Chapter 46

November 25th, 2022

After the initial greetings and introductions, Rory's attention became directed mostly towards the people, not really getting a good chance to take in the house in its current form in the dark like she'd expected to. So far there was no flash bitter-sweet memories. Just the familiar faces of Honor and Josh, whose children while each having their own little quirks were quite evidently a mosaics of the two. Truthfully, they were even very similar to Logan, come to think of it, having similar facial features to his, the same hair like Rory had seen on his childhood photographs long ago and at the same time having the build of Josh, who was a little lankier.

Honor had naturally pretty much hugged the life out of her, whilst whispering to her ear how she'd missed her and assured her how this was a really good thing to have her back there with them. It was as if she'd picked her words so carefully, that she could almost add to it without her needing to say it, that in some ways she had hoped it would have always been her. More and more she was beginning to sense that herself, despite knowing it would've been impossible for the same reasons she'd told her grandmother that morning. That was certainly the ever-present bitter sweet part of this reunion.

Em was still melting into the social being that she normally was, not daring to say much. But that seemed to have mostly do with the fact that the unfamiliar house looked a little eerie with all of its lights off, everyone moving around in the light of flashlights, the fire in the fireplace and an occasional Venetian candle set on various surfaces. The house felt like a safe coccoon from the elements, yet it was difficult to forget the storm outside with its unfamiliar sounds - the wind and the rustle of the ocean waves.

"I'm so glad you still managed to get here, I can't imagine flying in weather like this," Honor commented, all of them hearing the wind howling outside. They'd also heard a few other tree branches crack outside a little while ago.

"Yeah, especially in those tiny tin cans they call planes, around here" Rory commented casually, and accepted the cup of lukewarm cocoa Honor handed her, having heated the milk on a fire burning stove they hadn't used in ages.

They were hanging out in the living room, settling for a cozy breakfast inspires dinner of cereal and sandwiches.

"Isn't that right!" Honor exclaimed. It was great for Rory to see her too - she was still as gorgeous in her presence as she'd always been, but it was evident she'd gained some weight since her twenties and possibly had a few subtle nip-tucks done to her face. It was what she'd grown up with and Rory really wasn't judging and on her it actually looked fairly good, even if one could technically tell there had been some tweaks made.

For a moment the adults just watched Em eat her sandwich, the girl having been the most hungry put of all of them, having asked for seconds. Her presence in this house was the miraculous thing - an event. It made, in an instant, the realization that Logan had a daughter very very real to everyone.

"How's your shoulder?" Rory asked, not wanting too much pressure put on Em, despite hee being thw center of attention, seeing Logan rub his shoulder, recalling that he'd gotten quite a bang earlier. He hadn't drawn any attention to himself, putting very much his guests first, helping them get settled and acquainted with his family.

"Sore, but I don't think there's anything of concern beyond a bruise," Logan admitted.

"You should put some ice on it," Rory said, sitting next to him.

"I'll get it," Honor was already up as she said it.

"I'm fine, it's not that bad," Logan replied, getting a sense he was just about to be subjected to some mothering. But then again considering Rory would be most likely the woman doing the nursing - the prospect actually didn't seem half that bad. He knew Rory's bedside manner well, so he decided not to complain.

"And your head?" Rory asked, recalling it had been not just his shoulder that had been hit earlier. "Honor, can you maybe get two icepacks?" she called out.

"It's fine..," Logan chimed.

"On it," Honor called from the adjacent kitchen, her words followed by a groan and some rumble, having obviously hit herself against something on her way there in the dark.

"So Em - how was Nantucket?" Logan decided to inquire instead, not liking this much focus put on him in the midst of all of this.

Honor returned with some icepacks and handed them to Rory, who, ignoring his earlier objections, placed one cold pack on his shoulder and another one on top of his head and held it in place for him. It looked a little silly, but to the two of them it was a convenient reason to stay at close proximity, the closeness being very intoxicating.

