END OF SPRING SEMESTER

Rory looked around her dorm room at all the stacked boxes. She already turned in her last YDN articles and finished her exams, and now she had to finish getting her stuff boxed up to go into storage with everyone else's stuff until August when they were moving into their house. Paris had already moved hers into her new apartment with Doyle. Rory gave them the couch as a parting gift.

She looked up at the knock on her open door and smiled at Logan and Finn. "Truck's here. You ready?" She grimaced, looking at her watch. "I'm running behind. I've got so much junk. Sorry! But you guys can start on this stuff and I'll try to be done by the time you are." Looking closer at them, they looked beat. They'd already done their stuff and Steph's. "You guys want to take a break?"

Logan smiled. "Nope. We just grabbed food fast. We're good to go. It's a good workout. Colin will be here in 10 minutes." She rolled her eyes. Workout, her ass. But, clearly, whatever Logan thought was a workout, was working for him.

An hour later, they were done and she locked up her dorm for the last time.

She and Logan were going to her mom's for a few days before their summer jobs kicked in. She had watched Logan negotiate it with his dad and still couldn't believe it worked. But it had, and after a few weeks of back and forth, Mitchum agreed that they could write a He Said/She Said column a couple times a week, which would be run in some of the HPG papers, and that they could do it from the Huntzbergers' house on Antigua. They were going back to Antigua for two months! Colin, Steph, and Finn were going to be based out of the Antigua house, too, for the summer, but they all had other plans that would take them away for periods of time. It was the perfect set up.

END OF SUMMER BREAK

Rory sat on the back patio staring at the ocean while Logan finished up a call. She loved this house. She loved this beach. She loved this island. They had the best summer here. Logan and Rory had spent the summer holding down the fort, while their friends and family came and went. She smiled picturing her mom and Luke walking down the beach every night at sunset the week they'd come. Their column, published under pseudonyms, was initially well received and then deemed a hit by the third week. They were smart, but not arrogant, witty, but not biting – said the critics. It'd been picked up by way more of the HPG papers than they expected, and there was apparently a fair amount of interest in their real identities. Mitchum offered to have them keep it going during the school year, if they thought they could handle it. They were going to do it. Rory loved it, and the money would go a long way towards covering more of her living expenses. She was excited to be going back to Yale and moving into their new house for her junior year and Logan's senior year, but would miss their quiet life here. This, like Stars Hollow and New Haven, was now one of her places. She knew, if his dad ever decided to sell this house, Logan would buy it so they didn't lose it.

She listened to him wrapping up his call and smiled. Logan had taken an interest in the logistics and business side of it all. Mitchum, not one to pass up an opportunity, roped Logan into some meetings remotely. So far, he was liking it.

"Hey, you ready to walk?" She looked at him standing in the doorway. He was so relaxed and happy, and it made him hotter if that was even possible. He was tanner, blonder, and even more ripped from all of his early morning beach exercising.

"Yep. One of our last sunsets here this summer."

He took her hand. "There'll be more."

They strolled down the beach for a while before heading back to sit in their adirondack chairs by the water to watch the sunset like they did most nights.

"Hey Rory."

She looked over at him.

"I love you." Her heart clenched, remembering the first time he said it like that on his 21st birthday.

"Hey Logan." She smiled at him. "I love you, too."

"Tried and true," he said. "This has been the best year of my life, being with you. I can see our life together, Rory. I can see us getting married next summer after I graduate and living somewhere in New Haven or Hartford or in between, so I can work and you can finish school. And then I can see us going wherever and doing whatever we want to do after that. And I want that life together. Because I love you, and I need you. So, Rory," he dropped to a knee and pulled a box out of his pocket, "will you marry me? Be my wife?"

She couldn't catch her breath. She looked at him in front of her and saw everything she'd ever wanted. She nodded, trying to find her voice. "Yes. Yes!"

He slid the ring on her finger and picked her up to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for dear life.

Hearing familiar hoots and hollers, they looked up on their balcony and saw Finn, Colin, and Steph. Steph was diligently trying to take pictures through her tears. Their friends were engaged, and it was time to celebrate.

Later that night, Rory sent her mom the video Finn had taken, and said "Surprise!"

Lorelai wrote back, "Duh, that boy loves you. Congrats, honey!"

Rory looked at her phone. And then at Logan. "She doesn't sound surprised."

He smiled. "I may have talked to her when they were here. Permission and blessing and all that."

"And she kept it a secret for two weeks?"

"Looks like it. Maybe she thought I'd change my mind."

She smacked him.

END OF FALL SEMESTER

She sat on the bathroom floor with Steph staring at the stick with the two pink lines. This really wasn't how Rory thought she'd be spending the first day of winter break, but life happens. They'd been in the house for almost five months, and they all loved it. Colin and Steph and Rory and Logan were rocking along, and Finn! Finn had been dating Juliet for almost two months. It was a miracle, and they all watched with unconcealed fascination. Between that, Colin's law school admission at Yale, and the planning of the Gilmore-Huntzberger wedding, not to mention the YDN and their column and school, it had been a busy semester. Rory had turned 21. They'd gone on the LDB fall break trip again, where more mortifying moments were memorialized in video. And Steph was pregnant. Yep, heck of a semester, Rory thought.

"Rory. What am I going to do? What do I tell Colin? He's starting law school next year. He's going to be living in a law library, and I'm going to have a baby." She'd only just realized that afternoon she was late, and she and Rory walked to the drugstore for a pregnancy test. They were the only ones home, although they wouldn't be for long.

"It takes two to tango, Steph. He knows that. And you guys are 22, about to graduate college – from Yale! You're two responsible adults. You've got this. We're here to help. I'm here at least another year no matter what. A baby! We need a baby."

