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THANK YOU SO MUCH to the people who have told me they love this already! To receive so many great reviews within twenty minutes of publication is definitely a record for me. ^^ So thank you guys! Times like these remind me why I do this. XD

All right, time for the actual story to commence! To catch you up on [my idea of] how things would go after that:

Loriluke: Luke and Lorelai would not have wanted to waste any more time once they got back together. They'd have gotten engaged around June '07, and were married on October 14th, 2007. They'd have William Richard Danes on September 2nd '08, so by the time this chapter takes place, he's one year and eleven months old.

Rogan: Logan would follow Rory for the rest of the campaign, working from his laptop, and once Obama won and the campaign was over, the New York Times would have read Rory's pieces and offered her a writing job after all, which she'd be more than happy to take. Around October '08, Logan would tentatively propose again, and Rory would say yes this time, and they'd get married on June 10th, 2009, when she's 24 and he's 27.

(Obviously I've put a lot of planning into this. You have no idea. XD )

For narrative's sake, we'll catch up with them now, in August 2010. (Ah, the wonderous time-travel capabilities of fiction.) Without further ado....

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"Just...just move it a little to the right.... I'm beginning to think this may not have been the best idea...."

"None of your ideas are good, Taylor."

"Just move it, and I'd appreciate it if you'd dispense with the attitude?" Doose scribbled a few things onto his clipboard, standing at a safe distance---arm-swinging length, you might say---away from Gypsy and Jackson, who were doing their admirable best to keep a grip on the shiny new six-foot sign he'd ordered.

"Remind me...why you needed a new sign?" Jackson grunted, adjusting his grip.

"Because, young man, the one I first ordered six years ago has noticeably diminished in color, not to mention the paint is chipping under the two 'p's and I can not count the number of times we've had to reattatch the first 's.' Now, just...let's try it on the left again."

Jackson and Gypsy grudgingly complied, and Taylor went back to his record of measurements---until the reflection of sunlight off the side of a silver Porsche caught his eye. Lifting his head, Taylor offered a smile and a wave to the passing vehicle that Mayberry itself would envy.

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"Ceasar, I need two chef salads and a tuna melt no tuna."

"A tuna melt without the tuna?"

"Now you're catching on."

"But isn't that basically just a grilled cheese?"

"Look, don't bug me with symantecs, just make the sandwich."

"Fine, fine. Conformity's my middle name."

"What an interesting driver's liscence you must have."

Shaking his head in an I-can't-believe-I-deal-with-this sort of way, Luke went back to his stack of order receipts at the register, filing everything away like he always did. Ever since Will was born, he'd tried to resist the urge to strangle/kill people more often, but Will wasn't here, and Will didn't have to tolerate Ceasar.

This thought was punctuated by the jingling of the bell on the door. Without looking up, Luke was about to respond with something curt and gruff to the effect of 'sit down and shut up,' but he thought twice about that when he heard the new customer speak.

"Nice joint---now where's that lazy proprietor?"

Now he looked up, and despite his five-years-ago-self, he smiled at the kid. Without even forcing it and everything. "Hey, Logan! I didn't know you guys were comin' in this weekend."

"Yeah, well, we didn't know ourselves until about six hours ago," Logan grinned, walking to the counter and grabbing a stool. "Rory seemed pretty set on it, which works for me, and apparently she got an exstension on that media story, so, here we are."

"She in the car?"

"And avoid a Luke's fix? Nah, she had me drop her off at your place on the way," Logan explained, getting out his wallet. "I'm just the barista."

"What can I get ya?" Luke laughed.

"Just three coffees to go---unless you're joining us, in which case make it four..."

"Nah, I've still got a few hours to put in here. Taking people's money in exchange for meatloaf: big fun."

"Three it is then."

Luke turned around and prepared three to-go cups, then set up the coffee maker for a fresh pot.

"So how's Will doin'? Growing like a weed last time I saw him."

"Oh, he's just great," Luke beamed. Pretty much the only time Luke did anything close to the word 'beam' was when he was talking about his boy. Or April. Or Rory. Or Lorelai. Luckily Logan had that in common with him, more or less, so he wouldn't have to kill him later. "Still growing---I swear, you'd think that'd slow down eventually, but we can't keep him in clothes for more than a month."

"Good luck with that," Logan laughed. Luke handed him the cups in one of those crude cardboard caddies Lorelai had talked him into using, and Logan laid down the money, but the elder man shook his baseball-capped head.

"Nope, on the house."

"Oh, come on man, this is your place of business; you're underestimating my perseverance if you think I'll cave that easily."

"Fine, but don't tip. And don't argue."

"I'm good with that. See you at home."

