Part 38: Introducing the Gilmore-Hayden Heiress.

"Hey kiddo." She heard as she grabbed a drink. She looked over and saw her father nursing a scotch.

"Hey dad, where's Gigi?"

"Babysitter has her; I don't think she'd have fun at these things."

"Neither do I."

"You ready?" Chris asked. Rory cast a glance at the party, knowing what he was asking.

"I think so, it's just a lot to handle."

"It is."

"Are you okay with this?" Rory asked as she stood near her father. He looked at her curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, I am being named an heiress to your family's fortune. Shouldn't you be the heir?"

"Nah," Chris said with a smile. "You deserve this, kid."

"Deserve?" Rory asked with a raised eyebrow, showing her amusement

"All right, you'd do a better job as heir than me, how 'bout that?" Chris laughed.

"Better." Rory said with a smile, then sighed looking down at her drink. "What do I say? Do I say thank you? Or... I'll make you proud? What?"

"Just be yourself, honey."

"Be myself."

"Yeah, as long as it's appropriate, say whatever you think of first."

"Really?"

"Really," Chris said with a smile. He patted her hand. "I'm going to go mingle. Apparently it's expected of me." He kissed her cheek. "You'll do fine." He whispered before leaving to talk to the people in tuxes and gowns. The bartender handed her her drink, she thanked him, put a few bills in his tip jar and walked off to find someone else she knew.

She spotted Finn and Evie talking to an older couple, Evie hugging the older man and gripping Finn's hand. Colin and Steph were talking to each other. Steph, pointing to some couple, said something that caused Colin to laugh and guide her over to the couple. She saw Paris and Doyle talking to Paris's parents, Paris's face in her natural seriousness, but gripping Doyle's hand.

She spotted Logan talking to his father. He looked over and saw her, smirked and winked. She gave a slight smile before walking over to him.

"Hello Rory." Mitchum greeted.

"Hi Mr. Huntzberger." She greeted as she stood next to Logan.

"Mitchum, please, you'll be my daughter-in-law soon enough."

Rory gave a small smile. "Very true."

"I hear from your mother that everything is going well with the wedding plans." He said addressing Logan who gave a nod.

"Everything I've seen is fine, though Rory has been more into the details than I." Logan said wrapping an arm around her waist and bringing her closer.

"Really?" Mitchum asked.

"I've only had a say in a few things." She admitted. "The dress, some of the colors, flowers, that kind of stuff."

"Well, I'm glad you kids made this wedding your own." Mitchum said patting Logan's shoulder. "Now remember, when you two make up your mind about the honeymoon, just let me know."

"Oh well..." Rory started, but Logan cut her off.

"We will, dad. As soon as we pick, you'll be the first to know." Logan said causing Rory to look at him.

"All right. I see Mark, I have to talk to him about some things. You two have fun. Excuse me." He said as he walked off.

"What was that about?" Rory asked.

"I know, I could actually stand the man." Logan said with a frown as he looked at his father's retreating back. "He's up to something."

"No, I meant with the honeymoon thing. We picked the place weeks ago. Remember Italy?"

"I know."

"So... why didn't you tell him?"

"Don't worry about it, Ace."

"Of course I'm worried about it, Logan. I'm not going to be talking to my teachers to give me a month of school work for nothing if we aren't even going anywhere."

"Talk to your teachers, get the work, and don't worry about anything else." He said looking at her. "I have everything taken care of."

"That's a relief." She said with a roll of her eyes.

"You have little faith in me."

"That's an understatement." She teased and smiled up at him.

"Just trust me on this, okay? I have the honeymoon thing under control. Just don't say anything to the parents or grandparents and we're good."

Rory sighed, but nodded, "All right."

"Thank you." They stood near the back of the party, neither noticing that Logan's arm was still around her waist or that she was still pressed against his side. "Hey, isn't that your mom?" He said pointing over to Lorelai. Rory nodded.

"Yeah, want to go say hi?"

"Yeah, come on." He put his empty glass on the table next to them, Rory handed hers to him as well and he put it near his own as they walked over to Lorelai.

"Hi mom." Rory greeted, kissing her mom's cheek.

"Hey babe, hi Logan."

"Hello Lorelai."

"Have you met Luke?" Lorelai asked, gesturing to the man next to her. He was wearing a suit and looked incredibly uncomfortable in it.

"Hi Luke," Rory greeted with a wave. He greeted her back.

"Yeah, we met in Stars Hollow and again at Rory's party yesterday." Logan said shaking the man's hand.

"Right." Lorelai said shaking her head.

"You okay, mom?" Rory asked.

"Your grandparents and the Huntzbergers are up to something." Lorelai said gesturing to the group of adults talking.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one that believes that." Logan said in relief. He knew his dad was a little too nice to him.

"Never underestimate your parents, people tell us we're paranoid." Lorelai scoffed. "You try living with my parents, and then tell me that that laugh doesn't mean, 'I have something up my sleeve that is going to make your life miserable and I'm going to laugh my ass off when it does'."

