It seemed that Owen's poker face was just as good as Logan's as he hadn't made a single comment about the grandeur of the penthouse during the hour the two had now spent in their apartment, like Rory had worried. Charlotte, however, was more hesitant, as if not daring to say anything at all and moved around the place like she was afraid to break something - Rory's suggestion to 'make yourself feel like home' having fallen to dead ears as they'd briefly toured the place.
While Logan had taken Owen to his office to talk finances, wanting to get the most dreaded part over with as soon as possible, Rory attempted to break the ice with Charlotte, as they sat in the living room, Rory trying to make animal sounds along Finny's book to keep him entertained. Along with "hee-haw" and "baa" she couldn't help to look the girl over with some envy - her somewhat fragile Elle-Fanning-like form dressed in modest beige off-sleeve mini dress that was spruced up by her elaborate colorful mandala tattoo on her left arm, definitely malomg Rory feel a little self conscious in comparison of the younger and clearly a lot lighter woman.
"He's really cute. He's what - two?" Charlotte finally dared to ask, making an educated guess as she worked as a pediatric nurse, having observed Finny for a while, after Rory's preliminary line of questioning, mostly concerning the wedding and how she'd met Owen, having exhausted itself.
"He'll be two in October. We have the same birthday - easy to remember," Rory replied, smilingly. Finny did look perhaps big for his age. He always did seem to have the appetite of one, and he certainly had the strength of a two-year-old as well.
"I bet he's going to be a great big brother," she commented, clearly searching for something to say. Rory could tell that Charlotte too was making an assumption about her - that this was all she was, it having not really come up yet what she did other than being at home like she was now.
"Well I'm not sure he really gets it actually. We've tried announcing it like three times now. He just sort of ignores the news. So I really don't know how he is going to take it when it really hits him that there'll be two girls around he'll have to share our attention with," Rory replied, the toddler suddenly having decided it was time for cuddles. It was becoming a running joke, how Finny would probably just pretend he didn't have sisters for the rest of his life.
"So you must've had Finny quite early in your marriage, Owen told me you got married in 2016, was it?" Charlotte asked hesitantly.
That particular timeline was not exactly Rory's favourite topic, knowing there were things in that storyline that weren't exactly by the book - thankfully they sounded horrible only to those who didn't know everything. But she didn't yet feel ready to reveal all to her new sister-in-law either, Emily's words of caution still lingering somewhere in the back of her mind. It was no longer about protecting themselves from any type of media strom, but rather their children - if they ever were to encounter those rumors they were the ones to be potentially hurt and confused.
"We did, but it wasn't rushed by the pregnancy. We were together back in college for many years. There's history, and then there's HISTORY. I considered marrying him when I was 22, but I wasn't ready," Rory explained, hoping this would distract her from the precise timeline of things that was a little fuzzy.
Charlotte nodded thoughtfully. "That couldn't have been easy," she commented, emphatically.
"It really wasn't. But the 'what if' seeds that were planted then, never really faded, making the decision a lot easier later - once I finally had the courage to say it," Rory explained. They'd made their peace with the events of the past, a few sessions of therapy having considerably helped to clear the air.
"It must be good to be so sure of something," she began, correcting herself, "not that I am not. It just took me a while to really accept the idea of getting married altogether. I never really pictured this for myself. But we're happy," Charlotte added with a mild shrug.
Rory didn't want to bring up her miscarriage, and begin to explain how losing their first pregnancy had made it more clear to her than ever what she really wanted. Instead she said, "sometimes you just know," as if it had been as easy as that.
Finny then climbed down from Rory's knees and offered his book of farm animals to Charlotte, clearly having taken a liking to the woman.
"Thank you," Charlotte replied to Finny, smilingly.
"Are you guys hoping to have kids someday?" Rory asked, adding apologetically, "I hope you don't mind me asking. I know you've probably been asked this by every single guest at your wedding."
