Disclaimer: I own nothing that has anything to do with Veronica Mars or the characters, unless you count the DVDs. This is just for fun.
Thanks for the reviews! Sorry it's been so long since the last post.
Enjoy
Chapter 7
First on their shopping expedition they went to a Babies'R'Us, where they found cribs, car seats, change tables, toy boxes, and bookshelves. Linens for the cribs, hooded towels, Veronica bought an infant sleeping bag, deciding that it was safer than traditional bedding. They also found some toys, a small mountain of nappies and wipes, bottles and dummies, bonds suits and bunny rugs, and inevitably a copy of What to Expect: The First Years.
After paying, all on a card, Duncan's, and arranging for deliveries, they continued on.
Next they found a tiny boutique, bursting at the seams with infant clothing.
This was truly where the fun began.
They were excited, shopping for little tiny outfits for the kids, a boy and a girl, they had a ball.
The small party split into different directions, each picking out what they liked, some practical, some just too cute to leave.
By the time they finished in the shop they had at least twenty outfits for each infant, some consisting of three or more pieces.
They each had favourites in the selection.
Veronica's was a one piece, blue striped with a matching bonnet and booties.
Lizzie's was a camouflage patterned pair of pants and a black tank top with writing.
Meg's was a pink dress, lightweight cotton, dotted with white flowers, of course accompanied by a matching bonnet.
What you'd expect.
The day wasn't all fun though, there was some debate when they had been in the department store over whether or not to have "childproofing".
Veronica was against it, but Meg wasn't so sure.
"A few scrapes won't kill a kid, you can't childproof the world," Veronica said adamantly, she was determined not to buy any of these products, seen by many as "essentials".
"But what if they get into the chemicals? You have to put child locks on the cupboards."
"Store them higher. It's just commonsense, Meg."
"I guess so, it's just-"
"You don't want your kid to get hurt, I get that. And if you want these things, if they'll make you feel better, that's fine, I just don't want them."
Meg paused, before she continued walking, maybe she would come back another day. But at very least the baby wasn't going to be getting into everything as soon as they got home.
They did buy some childproofing items though, which were potentially lifesaving, simple brackets, to secure bookshelves to the walls, to prevent the baby's once they got moving, from pulling them onto themselves, and also plugs for the power points, preventing children from sticking anything into the socket.
They went to a home furnishing store, where Meg found a soft cream coloured rug for the floor of the nursery, it had a solid timber floor, which felt too cold for a baby's room.
Meg had also found a picture, which she had to have, it was a fairy scene, rainbows, flowers, sunshine, and fairies, and of course a castle, all beautifully framed, and priced to match.
The group returned to Neptune late that night, Veronica had chosen to use the next day to work with her father to get the apartment ready, the furniture would arrive the day after, and then they would still need to assemble the flat packs. It would prove to be much easier for Mars' than the Kane-Manning household, in many ways a flat pack was a skills tester, the skills of not only construction, but also of patience and calmness, otherwise you were likely to throw the pieces out of a window.
"Thanks for today, Meg. It was good to see you, Lizzie. You'll have to come around when the baby comes home," Veronica said, as she stepped out of Meg's car, half a dozen shopping bags in hand.
"Yeah, we'll have to do that," Meg agreed, before waving goodbye.
Veronica headed inside, while Meg drove away.
Keith welcomed Veronica home from outing with open arms, she hadn't actually been home for two weeks.
"Hey kiddo."
Veronica hugged her father, as she said, "Hey Dad, love what you've done with the place."
It was a mess, dishes not done, dusty, not vacuumed in quite a while, at least a week's washing piled up waiting for washing; they weren't clean freaks, but the state of that apartment was beyond the joke.
Keith laughed, glancing around the room. Through Veronica's, then the baby's hospitalisation, he had either been in San Diego with them, or keeping himself busy in the office.
Veronica spent the rest of the day cleaning.
She cleared expired food from the fridge, some of which probably could've walked out of there on it's own.
She did a total of five loads of washing, including every sheet, towel and such that had been in use.
She vacuumed, dusted, and scrubbed every inch of the apartment.
And as she cleaned the kitchen, any moment she was expecting to see a rat.
Finally she was finished, and sat down at the dining table just as Keith came back with Chinese takeout. As they ate the take away meal, they talked about how they were going to reorganise Veronica's bedroom to fit a crib and change table.
Ultimately they figured out that just to fit the crib in would be a major task involving moving everything else around, and as for the change table, they would have to find it a home somewhere else in the apartment, they would need to rearrange nearly all her furniture, but once they were done, the crib would stand just beside Veronica's bed, in the place where a bedside table would usually sit.
Duncan and the girls were out in the backyard, splashing in the pool, having a great time, when the baby furniture was delivered.
The couple were hoping that once the court case was settled, they would be able to collect all of the younger girls' possessions, furniture included.
They didn't hear the doorbell when it rang, and so the delivery guy made his way around the back, to see if anyone was home.
Hearing splashing the guy went around to the pool. Duncan saw him first, and climbed out of the pool, "Hey man. What do you need?"
