A week after new years, Rory went back to the hospital to get the stitches taken out of her hand.
"You look nervous" the nurse said as she was getting ready to inject a local anesthetic into Rory's hand
"I am" Rory chuckled nervously "I'm not a fan of needles"
"I can do it without the anesthetic, but you'll feel it"
"How much would it hurt?"
"Because of where the cut is, you'll probably feel a good amount of pressure but it shouldn't hurt"
"So just do it" Rory said "I've had 3 kids, it can't be worse"
"It definitely won't be worse than childbirth" the nurse chuckled
——
Lorelai was sitting with Rory in her apartment, holding Sammy.
"Did he get bigger?" Lorelai asked "I feel like he got bigger"
"He's a little over 3 pounds now" Rory said
"That's good"
"Yeah, so...I have to tell you something"
"Are you pregnant?" Lorelai joked
"That's not even funny"
"I thought it was" Lorelai shrugged "what's going on? Am I gonna hate whatever you're about to say?"
"I actually think you'll be really excited, which is why I'm gonna take that baby before I tell you"
"Ooh, intrigue"
"Come here love bug" Rory said as she took Sammy from Lorelai
"Do you ever call your kids by their names?"
"Not usually" Rory chuckled
"Ok, I have to know what's going on. Spill"
"We're not doing it yet because we don't want to switch the kids' schools in the middle of the year, but we're moving to Hartford"
"Are you serious?!" Lorelai gasped "you mean I won't have to drive 2 hours to see you anymore?"
"The house is 25 minutes away from Stars Hollow"
"You bought a house already?"
"A couple of months ago" Rory said "we've been thinking about it for a really long time, and we finally decided to do it"
"What made you decide to do it?"
"I think we just realized that we don't want our kids growing up in the city. We want them to be able to go outside and play, and breathe fresh air, and they can't really do that here. We have an office in Hartford and we can drive to the city when we need to. Nicky will go to Chilton's elementary school, they have a preschool program too, so Grace will be there, and we'll be closer to family which is great"
just then Logan got home. He walked into the living room and kissed Rory quickly, before sitting down.
"Do you know how much I love you?" Lorelai asked
"What?" Logan looked at Rory
"I told her that we're moving" Rory said
"I see"
——
"Sleep well baby" Rory signed and then kissed Grace's forehead "I'll see you in the morning"
Rory turned off the light and left the room. She walked into the living room where Logan was and sat next to him.
"Just so you know, Nicky is under the impression that he's designing his own room in the new house" Logan said
"That's actually not a bad idea" Rory said
"Really?"
"Yeah, why not? It's his room" Rory shrugged "I mean within reason, but if he wants to pick out the color of the walls and his own bed, I don't see why we can't let him. Actually Grace can pick hers too"
"I guess there really isn't any reason to pick for them. They're old enough to know what they want"
——
Jump to March 2018. It was Friday night and it was just Emily, Lorelai, and Rory at Friday night dinner.
"I feel like we time traveled to 15 years ago" Lorelai said
"Yeah, how long had it been since it's been just the 3 of us?" Rory asked
"How long have you been married?" Lorelai asked "because it's probably been a little longer than that"
"Our anniversary was actually a few days ago, so 9 years"
"That's right, you just had an anniversary" Emily said "so next March will be 10 years, right?"
"Yeah"
"I actually had a thought..." Emily said and got up "I'll be right back"
Emily left the room and came back a minute later with a big white binder.
"What the hell is that?" Lorelai asked and took the binder from Emily
"Rory, while your 'not a wedding' wedding was very nice, I thought it could be fun for you to have a vow renewal for your 10th anniversary" Emily said
"This is crazy" Lorelai said "when did you come up with this?"
"9 years ago" Emily said "so what do you think? Renew your vows? Have a real wedding dress if you want one. Involve your children. Celebrate 10 years of marriage"
"I don't know...I'd have to talk to Logan about it"
"You do that"
Later that night Rory and Logan were in bed and Rory told Logan about Emily's idea.
"Would you let me buy you a ring?" Logan asked
"How did I know that you were gonna ask that?" Rory rolled her eyes
"Because I'm predictable"
"No, Logan, I wouldn't even know what to do with another ring"
"You'd wear it"
"Would you wear another ring if I bought you one?" Rory asked
"No, but that's not the point"
"That's exactly the point!"
"I only wear one, another would look weird. You already wear two, what's one more?"
"Logan..."
"An anniversary band" Logan said "it'll look like your wedding band, except this one goes on the opposite side of your engagement ring"
"Do you want a vow renewal or not? Because my grandmother wants to throw us one"
"I think it would be cool to do it, but we should do it our way"
"Meaning?"
"I don't know" Logan said "but we have a year to figure it out"
——
The next week Sammy had his 6 month checkup.
"He looks great" Dr. Howard said "he's breathing fine, and he hit 5 pounds, so that's great. I'm gonna go ahead and say that you can start giving him solid food. Since he'll be having less bottles, I'm gonna have you give him the anti rejection meds 3 times a day, and stop putting it in the bottle"
"Ok" Logan said
"Does he eat well? Sleep well?"
"He eats fine" Logan said "but he doesn't sleep so well"
"In what sense?"
"He sleeps fine if one of us is holding him, but as soon as we try to put him down he starts screaming"
"It's possible he has some separation anxiety, it's common in babies and young children, but it's especially common in preemies and babies that spent time in the nicu. You can try a sound machine. When you hold a baby, they can hear your breathing and it soothes them, sometimes a sound machine has a similar effect. You can also make the room a little warmer or dress him in an extra layer. He's small so it could be that he's cold, and when you hold him he feels your body heat and it warms him. And another thing is a pacifier. I know a lot of parents don't like them, but it's very comforting for the baby and it helps them relax"
"Ok"
——
A couple of weeks later Rory and Logan were standing in the kitchen, drinking coffee while the kids ate breakfast.
"We have to figure out how we're gonna do this move" Logan said
"And we have to sell this place" Rory said
"We can't sell this place until we move out, though"
"When's Nicky's last day of kindergarten?" Rory asked
"May 15th" Logan said "it's a Friday"
"We could move that week" Rory said "they'll be in school and I'm sure my mom will watch Sammy. We're getting new furniture anyway so we can paint and get get the furniture ready before then. That last week of school, we can start moving stuff and then on Friday we can do the last of it"
"So we have to pick paint colors"
"I wanna take them to pick what they want for their rooms" Rory said "we should do that soon"
"We can do it this weekend"
"Ok. And my grandmother wants to know about the vow renewal, but I told her that we have a lot going on with the move so it's gonna have to wait"
"Mama" Grace said
"Yeah baby"
"Can I have pink pillows in the new house?" Grace signed
"If you want"