"Huntzbergers!", Colin yelled through the phone as soon as Logan answered it. Before he can take a breath and answer, another voice also comes through.
"Harken thee and awake, thine good people! We come bearing gifts!"
Finn.
So both Colin and Finn are near, apparently at the gate, waiting for it to be buzzed open. Great.
Logan can tell it's still early- there is barely any sunlight filtering through the windows of their bedroom, but it's also winter in Connecticut and therefore - cloudy.
Sometime during the night, Eli has migrated from his bed into ours, probably with Rory's blessing, if he woke up and couldn't get back to sleep on his own. He is currently sprawled out in between the middle of the bed, his little foot the thing that was digging into Logan's back when he was so unceremoniously roused by the phone.
Logan usually loves waking up to mornings like this, they laze about and watch the morning news, not bothering to make too many moves until hunger calls for breakfast to be made.
His phone tells him it's a little after 7am, as he brings up the security app and confirms that his friends are indeed at the gate. He grants access for them with a few simple touches and gets out of bed to go meet them downstairs.
Thankfully, he is already {mostly} appropriately dressed and does not have to rummage around looking for clothes to put on.
Down to the kitchen and through the door to the garage, he pressed to button that opens the garage bay to greet his friends.
"I know you texted that you'd be by today, but I had no idea it would be as the rooster crows", Logan said, giving handshakes and hugs to his brothers.
Colin had an easy answer for that one - "We haven't been to sleep yet, so we thought no time like the present!"
"Mate! I told you we needed your gate codes! We could have come in already and not had to bother you!"
"Yeah, Rory and I aren't sure that is the best idea. We're not ready to wake up to you looking at us in bed."
"Is that an option? Because quite frankly, I'd love to watch."
"Finn, don't freak him out, its still early yet for this type of conversation", Colin interjected, ever the diplomat.
"Not an option. I'm barely awake but even now I know I need to keep an eye on you around her. You'd be sniffing around before I'm cold in the ground."
"She's a goddess, even more so now that she's with child", Finn added. "I don't know how she does it, bewitching us like this, our fair Sycorax. But I would never betray our friendship. It's really Colin here that you have to look out for."
Logan looked over to Colin, who had the good sense not to say anything in rebuttal.
"I get it, she's great and we all fell into her orbit a long time ago. Say no more." Logan gestured back toward the SUV they drove up in. "So I guess there are things that need to be unloaded and brought into the house. How about we get started on that and out of the cold?"
A steely look of resolve passed between the men. A sense of understanding was conveyed after years of friendship and camaraderie. They got to work, no other words needed.
"It's my uncles!", Eli screamed as soon as he rounded the corner into the kitchen. He ran directly into Colin's arms, who scooped him up eagerly.
"How is my favorite nephew this morning? Have you been enjoying the Christmas season?"
"I good, Uncle Colin. I went to Nantucket and New York!"
Of course, it sounded more like 'Unca', 'Na-nuck-it' and New 'Ywork', but everybody was well versed in toddler-ese by now and understood him perfectly.
Finn, who was manning the griddle, relinquished his spatula to Logan and came over to get Eli for his hello hug.
"Little guy! We missed you!", he said, giving Eli a big squeeze. "We brought you lots and lots of presents to open!"
"More presents?", Eli said, his eyes big with wonder.
"Absolutely! Nothing is too much for my godson." Finn answered with the biggest smile. Both Colin and Finn (and even Robert was allowed on occasion) had really shown up for them since the birth of their child. They always were ready to shower him with love and attention whenever they were in town. They had even offered to babysit for a few hours, even though they had not taken them up on that offer as yet.
"Where's your mom, bud?", Logan asked his son.
"Go back for socks."
"Did Mommy bring you down, then go back upstairs because she forgot to put socks on?"
Eli nodded his head up and down, confirming yes, that is exactly what happened.
"You're going to make a great reporter some day, son. Already just sticking to the facts!", he joked lovingly, while coming over to rustle his little boy's hair. While he was near, Eli held out his arms for Logan to take him, so he did. Logan then transferred him to his seat to get ready to eat.
