I am sooooooooooooooo Sorry for the wait. I know I suck majorly. And I really have no excuse other than school, other stories, other ideas rolling around in my head, being completely lazy over my break from school, and not 100% sure about where I wanted to take this chapter...but I finally have it done...so here you go.

And thank you so much to all of you who have stuck by my crazy waiting periods as well as to the new readers that have read this and are still patient with me. You're all absolutely amazing! Again I am sorry for that wait.

SnowyOwl-17

Chapter 15:

Logan smiled as he enjoyed the atmosphere of his party. There was no formal wear, no stuffy business conversation and everyone that was invited he actually knew on a personal level…he loved it. Rory had demanded that he and Chris play video games earlier that morning simply to keep the two of them from following her around and constantly asking if there was anything they could do.

Rory had said that seeing as it was his birthday he was not allowed to help with anything and then she gave Chris the job of keeping him occupied while she and Gigi got the party ready. There was a pile of presents on the table, Finn and Colin were attempting to teach Gigi how to hustle pool; Rosemary, Juliet, Stephanie and Honor were constantly going back to Rory's ring and making ohhing and ahhing sounds.

The X-box was set up so that with two guitars and every single version of guitar hero that was made to date so that anyone and everyone could play; which, at the moment Chris was trying to teach Richard how to play.

He didn't have to play host but everyone still came up to him to give him birthday wishes and to actually talk to him about anything BUT business.

Lorelai was having a blast getting to know his and Rory's friends and possibly shocking them as well…although, by the looks on some of his friends faces Lorelai had found a few more of Hartford's elite to worship her ability to escape their world and then reenter it on her own terms.

Rory and Francine were going between enjoying the party and continually making sure that all the food was never out would shoo everyone out of the kitchen. And of course, when Finn wasn't being a bad influence on Gigi he was being an even worse influence on her by teaching her how to tend a bar…he really wasn't sure if Lorelai and Chris were ever going to let Gigi come to one of his birthday parties again.

"Hey, Birthday boy, what are you doing over here?" his fiancé's voice dragged him out of his thoughts as she walked over to him with a smile on her face.

He pulled her into a hug and kissed her for the first time since the party started. Between her making sure everything went smoothly and getting pulled away by their friends he hadn't gotten much alone time with her.

"Just taking in everything; it's nice to have a party that is about my birthday and not about a business deal," he smiled down at her.

He loved that her smile widened, "Good. However, you can't be standing here all by yourself; it's against the birthday rules. Plus, I would really appreciate it if you saved my little sister from anymore impressionable ideas that Finn seems to be enjoying putting into her head this evening."

He laughed and kissed her again, "My pleasure, Ace."

He kissed her one more time and then watched her go off towards her mother, who was currently trying to convince Emily Gilmore that it was okay for Richard to be playing with the video game console. Shaking his head in amusement he headed over the pool table and picked Gigi up from behind and lifted her high into the air, causing her to squeal excitedly.

It was 6:30 in the evening, so he knew his little sister would be heading to bed soon, "What are you up to blondie?" he asked as he pulled her back down to his chest and held her tight. Her blue eyes looked near identical to Rory's when she was smiling widely.

She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Finn and Colin are teaching me to play pool."

He smiled widely, "Oh yeah, are you kicking their buts?"

Gigi nodded enthusiastically, "Yep. Finn said that he was going to take me to Yale and have me teach lessons and make millions."

Finn nodded at that, "Absolutely, Princess here, could teach some of the people we go to school with a thing or two, that's for bloody sure."

Logan laughed and turned back to Gigi and tickled her tummy a little, "Well since you're so good at pool and your obviously destroying my friends at the game, don't you think you should let up on them a little bit? I'm sure they can only take so much defeat in one day."

Gigi pretended to think about it for a few minutes before nodding with a determined look on her face and sending her pigtails every which way, "Yeah, I don't think I need to win anymore tonight."

He couldn't help but smile and nodded, "Sounds like a plan. Why don't you help your Dad teach Grandpa Richard how to play Guitar Hero, I think they are both having some problems."

She smiled widely at his suggestion and once he set her down she was off and running as she yelled, "Daddy! Let me teach Grandpa Richard! You're doing it wrong!"

He, Finn and Colin laughed; then he picked up his usual cue stick and put the smaller one that Gigi had been using away.

"My god, she has as much energy as Reporter Girl when she has only had coffee and sugar and is on the tail of a new story," Colin exclaimed as he watched Gigi run off.

Logan laughed and broke the rack to start of a new game, "She's five Colin, of course she has coming seemingly out of thin air."

Everything seemed to be going well after that. The party had been going for about three hours by that point, and since his parents hadn't shown up he figured they weren't going to; which, on one hand was nice because he got to enjoy the party, no one was tense, and poor Josh didn't look like he was going to have a heart attack. But also, he had kind of hoped that they would come…just to prove that they loved him because he was their son.

"Would you three mind if I joined in a game?"

He tensed at the sound of the voice behind him as he stood up from his shot and turned to face his father.

Mitchum smiled slightly at him, "Happy Birthday, Logan."

He nodded stiffly, "Thanks. Um…yeah…Colin why don't you rack the balls and we'll start a game; the cue sticks are apparently hiding behind Henry tonight."

