present tense

take a nap in nantucket

Rory was home. Her home. The one she had filled with books and warmth and built in her town where she would always belong. Her apartment was safe and secure and now it was peaceful, as she had just gotten Alice to sleep. She flopped down on the couch in her baby barf shirt and with her once neatly tied back hair all a mess; and looked into her dining area and kitchen. She began to drift away into a light sleep until the buzzer went off for someone trying to get into her complex. She reluctantly got up off the couch and went to the console beside the door.

"Who is it?"

Rory had a kid now. Maybe she was being a bit more cautious.

"Hi, I'm a thief, and I've heard that you have a collection of weird sweaters from the early 2000's. I've never stolen any of those before and I think it would be cool to check that off the bucket list."

Jess' business like tone was doing well to keep his amusement at bay.

"Oh well of course sir, come right up."

Rory buzzed him up and unlocked the door. She then quietly jogged over to Alice's room and shut the door so as not to disturb her. She also had no clean shirts so she jogged over the the kitchen and took a washcloth off the tap and tried wiping some of the stains off the shirt she was wearing. It was somewhat successful and then as she was washing her hands, Jess came through the door.

"Hellooo," he bellowed loudly.

Rory rushed over from the sink and put her hand over his mouth and pushed him up against the door. Jess exerted a small "oomph" as the weight of Rory's body slammed into him.

Rory's eyes were glued on Alice's door and her ears were pricked for the sound of a disturbed baby. Without removing her hand she twisted around a bit to look at the video monitor she had set up in the nursery and there was her Lissy, sleeping soundly. Rory let out a deep sigh and rested her head against Jess' chest.

"Wha ah oh ah lo wack," Jess mumbled.

"Hmm?," Rory said removing her hand from his mouth.

"I said, why are your hands so wet?"

Rory had not dried her hands between washing them and tackling the very noisy Jess and now he had a wet handprint on his shirt.

"You're lucky it's just water," Rory said dryly as the myriad of substances she had come in contact with recently flashed before her eyes. She moved back over to the kitchen.

"Mmm, delightful," Jess said from the table behind her, "By the way, leaving the door unlocked, even for a little while could mean disaster. The question at the buzzer was good but you've got to step up your game."

"Says you. For a thief, you're not very good at the whole stealth thing," Rory said giving him a tired glare.

"Ah you see that's my trick," Jess began, making his way over to her, "I lead you to believe that I'm a terrible thief and then I take something," he said grabbing the spoon she had been drying from her hand, "right out from under your nose."

As he finished he leaned against the counter beside her and lightly tapped her on the nose with the spoon.

Rory smiled with affection and let out an amused puff of air.

"Y'alright?"

"Mmm hmm," Rory said as she crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and leaned into Jess.

He wrapped his arms around and held her up as she took her mini-rest.

"Well I did come here to ask if you wanted to do some writing but it looks like what you could really use is some sleep. And a housekeeper."

Rory snorted.