The next morning, Logan was straightening his tie in the bathroom mirror when Rory ran past him to vomit in the toilet. He scurried after her to hold her hair back and asked, "Oh, Sweetie, are you okay?"
Once she was finished, she flushed and wiped her mouth while she sat back on her heels. "I'm okay. But the vicious wakeup call is rather startling." She stood up and washed her face and brushed her teeth.
Logan watched her from his place across the room. When she was finished, he moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "Good morning," he whispered in her ear. "You are so beautiful and I'm so glad you're here."
She looked at their reflection in the mirror and smiled. "I'm glad I'm here too." She turned around in his arms and hugged him. "I'm nervous about today. I wonder what they want to talk about - I hope its something real and not just coffee and a quick chat."
He kissed her temple and said, "I doubt they would have sent you a first class transatlantic plane ticket for nothing."
She grinned against his neck. "I hope you're right." He stomach growled loudly. "It seems that your daughter is hungry!"
Logan chuckled. "My DAUGHTER?""
"I've been starving for the past two months. It has to be a girl." She laughed at her own statement.
Logan smiled a huge smile. "There are waffles warm for you in the oven, juice in the fridge and decaf in the coffee maker."
She looked in his eyes and smirked at him. "You spoil me!"
He smirked back at her, "That's the plan."
She grabbed her robe and headed downstairs while he finished getting ready for the day.
Logan walked downstairs and found Rory seated at the island eating breakfast and checking her email. "Stop worrying. Today is going to be great!"
"Ok," she said. "Thank you for breakfast."
"I'm leaving you a key on the table in the foyer," he said.
She chuckled, "You and your keys." They both knew that she was remembering their brief trip to New Hampshire a couple months ago where he did everything he could think of to keep her in his life.
He grinned at her. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. So will you call me after? Or do you want to drop by my office? We're right down the street from Time Out."
She shrugged. "I guess it depends on if there is anything to tell?"
He nodded. "That works. I have to go. Go kick ass." He leaned over and kissed her deeply. "I love you."
She was breathless after his kiss. "I love you too. I'll talk to you later."
He was gone and she finished her breakfast and went to get dressed.
Three hours later, Logan fidgeted through a meeting with his father. Logan had no clue what Mitchum was prattling on and on about, because his thoughts were on Rory and how this might affect her and more importantly, THEM.
Finally Mitchum asked, "Okay, what the hell is your problem? The last time I saw someone check their watch that much, they were waiting on a delivery of hookers and blow."
Logan raised his eyebrows. "Sorry..."
"Logan, seriously, what's going on with you? Is everything okay with the baby?"
Logan sighed, "That's the thing. Rory has a meeting with a magazine this morning. I'm just hoping it goes well for her. I'm waiting to hear from her."
Mitchum squinted at his son. "I don't get it. She's a writer. Our business has a little something to do with writing..." He looked sideways at Logan as he attempted to figure out the problem.
"Dad, Rory isn't going to ask me for a job. And she likes to do her own thing. I want her to do whatever makes her happy." Logan put down his tablet and closed his eyes for a minute.
Mitchum still didn't understand. "So you two are really together now? Are you sure?"
Logan nodded, "Very. She agreed to marry me. Finally."
Mitchum chuckled. "It only took ten years and a baby on the way to get her to agree."
Logan was exasperated. "Just stop. I realize you don't have the capacity to be happy for me, but could you just stop talking?"
"Logan, relax. I was just joking. You should buy her a magazine or a newspaper as an engagement present. Then she wouldn't have to continue looking for a job."
Logan stared at his father. "Oh my God! She would HATE that! You really don't know her at all, do you? Rory wants to earn everything she has, she would rather die than accept a job like that - let alone a whole company."
Mitchum shrugged, "I guess I don't. Nearly everyone accepts things that are handed to them. And women love big gifts."
Logan scoffed at his father, "The last time she was 'handed' a position here, you made a point to crush her dreams. You have to understand that she will never trust HPG again with her career."
It was Mitchum's turn to scoff. "Is she still holding a grudge about something that happened ten years ago? Whatever."
Logan shook his head. "You need to stay out of this."
