A/N: Well it seems that having multiple papers to write/finals to study for makes me think that writing this would be a good idea. That, and I've been planning this confrontation for a long time, so now that I finally got to it, I was a little bit too excited to get it all written. Even though I should probably be working on other things. Enjoy!

Chapter Ten - I Don't Give a Damn 'Bout My Bad Reputation

Rory had never looked at the front door of the Gilmore residence with more dread in her entire life.

There was one instance when her apprehension could almost rival her current fear. It was the first Friday Night Dinner since she'd moved out of the Gilmore house during her brief time away from Yale, after her grandparents had learned that her father would now pay for her remaining semesters. That dinner had been the most emotionally exhausting three hours of her entire life. They'd yelled at each other, they'd laughed, they'd eaten dinner like nothing was wrong, and Rory sat silently as the argument had warped into something that wasn't even about her anymore.

But she had a feeling that tonight's dinner would trump even that.

"I can't do it," Rory stated matter-of-factly as she stood side by side with Lorelai, staring at the wooden door. She shook her head. "Nope. Can't do it."

Lorelai remained silent, which was unusual for her.

"I mean, do I really even need to tell them?" Rory asked. "They'll figure it out eventually. Can't I just skip the actual telling part?"

"Because not telling them things has always worked out so well in the past."

"But what can they do really?" Rory asked, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "Get mad? Gee, that's something new. They're already going to be mad. At least this way I won't have to be there when they find out!"

"Quit stalling, babe" said Lorelai.

"Hey, I always let you stall when you don't want to go in there! Let me be the kid for another couple of minutes!"

"What are you talking about; you never let me stall!"

"I so do!"

Lorelai turned to face her daughter. She was on the verge of asking a question that might be met with some resistance. "Okay, I'm gonna say something here, and I don't want you to get mad. But…are you absolutely sure that you want to go through with this?"

Rory frowned. "Telling Grandma and Grandpa? Absolutely not, that's what I've been saying!"

"No, not that. I mean the pregnancy. Because Rory, if you really don't want to do this, there are options."

"What!" Rory exclaimed, completely flabbergasted at the direction the conversation had taken. "Mom! How can you even suggest that?"

"Hey, I'm sorry!" Lorelai said, raising her hands slightly in surrender. "I just needed to check before you go through with telling the grandparents. Look, I know how stressful this has been on you, and that your biggest worry has been the career you're giving up. And if you really don't want to go through with this, you don't have to. You don't have to be pregnant if you don't want to be."

But Rory shook her head, unwilling to even entertain the thought. "I can't do that! No. The only thing worse than this whole mess would be…doing what you're suggesting. No. Absolutely not."

Lorelai smiled sadly at Rory. Like mother like daughter, she thought. Lorelai hadn't even considered an abortion when she found out she was pregnant. Not that she would have been able to easily walk into an abortion clinic at the time, like Rory could if that was the route she had chosen. Instead of responding, Lorelai quickly leaned over and rang the doorbell, giving Rory no time to protest.

She glared at her mother. "Mean!"

Lorelai grabbed Rory's hand, squeezing it quickly. "It'll be fine, babe. And I'll be right here to back you up."

Rory sighed as her mother dropped her hand, glancing down at her stomach. Here goes nothing, little guy, she thought as the door was pulled opened.

A smiling Emily greeted them at the door. "They're here!" she called out. "Richard, they're here!"

"Yes, I heard the doorbell, Emily!" Richard called from living room.

"Hi, mom." Lorelai stepped across the threshold, Rory following behind her.

"Hello, grandma!" said Rory a little too enthusiastically. Lorelai spun around to look at her, trying to signal through subtle eye gestures alone that Rory needed to calm down. She bit her lip as she gave her grandmother a hug, trying to will her pounding heart to stop beating so loudly. Surely it could be heard by everyone in the room.

"Well, come in, girls! Don't just stand there!" Rory tuned her grandmother out as she followed Emily into the living room, hugged her grandfather, and sat down on the couch next to Lorelai. She was too busy concentrating on her breathing to pay attention. In. Out. In. Out. It wasn't until Richard was handing her a club soda that she realize she was being addressed.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked, smiling politely to cover up the fact that she hadn't been paying any attention.

