**Hi everyone so this is the follow up of my 3 Years After and 5 Years After, this doesn't have as much Rogan content its mostly seeing how they navigate having 2 adult children who have relationships. As always, Luke, Lorelai will be in it with a few new characters. I'm not 100% sure yet who will be returning but I'll include who I can. As always please read and -Hoopsandstuds**
I OWN NOTHING RELATED TO GILMORE GIRLS
I awoke to an annoying ringing sound, I leaned over to my nightstand and grabbed my phone annoyed at whoever was calling me at 3 am.
"What?" I grumbled into the phone,
"Mom? Its Belle," my little girl said into the phone,
"Belle? What's wrong?" I demanded, Logan shot up from a dead sleep and rested a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm fine, and Lena…well she should be fine." She said,
"What? Logan. Something happened to Lena!"
"My Princess? What's happened? Is it her boyfriend? Did he hurt her? Break up with her?" Logan demanded, getting dressed,
"I'm finding out, Belle baby what happened?" I demanded,
"Well we got back from our photo shoot/science investigating some sting rays and Lena got stung by a sting ray." She explained, "We took her to the hospital but she was having some weird reaction so they air lifted her and I to the hospital in New York. So, we're here now. Lena is getting an IV and is gonna be fine. She told me not to call you but I figured you should know."
"What hospital?" I demanded, Logan was already up and dressed, she told me the hospital,
"She's seriously fine, she was being stupid." Belle insisted,
"She was stung by a sting ray she is not being stupid young lady." I snapped at Belle,
"Sorry, I'm calling Jake too. Lena did request that."
"Okay, we'll see you soon." I assured her,
"Mom, seriously its okay. The doctor wants to talk to me, see you in a bit." She hung up and I quickly got dressed,
"I never liked that they were going to see some sting rays its not safe!" Logan insisted, as we rushed to our car,
"You didn't like her project on manatees either, and they are so friendly."
"Why did they have to do marine life? Why can't they do their work on trees?"
"Belle did that piece on a tribe in Africa and there were trees there."
"Yeah she lived in Africa for 2 months I did not like that either. Did she say if Lena was awake or needed surgery or anything?"
"She was only good for the highlights. We'll be meeting with the doctor when we get there." I assured him, "She was calling Jake next."
"Oh not that guy."
"Jake is a nice guy,"
"He has tattoos,"
"So does Belle."
"Don't remind me, my little Tinkerbell messed up her perfect skin."
"What's your problem with Jake?"
"He's not good enough for her and he's older AND has a kid."
"Lena doesn't seem to mind. She loves Niki and Kristen, by the way you're older then me."
"We're different. She just deserves better."
"He's always there for her, he got Lorelai's approval. Just because he had a kid young doesn't mean he's not good enough for our girl." I insisted, Jake was a 27 year old biologist that Lena had been dating for the past year. He had a baby with his girlfriend Niki when they were 17 and things didn't work out between them but they share time with their daughter Kristen who Lena adores and Niki is married to someone else but Logan still doesn't trust that there isn't something going on between Jake and Niki. Logan drove like a madman to get to the hospital, I had to calm him down enough to remember where we parked before we followed the stripes to find Belle,
"Mom, Dad!" Belle was standing in the waiting area, in jeans and a tank top showing off the half sleeve she had on her arm, her blonde hair in a side braid, her blue eyes bright she was holding her cell phone in her hand,
"Belle, sweetie." I quickly hugged my 20 year old,
"Oh Tink, what happened?" Logan asked,
"She went down without the divers to get one more sample, and this big male turned really fast and flicked his tail and it hit her arm. She came up real quick, but like passed out before we could really do anything. We had a medic he treated her and we got back to shore but her arm was like really bad and she was freaking out, the medic was freaked out and told us to take her to the hospital. The only hospital was like 2 hours away, so we rushed there right? I picked up all our travel stuff, luggage and whatever cause I figured something serious was happening if the medic was worried so all that is in her room. But they got her stabilized and told us we had to go to the states to make sure there wasn't an infection and stuff so I told them we had family in New York so here we are" she explained, leading us down the hallway,
"Daddy? Mom? What the hell I told you not to call them?" she yelled, she was in a hospital bed, her arm bandaged up and a IV hooked up to her hand, she was in a hospital gown her blonde hair french braided on either side of her head.
