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3 Chapters in 24 hours! I guess this is what happens when I'm stuck in bed with heart problems. Every time I get up, my heart rate skyrockets, so I'm trying to take it easy. There is so much going on right now, it's absolutely insane! One of my close friends lives in Texas and is being hit with problem after problem right now, thanks to the crazy winter storms that rolled through this week. We got about an inch of snow where I live in West Central Alabama, and several inches a couple of hours north of us, where we used to live. Luckily, we didn't have any problems, other than my husband working a 17 hour shift because some of his employees claimed to be "snowed in". My husband is from Utah, so he was rolling his eyes at everyone here who was freaking out, because OMG, WHITE STUFF! lol My heart goes out to everyone who was hit hard this week. I can't even imagine being in your position right now. I've been doing some research for my friend, and there are a couple of forms that you can fill out for federal help. If anyone needs the links, please let me know. My friend is Military, and said that her insurance company, USAA is covering all the damages, so definitely check with your insurance. I LOVE USAA! They've been absolutely wonderful to me, and I'm just a military brat by extension. They're amazing!
I hope you all are healthy and doing well. Please, if you haven't been taking Covid seriously, because it has yet to happen to you, I urge you to start IMMEDIATELY! Please follow the health dept guidelines, and practice social distancing, and for the love of all that is good, please PLEASE WEAR A MASK when you go out in public! If you aren't already, please PLEASE take covid seriously! Be smart, be respectful, and wear a mask. My husband and I caught this awful virus a month ago, and we are still fighting to recover. We both suffer from asthma, my husband severely. We will know for sure when he sees the Pulmonologist in a few days, but there is a really high chance that Covid has done irreversible damage to his lungs, and he could end up on oxygen and disability. Also, thanks to Covid, I know have a heart condition. I am waiting to see the cardiologist to find out what we can do at this point, but I am currently stuck in bed because every time I get up, my heart rate skyrockets. I am very dizzy, and falling over when I stand up. This crap is BAD! It's been an full month, as of today, and we are still badly suffering. We have done everything we could to prevent this nightmare from happening, but unfortunately for us, my husband brought it home from work. I wouldn't wish this crap on any of you. Post Covid syndrome is horrible! This is the toughest thing that we've ever been through, and we have two little kids to take care of. So please, PLEASE take this seriously. Get the vaccine when it is your turn, and please do everything you can to keep yourself and your family safe.
Thank you everyone who has posted a review for me to read! I absolutely LOVE reading them! Thank you so much! You guys really keep me going. I really look forward to reading every single one of them. And thank you to everyone who has sent me a private message while I've been away. I appreciate you checking on me. It really means a lot. :-)
Two Weeks Later
Huntzberger Residence
"I think you need to tell your sister about this." Collin said as he sat in the Huntzberger kitchen, talking with Logan.
"No, I don't want her involved in this drama."
"Well, I had the eviction notice served today. Walker has 60 days to exit the property, or I'll be going to court. As soon as she is out, we can start the selling process. Technically, we could start it now, but I doubt we will be able to get anything done with her still there, and you'll need some inspections and buyer visits."
"She needs to be out first."
"Well I hate to be the one to bring it up, but what happens if she goes crying to your sister about you and Rory evicting her?"
"Honor has nothing to do with any of this, and I want to keep it that way."
"But the question is does Walker want to keep it that way. IF she goes crying to Honor, she'll risk her sham of a friendship, and have to admit that she's been screwing your Dad for the last 10 years."
"Which Honor will kill her for."
"But wouldn't it be better for Honor to find out about all of this from you, rather than from Walker?"
"My parents live with Honor. She's got more than enough on her plate trying to deal with them. Honor will lose her shit when she finds out about this, and my parents will be out on their butts. You and I both know that both of their recoveries will go to complete shit if that happens."
"Ok, well, here's another thought. What if they both went back to rehab?"
"They want to be here when the babies are born."
"As if either you or Honor would even consider allowing that now that this shit has come out." Collin chuckled.
