AN: Enjoy. Please excuse the grammar and spelling. I didn't have much time for edits. Sorry it took so long, knowing how invested you are in this story warms my heart. I am feeling better but extremely busy with RL. I apologize, but slower updates are to be expected.


June 2014

Seattle

"Good! You are back! Good flight?" Shiri jumped to her feet in greeting when Logan cruised through the door on the first day of June. Logan looked at her suspiciously. It was as if she's been waiting on him.

"No. I need coffee, Advil, and a fresh shirt." Logan cited. He hated early morning flights. It made him mess up his sleeping pills routine, which gave him a headache. "Any important messages?"

"Some," Shiri said vaguely. "You want me to relay them in writing or orally?"

"I'll remain oblivious." Logan rubbed his temple, deciding to pursue coffee first. "Just get me coffee."

"The coffee machine broke down. We have Ness Café' and a kettle for now. We're getting some complaints about that too if you are interested in your staff dis-satisfaction." He could guess who the primary grumbler was, and to be honest, facilitating Rory's caffeine intake wasn't his top priority.

"What do you want?" He turned towards the breakroom; the coffee wasn't going to make itself. The office manager didn't waste any time and followed.

"Cranky. So, as you know, tomorrow is June 2nd."

"Is it your birthday or something?"

"Do I get an inappropriate present delivered to the office if it is?"

The reference didn't go a miss. Ever since the Rory incident in his office, she's been trying to bait him into giving details. "No."

"It's the national leave the office early day."

"Talk to Ben." Logan tried to shake her off.

"Ben said you got the power," Shiri stated as the familiar ringtone rang off in his pocket.

Cher.

Shiri raised her eyebrow at him. It was already common knowledge the ringtone to belonged to his Chelsea. Logan sighed. Figures. As if this day didn't start bad enough.

"Later." He told his office manager, raising the phone to his ear. "I'm not in New York anymore."

To his luck, once Shiri left, the break room was deserted, and the kettle full of water.

"Aren't you all sunshine and rainbows. You used to be nicer when we were married." The familiar voice of his ex-wife and the hint of newly developed Californian accent rang in his ear. She followed with concern, "Did I wake you?"

Logan snorted. He wished he had the chance to go to sleep. He was contemplating whether to crash on Ben's couch until lunch, or cut to the gym and exhaust himself. Or both, not in the same order.

Logan pressed the ON switch. "I'm at work. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, god, sorry - yes. Yes. I just called to say thank you. I don't know what you said to him, but whatever it was, it made a huge difference. Dad is feeling much more energized." Logan tensed like the kettle switch. It was very unlike Chelsea to call just to thank him.

"I'm not going to share." He said firmly. He never meant to spill the beans to Aaron Rosen. It was too early. But when Mali Rosen finally left them alone, and his chess opponent called the coordinates for Logan to play his move, instead of moving his pawn, the man's vulnerability shuttered him. Logan couldn't help but think that at this rate of deterioration, maybe Chelsea was right, and Aaron Rosen was dying so he could get his kid.

The fear he would never get the chance to share his news with the man won.

"Well, that certainly something worth living for." The congressman beamed when Logan revealed his upcoming fatherhood.

"I know. I'm not part of the close confidant's circle anymore. I don't get access to the depth of your soul. Or your secrets." Logan dropped two spoonful's of sugars into his coffee. He could swear she's biting her lip at the end of the sentence. "I'm just… I'm just glad we're good."

They weren't good. They were civil, and Chelsea was pushing it.

"Take care." He drawled and clicked off the call, just as the carrier of his secret walked into the breakroom dressed in thin Demin dress, no nylons, and… he blinked in horror to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him.

They weren't.

The fabric hangs on the swell of her breasts, tighter than usual. He failed to trace the hint of the strap, but the outline of her nipples was visible, it left no room for question. His baby partner went into work this morning braless.

"You're back." The brilliance of her smile dazzled him for a moment.

