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

Chapter 14: Honorable Mentions

Hartford, Connecticut, Downtown Marriott, Friday, May 19, 2017, 8:00 am EST

Logan did sleep like a baby Thursday night. Between his whirlwind travel and emotional reunion with Rory as well as the first-time meeting with his son, a lot had happened between Wednesday and Thursday. Dressed in slacks and a grey sports coat, he was on his way out of his hotel room when his phone buzzed. Glancing at the picture that lit up the screen, he smiled.

"Honor."

"Hey Little Brother! Congratulations! My little brother is a daddy!"

"Thank you. Yeah, it's pretty incredible. But Rory did all the work."

"I'm a mom three times over. Believe me: I know who did all the work! Anyway what's the matter with you?! I hear about the baby from Colin, Finn, and Robert?! I get the news about the wedding being cancelled from Dad?! I thought we were close! Why am I the last one to know anything?!"

"I'm sorry. The guys were with me when I got the call. Then I took off. It's not like I had time to make the rounds."

"Well, no. I understand that. But you had your phone -"

"And I've been traveling across time zones. Since I landed most of my time has been spent in a hospital. Not exactly the best place for phone calls. Am I forgiven?"

"Hm."

"Honor?"

"All right."

"Thank you. So what's going on over there?"

"Uh-huh. No way. You first. What's going on over there? And why didn't you tell me you and Rory were having a baby? I've always loved Rory! You know she's the only girl you ever introduced to me as your girlfriend?! Sure, you looked like you were gonna throw up when you did it but still, you managed to get the words out."

"Hey, I wasn't about to throw up. And I must've introduced someone -"

"Nope. Just by names. 'This is Margo'. 'Have you met Alexandra?' I pride myself on having an excellent memory. It was in your dorm room at Yale. I'd just gotten engaged to Josh. You looked positively green. No matter. How is Rory? And the baby?! Oh my God, Logan! Does he look just like you? Or Rory? Does he have the Huntzberger blonde hair? What color are his eyes? Are you really naming him Logan Jr.?"

Logan laughed at his sister's bubbly enthusiasm. Aging hadn't changed Honor one bit. Nearing forty, his sister was the same as she'd always been.

"Honor, you're asking a million questions a minute and not giving me a second to answer them!"

"Okay. Okay. Okay. They've just been building up in my head and now my brain feels like it's gonna explode if I don't get them all out!"

"Now that things have settled down I promise I'll keep my phone turned on. If you remember something you forgot to ask and your brain's gonna blow, just shoot me a text."

"Okay. Will do. So talk to me. Tell me everything."

"Everything. Right. So Rory's good. She's still in the hospital. She had high blood pressure-"

"Oh no! How's the baby?"

"He's good. He was born about a month early so he's got a few challenges with breathing, feeding, his heart rate but they're monitoring him."

"And what's his name?"

"Lucas Richard Gilmore."

"Ooh! Lucas! Not Logan but trendy! I like it!"

"Trendy? What do you mean?"

"Lucas is the third most popular boys' name."

"It is?" Logan laughed. "Believe me it's a coincidence. Luke is Rory's stepfather's name."

Rory wouldn't be trendy if she could help it. In fact he could see her being irritated if anyone made the assumption Honor had made that she chose the name because it was trendy.

"I'm hoping to get Huntzberger added in there."

"You think Rory'll go for that?"

"Why not? Half his DNA is from me."

"Hm."

"Hm. What, Honor?"

"Nothing. You know Rory best. Go on."

"He looks a little like me. A lot like Rory. Blonde hair. Big blue eyes -"

"You know most babies have blue eyes when they're born."

"I don't care about most babies. Lucas has Rory's eyes. "

"Okay, okay! God, I can't believe all this! It's all so romantic! But why didn't you tell me? And why were you all set to marry Odette if you were back with Rory?"

"Because I wasn't back with Rory. She doesn't want to get married. At least, she didn't want to get married."

Honor let out a dismissive, disbelieving snort.

"You two wouldn't have just had a child together -"

"Lucas wasn't planned, Honor."

"Hm. But you two were obviously together recently. Nine -or eight - months ago?"

"Yes, but Rory didn't want to get married. Not to me at least."

"You asked her?" At Logan's silence, Honor muttered. "I don't understand you two."

"I don't always get it myself," he observed sardonically.

"Well, why didn't you tell me about the baby? I can understand you not telling them but you know you can always talk to me."

"I only found out about Lucas on Wednesday."

"What? She didn't tell you?! That doesn't make any sense! Oh my God! Was she waiting for you to marry Odette before she told you?"

Logan knew the blocked contact on his phone was the number one reason for his not finding out about Lucas until Wednesday. Added to that was Rory's high blood pressure and related medical issues that made for distractions over the past few months. But he wasn't a fool. He knew instinctively that Rory still had long-held reservations to the idea of upsetting his marital apple cart. He knew it all tied back to her resolve to not get caught up in the Huntzberger world.

