This chapter is rated M for a very short scene. Enjoy.

Chapter 8: Wipe Out

******Still at Dick's*****

Veronica tried to focus on the words Logan was saying, but it was like a fog had descended over her. Her eyes focused on his mouth as it moved; his words were slow to penetrate. Finally, he stopped talking and waited for her reaction.

Dick reacted first and got angrily to his feet. "What the hell, dude? Trina wants to move to New York and take little dude with her? You're f***ing kidding me! No way in hell!" he yelled, flashing Logan and Mac a betrayed look. "How could you even think I'd sign on to something like this? I know majority rules and all, but my vote isn't just no. It's hell no!" He was too angry to stay in the same room with them. He knew by looking at Mac that she'd known about this. She'd known and not told him. Once again, he'd been treated less like the partner he was supposed to be. He was too pissed to stick around and listen to their platitudes or excuses. Grabbing his keys, he got in his truck and left.

Mac wanted to chase after Dick, but she knew by experiences he needed some time to process, so she focused on Veronica. Veronica flinched when Dick slammed the front door, but she remained silent.

"Honey, say something. What are you thinking?" Logan asked.

"Trina wants to move to New York. Whether or not you vote to open another office of Faces won't matter. If she's made up her mind that she wants to move, she'll do it," Veronica said in a carefully controlled voice. She'd always known this day would come as Trina was never one to stay planted for so long. It had only been a matter of time. She stood up. "She's a grown woman. There's not much we can do if she's made up her mind."

Mac and Logan exchanged concerned looks. This wasn't how they expected Veronica to react. It was like the news hadn't sunk in yet. She seemed glassy-eyed and distant. There were no tears, no simmering rage. It was very un-Veronica like.

"Are you okay?" Logan asked cautiously. He got up and reached for her hand to hold.

"I'm ready to go home," Veronica said, ignoring his question. She couldn't begin to process the loss of another child. Of course, Richie wasn't dying. Veronica wasn't losing him the same way she'd lost her son. In the end, that's what mattered.

Logan was terribly afraid as they drove home. His wife was hurting. He knew that she was, yet she was so still. However, she didn't look like she was in pain. That's what scared him the most. Logan reached over and grabbed her hand once again, needing to feel a connection to her. Veronica just smiled at him. He wasn't sure what to think about her odd behavior.

When they arrived home, Logan half expected her to confront Trina, but yet again she didn't do the expected. Instead, she just went through her normal nightly routine. As she finished, she turned toward him; he was laying on the bed watching her. She crawled into bed next to him. For a few minutes, she lay in silence, her head resting on his chest.

Then she lifted her head and said, "Love me."

"Always," he replied. He bent his head and kissed her. His lips soon began a trail down her neck, his hands following. Then he removed her nightshirt. He pushed the covers out of his way, so he could move easily over her body, sucking hard on her breast, his hand squeezing the other, flicking her hard nipple. Veronica's hands moved over his bare chest. Her touch never failed to make him hard. When she slipped her hand inside his underwear and squeezed him, he moaned in pleasure.

"You like that, huh?" she asked, flashing him a wicked grin.

"I like everything you do," he admitted. "Do you like this?" He pushed aside her panties and plunged two fingers inside her. She gasped with pleasure. He pumped his fingers into her over and over and then pinched her clit causing her to come apart.

"Your turn," she said after she'd recovered. She pushed him onto his back and slide his underwear down.

Logan knew as her lips closed over him that she was trying to distract herself from the possibility of Richie leaving, and for tonight, he'd let her. If she needed a reprieve, he was happy to give her one. Wasn't it his husbandly doing after all?

