AN: I made a small mistake in the timeline/dates in the last few chapters (just hopped over one day too much). But I'm choosing to ignore it.
Chapter 130
February 20th, 2022
The weather outside was truly gruesome. Shlush was falling from the sky and the temperature seemed to be fluctuating between above and below freezing throughout the day. It was the perfect day to stay indoors, and so they had for the most part.
Even Loki hadn't been too keen on stepping his paw out to the yard. Part of the problem was the ear protection wrap he wore with weather like this, it not being particularly to his liking. It was the third model Logan was trying on him, but this at least stayed on despite him attempting to shake it off of him. Logan was a lot more careful with Loki these days, having one ear infection experience behind him.
The adjustment to this new living arrangement had gone well, all things considered. Sure there had been issues with things that had been misplaced and a lot of getting to know each other on a day-to-day basis. The place was finished, just a few small things still on their way due to delays on some of the deliveries. But it was nothing that they couldn't live with. They all had their space, and Rory had made it a point to do several things just with Em too, to make sure she didn't feel like she had to share her with Logan all the time.
Logan had been quite surprised by how important it had been to set up his own study - a space that was his own, and that contained his own items. Even the little knick-knacks from the Vineyard seemed special somehow. And truthfully, he was really looking forward to the housewarming party they'd planned for the following weekend, wanting to show this place off to his friends.
Rory was the most proud of her idea of moving Em's toys out of her bedroom into the spare bedroom across the hall from Em's bedroom that was initially meant to be one of the two guest bedrooms. This way she had a separate playroom which enabled the safe evacuation of all of her toys, while her bedroom could be dog-proofed and while none of them had really aimed for this to become the norm, on most nights Loki slept at the foot of Em's bed.
That evening Logan was sitting on the living room floor with Em, playing Snakes and Ladders, but mostly just trying to avoid Loki getting the dice before they did, a mellow Mayaeni's 'Underdog' inspired playlist in the background. He quite liked hanging out with Em, despite it not always coming out entirely naturally. He was still looking for that perfect balance.
Rory, however, was in her study, seated behind her desk. But she wasn't alone. Lorelai was with her, enjoying the brand new chaise couch she'd set positioned in the outside corner of the room, a place where one could look out of the sunroom windows in all three directions. Lorelai was curled up comfortably, and was still nursing the empty cup she'd finished some minutes ago. Rory imagined it to be a great place to read while Em played outside during the summer, leaving whoever was sitting there with the chance to watch her play.
"So there was this one time when we went for that spa weekend at the Birch Grove Spa. The weekend was horrible... they didn't even have any coffee. She was horrible, she wouldn't shut up the entire time there. She got us a couples' massage," Lorelai blabbered, spelling the word 'couples' massage' out especially slow.
Rory knew this part of the story, but she was feeling grateful enough that she'd managed to get Lorelai over for this exact purpose - essentially to interview her about her grandmother. Though it was fair to say that Lorelai was also looking for ways to keep busy now that Luke had gotten out of the hospital and moved in above the diner. He still came and went, fixing things at their house and keeping most of his clothes there, but the dynamic had definitely shifted, and Lorelai didn't really know what to do about it other than to give it time. If there was a silver lining in all of this - it was that the town was being surprisingly tactful this time concerning this whole arrangement, despite the speculations going around.
"Uh-uh," Rory urged her mother to continue, while she continued to make notes.
"So, I suggested we go do something 'crazy'. In her opinion at least. We went out for dinner and we ended up eating at the bar and actually having a really good time. She told me this story, which I'd rather not remember. But I believe there was something about her and grandpa being in Thailand when they first married. How they ate viciously hot chilies and went skinny-dipping…," Lorelai described, shaking her head in disbelief as she rolled her eyes. But it was with laughter she was reminiscing things with and to Rory it was a good sight.
"You're kidding!?" Rory chuckled, loving hearing all these little facts about her grandmother she had never been privy to. She actually felt a little sad that her grandmother had not share these stories with her - how she'd played field hockey in college, how her grandmother and mother actually shared a love for musicals, how she dreamt of a Russian winter theme for Lorelai's wedding or how she hated small towns due to her reluctance to interact with her neighbors.
"Yup," Lorelai replied. "God, I wish I didn't know these things," she added, having already told a number of personal stories her mother had only ever really revealed to her. Sure, Rory knew a thing or two too - but those she'd already put down in that file of hers, the story having spilled out of her almost as easily as the first three chapters of the 'Gilmore Girls' had.