"Windy. There was a lot of food...," Em said, hesitated for a moment, clearly having more to say. "Mom and grandma fought," Em spit out rather inappropriately.

"Oh, Em.., we weren't fighting," Rory chimed, apologetically, having hoped this wouldn't have registered. Sure, they'd had some words already at the dinner table when Em had been in earshot, but Rory had hoped she wouldn't have interpreted it as anything quite as serious.

"Pops said to grandma you were," Em said.

"We just don't agree on some things," Rory commented, feeling a little defeated.

"But you're here now and nobody is fighting here, okay?" Logan said, wanting to steer the conversation to something more pleasant, at the same time getting a hesitant glance from Rory.

Sure, Rory was glad he'd chosen to distract Em but she didn't think it actually solved the problem. Honestly, she didn't know what to do with her mother. She could just feel the negative energy from miles away and could only wonder how long it would take until she wanted nothing to do with her. She wished she could be happy about the fact, but she wasn't - there were a lot of good parts about the relationship she'd had with her, she just didn't know how to separate one from the other. And now there were added dangers of Lorelai possibly saying something bad about Logan, even if it was indirect or hinted, that could do some serious harm. She wasn't sure she wanted to risk that.

"I guess," Em agreed.

Honor's boys, as half expected, weren't too interested in the visitors and were playing cards in the far end of the room, looking rather annoyed by their soon depleting phone batteries.

"I know it doesn't look very fun right now, but tomorrow when it's light, you'll see this place has all sorts of cool games and toys. And we're right on the beach so we can go for walks, there's this great cafe right down the street where we can get danishes and the old town is really cool this time of year," Logan suggested. It was evident to Rory he'd really been looking forward to this - he must've been anxious for the girl to like this place too, more than Rory had perhaps initially realized. Beyond his apartment this was the place that was the most home to him that he actually wanted to share with her.

"So the cafe is still there there?" Rory asked, being glad to hear it.

"It is, changed owners but I actually think they added a more modern touch and we're no worse off at the very least," Logan commented.

"Can't wait to try," Rory replied, the tension - like they were the only two people in the room - being pretty evident to the rest of the adults, as she continued to hold the ice pack on his head and shoulder.

"So, Logan tells me you're working at Harvard?" Honor interrupted them, not wanting it to get too awkward. She couldn't help to smile internally though, seeing how drawn the two were to each-other.

"I am, thought I'm just a RI," Rory replied humbly.

"She's not giving herself enough credit. She's one of the reasons those professors get anything done and why the institute has money to spend in the first place," Logan replied.

"I don't know about that," Rory commented.

"Hey, I wouldn't know the first thing about something like that," Honor held up his arms. "Josh, however, I think did some TA things while he was in grad school," Honor shared.

"That was nothing," Josh replied, equally humbly. The guy really didn't say a lot, but it balanced out Honor nicely.

"And look who's talking," Logan directed the message towards his sister. He felt he owed her a lot for covering the London office for him.

"Well I do have some major shoes to fill," Honor admitted.

"You are filling them just fine," Logan assured.

"I concur," Josh said.

"You know I always wondered why you weren't groomed for those kind of jobs like Logan was," Rory discussed.

"That's just dad," Honor shrugged.

"And Elias," Logan added.

"For what it's worth I think it was his... their... loss," Rory added, feeling not entirely certain that she was supposed to have an opinion on the matter. But the fact that her opinion was well received, in a way that just let everyone understand how she really did knew a whole lot more about this family than anyone else Logan could've brought to spend Thanksgiving with his family.

Honor smiled in response.

"Emma, Em? Have you ever thought about who you want to be when you grow up?" Honor inquired, clearly being curious to get to know the person Logan's daughter was.

"I want to design dolls," Em shared surprising even her parents.

"That's new. Just last week I believe it was a teacher," Logan commented, feeling proud that he knew things like that from their weekly dinners.

"And the week before a vet," Rory commented laughingly.

"Do you have any pets at home?" Honor inquired.

"No, my aunt Gigi is allergic to cats," Em shared.

