AN: Thanks for all the love on the last chapter. I know it was kind of angsty. But this chapter is more fun and fluffy so I hope you enjoy. And if you're looking for some super, extra, fluffy goodness, I actually posted a two-part "future shot" that takes place in present day as part of the RLH verse so you can see a glimpse of what Rory, Logan and Lila are up to these days. It's called "The Ski Vacation." Go check it out if you haven't seen it yet.

Also, an anonymous reviewer asked how you pronounce Lila's name- Lyla, or Leela. I never even thought about it having an alternate pronunciation. It's pronounced "Lyla" like Lilac without the c.


The black fabric was soft and buttery as he slid the material through his fingers behind his back, a smirk on his face. "Close your eyes," he instructed his girlfriend.

Rory glared at him in annoyance. He loved the way her blue eyes sparkled when she was annoyed with him. And the royal blue cardigan she wore over a white button down made them pop even more. "What do you have behind your back?"

"It's a surprise," he replied, his grin widening. "A birthday surprise." It was October 8th, Rory's 33rd birthday. And he, Logan Huntzberger, could certainly not let such an occasion go by without something special up his sleeve. Plus, it was Sunday and he wasn't at his mother's so he was feeling particularly cheeky today. Even if the price of getting out of his weekly lunch was steep. He'd known it would be the way his mother acquiesced to the request so readily; but they'd worry about that next week.

"I know you, Huntzberger."

"The existence of our daughter can attest to that," Logan agreed with a mischievous smile, settling on the biblical definition of the word.

Rory looked towards the foyer of her house. "You have a fully packed diaper bag, and another packed duffle bag. Which means we're going somewhere. Which means what you have behind your back is not my birthday surprise, it's a blindfold."

"Nothing gets past you, Ace," he admitted, unveiling his hands and the silk blindfold they held.

"No."

"I have ways of making you agree." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Rory cleared her throat, turning away from him, no doubt to avoid the smoldering look in his eyes that was often her undoing. "And what would our therapist say about that?"

Logan stepped up behind her, pressing his body fully into hers. He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "Just because we're not having sex yet doesn't mean that I've lost all my powers of persuasion," he reminded her huskily, winding his hands around her waist to lay on her stomach.

Rory immediately tensed up and pulled out of his grip. "I'm not wearing that thing." She turned around, crossing her arms fully across her chest.

"Common, Ace. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"We have a kid now, Logan."

"It's not like you're going to be driving the car blindfolded with her in it. I'm steering this ship and I promise I have full visual acuity. You can ask the DMV, they made me take an eye test before restoring my Connecticut State driver's license."

Rory huffed. "Why do I put up with this?"

"Because I look hot wearing a baby?" Logan suggested.

Rory looked down at her attire. "Can you at least confirm if I'm dressed okay for wherever you're dragging me to?"

Logan looked her up and down, letting his eyes linger in certain spots. Ever since that night at the Dragonfly it was becoming harder and harder to abstain. That dress, that kiss…it was like a part of him had been reawakened and his legendary libido was rearing its ugly head again.

It wasn't even like Rory was particularly sexed up. Her shirt was properly buttoned up, although the buttons did pull across her chest and gape slightly now that her boobs had grown to accommodate their new function of providing nourishment. Her skirt fell to just above her knees, but her legs were fully covered up with leggings underneath. And her boots were nice, but it wasn't like they had sexy heels on the bottom—which was good because where they were going, heels would definitely be a hinderance. "You look great," he assured her. "Just grab a light jacket in case you get chilly. I've got everything we need for Lila."

With a relenting huff of air, Rory headed to the closet to pull out her beige teddy bear coat, draping it over her shoulders. "That blindfold is going to clash," she complained as she reluctantly grabbed the blindfold from his hands.

"Well, other than Babette who is probably spying from her front window, no one but me and Lila are going to see you in it and Lila's color spectrum is still developing so I don't think she is concerned with clashing yet."

"Actually, it will just be you who sees it because I'm not putting it on until we get into the car. Your tinted windows will keep Babette's prying eyes away, and Lila will already be strapped into her rear facing car seat."

