The remainder of their time in Stars Hollow passed by too quickly; but as the couple drove back into New York late Sunday afternoon they were feeling rested, relaxed and ready for the work week at hand. Logan's eyes left the road in front of him long enough to glance at his wife. As he turned back to the road a smile graced his face. She was deeply in engrossed in one of the thick books she'd bought at the bookstore; her stocking clad feet were up on the dash and her free hand was absently twirling loose strands of her dark hair. It was nice to see her looking so tranquil for a change. Since she'd started work at the NYDN she'd seemed nothing but tense and stressed out. When she finally dog-eared the page and set the book aside Logan broached the topic of her upcoming birthday.
"So, what are we going to do for your birthday this year?" Logan asked, "You do remember that it's this Thursday, right?"
"I don't know," Rory groaned, "I don't even want to think about it this year; it's just another day anyway."
"What?" Logan said incredulously, "I can't believe the words that are coming out of your mouth. After the huge deal you made out of my last couple birthdays you really want me to believe that you'd willingly ignore your birthday this year?"
"I made a big deal out of your birthdays because I wanted you to see what a birthday really should be like," Rory explained, "It was wrong that you thought a birthday needed to be the stuffy affair your parents always made it."
"So, why shouldn't you have a fun birthday too?" Logan asked.
"I've had fun birthdays all my life," Rory said, "I don't need you to show me how to have a fun birthday."
"I don't understand why you don't want to live it up on your day," Logan persisted.
"I don't know it just doesn't seem like a big deal this year. It's in the middle of the work week…" Rory trailed off.
"We can plan your birthday celebration around our work schedules," Logan said, "But under no circumstances are we not celebrating your birthday this year and whatever we do; you will enjoy it."
"I know," Rory agreed.
The rest of the ride was quiet with Logan brainstorming ideas for her birthday and Rory trying to understand why she'd told her husband that she didn't feel like celebrating her birthday this year. She normally loved her birthday and looked forward to it every year. She knew perfectly well that her birthday celebration could be planned around their work schedule; so why was she feeling this way?
When the couple arrived back at their apartment they unpacked their bags and placed an order for Chinese delivery. When their dinner arrived they ate it in the living room as they watched The Amazing Race. When the show had ended Logan suggested that they turn in early and Rory agreed. Logan stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed after brushing his teeth. He flipped through channels on the TV while Rory went through her nightly ritual.
In the bathroom Rory had shed all clothing beside her bra and panties and was washing her face at the sink; as she scrubbed her mind wandered back to their earlier conversation about her birthday. "Logan is right," she thought, "It is odd that I'm not more excited about my birthday this year." She dried her face and applied toothpaste to her brush. As she brushed she made a conscious effort to think about her birthday. Rory continued to think as she applied lotion to her body, removed her bra and finally slid into a silky sage green nightgown. As she left the bathroom to climb into bed beside Logan, she was fairly certain that she'd figured it out.
Rory burrowed under the covers, cuddling up to Logan and said, "I think I figured out why I'm having a lack of enthusiasm over my birthday this year."
"Well don't keep me in the dark," Logan said.
"It has to do with my Mom," Rory began, "Last year I was still in school so we were near enough to still spend time with her on my birthday. This year we live an hour and a half apart and we both have jobs to consider. I guess subconsciously I was already worrying that my Mom and I wouldn't get to see each other this year."
"Ace, you know your Mom will want to see you and I don't mind figuring her into our plans," Logan said, "If we have to, we can plan to have dinner with her half way between here and Stars Hollow; whatever it takes."
"Yeah?" Rory asked hopefully.
"Of course," Logan replied, "If it has to be a crappy fast food joint off the interstate, so be it."
"I don't want my birthday dinner to be at a crappy fast food joint," Rory protested.
"I know," Logan said, pausing to kiss her, "I was kidding."
The next morning the couple walked to the office together; something they hadn't been able to squeeze into their schedules since Rory reveled her identity to her co-workers the week before.
"So, what does your day look like?" Logan asked as they stepped out of the elevator and he took her hand in his.
Rory smiled wistfully over the gesture before answering, "Darin assigns new stories on Mondays. I'm expecting to see at least one assignment from a different department based on the plan for me that you shared this weekend."
"I'm sure Darin will pull you into his office right away to discuss the plan," Logan informed her, "He is aware that I was planning to discuss it with you first; so no need to act like you don't already know."
"What does your day look like?" Rory asked.
"Meetings all day long," Logan replied, "It is going to be a hellish day."
"Do you have time to eat lunch with me today?" Rory asked hopefully.
