A/N: Yay for so many great reviews - you're all so cool! This story doesn't have a huge amount of chapters left, I don't think... we'll see. I probably won't be going too much into the relationships between Veronica and her friends and stuff, because I really want to focus on her and Logan and all the stuff to do with the baby. Anywho, enough rambling, new chapter...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 11 - I'm Keeping My Baby

It was a whole new week of school before Duncan Kane faced the populus of Neptune High again. He honestly didn't know what to expect, though he'd heard from various sources at this point that every student and teacher knew of both the betrayal he had been the victim of and the consequences borne out of it. As crazy as it was, a part of Duncan felt sorry for Veronica. Of course, he hated that she'd cheated on him, and with his best friend of all people! At the same time, he almost understood why, and felt it was wrong of the student population at large to take out their wrath on the little blonde he had once called his girlfriend.

Veronica wasn't a bad person as such. She'd been a through a lot, as they all had, and she had sought solace and comfort when none was to be found with her own boyfriend. They'd got into fights so many times, Duncan could hardly count, many spawned out of his jealously of the relationship between her and Logan, others over Lilly, and more still over stupid subjects that shouldn't even be important.

In spite of the fact Celeste had been pouring poison in his ear about Veronica, Duncan had maintained a clear view of the situation. He couldn't blame her entirely for what had happened, couldn't really make Logan the bad guy either, because on some level he knew he was to blame, alongside a hundred other outside factors that nobody had complete control over. Perhaps this was why he dreaded coming back to school on this bright and sunny Monday morning to face the alumni (who would either think he was an idiot who deserved their censure or a victim who needed their concern) and moreover to face Veronica and Logan.

They would make the situation work, he knew the both of them well enough to realise that. Somehow the baby would turn out to be a good thing, if only because it gave them an excuse to be together. On some level, Duncan had always susecpted if he hadn't made a move when he did, his friend would've done so instead. Logan and Veronica seemed almost destined when he thought about it and here was the proof, as he turned a corner and saw the two of them walking towards him, hand in hand.

Though whispers and giggles were audible all around, the couple seemed barely phased at all by the crowds opinions. Instead they concentrated only on each other, finger laced together and holding on tight, like that connection was keeping them strong. Duncan felt little jealously, though some did bubble deep inside, perhaps just because he no longer had someone to be so close to, not necessarily because it was Veronica in particular he had come to lose.

It was Logan who spotted Duncan first, perhaps because he just happened to look in that direction, or maybe because the passers-by who liked to make comment on all that happened in the halls had said something that alerted him to his old friends presence. A whispered word in her ear made Veronica swing around and take notice of her ex standing a few feet away down the hall. She visibly tensed at the sight of him, clearly afraid of what was about to happen. Duncan realised he was stuck to the spot as he stared at the couple he'd always known would be so. He hadn't meant to stop walking at all, and now he realised what he'd done, he made a conscious effort to pick up his feet and continue on.

"Duncan..." Veronica said as he neared her, and he thought about just walking on by, but he found he couldn't do it at the last moment.

"What do you want from me, Veronica?" he asked as he stopped and stared at her then Logan.

"You okay, man?" his old friend checked, clearly genuinely concerned in spite of all that had happened.

"Not really" came Duncan's simple reply, "Would you be?" he countered, giving them one last look before he turned and continued walking.

The couple watched him go, along with a crowd of onlookers who were mostly disappointed not to have seen some kind of violence. The lack of punches thrown certainly left Veronica feeling relieved as she knew a fist fight had been a distinct possibility, amongst other things.

"I expected worse" Logan commented to her, as she went over to her locker and he followed, "Nose still intact, no blood or bruising" he said looking himself over as if for injury.

"Don't joke, Logan" she urged him with a shake of her head as she traded two books from her bag for others out of her locker.

"I'm sorry" he said sincerely, "In case it's not clear from the years you've known me, it's kind of what I do when I'm nervous" he admitted with a wry smile as Veronica finished up her book sorting and closed her locker door with a thud.

"Right now, I can't be so nervous about Duncan" she admitted, "We have bigger things to worry about, remember?"
Logan understood though he also knew her nerves to be unfounded.

"It's just a scan, Veronica" he reminded her, picking up her hand in his and squeezing it, "You don't have to worry about it, women have them every day"
"I don't" she said firmly, "I can't help it, Logan. Not much scares me, but all this baby stuff... I didn't expect to have to deal with all this right now" she said, almost tearing up as she did so, and making Logan feel horrible.

