"Did I get you at a bad time?" Celeste hesitated as she heard Rory pick up, Rory sounding like she was speaking in whisper.

"Hey," Rory sighed, pausing. "No, not a bad time. I'm just feeding the girls," she spoke into her earphone microphone. "I don't want to distract them by speaking too loudly," she added. What helped her a little, was listening to some music while she fed them, usually just one earphone plugged in. It perhaps should've always been a time that was between her and her girls but doing this eight times a day, she sometimes felt that those little moments with of Lana Del Rey, Florence The Machine and Matt Hartke, among others, were what kept her sane in the midst of all this.

"I could just call you back," Celeste suggested. She felt guilty as it was - for not having been in touch or visiting enough, for knowing that sooner or later she was going to have to tell her how she was doing herself.

"No, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere for at least 15 minutes," Rory replied. It really did feel good to hear her voice. They'd talked about these early newborn months with her before, and they both knew that it was like with one child, hence she really hadn't noticed in great detail how much space and time Celeste had given her in the past months. It was only really now it dawned on her that it really had been more than a month since they last spoke, since then having exchanged just a few pictures.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry," Celeste exhaled, looking up - not to tear up right there "For not being around to help more, even if just morally, you know," she added, the sobs getting to her. "I didn't want to burden you with my stuff when you have so much going on, and I don't feel like I should now. But I just thought you should know that I don't want to lose our friendship," Celeste added.

Rory felt for her, swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat at the same time. "Hey, it's me remember? We knew this was going to be hard," she added. Well at least it wasn't easier that they thought it was going to be like, so the statement kind of worked.

"I stopped my meds a little before your girls were born - not one of my brightest moments. And for a while there I really wasn't doing well. I'm… a little better, but yeah.. I'm sure you have other things on your mind. I didn't really call to discuss me particularly, I just thought I owed you an explanation why I've been a little distant," Celeste explained, with some hesitancy in her voice, quickly moving ahead, hoping to avoid becoming a blubbering mess. "How are you? Tell me about you," she asked.

"Hey.. don't be like that. God, I wish I could just hug you right now," Rory replied, tears catching up with her as well. For a moment she was almost mad at Jess for not having called her to tell her about how Celeste had been doing.

Just hearing her say that made Celeste feel a little better.

"You can talk to me, if you need to. Always. I frankly could use to think about something or someone else here every once in a while," Rory said. "Remember when you told me about how sitting up at night with Evie was what gave you bad thoughts. I think I know what you mean now. And I don't want you to worry - I'm okay-ish. I'm checking in with Dr. Thompson every now and again, but it doesn't seem to be dangerous - just an adjustment," she explained.

"I'm sorry," Celeste replied, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Hey, it just sounds like everyone I know that is in their mid-thirties has some issues. The good thing is we're working on them, right? Don't beat yourself up because of it, it's not your fault," Rory added,

"Mid- thirties," Celeste chuckled, wiping some her tears away. "But yeah," Celeste agreed, knowing that she was right.

"Now, tell me about the house - is it ready?" Rory asked, wanting to move on from anything that would make her cry. She did miss her.

Celeste wiped off her cheeks and took a few deep breaths, before replying. It felt so good to talk to her again like this. There was no judgement, and what she needed to offer in return was the same.

They talked until Celeste's oven timer went off, discussing the house, Celeste's volunteering and working, Rory's challenges and a bit about Logan's. They made a promise to call more often, Rory snapping a photo of babies' usual schedule for her- the feeding times usually providing good times to talk or the mid-morning nap when Rory usually tried to do something other than nap.

"You should come visit sometime," Rory invited.

"Jess is going on his book tour next week. But I'm pretty busy with work - I probably couldn't come for any great lenght of time, no more than a day or so," Celeste replied.

"Don't worry, we'll find a time - I haven't been to Stars Hollow with the babies yet either," Rory admitted. Maybe it was time?

