AN: Hey guys. I just wanted to take a moment to be a bit of a sap at the beginning of this. I really really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I've had this chapter envisioned so clearly in my mind since the first time I sat down to write this fic, and now that it's finally here I'm really proud of it and grateful for all of the support you've given me over this journey. Thank you so much!

Chapter Thirty-Five

Saturday, July 14, 2018

"Two drifters off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see."

Rory took a deep breath as she looked at herself in the mirror. She tucked a strand of hair that was hanging out from the loosely braided chignon at the nape of her neck behind her ear and poked the earring she was holding in her hand carefully through the hole in the middle of her ear lobe. She'd taken them out a while ago, Ellie having decided that they were simply too pretty and sparkly to not tug on at every single opportunity.

It had been a long morning.

She'd been manicured, pedicured, made up, her hair twisted and pulled in every which direction. It was only mid afternoon, and she was already sporting a tiny little headache from the mimosas that they'd been drinking all morning - thankfully it was nothing that a little bit of Tylenol wouldn't knock out in a few minutes. Yet, despite the breakneck pace the day had gotten off to at the very beginning, she couldn't deny that it had been a good one, and they were just about to get to the fun part.

The sound of organ music had been drifting through the halls of the church for a few minutes now, rising over the growing voices of the crowd as people started piling into the vestibule and taking their seats inside. And, the louder the voices grew, the closer Rory knew they were getting to show time.

Rory popped the other earring in her ear and slid her feet out of the comfortable flats that she had packed with her and into the silver pin heels that were sitting next to her on the floor. When she stood up again, she took one final look in the floor length mirror in front of her, smoothing out her hair and running her hand along the chiffon of her dress. Satisfied with her appearance, she reached over to the end table next to the couch, and picked up the lush bouquet of white and dusty pink roses that she had set down when she walked in.

She was just about to turn around and leave when she was suddenly startled by the sound of a gentle rapping against the door. She jumped a bit, and when she eventually did turn she noticed her father leaning against the door frame with his knuckles resting against the door and an affectionate smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes.

"Hey, kiddo," he said, standing up straight walking over to her. "You look beautiful."

Rory smiled at him in return and looked up and down at his nicely tailored light grey tux.

"Thanks," she said. "You look pretty good yourself."

"Not as good as you," said Chris. He placed his hands on her arms and leaned down to press a kiss on her cheek. "You might be the most beautiful woman in this building."

Rory laughed and shook her head in response to the statement.

"I certainly hope not," she said. "Last I checked the bridesmaids aren't supposed to be more beautiful than the bride."

"Hmm," Chris hummed, pretending to very seriously consider what she had just said as if it was the first time the thought had occurred to him. Rory rolled her eyes affectionately. "Well, I have to say I am a bit partial to the bride myself. But, you're definitely the most beautiful woman in this building other than the bride."

"And your other daughter," Rory shot back with a raised eyebrow.

"My other daughter isn't a woman. She's a little girl. She's four."

"She's fifteen," Rory laughed. Christopher started scratching at the hair around his temple, and he sat down on the armrest of the couch, defeated.

"She brought her boyfriend here today."

The look on her father's face was tortured, and Rory found herself trying to hold in another laugh at his expense. She didn't remember him reacting this badly to Dean, but she was definitely picking up some flavors of his expression the time that she'd dropped the fact that she moved into Logan's apartment into his lap.

"I saw that," she said with a smile. Gigi, being a junior bridesmaid, had been with them all morning, but the moment guests had started filing into the church, she'd completely abandoned the wedding party and had spent every single second hovering around a cute young boy with black hair and a suit that he wasn't quite able to fill out in the shoulders just yet.

"Little weasel…" Christopher grumbled.

"I don't remember you being this upset about Dean," said Rory. The few times Dean and her father had interacted with each other, they'd gotten along perfectly fine. Rory wouldn't say that they were ever great buddies, but they were always friendly to each other. And Christopher never had the look on his face that he had now when talking about Dean. At least not in front of Rory…

"I tolerated Dean," Chris clarified. "And I hated that other little punk you dated. The one that broke your arm? What's his name? Jeff?"

"Jess," Rory corrected with a roll of her eyes. "And he didn't break my arm. It was an accident. He was trying to avoid running into an animal on the road. I've never understood what was so terrible about that."

"Likely story," Chris said.

"You know, I've always found it odd that out of all my boyfriends the only one that you've genuinely liked is Logan, and he's the one you caught with his hand up my shirt at Grandma and Grandpa's vow renewal and the one who got me pregnant out of wedlock while we were having an affair."

"I seem to remember a period of time when I considered him a member of the rodent family as well…" Chris countered, referring directly to the first incident mentioned where he'd used similar language to describe him.

"Weasels aren't rodents, actually," said Rory. "They're mustelids. They're carnivores. Rodents are herbivores."

"Well… I'm glad you cleared that up. Thank you," her father teased. "Anyway...Logan's a fun guy. He's easy to get along with. And he treats you well... He does treat you well, right?"

