Chapter Five

Rory and Ricky sat on the train as it rattled through the New York/ Connecticut countryside. While Rory had never wanted to live in the suburbs and commute, at that moment she was wondering if she'd made the right decision. It seemed like she spent more time on the train to Connecticut than she did not on the train. Gilmore family dinners were not weekly like they had been when she was in high school and at Yale, but they were quite frequent. Almost every other Friday Rory found herself on this train with her son on her way to her grandparent's house in Hartford.

"I wonder what Grandma Gilmore will feed us tonight," Ricky mused, momentarily looking up from his book. Normally, Ricky wasn't one to start a conversation; he would participate in a conversation that was already happening, but he wouldn't volunteer a topic on his own. Rory wondered if he was picking up on her anxiety and trying to, in his own small way, calm her down.

"Probably something fantastic. You know Grandma Gilmore only ever serves the absolute best," Rory responded, smiling warmly at her son to try and reassure him. Afterall, that was her job as her mother; she was supposed to be the one calming.

"I hope it's something with chicken," Ricky mumbled, once again returning to his book, thus ending the conversation. Rory sat back in her chair, feeling accomplished for the first time in several weeks. She'd obviously done a somewhat decent job at calming her son's concern over her lack of calm.

With her motherly duties sussed for that moment, Rory turned her attention to her current biggest concern. Only a few hours ago, Rory had decided that she'd need a whistle blower in order to really dig up dirt on Logan Huntzberger and his company, especially since whatever source the Times had that had sparked the idea for this story hadn't been shared with her. However, she hadn't yet figured out how she would go about luring someone to her side and spilling the deepest, darkest secrets of Huntzberger Enterprises. But she now had several hours on the train in which to puzzle out that problem.

"So," Lorelai Gilmore spoke as she drove Rory and Ricky from the train station up to Emily and Richard's. Rory had been expecting something like this, a confession of sorts. Her mother had been shooting her furtive glances ever since she'd gotten off the train.

"Here's the thing. Luke and I haven't really been telling people about our engagement. I mean, you know, and so does Sookie, Michele, Jess, a few other people. I haven't told Richard and Emily yet though. They've already been through this with us a few times and I want to have the planning fairly under way before I tell her. That way she'll know this one is for sure and she won't be able to interfere too much in the process. So, if you could keep that to yourself." Lorelai looked at the rear view mirror, peaking at Ricky who was sitting in the backseat with his nose still in a book.

"I'm not sure he knows what's going on. He's so rarely not reading a book that he might have missed it," Rory spoke, assuring her mother.

"I just hope that this works. Emily has a way of knowing how to get at your secrets and I don't know if I can handle another Emily guilt trip when she finds out before I've told her,"

"Well, I'll make sure to distract her. My life right now is endlessly fascinating. I should be able to hold her attention for most of the evening."

Lorelai nodded, thanking her daughter, but Rory could tell that Lorelai was still worried. Rory wasn't sure if it was because she thought someone would slip up and tell Emily that Lorelai and Luke were getting married, or if it was simply because they were going to the Gilmore house and Lorelai was always nervous. Over the years of more constant contact, Lorelai had mended her relationship with her mom and dad, but it was still uneasy. Lorelai was still Lorelai and Emily was still Emily and more often than not they did not mix.

Finally, the jeep, the same jeep that Lorelai had owned since Rory was young, pulled up the long driveway of the Gilmore's stately house in Hartford Connecticut. Rory was sure she imagined it, but her mother seemed to be driving up slower than was normal. Lorelai always played a form of this game. Get to the Gilmore house as late as possible and leave it as soon as possible. The fewer hours Lorelai had to spend with her mother, the better.

