A/N – Sorry it took me so long to get another chapter done on this story. At least it's a relatively long one again. Hopefully it will not take me as long to get to the next chapter, although I may try to write the last chapter of Lightning Rod for Trouble first so I can close out one more of my stories.
Thanks again to everyone who has been reading and reviewing. I really appreciate all the support and interest! Please take a moment to let me know what you think of this one.
Thanks also to Bondopoulos for betaing this one for me!
Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.
Chapter 21
After spending as much time as possible enjoying being alone with Veronica the prior night, morning came much too early for Logan. He was even dreaming about Veronica when he was woken up by the mattress moving as Evie crawled onto the bed and sat behind him. He felt her little knees dig into his back slightly as her small hands landed on his shoulder. He also realized at that moment that he was still pressed up against Veronica who had her back to him. So much for enjoying any private morning time today.
"Is it time to go?" Evie asked in an excited voice. They'd talked more about getting to fly in an airplane while they were eating their dinner, and her level of excitement had grown the more they discussed it.
Logan felt Veronica start to stir as Evie spoke. When Evie was done asking her question, Veronica rolled slightly so she could look up toward both Logan and Evie. She opened her eyes for a moment with a sleepy expression on her face. Logan gave her a soft smile before she closed her eyes again and he turned to answer Evie. "Not yet sweetie. We'll be leaving shortly after breakfast though."
Evie gave him a disappointed look. "But I want to go now."
"Well even if we go now, the pilot won't be ready to fly the airplane yet and we'd just have to sit at the airport and wait. Plus, Nana isn't going to be here for another two hours," Logan explained patiently as he glanced at the clock on the nightstand. He noticed Evie's expression changed slightly as she looked more carefully at Veronica. Logan shot a quick glance at Veronica as well to be sure that there wasn't anything amiss. He knew they'd both put on sleepwear before they'd finally fallen asleep together specifically for this moment. There had been no doubt that Evie would pop in before they were awake. Veronica's eyes were closed again, but everything that should have been covered was, and most of her was still under the blankets, including her waist where his hand was gently resting.
"Why did Vronica get to sleep in here instead of her room, but I didn't?" Evie asked, her face scrunched up in upset.
"Oh, well…" Logan tried to quickly come up with an answer that wouldn't upset Evie and wouldn't get him into trouble either. He shot another quick glance at Veronica and saw the corner of her lip quirk up ever so slightly, but her eyes were still closed. Sure, pretend you're still asleep so you won't get the third degree, too. "We were going to talk after the movie and we didn't want to wake you up, so I carried you to your room. Then we watched another movie after we talked for a little while and we both fell asleep when it was over."
"I want to sleep with you tonight," Evie said with a determined look on her face. "At the new hotel."
Logan tried not to let out a disappointed sigh, since he'd anticipated Evie's reaction. "Why don't we wait to see what it's like when we get there and which bed you want to sleep in then? Did you sleep by Nana or Sara when you went to the zoo?"
"Sara," Evie replied with a fond smile.
"Well maybe you'll want to sleep by Nana tonight," Logan suggested. He'd ended up making reservations at a two-bedroom villa at the Beach Village at the Del, rather than getting a room in the main hotel. He'd wanted to have a bit more privacy and space. He knew there was a master suite with a king bed and then two queens in the other very large bedroom. He'd hoped, of course, that he could arrange for Veronica to share the king with him, but he wasn't entirely sure that would work out. He knew he could always move Evie after she was asleep, but eventually she'd get mad about it, like she almost was a few minutes ago. That was something he'd never done with her before because there wasn't really a reason to not just let her share his giant king bed with him. Veronica had already told him that if she had to take one of the queen beds with Kathleen that she was okay with that, but he was still hoping they could work something else out.
"No, I want to sleep by you, not Nana. Vronica can sleep by Nana," Evie replied with a determined look on her face again.
"Well there are three big beds, so there will be plenty of room for all of us," Logan continued, trying not to make a specific commitment so he wouldn't be in trouble later.
"We only had two at the zoo," Evie explained as she looked over him at Veronica again. "Is Vronica going to wake up now too?"