"I can live with that," Logan acquiesced. "You get the baby, I'll get the stuff…" he said, taking Rory's coat, then gathering up the diaper bag as well as the rest of their stuff.


"Tada!" Logan flourished, pulling off Rory's blindfold.

He watched as Rory took in her surroundings, her eyes landing on the giant witch that towered over them. She must have stood at least 30 feet tall, made of weathered metal and wood, decorated with chipped paint. Rory blinked in confusion.

"What on earth is that thing?"

"It's Winnie the Witch," Logan informed her matter-of-factly.

"It's terrifying. It's going to give our child nightmares. It's going to give me nightmares."

"Don't be so dramatic," he laughed. "It's a landmark. Children have been coming here for forty years and leaving without any psychological injuries."

"So you say," Rory countered, "but I'd wager their therapists might disagree twenty years down the line. What are we even doing here?"

"We're pumpkin picking," Logan informed her. "Plus, there's hot cider, and grilled corn on the cob, and also cider donuts. And you can't tell me you don't love donuts."

"Donuts are delicious," Rory agreed. "But they're also delicious at Westins."

"Oh come on," Logan said, starting to feel let down by her reaction. He'd planned this whole day out. He wanted her to love it and this was not a great start. "You love all those cheesy festivals Stars Hollow puts on, and sure, there's no Gypsy and Andrew getting into a fight, or Kirk making a scene, but there is a giant corn maze which is essentially the same thing as a hay bale maze. Plus, I thought it would be nice to start a family tradition. Lila might be too young to enjoy most of this yet but in a couple years…"

Rory's face softened. "I'm sorry," she said, reaching up to cup his face. "You're right. I was a little thrown because this wasn't what I was expecting from a Logan Huntzberger blindfold expedition but actually, it's better. We're not in college anymore, we have a family and I love that you want to do family things. Let's go check it out." They got out of the car, gathering up Lila and her diaper bag and leaving the rest in the back of the SUV.

"You know," Rory said, a while later. They'd finished making their way through the corn maze with Lila in her stroller and were getting ready to head out into the farm to pick their pumpkins. "I know this is a controversial opinion for a Gilmore, but I don't think corn counts as a vegetable," she said, taking a chomp out of an ear of roasted corn. "Vegetables aren't allowed to taste this good. Plus, if it were really a vegetable the Gilmore code would mean popcorn was verboten."

"I mean, if you want to get technical," Logan replied. "Whole corn like you're eating right now is a vegetable and corn kernels, like those used for popcorn are a grain."

"Fine," Rory sighed. "But this corn is smothered in butter and salt so it still doesn't really count. That's like saying an onion ring is a vegetable."

"Well, I can't argue with that logic," Logan chuckled, letting it go. It was her birthday, he'd let her come out on top of this argument.

They made their way into the pumpkin patch and started wandering around.

"Ooh, look at that one," Rory pointed to a mishappen pumpkin a few feet away. "Let's get that one. It looks like John Malkovich."

Logan stepped a little closer and appraised the orange produce. "Oh, yeah, I can totally see it," he agreed.

"Liar," Rory huffed.

"No, seriously, that little ridge right there—" he pointed to the pumpkin. "That's his nose."

"Nah uh," Rory disagreed. "That's his ear. You have to turn your head to the side." She tilted her head 90 degrees. "See?" she pointed out. "Those are his forehead wrinkles. Those two dents are his eyes…his nose," she added pointing to another bulge, "and that's his pointy, little, goatee clad chin."

Logan tilted his head as well as she pointed out each feature. Actually, he could kind of see it. "Alright," he agreed. "Grab Valmont and add him to the wheelbarrow." Rory picked the pumpkin off the vine excitedly.

They continued to meander their way through the field, filling up their wheelbarrow with pumpkins. "We may need to stop soon," Logan informed her. As much fun as it was finding all the pumpkins who resembled celebrities, getting them all out of the farm was going to be an issue.