Only seconds after the jeep stopped, Ricky bounced out of the car and raced towards the door. It seemed, with each passing generation, the unconditional love and admiration that Emily had grew stronger. Emily could be hypercritical of Lorelai, knit picking at the smallest things. Rory, as the granddaughter, was the apple of Emily and Richard's eye. She felt she had messed up to a far greater extent than her mother ever had, dropping out of Yale, stealing a boat and being sentenced to community service, having a baby with a guy whose name she didn't know (as she claimed), and yet Emily had never been as critical of her actions. And then Ricky could literally break everything of value in the Gilmore household; he could swear and smoke and drink and sleep around (which Rory did not see as a possibility), and Emily would still give him anything he wanted.

Ricky, his book held securely under his arm, rang the doorbell and bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited the maid to answer the door. Rory was only partially aware that Ricky's current literary selection was a classic, Russian she thought, and she was sure he was excited to discuss it with his great-grandfather. Rory felt a pang at that sight. She'd spent a lot of her youth reading books and discussing them with her grandfather; she'd tried to do the same with her son but her job, and all those pointless articles she put much more effort in than necessary in order to get noticed and get her own story, had quickly taken over what time she'd had to discuss literature with her son.

A pinched looking maid, her hair coming out slightly of her once tight chignon, answered the door. Rory cast her mother a look; a harangued maid meant that Emily was in fine form. She would have to be on her best distract Grandma game to minimize potential damage to her mother. However, Ricky, being only a child, didn't notice any of this. Without waiting to be welcomed in, without even giving the poor maid an idea of who he was and what he wanted, ten-year-old Ricky slid into the large Gilmore house and made a beeline for his Grandfather's closed office door.

The maid made to stop the young boy, but Lorelai stepped up just in time. "Hello, we're the Gilmore's. Here for our weekly dinner. I'm Lorelai, the disappointment. We know our way around and we can get our own drinks. Thanks." Lorelai deposited her coat and purse in the maid's slightly shocked hands.

Rory gave the maid an apologetic look as she copied her mother's motions and moved further into the house. She looked quickly in the direction her son had disappeared and found that he was no longer in the hallway. Richard must have invited him into his office. While Rory's grandfather had been retired from any form of work for several years, he still spent a lot of time in his office, organizing papers, reading literature, and trying to keep from being underfoot for Emily.

Assured that her son was being taken care of, Rory followed her mother into the sitting room. She wasn't sure how many times she'd trodden that path, but it had long ago become routine to begin dinner's in that room. There had even been an occasion or two where Rory and her mother had sat in the sitting room without Emily or Richard in the house.

Rory found her mother were she knew she would, hurriedly pouring herself a martini from the well-equipped bar cart. Without having to say a word, Lorelai deposited a strong smelling martini in her daughter's hand.

"You couldn't wait for the maid to make you a drink," the slightly haughty voice of Emily Gilmore sounded. Rory turned back the way she had just come to see her Grandmother making her way into the sitting room, though from which direction she had come Rory couldn't say for sure.

"The maid was busy with something else," Lorelai said casually as way of explanation before she moved around to the front of an ornate couch and took a seat, careful not to spill a drop of drink from her fairly full glass.

"How have you been, Grandma?" Rory asked, jumping in to steer the conversation away from any potential argument. Rory had long ago mastered the balancing act that was Emily and Lorelai's relationship and was pretty good at tiptoeing through their oftentimes tense interactions.

Emily's gaze flitted from her daughter to her granddaughter and her face brightened slightly. "The ladies at the DAR have decided that we need another function to raise money for our troops, even though we had one only three weeks ago. Really, they are trying to rectify that embarrassment that Constance Bitterman called a Salute to Our Troops. The ladies are worried that if that is the only event this year to help our troops that it will be a stain on the great reputation of our branch."

Emily then quickly fell down the rabbit hole of the gossip and drama of her group of well-to-do housewives. While not as dramatic as an episode of real housewives, the wealthy women of Hartford could get up to quite a lot and Emily absolutely adored filling in anyone who would listen on what was going on. To Emily, being in the know was a powerful position, and she loved to let others know about the amount of power she wielded.

