Chapter 23
October 16th, 2021
"Grandpa!" Em squealed excitedly as she stormed Christopher on the doorsteps of his red brick Beacon Hill townhouse.
The house was Christopher through and through though, unlike his office a couple of years ago, having bought this place together with Lana. It looked like old money from the outside, which he certainly had, but inside it was a lot simpler - modern but perhaps modern ten years ago, but not in a bad way - it was what made it look natural, homey - Christopher himself being past the need for everything to be top notch and coordinated with the decorators. He was just going with it, having enough female decisive power around the house to help make any of those decisions.
"Now that's the kind of welcome I've missed!" Christopher exclaimed in a bear-like manner in return and hugged the little girl and swirled her around. Em had the luxury of having two grandfathers, both different but loved her eaqually much.
"Hi, dad!" Rory stepped up, wearing a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt under her jacket, carrying hers and Em's overnight bag, and hugged her father who had already put down Em, making a face at how heavy the girl was getting. Em had already run off somewhere looking for Gigi.
Just like talking to Logan felt like a new beginning, it had been surprisingly similar with Rory and Christopher five years ago. They might not talk weekly these days, but when they did talk, they talked a lot more openly since Rory had actually asked him out front what had always bothered her for years, breaking apart also some of that hurt.
He'd also been her call for help on a particular occasions, when she'd truly needed him - unlike with her mother, Christopher had done a much better job at being there for Rory when she'd called him when being at a hospital bed on an unfortunate November evening, without asking any of the questions she wasn't ready to answer or had ever needed to explain to him.
He'd turned out to be the ultimate no-judgement parent to Rory's surprise, despite not knowing all the details, at her age no longer feeling the need to go talk to Lorelai about everything that had to do with their daughter.
"So how are you?" Christopher asked, suggesting Rory put down the bags and have a word with him before they went off somewhere.
"I'm good… busy time at work, but I've taken the route of at least not bringing work home on weekends," Rory said. "And she'd been her usual self, she's so good at reading already…," Rory added in amazement.
"I hear you were like that," Christopher said and recalled Lorelai sending him a postcard when Rory had been around Em's age - written by Rory alone without any help. Sure there had been a few spelling mistakes, a backwards E, but who cared.
"Yeah, they're actually talking about putting her in the gifted program when she starts with the actual school program," Rory admitted, and continued to explain it in some more detail.
The two could already hear a tickle attack upstairs. Gigi might have been an 18-year-old with an attitude, but she also really liked Em, she was good with her, snapping out of her uninterested front. Gigi had moved back to the States for prep school, having wanted to diversity her education. She was a good student, but not as keen on literature as perhaps other subjects.
"That sound great!" Christopher exclaimed.
"I don't know," Rory squinted her nose. "I don't like subjecting her to that kind of pressure from early on. Sure she likes to read, but it doesn't mean she just wants to start studying like she's in a hurry somewhere. Sure, I won't try to stop her, but I just want her to be a kid, you know," Rory explained, sharing her uncertainty. She kept thinking back to Tanna from her frenshman year and how out of place she'd felt in college in the beginning. Thankfully Em's school had these different options right there, explaining the hefty sum she was and would be paying them for her education.
"I guess you've got a point there. I'm sure when it comes to deciding you can also just ask her if she's so smart," Christopher suggested, and let her towards the kitchen, craving for something to drink himself.
Rory wasn't sure if putting such decisions on the shoulders of a by-then 6-year-old would be ideal. It was what her mother would've done, but she wasn't sure it was something one was really supposed to be doing, having actually taken a few child psychology classes in grad school.
Christopher poured himself a glass of cucumber water.
"So catching up with friends, eh?" Christopher asked, gesturing at Rory whether she wanted a glass of water too.
Rory nodded at the water, feeling parched.
"Just the old college bunch. We've been kind of making it a five-year-habit," she said, not even having to lie, after taking a sip. It had been just a little more than five years since they'd last done this, and before that a little less then that. But close enough.
