Chapter 37
Veronica went out a few minutes before Charlie was supposed to get there to pick up Chinese, insisting that he and Logan needed to be alone for a few minutes, even if it was just to meet each other. She didn't want to intrude on that family moment.
"But you are family." Logan insisted. "You're my wife. You're his sister-in-law. You're carrying his niece."
"I know. But you should still be alone, at least for a little while." Veronica insisted. "I'll be back in twenty minutes. I'm sure you can survive on your own for that long." Veronica stood on tip-toe and kissed his cheek before grabbing her bag and leaving. Charlie arrived 5 minutes later. He was shorter than Logan expected, maybe 5' 9''/ 5' 10'' and blonde, like Logan.
"Charlie?"
"Yeah." The man nodded and Logan held the door open a little wider, letting him in.
"It's really nice to meet you." Logan held out his hand and shook with Charlie.
"Good to meet you too," Charlie smiled.
"Do you want a drink?" Logan offered, walking towards the kitchen.
"Sure."
"Beer, juice, water, tea, soda?" Logan offered, looking in the fridge and on the counter.
"A beer would be great." Logan opened the fridge again and handed him a bottle and a bottle opener. Logan grabbed a beer for himself, and then motioned towards the living room, sitting down on the couch.
"Veronica should be back in a few minutes with Chinese food, I hope that's okay."
"I love Chinese," Charlie nodded.
"Great." They sat in awkward silence, sipping their beers and staring anywhere but at each other. Logan could not have been more grateful when the phone rang.
"Excuse me." He looked over at Charlie, who nodded, then grabbed the phone. "Hello?"
"Mr. Echolls? It's Carrie from the front desk. Your wife is down here, and she had a bit of a dizzy spell. We offered to help her upstairs, but she wouldn't let us, so we thought-"
"Okay, I'll be right there. Is she okay?" Charlie looked over, raising an eyebrow at Logan who sounded a little panicked.
"She's fine now." Carrie assured him. Logan hung up, and headed for the door.
"I'll be right back. Something happened downstairs, sorry."
"Is everything okay?" Charlie asked, standing and following him to the door.
"Veronica had a dizzy spell downstairs and now she's being a pain. I'll be right back." Logan ran out the door, leaving Charlie alone. Later, he would realize that was probably a bad idea, but that didn't matter right now. Now all that mattered was getting Veronica upstairs so she could sit down. When he got to the library, he immediately spotted Veronica. She was being swarmed by staff, trying to help her.
"I'm fine! I got a little dizzy!" She was about five seconds from punching whoever was closest to her.
"Hey, babe. Are you okay?" Logan jogged up, pushing through the staff and crouching down in front of where she was sitting.
"I'm FINE!" Veronica growled. "Grab the food and lets go!" She stood up from her chair slowly so as not to make herself dizzy again and grabbed one of the bags of food. Logan grabbed the other and slipped an arm around her waist. As soon as they were in the elevator, he turned to face her.
"What happened?"
"I just got a little dizzy. I leaned against the wall for a minute to regain my balance and one of the bell boys came over, insisted I sit down and then he got Carrie and she got a bunch of other useless people and they all wanted to help me upstairs and wouldn't let me do it myself, and then Carrie called you. I'm fine, Logan. Seriously. It's just a symptom."
"Either way you're sitting down for a while." Logan insisted, running his hand up her arm to her neck.
"I scared you a little bit, didn't I?" Veronica asked with a cheeky smile.
"Yes. And it's not funny." Logan scolded.
"It's a little funny," Veronica pushed him. Logan just glared down at her. "You're no fun. You left Charlie alone?"
"Only for a minute." Logan amended. The elevator doors opened, and Logan stepped out, taking Veronica's hand. When they entered the suite Charlie was standing around, beer in hand, looking at the pictures Veronica had placed across the room. When the door opened, however, he headed straight for them.
"Veronica, this is Charlie." Logan introduced them, taking the bag of food from Veronica's arms. "Charlie, this is my wife, Veronica."