Rory smiled affectionately at her Dad. It had been a while since they'd had a talk like this - a talk about life and love, a talk where he had his Dad hat planted firmly on his head. Talks like these were few and far between in their relationship in general, but it was nice to know they could still stumble into one every one in awhile, even when she was in her thirties with a kid of her own.

"He treats me well," Rory confirmed. "And he treats Ellie well too."

"Well, what more is there to ask for, then?" asked Chris. "Besides... What kind of hypocrite would I be to judge a man for getting a woman pregnant out of wedlock?"

"Touché," Rory said with a laugh.

He had a point there. Both she and Gigi had come before his other previous marriages. And even though two decades had passed between her birth and his marriage to her mother, Rory had always felt that even after all that time, there was a part of their affection for each other that was rooted in a subconscious obligation, or at the very least an ingrained assumption that they should be together. This was really the first marriage that he was entering into free of any baggage or outside influence. And it showed.

"You look happy," she said. Chris smiled.

"I am happy, kid," he replied. "You look happy too, you know."

"You know, I'm not bad," Rory answered with a nod of her head. "I guess I have you to thank for that in a way."

Chris' eyes squinted in confusion.

"Me?" he asked. "Why's that?"

"Just … thinking about that night at Grandma and Grandpa's vow renewal reminded me of something," she said. "Remember that conversation that we had on that couch? When you told me about your first kiss with Mom?"

"Yeah," Chris said with a nod. "I remember."

"You told me that you liked that Mom knew what she wanted. That she made the first move. And I…"

"Wound up in a back room with Logan?" Chris asked. Rory blushed in response and laughed a little bit.

"Yeah…" she said. "I really liked him. But he… Well… I don't think anything would have ever happened between us if I hadn't made the first move. If you hadn't told me that story."

"Well…" said Chris. "I'm glad I got the dad thing right at least once for you."

"It was more than once, Dad."

Christopher stood up from his perch on the couch. He walked over to her and pressed a kiss onto her forehead.

"I love you, kiddo," he said. As he stepped away, he squeezed her arm affectionately and nodded his head in the direction of the door. "Anyway, I'd better get going. I was given strict orders by the wedding planner to get to the entrance by the front of the church. I just saw you in here on my way, and I couldn't avoid telling you how wonderful you looked."

Rory was about to make a comment about how he'd better not cross the Army general of a wedding planner that Lana had hired for today's event, even if there were a few more minutes before the ceremony was slated to begin. Yet, before she had the chance, she was interrupted by a very familiar shriek and giggle coming from the doorway. Both she and Chris turned in the direction of the sound, and Rory's heart burst when her eyes landed on the sight awaiting her.

Logan was standing hunched over in the doorway with their daughter's hands grasped firmly his own. Ellie was dressed in a little white dress with satin bodice and a fluffy tulle skirt. A mauve sash was tied around her waist in a bow, matching the chiffon of Rory's bridesmaid's dress, and her blond wavy hair was pushed back by a headband of white and pink roses. She was lifting her white mary jane clad feet, and placing one in front of the other while her father helped her maintain her balance.

"Look, there she is!" said Logan, pointing across the room to Rory while still holding on to Ellie's hand. "There's mommy!"

"Mama!" Ellie cheered. Then, using every bit of strength she had, she tugged her arms down, signaling to Logan that she wanted him to let her go. When he obliged, Ellie started wobbling her way over to her mother as fast as she could, completely unaided.

"Hi, baby!" Rory said with a brilliant smile as she crouched down to the floor and held her arms out for her little girl. She scooped her up just as the baby was about to reach her limit of independent steps and stood up.

"She's been looking for you," said Logan as he stepped in the room with his hands in his pockets. "She got really confused for a second because she ran up to Lana's sister and latched onto her leg thinking she was you."

Such was the hazard of matching bridesmaids dresses. It didn't help that she and Lana's sister, Meghan,were very similar in size and had the same hair color. She wouldn't fault a grown adult for mistaking them for each other from behind, so she definitely didn't have a problem imagining that her thirteen month old daughter had gotten them mixed up.

"Mama!" Ellie said again and she immediately started pulling on the earrings dangling from Rory's ears once again. "Mama. Mamamamamama Mama."

"No, sweetheart," Rory said over her babbles. She reached up and gently grabbed at her daughter's hand, trying to pull it away from her ears. "Don't pull on Mommy's ear. That hurts."

As soon as Rory successfully pried Ellie's fingers away from her jewelry, the stones in question fell to the floor and landed by her feet. Ellie watched them fall as they slipped from her tiny fingers, and pointed to them on the ground.

"Uh oh!" she said, looking up at her mother and then over at her grandfather to see if they shared in her assessment of the situation. "Uh oh!"

"Yeah, uh oh," Rory agreed with a laugh. Next to her, Logan bent down to pick up the earring from the floor, and then, rather valiantly, started refastening it to her earlobe.

"Can you say Papa, cupcake?" asked Chris. "Can you say Papa?"

"Mama," Ellie replied.

"Say Papa," Chris repeated. "Pa Pa."