"I'm awake," Veronica mumbled softly and opened her eyes partway again as she smiled at Evie. "Good morning Evie."
"I get to sleep with Daddy tonight," Evie told her with a firm tone, absolutely leaving no room for it to be a question.
"Well I suppose that's only fair. Thank you for letting me sleep with him last night. Maybe we can take turns," Veronica replied with a sly smile forming on her lips.
"Maybe," Evie replied, although Logan knew that wasn't her 'maybe' voice, but more her, 'absolutely not' one. Logan knew that both he and Kathleen were always talking to Evie about how she had to 'take turns' with things, so she probably didn't totally object since Veronica had worded it that way.
Logan decided it was probably best to get off the topic of sleeping arrangements. "Hey Evie, you should play with Bella for a while this morning before we go. I'm sure she's really going to miss you while we're away. Maybe we can blow bubbles for her to chase in the yard after I get up and get dressed."
"I want to catch the bubbles too," Evie said with a slightly more excited expression on her face.
"Sounds like a good plan. Why don't you watch cartoons for a few minutes while I go and take a quick shower and get dressed?" Logan glanced back toward Veronica again checking her reaction to be sure it was okay with her. She must have been able to read his mind and gave him a small nod.
"What should we watch, Evie," Veronica asked sleepily.
"Dora," Evie said excitedly as she climbed over the top of Logan to sit on the other side of Veronica.
"Sorry," Logan whispered in Veronica's ear as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She gave him a questioning look and he shrugged. Dora the Explorer was not one of the cartoons he was terribly fond of, but he supposed there were worse options she could have chosen. He quickly started one of the cartoons for Evie and then hurried off to the shower to try to save Veronica from having to watch more than one episode.
Logan quickly showered and dressed so he could go downstairs with Evie and Bella. When he walked out of the bathroom, he told Evie to go to her room and he'd be there in a minute to help her get dressed. Veronica's eyes had been closed again when he first walked into the room, and she'd opened them slightly when he spoke to Evie. "Did you want to sleep a little longer?" he said softly as he leaned close to Veronica and placed a kiss on her forehead. He'd kept her awake most of the night, savoring every minute they had together before they'd be staying with both Kathleen and Evie in San Diego. She gave him a grateful look and nodded slowly. He kissed her one more time. "I'll wake you up when I come back in to make breakfast."
"Thank you," she mumbled as she buried her head back into the pillow and pulled the comforter up higher on her shoulder.
He kissed the top of her head again before he stood up and headed out the door. It was sort of ironic that all those years spent surfing actually helped him in some ways to be a better dad for Evie. Evie had always been a very early riser, and being a surfer, he'd become quite accustom to getting up early. He knew, however, that Veronica had never been much of an early riser, not if she could help it anyway. Many times when they were dating, he'd get up early and head to the beach on his own to surf and she'd join him there later after she woke up. He could imagine it would be a little challenging for her to adjust to Evie's habit of waking up so early every morning.
He sat on the lower patio and used the bubble gun to blow bubbles for both Evie and Bella. He kept a close eye on the time though, because he wanted to be sure they would have time for a decent breakfast before they had to drive to the airport. It was almost a two-hour drive from Yachats all the way back to the airport in Eugene. While Evie may have been excited about flying to California, Logan was not really looking forward to it. They'd have the two hour drive to the airport, and then the process of getting all checked in at the airport before they'd even board the flight. Then the first leg of the flight from Eugene to San Francisco would be about an hour and a half. Once they arrived in San Francisco they'd have to wait a similar length of time for a brief lay over before boarding a second flight to go the rest of the way to San Diego, which was another hour and a half flight. In some ways, breaking each section up into less than 2 hour blocks may be better with Evie so she would have some little breaks throughout the day, but it was still going to likely be almost 10 hours in total from the time they left his house until they finally made it to Coronado.