"Unfortunately I have a lunch meeting today," Logan said, "Maybe tomorrow though."
"That's fine," Rory assured him, "I think I'm overdue to have lunch with my one friend."
"Kevin?" Logan asked with a faint tinge of jealously in his voice.
"Yes, Kevin," Rory said ignoring Logan's tone, "You'll have to join us for lunch sometime; I'd love for the two of you to meet."
"We'll see," Logan said non-committally as they reached the News Building and he held the door open for his wife. They rode the elevator together and when they reached her floor her pecked her on the cheek and wished her a good day. Irritated by his irrational jealously of Kevin, Rory struggled to keep the annoyance out of her voice as she wished him a good day in return.
When Logan reached his office he closed the door behind him so he could make a personal phone call. He dialed the number and smiled when he heard the chaos that always seemed to surround his mother-in-law.
"Would you two quit bickering?" Lorelai scolded Sookie and Michel in the background before she answered, "Dragonfly Inn, this is Lorelai speaking, how may I help you?"
"Lorelai, its Logan. I was hoping we could talk about Rory's birthday," he said in way of explaining his call.
"Sure," Lorelai exclaimed, "Let me transfer you into my office and we can discuss it."
Logan sat on hold for nearly a minute before Lorelai came back on the line and said, "So, Rory's birthday. What were you thinking?"
"Well, first off let me tell you that when I first brought up the subject of her birthday she was very anti-birthday," Logan confessed.
"What? Why?" Lorelai asked in a shocked tone, "Rory loves her birthday."
"Many hours later she told me that she'd been worried that she wouldn't get to see you on her birthday because we live further away this year and you both have jobs to consider." Logan explained, "I told her that we'd figure out some way for the two of you to be together."
"Of course we'll get to see each other," Lorelai agreed, "I was thinking of taking the day off to come see her at work and go out to lunch with the two of you."
"That sounds like a better idea than I came up with," Logan said, "Let's keep it a surprise though."
"Perfect," Lorelai agreed, "I love surprises. What was your idea?"
"Well, assuming that you couldn't or wouldn't take the day off I thought we could meet half way between New York and Stars Hollow to have dinner somewhere. Maybe we could tell her that we are going with the dinner plan; but then you can surprise her at lunch time," Logan suggested.
"I like it," Lorelai replied, "Will you be joining us for lunch?"
"Why don't you and Rory have a girls' lunch and the three of us can plan to have a fancy dinner somewhere. I'll make reservations for the dinner," Logan offered.
"Why don't you make the dinner reservations for four; I'm sure Luke would like to join us," Lorelai suggested.
"Sound good," Logan said, "So, I'll see you on Thursday then."
"Yes, see you Thursday," Lorelai replied.
Logan hung up the phone, now he just had to come up with the perfect gift.
As expected Darin called her into his office mere minutes after she'd arrived in her cube. After a quick stop at the coffee pot Rory joined Darin in his office and closed the door behind her.
"I'm sure your husband has already made you aware of the new plan for your professional development, but let's talk details," Darin said, "As hard as it is for me to admit this, you are far too gifted of a reporter to be stuck in this department for the next year, which is the normal amount of time we give a rookie reporter to really hone their skills before they have the opportunity to move up the ranks. We are going to start giving you a story a week from various other sections of the paper. There are four sections that we are considering you for; front page, metro, business and politics. Over the next eight weeks we will have you write a total of two stories for each section and at the end of those eight weeks we will evaluate your work and decide which department is going to be the best fit. Sound good?"
"What, no sports?" Rory joked, "But seriously, the plan sounds great."
"I'm sure I don't have to tell you that this needs to remain a secret," Darin warned.
"Don't worry, I don't want to give my co-workers any new reasons for hating me," Rory said.
Rory returned to her cube where Kevin was waiting for her, "Hey," he said, "Do you want to grab lunch today?"
Smiling Rory replied, "I was going to ask you the same thing. How about that little bistro two blocks over?"
"That one on 79th?" Kevin asked.
As she was about to answer when Darin's assistant stopped in with new assignment sheets. Not wanting Kevin to see the story she would be working on for a different department she quickly took the sheets and placed them face down on her desk. The assistant gave Kevin his assignments as well and he scanned the sheets as he lingered in her doorway.
"Yeah, the one on 79th," Rory said, resuming their conversation, "Meet you in the lobby at noon?"
"Sounds good," Kevin said as continued to focus on his assignment sheets.