"You're not wearing a bra." Logan swallowed hard; the first weeks of her pregnancy seemed to fill them. It did things to him she couldn't even begin to understand. The uncomfortable stirring in his pants opened his mind to a third lunch break option—two birds at once: release, and the sweet sleep that followed.

"Shit. You can tell?" The empty cup in her hand pressed into her chest as she tried to cover herself elegantly. She lowered her voice considerably, "This is so embarrassing. Overnight my everything is too small. I didn't have time… Going without seemed better than have them spill out. 'Cause it shows.."

"Meet me downstairs in twenty." The way he said it left no mistake for his intention.

Rory blushed as her embarrassment intensified. There was unmistakable desire flashing in his eyes. Logan wanted sex. "I have Alison's content review meeting at 14:00. I need to prepare."

Logan stared at her for a moment and poured his freshly coffee into the sink. Rory watched the steaming beverage going down the drain, appalled, as he brushed past her, walking hastily back towards Shiri's desk like a man on a mission.

"Logan, what the f…" Rory followed his confused.

"Shiri? What time is Alison's content review meeting?" He inquired.

"Umm…. 14:00, why?"

"Move it to 16:00. I want to sit in. Thanks." Logan tapped his fingers on her desk. Behind him, Rory mumbled under her breath 'unbelievable.'

"Moved." A satisfied smirk graced his face at Shiri's confirmation. It was that easy. "What about tomorrow?"

"Ask me tomorrow. I'm taking a long lunch." Logan waved her off, making his way back into the elevator. He didn't care about tomorrow; he just won himself a solid four hours for uninterrupted decompressing. He was going to fuck his baby partner into oblivion, and then he was going to catch up on some sleep.

But first, he's going to buy her a bra because he can't stand the thought of everyone staring at her breasts.

"Anything you need?" Shiri turned nonchalantly to Rory. Rory looked too startled to be an innocent bystander.

"No."

"Rory, tomorrow is the national leave the office early day. I don't care what you need to do to make it happen. But make it happen." Shiri looked at her blue-eyed co-worker knowingly, "Enjoy your long lunch."

Xx

"I think I hadn't eaten chicken wings since college." Logan took a swig off his water bottle. A small pile of chicken wings bones accumulated on the paper bag they spread between them on the grass.

Bra shopping is exhausting. After spending over an hour in the mall and previously serval more in the metal cage of a plane, Logan was done with indoor spaces. He needed air, he needed sun, and for once, it wasn't raining. Lunch turned into a takeaway picnic. Rory had to eat.

"You're kidding." Rory looked honestly mortified, "you're such a snobby WASP."

"It's garbage food." Logan didn't seem to be insulted at all. He was too hungry, too tired, too wired, and too horny to start the exhaustive process of negotiating the portion, identity, and form of the vegetables needed to balance out the pile of grease she wanted to eat for lunch.

"These are amazing. The frosting is just so crisp." Rory took another bit off another wing, sucking on the juices of the chicken. "Best chicken wings in Seattle."

"If you say so. Drink your water." Logan laid back, crossing hands behind his head. He did win the choice of beverage. The 'doctor orders' line seemed to work magic on Rory, and Logan wasn't shy to exploit it.

"You're a chicken wings virgin." She teased, picking up her camera.

He opened one eye at her, "I didn't say I never had them."

"I'm pretty sure that if you don't do something for ten years that re-establish your virginity." Rory teased further.

"Says who?" He chuckled, amused. There were very few things Logan Huntzberger could still be considered a virgin at. "If you take my picture, I'll take one of you in the shower."

"My mom." Rory becomes suddenly fascinated with her water and quickly changed the subject. "How was New York?"

"Natalie needs to know whether I'm attending the Lorelai Gilmore Planetarium event this year."

"It is expected. I couldn't get out of it this year." Rory said, wiped her hands off a napkin and started to pack the remains of their lunch to keep her busy.

"I'll tell her I'm your plus one." His easy response caught her off guard. Were they each other's plus one now? Officially?

Ever since London, ever since the three positive tests in the bathroom, Logan seemed to hit switch gears. He was lighter; for the most part, his defenses were down. They hardly spent nights apart when in the same city. Logan made sure there will be chocolate cake in the fridge. She noticed their Greenwich photo pinned on its door.

