Chapter 52
November 14th, 2021
It was surprising how many times Logan had pictured picking up Rory and Em to go on an outing and leaving a good impression on Em these past weeks, as the eventual idea that he and Rory were serious this time, had had time to sink in. Sure, he'd seen the girl before, but then he'd just been a friend.
He imagined being this cool guy, showing up and taking them somewhere amazing, leaving the girl baffeled. He pictured the girl laughing, and having fun, and himself being entertaining and funny, knowing all about her favourite foods, favourite book characters he'd read up on and what she liked and disliked. He desperately wanted to leave a good impression, and while he knew he was never going to be the girl's father as such, he was definitely feeling some aspect of competition with Jess in this. That was normal, right?
As Logan stood there in the parking lot of his apartment building, waiting to be picked up that Sunday morning, already the beginning of the day starting out completely differently than he'd imagined, he knew he was still going to be just a friend. It was a difficult position for Logan to be in, every cell in his body telling him how he wanted to be close to Rory, compliment her, flirt with her… everything. But he was old enough to know that he needed to push all that aside to allow this relationship to develop not just in depth, but also llet it broaden, as it included someone other than Rory too. But that whole part was completely uncharted territory for him.
Rory's car had the car seat, hence it had made sense that she'd been the one driving that day. But this was actually making him a little more nervous as driving would've been something to keep him occupied for the next hour and a half.
The white Mazda that pulled up, blasting Pharell Williams' 'Happy', contained two loud and off-key singers. Again something he hadn't quite pictured. Perhaps he should've?
Rory turned the music down to low and smiled broadly, her smile lighting up the car in an instant.
"Em, you remember Logan, right?" Rory said, after a brief but meaningful glance towards Logan. Logan could only imagine how Rory herself had prepped her for this, after all she was bringing her daughter to a birthday party of a boy she didn't know. But he assumed, she'd also gone for her own reason of wanting to see her old friend Honor, or something equivalent.
Logan turned sideways to greet the little girl.
"Hi!" Em said.
"Good morning," he responded. "And how are you two this morning?" he asked, feeling ridiculously nervous about getting off on the right foot.
"Good. Mommy made me pancakes," came a response from the back seat, sounding content.
"She did?" Logan responded, casually, doubting himself whether to joke about Rory's less-than-perfect cooking skills that he was used to or not.
"Chocolate-chip," Em commented.
"Luke taught me," Rory said to Logan with another smile, answering Logan's question without him having to ask it.
"Sure sounds better than my breakfast," Logan continued.
Unlike that Huntzberger mansion, Honor's house, while still big, was a classic stone and shingle house, with a significantly more earthy feel. One probably could've even called it a manor house. It was a vast estate - pools, stables, tennis courts but the most notable luxury of this place was the privacy, the one-mile-long driveway with dense woods on both sides beginning after the well-guarded gate. But even before that there hadn't been a house in sight for miles.
As they'd driven Logan had talked about Honor's kids, Conrad, who was turning 6, Linus, who was 11, and also a great deal about what it had been like for him and his sister growing up - well - the good parts at least. As Rory knew most of these stories already, Logan could tell she was just listening appreciatively, sensing how he was deliberately entertaining Em and relieving some of her anxiety about going to a stranger's birthday party. At the same time this was about telling Em something more about himself, hopefully giving the girl a feeling like she knew him a little.
As they got there, however, Logan sensed Rory's nervousness, as she adjusted her sweater-dress and fidgeted with her car keys, waiting at the door. As Paris had been in town the day before, they hadn't had a lot of chances to talk about this beyond the fact that they'd be going as friends and Honor and Josh should also be aware of the fact for Em's sake. Logan had calmed Rory beforehand that Shira wouldn't be going to something as common as the party was going ot be. It was not her scene. Naturally Rory had been relieved of the fact.
Logan didn't know it at the time, but he could guess to some extent that Rory's mind was nervous of facing Honor concerning what she thought of the two of them. He almost wished he could tell her that Honor had been almost relieved to hear of their development, at least so she'd seemed, but of course he was aware that Honor was also still a little tentative in casting judgement being a protective big sister after all.
It was a little dark-haired boy who opened the door, not a maid nor anyone they knew - to both of their surprise. Aged six-ish and something that looked like jam on his chin, the boy stared at the three without so much as a word until Logan finally dared to ask, "Okay if we come in?" while holding back his laughter.
"Logan, finally!" Honor then appeared on the doorway herself, and nudged the boy, who was one of their guests, out of the way and towards the living room friendlily.
