"Rory, you look wonderful," Emily exclaimed with an embrace and admired her bump, as she met up with Rory in Palm Court at the Plaza for tea. Emily was visiting some of her friends in the City and in the Hartford area for a change and then planned to return to New York for Rory's babyshower, but she'd asked to meet her for tea, to get some undivided attention, and Rory had happily complied.

Now that Rory was feeling much better, compared to a week earlier, she felt the sudden need to go to place, see people and do things - as if being afraid to be shackled down by another complication or the newborns themselves. She now knew what it felt like to be without her freedom, appreciating it immensly.

"It's great to see you, grandma. It's been too long," she replied. It certainly had - Christmas seemed like a lifetime ago. She'd dressed up for the occasion, not really having had much reason to wear anything other than her leggings since the spring gala - having nearly forgotten how uncomfortable maternity tights were, having worn a fairly formal navy short-sleeve boatneck maternity dress to fit the venue.

"So, how is Logan these days?" Emily inquired casually, after a quick exchange about their own lives.

"He's good, working from home mostly," Rory replied, as she picked out a scone from the three-tire selection for herself.

"It must be nice having him around the house," Emily said. She herself would've gone crazy with Richard being around the house all day, but she knew the dynamic was different between Logan and Rory. Now thinking back, that naturally made her miss Richard, even the times when he had been annoying. "And I'm sure for him to be around family too, after losing his mother," she added.

Rory had to admit that with the recent events Shira's death had somehow been pushed to the back of her mind. And in a way she felt guilty for not having really paid attention whether Logan was indeed fine. He seemed fine, but he had hardly spoken about it since the funeral. But then again, her mother had rarely been a matter of discussion in their household when she had been alive.

"He's actually been getting to know his brother, the one I told you about," Rory said, surprising herself that she'd chosen to share this news herself. Was it really her secret to share? At the same time she knew that Logan had no intention of hiding it - so it would only really be a secret for so long. Then again, Emily had been the one to piece it together in the beginning when all Rory had known was a bunch of fragments. She maybe never would've if it hadn't been for her grandmother.

"Oh my!" Emily exclaimed in surprise. "Does Mitchum know?" she asked in whisper.

"He does, and he's not objecting. I don't know what his view of this is… but it doesn't really matter. Logan is actually getting on pretty well with Owen. He went to his wedding recently and they're coming to visit us this weekend actually," Rory confessed.

"You know, back in the day this would've been quite a scandal - but these days - I don't even know anymore. People might just as well just go 'ah..'" Emily shrugged with her palms up.

Rory burst into laughter, a bit more loudly than she'd intended, correcting her reaction apologetically.

"But for what it's worth, I'm glad - now that Shira is gone... there's really no reason for him to deprive himself of that connection, especially if he is interested in him too," Emily remarked. "But you should keep in mind that you two have a lot more to lose than him - I would hate to doubt that he's not genuine in his interest, but it simply wouldn't be the first time some one would be after the family fortune," she cautioned, recalling quite a few smaller scandals Elias had swept uner th

Rory didn't particularly appreciate her grandmother raising suspicions and distrust. She wanted to believe that the person she'd gotten to know, even as briefly as she had, was indeed who he said he was. She didn't want to treat him like the Huntzbergers had once treated her.

"Owen knew about his father before Logan ever got involved, he just kept it to himself - so we really don't have much reason to doubt him," Rory explained.

"Well, good then. I'm sorry if I doubted him, I just wanted to look out for your best interest," Emily apologized.

"It's alright," she replied. She did appreiciate her thought.

"Oh, Rory, and I nearly forgot," Emily exclaimed. "I'm so proud of the article," she added, demonstrating the Time Magazine issue she'd put between a plastic cover to keep it straight.

"Oh, I didn't even know it was out yet," Rory reacted.

"Well, officially it is not. But it will be tomorrow," Emily added with a wink. "I got you an early copy as well," she said, handing her another copy.