Rory breathed a sigh of relief as he departed. Sitting down at her desk she pressed the power button on her computer and listened to it boot up as the picked up her assignment sheets. Her first assignment for another section was a profile of the new CEO at one of New York's top 25 publicly held companies for the business section. Darin had also assigned her two stories for the Lifestyles section. The first was a story about the initiative that many companies were taking to Go Green and help the environment. The second was a rundown of the different farmers markets through out the city that remained open into the autumn season and offered harvest vegetables like pumpkins and squash. Excited about all her stories Rory got to work setting up interviews and doing research.
Back in his office Logan had just learned that his lunch meeting was cancelled. He thought about calling Rory to see if she was still open for lunch but decided against it. In the event that she already had plans with Kevin he didn't want to take the chance that she'd invite him to join them. He knew he was being awful about her friendship with Kevin but he didn't want a repeat of the night that he and Rory had dinner with Jess back when they were still at Yale and he acted like a major ass.
"So, what stories did you get this week?" Kevin asked as he and Rory walked toward the bistro.
"A Go Green story as well as one about farmers markets that remain open after the regular summer season," Rory replied, "How about you?"
"I thought I saw three story sheets on your desk, what's your third story," Kevin asked.
"No, you're mistaken, I only got two stories," Rory insisted.
"You should look again, I'm sure I saw the assistant give you three," Kevin said.
"I'll check," Rory assured him, "What stories did you get?"
"Winterizing your garden and vacation hot spots this winter," Kevin said expressing his displeasure with his stories through his tone.
Rory caught his tone but didn't want to get into it and simply replied, "Let me know if you need a source for your gardening story. I know an amazing gardener from my home town who runs his own produce business; I bet he'd have some great tips for you."
As they returned to the office Rory was relieved that lunch was over. Kevin's mood had not improved as she'd hoped that it would. He still seemed to mistrust that Rory was telling him the truth about her stories as he' brought it up twice more. Not only that, he seemed irritated with his position at the company and complained about the stories he'd been assigned.
By Wednesday evening Rory had finished the two stories for her own department and turned them into Darin. She was planning to finish her business story by Thursday, but she also knew that she had Friday if she needed it. Logan had made dinner reservations for Rory's birthday and was nearly finished with her presents. He couldn't believe that he'd come up with such a great idea.
On Wednesday when she went to bed Rory made sure the ringer on the phone by her bed was set extra loud so that she would wake up when her mother was sure to call for their yearly birthday ritual. Sure enough, at 4:03 am on Thursday morning the phone rang. She'd warned Logan about the ritual the night before. Although they'd been together on several of her past birthdays and were a married couple on her last birthday this was the first one that he'd be privy to the ritual and when he heard the phone ring he rolled toward her with interest. She left the handset in its cradle and simply pressed the speaker phone button and said, "Hello?"
"Happy birthday little girl," Lorelai said not wasting any time launching into the routine.
"Hey," Rory replied.
Lorelai continued saying, "I can't believe how fast you're growing up."
"Really? Feels slow," Rory said as she felt Logan snuggle closer behind her.
"Trust me, it's fast," Lorelai assured her, "What do you think of your life so far?"
"I think it's pretty good," Rory said as she sought Logan's hand under the covers and squeezed it.
"Any complaints?" Lorelai asked.
Rory pretended to think for a moment before saying, "I'd like that whole humidity thing to go away."
"All right. I'll work on that," Lorelai responded.
"So do I look older?" Rory asked.
"Oh, yeah. You walk into Denny's before 5, you've got yourself a discount," Lorelai offered.
"Good deal," Rory replied.
"So you know what I think?" Lorelai prompted.
"What?" Rory answered.
Lorelai gushed, "I think you're a great, cool kid, and the best friend a girl could have."
"Right back at ya," Rory said happily.
"And it's so hard to believe that at exactly this time many moons ago, I was lying in exactly the same position," Lorelai continued.
"Oh, boy. Here we go," Rory laughed.
"Only I had a huge, fat stomach and big fat ankles and I was swearing like a sailor," Lorelai explained.
"On leave," Rory added.
"On leave -- right! And there I was," Lorelai pressed on.
"In labor," Rory supplied.
"And while some have called it the most meaningful experience of your life, to me it was something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite," Lorelai said reflectively.
"I wonder if the Waltons ever did this," Rory quipped.
"And I was screaming and swearing and being surrounded as I was by a hundred prominent doctors, I just assumed there was an actual use for the cup of ice chips they gave me," Lorelai said.
"There wasn't," Rory replied.
"But pelting the nurses sure was fun," Lorelai chuckled.
"I love you, Mom," Rory interrupted.