The worst pain he felt he could suffer was having to watch Veronica cry. She meant the world to him, always had, always would, and her tears caused him more pain than any beating he'd ever taken, any heart-break he'd ever suffered. He'd cut off his arm to never have to see her cry again, though he doubted that was the thing to say right now. The sentiment was unlikely to carry through the bloody analogy.

"You'll be fine, Veronica, I swear" he promised, hugging her to him right there in the hall, general opinion of them be damned, "I'll be right there, and your Dad too" he reminded her, "It'll be fine"

"I know" Veronica smiled bravely, enjoying his embrace for a moment before the bell rang and they had to part to head off to separate classes for now.

* * * * *

Veronica hated doctors. There was no particular reason for her dislike of health professionals or their offices or anything like that. Truth be told, her hate for the whole medical profession had only started a short while ago, just a few weeks before today when she realised her next trip to a doctors office would be the one that confirmed she was pregnant by her ex-boyfriends best friend.

Logan Echolls, the father of Veronica's unborn child, was doing his best not to look freaked, but the constant jiggling of his leg beside her gave him away. He was nervous as hell, in spite of the encouraging and brave smile he shot at the blonde each time she risked a glance his way.

To her right was the other man in her life, and Veronica was just so glad she had such an understanding father. Not just any Dad would stand by his daughter who'd been so dumb that she got knocked up at sixteen, by a guy that wasn't even her boyfriend. Not only was Keith Mars the best kind of father for being on Veronica's side, but she loved him even more if it were possible for not shooting Logan for his part in this. The Sheriff knew his daughter well enough to know she wasn't the kind of girl to allow herself to be led astray in such a major way. She hadn't been forced or even cajoled into sleeping with Logan, she'd gone willingly, and now both young people must shoulder the blame.

Though there must be blame and somebody would always point a finger, amongst the three that sat and waited for their turn in the room down the hall that would show them the child they would meet in approximately five months now, nobody was angry. Not one of them could blame another for stupidity or nativity or anything. Veronica knew that as dumb as she often felt, neither her Dad or her boyfriend, if that were the correct title, would ever feel anything as strongly for her as they felt love. It was that love that kept her going, kept her strong, as she must be for her son or daughter.

"Veronica Mars?" her name was called, and with a shaky smile she raised her hand.

"Guilty as charged" she joked, perhaps in poor taste, but much like Logan she had a terrible habit of making light of any situation that she found scary.

"C'mon, sweetie" Keith encouraged her to get up and move, though she really wasn't eager to do so.

It was the weirdest pulling sensation inside of Veronica. Part of her wanted to head on down the hall into that room where a doctor-type would show her what the baby inside her looked like and all. The other half of her wanted to bolt for the door, run away until she fell off the edge of the earth and didn't have to deal with any of this anymore. Her confusion and panic showed on her face as Logan took notice, and let his fingers curl around hers.

"You okay?" he checked, in spite of the fact he already thought he knew the answer as they followed Keith down the hall.

"I think so" she nodded once, finding she didn't have to force her smile so much when Logan looked at her like that, so caring and in love in spite of everything they were going through, "You?" she asked, possibly sounding like she was just being polite, but actually genuinely curious.

"Trying not to make a joke" he told her in a whisper, telling her without question that he was just as freaked as her right now - that helped more than anything else he might've said ever could.

In moments, Veronica herself pushed up onto an examination table, the newly rounding part of her body exposed to the world, or at least the three other people in the room, as they all waited for what came next. The little blonde couldn't focus on anything but the as yet blank screen to her right as a cold jelly substance on her skin caused an involuntary shudder and then the sonogram device was pushed down onto her pregnant belly.

Three pairs of wide eyes followed those of the technician to the screen that flashed from plain black, suddenly showing flashes of bright green that settled into the fuzzy form of a tiny baby.

"Oh my God" Veronica gasped, tears coming to her eyes as she grabbed Logan's hand and held it tight.

Had she looked his way, she would've noticed he was in the same state as her, as was Keith stood beside them. Tears didn't come naturally to any of the three of them usually, but then this was quite the unusual situation. At the same time, it felt the most natural thing in the world to Veronica to see her unborn child on the screen before her.

"Would you like to know the sex?" the sonographer asked, "Or is this not...?"

"Is it not, what?" Logan checked, looking at the woman with both confusion and a little anger at what he thought she might be implying.

