"I still can't believe that you made that." Jess exclaimed, his eyes wide.

Rory slid her pinky into the baby's open hand and watched in amazement as the newborn instinctively curled her hand around it. "She's pretty awesome isn't she?'

"Logan is an idiot to not want to be a part of. . ." Jess began.

Rory cut him off. "Jess, don't, not here. Not right now."

Jess shrugged. "Ok, ok , All I'm saying is he doesn't know what he's missing."

"He has absolutely no idea what he's missing. It's kind of hard to miss someone that you don't even know exists.." Rory thought to herself. She looked down at the newest Lorelai ,just a few hours old, bundled in a pink hospital blanket. As soon as the doctor had placed her in her arms, Rory's heart had broken all over again. She had the Gilmore button nose that was for sure, but with the wild tufts of soft blonde hair and what seemed like a permanent smirk on her thin lips, she definitely favored Logan more. Rory swallowed hard but the lump in her throat remained.

"His loss." She croaked, the lie not getting any easier, even after 9 months of telling it.

"Knock Knock!" Lorelai called from the doorway, Luke standing silently behind her.

A smile spread across Rory's face. "Is that. . ."

"Venti macchiato ,extra foam, with a double shot. Just like you like it! " Lorelai smiled, shaking the cup at Rory.

"Caffeine!" Rory squealed as her mother exchanged the coffee cup for the now sleeping newborn.

Rory took a sip, the warm, familiar bitter taste flooding her just hadn't been the same. She playfully hugged the cup. "I've waited a long time for you."

"So does this little lady have a name?" Luke asked, slightly cringing that not even a pregnancy induced nine month detox could curb the Gilmore caffeine addiction.

Rory perked up. "I'd like to introduce you to Miss Lorelai Larisa Gilmore. Orie for short."

"Orie? Like Oar -E?" Lorelai asked "Orie. Orie. Oooorrrrriiiiie. OOOhh I like it.``

"Larisa? That's unique." Luke replied.

Rory nodded. "It's a combination of my two best friends. Lane and. . ."

"Paris" Jess groaned, his words dripping with disgust.

Rory rolled her eyes. "C'mon Jess, Paris actually really likes you!"

Jess shook his head. "Rory, she said 'softening cervical lip' thirteen times. She had a 3D dilation chart for crying out loud."

Luke shuddered, visibly nauseated at the mention of "Cervical lip."

"This is just her field and she's very passionate about it." Rory replied, sipping her coffee.

Jess glanced at Luke. "I left when she started asking to see Rory's 'bulging bag of waters'."

"Paris is. . . . intense.: Luke replied , trying hard not to gag. He turned to Lorelai who was wrapped up in her own little world of having a new grandbaby, oblivious to the gynecological talk. "Hey grandma are you going to share?"

Lorelai's eyes snapped up. "Grandma? Did you say grandma?"

Luke looked confused. "Typically the Mother's mother is the grandmother so yes?"

"I am not grandma. Emily Gilmore is a grandma. I am a Lola."

"Lola!?" Rory, Jess, and Luke all exclaimed at once.

"What? Yes Lola! It says I'm hip, I'm cool, I'm. . ."

"Insecure and afraid of being labeled as old?" Rory interjected.

Lorelai stuck out her tongue. "That was harsh, kid. What about calling me Mimi?"

Luke scooped up the infant from Lorelai. "What about calling you midlife crisis mama?"

"Fine. Grandma it is. You guys are no fun."

Luke brought the infant up close to his face, cooing softly to her."Hello little Orie! I'm sorry your grandma is a crazy woman."

Lorelai elbowed Luke. "and your grandpa is a grumpy old man."

"Who's turning into a big softy!" Jess teased.

"Ummm excuse me who was blubbering like an idiot when they placed Orie on Rory's chest?"

Jess blushed, his cheeks flaming bright crimson red.

"Awww you cried?!" Rory exclaimed.

Jess furrowed his brow. "No. . . I. . . "

"Thanks for being there Jess. I know it was a lot with the cervical lip and the bulging bag of waters." Rory said, a goofy smile across her face.

"You're not funny Gilmore."

"No really thank you for being there." Lorelai interjected. She turned to Rory. "You know I really hate what Logan did to you,. ."

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, feeling a sharp gut punch at just the mention of his name. She started fiddling with her hospital bracelet, cursing her hormones as she choked down the fury of emotions that had been slowly rising inside since she had committed to living this lie. She lowered her eyes to her blanket, trying to hide the tears that were welling up inside. "I only want to say this once. Logan isn't here. Logan won't be here. He. . . He won't ever be here." A tear began to slide down her cheek. "Let's just forget him and never mention him again, ok?"

Lorelai leaned down, kissing Rory on the top of her head. "I really hate what he did to you, but I am so happy she's here. It's going to be hard, but I'm telling you she's so worth it."

On que, Orie began to cry. Rory wiped her tears with her hospital blanket. "She's probably hungry."

Luke handed her to Rory. "She's a Gilmore, of course she's hungry."

Rory forced a smile on her face, knowing this was Luke's way of making her feel better. "Just wait until she starts asking for you coffee in her sippy cup."

Orie began to cry louder, her newborn squawk steadying.

Luke started to search the room "Do you need me to get you a bottle. . . where did you put. . ." Rory began to unsnap her hospital gown and Luke turned stark white. "Oh, oh that's how you're, oh . . . I. . ummm"

Lorelai placed her hands on Luke and Jess' back. "Let's give her some privacy. We can go down to the cafeteria and see if they have that really good meatloaf with the special red sauce."

"I've told you a million times that 'special red sauce' was ketchup." Luke sighed, rubbing his temples at his wife's love of sub-par cuisine.