"I love you too kid," Lorelai said. Some years they went further with their routine, but this year it felt like enough, "I'll see you for dinner tonight?"
"Sounds great, Mom," Rory said happily.
"You too Logan?" Lorelai asked.
"Yep," Logan replied simply, embarrassed that he'd been caught eaves dropping on their ritual by his mother-in-law.
After his wife and her mother ended their call she snuggled into his chest and he said, "That was nice, why didn't you tell me about it last year?"
"I wasn't quite ready to share it yet," Rory replied.
"How many years have you been doing this?" Logan asked.
"Well, I'm 24 today; I think the first time was when I was 10…so, like fourteen years," Rory calculated.
"Wow, my parents barely remember when my birthday is, much less a special birthday ritual," Logan said.
"You know my Mom and I have a different kind of relationship," Rory explained.
"I know," Logan said, "Sometimes I really envy you. Anyway, what do you say we start our own birthday tradition?"
"What did you have in mind?" Rory asked coyly. Fully aware of the hand that had found its way to her naked breast under her nightgown; she already had a pretty good idea of what he was after. After a lengthy and meticulously intimate romp the couple needed to hurry if they wanted to get to work on time. The couple quickly showered together before dressing and grooming for work. They skipped breakfast, but still made it to work at their usual time. At the front doors to the News Building Logan sent Rory up to her desk claiming that he had a quick errand to run.
Just as Rory's computer finished booting up and she was settling in at her desk Logan appeared with two steaming cups of coffee and breakfast bagel sandwiches.
"What's all this?" Rory exclaimed happily.
"Well, I can't let you go hungry on your birthday," Logan said, "Especially after the way you exerted yourself earlier."
At that exact moment Paige popped her head into Rory's cube and asked, "Did I hear that today is somebody's birthday?"
"Guilty," Rory said around her mouthful of bagel sandwich. Realizing that Paige had probably also heard Logan's 'exertion' comment Rory added, "We started a new exercise regiment this morning."
"On your birthday?" Paige asked, clearly understanding exactly what kind of exertion Logan and Rory had been partaking in this morning.
"I like to make kind of a resolution on my birthday every year," Rory lied with some effort, "Kind of like at New Years. This year I chose to exercise more."
Paige smiled at the couple and said, "Sure, exercise," before she walked away.
"Logan," Rory admonished with a smack on his arm, "The last thing we need people gossiping about around here is our sex life."
Logan just chuckled and said, "I better get upstairs, I have a meeting in ten minutes. Happy birthday!"
Rory finished her breakfast before she got to work on her article. By quarter to eleven she had all the information she needed to start writing the article and by eleven thirty she had a draft of the article all planned out. Rory was surprised at eleven forty-five when her phone rang and the receptionist in the downstairs lobby told her she had a visitor. Rory saved her work and headed to the elevator. When the elevator opened in the lobby Rory heard, "There's my birthday girl!"
"Mom," Rory asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Having lunch with my daughter on her birthday," Lorelai explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"But I thought you and Luke weren't coming to New York until dinnertime," Rory said.
"Luke is coming for dinner, I'm here all day. Logan and I decided to surprise you," Lorelai explained, "Let's go back upstairs, I want to see where you work."
Upstairs Rory showed Lorelai her cube and introduced her to Darin and Kevin. Other people poked their heads out of their cube in interest; but Rory didn't want to introduce her mom to people who didn't even like her. Before they left Lorelai turned to Darin and said, "Darin, Logan told me to tell you that I'm taking Rory out for the rest of the day."
"That'll be fine," Darin said, clearly charmed by Lorelai.
"Ah the perks of being the mother-in-law of the boss," Lorelai said with a grin.
"Rory, have a happy birthday," Darin said, "We'll see you tomorrow?"
"I'll be in tomorrow to finish up my article," Rory confirmed.
"Happy birthday Rory," Kevin added.
"Thanks guys, see you tomorrow," Rory said.
After turning off her computer and gathering her things they headed up a floor to see Logan before they left. Lorelai knocked casually on the doorframe before entering and whistling appreciatively. "Nice office Mr. Huntzberger," she said. Logan had a corner office, two walls of which were floor to ceiling windows looking out across the city.
"Yeah," Logan said, "Its okay, kind of depressing when it's raining though. You two headed out?"
"Yeah," Lorelai confirmed, "Where are we meeting for dinner?"
"It's a secret," Logan said, "I'll text the location to you later."
Lorelai and Rory had lunch at The Hard Rock Café before heading to a salon to get manicures and pedicures. "So, you and Luke are going to both have a vehicle to drive back to Stars Hollow tonight?" Rory asked worriedly.