"I'm glad she did call us, honey you're in the hospital." I reminded her kissing her forehead, she was scowling at Belle,
"I did call Jake, he's on his way." She added,
"Princess, Belle told us what happened. You promised you'd be careful." Logan sighed,
"I was careful, the sting ray not so much." She sighed,
"What did the doctor say, love?" I asked,
"That it was pretty deep, and I had an allergic reaction to the venom so they have me hooked up to some allergy meds to help it, and I got a shot of antibiotics to help prevent infection."
"Why did you pass out then?" Belle asked,
"Panic reaction to the pain was the doctor's best guess." Lena replied,
"Oh my Princess, why do you do these things?" Logan kissed the top of her head,
"Where is Lena Gilmore? What about Isabelle Huntzburger?" a familiar voice was in the hall,
"Hey Jake, we're here." Belle waved down the hall, Logan stiffened a little bit.
"Hey what happened?" he asked, as he came into the room,
"Jake!" Lena smiled,
"Babe, what happened? Belle was only good for the highlights,"
"I while being very careful, got stung by a sting ray and I had an allergic reaction to the venom, it went pretty deep." She admitted, looking at Jake the same way that I look at Logan who stood next to me, "You weren't with Kristen were you? I don't want to take you away from her."
"No, she's with Niki tonight. I would have brought her with me. She wouldn't have accepted not coming if you were hurt." He smoothed her hair on her head, "Hi Rory, Hi Logan."
"Hey Jake," I smiled and Logan simply nodded at him,
"Hello, oh the whole family is here." A doctor came in and smiled at us,
"Dr. Wilson, can I go home yet?" Lena asked her doctor,
"I'm afraid not, we want to keep you at least overnight to keep you on the allergy medication to ensure you don't have a more severe reaction to the sting ray venom. The information you actually had on them, proved very useful. Everything is responding nicely though so I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to go home tomorrow." She smiled,
"Thank goodness," I sighed, resting my hand on my chest. Logan squeezed my waist gently kissing my forehead,
"Can I finally eat anything?" Lena asked,
"Yes, we just wanted to monitor your reaction in case you vomited. You can have food now, the cafeteria is 24 hours." She told us,
"Sounds good, Lena do you want us to get something for you?" I offered,
"Yeah, some coffee too please." she smiled, Logan rolled his eyes. Growing up with me and my Mom both my girls were caffeine fiends like us, "Okay, we'll get something Belle can come with us. Or you can go home if you'd rather honey."
"No, I'm good. I'd rather stay and make sure she's okay. I'll come with you Mom and get some food for her." Belle pulled a sweater out of her backpack and zipped it up, "I know you hate my tattoos Dad."
"It's well done, I just rather my daughter didn't ink her beautiful skin." he kissed her head, as we walked down the hall.
"Did you have a good time on your trip, honey?" I asked her,
"I got some amazing pictures, when we go back upstairs I can show you some. I went diving another day with our camera team I got some amazing pictures of some sharks."
"Sharks?" Logan demanded,
"There wasn't any chum in the water they just kind of showed up," she shrugged, as if that made it okay,
"Have you decided what you're doing next, love? Please don't say sharks," I begged, Belle laughed.
"I haven't really decided, I'm coming back to New York for a little bit. I have to check in with my gallery to sort out my next assignment. I know Lena is super into marine life and as much fun as it was I like to do global issues. I was thinking about doing a piece on child soldiers but I have to get a team to go with me." Belle explained,
"That doesn't sound very safe honey, why don't you keep doing nature? Its much safer, just stay away from sharks, sting rays, lions, tigers, bears-,"
"Anything interesting?" Bella interrupted Logan,
"Just safe, why not do more trees? That was fun," he handed her a coffee,
"Mhmm," she laughed, sipping on her coffee. Logan gets tea, and I get a coffee too. We talked about the upsides of the girls trip and got some food for Lena.
