Rory's eyes opened in a dimly lit hospital room, when the analog clock on the wall showed 01:12, then 02:15 and even 02:47 - that was how long it took her to fully awaken. Her mouth felt dry and she craved something sweet. The room felt chilly to her but as she tried to move her arms to pull her covers up, her stomach hurt. Only then she noticed her bump had diminished significantly and she saw a large bandage on it. As she looked around the room she saw a dark shadow sleeping uncomfortably on the two chairs in the corner.
"Logan?" Rory said quietly, her voice still felt weak and hoarse. There was no answer.
"Logan?" she said a little louder. Her throat hurt a bit. The shadow in the corner moved a little.
"Ace?" Logan responded, unsure whether he was imagining it.
"Where's the baby?" she asked not knowing if the baby was okay.
"Asleep in the NICU. I just fed her an hour ago. They said she'll be out of there in a few days," Logan answered and pushed the call button.
"What is she like?" Rory asked.
"Tiny but amazing," he replied as the nurse came in to check her vitals.
"Is there any way I could see her?" Rory asked.
"I'll bring her in a bit, we can just hook up the incubator here now," the nurse replied in a quiet tone.
"I was so scared, Ace," Logan spoke with a lump in his throat, "I thought I was going to lose you," and kissed her forehead.
"What happened? Was I out long?" she inquired.
"You had a serious hemorrhage, my dad brought you in. They did a C-section and repaired the bleed. Hope was born the day before yesterday at 8.32 PM," Logan described the incident.
Rory recalled moments from her fight with Mitchum and pushed it into a far corner of her brain.
"Can you get me some water?" Rory asked. Her mouth was so dry.
Logan assisted her with water.
"I could eat a whole bag of marshmallows right now," she craved.
"Sounds like you, alright," Logan replied, "I'll check with the nurse when she comes back if it's okay."
The nurse came in a few minutes, quietly rolling the incubator next to Rory's bed. Rory's eyes were glued to her from the first second.
"Let's not wake her yet, in an hour or so you can hold her for a bit, and I'll show you how to feed her. Your milk probably hasn't come in yet, but just having her suck a bit will help to produce it. But since you had a C-section you won't be able to lift her on your own for a while. You should try to walk and move around as much as you feel like it to get the blood moving in your legs but try to move your core as little as you can so the stitches won't tear," the nurse instructed. "And your husband can go get you some food, but preferably something healthier than a bag of sweets. Bloodloss means iron deficiency and that tends to create a craving for sweets," she continued.
"Are you okay to be on your own for a bit?" Logan asked Rory. "I have to go call Lorelai, and I'll get you some food. Keep the call button close, in case there is anything," he added.
Rory was in awe of her newborn. She was tiny, but she remembered Lane's babies being roughly the same size, so this didn't surprise her much. Her skin was still a bit wrinkly. She felt incredibly fortunate in that moment - she had Logan, she had this wonderful creature and she was alive.
Logan returned with a banana and a small yogurt. He'd googled what was recommended to eat after blood loss, but making sure they were also a little sweet. Though he knew, Rory would be a bit disappointed not getting her marshmallows.
Lorelai arrived an hour later.
"Hi Rory," she said, entering the room quietly. "Doing a staring contest?" Lorelai asked, seeing the way Rory looked at Hope.
"You always beat me at that," Lorelai added.
"Hey Logan, you should really go and try to get some sleep, you have been here this entire time. I can stay until you come back," she offered.
Logan kissed Rory on the lips, "She's right, I am beat. I'll just check in at the hotel down the street," he agreed, somewhat reluctantly.
"Call me if there is anything," he told Lorelai.
As he left, Lorelai sighed,"he's one of the good ones, that husband of yours."
Rory couldn't have agreed more.
Logan stepped into the lobby of the Radisson just before 6 AM hoping to get a room quickly. Though he felt like he could have slept while standing at this point. The release of tension had been intense: Rory was on the way to recovery and he had a daughter. Unfortunately there was a group of Japanese tourists checking out from the hotel right at that moment. He stood in line and flipped through his phone, texting Honor, Paris, Lane and even Jess. He figured Lorelai would've told Christopher, Luke and Emily by now.
As he did that, Emily, who had also taken a room at the hotel to stay close to the hospital, walked up to him.
"Logan! I heard the good news," Emily greeted her.
"Indeed, they're probably feeding Hope as we speak," Logan said proudly.
"Listen, I know you are probably very tired, but I see you are waiting in line here anyways…," she began.
"Sure, what is it?" Logan asked.
"I went to see your father yesterday. He's over at the Hilton, I don't know for how long but there he was yesterday at least. I gave him a piece of my mind and I tried to figure out why he was being that way, you know. And to me he left the impression of being quite desperate to make amends with you. It seemed like he wasn't even that interested in money anymore, which is already on its own out of character. He kept saying how the problem was you not being there or Rory turning you against him. Of course what you do with this information is up to you. But I just thought you ought to know that to me it seemed a bit odd." Emily explained.
"Thank you, Emily. I'll look into it once I've slept a bit," he replied and stepped ahead in line. He was too tired to think about anything right now.
The next three days at the hospital passed learning to breastfeed and changing diapers, and most importantly learning to rest in between. Other than Emily, Luke and Christopher, they'd told the others to delay their visits until they were back home, to give the family some time to bond and Rory to heal. Logan hadn't felt like dealing with his dad just yet, there was enough going on as it was.
Logan had agreed a week earlier to meet Truncheon Books with Sean that day. Rory was still at the hospital and while dr. Schultz had seemed promising that signing out was just around the corner, he decided to organize the meeting with Jess and his colleague Lucas in Hartford this time, minimizing his travel time for Rory's sake.