His hand lingered at the small of her back instead of gently guiding her elbow, even in public.

And he kept looking at her like she's a wonder with that smile on his face.

"You don't have to do that." Rory polished the lens with her thumb.

Despite Emily Gilmore's discontent with Logan's presence in her life, Emily Gilmore didn't have beef with Logan as a concept. The Huntzbergers were dear friends of the family, after all. Respected members of society. Her grandma's exact words. It led Rory to believe her grandmother's problem with Logan was personal, which was alarming.

Rory didn't even want to wonder what her brief visit to the East Coast, after a six-month absence, with Logan on her arm would stir with her mother.

The only one who seemed genuinely happy about Logan was Richard. Her dad was his usual self; he was more concerned with Lorelai postponing the wedding.

"It's what baby partners do," Logan stated.

Do they? Rory hated the ambiguous meaning of Logan's baby partner terminology. What did it even mean?

There was the baby issue too. For now, they were keeping it quiet, still trying to find their footing in this new reality. On the one hand, everything was the same; keeping things quiet was the norm.

Yet everything was different.

Rory didn't feel pregnant. Her sexual libido oddly skyrocketed, and Logan as a very willing participant. London completely rewired his inhibitions. He seemed always to want her these days.

This was not how pregnant was in the movies.

She wasn't sick; she wasn't nauseous. She was tired, but she worked two jobs; she was always tired. If it weren't for extensive tests the doctor determined needed, and her increasing breast size – Rory sometimes forgot she's pregnant.

"What else is new apart from your new bra size?" Logan's hand pulled her down into the grass with him.

"What are you doing?" She managed a little yelp before his lips captured hers eagerly. "So, that's what you're doing."

"What did you think I was doing?" he mumbled before diving into another kiss. Rory pulled away just barely. She eyed the surrounding lawn with care. "We're in public, people will see."

"I don't care if people see."

"Yes, you do. A photographer will see you, and he'll take pictures of you and..."

"The only photographer I care in this particular manner is you." His dimples flashed out of his smirk; his hand brushed lightly over her now bra covered breast, finally settling discreetly on her stomach. "When's the doctor's appointment?"

She hoped he wouldn't ask, but what are the chances Logan wouldn't ask? Logan was always on top of these things. He kept reminding her – and she kept pushing back scheduling follow up the doctor appointments.

"You did schedule one, right?"

"I… I didn't… I want to change doctors. I don't like that one." Rory bites her lip nervously. The new doctor they went to after London made her self-conscious, plus, the woman had a bitter attitude and leered at Logan.

"Okay."

"Female or male doctor?" Rory asked. She kept waiting for the scolding that surprisingly didn't come.

"Whichever comes more highly recommended. I don't mind."

"You don't?" What happened to freak control Logan?

"No. Whatever works best for you. I just want to be there to see it. Make sure everything is intact. There could be a heartbeat by now." His excitement bubbled under his skin as his hand rubbed her flat stomach. She wished she'd be as excited as him. "Let's do it this week."

"You're here all week?" Rory reached to stroke his cheek. He didn't shave.

Between Logan flying back and forth between east and west again, and Rory picking up more stills-unit photography opportunities, they barely saw each other for more than two hours aside to work time.

"I'm here all week." He confirmed, smiling against her lips, glancing briefly at his watch, "And you're uninterruptedly mine for the next two hours."

"Yeah?" His smile is catching on her, "What are you gonna do about that?"

~w~


"You can get back in the game if you'd sell it to me." Rory looked at the board game discouraged.

Her refusal to eat broccoli cost her the right to object to the rest of the evening activity. Logan's trick of allowing her the choice of food sedated her into false blissful victory, only hit her with a curveball of a board game that imitated real-life money skills.

"I'm not selling." She glared at him. Rory was starting to wish she had agreed to eat that broccoli. A Monday night playing monopoly is such a waste.

"You do realize you are broke?"

