Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls is the creation of Amy Sherman-Palladino.
Chapter 32: A Dr. Suess Kind of Love
Hartford, Connecticut, St. Joseph's Hospital, Sunday, May 21, 2017, 12:30 pm EST
Although he didn't have much time to ruminate on Emily's toxic mother-in-law, Logan found the revelation, as well as Emily's advice, oddly helpful. Emily Gilmore, like her daughter and grand-daughter, was a very discerning judge of character. But, unlike her daughter and granddaughter, most of Emily's life had been lived in Logan's world. Emily was to the manor born as well as to the manner born. Like him. She was also verbally gifted, like Rory, but with a much more practiced cutting tone. Emily Gilmore knew the power of words in taking down an enemy. That she had experience in this regard, a Shira-like mother-in-law, and was willing to be candid about it, was definitely not something Logan saw coming. But he was grateful nonetheless that Emily had let him in on this Gilmore family secret.
This generational back-story was an illuminating piece of a decade-old puzzle. In a way it helped to explain why he and Rory could love one another like they did, create a new life from that love, and still have trouble sealing the deal.
If Richard's mother died in 2004, Logan had to assume Rory had known his mother. She probably knew of the schism that existed between her grandmother and her great-grandmother. Maybe she'd even witnessed battles between them first-hand.
Maybe Rory feared that he, like Richard, would choose to side with his mother over his wife.
If that was the case, she was wrong.
Logan knew who he'd side with when it came to the woman who birthed him and the one who breathed life into him.
Shira was bothered by the fact that Rory had been raised by a teenaged mother in a middle class household. She didn't approve Rory's predisposition to work for a paycheck. His mother insisted on maintaining her lofty notions of "family responsibility." As if they were landed gentry, patrons upon which all those in the fiefdom depended for their well-being and livelihood.
The reality was, as the managing shareholder of HPG, the Huntzbergers had a responsibility to their board, to their shareholders and to their staff. Shira, for all she'd been a member of the family for forty years, actually had limited exposure to the business. Yes, she helped Mitchum with social engagements - sometimes politically charged social engagements. But Mitchum rarely confided in her on business decisions. Mainly because she had no experience in the business and Mitchum assumed - probably rightly, Logan thought- she had little to contribute.
With Rory, just the opposite was true. Rory knew the business and held a lot of opinions. If she could be persuaded, he had no doubt that she would quickly establish herself as a valued member of the HPG team. But Rory wanted to do her own thing. And Logan would respect that. Just as he'd always respected Rory's decisions. He'd never sought to impose his opinions on her; he'd never tried to tell her who she should be, or what she should do, even when she did something he didn't agree with. Like dropping out of Yale. He hadn't done that in the past; he certainly wouldn't start doing it now.
As for Mitchum, Logan truly believed Mitchum had no issues with Rory. Save for one.
If there was one thing about Rory Mitchum disliked -or feared, really- it was that she was independent. She might not have the in-your-face edge her mother and grandmother seemed to have in spades, but Rory Gilmore was no pushover. Who knew that better than him? As Lucas's mother, she'd want her son to have the best life he could. A life of freedom. A life of choices.
A life that's not preordained.
A family crest without fine print.
That's what she wanted.
That's what she'd get.
That's what his son would get.
The Huntzbergers' old-fashioned adherence to the practice of primogeniture would be coming to an end in his generation. Realistically there was no rational reason for it continuing as long as it had. He had cousins -children of his father's brother and two sisters- who worked at HPG and were arguably as qualified as he was to run the company. Despite the fact that it was his destiny to do so. For that matter, why Honor was never encouraged to have an interest in HPG always struck him as ridiculous. Older than him by four years, his sister was no dummy. But it didn't matter. None of that mattered.
Because she, too, had been born into a preordained life.
Logan felt a sense of empowerment upon his return to the NICU. Despite the fact that the family get-together had devolved into an unmitigated train wreck -as he'd described to Lorelai - in the end there were a few wins.
First, he had better insight into what he was up against with Rory. That knowledge would help him negotiate and hopefully resolve their issues.
Second, he'd had an opportunity to make it clear to both his parents in no uncertain terms which way the wind would blow from this day forward.
Third, apparently he'd likely be spending a part of the summer in Nantucket with Rory, Lucas, and the extended Gilmore family.
Though it had been a train wreck, he'd somehow managed to extricate himself from the wreckage.
Now he just needed to find out how Rory made it out.
