It had taken Logan some serious convincing so Rory wouldn't go full on nursing mode on his knee and so she'd stick to her bedrest - it was nothing. Eventually she'd settled for him promising to take it easy that day and self-apply all the treatments she insisted on. Thankfully Lorelai and Luke had stayed over, while Babette was keeping an eye on Leo back in Stars Hollow, and could entertain Finny for the morning at least, which meant that Logan didn't have to ruin Maya's day off or spend the morning running after the toddler himself, giving him a break.
But he didn't feel much like sitting around all day either, which would likely just leave him pondering over what had happened, which he didn't particularly want to do. Besides he knew once the Apple store on W 14th opened, he needed to go get himself a new gear, before Rory noticed anything.
"Hey, listen, I wanted to run something by you," Rory began, somewhat formally, as they were having breakfast, him having zoned out for a moment, thinking how he could slip out for a few hours without raising suspicion in Rory. He had reasoned with himself for the two hours why he had lied - and in the end it was simple - she had enough to worry about as it was. It was not like her knowing about it would've changed anything.
He raised his eyebrows at the formal approach and took a sip of his coffee, which Rory had just taken a miniature sip out of a few minutes ago. He had a cold pack on his now bandaged knee, not that he truly thought it was necessary, but he did it largely to humour Rory. He had had an interesting relationship with pain ever since Costa Rica, the accident having given him an idea of the threshold of pain he knew he could survive, and he no longer feared the pain. He did fear loss of function however - not being able to walk or think, to work or to take care of his growing family.
"When you go to Finn's tomorrow with Finny and Gigi, can you just keep an eye on her. I just got this weird vibe from her yesterday. Like she was a little flirty with Finn. I don't know, maybe I've exceeded my teen drama quota or something watching TV all day but I mean I wouldn't be terribly surprised if she was developing a bit of a crush on him," Rory explained, keeping her voice down just in case.
"Seriously?" Logan responded, eyeing at her skeptically.
"I just think it might be reasonable to give Finn a heads up," Rory said, and drank her green smoothie. She was really getting sick of the green smoothies, which Logan had insisted she keep drinking throughout both pregnancies to make sure she was getting enough nutrients.
"I guess," Logan shrugged. To him at this didn't really seem like a big deal. Finn was great in any crowd, easily liked by almost everyone. Perhaps they were just friends? After all they had spent numerous hours together the night that he'd taken Rory to the hospital and taken care of Finny that night.
"I just hope it doesn't develop into anything," Rory added, hearing herself making her feel very motherly all of a sudden.
"Finn is kinky, but he's not that kinky," Logan commented, knowing the man probably better than any one of his other friends. Finn's long list of lovers, a couple of girlfriends, and numerous hook-ups he could in no way account for, and Finn had certainly flaunted some his more conquests - sorority girls, the mature married businesswomen, Miss America 2014, the Yale recruiter, some Scandinavian princess he hadn't quite specified and even a dominatrix, but he couldn't really imagine him going for someone who was under the legal age.
"Just in case," Rory added.
"I need to go out for a few hours today," Logan said, noting the kitchen clock approaching 9.30 AM. "I agreed to help Finn with something," he fibbed as an explanation. With every small lie, he was beginning to feel more and more guilty.
"Gigi said she'd be home today, so I should be alright," she replied, believing that Logan was largely excusing himself like that because he worried about how she'd manage.
Logan would've liked to think that the event hadn't influenced him, and that he could just go on with his life, but clearly there were things that he wasn't quite over, at least not yet. As he got ready to go, shoving his spare phone and car keys into the pockets of his smart casual shorts, he emptied out half of his wallet - leaving home his debit cards, half of his cash, and some of the credit cards he didn't primarily use.
As he got to his car he texted Finn a message. "In case anyone asks I'm helping you out with…," he wrote, thinking for a moment, adding, "tech shopping." He doubted it would really be necessary, but he liked to cover his bases and in this case the best lie was as close to the truth as possible. But the feeling this whole thing left him with was not the good kind. While the reasoning behind this was essentially innocent - it wasn't like he was making excuses to go out and cheat on her - he didn't like this sneaking around. It reminded him too much of their Vegas, or even some of his former arrangements which had meant keeping simultaneous relationships discreet. It was additional stress that he didn't need. But opening up to Rory was additional stress she didn't need. He could already imagine her cry if she did find out - rational or not, she didn't need to cry more than she already did.
Finn never really asked many questions, he had his back and texted back a 'thumbs up' after which he deleted the message he'd sent him.