Despite the phone, despite her health, Rory could've let him know about the baby in the cold efficient way Emily had suggested: a hand-delivered letter from an attorney. But she chose not to go that route. Because she knew, deep down, that that wasn't their path; that wasn't who they were to each other. It had to be between them, not a third party. Even if it meant he hadn't found out about Lucas earlier, he still took some comfort in that.

"She tried to get in touch with me." Logan sighed. He wasn't sure he wanted this to be common knowledge but he knew he could trust Honor -and Josh -not to blab. "Listen, I'm gonna tell you something I haven't told anyone. I just need you to keep it between the two of us."

"Oh, mums the word. What is it?"

"Odette blocked Rory on my phone."

"That bitch!"

"Exactly."

"So Rory tried to get in touch with you but you never got the messages? So she thought you were blowing her off?"

"Basically."

"Yikes. So what's next?

"I'm still figuring that out. But, as you heard, the wedding's off."

"Yes and you have no idea how relieved I was when I heard that!" Honor said, in a sing-song voice. "My happiness maybe even makes up for mom's reaction."

"Why? What was mom's reaction?"

"You know mom. She hates anything that's not her idea."

"Yeah I know. What did she say?"

"You can't go by what mom says. She probably still had Valium in her system."

"Just tell me what she said, Honor."

"Well Josh and I saw her at breakfast. We said good morning. She just asked if she'd fallen asleep and woken up in hell."

"Great."

"Sorry. You asked."

"Is it me or is she exponentially more insane when it comes to Rory?"

"Don't ask me to explain mom. I've never understood her. And I think I'm okay with that."

"Is there anything else?"

"She asked if you'd sent any baby pictures so you'd better get on that. The woman's crazy but she loves doting on her grandkids."

"So she's good with Lucas, but not Rory?" Logan closed his eyes, wincing. For not the first time, and probably not the last time, he understood Rory's resolve. His eyes shot open.

It didn't matter. Living in London he didn't even see his mother all that much.

Except he was pretty sure Rory would not want to live full-time in London. Whether in Connecticut or New York, Shira would definitely take advantage of proximity to see her youngest grandchild. Even if she did dislike the boy's mother. He'd witnessed his mother squelch long-held hatred for people just long enough to attend a gala to see what designers attendees wore. To see her grandson - to spend time with his son- Logan imagined Shira would suck up quite a bit.

Shira could force herself to be fake nice to Rory if that's what she had to do in order to see Lucas. But Rory would see right through Shira. How would Rory handle that?

Maybe the answer was to convince Rory to move to London.

"How long are they in the hospital for? What're you gonna do once they're both out? Ooh, ooh! Are you moving back to the States?"

"Rory'll be released this weekend. Lucas will be in for a couple more weeks. As for me -"

"Do you think you and Rory will get married?"

"You're jumping ahead, Honor. My current plan is to not leave her side."

"Oh! That's so romantic in a stalker kind of way!"

"Thank you. Just the kind of feedback a guy hopes to get from his sister."

"Oh, I have the stalker tendencies too. I figure we get it from Mom and it's how she got Dad to marry her."

"I'm learning so much from this conversation." Logan let out a wry chuckle. "How pissed was dad?"

"When he realized you'd taken off?"

"Yeah."

"Somewhere between Fiji-yacht and California."

"Hm. He put on a show?"

"What do you think? It's your own fault. You humor him for years, making like a good little soldier and then you go AWOL. He wasn't expecting that from you. Ten years ago, yes. But not now."

"Well, I was trying. And I didn't have a reason to go against him."

"Now you do."

Logan knew it wasn't really a question.

"Now I do," he confirmed.

"You know you'd still be his precious son, even if you aren't his clone."

"Yeah. I just... if he's pissed about the change in course, I don't want him taking it out on Rory."

"Oh..." Honor sighed. "I was about to say 'I'm sure he wouldn't do that' but then I remembered we don't lie to each other."

"No, we don't." Logan let out a breath. "So, how're the wedding-less guests?"

"Confused! Nobody knows what the hell is going on! It's obvious something is wrong but we're under a directive not to say anything. So I've just been offering people Xanax."

"Honor, please don't get busted for drug peddling at the Ritz."

"Ha! Just checking to see if you were paying attention. I actually gave a couple to Colin. Boy is très névrotique."

"Yes, he is." Logan sighed, a tight smile on his lips. He figured that was all the news worth hearing. "Honor?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being you for starters. For caring."

"Oh, Logan. Always. Hug Rory for me. Tell her I'm pissed she didn't tell you about the baby sooner but hug her anyway. Kiss my nephew for me. Send pictures. ASAP. And Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you're probably worried. God knows I was, being the spawn of Mitchum and Shira. But I think you're going to be a terrific dad and Rory's going to be an amazing mom. Just you wait. I have a feeling it's all gonna work out."

"Thanks."

"Any time. And don't forget to send those baby pictures! I promise not to post any online. That would be tacky with the whole cancelled wedding thing."

Logan laughed.

"I'm not even sure I'd care if you did."

AN: Thank you for reading. Special thanks to all the reviewers. And for all the alerts and faves. I agree with the general consensus that this version is better. It's more fun to write too.

05/27/2017