At that moment Emily looked over at them, turned back to Richard and laughed. Rory felt a shiver run up her spine.

"That is not good." She stated.

"It never is," Lorelai said as she drank the rest of her champagne. "So how are you holding up, sweets?"

"I'll be okay, dad told me to just be myself and everything would be okay."

"Wise words from a wise guy." Lorelai said with a nod. "I didn't know your dad was here."

"Yeah, I saw him at the bar, then he went to mingle."

"Something that we should all be doing." Lorelai said, not making a move to talk to people.

"It's nerve-wrecking though, knowing you're going to be in charge of all this money."

"Well, at least you have a pretty dress. One I did not see in your closet when I raided it for clothes this morning." Lorelai said eyeing the blue dress.

"Grandma sent it this afternoon. It is really pretty."

"Probably cost a fortune."

"Hey Huntz." Logan turned away from the two women who were talking and turned to Finn who tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" He asked. Finn leaned in and whispered something in his ear causing Logan to curse.

Rory looked over at him. "What's wrong?"

Logan ignored the question. "You sure you heard that and it wasn't just the alcohol talking?"

"I've only had one drink." Finn admitted. "I walked past and heard it."

"Shit," he turned back to Rory. "I'll be back. Excuse me," he said before walking away. Rory watched as he walked up to his father and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Finn, what's going on?" Rory asked, turning over to the Australian who was watching the scene.

"Nothing you have to worry your pretty head about." He said looking at her with a smirk. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.

"Did you really think that's going to work?"

"No," Finn sighed. "Look, just let Logan handle this one."

"I'm letting him handle a lot, Finn. Why don't you tell me what you heard?"

"Once again, I'll let Logan handle this one." Finn said as he turned and walked over to a waiting Evie, who looked at Rory, smiled weakly, then walked away with Finn.

Rory turned to her mother. "Do you know what's going on?"

"I have no idea." Lorelai admitted. "But it's something, I just saw Logan and his father walk into dad's office."

"I just hope it isn't anything big."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Is it true?" Logan asked as Mitchum closed the door to the office.

"Is what true, Logan?"

"That gift you plan on presenting to Rory tonight."

"How did you hear about that?" Mitchum asked surprised.

"A little Australian bird told me." Logan replied dryly.

"Look, Logan, I don't have to explain my actions to you."

"Seeing as Rory is going to be my wife, I think you do."

"Now you listen, your mother and I talked about this and we thought it was a great idea. Especially since Rory wants to be a journalist."

"Overseas correspondent, dad. You know, CNN?" Logan told him crossing his arms over his chest.

"You and Rory know very well that now that she's marrying into this family, she can't work as a correspondent, which makes this gift logical and practical."

"Practical, dad? You call this practical?"

"I think she's going to love it."

"No, she won't. She made it very clear to me that she doesn't want handouts. She doesn't care how many newspapers you own or I will own, she doesn't want anything from us. She wants to earn this, dad."

"Well, now she won't have to."

"But she wants to. Don't you think you've screwed with her life enough? Now you want to screw with it some more."

"We are giving her this. And it's not only hers, Logan, it's yours as well."

"She isn't going to like it."

"We'll see about that." Mitchum said before exiting the office. Logan sighed. It was going to be hell in the next couple of minutes and he was going to be sure that Rory was properlytaken care of.

He left the office and spotted Finn and Evie with Colin and Steph next to the bar. He walked over and settled in between the two couples.

"So what's going to happen?" Steph asked. Apparently Finn had filled them in.

"He's going to go on with it."

"You couldn't talk him out of it?" Colin asked.

"I'm a charmer, Colin, not a miracle worker. No one can talk my father out of anything. So that is why I need you guys to help me with some things."

"Anything," Evie said.

"I need to know if we're well stocked in alcohol back at the dorm?"

"We have enough." Finn replied.

"Okay, I need you guys to go get all the alcohol you can and meet us at the house."

"House?" Steph asked.

"The one that me and Rory are going to live in."

"We don't have a key." Colin reminded him.

"First drawer in my nightstand, the code for the gate is 73689. Someone got that?"

Colin nodded "I've got it. Anything else?"

"Blanket and pillows, and a set of clothes. I have a plan."

"We'll get Rory's," Steph said gesturing to Evie and herself.

"Great, thanks, guys."

"Are you going to tell her?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, I don't want her to be too shocked. Go... We'll meet up with you guys." Logan said. They nodded and grabbed their belongings and left Logan to look for Rory.

He saw her still standing with her mom where he had left her. He walked over and touched her arm, causing her to turn.

"Is everything okay?"

"Not really, can we talk?"

"Yeah, where-" Rory was cut off by the loud tapping of spoons on glasses.

"Excuse me!" Emily said over the noise. "We have an announcement to make."

The room quieted down, all eyes on the Gilmores and Francine Hayden who was standing next to Emily. "We have an announcement to make, and to make this announcement we need our granddaughter Rory to come here with us. Rory?"

"I'm sorry." He apologized letting go of her arm. She frowned at him, but went to her grandmothers and grandfather.

