Rory had looked wonderful too, and she couldn't deny it, Logan and Rory made an adorable couple. Rory didn't look out of place, even if she might have felt it.
"Yeah, that took some convincing," Celeste replied smilingly.
"You've been good to him, I have to say," Lorelai added.
"I've pushed him and he's been brave, but he was good on his own before I came along and I have no words to emphasize how good he's been to me," Celeste said humbly. "But I appreciate you saying that," she said, seeing that in a way this was Lorelai's way to admitting that she wasn't the person she'd expected her to be.
"I wonder how Shira is behaving herself tonight… She hasn't seen Finny once until now, you know. Sure she's been in London, but it's her grandson...," Lorelai grumbled, feeling like Shira really didn't deserve the luxury she was given.
"Well I think she's just been in hiding herself, Mitchum leaving her must've been quite a blow," Celeste sympathized. She didn't like her either, but she was Logan's mother and with both Logan and Mitchum having said serveral strong words to her in spring, her pride must've been hurting and she could understand that too.
"I guess," Lorelai noted, not really wanting to discuss the woman any further. She continued to eat her second piece of pie.
"You know…," Celeste hesitated, wondering whether it was her place to suggest this, but she decided it was her chance to help both Lorelai and Rory. "When you go to Nantucket tomorrow, you could suggest that you take care of Finny some nights. Rory really could use the uninterrupted sleep. I'm not sure she'd be willing to ask herself, she doesn't like to keep him far from her, but you could try…," she suggested, thinking back to what she'd talked with Rory about.
"And give up my good night's sleep?" Lorelai chuckled playfully, not really meaning it like that. Lorelai was absolutely willing to consider it - she wanted to show Rory she meant well and she wanted to spend time with Finny. But she was scared that Rory might turn down her offer and she was scared that if she did turn her offer down despite actually needing the help, it would hurt her even more.
Celeste shrugged smilingly as if saying it was up to her, Lorelai remaining as a bit of a mystery to her still, and joined the others in the living room with her tea.
Jess and Celeste were glad they hadn't taken the car to Lorelai's and Luke's that evening, their stomachs full of pot-roast and pie, lots of pie, the walk home, holding hands, seemed like a really good idea, despite the hour being late and the weather quite chilly.
"So I assume Luke's paying for April, right?" Celeste asked, recalling the earlier conversation.
"Looks like it, he paid for her travels too," Jess replied with a sigh.
"I'm not going to start billing Luke," Celeste said firmly. He'd been so nice to her and the apartment was just sitting there anyways, and while it had seemed to her like the nice thing to do - to offer April the place at a family-price - it didn't feel right asking any money knowing Luke would be the one paying for it - he'd helped to fix the place up after all.
"I figured you'd say that," Jess smirked, feeling good about himself for having guessed her thought process without discussing it. "But I don't think we should just let her stay there for free either - I'll talk to her tomorrow or call her in a few days, maybe she'd be up for babysitting or helping around the house. I don't know, I think she's kind of good with nature, maybe gardening or something. Or we wait until she gets a paying job and pays a percentage of that as rent," he added. He certainly didn't want to uphold Luke's pampering of her. If he did, who knows, April would just keep living in their basement apartment forever, rent free. He was beginning to dislike the idea of mixing family and finances.
"Babysitting would definitely help. Does she have experience with babies?" Celeste asked. She had let go of the original idea of having a full time nanny at hand like she had at first planned in her Greenwich townhouse, both with the decrease in her funds and addition of Jess helping out, she figured she needed to at least try to do this on her own.
"I'm not sure, I'll ask," he suggested.
"I know she's 23, but I kind of feel like we're getting an adoptive child or something," Celeste laughed. She'd listened to her talk about her college activities and her summer in Berlin, and while a lot of that reminded her of her own college days, it was that certain shelteredness that shone through.
"Two kids at once," Jess chuckled. Her age was one of the things that bothered him, he was just ten years older, but when he'd been 23 he'd been out there without any safety nets, working two-three jobs at times. It was not that having these safety nets was bad, even Evie was going to have them, both financially and by having a family, but he did believe it was high time for her to grow more independent.
"The town looks even prettier at night," Celeste noted, after a while, when they reached the town square, now fully lit in Christmas lights, hardly any people in sight.
"Luke and Lorelai had their wedding here last year, twice," Jess commented.
"Twice?" she inquired, confusedly.
"They eloped the night before, late at night, with just a few of their friends and Rory. Spur of the moment, just like Lorelai is…," Jess explained. "And then the official wedding was the next day," he added.
"Sounds cute," Celeste commented.
"You're not sad that you didn't get a big wedding?" Jess asked, observing her go a little thoughtful.
"No, our wedding was perfect," Celeste said, stopping in their path and looking at him.
He could see she really meant that.
"I love you," Jess said. He loved how easy it was to say that to her - anywhere, anytime. There was no hesitation, no doubt, the truth being the most organic thing in the world.
