Logan called his father at 6:45 in the morning knowing that he would predictably be getting his no foam vanilla latte at the place closest to the London office. He knew that he needed to directly reach his father and that if he tried once Mitchum made it to the office, he'd be sent to voicemail while his secretary fielded any office phone calls. After only two rings Logan got a hello and suddenly, his mouth was completely dry.
"Good Morning dad. I'm uh, calling because I have something to discuss with you. Can we have lunch today at that restaurant you bought last month?"
"Logan, what is this about? Just tell me."
"I need to do it in person, dad. It's important, I promise."
Mitchum could sense the urgency in his son's voice and was weary that he even tried to set up a meeting with him. Since he'd come back to the family fold, he'd been a go-getter at work making the man proud, yet he was always hesitant to talk to his father about anything outside of a boardroom. Their relationship was better than it had been when his son was in college but it was still not a Disney channel feely relationship. He considered these things and agreed to Logan's terms, meet for lunch at 1pm.
oOo
Rory was watching a late movie with her mom when she got a phone call from Logan.
"Logan, hello. How are you?"
"I'm fine Rory." The way Logan said Rory felt contentious and while not technically an insult, kind of hurt the blue eyed beauty's feelings. "I called to let you know I've got some things to figure out. This doesn't just affect me. I have a wife and my family to consider so I just need some time." Again, the clinical nature of Logan's voice was very chilling to Rory. Yesterday he seemed happy. She had even convinced herself that maybe there might be a chance for them. She was feeling so stupid now.
"Oh. Yeah, I understand. I'm sorry to drop this on you. You know I don't expect anything from you right? It's just… well it's you're right to know. Take all the time you need. Well not all of it, eventually this child's coming into the world, but that's a few months." She was rambling. His tone had thrown her off. She was about to continue when he cut her off.
"Thanks. Well I've got to go. I'll contact you when I've figured things out." They hung up. Logan felt like a jerk. It was easier to not have any emotion about her right now. He didn't want to be this way but to feel angry was easier than feeling hurt or love for her and to feel nothing was less cruel. So he chose to be as kind as he could while still being so confused.
oOo
At lunch, Logan was suspiciously quiet. He kept trying to think of ways he was going to tell his father. This was a far cry from cliff jumping and yacht wrecking. It wasn't as easy for his father to just 'fix' for him. At first Mitchum tried to fill the air with small talk but once he finished his salad, his patience was worn thin.
"Logan, what are we doing here? What do you need to tell me? Is it another bad investment son?"
"No dad, it's not that. It's not even close to that. In fact, I really wish it was that because money can fix that."
"Logan, what is it?"
"Dad, Rory and I were having an affair before I got married."
"Oh, well I suspected that. The way you two looked at each other at that lunch several months back, I knew. But it's over now right?" Logan nodded. "Well then it's not a problem."
"There's more… Dad, Rory's pregnant."
"Logan," Mitchum chastised.
"There's more… Odette is also pregnant." Logan hung his head in his hands. He was waiting for the worst. This was the type of thing that Mitchum would probably use as an example of what a screw up he was.
"What do you intend to do about it?" was all his father said and in an even tone.
"I… I don't know. Odette's my wife. And there's a pre-nup. I'm shouldn't abandon my wife and child for my mistress and child. Besides, Rory… she doesn't need me. We ended things and I love her but we've never been able to line things up right." This was the first time the confidence the young Hunzberger heir exuded was completely absent.
"Well son, it seems you know where your home is. Is Rory going to make this a public thing? I don't take her for being that way, but a woman scorned can be real trouble."
"She says she doesn't need or expect anything."
"Well, that's good."
"But dad, I want to be present for my child. This was my choice. You taught me to take responsibility for my choices. I can't just run from this."
Mitchum considered his son. He wanted to fix this, make it go away for the sake of his family and societal pragmatism but he had gotten to know his son better over the past 10 years. Ironically, it was because of the Gilmore girl who didn't fit into his wife and father's vision for Logan and whom he'd written off as a poor journalist. She'd shaken him awake when Logan was in the hospital. Now she'd shaken things up once more.
"Logan, this is your mess. I can get the lawyers to look over your prenup but since you conceived this child before your vows, we're still covered against our fortune. However, there is a clause of who's eligible to inherit the publishing empire. Rory's child isn't eligible for that. There's an indiscretion fund that I have used to pay off past mistresses as has your grandfather. I've never had a child because I had a vasectomy after you were born and I suggest you do the same if Odette has a boy. But before the vasectomy I did pay one woman for an abortion and several others just not to go public."
"Dad, why are you telling me this?"
"If you do decide that you aren't going to be involved with Rory, then to preserve your family, you'll need to be out of this son. I know you want to be there for this child, I get it. But you need to consider if being in the picture part time on one weekend per year birthday visits is what's best for that kid. That's all you'll be able to offer with a new family and the pressures of this job. Even if I transferred you to New York, you can't spend every other weekend with another family and think that the media isn't going to catch on and ruin both of your families' setups. It's not going to happen, son." Mitchum saw the wheels turning in Logan's head. He obviously hadn't thought that far through it.
"Look, I told you about this fund because you can still set up a trust fund and maybe buy Rory a house if she'll let you. You can set it up so that she receives a monthly child support payment and so that when the child reaches 18, it covers an Ivy league college and car. At 25, it'll get the same $3 million dollar payout that you did. All you'll need from Rory is a gag order and you'll need to sign away your rights."
"I don't want to abandon my child." Logan tried to muster anger at his father but it came out sounding on the verge of tears. His anger was at himself. Even the anger he'd been holding toward Rory was because he was mad at himself. Right now he was even more angry (and now disgusted) because he was seriously considering doing exactly as Mitchum told him to do.
He needed to talk to Rory… and this time he needed to disclose his entire situation. He didn't know what the right thing to do was anymore.
