Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls is the creation of Amy Sherman-Palladino.

Chapter 5: Emily

Hartford, Connecticut, St. Joseph's Hospital, Thursday, May 18, 2017, 8:45 am EST

Unexpectedly, Logan slept soundly that night. He was grateful for that. During the two hour ride from JFK to Hartford, he'd decided not to listen to any of the voicemails except the one from Lorelai. Lorelai's message basically gave a few more details to her text. Apparently, since Lucas had been born nearly six weeks early, his lungs weren't fully developed. Breathing tubes had been inserted into his nose to help him breath. As a result, he'd also been having difficulty swallowing and so they had been feeding him via a feeding tube. Since he was finally able to swallow better, they were planning on removing the feeding tube.

Thursday morning, at 8:45, Logan, upon exiting the hotel lobby, spotted Frank right away.

"Morning, Frank."

"Good morning. So, St. Joseph's?"

"Yeah, the 80 Seymour Street building."

"Got it." Frank pulled the car away from the curb. "Should I wait? Do you know how long you'll be staying?"

Logan nearly laughed in response to Frank's very practical question. He realized he was incapable of predicting any part of the day that lay before him. "I may be there all day. How about I text twenty or so minutes before I'm looking to go?"

"Sounds good."

Within minutes, Logan was exiting the car in front of the 80 Seymour Street building entrance.

Hesitant, he turned and watched Frank drive away. Standing there alone, Logan knew his zero hour was quickly descending. Rory. Lorelai. Emily. Luke, Rory's stepfather. Rory's friend Lane who'd let him have an earful on the phone the summer before. Maybe even Rory's father, Christopher, though he knew Rory and her dad weren't particularly close these days.

Pausing on the walkway outside the building entrance, Logan stood in the morning sun, allowing its rays to warm his face. Nervousness was an unfamiliar feeling. Brought up in a protected environment, he had been raised to be fearless, untouchable. That perception was not false. There was a team of lawyers to solve any problem. There were resources to pull in any medical professionals necessary. There was always money to bail him out of any jam and make sure he was brought home safe every time.

Even when he had every reason to be guarded - like when his internet start-up imploded in a cascade of lawsuits - he still had approached the endeavor like the blueblooded teflon don his father had raised him to be. The thought of his father brought to mind thoughts of his son. What role would he have in raising Lucas?

He figured it was not a coincidence that the few times in his life he had felt nervous had to do with Rory Gilmore. Unlike nearly everything else in his world, Rory was never a done deal. She was never a given; she always had to be earned and, very often, re-earned. Looking back, he could easily tick the times off in his head. Getting Rory to give him a chance to be her boyfriend. Persuading Rory to take him back after their split. Convincing Rory to forgive him for the bridesmaid fiasco. Managing to keep their relationship going after his graduation.

But he always lost when the stakes were highest. The disastrous post-graduation proposal. And then, of course, last year. He grinned remembering Rory's name for it.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

Now he didn't know what the future held. But apparently Rory and he shared a son. Mindful of the promise Lorelai had managed to extract from him, he was making a conscious and recurring effort to talk himself out of jumping to conclusions; he was trying not to get angry. He didn't know why Rory hadn't told him about the baby. He did know he would be asking her that very question as soon as he saw her.

Deciding it was time for his sub-party of one to end, Logan finally made his way through the building's revolving doors. Allowing his eyes to adjust to the indoor lighting, he observed the hospital's lobby. He noted the lounge area to his left, the Au Bon Pain - he knew he could at least pick up decent coffee for Rory- beyond the lounge, an elevator bank to his right, a security guard stationed by the elevators, and finally, directly in front of him, the information desk.

As he walked up to the counter, he spotted a familiar form already standing there. Although she looked slightly older, the woman also looked more fit and surprisingly tan from the last time he'd seen her. Aside from that, she seemed very much the same. In that instant of his perusal, she glanced up from her handbag and their eyes met.

"Logan! I didn't expect to see you here." Her opinion of his presence at the hospital was made all too clear by the acid dripping from her tone. Logan mentally braced himself. He had no idea what Rory had told her grandmother about the nature of their relationship.

"Emily," nodded Logan. Recognizing the futility of defending himself to Rory's grandmother, Logan let her all-too-apparent condemnation roll off him. It wasn't important he reminded himself. He continued to meet her gaze. "How's Rory? And the baby?"

"Rory's fine. Tired and worried but fine. Little Lucas is still in the NICU but yesterday turned out to be a good day. They didn't have to ventilate him and they were able to remove the feeding tubes."

A strange feeling washed over Logan as he let out a breath. Relief. Gratitude. Awe? He'd read Lorelai's text and had listened to her voicemail. It was still very different to hear the boy's status described in real time from the lips of his great-grandmother.

Behind the information desk stood a grey-haired woman wearing a "Friends of St. Joseph's Hospital" pin. At his approach, the woman had turned her eyes from Emily to Logan.

"Are you here to visit someone in Maternity too?"

