AN: Okay, just a little warning. The rating has gone up in this chapter. I don't know if I'll be writting something like this again, because it doesn't come easy to me and it's the reason why it took me this long to finish it. In any case, I hope you're happy with it, and there's going to be more coming up soon.

To everyone that's reviewed, thank you! thank you! thank you! I love reading through them!

Chapter 8 – South Carolina Baby

He woke up the next morning feeling rested. Compared to his new schedule, he knew he'd slept in, but it was something he needed to do and he took full advantage of being back in his bed. He remained still, not wanting to wake Rory before she wanted to be up. They were lying in bed in a tangle of limbs. At some point during the night Rory had turned to face him and was now lying on top of his chest, with an arm and a leg thrown over him. They had laughed about it numerous times, on how they would go to sleep in one position and sometimes ended up in a completely different side of the bed. She had him immobile, but he didn't mind because it gave him the chance to finally hold her in his arms.

She fidgeted in her sleep and he thought she was finally waking up, but she surprised him by jumping over him and rolling to other side of the bed. His side of the bed. So that's how that happens, he thought. She continued sleeping soundly for another hour. It was another hour in which he relished having her with him, touching her, smelling her. He threw his arm over hers and shimmied one of his legs between hers. He liked how they fit perfectly when they spooned in bed. He couldn't keep himself from placing small, tender kisses on her neck between her shoulders. It was his favorite way of waking her up.

She began to stir. She tried moving but felt something heavy weighting her down. She didn't feel she had the energy to fight what was on top of her so she didn't really struggle to come free. She waited until she was more woken up. But the more awake she was, the more she realized what was going on. She recognized the warm feeling of his arms around her, the scent of his aftershave and the mold of his body behind her. For a while she thought she was still asleep and dreaming him next to her. She stayed in bed with her eyes closed, still half asleep, not really wanting to wake up from the warm familiar feeling wrapped around her.

Her thoughts drew her back to the night before. The look on Logan's face when she'd asked him to talk to her and he refused. She had been humiliated again, only this time it wasn't his parents that caused the sting, it was the father of her child. She couldn't help but feel rejected when he'd stood before her and asked her to let him be. The surge of emotions caused by the memory of everything made her dizzy, a cold chill engulfing her, and tears formed in her eyes. She tried to turn to her side and open her eyes as a soft sob escaped her lips. She was startled when she was unable to move very much and realized there was a body next to hers. She sat up in a jump which only caused her to get even dizzier than she already was. It only caused her to feel more confused when she started gagging. She scrambled to get up and make it to the bathroom.

Logan jumped up the minute she ran. The closest she made it to the bathroom was the dressing room doorway. Logan winced at the sight of Rory being sick. He followed her to the bathroom where he helped keep her hair back. She started crying, not even attempting to get up. She was too upset and confused over everything. She could feel her back being rubbed to comfort her.

He waked to the kitchen to get some large paper towels and a glass of water for Rory. He was grateful that they had hardwood floors throughout the apartment when he placed the paper towels where Rory had been sick. He placed the glass on the sink and helped Rory to her feet. He pulled their toothbrushes out and put the toothpaste on them, then handed her hers. They brushed their teeth in silence and Logan gave her the glass of water for her to drink after she rinsed.

He helped her to the bed and tucked her in. Then she began crying, each sob becoming stronger and louder. She turned herself to face the wall and gave Logan her back. He was speechless. He didn't know how to react to her reaction. His instinct told him to go hug and console her, but her body language was telling him to keep away.

He decided to listen to his heart and he lied next to her and drew her body towards his. She resisted a little at first, but eventually gave in. He tried talking to her and getting her to turn to him, but she refused to budge and only cried harder. He used however little strength he had after his accident and sat himself up on the bed and pulled her into his arms. It was scaring him, but he let her cry herself out. He just held her close and kissed her face until she eventually tired herself out.

"Rory, what's going on?"

She closed her eyes and for the first time returned his embrace. He hugged her back as tight as it was possible. He was able to move her into an almost sitting position by pulling her into his lap.

