AN: I totally have an excuse for taking this long to update. Here it goes: I think I've mentioned before that my aunt is getting married, and it's out of state, and it's this weekend, so I've been really busy getting everything ready. I'm soooooo sorry it's taken me this long. Promise not to take that long again. I wish there was a way to update you on how the updates are coming along, but there isn't a way, unfortunately.
Now, the update. It's shorter than what I wanted it to be, but it has the important stuff in it. If I had made it longer, I'm not sure I would have been able to get it up until tomorrow night, if even this week. I have a lot of future chapters already written, and I'll admit to haven gotten carried away with those and ignoring this one, so again, I apologize.
Big thank you to everyone that's reviewed. You guys are great! I hope you like the update.
Chapter 10 – Indecent Proposals
Logan walked into his dad's study. He closed the door behind him and walked towards the desk, where Mitchum sat.
"Good morning, son. I hope you've enjoyed your days off."
No, no sarcasm in his tone.
"I have, dad. Thank you. I know I need to get back to London…"
"Yes, now about London…"
"There are a few things that will need to change, and I want you to understand them."
Mitchum was intrigued, knowing Logan knew how his side of the conversation would be going. "I'm listening."
"I want you to understand that from this point forward, my family comes first. Rory and our baby come first for me. Now, that doesn't mean that I'm going to dismiss my responsibilities in London or with Huntzberger Publishing Group. But my family is my first priority, and I will go to great lengths to maintain it that way."
Mitchum sat back and listened to his youngest child and only son. The heir to his family's empire. His twenty-three year old son was forming his own family. And not only was he forming his own family, he was offering him a lesson by placing them first.
"Okay… so how do you plan to do that?" Of course the concept sounded very nice and responsible, but feasible was another story.
"I want Rory with me in London until she starts school in the fall. After that, I want to be able to come back at least every two weeks, preferably every week, to see her. Even if it's only for a day, a weekend. I think that my time invested at the paper in London has earned me as much. Things at that paper have never been better."
"That much is true. I think that while it won't be easy, it can be arranged for you to travel every two weeks. I'm not sure how we can handle weekly visits yet, but there is time to arrange that."
"One more thing."
Mitchum could already sense what his next request was.
"I want to be back by Thanksgiving. By then, Rory will be ready to give birth any minute and I need to be here for her. I also don't want to travel until Rory's done with school. If you want me to go back to London after that, that's fine. If you want to exile me to Siberia for a year, that's fine. As long as it's after Rory's done at Yale and I can bring my family with me."
Mitchum took a second before saying anything. "You've thought about this thoroughly, haven't you?"
"Yes I have, sir."
"You and Rory talked about this?"
"Not yet, sir. I wanted to run it by you first. Dad, look, I want you to know that I'm not going to be running away from work. In fact, I'm willing to take full responsibility of those obligations, but only if my requests are met. If not, I'm afraid I'm going to have to look for a job somewhere else."
Mitchum knew he had to thread lightly here. It wasn't that Logan was trying to manipulate the situation, but the fact that he knew Logan would, in fact, leave Huntzberger Publishing, and that was a risk he wasn't sure he wanted to take.
"Dad, please!"
"You know your obligations, Mitchum!"
"Yes, I know my obligations. Hell, you know my obligations! You know I have a wife and a small child, and another one on the way, but what about my obligations to them?"
"Your wife and children will be here waiting for you when you come back. But right now, I need you in Japan!"
"Not more than Shira needs me here with her! You can go to Japan and I can stay here and make sure things are running smoothly until you return."
"Shira doesn't need you here! She has a full staff at home, including a nanny for your daughter and a midwife to make sure her pregnancy runs fine."
"She gets nervous when I travel. The doctor told us she needs to be under less stress with this pregnancy. You know the trouble she's been having! Don't be so inconsiderate!"
"I'll never understand why you married such a nervous creature. You should have married Gabriella McCrae, Andrew's sister, like your mother had arranged. You'd be having healthy, robust children, and none of that nonsense Shira is trying to pull with you."
"Shira is coming at the end of her tether. Our obligations to this family are putting a strain on our family and our marriage."
