September 11th, 2021

Going out anywhere, without being in the role of a mom, was refreshing if she were to be honest. She loved Em more than life itself, but parenting was exhausting. But the feeling was a little bittersweet - after all, one of the highlights of her day was seeing an optometrist and picking out a pair of glasses for herself, her first ones. She really was getting old - it was not a reminder she needed.

Rory was about halfway through with the first display case, having already gotten her prescription, only so far having found a pair of wayfarer shaped frames that she kind of liked. They were fairly large, strong framed and dark plastic ones. It only really made her look more like a school teacher, truth be told, if she were to avoid saying they made her look geeky. But with that label, she was truthfully more comfortable with than she'd ever been in her life. She was a bookworm, a movie geek, she liked homework, she was a workdork.

The door of the little store that offered optometrist services on a Saturday, chimed, but Rory was taking choosing the right frames pretty seriously, so she didn't really take her glance off the display case.

"There you are, darling," a familiar Australian accent approached her.

"Hey," Rory recognized Finn, turning to him to accept a friendly hug, having to raise to her toes for that.

"I'm a little early, I hope that's okay," Finn replied, apologetically. He'd been supposed to meet her in ten-fifteen minutes in nearby restaurant, but as Rory told him what her day entailed, she wasn't really surprised he'd shown up.

"It's fine. I just might be a while, I have no idea what to choose," Rory replied, feeling both overwhelmed by the selection and determined to choose something today.

Finn was in town for a visit from the City to see his sister, who lived in Ellington, and since his drive took him through Hartford anyways, he'd often made it a point to meet up with Rory along the way.

Seeing him always felt good, the man being like from some alternate universe, packed with all things happy, radiating off his optimism and energy each time. Rory needed that, especially these days.

"Well let's see - anything in particular that you're looking for?" Finn asked, offering to help. He didn't mean to rush her, he wasn't in any real hurry to get going, but he was always the type of guy to get the ball rolling, whatever it was that he was doing.

"I kind of like these, but I'm not sure..," Rory replied, putting on the frames she'd tried a few minutes ago.

"Maybe," Finn shrugged, tilting his head as he observed her.

Rory got that this was his way not to say anything directly negative about her choice, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"How about these ones?" Finn suggested, and took a pair of ful vue glasses in titanium grey and held them out for Rory. Rory took them from his hand and put them on.

This option was definitely a lot less dominating on her face, modest and delicate.

"Pretty good, right?" Finn observed her view herself in the mirror. Her hair was loose, having not had really time to do anything much with it since she'd been in a hurry, but it fit well with the burgundy turtleneck she was wearing, under her demin jacket.

"Maybe it's too...biblical?" Rory burst out in laughter, having lacked a better word for it. During the many times they'd met up during the past four years they'd covered, among other things, her being called Mary when she'd went to Chilton herself.

Her look was innocent, they would've suited the Mary that went to Chilton, not the Magdalen who'd travelled the world, jumped off scaffoldings and played golf off of rooftops, to name some of the more admirable things she had on her track record, not wanting to think of the more embarrasing bits. Either way, deep down she didn't feel like just some humble spinster governess even if her current look might have spoke of just that.

Finn laughed too. With him around it was so easy for Rory to show that side of her. The goofy and adventurous side, the side that Jess had never really seen much of, except for maybe during some movie nights with her signature banter or in bed during their better times. With Jess it had all been very domestic, too domestic too soon - it was not what Rory really craved these days.

"Maybe these are better then?" Finn suggested, the laughter having subsided, and held out a pair of amber-colored petite pantos frames. He slipped the frames behind her ears, his hand gently brushing against her cheek.

For a moment that touch felt like crossing some so far uncrossed line - they'd always been friends and nothing else. But she knew things were too complicated with the whole Life and Death Brigade bunch to go there in her mind and she didn't aim to start now. It had been innocent, she was sure, and she was just a deprived woman, having dreamt of sleeping with her ex that morning before being rudely awakened by the same guy. She just needed to get a grip.

Once she was able to focus again, she observed herself in the mirror, definitely recognizing that the frames that she had on her had character, still having maintained some of that feminine and soft side.

"I never would've picked something like that, thank you," Rory replied, having decided to get the frames in question and headed for the register.

They were planning to have lunch and catch up, and other than Rory's nightly story time with Em or seeing a student that had struggled before succeed, these little visits were one of the vital components that kept her optimistic about the future, reminding her that she had friends beyond just Paris and Lane, who were often too wrapped up with their own lives.


September 20th, 2017

Rory answered her phone hastily, afraid of it's low buzz waking the baby who'd fallen asleep mere 30 minutes ago. She stood up, knowing she needed to take the call a little further away, while Em slept in her travel cot in the living room.

"Yeah?" she answered the call from an unknown number, figuring it was probably just one of the couriers announcing their arrival.

The DAR ladies had gotten a wind of her having a baby recently, and ever since Emily's passing a few months ago they'd sort of made it their point to shower her with sympathies and casseroles made by their personal chefs. After all she was still technically member of the DAR, and Emily Gilmore, even after having stepped down from the board, had still been a respected member who'd dedicated a significant part of her life to the organization.

"A little birdy told me uncle Finn was due for a visit. Now if you would be so kind and pinpoint me to which house on this Boulevard street is the right one, so I'd be able to deliver this enormous gift basket the right doorstep," Finn's unmistakable voice said, the sound of him being in his car becoming evident.

