"Oh, Rory, you look amazing. Really, I think if it weren't for the bump people would never guess you were pregnant," Sookie announced cheerily, dropping off a big bowl of Caprese salad, a tray of orange glazed chicken thighs with beans and rice on the side. There was another tray with tiramisu and two boxes of cold appetizers.
"Thank you, Sookie. Everything looks really good, I'd dig in now if I could," Rory commented. Rory's stomach already growled at the sight of all that food, and she grabbed an apple from the tray on the kitchen counter.
"That sight will never get old," Sookie laughed, gesturing at her choice of food.
Rory smiled in reply as her mouth was full.
"But I've got to run now, Martha has this big school play tonight, I'm catering that too," Sookie exclaimed proudly.
"Wish her luck from me, I'm sure it'll be wonderful," Rory called after her.
"Oh, I'm sure," she sighed. "See you!" she added happily, already halfway out the door. "Almost forgot, I think I left my keys in the kitchen," she added. Sookie ran back inside and to the kitchen and searched for her keys for a good few minutes, almost pushing one of the trays off the kitchen table. "Found them!" Sookie announced as she returned, and continued her exit.
"Thanks again," Rory added, as she waved her off.
Only a few minutes passed, until Logan arrived, carrying a case of alcohol and soft drinks. They really didn't have a lot of alcohol around the house these days, except for the case of scotch the guys had brought, because Rory didn't drink and Logan hardly did on his own either. Having people over was certainly cause to finally stock up the wine fridge and the drinks cabinet in the kitchen. Logan put down the case and placed half of its content into the wine fridge.
"Looking lovely, Ace," he said, as he turned, giving Rory his full attention. Rory had finally gotten around trying on all the new clothes she'd gotten with Honor, and that had clearly uplifted her spirit. She wore a short embroidered blue wrap dress with her light brown ballerinas. Spring was fast approaching and somehow old chunky sweaters and cozy legging were losing their draw to her anyways. The fit was fairly relaxed but the way the fabric hung made her body even more feminine.
"Thanks," she smiled, giving him a kiss. He put his arms around her, stroking her bump, which was once again being kicked from the inside, raising the corners of Logan's mouth. Rory felt pretty good that day, rested, having had a chance to sleep late that morning thanks to her new body pillow and by the time she'd woken Logan had already done most of the cleaning up downstairs.
"You feel ready for this?" he asked, as the doorbell rang.
"As I'll ever be," she said, taking a deep breath.
"Hey kid," Christopher greeted, handing Rory a bottle of non-alcoholic cider and a bouquet of daffodils.
"Hey, come on right in," she said, giving him a brief hug, before adding "Hi," to the two women that followed him. Francine was still as stiff looking, wearing her classic Chanel suit, as she remembered, but now her dark brown hair had turned grey. GG however, clearly blossoming into her teens, appeared significantly more rebellious. Her hair was dyed pale pink and she wore a pair of ripped jeans and a ruffled trim dark green blouse with a bow, clearly looking way above her age.
"Hey," GG replied, doing a cheek kissing gesture.
"Rory, hello, lovely to see you," Francine greeted, with a slightly uncomfortable smile. It seemed she was a little nervous too.
"Logan, hi" Christopher greeted, stepping forward after hanging up everyone's coats. "Boy, it's sure been a while. And my congratulations on...well everything," he added smilingly. Since the last time he'd seen Rory, she had truly turned her life around. This made him proud but also a little hesitant whether a change that fast was truly sustainable. He'd never been good with hasty changes, but perhaps Rory was, after all she was no longer a teenager.
"Thank you, it means a lot," Logan replied.
"Francine, GG, I don't think you've really met. This is Logan Huntzberger-Gilmore, my husband," Rory said. There hadn't been too many social opportunities like this when she'd had to introduce him. The whole combination still sounded a little odd to her.
"Very nice to meet you," Francing replied, holding out his hand for him to shake. She had certainly met the elder Huntzbergers, perhaps even Logan when he had been a kid running around one of their garden parties, but never formally.
"Likewise," he replied. "Can I offer you something to drink?" he added politely.
"Gin and tonic, thank you," Francine replied.
"I'll have a scotch," Christopher replied in a relaxed manner.
"GG, are you willing to pop the cider with me?" Rory tried to engage the teenager, holding out the bottle she had just been handed.
"Sure," she replied, not quite as enthusiastically as Rory had hoped.
"Alright, why don't we go take a seat in the living room, or maybe you'd like a tour first," Rory offered.
"A tour would be great, Rory," Christopher replied.
"Alright then, follow me," Rory said, showing the three around the house while Logan went to fix the drinks. They walked through the downstairs, the living room, that had turned into their study, the smaller study which now held their small library, the kitchen and the dining room.
"Rory I must say, you look absolutely glowing," Christopher noted after a while, observing her daughter talk about the house, occasionally stroking her bump without noticing it.
Rory smirked back to her dad, not feeling quite at home with all the compliments. She already accepted Logan's, realizing that he was indeed entirely subjective when it came to her, but that was already a big step for her.
"How far along are you, dear?" Francine asked, as they reached the nursery. The room contained now piles of babygear, some of which was still unpacked or unassembled, but it was certainly beginning to take shape and look like an actual nursery.
"Nearly 26 weeks now," she replied.
"Do you know if you're getting a boy or a girl?" GG asked curiously, as they reached the nursery. They'd kept the nursery decor fairly neutral, so it wasn't really obvious.
"It's a boy, but no, we don't have a name picked out just yet," Rory replied, anticipating their next question, smilingly.
