A/N: Hope you enjoy this!

Chapter Fifty Five

Rory laid in bed, jostled out of sleep by the sound of the front door closing. She propped herself up on her forearms, eyes still bleary with sleep as Logan walked into the bedroom, shirt drenched with sweat and ear buds in his ears. He noticed she was up and quickly took out his ear buds.

"Shit, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay," Rory said yawning. She reached over to the nightstand and picked up her phone. "I should be getting up for class soon anyway. I still can't get over the fact that you're an early riser."

"Is it really that surprising?" he asked, peeling off his shirt.

"Considering you were late for class several times back at Chilton because you slept through your alarm, yes it is. I also can't believe you run. I'm just learning so many things from our living together."

"You should like my running," he began. "Builds my endurance."

Rory laughed. "I never said I didn't like the running. Or the you being up early. Especially if you set the coffee machine before you left."

Logan grinned and leaned down, planting a soft kiss on her mouth. "Of course, I did."

"Good boy."

Rory climbed out of bed while Logan padded into the bathroom for a shower. She reached into the cabinet and pulled out her favorite coffee mug. It was crazy how she'd only been living at his apartment – or she supposed it was their apartment– and it already felt like home. Her books were all over the living room and she had her own favorite coffee mug. The refrigerator was stuffed with provisions from Sookie and the freezer was well stocked with frozen pizzas.

She poured herself a tall cup of coffee – no room for cream this morning – and she settled at the kitchen table. She picked up the bundled New York Times; Logan must have picked it up on his way back in from his run. She scanned the top headlines, but her attention was diverted when she heard voices coming from the vent beside the garbage can.

"What the…" she murmured, setting down the paper and scooting her chair over to the vent. She could make out two voices – one male and another female. They talked about normal morning things – the plans for the days, how they slept, etc. – but Rory still listened with a voyeuristic thrill.

"Hey, babe, put a blueberry bagel in the toaster for me," the woman said.

"Nice choice," Rory said softly, grinning. She liked the woman already. The mention of bagels sparked her own hunger and she stood up and went over to the counter to make herself some breakfast. She pulled a box of poptarts out of the cabinet and put two chocolate fudge ones into the toaster. When they were finished she went back to her spot by the vent and hunkered down for her morning entertainment.

Logan walked out of the bedroom and was surprised and befuddled to find Rory seated in front of the vent, leaning forward attentively as she sipped at her coffee. A disembodied voice floated from the vent.

"Um, Ace-"

"Ssshhh," Rory said, holding a hand up for him to be quiet. "She's just saying whether or not her parents are visiting for the weekend."

"Who is?"

"Whoever lives above us. Or below." She glanced back. "Does sound travel up or down?"

"Um, up, I think. Wait, you're listening to someone else's conversation through the vent?"

Rory nodded. " Yep."

"And you don't find anything strange about that?"

Rory took a sip of her coffee. "Nope."

He chuckled and stepped forward, planting a kiss on the top of her head. "Alright. Well, as long as you're enjoying yourself."

"You know, I think we'd like them."

"The people you're eavesdropping on?"

Rory nodded. "She loves coffee and blueberry bagels. And he goes running every morning like you."

"Coffee, bagels and running, huh? Well, that sounds like the basis for every great friendship."

"I sense that you're mocking me," Rory said, turning in her chair to talk to him while he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"You're dreaming about a friendship with the people you've been eavesdropping on through our kitchen vent. Of course I'm mocking you."

"I wonder if we've seen them," Rory mused, leaning back in her seat. "You know, in the elevator. Or in the mail room."

"I'll make sure to start asking for apartment numbers," Logan said, returning to the table. "It'd be 508 and 708, right?"

Rory gave him a look. "Not funny."

"Sort of funny. Anyway, what do you have going on today?"

"Class and then I'll be at the newspaper editing until my eyeballs bleed."

Logan winced. "That is an awful visual."

Rory ignored him, taking another sip of her coffee. Last week Doyle hinted that she was on the Features editor path. He gave her a few articles to edit yesterday, and she was eager to impress him.

