Celeste was just making dinner for her family when her phone chimed. G really had been one of the last people she'd expected to hear from that evening, having already thought she'd betrayed her trust beyond repair. But G wasn't reaching out like Celeste had for a split second hoped. What she'd texted her though truly made Celeste drop what she'd been doing, completely forgetting the red wine sauce that had been simmering on the stove.
"Jess?" she called out in a panicky voice.
"Yeah?" Jess said loudly from upstairs. The pole hole between the floors was very useful for communication.
"Can you come down here for a sec?" Celeste asked, her voice a little shaky and sank down at the nearest chair. She heard his footsteps come down the metal stairs, Evie chattering something to him which she couldn't quite make out. Celeste texted a quick, "Thanks" to G as if on autopilot.
"What's going on?" Jess asked, seeing the thin layer sauce already burning on the stove, and quickly placed the saucepan into the sink and turned the stove off. Evie was on his hip - the girl was too curious to be left on her own upstairs these days.
"G just texted me this," Celeste showed Jess her phone.
Jess observed the table in question for a few moments.
"What is this table based on? Official records or personal communication?" Jess inquired practically, setting Evie down on the floor and let her rustle obliviously towards Celeste. Evie climbed into Celeste's lap, providing her with the necessary reality check.
"I don't know," she said, asking the phone back from him to zoom in to the source. The information was from a variety of sources, among them the official Cadastre database, the local business registry and also the journalist estimations based on personal communication from an anonymous source, which really left a lot of questions unanswered. "I should have Natalie check this out," she added with a sigh. Each time she contacted her she could feel Euros being thrown in the wind.
"You really didn't know about these?" Jess asked, not quite understanding how she couldn't have know about these.
"I know of these - I've been to these, I've lived there. But I didn't know they were in my name - if they really are. I always thought they were my father's," she added. The place in the department of Alpes-Maritimes roughly 10 miles from Nice was the place she had truly loved when she was growing up, but as far as she'd know they hadn't even owned it. The apartment in Paris had been her first apartment during college, it wasn't huge, just a one-bedroom, but on Paris' standards it was large and luxurious and had a sizable balcony perfect for entertaining. If things had been different, if there weren't expenses involved and strings attached - she honestly wouldn't have minded owning either of those properties.
"But in order for them to be yours you would've had to sign something, right? Or can you just buy a child property in France?" Jess pondered how this could've happened.
Evie was sitting across Celeste's lap, deciding it was a fine moment to play with her hair, and frankly at that point having a toddler touching her was the last thing she wanted. She felt on edge, wanting to recall very specifically any signature her father had ever asked of her, but it was distracting.
"I just… it's possible that I may have signed something... What 18 year old pays a lot of attention to these things?" she contemplated, feeling a little stupid for it now. "Maybe he was doing to avoid taxes or something," she suggested, for a moment trying to think of the more positive alternative this. Maybe she'd just been the owner and didn't know about it, maybe even Henri didn't know about it? Did they know she didn't know about it? Why hadn't she gotten a single property tax invoice during all these years? Who had been paying for these expenses? Surely an owner should know these things.
Jess lifted Evie from her lap to his hip again, seeing how the kid was not letting her digest this.
It was then Celeste realized that she, Celeste Mariano, didn't really own anything, it was Odette Aubertin who did that.
"What if this is a trap?" Celeste suddenly asked. If she wanted those properties that would mean admitting to her old name, begin identified according to her biometrics as Odette Aubertin and then who knew what more would follow. She would've been fine just sticking to her life as Celeste Mariano, she didn't need those properties. Odette Aubertin wasn't even the mother of Evie Mariano, she was nothing these days. But these properties actually held some sentimental value, especially the place in Nice - it was the place that she still dreamt about sometimes, it was what she picture when she thought of a holiday she'd been dreaming of for year. Either way there was definitely something to consider, at the very least to find out about, if it did turn out it was all true. But whatever it was - she didn't like this, it all seemed a little too convenient.
"Can you take her to Luke's for dinner?" Celeste suggested, realizing that her dinner plans at home were not going anywhere tonight, the wine sauce having just been the beginning of what she'd planned to make, and headed upstairs to write to Natalie.
"Berta!? Why is there a second Christmas tree in the hallway?" Rory asked in confusion after the hurricane called Berta had arrived in Greenwich Village in the morning of the 24th to 'take care of everything' - her grandma's words . Rory had been occupied with her three kids on her own for a mere hour while Maya went to the market to get some more eggs, because Finny, who had wanted to help had dropped a dozen of them on the kitchen floor earlier, and within that hour the place hardly looked the same anymore.
