A/N: We see Logan/Charlotte meet this chapter. Keep in mind it will take time for them to be full on father-daughter. The kid-speak comes largely from my niece (4) and nephews (3.5). I am back at work from mat leave now, so I don't have as much time...and for some reason, I haven't been able to upload anything lately
Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls
Chapter Four:
Staying at The Logan again, just arrived. Let me know what you want to do
Rory read the text from Logan several times before she decided how to respond. It was Saturday morning and they had all had a bit of time to digest the information. Rory had dealt with her parents and Grandmother who were hesitant but they were also optimistic about what this meant for Charlotte. Rory was glad that they were keeping an open mind, she wasn't sure exactly how they would feel when Logan started coming around, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it. Jess was a whole other story, he was pissed, and Rory couldn't blame him, he had been the only father figure Charlotte had ever known. Rory had been surprised when she had received a call earlier in the week from Odette Huntzberger. She had taken responsibility for hiding the information about Charlotte from Logan, and had explained that she would be including a statement in their divorce agreement, it would simply explain her part in the situation, but it wouldn't give any details about Rory, or Charlotte. Rory was glad, she was glad that she could still trust her gut when it came to Logan, and she was also glad that she would still be allowed some privacy to deal with the matter. Oddly enough, Jess had been glad when she told him, he had told her that it was good for Charlotte too, because in a few years when she googled her father, it would be clear that he wasn't just an asshole who chose not to be around.
We're going to be home all day, why don't you just stop by? We can start with just hanging out and go from there. Please don't say who you are right away. I need to explain it all to her.
Rory knew it was selfish, to ask him not to claim her, she knew that he wanted to, but she was trying to be sensitive not only to Charlotte, but to Jess as well.
I'm on my way
His response was immediate, Rory had wished that he was unpacking, or had some work to do for a little bit, but she supposed that would just be delaying the inevitable.
"Charlotte," Rory called from the kitchen into the living room, "sweetie can you come into the kitchen."
"I'm watching Thompas!" Charlotte shouted back, "You say-ed one show!"
Rory took a deep breath, she was right, Rory had promised that she could watch one show that morning, and by her own calculations it should be over any minute. Rory could feel her stomach doing backflips, worrying about the upcoming meeting when she heard the front door open. "Hello?"
"It's me." Jess called, "Sorry, I meant to call, but I forgot my phone at home." he walked into the kitchen with two coffees and what looked to be a bag of pastries. "I've been a dick this week." he admitted.
Rory smiled at the gesture, "You have been a dick this week." she agreed, "But you're about to be even more mad at me." she told him, he nodded as if to tell her to continue, "Logan is on his way over to meet Charlotte for the first time."
Jess tried to hide his obvious annoyance. His jaw clenched up and he felt himself making a fist with his free hand, "Well, can I stay for a bit? At least enjoy the coffee? It might be better for Charlotte?" he suggested.
Rory wasn't sure this was a good idea, but she also understood why Jess was feeling so territorial, even if she wasn't his daughter, he had helped take care of her since she was just a few weeks old. "Sure." Rory agreed, I need to talk to Logan a bit first, and then I'll introduce them. So maybe you can hang out with her while we chat, and then you can make yourself scarce, and I will call you when he is gone."
Jess agreed, he handed Rory her coffee and then went to sit with Charlotte in the living room. Rory tidied the kitchen from the pancakes she and Charlotte had made for breakfast and then waited. She heard a car pull into the driveway and she walked towards the front door to meet it, "Jess we're just going to talk outside for a few minutes, you have her?"
"Got her." Jess called back as Rory stepped outside.
"Hi." Logan greeted her, he had a big shopping bag in one hand and what appeared to be a legal sized envelope in the other. "I brought a gift for her." he held up the shopping bag.
"I'm sure she will be very excited." Rory smiled, "I certainly hope it isn't a pony in there."
"No pony." Logan promised, "Not that Honor didn't want to send one. She would like to know if it's alright to call you? Or would that be too soon. You know Hon, she always loved you."
"She can call." Rory told her as she gestured to the front porch and sat down on the steps, "We should talk a bit." she told him.
"We should." Logan agreed, taking a seat beside her. He was wearing a white Armani dress shirt and a pair of navy blue chinos, "How has your week been?"
"Oh you know, the usual." Rory chuckled, "Your wife called, we chatted for a while. She told me her part in all of it, and it was as you had said. Charlotte had her first soccer game, that was a lot more fun than I had expected. I can't begin to tell you how funny it is to watch a bunch of four year olds running around like they know what they are doing. She must get her athleticism from you, because as you know, I don't have any."
"I played soccer." Logan smiled, "When I was younger. I mean, I was no David Beckham, but I played."
