Chapter 43

November 24th, 2022, Nantucket, MA

Due to a delayed flight Rory had made it to the Sandcastle several hours later than she'd hoped. There had been some struggle at the airport car rental concerning Em's car seat which was a little small for Em, but technically weight-wise was still usable. She was fine using it, knowing she wouldn't be doing a whole lot of driving probably and not for longer than a couple of 10-15 minute streches, but it was rather the struggle of trying to convince an already cranky child to sit in what she thought to be a baby's carseat.

Eventually they'd made it there though, and Rory was anxious about having to tell all the grownups the news. But right now, as they'd just made it through the door, met by a delicious smell of cooking and the radiating heat of the fireplace in her eyesight, she just felt content and relieved at having arrived.

Emily was already fussing around about getting Berta to take their coats, helping out herself a lot more than she ever would've in the Hartford mansion. She was evidently happy to see both of them, asking all these questions, whether they were hungry now and talking about how the airport must've been awful. But Rory was in a haze of sorts, the relief of having arrived, the tiredness of the morning and the anticipation of what this would turn into mixing into one. It was for that reason, now that she was here, she was considering that maybe telling them about Logan could wait after they'd at least shared a peaceful meal. If it did turn out badly, they wouldn't have to sit through an awkward meal. Em deserved a nice Thanksgiving at the very least.

"Rory?" Emily asked, jolting Rory out of her thoughts. Emily was dressed in a short casual knit dress, olive-toned, a pair of dark ribbed leggings underneath. Seeing her this casually dressed had been a sight to get to used to, but now this was the new normal.

"Sorry. What, grandma?" Rory asked.

"Would you like a drink?" she asked, leading her towards the living room, decorated in light gray linen with terracotta-colored accents.

Em was already heading up to her bedroom, knowing she had a bunch of toys she hadn't seen in months waiting for her, while Berta who took charge of their luggage.

"Yes, please - anything is fine...," Rory replied, explaining her distracted state, "I'm just exhausted…."

"Of course you are. Traveling with a 5-year-old is no joke," Emily replied, knowingly, making Rory realize she really didn't know if her mother had been taken on a lot of trips growing up. She'd never really discussed these aspects with her life. It had always been the drama of it, how it hadn't been the right way to raise a child and how it had been all about the societal expectations and the proper way to behave, but Rory just couldn't believe they hadn't done a single thing that was child-appropriate or guided by genuinely wishing to offer her a good life. She knew life wasn't as black and while as her mother had made it out in her stories.

"Yeah, thankfully, she napped a little on the plane. The plane noise is like this magical white noise..," Rory explained, after she emerged from the guest bathroom where she went to wash her hands.

"Your mother and Luke went to the store, they should be over shortly...," Emily informed her, handing Rory a cup of mulled wine, she kept in a thermos by the drink cart.

Rory was a little relieved since she was getting a little breather before they did.

"So? What have you been up to?" Emily inquired excitedly. They could both hear Em's giggles from upstairs.

"Nothing much - same old, it's an adjustment now with Gigi in college. The house is so empty," Rory began, starting perhaps with the least significant news.

"It's odd she chose Yale, isn't it? Francine must've had a fit," Emily commented, knowing the Hayden's had an appreciation for Princeton over Yale any day.

"Well she could be happier, I guess. But I think she's just happy to have them at her place for the holidays," Rory noted, knowing Emily felt the same way. Nantucket was great, but it did get lonely, especially in the winter months.

"What else?" Emily continued.

"Oh just work mostly. Been busy," Rory said, realizing now what a big part of her life Logan had already become in her life - in their lives. Doing things with him was a central part of their plans, and was now too.

"And that has nothing to do with the reason you're leaving us early tomorrow, is it?" Emily asked, with a hint of know-it-all, suggesting there was a man involved.

Rory nearly snorted her wine out, nearly beginning to wonder whether her grandmother had gotten the news before she'd had a chance to tell it. It couldn't possibly be Mitchum had contacted her, could it?

Rory had been in contact with Logan last night, him having already made it to the Vineyard by then, and mostly just tried to console him without sounding too much like that was her intention. She'd just offered her his ear. She could tell he'd been disappointed but not terribly surprised. She knew that relationship was a difficult one but he knew he wanted support and acknowledgement of the fact that he was a father. She also knew that even if he didn't show it much, he was trying very hard to not be like his father…. This she'd known since college.