"What's this I hear about our son joining the family business", Rory's voice said, as she came into the kitchen.
"There she is! Morning, babe. We're almost done with breakfast", Logan welcomed his wife.
"I thought we agreed, Mister! No cultivating mini-me's until they can at least write out their full names. How else will they be able to sign on the dotted line?" She punctuated her points by wagging an index finger at him, while her other hand rested on her hip. Her stance was meant to convey irritation, but the corners of her mouth betrayed a smile that showed otherwise.
"C'mom Ace. He's a natural!", he said with a wink.
Rory just looked back at him and shook her head, already making her way around the room to greet the boys.
She headed toward Colin who was busy pouring a kettle of hot water into mugs.
"Morning, Colin. You guys made it here early.", she said as she gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek.
"Finn couldn't wait to play the merry elf this morning", Colin explained. "Thought we'd make ourselves useful."
"Thanks, guys" Rory said, moving on to Finn. "I could certainly eat. I ran out of Salt and Vinegar chips late last night, so I'm already hungry."
That statement piqued Logan's interest. No bueno on her running out of her favorite chips. The consequences could be disastrous. He made a note to run out and get some later, before Rory left to keep her beauty appointment.
"Hello, Mother. How are you this morning? You look ravishing, as usual", Finn said as he gave her a hug and a kiss.
"Hey, Finn. I'm doing ok and thank you, I guess." She self-consciously smoothed her hand over her baby bump, covered in a layered cotton henley and tank . She then tucked the hair around her face behind her ears and ducked away, reaching up to try to adjust her ponytail as well.
Her nervous tick. A dead giveaway that she is feeling awkward and uncomfortable with the attention.
Time to change the subject.
"I was just showing Finn how to make pancakes from scratch. Again."
"I'm doing my best, Father", Finn answered. "I'm still confused by this strange thing you call a recipe."
Finn repeated the word slowly as if trying to make sense of a strange and new phenomena. The word became a chant. "Re-ci-pe, re-ci-pe...", as Colin joined in.
Eli, content to just observe up until then, also caught on and joined in.
The only thing Logan could do was laugh at the scene.
"Okay, Animal House", Rory intervened. "Let's go ahead and eat. I've got places to be today."
"You're not going to stick around and hang out with us?", Finn said dejectedly. "I was so looking forward to a visit! And presents, we brought lots of presents!"
"I thought today was a boys day, you know, football, beer, inappropriate stories", Rory joked along. "I've got a hot date tonight, that I need to be ready for, but there is always time for presents," she said as she loaded a plate up and took up residence at the island to eat.
Logan couldn't keep the Cheshire cat grin off of his face. He beamed, knowing that Rory would come home from being waxed, plucked and trimmed, in a great mood. She had always enjoyed her time at her salon, and was usually 'ready for anything' afterwards.
"Lucky", Colin said, in a surprisingly accurate channeling of Napoleon Dynamite.
Everyone laughed and dug into breakfast, content to spend the morning together.
It's 11 o'clock, one hour until the ball falls and it's a new year.
Logan stoked the fire and added a log. He wanted to make sure it was warm enough in here for Rory; perfectly formed flames danced up in the living room fireplace. That, along with the twinkle lights for the Christmas tree and the muted tv, provided the only light in the room, to set the stage for a romantic atmosphere.
Freshly showered and accoutered, Logan had just retrieved the last of the gifts for their private family Christmas. After Eli went to sleep, Rory insisted on helping to put out the rest of the gifts that we got for our son around the tree, even though I said I had it covered. (It's our first 'just us' Christmas tradition, Logan, I have to participate! No matter how pregnant I am!) She said we had to set everything up so he would see them first thing when he came downstairs in the morning, after all, at 2 and a half, this could potentially be the first Christmas that he remembers.
