The Newest Gilmore

Chapter 4: Coffee and Conversation

Rory woke to the smell of coffee. An Italian roast. Lorelai must have commissioned someone after the fiasco that had been last night. Only her mother would have known exactly how exhausted it had left her. Sleepily she pulled her alarm clock towards her. Oh God, it was 11:30. She had slept in, but since Celia wasn't on top of her and jumping on the bed, so she assumed whomever had made the coffee had also grabbed her kid. She smiled - Stars hollow was the best place to raise a child by far.

Wrapping a warm coat around her, she pushed off her fuzzy blankets and stepped into her slippers. As she headed down the stairs she wondered what time they had gotten home last night. 3, 4 in the morning? They had left Nantucket late last night. Rory hadn't wanted to stay, so they had agreed that she would cut her visit short, but still vacation and house-sit for Luke and Lorelai in Stars Hollow, just for time away.Currently she and Celia were living in a small 2bedroom/2bath apartment in Hartford. It was a low rent, near a park, and Celia's doctor's, dentists, friends and family, everyone her daughter could possibly need were all within a 15 mile radius. Well, except for one person - today would either bring him or lose him, however. She sighed. Had she been selfish to tell him last night? Was it just a way of tying him to her? She had just gotten up and already she was questioning her inner motives. But did she even think that way anymore? Her life revolved around Celia now. That was how she picked her car, her job, even the house. It had been perfect for Celia, so it was perfect for Rory.

She sighed again. 2 words, 2 words and everything had gotten complicated. "She's yours." Oh well, it was over now, she had told him. There was no taking it back.

She walked into the kitchen, and grabbing a cup poured herself some coffee. There was a note on the kitchen table.

"Rory-

Luke called and asked me to help out this morning.

I have Celie, I figured Kwan and her could go to the diner with me for breakfast. I will return her around 11:30 or so(I might be a bit early if Steve's baseball practice is cancelled). I'm sorry I can't take her longer but I have a couple of music lessons today in Hartford. Call me if you need anything!

Here for you,

Lane

P.S. There's coffee in the pot:)"

Rory smiled. She had the best friends, the best town, the best family, and the best daughter. No matter what today brought, she had those.

Then the doorbell rang. Lane was right on time.

She went to get it, gratitude on her tongue.

"Hey La-"

She stopped. Logan Huntzberger stood on her front porch.

And he was in clothes that looked...well, they looked great on him.

Meanwhile she had on a Brady Bunch tee shirt and bunny patterned pajama pants.

"I thought you said you were going to call," she said finally.

Logan dug his hands in his pockets. "It just didn't seem like the kind of conversation to have over a phone. Honor found out where you were, and it seemed like a good day for a drive."

"Sure", Rory agreed. 

Just then another door opened, this one from the kitchen.

"Give me a minute" she mouthed, holding up a finger.

Logan watched her walk into another room- the kitchen, if he remembered right. Had he messed up? This wasn't really how he'd planned this going, but at this point he figured planning could be tossed into the wind.

"Mommy! Auntie Lane and Kwan and I went to the river this morning and fed the swans! And then we went to Luke's an-", Celia's voice carried to the door, followed by the garbled mumble achieved only by hand-covered mouths.

That was it. Logan wanted to see his daughter. Quietly he stepped into the house, and peeked around the corner of the wall just enough to watch the goings-on in the kitchen.

Rory was bent down talking to her kid. The girl. His girl.

"Sh-sh-sh, can you maybe tell me later honey, please?

"Okaaaayyyyyyy. Why?"

"Just because." Rory smiled fondly at her daughter. She loved and rejoiced at her inquisitive mind.

Celia pouted. "Fine." She turned to "Auntie Lane", who was now hugging Rory over her head.

She tugged on her Big Star shirt.

"Can I have the present?"

"Here," Lane answered in the same loud whisper Celia had used, and handed her a small, dark green paper bag.

"I got you a present, Mums!"

"Oh really? Well thank you very much little princess!"

She picked Celia up, holding her to her side with one arm, and kissed her cheek.

"Do I get to open it now?"

"No! Not until I get to tell you about the swans!"she demanded, arms crossed.

Rory laughed. Logan had forgotten how much he had missed the sound of it.

"Okay, well, I will open it later then. Put it on your bed?" She said putting her down. "I'll put it on yours!" Celia said excitedly, already running to the stairs.

"No!- wait Celie!"

But she had already reached him. For the second time in two days, Logan stared face-to-face with his daughter.

"Logan? What are you doing here?"

"Um, I came..."

"He came to talk to me, didn't you, Logan? We haven't seen each other in a while, and we thought it was about time to catch up," she explained through a strained smile. Her eyes told him she knew exactly what he had been doing, that he had been watching them. He tried to hide his jealousy. Logan wanted what she had with Celia. 4 and a half years was a long time to make up for. There were so many things he had missed out on. But he smiled, hoping it concealed his thoughts. "Yep, in fact, I was hoping to maybe take you and your mom out to lunch". From the corner of his eye he saw Lane and her son quietly leave through the side door. Rory's eyes flitted between Logan and their daughter. He could practically see the worry radiating off her, and the thought foremost on her mind: What the hell was he doing? Unfortunately he didn't really know what he was doing. He was just going with the flow- what else could he do? Everything was new territory, everything was unexplained. There was no right way to go about this, but there was about a billion wrong ways, and it was killing both of them.

"Alright. Sweetie, go get your coat. We'll meet you out front in a minute, okay?" She caved, a little uncertainly.

"Okay, mums." Celia said cheerfully, and bounded up the stairs.

Rory sighed."Come in the kitchen Logan."

He followed her and sat at the table, the same table that had been there years before.

"So...you're here to what? Talk? Meet her? Tell me what you're thinking Logan, what do you want?" Rory started.

"She's my daughter, ace. I want to know my own daughter."