AN: Happy Easter! Here's another chapter for you lovely patient people. This chapter was fighting me for some reason but we made it! I'm hoping I can hammer out a few more chapters in short order, I now have all the time in the world to do this!
I hope all you guys are staying safe and healthy. As someone once said, this too shall pass, it may pass like a kidney stone but it will pass!
On with the show!
In true stooges fashion Finn decided that they should meet at an Irish pub downtown for their meetup. When Logan and Rory got to the pub Finn was well into his fourth scotch while strangely the rest of the group were drinking a variety of non-alcoholic drinks. Before the group could notice their presence Rory tugged on Logan's sleeve making him stop and turn to look at her. "What's up, Ace?"
"I want to surprise them a bit, you go over first and I'll come over in a minute." Rory smiled knowing exactly what would happen but she wanted to raise the stakes a little. Logan just smirked at her and headed over to the table.
"Mate! Can you believe these sad-arses won't have a drink with me!" Finn hollered as Logan came to the table. "I demand you drink!" Finn exclaimed as he put an overfull glass of scotch in front of him.
"No thanks. I'd like to survive this lunch with my brain cells intact." Logan said with a laugh. Finn will never change and that was probably a good thing. Finn pouted then bounded off towards the terrified looking bartender.
"Ok, man I've got to ask, what is going on? Why did you ask us all to meet with you?" Colin spoke as Finn ran off to get more drinks.
"Well, that's the thing. I've got a surprise for you." Logan moved to the side as Rory came over to the table. The occupants were so loud that they were getting a few odd looks from the pubs few occupants.
"Rory!" Steph squealed as she jumped out of her seat and engulfed Rory in a bone-crushing hug. Rory simply laughed at her antics. "I've missed you! Have you guys finally sorted out your stupid love life?"
Rory laughed and allowed herself to be pulled into the booth next to Steph. "I'm glad you're here Rory." Colin said, "Maybe now you can stop this sad sack from moping all over two continents." Colin gestured to Logan, who was sitting next to Rory, who looked offended while Rory just laughed harder.
"I was not moping!" Logan argued.
"You were moping. The only reason it didn't involve all the alcohol in England was that you, stupidly, are a responsible adult."
"Says the lawyer."
Before anyone could say anything else Finn made a grand arrival at their table. "REPORTER GIRL! HAVE I MISSED YOU! Poor Logan just hasn't been the same since our adventures in New Hampshire! Now that you're here could you tell me what happened that night?"
Rory glanced at Logan who looked like he was about to burst and just grinned before returning to Finn. "Finn, since when do you care if you can't remember some alcohol-fueled debauchery?"
"This is true," Finn said with a wicked grin. "Can you believe there aren't any redheads in here? It's an Irish pub, you'd think they'd serve redheads along with my scotchtini!"
"A scotchtini?" Rory said equally amused and concerned.
"A martini with scotch! It's my greatest invention!"
"Of course, it is Finny," Rory said with a chuckle.
"Now, for the first time in many a year the ruling LDB is in the same country, and I would like to know why?" Finn declared in an odd sense of sobriety.
Logan looked at Rory silently asking if he can tell everyone their news. When she nodded with a smile on her face he began telling them what happened.
"Well, since I'm now CEO of HPG I'm now based out of New York so I've officially moved back stateside." This announcement was met with whoops and cheers from the table. Once everyone calmed down Logan was able to continue. "Anyway, I have been making some changes to the company as well as changing things at some of our papers. One of the papers I decided to change things at was the Brooklyn Daily Post."
"Isn't that the paper that your father just bought?" Logan nodded as Colin continued. "I never understood why your father bought that paper unless it was a power move simply because it was a tri-state paper that wasn't an HPG holding, but still it was having trouble turning any type of profit."
"Wait!" Yelped Finn, the rest of the table realizing that he was paying attention to the conversation. "Wasn't that the paper that your crazy ass uncle worked at?"
"That's the one. The biggest change I made was that I got rid of said crazy uncle. The editor in chief knows what he's doing and the content is not bad, but the section that my uncle was in charge of, opinions, was terrible and it was the main cause of the paper's problems."