The task seemed daunting however - packing up the three kids to get them out of the house without any one of them getting hungry while doing it was a challenge on its own, a two hour road trip almost seemed like a marathon. But maybe she'd been too coped up in the house? She had to admit, that other than going to the hairdresser once, the dentist once and to the local park or the greenway - she wasn't exactly 'going out there'. However, right now - Rory wasn't quite feeling ready for it, almost as if needing a push.

"Logan!" Mitchum greeted him with a surprisingly warm handshake and half-hug, catching him a little off guard. Logan couldn't argue that ever since Mitchum's divorce, talking to him about Owen and Mitchum retiring they're relationship had significantly improved. They were never going to be close, but the former pinocchio-and-master-like part of it had scattered and been replaced with something else - a mentorship of sorts.

"Hi! Thank you for meeting with me," Logan greeted him and took a seat opposite him at Eleven Madison Park, which had become their usual place of meeting every couple of months.

Mitchum had been over to Logan's house only once to see the babies once they'd been released from the hospital - the hospital setting not really being his favourite scene. He'd extended his congratulations naturally, but he'd really been more interested in Finny during that visit. Sure, the girls had had a bit of a cranky day that day, which clearly didn't really appeal to him. With the nanny there that day, Logan had observed first hand, how Mitchum had parented him and Honor - discarding the child to the nanny as soon as it became inconvenient, leaving a sour taste in Logan's mouth, emphasizing to him how he wanted to do better. Maybe it had been just a glimpse of wishful thinking he'd experienced as he'd thought that maybe if Mitchum had chosen a different kind of life with Catherine that the way he parented would've been any different.

Before either had really a chance to say anything else, the waiter came to take their orders.

"I'll have a soft Gibson and a chef's assortment," Mitchum ordered, making Logan a little surprised - scotch having been his father's drink of choice as long as he remembered.

"Winter greens for me, and a club soda," Logan said. It was also still strange for him to see his father out of his business suit, Mitchum's choice that day being a modest navy sweater underneath a Ralph Lauren blazer. What next - jeans?

"So, how's everything?" Mitchum asked.

Logan knew that he wasn't really asking about Rory or the kids, but he wanted to play oblivious for a moment, almost as if not wanting to admit that he too had other more urgent matters in mind.

"Rory's good, the girls are growing so fast, and Finny's birthday was a success. Thank you for the gift you sent, by the way," Logan added. Though he didn't particularly know what the two-year old was supposed to do with the knowledge of having a personal pony in one of the stables on the outskirts of New York they had no idea when they would have a chance to visit.

"Good," Mitchum reflected.

It was then their drinks were brought to the table, the two nodding to the waiter appreciatively. A momentary silence lingered.

"So - what's going on, Logan?" Mitchum asked, knowing too well that this wasn't just about catching up.

He almost expected the next thing to come out of Mitchum's mouth to be the 'I told you so'. It wasn't. Even Mitchum had more tact. But Logan could see the smugness behind his impression, that was close enough, after he had told him about how he was struggling with the business. Essentially he needed his advice on how to get the company back on track. Part of the trouble was that Bobby was pregnant and was experiencing the very worst hyperemesis gravidarum, which meant that the whole European division was running amok at this point, Bobby having been not too keen on delegating and nobody really had a grasp of everything like she did. Logan had a couple of trusted men and women working for him in New York, and here things were a little better, but as the head of the board he was essentially responsible for making sure the CEO could handle her work and making sure the stakeholders were happy. It wasn't Bobby's fault, and he knew it. But with mistakes, embezzlement scandals and malicious rumors about the company creeping out of the European division - he felt he needed some perspective. He'd needed Mitchum's advice - even if it came with the accompanied smugness.

"You should call Rasmus Jensen, he should be positioned in Oslo right now," Mitchum replied after Logan's lengthy explanation on his view of the company's issues. "Bring him in for a consultation. He's not cheap, but he's known to appreciate a challenge," he added.

"Send him to London you mean?" Logan inquired, as he tapped the corner of his phone against the table.

