Rory had almost completed her original task at Morgan & Pence, and now Finn had just kept her on for bits and pieces that needed writing, a couple of press releases or news updates on social media. She was fine with the lowered workload, the bookdeal offered plenty on it's own and certainly kept her days busy. It was another regular workday afternoon, when she stood at her elevated desk updating her plot table, which kept living a life on it's own, not quite ending up where she originally had planned, hence the constant updating. Each page she wrote brought new insight and ideas, which all needed to be addressed. It wasn't a huge issue in itself, she was still able to stick to her schedule and agreed word count. It was her book after all, she was in control. What she seemed to be less control of were her thoughts that lingered once she'd typed the final period. She'd reached the part where her mother had finally gotten married to Christopher. She hadn't gone too much into detail on Lorelai's relationships and her feelings, rather sticking to her own position in the dynamic. Rory's new position, married and pregnant, gave her an entirely new viewpoint into the situation. The idea of two people raising a child had gained importance in her mind, wondering why her father had let Lorelai raise her on her own. She realized that it hadn't really been her father's fault, Lorelai was a force of nature and trying to compete, compromise, with her on raising a child would have proved challenging, to say the least. Having her mother and father marry, had hardly shaken her life, it had almost felt odd after all those year. But she did wonder, whether his dad did deserve more of a part in her life. They called occasionally, but frankly she'd seen more of Mitchum in the past year than she had seen him. That was definitely a ratio she didn't want to maintain. He too was becoming a grandfather after all.
"Hey!" Christopher answered his phone cheerily.
"Hi dad, how are you?" Rory asked, having not spoken to him since she announced she'd gotten married.
"I'm good, trying to delegate my tasks a bit so I'd get out of the cave every once in a while," he replied.
"That's good," she commented. "I actually wondered whether you'd like to come over for dinner sometime. We haven't seen each other in a while, and I thought it'd be nice," she said.
"That sounds great. Where are you living these days?" he inquired.
"We actually bought a house recently, it's just outside of Meriden," Rory said.
"It seems that you always call me with big news," Christopher replied laughingly. "I was actually thinking of calling you and suggesting dinner myself, you just beat me to it. I haven't seen Logan in ages," he said, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Actually my mother was asking about you," he added with a sigh.
"She was?" she replied, surprisedly. She'd never really had a relationship with Francine.
"I told her you were expecting and she asked what you were up to," he explained.
"So what did you tell her?" she asked curiously.
"That you're married, having a baby and working on your book," Christopher summed it up.
"I thought maybe you'd like to join us in Boston for dinner, but we could come over there as well, no problem. I'd love to see your new house. But if having Francine over there is too much, I could just come myself. Oh, and GG is living with me now, she'd love to see you too," he explained getting a little carried away.
She hesitated for a moment, feeling like her casual invite suddenly involved an awful lot of, possibly awkward, entertaining. But then again she didn't quite feel up for a two hour drive to Boston and another two hours back in her condition.
"I guess you could all come here. I just might have to ask Sookie to cater or something," she replied, after taking a deep breath. She was an adult after all. Surely she could handle one dinner party?
"Are you sure?" he asked, feeling a little guilty for imposing.
"I'm sure. But maybe Saturday then?" she agreed, trying to pick a day when Logan could help her getting the place ready.
"Ok, great. I'll check with mom and see what she thinks," he replied.
"Alright, let me know and I'll send you the address," she finished the call.
"I checked with Prof. Meyer and she said it was fine if you supervised me. She'll be the official co-supervisor taking responsibility for the technicalities, ethics, things like that." a voice approached Logan, who had finished his class and was just typing a quick reply on an e-mail that just couldn't wait.
"Ah..," he sighed, pressing send, before looking up, realizing somewhat reluctantly that he might have gotten himself more work than he bargained for.
"So would you be willing to consider it?" Zoe added, hopefully.
