AN: I know! I know! It has been a LONG time since I updated. My muse has just been playing hide and seek with me and it has been hard for me to get going again THEN I had quite a bit written and somehow my daughter managed to delete it :( BUT here is an update. I hope you enjoy! And I will try and get some more out this weekend!

Chapter 27

Rory was exhausted. She was currently 32 weeks pregnant with twins and on the tail end of planning their Christmas party. She knew she could hire someone to do it and take the stress off of her, but this was their first Christmas as a married couple and she wanted to make sure everything was perfect.

The guest list for their Christmas party was much larger than the one for Thanksgiving; this one included all the top executives at HPG as well as the key members of the DAR and anyone else that her grandmother and Shira deemed necessary. They were limiting the guest list to 150 people, so it was very elite and everyone was trying to score an invitation. She had not had so many people suck up to her in her entire life, but Shira and her grandmother were controlling the guest list, so really it was completely futile. The only names she had insisted were included were Colin, Finn, Stephanie and Paris; beyond that she was just observing and learning.

She had learned quite a bit in her 20s when she worked for the DAR and had organized functions; but this was a whole new level. She knew that it was something she had not had an appreciation for when she was younger and had been thoroughly amused by her mother's constant mockery; but now, now it mattered because she had taken that leap into society. She was a Huntzberger now and she had embraced everything that came with it; and surprisingly, she loved it.

It was really quite liberating to no longer have one foot in and one foot out; worried about making a decision either way because no matter what she chose, someone was going to be disappointed with her. Now though, now she had made the decision and could care less about her mother's disappointment. The day that her mother didn't show up to her wedding, Rory had written her off; it was the final straw, and she just didn't have the energy to deal with it anymore.

She picked up her phone and called Shira to discuss some of the final plans. The phone rang 3 times before she answered. "Hey mom! I was just calling to go over some of the final party plans." It felt weird calling Shira mom, but she had insisted after the wedding and it was starting to feel less weird.

"Rory, darling, how are you? How are my precious grandbabies? I would love to go over the final plans, do you want to meet for lunch this afternoon at the club?" Shira had really taken to the role of grandmother-to-be as well as mother-in-law to Rory. It was like they had started fresh and she was really thankful that things had taken a turn in their lives. She saw how happy Rory and Logan were together, and as hard as it had been to put aside her previous feelings, she had taken the "fake it till you make it" mentality and to her surprise, she hadn't had to fake it for very long.

Rory looked at the clock that said 10:00 and then in the mirror at her makeup-less face, with hair in a messy bun and yoga pants. She knew she had to get moving if she was going to make lunch at noon. "Your grandbabies are just as great as ever." Rory laughed and put her hand on her very large stomach, feeling the babies moving around. "Your grandson loves using my bladder as a pillow, and your granddaughter is currently sticking her butt up underneath my ribs and punching a kidney. " She paused and sighed; Shira quickly commiserated with her and told her about how Logan had done the same thing when she was pregnant with him and they both laughed. "Well Mom, I can make a 12:00 lunch, but in order to make that I really need to get off of here and get moving." Rory let out an audible sigh as she thought about all the energy that was going to be required in order for her to get ready and to the club on time.

"Okay dear, sounds good. I will make the reservation and meet you there. Be safe!" Shira responded warmly. She remembered the days of being as pregnant was Rory was, and she only had one baby, and how much energy it took to get anything done, so she made a mental note to make the reservation for 12:15.

Rory made her way upstairs to start getting ready, if she was going to be to the club on time; she was pretty sure that it would be frowned upon for her to show up in yoga pants and a t-shirt; not even the Huntzberger name would get her past THAT violation.

Rory pulled up to the club around 12:20 and handed the valet her keys, she was running behind and had to pee again for the 10th time that hour. After her detour into the ladies room she made her way to the dining rom to meet Shira. When she walked in she saw her sitting in the back near the window looking out at the golf course, a plate of watermelon (her most recent pregnancy craving) and a glass of ice water with Lemon sitting in front of the empty seat across from her.

"Sorry, I am late." Rory said as she made her way over to the table "everything just takes so much longer now, and it doesn't help that I feel like I am using the restroom every 10 minutes or so" Rory sat down and looked gratefully at the plate of watermelon "and thank you so much for this, you know how much the babies love it." She cut a piece off and took a bite, a small sigh of pleasure escaping her lips.

"Don't worry about it, I actually made the reservation for 12:15 assuming that you would be running a bit behind." Shira raised her hand, beckoning the waiter over. "Besides, with the amount of money we give this place, they can hold a reservation for my daughter who is pregnant with twins."

The waiter came and took their orders and brought Rory another plate of watermelon while she waited. The two ladies discussed all the final plans for the party including the timeline for the caterers, florist, furniture rental company, and order that the food would come out.

Rory felt a pang of sadness for a moment, she didn't allow herself to think about her mother very often, it just hurt too much and her pregnancy hormones took over leaving her a blubbering mess most of the time, but it just felt surreal that she was sitting at the country club with Shira Huntzberger, planning her first Christmas party as a member of the Huntzberger family. She had always imagined her first Christmas as a family being in Stars Hollow; some big affair with tater tots and pizza rolls mixed in with Sookie's amazing cooking. She and her mom would have planned it together and it would include the entire cast of characters from their crazy town. For as long as she could remember, Logan had been obsessed with Taylor and his quirky shenanigans, so he would have been more than willing to do a big Stars Hollow event; the crazier the better.

