Come Back...Be Here (Gilmore Girls Post-AYITL)

Chapter 12

Rory settled down in her bed in one of the guestrooms at Emily's house. Christmas Eve, she murmured to herself. She couldn't help but think ahead to next Christmas when life would undoubtedly be so much different to the one she was experiencing right now. She had no idea where she would be or what she would be doing – or crucially, whether that alternate life would include Logan. The day had been somewhat of a difficult one for her. The apprehension she had felt about discussing the pregnancy with Emily had been relieved quite quickly but she had been unprepared for Jess's arrival nor for the fact that he was going to start giving her a hard time. She had no idea why she felt like she had to explain herself to Jess or defend Logan. A solitary tear slipped down her cheek. Damn these pregnancy hormones she thought to herself.

Above everything, she was just feeling really sad that she hadn't heard from Logan today. Rory had really wanted to confront him and ask him what on earth was going on but he had been so distant with her the day she left London that she was scared to push him in case she got an answer she didn't like. Instead, completely hurt and confused, Rory had decided to sit it out and let him make the next move but she couldn't wait any longer.

Rory picked up her cell phone and tapped out a message;

"Hi Logan, arrived at Nantucket today, cell signal a bit patchy. Grandma took the news well so all good. Anyway, just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas x"

She sat staring at the message for a few minutes before finally pressing send, wanting to make sure that she was pitching it just right. She didn't want the message to come across too needy but on the other hand, she didn't want to act too casual but struggled with what was appropriate. Argh, she thought, all this uncertainty is driving me crazy. Rory slammed the phone back on the bedside table next to her.

As soon as she had placed it down, she heard her cell buzz and she quickly jumped up to look at it. With butterflies in her tummy, she opened the message and found it hard not to be disappointed when she discovered that it was from Finn, not Logan.

"Merry Christmas Darling!" the message read. Attached to the message was a photo of Finn holding a piece of mistletoe above Rosemary's head. Still on then she laughed to herself before the smile faded. She pulled the quilt over her head and rolled over to sleep.

--

Christmas Day dawned. Rory awoke slowly, not entirely ready to face the day but wondering what had disturbed her - when she knew she had made sure to turn off the alarm by the side of the bed. Oh, that's what woke me up, she thought.

Rory lifted her head up to see Lorelai excitedly bouncing on the bed "It's Christmas Day Rory, Christmas Day!" If there was one thing her mom really loved, it was Christmas. Usually, Rory shared her enthusiasm for the festive season but this year, her spirits felt a little dampened.

"Mom" Rory rolled her eyes "You know that I'm 32 don't you?" Rory said rubbing her eyes.

"Ssssssh yourself. You're never too old for Christmas! Now get up, we have presents to open and we're waiting for you!" Lorelai said as she exited Rory's room.

Rory sleepily put her feet out of bed and forced them into her comfy slippers. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her phone flashing with a message. Bleary-eyed she picked up the phone to see how it was from.

"Merry Christmas Ace x"

Three simple words.

To anyone else, those three words would look like nothing but to Rory, they were everything and reading over them again made her feel warm inside. He had called her Ace, he only ever called her Ace when things were going well she thought, feeling hopeful for the first time in days. She threw on her robe and went to join the rest of the family for breakfast.