Chapter 114

January 23nd, 2022

"Well she certainly likes to make an entrance," Honor mused from the middle of her living room watching her mother emerge from the dark green Jaguar with the help of his driver through the window alongside Rory.

Shira wasn't too steady on her feet these days, she used a cane and everything, even though she preferred to pretend she was still in her forties and try to hide her signs of aging. There was no hiding the fact that the speed in which she made her way across the driveway was that of a snail, hinting at her joint problems which couldn't be solved entirely by throwing money at the problem either.

"Ah.. I've heard stories about her," Christopher commented as he joined them, and embraced the chance to sip the whiskey sour in his hand. He'd gotten there the same time as Rory and Logan, and apparently he already knew Josh through work - surprise - surprise, which meant he'd blended in in an instant, having that magical relaxed presence about him.

"You've never met her?" Rory asked, not quite realizing. She'd always imagined that the Hayden's surely would've hung out in the same circles, but apparently there was a lot she didn't know.

"We might have been to some events, but I don't think I've ever had a full conversation with her," Christopher explained, adding in a whisper, "I knew better," and chuckled.

"Oh no need to whisper - we all know what she can be like," Honor commented. She was dressed in a simple pair of chinos and a white Miu Miu sweater, having been very decisive in avoiding the formal dress code at dinners held at her house. Her house just didn't look the part, and she'd gotten used to doing this ten degrees more simply than what she'd grown up with.

"You guys look like you're in the zoo," Logan pointed out in a low chuckle as he returned from the bar, and handed Honor and Rory their martinis. This was so not the day she'd want to stay entirely sober for.

"Oh stop it," Rory scolded him, knowing that while the slightly mocking stance was in part for her encouragement, as everybody, Honor, Josh and even Christopher, had been concerned about how this meeting would go for Rory's sake. Rory was nervous, naturally, but instead of admitting that she was worried, she simply slid her hands over her modest navy-colored wrap dress, adjusting it a little, and tried to look unshaken.

As Honor headed for the door to let her mother in personally, also loving to shock her mother every now and again by the shortage of maids in her household during weekends, Logan slipped his hand to the small of Rory's back and whispered, "It'll just like ripping off a bandage, it'll be over and done before you know it."

Rory was a little puzzled by his words, but figured it was probably him who needed to believe it as much as she did.

The introductions in the sitting room were polite, much like Rory was used to from Friday Night Dinners. But so far Shira was really hard to read. In part this was due to the fact that despite having had the best plastic surgeons to make sure her exterior remained young much longer than possible without the interventions of medicine, her face still showed some signs of the honing effect and the 'pulled' effect around her eyes, leaving her face not showing much emotion. But she seemed in enough denial not to realize it herself. Her hair was still as platinum as it had always been. And she certainly didn't miss a beat with her wardrobe, having only toned down a little on the glitter.

"So, Logan, how have you been?" Shira asked, after a while after Honor had finished the initial pleasantries and guided everyone to the dinner table. She hadn't done all of this by herself, she had a cook to help out, but the dinner table sure looked like it had been professionally decorated - white-painted pine cones, little golden glass candle-holders and see-through white glass bubbles making it winter-inspired but not too Christmasy.

"Good, Rory and I just bought a house," Logan shared, took Rory's hand on the table and squeezed it. He could still read ill meaning in his mother's words by not extending the question to Rory as well. He really didn't know if Shira did this knowingly or was that just who she was.

"Oh, really? Where?" Shira inquired, and nodded thankfully to the chef who just served her gorgeous looking but simple pear and radish salad with gorgonzola and nori.

"West End," Rory replied, proudly.

"Not in West Hartford?" Shira asked with a hint of disappointment in her tone. The house was just on the outskirts of it, and it certainly wasn't a bad neighborhood, but to her things like that clearly mattered.

"I grew up just around those streets, it's pretty nice," Christopher stepped in. "I got a brief look at it already yesterday," Christopher added. He'd gotten the tour yesterday, but since there wasn't a lot to see now that the contractors had begun to work on the place. Still he was glad to be involved.

"Well I certainly must visit, haven't been to Hartford in ages," Shira exhaled, as if that was something unthinkable.

"And we've just been so busy with the purchase and the construction, we simply haven't gotten around to sending out invites yet," Rory declared, having planned to make the announcement as casually as possible. Logan simply didn't believe her mother didn't know about the engagement and had talked to Rory throughout the week how he almost wanted to let her grill as long as possible without saying that sentence out loud. But Rory felt it was just better to get it over with, wanting to take the high road.

"Invites for what?" Shira asked, playing obviously. Or at least she had to be - she couldn't possibly be this oblivious, could she? Most of the D.A.R already knew, one run-in to Tweeny Halper at West Helm with Riory's ring right on display having done the trick, besides the social media announcement,

"For our wedding, mom," Logan spelled it out for him, somewhat reluctantly. "I assumed you knew," he added, as if it was no big dea.

"Well, you can't really trust gossip, can you? Logan should know that," Shira added, surprisingly to the point.

Logan bit his tongue, desperately hoping his mother would not bring up any of the stories that were or had been out there about him.

"I guess, you're right," Logan relented, not wanting to argue. At least the announcement was done, and he felt thankful to Rory, thinking back.

"And when is the happy day?" Christopher asked, not knowing all the details yet either.

"July 23rd," Rory replied.

"But that's so soon," Shira exclaimed. That too was sort of anticipated - Logan and Odette having had an engagement that had lasted longer than a year.

"Ah, with the two of these, I'd say it's just soon enough," Christopher defended them, sounding chipper.

