AN: Here you go - a double treat again. However, tomorrow is a little iffy I can get a chapter out. I'll try, but it's a little unlikely. Besides the next one is a really important one so wouldn't want to do a poor job at it.

Visual to Charlie's place in case I forgot earlier: 1200 Boul. De Maisonneuve O., Apt. 11B, Ville-Marie, QC

After spending a busy morning in bed Charlie had taken Finn all over the city that day to see the Old Montreal, Square Saint-Louis and Rue Denis and Mont-Royal. They'd seen her favourite places and eaten at her favourite restaurant, the Candide where their trademark seemed to be to serve their food deocrated by beautiful flowers. Their tour had been cut short by an approaching blizzard, hence the warm and now laughter-filled apartment with a bottle of wine and the lovely company really did seem like the most perfect place in the world.

Charlie's apartment was full of her belongings which she'd taken out of storage and gone through, picking and choosing what to bring, what to donate and what to take to her dad's, deciding not to rent a whole mini warehouse this time as some of her stuff had gotten water damage over the last year.

They were going to see Charlies' dad the following day, hence the wine was also vital so Finn wouldn't worry so much. Finn didn't even know exactly why he was so worried, he doubted her dad would talk her out of moving or somehow disapprove publicly of their plans, but it was still a first for Finn.

The boxes that were still in her living room were fascinating to Finn, and on more than one occasion Charlie had had to physically stop him from opening them back up, kisses or other gestures of endearment usually doing the trick. To Finn each box was a piece of her, and he just wanted to study their contents as a part of studying her. Charlie hadn't been able to persuade him, however, from opening up the the boxes titled "déguisements" which Finn of course knew meant 'costumes' having been just far too intrigued. And eventually Charlie had relented, giving him a show of what used to be her college theater class costumes, she hadn't really thought about in years.

"How come I never knew you did theater?" Finn asked casually, as he waited on the couch for Charlie to change into yet another outfit, having just before showed off her amazing Tudor ball gown, a little faded, but technically still good enough for a student play of some sort, which explained why she was donating them.

"I don't know, it was just for the fun of it really. I had friends there, and I was used to reading tons of material and remembering texts - or I'm not even sure which way it worked - whether this helped me at my law studies or the other way around," she explained, speaking loudly from the adjacent bedroom. It was not that she couldn't change clothes in front of him, far from it, but it was rather about doing a theatrical entrance and the fact that some of those might have been embarrassingly small for her by now.

"Mostly it was just an outlet from all the seriousness of my classes, you know. I wasn't even very good, but it built courage and tought me not to be afraid to making a fool of myself", Charlie added laughingly as she emerged, now wearing a black and white nun habit and veil.

Finn let out a hearty laughter. "Well-well-well... Another thing we can cross off the bucket list," he chuckled. He definitely wanted to explore this outfit a little bit more closely and was just about to approach Charlie, who was definitely playing the role of the coy and shy nun very convincingly, biting one of her fingers with her teeth playfully, when his phone rang.

"Crap, sorry," Finn apologized, and looked at his phone. As technically it was still Thursday, he needed to at least check who it was, in case he's brain was needed at work, even though he'd delegated most of his workload for a couple of days.

Charlie let out a sigh, but it was no big deal, deciding to leave the costume on for now.

Finn almost considered not answering, but seeing it was Rory, made him a little concerned. It could've been important.

"Ah, I should take this, it's Rory..," Finn replied. Charlie knew Rory was a good friend of his and knowing Rory was married to his best friend, she really didn't mind him taking the call as a priority. Friends were important.

"What do I owe this pleasure?" Finn exclaimed as he answered the call.

"Hey! What are you up to?" Rory asked, unsure if she was distrubing him.

"Umm... I'm in Montreal, planning on driving Charlie home on Sunday," Finn explained, making it very clear that 'home' was in New York.

"Oh, sorry - I didn't mean to bother you," Rory apologized, realizing very well that she might have been interupting something as she also noted the time.

