FIC: FATE (D/V, L/V, and Claire) NC-17
Title: Fate (chapter 7)
Author: Firefly2000
Pairing: D/V, L/V
Word count: 2020
Rating: NC-17 (language)
Summary: Set seven years after graduation
Spoilers: Season one
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.
Logan walked into the kitchen; Veronica was cooking pasta noodles. She turned and looked at him with a slightly worried expression. She didn’t know how to deal with his sudden revelation that he still loved her. It was all too overwhelming right now.
“Did you know that our daughter has a boyfriend named Justin and he likes to kiss her?” Logan smirked as he leaned on the counter.
She let out a little laugh, relieved to avoid the earlier subject. “Yeah.”
“So do we know anything about her suitor? Is he worthy of our princess?” Logan winked when she looked at him and rolled her eyes.
“He’s a nice boy Logan, just a little flirty, but then so is Claire.”
“She must have gotten that from you” he bit his lip to keep from laughing.
“Right” she said with sarcasm.
“I’m no flirt Veronica; I just go after what I want.”
She felt uncomfortable again and looked away. She was thankful to hear the front door opening; Duncan had decided to join them for lunch.
“Hey Sweetie” he said as he walked in and kissed Veronica on the cheek. “I picked your ring up. The jeweler fixed the prong, it should be fine now.”
Duncan pulled out a ring box and opened it. There was a huge diamond engagement ring inside. At least seven carats, Logan thought as he watched Duncan pull the ring out and slip it on Veronica’s finger.
Seeing the ring on her finger made it real, she belonged to another man now. She was engaged and was going to be married in a matter of weeks. Logan suddenly didn’t feel very hungry.
“So what were you two talking about?” Duncan asked as he grabbed a cucumber slice out of the salad bowl and ate it.
“Claire’s boyfriend” Veronica grinned as she drained the pasta.
“Wonderful” Duncan groaned. Then he looked at Logan “Did she tell you that I got called to the principal’s office last week because of them?”
“No” Logan chuckled.
“Yeah, it seems that our Claire is a mini Veronica” Duncan said as he walked by Veronica and smacked her on the ass.
“Hey, it was your fault for telling her all those stories about high school, Buster” Veronica pointed at him with a fork.
“What did you tell her?” Logan was grinning; he knew it had to be a bad.
“I plead the fifth,” Duncan muttered with a smile as he looked out the window at Claire playing with Daisy.
“He told Claire that I used to drag guys into the girls bathroom to have meetings about cases that I was working.” Veronica glared at Duncan and he shrugged.
“Oh no” Logan laughed.
“Oh yes” Veronica nodded “she pulled Justin into the bathroom for a meeting.”
“Yeah and I got reamed by the principal on what I should and shouldn’t tell Claire” Duncan frowned.
“I think it’s hilarious,” Logan said as he continued to laugh.
Veronica just rolled her eyes “You two are incorrigible.”
“So I take it that you’ve met all the animals?” Duncan asked.
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“You’re shirt is covered in fur” Duncan pointed to Logan’s black Polo shirt.
Veronica smiled and pulled the lint brush out of the drawer. “It’s a necessity in this house,” she said as she handed it to Logan.
“I’m going to go get Claire and help her get washed up for lunch.” Duncan said and he walked out the back door.
Logan watched as Claire bolted into Duncan’s arms and he scooped her up, kissing her on the cheek. Then she cupped his face in her hands and began talking about something. Duncan listened intently and then smiled when she was finished. Logan envied Duncan’s closeness to Claire. He prayed that she would love him that much one day.
Veronica looked over and saw Logan watching Duncan and Claire. “You have to give it time Logan; he’s been with her since the day she was born.”
“I know it’s just hard,” he said sadly. Then he looked over at Veronica “I needed to ask you something Veronica.”
“What is it?” She stopped preparing lunch and sat down at the bar.
“Why am I not listed on Claire’s birth certificate as her father?” He looked her directly in the eyes and waited. Seeing ‘unknown’ listed as Claire’s father’s name had hit him hard last night. Trina had given him the birth certificate when he got home from Veronica’s.
