It was Rory's Birthday, just a few weeks after Logan had been back into her life. She was woken up not by her mother's early morning birthday story but by a text message from Logan wishing her a happy birthday. They had gone from not being in each other's lives to talking daily and seeing each other almost every day, and things were going okay-ish. There was little they themselves talked about besides setting up visiting times and the occasional family programs. He hadn't yet forgiven her, and she was letting him process everything. Father and daughter were more in love with each other with each day that passed, yet sometimes Harper would close up or cry and they were trying to navigate it. Paris suggested it could be a little bit of separation anxiety. It was hard for a two-year-old to grasp the complexity of their situation. Sometimes she didn't want Logan to leave, thinking he would go away again, other times she didn't want to leave Rory, probably wondering if now that she had her daddy if her mommy would go away.
All of this made them spend more time together than they had originally planned. They had set down to make a makeshift schedule after Harper had gone to bed that Saturday at Rory's place after the little girl had managed to coax Logan into telling her four stories before finally accepting it was time to sleep. Rory decided not to stay in the room to give them some time together but remained in the hallway hearing Logan read the stories and Harper 'reading' the ones she knew together with him.
The first two weeks Logan went with Rory every other day to pick up Harper from school and then father and daughter would go to the park, the first days Rory stayed on a nearby park bench or a nearby coffee place, as time went on she'd go home and Logan would bring Harper home later. After the first two weeks he was picking her up alone and he set up the first play date with Honor's kids. The call Logan had to make to Honor was not easy, but it definitely was a lot easier than the one he still had to make to his father. The three of them, Logan, Rory and Honor, had agreed that they should give it sometime before the bomb was dropped. Honor had tears in her eyes when she met Harper and all she could say while the kids were playing was "She looks just like you, Logan!" When the two women finally met after years apart, Honor kept Rory in a hug for a very long time, making both of them tear up. Once they got to talking about both of their two-year-olds they were amazed at how similar their little personalities were. Rory had to tag along to the occasional ice cream trip, and Logan stayed for dinner a few times. Their little family was quickly forming a bond and even some familiarity despite the clear wall that was still erected between the two adults.
Rory had thought about staying in the city so the three of them could spend her birthday together, but besides Logan having a business trip that week, she felt like she needed her mother's perspective on this new chapter in her life. And here she was, in her childhood bedroom, with her daughter's foot across her stomach while she was still sleeping, and her dad had just sent her a text message wishing her a happy birthday.
Hey Ace, happy birthday! Don't let Harper eat too much cake, please I hope I won't wake you, I have been out of London for a while, so I lost the hang of time zones. We'll celebrate with ice cream when I'm back.
She slowly extricated herself from her bed without waking up Harper and followed the godly scent of coffee coming from the Kitchen.
"Hi Luke, good morning." Rory was speaking in a hushed tone not to wake up Harper.
"Hey, happy birthday!" Luke stopped what he was doing and gave her a hug, keeping his voice down too.
"Thanks."
"Did the little peanut wake you up?"
"No, she's still asleep, thank god. But next time mom wants to have a movie night with a two-year-old she's sleeping with you two. She was extra hyper yesterday and wouldn't go to sleep."
"I think your mom put some coffee drops in her milk."
"Don't even joke about that! She's energetic enough without coffee. We'll introduce it when she turns five. Speaking of coffee, are you brewing some Luke's coffee?"
Luke gave her a disapproving look after he heard her say she'd give coffee to a five-year-old, but he knew she was joking and only trying to rile him up. "Why do you guys call it that? It's just coffee." Luke scoffed.
"Because we want Luke's coffee, like the one you make at the dinner. So, is it?"
Luke rolled his eyes and handed a cup to Rory. "Yes, it's Luke's coffee. Your mom was still asleep when I came down, but I have to get to the dinner, do you want me to go wake her up?"
"No, that's okay. I have some articles to go through, so I'll just go sit and work for a bit."
"You're coming by for lunch, right? See you later."
