"Hey, Ace, you up for a little evening spontaneity?" Logan asked with a notable spark of excitement in his eyes, as he arrived home that evening.
"I might," Rory teased, knowing too well that whenever Logan proposed something with that look, it was something worth seeing. "I'd be 'in' for sure if it involves food of some sort," she bargained, playfully, while she watched Logan greet Finny by hugging him - the satisfaction on Finny's face was priceless, as he'd clearly missed Logan.
"I'm sure that can be arranged. And I'll explain later," Logan replied, keeping the surprise going on a little longer. "Now, go get dressed," he urged, noting Rory wearing one of her favourite loose jersey dresses that she'd managed to get a few food stains on, realizing she might not have noticed the stained hem over her bump. It was miraculous how her formerly slim form could fit two babies, but he knew better than to mention it.
Twenty minutes later Hallam had driven them back to Hugo's street, which really wasn't too far from the place where they'd first lived when they'd moved to New York, having first lived together with Celeste in her townhouse.
"So what is this?" Rory inquired, Logan having kept up their destination hidden from her until now.
"This is a house," he began with the obvious and then continued, "nine bedrooms, two houses from Hugo's place, a large communal kid friendly backyard," he began, gesturing towards Hugo's house. "And it hasn't been listed yet," Logan smirked, feeling a little proud of himself.
He'd called the guy a few minutes after he'd stepped out of Hugo's place earlier, having quickly checked over the neighbourhood prices, and thankfully the owner had just been there, reviewing the general renovations his construction crew had been handing over. He hadn't done everything - like change the windows and doors, but generally the place had been cleared out, walls painted in a neutral shade of pavilion grey, hard-wood floors sanded and refinished, bathrooms retiled and furnished - all in a very modest minimal way, clearly with intent to sell in mind. It wasn't flashy, a few things could've been more high quality, but it was fresh.
As the owner was in a hurry to sell, he hadn't asked too many questions after Logan had expressed his preliminary interest after him mentioning the 18 million price tag for the nearly 8000 sq ft house, which he knew would be a few million under than it probably was worth. Naturally Logan was going to have the place thoroughly checked by an expert first, but he had to admit that the damage had to be pretty significant for him to lose his interest.
"Evening," the elderly beer-bellied man, dressed in a pair of beige shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, opened the door for them, gestured them in.
"Hi," Rory greeted modestly as they stepped in and observed the place, being grateful that the man didn't comment on her condition - it seemed almost everyone she interacted with these days seemed to think she was 'ready to pop any day now'.
"The place still has a bit of a paint stench, but I tried to ventilate a little before you got here," the man commented. The rooms indeed smelled mildly of plaster dust and paint, and the foyer held two large garbage bags of plastic drop cloths, clearly the place still being in the process of post renovation cleaning. "Do you want me to do another tour or would you prefer to wander on your own? I'm not much of a salesman," he replied, apologetically, surprising Logan that he had in fact decided to handle the sale himself instead of getting a professional.
"I think I remember the place well enough. I'll call if we need something, okay?" Logan suggested.
The man nodded in agreement and headed out to the back yard, where currently the only chairs of the entire place were, and opened up a newspaper to entertain himself.
Logan simpered at Rory - noting that the man was clearly no salesman.
"How did you find this place?" Rory asked, as they wandered through the first floor office, that overlooked the front of the house, glimpsing into the bathroom and closets on the way. The parlor was even more impressive than the one at the places they'd visited earlier that week, extending through two floors and the entire width of the house.
"I had a meeting with Hugo, he mentioned it," he replied.
"Ah… How is he? Haven't seen him in years," Rory commented. She'd once ran into him a few years back at a conference, but then they'd both been in a hurry and hadn't had much chance to really talk.
"Seemed great, we might work together on a few things. Otherwise he has a two-month old at home," Logan explained briefly.
"The guy said they used to have a grand piano in here," Logan explained a moment later as they emerged from the primary office space. Neither of them was particularly musical, but this was definitely a sizable room, 25 ft wide at least, perfect for entertaining which was definitely one thing they needed to do every now and then, taking the size of their extended family into account. Logan was just relieved someone else had gone through the process of moving the said piano on their behalf.