"Why?" Rory pouted as she examined an extra-large pumpkin that she insisted looked like Drew Carrey.

"You do know how they charge for these pumpkins, don't you?" he asked.

"What do you care?" Rory shot back. "You have a bazillion dollars. You can't afford to buy me this Drew Carrey pumpkin for my birthday?"

"It's not about the money, Ace," he laughed. "The pumpkins are all you can carry. When we get to check out you have to stack the pumpkins in my arms and we pay one price for as many of them as I can carry over the line in one go. Now, I like to think of myself as super buff and manly, but I still have my limits."

Rory pressed her lips together in suppressed mirth. "Wait," she said, trying not to laugh. "I get to load all of these pumpkins into your arms and watch you waddle across the checkout line with them?" Logan nodded in confirmation. "Oh, you were right, this is a perfect birthday outing. I am getting sooooooo many pictures of that." He was amazed her phone had any storage left on it after all the pictures she'd take of Lila amid the pumpkins, on hay bales, in the corn maze. She'd even taken some of Lila sitting inside a carved-out pumpkin with holes for her arms, legs, and head.

"Come on, Cartier-Bresson," Logan chuckled. "Let's go make a fool of me at the check-out and then we can move on to our afternoon plans."

"Ohh, there's more? Are we going to get our faces painted? Ride a carousel? Visit a petting zoo? What?"

"You'll see."

They made their way to the exit, Logan pushing the wheelbarrow full of pumpkins and Rory pushing Lila in the stroller. "Alright, next up," the teenager working the checkout called. Rory and Logan stepped up as the person in front of them made their way through.

"Put the bigger ones on the bottom and stack them like a pyramid," he suggested as he held his arms out to allow her to start piling the gourds in his arms.

Rory placed them in his grip one by one until they were piled so high Logan couldn't see any more. "One more," Rory told him. He could hear a strain in her voice, which was weird because he was the one carrying fifty pounds of pumpkins.

Logan couldn't see what was happening but he could hear little grunts coming from Rory. "I...can't...reach…"

"We might just have to leave it behind, Ace."

"Nooooo," Rory cried. "We can't leave Amanda Bynes behind. Her emotional health can't take that kind of abandonment."

Logan held in a chuckle. "Don't make me laugh, Ace, or every pumpkin from Adele to Zach Braff will come tumbling down. In fact, you better make sure Lila is far away just in case."

"Here," a voice from behind them said. A few seconds later, Logan felt one more pumpkin added to his arms. His legs started to buckle just a little.

"Okay, go!" Rory said. Logan widened his stance and tried to blindly guide himself through the checkout line, his gait wide and stilted, his back arched uncomfortably backwards. He briefly wondered if this was anything like what it was like to be pregnant. And then he realized that if he posed that question out loud, every woman in hearing distance who had ever borne a child (which was most of them considering where they were) would ban together to beat the living crap out of him.

He continued to move forward little by little. One step, two steps, three…. "You made it!" Rory shouted with glee.

"Congrats," he heard the voice of the checkout kid say. "Eleven pumpkins. That's impressive. Although one guy earlier today got 13."

Logan was just standing there shaking under the weight of the pumpkins, unsure what to say or do. "Umm, a little help?" he pleaded.

A second later the pumpkins started being unloaded from his arms. When he could finally see, Rory was stacking them back into the wheelbarrow to get back to the car. "Thanks for saving Amanda," Rory said, and Logan turned to see a tall, kind stranger nod. "My pleasure. Miss Bynes deserves a nice home after everything she's been through."


She was laid out on the large picnic blanket, her head in his lap. The sun beat down, providing a ray of warmth, cutting through the brisk fall air. Lila, having recently been fed and changed, was sleeping. Logan imagined Rory's endless photoshoots had helped to tucker her out as well. Logan took a sip of his Cabernet Sauvignon. Connecticut wine was a far cry from the local stuff he'd grown accustomed to when he lived a stone's throw from Napa, but for an afternoon enjoying the beauty of the vineyard in fall while listening to live music and spending time with his family—the quality of the wine hardly mattered.

