AN: Have to admit it turned out to be a shorter and a faster delivery than I imagined it would be. This bit hosts one of my favorite scenes in the whole story. So it made me wonder what's yours? I'd love to hear if you'd care to share. I've been enjoying your reviews and comments, as always.
June 2014
Seattle
"Where is she?" Lorelai stormed through the door like a full-blown Water Tornado forgoing any pleasantries. Not that Logan expected them. The dark-haired woman's eyes desperately scanned the apartment for her daughter.
"Bedroom."
Lorelai Gilmore shoots toward the direction of the bedroom like an arrow. "I'm going to the drug store to pick up the prescriptions," Logan called after her retreating back.
"Whatever. We need coffee."
xx
Lorelai crawled on the top to the bed next to her daughter's body. Her fingers gently forked through Rory's hair. Just like when she was little. Blue eyes immediately opened.
"Hey, kid. Mommy's here."
"Where's Logan?" Rory jumped in alarm, "You're not supposed to be here."
"Says who? Where is it written?" Lorelai ignored her daughter's question of the whereabouts of the man who answered the door, for the time being. The man whose abrupt, out of the blue phone call, rushed her to Seattle without much explanation.
"I'm an adult; adults don't need their Mommy."
"Everybody needs their mommy." Lorelai sat up, matching her daughter's height, pulling her into an embrace. It's been so long since she had her arms wrapped around her baby. "Well, not me.. I'm not a good example; I mean Emily. Gees."
"Why did you never take me camping?" Rory asked in a small voice.
"Camping? are you kidding? I couldn't get you to step on wet grass until you were three."
"If you had taken me camping, I'd have wilderness skills. I'd be tough. I won't be the pathetic person who needs her mother to stay all night the first night at Yale." Rory's shoulders shook with muffled sniffles.
"It doesn't matter. Shhh…Logan called, and I'm here now. Everything is going to be fine."
"Logan took me camping."
"See, it's never too late to work on those wilderness skills." Lorelai was confused; all this camping talk was strange. "Rory, do you want to tell me what happened? Logan was skimpy on the details."
"He never says anything. I don't want to feel like this. I don't want to sit around wondering when we're going talk if he's mad, why is he mad? I always have to go and ask Ben. You're supposed to tell your girlfriend things. That's the whole point of having a girlfriend, isn't it?"
"You're boyfriend and girlfriend now?" Lorelai stroked her daughter's hair through her jumbled rant. That was a new development she wasn't familiar with.
"He won't even fight. He just shuts down, gets upset, gets mad, and disappears. I hate this. I messed up, Mom. And now he's gone." Rory was getting more distressed by the minute. "I didn't love it enough."
"Love it? Who's gone?" Lorelai questioned in alarm. An uneasy feeling bubbled in the pit of her stomach.
"The baby," Rory uttered quietly. Lorelai nearly chocked with surprise at the two words but had little time to form a coherent thought. "I'm going to be a terrible mother. I already am a terrible mother. I'm awful."
"Rory, no. You're not awful." Lorelai was quick to reassure, although her brain was still processing. Her daughter, her only daughter, was pregnant - and she didn't even know about it. Was she ever going to know about it if this hadn't happened?
"It is. It's true, Logan thinks so."
"Did Logan say that?" Lorelai felt the lioness in her rearing her head. She's going to strangle the man.
"He didn't have to say it. He thinks it. It's all my fault. I kept forgetting to take my prenatal pills on time. I drank coffee behind his back, even when it made me so so sick. I didn't eat my broccoli. I didn't tell him about the bleeding or the dizziness... And... And… now there's nothing."
"No, Rory. What's love got to do with it?" Lorelai tried to ease the numb reasoning referencing Tina Turner. "These things just happen; that's just nature. It's nobody's fault."
To her horror, it has the opposite undesired effect. Rory's nose twitched, her lips quivered, and waterfalls burst out of her eyes accompanied by chocked sobs.
"Shhh, it's okay, everything will be okay." Lorelai offered the best comfort she could. "Let mommy hug you for a little bit."
