Author's Note: Okay so first, sorry for the delay. This chapter kicked my butt. Second, I'm not sure when I will post the next one. I'm sick, possibly with Coronavirus, and I do more sleeping and coughing than anything else, so I'm unsure when I'll get the next chapter finished. Plus, my wonderful Beta, His_Beautuful_Girl, is sick, too, so who knows. All I can say is sorry for the delay and we'll get it done as soon as possible.

Many thanks to His_Beautuful_Girl for her work/help on this chapter. Love you, Twin of My Heart. Feel better soon.

Chapter Seven

I've Been Looking for This

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Logan's Inspirational Message:

'Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.' — Unknown.

On Wednesday, Logan and his friends took advantage of Spring Break and met up at Neptune's illustrious Pacific Vista Mall. He enjoyed the normalcy of surrounding himself with friends, of having Veronica's hand linked with his while walking. Darrell, Wallace's little brother, came with and turned and walked backwards in front of the group of friends. "Wallace, can we go to Barnes and Noble? I saved enough allowance to buy that book."

Wallace glanced at everyone else and they all nodded. "Sure. The store is at the other end, so why don't we head in that direction and work our way back?"

Darrel beamed and Logan made eye contact. "So, uh, what book do you want to buy? Your mom said something about King Arthur?"

Darrell bumped into a lady. "Excuse me, Ma'am." After turning around, he walked forward but turned his head and answered the question. "'Merlin and the Making of the King' by Margaret Hodges. My teacher says it's supposed to be awesome and even has illustrations."

The group kept walking and stopped at a clothing store. Logan lingered over the pile of t-shirts with funny sayings; two catching his eye. The first one had a bubbling science beaker and the words, 'Forget lab safety. I want superpowers.' The second one had, 'I've Got Time to Kill Everyone' printed across the fabric with, 'I've Got Time to Kill, Everyone' under it. Beneath that were the words, 'Correct Punctuation Saves Lives.' Both were great, but he had a million and one t-shirts already.

Wallace and Darrell glanced at the shirts he held, and Darrell's head tilted. "Gonna get those?"

His head shook. "No. I already have a million T-shirts, and I want to be responsible with my money for a change. I need a new laptop since my old one is showing signs it's dying a slow death. There's no guarantee that Aaron will keep paying me. I have what Mom left, but I feel the need to make the money stretch as long as possible. Besides, I don't need another t-shirt, but I need a new computer for schoolwork and that will not be cheap."

Darrell and Wallace's heads inclined, and the three looked around the rest of the store.

When the group left the store, the two brothers whispered about something. At the entrance to the store, Wallace halted in the doorway and patted his pockets. "Hey, I dropped my wallet. Darrell and I will look for it, we'll meet up at Best Buy."

Everybody agreed and split up. When they got to Best Buy, Logan made a beeline for the laptops and tried each one out. "My old one is four years old and I think it's dying. Mac, Cass, any suggestions on which of these I should get?"

Cassidy stood on one side and Mac on the other, pointing out all the reasons the computers weren't worthy of him or his computing. Mac closed the laptop he was playing with. "Logan, we will get the perfect laptop, with all the programs you need. And my member discount from the computer store will make it cheaper than any of these. And the specs will still be better. Plus, Cass and I can overclock the laptop and make it super-fast."

He ducked his head and stared at the floor. "I don't want to be a bother."

Mac's hand brushed his arm. "It's no bother and I don't know about Cass, but you will offend me if you buy one of these crap machines."

With a laugh, his head inclined. "Well, I wouldn't want to offend you."

Next, the group perused the DVDs on sale, and he bounced on his toes when he found the James Cagney Movie, 'Angels with Dirty Faces.'

Cassidy's head tilted. "I've never heard of that one. What's it about?"

Bouncing again, he beamed. "It's a crime drama from 1938, starring James Cagney. Keith mentioned it when it came out on DVD in January. And I've been looking for it every time I come here so I can get it as a small thank you for everything he's done and been for me. Now that he didn't make me go home after the hospital, I feel like I owe him this even more."

Veronica sighed but grinned. "I'm sensing the purchase of the next family movie night feature film. Dad will love it."

