The Birthday Surprise
"You're doing it again." Nathan Scott leaned against the kitchen counter with a knowing smirk, watching his wife slam the oven door shut before she turned to face him with a sheepish expression. "The cake smells incredible, babe. Just focus on that, okay?"
"I wish I could." Haley groaned and stripped off her oven gloves, her gaze darting restlessly to the staircase just visible from the open kitchen area. "The older Jamie gets, the weirder it is to think of him alone with a girl. Even if it is Madison and this has been inevitable for years." With a resigned sigh, she allowed Nathan to pull her closer to him and nuzzled affectionately against his chest. "You're going to tell me I'm acting ridiculous, aren't you?"
"Completely." He laughed and kissed the tip of her nose; "He's twelve years old you dork, this is just the beginning. Besides, we like Madison, remember?" He gestured in the direction of the oven, radiating warmth into the room. "Now focus, alright? Quinn is counting on you to make Logan a nice birthday cake, after all."
"I hope she's okay." Haley frowned thoughtfully; "This bug is lasting a long time. If I didn't know better, I'd say she could be knocked up."
"Could well be." Nathan shuddered at the very idea; "It's still so weird to think of Clay and your sister that way."
"They've been married for two years, honey," Haley reminded him with an exasperated eye-roll. "Get over it!"
"I didn't say that would be a bad thing," he retorted; "Just strange to imagine, all I'm saying. They deserve it if you ask me."
"They more than deserve it." Haley nodded fervently, turning away after a quick peck to his cheek as the oven's timer pinged. "Ooh, Quinnie definitely can't complain about this slice of heaven," she said appreciatively, sliding the delicious-smelling cake onto a platter. When Nathan tried to steal a sneaky taste of her frosting, Haley swatted his hand away firmly; "No touching! Just get the door, please." Haley began to spread chocolate icing thickly on the cake as her husband wandered off obediently, shaking his head at her power over him. "Who is it, babe?" Haley called curiously over her shoulder.
"Either someone is a serious eager beaver, or there's something very wrong here," he replied grimly, and Haley frowned at his serious tone and turned around. Just visible from the kitchen area, Nathan stood near the front door with eight-year-old Logan clinging to him desperately. "I'd go with the latter," he murmured, patting the little boy awkwardly on the back. "What's going on, kid? Birthday boys don't normally look so miserable on their big day."
Haley quickly wiped her hands of chocolate icing and joined them just in time to hear Logan's dramatic exclamation; "Mom and Dad are replacing me! That's what's going on."
Nathan exchanged a perplexed look with his wife as she braced her hands comfortingly on the little boy's shoulders; "What on earth are you talking about, sweetie?" She knelt in front of Logan to be level with his distressed hazel eyes, just as Nathan's cell phone rang out shrilly from the surface of the kitchen counter.
Leaving the birthday boy tearfully explaining his dilemma to Haley, Nathan answered it to find Clay equally frantic on the other end of the line. "Is Logan with you?" he demanded, without wasting time with a greeting.
"Calm down, he's here," Nathan told him reassuringly and heard an instant sigh of relief. "Dude, what the hell is going on?"
"Haley may well have figured this out already," said Clay, sounding much happier knowing Logan was safe. "Quinn's pregnant!"
"My wife is psychic," Nathan murmured in awe. "She totally called it. Isn't that a good thing, though? What's up with Logan? How did this happen?"
"Well, Nate, when a man and a woman love each other…," Clay started teasingly, and Nathan shuddered involuntarily.
"Finish that sentence, and I'm never speaking to you again," he said firmly. His gaze wandered to the foot of the staircase to the upper floor, where Haley was now sitting with Logan perched on her lap, attempting to console him. "I'm serious, Clay; the kid is a wreck! How did Quinn break the news?"
"She gift-wrapped her positive pregnancy test," he said. "We gave Logan his presents this morning, and I guess she figured I'd like a more permanent present, too. Today would have been one of the happiest days of my life if Logan hadn't completely freaked out."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that, for whatever it's worth," Nathan replied. "How's Quinn holding up?"
"At least now there's a reason she's stuck in the bathroom so much, poor thing," Clay laughed. "I can take care of her; it's Logan that I'm worried about right now."
"Don't worry about it; Jamie's always been able to get through to him. We'll get to the bottom of what's bothering him about this situation, okay? Are you guys still coming by for cake later? Haley's very proud of how it turned out," he added temptingly.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Clay promised. "Tell Jamie, thanks, would you? See you later; I owe you one."
"It's in the family job description, buddy. See you around; Logan will be here, alright?"