"Aw.. I love you too," she replied smilingly, raising her arms to place around his neck, her puffy winter coat and her belly a little awkwardly in between, raising to her toes a little to kiss him, but before she had a chance to do that he bent his neck down to reach down to kiss her first. The kiss was comforting, deep and still awakening that little something in the bottom of their stomachs. Would that feeling ever die out?
Celeste was utterly glad how the evening had gone, a series of perfect distractions, swiping away almost all traces of her bad dream. She just hoped the evening didn't have to end.
"Do you think the pool is closed?" Celeste whispered into his ear, as the kiss broke, not that there was anyone near who would hear, but she knew how he liked when she did that.
Five minutes later they were walking along the empty hallway leading up to their room, having accessed the building with their key card. There was no receptionist at the front desk, just a number to call, and as Lorelai had told them before there really weren't many people staying at the Inn for the holidays anyways.
"I wonder if she gave us this room on purpose?" Celeste pondered as she peeked through the door leading to the deserted pool area, right next to their room. The pool wasn't huge, just 40 by 10 ft or so, lit in dark blue, the curved glass ceiling above it.
She slipped off her ankle boots, throwing her coat onto one of the lounge chairs.
"Are you just going to stand there or are you joining me?" Celeste inquired teasingly. Jess had just been observing her, her spontaneity being incredibly sexy, having decided to follow her lead in a minute. It was amazing how she still kept surprising him.
He didn't reply, but threw his wool coat and sweater onto the same lounge chair along with his shirt, toeing off his boots as he did, his pants coming off next. He could see her contemplating whether to leave her underwear on or take it off, but even with her decision to leave them on, the sight of her in her charcoal bralette and panties and skipping the 'skinny' in skinnydipping, it was a thrill nonetheless.
They glided into the water some seconds later, immersing themselves in the warmth of the water. Celeste loved to float on her back while in the pool, the only real time she got to do that these days, doing the perfect starfish, whil Jess swam a couple of breaststrokes besides her. She turned and swam a few strokes herself, diving briefly into the water getting her hair wet. She was almost able to forget her heaviness in the water, simply enjoying the sensation. She was a gorgeous sight also underwater, which Jess enjoyed as he dove in, emerging from under the water just behind her, grabbing her hips and kissing her shoulder.
Celste waded in front of him playfully, perhaps a few feet between them, but as he caught up, he touched her shoulder again so she'd turn. She did, floating backwards against the edge of the pool. She took a moment, staring into his eyes. It was a deep, sensual glance, ending with letting her eyes fall slowly as if being modest. It was a game - as if there was still some modestly left between them.
Jess moved to her side, gently brushing her back and hip. Her arms wrapped herself around his neck again, her stomach fluttering as he kissed her neck, her body turning and her legs pulling him as close as she could. It wasn't ideal, but at least here in the water it was easy for him to hold her like this, raising her higher, so her breasts were out of the water. Her light bralette showed the outline of her nipples, and he curved his neck to graze them with his teeth, Celeste letting out a gasp. Despite the bump between them, she did enjoy the sensation of him against her having missed that.
"We should go swimming more often together," Jess commented smugly before her open lips landed on his as a response. She held onto the railing with one hand, the other wrapped around his head, her fingers twined in his hair, his hands cradling her thighs, unwilling to release his hold of her. God, how he missed holding her like that, even if their hips were still too far apart for her to really sense him.
"Let's go back to the room," she whispered, biting her lip. While she loved being in the pool, pool sex was something that was never as as good as it looked. He pulled her along towards the stairs, leaving a trail of water dripping behind them as they emerged, hastily grabbing their stuff, leaving a dripping puddle of water across the hallway carpet due to the delay brought on by the search for their room key, the imperfectness of the situation making her giggle.
They tossed their stuff to the floor as they finally got the door open, trailing on towards the bathroom, lighting just the vanity night. Jess turned on the shower and began to strip her off her wet underwear, landing a deep kiss on each of her nipples, while she held onto the wall and let out a deep sigh, her eyes falling shut. He pushed down his own trunks, releasing his already throbbing arousal, making her smile once she again opened her eyes. She stepped past him, into the warm flow of the rain shower, allowing the water to wash away the pool water. Jess stepped behind her, nuzzling into her neck and shoulder, her short hair proving quite convenient while his fingers already traced her ass and inner thighs. She leaned up against the wall, nudging his arousal with her ass eagerly, making him groan audibly, while his palms traced her sides and breasts. There were just tiny droplets of water spraying on them, most of which pouring down Jess' back where they stood, the steam filling the room.
He knew her well enough by now, that after a foreplay that long, in and out the pool, she was ready as it was, allowing his member to protrude against her labia, Celeste moving her hips eagerly along with a series of gasps, without him even having to do so much as move, until he did, bending his knees a little and thrusting upwards, hitting the just the spot by the sound of her. The moves were hasty, yet passionate, their need for each other increasing with each thrust, his forehead resting on the side of her head, panting near her ear. Her tremoring core announced her release followed by a deep moan as he kept moving, allowing her wave of pleasure to carry into another, the force of his ow culmination shocking himself even.
"You are the most amazing woman, you know that…," he heaved.
She turned and kissed him, adding, "and all yours," stepping back under the warmth of the water to linger a while longer.