Rory applied her lipstick carefully, checking it in the rearview mirror.

"I want lipsticks too!" Orie cried from the back seat.

"You're too little for lipstick ." Rory sighed, fluffing her hair slightly.

."Grandma lets me wear lipsticks!" Orie whined. "Grandma is so much cooler than you!"

"I'M NOT GRANDMA!" Rory snapped. Ever since her mother had called earlier that evening Rory had been skittish, a little on edge. Orie was going to meet Logan. It was a big step that should have happened years ago. Rory had always dreamed different scenarios of how this would happen, but having it sprung on her, late at night, right after she had dropped a bomb on her whole family was not one of them. However, here she was, outside the DragonFly, Logan waiting eagerly inside.

She turned around to Orie. "I'm sorry. Mommy's just a little grouchy. How about we buy you some clear lipstick tomorrow?"

"I don't want clear lipsticks. I want pink lipsticks like you." Orie whined.

Rory sighed, unlocking the car doors. "Come on, let's go."

Orie unbuckled her seat belt and jumped out of the door as soon as Rory opened it. She ran ahead of Rory, flinging the door open making it hit the building with a loud clatter. "GRANDMA!?"

"Whoa there kiddo slow down!" Lorelai called from the front desk.

She ran to Lorelai putting on a pouty face, sticking her bottom lip out for dramatic effect. "Mommy won't let me wear lipsticks! She's wearing lipsticks and she won't share!"

Lorelai's eyebrow arched inquisitively. "She's wearing lipstick huh?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "My lips were chapped."

Lorelai pursed her lips. "Mhhmm and it just so happened that instead of the Blistex you happened to grab your super special, date night, i'm going to get lucky MAC lipstick?"

Rory blushed, embarrassed that her mom could see right through her. "It's nothing."

"Is nothing the reason you got all dressed up as well?" She asked, pretty sure that the 'nothing' Rory was referring to was a certain blonde gentleman that had suddenly reappeared in their lives.

"I'm not dressed up!" Rory protested.

Lorelai pointed a finger at her jeans. "Those are the Zara jeans I convinced you to buy because they made your butt look good! When you face timed me earlier to show me your tater tot taco you were in sweats and one of those 'save the sewers' shirts Taylor gave everyone. I'd consider that dressed up."

"By the way, thanks for telling me that Logan was staying here." Rory bellowed.

Lorelai placed a hand on her hip. "Thanks for telling me that he didn't know he was a father."

Rory's face instantly crumbled. "I deserve that."

Lorelai felt bad as soon as the words left her mouth. "I'm sorry. I went too far."

"It was fair. I brought this on myself. Like you said, I was worried about what people would think of me."

Lorelai walked over embracing Rory in a hug.

"Any word from Luke?" Rory croaked.

Lorelai shrugged. "He's still upset, which is understandable."

"He's never been mad at me before."

"What you did to Logan. . . it's almost exactly what Anna did to him. Realizing that you hurt Logan, it just brought up all those old feelings for him. He's not going to cool off overnight."

"I feel awful."

"Grandma! Do you still have Kit Kat bars under your desk?" Orie interrupted.

Lorelai handed Orie a bite sized chocolate bar, sending Orie into a chorus of cheers.

"Is he. . . .is Logan still here?" Rory asked pensively.

Lorelai nodded. "He's out back, at the picnic tables. I figured you guys could use the privacy."

Rory swallowed hard. "He's finally going to meet her."

Lorelai smiled. "It's about time."

…

The screen door creaked, a little blonde haired girl dressed in red leggings and a strawberry shirt came bouncing out, her golden locks flowing in the wind as she ran. She had on glittery red plastic jelly shoes, and homemade beaded bracelets were stacked up her arm. Logan watched her, his heart exploding. That was her. His daughter. His chest felt heavy, his lungs hot and searching for air. He and Rory's irresponsibleness was responsible for her life. He hadn't even officially met her yet, and he knew that she was his favorite person in the entire world. The little girl ran down the stairs full force, skipping the second stair entirely.

