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“Do I have to wear the blindfold? I know where we’re going.”
Logan picked up her hand and kissed the back of it; she could almost imagine the twinkle in his eyes. “I know you know, Ace.”
She turned in the direction of the driver’s seat. “It makes me nauseous to not be able to look out the window.”
“That’s why I made you wait to put on the blindfold until we were less than a mile away.”
Her stomach rolled. “Less than a mile is forever.”
“Not forever.”
She lifted both eyebrows at him. “Do you want me to puke in your car?”
“You’re not going to puke.”
“You don’t know that!” Rory pouted. “Is this because I called you basic?”
“I’m not basic.” His tone told her that she was right.
“I just meant that you were happy with a glass of scotch and a good cuddle.” Logan had always been a worldclass snuggler. They’d managed to squeeze onto one half of the trundle bed this morning. She couldn’t wait until they could fully move into their house and sleep in their own king-sized bed.
“I’m going to prove to you that I’m not basic.” He was so incredibly stubborn, but she loved him anyway.
“It’s been three weeks since I said that.”
“Well, it’s not something a non-basic guy forgets – his woman calling him basic.”
Rory smirked at him even though she couldn’t see his face.
Logan put his hand on her knee as he slowed and turned the car. “We’re pulling in. Wait in the car and keep the blindfold on.”
“Logan.” She was so tempted to rip it off.
“You promised.” He put the car in park and turned it off.
Rory aimed her head in his direction. “You’re staring at me, aren’t you?”
He laughed and kissed her cheek. “Wait here.” He sounded so excited that she didn’t protest.
His door opened and closed, and she heard his footsteps on the new concrete driveway. Her door swept open, and she felt the warm sunlight on her skin. Birds trilled in the trees around them.
“Hands, Ace.”
She presented him her hands, and he helped her up. “Is the surprise the driveway?”
“No.” He sounded offended.
She slipped her hands into his larger ones. “But it’s new and shiny and less full of rocks, rusty nails, and gravel, which is good because someday she’ll be walking and sooner than we think because she’s such a good sitter.”
“Feet on the ground.”
She huffed and followed directions.
He slipped an arm around her waist and gently pulled her forward. “You have to move, so I can close the car door.”
“Oh, right.”
Once the door was shut, he guided her to the house. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to let you fall.”
True to his word, she didn’t even stumble.
Once they were in the house, she could smell the fresh paint overlaid with the sweet scent of her favorite almond croissant candle burning, probably in the kitchen. Food scents always made her happy and made a house feel like a home.
She asked, “Now?”
He kissed her and whispered, “No,” against her lips. She could feel his smile and smiled, too.
Their shoes were loud on the hardwood floors, and then, he stopped. “Okay, now we’re at the stairs, and we’re going to go slow. You ready?”
“Really? You’re going to make me climb the stairs blindfolded, too?”
“Yes.”
“Seriously?” Her belly was growing faster now, and she wasn’t quite so graceful on the stairs even when her eyes weren’t covered. She gripped his arm.
“Do you trust me?”
She didn’t hesitate. “One hundred percent.” Her mouth twisted to one side. “Maybe 99.9 percent.”
He laughed.
The stairs were new, too – smooth and wider than before, and Logan took her at a more moderate pace than she anticipated, stopping when she swayed and letting her hold onto him until she was steady again. Halfway up, she heard voices. They were too soft to identify even when she strained.
“I hear people, and I think they’re not part of the regular crew. Did you bring new workers in on the weekend?” Logan had been planning on hiring more people in an effort to step up the renovations.
“Sort of. Don’t worry about them.”
“Are they part of the surprise?”
“Focus on stepping.”
She blew some stray strands of hair out of her mouth. “Fine.” He kissed her, and her frustration was tempered. “I’m seriously ready to be done with the blindfold. And the being pregnant and awkward.” Her whole body was different. The changes had been so slow and subtle, but sometimes it hit her how different she was.
His hand skimmed over her belly with gentleness. “Almost there, Ace. Hang in there with me.”
Even in the darkness, she reached for his face and ran her thumb over his cheek. “I’m always here with you.”
He turned his head, and his lips grazed her palm softly. “Thank god.” She swore she could hear the hint of their past conversation in his voice. Relief underlay the levity.
With renewed determination, they ascended the remainder of the stairs. She could smell a different sort of scent now – paint mixed with. . . fresh air? A cool breeze swept over her forearms.
“Do you have all the windows open upstairs? Is that the surprise? Because I’ve been looking forward to days like this. We used to open all the windows in our house when I was growing up. I can’t wait for you to experience it, too.”