"Sweetheart, I need to go in and start breakfast so we have time to eat before Sara and Nana come," Logan said as he went to put the bubble gun away. They'd decided the day before that Sara would drive Kathleen over to Logan's house, and then Veronica, Logan, Evie and Kathleen would all ride to the airport in Veronica's rental car. He'd already transferred Evie's booster seat over to Veronica's car the night before and would check it when they boarded the airplane so he could use it in San Diego as well. Sara would pick up Kathleen when she flew back and then one of them would come back to meet Logan and Evie when they finally returned as well.
Logan decided to wake Veronica up before he started cooking their breakfast. Evie took a spot at the kitchen counter with a coloring book and some crayons while Logan ran up to wake Veronica. Evie had picked French toast earlier when he'd asked her what she wanted him to make. He thought that was a great way to use up their remaining eggs and bread before leaving for a while. He still wasn't sure how long they would actually be gone since Veronica only had about two weeks until she had to start school. Most of the first week would be consumed with the time in San Diego and the procedure, but he still really wanted to spend as much time with Veronica as possible. He even suggested to her that he could drive up to San Francisco with her and help her get settled there. When he mentioned it, Veronica had told him that her dad had offered to ride up with her and then fly home so she wouldn't have to make the drive alone, but she liked the idea of going with Logan and Evie. Logan wasn't sure how thrilled Keith would be when he found out that Veronica was considering a change to their original plan.
Logan was also bothered by the fact that Veronica still hadn't even told Keith that they were all flying back to San Diego today. When Logan had asked her about it the night before, she'd told him she'd call her dad in the morning. He had tried not to overreact to her reluctance to tell Keith that they were together again, but it did bother him that she hadn't. Logan wasn't even sure that she'd told her dad that she left the B&B and had spent the last few nights at his house instead. He was trying to be understanding though. He knew that Keith's approval was important to Veronica and he had hoped that this time around things would go better between him and Keith. Her reluctance was not making him feel confident about it though.
Logan heard her steady breathing as soon as he walked into the bedroom. He carefully closed the bedroom door and then crawled onto the bed so that he was right next to her. He reached out and brushed her hair away from her face so he could kiss her forehead.
"Mm…" Veronica moaned softly as he started kissing her neck next.
"Good morning, beautiful," Logan said tenderly as he continued to slowly wake her up.
"Good morning," she replied sleepily. "Are you here for more talking?" she said with a soft chortle.
Logan laughed as he let his head drop to her shoulder. "Don't think I didn't notice that you didn't chime in to help me out there."
She chuckled softly again and reached up so she could tangle her fingers in his hair, tipping his head back up so she could pull him in for a deep kiss. "Well, I do love talking with you," she whispered against his lips after the kiss.
"And I love talking with you too," he replied softly before capturing her lips for another kiss. He let out a low growl as he pulled away slightly from her. "I'm afraid talking is off the agenda for this morning though. Although I would love to continue the conversation we had last night."
She laughed softly and took a deep breath as she nodded.
"I was about to start making breakfast and thought I'd better make sure you had enough time to get ready too."
"Thanks," she said with a warm smile as she leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. "I really hope I don't have to wait until tomorrow night to get my turn to be alone with you again. You know I've never really been great at sharing my toys," she added playfully.
Logan laughed in response. "Unfortunately that's something Evie isn't very good at either, so I guess the two of you will both have to work on that." He shook his head before he gave her a tender look. "I never expected to have you competing for my attention with a miniature version of you." She gently brushed her hand along his cheek and nodded in reply. "And while this scenario is probably not exactly like either of us could have ever imagined, I really wouldn't change it for the world."
Her expression became a little more emotional before she spoke again in a soft tender tone. "Me either. I love you."
"I love you too, Veronica," he replied as he pressed his lips to hers again for a slow gentle kiss. After the kiss he leaned slightly away from her. "Okay, I'd better get to making you and Evie breakfast. I'll see you downstairs after you shower?" he asked and she nodded in reply. "Okay… and don't forget you still need to call your dad."
It definitely hurt to see the sudden tinge of panic that appeared in her eyes at the mention of her dad, but he was trying to be as patient as he could be with her on this subject. Instead of saying anything about it, he gave her a quick kiss and said he'd meet her downstairs when she was ready. On his way back down to the kitchen, he thought about how he really hoped that once Keith saw him again and saw how different Logan was with Evie, that maybe Veronica would also feel more comfortable about it too.
