Chapter 15
"Knock, knock.. Anybody home?", Logan called while opening the front door and looked around. He was silently grateful that the house seemed to be both intact and not messier than usual. His face broke into a big smile when he stepped fully into the entrance area and was almost knocked over by a certain little boy that was happily yelling "Daddy, you're home early!" and wearing both an apron and a children's chef hat.
He grabbed him and lifted him into the air and over his head, all the while smiling at him and enjoying Milo's squeals of laughter.
It felt good to be back and see that his son obviously was in a much better mood than in the morning.
"I guess I am", he told the little boy, kissing him on the right cheek and settling him on his hip. "I just couldn't stand being apart from you any longer. Did you miss your old man, too?"
Milo giggled and smiled widely at Logan.
"Lots and lots!", he assured his father and rewarded him with a kiss of his own, which Logan gratefully accepted.
"What are you up to, anyway, little chef? Where are Granny and Grandpa?", Logan asked, tugging at Milo's hat playfully.
"We're in here, Logan!", Lorelai called from the kitchen.
When Milo started to squirm, Logan put him down and then followed the little tyke into the kitchen, where he found Luke busily cooking up a storm and Lorelai lazily sipping at a glass of white wine and a plate with some halfway peeled potatoes in front of her, seemingly forgotten - or just left there on purpose.
"Hi, Lorelai, hi Luke. It sure smells wonderfully in here!"
"Hi, Logan, how was your day?", Lorelai asked him, smiling.
"Would you like some wine? I just opened a bottle", Luke suggested, putting a large pot of water onto the stove and adding a pinch of salt.
"It was okay and yes, please, that would be nice", Logan answered, watching his son running back to one of the kitchen chairs and climbing on it, then resuming chopping up some of the peeled potatoes with a rather child safe breakfast knife.
"Look, Daddy! I'm helping Grandpa with the cooking!", Milo told his father proudly, who accepted his glass of wine thankfully and, after asking Luke if he could be of any assistance and being declined, took a seat in between Lorelai and Milo at the kitchen table.
"I can see that", he replied, grinning. "That's very nice of you, good job!"
"He's the best helper Grandpa could wish for!", Luke agreed, ruffling Milo's mop of blond hair and clinking glasses with Logan and Lorelai. "But be careful with the knife - I know it's not a sharp one, but you can hurt yourself if you don't hold it properly, too."
"Yep, Grandpa, I'm being very careful. Promise", Milo answered dutifully, then went back to work. Logan couldn't help but smirk at the boy's enthusiasm.
"So, what did you guys do today?", Logan asked, then turned to his son and asked further: "Were you a good boy for your grandparents?"
"Oh, we had great fun!", Lorelai quickly replied when she saw Milo looking up from his potatoes and giving her an unsure look. "Do you want to tell your Daddy about your day, handsome?"
Logan gave his son a smile and raised an eyebrow at him when he saw Milo blushing and avoiding eye contact. Milo hoped that the grown-ups would now talk about something else and that Daddy wasn't going to pick up on him not answering his question, but no such luck.
"Milo?", Logan asked, giving him a curious look. "Was there a problem while Daddy was at work?"
Milo looked up at him and blushed even further, shaking his head slowly.
"No...?", Milo replied rather meekly and looked at his grandmother and grandfather for help.
Logan raised both eyebrows involuntarily and looked at his in-laws as well.
"Come on, minnow, you can go ahead and tell your Daddy about your day", Luke said, smiling at the little boy and leaning against the kitchen table for a minute. "We had a very small problem in the morning, but after that, Milo has been a very good boy."
Then, he turned to Lorelai. "Right, honey?"
Lorelai gave both Logan and Milo a smile of her own and nodded.
Logan looked at Milo for confirmation and further explanation and was surprised to see that some crocodile tears were running down his cheeks.
"I was bad for Granny and Grandpa and messed up the living room!", Milo suddenly cried, abandoning the potatoes, jumping from his chair and rushing over to his father, who immediately pulled him up and onto his lap.
The grown-ups shared a stunned look, then Logan started to rub the boy's back soothingly.
"Hey.. don't cry", he mumbled, trying to get Milo to look at him but failing at first. "Tell Daddy what happened after I left. I promise you that I won't get angry. I just want to know about your day. I'm sure that you were a good little boy for Granny and Grandpa, because they already said that you were!"
Milo just buried his head into Logan's crook of his neck, wrapped both his arms around it and shook his head stubbornly.
Logan couldn't help but chuckle a little, before disentangling himself from the semi-hard grip and gently cupping Milo's face in his hands.
Milo drew in some shaky breaths - he just didn't want to tell his Daddy about how he'd acted in the morning, fearing that Daddy would tell him that he couldn't spend the night at his grandparent's house or be angry with him.
"Now, now. Calm down for me and tell Daddy what happened, champ", Logan urged gently and shared a smile with Luke and Lorelai. "How did you mess up the living room?"
"I jumped on the sofa and made a mess with Granny's video thingies..", Milo admitted meekly and hung his head. Logan sighed, put one finger under Milo's chin and forced it up so he could look him in the eye again, then he kissed his forehead.
"Thank you for being honest, Milo. What happened after that?"
"Granny put me in time-out", Milo confessed, gulping loudly, to which all the adults in the kitchen shared another smile and Luke gave his wife a look of approval.
"And he was very good about it, didn't even complain", Lorelai readily agreed, refilling Milo's glass with more ice water and starting to set the table for their dinner.
