A/N - I am so so so sorry for the delay in posting, but there's more to come this weekend, I promise!

"…Oh before you go any further, congratulations on becoming a grandmother."

I couldn't tell if he was trying to butter her up or trying to take a jab at her being old enough to have grandchildren, but as he spoke he winked at me, suggesting he had intended the latter. He wasn't kidding about liking to live dangerously.

He listened for a minute…

"Yes, Rory and I had dinner with them last night."

Another pause…

"Oh yea, I'm surprised she didn't tell you."

I was dying to know how the other half of this conversation was going. I looked at Logan, hoping to get some hint, but instead he put his phone on speaker and set in on the counter. Not exactly what I had in mind, but at least I would have a front row seat to my own vilification.

"Yes, just an oversight, I'm sure." It was clear that she understood Logan's sarcasm.

"So since I doubt you're calling to congratulate me on being an uncle, I have to ask why you're calling." He knew exactly why she was calling, but he was playing his mother's game… passive aggressive, and riddled with disdain, delivered as polite conversation. It was a time honored skill in upper-class social circles, and Shira had always played the game well. Emily was practically a professional.

"Well, it's this whole Rory situation, Logan. I spoke with your father, and I have to agree with him." Her emphasis on the word 'situation' said it all. It reeked with condescension.

"Agree with him? By the end of our conversation this morning, he seemed to be agreeing with Rory; what with taking her advice on when to retreat and to stay away from the board meeting today." Was he actually having fun with this?

"You need to be smart about this, Logan. You know we we're fond of your relationship in the first place, and then she rejected you. Have you thought about why she suddenly walked back into your life?"

"Well, Mom, as fate would have it, I was really the one who walked into her life, quite literally…" He was smiling, thinking about the meet cute that had started all of this that night at McConnell's. "…a very fortunate coincidence."

"Fortunate? For her maybe…"

"She didn't seem to think so at first; in fact it took quite a bit on convincing for her to see me at all." He exaggerated his self-deprecating tone and I had to stifle a laugh.

"Don't be naïve, Logan. You can't honestly believe that a girl like her had no interest in pursuing a man like you?"

"There's that phrase again, 'a girl like her'. Dad used it to, but seeing as how neither one of you ever bothered to actually get to know Rory, you have no idea what kind of a girl she is."

"I don't have to get to know her. She relied on her family for money before, she's probably living off of a trust fund now, and she needs a plan for when that runs out…"

Oops... No more fun. The direct hits had started, and Logan was back.

"She is not living off a trust fund, and she doesn't have a plan, she has a career."

"Of course, her career…"

"Oh, I forgot that a woman having a career is a foreign concept."

"Excuse me, but working is not a foreign concept. I have worked your whole life for the good of this family…"

"This family? This so called family has never been anything more than a good image for Mitchum to present to shareholders… nothing like a good family man to give people confidence in a company.

"Yes, Logan, being a part of this family has responsibilities; ones that I'm sure she still doesn't understand. But I thought that you understood that part of that responsibility includes working to uphold the confidence in the company. It most certainly does not include being responsible the career of this girl."

"Being responsible for her career?" He was the one trying not to laugh now, "I have been banned from her career. She wants me to have nothing to do with it."

"So you expect us to believe that you had nothing to do with her being published in The New York Times? That she has no plans to use your influence to further her career?"

"That's absolutely what I expect you to believe. I didn't even know that article was happening until it was already at my door this morning."

"You father thinks…"

"I would expect my father to feel differently on this subject, considering he was once quoted as having 'given her her start', of course that was after he told her that she didn't have it. Rory has and will continue to earn her career."

"Well from what I can imagine, that career isn't earning her much."

"We're back to money? This is not about money."

"Grow up, Logan. Everything is about money. She a reporter, she doesn't have money of her own…"

"And neither would I if I had followed along the path that the two of you had laid out for me. Besides, are you really one to talk about marrying for money?"