"I said, how's life on the road?" Richard asked as he sat down across from her. "I'm sure you find it invigorating."

"Oh!" How was she supposed to respond without lying? "Yes, it's been very exciting. A little exhausting, but the experience has been great."

She didn't know how to continue.

"Well, come on. Tell us everything!" Emily gushed. "Did you get to meet Senator Obama? I have to say, I don't think he'll get the nomination. Not enough experience, and I don't care for his politics. Not that I hope he doesn't get the nomination, of course, because I hope you can follow him all the way to the election next November. I'm sure you must be so busy following him all over the country. How did you get time off, anyway? Do you have to go back soon?"

Rory remained frozen. She'd never seen Emily talk so quickly before; she could almost rival Lorelai. Her enthusiasm at having her granddaughter home for the moment was putting her in overdrive. Rory hated that she was about to burst that bubble.

She took a deep breath, glancing at the drink she was holding in her lap. "Well, that's the thing," she finally said. "I'm…I'm not going back to the campaign."

She looked up at the sound of Emily's laughter. "Oh, Rory, you and your little jokes! You get that from your other."

"I'm not joking, grandma. I'm not going back."

Emily frowned. "Well, why on earth not? Is this your mother's doing? Did she convince you to quit your job so you'd be closer to her? Honestly, Lorelai, what could you possibly be thinking? That job is perfect for her!"

"This has nothing to do with mom," Rory said. "And while yes, the job is perfect for me, and I'm sad that I won't get the opportunity to finish my run there, the circumstances have changed, and it's no longer feasible for me to take that job."

She was beating around the bush, trying as hard as possible to stall.

"But I don't understand," said Richard. "If you love this job so much, why would you leave it?"

She looked down at her hands again, placing the glass she was holding on the coffee table. Lorelai reached over and took hold of one of Rory's hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

She took a deep breath.

"Because I'm pregnant."

Logan didn't think he'd ever seen his childhood look less welcoming.

He was sitting in the living room with his sister, mother, grandfather, and surprisingly his father. Honor had so far successfully managed to keep the conversation off of Logan's sudden appearance back on the East Coast after nearly two months of living in California, filling the room with polite chit chat and small talk. She'd never been more thankful to have his sister on his side in his entire life.

But she couldn't keep their parents away from focusing on him forever.

"So Logan, I hear you stole a company out from under me," Mitchum finally said bluntly. Logan couldn't tell if his father was more angry or proud of him.

"Yeah and believe it or not, I didn't even know about it until we were signing the papers. But it's a big step for us; we're very excited about the merge."

Mitchum downed his drink quickly. "So I'm assuming that's what brings you back home. You're overseeing the merge?"

"Sort of. I'm heading the new office."

His father frowned. "I'm surprised your partners would send you back east after such a short time in California. West Coast not working out for you?"

"No, California's been great for the most part. I volunteered for the location change."

They didn't press him for answers. He didn't expect them to. Like all Huntzberger family gatherings, his parents knew that the bad news was coming. They were going to drag out of him as painfully as possible.

"Mom. Dad. Grandpa. I know that you haven't always respected the choices I've made. Actually, I take that back. You've never respected my choices. So before I tell you what I'm about to say, I want you to keep in mind the fact that I'm an adult, and whatever you think or say won't change anything. I don't expect your support, but I hope that you can accept what I'm going to tell you and move on. Your opinions and your feelings won't change anything, so please don't try."

When he finished his speech, Logan was greeted by silence. Silence, and the sound of ice clinking against his grandfather's empty glass as swirled the cubes around. He was reminded of a time years ago, when he'd first brought Rory home to meet his family. That hadn't gone well either.

"Oh Logan, that's nonsense!" Shira finally said with a fake laugh. "What in the world can we possibly do to influence your choices?"

"She's right son. You've never given a damn about our opinion. Why should now be any different?"

That wasn't true. Logan cared far too much about what his parents thought of him. That was the whole problem; forcing himself to stop caring. He had to figure out very early, when he was still young, that it was better if he didn't care at all. It would have been so much easier if Logan never cared to begin with.