Lorelai turned to Rory ``We'll be back."

The door closed and for the first time in Orie's life she and Rory were all alone.

Rory hoisted the infant into the crook of her arm and lowered her hospital gown. Orie latched and began to feed. Her happy eating noises tickled Rory. Rory beamed, amazed that she could fall in love with every miniscule thing this tiny human did. She laid her head back, taking a minute to just bask in the simple moment of holding her baby girl in her arms. Orie's eyes were more brilliant than Rory could have ever dreamed. She was so tiny and delicate, Rory was afraid she might break her. She smelled so soft and new, her scent was absolutely intoxicating. She was perfect.

"Hi baby girl. It's your momma, but you know that already."

Orie squirmed a little, and placed a tiny hand on Rory's chest.

Rory smiled, tears brimming in her eyes once again. "Your daddy would be so amazed with you. He would be absolutely smitten. I miss him. I miss him so much. You're not the reason he's not here. Don't ever think that. It's me. That's why he's not here, because of me. I didn't tell him for my own selfish reasons. Everything with us ended on such a perfect note, well,as perfect as something you don't want to end could end. I wanted him to remember me at that bed and breakfast, in that hat, after one of the best nights we'd had in a long time. I didn't want him to think of me as the person who ruined everything. I couldn't do it, Orie. I couldn't destroy his life once again. I know if I had told him about you, he would have thrown down everything immediately and moved to Stars Hollow. Daddy deserves so much more than that, he's worked so hard to get where he is. Your daddy and I's relationship was messed up this time around, but we really loved each other. Heck, you can't talk so I'll let you know, I still love him Orie. I always will. That's why I didn't tell him. We have each other and we will be just fine. It was just me and Grandma and I turned out just fine. Well besides, the whole being a mistress and having a secret love child thing, but honestly, you're the best thing to ever happen to me. Grandma is right, you are so worth it."

Rory laid her head back once again, closing her eyes and for just a minute, let thoughts of Logan consume her.

…Five years later. . .

Maybe she had just seen things. That's what it was. She was just stressed, stress did crazy things to her. She thought she had seen Logan driving the Stars Hollow ice cream truck when between work and a colicky Orie, Rory had been up 27 hours straight. She had been hallucinating, that's what it was. The beginning of a new school year was always super stressful. She would dust off her tap dancing shoes when she got home, relieve some stress, and then she would stop seeing figures from her past in random places.

The crowd in the hallway was beginning to thin, signaling that 'meet the teacher night' was almost over. Rory stood up from her desk, stretching. She usually mingled in the hallway when there was a lull in families coming into her classroom, but today she had stayed put in her classroom, too afraid of who she might run into, and now her legs were stiff. She let out a slight chuckle, embarrassed at how worked up she let herself get sometimes. She walked to the doorway of her classroom and peered into the hall. She froze as soon as she saw the blonde haired beauty making her way down the hall. She was a little older, her hair a little shorter, her hips a little wider, but there was no mistaking that Honor Huntzberger was making her way down the hallway right towards Rory's classroom. Rory ran into her classroom, but it was too late.

"Rory?! Rory Gilmore?" Honor called, poking her head into Rory's classroom.

Rory forced a smile onto her face, her lungs struggling to find oxygen. "Honor! Is that you?"

Honor glanced around the classroom, taking in the minimal decor that Chilton allowed. "You teach?"

Rory gave an awkward nod. "Honors English. This will be my fourth year. What brings you to Chilton?"

"My son, Theodore, will be a freshman here!"

"A freshman? No way! I didn't even know you had a son and he's old enough to be a freshman?"

Honor's smile spread from ear to ear. "I actually have two! Theo and Liam. I know it's not polite to brag, but Theo skipped eighth grade. He's had straight A's his whole academic career."

Rory felt herself relax a little. "Oh wow! Congratulations!"

"Josh's nephews all go to Chilton, and it's the one thing Theo has asked, to go to high school with his cousins. He's my easy going one. Liam on the other hand. . . he's just like Logan, he. . ."

Rory felt her whole body tense up at the mention of his name.

Honor kept talking but Rory was doing everything she could to stand upright. At that very moment she wanted to be anywhere in the world but here, cornered by one of the Huntzberger clan who hadn't meant to, but had ripped her heart right back open, the wound still as fresh as ever.

Honor must have noticed Rory's panic. "Logan's doing really well, Rory. really well."

Rory gulped in fresh air, not realizing she had been holding her breath. "Oh. Good." She replied, the room still spinning.

The room grew tense and awkward.

"Mom?" A deep voice boomed from the hallway.

Honor turned. "Theo! In here!"

A tall, gangly teenager, with a face the spitting image of Honor's husband Josh appeared.

"Theo, this is my old friend Ror. . . She teaches honors English here at Chilton."

Rory offered out her hand. "You're going to love it here. I loved it so much I came back!"

Theo awkwardly shook her hand, unfazed by her joke.

"Well we won't keep you any longer, I'm sure it's been a long day for you." Honor said, clasping her hands together.

"Yes! Very!" Rory exclaimed.

"Good seeing you Rory!" Honor called, as she and Theo walked towards the door.

Rory nodded. "Good seeing you too. Theo if you need anything at all, don't be afraid to stop by my classroom here."

Theo walked into the hallway, Honor following behind him. When she got to the door, she paused. "Rory?"

Rory turned, "Yeah?"

Honor motioned towards a picture of Orie that Rory had pinned to the bulletin board behind her desk. "How old is she?"

Rory clenched her hand into a fist, white knuckled. "She just turned five in June."

Honor chewed her lip quietly for a minute."She looks like you."

"You think?" Rory asked, her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

Honor nodded. "But not as much as she looks like Logan."