"What do you think I am - some Duracell Bunny?" Finn chuckled, glancing over his gorgeous girlfriend who was completely hidden underneath that nun outfit at the moment.

Charlie giggled along quietly - he pretty much was.

"Uh-uh," Rory noted sarcastically.

"So what's up?" he asked.

"I actually wanted to pick your brain about something," Rory began. "I know this might be a little weird for you, but because this concerns Manhattan, I didn't really know who else to ask," she added, sounding a little apologetic.

"Come on, it's me - ask away," Finn urged.

"G's birthday is at the end of this month," Rory spilled.

"Right," Finn reflected with what he hoped was an inaudible sigh.

"And I feel like I've been at home too long - I cannot think of a venue. And I honestly wouldn't have asked but I feel like I'm a little late with organizing this, I don't want to waste too much time on delaying booking a place. She asked me this - let me read this out for you - 'I don't want anything formal, just something fun, carefree, a little childish maybe? Something good for taking photos, some activity maybe, rather than just sit and dine'," Rory read out.

Rory was incredibly proud of G actually wanting to do something different - G had told her how all the usual parties her friends had were about hanging out drinking, dancing and hooking up. G hadn't said it but Rory could tell she was trying to avoid putting herself in that position. It was actually pretty clever, to do something out of the box, and claim the party as her final childhood party of sorts, her 18th, next year, probably being much different.

"It's just a few people - 10 or so. All the places I can think of are too childish or require an ID," Rory added.

"Hmm..," Finn pondered.

"She's just been through a lot and she deserves a fun day, you know," Rory said. She knew he would agree, so what if it was a little selfish of her to be asking him this, but as far as Rory saw it - he was over it - even if the topic was a little tender. It wasn't like she was asking him to be there.

"It's the 31st right?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, Friday - so like starting from 6 or 7, something like that," Rory replied, being quite surprised he knew it by heart.

"I have a few ideas actually. I can make a couple of calls tomorrow, if that's okay?" Finn asked.

"You're amazing, thanks," Rory exhaled. It was one thing off her list.

"Are you doing okay yourself?" Finn inquired, out of genuine concern for how things were going with her and Logan.

"I'm going to London for the weekend myself," Rory shared, feeling impatient already. She still needed to pack, and all the babysitting logistics needed to work out tomorrow. She was nervours.

"Well good luck, but I'm sure you won't need it. He'll be happy to see you," Finn assured.

"Thanks," Rory replied and hung up after a casual goodbye's.

"Huh," Finn exhaled, throwing his phone onto the couch besides him.

"So what was that about?" Charlie inquired. It didn't sound like prying, it just sounded like genuine interest.

Finn wasn't really used to having someone be that interested in his life, and for a moment he really considered how much to this story he should tell.

"Rory's arranging a birthday for her sister, she asked for some recommendations…," Finn begand, then deciding to add, "her sister is the girl that I told you about," he confessed. He didn't want to keep secrets, secrets were exhausting.

"The one that...," Charlie began to say, realizing she particularly didn't feel like finishing it. But she got it from the wordless look in his eyes.

"Does Rory know about that?" Charlie asked after a pause, and took off the veil she'd been wearing, feeling it was just too hot to wear inside.

"She does, I don't know how much detail but the gist anyway," Finn replied, hoping this wouldn't be an issue for her.

"It weird she even asked your help on this," Charlie replied a little offendedly, feeling like it was rather rude of Rory or at least careless of Finn's emotions to even ask him. While she didn't want to think about it, she could tell that whatever had happened had affected him emotionally. She could see he was over it, she knew he was ashamed of it ever having happened, but now that it had, she also wanted to be sure that these emotions were not stirred up unnecessarily. And besides, she really didn't want to fight over his attention with some teenager.

"Rory has a lot on her plate right now, it's not like I'm planning the whole thing or attending it. It'll take me two calls tomorrow to the right people and that's it," Finn explained.

"I guess," Charlie shrugged, pouting a little, having some mixed feelings on the matter.