The tall dark-haired female shop assistant, smiled broadly as Logan approached her, clearly being one of her first clients of the day with nothing but a determined look to make a purchase, seeming like a welcome prospect to her. Logan hardly ever did his shopping in person, but this time he wanted to get this done as swiftly as possible, to make it seem as if nothing had happened.
"Hi, how can I help you today?" she asked.
"I'm going to need a phone, smartwatch, earphones and a phone case, Hermès collection for the watch and case," he said, continuing to recall what models he had had.
When it came to the phone, phone case and earphones there really was no issue. With the watch however, the issue was the wristbands - the Fauve Barénia leather one was sold out, and he really wasn't in the mood in going around the city to look for it, hence he settled for a Ébène Barénia. It was darker, and Rory was sure to notice, but they did sell them separately and as he mostly wore that watch in question when he exercised, he might just get away with it. Get away with it - he hated the sound of it. He continued on to the service provider to get a new SIM. He really hadn't thought this through when it came to how time consuming something like this was - the hour he'd thought this would take was soon turning into three. He even took it as far as going into the office to install his devices and store the boxes. He groaned, angry at himself for feeling like he had to do it this way, as he waited for his apps to download, and once again when he recalled he really didn't know all of his password by heart. He still blamed himself for even getting in trouble like he did - if he'd just stuck to the original route he wouldn't have to do all this, he wouldn't have to lie and hide like this.
Luke and Lorelai were still out with Finny while Gigi had voluntarily come to search for Rory to simply hang out with her. She'd complained that it was too hot to really go outside to do anything much, and her friend Amelia was out of town with her parents, so other than mindlessly going shopping she didn't have much to do, essentially making the excuse that hanging out with Rory than being bored alone. To Rory it almost sounded like it would've been too cool for her to admit to wanting some company. Rory herself could remember well what having her first apartment felt like - it was lonely. At least Gigi had the option of not being alone.
Rory was on her side on her bed, going through the few boxes of the twin's clothes and Gigi had brought the drawers from the nursery dressers to her room one by one so she could fold and place everything in a system that she liked. Rory still remembered enough from the visit of the organizational specialist and they'd agreed with Logan that unless they ran out of time, they'd attempt to find places for at least most of their things on their own.
"She's pretty funny," Gigi admitted, having watched a few episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisle, that played in the background in passing.
"Yeah," Rory sighed. "This has a certain familiarity to it - sure I've never lived in that era but it's the type of moxie-filled stuff was what me and mom used to love and watch all the time back when I was your age," she said. "God, now I do feel old," she added, rubbing her forehead along with some slightly nervous laughter at the 'when I was your age' comment. She wanted to have a relationship with Gigi that was more similar to what she had had with her mother- more about being friends first, or something in that direction at least. But she really needed to stop saying things like that to get there - apparently preggo-brain was becoming a real issue.
"It must've been pretty cool to have a mom that young though," Gigi commented, as she handed her another box of baby onesies.
"I guess in a way. She always heard me out, gave me a lot of rights when it came to making my own decisions, but at the same time there were moments when I had to be the responsible one too. Taking responsibilities for my decisions was sometimes pretty hard too. Maybe harder than it should be for a child. We were more like a married couple I suppose, a team of some sort, and I'm not sure that's what a mother-daughter relationship really is supposed to be. Some kids, I guess, get more of a carefree childhood. There is a benefit for them to have someone else make their choices for them, at least up until some age," Rory explained thoughtfully. She'd pondered over this in the book she'd started writing. She'd also recognized that very few of her friends had really had that carefree yet loving childhood - she could count them on the fingers of her one hand in fact.
"I like to think I've had it pretty good," Gigi reflected. "I mean, sure I haven't been in one place long and there is always this tension between mom and dad, but I do think they've let me have a pretty good childhood," she added, sounding momentarily ten years older than her age.
"I guess," she replied, picking her words. "But I hope you don't mind me saying this... But sometimes to me as a bystander it seems like they're just buying you that affection that they should be giving you by being present," Rory explained.
She shrugged. She didn't know any different. Gigi clearly didn't seem too bothered by the idea of her father being in Japan at that moment.
"So how did you and Logan meet anyways?" Gigi then asked, clearly the topic of parents and parenting not really being of her interest in great depth.
"At Yale, actually a friend introduced us, but Logan was kind of a jerk back then. A real silver-spoon in your mouth kind of frat boy who sank a yacht at the coast of Indonesian during his year off," she tried to paint a picture for her.
