Someday

Chapter One: Meddling

Richard Gilmore was no longer the biggest fan of these events. As much as it was ingrained into his life and as much as he loved his life, he found that lately he would much prefer to be at home with his wife, tucked up in bed with a good book. Instead he had to plaster on a fake smile and shake hands with the endless stream of moronic imbeciles who seemed to gravitate towards him.

Standing in the grand hall with a brandy in his hand, he had had enough of the numerous charity events Emily dragged him along to. Now in his second stint of retirement, Emily thought it would be good for him to get out and about. To mingle with his old acquaintances, Richard thought otherwise. However, here he was.

Having made the rounds, he drifted off towards a rather secluded spot and sat by himself, enjoying the quiet and serenity of his slightly isolated surroundings.

He closed his eyes and blanked out the sounds of people enjoying themselves. He pushed it all out of his mind and found himself in a peaceful place, thinking of the one person who always made him smile; his granddaughter, Rory. He hadn't seen her in almost a year. Her career as a journalist had taken her to London where she worked for a rather successful newspaper. As proud as he was of her, he missed her terribly. She still kept in close contact with everyone, but it wasn't the same.

"Richard?" A deep, vaguely familiar voice interrupted his memories. As he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see the man who had captured his granddaughter's heart so completely, staring back at him. It was Logan; Logan Huntzberger. He couldn't help the warm smile from creeping over his features as he studied the young man keenly. He had always held a fondness for the young Huntzberger heir. All he had ever wanted was for Rory to achieve everything she had ever dreamed for herself and to find love and happiness with someone good enough for her. Now, as her ever loving grandfather, he had long since come to the conclusion that no one would ever be good enough for his Rory. However, in Logan's case, Richard had watched him grow into a man who could be considered suitable of Rory's affections. He had seen how much Logan loved his granddaughter close hand and always felt it a shame that things hadn't worked out for the young couple.

"Logan, son. How are you?" he smiled back at him as he pulled himself up from the chair. He offered his hand to the young blonde and shook it firmly. Logan greeted Richard in similar fond regard.

"I'm good, Sir. And yourself?"

Richard nodded. "I'm wonderful. Just enjoying the peace and quiet." he said quietly to the side. Logan laughed.

"I know what you mean."

"Are you in town for long?" Logan nodded.

"A couple of weeks. I promised Honor I'd spend the holidays with her and Josh and the baby this year, so…"

"Well, being with your loved ones is important at this time of year." Richard acknowledged. Logan lowered his head and took a swig of his scotch as silence fell between them.

"So how is the business world treating you? I heard that that little company of yours is doing quite well for itself." as he finished speaking Logan smiled with pride and nodded.

"Indeed it is. In fact, we're not so little any more. We just bought out another company. Its pretty exciting." he beamed. Richard smiled with a deep sense of pride for the young mans achievements. Even though he wasn't family, it still felt like he was. Knowing of the boy's non existent relationship with his father, Richard felt a need to congratulate him sincerely. To make him aware of just how impressed he was.

"That really is wonderful, son." He placed his hand on Logan's shoulder and gave him a slight squeeze. "I'm happy that things are going so well for you. Rory always was so certain that you would find your way and surprise us all."

Richard noticed the bright smile on Logan's face fade slightly at the mention of his granddaughter's name. He saw a faint flicker of emotion in his brown eyes, he was sure it was pain. Richard felt a pang of remorse. The last thing he wanted to do was open up old wounds for the boy. He was well aware of how deeply Logan loved Rory, and how much it must have broken his heart when she turned down his proposal.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think…" Logan raised his gaze back to Richard and shrugged it off.

"Don't worry about it." he said trying to sound as unaffected as possible. Richard didn't buy it for a second. "How…how is she? Rory?"

Richard sighed as he noted the hesitant tone in his voice. It had been over three and a half years since both Rory and Logan had gone their separate ways, but he was more than certain that those old feelings hadn't completely disappeared for either of them.

"She's fine. You know Rory. She's working in London. She seems to be enjoying it immensely." he informed him with a smile of pride once more covering his features. Logan lowered his gaze to the ground and took a sip of his scotch.

"That's good. I'm glad she's happy." he said softly, with a tinge of sadness.

"Richard there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." interrupted Emily as she joined the two men.

"And you found me, my dear." he greeted her with love in his eyes. They had been married for forty-five years and he still was as madly in love with her as the day they first met. He kissed her cheek and then gestured towards Logan. "I was just chatting with Logan here."

Emily's eyes widened as she noticed the young blonde standing before them. Her smile mirrored Richard's in levels of warmth. She was genuinely happy to see him.

"Logan. How lovely to see you." she leaned forward and Logan kissed her cheek and smiled back at her.

"Emily." he nodded. "You're looking well."

"Thank you. How are you?" she enquired taking a step towards him.

"I'm great."

"Logan's company is doing very well for itself. It seems he is quite the successful business mogul. He's building his own little empire." Richard enthused causing Logan to lower his head in unease at the compliment.

"How wonderful." she said sincerely. However, the cogs in her mind started going into overdrive as she thought of how perfect a couple he and Rory had made. Emily had been so disappointed when they had broken up. "And are you seeing anyone these days?"

Logan cleared his throat as Richard sighed. He knew exactly where his wife was going with this.