They'd had just enough time to finish eating when Sara and Kathleen arrived. Logan was a little surprised that they were there earlier than he had expected, but he didn't say anything about it. Kathleen said she'd take care of cleaning up the kitchen if they wanted to finish up any of the packing they still needed to do and bring things down to the car. Sara volunteered to help Evie finish packing the backpack that she would take on the plane with books and things she could play with during the trip.
Logan helped carry Veronica's bags down, in addition to his own and Evie's. He had tried to pack as light as possible, but given the uncertainty of the length of their visit made that a challenge. Luckily, Veronica's rental car had a roomy trunk, so they were easily able to fit all of the luggage into it. Veronica had walked outside with him and leaned against the car while she watched him adjust the bags to maximize the space.
"I called my dad before I came down to eat," Veronica said a bit hesitantly. Logan stopped arranging the bags and swallowed hard as he looked up at her. There was definitely something in her tone that made him worry that their conversation hadn't gone well. Her smile appeared to be reassuring, though he still wasn't convinced everything was fine based on her tone. Before he had a chance to say anything though, Veronica continued. "He's checking his schedule for tomorrow and Wednesday to see if he can drive down for the zoo and the park."
"I'd be happy to get him a room at the hotel too if that would make it easier for him," Logan suggested. He definitely wasn't going to suggest having him stay at the villa with them, because that seemed way too awkward.
"Oh," Veronica replied, looking a little surprised by the suggestion. It was only about a forty-five minute drive from Neptune down to San Diego, but Logan still hoped that maybe Keith would take him up on his offer. "I'll send him a quick text. Maybe he can clear up all three days and do that." She paused and gave him an affectionate smile. "It would actually be kind of nice to have a little mini-vacation with him, too before I go off to school."
Logan nodded and breathed a little easier after seeing her reaction. "Let him know that he can book it if he wants and I'll take care of the payment when we get there."
Veronica gave him a devious smile in return. "I'll be sure he books the penthouse then."
Logan laughed and nodded. "I'm sure I at least owe him that for all the trouble I caused over the years."
The devious smile that had been on Veronica's face vanished and she gave him a more compassionate look as she took a step toward him. "You're not that guy anymore Logan. I'm sure he'll realize that too as soon as he sees the man you've become now."
"I hope so," Logan said softly as he took a deep breath. He still wasn't convinced though that Veronica believed that one hundred percent. All he could do now was wait and see what happened. "We'd better get everyone loaded up. It's a fairly long drive and can be even worse if there's much traffic headed back to the city."
Veronica nodded and reached out to take his hand in hers as they walked back into the house. When they reached the front door, Logan stopped and pulled her toward him for a brief kiss. "I apologize in advance if this becomes the travel day from hell for you. Traveling with a little kid is quite a bit different than you're probably used to."
She laughed softly and shook her head. "I'm sure it won't be that bad. Besides… we'll just pretend we don't know you on the plane and complain to the flight attendants if it's too bad."
Logan laughed and shook his head at her. "Thanks, I knew I could count on you."
She lifted up on her toes again so she could place a quick kiss on his lips. "Any time, baby," she replied in a playful tone.
Traffic on the drive to Eugene was fairly light so they were going to have time to stop for a bite to eat before they went to the airport. Logan had offered to drive the rental car since he was familiar with the route and thought that would be easier for Veronica. Logan was relieved that Evie has behaving pretty well on the drive and didn't complain too much. There were several 'are we there yet' questions, but Kathleen had been able to keep Evie fairly entertained in the back seat most of the time.
Logan had noticed that Veronica sent a few texts as they were driving and wondered if they were to her dad. He didn't pry even though he wondered if Keith was going to take him up on the offer to pay for a room at the hotel for him.
When they were almost to the restaurant, he saw Veronica read another text and then she turned toward him. He glanced at her for a second and saw that at least she had a smile on her face. "I think I've convinced dad to stay," she said with a bit of uncertainty to her tone. Logan wasn't sure if the uncertainty was due to Keith not being certain he'd stay, or the worry about what may happen if he did.