"Don't stay too late at the office," Logan said. "I'm pretty sure Doyle does some weird things there after hours."

"Like what?"

"I caught him fake-accepting a Pulitzer Prize once."

Rory narrowed her eyes and asked, "What were you doing at the office late?"

"I was out with Finn who was trying to find the red head he'd slept with the night before. He was convinced she lived in the news office."

"Sure," Rory said, easily accepting the explanation. With Finn, she'd believe just about anything. She stood up from the table, giving her back a little stretch. "Well, I need to shower before class. Tell me if anything exciting comes from our vent!"

Rory ended up finishing her work quicker than expected, and was able to get a quick nap in before driving to her grandparents' house for Friday night dinner. She made it before her parents, and chatted with Emily and Richard in the living room until Chris and Lorelai got there.

"You would not believe the traffic!" Lorelai trilled, Christopher helping her take off her coat. Rory's eyes widened when she saw Lorelai's protruding belly. It had only been two weeks since Rory had seen her mother but she seemed to have grown two sizes in that time.

"Was there an accident?" Emily asked from her perch on the couch.

"I don't know," Lorelai said. "But, the traffic was just…" she made a gesture with her hand that Rory assumed was supposed to connote…something. Christopher sat down next to Rory and she said, "Mom made you late, didn't she?"

"Uh huh," he said with a small grin. "She insisted on finding chocolate poptarts for the ride here. After ten minutes of looking, it was revealed that we, in fact, did not have chocolate poptarts."

"What did you do then?"

"Her craving apparently was amendable to whatever poptarts were in the house and she settled for strawberry."

Rory let out a low whistle. "That was a close call."

"Tell me about it. You're talking to the person who had to run out at two in the morning to get your mother rocky road ice cream."

"Lorelai, you really should invest in some maternity clothes," Emily said, eyeing the tight fabric over her daughter's stomach.

"This is maternity clothes," Lorelai said.

"Are you sure?"

"There's an elastic waist on my jeans," Lorelai returned lightly. "I'm pretty sure."

"You know, when I was pregnant with you I had the most darling maternity clothes made for me. You should find a seamstress to make you some things."

"A seamstress? No, thank you."

"You know, I may still have some of my maternity clothes," Emily began, eyes lighting up.

"You mean all those mumus?"

Emily frowned, crossing her legs irritably as she returned, "They're not mumus, Lorelai. They're maternity clothes."

"I've seen pictures, Mom. They're mumus. My maternity clothes are fine."

"Alright, as long as you think they're fine."

Christopher could see Lorelai gearing up for another string of retorts and he gently laid his hand on her knee, giving her a small smile. She relaxed a bit, although the frenetic movement of her foot hinted at the underlying tension.

"Anyway, your father and I wanted to discuss something with you and Christopher," Emily said.

"Okay," Christopher said.

"We want to throw you both a baby shower. Now, I know it's not how it is traditionally done, but we weren't able to celebrate Rory being born. All we got for that was a hastily written note."

"You're never going to pass up an opportunity to bring that up, are you?" Lorelai remarked.

"Anyway, I called over at Rivers and they have their Galena room available on Wednesday, March 5th. It's a little short notice, only being two weeks away, but I already had invitations made up, so they can be sent out as soon as I get the okay from you two."

"You already have invitations made up?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, we need to act quickly. Apparently Bitsy Harrington is considering the Galena room for her daughter's graduation party."

Lorelai gasped and said, "How dare she."

Emily pursed her lips and said, "Mock all you want, Lorelai, but planning society functions is surprisingly tricky."

"And we are very grateful you are doing it," Christopher cut in. "A baby shower would be wonderful, Emily."

"It would?" Lorelai said, glancing at him.

"Yes, it would," he said. "I think it's a great idea."

"You'll get lots of gifts," Rory added. "You like gifts, Mom."

Lorelai grinned. "I do like gifts."

"Well, wonderful," Emily said, nodding with a satisfied grin. "I'll have those invitations set out tomorrow."