"Essentially," he replied confidently. "But you'll probably need to go yourself too, you need to find a replacement for Bobby for the time being, or bring someone else along from here whom you trust. These things need a rapid and sharp intervention that people don't see coming. It's got to be forceful, zero-tolerance," Mitchum explained.

"I'm definitely not in the best position to go to London right now," Logan pointed out the obvious.

"You're not going for a year - it's a month, two tops - or if your intervention is effective enough - less," Mitchum explained. "If you want I can take over your tasks with the board for the time being, so you wouldn't have to worry about the day to day," he offered.

Logan let out a deep exhale. All of this sounded like the Mitchum-era HPG. But clearly his way had not worked, at least not worked the way he had hoped, and together with Bobby's leave of absence - he honestly didn't know what else to do.

He might even have come up with something else, but he wasn't on his game. He too was exhausted, despite Rory and the nannies doing the majority of the work. He worked 9-10 hours days, he helped out two nights a week with feeding Leigh, and usually taking Finny's play and bath time upon him every other evening and then there were the weekends. It was funny, how with babies in the house - the weekends almost seemed more tiring than the working week as even the nannies needed their days off every once in a while. But he never complained - this was what he'd felt like he'd needed to do, to not be like Mitchum. But what was perhaps the most difficult - he never felt like it was enough and he couldn't really complain even if he wanted to, especially not to Rory. And going to Rory with this - it almost felt like slapping her in the face, undoing everything he'd tried to do to be less like his father.

It felt like old times. Walking through the crowd at the Electric Room the smoke wafted to both sides as he passed, deep red lights flaring and an energetic ska rock beat vibrating through his body. He hadn't made much of an effort that night - wearing just a slim burgundy V-neck and a fitted dark blazer. He'd been to parties like this thousands of times - he knew the drill - a few drinks, catching up with some friends, acquaintances. And at some point during the evening he would let his eyes linger on one of the gorgeous female forms until his his gaze caught their attention, adding just at the right moment a slight curve of his mouth. From there on, it usually didn't take him much more than ten-fifteen minutes to talk almost anyone into to at least consider taking things somewhere a little more comfortable with him. But this time, it wasn't really why he was there.

"Finn, my man," Colin waved him over to one of the Chesterfield couches with a Union Jack painted onto its back. Colin was already well into his third drink, and besides one of his own buddies he'd come to New York with on business, there were already two 20-something brunettes by his side.

"Colin!" Finn greeted him with a warm hug. "I nearly thought you'd dropped off the face of the Earth after Robert's wedding!" he chuckled. The two had had a bit of a lengthy after party with the two purple-wearing bridesmaids, Colins party having ended rather unexpectedly in him falling head over heels in love with one of them. While Colin was in town for business, in part he was now dissolving his heartbreak too, the flame having burned fiercely but disastrously as he'd found out the woman had been after his money.

"Everybody, this is Finn, an old buddy of mine!" Colin introduced him. "And these are Jonathan, and his girlfriend Rosanna should be joining us shortly. And these lovely ladies are Ava," he gestured to the woman with her hair pulled up, wearing a yellow jumpsuit, "and Willow," he added, turning his head to his right at the woman wearing a full head of curls, dressed in a white bodycon dress.

"The pleasure is all mine," Finn replied gallantly, already sensing that he'd caught Willow's attention from the way she seemed to be sizing him up from head to toe. The attention was undoubtedly flattering, making him smile on instinct, and he took a seat between Colin and Willow, hoping to at least catch up with his mate a little as well.

Colin already waved over the waitress and ordered a scotch for Finn, having known him for as long as he had, he didn't really have to ask.

"Speaking of falling off the face of the Earth - how's Logan doing?" Colin asked him.

"I'd like to say that he's a happy father of three, but the beginning has been little rough on him," Finn explained. While there were other reasons why he hung out at Rory and Logan's a lot, making sure Rory had moral support around was still one of them. He did care and knowing a little more about what was going on with the HPG than perhaps Rory did, he really sympathized with the guy.

