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

Chapter 29: Guess Who's Coming to the NICU? Part I

Hartford, Connecticut, 42 North Main, Sunday, May 21, 2017, 7:30 am EST

The next morning, Logan was still shaken and feeling residual worry about Lucas after witnessing his episode the previous afternoon. Tapping on the door of Rory's apartment at seven thirty, he was not surprised when a wide awake and dressed Rory answered the door.

"Hey."

"Morning, Ace. What time do you wanna head out?"

"I'm ready now. I just need coffee."

Logan deduced he wasn't the only parent requiring some reassurance that morning.

"We can try the coffee downstairs. I'll text Frank." With that Logan pulled his phone from his pocket and at Rory's confirmation sent a text to the driver.

"Sounds like a plan. How'd the rest of your night go?"

After Lucas's episode, the new parents wound up staying at the NICU much longer than their original intention. They even managed to get in some 'kangaroo' time with Lucas. When they finally got back to 42 North Main, Colin and Finn were on surprisingly good behavior. The duo had found "Across the Universe," the musical homage to the Beatles, playing on cable. Finn, of course, found it necessary to join in on vocals on each song he knew, or thought he knew. Aside from the frequent and prolonged crime perpetuated against musical genius, the evening was uneventful. Logan and Rory were quiet for the most part. Logan found his thoughts repeatedly returning to Lucas and he figured Rory's mind was similarly preoccupied. After they had talked with Lucas's nurse one last time before bed, Logan walked Rory down the hall to her apartment. With a light kiss on her cheek he said goodnight.

"Uneventful. Right after I left you, I went to bed."

"Oh," she nodded. "So... You ready to go now?"

"Frank'll be here in fifteen."

"Okay. I'll just let my mom know."

Twenty-five minutes later Rory and Logan were being deposited at the Seymour Street entrance of the hospital.

"Frank, I'll text fifteen minutes out. Figure not before five or six."

"Very good, sir."

Logan's hand resting lightly on the small of Rory's back, the couple made their way inside the building. Since it was the weekend, the omnipresent Maggie was apparently off. Instead it was the same attendant as the day before, an older man named Cleighton. Logan met the man's eyes as he pushed the sign-in book towards them. As Rory signed them both in, Logan felt his cell phone pulse. Pulling it out, the message provoked within him a pungent mix of dread and resignation. It didn't elicit surprise. If anything he was surprised that he hadn't heard something sooner.

In Hartford. Will be at hospital at ten.

Logan glanced at his watch. They had about two hours before his parents would arrive. He texted a reply to Mitchum.

Honor and Josh?

His father's response was immediate.

Honor is coming. Josh may go home to kids.

At least his sister would be there to help Logan handle his parents. Looking up, Logan tucked his phone back inside his jacket pocket. He quickly realized that Rory, done with the sign-in sheet, was avidly watching him.

"News?" she asked.

"Yeah. Sorry to do this to you but the Huntzbergers' arrival is imminent."

Rory smiled tightly. "Knew it was too good to last."

"Yeah." Logan, his hand back on Rory's back, gently guided her towards the elevator bank.

"Who and when?"

"My parents and Honor. Probably not Josh."

"When?"

"A couple of hours."

"It was gonna happen eventually. They are his grandparents."

As they closed the distance to the elevators, Logan and Rory fell silent. Reading the emotions at play on Rory's face, Logan silently vowed that he would do whatever he could - whatever was necessary - to make her feel at ease when his parents arrived. He had to show her that he had her back. He always would. She came first.

"Rory," Logan took her hand in his. "It'll be okay. I'm here. They're not gonna say anything. They wouldn't dare."

Facing away from him, Rory sighed. Finally turning back to him, she met his eyes. "I hope you're right. I'm not exactly up for a battle. I hate feeling this way."

"I know you do. I promise you we'll figure it out. We'll find a way to make it better."

It wasn't intentional but Logan caught himself quoting a Beatles song from the night before. Regardless of it being accidental, Rory picked up on his reference and smiled, amused.

"Hey, Jude..." she sang.

"Yeah. Exactly. But it's not just you."

"Oh?" Rory's face was still smiling, but Logan could see through the facade. "So you'll perform with me?"

"Damn right I will. And you've got Lucas, too, now Ace. Two knights. Just for you."

Logan tightened his grip on Rory's hand in an effort to reassure her.

"Yeah, but maybe the Beatles got it right."

"What? How?"

"Maybe it is on my shoulder. To deal with Mitchum and Shira. I mean how else would it work? You gonna fight my battles for me? For how long? Forever?"