"Exactly! So why not send them back to rehab, while you guys deal with this shit show? Or at least get them their own sober living place somewhere away from you. Mitchum already has his nurse, so why not add a couple sober living companions or something to 'help them' transition back to having their own life."
"The other question is what happens when my Mom finds out about all of this. She knows that Dad has never been faithful to her, but she doesn't know that he's been screwing her daughter's friend for the last 10 years. What happens if my Mom wants to file for divorce?"
"Your Mom still has that ridiculous prenup doesn't she?"
"Yep! I've been trying to get Dad to drop it, but it hasn't happened yet. Months ago, he said that he would think about having it amended, but as far as I know, he has yet to do anything about it."
"Well as your attorney, I am legally obligated to warn you that shit is about to go down, and that it is bound to get pretty ugly. You need to be prepared for a fight."
"I figured this would happen when Finn told me about this nightmare."
"I can't believe that Finn got you all of this information!"
"I know, right?! Good old drunken Finn, got the skank plastered, and she ran her mouth like a river!"
"I hope you compensated him for a job well done."
"Rory took him to lunch."
"If I didn't know Rory as well as I do, I would warn you about the crush that Finn has on her."
"I've known about that for years."
"Rory would never do anything to hurt you."
"I know. She would kill Finn if he ever tried anything. They're just really close friends. Rory says that she really likes talking to him."
"I never knew that Finn was really capable of an adult conversation."
"Finn has always been there when it matters. I don't remember ever having a sober conversation with him, but I've been told that it's happened. Rory says that Finn acts one way with us, and that he's completely different with her."
"I've heard that from Rosemary too."
"How is she?"
"She's doing really well. Apparently Finn has been staying with her for several months now, whenever he's in town."
"Did Finn give up his hotel suite? He's had that thing for years!"
"Not that I know of. But Rosemary said that things are going really well for them. She said that it's different this time."
"Maybe the millionth try is the one that will finally stick."
"Yeah, really." Collin agreed. "Stephanie is excited about it."
"Of course she is! Rosemary is her best friend!"
"Should we take bets on whether or not it will actually last this time?"
"Probably not, but I can't say that I blame you for wanting to. Our wives would kill us if we actually did."
"Stephanie says that things seem different this time."
"That's a good thing. Rosemary is an awesome person. I've never not enjoyed having her around. I just hope that they can both make it work this time. I can't say that can see Finn ever settling down, but then again, I also had no idea what a good PI he is."
"Seriously! Rory could have made one call, and had my private investigator take care of everything for her. But instead, she asked Finn for help."
"And Finn got her all of the information within a matter of hours!" Logan told him.
"Walker is known to run her mouth while drunk though. I mean, look what she did to you and Rory ten years ago."
"Speaking of Rory, did you get her a video of the eviction being served?"
"Finn has security footage."
"You're a chicken shit!"
"I had a friend at the sheriffs dept serve it for me. I didn't need to put myself anywhere near the crazy chick that tries to seduce anything that moves. My wife would have killed you."
"Rory is basically using this as revenge for that tramp sleeping with me while we were broken up."
"And as your attorney, I need to remind you to shut your big mouth about that, and pretend that Rory knows nothing about it, or it could be used against you if Walker tries to fight the eviction. I'm sure the lush doesn't realize that Rory even knows about that, so let's just zip our mouths and play stupid should the subject ever come up."
"It was a drunken mistake."
"I hope you got tested after that."
"I did. I'm not stupid enough not to. As soon as I realized what I had done, I immediately went to the doctor."
"I can't believe that tramp has been sleeping with your Dad for so long. I mean, I can almost understand a one night stand, but off and on for the last 10 years? That's just WRONG!"
"She told Finn that my Dad is better in bed than I am."
"Well we all know that's a lie because I've never heard bad things about your performance. Hell, your wife got pregnant on your first night back together."
"As a medical professional, I have to remind you that getting pregnant has nothing to do with your performance, and everything to do with the date on the calendar."
"And the fact that you had sex several times a day for the first 5 months of being back together."
"Until Paris slapped that damn heart monitor on her, and the pregnancy became high risk."