"Honestly - I love kids, I work with them, I think they are adorable and super fun to be around but I don't think they're in the plans for us, and that's okay. It's nothing dramatic, nothing about 'you'll feel differently about it when you're older' like my mother insists," Charlotte added, making air quotes. "I just think we're happy enough without any of our own, which is why I think it's great that you guys have them. I have nothing against interacting with them, even babysitting if you're ever visiting," she offered.
"Thanks, and hey - it's a free world," Rory sighed. She was very pro-choice, having nearly thought that she was going to one of those women who chose not to have kids for a while. And whether anyone changed their mind years, or not, was their freedom without anyone doubting it. Frankly hearing someone feel so certain about something other than the traditional way of things sounded rather refreshing, and as much as she knew about Owen - it didn't really surprise her.
"There they are!" Rory exclaimed, as she saw Logan and Owen returning from his study, Logan looking relieved. Rory really wasn't very good at small talk these days, and while she liked Charlotte, they didn't seem to have an awful lot to connect on, with Charlotte treating her own job as just a job, she really hadn't found out what made her 'tick'.
"Spilled any of our secrets, yet?" Logan asked teasingly.
"Just your inability to stay in one boarding school for more than 3 months," Rory commented in return, having not really discussed the topic, but his question was just too tempting not to laugh at his expense a little.
"You forget about Andover, Ace," Logan chuckled. "But enough about that. Why don't we decide what we want and order something in today - it's nice outside, we can have dinner on the terrace and talk about London," he suggested, as they had the place to themselves that evening.
That same night, Rory and Logan laid in bed, lingering in post-intercourse glow, Rory wrapped in his arms, spooning. They'd both been a little nervous about the day, hence the stress-release had been truly vital to be able to unwind a little before going to sleep.
"So how did the talk go with Owen," Rory asked, having not had a chance to really discuss this earlier with him.
"He doesn't want anything," Logan said plainly, shrugging. Rory couldn't really see him, just feel his shoulders rise and fall a little.
"Nothing?" Rory asked surprisedly, speaking in a low tone. If that was the case, she was rather relieved - it was nothing about being greedy, just she knew that money tended to complicate things.
"Well he didn't hate the fact that he doesn't have to work himself to death as a teacher, considering my father's age, but other than that it really seems that they are kind of minimalists in that sense. They have an apartment together, they have no intentions of moving any time soon. They have a car, she bikes to work when there isn't too much snow apparently," Logan described.
"She did say that they probably aren't going to have kids," Rory added.
"And my dad apparently wrote him a letter, telling him about his inheritage. He'd actually apologized," Logan added.
"That's a first," Rory commented.
"Dad is apparently taking things very much the 'no pressure' route. He's not insisting to see him or anything unless he wants to and Owen doesn't seem particularly curious at the moment," Logan explained.
There was a moment of silence, both thinking separate thoughts.
"Yeah, life almost seems too easy when there are no kids to factor in," Logan added thoughtfully, trying to place himself in Owen's position, and reflecting on it with their own new house dispute in mind. It was easy to forget sometimes what life had been like just a few short years ago.
"No regrets though," Rory sighed, somewhere in that statement being a question as well.
"Not one," Logan replied, kissing the side of her neck.
"Ugh," Rory reacted, feeling her belly go hard for a few seconds.
"You okay?" he asked, propping himself up a little.
"I think that was a Braxton-Hicks, I hope…," she replied, taking a deep breath. She was going to be 30 weeks along in a few days - and now with the twins safely positioned heads downwards, she was actually again beginning to enjoy their little kicks, knowing that they were in there waiting for the right time. She just hoped they weren't in a hurry.
Thankfully, it was just that one contraction, but the two stayed up talking about houses for the next hour or so just in case there was more, until Rory finally dozed off.
"Can I come upstairs now?" Rory called from downstairs, being sick of waiting.