"God, Rory! We went through all this in New Hampshire! I know you don't need me to fight your battles! You can take care of yourself. But they're my crazy parents and you just got out of the hospital. You talked to the Gilmores on my behalf. Let me return the favor."

"Okay. But seeing your dad always sets me on edge. And I haven't seen your mom in years."

"Well, you saw my dad last year. And, thanks to botox, Shira looks basically the same. And I'll be there, Ace. I promise. They're not gonna treat you like they did back then. I won't let them. So let's go see our son and warn him that his paternal grandparents are coming to visit."

"Oh, my poor baby! I didn't even think of them going in to see him."

"Of course they'll wanna see him, Ace. And I'll go in with them and make sure it's quick."

"Well, let's go up." Rory hit the up button for the elevator. "Instead of feeding him now, maybe I'll pump while you're in with them and then I'll try feeding him at noon. How long you think they'll stay?"

"Why don't I just kick them out after twenty minutes?"

Rory smiled. Definitely more genuine this time. "I like how you think."

"I told you, Rory." Logan returned her grin.

"What?"

"Excellent parents."

Logan and Rory cleaned up and made their way into the NICU nursery as quickly as they could. Although they treasured the time with their son, knowing the Huntzbergers were due to arrive any minute definitely weighed heavily on their minds, unfortunately effecting their ability to fully enjoy the time.

"We'll do kangaroo time this afternoon. Once everyone's gone." As Logan watched, Rory caressed Lucas's leg.

"Definitely."

Logan noted she seemed relieved at his concurrence. As he watched her, she let out a loud sigh. What was she thinking would happen?

"You okay, Ace?" At his question, Rory's eyes shot up to meet his across the isolette.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just wasn't sure what you'd do once your family got here? If you needed to go with them or something?"

"Rory, my family is already here. In this room."

Rory's eyes became watery as she continued to look at him.

"Oh..."

"Yeah. Oh. We'll let my folks get their visit in, but I have no intention of altering my schedule for them. Got it?" He brought his hand down to cover hers on Lucas's leg.

"Got it." Rory smiled but her eyes continued to silently voice unspoken worries.

"What about your mom? Lorelai still coming?"

"Yeah. When I texted her your parents would be here at ten, she replied something about calling in back-up."

"What's that mean?"

"I think she was gonna tell Luke to come back."

"Ah."

A little before ten found Logan and Rory waiting in the NICU lounge outside the nursery.

Logan, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, fingers steepled, was studying Rory, who sat diagonally from him. He could see tension visible in her face. Her eyes gave her away. It struck him once again how -moving forward - he could do everything he could to protect her from his parents. He could devote every waking hour to allaying her fears and doubts. But no matter what he did from then on, he couldn't erase the past. It was on the tip of his tongue to try to say something to reassure her when a booming voice stopped him. As he watched, her eyes widened.

"Logan! Rory!"

Logan rose to his feet. As he watched her, he saw Rory, on autopilot, also stand and turn to face the new arrival. Positioning himself next to her, he grabbed her hand.

"Mr. Huntzberger. Hello."

"Rory, I think it's about time you called me Mitchum. Don't you?"

As Logan watched, his father held his hand out to Rory. Her lips were tight as she dropped Logan's hand to accept Mitchum's.

"Uh -okay. Mitchum."

"So, Rory, how are you? Logan tells us the newest Huntzberger didn't give you the easiest time."

"I'm fine. I just had a bit of high blood pressure."

"How's my grandson?"

"He's good. He was born a few weeks early. But he's fine."

"More than fine. He's perfect." Logan sought Rory's eye but she kept her gaze steady on his father. He took her hand again.

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah." Rory's nervousness was apparent. Logan was reminded of the accidental run-in at the Dexter House the year before. "Where's Mrs. Huntzberger?"

Logan, anxious to put Rory more at ease, tightened his grip on her hand. He figured she'd probably welcome attention being deflected away from her so he decided to take the reigns on the small talk.

"Yeah, Dad. Where's Mom? And Honor?"

"You know your mother, Logan. She had a couple of stops she just had to make. She'll be along shortly. Honor's with her."

Before Logan had a chance to respond to that, his father directed his focus back to Rory.

"So, Rory. I'm sorry things didn't work out with Conde Nast. I bumped into Jim Nelson a few months ago. Said your meeting went well but he never heard back from you." Mitchum made a face as though he were trying to recall the details of the conversation. "A feature on lines, I think?"

