She flinched at the cold gel on her stomach. He comfortingly squeezed her hand, concern colored his brown eyes and she gave him a reassuring smile.

The gynecologist rubbed the transducer over her belly and the image of their baby appeared on screen. Her eyes lit up, her lips curved into a smile when the brunette woman told her that this was their baby. Logan let out a breath, a lop-sided smile formed onto his lips and his gaze met Veronica's.

Sara smiled at the duo and asked, "Do you want to know the gender?"

Veronica bit her lip and looked at Logan, "Do you?"

His eyes drifted to the screen and then back to Veronica. "Whatever you want."

"Oh yeah but when I wanted chocolate chip cookies it was all," she adapted a gruffer voice. "'Veronica, you can have oatmeal cookies if you really want cookies.'"

"You were at your sugar limit!" He defended and turned to Sara. "You're the one that turned me into enemy number one. Tell her."

An amused glint lit the gynecologist's eyes and she said, "Veronica, listen to Logan. Your blood pressure was too high during the last check up."

"I know," she heavily sighed. "Munchkin here doesn't care though," she pouted. "But we'll behave. I promise." A sweet smile settled on her lips.

Logan snorted, "She says that know but when we leave it's all 'Logan, can I have pickles and ice cream?'"

"Do not give her that," Sara firmly told him.

He nodded and added, "I know which is why I leave before she pulls out the head tilt."

"Okay, you snitch," Veronica rolled her eyes. He chuckled with a shrug and kisses her fingers. She softened at his touch and swallowed before she said, "I wanna know."

Sara nodded and informed them, "It's a girl."

He caressed her fingers, a smile on his face and he softly said, "Baby girl Mars-Echolls."

She grinned and sounded out, "Mecholls."

Laughter slipped through their lips and she placed her hand on her tummy, somehow she felt like everything would be okay.

Her eyes lingered over his form curiously. She licked her lips when he hummed out in satisfaction. "Is it really that good?"

He peeked at her, his lip curved slightly and he nodded. "Want some?"

She beamed up and enthusiastically chirped, "Yeah! I do!"

He chuckled and gave her a sip. She sucked in the smoothie with a quizzing look on her face. It wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as Logan had made it sound. She took another long sip while Logan internally cheered his triumph.

She narrowed her eyes on him in glare and gritted, "You tricked me."

He held his hands up in defence and claimed, "I didn't tell you to drink it."

"Oh yeah?" She huffed. "What was with those mmm and oooh and tongue noises going on in your mouth."

He pointed to the bottle and said, "This is a treat for your body."

She pushed the bottle toward him and grimly remarked, "Tell that to my taste buds." She stood up and was so tempted to have another cookie but she'd already ate her sugar intake for the day.

He sighed and told her, "Veronica, you can't eat that. You know-"

"It's not good for the baby." She cut him off and grabbed the oatmeal cookie instead. Anything was better than that kale smoothie Logan had tricked her into drinking.

She was five months pregnant and dammit she wanted to stuff her face with sugary goodness but no. Logan wouldn't let her. Logan would continuously nag her about what was good for the baby. Logan should just like take a chill pill. Since she couldn't. Why? It was probably bad for the baby.

And guess what else was bad for the baby? Stress.

And you wanna know how Logan plans to de-stress her? Yo-freaking-ga.

And you wanna know why she hates it? Because Logan freaking Echolls is sexy as hell in his damned yoga pants and his cotton vest. Especially when he's stretching in all of those positions and flexing.

Her fingers dribbled her blueberries as her feet dangled in the water and the sun kissed her skin. She plopped one in mouth and felt Logan's hands touch her shoulders. He gently pressed his palms against her shoulders, massaging her. She let out a moan of satisfaction as her eyes drifted closed.

"I got you peanut butter," he whispered.

Her eyes opened with excitement. "Gimme it," she eagerly squealed.

He smiled and let go off her shoulders as he gave her the bottle of peanut bottle. "And I was thinking, instead of pickles, you could eat these really good celery sticks," he added, hopeful.

She quirked an eyebrow. "Celery sticks? Seriously?" She sighed and opened the peanut butter lid and stuck in the green stick in the jar. She looked at it with distaste but obligingly ate it.

He watched her cautiously. Ready for her to throw it back at him. Instead, she continued to eat it. "It needs salt," she commented as she proceeded to eat.

He let out a breath of relief. At least there was a snack she could eat without scrunching up with disgust. "You want anything else?"

