"There's my granddaughter," Liz exclaimed, adding, " doesn't she look cute?" as she pulled the toddler onto her hip, as Jess returned from the construction store and lunch, to drop her off. Evie's yellow vintage-style dress, a style for which Celeste had a thing for, made her look a little like a tiny Anne of Green Gables, except the hair which was darker, but similarly braided. The girl won hearts everywhere she went, her earlier interaction with Dean's daughter only confirming it.
"She's eaten, but my guess is she'd probably like a story before her nap," Jess added, handing over a backpack that held her essentials.
"Don't you worry, we'll be just fine," Liz added, clearly smitten with Evie herself. "Hey, do you need help? I could send TJ, get him out of the house," Liz hinted quietly. It was Saturday and Jess could already hear the desperation in her voice and the football game loudly on the TV in the living room.
"Oh, I'm not doing anything with wood today," Jess excused, hoping this was a good enough excuse to dodge that bullet. TJ could be helpful sometimes, and he certainly knew his way around wood, but he needed supervision and he wasn't exactly someone whose banter he cared to listen for hours on end.
"Jess!" Doula exclaimed as she rushed out the flappy front door. "Hi Evie," she added as she noticed her.
"Hey!" he greeted his half-sister with a hug. Clearly the girl had missed him, having not seen him properly since her birthday.
"Do I get to hang out with you today, oh please…," Doula begged. "I have done my homework already and I just finished reading The Hobbit," she added proudly. Jess had definitely given the girl the love for books, books being his go to present for her as long as either could remember.
"That's great," he reacted. He felt guilty for not having been around as much as he would've liked - he didn't feel like there was enough of him. But those innocent puppy dog eyes got to him this time.
"I'm going over to the house to plaster and paint, if you want you can tag along, but wear something that isn't afraid of a few stains," he instructed, getting an excited squeal in response. Now having her around, was a whole other story. Even if she were to just hang around - he actually wanted to hear what she had to say. He also felt a little guilty for not really having considered being around Doula more as a major pro when in came to moving to Stars Hollow, when clearly he should've.
"That's really nice of you, you know," Liz added, as Doula went back inside to change in a hurry. "She's a lot more like you than me or TJ," she added, shaking her head slightly. Liz too could see it, and sometimes she worried whether she'd screw her up, if Doula didn't have Luke and Jess for role models besides her and TJ. She knew very well that they were simple folk, and she had accepted it - she liked how they were, but she could tell Doula could probably strive for a life greater than just crafts.
"It's no big deal, unless of course you're against child labor," Jess chuckled, hoping that perhaps while they talked books Doula might actually be helpful around the place, at least a little. He didn't want to lose the precious time he had to do this, after all.
"Oh, not at all," Liz sighed. "Let's wave daddy bodbye, you'll see him later, Evie," she added, the toddler clearly already feeling a little restless.
Jess kissed Evie and Liz on the cheek, and headed towards his car to wait for Doula.
They stopped by Lorelai's garage to get some Ram Board and some extra drop cloths, Luke had suggested they take, to help protect the floors, which were in decent condition as they were, from paint.
Opening the gate that led to the driveway by the side of the house, was proving to be a nuisance each time, hence Jess made a mental note of needing to get some automatics for it. There was a 'no park' zone in front of the building from the time of the operating fire station which he figured he probably also needed to get fixed but was not particularly looking forward to, knowing it meant dealing with Taylor.
"Wow, this place is pretty cool," Doula noted as she observed the back yard. "You know, you should probably make like an outdoor living room back here, add a nice deck, couches, big table, some shade, potted plants," she suggested.
The adult-sounding suggestion made Jess raise his eyebrow at her 12-year old half sister sceptically.
"Since when are you Genevive Gorder?" he chuckled, having heard the name from Celeste a while back.
"Mom watches a bunch of design shows," she added laughingly at the comparison.
"But the idea is not half bad, remember we have that pergola in Brooklyn, it would make sense to keep some sort of an outdoor element. And with the deck it wouldn't be so dusty," he noted the gravel. Suddenly he felt the urgency in this plan, knowing it was mere two weeks before Celeste's birthday which would pretty much coincide with the time they were planning on moving here more permanently, having to move out of their townhouse by then.
