The Other Grandparents

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An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Logan had had a plan to get his girlfriend out of dinner with his parents. However, seconds before he left to put his plan in action he discovered he didn't need it; this discovery came in the form of a phone call. It seemed that Rory had somehow left her cell phone at her place and when he answered her phone, her was in contact with none other then Francine Hayden.

"Rory?" came Mrs. Hayden's surprised voice at Logan answering Rory's phone.

"No, it's Logan."

"Why are you answering Rory's phone?" she asked, her voice a little frantic.

"She left it here on accident. Mrs. Hayden are you okay?"

"Do you know where Rory is?"

"She's having dinner with the Gilmore's and my parents." He informed her. "Is everything okay?" he asked again.

"No, actually, I'm afraid Straub's in the hospital. That's why I was hoping to find Rory."

"What hospital?"

"George Washington University Hospital." She answered.

"We'll be right there." Logan said before hanging up.

Colin and Finn, who had witnessed Logan's side of the conversation, looked at him expectantly.

"Where are w going?" asked Finn.

"I need to get Rory."

"I thought that was already established." Colin replied

"You said you had a plan." Finn added.

"Well, the plan has changed,"

"I hate change." Finn muttered. "It's so inconvenient."

"I need to go get Rory. I'll call you when I find out more." He said before exiting the dorm.

Finn and Colin shared a look before simultaneously walking out the door. They caught Logan by surprised hen the opened the doors to his Porsche and joining him in the car.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Well, we're coming with; duh." Finn deadpanned.

So Logan had no choice but to let them come on the trip to Hell. .er. . his parent's house.

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They were just about to sit down to dinner when the three stooges arrived; drinks had gone well and the conversation had flowed smoothly. Richard, Mitchum, and Elias had talked about business while Emily and Shira gossiped about the latest happenings of Hartford society. Rory wasn't ignored but she wasn't the center of attention either, she liked it that way.

"Are you sure this is your house Logan?" the Australian's voice carried from the foyer to the living room.

"Yes Finn," Logan replied.

"Have I been here before?" asked Finn.

"You were here for my birthday Finn." Logan deadpanned.

"I was drunk wasn't I?"

"You're always drunk." Colin said.

"I resent that!" Finn cried.

"You would," muttered Logan. "Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore, hi." Logan greeted them as soon as he entered the room.

"Logan, were expecting you?" asked Shira

"No, I just need to steal Rory for a moment."

"We're just about to have dinner Logan." said Mitchum.

"I'll take her place." offered Finn. "I'm a great conversationalist."

"Great, we'll be right back." Logan said, grabbing Rory's hand and leading her to the foyer.

"Is everything okay?' she asked when they reached their destination.

"No, we have to leave." He said seriously.

"What? Why?"

"It'll tell you in the car, but we need to go." He said as he grabbed her coat.

"No, Logan, tell me now. I'm not leaving your parent's house for no reason." She stated firmly, standing her ground.

"You're grandfather's in the hospital." He told her.

Rory's face faltered; she hadn't been expecting that.

"Is- is he okay?' she asked, her voice faltering a bit.

He didn't know what to say. Mrs. Hayden had sounded shaken on the phone and society wives didn't shake easily. Rory took Logan's hesitation to answer as a sign for the worst.

"We have to go." She said frantically, grabbing her coat from Logan's hands and slipping it on.

Logan ran to the living room to get Finn and Colin to find Finn had tanked control of the conversation.

"So there I was, looking for my redhead and finally, I find her dorm. Only then I found out that its Rory's dorm. Then I go to continue my search and when I finally found her Logan's not there. Turns out-." Finn got cut off.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have to go." Logan announced. Finn and Colin causally walked out of the room.

"Is Rory coming back?" asked Shira.

"No, he answered, turning his back and heading for the door. He could hear the click of his mother's heels as she followed him into the foyer.