"God, you have no idea how I've missed you," he told her. He drank in the smell of her hair. He'd always loved the smell of her hair. It smelled of jasmines and her distinct, soft scent.

She held on to him as tightly as possible, wanting to feel his body as close to hers as possible. "Oh, God, Logan…"

Logan. To hear his name from her lips again…

"Rory, look at me." He sat her up on the bed facing him. More tears welled in her eyes and she looked down. He raised her chin with one hand, the other holding her hand. "What do you have to tell me?"

Her stomach dropped at the thought of telling him. Granted, it's what she'd been trying to do all along, but the fear finally sunk in. The fear that he would run the minute she told him. That he would tell her that he wasn't ready for that amount of commitment. That he couldn't handle parenting at twenty four. Or worse, that he no longer wanted to continue their relationship.

"Logan, I… I…"

"What is it, Ace?" He knew what it was, but he wanted to hear it from her lips. He wanted to know how it felt to hear it come out of her lips.

"Logan, I'm pregnant." She paused. "We're going to have a baby."

She looked down and started crying again, but he took her face in his hands and brought her lips to his. He pulled her closer to him, submerging himself in the emotion of it all. He took her by surprise, but she relished the feeling of his lips on hers. How the tip of his tongue would trace her bottom lip before tangling in hers.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the sensations running through her body. She had wanted to feel his body close to hers for so long. To be held in the comfort of his embrace.

"Say it again." He asked of her.

"What?" she asked between kisses.

"Say it again… I want to hear you say it again."

She breathed the words out in between kisses. "We're having a baby…"

"We're what?" he prompted her again. He lowered his lips to the sensitive spot in her neck that she loved him nuzzling on. He traced kisses along her collar bone and down to the peak of her cleavage.

"We're having a baby… We're having a baby…" She repeated, in breathy whispers.

He moved up her neck and back to her lips, guiding her head down towards the pillow. His hand moved to the hem of her camisole and he raised it up to touch her warm, swollen abdomen. He trailed kisses from her lips down to where his hand rested. He pulled back to observe the sight before him. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen, the changes her body had gone through in such a short period of time. He tugged the camisole up higher and she took his cue and raised herself to help him remove it. He wanted to see all of her.

Their lips met again and she wasted no time in removing his t-shirt, managing to have it off in one swift movement. Her fingers started grazing the waistband of his boxers as his went to her pajama bottoms. She toyed with the idea of torturing him through the soft cloth instead of giving him immediately what he wanted, but he took matters into his own hands and his boxers were off in a blink of an eye. He removed her pajama bottoms, not wanting a single stitch of clothing on her. His hands began roaming the softness of her thighs before he urged her to part them. He spent the next half hour exploring her new body for the first time, enjoying the roundness it gave her, the swelling of her breasts, and how every touch elicited a new reaction from her that he'd never seen before. She was giving him the most erotic experience he'd ever had.

She wanted more of him. He was driving her crazy with his hands and mouth, but she was becoming more desperate with every touch and stroke. In the urgency of finding her release, she placed him at her entrance and pulled him into her. In one fluid move of his hips he met hers, moving slowly at first, both savoring the moment their bodies met as one again. She started thrusting her hips, needing more of him and he complied. As soon as he gave into her demands, her body began to tremble under him as her climax washed over her, her moans becoming louder as she peaked.

He slowed his movements until she came back from her release, only to start up at a faster, harder pace again causing her to climax once more. Except this time he didn't give her the chance to regain herself, letting her experience several climaxes confused into one. Her moans were echoed through the apartment and Logan was glad that for one, the walls were thick, and two, they only had one neighbor in the same floor and they were on the opposite end. He felt the need for his own release and his body let hers know. She took her queue, trying to continue concentrating on what she was feeling, but she made sure she helped him maximize his release.

He felt her hand circle him at the base and knew what she was doing to him. He wanted to feel her clenching around him as he came and he moved one of his hands down to play with her. They climaxed together, their bodies slippery with perspiration. He lied down on her side of the bed and pulled her close to his chest. They were both still breathing heavily. They remained still until they heard one another's breathing even out.

