What if...?

4 years

November 27th 2013

Will and Rory were woken up early by Lucas crying

"I'll get him" Logan said

"Thank you" Rory yawned

Logan gave Lucas to Rory so she could feed him and then he got back into bed

"Hey. You put the balloons in their rooms right?" Rory asked

"Those girls are gonna wake up surrounded by so many balloons they won't know what to do with themselves" Logan assured her

"Thank you" Rory smiled

A few minutes later Rory and Logan went into Elle's room and crouched beside her bed

"Happy birthday, Elle Belle" Rory whispered

"It's my birthday" Elle said

"Yes it is" Logan said. He picked Elle up and gave her a tight hug. "Come on. Let's go get Em"

They went into Em's room. Logan was standing, holding Elle, behind Rory who crouched down beside Em's bed. Rory gently stroked Em's cheek until she opened her eyes

"Happy birthday, baby" Rory said

"I'm 4" Em smiled and sat up.

"Yes you are" Logan smiled

Logan put Elle on Em's bed next to her

"I can't believe how big you guys are getting" Rory said

Elle gasped "balloons!"

"We get balloons for our birthday?!" 'Em asked excitedly

"Yes you do" Rory smiled

"And you also get whatever you want for breakfast" Logan told them

The girls whispered to each other for a minute

"Waffles!" Elle exclaimed

"And apples!" 'Em added

"You got it" Logan chuckled

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Later that afternoon, after the girls were home from preschool, and Lorelai, Luke, Will, April, Oliver, Finn, Colin, Stephanie, Lane, Zach, Steve, Kwan, Emily and Richard had come over for dinner to celebrate.

"Elle. I remember one time, when you were about 2" Lorelai said "your mom called me all worried because you kept falling when you tried to walk"

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed "don't tell them this"

"Shush, it's story time" lorelai shushed Rory "And I hold her that, that's what toddlers do. They fall. But she was sure that something was wrong, so she took you to the doctor, who also said you were fine. And then a few days later you guys came to Stars Hollow for the spring fling and we were all sitting on the grass in the town square, and when you saw Butch come out of the diner you stood up and ran to him. You didn't trip. You didn't fall. And your mother realized she was just being paranoid"

Everyone chuckled a little

"Mom!"

"Em, I remember the first time you called me Butch" Luke said "your Nana had been trying to get you to call me that for months and when you finally did it, she got so excited that she screamed so loud that it scared you and you started crying. And you didn't say Butch again for months"

Em giggled

"When you guys were only a few months old you went through opposite phases" Lane said "Em, you would scream your head off  of your mom tried to put you down. Even for a minute. And Elle, if anyone tried to touch you, you would cry so loud that it made your parents worry that something was wrong with you. One day I came to visit and your mom was holding Em but Elle started crying and your dad wasn't home so I picked you up, even though I knew it would probably just make you cry louder. But you didn't cry louder. I picked you up and you stopped crying and smiled at me"

Everyone else told stories about the girls. They ate dinner and then sang happy birthday and had cake. And after that everyone gave the girls presents

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"And we got to have a party in school" Elle told everyone, excitedly

"And mommy and daddy brought cupcakes for everyone" Em added "And Mrs Lynn said that I get to have another party on Monday when I go to kindergarten"

"And tomorrow at dance class I get to wear the special birthday crown" Elle said

"You girls are have more birthday celebrations than the Queen of England" Finn joked

"Finny you're silly" Elle giggled

"Alright" Logan stood up "It's way past bedtime. Everyone say goodnight to the birthday girls"

"Goodnight"

Logan took the girls upstairs and put them to sleep. Not long after it was just Rory, Logan, lorelai, and Luke sitting in the living room, talking. Will has fallen asleep so they put him in the guest room.

"I can't believe they're 4" Rory sighed and sat down next to Logan

"I know, it's crazy" Logan said and put his arm around Rory. Rory leaned into Logan

"How's the whole kindergarten thing going?" Lorelai asked

"She's doing great" Rory told them "she has friends and she's doing well on her worksheets. They're thinking of having her move up to 2 days a week"

"And Elle's dancing?" Luke asked

"She apparently has a real, natural talent" Logan said

"Yeah, her teacher is having her do a solo in her winter recital" Rory said

"Wow, that's great" Lorelai said

"What about Will?" Rory asked "isn't he doing baseball?"

"He loves it" Luke told them "his team won their first game"

"That's great"

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"Hey, I need to talk to you" Rory said and she sat in bed, feeding Lucas, later that night

"What's up?" Logan poked his head out of the bathroom, where he was brushing his teeth

"I love you. And I love the kids but, uh...I don't think I want any more" Rory told him

"Ok"

"That's it?" Rory asked, confused. She put Lucas in the bassinet that was next to the bed

"Yeah" Logan joined Rory in bed "you don't want any more kids, and that's ok with me."

They turned off the light and cuddled together to go to sleep

"Hey" Logan whispered and pulled Rory into him

"Hmm?"

"I love you"

"I love you too" Rory kissed him