"Hey-hey-hey," Finn pulled her close and into his lap, reading her sceptical look. "I'm just helping out Rory here - nothing more. She and Logan are going through a rough patch, she's got three kids and her teenage sister to take care of, it's the one thing I can help her with," he added, assuring her.

"Fine," Charlie mumbled, pretending to be grumpy.

Finn kissed her, pulling her chin down gently.

"Have you seen her since you got back? You know - cleared the air?" Charlie asked, unable to fully let go of the subject.

"I have, briefly. I said I was sorry. She knows about you - told me I deserved to be happy. Honestly I think she gets it, and she's not clinging...," Finn explained, summing things up.

"Good," Charlie sighed. That did make her feel a little bit more secure about this thing. "Now, do you want me to go and try on the Jasmine costume or are we going to stick with the habit?" she asked about shifting the subject.

"Oh definitely Jasmine - a body as gorgeous as yours shouldn't be hidden under all these layers," he laughed, his hand caught somewhere in between the several layers of her hem, having unsuccessfully attempted to creep upwards.

Paris was picking up her own kids from school, just ten minutes from her house, and had just confirmed that the kids were buckled into their carseats. It was one of these days when she had left work early, and for once felt like she was meeting the near-impossible good parent criteria that she'd set for herself.

"How was project day?" Paris asked excitedly, having been the one that got an interdisciplinary project into their curriculum in the first place, being on the board of trustees of the school herself. She pulled out of their drop-off spot after letting a few cars pass.

"They stuck us on the same team again," Gabriela complained. It was not that she minded working with her brother, but this was just getting boring - somehow a lot of the teachers treated the two like a single entity, while they couldn't have been more different in most of their interests even if their personalities had a lot of similarities.

"Was the project cool at least?" Paris asked, making a mental note to have yet again a word with their teacher.

"We made icebergs," Timoteo exclaimed excitedly.

Inside Paris was groaning a little - she'd made icebergs and water density experiments with her kids when they were 5. Needless to say, she wasn't impressed with the elementary school that claimed to be the best in Connecticut.

It was then Paris' phone rang, the display indicating it was Vikki calling.

"Hey?" she answered with surprise, having just seen her twenty minutes ago at her office car park where she'd kissed her goodbye. As far as she knew Vikki was, just like she, picking up Silas' from his school.

"Hey," Vikki replied, sounding out of breath and she could tell her voice was a little shaky. "I was just in an accident," she continued, sounding like she was in shock or at the very least very shaken up. Paris glanced briefly to the rearview mirror, already seeing her kids with their earphones on, listening to some audio books or music like they often did.

"You okay?" Paris asked with concern, considering pulling over to talk with her full attention. She could hear sirens in the background.

"This car just came out of nowhere and just, the passenger side is completely smashed up..," she began to explain, unable to focus on the most important things "I'm fine - nothing life threatening as far as I can tell, but they're taking me in for a CT and observation just to be safe. Some small cuts from the glass and I think I banged my shoulder," she explained, trying to put her medical knowledge into at least some use estimating her condition by feel, but wasn't doing the best job at that moment. All she could think was that if her son had been in the car, he would've been in way worse condition that she was, as she usually sat on the back seat on the passenger's side. She could see from where she was sitting, that the carseat was pretty banged up.

"Where are they taking you?" Paris asked, already wanting to rush over there as fast as she could.

"Saint Francis probably, unless they're full," Vikki replied, reading the sign on the ambulance that was just treating the other driver. "But I need you to do me a favor, I need you to go pick up Silas - I know it's a lot to ask, but I don't really know who else to ask, who'd actually have a car seat that fits him," she added, speaking urgently. It soudned like she was about to cry.

Paris wasn't feeling too confident on this prospect frankly, Silas was a little unpredictable and especially if there was a change of plans. But how could she not help her.

"I should be there in like 25-30 minutes," Paris estimated, knowing she needed to drop her own kids off first.