"Mama."

Chris sighed in defeat.

"Well, I know when I've lost," he said. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on Ellie's cheek with an audible 'mwah.' "I guess I'll see you guys out there."

He started crossing across the room, stopping for a moment to say a quick hello to Logan and shake his hand on his way out. Once he had left, Logan was pretty quick to follow, telling her that he was going to go grab a seat inside the church before it got too packed.

Rory watched him leave, and she felt a strange stirring in her heart. Her mind flashed back to the conversation she'd just had with her dad and to the night of her grandparents' vow renewal. The memory of that night was was seemingly oddly poignant at the moment. Important. Though she wasn't exactly sure why.

But, realizing that she didn't have time to think too much about it, she looked down at Ellie and smiled.

"Are you ready, baby?" she asked, hitching her up on her hip. "Are you ready to walk down the aisle? Are you ready to see Papa get married?"

Ellie only cooed in response, and Rory took a deep breath. Then, as she walked to meet the rest of the bridal party at the front of the church, she took inspiration from the venue she was standing in to say a silent prayer that sending her baby down the aisle on her feet by herself wouldn't end in total disaster.


By the time Logan made it into the church, the room was already bristling with guests. Thankfully, however, Lorelai had managed to save him a seat next to her and Emily at one of the pews near the front on the groom's side. He slid in easily, taking a seat next to the aisle.

It was a big wedding. He'd been somewhat surprised at the size and scale of the event that they had planned. After all, Chris was fifty years old and it wasn't exactly like this was his first rodeo. Most people of his age tended to go for smaller ceremonies, especially if it wasn't their first. But, the more he thought about it the more he realized that it made sense.

This may have been Chris' third wedding, but it was Lana's first. He didn't know the Pomeroys very well, but he knew them well enough to know that a big church wedding was at the very least expected if not actively wanted. Yet, judging by Lana and Chris' attitudes during the entire process, he had to think that they truly did want a big wedding. They both seemed to revel in the planning of it, and they seemed genuinely excited to share the day with so many people.

Personally, Logan had never really understood the appeal of huge weddings. He'd suffered through his sister's, complaining every step of the way from the tux fittings to the rehearsal dinner. He'd gotten through Colin's in a similar fashion, but then he'd at least had the advantage of paying him back for it through his best man's speech. And as for his own wedding… well Logan had completely tuned out of anything and everything that had to do with the planning of his own wedding.

The whole thing had seemed like such a farce to him. Every time that his fiancée or his mother would force him to give an opinion about colors or flowers or caterers hours after he had said yet another painful and longing goodbye to the woman that he was actually in love with, a part of his soul felt like it was dying. He was so sure that he would never enjoy a wedding again, that he would ever look at an event like this one and see anything other than a show of disingenuous grandstanding, that he would never understand why someone would want to put themselves through something like this.

He was starting to see why now.

He had to admit there was something nice about the idea of having all their friends and family under one roof to celebrate their commitment to each other. There was something nice about the formality of it all, the way that it added a sense of importance and significance to the day. Sitting here now, he was starting to think that going through it himself might actually not be that bad.

A sudden well of nerves started to build up in his chest at the thought. They'd been following him around all day, but sitting in this pew listening to the organist playing Bach with roses all around him and a line of groomsmen standing at the altar, the feeling was growing more and more apparent. He was about to place his hand against the awkward bulge in his jacket next to his beating heart as he had been doing all day. Every time his nerves had started to act up, his hand had found itself unconsciously checking his breast pocket. Yet, before he could all the heads around him suddenly turned around to face the back of the church. Logan followed suit, shifting in his seat as he watched Lana's best friend make her way gracefully down the aisle. She was undoubtedly beautiful and poised, but Logan only had eyes for the woman that was following behind her.

He'd already seen Rory today. He'd seen her several times, and he had just left her in the dressing room not ten minutes ago. Yet, for some reason, as he watched her walking down the aisle of the beautiful church they were sitting in with a bouquet in her hands and light from the stained glass windows falling on her face, he found himself completely bowled over by how unbelievably gorgeous she was.

Lana undoubtedly had excellent taste in dresses. The light mauve color looked incredible against her skin, and the halter neckline gathered the chiffon material away from her sides in a way that showed off her shoulders and her slim arms. The waist hit her in just the right spot, and the slit in the leg was undeniably doing things to him. Naughty things. There was only one change Logan would have made had he been given the opportunity. As nice as the dusty purplish color was, he couldn't help but think how much more incredible she would look in blue.

As Rory walked closer to the front of the church, her eyes landed on his and didn't leave. He held her gaze, smiling softly at her as long as he could, only dropping contact when she eventually walked past him and settled up at the front. Gigi eventually filed into line behind her, followed by Lana's sister, but Logan had a hard time tearing his eyes away from Rory. He didn't until an overwhelming chorus of 'ohs' and 'aws' echoed through the room. When he turned, he saw his little girl wobbling her way down the aisle.

