This story rated K+ as some material may not be suitable for young children
AN: A ONE SHOT that I segued from another fanfiction author who wrote about Mitchum's influence to bring Logan and Rory back together after recognizing that his history was repeating itself in his son's life decisions. I always thought that Gregg Henry did an excellent job playing Mitchum on the Gilmore Girls series and would have liked to have seen the character more developed and with some kind of backstory. Here's my take on why Mitchum had no personal love life and no real connection with his wife. This is my first and probably last attempt at posting a story but for all of those writers out there who have and will continue to author and post, I love you and please continue with your stories. I am now attempting a book based on true life but totally fiction in content. Wish me luck. Reviews of this post are so wanted and appreciated.
I acknowledge that I have no ownership or rights to Gilmore Girls.
PS If anyone would like to write about Shira, please do. Again, an underused character played magnificently by the talented Leann Hunley. I think there is a good follow-up story for Shira maybe with a new lover interest. I continue to watch her antics as Anna on a daytime soap.
"Hi Dad, do you have a few minutes", asked Logan as he opened the door to his father's HPG office. "If this is a bad time I can come back later but I would really like to speak with you about a personal matter".
"Come on in, Logan, I can talk with you right now. I hope everything is going well with Rory and her pregnancy. I know circumstances have been a bit in an upheaval but hopefully the situation has calmed down so that you and Rory can enjoy the expectation of becoming parents".
"Yeah, Dad, we have become even closer once the news of the broken engagement with Odette was outed and the press has moved onto other sensational social news. I do appreciate your help with Rory and I am not sure that she would have told me about the baby had you not interfered by visiting her. I understand now how torn she was about telling me and the fact that you recognized that I had to know I know also that you cared enough about us to confront her. That means a lot to me and I owe you one for that. It's really is why I am here now".
Mitchum gave Logan a long thoughtful look before speaking. He knew that he had ulterior motives in visiting Rory, those mainly being that he knew Logan was unhappy and it was affecting his work at HPG. "Son, I know I have not been the dad that I should have been to you and Honor but I did not want you to live your life with someone that you did not love. I knew that Rory had hurt you in the past but I also knew how very much she loves you. I have learned the hard way that continuing through your life without a partner that you are totally in love with and committed to does not make for a happy existence no matter how much wealth and power you might find. I know Josh is the love of Honor's life as is she is Josh's and I wanted you to have the same."
"Mitchum, uh Dad, I want the same thing for you that Rory and I have now, to be happy and more than that to know it is a love that will endure. Years ago when Rory and I were still at Yale and just starting to fall in love, I didn't even know what that meant. I was confused and terrified by my feelings for her and wasn't even certain that she and I were becoming a relationship. I only knew that I wanted to be around her all the time and not just for the sex. Even though the sex was phenomenal there was so much than just our physical attraction. When we were together I realized that "making love" was a far better term for the intimate connection Rory and I had. I knew it was something very special on a level that I had never felt before. One evening we were watching an old rerun of the Twilight Zone. It was an episode titled "The Long Morrow about an astronaut who fell in love but was scheduled for a long space travel in a suspended animation state. At the end of the show I realized that what the two characters felt and reacted to was this 'True Love'. I think it might help you understand where I am going with this if you would later watch that episode."
Logan looked at Mitchum to see if he was really listening. Seeing that he had Mitchum's attention, Logan then continued. "At the cancer charity event we attended in Chicago together, I noticed you at the bar talking with one of the featured medical speakers, Elizabeth, I believe was her first name. I watched you for several minutes and I have never seen you so animated and well, just happy. I also saw how she looked at you and quite frankly it was exactly the way that Rory looks at me. It was obvious that you knew each other and were not just making small talk. I was so intrigued that I did some investigating and found out that you were both at Yale at the same time, had dated for several years, and had actually lived together for much of that time. I found out where she lives now and although she was married and has adult children, she and the husband divorced years ago. She is an extraordinary research doctor and has dedicated her life to helping find treatments and cures for cancer. I think it is time for Mitchum to put Mitchum first in his life and decide what he really wants and needs. Please, Dad, truly consider finding her and also finding out if there is way to be with her now."