But that wasn't her reality anymore; her mother was not a daily fixture in her life; she was not making plans with her, not about Christmas, not about the babies, nothing. Her mother had hurt her more than words could express when she did not show up to her wedding; a hurt that she was not sure she would ever get past.

Rory and Shira finished up their lunch and parted ways; Rory was exhausted and decided to head home for an afternoon nap before Logan got home from work. She pulled into her garage and slowly made her way inside, she completely lacked the ability to do anything quickly these days, and upstairs to her bed. She set an alarm for 5:00 in case she didn't wake up before then, arranged her fortress of pillows supporting various parts of her body and fell asleep halfway sitting up so that she didn't get heartburn. Her last conscious thought being that she couldn't wait until her body was her own again and a nap didn't require so much effort.

)( )(

Logan wasn't sure what he was doing; he gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as he passed a sign telling him that he was 10 miles from Stars Hollow. He hadn't planned on going to Stars Hollow this morning when he woke up, but when he got a text from Rory after her lunch with his mom, upset once again because she was reminded of the rift between her and Lorelai, he just snapped and made the rash decision to go and confront her.

Now that he was almost there, he had absolutely no idea what he was going to say; but he knew something needed to be said. It killed him to see how sad Rory was almost immediately after every happy moment; sad because she would instinctively go to call her mom and then remember that they no longer had that relationship. She tried to put on a brave face, and occasionally he let her think she was fooling him; but in all actuality, he knew her better than he knew anyone else in the world and one look at her face would tell him everything she was thinking and feeling. Now add in the pregnancy hormones and it made it even harder for her to keep her emotions in check. The other night he came home to her watch Grand Torino with Clint Eastwood and bawling; insisting that it was the saddest movie she had ever seen in her life, the way his family just abandoned him had torn at her heartstrings and she was a mess. Logan had done what he could to comfort her and eventually she calmed down; after that, she shut herself in the office for several hours as she worked on her book.

She and her editor were in pretty constant contact and she was on track to finish the book before the babies arrived. She was pushing herself a little harder than he liked, but the writing seemed very therapeutic for her. It had evolved and transformed into a completely different book than she had originally envisioned, but all of the chapters she let him read were absolutely riveting and he had no doubt that the direction she was going would bring her great success. He was so proud of her, proud of the growth he saw within her as she wrote the story of her life.

Logan pulled up to the Dragonfly Inn and took a deep breath before getting out of the car. As he stood up and exhaled, his breath formed a small cloud in the air and began drifting and dissipating as he wrapped his scarf around his neck. It was a beautiful winter day in Connecticut, a fresh snow had fallen earlier in the day and it glistened across the grounds of the hotel, still untouched by guests. Logan recalled Rory telling him once how her mother thought that snow was magical, how a snowfall brings change and magic with it and he hoped that there was some truth in that. Maybe this snowfall would bring the magic required to start healing the rift between Rory and Lorelai.

)( )(

Lorelai was standing behind the check in desk when she saw Logan walk in; at first she thought she was seeing things, after all why in the world would Logan Huntzberger be at the Dragon Fly Inn, but then he locked eyes with her and walked over to where she was standing.

"Good afternoon Lorelai, is there someplace we can talk?" Logan cut right to the chase, no false pleasantries, no small talk, just straight to the point. He didn't have the energy or the patience to pretend to be happy to see her or that they were on good terms. He was here for Rory, that was what was pushing him through what he knew was going to be a very uncomfortable conversation.

"Ummm, yeah sure" Lorelai responded nervously, instantly every possible terrible scenario passed through her mind, had something happened to Rory? To the Babies? Was he here to tell her that he and Rory were moving away? All these thoughts tumbled around inside her head, but externally she tried to control her demeanor, appear calm and in control. "We can go in the dining room, we are in between lunch and dinner right now so we can talk in there." She began walking and Logan followed her into the dining room and sat down in one of the green chairs. "Can I get you something do drink?" She asked, at least attempting to show some hospitality "you know we always have coffee going here."

"I'm okay." Logan responded with a cool air to his voice "I have a water in the car and I don't plan to stay long." He looked up at Lorelai and shook his head slightly. "I just came to tell you that you are hurting her. Every single day you hurt her. Your silence, your lack of caring, your inability to put your own opinion on how you think she should be living her life aside and just being there for her and loving her; it is hurting her. She cries all the time. She can't enjoy anything happy or good in her life because any time she is happy, she wants to talk to you about it and then she realizes that she can't, and it crushes her all over again." Lorelai tried to interject but Logan just held up his hand. "No, you don't get to talk right now; I am talking. I am telling you that you are hurting her and you need to stop. You missed your only child's wedding! You know she spent the whole day staring at the door waiting for you to walk through it? My mother had to console her on her wedding day and do all the things that you were supposed to be there to do for her. What was supposed to be the happiest day of her life will always have a shadow on it; and that shadow is you."

Lorelai tried to interject again, but once again Logan stopped her. "I don't want to hear your side Lorelai, I don't want to hear your excuses. I am just here to tell you that you are at a crossroad and you have a really big decision to make. You can either put your opinions on society aside and be there for your daughter; or you can have the relationship you and Emily had with Rory. We are having a Christmas party at our house this Saturday. It starts at 7:30 and it is a black tie event. You are invited and I want you to think long and hard about this decision because you have been her best friend her entire life and she needs you; she is only a few weeks away from giving birth to your two grandchildren, you already missed most of the pregnancy, you need to decide if you want to miss their birth and their childhood as well." With that, Logan turned around and walked out of the Inn; not even giving her time to respond.