She gave him a small smile and shook her head, even though his constant need to take care of her was overwhelming she knew he did it because he cared and she was grateful for it. "No, thank you."

He returned her smile and nodded, he headed back inside and moments later her mouth went dry when she saw him jump into the pool, sans a shirt. There were two primary urges she had when concerning Logan. She either wanted to strangle him from keeping her away from coffee and everything else that was delicious or she wanted to jump him and kiss him senseless.

And him strutting around with those well-defined abs and masculine biceps with water dripping down his body didn't help matters.

The weird thing was that it wasn't just when he was half-naked. He could be fully clothed just standing there and he'd just ooze sexiness.

What was it with him? Did he just not have a sexy filter?

It was like she didn't have a filter. She used to be able to suppress her not-so-friendly thoughts about her friend-slash-baby-daddy but now it almost consumed her.

He swam a lap around the pool and she'd watched him, her body flushed as she drained in the sight of him. She licked her lips and swallowed. She was staring. She knew she was and she couldn't for the life of her tear her eyes away from him. Her eyes filled with lust and she wanted to jump into the water, and just grab him and kiss him. A long, hard, deep kiss.

She was so dazed in her fantasies that she hadn't realized that Logan had swam back toward her until she felt him touch her legs. She gasped and he stared at her quizzing. She let out a breath and shook her head. He separated her legs and her eyes widened but not a second later and she felt his hand on her baby bump.

She swallowed. Logan often touched her there and cooed at their baby, she loved his soft voice that was laced with giggles and the feel of his gentle warm hands. As often as he did it, she should have gotten used to his touch but no, he still had the ability at the finger of his tongue or tips to make her cheeks flush. She knew he did it for the baby but it didn't stop her from enjoying the feel of his hands on her.

She almost, almost threw herself in his arms but then he softly said, "We should get you inside. You're heating up."

She let out a breath and nodded. He smiled at her and moved out of the pool. Her eyes followed his every movement and she bit her lip. She really needed to keep her urges in check.

"Logan," she pouted. "You're doing it wrong."

"It looks perfect to me," he shrugged and continued to braid her hair.

She wrinkled her nose and claimed, "It looks like a mess to me"

He observed his creation, shook his head and remarked, "Perfection is subjective."

Keith arched an eyebrow at the duo. He let Backup off his leach and the dog immediately went to the couch and licked Veronica's hand. She smiled and scratched his ear with a 'hey boy.'

"How was school?" Keith quizzed.

"Oh you know the usual," Veronica shrugged. "Logan looking up cheerleaders skirts and the quarterback kept hitting on me."

Keith shook his head as he walked toward his room and stated, "You know that's not funny."

Logan frowned. "Wait. Did Caz hit on you?"

The petite blonde rolled her eyes. "Did you look up cheerleaders skirts?"

"No, much to their dismay," he grinned.

School had been difficult. People just could not keep their opinions to themselves but Veronica and Logan had the support of their friends and they had easily made it clear that if everyone should mind their own business or else.

Veronica had taken Logan's advice of 'get tough and get even' to heart and had smarmily retorted to anyone who dared make a remark about her, Logan and their baby. Soon, the students of Neptune discovered that their lives were easier if they didn't mess with Veronica Mars. It didn't stop them from whispering but it had stopped them from out-right mockery.

"Wanna get manicotti for dinner?" Keith asked when he came back out.

Veronica brightened. "As if I'd ever say no to that."

Keith laughed. "With your weird cravings, I never know what I'm gonna hear out of your mouth." He lifted the half-eaten celery stick that was smeared with peanut butter and pointedly looked at her.

Veronica helplessly shrugged.

Keith softly smiled at the duo as they bickered and tickled Backup. Last month had been troubling, Veronica had hypertension but Sara had said that with proper care, food and exercise, Veronica would be okay. Veronica obligingly followed orders, the problem was that the foods that Veronica wanted to eat were not at all good for her. Logan had freaked out and obsessively monitored the foods that she'd eaten. He knew that it made his daughter crazy at times but Keith was glad that Logan was taking good care of his daughter.

Veronica glanced at her father and offered him a small smile. After she'd confessed to her father of her mother's infidelity, she told him that he didn't deserve to be with someone that made him unhappy and that if he couldn't be with her mother anymore, she understood. It hurt her to see her father's heart breaking, he didn't need more of it.

The reassurance had been something that Keith had needed to separate from his wife. It was like a burden had lifted from his shoulders when Lianne had moved out.