"But it's almost over now, right? Only a few weeks left?"
"Less than that. Rory is due in 27 days, but Paris said that we should be ready for delivery around 3 weeks early."
"So in other words, you could have the baby at any time then."
"Pretty much."
"Are you ready for that?"
"Yes and no."
"Which means?"
"Physically, yes, we are ready. We have everything we could possibly need for the baby, and I've got a team from the hospital ready to cover for me at the clinic at the drop of a hat. Emotionally, we're ready. We are both anxious, nervous, stressed out over the situation and all the risk factors, but looking forward to being done, and having Ayribella home with us. But mentally . . ."
"You are completely terrified because you've never had a kid before, and only ever been around my kid, and you have no idea what the hell you are doing, or how you are supposed to keep a tiny baby alive."
"Exactly!" Logan smiled, relieved that he didn't have to explain his reservations to his best friend.
"I've been there. I know the situation very well."
"But then on the flip side, am I ready to have my wife back? Hell yes!"
"You realize that if you decide to get frisky before the initial 6 week recovery is up, it could be VERY messy, right? Not to mention risky. You'll need to invest in a lot of condoms, to keep her from getting pregnant again, right away."
"Thank you Collin, I'm a doctor, I think I know the risks. She won't be able to even take birth control pills for the first several months, and even then it will all depend on whether or not she continues to breastfeed. Yes, I get it. I know all about it."
"Well, in my defense, you did get her pregnant on your first night back together."
"After not having sex for several years. I was horny as hell."
"And you probably only lasted for about a minute, right?"
"Shut up Collin!"
"Well I know for a fact that you did it more than once that night."
"Did what more than once?" Honor asked, walking into Logan's kitchen with Shira behind her.
"Picked on Finn for being drunk back in college." Logan quickly answered, shooting Collin a look. "What's up?"
"Just thought we would stop by on our way back from our morning walk, and see what Rory is up to."
"She's still asleep."
"It's after 9am." Shira spoke up.
"Rory didn't sleep well last night. We have an appointment with Paris in an hour, so I need to go get her up soon."
"You should probably think about putting her hospital bag in the car." Honor told him.
"I put it there last night after having the car seat professionally installed."
"Good boy!"
"I'm a doctor, you don't need to act so surprised that I know about stuff."
"Where do you go to get the car seat professionally installed?" Collin asked.
"Most of the hospitals will have someone from L&D that is certified to do it, but most fire departments have a few people." Logan answered.
"I didn't know that."
"You never asked, or I would have told you."
"And how was I supposed to know that you would know something like that?!"
"Because I'm a doctor. I worked in the emergency room for 5 years. All emergency room staff members know that stuff."
"Well I know that now."
"I need to go wake Rory up, are you heading into the office?"
"I am. Let me know how Rory's appointment goes."
"I will. Let me know what happens with the freeloader."
"Will do. It's nice to see you Shira, Honor. Tell Rory I said hi." Collin said as he got up from where he had been sitting, and headed out of the kitchen.
"Thanks Collin." Logan called after him.
"Do you need help with anything today?" Shira asked, once Collin was gone.
"Not that I know of."
"Rory needs to eat breakfast before you go." Honor spoke up.
"I know. I was going to make her a smoothie and a bagel before I wake her up."
"I'll take care of it. Go wake Rory up and get hear ready. I'll bring her breakfast upstairs when it's ready. I'm guessing your meeting with Collin put you behind."
"A little, but it's fine."
"Have you eaten?" Shira asked.
"I had some eggs."
"I'll make you a smoothie too. Do you think Rory wants some eggs?"
"Eggs make her throw up lately. That's why I ate them while she's asleep. And I'm going to go brush my teeth before waking her up, just so she doesn't smell them on my breath."
"Smart man."
"Thanks for the help Honor."
"It's not a problem. Go wake up Rory. I'll meet you upstairs."
* ~ * Later That Afternoon * ~ *
"So Paris really said one more week?" Lorelai asked as Rory laid on the couch talking to her Mom on the phone.
"She's inducing me May third at 8am, and she's got an O.R. booked, just in case."