"Orie, wait up!" Rory called from the doorway, a good ten steps behind her.

Orie paid her no attention, running into the garden, which was lit up by strings of edison lights hung over it.

"Mommy can I pick a zucchini?" She asked timidly, already digging at the vegetable.

Rory put her hands on her hips. "It's almost ten o'clock at night."

"Mooooom! I just want one zucchini!"

Logan stood up, smoothing out his jeans. He had taken a hurried shower, and changed three different times, anxious to meet Orie. It was like a blind date except he already knew he was going to fall in love with her.

"She likes vegetables?" he called out.

Orie froze, unaware that Logan had been sitting on the picnic table behind the garden the whole time.

Rory turned to Logan. "I blame Luke."

Orie walked straight through two rows of butter lettuce over to Logan. "Are you staying here?"

Logan chuckled. "Yes, I am." He took in her round face, her missing tooth, her long eyelashes trying to remember it all. It was slightly strange to see a miniature female version of himself running around.

"It's nice isn't it? My grandma built it." she said matter of factly.

He smiled from ear to ear. "You're quite the spokeswoman."

"I'm Orie. My name is really Lorelai but that's also my mom's name and my grandma's and my grandma's grandma's . . . so they call me Orie. What's your name?"

Logan glanced up at Rory.

Rory placed her hand on Orie's shoulder. "Orie, this is. . . this is your dad."

Orie scrunched her nose up. She looked at Logan and then at Rory. "My dad?"

Logan crouched down, eye level with Orie. "You can call me Logan if you want.. . . If dad is too weird. I understand."

The little girl thought it over for a minute, chewing her lip. "Nah, I like dad. I've always wanted a dad. Now come over here and help me dig out a zucchini."

She grabbed Logan by the hand, pulling him into the garden. Logan shot Rory a perplexed look, and threw one arm into the air. "We've got a future CEO over here."

Rory placed her hand over her mouth, giggling. "She wants to be Berta when she grows up!"

"A what?" Logan called.

Orie stopped digging for a minute. "Berta is my grandma Emily's maid. She makes this really good food but we can't make it because we don't know what it is, and her son Marco taught me how to jump over a trash can with my bike. She is just AMAZING!"

"She spent Easter Sunday in the E.R. and got four stitches in the chin thanks to Marco." Rory said, sighing.

Orie wiped her forehead, streaking it with dirt. "So dad, what's your job?"

"I work at a newspaper." Logan replied, dusting dirt off the zucchini Orie handed him.

"Oh so you're a writer like my mom used to be?"

Logan glanced at Rory. "Used to be?"

Orie began to dig in the garden again. "Mommy teaches at her fancy school now. The kids have to wear uniforms there! I'm glad my school doesn't make us wear uniforms. I'd tell them no."

Rory entered the garden. "I teach at Chilton."

"My mom and Aunt Paris went there. She had to wear a uniform."

Logan couldn't help but chuckle. "I think your mommy liked the uniform though. One time, she came to a Halloween party at our school, and she wore that uniform! Lame isn't it?"

Orie laughed. "School uniforms are totally lame mom."

Rory rolled her eyes. "I said one zucchini. You have three."

"Look how big this one is! Jackson is going to freak out!" She shrieked, stuffing a zucchini in Rory's face.

Rory gently pushed the zucchini out of her face. "Why don't you take these in, and we'll wash them?"

Orie pulled at the hem of her shirt exposing her tiny belly as she made her shirt into a makeshift basket. "I wonder if Grumps will make us zucchini bread?"

"We can ask." Rory said, shrugging, her heart aching at the mention of Luke.

"Grandma check out this giant zucchini!" Orie yelled as she sprinted off towards the inn, balancing zucchini in her shirt.

An awkward silence fell as Rory and Logan found themselves alone. "She. . . she's great."

"Yeah" Rory replied, unsure of what to say.

"You've done a great job with her. You made a really great girl."

Rory shook her head. "No, not me. WE made a really great girl."

Logan smiled. "Yes we did."

...