"Those doors could use replacement, but they work - they're not screaming to be exchanged right away," Logan continued, as if expecting Rory to say something - but she didn't - simply studied the place carefully.
Rory tried to picture the place with furnishings - their couch, curtains and maybe a carpet of some sort so the room wouldn't echo quite as much. She tried to imagine the laughter of their friends and kids, their everyday dynamic in this place. All that came surprisingly easily.
From there they took the elevator to the sixth floor, Rory momentarily holding her breath as they did, the negative experience from the last place still freshly in mind, but this elevator looked and sounded a lot more sturdy, definitely something installed in the 21st century.
"So I was thinking this floor would work great for Gigi, or later for Finny, if he wants some more independence but doesn't want to move out straight away," Logan explained as he showed the separate one-bedroom apartment that had a bit of an artistic feel, with lots of light.
The kitchen furniture hadn't been installed yet, but the guy had said that he was just finishing up the order, and they could still have a say on the cabinet door design if they wanted. But frankly when it came to the extra kitchens on the two upper floors, which they themselves would hardly use, Logan really didn't care much as long as it was timeless and simple.
"The terrace is pretty cool too," Rory commented, as she pushed the handle of the door, leading outside. There was also a sunroom for rooftop dining for cooler evenings, and a separate storage room which she imagined could hold a barbeque and some furniture during the cooler months without having to carry everything to the basement.
"From here it's a good view of the yard too. Hugo said his kids roam this place all the time and there are other families with toddlers," Logan emphasized, as he glanced over the edge of the terrace.
"It's pretty," she replied. It really was - the perfect garden with miscellaneous vegetation but no lawns to mow and overall nothing for themselves to take care of.
They took a flight of stairs down.
"And this I suppose is sort of a bonus floor - it can theoretically be rented out or we can just keep it for guests," Logan suggested. There was space for a small 10-feet long kitchen, water pipes and outlets positioned in a noticeable way to indicate it, two separate bathrooms both with baths, two smaller bedrooms or studies and two rooms that were essentially meant as living rooms but could serve as bedrooms as well.
The next floor, the fourth, contained two smaller rooms, that Logan imagined could either work for the second study and the other as a library. Opposite them was a large living room, which Logan described seeing as a playroom with also the option to watch TV in, much like they now had in their kitchen at their current place.
"And here we have three bedrooms on the same floor," Logan declared victoriously, knowing Rory preferred to have all of their children sleeping on the same floor as long as they were still little. And this certainly worked, the bedrooms being large enough to accomodate everybody.
"The closet space is a little tight," Rory commented, realistically. There was no walk-in-wardrobe like they now had in each of the rooms, just his and hers closets in the master bedroom, and several more in the hallway and in both of the smaller bedrooms. They weren't tiny, but clearly a little smaller than they were used to.
"Theoretically one of the rooms or a part of it, on the fourth floor could serve as a walk-in, I'm sure the two studys could fit all of our books easily, some could be displayed in the parlor as well. Or you could use the guest floor for books..." Logan suggested, considering maybe a separate library wasn't that vital.
"True," she pondered, though she had to admit a library sounded pretty good too. The closet issue would mean some biannual sorting of clothes, taking unseasonal items to the walk-in-wardrobe upstairs, much like her grandmother used to have her maid do, but surely that could be arranged.
"I love the windows in here," Rory noted the bay windows in the kids' rooms looking out to the garden, the tree branches gently moving in the evening breeze just outside. The windows had built in seats, unfinished at the moment, but definitely a cosy feature, and Rory found herself hoping that her kids too would discover and enjoy the world of books as much as she did.
Logan couldn't help but to smile, Rory's face lighting up more and more as they went along. Sure the walls, all grey with simple white trim, were a little bland, but nothing a little artwork and textiles couldn't fix.
Next was the floor with the maid's unit, which would probably go to Maya, and an eat-in kitchen. There really wasn't too much to see there now, without the kitchen cabinets and appliances but overall the space seemed spacious and inviting.