"I want Logan." Lorelai's heart broke into a thousand pieces.
"Honey, he just went to the drug store. He'll be right back." Lorelai forced out. Her answer seemed to clam Rory a little; she finally relaxed in her mother's embrace.
"Can you stay for dinner?"
"I can stay all night. And some more." Lorelai pressed a kiss to Rory's forehead.
"Can we order Sushi?"
"We will order the biggest Sushi platter you've seen."
Xx
"Your mom is here, Rory." Logan reminded her gently, but it seemed to do nothing.
The relief from the hospital's drugs seemed to be wearing off, and Rory refused to take the next dose of the painkillers the doctor has prescribed.
She wanted something else.
"I'm thirty, not sixteen. I'm in pain; I'm bleeding; my hormones are running like headless chickens, and I hadn't had a drink in ages. I want to have fun." Rory held out her finger warningly at his face. As if she knew what he was going to say. "No. I don't want to think about it. I want us to eat Sushi, drink tones of wine, and smoke weed. I know you have it."
A jumbo size party platter of Sushi was already on its way. No one can beat Lorelai take out ordering abilities. She was quick, she was fierce, and she scored them free pieces of extra Sashimi.
Once Logan returned, Lorelai hurried to the liquor store as fast as her feet and google maps enabled her. After all, Gilmores don't run. Rory suspected her mother had different reasons for going along with the idea of a heavily boozed night.
It was hard to miss the tension between her two Ls once they shared the same space.
However, Logan was less pleased with the plan mother and daughter webbed. And now Rory's nose was quivering like a Disney animal, close to tears on the bathroom floor.
"It's not wise to mix… they gave you pretty strong narcotics." Logan tried to reason while avoiding the words 'Can't' and 'No.' "We can do the Sushi, and you can have a glass of wine. We'll do the other thing later."
He meant when her mother is gone.
"It will make me feel good. I just want to feel good. I just want to forget today ever happened." The tears were no longer at bay; she couldn't control them.
"Hey, look at me. I know you're hurting. I can't even begin to imagine…" Logan forced her heart-shaped face to look at him. He can't believe he's about to use his Mitchum's words, but he'd at a loss here. He'll fall back on the familiar. "But Huntzbergers don't quit. You get up, dust off, smile through it, and you double down. I'll give you all the time in the world. But I dare you to move."
His words stunned her into a halt. "I'm not a Huntzberger."
She is, by connection, even if he'll never officially make her one.
"But I am." Logan quickly recovered from his unconscious slip.
They stare at each other. It's a weird moment.
"I'm back!" Lorelai's cheery voice rang out loudly, accompanied by the slam of the front door. "I am fully stocked with wine and snacks! I got a text saying the Sushi is fifteen minutes away!"
"Mom?" Rory called out, tearing her face from his grip, quickly wiping the tears with her hands. She rushed out of the bathroom. "Logan and I are going to smoke a joint, do you want some too?"
The brown back of alcohol nearly dropped to the floor. Lorelai stared at her daughter; when she left her twenty minutes ago, Rory was slightly cheered up and composed. Now her eyes were again puffy, red-rimmed, and watery-blue.
"Okay." The word fell off Lorelai's mouth slowly, suspiciously eyeing the man standing behind her daughter. Logan could tell she didn't believe the words came out of her daughter's mouth.
"Great. It's in your socks drawer upstairs, right? I'll get it." Rory didn't really wait for his answer.
The apartment door closed as she made her haste exit. For the third, and not for the last time tonight, Logan felt the disapproving vibes radiating off Lorelai.
"Not my idea." Logan felt forced to defend himself. He set himself up for this by daring Rory. Somehow pushing her always backfires. "Don't worry; it knocks her out pretty fast. Maybe it's for the best."
"Yes, that makes me feel so much better." Lorelai took a bottle of red out of the brown paper bag. She didn't even try to keep the sarcasm and out of her voice, "I'm going to get ahead start if you don't mind."
Xx
Logan positioned himself with careful precaution on the floor at the bottom of the couch, keeping his distance. He assumed it'd be wise to avoid the couch. Rory tended to get handsy when high.