"I'm not broke; I have properties."

"And no liquid funds." He pointed out. He loved it. Winning, Logan loved to win.

"I'm not selling it so you can develop your monstrous casino strip and rip me off."

"I don't need your property to do that. I can just develop the whole area around you and force you to sell." Logan was damn competitive, and Rory really sucked at Monopoly.

"This property is the first one I bought in the game. It has sentimental value. I will never sell." Rory huffed, annoyed at his cockiness.

"Very 'You've Got Mail' of you. But if you do, you'll get enough money to pay your debts, develop your other properties, and build a hotel. Hence, increase the returns when someone lands on your lot." Logan reasoned, "How else were you planning to win?"

"I'm hoping to win the lottery and take the game."

"That's a terrible business strategy." He summed up, shaking the dice for his turn. "You know, you could pawn your property to the bank, buy another property with the loan, and hopefully that will increase your possible returns."

"Logan, just roll the dice."

Logan moved his pawn the number of steps the dice instructed, ending up in her lot. Rory grinned with satisfaction, eagerly gripping his paper-money rent. Logan kept a hold on the notes.

"Who deals with the financial side of your freelancing?" he asked seriously.

"No one. I keep track and file everything at the end of the year for a tax deduction."

"So, you have no idea if your regular income exceeds your expenditure?"

"I have some idea. I have a budget."

"Yeah? What's the estimate?" he questioned.

"None of your business." Rory pulled at the notes harder. She didn't want to talk about money with him.

"I know what your paycheck looks like; I sign it. I didn't want to know what Marie Claire pays you, but Mitchum made sure I'd know. There's no way you can afford the rent of your apartment just based on that. I assume the wedding photography gave you a good steady income, but you're not doing that anymore. The stills unit photography work isn't regular. How much does the stills work pay?"

"It depends. There's more job during the summer." Rory jump at the opportunity for a change of subject, "Did I tell you I might get a chance to do Grey's? They are going to film some outdoor scenes in town. Rumor is they need a lot of personal because they are shooting multiple locations at the same time."

"Grey's?" Logan inquired, honoring her attempt to deflect the conversation.

"Grey's Anatomy. For a plot that takes place in Seattle, they rarely come film here. Everyone is excited. It's network TV. It's good money. I've never done any TV stuff." She mused, "Probably lots of blood shots too."

"Cool. I can ask my accountant to look it over." Logan flipped back to the original discussion.

"I don't need your accountant to look it over. I have an excel file."

"Alright. I can take a look; I know the basics."

"No."

"Honestly, I don't mind."

"Because that's what baby partners do?" Rory retorted bitterly, throwing the dice it a little too forcefully onto the floor. She landed her on GO; "Yes! I get 200$ from the bank."

Logan looked as if he was considering his next words. "I want us to open a joint expenditure account."

"What?" Rory was beyond alarmed.

"For the baby."

"That's not in the contract. Money is separated." Rory stated. "Let's stick to the contract on that. No needed for us to talk about money."

"I don't want to stick to the contract on that. You wouldn't even let me pay for your bra."

"Of course you don't, you want to control everything. Just like you went ahead and sent Natalie to buy me three very expensive lingerie sets." Rory accused angrily. "I don't want your money."

Honestly, Logan couldn't quite understand her irritation with the gift. At first she loved it.

"She did not buy you lingerie. Running errands is part of her job, Rory. She didn't handpick them; she just picked up the order from the store." Logan decided to stick with that version of the truth. Once in the store, Natalie did advise him to trade two sexy pairs with more basic ones, which Rory seemed to prefer. He's never going to confess that now. "I know you don't want my money. It doesn't make you a martyr to repeatedly say it, Rory. It's just plain annoying."

"Your assistant doesn't need to know my bra size, Logan."

"People don't need to know how I asked you to dance in a gas station, that your mother knows that we used three condoms in one night, or what our fights are about either - but they are going to read it in Marie Claire every month. I live with the consequences of your career - you live with Natalie picking up the underwear I wanted to buy you."

God, when Logan got angry, he could sure get flogging.

