Hey guys! Here is chapter 2 for you guys. I'm really trying to bang these out for you so that I can start the sequel and also work on my other stories. I had a lot of fun adding my preggo symptoms in this one, the only difference is that I made Veronica a lucky woman and not have morning sickness, which plagued me for weeks! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Once more, all of Veronica's thoughts are italicized.

Duncan's Gift

Chapter 2:

"I'm pregnant." Veronica repeated.

Keith sat there silently in shock of hearing the news his daughter just told him.

"Please tell me this is a joke Veronica." He sighed.

"Dad, I'm so sorry."

"How did this happen?"

"Duncan and I...after Meg died." She replied starting to tear up.

Keith stood up and took his daughter into his arms and hugged her tightly.

"Do you know how far along you are?"

"I'm 7 weeks along."

"And do you know what you want to do?"

She gave a nod. She'd made her decision awhile before she took a single pregnancy test.

"I want to keep the baby. I know that I'm still young and having a baby at 18 probably isn't the easiest, but, I know I can do this."

"Well, I can't exactly say that I'm thrilled about this, but I'm going to support you no matter what." He replied.

"I'm sorry." Veronica said again.

"Sorry isn't going to undo this situation Veronica, the best you can do now is finish school and get your diploma and work hard to raise that baby."

"I will work hard. I'll pick up extra hours at work and I'll save up to get my own place."

"Own place? Veronica, you can stay here as long as you want. I'd never make you leave because of this. You're all I have left honey." He assured her. "I may be too young and good looking to be a grandpa, but there is no way I'd let you fend for yourself."

He held her tightly in his arms feeling her sobbing. Yes, he was disappointed that his baby was having a baby, but she'd already made her decision. The only thing that he could do was support her and help her out in any way that he could.

"I can't believe I'm going to be a grandpa." He chuckled slightly.

"At least you'll be the best looking grandpa in the park."

"So, you said you're 7 weeks right?"

"Yeah, I should be due on August 20th, but that could change."

"Hey, at least you won't have to worry about going into labor during graduation." He teased.

"Yeah, but that would be a great way to go out with a bang." Veronica quipped.

Next Day:

Veronica woke up knowing that today she actually had to go to school. She dreaded the day she'd start showing; she could already hear the lovely folks of Neptune High School calling her demeaning and cruel names. She could take any names they called her, she had been able to last year and this year too, but if they tried saying anything about her baby then there would definitely trouble.

See, I already love you kid.

The one thing she was most happy about was the fact that her dad was supportive despite her being in a less than wanted situation. He probably would've been happier if she were out of high school and college too and married. But, his support meant that she wouldn't be alone in this. She walked out to the kitchen to find that her dad had already made some breakfast, seeing as she hadn't eaten dinner last night. She had no appetite the past few weeks. Correction, she was hungry, but nothing appealed to her.

"We're being fancy this morning aren't we?!" She quipped after seeing Keith behind the counter.

"You need to eat honey. I'd prefer something that doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup." He replied.

"I'm not really hungry Dad."

"You didn't eat last night, so you're going to eat breakfast. At least have some toast and fruit."

"Everything just seems gross to me right now."

"Please just eat something."

She was glad that she hadn't actually felt any sickness with her pregnancy...At least she hadn't yet. She could deal with the overly pickiness when it came to eating, but nausea and throwing up was not something she wanted to have every single day.

When she'd finally eaten something, she left the apartment and made her way to school. On her way a million things blew threw her mind. How should I tell Wallace, Mac, and Logan? I'll probably need to pick up extra hours or cases. I'm going to have to save a whole lot for this baby. Crap! Stretch marks are going to happen aren't they?! When she arrived at Neptune High, she felt as if she were hiding a huge secret. Technically I am… But, it felt as if she had to go above and beyond to act normal.

During her visit with Dr. Bishop she was told she wasn't high risk, so she could continue with her usual activities. Of course Dr. Bishop didn't know that her usual activities included working as a P.I., but she was always careful when she worked, now she'd just need to be even more careful. Just a few days ago she'd helped Wallace with a case of his own and she was more cautious than usual.

"Hey Veronica. Where were you yesterday?" Wallace greeted.

"I had a doctors appointment." She replied. "Any thing big happen in these hallowed halls?" she asked in a faux accent.