Veronica looked as though she was gathering her thoughts before she began. She took a deep breath, sighed, and then looked out the window at Duncan pulling Claire around the yard in her red wagon.
“When you didn’t respond to the letters, I thought it was best to list her father as unknown. Duncan wanted me to list him but I just couldn’t do that at the time. I was still hoping that you would come back.”
“But you should have listed me. I don’t want my child to have ‘unknown’ as her father. That’s awful,” Logan frowned.
“You were escaping the media Logan. Don’t you think that they would have found out? It would have made headlines all over the world. The press would have hunted you down like a dog.” Veronica was getting upset now; her face was growing redder by the second.
“And I would have found out about her years ago.”
Veronica slammed her hands down on the counter and pointed at Logan with flames shooting from her eyes. “I did what I thought you wanted Logan. I had no idea that you didn’t get those letters. As far as I knew, you had no desire to have contact with your child. So don’t make me into the bad guy here.”
“Veronica, calm down” Logan said as he made her sit back down. “I’m sorry, please don’t get upset” he rubbed her back gently he could feel the knots of tension in her shoulders. “I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you.” Logan whispered as he massaged her gently.
“Duncan told you didn’t he?” she asked sadly, as she buried her face in her hands.
“I asked what he gave you yesterday. He told me that it was medication for your blood pressure. Please calm down…please. I just wanted to know if I could get Barry to have her birth certificate changed.”
She turned and looked at him with shocked expression. “I don’t know Logan. I think that we should wait, it’ll be all over the papers within minutes, and you know that.”
“I don’t care Veronica” he pulled her up into his arms and held her as he rubbed her back. “I want everyone to know that she’s my child.”
She pulled back and looked up at him. “Is this about Duncan? Is this a way to hurt him?”
“No” he snapped and gave her a hard look. “But she is my child and I won’t have another man’s name on her birth certificate. I want her name listed as Claire Elisabeth Echolls.”
“And what about the fact that the media will go after her?” Veronica said angrily.
“I’ll protect her from all that, you know I will” he said defensively as he pulled Veronica’s chin up to look at him.
“No Logan…not right now, it’s too soon for all this.” Veronica’s voice quivered with fear. She didn’t trust him.
“Too soon?” he snapped. “It’s been six and a half years Veronica.”
“That’s not what I meant Logan.”
“Oh, I get it” he said as he looked at her with sad eyes. “It’s too soon to tell if I’m going to stick around.”
“I told you that I don’t trust you Logan. It shouldn’t be a huge shock to you as to why I would doubt you.” She tried to push him away but he held onto her and made her sit down again.
He hung his head for a minute and then looked at her. “It’s not a shock Veronica; I just want my child to have my name.”
“Can we just wait and see Logan? We need to consider how Claire feels. She is the one who asked Duncan if she could have his last name. It wasn’t his idea or mine.”
“Oh” Logan sat down at the bar. He felt as though the wind was knocked out of him.
“Don’t take it personally Logan. She knew that my name would change to Kane and she wanted hers to match.” It was terrible saying all these things to Logan and Veronica hated doing it, but he had to know the truth. He had to know that their lives were going forward as planned.
“I don’t want you to marry him,” Logan whispered. He rubbed her hand and looked at the huge diamond that Duncan had put there.
“I had to go on with my life Logan” she put her hand over his and he looked at her.
“I’m here now” he gulped.
“I know that, but I don’t trust you to stay.” Veronica had to be blunt.
“Please don’t marry him Veronica” Logan pleaded “I ended things with Jacqueline; I want to be with you.”
“Logan” Veronica gasped “stop it, this is all too fast. You think that you can waltz in after being gone for over seven years and start all over. It doesn’t work that way. What did you expect me to be doing all this time, sitting around picking splinters out of my ass while I pined away for you?” She stood up and walked to the other side of the bar “life went on Logan…life went on.”
“Please just think about it.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” She looked out the window and saw Duncan carrying Claire toward the house. “They are coming in, so drop this or leave.”
