Chapter 34

November 4th, 2022, Boston, MA

The week had wooshed by. With Halloween and Em's usual soccer practice that had now moved to an indoor space it had truly gone quickly, every little component of Logan's week falling quickly into its place - the early morning freezing but energizing swims, a couple of runs if it didn't rain, some work, a quick lunch with Rory discussing Em growing up, and taking a parenting class with 90% female attendants, which had involved a surprising amount of flirting. Not for Logan, but flirting with him, which had made him reluctant to return to the same course again. The course hadn't been what he'd hoped for anyways.

Things with Rory were still slow and cautious - but that was fine. They weren't in a hurry.

But even though he'd seen or though intently about either one of the two most important women in his life almost on a daily basis, that Friday was no different, since he was waiting for Rory in front of what looked like a regular Boston townhouse, except for the slightly lower stair leading up to the main floor.

"Hey," Rory chimed, looking a little out of breath. "Am I late?" she asked, hugging Logan briefly in greeting. Lingering felt dangerous, especially when she already had a good hunch that she might be arriving late.

"They'll survive," Logan said, not wanting to rub in the fact that she might have indeed been a couple of minutes late for the introductory lecture about the school they were standing in front of. "This place doesn't even really look like a school," he commented, casually, and opened the door for her, knowing Rory always took being on time rather seriously in a school setting.

"I missed a train, so I had to walk," Rory explained, and checked them in with the administrator in the lobby.

The look on Logan's face was a lot more forgiving than the head teacher's when they snuck inside the classroom where the lecture was being held, the door making a rather loud squeak. It was an old house, just like all of these townhouses at Back Bay East and Beacon Hill were.

They found a couple of chairs in the back, and tried to pay attention. But the fact that the seats were kid sized meant that they were sitting quite at close proximity, shoulder to shoulder, and in their case this was a little distracting and Logan really had to make an effort not to forget himself.

"As for size, this is a small school. But that too is intentional," the head teacher spoke to a room of about 40 people. "This allows us to give individualized attention and instruction, and it fosters the tight-knit community we've built. We're a diverse bunch and we like to break down age and grade barriers because we believe learning doesn't need to be classified, but rather each and every student's abilities and interests should be taken into account and enhanced," she continued.

Someone in the first row had a question.

"Yes? Please," the headteacher urged.

"What about academic achievements? Does your method yield results?" some silver-haired gentleman asked. He certainly looked old-school.

"Results? This is an elementary school, for god's sake," Rory muttered under her breath, audibly enough for Logan to hear.

"Well, all of our graduates, which we have two classes of so far have gone on to excellent middle schools - Newman, Trinity, Lexington, Acera, Atrium… We've had nothing but positive feedback. But since we intentionally try to avoid standardized tests, it's really challenging to actually try to measure the success of 12-year-olds objectively without considering they might just be different kind of learners," the headteacher said, which certainly seemed to light up Rory's face. She had always done well on tests herself, but she'd also been around it long enough, wrote about it and now worked in education to know one size did not fit all.

"She actually doesn't sound half bad," Rory commented to Logan.

"What about your facilities?" Another woman asked the teacher.

"Well, we obviously don't have our own gym, poolr or anything like that, so we work closely with the resources our location offers us. We cook our own food - which is vegan but with the possibility to add a meat and/or dairy component if one wants to. We go to Boston Public Library, to the T and the MFA, the Esplanade. There's a swim school and sports center just a few blocks from us, and moving around and about Boston is a part of our teaching. We teach to observe, read, pay attention and so on," the head teacher explained.

"And what about admissions? What do you consider when making decisions?" Rory asked out loud.

"We seek students of all backgrounds and abilities, and we don't discriminate on the basis of race, gender, social class, family structure, religion, natural origin or sexual orientation," the head teacher pretty much repeated off their website. Well, at least she had it memorized - Rory thought.

"Yeah, but so do you set quota for each group or what do you do? Because as far as I know you have just about 20 students in each class, so there are already more than that here than will probably get accepted. So what can we as parents do to get out child accepted, or do you do what MacConnely's does and just expect voluntary donations that are not quite as voluntary," Rory continued, not really holding back on her disapproval of the other place.

There was some comment amongst the other parents, the notion clearly alerting a few to have their own opinions.