"Oh yeah, I think you mentioned Olivia living in the Boston area," Christopher recalled.
"Oh, no - it's not her, she's here alright but according to her Facebook page she's just about to have her hands full with twins," Rory added, having seen a picture with Olivia with a big twin-belly. Sometimes they exchanged a few words, but it was hardly bff-s where they were at.
"Oh?" Christopher reacted and drank his water.
"It's Finn, Colin, Robert and... Logan," Rory confessed.
"Haven't heard that name in a long time," Christopher said, not that he could say the same for a lot of the others. He knew she sometimes still met up with Finn, though he'd never actually met him, even Em mentioned him sometimes.
"Well… Logan hasn't been around, but he moved back to the States. I think around here somewhere, actually," Rory shared.
"I heard about that divorce of his," Christopher added, sounding a little sneaky about it, as if wanting to tease Rory a bit.
"Oh I haven't read anything, just the part he told me about… you can't really trust what they say online," Rory replied. "And it's not like that - we're just friends," Rory added, but she couldn't help feeling a little bothered at his words, despite knowing he was just having a laugh at her expense, meaning nothing bad with it. She just didn't want everyone to start pushing them back together just by assumption that as they were both single it was the only logical step.
"My-my - former journalist sceptical of the news," Christopher teased, and continued to remind her how convinced she'd been once of journalistic objectivity.
"It all really went downhill after I left," Rory laughed, jokingly taking all the credit.
"So what - you need me to babysit?" Christopher asked, as they returned to the hall, and picked up their overnight bags, taking them upstairs.
Rory followed him.
"Nah, Finn actually got it into his head that he'll try to make it kid friendly this time," Rory replied. "I actually think it might be fun for her, the guys tend to have a way of making amazing things happen when they put their mind to it, it's always very hush-hush at first but ends up being a blast," she shared, speaking excitedly.
"In that case that's one hell of a group of friends, alright," Christopher commented. He could only wish for buddies like that, but having lacked the college experience and moved around a lot, he really didn't know what that was like.
"Hey Gigi!" Rory reached Gigi's room where Em was already snuggled up in her bed, trying on her headphones, and gave her a hug which was eagerly returned.
Gigi had grown up alright. She had the frame of Sherry - petite and curves in all the right places, while not really feeling the need to show it. The outfit she currently wore actually worked quite well for her - a t-shirt tied in the front and a pair of black jeggings. She had a bit of that 'too cool' for most things kind of attitude about her, but Rory and Christopher both knew that it was only her surface.
"Hey and if you want we've got the upstairs lounge all free, if you want to come and hang out here later when Em goes to bed or I could just keep an eye on her if you want to go out - I have no intention or going further than Nino's all night," Christopher offered, referring to a local pizza place.
"Thanks, but we'll see - I might just as well be out like a log by 9," Rory laughed, feeling her age in the evenings quite often.
Rory and Em got settled in the large sage-green-painted guest room upstairs, deciding to share a bed for the night so it'd be cosier. The room had a little balcony as well, showing off a gorgeous view of the city, which was the one thing Rory sometimes envied about people living in cities. Just like with Paris's place in Manhattan the rooftops being the kind of thing that made her think about writing again - there being something poetic about looking out over the world like that. She really hadn't had a lot of time to do that with Em around. She liked to think it was partially the reason why she'd stopped writing.
The place was bigger than Christopher, Lana and Gigi needed, but the reason for that had been that for a while they'd actually lived with Francine who'd needed nursing. She had passed a few years ago, meaning Rory really didn't have any more grandparents left.
There were three guest bedrooms upstairs, one of which now seemed to house Lana's dresses, which they hardly ever used. Christopher had been considering moving once Gigi went off to college, but so far she wasn't too sure as to where she wanted to go, and with several great options right there in the city, she actually didn't seem that eager to be moving out. But who could really tell.
