AN: Hi everyone, thank you SO much for all the wonderful reviews! It was so nice to see the overwhelming encouragement for this story. I apologize this took so long, my job was crazy the past few weeks and I just didn't have a chance to update.

Enjoy! And don't forget to review!

PS – I posted the link for Rory's dress on my profile.

The Party

Logan locked eyes with Rory as she walked in. He was going to kill her. Not only did she wear the new dress, but she had failed to mention to him that the dress was a black floor length gown with a slit up one slide. He had only seen the top of the dress through the window in the garment bag. It hugged her curves and the stiletto heels on her feet made her legs look even longer than they actually were. She was stunning. Her curly hair was swept up into an elegant style, and her makeup made her blue eyes stand out even more than they usually did. All he wanted to do was walk across the room, kiss her, and put her engagement ring on her finger, signaling to all the other men in the room that she was taken. But he couldn't.

Elias saw her walk in as well and smiled when he noticed that she was wearing the long diamond and ruby earrings he gave her for her birthday. The earrings had belonged to Logan's grandmother. Elias had been saving them for someone special and he had decided that he wanted Rory to have them. Shira had been eyeing the earrings for years, dropping hints whenever Elias opened his safe to give a piece of jewelry to Honor or to lend Logan his favorite cufflinks. It killed Shira that her children had Elias wrapped around their fingers lately, and after all these years the man still hated her.

Elias had made a considerable effort to mend his relationship with Logan and Honor after seeing the pain that he, Mitchum and Shira, had caused both of them after meddling with Logan and Rory. Honor loved Rory like a sister, and it was quite clear to anyone willing to see it, that Logan was head over heels in love with Rory. It had taken Elias several months to convince his grandchildren that he was sincere in wanting a relationship with them, and even longer to convince Rory that this was not some elaborate scheme devised to drive her away again.

Logan felt someone walk up behind him. He knew it was his grandfather without him saying a word.

Elias cleared his throat, "So your plan tonight is to ignore each other and pretend you haven't been living together for the past year?"

Logan smirked, took a sip of his drink, and without missing a beat, said "yup, that's about it Pops." He turned and looked at Elias, "Oh, and to pretend that she didn't agree to be my wife about a month ago."

Elias Huntzberger couldn't believe his ears. He took a step in front of his grandson, and with an ear to ear grin, just said, "Logan?"

Logan smiled at his grandfather and nodded. "I asked her Grandpa, and she said yes. And she loves grandma's ring. You were right, it is absolutely perfect for Rory."

Elias gave his grandson a hug and whispered to him, "I'm proud of you my boy, she is an amazing woman. I'm thrilled that she is going to be a part of our family, I'm sorry that I treated her poorly before, I couldn't have been more wrong. She is absolutely perfect for you."

Logan was beaming. He was about to respond when he heard a shrill voice pierce the air. "Logan! There you are dear I have been looking everywhere for you."

Elias watched as his grandson's face turned from a real smile to a fake society smile as Shira walked over. It was an almost imperceptible change, but if he looked closely enough, he could see it.

"Hello Mother," Logan said, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "you look wonderful this evening. Everything looks perfect. Excellent job as always."

Shira smiled at her son, unable to tell that Logan was simply complimenting her because it was the proper "society" thing to do. "Thank you Logan. I see that you came without a date, as usual. I really wish you would let me set you up with one of my friend's daughters. They are all wonderful girls. I think that – "

"Logan is doing just fine Shira." Elias couldn't stand seeing his daughter-in-law farm Logan out like a high priced steed. "He doesn't need any help with women. Trust me."

Logan was eternally grateful to his grandfather right now. He looked around the room and saw Rory talking to her grandparents, and to the Hayden's. He knew that Rory's father was a Hayden, but it wasn't something she advertised among Hartford society now. Of course, back when Lorelai got pregnant everyone knew it was Christopher Hayden's child, but after years of distance and the fact that Rory rarely saw the Hayden's, it had become a virtually forgotten fact. However, it was hard to deny that Rory carried herself like the true society royalty that she was. She handled herself very well around everyone, smiled constantly, shook hands with all the right people, and she had become a cornerstone of the DAR planning committee. Logan caught her eye and winked at Rory. She smiled at him, and went back to talking to her grandparents.

"What is she doing here? I can't believe she even had the nerve to come to this event!"

Logan heard his mother's voice and turned to look at her. "Who Mom?"

"That girl. The one you used to date, whose parents weren't married." Logan followed his mother's gaze and saw that she was looking at Rory. "Honestly, its not as if she belongs in this world! Look she is even talking to Straub and Francine Hayden. As if people of such stature would associate with someone like her."

"Shira!" Elias' voice turned low and forceful. "You will not speak about Rory Gilmore in such a way. She is twice the woman will ever be. She was born into a prominent family, went to the best private school in Hartford, graduated valedictorian, and attends Yale. Rumor has it that she has already been offered several top jobs after graduation, and has also been accepted to Harvard's Business School if she decides to follow in Richard's footsteps. That is more than this family can say about you. Rory is a member of Hartford society by blood, and it shows. You are a member of Hartford society because Mitchum was stupid enough to get you pregnant with Honor. I love both of my grandchildren dearly, but lets stop pretending that you are more than you are."

Elias smiled when Shira stood there flabbergasted. He had wanted to say that to her for over twenty-five years. Elias turned to Logan and said, "Now, Logan, will you please accompany me over to the Hayden's? I don't believe I have spoken to them yet this evening and it has been several years since I have seen them."