"She knew what becoming a Huntzberger wife entailed before she became one. Her mother herself was a de Aragon. The fact that they were impoverished and no longer ruling doesn't make them less royal. She was well aware of the obligations that come from belonging to certain families in this world. If she wasn't going to be able to stand them, then she should have married any Jack Smith in the country or her mother's home country."
"Dad, you are pushing me to make a decision that I don't want to make."
"And what's that? Leaving the company? I'm not going to pay attention to idle threats, Mitchum. You've been using that line since I have use of reason. You're never going to leave because journalism is in your blood like in every Huntzberger man. You would never be able to live without it and you know I would make it impossible for you to work anywhere else…"
"You know what that would mean for you, right son?"
"That you'd cut me off. But I'm not afraid of that."
"No, that's not what I mean. And I know you're not afraid of that. What I mean is that you would have to go out there and actually try to figure out what you're cut out for, only to find out that you snubbed the one thing you're good at, that you enjoy. I've seen you, Logan. I know that as much as you try to run in the opposite direction, you can enjoy journalism as a profession. For as much as you try to deny it, it's in your blood. Because when you immerse yourself in it, you get a sense of fulfillment that nothing else can give you. And when you try to run in another direction, you feel like a fish out of water. Son, if I ever saw any other type of interest in you, I'd welcome you to explore it. But you never have had any other interest besides this. So I don't understand why I'd push you to do anything else."
"Would you make it harder for me to get a job at another paper?"
"No, I wouldn't. But there is no need for you to do that. Why go off to work for another paper when you have a job working for your own?"
"I could go into a different field, you know."
"I'm sure you could. But wouldn't it be easier for you and your wife to be able to work side by side so you could keep your family close to you? I thought that was the point you were trying to make. You want to be close to your family. If you go into a different field, it's going to make it harder, considering that Rory is so intent on continuing her career in journalism after the baby arrives. She told me as much the other day."
Logan was beginning to get confused. "So what are you trying to get at, dad?"
"What I'm trying to say is, that it's not going to be easy, Logan. But I will help you and Rory. This profession… it's demanding, no matter what part you take in it. You are going to have to sacrifice a lot sometimes, and you have to understand that. The both of you will. But I promise that if you take care of me, I'll take care of you and your family. That might change someday, and it's what I am trying to get you ready for, I hope you know that. So do we have a deal?"
"I think we have a deal." Logan smiled and shook his dad's hand.
"Good. Does that mean I can have you back in London by tomorrow?"
"Ah, well, let me talk to Rory first, but I think it can be arranged so that I am there by Monday. There are a few things I need to do before I leave."
"Tell you what, if you leave with Rory, I'll give you until Tuesday morning to be at the paper. If you have to leave without her, you leave tonight, and you can be back next weekend."
"Okay, but let me call you and let you know which one it's going to be. I'm going to go run it by Rory. Besides, we need to make sure she's okay to travel. Talk to you soon, dad."
The girls sat on a table close to the window at Weston's. They had ordered themselves a miniature red velvet cake with a thick layer of vanilla frosting, each holding a fork, savoring the flavor and softness of the cake.
"Hey, Kirk, hurry up with the coffee already. We're gonna choke on our cake," said Lorelai.
"You know, as good as Miriam's cake is…"
"I'm sure yours is always better, Sookie." Rory said with her mouth half full. "Kirk, hurry up, I'm already choking."
Kirk walked towards them, a tray in hand. He lowered it and placed cappuccino's in front of Lorelai and Sookie. He then put a hot cocoa in front of Rory. He started walking away when Rory stopped him.
"Um, excuse me Kirk."
Kirk walked back. "Yes, Rory? Is something wrong?"
"Ah, well, yes. What is this?"
"That is some of the best hot cocoa in the world. Specially ordered from Sweden, extra rich and extra chocolaty."
"I see…"
"Is there something wrong with it? Is it not hot enough?"
"It's hot enough."
"Well then is it too cold?"
"No, not cold at all."
"Then what is it?"
"Well, you see… it's not what I ordered. I ordered a French Vanilla Latte with a double shot."
"I see…"
"So you think you can bring me what I ordered?"
"I'm afraid I can't."
"And why is that?"
"I was threatened by Luke to not serve you coffee."
"What? That is just ridiculous!"
"Well…"
"Well what?"
