Chapter 2 - Rory POV

It's been 5 years since I'd found out that I was pregnant with Ellie. Mom and Lana help me out when they can. But my biggest supporter has been Steph. We'd run into each other a few months after Ellie was born. I'd sworn her to secrecy about the identity of Ellie's father and she'd promised that she wouldn't tell anyone including the boys. Ever since then she had been a big help. Logan checked in every so often but with him being married there wasn't much that he could do. I'd been teaching at Chilton and then after school Steph would watch Ellie.

Things had been going great. Mom, Lana and Steph alternated on who would watch Ellie after school. Steph usually picked her up but then she would take her to either her house, Mom's and Dad's. This particular day, Steph was picking up Ellie and then when I got done I would head over to her house and pick her up after Steph and I had dinner.

When I pulled into Steph's driveway, I noticed that there were more cars than normal so I figured that the guys were there which normally wouldn't have been a big deal but as far as I knew they didn't know about Ellie. After I parked my car, I walked up the front porch and knocked on Steph's door. When she opened the door I could see a look of panic on her face. "I swear I didn't know that they were coming." She said.

"Doesn't Robert live with you?" I asked with a smile.

"Yes but I told him that I had plans tonight and to stay clear of the house. I didn't think that he'd show up with the other two." Steph said. So three of the four were here.

"Which two?" I asked with a slight panic.

"Colin and Finn." She said and I nodded.

Steph opened the door the rest of the way and I walked in. "What did you tell them about Ellie?" I asked her.

"Just that she was the daughter of a friend." She said and I nodded.

I followed Steph into her kitchen where Ellie and all three stooges were sitting. "Hello all." I said, waiting for responses.

Finn was the first one out of his seat. He picked me up and spun me around. "Hello love. Have I missed you." He said.

"I missed you too Finn. Can you put me down now?" I said. Finn put me back on the floor. "Hi Robert, Colin." I said.

Colin stood up and walked over to me. He hugged me. "I've missed you Reporter Girl." He said.

When Colin pulled back, I smiled at him. "I missed you too." I said. I walked over to where Ellie was sitting next to Robert. I put my hand on the top of her head. "Hey kiddo. How was school?" I asked.

"Great. I have papers." She said.

Steph handed me a glass of wine knowing that I was going to need it. "Cool. I'll take a look later." I said.

"Hey Ellie, why don't you go play outside while we wait on the pizza?" Steph said.

"Awesome." Ellie said before hoping out of her chair and running out the back door.

I took a drink of my wine and sat down in the chair next to Colin. "I'm sure that you have questions and I'll be happy to answer them… you just have to promise that everything stays in this room." I said and they nodded.

"How old is she?" Colin asked after a minute.

"She's five." I said, unable to look at him. I'd had feelings for Colin for a long time but I'd gotten over the fact that he didn't feel the same because of his friendship with Logan.

"Does he know?" Finn asked obviously piecing together that Logan was Ellie's father.

"He does. Obviously he can't be apart of her life but he does know. I even sent him a picture of her the day she was born." I told them. I took another drink before I spoke again. "Look, I get it if you guys are mad at me for keeping this from you but don't be mad at Steph. She only did what I asked her. She helps me out with babysitting because Ellie gets out of school before I get off work." I said.

"We could never be mad at you." Colin said softly right as the doorbell rang. Robert got up to go answer the door. Colin leaned over to me. "Can we talk later?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, if you want you can follow me home and we can talk after I put Ellie to bed." I said.

"Well… doesn't this look like a party." I heard the all too familiar voice say.

I turned to the doorway. Logan. "Sorry Ror, I tried to get him to leave." Robert said.

"Steph." I said.

"Don't worry." She said walking out the back door.

I stood up and walked over to Logan. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him into Steph's living room. "What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I was in town, thought I'd drop by and see some friends. Didn't think you'd be here." He said.

"Don't you think you should have called said friends to make sure that they didn't have plans?" I asked him coldly.

"How's my daughter?" He asked bitterly.

"How's your wife?" I asked. "You know what I don't care. I need to get Ellie home." I said as I started to make my way out of the living room.

"She's here? I want to meet her." He said.

