Disclaimer: Guess who still doesn't own Gilmore Girls...it is me, I own nothing.
A/N: I am curious, how do you guys feel about the chapter length? I am trying to keep them from 2000-4000 for the most part, I personally don't love short chapters...thoughts? And there will be a second a/n at the bottom of this so keep scrolling and tell me your thoughts!
Chapter Twenty One
"You know Logan, if you don't take this ravishing woman up to a suite, I might have to do it myself," Finn was swaying on the spot as they stood around the bar, the night was nearing an end, close family and friends remained but most business associates had left.
"Finn, I love you, you know I love you, but I am not going upstairs with you. I have already seen you naked enough times for one lifetime," Rory chuckled as she nursed her glass of champagne. "I might agree with you though, someone needs to help me out of this dress."
"It is obnoxious that you look this good after three kids," Stephanie grinned, "and you probably still eat food, don't you? I hate that you have always been able to eat real food."
"I try," Rory laughed, "but Steph, you look amazing."
"I have a great surgeon, and Colin has a stellar salary with even better year end bonuses," she winked.
"Alright guys, I think we're going to call it a night," Logan took the now empty glass of champagne from Rory put it on the bar. "Merry Christmas, we'll see you soon?"
"Merry Christmas," Rory hugged their friends, she had to admit, the idea of moving back east was a relief, to be able to see them again, Paris and Doyle, be closer to Lane and her family. "We will be here after Easter, so I won't have an excuse to miss out on things."
"And I won't have an excuse to visit California as often," Finn pouted.
"You hate the daylight," Rory countered as she kissed his cheek.
"Are you keeping the place in Encino?" Stephanie asked, "I love that place."
"We haven't…" Rory paused and looked at Logan who raised his eyebrows to her, "we haven't discussed that stuff yet." she admitted.
"Well if I get a vote, I want to keep it. That pool was to die for."
"You don't get a vote," Logan told his childhood friend. "But thanks anyway."
"You are no fun, Rory, get him out of my sight!" Stephanie laughed dramatically.
"I guess I'll have to take him upstairs," Rory played along, "teach him a lesson."
"Gotta go boys," Logan flashed a grin reminiscent of his college days, "you know I could never resist a good spanking."
"Logan!" Rory admonished him, her cheeks flushing.
"Oh darling," Finn dramatically put a hand on Logan's shoulder, "you know it is me who loves to be spanked."
"Enough!" Rory giggled, Logan wrapped his arm around her waist and turned her towards the exit, "Bye guys." They made their way to the elevator, Logan moved his hand dangerously low on her back and Rory smiled at the contact. It had been a weird night, but a fun night. She hadn't expected a welcoming committee from his family, but at least Mitchum had been pleasant enough. Rory was used to women like Shira, women who said rude and nasty things with a smile plastered on their faces. She had gotten to know them when she started Chilton, the way the other parents treated Lorelai, and then when she had gotten to know more women in Richard and Emilys' life, she had seen how these adult women were absolute vultures to each other. Thankfully as an adult, Rory had mostly been limited to catty hockey wives or girlfriends, she still knew how to navigate the society world with a smile on her face but a firm retort in her back pocket if anything got nasty.
"What was that about punishment?" Logan grinned as the elevator door pinged open and he led her in.
"Do you know what I really want to do right now?" Rory asked, she pulled him close to her so his body was flush against hers, he nodded, encouraging her to continue as his lips made their way to her neck, ever so delicately kissing her. "I want to go up to that room, have you unzip this dress," she paused, tilting her neck to give him slightly more access to her collarbone, moaning softly at the warmth of his lips on her neck, "and change into sweatpants, maybe eat a tub of ice cream," she laughed as Logan stopped what he was doing and looked up at her with a perplexed look.
"That is what you are thinking about right now?" he laughed, his hands settling on her hips.
Rory kissed his lips, the taste of scotch was on them and she smiled at the familiarity of it all. "The ice cream could be for after we do other things."
"I mean, I could probably get a head start on my taxes," Logan laughed as the elevator doors opened and their fingers intertwined, "iron a shirt for tomorrow, get myself ordained online…"
"Well now, you seem to have quite a few options," Rory laughed as he opened the door to their suite, "what do you need me for anyway?"
"Spoon feeding me ice cream in bed," Logan led her into the enormous Royal Suite. Rory kicked off her shoes and tossed her purse not he table just inside the door. Logan pulled off his jacket and immediately began to loosen his tie. "But I think sweatpants sound perfect for tonight, we are meeting the realtor at nine, he is an old friend, he's got three places to show us, and then we are taking the car back to Hartford so that you can get to your Christmas Eve festivities."