Logan knew the look was bullshit. His father knew exactly what was what. And he knew exactly what he was saying. Logan doubted Mitchum even knew Jim Nelson from a hole in the wall. Logan glared at his father. What was he up to? Why the hell would he even bring that up?

"Dad, I don't think -"

"No, Logan." Logan felt Rory squeeze his hand. "It's fine. At the time, I was still trying to get a foot in the door. But, to be honest, I didn't feel much of an affinity for writing a story on FOMO."

"FOMO?" repeated Mitchum. "What's that?"

"Fear of missing out," shrugged Rory. "It's not anything new. Anyway, under the circumstances, I would've needed a career change regardless."

"Yeah," agreed Mitchum. "I hear from Logan you're working on a book now. "

"I am. But I wasn't talking about that. I went to work for my mother at her inn. Because I needed health insurance."

"Oh, of course. Speaking of your mother, you don't ever go by Lorelai, do you?"

"Nope. That's my mother."

"Right," nodded Mitchum. "You should let Logan help with the book. His book on participatory journalism and the new media is on the curriculum for most journalism grad programs these days."

"Rory doesn't need my help." Logan turned slightly to meet Rory's eye. "She's got it covered."

"You're probably right." Mitchum offered Rory a half-hearted grin. "So, Logan... I spoke to Charlie Brent Friday. After you and I talked. Said he was gonna email you your updated will sometime today. Remember to check."

"Good." Logan pulled out his phone and powered it up.

"You have a will?" Rory shot a curious look at Logan.

"Of course, Ace," he shrugged, smiling at her. Was she worried? "It's the responsible thing to do. Nothing's gonna happen to me. Just. You know. In case."

"Rory, you ought to have a will in place, too. As Logan said. It's the responsible thing. Whatever Richard left you, you'll want to place in a trust for Lucas, I'm sure."

Rory's gaze switched from Mitchum to Logan. Logan could see the wheels turning in her head. She was wondering if Logan had told Mitchum about Richard leaving her an inheritance. Truth of the matter was, if Mitchum Huntzberger wanted to know something, he didn't need to wait to be told.

"Oh, before I forget. Logan, did you see the birth announcement?"

Damn. Between the long night at the hospital on Saturday and anticipating his parents' arrival on Sunday, the birth announcement had completely slipped Logan's mind. Not that he could've done anything about it. But he should've mentioned it to Rory at some point. To give her the head's up.

"Birth announcement?" A startled Rory set her gaze directly on Logan. "Logan?"

"Logan, you didn't tell her?"

Logan fixed his eyes on the mother of his child. "I'm sorry, Ace. I meant to. But between yesterday and last night and this morning...I forgot."

"Here. I'll just pull it up." Mitchum took his phone out of his jacket pocket and, after a few swipes, held it up in front of him. "We decided the best strategy for deflecting attention from the cancelled wedding was to focus on Lucas's birth." Smiling, Mitchum held the phone out to Rory and Logan. "Why don't I just let you read it."

Leaning in close to Rory, Logan read the birth announcement along with Rory.

Lucas Richard Gilmore-Huntzberger, the newest heir to the Huntzberger Publishing Group (HPG), was born on May 15, 2017 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut. This is the first child of Logan Elias Huntzberger, 35, the Managing Director of HPG's International Operations and current HPG heir, and Lorelai "Rory" Leigh Gilmore, 32, a journalist and writer. He was born at the Lorelai Gilmore Maternity Wing of St. Joseph's Hospital, which was originally founded by his maternal great-great grandmother. Lucas is welcomed by paternal grandparents Mitchum and Shira Huntzberger of Hartford, Connecticut and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts and maternal grandparents Christopher Hayden of Hartford and Lorelai Gilmore of Stars Hollow, Connecticut.

Although she kept her expression impassive, Logan definitely sensed a shudder wrack through Rory at the point when they read the word 'heir' in the write-up.

"So what do you think?"

"I think it's fine, Dad."

"Rory?"

"Like Logan said, Mr. Huntz-"

"Ah. I thought we were going with Mitchum?"

"Mitchum. It's fine. It's just the facts, right?"

Logan looked over at Rory. Seeing her face he realized that while her words might sound neutral, the look on her face gave her away: she most definitely did not think it 'fine'.

Logan felt something catch in his throat.

Ten minutes in and he was already failing her.

AN: As Bette Davis was famously misquoted, "Fasten your seatbelts. It's gonna be a bumpy ride."

08/16/2017