"I'm sorry, I just... I've seen a lot of young girls in this situation" she said carefully, obviously never intending to offend anyone and wishing she'd just kept her mouth shut on the subject but it was a little late for that now, "Some of them don't want to know details, because they have plans to... they have the baby adopted or..."
"No" Veronica shook her head, setting free the tears that had been siting in her eyes and sending them tumbling down her cheeks as she stared at the screen still, "No, I'm keeping my baby" she said definitely with a smile that was so very genuine in spite of her situation, "Our baby" she corrected herself as she finally tore her eyes from the sonogram long enough to glance up at Logan who seemed scarcely less emotional than she was.

Keith was impressed by how grown up they were being. He'd made sure Veronica understood all her options, and how very difficult life was going to get if she chose to go ahead and have this child. He smiled when his daughter said she didn't want to know if the baby would be a boy or a girl, because it woudn't make a difference either way. She was going to love him or her with all her heart. If it were possible, Keith was actually proud of his pregnant sixteen year old daughter then. It was an odd situation that they never should've found themselves in, but life had a funny way of throwing you a curve-ball, and still letting you get the home-run eventually.

* * * * *

With Keith due back at the Sheriff's station, Logan offered to take Veronica home and was honestly glad to have a little time alone with her. As cool as it was that both her father and his mother were on their side in all this, Logan sometimes wished it was just him and his girl against the world. She and their unborn child mattered more to him than anything else ever had or could, and he wanted Veronica to know that.

She'd noticed he was quiet since the sonogram. Veronica assumed it was just emotions and maybe a little fear keeping him quiet, after all it made the situation all the more real and daunting now they'd seen the baby that grew inside her. It started to make Veronica worry, and by the time the car was pulled onto the drive of her house, she'd quite convinced herself that Logan was having second thoughts about standing by her through all this.

"Thanks for the ride" she said flatly as she pushed the door open and made to go.

"That's it?" Logan checked, catching her attention before she'd fully made it out of the car, "I mean, I kind of hoped we could talk, about everything" he said vaguely.

"What's the point?" she said with a sad look as she pulled herself out of the vehicle, slamming the door as she went.

Veronica was just so convinced this was it. Despite the sweet moment they seemed to share in the doctors office, Logan's sombre looks and lack of words since then had completely convinced her this was it, they were over. Right now, she just couldn't stand to hear it, not after the emotions of the day and all.

She hadn't quite made it to her front door, only the porch steps, when Logan caught up to her and gently reached out to catch hold of her arm.

"Veronica, come on" he urged her, "What's going on? I just... I wanted to talk, y'know, now your Dad isn't around..."

"Fine" she said, turning to sit down on the seat there on the porch by the front door, "You talk. You tell me how you've made a big mistake, and how now it all seems real and scary and you just can't handle it. Come on, Logan, tell me!" she yelled as she got upset, tears running down her cheeks once again and making her so angry at herself.

She was sick of feeling like this, like everything was hard and complicated, and everybody's aim in life was to make her cry. She'd had enough, she just wanted it all to stop, wanted the Earth to cease turning so fast so she could get off the crazy ride before she hurled. Still, the world never did stop spinning, hers certainly didn't anyway, and she was convinced that one half of her only safety net was about to be pulled out from under her.

"Hey, where'd all this come from?" Logan asked as he sat down beside her and put his arm around her shaking form, "Veronica, I'm not going anywhere" he swore, as she looked over at him with red-rimmed eyes, surprise etched on her features as he reached out to wipe her tears away, "Yeah, this is all scary as hell. I'm not gonna deny it, because you always know when I'm lying" he smiled, glad to see her do the same even if the joke was kind of at his expense, "but I'm not gonna run away from you or our baby" he swore.

"I wouldn't blame you" Veronica told him in a small voice, sniffing back tears, knowing that if it were so simple she would've run away too.

Logan didn't have an answer to that, not in words anyway. He just reached out to push Veronica's hair out of her face, then placed a sweet kiss on her lips.

"This wasn't exactly planned but..." he said then, making her recently found smile melt into a confused frown as he removed his arms from her body and moved off the seat they'd been sharing.

"Logan..." she said in a gasp as he got down on one knee before her.

"Veronica Mars" he said with a slightly nervous but none the less genuine smile as he picked up her hand in his, "I don't have a ring, or a speech or anything, but you know I love you, and I'm gonna love our kid too, so... will you marry me?"

To Be Continued...