"Hey. Huntzberger." Hearing Rory's greeting, Logan looked up with a smile. She was exiting the lactation room. Standing, he quickly closed the distance between them.
"You know Honor's still here. I'm technically not the only one who could respond to that name."
"I wouldn't call Honor that. Where is everyone?"
"My folks left. Our son's being doted on by his Auntie Honor and Gilmore Grandma's."
"Yeah. I'm not sure you wanna say that in front of my mom."
"I'll be careful. How're you?"
"I'm fine."
"Ace-"
"No. Really. I was upset. I still am. Not crying upset. Just kicking myself for not saying something more to your mother. Your sister was terrific."
"Well, she's had a lot of Shira experience. What'd she say?"
"She pointed out while I could've told your mother to take her watch and shove it, my reply actually kept things classy."
"Honor's right. I told you my mother's not nearly as clever as she thinks she is. You can talk circles around her."
"Yeah," sighed Rory. "Honor also said I'd probably have another chance so... I can think about how I want to deal with her. Maybe practice snarky rebuttals in the mirror."
"Your grandmother could probably help with that."
"What?"
"Emily feasted on Shira after you left."
"No!"
"Oh, yeah. Chewed her up one side and down the other." Hands in his pockets, Logan found himself staring into those blue eyes. "Listen, Rory-"
"What?"
"I've gotta say something. And I need you to hear me out. You're not in this alone. We've got a little three-person team here. You. Me. Junior. Junior, admittedly, is not really gonna be much help at first. But he is cute. I think we can let him coast for a while. And we can teach him to fetch things once he's walking. Or even crawling. So we've got that to look forward to."
"Fetch things? Like balls? Frisbees?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of 'bring your dad the remote' but sure. If you think that other stuff would be fun."
Amused, Rory's lips curved slightly. "I'm gonna turn you in on child labor laws, Huntzberger."
"Well, we don't have to worry about it yet. It'll be at least a year until he's walking. Eighteen if he takes after Uncle Finn. In the meantime, until Junior's ready to contribute to the team, you have me."
"I do, do I?"
"Yeah. You do. You know that, right? I said it before. I meant it. And I told them the same thing."
"Who?"
"My parents. Lorelai. Emily."
Watching her, Logan could tell she didn't know what to make of that. Finally a smile appeared. She'd decided to go with it. For now, at any rate. Logan returned the grin.
"So I have you, do I?"
"You better believe it."
"Do I have you in a house? Do I have you with a mouse?"
Logan crinkled his eyes studying Rory.
"So that's what happens when you and Honor spend time together?"
"Oh, it's not that bad. Not like my leaving you alone with Finn and Colin."
"That's in no way a comparison, Ace! A comparison would be you leaving me alone with Lane so she can tell me all your childhood secrets."
"Yeah, well, that's not gonna happen. Lane's too busy. She's got the store. The boys. The band. Zach. You wanna spend an afternoon with Paris? You know she and I went to high school together."
"I know. And no thank you. So aside from my childhood fascination with "Green Eggs and Ham" what other embarrassing secrets did my sister reveal?"
"That was the only one, I think."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Ace. You have me in a boat." Logan brought his left arm up around her back. "You have me with a goat." His right arm snaked around her to meet his left. "In the rain. In the dark. On a train. In a car. In a tree. In a box. With a fox. In a house. With a mouse. Here. There. Everywhere."
"Huh. You have it memorized too."
Logan, smiling, lifted an eyebrow in confirmation.
As he tightened his arms around her, Logan felt Rory stiffen.
"What're you doing?"
"I'd think it's obvious. I'm hugging my Baby Mama."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"'Because'? That all you got, Ace?"
"No. I got more. How about because I don't want you to?"
Logan moved his arms downward from her back to encircling her waist.
"You don't? You sure?"
Rory's eyes closed and she leaned into him, her arms circling around his chest and back. Logan smiled as a pleased sounding groan escaped from her throat.
"I'll scream."
"You will? Hm. You don't look like you're gonna scream."
"Hm-mm."
Logan's smile widened as Rory burrowed her face into his chest.
"You smell good."
"Just soap and deodorant, Ace."
"It smells good on you."
"I need to leave you alone with my sister more often."
"Ha-ha. I don't know what you're talking about."
"I can see that. It's obvious how much you hate being in my arms. I know you're just biding your time. Building your strength until you can scream."
"Well. Maybe talking to Honor did make me realize it's nice that you're here."
"Nice? That's it?"