"What does your crazy family business have to do with our lovely reporter girl here?" Finn said exasperated.
"I'm getting to it Finn, keep your panties on."
"No promises mate."
Logan rolled his eyes then continued with his story. "I did have to replace my crazy relative since he was editor of the opinions section. A paper can't exist, or at least one of that size without an opinions editor. And Rory is the replacement."
A chorus of congratulations rang out from everyone, knowing that Rory had hit a roadblock in her career and that now she was starting to turn it around.
"Thanks. When Logan called to offer me the position, I decided to meet with the editor in chief before I made a decision. I told him that after the meeting at the paper I wanted to meet with him to talk."
"Where she gave me what was probably the best surprise of my life." Logan put his arm around Rory and pulled her closer. Rory smiled at him while their friends looked on in slight confusion.
Realizing that the two had forgotten the other's presence Finn interrupted the moment to get to the bottom of the slightly cryptic statement. "Mate! Stop making eyes at the lovely Reporter girl and tell us what the surprise was!"
Logan groaned, while Rory just laughed and turned to the loud Australian to answer his question. "I'm pregnant," Rory said with a grin.
It was oddly quiet at the table which was making Rory and Logan increasingly nervous, Colin, Steph, Robert and even Finn were shocked into silence. Luckily, they could always count on Finn to ease any awkwardness. "You don't waste time, do you mate?" The statement seemed to jerk everyone out of their shock. Colin smacked Finn upside the head while Rory just snickered.
"Hey! You can't damage foreign goods. Plus you weren't saying anything, might as well say what we're all thinking." Finn stopped to down his scotchtini then spoke again. "I'm gonna be an uncle to a little love!"
"Yes Finn, you get to be an uncle, but I put my foot down on you teaching them how to drink," Rory said with a fake glare that wasn't staying in place.
"I've got a question," Steph said. "You never actually said whether you guys were back together or not because if you guys aren't together I'll be so mad even Honour couldn't stop me."
Instead of responding, Logan pulled Rory closer to him and gave her a passionate kiss to the wolf whistles and applause of their exuberant audience. When they finally separated Rory turned so she was facing Stephanie without ever leaving Logan's embrace. "Does that answer your question?"
Stephanie laughed before answering. "Yep, that would do it. But, I'd still like Logan to say it out loud for the more oblivious observers. Or those with a very twisted sense of morals," she added with a pointed look at Finn.
"I do not have a twisted sense of morals; I just can't help that all the American ladies need some down under lovin'!" Finn added with a wink to the waitress walking past.
"Finn, we don't need to hear about all the different ways someone might charge you with harassment," Logan said with a snort at Finn's indignant look. "But if you need me to spell it out for you, yes Rory and I are back together, and I fully intend on marrying her." This statement was met with a wall of celebratory noise.
"To Logan," Finn shouted as he stood with multiple drinks for a toast. "Who's finally pulled his head out of his ass and got his reporter girl back, and to youngest Huntzberger, you're timing is impeccable!"
"Hear, hear!"
The group calmed down a little and everyone congratulated Rory and Logan on the new baby and Rory filled everyone in on what had happened since the last time they saw each other. Rory quickly realized that she was going to have to explain the drama with Lorelai quite a bit because even though she was telling four people at once they all wanted similar explanations for different questions and they were all shocked by Lorelai's reaction.
"Colin I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" Rory asked once it became clear that Colin, Robert and Logan were starting to talk about business.
"Sure, Rory, what's the favour?"
Rory knew that as soon as he saw the papers that would sign all of her grandmother's money over to her she would have to explain exactly how much she was worth and what happened regarding her inheritance. "Could you take a look at this legal paperwork and tell me what you think of it?" Rory handed the stack of papers over the table for him to look at.
"What exactly am I looking at?" Colin said as he shifted through the stack he was handed.
"My inheritance from my great-grandmother." Everyone except Logan looked at Rory shocked.
"I'm sorry, what? Isn't your great-grandmother dead? And has been for a long time?" Colin said confused. It was a big deal when Lorelai the first passed and most of Hartford society knew about it.