"Nice to meet you." Charlie and Veronica shook hands.
"Same here. Do you like Chinese food?" Veronica asked, walking into the kitchen to get plates.
"It's my favourite." Charlie assured her.
"What are you doing?" Logan asked.
"I'm getting plates."
"No you're not. Go sit down."
"Logan-"
"You had a dizzy spell in the lobby. Sit your ass down."
Veronica made a face at Logan, which involved sticking her tongue out, but took a seat on the couch.
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked, sitting down beside her.
"Oh, I'm fine. It's just one of the symptoms." As she spoke, Veronica took off her sweater to reveal a tight fitting tank top that blatantly showed off her bump.
"Oh, wow. Congratulations! How far along are you?"
"14 weeks." Veronica smiled and put a hand on her stomach.
"Wow, three months. I hear that's a big milestone."
"Ya, it means no more throwing up," Veronica grinned.
"Instead we've moved on to dehydration and passing out." Logan said, carrying the plates and food out and putting it down on the coffee table. "Dig in."
"I did not pass out!" Veronica argued. "I got a little dizzy. There is a huge difference."
"There is an incredibly vague line," Logan argued.
Charlie sat and watched them, looking back and forth between the two as they fought.
"We have company." Veronica finally snapped.
"Because that's stopped you before?" Logan smiled, turning back to Charlie. "Sorry about that."
"Charlie shook his head, putting his plate of food on his lap. "It's interesting to watch."
They sat in awkward silence again until Veronica spoke up.
"So, you're a teacher?"
"Um, yeah. I teach 8th grade."
"What's that like?" Logan asked.
"It's pretty run of the mill. I get to teach a bunch of different things, and a lot of the time I learn things the day before I teach them. It keeps me on my toes. You're in college, right?"
"Ya, we go to Hearst."
"Have you picked a major?"
"Veronica's ready to declare Criminal Studies, but I'm still undecided."
"Anything peaking your interest?"
"Sociology is a pretty good class, so is Mass Com oddly enough, and it tends to come in handy. Apparently being the son of a murderer doesn't get old."
"Lots of interview requests?" Charlie asked.
"Tons. Larry King wants me to come on with OJ's kids."
"You thinking about it?"
"No. I leave those things to Trina. But feel free to take a crack at it."
"I think I'll leave it to Trina too," Charlie laughed.
"So, how did you find out?" Logan asked, deciding to confront the elephant in the room. Charlie took a sip of his beer and spoke.
"I started bugging my mom about who my dad was when I was, I don't know, six, seven? On my tenth birthday she takes me to see Aaron Echolls in Thought Police. She points to the screen and says, 'That's the guy. That's your dad.'"
"She took you to see Thought Police on your birthday?" Logan asked. "Did she hate you?"
Charlie laughed and continued his story. "I'm like, Mom, don't screw with my head. I'm ten. I can't deal with the news that the guy mind-wrestling with Stallone on screen knocked you up. She was a stewardess when she met Aaron. She said she met him working first-class on an L.A. To New York red eye. My mom is a looker." Charlie admitted.
"Yeah, I'm sure she is." Logan sighed.
"I didn't believe her til she showed me the cheques, the hush money. How many kids of single parent flight attendants score the best private schools? Still, I'd see pictures of your family and think, 'that life should be mine.'"
"Nah, you don't want it." Logan assured him. "Trust me."
"No, I know, that's the thing. The more I watched the happier I was that it wasn't my family. Your dad cheats on your mom, it's on the cover of People. Your sister shoots Nicole Richie with a BB Gun, Jay Leno opens his monologue with it. Then the murder. I started wondering if something was wrong with me, you know, if this is my bloodline?"
"Yeah, join the club. We're having t-shirts made."
Charlie turned to Veronica then, looking serious. "I have to know, what possessed you to marry him?"
Veronica was slightly taken aback by the question, as was Logan.
"I just mean, his father killed your best friend and then he tried to kill you. Then Logan is accused of murder. Why did you stick around?"