“I’ll drop it for now,” he said. He stood up and walked into the living room.
“Wow!” Claire exclaimed as she ran into the living room and saw the huge kangaroo that Logan had bought her.
“You like it?” Logan was grinning as she walked around it, checking it out.
“Yeah,” she giggled. “Can it sleep with me?” Claire asked Veronica.
“There won’t be room for you in the bed with that thing.”
“What if we put it in your sleeping bag and it can sleep beside your bed?” Duncan suggested.
“Excellent idea” Claire said, sounding very adult like, causing Logan and Veronica to laugh.
“I do have my moments” Duncan grinned.
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Claire was eating her pasta intently, not really talking. Then she looked over at Logan.
“Uh…what do I call you?” she asked.
“What would you like to call me Claire?” Logan stopped eating and looked at her.
Duncan and Veronica sat their forks down and shared a look.
“I don’t know” Claire seemed a little nervous now.
“I’ll answer to whatever you want to call me. Logan or Uncle Logan….or Daddy” he saw Duncan stiffen “you could even call me ‘hey you’ and I’ll listen.”
“Hey you” Claire laughed.
“Claire” Veronica warned.
“I was just kidding mommy” Claire smiled.
“You are my daddy…” Claire started and then looked at Duncan.
Duncan smiled at her “Yes he is Claire and if you want to call him daddy, it won’t hurt my feelings” he lied as he swallowed audibly.
Claire looked at Logan and then at Duncan. Logan could see her struggling with her decision and it was twisting him up inside.
Claire finally turned back to Logan and smiled. “Can I just call you Uncle Logan?” she asked softly.
Logan tried hard to keep his hurt from showing as he nodded and smiled at her. “That’s fine,” his voice faltered a little as he spoke to her.
“You won’t be mad?” she looked worried.
“No Claire, I could never be mad at you,” he said.
She smiled and Logan watched the relief wash over her face.
Logan looked back at his food. It was going to be a struggle to eat as if nothing were wrong. His throat felt no bigger than the diameter of a pencil right now.
Author: Firefly2000
Pairing: D/V, L/V
Word count: 2020
Rating: NC-17 (language)
Summary: Set seven years after graduation
Spoilers: Season one
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.
Logan walked into the kitchen; Veronica was cooking pasta noodles. She turned and looked at him with a slightly worried expression. She didn’t know how to deal with his sudden revelation that he still loved her. It was all too overwhelming right now.
“Did you know that our daughter has a boyfriend named Justin and he likes to kiss her?” Logan smirked as he leaned on the counter.
She let out a little laugh, relieved to avoid the earlier subject. “Yeah.”
“So do we know anything about her suitor? Is he worthy of our princess?” Logan winked when she looked at him and rolled her eyes.
“He’s a nice boy Logan, just a little flirty, but then so is Claire.”
“She must have gotten that from you” he bit his lip to keep from laughing.
“Right” she said with sarcasm.
“I’m no flirt Veronica; I just go after what I want.”
She felt uncomfortable again and looked away. She was thankful to hear the front door opening; Duncan had decided to join them for lunch.
“Hey Sweetie” he said as he walked in and kissed Veronica on the cheek. “I picked your ring up. The jeweler fixed the prong, it should be fine now.”
Duncan pulled out a ring box and opened it. There was a huge diamond engagement ring inside. At least seven carats, Logan thought as he watched Duncan pull the ring out and slip it on Veronica’s finger.
Seeing the ring on her finger made it real, she belonged to another man now. She was engaged and was going to be married in a matter of weeks. Logan suddenly didn’t feel very hungry.
“So what were you two talking about?” Duncan asked as he grabbed a cucumber slice out of the salad bowl and ate it.
“Claire’s boyfriend” Veronica grinned as she drained the pasta.
“Wonderful” Duncan groaned. Then he looked at Logan “Did she tell you that I got called to the principal’s office last week because of them?”
“No” Logan chuckled.
“Yeah, it seems that our Claire is a mini Veronica” Duncan said as he walked by Veronica and smacked her on the ass.