He heard Rory let out a sob. He became alarmed and looked down to her.

"Rory, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

She began laughing. Now that just did not compute for him.

"I'm sorry," she said, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. She tried wiping them away, and she laughed when they kept falling. She let out a sigh followed by a giggle. "I'm sorry… I just… I think I really needed that."

She looked up at him and smiled. Her smile let him know that she really was okay, because she was also smiling with her eyes. He'd missed her looking at him that way, in a fun, sort of naughty kind of way, like only he knew he could read.

She eventually stopped giggling and sat up. She started looking around for her pajamas.

"What are you looking for?"

"My pajamas, I have to go pee."

He laughed at her attempt for modesty. She moved pillows and looked through the disarray of sheets and blankets. She found the top and since it went down to her hips, she decided to make her bathroom run in just that. She let out a yelp and ran back out.

"What's wrong now?"

"I forgot I didn't make it to the bathroom earlier," she said, evidently grossed out.

"Let me get that for you."

"No! Mo-om! This is wrong!" Emily and Lorelai had reached the 12th floor and Emily was trying to get her to come out of the elevator. Actually, she was trying to physically drag her out. They were hissing at each other in a mixture of a whisper and a scream, as to not alert the occupants of that floor.

"Lorelai! Aren't you worried about your daughter?"

"Not since she wasn't worried about how her mommy was going to get home after dinner with the Huntzbergers and the Gilmores, no."

"Stop fooling around. Now come on." She managed to pull her out of the elevator long enough that the doors closed.

Lorelai looked cornered now that the elevator had left her. She started walking after her mother. They reached the door and stood there quietly. Lorelai crossed her arms over her chest

"So, what are you waiting for?" asked Emily.

"What do you mean what am I waiting for? What are you waiting for?"

"Come on, knock!"

"I'm not knocking!"

"Well don't you want to find out if they're okay?"

"Mom, they're okay. George told us as much."

"George just told us that they were home!"

"Exactly! They're home. They. Are. H-O-M-E. A couple of horny kids that are in love with each other and haven't seen each other in about three months are home. Their home, mom. I'm sure they're okay. I'm sure they're all kinds of okay, great, wonderful, fantastic. If not they wouldn't be home."

"But don't you want to find out if they've talked already?"

"I'm sure once they get the crazy make up sex out of the way they'll get around to talking."

"Lorelai! Please!"

"What? What else do you think they're doing in there? We probably wouldn't be able to even smoke them out. Those two aren't leaving that apartment any time soon… What do you think you're doing?"

Emily put her ear against the door, hoping to hear a conversation.

"I wonder what they're saying?"

"They're probably working each other blue."

"Lorelai!"

"Well I doubt they're reading each other Dr. Seuss. Let's go, mom. Rory can call and tell us what transpired in there during the cigarette."

Emily put her ear back where she had previously placed it.

"Wait… I hear something… Oh my God!" she screamed, removing her ear from the door.

"What?"

"I think they did make up."

"Oh, eww! I didn't need to know that!"

'Oh, God!'

"Oh, no!" they said in unison. They ran towards the elevator and started frantically pushing the button to go down.

"I hope you're happy now," said Lorelai.

She sat propped up on the pillows, her feet extended in front of her, and she was snacking on cheddar cheese and crackers. Logan was busy starring at and feeling around her stomach. He kept bending his head down and kissing their baby. He placed his cheek on her belly and looked up at her.

"We should probably get up and take a shower," said Rory.

"That would probably be a good idea."

"Probably."

"Except that I didn't bring a change of clothes."

"You have your clothes here," she reminded him.

"Oh, yeah."

"Yeah. You probably don't want to conduct a business merger in them, but you'll be comfortable."

"I don't think I have any underwear, though."

"You have underwear here."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"How are you sure?"

"I'm sure cause I did laundry. You have underwear here."

"Maybe underwear, but I don't have my razor. I took my razor with me to London."

"Don't shave, then. I like the stubbles. Stubbles are sexy on you. Now come on, get up."

"Nooooooo." He held on tight to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Hey, your waist has grown. I used to be able to wrap you around with one arm, now I need both arms."

