The next evening, Logan showed up just before six. He rang the doorbell and waited. He was very anxious to spend time with his daughter while Rory and Finn went out to dinner with Art and Adelaide. He couldn't help but be a little nervous because this would be the most time he'd spent with her alone since she was born. It wasn't because Rory wouldn't allow it, it was his very busy work schedule. Logan's father had no sympathy for his son's relationship with Tori. Work came first for Mitchum, as it always had before.
"Logan, you're early," Rory said as she opened the front door. "Sorry, I'm such a mess. I've been trying to get ready, but a certain little girl had other plans tonight."
"You look beautiful," he replied and they gave each other a quick peck on the cheek. It felt a little awkward for him. She rarely looked less than beautiful in his book, but he was still getting used to his new role in Rory's life. He'd never been in the friend-zone with her, or any other girl except his sister. Nevertheless, he didn't feel the need to hold back a compliment for her.
Rory didn't know what to say in return, but Finn saved her from stuttering out an awkward response.
"Mate, it's good to see you!" Finn said as he came down the stairs. He extended his hand to Logan for a shake, who returned the gesture. "I just got Princess V to sleep, so you should be safe for an hour or so."
Princess V? Logan wondered. He figured it must be Finn's nickname for Tori. It stung him a little bit because it was a reminder that he wasn't the one helping raise his own daughter. He recalled how cold Mitchum had been when he revealed the news. To his dad, it was simply another business deal to close. Thankfully, Rory handled it with grace and maturity. It was merely signing a formal document based on their previously agreed upon arrangement. Stop, Logan, you can't let this get to you, he thought. This is your new path, and you should be happy you get to play any role at all. He'd been reminded of the coping skills he was learning in therapy. He'd been working hard to embrace what was in front of him instead of dwelling on the past or what might have been.
Logan followed Finn into the living room while Rory went back upstairs to finish getting ready. The two took seats adjacent to each other with Logan on the couch and Finn in the chair. They sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence. Finn had tried to keep things as normal as he could, but he could feel Logan's awkwardness. He got up and went to the drink cabinet and poured himself a glass of scotch. He glanced toward Logan and poured him a small one as well. He handed the drink to him and watched him take a sip.
"How are things going in London?" Finn asked Logan. He hoped to help him feel more at ease with everything.
"Good, I'm wrapping things up there and should be back here by the end of the summer," Logan replied.
"The Dark Lord is letting you move back here?" Finn asked curiously.
"It was somewhat of a point of contention, but I managed to convince him. Odette was actually on board with the idea. She's very committed to making our relationship work."
"When you get all settled, we'll have to go out for a drink! I bet I can pull Colin away from Steph, and coax Robert out of NYC to meet up in Hartford," Finn replied enthusiastically.
"Get the band back together," Logan said with a smile.
Rory came down the stairs and into the living room. Both guys instinctively stood at the same time, just like they'd been training to do by the norms of the upper crust. She flashed a smile to the guys and laughed.
"You guys don't need to do that," she told them jokingly.
"You look amazing," Finn said as he kissed her on the side of the head. She smiled in return.
"It's amazing what you can do in fifteen minutes when Tori is sleeping," she said with a laugh and turned her attention to Logan. She handed him the baby video monitor. "Ok, Logan, this is so you can keep an eye on her. Now, in the fridge, you'll see a few bottles of milk. You shouldn't need all of them, but Tori can certainly eat," she began. "The bottle warmer is on the counter with instructions next to it. Diapers and wipes are in the basket on the changing table. Most things should be right in that area if you need them, except for her food, which I already mentioned."
Rory stopped giving directions when she saw the overwhelmed look on Logan's face.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked softly. "It's not too late for us to change our plans."
Logan took a deep breath and replied confidently, "Yes, I'm absolutely sure."
He looked at the monitor when he started to hear Tori fussing. A wave of panic came over him, and he began to second-guess his previous answer.
"Let's go upstairs together, and I can show you where things are at, too," Rory offered to help set him at ease.
"Good idea," he replied with a sound of relief.
Finn watched as Logan followed Rory up the stairs. He could hear Tori fussing louder than before and feared they may be late getting to dinner. He texted his parents to let them know what was going on.
Upstairs, Rory showed Logan where things were at as he attempted to calm his daughter. He picked her up and started to bounce a little bit. She seemed to settle down some more as he began to sway from side-to-side.
