Life had started to pass by in a bit of a whirlwind of wedding planning and arrangements. With so much to do in such a short space of time, Rory was really starting to regret having opted for such a short engagement but she knew that she was pretty fortunate to have people like her grandmother around, who were only too happy to take the reins when the planning all got a bit too much for her. She knew that it would mean a lot to Emily to be involved with the arrangements, so when it came to down to choosing the menu for the meal at their wedding reception, Rory made sure to invite her along.
She met Emily at the Union League Café for lunch while Logan was at work. He was happy to trust Rory's opinions and whatever she wanted to go with would be fine with him. For once, Rory actually looked forward to spending some time alone with the grandmother, it had been a while since they had spent any quality time together. Emily had been far more accepting of the whole situation than she ever would have thought possible and it had definitely brought them closer together in recent times.
"Rory, you look absolutely radiant," Emily said as she greeted her granddaughter when she walked into the brasserie. "I think that being in love must agree with you" she smiled.
"Hello grandma" Rory smiled. "I'm really glad you could come today, I needed some help making these decisions on food and somehow I think that you might be far better qualified than me or mom"
"Well, quite. I'd dread to think what would be served up to your guests if we left it to your mother. Probably fried chicken and Pop Tarts." Emily rolled her eyes.
They took their seat at the table that had been laid out for them and settled in to enjoy a long leisurely lunch. The restaurant brought out samples of the various dishes that they thought appropriate for the event, talking them through what each dish incorporated.
"The food is delicious here Rory, however did you find this place?" Emily asked.
"It was Logan's suggestion," Rory said.
"That boy has excellent taste" Emily said knowingly.
She'd always been fond of Logan. Of course, that opinion changed slightly when she discovered Rory was to be a single mother. Rory had never openly announced Logan as the father back then but everyone had pretty much assumed and Emily wasn't blind – the likeness between father and daughter was remarkable.
After a somewhat long discussion and a pretty intense scoring system on Rory's part, they had finally settled on their menu. The wedding meal would start with an appetizer of 'Souffle de Saint-Jacques et Crevettes' - a New England sea scallop and shrimp mousseline and lobster bisque. This would then be followed by 'Filet de Boeuf Bordelaise' – pan roasted beef tenderloin served with a potato gratin with French green beans and a shallot and Cabernet reduction. Finally, when it came to dessert there was really only one option for Rory – it went without saying that she would choose the only dessert on the menu laced with coffee! The 'Chaud-froid choco-vanille' was a bittersweet chocolate-espresso mousse that was served with warm chocolate sauce, vanilla bean ice-cream and chocolate tuile. It was by far Rory's favorite part of the meal. After they'd made their final choices they sat back enjoying a coffee.
"You look very happy Rory," Emily said as she looked at her granddaughter.
"I am grandma" she smiled. "I feel like I have been given a second chance, you know?"
"I do" Emily smiled and nodded. "And I am very happy that things are working out for you."
After they had finished their coffees, Emily and Rory spent some time walking around the Yale campus in the sunshine, with Rory pointing out exactly where the ceremony would be held. Emily had extremely fond memories of visiting Richard on campus back when they were dating and it was the place that he had proposed to her. It held so many special memories, she was happy that her granddaughter also loved the place dearly.
Rory said her goodbyes to her grandmother and headed off to Rich Man's Shoe, where she had plans with Logan to meet their friends for a drink after they had finished work that day. As most of them, including Logan, had to travel to New Haven, she was the first one there and so she slipped off to the bathroom to check her appearance. She smoothed down the elegant fitted black dress she had chosen to wear to the lunch, spritzed herself with some perfume and carefully reapplied her lipstick. Taking one last glance in the mirror she opened the bathroom door and not looking at all where she was going, she walked straight into Logan.
"Fancy seeing you here," Logan said with a smile. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him as he kissed her passionately on the lips.
After a couple of moments, Rory begrudgingly pulled away for air. She couldn't believe that after all this time Logan still had the ability to fluster her and take her breath away.
"Well, that was some hello" Rory smiled as Logan released her from his hold and they walked back into the bar hand-in-hand.
"How was lunch with Emily?" Logan asked, "Did you get everything sorted?"
"We did and I think you'll like it" she said "but really, it's too bad if you don't because I've ordered it anyhow, and if you don't like it then I'll just have to eat the chocolate espresso mousse for you because it was divine" she rambled on dreamily as they walked over to the table where their friends had arrived and had already ordered the drinks in.