"Apparently, she left my inheritance with grandpa with instructions to not give it to me until he died. But the lawyer handling his estate didn't know about it so I didn't get it until another lawyer stumbled across the paperwork."
"Rory, this is over 165 million dollars! They just misplaced 165 million dollars? How'd that happen?"
"The lawyer who handled it, in the beginning, died a few weeks before my grandfather and the one we spoke to about his affairs and how the estate would be divided up, didn't know about it."
"Rory, exactly how much did Richard leave you?"
"He left me just about everything. It totalled to about 250 million dollars."
Colin let out a low whistle. The Gilmore's had fallen a little within the ranks of Hartford society but they had always had money. Richard was a brilliant businessman and he knew how to turn a profit so he wasn't at all shocked by the amount that Rory inherited. "I can't believe I didn't know about this."
"I was a little busy dealing with my family and making sure my grandmother didn't completely fall to pieces to worry about announcing my wealth to the world," Rory said snippily.
"Right," Colin said. He quickly tried to steer the conversation in a different direction and glanced down at the papers in front of him. "Why did you want me to look at these?"
"After the screw up the firm made I wanted to have someone look over any papers before I signed anything."
"That's probably a good idea." Colin read the papers as thoroughly as he could in that circumstance. When he was finished he handed them back to Rory. "Those papers look perfectly fine, I have no problem with you signing them as they're written."
"Thanks, Colin."
"No problem Rory."
Rory was so glad to be with all of her old friends again. She had felt isolated for so long that she had almost forgotten what it was like to be with people who cared about her. She had managed to meet a few people during her years freelancing, but those relationships were always fleeting. This was why she wanted to find a steady job in one place, it was the simple joy of being with the same people every day and being with people who cared about you. She needed the stability that freelancing and being an international correspondent just couldn't offer. She had wanted to see the world, but at the end of the day, she needed a place that she could call home.
She had that now, and she was happy she did.
Not long later Rory glanced at her watch and realized that they had to go. "Logan," she whispered gesturing at her watch. Logan nodded, neither of them realizing that everyone saw their interaction.
"What the hell was that?" Robert exclaimed gesturing at the couple.
"What was what?" Logan said amused at Robert's apparent annoyance.
"You guys just had an entire conversation with barely a look," Robert said.
"C'mon mate. Y'know mother and father have always been able to read each other's minds." Finn exclaimed.
"Yeah, they have, but would you like to share with the rest of the class?" Steph asked with a smirk.
"We're having dinner with my grandma tonight we have to get going if we want to get there on time," Rory explained.
"But Ror," Steph looked at her watch noticing the time. "It doesn't take two and a half hours to get to your grandparent's house. Why do you have to leave now?"
Rory flinched a little at the minor mentioned of her grandfather, Logan noticed and rubbed her arm gently to hopefully relax her. "My grandma moved up to Nantucket, my grandparents always rented a summer house there and she managed to buy out the owners and now lives there year-round. We're going to have dinner with her and tell her about the next generation of Gilmore's."
Everyone stared in shock for a moment before Finn spoke. "Crazy Gilmore girls."
It took a second to process what Finn had said then Rory burst out laughing. She laughed hard and long before calming down enough to talk. "No, you're right Finn. Crazy pretty much runs in our genes," Rory glanced at Logan and grinned. "Sorry bout that MAC, but the next Huntzberger is going to be just as crazy as the rest of us."
Logan just laughed as he pulled her into a side hug, "Don't worry Ace, I always knew our kids would be nutty, I'm excited to find out how nutty they are." Rory smiled up at him before turning back to their friends, "But she's happy for the first time since my grandpa died so we're not complaining."
Logan checked the time and started to pay the bill as Rory finished up her conversation with Steph. "We need to go shopping sometime, hopefully now I can promote you to my level now that you have your own money," Steph said with a conspiratorial grin.
Rory just laughed. "That would be great, Steph. Maybe you can help me decide on what type of car I want to buy while we're at it." Steph let out a loud squeal then hugged Rory. "It's a date!" She yelped when she finally let Rory go.
Rory stood from the table to pull on her jacket after Logan got her attention. "That's great! It's so good to see you guys again and we'll see you soon." With another round of hugs and goodbyes, Logan and Rory headed to the airport.