"Oh food! Gimme!" Lena held out her hand when we came back with some pizza, and I brought a drink for Jake. I set it down on the table that folds over the bed for her, and she quickly ate the food and drank her coffee. The doctors came in from time to check on Lena,
"So Jake, how's Kristen doing?" I asked,
"She's good, ten going on twenty. She's so much more mature than I was or so my Mom says." he chuckled, resting a hand on Lena's,
"Your Mom is so sweet," Lena commented,
"She just loves you to bits, so does Kristen. I get Kristen for next weekend, maybe we can take her to visit my parents." Jake smiled,
"I'd like to meet your parents, and Kristen. Lena says she's just a great girl," Logan said,
"Maybe we can arrange that for next weekend, I know Kristen would love to meet you." Jake leaned forward to grab his drink and his sleeve moved up showing his tattoo sleeve, Logan's eye zeroed in on that,
"Planning on getting more tattoo's Jake?"
"Daddy," Lena warned,
"Its okay, I'm done for now. I have my sleeve and Kristen's dedication on my shoulder. Which was the start of my ink."
"You were 17 when you got your first tattoo?"
"18, I got it when Kristen turned 1." he smiled,
"Same age as me," Belle smiled, as she ate some pudding. Logan looked over at her, she shrunk into the chair and ate a large spoonful,
"Lena do you have any?"
"I do not, but my ears are pierced." she admitted,
"Just don't do anywhere else and I won't have a heart attack." he sighed,
"Belle, want to show us your pictures?" I asked. Hoping to steer the conversation away from body modifications and tattoos back to our girls.
"Yeah, I haven't gone through them to get the bad ones out."
"You never take bad ones, its annoying." Lena countered, popping the crust in her mouth.
"I certainly do, I just don't show them. If you had a weakness? You'd hide it too." Belle smirked as she pulled up pictures,
"I am going through it first, then I will show you the good ones." She sat back with her tablet and starting going through it. We chuckled and I fussed over getting Lena the right pillows,
"Is it okay if I call Nana and Butch? They would want to know."
"Of course, its daytime now I'm fairly certain Nana will shut down Dragonfly and Butch will leave Lane in charge of Luke's." she smiled,
"I don't doubt it for a second," I smiled, I quickly called my Mom's cell,
"Hang on babe, here talk to Michel." she handed my phone to the surly french man and he answered the phone.
"Hello Rory," he answered,
"Hey Michel, how are your kids?"
"Hardly kids, they are looking forward to moving out." he said, seemingly uninterested in the conversation, "How are your girls?"
"That's actually why I'm calling."
"Thanks Michel, hey babe. How's it going?" she asked,
"Uhm my girls are trying to kill me." I laughed,
"Where are they off to now? Or did Belle get a face tattoo?" she laughed,
"Lena got stung by a sting ray-,"
"Where is she? You fly her to New York, and I'll be on my way down, I'll get Luke on the way-,"
"She got here last night, Belle called me at like 3 in the morning telling me that her and Lena have been airlifted to New York. Lena is fine now, they are keeping her overnight as observation but she had some kind of allergic reaction to the venom in the stingray."
"We'll I can be there in an hour and a half. I'll grab Luke and head down, James is in Boston with Lauren but we'll update him, is Belle okay?"
"She's fine, she's going through her pictures right now to get rid of the bad ones. So she can show us her photos. Apparently she was diving with sharks at one point.." I held my head,
"Are you okay?"
"I love my girls but this is the kinda stuff that is driving me to an early grave."
"We'll be there soon baby, don't worry. She's there now and being treated by the best."
"Thanks Mom, love you." I walked back to Lena's room and saw my girls sitting there with Logan, who now had graying hair and a few more lines around his eyes.
"Is Lorelai on her way?" Jake asked me, handing me a coffee.
"Thanks, yeah she's just getting Luke." I smiled at him,
"I've never got a chance to meet him,"
"I'd love to meet your daughter," I smiled, "You know my mom was a teen parent so I'm not judgemental about that."
"Logan is though," he chuckled,
"No one is good enough for his girls, you could be the president and it wouldn't be enough for Logan."
"What does he think of Ty?" he asked, that peeked my interest,
"Who the hell is Ty?"
