Ladies and gentlemen, impatient and patient readers alike, here is chapter one of the sequel to Catherine's Foundation! Now I feel like I should warn you that updates for this might not be as speedy as those for Catherine's Foundation, but I do promise to update as often as possible. So, very kindly, and only once will I ask for your patience!
Chapter 2 will be typed tomorrow assuming I get chapter 3 written and start on 4. I just got impatient and wanted to give you guys the sequel! Enjoy!
June 2011
Rory couldn't wait.
She was bouncing on the balls of her feet as the elevator climbed the eleven floors to the executive offices of Catherine's Foundation. She had huge news and she had to tell Honour.
She'd called her mother the previous night and squealed for the better part of an hour – long after Logan had gotten out of the shower – and promised to make it to Stars Hollow as soon as possible. That weekend, apparently.
Finally, the elevator doors opened and Rory bounded childishly from the confined space, stopping just long enough to drop her things just inside her office door and wave at her assistant before aiming for Honour's office. She plopped both her hands on the blonde's desk pulling her from her focus.
"So how good do you look in navy blue?" Rory asked giddily.
Honour looked at her best friend like she was on crack. "How many cups of coffee have you had this morning?"
Rory rolled her eyes. "Five cups, two Danishes and a bagel. Now answer the question."
"Um… good I guess. Why?"
"Because I've always dreamed of my bridesmaids in navy blue at my wedding."
5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
"He proposed!"
Rory actually cringed at the volume and pitch of Honour's squeal. "Last night. Picnic in Strawberry Fields."
Honour was around her desk in an instant pulling Rory to one of the chairs there. "Nuh uh, girlie, there's no way you're getting away with that. I want full disclosure with every single on of the juicy details.
"Well," Rory began slowly. "He didn't blindfold me this time…"
Logan was slightly apprehensive stepping into the usual pub where he, Colin, Finn and Steph met for lunch each week. He and Rory had agreed that she'd handle her friends and he would tell his. Their families, Lorelai aside, they'd tackle together. However, telling his friends that the greatest bachelor of their generation was totally completely and permanently off the market suddenly seemed a little daunting.
Logan had actually kept his decision to propose a complete secret, even and especially ever-level-headed and objective Colin, for fear that over-talking and over-thinking would lead to waiting, wondering and increased nerves. It had been the biggest payout of his life.
He spotted Finn and Steph in a back booth and headed their way. "Where's Colin?"
"Flirting," Finn responded, waving toward the bar.
Exchanging mischievous grins with Finn, Logan turned his attention to the pixie-faced blond across the table. "Something wrong, Steph?"
She shot him a glare as Logan slid into the booth beside the Australian. "Where do you get off telling your girlfriend that I've been in love with Colin since seventh grade?" she snapped.
Logan simply raised an eyebrow. "I'm not even going to dignify the 'where do I get off' part of that, but I will correct you on your use of girlfriend."
"What the hell did you do?"
"And we've entered the no humour zone," Logan quipped, subconsciously leaning away from the irate blond.
Finn looked over Logan critically. "Well, you would have told us if you were about to pop the question, so it can't be that…"
Logan grinned.
"You didn't!" Steph exclaimed, just as Colin came back.
"Who didn't what?" He didn't think twice about sliding into the seat beside Steph.
"The term girlfriend apparently doesn't apply to Logan's Ace anymore," Finn said with a nonchalant wave of his hand, still trying to puzzle out why such a phenomenon had occurred.
"What?" Jeeze, Logan, what the hell are you thinking?" Colin almost exploded.
"Hey, don't castrate me yet," Logan said. "I just figured that the diamond I put on her finger last night entitled her to the term fiancée instead of girlfriend."
Colin and Steph's jaw dropped while Finn stayed remarkably calm, pulling out a quarter. "Colin, mate, heads or tails?"
Logan laughed at the fish impression his friends were doing, pulling out his cell phone to document the moment for Rory. "For the record, she said yes when I asked her last night and Steph, I owe you and Honour for keeping Ace occupied during the day."
Steph blinked. "You proposed."
"Yeah," Logan said with a grin.
"Last night."
"Yeah," Logan repeated.