Thinking back Rory couldn't believe how she hadn't thought about how self-centered writing about herself had actually been. Writing this story, the term 'book' still sounding too scary, felt more mature to her, more level-headed, and certainly less introspective than Rory searching for answers to her own personal struggles. But in her head there were already parts of the story she'd once written were mixing in with what she was doing no, it almost felt like she couldn't turn off her brain. But claiming to be actually writing a book required self-belief and confidence, which she lacked in this particular field.
"Well… I think I have a pretty good list of things to go through now," Rory pushed her chair back and stretched out her arms. "Thanks for doing this," she added as she rose. She'd frankly assumed, it'd take a lot more convincing than the hot coffee with whipped cream and marshmallows she'd made her mother when she'd arrived to get her to open up like that. They'd been at it for a while, and besides feeling stiff from sitting at her desk too long, she was also getting kind of hungry.
"Sure, anytime. It was kind of fun." Lorelai replied, and followed Rory through Logan's study to the kitchen. "You know I'd would've never consider talking about mother 'fun' while she was alive. I suppose this distance thing really does work," she added with a hint of dark humour.
"What do you guys want to eat tonight?" Rory asked, loudly so her voice would also reach the living room where Em and Logan were.
"Mac and cheese!" Em requested, and let out a victorious shout next, indicating she'd won the game. Loki barked excitely along with her.
Her reply, however, made Rory roll her eyes, having been craving some Indian. While she could cook a simple mac and cheese by now, she liked to make it with a specific kind of cheese that she didn't have in the house right now, and she settled for ordering something.
"Maybe order from that new place we tried a few days ago. What was it? Pond House or something?" Logan suggested as he walked into the kitchen to refill his glass with water, having already guessed she'd be drawn to ordering in. It had already been a significant change in the household that Logan cooked several nights a week, always surprising the girls with something interesting alongside something 'safer' to ensure Em would eat something. Rory had never eaten this well at home.
"Okay…," Rory glanced over their menu on her phone, handed it to Logan to make his pick and then to Lorelai to do the same. While they hadn't moved anywhere far, there was still a slightly different selection of places around, there were new destinations and routes to take if they went for walks or wanted to take Em to the playground. The old destinations hadn't gone anywhere, but their selection had been enriched.
"A salad, really Logan?" Lorelai couldn't help but to scold him, but it really was no surprise to her he was a healthy eater, and handed the phone back to Rory.
Logan replied with a shrug and smile. "So how's the biography going?" Logan asked, to the point, having decided to call it by what he believed it to be.
"It's going well. Mom had some pretty cool stories for me, it's definitely going to spice it up," Rory explained, feeling good about what she'd gotten done that day. She'd talked to Logan quite a lot about the things she'd found out from archives and even some of her D.A.R connections. She was definitely enjoying the digging. And Logan had just listened, one of their favorite past times being just the talking in bed, after the lights had been turned off, while cuddling. That was truly something she'd missed all these years.
"You know you could probably write an article about grandma for the D.A.R Bulletin. It will be 5 years since her passing this summer. I'm sure they'd publish this," Lorelai suggested, now really knowing the depth or length of her writing. She'd just gotten the general story - that Rory was looking into her grandmother and had realized she didn't know a whole lot.
"Oh yeah, definitely," Rory replied, sounding like something she could wrap up in an evening. But it truly was the first time she thought, really thought, about what the limit of this material would be. It was certainly more valuable than something to put into a bulletin only a handful of people read.
"Why stop there?" Logan suggested, casually, and took a sip of water. He'd just felt he had to throw it out there, hoping she'd dream bigger. He hoped she knew that she could do that - she could dream bigger. Especially now. Until now, he'd been holding off on the hints, by now realizing that Rory struggled with choices that concerned her career. He now understood better than ever that she essentially wanted his opinion to base her choices on and that it mattered to her a great deal. But he didn't want to give it, not lightly at least. And for that reason he hadn't said much at all. He hadn't even asked her about whether she'd decided on teaching the summer course, just offered her an ear to bounce her ideas off of.
Rory could hear Em put on the TV, and she glanced a brief look into the living room to see what she was watching.
"Hey, whatever happened to grandma's photos?" Rory changed the subject, still feeling a little uncomfortable planning anything concrete with the story.
"I think most of them are still in the Sandcastle. I have some, but I think she moved them there herself," Lorelai replied.
"That's too bad," Rory commented, having hoped to have some of those as inspiration. She wasn't planning on going to Nantucked until summer, sometime before the wedding to get the place ready for the event.
"Hey, did you ever decide if you're going to become Max's apprentice or not?" Lorelai asked, curiously. "I have to say that'd be so weird, next he'll be suggesting you go to Stanford, and what was it… I think the University of Maryland or something where he also said he'd taught," Lorelai added, still finding it a little entertaining her ex-fiance and Rory worked together so closely.