With a nod of agreement, Luke took Logan's money from the counter and watched him get into his car, shaking his head for the thousandth time since he'd woken up this morning. On the plus side, it was for a much less frustrating reason.

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Lorelai was walking from the kitchen to the living room, having just put Will down for a nap, which, naturally, meant it was ice cream time; hence the tub and the spoon. The whole 'being a mom again' thing was coming a lot easier than she'd imagined---of course, this time there were no chem lab midterms or insipid gym classes to change for, so, that probably had something to do with it.

"So what inspired this sudden need to crash?" she asked Rory, who was perched on the couch. "I mean, don't get me wrong, Mrs. Huntzberger, mi fridge full of baby formula es su fridge full of baby formula, but seriously, what's up?"

Rory just sort of sat there, saying nothing, staring in the general direction of the TV while at the same time not actually watching it.

One of Lorelai's many talents was catching on to stuff like this. "Okay, kid, start filling in the thought bubble."

Rory looked up at her mother, and the look on her face was pretty undefinable---kind of happyish, kind of worried, mostly just unsure. "Mom. Sit. Okay?"

"O...kay...." Lorelai set down the ice cream on the coffee table and took a seat in her usual place on the sofa. "Is this one of those mideast peace talks? 'Cause I think if it's that serious we need an actual table, at least a nice dining set if not the real oval office...maybe we could get away with a rectangular office...."

"I need you to do me a favor," Rory said. Reaching into her purse on the floor next to her, she pulled out a small, unopened box. With E.P.T. on the side. And the cute little picture of the baby.

Lorelai drew in a breath, kind of like getting the wind knocked out of her but in reverse. When she finally said something, she ended up stammering, "You...want me to take it for you? 'Cause hon, I really don't think it works that way."

"No, I'll take it. I want you to read it for me," Rory clarified. She was strangely calm, which made Lorelai just a little bit calmer by extension. "I can't. I tried to take one back in Manhattan, and I ended up wrapping it in an Us Weekly and throwing it out the window."

"Wow. Bet the neighbors appreciated that."

"Mom..."

"No no, I know, I know. So...are you....not happy about the...possibility of this?"

Rory took a deep breath, good and slow. "Actually, I think I am. I mean...we didn't plan for...well, now, but Logan's doing really great, and I'm settled in at the Times, and we're really happy. I just...can't read it myself. It's big."

"Really big."

"So...? Will you?"

Lorelai sighed, and she even managed to smile: if Rory was ready and confident, then, she could be ready too. "Absolutely. You do what you gotta do, I'll make the final call. It'll be like I'm finally a judge on So You Think You Can Dance."

"Thanks mom," Rory said, her relived sincerity overwhelming. She wrapped Lorelai in a hug before standing up, and, leaving the forgotten the ice cream to melt on the table, Lorelai followed her, waiting patiently-but-not-patiently ouside the closed door.

A minute passed. "Well?"

"You do not harass the test-taker!" came Rory's voice through the door.

"Well come on! I'm dying out here!"

"You're dying? It's my big life-step, you've had two already."

"Oh look, Logan's home!"

"Is he?"

"Yeah, and Kirk's peeking in the window, and the Rockettes are on the front lawn, and that whole ozone thing's been taken care of, and it's 2075 and we're all wearing silver jumpsuits!"

"He is not."

"Oh look, it's Quintomom---she's had fifteen more babies since you've been in there."

"Ha ha."

There was a short period of silence after that, and it was all Lorelai could do not to break the door down. "Well?"

Another beat, and then: "Okay, come in."

Lorelai turned the knob slowly, and pushed the door aside. Rory was facing the shower curtain, arms folded, as if the pattern on it was what held her future and not the little plastic stick.

"It's on the sink," she informed her mother.

Lorelai nodded, and she studied the result. Rory was hearing an annoying amount of nothing from behind her, which was especially annoying because if ever there was a woman you could count on to jabber until the cows came home, it was Lorelai Gilmore.

Now it was Rory's turn to do the "What?" -ing.

She turned around and faced her mother---not looking at the test, mind you, just at Lorelai. Whose big, goofy grin was a dead giveaway.

"Really?" Rory's face was overtaken by the smile that ate New York.

Lorelai nodded. "I just hope Logan brings a resuscitator with him, or it might be an interesting night."

Rory let out a squeal, and so did Lorelai, and the next ten minutes were spent in a flurry of hugging and hopping and squealing that would confuse the pants off of any passers-by.

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All I can say to that is XD. Just...that's it. XD. Again, THANK YOU to all you guys, you rock! I'm lovin' the reviews, so please, keep 'em comin', and the next chapter's on the way!

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