Rory's eyes turned steely cold, "Because that's what baby partners do?"

"Yes, that exactly what baby partners do!" He said hotly.

"What does that even means?!" She countered back in frustration. "You can't just change the rules whenever you feel like it, Logan. We stick to the contract. Nothing changed."

"Everything has changed." He said as a matter of fact, "I'm not trying to control anything. But, you just proved you have no idea what your actual cash flow is. So yes, I think we should forget the contract for a moment and talk about money. Like adults."

"Fine. Let me summarize. Rory –" she pointed at herself, "doesn't need charity. And I don't need you to rescue me or finance me. And Logan –" Her finger turned towards him, "has more money than he can count. Good for you. Game over."

Rory fisted a nice amount of the house pieces decorating the Monopoly board with the full intention to pack the game. His hand quickly covered her hand, stopping her motion.

"My money will be the baby's money. You are aware of that, right?" He raised an eyebrow at her, "You are aware that the human being growing inside of you is going to be born into wealth. It's not gonna lack anything. And one day, it's going to inherit a shit-load of billions of dollars."

"My mom raised me in a humble, financially conscious home - I never lacked anything." She hissed at him venomously.

Logan pressed his lips together. Deciding it's better to stay mum.

"What?"

"Do you have student loans?"

"What?"

"I'm not the only one here who comes from money. I doubt Richard Gilmore could stand the humiliation of his granddaughter attending his alma-mater based on student loans. In fact, I'm pretty sure Yale admission office wasn't blind to the fact that you are a Gilmore, especially since there's a god-damn building in your name on campus. So don't give me that crap about growing up in a humble, financially conscious home."

Rory narrowed her eyes at him; how dare he bring her grandfather into the argument. "That's my grandparents. I didn't even want that!"

"You don't pay rent either, do you?"

"I pay rent." Rory objected. Every month she transferred her father the random number he named once and ignored the fact that he just ordered it to transform into another trust in her name. It's the game they played for both of them to feel good.

"Yeah? What's your landlord's name?"

"Christopher."

"Christopher, what? Christopher Robin?"

"Christopher Hayden." She pulled her hand out of his grip, rising to her feet. "Game over."

"Rory." He called after her back, watching her beeline angrily towards the chocolate cake in the fridge. Logan wasn't sure if it was for comfort or just the pregnancy. She never answered.

Logan decided a break might do good. He silently finished collecting all of the game's essentials back in the box, then made his way into the kitchen.

"You proved your point. Leave me alone." Rory forked a massive piece of chocolate cake into her mouth.

"I'm not trying to prove any point." He sighed, "I'm talking about one shared account, not a combination of assets, Rory. We'll both transfer an agreeable amount of money each month, and all baby expenses will deduct from there. I don't want to slip you a twenty if the kid needs shoes. It's ridiculous. Everything else will still be separated. It's just another credit card in your wallet."

"With your name on it. You won't need to slip my a twenty; I can pay my own way. You don't need to supervise me." She says sourly. The look on her face indicated he put his foot down on something big.

"I won't be supervising you. We'll both have access. I don't get why you get this defensive when we talk money. We need to talk about money…"

"I get defensive? I get defensive!? Mr. I preserve my right for silence whenever I see fit. Do you want to talk? Fine." Rory stabbed the cake with her fork, the cream breaking. She dropped it, wiping her eyes angrily though he can't detect tears. "Fine. Let's talk, let's really talk. Let's talk about Chelsea."

Rory expected him to plead the fifth; she expected him to say a firm 'No.' She never expected him to counter back with a challenge:

"Fine." Logan crossed his arms over his chest "Then, let's talk about your mom."

Rory felt a warm wave through her tissues, the beginning of cold sweat, followed by the gagging contraction of her throat. Her hand quickly flew to cover her mouth.

She made it just in time to empty her stomach in the toilet. Him following closely.

"You are not welcome in my bed tonight," Rory informed him between her tries to settle her breath.

"My bed," Logan corrected, holding her hair. He can't tell if the cause is her usual panic nervousness or pregnancy sickness. "I'll sleep on the couch."

