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

Chapter 17: Kangaroo Care

Hartford, Connecticut, St. Joseph's Hospital, Friday, May 19, 2017, 10:30 am EST

After Paris left, Logan returned to the maternity ward. Still ruminating on Paris's parting shot, he wondered to what extent Paris had hit the nail on the head. Was it less fate and birth control fail and more unconscious desires that brought he and Rory to the point where they now found themselves? Regardless of whether they married or not, or whether they committed to each other or not, they would forever be tied together by the child they shared.

Rory's door was half open. Peering inside, he saw a large bouquet of lilies as well as a huge fruit basket. Rory stood over the room's vacant bed where she appeared to be puzzling over a giant box labeled 'the Roald Dahl Collection'.

"Somebody send Lucas the complete works of Roald Dahl?"

"I hope not. If he starts collecting books now I can't imagine where I'll store them by the time he's ten."

Logan internally bristled at Rory's use of "I" instead of "we" but kept his face devoid of his irritation. He knew it would take time. Everything with Rory usually did. He would have to be patient.

"I wouldn't mind having new copies of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'Matilda' to read -to him, of course. But the box is light. I think it's a stuffed animal."

"Who sent it?"

Rory grabbed a small card laying on the end table next to the lilies.

"Take a look."

Logan glanced at the card.

To Rory, the mother of our grandson:

We are so grateful for this miracle you are generously sharing with us. We happily welcome Lucas, and you, to the Huntzberger family.

Love,

Mitchum and Shira

Logan squinted as he examined the card. Definitely his mother's handiwork. Definitely some none-too-subtle attempts at nuanced barbs in there. The words 'generously sharing' and 'happily' were underlined. Logan figured the 'generously sharing' was in there to highlight the fact that the notification about the baby had come late. The 'happily' was probably genuine about Lucas but the commas separating 'and you' were intended to make Rory question the Huntzbergers sincerity about her. Logan figured Rory saw through the faux niceties.

"It was nice of them to send gifts," he observed, his voice neutral.

"Yes, but did you actually read the card?"

Logan sighed. Yes, she had seen through the faux niceties.

"My mother's attempt at sarcasm. Once you've spent any time with her-" Logan noticed Rory looked positively green at his words "you'll come to realize she's not nearly as clever as she thinks she is. You'll talk rings around her."

"I don't want to 'talk rings around her.' I don't want a relationship with Lucas's grandmother defined by mutual dislike and mistrust."

Logan's eyes bored into Rory's. "Well, Ace, maybe Dr. Phil isn't such a crazy idea after all."

As they spoke, Rory had continued to open the box.

"Charlie Bucket Teddy Bear." Rory lifted the bear out of the box. "Cute. I like his yellow sweatshirt. Special collectors edition. The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Oh my God! He's got a tailcoat, a little vest and an ascot. Reminds me of the outfits you guys wore on our last outing."

"Guess that's fitting. Maybe we should get Lucas a matching outfit."

"That would be adorable!" Rory pulled the second stuffed animal out of the box. "Well, they may not be the nicest people but your parents have excellent taste in stuffed animals, Huntzberger."

"I'm not sure that's the best message to relay but I get what you mean."

Logan took a seat on one of the chairs while Rory plopped herself down on her bed, the two stuffed animals next to her.

"Did you have a nice visit with Paris?" he asked.

"Did you?"

"Don't you know it." Logan chuckled.

"Next time I'll try to give you more lead time."

"Thanks. So you ready to go see junior?"

"Yeah. Let me just grab my sweater."

A short while later, Logan was standing over Lucas in the NICU nursery. Gently caressing his son's foot, he found himself whispering to the baby.

"Hey, Lucas. How's that name working for you? Getting used to it?"

Logan smiled as the baby stretched his arms out.

"I know some folks think you look like me, but I have to say the more I see you, the more I think you look like your mom."

The smile stayed with him as he watched his son yawn.

Logan looked up as he saw Rory approach. By the smile she wore he could tell the doctor had relayed good news.

"What'd the doctor say?"

"Our little man is doing so well we can hold him. And I'm gonna try to feed him."