"Because I believed Logan was innocent from day one, and I love him. I don't care what Aaron did, Logan is nothing like him. I love Logan and Logan loves me and that's all that matters."
"I hope I can find a love like that one day." Charlie smiled, looking between the two of them. Logan smiled back, reaching out and taking Veronica's hand.
"I'd be lost without her."
"I'm gonna go throw up now." Veronica made to stand up, but dropped back into her seat immediately.
"You okay?" Logan asked, immediately putting his plate down.
"Fine." Veronica waved him off and lifted her own plate again, taking a bite of a spring roll.
Logan lifted his own plate again, but kept an eye on her. As they ate, Charlie asked questions about growing up with Aaron, what it's been like since his mom died, since Aaron died. Logan told the fluffy stories, mostly because he didn't want Veronica to worry about him. They talked for close to three hours before Charlie checked his watch and stood up. "Ah, this has been great but I gotta run. Papers to grade."
"That's right, you're actually a contributing member of society. I keep forgetting that you didn't carry on the family business." Logan stood and offered a hand to Veronica, who got up slowly and leaned on him in case she got another dizzy spell.
"Yeah, if I get them graded tonight I can hit Zuma at dawn."
"You surf?" Logan asked.
"As often and as long as I can."
"Huh. Maybe we really are brothers." Logan gave a smile and put his hand out to shake with Charlie. "We should do this again."
"Definitely. I really want to know all about him, good or bad."
"Mostly bad," Logan admitted. "I'll give you a call."
"Veronica, good to meet you. Good luck with everything."
"Thanks." Veronica shook his outstretched hand.
Once the door closed behind him, Logan turned to Veronica. "He was really nice."
"Yep." Veronica agreed as she cleaned up the leftover food.
"I can do that." Logan came up behind her, but she pushed him away.
"It's fine, Logan. You can clean up the garbage."
As she cleaned, Veronica thought about Logan's half brother. Something seemed off, but she just couldn't put her finger on it, and it was driving her crazy. She knew she could leave it alone and just let Logan try to make friends with his only remaining family member (because let's be honest, Trina was probably adopted.) or she could be Veronica. She decided to go pay Charlie a visit at school the next morning.
"You okay?" Logan asked suddenly. "You have your thinking face on."
"I'm fine. I'm just tired. Are you coming to bed?"
"I'll be there in a few minutes. I'm just going to finish cleaning up."
When he came to bed ten minutes later Veronica was already passed out cold, curled up in one of his t-shirts.
The next morning, Veronica drove to San Juan after Logan left for his classes, hoping to pay a visit to Charlie. His school was incredibly easy to find, it was on the main strip. When she walked in, she approached a group of girls standing in the hallway.
"DO you know where I can find Mr. Stone's classroom?" She asked.
One of the girls pointed to a room a few feet away, not looking over away from the conversation. Veronica mumbled a thanks and walked over, knocking on the door. A young, tall guy with brown hair opened the door and gave her a kindly smile.
"Hi. Um, sorry to bother you." Veronica mumbled, unsure of the situation at hand. "Are you by any chance the sub for Mr. Stone?"
"No, I'm the real deal." The man smiled. "I'm Mr. Stone."
Veronica stared at him, stunned. If this was Charlie Stone, who the hell had been in her house last night.
"Sorry, I've got a class starting. Did you need something?"
"No, uh, just looking for someone else." Veronica gathered herself again.
"Okay, then I gotta call roll." He gave her another quick smile, then turned back into the classroom and closed the door, leaving Veronica standing there in complete and utter confusion.
She skipped her afternoon psychology class, telling Logan that she was still feeling a little nauseous and didn't want to test her limits. Instead, she sat down at her desk and tried to figure out who had been in her house the night before. She got one of the security guards to get her the images from when he had come in, and ran his cars license plate. As Veronica searched, Logan called to tell her that he was meeting Charlie to go surfing that afternoon. She didn't want to tell him not to go, but at the same time she was worried. Who was this guy? Why was he pretending to be Charlie? It wasn't for the money, he had no way of getting that. Was it the publicity? She couldn't understand that, they barely got any publicity anymore. When she finally found him, Veronica was fuming. Before she could even think about it, she grabbed her computer and headed for the car. Zuma had wireless internet, she could continue her research there while she waited for Logan to finish surfing. She pulled into the parking lot beside Logan's car and situated herself on a pile of rocks, laptop in hand. She researched for another half hour before she heard Logan coming towards her.