Logan listented expectantly, having wanted to let Rory make her decision in peace. He knew that she'd need to give Max her response the following day.
"Honestly?" Rory sighed.
"Is there any other way?" Lorelai responded.
"Honestly I don't know," Rory shrugged. "I don't understand why it is so difficult for me to make these decisions. On one hand it's something different, exciting, it might be a really great opportunity. I feel so honored that he even asked me, I'm so new at this I don't even fully believe I deserve it. But on the other it's just the timing, and it'd mean I'd have even less free time if I had to prepare for that. I'm streched thin as it is. It's two weeks of what could be possibly my honeymoon, and I'd be away from Em…," Rory rambled.
"I see someone's been making lists," Lorelai noted.
"Well which one would do you most good in the long run? Is it a challenge that you need or do you need some time to pull back and figure out what you want by slowing down?" Logan said, trying to help. He'd actually read up on the matter a little. Indecision was quite a common problem, and it was certainly one of Rory's.
"I don't even know if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life," Rory added, more hesitantly.
"I was pretty sure when you were 32 that that'd be the age in which you'd get your mohawk, but I guess it's not too late for that," Lorelai commented, hinting that this sounded like a mid-life crisis in the works. She'd once had a theory that 43 was that magical age when Rory would get to that mohawk, but essenitally that had been just a joke. In her opinion Rory had had already her fair share of lows, she didn't want to see her end up in another one.
"I've never really dyed my hair purple or anything," Rory whined.
"Yeah, even Lane got that on you," Lorelai replied.
"Hey, come on - it's not that bad. Just think for a second - is what you feel like you need right now to have some time off, have the summer off, to figure these things out?" Logan suggested, speaking meaningfully, knowing she knew he meant also personal aspects of their lives. "Or is pushing yourself to get wrapped deeper in what you've been doing now what you need?" Logan added, stroking her arm.
"I guess I want time," she admitted, but didn't sound satisfied with that response. She really didn't want to get wrapped into this thing she wasn't sure about even deeper, even if the opportunity had some pros.
"So what's stopping you from doing it?" Logan asked, calmly, glancing briefly at Lorelai as he was not really used to having an audience. He kept thinking what she was thinking of his approach, whether in her mind it was him persuading Rory into something she didn't agree with.
"I'll disappoint him," Rory replied, honestly. It was a part of it certainly.
"I am sure he knows more smart people than just you, he'll find someone else. And I am positive that once you tell him that it's cutting into your honeymoon time, he'll totally understand, even if the reason is a little frivolous. And if it makes you feel any better just tell him that you're glad he thought of you and would possibly be open to similar offers in the future," Logan suggested, thinking of a scenario he liked to call 'not closing the door fully when walking out'. While his deals back at the HPG had been much bigger than decisions about two weeks away in Toronto, it was the same logic he could apply here.
"I guess," Rory shrugged.
"It's all my fault, all that gluttony and never having you make enough decisions as a child," Lorelai noted, realizing that she'd never been a particularly good role model in making decisions either.
"It's two weeks, it's not a whole career change. You won't even remember this in 10 years," Logan continued.
"Yeah, you're right," Rory agreed. "Now why did it take this long for you to tell me that?! You let me play this broken record for more than a week," she accused him, but playfully so.
"Because these are your decisions - I don't want you blaming me for opportunities you haven't taken or choosing to enjoy life over something productive. I've learned that lesson, believe me," Logan added, but his train of thought there, not wanting to go into the fight they'd once had when Rory had had that semester off from Yale. That along with some of his not so perfect behavior had led them to one of their breakups. They didn't really need a remainder of that.
"Ah.. now you're making me doubt again," Rory groaned, childishly.
"Fine - blame me, okay? But just let me put together a honeymoon you will not forget and I promise you will not even think twice about wanting to be in some stuffy auditorium," Logan relented, actually believing like in this case he could just spoil Rory so there would be no way for her to stay mad at him for long, even if she did end up regretting not taking that chance for some reason.
"That does sound like a pretty good deal, I'd take it," Lorelai replied. "Just imagine - poolside, cocktails, servants fanning you with palm leaves versus sweat stains and chalk hands," she added, jokingly.
"Fine.. fine…, it's decided," Rory exhaled, feeling relieved.
Logan struggled to fight the smile on his lips, feeling very happy he could set his plan in motion. He knew there were possible limitations, but the general direction of them at least had just gotten a green flag.
"Do you see this? Just look at that grin!" Rory said to her mother, gesturing at Logan's grin, realizing the decision had really meant more to Logan than he'd let on.