"A Logan Huntzberger also paid me a lot of money to make sure no establishment in Star's Hollow serves or sells you coffee while you're pregnant."
"He did what?"
"I'm going to walk away now." Kirk walked himself to stand behind the counter as fast as his feet could take him, putting a barrier between him and Rory.
Rory got up from her seat and walked over to the counter. "I want my coffee, Kirk. I'm serious. I'm not playing games here."
"Rory, honey, come and sit down."
"This is a violation to my civil rights!" Rory shouted at Kirk.
"Actually, if you read that sign posted by the door, it says we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."
"Ki-irk! Please! Come on, give me some coffee." She tried her bambi eyes on him.
"Alright… go have a seat and I'll see what I can do for you."
"Thank you Kirk." She made sure she batted her eyelashes at him. She walked back over to the table, satisfied that she would be getting her coffee after all. She took her seat and drank some of the hot cocoa in front of her.
"Okay Rory, so you have to give us the details of the reconcilement," said Sookie. "I called you mom Tuesday morning, and she wasn't really specific past the point that she heard you two made up."
"Hey, how did you know we made up Tuesday morning?"
"Ugh, don't even ask. Nobody wants to hear how I heard. I didn't even want to hear what I heard."
"Anyway, you have to give us all the details!"
"No she doesn't! I heard enough in detail."
"What detail? I haven't told you anything in detail yet."
"Forget about your mother for a second. Tell me, what did he say when you finally talked? How did you tell him? Oh-oh! Don't tell me! He saw you and figured it out! I know he did!" Sookie lowered her hand and patted Rory's small, but noticeable belly. "Cause who wouldn't know there's a little bug in there just by looking at its mommy."
"Well when I woke up in the morning, he was there, which I really didn't expect, especially after the way he left his parent's house."
"Yeah, your mom told me about that."
Rory was fervently eating into the cake in front of her. "Mmmm, well when I woke up, he was draped all over me. I freaked out when I tried to get up but couldn't."
"Okay, okay, but when did you tell him?"
"Well he started asking me what was going on, so I told him."
"Oh my God! That's it? You just told him? Just like that?" asked Lorelai.
"Let her finish her story!" said Sookie.
"Fine, finish your story."
"Well then I told him and we made up?"
"That's it?" asked Sookie. "You told him and you made up? You didn't spill the beans in a sweet, romantic way? He didn't have any grand romantic gesture, begging you to take him back? Or did he freak out? Oh. My. God! He freaked out on you! Please tell me he didn't freak out on you? He better not have freaked out on you!"
"He didn't freak out on me."
Sookie jumped in. "So that means he took it well."
"He took it very well. Better than very well, actually. He's very happy about it. It's what he wanted."
"Aw, so did you celebrate?"
"Wait a sec, what do you mean, that's what he wanted?" asked Lorelai.
"Oh, we celebrated! He also took me shopping to New York to celebrate."
"Aw, Lorelai, they celebrated! How incredibly sweet and romantic! Was there dancing? Please tell me he also took you dancing…"
"But what do you mean, that's what he wanted?" Lorelai continued asking.
"He took me dancing. In fact, he reserved a private room at Alain Ducasse where we had a nice dinner, accompanied with a string quartette."
"Oh. Just dreamy. Doesn't he sound dreamy?"
"I said what did you mean that's what he wanted."
"You asked, not said," corrected Rory.
"Good to see that Yale education is paying itself off. So what did you mean?"
"I meant that Logan is happy we're having a baby."
"Well I got that with the 'we celebrated' portion. I mean, what did you mean when you said that's what he wanted."
"I meant he wanted to have a baby."
"Wait, this is not computing. You're going to have to start from the beginning."
"I started from the beginning."
"No, not Tuesday morning beginning. I mean the 'Logan wants to have a baby' beginning. Kirk, bring us another cake!"
"Don't forget my coffee!"
"Wait, Logan wanted to have a baby?" asked Sookie.
"Well…" Rory swallowed the last bit of cake before answering, buying time. "Yeah."
"How did this happen? When did this happen? Does he know what it means to have a baby? I mean do you know what it means when a guy asks you to have a baby?"
