Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N: I mean….what is three years between updates? Sorry for the delay, hopefully there are a few of you still along for the ride. I would suggest a quick catch up, but i will pick up pretty much where we left off.
Chapter 10:
"I hope this isn't to…forward." the man smiled at Rory, they had bumped into each other at the Starbucks closest to the Gilmore mansion in Hartford for about two weeks. Rory had made the decision and packed up their lives in Philadelphia and relocated to Hartford. The was undergoing renovations and so Rory was splitting her time between the Gilmore house, Stars Hollow, and the occasional night with Charlotte at Logan's house. She spent her days monitoring construction and writing in Richard's study, arguably the only room in the house that wasn't being…modified.
"I'm sorry?" Rory smiled at him.
"Would you like to grab a drink sometime?"
"A drink?" Rory repeated. They had chatted, she knew he wasn't married, he was divorced. He knew that she was a single Mom, he was an accountant, she was a teacher without a job.
"I'm sorry, I know we just cross paths…I just thought…"
"I would love to." Rory smiled and pulled out her phone, placing her coffee on the table in front of her, "What is your number?" she asked as she typed in the digits as he told her, "There, you have my number," she texted him a smiley face emoji, "so…text me, and we will set up drinks."
"Great." he smiled, "I'll see you."
Rory had to admit, she was surprised that she had even considered his advances, she wasn't typically a spontaneous person. With Logan she had been spontaneous but her situation with Jess was about comfort, her previous relationships prior to having Charlotte hadn't exactly been…spontaneous. She grinned as she received his text, he must have been no further than his car parked on the street when he hammered out the message. Salute? Tonight at 8? The message came through, Rory had been to Salute a few times, met with old friends there, it was a popular spot, very much a place for a casual visit. She was intrigued, excited, as she picked up her phone and walked out of the Starbucks, "Hey, are you busy?"
"I have our daughter," Logan laughed, "so I mean, yes, and no. Did you know that she is hell bent on going to D-I-S-N-E-Y W-O-R-L-D" Logan spelled the words out.
"I do, I believe my sister got her on that kick, she is hoping my Dad will agree to take them." Rory laughed, "Sorry."
"We should do it." Logan suggested, "It would be fun."
"Why don't we get through Christmas." Rory laughed, "It is only a few days away."
"That is pretty crazy." Logan admitted, "This time last year, I did not expect to be celebrating Christmas like this. But, it is the best thing I didn't even know I needed. Charlotte…she is an amazing kid."
"I would tend to agree." Rory smiled as she got in her car, waiting for the phone to switch to her Bluetooth. "I need a favour."
"Anything." Logan was smiling, Rory could tell.
"Can you watch Charlotte tonight? Just keep her for the evening? I know she slept over on the weekend, but if you can just keep her tonight. I will come over to put her to bed."
"Sure, everything alright?" Logan asked, "Is it something with the house."
"No…" Rory paused, suddenly feeling awkward about this, "I'm going for drinks." she told him, purposely leaving out the man she didn't know who had asked her.
"Sure. I'm also hoping that you and I can meet up on Friday? You said Charlotte was spending the weekend with your Mom. You're picking her up on the 23?"
"Of course." Rory agreed, "Your place?"
"Great. I have to go though, stop the next episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse before it starts. So you'll be here for dinner?"
"I'll see you later." Rory smiled as she hung up the phone. She had no idea how to navigate this, the first few months of having Logan being in their lives, Rory had just enjoyed it, she had enjoyed knowing that he hadn't chosen to abandon their child, she was glad that he wanted to be present, she was glad that they were all going to be in Hartford and that Logan was making choices keeping them in mind, but everything they had been doing was centred around Charlotte, it wasn't centred around Rory and Logan. That was how it was supposed to be. Rory had known what it was like as a child for the relationship to be centred around her parents. The back and forth about Christopher and Lorelai, would they, wouldn't they. She and Logan were centred around their daughter.
xxx
"Mommy I don't want to go to bed." Charlotte pouted, "One more story."
"No more stories." Rory countered, "I'm going to close the door, and you go to sleep. If you need Dad, he is downstairs."
"You kiss me goodnight before bed?"
"Honey, I'm not sleeping here, but Dad will give you a goodnight kiss, I promise." Rory kissed Charlotte's head, "Sweet dreams baby girl." she smiled as she closed the door quietly and walked down the stairs. "She should be asleep in a few minutes. I told her you were down here…if she needs anything."
"You look good." Logan smiled at her, "You're going on a date?"
"I'm going for drinks with an acquaintance." Rory told him, it was the truth. Matt, the man from Starbucks, she had spoken to him casually for a couple of weeks.
"An acquaintance who wants to have sex with you." Logan countered. She had a look, a look that reminded him of when she had been on a date with Robert all those years ago and he had experienced an unfamiliar feeling. Jealousy. Dark jeans, a tight but not too tight black shirt. Her hair was down and styled straight, her boots were certainly not the practical boots she typically wore when they were meeting up with Charlotte that winter.
"Logan," Rory cautioned, "it's drinks. I will pick her up tomorrow."
"Be safe." He winked, "Use protection."
xxx
"I would like to do this again." Matt told her, he was showing his hand, "This was fun." he kissed her neck gently as they sat in the back of the bar.
"This was fun." Rory agreed as she the table start to vibrate, she had pulled her phone out and put it on the table earlier in case Logan needed to get ahold of her, she didn't want to miss the call.
Logan Huntzberger flashed before them on the table.
"You know Logan Huntzberger?" Matt asked her as she answered the call.