Logan, she can't just-." Shira stopped speaking when she caught sight of Rory. "Are you okay dear?" Shira asked, genuinely concerned. Um . . . I have to go, my grandfather's in the hospital. I'm sorry about dinner."

Don't worry," Shira assured her, leaving Logan astounded by his mother's kindness.

"I'm sorr-."

"Don't worry about it." Shira reassured her.

Rory nodded and wet out of the car to join Colin and Finn. Logan bid his mother farewell and did the same. On the way to the house he had called the air hanger that housed his family's plane to tell them he was expecting the plane to be ready to go, pilot and all, by the time they got there.

Rory was grateful that Logan let Finn drive so that he could sit in the backseat with her. She didn't know how she was supposed to be reaction. She didn't know him (well) that long, but he was her grandfather, her family.

They got to the hanger quickly; Rory wondered if the press knew about it and figured they probably did, but there were no flashbulbs going off when she got out of the car and onto the Huntzberger jet.

The plane ride was uneventful, a rarity when involving Finn. Given, it was a short flight, but she was glad not to have to deal with any craziness. To pass the time they watched a movie, but Rory didn't really pay attention to it. The plane landed and Finn gave her a pair of dark sunglasses.

"What are these for?" she asked.

"Just put them on Love." he answered.

AS soon as they arrived at the hospital, she found out why she needed the sunglasses. Reporters, photographers, and camera men littered the outside of the hospital. Hospital security had to hold them back as the four made their way to the doors of the emergency room. As soon as they got inside Rory was greeted by a staff member.

"Miss Hayden, hello, I'm Dr. Mekler. Would you like to show you to your grandmother?" he asked.

"Yes please," she answered politely, not bothering to correct him.

The doctor led them to private waiting room where Francine, Christopher, and Gigi were waiting. She kissed Francine and Christopher on the cheek and Gig looked happily surprised to see her, which made Rory feel a little guilty for not spending more time with her sister. The doctor slipped out of the room unnoticed. Finn, Colin, and Logan started playing with Gigi, knowing that Rory would want to find out what happened without any interruptions,

"What happened?"

"I don't know," Francine answered. "We were eating dinner at Alesandros and all the sudden her collapsed." she elaborated.

"Did they tell you what was wrong?" Rory asked.

"They've been running tests for awhile." She relied.

"How are you doing?' Rory asked Francine.

"I'm holding up." she assured her.

"Did, it's been awhile, how are you?" Rory asked, sounding a bit formal.

Logan stopped playing with Gig when Rory talked to her father. Logan knew how he had hurt Rory and her mother.

"I'm okay, Ror." said Chris, standing up to hug his daughter.

"This is my boyfriend, Logan Huntzberger." She introduced him to her father after their somewhat awkward embrace.

"Logan, this is my father Christopher Hayden."

The two men shook hands.

"Hello mate, I'm Finn, your future son-in-law." Finn said, ever the comedian, as he offered his hand to Christopher.

"Colin McRae," Colin offered his hand as well.

Christopher shook both their hands, smiling at Finns antics. Before anyone could say anything else, Rory's cell phone started to ring. She excused herself and answered her phone.

"Rory? Where are you?" asked Rosemary over the phone.

"Washington D.C."

"What? Look, Stephanie's having a nervous breakdown."

"Again?"

"She took the test." Rosemary said. "And now she won't look at the results."

Rory didn't get the greatest reception in the hospital.

"Steph took the pregnancy test?" she blurted out.

"WHAT!" shrieked Colin from behind her.

"It's negative!" Rory heard Stephanie exclaim over the phone.

"Was that Colin?" rosemary asked.

"Colin's there?" Rory heard Stephanie's panicked voice. From what Rory could make out, she could tell that Stephanie and Rosemary were fighting over the phone; Stephanie won.

"Stephanie's pregnant?" Colin asked her in person.

"Colin's there?" Stephanie asked over the phone.

