Chapter 141
April 1st, 1991
The 9-year-old Logan Huntzberger, dressed in a uniform consisting of navy slacks and a white button-up shirt, was sitting in the waiting room of his school principal, hearing the low mumble through the closed door. His nanny, his principal and his teacher were in that room, and had been for a good ten minutes now. His school uniform shirt wasn't in the best condition, its sleeve having lost a button and gotten a few stains of it during the first half of the day. Whoever thought a white dress shirt would make a good item for kids to wear?
He didn't hear the specifics of this talk, but he knew the reason well enough. He'd climbed out of his classroom window and onto the lower part of the roof, attempting to sneak behind the window of the dining hall to check what was for lunch. He'd been hungry and most importantly bored. It hadn't been particularily dangerous even, at least in the opinion of a 9-year-old. He'd gotten a big cheer and an applause from his classmates, and frankly he felt a little proud. For a minute he'd been their hero. And that even despite the fact that he'd never gotten to eat the meatloaf with baked potatoes he'd begun craving and his stomach grumbled in disappointment.
The sound of the keyboard, or perhaps it was an electronic typewriter, could be heard from behind him, and knowing what a mean grin Mrs. Lowell had, he didn't dare to look at its direction.
The next minute the door of the office blew open, his French nanny, Camille, grabbed a hold of his hand, indicating it was time to go.
"Huntzberger - I do hope to see your parents sometime," his principal, Mr. Monaghan stated.
Logan could've said that so did he, but in that age he was too proud to admit it. He hadn't done this particular stunt as a means to get attention, not knowingly at least - least of all the attention of his parents. After all, his parent's attention mostly involved presenting him in various events in uncomfortable suits, mostly ending up with over-perfumed older women talking about how cute he looked, which frankly made him sick to his stomach. But he couldn't deny that he did enjoy the attention after he'd gotten it, but he'd rather liked being the hero in this unconventional way.
"And I hope you learn from this," his English teacher added. "It'd be such a waste otherwise," he commented, referring to the fact that Logan usually really didn't have any problems in English. Reading came easy, being practically born with a newspaper in his hands, and the rest - it was just something he only ever really needed to skim over.
While most kids, being dragged out of school an hour after his skipped lunch, by their nanny or parent, would worry about what kind of punishment besides being sent home would follow, with Camille he knew he didn't need to worry much. His father was in New York the last time he'd heard from him, about a week ago, and his mother, while home, had just a week ago had some survey - he wasn't really sure what kind but he didn't ask, either way, ensuring that she didn't leave the house. And mostly she just spoke on the phone with her friends or spent her days in her bedroom not paying much attention to him. His sister had recently started at a boarding school, hence he saw a lot less of her too.
Camille was allowed to punish him if needed by limiting what he could do, but it couldn't involve the family's things. So he wouldn't be forbidden to read, his video games couldn't be taken away, nor his mountain bike or anything like that. But Camille could say she was too busy to drive him somewhere if he wanted to visit someone or go see a movie for example. And these usually came when he really wanted to go but didn't exactly know when Camille would subject him to those, so he simply knew better not even bother asking for a while.
There was no lecture in the car on their way back home either, and he doubted he'd be getting more than three lines from her mother if he did see her the entire evening.
"Here," Camille, a woman approaching her 50s, spoke and handed him a granola bar from her purse. It wasn't the kind they had at the house, so it must've been hers. Logan had also heard that soon enough he might no longer need an actual nanny. It was not like he couldn't dress himself or get his homework done. So perhaps getting Camille called to the school to pick him up was a good thing? Proving she had a purpose.
"Thanks," Logan replied, humbly.
"I'll make you something when we get home," she added, knowing she wouldn't need to really as there were two people who were hired specifically for that purpose to the kitchen.
But Logan loved it when she cooked - it was more personal, and she'd cook whatever simple thing it was as he'd sit at the counter and they'd talk. In that moment it had been just that, just hanging out and making sure he wouldn't have to receive another lecture as she too seemed to understand his reasons for doing these things. But deep down it was more than that.