"Because this is different."

"Damnit, Logan!" Mitchum said, his voice rising slightly. "Stop beating around the bush and tell your mother and I whatever it is you're trying to say."

"Right." Logan glanced down at his scotch and drained the full glass quickly. "The real reason I decided to move back to Connecticut is because Rory reached out to me a few weeks ago. She's pregnant."

Rory's declaration was met with stunned silence.

"You're joking," Emily insisted. "You're not pregnant. This is one of your mother's sick jokes. Honestly, Lorelai, I expected this sort of behavior from you, but from Rory?"

"Mom, I didn't put her up to this, and she's not lying." Lorelai's voice was calm, and that comforted Rory.

"I'm really sorry, Grandma," Rory mumbled. She felt like a child again, upset that she'd forgotten to return a library book on time.

But Emily ignored Rory, instead choosing to glare at Lorelai. "This is all your fault," Emily accused, her voice growing harsher by the second.

Lorelai scoffed. "I'm sorry, did I impregnate my daughter? Last time I checked, I lacked the proper anatomy to do that. Also, I'm not really into incest."

"Well obviously she picked up your loose morals from you! Where else would they come from?"

"Excuse me!" Rory interjected.

But Emily wasn't finished. "You're her mother, Lorelai! You're supposed to set an example!"

"I'm twenty two years old, Grandma! I'm not twelve!"

There was no stopping Emily once she was on a roll. "You run around doing whatever you want. You have these wild flings with men, providing no stable father figure for your daughter -"

Lorelai let out a groan of frustration. "For the last time, we didn't want to get married!"

"- so of course she makes the same mistakes as you! You never provided her with the proper discipline!"

"It's like I'm a broken record," Lorelai said as she rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Seriously, I don't even know why I bother."

"Grandma, this has nothing to do with mom," said Rory, trying to keep her emotions under control. "She did a great job raising me. This is about me."

"Of course this is about your mother!" Emily snapped. "Who else would teach you that it's proper behavior to run around wildly having illicit relations with men?"

"Illicit relations?" She was having trouble staying calm. The implication that her relationship with Logan was wrong in any way angered her. "It's not like I've been running around having tons of unprotected sex with random men. I was in a committed relationship for almost three years! We lived together! What did you think we were doing, having a tea party?" Rory didn't know how she managed to keep herself from yelling the last part.

"This shouldn't have happened in the first place!" cried Emily. "Honestly, Lorelai. How could you let this happen?"

"And once again, it's somehow my fault," Lorelai murmered.

"This isn't mom's fault, Grandma. It's mine and Logan's. Honestly, we did everything possible to prevent this. But accidents happen."

"If you really did everything to prevent this, it wouldn't have happened in the first place! Your mother should have set a better example. She made you think that it's acceptable behavior to get pregnant and throw away everything you've worked for. You're going to do exactly what she did. You'll take a job that's beneath you, throwing away your entire career, and you'll refuse to even get married."

"Oh my god, I was sixteen!" Lorelai yelled. "I did what I had to do to take care of my daughter on my own like I wanted. If I could figure out how to provide for my kid at sixteen, Rory's more than capable of doing to at twenty two, with a college degree!"

"It's not proper! When you get pregnant you get married, that's how it works! But not for you, you have to do everything on your own. Won't accept help from anyone. Not even from a husband! And that's what you're lifestyle has taught your daughter. She doesn't understand that when you get pregnant, you get married."

"I don't want to get married. Logan and I are not going to get married just because I'm pregnant!" It was almost painful to admit. Not because she wanted to get married, but because she was also admitting that her and Logan would never get married.

"Oh, yes you are!" Emily yelled. "He's a Hutzberger, Rory. That's how things work in this world."

"Grandma, I'm an adult. You can't tell me what to do."

"When you get pregnant, you get married. That's the way it works!"

"And in case you forgot, Logan already asked me to marry him before I even knew I was pregnant. And when I said no, he dumped me. I wasn't ready to get married two months ago; what makes you think I'd suddenly be ready now?"