Oh boy. Not that it had really been a secret, but Emily had been sure to let us in on that little detail of Shira's life. Logan must have known it was a cheap shot, but he didn't seem to care.

Shira was clearly speechless.

"Are we done here? Because if there's nothing else…"

"We are far from finished…"

"Fine, but this conversation is over."

He was practically fuming when he hung up the phone. For what had started out as a mildly amusing exchange had gotten particularly nasty.

"Logan…"

"What do you think the maximum sentence for matricide is?"

"Hey, before you go turning into the third Menendez brother, can we please remember that this is exactly what we expected from them?"

He looked at me in all seriousness, "You okay?"

I needed to start a pot of coffee, but I was okay.

"I can take it. Besides, given that she is your mother, I'll have to face her eventually…" I remembered how she had said very similar things to my face the first time we met, and I hadn't really been able to do anything about it. "…to be honest, I'm almost looking forward to it."

"You're looking forward to it?" He was actually surprised, but the more I thought about it, the more resolved I got.

"I am. She has made no attempts to be civil towards me, and I just took her crap before. I'm not going to do it this time. If she needs some kind of proof that I'm worthy than damn it I'm going to give it to her."

He raised his eyebrows, "You're going to go toe to toe with Shira?"

"Are you forgetting who my grandmother is? Your mother might not be impressed by the Gilmore name, but Emily is the queen of social combat. I have learned from the best of the best."

"Well, Oorah then."

I poured myself a cup of the fresh coffee, and tried to segue the conversation casually, "So… in regard to her highness…"

Logan rolled his eyes, knowing what was coming. "Yes?"

"Not that I'm expecting your mother to go bragging to all of her friends about her precious son's ill-intentioned mistress, but it is going to get around and I'm thinking that it would be in our best interest to beat society to the punch."

"Ill-intentioned mistress?" He was amused.

I shrugged, "I thought it would sound more mysterious than 'gold-digging, trash girlfriend'."

He made a face that suggested I was ridiculous for entertaining Shira's version of me, "Well alright, mistress of mine… Let's do it."

"Do what?"

"Talk to your grandparents."

"Right now?"

"Yea, right now."

"But…"

"Ace, this was your idea…"

He had a fair point… "But I haven't talked to Luke yet."

"We were supposed to do that Saturday, right?"

"Yea…"

"Why wait? It can't be worse than my parents, so what's the point in dragging this out? I'll call Luke, we'll go to Friday night dinner, and be done with it."

"You want to call Luke?"

"Yea... I am courting his quasi-daughter after all."

"What happened to not being good at all of this gentleman stuff?"

He gave me a light kiss, "For you? I have my moments…"

"And you're volunteering to go to Friday night dinner? You understand that that means you'll be face to face with them…"

"Well, I'm much more charming in person…" He followed that one up with a trademark smirk.

He was serious about this. I took a deep breath, "Well, Rhett, should I tell them you're coming or spring it on them at the door?"

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn…" He smiled, picking up my reference, but after a beat reconsidered, "…that's not true. You should probably give them a heads up."

I had to laugh. I felt a better knowing that he was a little nervous too, but I was impressed by his gumption.

I knew I would need to give my mom a heads up first; she was going to want to have popcorn ready for this one. She would also want to hear all the gory details of the rest of the day, so I figured that was a conversation that could wait until I got home. I started upstairs to get dressed...

"Where are you going?"

"I have to call Lorelei… I'm just gonna grab my stuff and head home…"

"Why?"

"Because that's where I live… and I haven't been there in like two days."

"So?"

"So… I don't have anything to wear to work, and now I need to find something to wear to dinner tomorrow…"

He jumped at the opening, playing coy, "You know, those issues could easily be remedied if…"

I looked at him, unsure of how far he was going to take this tonight.

"What? I'm just saying you could keep a few more things here than pajamas and a toothbrush…"

I rolled my eyes, but kissed him anyway. We aren't diving in.

He smiled, believing that he was slowly but surely wearing me down. "Fine… But take a car, and call me…"

"When I get home, I know…" It really was sweet that he worried. "I love you."

