"I'm hungry," Timoteo complained impatiently as he sat, dressed neatly in a pair of chinos and a henley sweater, between to his sister and Silas. Paris could tell the boy was more bored, David Attenborough's voice not being as capturing of his attention as it was of Silas' and Gabriela. Gabriela had also insisted to dress up, while Paris had told her to keep it more or less casual, which was clearly a concept she struggled with having insisted to wear a black and blue checkered party dress, while Silas was wearing a simple pair of T-shirt and jeans. But Silas didn't seem to notice the difference or feel underdressed.
"Dinner will be ready in two minutes," Vikki called from the adjacent kitchen and continued to stir the vegetarian chilli she'd made, knowing it was vital to be specific with time esitimate in Silas' earshot.
Paris was helping out, and got the crispy fish fillets out of the oven.
"So you'll sure they'll eat this?" Vikki inquired.
"Oh yeah, anything Mexican is a safe bet, Gabriela can eat Bishop's Crown peppers and everything," Paris commented and began plating the food without Vikki having to ask.
"I'll do Silas', he is still at the stage where he wants his food groups kept separate, but chilli is usually a safe bet," Vikki said, getting his special divided plate out of the cupboard.
Silas was definitely high functioning, having just some mild quirks that were visible to almost anyone who would meet him, but there was a lot Paris didn't know, and she could sense a certain nervousness in Vikki how the evening would go. Vikki and Silas didn't do dinner parties much, and Vikki seemed to worry how the kid was going to handle himself with company around. Paris hadn't really realized her inviting her and her kids to dinner would cause such nervousness, hence she was feeling a little guilty but she didn't regret coming. When dating anyone with kids, one was also in a way dating the kids, especially if there were so many that were involved.
Paris plated the last of the salads, Vikki placing five slices of cucumber and five cherry tomatos to Silas' plate instead of the salad.
"Dinner is ready," Vikki announced, after glancing at the clock, and brought Silas' food and another plate to the table while Paris followed with three, actually still having some muscle memory from the time she'd worked in catering to make ends meet during college.
"Smells delicious," Paris commented, hoping her kids would also behave themselves. They usually did, but she was sensing some resistance from Timoteo that night. It may have had something to do with him not getting to finish a computer game he'd been playing at home - because apparently you can't pause an online game.
Paris and Vikki exchanged glances as they ate, but at the same time cautiously observed their kids begin to eat. Not hearing any complaints, they breathed a little easier.
"So, Gabriela, Timoteo, what's your favourite subject in school?" Vikki picked up the conversation. It was really supposed to be their date, but it became very real that with the kids around, it was mostly about them anyways, while Vikki and Paris mostly kept having a wordless conversation with their eyes, having a secret.
"I like math, and PE," Timoteo replied.
"Hmm…," Gabriela thought, tapping her index finger onto her chin, almost demonstratively, before adding, "science probably, anatomy."
"So you want to be a doctor like your mom?" Vikki asked.
"Maybe - but I think what mom does is kind of gross," Gabriela replied, making a face.
A small chuckle followed from the two adults.
"What's it this week - pediatrics or are you back at the veterinarian plan?" Paris asked her daughter, knowing that she tended to have varied ideas of who she wanted to become. Vikki knew that Paris really wasn't much for pets, hence she admired the way she let her daughter have that dream without mocking her idea.
"What's the doctor that looks at babies' hearts?" Gabriela asked after a minute of thinking.
"Fetal cardiologist," Vikki replied, sounding quite surprised of the specificness of her idea.
"That," Gabriela replied with a satisfactory smile and took another bite.
"Silas, what about you?" Paris asked.
"I'm going to be a logistician," Silas replied without emotion.
"Because of trains, right?" Paris asked, recalling his love for trains when she'd first met him. She felt she was trying, feeling slightly out of character, hoping to get him to like her.
"Trains and cargo ships," Silas replied and continued to eat hastily.
"He's really good at just looking at a map and estimating distances," Vikki added, clearly feeling proud of the little things.
