Disclaimer: miraculously, i still do not own gilmore girls
A/N: Thank you again for the reviews, encouragement, support. I will be honest, I scrapped three written chapters and changed the direction of this, so we are going a different way than I had planned. Read, review, enjoy.
Chapter Eighteen
It took 8 days for the results to come in. The lawyer hadn't told them specifically that it was the paternity test, but Rory and Perry both knew. They drove in silence to the lawyers office in downtown L.A. Perry had dropped the kids off with his sister at her apartment, she had agreed to take them to the movies which would be no small feat for her with four kids, and then she would return them to Rory's house. Perry had left his car for Kelly and they had taken her car instead.
"No matter what Perry, we will figure this out," Rory told him quietly, "you know that, right?"
Perry shrugged his shoulders as they waited in traffic, "it is what it is Ror, I can't do anything about it."
She hated seeing him like this, he was defeated, he was exhausted and he was heartbroken. Heartbroken at the idea that the little boy he had loved since the day he came home from the hospital might not be his. It was a feeling Rory could understand, she tried not to show it, but she had spent more nights than she cared to admit sobbing into her phone talking to her Mother, Paris, Lane and Logan. Perry was staying with them, and they were two days away from celebrating Eli's birthday. Logan would be coming back to town on Wednesday for Eli's birthday, and they would all be flying to Connecticut on Friday and staying for at least two weeks. Perry parked the car and they silently walked to the elevator, Rory reached over and took his hand, giving it a squeeze as they walked. Once the doors closed, she turned to look at Perry, "Per," she paused, he dropped his head and looked at her. "You are his Dad, I promise you, you are his Dad. Remember when he broke his arm when he was three? You were all he wanted. I know that things are weird right now and he is at an age where he doesn't love hockey as much as you wanted, but he loves you. You are his Dad." Rory put her hands on his cheeks, "Say it," she told him.
"I'm his Dad," Perry mumbled.
"Perry…"
"I'm his Dad," he repeated with a bit more enthusiasm, the doors opened and Rory and Perry walked arm in arm into the office. "Perry Cramer and Rory Gilmore, we're here for John." Perry followed the receptionist into the office and they both sat down. Perry declined the offer of beverages and Rory accepted a coffee, Perry had never been much for caffeine but had certainly started drinking it more throughout his marriage. "John, hi," they both stood as the older man entered the room.
"Perry, Rory, thank you for making it on such short notice. How are you guys doing?"
Rory chuckled, "great. I've always hoped to be in a law office with my ex-husband waiting to find out the paternity of my son."
"Sorry, habit," John gave them a half smile, "I will get right to it," he handed them each a file, "take a look." Rory and Perry grabbed the folders and opened them, "I believe we have a good case here to sue Ms. Campbell for full custody. Her actions clearly are not in the best interests of the minor child."
"He's mine," Perry exhaled as he went through the paperwork, "he's mine," he repeated and looked at Rory.
Rory smiled and nodded, she didn't even notice the tears streaming down her cheeks. She had been so worried, miraculously though the ground hadn't fallen out from underneath them, "thank god," she wiped under her eyes. "What next?"
"We sue for full custody, termination of her parental rights," he stated simply. Sarah had never signed over her parental rights, she had simply given sole physical custody and decision making to Perry years ago and they had bee existing in that bubble for a long time. When Perry and Rory had divorced, Sarah had agreed to the plans, but clearly she would need that to be reconsidered.
"Start it," Perry tossed the envelope on the desk.
Rory shook her head and put her hand on his forearm, "no."
"No?" Perry looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head.
She shook her head again and waited a moment to speak, trying to keep herself from crying. "If we take her away completely Eli will find out one day, and he will probably never forgive us." Rory told him softly, kindly, she was too kind. "She is his Mother."
"She's an egg donor," Perry rolled his eyes, "you are his Mother."
"I will talk to her again, we will sort something out. I want full custody and decision making for Perry and I, but we cannot sue for termination of her parental rights."
xxx
Rory was sitting at the kitchen island, about three legal notepads in front of her writing furiously. The lawyer, and Perry had asked her to consider stripping Sarah of her rights. As a mother herself, as Eli's other Mother, Rory wasn't sure she could do it and so she sat and stared at the paper in front of her.