"I'm not sure this is the conversation we should have while at Weston's"
"It's only Kirk in here right now. Rory, do you… I mean… haven't you… I mean… start explaining, kid."
"Hey, we don't need to be chastised about this. You said it yourself, we're both adults now."
"Oh, boy…" said Sookie. It was all she could muster at the moment.
"I'm not chastising you. I'm… I guess I'm trying to understand what's going on here. I mean, I thought I knew, but I'm not so sure now."
Rory knew what her mother was getting at, and she wasn't so sure she really wanted to go there with her yet. She wasn't sure she wanted to go there herself. It was something that had crossed her mind many times since she found out she was pregnant, but didn't want to delve in too deep until she was sure exactly how her relationship with Logan stood at that point. Sure, he seemed to be happy now, but the full implications of something like this, not to mention their separation and their careers. It was a conversation pending between her and Logan, but she wasn't sure she should look forward to it.
"I don't think I can have this conversation with you quite yet."
"Why not?"
"Logan and I need to sort some stuff out first."
"Well I'm not happy with this Readers Digest version. I need to know more."
She let out a sigh before answering. "I'll answer you if you promise one thing."
"What's that?"
"You will not say a word about this anymore. I don't want to hear it, least of all now. Mostly because I don't have a fully thought out answer. I am limiting your questions to three on this particular portion of the subject. Deal?"
"Say it's a deal Lorelai," Sookie urged her.
"Fine, deal."
"Question number one."
"You really mean Logan wanted to have a baby?"
"Yes."
"Okay, if we're keeping our deal, you need to expand on that one."
"It's just that mom, Logan wanted to have a baby. And now we're having a baby, so he's happy that we're having a baby, because it's what he wanted."
Lorelai didn't say anything. She looked out the window, processing the answer she had just gotten. Sookie looked at both Lorelai and Rory, who just stared at her mom, trying to decipher her reaction. Lorelai finally spoke again.
"Okay, so what I'm getting from your answer is that Logan wanted to have a baby and now that you are having a baby, it's something he's happy about. Because that's what he wanted…"
"Are you ready for your second question?"
"Um… I guess… so… maybe this baby wasn't really an 'accident'? Maybe it was intentional on his part? Or maybe you were aware of his… intentions…"
Rory looked her mom in the eye. "It wasn't an accident."
"Okay… hmm…" Lorelai took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Mom…"
"I'm just kinda processing here. Give me a second."
"Okay…"
"So… third question… my last question… it better be a good one… can I ask what the hell you two were thinking?"
"Mom, please! I said no chastising…"
"I'm not chastising anyone! I'm asking my third question, dammit! It's part of the deal, remember? I get to ask three questions, and I get three answers! So answer my question, Rory!"
Rory stood quiet for a minute. "I can't answer that."
"Why the hell not? It's my last question, so I want an answer!"
"I…"
"I mean, weren't you careful? I thought you were on the patch?"
"It irritated my skin, so I took it off."
"Well what about the pill?"
"It was making me sick, so my doctor took me off it and put me on the patch."
"Rory…"
"Mom…"
"Did Logan know about that? Is it something he did on purpose because he knew you weren't on anything? Or did you forget to mention it to him?"
"Mom, please! You're past your three questions already."
"Well I didn't get a complete answer for the last one, so I get a do-over!"
"Look, I'll tell you this much, and it's all you're going to be getting from me. And after that, I don't want to hear it anymore, okay? I don't need anyone questioning this."
"Fine." Lorelai crossed her arms around her chest and waited for an answer.
"At some point in our relationship, one night, Logan and I thought about having a baby, and it's happening. Now. Logan knew I wasn't on anything. He didn't do anything on purpose. Well, he did. But it wasn't anything I wasn't aware of, or didn't want. Anyway, we knew what we were doing when we were doing it."
"Okay, that was just too dirty for this time of day."
"Can you please accept that answer?"
"That depends…"
"On what?"
"Is that the whole truth?"
"In a nutshell… yeah."
Both Lorelai and Rory took deep breaths in, careful of what the next words they would exchange be. Sookie was the one to break the silence.
"Aw, so that means this little one was planned, huh?" She smiled at Rory, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah…"
"Don't you see what that means, Lorelai? That the both of them did think about starting a family before it happened. It just happened sooner that you would have expected it."