Not long later they were sitting on the plane waiting for take-off and Rory was thinking about her grandfather. She hadn't had a real chance to grieve Richard and now that her life was finally settling into place she felt that she now had the chance. Her grandmother had been a wreck after her grandpa died and her mother was in denial at the very least. At the time her own life had been messier then she would have liked to admit, her career and nose-dived and she felt like she was spinning out of control, none of this led to productive time to process what had happened.
Logan looked at Rory and noticed that she had a faraway look on her face, and from what happened today he could understand how she might be a bit distracted. He had a few questions himself that he desperately wanted answers to but he didn't want to overwhelm her, it had been a hell of a day and it was just 5:30 in the afternoon.
"Rory?" Rory turned to look at him when he called her name.
"Yeah?" She sighed, clearly not fully present but not fully lost in her thoughts anymore.
"How are you doing? After everything that happened with the lawyer, we never had a chance to talk about everything and I want to make sure you're ok." Logan grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
Rory was touched by his concern and smiled before responding. "When Grandpa died, Grandma completely fell apart. They were married for over 50 years and then he was suddenly gone. She didn't know how to cope with his death and I made sure that Grandma held it together through the funeral before I ran off to god knows where. I keep thinking that he would've been so upset by how I was living my life for the past few years, and after everything he did for me, I feel like I should've done more."
"Ace, he would've been so proud of you." Rory let out an indignant snort at that. "Oh yeah, so proud, my career barely existed and I was running around pretending to be more then I was, then there's the small fact that I might as well change my name to Hester Prynne and be done with it!"
"First of all, people's career's shift and change all the time, and if you couldn't figure out what to do next that doesn't make you a failure. Second of all, we are not in puritan Massachusetts and no one's going to question you on our child's paternity." Logan gently rubbed Rory's slightly rounded stomach before continuing. "You've travelled the world, your career has straightened out now, you're an editor at a New York paper and we are finally going to have a life together, and I know your grandpa would have been so proud of all that."
Rory smiled a little, happy that she could finally talk to someone a bit who understood just how important her grandpa was to her. She took a deep breath and sighed before speaking. "I'm sad. That how I'm doing."
"You're allowed to be sad. I think that's normal when you cared about a person who died." Rory laid her head on his shoulder and relaxed into his hold. "You did good, kid."
Half an hour later, they were in the air heading towards Nantucket when Logan remembered another odd part of the day that he had forgotten about until then. Rory's name, or if he was being more specific, Lorelai Leigh Hayden Gilmore's name.
Rory was flipping through back issues of the Daily Post getting a feel for the paper and determining what parts of the opinions section she would need to focus on to improve it. "Look at this!" She exclaimed suddenly. "This article says that he doesn't believe that Republicans should not be expelled from politics for any reason, while Democrats shouldn't be in politics at all because 'it'll give the people hope'!" Rory ended with a shriek. "And there are parts of old issues where the head opinion piece should have been but it's not there. When it's not missing and ignoring the obvious content issues, it's filled with spelling and grammatical errors. It's hardly readable!" Rory was shaking her head as she made a few jot notes on her pad of paper, "I can't believe he was getting away with this." She quietly seethed about how her predecessor had made such a mockery of journalism.
Logan couldn't help but feel glad at her ramble. This was the Rory Gilmore that he knew and loved. She seemed more like herself angry at the incompetent editor and how someone would care so little about there job, then she had the entire previous two years. Knowing that she was in a better headspace, even temporarily, gave him the resolve to ask one last burning question.
"Hey, Ace?"
"Yeah?" Rory muttered distractedly. Logan reached over and pried the newspaper out of her hands so he could have her full attention. "Hey! I was reading that!"
Logan chuckled at her yelp, it was clear she wasn't paying any real attention to him earlier. "Welcome back. I had a question for you that you were bent on ignoring."
"Did you have to take away my paper though?" Rory said with a pout. Logan just made a face in a 'are you kidding' expression. Rory's face just softened before speaking, "What was the question?"
"I didn't know you had Hayden in your name?"