March 15th, 2022
Logan inhaled and exhaled using both his nose and mouth combined as he picked up his pace. It was already dark outside, and for the life of him he couldn't understand why the street lighting in this no-doubt decent neighborhood was so poor. It could've also been that his eyes were a little tired, having spent the entire evening catching up with work until half an hour ago.
He also had to admit he was still a little pissed about Em's mischief and Rory's reaction to it. Hence the late night run was his means to unravel some of the negative emotions, having already done a once around the block together with Loki and then continued on his own after dropping Loki off back home. It felt damn good to move his muscles though, the activity giving him a much-needed endorphin high but it didn't quite skatter his thoughts as easily, especially if he held back on the maximum he was capable off.
It was not that he didn't want to help Rory out in the future when the occasion occurred, but it did make him hesitate on how badly he'd want to. It was a strange feeling, he'd never really experienced before. From his own experience he could relate to doing a lot of pranks, tricks and simply disobeying in his lifetime, but somehow this situation had made him see, for the first time really see, the other side of these things. It was not that Colin and Finn, or Richard Gilmore for that matter, hadn't never tricked him, but that this had been different. It wasn't even that funny, and while he knew Em may also be feeling embarrassed thinking back, and that was why she was so reluctant to speak of it. But for the first time he'd thought it as a good thing that Em wasn't his, almost as if that allowed him the ability to dislike her at least for the moment. It was safe to say he didn't felt proud thinking that, and he certainly wasn't going to revelal that train of thought to Rory. It wans't something he believed in, it was just a temporary emotion. He wondered how he'd behave and feel had it been his own kid, but he supressed the feeling quickly, not daring to dream too much.
He'd also been surprised by how strongly he felt about kids taking responsibility for what they'd done and appropriate punishments. It was not like he'd had to take a lot of them in his past. If anything there had always been his parent's money that had cleared up his messes, big and small. There had even been schools that hadn't dared to nail him for any of the minor stuff at all, because his father was donating vast sums to the place which they couldn't afford to part from. He'd gotten punished too - most just lectured about public image and responsibility towards their stockholders, embarrassing his mother or if it had been left up to Camille - mostly just kept him grounded with all his fancy toys and games. Hardly a real punishment at all, was it not? So why did he feel so strongly about this? Did he really believe he would've grown up differently or better had he gotten more of his parents' attention and stricter punishments?
He didn't believe in anything physical, of course not. But still - it was a whole other topic he'd never really had to think about before, and his mind went through various scenarios he'd seen in movies, tv-shows and read in books as well as seen in families he knew.
"Kevin, get upstairs right now!" - Logan recalled Kevin McCallister being sent to the addict without dinner. There was no doubt he'd agree with Harry Potter being put to solitary confinement under the stairs either. Verbal abuse as he remembered from Matilda or Kramer vs. Kramer, in the latter with also the physical removal of the kid to his room, wasn't what he agreed with either. He didn't want his kids - kid, he found himself correcting, to be the kind that was too afraid to step out of line either - 'Joe the King' coming into mind. He didn't even like raising his voice. He realized at that moment that he actually felt undereducated in this and the only way he knew how to solve it was to do some serious reading on the matter, even though he felt his suggestions hadn't been harsh or unfair at all in comparison.
Yet it was Rory's response that puzzled him - she'd almost doubted his words, she'd hesitated in confirming his judgment. He didn't want to know how Em felt about it, expecting it to be biased. He felt like his opinion and judgment didn't matter, and there was no denying it felt bad. He knew the lines were fuzzy and it likely wasn't just Rory's decision either but surely there should be something he was allowed to do?
He tried to picture having to parent someone as privileged and mischievous as he himself had been and frankly the scenario was scary. Was he even up for this? Sure, Em would get raised either way and surely each kid was allowed to make mistakes in judgment, that was how one learned too - wasn't it? It was just that the complexities of raising a kid were finally becoming more clear to him. It wasn't just about being their friend like it had been now, both with his sister's kids and Em.
Logan stepped into the foyer fifteen minutes later, finding most of the first floor lights switched off. His headphones still blasted his playlist, having just switched to Rhys Lewis' 'Things You Can't Change', having intentionally picked a less angry playlist to relax himself this evening.