I quickly turned around. "Like hell. You made your choice Logan. You can't just walk back in five years later and change your decision." I said, raising my voice a little. I must have raised it more than I thought I did because the next thing I know I hear Colin behind me.

"Man, maybe you better go. Finn, Robert and I can meet up with you later." Colin said.

Logan glared at me. "Yeah sure." He said before he walked past me and out the front door slamming it.

I stood there for a minute trying to calm down before I turned around. "Are you okay?" Colin asked me.

I nodded. "I am. You know, when I first found out that I was pregnant I had this hope that he'd say to hell with his family and that we'd raise Ellie together…but then I quickly realized that he would never leave that stupid arrangement that Mitchum had set up for him." I told him.

"He doesn't deserve you or Ellie." Colin said.

"Thanks." I said before Colin and I headed back to the kitchen. Steph came back in a few minutes later with Ellie. "You okay monkey?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah, but see Aunt Steph and I were wondering if we could have a slumber party?" Ellie asked me.

"You have school tomorrow." I said.

"And Aunt Steph said that she would take me." Ellie said.

I looked at Steph. She smiled. "Fine. Get me your papers so I can see if anything needs to be signed." I said.

"Thanks Mom." She said running off to get her backpack.

"You owe me." Steph whispered in my ear.

After we ate dinner, I said bye to Ellie and told her to listen to Aunt Steph and Uncle Robert. Colin, Finn and I left. I gave Colin my address and told him to meet me at my house. On the drive home I called mom. "Hey sweets, I figured you'd still be at Steph's." Mom said.

"Yeah well plans change." I say as I start to tell her about my evening.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to leave her over there?" Mom asked.

"Yeah. Steph won't let Logan get near her." I told her.

"And how do you feel about Colin coming over?"

"I don't know. Nothing's gonna happen. We'll have a drink and we'll catch up." I told her.

"As long as you're sure?"

"I am." I said. "I'll call you tomorrow." I said before hanging up. As I pulled into my driveway, I couldn't help but think about what Mom said. Colin and I had almost had a moment earlier in Steph's living room. I thought back to my feelings that I'd had for Colin for so many years that I'd never acted on and wondered if it was possible that he'd felt the same way. I thought back to the night that Colin and I had run into each other in Boston.

***Flashback… 6 months after graduation***

The trail had made a stop in Boston so after the event I'd decided to check out a bar down the street and wind down. I sat down and ordered my drink. While the bartender was fixing it I heard someone call my name. I turned and looked. "Colin, hi." I said. He looked just as good as he had since the day I met him.

I stood up and hugged him… and he smelled good too. "How are you?" He asked me, when we pulled back.

We both sat down. "I'm good. I'm working on Senator Obama's Campaign trail." I told him.

"That's good. You look good." He said.

"Thanks. How is everyone?" I asked.

"Everyone is good. I'm finishing up law school, Finn is traveling for his father, Steph is dating Robert of all people and Logan…well Logan is in California." He said.

"I knew about Steph and Robert. She called me. We talk. And I figured Logan." I said.

Colin and I sat there and caught up with everyone for a while before I realized what time it was. "Oh wow. I didn't realize how late it was. I should be getting back to the hotel." I said standing up.

"Here let me walk you." He said and I nodded.

Colin and I walked the few short blocks back to my hotel and he even walked me up to my room. "This is me." I said pulling my keycard out of my back pocket.

"I'm glad I ran into you." Colin said.

"Me too." I said. I wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or if it was my feelings for Colin that I felt resurfacing but I leaned forward and kissed him. After a couple of seconds I pulled back realizing what I'd done. "I'm sorry Colin." I said.

He shook his head. "I'm not."

***End of Flashback***

When Colin and I walked into my house, I walked into my kitchen and poured myself a glass of wine. He followed me in and when I turned around he was leaning against the doorframe to my kitchen. "You sure you're okay?" He asked me.

I took a drink of my wine. "I'm fine. Why did you act surprised today?" I asked him leaning against the counter.

"Is that how you really wanted them to find out about us?" He asked me.

"Well no not really. I mean you were kind of pissed at me for a while." I said looking at the floor.

