AN: I'm just going to keep calling Odette Odette for now. Just assume that officially she's using her new name. Just felt weird shifting it in the text this late in the story.
Also, please do comment if there is anything you would really like to see in this story as the end is nearing rapidly.
The long awaited bed finally arrived and Rory spent the consecutive hours packing up the final things they still had at Odette's hoping to surprise Logan by moving them to their own place by the end of the day.
Odette was home, watching Rory gather up their items from their room. They'd had several rooms for them to use there, but only really occupied the bedroom and the kitchen nook, spending the rest of the time in the common rooms on Odette's side. In a way they had indeed become a family of sorts, but the place had never really felt as much like home as the their new place did.
"Can I help?" Odette asked, feeling uncomfortable, looking at Rory pack.
"Thank you, but I think I have things covered here," Rory replied, gathering up their chargers. There really wasn't much left - toiletries, some clothes and shoes, tech, a few books and other smaller items.
"I'm going to miss this, you know. It just felt nice to have people around the house," she confessed. She had always been very independent and quite used to living alone, but having the possibility to talk to someone, had been quite pleasant. Like some form of room-mates that she never really had when she was grown up, even in college she'd always had her own place.
"I'm sure you won't be alone long," Rory said hopefully, thinking of her plans for a baby.
Odette's mouth curved upward slightly and together with a light blush on her cheeks, her mind enjoyed the thought of that possibility. She tried to help Rory anyway, needing something to do, and pulled down Rory's luggage from the top shelf of the cupboard, placing them open on the bed so Rory could throw in the last of their clothing items.
"God, I really hope so," she exhaled a moment later.
"You look a lot happier, you know," Rory noted, packing up her small selection of spring shoes, she still had around.
"Thanks, I guess I am. It's been nice living a life that isn't constantly monitored, assessed and commented on. I can hang out with anyone I want, date anyone I want, I could even go make embarrassing and public mistakes right now," she noted, laughingly, amused by the thought.
"You know, you're starting to show a little," Odette gestured at Rory's slim form with a tiny, barely visible, bump that her leggings were soon no longer able to hide, a few minutes later. "When do you have your appointment?" Odette added.
"Thursday," she sighed.
"Hey, I know I'm not a doctor or anything, but I have a good feeling about this," she assured, rubbing her upper arm. Rory really appreciated that, there were only a handful of people that knew, most of them knowing how much of a gentle topic this was, said very little, and hearing positive notions outside of her therapy did make her feel a little less anxious.
"When do you have your next IUI?" she asked with genuine interest, not wanting to only talk about her.
"I was supposed to have it next week actually, but I postponed it for now," she said, adding, "I'm not really sure if I should say much more, it's kind of new, but I'm actually seeing someone. I decided to give it a real chance, without the added pressure of the insemination," Odette confessed.
"That's great. I really hope it works out," Rory replied a little surprisedly, tossing the few final items into the suitcase. She zipped the suitcases closed and rolled them to the foyer.
"So we'll see you in the weekend at the party?" Rory stated, hugging Odette goodbye. It did feel a little like the end of an era and she wondered for a moment whether Logan would've wanted to be a part of that moment. She brushed the thought aside, as it really was just a moment rather than anything grand - after all Odette wasn't going anywhere, but they were moving on to their own independent life. It was a strange friendship that had formed between the two, one that Rory would've never imagined half a year earlier.
"Definitely," she agreed, hugging back.
Rory got back to the apartment an hour earlier than she expected Logan, having texted him to come meet her there just in case. The concierge helped her up with her suitcases, Logan having hinted and generously tipped the man, without her knowledge, to make sure Rory never needed to strain herself.
She unpacked their stuff, and while some things were still a little 'homeless', their perfect place surely found with use, just laying on various surfaces placed out of hand, it was really beginning to feel like home to her. When she got Logan's text that he was on his way, she cooked a pot of pasta and dug out a jar of garlic-basil pesto, from a place she'd discovered just down the street, and rasped ome scrapes of parmesan. It was simple, but still a home cooked meal. Somehow take-away just didn't do the moment justice this time.
"Hey," Rory greeted Logan, who stepped out of the elevator.
"Hey, you look good," Logan replied, glancing over his wife, who wore a slightly festive beaded denim mini-dress.
"I have a surprise for you, and I made dinner," Rory announced excitedly.
"Oh?" he inquired, giving her a deep kiss, not really in any hurry to eat.
"We're moved in," she stated, slightly out of breath from the kiss.
"We got the bed?" Logan asked.
"And the rest of our stuff from Odette's," Rory added, nodding with a wide smile.
"So we're really moved in," he reflected. Briefly he thought perhaps a grand goodbye would've been appropriate with Odette, but Rory could read the hesitance in his face.
"Odette will be over in a couple of days, we have brunch plans for the weekend after that, she's fine. It's not like we're moving to another country," Rory added.
"Yeah, you're right," he sighed, landing another deep kiss on her lips.
