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“You need another Physical Education credit to graduate, Veronica.”
“What?” Veronica looked in disbelief at Miss James.
“There was an error on your transcript. Pep Squad counted as credit, so when you dropped it in sophomore year, you lost it, but it was incorrectly recorded. An audit found the error, and required it to be changed.
“Did you explain that I only stopped because my best friend was murdered!”
“It makes no difference, Veronica. You just need to make up a credit.”
Veronica sighed. “What options do I have?”
“Are you doing any extra-curricular sports that may count?”
“No.”
“Well, looking at your schedule, and knowing you’re aiming for the Kane scholarship, I assume you want to keep your AP classes, so that leaves Journalism or World Literature. You could swap Journalism for an underclassman gym class.”
Veronica grimaced.
“Or you can take Senior Health in place of World Literature.”
Neither of them sounded appealing, but Veronica really wanted to stay in Journalism. “I guess Senior Health it is, then.”
“That’s great, Veronica. I’ll just sign off the form to take to Ms Hauser’s class. It’s in second period, so you’ll start tomorrow.”
“Great. My excitement is overwhelming.”
*
“Hey, I’m in second period health with Ms Hauser too.” Wallace spoke as they sat eating lunch. “We had to pair up for some project, so I’m with Mac.”
“What’s the project?”
“Dunno. She said she would give it to us tomorrow, but she needed to pair us up today. I was hoping that hot new girl, Jackie, might be there, but she’s not in the class.”
“Why are you doing Health, anyway?” Veronica asked. “I thought you would have all the Phys Ed credits you need with basketball.”
“Sex ed, STD’s and stuff are never a bad thing to learn about, plus a guy on the basketball team did it last year and said it’s an easy B.”
“I’d prefer it if you had signed up as Office Aide again.”
“Yeah. My mom wants me to do this thing called learning this year.”
*
Logan pulled his XTerra into the Neptune High parking lot on Tuesday morning. He’d missed the first day of school attending his emancipation hearing, but now that that was over he was back at good old Neptune High. Mom dead, Dad in jail awaiting trial, dumped by his girlfriend. The sooner this year was over and he could just get the hell away from Neptune, the better.
The thought of seeing Veronica and Duncan together left a pretty sour taste in his mouth, and he was very glad the only class he had with them was Journalism. He hadn’t seen Veronica since their breakup, and had taken pains to avoid her in fact. But when he heard Duncan had moved in hard and fast on his ex, he had gone on a two-day bender that had ended up with him passed out on Dog Beach one morning. A foot had kicked him awake and the voice that addressed him was laced with disgust. “Logan.”
“Huh?” he slurred, peering upwards.
“Logan!” The voice was insistent as he finally focused on the face of Keith Mars.
“Mr Mars.”
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“No, maybe, I dunno. I mean what’s so great about living?”
That stopped Keith cold. He sat down next to Logan and said, “Do you want your father to pay for the things he did? To Lilly? To Veronica? To you?”
Logan sat up, groaning with the effort and the throbbing in his head. “Yeah,” he finally said. “Yeah, I do.”
“Then you have to straighten yourself out. Aaron’s lawyers are going to look for any way to discredit all of us. If you want to be viewed as a trustworthy witness, you need to be better than, well, this,” he said, indicating Logan’s current state.
That grabbed his attention. “What do you mean?”
“Aaron has good attorneys. The best. Every ‘i’ needs to be dotted and ‘t’ needs to be crossed if there is going to be a conviction. Especially with Lamb at the helm of the police’s case. You’re part of that. I am too. And so is Veronica.”
“We all have to be perfect until his trial?”
“Perfection is probably a stretch, but how about we just settle for staying under the radar, not making headlines for anything untoward.”
“Like public drunkenness?”
“Now you’re catching on. Always knew you were the smart one.”
“Just not good enough to date your daughter?”
Keith sighed, “You’re wild, reckless and self destructive. Can you tell me any father who would think that was good enough?”
Logan had no answer for that.
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, before Keith spoke again, “But she cares about you.”
“That really showed when she dumped me and started dating Duncan again.”
“I don’t know about her dating Duncan, but I can tell you that if anything happens to you, that will devastate her. And after Lilly’s death, her mother leaving and her experience with Aaron, she’s dealt with enough. Don’t be another weight on her. She doesn’t deserve that. And neither do you.”
