Chapter 24
And just like that, summer was over in a flash. Richard was scheduled to move into the dorms the weekend before Viv was set to start Chilton. Logan took off two full weeks of work to prepare both kids for their transitions.
"Dad, you don't have to do this," Richard said.
"This is an important moment in every young man's life, and it's something I'm not going to miss, Logan contended. I've already missed far too much, he thought. Every time a moment like this came up, he remembered being absent, and it stung Logan a little more. Despite understanding the logic, missing all the important moments in his son's life still hurt. He had to remind himself that it was beyond his control, and he needed to be there for him now. Richard may not have been the great kid he is if he'd been exposed to the likes of Odette or my mom, he lamented silently. I might not have my daughter either.
"Fine, just try not to embarrass me," he begged.
"Just for that, I'm coming to your first tennis match in head-to-toe Yale gear including a painted face!" he warned.
"Don't forget your foam finger," Rory reminded Logan.
"Really, Mom?" Richard's voice nearly squeaked. Secretly, he loved the banter between his parents.
"How's the packing coming along?" Rory asked.
"I'm almost done minus the essentials," he answered.
"I've got a few things for you at my house," Logan chimed in.
"You didn't have to do that," Rory said.
"Don't worry," he replied. "I only got fun things like a television and a sound system."
"The party boy starter-pack?" she wondered with a laugh.
"Hey, I didn't get the collapsible poker table and the table-top shuffleboard," Logan argued jokingly.
"I was really hoping for a beer pong table, Dad," Richard quipped. "Are those even still a thing?"
"Nana Lorelai would be so proud," Rory said with a smile and changed the subject. "Tonight, I was thinking we'd get everything loaded into our vehicles so all we have to do in the morning is go."
"I thought we were doing the Godfathers," Richard rebutted. "I was looking forward to watching Sofia die over and over."
"You're right, there's really no time for breaks between movies. Ok, then we'll have to get up early tomorrow to pack the cars," Rory suggested.
"I'll let Viv know. She really wants to see Ritchie off to college," Logan said.
He shot his father a look.
"Her words, not mine...Ritchie," he laughed, and Richard tightened his glare. "Ok, fine. I won't call you that. Besides, it sounds so cutesy. You don't need to be blazoned with that moniker."
"Thank you," he replied gratefully.
"Where is Viv anyway?" Rory asked.
"She's at the mall with one of her girlfriends. She said she'd be back by three for the movie marathon. You know she doesn't miss Gilmore movie night!" Logan replied.
"And she follows the rules better than someone I know, who shall remain nameless," Rory chided playfully.
"What can I say? I'm easily distracted," he retorted with a wink. She tried not to blush.
"Ew. Just ew," Richard said and went back upstairs.
Things had been almost surreal since they'd started dating again. It never got weird or felt strange because they were so comfortable with one another. Sometimes, Viv seemed odd, but she fell back into the new norm pretty quickly. She and Rory got on amazingly well most of the time, which was a huge relief to both Logan and Richard. So, it was only natural for Viv to perch next to Rory during movie nights.
"Ok, let the Godfathering commence!" Viv called from the front door. "I'm just going to change really quickly, and then I'll be ready for the last official Gilmore movie night."
"It won't be the last," Richard contended as he came down the stairs.
"You'll come home on break from Yale and only want to watch German silent films or Cinema of the Unsettling," she rebutted. "I know how college changes a person."
"I'll still be the same Ritchie you know and love," he replied. "I'll just have more facial hair and shower less!"
"Viv, go change so we can get this movie going! We're on a tight schedule, so chop, chop!" Rory ordered.
"Yes, ma'am!" Viv gave a half-hearted salute and ran up the stairs.
Despite the delays, they managed to get through all three movies and watched the Sofia death scene several times, much to Rory's delight. It was the perfect way to end the summer.
The following day, Richard had to get everyone out of bed. They'd all slept at his house even though they'd lived half the summer at Logan and Viv's. He pounded on all the doors to rouse the sleepy bunch. He was far too excited for his first official day at Yale, even though it was only move-in day. He had a really good feeling about the year. Thanks to the honors program, he was able to register and get into all the classes he wanted. He'd still shop around a little, but he was confident in his choices much like opting to go there in the first place. By the time he was a sophomore, it was a no-brainer. Harvard and Princeton had tried to woo him away, yet there was something that called him to Yale.
Rory and Logan stayed in bed a few extra minutes, savoring the moment.
"Can you believe our son is starting college?" she asked in disbelief.
