The Newest Gilmore

Chapter 7: Frying Pan Swinging Chameleons

They finished their lunches, Logan payed the bill, and they started for home.

"Okay, so I know I said your timing, your schedule about telling Celia, but do you have any idea when that could be?" Logan queried.

"I'm not sure - I know that I should probably tell her early on, the girl inherited Emily Gilmore's determination for grudges. But maybe we could wait a day or so? I want her to warm up to you a little first."

"You don't think she has warmed up to me?" Logan asked, surprised.

"She's met you twice Logan. As far as she knows you're a friend of mine from Yale. Do something that makes her think about you differently, I don't know, like a friend maybe?"

"I'm not sure how I feel about that. Shouldn't she think of me as a dad?"

"She hasn't had one of those in 4 and a half years Logan. You're gonna have to give her a little time to come to that point."

"Yeah, I guess," Logan said, sounding disappointed.

Rory could see he was tired - their conversations this morning had drained all the poor boy's caffeine from him, and she was feeling a little emotionally vulnerable herself.

"What do you say to just watching a movie until Celie comes home? I'm sure mom still has Casablanca? Or should I introduce you to the wonders of Disney and show you Celie's favorite? It's called Tangled, and it has a horse who fights and a chameleon with a frying pan....," Rory wheedled.

"I know what Tangled is Ace," Logan laughed.

"You do?"

"I have a niece, and an older sister. I've probably watched more Disney movies than you."

"Wanna bet? I'll give you all the money in my purse if you can name more movies than me." Rory teased.

"If only you'd added that million dollars, ace, then I would have gone for it." He joked.

She smiled, showing him she'd understood his reference to their past. Hemingway himself couldn't have written a better smile for a character than the one she had naturally.

She sent him in to Doose's, where he bought chips, candy, and soda, and narrowly avoided Mrs. Patty, while she herself went to the video store(possibly the only one left in Connecticut)and picked up African Queen just in case Casablanca had somehow gone missing.

They met up, walked home, flipped on the movie(they luckily were able to find Humphrey and Ingrid), and within an hour both had fallen asleep on the couch. Rory had fallen asleep first, then Logan, and somehow she ended up nestled almost on top of him, her face settled against his chest, with Logan's arms spread out behind him and his sock-feet teetering on the edge of the sofa. That was how Celia found them.

Celia ran in and burst out laughing. " Wake up sleepy heads!"

Rory rubbed her eyes. Oh shoot. She sat up straight and prodded Logan's arm lightly a few times.

"Logan, wake up!"

He stayed asleep, but rolled over to fill her now empty spot of the couch. She sighed. How much sleep had he gotten?

"Grab me a blanket from my room, please" Rory asked.

Her daughter ran and got a blue fluffy one. She pounded down the stairs, miraculously not waking Logan. Tenderly, Celia draped the blanket over his figure, and tucked it over his arms and feet. He gave a slight snore, at which his daughter let out a stifled giggle. Rory smiled at the pair of them, maybe it WAS soon enough to tell her. Grabbing a few snacks from the coffee table she herded her daughter into the kitchen and to the table.

"Where's Lane baby girl?"

"She had to go, but she made me do the thumbs up signal that you were home. She also said to say good luck. Why'd she say that?"

"I don't know," Rory lied through her teeth,"I guess we'll have to ask her next time we see her."

She tousled her daughter's hair and set off another round of giggling.

"Mumms? What's Logan's name? Like how my name is Gilmore?"

"It's called a last name sweetheart, and his last name is Huntzberger."

Celia smiled. "Good."

Rory didn't really understand why that was 'good', but she wasn't about to question the mind of a 4 year old.

"Do you want to tell me about my present and the swans?" she asked.

Celia rushed to get the green bag.

"Open it!"

Rory did so laughing, then stopped, and was speechless. Inside was a miniature rocket that had been made out of Legos.

"Do you like it? I traded Kwan the last of my halloween candy for it. You can put it next to the one at home! But this one will be from me." Celia explained, climbing into her mother's lap.

"I love it. Thank you beautiful girl," Rory said. She squeezed her daughter tightly.

"Do you want to watch Tangled on my laptop? I have to do some work soon, but you can tell me all about the swans right now." Rory said. Quietly, she carried a bag of red vines and the girl in her arms up the stairs.

"Well, we went to the river, and I gave them all of the crumbs that Auntie Lane gave me. She got them from the diner. I think it was the same as Luke's burger bread. I couldn't find the mean one who hurt Uncle Jess though. He said it had two red horns on its head, but I didn't see any like that, so I think he might have been playing with me...can swans have horns mommy?"

She said this all quickly, in true Gilmore fashion. She had learned from the best.