It won't be like this for long: Chapter 16
Chapter 16
After Rory and Logan help their friends gather their children to leave, Rory went upstairs while Logan said his goodbye and locked up. Rory checked on each of the children. She found McKenzie in Hayden's bottom bunk. This was not unusual, but Rory knew the kids could feel the tension tonight. She hated it when she and Logan fought, but she hated it even more when it affected the children.
She was in the bathroom, going through her nightly routine when she heard Logan in the bedroom. She expected him to be in bed when she exited the bathroom, but he was not. She checked the closet, but all she found was the clothes he wore today. He must have come in to change his clothes.
Both Rory and Logan were stubborn. Rory was in bed. She thought about reading until he came to bed, but she thought he might come on in if she was asleep. She laid down on her side facing the window and closed her eyes. Her mind went directly to the events of the day.
She thought about how frustrated she had been with both girls. Kenzie was bored. She was ready to go, but she was just being the typical 10 years old. Mia on the other hand was being difficult. She wouldn't put it past her to have called her friends to meet her at the mall. Rory was really looking forward to spending time with just her two girls this morning. She was thinking about Kenzie trying to get her keys out of her purse. She knew better. She knew that Rory wouldn't let her go to the car by herself. Then the embarrassment of her falling and hitting her head. It still hurts. She had already taken two more Tylenol. That didn't seem to help. She touched the back of her head where it hit the display. Yep, she is going to have a goose egg in the morning.
Being late to the County Club was not a big deal. She and Logan both were notorious for letting meetings go on longer than they should, causing them to be late. Logan seemed to be more irritated than usual because she was late. She wondered if something had happened to cause him to be irritated besides her being late. Maybe she should have asked instead of jumping on him to start with for not answering her calls. She could have just called the ClubHouse Bar. They would have found him and given him a message. Her brain is not working properly.
Then to find out he invited guests after they arrived. This is so unlike him. She enjoyed having their friends over. Her face is hurting from forcing a smile all night. She hasn't had to do that in a long time. Even putting on a society smile was not as bad as a forced smile. Although there was a part of the night that the smile was genuine. She was smiling now thinking about it. She and Logan were trying so hard not to let the gang know that they were fighting. At one point, he sat next to her and played with her hair. This is something he used to do all the time. She guessed it was just a reaction to trying to fool the gang.
That of course, hadn't worked. Rose and Steph trapped her in the kitchen when she went to get the boys another beer. They wanted to know what was going on. She didn't want to talk about it. They argued for a few minutes till she went back outside, forgetting the beer. Finn and Collin had Logan cornered by the grill. She guessed they were trying to get him to tell them what was going on. She wondered if he did. After that, she could see him putting forth a better effort to hide his feelings.
She was brought out of thoughts when she heard a faint knock on the bedroom door. She looked up to find McKenzie standing in the doorway.
"What's wrong?" Rory asked as she climbed into the bed with her. She cuddled up to Rory. Rory could tell she was warm. She was feeling her head when McKenzie jumped up to go throw up in the bathroom but didn't make it. The bed and the floor were covered in barf.
Rory jumped up to help her. When she got to the bathroom she held her hair back away from the toilet while she continued to puke. When she was though she laid her head on Rory. Rory took a wet washcloth and put it on her forehead. They sat like that for a few minutes to make sure she was not going to throw up again.
"Where is daddy?" McKenzie asked as her eyes fluttered. She was trying to stay awake.
"I'm right here baby," Logan said from the doorway. "Let me help you up." He took the girl from Rory and then helped Rory stand up.
When he got to the bed, he laid her down on the clean sheets. While Rory was in the bathroom with Kenzie, Logan removed the sheets, thankfully she only threw up on the comfortable. Rory followed Logan to the bedroom with a digital thermometer and some children's Tylenol. Logan went back to get her some water.
Her temperature was 100.1. Rory gave her the Tylenol. Logan came back upstairs with some ginger ale to help settle her stomach. She took the medicine and drank a sip of ginger ale and was fast asleep.
"Do you want me to call the doctor?" Logan asked. Rory looked up at him. She was sitting on the edge of the bed running her fingers through Kenzie's hair.
"No, It is probably just a stomach bug. If she continues to throw up, I'll call." Rory said. Logan nodded. There is a small table and two chairs that Rory referred to as the reading nook. Logan took a seat in one of the chairs.
"Rory," he said. When she looked up. He motioned for her to come to have a seat. "We need to talk." He said. "I was going to wait until morning. I wanted to make sure I processed the fight before I spoke about it." He told her as she sat down.
"Yeah, I was waiting for you to come to bed so we could talk about it." She told him.
"I figured, I guess I wanted to let you know I was still mad, that is why I didn't go to bed. I was on the couch in the office when I heard you scrambling around up here." He said and sighed.
"We can wait if you want to, but I would rather talk it out and get a good night's sleep." She told him. "So I will talk and you can listen, then if you still want to wait, then we will talk again in the morning," Rory told him. He nodded.
They stayed up until about 2 in the morning talking things out. They both realize it was just a string of things put together that made them both irritated and they took it out on each other. McKenzie slept the rest of the night between Logan and Rory.
This is the reason she insisted they buy a king-size bed when they got married. Everyone they have to replace since has been king size. She wanted to make sure there was room for all the kids in the bed.