A/N: I was so excited when I edited the previous chapter last night that I was motivated to write another one based on some of your comments. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Emily Gilmore stared at the tiny bundle that lay cradled in her arms. "Hello little one," she cooed as she studied the perfect face that looked so content. At only a few weeks old, this tiny bundle had everyone wrapped around his little finger. She had watched Rory and Logan in the hospital and was amazed at how the three of them became a complete family in a matter of hours after the birth. There was something different in the way the couple looked at one another, the caresses and murmurs between the two were more intimate. She had to admit to herself that the couple that she saw now was completely different than the one that she saw in college. This Rory was confident in herself, and her decisions and Emily didn't think that Rory would have been able to truly break-away from Lorelai until now. That was her biggest regret was that she didn't see how Lorelai was controlling Rory, that she didn't try to step in during the college years but like Rory kept saying, you can't change the past and you need to focus on the present. Richard let out a soft sound and Emily looked back down at the baby.
"You are named after a great man," Emily told the baby. "He was strong and smart, and he cared so much for his family. I just wish he would have been able to meet you."
"I wish that to," Rory said softly from behind her. Slowly she made her way into the nursery and stood beside her. "After I moved in here, I would sit in the study and work on my book because it seemed like grandpa was right there with me but sometimes… the writing would be too much for me. There is so much heaviness to the story of mom and I now and so many things that I wish I would have seen sooner," she paused and let out a deep sigh. "When I needed to focus on happy things, I started writing down my memories of grandpa and of you." Slowly, Rory made her way to the bookshelf, pulled out a notebook and handed it to Emily. "I want Richard to know grandpa. There were so many things that he did for me, that both of you did for me, that I took for granted. Over the past few months, you have done so much for me, but I was hoping, if you think you could, if it's not too much to ask," she rambled but was cut off when Emily placed her hand on Rory's arm. Taking a deep breath, Rory continued, "I was hoping that you may be willing to write some memories down that you have of grandpa. They don't have to have me in them, I just want Richard to have something to look back on. I want him to get to know two of the most amazing people that I was lucky enough to have in my life."
Emily's breath hitched when she heard Rory's request. It still hurt her to think about Richard sometimes but this request, wanting Emily to write down some stories, seemed to fill her heart with love. Throughout Rory's pregnancy Emily was often sad that the baby would never get to know Richard and after Logan came back into the picture, Emily often thought of the couple with even more children that would never know Richard. Her writing down stories, memories of her great love would be something to ensure that future generations knew what a great man he was, and he would live on. Only Rory would be able to come up with something like that. "It's still hard to think of him," Emily slowly stated, and her breath hitched, "but it was harder to think about your kids never getting a chance to meet him. So, of course I will write some memories down, there are so many of them."
"Thank you, grandma!" Rory softly exclaimed and went to place a kiss on her cheek.
"Of course, Rory," Emily replied, giving her granddaughter a soft look. The relationship that the two currently had was something that she would have never dreamed about before. "You know your grandfather would be so proud of you. I am so proud of you."
Logan stood at the door and watched the exchange between the two women. Rory had told him about the collection of memories she had written down about Richard and he had even listened to her tell baby Richard some of them as she rocked him to sleep. After hearing a few of the stories, Logan had added some of his own memories, a few of them being from before he and Rory had even met. They had talked about asking Emily to write down some stories, but Rory had been reluctance since she knew her grandmother was still having a hard time with Richard being gone. While Rory was happy to carry on the 'Richard' name, she had made him promise that they would never compare the two. She knew what it was like to share a name with someone, and she never wanted to make their child feel like he had to live up to his great-grandfather's memory.
"I hate to interrupt," Logan stated as he walked into the room, "but Livy just told me that lunch is ready."
"Thank you, MAC," Rory told him with a bright smile and Logan had to smirk at the nickname. She had called him MAC when they were together in college, but the nickname had never made a reappearance until recently.
"MAC?" Emily questioned as she looked at the two of them.
The couple exchanged a mischievous look and both of them laughed lightly. "I'll tell you the story over lunch grandma," Rory replied as she moved to take Richard from her grandmother's arms and place him in the crib.