"Ooh, this is a good one!" Rory exclaimed through a mouthful of cheese from the charcuterie tray. She was assessing the fruits of her photographic labor. She passed him the phone to show him a picture of him laden with Pumpkins. It was a shot of his profile so you could tell it was him and not just some mysteriously levitating squash.

"My back is going to hate me for that tomorrow," Logan groaned upon noting the extreme backbend he seemed to have going on.

"But it was worth it," Rory said, looking up at him with a smile.

"It will be if you give me a massage." Logan set his glass of wine down and moved to join her, laying on the blanket.

Rory grabbed her phone back. "Umm, it's my birthday, if anyone is getting a massage it's me."

"Not if you don't put that phone down," Logan scolded, positioning himself on his abdomen. He was about to rest his head on Rory's stomach but she turned away and sat up.

"But my photos are such masterpieces. Each and every one. And this…"she said stopping on another photo. "This is going on the Christmas cards." He propped his head up with one hand, while taking the phone with his other to see.

"Okay, that is a picture of me on a tractor with a straw hat on my head. I'd let you put those naked shower photos of me from my graduation on Christmas cards before I let these go public. This is getting trashed."

"Nooooo!" Rory leaned over, grabbing the phone out of his hands. "Don't you dare!"

Logan sighed. "If you let me delete it, I'll give you your birthday present."

"Ooh, prezzies!" Rory said excitedly. "I want prezzies. You wouldn't really hold my birthday presents hostage from me, would you?"

"I most certainly would."

Rory harrumphed. "Fine. I'll delete that picture." She held the phone up for him to see and hit the little trash button in the corner, confirming the delete.

"Thank you," Logan said.

"Oh, don't thank me," Rory informed him. "It was a burst, I've got like, 18 more frames of that." She stuck out her tongue at him. Logan rolled his eyes. "But a deal's a deal. I want my presents."

"You suck."

"You love me."

"Yeah, yeah, don't let it go to your head." He sat back up again and grabbed the duffle bag that the picnic blanket and snacks had been stored in and pulled out two neatly wrapped boxes. Rory clapped her hands excitedly.

He handed her the first box and she hastily ripped through the wrapping. "Perfume?" she asked with a pout. "Is this your way of telling me I smell? Because it's not easy getting spit up out of your hair."

Logan laughed. "Just smell it, Ace."

Rory huffed, still apparently feeling insulted, but took the bottle out of the box and spritzed it on her wrist. She brought her hand up to smell. A contemplative look crossed her face as she tried to place the scent. Logan knew exactly what she was smelling…leather, tobacco, musk, clove, a hint of vanilla.

"Is this…" she sniffed again. "It smells like…Pushkin!" she finally said as her weary look morphed into a great, big smile.

"A custom scent to fulfill all your book sniffing needs," he grinned. She couldn't write in Richard's old office now that the house had been sold, but he knew how much she loved the smell of that office. It was the smell of old books. Rory loved the smell of books, one of Logan's first memories of her was the image of her standing in the library with a leather bound book pressed against her nose. Logan couldn't bring her back that study, but he could provide her with a little bit of the ambiance and the smell of all the classics it held within it; hopefully it could provide her with just a little motivation.

"This is amazing. I love it," she gushed.

"And gift time isn't even over." He handed over the second box.

Rory unwrapped the paper more delicately this time, revealing an eggshell blue box within.

"Logan…" she started to protest.

"Just open it," he told her. She lifted the top off the box to find a delicate silver chain with a heart shaped locket decorated with alexandrite stones. She stared at it in awe, delicately fingering the jewelry before finally picking it up to open the locket. On one side was a picture of Lila, all smooshy and red faced, dressed in a yellow and white tutu dress with a big yellow flower headband on her head. On the other side was engraved the words, "In Omnia Paratus."

"You and Lila," Logan said, "You're my thrill of a lifetime. And wherever this journey we're on takes us, I'm ready for anything."

She finally looked up at him, her face inscrutable. She didn't speak, just stared. A myriad of emotions crossing her face too fast for him to make any of them out. His heart was starting to beat a little faster. "Anything to say in response?" he finally asked.

