Hi! Thank you all so much for the reviews. I love reading them I am very flattered that you like my Lorelai! She's fun to write. Also thanks to every one who's put me on their alert lists. Very cool, so thanks!!
The Gilmores won't find out about the pregancy just yet (maybe a chapter or three away) but I have the idea set, and I think it'll be pretty funny! So, something to look out for after this chapter. I hope you like this one. It might be a little heavy on the sappy sappy, get a room and give me a bucket to toss my cookies kind of romance, but I tried to keep the balance, I'm not sure if it worked ot or not. Hope you don't think it's too cliché... ;) Let me know! Don't forget to review!!
xx GilmoreGirl
Disclaimer: Don't own anything!! Also, probably worth mentioning: I don't own anything Coke related, but I really do love the stuff!
Logan came home to find Rory in her pajama's surrounded by a half eaten bag of M&M's, an empty can of Vanilla Coke, an empty can of Dr. Pepper, an empty can of Cherry Coke and a bunch of papers. She was sitting on the floor, her back against the couch, her legs pressed against her chest, a blanket covering her legs. Her notebook lay against her thighs. She was writing feverishly with her right hand and holding a can of Classic Coke in her left.
She was so focused in her own little world; Logan knew she didn't even realize he had come home. He wanted to say something about her variety of soda, or that the couch was perfectly good to sit on but he refrained himself from commenting. Instead, he could use this time to set up dinner and prepare for the important evening ahead.
He had been home for a little over forty minutes when Rory looked up from her notebook and questioned aloud, 'what smells so good?" "
"That would be turkey sausage with green peppers, and bowtie pasta with fresh garlic bread and a salad – for me, not you, don't worry" Logan yelled from the kitchen.
"Oh my God, Logan" she exclaimed, "You're home!"
She got up from the living room floor and ran over to him. He hugged her and twirled her around.
"Miss me much?" he smirked. She leaned in for a passionate kiss, her way of saying 'yes, I missed you a lot'. She pulled away from the embrace and smelled the pan of food. She licked her lips in anticipation.
"No pre testing!" he warned playfully"
"You want a drink?" he asked pulling out champagne glasses. She gave him a 'what gives' look and sighed, "No, I'm pregnant….remember?"
He noticed her frustration - it amused him. 'How could I forget?' he smirked. "I meant kids champagne,' he clarified, "Nothing says party like some good ole sparking apple juice!" He said as he took the bottle out of the fridge. She laughed and nodded in fake agreement.
"So, what are we celebrating?" He mocked her earlier 'what gives' look, and sighed, "You're pregnant….remember?"
She frowned at his mocking, but it still amused her. Her lips curled into a small smile. "How could I forget?" she mimicked his earlier question.
By now, the two had burst out laughing, over this little bit. Logan put an end to the laugher by saying, "No Ace, we haven't even celebrated just the two of us, you know."
"Dirty" she winked, "You know you don't have to do this anymore Logan. The wining and dining" she pointed at the nicely set table, and the stove, "You're stuck with me now" she giggled and pointed at her stomach. "Well… if you put it that way" he leaned in to kiss her, pulling away at the last moment. 'Dinners ready!"
"So," Logan said handing Rory her plate of food, "that's going to be some article." He pointed towards the mess of soda cans, M&M's, papers and blankets that lay spread out across the living floor.
"Huh?" Rory managed to say in between bites. Rory Gilmore could pack away the food, but this little performance was almost out of character. "This is really good, we should eat in more."
Logan made a mental note; cooking is good for my ego. It remained silent until Rory realized that Logan was waiting for her to talk about the alleged article that caused the mess.
She swallowed. "Oh no, it's not for an article. It's for the…" she leaned over the table; just inches from Logan's face and lowered her voice to an eerie whisper and continued "The Gilmore Situation." She used air quotes for that last part.
Logan nodded as if he understood though in reality he only had an inkling of what the Gilmore Situation could be.
"So, you talked to your Mom today?" Rory took a sip of her "champagne" and went off in a ramble.
"Yes, she called to talk about the so-called Gilmore Situation. I didn't even know there was a Situation."
Logan shot her a unconvinced look. She noticed and corrected, "Okay, I knew that when we told them it would be bad, but to go and call it a situation…." She rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, my Mom and I agreed that it would be best if I avoided Hartford for the next three months, you know until I'm in my second trimester, since they advise pregnant people not to the world until after three months. So, the Gilmores can't be too peeved about that, right?"