Logan listened to their wine intoxicated banter without participating. Snarky, clever commentary, which amused Rory. It continued for a while until Rory's stomach filled with all the Sushi she could eat, and the joint kicked in. That's when she lost all interest in the movie. And she started wiggling her toes in the back of his hair, trying to tickle him.
"Stop." His hand grabbed her foot, stopping the abuse. Rory giggled quietly in response. On the other side of the couch, Lorelai pretended to focus on the Meg Ryan romantic comedy.
Next, Rory's legs dangled into his lap, and in less than ten minutes, Rory has wholly abandoned her upright sitting on the couch in favor of Logan's lap. Just what Logan wanted to avoid.
Lorelai looked very interested in her glass of wine.
"Take a shower with me." She whispered suggestively into his ear.
"Tomorrow." Logan shoots her down gently. He was getting enough evil eye as it is for tonight. The last thing he needed was to look like he was the enablers of bad ideas.
"No, now." Rory pressed her face into his neck, "The room is swashy, Logan. Make it stop."
"It'll stop soon." He kissed her head.
"I'm sorry I didn't love it enough." She whispered back. Logan caught Lorelai downing another large gulp of wine from the corner of his eye, tears glossing her eyes. Secretly, he hated they were being watched.
The moment Lorelai has set foot in the apartment, Logan regretted making the phone call. It felt like the right thing to do at the hospital, when Dawn suggested he'd called Rory's mother - after Rory kicked both of them out of the ER exam room. Now he wasn't so sure anymore.
"Shh." Logan soothed, trying to keep his emotions in check. He cradled her head into his shoulder and started to hum quietly, hoping she'll doze off in a matter of moment. "Sleep it off."
The faint ring of his phone come from somewhere in the apartment. He couldn't remember where he left it. Rory mumbled drunkenly, "Your phone."
"It's my dad. I'll call him back later. Don't worry about it."
After Rory's eyelids eventually gave in to sleep, Logan ended up carrying her to bed. He retrieved his lost phone from the bathroom. He took his time listening to the numerous voice mails his father had left on his machine.
The T.V was still playing when he returned to the main room, ready to return his father's calls, only to find Lorelai waiting. Her wine glass full again, her expression serious.
"Alright. From the top, in detail. What the hell happened?"
~w~
Lorelai took in the young man's frantic movements.
Admittingly, Logan Huntzberger could pull off a suit. Yet, he didn't look nearly as composed as his attire indicated he should be. His suit's jacket laid on the edge of the couch. The sleeves of the light blue dress shirt he wore were all rolled up; a tie stuck out of his pants pocket.
Logan was leaving for New York. A business trip.
This was not the sight Lorelai expected to be meet first thing in the morning.
"She can take a sleeping pill if she needs to, but she has to take them at least two hours apart from the pain killers." Logan pointed the various boxes lined in front of him, "If she needs something stronger, or needs to take a different kind, then there's a number of a doctor. Her name's Dawn. She promised to be available, and she'll come right over if needed."
Rory was not going to be happy if it came to be, but Logan didn't care.
"Pills. Two hours. Doctor number. Got it." Lorelai returned shortly.
"If she's bleeding too bad, or spikes fever, developed an allergy or anything or anything else extreme, you take her straight to the hospital - and you call me. And call Ben – that's my business partner. And Natalie, that's my New York assistance, she knows how to find me if I'm not available. I'll write down the number." He scribbled the number from memory. "I'm going to have my phone on at all times."
"Logan."
"Take out menus are here." The blonde man opened the designated drawer in the kitchen, "Make sure she eats something and takes her vitamins. She needs to eat vegetables. There are crackers; I don't know if she'll want those, but they sometimes help…" The mentions of crackers made him pause his autopilot.
Lorelai watched the sudden hit of reality on his face with a pang of sympathy. He was ratting off instructions to a situation that didn't exist anymore. Rory wasn't pregnant anymore.
The young man cleared his throat. "I bought the Marshmallows she likes too. And Campbell's soup. There's coffee in the second cabinet to the right. Not decaf."