He wasn't aware that the feeling in his heart could grow any larger, but as was often the case with Ellie, she'd proven him wrong once again. He and Rory had both been worried about whether or not she would actually walk down the aisle as she was supposed to. She'd only really become confident on her feet within the last couple weeks, and she was prone to distraction. The rose petals had already been scattered on the floor. Lana had made that decision, not wanting to give her any more tasks than absolutely necessary. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he wasn't so sure.

Ellie came to an abrupt stop about a third of the way down the aisle. She bent over, somehow managing not to completely throw off her balance, and picked up one of the petals on the floor. She examined in it her hand for a moment, before looking over at a random woman sitting in the pew right next to her on the bride's side of the church. Ellie studied her for a moment, and eventually walked over to her, handing the petal to the woman like she would hand a food wrapper to her mother. Logan cringed in worry, but the entire church only erupted in a chorus of laughter at the sight.

The woman pointed to the front of the church and whispered something to Ellie, no doubt an encouragement for her to keep walking, and after a couple of seconds Ellie decided to oblige her. She walked a couple more feet before she was distracted yet again by another petal on the ground. This time, however, instead of merely bending over, she sat down completely on the floor. Her butt hit the ground in an ungraceful plop, and she picked up petals in both of her hands to start waving them around in front of her.

The guests all laughed and cooed at her again, but Logan realized that something needed to be done to keep the ceremony going. He stepped out of the pew he was sitting in and squatted down on the floor, holding out his arms to her.

"Ellie," he called. "Ellie, come to Daddy, Sweet Pea."

Unfortunately, his calls didn't catch her attention. An older woman in the pew next to her current spot was able to grab the baby's attention, pointing toward Logan. Ellie looked in the direction of her finger and a gleeful smile split across her face at seeing him standing there. She pulled herself up from the ground, wobbling just a little bit before righting herself. And with a sudden burst of childish energy, she took off toward him like a little speeding bullet on stumpy legs.

"Dada!" she laughed as she went, much to the ongoing delight of everyone around them.

Logan scooped her into his arms as soon as she reached him, and when he slipped back into the pew he made eye contact with Rory once again. She smiled lovingly at him, and though the music changed and everyone around him stood up and turned around to watch the bride walk down the aisle, Logan never looked away from her.

"Hey…" said a familiar voice in his ear. He felt a playful tap on his shoulder, and he turned his neck to see Lorelai looking at him with a smile and a sparkle in her eye. She pointed to the back of the room where Lana had just started making her way down the aisle on her father's arm. "The bride is that way, you know."

He knew. He just thought that the real sight to behold was already up there.

Then, once again without any active thought or consideration, he found his hand reaching up to his breast pocket, and a feeling of relief washed over him as it was met with the feeling of the bulge inside of it.


"Noooo!"

The piercing screams were so loud, that Rory was pretty sure the entire banquet hall could probably hear them, even over the exuberant sound of horns blaring Earth Wind and Fire's September at a decibel that seemed entirely unnecessary for the enclosed space.

"Noo! No nah no. Nah nah. No, Mama!"

Rory's heart broke as she looked at the bright red face of her little girl. Crocodile tears were falling down her face, and her little arms were reaching out to her in desperation. She started to calm down as Rory took a step closer to her, but when she realized that she was merely handing off a bag and not about to take her into her arms, her hysterics only worsened.

"Somebody's real tired," Lorelai said, hitching up the little girl in her arms as she slung the overnight bag Rory had packed for her over her shoulder. "She's gonna fall asleep as soon as her butt hits that car seat."

There was no doubt that Ellie was tired. It had been a long day for all of them, and a very exciting one for her. They'd tried to put her down for a nap between the ceremony and the reception, but she was just too wound up from all the attention and excitement happening all around her to sleep much at all. She'd dozed off for a couple minutes, but they couldn't keep her asleep to save their lives.

Then there was the fact that they were entering into the separation anxiety stage. Recently, every time Rory left her sight she started crying out for her, even if she was simply walking into the next room. She would usually settle for Logan after a few minutes, but being left with anyone other than Mama or Dada was absolutely unacceptable to her.

All of those factors combined were culminating in one of the biggest meltdowns of her young little life, and Rory was seriously doubting her decision to proceed with the evening as planned.

"Are you sure you're okay taking her?" Rory asked. The feeling of guilt was overwhelming her. She was feeling horrible about the fact that she was handing her extremely distraught daughter off to her mother so that she could selfishly spend a romantic evening alone with her boyfriend, partying into the late hours of the night and ending up in a hotel room.

"Rory…" Lorelai said pleadingly as she gently patted Ellie on the bottom in an effort to soothe her. "I know you think you were a perfect little angel in every way, but I can assure you that I have plenty of practice handling a baby meltdown."

Rory sighed. It wasn't that she was doubting her mother's ability to handle her. It was just that she was feeling particularly guilty about leaving her. It was a lot easier to hand off her child for an overnight stay when she was an infant and wasn't really aware of what was going on around her anyway. Now that she was approaching the toddler age, it was getting far more difficult, especially since she was so capable of communicating her displeasure.