"That's great," Logan replied optimistically. Maybe if I seem excited and okay with it, she might feel better about it too. "Was he going to make the reservation or should I call when we get to the restaurant?"
"I told him we'd take care of it for him. I hope that's okay," Veronica said a little hesitantly.
"Yeah, of course. I'll just have them add it to my account," Logan assured her as he reached over and squeezed her hand. "I'm excited for him to meet Evie and Kathleen," he said softly with a genuine smile. Veronica nodded and smiled back at him. He could tell she still seemed a bit apprehensive, though and couldn't help but wonder how much she'd even told Keith yet.
There was a small café right outside of Eugene that Logan had stopped at a few times with great Philly cheese steak sandwiches. Veronica said she'd take one as well, so Kathleen went into the restaurant with Evie to get a table and place their order while Logan called the hotel again.
"So he's okay with everything?" Logan asked, hoping Veronica might share a bit more about what was going on.
"Yeah…" she replied a little hesitantly. "He's excited to go to the zoo. I um… I still need to talk more with him about… about us… but I didn't want to do that over the phone," she told him with a small amount of apprehension in her tone.
Logan gave her an understanding smile. "Did you want to ask him to join us for breakfast before we go to the zoo? That might give you a chance to talk with him a little bit before we go," Logan suggested.
Veronica looked almost surprised by the suggestion. "Yeah, that actually sounds like a great plan." She grimaced slightly before she let out a small sigh and continued. "He um… he actually suggested getting a room with two queens so I could stay with him."
"Then I'll be sure to book a king room," Logan replied with a guileful expression.
Veronica laughed and nodded as Logan pulled out his phone.
Logan gave her a quick kiss before he dialed the hotel and made the reservation for Keith in one of their single king rooms. Veronica chuckled softly and shook her head as Logan made sure the request for the size of room was very clear to the reservation clerk. He couldn't help smirking and winking at her as he did it either.
Evie was still behaving fairly well by the time they made it to the airport, but Logan wasn't sure, after the very busy last few days that she'd had, that it would continue. Everything was going smoothly as they turned in the rental car and headed to the counter to check in, but once they reached the check in line, things started to go down hill a bit. Logan could tell that Evie was getting impatient and fussy as soon as they reached the short line in front of the ticket counter. There were rope dividers for the check-in line and Evie had started swinging on one before Logan noticed it. Of course asking her to stop wasn't working, so Logan finally had to just pick her up, which was met with unhappy resistance. Kathleen tried to distract her as well, but Evie was not happy that she couldn't play with the ropes anymore and tried her best to get Logan to set her down again. He was relieved when it was finally their turn to move to the counter. The woman behind the counter must have noticed the commotion Evie was causing, because she did her best to try to distract Evie as well. Logan wasn't really sure how well Veronica was dealing with it, but she at least seemed to be trying to not show that it bothered her at all.
Logan was glad that Evie seemed to settle down a bit when they reached their gate. They sat by a window and Evie became engrossed in watching the planes that she could see and all the various workers out on the tarmac. Logan let out a small sigh as Veronica reached over and gave his hand a tender squeeze. He turned to look at her and saw that she was giving him a very understanding smile. He realized that his stress about Evie must have been obvious to her. "It's going to be fine," she whispered softly in his ear as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He turned and gave her a gentle kiss on the temple and nodded slowly against her head.
Unfortunately Evie's fascination with watching the planes and people on the tarmac didn't last very long. Logan could tell she was about ready to melt down about having to wait to get on one of the planes when Kathleen pulled something out of her bag.
"Hey, sweetie, Mr. James sent a game along that he thought you might like to play while we were waiting," Kathleen said as she showed Evie a small round yellow and orange tin. Evie's eyes sparked with interest as she went over to see what her grandmother was holding. Logan took a deep breath, very thankful for the kind toy store owner who had dealt with his own kids and grandkids over the years. He'd saved Logan on several occasions with helpful suggestions and fatherly advice.
