Gilmore Girls: More in the Life

Chapter 45

Weeks were flying by rapidly in Stars Hollow. The hustle and bustle of Christmas could be seen everywhere. Spirits were high even as the temperatures dipped lower than normal for this time of year. The first snow of the winter had fallen the night before, draping the town in a beautiful sea of white sparkles.

Logan and Rory stood in the center of town, just observing those around them. Little kids were building snowmen while others were having harmless snowball fights. Taylor was outside cleaning up the sidewalk in front of the market while caustically eyeing the teenagers he often referred to as miscreants. Parents were sitting on benches or browsing through shops while others stopped for lunch at Luke's or Weston's.

This is the town that Rory loves, that she feels safe in. It brought her immense joy that she would be able to raise her own child in this very place.

"I see why you love Stars Hollow so much, Ace." Logan always had a knack for reading her mind.

Rory slowly smiled. "It's one of the few towns that aren't affected by the world's view on things. It's wholesome. It's comfortable. It's home."

"I agree. I love it here. Much slower paced but I feel like I am not constantly on the go. I can sit back and breathe without deadlines or stress weighing me down. This was definitely the right town to settle in to raise our son or daughter." Logan reached out and rubbed Rory's belly, which was beginning to grow. Most people would have had no idea she was pregnant but, on the flip side of everything wonderful about Stars Hollow, gossip mills ran all day, every day. Simple things were zeroed in on and talked about for weeks. Rory's pregnancy came to light after she ordered ginger ale at KC's Bar a couple weeks ago. Leave it to Babette and Miss Patty to read between the lines.

"Well, I think we need to be getting to the OB appointment."

Logan's face brightened. "Let's get going."

*****

"Rory Gilmore." A nurse in red and green scrubs called as her right foot propped open the door.

Rory and Logan moved toward the nurse. They were led to a small exam room, where usual check in procedures began. Once completed, the nurse informed them that the doctor would be along any moment.

Passing the time, Logan asked Rory about her first appointment, where the pregnancy was confirmed. Rory relayed the events of that appointment, which were somewhat hazy. As much as she suspected she was carrying his child, thanks to the positive at home test, hearing the doctor utter the words, "Congratulations, you're pregnant" took everything to the next level.

"Did you consider not telling me?" Logan asked.

"I did. I went and talked to my dad about how he felt with the choices my mom made. Things aren't the same with us, I know that; we're not 16 and in high school. However, I wanted to get his perspective. It made me realize that, while my dad loves me, he never fought to be a part of my life. It's easy to blame my mom, saying she made the decision at that time and no one was talking her out of it, but I think that his lack of effort spoke volumes. I didn't want that for my child. I didn't want him or her to always be watching the door, wondering if and when you were going to make an appearance."

"Regardless of the situation between us, I would have never have let that happen. I look back over my childhood and remember very little interaction between my parents and myself. The nannies always did way more than my parents. I vowed when I was a kid to be the opposite. I want an active role in my child's life. I want him or her to look back and remember that I was at all the games, school plays, recitals, science fairs. I want to be remembered as being around and helping with homework or dinner, sneaking snacks when Mom says no, being there to kiss scraped knees, to teach our son how to treat a woman or our daughter how a man should treat her. I want to be a dad, not just a father."

Listening to Logan say that made Rory's heart skip a beat. He had certainly come a long way since the playboy rich kid she met at Yale.

The doctor entered the room. "I'm sorry for the delay. I had a patient call in, wondering if she was in labor, so I took her call."

Logan shook his head. "No problem at all. Hi Doctor, I'm Logan Huntzberger. I'm the father."

Rory smiled. "He's the dad."

The appointment progressed quickly, ending with the first ultrasound. Logan and Rory were amazed at the little baby visible on the screen. The heartbeat sounded surreal; Rory was sure that there was no way that little baby's heart was beating that fast. The doctor printed sonograms for the expectant parents to take home. Rory knew that one of these would be put on the fridge where she inevitably found herself multiple times per day.

On the way out of the office, Rory got a sense that she knew what the gender of the baby would be and a perfect name immediately came to mind.