"Logan must be excited, I know boys always did carry the extra significance in the Huntzberger family," Francing added insightfully.
"Well, he is not exactly carrying on the family legacy the way the family had hoped," she smirked, "however I am sure Logan would be excited either way," Rory added.
"She's right," Logan commented, appearing from behind them. "And I am definitely excited," he added happily.
Christopher noted the way Logan looked at her daughter. There was no doubt the two were head over heels for each-other.
"And over there is our bedroom and there's a guest room on the right," Rory explained, stepping out of the narrow hallway allowing the others to look around.
"It's a great house, has some old bones but you've certainly made it look very modern and still homey," Christopher commented.
"Thank you," Rory replied. "We really haven't been here long," she added, feeling slightly apologetic of some unfinished bits and pieces. The house was probably a lot more modest than Francine had expected, meeting somewhere in the middle between Christopher's house in Boston and Lorelai's in Stars Hollow.
"I agree, the place looks great" Francine added, squeezing Rory's arm in assurance. She wasn't sure what to make of that gesture. It must've been the first time she'd ever physically touched her even.
"How about we head downstairs, the drinks are ready and Sookie made some amazing appetizers," Logan suggested, turning to head back down.
"And I see there's a lot of acreage?" Christopher asked as they reached the living room and he glanced out to the yard from the grid doors. He noted the gazebo, already imagining what significance that held to both Rory and Lorelai.
"Just over 10 acers," Logan commented.
"Wow, that'a a lot," Christopher replied, surprisedly.
"Yeah, we'll definitely have to get someone to help out with the yard soon," he noted.
"Oh, and you know, they guy who did the inspection before we bought it, he was a Hayden," Rory suddenly recalled.
"Really?" Francine asked.
"It must've been Matthew, mom," Christopher added. "Small world," he added.
"That's what mom said," Rory added, feeling suddenly how mentioning her mom turned the atmosphere even more awkward.
"Rory, I'd love to hear how the two of you met," Francing inquired, changing the subject, having taken a seat on their red velvet couch. It was strange how she behaved like just another person who she hadn't seen in a while. It was as if she was purposefully ignoring the awkwardness. Or perhaps it was only in her mind, she wasn't sure. Somehow compared the last time she remembered, the atmosphere had been a lot more stern - perhaps the atmosphere was created by Straub?
"Oh, alright," Rory said, a little surprisedly. "We met at Yale, but after that we went our separate ways. I did the Obama campaign tour and did some freelance writing," she explained.
"I worked in Palo Alto for a while, before I moved to London to work with my father," he explained. "And then we met by chance at a conference and started talking again," he simplified, realizing that he had been caught a little off guard and perhaps shouldn't have gone into that much detail to begin with.
"But we didn't really get together until last fall," she added, trying to avoid explaining their arrangement and the issues related to Logan's engagement, realizing that if any one of them did the math, they'd realize the pace of events either way.
"Well, it certainly seems like you two make a wonderful family," Francine said.
"How about we go eat, it'll just take me a few minutes to plate everything," Rory said as she rose, feeling a little dizzy for a moment.
"You okay there, Ace?" Logan asked.
"I'm fine, just got up a bit fast," she replied, taking a deep breath. "I'm fine, really," she assured.
"I'll help," Francine offered, surprising everyone.
"Mom, are you sure?" Christopher asked, only then realizing this was probably about more than just the actual helping. The woman had two maids on staff full time hardly ever stepping her foot inside a kitchen.
"Yes, I'm fine Christopher," she replied, following Rory to the kitchen.
Logan glanced at Rory, meeting her eyes, as if asking without words whether she was okay with it. She replied with a quick nod, as if reading his mind.
The two plated the salads in silence.
"Rory, I am sure you are wondering why I wanted to come," Francine said, breaking the silence.
"Well it did cross my mind," Rory replied.
"Straub was always very opinionated, my voice hardly carried in our relationship when it came to you. And I am truly sorry for everything that has happened and about what he said. Now as he has been gone for a while, I've wondered a lot what it would be like to know you. I know I'm probably never going to make up for the lost time, but if you would be willing to, I would feel blessed to get to know you and your child. It would mean a lot to me," she said.
"Well, I'd be lying if I said those words didn't hurt, but I always did wonder, looking back, whether it was just Straub with his standpoint or whether it was the two of you," Rory replied, plating the last of the salad.
"I guess we were all a little more worried about other people's opinions back then but it seems that is something that decreases significantly with time. He was a stern man, stubborn, it was very difficult to talk to him about these things and I guess I just didn't fight him on this. I know I probably should have," she explained.
"I've been writing a book, it's sort of a fictionalized memoir of my mom raising me. And writing that, I've thought about my dad and you guys, what it would've been like if you had been in my life. And honestly, I don't see any harm in trying to involve you in our lives," she explained, even to her surprise, how easily she was willing to give it a chance. Perhaps it was the hormones talking, and she knew Lorelai probably wouldn't be too happy to hear about her decision.
"Thank you, my dear," Francine said, with a weak smile. "Alright, how about we carry these plates to the dining room," she suggested.
As they returned to the dining room, Christopher and Logan had been talking business, finding plenty to talk about. The rest of the evening passed calmly, discussing GG attending the Phillips Academy, Logan's teaching, which came to everyone's surprise, and Rory's book. It was as if the door to another world had been left ajar, enabling Rory to peek in just a little. Maybe this would work out for the better?
AN: thank you so much for all of your reviews over tha past week. the thing with the site was really annoying (i hope it works for everyone now). This chapter ended up quite mellow, but I hope you liked it.