Steph leaned her head on Rory's shoulder and smiled. That's how the guys found them a few minutes later. All three stared at them and the stick Steph held.

Colin tilted his head, "Steph?"

She looked up at him. "This isn't what I was planning to get you for Christmas, but I don't think it's something I can return." He processed fast. "Really?" She nodded. He bent down and hugged her. The rest of them backed out quietly and left them alone, smiling.

Finn had champagne ready when they emerged and some sparkling water for Steph. They toasted the new McCrae on the way.

Colin went to the Christmas tree in the corner and pulled out a box. He unwrapped it, got down on one knee, and asked Steph to marry him. She sobbed and told him yes. When she pulled herself together, she looked at him. "Smart guy. You're thinking now we don't have the extra week or two until Christmas to waste. We gotta get planning if I'm not going to look like a whale walking down the aisle." He smiled – he was no dummy. They both knew the Vanderbilt name would clear any venue they wanted at the drop of a hat. They were good.

Rory was so happy she thought she might burst. "You're going to look beautiful at your wedding. It's my wedding where you'll look like a whale. But you're going to walk your pregnant ass down that aisle no matter what you look like." Steph laughed.

Logan played with Rory's ring while they sat on the couch listening to their friends talk. She looked up at him and smiled. "Our first baby," he said.

"Yep. Can you believe this? We're all so grown up! Weddings and babies. And we," she said pointing between her and him, "get a practice baby."

He hugged her and laughed. "Yeah, let's mess up Colin's baby first before we have our own. Good plan, Ace."

END OF SPRING SEMESTER

Rory bounced in her seat at Logan's graduation so much that Lorelai put her hand on her leg and told her to stop. She was driving everyone nuts. They had quite the group because, of course, it was also Finn, Colin, and Steph's graduation too. These families had been together a lot in the last few months and, while Lorelai liked the kids, she was less than impressed with the parents. They had come together to rent out the Pub for one giant graduation party, so that was something.

Logan had kicked ass his last year at Yale. Even Mitchum was impressed. So impressed that he didn't put up any fight when Logan told him he was staying in New Haven this coming year while Rory finished school and would work for HPG remotely. He and Rory would continue their column, which had gained a wider audience and was now nationally recognized. Their identities were still secret, but there were rumors suggesting it was them. They were going to out themselves after their wedding in two weeks and roll with it. HPG and Mitchum agreed they could do it.

Colin bought the New Haven house not long after he and Steph got married. It would be their home base for the next three years, and a good place for them and their baby. And, apparently, for Logan and Rory. They were staying on for the next year, to help their friends. Not that it was a hardship because they loved the house and were very excited about the baby. But four was better than two, and gave them a better shot at surviving their first baby. Finn and Juliet were still together and wanted to give cohabitation a try, so they had found a small townhouse less than a two-minute walk away from the house. Juliet was staying on to get her master's degree, and Finn would tackle the financial world from his laptop at the bar they'd build. Besides, he wasn't missing his shot with their first baby either.

Finally, they were in the H's! Lorelai smiled at Rory's excitement. "You did good, kid. Hit the jackpot with your guy, your friends, your life. Never should have doubted you."

"Mom, you're going to make me cry. I've been doing so well, too! Logan bet me $20 I'd cry when his name was called. It doesn't count if I'm crying before! Here he goes!"

She snapped his picture as he took his diploma and shook the Dean's hand. She watched him walk across and wiped away her tears. Damn it.

END OF SUMMER BREAK

Rory sat in the family room rocking Andrew McCrae, who made his appearance the week before. His arrival had been swift and scary. Logan had been the only one home with Steph when her water broke and her labor kicked in fast. He'd driven her to the hospital like a madman while Steph yelled at Colin on the phone. He was terrified he'd have to stay with Steph if Colin didn't make it in time, and he absolutely would have if she needed him, but he nearly wept when Colin came jogging into the room in time for the birth. Logan very happily went to the waiting room to wait for Rory, Finn, Juliet, and baby McCrae. They were all still working on getting into a groove with him home now, before Colin and Rory started classes in a few days, but they were getting there, she thought. Steph was a natural mommy.

She and Logan had been married for a little over two months. Rory Huntzberger. Officially now – she'd long been known as Mrs. Huntzberger in the LDB. They'd had a co-ed bachelor / bachelorette party, and all the LDB guys had worn shirts that said "Mrs. Huntzberger is hot!" They got all their stupid shit out of their systems at that party and reeled it in for the rehearsal dinner and wedding, so no one would have a conniption. It was all nice and proper. Logan and Rory let the families knock themselves out with the rehearsal dinner, but held firm on planning the actual wedding. It could be big, and they could help, but it would be Rory's way. And it was.

She loved married life, although true be told, they'd lived as though they were married for the last few years. They still couldn't keep their hands off each other, Logan still couldn't stay quiet half the time, and she still slept mostly on top of him. They'd spent a month alone at the house in Antigua on their honeymoon, and it had been perfect. They kept up with their column, which was pretty easy a year into it. Just as they'd learned quickly to mesh their writing styles as study partners, they'd learned quickly to play off each other to make their bantering and individual styles more interesting. They'd announced in the column immediately following their wedding that they'd gotten married and, while they didn't give their names, it confirmed the rumors and ginned up a lot of publicity. It all went down onto paper fast, leaving them time for lots of other honeymoon activities. They made a good team. Sunned and relaxed, they'd come home well in time for baby McCrae's arrival, giving Logan a chance to get set up for HPG and Rory a chance to get organized for her last year of school and her upcoming year as YDN editor.

Logan watched his wife rock the baby from the doorway. Her eyes were closed as she rubbed his back. "It's a good look for you, Ace."

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Yeah, we're going to need one of these."

THE END