"Well don't worry, she's no David Beckham either." Rory laughed, "Next week is her last week of school, so she is pretty excited about that."
Logan folded his hands together, he didn't want to beat around the bush, he wanted to get everything out in the open so that they could move forward. "So what do you see happening here, Rory? I'm not asking for some schedule drawn up that we can guarantee where we will be and when, but I would like to know what to expect, or at least have an idea of it. How she will become a part of my life."
Rory nodded, she understood that Logan wanted to be a part of their lives, and she knew that she had to make some accommodations for that to happen. "Well it is almost summer, so as a teacher I will have some time off, and maybe we can spend a bit of time in New York? If you don't mind coming here sometimes, we can come to you, and we'll be spending some time in Stars Hollow to see my Mom and Luke, so if you still have ties to Hartford?"
"I have a house there." Logan told her, "I mean, I think that sounds like a good place to start. Maybe I could come for her soccer game this week? I know it isn't the most practical thing on earth, but I can get here from New York pretty quickly, and then I would at least get to see her."
"We'll play it by ear." Rory told him, "Logan, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but you cannot jump in with two feet and set a precedent if it is going to change. If things go well and she is excited to see you at every soccer game, and you don't show up, she won't understand that. So if you're going to commit to coming to soccer, or dance, or whatever it is...you have to come to those things. Work doesn't get to take priority anymore. She is my life, my entire world is that little girl, and I will not watch any man come in and out of her life."
"I will keep my promises to her Rory, I swear to you, I will keep them." Logan did his best to assure her. "There's one other thing I want to discuss."
"It better not be jumping off scaffolding." Rory tried to lighten the mood.
"No, we'll save that until she's a little older." Logan grinned at the memory. "It is about money." he handed her the envelope, he knew that Rory wouldn't want to discuss it, but the fact of the matter was, he had a responsibility to his daughter.
"Logan we don't need your money." Rory assured him without even opening the envelope. "I make enough money to pay my mortgage and my car is paid for, we don't want for anything. All I want is for you and Charlotte to have a relationship."
Logan smiled, he knew that Rory had never had any interest in his money, but nevertheless, he was going to help them. "Will you look it over, please?" he asked her, "This isn't about you, or proving that as a Gilmore Girl you can do it on your own like your Mom did, this is about Charlotte."
"You read my book?"
"Of course I read your book." Logan laughed, his eyes sparkling, "You didn't think I would read it?"
"You didn't come when I told you I had a baby." she countered seriously.
Logan nodded, he could understand why she wasn't sure where they had stood all those years ago. "Well I read it, and curiously, you left your pregnancy out of it."
"I'll read through it later." Rory told him, tucking the envelope underneath her arm. "But we should go inside so you can meet her. I should warn you, Jess is here."
"I figured someone had to be inside given that we are sitting out here. Unless you frequently leave our child alone?"
"I try to avoid it." Rory laughed as she stood up, "Grandma says it is frowned upon or something." she joked.
"Emily Gilmore, always worried about what someone else thinks." Logan grinned as he followed her inside.
"Charlotte, Jess?" Rory called as they walked into the house, Logan followed her down the hall to the living room.
"She's coming." Jess called from upstairs, "She heard you talking to someone and thought she should get dressed up for company." he added.
Rory smiled as she saw her daughter walking down the stairs in a striped dress that Rory was fairly certain she had gotten to wear at Easter. "Charlotte this is my friend Logan."
Charlotte looked at the man in front of her, he was holding a bag with wrapped presents inside, and he looked vaguely familiar. Without saying a word she reached for his hand and began to pull him to the room that Rory used as an office. Rory began to follow as well, but the look she got from her daughter told her to stay put. Logan followed her as she marched him into the room and then he stood still when she dropped his hand and began to rummage through a wicker box that was tucked away on a shelf. "You!" Charlotte pulled a photo from the box and shoved it towards Logan.
Logan took the photo and studied it carefully, it was a photo of he and Rory in London, one of the times they had met up with Colin and Finn many years earlier. "That is me," Logan nodded his head, "and your Mom."
Charlotte didn't look at him for long, she went back to searching through the box and returned a few seconds later with a newspaper clipping. "You?" it was more of a question this time, less certainty in her voice.
Logan sighed and took the photo, "That's me, kiddo." Logan nodded, it was a copy of his wedding announcement, there was a post-it note on the back 'What an ass - Paris' he was glad to know she hadn't changed much over the years.
Charlotte just nodded and walked out of the room, she glanced back to make sure that he was following her and then returned to her mother. "Where's Dah?"
"Dah is upstairs honey." Rory told her, "I think we're going to spend some time with Logan though. He brought you some presents for your birthday. Would you like to open them?"
