AN: Happy New Year! This story is a future fic based on my previous one-shot Once Upon a Christmas. It is not necessary that you read the other story first, but I highly recommend it. You'll see why in this story. It's a continuation of an event mentioned in OUaC.
The same background applies as it does in my other one-shot. Rory and Logan have a kid, and they are parenting together, mostly because I refuse to accept anything except happiness for them or their child. You make up your own ideas how they got there. In my imagination everyone in this show is happy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing mentioned in this story. Except for those grammar mistakes - those are all mine.
To Infinity… and Beyond!
Rory sat on a barstool in the kitchen late Friday night, having given the children a bath and put them to bed not long ago. She was on her laptop doing some work while waiting for her husband to return for the evening, when she heard the mechanizations of the garage door opening and closing, indicating Logan's arrival. She soon heard the door leading out to the garage opening, her husband walking in soon after.
"Hey," greeted Rory. "How'd it go?" she asked, closing her laptop screen and turning around to face him.
"It went fine." Logan gently touched her side, leaning down to give her a brief kiss in greeting. "How were the kids?"
"In bed now finally." Logan nodded and got himself a drink from the fridge, opening it and taking a long drag. "Alex was a spitfire tonight. He's way too excited. I finally had to tell him cartoons could be off the table in the morning." Logan smiled as he heard about his son. "There's a plate of food in the fridge for you by the way."
"Fantastic, I'm starving." He reached in, removing the foil cover from the plate as he walked to the microwave. "I can't blame Alex for being excited. Turning six is a big deal," he said as he punched in the numbers, turning around to smile at Rory. "Did you get everything you need today?"
"Yep. Finished making the favors, so all we have to do is set up in the morning." She got up and walked to the silverware drawer, grabbing him some cutlery and setting it at the seat next to her for him. "How were mom and Luke?"
"Well, you know your mom, busy putting outfits and things together. She was having way too much fun when I left. Now Luke on the other hand, he was..." he trailed off, his eyebrows raised. He walked over to the sink to wash his hands, facing away from her.
"What?" Confused, she walked over to him worried about what he meant. "I thought he said he was okay with it?"
He shot her a smirk, and she realized he was kidding. "Oh he was, he was busy cooking treats for tomorrow for him. Grumbling as he did so, but he was doing it."
She smiled thinking about her stepfather. "Who would have thought the curmudgeon of my youth was such a big softie."
"For you, your mom and the kids definitely. For me, however…" Logan retrieved his now heated plate, walking over to sit on the barstool.
"Oh stop it. It's gotten a lot better. He likes you." She walked over and sat next to him, pushing her laptop away.
"Now, after a long time."
"He knows you're a great dad. He can't deny how good you are to the three of us. He may grumble and scowl, but deep down he knows how happy we are," Rory emphasized with a hand on his shoulder.
He nodded to her as he swallowed. "I'm just glad we all get along now." He cut his chicken, looking back over to her. "So tell me about the rest of your day?"
"Well, what do you want to hear first? Emma getting glitter everywhere trying to make her brother a card, or how Alex demanded to see our costumes to make sure we're doing it right? He's anxious we won't be prepared. He forced me to watch an episode of that cartoon today so I knew how important it was."
"You know I want to hear everything," he said laughing. "I don't want to miss a thing."
The alarm blared early the next morning, quarter after six. Logan reached over Rory to turn it off, Rory burrowing into his side under the covers.
"Ugh, it's too early for a Saturday," she grumbled.
"Hey, just be thankful you had him at a reasonable time. We don't have to wake up at four like your mom does." He pulled the covers down, getting up and reaching over to help her out.
"Okay, I'm up, I'm up. Bathroom first, though."
The two of them got somewhat ready, then at 6:21 snuck in Alex's room, finding him fast asleep in his bed. Logan sat at the foot on one side, Rory going to the other and sitting up towards the headboard.
"Good morning, Alex. Happy birthday," she whispered, stroking his blond hair away from his forehead. His blue eyes opened, slowly focusing on his parents, recognition growing. "Happy Birthday buddy," added Logan, patting his leg.
"It's my birthday," he said, looking at both of them. "It's my sixth birthday!" His grin grew bigger, realizing how special the day would be.
"That's right! Hard to believe six years ago your dad and I were patiently waiting for you to come."
"And your mom was screaming and yelling. She was a little angry at me. See when she had you she was in some pain, and she thought I should know."
