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

Chapter 41: Test Run at the Dragonfly, Part III

Stars Hollow, Connecticut, Dragonfly Annex, Rory and Logan's Suite, Sunday, June 25, 2017, 7:30 am EST

The next morning Rory, Logan, Lucas, and the nanny, Carol, started the day off early. Since the Dragonfly's dining room opened at eight, they decided to bring Lucas downstairs before breakfast officially began anticipating there would be few others down there at that time.

"Carol, you sure you'll be okay? You're welcome to stay with us. Or you could go to my stepfather's diner."

"Luke's, right?" At Rory's nod, the woman continued. "I haven't been to Stars Hollow in a while. I think I'll just walk around. Text me when you need me back."

"Will do. Figure not more than an hour. Possibly less. Our friends were meeting us early but I don't want him in there when they start the official breakfast so if it starts to get crowded, we'll bring him back up."

"So before eight-thirty. Bye-bye, Lucas." With a quick wave Carol headed towards the door of the suite.

"Ready?" Logan posed the question to Rory but was looking at Lucas in his Mountain Buggy as he spoke.

"Ready," Rory nodded. "You ready, Lucas?"

As they watched, the baby yawned and briefly opened his eyes before closing them once more.

"Wow. I wonder if he'll always be this mellow."

"Yeah. He's a pretty easygoing kid."

"Right? I have to ask my mom if I was this quiet when I was a baby. What about you?"

"We can ask Honor but I think my noisy years started at two."

"Any idea when they'll end?"

"Ha ha. Cute, Ace." Logan tilted his head again to direct his next words to his son. "Hey. Big Guy. Your mom thinks she's pretty funny, doesn't she?"

"Oh, hold up. He's got something hanging off his nose. Let me wipe him."

Rory pulled a tissue from her handbag and wiped Lucas's nose.

"Come on, Kid. We can't take you anywhere with all that schmutz."

"Logan. You're gonna give him a complex. There. All clean." Rory repeated in a singsong voice. "All clean. All clean. Look. Logan. He's smiling."

"Oh, yeah?" Tilting his head, Logan looked at Lucas. "Boy. He takes after you, Ace. Big time. Talk about easy to please. Wipe his nose and he's thrilled."

Lucas squealed and proceeded to bubble up some drool between his lips.

"Hm. I'm starting to see how this is gonna play out. Kid's gonna be quiet but a slobbering mess."

"Ssh! No complexes yet." Rory wiped the baby's face again. "Remember? Eighteen years. We wait until next year to start."

"Next year?"

"Yep. Next year."

"It's a date."

"It's a date. Come on, Huntzberger. His public awaits."

"Let's go, Big Guy. Team LoRoLu in da house!"

"He's smiling again. I think he's trying to laugh. I know, Baby. Daddy's silly when he tries to do his street rapper jam." Rory grabbed Logan's arm. "Hey." Rory stretched up until their lips met. "Terrible but nice try."

"Thank you. Maybe I'll start playing guitar again. Get some street cred."

"Good luck with that. Just don't try it in front of the town troubadour. He'll laugh his ass off."

"Damn. I forgot the town already has a troubadour. Gonna have to come up with something else then."

"Logan - "

"Kidding, Ace. It's all good."

"You - we - are gonna have to talk to them eventually."

"And we will. But let's just enjoy this Huntzberger-free time while we can."

Stars Hollow, Connecticut, Dragonfly Annex, The Dining Room, Sunday, June 25, 2017, 8:00 am EST

"So it looks like I'm finally getting those Blackstone pricks out."

"Excuse me?" Logan nearly choked on his coffee at Emily's coarse language.

Seated in the dining room, it was Logan's turn to have coffee and breakfast while Rory held court with Lucas, now nattily attired in a baby blue pork pie hat courtesy of Babette and Morey. The current group seated at the table for four - aside from Logan, Rory and Lucas - included Emily and Lorelai.

"Didn't Rory tell you? I've been wanting to buy the house next door. Richard and I always talked about having our own family compound. My house is lovely but it's not big enough to have you and Rory and Lucas and Lorelai and Luke and April and Berta and her family and Jack all there at once. But with the Blackstones' house next door, I'll have plenty of room."

"That's terrific, Grandma."

"Of course I won't have time to completely redecorate by the Fourth but I should be able to make some changes. You'll have to let me know what you need to have for Lucas so I have time to order it. When are you three coming out?"

Rory threw a hesitant look at Logan. "I don't know. We need to figure out how we're traveling. It's a long trip for Lucas between the drive and the ferry. He's still pretty fresh."

"Fresh?"

"You know. New."

"For heaven's sake. Of course he's new. He's a baby. Sometimes you sound just like your mother."

"Gee. Thanks, Mom."

"Lorelai, it wasn't an insult."

"Could've fooled me."

During his brief sojourn in Stars Hollow, Logan found himself gaining million dollar insights into the Gilmore girls' dynamics. Although what he knew amounted to a drop in the bucket, he knew enough to recognize that it was time to nip this in the bud.