Charlotte shook her head, Logan looked on from a few steps back and waited to see what would happen next. "I want my Dah."
"I'm right here honey." Jess began to walk down the stairs, having overheard the interaction, he didn't want to overstep, but he also wasn't going to ignore her while she asked for him. He didn't know how much longer she would call him Dah, or ask for him at all, so he wasn't going to waste the moments they still had. "Hey Logan." he nodded at the blonde man.
"Hey Jess." Logan nodded, he could feel his chest tighten as Charlotte ran to Jess and put an arm around his leg. "Why don't I head home? We can try again...tomorrow?"
Rory wasn't sure what to say, she couldn't force Charlotte to want to get to know Logan, but she hated seeing him hurt like this. "You know," Jess interrupted her thoughts, "why don't we all go outside and play?" he suggested, "Charlotte has this killer swing set outside, her Great Grandma Emily got it for her birthday last year, and I am sure that she would love to show you how high she can swing on the swings."
Logan watched as Charlotte processed the idea, he could see her eyes sparkle, "I would love to see a swing set, that is a great idea, Jess."
"Whadya say Charlotte? Or would you rather clean your room? I remember your Mom saying we had to do that today." Jess continued to push her.
"No!" Charlotte giggled, "I no like to clean!"
"Well then why don't you get going outside, and we will race you!" Jess began to chase the little girl.
"Sorry." Rory looked at Logan as they followed behind Jess and Charlotte, "She is just...it takes her time to warm up to people."
Logan nodded, "You can't force it. Trust me, I wish we could force it, but I know that it will take her time." by the time they got outside, Charlotte was planted on her swing and Jess was pushing her along. "That is an impressive swing set!"
"Push me?" Charlotte shouted, "Dah, let him push me. 'Ogan HIGHER!" she squealed.
Jess backed away and watched as Logan began to push the swing gently, he could see Charlotte laugh as she went higher and Logan seemed to be talking to her a bit. "He seems well." Jess told Rory as they stood back walking.
"He's not a monster Jess." Rory told him as she watched, she had to admit, the moment made her happy, it was the kind of moment that she had hoped for when she had sent Logan the e-mail. "You two aren't 22 and fighting over me anymore. We have to be adults and deal with an adult situation."
"I don't have to like him."
"You don't have to like him." Rory agreed.
"I should go." Jess told her, "Charlotte seems to have warmed up to him a bit, so I will sneak out. Tell her that I will come by tomorrow night for dinner?"
"Of course. I was thinking I would make burgers."
"By make do you mean order?" Jess laughed, "Or do you want me to grill them?"
"I do, you know me well." Rory elbowed him in the ribs.
"Then I will be there." he leaned forward and kissed her cheek before he walked away. "You do the groceries."
Rory kept back for a few minutes, continuing to watch as Logan and Charlotte started to interact. Charlotte hopped off the swing and took Logan over to the slide where he watched her go up and down at least ten times. "Mommy!" Charlotte ran over to Rory, Logan a few steps behind her, "'Ogan says we can get ice cream?"
Rory smiled and raised an eyebrow at Logan, "Did he now?"
Logan laughed, he knew this little girl was going to have him around her finger in no time flat, "I believe that I said that if your Mom said it was ok we could go for ice cream."
"After lunch." Rory agreed, "Do you think that Logan should stay for lunch?"
"Mommy can't cook." Charlotte told him simply.
"Your Mommy can't cook?" Logan laughed, "I seem to remember a time when she started learning how to cook?"
"Not good." Charlotte informed him, "Grampa can cook, and Dah. Not Mommy and Gramma. Great Gramma Emily has a...a cook." she continued, pausing to remember the parts of Emily's staff.
"I seem to remember Luke being a master of the grill." Logan agreed.
"Where my present?" Charlotte asked as she began to walk from the backyard to the house.
"Charlotte Emily!" Rory scolded her, "That is not polite!"
Logan felt awkward, he wasn't sure what the appropriate thing to say was, he wasn't offended by Charlotte asking where the present was, but he also didn't want to undermine Rory.
"Sorry." Charlotte mumbled under her breath. "Can I have a drink?"
Rory opened the sliding door that led back to the kitchen, "I will get you a glass of milk while I make some soup and grilled cheese." she looked to Logan to make sure that was alright, he nodded in response.
"Is it alright if I use the restroom?" Logan asked as Rory poured Charlotte a milk and Charlotte sat down at the kitchen table. Rory nodded and pointed him in the direction of the powder room.
"Mama?" Charlotte took a sip of her milk while Rory put a can of soup in a pot.
"Yes baby?"
"He's where I came from?"
