Baby Steps
Summary: Three years after season seven. Rory said yes to Logan and they are married and living in Palo Alto. He has just started his own business and it's taking up a lot of his time. Rory understands but when things change and she gets some big news she can't even find time to tell him… Rated M because of language and there may be some adult scenes, not sure yet.
Chapter One: Understanding
Logan picked up the phone to ring his wife again to tell her he was going to be late, he couldn't remember the last time he hadn't had to make this phone call. Wedging the phone between his ear and shoulder as he attempted to continue typing he almost dropped it, "Shit."
"Logan? Really that's how you answer the phone?" she joked, knowing what the phone call was going to be about,
"Ace I'm sorry but…"
"You're gonna be late again aren't you?" she tried to keep the hurt out of her voice but she knew that she didn't need bother; he was probably too busy to notice.
"Yeah, I'm so sorry…. Oh God! I really have to run!"
"Love you Lo…gan…" she finished after he hung up, she stared at her phone, blinking away tears.
"Rory? Honey?" Honour walked over to her. Honour was visiting for the week in the hopes of seeing her brother but for the fourth day in a row she was assuming she wasn't going to see him.
"I'm fine." Rory answered before Honour even asked the question. Honour looked at her, her eyes full of sympathy, Rory couldn't bear to look at her, knowing the pity she would see.
"So Rory, how's things at that paper you're working for now? I hear you're big and important?" Honour exclaimed, trying to act happy and upbeat but it was incredibly hard seeing her sister-in-law on the verge of tears because of her brother,
"Um, really good, they've asked me to go on a business trip to New York to see one of our partners, so I'm gonna be travelling next week and I decided to drive to Stars Hollow to visit my mum while I'm there, I really miss her." Rory smiled, trying to use the skills she learnt during her brief stint at the DAR to plaster a convincing fake smile on her face, she needed Logan but she encouraged him to start his own business and she was proud of him. She had to be understanding.
"That's great news! How long are you gonna be there for?!" Honour asked, genuinely excited this time,
"Um…about three weeks why?"
"You have to come stay with Josh and I for a night! I mean we just moved to New York and that way I can return the favour and we can have so much fun!" Rory smiled, since she'd married Logan, Honour had become like a sister to her. They talked on the phone a lot and with Logan being busy it really helped.
"Okay, that sounds fun."
"So for dinner can we have takeout again?" Honour grinned sheepishly,
"Of course but I still can't believe Josh won't let you have takeout! It's like your cheating on him with fast food!" Rory laughed,
"Yeah but if he tried the Pizza place down the street, Harry's was it? Anyway he'd become addicted too!"
"Yeah you know the delivery guy? He knows me so well now that last week I realised I didn't have the money to pay him so I offered to go to the ATM but he told me just to pay for it next time I ordered from there."
"Okay how often do you have takeout?"
"Ummm… So what movie should we watch?" the two girls laughed and proceeded to order pizza.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Rory awoke at three in the morning to Logan just getting home. Her and Honour had fallen asleep on the sofa and they were sat slumped against each other. Rory immediately stood and walked to the door where a very tired Logan was stood,
"Three AM?" Rory asked, trying not to sound irritated,
"Everything went wrong and then I had to fix Bill's mess, then Shelly told me she's pregnant and now needs maternity leave, Lucy is just not trying and then Tom tells me that he completely messed up this month's budget report and it needs redoing by tomorrow!" He wiped his hand across his brow and looked directly at Rory. He saw something he hadn't noticed in past weeks, her normally glowing skin looked dull, her perfect glossy hair was dry and damaged, her vibrant blue eyes looked tired and red like she'd cried a lot recently, these things he noticed but he was too tired to understand their implications. "Let's go to bed Rory,"
"But what about Honour, should I wake her?"
"No come on," he grabbed her hand and dragged her upstairs, she immediately knew what he wanted and needed, she was exhausted, emotionally and physically but if Logan needed her to hold him and be with him she would. She'd do anything for him, even now after he'd let her down many times recently. He pulled her waist towards him once they reached the bedroom and they both fell backwards onto the bed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
She awoke in his embrace, she barely remembered the previous night but was just happy that for once they were alone together with no rush or work to interfere. She felt Logan pull away and she grabbed his arm as he moved to get up.
"Ace…"
"Don't go Logan, not just yet, say screw it to work just this once and go in late?" she was almost pleading but she needed him, just to sit and talk with her. They never talked anymore; the most she could hope for was a night like the previous one before he left her to go to the office.