Vikki continued to give her instructions on the little details on Silas and where to find him until it was her turn to be checked over by the paramedics.

Paris promised to come check on her later, hoping she'd be able to reach her - but she already knew that the logistics of that evening and perhaps even the next day weren't going to be the easiest with one car and two carseats, when there were two adults and three kids to transport.

Half an hour later Paris marched into Oak Hill, a special school adapted for students with disabilities, after having her ID checked at the entrance. The first thing she noticed, and she knew that it was a fairly superficial and judgmental thought, was that a lot of the students that were still hanging around or about to leave, were a lot worse off than Silas was. Silas was eccentric, needed things to happen in a certain way around him, but essentially he was able to communicate, had all functioning body parts and was very intelligent for his age. It didn't quite seem like the place for him at first sight. But things between Vikki and her were too fresh to start formulating an opinion on something like, hence she only planned to think it.

"Excuse me, where can I find Mr. Giles?" Paris asked a passing woman who looked like she could possibly be a teacher.

"Jayden's classroom is the second door to the left," the woman instructed. Clearly it was one of these schools where things worked by first names, making her cringe on the inside.

She walked down the hall and looked into the second classroom to her left.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Paris Geller, I'm here to pick up Silas Irwing," she announced herself. "Hi, Silas!" she noticed the boy sitting behind a desk with his backpack on the table in front of him.

"Hi," Silas responded but didn't make eye contact, his leg bouncing under the table.

"Hello," Mr. Giles stood up and shook her hand, adding, "I'm going to have to check into his records to see if you're authorized," in a stern but calm manner.

"I doubt I'm in there, I'm Vikki's employer. She's just been in a car accident - she should be alright, but she couldn't make it here herself today," Paris began, speaking in a whisper, not wanting to upset Silas unnecessarily.

"I figured something was up, Vikki is usually is here on the dot, so we've just called his father as well," Mr. Giles replied. "But let's check, perhaps we can just call him right back so that he doesn't need to come," he added.

"His dad works in New York, so I doubt…;" Paris began, but realized it didn't really matter.

"Here we go - as I see here you're perfectly authorized for pick up, Dr. Geller," Mr. Giles added, causing Paris' eyebrows to raise. That she truly hadn't expected and she wondered when exactly had Vikki put her into that list. It was no doubt a compliment of the highest order.

Mr. Giles picked up his phone and began dialing the father.

"Silas, my man," a familiar male voice exclaimed from the doorway the next moment, causing Paris' shock to increase exponentially, and her head to turn.

There he was - Paris was standing 6 ft from Tristian DuGray. For a split second she though about what she was wearing - she wasn't even sure why, but relaxed noticably realizing she looked pretty good at that moment, dressed in a knee-length sweater dress with her wool-coat over it and knee-high boots. Briefly she scolded herself for even thinking of it - it wasn't like she was trying to score with him.

Tristian looked a lot older, and the scruffy beard really wasn't doing him many favours. He was dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans and a puffy bomber jacket - sure, he still had that smile that she remembered, but somehow she'd imagined seeing him in flesh affecting her more than it did. All she felt like doing was shrugging.

"Huh, Mr. DuGray - it seems we have a little bit of confusion who's picking up Silas today," Mr. Giles spoke.

It was only then Tristian noticed Paris.

"Am I seeing straight? Paris, is that you?" he exclaimed.

"It's me alright," she replied, smiling friendily. Her mind was racing, thinking of several ways how this evening could turn from an odd coincidence to a full blown tele-novela. "Vikki called me to come pick him up," she added.

"How do you two...?" Tristan looked between the three in the room, feeling a little confused.

"Can we go now, dad?" Silas was getting impatient.

The teacher went back to his business, letting the two sort out amongst themselves who would take the kid home.

"Just a minute, Silas," Tristan said, clearly looking for some type of explanation.

"We work together," Paris said, not feeling like it was the right place to start declaring their romantic involvement.

"Right," Tristan exhaled.

"I thought Vikki said you'd be in New York," Paris said, feeling confused how he'd gotten there so quickly.

