Greatly Exaggerated
A/N: Here we go. The home stretch – only a few more chapters after this one. I realize the previous couple of chapters were on the clunky side – need to work on my set-up skills. :)
Chapter 11:
Logan woke without an alarm Thursday morning. He watched Veronica sleeping for a few minutes, realizing it was cliché, but not particularly caring. He felt like every morning he woke up beside her was a gift, after the loneliness of the past several years. Staring at her sleeping face, he made connections between her features and those of the twins. She looked so peaceful that he decided to let her sleep a little longer.
Logan lingered in the shower, turning the temperature very high, and adjusting the showerhead so that it beat down upon the back of his neck. He lathered up with a handful of the shower gel he'd been using since high school. He'd happened upon it the first time he'd dated Veronica, and she loved the scent so much that he'd stuck with it ever since. He chuckled for a moment remembering Senior year when Veronica had been dating Duncan. So many times Logan had stood too closely, sat too closely, leaned over her shoulder to see her computer screen, and he would watch her out of the corner of his eyes, her nostrils flaring at his scent. She had tried for so long to pretend that he didn't affect her, but she'd only been fooling herself. He'd always believed, always would.
After he'd dressed and fixed his hair, Logan got to work on breakfast. He planned to pull out the big guns today.
He thought about making Veronica breakfast in bed, but figured he might want to save that for a morning when they had the house to themselves, so instead, he woke Veronica with kisses and a cup of coffee, told her to come out to breakfast and then went upstairs to wake the twins.
When everybody was sitting at the table, Logan presented each of them with a plate of chocolate chip pancakes covered with whipped cream. Veronica and Morgan inhaled theirs with sounds of great pleasure, but Lo only picked at his.
Oh. This is bad.
"So kids, I'm going to be spending a father/daughter day with Grandpa Keith today." Veronica began.
"Without us?" Morgan asked.
"Yes, without you." Veronica said, apologetically. "Grandpa and I have had some disagreements lately, and I've been angry with him. I'd like to try to fix that today so that we can be close again, because family is the most important thing of all." She looked pointedly at Lo.
"But what will we do today?" Morgan asked. "We don't have school."
"You and Logan will be spending the day with me today." Logan said. "We're going to spend the day at the boardwalk."
Morgan cheered, but Lo remained sullen.
Growing up behind gates and walls, Logan had always loved the boardwalk in all of its seedy glory. It was untainted by memories of his parents, as it had always been too "unclean" for his mother, and his father had never had the time.
Jake Kane had been Logan's introduction to this part of Neptune, bringing the boys for the first time when they were seven. While Logan and Duncan pointed and laughed at the "less desirables", Jake had patiently explained to them that every person had something to offer, and to not judge people by their appearance. It had taken Logan a lot longer than Duncan to internalize that lesson, but he'd had less reinforcement. Now he had his own children, and he hoped that he could be the kind of father Jake Kane had been - at least the father he'd been before he'd perpetrated a cover-up of his daughter's murder.
Being a weekday afternoon, the boardwalk was mostly unpopulated. Logan purchased an all-day wristband for each of them, noticing that Lo's wrist was skinnier than Morgan's was. He was of a lankier build, and almost fragile looking sometimes.
Logan told the kids that he'd let them lead as long as they didn't try to separate. They circled the rides, each child eyeing the height requirements and probably formulating a plan for which rides they wanted to go on first. The organ-music sounds of the merry-go-round competed with the sounds of the other rides: clanking chains, wheels on tracks, and the whooshing of air brakes. Game hawkers, rock music, and screams from the roller coasters completed the aural cacophony.
They began with the Merry-Go-Round at Morgan's request. Apparently, she was horse crazy. Go figure. Morgan chose a black crazy-eyed horse, with its teeth bared. It seemed to suit her somehow. Logan grabbed the docile brown horse to its right, and Lo took the outside Palomino horse, looking completely bored. Logan smirked. He had perfected that bored look before the age of ten. It seldom indicated actual boredom.
They rode the swinging pirate ship ride next, and both children laughed hysterically whenever their stomachs dropped-out on the downswing. Afterwards, Lo's mask slipped perfectly back into place.
On the Ferris wheel, Morgan looked out over the boardwalk with interest, while Lo kept his eyes tightly closed. Morgan started to rock the cart at the top, and Lo screamed at her to stop. Logan put a gentle hand on Morgan's arm and gave her a look. She stopped rocking. Logan noticed his son's knuckles were white on the restraint bar.
"We don't have to go on anymore high rides, Logan." He told him.
"I'm OK." The child answered, but didn't open his eyes.
Lo had a much better time on the bumper cars, going after Logan with a wicked sort of glee. Here was a place where he could be aggressive without repercussions. Poor Morgan had gotten herself stuck in a corner, and couldn't manage to steer herself out. They rode the bumper cars three more times, but Logan let Morgan sit in his car after the first time.
Logan convinced the kids that the Tilt-A-Whirl would actually be fun, and to not let the creepy painted clowns scare them off. He sat on the inside, to take the weight load, and the twins laughed until they were gasping for air.
They came across a Laser Maze, and Logan shelled out five bucks apiece to go through it. Logan tripped a laser almost immediately. He was too big and not limber enough to be doing this. Lo made it halfway through before he tripped a Laser. Morgan made it all the way through without tripping a single laser.
