*I was SO glad you all wanted to same thing I did, so here Lena gets the news. And I want everyone to remember that she is 3 years old who doesn't understand everything that's going on because she is 3! I hope you enjoy this chapter, what up back-to-back updates! *
DISCLAIMER I OWN NOTHING RELATED TO GILMORE GIRLS
"Alright, what does everyone want?" Luke asked,
"COFFEE!" my mom and I said at the same time,
"Okay, so one coffee for Rory and de-caff for Lorelai."
"What!? De-caff, why? I drank coffee when I was pregnant with Rory!" Lorelai protested
"And I was born with a caffeine addiction, PLUS I wasn't allowed caffeine when I was pregnant with Lena, so you suffer. French toast please Luke." I smiled up at him,
"Pancakes and bacon." Lorelei requested,
"Lena, honey?" I asked her,
"Chocolate milk and cheerios!" she smiled,
"We have to have some fruit with that," I reminded her,
"Apple!" she smiled brightly,
"Rory, I don't have any apples."
"That's fine; I'll just run over to Doose's." I kissed her on the forehead,
"Logan?" Luke asked,
"Just a toasted butter bagel?" he asked, "And orange juice, if you can."
"That's fine," Luke turned back to the kitchen,
"I'll get your apple, okay?" I told Lena and got up to go, Logan jogged up next to me as I was leaving,
"So, that's Jess. Your ex-boyfriend."
"So you remember." I laughed,
"He's Uncle Jess?" he asked, running his hand through his hair,
"Yes, he is. He was there when Lena was born, he's basically her Uncle." I explained to him,
"So he's only Uncle Jess…not daddy Jess?"
"Are you jealous?" I smiled at him,
"Psh jealous. I, no I'm not…why should I be?" he asked,
"He is only Uncle Jess and she's been calling his girlfriend Aunt Ashlee because they've been together for 2 years. Don't worry, she's never called anyone else Dad." I explained,
"So, you guys never got back together?"
"No. I told you, Jess and I are friends."
"Okay," he said breathlessly,
"Were you jealous?" I smiled,
"What? Psh, no I was not jealous." He grumbled, his cheeks turning pink. We walked into Doose's market,
"Rory, honey what are you doing here." Ms. Patty popped out of no where,
"Oh hi Ms. Patty. Lena and I are visiting my mom, she's having sleepover so I can get some work done." I explained,
"And is this work? Because if it is I need to get a job at a newspaper." She smiled, Logan kind of leaned away from her,
"You've met Logan before Ms. Patty. His dad owns a publishing company so I'm doing a piece on him. We're just getting an apple for Lena, in a bit of a rush. I'll see you later Ms. Patty!" I smiled and dragged Logan with me
"That woman makes me uncomfortable."
"She makes everyone uncomfortable." I laughed, and stared looking through the apples,
"I want to tell Lena." He said,
"Tell Lena, what?" I asked him, as I put the apple in a plastic bag,
"Tell Lena that I'm her dad."
"Why, why? Why would you want to do that?"
"Because I want her to know, I want to be there for her. I want to be a family." He insisted,
"Okay this is so not the place to discuss this." I looked around, making sure no one was listening, "Everyone here knows me and Lena, not about you." I shushed him I we walked about to the cash,
"Well hello Rory!"
"Hi Taylor." I sighed as I handed him the apple,
"And who is this strapping young man?" he asked, as he typed in the code at a molasses pace,
"Logan Huntzburger," he shook Taylor's hand,
"Did you used to date our Ms. Gilmore here?" he probed,
"Here's 5 bucks Taylor. Thanks!" I grabbed the apple and rushed us out the door, "This town is crazy." I grumbled as we walked back to the diner,
"Ace, stop. Listen," he insisted,
"I want to tell Lena that I'm her Dad. I want to be here. I want to be a part in her life. Why are you so worried about that." He cupped one side of my face, his eyes looking deeply into mine, and I remembered what Jess said, 'have you told him all that?' no, I hadn't told Logan what I was so worried about.
"What if we tell her, and she becomes all attached to you and then you decide that you don't want to be involved anymore, and you just leave and she gets hurt. You family is going to hate us, they are going to demand a paternity test and Lena is only 3 she shouldn't have to put up with all of that. She didn't do anything wrong, all she did was be born, but she's going to be the one that ends up getting hurt."
"Jeez Ace," he sighed,
"And we can't let that kiss happen again."
"Why not?" he asked,
"I want you to have a relationship with Lena, and we clearly broke up for a reason and I don't want a relationship between us to complicate your relationship with her." I insisted, there was a heavy pause between the two of us before he nodded,
"Is that what you want?" he asked,
"Yes."
"Fine then, I won't kiss you again. But I want Lena to know that I am her dad."