"Yep, see you later." Rory picked up her coffee cup and went to get her laptop bag she had left by the entrance door when they had arrived. She set everything up and started working on the articles she had to proofread.
"I can't believe you're working on your birthday! I don't work my whole birth week!" Lorelai was standing by the stairs looking at her daughter. "Happy birthday, kiddo."
"Thanks. I did take a couple of days off and I was supposed to do some home office, but someone had to get a new DVD player for some reason when the one she has works perfectly fine!"
"Well, the one I have is not Frozen and doesn't play the DVDs as well. Harper said so." Lorelai had made her way to the couch where Rory was sitting and sat next to her.
"Yes, the toddler is the expert in electronics in this house."
"Well, it ain't me or Luke either. Plus, it's cute and colorful. The other one is just grey and sad. It makes all the movies sad. It's science!"
"Sure, mom." Rory rolled her eyes and smiled at her mom's logic.
"Is that Luke's birthday coffee? Is there some for the mother of the birthday girl?" Lorelai peeked into Rory's cup sniffing it.
"There's more in the kitchen, but be quiet please, Harper is still asleep, and she was awake late last night because of you."
Lorelai made a 'who me?' face pointing her finger at herself and got up to get her cup of coffee.
Harper was watching a cartoon on the new Frozen DVD player, and the two Lorelais were back in the kitchen, Rory had finished her work and had put her laptop away and mother and daughter were now in their fourth cup of coffee of the morning.
"How's baby daddy doing?"
"Ugh, don't say that. And fine. He's in London."
"London? Is he going back or…?"
"No, just a business trip. It was scheduled before…" Rory didn't finish her sentence but they both knew what 'before' was.
"How's Harper dealing with everything? Still clinging to you?"
"Sometimes me, sometimes Logan. Paris says it could be separation anxiety. She doesn't know if we're both staying or one of us is leaving, so we've had more family time than initially planned. But it's ok. Awkward, but ok."
"Speaking of family, has Logan told the Huntzbergers already?"
Rory was twiddling her fingers and looking down at her coffee cup, now nearly empty. "No, not yet. Just Honor, I told you about the playdates? We've talked about it and we need time. Time for a plan. Time for Logan to be with Harper. Soon. I think."
The sound from the living room suddenly became very loud.
"Ace? Honey? Please put the sound down. It's too loud. You'll wake up Babette's kittens and they need their sleep." The sound was still at the same volume and Rory turned her body in her seat to face the leaving room now. "Ace? Harper!" The little girl finally turned her head to her mom. Rory could see the remote control in her hand and her little finger on the plus button of the volume.
"Yesh, mommy?"
"Please turn the sound down, ok? It's too loud."
"Okay, mommy." The sound returned to a normal level and mother and daughter returned to their conversation.
"Have you made any plans for a sleepover yet?"
"No, Logan has been asking, and Harper too but I'm afraid it won't go well. I want her to sleep through the night, I don't want her to wake up not knowing where she is and not finding me. We've talked, but not extensively."
"Logan's still not talking?"
"No… not much. I understand, I mean" Rory pointed her arm in the direction of the living room. "I didn't tell him about the very loud toddler he shares DNA with. I know why I did it, and I know he now understands, but still… conversations have been… stiff."
"Don't go getting other things stiff, you two!"
"Ew, mom! Your granddaughter is right there!"
"Yes, thanks to things getting stiff." Lorelai wiggled her eyebrows.
"That's it, I'm out. I'm going to take a shower, it's almost time for lunch. Will you watch her? But please get her dressed soon. Don't let her watch the next episode before getting dressed. And no costumes today."
"Yes, mom".
Rory got up from the table and dropped her cup in the sink, while Lorelai got up to go snuggle with Harper on the couch for the rest of the episode before getting her ready for the rest of the day.
Luke's was full as usual for lunchtime, but he had saved them a table. Lane and the twins were joining them for lunch and after that, they were going to The Dragonfly so Harper could pet the horses. After yesterday's long night and the little girl sleeping in, Rory knew that a nap after lunch was most likely out of the picture, but they had brought the stroller anyway just in case Harper did need a nap.
