A/N: Earlier than expected! Hope you are all safe. Thank you for your reviews. I did my little research on the fertility stuff, but if some is inaccurate let's just chuck it for literacy freedom for the sake of the story.

So Rory's birthday...


October 2012

New York

It's Saturday. Logan pitied people who willingly worked Saturdays for most of his life. His father called them ambitious. He was one of them now. Actually, the only time he isn't working is when he is hiking.

That, among other things, will have to change once he'll achieve what he came looking for in this doctor's office. Logan was a man with a plan. Even if he couldn't fully foresee what it will entail.

Or his father's response.

Logan toyed with the kinetic solar system miniature model on the doctor's desk. Shifting Venus away from Mars. He should get one for his desk, too.

When the door opened and Dr. Lockheart entered, he jumped back in his seat.

"Okay, Logan. Sorry to keep you waiting," The female doctor smiled warmly and took the seat behind the desk. She woke up the computer with a click on her keyboard. Her attention divided between the monitor and browsing his file. "How are we feeling today?"

"It's okay." It was his fourth visit. Her professional friendless made him feel nervous each time. He should have chosen a male doctor. "Fine."

It nearly felt like he was back in the principle's office. He sure spent his fair share of time in those. For a moment, he wished to be that boy again. Back to a time when life was simple, and his father's money fixed every wrong turn he took.

"So, your sperm count is good. The surrogate report good health. Unfortunately, the last cycle didn't catch. Same as the previous one." The doctor summarized, "The treatment plan includes three more cycles. Are we still good with that?"

"Yes." He nods not comfortable saying much more.

"Okay. We have two options: We have your egg donor scheduled for the egg harvesting procedure later on today. We can go ahead with the frozen embryo as planned. Or we can fertilize the new eggs and use them instead. It's a different procedure on our part, but completely feasible."

She looked at him like he was supposed to choose. Maybe he should have asked Honor to come with, as embarrassing as it would be. He would swallow his pride.

"Meaning?"

"It means we can save the ones we already have for later. But, we'll need a fresh sperm sample for that."

"What are the odds?"

"For a single treatment? 50-50. Higher, if more than one egg is returned. Which we don't necessarily recommend. Either way, they are already inseminated when we insert them. In the end, it down to how successful the implantation is. Looking at the save side, if you're considering more than one future child from the same donor – it's an opportunity - if your financial resources allow. That's it. It's up to you."

"Money is not an issue," Logan swallowed, "Okay. Let's do the fresh one."

"Alright. I'll let Ashley know. Just stop at the nurse's station, she'll help you out with everything you need."

Logan cringed at her choice of words, pushing out of his chair.

"Logan, one more thing," Dr. Lockheart held out a business card to him, "It's important to have someone to talk to during this process. Think about it."

What the fuck? Was she giving him her number? She has a ring on her finger. Why, oh why didn't he pick a male doctor?

"It's a counselor's number." Dr. Lockheart clarified, "I highly recommend."

Logan felt embarrassed for assuming and accepted the card politely; "I'll just go... talk to Ashley."

"Have a good day."

Logan felt his skin crawl when Nurse Ashley sent him into a room with an empty cup and fear of failure.

~w~


New York was a different state of mind compared to Seattle. Logan wouldn't get caught wearing a tie in Seattle. When he knocks on Colin's door, the suffocating item has already been discarded and stuffed into his pocket. The two top buttons of his shirt followed, becoming undone.

"Surprise!" Steph launched herself into Logan's unsuspecting arms when the door opened. "Aren't you happy to see me?!"

"I am," Logan hugged her distractedly. "It's just a… surprise. Colin didn't say…"

"Like you gave him a chance to respond. He's in the shower. A little more warning would be appreciated next time. You want coffee?"

The woman who conducted an off and on relationship with one of his best friends was dressed too comfortably to be just visiting.

"Ah." The sound fell out of Logan's mouth. "Something stronger might be better."

"You know your way around that better than I do." She waved him dismissively. "Indulge yourself."

Colin's New York apartment is a perfect example for upper-class bachelor pads. Colin didn't even pick his furniture, because he has a yellow armchair. Colin hated yellow because it's the color of cheese.

Logan knows who did the interior decor. Yellow is Chelsea's favorite color.

~w~

"He has his Chelsea look on, meaning I need to make myself scarce." He hears them conversing hoarsely behind his back. Stephanie's raspy voice is lower than usual. Logan could sense the words based on the low frequency alone.

He didn't know he had a 'Chelsea look'. Or whatever that meant.

He just finished pouring himself a double when Colin appeared. He filled another glass for Colin. A moment later, Stephanie called 'Bye Logan' and the door closed behind her.

"I think it might stick this time." Colin coughed half an explanation, accepting the amber liquid.