"And Bitsy Harrington will just have to hold her daughter's graduation party at the local Motel 6," Lorelai piped in.

"That would match their table manners better," Emily replied tartly. "New money."

"I cannot believe you just said that."

"The woman brought her little dog to the ALS fundraiser last week," Emily said, defending her prior statement. "All evening all I could hear was that damn dog yipping."

"My God," Richard said, leaning forward. "So, that's what that noise was."

"Wow, Mom, you really dislike this woman," Lorelai said slowly. "I'm starting to think this baby shower is really just a ruse so you can steal the Galena room from her."

"That's not true," Emily replied. "It's simply an added bonus."

The maid walked into the living room and announced that dinner was served. Richard, Emily and Rory headed toward the dining room while Christopher helped Lorelai up from the couch.

"What was your agreeing so fast all about?" Lorelai asked. "You hate events like that."

"I thought it would be nice. We need new stuff for the baby, anyway."

Lorelai scrunched her eyebrows together and said, "Your parents were talking about throwing one, weren't they?"

"Yes, they were," Christopher admitted easily. "And I'd take your parents over mine anyday."

Lorelai sniggered, and as they walked to the dining room she whispered, "Straub and Francine are not going to be happy."

Two weeks later Rory and Logan were in his car, driving up to Rivers for her parents' baby shower. As they merged onto the expressway Rory mentioned that she hadn't told her grandparents she moved in with him.

"They think you're still living in the dorm, then?"

"Yes, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Afraid they'll go on a quest for your lost morals?" he teased.

"No, I'm more afraid that the minute my grandmother found out we were living together she'd start coming up with wedding invitations and color schemes."

"You can't be serious."

"I am very serious," Rory said. "There is nothing my grandmother would like more than my marrying a nice, upstanding Yale man."

"What about you becoming a world renowned reporter?"

"Not quite up at the same level," Rory said. "And besides, I don't want you to get caught in questions of when or if you're going to propose. It's just better off this way."

Logan didn't respond and she said, "Uh, I didn't scare you off with the talking about talking about a proposal, did I?"

He laughed. "No, you didn't."

"Okay, good."

"Emily would have to go head to head with my sister, you know."

"For what?"

"If we got engaged," he said casually.

His nonchalance caught her off-guard, and Rory swallowed hard as she said, "Really?"

"Ever since she got married, she's been planning mine. I personally think it's because she wants a do-over on some parts of the wedding. My mother was a little too involved."

Rory stretched her legs out in front of her and carefully asked, "So, what does she have in mind?"

Logan grinned, stealing a glance at her beside him in the car. "She wanted a jazz band for the reception. Mom insisted on her having this eight piece classical ensemble that made the reception pretty much a drag."

"I like jazz."

"Yeah?" he said. "Me too."

"So, what else?"

"A candy table."

"A candy table?" Rory enthused. "Is that even a thing?"

He nodded. "Yeah, one of her sorority sisters had one at her wedding."

"I like that."

He laughed. "I knew you would."

"What type of candy would be on it? Because the candy makes a good or bad candy table."

"Yes, almost by definition. We'd need Mike n' Ikes. Twizzlers."

"Oh, definitely Twizzlers," Rory agreed. "They're such a festive candy."

Logan laughed. "Skittles. Maybe some chocolate?"

"Hershey kisses," Rory suggested with a grin. "And they could match our color scheme."

Logan grinned, reaching over and taking Rory's hand.

Lorelai was in her element at the baby shower. Everyone gathered around her and Christopher – people she know and people she didn't – and they asked about the baby and how they were doing, and what they were planning. The most frequently asked question was whether or not they knew the sex of their baby.

"We're waiting," Lorelai said. "Then we can tell the kid that it was a surprise in every meaning on the word."

The society woman who asked responded with a brittle laugh, hand flying to her chest.

"Well, isn't that something."

The woman walked off and Christopher said, "You need to stop using that line."

"What? It's one of my best."