"No independent school will turn down donations, especially considering about 20% of our students are on some kind of fee waiver. But I can assure you these have nothing to do with our decisions. We also don't believe in testing the students in any format that might cause them stress prior to admission. We generally schedule a group visit after the preliminary round of applications and see who fits and who will benefit most from our teaching principles and the small groups," the head teacher continued. "Does that answer your question, Mrs…?" she added.

"It's Gilmore, and yes, thank you," Rory replied, not bothering to express the fact that she wasn't married. Strangely enough, being here with Logan, actually kind of made her feel like she was, even if they weren't together technically. She'd been to a few of these open houses before and usually she felt like she was automatically classified as the pitiful single mom category, even if she just thought so herself. But even now, just by having him sit by her side, she could already sense that support and the way she no longer was the only person responsible for Em's education choices. It was a good feeling.

"They all talk this round talk…," Rory commented, rolling her eyes, to Logan once the others had moved on to talk about the curriculum and schedule, which Rory had already familiarized herself with.

"Well, maybe this is just something we need to ask them one-on-one," Logan suggested.

"Yeah, maybe... But please don't offer…," Rory begged, indicating with her fingers that she meant money changing hands. She liked to be treated neutrally.

"Wasn't going to," Logan said, being just slightly disappointed she'd think that. He wasn't entirely certain he wouldn't do that if it did turn out that an annual donation would open doors for them, but right now he truly believed some friendly conversation was all that was required.

"Okay, sorry," Rory whispered, sensing he might've taken that the wrong way. Logan actually appreciated it.

After a little while a tour of the school followed and Logan found it quite fascinating how this townhouse actually still looked a little like a real residential home. Sure - some of the larger rooms had been divided up, but one could still assume which spaces had been living rooms or bedrooms in the past. But the classrooms looked indeed impressive, especially the small amount of tables and chairs which even Logan hadn't had the privilege of growing up. The rooms also took into account active sitting arrangements and offered a suprising amount of versatility.

The boarding schools and elementary schools he'd gone to were all the rather strict kind, very much trying to mold the students after the school, not the other way around. He was now indeed beginning to wonder maybe he would've liked school more had they seen how bored he'd been most of the time. Maybe he would've even gotten to a lot less trouble like that.

At some point Rory got into a discussion about school uniforms, how the school didn't use them yet, but that they were considering some school elements. A couple of parents seemed firmly against a school uniform policy but Rory seemed to be leaning more towards it, having her own experience with it. She knew how individuality could come down to hemlines or button threats if needed, if one wanted to stand out one just had to get creative. But it did help one not worry about what one had to put on in the morning, which was a huge load off the child's brain or as in this case it would be a huge load off the parents brains to not worry about getting them school appropriate clothes.

Logan watched Rory from afar, enjoying seeing her so engaged.

"Mr. Gilmore, if I remember correctly?" the headmaster stepped closed to Logan, and for what must've been now the third time referred to him as Mr. Gilmore by Rory's association. It was kind of refreshing really.

"Actually, Logan Huntzberger. But yes, the child in question is a Gilmore, Emma Gilmore," Logan corrected, but more than drawing attention to him - as to some the name Huntzberger might still ring a bell - he wanted to draw it to the name that was really important.

"My apologies. I just assumed," the head teacher replied.

"No worries," Logan replied.

"If you have any further questions, I'm more than happy to...," she began.

"Actually there is something...," Logan said.

"Sure, go ahead," the headteacher replied.

"I heard what you said earlier… about the admissions. And I honestly respect that you cannot divulge into the details of your procedure in front of the group like that. But if you were in my position - wanting to get my child a place in a good elementary school - I'm sure you'd understand how it would make one feel a little more certain if one knew if the admission was something in my power to influence or not," Logan explained.

"As I replied to your wife," the headteacher replied, and Logan didn't bother correcting her, "donations are welcomed but in the end won't influence the admissions decision," she added, sounding actually a little annoyed. She must get those questions a lot - Logan thought.

"And that's not what I meant," Logan said, again getting the idea that people assumed a lot of things about him based on his last name.

"Well, if you mean can you school your child in a certain way, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. But generally when there is the group visit and a child shows willingness to co-operate with different kids, is active and what's more important - curious, those are good signs. In my general experience this means that when parents are present for their children, take them to places - museums, classes, not necessarily prep-classes but just things that involve art, sports, the outdoors, science… things that are fun and feed their curiosities, that's something we can see and appreciate," the head teacher explained.