Logan waited on the other side of the maze, recording her progress with the video camera on his cell. "My daughter, the future jewel thief!" Logan said proudly, giving her a hug when she came out of the laser maze. "Great job!"
The same building also housed Laser Tag, and both twins double-teamed Logan, knocking him out first. They played three games, with Morgan winning all three.
They took a break to have lunch. Wandering through the food row, the food scents assaulted their senses: popcorn and fresh cut French fries; burgers and funnel cakes; gyros and Italian sausages. They decided on corndogs, fries with vinegar, and fresh-squeezed lemonade. While they ate at a picnic table, Logan called Veronica.
"Hey, just checking in. How're things going?"
"Everything is just fine." Veronica said, her voice warm. "Dad is back in my good graces, but I made him promise never to make a decision on my behalf again. That goes for you as well."
"I promise."
"Oh, and he gave his blessing about us."
"Oh really?"
"He was pretty impressed that you managed to put me first all of those years."
"He should be impressed. It just about killed me." Logan said.
Veronica laughed softly. "How's it going with the twins?"
"Good. I think." Logan said.
"Any progress with Lo?"
"Periodically." Logan answered, looking at his son.
"Let me guess. He lets the mask down, and then remembers to put it back on." Veronica laughed.
"In a nutshell." Logan answered.
"OK, I'm going to let you go. Don't expect me home before six. Dad and I will be having dinner."
"OK." Logan said. "I'll feed the kids."
"I love you, Logan." Veronica said.
"I love you too, Veronica." Logan answered, lowering his voice.
After lunch, they stopped for Morgan to have her face painted into a dragonfly. Lo declined to have his face painted.
As they walked away, Morgan noticed an old fortune-telling machine. Those things had always creeped Logan out, but he reluctantly plugged in a dollar for Morgan. The machine began talking in a fake Romanian accent, and then spit out a ticket.
Great acts are made up of small deeds.
"What does that mean, dad?" Morgan asked.
"It means, that all of the little things you do can add up to make something really great."
Logan handed a dollar to Lo, who pushed it into the slot.
Courage is the mastery of fear - not the absence of fear.
Lo looked confused.
"It means it's OK to be afraid. But to have courage, you need to push past being afraid. Like a firefighter is probably afraid every time he goes into a burning building, but he pushes past his fear so that he can save people's lives. Most heroes are probably pretty afraid."
Lo pushed his fortune into his pocket.
Oh, what the hell… Logan put a dollar into the machine for himself.
One should always be vigilant and alert so as to ward off any imminent danger.
Well that's pleasant.
They headed into the area with rides for younger children. Logan used Morgan's camera to take pictures of the twins while they rode the flying helicopters, antique cars, and inflatable slide.
They stumbled across a pony ride. When Logan asked Morgan if she wanted to ride one, she very enthusiastically agreed. Lo chose to sit it out.
"Ponies smell bad." He said.
After Morgan's pony ride, she threw herself at Logan, and he lifted her up, laughing.
"You liked that, huh?"
"That was the best EVER!" Morgan answered. "You're the best dad ever!"
He did the funhouse with the twins, taking pictures of them squat and stretched-out in the fun house mirrors. He ruined the first couple, having forgotten to turn off the flash, but managed to get some great ones afterwards.
Once the kids had gotten the rides out of their system, they took a snack break. Logan bought a bag of cotton candy for Morgan, a caramel apple with nuts for Lo, and a funnel cake for himself. They sat for a while, quietly.
Logan wondered if he could get Veronica to agree to a bigger house: one with a lot of land where they could have a barn with a horse for Morgan. Of course, it would be an uphill battle. He had to have fallen for the only girl in California who had no use for his money. He wanted to ask the twins what they would think about a bigger house, but then decided against it. The old Logan would have done it in a heartbeat - gotten the twins on his side before approaching the subject with Veronica, but he didn't want to be that guy anymore. The mature thing to do would be to keep the conversation between himself and Veronica, wearing her down until he'd gotten his way through charm and persistence instead of through manipulation.
"You guys up for some games?" He asked the twins. Morgan agreed enthusiastically, and Lo shrugged, which Logan was starting to take as a "yes" since he seemed to have no problem saying "no".
At the midway, Logan peeled off a stack of singles and handed them to Lo.
"Play whichever games you want to." He said.
They spent the next hour or so playing midway games. Morgan seemed to do well at games where she aimed, like the game with the water pistols and the racehorses. Lo did better at throwing games. He was struggling at the dart game, but allowed Logan to adjust his fingers and show him how to throw.
They left the boardwalk around 4:00 PM. Logan had a stuffed Scooby Doo on a surfboard. Morgan had a handful of stuffed horses. Logan had one tiny bear with a heart in its hands.
Morgan babbled the entire way home about rides, laser mazes, shooting games, and especially ponies. Lo was silent and back to his sullen demeanor.
I'm going to win that kid over if it's the last thing I ever do.
"Can we go play in our clubhouse?" Morgan asked when Logan pulled into the driveway.
"Sure. Why not? I'll call you in when it's time for dinner." Logan said.
Both twins bypassed the house and ran straight to the backyard.
Logan left the stuffed animals in the car for now. He would come back out to get them later. First, he needed a glass of water.
Logan unlocked Veronica's front door and had taken three steps into the living room, when he felt the cold metal cylinder against the back of his neck. It was followed by the telltale sound of a gun's hammer being cocked.