Chapter 30
October 29th, 2022, Midtown Manhattan, NYC
The restaurant they met Finn at wasn't far from the hotel - just a couple of blocks, and the three had walked over. The bustle of the big city was fun, although possibly a little tiring for the youngest of the group.
They hadn't done much other than breakfast and a walk around Central Park that morning, the playground providing sufficient entertainment to Em, even with all things money could buy within their grasp.
"So how much does he know?" Rory asked, not too loudly, from Logan before entering, Em hopping along on her side, holding onto her fingers.
"The general headlines, I guess. That it was a mutual decision…," Logan said, keeping things brief around Em.
"Okay, just so he doesn't hate me or something," Rory explained, having thought about this a little. She realized how many might see this - as her getting everything and Logan being the victim.
"Why would he hate you!? If anything he gave me a well-deserved scolding when I last saw him," Logan explained.
Finn had reprimanded him for a) leaving Rory to have the baby by herself despite everything, being a romantic at heart like he was, b) being an idiot for how he'd handled that whole relationship - speaking with contempt about the arrangement they'd had and that he'd been not too keen on in the first place, and c) for not telling him - the latter turning out to be the biggest trigger for him. He'd even said how he could've helped and how it was not only Logan who had missed five years of the little girl's life, of Rory's life - not that he was always the best at keeping regular contact himself. But it spoke of his passionate take on his friend's life more than anything.
"Oh, just in case he thought I hid her or something," Rory replied, revealing one of the worries she'd had for years. That someone, just like that one run-in with Honor, years ago, would figure it out and blame her for hiding Em's existence from Logan. And since they'd had the NDA in place, she could never even tell any of them that Logan knew if it did come to it. Sure, now there was no such case anymore.
"Finn's not that kind of guy," Logan said and gallantly pulled open the door to the restaurant Finn had insisted on meeting them.
The shopkeeper's bell chimed, not that the place was empty by any means. The burger place - the classy kind - that was also supposed to be child friendly according to Finn, looked busy.
The place had maybe room for 50, and it was at least occupied, and there were several servers hurrying about, carrying trays of truly delicious looking burgers, draft beers and shakes. It's interior was black-and-white, including a harlequin floor, and several colorful dashes in the form of paintings and sculptures on the walls, bringing everything into life.
"Party of three?" one of the servers asked them.
"Um, we might already have a reservation actually," Logan began. "Table for Morgan," he added.
"Oh, you must be Finn's guests. He's actually in the back. Come on, I'll show you," the preppy girl with pink ombré-colored hair said.
"Her hair is so pretty, mommy," Em commented, not too quietly.
"Why thank you!" the server replied, smilingly.
"Can I have that kind of hair when I grow up?" Em continued to inquire, causing both Rory and Logan to chuckle lightly.
"Sure you can," Rory commented, to which Logan, for the first time, felt like arguing a little about.
While he'd grown up doing pranks and mischief all his life, which had certainly been not encouraged, things like making changes to his body, other than working out, had never been something that had been tolerated in his family - no hair dying except for the women of the family, no piercings, no tattoos. Hell, him not shaving his beard every morning was probably a little rebellious if his mother were to be judging, which she no longer was, thankfully. That just wasn't done and strangely enough he'd never even argued with that part and he'd never really wondered why.
But he realized that more than anything he hadn't really thought about all the things that were going to be the principles of his parenting style. Their parenting style. He hadn't needed to punish the girl by any means so far - no teaching boundaries, no dealing with bad behavior or temper tantrums. He was such a beginner at this, and Rory seemed to have it all figured out. Did this mean that Em was done - and he'd missed that part altogether?
It very soon became clear that the back room in question was not a private dining room that one could rent out but rather the space for management - a couple of desks and a big conference table along with a leather couch making it look rather casual but to a knowledgable eye one could see the hand of an interior designer at play.
"Getting cozy with the management?" Logan asked Finn, not bothering with formal greetings.
"Hey, man," Finn replied, and met him in a half hug. "Nah, owner privileges," he added as if it was no big deal. "Rory, love!" he added, and wrapped Rory in a much tighter embrace.