The knock on the knocker outside alerted them half an hour later, Em already waiting expectantly by the door while Rory was rushing downstairs, tying her hair into a ponytail.
"I can get it," Christopher suggested, winking at Em in passing.
"Hello," Finn greeted, standing on the stairs. "Now I definitely remember this little girl, but not you - you must be Rory's father I presume - unless, of course, Rory has aged rather poorly in the past few weeks?" Finn began theatrically, definitely already being in a role of some sort.
"Christopher Hayden," he said with a chuckle, shaking Finn's hand, being aware of his playful side, despite not ever having actually met him in person before.
The other guys were waiting outside in front of the 7-seater luxury SUV outside, eager to welcome them, and stepped close to do a round of hand-shakes just the same.
Christopher actually recalled doing some business with Colin at some point, and he made a casual remark to Logan that it was good to see him.
"I'm coming," Rory called, as she reached downstairs, it having been a long way down, and grabbed her floral bomber jacket.
"All set?" Rory asked Em.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Em demanded, excitedly. The little girl was dressed in a matching outfit with her mother - jeans and a blue Yale t-shirt.
"Have fun!" Christopher added and waved them off.
Rory greeted all the guys with hugs, Logan included, trying not to think too much about it. But it was good to see all of them, and no doubt Logan too, that hug always feeling a little different from the rest.
"So Em - there are the guys. Robert, Colin, and you know Finn, right? And this is Logan, you saw him the other night, remember?" Rory introduced the guys to her daughter. The guys apparantly didn't know Logan had already met Em briefly, hence they exchanged some looks, which were quickly ignored.
"Very nice to meet you," Robert said gallantly with a bow, handing the girl a set of magic trick flowers from his sleeve, making her smile.
"Do I need to get the carseat out of my…," Rory began, before seeing Finn had already taken care of it.
The carseat was set up in the middle seat of the second row to where Em quickly found her way to. Robert was sitting in the front, Colin had the third row to himself. Logan was driving and Finn took a seat next to Em opposite to Rory - after all it was Logan who had promised to be the designated driver, not that Finn had a lot of drinking planned. But he knew better than to not set one.
Rory felt rather special being in this group again - it was like being treated a day out without really deserving it. Surely she knew that the guys just wanted to catch up amongst themselves too but still they'd found a way to include not just her but also Em, which was utterly admirable.
They chatted as they drove, it becoming clear to Rory that the guys had been catching up since last night already, Colin also having a child-free weekend. It was funny how easily the guys seemed to be okay with Logan's lengthy absence. Naturally Rory didn't know how much contact they'd had before that, but what she'd gathered from Finn and the bits from Logan, it certainly hadn't been a lot. But it was good to see that some things ran deeper than dropping off the map for a while. And of course it supposedly went for her just the same - she'd been off the map for five whole years.
She talked about herself too, and Em, filling in those she knew didn't know a lot about her recent turns in life. Naturally a few school-teacher jokes followed, but that was to be expected.
There were a few meeting glances through the rearview mirror between Logan and Rory, just brief ones. What either really just kept saying to themselves was that it was good to see the other again after a long time, that they were adjusting.
Rory was a little taken aback though when Logan pulled into one of the garages at Fenway Park.
"Finn, did you mistake Em for a sports fan?" Rory teased, knowing Finn wouldn't mind a hint of critique on the choice of venues.
"Don't worry - have it all covered. I couldn't go all Disney on her, could I. Balance is what is important," Finn calmed her, not knowing he'd said the dangerous D-word.
"Are we going to see Disney world?" Em already asked.
"No-no, Em, there's no Disney here," Rory soothed her, rolling her eyes at Finn. She explained to the girl that there were other surprises in store though.
As they all poured out of the vehicle in the garage, it became clear that they were in fact aiming on playing at least one game of baseball. Though frankly, the group reminded Rory a bit more of the Clockwork Orange group the way they were dressed, minus the groin guards and hats, than actual baseball players. But hey, the guys always had a thing for costumes whatever it was they were going for.
