The Anderson's backyard was a pastel dream - hydrangeas and daffodils in full bloom, brunch spread straight from a Martha Stewart fever dream, and a battleground of tiny, determined children on a mission for candy. The air smelled of fresh grass, warm pastries, and Honor's faintly hidden cigarette smoke (after a particularly trying phone call with her father) despite her valiant, but ultimately futile effort to mask it with a mimosa.

Logan, ever the overachieving strategist, had appointed himself head coach of the egg hunt.

"Alright, troops," he declared, crouching to Jack's level. "The key to a successful mission is speed, stealth, and -"

"Daddy, we want to start. NOW!" Jack squealed, hisusual calm demeanour had been replaced by a sugar filled craze.

Logan pressed his free hand to his chest, feigning deep betrayal. "What is this? No respect for tactical brilliance?"

Jack gave him a deadpan look, clearly inherited from his mother. "Eggs. Now."

Logan sighed, defeated. "Fine, fine. But remember - bushes are your best friends."

Jack did not wait for further instructions. He took off at a determined sprint, basket in hand, zigzagging across the yard with the single-minded focus of a sugar-fuelled child on a mission.

Meanwhile, Emma, dressed in an adorable dark green romper with tiny embroidered daisies, was blissfully oblivious to the competition. She was too busy giggling in Logan's arms, her chubby fingers wrapped around a plastic egg, gnawing on it like it was the greatest treasure in her existence.

Logan pressed a kiss to the crown of her wispy blonde curls. "Alright, Munchkin, let's get you in on the action."

He lifted her into the air like a tiny human rocket, spinning her around as she squealed in delight.

"Who's the best Easter egg finder?" he asked, zooming her toward a bright pink egg hidden in the grass. "You are! Yes, you are!"

Emma kicked her legs excitedly as he swooped her down so she could clumsily grab the egg with her chubby fingers. Logan grinned. "That's my girl! First Huntzberger egg of the day!"

From the sidelines, Rory and Honor watched on, mimosas in hand.

Honor, exhaled a laugh, shaking her head, the oversized sunglasses perched atop her head threatening to fall. "I swear, if you'd told me ten years ago that Logan would bethisdad, I would have bet a hundred bucks against it."

Rory laughed, watching as Logan continued to fly Emma around like an airplane, making exaggerated swooshing noises. "Yeah, me too."

"Don't get me wrong," Honor said, sipping her mimosa. "I always knew he'd befun -like, 'takes the kids to Disneyland and buys them an unreasonable amount of churros' fun. But he'sall in, you know? The way he is with Jack and Emma…" She trailed off, shaking her head with a soft smile. "It's pretty amazing. This full-on, bedtime-stories, lets-his-kid-cover-him-in-glitter, dad mode. He was always the fun uncle to Gracie and Caden, but just seeing him with his own kids is something else. "

Rory glanced at her daughter, now being dipped dramatically toward another egg, clearly having the time of her life, beaming from ear to ear. "Yeah. It really is."

Honor was quiet for a beat, then, almost casually, she said, "I always wondered why you said no."

Rory blinked. "Huh?"

"To the proposal," Honor clarified. "I mean, I get it. You were young. You wanted to explore the world. But the two of you weresoin love." She took another sip of her drink. "He was a mess when he left for San Francisco."

Rory groaned. "I think I'm going to need that cigarette for this conversation."

Honor snorted. "Sorry. Too late. You're already in it."

Rory sighed, watching as Logan twirled Emma around, his face pure joy.

"Look," she said. "It wasn't about not loving him. Because, obviously, I did. A lot. at twenty-two? I barely knew whoIwas, let alone how to be somebody's wife. I'm pretty sure I still don't."

Honor nodded. "Yeah, I get that."

"I mean, think about it. At that point, we'd been together for what? Three years? And for a solid chunk of that, we were either breaking up or navigating long distance." Rory shook her head. "If I had said yes, I think I would've woken up one day, five years in, feeling trapped. Not because of him, but because I wouldn't havelivedyet. I had things I needed to do, things I needed to figure out. He had things to as well. Logan was always the adventurous one out of the two of us. He needed to find his path in life. If anything, the time off, even if we did start up again in a less-than-perfect situation, actually did us some good."

Honor studied her for a long moment, then asked, "And now?"

Rory's lips quirked. "Now, I know exactly what I want. We've at least talked about it now. We're both happy with how we are right now. We aren't planning to get married, but that's ok. Everyone always expects us whenever we come to the States to say "Surprise! He put a ring on it." But it's just not something I want and we are happy the way we are."

"And Logan - is he happy?"

"Yeah, he really is. He settled back in as CEO after his paternity leave and he's happy the Japan merger is finally sorted. But he's happy, I'm happy, we're both happy."

Across the yard, Logan caught her eye, lifting Emma in a victorious pose as she clutched her little plastic egg like a trophy. He grinned. "You seeing this? Our daughter is achampion!"

Rory laughed. "Unstoppable!"

Emma babbled happily, wiggling in Logan's arms.

Honor exhaled, shaking her head with a knowing smile. "I'm just glad you aren't Odette right now."

Rory choked on her mimosa.

Logan stood by the mimosa station, phone pressed to his ear, his expression caught somewhere between exasperation and amusement. Across the yard, Jack was leading a tactical egg hunt charge, while Emma sat happily in the grass, more interested in squishing the plastic eggs than collecting them. Rory, ever the supportive mother, was offering enthusiastic commentary, despite knowing full well that Emma's strategy leaned more towardvibesthanvictory.