"Good…we'll see you in a bit," Clay sighed and hung up, just in time for a wail from Lydia's playpen to grab Nathan's attention. He motioned to a startled Haley not to push Logan away right now and went to pick up the three-year-old himself.
Lydia was pressed against one wall of the square pen set up in the living room with tears streaming down her face. "What's wrong, princess?" Nathan asked, offering the toddler his hand soothingly.
"Spider," Lydia whimpered, pointing at the blanket lying in a crumpled heap at the other end of the pen with a quivering finger. Then she quickly stuck her thumb in her mouth and let Nathan lift her out of the confined space.
"You're bigger than any silly spider, baby girl," he said encouragingly. "Don't be scared, okay?" She leaned against his shoulder, still sucking her thumb hard. "Besides, we have company," Nathan added with a grin as Lydia lifted her head curiously when he came to a halt at the staircase where Haley and Logan were still sitting.
"Wolfy," she squealed, clapping her hands enthusiastically, and Logan sidled away from Haley so Nathan could deposit the toddler on his lap.
"Hi Lydia," he said softly, grinning despite himself when she decided his fingers were more fun to suck on than her own. "For the last time, it's Wolverine!"
"Wolfy," Lydia insisted, and Haley laughed and reached over to tickle her tummy.
"You see this?" she said triumphantly to Logan. "You're a natural big brother; why so worried? This one adores you."
Logan shook his head with a slight frown; "It's not the same thing, Aunt Haley," he stressed. "Jamie's an awesome big brother, but his dad never left him like mine did. What if Mom and Dad like the new baby better?" He squeezed Lydia's tiny hand with a sad smile. "But I do love this cutie, too," he added affectionately.
"You should talk to Jamie, kiddo," Haley advised, taking Lydia from him again as she began to nod sleepily. "He's upstairs with Madison. You have a perfect excuse to make sure he's behaving himself up there," she hinted strongly. "Does that sound like a plan?"
"I do love spy missions," Logan grinned. "You can count on me, Aunt Haley," he promised, starting up the stairs with a quick salute. Haley nodded proudly after him; she already knew that even better than the boy himself did.
Jamie's bedroom door was ajar when Logan reached it, with a very mournful film score sounding from beyond it. He knocked gently and pushed it open to find Madison Landry pressing her face against Jamie's shoulder. "I hate this part," she whimpered, and Logan glanced at the paused movie to see a frozen shot of a man being knocked backward through an archway by a flash of green light.
"Bellatrix is such a bitch," Jamie grumbled, shaking his head. "It's a good thing we have chocolate, right?" He snapped one of the candy bars between them on his bed in half. "Keeps at least Dementors away, you know."
"Yeah." The girl smiled as he popped a piece of the chocolate into her mouth. "That was a perfect snack idea; chocolate fixes everything." She leaned over and shyly touched his hand, which Logan decided was his cue to interrupt the increasing intimacy of the moment.
"Jamie, do you have a minute?" he asked hesitantly. "Or are you too busy swearing at the movie's bad guy?"
His cousin whipped around and went red in the face; "In this case, it's bad girl, actually, Wolverine," he corrected. "Which you would know if you would join the cool kids' table and get into Harry Potter already. Knock next time!"
Logan could tell he had embarrassed his cousin, but he was too wound up to care. "I did knock," he pointed out, unable to return Madison's sweet smile. "And hey, not my fault my dad is obsessed with superheroes, it's rubbed off on me," he continued defensively. "Superpowers are totally as awesome as magic! Wolverine has healing powers; too cool."
"So do phoenix tears," Jamie shot back dismissively, but he was smiling easily, too. "Happy Birthday, by the way, little man. What are you doing here already? It can't be cake time yet, you addict."
His cousin's tone was light and teasing, but Logan bit his lip nervously and looked down at his feet; "Um…no, actually, Mom and Dad kind of had a shocker birthday surprise for me this morning. I just need some big brother action, I guess," he sighed at the visible sympathy in Madison's eyes at his obvious distress. "You can stay," he added hastily when the girl slid off Jamie's bed and snapped off the television. "Maybe I'm overreacting, actually. I mean, all normal families go through this eventually."
"What are you on about, Wolverine?" Jamie pressed impatiently.
Madison gave his arm a light, reproachful punch; "Don't be mean, Jamie," she scolded. She picked up another one of the candy bars on the bed and offered it to Logan; "How about some candy courage? It sounds like you have a bombshell to share."