After bringing the movie to the register, he paid for it, and when Wallace and Darrell met up with the group, they headed next door to Barnes and Noble. While everyone separated and browsed different sections, Logan ambled over to the magazine section to see if the store had the Surfing Magazine he sometimes bought.

A while later, Wallace walked over. "Hey, anything good?"

With a shrug, Logan showed Wallace the surf magazine. "I like this magazine. However, when I asked Aaron if I could get a subscription, he said no. Dear Ole Dad said I should spend more time getting better at surfing by doing it, not by reading about it. I hide the magazine any time I buy one."

His head tilted and his voice lowered. "The one time Aaron saw it, he whipped my back hard with the buckle end of the belt which left me bruised and bloodied. Felt that beating for weeks afterward."

Wallace's head shook. "I'm not a violent guy by nature. But your father makes me want to break things, particularly his face and as many bones as I can reach before someone pries me off him."

After closing the magazine, he laughed. "Ronnie's called first dibs on that, so you'll need to get in line, and Keith might want to be in that line too."

The pair walked to the register where Logan bought the magazine, and while walking towards the group of friends waiting, Wallace held out a hand. "At least now you don't have to hide it. Can I see it for a minute?"

He handed it over, and Wallace flipped through the pages, stopping to look at a few of the pictures before handing the magazine back. "Basketball's more my thing, but it looks cool."

He bounced on his toes. "Oh, it's so awesome. They have articles about different boards and famous surfers and the best locations and weather conditions for the best waves. I love this magazine. It doesn't tell you how to be a better surfer, but it gives you the information you can put into practice out on the waves. I tried to explain that to Aaron, but that's when he used the buckle end of the belt. He said I was talking back and calling him stupid by questioning what he said."

Wallace shook his head. "I call third dibs."

They had lunch at a restaurant inside the mall. Afterward, Logan and Veronica drove to her apartment and watched a movie, cuddling up and falling asleep together on the couch.

When Keith got home, the trio made dinner, with Keith and Veronica teaching Logan what to do. While they worked, they talked about their day. At one-point Keith glanced at him. "So, Logan, someone has a birthday coming up. Got any plans?"

Logan's head shook while he washed some veggies. "I'll just spend the day with Veronica. We were talking about going to the boardwalk."

Keith's lips turned upward. "That'll be nice. Anything you're hoping for?"

He stared at the cutting board. "There's a video game coming out, but it'll be impossible to get that day. Everybody expects the game to fly off the shelves, so I'll wait and get it next month. Other than that, the plan is to enjoy my freedom."

Keith wiped his hands on a towel. "Oh, what video game?"

While peeling the carrots, he focused on not cutting himself on the peeler. "'Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower.' It's supposed to be awesome. Aaron wouldn't let me pre-order it, though. To get it, I'd have to get to the store hours before they open to get in line, so I'll wait."

Keith nodded and then left the room for a minute before coming back and helping peel the rest of the carrots.

After handing Keith the peeled veggies, he wiped his hands on a towel. "Hey, so, I was thinking of visiting Trina this weekend. Do you think I might persuade you to let Ronnie come with? I might try to get all my friends to come with me if they're available."

Keith's lips turned upward. "I might be amenable to that, provided you sleep in separate rooms."

After chuckling, he beamed. "Oh, no worries, Trina doesn't want to be an auntie any more than we want to be parents so she won't let bad behavior fly any more than you would. Anyway, if it's okay, I'll run the idea by Trina tonight. If she says yes, I'll call our friends tomorrow and see how many might be interested."

Keith dumped the veggies into the pot of boiling water. "Sounds like a plan."

He grinned, and they finished making dinner and had a quiet meal before he visited Weevil's house for the evening.

When he got home from 'Weevil's School of Wizardry and Automotive Care' right before his eleven o'clock curfew, he called Veronica for their nightly call. The call only lasted for a few minutes, but the tradition brought comfort.

After hanging up with Veronica, he called Trina for his now nightly call with her.

After they expressed greetings, he cleared his throat. "So, um, I was wondering if you might be free to host me and my friends this weekend?"

Trina stayed silent for a few seconds. "You want to come visit with your friends?"