"Logan," Lorelai sharply cut off the blonde man's new rant. Sparing them both any prolonged moments of conversation. "I've got it covered."
"I'll leave my dad's number just in case." The blonde man added another number on the note. "I'm going to tell her I'm leaving."
Xx
"You're good to go?" Rory sat on the bed, the laptop in her lap. She never looked away from the editing software on the laptop as Logan sat down at the side of the bed. Proofed self-defense mechanism if she didn't see him go, it didn't happen.
"Yeah." The expression on Logan's face was full of discontent. "Tell me not to go."
"What?"
"Tell me not to get on that plane. Tell me to blow off my father, the paper, the whole Huntzberger destiny. Just tell me I can figure something else out. Just tell me not to go." This was as close as Logan Huntzberger ever got to the point of begging.
"I can't do that." Rory didn't want this responsibility.
"You're my Ace of Spades."
"Huntzberger obligations. They are yours to keep; I'm not part of this equation, remember?"
Logan took a deep breath pulling back. This woman had the undeniable talent to throw his words back in his face. "Are you sure?"
Rory nods. He has to go; this trip wasn't out of the blue.
Plus, The tension between her two Ls was palpable; you could cut it with a spoon. Rory didn't remember how she got to bed, but she woke up this morning with an unexpected L in bed beside her. Her mother. Rory was grateful Logan called her mother, but now she was kind of at a loss at what to do with her here. Lorelai's presence burst their careful Seattle bubble. The outside universe was creeping in, pulling them apart when all she wanted to do was cling to him.
Less than a day passed, and a silent battle of dominance was on full display. She guessed Logan felt robbed of his rightful spot. Rory felt torn between the two of them.
"I'm okay; Mom is here."
"Okay, I'll be back in less than twenty-four hours." Logan quickly suppressed the hint of discontent with her answer. He pressed a quick kiss to the side of her head before rising to his feet. Her hand grabbed on his hand.
"A proper goodbye," Rory demanded. She hated it when he kept things PG.
Her hands run on the front of his shirt when the kiss ends, smoothing invisible wrinkles. Logan's shirts are always perfectly ironed. There was no point in delaying his departure any longer. "I love this blue shirt on you. Knock them dead, Space Cowboy."
~w~
"Here, he is! The man with the magic touch. My son, ladies, and gentlemen. They are going to be talking about this for years to come!" Mitchum stood up, clapping his hands loudly, as Logan approached their designated table. Mitchum lived for the chance to show off.
Logan flaunted his society appreciated smile. Public speaking came naturally. He knew he did well enough, but for the life of him, Logan just couldn't quite remember what he actually said standing up on that stage.
Mitchum pulled him into a professional man hug, patting on his back, speaking directly into his ear; "I'm glad you stepped up. Proud of you, Logan. You did well."
His fingers gripped onto the older man's suit sleeve as he started to pull away. Logan found himself reluctant to step out of his father's awkward embrace. He hadn't expected to find the contact comforting. "In a minute."
He didn't know he needed his father until this instant. And now he didn't know what to do with this feeling.
The older man froze. His palm stiffly moved to cup the back of Logan's neck, "Okay, boy?"
"No."
"As many minutes as you need." Mitchum struggled with the awkwardness of this public display of emotion. Logan's outbursts of vulnerability always left him tense. "What would Aaron Rosen do now?"
Xx
"Don't you ever tell your sister about this, I'll deny it ever happened." Mitchum closed his teeth on the burger, holding on the paper warp. "And don't tell your mother, either. she's going to talk my ear off about my blood pressure."
Honor would never believe him, and Logan didn't voluntarily conduct conversations with his mother.
Macdonald's. Logan tried to remember if his father is ever taken him to Macdonald's when he was little. The answer was a definite no. Never.
The oddest thing is that here he was spending time with his father, for comfort. Because he needed someone to talk to – and it didn't feel that weird. Logan knew things have changed between them after he divorced Chelsea. Their relationship shifted after London.
"Yours looks better. Well, you're a good orderer, you've always been a good orderer, even when you were eight years old, you always ordered well."