"Quick Jim, hide them hookers!" He called in a southern accent, veering Charlie towards her. Veronica chuckled lightly and closed her laptop.
"Hi, Logan. Hi, Norman Phipps." She smiled as the boys put down their surfboards.
"What did you call him?" Logan asked.
"His name. Norman Phipps. At least, that's the name of the guy who rented his rental car and a quick Google check reveals that Norman Phipps is a contributor to Vanity Fair." Veronica glared at him, while Logan looked utterly crushed. Veronica had wanted to avoid this, but there really wasn't anything she could do about it.
"Thank God for mobile wireless, huh?" Veronica shook her laptop, still giving Norman her sweet fake smile. "How's the story coming?"
"It's great. In fact, it's almost there. Just one thing." He turned to Logan, who looked like he was about to murder him. "That fruit basket, was it from Harry and David? God is in the details." His arrogant smile was what caused Logan to snap. He took a threatening step forward, ready to knock his head off.
"Ah, please take a swing!" Norman begged. "It would make a great lead!"
Logan smiled and stepped back, seemingly to guide Veronica away. Then he turned and lashed out, hitting Norman right in the face and causing him to fly backwards. Without looking back, Logan picked up his board and walked away.
"I'm sorry," Veronica chased after him. "I didn't want you to get hurt. I should have just left it alone!" Logan grabbed her hand and pulled her with him over to his car, away from Norman.
"Thank you." He kissed her softly to stop her rambling, and Veronica gave a small smile.
"You're not mad?"
"No. I'll meet you at home, okay?"
"Actually, I have to run a case errand. But I'll be home soon." She promised.
"Do you need any help?"
"No, I'm just going to get Cliff to make a call. I'll be an hour, tops." She turned and jogged to her car. Ten minutes later she was walking into Cliff's office.
"Can I help you?" The receptionist asked, a fake smile on her face. She was a tall blonde who looked like she had just stepped out of a fashion magazine, and she knew exactly who Veronica was despite how often she pretended to forget.
"I'm here to see Cliff." Veronica told her with an equally fake smile plastered on her face.
"I'm sorry, Mr. McCormack isn't in the office today. Would you like to leave a message?"
"No, I'll just call him." Veronica pulled out her cellphone and called Cliff's cell, she immediately heard it ringing from the office.
"Hello?" Cliff answered. In the background she could hear the news playing on the TV.
"Hi, Cliffy. Can you tell your receptionist to learn my name and let me in?" Veronica asked, staring at the woman in front of her.
"Come on back to the office, V." Cliff sighed.
Veronica hung up, gave the receptionist the finger and walked off grinning.
"What's going on, V?" Cliff asked when she walked into the office.
"I need a bank security photo. Can you make a call?"
"Sure, just leave me the information and I'll fax it to you later."
"Thanks." Veronica scribbled the date and time frame onto a piece of paper. "I need it by 9 tonight."
"Alright. Anything else?"
"Thanks Cliffy. You're the best!" Veronica gave him a smile and left the office.
When she got home, Logan was sitting on the couch staring at his phone.
"Hey, what's going on?" Veronica put her bag down and sat down beside him.
"I called Charlie- the real Charlie- at his school. He said that he would call me when he got off work, so..." Logan waved his hands as if to say, 'here we are.'
"And what are you planning on telling him?"
"That some jack-ass reporter impersonated him, and I still want to meet him. Even if it's just a one time deal."
Veronica nodded and squeezed his arm. "Are you hungry?"
"I'm fine." She left him on the couch to get herself a snack, unsure what she could do for him. When the phone rang, Logan answered it immediately, as if he were waiting for his crush to call and ask him to prom. She listened as he explained what had happened, how Norman had impersonated him to get a story out of Logan.