"I'm not sorry." She announced stubbornly.

"Me either. I'll get you some water."

He was too riled up to sleep anyway.

~w~


"We get to the end of the date, and he takes out his wallet and asks if I want to pay my way." Shiri recited her last night date with horror. "Um, no, buddy, it's the first date, be a gentleman, and you pay for drinks."

"Did you pay?" Kate asked, stirring the noodles in her Pho soup.

Rory vetoed Sushi, so Vietnamese was a fair settlement. Nicole praised Rory of her choice of vegetarian dish and her inquiry of the freshness of ingredients. Logan would be proud too - but she wasn't speaking to him. For the second day in a row.

She knows he's been watching movies in repeat the night of their fight. She heard every scene. She had finally fallen asleep the second time Rene Zellweger's character broke up with Jerry Maguire.

In the morning, Logan and his gym back were gone. There was a glass of lemon water waiting for her, a pack of crackers and two travel coffee mugs – one with coffee, one with water – waiting for her with a note: 'EAT SOMETHING.'

Logan could be so sweet yet so infuriating bossy at the same time.

"Obviously. How could I not after that?" Shiri loaded the extra vegetables into the bowl. "Kate, you had it so easy with Ryan; you have no idea."

"Our first date was a college party. There was a keg. It's not very romantic, but surely helped avoid the who pays dilemma."

"But it's real. My college boyfriend was a douche-bag, but I wouldn't object to marry him and be over with the whole dating scene." Shiri argued. "You should thank your lucky-stars Ben hired Patel, Nicole. Trust me."

"Logan hired him."

"Don't thank Logan; his ego is inflated enough." Shiri laughed with her water glass in hand. Rory couldn't help but silently agree.

"The equal-feminist act goes out of the window so fast you wouldn't believe." Nicole said, "Last week, Patel told me I spend too much on clothes. Can you believe it? It's my hard-earned cash, I'll spend whatever I want, wherever I want. The fact that he decided to pull out a ring does not mean he gets a say."

"Amen, sister!" Kate cheered lightly.

"Just wait until he offers to have his accountant review your bank statement and your tax returns. Or decides you need to open a shared account because he doesn't want to slip you a twenty in case your kids need shoes." The words oozed uncontrollably bitter out of her mouth; Rory caught her slip when a stunned silence that followed.

Shiri sputtered her water.

"Oh, wow." Nicole stuttered as she blinked in surprise. "Wow… I… I didn't think it was that serious."

"We…" Shiri exchanged a quick look with Nicole and Kate. "We thought you and Logan were just fucking. A lot. I mean, the other day, you returned from that ridiculously long lunch practically glowing. He's that good, huh?"

"Oh please, she's been in and out of his bed for years. It's been serious for a while." Kate said, throwing a concerned look Rory's way. "Kids, huh?"

Rory tried to hide the quiver of her lower lip by taking a sip. The water glass shook in her hand. She felt the first wetness of tears under her eyelashes. It was one thing to confirm she and Logan were an item. Kate did say everyone in the office knew anyway but kept quiet. It's entirely another to air their dirty laundry.

Logan would go ballistic.

Nicole offered a napkin.

"Well, What did you expect? He is a thirty-two years old multimillionaire he needs to protect his money. and he's not getting any younger." Shiri shrugged, "Natalie said the rumor in New York is that his dad is postponing his inheritance until he produces an heir and comes back to New York."

"What?" Rory's voice is un-mistakenly upset now. Nicole hurried to offer more napkins.

"Natalie said it was a rumor." Shiri retracted quickly at the photographer's upset response, "I bet Logan picks up the tab on a date."

"Just stop talking." Kate breathed as Rory's waterworks broke, her tears dropping into her soup.

~w~


"You're quiet today." Ben stood in the door of Current's CEO holding a bottle of whisky by its neck and two glasses. The blonde man was staring at the records hanging on the wall above the yellow couch; a pen is held between his two hands, lost in thoughts.