"Really?" Logan turned from Rory back to the baby. "Good job, kid. Make your mom proud."

Nicole, Lucas's primary nurse, walked up behind Rory.

"I'm gonna switch this light off, so it's a little darker in this corner. If there's too much going on around him, he may get distracted."

"If he's anything like his father, you got that right."

"I'm not sure anything could distract me from that, Ace."

Rory turned to glance at Logan. A slight flush colored her cheeks. "Hush."

"Rory, have a seat."

Logan watched as Nicole helped Rory get settled onto a chair adjacent to Lucas' isolette. He didn't want to leave for anything in the world, but he couldn't help but recognize that he and Rory were in a rather odd place at the moment. After a brief internal debate, the angel on his shoulder won. He'd hate it if she said 'no', but he felt it was her call to make.

"Am I staying put, Ace?"

"What?"

"Am I staying? Do you want me to leave?"

"No. I mean you can stay," replied Rory, obviously bemused. "I didn't keep you out of the room then. Doesn't make sense to keep you out now."

The new parents exchanged smiles as they watched the nurse secure Lucas's little blue hat before lifting him from his incubator.

"So I'm going to hand him to you, Rory. You need to unbutton your gown and your top. You can keep it on, but it needs to be open. Obviously. Then drape it around his back."

Rory bit her lip and glanced up at Logan.

"Reconsidering?"

"What?"

"Me. Staying put."

"No. Why? Are you?"

"Not a chance. Wild horses, Ace. Wild horses."

"Okay then. Let's do this."

Rory made quick work of removing the hospital gown and her sweater, and unbuttoning her blouse. The nurse laid the baby in Rory's arms. Rory bit her lip.

"So, this is called kangaroo care." Nicole grabbed a few pamphlets from a shelf and handed them to Logan. "That's it, Rory. Hold him upright against your bare chest. Then when he starts rooting around on your skin, guide him to your nipple."

"He's so light."

"I'm sure he'll pack it on now, Ace."

Rory glanced up at Logan who winked at her, prompting from her a slightly embarrassed chuckle.

"You're incorrigible."

"I try."

Logan couldn't believe how happy he was in that moment. Rory. Lucas. This was what life was supposed to be.

Perfect.

Rory heard a sound and glanced over Lucas, towards Logan, who looked like he was trying very hard to stifle a laugh.

"Don't even think it," she scolded him.

"Whatever you think I was thinking, I can promise you I wasn't thinking."

"I don't even know what you just said, Huntzberger, and I still don't believe you. Besides if you don't know what I think you're thinking, how can you be so sure that's not what you're thinking?"

Logan nearly laughed aloud at the confused expression on the nurse's face.

"Good. Hold him like that. Now hold your shirt over his back to help keep him warm." Nicole leaned over to help place Rory's shirt under her arm, against the baby's back. "Don't worry about the wires. They're fine as long as no one moves suddenly." The nurse looked between Rory and Logan. "Oh, I forgot the screen. Do you want me to pull out the privacy screen?"

"I think we're good. I'm behind the isolette and Logan's blocking me."

"Let me get it. Just in case."

Nicole disappeared for a couple of minutes, returning with a privacy screen she strategically positioned in front of them.

"So I'm gonna leave you for a bit. Logan, come get me or wave if you need me."

"Will do," replied Logan.

Nicole stepped away, leaving the family alone. Logan kept his eyes on Rory and Lucas. Rory's eyes didn't stray from her son.

"How does it feel?"

"Strange. Better than the pump."

After a few minutes, Logan decided to give Rory a break from him staring at her naked breast. Instead, he started looking through the pamphlets the nurse had given him.

"This kangaroo care is supposed to be really good." He read aloud to her. "Doctors and researchers have suggested that skin-to-skin contact can improve babies' recovery time and help them leave the NICU sooner."

They sat quietly. Lucas fed while Rory watched him. Logan alternated between watching Lucas, watching Rory, and trying to read the brochures. Finally it occurred to him that this really was a perfect moment. Logan rifled under his hospital gown to pull his cell phone from his jacket inner pocket. Rory made a face when she saw his phone.

