Chapter Six
"He's what?" Luke asks after Victoria had been put down for bed. The person Luke had for the closing shift had called and canceled at the last minute so Luke was just getting home with food for him and Lorelai and they ate while Lorelai told him about the afternoons events.
"He's going to send us money and come and see Victoria once a week," Lorelai repeats and she's not liking the angry expression that's written hard across her husbands face.
"What an irresponsible..."
"Luke," Lorelai cuts off his possibly endless tirade quickly. "Where is the bad in this situation? We get to keep Victoria, here, you know with us and not with Logan in New York City."
"I get that," Luke stands up and begins to pace back and forth between the walls of the small kitchen. "And don't get me wrong, but he always has perfectly logical excuses for walking away from Rory and now he's using them to walk away from her daughter."
"Luke, stop," Lorelai snaps. "This isn't about Logan, this is about the fact that we get to keep Victoria. If you have a problem with the fact that we are Victoria's primary care givers then it's you and I who have a problem."
Luke stops suddenly and places both of his hands on Lorelai's hips, "there's not a problem. I am glad we are keeping Victoria, I love her already but after what Logan did to Rory to think that he'll do the same thing to someone else I love...I just can't stand it..."
Lorelai places a hand on Luke's cheek, "try not to focus on that. Focus on the fact that we have this last little piece of Rory."
"Look at the little angel," Miss Patty sits down at the table where Lorelai sits with Victoria in the diner. Victoria is settle in a high chair that Luke's kept for her at the diner since she started using one.
"Hi Miss Patty," Lorelai greets as she spoons food onto Victoria's tray for her to pick up and eat on her own.
"She's getting so big," Miss Patty coos, "how old is she now?"
"Nine months next Wednesday," Lorelai states without a second to think.
"It's been that long already?" A sad glances crosses Miss Patty's features. It was a look Lorelai knew to well, it crossed everyone's faces when they asked how old Victoria was and then proceeded to connect this time with the amount of time that had passed with life without Rory. It was sad that little Victoria Leigh's age would always be connected with the lost of her mother.
"She's got the Gilmore Girls' eyes," Miss Patty states, "but I think she takes more after her father beyond that point."
It was true that Victoria had Logan's dirty blonde hair but that's where Lorelai drew the ling at Victoria's resemblance to anyone but Rory, and Lorelai knew that Logan saw it too, she also knew that his resemblance to Rory was the reason Logan only came by for an hour once a week.
"How are you my dear?" Miss Patty turns her attention from granddaughter to grandmother.
"We're doing okay," Lorelai nods and there was actual truth behind her words. Having Victoria had made losing Rory easier in some ways, they had to wrap their attention up in the baby until the sharp pain of not having Rory dulled to an ache. All three were sleeping through most nights but that didn't mean that there we're some days when Lorelai couldn't manage to drag herself out of bed. Michele had adjusted to the fact that he'd have to take over Lorelai's position at the Dragonfly at a moments notice and he did so without complaint. Lorelai not showing up at work wasn't the only way the town kept themselves up on Lorelai's mental state, when Lorelai was to out of it to get out of bed Luke brought Victoria to work and carried her at first around in a baby carrier and then as she got older in a corner of the diner where he had a few toys scattered.
"Here's your daddy," Lorelai glances up to see Logan stride into the diner. He always met them at exactly nine o'clock every Saturday morning and he's take Victoria to the park for an hour and bring her back to the house in time for Victoria's nap.
"Hello Lorelai, Miss Patty," Logan nods his greeting at both women, in the past nine months he'd gotten to know most of the Stars Hollow residents by name. That fact amused Lorelai and she knew that Rory would have to have Logan be able to call members of Stars Hollow by name with no need to be reminded.
"She's all ready to go," Lorelai unbuckles Victoria from her highchair and gently lifts her out. Victoria giggles as Logan takes her, she had such a sweet adoration for Logan that I made all adults around smile, "her stroller is out front."
Logan nods, "I saw it." He holds Victoria comfortably as he grabs her diaper bag from the extra chair at the table. "We'll see you in an hour, back at the house?"
Lorelai nods, "sounds like a plan."
"Okay," Logan nods, "it was goo to see you again Miss Patty."
"It was lovely to see you again as well, dear," Miss Patty grins and once Logan walks out of the diner with Victoria she pats Lorelai on the air and walks back across the diner to her own table.
"Oh, did I miss Logan again this week?" Luke comes down the stairs from where his once apartment now turned office was.
Lorelai sighs, in nine months Luke and Logan had had very little contact, Luke avoided Logan and Logan was more then happy to let him do it, making no attempt to seek Luke out. "You're going to have to see him sometime, you can't just spend the rest of Victoria's life ignoring her father."
"I don't have to see him," Luke responds wiping down the table across from Lorelai.
"Luke, we still have Victoria for like 17 years I think you're going to give up on this hatred of Logan. Because eventually Victoria will pick up on this animosity and it's going to confuse her, you don't want to confuse her, do you?"
Luke sighs, "why do you have to use that little girl against me?"
"Because, I know it works," Lorelai grins and then turns serious. "But really Luke, it was the same thing about Christopher. No matter how I annoyed I ever got with Christopher I couldn't show it to Rory, she had to make up her own opinions about her father. Victoria has to form her own opinions about Logan, if you express a hatred for him she's going to pick up on that and it's going to make her life all the more confusing."
"Sometimes I hate you," Luke sighs.
"Does that mean you'll try?"
Luke nods, "I'll try."