A Christmas thank you for some of my most faithful reviewers in 2016 - Kayte76, Laeti, and Msmaj. Originally published on AO3's A Veronica Mars Fandom Family Christmas Collection 2016.

"Oh ow ow ow, dammit!"

Logan dropped the wrench and stuck his thumb in his mouth. Behind him on the couch, he could hear Veronica struggling to keep her laughter at a low volume. He glanced over his shoulder and raised his middle finger on the hand that was attached to his mouth. She collapsed onto her side, covering her mouth to try to contain herself.

"Nice," Logan grumbled, removing the thumb from his mouth to look for a mark. "Why aren't you doing this anyway? You're the handy one in this relationship."

"Wallace says I emasculate you by being the guy too often. I'm taking that to mean that you get to build the bicycle in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve." She straightened up and reached for his hand. He scooted back toward her to lean against her legs and she lifted his wounded thumb to her mouth and gave it a gentle kiss. "There. All better."

"Nuh uh. It still hurts." She lowered her eyebrows and frowned at him in mock dismay.

"I think you're wrong. I have it on very good authority that when I kiss the boo boo, it's basically heals immediately." She smirked at him over his hand, then kissed his thumb again. "There. How about now?"

"Nope. Still in grievous pain."

She snorted and dropped his hand. "Apparently Wallace was right. I've wrecked you. Even your daughters are tougher than you are."

"Yeah, well, their DNA is half honey badger. Of course they're tougher than me." Her mouth dropped open and this time he was the one laughing.

"You're calling me a honey badger?"

"Do you know anyone who wouldn't? If they weren't too afraid of you to dare?" She cuffed him on the top of the head and pulled her legs out from behind him, kicking him in the shoulder before crab-walking back into the corner of the couch. "Oh, come on, snookums. You know that secretly, you've always wanted someone to say that you're as tough as a honey badger." Her eyebrows said skeptical but the twist of her mouth told him she was contemplating.

"There are worse comparisons," she finally said, then poked him with her foot again. "Now, get back to work. You probably should have done this in the garage. What if one of them gets up?"

"I heard you telling them when we tucked them in that if they set foot downstairs before cleared to do so in the morning, Santa would know it and would absolutely not stop here. So I'm not worried about that. What I do want to know is why we didn't pay the people at Home Depot to assemble this thing for us. What were you thinking?"

"It's character building. You need to learn how to do these things." She waved her hand at him imperiously, a clear sign that she wanted him to get back to work. "And come on, how would we hide a bike? The box was easy to cover up but a bike? One of them would have found that no matter where you hid it."

"Yeah, well, their DNA is half blood hound," Logan said in a dry tone as he picked up the wrench again.

"I'm really not sure you understand how DNA works, honey," Veronica said, "or fractions for that matter." She sat forward again and kissed him on the neck. It seemed that she didn't have a problem being compared to a bloodhound. She slid off the couch to kneel beside him, taking the wrench from his hand to finish tightening the...thing on the...other thing, managing to not bash her thumb in the process, then leaned across him to tighten another...thing on the back wheel. She straightened upright on her knees to wriggle the seat, then stopped and ducked her head. "Oh," she said in a surprised tone, sinking back on her heels.

He was up next to her in heartbeat, one hand on her back, the other taking the wrench from her hand and laying it on the carpet. "Are you okay?"

She looked up at him with a smile, then took his free hand and pressed it firmly into the side of her stomach. "I think this one wants a soccer ball for Christmas." There was nothing at first and Logan spread his hand and pressed gently with his fingertips, a technique that had worked for both of this baby's big sisters. Logan grinned at Veronica's wide eyes and smile when the bump rolled under his hand, moving from one side of Veronica to the other.

Logan pressed a kiss to her temple. "That didn't look like a soccer player. It was more like the Loch Ness monster, right under the surface of the water. Or, I know, the graboid from 'Tremors', just under the dirt." He chuckled as she looked up at him with a sneer.

"Well, if half this baby's DNA is Loch Ness monster or graboid, he didn't get it from me. That one's all you, buddy."

"Well, I have finally managed to pass on a 'Y' chromosome so...anything's possible, I guess." He rubbed her belly and kissed her again. "So, have you finished with this bike? It looks okay to me but if it falls apart under her tomorrow, I know I'm getting blamed."

"Yeah, by more than just me. Grandpa offered to put this together so if you break his first grandchild with faulty elfmanship, he will have something to say about it." She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned on him to help her stand. "I think it's good. You can move it under the tree."

"Hold up—what? Your dad offered to put this together? No one told me that. Why didn't we let him?" Logan clambered to his feet and picked up the tiny bike, moving it next to the pink and purple play kitchen that was already there.

"Weren't you listening? I told you—it builds character. And you're mostly in an office these days. You need to work with your hands sometimes."

He turned around and looked at her in astonishment. "Are you seriously telling me I don't do enough with my hands?" The smirk on her face told him that she was trying to get that reaction out of him so he walked past her to where the plate of cookies waited. "Well, at least I'm getting something for my efforts with my hands tonight" he said scornfully, before shoving an entire snickerdoodle in his mouth. He smiled as he heard her move up behind him, pressing against his back and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I'm pretty sure that you usually get something in return," she said, and he felt her stretch up to kiss the back of his neck. He picked up another cookie, and turned to face her, holding the cookie up for her to bite. She smirked and took a bite, eyes locked on his. She continued to smirk as she chewed, then darted her head forward to snatch the rest of the cookie out of his hand. He rolled his eyes and leaned over to pick her up in a bridal carry. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he walked them through the room, with Veronica snapping off lights as they passed. When only the Christmas tree remained lit, he started for the stairs, ducking his head to kiss the spot where her shoulder met her neck.

Her head fell back for a moment, then she snapped it back up and laid her hand on his chest. "Oh wait," she said, "back over there." She pointed back to the spot where he'd picked her up and he turned back as instructed. She reached toward the table and he leaned so she could grab the glass of milk. She took a long drink and held it up to him but he shook his head and she put it down again, then glanced around the room with a satisfied look. "I think all the clues point to Santa having been here." She looked back at him, face glowing in the multi-colored lights, and he smiled and nodded.

"Yep, I think even your bloodhound-honey badger children will be satisfied." He walked toward the stairs again, ducking down once more to kiss her neck. She tilted her head, giving him better access, making a pleased purring sound as they ascended the stairs.

"So, Santa," she murmured in his ear when they reached the top, making him shiver, "have anything for me in your bag of presents?"

He stopped in front of their bedroom door and she reached behind her to turn the knob and push the door open. "Well, Mrs. Claus, I think I might have something here that you'll enjoy."