Paris nodded in response, her mouth full. She really knew very little about what it was like for Vikki to raise a son who was different from most kids, all she could guess was that it must've been hard. Briefly she began wondering whether perhaps her parents had felt similarly, if she indeed have some undiagnosed syndrome herself - she'd definitely been high functioning, socially just completely non-functioning most of her childhood.
"What did you want to be when you were growing up?" Vikki asked Paris, jolting her out of her thoughts.
"I don't know…," Paris replied, feeling a little surprised herself that she didn't have a straightforward answer to that. "I always just wanted to go to Harvard. What I did there held little significance," she added. She wondered whether that was weird.
Vikki looked at her thoughtfully for a second, recalling that as far as she knew Paris went to Yale not Harvard. Vikki had gone to Harvard and if she had they might have run into each other there. Clearly there was a story there which Paris didn't talk about a lot.
"I probably changed my mind like a million times. A teacher, a scientist, a detective, a doctor, a vet... A lot like you, Gabriela," Vikki replied, feeling like Paris didn't like to talk about it much, answering the same question herself.
"So what made you decide one way or another in the end?" Paris asked, curiously.
"Honestly?" Vikki began, hesitating a little.
Paris nodded, adding a shrug. She could tell her or not if she didn't want to.
"I know it sounds horrible, but it was largely for the money. The speciality was what I was interested in, so it's not all about the money, but it definitely beat the salary prospects of the other ideas I had. My parents were out of the picture by then, I had student loans," she explained. Paris knew that she'd lost her parents when she was young, and while she knew she hadn't been left without an inheritage, she most definitely wasn't from a typical high society household with a trust fund waiting for her 25th birthday like she had had.
"Nothing shameful about making wise decisions," Paris commented. She truly appreciated her practical nature, Vikki wasn't one to make her decisions, no matter what they were, on whims and guesses. She was calculative, smart.. and sexy - god how she just wanted to kiss her.
"Can I be excused?" Silas asked abruptly, having finished about 90% of his meal. He was a quick eater, the other kids still being halfway through their meals.
"Do you mind?" Vikki asked Paris as if checking whether her kids would object if she let him, now knowing what kind of rules Paris had at her house.
"Sure, no problem," Paris replied.
Silas went to sit in front of the TV again, and began fidgeting with a tangle toy, which he seemed to have at least a dozen all over the house.
The others continued their meal, discussing mostly the kids - what they liked to do, Paris shooting in a couple of family dinner conversation starters which she'd looked up, her slight awkwardness on occasion shining through. As the kids finished they went to play a game of Carcassonne, which Vikki suggested knowing Silas was fairly good at teaching them, and Vikki and Paris cleared up the table.
"They're getting on pretty well," Paris noted.
"I guess. He's having a pretty good day - everything has gone according to his plans, he's earned all of his treats - I still have to trick him into doing a lot of things," Vikki explained, hinting that not every day was as controlled.
"It must be hard," Paris noted, clearing the plates to the bio waste container Vikki had on her counter.
"It's not like I know anything different first hand," Vikki replied, putting the dishes into the dishwasher. She had no brothers or sisters, noone close to her had kids of the same age, so it was easy to forget sometimes that he hand she'd been given was anything but the normal. So far she really had very little to compare with - only what she knew and what she saw others dealing with - mostly at school. Frankly being in the school where there were kids with far more severe diagnosis, had left her rather optimistic. She could actually picture her son having a near-normal life unlike many others, even if she did have to deal with an occasional tantrum.
Paris loved how Vikki put on a brave front with this. It wasn't like she had the best support system or even a very supportive co-parent to do this with. She wasn't the kind to complain or whine.
"Well, I think you've done a great job so far," Paris said.
Vikki smiled, placing the last few glasses into the dishwasher. What Paris didn't know was that there hadn't been any occasions in which anyone had really said that to her.
The two walked back towards the living room and paused, as if in sync, on the doorway and watched the kids play the boardgame. It wasn't going completely peacefully, Silas instructing a little frustratedly, the other having misunderstood some rules. But they seemed to be handling it.