Logan took his grandfather's elbow and led the old man towards Rory and her grandparents. "Sure Pops, anything you want."

Rory smiled as she hugged her grandparents. It had been almost a month since she had last seen them. "Grandma Francine! Grandpa Straub! Oh its so good to see you!"

She had begun to rebuild her relationship with Straub and Francine after they came to her and asked to have lunch with her one day. She had been reluctant at first, given her history with her paternal grandparents, but she knew that it was the right thing to do. She could not have been more grateful that she gave Straub and Francine a chance. Ever since that day she had lunch with them once a week, and they confessed that they had always wanted to get to know her, but they just didn't know how to apologize for how the way they acted when she was younger. Rory welcomed them back into her life, as did Lorelai. Rory had even changed her last name to Gilmore-Hayden when she found out that her grandparents decided to name her the heiress of their fortune as well. It had yet to be announced to Hartford society, but the paperwork was finalized.

Francine smiled at her granddaughter. She was absolutely stunning. "Lorelai Leigh, you look simply radiant. Why if I didn't know better I would say that you are glowing."

Rory laughed as she gave Richard a hug and he spoke to Francine, "She is glowing Francine, but not for the reason you think."

Straub and Francine looked at Rory, expecting an answer. When no answer came, Straub's spoke up. "Lorelai Leigh Gilmore Hayden III, you best tell me what is going on right this instant."

Rory looked up and saw Elias and Logan joining the group, and she sighed in relief knowing that she wouldn't have to explain the situation by herself. After Logan and Elias greeted the Hayden's and the Gilmore's, Straub turned back to Rory and started staring at her expectantly. Elias saw how conflicted his soon-to-be granddaughter was, and stepped in. "Straub, Francine, it is great to see you again. I don't mean to intrude, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Rory as I walked up. You must forgive her for not telling you the news sooner, its been somewhat of a secret because my son and that god awful daughter-in-law of mine are so pig-headed that Rory and Logan have had to hide their relationship from them."

Francine and Straub looked at Rory and Logan, "Is this true Lorelai?"

Rory nodded at them, "unfortunately grandma and grandpa it is. You see, when Logan and I were together before, Mitchum and Shira caused nothing but problems for us. They would send Logan away on long business trips without any notice, they humiliated me at a D.A.R. event, and even went so far as to say I was not good enough for their son." Rory paused to catch her breath.

Logan saw how she was struggling with this and discretely grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. An action that did not go unnoticed by the five grandparents standing there. "Eventually, it all became too much for us and we broke up." Straub and Francine saw the pain flash across Rory's face when she discussed the breakup. "Thankfully, we came to our senses and got back together not long after, but we decided to keep it from Logan's parents. Elias has been so helpful throughout it all, but we still haven't told Shira and Mitchum."

Francine looked at her granddaughter and her future grandson-in-law, and had never been so angry in her life. She would control herself for the moment, but Shira and Mitchum Huntzberger would be getting an earful from her later. "Well my dear girl, we are of course thrilled that you got back together with Logan, but this doesn't explain why you are just glowing!"

Logan smiled at Francine and Straub, "She is glowing Mrs. Hayden, because about a month ago, I proposed to Rory and she said yes. She has been dying to tell you ever since, but you were both out of the country so she couldn't reach you."

To say that Straub and Francine were happy would have been a colossal understatement. They were absolutely thrilled, but they resisted the urge to hug the couple for fear of exposing their secret. Francine looked down at her granddaughter's hand, "Rory dear, where is your ring? Why aren't you wearing it? Logan did give you a ring, didn't he?"

Rory laughed and reached into her clutch, pulled out a small black pouch, and removed her ring from the pouch, showing it to her grandparents. "Of course he gave me a ring Grandma! It is beautiful and I love it. It is actually the ring that Elias gave to Elizabeth, but I can't really wear it a lot yet Grandma. If Logan's parents saw me with it or heard that I was engaged, they would either call me a gold-digging whore, or tell Logan that he dodged a bullet because I already moved on."

Straub felt like steam was coming out of his ears. He glared at Elias, "how can you let this happen Elias? How can you allow your son and daughter-in-law to treat my granddaughter this way? To treat their own son this way? It is absolutely disgraceful! My granddaughter is an amazing person, they would be lucky to have her in their family."

Elias sighed, "I know that Straub, I can't understand what their issue is. I will admit that I was not kind to your granddaughter at first because this is not an easy family to marry into. But when I saw the way that Rory and Logan looked at each other, I knew that Rory was just like my Elizabeth, and that they were perfect for each other. I apologized profusely to her and, being a well-mannered girl, she accepted my apology and we got to know each other. I plan on knocking some sense into my son if he doesn't wise up soon."

Logan looked around and saw that his father kept looking at him. He knew he needed to move away from Rory, "Ace, as much as I want to stand here with you all night, I'm starting to get the evil eye from my father. I need to start mingling otherwise he is going to make a scene."

Rory smiled at her fiancé, "Go Logan, I will talk to you later, or at home tonight."

Logan was able to give her a kiss on the cheek, since it was the polite "society way" to say goodbye, and whisper in her ear, "you look gorgeous Rory, every guy in the room is looking at you, and I'm the one who gets to take you home tonight."

She felt a blush come across her cheeks as he walked away from her and towards his father.

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