"Some? Will you stop? As I said, your dad and I were patiently waiting for you to come -"
"More like extremely anxious."
"- and we waited for you for a long, long time."
"For nine months, but eighteen hours that day if we want to be exact."
"Your dad and I were so excited to meet you. And then you came, all blue-eyed and beautiful -
"And red. Don't forget extremely red."
"- and to us, you were the most perfect thing we'd ever seen," she finished, glaring at Logan in mock annoyance for his interruptions. "Now what do you want to happen this year for your birthday?"
"Something really cool." He sat up and excitedly explained to his parents for the next few minutes what sort of things he could do now that he was a big six years old.
The doorbell rang shortly before noon, Rory rushing to get it with Emma in tow. "Thank you guys so much for coming early!" she exclaimed. "We still have so much to do, and we still have to put on our costumes and oh my god, you really took this all seriously," she added, noticing their outfits for the first time. She stared in shock at the three men before her, the quality of the costumes impressing her. "Wow. Those are great costumes. Where did you even get them?"
"We had them made for us, of course. Behold, love! We are the Avengers!" Finn proclaimed, raising his arms behind the other two.
"You idiot, only two of us are part of the Avengers. You're a member of the Justice League," said Robert.
"Oh, right. I never really paid too much attention to comics except for when they had a redhead."
Colin lifted his mask, revealing his rolling eyes. "You'll have to excuse Finn. He only paid attention to the 'costume' mention in the party invite. He just wanted an opportunity to wear tights."
"Hey you laugh, but these leggings are very comfortable." Finn turned to Rory and added, "I can totally see the appeal with the ladies." He winked, and Rory rolled her eyes.
Alex ran downstairs to the front door, eager to see his uncles. "Hi Uncle Colin, Uncle Finn, Uncle Robert. Wow you look so cool!" said Alex, running to a stop in front of them. The three of them shouted out their happy birthday greetings, each leaning down to give Alex a hug.
"Uncle Colin, you're Ironman!"
"Yeah, I am! Look, even my suit lights up." He pressed a button, and the disc on his chest lit up. Alex's eyes grew big, impressed. Rory had to admit, it was pretty cool, and Colin made a perfect Tony Stark.
"And Uncle Robert, you're the Hulk!"
"Yep!" Robert replied, his green painted face morphing into a smile. "I already had the hair, so it seemed like a good idea. Plus I feel like understand his rage." Alex nodded, a little confused but accepting his uncle's explanation.
"Uncle Finn - who are you?"
"Why I'm Superman of course." Alex looked doubtful, so he continued, "I've even got the red pants and cape."
"Yes, because nothing screams Kansas farm boy Clark Kent than an Australian accent," said Rory sarcastically.
"It's the thought that counts right? Now we still need to say hi to our niece." Emma lifted her arms up, asking for Finn to pick her up. "Hey there Emma, you excited about today?" she nodded and buried her face into his neck.
"Well after you guys are done saying hi, Logan can use your help getting things set up outside. I'm going to take these two up in a bit to go put out costumes on."
"Will do, Rory," replied Colin. "Now Alex, who are you going to be?"
Alex just shook his head and grinned. "Nuh uh, that's a surprise!"
It was several hours later, and almost all the guests had arrived. Several members of Alex's preschool class had shown up earlier in their own superhero costumes, and they were now running around the backyard playing superhero games with Alex's "uncles." Honor and her two sons arrived just a few minutes ago, Honor coming with the Batmobile cake she promised from a baker friend of hers. The cake was amazing; it was so real one would think it was a toy car and not something edible. Her two sons were dressed as Green Arrow and Aquaman. The boys had brought their own collection of nerf guns with them; they were using them to shoot at the kids so that the younger ones could pretend to evade shots like the real superheroes in the movies. Boisterous laughter filled the backyard, adding to the happy atmosphere of the day.
"Almost everyone is here. I'm glad; I feel like I can relax a bit now," said Rory looking out at the children playing. She was dressed as a modest Catwoman, complete with an eye mask and cat ears.
"Yeah, the boys were a huge help getting everything ready," replied Logan, holding Emma on his hip. Emma matched her mom but only wore a black outfit with a cat ears headband. Logan himself was Batman, complete with a mask, black cape, and boots. All per Alex's orders of course - he wanted Rory and Logan to be a matching Catwoman and Batman. They protested at first, but they couldn't deny their son's wishes on his special day.
