(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 6

"It's the whole switched at birth thing, isn't it?"

Sometimes, Veronica Mars had all the tact of a semi truck, but that was okay. Mac had half-expected her best friend to call her on her weird mood before too long. Two hours forty-seven minutes of being in the office together was a little faster than even she had been ready for, but there it was.

"There really is no hiding anything from you, is there?"

"Nope, not really." Veronica shook her head even as she smiled from the other side of the desk. "It's pretty obvious to anyone with any sense at all that something is on your mind. I know you have the whole pregnancy thing to deal with in general, but I also know you too well, Mackenzie. There's more. Since you and Dick seemed as close as ever two nights ago at dinner, and the guy was practically glowing with pride at the idea of being a father, it had to be somebody else. The parental units seemed like a fair bet, given the circumstances."

Mac heaved a sigh, dumped the file from her hands onto the desk and rubbed at her forehead. "I just feel like whatever decision I make is going to be wrong. It's going to make everything worse, you know? Of course, I need to tell my parents - the Mackenzies - about the baby. They'll probably be thrilled, but ultimately, this is not their grandkid," she said sadly, even as her arm went absently around her abdomen and hugged the child that hadn't even taken shape yet. "The Sinclairs are the ones who are the real grandparents, but I don't..." she trailed off, shaking her head.

She still couldn't even manage to put it all into words, not for Veronica, not for Dick, not even for herself. It was all too much and Mac usually tried hard to put it out of her mind, but time was ticking, the day when it was considered safe to tell everyone about the pregnancy wasn't so very far away.

Just four weeks now, a single month in the calendar. That was nothing really, no time at all. It would go fast and then she would want to tell Wallace and Keith and everyone, including her parents, maybe all four of them. The trouble it could cause, the hurt and the anger and the pain, to all of them and perhaps herself too. It was too much. Still, keeping it in might just kill her, Mac was all too aware of that.

"Have you talked to Dick about this?" asked Veronica, cradling her coffee in her hands and looking empathetic as ever.

Mac smiled across at her. "Yes, he knows how I'm feeling. The whole crazy mess of it. Honestly, he's been amazing. He just wants to be there for me so much, and I could not love him more for being that way. I could not ask for more support or... or unconditional love."

"But?" Veronica prompted.

She always did know when one was coming. Of course, that was probably because one almost always was in circumstances such as these. Mac reconsidered that thought. How many people really had circumstances quite like hers to deal with? She would hazard a guess not too many.

"But," she said anyway, letting out a sigh as she did so, "as great as Dick is, he can't make these choices for me. Obviously, he has a part in it all, but in the end, it comes down to me, and I just... I don't know what to do," she admitted helplessly.

To her credit, Veronica looked for all the world like she wished she could help somehow. She usually could, and in oh so many ways, but in this particular situation, there was nothing her PI mojo could do to assist. As Mac had said, it was all on her alone. She had to make the choices. She had to have the awkward conversations. Nobody could take that burden from her, no matter how much they might like to. No matter how much she almost wished she could let them too.

"If I could make this easier for you..." said Veronica, shaking her head sadly.

"I know." Mac smiled, reaching across the desk to lay her hand on her arm. "It helps just having somebody to talk to, somebody other than Dick. I mean, like I said, he's just amazing with all this, better than even I could've expected, but it's a lot. With the baby... The whole father role freaks him out. He'll do his best, I'm not worried, but putting all of my family stuff on him too, it doesn't seem fair."

She skirted around the major issues as best she could. Mac was well aware that more than just she and Dick had problems talking about Cassidy. Veronica was one in a long line of victims and in some of the worst ways. The less they could talk about Dick's brother and Mac's ex, the better things usually went.

"You know I am always here for you, Mac," Veronica said then, hand covering Mac's own where it lay on her arm, "so, here's what I'm gonna do for you. For the next five minutes, no holds barred, thinking of no-one else's thoughts or feelings - not Dick or your family or anyone - being completely, one hundred percent honest, what do you want?"

It seemed like a big question, but Mac knew that in actuality it wasn't at all. Veronica wasn't asking her to lay out every wish she had for her life, she was being specific. What did Mac want to do about her situation with the baby and her two sets of parents? If she were being totally honest and open, without worrying for a moment about sparing anyone else's feelings, what answer would she give?

Taking a deep breath in, she closed her eyes a moment, and with the air she expelled, spoke the honest truth that she probably wouldn't admit to anyone else. That she had hardly been able to admit to herself up to now.