"Mom's birthday," Tristan replied, as if that was self explanatory. And in a way it was.

"Well then, I can take him home and you can get back to the party," Paris suggested, feeling a little protective of her right to take Silas home. It was an interesting feeling, very close to rivalry, which she really didn't recall feeling in a very long time.

"Where is Vikki? It's not really like her to...," Tristan began.

"Car accident, but she sounded fine, a little shaken up. But she went to get a CT scan just to be safe," Paris explained, wondering how much of this was ethical to tell him. But then again she was talking to another medical professional.

"You have a carseat?" Tristan asked, as if doubting she'd thought of that, actually proving to be a responsible parent at that point.

"I have two, same age group" Paris replied smugly.

"Okay," he exhaled. "But where are you taking him - I mean I don't expect you to have a key to the house," Tristan added, curiously.

"I don't, but I have a nanny at home and then I was going to go pick Vikki up from the hospital," Paris explained. Technically she knew where she hid the spare key, but that wasn't in her plans right now. "Her car is pretty banged up," she added.

"Let's go!" Silas objected, and the two got already a cautioning look from Mr. Giles who was not going to intervene more than that, but was simply hurrying them up. Silas was rather particular about the time - if it was one minute, it was exactly one minute.

"One more minute, I'm sorry, Silas," Tristan replied.

"He's not too great with unfamiliar nannies, you know that, right?" Tristan argued.

"Yeah, but he knows my kids who are there as well," Paris replied.

"Why don't I just take him to my parent's - my mom would be over the moon to see him and I can just drop him off later," Tristan suggested.

In some level Paris actually thought it was a good idea, she really didn't know how Silas would react to being with an unfamiliar nanny in a strange house that he'd never been to. But she just wasn't sure how Vikki felt about it.

"I'll try calling her, lets see what she thinks," Paris said and dialled Vikki's number. "Or maybe if she's done I can just drive by the hospital with Silas now," she added, while she waited for Vikki to pick up, but there was no answer. She knew it was unlikely they'd be done with her, and so did Tristian.

"She's probably being examined as we speak," Paris said and let her hand fall, holding the phone in her hand. The picture of Vikki on her contact was a sexy one, with her smiling sideways at the camera, definitely not one of her professional photographs, but Paris really wasn't paying much attention to it right now.

"He clearly wants to come with me right now, he might not even get into your car," Tristan continued.

"Alright," Paris relented, recalling Vikki's phone call to Tristian one night, when she'd claimed she was going to be driving home with a kicking and screaming 8-year old, because he'd had a change of plans. 8-year-olds were pretty strong. Paris hadn't really ever seen Silas on a bad day, hence she was feeling pretty insecure about the way he'd be with her. It had all happened so suddenly, she'd hardly had time to adjust to the whole concept of attempting to parent someone like Silas, even if she herself might have had some similar traits.

"Silas, we're leaving," Tristan said, gesturing for him to come with him, and the boy raised from his seat and headed out to the hallway.

"I'll just go to the hospital to check on her then, and maybe, you should have my number - just in case, maybe her battery is low or something," Paris replied, sounding a little worried. She shared her own number wirelessly with his phone.

They two walked out of the classroom, following Silas, who was appearing a little grumpy already.

"You're not just her co-worker are you?" Tristan said, having guessed it from a lot of things that she'd said, the contact picture he'd glimpsed at and the way she seemed concerned about her well-being and also about how she was handling the situation that had been trusted to her. Paris had been the person Vikki had called first.

Technically she could've said she was her employer. But as this was coming from Tristian, who was eventually going to find out anyway, she just didn't care for hiding it anymore.

"I'm not," Paris replied with a hesitant smile, as he watched Silas walk 10 ft in front of them, out of earshot. They still hadn't told the kids anything official.

Tristan didn't really respond in any way to the matter - he didn't seem upset, surprised or especially joyous, and simply tucked his hands into his pockets, and they walked out to the parking lot.