"A child needs a mother anda father, that's the way it works!"

"Okay first of all, I grew up just fine without Dad. And second of all, my child will have a father. Logan and I are going to work this out on our own. You're not going to dictate what we do, because this decision isn't yours to make. It's mine."

"Don't you raise your voice at me!" Emily shouted.

"Well what do you expect, mom, after the way you're treating her," Lorelai said. "And me. God, you're doing to Rory exactly what you did to me. You're trying to punish her for screwing up and make her do things the way you think they should work. But what works for you doesn't always work for the rest of us. All you're going to do is push her away, just like you pushed me away."

"Look, Grandma," Rory continued, trying once again to get herself under control. "I'm sorry that I've disappointed you. I screwed up, I know I did. And I want you to be involved, but not if you're going to treat me like some stupid little kid incapable of deciding anything for herself."

"Well you've clearly demonstrated by your actions that you're not mature enough to be a mother. Otherwise you wouldn't have let this happen in the first place!"

"Oh, for the love of god!" Lorelai yelled.

"For the last time!" Rory yelled back. "It was an accident, okay? I was on birth control and everything! But one day I accidentally forgot to take it, and poof! Now I'm pregnant. It's not like I thought, 'gee, you know what would be fun? If I got pregnant right as I'm about to graduate college and break up with my boyfriend!' It happens!"

"No!" Emily insisted. "This doesn't just happen."

"You know what, Grandma? It does. It does just happen! You know, I expected you to be mad, and I expected you to be disappointed, but I didn't think that you'd blame mom and treat me like I'm still twelve. I was really hoping you'd try to be just a little sympathetic, considering all the sacrifices that I'm willingly making for this, but what was I thinking? I'd heard all the stories about what mom went through when she got pregnant. Silly me for thinking that you'd act any differently."

"Young lady, how dare you speak to me like that!"

But Rory wasn't done yet. "I mean, I didn't exactly expect you to be happy, but I was hoping that you'd at least be a little nicer to me, once the anger wore off. Isn't this what you always wanted? You were picturing the little Logan and Rory babies running around ever since I brought him to dinner. It's not enough for you that we broke up and I'm still hurting from that, or that I'm giving up an amazing job so that I can be in one place and raise a baby. No, you have to punish me even more and make me feel like crap about this. Are you happy? Do you want t rub some more salt in the wounds? God, I don't know why I even brought the ultrasound picture to show you." Angrily, Rory shoved her hand into her purse, grabbing the print out images, and throwing them across the table at her grandmother. "Here. I'm about eight weeks. Happy?"

It was then that Rory realized that her grandfather hadn't said a word throughout the entire argument. The sound of a slamming door suddenly made her look wildly around the living room, searching for Richard. She hadn't even noticed his absence.

"Where's Grandpa?" Rory asked Lorelai.

She too spun around wildly. Then, suddenly, her eyes widened in horror. "Oh no," she said.

"What?" Rory asked.

"Oh no!"

"Mom, what is it?"

"Grab your purse, hun, we've gotta go."

Rory frowned as her mother ran from the room. "Go where?" she called after Lorelai. She hadn't left her seat on the couch, and Emily was staring after Lorelai with an equally flabbergasted look on her face.

"To stop your grandfather from killing the father of your unborn child!"

There was no explosion of anger. No yelling. No real response to Logan's declaration. Finally, after a minute of silence, Mitchum folded his arms across his chest.

"How much?" he asked.

Logan frowned. "I'm sorry, I'm not following."

"How much will it take to make this go away?"

Logan stared at his father blankly, completely confused by the question. "What?"

Shira jumped out of her seat. "I'll be right back!" she exclaimed in a high pitched voice, scurrying quickly from the room. As Logan watched his mother go, he caught Honor rolling her eyes at Shira's retreating back. It was typical behavior of their mother. When confronted with an awkward situation, the cigarettes always came out.

"Please tell me that I'm somehow misunderstanding you," Logan continued. "It's sounds to me like you're asking me how much money it will take for Rory to not be pregnant."

"No, I'm asking you how much money it will take to keep you from being connected to it."