"Uh, I feel like Belle is gonna kill me."
"Belle, who is Ty?" I demanded as I walked into the room, she did a spit take with coffee.
"Lena!"
"Not me girl," she held her hands up, Jake raised his hand.
"I thought they knew!" he protested,
"Oh no." she held her head,
"Belle, talk now." I demanded,
"He's a tattoo artist in New York that I've been seeing, and he co-owns a tattoo/piercing studio with his friend." she sighed,
"He owns a tattoo shop?" Logan asked, "He does tattoos and the business side?"
"His friend Peter, went to business school with Ty. He's manages the books, Ty manages everything else."
"So a guy with a business degree decided to continue with tattoos?"
"Tattoos don't equal evil Dad."
"Wait, wait this guy is old enough to have gone to business school?" I asked, Belle paled.
"Uh,"
"You didn't think that one through did you?" Lena laughed, Belle smacked her arm "Ow."
"Don't hit your sister, she's already in a hospital bed." I scolded her,
"How much older?" Logan asked, crossing his arms,
"Just a little,"
"Like two years?" I asked, the difference between Logan and I and Lena and Jake.
"Like...um...sermagah." she covered her mouth with her hand,
"Isabelle." Logan warned,
"Six, he's 26." she sighed,
"He's a grown man dating my little girl?" Logan demanded, "You are ending things with him."
"No, I'm not. I've been with him for 6 months. I don't care if you don't approve." she said harshly,
"We're not going to ask you to end things with him, but we would like to meet him. Why did you hide it?"
"Because of Dad's reaction, the one that just happened." she pointed at Logan, "Do you want to see a picture before you write him off?"
"I don't need to see someone to know he's not good enough for my daughter." Logan said crossing his arms,
"Logan, can I talk to you for a second?" I tugged on his arm, he followed me into the hall, "What is going on?"
"She wants to date someone significantly older then her, whose a tattoo artist?"
"You've got to get over this tattoo thing, its different then us. He's made a business for himself where he can be himself, you've got to respect that. We raised smart girls, we've got to trust their decisions. And you've got to start respecting their decisions. Starting with Jake and Ty. Belle hid him from us for 6 months, do you want them to hide stuff from us like you did with your parents?"
"Oh don't compare me to Mitchum, I'm not trying to control them, I'm trying to make sure they make good decisions. But I'll try. I love them, I'm just not ready for them to grow up."
"We have a 20 year old and a 25 year old, they are grown up." I kissed his cheek, and he brushed my hair that had fallen from my bun back from my face, we walked back into the room. Belle was texting on her phone, and Jake was adjusting pillows for Lena who couldn't do it for herself.
"Who are we texting?" I asked, sitting on the arm rest of the chair Belle was sitting in.
"Uhm, Nana?" Belle tucked her phone away
"Try again,"I smiled,
"Ty," she sighed,
"Can I see a picture?" I asked,
"Are you going to freak out that he's got tattoos?" she asked,
"Nope, I promise." I crossed my heart, she sighed and pulled up a picture on her phone. He was very handsome, he had sleeves covering his arms and an eyebrow piercing but other than that he looked like a nice guy. He had short black hair and striking green eyes, he was lean and muscled. Belle scrolled to the left where there was another picture she was in the picture which surprised me she liked taking the pictures not so much for being in them, and she was standing next to him in a strapless black dress and he was wearing a button down white shirt and only the tattoos on his hands and fingers were visible and I realized he must have been at least 6'2.
"He's a tall one,"
"Yeah, I like it though it means I can wear heels." she smiled,
"That's a nice picture of the two of you," I smiled and showed Logan,
"You make a lovely couple." Logan smiled and kissed Belle's head,
"Can we meet him?" I asked,
"As long as you don't interrogate him," she sighed,
"How about this, as soon as Lena is feeling better. All you kids can come over, Dad can make something and that way he won't have to feel uncomfortable."
"I'm fine," Lena insisted,
"You're in the hospital," Jake reminded her,
"You're super helpful tonight," Lena sighed,
"Sorry," he chuckled, kissing her hand. I sent Belle out to call Ty and invite him to dinner in a week.