"Got a delivery for Ms Manning. She here?"
"In the pool, I'm her boyfriend. I can sign for it."
"Fine. You want us to leave it on the porch?"
"I'll come around, open it up for you."
It was downright comical to watch Meg and Duncan trying to put together the furniture. Wisely, through this day, Lizzie and Grace had chosen to stay well clear of the couple.
At least things such as car seats and the rug, pictures, a rocking chair, a toy box, and a lamp didn't need assembly.
That left them to assemble, one crib, one change table, two sets of bookshelves, it could have been two hundred of each for how long it took them.
They managed the bookshelves reasonably well.
But there was something about putting up the crib, it took them four hours, the instructions were useless, and each had their own idea of how to do it.
And as for the change table, Meg took over doing that, deeming Duncan hopeless at construction.
Eventually they finished the furniture, now they just had to set the room up, it was a large enough room, and it wasn't hard to fit the furniture in by any means. But Meg was very picky, no furniture could be near the window, with the exception of the rocking chair, which would sit at least two feet clear, it had to be easy to move around.
It was set up so that there was what would be as the baby grew older, a play area at one end of the room, both the bookshelves and the toy box were placed there, the shelves secured in place, while the other end of the room was set up more like a traditional nursery, the cot stood against the far wall, basically opposite the door, the cot was made up perfectly with new linens, everything matching, the change table had been fully stocked, and positioned on the wall between the cot and the door, nearly touching the cot, but with plenty of clearance for the door.
Finally as Duncan unrolled the rug, plugged in the lamp, placed a blanket on the rocking chair, and hung the picture opposite the window, between the areas, Meg hung and put away each and every tiny piece of clothing into the built in wardrobe.
And then it was finally finished, it was nearly midnight, and Meg and Duncan were exhausted, but as they stood together, in each other's arms, looking at the nursery, it made everything feel so real.
In just two months they would be bringing home a baby, their baby, this was their baby's room.
For the past two and a half months, Lizzie and Grace had used Meg's things, and bought new ones as they had to. Meg had bought the younger girls beds and some linen, they were hoping that after the case, they could get the girls' possessions from the family home.
The courts finally heard their case, and after only twenty minutes recess for the judge to make his decision, Meg was awarded guardianship of her sisters, and her parents were charged with multiple charges of child abuse, and one charge of assault causing bodily injury. Of course, as Mr and Mrs Manning were considered 'good citizens' of Neptune they were let off with probation, and strongly 'recommended' by the judge to move far away.
As they left the courthouse, Meg, Duncan, and Lizzie were celebrating the victory, Grace on the other hand was quiet, but she was always quiet. Trying to draw his new charge out of her shell, Duncan knelt down to Grace's level, and asked her, "I was thinking we could get some ice cream, would you like that, Gracie?"
Grace was withdrawn, quiet, scared, Meg and Duncan knew that it could take a long time to draw her out. She timidly answered Duncan, "Yes, please."
"Okay. What's your favourite flavour? Mine's choc-mint chip."
"Rainbow."
Three days after the court gave it's verdict, Meg and Duncan hired a truck, and accompanied by two officers from the sheriff's office, they took Lizzie and Grace to collect everything they wanted of theirs.
The Manning's were home when the group arrived, they hadn't spoken to Meg since the day she had call the sheriff to remove them from their property. As soon as Duncan saw Meg's parents' car in the driveway, he put his arm around his pregnant girlfriend protectively.
Mr and Mrs Manning were fuming that they had lost the case, that they had lost custody of their children. The officers kept them in the kitchen, while Meg and Duncan took the girls upstairs to gather their things
They took everything from their rooms, bar the furniture, and in Grace's case, the diaries.
After four hours everything the girls owned was packed into the back of the truck.
Finally, three and a half months after baby Daniel's too early entrance into the world, Veronica was preparing to take her son home. It still seemed unreal that the baby in her arms was hers, and after everything he was doing well, and fingers crossed, a normal, healthy kid.
Veronica gently bathed Daniel, before drying him with a soft fluffy towel, and then dressing him in one of the tiny newborn outfits she and Meg had bought on their shopping expedition the week before, a simple white jumpsuit, patterned with various shades of blue polka dots. Slipping on a tiny matching bonnet, Veronica couldn't help but notice how her life had changed, not just since she had gotten pregnant, but since before she'd lost her best friend, Lily, in the course of just over eighteen months, Veronica had gone from an over energised peppy cheerleader, to a withdrawn loner who seemingly everyone in town was against, to a young private investigator who was going out with the heir to a fortune, and finally to the mother of a premature baby. And through that Veronica had gone from being that typical teenage girl, only interested in how she looked and who she knew, to a young adult, who's only true focus in life was her son, and doing the best that she could for him.
Yes, her life couldn't really be more different if she tried, but somehow as Veronica held her son in her arms, waiting for a nurse to come with the final pieces of paperwork, she really couldn't care less that she had dropped out of school, or that the her credit card bill was due next week and there was no money in her account, or even that the father of her child partied too hard and refused to even meet his son.
Veronica was just happy to have her son.
TBC...