"You know, Ace, we could always fly to Nantucket."

"Fly? But there's no direct flights from Hartford."

"Rory." As he said her name, he quirked his eyebrow. Logan tried to imbue his tone with everything necessary to get his message across without actually saying the words. 'Rory. Come on. Plane and ferry schedules are not things you or my son will ever need to worry about.'

"Oh yeah. Guess that's... You have access to the jets."

"We."

"Right. We have access to the jets. I'll have to get used to that."

"Yeah."

Lorelai cleared her throat prompting Logan to glance over at her. He saw that her eyes were thoughtful as she studied Rory holding Lucas.

"Something wrong, Lorelai?"

Lorelai's gaze shot over to Logan. "Wrong? No. Nothing wrong."

Emily, not blind to the tension, resumed her story.

"So, as I started to tell you, my neighbor - Mark Greenberg - Rory, that's the retired lawyer who I told you might be friends with Whitey Bulger. Well, it turns out he is. Or at least he was. Until Whitey got sent to the slammer. Anyway Mark's a very interesting man. He knows how to get things done. By thinking-outside-the-box."

"Mom? Are you telling Lucas the story of how you shook down the neighbors so he could have his own room?"

"Lorelai, I was telling a story. It's rude of you to interrupt."

"Mom. It's a horrible story."

"Lorelai, it's my story. You can tell your story next. So Mark hired a private investigator to keep an eye on the Blackstones."

"To spy on them, Grandma?"

"Nothing illegal. He just put a trail on them."

"A tail, Mom. It's called a 'tail' when you have someone followed. Not a 'trail.'"

"You'll never believe what happened next. His investigator discovered the husband was cheating on the wife. They delivered photo evidence to the wife. She was aghast at the whole thing. Now they're divorcing and want to do a quick sale on the house. So I get my compound after all."

"Grandma, that's awful and terrific at the same time."

"Yeah, Emily. That's some story."

"Does David Mamet know about you? This little enclave of yours on Nantucket has more infidelity twists and turns than 'Desperate Housewives.'"

"Oh, Lorelai! The woman was bound to find out eventually. This way she found out sooner rather than later. And she was able to file for divorce using the extramarital affair clause in her prenup. We did her a favor. And she was so grateful, I get my compound. It's a win-win. Besides they were horrible neighbors. As you can well imagine." Emily rolled her eyes. "Their marital shenanigans were just the tip of the iceberg."

Thankfully, the conversation came to its natural - yet supremely awkward - conclusion as Miss Patty, Babette, and Morey approached the table. The trio stood positioned between Rory with Lucas and Emily.

"Hello again." Patty apparently was the self-appointed spokesperson. "We know you're taking him away. We thought we'd get another look before he disappears."

"Fine. Look," replied Lorelai. "But no more cheek-pinching, Patty. Rory's usually pretty calm but you don't want to poke the bear."

Logan couldn't help but notice the irritated look Rory shot Lorelai at her mother's joke. Stealing a glance at Emily, he saw that she, too, was aware of the slightly tense undercurrent flowing between mother and daughter. Lorelai, meanwhile, all smiles at the new arrivals, pretended to be oblivious.

"Lorelai, you're bad." Patty, chuckling, shook her head. "Not that it wasn't a pleasure meeting you, Logan, but we're actually here to get another glimpse of your adorable son." Patty, smiling pleasantly, glanced back and forth between Logan and Rory.

Logan realized that Rory, still irked by her mother's comment, was not prepared to respond to Patty. He quickly rose to his feet.

"Thanks, Patty. No worries. I get it. He's cute. Blue eyes. Quiet demeanor. Babette, Morey. Thanks again for the hat."

"You bet," replied Morey.

Patty and Babette, meanwhile, wasted no time in moving closer to Rory and the baby. The two women didn't take their eyes from the baby as they responded to Logan.

"Of course!" answered Babette. "Every musician's gotta have a pork pie hat! We're glad you like it!"

"We do. Now, we're just gonna have to get him a baby baby grand."

"Oh! I don't think you should start the kid off with a piano right away. His fingers are really tiny! It took Morey until he was eight to get good at it. Maybe you should start off with somethin' simple. Like one of those baby xylophones! He can bang the keys with one of those nobbed sticks!"

"Yeah. As soon as he's ready, we'll do that."

"Look at that face," cooed Patty. "If only I was seventy years younger."

"Logan. Give me a call when you get your guitar. We can jam."

"Sounds good, Morey."

"Lucas has definitely got piano fingers, Rory! All the girls'll be swarming around him like bees ta honey if he's a musician!"

"Oh, Babette." Rory was finally emerging from her Lorelai-induced funk. "I'm not sure what I think about that."

"Oh." Logan nearly laughed aloud at Babette's look of utter bewilderment. It was obvious that, to Babette, there was nothing more sacred than being a musician.