They met at a small seminar room at the Radisson he'd rented for a couple of hours.
"Hey Logan, congratulations!" said Jess.
"Congratulations!" Lucas added.
"Thank you," he replied.
"Did you pick a name yet?" Jess inquired.
"Hope Lorelai Gilmore-Huntzberger, quite a mouthful, I know," Logan said proudly.
"So as we are all here, I think we'll just give you a short presentation of our idea, and from there we can see what you think," Sean added.
"As you've probably understood there is a large variety of e-publishing formats out there and this can drain a lot of extra time and money from small companies like yourselves. Our idea is to create a format that is universally convertible to all other existing types. So this way, if you, as our test group, are able to publish an ebook in just one format and you can sell it everywhere - Amazon, libraries, schools - you name it, no matter the OS. The file type is also compatible with the format most professional printers use, so you only need to format the same book once, saving time and money. Your benefit in this is that you are the first ones to try this out, and you'll get the user licence and software for free. We can use you as an example of successful application of the format and accompanied software when we sell the licence to other publishers." Logan presented.
"What we need from you is a prototype book, hopefully a strong book that is likely to sell fairly well and gain some media coverage, and of course your feedback on both the good and bad along this process," Sean added.
"The idea sounds interesting, but how ready is this?" Jess inquired.
"We have a beta version, and right know we just need to keep testing it to fix the bugs." Sean replied.
"What do you think, Lucas?" Jess inquired.
After a few more follow up questions Lucas had decided. "I think we have nothing to lose. If it works, great, if not, we would only just double the formatting hours. And we do that now anyways." Lucas explained.
"So I it is a 'yes'," Jess commented, "we'll just need to think about what book we should choose."
"Take your time, think about it and let us know," Logan assured politely.
"There is always Rory's book, you know. Maybe it would be the most obvious option, and I believe it will by far the easiest negotiation," Jess suggested.
"I haven't really told her much about what we've been up to just yet, but sure, once we're settled back home a bit better, I can do that," Logan explained.
"Unless you, Lucas, have another title to suggest, I can come to Stars Hollow sometime and we can talk to her together," Jess offered.
The four men shook hands and the first time in months Logan knew his idea would work.
Half an hour later Logan was sitting on a park bench next to the hospital, knowing that Rory and the baby were both sleep, taking a moment before he entered back to the world of parenthood. He searched for his phone and called Honor.
"Hi Logan!" Honor greeted cheerily.
"Hi sis! I wanted to run something by you," Logan began.
"Sure, everything alright on your end?" she asked, talking to her kids in the meanwhile "Guys don't forget your jackets!"
"Mitchum came by the night Rory had her baby. The conversation they had was not a pleasant one, I haven't asked Rory for the specific, she has enough on her mind. But actually Emily went to see him the other day and told me that she felt he was a bit out of character. Do you know anything about this? Logan inquired.
"I don't really talk to him regularly, more with mom. She did say that he's been grumpier than usual, but she didn't tell me about the reason." Honor explained.
"How is she?" Logan said, suddenly feeling a slight lump in his throat. While not her mother's biggest fan, she was still her mother and they hadn't spoken in four months.
"Asking about Rory and your daughter actually," Honor revealed.
Logan sighed and said "You can tell her you know, I mean the not details perhaps, but just that Rory is recovering and Hope is just perfect."
"Wouldn't you rather call her yourself?" Honor inquired.
"Not yet, I need to figure out what is up with dad first. Despair doesn't seem like him and this makes me worry, frankly," Logan replied.
He took a deep breath and dialled another number.
"Logan, what a surprise," Michum answered.
"Hi, We should talk. Where can I find you?" Logan asked neutrally.
"At the Hilton until tomorrow," he explained.
"Alright, I am coming over but on the condition that you will not say anything negative about Rory or my daughter, if you do, I'll just leave." Logan stated and hung up.
The yellow marble floors of the Hilton lobby shone like they'd just been polished, leaving them slightly slippery. Logan tried to gain his confidence and walk into the bar like he had so many times before, with the presence of a Huntzberger. He knew that if Mitchum was indeed desperate, he had all the power.
"Mitchum," he nodded and sat across the table from him where he had been reading some printouts.
"Logan," he replied, putting his papers aside.
"Now tell me, what has changed that is so important that you needed to upset my wife the way you did?" he asked straightforwardly.
"I have been thinking about retirement, Logan. And frankly I don't think any of our London nincompoops have what it takes to take over. Hence, I did what I thought needed to be done to make you realize how good you were at your job and how you could still continue what you started in London," Mitchum explained, "Rory just happened to be home, instead of you, and there were things I needed to know to understand what her intentions are."
"Why now?" Logan probed. He had had months to think about it, burn bridges and set traps, but nothing had happened.
Mitchum grumbled, and sighed. "Because they say I have just a few years left," he added resentfully, leaving Logan stunned.
"Pancreatic cancer, it's not responding to the treatment," Mitchum revealed.
"Dad, I am sorry to hear that," he said compassionately.
"Is there any way you'd consider taking over?" he asked, shifting the topic slightly.
"Honestly dad, I have just begun to get things going here, and I have no regrets about coming here," Logan explained, "now there are Rory and Hope to consider."
"Not a bad name for a Huntzberger," he admitted.
"We'll if you knew Rory, then you'd know there is a 'Lorelai Gilmore' in the middle of that name," Logan stated proudly.
"Logan," he sighed, "can you think about it at least, talk it over?" Mitchum asked quietly, "I know I've handled the whole situation, let just say, less than admirably, but in my eyes she was the villain in this, not you," he continued.
"Don't go there, Dad…," Logan warned. "But fine, I'll think about it," he replied as he stood up and walked out. Only then he recalled their last encounter - he had wished Mitchum dead.