What's In A Name?

Alright, so this is my first VM fanfic, I'm still new to the show and to writing these at all, so please review, and be gentle but honest.

I own nothing, obviously, I just wish I did.

"Veronica Jr.?"

"No."

"Logan Jr.?"

A loud, "Fuck no", was the response this time.

"Logan!", Veronica scolded. "We have to start talking about names." If she wasn't so secure in the knowledge that Logan was thrilled about the baby, she would find his reluctance to discuss names disheartening. As it was she was sightly annoyed and more than a little confused. He was eager and wiling to do everything else- the shopping, the late night snack runs, even the doctor's appointments. They talked for hours about what their child would look like, or be like. But the moment she brought up names, he froze.

"Veronica, we're going to be damned lucky if I don't completely screw up this baby. I'm fairly certain that something I'll do will end up making this child hate me. You can incur the wrath of choosing the name that this child will ultimately despise."

Veronica sighed deeply and responded, with mock compassion laced in her voice, "Logan, we're in this together. You know we're going to screw up this kid equally."

She earned a smirk for her trouble, but his heart wasn't in it. Though over the years she had learned to understand the rationale behind Logan's feelings, Veronica found herself stumped now. She could readily admit that between the two of them had more than their fair share of trauma, but she could find nothing particularly traumatizing about their names. Logan, Veronica- surprisingly normal, all things considered.

"Logan, why don't you want to talk about names? I didn't think anything could make this more real than the sonograms, but does it make you nervous? Are you-"

"What's your name?", he cut her off abruptly.

She stared at him, puzzled, "Logan, you know wh-"

"Just...what's your full name?"

Sighing, Veronica replied, "Veronica Olivia Echolls."

Logan nodded, as if agreeing with her. "And who are you named after?"

"My grandmothers", she replied carefully, still trying to figure out her husband's endgame.

"What's my name?"

"Logan!", she began protesting, but he held up a hand to stop her.

"Just say it. Please."

"Logan Christopher Echolls."

This time he shook his head "no". "Aaron. It's Aaron Logan Christopher Echolls II." Seeing her questioning look he explained, "I've gone by Logan since I was born, I had it legally changed right before the wedding."

He sighed and ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Names should have some kind of tradition, some history. My history is my son of a bitch father. My legacy is murder and deceit."

Veronica finally understood and slowly walked to his side. "Logan, that's not true. Your father's legacy may be murder, but yours won't be. You've got your whole life ahead of you to make your own. This baby is just the start of it."

Logan looked up to face her, eyes filled with sadness, but hope too. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. So I've been thinking about a girl's name," she continued, curling up in Logan's lap. He nodded, encouraging her to go on, and she smiled a little to herself. "For the longest time I thought I'd name a daughter Lilly, in rememberance, but it just doesn't seem fair to saddle a child with a name that has so much pain and grief attached. This is a brand new life, a blank slate. So I started thinking about the name Katherine. It means pure, I just thought it might be nice to give her a fighting chance, if it's a her. So, what do you think of Katherine Hope?"

"Katherine Hope Echolls," he repeated, testing the name out. "I like it."

Veronica smiled, pleased. "Now for a boy I'm stumped. I just...if it's okay with you, I'd like to get my dad's name in there, as a middle name or something."

Logan smiled tenderly, "Of course. Your Dad'll like that. Hey! Tell him it was my idea, that maybe he'll finally warm up to me."

Veronica rolled her eyes, "You know if my Dad didn't approve you wouldn't have lasted nearly this long."

"Whatever you say", he teased, his demeanor finally back to normal.

After a few quiet moments Veronica spoke up. "How about you pick a boy's name...would you mind?"

He smiled softly, as he did everytime she placed more trust in him. "I'll try."

The two sat in silence for the rest of the evening, Veronica's favorite kind of night with her husband. She never thought that she'd be the comfortable silence kind of girl, but after everything, having someone who knows her well enough to know when she needs to talk and when she doesn't means a lot. An hour into their second movie, Logan hit the pause button.

"Jackson," he said, causing her to turn. "It was my Grandfather's name, my Mom's dad. I never met him but she always talked about how nice he was, how much she loved him." Logan shrugged at the end of his statement, still wary of putting his heart on the line completely.

She smiled in return. Truthfully she couldn't think of a better way to respect Logan's history than to pick a name that would honor his Grandfather and evoke pleasant memories of Lynn.

"Jackson Keith Echolls. I love it."

Her honest tone brought an honest smile to his face as they curled back up to finish their movie.