The not so long thirty minutes passed painfully slow and even Lorelai arrived quicker than the news from the OR.
"Hi guys, boy that's quite an impressive wall silence you have going here," Lorelai said trying to lighten the mood, as she handed Rory a H&M bag of clothes, adding "I was out shopping anyway."
"Cute dress by the way," she commented out of the side of her mouth.
"Thanks, mom," she said and rose to leave for the bathroom to change out of her dress.
"So any update yet, Finn?" Lorelai asked, grabbing the last donut from the bag.
"Not yet, but they should be out any minute now, it's not a long surgery," he replied.
Rory returned a moment later wearing black leggings and a pink oversized t-shirt, just as the doctor approached the group.
"The surgery went well, we did it laparoscopically so the healing time should be quite fast, especially for such a young child. We're just bringing her to recover and you can go see her now. She'll be in room A22 just down the hall," he said gesturing to his left. "I'll come by in an hour or so to check on her," he added.
Rory sighed of relief.
Finn and Lorelai headed down the hall, while Rory turned to Logan. "Logan, you don't have to stay. Thank you for being here, I really appreciate that you came, but I'll probably be here for a few days. You got work tomorrow. I'll be fine and I'll call you later," she said.
"I don't mind really, I want to be here for you," he insisted.
"I don't think she really needs a crowd right now. I promise, I'm fine," she assured him, giving him a gentle kiss.
"I'll call you later," he said, turning to leave reluctantly.
Leah was still asleep, as she stepped in. Rory and Finn positioned themselves in the two chairs in the room, Rory keeping her hand on Leah's arm gently.
"I was so scared," she said quietly.
"Me too," Finn added.
Thankfully Leah recovered quickly, and she was released from the hospital already Monday evening. Finn had agreed to come and stay at the pool house for a week or so there'd always be someone to keep close eye on her, so both of them could breathe a little easier.
For Finn this was a challenge, to keep life going almost as nothing had happened between them, even the simplest things like eating breakfast and playing with Leah while Rory was around, felt a little uneasy.
It was Tuesday afternoon when Rory was home with Lauren and Leah, while her phone rang. An unknown number.
"Rory Gilmore," she answered hoping it was NYU.
"Hi, my name is professor Robert Forester and I am calling from the English Department at Yale University in regard to your application," the man said.
"Glad to hear from you, I've been expecting your call," she said.
"We've discussed your application and we don't really have any objections to it other than you'd need to find some additional outside funding, preferably from the industry, to get a full fellowship," he explained.
"I understand, is there some timeframe for me to think it over and inquire into some possibilities?" she asked.
"We can hold your position for two weeks, if you believe there is a possibility you could find the necessary funding," he offered.
"Thank you, I am sure I can give you an answer by that time. Would you be able to send me an official letter in regards to the exact sum required?" she inquired, not really having thought about the possibility of taking up Logan's suggestion to consider working with the HPG on her thesis. But now after she had realized how vital it was to be close to Leah, cutting more than an hour and half off her driving time, location was becoming a more convincing argument.
"Sure, I'll email it over to you before the end of the day," professor Forester said.
"Logan, hi, do you have time to talk?" she called.
"Sure, I just left a meeting. All yours. What's up?" he inquired, walking towards his office.
"I just got a reply from Yale," she began, adding, "and they can offer me the position if I can get additional industry funding. I almost didn't think about Yale after going to NYU but for one there hasn't been a reply from them yet so I should at least see what my options are. You mentioned some possibilities with the HPG?" she explained, almost biting her tongue, thinking she'd never go asking for HPG's charity.
"That's great! And yes, there is a possibility. But the only obstacle is that the person in charge of research funding is Mitchum, which means you'll need to fly to London and talk to him personally," Logan replied cautiously, knowing Rory had some hesitation towards him.
"Wow, okay, but do you think there is a point? How is he tuned these days? Do I even stand a chance?" she asked hesitantly. Meeting with Mitchum for fellowship funding was one of the most daunting things she could imagine.
"I honestly don't know. But for what it's worth, I could fly to London with you, but you'll be on your own when you meet him," he offered.
"Okay, I think I have to try. Got nothing to lose, right?" she said trying to convince herself it was a good idea. "Is there any way we could go next week?" she asked.
"I'll ask, and I'll get back to you, okay?" he replied.
"Thank you, Logan," she said gratefully.
On Thursday morning Logan texted:
"Mitchum can see you on the 7th of June, already booked the company jet to leave in the evening of the 6th. Back on the 8th. Does that work for you?"
Rory texted Finn:
"Can you take Leah after work on the 6th and have her until the 9th, Lauren is working then too. I need to go to London to talk to Mitchum Huntzberger about a funding for Yale."