Pro:
-Eli doesn't hate us
-We can move to Manhattan
-Perry makes custody arrangements
-Sarah is his mother
-Lawyer thinks we will win
-Easier to move forward with LH
Con:
-Sarah is an asshole
-Sarah is still in our life
- H
-One day Eli will find out Sarah is an asshole
-Eli could resent us
-Prolonged court battle
-Sarah is an asshole
She exhaled, looking at the words in front of her. The list of cons she could see was clearly more about her own feelings than anything else, and the pro list was more well balanced and less guided by emotion. As a Mother, she couldn't imagine someone trying to take her kids away, she also couldn't imagine putting him through an unnecessary custody battle that would be drawn out and contentious, horrible things would be said on both sides and one day Eli would find out about it all. The other option was to continue as is, to convince Sarah that this was for the best, to continue with full custody and Sarah would have her own limited access out of Manhattan. Rory opened her iPad and clicked on FaceTime, she was exhausted but she needed some guidance.
"Kid, you look like hell," Lorelai smiled at her daughter. "How goes the decision making?"
"I am three glasses of wine in and I don't know," Rory admitted, "choosing between Harvard and Yale was easier."
Lorelai scoffed, "nothing could be as hard as choosing between Harvard and Yale? Have you had to consider cleaning staff? Small class sizes? Single dorm rooms?"
Rory smiled, appreciating her mother trying to bring some levity to the situation, "no but I would imagine when I have to start researching schools in Manhattan, I will need to use a similar logic, so keep that in mind."
"Rory, you know the right thing here," Lorelai told her, thinking back to Sherry and Christopher all those years before, "I know that it is hard, and you probably want to keep him all to yourself, but…"
"She is his Mom," Rory sighed, knowing that her own mother was right. "I don't know why she had to do this. All of this heartache and crap, and we all end up in the same place that we started. The lawyer thinks that her pulling this stunt will help us out, undermine her credibility."
"She has credibility left to undermine?"
"Mom!" Rory tried to stifle her laugh, "But seriously, how do we go back? How do we pretend this shit didn't happen? She told Perry he might not be his? He has raised that boy, and if you think I'm mad, you should see Perry, he's in the pool house planning world domination and talking to himself!"
"She is scared," Lorelai exhaled, remembering her own feelings when Sherry had wanted Rory to visit if she went to Harvard, the thought of weekends with Sherry and Chris, a new family for Rory, baby sister and all. "Rory, try to talk to her again…for Eli, for the little boys, so you can have the weird family you guys have had all along."
Rory nodded her head, "what is new in Stars Hollow?" she changed the subject, glad that she would be there in just a couple of days.
"Well, Kirk and LuLu are talking about having a baby," Lorelai explained, "Sookie got Davey…you know," she raised an eyebrow and grinned, "anyway, infinitely happy I had a girl…a dog got loose in Kim's Antiques and somehow Mrs. Kim managed to keep it calm, it was like she had a staring contest to keep Lassie from having a field day with the 18th century tables and lamps."
"I'm sorry, Mom…" Rory interrupted, Lorelai nodded, "Kirk and LuLu…a baby?"
"Don't worry about it," Lorelai assured her.
"Mom, a baby is a living, breathing thing…Kirk can barely keep a plant alive and that is with someone sneaking in to water it twice a week."
"It's taken care of," Lorelai waved a hand in the air, "we ordered them one of those fake babies off Amazon, so that should be scary enough for LuLu to realize this is a terrible idea, but also a good enough distraction that Kirk might think it is actually a baby. I think we should have him name it Rory."
"Do not name the fake baby after me!" Rory exclaimed with a grin, "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too sweets," Lorelai nodded, "the whole town has. I think Taylor is hoping to have another crack at the ice cream queen though."
"In December?"
"Grand re-opening after the candy debacle?"
"The candy debacle?"
"One of the Forrester kids snuck into the candy shop in the middle of the night and he slept in the candy…" Lorelai paused, she could see Rory thinking about it, maybe it wasn't so bad, "naked!"