"Yeah well I didn't think that you were gonna end up in his bed that night I thought it would've been mine considering that you'd said that you'd already ended things with him." He said, walking over and wrapping his arms around me. "But that's all in the past now. Besides I need to talk to Logan before we tell the rest of our friends that we're getting married."

I nodded. "How was Ellie when you first got there?" I asked him, sitting my wine glass down and wrapping my arms around his neck.

"She was great. She didn't say anything." Colin said.

Colin pulled me closer to him. "When are you going to talk to Logan?" I asked him.

"I'm waiting on Finn to let me know where they are. Thought I'd go meet up with them talk and then I'd come home. Is that okay?" He said.

I nodded, leaning up and kissing him. We were interrupted by Colin's cell phone. Colin pulled back and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He looked at it. "It's Finn." He said. He gave me a quick kiss. "I'll be back."

Colin turned around and started to walk out of the kitchen. "Hey…" I said and he turned around. "Try not to let anything that Logan says get to you." I said knowing that Logan can be an ass when he wants to be. Colin smiled at me before he left. Hopefully they wouldn't get into a fight.

Colin POV

When I got to the bar that Finn had let me know that they were at, I walked in and quickly found them. "Hey." I said when I sat down.

I looked over at Logan. "Where have you been?" He asked me.

"Had something I had to take care of." I lied.

He nodded. "I screwed up. I really screwed up this time." Logan said.

"How's Odette?" Finn asked him.

"She's fine. She keeps asking me when we're gonna have a baby since we've been married for 5 years. I mean I want to but at the same time I feel like if I do, that I'm betraying Rory and Ellie." Logan said. Shit. This was gonna be harder than I thought.

"You can't think like that. You and Odette are married it's only logical that you guys having a baby would be the next step." Finn said, thankfully.

"I know. And I mean it's not like I was expecting to see her today. Honestly I thought that she'd be in Stars Hollow. What was she even doing at Steph's?" Logan asked.

I sighed. Here goes nothing. "Rory's a teacher. Steph picks Ellie up after school and either watches her or takes her to Lorelai until Rory is done for the day. Then once a week Steph, Rory and Ellie have dinner together. Today just happened to be that day." I said.

"How do you know that?" Logan asked me.

I took a deep breath. "Rory and I have been together for four years. We're getting married and I'm adopting Ellie." I said.

I looked at Finn out of the corner of my eye and his mouth was open. I stared at Logan. "You and Rory?" Logan asked and I nodded. "How did that happen?"

"I was in Hartford meeting with my Dad and I stopped at this little coffee shop. Rory and Ellie were there so I stopped and we talked for a bit. We exchanged numbers." I said. "We went on a couple of dates just the two of us. Then we started doing things the three of us." I told him. I took a drink of the scotch in front of me. "Things progressed from there. Last year, I moved in with them. Six months ago, I asked her to marry me and if I could adopt Ellie."

Logan downed the rest of his drink and flagged down the waitress ordering another. "Does anybody know?" He asked me.

"My parents, her mom and Steph. Steph babysits so we can date night." I told him.

"How domestic." Logan said bitterly.

"Look I'm sorry that your upset but Rory and I thought that you should know since the announcement is going out next week." I told him.

He nodded. "So that's it?" He asked.

"Yeah. All she's ever wanted was for you to be happy. Don't you think that she deserves the same."

"Yeah. I just thought it would be with me. You know that the Vegas agreement we had was her idea." Logan said.

Okay you want to be an ass fine. We can play this game. "Yes I do. Rory and I have been hanging since six months after she graduated. For a long time we had our own Vegas agreement… so to speak. When she called you before New Hampshire and ended it… it's because I told her that I wanted more. Her spending the night with you in New Hampshire was pure accident. She was super drunk. Even she admits to that." I told him. The truth hurts.

"So what are you saying? That if things had gone the way that you wanted them too Ellie would be your flesh and blood?" He asked me.

Rory is gonna kill me for this. "Yes." I said.

"I need time to process this." He said.

I nodded, understanding. "Call me if you wanna talk." I said standing up. As I walked out of the bar, the only thing that I could think of was that we could finally move forward.

A/N: Okay so nothing about that chapter happened the way that I had originally planned it as goes most of my writing. Hope that you guys enjoyed it. Next chapter is flashback.