"Well, in that case I do believe we have that covered," Logan replied, aiming to very much keep in mind that Em got a well rounded experience if he could help it.

"Good. It's the broad worldview that counts," she added, to which Logan just nodded casually. He wasn't quite so sure the latter was something they had covered. Em was very possibly seeing the upper class side of things just like he had growing up, even if her mother tried to not overindulge. So maybe it was indeed time to show Em some of the less than pretty, talk about inequalities and so on. Maybe this was something he could even think about when he was looking for new outputs on his own work front.

And on second thought Logan was pretty sure there weren't a lot of outdoorsy things, besides her soccer, Rory did with the girl.

"Are you looking at any other schools in the neighborhood?" the teacher asked, giving Logan a pretty clear signal that they were interested in them as well. And this was the part Logan knew - this was no different than doing a business deal. Establish an understanding of mutual benefits and from there on it was just negotiations on the details.

So all things considered, Logan left the open house feeling pretty good about himself.

"You look awfully smug…," Rory teased, as they walked down the road towards the Boston Common, not bothering with a cab or public transit this close to their homes. On paper this school was her favorite, just because of the vicinity - they could walk to school just like now.

"I just have a pretty good feeling about Em getting in, if you wanted her to," Logan replied.

Rory came to a halt, a sudden look of disapproval on her face.

"What did you do?!" Rory asked.

"Hey, I didn't bribe them, I said I wouldn't…," Logan replied.

"Yeah, still - what did you do?" Rory asked him again.

"I just talked to them about all the other places we were looking at and I asked for some intel on what they looked for. And that side of things I think we have pretty well covered - they want a broad minded student who's curious about things," Logan explained, not wanting to put too much emphasis on the charity or outdoorsy aspects he'd been thinking of.

"So you basically made them want us more than we want them?" Rory reflected.

"Pretty much," Logan replied, smilingly.

"What did you think otherwise? Besides the business-victory you're obviously still a little high on," Rory asked, teasingly.

"I like how small it is, but at the same time - what if there's just this one teacher that she doesn't like or get along with and then there's no way to switch. There's just one group at each grade level," Logan explained.

"But then again isn't it about learning to deal with different types of people?" Rory discussed.

"Yeah, but in that case I'd really like to meet every one of those people," Logan shrugged, feeling rather protective of the little girl.

"I don't think we can rule out any possible bumps on the road," Rory said realistically.

"I know.. Just…, it feels a little like trusting a very small group of people while the responsibility could maybe be better divided over a larger group instead. Someone who's done this longer and with more kids," Logan discussed.

"Well, we are seeing a few other schools. I suppose the comparison helps. And I've already been to this one school in West-Cambridge with a collegue of mine once… it wasn't bad, it's just not so central..," Rory explained.

"You ever thought about moving?" Logan asked, having thought about it for a few weeks now. Sure, he got why she liked to live with her dad - maybe she was even making up for lost time. But eventually, surely, she would want a place of her own, wouldn't she?

"Yeah, sure… when dad had his problems with Lana I did… that I wouldn't be in the way. But it seemed wasteful to just get a place of my own nearby even if he was paying… and I knew I needed help with Em," Rory said.

"But later?" Logan inquired.

"Sometimes…," Rory replied. "Sometimes I click on ads, toy around with the idea… but there's never really been a reason to, you know. And now I just picture dad all alone in that big house with Gigi at Yale. It's kind of sad," Rory admitted.

"Yeah, but he's been on his own before, right? You can't just define his happiness by your presence," Logan discussed.

"Yeah, I know… I just haven't talked to him about it. And at least he hasn't suggested that he needs his space or anything so, I don't know. I guess I haven't really had a strong reason to consider it," Rory replied.

"But hypothetically… in some distant future if things were to get more serious between you and me…," Logan began, suggestively raising his eyesbrows, knowing he was getting ahead of himself, "you wouldn't insist on me moving in with all three of you, would you?" he said, deciding to end the thought with some humor.

Rory struggled to hold back her smile, chuckling little. It was sweet. Incredibly sweet. And she knew Logan was rushing things incredibly. But unable to hate him for it, she just shook her head at his smugness again.

"Probably not," Rory decided to reply, trying to keep her cool.