“Yes, they’re all open, but only because Tom and his crew painted the rest of the bedrooms. The paint’s safe, but I just wanted to make sure you and the baby encountered as few fumes as possible.”
“Oh.”
The hallway was somehow trickier than the staircases because there were tarps and paint cans, and Logan had to move a ladder out of the way. The metal shrieked on its hinges as he folded the ladder, locked it, and leaned it on the wall.
There were now purposeful whispers just ahead near the nursery, and one of those voices had a distinct Australian accent that she would recognize anywhere.
Screw the blindfold. She tore away the fabric and ran the rest of the way to the nursery with Logan’s laugh on her heels.
“You better not be laughing at the pregnant lady running!” she called back.
Flying into the room, she stopped short, her mouth hanging open as her mind tried to process what she was seeing.
“Hello, love,” Finn said from where he was crouching on the ground with a. . . paintbrush in his hand?
“Oh, hi, Rory.” Robert stood from behind a set of shelves loaded with paint supplies. Green paint was streaked over both his cheeks. “Still pregnant, I see.”
“Revelations abound,” said Colin who was busy meticulously adding tiny dots of yellow on the new bookcase on the wall.
“Oh my god! What are you doing here?” She hugged each one in turn. She hadn’t seen them since Logan surprised her outside the Stars Hollow Gazette.
“Surprising you,” came Logan’s voice from the doorway where he leaned against the frame with his arms crossed.
Finn gestured around the transformed nursery. “We heard on the bush telegraph that you wanted something whimsical.”
“Magical,” said Robert.
“Unconventional,” added Colin, glancing up from his work.
She grinned. “And you came all the way back to Stars Hollow. For me. Next thing I know you’ll be moving in next door.”
“Well, technically, this isn’t Stars Hollow,” Robert pointed out.
“True.”
“And we heard that you needed a nursery,” Finn said, tilting his head thoughtfully. “Very practical of you, considering.”
“So, the nursery is our gift to you,” Colin said, standing up and groaning as his knee creaked. “Because we have buckets of money, and you’re worth spending it on.”
Logan’s hand went to the small of Rory’s back. “Why don’t you take a look around. Don’t worry. We hired an artist and nursery designer.”
“We painted, but it was literally paint-by-number,” reassured Robert.
“They insisted on painting,” Logan said.
The three men took a step back and away from where they were blocking what had been done.
Rory felt a little tilt of anxiety in her stomach, but she let herself gaze around and take everything in, her eyes growing round with wonder.
The first thing she noticed were the densely packed trees painted along one wall. They stretched from the floor to the ceiling, their branches heavy with leaves in various shades of green. There was a clearing at the edge of the next wall with more trees bookending it just before the now-cushion-and-pillow-filled window seat. In the glade, a tall bookshelf in the shape of a tower – the tower – stood tall. Shelves outlined the bones of the tower, and at the top, two small, silhouetted figures were painted on the wall – poised to take leap. One was Rory-shaped and one Logan. She even had her blue dress on and a little umbrella.
Near the bookshelf, tiny white tents were dotting the rest of the field, and when Rory approached, she could see storybook characters doing storybook character things. She spotted Paddington, Piglet, and Pooh sitting around a campfire. Paddington was reading a book and eating a marmalade sandwich, and Piglet and Pooh were roasting marshmallows. More characters were tucked away, but Rory couldn’t take them all in because her eyes were drawn to the ceiling which was painted a deep indigo. Pinprick stars were bright against the richer color, and strands of tiny fairy lights were strung in a haphazard pattern around them. Rory thought they would make the most perfect nightlight for their little girl.
On the wall just past the window, a crescent moon hovered in a partial night sky as a rocket descended past it. Flames came out of the exhaust, and tiny print on the side near one of the rocket seams read “Love Rocket” in looping letters. Close to the floorboards was a small trio of men – silhouettes like the Rory and Logan figure – representing Colin, Finn, and Robert. They were gazing up at the rocket. The Finn figure was waving wildly at the sky.
“Oh my god. This is beautiful.” Rory’s eyes blurred with tears.
“Do you like it, Ace?” Logan asked as the trio of friends hovered nearby. He slipped his arm around her waist.
She glanced in his direction, blinded by emotion this time and not fabric. “I love it. It’s perfect.” She turned toward Robert, Finn, and Colin. “It’s whimsical, magical, and unconventional.”
They collectively relaxed.
Finn who had been fidgeting the most said, “Did we do it up enough? I wanted to add an actual tree or three, so you could read under them.”