Emily had to laugh with the couple and knew that this story would be an interesting one.
Christopher Hayden studied the baby in his arms, and he felt such an overwhelming since of love towards the tiny bundle. He had felt like this twice before, when he held Rory and then Georgia for the first time, but this feeling was slightly different. He didn't feel the element of fear with this baby. He had to chuckle at that thought. With Richard he was going to be the 'cool grandpa' and spoil the child and he planned on doing a lot of that, well as much as Rory and Logan would allow him to. Richard already had a large trust account set up curtsey of Mitchum, Emily and himself. Rory had insisted that the trust have no strings and told them point blank that there would be no expectations placed on Richard other than being a happy, well-rounded child. If he chose to work for HPG or Hayden or even somewhere else, it would be completely up to him and there would be no pressure except for him to do well in school. He had to laugh at the memory of Mitchum slightly paling at the thought of his son's son not working at the family company. What surprised everyone the most was when Mitchum relented to Rory's demands with minimal fight, and his only request being that Richard, and any future children, go to some of the papers with him and learn some about what HPG does so they could make their own decisions later. Everyone could tell that Mitchum hoped by exposing his grandchildren to the news world early would convince them to work for the family company.
"Hey kiddo, I hope you know that no matter what happens the entire family just wants you to be happy," he told the small boy. "I know grandpa Mitchum is going to want you to work at HPG and I'm sure I'll try and get you to work at Hayden," he paused and let out a chuckle. "You working at Hayden are not words I would have ever thought would have come out of my mouth ten years ago. I tried so hard to run from what my dad wanted for me," he let out a deep sigh. "I just want you to be happy. I want you to know that no matter what your family is here for you no matter what you want to be."
"You know I was once jealous of Rory because it seemed like she had no pressure placed on her to do a certain thing," Logan told Chris as he walked into the room and sat down next to him. "I was jealous of the way that she seemed to know exactly what she wanted to do, and no one was pressuring her to do it. But for me… my entire life seemed to be planned out the moment I was conceived."
Chris laughed as he thought about how he often felt that way growing up. "I felt the same way. When Lorelai ended up pregnant… God I was so excited and couldn't wait to be a father but everything with her was always her way and I was so in love with her that I went along with it. It wasn't until she ran off with Rory that I finally broke. I lost Lorelai, I lost my daughter, and we all tried finding them for months but found no trace of them. I felt like I had nothing left so I said screw it all and just left. When we finally found them and I went to visit… Rory wanted nothing to do with me, she had no idea who I was," he paused momentarily, and Logan could read the hurt in his eyes. "Lorelai made it clear that she was in charge, she made the decisions, and I was so lost and broken that I just went along with it all. I lost the love of my life, my child and I… I ran instead of fighting." Logan studied the older man and was unsure of where this was leading but he knew that Chris had a lot of guilt about Rory's childhood. "I am so glad that Rory let you in, that you fought for her to let you in. I was worried at the beginning with all of the baggage between you, but you guys are working together to fix everything. I knew from the moment that I saw you two together at Yale that you belonged together, it was just something in the way you two looked at each other. You looked at Rory like I looked at Lorelai, but the big difference was that Rory looked at you in a way Lorelai never looked at me… she looked at you like you were her world. I had never seen her look at anyone like that. I know that you guys have gone through so much… but I am so glad you two are where you are now."
Logan felt his heart ache slightly at the wistfulness in Chris's tone. He knew partly how the man felt, he had often thought that Rory didn't need him, didn't love him and much as he loved her. He also knew how grateful he was that Rory let him back in after all the mistakes they had made over the years and he knew that he would never let Rory feel like she wasn't the most important person in the world to him… his thoughts trailed off slightly as he focused on Richard, well maybe not the most important person since now there was a tie between her and Richard. "I'll never be able to explain how lucky I feel each day," Logan replied his words filled with emotion. "After New Hampshire… I felt broken and nothing could fix me. Rory has always been the only thing I needed, only person I wanted, but both of us made so many mistakes. I think we both had some many insecurities," he sighed and briefly closed his eyes. "I never knew what love was until her," he paused to look at Chris, "and you have to know that I will spend the rest of my life making sure that Rory and Richard know how much they are loved every single day."