"Sorry Ace, I promise things will go back to normal, I've booked a day off next week. No work at all! We can do all those things we haven't done in ages," he smiled, pulling on the shirt hanging in the wardrobe.
"I can't, I'm travelling to New York with the paper next week." She said getting up out of bed and wrapping her dressing gown around her.
"Why didn't you tell me Ace? That's good news right? Your first real business trip! You're moving up in the world!" he grinned. He didn't seem to care that this meant ruining their one day together in months, she just shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the bedroom into the en-suite, she knew if she stayed there a second longer she'd start crying again. He didn't care. She shut the door, locked it and turned on the shower so he wouldn't hear her sobs as she sat on the edge of the bath with her head in her hands.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Rory this week was so much fun! It really meant a lot to me, getting to spend this time with you!"
"Yeah you too Honour!" she hugged her sister-in-law as they both walked into the airport before going to their separate terminals, Rory flying business class to New York and Honour flying first class,
"See you at mine in a few days!" she shouted as she walked away waving.
When Rory was eventually seated on the plane she got out her book and started to read before they even took off,
"Rory Gilmore, what are you doing here?" she recognised the voice but couldn't place it before she looked up,
"Dave Rygalski! Hi! Wow, it's been wow! How've you been?" she said standing, she wasn't sure whether to hug him or shake his hand. Even when he was with Lane they'd never really been close but she'd always liked him, he'd been really good to Lane.
"Not bad, I finished college and I'm now moving to New York actually, yeah I'm moving to New York to become a teacher."
"Music?"
"No, politics. I know, dull right? Major change from being in the band with…" he looked away, "anyway this is my seat so I guess we're sat together for the flight,"
"Guess so," she smiled, sitting back down.
"Look, I know I probably shouldn't ask but how is Lane?"
"Oh. You obviously don't know. Her… her husband passed away about a year ago, she's left with the twins, she's trying."
"Oh my God! Is she okay?"
"Um, look I don't think I should be telling you stuff about Lane…"
"Oh yeah I understand. Can I just… Do I know the guy she was married to?"
"Dave, I really don't feel like I should…"
"Rory please?"
"I didn't tell you but it was Zack." Rory looked away, not wanting to see Dave's reaction,
"Wow…"
"Yeah, look I have some work to do is that okay?" she asked, more wanting to stop the conversation than anything else,
"Yeah sure." He sat looking shocked and confused but Rory didn't want to get involved any further. They sat the rest of the plane ride in silence.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The phone went straight to voicemail. "Hi Logan, it's me, you told me to let you know I was in New York safely, well I am, I love you." She hung up and hailed a cab to take her to the car rental place, she wanted to drive home before she did anything else.
"Hi Mum!" Rory yelled, running through the door of her childhood home.
"Darling daughter!" they ran into each other's arms and shared a long hug before pulling away.
"What's wrong?"
"Mum…"
"Rory?"
"I need to talk to you, properly, is Luke home?"
"No, he's out, he's at the diner."
"Good, I need my mum right now…"
"Baby?"…
Rory proceeded to explain the last few months to her mother with many tears flowing…
"…So now I'm lucky if I see him at all!" she sobbed finishing the 'story'.
"Aw Hun," she pulled her in for another hug, sat on the sofa. "Well the next three weeks are yours, we'll do what you want when you want!"
"Mum, you realise the first week I'm here is for work?"
"Yeah but the other two are mine!"
"Okay mum," she smiled, her first real smile in weeks, "I have to go, I'm expected in the office in a few hours, I'll be back next week, look I'm sorry about that, I needed a good cry, you're right, it helps."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The first two weeks in Stars Hollow passed and it was all as if she'd never left, nothing changed. Well other than Kirk's new Yoga class which only two people attended, Lulu and his mother. But then again, that wasn't that out of the ordinary for Star's Hollow. Rory stood staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She counted again just to be sure… Yep, she was definitely late.
She grabbed her purse and her keys, she jumped in the car and drove to Hartford, if she was going to buy a pregnancy test she couldn't do it in Star's Hollow, Kirk worked at the pharmacists and she couldn't risk him seeing it. She walked into the pharmacy and headed straight for the pregnancy test aisle. She stood staring at the hundreds of brands,
"Rory?!"
Shit! She thought, immediately knowing she'd been spotted by the person she least wanted to be there at that exact moment.
"Hi grandma," she winced, she'd been stood there for a good five minutes so there was no way she could try and convince Emily that she was in the wrong aisle…
"Rory? What a wonderful surprise to see you h…" she began before noticing just what her granddaughter was looking at, "Rory are you looking at pregnan…."
