AN: A smaller filler chapter today.
Chapter 8
September 20th, 2021
Rory arrived in Stars Hollow later than usual, having struggled falling asleep after talking with Finn. Her delay was not entirely selfish though, spent just in slumber. She'd gotten Em a few new dresses and also dropped by Books of Wonder, getting Em a few new books. She knew that in theory Jess could've ordered Em whatever book she wanted for her, probably cheaper too, but she craved that independence from him in these things. A handpicked book meant more than choosing something off a website.
Rory turned left at Luke's, aiming to drive a few blocks further to Apparatus Bay, but she noticed the familiar brown-haired girl already right across the street from Luke's on the playground, playing on the merry-go-round with Doula, Jess' 15-year-old half sister.
She parked her car by Luke's and after letting a few cars pass, crossed the road.
"Hey, Em! Hi, Doula," she greeted the two of them.
Em hadn't expected her there, hence she was taken by surprise and ran to her with open arms, and Rory twirled her around her axel. Seeing her little face light up always made her day.
"You miss me?" she asked, not really needing an answer. She'd missed her, every weekend she missed her, no matter that her alone time too was invaluable.
"Yeah," Em replied.
"Where's your dad?" Rory asked both of them, looking around as if expecting Jess to just appear from somewhere
"He went to help Luke with something," Doula replied, gesturing towards Luke's.
Rory knew she still needed to wait for Jess. She was sure he'd want to say goodbye to Em before they left, and vice versa.
"Alright, that means you can play for a bit until he comes back," Rory encouraged her daughter.
"So Doula, how's school?" Rory asked casually, making small talk. She wasn't very close to her, but school tended to be something she could always ask her about. The girl loved books too, she was Jess' sister after all, but she was a lot like her mother too, easily excited and sometimes a little distracted.
Doula replied something, but it was something vague, Rory just replying in a few nods. She fought an involuntary yawn, feeling a little tired, not even really being bored with her.
It had been a while before she'd actually fallen asleep last night after Finn had left, even though being both mentally and physically exhausted. As much as she'd fought the thought of Logan - somewhere in the world, she'd still tried to picture him. What was going through his mind? Was he safe? Happy? She truly hoped he was, even as just a friend.
As she looked at Em play, giggling as Doula pushed more speed to the merry-go-round, she couldn't help herself picturing what hers and Logan's baby would've looked like, had that become reality. Would the child still look almost like an exact copy of herself like Em did or maybe the child would have his blonde hair or brown eyes instead? The thought was painful, and she forcefully pulled herself out of that line of thinking. No good would've come of it. She just needed to keep her focus, that there wouldn't have ever been Em in that case.
"Hey," came a deep voice from behind her, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Hey," she replied as her head turned, trying to relax the wrinkle in her forehead that those thoughts had brought on.
Jess came to a halt besides her and the two watched Em go round and round, waving to the two of them. She looked happy.
"So, did you have fun last night?" Jess didn't bother with small-talk, pretending to ask casually.
"I did. I went to the City, actually. We saw Léon perform. I don't know if you know her, she's probably not to your taste," Rory commented, feeling quite proud of herself for having thought of the entire idea.
Jess nodded, the left side of his mouth making a slight down-wards curve almost as if nodding approvingly, but Rory knew better.
"Did you see Paris? What's she up to these days?" Jess asked, but Rory knew this was essentially his way of asking if she'd stayed at Paris'. She had no reason to lie, and she wasn't aiming to take her fib about having been on a date more serious than she already had. That was not the point she wanted to make. She wanted things to be civil between them, friendly… but she couldn't deny that in some, perhaps twisted, way she was actually enjoying his attention a little, as long as that was the extent of it.
"I didn't see her, just stayed at her's," she replied.
"Uh-uh," Jess nodded.
Rory almost expected him to inquire further, but he didn't. Maybe to him it just seemed too unlikely to bring some guy over to Paris'. Little that he knew… thought not in the same context.
"Is he someone you're serious about?" Jess asked instead, adding "I'm just asking for Em's sake, I'd at least prefer if you didn't rush into introducing her to anyone before it was," he turned this around from himself to Em.
It was not like Jess hadn't dated anyone in the past two years, but Rory knew just as well as Rory that that was really all that it had been - dating.
"I know," Rory replied, hoping to avoid actually replying to his actual question.
"Oh, and another thing," Jess began. "Would it be okay if I could take Em the weekend after the next instead of the next one, and maybe take her out to the movies or something on one of the school nights instead?" he asked. It sure sounded like he had some plans too, weekend plans which meant personal rather than business. Maybe he was trying to use Rory's own methods against her?
"It's not ideal, but I'm sure we'll manage. It would've been good if you'd told me earlier, I'm actually going to chaperone a couple of my students to a speech competition at Yale on Friday, and the ceremony is not until Saturday," Rory explained.
"Sorry," Jess replied. "I'll see if I can move something around," he added, generously.
"Thanks," Rory replied. "I'm sure mom and Luke can help if needed, but if I need to call Sarah, she needs at least three day's notice with weekends," Rory added, referring to the nanny they sometimes used.
In that sense co-parenting with Jess was easy. He wasn't toxic or intentionally difficult, even if sometimes there were hints of flirting or teasing. He knew how to put Em's well-being first even if things between them weren't perfect.
Going back to Yale, however, was something she both looked forward to and kind of dreaded. She'd been once before, a few years ago, the English teachers taking turns going to these things usually. But now as her mind was already on Logan, quite involuntarily, every bench, coffee cart, hallway, even though the place had changed a lot in the last fifteen years, spoke a story - one of Logan's smug lines or one of his signature smirks. It was like an ex-smoker getting a whiff of the smoke of the person smoking next to her.