"That is disgusting," Rory made a face, "One of Dean's?"
Lorelai nodded, "yup, the oldest. He is a menace, the opposite of Dean, I swear."
"We are familiar with kids who are the opposite of their parents," Rory thought of Eli and Perry, "anyway, tell Taylor I am a pass. I should go though. See you in a couple of days?"
"Be still, my heart," Lorelai dramatically put her hands on her chest, "the prodigal daughter returns."
xxx
"Eli," Rory whispered as she walked into his bedroom at 4:52 am, "happy birthday my sweet boy."
"Mommmm," Eli grumbled, he was tired, that is why he was calling her mom, not awake enough to worry about if it was the correct thing, it was what he considered Rory, "I'm sleeping."
"On this very day, thirteen years ago I was waiting at the hospital with your Daddy. I was drinking coffee, and I'm not even sure we had brushed our teeth when we got the call that you were coming," Rory smiled at the memory as she snuggled into bed with Eli.
"Gross," he muttered without opening his eyes.
"You were super early and we were all a little bit scared, so your Dad went in with your Mom and after a little while he came out to get me. So, I have to admit, I was a bit on the grumpy side, but then I saw you. You were this tiny little blonde boy, so handsome and you were a fighter, a tiny incubator with heat lamps to keep you warm and you had an IV antibiotic that was going into you but you were such a champ. You looked up at me, and your Dad says it didn't happen, but I swear, you smiled at me. Even though you were too little to touch, that is when I fell in love with you," Rory kissed the side of his head, "that is when I became your Mom. Happy Birthday, I'm so glad that you chose me to be a part of this wild ride. What do you think we should do this year?"
"Sleep," Eli groaned as he snuggled into her.
"Sleep when your dead," Rory gave him a squeeze and closed her eyes, "I love you Eli."
"I love you too, Mom." Eli quickly drifted back to sleep and Rory soon followed. They were woken a few hours later by Perry clearing his throat in the doorway, "Dad, hi." Eli sat up.
"Birthday story?" Perry smiled as Eli nodded, Rory had carried on this tradition with their boys, just like her Mom had with her. "Happy birthday E, I love you."
"I love you too Dad," Eli poked Rory's shoulder and she began to stir awake. "Rory wake up."
"Sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep, happy birthday Eli," Rory smiled as she saw Perry, "Old habits die hard," she shrugged.
"I figured I would find you here. I got the boys up, and I made waffles and bacon for the birthday boy…there is also someone here to see you."
"Mom?" Eli perked up a bit.
Perry swallowed hard and tried to keep the smile on his face, "No, not Mom. Brush your teeth and go see," he told him excitedly. Eli complied and ran to his bathroom, "the guest might more be for you."
"Logan?"
Perry nodded, "found him milling in the driveway this morning, I don't think he wanted to let himself in, he knew I was here. Did you tell him?"
"I called him last night with the news, he was relieved."
Looking to make sure that Eli was still in his washroom, Perry lowered his voice, "so you still don't think we should pursue termination of her parental rights?"
Rory shook her head, "it isn't what is best for him." Rory explained, as much as it hurt her to admit, Sarah was flakey at best, that was the most damage she would ever inflict on Eli, she wasn't abusive in any way, she didn't pose a danger, she was just absent. "I will talk to her, I will agree to rent a place in Manhattan for her, I will sort this out. You two get too….caught up in each other, it's like you are stuck in 2007 when you deal with her." Rory finished quickly as Eli came back, "Ready for waffles?"
"When do I get my presents?"
"Not until after Mom has had her coffee," Perry laughed as the three of them walked down the stairs.
"No coffee for me this morning," Rory shook her head, "I think I ate some bad yogurt yesterday."
"Isn't yogurt by nature bacteria? How can it be bad?" Perry laughed.
"Don't question my methods, my first mistake was eating yogurt instead of a PopTart," Rory laughed as she saw Logan in the family room with the younger boys.
Eli saw him too and ran forward, "You're here!" he grinned as Logan stood up and hugged him, "I thought you were coming later?"
"I made a few calls, thought it would be more fun to be here early, and Rory said presents happen in the morning, so…." Logan held up a gift bag.