"Just a minute," Lorelai replied, having fully recovered from mumps by now. The sound of things being moved, carried, plastic bags opened and some things being rearranged was clearly indicating that the preparations were still under work upstairs.
"I'm coming up," Rory didn't take no for an answer, feeling rather hungry already.
As she reached the top of the stairs she was greeted by a loud sound of party horns, a large coffee-themed poster 'Babies are brewing' plastered onto the wall separating the living room and her study. She could see Starbucks cups holding anything and everything except coffee, Lorelai having decided to mock her zero-caffeine policy this time around every so slightly.
"We love you," Lane stepped by and hugged Rory warmly.
"Congratulations," Emily added, following Lane's lead with the hugs.
The guest list wasn't terribly long but long enough - Paris, Gigi, April, Celeste and Honor, besides Lorelai. The congratulations and hugs took up a good ten minutes, each having sweet wishes to say.
"So baby-mama, may I just lead you out to the terrace, where we have a spa for you and your guests. Foot rubs and pedis," Lorelai declared.
"Oh, mom, that's too much," she commented seeing how she'd organized three spa therapists standing side-by-side ready to perform all of the named procedures.
"Nonsense, making two babies is 'too much'," Lorelai argued, not taking 'no' for an answer and nudged her daughter towards the terrace that was warm and sunny, yet sheltered by a sun sail.
"And everybody, let's join them in the terrace, so we can start the games," Lorelai continued.
"Mom, can you bring me some snacks? We're super starving," Rory commented stroking her bump, sometimes liking the idea of refering to herself as 'we' these days when she wanted special attention.
"I'll get it," Celeste offered, returning a few minutes later with a Starbucks cup full of chicken pakora and cucumber sticks, one of Rory's favourites. Everyone already had helped themselves to drinks, Lorelai having made a large bowl of non-alcoholic fruit punch with the possibility to add a dash of something for those who were not pregnant or driving or underage.
"Thank you," Rory exhaled, adding, "here come join me for a pedi," she invited Celeste.
"Don't mind if I do," Celeste replied smilingly, taking a seat next to her on one of the lounge chairs.
"You too, Gigi," Rory invited.
"Okay," she replied hesitantly. Gigi was still a little bit of a mystery to her - she didn't speak much, her nose in her iPhone most of the time, but that really came as no surprise. Gigi was wearing a sort red floral strappy playsuit, which was perfect for the weather, to perhaps a tad too sexy if Rory was looking at it from a parental point of view - though she knew that it was unlikely she was nor wanted to be that kind of parental role to her to nag about stuff like that.
"We'll start with a little quiz on twins, whoever is the winner will get to pull the wheel of fortune," Lorelai declared theatrically, gesturing to the human sized prize wheel she'd installed in the foyer that Rory had missed before, and continued to hand out quiz cards and pencils.
"This sounds like fun," Emily commented, as she positioned herself in the ratang chair, taking the quiz very seriously.
"First question," Lorelai began, getting everyone's attention. "Mark all the famous celebs that have twins!"
The list contained JLO, Beyonce, Jimmy Fallon, Kristen Wiig, Jaime Pressly, Tilda Swinton, Julia Roberts, Madonna, Serena Williams, Mila Kunis, Mariah Carey, Sarah Jessica Parker and Natalie Portman.
"Is it just me that I don't know these things?" Honor complained laughingly
"Good god, neither do I," Emily exclaimed.
"Mom, you do realize that Paris will probably win this right, she's probably worked with most of them," Rory chuckled, having just swallowed a piece of chicken.
"Hey, you never heard it from me," Paris grumbled, as she leaned against the terrace edge and quickly continued to mark the right boxes.
"Question number two," Lorelai said. "Twins can have identical fingerprints - true or false?" she added, and gave some time for people to choose their answers.
"Identical twins are more likely to be left handed - true or false," Lorelai continued, listing a few more questions after this one.