Rory sighed as she tried to come up with what to say. "I was never sure what to think about that. I didn't know I had my dad's name in any way until I needed my birth certificate to get my licence and it made me start to question things with my dad. Did my grandparents force my mom to include his name? Or did my mom put Hayden in there to convince my dad to stick around? Did my dad want his name in there because he wanted me, despite everything else? If he did why was he never around?" Rory realized that she was starting to spin out a bit and took a few deep breaths to try and calm down a little. "Mom never gave me a straight answer to why his name is there, and I never asked my dad. I was tied to a family that ignored me and it made me feel like I belonged to someone who didn't want me anymore." Rory's voice got quiet as she trailed off as she tried to gather herself.
"Oh Ace, never think that no one wants you. I want you. I'll always want you, and our family."
"I want to believe that, I really do, but you really can't promise that. Things change, people change their minds about what they want." Rory didn't say it to be mean, she had learned that people can say that they'll always be around but then will change their minds when things don't go the way they want or expect.
"Rory, I know a lot has happened since we first met but," Logan grabbed both of Rory's hands to make sure that she was listening to him. "I promise I will always stand by you. I'm all in and I will do anything to prove that to you." Logan suddenly remembered an odd piece of information from a few years ago. Honour and Josh were having problems so they ended up going to therapy. It seemed to help and they weren't having the issues they were having before. Considering the conversation, they were having he didn't see the harm in suggesting it.
"Ace, would you want to go to couples counselling? I haven't given you a lot of reasons to trust me in the past few years and I want to prove to you that you can count on me." Rory looked at Logan stunned that he would suggest something that is still considered taboo in high society, just to make her feel better. "Honour and Josh went a few years ago and it really helped them. We want to just pick up where we left off, but we can't, too much has happened. I want us to have the best chance at forever and I think clearing the air will help."
When Logan finished his speech, Rory was stunned but once she really thought about it, it made sense. He was right, a lot had happened, and they couldn't pick up where they left off, no matter how much they want to. Dealing with their issues now would give them the best shot for this to last long term. "Honestly, I think it would be a good idea."
Logan pulled Rory close and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "I'll make some calls, ok?"
Rory nodded her head in agreement before speaking. "Thank you, Logan."
"You're welcome, but I'd do anything for you, Rory."
They spent the rest of the plane ride discussing the Daily Post and how hopefully it could still be pulled back from the brink of extinction.
"I'm ringing the bell."
"No, don't. I'm not ready yet. How can you be so calm?"
"Probably because she's not my grandmother. Also, I'm hungry and cold." Rory was pacing up and down the driveway of Emily Gilmore's Nantucket house trying to work up the courage to go inside, Logan was being no help and enjoying my misery. "If we stay out here much longer she's going to come and get us. There's no way she didn't notice our car pull up."
Rory took a deep breath and marched over to where Logan was standing with a determined look on her face. "Ok, ring the bell."
"Thank god. I was getting ready to forage for food in the garden." Logan reached over to ring the bell before Rory stopped him.
"No, wait." Logan leaned that little bit further and rung the bell. "I should leave you out here for that."
"Then you'd have to explain to Emily why I'll be spending the night on her front steps." Before Rory could respond the door swung open to reveal Emily.
"Rory, darling! It's so good to see you!" Emily led the two of them in the house, it wasn't until they were standing in the foyer that she noticed Logan. "Logan! It is so good to see you again. Rory told me she was bringing a guest, but she didn't tell me it was you. Are you two back together?" Emily was all bout jumping up and down at the possibility and Rory knew that she was already planning their wedding.
"Grandma, can we maybe settle in a little before we tell you the great tale. I promise I will tell you everything, but it's been quite the day and honestly, I feel a little gross."
"Of course, but I do expect you to tell me why you insisted on coming to dinner then staying one night when you'll be here for Christmas in 10 days. It is a very long drive just for dinner."
"Emily, you will know everything, but it has been a long day, we'll be down in half an hour."
"Alright, I will tell Berta to set up drinks in the sunroom. I will see you in half an hour." Emily left the two alone to settle into the room, and in Rory's case lie down for a bit.
Half an hour later drinks were served, and they were sitting in the sunroom as Berta brought out some small snacks.