"Was that a fat joke? Cause I have a shit list full of names of people that like to tell fat jokes in front of me, and you might like to hear what's in store for them when I'm in labor."

"Ace?"

"What?"

He pressed his lips to hers, silencing her. He liked how he left her breathless with his kisses.

"I love you."

She looked into his eyes and saw just how heartfelt his words were. She kissed him back eagerly.

"I love you too."

"Come on, let's get you in the shower. How 'bout we get you all dolled up and we go to dinner somewhere nice?"

He helped her to her feet and her chemise fell over her belly. He noticed how round and pregnant she really looked. His hand moved to caress her baby bump again.

They walked to the bathroom and he got the water running while she took some towels out. He turned back to her and took the towels away from her and placed them on the toilet seat before turning her back against his chest. He made her pose in profile against the bathroom's full body mirror. He was standing behind her with his arms circling her belly. She placed her hands on top of his.

"Wow… you really are pregnant… I almost can't believe my eyes."

He really couldn't. Her body had changed so much over the last few months. It was no longer the body he had engraved in his mind. It was a new one that was accommodating a growing life inside it. His eyes danced as he tried to memorize this new image of her.

"Are you sorry?"

"I'm sorry for many things, Ace. But this," he rubbed her belly. "This I'm only sorry that I missed the beginning of."

"Logan I… I really wanted to tell you sooner…"

"Shh, Ace. It's okay." He placed a kiss on the side of her neck. He looked at her profile through the mirror again, then he turned her around to look at her in front of him. He laughed at himself for a second. "I mean… how could I miss this? It's so obvious."

"What do you mean?"

"How did I not see it last night? It's so obvious. I mean, of all people that should have noticed this, it should have been me."

He couldn't keep himself from staring in amazement. He removed her top, leaving her completely naked. His hands roamed her body again. His hands came up to cup her breasts.

"Whoa, these are huge now."

She smacked his hand away. "You need to be more careful when you handle these from now on." She turned away and jumped into the shower.

He jumped in right behind her. He purposely grabbed the sponge and body wash first. He used the opportunity to lather her body, embracing every slippery new curve of hers. She turned around to face him and shampooed his hair. It was a habit of theirs they had obviously missed. Moments they had always shared and for a time seemed to be lost. He lowered his lips to hers and drew them into the water. She rinsed his hair and he rinsed her body. They hugged, offering each other the comfort they themselves had wanted to receive in the time they had been apart.

They got out of the shower and walked into their dressing room. Rory put on a cute little sundress and flip flops while Logan chose a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Rory blow dried her hair while Logan set up dinner reservations and prepared a more substantial lunch than crackers in bed. He had cooked a substantial breakfast, and he was surprised that he was already hungry. Rory however, would want to eat something, and quick. He decided to order pizza and made some grill cheese sandwiches to hold her hunger at bay for another half hour. She walked out to the kitchen when she was done and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"Mmmm, smells good."

"Come on, let's go sit on the couch. I have a pizza coming soon."

He kissed her temple and grabbed the plate of sandwiches and walked to the couch. She went to the fridge and grabbed two cokes out. He saw her set the drinks down on the coffee table. He grabbed one of them and walked over to the fridge while she turned the television on. He traded the can of coke for one of lemonade. When he walked back to the couch, she was opening the coke. She moved the can towards her lips and Logan pulled it away from her hands and handed her the lemonade.

"Logan!"

"No caffeine for you."

"But Logan…" she whimpered.

"Nope, crying isn't going to get you anything. You can have the lemonade or water. In fact, water's better. Let me go get…"

"No! I'll have the lemonade! I'll have the lemonade!"

He plopped his butt down on the couch and grabbed a sandwich. She was surfing through the channels trying to find a movie. The doorbell rang and he got up to get it. When he walked back, he was carrying an extra large pizza. He went to the kitchen and grabbed some plates and Rory took the opportunity to take a sip of his soda.

"Hey, what did I tell you?"

She took a bigger gulp before he was able to reach her and take it away from her. They ate while watching Monsters, Inc. At some point he pulled her towards him and somehow they ended with Rory lying on top of him, her head resting on his chest.

