Chapter 111

January 11th, 2022 (so a small jump back)

Rory had just gotten in her car and put on one of the playlists Logan had shared with ther to clear her brain from her work. The first song was Lucy Rose's 'Question It All' - not quite what she was in the mood for but she let it play. It felt good being back at work, but it also came with a dread that she was now noticing more clearly than ever. The count-down to the next holiday had begun in her head already.

She didn't get very far - just out of the parking lot, when her attention was drawn by the incoming call.

"Hey, dad," Rory answered.

"Hey!" Christopher replied. "Did I catch you at a bad time?" he asked, hearing the car in the background.

"Just going to pick up Em," Rory replied. "What's up?" she asked, not hurrying him up especially but surely getting to the point.

"I just wanted to share the good news," Christopher began proudly. "Here, you tell her," he added, and handed the phone over to a somewhat reluctant Gigi.

"Hi," she replied. Clearly the girl was not much for actual phone calls.

"Hey, Gigi," Rory said. "Well?" she asked hopefully.

"I got into Yale! Early admissions," Gigi said, sounding clearly excited and happy.

"Wow! That's so great! I'm so happy for you. Congratulations!" Rory replied, recalling well how long she'd have to wait to hear back from Yale herself. Gigi was really lucky.

"Thanks!" Gigi replied.

"You sound happy!" Rory replied.

But the phone had already been handed back to Christopher. "Yeah, we are happy, one weight off my shoulders again," he chuckled.

"Don't worry - I'll make sure she's treated really well, I have so many contacts over there," Rory assured, excitedly. Oh, Gigi was going to have the college experience of a lifetime, and she'd make sure of that.

"Yeah, that's kind of what I am worried about," Christopher added, in a joking manner.

"She'll be fine," Rory soothed him, as she continued to drive.

"So how about you? Everything going well?" Christopher asked.

"Yeah," Rory answered on an exhale, not wanting to start whining about her job. "We're buying a house with Logan," she shared. She'd texted a little with Christopher in regards to Luke and Lorelai last week, but she hadn't gone into other details at that point.

"You are?!" Christopher reflected.

"Yeah, it's a pretty big place. Over at Girard Avenue, I don't know if you know the area that well," Rory explained.

"Girard?" That's like a couple of blocks from where I grew up," Christopher laughed.

"You did?" How did I not know that!?" Rory chuckled. But then again she'd never been to Hayden's when they'd lived in Hartford, and whether it had been mentioned casually, she really didn't recall.

"Beats me," Christopher replied.

"Well… it's a nice place, scarily big compared to what I have now. But it had that nice energy about it, Em likes it" Rory explained, and went on to describe to the place.

"Sounds good," Christopher said with an exhale. "You okay on the money front?" he asked with light, fatherly, concern.

Once Rory had gotten her inheritage it had been Christopher who'd been the only person she'd been seriously able to discuss monetary matters with. Her mother was always uncomfortable with this type of amounts, unless it concerned her business, and spoke mostly about buying pink ponies and shoes rather than long term investments and intrests.

"Kind of," Rory replied, as she pulled up in front of Em's school. Her voice showed some didn't really need to hurry inside just yet, aiming to finish this call without hurrying it.

"Anything I can do to help?" Christopher asked.

"Well I have the money, obviously, but Anthony just didn't really seem to support the idea of me pulling it all out of the investments it is sitting in. Apparently it isn't a good time for that, and I guess I can understand that, not that I've had a lot of time to look into it in depth," she explained, having just spoken to her accountant that day during her lunch break. The few moment's she'd had to think about it - she was actually considering taking on a small mortage.

"Logan's not contributing at this point?" Christopher asked, still not having a full overview of Logan's finances.

"He is, he's handling the construction and interior. But as for the actual purchase we're still waiting for his place in the Vineyard to sell. It might take a bit, it's not in the best shape. It might take a while to sell," Rory explained.

"Okay," Christopher sighed. "So how much are you short?" he continued.

"250," Rory replied. She hadn't talked about this with Logan yet, but she wasn't going to hide it. And she was pretty sure he would just assure that Honor would help them cover it, but she didn't particularly like asking her. She wasn't fully comprehending Logan's reasons for not accepting his inheritage at this point either. Sure, she understood the reluctance, but it seemed such a stubborn thing to do in a way, but that part she didn't yet dare to poke, knowing it was part of why Logan was seeing a therapist.

"Dad, you know how I am about that…," Rory exhaled reluctantly.

"Yeah, I know. But I want to and it really isn't a big deal," he explained. "If you want you can treat it as a loan if that helps, or better yet part of your inheritage," he suggested. It was no secret that her father was well of and aiming to leave a large chunk of it to both of his daughters eventually. Not that anyone like to think that far ahead.

"I guess I'd be okay with a loan," Rory relented and sighed. It really seemed like the least embarrassing option as he was already offering without her having to have asked, and it was certainly quicker than going to a bank. "But I'll need to talk it over with Logan," she added, not wanting to make decisions on her own about this.

"Sure, you do that," Christopher assured.

"Thanks, dad," Rory replied. "Alright, I better go get Em now. You should come visit, maybe in a few weeks so we can also show you the house even if it won't be ready yet?" she suggested.

"Sure, that sounds great. Give Em a kiss for me, okay?" Christopher added.


January 21st, 2022

"And Ms. Gilmore, you're convinced you wish to put your fiance down as a co-owner on this property?" the Gilmore family lawyer, at the very end of his career, Lloyd Sherman said, looking over his dark-framed glasses.