"So what do you think?" Logan asked, leaning over the bannister that looked over the main parlor downstairs, lush greenery showing through the large French doors. "It's not too flashy, it's freshly done, it doesn't lack space, the elevator seems decent, besides it'll mostly be Gigi doing the heavy climbing," he added with a smirk. "I know it's not your beloved neighbourhood, but we've lived nearby, we know it's not bad, there's Magnolia's just on the corner, a playground on Bleecker, like two minutes form here," he continued to list. Sure, the nursery was going to be a 20-minute drive away, but surely that would be survivable.
"It looks great. I'm not a fan of those bars, but we should probably check first if they're there for a reason," Rory commented, referring to the bars in front of the French. She could even imagine most of their furniture fitting in there just fine, not having to buy everything from scratch. Even the university was less than a mile away, half a mile to Hudson River park or the Highline. There were even a few decent schools in the area. She was seriously struggling to find flaws.
"Me neither - I'm sure that can be changed. And I'll want to have the AC changed too at some point," Logan added, having checked some of the technical aspects earlier as well as he could.
"It would be good to spruce up the kids rooms a little," Rory added and Logan had no objection to that. Rory certainly felt silly now having gotten everything ready at their penthouse, and now their decorator was just going to have to redo the entire concept here.
As Rory was just about to head down the stairs, to go check out the garden, as she said, "call the inspector," as her way of saying 'yes', leaving Logan with a wide grin. It felt strangely good having stumbled upon this himself - almost like having hunted down a prized trophy for his wife, but this was infinitely better. Besides, he'd agreed for the inspector to come the following day.
"Hey, Celeste! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Lorelai answered her phone as she'd seen Celeste's number. Her gratitude ran deep ever since she'd helped bail her out of a real mess due to her illness. But it was still a little strange of Celeste to be calling her, despite connecting over a few topics during the past few years, usually the connection between two families went through Jess and Luke.
"Hi, how are you?" she inquired politely.
"We're good, Leo's off school now and I'm still working my butt off," Lorelai chuckled, turning the TV in the background. "Everything okay over there?" she inquired.
"Oh yea, my book will be out soon and Jess has been able to take it a little easier. I'm not sure if Jess has discussed this with Luke, but we're actually considering a move to Stars Hollow, to give the place a try," Celeste explained.
Jess hadn't talked to Luke about it. It was a pride thing - almost like a teenager admitting to a parental figure he might have been right about something - he almost expected mocking, probably rightfully so, hence he had decided to keep things to himself until the plan was more solid.
"Oh, wow…, that's unexpected," Lorelai reacted, almost having pictured Celeste and Jess being New-Yorkers through and through.
"We'll just give it a go, I think we could use a change of pace, and I've actually already set up a few places for us to come and see on Saturday, one of them is just near you actually," she explained.
"Dwight's place?" Lorelai asked. This as all a lot of news at once.
"Yeah, that," she replied. "I was wondering if you could maybe babysit Evie for us for a half a day while we do, Liz is out of town visiting TJ-s parents," she asked. Sure, they could take Evie along but she knew they'd probably have a hard time focusing in that case.
"Sure, it'd be no problem, I'll have to go work for a bit in the afternoon, but until then it's fine," she replied.
"Also, you don't happen to know any other places that might be for sale, or maybe someone is renting something that might suit us?" Celeste inquired, having stumbled onto a bit of a housing shortage in Stars Hollow and even the neighbouring towns. There were a few places, but either way too big or in too poor condition.
"Not from the top of my head at least, but I can ask around," Lorelai offered.
"That'd be great," she sighed gratefully.
"Does that mean you'll be looking for employment locally?" Lorelai just couldn't hold her tongue.
"Not full time, but I wouldn't object," she replied, feeling the corners of her mouth beginning to rise. But she had to think of Evie, who's nursery was still not sorted out. It felt amazing to feel wanted, and she hadn't even had to go asking for favors.
"I'll talk it over, see what and how much we need - July is pretty booked for us though, I'm sure there's something we could use your help with then," Lorelai mentioned - herself knowing that it was probably a good idea to spend some real holiday time with Leo as well. The months with the kid had passed so quickly, and in many ways she was scared when and how rapidly they would come to an end.