"Well kind of, but I'd really rather tell everyone at once if that's okay," Rory shared, struggling to hide a weak smile. Her grandmother had always been pretty insightful about things like this.

"Is that right?" Emily reflected, getting this joyous glow over her face.

Rory knew that look. She knew Emily had been hoping for her to settle down with someone for decades, she'd even gotten to experience a few of her grandmother's setups during her time up here in Nantucket. They hadn't even been all bad - one had even gotten a second date - but just not the right fit.

"Uh-huh," Rory hummed, sipping on her mulled wine that was going straight to her head on a fairly empty stomach.

"And may I be so bold to inquire where are you headed tomorrow?" Emily asked, hoping for some hints.

"As a matter of fact we're just heaving over to the Vineyard for the rest of the weekend," Rory decided to share. Strangely - this part she was rather happy to share with someone, she could only hope the same response approving attitude would remain intact until she told them the details.

Emily nodded approvingly, and sipped on her wine. "It's conveniently close isn't it?" she simply added, hopefully, but Rory could just tell how she was sizing up the potential suitor's wallet along with that. For once she didn't see an issue with it, it was not like she hadn't done this before concerning Logan.

"Usually - yes, but not so much during the winter," Rory commented practically, knowing it was a little trickier with the ferries this time of year.

"And how is Christopher?" Emily inquired, trailing off to other things for now.

Thankfully, Rory's empty stomach soon got some actual nourishment - it was just seeing her mother that made it a little less enjoyable.

"Everything smells delightful, mom," Lorelai commented politely. "Uh, Em - you've gotta try this. It tastes sooooo good," she added, trying to get Em to taste some unfamiliar dish. Rory did appreciate her mother engaging with her daughter - she was her grandmother after all, and she was glad she had that relationship. But she was being a lot more critical of her methods these days. It was for that reason in this moment she just held her mouth shut and let her do whatever, despite knowing Em was not a huge fan of gravy infused fancy potatoe dishes - knowing she had news to tell later on.

So mostly Rory just spoke to Luke, while exchanging relatively few words with her mother, but naturally Stars Hollow holiday season and Em's schooling provided a good amount of neutral topics. It was good to hear how April was doing, even small glimpses of Jess' life through Luke's stories and on the developments of Lorelai's Inn business.

With her stomach pleasantly full of food, though no longer overeating like her mother, who'd even casually teased her about it as expected, she'd however nearly forgotten what she had to do, hence it caught her off guard when Em asked her next question.

"Is there going to be this much food at Logan's tomorrow too? I don't think I can eat that much two days in a row," Em goaned dramatically, sliding out of her chair as if transforming into liquid. She wasn't the best at staying seated behind a table for extended period of times.

"Logan's?" Lorelai reflected, observing the look change on Rory's face, the name clearly having caught her attention.

Uh-oh - Rory thought.

"Um, yeah - that's something I wanted to tell you about, actually…," Rory began, wondering whether she should think of a way to have Em go play with Berta or something. But suddenly she realized that having her there was probably her best protection against any harsh words.

"As in Logan Huntzberger?" her mother repeated, having expected her daughter to say it was another Logan if that wasn't the case as the first thing otherwise. But her silence had betrayed her.

"Logan Huntzberger?" Emily reflected just the same but her tonality was much more confused.

"Is that the same guy, that um…," Luke tried to recall, being a little out of the loop.

"Yes, we're going to spend the weekend with Logan Hunzberger and his sister's family over at the Vineyard," Rory explained, realizing she had started this from the wrong end of the story. This was now about her being in a relationship not about the paternity of her child.

"Again?!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Again?!" Emily and Luke asked, almost in unison, the post-Hamburg version of their relationship being a secret to everyone but her mother.

"Yes," Rory exhaled, her tone slightly broken, disappointed of how this was going.

"It's the guy she can't quit!" Lorelaid added, and the painful part about her expression was that she'd used that exact wording before.

"Mom, please," Rory said, gesturing towards Em, who was doing other things.

"Lorelai - let her speak," Emily took her side.

"We recently caught up. He's living in Boston now," Rory said, realizing she needed to just pull the bandaid off. "And I have to tell you the real news. I am sorry I never told you this before... It was just that we had agreements in place to keep it under wraps for Em's best interest…," Rory began with a sigh.