"I can't believe you told her about you jumping out of a plane!" Rory said, laughing.. They were sitting in the Parlor that was adjacent to the dining area, Orie fast asleep on Rory's lap.

Logan chuckled heartily. "Hey! Your mom said she had an interest in skydiving! I'm trying to be the cool parent here. At least I didn't tell her about the time Colin, Finn, and I streaked at a Red Sox game!"

"You streaked at a Red Sox game?!" Rory gasped.

He shrugged. "Tried to streak I guess I could say. I didn't even make it to third base with my shirt off before security tackled me."

"How are Colin and Finn?"

"They're great. Colin got married last year actually. Her name is Nicolette and she's a nurse. Finn. . . well he's still Finn." He glanced down at Orie, cuddled up on Rory's lap. "They're going to love her."

"They're going to hate me." Rory groaned.

Logan shook his head. "They won't hate you. They'll understand. Finn will appreciate that you stayed photogenic."

Rory blushed.

Logan stretched his arms up over his head, his shirt showing a tiny sliver of his toned stomach as it lifted up. "So, teaching at Chilton?"

Rory tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach that began to dance at the sight of his bare stomach. "Yup, I teach Honors English. I got my masters when Orie was a baby, and I've been there ever since."

"What about your book?"

Rory froze. No one had brought up her book in years, the Gilmore Girls story now nothing more than a distant memory. "That's old news. It was nothing really."

Logan's brow furrowed. "It was your dream."

"Dreams change." She said nonchalantly, stroking Orie's hair softly.

"Sounds to me like priorities changed, not your dreams. Which is commendable, I give you that. I wouldn't give up on that dream though. You were going places."

Rory feigned embarrassment. "Oh please."

"No seriously Rory. Would you want Orie to give up her dream of being Berta just because a few circumstances got in her way?"

"It's not that easy."

"I never said it was easy. Easy doesn't get you anything but a dirty nickname in high school. Don't quit, just because things got hard."

Rory grew defensive. "I didn't quit because things got hard. I got my master's degree. I started raising a child, who has made it to Kindergarten and is still alive. Besides, I never even finished it.. . . I don't know how to finish it. The ending. . . just doesn't seem right. I haven't even touched it since Orie was two."

"Hey don't get defensive! I'm not telling you what to do. You know I hate being told what to do. All I'm saying is there is a spot on the New York Times best seller's list with your name on it."

"Since when did you become a life coach?" Rory joked.

Logan smirked. "Just don't count out that dream, ok?"

Rory smiled softly. "I won't."

He glanced at his watch. "Is it really almost two a.m.?"

"TWO A.M. ?" Rory grabbed around on the couch searching for her phone. Their hands found it at the same time, their fingers touching for a brief second. Chills shot up Rory's spine, the brush of his fingertips stirring up memories of their past.

"I. . um. . . here's your phone." Logan stammered, the physical contact messing with him as well.

She checked her phone, the bright "1:57 A.M." glaring at her. "I. . . we need to get going home." She hated the thought of leaving Logan, even though she knew that she'd be seeing him now that he was in Orie's life.

"Yeah, I should probably get some sleep. I haven't slept very well since I got to Stars Hollow."

Rory winced. "I heard about you staying at Kirk's. I'm sorry."

"He almost convinced me that I needed to buy a pet pot bellied pig."

Rory laughed. "Do you want to meet us for lunch tomorrow?"

Logan smiled, his grin stretching ear to ear. "I would love that. Do you want to go to Luke's?"

"Umm. . . What about Al's pancake world?" The thought of facing Luke sending her into a mini panic attack.

"What continent is the food from this week?"

"Indian, I think."

"Count me in." Logan replied, his smile never leaving his face.

Rory began to stand up, trying not to wake Orie.

Logan rushed to her side. "Here, let me carry her." He scooped Orie up, resting the girl on his shoulder. Orie's eyes opened slightly, peering at Logan. She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. "Good night daddy. I love you" She murmured, closing her eyes.

Logan gave her a soft squeeze. "I love you too."