AN: For those of you who are still with me, reading this, thank you so much for reading and especially those who are reviewing this. I am a sucker for reader engagement and it really makes a difference how quickly I want to come back to this story. Also if you're curious for a spoiler, check the end of this chapter.

Chapter 3

"Fine! Don't tell me who the father is," Emily Gilmore chimed, Rory and Lorelai expecting to hear a very obvious undertone of sarcasm in her tone. But it was almost as if the two couldn't place Emily's mood - she sounded way too fine with this - causing them to glance skeptically at each-other.

"It just wouldn't make any difference if you knew. He's not a part of this," Rory replied.

"Not a part of this?!" Emily exclaimed, unable to hide her disappointment this time around.

"I'll just leave you to discuss this…," Luke said, excusing himself from Christmas Eve dinner after dessert. This was not the discussion he wanted to be a part of, knowing how crazy it could get between the Gilmore women.

Emily had made great progress letting things go and caring less about what other people thought, but every once in a while, the old self still popped through. And this was certainly one time neither Rory or Lorelai had expected Emily to keep her cool.

"He lives really far away, too," Lorelai added in a pretend-whisper.

"Mom!" Rory scolded her mother, having talked strategy with her on the way over that under no circumstances was Emily to learn the paternity of this child. Rory had had nightmares about Emily grabbing the reins with Mitchum and Shira and that alone was enough to want her to keep things under wraps, not to mention the less-than-admirable nature of her and Logan's last relationship.

"Oh, I guess this means that you know?" Emily asked her daughter, mockingly. "Well, clearly I am not important enough to be let in on your little secret," she added, dramatically.

"Grandma, it's not like that," Rory tried to smooth things over. But there was little besides the truth that would make Emily feel good about this, or so her grandmother seemed to think.

"A child needs a mother and a father!" Emily replied, saying what she had said time and time again in her life. "Even if your mother claims otherwise based on her experience," she added in a mumble.

"Well, she's just going to have to deal with having just me," Rory sighed.

"And me," Lorelai added, squeezing her daughter's hand.

"It's a 'she'?" Emily reflected, her tone changing from mad to something softer.

"It is," Rory replied, and handed her grandmother the ultrasound picture of her little bean she'd brought for her grandmother to keep.

"Well...," Emily chimed, approvingly.

For a moment the three just sat there quietly, the fireplace looming in the background. Rory could just sense that her grandmother wasn't truly mad about the pregnancy - in fact, she was genuinely happy to get to see a great-grandchild before her time was through. After all, Rory was her only chance at ever meeting one.

"It's not that I don't trust you to know…," Rory felt she needed to explain further, unable to let things be. She just sensed that her grandmother was taking this the wrong way. "It's just…," Rory tried to think of something more to say.

"Well, it sure sounds like it!" Emily replied, frustratedly.

"I'm sorry," Rory hid her face in embarrassment.

"Mom, as I am sure you can imagine this isn't easy for her. It wouldn't be easy for anyone who's decided to go at this alone," Lorelai tried to say a word on Rory's behalf.

"Does he even know? And I mean - what if I am at some function and it turns out I am telling stories about my great-granddaughters first steps to someone at my table and I am the only one in the room who only knows part of the story?" Emily exclaimed, thinking up imaginary scenarios.

"That's assuming you run in the same circles, mom. I doubt that's the case," Lorelai chimed in, feeling proud of herself for having thought of a way to scatter suspicion away from Emily's circles. Thankfully that was the case, too, the Huntzbergers mostly spending their time across the ocean these days.

"And he will know. I am just in the process of telling him, actually," Rory added.

"What? I thought you...," Lorelai began, having thought that part of the process was already done with.

"I've just been having trouble getting in touch with him. I am sure I will, soon enough," Rory replied, trying to hide her disappointment through optimism.

"But are you sure he has no interest in becoming a father? I mean, he could want to be a part of her life for all we know? And with him being 'really far away' like you said - wouldn't that create an issue?" Emily discussed. "Maybe it's worth discussing things with a lawyer before you actually go telling him," she added, surprising everyone to be taking such a proactive stance.

"What?! It's never what you expect!" Lorelai commented to her daughter.

"I don't think it's an issue," Rory tried to explain, trusting Logan enough not to make her life difficult in any scenario.

"You can't take 'think' to the bank, that's for sure," Emily added, reassuring herself more and more that meeting her lawyers was the right way to go. "Right after the holidays, we're meeting with my lawyers, and that's final!" she added, leaving Rory baffled.

"I mean, maybe it isn't the worst idea," Lorelai shrugged.

Rory still meant to tell Logan, if he did get in touch with her before this. But she was beginning to realize it was a lot more difficult to talk herself out of the consultation than taking an hour or two just having the meeting to know what she was dealing with.

"So, have you thought about where you're going to live yet?" Emily asked, the more urgent topic seemed to have evaporated into thin air for the time being, determined to make sure her granddaughter had the means to take care of her offspring.

This caused Rory to sigh again, feeling like she knew where this would be going. And she wasn't wrong - by the end of the conversation she was being offered the Hartford house to live in, which naturally she was determined to refuse, and an offer to be bought a place in the best school districts wherever she wanted, next to other smaller things. While a small part of her was tempted to take the easy route, Rory was stubborn like her mother, at least in this stage.

The latter part of the conversation was a lot like the conversation Rory had in a couple of days with her father, minus her mother's presence who'd headed back to Stars Hollow after Christmas. This left Rory feeling like a charity case, but she couldn't deny that the feeling that she had something to fall back on, did add her a sense of security she'd missed without realizing how badly she'd needed it. If nothing else the baby would be loved and that love would be shown through showering her with gifts.