Mitchum held up both hands, like he was under arrest. "Fine. She IS carrying my grandchild. Is it SO bad that I want to make her life easier?"
Logan decided to try a different tactic. "Thank you. If anyone needs anything, you will be the first to know. Okay?"
Mitchum smiled, "Great! Now let's look at those financials for Boston again..."
Logan's phone buzzed. Rory texted him, asking if they could meet at the cafe on the corner. He wrote back, "Be there in 5."
Mitchum rolled his eyes and asked, "I guess you have something more pressing?"
Logan was already putting on his coat and said to Mitchum, "I'll be back in an hour."
A few minutes later, Logan and Rory reached the cafe at exactly the same time. He had never been so anxious to find out information in his entire life. He rushed up to her, brushed a quick kiss on her lips, and said, "Well?!"
Rory smiled, "Its good news. But can we go inside? I'm freezing."
"Of course, Ace." He placed his hand on the small of her back and ushered her into the cafe. As soon as they were shown a table, the server came over and started telling them about the specials. They ordered lunch and were finally alone. "Ace, I'm dying! What happened?!" He grabbed her hand across the table like a teenager.
"Well..." she drew out the suspense as long as she could. "Back when I was on the campaign trail, I made friends with another reporter - Leslie Mitchell. Not longer after the election, we all went our separate ways. She and I lost touch but I got an email from her about a year ago, right about the time I did the Talk of the Town piece."
Logan nodded emphatically, "Right, right..."
She continued, "So anyway, it turns out she's been working for Time Out for the past five years or so. She has a restaurant, music and entertainment column. Her editor is retiring and she is being promoted. She gets to select her replacement and she wants me to take over her column."
"Wow, Ace! That's wonderful! I'm so proud of you!" Logan squeezed both of her hands and waited for more information. "So... is this something you want to do?"
She grinned at him. "Well, the money is great, the perks are phenomenal, and I already like the person who would be my editor."
Logan held his breath. "So, where would you have to live?"
She smirked at him, "Oh, did I not mention that part?"
"Nope, I think you left that part out. Come on...," he begged.
"Well, the column is the local column so all of the reviews need to be done here in Knightsbridge. And the column is a weekly column." She offered him a small smile.
Logan was afraid to ask, but he did anyway. "So what do you think?"
She took a deep breath. "Well... I think I'd be crazy to not take it. But..."
"What?" he asked.
"Logan, honestly, I feel like I'm just crashing your life. I don't want to just show up here and turn your life upside down!"
He grabbed both of her hands. "Rory. Stop!"
"What?" she asked.
"Just stop. I honestly couldn't want anything more." As Logan said this, he looked her straight in the eye to try to convey how serious he was.
She continued, "But, its just so much at once, so fast. You have to be overwhelmed."
The server delivered their food and they stopped talking to thank her.
Once the server was gone, Logan said, "If you really need to, get your own place. But I think you really need to take this job. Its perfect for you." He took a bite of his sandwich and chewed. "But I really don't want you to get your own place."
Rory speared a green bean and asked, "Are you absolutely sure?"
He put down his sandwich and just stared at her. "Ace, we're engaged to be married and we're having a child together. I can't think of any reason in the world that we shouldn't live together. We did it before and it was great. But... let's back up a bit. Do you want the job?"
She grinned and nodded. "I really do. It sounds like a dream. And its especially flattering that she PICKED me."
Logan smirked at her. "So accept the position! Unless you don't want to live in London..."
Rory pursed her lips and took a minute to answer. "It all feels to good to be true. I think that's the problem. I'm so scared everything will fall apart."
Logan squeezed her hands and said, "Ace, you deserve ALL the good stuff. You had a run of bad luck, but that isn't your life. THIS is." She stared at him. "I'm not the least bit surprised that people are calling you and asking you to write for them. I'd do it myself if I thought there was a one percent chance that you would want to work for HPG."
She sighed, "Thank you. Its just a lot right now, I think. I'm pregnant, its a new job, its a new COUNTRY, and YOU," she said pointedly.
"What about me? What concerns do you have about me?"
She smiled softly. "You recently told me you love me. I've wanted to hear that from you for SO damn long and it finally happened. I don't want you to come to your senses and realize you deserve a Victoria Secret model instead of me."