Finn quickly found a couple of big foam fingers, noisemakers and other baseball paraphernalia from the back, handing the set to Rory. She knew what to do.
"Hello, which one of you is Finn?" came a sudden female voice from behind them.
"That's the way a good bachelor party usually begins," Finn commented quietly, and smiled widely.
"Hello, that'd be me," Finn said - and continued to introduce everyone in the group. "Everyone - this is the one and only Jennie Finch, and she'll be our coach today," he introduced the famous baseball player who also looked pretty hot.
Thankfully it was a warm and sunny fall day, making it a great day to be outside.
Rory and Em got to explore the huge stadium, taking photos along with their private hot dog cart, which was all she really needed, neither of them having had much for lunch after the long drive to Boston that morning, while the guys had their fun on the green. But mostly it was just funny as none of the guys had played baseball in a while.
But it was just as Em was getting a little restless, Jennie came to get both of them, inviting them to the green too. While Rory might not know a bat from a lacrosse stick, Em had simply not played many sports until now. But thanks to Luke and Jess she wasn't as uninterested.
Their coach for their day gave Em some tips on how to hit a ball, while Colin, having the best arm, did a few throws. Eventually, Em actually hit a ball with some help from Jennie and the guys allowed her to do at least a pretend home run.
As they headed off, the guys grabbed each a hot dog too to fuel up, and changed their clothes before getting back in the car.
Just as Rory was about to complain that perhaps baseball had not been not quite Em's thing, Finn already caught her thought by its tail. She didn't want to see ungrateful, but she did feel like Finn was not the most experienced one with kid friendly events.
"You'll love our next stop, Em, I promise," Finn said, knowing that balancing was the key today.
They had some beverages in the car while Logan drove them back towards Beacon Hill.
"Pottery? Really, Finn?" Colin snorted, as they stood in front of Rainbow's pottery studio.
"Hey, when was the last time you tapped into your artistic side?" Finn shot back, and opened the door for the group.
Em was definitely excited about this - seeing the wide selection of colors she would get to work with, and there is just a draw in sinking ones fingers into a good batch of clay.
Some of the guys tried to make their own plates, while others settled on painting existing ones, some getting a little out of hand. The real surprise was Colin, who was actually pretty good at this, managing to make himself an actual functional cup. They ended up having a set of pottery with umbrellas, tophats, a few quirky self portraits and ladybugs, the latter being Em's choice in drawings, which they were going to have burnt for them.
They guys took turns interacting with Em too, it coming very naturally. Of course to Rory, seeing Logan interact with Em felt a little strange, having to fight some thoughts of 'what if' but it was all brief and innocent, not allowing her to dwell on those thoughts much.
It was such a simple thing, but as a balancing to something physical, the guys certainly looked pretty happy all things considered, once they emerged from the studio.
"What now?" Robert asked.
"I don't think we're quite done with the artistic side, do you?" Finn suggested, sending Logan a new set of coordinates to drive to, some fifteen minutes away.
The Strand looked closed, but as usual Finn had his ways. From a slightly scary looking dark hallway the group stepped into a magical land of colors. It was the Van Gogh immersive experience, with famous paintings projected all over the room, as they walked through the museum like space. There were matts and beanbags on the floors, suggesting people take in the art from various positions.
Em liked chasing down some of the moving images and mirrors, and as they were all alone in this place, Rory let her roam freely, one of the guys always showing her something fun they'd discovered.
It had been the three of them laying on the floor of the meteor shower painting - Finn, Rory and Logan, when Em pulled Finn off to show him something.
"I'm glad you were willing to join us, I kind of worried maybe I'd ruined it for you," Logan said.
"Got to hold onto the good friends one has, right?" Rory suggested, knowing Logan would get what she meant.
Logan certainly agreed, but there was a lot he wondered about too, but didn't quite yet dare to ask.