"You're taking a picture? Now?"

"Well, I have had requests," he joked.

"Come on. You had all day yesterday. You remember now? When there's a chance for a gratuitous boob shot?"

"Being strategic, Ace."

"Hold on." She glared at Logan. "Wait until he's done. Your sister's one thing but I don't want a nip pic going to the guys!"

"What the hell, Rory?! It still bothers me you went with Robert to Finn's party! I'm not about to send him a picture of your breast!"

"I'd hope not." Rory sullenly replied. "And no cursing around the baby."

"Come on. He's too young to pick up bad words."

"Yeah, but I need to start training you for when he's older."

Logan found himself smiling at the idea of Rory 'training' him. Their eyes held until Lucas made a slight cry, breaking their connection. Rory looked down at their son. She guided his mouth back to her nipple.

"So...are you gonna take that picture?"

"I'd like to, Rory. As long as you're okay with it. It's for me. I promise. Just for me. To replace the one I took in New Hampshire. Which," he grinned, "now that I think of it, Lucas was in that one too."

"Yep, he certainly was."

Logan took the photo and then put his phone away.

"He seems to be taking to it."

"Yeah."

"Kid's smart."

"He's precocious."

"My hair, your brains."

"Pretty sure he's going on instinct, Huntzberger."

They sat in a comfortable silence as Lucas suckled on Rory's breast. They both had their eyes on the baby. Finally Rory looked up. Logan watched her, capturing her eyes. This time he could see a hint of something.

"What's going on in that head of yours, Ace?"

Rory sighed. Logan had a feeling this would not be good.

"What about the dynastic plan, Logan?"

"Rory, it's just -" Logan stopped, realizing it was way more important to listen than it was to talk at that moment. "What about it?"

"What do you want? From me? From him?"

"Nothing. Nothing more than this, Rory. You. Me. Lucas."

Logan watched as Rory averted her eyes as she continued.

"Logan, I believe on some level you really believe that. I do. But...you and me. Our lives don't mesh."

"Rory, don't say that."

"And for him -." Rory cleared her throat as tears started to well in her eyes. "Look at him, Logan. Don't you want him to have whatever he wants? Have a chance to be whatever he wants?"

"Yes, Ace. I'm with you on that. One hundred percent."

"How can he? As a Huntzberger?"

"We can make it work, Rory. I know we can." Logan reached out and with his thumb gently swiped a tear from her cheek. "Come on, Ace. Don't we owe it to him to try?" He grinned at her. "We're the parents. We can agree to keep the psychotic levels at a minimum. Especially when he starts to date."

"Shush. I don't even want to think of him dating."

"So don't worry about it. We got a few years yet."

"But what's gonna happen next? Are you moving back to the States? I like London but with Lucas... I don't want to move there, Logan. I want him to know my grandmother and she's not getting any younger. Plus I was counting on having my mom nearby for a while -at least until I get the hang of things..."

"I'm already on it. I can work out of New York part-time."

"You'd be able to do that?"

"Not overnight but I'm pretty sure I can make it happen."

"Where would you live?"

"We could get a place in New York. Or Connecticut. Or both."

"We?"

"We, Ace."

"What about my book?"

"What about it?"

"Is your family gonna have a problem with it?"

"Are they in it?"

"No."

"Am I in it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Oh, my God. Call Him Mr. Vain. How about because it ends with my graduation from Chilton? I suppose I could add you as an arrogant time-traveler traversing my life in his ego-powered hot air balloon?"

"Very funny. Well, if I'm not in it, and they're not in it, why would they care?"

"I don't know. You tell me. I've learned it's never safe to make assumptions about your family."

Their conversation came to an abrupt halt when the nurse suddenly rejoined them.

"How's he doing?" asked Nicole.

"Asleep." Rory gazed at the baby while Logan gazed at Rory.

"Let's switch him to the other breast. He'll probably wake when we move him. Then he can feed for a few more minutes. You want to make sure you maintain comparable milk production in both breasts."