Logan laughed. It was an unnatural response, but he didn't know how else to react. "I don't believe this," he murmured. "Are you seriously trying to buy off Rory?"

"Everyone has a price, son."

"Rory doesn't!" Logan yelled. "First of all, there's no amount of money in the world that she would accept to get her to do what it is you're suggesting. Second, there's no amount of money that could keep me from being at all connected to this. I'm not you, Dad. I can't believe you're seriously asking me to deny paternity. To my own kid!"

"This kind of thing can ruin your reputation, Logan! Did you ever think about that when you were busy gallivanting around with your little playmates?"

"Whoa, Dad! Crossing the line," said Honor, trying to play the role of peace keeper.

"I don't give a damn about my reputation!" Logan shouted, jumping out of his seat in anger. "And Rory was my girlfriend. Jesus, I wanted to marry her! Not that you and mom would have supported that either! You never liked Rory, even from the beginning."

"Don't you put that on me, son. That was your mother - "

"No, Dad. It was you. You should never have treated Rory like that at the internship. She was my girlfriend, and you made her feel inadequate. And then you'd try to use her to manipulate me. What kind of person does that?"

"Hey, I treated her just like I'd treat anyone else."

"That's not how people do things! You don't make them feel small and unwelcome. And if you even think about trying to buy Rory off, that's exactly what you'll be doing. But not to her. You'd be telling your grandchild that it's not welcome because you don't like the circumstances around how it got here. Well guess what, Dad. You can't control me, Rory, or the decisions we make regarding our kid!"

At that moment, an angry Richard Gilmore stormed into the living room. Logan hadn't even heard the doorbell ring.

"How dare you do this to my granddauther!" Richard yelled, spit flying everywhere as he overemphasized every syllable.

Although he was still angry at his father, Logan tried to get himself under control. "Look, Richard - "

"That girl has more talent and motivation in her right hand than you do in your entire body, and you've ruined it for her by getting her pregnant!"

"Richard, I'm sorry that - "

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay the hell away from my family!"

"I can't do that, Richard. You can't ask me to stay away from my kid. Because I won't."

"Don't you think you've caused her enough damage? I don't want you coming anywhere near her!"

Logan was about to reply, but was saved the trouble when Mitchum jumped in. "What about the damage she's done? Your granddaughter is going to ruin my son's reputation!"

Richard's fury was then turned on Mitchum. "Don't you talk about my granddaughter like that! Logan's lucky she ever even looked at him, considering his reputation prior to their courtship. And after the way your family has treated her, you're lucky I didn't make this demand sooner."

"Grandpa, what are you doing here?"

Again, Logan must have missed the sound of the doorbell ringing. A slightly pale Rory hurried into the room, followed closely by Lorelai.

"I'm giving this scoundrel a piece of my mind, that's what I'm doing. I'm not going to let him or anyone related to him anywhere near my family ever again."

"But that's not your decision to make," she said. Logan was surprised at the level of calm in her voice. Judging by her red eyes and puffy eyes, it looked as though she'd been crying. If only her eyes didn't look even more beautiful when she was crying.

Her presence calmed him a little, giving him a chance to gather his thoughts.

Rory stood at Logan's side, trying to show some solidarity. "Look, I know you're upset right now, and there's nothing that I can really do about that. But Logan and I are going to decide how we want to handle this situation on our own. And if you don't like that, then I can't be held responsible for the decisions I make regarding your involvement in the baby's life. Okay?"

But neither Richard nor Mitchum were paying any attention. "They're going to get married. We can do it before Rory starts showing."

Mitchum laughed. "You really think my son would marry her now? If they got married now, she'd insist on having some kind of crazy, iron clad prenup that leaves Logan paying millions of dollars in child support if he even thinks about leaving her. You're crazy if you think I'm letting your granddaughter's screw ups get anywhere near my son's inheritance!"

Rory looked like she wanted to jump in and say something, but at the touch of Logan's hand on her arm, she stopped. He jerked his head towards the door silently and Rory nodded. As quietly as they could, Rory and Logan scurried out of the war zone, followed just as quietly by Honor and Lorelai.

