Okay, soI decided that I'd write about Christmas. It just seemed… to make sense I guess. Anyway, some of you have said that you can't imagine Lorelai with 6 kids. But, you have to think about it. Rory is 21, which makes her 12 when Jake and Isaac were born. Lily would have been 3. I know plenty of people who, at 12, were helping to take care of little brothers and sisters. Plus, Ben and Jackie were born when Rory was 18, Lily 12 and Jake and Isaac, 6. It's not like Chris and Lorelai couldn't handle it. Plus they seem like they would be a couple who are very much in love and would end up with all these kids… if you catch my drift… Thus, I guess that's my reasoning for Christmas… you can meet the whole family at once! Oh, and another thing that's important for this chapter. Dave (Lane's Dave that is) is going to be one of the Hartford elite like Logan and the gang. Artistic license is really lovely.
Anyway, here's chapter five!
December 10, 2006
"So, you're done with finals on the 12th, right?" Logan confirmed.
"Yes, and since you can't get out until the 18th, I'm going to come stay with you until then. After that, we'll drive to Hartford where we'll stay from the 18th to the 23rd. We'll be at your parent's house the 23rd and 24th. We'll return to Hartford late on the 24th or early the 25th. I have to go back to school the 10th, so anything between that is free." Rory outlined their plans, hoping that maybe he was following along.
The line was silent for a second.
"Sorry I was writing all that down… Okay, well, I have from the 18th to the 6th off. So, do you want to go somewhere for New Years'… with Paris, Stephanie and all them?"
"Yes! Oh, Paris, Stephanie, Krysta and I will plan. It'll be a surprise for you boys. Okay?"
"Absolutely… see you the 18th… I miss you."
"Bye Logan, Love you."
"Love you too Ace, love you too. Bye."
"Bye."
Rory hung up the phone. Glancing at the calendar, she saw it was the 10th. Eight days until she could see him again. Sighing, she picked up her cell phone and called Stephanie.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Steph... it's Rory"
"Hi Rory! How are you?"
"Hmm, could be better. Anyway, what are you and Tristin doing after Christmas?"
"Hmm… nothing that I know of. Why?"
"Well, you know how the boys are always blindfolding us and whisking us off somewhere?"
Stephanie was hesitant, "Yes…"
She could hear Rory smile over the phone, "Well, it's our turn."
"What?"
"We're, being you, me, Paris and Krysta, are going to plan a vacation. And, it's going to be a surprise to the boys this time."
"Really!"
"Yes!"
"Amazing. This is going to be soooo much fun!" The blonde on the other end of the line was now excited, "Oh! We should get together tonight… Before the craziness of finals, you know."
"Sure, you call Krys, I'll call Paris. Meet at Starbucks' at 7?"
"Yea."
"Call if there are any problems, okay? See you tonight, bye!"
"Bye!"
Later that night, the four girls had met at Starbucks. Stephanie and Rory had left all the details out of their respective phone calls and all Paris and Krysta knew was that it was a girls' night out.
Once they had ordered, they sat down in a booth and, rather excitedly, shared their plans. As soon as the general idea had been laid out, they began looking for suggestions.
"New York?" Krysta asked, more than suggested.
"No, we always go to New York," Rory began, "The boys usually do something interesting for us… We have to find somewhere they'd never expect."
Being the always prepared one, Paris pulled her laptop out of the bag next to her. Using the excuse that she had come from class, they used the café's wireless internet connection.
Typing 'vacation' into a search engine, there were about 1,000,000,000,000 matches. Deciding that that wasn't going to work, they started looking at what various travel magazines suggested.
Krysta looked up again, "What about Italy and Croatia? I went there when I was 12 or 13, and it was awesome."
The rest of the girls looked up from the computer.
"That's a freakin' awesome idea!" Stephanie said, "Plus, they Italian and Croatian boys are hot."
The look she received from the rest of the girls was not pleasant.
"Okay, I know, we love our guys…"
Typing 'Italy and Croatia' into the computer, Paris came up with a great idea.