Emily glided over, positively beaming in her emerald green skirt suit. She placed her hand on Lorelai's elbow and asked, "It looks wonderful in here, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, you did a good job, Mom."

"Are you enjoying yourselves?" Emily asked, glancing over at Christopher. He nodded and told her, "Very much, Emily. Thank you for doing this."

"I like the present table a lot," Lorelai piped in, grinning wide. "What are the chances that some of them are just for me and not the baby?"

"I would imagine low," Emily returned drily. She spotted something over Lorelai's shoulder and said, "Rory's here!"

She rushed over to Rory and gave her a delicate hug. She sent Logan a smile and said, "Logan, it's wonderful to see you as always."

"Thank you, Emily."

Emily studied the two of them and said, "My word, you two make the most handsome couple."

Richard came over to say hello and Emily said, "Richard, don't Rory and Logan make the most handsome couple?"

"Very handsome," Richard said indulgently. "It's wonderful to see you both."

"Make sure to try the gruyere puffs," Emily advised. "They are to die for."

"We will," Rory said.

Emily and Richard made their way back into the crowd and Logan leaned in toward Rory as he said, "Hear that, Ace? We're a handsome couple."

"Yes, I did hear."

"You know, I could see the visions of tablescapes dancing in her head."

Rory laughed, hitting his arm lightly. "Stop it."

The pair made their way through the crowd, searching for the guests of honor. They ran into Babette first, who was one of the few Stars Hollow people invited. It was a testament to how much Lorelai and Emily's relationship had grown that Stars Hollow people were in attendance at all. Babette had some sort of shrimp appetizer on a skewer and she enthused, "Do you see this shrimp, Rory? It's the size of my head!"

Rory grinned. "Have you seen my parents?"

"Yeah, sugar, they're over by all the presents. I think Lorelai's guarding them or something."

"That sounds like my mom. Thanks Babette."

When they found Lorelai and Christopher the latter was keeping Lorelai from touching the presents.

"Can you believe he won't let me touch my own presents?"

"It's only because you started shaking them to see if they jingled."

Lorelai shrugged and said, "You can tell a lot from a gift by the sound it makes when it's shook."

"My mom does make a valid point," Rory reasoned.

"So, you guys find the place okay?" Lorelai asked. "Of course, Rory already had her society date back here during Chilton."

Rory gave Lorelai a look. That had not been a good time for her and Logan. It was a really awful time, actually. Logan slid his arm around her waist and she leaned comfortably against him, relieved that things had changed.

"So, where's your gift for us?" Lorelai asked.

"As I will be the baby's older sister my gift to it will be love, knowledge and the gentle reassurance that its mother is not certifiably insane."

Lorelai grinned, slipping her arm around Christopher'r waist. "We did good with this one, Chris."

That night Rory and Logan laid in bed, her head resting on his chest as he ran his fingers lazily up and down her back.

"They seemed happy," Rory said. "Really happy."

"Yeah, they did."

She didn't say anything for a moment and he asked, "What about you? Are you happy?"

She grinned up at him and said, "After what we just did? Yes. I am a happy camper."

He laughed, chest rumbling beneath her cheek. "I mean about becoming a sister, Ace."

"Yeah, of course I'm happy," she said.

"It's just you were a little less kumbaya about it before."

"I know," she murmured.

"You can tell me if you're still a little uncomfortable about it. I won't judge. I'm an impartial listener here."

She laid her hand on his cheek and guided his lips down to hers. "I know. And thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I'm fine, though. Seeing both of my parents so happy, it's nice. It's like they're getting a second chance."

"Yeah."

"And I'm a pretty big fan of second chances," she pointed out, snuggling closer to him. Logan grinned, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Yeah, me too, Ace."

A/N: Reviews dropped off a lot last chapter. I know my updates are infrequent at best, but that makes it even more important that I know people are actually reading. So, if you are reading, please update.

Also - I have a new Rogan story called "I've Got Your Number, Son." It's set in Season 4 and has some fun twists on storyines from that season. I hope you check it out!