Chapter 20.
Is
love so fragile and the heart so hollow
Shatter with words impossible to follow
You're saying I'm fragile I try not to be
I search only for something I can't see
I
have my own life
And I am stronger than you know
But I carry this feeling
When you walked into my house
That you won't be walking out the door
Lovers
forever, face to face
My city or mountain
Stay with me stay
I need you to love me
I need you today
Give to me your leather
Take from me my lace
You
in the moonlight
With your sleepy eyes
Could you ever love a man like me
And you were right
When I walked into your house
I knew I'd never want to leave
Sometimes
I'm a strong man
Sometimes cold and scared
And sometimes I cry
But that time I saw you
I knew with you to light my nights
Somehow I'd get by…
Logan woke up suddenly. Something wasn't right. She sniffed, but didn't smell anything but Victor's scent, close and comforting.
Suddenly, she knew why she'd woken up. A sharp pain shot through her stomach. She sat up. "FUCK!"
Victor's eyes shot open. "Logan?!" He saw her sitting up in the bed, doubled over in pain. "Darlin', what's wrong?"
Logan winced. "I think…I think I'm in labor."
Victor jumped up out of the bed, running to the closet and grabbing the bag Logan had packed for the hospital. He ran out of the room, only to turn back around and go to the bed, picking Logan up. "Sorry."
"LARRY!" Victor hollered. "Larry, get out here."
Larry poked a head out from his door, his hair a mess. He rubbed his bleary eyes. "Yes, Mr. Creed."
"Get the car, Larry. Logan's about ta pop."
"You make me sound like a balloon."
Victor looked down at her. "Well, ya do kinda look like one."
Logan was about to chew him out, when another contraction hit. Victor's face filled with concern. "Darlin', are you gonna be all right?"
"Yeah, sure. Women do this every day. OH FUCK!"
"Dammit, Larry, hurry up!"
Victor took Logan downstairs, putting her gently into the car. He sat beside her in the backseat, holding her hand. "It's gonna be okay. Just squeeze my hand if the pain's too much, okay?"
Logan nodded, taking Victor's hand.
"I love you, Logan," he said, looking down at her soft face.
"I know. I love you, too."
Victor carried Logan into the hospital and up to the front desk. "My woman's about to have a baby. Do something."
The woman behind the counter smiled to herself. "Okay, Mr…"
"Creed. And this is Logan."
"Okay." A nurse rolled a wheelchair around, and Victor hesitantly put Logan in it. "The maternity ward is on floor three. Mr. Creed, let me get some information from you, and then you can go up there with your wife."
Victor's eyes grew wide. "I can't leave her! She's hurtin'!"
Larry stepped up. "I can take care of this, sir. You go with Logan."
The woman from behind the desk looked at Larry. "And who are you?"
"I'm the, um, butler. But trust me, you don't want to separate Mr. Creed and Logan."
The woman decided that the strange little man might have a point. "Right. You can go with your wife, Mr. Creed."
Victor ran to catch up with Logan and the nurse. She cried out in pain again, and Logan looked up at the nurse. "Can't you give her something fer the pain?"
Logan looked up, her face white. "It wouldn't do any good, Victor."
Victor cursed. She was right. Damn healing factor.
The nurse brought Logan into one of the birthing rooms and helped her into the bed. "The doctor with be in just a minute."
Victor set beside Logan's bed, stroking her hair. She looked up at him, smiling a little. "We're going to be parents, Victor."
"Yer gonna be a great mom, Logan. I know it."
Another contraction hit, and she cried out. Victor hated the feeling of helplessness it gave him. His woman was in pain and there was nothing he could do about it. He held on to her hand, wishing it would go by quickly.
"You're almost there, Ms. Logan. I have the head. Push."
Logan squeezed Victor's hand, almost tight enough to break the bones. He winced, but didn't say anything. She was hurting more than he was. She pushed as hard as she could.