"I don't doubt you," Chris stated. "I see how you have been since you found out about the pregnancy, and I have no doubt that the two of you can make it work this time. But I do wonder when you plan on trying to make it official?"
Logan let out a humorless chuckle. "I have been wanting to for months," he answered truthfully. "I had it all planned but then everything happened with Lorelai," he trailed off to focus on Chris and realized one thing he forgot in his plan. "I had actually wanted to talk to you when I figured out when but since we are talking about it," he took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "I wanted to ask your permission to marry Rory. I want to marry her; I have wanted to marry her for so long…"
Chris cut the young man off with a shake of his head, "thank you for the sentiment Logan but you really don't need to ask me. The only person whose answer matters in Rory."
"Your right, her answer is the most important one," he replied with a smirk. "But I was raised a little old fashioned and there are certain… traditions that I feel are important and one is asking the father of the woman you love more than anything permission to marry his daughter."
"Then you have it, you have my permission. I know you will always take care of her and Richard," Chris answered with a look of happiness in his eyes.
Logan nodded and when about to say more when the Paula discreetly cleared her throat. "I hate to interrupt but Mr. Danes is here. I know Rory is still taking her nap…"
Logan looked over at Chris and when he nodded his head Logan told her to let him in.
"I don't want to interrupt," Luke told the two men as he looked around for Rory. "I messaged Rory earlier and she said it was fine for me to stop by."
"Of course, Luke. You are welcome anytime," Logan stated as he stood to greet the other man. "Rory is napping. Richard kept her up last night."
"I saw how exhausted she was when I got here and insisted she try and lay down for a bit," Chris added.
Logan slightly shook his head and chuckled. "She insists on taking over all the nightly feedings since I am working and suddenly the slightest sound wakes her so as soon as Richard makes a peep she is up before I even hear it."
"It used to be only coffee that would wake her," Luke replied with a chuckle and sad smile as he remembered the mornings that he would wake up both Gilmore girls with coffee.
Chris seeing the resigned look on Luke's face quickly started talking. "Do you want to sit and hold Richard for a bit? He ate not long ago, and I was about to put him down."
"Oh, um, no your fine. I don't want to…" Luke trailed off as he saw the smiles on the other men's faces.
"Luke please sit," Logan stated. "I'm sure Richard would love to meet you."
Reluctantly Luke sat on the couch next to Chris and the other man moved Richard into his arms. "Wow, he's so light," Luke said in awe as he looked at the tiny bundle.
"He is," Logan stated with a smile. "Though how I don't know. The kid eats like his mother!"
Luke had to laugh at that, "hopefully you will keep his diet better balanced."
"No need," Logan replied. "Ever since Rory got pregnant her eating has changed drastically. Even now she's often eating fruit and vegetables. I have never seen her eat so healthy and she seems to actually enjoy it."
"When she was in college, after you two started dating, she would come into the diner and order healthy things, but she made me promise to never tell Lorelai," Luke told the men. "Lorelai came into the diner one day and caught her and it was a lecture about how she was abandoning the Gilmore girl ways by eating a salad."
Logan had to just shake his head at the remark. Luke didn't mean anything bad about it, just sharing a memory, but after knowing everything Lorelai had done to control Rory over the years this was just further proof of her manipulations.
Noticing the sudden tenseness in the room Luke sighed. "Sorry I shouldn't have said anything," he stated mentally scolding himself for bringing up Lorelai's name.
"Lorelai's name is just a sensitive subject still," Chris sighed. "Its hard because we tell a story about Rory's childhood and Lorelai is almost always in them but the stories now, like the food story, we just see how manipulative it all was."
"I just wish I would have noticed sooner," Luke sighed.
"We all wish that," Chris stated and shook his head slightly. "Lorelai was so good at it that no one saw it for what it was."
"It took me finding out I was pregnant until I saw it," Rory softly stated from the entryway. The three men looked at her with a sad look. "No one saw it and there is no one to blame other than Lorelai," she continued her voice getting firmer. "We can't keep tiptoeing around her name, so many stories of my childhood involve her," she trailed off as she moved closer to Logan and sat down in his lap. "I just worry about how to explain it all to Ritchie when he gets older."