He shifted on the bed. "Yup. I figure if we're giving this brother-sister relationship a fresh start, we need to work on building memories and erasing the old animosities."

There was silence and then a bang and more silence before Trina giggled. "Sorry, I bounced so hard that I dropped the phone."

After laughing, he lay down with the phone still pressed to an ear. "Okay, Ms. Rabbit. So, what do you say, you up to hosting a bunch of rowdy teenagers?"

Trina snickered. "Well, Mr. Tigger, that might be doable."

His lips tilted upward. "Great. I'll run the idea past my friends tomorrow. Either way, Ronnie and I are in and will be there with bells on."

They hung up a few minutes later, and he sent texts to all the friends about going to L.A. for the weekend before heading to bed.

The next day, when he opened the door around noon time, Veronica sang a rousing rendition of 'Happy Birthday.' Then she ended the song with the be-all end-all of Birthday Kisses.

He chuckled into the kiss before pulling apart, breathless. "Wow, I should have a birthday more often. If the rest of the day is half as great as that kiss was, I'm gonna have an awesome day."

She chuckled and led him out to the Xterra. She drove them to the Boardwalk, and they walked around. They even rode The Tunnel of Love, the Ferris wheel, the haunted house, and the carousel. Any ride that wouldn't jar his injuries was fair game.

While on the carousel, Logan and Veronica leaned over at one point and kissed. The boardwalk photographer snapped a picture of the moment from an angle that missed his arm hugging his ribs. The photograph also was dark enough that the bruises on his face weren't visible. Overall, it was one of his favorite shots of them together, so Logan bought three copies. The first one for Veronica. The second one for his bed stand. And the last one to put in the fireproof box with the rest of his backup photos and other mementos he wanted to keep safe.

That was another instance of Aaron's influence. Logan always made or bought an extra set of pictures, in case something happened to the set on display. He started doing that just after he turned thirteen, when Aaron burned the only surviving photos Lynn had of her grandparents. It devastated Lynn until Logan had shown her, he and Trina had scanned all the family photos. But he learned the lesson. Aaron could and would destroy anything in the house if the mood struck him. So, Logan got a ride to Veronica's a few days later, and they went to the mall and bought three fire-safe boxes, which he hid under Veronica's bed. In the boxes, he put extra hard drives with all the digital and scanned family photos and paper copies of any that had duplicates. He still stopped by her apartment with his laptop and updated the hard drives often.

With upturned lips, he stared down at the beautiful shot of him and Veronica meeting halfway between the two horses and giving each other a tender kiss. He dropped another kiss on the top of Veronica's head, and she turned her face and kissed the tip of his chin.

After paying for the photos, they put them into Veronica's messenger bag for safe keeping and stopped and got ice cream cones. The couple strolled side by side, but one arm in a sling and the other hand holding the cone prevented them from holding hands. But they bumped hips every couple of minutes.

They walked down the beach, and after throwing out their trash, they found a deserted patch of sand and sat. His lips turned up. "Aside from a resurrection, the only way this could be a better birthday is if I was healthy enough to catch some waves."

With a squeeze of his hand around hers, he leaned a shoulder against hers. "I'm one year closer to being eighteen. I'm well on the way to being free of Daddy Dearest forever. And, as if that's not all great enough, I'm spending the day with my absolute favorite person."

She snuggled in against his side. "I'm glad you're happy, and for the record any day spent with you is the best day ever."

He laughed and dropped a kiss to the top of her head before sitting and enjoying the smell of sunshine and ocean. The only interruptions were the phone calls from Mac, Cassidy, and Meg and Weevil. All four sang happy birthday and except for Weevil who had to work, they all said they were in for L.A. that weekend.

After a few hours of sitting together and talking about previous birthdays and other best days ever, they got up and drove to the Fennel home.

When they arrived, Veronica led him to the front door of the main house and opened the door before motioning him in ahead of her. He stepped through the doorway and Keith, Alicia, Cassidy, Darrell, and Wallace all shouted, "Surprise, Happy Birthday!"

The last thing he expected was a birthday party, so he jumped a foot in the air and when he landed, he cringed at the pain but chuckled. "Um, thank you."

Alicia hugged him and whispered, "Happy Birthday, Logan, and many more."

