Chapter Eleven
Logan tossed his keys on a table next to the front door of his penthouse as he walked in the door, dropping his bag with a muttered oath. He's just arrived home after a long, tiresome flight home.
He walked across the room to drop unceremoniously on his couch, closing his eyes wearily. Now that he was away from everything, not matter how temporary it might be, he could finally take time to absorb everything that had happened in the past three days.
He swore under his breath when he heard the knock at his door. He ignored it, not wanting to deal with other people. He just wanted to go to sleep, block it all out for a little while.
"Logan, I know you're in there." Bling's voice echoed through the door. Logan rolled off the couch to let his friend in. Even after he'd stopped needing Bling as his PT, they'd remained good friends, often hanging out or playing basketball.
"Hey Bling." Logan said wearily as he walked back over to couch to lie back down.
"So your back from Maryland."
"Yep."
"Did it go like you expected?" Bling asked, knowing perfectly well it hadn't. Cindy was on her way now to give him a hand on properly fighting with Logan and all the bullheaded stubbornness that was sure to come.
Logan snorted, but it wasn't exactly good-natured. "Not quite, Bling. Not even close."
"So what happened?"
"Well, turns out," Logan said, looking up at where Bling leaned against a wall. "Max has a daughter."
Bling stood silent. When Original Cindy had called him to tell him that stuff was about to go down, she'd refused to tell him what about. When Logan next spoke, it was a shock to him even more than the last statement. "And, much to my surprise, so do I."
"What? You.Max.What?" Bling stuttered.
"Madelyn Elizabeth. Bling, three days ago, I was a single, unattached guy of thirty-five. Now, I am the father of the sweetest little girl who looks exactly like me. Welcome the next chapter in the unrelenting story of my life."
Before Bling had time to react, Cindy opened the door without knocking. "Original Cindy is here, may the party begin."
"Cindy, so glad you could make it." Logan said sitting up. "So you not telling me you knew where Max was, now that was bad enough. But why didn't you tell me I had a child."
"Because Max asked me not to." Cindy stated simply.
"Like she had any right to make a decision like that. Like you had any right to listen to her. I don't know if you guys noticed, but this does effect my life too."
"What right did Max have? After the way you treated her, you're lucky she didn't let me follow through with my instinct of castrating you." Cindy said, her voice rising.
"Excuse me? How did this turn into my fault? She's the one who ran away after she found out she was pregnant."
"Hello! You were there too! You get a fair share of blame for Max running away placed on you."
"How is this my fault?"
"Logan, you slept with her, then you completely brushed her off."
Logan stared at Cindy flabbergasted. "I was drunk. It was a mistake."
"You were drunk? That is what you told yourself so you could sleep through the night. You weren't anymore drunk than she was in heat. Don't feed me that bullshit."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Logan snapped at Cindy. Bling finally made his presence known by speaking up.
"It means, simply, that you fucked up."
"Logan." Cindy spoke again, softer now. "You didn't get to see her when she found out she was pregnant. I was with her. She was so scared, hysterical basically, mainly because she didn't know what she was going to do, but another part of her was scared because she was in love with you and you had basically told her that sleeping with her had been a mistake."
"But it was a mistake." Logan whispered, visibly paling.
"I know how great Maddy is. I know how great Max is with her. Now that you've seen that, how can you stand there and still say it was a mistake?"
Logan stared at the ground. "She should have told me. She should have told me." Logan repeated, his voice soft and far away.
"No doubt. No doubt. But really, can you blame her. They didn't exactly have mommy training classes at Manticore now did they?"
Logan dropped down onto the couch to lay his head in his hands. "I've missed four years of her life."
Cindy and Bling stared at Logan sympathetically. "It sounds to me." Bling said, "That you have to chance to make it up to her now."
"She doesn't even know I'm her father."
About a half hour later, Bling and Cindy left Logan alone in his apartment.
"Damn." Bling said simply.
"Damn sounds about right. You should see the little boo. Looks just like him."
"Do you think him and Max are going to work it out?" Bling asked as he stepped onto the elevator.
"Think so?" Cindy asked as she punched the button for the ground floor. "If I know my Boo and if I know Logan, we'll just see if Maddy is the last in the Clan Cale."