Kathleen explained how to play the game and had Evie sit on Logan's lap so he could help her with the first round. They used the small table between their two seats to hold the pile of round cards. It was a simple matching game that Evie quickly caught on to. She was actually faster at finding the matches than Logan was, and after he helped her with the first two plays, she was doing it on her own. Logan glanced over at Veronica, who was watching very closely too, and he could easily tell that she was finding the matches almost as quickly as Evie was by the way her lips would quirk into a quick smile when Evie would call out her match.
"Can we play this on the airplane," Evie asked excitedly after she won the first round. Logan was certain that Kathleen had gone a bit slower with her matches so Evie could win.
"Of course we can," Kathleen answered. "Do you want to sit by me so we can play, or do you want to play with your daddy?"
Logan was hoping she'd pick Kathleen so he could sit by Veronica and looked expectedly at Evie while she decided. "Daddy," Evie answered with a determined nod.
"Maybe on the next flight you'll want to sit with Nana," Logan suggested. "We'll have a short wait at another airport and then we'll have to get on a second airplane for the rest of the trip."
"Do you want to play too?" Evie asked as she looked questioningly at Veronica.
Veronica smiled and nodded in reply. They rearranged slightly so they could all play the next round. The adults went a little slower so Evie could win, but then after she played all her cards and it was just the three of them left, Logan and Veronica both got a bit competitive to be the second one out. Veronica got a mischievous glint in her eye as she played her last card before Logan had used up all of his. Evie was excited that Veronica came in second and insisted they play again. Kathleen told her that there were other ways to play the game too, and so they tried a different version the next time. Before too long it was time to board the plane and they carefully grabbed all their things and put the cards back in the tin to carry on board with them.
Logan was relieved that the game seemed to keep Evie entertained for most of the flight. He was definitely going to have to figure out something nice to do for Mr. James for recommending it to Kathleen. Logan and Evie were sitting behind Kathleen and Veronica and Logan could see, through the crack in the seats, that Veronica had pulled out her laptop to show Kathleen some of the pictures she had taken. He could also hear some of Kathleen's comments when she spoke a little louder and she was definitely impressed. The laptop was positioned between the two women and it looked like Veronica was copying some of the ones Kathleen was interested in displaying at the gallery into a separate folder. From what he could see, most of them looked absolutely stunning, and he could imagine that they would be very popular with Kathleen's customers.
During their layover in San Francisco, Logan suggested that they get ice cream while they waited. He knew neither Evie nor Veronica would ever object to ice cream. He could tell that Evie was starting to get tired since she hadn't taken a nap. It had been such a busy day for her. Evie curled up next to Kathleen as they sat at their next gate and asked if Kathleen could read her a story. "Why don't we wait until we're on the airplane again, sweetie," Kathleen said as she gently stroked her hand over Evie's hair. She must have been able to tell that Evie was starting to get sleepy too and knew that if she read to her, she'd likely fall asleep. Evie nodded and rested her head in Kathleen's lap. Logan caught a small yawn escaping from Evie and gave Kathleen a knowing look. He knew if she fell asleep there, they'd likely have to wake her up to get her in the plane seat, and then she probably wouldn't fall asleep again.
"Hey, sweetie," Logan said as he walked over and leaned over to pick Evie up. "Let's look at the airplanes and see if we can spot the one we'll be getting on." Evie gave him a sleepy smile and nodded as he picked her up. He walked over to the window and pointed to some of the airplanes. He felt Veronica walk over and wrap her arm around his waist and lean against him. He shifted Evie to his hip, so he could place an arm around Veronica as well.
"Did you like riding in the airplane, Evie?" Veronica asked as she smiled up at her. Evie nodded in reply. "I flew all the way to New York City once. That was a really long flight." Veronica gave Logan a sly smile. "And I had to fly out there all alone."
Logan smirked as he thought about Veronica's trip to New York right after high school graduation. When she had landed and found out that Keith wasn't going to be able to join her for three days, Logan had taken the next flight out and kept her company until her dad was able to make it. Of course they hadn't told Keith that. Logan shook his head slightly and leaned toward her so he could place a quick kiss on the top of her head. "Well I'm glad you were only alone for the flight."
