The next morning as Rory slowly became conscience again, a slight alcohol-induced fog still permeated her brain. Gingerly she rose from the bed and with her eyes clamped shut against the light, searched blindly for the aspirin bottle. After downing a couple of aspirin she made her way back to the bed. After burrowing under the covers Rory scooted closer to Logan's warm form and ran a hand over his abdomen.
"Morning, love," Finn drawled sleepily from under the comforter.
Leaping from the bed Rory took the sheet with her and wrapped it around her body before screeching, "Finn, what are you doing in my bed."
"I must have wandered into the wrong room," Finn explained with a sheepish smile.
"Get out!" Rory demanded loudly, pointing determinedly at the door.
"What seems to be the problem in here?" A flustered Logan asked as he charged into the room.
"Your wife is all worked up because I accidentally stumbled into the wrong bed," Finn explained.
"You didn't feel her up or anything did you?" Logan asked.
"No, but she got a nice feel," Finn said with a wink in Rory's direction.
"Oh my God," Rory moaned, "Please tell me that I did not share my bed with Finn all night long."
Logan snickered, finding the humor in the situation, "You did not share your bed with Finn all night long. I got up about an hour ago to start making breakfast. I found Finn on the couch where he must have passed out after raiding our liquor cabinet last night. I woke him up and told him to go get some sleep in his bed. He must have wandered in here by mistake."
"Finn," Rory addressed him, "Didn't you happen to notice that the bed was already occupied?"
"I'm still pretty hung over, love," Finn admitted, "Besides it's not all that unusual for me to wake up with women I can't quite remember in the morning."
"Finn, why don't I show you to your bed," Logan offered as he steered Finn out of their bedroom, "Ace, take a quick shower then come help me in the kitchen."
"Aren't you worried I'll burn the place down?" Rory asked testily.
"I have tasks for you that don't include cooking," Logan replied, ignoring his wife's tone.
Half an hour later Rory arrived in the kitchen freshly showered and dressed in jeans and a tank-top. Logan put her to work setting out plates, silverware and glasses for breakfast. He could tell that she was still not in the best of moods, so he left her to work quietly as he fried bacon and sausage on the stovetop. He had a thick mixture of eggs prepared to start making omelets with as soon as their guests began to arrive downstairs for breakfast. When she'd finished with her task he kindly asked, "There's a can of frozen orange juice thawing on the counter; do you think you can mix it in a pitcher for me." Rory nodded at him and quietly went to work.
"Everything okay," he finally asked when she'd finished making the juice and placing it in the fridge.
"I'm just crabby," Rory admitted, "I'm trying to give myself time to get over it before speaking to anyone."
"The Finn thing really was an accident you know," Logan told her.
"I know," Rory said, "It's not the end of the world. Mostly I'm cranky because I woke up still slightly hung-over. I hate that, it's not me."
"Well, have some more coffee," Logan suggested as he topped off her mug from the pot, "It will pass."
As their guests woke and wandered down to the kitchen Logan cooked omelets for everyone with their choice of fillings. Sitting around the dining room table, the group continued to catch up on each other's lives as they'd been doing all weekend. Suddenly it was mid-afternoon and they had wasted half the day away with just catching up.
"We hate to be party poopers," Paris said as she and Doyle rose from the table, "But I have a shift at the hospital this evening. We need to get on the road."
Rory groaned in protest of their weekend ending and said, "I suppose we all need to get back to the real world eventually."
"Steph and I need to head out as well," Colin said as he also rose from the table, "I have some reports that I promised my father by this evening. I should have done them on Friday, but as the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20."
Within a half an hour Rory and Logan found themselves alone in the kitchen again. This time they were cleaning up the breakfast dishes, rather than preparing them, and Rory was in a much better mood.
"So, what's the plan?" Logan asked.
"The plan for what?" Rory asked.
"When are we heading back to New York?" Logan asked.
"Let's hang out for a few more hours before leaving. It's kind of nice to have this place all to ourselves," Rory suggested.
After they'd finished the dishes they headed down to the narrow strip of beach behind their house. Each removed their shoes leaving them under the deck and rolled up their pant legs. Hand in hand they walked for over a mile down the beach. The roar of the ocean made it impossible to carry on a conversation, so silently they enjoyed this time together.
As they walked Rory's thoughts turned to Kevin. He had been dangerously close to the truth about her identity at lunch on Friday. She was confident that after a weekend of research he would have solved the mystery. She was anxious about how he would react and what it would mean for their budding friendship. She wondered if she'd be able to keep the secret between the two of them or if it would leak out to the rest of the department. Maybe Kevin would use what he'd discovered as an "in" with the rest of the department.
Logan was also thinking about work. He'd been editor and chief for one week. The week had gone fine, but he was concerned with how this upcoming week would go. He knew that his new responsibilities were being transferred to him slowly as he acclimated to it all. He figured he'd be taking on more and more of the intended work load over the next month or so until he was finally covering all of it on his own. He knew that as the work load picked up he would have less and less time with Rory at home. He was fairly certain that she was aware of this too; but he still worried about how she'd adjust. It made him even more anxious for the office to know that Rory was his wife. At least then he could spend a little time with her at work; maybe they could eat lunch together everyday. If he hadn't known how serious she was about keeping her identity under wraps he might be tempted to start a rumor that would lead to the truth being revealed.
When the couple arrived back at the house they gathered their shoes and headed inside. Their plan was to finish cleaning up from the weekend and prepare their house once again to be uninhabited for awhile; before packing up the Escalade and heading back to the city. Logan headed into the kitchen to unload the dishwasher while Rory swept and vacuumed the kitchen, living room and dining room. When she'd finished Rory wound the cord back up and started to move toward the front closet where they kept the vacuum cleaner. Her progress was interrupted when she spotted someone clad in her pink terry-cloth bathroom standing on the stairs. She gasped; startled, before she realized that it was Finn.