"Yes, I am," Rory said without a doubt in her mind.

"And you realize this will mean any income from selling the place in the future will be divided evenly?"

They'd just finished going over the previous deeds to the property, making sure the certificate of localisation was in order and so forth. The documents were all signed and ready, just needing their signatures to finalize things.

Logan was running a little late, having got stuck clearing a rather unsightly mess Loki had made and then gotten stuck in traffic. But since Rory was the one holding the wallet in this case, it didn't really stop them beginning this process of going over the drafts. It had helped that the notary was a friend of the Gilmore's, speeding the process up significantly.

"Yes, I am aware of that," Rory assured with confidence.

"Alright," Mr. Sherman replied. Rory was pretty sure these were things he was obliged to ask her, but also knew that the name of Logan Huntzberger was not unfamiliar to him, which made him a little less insistent on protecting her finances.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I'm late," Logan said as he stepped through the door, apologetically.

"Hello, Mr. Huntzberger," Mr. Sherman raised from his seat, unsteadily, and shook his hand.

Logan's hand casually slid over Rory's shoulder, in greeting as he passed her chair for a moment. He then took a seat.

Logan didn't particularly like this situation, it felt like accepting charity in a way, and had he not desperately wanted to have a place that was theirs and soon, he would've probably held off, waited until he could feel he was contributing evenly. It had felt especially bad accepting Christopher's money, but that too he was swallowing with the rest of his pride. There hadn't been a lot of situations where he'd had to do that in his life. He hadn't told Rory this yet, but he was probably closest to what he'd been to actually relenting and accepting the inheritage he had on hold. The feeling was so unfamiliar. Yet he was still pretty far from actually doing it.

The notary finished up the formalities soon enough, and the two signed several dotted lines. Despite the financial unfairness in this, this was a sign of trust, a sign of confidence in each-other. And their gazes towards each-other spoke of it. They'd known each other for such a long time, that they'd agreed to solve things fairly if it ever came to it - it hadn't really even needed to be a lenghty discussion - it was what felt the most natural, simple as that. They felt they were beyond something as silly as house ownership to ever let something like that mess with their relationship. And it wasn't like they were the most typical newly engaged couple from any point of view either.

The two left the office some twenty minutes later with all the documents, including the deed of the house, between a zip-up folder.

"We have a home," Rory exhaled and wrapped her arms around Logan's neck, kissing him tenderly in the parking lot.

"We do," Logan chimed.

"I feel like we should celebrate," Rory added excitedly, being particularly happy about the fact that Em was in Lorelai's care that night. Lorelai's place was all cleared up now and she'd already adjusted to being back there. Jess had been a huge help - a part of the extended family no matter where him and Rory stood.

"Well then it's lucky you have me, don't you - because I already booked us a table at Russell's," Logan replied, sneakily.

"I knew there was a reason I loved you," Rory teased, kissing him again and enjoying the way his arms around her waist pulled her even more firmly against him.

"But… There's something I promised to Honor I'd talk to you about, and I hate doing this now… seeing you in the good mood you are right now. But she's relentless," Logan explained, loving the way her face was all lit up in excitement. Honor kept calling her and asking if he'd spoken to Rory yet, and promising he'd do it soon, hadn't sufficed.

"What?" Rory asked, worriedly.

"She's suggesting we have dinner with Shira. At her place, not at Shira's," he added. "I don't even know what she aims to achieve. I guess she's feeling emphatic towards her. Wants us to announce the engagement formally, though for the life of me I don't understand how can she not know already," Logan explained, showing signs of frustration.

"Oh..," Rory replied, and exhibited an undoubtable frown. Shira had truthfully skipped her mind altogether and she didn't realize she hadn't been formally told.

"I know… I'm not eager to do it either," Logan replied, reluctantly.

"But I guess we probably have to, right? If we are inviting her to the wedding and all..," Rory shrugged, hesitantly. It seemed like something similar to getting one's shots, something one would never enjoy but just needed to get over with. And Shira really didn't scare her anymore, which was probably not something Logan understood quite that well.

Logan shrugged.

"Oh, I have an idea..," Rory suggested, excitement returning to her eyes.

"What?" Logan asked.

"How about we invite dad too, this way the playing field is evened a little, it's not so focused on you and me… dad is really good at keeping it light and casual. I was going to invite him over anyways, show him the house, catch up... I know it wouldn't be his favorite way to spend an evening either, but maybe it'll be okay. I'm sure he'd totally understand why I'm not inviting mom," Rory explained. Her mother had enough on her plate right now.

This way indeed, it didn't sound as dreadful anymore, and besides - Logan did want to show his gratitude to Christopher for helping them out with the house. He needed to do something, though forcing the man to join them at dinner felt like subjecting him to torture rather than something pleasant. But he could think of some ways to make it up to him at least.

"You can ask, I guess," Logan shrugged, feeling some optimism in getting Honor off her back soon.

"Okay, I will..," Rory replied. "But enough about that for tonight. I want to go have a nice dinner, have some of that really good wine that they have there… and then hopefully get a late night tour of our new house from yours truly," Rory said, with a hint of seductiveness in her tone, aiming to enjoy her free evening to the fullest.


AN: I was a little short of time so if there are any mistakes in the procedures of buying an house - just forgive me please. Where I am at it requires all parties to be present, but I am not sure if its the same there, here I just assumed for rich people there are certain exceptions. Same goes for early admissions - found some very mixed answers online. Don't like lowering the quality... but just haven't been doing that great.

I do appreciate your reviews! :)