"Up until a few months, I thought I still have a couple of years before I sent my child off," he remarked. "Now, I've got one in college and one in high school. I'm still a little shocked by that. It makes me feel so old."
"Ok, time to get moving before he leaves without us!"
"Or..." he suggested with a wink.
"You know that if we're not downstairs and ready in about thirty minutes, there will be hell to pay, right?"
"I guess that means we'll just have to be quick about it," he quipped and moved closer to Rory.
He slid up behind her, pressing himself against her. Logan glided a hand around to the front and slipped it down her panties, finding that sweet spot. He grinded himself against her as he played with her clit, feeling the warmth as she guided his hand deeper between her legs until he felt her entrance. He kissed along her neck, down her shoulders, teasing her with a finger barely inside. Moving back and forth between her center and the swollen nub just above, she felt her body tingling. She wanted to reciprocate and turned herself to face him, taking off her panties in the process.
Rory could feel his hardness pressing against her and grabbed onto him over his underwear, stroking up and down. He was throbbing in her hand as she loosened her grip to tease him a little. Quickly, he relieved himself of the restrictive material that contained him. She threw a leg around him, drawing his thick manhood toward her core. Pulling her in for a kiss put her at the perfect angle for him to enter her, and she moaned in delight. Logan began pumping himself inside her and grabbed her ass for stability. He could feel her clinging to him from the inside, and she threw her head back in ecstasy. His own climax was building quickly, and he grabbed on with his other hand to keep her on tight.
"Right there," she said in a breathless whisper.
At that moment, he realized his finger was precariously perched at her rear entrance. He pumped harder and held on tighter. He'd put slightly more pressure on his finger, and she wrapped around him even tighter inside. Waves of orgasm began to ripple through Rory's body causing his own release, and he pulled her closer still. HIs finger nearly broke the plane.
"Don't stop," she pleaded.
He pumped as hard as he could, keeping pressure on that finger, and he felt a second wave hit her body, making her shake. She pulsated around him, keeping him stiff. Rory kept riding him, grinding her hips hard against him. He pulsed his finger with each stroke. Right before she climaxed, he slipped inside her for the last couple of pumps. He was throbbing inside when another orgasm made her body shudder against him, which, in turn, caused his second release.
"Wow," she sighed.
"You've never done that before, have you?"
Rory shook her head. She was feeling a little embarrassed about what had just happened and how good it made her feel. Her cheeks were flooding with color.
"You don't have to feel ashamed of something that made you feel good," he said. "I've never done anything like that either, but I definitely liked how good it made you feel."
"I guess," she replied unconvinced, avoiding eye contact.
"If you don't want to do that again, I understand, and I would never force you to do anything you don't want to do."
"Can we just not talk about this right now?" she pleaded and looked at the clock. "Crap! We'd better get ready or Richard will leave without us!"
The couple quickly readied themselves. Just before they left their room, they could hear Richard yelling for them from the bottom of the stairs. "Mom! Dad! You'd better hurry up, or I'm leaving without you! Even Viv beat you guys down here, and she takes forever to get ready!"
"Thanks, Ritchie!" she replied and playfully smacked his arm.
"We're coming," Logan called and came down the stairs with Rory.
"I've got everything packed, including snacks and caffeine," Richard announced.
"Oh, my baby is all grown up!" Rory replied in a slightly mocking tone.
"Really, Mom?"
"C'mon, I can't have a little fun?"
"I'm just teasing back," he said. "Now, let's go!"
The foursome divided into the two vehicles that were going to New Haven: Kids and adults. Logan thought it would be a good time to finish the conversation they'd started after their morning session.
"So, about earlier," he began.
"I don't think I'm ready to digest this quiet yet, Logan," she announced and turned on her road trip playlist. He turned down the volume.
"We won't be able to talk on the way back because we'll have Viv, so this is just as good a time as any, Ace," he prodded.
"I'd really rather not," she replied and turned her attention to something on her phone. Logan couldn't tell what had pulled her away, but he knew that he'd just need to give her some time. Personally, he didn't see anything wrong with what had happened, but he had more sexual experience than Rory. She wasn't the type to sleep around, and from their conversations, he knew that she hadn't been with many people over the years.
About ten minutes later, Rory pulled her nose out of her phone and seemed a little more like herself. "Ok, I'm ready now," she announced.
"You want me to pull over so we can have sex? I'm pretty sure the kids wouldn't appreciate that, especially Richard," he replied jokingly.
"No," she said. "About you know..."
"Oh, that," he laughed.