"Do you not find it a little alarming that Alex declared everyone had to show up as a superhero, but he gets to be the only villain?" asked Rory, watching as Alex ran around in his purple suit and face paint. "He makes a cute Joker sure, but maybe that wasn't the villain I had in mind when he told me what he wanted to be today."
"I'm not too concerned. As far as he knows the Joker is only known for his bad jokes. If he had seen Jack's or even Heath's Joker yet, well, then I'd be worried. But for now, he just thinks he's a cool clown."
"I guess you're right. You know how I am - I just worry."
"I do, and I'm here to tell you to relax. Isn't that why you keep me around?" He shot her a smirk.
She gave a playful sigh in return. "I guess just one of the few reasons."
"Hey kid, how's it going so far?"
Rory turned around, glad to see her mother had finally arrived. "Hey, mom. Fantastic boots. Wonder Woman I take it?"
"Of course. Had to have a reason to show these off. And let's be honest - I'm a perfect Wonder Woman. Hey Emma, how are you, babe?" She reached out, taking Emma from Logan's arms. "Hey, Logan. Looks like a cool party."
"Yeah it should be great," replied Logan. "Where's Luke?"
"Oh, he should be down soon."
"No trouble with the gift this morning I take it."
Lorelai shook her head. "Nope, same condition as you left it last night." She then added a smile, "Luke and I had fun with it, though."
"Great," Logan laughed. "I'm glad. I have a feeling it's going to be a hit."
Luke joined the group then, speaking to Logan. "Hey, I left it as instructed - up in the master bath. I'll go up occasionally to make sure all is in order."
"Thank you so much you guys for doing this. I can't tell you how helpful this is for Rory and me."
"Anything for our grandson," said Lorelai, handing Emma off to Luke so that he could say hi to her as well. "And there's our birthday boy now."
"Grandma, Grandpa!" Alex ran up to them, hugging each of them in turn. "I like your costume grandma!" he complimented.
"Thanks, Alex. I like yours too."
Alex turned a questioning gaze towards Luke. "Who are you, grandpa? Where's your costume?"
"I had to show up with a costume? I thought it was a kids only thing? I thought your mom dressed up because, well, she's your mom," he added looking towards Rory.
"I'm sorry Luke," apologized Rory. "I guess I didn't make it clear." She turned towards Alex then, telling him, "Grandpa just chose a not so obvious costume."
"Oh," nodded Alex. He scrunched his face in thought, finally declaring, "I know who you are Grandpa!"
"Oh, you do? Well uh, who am I?"
"You're Alfred!" Alex exclaimed.
"Wait, who is that again?" Luke looked thoroughly confused.
"Bruce Wayne's butler, silly. You have to serve Batman and follow him around. So follow Batman around!" Lorelai and Rory both laughed at Alex's imagination. The look on Luke's face at the moment was worth it.
Logan said to Luke awkwardly, "you know you don't have to do that. He's just trying to play up this whole superhero thing". Luke only scowled at Logan in return.
"Well Alfred," said Lorelai, still laughing. "You heard your grandson. Now go serve Batman." Luke grumbled but followed Logan as he was dragged off by his son.
"Now if only I had the imagination of my grandson. I could have had Luke wear a tux!"
The birthday song had been long since sung, the remains of Alex's Batmobile cake left in crumbs on the picnic tables in their backyard. Alex was opening the presents from all his friends, his grin enhanced by his smiling face paint. Logan was busy snapping photos, keeping track of the gifts for future thank you cards for sending out.
"Hey," whispered Rory to her mother. "Did Luke go up to get it?"
"Yeah, he went up just a minute ago. He said he'd wait for my sign to bring it out. Then I'll bring out our gifts," Lorelai whispered back.
"Great. I hope this all goes okay."
"Hey kid, he's going to love it. Heck, I'm even jealous."
"Yeah, yeah you're right," replied Rory, her posture calmer. "I'm just worrying too much." She left her mom and walked down to Logan and her son, watching Alex as he opened his final gift. Alex ripped off the paper, joy at receiving a Captain America figurine. They put it off to the side with the other gifts.
"What do you say to everyone, Alex?" questioned Logan.
"Oh! Thank you everyone for coming and for my presents. They're awesome," he answered.
"Hey Alex. Your dad and I have one more gift for you." Rory looked over at her mother and Lorelai gestured to Luke through the window. She saw him nod and disappear. "Now it's a pretty big and important gift because we know it's something you've wanted for a long time." Alex's face scrunched in thought, thinking what it could be. "Now why don't you go see what your Grandpa Luke has for you."