“Hey, it was your fault for telling her all those stories about high school, Buster” Veronica pointed at him with a fork.
“What did you tell her?” Logan was grinning; he knew it had to be a bad.
“I plead the fifth,” Duncan muttered with a smile as he looked out the window at Claire playing with Daisy.
“He told Claire that I used to drag guys into the girls bathroom to have meetings about cases that I was working.” Veronica glared at Duncan and he shrugged.
“Oh no” Logan laughed.
“Oh yes” Veronica nodded “she pulled Justin into the bathroom for a meeting.”
“Yeah and I got reamed by the principal on what I should and shouldn’t tell Claire” Duncan frowned.
“I think it’s hilarious,” Logan said as he continued to laugh.
Veronica just rolled her eyes “You two are incorrigible.”
“So I take it that you’ve met all the animals?” Duncan asked.
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“You’re shirt is covered in fur” Duncan pointed to Logan’s black Polo shirt.
Veronica smiled and pulled the lint brush out of the drawer. “It’s a necessity in this house,” she said as she handed it to Logan.
“I’m going to go get Claire and help her get washed up for lunch.” Duncan said and he walked out the back door.
Logan watched as Claire bolted into Duncan’s arms and he scooped her up, kissing her on the cheek. Then she cupped his face in her hands and began talking about something. Duncan listened intently and then smiled when she was finished. Logan envied Duncan’s closeness to Claire. He prayed that she would love him that much one day.
Veronica looked over and saw Logan watching Duncan and Claire. “You have to give it time Logan; he’s been with her since the day she was born.”
“I know it’s just hard,” he said sadly. Then he looked over at Veronica “I needed to ask you something Veronica.”
“What is it?” She stopped preparing lunch and sat down at the bar.
“Why am I not listed on Claire’s birth certificate as her father?” He looked her directly in the eyes and waited. Seeing ‘unknown’ listed as Claire’s father’s name had hit him hard last night. Trina had given him the birth certificate when he got home from Veronica’s.
Veronica looked as though she was gathering her thoughts before she began. She took a deep breath, sighed, and then looked out the window at Duncan pulling Claire around the yard in her red wagon.
“When you didn’t respond to the letters, I thought it was best to list her father as unknown. Duncan wanted me to list him but I just couldn’t do that at the time. I was still hoping that you would come back.”
“But you should have listed me. I don’t want my child to have ‘unknown’ as her father. That’s awful,” Logan frowned.
“You were escaping the media Logan. Don’t you think that they would have found out? It would have made headlines all over the world. The press would have hunted you down like a dog.” Veronica was getting upset now; her face was growing redder by the second.
“And I would have found out about her years ago.”
Veronica slammed her hands down on the counter and pointed at Logan with flames shooting from her eyes. “I did what I thought you wanted Logan. I had no idea that you didn’t get those letters. As far as I knew, you had no desire to have contact with your child. So don’t make me into the bad guy here.”
“Veronica, calm down” Logan said as he made her sit back down. “I’m sorry, please don’t get upset” he rubbed her back gently he could feel the knots of tension in her shoulders. “I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you.” Logan whispered as he massaged her gently.
“Duncan told you didn’t he?” she asked sadly, as she buried her face in her hands.
“I asked what he gave you yesterday. He told me that it was medication for your blood pressure. Please calm down…please. I just wanted to know if I could get Barry to have her birth certificate changed.”
She turned and looked at him with shocked expression. “I don’t know Logan. I think that we should wait, it’ll be all over the papers within minutes, and you know that.”
“I don’t care Veronica” he pulled her up into his arms and held her as he rubbed her back. “I want everyone to know that she’s my child.”
She pulled back and looked up at him. “Is this about Duncan? Is this a way to hurt him?”
“No” he snapped and gave her a hard look. “But she is my child and I won’t have another man’s name on her birth certificate. I want her name listed as Claire Elisabeth Echolls.”
“And what about the fact that the media will go after her?” Veronica said angrily.