"Wow, I guess you got the call. Good to hear you are still considering Yale. Sure, go, I'll take her," he replied from work, realizing that this could keep Rory close by in the long run.
Rory texted Logan back:
"Yes! Thank you! See you soon!"
Now she just needed to prepare herself. The man was powerful, intelligent and at the same time manipulative, running with his own agenda as the main goal. He didn't offer handouts unless he thought the person deserved it, or unless he wanted to prove to someone he held all the power. She'd already been in the latter group already, he'd broken her dreams once, and while she believed he had been wrong at the time, later on she'd considered several times that perhaps there had been a grain of truth in his words. Perhaps this had been the reason why her success had been so patchy? Even if she didn't get the funding, what worried her was his take on her and Logan dating again, it was likely he didn't know, and it might also affect the outcome of her interview. However she had no idea in which direction.
Rory was just ordering some lunch for herself while Leah was taking her nap, when her phone rang. It was Emily.
"Grandma, hi, good to hear from you," she replied.
"Rory, I'm coming to Hartford this weekend. I understand you have the house on the market but can I come and stay for a couple of days? I hope you didn't have other plans. I'd really love to take one last look and if you need I can assist you with whatever needs to be done with the place," she asked.
"Of course, grandma, you are always welcome. It's not going too great with the sale, just two interested parties so far but no offer," she explained.
"Who's the realtor?" she asked.
"Macy Sherman from Hartford Realtors," Rory replied.
"Ah, that's just the thing. Do you mind if I make a few calls and help?" she offered.
"No, I don't mind, please. It's getting a little time critical with the move already." Rory said.
"Say no more, I'll arrive on Friday evening, can you come and pick me up at the airport? Oh, and if you wouldn't mind terribly, I'd like one last Friday night dinner at the house. Can you give Lorelai a call for me?" Emily asked.
"Sure grandma, I am sure that can be arranged," Rory said.
"Grandma wants to have Friday night dinner at the house this week," Rory called Lorelai.
"I'm having a de ja vu, I thought I just heard you say Friday night dinner," she chuckled.
"You heard it," Rory assured.
"Who's cooking?" she asked, knowing all too well that Rory's cooking skills were limited to baby purees.
"Maybe Sookie is willing?" Rory asked Lorelai suggestively.
"Okay, I'm on it. Luke will probably come too,are you going to invite Logan? Or Finn? Both?" she asked curious to find out how interesting the evening was going to turn out.
"Good question," she concluded, not sure how to proceed. Finn had been living in the pool house until Leah recovered from her surgery completely. So it would've been weird not to invite him. Then again, she really wanted to invite Logan as well. Whether getting the two in the same room, yet again, was her most brilliant idea, was another matter.
As Finn returned from work that day, Rory waited nervously in the living room, watching her toddler do practice rounds in walking around the room by holding onto things.
"She's getting pretty good at this," Finn noted.
"Yea, soon she'll run, then I won't be able to catch her," Rory added.
"Listen, I actually wanted to talk to you about tomorrow. Grandma is coming to stay for a few days and she wants to do Friday night dinner here. Mom and Luke are coming. And you ofcourse are welcome to join," she explained.
"Alright, I suppose I can do that," Finn replied.
"It might be the last of it's kind in this house, so I was thinking maybe I could invite Logan as well, " she asked tentatively.
"If you feel like you want to, I don't think I have any right to object here. It is your house after all," Finn replied reluctantly.
"Okay, then I'll just need to get the place cleaned by tomorrow," she said.
Rory texted Logan:
"Grandma wants to have Friday night dinner tomorrow, maybe the last of its kind. Lorelai, Luke and Finn are going to be there. Care to join?"
"Wow, that's like a journey back in time. If Finn's fine with it, I can be there. 7 as usual?" Logan replied.
"Yes, thank you!" she added.
Rory spent Friday morning running around the house getting things ready, she'd been doing a similar run-around every time Macy Sherman was coming to show the house to someone. This time she also needed to set up Emily's room which was mostly in use for storage at this point.
Emily was wearing white slacks and a flowery blouse as she stepped out of the airport to find Rory waiting there with Leah in her arms.
"Rory, how wonderful to see you," she called. "Hi Leah!" she greeted, holding her tiny fingers briefly.
"You got your luggage?" Rory asked.
"Yes, travelling light is amazing, never thought I'd learn to embrace it, I'll just buy whatever I need as I go," she explained.
"Was the flight alright?" Rory asked, putting Leah on the ground to stand whil she searched for her keys.
"It was fine. She sure can stand steadily already, I think walking on her own is a matter of days or weeks now," she commented looking at Leah.
"Also," Emily began, adding, "I called Sotheby's. They already have a few buyers interested in the house. They are coming on Monday to look at it. I never trust those local realtors."
"That was fast, thank you," Rory said.