Mitchum was totally taken aback by Logan's revelation and for the first time in talking with Logan was speechless for about two minutes. "Yes, Logan, I knew Liz during my Yale days and at one time we were considering marriage. I have never told anyone else this but I loved her, I mean really loved her, just as I know you love Rory. However, your grandfather Elias did not approve of her and made it known to both of us that our destinies were in other directions. Elias was determined to put an end to any marriage plans we might have. Elias went as far as to threaten to block any of Liz's applications or admissions to a good medical school unless she stopped seeing me. My mistake was not standing up to my father and forcing him to choose whether he wanted me in the family business or not. Liz made the decision to end us and left me to attend a prestigious medical school and pursue her career in research. I think she believed that staying together would cause irrevocable harm and pain for everyone so she sacrificed our love. Yet, every day I think about what we might have been together, a loving, caring, devoted family. "
"When I married your mother it was because I was told by my father that it was time to settle down and start producing an heir or heirs. I knew what I felt for Shira was not the same as my feelings for Liz but I convinced myself that we could make it work. While Elias did not totally approve of Shira because she was not born to Society and did not have quality family and financial connections, he felt that she could be easily manipulated and molded into a wife that produced beautiful children and was willing to play the Society games. I regret not staying with Liz and I regret marrying Shira but I have never regretted Shira giving me you and your sister. I know I don't say it enough or hell, I probably have never said it, but I am proud of both of my children."
Logan knew that his parents' marriage was pretty much based in name only and that Shira while enjoying the spotlight as the Huntzberger matriarch, was unhappy most of the time. Her numerous and lengthy trips to spas along with her copious glasses of wine were proof of that. Shira enjoyed the perks and the Black AMEX of being Mrs. Mitchum Huntzberger but they were not real partners in life or love. Not like the marriages of Logan and Rory or Honor and Josh.
"Dad, please consider retiring from CEO of HPG and letting me take over. You know I am ready to do that and you can stay on as the Chairman of the Board and my biggest source of advice and help. You owe it to yourself to at least pursue a life and love with Elizabeth. Settle a divorce agreement with Mom and go get Elizabeth. Mom can have the house and a huge monetary settlement. Look how many of her and your friends are already divorced because they married the right Society person and not chose a partner for the right reason. Liz might say 'no' but isn't it worth the effort to find out if she might say 'yes'. Look how long it took Rory and me to finally face our feelings, our fears, and our stupid stubborn inability to tell each other how we really felt. Don't waste another minute finding out if you and Liz can find the way and the love to grow old together."
Logan continued, "I won't give you Elizabeth's address or email address now because I want you to think about all that I have said and ask yourself truthfully how you want to spend the rest of your life. Let me know what you decide but just know that I would absolutely be overjoyed to see that same look on your face again that I saw when you and Elizabeth were talking. We have had our differences and disagreements, Dad, but you are my father and I do have love for you."
Three weeks later, Logan received an email from his father requesting that he attend a family meeting on Friday evening. It was very important that both Logan and Honor would attend as Mitchum and Shira had an important family announcement to make. Mitchum requested that Josh and Rory not attend because he wanted Shira to be totally comfortable with just the four of them. Logan suspected this had something to do with his conversation with his dad and replied that he would definitely be there.
On Friday evening Honor and Logan met up in the driveway and walked toward their parents' home together. Honor hung back just a bit and finally asked Logan if he knew what the family meeting might be about. "Logan", Honor asked, "Do you think this is just about plans for a family get together at Martha's Vineyard or something more serious? Could one of them be critically ill? If it's just a planning session why wouldn't Josh and Rory be included?"
Logan shrugged his shoulders and gave his sister a reassuring arm around her shoulders. "I think it might be serious and something very private but I don't think it has anything to do with one of them being sick. Let's just be calm and try not to let anger or disagreement cloud our thinking."
After the maid had escorted them into the sitting area they were greeted with hugs and kisses from both Mitchum and Shira. Drinks were passed around and everyone sat down with Mitchum and Logan on one sofa, Honor on the facing sofa, and Shira in her oversized pink upholstered antique Windsor chair located between the ends of the sofas. Shira had her Society smiling face on betraying no emotion other than a pleasant demeanor at having her family all together.
Mitchum spoke, "Honor and Logan, your mother and I love both of you and we do have respect for each other. You are also acutely aware that we are not 'in love' and probably never have been. It's a complicated history but I do know that your mother has given me two beautiful children that I do love. I know I have not been a good father but I want you both to understand that I was greatly influenced by my father who only saw me as his heir and not as his son. I realize that history can repeat itself and I have treated Logan in much the same way and to a lesser extent, Honor. I am going to rectify my mistakes beginning with letting Shira have a life of her own."