"I don't care what the two of you are doing. I just masturbated into a plastic cup." Logan said dryly. Saying that out loud freaks him out, because it just hit home that he is actually doing this.

Colin's drink hangs in mid-air, "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard." Logan finds that sitting is better. Makes his shaking limbs steadier.

"Shit, Logan. Are you…?"

"I'm having a baby." Logan downed the rest of his drink in one go choking a little. A lot more than he could swallow.

"Idiot, you scared the shit out of me. For a second I thought you are going Lance Armstrong on me." Colin's knee jerk reaction is a high-pitched laugh; "Wait – what baby? With who?"

"With myself," Logan held his head in his hands. "Surrogacy."

There's a beat of silence, that stretch too long, before a still processing Colin snaps; "Have you lost your marbles?! I thought Finn buying that dump of a mall was a dumb idea - but this is a whole other level!"

~w~


Seattle

"When did you know you wanted a baby?" Rory shaded the man figure. You could only see his back. Her main character, the illustrated copy of herself, was holding socks.

Ever since Joel dumped her, she's been drawing the same installment over and over again. Each time she concluded that it was the socks' fault. Or the socks' owner fault for setting it in motion.

"I think it's like being in love - it's just creeps on you. One day you just know." Kate said vaguely peering over Rory's shoulder.

"That line is only believable in movies."

"Please don't tell me you think you're pregnant again, that was enough drama to last a lifetime." Kate looked at her friend. She thought Rory was relieved not to be.

"My birthday makes me pensive," Rory admitted, "Maybe a baby wouldn't be that bad. Maybe I need some grounding."

A few days ago, on a whim, she posted the comics about the false alarm pregnancy. The traffic on the Facebook page hit an all-time high. Even Ben was shell-shocked. Although she suspected that, in his case, it had more to do with the content.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard all week," Kate rolled her eyes.

"I need a plan. A road-map. A goal." Rory mused at loud, "My mom and I always had a plan: Get into Harvard and be a foreign correspondent. Sure it had to be tweaked a little when Harvard turned into Yale. The thing is that after that - the plan just evaporated."

She wondered whether her mother would call this year.

"Rory, you plan your supermarket shopping a week ahead."

"Don't you think it's pathetic that my supermarket shopping is the anchor in my life?" Rory pointed out, "I don't even know how to cook."

"Maybe it's not the question of what the plan is, but who makes them." Kate clarified, "A baby is not a plan. Take a cooking class."

"Yeah," Rory bit her inner cheek.

"Maybe there was a moment," Kate said after an afterthought, "One day, Ryan was pumping gas, and I just knew, that if I'd ask him to Tango right there - in the middle of the parking lot – he'd say yes. That's the kind of man I wanted to father my imaginary kids."

"Did he?"

"I never asked. I found someone who would take my hand and drag me head first fearless. The rest comes naturally."

"I want a love like this. Why can't I find a love like that?" Rory met with Kate's silence, "What?"

"Please don't take it the wrong way, because I love you, but love is a deal of give and take." Kate hesitated a little, "It just doesn't work when one of you is self-absorbed. You are a taker, not a giver."

Harsh.

"I loved Joel," Rory looked down at her sketches, penciling in candy canes on the socks.

"I think you loved the idea of someone loving you like Joel. With stars in his eyes." Kate too avoided eye contact, "And he thought he loved you enough for the both of you."

She doesn't need a man with stars in his eyes. She has a whole god-damn planetarium in her name.

Oh gosh, she was a terrible girlfriend.

~w~


1:03 am. The phone stayed quiet. It is now past 4:01 am in New England.

She desperately wanted it to ring, and it hasn't.

Her last hope crushed so brutally. Rory washed back the disappointment with a large sip from a half-full bottle of wine and blinked back her disappointment. She won't cry, even if she wanted to. But she will drink the rest of it.

Alone. Wearing her sparkly dress.

Her party was over. Everyone else cleared out. It was a good night overall, a lot more turnout than she thought. A friend bringing a friend did the trick of mixing a good crowd. At one point, she didn't know half the people in attendance. And this was her apartment.

"Why do you keep checking the time? Are you waiting for someone?"

Rory took a breath to compose herself. She sure didn't know when he showed up. Nicole's desperate friends flocked at him all night, and he didn't deflect the attention.

Yet there he was, cleaning up the mess of her birthday party a trash bag in hand.

"My mom was supposed to call. It's a birthday thing." She take the trash bag from his hand and drops it to the floor, "You don't have to do that."

"I don't mind." He is the last person she expected to stay. They don't hang out alone intentionally.

"I do." She made herself comfortable on the couch with her leftover bottle of wine. Her legs tactfully folded. She pats the spot next to her. "Where's my present?"

"Who says I got you a present?" He is wearing that devious smile with the dimples.

"You did last year. No birthday joint this time?"