"Sounds good," she replied cheerily. It was strange - even though the simple act of event planning didn't seem to her as something as fulfilling as she'd had with her PR career, when she was doing it on this scale - it felt kind of nice. It was nice to be needed, to feel useful, to make someone's day.
"So you found a house? How did this happen so quickly?" Celeste exclaimed, as they sat with Rory in Rory's kitchen, watching Finny and Evie draw a joint picture that had started out with animals but had taken a sudden turn to cars, rainbows and flowers. Logan had gone to Colin's birthday for the evening having promised to return at a decent hour, being watchful of Rory himself these days, but Rory had insisted he enjoy his last glimpses of freedom, as she'd put it jokingly.
"Logan just stumbled upon it, sheer luck," Rory commented. She was just as shocked than Celeste was, that this had happened so quickly.
Logan had done the house owner's background check and made the home inspection happen within 24 hours, and he now had set up a time for the notary for the following week, having had Olivia to assist him to get a legally binding offer in place, so the guy wouldn't just go elevating the price last minute or back out. Everything looked good, and besides some minor old-house quirks that were rather giving the place some character, there really wasn't anything wrong with the place.
Rory had already made sure the decorator was on standby to go in and take measurements and handle the kitchens, Logan having had some requests that he liked to have in them, and made an initial reservation for movers for two weeks from now. If all went well, they'd be moved in no time.
Rory described the place to Celeste, showing a few photos on her phone which she'd made.
"And you know, I was thinking… we'll have plenty of guest bedrooms, so if you guys don't object I'd like to make sure you have designated ones. There's even a little bit of a living space and a simple kitchen there. They're all on a separate floor, basically a separate apartment," Rory explained. She'd had a bit of an epiphany after talking to Logan about their friends' plan to move. And considering she could also stick a Murphy bed or a sofa bed in her study, just in case they needed more space for visitors, there really was no reason for her not to suggest this.
"Oh wow, you don't have to do that, I'm sure you have plenty of family who'd like to stay there too," Celeste reacted, having not expected it.
"Nonsense!" Rory refused to accept her modesty. "You factored me in, now we factor you in. Besides this way I hope I'll get to see you more, even if you rent out your place or sell it," she assured. "And I want you to feel like this is yours - even if you come to the city to - I don't know, do something else entirely, you are always welcome to stay," she added.
"I don't know what to say," Celeste replied, suddenly feeling a little emotional. Every so briefly she was beginning to consider whether the move was really worth moving away from Rory at all. True friendships were so rare. But she knew that she needed to give this a try - a year.
Celeste wasn't sure how Jess was going to take the gesture, but knowing that they would need a place either way to occasionally crash and as Rory and her babies were likely going to be one of their destinations within the first year anyways - it did make sense. Now it was just the matter of telling Jess in a way that wouldn't make him feel like he was accepting charity, as he'd put it. Jess hadn't particularly commented on his outburst that had taken place a few days ago, leaving Celeste a little puzzled.
"Say that you accept, and let me know what kind of furniture you want - or we can use the things you have in Brooklyn," Rory insisted.
Celeste simply wrapped her arms around her friend sideways, hugging her close. "I wouldn't know what I'd do without you guys," she sighed, wiping a single tear from the corner of her eye.
"Oh, come on, you'll make me cry too," Rory whimpered in return, her emotional moment being cut short by another false contraction. She'd had them checked out once, as it had happened when she had been at Dr. Norton's and got it confirmed, so she knew what it felt like and they weren't anything more serious than that. But they were getting more and more frequent, making her a little apprehensive.
You could feel it in the air - the remaining moisture from the sprinklers, as the blazing sun quickly dried up the sidewalks, as Celeste and Jess walked the streets of Stars Hollow, having just dropped Evie off with Luke, the only one who was awake at 8.45 AM on a Saturday at the Danes-Gilmore household. They'd left early, wanting to get this side of their plan sorted.