"No. Not the musician part. It's just weird to think of him having girls chasing after him."

"Oh sure, hon. I get it."

"Well." Patty straightened, glancing around. "We better get back to our table before the late arrivals try to steal it. Rory, Logan. You staying in town long?"

"Uh," Rory started to reply but then fell silent. Logan knew she was hedging on his account. Even if they weren't currently talking to them, Huntzberger-related uncertainty continued to hang over them like a pall. Meeting her gaze, he shrugged.

"We don't have anywhere to be, Ace. Not until Emily's Fourth of July party."

"Yeah. That's true." Rory looked back to Patty.

"You still interested in buying the Oasis? One surefire way to make Taylor less grumpy is to drop a wad of cash into his wallet."

Logan laughed. "Yeah. That tends to work with a lot of people." Darting a look at Lorelai, Logan saw she wore a frozen smile; he figured she was probably biting down hard to keep herself from saying something sarcastic. Sensing Rory's eyes on him, Logan turned to meet her gaze. "You wanna talk to him?"

"Oh there he is." Patty spotted the town selectman/mayor. "Taylor! Get your butt over here! I'm making you a sale!"

Patty would've gone far in his business. "I guess we're talking to him."

Taylor had been seated several tables away with independent film-maker Kirk and his wife Lulu. The sweater-aficionado perked up immediately at hearing his name being called. Although Kirk and Lulu had visited the table earlier to meet Lucas and Logan, Taylor had not. Observing to Rory that he thought Kirk had looked at him 'funny,' Rory's response was only "that's just Kirk." Lulu had been pleasant if somewhat talkative.

This town definitely had some characters.

"Taylor!" Patty called again. "Come on! Get a move on!"

Wearing a very beleaguered and put upon face, the man finally stood and made his way over to their table. Watching the selectman approach the table, Logan had only one thought: schnauzer. Once he got the image in his head, it was impossible to shake.

"Patty, I thought you'd agreed to stop referring to my butt in public."

"No, Taylor," replied Lorelai. "I agreed to stop referring to your butt in public. Patty made no such promise. And technically it wasn't your butt. It was your 'floppy Taylor underpants.'"

"Oh." Taylor huffily replied. "My bad. So what did you want? Did you call my butt over here for a reason?"

"Yes, I did. Look who's here." Patty gestured to Rory.

"Hi Taylor."

"Harrumph. I see who it is. The former editor of the Stars Hollow Gazette. The one I gave her start to. The one who thanked me for her career by leaving me in the lurch and by not naming her son after me."

"Taylor, I had a career before the Gazette. I ran the paper -for free -for months. I left you with a sustainable business model to keep it going with the high school. I upgraded the computers and the systems. And I never agreed to name Lucas after you."

Taylor snorted. "Fine," he replied peevishly as he cast his wounded gaze aimlessly around the room. "I suppose you don't want to buy the Oasis anymore either."

"No. I do." Rory stole a glance at Logan before revising her statement. "We do."

"Well, it's still there. As long as you don't think you're too good for it now. Considering your new financial situation," Taylor shot a look at Logan, "I'd only increase the price by a hundred thousand."

"Taylor! We agreed on a price!"

"But, we didn't close. Besides that offer was made months ago."

"We didn't close because the inspector broke his leg. And you decided you had to go see 'Hamilton' with Nat. Again. Then I was admitted to the hospital and had a baby."

"Do you really think finger-pointing does either of us any good?"

"Fine. What do you suggest?"

"How about we get new comps on more recent home sales?"

"So we'll adjust the price to the new comps?" asked Rory. At Taylor's silence, Rory rolled her eyes before continuing. "We'll adjust the price to the new comps if prices have gone up."

Taylor nodded, a smile on his schnauzer face. "You got yourself a deal."

"Great. How about we schedule a time for a walk-through this week?"

"Excellent. You'll have to work out the details with my property manager."

"Property manager? Who's that?"

"He's sitting right over there." Logan looked to where Taylor was pointing. Ah. The independent film-maker. Kirk.

"Kirk?" Rory let out a breath. "Fine." Making a face, she turned to look at Logan.

This should be interesting. "I'll go, Ace. And the guys'll be here in a couple of days. They can come too. Colin can handle the legal."

Lucas seemed to follow suit with his parents by blowing spittle out through his lips.

"I think the Kid's volunteering to come along as well."

AN: We all see where this is heading, right? I have some time off this week so I'm going to work on finishing this fic. For a side-by-side comparison of Taylor and a schnauzer, see my LiveJournal page. For an adorable baby wearing a pork pie hat, see the story image. Thank you for reading/reviewing.

PS #1: Lorelai has been coming to see the baby since he was released. She didn't visit the Friday he was released but did visit the following Sunday and has seen him regularly since then. It's implied but I edited out the explicit mention.

PS #2: These people are multi-millionaires. They can have as many homes as they want.

11/20/2017