"What do you want me to say? 'I'm thrilled'? 'I'm amazed'? 'In retrospect, it's near-miraculous'? That if it weren't for my phone being dead and my mom using her phone to call you, I realized you could still be in London, far away...from us. And given the choice of being here without you, or having you here, I think I prefer it this way?"
Smiling anew, Logan kissed the top of her head.
"No, I wouldn't expect you to say all that. I know how stingy you are with adjectives."
Logan tightened his embrace.
He needed this to work.
Later that afternoon Auntie Honor and the Gilmore Grandma's, done with their doting-on-Lucas session, had finally returned to the lounge area outside the NICU. Honor, ready to return to her own family, was saying her goodbyes and preparing to finally depart from the hospital.
All things considered, Logan had to concede that the day hadn't gone too badly. He actually thought it had gone well. At least, after his parents had left.
"It was so good to see you Emily!" Honor leaned forward to hug the older woman. "Living on the coast is certainly agreeing with you."
"Thank you, Honor," smiled Emily. "It was delightful. You must stop by next time you're out my way."
"That may be sooner rather than later. It is almost June. Time for the Huntzbergers' Martha Vineyard decampment."
"Oh. Yes. Of course." A sudden frown spread across Emily's features.
"Don't worry," laughed Honor. "I'll just bring Josh and the kids."
"Lovely. I'll look forward to it."
"Lorelai," Honor turned to Lorelai, who stood to Emily's left. "It was a pleasure."
"Yes. It was." Lorelai agreed, nodding with a slight smile.
From where he stood, Logan recognized Lorelai's expression to be a mix of bemusement and disbelief. Apparently Honor saw through the look as well.
"You're giving me that 'how're you their spawn?' look." Honor observed, with a laugh.
"No. No, I'm not." Lorelai shook her head, denying Honor's jestful accusation. Logan, and Rory he noted, watched silently in amusement. Lorelai reconsidered. "I'm sorry. Do you get that a lot?"
"Enough to recognize it." Honor explained. "It doesn't offend me. I take it as a compliment."
Finally Honor turned her attention to saying goodbye to Logan and Rory, who stood side by side to the right of Lorelai and Emily.
"Little Brother!" Honor squealed teasingly -and loudly- as she wrapped her brother in a hug.
"Honor," Logan shook his head with a laugh. "Come on."
"You'll always be Little Brother to me. Even if you and Rory have ten kids!"
"Ten? Let's see you go for ten."
"Rory!" Honor turned her attention to Rory, enveloping her in an equally enthusiastic embrace.
"Whoa!" Rory let loose an obviously genuine laugh; Logan bestowed a subtle smile of 'thanks' to Honor. "Ten kids? Why am I getting pulled into this?"
"Sorry, Rory!" Honor chuckled as she broke off her goodbye hug. "You're right. Ten?! What was I thinking?!" Honor transferred her focus back to her brother who was now looking at his cell phone smiling. "What? What is it? What could possibly come through on that phone of yours to make you smile like that?"
Logan's grin widened. His eyes met those of his sister momentarily before he turned his head looking for Rory.
"My will." Logan held his cell phone out for Honor to see.
"Your will..?" repeated Rory.
"Yeah," nodded Logan. "Recent changes."
Leaning in towards Logan's cell phone, Honor read from the document on Logan's cell phone.
"'Bequeathed to my son, Lucas Richard Gilmore-Huntzberger'... I suppose that's sweet. In a morbid kind of way," chuckled Honor.
Logan made a face at his sister. Rory, meanwhile, with a low, "Let me see," grabbed Logan's phone to read the document.
"Oh, what's that, Honor? Time to go?"
"Very funny." Honor leaned in to give Logan a final hug goodbye.
"Rory. You have my number. You have my lactation consultant's number. And you and I have a date this week for Bergdorf's."
"Yes. We do." Logan noted that while Rory had been laughing and joking with them a moment earlier, her smile no longer seemed to make it to her eyes. "It was really good seeing you, Honor."
Honor, still basking in the 'new auntie' glow, was oblivious.
"I'm happy you feel that way 'cause you'll be seeing me a lot. Oh! It's gonna be fabulous when Lucas is out of the hospital. We'll have a play date right away! Hopefully before we leave for Martha's Vineyard. I'll leave Harper and Joshua with Josh. I'll bring Haven over and we'll put the two of them in side-by-side Snoos and we can put on Lifetime as we drink Chardonnay. Oh! I can tell you more stories about my brother!"
Not a chance.