"So all that making fun of me and you wanted sweatpants too."
"If I don't tease you Ace, who will?" Logan laughed, they made their way into the bedroom and Rory turned her back to him, pulling her loose curls over her right shoulder as Logan carefully pulled the zipper down, "Did I tell you how beautiful you looked tonight?"
"You could tell me again," she smiled at his attention.
"You," Logan kissed her shoulder gently, "were the most beautiful woman in the room."
"You have to say that," Rory laughed, the dress pooled at her feet and Rory turned to assist Logan with the buttons on his shirt.
"Keep this up Ace," Logan smiled at the sight of her, "and we're going to have to delay the sweatpants party."
Rory laughed as she kissed him once more. She hoped it never got old, that she never tired of being with him, that she would always want to kiss him and be with him. She hadn't necessarily realized it after their breakup, but when she started dating Perry she knew. She knew that while he made her happy, happy enough. She could have been happier. She wasn't as happy as she had been, she didn't get butterflies in her stomach at the mere sight of him. Her heart didn't fill up with pride when she watched Perry play hockey like it had when she would read about Logan's accomplishments…she had loved Perry, but she had known all along that Logan was the other half of her. "We need to talk in the morning," Rory admitted.
"So ominous," Logan sighed, "about what Rory?"
"The…details," Rory shrugged, "the apartments, all of this…"
"The money?"
Rory nodded, "The money."
"Ok, well, before we talk about the money…over coffee, tomorrow morning…I want to just enjoy tonight. Go get changed before I take what sliver of clothing you are wearing and rip it off," he grinned at the lace undergarments she had chosen, "and I have something for you."
"I love you," Rory was relieved, she didn't want to argue with him, she didn't want things to be weird, but they needed to talk about it all.
"I love you too Ace, now go," he stood with his shirt half undone and his bowtie around his neck, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the box. He smiled, the first time he had asked her this question, he was young and foolish, he naively thought that they could just wing it, figure it out. This time though, they had a plan, they were getting a place together, sure they hadn't been together for long, barely six months, but they also weren't getting any younger and Logan hoped that he and Rory could continue to expand their family. He hoped to be the husband she deserved, a bonus Dad to her children, she deserved a partner in every sense of the word, and Logan knew how to be that man now. They were alone, it was how he should have asked her the question the first time. Privately, intimately, just for them.
"You alright?" Rory asked, she returned from the washroom having removed her makeup and put on the same skull patterned pyjamas that she had worn the first night she slept over in Palo Alto.
"Perfect," Logan reached for her hands, "I love you Rory Gilmore."
"I love you Logan Huntzberger," Rory grinned, "you sure you're alright?"
Logan swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, "I'm just so thankful that you came back into my life. That I stopped on the pier that day, and that we have ended up here," his hands were back in his pocket, fiddling with the ring, his nerves were getting the best of him. "I'm thankful that you still think ice cream is a totally acceptable appetizer because otherwise we might not be here. I love you, and I love your kids, and I want…" he paused again, she was smiling. She knew it was happening, she knew what was coming, and instead of looking shocked and scared, she looked excited and hopeful. "Marry me?"
Rory didn't know if she started to cry before or after he got the words out, but tears were streaming down her cheeks as she smiled at him and nodded, "yes," she whispered, staring in shock at the ring as Logan slipped it on her finger and pulled her in for an embrace, her hands tangled in the hair at the base of his neck and his strong hands holding her as close as he could get her. "What took you so long?" she laughed.
"So long?" he whispered against her lips, foreheads resting against each other. "I thought I was rushing things."
"You could've asked me this question any day in the last six months and my answer would have been the same," she admitted. It was an uncharacteristically forward comment for Rory, she didn't normally put herself out there, wear her heart on her sleeve so to speak. For her to admit that she knew all along that Logan was it for her, it took courage, it took a willingness to be open with him.
"Well next time I propose I will do it sooner."
"Uh uh," Rory shook her head, "I don't ever want you to ask anyone this question again." Rory took a moment and looked at her ring. It was magnificent, a round, brilliant cut diamond, just over 4 carats, the setting looked antique and it was stunning. It was the kind of ring that she imagined girls and women dreamed of and it was sitting on her finger like it had always been there. The ring Perry had proposed with was different, it was shiny and new, he had picked it out at Tiffanys, but this ring…the ring Logan had given her was much more her.
"If you insist," Logan kissed her, "I like the jammies…by the way." he winked.
"Well, I wanted to wear something special," Rory laughed. "Thank you," she added with a whisper.
Logan used his pointer finger and thumb to gently lift her head so she was looking at him, "thank you for what?"