"I missed you, Finn," Rory replied, loving how affectionate the guy was.
Sure, it wasn't like she hadn't hugged anyone in a while, she'd even hugged Logan - but it was a whole other story with Finn. When he hugged you, he really hugged you - so one almost felt short of breath for a moment, but it was all well-meaning, affectionate yet not romantic. Though Rory realized that his ability to be this open was also how he often crossed over from friendly affection to something more in his personal life.
"God, you look good," Finn commented, taking a step back and looking Rory over. Rory really wasn't wearing anything fancy - just black jeans, a simple cotton sweater and a beige pea-coat jacket that hung loose.
"You do too," Rory replied, knowing he was generous with his words. Finn too had aged - who hadn't? But he still had that musketeer-look about him, like he could at the drop of a hat jump into a sword duell or on the contrary pull of his clothes and jump onto a surfboard and into the waves, his messy head of hair always looking like he'd come out of the waves just a short while ago.
"And this is Finn," Rory said to the little girl, her hands resting on her shoulders as she stood cautiously in front of her.
"Huh!" Finn reacted, took a step back, and barely noticeably grabbed something from a shelf behind him. "Isn't she a little big?" Finn asked thoughtfully, looking a little confused.
"Big?" Rory asked, holding back her laughter, being pretty sure it was one of Finn's bits.
"You know - to carry around on my shoulders, treat to a milk-shake later and entertain with - I don't know - this fluffy teddy for example," Finn replied, exemplifying his words by a really cute plush teddy, roughly the size of his hand, which naturally caused Em to squeal at excitement.
Rory smiled as a response, recognizing good old Finn. In a way it was a good nod towards the time missed, without him having to spell out his regretfulness on the subject. All of the adults in the room got it.
"Well, I believe she'll appreciate the teddy no matter how big she is," Logan commented.
"Here," Finn crouched down at the child's level with surprisingly nimble moves, adding, "And what might your name be, girl?" he inquired, despite knowing it already.
"Thank you," Em replied, accepting the toy, her hips moving back and forth in a half-circle motion, feeling a little nervous at the familiar encounter. "My name is Emma, but they call me Em," she replied, as Rory's hand rested supportively on her shoulders.
Logan was rather proud of these cute, extremely polite, introductions the girl seemed to make whenever around new people. He realized though that he had no impact on that and that was all Rory, or well as she'd once said - her great-grandmother.
"Hm… I've known a few Emmas in my life...," Finn replied, causing both Rory and Logan to shoot a cautionary look towards him, knowing a bit about his track record. "All I am saying," Finn began, shooting an equally reprimanding look back towards the girl's parents and added, "is that you're in good company with your namesakes, Em," directing the latter more towards the girl.
Finn arranged for them to have lunch in the back, even though Logan wasn't yet terribly hungry after the late breakfast they'd had. Logan was usually on a very different schedule, with still some of his work that he was trying to finish up taking place in London time, but for this weekend he was ready to do things differently.
They talked a little about what Finn had been up to, and while he was still apart of the family business which included managing a number of hotels and apartment buildings, he'd admitted to having needed a change of pace and bought a couple of restaurants to mix things up a little. It seemed to be a running theme with the guys as Rory soon heard. Even Colin who was still at the family's law company had taken a sudden interest in pro-bono work for charity and Robert was into photography and environmentalism these days, which seemed to be changing around the business that had been in his family's hands for a century. Who would've thought all of them would hit some kind of a mid-life crisis around the same time?
Naturally Finn inquired into Rory's wellbeing and work, and Logan could still sense how there was a big difference on how Rory discussed her work amongst her peers in Boston and people she'd known before, himself included. She wasn't exactly ashamed, but it was as if she was expecting judgment, and that even from Finn, the person who was the least likely one to judge anyone. Rory had never really been easy on herself, had she? And while she had come a long way, Logan still recognized that person inside this new and improved Rory. It was kind of comforting even - that she was still deep inside the girl he used to know, even if it was just one tiny aspect of her.