It was New Year's Eve and Rory sat in a lawn chair in Lane's back yard, a sleeping bag wrapped around her for warmth, around a fire pit, where Lane together with a bunch of her friends, mostly the band and a few others, were enjoying a beer and cooking marshmallows. A different, simpler, kind of celebration this year. But even without the drinking on her part, this was what Rory actually preferred. This felt less lonely than some of her former New Years Eves had been.

Zach, Gil and one of Gil's kids were playing Coldplay's 'Yellow' on acoustic guitars, proving the evening to actually have exceptional entertainment, even if it was just for background. People were talking, laughing, and some were also enjoying a few shots. But amongst all that adult life, there were also kids, teenagers mostly, messing around with harmless fire crackers.

"So, did Taylor get you any listings to see yet?" Lane asked, returning to sit by her friend who'd been mostly just staring at the fire, not feeling much like chatting.

"Not yet. Maybe day after tomorrow," Rory exhaled, having told Lane already about her grandmother and father showering her with alternative offers. It was good to have a friend like Lane around, who'd put things in perspective for her - complaining about having fallbacks was not something to be proud about and Rory had in fact pulled back on the topic considerably, realizing accepting help was going to be one of the things she simply needed to learn how to do. Because from everything she'd heard from Lane about raising kids - help was one thing she was certainly going to need.

"You can come with me if you want?" Rory encouraged, not minding someone's second opinion. She was beginning to understand what her mother had once said in passing - how sometimes it was good to have a husband to lean on in decisions and hardship.

"Maybe," Lane said, casually.

The next moment Rory's phone rang. Rory jumped, but not as much as she had the past five times it had rang since Christmas, having nearly given up hope it would be him.

The look of sheer panic as she glanced down at the caller ID was evident for Lane as well, who simply made an encouraging face and crossed her fingers, hoping for the best for her friend. Rory pulled herself out of her chair and made her way indoors, wanting some quiet for this particular call. This was it.

"Hello?" Rory said, her voice breaking as she said it. She closed the doors to Lane's kitchen, Sookie's former kitchen, looking for privacy.

"Rory?" Logan's unmistakable voice asked in return.

"Um, yeah," she replied, clearing her throat.

"I wasn't sure if it was you," Logan said, explaining his hesitance.

"No, it's me," Rory replied, apologetically.

"I didn't expect to hear from you…. And I didn't realize it was you behind this name at first… What was with the fake name?" Logan explained, squeezing in an apology in there for not returning the call sooner. Mostly there was just the sound of disbelief that it was really her at the other end of this call in his tone.

"Um, yeah. I don't know what that was about… I guess I panicked a little when I wasn't patched right through," Rory admitted.

Rory heard Logan exhale deeply, realizing she wasn't too used to that when calling him.

"So, how are you?" Logan asked, his tone reminding Rory of how his voice sounded at night.

"I'm okay," Rory said. "And I guess, congratulations are in order?" she added, letting on that she knew about the wedding. Rory had to clench her teeth after she'd said it to keep it together, having to remind herself how things were

"Yeah, thanks," Logan replied, pausing a little before he said it. It was hard to hear those words from Rory, and at least this pause gave Rory a hint of his struggle.

"Listen… about why I called," Rory began, knowing she just needed to get it out there. But at the same time, she struggled, realizing it must've been in the middle of the night that Logan was calling her. Thinking about whether he was doing this in secret or what his reasons or settings to call at this hour were, distracted her enough to make it sound like she was hesitating.

"Yeah?" Logan encouraged her, reminding her to focus. "If this is about the house…," he began.

"Um, no. It's funny, because it seems everyone keeps offering me places to live these days," Rory chuckled nervously. But before neither had a chance to say anything else, Rory just spit it out - "Logan, I'm pregnant."

There was just a barely audible noise of shock Rory could hear from the other side.

"And it's yours, if you hadn't figured that out in these 10 seconds already. I know this is not how this was supposed to go. And I'm sorry. I didn't plan this - it was an accident. I hope you won't completely hate me for it but I just couldn't get rid of her, but believe me, I'm not expecting anything from you. I know I am in no place to expect anything…. I have a support system here. And I just needed to let you know. Because it's only fair, you know? And now you do. And I understand if you may want to talk about this at some point, but it's fine if you don't. I won't take offense," Rory blabbered, there being a lot of information squeezed into her conclusive speech.

This was really not the conversation Logan had expected to have and he couldn't really get a word out, at best he'd expected this to be an exchange of congratulations or the sorts.

"And I'm fine, and the baby's fine. It's a 'she' and I just wanted to wait to tell you until I was sure everything was fine, you know?" Rory continued to blabber.

"Okay," Logan said, the statement coming out so non distinct Rory struggled to grasp what was going through his mind.

As Rory waited for him to say something more, the people outside began to count down from then, Rory having clearly missed the highlight of the evening.

"Happy New Year, Rory," Logan exhaled, having picked this moment to call her back specifically for this.

"Happy New Year to you too," Rory replied. Their relationship had changed for good - they were 'nothing' but definitely 'something', and not just something for the time-being but for the rest of their lives even if they hadn't truly comprehended it yet.


AN: As a bit of a SPOILER or this story, as it seems to be necessary to get people reading this (not sure if they read the 3rd chapter for a spoiler though), my theory in this is that Rory is simply not ready for Logan to form a proper relationship yet. I enjoy writing and seeing her also with others but as means of personal growth. Logan is always going to be in her life, it's just the matter of format, allowing 'something' to linger. I hope you get what that may mean. And if I am able to - I hope to make this storyline span years, leaving plenty of time for anything.