"As you know," Richard began, "we're old."

"Speak for yourself, Richard." Emily teased, causing the room to laugh.

"And we won't be around forever. So Emily and I talked and we decided to name Rory as our heiress to the Gilmore Insurance Group and its fortune."

The room clapped as he kissed Rory's cheek. Francine stepped up next to her.

"I know that when I met you we didn't treat you as well as we should have. But it was Straub's wish to have you as the heiress to the Hayden fortune."

"Thank you." Rory whispered as Francine kissed her cheek. "I don't know what to say... Just that I promise not to spend all this money in one place." Rory said causing the room to erupt in laughter, then clap for the Gilmore-Hayden heiress.

"Now, in order to celebrate," Richard started again, the crowd quieted again, "Mitchum Huntzberger pulled me aside and told me that he and Shira had a present for Rory. So Mitchum."

Mitchum Huntzberger came towards them and smiled at Rory, who gave a small smile back.

"When Shira and I heard about your aspirations to be a journalist, we knew immediately what to give you, so I present you with this," he said pulling out a yellow folder from his inside coat pocket and handing it to Rory.

"What is it?" She asked nervously. Mitchum laughed.

"Open it and find out." She bit her lip, but opened the seal. She looked inside and noticed papers inside. She pulled them out and scanned the words, instantly paling. She looked up and caught Logan's eyes who mouthed 'I'm sorry' to her. She looked at Mitchum, then back at the papers.

"You're giving me..." She trailed off and looked back at the papers in her hand.

"The Stamford Eagle Gazette. Really it's yours and Logan's."

She closed her eyes pushing back tears and gave a tight smile. "Thank you, it's wonderful." She said putting the papers back in the folder. "Excuse me." She whispered, pushing past the crowd and walked over to Logan.

"I'm sorry, I tried to tell you." He whispered as she got to him.

"I know, can we just..."

"Yeah, come on."

"Hey babe, you all right?"

"I will be, I'll call you later, okay?"

"Of course."

"Bye Luke."

"Bye Rory." Luke said giving her a sympathetic smile.

"Come on, let's go." Logan whispered leading her out and towards the waiting limo. Frank opened the door. He let Rory slip in, told Frank where to go, then got in himself, Frank closing the door, then driving away from the Gilmore house.

"Are you okay, Ace?"

"No. Logan, you didn't know about this... before tonight I mean?"

"No. That's what Finn had told me when he interrupted. He heard my dad talking to Richard about it. They all thought it was a great idea." He added bitterly. "I tried to talk him out of it, but my dad… you can't talk him out of anything unless it's beneficial to him. Then when I tried to tell you..."

"My grandparents called." She whispered.

"I'm sorry about this."

"It's not your fault."

"It's my family's fault though."

"A paper. God, I own a paper. We own a paper."

"God forbid."

"Isn't this the paper you're going to be working at next year?"

"Yep. When my father told me about it, he said he'd sign all of ownership to me. I didn't know he'd give you the papers as well as half of the ownership."

She laid down and placed her head on his leg. Logan looked down at her.

"Are you okay with this?"

"I have no choice, do I?"

"Rory, this doesn't mean you still can't be an overseas correspondent. It just means that you own half of a newspaper."

"Logan, this marriage, these documents, it all means that I can't be a correspondent."

"No, it doesn't."

"Yeah, it does. How would it look in the papers if I'm off halfway across the world while you're on the other half."

"Like we have jobs. Think of it this way: how would it look with me halfway around the world and you at home? I don't want you to be a trophy wife, Rory. I know that before all of this you had dreams and I don't want you to drop them just because we're getting married."

"It goes both way you know."

"What does?"

"I don't want you to drop your dreams because of this marriage."

Logan smiled at her. "Don't worry about me, it's my problem."

"We're getting married, Logan, your problems are my problems." She said, repeating what he had told her before.

He looked down to find her eyes serious and nodded. Taking the chance he leaned down and kissed her softly.

"You're right," he whispered. "But I won't burden you just yet."

"You're not a burden, Logan."

"And neither are you."

They felt the car stop and Rory frowned sitting up. "We're not at Yale yet, are we?"

"No, we're not going back to Yale." They heard the door open, then close a few seconds later, then the car start to drive only to stop a few seconds later. The door to the limo swung open, Logan stepped out first and held out his hand for Rory to take. She took it and let him help her out.

She looked at her surroundings and smiled when the door swung open to reveal Finn standing at the door with only his boxers on.

"Well, what are you two waiting for? We're playing strip poker, we have Colin down to his socks." He smirked before walking back inside.

"What do you say, Ace, still not a burden?"

"No," she whispered as he led her inside the house. "Never a burden." She kissed his cheek and went into the living room leaving a stunned Logan in the foyer.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

AN: Eh... not the best chapter. I'm not too happy with it. But it needed to be written. Next chapter.. well, I'll leave you in suspense. It's one that I've been wanting to write.

Sorry that it was posted a day late, I just wrote it Sunday night and got it to my beta. I got too lazy to write it, sorry.

Please review

Kassandra