"For this, for…for being with me, for waiting for me," she paused, "I mean, I know you didn't wait for me…but you were ready when I was ready, and you love my boys. I can't tell you how much it means to me to know that you see them as a bonus, not a burden and that you want to factor them in, factor us in."
Logan silenced her with his lips, it broke his heart a little bit to think that she thought anyone could see her boys as a burden, as baggage. They stumbled back to the bed, Rory making quick work of what was left of Logan's shirt, her fingers moving quickly to his belt buckle, his knees hit the bed first this time and they came crashing down, a pile of limbs and giggles as Logan pulled her shirt over her head, "you are beautiful, you know that?"
"Keep telling me," she giggled as she straddled him, her hips rocking against him, the cotton of her pyjamas and his boxers separating them. He smiled at the sight of her, like she hadn't aged or changed in all of the years they had been apart. "How did this happen?" she asked wistfully.
"You were the one trying to take off my pants," Logan joked, his hands moved to hold her cheeks.
Rory shook her head and then there were tears again. Certainly not intentionally, she remembered feeling broken, devastated when Perry had left, like things would never feel good again, they wouldn't feel normal. But here she was realizing that things felt best when she was with Logan. "no, how did you…how did no one scoop you up and treat you like you deserved all those years ago? You…you are a remarkable man."
"I didn't want anyone else," Logan told her, she expected him to launch into the same answer he gave whenever she brought this up. Married to his work, his business was his baby. "There were girls, women…people…but when I closed my eyes Rory, all I could see was you."
xxx
"We just got engaged," Logan handed Rory a cup of coffee, "we aren't supposed to spend the morning fighting."
"I don't want to fight, I want to talk about a budget," Rory countered, giving him a quick kiss as a show of thanks for the black beverage in front of her.
"Rory, we don't need a budget."
"I need to know."
"You need to know what?" Logan pulled a t-shirt over his head.
"How much money you have," Rory told him quickly, "how big the divide is…"
"There is no divide," Logan told her honestly, "whats yours is mine, whats mine is yours."
"How democratic," Rory rolled her eyes, she could tell he was nervous. Nervous that a number would scare her. The truth was, if she was worried about how much money he had, she would have googled it, she certainly could imagine, she could guess…but she wanted to have a conversation. A conversation that maybe they had missed when they were younger, not necessarily about money but about how their life would come together. Maybe if they had thought about it, he wouldn't have found that house with the avocado tree because he would have understood her needs just as much as his own.
"I'm worth about nine hundred million dollars," Logan told her simply, he wasn't ashamed of his wealth or afraid of it anymore, it was just a part of his life. "If you include my shares in HPG, which I suppose you would as it is part of my net worth, it is about one point two billion dollars."
Rory nodded, trying to keep her poker face, not letting it show that in her wildest dreams, she never thought he had that much money. "Well, I should let you know that I talked to my financial advisor before we came to Manhattan, if you include the value of the house in Encino which I own outright, mine is about thirty five million, maybe forty if the real estate market continues to rise."
It was his turn to nod now. He was surprised, her Grandparents must have left her a fair amount, and he supposed when she sold the Gilmore Group after Richard died, that would have left her with a tidy sum too. "Well, I guess we should talk about budget then."
"First, I should explain…" she paused, this is not really a discussion she thought she would have on the morning after her engagement, but she also knew that they were practical discussions to have, "once we start living together, my alimony payments stop. They don't have to…but I can't take money from Perry when I'm living with you. His child support will continue, and he splits the cost of school tuition for the boys, and Sarah pays for half of Eli. We each pay for what they need when we have them…you know the details of the custody split."
Logan nodded, he knew that she just wanted him to understand the existing arrangements, "I know you won't accept this, but I am happy to cover those costs Ace, the kids, us…"
"I can't accept that," Rory shook her head, just like he knew that she would, "he is their Dad, and it is his responsibility to bare some of that burden…financially I mean. Just because you are wealthy doesn't mean he gets a get out of jail free card."
"I wasn't trying to say that," Logan explained, "but I want you to know that I'm in…I'm all in."
Rory smiled, thinking of all the times she had heard her mother and Luke utter the words to each other, something more sacred than their wedding vows, or so Rory thought. Their commitment to each other was unwavering, and even when it did tremble and for a moment seemed irreparable, Lorelai and Luke still managed to find their way back to each other, back home. "So who knows about this, Huntzberger?" Rory looked at her ring.
"Do you really want to know?"
"I really want to know," Rory repeated as she stood up from her seat, they were about to leave to meet the real estate agent in the lobby of the hotel.
"Perry."
"You…you and Perry talked about this? When?" Rory was surprised. There were quite a few names she would have imagined him going through before he reached her ex-husband for such a moment.