"The '09ers acted like superior snobs and the poor folk looked at them in disdain. Same old, same old."

"Glad to see I haven't missed anything." She replied. "It's good to have you back here Wallace. I've missed having my partner in crime fighting."

He reached up and felt her forehead.

"What are you doing?"

"You're being sentimental, I'm just checking if the fever is causing delusions."

"Shut up. Don't you remember that I'm a marshmallow?"

"I almost forgot about that."

They parted ways and went to their respective classes. Veronica knew that know that she'd told her father about her pregnancy, her friends were next on the list. Of course, she did want to wait until she was past the first trimester. Telling her dad was a given, she did live with him and he was her family.

Despite trying to concentrate on her work, thoughts kept getting in her way and distracting her. By the time lunch rolled around, she was surprisingly hungry and willing to eat the cafeteria food unlike the past few weeks, okay, it was just a chicken salad, but that's more than she'd eaten at the school cafeteria in weeks.

The rest of her day went by quickly. During her 2nd half of her day, she tried her best to concentrate on her school work. After school she went straight to work, she was working a closing shift today which meant she'd be out by 9pm and wouldn't get to her homework until 10:30, they weren't her favorite shifts but this job added money to her savings. She still contemplated whether or not she could ask for more hours, or perhaps become a server instead of a hostess, The tips would probably help.

"Well if it isn't Veronica Mars?" She heard a sneer walked out from the back room.

She turned to find Lamb standing at the counter.

"Why deputy, it's crazy seeing you here. Shouldn't you, I don't know, be working or something?" She bit back.

The deputy was still reeling from the wild goose chase she'd sent him on a few weeks back. Now he kept tabs on her as often as he could, even though she was cleared of any suspicions. Despite him thinking he was pulling cloak and dagger shit, she'd seen his sand colored Ford following her a few times. It was getting old and now that Duncan was far from Neptune, he really had no reason to follow her other than being a pain in her ass.

"Funny Mars. Now why don't you do your job and serve me like you're supposed to."

"Hmmm, that's not my job." She replied before walking away. She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head from all thoughts about him. He had a way of showing up in her life like a bad penny.

Lamb remained at the cafe watching her and keeping track of her. This was the reason nothing got done in Neptune. Isn't law enforcement supposed to fight crime instead of sitting in the corner drinking a cappuccino? After an hour or two of his watchfulness, he left leaving the server a crappy tip. Her work shift seemed to speed up once Lamb left and pretty soon it was time for her break. She decided to take care of some homework now knowing that she'd be exhausted once she got home. She was tempted to have another cup of coffee, but she'd already had 2 cups today and she knew she needed to keep her caffeine intake down. Coincidentally or perhaps by some strange cruel twist, her health homework was on pregnancy and fetal development. There weren't many teen pregnancies at Neptune high, however the Board of Education still believed in scaring students away from sex. Sorry Board of Ed. guess the Baby Think it Over didn't help.

Once work was finished Veronica sped home. The fatigue hit her hard and she was ready for bed. She didn't really expect to fall asleep though. The one thing that was fun about pregnancy so far was that she was always overtired, but once she would lay down to sleep she wouldn't be able to. Her stomach would flip and she felt tense. Once she did get sleep, she was plagued with strange dreams that often woke her up in the middle of the night. According to Dr. Bishop, these symptoms were all normal for pregnant women which also meant there was nothing he could do about it.

"Hey, how was work?" Her dad greeted once she entered the apartment.

"Tiring. I shouldn't have agreed to switch shifts with Anna this week. At least it's extra money in my pocket."

"Are you hungry?" He asked. "I have some left overs in the fridge."

"I ate something at work. Plus, if I eat too late in the evening I start to feel sick." She replied. "I'm off to bed now."

"Alright honey. Goodnight."

"Good night dad."

And that's chapter two for you! I felt like this one was a bit boring, but I promise the next chapter will be better. I didn't realize that rewriting would take so much work and planning, I've had to take a lot out of this chapter and rework it so that it fits in better with this version of the story. Chapter 3 should be up this coming week, Sunday at the latest. If you have any suggestion please feel free to review or send me a private message. I can't wait to continue this story and I hope you all are enjoying this revamp.