Veronica still saw her mother and it seemed like Lianne had needed the separation just as much as Keith. It worried Veronica that the two people that she'd thought were so in love could have been so happy without each other.

It's one of the reasons she didn't want to pursue things with Logan. What if she ended up like that? She loved Logan. And she never wanted to feel like she'd be better off without him.

"So did you guys pick a name yet?" Meg quizzed while they ate lunch at the quad.

Duncan had recently started dating the blonde cheerleader, much to the relief of Logan. The last time they had the 'feelings' talk he wasn't sure where Duncan's feelings for Veronica stood. He was glad that his best friend decided to move on. It would have sucked to have to fight Duncan for Veronica but he would have.

Veronica picked at her lunch and shook her head, "No. We really should start looking at names though."

"I told you Lilly is perfect," the Kane heiress piped up.

Logan snorted, "I'm not naming my daughter Lilly."

"But the kid's gotta have some aspirations!" Lilly encouraged.

He arched an eyebrow and briskly dismissed her, "I do not want her having any of your aspirations."

"Logan," Veronica narrowed her eyes on him.

"He's just jealous that his kid's gonna love me more," the green eyed blonde claimed as she fed Veronica some of her healthy leafy salad.

As she chewed, Veronica said, "Lilly. Of course, she'll love you, you're her godmother. But Logan is her father. Girls tend to love their father's the most."

"If anyone, she's gonna love you the most," Logan claimed and gave Veronica some water to drink.

Veronica didn't voice her doubts. She had personal experience and she knew that she loved her father more. It wasn't even because of her mother's infidelity and lies but she'd always had a stronger bond with her father.

"Hope," Duncan suggested. "Like a metaphorical sense."

Logan shook his head and declined, "No way is she gonna be named after a root word of an adjective."

"What if she is actually a he?" Meg piped.

"What?" Veronica's brows furrowed.

"Sometimes, you know, they don't see the penis," the brown eyed blonde informed the group.

Logan glanced at Veronica and asked, "Do you think?"

"He could be born with a penis and still be a girl," Lilly interjected.

"Okay, can we not stray onto this debate?" Logan sighed.

The petite blonde bit her lip, her gaze on Logan when she asked, "You'd be okay with that though, right? If our baby was different? You'll love her no matter what, right?"

He gave her an assuring half-smile, rubbed her lower arm and said, "As long she's happy. I'm happy."

"Delilah," Veronica suggested as Logan drove.

"No," he vetoed without taking his eyes away from the road.

She frowned. "Why not? It's de-lightful. And nicknames galore. Dee. And Lila. No boy nicknames in there."

"Ronnie is a fine nickname thank you very much. And no because I don't want a stream of guys swarming in singing 'hey there Delilah what's it like in New York City'."

"Hey, that's a good song. Would you rather they sing some sexist song about her virginity? Also no matter what you call her, guys are gonna come running."

He glanced at her and firmly decided, "Not if I can help it."

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes. "Rapunzel was locked in a tower and she still got a guy."

"Okay, we're definitely not naming her Rapunzel or any of those Disney princess names."

"Okay, Ariel is out then."

He pursed his lips thoughtfully and relented, "Ariel isn't a bad name though."

She threw her hands up in exasperation, "You said no Disney princesses!"

"I forgot about her," he shrugged. "Okay, no. I don't want some guy calling her his princess. The only princess she'll be is ours."

She quirked an eyebrow and pointed out, "Unless of course she marries into royalty."

"Veronica!" His eyes bugged out. "She's not even born yet and you're thinking of her wedding!"

"You're the one that's ruling out names based on guy's reaction to her. Honestly, she could be named Hornswoggle and guys wouldn't lay off. And why are you thinking about guys now? That's a good fifteen years away."

"No, it's not," he shook his head. "I'm a guy. Happened way sooner than fifteen."

"Logan."

He sighed and told her, "Your dad."

"Logan, he's just messing with you. I mean, you got me pregnant. Of course he's gonna use this opportunity to torture you."

He swallowed and whispered, "What if she ends up like us? Sixteen and pregnant."

Veronica frowned. She never thought it'd happen to her but she'd like to think that in sixteen years condoms would have a 100% success rate. Her gaze flickered back to Logan and she said, "We'll be there to help just like our parents have with us. But I'm pretty sure once we tell her that we got pregnant at sixteen, she's not gonna wanna have sex until much, much later."