Nicole's expert hands took Lucas from Rory and switched the baby to her other breast. The jostling did wake him who promptly started feeding on the second breast.

"Logan, are you gonna hold him? You'll want to remove your gown. Are you wearing a button down shirt or a pullover?"

Startled, Logan felt his eyes glaze over as he attempted to answer the nurse's questions.

"I'm not sure. I don't think I was planning on it. Not to sound pervy or anything but I was really enjoying just watching."

"I don't think there's anything 'pervy' about watching. But you should certainly hold him. The mother might have a slight advantage but kangaroo care is recommended for both parents. It's an excellent way to bond."

"You heard the nurse, Huntzberger." Logan heard the smile in Rory's voice. Glancing at her he confirmed her smile. "Take off your shirt."

Grinning, Logan removed the hospital gown. Next he slid out of his sports jacket which he rolled up and tucked on the chair behind him. Finally, he unbuttoned his shirt.

"Good thing you don't wear an undershirt." Rory continued to bite back a laugh.

"Isn't it?"

"Rory, did Lucas stop feeding?" asked Nicole.

"Yeah. He stopped."

"Logan, you sit. I'll take him from Rory and hand him to you."

"Okay."

Rory and Logan were quiet as Nicole navigated around them and finally placed the baby in Logan's arms.

"Careful, Huntzberger. You don't want to cut him on those sharp pecs of yours."

"I thought you liked my six pack, Ace."

"I do. Doesn't mean it's not dangerous." Rory mumbled her next comment. "Probably means it's more dangerous."

Logan smiled watching his son. "So should I be burping him or something?"

"Breastfed babies typically don't need to be burped as often as bottle-fed babies. If he seems uncomfortable, or he cries, give him a couple of gentle pats." Nicole watched Lucas settle against Logan's chest. "He actually seems fine. I'm going to leave you guys. Wave if you need me." With that Nicole discreetly left the threesome alone.

His son unexpectedly in his arms, Logan focused on Lucas. The baby was on the smallish side. Logan had seen each of Honor's three children within the first day of their births. Each had been born at the nine month mark and each had weighed somewhere between seven and eight pounds.

Lucas definitely had the Huntzberger blonde hair, just as he definitely had Rory's big blue eyes. Which were now closed. Logan marveled at the infant's smooth, soft skin. The baby stirred a bit but he seemed to be asleep.

"Hey," whispered Rory. "Where's your phone?"

"Left inner pocket. Jacket's on the chair behind me."

Logan watched Rory as she buttoned up her top. She leaned over, reaching behind him to grab his jacket from the chair. Extracting his cell phone from his jacket pocket, she looked at him expectantly.

"Code is 0-5-1-5."

"That's Lucas's birthday."

"Yeah. Not a coincidence. I just changed it."

"Oh." Rory stood and moving a few feet away from Logan and Lucas, held the phone out in front of her to snap the picture.

Logan thought he heard her utter something under her breath.

"Did you just say something about ovaries exploding?"

"No," she replied a bit too emphatically. "Anyone ever tell you you have big ears?"

"No. But I have been told other things are big."

"Oh my God. You're so wrong. He's four days old."

"Guess you're just gonna have to train me, Ace."

Logan gave Rory the biggest grin in his repertoire and was delighted to see the smile returned in full force.

"Yeah, I guess so, Huntzberger."

AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing. RE: Logan bashing. Here's the deal: Lorelai and Paris have never liked Logan. How they act towards Logan in ITMH will be based on the OS relationship dynamics. I like canon characterizations. Aside from the fact that it makes it seem more "real", I think there is something inherently interesting in relationship tension. Plus if everyone loves everyone else, I won't be able to channel my snark through fiction and I'll wind up getting myself fired. BTW - I fail at angst. The baby will be out of the hospital sooner rather than later bc I'm tired of the hospital setting. I have a feeling we'll be seeing guests soon too. And friends and neighbors. Good thing the Dragonfly annex will be opening shortly. I think Kirk has a new movie coming out. I suspect Taylor cooked up a new Stars Hollow event.

Thanks To Twister88 and IcyAngel00, story baby consultants.

06/27/2017