"Thank you, Berta." When Berta left Emily turned her focus on the couple sitting across from her. "Alright, I have been patient now I need you to tell me what is going on," Emily said quite calmly considering the situation.
"Ok, grandma. The story is only going to make sense if I tell the whole story, so bear with me." Logan squeezed her hand in support as Rory began the story. "Two years ago, when I was in Hamburg for the writers' conference I ran into Logan. We hadn't seen each other since my graduation and it was awkward, to say the least." Rory took a deep breath before continuing. "Once we got past the awkwardness it was nice to be together again and we," Rory paused and looked at Logan not sure how to explain to her grandmother that she and Logan were having an affair. Lucky for her Logan took over.
"We briefly got back together."
Rory's eyes shot up at that, but it was as close as they were going to get. "We didn't want to get back together more permanently but every time we saw each other we acted like a couple." Rory cringed a little at the phrasing but she was at a loss in this situation.
Emily looked back and forth between the two before speaking. "You two were having an affair."
"Emily-"
"Grandma-"
Emily quieted them both with a look before speaking. "I may be an old woman but I'm not stupid. You know, when your grandfather and I first met he was engaged to Pennilyn Lott. He ended up leaving her for me."
"Grandma!"
"Don't 'Grandma' me. I had my wild moments when I was younger. I do not condone affairs, but I know that they happen."
Rory scoffed in disbelief before continuing. "Anyway, about three months ago I wanted to end things but Logan wanted to see me one last time. I'm 13 weeks pregnant."
Emily was quiet for a minute before she spoke. "Oh, darling. Are you ok? I know that things have been tough for you lately."
Rory sat stunned for a minute as tears welled up in her eyes. "Rory, what's the matter?"
"I was just worried you were going to be angry with me. I thought you were going to see me as repeating mom's mistakes."
"Rory, there is a big difference between being a parent at sixteen and at thirty-two. You have a college degree, your mother had just started junior year in high school." Rory sighed in relaxation and slumped against Logan in relief. "I do have a question that will remind you of my initial reaction to finding out about you." Rory knew where this was going, "What are you two planning to do? Since you showed up here together you must have some type of plan."
"Logan and I are back together. We don't want to dive into marriage, but we do know that we love each other and want to give us a real shot."
At this point, Logan chimed in, "I want to be a father to my children, the type of father I didn't have growing up, and I want to be with Rory more than anything."
"Don't you think that getting married would be the best way to be there for your child, children need both of their parents and getting married provides certain stability that can't be matched."
"Grandma, I understand where you're coming from, but we can't pick up where we left off and when we get married, we want it to be because we want to, not because we feel pressured."
"When you get married?" Rory could hear the hope in her grandma's voice and wasn't surprised that she picked up on that phrasing.
"Yes, when. We're going to get married but not right away."
Rory hadn't seen her grandma look that pleased since she announced she was going to Yale. "That's splendid! Do you think it'll be before the baby's born?"
"Maybe, we don't want to rush anything this time around but, you never know."
Emily pulled Rory into a hug right when Berta came in to announce dinner was ready. They were digging into dinner when Emily abruptly changed the subject. "Your grandfather always hoped he'd get to see the next generation of Gilmore's come into the world. He'd already started planning for it, he was putting money away for their trust fund, not a lot and it got absorbed into the estate when he died but he would have been so proud of you Rory. You're succeeding in your career, you're in a more solid relationship then your mother ever had, and there's going to be another Gilmore. It's everything he ever wanted for you."
Rory smiled a watery smile, then said, "You mean that?" Through her tears.
"I promise you; he would've been proud. He always hoped you and Logan would find your way back to each other and you did." Rory smiled at Logan thinking that maybe her grandpa would've been pleased with how she was living her life after all. "Now, tell me all about this new job of yours." Rory perked right up and launched into a diatribe about her new position and how thrilled she was to be an editor at a New York paper.
AN: We're living in crazy times right now and all we can do is try and help each other out (from 6 ft away) and stay put. Read fanfiction and binge watch on Netflix! Don't forget to breathe at some point!
Love all you guys and I'm glad people are taking time to read this crazy story I dreamed up.
Review if you please!