"This is what going from one to three looks like, I guess," Vikki commented in passing. While they weren't rushing things in the way most people would recognize - rushing with moving in together, getting married or anything like that - mentally they were very much in the same place, Paris not minding the comment one bit. Sure, there were ups and downs to come, things to learn both about each other and each-other's kids, but somehow they both just felt calm about the whole thing knowing that these things weren't going to be impossible to overcome.
Finn was leaning against the edge of the sound booth in the midst of a Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom concert that was a part of the the NYC Winter Jazzfest lineup. It was an instrumental group, not quite Finn's first choice that he would've gone to see for fun, usually appreciating some vocals along with his music, but he knew their manager - hence this was business not pleasure. But he couldn't really argue either - the band was good, providing both pleasant sounds but were also interesting to look at. Over the years he'd developed an ability to listen to concerts as if being someone else - analyzing what he was experiencing as if his tastes were that of someone else's.
He swallowed the last of his craft beer, and placed the bottle onto the tray that the passing waitress was carrying with a friendly smile. He was being very cautious with his smiles these days, some of his colleagues having even noted that 'Finn must be off his game' jokingly. But this, out here in the nightlife, was where he struggled a little - he was trying to be friendly and do his work well, without coming off flirtatious. He couldn't well go off flirting like he used to. But it just felt so natural to him, even if he didn't aim for things to lead anywhere. To be honest, he felt a little lost without those mannerisms that were perfect for breaking the ice and setting the right tone for many conversations - business or otherwise.
He nodded to the sound guy at the booth, also someone he'd known for years, and headed towards the back, shook hands with a few organizers he knew, in passing, and said his goodbyes. It was already past midnight and his place was just twenty minutes walk away, so he didn't bother with the cab.
Finn walked down University Place, observing the city bustling with people on a Saturday night - a bachelorparty that was just getting rowdy, people walking home from their date, some girlfriends hanging onto each other in laughter. It all just made him feel lonely. He knew it was a long shot, but he sent a text to Charlie nonetheless.
"You up?" he texted.
With some delay she replied, "Yeah, packing," Charlie replied.
Without much thought he plugged in one of his wireless earbuds and called her with video. Walking like this wans't ideal, but he just really wanted to see her.
"So how was your night?" Charlie asked, seeing him walking the street. As he'd spent most of the night at the fairly relaxed festival, he was just wearing a thicker bomber jacket on top of a simple sweater, having skipped his usual semi-formal attire. He just hadn't felt like dressing up without Charlie around.
"Music was decent, otherwise uneventful," Finn replied. "Would've been more fun with you around," he added.
"Well, someone's got to pack all of this," Charlie replied, showing the camera around the room where she sat between boxes labeled 'donate' and those more specifically labeled by their contents.
The corner of Finn's mouth curved upwards, the thought of Charlie still being set on coming to him, while it still sometimes felt unbelievable that someone would do that for him, made his heart feel warm and fuzzy.
"Now you'll just need to make sure you fit everything into that car of yours," Finn began to say, then corrected, "or you can of course have it shipped," not wanting to sound as if her things weren't welcome in his place. She was giving up enough, he not going to impose her to give up her material belongings.
"It should be fine, I am assuming you've got all the kitchen stuff anyways, so it's just clothes and some personal items, nothing much," Charlie replied. She'd learned to live with very little for a whole year, giving up things seemed to be the easy part for her.
"Yeah, don't worry - no shortage of food or appliances in this city," Finn commented as he passed a bustling Vietnamese place he was pretty sure Charlie saw as well.
"I'm going in for a final meeting with my boss tomorrow. I'm not really sure what he wants - maybe giving me some remote assignments or something, he called me tonight just out of the blue," Charlie shared.
"On a Sunday?" Finn asked with curiosity.
Charlie shrugged. "I don't know, but I'll humour him. I haven't exactly put him in an easy position either," she replied, feeling a little guilty. She hadn't mentioned to his boss her reasons for moving, somehow sensing that that type of reason would be frowned upon or diminished as some fluke, a mistake even, especially if they knew how little she'd known Finn for.
"Now this is a great place, I'm definitely taking you here one night," Finn said, passing one of his favourite restaurants and showing it to her. There were so many things he wanted to showed her, take her to.
"Can't wait," Charlie smiled.
