Chapter 30
As it turned out, having this many capable pairs of hands between the two houses was a good thing when it came to cleaning up storm damage. Even with the help money could buy, considering how much there was to do, the task was overwhelming. The yards were full of branches, trash that had gotten blown out of some neighbor's garbage, garden furniture strewn about, and so on. Rory's place looked miserable, and even worse once the rain eventually stopped, the hole in the room having collapsed as much bigger than it had initially been.
Rory was astonished by Logan's quick acting, however, as she stood next to him 36 hours later, watching the construction crew start to empty her room out of all the debris. Of course, she would pay for this, but she enjoyed staying oblivious to the exact costs and what strings Logan had pulled to get them there on such short notice at a time of urgent need. For the first time in her life, she could just trust someone else with something like that, without having to worry about her partner audibly fretting about costs and whether or not anyone was out to over charge and bilk them. Tucker's inability to relax about things concerning money had only magnified in time as he'd begun to sense more notably how Rory was the one with the purse strings, and that even while he was the one making more money most of the time.
"I'm glad you weren't hurt," Logan hummed, allowing Rory to lean onto his chest, and gently kissed her temple. Not too publicly, being constantly aware of where the kids were, but it was not like they didn't know they were affectionate. They just didn't rub it in.
"It didn't really register how bad it could've been at the time," Rory sighed, watching the crew work.
"I'm certainly not minding having you in my bed these days," Logan murmured, the hot air from his mouth, causing Rory's neck to form goosebumps. She knew very well what he meant. Technically she was still staying in Honor's room with Corinne, but her daughter had basically told her to just go to him, knowing her mom wanted to. In that sense Rory was relieved of that openness in their relationship. If Corinne been as candid in return, things would've been fine. But Rory sensed Corinne had really just wanted to be alone. Rory could only hope her daughter didn't spend all of that time wallowing.
"You know, once they clear out the worst of it, I could move into Corinne's room," Rory said. Mostly she just didn't want to be in the way, feeling like after the hole was covered up, she'd had little reason to pretend the house was uninhabitable. After all, they'd gotten the all-clear on the stability by now. Mostly it was now about the water damage, redoing the bedroom interior and the roof, changing the window and a thousand other little things. Rory liked to joke about that list being short, while it really wasn't. But despite it, the majority of the house was in fine shape and there were no obstacles for her to live in it.
"Don't you dare," Logan roared quietly.
"Or what?" Rory teased, not minding some roleplay.
"Oh, I'll think of something," Logan cautioned ominously. But no matter how much he enjoyed having Rory in his bed, he knew that moving her in like this probably wasn't the best thing for his kids. It was clear that his attention had been more on Rory than them, and he was not out to give them that impression, even if in the moment it was perfectly excusable whilst he was dealing with the storm damage.
Rory's phone was what interrupted their naughty-talk, pinging to alert her of Tucker's arrival, who'd sent a voice message saying he'd just passed Freeport.
"I better go tell Cor to get ready," Rory replied, pulling herself away from Logan. It was like the past was invading her present, and she was very reluctant for every such interaction.
"Um… you want me to scram?" Logan asked. He wasn't going to push meeting this guy, despite being deeply curious and, to tell you the truth, a little territorial too. He wasn't used to feeling like this - if he didn't know any better - he'd call it jealousy, but he knew that there were levels on which Tucker and Rory had connected on that were way deeper than he and Rory had in the short time they'd known each other. There was little he could do about the years that they'd had, and that he and Rory had missed. He didn't know why he kept coming back to that train of thought - like somehow all their life - they'd been just out of reach for each other. Apart by distance, by other people, by careers, by the couple of degrees of separation that Logan found especially annoying to think about. Had no-one ever thought to introduce them? For once, it would've been an introduction he would've welcomed. Or would he have realized back then just how special she was?
"Um…," Rory hesitated, honestly not wanting him to leave. It felt so comforting to have him close by. But at the same time, she really didn't want there to be any tension. It was not like they were getting ready to marry or something. And Tucker had shown her the same courtesy of not rubbing any of the women he dated. Tucker hadn't even introduced any of the women he saw to Corinne, and on this subject, Rory was already the devil in his eyes, having never hid the fact that she dated.
"Yeah, of course, I got to…" Logan replied himself, having not meant to make this into an issue. He was not pushing it. He never finished that thought that should've been concluded with a convenient excuse about a task he would need to go and attend to.
"I just want to avoid problems…, I'm tiptoeing around him at each exchange. Co-parenting in regard to raising Cor hasn't come easily to us, and I fear he might use her moodiness, you know - her age - against me, if I piss him off," Rory explained briefly.
Logan appreciated the explanation, but he found many things wrong with that logic as well. But this was not a moment to discuss it in depth. He realized that should be a topic for later time.
"Yeah, I get it," he said, trying to sound understanding.
"I'll see you later," Rory said, trying to return some of that earlier flirting into her tone.