"Hey, Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about everything."

She lifted herself up to meet his eyes. They were sincere and pained at the same time.

"I'm sorry about everything too."

This was it. This was the chance they had both wanted for so long. A chance to explain themselves and forgive each other.

"You know, those girls… they meant nothing to me. And I honestly thought we were broken up. I hadn't heard from you in so long, I just thought…"

"I know, I understand."

"I just didn't understand these feelings that I had for you. And I just wanted to shake them off, and I tried, but I couldn't. It just made them stronger and more undeniable. I realized just how much I loved you."

"Well, it's definitely not the way I would have liked for you to sort out your feelings about me… but I can accept that. I just… I felt so humiliated."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I never told you about it because I didn't want to hurt you. I thought, 'what's the point, we weren't together anyhow'. And I wasn't intending to leave you there with those girls…"

"Yeah, well I figured that much."

"You know they did that on purpose, right? Especially Walker…"

"I kinda figured that one too. I… I know you weren't cheating," she admitted. "But I thought we were just taking a break from each other, not broken up… and then Honor called…"

"Yeah, but nothing happened until after that. When my sister asked me what was going on with you, it just got me thinking, and I figured that after that long, we really were broken up. You do see that, right? That I honestly thought we had broken up that night at the pub?"

"Yeah," she admitted meekly.

"I'm really sorry that I hurt you."

"I know you are."

"Can you please forgive me?" asked Logan.

"I forgave you a while ago… I just wanted you back."

He hugged her, wanting to comfort both of them. He laid back on the couch, pulling Rory on top of him again.

"So when did you find out?"

"About what? The baby?"

"Yeah."

"About two months ago."

"But I was still here two months ago. Why didn't you tell me then?"

"I just hadn't figured things out yet. I was still hurt and confused by it all. My mom didn't even know until about a week before her wedding. I was kind of ashamed."

"You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of."

"Yeah, well that's now. You know, I have something I need to confess to you…"

"What is it?"

She sat up again, wanting to look into his eyes when she told him.

"Before I found out I was pregnant… I went to Philadelphia."

"Okay… I'm assuming there's more to that one."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "I went to Philadelphia to see my friend Jess."

"The ex-boyfriend Jess?"

"The ex-boyfriend Jess."

He took a deep breath, wanting to be ready for whatever it was she had to tell him. "Okay…"

"Jess and I… well… there was a kiss."

"A kiss?"

"A kiss."

"Okay… was there more than this kiss?"

"No… well yeah."

He took another deep breath. "What else happened?"

"I threw up."

"You threw up?"

"I threw up."

"That sounds very… not romantic."

"It wasn't romantic. I don't even know how it even got to that. But it happened. I was really depressed and lonely, and he had a party to celebrate his bookstore opening, so I drove out there. Then, next think I know, his lips are on mine and I could smell his aftershave and I threw up."

Logan started laughing.

"You threw up?"

"Yeah, I already covered that, remember?"

"You threw up…" he laughed. "Did you make it to the bathroom that time?"

"Yes, I made it to the bathroom that time. Just barely, but I made it to the bathroom. Stop laughing now."

"Hey, be glad I'm laughing. I should be all sorts of pissed that my pregnant girlfriend was kissing her ex-boyfriend."

"Hey, you and I were broken up then."

"Potato, potatoe…"

"In any case, I didn't want to keep that information from you. Let me know when you're done laughing."

"Hey, Ace?"

"What?"

"You don't feel like throwing up when I kiss you, do you?"

She straddled him and gave him a deep, passionate kiss, the ones that left them both breathless.

"Hmm… no, I don't think I feel like throwing up."

"Good, that's good to hear."

"Hey, Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, and for all the things I said to you that night when you called me at my mom's. I was just… I really was very hurt and confused."

"I know you were."

"I called you back like ten or fifteen minutes later, but you never called me back."

"I don't remember what happened to my phone that night. I probably lost it after you hung up. I was really drunk."