"What about a cruise? I mean, it'd basically all be planned for us. And, yes, it's short notice, so it'd be a little more expensive… But all the same, it would be awesome."
The rest of the girls nodded in agreement. Taking a napkin out of the holder, Rory grabbed a pen out of her purse.
"So, what are we going to need to plan?"
The suggestions came fast and numerous.
Cruise line? How long? When? How will we get there?
Once again, they were all staring at the laptop as Paris typed in 'Italy and Croatia cruise'. All the girls closed their eyes and crossed their fingers. They weren't travel agents. Hopefully, there wouldn't be many results. A few milliseconds later, the page finished loading.
5 results… How lucky were they?
Clicking on the Royal Caribbean link, they came upon a cruise that looked like it would be one hell of a time. Seeing that there were only a few rooms left, they all grabbed 'their' credit cards ready to reserve their rooms.
"Wait!" Paris said, "These cards, they're all the boys, right?"
There was a collective "oh".
"Well," Rory started, "Who has their own card on them?"
They all shook their heads. Quickly, they decided to all go back to Rory and Logan's apartment, after grabbing their own credit cards, and finish making the plans.
December 12th, 2006
Rory walked across the lobby of the Trump Tower to the elevators. Pressing the button for the 50th floor, she looked at her watch.
She was early. It was only 3:30, Logan wouldn't be off of work until 6:30 at the earliest. Hearing the 'ding' of the elevator signaling that she had reached her floor. Taking out the key to the apartment that Logan had left a few visits ago, she opened the door of the apartment. It was her first visit.
The apartment was nothing short of freaking amazing. All the walls were white, but the beautiful hardwood floors and dark leather furniture gave a warmer appearance to the room. Ceiling to floor windows illuminated the room. Hearing her stomach grumble, she made her way to find the kitchen.
That's where Logan found her three hours later. Hearing him walk into the kitchen, she said, "You know that you have a flat screen TV in your kitchen? I mean, this is awesome. I actually cooked Logan! Cooked! Well, with the help of Rachel Ray. Look!"
He smiled and walked over to her. Wrapping her in his arms, he buried his face in the hair that fell on her shoulders, "I missed you so much. So much."
"Same" was the muffled reply that came from his chest.
After a few minutes of standing together, he walked over to the stove and checked what she was making.
He wouldn't let it show, but he was surprised. Rachel Ray has to be a genius, he though, if she can help Rory cook… who knows what else she could do. After all, Rory was cooking inept.
Grabbing a glass from the cabinet, he walked over to the sink and filled his glass with water. Leaning against the counter, he watched Rory cook. It was nice, being all married-ish.
Over the next few days, Logan had skipped lunch so that he could be home earlier for Rory. He'd left her up to her own devices during the day and frankly, the thought of the damage she could do with his black card scared him. She had told him that she was going shopping for their trip. He wouldn't know what to pack, she had said, after all; he didn't know where they were going.
He swore she was gloating when she said that last sentence.
Walking into the apartment that night, he saw shopping bags everywhere. Then, he heard giggling come from the living room. While loosing his tie, he walked in to find Rory, Stephanie, Lane, Paris and Krysta packing suitcases.
Rory had heard the apartment door slam shut and glanced up a few minutes later to find Logan standing behind the couch looking at them. Jumping up, she ran to him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she placed a huge kiss on his lips.
He chuckled, "It's nice to see you too, Ace."
Smiling at him, she skipped back over to her packing and told him that the boys were meeting at the Hard Rock Café for a boys' night, the girls were staying here.
Otherwise known as, if you need to, come home really late. Because, we'll be talking about you guys. And, do you really want to hear what we're going to say about you?
December 18th, 2006
It was 8:30 when Rory and Logan pulled into the Hayden driveway in Hartford. The snow storm that was brewing was starting to get worse, and lucky for them, they were only ten minutes away, otherwise, they'd have to stay overnight in some hotel.
Trying to be quiet, Rory and Logan entered the house. They wanted to surprise their family and not arrived announced.