"So we're here to discuss the most important part of Logan and Rory's wedding, the bachelor party," Finn said as he rubbed his hands in glee.
"Ahem, and the bachelorette party…" Steph added.
"Do we really have to have a bachelorette?" Rory groaned "I'm really not bothered…" She'd never been keen on the idea, it wasn't really her scene at all but she also knew that the girls were not going to let her off the hook that easily. There was going to be a more civilized bridal shower with her mom and other friends but she had been pre-warned by Rosemary, Steph and Juliet that there would have to be some serious partying.
"Yes, we have to!" Steph exclaimed "Don't worry, we're not going to go too crazy…and we're kind of syncing our plans with the boys."
Logan raised an eyebrow at Colin and Finn. He had no problem meeting up with the girls on the night but he knew that it wouldn't be high up on his friend's agenda. He'd already told them he wanted to go relatively low-key and it was to involve absolutely no naked or semi-naked women.
"Disappointingly we knew that you wouldn't be up for some big Vegas blow-out so we decided to do it closer, in New York and while we're not happy about it, after a lot of pestering, we've agreed to let the girls in on the night." said to Logan as he looked at Steph who rolled her eyes. "But not all night" he added in a warning tone.
"Don't blame me?" Steph said "Blame these two who can't be apart for more than five minutes" she gestured at the loved-up couple. Rory had said that the only way she was going to go on some wild night out was if they hooked up with the boys at some point. It had kind of backfired on her as she had thought that Finn and Colin would veto the idea but she had massively underestimated Steph's persuasive powers.
"The theme is…drumroll please Colin….One night in New York!" Finn shouted "It's going to be a night like no other!" he winked.
"Sounds…intriguing" Logan said looking at Rory. "Just let me know in advance if whatever we are going to do is going to involve bail money…" he joked.
"Girls, we are going to need to go on a serious shopping trip," Rosemary said, "This sounds like a killer outfit is going to be required."
"Oh yes ladies, our theme is very dark and noir. Outfits need to be smokin' hot." Finn smirked.
"Sounds like a drunken night of debauchery is on the cards to me" Juliet laughed and Finn winked at her.
"Is there any better way to send our man and his lovely fiancé off?" he said as he raised his glass and beckoned for everyone else to join him. "Cheers. To Rory and Logan," he said as they all clinked their glasses together.
Rory took off her dress and walked into the bathroom where Logan was brushing his teeth and started rummaging around in one of the cupboards.
"That maid keeps moving my stuff" Rory grumbled.
"What have you lost Ace," Logan said as she stood up and looked around the bathroom.
"My pill. I left the packet just here" she said as she pointed to the counter. "It was there his morning and now it's gone. I will never get used to having someone tidying up after me!"
"Maybe you should take it as a sign," Logan said as he walked up behind her and kissed her gently on the neck.
"Huh?" Rory said not really paying much attention.
"I mean, do you really need to take it? We're getting married soon…"
Rory spun around to look at him "What?! You're not serious?" she laughed. "Ah there they are!" she said as she reached up to take the packet off the shelf. She grabbed them and popped one in her mouth before looking at Logan.
"Oh my god, you ARE serious," she said as she took a step back.
"Would it really be so bad?" Logan shrugged.
Rory looked at Logan incredulously "You want to have another baby?"
"The first one we made didn't turn out so bad" he smiled "Lily's is amazing Ace, I could have a million more like her."
"And I'm sure we will, well maybe not a million, but another one at least," Rory said. She couldn't quite believe what she was hearing.
"So why wait?" Logan asked her. "Why not just do it? It would be great for Lily to have a little brother and sister relatively close in age."
Rory just shook her head without speaking.
"I missed out on so much with Lily…"
"That is not a good reason to have another child, Logan." Rory said, "I mean, I am still at grad school, now is so not a good time."
"There'll never a be a good time Ace. Come on" he said as he put his arms around her waist.
"Logan! No!" she said as she pulled away. "I don't want to have another baby right now!" she shouted.
Logan paced over to the other side of the room and pushed his hair back with his hands. "So it's all about you. It's always about what you want Rory. You didn't want to get married so we didn't and we broke up. You didn't want to tell me that you were pregnant so you didn't and I missed out on almost the first year of my daughter's life…"
"That is not fair," Rory said as she started to cry "You cannot just throw that in my face all the time. I thought we were leaving the past in the past".
Rory watched as Logan walked past her into the bedroom and pulled on some clothes. "Logan, where are you going?" she shouted as she watched him as he walked out of the room without looking back at her.