"Too bad! But at least you and I have reason to celebrate our freedom from that kind of stuff," Colin noted, sounding selfish. But Finn knew him better than that - he was drunk, heartbroken and looking for a silver living. He knew that Colin had just a few months ago actually confessed to him that he too had briefly tried to picture his now ex-girlfriend as the mother of their children. That had been a first even for Colin.

They chatted a little, catching up a bit more - a little about work, Robert and their plans for the approaching holiday season. Colin always looked for alternatives to going home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, his father going on wife number eight, the last thing he wanted to do was attempt to get to know another one of them. His dad may have been 75 and have slowed down a little but now it was more and more about one of those wives planning to outlive him. Finn, on the other hand, usually flew home to Brisbane a week before Christmas usually staying until the New Year. It was the only time of the year he really got to see his family, unless one of his sisters or brothers visited, which was rare, all four of them having a kid or two of their own, it was actually a little overwhelming. But he loved it.

"Do you want to go dance?" Willow asked Finn, touching his forearm gently, as Colin had caught sight of one of his business acquaintances by the bar and went to talk to him.

"Well alright," Finn agreed, allowing the tall brunette to lead him back towards the way he'd entered by his hand. The dance floor was bustling with people now, there barely being room for a few more. The ska had been replaced with a more generic dance pop. The woman was no doubt gorgeous, her white dress standing out as it transformed at the change of the party lights, hugging her curves just right. She swayed her hips at the music, her hands drawing Finn closer. He knew how this would go. Some teasing, some eye contact, gentle touches and then out right turning a man on by half-by accident brushing her ass against him, or letting her lips linger close enough to create that palpable tension that only really had one direction it could go. He probably would've just gone along with it - it frankly would've been the easiest thing to do - to just fall into his pattern. But as the DJ changed the song to a mix based on Stromae's 'Alors on Danse', he was suddenly hit by a bang of guilt, the music sounding to him as if played slower and slower. In this context the feeling was foregin to him - he was in no way taking advantage of the smoking hot female in front of him, but that guilt soon morphed into boredom. Perhaps the boredom was self-preservation - something easier for him to wrap his head around, something to blame his lack of interest on.

"I'm sorry, love, but I'm not feeling it," he spoke over the music by her ear, getting a very confused and disappointed face in reply. The woman clearly didn't get turned down a lot.

Finn simply shrugged apologetically and headed back to the couch to see if Colin was still around. He was, his arm already around Ava, speaking to her at close proximity. Finn positioned himself comfortably in the Chesterfield couch. He liked this particular club scene even without the immediate prospect of getting laid, enjoying the rhythm in the background, and with his drink in his hand, he glanced at his phone. As usual, there were at least a few messages from Gigi.

"I went to check out Quad," she'd texted an hour and a half ago, adding a link to the movie she'd seen. He hadn't seen it but again the choice impressed him a little. Definitely no chick-flick. She was still exploring Manhattan on her free days, largely going along Finn's recommendation list, showing surprising curiosity and persistence to not skip anything. Most adults he knew would have settled to a few favourites within a few weeks, yet she seemed to want to experience it all.

He was almost going to message back, that she'd probably like the place he was at, beginning to type it and then withdrawing it. Instead he simply snapped a selfie showing off the general style place as his background. He couldn't help it - but he would've loved her to be there with him right then. Unfortunately there was no way to withdraw a thought as he'd thought it as easily as a typed in message that hadn't been sent yet.

He'd just sent the picture, beginning to type something to comment, when Colin asked, "who's G and what happened to Willow?" Colin's companion had excused herself to got the ladies room, he'd clearly caught a glimpse of his phone. Finn called Gigi 'G', as she'd requested, wanting to shed the childish sounding nickname her family seemed to insist on. He was one of the few people that knew how she felt about the name.

"Ah, just a girl," Fin replied, not wanting to get into it. It was not like he had any good explanation to what he was doing.