"Chocolate is awesome, thanks." Logan smiled shyly and took it from her outstretched hand. He peeled back the wrapper and took a big bite, bracing himself to say the terrifying words out loud. Jamie and Madison were now watching him with undisguised curiosity, and their expectant expressions weren't making the confession any easier. "How did you find out you were going to be a big brother, Jamie?" he asked finally. It was much easier than getting to the root of his fears immediately.
"Huh?" Jamie exchanged a confused look with Madison before turning a puzzled frown on the younger boy; "Well…my dad was leaving for a basketball training camp, and just before he left, he told me to take extra special care of Mom. It turned out it was Mom and the baby I had to look out for while he was gone," he recalled obligingly. "What's gotten into you, Wolverine? That was way random."
"Are your parents having another baby?" asked Madison carefully, a wild guess at the desperation in Logan's eyes. She glanced at Jamie; "I think he was hoping you would guess, Jamie," she grinned. "Tutor Son and all that, you're supposed to be smart."
Jamie rolled his eyes; "I know you like superheroes, bud, but that's no reason to be so bloody cryptic," he complained. "Why is a baby brother or sister a bad thing anyway? That's awesome!"
"You said a swear." Logan sniffed half-heartedly; the tears were rolling freely now. Madison quickly gathered up the bars of chocolate spread out between her and Jamie on the bed and shoved them to one side.
Jamie hopped off the bed and pulled the trembling eight-year-old into the now vacant space; "I'm still confused," he confessed as Logan's head tilted against his shoulder. "I wasn't crazy about the idea of a new baby either when Mom and Dad told me, but you're acting a bit extreme here, Wolverine."
He glanced up at Madison and mouthed an apology, but she shook her head with a tiny smile. "I have a sister about your age," she told Logan, soothingly running her hand down his back. "Seven, is it?"
"Eight today," Logan mumbled, but the edge of pride had returned briefly to his choked voice. "I know this is silly," he sighed again. "I just…I'm scared they'll like the new baby better than me. My real mommy is an angel in heaven, Grandma says," he continued. "And Dad stayed away for so long; it's just too much to think that could maybe happen again. I don't want this baby to replace me!"
There was a distinct hysterical edge to the rant spilling out of Logan's mouth now, and Jamie grimaced at the concern on Madison's face before grasping both his cousin's small hands firmly. "Hey, I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay?" he said seriously and waited for the younger boy's shaky nod before continuing. "Your dad has been best friends with mine for like half my life," he said. "Not that I spent much time thinking about this when I was seven, but everyone could see it."
"See what?" Logan pressed apprehensively.
"That he was a great agent, but he wasn't…happy," Jamie said decisively after searching for the best word to describe it for a moment. "I guess it was because of what happened to your Mommy. Things improved when my dad became cool with Uncle Clay dating Aunt Quinn, but something was always missing."
"Take a guess what that was," Madison interrupted, nudging the tearful eight-year-old gently.
Jamie smiled at her gratefully, but another voice cut in before Logan could respond: "If you seriously have to guess that, then I'm not doing my job right." The three kids turned to see Clay leaning in the doorway, traces of a worried frown still etched on his face. Madison edged surreptitiously closer to Jamie when Logan leaped up and charged into his father's arms. "Don't scare me like that, kiddo," he sighed, holding his son close while the eight-year-old mumbled apologies. Clay looked up to see his nephew watching the display of affection. "Is your girlfriend staying for cake, Jamie?" he teased while Logan continued to cling desperately.
"Uncle Clay!" Jamie protested with a deep blush. "Is that the thanks I get for preventing my crazy cousin from having a nervous breakdown?"
"I'm sorry, Daddy," Logan chipped in when Clay frowned grimly again. "This is really cool…really."
"I love you, Wolverine, okay?" he said insistently. "All this baby is going to change is that you'll have a baby brother or sister who will need you to love and protect them. Like Jamie loves Lydia," he smiled at his nephew's proud grin and gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks, buddy, you did a good job on this one."
"No problem." Jamie pointedly took Madison's hand and pulled her to her feet. "Are you staying for cake, Maddie?" The Asian girl nodded eagerly, and Jamie beamed and led her out of his room and back down the stairs. On the way out he ruffled Logan's hair affectionately; "Where's your chocolate addiction now, knucklehead? The birthday boy can't be the last one to the table, that's just a fact," he laughed.
"In your dreams," Logan shot back and raced past the older two and down the stairs, his abandonment issues overshadowed by excitement at last. The three kids were soon out of sight, oblivious to Clay lingering on the landing, despairing at how Logan had reacted to this new chapter of their family's life.
A / N My mission to keep Clinn alive in the fanfiction archives continues, enjoy everyone! xx