Berta mumbled something unintelligible about Emily, making Rory briefly roll her eyes - she shouldn't have asked. Berta's language was another mystery for her - she knew Spanish and she liked to think she's recognize Portugese, but it didn't seem to be either of them, hence stopping her from trying to use an app of some sort to communicate with her.
"I guess we can take the smaller one up to the game room," Rory said to deaf ears, Berta having already headed up the stairs towards the kitchen in a haste. Despite some communication issues she really was a force of nature, lightening Maya's load for the day significantly.
Rory placed her hands on her hips and sighted, taking a moment as she glanced over the parlor that was swiftly transforming into a red and white Christmas wonderland. When she'd left the place that morning there hadn't been much more there than a row of socks at the mantlepiece and a humbly decorated Christmas tree she'd had delivered, perhaps a little smaller than the grand height of the room, roughly 26 ft, demanded, Rory having gone with the standard order from the tree delivery company she'd had for the past two years in their former penthouse.
Right now there were tasteful garlands on the bannisters and stairs, curtains changed to dark red velvet and tied with white broad ribbons, holly placed strategically here and there. There were boxes full of decorations, meant for the still undecorated tree, including string lights and silver vases with winterberries that were placed on top of the mantlepiece and of course candleholders. Berta had also changed the beige patterned weave carpet that had been there to a deep red velvet capet. How she'd managed all this in an hour, maybe hour and a half, was beyond Rory. Emily Gilmore had definitely taken over, while not even having arrived yet.
"Hey! Love the wreath by the way!" Lorelai said as she entered, Luke trailing after her with a big red Santa bag almost the size of Leo who walked beside him. Leo didn't believe in Santa anymore, having never really had the Christmas magic.
"Hey, Rory! Where should I put these?" Luke inquired, Leo mouthing a humble 'hi' as well.
"A wreath?" Rory asked, glancing outside the door for a moment, having not known there was one. Having acknowledged the grand cedar berry weather outside, she then swiftly closed the door and gestured Luke towards Logan's study that was just off the foyer so he could put the gifts in there for the time being. Finny wasn't terribly observant just yet, but having Lorelai Gilmore's festivity training, Rory knew this was also probably the first year the kid would actually register the holiday and Rory really wanted to make it special.
Lorelai had already texted Rory that morning that the decision on Leo had been postponed until after Christmas, hence she was clearly looking for her Christmas fix to sooth her nerves.
"So we're the first one's here?" Lorelai asked, having taken off her brand new pink winter coat, she'd been dying to show off to Rory. She must've bought like five by now.
"Yeah, Jess and Celeste should be here in a couple of hours, they're driving during Evie's naptime. Grandma's plane should land in about three hours," Rory replied, glancing at the time on her phone.
"And Logan?" Lorelai asked, tilting her head and sounding as if asking about something dirty. Rory wasn't sure why she still kept doing stuff like that, but Rory had to admit, that even these two nights that they'd spent apart with Logan had been two too many.
"ETA 9.30 PM," Rory said, plainly and added a yielding smile. Of course she knew when he was coming, Logan usually texting her the minute he'd landed.
"Do you need me to handle the tree?" Luke asked, gesturing at the tree waiting in the hallway, still packed. He might have not had the strength he once used to, but he could never really sit still, needing to put his hands into good use.
"I guess. I was thinking we might move the smaller one to the fourth floor, but I'm sure that can't wait until Jess gets here," Rory said, realizing that moving the tree with everything already on it might prove trickier than the packed but larger tree. "Oh, and you're staying on the fifth floor this time - I was thinking grandma should have G's apartment, this way no one needs to sleep on a pullout," she added. She felt relieved to have the space, technically there still being room for a few more if it ever came to it, though less conveniently.
"So where does Logan see the logic in flying back and forth across the Atlantic twice within three days?" Lorelai asked, pushing the elevator button, rolling the suitcase along, aiming to take it upstairs, continuing the familiar banter with Rory while the guys stayed downstairs.
About three hours later Celeste, Rory and Lorelai were hanging out in the upstairs living room that now also had a Christmas tree, playing with the four kids, while Leo was playing one of Finn's computer games which he'd left there a few months ago, in the same room. Lorelai had put on her traditional 1960 Christmas playlist which the speakers blasted, having by now already dressed all the kids up thematically. Finny was wearing a red fluffy Santa's hat, while for Evie she'd brought shiny reindeer antler headband. She'd contemplated long whether the twins would look better in red and white Santa onesies or as little snowmen, eventually settling for the latter as something more original.
Celeste had been quiet the entire time she'd been at Rory's unsure what to say or not say about what was going on with her, but Rory could see right through her. Besides, Jess had hinted downstairs that Celeste probably needed some support - he was good like that, knowing just the way to hint without it seeming too obvious or obtrusive.