The room was silent for a second, and then a piercing wail broke through the air. "It's a boy," the doctor announced.
Victor grinned dumbly. His son… He looked down at Logan. "Ya did it, runt."
She smiled, three hours of labor having taken their toll.
"Would you like to cut the umbilical cord, Mr. Creed?"
"Um, that's okay, you can handle that part," Victor said to the doctor.
The doctor and the nurse washed and swaddled the baby, handing him to his mother. Logan reached up and stroked his face with a finger. "He's beautiful like you, Victor."
He kissed her on the top of the head. "You're the beautiful one, babe."
She handed the baby up to Victor, letting him hold the screaming bundle. Logan closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, then opened them and looked up at her family.
"Mrs. Creed, would you like to feed your son?" Logan looked at the nurse in the doorway of her room, holding her baby. She had given up on trying to tell the hospital workers she wasn't a Mrs. anything.
"Yes, I would." The nurse put the baby in her arms and left. She passed Victor on her way out.
"Hello there, Mr. Creed!" she chirped. "Your wife and son are waiting for you." Victor grinned at Logan.
"Yer my wife, huh?"
"Drop it, Creed." He sat on the edge of the bed while the baby nursed.
"Ya know, we need to name the little sucker." Logan nodded.
"I've been thinking about that too. You have any ideas?"
"Victor Creed, Jr.," said Victor as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Logan shook her head.
"No. I am not naming my child that."
"What's wrong with my name, dammit?"
"It's yours, Victor."
"Hey," he looked offended, "what's that supposed ta mean?"
"I mean the kid has less chance of turning out to be a mass murdering psychotic if we name him something else, alright?" Victor grumbled.
"I guess yer right," he said finally. "Maybe we should give the kid a fresh start." He reached for the baby, who snarled at him with a tiny, toothless mouth. Victor drew back. "Damn, he's a vicious little thing already."
His eyes lit up and he turned to Logan. "Hey…" Logan looked worried.
"What now?"
"That's it!" Victor exclaimed. "Vicious Creed!" Logan dropped her head into her hands.
"Victor…"
"We can shorten it to Vic!" Victor exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as if he were the smartest man in the world. Logan could tell there would be no changing his mind—even if the kid was legally named something else, he'd always be Vicious to his father.
"Okay," she said finally. "I guess there are worse names. Like, ya know, Mac or Scott or something…"
"Vicious…" said Victor happily, looking down at his son. Vicious gave his attempt at a growl, looking up at his father with his huge deep blue eyes.
"He's got yer eyes, runt. Yer hair too, for that matter." He gave her an evil look. "Ya sure the kid's mine?" Logan punched him in the shoulder.
"Guess your manly DNA let you down in the looks department, Creed."
"Hey, not while I'm holdin' our brat," he chuckled. Logan smiled back. Vicious began to cry, having been away from his mother for too long. Victor handed him back.
"You scream louder than yer mom, kiddo." Logan gave him another one of her looks. Victor fled the hospital room before she could hit him again.
Logan looked up at Victor's huge mansion as Larry pulled the car into the driveway. Her initial opinion of Victor's house had been that it appeared dark and foreboding, but in the months she'd spent living there, her opinion had changed. Like Victor himself, the house appeared hard and unapproachable on the outside, but once you got past the walls, you realized there was a warmth inside.
Larry parked the car, and Victor walked around to the other side of the car, helping Logan and Vicious out. The three of them walked up to the door, coming home together as a family for the first time.
Logan felt an unfamiliar feeling rush over her, and it took her a moment to place it. Contentment. She had what she'd always searched for, what she'd longed for since a time she couldn't remember. She laughed to herself, realizing she'd found it in the unlikely place of Victor Creed.
She looked over at Victor, noticing the pleasant look on his face as he watched his lover and son, and realized that he felt the same thing she did. For the first time in her life, Logan didn't want to run. She wanted to stay, put down roots.
She'd found a home, and she'd never leave it.