"Mamaaaa!"

"Mama will see you again tomorrow, baby," Rory said, running her hand over Ellie's now disheveled hair. "You're gonna spend the night with Nonna and PopPop."

"No, Mama!"

"Yes, Ellie," Rory said, sighing again, her voice more firm this time. "Mama will see you tomorrow."

Another loud string of pained wails poured out of the girl's mouth. She turned her head to the side, and suddenly started leaning out of Lorelai's arms in the other direction, holding her hands out to a new target.

"Dadaaaaa!"

Logan actually had the audacity to laugh. He'd been hanging back as Rory handled the hand off to her mother, waiting patiently to say a goodbye for the evening. When Ellie called out to him, he stepped forward. Thankfully, however, he managed not to give in to her attempts for him to pluck her out of Lorelai's arms.

"One year old and she's already pitting us against each other," he said before turning his attention back to their daughter. "You're going to have so much fun with Nonna and PopPop, Sweet Pea. I bet PopPop will make you pancakes tomorrow…"

Pancakes were one of Ellie's favorite foods, the mark of a true Gilmore. But, at the moment that didn't seem to be enough to entice her into dropping her tantrum. Her cries continued, and she buried her unhappy face into the nook of Lorelai's shoulder. Lorelai started rubbing her back in circles and bounced her a little bit in her arms.

"Oh, PopPop will definitely make Ellie's special pancakes tomorrow. You can bet on that. Can you say bye bye to Mama and Dada, baby?" she asked, placing a kiss on her head. "Can you say bye bye?"

"No no. No no no!" she cried again, her yells muffled in Lorelai's dress. The girl's entire vocabulary consisted of three words, and she was using each and every one of them to incisive effect. Though, Rory might eventually have to have a talk with her about redundancy.

She sighed. Next to her, Logan started shaking his head and, realizing that they weren't going to get anywhere at this point, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss on the baby's head.

"Bye bye, Ellie Bellie," he said. "Daddy loves you. Be a good girl, okay?"

Rory stepped forward as well, giving her daughter a kiss of her own.

"We'll be back tomorrow, baby. Mama loves you so much," she promised. "Be good for Nonna and PopPop."

The two of them bid their farewells to Lorelai as well, and Rory watched with an aching heart as her mother carried her inconsolable baby across the lobby of the banquet hall toward the exit. She knew that her mom was right, and Ellie would most likely be out like a light within in the next ten minutes. But, still, seeing her in such distress always left her feeling like the worst mother in the world. After a couple of seconds of standing there feeling miserable, Rory suddenly felt a pair of arms slip around her waist from behind.

"Whatever you're thinking, stop it," Logan said into her ear. Rory relaxed a bit in his arms.

"I'm thinking this is all your fault," said Rory. Logan chuckled behind her.

"My fault?" he asked.

"Yes," said Rory. "Our baby hates us because you insisted on having a night to ourselves."

"Yeah, I'm a terrible person that way," Logan teased. "What kind of a monster wants to spend his evening drinking and dancing with his girlfriend and taking her back to a nice luxurious hotel suite to make passionate love to her all night long?"

"A terrible one," Rory pouted. She turned around in his arms so that they were standing face to face. "A horrible terrible monster."

"She's going to be fine," Logan assured. "By tomorrow morning she'll be stuffing her face with baby pancakes and will have completely forgotten that she was even upset to begin with."

"I just hate to see her like that…"

"I know you do," Logan replied. "So do I. But, I promise I'll make it worth your while."

Logan squeezed her closer to him and wagged his eyebrows at her suggestively. Rory found a smile breaking across her face as the heaviness of the terrible goodbye they'd just been through started to lift. In truth, she was looking forward to spending an evening alone with Logan. It had been a while since they'd been able to have a night to themselves.

Logan had been pretty insistent about getting the hotel room tonight. Rory wasn't exactly sure why. Usually, when they were in the Hartford area for the weekend they would stay with his sister or at the apartment above Luke's rather than getting a hotel room. But, Logan was insisting on making some kind of romantic night out of this trip. In fact, he'd been strangely obsessive about making sure that it happened.

"What do you say I take you out for a spin on the dance floor?" he asked. "I bet she'll be fast asleep before the next song is ever over."

"I don't feel like dancing…" Rory said. "I feel like wine. Lots of wine. If I'm going to be miserable, I might as well be drunk."

"I can manage that," Logan replied with a smile.

Rory was well aware that Logan could manage that. Some of the drunkest moments of her life had taken place with Logan. He was almost as talented in getting other people drunk as he was in getting himself drunk. And that was quite the accomplishment. Though, in his defense, she could always trust him not to go overboard on the nights when she decided to let loose.

"But I think we'll need more than wine," he said as he pulled her back into the banquet hall and toward the bar. "I'm thinking tequila shots. Fireball. Kamikazes."

"You're funny," said Rory. "I said I wanted to get drunk, not to die."

"I could get you an ice cream beer float."

"Oof…" Rory groaned as they slid into the drink line. "That was an experiment not to be repeated."

