Chapter 1
The last place she ever expected to see him again was at an Easter
Egg hunt at The Hartford Golf Club. They were there at Christopher's invitation, it having been almost two years since both she and her half-sister GiGi had spent a holiday together with their father. He had insisted they join him for brunch at the club for Easter Sunday, and Rory, not having any particular religious inclinations or traditions tied to this holiday, had agreed with only minimal reticence. For the most part she did her best to avoid Hartford society, not wanting to draw attention to herself or the changes that had taken place in her life in the last three and a half years. She knew that however discreetly they had kept their "Vegas" arrangement, one look at her blonde haired, almost three year old son and her naked left ring finger would certainly raise eyebrows amongst Hartford's elite inner circle.
So she had mostly kept herself in Stars Hollow since the day she'd delivered the news of her pregnancy to her mother on the gazebo steps, save for her trips to Philadelphia to meet with her editor at Truncheon. Jess had tried to convince her to seek out a larger publisher with a bigger name and broader reach. He'd encouraged her to at least try to parlay her limited journalistic success into an offer from a larger publishing house. In true Rory fashion, though, she had adamantly refused, in part out of loyalty to her old friend and in part because she thought that a smaller, Philadelphia based publisher would help to better preserve her privacy. She'd carefully kept her own pregnancy out of her tale of her own birth to an unwed mother, and she intended to keep it that way. Her book was met with an unexpected, albeit tempered, degree of success that was enough to boost the profile of Truncheon as well as earn Rory an offer for a second book from a larger publisher. This time she had accepted, feeling that not only had she returned Jess' generosity in bringing her book to fruition, but also that enough time had passed to make her feel secure in keeping her personal life unknown outside Stars Hollow.
So there it came to be, on the lush grassy lawn of Hartford's most exclusive country club, on a beautiful and unseasonably warm April day, that she would run into the one person she wished to avoid forever and yet all too often fantasized about seeing again. She was standing on the patio off of the banquet room where a lavish brunch was being served, watching the egg hunt taking place on the adjacent greens. Little girls in their lace dresses and Mary Janes, with large colorful bows adorning their heads, scurried from egg to egg with their brightly monogrammed baskets as quickly and as ladylike as they possibly could. Boys in their colorful spring Ralph Lauren gingham and plaids called out to each other as they frantically raced by, grabbing as many eggs as they could to hurl into their baskets, hoping to declare victory in what must inevitably become a fierce competition. The youngest children toddled about in their smocked Jon Jons and bishop dresses, squatting precariously next to a section of plastic eggs generously scattered close to the patio, reserved especially for them to participate in the festivities at their own pace.
Rory kept her eye on one particular blond haired toddler as he gleefully picked up one colorful plastic egg after another, dropping each ceremoniously into his wicker basket with a pale blue gingham fabric liner, bearing his name in embroidered navy block letters. His Lola had sewed the liner herself for the vintage basket she'd found at Mrs. Kim's shop. "Pottery Barn Kids has nothin' on me!" she'd declared in true Lorelai fashion. (Lorelai had also declared herself way too young and fabulous to be called "Grandma", and had tried her best to get her grandson to simply call her Lorelai. Lola, or "Woh-wa" as the little toddler was more likely to say, was the welcomed compromise. Rory's penchant for humming "Copa Cabana" under her breath in Lorelai's presence did nothing to deter her from embracing her new moniker.)
Hayden Richard Gilmore was an undoubtedly beautiful child. With his wavy mop of almost white blond hair, and his mother's amazing cerulean eyes graced with the thickest fringe of dark lashes, he looked perfectly angelic. Until he smiled, that is. When that mischievous grin lit up his sweet face, he looked exactly like his father, right down to the adorable dimple in his left cheek. To Logan's nearest and dearest, there would be no questioning Hayden's paternity. Rory knew this would become more and more obvious as her son grew older. Short of leaving the east coast altogether, she had no clue what to do about it. She assumed she still had time to figure it out...until today, that is.
She watched Hayden happily toddling about in his little blue Jon Jon smocked with Easter bunnies and chicks across the chest, a gift from his great-grandma. He picked up a bright green egg, his favorite color, and gleefully announced "Gween!" as he added to his basket. Rory chuckled and smiled to herself, reveling in her small son's adorable antics. She turned her head to glance through the window into the banquet room where Christopher and Gigi had stopped to visit with some of his colleagues, and that's when she saw her son's father for the first time in three and a half years.