“I’ll protect her from all that, you know I will” he said defensively as he pulled Veronica’s chin up to look at him.
“No Logan…not right now, it’s too soon for all this.” Veronica’s voice quivered with fear. She didn’t trust him.
“Too soon?” he snapped. “It’s been six and a half years Veronica.”
“That’s not what I meant Logan.”
“Oh, I get it” he said as he looked at her with sad eyes. “It’s too soon to tell if I’m going to stick around.”
“I told you that I don’t trust you Logan. It shouldn’t be a huge shock to you as to why I would doubt you.” She tried to push him away but he held onto her and made her sit down again.
He hung his head for a minute and then looked at her. “It’s not a shock Veronica; I just want my child to have my name.”
“Can we just wait and see Logan? We need to consider how Claire feels. She is the one who asked Duncan if she could have his last name. It wasn’t his idea or mine.”
“Oh” Logan sat down at the bar. He felt as though the wind was knocked out of him.
“Don’t take it personally Logan. She knew that my name would change to Kane and she wanted hers to match.” It was terrible saying all these things to Logan and Veronica hated doing it, but he had to know the truth. He had to know that their lives were going forward as planned.
“I don’t want you to marry him,” Logan whispered. He rubbed her hand and looked at the huge diamond that Duncan had put there.
“I had to go on with my life Logan” she put her hand over his and he looked at her.
“I’m here now” he gulped.
“I know that, but I don’t trust you to stay.” Veronica had to be blunt.
“Please don’t marry him Veronica” Logan pleaded “I ended things with Jacqueline; I want to be with you.”
“Logan” Veronica gasped “stop it, this is all too fast. You think that you can waltz in after being gone for over seven years and start all over. It doesn’t work that way. What did you expect me to be doing all this time, sitting around picking splinters out of my ass while I pined away for you?” She stood up and walked to the other side of the bar “life went on Logan…life went on.”
“Please just think about it.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” She looked out the window and saw Duncan carrying Claire toward the house. “They are coming in, so drop this or leave.”
“I’ll drop it for now,” he said. He stood up and walked into the living room.
“Wow!” Claire exclaimed as she ran into the living room and saw the huge kangaroo that Logan had bought her.
“You like it?” Logan was grinning as she walked around it, checking it out.
“Yeah,” she giggled. “Can it sleep with me?” Claire asked Veronica.
“There won’t be room for you in the bed with that thing.”
“What if we put it in your sleeping bag and it can sleep beside your bed?” Duncan suggested.
“Excellent idea” Claire said, sounding very adult like, causing Logan and Veronica to laugh.
“I do have my moments” Duncan grinned.
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Claire was eating her pasta intently, not really talking. Then she looked over at Logan.
“Uh…what do I call you?” she asked.
“What would you like to call me Claire?” Logan stopped eating and looked at her.
Duncan and Veronica sat their forks down and shared a look.
“I don’t know” Claire seemed a little nervous now.
“I’ll answer to whatever you want to call me. Logan or Uncle Logan….or Daddy” he saw Duncan stiffen “you could even call me ‘hey you’ and I’ll listen.”
“Hey you” Claire laughed.
“Claire” Veronica warned.
“I was just kidding mommy” Claire smiled.
“You are my daddy…” Claire started and then looked at Duncan.
Duncan smiled at her “Yes he is Claire and if you want to call him daddy, it won’t hurt my feelings” he lied as he swallowed audibly.
Claire looked at Logan and then at Duncan. Logan could see her struggling with her decision and it was twisting him up inside.
Claire finally turned back to Logan and smiled. “Can I just call you Uncle Logan?” she asked softly.
Logan tried hard to keep his hurt from showing as he nodded and smiled at her. “That’s fine,” his voice faltered a little as he spoke to her.
“You won’t be mad?” she looked worried.
“No Claire, I could never be mad at you,” he said.
She smiled and Logan watched the relief wash over her face.
Logan looked back at his food. It was going to be a struggle to eat as if nothing were wrong. His throat felt no bigger than the diameter of a pencil right now.