"We will figure it out Ace," Logan told her as he pulled her closer to him. "When he gets old enough to ask questions, we can figure out what to tell him about Lorelai and Shira."
"Your right," Rory sighed. "We have time, and we can ask the therapists what they think. But he has so many people that absolutely adore him and that's what really matters," she stated as she tried to focus on the positive. "I'm so glad you came by Luke," Rory told the man with a smile. "I want you involved in Richard's life as much as you want to be."
"That means a lot to me," Luke replied as he looked down, not used to showing emotions still. "I would love to know him."
"We do plan on taking him to that crazy town one day," Logan stated with a laugh. "He needs to know there are some sane people that live there!"
Luke shook his head as he thought back about the town meeting with Lorelai. "Rory has Lane told you about the town meeting?" At Rory's blank look he let out a breath not wanting to be the one to tell her but knowing she needed to know. "It was right before you gave birth, Lane and I didn't want to tell you because it was right after the affair story broke. I served Lorelai with the divorce papers in front of the meeting, she has holed herself up and the Dragonfly, the annex or the house and the server couldn't get to her. So, when she got to the meeting, she was mad, and the town started asking about you and Taylor was Taylor…" he paused for a moment and the looked down. "He was asking Lorelai how she let this happen, that she should have done something, and she just exploded. She told the town about how she convinced you to not marry Logan, made sure you didn't have a job after college and tried to convince you to not tell Logan you were pregnant," he paused and saw the looks of anger on their faces and quickly continued. "When the town heard her, they were upset, started asking her questions but she just wouldn't answer so Lane jumped in and told them everything. The town… well the town has been avoiding her. She stays locked up at the Inn or at the house. Michel has been doing pretty much all the work since most people won't talk to her. People are still working at the Inn because they need jobs or they keep their contracts with the Inn because people work there," he paused and shook his head again. "I reached out to Sookie to tell her what happened. A lot of people don't want to work for Lorelai anymore."
Rory was shocked for a moment and had no idea what to say. "The Dragonfly is the only hotel in Stars Hollow if it closes…" she trailed off as she thought of the possible scenarios.
"No one wants the inn or the annex to close," Luke stated with a sigh. "But after what Lorelai did to you it shattered people's opinion of her and they don't trust her."
"I can see that," Logan said as he looked at the group trying to think of ways to help the town. "Maybe we can talk to Finn. He mentioned that he was interested in boutique hotels after Colin bought the New Hampshire B&B."
"Yeah," Rory sighed, "if he isn't interested maybe, he would know someone who is if it comes to that."
Trying to get the mood onto lighter topics Rory looked over at Luke and attempted to give him a smile. "So, tell me how April is. How is her new job with Paris working out?"
Luke had to laugh as he thought of the conversation he recently had with his daughter. "April was wondering how in the world you have been friends with her this long!" Logan and Chris had to laugh at the comment because they often wondered the same thing. "April doesn't scare her to much since you two are friends, but she scares most of the people that work for her. April says she is smart but no bedside manner for a doctor."
"She is an acquired taste," Rory answered with a giggle. "We have gotten each other though a lot over the years and she is one of the most dependable people I have ever met."
"And extremely protective," Logan stated with a slight shudder as he remembered what Paris told him she would do to him if he ever hurt Rory again. He knew the blonde was scary but that conversation to the scary to a whole different level.
Rory gently squeezed his arm and tried unsuccessfully to suppress a giggle, so he started to tickle her which made her laugh harder.
"Stop," she breathed out. "Its just funny to see how scared you are of Paris."
"I think everyone but you are afraid of her Ace," Logan chuckled as he stopped tickling her and moved her more comfortably in his lap.
"Your right," Rory answered with a shrug but before she could say more Richard let out a gurgle and Luke look petrified, so Rory moved off Logan's lap and grabbed her son. The men all watched as Rory cooed to the boy and immediately excused herself to go change his diaper.