"Why don't you grab some of those rollers and extensions and head over to the third floor, I'll just make a few calls," he added, and called Luke asking if he could do a quick lumber calculation for him for a deck later. If he wanted this done, he needed to rush it. He also asked for Tom's number, so he could ask about the company Dean had suggested, and besides he was probably going to need Tom's or someone else's, he recommended, help for getting the tiling done in the bathrooms as well. The avocado green tile would only go so far.
He then grabbed a few buckets of putty, some scrapers and spatulas and headed upstairs himself, leaving the paint for later. After setting up some coverage to protect the floors, he gave Doula a quick tutorial on how to proceed, the girl appearing suprisingly willing to help out.
"Now I know this first part isn't as much fun as painting, but if you help me, we might get to painting tomorrow already," he added and continued to explain and demonstrate to Doula how to plaster without adding too much putty. The girl, for his 12 years of age, showed remarkable patience to do this.
"Hey, you have your back up career set up right here," Jess commented as he observed her fill a few drywall connections.
Doula laughed, appreciating his comment. "I guess that can't hurt, but what I really want is to write like you do," she admitted, and continued to work along sides Jess.
"Wow," Jess responded with a crooked smile, feeling slightly taken aback by that compliment. He knew Doula was his fan through and through, but he didn't quite know he'd had that effect on her. "But you know, the life of a writer isn't really all what it's cracked up to be. There's late hours, travel, lots of criticism and the pay really isn't that good nor stabile," he tried to add a more realistic view of this.
"Oh I know, that's why you still work as an editor, right?" Doula added.
"Pretty much," he replied. "I don't like to write when I know I have to, either. That was probably why I didn't do so well in school back in the day," he added. He had always liked to do things when he felt like it, the traditional school system really not doing him any favors other than making him protest and work against it. Sure, he'd graduated some years later from night school, but that too was largely thanks to a teacher that had been beyond flexible after seeing what he was capable of when he tried.
"I've read all of your books, you know," Doula added.
"Really?" Jess smirked, his eyes wide. At least three of his five previous books were rather dark, borderline depressive even, some bloodier than others, some rather graphic about sex or violence even. He wasn't really sure what he should be telling his little sister about those things - but clearly if she had read them, well before the recommended reading age, perhaps he already had.
"They're a little heavy for my taste, but I appreciated bits of them," Doula pointed out, honestly.
"Interesting, what bits?" he inquired and the two continued their work along with Doula discussing a number of interesting details about his books, like some of his characters or settings, actually providing a very good analysis for her age. Jess was left impressed and clearly seeing how desperately the girl needed some other company besides her parents. It was the first time he really felt like the little bits of regret and doubt he had about moving there were beginning to fade away.
Rory was released from the hospital later that same evening, thankfully making it to home an hour or so before Finny's bed time.
"Come on, into the elevator," Logan urged Rory, who was already beginning to climb the stairs.
Rory did hate stairs but after knowing that Gigi had just been stuck in there recently wasn't exactly making her comfortable to the idea.
"The doctor said limited stair climbing only and three stories is not limited," Logan replied matter of factly. "Besides, Finn set up an emergency kit for the elevator," he said, gesturing towards the first aid kit Finn had glued to the upper corner of the elevator car with double sided tape.
"Huh," Rory noted and reluctantly waddled into the elevator. At least she was allowed to walk a little around the house and wouldn't have to use a wheelchair or a bedpan. "So what's in it?" Rory asked in passing as the elevator headed to the third floor for the impromptu picnic in bed Logan had come up with with the takeaway bag in his hand.
"Small bottle of water, a granola bar, a screwdriver to wedge the doors open - he said that technically it should be easy to open if one does that, and a plastic bag for… you know, " he explained. "We really should do a training course in case anyone gets stuck or something, have everyone watch the tutorial," he suggested, half laughingly. He'd already watched it, wanting to be prepared himself.
Rory wasn't really in the mood for any of it right now, but she appreciated his optimistic banter nonetheless.
She was greeted by Finny as soon as the elevator doors opened, Finny having been playing in his bedroom, while Maya was unpacking the rest of his things, clearly having taken a lot of the unpacking to her own shoulders, at least in the rooms that concerned her work.