"Look, I am not promising anything. I'm not exactly swimming in time, hinting at the pile of assignments the class had just handed in. But I'm willing to meet with you. But I expect that you come prepared - pitch me your idea, and we'll see," he replied, raising from his seat. This almost felt like working at the HPG for a second.
"Ok, sure," she agreed.
"Monday, 10 AM? At the University Press?" he suggested.
"I'll see you then," she agreed.
Logan continued to pack up his things. He was used to people asking him for jobs, internships and even recommendations, but someone insisting on working essentially for free, on something because they simply found it interesting and perhaps also because they looked up to him in a way, was something he'd never seen before. It made him a little smug. Perhaps he was cut out for this job after all?
"What is all this?" Logan inquired, getting home to find the hallway full of boxes.
"It's the baby stuff, I delayed the delivery a few days so they could bring everything at once," Rory replied. "Believe me, it looked like a lot less when it wasn't in boxes," she added a little worriedly, as if she had gone overboard.
"Right," he noted, kissing her in greeting.
"And this does not include the stroller, the carseat, the rocker, the toys…," she began, adding after catching her breath,"oh, and Honor told me I should get one of those reclining armchairs."
"Easy, Ace. It's fine. I'll grab something to eat and then we'll unpack. Don't panic," he soothed.
"Do you want Chinese or the pasta you made last night?" Rory asked.
"The pasta is fine," he added. He hated throwing good food out.
"I'll heat it up for you," she offered. Working at home had it's perks when it came to wardrobe and the constant flow of snacks and apple juice that Logan had stocked up the fridge with, but it was getting a little lonely.
"Thanks," he sighed, taking a seat at the kitchen counter.
"How was your day?" Rory asked after a few moments.
"Pretty good. We're doing a couple of procurements at the moment, it's a lot of work. Macmillan is the main competition," he explained. Working there meant doing a little bit of everything.
"And the class?" she continued, pulling the pasta out of the microwave.
"Okay I guess. I might have to supervise this one student," he added.
"That's interesting, you feel you are up for it?" Rory asked.
"The topic seems interesting enough, though I haven't heard her pitch it properly yet. I have a meeting with her on Monday," he said.
"So what's she like?" she inquired
"She's got a bit of a Lisbeth Salander thing going but more vanilla," he added, curious to see how she would take it. "I don't really know her that well, I've just spoken to her twice," he added.
"Hmm..," she pondered, trying to picture her. She wasn't paranoid, but it did make her think for a second. But that was his work, he couldn't discriminate based on sex either and not supervise someone just because she was attractive or female, and she certainly couldn't ask him of such things. Silence carried as Rory poured herself a glass of water, while he ate.
"I called dad today, I invited him to dinner. I haven't seen him in ages," Rory said, switching the subject.
"Oh yeah? That's good. I think the last time I saw him it was…," he said, trying to recall.
"Just before graduation," she finished his sentence.
"Right," he said, smiling briefly.
"He's bringing GG and Francine along, apparently Francine has been asking about me," Rory added.
"How do you feel about that?" he asked.
"I don't know. I don't even know her, I saw her just a couple of times during my entire childhood. The last time I did Straub had this big fight with Richard and some hurtful things were said, but I guess I am past that. Maybe now that Straub is gone, she's looking at things differently, I don't know," she explained.
"Well if you feel you're not up for it, you could just tell Christopher to come alone or just with GG," he suggested, unsure if she needed that kind of stress right now.
"I already said it was okay, and I guess maybe that's what I need to do, especially now with the baby coming. I've been thinking that dad perhaps deserves more of a chance at being a grandfather, and I suppose Francine too. I don't expect her to come with hatred, especially if she was the one that asked about me," she added.
"I guess not," he agreed.
"So they're coming on Saturday, Sookie is bringing over some food. We just need to clean this place up a bit," she suggested. Keeping the livingroom tidy hadn't exactly been Rory's priority while she worked.
"Right. How about we now go clear out the hallway?" he suggested finishing up his dinner. "I'm kind of curious what you got," he added.
"Oh, I thought of a few names today," Rory said, beginning their usual evening name discussion.