He smiled and kissed me, "You better if I'm gonna go through with Friday night dinner."

"Hey, you volunteered for it."

"Then I must love you, too."

Logan must have called as soon as I closed the door, because by the time I got to the lobby, Tommy was directing me to a car waiting at the curb.

I walked the four flights up to my tiny apartment, and sank into the couch. It had been an unbelievably long day. I pulled out my phone and called my mom.

"Hello?"

"Why are you whispering?"

"He's sleeping…"

"Landon?"

"No, Paul Anka."

"I can't tell if you're being serious or not." I could hear the floor boards creak as she tip toed into another room.

"Okay, I'm in the clear. Of course I was being serious. Metallica couldn't wake Landon up, but Paul Anka's a light sleeper."

"Of course he is… So, we've had a change of plans."

"What kind of change of plans?"

"Well, it looks like we will be seeing you at dinner tomorrow night."

"We? As in you and Logan. At my parents' house. Together?"

"That would be correct."

"You are aware that they are going to be there, right? Are you trying to give Grandpa another heart attack?"

"No. It's not like we're just going to show up. I'm going to call Grandma in the morning, tell her that I would be coming to dinner after all, and then mumble something about Logan joining us."

"While I'm very proud of you plan of action, I have to ask what prompted this oh so bold approach."

"Logan, actually."

"What, has he developed an interest in sadomasochism since he was last in your life?"

"Mom…"

"I'm just wondering why a seemingly sane person would voluntarily commit to dinner at the Gilmores under these conditions."

"We talked to his parents today."

"Danger, Will Robinson!"

"Yea no kidding. Long story short, we unexpectedly ran into Mitchum early this morning, completely unprepared for the confrontation, and then we got a follow up call from Shira this evening."

"So… do they still…?"

"Yes. If it's possible I think they approve of me less now than they did then. Not only am I not good enough for their family, but I'm also only interested in Logan for his money and to use him to get ahead at work."

"I thought you weren't letting him in at work?"

"I'm not, but try telling them that… Hey, as long as we are talking about work, you should be getting something in the mail tomorrow morning. I sent it to the Inn."

"Oh did you write an article about me?"

"No, I'm saving that one for when I'm the running for a Pulitzer… but this is definitely big."

"How big?"

"New York Times big."

"Are you kidding?" I heard her yell away from the phone, "Luke!" followed by Paul Anka barking in the background. "Luke! Rory's in The New York Times!"

Before Luke got to the phone she quickly asked, "Are we doing the Logan conversation right now?"

"No. Actually, Logan want's to handle that conversation."

"Really?"

"Yea... Do you think that's a bad idea?"

"No, I actually think Luke might really appreciate that."

"I might really appreciate what?" I could hear him standing next to Mom.

"Uh… You might appreciate… if Rory brought extra copies of her article to dinner tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? I thought she was coming Saturday?"

"Well, she has big news… and once the grandparents knew, Emily wouldn't take no for an answer, you know how insistent she is…"

I heard him say something about how he's glad it would give them something to talk about other than everything that he seems to do wrong, and then my mother shooed him away.

"So Logan is really going to call Luke?"

"That's the plan."

"Wow… Look at him stepping up to the plate."

"He's practically Babe Ruth."

Friday morning I got up, made a pot of coffee, sat and the table and stared at my phone. I had to call Emily, and I had to tell her that I was bringing Logan to dinner, but I had no idea how to actually break the news. Finally I gulped down the last of my first cup of the day and dialed her number.

"Rory, well this is a surprise. To what do I owe the morning call?" She sounded like she was in a good mood… So far, so good.

"Well, actually I've had a change of plans and thought I might join you at dinner tonight, if that's alright?"

"Alright? Of course it's alright…" She went on and on about how I was always welcome and didn't need to ask, but of course it was good that I called so she could tell the cook, and she would have to come up with something special to celebrate my article, but I was only half listening. I was busy preparing myself for the next part of news.

