Broken
Chapter Nine
In the weeks following Tess' party, Logan became a bit more scarce. A bit more concerned with what was going on with Tess and with finishing up school. The semester was going to come to an end in January, and that meant just over one semester to go before they could graduate and figure out what to do with their degrees. Not to mention the baby was due in December, and as the weeks went on, and the days got closer, Logan and Tess decided to have the baby quietly.
Veronica couldn't really blame them, and she found herself in her own dilemma, Christmas break. By then, things with Shawn were moving steadily along. Which was good in a general way and bad in that that meant that they would be spending Christmas time together. And he'd be meeting Keith and probably sitting down for a conversation with them and while Shawn's humorous antics probably passed off on most people, Veronica knew Keith's jackass detector was more fine-tuned than her own. Things could get ugly, and she'd have to talk to him about that.
And then there was Parker. After the party, she'd gone a little quiet, even to Veronica. Then out of the blue around Thanksgiving she told Mac that she was pregnant again…and she was the glowing advertisement for impending motherhood at Hearst. Some people said she was losing it, but Veronica hoped to have enough faith in her that she hadn't done anything stupid…or truly cracked. Veronica had considered sitting Logan down several times over what was going on with Parker…but with his baby coming so soon, she eventually shelved the conversation in her mind, figured he at least deserved the happy experience.
With Christmas break just days away, though, Veronica figured she'd make sure all was well with them, see if they needed anything or help with any last minute nursery things. And she stepped off of the elevator onto the penthouse floor with a deep breath. Walked up to the hotel door and paused before she lifted her fist and knocked. There was a pause, some shuffling and the door opened slowly.
"Listen we didn't order anything so…" Logan paused in the frame, leaning into it for support. "Oh. Hi." He looked genuinely surprised, and his eyes looked around her as if expecting she had lead the sheriff to arrest him for something. Veronica nearly burst into laughter at his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle PJ pants. But he looked well, his face was clean shaven and his eyes were rested, hair carelessly tousled rather than spiked.
Veronica felt overdressed in her jeans and sweater, and it made her smile. "Hi. I just wanted to stop in, spread a little Christmas cheer." She shook the bag she had hauled up with her. "See if you guys need a hand with anything at all. Can I come in?"
"Sure, sure," He stepped aside and revealed a miniature version of his mother's winter wonderlands, the tree as big as they could fit and decorate in the penthouse with a mix of expensive and cute ornaments and garlands crossing it. Presents were already piled under it and little things hung here and there around the room. A glance into the back where the balcony was revealed fluffy cotton snow draped over it.
"It looks like Santa hit you guys early!"
He laughed as he closed the door and he turned to watch her glance all around. "Yeah, I had to pay him to expedite all of this. But Mom was such a great client, he gave me a discount." They exchanged sad smiles and Veronica opened her bag to dump a new pile of things under the tree.
"Most of this is for the baby. There's something for each of you too, though. I don't know how strict your Christmas gifting rules are but if you'd like to open them tonight, I'd love to see your faces."
Logan watched the pile a moment, his expression calm and thoughtful before he nodded. "Yeah, just uh, hang on." He left to the bedroom and Veronica stood from where she had been kneeling, crossed her arms and looked over as Tess and Logan entered. Tess seemed jut as surprised as him, but she offered a friendly smile.
"There' a face we haven't seen in a bit," She said softly, plopping onto the couch. Logan made sure she was cool before going to grab the gifts Veronica had brought, and he plopped onto the couch with them in hand. "Okay. These three are to Baby Echolls…from Mrs. Claus?" He and Veronica exchanged amused chuckles before he grabbed the other things. "Two for you and two for me." He looked at Veronica with raised brows. "Was there a Blue Light special?"
"Please," Veronica said with a mock sneer, plopping onto a recliner. "Rollbacks all the way! G'head. Open 'em."
They opened the baby gifts as jointly as they could. Tons of clothes piled into one, a diaper bag Tess had registered for in the other, a mutual gift from her, Mac and Wallace, and then a little kit to put together a sort of ID card for the baby over the years with room for a picture and information on him, just in case he ever disappeared from their sight in a Macy's.
They both nudged Tess to open her gifts first. The top one was filled with coupons for local spas, restaurants and stores. Basically ensuring Tess' basic and Mommy needs were met for the entire first year of the baby's existence. The bottom was a taser. Neatly wrapped with a page of Veronica's personal instructions and tips on usage.
In Logan's was a humorous book on becoming a father, some shot glasses, and a brand new pooka shell necklace, wrapped in a t-shirt commemorating the fact that Logan had shot a live round. The couple was amused, and grateful, and Veronica ended up staying far later than she had intended. They watched some suspenseful flick with Robin Williams (to which Logan kept muttering about how he was in the wrong genre) and ended up ordering room service.
Fed, and satisfied at having made amends, Veronica found herself gathering her things well after midnight. She had already texted Keith about being late, so at least she didn't have to sneak in. She glanced over to where Tess was asleep in Logan's arms on the couch. "So, are you ready for this next step into adulthood? It's going to be pretty scary just for me to think of you as a dad."
Logan snorted. Waved his hand in dismissal into the air. "I'm not a dad. I'm a big brother that happened to be a sperm donor as well." He patted Tess' belly. "So we're leaving. Tomorrow. To go to Hawaii again. We figured it'd be better for the little guy to be born there…."
"That's probably a good idea. Fewer news choppers. More pineapples."
"We talked about it and we want to fly you and Shawn out. When it happens. So you can be the first to meet him."
"Him!" Veronica couldn't help a playful grin. "Did you just slip me a gender!"
"Well I don't know it's a him, I just…guess. It feels like a him."
"Sounds like a dad's wishful thinking to me, don't go buying any cleats just yet."
Logan laughed at that, nearly woke Tess and she groaned sleepily before quieting. "You're getting me all worked up. Get outta here."
"Later, pops." She saluted him quickly before hurrying out to drive home.
The first week of Christmas break went by pretty slowly. Too slowly, for Veronica. She and Shawn did get to spend quite a bit of time together. He came by to meet Keith and have dinner twice. They'd agreed that while Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners would just be with their respective families, the rest of break was pretty fair game.
December 22nd changed everything though. Keith had left the house in the middle of the night and only left a not saying he had been contacted about a case out of state where he had been asked to help investigate. He'd call soon. Veronica tried to call Logan to see if Tess was close to popping and settling their bets on gender, but he didn't answer. A check of her email revealed that most of her friends had opted to fly to Hawaii to hang with the Echolls' for Christmas break.
Alone in Neptune, Veronica ended up heading to get ice cream. She debated to call Shawn to see if he wanted to hang out, but figured since it was so close to Christmas there was no point in dragging him out there for less than a day. She went to bed that night, curled up with Backup, oblivious to the bomb that was going to go off the next day.
AN- Sorry it's shorter, and sorry if anyone read it before it went down, reading the next complete part I realized the way I had wrapped this one up didn't work just right and needed to be fixed.