The cover was a photo of Bernie Sanders and the front text did not mention her at all, but inside, on page 8 there it was - 'Breaking the mold - new generation of Huntzbergers changing the industry from ground up'. Rory was quite surprised by the spin they'd taken, apparently she qualified now under the new generation of Huntzberger - who would've imagined that ten years ago?

But the article itself was really good - telling a bit of her story, almost reading like the preview to the book she'd once started to write, and covering her research in good detail. It had commentary on Logan's progressive changes in the HPG was - how it was no longer a solely a 'straight white male' kind of business, how health care and family leave was prioritized, employees enabled studying and so on. She was somewhat relieved to see that they hadn't included the question about her pregnancy, and even the photos they'd used didn't not emphasize it - which was perfect - she didn't want these things to overshadow everything she'd worked for. Kids did not define her or limit her - they were a bonus of life. She'd almost forgotten what it had felt like to have that drive to work in the past month or so, having had a significant change of pace, but now she could feel it again - she did want to work.

"Thank you, wow, this is great," she commented, having skimmed it over for a few minutes.

"I think it's really good. Your grandfather would be proud, and I bet Mitchum is too," Emily said, and continued to drink her tea.

It was a nice cool, yet sunny, weekend day in Brooklyn, and Jess and Celeste had gone jogging, Evie along in the jogging stroller, having dozed off about halfway through. They'd just made it to Brooklyn Heights Promenade, as Celeste requested a small stop.

"Damn these new sneakers," she grumbled, having gotten a blister. This was not one of those times she had a spare pair of shoes with her, but she did have a bandaid. She took a seat on the rocks, not bothering to look for an actual bench and allowed her skin to dry in the summer air for a bit before attempting to apply the bandaid.

She'd been thinking about the right time to tell Jess about her idea to maybe consider moving. She hadn't quite dared to do it - but with some of their communication issues in not so distant past - she knew she had to.

"I talked to Erica about Stars Hollow," she began hoping to word it as neutrally as possible, just so see what his stand was. Talking to her therapist about this was her attempt to make sure this wasn't just something she was imaginign to be a good solution to her issues and to find out whether she should even be considering changes that were that life altering. She felt horrible, wanting something other than this - she didn't want Jess to make yet another major sacrifice for her - he'd done so many already.

"Yeah?" he inquired, and put the brake on the stroller and took a seat next to her. Evie, thankfully, had no objections sleeping in an unmoving stroller.

"I told her how good it felt, like even from the couple of days, I could just sense the community you know, and this is largely what I've been looking for here," she explained. "And well…essentially she suggested, that because my issues are not so much internal as external - the loss of famly, not feeling like I fit in or the question of finding purpose, that it might not be a terrible idea for me to consider that it might be easier for me to find those things somewhere other than New York," she exhaled, sounding noticeably nervous.

"Why so nervous?" Jess asked, instead of reacting to the content, as he intertwined his fingers with hers. The touch always did help.

"Because I don't want to be this person who just says 'jump' and expects you to ask 'how high?'," Celeste explained.

"Well I'm not asking that, am I?" he chuckled, supportively. "But if that's how you feel, it's worth a discussion at least. I'm not saying let's sell the house and move somewhere else right this minute, but talking is not something you need to feel nervous about," he assured.

"It's like… I don't know... I know it sounds silly but it's like the universe is telling me to try something different. Sure, I've made some progress with the book here, I love it that there are places and groups to take Evie to, that I have 'me' time and that I have all these options here to educate myself, even to work if I figured out what I wanted to do. But there's like some roadblock here - like the people, no matter which way I interact with them, whether it's in pilates or playgroup, like nobody is letting me in. And I don't know whether that is because of my background or that they just don't have the capacity to do that - all having their own busy lives," she explained, wanting to stop there, knowing that if she continued, tears of feeling rejected every time she tried, would soon follow. And she didn't want to ruin their day with that.

"I don't know if it helps - but I haven't exactly been making friends left and right here either," he admitted. Sure, they both had Logan and Rory, and April, Jess' colleagues some of which really were more than collegues, but when it came to spending their free time with someone it only really was Logan and Rory that counted - and even there - Jess wasn't all buddy-buddy with Logan per se. They got along, liked each-other's company in a group but when it wasn't work-related they didn't exactly hang out. Jess had Adrian, whom he called once in a while, but Celeste had become such a major part of his life ever since he moved to New York - it was really all about her. And he knew it too - this was what made him vulnerable.