Jess had been hesitant around Luke, worried how he might comment on their plan, Lorelai having filled him in by now, but he was utterly relieved to hear Luke say nothing at all. There might have been a smug smirk, but that Luke was certainly allowed, as he'd said they'd catch up later.
Celeste still worried about Jess, clearly he was still searching for his new self - an idea of what he wanted besides his book. She knew she needed to support him and hence she tried to observe him a little more carefully as if hoping to pick up on clues. He'd done so much for her, everything that he could, and here he was again - doing this for her. She felt in debt.
"The place looks smaller than I remembered," Jess commented on Dwight's house, as they stood in front of the house and saw the realtor pull up in a red Mini.
"It looks decent, not huge, the shrubs are nice," Celeste commented mildly. She hadn't seen any pictures from the place inside, hardly ever a good sign when it came to looking at real estate ads, but the outsides looked certainly well looked after, a manicured lawn and large trees in the front, definitely having once belonged to someone with a bit of a green thumb, which neither of them really had. But as Celeste was all about trying new things these days - this wasn't reason enough to rule anything out.
"Hi there," the realtor greeted them as she stepped up, dressed in a beige pencil skirt and a short sleeved modest white blouse, most likely in her late-thirties.
"Hey," Jess nodded. He recalled the woman from somewhere, not from school but maybe around the diner - surely that was possible, but didn't make a big deal of it. After all he'd been in that place for a decent length of time before. Celeste greeted her too, and they followed her up the three steps of stairs to the porch.
"So as you can see the place is well looked after, there's a new roof and rain gutters, and the garden is one of the nicest in the area - the owner used to have a standing contract with a local gardener," the realtor explained as she opened the door.
The insides, however, certainly didn't match the outside. If anything could be made of ratan it was in there - the armchairs, the tables, the very retro Tiki bar, bar stools - even the couch. And it was not that they were going to keep the furniture, surely, they had their own - but the image was a little difficult to unsee once one had seen it.
"As you can see, the owner had a very particular style - but on the positive note everything is very light and can be easily removed," she continued optimistically, making Jess chuckle. "There is a living room, kitchen, dining room and a study downstairs," she added as they walked through the rooms painted in dark blue and strong green shades. The kitchen definitely wasn't new, most likely from the early 2000s, and while the appliances didn't look too shabby, Jess could tell that Celeste was going to exhibit some withdrawal symptoms from her top of the line dark marine shaker-style cabinets and appliances he had let her pick out two years ago for their house in Brooklyn without looking at the price tags.
"There's a half-bathroom below the staircase," the realtor demonstrated, and continued up the stairs along the rather squeaky staircase.
"How many sq ft was this?" Celeste inquired. While she loved the idea that the house was wider than their townhouse, width seeming like a notable perk compared to New York, but somehow the place still seemed cramped and walls thin. The benefits of the townhouse were definitely being able to actually do things that were a little bit more noisy on the other floor, while, say, Evie slept, as there ceilings and floors between most rooms were better at cancelling noise than thin walls.
"Just under 2000, and that includes the garage," she replied. "And here," she continued, adding, "we have three bedrooms, and one large bathroom with a bath and shower, even a bide."
The bedrooms were decent, one of them current in use as some sort of a crafts room instead. The master bedroom followed a similar rattan style as the downstairs, but thankfully the walls were in a lighter shade of green that was less heavy. The second bedroom was more traditional, probably having been used as a guest room.
"And how much as this again?" Jess asked after a while, having left the research largely for Celeste to handle.
"325," she replied.
It wasn't horribly priced considering the location, but still it wasn't the kind of money that one just threw around.
"Alright, we'll see a few other places today and we'll let you know," Celeste said after a few more questions.
The two had another viewing in an hour and a half across town on Peach street, and decided to walk over to Luke's to have some breakfast in between.
"So what do you think?" Celeste asked as they walked, having left their car over at Luke's and Lorelai's to experience the neighbourhoods, if they could be called that even in a place this small, a little better.