Rory inhaled, holding her breath for a moment before speaking. "I have a present for you too."

Logan narrowed his eyes, his head tilting to the side. "That's not how birthdays work, Ace," he informed her with a nervous chuckle.

"It's my birthday, it works however I want it to," she countered. He had no idea what to make of this. What could she possibly be giving him? Here. Now. Was this a good thing?

Rory turned around to reach into her tote bag. She hesitated before bringing out whatever she was attempting to retrieve. "Fatima said something at our session a couple of weeks ago..."

She didn't need to specify which session. He knew exactly which one. His chest squeezed a little tighter. "We don't have to talk about this now," he assured her. "I told you, whatever happens to us, I just want us to be together."

"You want us to be married—someday at least," she acknowledged. It was true. But so was what he told her. He wanted to be married but if all he got was them being together as a happy family without a marriage certificate, he'd be okay with that. "And I want to get there for you. But that's not what this is about. Not exactly."

"Then what is it about?"

"It's about me. Fatima said I was afraid I wasn't enough…"

"And I told you that you are."

"I know," she nodded. "And while that's nice to hear, it doesn't change me. All my life the people around me have put me up on this pedestal; acted like I could do no wrong. And when I did screw up, it was always someone else's fault. It was your Dad's fault when I dropped out of Yale, it was your fault when I made you steal that yacht. It was Jess's fault when we got into the car accident. It was the deer's fault when I missed my English test at Chilton."

"A deer made you miss a test?" Logan questioned with curiosity. How had he never heard that story before?

"Not the point."

"Okay," Logan nodded, "But you are going to tell me the deer story sometime, right?"

"I promise," Rory nodded with a melancholic smile.

"Okay then, go on…"

"I've always lived with a lot of expectations, Logan. Expectations to be perfect."

"I know a little something about that."

"I know you do," she nodded. "But it was different. I don't know what was worse—you having all these expectations put on you that no one ever expected you to live up to, or me having all these expectations put on me that I was expected to live up to. I'm sure they both sucked in their own way. I just…I can't stand letting people down. I can't stand letting you down."

"Rory…" he reached out to soothe a hand down her arm.

"There are parts of me I'm not proud of, Logan. I've made a mess of my life. And going back and writing my book, I realize that I've been making a mess of my life for as long as I can remember. I just never realized because I was surrounded by all these people who told me I could do no wrong."

"I love you, imperfections and all."

"I know. No matter what I did, no matter how much I screwed up, no matter how badly I've hurt you…and I believe me I know how badly I've hurt you…despite all of it, you've always loved me. So," Rory stuffed her hand back into the tote, "I can't be afraid anymore."

"Okay, then…" He looked at her expectantly.

She finally pulled her hand out of her tote, her fingers grasped around a ream of paper. The top page blank but for two words in bold: Gilmore Girls.

Logan let out a reverent breath. "Your book?"

"My book," she confirmed. "At least what's written of it so far. It's only about half of it. Everything until just before you leave for London."

"Are you sure?" She'd made it crystal clear on more than one occasion that she wasn't comfortable letting him read it yet. He'd admit, it hurt for her to keep him out like that. He knew that Rory expressed herself best on a page. And these pages—they contained her inner most thoughts and feelings. And as much as he wanted her to share that with him, he knew he couldn't push. That book was a part of her, and she had to give that part willingly.

She nodded her head cautiously. "I'm sure.

Logan felt himself getting choked up. This meant more to him that he could say. She was opening herself up to him—quite literally letting him read her like a book. It was her birthday, but she'd totally shown him up in the gift giving department. He leaned forward, threading his fingers through her hair and pulled her lips to his for a passionate kiss. "Thank you," he said, when he'd finally pulled back.

"Before you thank me, there's something you should know." Her voice was small and vulnerable.

"What?"

"There's something in there that…" she took a deep breath, letting her words trail off.

"'That' what?"