Rory exhaled, she had a feeling from the moment that Charlotte went for the photos that she had realized who Logan was. She had never hidden Logan from Charlotte, but she also hadn't made him a constant, there weren't photos of him all over the house, but she showed Charlotte photos and spoke of him occasionally. "He is honey, Logan is your father."
"Where he go?" Charlotte looked around the room, she seemed concerned that he had left as quickly as he had arrived.
"He's in the bathroom honey." Rory assured her, "Logan isn't going to go away today until bedtime, or until you are done having fun."
Charlotte nodded as she saw Logan walk back into the room, "Hi 'Ogan." she smiled as Rory cautiously returned to making the grilled cheese while the soup warmed up.
"Hi Charlotte." Logan sat down beside her at the kitchen table. "Your Mom tells me you like to read?" Charlotte nodded, "What is your favourite book?"
"Goodnight Sammy and Paddington."
"I don't know Goodnight Sammy, maybe you can show it to me sometime?" Logan laughed, "Paddington on the other hand, I am very familiar with."
"How you know Paddington?"
"How do you know Paddington?" Rory corrected her.
"My sister, Honor has two kids, and they love Paddington." Logan explained, Charlotte seemed satisfied with the explanation. "So, Charlotte, what is your favourite colour?"
"I like pink, and sometimes purple, but sometimes I like blue too." Charlotte told him, "How bout you 'Ogan?"
"My favourite colour is blue." Logan told her, "How about...your favourite kind of ice cream?"
"I like chocolate."
"No way!" Logan put his hand on his chest as Rory brought the food over, "Chocolate is my favourite."
"It Mommy's favourite too."
"It is." Rory joined the conversation.
"Thanks for lunch Rory." Logan smiled, "It looks great."
"It's just grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup, Logan."
"Well as someone who hasn't had it in a while, it looks great."
"Mommy?" Charlotte took a bite of her sandwich.
"Yes Charlotte?"
"I want ketchup."
Rory sighed, it was the joys of having a four year old. On a lot of levels she should have assumed that she needed the ketchup, but the constant up and down of having a young child was exhausting. In some ways it had gotten better the older that Charlotte had gotten, but it was still hard. "Is that how you ask?"
Now it was Charlotte's turn to sigh, "Mommy, can I please have the ketchup?"
"I'll get it." Logan stood up.
"No," Rory interjected, "you're a guest."
"Rory it's ketchup, the fridge I assume?" Rory nodded in response, "I am pretty sure you've been on the go for a long time, so it would qualify as the least that I can do." Logan added.
Rory smiled as she took a bite of her own sandwich. It was nice to have him around, it was exactly as she had envisioned it all those years ago, the only difference was that they weren't together, and he would be leaving to go back to New York the next day.
xxxx
"So his visit was good?" Jess asked as he stood at the barbecue. It was Sunday evening, Rory had called him over about an hour earlier, once Logan had left to return to New York.
"It was." Rory nodded, taking a sip of her wine as she watched Charlotte blow bubbles in the backyard. "She knows who he is, she asked me about it." Rory told him, "She seems cautious, but excited."
"Well, I guess I'm glad then." Jess flipped the burgers and put the cover down on the grill, "What is the plan now?"
"He's going to be in town on Wednesday for her soccer game." Rory told him, "And then he is going away on business for a couple of days, so we probably won't see him until I'm done work in a week. I think we'll probably go to New York."
"Wow." Jess nodded his head and took a sip of his beer, "So he's...jumping right in."
"It's the summer." Rory explained, "If it were during the school year, it would be different, but school is out in a week, and we were going to go back to Connecticut anyway, it's not like we're going out of our way."
"Can I still take her camping over Labour Day?"
"Of course you can." Rory assured him, "Things are different, but it doesn't change you, or you and her."
"But it could change us."
"I don't know." Rory admitted, "I mean, I'm not looking to jump into a relationship with the man, Logan and I don't know each other anymore. But I need to sort things out between him and Charlotte. That is what is most important."
Jess nodded, simply acknowledging that he had heard what she said, "Burgers are ready." he passed Rory the plate with the food on it, "Charlotte, come on babe, time for dinner." he shouted to Charlotte who immediately ran towards them.
"You cooked them, right Dah? Not Mommy?"
"Of course I did baby." Jess picked her up. "Mommy doesn't really cook that well, you know that."
"Do you know my 'Ogan?"
"Your 'Ogan?" Jess repeated.
"My 'Ogan." Charlotte repeated, "He lives in a tall house and likes Paddington."
"Oh, Logan." Jess realized what she meant, "Yes I do know Logan."
"He's nice."
"He sure is kiddo." Jess tried to keep a smile on his face, "I love you Charlotte."
"I love you too Dah."