"Yeah, well, I guess. I mean, if it really is something that they were both thinking about, then how come I didn't hear anything about it until now?"
Rory looked up at her mom. She could tell she was disappointed she hadn't shared that with her sooner.
"Well Rory's grown up now. Think about it, really. It's something that you're supposed to discuss with your partner, not with your parents." Sookie tried to reason with her.
"Yeah, I guess. Sorry I freaked out, kid."
"It's okay, mom. I should have mentioned it sooner."
Kirk walked towards their table and placed another cake in front of them, talking the empty plate with him and placed a cup of coffee in front of Rory. This made Rory grin and she brought the cup up to smell it before drinking from it.
"Ugh, Kirk."
"Yes, Rory?"
"What is this?"
"It's the coffee you asked me for."
"This isn't coffee, Kirk. This is a very bad practical joke."
"No, it's what the guidelines said I should serve, should I ever risk bodily harm."
"What guidelines?"
Kirk took a piece of paper out from his apron. Rory took it away from him and read it. It was in Logan's writing.
"He said that in case of an emergency, I should serve you one third part watered down decaf with two thirds parts whole milk, flavored to taste. So there you have it, your coffee."
"Mom! Help me do something about this!" cried Rory indignantly.
"Sorry, hon. Pregnant women can't have coffee. One of the many things you should have thought about when you thought about having a baby. Didn't it come up in your Pro-Con list?"
Logan answered his cell phone as he was pulling into Lorelai's driveway. He had looked at the display but didn't recognize the number.
"You are going to pay," said Rory.
"Why? And how did you get this number?"
"You called my cell phone on Wednesday while we were shopping, remember? Nice subtle way of changing the conversation, by the way."
"I thought so too."
"How the hell did you know Kirk was the person to threaten?"
"He used the word threaten? I'm offended. I didn't threaten him, I bribed him. He was handsomely compensated, by the way. I would have expected him to keep this transaction between us for the amount I paid him. Where are you, by the way?"
"I'm at the Inn, taking up as much of Michel's desk as I can."
He could hear some words being spoken in her direction with an incoherent French accent. He chuckled imagining what Michel was huffing and puffing at her.
"I thought I'd find you at your mom's house. Are you ready to go? Because there's some things we need to do. I have a proposition for you."
"Is it indecent? Because if it is I might be inclined to accepting it before I even know what it's about." He could hear Michel scream something in French. Then he heard Lorelai call out to her. "Hey, we'll be over in five minutes. Hang tight."
He got out of the car and went to sit on the steps of the front porch. He looked around and noticed that the porch wrapped around the house, so he decided to get up and do a little exploring. He noticed the one-car garage that was unattached from the house, and the side door that opened up to the kitchen. He went all around the house and noticed that the structure looked larger from the front than it actually was. Besides a very large yard that for the most part seemed to be never used, the porch on the back of the house seemed to extend into a deck with an old little grill and a table with a bench on each side that he could also see was never used. He sat at the first step of the back porch and looked around him. He could see there was some sort of a carved canopy sitting in one of the corners, ribbons and flowers attached to the posts.
"Hey, you. What are you doing out here?" Rory went to sit next to him.
"What's that for?"
"The chuppah? Mom and Luke used it for their wedding."
"Is that what it is? Huh. Is Luke Jewish? I know your family isn't."
"Nah. You know, I actually don't know what religion Luke's family is. That chuppah has a long story though. Luke actually carved it."
"Really? Wow, interesting. So was your mom's wedding here?"
"Yeah, they got married here at the house, and the reception was at the Inn. So you want to come in and take the official tour of the Crap Shack? Or you want to tell me that indecent proposal you had for me."
He wrapped his arm around her waist before saying anything. "Rory, come back to London with me."
She turned to face him, but he didn't release her from his embrace. "Logan…"
"For the rest of the summer. You'll fly back in time to start school, and I'll be back for good by Thanksgiving. I can fly back every weekend from September until November. Say yes, Rory. Two and a half months of traveling back and forth I can do, but not four or five."
"Are you sure you really want me to go?"