After a while Em showed interest to go explore the front of the restaurant, that Finn had explained to have some cool sculptures of old children's toys on the walls, and since Em sort of insisted on taking Logan, his presence still being something she was eager about, Finn and Rory were left waiting at the back, in somewhat awkward silence.
"So..," Finn began, carrying around a half a glass of club soda in a tumbler glass as if holding a glass of whiskey, and sank down to the couch next to Rory.
"Yes, Finn?" Rory sighed expectantly, almost expecting Finn to inquire into something on Logan's behalf, whether Logan yet knew it or not. He was always the kind to play match-maker, and for someone who seemed to have zero emotional intelligence during college he was actually surprisingly perceptive.
"How are you doing with all of this…?" he inquired, Rory having not quite expected a question quite as intimate.
It was beyond hinting questions about when the two of them would be getting together or whether Logan was behaving himself, it was beyond friendly chit-chat also. It was almost the kind of question Otis or her former therapist might ask, and while she had unloaded a good chunk of emotions to Otis just recently - right now she honestly didn't know where to begin.
"Um… I guess, pretty good. It's a little scary," Rory admitted truthfully.
"You realize he's taken his ring off, right?" Finn pointed out.
"Yes, I know…," Rory said, recalling Logan's wording about how he'd been unable to take 'the fucking ring off' in an upset tone. But that part she didn't really want to discuss that much, she was hesitant of the pressure that came with that move.
"I just… I guess I just want you to take into account that he's not as strong as he looks," Finn replied.
"I get that there's grief and guilt there, I do," Rory agreed.
"He's been beating himself up about this for a while. Like… I was always aware that there was something up. I didn't know what exactly until he told me recently. I could sense he would punish himself with work, exercise, lack of fun at times even… like he didn't deserve it… I think he almost believed he deserved to watch Odette get sick and go through all of that. And he's not a very forgiving guy, especially when it comes to himself," Finn explained.
That was certainly an angle Rory hadn't thought of before.
"All I am saying is that I know you have your own reasons to be cautious with him," Finn said, glancing briefly back towards the door, obviously not wanting Logan to hear this, and then straight into her eyes. "But I urge you to give him something to hold on to, if you can… I think he's still in a little bit of a disbelief that he's getting a second chance at this in the first place and fears it could be taken away from him any minute, like that's all he deserves," he added.
"I wouldn't do that," Rory replied, shaking her head. "I know we haven't hammered out all the details yet, but we just got him on the birth certificate, and I honestly don't think Em is quite ready for sleepovers and things like that to make it any more formal," Rory replied.
"Oh, right - well, I didn't know that. But I think that's good," Finn replied, somewhat apologetically. "Good," he repeated, having a concerned look one seldom saw on the Aussie.
"I don't want to hurt him, I don't want to punish him - none of this was his fault," Rory assured, having not really expected to be in a position to have to defend herself.
Finn nodded, acceptingly.
"And you probably realize he's still pretty into you, right?" Finn said, glancing again towards the door.
Rory didn't really reply to that last one, hearing already the little girl's babble coming towards them, and instead rolled her eyes at Finn, being indeed fully aware of the recent developments - what he had said the other day, how he was keen to spent time with her - them, and she also believe to know him pretty well. But she couldn't give promises to anyone about that.
They talked a little more, but Em was pretty eager to head off, having now a lot of sugar-induced energy to burn off after the huge milk-shake she'd had.
"You're a good friend, Finn," Rory said quietly, as she hugged the tall man goodbye, having had some time to mull his words over in her head.
"Don't you two…three be strangers now, alright?" Finn said, waving them off, undoubtedly sensing already how the tree formed, dare he say - a family.
AN: struggled to get into the flow of this chapter... maybe it is too serious (not enough Finn-power)? I guess the best explanation for doing it the way I did it is that Finn too is, these days, more than just a playboy and to emphasize that he is a good friend to both of them. Kind of a filler.
Btw - looking for inspiration on some parental disagreement regarding raising methods (I know I should have plenty to go on, having a child a of a similar age at home ... but somehow nothing is quite right).