The truth was she was such a lightweight these days after nine months of abstinence following months of breastfeeding, that it wouldn't take much more than a couple of glasses of wine to get her drunk at all. Logan's tolerance, however, was still something of legend. He sometimes managed to forget that other people weren't quite as skilled in that department. Not everyone could drink three cups of Ms. Patty's Founder's Day punch and still manage to walk in a straight line.

They were quiet for a moment as the music around them continued to sound through the hall. Dozens of people were out in the middle of the room energetically dancing along to the celebratory tunes. Yet, as was always the case, a mass of people suddenly left the floor as the music started to slow in tempo and the band started up with a ballad. Others took their place, obviously boyfriends and girlfriends and husbands and wives. Rory smiled at the sight as they all started swaying back and forth to Moon River. It was a pretty romantic sight.

"Alright. Well..." Logan said, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the line.

"Logan!" she said, surprised and confused by the sudden change of course. "What - "

"Drinks are just going to have to wait," he said. "Now we have to dance. There's no avoiding it."

"We have to dance?" Rory said teasingly as she allowed Logan to pull her out onto the dance floor and slide his arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and Logan pulled her as close as he could get away with in polite company. "And why exactly do we have to dance before I can get a glass of Cabernet?"

"Ace, I'm hurt," he answered with a smile as he started swaying them back and forth to the gentle music. "This is our song."

"Our song?" Rory said, twitching her head to the side and looking at him dubiously.

She wasn't aware that they had a song. In all their years together, they didn't actually come across many opportunities for dancing. They'd spent the period of their lives when all their friends were getting married apart from each other, and even when they did have the opportunity to twirl around the dance floor, Logan wasn't typically all that enthused about the prospect.

"Yes, our song. Don't you remember?" Logan asked. He was looking down at her with an amused expression, making it entirely clear that he didn't actually expect her to remember why this was apparently their song. Though, he was still going to tease her about it.

"Mmm nope. Sorry. Care to explain why this is our song?" she asked. "It doesn't have anything to do with that argument we got into about Breakfast at Tiffany's does it? Because my position stands firm."

"They completely screwed up the ending," he said with a tense shrug of his shoulders. "It doesn't make any sense. It's supposed to be a story about an unstable woman who continuously destroys her life because of her inability to confront and reconcile with her trauma. She's completely dysfunctional as a human being, terrified of commitment, and incapable of intimacy. But then - out of nowhere - they shoehorn this insane romance into the end of it that doesn't even make any sense because, by the way, the protagonist is supposed to be gay!"

"And I hear you, and I agree with you. But… it's Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's iconic."

Logan groaned and shook his head.

"Nobody wants to watch a movie that sad. People like happily ever afters, you know."

All he could do was sigh in response to her argument, but as quickly as the breath of air left his lips Rory watched as the look of annoyance fell from his face. He was pensive for a moment, actually considering her argument for the first time since they'd started having it during a late night in her grandparents' pool house.

He leaned forward, pressing his temple against hers, and Rory could feel his breath blowing against the wisps of hair falling down around her face.

"I suppose you're right," he said, softly.

Rory smiled. She felt a rush of affection for him in her chest, and she rested her head against his shoulder as the sound of the strings continued to float in the air around them.

"You still haven't told me why this is our song," she said.

Logan was quiet for another second. When he didn't reply right away, Rory lifted her head up from her shoulder and looked at him. The look of love and tenderness on his face was overwhelming, and she felt butterflies start to settle themselves in her chest. She didn't know why she was feeling this way. She hadn't felt this nervous around Logan since she was nineteen years old.

"This was the song that was playing when you asked me to dance at your grandparents' vow renewal."

Rory was momentarily speechless. She hadn't been expecting that response at all. The truth was, she didn't remember. That night had been such a whirlwind for her, a tiny detail like that had fallen through the cracks ages ago.

The butterflies that had settled in her chest just moments before suddenly turned into full blown nerves. It seemed like some kind of sign. Rory had been thinking about that moment ever since she'd talked with her father before the wedding. She couldn't get it out of her mind. And now Logan was standing here talking about it as well.

She might not have remembered what song was playing, but she remembered how she felt. She remembered the dance. She remembered the conversation. She was far too nervous to be thinking about the song that was playing when she was about to lay her heart bare to the boy she had a crush on.

She'd been feeling the same exact nerves all day. She wasn't exactly why at first, but with every moment that passed between them since she'd talked to her Dad, Rory had realized why she couldn't get it out of her mind. She realized she was thinking about it because she was ready to lay her heart bare to him all over again. She was only debating on when to do it.

"You remember that?" she asked.

"I remember a lot of things about that night," he said with a nod. "I remember that you were wearing a silver tie. And I remember that you were wearing your hair kind of like you have it now, except curlier. And I remember you fell hook, line, and sinker for my plan to make you jealous..."

"Oh! So it was a plan, huh?" Rory countered in a teasing tone with a raise of her eyebrow. Logan had the humility to look bashful at the exclamation. "All that time, you did like me and you still refused to ask me out…"

"I told you I liked you."

