Several hours later, Logan lay awake watching Rory sleep. He loved the way her eyelashes graced her lower lids when she slept. He knew that he needed to talk to her more about their conversation. Things were happening too fast. Finally she opened her eyes and noticed him watching her. "Good morning," she offered quietly.
"'Morning, Ace."
"What are you thinking about?" she asked him.
"We really should talk more about our conversation last night," he sighed.
"I thought we were good," she said as she tried to turn away.
"No, wait," he said as he put his arm around her. "I think the decision to have a family needs to be a clear decision, not when we're both filled with dopamine fresh off of orgasms." She sniffed so he continued. "Its not that I don't want that with you. I really do. But we've been back together for a week and I think I want to spend more time with just you before we add another person. I hope that makes sense."
"But Logan, last night you said..." she trailed off with tears in her eyes.
"Ace, stop. I swear I'm not rejecting you. I just want to be with you for a while longer, okay?" He offered her a weak smile which she tried to return. "Besides, you haven't even made a pro/con list." He smirked at her.
"How do you know?" She returned his smirk with an arched eyebrow.
"Rory, seriously. Is it terrible that I want to be more deliberate about having a family with you?" He braced himself for her to tell him to get out.
Rory took a deep breath and finally said, "Ugh."
"Ugh?" he repeated.
"Yeah, ugh! I hate when you're right."
Logan chuckled softly. "Seriously, are we okay?"
She smiled and nodded, "Yep," she whispered before she kissed him.
After a trip to a pharmacy and then a leisurely lunch, Rory met Lorelei and Emily at the salon for an afternoon of hair and makeup, per their yearly tradition. Their first stop was pedicures. The women were in a row with their feet in tubs of parafin wax, Emily then Lorelei in the middle, then Rory on the other end. Lorelei muttered to herself, "Oh good, I get to be the referee!"
"What was that, Lorelei?" Emily demanded.
"Nothing, Mom."
"I distinctly heard you say something crude and I don't appreciate it," Emily replied.
"Speaking of people saying crude things, what was your problem last night, Grandma?" Rory finally asked.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You've loved Logan since before I ever met him. You probably loved his last name since the first time you heard it. So what's the problem?"
Lorelei sat in the middle of them, watching their verbal sparring, whipping her head back and forth like she was watching a ping pong match.
"Rory, you were engaged to be married to Dr. Anderson last week. And now you're galavanting with Logan Huntzberger!"
"Galavanting?"
"Ok, fine. Not galavanting, parading. The optics are terrible."
"The OPTICS?!" You're worried about the optics? Stewart cheated on me. Once I broke up with him, I'm free to do whatever I want."
"And what you choose to DO is LOGAN?!" Emily sneered.
"ALRIGHT!" Lorelei stood up in her paraffin foot bath. "Enough!" She looked from her mother to her daughter and back to her mother.
"Oh, no. We're going to finish this. I certain hope no one finds out about this before the gala," Emily continued.
Rory raised her eyebrows. "Well, if they don't know by now, they are going to find out AT the gala. Logan is coming with me!"
"Like hell he is. THIS is not DONE in society!" Emily ranted.
"If I'm going, he's going. And my name is on the building." Rory stared at Emily and waited for her to say something else. "By the way, its your fault that half of America knew I was engaged in the first place. If you had not sent out that ridiculous engagement announcement, you wouldn't be in this mess, would you?"
Lorelei continued staring at both of them. "Just stop! I actually look forward to this afternoon every year. I get a little spa day and to spend a few hours with the two of you. If you two can't call a goddamn truce, get out because I'm having a RELAXING FUCKING SPA DAY!"
Twenty minutes later, Lorelei had to trade a few free nights at the Dragonfly to avoid being thrown out because of their family's tantrum. The three of them were in the salon at adjacent chairs having services done. Rory was getting an intricate up-do to go with her gown, Lorelei asked for the perfect blowout while Emily's usual perfect hair just needed to be slightly perfected. Out of nowhere, Emily asked Rory, "Hey, remember when WE embarrassed your mother by arguing?!"
Rory smirked at Emily. "Yep! Never thought THAT would happen!" They continued to joke as though Lorelei wasn't there until the truce was real and the fight was over.
Quietly, Lorelei asked, "Do you think Stewart would actually show up tonight?"
Emily replied, "I would rather see him than that odious KAREN."
Rory silently sat there, hoping that they would both stay home. Finally she admitted, "I think the Huntzbergers are attending too."
Emily almost choked on her mimosa. "You're kidding. They've NEVER attended before."
"Yeah, well... I think Mitchum is trying to get back in Logan's good graces," Rory shrugged.
Lorelei said, "Its not Mitchum that's the problem. Although, it might be fun to see a Karen-Shira showdown..."
Rory's eyes were wide at the idea. "Oh, man... we could sell tickets to that."
Emily cleared her throat very loud because she just noticed Shira enter the salon.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Lorelei muttered.
"Emily. Hello." Shira said curtly as she noticed them.
"Shira, what a wonderful surprise. How are you?" Emily greeted her coolly.
"I'm fabulous. Mitchum and I just returned from the South of France. He insisted on celebrating our anniversary - you know how it is."
Emily smirked at her, "Yes. I know EXACTLY how it is." She cleared her throat. "Have you ever met my daughter Lorelei? And of course you remember Rory."
Lorelei narrowed her eyes at the fake woman with the faker blonde hair. "Oh. I've heard SO much about you."
"Lorelei... He-llllllooooo" she dripped in her fake saccharine voice. "Rory. What a nice surprise," she declared in an even faker voice.
Rory gave her a slight smile, "Good afternoon."
Shira said, "I guess we're all spending the evening together at the Yale gala."
Emily raised her nose slightly and said, "Oh, you mean the benefit gala at RORY's astronomy building?"
Shira's face blanched and she blinked a few times. "Yes, I guess I do. I noticed you recently got engaged... although you seem to have forgotten your ring," she commently slyly.
Rory straightened her back and said, "Well, the news you read was incorrect. Not all newspapers are as skilled at fact checking as others. Some are simply gossip rags. The paper that printed that picture may as well have been the Enquirer," she said with a smirk knowing all too well that it was a HPG paper.
Emily and Lorelei exchanged surprised looks as Shira blinked a few times and made an excuse to visit the ladies room.