"I really do want to meet you, even if it's just one time... Today? No, no that's fine! Yeah. 5? Sure, I just have to make sure my wife is available." Logan looked over at Veronica, raising an eyebrow and mouthing 'Dinner'. Veronica nodded, checking the clock.
"That sounds great. Ya, we'll see you then. Thanks so much." Logan hung up with a big smile on his face. "He wants to meet for dinner."
"Where?" Veronica asked.
"The T.G.I. Friday's between here and San Juan Capistrano. What time is it?"
"4:15," Veronica looked at the clock. "We should be leaving in the next fifteen minutes or so. I'm gonna go get ready." She left the room to get dressed, pulling on a tank top that barely fit anymore and a plaid shirt she had stolen from Logan. Her jeans no longer fit properly, and she made a note to go and buy a belly band the next day.
"See, the old Logan would be making a white trash joke right now." Logan smirked, seeing the way her baby bump stuck out between where her jeans and her shirt didn't quite meet.
"Old Logan would have gotten my foot up his ass." Veronica assured him, grabbing her bag and slipping on her shoes. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes. And you look beautiful, by the way." Logan wrapped an arm around her waist, and pressed a kiss to her temple. Veronica glared at him and walked out the door, leaving Logan laughing in the doorway. He caught up quickly, taking her hand and pulling her into the elevator beside him, holding her tight to his own body.
"I'm serious!" Logan assured her. "You're ravishing."
"Ya, with my teenage pregnancy hanging in the open for everyone to see because none of my clothes fit."
"Who cares. You're carrying my baby, and I think it looks amazing on you. You're glowing!"
"You know that's not actually a thing, right?"
"No it is." Logan assured her. "You have this, like, golden aura around you all the time. Ever since that day at The Camelot."
"You're ridiculous." Veronica complained, but there was a smile on her face.
The elevator doors opened to the parking garage, and Veronica stepped out making a bee-line for the car. They drove in comfortable silence, holding hands over the gear shift like they were still in high school. When they got to the restaurant, Charlie was already there.
"Hi, I'm Charlie." He held out his hand to shake with Logan, then saw Veronica. "Wait, I know you. You were at my school today."
"Yeah," Veronica held out her hand and shook. "I'm Veronica. Nice to meet you."
"My wife. You were at his school?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I got a weird feeling the other night. We've discussed the trust issue." Veronica mumbled, sitting down beside Logan. A waitress came over and took their drink orders, leaving them to look through the menu for a few minutes. Once she was gone, Charlie leaned forward.
"Look, I think we should just deal with the elephant in the room. I'm happy to meet you and everything, but I really don't want a relationship. I don't want to be brought into the Echolls Family limelight."
"I completely understand that," Logan assured him. "I just wanted to meet you, at least once. Just to be able to have met and learned a little bit about my own brother."
"What do you want to know?"
"How did you find out Aaron was your dad?"
"Kaufman came to the house to give my mother her monthly checks and I called her out on it when I was about 12. She came right out and told me, showed me my birth certificate and promised that I would never have to meet him because he was a pompous ass hat."
"Your mom was a pretty smart woman." Logan laughed. "Did she ever get married?"
"Yep. She married my dad when I was 4, and they've been together ever since." The waitress returned and they all ordered. Logan and Charlie ordered burgers and Veronica ordered a California club sandwich. When the waitress left, Charlie turned back to Logan and Veronica.
"So, what about you two?" He asked. "What's your story?"
Veronica looked down at the table and Logan took her hand. It was always a hard story to tell, but if anyone deserved it, Logan's brother did.
"We met when we were 12," Logan started. "Then when we got to high school I was dating her best friend, Lily and she started dating Lily's brother Duncan. Then Lily died, and we drifted apart."
"You couldn't have drifted that far apart," Charlie observed.
"Logan thought his mom had faked her suicide, so I was helping him out. Then a federal agent car-jacked me and he was on the phone, heard the whole thing and came and tried to punch the guys lights out."