******Dick*****

Dick was drinking a beer and playing pool, trying to forget the news he'd received. He couldn't believe Trina. Why would she take little dude so far away from everyone that loved him? He played pool for two hours, trying to put it out of his mind. However, it didn't work. He didn't want to lose someone else he loved. He knew that miles apart meant you never saw a person again. His mom had moved first to New York after his parents divorced. At first, she came and visited some. Once, she even flew him and Cassidy there. Then she didn't come in for one birthday, then another. She skipped Christmas once. Then she flew them in the next Christmas. By the second year of the divorce, they got to see their mom once a year. By the time they were teens and old enough to quit caring, they rarely saw her. Of course, Dick realized now that that was one of the things that had caused Cassidy's spiral.

What if little dude grew up damaged because he thought they abandoned him? The thought bothered Dick more and more. Finally, he decided he couldn't let another moment go without talking to Trina. He used his key to let himself into the beach house. He didn't really want to deal with Logan, so he knocked on Trina's bedroom door.

"Come in," she ordered,

Dick opened the door and glared at her. She looked surprised to see him. "Dick, what in the world are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

He didn't waste any time on preliminaries. "How could you even think about taking little dude from us?" he demanded.

Trina was surprised at his words. She glanced over at her sleeping son in his crib. "Let's go into the living room. I don't want to wake him up," she said. She got up from the bed and led Dick out of the room. She sat down on the sofa and looked up at him expectantly. "I'm not going to take Richie from you guys. How could you think I'd do that?" she asked, hurt in her voice.

"What do you think will happen if you move to New York? We live as far as we could live from the Big Apple and still be in America!" Dick said crossly.

"Well, I haven't worked out the details yet, but there are planes, you know," Trina said.

"Yeah, and when you get caught up in your busy life, we'll see Richie less and less. Not to mention, I don't want to see him once every few months. I don't want him to forget me!" Dick exclaimed.

"I wouldn't let that happen!" Trina said, feeling more than a flash of guilt.

"It's what happens, Trina! Believe me, I know!" Dick said angrily. "Do you know how often my brother and I saw my mom after she moved to New York? Now she's in another country, and we don't have a relationship at all. It took a few years, but that's the result of moving across the country. You forget the people who love you and who you're supposed to love back!"

The raised voices brought Logan into the room to investigate. "What's going on?" Logan inquired.

"Just listening to Trina blow smoke up my ass!" Dick said in annoyance.

"I'm not doing any such thing! I am not going to keep my son from anyone!" Trina said defensively. "This move would take months anyway. It's not like you need to worry about it now. We haven't even finalized anything or said it's a go."

"Well, you're not getting my vote!" Dick exclaimed.

"Dick, if she wants to move to New York, she doesn't need Faces to do so," Logan said quietly. Veronica was right about that. She had other connections in New York City.

"I'm not going to make it any easier for her!" Dick said hotly.

"Lower your voice! You're going to wake up Veronica!" Logan hissed.

"I just don't understand you," Dick said, giving Trina a woeful look. "Why would you do this to us? To Richie? I thought you'd quit being such a selfish bitch. Guess not." With those final words, Dick stormed out of the house.

Logan looked at his sister and sighed. She seemed crushed by Dick's words. Logan had wanted to say some of those things to her and felt more than a little guilty for it now. She was his only family, and he loved her. His relationship with his brother Charlie was so new that most of the time he didn't even think about having a brother. But he'd always had a sister. Now he had a nephew, and he didn't want to lose either. If he alienated Trina at this point, he risked losing them both. He moved and sat down next to her on the couch. He put his arms around her shoulders.

"Dick didn't mean that. He's just upset," Logan assured her.

"No, he's right. I am a selfish bitch! How could I think about moving so far away? What's wrong with me? Why can't I ever be satisfied with what I have?" she asked mournfully. She began to cry. Logan hated it when the women he loved cried.

"Most of us aren't, Trina. It doesn't make you a bad person," Logan said.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Trina said. "I don't want Richie to lose any of you."

"We'll work it out," Logan told her. He didn't know how, but he vowed to figure out a way to keep the people in his life from hurting. Veronica was going to hurt the most, however. He'd rather cut his own heart out than to watch her suffer.

