She Ain't My Blood, But She's My Girl
Chapter X
Rory gets out of the shower, dresses, and heads downstairs. Logan and Mia are at the kitchen nook eating breakfast. Clair is busying herself at the sink. "Hey, babe," Rory said. "You took too long Mommy," Mia told her. "I was in the shower. I was thinking about the Christmas party and Grandma Emily's, the one where I met Logan again." "Hey, I remember that one. Mia, did you know your momma proposed to me that night?" Rory hit Logan, "No I did not." She said, She and Logan both laughed. "What propose mean?" Mia asked. Before they could answer, Logan's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and showed it to Rory.
He stood up from the table, going into the living so he could talk with Tristan without Mia hearing. Rory was not too far behind. "Hello,...Yeah, It is raining out here too….There are things you can do with her inside…..okay, I will try to explain it to her…. Wait, Rory wants to talk with you...you are crazy." Logan turned to Rory, "Hey, I told him, but he replied that if he wanted a lecture from you he would have called you." If Rory had been a cartoon, she would have a red face with steam coming out her ears. "He is not going to do this. I will take him to court. I will not let him break my baby's heart." Rory said.
Rory and Logan went back into the kitchen. Mia was standing in a chair washing dishes with the help of Claire. "Mia, can we talk to you?" Rory said. Mia put down the sponge and dried her hands. Claire helped her down. "What is it, Momma?" She asked. "Daddy Tristan called. He is not coming." Rory said. Mia looked at her momma, then Logan. She turned around and looked out the doors leading to the patio. "It's raining anyway. Can we watch a movie?" Mia asked. Rory and Logan both nodded. "Good, I will go find us a movie, momma you get the pop-corn, and Daddy Logan you can get us something to drink," Mia said as she skipped off to the den to pick out a movie. Rory looks at Logan, "you know we will be watching Frozen, right?"
Sunday night, after Mia was in bed, Logan and Rory were in the den talking. "What do you want to do about Tristan?" Logan asked. "Give him time, he will be gone again," Rory said. "But Mia will get to know him and then he will leave," Logan said. Rory moved closer to Logan and he put his arm around her. "Are you going to always be in Mia's life?" Rory asked. Logan looked at her. "Yes, I will always be in your life and Mia's. Why would you ask such a question?" He asked. "As long as you are here with us, we will be able to handle anything. I am going to call Daddy in the morning. I want him to draft an agreement, allowing Tristan to visit Mia. Supervised." "He pays child support. Do you think he would sign over his rights? I will adopt her if he will let me." Logan said. Rory kissed him on the lips gently. "That would be wonderful, but I know Tristan. If he knows you want to adopt her, he will fight for her. Out of spite." Rory said.
When Rory got to work Monday morning, She called Chris. She told him about Tristan not showing up Sunday after he told Mia he would. She asked him about drafting an agreement. He told her he was still looking into grandparents' rights. He told her he thinks Nancy is pushing this and Tristan could care less. She mentioned what Logan said about offering him to terminate his parental rights. Chris told her he would look into it.
Rory was in a meeting when Harper interrupted. "Rory, sorry to interrupt, but your mother-in-law is on the phone and she says that it is urgent." This puzzled Rory, why would Shira be calling her. She excused herself from the meeting. "Shira… Oh, Nancy, What is so important that you lied to my assistant and pulled me out of an important meeting?... I will call you when I get out of the meeting and we will discuss it then." She hung up the phone. She started back to the meeting but stopped by Harper's desk. "That was my ex-mother-in-law. She lied to you." Rory said. "I will be careful next time," Harper said. "No, it's not a problem," Rory said and went back to her meeting.
Kimmy was picking up Mia from school. When they got in the car, Mia called Rory. "Momma, Kimmy got me. She brought me a snack." "That's great honey. I will be home soon, okay?" Rory said. "Okay, can I call Daddy Logan?" Mia asked. "Baby, he is probably busy," Rory said. "Not too busy for me," Mia said. "Bye, momma." and she hung up the phone.
Chris called Rory. "I have a little information on grandparents' rights. In the State of New York, which is where they will have to file because that is where Mia lives. In New York, grandparents have a legal right to request court-ordered visitation when: one or both parents die. They have a substantial existing relationship with their grandchildren, or. The child's parents have interfered with their efforts to establish or maintain a relationship."
"So you're telling me that they do not have any rights," Rory asked. "That is the way I am reading it. I have a call with a judge. I am going to get his opinion." Chris said. "Okay, just let me know. I have not heard from Tristan today, but Nancy called and told Harper she was my mother-in-law. Harper got me out of an important meeting." Rory said. "Make note of all of this. You are a writer. Tell your story so that a judge understands the nature of your relationship with Tristan and Mia." Chris told her.
Logan picked Rory up from her office at 5:30. He had already called ahead to have Claire fix supper. Rory told him about the call from Nancy and the call with Chris. Logan told her about the Call from Mia.
Rory leaned into Logan. She told him that she called Nancy back. Nancy wanted Mia to come to visit this weekend. "What did you tell her?" Logan asked. "I told her that I would think about it. I told her that Mia would not be spending the weekend with her, but I could see about Mia visiting her this weekend. What do you think about us visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Let Nancy come to Grandma's house to visit with Mia?" Rory asked. "Whatever you want to do, but if we are going to do that, we need to have a meal with Mom and Dad. You know they will have a fit if they find out that we are at Emily's and did not come to see them." Logan said. When Logan and Rory started dating, Mitchum and Shira were more agreeable. They both loved Mia.