Honor hugged Logan but soon enough her attention was turned to the other two.
"Hi," Rory said, tentatively, waving her hand politely unsure if she was in hugging terms with Honor still. "And this is Emily, we usually just call her Em," she added.
Even to Logan hearing the girl's full name sounded weird, being so used to Rory referring to her as Em all the time. And she certainly didn't look or sound anything like one might expect from a Emily Gilmore. Or was it Gilmore-Mariano or Mariano or Mariano altogether? - Logan pondered, realizing he didn't even know her last name.
"Rory - it's been too long!" Honor exclaimed and surprised her with a big motherly hug catching her by surprise.
Rory looked a little shocked of such a friendly welcome, but damn how Logan felt like he wanted to sooth her somehow - stroke the small or her back or tell her that she was coming to a place where she was more than welcome despite years away.
Honor was still beautiful, just a little rounder around her hips and stomach than she'd been when Rory had probably last seen her. Her forever blonde hair was cut into a short chin-length bob. But her body language and speech was still just as bubbly.
"And hello, Emily, Em - I'm Honor," she bent her knees to speak very directly to the girl, clearly having plentiful experiences with kids.
As they hung up their coats, the near-deafening cheers of the dozen children in the adjacent room filled their ears. They'd been running a little late all morning, and Rory was a surprisingly cautious driver with Em in the car. Logan could definitely feel Honor observing him and Rory with intensity, probably having a million questions. But as he'd warned her in advance not to comment on it in front of Em, he could just see how she was struggling hold them back.
Instead she said, "My god, I can't believe you're still so thin!" at Rory, giving Logan the impression that she wasn't just searching for something to say but indeed wanted to say something good.
Rory looked cute, as she was humble at taking in the compliment, and Logan carefully tried to not look at her the way he wanted to, not to let his eyes feast too much.
"And I just love your dress," Honor continued to comment on Em's frilly dress.
Honor led them all towards the living room.
The place had a gorgeous soaring peaked ceiling and a grand stone fireplace, with small fire blazing in it adding the room some warmth. The furniture in the room had been moved around, the couches pushed back against the walls and the decorative objects put high or away. Honor seemed to be embracing the boys childhood to the fullest allowing them to have a lot the things Logan and her had never had.
There were several other adults in the room besides the parents who seemed to have taken a relaxed position in all of this, sipping their mimosas or coffee, while the entertainers, dressed as various characters, entertained their children with games.
After a continuous row of greetings to Josh and the boys, Logan felt a certain pride as Conrad, the birthday-boy, behaved as a perfect gentleman and invited Em to play with his friends. It was also strange for him to watch Em play, not really knowing what he was feeling. It was like she was his, kind of, his to look after in a way, but not too intensely - but in a way he really just didn't know where he stood. From the initial 'cool' image that he'd been pictured in his mind too many times, there was little left. Cool he could do. But could he do the rest? What if he needed to comfort her when Rory wasn't close by? Could he caution her if she misbehaved? He knew that he was nowhere near that yet, but it was something he did think about.
But a whole other dynamic set in when one of Honor's friends, Megan, whom also Rory had met under rather unfortunate circumstances at Honor's wedding, approached them.
"Logan? I can't believe my eyes. I didn't know you were back in the States!" Megan exclaimed, before turning and asking, "Rory was it, right? Hi! I don't know if you remember me," catching Logan by complete surprise. Sure, they wouldn't have Shira to worry about at this thing, but there were people here that knew him or Odette, some who might even know Rory through some other circles. There were bound to be questions, people almost expecting definitions, asking who Em was and so on - all of which both Rory and Logan had aimed to avoid throughout this event.
The day looked like it'd be turning out more complicated and nothing like Logan had expected, making him actually feel a little naive about having suggested it.
AN: And if you don't remember Megan, she was the bridesmaid who didn't sleep with Logan but just complained about being out of the loop about the others having done that. The darkhaired one, played by Abigail Spencer.
I first imagined another place for Honor's when I first mentioned it, and hence the location in Cornwall, but the house that fit what I imagined for the rest best can be found on Sotheby's 33 Nodine Pasture Road, Kent, CT.
Also, when I first mentioned Honor's kids at the funeral, I said that they were in their early-teens - but clearly this changed a little. So I went back and changed it to younger in the earlier chapter as well - Sorry!
Anyways - to be continued - but it might be a slightly longer wait before the next chapter. Work-work-work.