"I miss you," he said. The week had dragged on painfully slow, and there were still days to go - which seemed like en eternity away from now.
"I miss you too," she replied. Neither wanted the call to end, hence they didn't end it, speaking about nothing in particular all the way up to Finn's apartment.
"So what was that little road trip about today?" Jess asked Celeste, as they were getting ready for bed, emptying the bed from the dozen throw pillows which Celeste loved. The topic had been hastily brushed off by Rory when Lorelai had briefly asked about it on her way out, when they'd gotten back, simply saying it was some farm Logan wanted to invest in, clearly making it sound like something completely different compared to what it really was.
"I don't know a lot, but I think Logan is dealing with some insecurities - like worrying about things that are a little unnecessary. But the place was nice, big but pretty cool at the same time. The way Rory said he'd put it was 'having a plan B', it was some sort of a self-sufficient farm essentially - solar panels, fields, barns… even had a bomb shelter apparently but all that with the luxury, you know," Celeste explained to her husband. Rory hadn't asked her to keep it a secret, and she wasn't really one to keep anything significant from Jess these days.
"Insecurity and Logan Hunzberger doesn't really sound quite right together in a sentence," Jess noted, not really caring much about the details of the property. He didn't like comparing finances, things being as complicated as they were on their side. He didn't mind the Hunzbergers owning several properties, but what he did worry a little was the way Logan seemed to splurge sometimes. And while he knew that Celeste was mature enough to not miss it, assuring him every step of the way that she had all she needed right there - she missed the places, the emotions that had once come with them, more than the luxuries. But what he was a little concerned about was how these differences between their families were going to affect Evie and her sibling-to-be. Would they rebel against their chosen path of a simpler life?
"No, it really doesn't. Rory is right to worry about him, I'm a little worried too," she replied.
"Then we'll help - I'll take him for another round in the break room if it helps," Jess replied, kissing her forehead. He really didn't want her to have another thing to worry about on her plate. If something simple as that would help, he had no problem doing it, though he doubted Logan look for him for companionship.
"You're kind of amazing, you know?" Celeste said, and she didn't really need to list all the things she meant that about.
"Just kind of?" Jess teased, kissing her on the lips with some tongue this time.
"Yeah, just barely," Celeste squinted, playfully, kissing him in return then, and placed her arms around his neck, lifting herself onto her toes. That move usually worked like magic - Jess' arms grabbed her steadily by her waist, but not as firmly as he usually would, wanting to be gentle too.
"You don't have to tip-toe around me, you know," Celeste added, staying where she was, having sensed that from the time they'd found out about the pregnancy, Jess really hadn't been his usual self when it came to letting his sex drive show near her. Sure, morning sex was understandably largely off the table these days, but that didn't mean she didn't want him to touch her.
To make her statement more clear, she slipped her hand between them, stroking over the front of his light jersey sweatpants, he wore to bed on colder nights, getting an unconscious response from within them, making her smile sneakily.
"I wasn't sure you were up for it," Jess excused his lack of trying. He had been careful, unsure if she wanted to do anything at all, perhaps she was too scared it'd put the baby in danger.
"Trust me, I'll tell you if I'm not - but right now, this is at least one thing that doesn't affect this," Celeste said, placing her other hand on her abdomen, for the first time openly mentioning the topic without hesitance. "If anything it's the stress release I need too," she added. The fetus could be influenced by what she ate, the stress but mostly it was about the genetics - if there were flaws there was nothing they could do anyways. But sex wasn't listed anywhere as prohibited.
"So you just want to take advantage of me?" Jess smirked, Celeste by now knowing this was really just a game for him.
"Uh-uh," she replied, sneakily, and let the spaghetti straps of her silky night gown drop over her shoulders demonstratively, and moved past him towards the bed. She stood with her back to him and let the gown drop all the way to the floor with a slight tilt of her hips. The gesture, undressing herself with her back to him, held meaning to them - it had been the move she'd done when they'd first slept together as well. That confidence that still radiated in her.