"I knew it!" Lorelai exclaimed, interrupting her.

"Knew what?" Emily exclaimed at Lorelai, looking confused.

"Logan is Em's father," Rory said, speaking in a slightly hushed tone. Mostly she just wanted to share this news calmly, hoping for a similar response.

"She's a Huntzberger?" Emily reflected, looking and sounding baffled.

"She's a Gilmore, grandma. But yes, Logan is, as of a few weeks ago, listed on her birth certificate as her father. I have full custody as I've had... but they've been spending time together, and I think this is a really good thing," Rory explained hopefully.

"Oh my...!" Emily exclaimed with a deep sigh, trying to wrap her brain around it.

"But what kind of a guy…," Luke began, looking over to Em to make sure she wasn't paying much attention, "...leaves a woman raise a baby on her own like that..," he added in a hushed tone, not quite understanding the concept. He'd never loved the guy, Rory knew that but he must've once seen how they had been good together despite their bumps.

"Didn't he get married to that French, what's her name…," Emily began to recall, her memory not quite being what it used to be.

"First - Luke - I understand you question but the answer to that is - 'the kind of man that respects my wishes and acts in a way that takes into account the wellbeing on the child first and foremost, putting his own interests aside', considering their family was under a lot of media attention at the time. These years weren't an easy time for him... I needed to just figure things out on my own too - we weren't under any scenario going to get together at that point, and I couldn't risk the thought of someone in his family discrediting me and possibly taking my daughter away from me and across the Atlantic. He agreed on this for our benefit. And I know it wasn't fair to him… But it was what it was - we've made peace with this by now and he's making up for lost time. I hope you too can just accept this and see the benefits of it now," Rory spoke quickly, having thought this part out. "And grandma, yes - he got married, but unfortunately," Rory began to explain with a sigh, trying to treat Odette's memory with respect, "his wife passed away this year and he..," Rory finished her thought, feeling out of breath.

"...came searching?" Luke finished her thought for her.

"I guess," Rory agreed. "He didn't come with demands or expectation. The agreements were still valid. But I'm glad he did," she added, truly believing Logan had followed his conscious and heart. God, how glad she was that he had.

"And now you're seeing him romantically as well?" Emily asked.

"We are seeing him, yes," Rory said, glancing towards Em, indicating wordlessly how she was keeping a wrap on the relationship part for her sake. "We're taking things slow, and we want to see where this leads us without anyone getting hurt," Rory explained.

Lorelai had by now wrapped her arms around her waist, and looked pouty. Rory knew why - it was mostly because Lorelai had been right to guess it was Logan already years ago and she hadn't so much as confirmed it. It was the ultimate disappointment. The ultimate thing to break their relationship along with Rory realizing all the way her opinions had affected her wellbeing.

Rory could just anticipate a burst coming from her direction at some point during the next 24 hours.

"But that means...," Emily pondered out loud, clearly doing some less than admirable math in her mind.

"It was what it was," Rory reflected, hoping they'd leave it at that. She knew it didn't look good - like she'd just jumped when Logan had come for her. But she knew that not to be entirely true. She'd fought this internally, it would've almost been easier had she been indifferent to him. Co-parenting as friends was a nice neutral set-up. But she couldn't deny that not wanting to split Em's time between them was a factor - she wanted, needed, them to make it work like her life depended on it. Em was her oxygen. She just didn't want her mother bring that dilemma up to claim it was just her addiction for him. Rory knew it was a complicated balance - she hadn't wrapped her brain around it entirely yet either. But mostly she just wanted to be spared from the lecture.

"How's she taking it?" Luke asked, constructively. "Maybe you could talk to April about this," he suggested, actually being the helpful one in this to Rory's surprise.

"She seems to like him. And we've agreed not to go off buying her love with things," she added, despite knowing Honor probably had shopped for her anyway. "They have their own things - he picks her up from soccer sometimes and they have their outings. It's an adjustment, but so far we haven't had any major issues... so I think it's good," Rory explained. "And thanks, I just might," she added, speaking more specifically to Luke.

"Well... as long as you're okay with this, I guess..," Emily suggested, though it remained evident she too had some reservation.

Lorelai, however, maintained quiet. But Rory knew she was boiling inside.