Mitchum sat in the Huntzberger house and glanced at his watch, 17.10. The kids should be here soon along with the rest of the now family. It was a frosty atmosphere currently; Shira may have been many things over the years but stupid was not one of them. She knew her husband was hiding something from her and he for once felt an emotion he very rarely ever felt, guilt. After the night he stayed late at the office with the whole Rory and Finn scandal, things had become tense. He knew he was distant and distracted and he also knew how that would translate to his wife. When they sat and down and spoke a few years ago he meant every word he said, he was all in. It was the happiest he had ever felt, it was nice to live in harmony and being open and honest, he stuck to it. No secrets. Until a few weeks ago, but this simply wasn't his secret to share. The situation had thankfully been sorted quickly and it was something him and Straub agreed stayed in the elder Hayden's study. It would never leave those walls what had truly gone down and that's how he liked it, people didn't need to know what extent him and the judge had gone too. The people involved just needed to know it was handled and it would hopefully be the only thing he would ever truly take to the grave. He was hoping after tonight that his wife would understand his secrecy and put it all down to Rory's pregnancy. There would be no denying the men in the room already knew of the surprise (barring Christopher and Elias) each and every one of them was overjoyed at the prospect and having a baby running about and with it be twins it was double trouble. He laughed to himself. A part of him hoped his grandsons would give his own son a taste of the medicine Mitchum had had to endure over the years. They were Huntzberger's after all and the adventurous streak just seemed to be embedded in the males of the family, even his own father couldn't deny his thrill seeking past. He knew the women would be overjoyed and no doubt announcements and baby showers and god knows what else would all be being planned the second they found out. No one could deny the women could plan a bloody good party.
It was 6PM everyone had arrived barring the newest Huntzberger couple, Honor and Josh had even come to dinner which was rare these days. Shira looked over at her daughter and sighed. She didn't know what was going on with her eldest child but knew something was off. It had been like that for a few months now but growing up how she had she was a pro at putting on her society mask and carrying on like she didn't have a care in the world. But Shira knew. She may not have been the best mother she could have been but there was no denying she loved her children. Mothers instinct was never wrong before. Josh never said much of anything, he really lacked a lot of substance and she was quite surprised her daughter had chosen to marry someone like him. Despite what people thought, Shira truly never cared he didn't come from money, he wasn't poor by any means but he was from 'new money' his father was an investor, liked to dabble in the stocks and if people were honest it was pure luck that they made a small fortune. There family dynamics where very odd, though she was one to judge, she didn't have a dislike of the boy, she didn't really have any feeling at all. He never said anything! He simply held her daughters' bag as she shopped, worked along side his father doing who knows and quite frankly went unnoticed. Not many people knew that Honor still had an 'allowance' so to speak but she did. And Shira made sure that it never came from her trust fund, she wanted Honor to live a comfortable life and thought her husband couldn't provide that for her. It was never spoken about but she knew her daughter was grateful. Things may have changed over the years but Honor still kept a lot bottled up, it was Shiras fault. She felt like she had failed her, she looked at things very different than how she used to. Children were young and naive a very short time, they had years of being an adult, living in the real world and she wished she had kept her daughter more sheltered. Let her truly be the child she should have been. But she had been selfish. She didn't have a time machine but if she did she would spend every penny she had to go back and change things. It was her who now had to live with the guilt and regret, and that feeling inside her hurt. She felt ashamed. She could only hope that this family gathering brought some good news. She needed it right about now! Her and Mitchum had been at odds and she was growing suspicious, maybe unnecessarily, but the fact he seemed to have put together this gathering could only mean one thing, the was some sort of news. She just kept her fingers crossed it was something to look forward too.
Things for Lorelei and Christopher had been business as usual. Like the rest of this newly merged family they had themselves changed, Lorelai was once so against society that it began to affect her relationship with her daughter. It was the reality check she needed, the fact of the matter was had it not been for society she would have never had Rory, let alone been able to get her into Chilton and yale. People loved to assume it was purely on academics, but the reality was you needed money, especially to fit in. Rory took to it like a duck to water and when she came home at 15 years old talking about all her friends and their names something in Lorelei began to sink. She had kept her away from society for so long and now she had thrust her into a world she didn't know and understand, yet she just blended. In some ways she felt like she was losing her daughter. Over the years she worked out she wasn't losing her; she was letting her live. Any real mother could only ever hope that her child was happy, and she saw it in Rory. When she met Logan and his friends she truly came into her own. It made Lorelei feel a little redundant, but she knew that Rory knew no matter what she could always turn to her for advice, help or just a cuddle. Chris was often quite oblivious to what was going on, he was just thankful everyday that he got a second chance with his now wife and daughter. He fucked up when he was younger and he would forever try to make up for it. He accepted everything thrown his way and life may not have been perfect, but to him being with the love of his life and having his daughter was all he could truly wish for, anything extra was just a bonus.