They ate their dinner, this time though at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, somehow it feeling even more intimate there. After dinner, they strolled around the place, as if confirming how the place fit, Logan testing out the sound system, the TV, getting a feel for his study chair and so on until he landed back first onto their brand new bed, which Rory had dressed with white and grey soft cotton. He placed his arms behind his head, and let out a satisfied sigh.
"How about you show me what's in my box," he said, gesturing towards the box Rory had of their college relationship, that now waited in the corner, the rocket prominently standing out. The box hadn't really found a place yet, as Rory had been considering whether to display the rocket somewhere.
"Are you sure?" Rory asked. "As this might kill some of that mystery we still have going on," she added playfully.
"I'll live," he chuckled with a smirk, having turned to his side, propped up on his elbow.
Rory placed the box on the bed, sitting down next to it, one leg position under her.
There was the rocket of course, the gorilla mask, the camera she'd taken to her very first Life and Death Brigade event and a series of print outs from that memory card, including one of her and Logan jumping off the scaffold. There were tickets to concerts they'd been to, or even missed having changed their minds last minute, programmes of plays and some plane tickets even. There were a couple of souvenirs from their trips together, even some silly fridge magnets from the Vineyard and a snowglobe from London. There were some items of jewellery even.
"Hey, I've been looking for those," she said, taking the necklace and a couple of pairs of earrings, she rediscovered, over to her dresser instead.
Logan realized the context of which these had been packed away, feeling relieved they were no longer in that place, far from it in fact. There was also the infamous letter from Lorelai to Rory, but he didn't open it, feeling like it could've been more painful to read than he wanted to right now. He didn't need to know. He had her. There were some more things left in that box, including the painful reminder in form of the tophat from fall, but somehow he didn't care anymore and he scooted himself up, placing the box on the floor, adding, "another time."
His hands cradled her face, as he kissed her, leaving his forehead lingering on hers as the kiss broke.
"That was then, this is us now," Logan said, his right hand holding onto her hand, glancing down at her rings. He moved her hand, placing his hand on top of it, onto her abdomen.
Rory took a deep breath and repeated her inner mantra of "Today I am pregnant and I love my baby," which her therapist had taught her, which emphasized staying in the moment. She knew all the facts and numbers, what could cause a miscarriage and what not. Still it took her a moment to allow herself to smile. The hand that still cradled her side of the face, his thumb on her cheek, stroked the corner of her mouth.
"God, I love it when you smile - it's the death of me," he murmured, seeing that she was finally allowing herself to be enjoy the thought, even if just a little.
To his surprise, it was Rory who kissed him next, and it wasn't just a simple kiss, it was a deeper, more sensual kiss, making him grin widely inside at the prospect where kisses like that usually led.
He kissed back, hungrily, yet allowing her to control this.
She climbed to straddle him, never breaking the kiss. His hands wrapped themselves around her hips just underneath her short dress, that was already hiked up by her thighs.
She continued to kiss him - she'd missed this - allowing herself to really feel, without overthinking things. She unbuttoned his dark grey dress shirt hastily, kissing the top of his shoulder as the shirt flew over to the armchair with a swift movement of his wrist.
He brushed her neck and collarbone with his open mouth, his hands wanting to rid of her dress. She unzipped it herself, allowing his hands to toss it over her head. She wore a greyish-purple lace set underneath, making him groan in anticipation.
Rory moved off from his lap, allowing him to rid himself of his pants, and returned, feeling prominently how badly he wanted her. That thought never got old - lighting a small fire within her as well, her hips almost getting a mind of their own as she grind against him, her hands feeling the contours of the rest of his body. His hands released her breasts from their confinement, no matter how lovely the underwear, she always looked better without, his lips, with a crooked smile, landing on her, kissing, licking and sucking her eagerly.
Having not had vaginal sex in a little more than a month, simply because of being afraid, now being only separated from him through one layer of clothing, she was reminded of how much she'd missed this, how much she longed for the feel of him. Rory kissed him again, demandingly and he replied by beginning to pull off her panties. She needed to assist a little, but soon they were reunited in their most natural form. Logan stroked her sides, her back and her arms, his mouth continuing to tease her nipples. Rory used his tip to tease herself, making him gasp at the wetness, and herself when it hit the crucial spots. Logan allowed her to control this, holding back a little. She slowly positioned herself onto him, her tightness feeling incredible around him. She moved her weight around, not only moving up and down but also to the sides, and back and forth. From slow and steady grew something faster soon enough, her eyes closed, rocking her hips along as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The fears were pushed aside for now.
He loved watching her like this, she could literally do anything to him and he would let her. He was powerless, and she was his goddess. He janked himself up once more, wanting to kiss her again, those lips being irresistible when she bit them like she did now. Logan slid his hand between them, wanting to caress her. There wasn't a more beautiful sight that he knew of than her orgasm. As he sensed her body building up to it, her eyes looked right at him, and he knew he could also begin to let go, continuing to massage her. The quiver of her body finished him off in a matter of minutes, savoring the end just a little.
She collapsed on top of him, as the two panted, Logan running her fingers through her hair and along her back, kissing the top of her head that now rested on his chest. They were home.