"Well, the good news is that you should be able to make it to your sister's graduation on the 20th, right?"
"Hopefully. It really depends on how I'm feeling, but we are planning to be there."
"I'm sure your Dad, Francine and Gigi will probably want to see you while we're there."
"Is G coming to the graduation?"
"I'm not sure. I'll text her tonight. April needs a final head count for tickets. I think she has the biggest crowd coming, of all the graduates."
"At least MIT isn't like Yale and only gives you 4 tickets."
"Because they have a 1200 seat auditorium."
"I'm not sure that I want that many people around my newborn."
"Well you can always leave her with Francine while we go to the graduation. Or maybe Honor could come with us, and she could stay at the hotel with Ayribella. You have options, you know."
"I know. And I'll figure something out in the next few weeks."
"Any update on the eviction situation?"
"Which one?"
"Well, all of them, but especially the trampy one."
"Collin had her served last night. She's got 60 days to be out, unless she tries to fight it. So far we haven't heard anything."
"What do you think the chances are of her fighting it?"
"I honestly have no idea. Logan and Collin are dealing with it. I'm not supposed to be involved except that I'm technically the property owner who wants to sell. Collin wants my name completely kept out of it, because it could make things harder if the skank realizes that I know about her past with Logan, and tries to use it as a vendetta."
"Which it kind of is."
"Hush up! We aren't allowed to talk about that. We are pretending to be clueless about it until all of this is over."
"So what about the others then?"
"Collin sent his private investigator to check out the other properties. He thought it was best that no one else is involved, just so it looks cleaner."
"Well, I can understand that. From a business stand point it makes perfect sense."
So far there are two other tenants that will be served with an eviction this week. We want to get the properties on the market by August first."
"Well hopefully they will sell quickly."
"That's the goal. A couple of them we expect to go within 48 hours."
"Have you guys told Honor yet?"
"Nope! Logan is trying to decide what to do about that. She deserves to know about it, but the parental situation seriously complicates things."
"But what happens if she gets a phone call about it?"
"If she does, then the slutty bunny will have A LOT of explaining to do. Collin hasn't found any kind of contract that she signed with Mitchum, so unless she suddenly produces some kind of contract giving her the right to stay there, or she suddenly offers to buy the place, she has no choice but to moved out. After 60 days, I can have the sheriff forcibly remove her."
"Which you are kind of hoping for, because it would be a fun show, right?"
"Maybe a little bit." Rory agreed with a smile. "We honestly have no idea what kind of blow back this whole situation is going to have, so we are just hoping for the best."
"But it could potentially get pretty ugly."
"At least it's not my past that will be on public display."
"But Shira and Honor are the real victims in all of this."
"Exactly! I may have not always liked my mother in-law, but I definitely feel for her in this situation. Her life may be completely blown to hell over all of this."
"And the only real way for you to protect her, is for you to not liquidate the excessive number of properties that are costing the company a ton of money."
"Yep! So I'm damned if I do and still damned if I don't."
"Yikes! I'm sorry kid! That's a really tough boat for you to be in."
"It is what it is. Collin is dealing with everything on that front, and Doyle has everything handled at the office, so I've been told to just sit back and enjoy maternity leave. If anything comes up that needs to be handled, Logan is more than capable of taking care of it."
"Have you thought about maybe appointing someone to step into your place while you guys are out?"
"Should I do that? I actually hadn't even thought about it, because Logan was planning to work from home, and I'll have you, grandma and grandpa here with me, so I'll be fine if he needs to run to the office."
"Logan needs to spend time bonding with his daughter. I can understand working from home while you're sleeping, but Logan needs to sleep too."
"That's what I said."
"I know that Doyle is more than capable of handling everything while you are out, but what if you gave him a little bit of help? Just to make his life a little bit easier."
"What do you suggest?"
"I suggest maybe asking Grandpa if he would mind going into the office a few days a week. Grandpa might not know the newspaper publishing industry, but he is on your board now, and he did successfully run his own insurance business for several decades. Plus, it'll give him something to do other than going to play golf, and putting around the house asking questions. I know that he wants to be there for you and the baby, but I actually think that it would be good for him to have something else to do. And Grandpa loves to learn new things, so maybe Doyle can show him the ropes, and then Grandpa can be of a little more assistance to you."
