Chapter 214

July 30th, 2022

Rory and Logan were having a romantic dinner at a beautiful sea-front restaurant. Logan had arranged a private balcony for the two of them, wanting Rory all to himself. And the food was incredible. She'd had crispy pork belly with caramelized plantains, smoked Kobe short rib with shallots and dark chocolate fondant, while Logan had chosen Rock Crab with a watermelon, avocado and baby arugula salad and roast Caribbean bouillabaisse, settling with a single bite of pity-dessert from Rory, feeling too full for more than that.

They'd taken their time, and Logan had indulged in a few glasses of wine too, while Rory kept whimpering how she craved a glass. From the viewpoint of actually having the ideal moment to enjoy some alcohol Rory was pregnant at an unfortunate time - missing out on that part of her bachelorette party, the wedding and the honeymoon. She was far from needing alcohol to enjoy herself, but the liquid certainly helped one relax and just be a little bit more carefree, which she on occasion did crave.

"Hey, I meant to ask you something," Logan began, as Rory was almost finishing their meal.

Rory looked at him questioningly, raising her eyebrows. She placed the last spoonful of her chocolate fondant into her mouth, having enjoyed every bite.

"So I think I'd be wise to get a place in the City. It can be something simple, maybe 2-3 bedroom apartment? Doesn't need to be very fancy. And please don't take it in a way that this means I don't plan on coming home in the evenings… that's not what this is, and especially not when the baby comes. I totally want to be there at that point and I am making sure I am," Logan said, nearly beginning to ramble which was not really like him.

Rory's mouth was still full, taking her time in replying. She was more curious about why Logan looked nervous about bringing it up. It had come up once before, but sure - less seriously.

"There are just going to be occasions when it might be comfortable for all of us to stay in the city for a night and not rush back," Logan explained.

"Anything specific?" Rory asked, sensing there was more to it.

"We have a couple of corporate dinners in September, but I know you might not be able to attend those…," Logan began. "But then there's the Christmas gala, things like that," Logan explained. He was sure he'd mentioned things like that to her at some point - at the very least during their Vegas arrangement. Ugh - he couldn't stand to even think of it anymore.

"Okay," Rory said.

"Okay? About the events or the place?" Logan asked.

"Both," Rory said, it not sounding like it was a big deal.

"Uh," Logan reacted, having expected her to object for some reason. "Now why did I expect this to be harder than this?" he asked, his hands relaxing to his sides.

"I don't know," Rory chuckled. "Why did you think it was going to be hard?" Rory asked, more seriously.

"I guess I figured you'd draw some connection to Jess working elsewhere and me doing something similar. But seriously - I swear it'd be a few days a week max, I told everyone it was a condition on my return," he explained.

"So I don't see a problem," Rory said. She felt the foundation was more solid for anything like this to happen. "Besides - if I am not completely sleep-deprived, I might just come with you. I might have meetings in the City too on occasion. And if I have a place there it'd be a lot easier to bring the baby with me," Rory said. She knew it'd be more complicated with Em at the same time. She didn't like the guilt of leaving her in Hartford all alone like that. Not with a nanny, and not constantly with her mom either. And now with Jess being further away - he wasn't really an option for weeknights. That part would take some ironing out. And she knew one of those options included moving all of them to the City... but she didn't want to go there yet, especially not with a newborn in mind - she loved their house too much to really humor the thought either.

"Okay, so I'll have a realtor narrow some options down for us," Logan said. "Any requests?" he asked, but he was pretty sure she knew her tastes and pet peeves already. Rory pondered out loud on the topic a little, but as expected didn't really add much to the table. Logan had pretty much expected she would prefer if the place was at least in Paris' vicinity too, because in the City they would certainly be each-other's main support networks.

Getting used to the responsibilities of a corporate wife, a Huntzberger wife - something Rory had dreaded for fifteen years - was not going to come always easily either. She could already imagine being expected to appear on some red carpet on his arm before Christmas, looking like he'd never been pregnant. With Em and Jess, she certainly hadn't had that type of pressure.

Logan swallowed the last of his wine and waved to the waiter to bring them their check, when Rory's phone rang.

She'd already spoken to Em that afternoon and for that reason she was rather surprised Jess was calling her at 9.30 PM.

"Hey?" Rory answered, mouthing 'Jess' to Logan to clarify.

"Hey. I hope it's not a bad time," Jess said, not sounding all that great.

"Everything okay? Em okay?" Rory asked with concern in her tone.

"Yeah, she's fine. Lily's staying at the same hotel as us and Em requested she give her a bath tonight. She's two rooms down the hall. Lily's expecting herself, you see..," Jess explained, hoping this part of what he had to say wasn't going to be an issue. Rory had met Lily too, so really she wasn't bothered by this - Lily was pretty much like Jess' other sister, despite having spent a lot less time with her than with Doula.

"Oh, okay. So what's this about?" Rory asked, following Logan's lead after he'd mouthed to her asking whether they were good to leave, to stand up and make their way out of the restaurant. They'd walked tonight, their villa being just a couple of minutes away.

"So we finally went to see Jimmy today," Jess said with a sigh.