Mitchum looked around a little in confusion, "Henry?"

He couldn't help but smirk, "The big Iron statue," he glanced over at the statue and frowned before turning to his friends, "Did you guys move that for Rory earlier today?"

Finn and Colin shook their heads. "Sorry, mate, but you couldn't pay me enough to lift that monstrosity," Finn said as he moved to make the first break.

He chuckled and shook his head at his friend and then turned back to his father who was looking at the Iron statue in surprise before looking back at him, "You have a Rufus?"

He frowned and laughed in confusion, "A what?"

"A Rufus; in college my five roommates and I had this statue of one of those British Royal Guards and we called him Rufus. I honestly have no idea where we came up the name, or how I ended up with it.—Your grandfather threw it away when I graduated and married your mother," Mitchum said as he grabbed a cue stick and looked at Henry for another moment.

He just observed his father as Mitchum interacted with his friends. It was interesting to see his father outside of work. Even though he had lived under the same roof as his father, it always seemed like everything was business. This was the first time he had really seen his father being a part of anything that didn't involve some kind of business deal.

Leaning over to take his shot, he couldn't help but ask the question that had been on his mind since his father had shown up, "Where's mom?"

Mitchum sighed, "Sitting in the car outside."

That had not been the answer he had been expecting and he ended up scratching on the shot as he turned to look at his father in disbelief, "Mom, is sitting outside in the car? Why? It's freezing out there."

Mitchum shrugged, "She said she would come in on her own time. I don't think she remembers how to attend a party that doesn't involve business deals…truthfully I have as well, but she said she didn't want to make the party uncomfortable."

He couldn't help but feel a little disappointment at his father's words. And yet at the same time he was happy to actually have a conversation, with his father, that he could picture having with Chris. It wasn't the exact same thing, but it was close. He just hoped that this wasn't going to be a onetime thing. He didn't want Rory or someone else to have to pitch a fit with his family each time they stopped acting like parents just to get this kind of reaction out of them.

He turned back to the game. He had hoped that his mother would come up stairs on her own; but he didn't want to push for anything.

Three games later and actually feeling a bit more comfortable being around his father in a non-business-like environment and his mother still hadn't come up stairs. Sighing he walked over to the kitchen counter where Rory was double and triple checking the food, "Hey, Ace, can you give me one of those glade plastic bowl things that are in the cabinet?"

She gave him an odd look but went over to the cabinet and grabbed one for him as he looked the food.

"Here you go. Why do you need that anyway?" she asked curiously.

He sighed and placed some food in the bowl, "My mother is downstairs, outside, in the car. She won't come upstairs, so I'm going to bring her some food."

He watched as Rory's eyes widened before she was nodding and walking back toward the cabinet and pulling out a thermos and filling it with some freshly made coffee. Then she grabbed some small sugar packs that had been picked up at one point or another. Then she moved to the cabinet she had pulled the plastic bowl out of and pulled a small travel dip sized plastic bowl and cover and poured some cream into that one before handing him all three, "Here, bring these to her as well, it has to be getting a little chilly out there."

He smiled and leaned over to give her a kiss before taking them from her, "You're the best, Ace. I'll be right back. Don't miss me too much."

She just laughed and pushed him gently.

Sighing when he heard the car radio coming from the back of the town car he opened the back door and slid in, only to see his mother talking on her cell phone…planning a business party.

She stopped talking in the middle of her sentence when she realized that it was him and just stared at him for a few moments.

"I'll call you back, Amanda. Something has come up," she said quickly and disconnected the call.

He couldn't help but let out a humorless laugh and shake his head.

"Logan…" she began.

He cut her off and held out the food, coffee, cream and sugar, "Here. Rory and I thought you might like some food and coffee since you've been out here for so long. I'll let you get back to your planning."

Once she took them he moved to get out of the car, but stopped short when she said his name again.

"Logan…" she trailed off seemingly not knowing what to say next.

He looked back at her and sighed, "Like I said, I'll let you get back to your planning. And you should really try the pizza pies. Rory got one of the state's top chef's to make them (AN: Sookie!)."

He was just about to open the door to the building when his mother called out his name again. He sighed and turned back around to look at her in annoyance, "What? I'm holding you up from your planning."

"Happy Birthday," she said softly.

He sighed and nodded, "Yeah, well, it would have been nice if you had been able to say that at my party. But thanks."

And with that he opened the door and walked back into the building and took the elevator back up to the party.

He wasn't surprised to see Rory waiting for him in the hallway when the elevator opened. She was looking at him nervously and her eyes were full of concern for him.

He gave her a smile he knew she could tell was as forced as her enjoyment of 'green things' on her cheeseburgers, "She said 'Happy Birthday'…after she told her party planner that something came up and she had to call her back."

Rory sighed and closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around him tightly. He closed his eyes as he enveloped her into his arms and breathed in her scent. After a few moments she pulled back and kissed him.

"It's a start, Logan. It's a start," she said positively.

He nodded, "Yeah."

And with that he led her back to the party. As he walked through the door he caught his father's eyes and shook his head to answer his father's silent question about whether or not his mother was coming.

At least he hadn't gotten into a fight with his father on his birthday…as Rory had said…it was a start.