Finn had gotten a tip through the society circles, which his sister was also well connected to, most of the rumors speaking of Rory's choice of residence in the old part of West Hartford, an area which much of the society didn't really consider proper or safe enough. But Rory had deliberately chosen a house with a smaller lot size and convenient access to a row of restaurants on Park Road and parks, having grown fond of strolling to gather her thoughts and gain inspiration to get her food.

"1375," Rory replied, already feeling excited to see him, despite the place being a mess and she herself being sleep deprived as usual. It wasn't the most polite thing to show up at the house of a young mother unannounced, currently dressed in a slouchy t-shirt and random pair of leggings, but with Finn - she wouldn't have expected anything different.

She stood at the door, waiting for him to pull up - she didn't want Finn ringing the doorbell. His dark brown Lexus NX pulled up, definitely standing out on the street a little. The gift basket was indeed extravagant, making Rory smile broadly. It was not that she needed another one of those, but this was just so him - never going half way on anything. God, she'd missed him, she'd missed all the guys.

"Oh, god, it's good to see you," Rory exclaimed, hugging him.

"You too, love," Finn said and smiled.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Rory said, as the hug broke.

She hadn't exactly broadcasted her pregnancy, nor the baby - but everything had changed once she'd ran into Tweeni Halpner on her way to Em's first appointment at the pediatrician. After that she saw no point in keeping it to herself - and began to post little glimpses of the girl that she was utterly infatuated with to social media. That was where she figured Finn had found out about it from. She didn't even follow him back, not wanting the reminder of a certain one of his friends to frequent on her feed, but he hadn't blocked any of them.

"Unless I'm the father, I forgive you," Finn joked. "Besides, I'm sure you had better things on your mind," Finn chuckled, and draped his hand over her shoulders.

Rory cast him an under-the-eyebrow look but smiled.

Rory led him inside, gesturing to keep his voice down a little. Finn put the basket on one of the side tables. He couldn't resist going to peek at the brand new creature, sleeping peacefully, but soon followed Rory to the dining room. Rory had already put on some coffee, half decaf like she was used to making now.

"So what brings you to town?" Rory inquired, as the two sat down at the table.

"I was in the neighbourhood and wondered how you were doing, it's been too long. I've missed you, we've all missed you," Finn explained.

All? - Rory's mind stopped functioning at the word for a second.

"And besides my sister lives nearby," Finn explained. Deep down he'd probably been more worried about her than the rest of the guys too, but he didn't want to outright say it.

"Well... this is me. A small change from living with boxes at each of my friend's places," Rory shrugged, modestly, looking around her humble, but not in any way shabby lodgings. The house wasn't new or flashy, but it's interior had been set up with everything she needed to feel comfortable and homey, now just looking a bit overwhelming with a mountain of baby gear she hadn't all taken into use yet, some things still needing assembly and so forth.

"It's very you," Finn replied, smilingly. And that really was the biggest compliment.

Rory went to get coffee for them from the kitchen, bringing a box of oreos with her, not bothering with plates. The motion allowed her time to think, and she knew there was definitely at least one thing on his mind that he was perhaps hesitating to ask.

"She's not his, you know...," Rory said, as she'd taken the first sip of her coffee, deciding to just say it. If Finn had done the exact math, he'd known it himself. But then again she'd never posted Em's birthday anywhere and she doubted Finn was the type of guy who could determine a baby's age just by looking at her or knew a lot about pregnancies. But she could picture her silence having been reason enough for Finn to consider the possibility.

Finn nodded, feeling grateful that she'd shared that information without having to ask. He'd never told Logan any of this, nor that he was coming. In fact, Finn was pretty sure Logan was clueless in his life of anything going on with Rory, Logan having thrown himself into work as deeply as he could since they'd all last seen each other.

What Finn didn't know was that it had actually been pretty close that Rory would've been in this situation with a completely different story. But at that point Rory wasn't ready to share it - it still hurt too much.

"So who's the lucky guy then?" Finn inquired, looking around for traces of a male presence. There really wasn't much, a jacket that seemed far too big for Rory hanging in the hallway, a heavy duty toolbox waiting in the corner, having not quite found it's appropriate place just yet.

"It's Jess, Jess Mariano. You don't know him, but I've known him for a long time," Rory replied, but her tone lacked that certain something when she spoke of him. She was content, there wasn't anything exactly wrong and any melancholy she felt these days she'd mostly put up to the pregnancy blues.

"Is he a decent guy?" Finn asked Rory, placing his coffee down, which he'd drunk rather rapidly.

"He is," Rory exhaled.

Jess really was a good guy - responsible, caring, well-read, funny and good looking, but she was reluctant to admit that whenever Jess was away for work, she felt relief instead of missing him painfully. She liked her alone time, she liked her alone time with Em, feeling something similar to what perhaps only Lorelai could fully understand. It was Em and her against the world.

"Good," Finn replied approvingly, and even if Rory didn't really crave Finn's approval, it felt good to be cared about like that. Finn was like a big brother looking out for her, without the 1984 analogy.

"So how are you? Are you still the most eligible bachelor in Manhattan?" Rory asked, being genuinely curious.

They continued to talk for an hour or so, about Finn's life in the City, but also about Colin and Robert. Robert apparently was engaged, which definitely brought back some memories of Rory of their one, horrible, date, providing some laughing matter to the two of them.

Ending things with Logan hadn't been hard just for that same reason, but there were layers upon layers of things she'd needed to part with, the guys being one of those less dramatic layers. The deeper ones she didn't even quite dare to think about.