"Of course I do. I had wanted you there with me this summer all along. I just didn't want to push you to be there if you had other things to do. I know you're preparing for your last year at Yale, but now, I want you there with me for as long as I can have you." He brought his hand to her abdomen. "I've already missed almost half of this. I don't want to miss any more than I absolutely have to. When I said I wanted us to have a baby, I meant that I wanted us to have a baby. I want to be there for everything. For all of it. I hate that I've missed so much already…"
She moved her lips on top of his, silencing him. He responded to her by deepening their kiss.
"I will love to go to London with you."
"That's good." He gave her a peck. "Because I was ready to drag you against your will with me. That means you need to pack, because we'll probably be leaving Monday morning. I need to be at the paper on Tuesday. We also need to call your doctor's office ASAP, have them see you today and give you medical clearance to travel."
"Wow, we're leaving that quick?"
"I can come back next weekend to pick you up. But that's going to be a little hard considering that I've been away for a week now. If it's better for you, we can wait a week or two…"
"No, let's leave now! I'd rather leave now! This is going to be great! My third summer in Europe!"
"Look at you. Giddy like a little five year old at her birthday party."
"Hey, I was bored last summer when I didn't go. I get to be giddy over London. The first time I went, we only spent two days there. That wasn't enough time to do London properly."
"Well you'll have plenty of time this summer. And I promise I'm not going to be spending all of my time at the office. I am going to be making time to take a lunch, and head home in time for dinner."
"Pinkie swear?"
"Pinkie swear. I have one more thing for you."
"A present? For me?"
"I want you to know that this is something that I've thought about for a very long time." He took the small box out of his jacket. Rory let out a gasp the minute she saw what he was holding. "Now, I want you to know how important the contents of this box are. And I'm going to tell you a little story." He opened the box to reveal a large Asscher-cut diamond ring. The slightest movement caused the sun to make it sparkle. "Now this ring… this ring has staying power, and I'll tell you why. I've been carrying it around with me for a while now. Since you moved in with me, because I didn't want you to accidentally find it.
"There was this one day after we got back together that I went to my mom and I told her that the time had come for her to relinquish this ring to me. And my mom and I… well, I've always been her favorite. She's never hidden that fact from anyone. So it wasn't normal for us to not be on good terms for that long. So she sat me down and we had a good, long talk. A heart to heart. I told her everything you meant to me, and how when I was with you… I just wanted what I've never thought I'd ever have a desire to have in my life. That you actually made me think about things in a positive way. That as hard as I thought it would be, I looked forward to having all those things. That for the only time in my life I actually wanted a girlfriend. And not just a girlfriend, but a wife, and kids, my own family. Things that I had never even thought about. That had never crossed my mind."
"Oh, Logan…"
"So it was time for her to give me the ring. Now, that was no easy task for her, to give up this ring. Because you see, this ring has a history. It belongs to the Huntzberger heir's fiancée. It's been that way for about a hundred and fifty odd years, or so. Now, when my dad went to get the ring from Grandma Lilibeth, as it was his right, to give it to mom, she refused to part with it because the Van Hausen's weren't good enough, and who cared that her mother was a de Aragon. They hadn't been royalty in centuries. So Grandma Lilibeth never gave dad the ring, she was horrible to mom for nine years, and one day, Grandma has a massive heart attack that almost kills her."
"Almost kills her? Just almost?" Rory was crying at this point, but choked a few tears back to say something.
"Just almost. So anyway, for a full year, mom took care of horrible Grandma Lilibeth, and of all the charities Grandma belonged to, not to mention the one's she was already the head of. Now, half of that time, grandma was too sick to even protest mom taking care of her, and she didn't protest that much when she was finally able to. So a year after the massive heart attack, grandma dies. But not before handing dad the coveted Huntzberger ring to give to mom. So my mother had to wait ten years to receive this ring. She worked hard to deserve this ring. But the time came for her to relinquish the ring. And she did it gracefully, might I add. So for months, I've been carrying this invaluable family heirloom with me, waiting for the perfect time to give it to you. Now, I could have lost this ring. I jumped off a cliff in Costa Rica with this ring in one of my pockets. The hospital staff could have stolen it. I could have lost it on the move to London. But this ring knows where it belongs. It took ten years for its former rightful owner to finally wear it. This time it's taken a few months, but not a day more than it should. Rory, please accept this ring and marry me."