"I don't do that stuff anymore." He laid the back of his head back on the edge of the couch.

"You don't?" She looks surprised.

"No."

"Why?" For a lot of reasons then he cares to share. He doesn't smoke the regular cigarettes either.

He angles his face a little towards her; "It makes me do stupid things with you."

"What if I want you to get stupid with me?" She edges closer and the only thing between them is the bottle of wine she holds by its neck.

"Rory, we can't do this here." His dimples sinks further with a hint of embarrassment.

"Why?" Rory brushed an imaginary dust off her stocking coyly.

"You know why."

"You can't deny a girl on her birthday, Logan. It's a dick move." She pouts at him, biting her lips under lower lashes.

"It chivalrous if she's drunk."

"I'm not drunk," He has an answer to everything, doesn't he? How infuriating. He looks at her knowingly, "Maybe a tiny winey tipsy."

"This is Seattle. I'll still be your boss tomorrow. You just broke up with your boyfriend. I'm not going to be your rebound. It's not gonna make this any less real."

"Doing it in New England still doesn't make you any less my boss the next day. You didn't mind it then."

"That's different." It allows him not to betray his promise to Ben, who is one of the constant pillars in his life. New England holds no complications. No drama. He has enough drama in his life.

"It's only different because you had it your way. This is the twilight zone. There are still three whole hours until I'm officially twenty-six all over the world." He found her logic her time zone math and logic original. "A wrinkle in time."

"It's not a wrinkle in time, it's just time zones manipulation." He can't allow himself to fall for it this time. He tries to pry the bottle out of her hands, "I think that's enough drinking for tonight. This will be a mistake tomorrow."

"You're my favorite mistake." Her grip on the bottle tightens, pulling it closer to her with him following. She twists his own words back at him, "Something stupid, something bad for you."

"Rory, let it go," he says slowly his brown eyes holding hers. She releases the bottle.

Then, seizing his victorious illusion, she grabs the back of his neck and crushes her lips on his. Her newfound confidence knocks off his resistance like a house of cards.

She really shouldn't have done that.

Their tongues battles. He's not sure where the bottle of wine ended, but he is fully aware she's in his lap and his hands are now edging her dress up. Her fingers graze the back of his head. He loves that. He always loved that. He loved that since he discovered sex.

He loves it even more now, since his latest sexual interaction included his hand and a mocking plastic cup.

Cher sings and he freezes under her touch. That stupid ringtone.

"Cher is calling you," Rory gasped breathlessly as he pulls away. He is a deer in highlights, completely flustered at being thrown back to reality. Her face is pure desire. He swallows hard.

Damn Chelsea. Cockblocked by his ex-wife.

"Do you need to answer that?" Logan takes a tiny shallow breath of restraint. Caught between a rock and a hard place. It allows him the time to re-compose himself. And its hard, considering the position she is in.

Yes. No. He doesn't know anymore. Some days he does, some days he doesn't. If he does - this is not going to happen. It shouldn't happen anyway. Maybe he should thank Chelsea for saving him from himself.

Because this is so so wrong.

"Let it ring." Her face edges close to his, she cradles his jaw, her blue eyes bright under heavy lashes. Her lips graze the edge of his seductively. His blood rushes in his ears. "No one has to know."

~w~

When her mother calls for her legendary birthday tale at 4:01 am, Seattle time - he's not there anymore.

Rory groggily buries her face in the pillow he no longer occupies.

She can't win them all.

~w~


"UPS left this for you." Shiri drops the rectangle package in front of Rory a few days later.

"Finally!" Rory's eyes light up at the east coast stamps. It arrived! Her mother's birthday present.

Lorelai was making up lost telephone time, calling multiple times a day to ask if it has arrived yet.

Rory's excitement sparked the girls' interest.

"What is it?"

"My mom sent me a birthday present!" Rory explained tearing the first layer of paper stating her name and address. Revealing another colorful layer of warping paper. She grinned.

So Lorelai.

Rory ripped off the rest excitedly, eager to reveal the present mystery.

"Oh my." Nicole blurt out when the box is stripped off it's wrapping.

"A rocket pocket!" Kate exclaimed loudly, "Damn! you have one cool mom."

A sex toy. Her mother sent her a sex toy.

Rory wanted the ground to swallow her whole. She stared at the box in her hands blushing furiously.

How embarrassing. If she starts digging now she'd be in China by midnight. Her mother was unbelievable.

"There's a note too!" Shiri giddily located the note on the floor, clearing her throat importantly. It must have fell in her race for discovery.

Oh god. Please, please don't be dirty.

"For lonely Seattle nights." Shiri squeals.

"Oh, dirty!" Kate cat-called.

Rory snatched the note from Shiri's hands inspecting it closely. Her face burning hot.

It was a female's hand writing. For sure.

But her mother would have at least signed 'Love, mom' - or something.