The ride-on power toy that Lorelai brought on Black Friday was there, as well as an entire suite of Montessori-style wooden play items, including a farmhouse with animals, a vertical car racer ramp and a band-in-a-box set.
It looked like Melissa and Doug threw up in here.
But he was sure that his son would love it, if earlier today was any indication.
Colin and Finn had outdone themselves, after to some strong hints courtesy of one Rory's Pinterest boards, by gifting Eli with all the items needed for a "Practical Living" kitchen.
They also got him a set of soft jumbo building blocks, which he climbed on and shuffled around right away after unboxing, while Logan and the boys arranged the new items in the play space downstairs.
It was all very convenient to bowl game watching and eventually, crashing on the sofa, since this area was man-cave adjacent in their renovated basement.
"Between us and his uncles, the kid made out like a bandit", Logan chuckled softly, before moving into the kitchen.
He took the gourmet charcuterie spread, with a few hard cheeses, an assortment of nuts, crackers and fruit, out of the refrigerator and laid them out on a small wooden platter.
For the past two years, they enjoyed some warm Camembert on toast points with prosciutto and Champagne for New Years Eve, but instead of the soft cheese and alcohol, he had another treat for Rory this year.
He located the breakfast-in-bed tray in the pantry, then moved it into place in the living room. Next, was to get out the Tiffany champagne flutes that they have used to toast three New Years thus far, which were a wedding gift from Lane.
"Peach Bubly sparkling water for her, a small bottle of Dom for me", Logan reminded himself as he mentally continued to tick items off of his list of things to gather.
"I almost forgot the marshmallows and chocolate..." He retrieved a fresh bag of large marshmallows, forgoing the mini ones that Rory liked to keep in the freezer, and her favorite dark chocolate with sea salt snack bites from the pantry.
With everything assembled and placed on the tray, all that was left was to wait on Rory.
She had gone up stairs to "freshen up" and left Logan with instructions on where to find his own outfit for their special private celebration.
So here he was, in a sumptuous burgundy smoking jacket, matching velvet slippers with embroidery and a silken cravat with his black silk pajama bottoms. It was very old school Hugh Hefner, but that's exactly what Rory was going for with her Mid Century at Midnight themed idea. (We'll match our house!, was her reasoning.)
She's coming down the steps now. 11:30, not bad. We should have plenty of time to snack before the ball drops.
An absolute vision, almost floating down the stairs. She has some sort of thin white cape that covers her shoulders but leaves her arms out of slits. The material must be long, as it is flowing behind her as she descends.
Logan can see a peek of barely-there pink lace encasing her chest. Her heeled shoes are in her hand, leaving her in stocking feet, courtesy of nude thigh-highs with a subtle fishnet pattern.
Rory was the queen of patterned stockings and they always drove him crazy with want. She has worn them in every pattern and shade since they met in college with her skirts; he always thought it was super hot.
There was also something different about her hair- each side is pinned back rolled toward the center with her subtle waves still down in the back.
Very pin-up girl, she absolutely looks the part.
At the bottom of the stairs, Rory holds out her shoes for Logan to take for her. "I thought it best to leave these off until I got on level ground. Wouldn't want to take a tumble Gone With The Wind style", she laughed.
Such a wry sense of humor. From years and years of practice, no doubt. Logan could only smile back at her. The reference was not something he would ever think about associating with the mother of his child. Perish the thought.
"These are my favorite shoes on you. You wore them when we got married. Both times", he said, taking them from her, as he leaned in to kiss her sweetly. He went down on bended knee to place them on her feet.
He managed to only cop a small feel by running his hands up from ankle to calf, wordlessly asking her lift her leg, so that he could slip the ivory open-toed sling back heel on each of her gorgeous feet. He had an up close and personal view of her whole body from this angle, so he drank her in. Then he rose and offered his arm to her, as a true gentleman would.
"Allow me to escort you to our living room. I've got plans for you."
The living room was elevated above the foyer and hallway to the kitchen, so there were a few more steps to navigate.