Logan exhaled, she wasn't happy. He didn't expect her to be happy but it was something he had to do. Something he wanted to do, "I talked to Perry because the reality is, those kids are his. So before I went in and made some grand gesture, some big statement about my feelings for you, asking you to marry me…I wanted to know that for the sake of the kids, we were all going to be able to get along. I see you things are with you and Sarah, and I want to know that I will get along with Perry, that when shit goes wrong, which it will, as you have told me… we can talk."
Rory was surprised, it wasn't what she expected to hear, she had immediately worried that Logan had asked Perry his permission, and that would have infuriated her, "So he knew…last night?"
Logan shook his head, "he just knew I was going to do it, no one knew when."
"You are too good to me," Rory smiled at him as Logan appeared to notice the realtor in front of them. "That him?"
Logan nodded and walked towards the man, he looked to be a couple of years older than Logan and greeted him warmly, "How are you doing Steve? Thank you for meeting us, so close to Christmas."
"Steve?" Rory repeated as she looked at the man, golden hair that was greying, "Steve Campbell is that you?"
"Rory! It has been ages, how are you doing?" the two hugged.
"Logan, how do you know Steve?"
"I could ask the same, Ace?" Logan put his arm around her waist instinctively.
"Steve is Sarah's brother," Rory told him as thought it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Stephen Campbell," she winked.
"Stephen Matthew Campbell, the third," Steve joked.
"I haven't talked to Sarah in…well, you know how that is…Logan I can't believe you didn't recognize her!"
Logan shrugged his shoulders, "I don't think I've seen Sar since…Honor's sixteenth birthday when she was going to…shit…what was the boarding school? Andover?"
Steve nodded, "that sounds about right. We were at Exeter back then."
"I got kicked out of Andover, Honor was pissed," he laughed, "so you know Rory then?"
"I've known her for as long as Eli has been around," he nodded, "she always makes sure I get to see my boy even if his mother and I aren't seeing eye to eye. You two are…together," he smiled, "I always thought you could do better than Perry," Steve winked at Rory.
"Engaged," Rory proudly showed him her new accessory, "you are the first to hear."
"Do you think I could sell it to a tabloid? Hot off the press," Steve embraced them both warmly.
Logan laughed, "how about we get you a big commission cheque instead?"
"I guess that will do," Steve agreed, "I have a car waiting outside and three very different places. Your sister has approved them. When do you plan on moving?"
"We'll buy whenever," Logan told him, "but I think the plan is that Rory and the boys won't be here until after Easter. So if it needs work, we've got about three months, a bit more to get it all done, but I think speaking for myself, I would prefer move in ready, what about you Ace?"
Rory thought back to when they had bought the house in Encino, what a relief it was to simply move in, but she also knew that Manhattan was home to plenty of gorgeous homes that might need a little TLC. "For the right price," she paused, "I might consider a fixer…but only cosmetic, I'm not looking to find original plumbing."
"And what about location? Are you married to the Upper East Side?" Steve added extra emphasis to the word married as they met his driver in front of the hotel, Steve let Rory and Logan in the back and he sat in the front passenger seat.
Rory looked at Logan as the car began to move, "I mean, we haven't talked about anything else."
"Well, I have something…it is a bit out of left field, even for me…so why don't we see these places and we will go from there."
Rory and Logan had toured the three top contenders and returned to the Ritz for a coffee. None of the options felt particularly like home. Rory liked the charm and the history of the older brownstones, but she also didn't want to walk up seven flights of stairs or get in one of those tiny, and somewhat freaky elevators. Rory also wasn't completely comfortable being so high in the two condos they saw, not to mention the lack of outdoor space. Sure, they had enormous terraces, but she wasn't going to have the kids kicking a soccer ball around on the thirty fifth floor of a building.
"So, the last place…I can't show you right now, but I will e-mail you about it, and you can let me know what you think. I know you have to get back to Hartford Rory, I believe my sister is waiting for you? My Mom mentioned that Sarah was around…obviously she forgot to call her favourite brother."
Rory nodded, "Sarah came last night…and Steve, in the off chance that you talk to her…please don't mention the engagement. I want my boys and family to hear from me…"
"Of course," he hugged her warmly, "don't be a stranger. That goes for you too, Huntzberger."
"Wouldn't dream of it Stevie!"
A/N 2- Sooooo they are engaged, yay! I didn't want a big wait or a big flash forward, I think at their age, with their lives, they would move quickly if things felt right. Also, you guys are sickos, assuming that Logan and Sarah slept together and it wouldn't be something perfectly innocent?! ;) Hopefully another chapter by Thursday