The Secret

Chapter 13

They made their way downstairs and Rory was immediately enveloped in hugs from all the townspeople. Before she knew it, she lost sight of Logan in the crowd of well wishers that wanted to see her and touch her belly. Eventually, she found herself in the dining room and snagged a chair in the corner, taking the chance to catch a breath. No one was really in the dining room since the food hadn't been placed out yet.

Hearing banging in the kitchen, Rory decided to check it out, assuming Sookie was in there. Pushing the door open, she saw Sookie standing at the stove, gesticulating at her cooks. Not saying anything, she just watched as Sookie avoided near disaster several times before turning around to place the finishing touches on the reveal cake. Seeing her there, Sookie shouted, "Rory!"

Rory stepped into the kitchen and into Sookie's hug. "It's so good to see you!" Sookie continued. After they parted, Sookie looked at her.

"Wow, look at you! Your glowing because of this little munchkin. I never thought I'd see the day. I think I always hoped you'd be that little girl that would sit in the kitchen after school and eat the cookies I made for her."

Rory laughed. "There's some days I wish I was still that little girl, I'm not going to lie."

"Well, not that I don't love you being back here, but what are you doing back here?" Sookie asked as she stepped back to the cake.

Rory sighed. "It's a bit overwhelming out there. Since I haven't been in town in so long, everyone wants to see me and rub my belly. And, I'm so thrilled to see everyone, but I just can't take them anymore."

Sookie laughed. "I know what you mean. They can be a bit overwhelming. Obviously, they mean well. But, that doesn't mean it doesn't get super tiring to deal with their constant questions. Now you know why I hid out in the kitchen half the time."

Rory laughed at that. "Maybe I need to try and do that myself."

"Oh, Rory. You say that now, but I know you're happy to be back here and seeing everyone. It just wasn't the same without you here. And, Lorelai obviously wasn't happy either."

Rory sighed. "Yeah, I am. And I know. It's still a bit weird and awkward though. I'm hoping that whatever it is will pass and we'll get back to being the Gilmore girls before little baby comes here."

"I'm sure it will. But, we can't sit here all day. You need to get back out there and mingle! I'll have the servers bringing the food out soon, which should help with the general excitement with everything."

Rory gave Sookie one last hug and thanked her for her words before pushing through the door and back into the hallway. The Inn was eerily quiet and she stepped outside to see everyone had moved into the tent Lorelai had pitched outside the front door. It was still February and quite chilly, so Lorelai had massive space heaters brought out to help heat the space and most people didn't even need their jackets if they were in the tent. Rory surveyed the scene, a smiled on her face as she took in the townspeople and their interactions with each other and Logan.

She saw Logan had his back to a wall, which meant either Babette or Patty had gotten to him. Hopefully they hadn't been too bad towards him. She saw her mom and Luke were talking to Honor, Logan's sister. She even saw her grandparents and Logan's parents mingling with some of the townspeople. She hadn't had a chance to speak to either of the elder Huntzbergers and figure she should probably get that over with sooner rather than later.

Gathering her wits about her, she made her way down the steps and into the tent. She smiled and chatted as she made her way towards Mitchum and Shira. By the time she reached them, Logan had joined her side. He must have seen her intent and tracked her through the crowd.

"Mom, Dad," Logan said as they reached them.

"Logan, this is quite the turnout you've got here son," Mitchum boomed, shaking Logan's hand. "It's nice to see all these people out for you."

"Thanks, Dad," Logan said.

"Yes, it's quite quaint. I'm impressed it was put together so quickly," Shira said, looking around with thinly veiled distain.

Rory resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she responded, "Well, if Lorelai Gilmore is throwing a party, you don't miss it in this town. It's usually one for the ages. This is rather tame in comparison to some of the parties she's thrown in the past."

Shira murmured something and wandered off, leaving Logan and Rory with Mitchum. Surprisingly, Rory was fine with this. She had learned to deal with Mitchum's pushiness. It was Shira's haughtiness that Rory struggled to deal with. But, having just resolved the issues with her mother, Rory was leery to try and battle Shira. She figured it would work itself out whenever or, it wouldn't. It wasn't a problem to her either way.

She listened with half an ear as Logan and Mitchum briefly discussed some things with work that needed to be addressed in the coming week. Before they could get too deep, Lorelai came up with a smile. "Are you two ready to cut the cake? Sookie has brought all the food out and I think the native's are getting restless."

They nodded and followed Lorelai to a small raised platform. Rory hadn't wanted to have it at all, but her mom made a valid point about the townspeople. So many people would be there that would want to see it that the only way they would happen was if they slightly raised the cake table so everyone could see what color the cake was.

Once they mounted the dias, they looked at Kirk, who was supposed to be filming it live for the people that weren't able to come. "Are you ready Kirk?" Logan asked, trying to stifle his laughter at the look of confusion on Kirk's face.

"Yes, just about. I thought I had this set up earlier. But, for some reason, the picture is coming out black. It doesn't matter what I do! I can't get it to actually record anything!"

"Um, Kirk, do you think it's because you still have the lenses cover on the camera?" Babette shouted.

Kirk blushed as he checked the front of the camera and removed the cap. They watched as he double checked everything and gave them the thumbs up, the red light on the front of the camera turning on. Rory looked at Logan and smiled. "You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he smiled, leaning in for a kiss.

"Stop stalling!" Babette yelled. "Though, I can understand why you would be with that hunk as a husband."

Everyone laughed. They picked up the sterling silver cake server and placed it over the cake. They pressed it down together and then removed it so they could cut the other side to make a cake slice. They slid it under the slice and looked at each other before slowly raising it to place on the cake.

"Come on guys, you're taking too long! What is it?" someone yelled from the crowd.

Rory laughed and lifted the plate so everyone could see that the inside of the cake was blue, meaning they were having a boy.

"A boy!" Rory heard Emily and Shira both exclaim. The townspeople also descended into pandemonium while she looked at Logan and smiled.

"Well, I guess this makes it official. We're having a boy."

Logan grinned back at her. "Yep, I guess it does. Guess we need to start thinking of ways to outsmart him. If he's anything like what I was like as a child, then we have our hands full."

Rory laughed and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I think we can handle it."

"I think so too, Ace."