Colin grabbed the phone from Rory.

"Steph?" Colin said urgently into the phone. " . . . . Sweetie, calm down." his face and voice softening.

Wanting to continue this conversation in private, Colin walked out of the room, still trying to console his girlfriend.

"Stephanie's pregnant?" Logan asked after Colin walked out.

"No," Rory shook her head. "She just thought she was."

"Who's Stephanie?" asked Francine, her confused face matching Christopher's.

"She's my friend grandma. You may know her parents."

There was a shot knock on the door and the doctor walked in, causing Rory to miss the surprised look on Chris's face put there by the way his daughter addressed his mother.

"We got his test results back." Dr. Mekler informed them. "One that worried me was his tox screen. Mrs. Hayden, where has your husband eaten in the last twenty four hours?"

"He had breakfast at home, a business luncheon at a restaurant in the city, and were eating dinner when he collapsed." Francine told the doctor,

"Why is this relevant?" Chris asked.

"Mrs. Hayden, you're husband was poisoned."

Logan's arm tightened around Rory's waist so she didn't fall, for the news the doctor had just divulged her caused her to loose balance for a moment. Finn, who had stopped playing with Gig when the doctor came in, looked more serious then Rory had ever seen him before. Francine looked like someone had just slapped her and had to sit down. Christopher had a semi-confused semi-astonished expression sprawled all over his face. Gigi, who was totally oblivious to what was going on around her, threw one of the toys at Finn's head in hopes of getting her playmate back.

"Is he awake?" asked Rory, breaking the silence.

The doctor nodded.

"Can was see him?" she asked.

"Only one at a time; he'll be okay but I don't want to overwhelm him."

"Okay, thank you." Rory said, unknowingly dismissing him.

The doctor walked out of the room, giving the family their privacy. They al stood in silence until Colin rejoined them.

"Okay, we have it all figured out; Stephanie is not-." Colin stopped when he saw the expressions on everyone's face.

"Hey Colin, Finn, lets take Gigi and go get some coffee." Logan suggested.

Christopher didn't object to having his second born taken out of the phone so Finn took her hand and led her out of the room. Logan kissed the side of Rory's head and left with room with Finn and Colin.

"Well I surely wasn't expecting that." Francine stated aloud.

Chris nodded in agreement.

"Who would do this?" Rory asked. She hated how she sounded like a scared little girl.

"I don't know." Christ whispered. "He is a political figure so he does have enemies."

"Oh, stop it Christopher." Francine warned.

"Mom, this is serious. Dad was poisoned, Mom, poisoned. I don't want to sound paranoid, but we could all be in risk."

"It may be smart to take some precautions." Francine agreed.

"Like what?" inquired Rory.

"We should try to eat out as little as possible, start going to the grocery store more often." Christ suggested. "Oh, and no take-out." He said, pointing at Rory.

Rory felt even more helpless as her father started cutting off her main supplies of food.

"I'm going to go call Mom." Rory announced, wanting to get out of that room. She grabbed her call phone from where Colin had put it and walked through the door. She dialed her mother's number; Lorelai answered on the third ring.

"Hello?" Lorelai answered sleepily.

"Hey Mom, it's me, sorry to wake you."

"Rory? Are you okay?" Lorelai sounded more awake.

"Grandpa's in the hospital."

"What?"

"Dad's dad, Straub, not Richard." Rory cleared up.

"Are you okay? Where are you?"

"Washington D.C."

"That's, like, 300 miles away; how did you get there so quickly?"

"Logan's jet." Rory summarized.

"Is Straub okay? What's wrong with him?"

"He was poisoned," Rory told her. "Supposedly I can't eat out anymore."

"That sucks kid. How's Straub doing?"

"He'll be fine; he's awake but I haven't seen him yet."

"Do you want me to come there?" Lorelai asked, although Rory knew her mother really didn't want to.