"Everything okay?" Rory asked Celeste, seeing her eyes fixate at an empty spot for a good length of time while Lorelai snapped a thousand pictures of the kids with various Christmas paraphernalia.
"G sort of texted me this table form La Monde," she began and forwarded the table to Rory.
"La what...?" Lorelai budded in, feeling left you.
"It's the biggest newspaper in France," Rory explained.
"Oh wow," Rory commented, getting the gist of that table with the French she knew. The table also listed the estimated values of these properties, which in Odette's case summed up to roughly 15 million dollars, which to both of them meant very different things. To Rory this still felt like a lot of money while still being able to comapre it to the house she lived in now, while to Celeste fairly little, having given away much more when dealing with her father's inheritage, though a lot more than it would've felt a few years ago. One had gotten used to having money, one to having less.
"What?" Lorelai inquired.
"This newspaper seems to claim Odette owns two properties in France," Rory summed it up for her.
"Now why don't I just ever find out I own properties in some fancy places," Lorelai complained.
"Mom, you own three properties and half of Luke's. Grandma is still talking about getting you one in Nantucket - I don't think you should really be complaining," Rory noted, rolling her eyes.
"I don't own Dragonfly in its entirety either...," Lorelai added, not that it mattered, and went to see what the older kids were doing by the play kitchen.
"I asked the lawyer to check into it, but we'll see… I kind of feel this might be some trick to get me to take my name back," Celeste explained to Rory.
Rory shrugged. She really didn't know much about high society schemes nor how one actually went about taking one's name back.
Rory was just about to say that surely the lawyer would help her sort things out, wanting Celeste to just relax during the holidays, knowing how much she needed it, when Lorelai suddenly announced, "Oh my god, there was a plane crash! One of the tiny… JetGreen…form Nantucket," she mumbled in panic mode, having just checked her newsfeed in passing.
"What!? It wasn't grandma's flight was it?" Rory's heart sank.
"Oh my god," Celeste sighed, texting already Jess downstairs that something was up.
"I… I don't know…, she never sent me her flight information…," Lorelai blurted shakily, being on the verge of crying.
"Ah, but I think she sent me - let me check," Rory tried to stay calm, but her fingers were shaking and she ended up typing the wrong thing a few times before she actually got some results.
"Leo, honey, we need the TV, okay?" Lorelai said and closed his game, but he didn't object, seeing Lorelai in tears for the first time. Leo really didn't know what to do and made himself as small as possible and continued to sit quietly on the couch, while Lorelai began to look for new channels but got stuck on Amazon Prime instead, that refused to respond.
"Fu…," Rory began, correcting her choice of words. "The flight numbers match," she said. "But… wait… the passenger list… I don't see her on it… Celeste, come look, check that I'm seeing this correctly," Rory suggested and Celeste joined her.
Lorelai dialled Emily's number and got some hope from actually getting a tone, but she knew Emily wasn't too good with always bringing her cell phone or hearing it. Maybe she'd left it at home?
The news programme she finally found played the plane crash information on loop, but there really wasn't more information than she already knew.
"They should call, right…?" Lorelai asked, sobbingly.
Evie and Finny were a little alarmed of Lorelai's reaction, and Rory thought it'd be wiser to have Celeste take them downstairs to the guys. This was her time to support her mother, the news still seeming far too unreal to her.
"I'll call her again, she wasn't on the list…," Rory assured, hoping that that information was correct.
Still, no answer.
Luke came upstairs after Celeste took the kids down, beginning to go on about some protocol aviation companies used to use in cases like this - who they would call and in what time frame but not knowing whether it was relevant at this time, having seen it on some documentary once. But Rory could see, it was his way of helping.
While Rory kept clicking 'call' on her phone, she began to imagine the significance the woman had had on her life and what it would be without her in it. Even the seemingly insignificant details such has sending Berta to make sure Christmas was done properly, suddenly seemed so utterly her and irreplaceable. Losing grandpa had been hard, this would be even harder.
Minutes felt like hours.
It was then she suddenly couldn't believe her ears, neither did Lorelai.
"What?" Emily answered her phone, probably answering her phone for the first time in a angry tone like that.
"Mom? Is that you?" Lorelai asked.
"Yes, of course it's me. My bloody car broke down Fairground Road. There's not a fucking repairman on duty and no cabs for two hours. I waited an hour and missed my flight. I just made it to the airport. I hitchhiked, for God's sake!" Emily huffed, sounding out of breath.
The two at the other end of the phone burst into laughter, wiping the remainder of their tears away.
"What's so funny?" Emily asked in confusion, before the two had a chance to explain.