Tip-toeing into the entertainment room, they saw the family watching 'Madagascar'. The babies must have chosen, as it was their favorite movie. The couple had wanted to scare Chris and Lorelai, but the penguins had made them laugh and the entire family turned to see who it was.
"Rory! Logan!" the babies had run towards them. Picking the two up, Rory and Logan walked over to the couch and sat down between Lily and Isaac.
After catching up with the family, they all retired to bed. Well, except Rory and Lily. They stayed up to 'girl talk'.
"So, how's Brett?"
Lily smiled. The two had been dating for three months. "Great!" Had been Lily's reply, but Rory had felt that there was something more.
"And?"
The smile on Lily's face grew even larger, if it was even possible. "Oh my god, Rory, it's amazing. For my sixteenth birthday, he took me to Bravo and then we went to the Rascal Flatts concert. I know, it's against the Gilmore Girl Code to like country, but, I love them. It was awesome. Then, when they were singing Bless the Broken Road, he was singing it in my ear. Rory, it was incredible. It's only been three months… but I think I might love him. And, I know, I'm 16, I can't be in love. But, whatever is between like and love. I'm definitely there." She had gushed.
Rory was stunned. Her baby sister was all grown up. Well, almost.
"Lily, I'm happy for you, really. Just don't rush into anything, okay?"
Lily nodded. Giving one another a huge hug, they both went to bed.
When Rory reached her childhood bedroom, she saw that Logan was already fast asleep. Changing into a pair of pajama pants and a long sleeved thermal t shirt, Rory crawled into bed and snuggled up to Logan. Before long, she felt his arm sneak across her tummy and she was lulled into a peaceful sleep.
The next few days were filled with craziness at the Hayden house. Logan and Rory still had Christmas shopping to do, Lily had a Christmas pageant that she was in, Jackie and Ben still had to go see Santa at the mall, and Lorelai and Chris had to take Jake and Isaac to an indoor soccer tournament.
It was lucky for them that Lily had just gotten her license.
With Lorelai and Chris gone, Rory and Logan were left in charge. Basically, they were there to take care of Jackie and Ben.
It was the morning of the 21st. Lily had already left for dress rehearsal and most of the Christmas shopping still wasn't done.
When Rory, Logan, Ben and Jackie reached the mall, it was more crowded than Rory had ever seen it. Volunteering to wait with the twins, Logan gave Rory a quick kiss before she ran off to buy the twins' Christmas presents.
Logan hated waiting in lines. But, in his opinion, it was better than shopping. Usually, he just flaunted his last name or paid someone off to get to the front of the line. Unfortunately, all the parents wanted to get this over with and none were willing to part with their space in line. No matter the amount of money offered to them.
Meanwhile, in the Gap, Rory came across the cutest outfits for Jackie and Ben. For Jackie she had gotten a jean skirt with a navy blue argyle button up v necked sweater and white t shirt to complete the outfit. She also purchased navy blue tights, despite her flashback to Chilton. She had bought Ben a pair of jeans and a green sweater. Literally running, despite her un-athleticism, she got to the toy store. Buying a few toys that Lorelai hadn't bought for the two, she ran back out to the car to hide the presents before she had to meet up with Logan again.
When she reached the Visit Santa display, she saw that Logan and the twins still had about 25 people in front of them. Leaning over the fence that separated the people visiting Santa and the rest of the holiday shoppers, she told Logan she was still shopping for her brothers and sisters. Asking him if he needed to get anything, he handed her over his shopping list. Anything to get out of Christmas shopping, he said.
Rory laughed. She was made for this kind of activity. She and her mother spent most of the year preparing for it.
Running to the nearest sporting good store, she picked up two soccer jerseys each for the boys. Logan had filled her in with which players' jerseys to get. She also placed an order to get them their own personalized jerseys for their birthday in February.
Luckily for her, there was an Abercrombie and Fitch next to the store. Grabbing a pair of jeans, two sweaters, a button down shirt and a pair of khakis, she paid for them and ran out of the store. As long as it was Abercrombie, she knew Lily would like it. She also picked her up a new pair of Birkenstocks.