"No, it's okay; Dad, Logan, and the guys are here so I'm not alone."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she assured her mother."

"Do you know when you'll be back?"

"Finals start Wednesday, so by then."

"Call me if anything changes or if you need anything, okay?"

"I will. Oh, wait, how did your dinner with Luke go?"

"It was great. I love you."

"Love you too Mom, bye."

"Bye," Lorelai said before hanging up.

All the sudden, she felt someone tugging on the bottom of her coat. She looked down and found her little sister looking up and smiling at her.

"Where are the guys?" Rory asked Gigi.

"I ran away!" Gigi told her excitedly.

"You did?"

Gig just nodded enthusiastically.

Then, out of nowhere, Finn came running up the hall. Frantically, he looked all around and a look of relief washed over his face when he saw Rory with Gigi; he ran up to the two sisters.

"She's a little devil!" Finn exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Gigi.

"Where are Colin and Logan?" Rory asked him.

"We split up to look for her."

"Are you telling me three adults, who go to Yale, were outsmarted by a four year-old?" Rory asked.

Before Finn could defend himself, Logan and Colin joined them.

"Good," Colin commented. "You found her."

"Are you okay?" Logan asked as he handed her a cup of coffee.

"My Dad thinks that it would be a good idea if I only at food from the grocery store." She told them, obviously not liking the decision. "How's Stephanie?" Rory asked Colin.

"After succeeding in sufficiently freaking me out, I was able to calm her down and she's okay now; at least I think she is. How's your grandfather?" Colin asked.

"He's awake; I haven't seen him yet. I'm glad he's okay. You guys don't have to stay; Colin, you probably want to get back to Stephanie."

"Actually, she and Rosemary are on their way here no." Colin told her.

"Have you called your mom yet?" asked Logan.

Rory nodded. "She's not coming; I told her she didn't have to."

"But you want her t be here." Logan guessed.

"She and my grandparent, my Hayden grandparents, don't really have the best history and my parent's haven't talked since my grandparent's vowel renewal." She explained.

Rory and the guys, along with Gigi, went back into the private waiting room to join the Haydens; when the got there they found two police detectives. Much to Rory's dismay, they said the same thing as her father about no more outside food.

"Does this mean the coffee cart and the dining hall too?"

"Yes Miss Hayden." One of the detectives answered seriously.

Logan couldn't help but smirk at the helpless look on Rory's face. The detectives left after awhile and Francine went to see her husband.

"It's getting late and you must be exhausted, you can g to the house for the night." Christ handed her keys to what Rory assumed to be to the 'Hayden Manor."

"Do you want us to take Gig?" Rory motioned to her sleeping little sister.

"Yeah, that'd be great." Chris said as Finn lifted the snoozing girl into his arms.

"There's a limo waiting outside." Chris told the, as he kissed both of his daughters goodbye. "The driver knows where to go."

The group of friends made their way out of the hospital, through the hording press member, and into the limo safely. Colin got a call on his cell from Stephanie and the limo stopped at the airport on the way back to the house.

After the two girls swore they would never fly commercial again Rory thanked them for coming and for bringing school books and her notes; she noticed how Colin was especially sweet to Stephanie.

"Are you okay?" Rosemary asked Rory.

"I'm fine."

Rory was in awe when they pulled up to her grandparent's house. It was bigger then the Huntzberger's. Finn carried Rosemary's luggage, Colin carried Stephanie's luggage, Rory carried Gigi, and Logan carried Rory's studying material, which actually weighed more then Gigi, into the house. Finn put Gigi into her room and went back to join his friends.

"Anyone hungry?" Logan asked the group.

"Starving," Rory answered first, heading to, what she hoped, was the kitchen.

Weird place to end it, I know. I am so sorry for waiting so long to update, I had writers block with this story. At least it's a long chapter. I kind of wanted to show that Shira wasn't completely evil and bring in Christopher. I hope you all liked this chapter, please review!