AN: My apologies for not updating this sooner. I've had plans set forth for months to update but started having panic attacks during my online academic classes. I started getting more stressed and this definitely impacted my desire to update, when I did have time in my schedule, I struggled with writers block. I'm hoping to have jumped over that hump but thank you for your patience with me.

Chapter Forty Six – A New Tenant

Lorelei sighed as she looked up at the ceiling in the Dragonfly Inn kitchen again. Christopher had reassured her that them moving out of Stars Hollow would be a good idea and she was trying to release herself from these times. It felt strange how she could run away so easily when she was a child and yet now, when she had much more freedom, she felt a little like if she gave this up she would be empty. No. She had to believe in Christopher. That was something that was important to her.

"Are you sure?" Sookie asked as she handed Lorelei a slice of the new dessert she'd been playing with. "I mean, are you sure that you want to move. There's so many memories and what if you went somewhere much further than you intended, oh like New York or Los Angeles or Paris. Paris is good."

"I'm not moving as far as Paris. Chris knows that The Dragonfly is a part of me, it's another child to me and I can't leave it behind. Even if we were to expand it, extend to different locations, it is our child, Sookie." Lorelei said before hearing Michel clear his throat as he came into the kitchen.

"The gentleman is now saying that you've added too much pulp." He said with a raised eyebrow, "I don't care for these people who have too fine a line between pulp and no pulp. Anyway, you were saying how this inn is a product of the two of you as if my fine flo-"

"We appreciate you, Michel," Sookie said as she went to get more orange juice for the diner.

"Yes, there are no changes coming to the inn," Lorelei said with a sigh. "I'm just saying that when I move, it's not going to impact what happens to the inn as Christopher knows ho-"

"Ah, yes, doesn't he have money?" Michel asked and then rolled his eyes. "At least more than that…farmer does."

"Are you talking about Jackson because I do have a knife," Sookie warned him as she showed him the knife for cutting the oranges.

"No, no, nothing about that farmer. I'm talking about that man who ran the diner and was uncultured an-"

"And I banned all talk of Luke from inside of the inn unless it was necessary," Lorelei commented with warning looks between the two of her friends. "Yes, Chris has money and he's going to offer some investors a payout for the inn so that it is solely owned by myself and Sookie…and you can have any investment that you put in," she said quickly as she gestured to Michel. "But we've built this inn without needing much assistance and I'd prefer to keep it that way."

"And what will you do with your ugh….charming house…" Michel said as he moved his hand to gesture exactly what his thoughts about the Stars Hollow residence was. "I mean, you could keep it as a place to store things or if you have any riff raff visitors."

"Or you could rent it out to a group of musicians, or a theater troop, or you co-"

Lorelei froze as she turned to Sookie, her eyes opening with the arrival of a new idea. "That first thing you said, a group of musicians. I mean, do you think that -"

"Lane!" Sookie and Lorelei said at the same time.

"I wouldn't need the rent but I'm sure that she'd offer what she could afford and I'm sure that she would want to do it that way," Lorelei said before hesitating. She knew that Lane worked very hard but she didn't want the girl who had always felt like part of the family to feel indebted to her. Maybe if she told Rory about this she could propose the idea. There was also the fact that Lane was pregnant would need more space. The rent didn't really matter since Christopher had more money than was needed but…

"I think that's a great idea, for her and Zach," Sookie grinned. "Can you imagine another new family running around the place and you could even ask her not to change the things which you really love. I mean, from what I've seen Zach can be a little wild but I'm sure that Lane would be a great houseguest."

"Renter," Lorelei nodded. "Once I've found a place with Chris, I'll ask her if she's interested, the last thing I'd want to do is raise that girl's hopes just to break them. I think that's the best option for me though. It just depends on what Lane thinks."

46.2

A few days later Rory had been finishing up some assignments from her first few classes when she had spoken with her mother about the house. She knew there was a sense of loss leaving Stars Hollow but she had already left, her mother and father wanted to live together with enough guest rooms and bedrooms to accommodate her and GiGi and any other children they might have in the future. They would still be close to the town, close to The Dragonfly, close to Emily and Richard Gilmore. The question was how Lane would react to this offer which wasn't charity.

She looked at her phone before calling her close friend. Lorelei had asked her if there was any reason not to do this and Rory couldn't think of one. She took a deep breath in before hearing the dial tone and waiting for Lane to pick up.

"Rory?" Lane picked up after the fourth ring and Rory could hear the sound of a guitar or two from behind her. "Sorry, the band's just taking a break. I can talk. Is everything ok-" there was a pause, "Brian don't you dare touch those drums, so help me."

"My mother called me and she wanted to ask you something. It's not a guarantee or a promise or anything but she wanted to see what your thoughts were." Rory said slowly. She needed to tread carefully if there were other people around. Lane was fine in thinking in hypotheticals but not so much with the rest of the band.

"Okay. Yeah, what does Lorelei need my opinion on?" Lane asked as she went into another room and Rory smiled.

"My mother is planning on leaving Stars Hollow with my father. They're going to move to an area close by where my mother can commute to The Dragonfly but they want to leave and start a new part of their lives, however, she wants to keep the house even when they leave and so they…and this is all tentative, wanted to know if you'd be interested in living there."

Rory could hear that Lane was holding her breath on this and so slowly exhaled. "Nothing's set in stone and it would be after they moved into another property so a month or two but…"

"Are you kidding me?" Lane asked quietly although Rory could already sense her excitement. "Oh my god. Is this a joke? Oh my -"

"She is looking for someone to rent the house from her but she said that she'd be very flexible in what you can pay her. I know that she still wants to have ownership over the house but you're her first choice, I know that much," Rory said as she looked up and saw Logan enter the room. She smiled to him but remained on the phone.

"Rory, you know that I'm strapped for cash right now. I mean, I could honor your mother by writing a song about her or the band could but we wouldn't be able to swing more than a few hundred or a little more than that, your mother -"

"My mother wants someone who will respect the house and take care of it. She would be fine with just a few hundred but I think she wants to do something with a contract and she'll negotiate on the price. She doesn't want to give you the house but if you wanted to li-"

"Yes. Yes, very much so," Lane interrupted her. "As long as she's fine with the idea that I can't pay as much as other people can. I know that it's not set in stone and I won't let myself get disappointed if it falls apart but thank your mother for me, okay?"

"I will and please don't tell Zach and the guys until the contract is signed?" Rory asked and Lane laughed at that.

"I was thinking of doing that anyway. Oh my god. This is so exciting."

"I'm excited for you as well. You better let Zach help you, you don't want to be carrying too much weight with delicate gifts or at least that's what people have been telling me," Rory said as she put a hand on her belly and felt Logan slip down beside her, placing his own hand over her belly and she smiled. Logan was the only man who could actually do that without her feeling uncomfortable.

As Rory told Lane that she loved her and got off the phone, Logan smiled.

"I'm thinking that conversation went well, Ace, but you've got to start taking that advice for yourself. I know that you had a great family life but for me, I want to make sure that our family is settled and safe. And that our son has a fa-two great aunts." He kissed Rory and allowed her to rest her head on his upper arm.

Sure, she was sort of losing a child home or she was passing it on to her best friend but she wanted her home to be here and she wanted her family to be here. She wouldn't be able to cope if one day she heard that Logan had been in another accident. When he had been in one before it had almost killed her but with a tiny baby boy, she knew she would be able to cope but she also knew part of her would be hollow. She didn't even realize before how much she could love a boy even if she believed she had.

End of Chapter Forty Six

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