"How is he?" Rory asked, interlinking her other hand with Logan as they strolled, the fullness of her stomach finally hitting her. They'd done a lot of walking that day and her legs were already a little tired too.

"Not good," Jess said, and Rory could tell he wasn't doing well at all. She could barely hear it but she could hear him sniffle.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Jess," Rory said, Logan now also observing her, understandingly.

"Cirrhosis of the liver and ascites…," Jess clarified.

"That's rough," Rory commented.

"He's gained a lot of weight because of it, nearly didn't recognize him," Jess said.

"Is he at a hospital or..?" Rory asked, also thinking about how Em might have perceived this change, having last seen Jimmy a couple of years ago.

"He's in and out... but there's nothing they can do unless he gets a transplant," Jess said, still sounding pretty upset.

"How long is the list?" Rory asked, compassionately. But she did wonder why he was calling her not Lisa.

"It's not short… and his track record hasn't exactly been stellar...," Jess explained.

"That sucks," Rory commented, not knowing what else to say.

"There' the possibility of a living transplant… but I don't know… Sasha mentioned it, he even didn't," he sniffle.

That caught Rory a little off guard. And now she was also beginning to understand why he was calling her but not Lisa. Lisa didn't know Jimmy, nor the kind of relationship he'd had with him. Plus she'd recently lost a parent. It was likely that her opinion was going to lean a lot in one direction.

"Does that make me a bad person that I'm not...?" he asked, not daring to say it out loud. Rory could tell he was having some serious doubts to even think about the possibility.

"No, absolutely not," Rory replied, firmly. "And I am sure he'd see it the same way. He has told you himself that he wasn't proud of how he handled things, how he didn't expect anything from you. So he can't possibly expect you to risk your life for him now...," Rory discussed. "You have other aspects to consider - Lisa, Em, your sisters, your mother...," she added, not wanting to include herself. She did care for him, she would always.

"Of course I don't even know if I'm a match..," Jess exhaled, sounding a little lighter. But there was still this guilt and Rory could imagine it well.

"So just tell her you're not or that you can't...," Rory suggested. Her priority was that Em would not risk losing her father. But she knew this wasn't nearly as black and white.

"Yeah - but he's still flesh and blood," Jess said, clearly still being pretty conflicted.

Rory sighed, deeply, not knowing what to say. She and Logan kept walking, Logan looking increasingly concerned too.

"Yeah, I know… I shouldn't have put this on you. I just didn't know who to call… I just had this small time frame before Em comes back and…," Jess said, apologetically. "Also… how do I tell Em?" he suddenly asked in a different eone, the realization hitting Rory at the same time. This was going to be a hard talk either way - whichever way this went. Em's experiences with death began and ended with the loss of Paul Anka. Sure, Jimmy wasn't that close - but he was still her grandfather.

"We'll tell her. Tomorrow?" Rory said, taking a deep breath. It needed to be done. "We'll keep it vague... And generic.. And prepare her for the worst. And whatever you decide - it's your choice, but I'll support you if that's what you need either way. We'll deal with that when we come to that bridge," Rory said, that promise coming out rather easily. She was in action mode in a way, though her entire body told her she didn't want him to risk it. In her eyes Jimmy wasn't worth it, even it that was a mean thing to think.

"Yeah. Tomorrow," Jess reflected, appreciating Rory's. He'd needed a shoulder tonight.

"It'll be okay," Rory assured.

"Yeah. Thanks. Again… sorry for calling. I know you're probably all lovey-dovey somewhere…" Jess said, trying to turn this into their usual, slightly teasing, banter.

"Good night," Rory said, realizing that somehow they'd made it all the way to the villa, as Logan opened the front gate for her.

"Everything okay?" Logan asked, having overheard some bits, but not the full story.

"His dad's dying… he's guilting himself out because he thinks he might be able to help with a partial liver transplant… but it's a really tough call. His relationship with him was probably even worse than yours. He just took off on him when he was a child. He's seen him twice in the past four years," Rory explained, massaging her forehead with the side of her hand. This wasn't indeed the heaviness she'd hoped for the evening.

Logan nodded, understandingly.

"Either way we're going to have to tell Em tomorrow that she's probably going to lose a grandfather soon… this way she can still you know - say goodbye… or I don't know - does someone her age even understand that concept. God, not what I wanted on my shoulders..," Rory explained with a sigh.

Logan didn't really know what to say - that was heavy and he didn't even begin to grasp how one approached a topic like that with a preschooler. He was also kind of curious as to why he'd unloaded onto Rory not his own significant other, but he just went ahead and assumed it was because of Em.

"I just want to forget about this for tonight. Tomorrow will be hard enough," Rory exhaled, as they made it upstairs towards their bedroom, Rory craving to take her shoes off.

"Would it be too tactless if I just suggested a movie and foot massage?" Logan said, and that certainly raised the corners of Rory's mouth. She was so glad to be here with him - he got her. There were things that were serious, but there were things she could do nothing about. It was out of her hands, and not her decision from any angle, and that even if she perhaps had leaned quite openly to one direction just now on the phone.


AN: wanted to make this longer but as I am just about to head out of town. I'll pick it up where I left off (some cozy naughtyness to follow) when I get back. So there might be some delay in posts this week.