"Whoa, there. I think someone's gonna be walking home in a minute," joked Logan.
"Please," huffed Honor. "I'll send Frank back unscathed. Enjoy the rest of your day. Call me if you need anything. Rory, you and I will definitely talk to firm up Bergdorf's."
"Sounds great."
With a charming smile and final exuberant wave to her brother and the three Gilmore ladies, Honor took her leave of the group. In the absence of his sister's bubbly presence, a sudden quiet descended over the group. Rory still seemed a bit off, Logan thought. He was wondering if he ought to say something to her when Lorelai broke the silence.
"Mom, we should get going too."
"Yes, Lorelai."
At her mother and grandmother's mention of leaving, Rory's turged her attention to the two women.
"Grandma, are you going back to Nantucket right away?"
"No, Rory," replied Emily, with a slight shake of her head. "I'll be staying in Hartford for a few days."
"Great. So I'll see you again before you leave."
"Yes. Definitely. I'm going with your mother now to see the apartment."
"Mom? Are you gonna stick around today? Or are you going to Stars Hollow?"
"Sorry, kid. I have to get to the annex. Luke needs a break since April's coming in."
"Right. I guess I won't see her."
"You might. I don't know what her schedule is. She's going to New Mexico to see Anna. Just not sure when."
Listening to Rory's conversations with both her grandmother and her mother, it occurred to Logan that it might be nice to arrange a dinner for Rory now that she was out of the hospital. With Emily and Rory's step-sister in town for a few days, this might be a good week. Rory also mentioned Christopher was due to return from Australia on Monday. Once Lucas was out of the hospital, he imagined planning dinners out would become a bit more complicated. It might be nice to plan a family dinner before the baby was released.
Some time later, the visitors gone, only Logan and Rory remained. Standing over Lucas's isolette in the NICU nursery, the new parents were happy to have an opportunity to spend quality time with their surprisingly wide-awake infant.
"Hey, Junior," Logan stroked the baby's foot. "Smart move."
"What?" Glancing up, Rory's eyes found Logan's.
"Staying asleep the entire time Grandma and Grandpa Huntzberger were here," Logan replied with a smirk.
"Oh! That!" chuckled Rory. "It was serendipitous. I'm glad he was awake for Honor. Did you hear her oohing and aahing over his eyes?"
"Yeah. I heard." Logan smiled at Rory. "I think she would've found something to ooh and aah over even if he'd never opened his eyes."
"Yeah, probably." Rory returned his smile. As Logan watched her, he saw the lighthearted look on her face gradually give way to a more serious look and she returned her gaze to their son. Whatever that something was from before was obviously still bothering her.
"Ace?" Logan's hand moved from Lucas's foot to Rory's hand. Startled, her hand flinched. That was not good. "Rory? Hey? What's wrong?"
Rory, very noticeably upset, raised her blue eyes to his brown eyes.
"I have to ask you something."
"Sure, Ace. Anything. Ask away."
"It's about your will."
"My will? What about it?"
"You have his name as 'Lucas Richard Gilmore-Huntzberger'."
Logan pulled his eyes from Rory and glanced down at the infant. Lifting his eyes back to hers, he answered.
"That's his name. Isn't it?"
"Yes, it is. But your dad said this morning that you and he talked about the will on Friday. And then he talked to the lawyer on Friday."
"Yeah? I'm still not tracking, Ace."
"You and I talked with the social worker about Lucas's name on Saturday. We only decided his name on Saturday. You told your dad he'd be named Huntzberger before you and I even talked about it."
Logan averted his eyes from Rory's steady gaze and, sighing, looked at his son. Technically, she was right.
"So? It was aspirational, Ace. Legal documents can always be revised. Lawyers love getting paid. Of course I wanted Lucas to share my name. He's my son."
"It doesn't feel aspirational, Logan. It feels manipulative. I wish you'd just told me Mitchum was pushing to have Huntzberger in his name."
Logan sighed again.
"Yes, my dad wanted Lucas to have Huntzberger in his name. We're not married. Though this stuff seems to matter less and less these days, technically he's illegitimate. Having Huntzberger in his name cuts through all that."
"Why didn't you mention any of this on Saturday?"
"Why would I? The two things don't have anything to do with each other. He asked me the baby's name. I told him the name I was hoping for knowing it might not work out and the lawyers might have to change the will."
"Is that why you were pushing for the name? Because of Mitchum?"