"Shhh grandma! Sorry that was rude but I don't know…. I'm um a bit late…."
"How late Rory?" Emily asked very 'matter-of-factly'.
"Um, about a week…."
"That's wonderful news Rory! So does Logan know?!" Emily was grinning, very excited at the prospect of her granddaughter and her husband having a child.
"No, I only just realised myself… look grandma, don't tell anyone I might not even be… I just…. How many freaking tests can there be for one thing?! I don't know which to buy and I'm panicking and to be honest grandma I'm scared!" Rory was panicking now, tears in her eyes. Emily took her into her arms and whispered soothingly to her,
"It's fine Rory. You and Logan love each other, you're married and this is perfect. As for the tests we can sort that easily," Emily clicked her fingers and almost instantly a woman was stood next to them,
"Mrs. Gilmore? Wonderful to see you! Are you here for Mr. Gilmore's heart medication?"
"Yes and no. My granddaughter here needs help picking out a test," Emily gestured to the shelf in front of them and to the blushing Rory stood next to her.
"I recommend this one," she picked up a bright pink box, "It has the highest accuracy result of any test and it tells you how far you are along" she smiled as if the conversation were the most normal conversation to be having at 8:30 on a Saturday morning.
"Perfect!" Emily said as if purchasing clothing or shoes, "We'll take three to be sure."
"Grandma thank you but you don't have to…"
"Nonsense Rory. This is wonderful news! If it is News… Come back to our house to take it. If you leave it in the bins in that town your mother lives in someone's bound to see it, I'm assuming the reason you came to Hartford to buy one was to avoid exactly that!" Rory looked away, knowing that if Emily knew before her mum, Lorelai would be devastated but she said yes knowing it would be better for her anyway.
She sat on the toilet staring at the small computerised stick in her hand, she lined it up with the other two on a piece of toilet roll on the edge of the sink. All three read 'positive-three weeks'.
So as to avoid her mum getting angry she rang her before leaving 'her en-suite' to tell Emily who was eagerly waiting in 'her bedroom'. She sighed, looking at the walls of the bathroom. Emily had gone to such trouble to try and make this a room Rory would like but from now on it would just be the room in which she realised she was pregnant…
"Kiddo? Where are you? I woke up and you were gone! It's only 9am?"
"Mum I'm in Hartford. I came here to get a pregnancy test…"
"To avoid Kirk?" she smiled, her mother knew her so well, "So?" she heard sudden excitement in her mother's voice, "Am I gonna be a grandma?"
"Yeah. You are…."
"Wow Hun Congratulations!"
"Look grandma caught me in the pharmacy…"
"Oh, not good?"
"Um she insisted on buying the tests and she's now sat outside waiting to hear the result. I just needed you to hear first…."
"I love you kid! Now get home so we can celebrate!"
"Okay mum! I think I'm gonna go home tomorrow. I know I have two more days here but I need Logan to hear before Grandma hires the sky writer."
"Okay Hun, that seems right."
Rory walked out of the bathroom with the three sticks in hand.
"So?" Emily grinned,
"Positive." Rory answered, faking a smile again. Her only thoughts being, He's never home! Oh my God how's he gonna react when I tell him I'm pregnant? As if he's not stressed enough?!
"Grandma I need a massive favour?"
"Anything Rory!"
"Don't tell anyone, not even grandpa, it's not fair if anyone other than you and mum hear before Logan,"
"You're telling your mother?"
"Already did, I called her when I found out, I had to let her know I'm leaving tomorrow, I need to see Logan,"
"Oh. Okay." Emily responded curtly, slightly hurt that she wasn't the first one to find out.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
She walked into her home in Palo Alto carrying bags full of baby clothes and toys. Her mum and her went shopping 'just to look' but fell in love with so much stuff that she now had bags of neutral coloured baby clothes and toys before she'd even told her husband.
She heard movement upstairs and Logan's voice talking, she smiled, this was her chance to tell him. He ran downstairs, phone in one hand saying "…that's not okay! You said you'd fixed it!" he grabbed his keys, kissed her cheek and ran out the front door, climbed in his car and drove away, back to the office she assumed. He hadn't even noticed the massive bags saying "I'm expecting!" in her hands, she dropped them by the front door and went and got her suitcase from the taxi that was still waiting. She walked into the house, shut the door and sighed. She hadn't been here five minutes and it already didn't feel like home…
Author's Note: Hey, this was just an idea; I hope you guys like it and I'm gonna continue it but if anyone would leave feedback I'd really appreciate it. Rogan always.