"Ace, don't be insecure about me. I'm insecure about you enough for the both of us. Don't think that I don't spend every day glad that Prince Harry is out of the dating pool so that's one person less person I have to compete with."
"What?!" Rory was incredulous.
"Rory, for two very well-educated people with journalism degrees, we are TERRIBLE with communication. You really don't understand how much I've wanted you to tell me you care about me, do you?"
"Really?" she whispered.
He nodded. "I promise. I'll tell you something really pathetic. After we broke up, every morning I wondered 'Is today the day that she decides she doesn't love me?' I did that every day for years. I missed you everyday. Sad, right?"
She frowned at him. "Dumbass. Had you not just walked away from me, you wouldn't have had to wonder. I loved and missed you every day."
He chuckled softly. "Do you know it took about two years for me to realize that I was responsible for my own misery? Then we finally saw each other in Hamburg and I felt like I was being given a second chance. But I couldn't bring myself to ask you for anything more. It would have killed me if I asked and you said no. So I went along with whatever you wanted."
Rory groaned and rubbed her face with her hands. Logan continued, "Rory, don't worry about us. I swear on my life that if you try to break up with me this time, I will literally chase you to the end of the Earth to talk to me and figure out the issues."
"Ok," she said softly wiping a tear away.
"Besides," he continued, "All day, I've been seriously looking forward to coming home to you. Its all I can think about - going home and you being there. Will you PLEASE just live with me? We can decide later if we want to raise the baby in the flat or if we need something bigger, but can we please do it together?"
"Hmmmm," she said teasing him, pretending to mull it over.
"Besides, you and I both know that it won't work if you live in one place and I live in another. One of us would always spend all our time dragging clothes and toiletries back and forth, because we like to fall asleep together." Logan was trying hard to reason with her. "I want to be with you through your pregnancy, in case you need something or just want something. And I really want to be there once the baby is born. Mostly, I just want to be with you. Please?"
"Hmmmmm," she teased again.
Logan knew he was winning her over based on her smirk. He continued stroking her hands with his thumbs. "Ace... tell me you want to live in London with me and share your life with me." He stared in her eyes, hopeful.
She relented. "Yeah, I do want that." She smiled broadly at him. "I'm going to move here and I want to live with you, and marry you, and raise our little one together."
Logan went around the table and embraced her. "I'm SO happy," he whispered in her ear before he kissed her. After he returned to his seat, he asked, "So when do you start?"
Rory grinned, "I have a month to move here and get settled. Also, Leslie knows I'm expecting and there are no issues there. She even suggested that I can review food delivery or streaming movies while I'm on leave if I don't want to stop working. I think I'll drop by the office after lunch and let her know that I'm going to take the job." She smiled her huge Rory-smile and Logan was elated.
Logan wouldn't have been able to erase his big smile with a squeegee. "First thing's first: we need to find you a doctor here. You need to be able to continue regular checkups and all that."
Rory nodded, "Right. I was actually thinking of asking Joshua if he could refer someone."
Logan nodded, "That's perfect. I'll ask Brad for his number this afternoon."
"Thanks," she said. "I suppose I have a lot to do over the next month." She took another bite of her lunch. "Hey, when do you want to get married?"
Logan's mouth dropped open. "Ummm, whenever you want. Today if you want. Whatever. I want you to have whatever kind of wedding you want."
"Wow. Ok." She smirked to herself and dug into her food.
Logan said, "So, I'm supposed to go to New York next week for a board meeting. It was supposed to be a quick overnight trip, but I could extend it. Afterall, we have some news to share with some people. And I really don't want you to have to tell Emily alone. And I suppose I should tell my mother in person."
She said, "And then there's Lorelai..."
Logan raised his eyebrows. "How do you want to tell Lorelai?"
"I'm not sure. But it needs to be done. She's gonna lose it. She doesn't do well with change and this will be a LOT of change." Rory sighed. "I think I might need to head out there a couple days early to start packing, spend some time with her, and gather my medical records to bring with me."
They finished lunch, enjoying their bliss. Once the check was taken care of, he walked her back to the Time Out offices. After she was safely in the building, Logan practically skipped back to his office. He was going to have the best day ever - because he was going home to HER.