"…oh, and I'll have to tell the maid to set an extra place, though I might end up having to do it myself. She barely speaks a word of English and I can never tell if she understands what I'm saying, so I have to follow her around to make sure things get done. It's almost worse than not having a maid at all…

"Well, you'll need two extra places."

She stopped short of whatever else she was going to say next. "Two? You're bringing someone with you?"

"Yes, actually…"

She was suddenly very excited, "Is it a boy? Do you have someone you want us to meet?"

"Actually, you already met him…"

"We know him? Who on earth could you be bringing to dinner that we already know?"

Just spit it out. "Logan."

I swear she was going to jump through the phone, "Logan! Logan Huntzberger? The same Logan who left you at graduation? Who as far as I know you haven't seen in years?" The boy who…"

I wasn't sure how far she was going to take that, but I didn't have all morning. "Yes. That Logan. He's in New York now, and we ran into each other, and…"

"Are you together?" In a way that was very specific to Emily Gilmore, she had gone from practically shrieking to an even-keeled, straight forward question. It was amazing, and a little terrifying.

Just rip the Band-Aid off. "Yes."

"Well… two place settings it is. We'll see you both at seven."

Great. Her tone had been very matter-of-fact, flat, even… giving me no real indication of her feelings on the matter. Well, at least she knows we're coming.

An hour later I had stopped at the cart for another cup of coffee and was at my desk. I had to get final copy of my space shuttle piece to Gerry by eleven, but when Leslie tried to sneak past my desk, a half hour later than she usually does I put everything on hold.

Did she really think she could stroll past my desk without me noticing that she was wearing practically the exact same thing she had on yesterday?

I went to the break room, poured her a cup of coffee and met her at her desk, "Spill."

It was very reminiscent of what she had done to me a couple of weeks earlier.

She bit her lip trying to hide her guilty smile.

"Come on, I already figured that part…"

"Okay… so we hadn't really made plans, but when I got home from work he sent me a text to meet him at this club, so I did…"

"You did…" I knew the end game, but she would never have let me get away with so few details.

"It was a great place… good music, good vibe, good drinks…"

"And?"

"We danced, and talked for a while…"

"Finn talked?"

"Yea, I mean we'd been drinking and it was pretty loud, so after a while it was kind of yelling some less than subtle double entendres, but before it got to that point there was some talking…"

Well what do you know; maybe they were going to surprise us.

"…anyway, like I said, we'd been drinking, so one thing led to another, and he took me to his hotel… which by the way… Wow."

I knew Finn, which meant I had a pretty good idea of what kind of hotel he'd be staying at. I also knew what kind of hotels Les and I stayed in on the couple of weekends we'd taken out of the city… once again the world discrepancy rears its head.

"You didn't let a nice hotel room sway you, did you?"

"Nice? It was awesome… and no, I didn't really need any swaying at that point."

I tried to ignore the last part, "So it went well? You had fun? No scars?"

"Why would you assume there would be scars?"

I laughed, "Because you went out with Finn… for most girls that ends with scars; sometimes physical and emotional."

"Well, no scars to be spoken for… unless you count the bruise on my knee from when I ran into my kitchen table rushing to pull some clothes on this morning."

"I don't… and I'm glad that it sounds like you had fun."

"I did. He and Colin are going out tonight, and I think I'm going to join them… You guys should come!"

As interested as I was to see the new Leslie-Finn dynamic, I had some major things to take care of tonight... "No can do. We're having dinner at my grandparents'."

"Wow… He's going to the infamous Friday dinner?"

"Yep. His idea, not mine, and I have no idea what we're in for, but after talking to his mother last night…"

I gave her all the gory details of the conversation I had eavesdropped on between Logan and Shira. She loved it.

"Hey, you know I love you, and it sucks that his mom is a bitch, but all of this drama is kind of exciting… very Dynasty."

"And I'm so glad I can provide entertainment for the cable-impaired."