"I'm sorry…," she hesitated, feeling guilty for having nearly forgotten his side of this.

"Hey, it's fine - I've accepted it. I'm okay - I came here with no illusion that this would be much different," Jess explained, speaking from experience. It had been pretty similar when he'd been younger - sure there were people he got a long with or hung out with, but none were really something he would call a close friendship.

"I just feel bad because I hadn't noticed it, I knew… but it didn't register," Celeste said, apologetically.

"You've had a lot going on," he excused her.

"It doesn't make it right. I want you to be happy too," she replied.

"I have you guys, I have my book - it's my outlet, and now with the work thing no longer having over my head…," Jess began to explain, not really needing to elaborate the full extent of his thought as he noted Celeste already nodding understandingly.

"So you wouldn't be completely opposed to considering a move?" she inquired cautiously.

"I'm not sure that I'd want to permanently move away, but with my work being a lot less tied to the place, it would give us some freedom to maybe consider a change. Ideally - if we could keep the place here, not burn the bridge, so to speak, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea," Jess explained. He did have that bit of vagabond in him - new places and people gave him new ideas, there was just the question of where to - and while he had a good guess Celeste was developing a soft spot for Stars Hollow, he wasn't sure if that was the place that was for him.

"I know you don't exactly love Stars Hollow," Celeste stated hesitantly.

"I don't," he exhaled, observing her impression turn thoughtful, almost hopeless at the sound of his words. God, caring about Celeste as much as he did was going to be the death of him. "But there are things that I don't mind about it also - I like that Evie can explore more freely, I like that I don't really have to worry about being mugged after dark, everything is cheaper... My mom is only really tolerable in small doses - but then again I know Evie would love the chance to be around family more," he added, feeling like he just had to say something in balance. It was the last few times that he'd been there that he had been noticing things that he hadn't before, as if a sign that either him or the town had changed. There were other priorities now. But he couldn't really picture himself living the typical small-town life either - a white picket fence really wasn't him - that he couldn't lie about.

The discussion was left there for that moment - they weren't through having it though and they both knew it. Celeste didn't want to force this upon him, and he didn't want to make her stay in Brooklyn if this external factor was what stood between her and her happiness. What were the sacrifices either of them was willing to make?

Rory was sitting at her desk, the gridded terrace doors wide open and a pleasant breeze blowing in, while Finny napped and Maya was taking her break, going over the list of real estate ads Olivia had sent both her and Logan that morning. Logan really hadn't wasted any time with putting their request in, and it honestly seemed like Olivia was quite motivated herself to get to sell their current place, already asking for a chance to come take some pictures. They, however, were really not in any hurry to sell, wanting to have the new place set up before they did anything on this one, not really feeling like living out of boxes even for a few days.

She'd run a few real estate searches herself and she knew that while in total there was no shortage of 8-9 bedroom places it largely came down to the repairs, location or simply being completely not their style. Somehow it seemed that house that size tended to be decorated along the lines of the Huntzberger mansion, and that comparison Rory really did not want. On the positive note, she found that upgrading in size didn't particularly cost a whole lot more than what their current place was worth, if they were going to relent on some remodelling that wasn't done within the last few years. Rory didn't have an issue with that, as long as everything was safe and clean.

The places Olivia had sent them were an odd bunch, she'd clearly struggled with the number of rooms, having included a few 7 bedroom versions, and while one of them Rory even briefly considered - two of the bedrooms having double sinks and being large enough for two people, thinking about the twins, but she wasn't really sure she wanted to move so close to the 5th Avenue. She wanted to enjoy what they were able to afford, but she didn't want people pointing fingers. She knew she shouldn't care about what people thought, but to her there was a line she didn't want to cross, she didn't want to parade their good fortune.

