Glimpses

Chapter 60

February 20th, 2022

The weather outside was truly gruesome. Slush was falling from the sky and the temperature seemed to be fluctuating between above and below freezing throughout the day. It was the perfect day to stay indoors, and so they had for the most part.

Even Loki hadn't been too keen on stepping his paw out to the yard. Part of the problem was the ear protection wrap he wore with weather like this, it not being particularly to his liking. It was the third model Logan was trying on him, but this at least stayed on despite him attempting to shake it off of him. Logan was a lot more careful with Loki these days, having one ear infection experience behind him.

The adjustment to this new living arrangement had gone well, all things considered. Sure there had been issues with things that had been misplaced and a lot of getting to know each other on a day-to-day basis. The place was finished, just a few small things still on their way due to delays on some of the deliveries. But it was nothing that they couldn't live with. They all had their space, and Rory had made it a point to do several things just with Em too, to make sure she didn't feel like she had to share her with Logan all the time.

Logan had been quite surprised by how important it had been to set up his own study - a space that was his own, and that contained his own items. Even the little knick-knacks from the Vineyard seemed special somehow. And truthfully, he was really looking forward to the housewarming party they'd planned for the following weekend, wanting to show this place off to his friends.

Rory was the most proud of her idea of moving Em's toys out of her bedroom into the spare bedroom across the hall from Em's bedroom that was initially meant to be one of the two guest bedrooms. This way she had a separate playroom which enabled the safe evacuation of all of her toys, while her bedroom could be dog-proofed and while none of them had really aimed for this to become the norm, on most nights Loki slept at the foot of Em's bed.

That evening Logan was sitting on the living room floor with Em, playing Snakes and Ladders, but mostly just trying to avoid Loki getting the dice before they did, a mellow Mayaeni's 'Underdog' inspired playlist in the background. He quite liked hanging out with Em, despite it not always coming out entirely naturally. He was still looking for that perfect balance.

Rory, however, was in her study, seated behind her desk. But she wasn't alone. Lorelai was with her, enjoying the brand new chaise couch she'd set positioned in the outside corner of the room, a place where one could look out of the sunroom windows in all three directions. Lorelai was curled up comfortably, and was still nursing the empty cup she'd finished some minutes ago. Rory imagined it to be a great place to read while Em played outside during the summer, leaving whoever was sitting there with the chance to watch her play.

"So there was this one time when we went for that spa weekend at the Birch Grove Spa. The weekend was horrible... they didn't even have any coffee. She was horrible, she wouldn't shut up the entire time there. She got us a couples' massage," Lorelai blabbered, spelling the word 'couples' massage' out especially slow.

Rory knew this part of the story, but she was feeling grateful enough that she'd managed to get Lorelai over for this exact purpose - essentially to interview her about her grandmother. Though it was fair to say that Lorelai was also looking for ways to keep busy now that Luke had gotten out of the hospital and moved in above the diner. He still came and went, fixing things at their house and keeping most of his clothes there, but the dynamic had definitely shifted, and Lorelai didn't really know what to do about it other than to give it time. If there was a silver lining in all of this - it was that the town was being surprisingly tactful this time concerning this whole arrangement, despite the speculations going around.