"So there's an aunt Gigi?" Honor pondered, not really knowing about that part.

"Yeah, she's my half-sister on my dad's side. She just started Yale this year," Rory elaborated.

"Oh, wow, I didn't know what," Honor exclaimed.

"Well, there's a lot you probably didn't, " Rory replied, apologetically.

"Well, what's important is that you're both here now," Honor said, sounding like she'd already forgiven everything there was to forgive. "Oh and I nearly forgot, I got you a few presents..," she added, against all objections of this not being necessary, and rose to embrace her aunt role that way.

Later as Logan showed them to their rooms, Rory was actually a little surprised by his arrangements.

"So I figured maybe you'd be more comfortable staying here," Logan shared, opening the door to what used to be the kids' room. They still only had the flashlights and Logan set down a spare candle from the living room, since there was no use for them there anymore.

Little by little Rory was also getting the idea of the extent of the renovations - the rooms were roughly at their places, but had been added extra closets and bathrooms, cutting down on the total number of rooms. The floors no longer creaked, the doors had been changed and overall the place held warmth a lot better than before, not to mention all the little things like the white-based color scheme, much like at grandma's and the trendy-looking little knick-knacks and local art.

The room had two super single-sized beds, and a somewhat boyish theme, making Rory make the logical conclusion that it must've been Honor's boys room back in the day.

"It's a nice room," Rory commented, setting down her and bag, while Logan had carried Em's.

"I'm just next door," Logan pointed out, and Rory wondered whether there was a withheld invitation written into it as he gestured towards the french doors to the adjacent room.

"You're not in your room?" Rory asked, finding it rather interesting. She remembered that old room well.

"I swapped with one of the boys," he explained, meaning to add that he wanted to be closer to them. It wasn't just about Rory, or the fact that his bed in this place still felt a little like the room he and his late wife had shared - but it was about Em too. Even when they'd stayed in the same suite in NYC he'd sensed Em's presence better than ever - he wanted to be close to her too, hoping to get that sense of family again.

Rory nodded, smilingly.

"Alright, let's get you to bed then. It's a good thing I brought the story projector, it's the perfect night for visual stories, don't you think?" Rory suggested and urged the girl to go brush her teeth, deciding that bathing and other clearing procedures could wait until they had some power again.

"Okay, I better go.. Good night, I guess?" Logan said, feeling redundant.

Rory was definitely getting mixed signals here - was he expecting to see her or not - maybe she was expected to sneak into his room? As in why else would he have chosen to stay so close to them.

"Or you could come join us for a story?" Rory said, after Em had headed off to the bathroom, hoping by keeping him around a little while longer things would become more clear. "Em, would it be okay if Logan joins us for the story?" she asked Em, and got an affirmative mumble in return, which was a good sign that the girl must've had a toothbrush in her mouth.

"I guess I'll be right back then," Logan said, and slipped into the adjacent room to change out of his street clothes.

Rory had been clever enough to already push the two beds together, knowing the single bed would be far too narrow for all three of them, even if the plan wasn't to spend the night there like that.

Once Em had gotten into her pajamas and snuggled into Rory's side, who'd simply gone with a long t-shirt that day and tucked her legs under Em's blanket, Logan returned too and somewhat hesitantly climbed onto the bed, observing the dynamic between the two.

He listened in on the story, but wouldn't have really been able to recite any of it, had someone asked. He just watched the way Em's face looked, little by little giving into her sleepiness. A little yawn. The search for her mother's arm to hold onto. How her little eyes were growing heavier by the minute, eventually releasing her grip on Rory. But Rory didn't stop telling the story just yet - just switched off the story projector light.

Rory was laying down, while Logan had mostly remained seated, but it was now as she glanced up towards him in the dim light, she could see his mouth grimacing, as if swallowing tears. This wasn't just a happy occasion, it was also a painful reminder of the time missed. Rory carefully pushed herself up, and reached over to him, pulling him into a hug above their daughter. She just held him there, apologetically, hoping to make it better now that she could.