"Hey, everything alright?"
"She has a fever."
"Charlotte?"
"Yes, it's not bad but she's upset, she wants you."
"I'll be there in twenty." she assured him and hung up the phone, turning to her date, "I'm sorry, I have to go."
"How do you know Logan Huntzberger?"
"He is my daughters Dad." Rory told him simply, "You know him?" she asked as she stood up, putting her jacket on and her phone back in her purse. she had only had one drink so she was more than capable of driving home.
"I do, but you should go." Matt was purposely vague, he did however feel compelled to pull her for one more kiss, "Text me, hope everything is ok with your daughter."
xxx
"Logan?" Rory called, she used her key to let herself.
"Upstairs." Logan shouted.
"Hey honey," Rory sighed as she walked into Charlotte's room, slipping her coat off and tossing it onto the floor as she entered, "how are you feeling baby?"
"My belly hurts." Charlotte groaned.
"I just gave her some Tylenol. I called my sister, she said that it works better to bring down a fever and I can alternate with Advil."
Rory nodded, "Can you go back to sleep baby, I'm here now." she stroked Charlotte's hair, she was definitely warm and her hair was matted to her head. "Mommy will sleep her, ok?" she looked at Logan who nodded.
"I go seep." Charlotte nodded, Logan and Rory quietly left the room.
"Sorry." Logan shrugged.
"It's called being a Mom." Rory told him, "You're never really alone when you're a parent."
"I am starting to understand that." Logan nodded, "Do you want a drink?"
"A glass of wine would be great." Rory smiled as she followed him to his kitchen. "Is it alright if I stay here?"
"You can always stay here, Ace." Logan assured her as he grabbed a bottle of wine from his wine fridge, he opened it and slid a glass across the table, "How was your date?"
"It was good." Rory shrugged, "He is a nice guy."
"I have to admit," Logan paused, "I was a bit jealous."
"Jealous?" Rory paused. They had been back around each other for about six months now and they hadn't discussed them. Everything had been about Charlotte and what was best for her.
"I don't know how to navigate this, Ror." Logan paused, taking a sip of his own glass of wine, "I just know that I love that kid more than anything in the world, and I want to be around her all the time, and almost as much as I want to be around her all the time, you are the person I want to call. All the time. Something goes on in my day, and I want to call you. I want you to be there when I wake up, and when I go to sleep. I want us to be a family, and I don't want to fight the urge to punch a guy because you happen to be going on a date."
Rory paused, listening to the words coming out of his mouth, thinking to an hour prior when another man had his lips on her neck and his hand on the small of her back making it's way underneath her shirt. "Logan, I don't not want that." she assured him, "The idea of being a family…the three of us being together al the time, being with you, I have tried to keep that out of my mind since she was born, because I didn't want to want something that I couldn't have. But now, you're here, and we're here, so it's an option now." she told him, "Why don't we get through Christmas, I don't want things to be awkward or complicated before Christmas. We will talk after. But if we do this…we need to make it work…we can't tell our daughter we are together and a few months later decide that we aren't. We are in this, or we're not."
"Can you not go on anymore dates?" Logan implored her, he was certainly being more vulnerable than normal, "I don't…I can't think about it Ace."
"I won't go on anymore dates until we have figured this out, promise."
"Do you ever wonder what it would have been like?"
"What?"
"Us, if I had known? If I had known when you sent the e-mail, or if you had told me earlier in the pregnancy?" Logan asked her, "Do you think we would be together?"
"I do." Rory admitted quietly, "I think that we would be together, and we would be happy. We might have another baby."
"Why didn't you have another kid? Everyone I know has kids two years apart. I find it hard to believe you didn't have options. Jess?"
"Jess and I were casual." Rory told him, "I told you that before. We were an itch, a means to an end. A need." it was the truth. Jess and Rory were dear friends, and they had sex when it was convenient. It was more convenient than dating other people for Rory, and they always stopped when Jess was in a relationship with someone else. Things were certainly fuzzy given that Lorelai and Luke were married, but they were just two consenting adults who had fun.
"I thought you didn't do casual?" Logan joked.
"I think I proved to you long ago that I do do casual." Rory retorted. "This is a dangerous game we're playing Logan." she noted that they were closing the gap between each other, they started on opposite ends of the island, and they were slowly inching closer together. "The sex has never been the problem with us Logan…it's everything else that caused issues. Trust me, I know that in a few more inches," she gestured to the space between them you will be close enough that just a step and we would be kissing, and I'm sure that faster than I would know how to react my arms would be around your neck, my legs around your waist and you would be taking me somewhere to a soft surface. You know exactly how to drive me wild, better than anyone." she added, she could see it in his eyes, "And then we would have muddied the waters. Any talk we just promised to have after Christmas would be out the window because we would have jumped in with both feet, and without a thought to what is best for our daughter."
"You are more effective than a cold shower." Logan straightened up, taking a step back.
"I'm going to say something to you, and I want you to listen. dOn't react, and then I'm going to go to bed, and we will wake up tomorrow, hopefully with a daughter that is feeling better, and clear heads." Rory paused. "Less than an hour ago, there was another man who was kissing me, his lips pressed on mine, on my neck…and if you hadn't called, I can't promise we wouldn't have found some comfort in each other for the night. I don't see a future with this man, and i'm not telling you this to hurt you. I'm telling you this because we cannot jump in, and I know that if I just say to cool off, you won't. But now you will at least be pissed off at me for the next few hours until you remember that you too have been on dates, and by tomorrow morning, we will be parents to a little girl who is hopefully feeling better.