The eldest generation of all the families say around discussing various things, the males were currently engaged in what most people would call a 'heated debate' on the topic of how the media effects a jury decision in court, the man had debated many similar topics and Emily and Francine believed they would for as long as they could. Francine glanced around the room, she couldn't wait to see her granddaughter, they hadn't seen as much of each other once Rory had moved to New York and was working, they still spoke often but she missed her only granddaughter. She wanted something to distract her, Straub had been a little tense lately, she thought it was maybe work but he wasn't currently engaged in any trials, he had actually taken a step back and it took a big case to get him in the chair he loved most, he was aging and that took its toll, on everyone. She didn't miss the conversations her husband had been having with Mitchum either, although the families all spoke regularly she knew by the tone, the looks they shared that this was different. Let's face it she and her husband had been together nearly 50 years, you know a person after such a long amount of time. Emily was also deep in thought, waiting expectantly to see her granddaughter. Emily had a sneaky suspicion Rory was pregnant, she like Francine hadn't seen much of her granddaughter lately but Emily had arrived home early last week and she saw Rory as she was leaving Richards office to get home, she was simply glowing. Emily knew that look, her face was slightly fuller, she would even dare to say her tummy had began to round and she looked radiant. She may be wrong, but Emily Gilmore could sniff out a pregnancy before the expectant mother even knew. She knew with Lorelei, she just buried her head in the stand, not wanting to accept her 16 year old daughter was pregnant, but Emily knew. She was her mother after all.
Honor sat around slightly uncomfortable, she was sat with her mother and Lorelei, they were engaged in some sort of conversation she wasn't quite sure about what, she really wasn't keeping up. Josh say quietly as normal, no more than 2 feet away from her at all times. She loved josh with all her heart, she knew people didn't get it, but they didn't see the side of him that she did. Honor had been out of sorts for a while, it started about 4 months ago after she caught was she thought was the flu, she just couldn't seem to get back on her feet after that, she went to her doctor who shrugged it off but she knew her own body and knew something just wasn't right. She had been saving up the money her mother still gave her ready for when she decided to have children but started dipping into it to have some private testing done outside of Hartford. She had been diagnosed with multiple deficiencies and now had b12 injections every 3 months, she was also anaemic and was currently taking vitamin b1, b6, folic acid, iron and vitamin c tablets. Her thyroid was slightly underactive and she had been diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome. Her doctor wasn't quite sure what was causing all the problems, but things were currently on the up, she had been feeling a lot better and the medication seemed to be working at keeping her body functioning. She had been reassured that although she had pcos she would still be able to have children as she never seemed to present with the syndrome part of it, she had multiple cysts on her ovaries but she wasn't overweight, didn't have excessive hair growth and still had periods. She had been taken off the pill to try and establish a normal cycle and this was proving to be her current problem. Her hormones were all over the place! She had taken the pill daily for years and there was also the problem that josh didn't know any of this. She had kept it all to herself, she feared at first that it was something serious and as time went on she just never knew how to broach the subject. She knew she would have to soon as she couldn't hold out on him intimately much longer, but she also couldnt suddenly drop into the mix they needed to use durex! She knew he was worried and assumed it was him. She just didn't want him to look at her differently. She was always strong, so energetic and organising everything. Her and josh had discussed having children but she wanted to make sure she was healthy first so the baby would have everything they needed. It would be a conversation for another day, she slipped on her society mask and began engaging in conversation just as her younger brother and his wife walked into the room.
Logan and Rory arrived just after 6, everyone else was already there as they made there way into the living room. The pair were still giddy from there afternoon activities and decided that they would announce the news sooner rather than later. That gave everyone the evening to ask questions and discuss whatever they wanted to know. Honor seemed to be the first to spot the pair and she was up and to her brother before he even had time to process what was going on. Everyone else soon took note of the new guests and greetings were made all round. The pair had decided that Logan would announce the pregnancy and Rory would announce that it was twins, so it wasn't a shock to her that her husband began to speak after everyone's hellos
"so everyone, its greet to have everyone in one room but as you've most probably guessed me and Rory actually have some news we wanted to share, it may or may not come as a shock to you but me and my beautiful wife are pregnant"
The room went from silent to an exceptional amount of noise in less than 10 seconds! It was like something you see on the movies the women came running over to Rory, the men who knew simply held back sharing a smile whilst the others made there was over to the couple. After a few minutes it was Rory's turn to talk
"Okay guys, now I don't want to overload everyone but we have more news"
"Only my daughter could spring two things in one night" Lorelei finished causing a chuckle from everyone
"Well mom, you don't know how right that statement truly is, we are not just having one baby we have having two, two little boys to be exact"
With that it was like the whole pregnancy announcement all over again! Everyone in that room was truly ecstatic for the couple. It took a lot longer for the rooms buzz to die down this time, it was the maid coming through announcing dinner was being served that seemed to do it. They sat through dinner talking about the nursery, baby showers, names and even births (which Logan wished he hadn't heard about in such detail) Logan glanced around the room, the whole family sat in their couples each one looking as happy and in love as he was. Those little boys in his ace's tummy didn't know what blessing they were. Nothing seemed to bring joy to a family as the announcement of a new addition or in their case, two little bundles of joy. He sat back with a content smile on his face, soon the world would know about his soon to be father status and he knew when the boys arrived it would be a bumpy road but sitting here now all he could truly feel was a sense of being complete.