"There's something I never told you about when we were together, back in college," she admitted. "I just…I don't want you to find out about it for the first time by reading it. You should hear it from me."

"Oooooookay." He replied warily. What could have happened ten years ago that she felt the need to put a spoiler warning on? The way she was talking…it was making him nervous. Maybe he didn't want to know after all.

"I…" she stopped to take a deep breath.

"You?"

"I went to Philadelphia," she rushed out.

"For the cheesesteak?"

"To see Jess."

"Jess?"

"Jess, my ex-boy—"

He held one hand up to stop her, the other scrubbing his face guardedly. "Yeah, I know who Jess is." As though he could forget. Forget the day he found out he was being shipped off to London. Forget the night he came home to find his girlfriend in the driveway sneaking off with another guy. Forget that awful screaming match at Rich Man's Shoe. Forget the night he threw it all away because he was scared. He knew who Jess was.

"He was having a book launch party. I went there while you were in Costa Rica."

"You went to see Jess when I was in Costa Rica?" he repeated.

She nodded. He didn't say anymore, just waited for her to finish. Attending an ex's book launch party while your boyfriend was away was maybe not the healthiest relationship move, but it hardly required this level of disclosure a decade later.

Rory looked down at her hands. "We kissed," she finally admitted.

"You kissed," he repeated with a nod of his head. "You went to Philadelphia to kiss Jess while I was in Costa Rica literally crashing and burning."

"Logan…"

He shook his head, letting her know he wasn't ready for whatever excuse she was about to make.

"You kissed and…"

"And nothing…" she responded eagerly. "Nothing else happened. I was upset about Walker and Alexandra. I wanted to get back at you. But I couldn't. I couldn't do it because I loved you and as soon as my lips touched his I knew that it didn't mean anything, couldn't mean anything."

Logan was silent. His brain trying to process this information. How did one come to terms with information like this? How was he supposed to feel about a betrayal over a decade ago? He needed more information to go on.

He looked up at her so he could evaluate her facial reactions. "He's Luke's nephew, right?" Rory nodded.

"How often do you see him?"

"Not often. Once, twice a year max. But…"

"But what?"

"He's the one who suggested I write this book."

"He wrote a book?" Logan recalled.

"Yes," Rory nodded nervously.

"And worked for a small publishing house?"

"He still does," she admitted.

Logan squeezed his eyes shut. "And your book?"

"What about it?"

"Are you planning on having him publish it?"

Rory played with a few loose strings on the picnic blanket. "We never really discussed it, although I think we both kind of assumed…but that was before."

"Before what?"

"Before you came back."

"So you don't plan on having him publish it?"

"Not if you don't want me to."

"I don't," he replied without hesitation. Even without all the complicated history and burning jealousy inside of him the answer would have been 'no.' Logan knew exactly what publisher that book belonged with. But now wasn't the time to bring that up.

"Okay then."

"Do you love him?" Logan asked next.

"What?" The word came out almost as a laugh but Logan didn't find it funny.

"Do you love him?"

"He's my step-cousin."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Of course I don't love him. We dated a lifetime ago."

"We dated a lifetime ago and I never stopped loving you."

"I never started loving him. He's grown into a decent guy, sure, but he was a terrible boyfriend. And he skipped town on me before I could ever get a chance to get there with him."

"I just," Logan ran a shaky hand through his hair, trying to figure out why this bugged him so much. "I need to know he's not your 'Rory.'"

"My what?" Rory asked, her face completely confused.

"Your 'Rory.' The person who you secretly want to be with while trying to move on and build a life with someone else."

"That's insane," Rory scoffed. "If anything, he's my Odette. The guy I once—a looong time ago—tried to convince myself I could fall in love with so I could avoid heartbreak with the person I really wanted to be with. You are my Rory. You are the person I always have and always will love."

She was being sincere, he could tell, but he needed to know one more thing. "And am I enough for you?" he asked.

"What?"

"You're worried you're not enough for me. I told you you are. Well now I need to hear that I'm enough for you. That you're not going to go off kissing other guys when I screw up and you're mad at me."