Silently Logan nodded as he turned to the woman.

"The general visiting hours in Maternity don't start until noon."

"But I just flew in from London. Can't an exception be made?" Logan gave her his most winning smile. Hearing a snicker, Logan's eyes shot over to Emily who was standing nearby, waiting.

"Oh. Well, the hours are unlimited for close relatives. So fathers, grandparents and siblings." The desk attendant explained, an apologetic note in her voice. "If you're one of those…?" She broke off as she looked at him questioningly.

Regardless of where things stood, it wasn't fair to Odette to lay an ugly firestorm of paparazzi and tabloids at her feet. After a brief pause, he nodded. "I'm her brother."

Emily snorted derisively.

"Then please sign in." The woman gestured to a binder. "Maternity is on the 6th floor. Just take those elevators," she pointed to the right, "and follow the signs once you're on 6."

"Thank you," replied Logan, signing his name.

"Yes, thank you," seconded Emily.

As Emily started to turn towards the elevator bank, Logan hesitated. Glancing back to the desk attendant, he noted her name-tag. "Maggie, could you point me in the direction of the gift shop?"

Before the woman had an opportunity to answer, an impatient Emily intervened.

"Really, Logan, I doubt they sell wedding bands in the hospital gift shop and I can't fathom what else you'd think an appropriate gift for my granddaughter after she just gave birth to your son."

Eyes wide the information desk attendant's gaze shot back and forth between Emily and Logan. "The gift shop is on this floor." She lifted her arm to gesture. "It's over - "

"Of course, I should know better than to expect appropriate from you - or from any member of your family," Emily huffed. "I bet Shira is going to try to palm off one of her monthly liposuction treatments on Rory!"

Caught off guard, Logan snorted. No, his mother would never do that. She depended on her monthly liposuction too much to give up even one session. The woman behind the information desk, meanwhile, was shocked into silence. Emily, however, was not finished.

"Honestly, I still can't believe this happened! But I guess I have to acknowledge my own culpability," Emily continued. "Richard and I should never have renovated the pool house. Imagine spending $40,000 on renovations so your granddaughter and her boyfriend have a more comfortable place to have sex!"

The woman's eyes went wide. "Well," Maggie squeaked. "It sounds like it worked!"

Emily turned to glare at the woman. "What the hell is the matter with you?" she barked. "Are you a complete moron?"

Startled, Logan snickered.

"I just meant, congratulations on the birth of your great-grandson." The woman smiled nervously at Emily before turning to Logan. "And to you. On the birth of your son." She paused, an odd look on her face. "Or nephew."

"Thank you." He smiled. Best to just let this go.

"I don't believe this. We're wasting valuable time here." Peeved Emily turned her ire on the woman. "Isn't it your job to provide information? Not to gossip about the hospital patients?"

"But I wasn't gossiping -"

"You are paying an inordinate amount of attention to Mr. Huntzberger's and my conversation."

"I wasn't," she glanced down at the sign-in sheet, "Mrs. Gilmore, Mr. Huntzberger..." The woman's eyes seemed to narrow in recognition.

Logan could see the wheels turn as she processed his name.

Glancing up from the binder, the woman focused on Emily. "Are you related? You do know it's the Lorelai Gilmore Maternity Wing?"

It was Logan's turn to stare at Emily. Apparently it was not his name that had struck a chord.

"Oh, you don't say? What a lucky coincidence my grand-daughter is named Lorelai Gilmore then." Emily rolled her eyes. "Imagine if her name were Betty Boop, we'd still be driving around looking for a hospital."

"Yes, ma'am." The woman smiled nervously at Logan. He returned the smile. Albeit unintentional, he appreciated the way she had distracted Emily from targeting her vitriol onto him. Maybe he'd pick Maggie up something from the gift shop as well.

Emily let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh for heaven's sake, Logan, don't just stand there. Come on. Rory carried that baby for over seven months. The least you can do is make your way up to visit her and thank her in a timely fashion."

Shaking his head, Logan laughed silently. This was the Gilmores he reminded himself. With Richard's death nearly two years earlier, it was down to Emily, Lorelai, and Rory. And now his son. The 3-day-old infant on the 6th floor. The thought that he had a son still filled him with wonder. He hadn't predicted the lightness he'd feel at the news that the baby was doing better.

The Gilmores.

Logan found himself marveling that, unexpectedly and seemingly overnight, his life had become intertwined with the lives of the Gilmores. Just how intertwined was still to be determined.

Logan smiled. Given the recent modifications to the dynastic plan, he didn't think he could be faulted for feeling optimistic. He knew what he wanted. It was what he'd always wanted. And, now, there was one significant reason to ensure the plan materialized.

That would be Lucas.

But there was one important party who might still require some convincing before she'd allow herself to buy into the plan.

That would be Rory.

Logan knew it wouldn't be easy. Once more he'd have to work for it, earn it, earn her.

But he did have a pretty good track record. And now he wasn't alone in the quest.

AN: Thank you for reading. Long live Emily.

04/23/2017