"Couldn't agree more," Logan replied, and took a sip of his club soda.

"And it will be in Nantucket, at the Sandcastle," Rory shared.

"We'll just need to know whether to book you guys ferry or plane tickets," Logan added, speaking to everyone at the table.

"I think me and Gigi will probably drive, we're long due a little road trip," Christopher replied, hinting that they'd prefer taking the ferry.

"I'm sorry. Who's Gigi?" Shira inquired, her nose up in the sky stance beginning to mellow a little. She could've just pretended to be too good to asj, but she actually seemed genuinely interested.

"Oh, I'm sorry. She's my youngest daughter, she's just starting Yale next year," Christopher shared. Rory also wondered why he didn't mention a plus one. From when she'd visited him in Boston a few months ago she had still been pretty sure Lana was in his life. But she made a mental note to ask about it later. Perhaps it was just that Lana had never been involved much in his children's lives, Rory only having met her a couple of times over the years.

"So she's sure that's where she's going? No second thoughts? I thought she got into a few more places," Rory inquired, having decided to carry on as if Shira wasn't in the room. She wanted to show herself in her most natural, and certainly in a way that she wasn't bothered by her. She could be in their lives, but it didn't mean she had to like her or try to entertain her. They'd involved her, that was all they'd promised to do.

"Columbia wanted her as well, but I think you've been the ultimate Yale ambassador, promising her all kinds of college experiences she wouldn't get anywhere else," Christopher replied. "Besides, I like having her a little closer than the City," he added.

"Says the person who's been freely shipping Gigi to Paris every few months," Rory teased, but in a friendly tone. Gigi had been one of those kids who traveled across the atlantic throughout her life with a special travel-nanny and knew her way through Charles De Gaulle, JFK and Boston Logan without guides by the time she was 12.

"Yeah, but she has her mom there," Christopher explained, realizing not a lot of the people around the table knew about the fact. Rory naturally knew that, but this was just a part of trying to steer a casual conversation, trying perhaps a little too much.

"God, I miss Paris… I haven't had a chance to go in years..," Honor exclaimed, drifting the topic towards the Fashion Week and an amazing patisserie she knew in Le Marais. She also spent a significant time complaining how going to London was tortuous, having Paris just at the grasp like that, but not having a day to spare.

Logan really didn't miss Paris, the place containing too many memories he would've preferred to not have.

A good ten-fifteen minutes of reminiscing on the topic of Paris and all things French followed, both Christopher and Shira having a lot to add. Thankfully, it all stayed fairly neutral, while Logan simply avoided the topic.

"So Rory, I hear you have a daughter, is that right?" Shira inquired, setting her fork and knife to the side for a minute, as they'd minutes ago been served Lemon Garlic Chicken that smelled divine. The food was definitely more earthy, more to everyone else's tastes than hers.

"I do, she's four. Named after my grandmother, but everyone calls her Em," Rory said.

"How nice," Shira commented, and said a few polite lines about Rory's grandmother which everyone knew to take with a grain of salt.

"She's adorable," Honor chimed in, wanting to discuss Em some more.

"She's pretty incredible, so clever too," Logan added.

Logan studied her mother very carefully now, almost expecting the next question to be about the girl's father. But to his surprise that never came, Honor adding some cute story about how her kids had built snowmen with her a few weeks ago.

"You know, I never really understood whether Logan just didn't like kids or never wanted to have his own," Shira pondered out loud, certainly hitting very close to the never. "In that sense it's a little ironic that Rory already has a daughter, isn't it?" she added, making the statement sound a lot more innocent than it really was.

Logan cast a look of warning towards her mother, but instead of letting out his burst of anger along the lines of - "Well, mom, had you ever really bothered to ask me what I wanted and actually listen to me, you might know better" - he did what he'd very cautiously taught himself to do. He took a deep breath, and then another.

"You'd have to be pretty blind not to know how much Logan loves kids," Honor defended him.

"He's really good with Em too. They have their little outings, just the two of them, and now as Logan has Loki - he's become like this special project of theirs. They're really cute together," Rory praised him, but hoped the topic of future kids would stay off the table. They'd discussed the puppy earlier during drinks, hence it was no news.

But it was her father who did it, rather innocently. "I know it's a lame thing for a parent to ask, but have you two considered, you know… having one of your own?" Christopher inquired, and took a bite of grilled parsnip.

"Well it's a little soon for any promises, but we're not ruling it out," Logan, having gathered himself, answered, squeezing Rory's hand on the table again. He truly hoped it was vague but optimistic enough to leave everyone satisfied.

"I kind of figured, considering the size of the house," Christopher replied, and smiled supportively.

"It's that or… just in-home work space for the two of us and plenty of space to entertain our friends and family," Logan added, casually.

"What is it that you do, Rory? I don't quite recall," Shira asked soon enough, thankfully staying clear of the topic of babies, perhaps feeling a little outnumbered.

"I teach at Chilton. English literature," Rory replied, but felt more ashamed than she had in a good while as she'd said it. She hated that feeling, and she hated that feeling especially since the past few weeks she'd truly felt like an unmotivated imposter. She didn't even know where it came from, but she said the one thing that she wasn't embarrassed about. "And I still write a little," Rory said, even though the piece… whatever it was… that she'd been writing about her grandmother truly having woken a spark for writing something beyond assignment instructions.

It certainly caught Logan's attention, and a little her father's too, but neither commented on it.

"Teaching is a noble profession, not everyone can do it," Shira then replied, catching most of the dinner party by surprise.

"I guess that's true," Rory commented, and the group continued to eat, staying well clear of sensitive topics for the rest of the evening.