Next on the list were Honor and Josh. They were currently expecting their first child in less than 4 months. Logan hadn't had anything written next to their names, so it was up to Rory. She remembered that when her mom was pregnant with Jackie and Ben she had wanted to be 'sexy' after they were born. After 5 months of wearing 'whale clothing', she was ready to be skinny and wanted by her husband, not that she was ever not wanted. Rory laughed at the memory of her mother running out to Victoria's Secret as soon as the babies were old enough to be left with Rory for a few hours. Lorelai had come back with six overflowing bags of lingerie. Figuring it was as good of an idea as any, Rory walked into Victoria's Secret. Not knowing what Honor, or really Josh for that matter, liked, she put together a girls' night out basket. It was a wicker basket with a $75 gift certificate for Victoria's Secret, another $75 dollars for Sephora and various other things like nail polish, make-up, lotion and bubble bath.
Josh was a little harder. When she thought about it, she realized it would be a hell of a lot harder. Struggling with her bags, she continued to weave her way in and out of people. Looking around, she spotted Brooks Brothers and figured it would work for Josh. It was where Logan bought most of his work clothing. Walking into the store, the manager saw her and recognized her as Logan's girlfriend.
"Miss Gilmore! So good to see you!"
Rory smiled and took his proffered hand.
"You too, Michael, you too!"
"What can I get for you today? A gift for Mr. Huntzberger, I presume."
"Actually, no, not today. I'm looking for a gift for my future brother in law."
"Mr. Huntzberger and you are engaged? Congratulations!"
She smiled and thanked him. After walking around the store with the slightly flamboyant man, she decided on a sweater, dress shirt and polo. Buying the clothing, she thanked Michael for his help and continued with her shopping.
Digging into her purse, she retrieved her list. She still needed to buy for her mom and dad, Emily and Ri Mitchum, Elias and Shira. And those were just the family members. She also had Tristin, Finn, Stephanie, Krysta, Colin, Paris, Lane and Dave. She looked at her watch. 12:05 it read.
When she walked by the 'North Pole' that the mall had set up, she laughed. There were still at least 10 more people in front of Logan.
It was going to be a long day.
December 24th, 2006
When Rory awoke a few days later, she realized that her legs were still tired from her marathon shopping. Turning over, she saw Logan was still asleep. Laying her head back down on the pillow, she noticed how peaceful and content he looked. She knew that wouldn't be the case later tonight.
Placing a chaste kiss on his lips, she tried to wake him up. Scooting closer to him, she slipped her hand under his shirt and caressed his abs. Letting her flingers flit over the muscles; she continued to lightly kiss him. Within minutes, she heard him groan and saw on eye open.
"Is this how every morning is going to be after we get married?" He asked, his voice still heavy with sleep.
She 'borrowed' the smirk that Tristin always used, "If you play your cards right."
With another kiss, she was out of bed. Glancing at the alarm clock on the nightstand, she saw that it was already 11:00. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him out of bed.
He adamantly refused.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, she said, "C'mon Logan! If you hurry, we might have time to shower…." She trailed off suggestively.
With a smirk of his own, he was up.
They had quickly settled into a routine of their own.
Rory would always shower while Logan went running. He usually returned as she finished blow drying her hair. He'd enter the bathroom as she was putting the blow dryer and flat iron away. As their paths crossed, they lightly kiss one another. As Logan showered, she'd read the newspaper. When she heard the shower turn off, she wonder back into the bathroom and jump up and sit next to the sink as he shaved. More often than not, she'd convince him not to shave because she liked his 'stubbles'. As he did his hair, she'd apply a light layer of make-up. He'd walk into the closet and put a shirt on while she put on her shoes.
When Rory had told Lorelai this, Lorelai had called the two "sickenly sweet".
Whoever had said that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger hadn't attended the annual Huntzberger Christmas Party.
Logan and Rory had arrived at the Huntzberger Mansion two hours before the party. Though, if Logan had had his way, they would have been two hours late.