Luke had returned to his meal preparations, now that the crisis had been averted.
"Good boy", Logan praised and kissed the little boy again, then hugged him close. "I'm proud of you for being good during your time-out."
Now, it was Milo's turn to be surprised. He looked up at his father with wide eyes.
"But.. can I still stay and sleep here tonight, Daddy? Even though I was.. naughty?", he asked.
Logan laughed and nodded his head.
"Of course you can, as long as your Granny and Grandpa don't mind...", he answered, to which both Luke and Lorelai called "We don't mind at all!" almost at the same time.
Milo smiled happily.
"Really?"
"Yep. You're not in trouble, little man."
"And you're not angry that I had to go in time-out? You said if I get in trouble, I am not 'llowed to sleep here!"
"Nope, I'm not angry, not at all. You've been punished for making a mess and since you've been honest with me about it and didn't act up when Granny put you there, it's over and done with", Logan told him. "And if you want, you can spend the night and come back home with me after work tomorrow."
"Yay! I want to!", Milo exclaimed, turning around in Logan's lap and looking at his Granny expectantly, who'd just finished setting the table. "Granny, I can stay!"
"Awesome!", Lorelai cheered and Luke and Logan shared a smirk.
With a final kiss to the little boy's temple, Logan lifted him off of his lap and turned him around to face him before letting him get back to cutting up the rest of the potatoes.
"No more jumping on the furniture, though, okay?", he reminded him with just the faintest touch of strictness in his tone. "That's dangerous."
Milo nodded gravely. "I promise!"
"That's my good boy", Logan smiled at Milo and sent him back to his chair with a gentle pat to his behind.
They all enjoyed a relatively quiet and delicious dinner, then Logan stayed for a little while longer, until it was time for Milo to go to bed.
They'd made themselves comfortable in the living room, playing a board game that Milo had chosen. When bedtime rolled around, the little boy let his Grandpa help him with brushing his teeth and putting on his pyjamas, then kissed both his grandparents goodnight.
"Whom do you want to tuck you in and read a bedtime story, handsome?", Lorelai asked knowingly. She knew that although Milo was more than happy that he could spend time with his grandparents, nothing beat the usual bedtime ritual he shared with Mommy and Daddy.
"Daddy, please!", the little boy answered without hesitation, giving Logan a pleading look who smiled widely at him and stood up from his spot on the sofa.
"Of course. Come on, let's go", Logan picked him up and carried him into Rory's old bedroom, where he tucked the little boy in and smiled when Paul Anka made his way into the room as well and settled himself at the boy's feed again.
He patted the dog's head gently, then took a seat at the side of the bed. Milo yawned and smiled up at his father tiredly.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, little one?"
"Are you going home when I'm asleep?"
"Yes, Daddy has to go home and into his own bed, because I have to get my rest. Just like you do", Logan answered. "Tomorrow, I have to go back to work, but after that, Daddy's going to be at home with my favourite little boy again, until Mommy gets home. Okay?"
Milo nodded sleepily. He'd actually planned on arguing with Daddy that he could make some room for him here in this bed, but he was just too tired at the moment.
"And tomorrow, we can call Mommy again before you go to sleep. She's at a fancy dinner with her boss and co-workers tonight, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to her", Logan explained further while carding one hand through Milo's blond hair.
Milo furrowed his brow in thought, but nodded again - to which Logan was very thankful.
"Otay", he said, his speech slightly slurred because of his sleepiness. "But don't go before I'm a'leep! You hafta stay here until I sleep..." When he saw Logan raising his eyebrow at the demanding tone, he hastily added "Please, Daddy!" and Logan smiled at him.
"Sure. Do you want me to read you a story?"
Surprisingly, Milo shook his head to that and yawned again.
"Just sit wif me, please."
"Alright, buddy. If that's what you want", Logan replied, laying his hand that had been going through Milo's hair on top of his blanket-covered tummy and carefully began to rub. He hummed a little melody and watched as Milo's eyelids started to fall.
"I'm sorry for jumpin' on the furnit're", Milo whispered after a while, taking the rim of the blanket into one of his small hands and rubbing it against his nose. "And for the mess. And for bein' cheeky in the mornin'."
Logan grinned.
"I know, son", he answered. "And I'm proud of you for behaving so well for Granny and Grandpa. And for telling Daddy the truth."
He leaned forward and gave Milo a kiss on the forehead.
"I made you a pi'ture t'day", Milo murmured, smiling. "Granny helped. It's of Smaug the 'ragon."
"Is that true? Well, I can't wait to see it, then. Will you show it to me tomorrow after work?"
Milo nodded.
"I made it, cause I was cheeky in the mornin'", he whispered. "So you's won't be angry."
"That's very kind of you, Milo. I promise that I'm not angry with you, though. It's all in the past", he said, having a feeling that he needed to remind Milo of that. "You're the best little boy a Daddy and a Mommy could wish for. I love you."
"And you're the bestest Daddy in the world!", Milo responded. It was music to Logan's ears and he suddenly wondered why he sometimes wanted to scream in frustration at Milo's stubbornness or knack for finding trouble. "Wuv you, Daddy..", Milo murmured, then closed his eyes and was suddenly fast asleep.
Logan kissed him again, not really wanting to leave just yet, so he tucked the blanket around the boy once more and sat for just a little while longer, watching his son slumbering peacefully.