Alex looked around for his grandfather, finally spotting him coming out the back door of the house. He was carrying a golden retriever puppy with a large bow around his collar. "Wow! You got me a puppy? This is so cool!". He ran over to Luke, jumping up and down and Luke kneeled down to his level. The puppy started to lick Alex's face playfully, Alex giggling as he did so.
"Now Alex," said Logan, kneeling down next his son. "We know you've wanted this for a long time. A dog is a big responsibility. Your mom and I are going to help you, but as you get older, you can help us feed him and help us take him on walks. And then you can help us teach Emma how to take care of him too when she gets older. Are you okay with that?"
"Yeah, this is so awesome! Thanks, Dad!" Alex threw his arms around his father, Logan embracing his son back. Alex wriggled out of his grasp soon enough, his focus back on the new puppy. "Guys come over and look at my puppy!" His friends and older cousins rushed over, his uncles slower to come. Colin helped Emma out of her booster seat and led her over to where the small crowd gathered.
"Alex, do you know what you want to name him?" asked Rory.
Alex looked thoughtful for a moment before yelling out "THOR!"
"Thor?" repeated Lorelai. "How fitting."
"Eh, he'll be a great Thor," replied her daughter. "Definitely makes this party unforgettable."
"It's even more perfect considering what Luke and I got him. Luke made superhero dog treats, and I made a doggie hero costume."
Late afternoon found Alex and his uncles in the backyard playing with his new puppy. Most of the revelers had long since left, including Luke and Lorelai. Alex and Finn were trying desperately to teach Thor to roll over, but Thor just took it as an invitation to lick their faces. Robert stood off to the side looking over Alex's gift haul, as Thor kept barking at him in his Hulk costume. Rory and Logan sat together on a bench watching them, Emma curled in Logan's lap and dozing into his side. She was tired from the day's activity.
"He's going to love that dog," said Rory, laying her head upon his shoulder.
He wrapped his arm around her, drawing her in. "Good. I always wanted one as a kid. I'm glad Alex and Emma will have one now." He rubbed her shoulder, watching as the boys tried to get Thor to chase a ball, their capes billowing behind them. "This superhero party was a great idea. I liked that everyone came in costume for this. Alex and his friends loved it."
"It was amazing. I'm glad Honor found that baker. The Batmobile cake was pretty cool looking. Shame we had to destroy it, but it was tasty." She paused before continuing, looking deep in thought. "What do you think he'll want to do next year? We still have Emma's birthday to think of later this year, too."
"I hope it's another themed party. Maybe Disney? Disney has a lot of characters to choose from. Plus I really want to be Buzz Lightyear. He has some crazy lines."
She thought of the love rocket currently standing on the side table in their bedroom and smiled up at him. "Really going to live out that astronaut dream, aren't you?"
"Yep," he answered, smiling back at her.
"Well, what would I be then?"
He quickly answered, "Belle, of course."
"Why am I Belle?"
"Because you're my belle femme and you always have your nose stuck in a book," he said matter-of-factly. He kissed her forehead and returned his gaze to his son.
She wrinkled her nose in mock disgust and grinned. "That was corny. Corny, but sweet. You know, though, that means you'll have to be the Beast."
"Eh, we've got time," shrugging his shoulders. "Lots of birthdays and lots of parties still to come."
Rory brushed her hand along Emma's head, moving the wisps of hair off her face. She joined his gaze back to Alex, the orange sky from the setting sun creating a perfect backdrop as she observed the image of her family all together. "Yep, I guess we do," she murmured. "We've got a lifetime of them."
AN: Figured I'd throw in that reference to astronauts and the love rocket even though it wasn't a Disney party (well yet - Rory's right, still plenty of time). I also kind of want a puppy named Thor too.
I have about two more one-shots planned for this particular series that I'll publish eventually when I have the time. I have two other one shots halfway written that are not Rory-centric, so I hope to post those first. And as always, I want to keep pushing out chapters for These Foolish Things. If you haven't checked it out yet, do so if you want. The first couple of chapters are slow, but it's going to start picking up, and I'm very pleased with where that's going to go. It's going to be really long so don't be discouraged if you think it's not exactly what you're looking for yet.
Thanks for reading! As always, like it or hate it let me know either here or on my Tumblr :)