"I remember. But I regretted everything I said to you the minute I hung up and I called you back, you just didn't pick up after that. I never meant any of those things. I'm sorry for hurting you. I never should have said those things. Can you forgive me?"

"Yes, I can."

"I left you a bunch of messages on your cell phone and here at home," she explained.

"Well, I never got another phone, so I'm sorry I never got them."

"I didn't find out about your accident until you'd left the hospital. I was going to give you time to finish with graduation and everything. I thought you wouldn't be leaving for a few more months. I tried going after you that day in the courtyard, but I didn't find you. So I came here looking for you…"

"I left to the airport after that," he remembered.

"I waited for you here until I realized you left…" she remembered sadly.

"I'm sorry I've been… unavailable. I've just been miserable without you, and I wanted to forget you didn't want anything to do with me. If I had known, Rory…"

She kissed him and silenced him, letting him know that none of that mattered anymore.

"So are we done with confession here? Or is there more?" asked Logan.

"Yes, one more thing."

"Shoot."

"I want you back with me. But I don't want you back only because I'm pregnant. I want you to want to be with me because you love me."

"Ace… this baby… it's just the icing on the cake. And I want my cake. Now if there's icing on it, the more to love and the more I want my cake."

"So I'm your cake?"

"Babe, you're the cake with the icing and the candles, the balloons filled with confetti and the ice cream. Any one of those missing, and the birthday party isn't the same."

"Anything else, chief?"

"Yes, I want to see why you had to take over my half of the closet. I want you to model those cute little outfits so we can pick something for you to wear to dinner tonight."

"So it's true? You are taking me out?"

"Our reservation is at eight, so start pulling out the outfits, cause we're celebrating and it's going to be dressy."

They got up from the couch and moved to the dressing room.

"Hey Ace, how far along are you?"

"About seventeen weeks. I'm in my fourth month, or somewhere there. They have a funny way of counting. Two of those weeks you're not even pregnant yet." She started going through her dresses and pulling them out to try on for Logan.

"So we count back to fifteen weeks. What were we up to fifteen weeks ago?"

"We were making a baby, that's what we were up to."

"But weren't we careful?"

"Obviously not careful enough."

"Oh, I remember…" he chuckled to himself. "It was that weekend in South Carolina. Yup, that was a good weekend. If we were going to be making a baby, that was the weekend to do it."

"Well we did it." She tried on a dress and modeled it for him.

"That's a good dress, set that one aside," he said. "Yeah, we weren't really careful that weekend."

She thought for a second before answering. "Come to think of it, isn't this exactly what you wanted?"

He entered her, needing her warmth and softness around him and unwilling to wait any longer for it. She moaned into his mouth from the tantalizing sensation of feeling him without a barrier.

"Rory."

"Yeah?" she asked breathily.

"Let's have a baby."

"A baby?" she asked, her pleasure clouding her thoughts.

"Yeah, let's have a baby. I want us to make a baby."

She stopped meeting his thrusts, trying to absorb what he was asking her as much as possible. He noticed her hesitate and he stopped his movements.

"You want to make a baby with me?" she asked.

"Yes." He kissed her deeply, needing more of her.

She hesitated for a moment longer before moving her hips from under him and giving him his answer. "Yes."

"Yes?" he asked.

She moved her hips to meet him again. "Yes. But only tonight. If it doesn't happen tonight, you're going to have to ask me again, and I might or might not say yes again."

He started thrusting harder into her. "Well then I guess I better get it right tonight then."

"Well a Huntzberger always gets the job done the first time."

"So it seems. What do you think of this one?" she asked him. It was the dress she had worn the night before.

"I like that one. Wear that one tonight. It shows off your boobs and makes you look sexy pregnant. That last one you tried on just makes you look overweight."

"This is the dress I wore last night. My grandmother bought it so that I could entice you in it."

"Well you can entice me in it tonight. I like how it makes your stomach look. I can't believe I didn't notice last night."

"A blind nun can tell I'm pregnant, how could you not? What were you looking at last night that you didn't notice?"

"I was busy trying not to stare at your boobs popping out as I stared at your boobs popping out."

"Well I guess as long as it was my boobs you were starring at it's okay."