Honor strolled over, sipping her drink. She raised an eyebrow at Logan's face. "Mom or Dad?"

Logan covered the receiver with his hand. "Mom."

Honor smirked. "Let me guess - 'When are you and Roryfinallygetting married, Logan?'" She mimicked Shira's clipped tone perfectly.

Logan sighed. "That, and an invitation to dinner on Saturday."

Honor took another sip of her drink. "You gonna say yes?"

Logan gave her a flat look.

"Right," Honor said. "Stupid question."

Logan uncovered the receiver. "Mom, like I told you the lastthreetimes you asked, no, we're not coming to dinner Saturday. We fly back to London on Friday night." He paused, rolling his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure."

Honor bit back a grin.

"And as for the other thing," Logan continued, shifting his weight. "No, there's no engagement. There's no secret wedding. We're happy, Mom." Another pause. "Yes, even without a ring."

Honor snorted. Logan shot her a look.

"No, I don't think Rory would 'come around' if you justtalkedto her," Logan said, rubbing his temple.

"Especially if you spoke to her." He mouthed to Honor.

"Mom,we're happy." His voice was firm now. "And if you can't wrap your head around that, that's your problem, not mine."

Honor's grin 's the Logan she knows and loves.

A few more clipped responses, and then Logan finally ended the call with a curt, "Tell Dad I said hi." He shoved his phone into his pocket and exhaled dramatically.

Honor clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You know, for someone who's supposedlysosuccessful in business negotiations, you really suck at shutting down Mom."

Logan scowled. "Oh, I shut her down. It just neversticks."

Honor shook her head, smirking. "Maybe if you actuallyeloped in Vegaslike I keep telling her, she'd drop it."

Logan groaned. "Please, let's not give her a heart attacktoday."

Honor laughed, looping her arm through his.

"She cares because she thinks it means something," he said. "Because inherworld, it's about status, about appearances. AHuntzbergerdoesn't just shack up with someone. A Huntzberger has theperfectmarriage, theperfectfamily, all wrapped up in a neat little society Tiffany-blue bow."

Honor scoffed. "Yeah, because Mom and Dad are thepinnacleof a healthy, loving marriage."

Logan snorted. "Exactly." He drained the rest of his champagne, setting the glass down with a little more force than necessary. "Honestly? I think it drives her insane that Rory and I are happy without following their damn rulebook."

Honor studied him for a moment, then nudged his arm. "Are you happy, though? Like,reallyhappy?"

Logan looked at her, surprised.

Honor shrugged. "I mean, Ithinkyou are. But I also know how much of Dad is in you. And how much of Dad is…well,Dad."

Logan exhaled slowly. "Yeah," he said after a beat. "I am. I mean, don't get me wrong, I have my moments. I'll catch myself thinking about work too much, or feeling like I have to prove something. But then I come home, and Jack's running to show me the latest Lego empire he built, and Emma's babbling nonsense at me like it's the most important conversation of my life, and Rory's -" He broke off, shaking his head with a small smile. "Rory's justRory. And suddenly, all the other stuff seems a lot less important."

Honor's smirk softened into something more genuine. "Good," she said. "Because despite what Mom and Dad think,this?" She nodded toward the yard. "This is what actually matters."

Logan followed her gaze. Caden was helping Jack with the remainder of his egg retrieval, while Rory scooped Emma into her arms, peppering her face with little kisses.

"Yeah," Logan said, voice quiet but certain. "It really is."

"I'm happy for you, little bro."

With the kids finally down for the night, Jack passed out mid-sentence in a pile of stuffed animals, and Emma snoring in her crib, Rory and Logan stepped outside to the patio, where Honor was leaning against the railing, quietly nursing a glass of white wine.

She held up the bottle. "Refill?"

Logan smirked. "Always."

Rory settled onto a cushioned bench, tucking her legs under her. "I forgot how chaotic American holidays are."

Honor raised an eyebrow. "Are British ones more civilized?"

"Not necessarily, but they do involve fewer children on a sugar rampage," Rory said. "I'm pretty sure Jack ate his own body weight in chocolate."

Logan chuckled. "Heearnedit. My boy dominated that egg hunt."

Rory shot him a look. "And it's going to be a repeat of the Finn incident, where I'm scrubbing puke off every surface in the house. At least this time, I'm not five months an awful evening."

Honor rolled her eyes. "And yet somehow,Graciewalked away with the golden egg prize."

"Technicality," Logan said dismissively. "The judges were clearly biased."

Rory snorted, then leaned back, looking at Honor. "Hey. Thanks for today. It was nice."

Honor gave her a small smile. "Yeah, it was." She hesitated, then exhaled. "Look, I know my parents drive you insane, and I know our family can be a lot, but I do like seeing you guys. The four of you."

Rory softened. "We like seeing you, too."

Logan wrapped an arm around Rory's shoulders, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "Maybe next time, we host. You can come to London, let the kids terrorize Hyde Park instead."

Honor smiled, tilting her head. "You know, Iwouldlovea Gilmore-Huntzberger-guided tour of the city."

"Consider it done," Logan said.

Rory just laughed, leaning into Logan's comforting embrace, gazing up into the starry night. There were so many things she missed about being home, like the starry nights she never saw in London. And in this moment, with Logan beside her and the soft hum of family life around them, it felt just right.