*
Logan walked into second period Health and took a seat in the back alongside Dick. It surprised him to see Duncan sitting next to Meg Manning since he’d dumped her early in the summer when he’d set his sights upon Veronica again.
It took him aback when Veronica entered the classroom and handed a slip of paper to Ms Hauser. The teacher scowled but directed her to a seat in front of Logan. As she walked towards him, she acknowledged his presence with a fleeting moment of eye contact before looking away and taking her seat.
“What’s Ronnie doing here, man?” asked Dick.
“I have no idea. I didn’t think she had this class.”
At that moment, Ms Hauser stood up in the front and addressed the class. “Listen up, students. Today we start a new sex education program. The school board has approved this, the Baby, Think it Over.” She held up a disturbingly life-like baby doll. “It’s a state-of-the-art animatronic infant simulator. For the next two weeks, you and your partner will be its parents. You will feed it, change it, burp it and comfort it. It has sensors which will record both how well you tend to its needs and how carefully you look after it. With your partner, you will get a doll and a pair of wristbands which are coded directly to you. Your grade will depend on this doll, so look after it well. Logan Echolls and Veronica Mars, since you were not here yesterday, you will pair up for this assignment. I will have to get your doll coded to you. See me after class.
Veronica swivelled in her seat in shock to look at Logan, looking directly into his eyes which were as shocked as hers. A smirk quickly replaced the shock, “I’m pretty sure I want a paternity test.”
As Dick snickered, Veronica shot back, “I want an STD test,” and turned to face forward, seething in anger.
For the next half hour, Ms Hauser droned on about the care of their electronic progeny, handed out the dolls and their wristbands; and when the bell went off, and the rest of the students left, Veronica waylaid the teacher at her desk.
“Ms Hauser, in this circumstance, Logan and I pairing up is not such a great idea. Maybe we could swap partners, or I could do the assignment solo?”
“Ms Mars, I really don’t care in any way, shape, or form, about your petty arguments or romantic entanglements. The programming for the other students has already been done and their assessment has started. You and Mr Echolls can collect your wristbands and doll after last period today.”
“But,” started Veronica, but the teacher had already walked off. Veronica spun around and bumped head first into Logan’s chest, close behind her. “Oof.”
“Desperate to fall back into my arms, Veronica?” Logan’s words were snide, full of sarcasm, but the hands that had come to her sides to steady her were gentle, tender even.
“I’d rather be strapped to anthill,” Veronica shot back, but her hand rested on top of his for a moment. “Logan, I really need an A here, so maybe we can set up a schedule?”
“Why don’t you just take it and do it all? Then at least I can’t do anything wrong.”
“I have work. And did you hear what she said? It keeps track of who is in range on the wristbands and it’s supposed to be a roughly even split,” she replied. “I’ll just try to make this as easy as possible for both of us.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? That’s it?”
“I need to pass the class too. I just want to graduate and get out of here.”
“Oh,” she replied, a little taken aback. She was silent for a beat then said, “I’ve got a shift at Java at four. Maybe we can meet there before and work out the schedule?”
“Sure.”
*
Logan and Veronica sat at a table, coffee in front of them, perusing the doll. “Hauser said the doll has accelerometers, so we have to look after it carefully. It records all movement and everything we do to care for it.”
Logan was reading through the instruction booklet, “We can’t have it for more than two consecutive days at a time, and it may give us an activity that one of us specifically has to do.”
Veronica looked up, “What kind of hell is that? I can’t walk away from my job to change a stupid diaper.”
“It does just say may . Surely they won’t get too crazy about it.”
“Hopefully.”
“I have shifts here on Monday, Tuesday and Fridays after school. And I do invoices and stuff for MI on Saturdays,” said Veronica. Are there any days you can’t do it?
“I’ve um, got something on Wednesdays.”
Veronica raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. Logan hadn’t had after school commitments when they were dating.
He could see the curiosity in her eyes, but remained silent.
She carried on, “I think this makes the split pretty easy. You take Monday and Tuesday, I’ll do Wednesday and Thursday. You take Friday and half of Saturday and I’ll take over noon Saturday through Sunday.”
“I thought you said you worked for your Dad on Saturdays?”
“I can do it in the mornings or take it with me.”
“Ok. What do we feed it?”