"It's a gift."
"It is. Do you know what I should do? I should just order whatever you're ordering, no matter what it is. What is that?"
"A big Mac."
"What did I order?"
"The same. It's garbage food. You don't go expecting much with fast food."
"Oh." Mitchum seemed uncomfortably uncertain again.
"Rory likes garbage food. Chinese, Cheetos, chicken wings." Logan felt obligated to bail his father out. Mitchum was trying his best to be - what was the word? Logan searched his brain for the right vocabulary. Supportive? Fatherly?
"I like Rory. She has 'Umpff.' How's she?"
Logan shrugged. Once he called his father back with his reasons and the details, Mitchum's attitude mellowed because family comes first. Logan was a little overwhelmed at the speed all obligations dropped, but his speech at the conference.
"Hard to say. Rory's mom is there. It gets awkward."
"Girls need their mothers, Logan. A gentleman bites his tongue, duck his head, and bow out." Mitchum cited an unknown source, "Your grandmother told me that once. The wisest thing the woman ever said. I couldn't stand the lady."
Logan chewed slowly on his fries. His grandmother of his mother's side. It was always discomforting to realize how alike he and his father potentially were.
"Did they do a D&C?"
Logan moved uncomfortably in his plastic seat. Discussing gynecological procedures with his father was uncharted territory. To do it in the middle of a MacDonald's branch upped the awkwardness.
"I had a byline on illegal abortions once." Mitchum spared them both the need to dwell on the subject. "So, what now?"
"I go back to Seattle, see where Rory's head at." Logan poked the chubby ketchup package with his finger. "Promise me this doesn't change anything."
"It doesn't change anything, Logan. Huntzbergers don't quit. You get up, dust off, and you double down. We bounce back." His father decisively dipped a couple of chips in a pool of mayonnaise. "They do have the best fries. We never did this, did we?"
"No."
"I feel like I should get you one of the toys they give out. Make it a full experience."
The sides of Logan's lips twitched a little. His father could be funny. "I'm good."
"I'm sorry, Logan." Logan wasn't sure if Mitchum Huntzberger was apologizing or conveying his condolences. "I'm glad you came to me."
~w~
"Logan, if you don't stop, I'll banish you to the couch," Rory whispered tiredly with her eyes closed. The man who tossed and turned restlessly beside her froze on his spot.
"Sorry. Sorry. Go back to sleep. I'll try to fidget less." Once he slipped into bed, sleep avoided him. He had managed to tip-toe very quietly into Rory's apartment well past midnight. Logan was extremely relieved not to find and Lorelai in Rory's bed. The sheets have also been changed.
"Didn't you take your sleeping pill?"
"No." When he does, he's out like a light.
"Why not?"
"It was too late to take them. And you won't be able to wake me if something's wrong." He throws the covers off him, his legs swinging off the bed, "I'm going to get some water. Go back to sleep."
"What are you doing there?" Rory opened one eye at the sound of an unusual rustle in the dark.
"Ah, trying to get my pants on and get some water." He said, stepping into his pants.
"Oh, some water with your pants."
"Yeah, I don't want to go out there without pants." Reasonable enough, Logan slept in his boxers. Pants zipped, he reached for his t-shirt next.
"You're gonna put your shirt on to get water?"
"Yeah, your mom is out there, I don't want her to think I'm like David Hasselhoff or something." His voice muffled when he pulled the shift of his head.
"She's not gonna think you're David Hasselhoff." Rory rolled her eyes, but it's Lorelai, technically she could. "Socks? Logan? She's not gonna think anything weird. I promise."
"Socks without shoes look ridiculous. Go to sleep. I'll be right back."
"It's not the shoes; it's the socks," Rory muttered.
Xx
"Oh!" Lorelai's face fell with surprise. Logan holding a cup by the sink wasn't something she expected to find that late at night. He wasn't there when she has fallen asleep.
"Oh, hey,"
"Hey," Lorelai echoed back.
"I'm sorry. I didn't wake you, did I?" Logan genuinely looked apologetic and uncomfortable. He was barefoot, which might explain why she didn't hear him come in.