She inhaled, "But, now I have to figure out five get-out-of-dinner excuses. That's those crumbled up papers," she pointed in the general direction of the living room. "But, of course, no excuse is good enough since Emily Gilmore and her stupid bay-dar know it's an excuse!"
Rory clenched her fist in growing anger. Logan gave her a sympathetic look. "So, then I thought about all the other people we have to tell." She counted them off using her fingers, "Paris & Doyle, Colin & Steph, Honor & Josh, Finn, my Dad, my boss. Your parents! How are we going to tell them? There are only so many "use a condom/I'll kick your ass if you leave her conversations I – we- can take!' she shrieked.
Logan reached for her hand and held it lightly. He, too, dreaded telling Rory's grandparents and didn't even want to think about telling his own parents. But, he had a plan and Rory's freak-out set the plan in motion. He was just about to open his mouth when Rory continued.
"And another thing! My Mom thinks we should get married, or at least be engaged before we break the news to Emily and Richard. Like we'll just go and get married because of the baby. Logan, I don't want it to think we got married because we had to, because of it." He looked at the seriousness in her eyes.
"I want it to know we got married because of our…" She paused, trying to find the words to describe what she was feeling, how she felt about him, "his and hers towels, I can't sleep when you are not here, come on, babe let's get an early bird special, you had me at hello, kind of love we have for each other…" She was now yelling at a clearly intrigued Logan. She inhaled deeply and finished, in a softer tone "and not because it was the right thing to do." Frustrated she ran a through her hair, and looked away from Logan, staring off into space.
"Hey, come here" Logan said softly. He did not want Rory to worry about this. She walked over to him and he gently pulled her down, so she was sitting on his lap. She felt the tension in her ebb away, as he gently rubbed her back.
"Our baby will know that we got married for love, and not because it was the proper thing to do." Logan sighed - it was confession time.
"Truth is, Ace, I want to legally be your husband before the baby is born. I love you. All of you. Down to every caffeine dependent bone in your body and I can't imagine my life without you."
He buried his head in her neck, gently kissing it, slightly embarrassed by all the cheesiness that oozed out of his mouth. Why was it that when you tried to write down, or say, what you felt it also sounded like a four-dollar Hallmark card?
She looked at him, looked in his eyes and saw passion, love, trust, hope and safety. It was everything that she had wanted to see in his eyes.
She blinked back small tears and whispered, "Logan….are you proposing?"
She unconsciously bit her lip, awaiting his response. It felt like forever, but in fact, only a few seconds had passed.
He got up from his chair, tightly holding Rory. He walked over to the living room, and gently laid her on the couch. He got down on one knee and cleared his throat.
"Ace, will you marry me for me?"
The words rang in her ears and Rory felt her heart skip a beat. This proposal was perfect in its simplicity. She loved that he got the fact that she wanted to get married for love and she loved that he wanted to get married for that same reason.
The tears she had been holding in now were running down her cheeks. She nodded and mouthed yes. She smiled as tears were shining in his eyes as well. Their eyes locked and they simultaneously said "yes". The word rang through the apartment loud and clear.
Logan swiftly got up and joined his now fiancé on the couch. He wiped away her tears and kissed her. It was a kiss of promise, gratitude and love. She kissed him back, though hers was more urgent, like this kiss sealed the deal. Eventually she pulled away, and rested her head on his lap; he rested his feet on the coffee table.
"Let's stay like this for awhile" she breathed.
They lied lazily on the couch, each too overwhelmed by the evening's events to talk. Neither of them wanting to break the comfortable silence and effectively putting an end to the special moment.
Unfortunately, MTV's Made put an end to the domestic bliss since Rory accidently kicked the remote off the coffee table, causing the TV to brighten up the dim lit living room. They both found themselves in a TV-trance.
Once the commercial break came, Logan switched off the T.V. He didn't want is engagement night tainted by some stuck-up teen queen with something to prove. "I can't believe her,' Rory exclaimed. "Little Ms. Manicure wants to be a rugby player. If I found out she got made, I swear I'll call this kid Myron."
"Ace," Logan warned, "I can't be Myron's Dad….Zulu's Dad, maybe, but Myron" he shook his head for emphasis, "no way!" She leaned into him again and sighed. She loved him for playing along with her craziness.
"How 'bout a celebratory ice-cream sundae?" he suggested. They had not eaten dessert yet, and he still had something to give Rory. Rory was already getting up from the couch. You didn't have to mention ice cream twice around this girl.
