Greatly Exaggerated

Chapter 7

Logan found Veronica's house dark when he returned. Setting his bags down in the living room, he noticed a faint glow coming from the hallway behind the stairs and went to investigate.

He found Veronica sitting on her bed staring off into space. Her hair was soaking wet, and she was wearing a fluffy white bathrobe.

"Hey." He said quietly, standing in her doorway. "You OK?"

"Yeah…" She said, giving him a sad smile.

"Where are the twins?" Logan asked.

"They're having a sleepover at Duncan's house." Veronica said.

The awareness that he and Veronica were alone made Logan's heart beat faster.

To distract himself, he scanned the room. It was the largest bedroom in the house, dominated by a queen-sized cherry bed. The bedding was of a pale gray with gathers and ruching, in a material that begged to be touched. Or rolled around upon. Preferably with a friend.

A row of six black and white photos - matted in white and framed in black - hung on the wall opposite the bed.

"May I?" Logan asked gesturing at the photos, and Veronica nodded.

Logan stepped into the room. Two of the photos were of the twins together - one from a recent Christmas with Veronica's arms wrapped around them, the other showed the twins sitting on a dock with Keith holding fishing poles, all three of them looking at the camera from over their left shoulders. A solo shot of Lo showed him lost in thought looking out at the ocean. A solo of Morgan was a close-up of her smiling. He hadn't noticed before that she had a couple of freckles on each of her cheeks. They were adorable. There was a picture of himself, on the beach, caught mid-laugh. Finally, there was a picture of himself and Veronica. He was leaning back against a wall, his arms around Veronica's back. Veronica's arms were around his neck, and she was smiling radiantly up at him. He remembered the picture. Mac had caught them between kisses in a hidden alcove on the third floor of the Hearst library. Over the years apart from Veronica, this was the picture that he had most regretted not having a copy of.

Logan turned back to Veronica and leaned back against the wall examining her. She looked less distracted now. He had obviously caught her while she was mulling something over.

"So I guess this is the part where I should talk about taking things slow." Veronica said, breaking the silence. "Having realistic expectations...Getting to know the children...Getting to know each other again…"

"So why do I sense a 'but'?" Logan asked.

Veronica gave Logan a sad little smile again. "I read your letter. My dad brought it with him today."

"I thought I saw him hand it to you. You weren't holding it when I came back in the room, though." Logan said.

Veronica nodded. "I stuffed it in the silverware drawer, and I read it while you were away with Logan."

"And something in it upset you? I can't remember exactly what I wrote, but if I wrote something that upset you, I'm truly sorry."

"No…" Veronica said.

"I can tell you're upset about something." Logan said.

"It's just...You really loved me Logan."

Logan nodded. No argument there.

"I mean, I always knew that you had loved me. But you REALLY REALLY loved me." Veronica said standing up.

"Does that freak you out?" Logan asked. "I wasn't trying to come across as an obsessed stalker or anything."

"No." Veronica said. "What freaks me out is that I never saw it for what it was."

Her eyes were like storm clouds - full of pain and regret. "It was the kind of love that only comes along once in a lifetime - the kind of love they write songs about! I took you for granted, and I let so many stupid things come between us."

"Veronica..." Logan wanted to take her pain away.

"Let me finish. I took for granted that you would always be there. No matter how unfairly I treated you, I could always come running back. I judged you. I took things out on you. I ran away whenever things got tough. Even after all of that, at the end when you wrote me that letter, you still loved me that much."

"Yes." Logan answered, lump in his throat.

"So what I'm wondering…" Veronica trailed off. She looked up to meet Logan's eyes. "What I'm wondering is, if even a fraction of those feelings you once had for me have survived."

"No." Logan said, his eyes shining with emotion. "Not a fraction. Every last ounce of it, plus interest."

Veronica closed her eyes tightly and took a deep shaky breath.

"So what does this mean?" Logan asked.

Veronica met Logan's eyes. "It means screw taking it slow, and screw realistic expectations. It means that I think I'll die if I have to spend another moment without you touching me."

Without ever taking her eyes off Logan's, Veronica reached for the belt on her robe, untied it, and shrugged her robe off her shoulders and onto the floor.

Veronica stood before Logan naked. He felt his heart speed up to triple time as his eyes slid down her body and then back up to her eyes.

Veronica's eyes expressed such need and vulnerability that in his heart, Logan knew that it was much more than her body that she was baring for him. He felt frozen in place. Unworthy.

She took a step backwards until the back of her legs touched the bed, and then she lay down, scooting to the middle of her bed, still never taking her eyes from his.

"You going to leave me hanging?" She laughed nervously.

Logan finally was able to move his feet. He made his way across the room to the bed. Slowly, he knelt and then lay down next to her, on his left side, facing her. He reached out a hand to touch her cheek, as he looked into her eyes.