"No, I was just… craving some pie. But you know what… I'm… I'm not hungry." Her eyes fell on the glass of water in hand.
"I was… just needed some water."
"Oh. That's okay… I'll.." She turned to leave, "I'll see you in the morning."
"Lorelai."
"Yeah."
"I want you to know that I'm all in. I'm in with her. And I'm in with the kid. I'm not the guy who quits." Logan looked convinced, "We're gonna bounce back from this. It's just a title wave."
"Okay."
"Look, I know that you have this vision of me, and I know that Rory tells you stuff. But I want you to know I am not a cad. I don't want you to be worried."
"Well, I am worried. I'm a mom. That is what we do."
"Okay, what exactly are you worried about?"
"Okay. I'm worried that you're not worried enough. You take things lightly. This 'whole you gotta surf the waves' attitude, Kawabanga dude. I mean, you just lost a baby."
"I know. I know I did. Believe me. And I don't feel Kawabanga-dude inside. Believe me; I know this is big."
"You do?"
"Yeah. But I don't want to act like that in front of you. For one thing, the whole self-flagellation thing it's kinda embarrassing. And Rory doesn't need me to act like that while she's falling apart."
"Alright, well, it's good for me to know. It's good for me to know that you know you made a mistake."
"I made a mistake?" The way he poised his question revealed his disagreement.
"Okay." Lorelai jump at the opportunity to hash it out. She's been holding it in all day. "I think family is important. I think responsibility is important and dealing with reality is important, and stepping out in a crisis like this, to speak at a stupid conference and strike a business deal, doesn't make me think well of you."
It made Lorelai think of Chris's worst moments. When she sat in that hospital waiting room while her father was in surgery and Chris was MIA because he was upset.
"In fact, let's run an inventory of all the delightful things that happened since you waltzed into my daughter's life?" Lorelai's tongue clicked uncontrollably, "It turns out she has the habit of hooking up with random men, including her boss – which is you. And she has no problem broadcasting it to the entire world in the most graphical way known to humankind."
"I'm not happy about the comics, either." Logan set down the glass of water.
"She quits her job, in a spur of the moment decision, and takes off to the most deserted corners of the world with only a phone call. She smokes weed. She keeps secrets – Rory has never kept secrets from me. Don't even get me started on this ridiculous idea that you and her having a baby together is rational. She hasn't been talking to me for nearly a year."
Logan jaw visibly hardened.
Lorelai is far from done; "My Rory is not the type of girl who gets high to feel good and forget about her problems. She makes pro-con lists. She's the kind of girl who wallows with an ice cream bucket in front of a bad movie and cries on the bathroom floor."
"She still makes pro-con lists and cries on the bathroom floor."
"But not to me." She accused. Logan is not stupid to deduct that this is the real issue here.
"Your rocky relationship with Rory has nothing to do with me - that is all you."
Lorelai looked baffled at his boldness. The nerve that man has. She was ready to bite back. "How dare you.."
"You had your say. It's my turn now." Logan cut her off, "I've got other family responsibilities. They don't just dissolve into thin air because I wish they would, ignore them, or turn my back on them. Believe me; I've tried. But the cold hard truth is that the world doesn't just stop because something in my personal life happened." Logan's tone switch from collected to harsh, "I've got a legacy to live up to, and I have a private company with actual cash flow. I've got a business partner, employees, and all other kinds of other people counting on me not to crumble apart and turn up at work the next morning."
"You've got Rory - my daughter - counting on you too."
"Look, Lorelai, I don't owe you anything. The only one I owe an explanation to is your daughter - so butt out." Logan stated, "But of the sake of full disclosure - this isn't the first disappointment. It's probably not going to be the last either. I have made sure she had everything she needed. She didn't need me that instant."
"Of course she needed you, you idiot!"
"She didn't want me, okay?!" he snaps, "I would have stayed if she asked me to. She knows that. But she didn't. She. Didn't. Want. Me. This was big and traumatic, and she told me to go. She wanted you."