"No, you told me I was 'special,'" said Rory with a smile. "That could mean all sorts of things…"

"You were special because I liked you," said Logan. "I was scared of you."

Rory's playful mood suddenly disappeared. He had never told her that before, and she'd never expected to hear it. When she was dancing with him that evening, she had been so nervous that she couldn't stop worrying that he could feel her hands shaking, and he had looked so confident and sure of himself, so completely unfazed. The idea that he had been as nervous as she was seemed like a total impossibility.

"You were scared of me?" she asked. "You said that you didn't ask me out because you weren't a commitment guy."

Logan nodded.

"Yeah…I was afraid of commitment," he said. "And I knew that if I started something with you, then I'd be a goner for the rest of my life... And I was right."

Rory's head tilted again as she looked into his eyes. She brushed her thumb against his cheek as she regarded him for a moment. The butterflies in her stomach were still fluttering, but her nerves had started to calm.

She'd never known that he felt that way. She knew that he loved her now, of course, but she'd always thought that it was something that he'd grown into. She didn't know that his feelings had been there from the very beginning. All that time, she had felt like he was the one with the upper hand, that she was the one whose heart was the more fragile. But, really, she had just as much power over him as he had over her. Maybe more.

"That was a scary prospect for me at the time," Logan continued. Rory smiled softly at him.

"But it's not scary anymore?" she asked.

"Nope," said Logan with a gentle shake of his head. "As long as you promise not to go anywhere."

Rory took another deep breath. Over Logan's shoulder, her eyes landed on the sight of her father and Lana speaking to a table full of some of Lana's family members. His arm was wrapped around her waist, and he was holding her close. The look of pure joy on his face was something that she'd never seen from him before, not when he was with Sherry, not even when he was with her mom. It was a far cry from the look that had been on his face that night a decade ago.

He'd looked so sad that night, and later on she'd been so angry at him. Yet, thinking back on it now, she couldn't deny that the conversation they'd had on that couch had changed her life forever. She'd meant it when she said that he was partially responsible for Logan being a part of her life. He'd unknowingly given her some of the best advice she'd ever been given.

"She always knew what she wanted. And she'd go out and get it."

Rory looked back at Logan. He smiled at her again, and Rory's mysterious nerves returned to her in full force. Now, however, she realized that she was ready to do something about them. She realized that she'd been thinking about that conversation all day because she knew in her heart that she was ready to have it again. And she once again found herself worrying that Logan could feel her hands shaking.

But that wasn't going to deter her.

"Are you ever going to ask me to marry you again?"

Logan's face went near white in shock. The smile slipped from his expression, and he stood there blinking at her in surprise. She could feel his legs starting to lock up, bringing about an ending to the swaying that they had been engaged in for the past few moments. But, Rory wasn't giving in. She merely held on to him tightly and forced him to keep moving.

"We have a baby together. We've lived together for a year now, and we both know neither one of us is going anywhere," she said. "Are you? Ever?"

Logan's mouth opened, but no reply came.

"You do want to marry me, right?"

After a couple more seconds of silence in which Rory started to get genuinely nervous that she might have crossed some kind of line, Logan suddenly let out a breathy laugh and wiped a hand over his face. As he dropped his hand and his arm came down between them, Rory ended up dropping one of the arms that was wrapped around his neck and taking a slight step backwards. Her heart was pounding, but she didn't let go of him completely. His other hand was still pressed against the small of her back, holding her there. But, at this point, they had stopped dancing all together.

She watched as Logan silently slipped his hand into the breast of his suit jacket and started digging around in what she assumed was his pocket. She raised her brow in confusion for a moment, and she had no idea what he was doing or what he was thinking until his hand returned from inside his coat.

As soon as he withdrew it, Rory was met with the sight of a small light blue box perched in his fingers.

And her heart started pounding for an entirely different reason.

"Logan…" she breathed.

The moment was entirely surreal. When she had summoned up the nerves to ask him that question, she hadn't imagined that it would happen so quickly. She thought it would just start the conversation between them, that they could finally voice out loud that they were both ready to move to the next step. She'd expected that it might lead him to propose within the next few weeks. Not now. Not here.

Logan's obsessive desire to spend the evening by themselves tonight was suddenly starting to make sense.

"I was going to do this later tonight… When we were alone in the hotel," he said, nervously. "Because I heard it's considered bad form to upstage the bride and groom and… well... I learned my lesson from the last time about doing this in public…"

"Logan…" Rory breathed again. The prickling sensation of tears was starting to form in her eyes. She looked around the room quickly, finding - much to her relief - that despite the fact that they were standing in the middle of a moderately crowded dance floor, no one seemed to be paying them any attention.

The moment was still entirely theirs.

"And I don't have a big grandstanding speech this time. And I'm not going to get down on one knee. Cause that would just cause a scene at the moment, and I don't want to do that…"

Rory chuckled and swiped at a tear that had started to fall down her cheek.