"Hey, pay day is Tuesday and the cable is back on... but I do have to get this article finished if I want to get paid. Let me know how dinner goes!"

I let her get to work and headed back to my desk. I really was glad that she had a good time with Finn, and it was kind of fun to see her be so excited and infatuated with everything that came with him… Maybe it would be a good thing after all.

I sent Gerry my final copy, and just as I was about to take my lunch, Mom called. As expected, I got to repeat the whole 'why didn't you tell me' argument that we kind of skipped over last night, where she pretended to be mad, but I could tell from her voice that she was thrilled.

"This really is amazing, kid."

"More amazing than an article about you?"

"Well, we both know I make an excellent muse, but this… I'm really proud of you, Ror."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Did Logan take you out to celebrate?"

"We did a little reveling, but all the Huntzberger excitement overshadowed it a little. He did have the article framed for me, though… and he bought about fifty copies."

"Good man. Bring some tonight, Luke wants to hang one in the Diner."

"He doesn't have to do that…"

"But he wants to. He's so proud. And he's impressed…"

"That's a little redundant."

"Back off Nellie Oleson, I meant that he's impressed by Logan."

"Logan called already?"

"You didn't know?"

"I knew he was going to, but I haven't talked to him this morning. What did he say?"

"I don't know exactly. Luke was very Cone of Silence about it."

"If Luke was in the Cone of Silence, he wouldn't know what Logan said, but you totally would. The Cone of Silence never worked…"

"You are just brutal today…"

"Sorry, Chief."

"Apology accepted, 86. Anyway, what I meant was that he wouldn't give me any details. All he would say was that he wanted you to be happy and if that means Logan, then he's okay with it… And that he would kill him if he hurt you, but that's pretty standard."

He did it again. "I have got to listen in on one of these conversations. First Leslie and now Luke… I don't know how he does it."

"You got me… I was expecting Luke to lay into him, especially after the way he showed up here that night, but after a tense couple of minutes at the start things seemed to go very smoothly… From what I could tell I mean, he was out on the porch and I was spying on him through the window…"

"Good work, 99."

"I do what I can…"

My phone beeped to let me know I had a call waiting. I checked the screen, "I gotta run, Logan's calling."

"Pushing aside your giver of life for a boy? Is that the way I raised you?"

"Yes it is."

I switched calls, "Hey, I hear you talked to Luke this morning…"

"Man, word travels fast these days."

"How'd it go?"

"Good."

"That's it?" What is with him and his secret conversations? I got the good stuff out of Leslie, but Luke would be a harder nut to crack.

"We had a good talk… We're good." I could tell that he was smiling as he spoke; He knew it was going to drive me crazy not knowing what they talked about. Butt-faced miscreant. "… How about Emily? Do I need body armor for tonight?"

I still hadn't figured that one out. I should have asked my mom her thoughts on the Emily conversation. "I'm going to guess no, but only because she just got her floors refinished. I cannot make promises for any non-bodily harm."

"I'll take those odds. Should I pick you up at your place?"

"The office probably…"

"You're going to let me into the office?" He was teasing me again.

"I'm sifting through all of these new potential leads, seeing as I get to have my pick… I will meet you downstairs."

"Whatever you say, Ace. 4:30. Emily will kill both of us if we're late."

I really had quite the stack of leads in my box; Gerry was serious about giving me my choice. In the back of my head I heard what Logan and Leslie had said about him needing to keep me happy, and wondering how this was going to play out. If Gerry really is trying to keep me happy, he's going to run what I write, which would negate the need I had to sell freelance. But if I don't do more freelance writing, I could be missing out on other opportunities… maybe even another shot at the The Times.

** I do not own any characters or content related to Gilmore Girls or any other entities mentioned. **

A/N - I know some of you were hoping for a turn around in Shira, but honestly it's just too fun to write her this way, and too many opportunities for our favorite couple to fight together. There's definitely some big things on the horizon so stay tuned!

Keep up the comments, follows and favorites. It has been so exciting for me to hear from you! xx