"You just sit; I'll clean up the kitchen and make the sundaes." Logan cocked his head to the side and teased, "It really is the only thing that you can cook."
He sneaked off to his closet while Rory was busy. He just finished picking up the living room when Rory returned to the couch with two enormous bowls of ice cream.
"Okay," she said placing the tray down on the coffee table. 'We've got vanilla toffee crunch, your traditional vanilla, some butter pecan and a dash of rocky road and dark chocolate truffle on a bed of marsh mellows in a caramel and chocolate reduction served with summer fresh strawberries and a side of New York's finest whipped cream" she said in her best chef's voice.
She pointed the whipped cream can at Logan. "Might be fun for later' she raised her eyebrows flirtatiously.
He smirked. "Compliments to the chef, it looks exquisite." He glanced at the whipped cream can.
"You'll just have to demonstrate that for me later…" he winked suggestively. They laughed and dug into their ice cream.
After a while, they found themselves resting in the same position as before. The now empty ice cream bowls, and half full champagne glasses placed lazily on the coffee table, the only visible evidence of their celebratory evening. Rory's food needs had been completely satisfied, and she was contemplating on going to sleep. As she yawned Logan realized he needed to finish the last part of the engagement.
"So, you are probably wondering where your ring is?" he asked honestly. Rory glanced down at her left hand.
Indeed, her ring finger was bare. She shrugged. 'Logan, I can't wear a ring yet. People will see, it'll get back to Hartford. We can't…"
He could tell this upset her. She wanted to let the world now that Rory Gilmore was, simply put, off the market.
'I know, that's why I got you two things," he said as he handed her two small boxes.
She hoped Logan had not kept her first engagement ring. Even though it was a beautiful ring, she couldn't bear to wear it. She felt it was contaminated and stood as a symbol for the thing that drove them apart in the first place.
She certainly did not want a band of bad juju encircled on her ring finger forever. Luckily, the box contained a very different but equally beautiful ring. It was a thin gold band, with a princess cut diamond. It was simple, classy and elegant.
She smiled and kissed him lightly. "It's perfect" she sighed, "I can't wait until I can wear it…." He smiled, genuinely pleased that she liked the ring he selected. He had a hell of a time, since he did not want anything that resembled the old ring in the slightest way. He did not want anything that could remind her of that time, the time that kick started their time apart.
She opened the other package. In it, there was a breathtaking gold heart locket. The heart was etched with another heart, and other decorative markings making it seem like it was something Old Worldly, something treasured and passed down generation after generation.
Rory knew Logan had had this made for her, since his family would not allow him to give the lowly Gilmore Girl a precious heirloom. Even if the Huntzburgers knew about the relationship, that is.
Still, she liked the idea of something that seemed to have carried meaning for generations. This would just be it's starting point, she reasoned. She loved that Logan put so much thought into this gift.
She took the necklace out of its box and flipped it over; more etching in on the upper right had been done. She studied it. It was barely noticeable, but she clearly could see the shape of an A intertwined with the letter L.
If she loved the engagement ring, this necklace pushed her over the edge. Judging her body language, Logan knew that Rory loved the gift. He smiled and put the necklace on her.
"This you can wear outside" he said seriously. She nodded and kissed his cheek, his nose, his neck and finally his lips. She needed to express how she felt, and no words existed to do so. The kiss quickly grew deep and strong. Logan quickly lifted her up from the couch, striding towards their bedroom. Rory was just able to snatch the can of whipped cream.
That night she lay awake thinking about the recent events. She had gone from completely stressed out, to ultimate surprise to ultimate commitment. It felt good, and it had happened right. She was glad Logan did not propose in a fancy five star restaurant. She was glad it was at her home, that she was in her pajama's and he was in his sweats. That they were eating the food they loved, drinking and talking about their days. That was when they were the most comfortable; it was their relationship in a nutshell. It was "them" in their purest form. The way he anticipated that and captured that moment melted her heart. She rolled over and met Logan's chest. She found her nook and fell asleep.
That night he, too, lay awake thinking about the nights events. He went from listening, understanding boyfriend to slightly nervous proposing boyfriend to ecstatic fiancé. It felt good, he had not planned on proposing just yet, but tonight it had just felt right. He was still toying about the wedding, but that would work out too. He was sure of it. He glanced down at Rory pleased that she had found her nook. He closed the gap between them and fell asleep.
AN: So, what's the verdict? Overdone? or just right? By the way, no offence to all you Myron's & Zulu's out there!