"Ladies and gentleman, I give you the fight of the century," said Lorelai sarcastically once they were safely outside.

"I wonder how many rounds they're going to go," Rory commented, although there was no feeling in her tone.

"You know what really astounds me?" said Honor in an offhand sort of way. "What really astounds me is the fact they seem to think that what they say will in any way effect what these two decide to do."

"It comes with the territory," Lorelai replied. "Moneyed people seem to think that they have power over everyone, including other moneyed people. I'm Lorelai, by the way." She extended her hand to the blonde woman.

"Honor. It's good to finally meet you."

"Likewise. I guess we're the only two supportive people in either camp."

"Not so. I've managed to bring Rory's dad around, and her stepdad. It's a small team, but at least it's something."

Logan, who had been ignoring the exchange between his sister and Lorelai, turned to face Rory, touching her arm lightly. "You okay?" he asked.

Rory shrugged. "They just…they said so many hurtful things. Grandma. Grandpa. Your dad."

"You know I don't care what they think or say, right?" Logan asked her. Their opinion won't change anything."

"I know," Rory said with a sigh. "I was just hoping that…I don't know what I was hoping." She took a deep breath. "Do you think we could just…talk for a little while? Just you and me?"

Logan glanced at Honor. He'd love to just stay and talk to Rory, but he'd driven down with his sister. She was going to stay for a few days in his new apartment in Hartford, helping him to get resettled. He didn't want to just abandon her.

"You two go," Honor insisted. "Lorelai can drop me off. Right Lorelai?"

"Of course," she agreed, filling Logan with a sense of relief.

"Thanks, sis," Logan whispered to his sister as she hugged him goodbye.

"Any time, little brother," Honor responded. As she pulled back, she smiled sadly at him. "It'll be okay. Don't worry."

"Do you want to get something to eat?" Logan asked hesitantly. "I don't know about you, but I never made it to the meal portion of the evening. I could use some sustenance."

"Chinese?" Rory suggested. "The baby really wants some kung pao chicken."

Logan grinned. "You're going to use that excuse whenever you want a specific food item, aren't you?"

"Hey, being pregnant has to have some perks. I might as well milk it for all it's worth."

Logan laughed. This is what he missed the most. The casual banter and the light teasing. Of course, the second he realized that he missed it, the moment was gone, replaced by the awkwardness that was their breakup. Silence filled the car again, leaving Logan's thoughts to wander back to better times.

Rory leaned her head against the window, closing her eyes. Tears rolled silently down her cheeks. As Logan caught a glance of her tear stained face, he reached a hand across the consol and placed it on her leg. It was no use asking her what was wrong, because he knew that was wrong. Their family was wrong. They were wrong.

Rory sighed at his touch. For a minute, she could forget that they were broken up and that she was pregnant, and that they'd just gotten into huge fights with their families. She pretended like his touch was more than just a gesture meant to make her feel better. She thought about other places his hand had been: tangled in her hair, caressing her lower back, slowly moving its way up her thigh and towards her -

She stiffened, sitting bolted upright, and pulling her thoughts back into the present. What was she doing thinking about that?

Logan's hand had dropped away at her sudden movement. "You okay, Ace?"

"Fine," she replied, her voice cracking slightly. He glanced at her as he pulled into the parking lot of a Chinese restaurant, concerned.

Rory swallowed the lump in her throat. Her face was a little flushed. She felt like some silly teenager, unable to control her hormones. "Really, I'm fine," she insisted.

What was the matter with her? Why couldn't she get these images out of her head? Her mind flashed with images of her and Logan together, and what it had felt like to have his hands slowly make their way underneath the edge of her shirt, pulling it over her head and discarding it on the floor. Where had these thoughts come from? What prompted them?

Finally, when they were seated at a table, Rory took a long gulp of her water, trying to calm her hormones. Stop that, she told herself. You can't be thinking like that anymore.

"Why don't I start," Logan finally said after they placed their order. Rory nodded politely, waiting for him to continue.

