My name is Cassidy...
Then falling. Veronica falling. Falling from the top of the Neptune Grande...
Veronica's legs shot out in an involuntary spasam, her arms fliging out to her sides before her eyes opened and she realized she was safe in bed, her heart beating wildly. She reached out a shaky hand the darkness and found Jack curled up against Lexie in the middle of the king-sized bed. Veronica leaned on her elbow to get a visual on Linc and found the boy had rolled to the end of the bed, now occupying the space where Logan was supposed to be sleeping. Sitting up, Veronica glanced towards the bathroom door, disoriented for a moment by the fact that it wasn't there.
"Right." She murmured to herself and turned - the bathroom in the penthouse suite of the Neptune Grande was on the other side of the room, closest to where she slept.
Gathering her bearings, Veronica slid her feet off the end of the bed and exhaled. Hours after their confrontation with Mercer, she woke up alone in a hospital room, with nothing but the beeping of a fetal monitor to keep her company.
Since their home was still a "crime scene", the entire family moved into the Neptune Grande to give Veronica the "bed rest" she was ordered by the doctor once she was discharged. Room service, a hotel pool, satellite television, and the opportunity to play almost any PlayStation game they wanted entertained the kids.
Three days ago, when they first came "back to the old home" – as Logan enjoyed referring to it as - his original plan had been for the kids to share one room, and he and Veronica would share the other in the sprawling suite, but it was quickly changed to everyone in the bed when they realized that both the kids and parents slept better when they were all together. Their first night in the suite, they looked across the bed at one another, separated by the kids, and mused about how the last time they were together in this very room, they would have never expected that this was how their lives would turn out.
Giving her belly a soft rub, Veronica slid off the bed and padded over to the chair in the corner of the room and grabbed her fluffy white hotel robe; wrapping it around her long nightgown and tying it loosely around her bump. Even though the doctors had stopped the contractions, the worry of them starting again made Veronica actually follow her doctor's orders and spent most of the past few days either on the couch with the kids, or napping.
Lianne had flown in to help and her arrival the previous night helped take at least some of the pressure off Logan. Room service, a hotel pool, satellite television, and the opportunity to play almost any PlayStation game they wanted also helped distract the kids from the strangeness of the situation.
Walking through the darkness of the suite, Veronica shivered as she caught a breeze coming through the balcony door. Logan stood outside, leaning on his one crutch, staring off into the distance. No one could believe that he managed to escape Mercer's captivity with only a fractured ankle and a deep cut on his head. In pure Logan form, he merely joked about learning escape techniques the hard way from some drunk Navy SEALS during Fleet Week, but didn't offer much more of an explanation.
Logan turned towards her at the sound of the balcony door opening and a small, forced smile crossed his lips.
"Hey."
"Hey. I see Linc chased you out of bed." Veronica gently teased.
Logan ran his hand through his hair, his eyes cast down for a second. "No. I've been awake for a while. He must have rolled over looking for me."
Sidling up to him, Veronica wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her body against his. In the past few days, they had barely been alone for more than two-minutes – between talking to police and the kids – and Veronica's heart held a deep, deep feeling of missing him, even though he was still here. He wrapped his arm around her and lovingly kissed the top of her head, holding each other for a minute until their breathing began to sync.
"So, when Leo locks me up for murder, do you think he'll be a kind step-father to my kids?" Logan muttered.
Veronica let out an exasperated little sigh. "Is that really what you're up in the middle of the night worrying about?"
"Going to prison and never seeing my kids again? Yes. Yes I am." He replied, shifting slightly in her grasp. "And I'm sure he'll be an adequate lover...I mean, he's no me but..."
"Stop it - you're not going to jail - Leo and Cliff will make sure that doesn't happen. With all the evidence that Mercer was stalking us – the cameras, the photos – and then...what happened at home...no one actually thinks the D.A. will pursue a case against you."
"How is it that Dick can get a good lawyer, but you still insist on hiring Cliff McCormack?" Logan stated his hand sliding under her robe to rest on her belly.
"Because if we don't employ him, no one will." Veronica giggled. "Besides, he's golf buddies with the D.A. – best man for the job."
Logan let out a little snort and kissed her on the head again. His thumb moved back and forth on her belly and the baby let out the smallest little flutter as it shifted inside her towards his movement.