"I want to tell the Mackenzies about this baby, and yes, I want to tell the Sinclairs too." She opened her eyes, looked right at Veronica. "Is that crazy and weird?"

Veronica smiled slightly, shook her head. "No. It actually seems pretty natural to me."

Mac groaned. "Ugh, it's going to be a trainwreck!"

"Maybe, but sometimes the biggest messes can figure themselves out."

There was no question in Mac's mind what Veronica was referring to, even before her eyes strayed to the gold band on her left hand. There was absolutely no doubt that the relationship between herself and Logan had been one of the biggest messes the world had ever borne witness to, but in the end, they had figured it out. They were together, they adored each other, and finally, they were married.

"You know, even though I'm having one of my messed up head days over my weirdo family situation, it makes me happy knowing you two are in such a good place now." Mac smiled. "You're finally getting the happy ending."

"Actually, I'm hoping it's a happy new beginning," said Veronica firmly, rising from her desk and crossing to the file cabinet to search for some paperwork or other.

"Who knows? Maybe you'll be the next one to make your contribution to the next generation of Neptune degenerates," said Mac, laughing as she said it, but only half-joking, truth be told.

Veronica looked just a little pale as she allowed the drawer to slam shut with a clang.

"Please, let me get used to the whole married thing first," she urged her friend, returning to her seat with file in hand. "You think you and Dick will...?"

"He hasn't asked."

Mac didn't mean for that to come out with any kind of tone, bitter or otherwise, but she couldn't deny it probably sounded that way. She wasn't entirely sure where that was coming from. Some kind of misplaced jealousy because Veronica had just had a wedding of her own? Some weird throwback to the way the parents who raised her might look at her situation? That pregnant ought to equal marriage, even if a shotgun was required to make it happen.

"Do you want him to ask?" Veronica prodded, even as she pretended, unconvincingly to read notes in the file she had opened up on the desk.

Mac sighed. "Honestly? Yes and no," she admitted, not really having to give it too much consideration.

After all, the thought had crossed her mind. Traditionally speaking, when a woman got pregnant, the man was supposed to offer to marry her. It wasn't like that so much now, but it had occurred to Mac that Dick might think it was the right thing for him to do. It was only vaguely disappointing when he didn't do it.

If she were honest, the whole marriage thing had come to mind before the pregnancy. Mac supposed it was only natural, given that Veronica and Logan had got hitched. Given the way she and Dick had been together for a while now, and nobody was getting any younger.

"Yes and no?" Veronica echoed, peering curiously at Mac.

"You know, you should put down the paperwork and stop pretending you're even half working, right?" she told her friend with a smirk. "For a woman who specialises in undercover, you kind of suck right now."

Veronica rolled her eyes and tossed the folder on the desk. She gave up all pretence then, leaning across towards Mac and asking again for an answer to her question.

"Do I want Dick to propose?" Mac shrugged. "Yes and no," she repeated, before going on to properly explain this go around. "Yes, I want him to, if that's what he wants. I don't think it would be a bad thing to make a commitment. It's not like I ever felt this way about anybody else, and he says the same is true for him. On the other hand, no, I don't want him to propose right now, because I'd know it was all about my being pregnant."

"People have got married for worse reasons, and like you just said, you and Dick love each other. You were sure of that before the baby thing happened, right?"

"True."

"So, if he did ask, and you could be sure it was for the right reasons, you'd say yes?"

Mac smiled. "In a heartbeat."

Strangely, that seemed to make Veronica smile too. "You know you could go really nuts and ask him instead, right?"

"And then he would think that I was only asking because of the baby," said Mac with a look. "I don't want to do that to him, any more than I would want him doing it to me. It's not the way it should be." She shook her head. "Besides, it's the twenty-first century. We can have a baby and then get married later if we want to. We're not all old-fashioned like you and Logan," she said, smirking hard.

The look on Veronica's face then was more than comical, until she seemed to finally realise Mac had been joking. Then they both broke into noisy laughter that it was just impossible to keep in.

It felt good to just laugh, Mac realised. She had spent way too much time lately crying instead, but not anymore. She was determined that, from here on out, she was having a little more positivity in her life.

Besides, as she and Veronica had just established, she loved Dick and he loved her. They were both happy about the baby, ready to be supportive of each other in any way that was needed. Things were good with them and that was the part that Mac was focusing on right now. Yes, inevitably, she would have to deal with her adoptive family and her blood family in time, but for today, for this week or more, she was thinking only about the family she was building for herself. Her and Dick and baby to make three. That was more than enough to keep the crazy-big smile on her face today.

To Be Continued...