"Just distracted. It's a little early for you." Logan eyed the bottle as his business partner took a seat across his desk. The door is shutting softly behind him.

"Yes, but not for you." Ben unscrewed the bottle, pour a portion into each glass. "I need to run something by you."

"Shoot." Logan dropped his pen on the desk. It's not like he was getting anything else done anyway.

"I think we should start bringing fresh blood in; we're underperforming our business targets." Ben left his glass untouched. Logan played with his, undecided whether to indulge or pass.

"We can't afford new hiring at this point."

"I know, that's why I was thinking of offering two college internships positions for the summer."

"You think college internships are a sham."

"You know I think it's exploiting, but we need more hands. They'll learn on the go, gain experience, a recommendation letter; maybe if they're good, we can keep them on part-time or full time." Ben answered thoughtfully, "It will keep new ideas coming and reduce costs of new hiring when we need ones. "

"That sounds like something Mitchum would do." Logan looked down at the Amber liquid in his glass reluctantly. He was trying to cut back on the drinking.

"I expect we are one staffer down in about roughly six months. If I'm not mistaken." Ben's voice remained steadily quiet as he finally grabbed his drink, "If all goes well, I'm down a CEO in eighteen months, too."

Logan let a small smile split. Ben was on to him. "How?"

"You've been different ever since London." Ben countered back with his own question. "You happy?

"Me? I'm ecstatic. I'm worried."

"No one is ever ready. That's why you have nine months." Ben offered some reassurance, "And Rory?"

"I don't know. Most of the time, she acts as if it isn't happening. Like nothing changed." Logan rubbed his face; he hated to admit defeat. He just couldn't quite figure it out where it has gone wrong. "She's not really speaking to me at the moment."

Ben looked amused, "A taste of your own medicine?"

"We're fighting about baby stuff. Money."

"I didn't know people who had money argue about money." Ben mused.

Logan gave him a weary look. "I'm not sure it's about money. She's freaking out on me."

"I think Rory was on some wild ride to prove you something when this whole thing started and she never thought it'll get this far." Ben adjusted his glasses. His nerves tell. "Look, ultimately, you and Rory want the same thing. You just go about it in opposite ways. You want to keep the whole world at bay in order to cement this. Rory wants to have a solid claim on the territory to signal the whole world to back off."

"She's my baby partner. You can't get any more solid than that. We've been over this so many times." Logan gave into frustration, taking a sip.

"I don't think Rory is as clear on the concept as you are." Ben said gently, "And Chelsea being back in the picture doesn't help."

"Chelsea is not back in the picture."

"But Rory doesn't know that – does she?" Ben sipped his whiskey to hide the pregnant pause. "Let's stop with this ridiculous segregation. Rory should come to dinner. At ours."

"Ben."

"If you took her to London, she can come to dinner." Logan didn't answer. But he didn't need to; Ben knew he hit the nail. "You'll do the internships interviews, right? You know how I hate this."

~w~


Logan used his key to enter the apartment. The familiar drop of keys in the bowl next to the door, the dull thud as he kicked off his dress shoes, followed by the comforting sound of his socks covered steps.

"I got Indian. Extra samosas." Logan states the obvious.

The smell of food assaulted her senses through the cloud of degenerates fumes. Rory didn't even know she was hungry.

She kept her back on him, standing by the sink, looking at her hands covered with gloves and foam. "I'm only talking to you because you came in bearing food."

"I can live with that. Doesn't the cleaner comes in tomorrow?" Logan asked confused.

"She does. And my dad pays for it too. If you must know." Rory replied sarcastically, scrubbing the stainless steel sink faster, "And he should. He should pay for the apartment as he should have paid for Yale. He should pay for it because he never opted to pay for anything. Anything. He once tried to buy me the newest oxford dictionary, and his credit card was declined. And you know what you he said? He said: don't tell your mom about this."

Rory continued scrubbing forcefully without turning. "So, no, I would never need you to slip me a twenty. I'm not going to be like my father any more than I already am."

Ah. The daddy issues. That's the landmine he stepped on two nights ago.