Jess' lips were on her neck shortly after he'd pulled off his own shirt and shoved down his pants hastily, enjoying the feel of her slowly moving hips between his palms. He let his fingertips feel her sides, slowly stroking her skin, while his evening stubble brushed her shoulder teasingly breathing hot air against her ear.
Celeste raised her arms above her head, taking her time, bending them backwards to caress his hair, and his fingers continued up the insides of her arms. Jess could feel her back arching, her ass brushing up against his arousal, which was almost fully erect by now. His hands came down from her arms over her front, brushing over her breasts, gently cupping them, then rapidly pulling her hips even more tightly against him, causing her stomach to feel hollow for a moment, just like she'd felt the first time he'd done that to her. She felt like putty in his hands.
Soon one of his hands was stroking her mound, causing her to murmure in response, already guiding his erection to settle between her thighs, wanting even more contact.
They both received the needed friction, kissing over the shoulder on the lips. Celeste tilted her head, allowing Jess to kiss her neck in the, forgetting herself.
It wasn't long until Celeste bent forward, leaning her hands on the bed, telling him what she wanted. Damn, she was a gorgeous sight like that.
The thrusts were gentle at first, Jess still holding off a little, but she wouldn't have it - and pushing her hips back to meet his she demanded more force. She was letting go of some of her fears as well, doing what her body told her it needed. Jess teased her a bit, by pulling out for a moment with a gasp at the loss of contact, before delving into her again. Their hips made a slapping sound as they pounded against each other, and Celeste's hands moved their bed, causing a nudging sound against the floorboards and the wall. Surely everyone else was asleep by now.
Somehow the idea that he had had the chance to knock her up again, despite having not really craved it knowingly, made Jess feel incredibly powerful, and turned on, and that definitely wasn't hurting the need with which he continued the thrust.
What Celeste was imagining in that moment was the way it had felt when they'd been actively trying to have a baby with Jess, and while the baby was already concieved, she chose to ignore it and imagine like this was the act in which it was taking place. She could just imagine them coming together, his seed filling her, making her his - if that was even possible more than she already felt, what she wanted to feel.
It was messy, sweaty and primal, and soon tremors, gasps and grunts followed as they climaxed, one after the other. They collapsed onto the bed, clinging to each other, now facing the other.
"I just pictured that you put a baby in me," Celeste murmured, pulling Jess close by arching her leg over his hip.
"Well I did, didn't I?" Jess hummed in a satisfactory tone, kissing her once more, his crooked smile painted on his lips.
One floor down Rory and G were both trying to fall asleep, but the rhythmic squeaking which left very little for the imagination was keeping them both up. Rory tried to pretend she wasn't hearing it, knowing too well what that was. Her sex life with Logan wasn't nonexistant, but still it stung a little to know how well the two upstairs were doing. It was almost nauseatingly adorable, and by the sound of what was going on, also hot.
Rory could tell G wasn't getting sleep either, having tossed and turned in bed at least two times in the past five minutes, trying to find a comfortable position for her pillow.
"They won't keep at it for long," Rory decided to commented laughingly, deciding to fill the awkward silence with talk instead.
"I hope so." G rolled her eyes. Not that anyone saw the eye-roll in the darkness.
"They're in love, still - besides they've always had an amazing sex life," Rory noted, with slight laughter.
G got what she was doing - distracting her essentially, so she decided to say what had been on her mind a lot these past few days.
"When I was in Paris I met this really cute guy. He was the sort of guy with whom I could've had that kind of a sex life if we'd live in the same city and I hadn't ruined it," G noted, sounding longing towards him. This was something she hadn't told anyone, but she felt she wanted to, hoping it'd make it easier for her to deal with.
"What was his name?" Rory asked, being genuinely curious. She was more curious about how she'd ruined it and whether this was one of the three she had slept with, but since they didn't seem to be in a hurry and needed a distraction, she started from the other end of things.
"Jephté," G replied, smilingly. "Black, really tall and strong, very handsome," she painted her a picture, her tone making it very clear how delicious he'd been.
"How old?" Rory asked, feeling very much like she was stuck somewhere between being a sister and a motherly figure to G at that point.