Lorelai crossed her arms, less than impressed.
"I didn't cut it this time. She needed you, her mother, to tell her it's going to be okay this time." He was reeling, "I wouldn't have called you otherwise."
"She's my daughter, I'm her mother - don't you ever dare not to call me."
"Then start acting like one. This best-friends first, mother and daughter second, is getting old." Logan said in a low, firm tone. He recognized it as the one his father uses when he puts his foot down.
It happened fast, like a bat out of hell.
Heat radiated on his cheek from the impact of the slap. Lorelai looked at her hand as if it wasn't part of her body. A tense silence followed. So much for a gentleman biting his tongue, ducking his head, and bowing out.
Logan held his jaw fire in his eyes.
"Look, I know you don't like me. You don't know me, but you don't like me. That's fine. I don't need you to like me; mothers never like me. But I am here. Even if I don't play for your fiddle or you don't like how it's done. Until she tells me otherwise, and trust me, your daughter never had a problem walking away from me. She has never held back telling me to fuck off. I see where she gets it from." His tone indicated the conversation was through.
Blue eyes and brown eyes looked back furiously. The message was loud and clear.
Logan poured the glass of water into the sink, stopping on his way back to the bedroom, "I'll be polite, for her sake. Don't expect anything more. G'night."
~W~
"So, I was feeling hungry last night. I think it must be the jet lag; I'm not sure because I'm a regular night snacker, as you know." Lorelai rubbed her hands over the steaming coffee cup.
"As I know."
"Pie. I was craving pie. And I knew there were some in the fridge because we never got to eat it yesterday. It's not as good as Luke's, but what can you do. So, I padded quietly to the kitchen, in my best silent steps not to disturb my little girl's sleep... and guess what did I find in the kitchen?"
Rory looked at her mother, wearily. A guessing game was on. "A Raccoon."
"No! It was definitely bigger than a Raccoon."
"A unicorn," Rory played along with her mother's line of thought.
"Ah. Shoot. That would have been so much better."
"The Ginni from Aladdin," Rory answered flatly into her own coffee cup. She missed coffee.
"Logan Huntzberger."
"How disappointing. Are you sure there was no mythical creature lurking around?" Rory could see where this was heading, and she wasn't sure she wanted to go there. Lorelai Gilmore wasn't a big fan of all things Logan Huntzberger. Yesterday, after he left, Lorelai and Rory had vegged out in an ultimate Gilmore Girls manner.
It was nearly like old times. It cheered her up.
"Nope." Lorelai popped her 'p', "Just Logan Huntzberger."
"I'll make a note to call the supernatural department and file a complaint. You know what? Let's watch Harry Potter that should make you feel better."
"How come Logan has a key, and I don't?"
"Because you live across the country, and he lives upstairs. It makes sense logistically."
"It makes sense logistically." Lorelai echoed her daughter's response.
"Very practical, in my opinion."
"So he doesn't live here, in this apartment? Because he sure knows his way around." Indeed the key wasn't the issues.
"He's adaptable. The layout is pretty the same. Carrot stick?" Rory tried to shrug the conversation; she didn't feel like conducting serious discussions.
"I don't eat anything orange. Except for oranges because they admit they are orange."
"You eat Cheetos."
"Cheetos are artificially orange; it's not the same color. He sleeps in your bed." Rory knew the look on her mother's face.
"Who are you? Grandma?" Rory blinked at her mother's prude game, "But if you must know, generally, Logan doesn't sleep. And no, he doesn't live here, he lives upstairs in a much nicer apartment. He has a better view, a better mattress too, and exceptional water pressure in the shower. I doubt he's in a rush to move."
"I'm just trying to understand what is going on because I might be a little mistaken, but it felt like I was told off last night." Lorelai swallowed the insult with a struggle. "He has quite a mouth on him. He's got moxie; I'll give you that."
"What did you say to him?" Rory's heart thumped in her chest in alarm. Logan didn't attack unprovoked. He was the most composed man she knew.