"I don't want to be like my dad, either." Logan touched her elbow gently, startling her. She didn't hear him come closer.

Rory stopped her scrubbing motions; she brushed loose strands of her off her face with the back of her hand, her face half turned. "Is it true your dad is holding off your inheritance until you produce an heir?"

"What?" Logan looked like she flogged him with a baseball bat. This was not the conversation he expected to have. "Where did you hear that?"

"Lunch."

"Okay," Logan said slowly, turning her fully to face him. "I need something more to work with here. Lunch with whom?"

"Shiri said Natalie said."

"Aha." His ability to quickly recollect himself is admirable.

"Is it?" Rory kept looking at him expectedly, throwing off her gloves into the sink. Like she was gearing up another fight, which she probably was.

"Not entirely, and probably not the way you heard it."

"Is that what's it all about? Is there a time limit for producing the Huntzberger heir? Do you lose your inheritance if you don't produce one in X time? Doesn't matter who is it with?"

"No." He repeated, "No. It's not a Chris O'Donnell movie, there's no time limit. Of course it matters. It has nothing to do with my inheritance. Come sit down." He tried to guide her gently away from the sink.

"I don't want to sit down; I want you to answer the question."

"I did answer the question."

"No, you didn't." Rory insisted.

Logan stepped back, "If it were up to Mitchum, I'd be sitting in the office on the executive floor in New York by now. I was supposed to be officially named successor at his sixty birthday party last year. It's not my dad who's holding off the transition. It's me."

"What?"

"I asked him to postpone it. I asked not to announce it yet."

"I need to sit down." Rory felt slightly lightheaded. She found herself sinking slowly to the floor. "Why?"

"Because we were starting our thing, and I wanted to be in Seattle for this - and he knew it." Logan crunched down opposite of her, "It took some negotiations, but we agreed on my Huntzberger obligations."

"And producing an heir is one of them?"

"No. Huntzberger's obligation is the things I need to do professionally, legally, and the public persona I need to maintain for the sake of the family business. I promised you in New York it wouldn't include you, and I intend to keep that promise. My family is absolved. It remains private."

"I'm not family."

"You're my baby partner." Logan exhaled, holding his frustration, "Rory, all you need to know about the deal is that I'm taking a back seat while I build my family - away from New York. And I get the first year of my kid's life uninterrupted, and my family remains off-limits. Those were my conditions."

"And his?"

Logan paused, "He knows it's either that or I'm out. The old man is not ready to retire yet, anyway."

"And after that?" She kept waiting for the catch. Logan avoided her previous question.

"Once the year is up, we go to New York. Full Huntzberger obligations, no more Seattle, New York is end game." We. He didn't say 'I.' He said we. Who were we? Logan and his kid? Her? Him and her?

"What about Current?" Rory's heart filled with both exhilaration and fear, "What if I don't want to go to New York?"

"I love Seattle. I like how laid back it is here. I love that I can drive out of the city and the outdoors and the ocean stretch forever. And I love the fact that no one cares about who I am here. I can walk down the street, run in the park, I can go I can sit in a restaurant at dinner, and no one will approach me, or try to pitch me… But New York is the end game. I can't run the empire based in Seattle." Logan looks almost sad, his finger hesitatingly brushed her bangs, "We cross that bridge when we get there."

"But the contract says…"

"Contracts can be altered. We cross that bridge when we get there. You're my baby partner – you get a say."

"God, Logan, what does that title even mean?" He keeps using it and Rory still doesn't know what the hell did it mean.

"It means your my Ace of Spades." Logan pressed his forehead to hers.

"I'm going to have to google it, don't I?" Her confusion is mixed with a hint of a sob. Sometimes, his explanations were just another riddle that required more clarification than the original.

He chuckled, "You never played Bridge, did you? It's the highest card in the pack."

"Your Ace, huh?" The waterworks uncontrollably started again.

Logan gives her that rare, shy, vulnerable smile. His thumb smudging her tears. "Why does good things always makes you end up crying on the floor?"

"Because I love you, you idiot."