This wasn't a request just me wanting to have some parent/child bonding time.

So thanks for the reviews last chapter

I do not own this characters

Mara

Veronica followed the trail of toilet paper down the hallway, taking note of the green, crooked lines running across the white walls. She wasn't quite sure how her daughter managed to get the crayons; she had been fairly certain Logan had put them in the cabinet above the sink after the last time Mara scribbled on the walls. At least they had some paint left over from before, and could easily pant over the 'art work' their daughter had left them.

Veronica stopped outside of Mara's room, slowly pushing open the slightly ajar door. She looked around, eyes landing on the empty roll sitting by the window and a pair of blue sneakers peeking out from behind a curtain.

"Where's Mara?" Veronica said looking around. The curtain moved, a giggle escaping from behind it. "I can't find her anywhere." She started towards the closet, putting her hand on the handle. "Is she in here?" The curtain giggled again, but Veronica pretended not to hear it as she opened the door. "Nope," she replied closing the door. "Hm, where can she be?"

"Here!" a small voice announced and Mara jumped out from behind the curtain, a green crayon clutched in her left hand.

"There she is!" Veronica exclaimed and Mara laughed. "I've been looking for you. Do you know who made the mess in the hallway?"

Mara's eyes widened and she hid the crayon behind her back. "Dunno," she said shrugging her shoulders and giving Veronica an innocent smile.

"Are you sure? Then who left this here?" She stooped to pick up the empty roll, showing it to Mara.

"Ghosts?" the little girl suggested with another shrug. Veronica knew she should have never let Logan let Mara watch Ghostbusters.

"Give me the crayon, Mara," Veronica said holding her hand out.

"Sowwy," Mara apologized after a moment's pause, handing the crayon over, her eyes averted.

"It's okay," Veronica replied with a sigh, picking her daughter up. "We just need to lock the crayons in a high security vault until your terrible twos passes."

"Tired," Mara complained resting her head on her mother's shoulder. Truth be told, Veronica was tired, too.

"Yeah, well, destroying the house takes a lot out of you," Veronica joked but still set put her daughter to bed. "Just remember when your daddy gets home he's going to be spending so much time with you. That's a promise."

Alex

A crash sounded from the living room, and Logan put his coffee cup down-barely getting the chance to take the first sip of the morning-and hurriedly followed the noise. He stopped in the doorway, noticing his son standing near his tipped over playpen.

"Why do I bother?" Logan muttered as he moved towards his son. "You're just going to keep getting out."

"Play," Alex exclaimed and ran around the couch. "Play pwease?"

"How are you not tired? You've been up since five."

"Play," Alex demanded clambering on the couch. He began jumping up and down shouting, "Play! Play! Play!"

With a heavy sigh and an eye roll, Logan gathered his son in his arms mid-jump and swung him around. A pearl of laughter erupted from the blond boy. Logan spun him again and then set him down. They then took a seat on the floor and proceeded to play cars for almost twenty minutes.

"Read," Alex said suddenly, after growing bored with his cars. He stood up, grabbing his father's hand and trying to pull him up. With a sigh, Logan stood, and allowed himself to get dragged towards the couch. "Read pwease."

"What do you want to read?" Logan asked taking a seat.

"Dis." Alex picked a hardcover novel up off the floor, handing it to Logan and crawling onto the couch next to his father.

Logan checked the title, his eyes widening, and said, "I don't think this book is appropriate for you."

"Read. Read," Alex demanded bouncing up and down.

Logan quickly flipped through the book, wondering if there was a passage he could read, not missing the scribbles covering ninety percent of the book. It wasn't one of his favorite books, and he could easily buy another copy, but that didn't stop him from wishing Alex had gone after one of Veronica's books instead.

He finally found something appropriate to read, but only got halfway through the passage before Alex grew bored again. "No read," he said pressing his hands into the book, trying to close it. "Out," Alex stated clambering off the couch and pointing to the door. "Go out."

"It's raining buddy," Logan stated glancing out the window. It had started while he was driving Mara to school and didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon.

"Go out!" the blond boy exclaimed.

"Alex we can't, it's raining."

"I go out!"

"Maybe later," Logan said trying to compromise with his son. A part of him knew it was futile, but it was worth a shot.

"Out! Out! Out!" Alex's voice had risen to a screech, tears of anger streaming down his face. Had this been five years ago with Mara, Logan would have been calling Veronica or Keith and asking them for help, but now he felt confident enough with his parenting skills to know what to do this time.

He drew in a deep breath, slid from the couch, crouching down to Alex's eye level, and calmly said, "Buddy, listen, I need you to calm down."

"O-out," Alex hiccupped gesturing towards the door.

"I promise you that we will go outside when it stops raining, but until then we have to do something else. How's about we watch a movie, okay?"

"M-Mickey?"

"Yeah, we'll watch Mickey."

"O-okay," Alex said rubbing his eyes.

Logan nodded and then stood up, turning one of Alex's Mickey movies on. The blond boy clambered back onto the couch, settling in to get comfortable, and started watching the film. Logan made sure his son was really into the movie before he walked back into the kitchen, grabbing his lukewarm coffee off the counter.

He carried it back into the living room, intending to take a seat next to his son, but stopped when he spotted Alex asleep. Logan set his coffee down on an end table, moving forward to grab the green blanket off the back of the couch. He covered Alex up, gave his forehead a quick kiss, and turned the movie off.

He returned to the kitchen, snatching his coffee on the way, making a mental note to have Veronica spend a lot of time with Alex when she returned. It was only fair.