Opening the passenger's side door for her, Logan grabbed Rory's hand as they walked into the mansion. Before they could reach the door, a five-month-pregnant Honor opened the door. One hand on her growing belly, she attempted to wrap them both in hug.
Logan laughed, "Sis, you're getting fat." He joked.
She glared at him. Rory slapped his arm, "Is that how you're going to treat me when I get pregnant?" She asked him, jokingly.
He turned and wrapped her in his arms, "Never." Kissing her with all he had, they heard a cough after a few minutes.
"If you two don't stop soon you're gonna end up like me," Honor said to Rory, motioning to her tummy.
They all walked into the sitting room where Josh, Shira, Mitchum and Elias were sitting. Honor went and sat next to Josh, who despite being married into the family for almost a year, still looked terrified.
Elias, being the perpetually grumpy old man he was, was sitting in a high backed chair with an empty cup in his hand, twirling the remnants of the ice in the bottom.
Shira looked as though she needed her cigarettes. Ever since Honor had become pregnant, she was forbidden from smoking in the house. This made the whole 'stress smoking' method difficult. It clearly showed on her face.
Mitchum was already nursing his fifth alcoholic beverage of the night, despite the fact that it was only 4 o'clock.
Rather uncomfortably, Rory had smoothed her navy blue dress before sitting down. Placing her hands in her lap, she folded them together. Looking up she saw Josh sitting across from her. If it hadn't been for the fact that Josh was a male, it could have just been a mirror across from her. They both had terrified expressions on their face, despite the face that they were both desperately trying to hide it. She jumped slightly when she felt Logan's arm sneak behind her back, but she quickly relaxed into him.
They had, rather awkwardly to say the least, exchanged their gifts for one another.
Honor had loved the gift basket. Rory had been dead on with the fact that after 9 months, Honor would want to feel truly sexy.
Honor and Josh had gotten Rory a diamond tennis bracelet from Tiffany's. It wasn't huge and flashy, just perfectly Rory. As soon as she had opened it, she had held her wrist out to Logan so he could help her put it on.
Logan had received white gold cuff links from him parents. Rory saw the look of disappointment in his eyes as he received yet another thoughtless gift from his parents.
They had continued trading gifts and Rory couldn't help but notice how so many of them were thoughtless. It was shocking to find a family who could care so little that they didn't care what they gave one another. Once again, she and Josh mirrored one another, grabbing their respective better half's hand and gently caressing it, comforting them the best they could.
That night at the party, Logan had stayed by Rory's side. It wasn't that he was scared to leave her on her own; he knew she could handle herself with society. It was that he didn't want to be dragged off by his father to discuss business on Christmas. He knew that if he was with Rory, Mitchum would behave himself somewhat.
Their friends had all arrived late. It was something akin to a survival tactic. The later they arrived, the more likely that their parents would already be drunk. Consequently, the less of their parents they'd have to deal with.
Currently, they were all sitting in Logan and Honor's childhood playroom. It was still decorated the way it had been 15 years ago. They were all talking about the thoughtless gifts that they had received from their parents. The looks on Lane and Rory's face were ones of disbelief. Even though Rory had grown up in society, she had great relationships with everyone in her family. Lane, despite the fact she had grown up in a strict home, knew how lucky she was. Christmas had always been interesting in her family, but it had been loving nonetheless. They continued sit in shock, clutching the hand of their respective boyfriend (or fiancée), giving them the love that they barely had from their parents.
Tristin had received an informational book on Yale. His parents still hadn't accepted the fact that they couldn't change the fact that he loved Princeton.
Dave had received a book on how rock n' roll was possibly related to the devil. He couldn't remember the name, but he the sad part was that they hadn't remembered what he loved.
Stephanie had been given a gift certificate. A generic, run-of-the-mill gift certificate… sure, a gift certificate was fine for a co-worker or secret Santa present. But for your child? Miss Manners would die if she heard of these presents.
