Rory sat in the town gazebo with her cell phone in her hand, trying to work up the courage to call Logan. She had been stewing for days and still hadn't been able to figure out how to talk to him, what to say. She found herself close to tears again, and chalked up one more annoying pregnancy side effect. She blew out a breath and looked around. She saw Luke walking, with a huge smile on his face towards the diner.
"Luke!" Rory called aloud. She hadn't intended to say anything, but when he glanced toward her, she waved. Luke raised a hand in return and changed direction to walk over to her.
Rory sat on the bench inside the gazebo and waited for his approach.
"I didn't know you were back? I thought you guys were gone until tomorrow?" Rory said.
"Yeah, that was the original plan, but there is a problem with the escrow on the annex purchase, so your mom had to come back to town early." Luke explained. "To be honest, Manchester was kinda boring and we ended up mostly staying in and watching movies."
"Oh no! Is the purchase not going through?" Rory asked. She laid her phone down screen up on the bench and Luke saw that she had Logan's contact info up.
He shook his head and replied. "It will be fine, just an issue with an easement. Unfortunately that means your mom had to get Taylor to agree to a slight change. I'm not getting in the middle of that."
"Oh. Well that's okay then. Mom just pesters Taylor until he gives in." Rory smiled. "Maybe I can put an article in the Gazette about it. See if I can help."
"So, how have you been? Any exciting news while we were away?" Luke asked.
Rory froze. Her face drained of colour and she felt weak. Luke immediately rushed towards her and grabbed her by the shoulder. "Are you ok? Do you need a doctor?" He asked.
"Mom told you?" Rory asked aghast.
"Told me? What? What's going on, Rory?" Luke demanded. "Are you ok?"
Rory looked quizzically at Luke. "You don't know? I just ... Luke, I'm pregnant." She whispered.
Luke's face now drained of colour and he sank down to sit on the bench beside her. "Have you made any decisions?" He asked quietly.
Rory blinked back teas and nodded her head. "I'm having the baby." She responded.
"And what does Logan say? Does he want to be involved?" Luke continued, gesturing towards her phone. Logan's smirk was still visible on the screen. Rory pushed a button and it disappeared.
"I haven't told him yet. I'm just so afraid of his reaction." She laid her head on Luke's shoulder and he kissed the top of her head.
"You are going to tell him, right?" He asked.
"Yeah. I just... he's got his own life. I don't want to screw that up for him." Rory said.
"Are you sure that's it? You are worried that have an unexpected child is going to mess things up for him? Because, hate to tell you Rory, but having a baby pretty much changes everyone's life." He continued. "Mostly yours."
"Yeah. It's a lot to process. But ... I'm 32. If not now, when?" Rory replied. "Besides. I can't not have this baby."
"Because it's his." Luke asked. Rory nodded. He continued. "I get that. Rory, trust me when I tell you, he needs to know. And it has to be his decision as to how involved he wants to be. After I found out about April, I was ... God, I was so angry."
Rory looked at Luke with interest. She realized that her talk with her dad had been one sided. Luke had the opposite happen to him. And April wasn't that much younger than she was, really. Luke would have been in his mid twenties when she was born.
"Luke, I'm going to tell him. I just trying to figure out how. He's in London, so I have to call him. I'm not sure how to tell him. It's big." She sighed.
"Rory, you are a writer. Write to him." Luke said. "It might be easier for him. It will give him time to process before responding. Trust me, it took weeks for me to figure out what I was feeling when I found out about April."
Rory laughed. "That's you and me, Luke. Logan isn't like that. The minute he knows, he will take action. I'm just afraid of what kind of action he will take."
"Yeah?" Luke prompted. "I know that I don't know Logan as well as you, but you really seem to care about him."
"I love him. It's always been him. But it doesn't matter now. He's engaged to some one else." Rory began to tear up again.
"Doesn't matter? Rory, it's all that matters. If you love him, fight for him. Don't make the same mistake I did. I let your mom get away and she married Chris. Honestly, it was the stupidest thing I had ever done. I let that happen. I was this close to losing her. All that time, all she needed was for me to fight for her. It was a miracle that we were able to find our way back to each other." Luke grabbed Rory by the hand, pleading with her with his eyes. "Fight for him."
Rory stared back at Luke and felt the pieces fall into place. She had been comparing Logan to her dad. They were both privileged, both the golden child of their families, with all the pressure that came with. Both rebelled. Both struggled to find a way to be themselves in the structure imposed on them by their families.
But that wasn't it. Logan wasn't like her dad. He was like her mom. Both were emotionally driven. Both we willing to throw off the family responsibilities, to make their own way in life damn the consequences. Logan had been on the edge of that cliff when he proposed to her all those years ago. He just wanted her to jump with him.
"I have to... God. I don't know. I have to get a letter to him!" Rory blurted out as she started off towards home.
Luke smiled as she stormed away.