Veronica beamed up at him and nodded in reply. "Me too," she said with a nostalgic expression on her face.
A few minutes later the airline staff announced that their flight would start boarding. Kathleen pulled out one of the storybooks that Sara had packed for Evie and asked Evie if she wanted to sit by her on the plane and she'd read to her. Logan was still holding Evie, but she nodded and said that she did. Logan carried Evie to her seat, then moved to sit behind her with Veronica as Kathleen took the seat next to Evie.
"Hi," Logan said with a tender smile as he sat down next to Veronica.
"Hi," Veronica replied affectionately as she gazed up into his eyes.
Logan reached out and took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. He brought their joined hands up to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. He gave her a heated stare before he spoke. "So… New York, hmm…" Logan said in a low voice. He was a little surprised that she had mentioned that trip. Not that it hadn't been extremely memorable, but those memories weren't exactly the best to be reliving while stuck on an airplane with your daughter and her grandmother. They had gotten fairly intimate when they had been together the summer before senior year, but given what had happened to her, they'd both been hesitant to go too fast. They'd broken up before they'd actually had sex together. That changed when they were in New York, though.
The nostalgic expression returned to Veronica's face before she replied in a soft sultry voice. "New York was nice, wasn't it?"
Logan let out a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah… it really was." How could he ever forget their first time together? Even then, the chemistry the two of them shared paled in comparison to any other woman that he'd ever been with. He still couldn't believe that he was actually getting another chance with her and thanked whatever force in the universe had given him this precious gift. "I love you," he whispered softly before he leaned closer so he could give her a chaste kiss.
As he pulled away she nodded slowly and whispered, "I love you too," back to him.
He wished at that moment that they were actually somewhere private, but unfortunately they weren't. He really hoped that they'd get a little time alone when they made it to the villa in San Diego, but he wasn't overly optimistic about that. At least being a dad had taught him a bit about patience. He kissed her temple again, before she shifted in her seat so she could rest her head on his shoulder and for the next hour and a half, they at least got to enjoy a little bit of being able to be close to each other without any other interruptions.
When the plane finally landed in San Diego, Veronica gave him an encouraging smile and squeezed his hand a little tighter. "Ready for this?" she asked with a compassionate tone.
Logan shook his head slowly for a second, and then let out a deep breath. "Not really, but I know it will be okay if you're here with me."
Veronica nodded and gave him a resolute expression. "I promise I'm here for you, and it's going to be fine."
As expected, Evie had fallen asleep shortly after take off and was still asleep when the plane landed. They waited for the other passengers to disembark first before Logan stood up and carefully lifted Evie out of her seat. She'd definitely had a much busier week than normal with her trip to the zoo and flying to San Diego. She barely stirred as he scooped her up. Logan carefully carried her off the plane with Kathleen and Veronica taking care of all the carry on bags.
Evie was starting to wake up a bit more by the time they got the rest of their luggage from baggage claim and the rental car. As Logan put her in the booster seat he'd brought along, she yawned and looked around sleepily. "Are we home?" she asked in a quiet little voice.
"No sweetie. Remember, we're in San Diego to help Nick," Logan said softly as he gently stroked her head. Evie nodded and let out a loud yawn. "We're going to drive to the place we'll be staying at now, okay?" Evie nodded again and started to survey her surroundings a bit more. Kathleen was sitting in the back with her and reached over to squeeze her hand. Logan gave Evie a quick kiss on the forehead and then closed her door so he could climb into the driver's seat.
After leaving the airport, Logan headed toward the Del beach villas. He took a deep shaky breath as he saw the Coronado Bridge come into sight. Veronica must have heard him and reached over to gently squeeze right above his knee. He removed his hand from the steering wheel so he could reach down and hold on to her hand. He felt himself holding his breath as they started to drive over the two-mile span of steel and concrete. He forced himself to slowly breathe out and back in again. It had been easier the night he'd come there alone, planning to jump, since he'd already had a considerable amount to drink before he'd even made it there. He tried not to think about his mom, but it was impossible. He felt Veronica reach up and wipe at the corner of his eye, not even realizing a tear had formed there. He took another deep shaky breath and slowly exhaled again, trying hard to keep his composure. He was relieved when they were finally across it and there was land on either side of them again instead of water. He turned off on Pomona Avenue and headed toward the Del, finally feeling like his breathing was returning back to normal.