"She ate about half an hour ago, and I changed her diaper just after I fed her," Rory informed Logan. "She does like the mamaRoo swing downstairs."
"I think she's ok right now," Logan replied as he looked at Tori and smiled.
"If you have any questions, or need anything, just call or text," Rory proffered.
"We'll be fine," he answered with some confidence. He'd been reading up on baby care this week and felt he was finally ready for the challenge.
"Oh, no, I'd better get going or we'll be late," Rory said.
Rory went back downstairs, followed by a much slower Logan. He took his time since he didn't have much practice taking stairs with a small child in his arms. Finn and Rory met him at the bottom to say good-bye.
"Bye, Princess V," Finn said sweetly to the little girl.
"Are you sure you're ready to attempt this alone?" Rory asked one last time.
"Of course, I'm sure. It's only a couple of hours. I'll be fine," Logan responded reassuringly.
"Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you. Sometimes, a couple of hours can feel like an eternity when she gets fussy," she cautioned.
"If anything happens, I promise to call right away," he said. "I need to do this, Ace."
The longer he held the baby, the more his confidence grew. He was ready to put his skills to the test.
"Ok," she replied and gave Tori a kiss. "You be good for daddy!"
"Now, go before you miss dinner!" Logan warned and shooed them toward the door.
Finn opened the door and placed his hand on the small of Rory's back as he guided her toward the car that awaited them. He closed the door behind them. Logan sighed as soon as the door latched.
"It's just you and me, Tori," he said. "What are we gonna do first?"
She gazed back at him sleepily, giving him her answer. He took the stairs back up to her room carefully. She was even closer to sleep but wasn't quite there. He took a seat in the glider and began rocking gently. Within five minutes, she was asleep. He didn't want to put her down. He savored the moment for a couple more minutes before she started becoming heavy in his arms. Logan set the baby down in her crib and retrieved the monitor before heading downstairs.
Once he was back in the living room, he took out his laptop to check his emails. It wasn't more than fifteen minutes later that he heard Tori fussing on the monitor. He watched as she started wiggling around in her crib. She didn't seem to be in any sort of distress, so he let her be for a few more minutes. With each passing moment, she got louder as if she were calling to him to come and get her.
Logan closed his computer and headed upstairs to his daughter. When he got to her doorway, he quickly discovered why she had started fussing. The stench was like nothing he'd ever smelled before, and he could feel the bile beginning to rise in his throat. He'd never had his stomach turn from just a scent, but there was a first time for everything. He suspected this wouldn't be the last. He took a step back into the hall and pulled out his phone.
Logan: Quick question. How do you deal with the strong odor of a dirty diaper?
He pushed send and then realized he'd sent it to Finn instead of Rory.
Logan: Sorry, man. I meant to send that to Rory.
He copied and pasted the previous message into a text for Rory, but before he could hit send, Finn had already responded to him.
Finn: I gag almost every time Tori's diaper is stinky. Pull your shirt up over your nose until you can locate one of her receiving blankets. There should be a stack near the diapers. Fold it, corner to corner, and wrap it over your nose like a robber from an old spaghetti western. And breathe through the mouth! May the odds be ever in your favor!
Wow, that's a great idea, Logan thought and laughed. Who would have guessed I'd be getting baby advice from Finn? I guess I'm in for a lot of firsts.
Logan took a deep breath, pulled his shirt up over his nose as much as he could and entered the room. He scanned quickly and saw the pile of blankets on the changing table. Heeding Finn's advice, he folded it and put it over his nose. He tied it behind his head and let out the breath he'd been holding. Cautiously, he inhaled through his mouth. Ha! Finn was right, he thought.
He began changing Tori's diaper only to discover there was no poopy surprise. Where did this horrid stench come from? he wondered. Wow. Was her gas that powerful? Maybe she should be studied by scientists.
After he finished, he zipped up her sleep sack and took up residence in the glider once again. He started rocking back and forth. He began humming quietly as he rocked. As her eyelids began closing slowly, he took out his phone. He texted Finn.
Logan: False alarm, but, man, can she clear a room with her gas!
Finn: Just wait for the real thing. I was ready to invest in some HAZMAT gear.
Logan: From this tiny child it's that bad?
Finn: I didn't think it was possible myself. It looked like a crime scene.
Logan: I'll take your word for it.