******The Next Morning******

Dick woke up after a restless night sleeping. He decided that he had to go surfing and clear his head, so he went into the kitchen and started the coffee. Thea and Wallace came down. When he winked at Thea, she blushed. The girl was so not used to having a sex life—Dick could tell. He couldn't help but tease her somewhat. "You look like you two had a very good night!" he said with a snicker.

"Yes," Thea said, flashing Wallace a loving look as she continued to blush.

"Care to share the coffee?" Wallace asked.

"Help yourself," Dick said. "Do you guys want to go surfing with me? The weather is perfect today for a morning swim."

"The water is still freezing cold, Dick," Wallace groaned.

"So? You get used to it. I had some crappy news, and I need to catch some waves," Dick said gloomily.

Wallace looked at Thea, who immediately showed her concern. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Trina wants to move to New York," Dick said.

Wallace's eyes widened. "And take Richie?"

"Well, of course, she will. That's her son," Thea said.

"Well, she could leave him with Logan and Veronica. They'd be much better for him than her being alone in a huge city," Wallace said.

"Your mom spent years raising you as a single mom. Would you have been better off with your aunt and uncle raising you?" Thea pointed out.

Wallace frowned. "No, of course not. But if I was a baby, I wouldn't know any different," Wallace said.

"Dudes, I don't want to argue. Got enough of that last night with Trina. It's bad enough that both my best friend and girlfriend didn't bother to tell me Trina's grand plan even though we're supposed to be partners. I don't want to think about it anymore today. I just want to surf. Do you want to go with me?" he asked.

Weevil came in yawning, and Dick brightened at the sight of him. "Weevs, you want to surf with me? Wally-world can't take the cold. But you're tougher than him!" Dick said with a grin.

"Why don't we come watch you surf?" Thea suggested. "I'll pick us up some breakfast. We'll have a picnic on the beach."

"Cool!" Dick said with a pleased grin. He looked at Weevil. "You gonna come?"

"I guess," Weevil said without enthusiasm. He knew that he didn't really have to surf to satisfy Dick. Dick just liked someone willing to paddle out with him. If he said no, Dick would never let him hear the end of it. He was actually off today, so he had no real excuse to say no.

A half hour later, they were at the beach. They went through a drive-thru and ordered several breakfast sandwiches and some orange juice and coffee. Thea sent Mac a text inviting her to join them. She was a bit surprised that Mac wasn't still at Dick's since she'd been there late after the party. When she'd asked Dick, he just gave her a sour look.

"Do you think they had a fight?" Thea whispered to Wallace.

"No. He'd have told us. He doesn't keep much stuff to himself," Wallace said. "He's upset about Trina and Richie."

"So do you think it's okay that I invited Mac to join us?" Thea asked.

Wallace nodded. "Of course," he said. "He's always happy to see her."

They spread out their blanket close to the shore and watched Weevil and Dick paddle out. It took only ten minutes before Mac showed up.

"Good morning," she said.

"Glad you could join us," Thea said. "I ordered you a bagel."

"Thanks," Mac said, sitting down next to them. She looked out at the water and could see her man on his board. "How's he doing? He was really mad when he left the house last night." She bit into her bagel.

"He was? He didn't seem mad this morning. Just bummed," Wallace said.

"He stormed out and wouldn't return my calls or texts," Mac shared.

"I'm sure he's over it. He just needed some time to process," Thea offered.

Mac nodded. She knew that. But she still hated it when there was distance between them or when Dick was upset or disappointed with her.

Dick was flying high. He'd caught his first wave and life finally made sense again. He was in the zone, and he felt great. All his worries faded away as water cascaded around him. Things always seemed to make more sense when he was riding a wave. However, something happened that disturbed his tranquility. A stabbing pain hit his chest so hard that he lost his breath. The pain spread, and he lost his balance.

Mac stood up with a gasp as she saw Dick fall off his board. It wasn't the first time he'd wiped out, but it always upset her to watch. She waited anxiously for him to surface.

He did not.

******To Be Continued******