Paris had yet to hear from her parents. She knew they were somewhere in Europe, but other than that? Nothing.
Colin had seen his parents yet this holiday season. The last thing he heard was that his father's sixth wife was pregnant. He'd be 24 years older than his youngest sibling. So far at least.
Despite the fact that Finn and Krysta were both part of high society, their parents loved them. Sure, they didn't have the best relationship, but it was better than the rest of their friends. Finn's parents had bought him a new Porsche. He had crashed the previous one a few months ago. It was what was inside the Porsche that he loved. A year's supply of Fosters, it was Finn's personal heaven. Krysta had received a custom made dress by Vera Wang. A friend of her parents, she had personally made the dress that Krysta had sketched. It was light blue silk with underlying layers of darker shades of blue, getting darker as the layers went. It had spaghetti straps that tied and the neckline cut straight across. It hit right above the knees. A small bow tied around the bodice of the dress. Her parents also got her a pair of deep blue Jimmy Choos. For a girl like Krysta, it was nothing short of perfect.
The rest of the night was filled with drinking and laughing. Honor and Josh had eventually joined the group. Honor had decided to share all the details of pregnancy. Thus, each of the other girls looked at their boyfriends with a look that said " do not think you are getting anything anytime soon."
Suffice to say the looks the boys gave Honor were not all that loving.
The next morning, Rory awoke to Ben jumping on her bed. Hearing a scream from down the hall, she realized Jackie must have woken Lilly up. Suddenly, another scream came from the other end of the hallway, followed by a sudden slam of a door. Isaac and Jake were up. Before long, all the kids were gathered in Rory's room. It was tradition, no matter their ages, to all wake their parents up. Getting up, Rory grabbed her robe and turned to the bed as she walked out of the room. Logan was still sleeping. She wondered how he was sleeping through all of this. She thought she'd let him sleep a little while longer as they woke their parents up.
Logan awoke about 10 minutes later to Lorelai and Chris screaming about how their children were going to die a slow and painful death. He smiled somewhat wistfully. He always wished for a relationship with his parents like the one Rory had. Pulling on a pair of plaid pajama pants and a white t shirt, he met Rory in the hall.
The family gathered in the dining room for a huge breakfast of Belgian waffles with ice cream and various toppings. It was a tradition with the Hayden family and although odd, it was a welcome time. There was also bacon, sausage, hash browns, eggs and fruit (because somehow, Jackie had come to like it…). There were also pitchers of juice and various type of coffee from around the world.
After literally stuffing their faces, they all worked together to clean up the kitchen. Logan was shocked. Here was a society family doing housework. Well, to a certain extent. Chris had taken control as soon as Lorelai had attempted to liquid dish soap in the dishwasher. Hey, it was a good try… right?
They had all settled into the entertainment room where the Christmas tree was. This tree, unlike the one they had in the foyer, was decorated warmly. There were Christmas ornaments that the kids had made and others from places they had gone on vacation. There were 'baby's first Christmas' ornaments for each of the kids and 'our insert number here Christmas' ornaments for each of the years Lorelai and Chris had been married. Also decorating the tree were angels made in the color of each family members' birthstone.
Settling around the tree, Isaac was elected to play Santa. He grabbed all of Rory and Logan's presents to the family and passed them out to the respective family members. The kids had all loved their presents. Jackie had immediately wanted to play with her Dora the Explorer doll and Ben his new racecar. Isaac and Jake loved the jerseys and had immediately put them on. Lily had already started to plan what outfit she was going to wear on her next date.
They had finished opening their presents when Lorelai handed Logan a small, brightly wrapped package. Unwrapping the box, a tear came to his eye.
It was an aquamarine angel. March, his birthday. Lorelai had wrapped him in a hug, and whispered in his ear.
"Welcome to the family, Logan."
Okay, so it's a freaking long chapter… words! But, I didn't want to break it up too much. Though, it seemed like a good idea to make the cruise the next chapter. Well, what'd you think? And, I'm so sorry about the wait. Really, I didn't want to wait that long, but my computer was broken!