Emily led Logan outside and several feet away from the hospital entrance.

"Emily, I …" Logan tried to start but he didn't know what to say. Then he wondered if he should have called her Mrs. Gilmore.

Emily held a hand up. "I need you to hear me out." She said.

Logan nodded. He kept eye contact with her although it was hard. She was pretty intimidating.

"I haven't heard much about what lead to Owen's conception, but I know that you and Rory weren't in a committed relationship."

"That's right." Logan said solemnly.

Emily took a few seconds to respond. She seemed to be surprised by his tone.

"Lorelai also mentioned that you broke off your engagement to that French heiress?"

"Yes." Logan answered simply.

"And did you come back here expecting Rory to jump in your arms and then the three of you could be a happy little family?"

Logan broke eye contact and bit his lip to keep from sighing. "Well, to tell you the truth, I was kind of hoping for that."

Emily gave him a disapproving look.

Logan continued: "But that was Rory's decision, if she just wanted to co-parent Owen and not be involved romantically, I would be fine with that. If she wanted no string attached, to be friends with benefits then I would do that." He immediately regretted saying that last sentence.

"Oh, so you would be booty buddies like Lorelai and Luke." Emily shook her head. "I still can't believe they finally got married last year."

Logan cringed at hearing her say the words 'booty buddies' then cleared his throat. "Look, Mrs. Gilmore, I don't know if you're trying to interrogate me or what, but I'd like to see my son before visiting hours are over."

Emily's brow furrowed. "I'll be done speaking to you when I'm done, young man." She met his gaze and continued speaking. "I thought you were right for Rory a long time ago and I was excited when you proposed, but Rory didn't want to be engaged so young and I respected her decision. Then the years passed and Rory never mentioned you and I thought she was over you but now we have a situation."

"A situation?"

"Yes. You two had a baby out of wedlock. I'm old fashioned and I'd prefer for my granddaughter to be married and have a steady job before she has a child." Emily sighed and looked down. "And now Rory is unable to do anything and I know she doesn't have a will…" She took in a sharp breath.

Logan still didn't know what to say. He didn't know how Emily would respond if he told her he wouldn't abandon Owen or Rory. Would she believe him?

"I want to trust you Logan." Emily said suddenly. She looked up at him. "But I just want Rory to wake up… I want to know what she wants. I guess she was planning on letting you visit Owen and be involved."

"Yeah, she was… and uh I obviously didn't ever see this happening but I am hoping to get a job in New York or even Hartford if possible. I want to be here for Owen, help raise him and eventually be his primary care giver if Rory's condition doesn't change within the next couple months." Logan said this slowly as he was thinking at the same time, imagining himself raising Owen.

"You're serious? Will do everything in your power to assure this baby has his father in his life?" Emily questioned.

Logan swallowed nervously and nodded, "Yes." He knew it would be hard, but he was up to the challenge. He knew Emily, Lorelai and probably Luke had their doubts about him, but he would do his best to prove them wrong. He vowed to be the best father he could be and stay by Rory's side even though she probably didn't know he was there.

"All right," Emily replied. "We'll see how long you last."

Logan had no response to that. He just kept eye contact with Emily for ten more seconds before turning around and heading back inside.


Emily waited in the lobby area downstairs for Luke and Lorelai. Logan made his way back to the NICU. Once he got his scrubs back on and stepped inside, he noticed Luke and Lorelai were no longer there. He wondered where they went.

Owen was still asleep and Logan slowly stepped up to his incubator. The nurse came over and asked him if he was Owen's father.

"Yeah," Logan said gently. He slowly reached down and gently touched Owen's little arm.

"As I told his grandparents, he'll be ready to go home in a couple days."

"Oh wow, that soon?" Logan was a little surprised.

"Yep. He's a little fighter and the jaundice treatment worked well. He's pretty healthy and I don't expect that to change within two days."

"That's great." Logan smiled. He stayed there for a few more minutes, watching Owen sleep. He knew he had to go find Lorelai and Luke.


Logan went to the cafeteria and ate a quick lunch before walking back to the lobby area where he found Luke and Lorelai sitting. There was a free chair next to Luke and he claimed it.

He greeted them politely and asked where Emily had gone.

"She headed back to her hotel nearby. She said she needed some rest." Lorelai informed him.

Logan nodded. "So uh, the nurse in the NICU told me that Owen will be ready to go home in a couple days… we need to talk about the arrangements."

Luke opened his mouth to say something then closed it again He placed a hand on Lorelai's knee.

"You said you have a job interview in New York soon, right?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah so I'd be fine with you two taking Owen back to Stars Hollow for the time being. You said everything's already set up there?" Logan responded.

"The nursery is ready, but are you really fine with that? Us taking Owen home?" Lorelai inquired.