"Can I?" Eli looked back to Perry and Rory who nodded as the newly minted teenager ripped open the bag to reveal a stack of limited edition comic books and a brand new iPad. "This is for me? Really? No more sharing?!"
"No more sharing, your parents thought it was a good idea," Logan tried to give some credit to Perry and Rory who had thankfully agreed to his somewhat over the top gift.
"I love it," Eli gave Logan one more hug, "thank you."
"You're welcome," Logan walked over to Rory as Eli tore into the gifts from his brothers. An assortment of books and iTunes gift cards. "Good morning beautiful," Logan kissed her gently, "Perry said you fell asleep with the birthday boy? I'm guessing you do the Lorelai thing?"
Rory blushed, "I do, yes." she told him, "I'm glad you came, and early," she added as she leaned back against his muscular frame. "Perry is driving the boys to school," she looked at her watch, "alright, go eat guys, Dad has to take you in half an hour," she sent them all scrambling, "and the iPad stays here." she added.
Eli groaned but agreed as they all made their way into the kitchen and started to eat. Rory appreciated that Perry had gotten the younger boys dressed and ready for school, all that was left was for Eli to get changed and they could be on their way.
"Alright, shoes on, Eli, go get dressed, meet us in the car in ten?" Perry told his oldest son who bounced up the stairs quickly. "I've got some stuff to do today, but I'll pick them up from school and we can all do dinner?" he looked between Logan and Rory.
"Sounds perfect," Rory told him, "thank you."
"Don't do what I know you're planning," he added for good measure.
"I have to," Rory shrugged, "it is what he wants."
"You're too good a person for this town," Perry laughed as the boys kissed Rory and made their way out of the house.
"What was that about?" Logan asked after the door clicked shut.
"You and Perry…almost seemed happy…flirty? It was weird."
"We were not flirty," Rory assured him, "we've just found a weird rythym with him being here," she explained, "it has been good for all of us, but trust me…Perry and I…long since over."
"Good because it would be awkward for all of us to live together longterm," Logan smiled, "I haven't seen you in forever."
"It has been a while," Rory agreed, Logan and been in Palo Alto since Thanksgiving and they hadn't seen each other. "I've missed you," she kissed him once more.
"Coffee?" Logan asked as they returned to the kitchen.
Rory shook her head, "there is one thing I wanted this morning," she told him, situating herself between his body and the island.
"More than bacon?" Logan laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Much more than bacon," she grinned, "you look very formal this morning."
"I didn't realize it was casual Wednesday," Logan gestured to her pyjamas.
"I overslept," Rory put her lips on his neck and her fingers made her way to the buttons of his shirt.
"Rory Gilmore overslept?" Logan grinned as his hands made his way to her hips and he pushed her t-shirt up, pulling her closer as he did.
"Put it in your diary, a rare occurrence," Rory smirked, "you wanna keep talking or do you think we can put this empty house to good use."
"In the kitchen?" Logan looked at her with surprise.
"In the kitchen," Rory repeated giggling as he lifted her up onto the counter, her legs wrapping around his waist, "on the island."
"You are full of surprises," Logan pulled her shirt over her head, "fuck, you are gorgeous." he looked at her body as she leaned back and propped herself up on her hands.
"You know how to make a girl feel special," his lips were on her hips before she knew it, Rory gasped, the man was too good with his tongue, that was something that hadn't changed over the years. What had changed? He was more confident than he was in college, which was remarkable because he was beyond confident when they were in college. A gasp escaped her lips as his fingers joined his tongue and Rory was fairly certain that she could feel the earth spinning around her. "Logan, oh my god, Logan," she giggled as she felt her muscles contracting, "enough, I need you." she told him breathlessly.
"Say it again," Logan stopped and looked at her with a devilish grin, his kisses sprinkling her inner thigh.
"I will not," Rory told him firmly.
"I guess I'll be having a cold shower then," Logan stood up slowly.
"You wouldn't," Rory paused, she undid his pants slowly, pulling the waistband of his pants and boxer briefs at once.
"Ace," he warned.
"I need you Logan," Rory pulled him in for a kiss, "inside of me, I need you."