"No! It had nothing to do with Mitchum! I'm Lucas's father and I wanted him to have my name! My name. Which, yeah, coincidentally is the same as my father's. Why's that so crazy?"
"And the announcement?"
"What about the announcement?"
"All that stuff? About the next Huntzberger heir being born?
"Well, technically the next Huntzberger heir has been born. As for the announcement, it's like I told you. I didn't write it. I didn't even see it. I told my dad to stick to the facts. I suggested he take a look at Richard's obituary. Which is probably why they thought to include mention of the hospital wing. And that's it. Extent of my involvement."
"But you knew it was coming out today?"
"Yes. I did. I'm sorry I forgot to mention it. The stuff with Lucas yesterday and then hearing from my dad this morning sidetracked me."
"Logan! God! I need you to tell me these things! I need you to be honest with me!"
"I am being honest with you. One hundred percent honest."
"I asked you to promise to always let me know what they were up to."
"Yes, you did. And I promised. And I'm gonna keep that promise. We're a three person team here, Ace."
"You say we're a team. I don't feel like I'm on a team, Logan. I can't keep being blindsided. I can't be afraid all the time that the ground beneath me is gonna shift."
"Of course not. And you won't be blindsided. I'm not looking to keep things from you, Rory."
"Yeah. Well. I didn't know about his name on the will. I didn't know about the birth announcement. Everybody's throwing around that word 'heir.' I know it means something different to the Huntzbergers. I'm trying not to freak out but I'm so worried for his sake. What if mommy loses? Then what?"
"Rory. There's no winners or losers. We're all on the same side." Logan raised a hand to Rory's cheek. "Ace? Nothing bad is gonna happen."
"It's not?" She twisted her head; he removed his hand. "I don't know what's gonna happen. And I feel like you do. But you're not saying."
"No, Ace. It's not like that. There's just stuff going on. Typical Huntzberger lunacy that I don't want you worrying about. I'll take care of it."
"Like you took care of Shira today?"
"Ouch."
"Yeah. Ouch. You can't protect me. Not all the time. Maybe not ever. I don't know what 'typical Huntzberger lunacy' is so telling me not to worry won't work."
Unbidden, Logan's mind went back to Emily's tale of Richard and the first Lorelai.
"You're right." Logan sighed. "There are a few things going on. I regard them as typical and also," he met her eyes, "maybe I didn't want the deluge of Huntzberger crazy to fall immediately. Maybe I was hoping for a little more time."
"Time for what?"
Logan didn't answer but brought his eyes to hers. Watching her, his expression was serious.
"Time to work your masculine wiles on me?"
Thrilled to hear her joking, even if she was upset, Logan laughed. "Maybe."
"You think that requires a lot of effort on your part? I already gave birth to your child. I obviously have a weak spot for you. Of course now it extends to Lucas so it could be construed as weak spot for Huntzberger men."
Logan frowned.
"Mitchum not included."
"My uncle? Cousins?"
"Nope. None of them are included either."
"Thank God."
"So? 'Typical Huntzberger lunacy'?"
"My dad's crisis management team came up with the brilliant idea of focusing on Lucas to deflect from the scandalous 'runaway-groom' aspect of the story."
"That's..."
"Ironically self-serving? Exploitative?"
"Yeah. But it's also smart. Brilliant even. And probably effective." Rory shrugged. "Of course, you weren't going to marry one woman practically the same day another woman gave birth to your child. It's amoral but rational."
"Thank you for that, Ace."
"No problem, Huntzberger." Rory fell silent as she watched Lucas stretch in his crib. "So the announcement. Having Huntzberger as part of his name. Is there more?"
"Yeah. There's more."
"What?" Rory looked up at him.
"There's an idea to do a feature."
"A feature? On what?"
Logan jerked his head slightly, gesturing toward Lucas.
"On him?"
"Yeah."
"He's a baby." Her eyes were on Logan.
"Said it was crazy, Ace."
"What are they gonna do?! Interview him?! Get his take on diapers?! Breastfeeding?!" Rory had whisper-hissed these words. Turning her gaze to her son, her next words were calmer. "What'd you say to your dad?"
"Nothing yet."
"Are you gonna let him do it?"
Logan didn't answer at first. Was he going to just let his father do it?
"Mitchum's argument for doing the piece is to -again - deflect from other aspects of the story."
"What 'other aspects'? Runaway groom? Is there more?" Rory's eyes were expectantly focused on Logan.
Logan, silent, just looked at Rory. He figured she'd catch on. And he saw in her eyes the second she got it.