"So what did he do that made you like him? I mean it must've been flattering to be chased after like that," Gigi asked, assuming that Logan had been the one doing the chasing in that case.
"He really didn't actually, he flirted a little, I guess, but we just sort of were around each other and there just was something about him that was attractive. Sure, he was good looking - still is," she described with an appreciative smile. "But he was smart, witty, and at some point I just asked him out right if he was interested in me. I got sick of feeling like I was getting mixed signals from him," Rory added, not going into too much detail.
"Like to his face?" she exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, it was my grandparents' vow renewal and we were dancing," Rory replied.
"You're very brave, I mean in my case or any of my friends - it's all about 'likes' and texts, it's all kept very casual, like nobody really dares to put her- or himself out there like that. It kind of sucks. In France it was a little easier, it's considered more normal to make compliments or ask someone out in person, even in front of their friends and such. Here it's like everyone is so scared of making a fool of themselves…," Gigi shared.
"Well, I might have gathered up the courage but it doesn't mean I wasn't scared. There's always a risk there. And I've had situations where I ask someone out and they're not interested, or someone has asked me - and I have to turn them down. I think that getting turned down feels awful when it happens, but it saves a lot of time and pondering, and frankly as much as I've heard from guys - most of them really prefer when girls are straightforward, not playing games," Rory replied. "And technically someone as worldy as you, could always just claim that your straightforwardness is a cultural thing, that they just don't get if they have a problem with it. Frankly if they have a problem with it they are either not interested or they simply are not really worth the attention," Rory added, briefly pondering if under the circumstances she really should be giving her this type of advice. But then again - this was more what being sisters or friends was about than being a parental figure to her, which was, in fact, good.
"That's an interesting way to look at it," Gigi replied, and took another drawer back to the nursery across the hall and returned with the next one.
"Have you had a boyfriend before?" Rory asked.
"Oh yes," came a rapid reply. "I had one in Paris but that wasn't for very long and last year I was with Jacob for about a month and Connor it was like three-four months but he went after his tennis career so that was that," she explained with a slight shrug. "I can show you, if you want?," she added, pulling her phone out of her back pocket as if it was the extension to her way of expressing herself. The way Gigi posed in these photos with the two full-grown and no doubtedly hot teenage guys - one guy's hand tucked into her back pocket and her hand resting on his chest or another one with her sitting on the guy's lap, seemed pretty intimate, and Rory was pretty sure she didn't need to ask whether she had had been intimate with them. Clearly, whatever they had done, she was experienced well beyond what Rory herself had been at her age.
"Cool..," was all Rory really managed to comment, not sure how she thought of all of this. In a way her being experienced was perhaps a good thing - that she knew about these things, maybe even was maturer than her age suggested. But then again this was the potential cause for future decisions on Rory's side which might concern whether it was alright to have guys over, or even sleep over, would she need to deal with pregnancy scares or things like that.
"What were the other guys like that you dated before Logan?" Gigi inquired, having put her phone away. Gigi knew that she'd dated Logan first in college and then later in life that had led them to getting back together, but she didn't know the details, and Rory wasn't going to explain those in great detail, at least no this time.
"Ah..," Rory sighed, pondering where to begin.
"I can't wait until we finish our own bedroom," Celeste mumbled, slightly out of breath, as Jess was nuzzling down her neck, after a lengthy open mouthed, hungry, kiss. Getting creative with locations around the house was definitely sprucing up their sex life, but she did miss that lazy kind of sex that took place in the comfort of some clean sheets without having to keep her voice down. This time they were downstairs in the kitchen while Evie slept upstairs, the stainless steel kitchen island feeling cool under her thighs.
"But you have to admit, this brings back a few memories," Jess murmured smugly, recalling the crazy night they'd spent at his loft in Philly a while back, and reminded her by doing the same move he had done then. He lifted her up for a second by her thighs, and pulled her panties off from underneath her, before setting her down and stepping away just long enough to roughly pull them off her legs, not caring if he tore them in the process, making her yelp at the motion just like she'd done then. He knelt down on the floor and without delay and pressed his face between her thighs.
Celeste's fingers entangled themselves in his hair, her flowery summer dress already falling down her shoulders as she gasped at Jess' ministrations. His tongue was magic - flicking, working her labia up and down before circling and sucking at her clit. He then sank his tongue deep inside her, while his rough stubble from having not shaved for a few days while renovating, brushed against the insides of her thighs. She gyrated her hips, guiding him - not that he needed much guidance - her face, contorted with pleasure, demonstrating well the effect he had on her.