He gawked at her. "God, Veronica! Why'd you have to bring up sex?!"

Her jaw dropped opened. "You're the one that brought up pregnancy! She's gonna have to have sex to get pregnant, Logan! And we're getting way ahead of ourselves."

He loosened his hold on the stirring wheel and let out a breath. "Fine. Let's just pick a name."

She let out a heavy sigh and agreed, "Okay." She licked her lips and decided, "Buffy."

His forehead crinkled and his eyebrow lifted upward. "We're not naming our child after a fictional character."

The car came to a halt at the Mars residence and Veronica pouted, "But if she wanted to be like anyone she should want to be like Buffy."

He unlocked his seatbelt, his eyes met hers and he said, "If she should aspire to be like anyone, she should aspire to be like you."

Her eyes softened and a smile curved its way on her lips at his compliment.

He sighed, ran a hand through his hair and murmured, "We just gotta keep the Logan's out of her life."

Her smile faded. "What?"

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be in this position."

Her heart tugged. "What has my father been saying to you?"

He shook his head, "It's not your father."

"Who?" She demanded.

"It doesn't matter. It's the truth."

"No, it's not. It's not. I wouldn't want to live in a reality where Veronica Mars doesn't know Logan Echolls."

"You don't know some of the things I've done-"

"I know you. I know the important things. I know what's in here," she placed her hand over his heart. "And that's all that matters."

"You're staying?" She blinked with surprise.

"Your dad's working late," he informed her. "If you wanna go to my place instead-"

"No. No." She shook her head and settled onto the couch. "I just... you don't have to stay."

He arched an eyebrow as he settled next to her. "Are you trying to get rid of me, Mars?"

"No," she quickly denied. She closed her eyes for a moment and then looked at him. "I mean. I am capable of taking care of myself. Pregnant doesn't mean helpless, you know."

"I know, Veronica," he let out with a small smile. "I want to be here. Do you not want me here?"

He knew that he could be over-bearing at times but that had only been because of her health. He didn't want anything to happen to her or their baby girl.

"It's not that, Logan. I just don't want you to stop living your life. I don't want you to regret anything," she admitted with her eyes downcast.

His brows furrowed and he searched her blue eyes. "I don't regret anything. Did someone say something to you?"

She let out a breath. She'd heard the guys talking about their road trip, pick up cheerleaders and whatnot. As much as Logan had given her all of his attention, they weren't in a relationship like that. He was free to pick up cheerleaders. As much as she didn't want him to, she knew that she shouldn't stop him from doing so.

"You're supposed to go to Tijuana with the boys."

He'd tried incredibly hard to get her to admit her feelings for him. He knew that she felt more for him. He'd tried using her hormones against her but Veronica had more will power than anyone he'd known. He tried the sweet romantic gestures and it'd be ruined when she barfed up. No, he couldn't coax Veronica Mars into being with him. But he could be there for her and show her that he did love her. That they could be a family. That they could be happy.

His fingers found her hers. "My priorities are different now."

As much as her heart ached to say the next words, she had to. She needed him to know that he had a choice. "You should go out and have fun."

"I have fun when I'm with you. Okay?" His other hand cupped her cheek and she sucked in a breath. "If I wanted to go, I would have. I'm where I wanna be."

"I don't want you to miss out on-"

"I'm not," he effectively silenced her doubts. "But you know when I do feel like I'm missing out on something?" Their eyes locked and she curtly nodded against his palm. "When I'm not with you."

Her eyes teared up. How did he always say the right things? How did he make her heart swell ten folds and make her feel completely safe at the same time? How did he make her forget everything but the image of him in front of her?

He wrapped his arms around her in a hug and kissed her forehead. She took a deep breath trying to regain the normal rate of her thumping heart. She felt like she could stay like that forever. With his arms around her and her head against his chest with her eyes closed. She could hear his heart beat along with hers and it soothed her.

He was here. He wanted to be here.

It felt like they were in each other's embrace for too long yet at the same time not long enough.

His brown eyes softly looked down on as he smiled. Her breath hitched, she brought her hands from his waist to his neck and pulled him down in a kiss. It was soft and sensual. Yet somehow it managed to ignite a fire in her body. He deepened the kiss, his hands held her head and when they broke apart he stood in shock.

A warm breath left her lips as her eyes stayed on his. "You said you'd give me anything I want."

"Yes," he let out, mesmerized by the kiss that had transpired.

She pressed her lips against his and murmured, "I want you. Now."