"Rory - so glad to see you home," Maya greeted her.
"Thanks Maya," she replied, and with a toddler stuck to her leg, continued onwards to their bedroom.
"Maya, I'll take care of Finny for the rest of the night," Logan offered.
"Okay. Goodnight!" she called out as she headed downstairs to her quarters.
"Interesting choice in duvet covers," Rory commented as she glanced over the flowery duvet cover they had once bought for the guest room for when Emily came to visit. Clearly some boxes had ended up in the wrong rooms.
"I actually don't know whose doing this is," Logan chuckled.
"Ah..," Rory sighed, getting settled sideways on the bed again.. "Maybe we have elves?" she added, trying to make jokes while not really feeling it.
She felt heavy, achy and not quite trusting her body these days - constantly thinking whether the next kick or ache was in fact something more.
"Come on Finny, up to the bed with mommy," Logan helped him climb the bed.
After eating their poke bowls, Finny preferring to snack on bits and pieces from both of their meals instead of eating his own, Finny kissed Rory good night, while being a little reluctant to leave and Logan went to give him a bath and put him to bed with a story.
Rory hated not being able to do it herself. The last month or two had been a constant guilt trip for her, worrying what Finny must be feeling or thinking that she wasn't doing everything he wanted with him. Finny hadn't quite grasped the concept of getting sisters yet either, and she worried that once he did, he'd begin to resent her and think that perhaps she didn't love him anymore. She knew she shouldn't be thinking like that but once she thought it once, it was stuck in her head. And now there was so much more worry - worry for all three of them, and for Logan too.
As Logan returned, nearly an hour later, he found Rory in bed sobbing.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Logan inquired, climbing into bed with her.
Her eyes were red, her lips quivering as she attempted to wipe her cheeks off with the back of her hand. She hadn't wanted to break like this. But being alone in her own space, had done that to her, having had time to really think - having all of it really just sink in.
"It's not how this is supposed to go. I was so scared, Logan, I am so scared. What if my body can't handle this, what if it's my fault if they're born early and have problems because of it," she whimpered. She still remembered how scared she'd felt about everything when she'd first found out about the pregnancy. But after the initial fight with herself she'd somehow managed to push it all into the back of her head and simply pushed ahead.
Logan wrapped his arm around her, clearly seeing that the stress of the past day and a half had caught up with her.
"It's not your fault, it isn't going to be your fault… you can't influence this, the girls are doing great, they've had their shot and it's helping them. You are following doctor's orders," he tried to assure. "You are incredible for having come this far, you've been strong and brave, and to me you're always going to be," he assured, stroking her back.
"I'm just scared something will happen to them, or one of them," she sobbed, burying her face in his neck. In her mind Leigh had always been in the weaker position, having for a while been pushed up under her ribs, and somehow she just feared for her more, she was even a little smaller than Emma, that much she knew already from the few latest ultrasounds.
There really wasn't much for Logan to do other than to just be there. He was worried too, but his role here was not to break down but to give her all the support she needed. It really wasn't easy, he was feeling helpless and powerless just the same. The responsibility for all four of them, instead of just two was almost too much and he didn't really know how men did that - stand by and protect their families from things that were out of their control. He knew he was lucky, not having to worry about having the space, feeding or clothing them like many men did. But in this situation his money was no good - it wouldn't help to make sure nothing could go wrong, he couldn't control how Rory felt or how Finny would take the news. Having been a bystander when Celeste's labor had turned into a fragile life-and-death match, he was more aware than ever that he feared for Rory too. There hadn't been many situations like that in his life, where he actually considered his willingness to give everything up if that would somehow just ensure that everyone was going to be okay.
Celeste had gone to pick up Evie from Liz's and was now strollering her back towards the fire station after the early afternoon wedding she'd help run. Michel had been kind enough to stay until the end, his kindness towards her still being something a lot of the people in the Dragonfly seemed to be surprised by. But there really hadn't been much else to do than make sure those who were too drunk we switched over to water at some point or guided friendly to their rooms and to make sure the cleaners did their job after the party ended.