“But Logan wouldn’t let us,” Colin added. “They’d take up too much room.”
“There are houses with trees growing in them,” Robert said. “I didn’t think it would work out though. Too many logistics. Like the nursery being on the second floor. Plus, the bugs.”
Rory wiped her eyes and emitted a little laugh. “Good point.”
“Speaking of logistics,” Logan said, nodding at his friends who filed out of the room, taking the paint and supplies with them.
“There’s more?” She wandered over to the built-in bookcase, marveling at the details.
“There’s more.”
“I can’t believe the tower we jumped off of is a bookshelf for our little girl.” She couldn’t wait to fill it with books.
Finn, Colin, and Robert came back, bringing furniture. Finn set up a small white tent near the bookshelf, and Colin brought in the rocking recliner Rory had picked out. Logan ducked out and came back with Robert and the crib, which they situated under the moon and rocket. Finn then left and brought back pillows to fill the tent with, and Colin retrieved and attached a baby mobile to the crib. A tiny stuffed moon, rocket, and star hovered over the end of the mattress, prepared to dazzle the baby.
Logan went to the closet and opened up the folding doors. Inside was a large wooden storage system with drawers to stow away clothes and bins to hold toys. Atop the drawers was a removable changing station with slots for diapers and wipes and other necessities.
Robert walked up to it. “We thought this would be practical.”
“And away from baby,” added Colin.
“Safety first,” Finn said protectively.
Rory smiled. “Never thought I’d hear any of you say that.”
Finn shrugged. “We don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“You know she’s not going to be walking for several months, right?”
The trio of men looked at Logan, who grinned at them. “Why are you looking at me?”
“You’ve been studying,” Robert said. “I’ve seen your stack of books.”
“How would you have seen my stack of – ” Rory watched Logan’s face shift from confusion into realization. “Ohhh. Right.” He took Rory’s hand. “Your library will be across the hall.”
“My library?” She and Logan hadn’t discussed this.
“Your bibliotheca,” Robert said. “Logan wouldn’t let us touch that room, but all the books are in there, and it’s where we put the baby furniture while we were painting.”
Logan squeezed her hand. “I thought it could be a little study for us.”
“Full of bookshelves and lots and lots of books?” Rory asked.
“All for the smelling,” Finn said, sniffing the air and waving a hand a little like he was a magician casting a spell.
“And you are going to design it,” Colin commented. “The architect of this lovely nursery is on retainer with me to create the atheneum of your dreams.”
“To honor your grandfather. May he rest in peace.” Robert put his hands together and bowed from the waist.
A lump rose up in Rory’s throat, and she blinked back more tears. “That’s beautiful. Thank you. All of this is just so much and means a lot to me. A-and I’ll always think of you whenever I’m in either room.”
“Always?” asked Finn.
Rory softened. “Always.”
“’Cause you can’t get rid of us,” Colin said firmly.
“Of course,” she said, remembering how not so long ago she’d said goodbye to all three of them and Logan. She held Logan’s hand tighter and then stepped into his embrace, grateful he was standing here with her. “I don’t want to get rid of any of you.”
Logan stroked her hair. “Why don’t we all take a break?”
“A break sounds excellent,” Finn said. “Where are your libations?”
The corner of Logan’s mouth lifted, and he slipped his arm around Rory’s shoulders. “You’ve more than earned them. Check the locked cabinet downstairs. Key’s on top.”
Finn was out the door first with Robert on his heels.
Colin paused to pat Logan on the shoulder. “She won’t be walking for several months. Your liquor is safe, and she is safe from your liquor.” He winked at Rory and followed his friends.
Alone at last, Logan watched Rory as she soaked up all the details in the room again. “Like it?”
“I love it.” She held his eyes with hers. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Ace. And?” He was trying not to smirk at her.
Rory took a moment to realize what he meant, and she rolled her eyes at him.
“Just admit it,” he teased.
“Fine. You’re not basic.”
“Finally. Thank you.” He kissed her nose so that she laughed, and then, he started to lead her out of the room. “Come on. Let’s join the others before they drink everything in the house, start thinking they’re actual artists, and end up painting more walls. Finn really wanted to impromptu paint a mounted deer head in the nursery. I wouldn’t put it past him to paint one elsewhere when we’re not looking.”
Rory held firm to her position. “Wait.”
“Yeah?”
Her eyes flitted from the trees to the tower bookshelf to the love rocket. “This room. It’s us. The story of us. She’ll grow up knowing how much we love each other.”
Logan smiled. “And her.”