"I'll get it Ace," Logan told her as he stood up. "You talk to Luke, and I'll be right back." He didn't give her a chance to argue and took their son from her and made his way upstairs.
Mitchum Huntzberger studied the Gilmore mansion and chuckled that he still referred to the house like that. Behind those doors were his son, his grandson and a woman that his family had once said was not good enough to be a Huntzberger; he had to laugh at the irony since now all he could hope for was that Rory Gilmore-Hayden would soon become a Huntzberger. Call him old-fashioned but he wanted his son to be married to the mother of his child. He also knew that there would never be a better woman to marry his son. Over the past few months Mitchum had time to reflect on everything that he and his family had done to her over the years and to say he was disgusted by their actions would have been an understatement. While he was not aware of what Shira had done, he still felt like he should have known she would have planned something because of how much he disapproved of the young girl. How he wished he would not have gone along with Shira's attempts to break the two up. Even back then he like Rory, thought she was sweet but naive.
"Are you planning on staring at the door all day or coming in?" Logan asked as he opened the door.
"Coming in," Mitchum answered with a laugh. "I was just thinking about how much has changed over the past few months."
Logan laughed and nodded his head in agreement as Mitchum walked closer to him. "I would have never imagined any of this a few months ago and this is so much better than I could have ever hoped for."
"You're a good father," Mitchum told his son. "You're a great man. I see the way you are with Rory, the way you have tried to change to be better for her, better for your son. I'm proud of you Logan." Logan looked at his father in shock, completely unsure of what to say at that moment. "I know I don't say it, don't show it," he continued on a sigh, "but I am proud of you. The work that you do at HPG, the man you are. I know it's not because of me, that what you have become is despite me, but… I am proud of you. I'm glad that you are my son."
"Thanks dad," Logan finally responded, his words hoarse with emotion.
"Now, let's go see my grandson!" Mitchum stated patting his son on the shoulder. Logan could just nod his head and lead his dad into the sitting room where Rory was sitting with Richard. The infant had just finished feeding and was sitting looking at Rory with what could only be described as a look of awe as she told him stories about how his mommy and daddy met. The two men just watched the moment, Rory completely oblivious of the new audience.
"So, your daddy took me to this event, and I was amazed by everything, but I didn't tell him that. It was like a completely different world. I watched everything and I watched your daddy. I was falling for him, but he was so unlike anyone I had ever met before, so I tried to fight what I was feeling but it didn't work. Then he tried to convince me to jump off a scaffold," Rory paused and had a small smile on her lips as she recalled that moment. "He tried to convince me by telling me about all these journalists that would do anything for a story. Don't tell your dad but he challenged me more than anyone I had met, he made me want to break out of my sheltered world and then he told me 'it'll be fun, it'll be a thrill," she paused as she tried to recall those long ago words.
"Something stupid, something bad for you," Logan continued for her as he walked into the room, and she looked up in shock. "Just something different."
"Isn't this the point of being young?" Rory stated with a smile as she studied him, and Logan went to kneel in front of her.
"It's your choice, Ace. People can live a hundred years without really living for a minute. You climb up here with me, it's one less minute you haven't lived," he recalled in perfect recollection.
"So, I told your dad, let's go. We climbed that scaffold and when we reached the top, he asked me if I trusted him and I told him," she paused and he cupped her face. "You jump I jump Jack. So, we jumped and in that moment your daddy stole my heart."
"You stole mine to Ace," Logan sighed. "In that moment I knew that I was never going to be the same again."
"I love you MAC," she sighed, and he leaned forward to place a soft kiss on her lips.
"I love you Ace," he murmured, "I always have, and I always will."
Mitchum stood and watched the couple not wanting to say anything to break the moment. Carefully he pulled out his phone and took a picture of the sight in front of him, Rory and Logan staring intently in each other's eyes with Richard cuddled in Rory's arms between them and Logan gently caressing her face with one hand, his other resting on Richard's chest. He was thankful he got a few snaps before Richard broke the moment with a gurgle of laughter, but the couple joined in, and he quickly snapped a final picture. It was in listening to the couple recall this memory that Mitchum knew that soul mates really did exist and his son had found his and despite everything that had happened these two could really make it work.