"According to French laws - legal, 19," she replied, she should've added 'I think' but there was no point in pinpointing that. "He was studying to be a chef. We had some joint friends," she explained. "He was super nice to me, also intelligent..." she added.
"So what happened?" Rory asked.
"We hooked up at a party and we got on really well, we hung out most of the evening. Then next day everything blew up with mom and I just needed to get out of there. I needed a place to crash until I found a flight back. So I let Celeste know where I was going and got Emily's number from her," she added, swallowing hard, wondering whether this was something she should've rather skipped telling Rory. "But he was really nice, picked me up despite the traffic jams and offered a place to stay for me," G said, failing to mention that she'd asked for a place to stay. "But then I just felt so dirty... I sort of just had sex with him without really feeling it. I felt like I owed him that or that it was expected, if he was letting me stay. I felt really horrible after that. Like I'd used my body as money or something," she shared. "So I just left him a quick thank you note and slipped out before he woke up, went to look for your grandmother," she added.
Rory just let her speak, trying not to comment with anything that might come out wrong.
"You're sure he didn't do it against your will? Or hurt you?" Rory felt like she needed to ask.
"He didn't, honestly. He didn't even initiate it - it was all me.. But I think he could tell I wasn't into it, and that was just the worst feeling..." she explained. "And it's so sad, because he was really good, but as a person and at sex, very attentive and caring... and my mind just screwed that up. I mean I am under no pretence that we would've had something more with the distnace, I'm not that naive...," she added. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," G said, realizing that Rory might have taken that comment the wrong way.
"No, it's fine - it's not the same, really - it's fine," Rory responded.
"Still - I don't get it why sometimes my mouth speaks before I think," G added, apologetically.
"Why do you want to hook up with these guys so fast when you meet them? Why not just talk, kiss, maybe ask to hang out some other time?" Rory pondered, changing the subject. She felt like perhaps she came off old-fashioned.
"In a way I want to - I like the high I get from it, it's both physical and mental. I also feel I get respect, I suppose. But I also know that it's not always like that - I've just gotten very lucky with most of the guys. Like guys admire me for taking the first step - asking for what I want. It's a rush," G tried to explain.
"Delaying that rush can be pretty good sometimes - picturing what it's like, then having the tension linger through a date and then... fireworks," Rory tired to illustrate.
"Maybe...," G replied, having not really experience that in a while. When she had - she'd still been a little insecure herself, so that hardly counted.
"You should try it. And seriously - if you think guys lose interest in you if you don't put out straight away then they're pointless anyways," Rory suggested.
"Have you ever had a one night stand?" G pondered, hearing the noises wear down upstairs, and sighed with relief.
"I have, but it really didn't have the outcome I wanted. I just felt worse afterwards," Rory replied, not really wanting to recall the details of that afternoon in New York with the Wookie.
"Is it different when you love someone?" G asked. Somehow speaking in darkness was so much easier than during daytime.
Rory tried to think of the times she'd slept with a man for the first time with the knowing that she was in love with them. With Dean it had always been a very different kind of love, like one would always love a first boyfriend or a dear friend. With Logan... the feeling had changed so much over the years - hesitance, stringless fun, safe haven, forbidden and hidden fruit, comfort, and back to the safe haven again, if going by some keywords. With Paul it had been more similar to Dean than Logan, definitely. And the few others she'd had in between, had just been something she couldn't quite place, but she certainly wouldn't place them under people she'd been in love with.
She'd always searched for that feeling that she had had with Logan - the one that combined her ability to search for her safe haven in him, for him to comfort her and without any reservations be with her without hiding anything. That was the goal now too - to get that back.
"It is different, but it doesn't always come straight away," Rory explained. "There may be more excitement, more fireworks in the beginning, but the really good sex happens when there's trust - like you could just ask him for anything and you'd know he would hear you out or even comply. There's no embarrasment, you know what the other likes, he knows every inch of your body like his own," Rory explained, suddenly beginning to miss Logan rather urgently.
Rory didn't want to fight about something as trivial as some farm out in the middle of nowhere. If it made him happier, more content - he should get it. She just wanted him home, in her bed and hold him until he was better. She wanted to be his safe haven again.