He looked down at his daughter who was peacefully sleeping in his arms. He felt an immense amount of love for this tiny human and was surprised he could feel that way. He smiled and felt the warmth of the baby snuggled into him. For some reason, it was especially apparent on the arm that was directly under Tori. He started feeling around a bit. The warmth increased in temperature and felt squishy. It was at that moment that Logan smelled the surprise that caused the extra heat.
"Oh, no," he moaned. "Tell me you didn't!"
Tori opened her eyes and looked at him. She began to coo and Logan thought he saw a smile. Of course, you're happy about this, he thought. He smiled back at the baby. Then he got up carefully and brought her to the changing table. After he set her down, he noticed the wet spot on his own arm. He grabbed the blanket he'd used earlier and tied it behind his head.
The baby was cooing and babbling up a storm as if she were talking to her daddy, who had started unzipping her sleep sack. The stench permeated the blanket barrier causing Logan to start to feel a little queasy. He paused for a moment to collect himself before he continued.
Once he'd willed his stomach to stop churning, he finished unzipping to discover it was far worse than he'd suspected. The scene worsened and Logan could see the evidence from Tori's diaper leaking out from the back and legs. He grabbed a wipe and started to pre-emptively wipe away the poo. It just streaked everywhere and seemed to multiply. He quickly gave up and opened the diaper.
Finn was right, he thought. It looks like a crime scene. He chuckled and kept working on cleaning up the big mess from the tiny baby. He tried to be careful and not get it all over everything, but it was too late. It had soaked through everything, including the soft cover of the changing table. He continued to strip the dirty clothes off Tori, piling them at the end of the table. It never seemed to end for him, but after about ten minutes, he'd finally gotten her cleaned up.
Logan gently set his daughter in the crib after he diapered her. He searched around for a bag to put the dirty clothes into so he could bring them downstairs to the laundry. He quickly went to the bathroom next door to wash his hands after the mess had been cleaned up. That's when he noticed the large wet area on his own sleeve. He proceeded to take off his shirt, leaving him in his undershirt as he rinsed out the sleeve in the sink. He put his shirt over the shower bar to let it dry before he had to leave.
He went back in to finish dressing his daughter. Opening the first drawer, he found the onesies and sleep sacks. Logan picked up whatever was on top and put it on Tori. She was starting to get fussy. He looked at the clock and figured she was likely hungry, so he carried her downstairs. He couldn't believe how the time had already flown by tonight. Once in the kitchen, he quickly scanned the bottle warming instructions Rory had left for him.
"This seems pretty simple," he said sweetly to the babe in his arms. "Let's get you some food. If there's one thing that's held true through all of the years, it's that you don't keep a Gilmore girl from her food."
He followed the instructions and within a few minutes, Tori's bottle was ready. He took out the pacifier and replaced it with the bottle as he made his way back to the living room. Logan turned on the television and settled onto the couch with the baby. After she finished, he made sure to burp her. He felt her snuggle into his shoulder and relished the moment. He hoped to have many more like this since he'd be moving to Hartford to be closer to her.
"I love you, too, Tori," he said softly to her as she began drifting back to sleep.
Once he was sure she was fully out, he brought her back upstairs to her room. Just as he was laying her in her crib, his phone started beeping at him. Logan moved out of the room with lightning speed to avoid waking the baby. Shit, I forgot the monitor, he thought. First, he silenced the phone, and then checked his messages.
Finn: Hey, Mate, I hate to break it to you, but my parents insisted on seeing Tori tonight. We'll be back in about twenty minutes.
Logan: Your mom was always a sucker for babies and with one this cute, who could blame her!
He slipped back into the nursery and grabbed the monitor. He went to the bathroom to check on his shirt. While it wasn't completely dry, it would have to do, and it was only slightly damp. Maybe a hairdryer would help, he wondered, but thought better of making too much noise and risk waking Tori. He went back downstairs to the living room and watched television while he waited for everyone to get there.
After fifteen minutes, he heard Tori's cry coming through the monitor. As he started to go up the stairs, he heard voices coming in through the front door. He assumed it was Rory and Finn, but duty called from the nursery.
While Logan was upstairs with the baby, Finn and Rory entered the front door, and his parents weren't far behind. Adelaide was very anxious to see Tori, and even Art seemed a little excited. Both had really been quite taken with her. The feeling seemed stronger now that they had gotten better acquainted with Rory, who they were sure was going to be their daughter-in-law in the not-so-distant future. Finn's mother was very pleased with her son's choice. She always knew he'd settle down once he found the right woman.