Mitchum paused to let what he had said sink into his children's thoughts, then continued, "Shira and I have started the legal process necessary for a disillusion of our marriage. It is the easiest, quickest, and most amicable way for us to part. The agreement will provide Shira with the financial security and life style that she has grown accustomed to during our marriage. She will want for nothing. However I am hoping that you will both offer some emotional and social support to her. I will always be available to assist her with financial advice. In no way will this affect our mutual love for our children and grandchildren nor will it impact any family financial benefits that have already been arranged. In time it is my hope that Shira and I will be able to gather as a united family and find a way to be loving friends."
Mitchum pauses for a moment to reign in his emotions something that he has rarely displayed before but then continues talking, still with a small suggestion of tears forming in his eyes. This is perhaps the hardest part of his speech. "I am resigning as the CEO of HPG and chairman of the board. Logan will be assuming those positions immediately upon confirmation by the board. I hope that Honor will decide to remain on the company's board and will do everything that she can to support her brother. I will be staying with HPG in another capacity as the chairman of the HPG Foundation. It is time for me to give back to society what I have been so fortunate to have received during my lifetime in the publishing business. I have thought long and hard about this decision and so has Shira. This feels right for both of us at this point in our lives."
Logan and Honor both contemplated their father's announcement but were not necessarily unhappy about it. Logan was not shocked as he had placed the idea in Mitchum's head but had not anticipated the speed upon which Mitchum had acted. Honor had been expecting Mitchum to retire down the road but never dreamed about her parents ending their marriage. Even after just a few minutes both Logan and Honor were on board that this move might actually make both of their mom and dad happier and allow the family to be closer. The social façade and endless entertaining that Mitchum and Shira had developed over the years could be dropped. It was almost as though a curtain had lifted over the entire family. It would definitely be a new era but it had the optimism to being a better one.
Logan spoke first, "Mom, Dad, I do truly believe that you are making a wise decision. Mom, I want you to know that Rory and I will do everything we can to be there for you. Dad, I think working as head of the foundation is a brilliant move. With your connections and business savvy the donations will be pouring in. My wish is that both of you will find peace and happiness. In Omnia Paratus."
Honor was more emotional and went to both of her parents for hugs. "Logan is correct. Mom, I think it would be awesome if you would spend more time with the grandkids and you and I could also become more involved in charities. It would be a good change for you to involve yourself in those who are less fortunate than we are rather than planning extravagant parties. Please think about it. Of course, Josh and I will always be available for you whatever you might need."
It had been two months since the family meeting that Mitchum had presented his retirement the end of his and Shira's marriage. He was standing in front of a door far away from Connecticut and he was terrified. He, the mighty Mitchum Huntzberger was about to embark on the most important meeting of his life. Trying to gain his courage, Mitchum recalled what Logan had told him about the time he was convincing Rory to participate in a Life and Death Brigade event, "People can live a hundred years without really living for a minute. You climb up here with me, it's one less minute you haven't lived." He found his heart and knocked on her door.
Two Years Later
Logan could not believe that they were all back here again at Colin's New Hampshire inn. Colin had never sold the place not just for sentiment but it actually had proven to be a moneymaker. Rory and Logan had been coming to the inn every year for their anniversary. It was where they had spent the night making love supposedly to say a final goodbye but instead had created a new life and a new beginning for themselves. Logan looked at Rory standing beside him and then at his young son he was holding. He didn't think Rory could be any more beautiful than she was during their first pregnancy but here she was looking radiant and glowing five months into expecting their second offspring. God, how he loved her and his children. They were his life and his total happiness. They were both again enjoying a pregnancy, the doctor's visits, listening to the baby's heartbeat, watching the ultrasound, and eagerly anticipating the arrival of their baby girl.
But today wasn't about Rory and Logan although just being there brought back the wonderful memory of their wedding at this very place. Today was a smaller gathering that included Honor and her family and Logan and his wife and son. Finn, Colin, and Robert were there, also, because somehow family gatherings did not seem complete without those three. Four new members of the family were also present from the bride's side.
Robert had taken his place as the officiant having kept his internet license to perform weddings. He began, "Do you Mitchum take Elizabeth to be your lawfully wedded wife…."