"Me? I'm the 'other aspects'?"
"My dad figures the press - our competitors especially- will dig. Whatever they find, they'll use. Any blemish they find, they'll print. If we control the story, we control the spin."
"Blemish, huh? Oh, yeah! I definitely got a few of those!" As Logan looked on, Rory, her eyes somber, turned back to their son. "You believe that, Lucas? Mommy has one messy year and it winds up in the paper." She redirected her focus to Logan. "What would be in this article? Not on him. The one on me?"
"Rory, I'm not gonna conjecture-"
"No, but Mitchum did. What did he say? What did he think competing publishers would print?"
"Focus on your career -"
"Lack thereof."
"Ace- "
"What else?"
"Did you have some kind of incident with Gail Collins?"
Rory groaned. "What else?"
"Are you at war with food bloggers?"
"No! That's my mom!"
"Well, that's what he mentioned."
"Is there another option? Isn't there anything else?"
Logan, watching Rory, played around some ideas in his head. Mitchum hadn't mentioned it as an option, but, reading between the lines of his father's words, Logan knew there was at least one other option.
"You have some time to think about this but you really need to talk to Rory and get your story straight. The fact that Lucas is illegitimate doesn't matter to your mother and I but some of the board members and partners are of the old guard. If you and Rory have a future, they're gonna wanna hear that a wedding is in the works. You need to think about that. There'll come a point when you'll need them. Think about it, Logan."
Releasing a story that there was a new romance, that college sweethearts had rekindled their relationship ten years after saying goodbye - now that was a story.
But Logan knew he could never mention such a thing. If Rory had perceived the other stuff as potentially manipulative, this would definitely score as a manipulation bomb. Even he could see that.
Rory was as skittish as a doe. Logan was hopeful that he'd eventually be able to win her over. Him and Lucas.
It wasn't lost on Logan that hoping his infant son would somehow encourage Rory to settle down with him -with both of them - could probably be construed as manipulative too.
So far, things had been going well between him and Rory. He was heartened by how well it all was going. But it didn't take much to reopen old wounds. Especially with his mother and father there to help the process along.
He had to reassure her. If there was nothing else he could do, he had to do that.
"Rory..."
"Yeah?"
"I made a big mistake with you."
As he watched, her eyebrow lifted in question.
Only one? it said.
"You're right. I made a few. The biggest one was not waiting for you. Hell, I spent half our relationship waiting for you. Throwing it in at the finish line was stupid." Rory, silent, shifted her gaze to Lucas. "But that's not actually what I'm talking about. Remember after the internship? I wanted to go talk to my dad but you didn't want me to because you didn't want to come between us?"
"Yeah. I remember."
"I made the wrong call back then."
"But I didn't want that." Her eyes shot up to his. "I didn't want to be responsible-"
"That's just it, Ace. This thing with my parents. They're responsible. It's on them. It's always been on them. Whatever happens. It was true back then and it's even more true now. Listen," Logan paused as he placed a hand over hers on their son. "The ones who need to stick together are you, me, and the big guy over here."
Sighing, Rory averted her eyes. "How?"
"We just do. And I'll do my part by fixing this article."
"Okay. But how? If not my awesome career in journalism, then what? Feature on me as a modern day Hester Prynne? What?"
"How about a feature on you as an author? Your book?"
Rory's eyes lifted once more to meet his. "You think that would work?"
"It's worth a shot. I'll talk to my dad. See what he thinks." Logan smiled, trying to comfort her. "Hey, I have been known to work some magic." Logan brought a hand up to her face, caressing her cheek.
Rory, startled by his touch, shivered. The slight movement wasn't lost on Logan.
"You okay, Ace?"
"Fine." Logan stroked her cheek, moving out toward her earlobe, which he gently rubbed. Seeing Rory's eyes close, he smiled to himself.
"So I'll talk to my dad. And I'll tell you everything."
Rory's eyes reopened. "You have to, Logan. Everything. I'm counting on you. We both are."
"I know, Ace. I won't let you two down."
Although she didn't say anything. Her eyes said it all.
You better not.
AN: Whew. It is soooo good to be back. Let's enjoy it while it lasts, shall we? Speaking of enjoying things while they last, how long before Logan finds himself challenged in keeping his promise to Rory? There was a fight and a kiss (on the head) for those keeping tabs. I did mention this would be a slow-burn, right? With the caveat that we're technically on Day #5. Time will start to move now. Thank you for reading.
09/20/2017