"All I have up my sleeve is a promise to love you for the rest of my life and to never let you get away from me ever again. Because having lived even a day without you, I know better than to ever take you for granted for even a second."

Rory sniffed. Another tear fell down her face, but this time it was Logan's thumb that reached up to brush it away. At this point she was starting to feel grateful for the professional make up team that Lana had hired. It had seemed pretty extra at the time, but she couldn't deny that she was probably getting her money's worth now.

"I love you, Rory," Logan continued. "And I must be the luckiest man in the world, because it's not often that a man has his soul mate stumble into his life once, let alone three times. And I would be an idiot to ignore that kind of luck. It seems a bit more like fate at this point. "

Rory let out a teary laugh.

"I'm sure I'm always going to find some way to drive you crazy. And there's going to be plenty of times when you're going to want to kill my mother and maim my father and scream at my stupid friends. And I know you don't have time to properly sit down and make a pro/con list at the moment, but I'm hoping that this past year might have already convinced you that we're better off together than we are apart.

"So…" Logan took a deep breath.

His eyes flickered down to the box in his hand, and with a gentle maneuver of his fingers he flipped the box open, revealing a stunning pear shaped halo ring. The setting was resting in a thin diamond platinum band, and while she knew by the color of the box and the quality of the stones that it was no doubt incredibly expensive, it wasn't overly ostentatious or flamboyant.

"With all that in mind, I was wondering if you might do me the honor of marrying me?"

When Rory opened her mouth to respond, a soft sob broke through her lips rather than any of the millions of words that were flying through her mind. And the words that did follow, probably weren't the most ideal choice.

"I didn't mean you had to ask me right this second!" she cried, smiling through her tears. Logan looked nervous, but he still reached forward to wipe away her tears yet again.

"That's not exactly a 'yes', Ace," he said. "You're giving me PTSD here - "

"Yes!" she interrupted, prompting a wide smile to break out on Logan's face. "Yes, of course I'll marry you, you idiot."

Rory cringed at the strange hostility of her answer, but Logan didn't seem to mind. He wrapped his arms back around her and leaned down to place a passionate kiss on her lips. At this point, she was pretty certain that they'd gained the attention of at least a couple people around them. Her ugly crying along was probably enough to ensure that, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

When Logan broke away from her, he reached into the little blue box in his hand and plucked the ring out of its casing. He slipped it unto her left hand, and Rory looked down at the ring with glee. Her hand had never looked so beautiful in her life.

"This is a different ring," she said, thinking back to the last time she had so thoroughly examined a ring on her finger.

Logan nodded.

"It is," he said. "I thought about giving you the old one, but then I realized that… The both of us, we're so different than we were then. We've been through so much, and grown so much - apart and together. It just didn't seem right. That ring is a symbol of who we used to be. I wanted you to have a ring that symbolized who we are now."

She moved her hand and wiggled her fingers, watching the way that the ring glistened in the light. She'd liked the old one too, but she couldn't deny that she probably wouldn't feel the same way she did now if it was that ring wrapped around her finger. There would probably always be a part of her that would think of the past every time she looked at her left hand. She would always think of that first proposal, of the picture of Logan walking away from her on her graduation day and the pain that had followed.

She didn't want to think about the past anymore. They'd dealt with their past, and it was time to leave it behind. It was time to think about their future.

"It's perfect," she said. "...So much better than a danish."

Logan's brow furrowed and his head twitched in confusion.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's," Rory explained.

"Ah. Of course," said Logan with a smile. "How silly of me."

"Although…" Rory continued. "Now that I'm thinking about it, a danish sounds really good right now."

"I think you might have to settle for cake," said Logan, nodding his head in the direction of the table where the leftover slices of wedding cake were waiting to be eaten. "But, I promise to find you a danish first thing in the morning."

Rory smiled brilliantly. She wrapped her arms around his neck again, stepping as close as she could to him, and Logan's arms found their way around her waist. They once again started swaying in time to the sound of the music, and Rory rested her head on his shoulder .

"You're such a good fiancé," she said, contentedly.

"Right back at 'ya, Ace."

Rory could feel Logan's chest rumble as he let out a low chuckle. Rory closed her eyes as he squeezed her tighter and brushed his lips against her temple.

"You want to go find a back room somewhere?" Logan teased. "I can grab some champagne."

Rory laughed, but she didn't budge. She kept her head firmly planted in Logan's shoulder and didn't dare leave his embrace. She'd be perfectly content to stay here forever.

"No," she said. "I've never been happier to be exactly where I am right now."


The End

AN: Hah Hah! Did I trick you at the very beginning? Did you really think I'd jump right to a wedding without a proposal? Come on… Lol.

So, this is officially the end of the main story. There will be an epilogue as I stated before, so it's not over over. And, the wedding is something that I will most likely explore in one of my follow ups.

As always, thank you so much for reading and for your reviews!

Also, Rory's ring is the pear Tiffany Soleste ring for those of you who care about such things. Lol. You can all create your own headcanon about the carat weight he chose. Lol. Though, I personally think he knows Rory well enough to know that getting her a giant rock would probably not go over well.