It took them a little while to get checked in and then a little while longer to get everything unpacked from the rental car. Evie had spotted one of the pools on their way to their villa and was extremely excited to go swimming. Kathleen said she'd take her if Logan and Veronica wanted a little time to take care of anything that needed taking care of. Logan practically choked with the way she said it and what she might have been implying. He swore that he caught Veronica blushing a bit too.
"Yeah, I um… think we have a few calls we should make… and then we'll meet you two out there," Logan said a bit uncertainly. Kathleen chuckled softly as she dug around in Evie's suitcase for her swimming suit. Less than 5 minutes later, the two of them said a quick goodbye and headed for the pool.
"Well that wasn't embarrassing," Veronica said with a laugh as the door closed behind them.
Logan laughed as well before he lunged for her and scooped her up. He could tell she was completely caught off guard as she let out a loud squeal.
"Thanks to you, all I've been able to think about for the last couple of hours is our first night in New York. Do you have any idea how excruciating that has been?" he growled as he carried her into the master suite and kicked the door shut behind him.
She let out a breathy moan as his lips pressed against the column of her throat. "God yes," she moaned as she arched against his mouth.
He carefully sat her down on the bed and then crawled on top of her, kissing every inch of skin that wasn't covered with clothing. He groaned loudly as he felt her hand run up the inside of his thigh, continuing even higher ever so slowly.
"We've been so good all day… don't you think we deserve a little reward?" Veronica purred as he felt her fingers starting to undo his belt.
"God yes," he replied, mimicking what she'd said a moment before.
"We've got to get naked to get changed into swimming clothes anyway," she said breathlessly as he moved one of his hands to help her out of her pants too.
While their first time in New York had been slow and tender, they didn't have hours to spare at the moment. It didn't take long to strip their clothes off, as they weren't really concerned about where each article of clothing may have ended up. He quickly flipped positions after they were naked so that he was lying in his back. He loved when she was on top of him, because he could tell that she felt most confident and in control that way too. Having her gaze down at him with raw hunger in her eyes was always so intoxicating. He loved the way she looked at him as she moved her hips in different motions causing him to moan uncontrollably at times. He of course could never stand the distance for long and pushed himself up so he could kiss her and feel her body pressed against his. He fervently caressed her back, enjoying the feel of her smooth skin beneath his fingers as they moved rhythmically together. He eventually moved his hands to her hips so he could help speed up the pace, knowing it would soon cause her to lose control. He felt her start to clench around him and flipped them quickly so he could keep the pace going and then quickly followed right behind her.
Veronica was panting below him and tilted her head so she could kiss him. "I think we took care of what needed taking care of, don't you?" she asked with a laugh.
Logan still couldn't quite talk yet, but let out a huff of a laugh and nodded as his forehead rested against her collar bone. He placed a few kisses there before he rolled them over again so he wouldn't have to worry about crushing her. She melted against his chest, and he lazily caressed her back.
"Any chance we could just stay like this for the rest of the night?" she asked with a doubtful tone.
Logan laughed again and shook his head. He'd finally caught his breath enough to talk, although he was still panting quite a bit. "Sorry… I don't think that's going to happen. Kathleen won't be that good of a distraction for very long with my determined little girl."
Veronica laughed and nodded as she placed a kiss on his chest. "I know… I haven't forgotten that she told me she gets you tonight."
"Maybe I should reserve another king suite in the hotel for the two of us to sneak off and use when Kathleen has Evie distracted or they are both asleep," Logan teased, although he was seriously considering if that would even be remotely possible.
Veronica leaned up so she could look him in the eyes again. "I'm sure we can find enough stolen moments to enjoy ourselves. But that can be plan B."
Logan nodded and gently pulled her toward him so he could kiss her deeply. "Never underestimate the value of plan B," he replied with a hint of mischief in his eye.