Gilmore Girls: More in the Life

Chapter 104

Logan stared down at the photo Robert had sent him. It was a poorly taken selfie that attempted to highlight the black eye he was again sporting at the hand of Finn.

Stop trying to guess what country he hails from.

Closing his messaging app, he chuckled to himself as his mind wandered back to the last time Finn popped Robert.

It was the morning he said goodbye to Rory, intending to fly back to London and become faithful to a woman he didn't want to be with.

He remembered how he felt in the moments after Rory told him she needed to get him back home. His heart shattered at the thought he would never see her after she turned her back and walked out of the inn. The fear of never holding or kissing Rory again had choked him.

Odette didn't fit. His partner needed to fit.

It was Rory. Rory fit.

Funny how life intervened. Well, rather, a life. The life belonging to his daughter.

Looking back, Logan fully believed Lora was his saving grace. Her mere existence kept him from marrying for the sake of duty and allowed him to follow his heart.

While that little girl would forever be his pride and joy, she would also be who let him live his dreams.

*****

Jess couldn't wait to talk to Natalie. As soon as he hung up with Shelia, he booked it downtown to the law firm that employed his wife and went up to her floor. Nodding to various people as he wound through the cubicles to the small office Natalie had, he hoped she would be too happy to be upset that he kept the news from her.

Reaching her doorway, he knocked on the frame and leaned into the room.

Surprise colored his wife's features and she stood to kiss his cheek. "Jess, is everything okay?"

"Perfect. I just wanted to stop by to tell you I love you. Oh, and that we are about to be parents."

Natalie's eyebrows furrowed together. "What are you talking about?"

Jess filled her in on what Shelia had told him. As he spoke, he watched Natalie's eyes light up. One thing he loved about her was that she wore her heart on her sleeve so it was not hard to guess how she felt about something.

And right now, it was pretty obvious she was elated.

"I— I can't believe it. You're sure? You're sure this little girl will be coming to us tonight?"

Jess nodded, a grin reaching the width of his face. 

Natalie was quiet for a few moments. It was as if Jess could see the wheels in her mind turning, trying to process this new information.

"What's her name?"

Jess paused. "Uh, I don't know. I didn't ask."

An incredulous look crossing her face, Natalie parked her hand on her hip. "How could you not ask what your daughter's name is?"

Jess couldn't help but focus on the last part of her question. "My daughter. I like the sound of that."

Softening, Natalie nodded. "Me too."

The two leaned in for a quick kiss before Jess asked Natalie if she needed to stay to the end of the day.

"I'll go ask."

Twenty minutes later, they were on their way home.

Home to meet their daughter.

*****

Emily had all but permanently moved into her Stars Hollow apartment. She wanted desperately to be a part of her grandchildren's and great-grandchild's lives so being around was essential.

Truth be told, she had no qualms about it. She had been considering flipping residences for some time, using Nantucket as her vacation home and keeping Stars Hollow as her day-to-day palace of sorts. Lord knows she'd been there enough lately anyhow so why keep up the pretense of going "home" when "home" was really where the heart was.

And, ironically enough, her heart was now in Stars Hollow. Just as Lorelai's was all those years ago.

Emily looked at the clock that gracefully hung on a wall in the living area. It was nearly eight in the morning. She didn't want to force herself into Lorelai's world but those twins were just too darn cute.

Lorelai had made it clear this time around would be starkly different from when Rory was a baby. Hoping against hope, Emily prayed she meant it.

Deciding it would be fine to head back to the hospital, Emily reached for her purse and dug for keys. She quickly got downstairs and into her car, eager to begin the half hour drive to hold her sweet angelic grand babies.

*****

Sookie stood at the foot of Lorelai's bed, Eli in her arms. "How are you ever going to come back to work when you have these cuties to occupy your time?"

Lorelai smiled. "I know, right? They'll certainly make it hard to leave." Chuckling, she said, "Maybe I'll never go back."

"You'll just have to make room for them in your office. Then you'll get the best of both worlds."

Absently, Lorelai responded. "Uh huh." She played with Gabby's hand as her mind traveled to another place. 

What she hadn't discussed with anyone was that, during the last couple weeks of her pregnancy, Lorelai had been debating on talking to Sookie about selling the Dragonfly. If not the inn as a whole, at least her portion. It was hard to swallow but part of her thought it was what needed done. And that part had been growing by the second since Gabby and Eli made their grand entrances.

For a long time, opening her own inn was the ultimate goal. The goal began to shift once she and Luke settled into a relationship. Now that she was married and had two more children to raise, Lorelai couldn't help but think she didn't want their childhood to be like Rory's in the sense of her own personal struggles for time and money. She and Luke had enough resources now that she could become a stay-at-home mother and get to enjoy watching Eli and Gabby grow.

Lorelai recalled how her father had connected her with a company who bought out small country inns. Maybe she should look into whether that company, or one similar, still existed.

Yes, she'd get her ducks in a row before dropping the bomb on Sookie.