She went on to detail the research that she'd done and concluded that it wasn't abnormal at all. "I don't know why I got so self-conscious about it."
"Does that mean you want to..."
"Oh, I don't think I'm up for that, but maybe I won't be so weird about it if it happens again in the future."
"It was pretty hot to see you that turned on," he said smiling.
Rory blushed again. She was still feeling a little strange about how she reacted even if her mind was more at ease than right after. It would take some getting used to things outside of her comfort zone. She started daydreaming about the steamy quickie they'd had just an hour ago, and it made her a little hot. She was lost in thought with a smile on her face when the stop of the car's motion brought her back to reality.
"Wow, that was fast," she exclaimed.
"For the last twenty minutes you've been in your own little world," he replied. "What were you thinking about that made you so happy? I know it wasn't dropping our son off at college."
"Nothing," she said with a sly smile.
There was a knock on the window that startled them both. It was from Richard. Logan rolled down the window.
"I'm going to go grab my dorm assignment and key," he announced excitedly. "Then, I'll come back and we can start unloading."
"Hold on, Richard," Rory chided.
"What, Mom?"
"I brought the good camera specifically for these kinds of moments. I'm coming with you," she said.
"I'd like to be there, too," Logan added. "Maybe we can get a family picture."
"I thought you promised not to embarrass me," he retorted. "I'm perfectly capable of doing this on my own, thank you very much."
"We're kidding! Now, get a move on," Logan replied, shooing him away.
"I wasn't," Rory argued. "I really did bring my good camera for this."
"I'm - I'm sorry," he apologized. "I thought we were -"
"I can't believe you fell for that!" she laughed.
The rest of the day was spent moving Richard into his dorm room. He rearranged everything in his room three times before settling on the first placement. Fortunately, he only had one suitemate, Charles Lewis, who hadn't arrived yet.
"Are you nervous?" Rory asked Richard.
"Not really," he answered nonchalantly.
"I thought I was ready, too, until about five minutes after my mom left," she revealed. "Of course, that was after the mattress fiasco and her second or third trip back to campus with things she thought I needed. She actually helped with a welcome to Yale party and spent the night."
"What, your mom spent the night with you your first night here?" Logan asked sounding surprised.
"Yeah, and we ordered all sorts of take-out to figure out the best food and delivery guys," she replied with a laugh.
"That sounds just like Nana," Richard smiled.
"How embarrassed were you?" Viv asked.
"I wasn't," she answered. "It was actually a great ice breaker."
A tall, dark-haired handsome teen walked into the room. No one really noticed until Viv squealed. "CHUCK!"
She sprinted toward him and threw her arms around him. "Oh, my God! I thought you were Oxford bound. What happened? Why are you in America? How are you my brother's roommate?"
"Viv, it's great to see you, too!" Chuck replied in a thick British accent. "I'm rebelling against family tradition, and I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. I wanted to go to USC, but my parents threatened to disown me if I didn't pick somewhere comparable to Oxford. This was about as far as I could get without being cut-off without a dime."
"Wow, Charles and Imogen must be furious that you didn't want to stay in the UK," Viv remarked.
"That's an understatement," he said. "Wait, a brother? I thought you were an only child."
"I'll tell you that story later," she suggested. "Anyway, here's my brother Ritchie..."
"Richard, actually," her brother corrected.
"Nice to meet you," the roommates shook hands.
"And you remember my dad, Logan," she motioned to him. "And this is Ritchie's mom, Rory."
The words stung Rory as it felt a little cold, but she tried not to let it get to her. It's an awkward situation, and Chuck is obviously an old friend from London, she thought. "Well, we should really get out of here so you two can get to know each other," she said.
"I'll probably come home next weekend to get anything I may have forgotten or bring home things I don't need," Richard replied.
"We really should catch up," Viv suggested to Chuck.
"I'd like that," he replied with a smile. "I'll text you later."
Logan saw the almost sly grin on his face and started to wonder if something more had happened between them. He recognized it from the years he'd used it himself.
"Call us if you need anything," Rory said on her way out the door. She grabbed Logan when she saw his reluctance to leave. "C'mon, Logan. Let's leave the boys to get acquainted."
"It was nice to see you again, Chuck," he said and left. Viv bounded out behind him, almost giggling.
They walked back to Logan's SUV. Once they were in and the doors were closed, he turned around to his teenage daughter. "Just what do you think you're doing? You're sixteen, and he's in college!"
"Dad, what are you worried about? He's gay," she revealed.