As she asked, "twins can have different birthdays - true or false?" she could already see from the corner of her eye Paris beginning to huff at the simplicity of the questions.
"One more in this row - "identical twins have the same DNA - true of false?" Lorelai added, seeing Paris and April check their boxes in an instant.
"Now you'll have to fill in the blanks of some famous twins on your sheets," she instructed. The list included the mention of the Deville, the Olsen and the Bouvier twins, Arnold and Danny, The Weasley brothers, Thing 1 and Thing 2 and of course Luke and Leia.
As Lorelai left towards the living room to tally up, the others continued to chat outside.
"So Rory, how are the babies, are they kicking a lot?" Emily asked.
"A little less now, it's getting cramped in there, but they are positioned correctly so - fingers crossed," Rory replied, enjoying the kneading of the sole of her foot at the same time.
"Is there a correct way to be positioned?" Gigi asked, finally showing some interest, having put her phone down - most likely because of its battery running low.
"When they are positioned head down in the anterior position, that means the babies back is facing the front of the belly, the labor tends to be easier," Paris explained, with surprising clarity.
"Oh," Gigi reacted, nodding her head a little. Clearly the topic was still a little gross for her. And that was probably a good thing.
"I think I hated any talk of giving birth until I was maybe 30 or something. The song 'Coming round the mountain' still freaks me out a little - it was from the time Sookie, mom's friend, had one of her kids.
"Well, it still must be very exciting to get to meet both of your kids soon," Emily commented.
"I guess," Rory grumbled, taking a drink of punch.
"It really was - it's like you're hit with the first bang of emotion and then ten minutes later - another one. Just as you think you can't feel more love, you do," Lane pitched in.
"Oh - you have twins too?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, I do. I had them when I was pretty young," she replied.
"Any contractions yet?" Honor inquired, seeing Rory experience a kick and stroke her bump.
"Just had one a few nights ago, but it was thankfully just the one," Rory said.
"God, I think I had like a million with Linus - I swear I spent so much time tracking them thinking they were real, but it was all a big waste of time in the end," Honor continued, trailing off into a lenghty discussion with Paris on the topic.
"Oh, and I almost forgot, Rory - congratulations on your graduation," April recalled. She'd graduated, but missed the actual ceremony having not felt like going.
"And for this reason, I got you a cap," Lane added, placing a graduation cap on Rory's head anyways.
"Thank you, guys," Rory sighed. It had stung a little not having been able to attend, but really - it didn't make much of a difference. She had graduated - that was what mattered.
A round of cheers followed.
"And the winner of the theoretical part - is naturally - Paris, and I decided to tally the points separately for the pop-culture version - Lane - you got the highest score in that," Lorelai announced as she returned.
"I always knew obsessing about other people's twins would one day come in handy," Lane chuckled, as she and Paris walked over to the prize wheel, out of sight and Emily went to freshen up her drink, having accepted the casual format of things.
"So, doing well on the house hunt so far?" Celeste asked Rory.
"We have a few options were still arguing over, the one I like it not too far from here, but according to Logan it needs some work. It'd be fine if we just changed the kitchen cabinets," Rory replied, adding, "we're going to see a couple of places tomorrow, if I feel up to it."
"Oh, and Gigi, I don't know how much dad told you, but we're happy to have you staying with us when he leaves. And I hope we can get the new place sorted before that. Whether it'll just be a room or a separate unit of some sort is still under question. I just meant to ask you what your viewpoint in this was, before I go making any decisions on your behalf," Rory asked, turning to Gigi.
Celeste knew the general outline of Rory's father's request, but she tried to stay out of it - figuring it really wasn't her place to say anything. She thought she was overdoing it - twins and Finny were hard enough, not having to deal with a teenager as well. But it wasn't like she was ever going to be in that position, and while the situation was not the same, she'd done something similar when it came to April as well.
