Chapter Twenty-two

"Rory, chill."

"How can I? There must be a flight!"

Rory paced up and down the kitchen as Paris sat in front of an open laptop, continuously tapping keys. Lorelai had disappeared to pack them some clothes and explain to Luke about the spontaneous trip. Wringing her hands, Rory continued to pace.

Paris looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Look, Rory, I help people make babies, I don't deliver them. Now sit down before you pace that thing right out of there."

Rory slid into the nearest chair. "Anything?"

"Yes! I've found one. We need to leave right now, it's out of JFK."

"JFK? As in New York?"

Paris nodded. "The very same."

Rory's eyes widened incredulously. "Seriously?"

"It's the only flight, Rory. If you want to get your man away from that French chick, we need to get a move on."

"This isn't about Odette. Logan sounded so… broken. He needs me, whether he wants to admit it or not."

Paris nodded again in a more exaggerated fashion. "Sure. Whatever you need to tell yourself. But I won't judge you, Rory. Hell, I'd have done the same over Doyle back in the day."

"Seriously, Paris, I am not going to London to fight with Odette."

Lorelai waltzed back into the kitchen. "Who's going to fight with Odette?"

Paris was smug. "Rory is."

"No, I'm not!"

"Jeez, that sounds like a reality show waiting to happen. When Pregnant Women Meet." Lorelai joked, laughing. She dropped the grin when she clocked Rory's expression. "Oh, too soon for jokes? Ok. So, when are we leaving?"

"Now. Mom, where are the bags?"

Luke staggered into the kitchen. "By the door. Your mom still can't pack light. For her, anyway. I'm fairly sure I have one shirt in there."

Rory grinned. "Luke, you're coming too?"

Luke nodded with a grimace. "Your mother's idea. I guess you might need me for something, I dunno."

Paris heaved a sigh. "Great. So now Luke is one of the girls. Let's move."

The tension Rory felt only increased when she was finally on the plane that would take her to Logan. The drive to New York had been stressful, with Paris constantly sniping at Luke over his driving and Lorelai asking her if she was doing ok back there over and over. But they had made it, and managed to get through the airport security procedures just in time.

Now, as Paris was arguing with another passenger about the current seating arrangements, Rory sat staring blankly into space as her mind suddenly flickered back to life. She hadn't been able to properly think about the whole mess she was in for fear that she would have some kind of a break down, but now that she was flying out to be in the thick of it all she couldn't help herself. Grabbing her bag from the overhead storage, Rory started desperately searching through it.

Lorelai frowned at her from across the aisle. "Whatcha doing, kid?"

"I need a pen and paper."

Lorelai understood immediately. "Pros and cons time, huh? I think I have something, hang on."

Rory's search was fruitless. Her bag contained her cell phone, her purse and a book about pregnancy, plus her medical notes in case anything did happen to her whilst out of the U.S. Glancing at her mother, she realised that Lorelai was also empty handed.

Lorelai stood up and raised her voice. "People of New York, and other various places, I know you are all thinking that I'm crazy right now, but I need your help. Does anyone on this plane have a pen and some paper my daughter can borrow? Well, not borrow the paper, unless you want it back full of pros and cons, but the pen we will return?"

Rory grinned at her mother as nearly the entire plane started rummaging through hand luggage. Finally, a teenage girl handed over a pink diary and a fluffy purple pen. Rory took them gratefully.

Lorelai thanked the girl profusely and handed her a crumpled dollar bill out of her pocket. "Thanks, kid."

Rory immediately began scribbling on a sheet of paper from the diary. Lorelai leaned over the arm rest on her seat and tried to read it. "So, what's on the pro side?"

"Well, pros are; I'm going to see Logan, and I've missed him. Also, if Mitchum isn't too ill, I can yell at him. Cons list is longer. What if I bump into Odette? What if Mitchum doesn't get through this? What if Logan blames me?"

"Oh, Rory. Why would Logan blame you for any of this?"

"I don't know, mom. I just have these thoughts rolling around in my head and I can't seem to relax at all. What if Odette really is pregnant and it is Logan's? How is this going to work? Half of the year with me, half with her? Or shall we all move in to a huge house and be one really dysfunctional family? Or you know, I could move to the same town as them, and raise my kids right under his nose while he shacks up and marries Odette and they raise their kid but we will never actually talk to each other until the kids all start on the same basketball team…"

Lorelai raised an eyebrow at Rory. "You've been watching One Tree Hill re-runs, haven't you?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah. I still don't understand how it worked for sixteen years and then got all awkward though!"

"Hey, don't you think Mitchum is more like Dan than Logan could ever be? Logan is more of a Nathan in this scenario, making you his Hayley. And that all worked out just fine. Now, try and get some sleep. Tomorrow, or possibly the next day, what's the time difference? Or is it the day before? Not the point. It's gonna be a long day, kid. Try and rest."

Rory nodded and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the sound of the argument Paris was still having with the guy that had gotten the window seat.