"Um, actually I am." he said uncomfortably avoiding making eye contact with the pair. "Her name is Grace Fitzgerald. We've been together now for about six months."

Emily's smile faded. "How nice."

"Yeah. Well, I should probably get back out there." he said trying to break the awkwardness between them.

Emily nodded but remained silent. Richard rolled his eyes and smiled at him. He shook his hand firmly once again.

"Well, good luck with everything and don't be a stranger. If you need any help with insurance, I might be retired now, but I still keep up to date with what's going on out there."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Richard." he smiled. "Emily."

Emily looked up as he turned away, quickly a plan formulated in her mind and she took the opportunity to set it in motion.

"Logan." she called out catching his attention, he turned back to face them both. "We're throwing our annual Christmas party next week, it would mean ever so much if you could attend." she said in her sweetest tone trying to hide the fact that she held ulterior motives for requesting his attendance.

Logan thought for a moment and then smiled back at her. "Sure, Emily. I'll be there."

Emily smiled brightly as he disappeared into the crowd. She turned back to her husband and kissed him on the lips surprising him immensely.

"What was that for, my dear Emily?"

"I'm not allowed to kiss my husband for no apparent reason?" she asked coyly. Richard studied her closely and raised his eyebrows in suspicion.

"What are you up to, Emily?"

Emily widened her eyes in innocence. "I just invited Logan to our Christmas party." she smiled. "The same party that our granddaughter will be attending upon her return from London."

Richard shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"It's been a while since I've done some meddling."

Richard watched as his wife walked off towards the bustling crowd with a mischievous grin on her face. He sat back down on his chair and settled himself once again. He closed his eyes over and blanked out everything around him. Once more, his thoughts turned to Rory.

He had been anxiously looking forward to her return and it seemed that Emily would be too.

RLRLRLRLRLRL

"Where are you?" Lorelai spoke anxiously into the phone. She had been waiting patiently in the airport for Rory's flight to arrive for what seemed like forever. She wanted to see her only child. She needed to see her only child. It had been a long time since they had both been on the same continent. Now she was coming home for the holidays and Lorelai wasn't willing to wait another minute.

"Hello to you to, Mom." Rory smiled into the phone.

"Where are you? I have been standing here holding this sign for the last three hours. Where are you? You did get on the plane, right?"

Rory rolled her eyes at her mother's crazy antics. "Yes, I got on the plane, I got off the plane and I am now just leaving the airport café having purchased my first American made coffee in over a year."

Lorelai frowned. "You got coffee? How can you make a stop to go pick up some coffee? We haven't seen each other in ages and yet you can go get coffee."

"Mom."

"I am insulted. I mean, I'm proud that even an ocean apart can't stop you from being your mother's daughter, but insulted that you choose coffee over me. The woman who gave you life."

"And a headache." Rory chipped in.

"So, where are you? I'm getting bored. If you don't show yourself in the next five seconds, I am just going to go home and you can hitch hike back to Stars Hollow."

"I'm coming, I'm coming." she informed her in an exasperated tone.

Lorelai looked up to see a familiar brown haired girl come towards her. As she got closer she realised that the girl wasn't Rory.

"Are you sure you're not still in London?"

"I'm sure." Rory smiled as she stood behind her mother. Feeling excited about being home and with her family again, she tapped her on the shoulder and grinned from ear to ear as Lorelai spun around with the biggest smile you could ever see.

"You're home!" she squealed and pulled her in for a hug. "I can't believe you're home. I am never letting you go away again. A year is way too long." Lorelai rambled as she tightened her embrace almost to the point where Rory couldn't breathe any more.

"Um, Mom? Not that I'm not happy to see you too, but could you maybe loosen your arms a little. Otherwise you are going to be dragging my dead weight around with you because I am about three seconds from passing out." she informed her jokingly. Lorelai did as she was asked but kept her arms around her only daughter.

"I missed you so much." she whispered into her ear. Rory smiled broadly and wrapped her arms around her mother.

"I missed you too, mom." At that, Lorelai pulled away and started eyeing up her bag.

"So, what did you bring me?" she said excitedly like a child waiting for her present.

"I didn't bring you anything." Rory shrugged and began walking away towards the exit while dragging her luggage behind her. "Just me."

"But, it's Christmas. You must have brought me something." she pouted as she followed her out. Rory smiled.

"It's not Christmas for another week." she reminded her.

"So, it is custom that when you go on holiday, you bring back your loved ones a gift."

"Mom, I wasn't on holiday. I had a job, I was living in London. That doesn't count."

"Sure it does. When I came to visit you I brought you stuff from Stars Hollow."

"Yes, stuff which I could have done without."

"No fair." Lorelai helped Rory load her luggage into the back of the jeep and then followed her to her side of the car.

"Mom, what are you doing?"

"You drive." Rory's eyes widened.

"No way. I am not driving. I have been driving on the other side of the road for the past twelve months. It's going to take me time to get reacquainted."

"Exactly. It'll be fun watching you panic."

"Your mean." Rory slid into the passenger's seat while Lorelai skipped round to her side and got in.

"Hey, I'm not the one who didn't bring any presents. Now that's mean." Rory rolled her eyes as Lorelai started the engine.

On the drive back to Stars Hollow, Rory stared out of the window as the familiar sights passed them by. It felt good to be home. It felt good to be back with her mother and her family. She was ready for a fresh start. Whatever that would bring.