Rory and Logan sat in silence, on opposite sides of the cab, as they drove to the airport. Neither of them had really spoken since they'd gotten off the phone with Amelie last night, but Rory hadn't slept a wink all night. She knew Logan hadn't too, as he'd been tossing and turning all night.
Without really consulting Rory, Logan had booked a cab to take them both to Hartford Airport and here they were. Rory stopped staring out of the window and turned her head to see that Logan had stretched a hand out towards her. She placed her hand over the top of his.
'Do you think he'll know who I am?' Rory muttered. Logan turned around, clearly shocked. It was the first she'd spoken to him all day.
'I don't know' Logan mumbled back, 'I doubt he'll recognise me, I only ever met him that once'.
'He hasn't seen me since he was three weeks old!' Rory said, still looking out of the window, 'and Amelie said that Odette had changed his name. How do you feel about that? Should we call him Dylan or Daniel?'
'Rory' Logan grabbed Rorys other hand from off her lap, forcing her to turn around and face him. 'We'll call him whatever he wants us to call him and if he doesn't recognise us then we'll just explain to him who we are. He'll get to know us pretty soon. He's only two years old. We have the rest of his life to go!' Logan winked at Rory.
'I still can't believe this is happening', Rory said.
'I can' Logan replied, 'I always knew he would be back with us some day'. He unfastened his seatbelt and edged closer to Rory. She rested a head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
**
The next thing Rory knew, they'd arrived at Hartford Airport.
'No bags?' the cab driver said, as they got out.
'No we're just meeting someone' Logan replied. He hand the man a 20 dollar bill, 'thanks man!'
When they got into the airport, Rory took a look at her phone. It was still an hour until their flight got in. Logan chuckled, clearly noticing what she'd just taken note of.
'I told you we would be super early!' he said.
'I know'. Rory replied, 'I gotta call my mom, she's sent me like a thousand and one texts'.
'Hey sweetie!' Lorelai answered the phone, 'is everything going ok? I can't believe this has finally happened and we get to see that scrummy little boy again!'
'No neither can I!' Rory replied. She was finally starting to feel excited now.
'Do you have everything you need? Lorelai asked.
'What?' Rory replied.
'Do you have everything you need for Dylan? Car seat, snacks, diapers. Are they even still in diapers at two? I'm sure you weren't, but then you're you'. Rory froze. In all the nervous anticipation, she hadn't thought to get anything.
'Logan!' she called. Logan appeared beside Rory and placed a hand on her shoulder. 'Logan, we need things. Car seat, snacks, diapers, if he even wears diapers. Mom, I'm sorry, I gotta go. I'll call you later'.
'Ok, bye sweetie', she heard Lorelai say, before she hung up the phone.
Rorys whole body was now shaking in fear. Logan moved so that he was stood facing her and put his hands on both of her shoulders.
'Ace, it's ok' he said, 'we have everything under control. There's a store over there that sells kids things. We'll make a list and then we'll see what we have to get. We'll buy diapers in all of the sizes if we have to.'
**
About an hour later, their hands full with carrier bags full of toddler paraphernalia, Rory and Logan made their way towards the arrivals gate. Rory looked down at her phone, their flight should have gotten in by now. Give them 15 or 20 minutes to check in and collect their bags and they should be through.
Suddenly a flood of anxiety hit Rory. What had just happened with the shopping showed that she had forgotten how to do the whole parenting thing. How was she going to bring a two year old back to a house that only had a crib and not a childs bed? The thought of this made Rory feel physically sick and she rushed over to the nearest bin and threw up in it. Logan suddenly appeared behind her. He didn't say anything, but he just rubbed her back and held her hair back, as she continued to barf.
After a few minutes, Rory finally managed to get her head out of the bin, stand up and walk back over to the gate. Suddenly her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Amelies name flashed up on the screen, so she answered it.
'Hey Amelie', Rory managed to sound cheerful, 'we're just stood at the arrivals gate waiting for your brother to arrive. Their plane got in about half an hour ago, so they must have had some trouble with..' Rory was barely allowed to finish before Amelie interrupted her.
'Rory I have some bad news for you, I'm afraid.' Rory bit her lip in anticipation of what Amelie had to say.
'I haven't heard from my brother since I spoke to him yesterday. I booked the flights and sent the details through to them, but I haven't heard anything back since. I'm sorry Rory, but they didn't get on the plane'.