Rory knew that it would be a while before they were in need of a new topic of conversation, as long as her mother could hold her judgemental, sarcastic tongue. Emily could go on about 'the ladies in the DAR' for hours. A quick glance in her mother's direction informed Rory that Lorelai was relaxing for the first time that night.

"So, Rory," Richard Gilmore asked as the five of them sat down to dinner, "how are things going at the paper. I've been waiting for your headline." Richard Gilmore, her grandfather, believed endlessly in Rory's potential. He, like Lane and her friend Zoe from the newspaper, believed that her lack of stories was a fault of the paper's and not her reporting.

"Actually," Rory began. She hadn't been planning on telling her grandparents about her story. As it stood at that moment, Rory wasn't sure if she would actually publish a story; she didn't have a lot of information despite several hours' worth of work. If she got her grandparents' hopes up and her story never came out, she wasn't sure she could handle that let down. However, if she didn't say anything, her grandparents would move on to her mother and Rory had promised to keep the conversation focused on her.

"Actually," Rory continued again, "I've finally been given my own investigative piece. I'm working on it right now. It's still pretty new; I only got assigned it about a week ago. I'll let you know when it's set to be published."

"Oh, Rory that's fantastic," Richard said.

At the same time, Emily commented, "What is it about?"

Lorelai just looked at Rory, a little shocked and hurt. In the excitement of her mother's announcement, and not wanting to talk about Logan, Rory had forgotten to tell her mother about her story.

"Yes, I'm very excited about it. Though it is proving a little difficult to unearth the information that I need. Hopefully I can find an in soon so I can start making some real progress." Rory was purposefully ignoring her grandmother's question. Emily and Richard were on fairly good terms with the Huntzbergers. If Rory told them the truth about her story, they might accidently reveal it to Mitcham, Logan's father, which would ruin the investigation. Even a lie about the story could lead to a comment about Rory looking at Logan and his company which could also end up being disastrous.

"What is your story about, Rory?" Emily asked again. She would not be deterred. Faced with the direct question; this time not clouded by any other words or comment; Rory couldn't avoid it without looking rude. She knew she couldn't tell her grandparents she was investigating illegal business practices by Logan and his company; she would have to come up with a lie that was close enough to the truth that she could get away with it when the story came out. Her grandparents would definitely read her story and if it was too far off of what she'd told them, they would be upset with her.

"I'm, um, writing about Logan Huntzberger. He's started a new company," Rory answered, keeping her explanation as vague as possible.

"Logan?" Emily asked, perking up. Of all the boyfriends Rory had ever had, Logan had been her grandparents' favourite. They had been fairly upset when Rory had turned down his proposal and not married him.

"Mmmhmm," Rory responded, shovelling in food in an attempt to not have to explain further. She was always anxious talking about Ricky's father, especially in front of Ricky. She worried that her secret would get out, even though no one but her knew it.

"Well, if you're doing a piece on him, you'll need an interview right. Have you gotten an interview yet?" Richard asked, trying to be as helpful as possible.

"I haven't. Logan and I lost touch after university. I don't really know him anymore," Rory answered as way of explanation.

"Well, your grandmother and I still see a lot of the Huntzbergers. We'll reach out to him for you. Set up an interview." Richard's comments were clearly not open for negotiation. He had decided on the course of action and that was that.

"Oh no, grandpa. That's really not necessary. I'm sure someone at the Times has a connection I can use. You don't need to do that for me," Rory spoke, she really didn't want an interview with Logan. It would be hard to keep all of her secrets from him if she was forced to sit in a small room with him. She'd been hoping to do this whole story without having to interact with the subject of it.

"Nonsense. You're family and this is what family does," Richard stated. Rory knew that no matter how profusely she protested, there would be no getting out of this. In a few days' time, Rory would have to sit down with Logan Huntzberger for the first time in ten days. She would have to ask him questions without giving away the fact that she was investigating him or, more importantly, that she had hidden the fact that he had a son from him for the past decade.

Her mother sure did owe her, Rory thought.