Her phone started ringing when they were approaching the diner. Rory stopped and pulled her phone from her pocket looking at the screen. She saw Logan's name and a little smile came upon her lips.
"Hey."
"Hey, happy birthday!"
"Thanks, I got your text. No need to call."
"I know, but I wanted to. My next meeting was postponed, and I finally figured out this time zone thing again and thought lunch was an appropriate time to call."
"And my mom was making fun of me for working on my birthday… you're having meetings on a Sunday!"
"I had to, wanted to shorten my trip to get back home."
"When are you coming back? Harper is getting sick of Facetime. And she's asking me if you went to work again."
"Ugh." Logan covered his eyes with his hand. He hated being away from Harper, and even more knowing that he was causing her issues for being away. "Yeah, I don't like it either. So I'm taking meetings on weekends, getting everyone in this time zone to hate me and flying back Tuesday night. I can take her to school on Wednesday, maybe? Bring you guys breakfast?"
"Yeah, that sounds nice. She'll forget everything if you bring her a cupcake for breakfast, that's for sure!" Rory chuckled.
"Okay, so that's a date. Wednesday breakfast and I take her to school. Then we see how the rest of the week goes?" Logan ended the sentence in a questioning manner.
"Sure. I'm sure you'll be tired because of the time difference so don't sweat it. We'll arrange something."
"Listen, Ace… I, uh… "Logan was rubbing his hand in his hair, not really knowing how to ask what he wanted to ask next.
"I'm listening."
"I, I wanted to have dinner with you. To talk. About everything. Just you." Logan was speaking in short sentences like they were hiccups.
"Oh, okay. Sure. Did you have a date in mind or a place?" Rory was surprised but cheerful. She felt some of Logan's walls were being lowered and that made her happy.
"Friday? I thought I could pick Harper up from school and take her to Honor's for a playdate? She can go to bed there and then we'll pick her up and bring her home. And we can go someplace to eat and talk. Or we can stay in and talk. Would that be okay?"
"That sounds like a plan. But can we go somewhere near Honor's to eat and talk? If there is anything with Harper I want to be nearby."
"Of course. That's a great idea. I know just the place. Is Chinese okay?
"Great. Do you want to talk with Harper? Oh no!" Rory had turned around facing the window of Luke's.
"What? Ace, is Harper okay?" Logan sounded distressed.
Rory laughed. "She's okay, more than okay. Luke is letting her run laps on the counter. That girl can get anything out of him! It's astonishing!"
Logan let his shoulder down from the tension and chuckled on the phone while he heard Rory going into Luke's and calling their daughter. Understandably, she was much more interested in her running exercise and was ignoring Rory and escaping her attempts to pick her up. Logan could pick up some sounds but not the full conversation, but he heard her scream 'Daddy!' through the phone. It took a few more seconds and soon Rory had switched the call to video chat and Logan could see Harper now seating in Rory's lap at one of the tables.
"Hi, Daddy!" The little girl squealed and smiled at the phone.
"Hi Ace, I miss you!"
"Miss you, Daddy"
"I'm coming soon, okay baby? What were you doing just now, were you being a naughty girl?" Logan could never take the smile off of his face when he was talking to Harper.
"No, no Daddy. Me good. Me run and essize!"
"You were exercising, where?" Logan could see Rory's face laughing in the back and he shot her a questioning look.
Rory took over. "They were learning about exercise this week at school. They tried running, a little bit of soccer, what else, Ace, tell Daddy."
"Uhm…" Harper put her hand on her chin and looked up pensive. "Dance!"
"Wow! You learned how to dance, Ace? Will you show me when I get back?"
"Yesh. Daddy, you back?" A little sad face was now on full display on Logan's screen and his heart ached.
"Just three more sleeps and I'm back, okay baby?"
"Okay." The answer was not very convincing but at least she didn't cry this time.
"Three more sleeps, baby. We'll talk again soon, okay? Be good for mommy."
"Bye Daddy."
"Bye. Bye Rory."
"Bye Logan."