"Fine,"
"Fine." He repeated, and we walked into Luke's
"Apple!" Lena cheered and clapped her hands, her little feet swinging above the ground,
"Yep, and Butch is going to clean it up before we can eat it." I reminded her and handed the apple to Luke,
"To get rid of all the germies." Lena said matter-of-factly,
"That's right," I smiled and sat down next to her, "Now Lena, before we have breakfast I have something to tell you."
"Okay Mommy," Lena smiled, and Mom and Jess moved over to the counter, while Logan sat across from me and Lena,
"Logan is going to be spending a lot more time with us," I told her, she nodded, "And he wants to get to know you better."
"I'm 3, and I like apples." She smiled at Logan,
"Thanks very good honey, but more than that. See honey, Logan is your dad." I told her, she looked up at me with her wide blue eyes and looked to Logan and back to me again,
"Hogan is my daddy?" she asked,
"Yes honey," I smiled to her, she smiled and hopped off of her chair and ran to Logan,
"Daddy!" she squealed and jumped up into his lap "Where were you?" she asked him,
"I got lost trying to find you," he answered, tears shining in his green eyes looking at his daughter with such love,
"Its okay Hogan," she smiled and patted his head, she hopped down from his lap and climbed back into her chair,
"Is he going to leave?" she asked me,
"No," Logan answered, "No, I'm not." He smiled at me,
"Are you going to live with us? Katie's daddy lives with them!" Lena explained,
"Not right now, because Logan and I aren't married."
"Then get married…what's that?" Lena asked with a smile,
"It's a big party when everyone's family comes, and the lady is called a bride and she gets to wear a big white dress and the man stands at the front of wherever they are getting married and wears a suit. They stand together and make promises to each other, and they kiss and they are called married."
"That sounds fun," Lena smiled,
"It's a really serious thing sweetie, and the man and the lady have to love each other a whole lot before they get married." I explained,
"You don't love Hogan?" Lena asked me,
"Pancakes, French toast, bagel and cheerios." Luke came over and set everything down, Lorelai and Jess in tow,
"Nana, guess what!"
"What honey?"
"Hogan is my daddy!" Lena said proudly, Lorelai choked on her juice,
"Ugh, juice just came out my nose. Really? Sweetie, that's great. Rory, could you just, yeah." Mom grabbed my arm and dragged me outside the diner,
"What has happened in that pretty little head of yours Rory?"
"What are you talking about Mom." I grumbled,
"You've been talking to Logan, for what? 2 days? And you're bringing him to Stars Hollow and inviting him right back into your life and letting him be a 'daddy' to Lena? Have you lost your mind?!" she demanded,
"Lena deserves to know who her dad is," I insisted,
"Yeah hon, I thought the same thing and your dad constantly pulled a disappearing act until your were 18! Do you want to put Lena through that?"
"Logan is different Mom."
"No he's not hon, he's the same guy who almost died on a life and death brigade, got you arrested, cheated on your with multiple girls,"
"That was a misunderstanding!"
"And proposed to you in front of all of your friends and family and then got mad when you wanted to put off getting married and broke your heart!"
"He's grown up!" I defended,
"No, he hasn't. You're just sucked in by all of his old tricks,
"What old tricks?" I demanded,
"His smirk, the nickname. He thinks Lena is cute for now but at the first sign of confrontation, where do you think he's going to go? Talking about some slut at a bar with his friends."
"He won't be at a bar Mom, he's sober! Went to rehab, the whole nine. He is a different person now. He deserves a chance to know his daughter; I'm not giving him a chance with me. He knows that door is closed."
"It's not closed hon, its propped open for him. And can we go back to the whole rehab thing?!"
"No it's not." I said through my teeth
"How long do you think it's going to be, before his family gets involved and demands a paternity test?" She said softly, and that was all it took,
"You know what Mom. Fine, since you know what's best, why don't you just take care of this. You had me at 16, and clearly that turned out great for you, having your second kid with your boyfriend still not married. You didn't have the same thing, you didn't really love dad. Maybe you love Luke, but huh? How long before you get bored of him again and storm off going after dad again? Maybe I'm not making 100% great decision but at least I have never ever put Lena in the middle of things. I know what's best for her, and if you think for even a second that I'm going to use her as some kind of tool to get back with Logan, you don't know me at all." I snapped and stormed back inside the diner,
"Mom?" Lena asked as I sat down,
"Why are you sad?" she asked, putting her hand to my cheek,
"I'm not sad baby," I took her hand and kissed her palm, "I love you princess."
"I love you too Mommy." She smiled, and I helped her pour the white milk over her cheerios and I noticed Logan. He was watching me, watching me take care of her, and be a Mom.