Keith patted his back and Darrell hugged him like Alicia did before Wallace bumped fists with him. "Happy Birthday, Marshall."

With a chuckle, he beamed. "Thanks, Diddy."

Alicia smiled and leaned forward. "You hungry? A little birdie may have told us that Thai food is a favorite and what you order. And don't worry, I made sure they knew you are allergic to shellfish."

His eyes narrowed. "You mentioned that the other day, too. How did you find out about that, anyway?"

Her lips tilted upward before she patted his healthy shoulder. "Several little birdies made sure I knew that. Now, who's ready to eat?"

The group sat down and ate while they talked about how everyone's day was. Alicia and Keith, and even Darrell, all seemed to pay attention to what he said and asked relevant questions.

After dinner, Alicia and Ronnie brought out a cake and Alicia's eyebrows furrowed. "Veronica and I made it this morning while you were still asleep. I'm not sure why it's leaning to the side. Cakes don't do that."

He laughed and held out his plate. "Ronnie's cakes historically lean to the left. I think it makes them taste better. Like it's made by someone who cares but they focused so much on pouring love into it they forgot to make sure the cake was structurally sound."

Veronica pushed his good shoulder. "Hey, it's sound. It's standing up, and it's not collapsing in on itself. And love is the most important ingredient."

His head inclined and after taking a bite, a moan escaped. "It must be. None of the store-bought cakes my parents always insisted on buying ever tasted as good as the cakes you and Mrs. Navarro ever made. When I asked Mrs. Navarro why that was, she said the secret ingredient is love."

Alicia's lips turned upward. "That sounds about right."

He took another bite and moaned again at the perfect balance of chocolate and peanut butter.

After the cake, they each brought out a gift. He took the first gift from Keith. The shape and size suggested video game. However, no one ever got him the video games he liked. So, his lips formed a brittle line while he prepared to pretend to be grateful. He opened the gift and his eyes widened. The corners of his lips tilted until it felt like they were a crescent moon and just as big. Keith got the PSP game he told him about the other night.

Keith's head tilted to the side. "Did I get the right one? I wrote down the name after we talked about it. Despite waiting in line for hours, I had to go to three different stores today before I bought the second to last one at the third store. The salesclerk that helped me said they had over a hundred kids lined up at the door when they opened, and I was lucky to get one."

Tears pricked at his eyes and he blinked to keep them at bay. 'Keith listened when I told him about the new video game coming out on my birthday. He heard me when I spoke and visited three stores to find it?' Aaron wouldn't have done that. If the ass ever bothered to buy him something he wanted, he would have sent an assistant on the errand to the nearest store. If they didn't have it, Aaron would have said it wasn't meant to be. Not Keith Mars though, no, he visited three stores to find the perfect gift.

He cleared his throat. "I—thank you. I don't—this is awesome. Thank you. I look forward to playing later."

Alicia handed him the next gift, and he held it, heavy like a book. He tore off the wrapping paper and his grin spread even wider. She gave him a copy of Eragon. "Thank you. You were fishing for gift ideas the other night, right?"

With a chuckle, Alicia's head inclined. "That part of the conversation was two-fold. I was fishing for ideas for your birthday, but I also wanted to know what you enjoy. So, yes, it was a fact-finding conversation, but not with the sole purpose of picking a gift."

Wallace's gift was next. He took the envelope that Wallace handed him and opened it before pulling out a confirmation letter. The page stated he would receive a two-year subscription to the Surf Magazine he got at the bookstore the other day.

Wallace's eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward. "I may not be a violent guy, but your dad doesn't get to win either. This is a compromise that allows me to thumb my nose at him and give you something you want. And all without landing me in jail for putting him in the hospital. Though to be clear, breaking him like he tried to break you is tempting. Mom would frown on that, though, so I'm disregarding his wishes instead."

That caused a lump to form in his throat. "Thanks, Diddy. I don't want anyone to get into trouble for me so I can live with your compromise."

Darrell shifted in his seat and grinned before shoving a wrapped blob at him. "My turn."

Alicia fussed, so Darrell gave a sheepish grin and ducked his head. "Please. My turn, please."