"After Honour and I took her around Fifth Avenue for the day?"
"Yeah."
"And that little tramp hasn't called me yet?!" she exclaimed, whipping out her cell phone and hunting down Rory's number.
Meanwhile, Colin had regained control of his mental faculties. "You did what?"
"Proposed. Last night." Logan was getting so exasperated.
"You know," Finn said in reflection. "I figured McCrae would be the first to give."
"Hey," Logan exclaimed. "In my defence, I never expected to find anyone like Rory. She pretty much blind-sided me."
Steph snorted as she snapped her phone shut. "I'm pretty sure she more than blind-sided all of us. And I'm going to throttle your fiancée."
A smile blossomed over Logan's face at Steph's emphasis of 'fiancée'. "Please don't do that."
"She's withholding details!"
"Uh huh, so you're going to lunch tomorrow." It was a statement not a question. "And if it makes you feel any better Lane doesn't know yet. We're going to wait until we go to Stars Hollow this weekend to tell her."
Steph nodded thoughtfully. Then she grinned. "So which one of Dumb and Dumber here is going to be your best man?"
Finn held up the quarter again. "What do you say, mate? Heads or tails?"
"Eli?" Rory questioned, poking her head into the study of the Huntzberger mansion.
"Lorelai, this is a pleasant surprise," Elias responded, looking up.
Rory smiled affectionately. She hadn't talked to Elias in ages, too afraid of running into Shira to brave the dark mausoleum. Mental note: no living here without extensive renovation plans or extensive therapy. "I'm sorry, I would have called, but Honour got dragged off to the club again so I knew Shira wasn't home…"
Elias waved a hand. "I can see the motivation. I assume its safe to say you keep a stash of Aspirin in your office?"
Rory grinned. "That's an understatement. I make sure I carry Aspirin with me at all times and I'm considering buying stock with the amount Honour, Logan and I go through. I'm sure I'd be richer than you," she teased.
"Lorelai, you are richer than me," Elias pointed out, hitting below the belt. Rory hated any talk about wealth comparisons. "But something tells me this witty banter was not the reason for your impromptu visit."
She blushed by nodded. "We kind of decided to tell our families together, but you're my friend too and I get to tell my friends so I figured this was fair and Logan can't get mad at me for it…"
Elias chuckled. "You're rambling, Lorelai."
Rory blushed brighter. "I'm so nervous," she admitted.
Elias watched her carefully. She sat in front of him, her right hand fidgeting with something on her left and the Huntzberger reporter gene kicked in. Her eyes were glowing sapphires, sparkling in genuine elation. "This isn't about the charity."
"Well, I guess I can mention the carnival we're throwing together in a month. You're invited of course but I figured—"
"E-mail me the date and time. Now focus." Elias almost laughed as she basically snapped to attention.
"Logan and I are getting married."
Elias had vaguely been expecting that, but it still managed to shock him just that bit. "And you are not pregnant."
Rory blushed and stuttered indignantly for a moment before she caught that upturned twitch in Elias' lips and the Huntzberger mischievous twinkle. "I hate you."
This time, Elias outright laughed. "I apologize Lorelai."
Rory rolled her eyes. "If you could keep the news to yourself until Logan and I get a chance to tell everyone, we'd really appreciate it."
"Your secret's safe with me," he promised.
Rory felt the tension rush out of her along with a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Thank God."
Elias raised an eyebrow.
"When planning a coup it's always beneficial to have secret back up," Rory explained. "Though Logan has no idea I'm here."
"We don't all bite, Lorelai."
Rory met his eyes honestly. "Shira does. And I'm not exactly sure of Mitchum," she told him.
"Mitchum has no complaints, I assure you of that," Elias began, leaning back in his chair. "He's not blind to real love."
Rory smiled, remembering briefly some of the stories Honour and Logan had told her about the Huntzberger grandparents. "Hey Eli?"
"Yes Lorelai?"
"Why is Shira so fixed on the trophy wife?"
Elias regarded Rory seriously. "Because she knows no different."