They moved together into the room, where Logan stopped her right before the glittering Christmas tree. "I have something for you", he said to her, in low voice and with a smile that was all his own.
"Oh my gosh, I've having deja-vu again. It's not a key, is it? I've done my fair share of collecting keys over the past four years...", she said while beginning to laugh. She brought the back of her hand up to her forehead, feigning a fainting spell.
Logan had turned away to reach behind the tree to retrieve her gift, turning around just in time to see her seemingly swoon.
He moved to steady her with a hand to her elbow before he it caught up to him that she was joking.
"I know we are exchanging our gifts in the morning, but I thought we could use this tonight."
Rory took the large square box, which shiny and fancy enough that it was only adorned with a wide ribbon and bow tied in the center, no wrapping paper needed.
She looked up at him as she pulled the ribbon over the corners of the box so that she could open the lid.
Inside was a chocolate-colored faux fur throw, perfectly folded.
"I wanted one of these, how did you know?", Rory beamed.
"I know, I saw your face when Lorelai opened her's on Christmas. I was there when you gave Luke the hint about them after your movie night", Logan said.
"I always thought that part of the movie was silly. I mean sleeping on all those furs had to be hot, but Mom loves that part. She goes on and on about it every time she watches it. Then I had a chance to feel how soft they could be even though its not real fur, thankfully, I had second thoughts", explained Rory. "You really pay attention, that was just a few days ago."
"A few well placed phone calls and a little magic", Logan countered, "Also, I thought we could recreate a little of the magic we had in front of the fire at your Dad's cabin."
He smiled at her and she remembered too. Her eyes shone and she gave him a sly smile in return.
"Let's get started", Rory said softly, looking at him directly in his eyes.
They began to unfold the large piece together and moved over in sync to place in down in front of the fire.
He helped Rory down to her knees and then she sat demurely, tucking her legs to the side. He placed the tray that he prepared down for easy access.
He unmuted the tv and sat down with her to enjoy their snacks.
They nibbled and watched Ryan Seacrest get ready to welcome in the new year. He imagined that Colin and Finn had made it into the city and were to far from a party near the center of the universe, Times Square.
Somehow he and Rory kept managing to steal glances at each other, between bites. They seemed to be always looking at each other at the same time.
Their gazes would lock for a few seconds but neither said anything out loud.
Fifteen minutes or so had past before Rory broke said that her legs were falling asleep and that she should switch positions.
Logan took each of their flutes of beverage up from the tray and moved them to the small table next to the chair in the corner.
He offered his hand to help Rory up, which she gave. They both braced themselves to pull her up but managed to get her still heel clad legs up under her gracefully.
Logan sat back down in the chair. Rory was about to sit on the ottoman directly in front of him but Logan beckoned for her to join him.
He slouched down slightly and widened the stance of his legs. He opened his arms to her.
She moved into his lap, sitting gingerly on one leg.
"Is this ok?", she asked.
"This is perfect", he replied.
They watched a few more minutes of the countdown show. Not much longer now.
Rory had one arm behind his head, in a spot were it has just enough for her to be able to run her hand though his hair and give him a light scalp massage.
One side of her lace covered chest was right next to his head. He turned his head and nuzzled into her, breathing in her scent.
He nipped her, applying just the right amount of pressure, on one side then the other, over the lace.
She moved her body more toward the center, he made room for her on the chair.
He had good view of her neck now and kissed her there, bringing one had up to gather the hair brushing her back and shoulders to the side.
She anchored herself with her hands on each knee.
Just a few more moments now, until ball began to descend for the final minute.
It would be so easy to move his other hand lower, to her front.
It wouldn't take much to illicit a response. Their breathing has synced now, with each body so physically aligned.
They both moved slowly, but together.
Things have progressed quickly by the time the ten second count begins.
The ball's decent was done and it was officially after midnight on the first day of the year. People on tv continue to celebrate, with confetti streaming and glitter raining.
Their movements changed, slowed and stopped. Logan turned his head so that his lips were on her ear.
He whispered to her, "Happy Anniversary".