"Look. I know you overheard my dad say some pretty hurtful things. And I want you to know that I don't for one second think that you'd use me like that, or that you in any way orchestrated this whole situation."

"I know that," said Rory quietly. "And I don't care what my grandpa says; I don't want you to stay away. I'm really happy that you decided to be here, Logan. Not just for the baby, but for me as well. You're support really means a lot to me. And I know that things ended badly between us, but - "

Logan cut her off, shaking his head. Part of him really wanted to tell her that he was still in love with her, but the other part knew that it was a bad idea. For starters, they were both still a little emotional from the confrontation with their families. But for another, he needed a break from talking about them so he could clear his head. "Look. It's still all a little fresh. And there's a lot of things that I want to say to you, but I'm still not ready to talk about it, okay?"

Rory nodded her understanding. She wasn't really ready to talk to him about it either, to be quite truthful.

"But I do think that we need to talk some business regarding the baby. I think that we can both agree that's more important than hashing out all our issues. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"Now, I know you don't want to accept child support money, but I think we should still come to some sort of monetary agreement. I'm assuming that you're going to want to split all expenses fifty-fifty."

"You really don't have to do that, Logan. I can take care of it myself."

"I know you can, but I don't agree. If you really want to do joint custody, you have to allow me to take on some of the financial burden. Now, I will completely stick to an even arrangement, my only stipulation being that when it comes to education, you let me take care of it. I know that you won't really have the money for fancy private schools and Ivy League colleges on your own, so I don't want you to worry about that. I can afford to set up those funds, so let me do that."

Rory couldn't see any reason to disagree with him. When the time came, her dad would have been more than willing to pay for those sorts of things. But that kind of arrangement would have reminded her too much of the deal she'd had with Richard and Emily in order to pay for Chilton and Yale. And that did not appeal to her.

"I'll accept your terms, but that means buying other expensive things that I can't afford either. I have full veto power over all purchases. Agreed?"

Logan nodded. "Now, as far as custody goes, I think we should do something like every other weekend, plus one or two other days during the week, as well as alternating holidays. We can come up with the exact details later, but does that sound sufficient?"

"I can accept that."

"Good. Now, here's my last thing. I want you to promise me that having a baby won't stop you from taking jobs that could keep you travelling for long periods of time."

Rory frowned. "Logan, you know I can't - "

"I'm not backing down on this one, Ace." His face looked completely serious. "I'm not going to let you give up your dreams. I understand that you need to be close to home now, but when the baby gets older it will be okay if you have to go away to cover a story every once in a while. I won't let you turn down something that you've wanted for so long because of the baby."

She studied his face carefully. "Logan - "

"Don't argue with me, Rory. Part of the reason I moved here is to make sure that you don't put your entire life on hold for the next eighteen years.

Now more than ever Rory wished that the chasm that had been between them ever since the proposal wasn't there. This is the sort of thing she had been worried about when deciding whether or not to accept Logan's proposal. She'd been worried that, by getting married right away, she would turn down some amazing jobs so that she could be closer to him. And she would have, too. Logan had proposed so that she'd come out to California with him, meaning that she would have turned down Hugo's job offer following the Obama campaign. Because she wouldn't have been able to leave Logan for an unknown amount of time if they were engaged.

She knew that she'd made the right decision in turning him down, at least at the time. It wouldn't have been right to put her career on hold right when they would have been getting engaged; she would have ended up resenting him for it. She only wished Logan had understood that at the time.

Doing so because of a baby, however, was a completely different story.

"Promise me, Rory," Logan insisted.

Rory sighed. "I can't guarantee that I'll take every extended business trip that comes my way. But alright, I won't put my career on hold for eighteen years. And thank you for wanting to push me, even after…well, thanks."

Logan cracked a smile. "I'll always be there to push you, Ace. I promise."

A/N: So here's the thing. I know that all of you lovely readers have been bugging me for a while now to just let Rory and Logan get back together already. And while I would LOVE to fulfill that request, there's not really much I can do on that front. Of course, they'll sort out their issues eventually. But I can't really change WHEN that happens. What I CAN do, however, is try to speed up the timeline a bit to get to that point faster. That's the best I can do.