Rory plopped down next to Logan on the couch that night after their first full day as an engaged couple. "So, I'm in my car this afternoon, voluntarily on my way to Hartford because your mother dragged Honour to the club so I knew Eli was all by himself…"
"You said we'd tell my parents and your grandparents together," Logan interrupted in surprise.
"Eli's not your parents or my grandparents is he? And I'll get to why he doesn't count in a minute. So I'm driving and my cell phone rings. Guess who was on the other end?"
"The Dalai Llama?"
"Nope," Rory grinned, loving how he played along.
"Santa Claus?"
"Nope again."
"The Tooth Fairy? The Easter Bunny? Throw me a bone here, Ace."
"Stephanie."
He vaguely remembered Steph being on the phone. "And this had everything to do with me because…?
"Because I told you to let me handle Steph," she chastised. "She reamed me out for five minutes and then went on to force me into lunch tomorrow."
"You love Steph," he said, drawing random shapes just above her knee where her legs were thrown across his.
"Yes, but I do not love an angry Steph," Rory replied. "I can understand telling Colin and Finn, I mean, I'm sure you talked to them about proposing before but for Steph it was out of the blue…"
"I never told Colin or Finn. They were just as in the dark as Steph was," Logan defended, moving his hands to her calves and starting to dig his fingers into the muscles there.
Rory blinked in surprise. "You didn't tell Finn or Colin?"
Logan shook his head. "Are you kidding me? They're my best friends and I love them but they jumped down my throat about giving up my previous lifestyle. Think of what they would have been like if I told them in advance." He watched her carefully after his revelation as she chewed her lip and twisted her engagement ring on her finger. He had to smile at the latter. Twenty-four hours and she'd already picked it up as a nervous habit. "What?"
"Would they really try to talk you out of proposing to me?" she asked finally. God, why did she have to be so insecure?
"Proposing to you specifically? No. Proposing in general on the other hand, without a doubt."
Rory wrinkled her brow. "Why?"
"For them, it means I'm giving up what they think is the only freedom I've got left."
"Because you're tying yourself down to one woman?"
He smiled and tapped her nose playfully. "I've been happily tied down to one woman for over a year and a half, Ace."
"Then I don't get it. It can't be because they don't like me," Rory said, pulling her legs to tuck them underneath her.
His hand came to rest on her thigh. "I think this just makes it real for them and I don't think they're looking forward to the reaction of their parents when the announcement comes out."
Rory groaned. "The announcement! It completely slipped my mind."
Logan grinned. When he'd come home, he'd found Sophie watching a documentary on the History Channel and Rory making a wedding to-do list in the office. The length of the list scared him, but she'd laughed and assured him that most of the things were jotted down for her own conscience. After all, she'd played a major role in planning her parents' wedding.
"That means we have to pick a date," she said with a sigh.
Logan chuckled, cool as a cucumber even though his insides were twisting and turning uncomfortably. "Why don't we pick a date to spread the news and then worry about picking the wedding date, okay?"
"Thank you for that lovely reminder too," she said slapping the back of his hand lightly before starting to play with his fingers. "I told Eli myself for two reasons."
Logan blinked slightly at her abrupt subject change. It took him a minute to process that Eli was his grandfather. "Okay…"
"One, I respect him too much to let him find out as just another member of your family. He's my friend too and I know it's a bit of a stretch but he was my friend before I knew he was your grandfather. I just felt I owed it to him."
Logan could vaguely understand that. "And two?"
Rory took a deep breath. It had been ages since Shira had last come up and even longer since either of them actually had to deal with the woman. "I want to make sure I know who's in my corner before plunging head first into a Huntzberger shanghai."
Logan groaned, like Rory had known he would. "Ace…"
"I know, I know," she promised, patting the hand still resting on her thigh. "But seriously, Logan, your mother hates me, and I'm not sure either of us really knows where your father stands. I love you, and I'm going to marry you with or without your mother's approval, it's just nice to know we have Honour and Eli behind us when we tell them."
She made a very logical point and he knew it. "I hate that she's such a pain about all of this."
Rory sighed. "I know."
"But," Logan continued, tugging on her hand until she was snuggled into his side. "I love you."
Rory smiled, leaning up to kiss him. "I love you, too."