Chapter Sixteen – Responsible Adults
Rory smiled as she looked back at old photographs of her and her mom when she was still such a young child. Although she had the same fantasy that any child had when they were of a single-parent household – their parents being together happily married – she didn't feel as if she was lacking very much. That being said, it would have been completely different had her father stayed but he wasn't cut out to live life with such strict rules.
Her mother hadn't had very much money. They hadn't really had a proper place to live in the beginning. She wasn't ever lavished with toys and goodies. Life had still been good though and she had learned a lot of lessons along the way. She didn't think that she would have ever grown up to be much like Madeline or Louise and being Paris gave her the shivers, as much as she loved her friend now. Still, if she had grown up knowing that she would be going to Chilton since she was a young girl and had had a life mapped out for her to go to Yale and follow in the Gilmore footsteps, would she be her? Would she have had a happy life where she could fully develop as a person or would she have felt prohibited like her mother.
Rory sighed. Whatever had happened in the past or whatever could have happened. Those things weren't important. What was important was taking those moments in her own childhood that still gave her so much happiness and adding to them, having Logan strengthen those memories so that their child could have whatever they needed.
Thinking about Logan. These events had truly changed him. Logan might have been born into a very wealthy, high-profile family where he was seen as the heir to the estate and fortune but he hadn't truly been a gentleman when she had first met him. Rather, there had been others around her that had fit that description but Logan did offer her something else. He was fun, daring, a bit of a risk taker and he had a huge heart when something did mean something to him. Maybe he was only pretending to be happy as well, that could be a possibility and that was one which Rory didn't want to admit to.
As she looked over the photographs, her phone rang and she smiled seeing that the number appearing was her dad. She put the photo albums down and pulled her knees up to her as close as possible. "Hi," she smiled before hearing her dad's chuckle.
"Managed to catch you, mother-to-be," Christopher teased with her. "Doing anything fun?"
"Looking at pictures from when I was a kid," Rory replied and heard the silence on the other end of the line. Was that the wrong thing for her to say? She knew that these days that her father really regretted not being in her life more despite how he knew that her mother could take care of herself with that fire of independence but Rory couldn't deny that she had been thinking about what might have happened had he been there.
"And…" Christopher laughed again but Rory could tell that he was bracing himself.
"Do you think that it's necessary to balance fun with responsibility?" she asked. She rolled her eyes. She knew the answer to that. She was a student at Yale and of course she knew the answer to that question. It made her feel a little bit stupid having to ask it. Still, she was a bit worried about Logan. If he repressed so much of his risk-taking self then would it bubble up inside of him. Would it someday come out in the wrong way, released against her or even worse, the children. No. Logan wasn't like that, he wouldn't be someone who would act as his own father would but it still made her worry.
"Well, that's a healthy part of life," Christopher replied, "I mean, you can't have the roller coaster until you have the safety in the track. What kind of place would amusement parks be if that happened."
Rory nodded. She had forgotten about the fact that she and Lorelei had thought about riding different roller coasters until that point. Yes, it had more of a chance of not happening than happening but it was something which they had discussed for years and now it was most likely going to be her taking care of her own child. "If you had been with Mom during the pregnancy would you have wanted to have fun with your friends too or - what would you have done."
"This is about Logan, isn't it?" Christopher asked bluntly. "I thought you said you spent time with his friends as well."
"I have…" Rory said apprehensively. Would that work? A group date sounded like a lot of fun but would it really allow Logan to destress if she was involved. Maybe just going to a restaurant with Colin and Finn would be enough. She wasn't sure whether they were still with their significant others or what the situation was. Hopefully there weren't any milkmaids being dragged back from Europe.
"Then arrange something with them. I think that right now Logan's worried about work. His dad sounds like one of those workaholic types. Maybe you should get one of them," Christopher joked and Rory rolled her eyes.
"I think I'm happy with the father that I have," she told him before closing her eyes. "When are you coming back? I feel like you've been on that trip for a -"
"I'll be back tonight, you worried about me?" Christopher laughed again and Rory smiled, holding the phone close to her cheek.