"Yeah, I am. There are no jobs in Hartford right now and I already have the interview in New York. I have money to buy all the things he would need but I've got no job and no place to live permanently. I have no problems with you two temporarily taking care of Owen. I know he'll be happy and safe in your care and I just don't think I have the means to care for him right now." Logan let out a breath. "I'm not signing away custody or anything and I'll visit him when I can if you'll let me of course."

"We'll let you visit. You are his father." Luke said sternly.

Lorelai noticed that he had become tense and imagined that he must be thinking about missing out on April's early years. She patted his hand then turned her attention back to Logan.

"We'll definitely keep in touch, Logan. I wouldn't want to keep Owen from you. He needs at least one of his parents right now. I would never want to fight you for custody in court or anything… I don't think we have to get the law involved in order for Luke and me to take him home but I'll look more into it. I appreciate the fact that you're allowing us to take him for now." She said.

Logan smiled. "Thank you for being so understanding and doing what's best for Owen. I'll stop by tomorrow before I catch a train to New York." He held out his hand.

It took Lorelai a second before she reached out and shook his hand. It was like they were making a business deal. She didn't blame him for treating it like one; he was probably used to making deals and working with customers. For some reason she was reminded of when he came to ask her for her permission to ask Rory to marry him. Little did she know then that Logan would not become her son-in-law, but instead he would be the father of her grandson without being married to Rory.

"Okay. We'll see you tomorrow morning." Lorelai said quickly when she let go of his hand.

Luke also shook Logan's hand. They said their goodbyes and Logan left.

"I didn't expect that to go over so well. I wonder if your mother scared him or something." Luke said once Logan out of sight.

"Yeah I know." Lorelai whispered. "But we just have to hope he keeps his word. I think Rory would want to trust him but I can't help but be a little wary still."

"Yeah me too, but I think he already loves Owen as much as we do." Luke said as he took Lorelai's hand.

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "As much as us? I don't think so."

Luke smiled and squeezed her hand. "Let's go home and make sure everything will be ready for him in a couple days and then we can hopefully get some sleep tonight." He frowned.

Lorelai held onto his hand tightly and slowly stood up, then tried to pull him up. He groaned and stood too. His back was aching.

"We do need some sleep." She admitted as she pulled him out of the lobby.


Later that night, Luke and Lorelai lied in bed watching a Lifetime movie. They weren't really paying attention to it as Luke was drifting off and Lorelai was playing with his hand while she thought about things.

Luke shifted and Lorelai dropped his hand. He slowly got out of bed, put on the T-shirt that he had removed earlier.

"Where are going?" She asked frantically.

He turned around and gave her a reassuring smile, "Just the bathroom."

She smiled back but he could tell it was a fake smile. He went into the bathroom and came out as fast as he could.

Luke got back in bed leaned over to kiss Lorelai's temple.

"Are you okay? Wait that's a stupid question, sorry." He became nervous all of a sudden. He just wanted her to be happy and there was no way to make her happy right now. Not unless he could somehow magically heal Rory.

"Let's just try to get some sleep." Lorelai said gently.

"Okay." Luke blinked when he felt his eyes get watery. He moved back and turned off the lamp on his nightstand.

Lorelai glanced at him before she turned to turn off the lamp on her side. She saw a tear roll down his cheek.

"Oh hon." She sniffed.

He turned to face her and she kissed his cheek twice.

"I was just thinking about my dad… remembering when he was sick, his last days. Seeing Rory in the hospital reminded me of that and I hate it."

"I'm sorry." Lorelai whispered before she kissed his cheek once more. She took his hand again and brushed the back of it with her thumb.

Luke kissed her temple again. "But that's in the past and right now we need to try to be positive and hope that Rory will wake up sooner rather than later. And Owen needs us now."

Lorelai agreed but she spoke up. "It happened years ago, but you can still be sad about it. You can still feel things, Luke. You don't need to be strong for me. I wish I could have been there for you when your dad passed… you were there for me when my dad did." She felt chills as she remembered the day Richard died. "I know you'll never leave and I won't either but I'm just… I don't know, scared of what's to come."

"You mean you're scared of what will happen to Rory?"

She nodded. "And Owen. What if we can't handle him? I mean we're not exactly in our prime, Luke." Lorelai shuddered as she reminded herself of their ages. They weren't old, she would never say that, but they weren't young either.

"We can do it." Luke said bluntly. "I know we can."

Lorelai smiled at him, amazed at his faith in her and himself. "And I'm sure my mom will want to help out as much as she can. Oh, and the town. Kirk will probably offer to babysit." She cringed as she imagined Kirk holding Owen.

Luke smirked. "I'm not letting Kirk anywhere near Owen."

"I know." Lorelai said. She yawned. "Let's try to sleep."

"Hmm," Luke muttered before he yawned too.

Lorelai turned her lamp off then turned back to Luke and found his lips in the dark. She kissed him once then lied down.

He lied down and got comfortable. A few minutes passed before Lorelai rolled over and snuggled up to him.

They managed to get six hours of sleep that night.


Author's note: Thanks for reading. Reviews are always appreciated.