"You're enough, Logan. You are more than enough," she replied earnestly.

Logan took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay, then." He confirmed. "That's it. We're enough for each other. You don't cheat, I don't cheat. If at any point one of us feels like the other isn't enough, we say something and we figure out how to fix it."

Rory bit her lip nervously. "That's it?"

Logan nodded, feeling suddenly lighter. "That's it."

"But I…"

"Eleven years ago, Rory. And it was just a kiss. I'm not saying it wasn't a betrayal, because it was. But we've had way bigger betrayals since then. And if I can forgive you for not telling me you were pregnant with my kid, I think I can forgive you for this."

"Okay, but…"

"But what?"

"He's Luke's nephew. I can't promise to never see him or anything, are you okay with that?"

"You're not my property, Rory, I'm not going to tell you who you can and can't see. You assured me you don't have feelings for him. We agreed to be enough for each other. And yes, I expressed my request that you not use him as your book publisher given the personal nature of it, but beyond that, I have to trust you."

"And do you?"

"Trust you?"

"Yeah."

Logan paused for a second. "I think our bank is starting to look pretty solid again."

Rory let out a relieved breath. "So, we're good?"

"I don't know," Logan shrugged nonchalantly. "That depends."

"On what?"

He plucked the manuscript out of her hands. "On what you had to say about how good I am in bed," he replied cheekily, opening the pages and trying to scan through for that infamous night of Chinese, zydeco, and proper goodnights.


His childhood home had become less intimidating over the last four months. It was far from warm and cozy and Logan would still rather spend an afternoon being forced to watch consecutive Nicholas Sparks flicks than to hang out with his mother. But she really did seem to love her granddaughter. And with all the doting she did on Lila, Logan mostly got to fade into the background. He'd of course get to hear the occasional passive aggressive remark against Rory, usually followed be his mother talking up some daughter of a friend who was recently divorced. They were always divorced. As much as Shira loved Lila, an illegitimate child from an affair definitely limited Logan's options in his mother's world.

So yeah, Sunday's at the Huntzberger home weren't fun, but they were tolerable.

But tonight was different. Because is was night and he wasn't alone. "You okay?" he asked, grabbing Rory's hand for reassurance. Rory nodded in assent, but he wasn't convinced considering she looked like she was going to vomit. "If you need to puke you should do it behind that bush," Logan pointed behind him. "It's a perennial, the gardener won't need to prune it for months.

"Gee, thanks."

"I'm sorry you got roped into this," he apologized.

"No," she shook her head. "It's okay. I agreed. I mean, that was the deal right—your Mom would let you skip your Sunday lunch on my birthday if we agreed to a family dinner when your Dad was in from London. I've got 17 years of obligate family meal experiences to know there's always a tradeoff. Besides, they're your family, they're Lila's family. We have to start building bridges sometime."

"If I didn't know you—and my parents—better, I might actually believe that," Logan laughed.

"Whatever," Rory sighed, reaching up to ring the bell. "Let's just get this over with…"


AN: So there you have it. Sometimes you need to let the really bad stuff out and it may seem like you're taking a step back but you just need to get it out there to move forward. That was last chapter and now they're moving forward. Rory sharing her book was HUGE fo Logan. I can relate to Rory a lot in the sense that I can say things in writing I could never say in person. Back last March when I thought I had COVID just as things were getting bad, I wrote this whole big Medium post about it. And my father read it and he was like-I had no idea you felt that way, you never talk like that. And I was all "I know, that's why I write about it." And I feel like Rory is the same way. She talks a lot, but it's hard for her to say anything meaningful. But when you put her in front of a computer or a note pad, the real her can reveal itself. Logan knows that about her. So her giving him the book is pretty much her being as vulnerable and open with him as she can be. And of course it isn't all positive, that's why Rory didn't want to hand it over in the first place. There are parts of her she's not proud of and she doesn't want Logan to see that side of her. Especially the fact that SHE cheated on him, especially after her questioning him about his cheating. What do you think about how he handled that? And how do you think family dinner with the Huntzbergers will go?