He closed his eyes, trying to regain some control over his body and not automatically give into her. "Veronica." She swallowed. Maybe he didn't want her like she'd thought. He kissed her lips, assuring her that he did.

As much as he wanted her, he couldn't take it if this was just the hormones talking. "Are you sure?"

She nodded in affirmation. "I've wanted this for so long," she whispered hotly against his neck and he withered at the sensation. "You're always there. With your hands on me. And being so, so you. And you just... and I just can't take it anymore. And since this is all your fault for looking like that and using your words like that. And making me feel like this." An airy breath escaped her lips. "It's only proper for you to take care of me."

A chuckle escaped his lips and vibrated against her neck. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling.

"We should," he gestured to her room. Dazed with desire, she nodded. He pressed their lips together and she eagerly responded with a loud moan. His hands find her ass and he lifted her up. She mouthed a kiss on his cheek and he moved them into her bedroom.

She held his face in her hands and bit on his lower lip. His hands moved to take off her top and she stopped him, her eyes wide and her breath shaky.

He stared at her quizzing. She sucked in a breath, trying to think of coherent words. "We can do it with our clothes on."

Befuddled, he blinked. "What?"

She started to move away from him but he stilled her. "I- Logan, this pregnancy..." She sucked in a breath. "My body is different now. It's not-"

Realization dawned to him, he pressed his lips against her and silenced her doubts. "You're perfect."

She shook her head. "I'm not." Her eyes squeezed shut. "What was I thinking?" She swallowed and squirmed out of his grasp. "We shouldn't."

"Veronica-"

She blinked away her tears and moved toward the door. He immediately jumped up and blocked her path out. She let out a long breath. "You don't have a responsibility to do this. I shouldn't have said that. I was just caught up it the moment and-"

"Veronica," he whispered, his hands on her cheeks as he tried to get her to look at him. "Stop talking. You're beautiful. I don't care if you're the size of a buffalo-"

Her eyes widened. "I'm the size of a buffalo?"

"No!" He quickly shook his head. "I was making an exaggerated comparison. I'm sorry. You're not that big. But you are going to keep growing and I want you to. It means our baby is growing. What I was trying to say is that no matter how big you get, you're always going to be beautiful."

She bit her lip and admitted, "I'm not just getting bigger, Logan. There's marks."

"I have scars too, Veronica. If those don't matter to you. Why should yours matter to me?"

"Mine are stretch marks," she pointed out.

"And personally, I'm glad because that means it's natural. I never want you to feel pain."

"You are aware that child birth is the most painful thing on this planet, right?"

"I'll get you all the drugs you need. Promise."

"Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you wanna talk about... your dad?"

He sighed. "He's gone, Veronica."

"The wounds he left aren't."

"Veronica"

"I'm not forcing you. I just want you to know that if you need to or want to, I'm here."

He nodded. "Do you think I'll turn out like him?"

She shook her head. "No. Never."

"I'm... I'm not the perfect father candidate. But I swear I'm trying. I am."

"I know," she assured him. Her heart tugged the tortured sound of his voice. "You're amazing, Logan. You really are."

"What if I do?"

"You won't. You love her so much already. I didn't think it's possible for someone to love so much. But you do."

She moved closer to him and connected their lips. His eyes fluttered closed as he drew her onto him. Her hands roamed his hair while his hands held her firmly.

"Veronica"

"I don't only love her. I love you."

She froze.

"I know you have reservations about us being together. I know you need time. I need you to know that you can have all the time you want. But I'm not going anywhere. I'm gonna fight for you, Veronica."

"Logan-"

"I'm in love with you."

Tears cascade down her cheeks and his eyes widened with panic. "Veronica, god, please, don't cry. I promise nothing will change if you don't want it to. I just-"

"Shut up, stupid," she choked out. "These are happy tears. I love you too, you hopelessly romantic idiot. How can someone not love you?"

She sobbed against his chest and he hugged her to him.

"I love you so much Veronica"

"Even my big stupid crying face?"

"As long as they're happy tears. I never want you to feel hurt."

"I love you and I really wanna, you know, right now"

"You amaze me, Veronica Mars."

"Good, now show me how much."

A.N Thank you to jesseO80 for suggesting the ultrasound scene and magnifly for the naming scene, it was fun to write and I wouldn't have written it if you hadn't mentioned it.

I'm kinda gonna wrap this story up with the next chapter so if there's anything you wanna see, now is the time to ask for it!