"We dated on and off through the rest of high school."
"I know all that." Charlie told him. "It was all over the news, especially since you were being convicted of murder at the time, and your dad was being convicted for the death of Lily Kane. But now you're married. What happened?"
Veronica looked uncomfortable and rubbed a hand over her stomach, a nervous habit that Logan had noticed developing over the last couple weeks as her bump became more noticeable.
"My dad died in a plane crash, and the guy who did it tried to kill me and Logan found us on the roof of the Neptune Grand." Veronica explained.
"I'm really sorry," Charlie offered and Veronica gave a small nod.
"We got married a week later, so that I could gain emancipation. And a couple months later we found out we were pregnant."
"Congratulations!" Charlie offered. "How far along are you?"
"14 weeks. You'll probably be reading all about it in Vanity Fair sometime soon." Logan said angrily. Veronica put a hand on his arm to calm him down.
"It's fine, Logan. Who cares?"
"I do! He walked in and pulled the intimate details of out lives out and now he's going to publish them for all the world to see!" Logan would have continued, but at that moment the waitress returned with their food and cut him off. As they ate, they made idle chit chat, asking about favourite sports teams and hobbies. Making sure to keep things light. When the empty plates were cleared away, Charlie pulled out an envelope and passed it to Logan.
"This is a copy of the letter I gave to Avi Kaufman this afternoon, telling him that I wanted the rest of my trust fund to be given to you."
"Excuse me?" Logan asked.
"I don't want the payments. I didn't want them to begin with, but my mother insisted. Now that I've met you and I know you have a wife and family to support, I want the trust fund to go to you. You were his son, not me. I already have a father."
"I can't take that money from you!" Logan protested. "It's yours. It's your birth right."
"That's the thing. I don't want it to be my birth right. Look, I've been getting support payments since I was born. My mother saved most of them, and the trust fund money has been coming for four months now. I have enough money to send any kids I decide to have to Ivy League schools, and then retire to Fiji when I turn 50. I don't need the money."
Logan and Charlie stared at each other for a few more minutes, before finally nodding.
"That's really generous. Thank you."
"Just make sure to send me a Christmas card of my niece or nephew over there." Charlie smiled.
"A Christmas card relationship can definitely be arranged," Logan laughed. "But you know that you're probably going to be included in the article that Phipps guy is writing, right?"
"I know," Charlie sighed. "I've taken a week off work, hoping that they'll stay away from it. I'm more worried about you than I am me."
"We're used to it. Between Aaron's case and mine, we've both had our share of paparazzi. It'll only last a few news cycles hopefully."
"I don't think so. I think it's going to be a far bigger deal than you're making it out to be." Charlie advised him. Veronica agreed with Charlie, but at the same time, it was Logan who knew about these things. She would have much rather trusted his opinion. Before the waitress could offer a dessert menu, Veronica checked her watch and realized that they had to get back.
"Logan, I have the Pi Sig trial tonight."
"Right. We have to go." He stood up and threw a few bills on the table before holding his hand out to Charlie. "It was really nice to meet you. I'll make sure to send you that Christmas card."
"You do that. And, you know, maybe we could call every once in a while." Charlie offered.
"That would be great!"
"It was good to meet you, too." He turned to Veronica and shook her hand. "Good luck with the baby."
"Thanks." Veronica gave him a genuine smile. She really did like this guy, he seemed really sincere.
"So he seemed nice." Logan observed once they were in the car.
"Ya. We should definitely send him a Christmas card."
"I feel kind of bad, though. I mean, he obviously doesn't want to be in the family, but he isn't going to get that choice anymore. He's getting thrown into the spotlight with hardly any warning."
"He seems prepared though," Veronica offered.
"I guess."
"I think he's right though, Logan. Now that this Vanity Fair article is coming out, I think there is going to be a lot more publicity than you believe. I mean, Aaron Echolls "Cradle Robbing Murderer's" Son married and having a baby at 18? It's going to be a lot more popular than you think."
"I guess we'll just have to see what happens."