"What's all the racket, Love?" Finn asked as he shaded his eyes from the bright light coming in through the patio doors.
At the sound of Finn's voice Logan rushed over from the kitchen. He and Rory exchanged a quick look of surprised panic; how had they both forgotten that Finn had still been upstairs sleeping? He hadn't come down for breakfast and in the following chaos of everyone else leaving they had simply forgotten about them.
"Finn," Logan said, sounding unsure of what to say next, "You're up."
"Yeah, your wife woke me up with the bloody vacuum cleaner," Finn said as he looked around the empty living room, "Where is everyone?"
"Well, everyone else took off after breakfast, early this afternoon," Rory explained, "Paris had a shift this evening and Colin had some reports to get to his father."
"And no one woke me?" Finn asked incredulously.
"Well, you were still pretty hung over when I fished you out of bed with Rory this morning," Logan explained, "We thought it might be best if we let you sleep it off."
"That explains why I couldn't find my clothes," Finn said sheepishly, gesturing to the bathrobe, "They must be on the floor in your room."
"Finn, why don't you go get dressed and I'll find you something to eat," Logan offered.
Without another word Finn turned around and climbed back up the stairs. Logan and Rory quickly retreated to the kitchen where they could hold in their laughter no longer.
"Did you know he was still up there?" Logan asked through his laughter.
"No, I completely forgot," Rory said as she laughed too, "Poor Finn."
"Good thing we didn't decide to stage a repeat of Friday night," Logan said.
Rory shook her head as she thought about how much more mortifying the situation could have been than the one they were currently living. Straightening up and shaking off their giggles the couple worked together to pull together a tray of sandwiches, a bowl of chips and some fruit before Finn arrived back downstairs, fully dressed.
The threesome ate quietly at the table for a while before Finn said, "You two forgot I was even up there, didn't you?"
"Oh Finn," Rory said, "Don't feel bad. We're so sorry."
"I think I'd feel better if you denied that you'd forgotten me," Finn said with a sad sort of sniff.
Not feeling like an apology would make a difference at this point Logan and Rory quietly continued to munch on their sandwiches. When Finn had finished his sandwich and pushed his plate away from him he said, "I am tired of being the odd man out; I'm tired of being alone. I want what you and Colin have."
"I can assure you that Colin and I are just friends," Logan joked.
"I'm being serious, Mate. You have Rory and Colin has Steph and who do I have? No one," Finn said, "Where do you find a great girl like Rory?"
"I don't have the answer to that one," Logan replied, "Truth is I was not looking for Rory; she just happened. And I'm sure that when the time is right the perfect girl for you will just happen too."
"Any suggestions on how to speed up the process?" Finn asked.
"I have one," Rory offered meekly, "But you might not like it."
"Try me," Finn said seriously.
"Cut back on your alcohol consumption," Rory said, "From my experience girls can see themselves having fun with a guy like you; but not actually settling down."
"I can do that," Finn declared, "What else?"
"I think that alone might do the trick," Logan said, "You're a great catch, man. Girls will be able to see that if they can see the real you and not the drunk you."
"I happen to agree," Rory said with a smile, "Your charm works so much better when there isn't a varnish of booze on it."
"I'm charming? Who knew?" Finn said with an easy smile as he helped bring the lunch dishes to the sink.
"We're really sorry we forgot you were up there," Logan said.
"That's okay," Finn said, "At least you didn't leave me here alone when you went back to New York. Then I really would have been confused."
Together the three of them finished tidying up the house before closing it up. Out on the driveway Finn hugged Logan and Rory good-bye and thanked them for the fun weekend.
"Come visit us in New York sometime," Rory said.
"I will," Finn agreed.
In the Escalade Logan drove as Rory silently watched the familiar scenery flash by. It was still a little sad to be leaving her beloved beach house; but the apartment was beginning to feel more and more like home. When they reached the freeway Logan took Rory's hand and said, "Penny for your thoughts."
"I'm trying to think of a great girl for Finn," Rory said, "But I'm afraid that I don't know very many redheads."
"I think we should think outside of the box for this one," Logan said, "After all, maybe the perfect girl for Finn isn't a redhead. I always went for blondes; but I find myself married to a beautiful brunette."
"True," Rory said with a smile.
Their trip back into the city was uneventful and quiet as each thought about the weekend with their friends. Tomorrow would be the start of another work week that would keep them on their toes.
Author's Note: First, let me apologize profusely for the delay in this chapter: I'm so, so, so, so SORRY! Second, let me offer my excuses: my computer at home is at the shop, my computer at work was actually tied up doing actual work type thing (strange, I know), and on top of that things have just in general been INSANE! Things should improve though. Hopefully I can get back to my schedule of posting approximately once a week. I know everyone missed the story and honestly, so did I. Here's hoping I can make up for some lost time—goodness knows I have TONS of ideas floating around in my head for this story! This chapter is shorter than I hoped for and the content is also different than I thought it might be…hopefully it still meets expectations. The forthcoming chapters should be longer again.
Also, after one of my last chapters someone pointed out that if Paris just started medical school she would not yet be an intern at the hospital…let's pretend that she completed a large amount of her medical school curriculum at Yale and transferred to NY to finish up the rest. Let's pretend that she is ahead of schedule—I know this might not be plausible in real life, but for the sake of my story, let's just go along with it—Thanks!!
As always, please leave reviews—they honestly do inspire me to write. And, I still love to hear people's idea for this story. I don't always use them, but often they inspire me anyway! Thanks!!
The next chapter should consist of Monday back at work and Kevin's latest theory…stay tuned.