"It needs a few layers of pain and a torch for most of the furniture," Jess noted sarcastically. He honestly wasn't a fan, but it wasn't horrible. He'd just never really imagined himself in that type of house - hell, he had difficulty imagining him anywhere Colonial, anything even resembling a white picket fence or a classical American suburb, recalling the song 'the Suburbs' by Arcade Fire that spoke of apathy and emergement of the 'busy' culture he'd so escaped by stopping his own corporate climb.
"It's a little pricey though, it would mean I'd have to involve the bank," Celeste noted, having by now looked into their option a little bit more. They wouldn't need a mortgage for the whole thing, about half of it or so, if they were to really stick to their budget. Celeste was very strict about keeping Evie's college and trust funds safe, and those she didn't feel comfortable touching. She'd much rather go to Logan or involve the bank, but she knew what Logan thought of the former as a plan.
They walked across town slowly, the heat of the day really picking up, Jess already feeling sweat drip down his back under his dark blue shirt. As they really were not in a hurry - they took their time looking over a few display windows on their way - there was the music store, the old book store that frankly looked shabbier than ever before - the display window only really showing a row of textbooks and some harlequin romance novels. There was also a little cosmetics boutique that had changed its name to 'Ultra Glam' and apparently widened its field to beauty treatment as well, making them both chuckle, pondering whether it was meant to sound quite as ridiculous or had the owner been serious.
They passed a few people, among them Ester from the Gazette and Donald, a man TJ worked with, Jess knew from before, and with whom he interacted minimally with a slight nod, then explaining to Celeste who the person was after they'd passed. In a way it felt good to know a thing or two about the place and the people, almost being as her tour guide in some way. But he wasn't sure how he yet felt about every third person on the street knowing him or of him. When he was a teenager, that was what he desperately hated - often taking the back alleys to avoid it, not wanting people to know where he went, who he hung out with or what he was up to. But now - he hardly had anything to hide and now every one of those people were the kind to not really bother with him longer than a casual nod. So maybe this would be fine?
They ate their breakfast, Caesar making them a nice serving of blueberry pancakes along with a fresh pot of coffee and for that part the morning wasn't half bad. It was a little exciting after all - a fresh start.
They were just about to head towards Peach street, Jess having googled that the house in question was at the far end of the street, meaning at least a 15-minute walk, when Celeste took a sudden step to her left, to avoid a trashcan and almost crashed into Michel, who was jogging past them at that moment.
"Sorry," Celeste apologized, at first not realizing who it was.
"Oh, it's you," Michel noted. "Salut! " he added glancing at the two, unplugging his earpod for a second. Michel was wearing an orange and black jogging top and shorts, clearly having mastered up quite a sweat already.
"Salut," she replied on autopilot.
Michel didn't linger around to chat, despite her appearance on the streets of Stars Hollow, was definitely intriguing to him, and he ran off after an apologetic wave, not wanting his heart rate to drop. He didn't actually live in Stars Hollow, but he preferred the quieter streets here for jogging when he had the afternoon shift, also taking full advantage of the Spa's privileges before his workday began.
Celeste looked at Jess, almost anticipating his questioning gaze.
"He recognized me," Celeste replied hesitantly, knowing that she probably should've told him before.
"Huh," Jess reacted, not really sure what to make of it. "And why exactly are you so calm about this?" he asked, the two of them having walked a few steps down the street.
"Lorelai and Luke promised it was harmless, I didn't admit anything but he got the witness protection story without specifications," she explained, adding, "I didn't think there was anything to tell, I'm sorry I didn't tell you." They'd talked about the potential occasions when her cover story wouldn't work, when the person was so convinced it was her that it was simply easier to convince them of the witness protection story that said a lot without really saying much. But this generally meant the person had liked her as a person for it to work.
"Well he is loyal - he's worked for Lorelai as long as I remember," Jess agreed. "But in this new place you really need to be cautious with people - who you tell what," he added.
"I know," she sighed, hoping she wouldn't need to be in that situation again. But unless her appearance really changed - which took years - there were always going to be coincidences and close calls.
The two continued to walk in silence.
(scene to be continued)
AN: ROGAN's house can be found on 280 W 11th St, some adaptions made but for those who want a visual - here you go.