"You make a valid point. I'll call him in a little while. I need to find out what day they were planning to come back up anyway. Not that it matters now that they've got their own apartment, but I'm trying to kind of get a schedule together."
"Well, what day would you like me to come up?"
"You know that you can come whenever you want to. I'm being induced Wednesday morning, so if you wanted to wait until Tuesday night, that is completely fine. Logan decided to take paternity leave this week, so we could spend the last few days of our childless life together. There really isn't anything that we need. Honor and the crazies are across the street, and Rosalinda comes every other day. I don't want to pull you away from the Inn. You have a business to run too.
"Well I've already arranged for a few weeks vacation, so I can come be with you and the baby. And Luke is taking a week off. And Sookie wanted me to remind you that she promised to come up for a couple weeks, to cook for you, and get some baby snuggles in. We don't want to overwhelm you, but we do want to be there to help."
"I know, and I appreciate it."
"What if we do this . . . Let me talk to Grandpa, and I'll get them to agree to give you guys until Tuesday to enjoy the last of your child free days together. I'll come up with Luke and the Grandparents Tuesday afternoon, and then when Luke decides to go back home, I'll have him trade off with Sookie. How's that?"
"What about the Inn? Sookie needs to be there to cook."
"That isn't for you to worry about. Sookie has plenty of kitchen help, and I'm sure that Luke is happy to step in again if needed. The diner and the Inn will be just fine. We just want to be there for you, to help you get settled in, and adjust to your new life with a baby. I can tell you from experience, that you are going to have a major lack of sleep with an infant. At least having, Grandma, Sookie and I there, we can all trade off taking the night shift, so that you and Logan can both get some much needed sleep."
"I've never had a baby before, so I am going to just accept your advice and your help. And also, I know better than to argue with you."
"Good girl. I'm sure that I probably don't have to tell you this, because Paris will most likely take care of it for you, but you don't have to allow anybody into the delivery room, that you don't want there. You can even kick Logan out, if that's what you want."
"Paris asked today, who I want there. I told her that it will only be you and Logan."
"And might I suggest one more thing for you? After the baby is born, I would take some time for just you and Logan to spend with Ayribella. You have a whole lot of people who love you and will want to come visit. And most of them will be jumping to run to the hospital. You are going to be completely exhausted, so I suggest that you ask that all visitors wait for you to be ready to see them. You can take an hour, or a day, or even a week, if that's what you want. You can even make people wait a whole month if you want to. But I do definitely suggest that you take the time right after giving birth, to rest, and spend together as a family. I'll even leave the room and go run interference with the family for you."
"That's a good idea. We will definitely take you up on that."
"Alright. You should go get some rest. I'll call Grandpa, and text you the details later on, alright?"
"Thank you Mom. I know I say it all the time, but I really appreciate everything that you do for me. You've been such an amazing Mom to me. I really hope that I can be at least half as great as you are, to my own daughter."
"You don't have to thank me Sweetie. You are going to be an amazing mother to Ayribella. You already are."
"Is it ok if I'm scared?"
"You're only scared? Because I was completely terrified when I was in your shoes!"
"I didn't want to admit it, but honestly, I am terrified. I have no idea how to be a mother."
"And that is all perfectly normal. I am going to tell you the same thing that Luke told Zach right before the twins were born, about when April came into his life. And it was the same way for me, when you were born. I had no idea how to be a parent. I had never even been around a baby, until you were born. And Luke, April was 11 when she turned up in our lives. He didn't know squat about being a father. But just like with me, parenting just came on naturally. Luke eventually found his Dad mode, just like I found my Mom mode with you, and I know for a fact that the same thing will happen with you. You and Logan are going to be amazing parents. You will figure it all out. And until you do, I'll be right there with you, every step of the way."
"I love you, Mom."
"I love you too, Kid. No go get some rest, ok? I'll check on you later."