"No, I'll ride back with Luke. Logan arranged for Frank to pick me up and drive me into the city this morning," Lorelai explained.
"Of course," Rory exclaimed, "That was really sweet of him. Did he tell you that I was worried that I wouldn't get to see you on my birthday this year?"
"He did," Lorelai said, "Why would you think that? You know how important you are to me. For as long as we're both alive and kicking, we will be together on your birthday."
"Thanks Mom," Rory said.
"I think they're about ready for us," Lorelai said referring to their nail artists, "What color did you pick for me?"
Rory handed her mother a bottle of blackish purple OPI nail polish and recited the name from the bottom of the bottle, "Lincoln Park After Dark. What did you find for me?"
Lorelai handed Rory a bottle of deep red hued polish and said, "I'm Not Really a Waitress." Years ago the duo had started a wacky tradition of picking nail polish for each other based on the name on the bottle rather than the color.
Once they were settled into their foot baths Rory asked, "How are the wedding plans coming?"
"Good," Lorelai replied, "Can you believe I'm getting married in less than two months?"
"For real this time?" Rory asked carefully.
"I really hope so," Lorelai said honestly, "This time we're talking to each other and being completely honest with each other. It's going to work this time."
"Good," Rory said with a smile, "You two belong together; I've always thought so."
After their pampering the girls went shopping and before they knew it Logan was texting with the secret location and it was time to go meet the guys for dinner. Keeping Rory's enjoyment of The Food Network in mind Logan had made reservations at Del Posto, one of Mario Batali's famous Italian restaurants in New York City.
"This is awesome," Rory gushed as the four of them were seated at a prominent table, "Do you think we'll get to meet Mario?"
"I inquired and he's actually doing a taping of Iron Chef this evening," Logan regretfully informed them.
After ordering from the amazing selection the menu offered Logan suggested that Rory open her gifts. From Luke Rory opened a pair of blue beaded earrings and a necklace that perfectly matched her eyes. From her mother she opened a beautiful leather briefcase with her initials monogrammed on it and a Chia Pet.
"A Chia Pet?" Rory asked in confusion.
"I've seen your apartment, the two of you have no plants," Lorelai explained, "A Chia Pet is perfect, these things are impossible to kill."
"Why is it shaped like Elmer Fudd's head?" Luke asked.
"They were out of the one shaped like the Tasmanian Devil," Lorelai replied.
"Open my gift now," Logan said, "Here's the first part."
Rory slid the large box closer to her on the table. Carefully she opened it and was speechless by what she saw. Logan had her first two articles, which appeared in the NYDN on the same day, matted and framed to hang on the wall in their office at home. Under the frame was a large leather bound scrapbook bearing the words, "By Rory Gilmore," in the lower left corner. "It's a scrapbook for you to paste all your articles into," Logan explained, "I've already put all your high school and college articles into it for you. I've also saved all your articles from the NYDN for you to put in. There are three more books like this one at home. I'm positive that one of these books won't last you an entire career."
"This is the best gift ever, thank you," Rory cried.
"Well, here's the second part," Logan said as he handed her a familiar blue box.
Rory opened the box to reveal the black onyx beaded toggle necklace and bracelet set that she'd admired last time they'd been at Tiffany's, "You remembered, thank you." Logan helped clasp the necklace around her neck just as their meals were arriving at the table.
The meal was delicious and was followed with the most amazing birthday cake Rory had ever tasted. To top it all off the waiters sang happy birthday to Rory, in Italian. It had been one of her best birthdays ever. She would never doubt her husband's ability to make her birthday one in a million ever again. But she would keep it to herself that all she really needed to be happy on her birthday was the company of her mother and her husband and she'd be a happy girl.
Later as the couple was driven home by Frank, Logan asked Rory, "Was it all you hoped it would be?"
"This was one of my best birthdays every; definitely top three," Rory said, "Thank you."
"Here's hoping that 24 is a good year for you," Logan said as he pulled her in for a kiss.
Author's Note: It has been two months since I've posted—I'm so sorry. I know that all my fellow authors out there can understand that sometimes life just gets in the way. My family has been through the ringer the last couple months. We've had a death in the family as well as a devastating illness. Everything is starting to get back to normal, but it is understandable how things like that can put normal life on pause. Once I was ready to get back to Rory and Logan I had the worse writer's block…hopefully this chapter lives up to expectations…let me know what you think or if you have ideas for me! Also--for anyone who is interested in seeing the onyx necklace and bracelet I will add a link to my profile.