"He's moving." Veronica whispered.
"She's moving?" He countered. "Whatever. As long as they're moving and staying right where they belong, I'm a happy."
Veronica closed her eyes, remembering the fear on Jack, Lexie, and Linc's faces when they came into her hospital room to find her hooked up to all the machines, monitoring their little brother or sister. And then how happy they were when they got to see the live ultrasound of their sibling moving around inside of her, tiny and content.
"I...I need to tell you something..." Logan whispered, releasing Veronica and shifting so he could look at her. Taking her hand in his, he brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them gently. "But I'm really, really afraid to say it out loud."
Reaching up, Veronica cupped Logan's stubbled cheek with her palm, her thumb softly brushing his skin. "You can tell me anything - you must know that by now."
Averting his gaze, Logan eyes focused on her belly. "I know I should feel bad that I killed Mercer, but I don't. In fact, I feel a deep, deep satisfaction in the pit of my gut that he is out of our family's lives, once and for all."
Veronica slid her hand down his face to rest on his shoulder, ducking her head slightly to catch his eye. There was a sadness in his face that she hadn't seen in years, and she wished she could snap her fingers and take all of his pain away in an instant.
"I understand." She replied, choosing her words slowly. "I get it. You once told me that I wasn't a 'murderer' but when Mercer went after the kids, I knew in that moment that if I needed to, I would kill him with my bare hands before I would let him hurt them."
Logan nodded, deep ridges in his forehead appearing as he processed what she was saying.
"I told the Cops that Mercer threatened Lexie when I was tied up," he continued hesitantly. "But what I left out was that in that moment I knew that I was going to kill him. I was going to escape and find him and kill him. That's pre-meditated."
Veronica let out a deep sigh. Taking Logan's hands, she led him to the lounge chair on the balcony and sat down, gently guiding him to sit next to her.
"Do you know who I've been thinking about these past few days?" Veronica said, looking deep into Logan's eyes. "Jake Kane."
Logan frowned in confusion. "Jake? Why Jake?"
"I've been thinking about the night that Aaron tried to kill me and my dad. When Jake showed up and found out it was Aaron who killed Lilly, he started screaming about how Aaron was going to pay for what he did and the look on his face was like, if the deputies had let him, Jake would have killed Aaron with his bare hands, right then and there. And it wasn't until now that I really, really understood why Jake tried to destroy my dad. My dad accused Jake of killing his daughter – the one person Jake loved most in the world – of course he would go after him. You and I 'loved' Lilly – but Jake was her father...her blood...the first one to hold her...the first one to love her...he was the one who really loved her. We were just stupid kids who thought we knew what love was. But now that we have our kids – I know why my dad walked through fire for me that night; I know why Jake Kane was so angry he could kill a man – because that love is so powerful it overrides everything else."
Logan rolled his eyes and let out a small huff of annoyance. "Thanks for the reminder that not only did my father killed Lilly, but also tried to kill you and your dad. That's exactly what I needed right now."
"No, you're not getting it." She replied, patting his chest with her hand. "No one would have blamed Jake Kane if he killed Aaron for what he did, and no one is blaming you. Not because Jake is rich, but because he wanted to protect his daughter so much, and couldn't. You knew what Mercer was capable of - you were just protecting your family – we were both just protecting our family. And yes, in the eyes of the law it is wrong, but how right would it be if we let him get away with his disgusting plan because we were too afraid to act."
Tears began to form in Logan's eyes and Veronica reached up to brush them away.
"You know, from the moment they were born, I made myself a promise that I would never, ever hurt the kids like Aaron hurt me. But killing an unarmed man makes me feel like Aaron more than I ever have, and it terrifies me, Veronica."
Veronica slipped closer to Logan, wrapping her arms around him again as his body began to shake.
"We'll get through this. We'll do better than our parents did. We'll send the kids for counselling. We'll go for counselling ourselves. We'll do whatever it takes but our family will get past this nightmare. I love you, Logan, and I'm not going to let Mercer Hayes take away what we have worked so hard to build together."