He almost hadn't expected it yet, but already a long rolling orgasm rippled through her body, and he hadn't even used his fingers yet. He rose, kissing her slightly trembling lips, allowing her to taste herself on his lips and tongue as he smiled through the kiss.
"It seems we've reached a new proficiency level," he smirked. Getting her off had never been an issue, but getting her off that fast was even new for him.
"Practice makes perfect," she purred, clinging to his neck a moment later.
Instead of insisting him to give her more, she kissed him again and teasingly unbuckled his pants, releasing him from their confinement. The pants dropped to the floor and remained around his ankles. She then surprised him again, Celeste having gotten a few interesting ideas about the wide one-level kitchen island in question. She swirled around and laid down on the cool metal, her head towards him and scooted her self just over the edge of the surface.
Jess couldn't believe his eyes - she was seriously presenting herself like a feast of some sort, her delicious mouth hanging open expectantly. Oh, how she looked gorgeous like that, her nipples fallen out of her dress, her dress hiked up like that. She was never going to be just a dull housewife - was she? It wasn't in her genetic code.
She didn't wait but used her hands to stroke him, cupping him with one hand and caressing him gently up and down with the other. She didn't have to ask for him to approach her mouth, her tongue licking his tip a few times before telling him to push by pulling him closer by his hips.
Jess groaned at the sensation, clearly the feeling being quite different from doing this the normal way. He steadied his pace, wanting to savor the process. He slid back and forth, paused and repeated again, her mild rhythmic sucking making it seriously difficult for him to withstand this much longer. He thrust a few more times and she could already feel him twitch, thrust, and twich once more, but instead of letting him pull out she sucked even harder, preparing herself to swallow. His member throbbed and then jolted, shooting it's contents down her throat.
"Oh, man, that was… something," Jess barely managed to spell out, when he had pulled out, his lips having gone all pale and cold in the process. He continued to pant.
Celeste propped herself up and now sat cross legged on the kitchen island, smiling at him triumphantly.
"Have I told you I love you recently?" he added, after having leaned in to kiss her with gratitude.
"You have, but I wouldn't say it's getting old," Celeste replied, tracing the contours of his abs, that were looking very hot right about now.
"Well I do," he said, the casual form of that statement making it sound even more genuine.
"I love you - so much... that if I was younger, I'd happily keep popping out your babies," she smiled, somehow the topic of babies being very topical in her mind in the past weeks.
"Huh," Jess noted. He had to say that there had been something utterly sexy about the prospect of knocking her up when they'd decided to do it the first time.
"I hope you don't regret burning that bridge?" Celeste inquired. It had been a year since he'd had the vasectomy, and there really hadn't been much question at that point. He was too afraid to put her through something like that again, the first time having endangered her life, and having never really planned on becoming a father knowingly, at that point one really had seemed like enough. Besides, neither had really wanted to go back to more conventional birth control methods.
"What? That we're not having more kids?" he asked, feeling a little puzzled by her question.
She nodded in return.
"We've talked about this, I didn't do this lightly. But no, I wouldn't want more on the expense of your health," Jess replied, pulling up his pants. In that sense nothing had changed, if anything the fear of losing her had only enforced things.
"You're just such a great father, Jess. Sometimes I think that maybe you would've liked more," Celeste explained. The fact that he had managed so well with Evie on his own when he'd been at the resort, was incredible, and every day since she'd appreciated everything he did for Evie so much more. Their connection was undeniable.
"We have all this family, there is no shortage of children, just look at Rory - you are, and will be, pretty much an aunt for those kids," he added. He knew that in theory his procedure was reversible, but he really preferred not having to go there. Yet, he couldn't help but to ponder that perhaps there was more to this - maybe she was having second thoughts.
"Yeah, I know," she sighed, looking down, readjusting her dress straps.
"What's this about? Are you having regrets?" he asked, lifting her chin gently.
"No, I'm not - it's just the age thing, with my birthday approaching - you're younger, I just don't want to hold you back," Celeste admitted. She was turning 39 - clearly beginning to sense her youth slipping away.
"Hey, it's not like I'm in my twenties here - see - grey hair, right here," he replied, gesturing at his temple with a chuckle. "I love our life, I like the prospect of the baby years being over. This way we have the privilege of having everything - her, our relatives and friends, our careers - the kind of lives that we want. If that is what is what we want?" he added.
"It is," she replied.
She then scooted to the edge of the kitchen island again and wrapped her arms around his chest, resting her cheek on it as well. He always knew the right thing to say.