"So this baby partnership thing. Is that more than a boyfriend or less than a boyfriend? I'm not familiar with the West Coast jargon you people use. Maybe because on the East Coast, we're a little more formal." Lorelai tried to mask her interrogation by playing funny, "What was the plan?"
"The plan?"
"For when the baby comes? Were you going to move in together? Here? There? Somewhere new? Or were you going to keep things as it is and push the crib in and out of the elevator when you splits your baby-sitting days? You must have a plan. Tell me about the plan."
"I don't know. We were figuring it out. What did you say to him?" Rory asked again. Something happened last night because Logan came back to bed even more agitated than before. He left for work extra early in the morning, and her mother looked relieved that he was already gone.
"What does the contract say?" Lorelai insisted on conducting a different conversation.
"It's none of your business."
"I'm just trying to fill in the blanks here. I mean, sure, the baby will have the looks, Logan is very handsome. Yet, grasping the idea that this man would pass on terrible traits to my future grandchild is quite overwhelming. But given the new circumstances - now what? Is that still on the table?"
"Is marrying dad still on the table?" Rory countered back.
"No. No. No. First, we talk about this; then we talk about your dad."
"I don't know! We haven't had the chance to talk about it."
"You hadn't had the chance to talk about it?"
"No, things are pretty fresh if you hadn't noticed. And you being here makes things difficult." Rory throws the words at her in frustration. Lorelai's mouth closed into a tight line.
"Why are you here, Mom?"
"Why… Why am I here?" Lorelai stuttered, baffled at the doubt oozing from the loaded questions. "Logan called me. You're my daughter, you were hurt, and I love you."
"So why can't you, for once, resist the urge to be judgmental and kick me when I'm down?"
Lorelai's eyes softened, "Rory, that's not what I'm trying to do."
"What about dad?"
~W~
Logan stood under the fast shower stream, letting the water run over his body, and the loud music to drown his thoughts. The sensation of the hot water massaging his aching muscles was welcome. He made his wall climbing session run longer; then, he went for a run until his lungs burnt.
Logan was stalling time and hiding out from the possible chaos unfolding down on the 5th floor. He should have taken his father's advice, take the gentleman way, and avoid confrontation. Ben appalled expression when Logan recalled last night incident during their private lunch, said it all.
"You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, did you?"
"She started it."
"Very mature. Have you not learned anything from dealing with Mali Rosen?"
Well, what is done is done. He should have listened to his father. But then again, where did Logan ever do what his father advised him to? Probably never.
Small female hands wrapped around his middle—another body pressed against his out of the blue. Logan nearly lost his balance. "God, you startled me!"
"It's too loud out there." Rory referred to the music, pressed her cheek into the sink between Logan's shoulder blades. Her hands explored the slippery skin. "Whatcha thinking?"
"How long does it takes for your fingers to wrinkle underwater?"
"You went rounds with my mom. What did she say to you?" Rory went straight to the point.
"We reached an understanding, let's leave that at that."
Rory weighed her next words carefully. Her mother avoided details too; she could either pressure him into telling her or leave this pandora box unopen as much as she wanted to know; maybe its better that she didn't.
"Thank you. No one has ever done that for me. That's hot, though, you are my hero." Rory kissed his shoulder, slowly moving into the space between his arms and the shower wall, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pulled his head down to her, forcing his lips open into a slow, deep kiss.
"I'm your baby partner, Rory - it's what I do." And he wouldn't take unfair flogging for just no reason.
"But next time, my mom - my fight. We talked, she'll fly out in two days."
"Be my guest." Logan rubbed his face in her neck. He couldn't wait for the dragon lady and her evil hawk eye to get back to Connecticut.
Logan resumed their kissing. One kiss chased another, and another and another, until he disconnect, almost tortured.
"We better stop, or I won't be able to stop myself. And that would be bad."
Rory smiles faintly. They can't take this any further for medical reasons. The newly formed intimacy they established inside the shower stall's small space is fragile, like a bubble of soap. Once they step out, it's going to burst into tiny fragments of matter.
"Logan,"
"Yeah?" He brushed wet strands of hair out of her face.
"Let's go to Vancouver Island. I need our bubble back."