He'd meant to touch her; to run his fingertips across every inch of her skin. She was laying there waiting for his touch.

He'd certainly meant to kiss her. Every particle in his body was crying out for him to kiss her.

He did neither. Instead, he cried.

To be more specific, he broke down.

He was in her arms and she was pressing his cheek against the smooth skin of her chest, and running her fingers through his hair, and he let it all out, his body convulsing against her. Why was he always breaking down in Veronica's arms?

"So Sorry!" He whispered, his voice raw. "Emotional overload. It's all hitting me at once."

"Tell me." Veronica said, shifting so that he could use her shoulder as a pillow and entwining their fingers together. "Let it out."

"It's relief. Overwhelming relief, because I never thought I'd be able to touch you again...And it's amazement that somehow you and I created life together - two lives...And it's grief, that I missed all those years with you and the twins - 1st words and 1st steps...And guilt that they had to cut into you, and I wasn't there to hold your hand." He ran a finger over her faint C-section scar. "Guilt that you had to handle the sleepless nights with new babies all by yourself...Regret that you grieved for me unnecessarily...Happiness that I've found my way back...Fear of coming on too strong...Desperation to never ever let you out of my sight again."

He rolled onto his stomach so that he could see her eyes. "And most of all...It's love. So. Much. Fucking. Love. I still love you Veronica, as much as I ever have."

"I still love you Logan." Veronica answered, her eyes wet.

And then he was kissing her, pouring all of that overwhelming emotion into her and she was giving it right back, pulling his shirt over his head. And the feel of his skin against hers almost killed him. He was naked and he was inside her, and he was home at last.

They lay entwined in the dark, Veronica's face to his chest, their legs tangled together. He stroked a hand up and down her spine.

I don't understand what I've done right." He said. "It's like I've been given everything I've ever wanted, and everything that I never knew I wanted."

"The twins?" Veronica asked sleepily.

"Yeah." Logan said smiling in the dark. "It's been what, twenty four hours, and I can't imagine life without them."

"Welcome to parenthood." Veronica laughed. "But hey, I've been thinking…"

"Let me guess…" Logan grinned. "Maybe we should keep this to ourselves for a while and see what happens?"

Veronica laughed. "Mind read much? That doesn't bother you?"

"No. You have to be careful when there are kids involved. Plus you know my stance on secrets."

"Kinda hot?"

"Mmm hmmm." Logan leaned down to kiss her.

"But not for too long." He said, trailing kisses down her neck. "Morgan has already informed me that she wants a real family. Right after she interrogated me about how many wives and children I have."

"How many?"

"I won't even dignify that." Logan said. "It's always been you, Veronica."

"But seriously. Did you date a lot of girls while you were away?"

"Oh boy. Is this the 'warts and all' conversation again? I wasn't a monk, Veronica, but I wasn't a slut either. My heart was always yours."

"You want to know the last time I had sex?" Veronica asked.

"Honestly? I really really don't want to know." Logan answered.

"It was the night the twins were conceived." She said quietly.

"You've got to be kidding?" Logan said.

"I didn't purposely choose to remain celibate. I went on dates. I kissed a few guys, but none of them ever felt right, so things never progressed to sex." Veronica said. "It's just, one minute you're holding your newborn babies in your arms, and the next, they're starting kindergarten, and you're wondering where all the years went."

"You never slept with Piz, right?" Logan asked.

"No. Like I already told you when that video was going around."

"So since high school graduation you've only been with me?" Logan asked.

"Only you." Veronica confirmed.

"Oh My God, Veronica!" Logan choked. "Every time I get my emotions under control, you hit me with something else."

"It's not that big of a deal, Logan." Veronica said.

"Maybe not, but it makes me unreasonably happy." Logan smiled. "What time do the kids get home in the morning?"

"When one of us goes to pick them up."

"So I can fall asleep with you tonight?"

"Just try leaving!" Veronica said.

"Love you."

A/N - I agree 100% with some of the comments where the twins are coming across seeming older than 5 years old. My only experience with kids is my own son - he has Asperger's syndrome, so he came out of the womb talking like a 30 year old - definitely not typical. When I was thinking through this story, I knew what I wanted from the twins, and what I needed them to be capable of. At first, I was thinking I'd make them around seven, but honestly, it broke my heart to think of Logan losing two more years with them, and missing all that cute stuff like kindergarten and missing teeth, so I figured I'd just make them mature five year olds. Artistic license, I guess. :)

This chapter was so emotionally draining in my head. I don't think I was able to capture all the emotion that I wanted to in writing, but hopefully some of it came across.

Again, you reviewers are awesome. Your feedback makes my day!