There was another place in the Upper East Side that caught her attention, in her current condition the basement swimming pool definitely had a draw. And while the white-windowpaned red-brick looked quite welcoming, not like some that almost intimidated most couriers, the insides were worn out and really not their style - reminding more of the Gilmore house in Hartford, requiring at least a few months worth of renovations.

The next place Rory 360 degree-toured was definitely something else - the bold distinct facade with it's curved staircase leading up to the main entrance definitely being a little princessy, almost reminding her of her debutante ball. Would she really want to feel like she was presented to the world each time she emerged from that door, even if she wore her leggings having not bothered to comb her hair that morning?

But she looked it through anyways - the place was almost half the price the place they currently had, and for that - the place was in remarkable shape - nothing flashy, just simple white paint in most rooms, leaving some room for additions if they wanted. It even had a small roof terrace and both an office and a library which she did appreciate. But seven floors in addition to the garden level, despite the elevator seemed somehow over doing it. Yet she didn't rule it out.

The townhouse she looked at next was a surprise. There weren't that many 40 ft wide townhouses in New York to begin with and this one strangely reminded her of Logan's old place in London with its classic white look. It was definitely not modest - but she realized that if she wanted the space without having seven stories - this was likely one of the few options. She didn't like the living room - it was too Shira Huntzberger to her taste - 20 ft ceilings, large round-shaped window facing the garden and very over the top classical detailing, almost attempting to make the place look like a castle of some sort. What she did like was the library - it reminded her of her grandfather's study, and that had always been dear to her. The garden was beautiful and she could already picture the kids playing out there. The place also had two separate room complexes with their own little kitchens, which seemed perfect for Gigi and Maya, also the placement of the three bedrooms all on one floor meant that she could sleep with all their kids on the same floor for a period at least until the twins started to demand their private rooms - which as far as she'd read, could or could not happen.

It was next she discovered a townhouse only really a few blocks from their current place, a place that she'd passed numerous times on her way to the park. It was a 22 ft wide Clarence True with an interesting Elizabethan Renaissance Revival facade with essentially three apartments in the same place - while they really didn't need three apartments, when it came to Gigi and making Maya as comfortable as possible, it really wasn't a horrible idea. What surprised her though was the number of rooms - what in the world was she going to do with 11 rooms? Though she did like the idea of only really having a one step entrance, which would be very convenient with a stroller. The insides were plain, except for the wood-panelled dining room, which was classical but not overbearing. She even liked how it just looked simple - it didn't yell for renovations at first sight, but clearly some things could be updated and she knew that it was mostly Logan she needed to convince, who was slightly more inclined towards having everything freshly renovated and having perhaps a slightly more modern look.

The next house was exactly what she knew Logan would want - and while it only had 6 bedrooms, she could see from the floorplan that the sitting room could essentially work as the study, as it also had a large family room and a separate living room and the game room could theoretically in the future work as an additional bedroom. The place was a new construction, a modern adaptation that still fit in well with the neighbouring houses. This wasn't the type of place that enabled any one of the inhabitant to really isolate themselves - this meaning that Gigi and Maya would be using also their common areas unless they made some alterations - which they could of course live with, it wasn't much different from the way they lived now, but with her still knowing little about Gigi she wasn't sure if that would really be the best option.

"So, did you find us a place yet?" Logan asked, as he emerged from his study to see how she was doing, feeling like he needed to stretch his legs after a lengthy web conference.

Rory quickly switched the tab back to house that she'd liked the most, even though it was ridiculously large, and eyed at him sceptically.

"I have my favourites," Rory noted, looking at him sideways. "Did you have a chance to look?" she asked.

"The meeting was kind of boring," he admitted with a smirk. House shopping was definitely more fun, and he too had a pretty good idea which ones Rory would like and which ones she wouldn't. They both knew this was going to offer them a fiery debate for the entire week or so. But that too was kind of fun - it had been too long since they'd done that.

AN: Also if you want to take a peek at some of the places I used for the descriptions (some liberties taken) you can check these addresses (in no particular order):

120 East 78th St

123 East 61st St

322 W 80th St

160 East 81st St

(mostly on Redfin or Sotheby's)