"I'm happy that I can come and stay in the City, but I really would've been find in my own place just as well. I'm not objecting though if the place is under the same roof as you guys," Gigi explained, friendlily. "I guess, I just hope it wouldn't like be in some boarding schools with fixed curfews and lots of rules," she added childishly.
"I can't promise that there won't be any, but I'm sure we can come to some agreement. All I want is you to be safe," Rory replied.
"Yeah, I know New York is not Boston or Paris but it isn't that horrible, I'm sure. My mom always was pretty flexible about things like that," Gigi explained, and Rory had no doubts about it. Celeste, however, was hit again by the mention of Paris, momentarily almost wanting to comment something about it, but instead just exchanged glances with Rory and kept her mouth shut.
"Will you be bringing your own furniture or will your dad just buy you stuff locally here?" Rory asked practically. "In case I need to factor that in when planning the use of rooms," she added.
"I honestly don't know - either way is fine, really," she replied. Rory knew she was spoiled - Christopher had given her everything she ever asked for.
"Look what I got!" Lane returned laughingly demonstrating the box of miniature booze bottles and what appeared to be a pink vibrator.
"Well that's certainly a handy set," Celeste laughed.
"The safest kind of sex," Rory commented casually, strangely beginning to watch what she said around Gigi, almost feeling like wanting to hit herself against the head for turning into a motherly prude.
"Now, as you finish your foot rubs, ladies, Sookie is serving us food," Lorelai announced the few people left on the terrace, and the spa therapists helped the women dry off their feet.
"Sookie!" Rory exclaimed as soon as she managed to get up from the chair and heave herself over to the kitchen, hugging her while Sookie was still holding a large spoon of somesort.
"Rory! Wow, you look like you're ready to pop," Sookie commented with a chuckle.
It really was the most hated comment she could've made, knowing that she still had, hopefully, at least a month to go, but she was in a forgiving mood.
They enjoyed their meals, healthy but with some treats afterwards and continued to talk about all things 'babies'. Soon Lorelai followed the meal up with another game of having people sort out a large pile of tiny socks - the winner being the one that sorted out most within 30 seconds, and a round of 'Guess who?' where she showed childhood pictures of each of the party attendees on the TV screen.
While Rory had insisted she had everything ready for the twins, there was still a round of gifts.
"Now, this is from Lorelai and me," Emily said, as she handed over the small jewelry box shaped present.
"Wow, thank you," Rory sighed, as she saw the incredibly delicate but beautiful silver chain with two larger ring shaped ornaments and three smaller twined ones symbolizing their family. It almost looked like the olympic rings if it weren't for the different textures on the smaller rings.
Lane gave her a handmade 'Twin manual' with all the tips she could recall from the time the boys were little and insisting she could call her to help out any time.
"Oh, and I got the twins a bed that you can use at the Inn if you come to visit" Lorelai added.
"And I got the same one for the Sandcastle. They're extendable so they should be usable until they're old enough for the real bed," Emily added.
"Thank you, that's sweet," Rory replied. She was definitely feeling the love, hoping not to become a sobbing mess in a few minutes once her hormones caught up with her.
Some gifts held cute outfits, thankfully in a few sizes larger than she'd already bought so she would already have some at hand once they decided to outgrow them overnight as it often had happened with Finny. Celeste had brought along a bunch of Evie's clothes as they'd agreed and a gift certificate to one of her favourite lingere brands what she'd used while still healing and nursing.
April gifted her a milestone blanket enabling them to photograph the babies growth each month. Paris got her a few gift certificates for various consultants, just like she had last time, except this time she'd focused on twin-experts. It was only for Rory to wonder the variety of baby experts New York had to offer. From Honor she got a set of super soft alpaca wool blankets to have in the stroller.
While Rory had never truly been a huge fan of baby showers, it did feel nice to hang out with all the women she cared about and that cared about her. It was a celebration of a major life change, in more ways than just one - and she felt utterly supported in her path.