AN: It's another double update! I just uploaded chapters 6&7, don't miss one of them! These first chapters have been on the smaller side and since my last update was so long ago I decided to do a double update again!

Hope you enjoy!

"Hey little brother! Hi Harper, can I get a hug?" Honor opened her door to let Logan and Harper into her house. She knelt on the floor to be eye level with the toddler who promptly jumped to her neck to give her a hug. "After you take your shoes off you can go to the playroom, Claire is waiting for you." Harper lifted her right leg so Honor could take her shoe off and repeated the gesture with the left leg so she could run to her cousin.

"Harper, wait!" Logan called her as she was motioning to take off. "Let's take your jacket off first." The girl turned around and came back to her father's side so he could help her out of her coat. As soon as she was freed from her outside wear, off she went to meet her cousin in the playroom. Logan set down all of Harper's things and took his jacket off too.

"Do you want some coffee or tea?" Honor offered going in the direction of the kitchen with Logan right behind her.

"I might need something stronger…"

"Why?" Honor looked at Logan reprovingly, no matter how high up Logan was in their family company or how old he was, not that much behind her, she could always tell when he was in trouble, or about to get in trouble. "What did you do?"

"Me? I didn't do anything!" Logan put his hand over his heart, responding to Honor in the most innocent tone he could.

"Then why do you need a drink in the middle of the afternoon?" Honor had her head slightly tilted, still waiting to hear what was bothering Logan.

"You know the dinner today, with Rory?"

"Yes… that's why you are here with your little mini-me… What, did you cancel?" Honor had now busied herself preparing tea and some cookies.

"No, I didn't cancel."

"Did Rory cancel?"

"No." Logan took one cookie from the plate that Honor had just set in front of them on the kitchen island.

"So, what is it? I don't get it. Green tea or Chamomile?"

"Green tea. I asked Rory for dinner because I want to make this official. I don't know how she'll react."

Honor poured the hot water into the pot where she had already placed the teabag. "Do you think she'll react badly? I think she's okay with all of this… What do you think she'll do?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. I need a DNA test. Don't look at me like that, it's for the lawyers. I asked Colin and there's no way I can set up a trust fund for Harper or put her on my will without that. And I don't know how Rory will react to that."

"I think if you explain it to her like that, she'll be okay with it. It's weird, sure, but necessary. Did she give you any indication that she didn't want you to make it official in any way?"

"No, I don't think so. But I also never thought she'd hide a thing like this from me, so I don't know if I know her that well anymore."

"Have you talked about it… what she did?"

"No. She apologizes if somehow it gets brought up but I thought we would have talked by now… I mean, I told her I understood but I really thought we'd talk about it more. But I don't think she wants to. It's like she's pretending nothing happened, that I've been here all this time. And when I'm with her I'm also always with Harper and I just want to take it all in…"

"Then why don't you ask her? I don't know the reasons she did what she did, although I can imagine, but Rory is a mom, Logan, it's different for us. It's instinct, it's not always logical. Maybe you need to give her some time also to adjust. But if it's bothering you, you need to talk about it or it's going to destroy what you have." Honor poured them both a second serving of tea. She could see Logan's inner turmoil about this. "Was it really the DNA stuff that was bothering you or is it this?"

"Both? Before it's on paper, she can just take off. What if she gets scared that I want more, that I want custody or to put Harper on the dynasty path? I did do it, for a while… and I know that's not what she wants for Harper, not unless she wants it, but what if she thinks that's what I want?"

"That's why you need to talk to her. And soon. What about mom and dad, do you know when you'll tell them?"

"Right after all this paperwork is sorted. So soon."

Honor gave her little brother an understanding look. "Everything's going to be okay. Now come on, it's still early we can go watch some tv before it's kid dinner time. Or you can go up to James' room and play some videogames with him, he's been missing his uncle."

Rory was looking at the menu of the restaurant they had met at. Logan had texted her the address so he could hand over Harper alone to Honor. Everything had gone smoothly, and he left a happy toddler at his sister's place. He could see Rory fidgeting in her seat and not actually looking at options in the menu.

"Ace." We called her softly. She didn't respond. He increased the volume. "Rory?"

"Ugh? What? Sorry." Rory was startled.

Logan laughed at her confusion. "It's okay, Rory, you want to call Honor, check-in?"

"No, no! No. It's fine. She was fine. It's okay… Can you maybe text her, please?"

"Sure." Logan put down his menu and picked up his phone shooting a quick message to Honor. A few seconds later a ping was heard, and he turned the phone to Rory, who was still in the same exact position as if she was actually picking out dishes from the menu. A picture of two bold toddlers sitting on a pink carpeted floor playing with a dollhouse was showing on Logan's screen and as soon as Rory saw it, she relaxed. "Honor said she's going to put the girls to bed in 20 minutes, she'll text if there are any hiccups." After that Rory was finally able to look at the menu and pick her meal.