"Not worried. Logan's here and this house only has so much room. I'm hoping that we won't be an inconvenience for you and Mom." Rory heard footsteps from down the hall which might mean that Logan had woken up. What she didn't want for him to do was find her discussing him behind his back. Worry was one thing but bringing other people into the conversation was a little bit more than just a casual worry.
"Well, you'll have that huge house of yours to look forward to," Christopher joked again. "Anything else that I can help with?"
"Not right now," Rory said as she smiled up at Logan. She had to keep herself from laughing. He hadn't done any work on his hair since leaving the bed so he did look like quite the adorable mess. She kind of liked this look for him. The adorable rich boy being a little more casual. Maybe it was just thinking about the reaction his parents would have if he ever went out in public in this manner.
"Well, I'll see you tonight then. Love you, kiddo," Christopher said and Rory nodded.
"I love you too, Dad." She hung up the phone and placed it on top of the closed photo album before going over to Logan and wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her tighter into his own embrace and hummed. He kissed her forehead before blinking. He was overly exhausted but it meant a lot to him to stand here and be with her. This was what he had been working so hard for. She was who he had been working so hard for.
"Glad you added Dad to that," Logan teased her, "Might have been a little worried, Ace," he said as he obviously teased her and the way he winked to her afterwards made it so that she was aware of this. He definitely didn't think that she would be unfaithful to him and that was actually a little stab to him when he reflected on it. Despite the fact that he had believed that they weren't together any longer, he hadn't been the most faithful to her. Still, after having lost her, he knew how important it was for him to keep her and especially with this new baby. He definitely did not want to be the jerk who broke up a family because his eyes kept wandering.
No. He didn't need anybody else. He needed this new family, to be part of this family, to live with Rory and learn how to be a great and responsible father. That's what he needed to focus on.
"I was thinking that we could go out somewhere tomorrow, that is, are you leaving tonight?" Rory asked. She looked a little fearful as she asked him that. It was possible that Logan would only be where she could touch him, kiss him, embrace him for as short a period of time. It had happened before. She didn't want him to leave so quickly though.
"I'll be here. We can go wherever you want to go," Logan grinned. "You want the moon, Ace. I think I've got my lasso in storage."
"I was thinking that we haven't seen Colin and Finn in a little bit. Maybe we could see if they want to join us somewher-" Rory started but was surprised when Logan cut her off.
"Colin and Finn," he smiled nostalgically and Rory could see a little bit of want in his eyes. Was he going to say that he didn't need them as well? It wasn't as if she would ever give up Lane for him. She would even have problems not seeing Paris if he ever suggested that. Paris might not come across as the best person but she was still extremely important to Rory. It was good to have a whole crowd of people to rely on. "You sure, Ace?"
"I mean, obviously I don't think that I should be jumping out of planes whilst I'm pregnant and I'd prefer not to spend the whole night at the bar drinking but I think it would be fun to hang out with them. Just," Rory shifted a little as she took a step back and Logan placed what was hopefully a supportive hand upon her shoulder. "No making fun of folk singers, okay?"
"Promise," Logan nodded before laughing a little. "Okay. Okay. I agree with you, Ace. Seeing Colin and Finn would be great. I also think that if you're not drinking then I shouldn't be drinking either. I mean, we're both having this baby together, right?" Logan reached out and gently pushed one of Rory's hairs out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. "We can both be respons-"
"You can drink. I want you to drink, "Rory promised him. "I'll be the designated driver. Now. Why don't we call them and get it set up. I'm sure that you want to tell them about the news, actually, don't tell them just yet, I might have to get a camera set up for when you do tell them."
Logan chuckled and picked up his phone as Rory watched. Yes, balancing the new responsible Logan with his party boy self was definitely going to be worth it. That was something she hoped all their children would have, his desire to have fun. Life was definitely not good with the restrictions that came from denying oneself of pleasure.
End of Chapter Sixteen
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Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Fifteen
Gleeklexx, Jordana60, nightnovice, Rori Potter, Wickedly Lovely 17, YaleAceBella12