At some point Colin suggested decisively that some proper food was needed. Logan drove them to Rose Kennedy Greenway, that had a row of food trucks, making Rory's mouth already water.
Rory and Em opted for tacos and pizza, while the others got a little this and that. Later, stomachs full of street food, they walked down the greenway while letting Em play on the playground for a bit. When she got a bit tired, Finn carried her on his shoulders, eating ice cream. Naturally, the carousel was not left unnoticed and Rory and Em picked horses to ride on, while the guys settled for various other attractions.
It was already getting darker, when they reached their final destination of the day. Em was excited to see the colorful LED-lighted swings at The Lawn on D, and made it a point to try out every game in the place, in between snacking on some more street food, and listening to some blues band with the rest of them. The guys took turns playing ping-pong, and some of them cracking open a couple of beers.
After a while of swinging and dancing, Em had snuggled into Rory's lap as she hung out on one of the recliners.
"I think we wore her down," Logan commented, as he stepped close, nursing a bottle of coke, the other guys being busy with this and that.
"Yeah," Rory exhaled. "A good day," she added smilingly, and kissed her daughters hairline.
Without asking Logan offered his leather jacket to be Em's blanket. Em wasn't asleep yet, but she'd definitely gone from jumping around into someone who just wanted to be close to her mother.
"Thanks," she mouthed and the two just sat there for a while, having things to say but holding back. But it was still a comfortable silence, as if things unsaid were just waiting for their time.
She could see how hard Finn had worked on putting something like this together, that wasn't really his usual repertuar. It wasn't until the last hour of the evening until some of the guys had chosen to have a beer, there were no expensive venues, except for renting out a couple of the places they'd been at privately - but nothing as elaborate as these things used to be. Maybe Finn had actually considered Logan's changed state of finances too, not just Em - she thought.
After a while Em really did doze off, and Logan helped carry the girl to the car. Em was out like rock, not minded at all by someone moving her around.
"You guys want to stay for a drink? My dad said it was okay, the top floor is completely empty" Rory suggested before she got out of the car. Em was deep in sleep, and she only really had to get her to her bed.
"Alright," Finn said, glancing at the others, not liking the idea of just heading off to a pub somewhere without her. It didn't feel right excluding Rory now.
Logan ended up being to the one again to offer to carry the girl upstairs, being quite surprised himself that carrying the girl up several flights of stairs wasn't at all easy. He was also quite surprised how heavily the girl slept, having not been around much Honor's kids.
The group had headed upstairs ahead of them where one of the empty guest rooms was set up as a lounge with a couple of tuxedo couches.
Rory tucked her in, just slipping off Em's jacket and sneakers.
"How did your talk with Honor go?" Rory asked, after having thanked Logan for carrying Em, and began to make her way up the stairs.
"As expected - she was mad, rightfully so, but she gets it. She'd been ghosting mom too but she couldn't really do that now after what happened to dad. She's a better person than I am. But at least that's cleared up, she's happy that I am around. She just wishes I'd not be so steadfast on the inheritage thing. It essentially means she needs to figure things out with the company. I said I'd advise, but I won't touch anything. And that's final... I got to draw the line somewhere," Logan explained as they made their way upstairs. It was clear that there was more there, Logan almost pouring out like he needed an outlet.
She hoped he'd find it, but was willing to listen if that was what he wanted.
As they emerged, the guys had already helped themselves to the scotch on her say-so.
"Well this was an almost non-alcoholic PG-rated version of what we used to do," Colin commented in a playfully scornful manner.
"You're holding a glass of scotch," Robert pointed out.
"I said - almost," Colin repeated.
"Hey, soon we'll be bringing Rosie along, you'll see," Finn noted, referring to Colin's 2-year-old.
"So what are we drinking?" Rory asked Logan, looking forward to properly catching up with every one of them, now that she didn't have to watch her every word.
AN: Christopher's house 62 Mount Vernon, Beacon Hill, Boston as inspiration.
Thank you for all of your reviews!