Logan watched her walk towards the house to look for Corinne, not minding observing the swing of her hips one bit. But mostly Logan just tried to grasp what he was feeling. Sure, he'd been protective sometimes about his dates before, but this was different. This wasn't just about who would be seen on whose arm, but in Rory's case, how her interactions with her ex were actually affecting her, and how he wanted her to feel empowered when just being herself. He hated seeing how Tucker still had some power over her. It was an odd layer to her, one very easily forgotten since on her own and with Logan Rory was always a very confident woman, who knew and always spoke what she wanted.
Logan returned to his house, taking advantage of the bit of fence that had been blown off and left a hole between their yards, enabling him to simply step over the lower rail.
"Hey, dad!" Liam said, wanting his attention.
It was then Logan saw that his eldest wasn't alone. The girl who let go of Liam's chest, having had her arms wrapped around his torso, at the sight of Logan, was pretty. Her smile was broad like Madison Ziegler's, and her blond hair was frizzy like Maria Carey's in the 90s. Logan could definitely see what Liam saw in her, and her beachy mini-dress definitely showed off all of her best assets.
"Hey," Logan replied, not wanting to outright stare. But he too was just a man, and had on occasion found women, younger and older, attractive.
"This is Bailey. We're going to hang out for a bit, okay?" Liam said, rather saying than asking. But he had every right to assume Logan had no problem with him having a girl over. He never had before, even if this hadn't been something he'd done yet in this house.
"Hi, nice to meet you," Bailey said.
"You too," Logan replied. "And, yeah, sure…, "he added, feeling for a moment some doubt whether this was part of parenting that he needed to adjust based on everything he and Rory had discussed about. It was no secret Liam had sex, he'd had a handful of more serious girlfriends and god-knows how many other causal relationships. If anything, Liam took after Logan to a scary amount, minus his reluctance to commit early on. Liam was more experimental than him, for sure, too. He'd even tried dating three girls at once one time, and everyone in their house had heard how that hadn't turned out like the best plan despite everyone technically agreeing on it.
Liam and Bailey, headed into the living room ahead of him, and Liam went to offer the girl a beverage.
"Let me know if you want some pizza later," Logan added, wanting to be supportive, but leaving a reason for them to actually come out for air after a while. He didn't need to tell Liam to be 'safe', having made sure the guys always had condoms available in their rooms, even if he didn't stock them himself but had the housekeeper do it.
Logan headed for the office, just adjacent to the living room, whilst Liam and Bailey settled to enjoy their drinks and chat a little on the couch. Logan couldn't directly see them, but from their giggling and the girl's purring he could assume that they were getting a little physical.
"Get a room," Logan then heard Theo's voice mumble, as he walked from the basement and by the sound of it to the fridge, possibly to get a snack.
"Mind your business," Liam huffed, and threw a throw pillow at his brother.
Logan heard Bailey whisper something, and he could pretty much imagine the content, hearing the two get up from the couch.
Theo groaned, and closed the fridge with a thump. Logan, having not terribly much planned for the day, closed his laptop lid, and considered whether this might've been his moment. But remembering something Rory had said that the worst thing that could happen was that Theo could just refuse - Logan decided to jump.
"You playing that new game again?" Logan asked, stepping to the doorway just as Theo passed him, carrying a bag of kale chips and a bottle of Perrier.
"Yeah," Theo replied, sounding a little skeptical of his interest.
"Mind if I join you?" Logan asked.
Theo crooked his eyebrow. It was not that Logan never played with them, it was just that he didn't do it often, having for the major part of their lives been too busy to, or alternatively, he simply never asked so formally. In this house, the game room in the basement was very much the boys' territory, and Logan hadn't felt too comfortable intruding on their time there.
"Rory has her ex arriving in a few minutes, I'd rather just distract myself…," Logan shared, nearly admitting to his son how he wasn't indifferent to the interaction.
"Okay, whatever," Theo replied.
"I'll be down in a sec," Logan said, not wanting to show off the broadness of his smile too much, and went to get himself a drink too.
An hour into the game, most of the time spent by Theo explaining the game to Logan, who found himself surprisingly clumsy at this game, little by little other topics began to slip into their conversations.
"The town is a mess after the storm - a bunch of posters were torn down and you know that big fence on North Street - that was completely down," Theo shared about his visit to Freeport this morning. "Daniel, this guy I know - he works at the coffee shop - said half the town had a power outage too," he added.
"I'm glad you two have gotten to know people in town," Logan replied. It was not as easy with Eléa, but there he struggled to think of things to do to help.
"It's hard not to, it's such a small place. Everyone knows everyone," Theo replied.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Logan asked.
"We'll see," Theo shrugged.
"Has Liam known this Bailey for a while?" Logan decided to ask, after Theo had briefly mentioned some names and their experiences with the storm.
"Not that I know of. But you know him…," Theo explained, adding a slight yawn that honestly felt more like an avoidance more than anything else.
For a moment there was silence, both sides, trying very hard to tread carefully, considering their own viewpoint.
"You're not going to insist we have some kind of a heart-to-heart talk, are you?" Theo asked, beating Logan to it.