Logan tossed his keys on a table next to the front door of his penthouse as he walked in the door, dropping his bag with a muttered oath. He's just arrived home after a long, tiresome flight home.
He walked across the room to drop unceremoniously on his couch, closing his eyes wearily. Now that he was away from everything, not matter how temporary it might be, he could finally take time to absorb everything that had happened in the past three days.
He swore under his breath when he heard the knock at his door. He ignored it, not wanting to deal with other people. He just wanted to go to sleep, block it all out for a little while.
"Logan, I know you're in there." Bling's voice echoed through the door. Logan rolled off the couch to let his friend in. Even after he'd stopped needing Bling as his PT, they'd remained good friends, often hanging out or playing basketball.
"Hey Bling." Logan said wearily as he walked back over to couch to lie back down.
"So your back from Maryland."
"Yep."
"Did it go like you expected?" Bling asked, knowing perfectly well it hadn't. Cindy was on her way now to give him a hand on properly fighting with Logan and all the bullheaded stubbornness that was sure to come.
Logan snorted, but it wasn't exactly good-natured. "Not quite, Bling. Not even close."
"So what happened?"
"Well, turns out," Logan said, looking up at where Bling leaned against a wall. "Max has a daughter."
Bling stood silent. When Original Cindy had called him to tell him that stuff was about to go down, she'd refused to tell him what about. When Logan next spoke, it was a shock to him even more than the last statement. "And, much to my surprise, so do I."
"What? You.Max.What?" Bling stuttered.
"Madelyn Elizabeth. Bling, three days ago, I was a single, unattached guy of thirty-five. Now, I am the father of the sweetest little girl who looks exactly like me. Welcome the next chapter in the unrelenting story of my life."
Before Bling had time to react, Cindy opened the door without knocking. "Original Cindy is here, may the party begin."
"Cindy, so glad you could make it." Logan said sitting up. "So you not telling me you knew where Max was, now that was bad enough. But why didn't you tell me I had a child."
"Because Max asked me not to." Cindy stated simply.
"Like she had any right to make a decision like that. Like you had any right to listen to her. I don't know if you guys noticed, but this does effect my life too."
"What right did Max have? After the way you treated her, you're lucky she didn't let me follow through with my instinct of castrating you." Cindy said, her voice rising.
"Excuse me? How did this turn into my fault? She's the one who ran away after she found out she was pregnant."
"Hello! You were there too! You get a fair share of blame for Max running away placed on you."
"How is this my fault?"
"Logan, you slept with her, then you completely brushed her off."
Logan stared at Cindy flabbergasted. "I was drunk. It was a mistake."
"You were drunk? That is what you told yourself so you could sleep through the night. You weren't anymore drunk than she was in heat. Don't feed me that bullshit."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Logan snapped at Cindy. Bling finally made his presence known by speaking up.
"It means, simply, that you fucked up."
"Logan." Cindy spoke again, softer now. "You didn't get to see her when she found out she was pregnant. I was with her. She was so scared, hysterical basically, mainly because she didn't know what she was going to do, but another part of her was scared because she was in love with you and you had basically told her that sleeping with her had been a mistake."
"But it was a mistake." Logan whispered, visibly paling.
"I know how great Maddy is. I know how great Max is with her. Now that you've seen that, how can you stand there and still say it was a mistake?"
Logan stared at the ground. "She should have told me. She should have told me." Logan repeated, his voice soft and far away.
"No doubt. No doubt. But really, can you blame her. They didn't exactly have mommy training classes at Manticore now did they?"
Logan dropped down onto the couch to lay his head in his hands. "I've missed four years of her life."
Cindy and Bling stared at Logan sympathetically. "It sounds to me." Bling said, "That you have to chance to make it up to her now."
"She doesn't even know I'm her father."
About a half hour later, Bling and Cindy left Logan alone in his apartment.
"Damn." Bling said simply.
"Damn sounds about right. You should see the little boo. Looks just like him."
"Do you think him and Max are going to work it out?" Bling asked as he stepped onto the elevator.
"Think so?" Cindy asked as she punched the button for the ground floor. "If I know my Boo and if I know Logan, we'll just see if Maddy is the last in the Clan Cale."