Match made in a boardroom

Chapter 41

Rory's POV
"Rest now, Ace. Before you know it we'll be meeting our daughter," Logan whispered to me. They'd just given me an epidural and I was finally pain free after hours of labor.

"Tell me a story?" I asked quietly.

"Of course." Logan sat down in the chair next to me and took my hand in his. He gently kissed my forehead. "There once was this man-child who was used to getting everything he wanted and could never imagine settling down. One day he met a beautiful woman who was strong and funny and witty, and she turned his whole life upside down. She stood up to both of their families and showed him that he didn't have to live the life that his parents had planned for him. He instantly fell head-over-heels in love with her and in the process he learned how to be a real man.

"Then one day he got sent off to a far, far away land for the summer with his father, and the beautiful girl surprised him by coming to stay with him. He asked her to spend the rest of her life with him, and she agreed. In a way that only they could pull off, they got married quickly and quietly. When their families found out they were so angry over how they'd gotten married, but they quickly realized there was nothing they could do to change the fact that the couple was married. They were so in love.

"Life finally settled down for them, and he graduated from college. He worked while she finished her last year of college, and right after giving her valedictorian speech on her graduation day she gave him the best gift ever – she told him that they were going to have a baby. Nine months flew by. They moved to New York together to run their business and got ready to become parents. But you know what, Ace?"

"Hmm?" I asked sleepily.

"Their story was only beginning. You see, that man fell more in love with her every single day, and he couldn't think of anything more amazing than building their family and growing old together. She saved him."

"They saved each other," I insisted.

Before I knew it, the doctor said it was time to push. Our baby girl was born on a cold January night in New York, and I'd never known love like that moment. The second Logan brought her over and laid her in my arms, our entire lives changed for the better. She was perfect in every way.

"We did good, Ace," Logan whispered as he stroked his finger down her tiny cheek. "She's perfect – just like you."

"We made her," I whispered reverently. It was an overwhelming thought that this little baby was born out of our love for each other.

"We did. We make gorgeous babies. What do you say to more?" he asked with a smirk.

"I say let me wean this one first," I chuckled.

*** *** *** *** ***

Logan's POV - 27 years later

I rocked the beautiful little boy in my arms and smiled as his tiny fingers wrapped around mine. He was absolute perfection. I was immediately brought back to the day each of our children was born.
Lorelai Emily, who we called Emily, was our oldest. She was twenty-seven years old now and had just given birth to our first grandchild. Then we had Elijah Lucas, or Eli. He was in his senior year at Yale and poised to take the helm at HPG when he was ready – not because we'd forced him into it, but because he truly loved the business and wanted to run the company. Then we had twin girls, Sophie Leigh and Victoria Honor. Our girls were in their freshman years at Brown and Stanford respectively, Sophie a liberal arts major and Victoria a pre-med student. The four of them were the lights of our lives.

It hadn't always been easy, but we'd worked hard to ensure that we were present in their lives every single day and that they always knew they were more important than anything else. We'd juggled carpool schedules, sports practices, dance recitals, homework, and raising children as a team. We'd even gone so far as to have adjacent offices that had a playroom between them so that our kids could be with us as much as possible. Many said it couldn't be done – that we couldn't be involved parents and run a multi-billion dollar international corporation – but we'd done it. They were smart, well-traveled, cultured, responsible children. Eli took after me a bit more than I would have liked, but he'd never sunk a yacht so that was a win.

I looked up as my beautiful wife of almost thirty years walked over to me. Age had changed us both, but our love had only grown. She was still the most beautiful woman I'd ever met, and I was forever grateful that our parents' meddling had brought us together. Rory and I had been through gloriously good times and heart-wrenching trials. We'd lost Richard and Emily in a car accident when little Emily was only twelve. That had been one of the hardest moments we'd faced. Then we lost my mom about seven years ago and my dad a few years later. I was grateful that we'd finally built a good relationship with them. They were much better grandparents than they were parents when we were young. Fortunately, Chris and Lorelai were still in great health and were headed to the hospital now to meet their first great-grandchild.

"He's so perfect," Rory whispered as she sat down next to me. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my side.

"He is. We're grandparents," I said softly. It didn't even seem possible.

"Who would have ever dreamed that a setup from our families would have brought us all this?" she chuckled.

"Not me, but I'm so grateful that it did. I love you, Ace."

"And I love you, Logan."