Suddenly, as he began to push off his sneakers from his feet, not wanting to leave mud stains, he'd gotten from doing a few shortcuts down the road, he felt two arms wrap around his torso. The way Rory looked at him as he turned and pulled out his headphones, almost looked apologetic.
"Hey," Logan heard her say.
"Hey," he exhaled, feeling a little gross, truth be told, sweat running down from every inch of his body, his clothes feeling soaked.
"You okay?" Rory asked, caringly.
Logan nodded.
"I thought about it and… and you're right, I need to figure out what the right thing to do here is… And I do agree on no candy for a week. It might mean I might have to eat them secretly though," Rory added, and continued to explain how TV would've been difficult to achieve when all she often felt like doing herself after a long day, these days, was stare mindlessly into the glowing screen.
"But I'll have to discuss it with Jess. Just so he isn't blindsighted by any of it either," Rory continued. "We need to think of a couple of scenarios where your word matters. Because it does, it's not nothing and she needs to learn to listen to you too. She's been a sweetheart until now, but who knows - maybe one day I'll be sitting in on the S.A.T-s or something and someone will need to go pick her up at the school for something that she did. Let's hope not, but it's not impossible," Rory added.
"Okay. Thank you," Logan replied, his breathing having normalized by now, and he'd taken off his jacket.
"I never meant to doubt you, it's just new to me too," Rory added.
"It's fine, I get it - it's definitely new for me too," Logan agreed, and wrapped his arms around her regardless of his damp outfit. Rory didn't seem to care, and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"You're getting yourself all sweaty," Logan commented as the kiss broke.
"Don't care," Rory replied. "You know… since you're taking a shower anyways," Rory began, sensually. "I realized the other day that the guest room has a different type of shower," she hinted and wordlessly led him upstairs, making it very clear that Em was already fast asleep so they could have a little treat themselves. Thankfully, the second guest bedroom was on the opposite side of the hallway, far from Em's room, which was an added bonus.
Along with hungry, passionate kisses, their clothes were shed onto the floor of the guest bedroom, not bothering with any other lights than the one by the vanity. In no time the water, pleasantly warm, cascaded over them, washing off the earlier troubles.
They lingered there for a minute, simply holding each-other, kissing each-other's skin. Logan's arm caressed her arms, exploring further down around her hips and gently squeezed Rory's ass, pulling her firmly against his growing arousal.
"Ah...," Rory let out a moan of delight, loving his assertive grasp.
Logan kissed her again, just wanting to enjoy this little moment by themselves.
Slowly his lips trailed down her neck and he bent down to provide her nipples with some special treatment. First he licked one of them, causing a light jolt in Rory at the sensation. A reaction stronger than usual, but he figured she might just be that turned on already - and that thought alone was as hot as hell and it made him want to do it again and again.
Logan kissed her nipple as if it was something to be devoured, loving Rory's reactions that he could feel on his neck and shoulder - her nails almost digging into his skin. He reached one of his hands down between her legs, first gently brushing the back of his hand against her mound, still continuing licking her nipple. Both his mouth and fingers were gathering courage, dipping his two fingers between her folds and sensing her rocking her hips against them, a gentle craze with his teeth…
"Auch!" Rory suddenly exclaimed, louder than intended.
"Too much?" Logan asked, sounding a little confused. He'd just bit into her nipple, but in his opinion rather gently - no more than usual. In his experience she liked this type of thing, and her earlier moans had supported that hypothesis as well.
"Just stick to kissing," Rory instructed, not wanting him to stop entirely either, her eyes fluttering between open and shut at what she was feeling.
Logan complied, moving forward to the other breast, but it was as he added his hand on the first breast, massaging it, she spoke up agian.
"Easy…," Rory hummed, the sensitivity of her breasts suddenly becoming very evident, and instructed his hand elsewhere.
"Wait..," Rory added, somewhat reluctantly as his hand was doing some amazing things between her thighs right now.
"What?" Logan asked, straightening his back.
Rory felt her breasts all around, still standing in the shower, cradling them, squeezing them gently - observing the fragile balance between good and painful sensations.
"It's just that haven't felt this tender since...," Rory began, her mind going a million miles a minute.