Logan chuckled and hefted the gift in his hand like it was the hand of a scale. "Not too heavy." He squeezed the wrapped mound. "And it's soft." With a shake, he smirked. "Doesn't make noise."

Darrel sat on the edge of the chair beaming at him, so he tore it open and revealed a pile of fabric. After lifting it, he released the bottom of it and revealed the Science Beaker T-shirt he stared at the other day. With a laugh, he laid the shirt out on his knees and smoothed the fabric. "Let me guess, Diddy didn't lose his wallet?"

Darrell's head shook, hard. "Nope, I saw you wishing you could buy it, but you said you need a new laptop more than you need another shirt. I can't afford a computer, but I could give you the shirt. This way you can pay for the laptop and you still get one shirt you wanted."

That got the boy a hug before Cassidy handed him another package just as soft. He unwrapped it and held up the T-shirt, tilting his head to the side so he could read the sideways words. The T-shirt said, 'You Look Really Funny Doing That With Your Head.'

He straightened his head and laughed. "Thanks, Cass. I didn't see this one the other day. I love it."

Cassidy blushed. "I found that table before you and saw it and thought of you, so I grabbed it before you could see it."

"Well I love it."

Veronica stood. "My turn. Mine is in your apartment and was part of the reason I wanted to go out and do something today. Though, I never need an excuse to spend time with you. However, I needed to do it out of the house today so Wallace could let the delivery guy in and set it up."

Wallace laughed and pointed at Veronica. "It came already put together so all I had to do was direct traffic."

Veronica took his hand and led him out to his apartment. After he unlocked the door, everyone walked inside and glanced at her. "Where to, Bobcat?"

She pulled on a hand and the group walked down the hallway and into his bedroom. He pulled up short. Then the corners of his lips rose at the enormous orange bow sitting atop a new piece of furniture in the room's corner. "You got me a desk?"

The corners of her lips tilted up, and he let go of her hand and inspected the carvings on the new desk. They matched the tree carvings on the bedroom furniture, causing it to blend into the room. After taking his hand in hers, she squeezed it. "The owner at the thrift shop downtown said it was part of an entire bedroom set, but a fire destroyed the rest of it. The only piece that survived was the desk. It's got some singe marks towards the bottom, but I didn't notice them until the guy pointed them out. Anyway, it looked like a good match for your bedroom set so I figured since you didn't have a desk, I'd get you one."

The red cherry wood was a perfect match for the rest of the furniture, so he pulled her into his body with his good arm and hugged her. "Thank you. I love it." He glanced at everyone else. "All of it. Thank you. This is by far the best birthday ever, even better than my sixth when we went to Bullwinkle's."

Everyone got things that showed they cared and that they paid attention when he spoke or did things. Most of it he mentioned once in passing. And they all remembered well enough to get it for his birthday. That's another thing. He didn't even tell them it was his birthday. They just knew and took it upon themselves to make sure he had a wonderful one.

He sniffled and blinked tears away again before he picked up a wrapped gift off the bed stand and handed it to Keith. "I've been looking for this since January when you mentioned wanting to get it. Maybe we can watch it together tonight?"

Keith raised an eyebrow but tore open the wrapping paper. "Thank you, Son. I've looked at Best Buy a few times when I was in there for other things, but they never had it. Blockbuster has it to rent though, so I was this close to breaking down and renting it."

Keith gave him a manly half hug, and they returned to the main house and watched the movie.

When he called Trina for their nightly call, even she remembered his birthday. After answering the phone with a rousing rendition of 'Happy Birthday,' she said, "I hope you have a wonderful year ahead full of love, laughter, and joy."

They caught up more. Towards the end of the call, he shifted on the bed. "So, all my friends, except Weevil, are down with coming to visit you. He said maybe another time if we go on a weekend he's not working."

She squealed and he could picture her bouncing. "Yay. You'll have to come back when he's free, too. I'm so excited, Logan. Is it tomorrow yet?"

He glanced at the clock and laughed. "It's been Friday for about fifteen minutes." He followed that statement up with a yawn.

They kept talking for a while longer. No matter how many times he and Trina yawned, neither one of them seemed eager to hang up. So, he didn't go to sleep until after one in the morning.