Rising slightly, Veronica brought her lips to Logan's, brushing them gently across his. She closed her eyes as he responded, catching her mouth with his, a low murmur of appreciation escaping as he exhaled. As he took her in his arms, slowly lowering her back on the lounge chair, her mind flashed back to a night, many, many years ago when they threw caution to the wind and made love on this balcony with nothing but the night sky covering them. She remembered how they laughed, speculating on whether management would finally kick Logan out, if they were discovered. She remembered how she made her lip bleed, biting it so hard as not to make too much noise when Logan's face slipped between her thighs. And watching the reflection of Logan's lean body in the glass of the balcony doors, his features contorting with pleasure as he took her on all fours, on what could be this same lounge chair. Tonight, that carefree moment seemed like several lifetimes ago.
"We've come too far together," she whispered between kisses. "Too far."
Pressing his forehead to hers, Logan held her gaze as they both steadied their breathing. "I love you, Veronica. And I'll be damned if I let any of this come between us."
"We won't. I promise you, we won't."
"Who wants waffles?" Lianne sang out, picking up the plate from the room service cart.
"Me!" Waved Jack from the table. "And sauce! And sauce!"
Lexie picked up one of her silver-dollar buttermilk pancakes off her plate and popped it in her mouth, not bothering to wait for everyone else.
Nibbling on a piece of bacon, Linc elbowed his sister. "I'll trade you one of my sausages for a pancake."
Lexie glanced between his plate of bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, and toast, and her plate full of tiny pancakes, and shook her head. "No-pf."
"Linc, you can have some of my pancakes." Veronica reassured him from across the table. "They are exactly the same, just bigger."
"Is there any bacon left for me?" Logan asked as he emerged from the bedroom, scratching at his morning stubble. "Or did Mom eat it all again?"
Veronica picked up a piece from his plate and pointed it at him. "You shouldn't have chosen a shower before breakfast yesterday. At least today you learned."
Lianne placed the waffles down in front of Jack, maple syrup drizzled across the top and a huge grin appeared on his face.
"Good morning, Logan," Lianne said with a broad smile before turning to get her waffles from the cart.
"Morning Lianne."
Reaching over Jack's head, Logan snatched the piece of bacon from Veronica's hand and shook it at her, a mischevious smile making his cheeks dimple. "Who do you love more? Bacon or me?"
Veronica wrinkled her nose, tapping her finger to her chin. "Hmmmm...let's see...I'll go with...you!"
Logan slipped into the chair next to her, leaning over to place a quick kiss on her forehead. "Phew. I was worried for a second there."
Giggling, Veronica picked up another piece of bacon from her own plate and took a bite, her eyes fixed on Logan as he wiggled his eyebrows at her playfully. The doctor said they had to wait a few weeks before they could have sex again, but...
"So, when do we go home?"
The question jarred Veronica from her thoughts as she focused on Lexie.
"Do you want to go home?" Veronica asked. "I mean, Dad and I weren't too sure how you would feel about going back, after everything that happened."
Lexie shrugged, looking down at her breakfast. "I dunno. I mean, it's our house and our stuff is there, and, like, where else would we go?"
"Yeah. And when are we going back to school?" Linc chimed in. "I'm going to be really behind on my science project."
"I miss Whiskers the hamster." Jack added in a small voice, remembering the preschool class pet. "And Pony."
Logan and Veronica glanced between each other, at a momentary loss for words. Logan swallowed his food, nodding at Veronica before beginning to speak.
"We can't go back until the Deputies are done at our house, but when they say we can go back, we will, if you want us to."
"But you need to know, it may be scary to go back at first," Veronica added. "And that's okay. It's normal after what happened to be scared. Dad and I talked about it and we're all going to start seeing some people – some doctors – that can help us not be scared. Okay?"
Jack reached out and took Veronica's hand, his small features serious as his brow wrinkled. "You are safe and you are loved," he whispered.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Veronica leaned over and kissed the top of Jack's head. "That's right. Just like Daddy always says when you're afraid of the dark – you are safe and you are loved. And it's true. You are all safe, and you are all loved so much."
Logan rested his hand on Veronica's shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. "I know it's hard for you guys to really get what happened and why it all happened, but you just have to know that no matter what happens in your lives, we will always, always be there for you guys. No matter what."
Linc and Lexie nodded in unison, both looking at Jack to get confirmation that he was on board with everything. Looking up at his siblings, Jack nodded and smiled.
With a deep exhale, Veronica leaned back in her chair as Jack let go of her hand. Safe and loved, she repeated in her head. Safe and loved.