"Rory, why are you being so mysterious about Tori's father?" Adelaide asked impatiently.
"Because it's someone you both know, and it's something all of us are trying to keep under wraps," Rory replied.
Adelaide paused and started thinking about it again. She'd run through the list of Finn's close friends, but none of them seemed to fit. Colin's pretty serious with Steph and has been for quite a while. He's really settled down since law school, and a lot of that is due to Steph's influence. Robert was bound to be a bachelor for life, and from what I can tell wouldn't be a good match for Rory. Logan was married and had been engaged for the year before that. He wouldn't dare do anything like getting his ex-girlfriend pregnant. Mitchum and Shira would kill him and possibly disinherit him, she thought. The more she pondered, the more she kept coming back to her son. It made her giddy to think about the prospect of grandchildren. Rory noticed the smile spreading across her face.
"For the thousandth time, it's not Finn," Rory said repeating the phrase that had been the overwhelming theme of the evening. Eventually, things died down and they were able to have a great conversation. As the meal was ending, the baby daddy question kept creeping back into the discussion. She knew better than saying anything in public for fear it would leak into the press and completely ruin the good thing they had going.
"Mum, do you honestly think I would have kept that from you had that been the case? I know how much you love babies," Finn added.
"You did keep Rory a secret from us, so...." Adelaide replied.
"That news would have been way bigger," Finn stated.
"With your reputation?" Art asked with a raised brow.
"Touche, Art," Rory said with a chuckle. "I can assure you both that Finn wasn't there when Tori was conceived."
"Technically....." Finn interjected.
"Technically," she reiterated soundly, "You were at the location, but you were not in the same room."
"I can also guarantee that because I was," Logan said as he descended the last two stairs and walked into the group.
"Logan," Adelaide said. She was shocked to see him. "It's so lovely to see you again."
"It's been far too long, Adelaide," Logan replied with a smile.
"We just couldn't go without seeing this precious darling once more before we have to head back home tomorrow evening," she said eying the baby in his arms.
"How was she tonight?" Rory asked and reached for her daughter.
Logan gently handed her to Rory and replied, "She was an angel."
"Why is your sleeve all damp?" she asked curiously.
"There may or may not have been a bit of diaper leakage," he said with a chuckle.
Rory noticed how anxious Adelaide had gotten and seemed almost desperate to hold the baby.
"Would you like to hold Tori now?" she asked Finn's mother.
She reached her arms out almost immediately. "Let me see this beautiful babe!"
Logan started looking a bit uncomfortable and slightly irritated. Rory read him and went into hostess mode to prevent further tension.
"Finn, why don't you take your parents into the living room while I go make some coffee," she suggested to him. "Logan, could you come and help me in the kitchen?"
Finn gave her a slightly confused look, and she replied by glancing in Logan's direction. Finn gave a slight nod and turned to his parents. He motioned them into the living while Logan followed Rory into the kitchen.
"I'm so sorry to spring this one you! It seems Adelaide is completely smitten with Tori, and there was no way for us to say no," Rory said apologetically.
"It definitely wasn't the way I envisioned the end of the night, Rory. I haven't seen them in years, and now, they know about our child," Logan replied sounding a little angry.
"I said I was sorry, Logan," she retorted. "What more do you want from me?"
"Nothing," he said reluctantly. "I'm sorry I got angry about this. I don't even know why. I just don't want the whole world knowing all of my business."
"I get it, and that's fair. It's not like I'm broadcasting it to everyone," she stated.
"I know you aren't. I'm still trying to get used to all of this, ya know?"
There was a momentary pause. Logan was still processing the situation.
"You know what, I am ok with this. Art and Adelaide are great people, and they are going to be a part of Tori's family soon enough," he said thoughtfully.
"Do you know something I don't?" Rory asked.
"No, I just assumed that's where you and Finn were headed," he answered.
"I guess we haven't really talked about anything like that. We're just happy with where things are right now," Rory replied. "Why do you assume that?"
"Because he looks at you the same way I used to look at you," he replied quietly.
Without saying a word, Rory began to make the coffee. Logan pulled out enough cups for everyone and she set the tray on the counter. He carefully arranged the mugs to ensure a balanced tray. She took the creamer out of the fridge and set it next to the sugar. A few minutes later, the coffee was ready.
"Let's bring this out and enjoy the company," she said with a soft smile, which he returned and nodded in assent.