They kept a light conversation until the middle of their dinner. Logan's phone pinged again, and he read the message that he had received. "Honor says she's sleeping and that there were no issues besides some negotiating on which books to read and how many. She has the baby monitor on, and she'll text if Harper wakes up and asks for us."

"I'm sure cousin play tired her out."

"She was really excited to see Honor and Claire, she barely looked at me when I was leaving Honor's place. It stung." Logan's tone was playful.

"She jumps out of my lap as soon as my mom is nearby. It's not you." Rory smiled looking at Logan.

"I feel better already. Listen, I wanted us to talk…" Logan hesitated a bit and Rory jumped in.

"About the sleepover, right?"

"No, yeah. Well, that too. But mostly about making it official, setting up the trust funds and all that jazz."

Rory grunted, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Yeah, we need to do that, don't we? I'm not looking forward to all of it coming out. What about your dad, do you know when you're going to talk to him?"

It was now Logan's turn to grunt and mimic Rory's previous expression. "Maybe we don't tell him? No, I know I have to do it. But, uhm… Ace, I'm going to need a DNA test. It's not for me, or even for my dad, he'll know as soon as he sees Harper, but the lawyers… They won't sign off on anything without that. I hate to ask…" He was visibly bothered by the request he had to make.

Unlike what Logan expected, Rory did not seem surprised or bothered by it. "Of course, Logan. It only makes sense. It's okay, don't stress about it. We can make it a game and we all do the swab thing or whatever and Harper won't even know."

"That's a relief. I thought you'd hate me and storm out." Logan exhaled and leaned back in his chair. "I know my dad will know, but I want to take the test with me when I go to him, do you think we could do it soon?"

"Why don't we combine the test and the sleepover? Pick Harper up on a Friday from school, take her for the game, maybe do something after like the Children's museum or something, and then we go home? If you can get an appointment next week, it's fine by me."

"Great, I'll do that. I'll text Colin, he has some labs on call. Professional hazards."

"Have you told the boys yet? I miss them…"

"I told Colin. He's my lawyer and we started preparing the trust fund documents on the dl. Still haven't told Finn or Robert."

"How did he react?"

"Speechless for about 20 minutes. Then he had three glasses of scotch. We haven't really talked a lot besides legal stuff. I think he still can't believe it. And I showed him pictures and all."

Since Colin was brought into their conversation, they found themselves laughing and reminiscing on their Yale days and the Life and Death Brigade shenanigans they pulled when they were younger when the waiter came by to take their dessert order. Their light conversation went on until they both fell into a comfortable silence enjoying the last bites of their desserts.

"Listen, Logan… I wanted to say how sorry I am about everything…"

"You've apologized already." Despite Logan's short answers, his tone was calm. His rant with Honor was a bit like a breath of fresh air. He knew there was more to discuss about their situation, but he felt like the time wasn't quite right. His talk with Honor had helped his mind settle for a bit, rationalize that both he and Rory had made mistakes and the time would come when both would be ready to talk.

"But you haven't forgiven me yet. And I'm not asking you to. But we've been handling this all quite well and I don't want things hanging over us. Hanging over Harper. She picks up on any little thing and she's been so happy since you came back."

"I don't know what to tell you, Rory. I haven't wakened up with the sudden urge to forgive and forget. I didn't know my daughter for her first years of life. I'll never get those firsts, no matter how detailed you wrote them or photograph them. I'll never have that back…" Logan's happy face from a moment ago fell into a sorrowful look. "But it is what it is, and I'm here now. She won't remember I wasn't there, I hope, when it really matters. We have our whole life to make up for that lost time and I'm processing what happened. We share the guilt in all that went on before, all that led into this, so I can't put the blame all on you, and I don't. But it still hurts, I'm not going to lie. Never hearing 'dada' for the first time…"

Rory's eyes were glassy, and she was trying as hard as she could not to drop any tears. "I'm so sorry, Logan. I know nothing I say or do now will ever change what I did then, but it was out of love. It was the best I could do at the time. Not one of my most brilliant days, that's for sure…"

"It's okay. I'll process it, we'll talk more if we need to. But I'm okay for now. I don't want this hanging over Harper's head either. Or ours, for that matter. I know we will move forward, I just need some time."

"You're okay?"

"I'm okay." Logan took a last sip from his tea and sighed. "I think we broke our loaded topics conversation record. We did it all," He raised his hand and started counting with his fingers, "there's the money and legal issue, my dad, sleepover, the past, and our mistakes… uff, I feel like I need a cigarette or something." Logan laughed and brought out a laugh from Rory as well. "Come on, let's get our peanut and I'll take you guys home. It's getting late."

"Thank you, Logan." After they were up and had their coats on, Rory hugged Logan and he deepened the hug, leaving them awkwardly standing in between two tables at the restaurant, theirs and another one that still had patrons enjoying their meal.