Logan chuckled, loving this side of him. He was so outspoken sometimes, and other times he didn't understand why he clammed up so hard.
"Am I that obvious?" Logan asked.
"There's just nothing to talk about," Theo claimed.
"I'm just worried about you," Logan said.
"Well, don't be," Theo wanted to show strength and confidence.
"I think it's a parent's job, so…," Logan replied.
Theo was just about to say something, but Logan stopped him. "And yes, I know I haven't been around enough. But I hope that you can see that I'm trying to make a change. I'm not perfect, I don't do or say everything perfectly, but I expect that the same amount of crap I forgive you, you forgive me too… Or do I have to remind you about blowing up the microwave that one time?" Logan said.
Theo continued to focus on the game for a moment.
"I just want you to know that if there's anything… you can talk to me. About anything," Logan emphasized, hoping desperately that he would get her message.
Theo was uncomfortable, clearly, and tried very hard to focus his attention on the game again.
"Did Rory say something?" Theo asked a minute later.
Logan exhaled, being not too sure about what to say.
"Not exactly. She was just concerned too," Logan said. "And, no, we don't spend our time talking about your lives behind your backs all the time," he added, anticipating his comment.
"Well, you can tell her there's nothing to be concerned about. There's nothing between me and Corinne," Theo replied.
"Well, I'm sure she'll be relieved to hear it," Logan said, not being too convinced of it.
"She's nice and all. But she's just a friend. Or I don't know… maybe not even that," Theo exhaled, saying more than he'd meant to.
"I'm sure you two will come around. The summer is still long. Friends make up," Logan added, hopefully.
"Yeah, maybe," Theo remained doubtful.
Suddenly the two heard a loud thump, like something being knocked over or something heavy falling down onto the floor upstairs. Liam was clearly enjoying himself, and the burst of laughter that followed proved it.
"There he goes again," Theo groaned, sounding annoyed.
"I've always thought that by giving you guys freedom. To go out, to be independent with money and to just not be this 'prison guard' type of parent, that I was doing you a favor. But I honestly don't know anymore if that's the case," Logan found himself admitting, regretting it the second he'd said it. This wasn't a conversation he was supposed to have with Theo.
"Well, I'm certainly not complaining," Theo replied.
"Yeah, I can imagine. I had my freedom too, but mostly my parents were just completely unaware of what went on in my life," Logan replied.
"Well, maybe that would be less embarrassing," Theo teased him, hearing another thump from upstairs.
"So, you're just better at keeping your rebellious acting out to yourself unlike your brother?" Logan decided to tease him back.
"Ah..," Theo exhaled, not finishing his thought.
Again, the game provided a convenient excuse to groan at a lost life, instead of sticking to the seriousness of the conversation.
"I just want you to know, that I don't expect you to be like your brother," Logan decided to then say, wanting to gently hint at having a hunch about his sexuality.
"I'm definitely not like Liam," Theo chuckled, shaking his head. "I just can't stand how he's always with some girl. Like physically… It's so weird having someone cling onto him everywhere we go," he added.
"We'll he's quite the ladies' man, what can I say," Logan replied, remembering well what that had been like.
"And you're here too… like 5 minutes in and you're like in love with Corinne's mom…," Theo replied, sharing his view.
"I don't know about that," Logan replied, not being yet used to use the word 'love' this freely.
"Yeah, but you get what I mean. It's like everywhere you go there's like a line to get to you," Theo explained, some disgust in his tone.
"It's not that bad, I'm sure," Logan argued. He wanted to add, that he was convinced that Theo could have that too – if he wanted it, that is. And Corinne clearly liked him, but that was that.
"I just hate comparing myself to you two," Theo shared, jolting Logan out of the joking mode, that he was developing.
Logan sighed, needing a moment to think. Maybe it really wasn't easy being the closeted gay guy in a family of ladies' men, if one put it crudely. Or even if that wasn't the case – it must've been a struggle to try to be like them. Not that he believed everyone needed to be like him. Many people Logan knew, had had very different love lives, some had even found their true loves, if there was such a thing, early on and never looked back.
"I just want you to know…," Logan began, taking a deep tactical breath, continuing - "…that I love you just the way you are…. whoever you will be as you figure out your life… career, relationships… whatever," becoming unexpectedly emotional. He held his breath for a moment, anticipating his response.
"Come on, dad… don't get mushy on me," Theo groaned, rolling his eyes. "And what, even if I decide to go to vocational school or something?" he added, in a chuckle, directing the topic to safer waters.
"You know there's actually a shortage of good tradesmen," Logan began to say. But he knew that Theo had meant it as a joke. The boy was far too smart to consider skipping college.
No big revelations or breakthroughs were made that day, but maybe just a few small ones, and they continued to joke about potential career routes Theo could imagine, and Logan shared from his experience with the variety of people he'd met. If nothing else, they were solidifying a friendship.
AN: just a disclaimer - I have absolutely nothing against vocational training or such jobs, I just tried to imagine what the reputation for such things might be in a family like the Hunzbergers where everyone goes to Ivy league schools.
Tell me what do you think?