She could already hear laughter as she approached the backyard along the driveway, pondering who was Jess with. She found Jess and Doula sitting in the back, having dragged the dining table from the chief's house outside and managed to find four matching chairs from Mrs. Kim's, having pizza, Jess having a small can of beer open and Doula a soda of some sort. It was still fairly early - 7-ish - and the low evening sun still shone well into the back yard from the side.
"Hey!" Jess greeted her, his mouth still half-full.
"Hi!" Doula said and took another slice of pizza, gesturing for her to take some too.
Celeste waved her hand and kissed Jess in greeting.
"What's all this?" she inquired, gesturing at their little table setup that hadn't been there yesterday.
"Oh this?" Jess began just as he'd swallowed. "We thought this place could use an outdoor living room. We were thinking of adding a nice deck back here so it wouldn't be so dusty, maybe a sunsail or two like Rory and Logan had at the penthouse," he pondered. Both Jess and Doula were covered in small bits of putty and dribbles of paint primer, but looking happy nonetheless.
"Yeah, that's an idea," Celeste replied approvingly. She'd always had a love for outdoor entertaining, having had outdoor dining options in both of her former houses, all of which really tried to mimic the small glimpses of her childhood she'd actually liked - outdoor dining in their summer house in Nice, under olive trees, with the scent of lavender and the salty sea air in her nostrils. It was funny how now, years later, small glimpses were returning to her. In these memories the people were almost faceless by now, but she remembered those she had liked, some family friends, the friendly housekeepers there, the geckos, the food - that somehow always tasted better there.
"Luke is coming by tomorrow to take the measurements and give us a lumber calculation. I was thinking it could be quite large actually, maybe even so it'd connect the two houses," Jess shared, quite liking the idea of an outdoor play area for Evie too, which wouldn't require mowing the lawn. The back yard already had trees and some bushes, but grass seemed useless somehow.
"Wouldn't it take away the parking spaces?" Celeste asked.
"The inside parking will be in one row either way along the driveway, but I think we also need to talk to Taylor about getting the no parking zone removed from the front," Jess explained.
"Right," she sighed, not terribly looking forward to that.
"Doula, would you mind looking after Evie for a bit, I'll go show her what we did today," Jess wiped his fingers clean and stood up.
"Of course not," the girl replied.
"And I talked to Tom, who's the local contractor about doing the tiling. It'll be a few weeks, he has a que. But it gives us some time to decide what we want. And he said it really isn't that much work - if we are okay with keeping the pipes where they are now. But he said we can do them one bathroom at the time. If keep an extra shower in the laundry room, sort of like a mudroom or something, so we wouldn't be without a bathroom and we can already live here while they are renovating it," Jess added. He'd been rather cocky calling Tom during the weekend, but having explained the urgency and the property a little, he'd actually been quite keen to work on it. It seemed that pretty much anyone that knew anything about architecture or construction - had secretly been eyeing at the place as something worth preserving and renovating properly boosting Jess' ego a little for having seen the potential himself.
"Good," Celeste sighed, climbing the stairs ahead of Jess in her heels, trying to tiptoe so her pumps wouldn't get stuck in the metal mesh.
"I'll try to think of something to do with the stairs," Jess added, noticing her being slightly uncomfortable like that. "And I have a contact that might help us with the front door and windows," he added.
"Thank you," she sighed, kissing him as they reached the third floor and Celeste had had a chance to look around a little. It really was looking more and more like a place that was a home. The bedrooms were large, but deep and narrow rather than square shaped. In a way it worked, it gave some room to add a larger wardrobe later, maybe even a desk for herself, and Evie would have plenty of room to play, for a reading nook and if they were going to be here for a while, even for a full-size bed.
She would've gladly hugged Jess, but she didn't want to get paint on her light grey Armani dress, having been rather relieved that it fit her again - a small victory for herself. Celeste felt that she'd gotten incredibly lucky with him - somehow the ability to do this himself, with his hands, feeling so much more powerful and sexy than simply throwing money around like every other guy she would've probably dated if she'd stayed Odette Aubertin.
She kissed him once more, teasingly keeping his hands away from her body, this time more slowly but still deeply enough to give him a preview of her gratitude.