Veronica flicked through the instruction manual, “Nothing. You just put the bottle in its mouth and it makes a sucking noise.”
“Okay. I’ll take it now and hand it over to you tomorrow.”
*
“It won’t stop crying, Logan" said Veronica.
“Why are you calling me?”
“You had it all last night. You must have figured out how to stop it from crying. I’ve changed it, burped it and I’m trying to feed it, but it just keeps crying.”
“I just followed the instructions. You're a girl, aren’t you? Don’t you just know all this stuff?”
“Well that’s sexist! Why would I know? I don’t have any siblings and I don’t exactly hang around babies.”
“Sorry, sorry, don’t bite my head off.”
“Do you have any ideas? I just need it to stop screaming!”
Logan thought fast. “Is it making the sucking noise when you put the bottle in its mouth?”
“It’s hard to tell, but I don’t think so.”
“Maybe adjust the position you are holding it in. Tilt it back a little.”
“Does the carrier do that?”
“Why does that matter? Hold on, are you holding it?”
“It's in the carrier.”
“I think you have to hold it. That’s what I did.” Logan heard rustling noises, then the sound of the baby crying stopped. “Something sounds better.”
“Thank heaven that stopped.”
“Just remember to support its head.”
“What?”
“Support its head.”
“Why?”
“It says so in the instructions. Did you read the instructions?”
Veronica was defensive, “I’ve been busy. Besides, it’s just feed it, change it, burp it, isn’t it?”
“Mostly.” Logan was quiet for a beat, then added, “I thought you were the one who wanted an A.”
“Well, yeah.”
“Then read the damn instructions, Veronica!”
“Alright, alright, Logan.”
“Um, it can also sense if you are over fifty feet away, so you have to keep it near.”
“Gee, Logan, you wouldn’t even be able to leave it at the other end of your house.”
There was silence at the other end of the phone.
“That’s how you found out, wasn’t it?”
“I left it in the kitchen and went to take a shower. The wristband started flashing and beeping when I got too far from it. Also, if it’s awake and you don’t touch it for more than about fifteen minutes, it goes nuts. I couldn’t even take a normal shower.”
“Poor baby,” Veronica laughed. “Fine by me. My hot water runs out if I’m in there for ten minutes.”
“So this thing is really designed for you and not me.”
“Well, most of us are unlikely to have a nanny.”
“You know the nannies were just there to fuck Aaron.”
They both went silent at the mention of Aaron.
“On second thought, let's not emulate the deeds of my murderous father.”
Veronica hesitated, then ventured, “Are you doing okay, Logan, really?”
“Well considering in the last two years, my father murdered one of my girlfriends and attempted to murder another. The same father who used me as a punching bag but is currently in jail awaiting trial, I’m doing okay.”
“Are you really?”
“If you mean am I still at war with the PCHers, then no. I’m trying to keep a low profile, stay out of trouble, finish school. I can’t stop them from coming after me, but I’m just trying not to fan the flames.”
Veronica was surprised, taken aback, “That’s smart, Logan.”
“You don’t have to sound so surprised, Veronica.”
*
“Logan, why is the baby at Dog Beach?”
“It’s Friday night, Veronica.”
“You're at a party?”
“Well, yeah.”
“You couldn’t skip them for a couple of weeks?”
“Relax Veronica, I got a babysitter.”
“Well your sitter isn’t doing a very good job! My band is going nuts. Isn’t yours?”
“Um,”
“You’re not wearing it are you?”
“I put it on the sitter.”
“Logan, please! I really need a good grade.”
“Okay, I’ll go find her.”
“I’m almost there, I’ll meet you.”
He wound his way through the crowd of dancing teenagers and spotted Veronica coming towards him as he reached a couple of pretty sophomores on the other side of the keg who were laughing and giggling. He racked his memory for one of the girl’s names, “Hey Hannah?” He hoped he got it right.
“Hiya Logan,” she replied, simpering hard enough to make Veronica roll her eyes.
“Um, where is the baby?” he asked.
“Oh, the doll and that bracelet thing started making a lotta noise, so we put it in the carrier with the doll and stuck it over there on a truck.”
“Hannah, you said you’d look after it.”
“Well, it’s not like it's a real baby. It’s just over on one of those trucks.” She pointed over to where a couple of SUV’s were parked at the edge of the party. “Oh, the truck’s gone.”
Veronica jumped in, “Do you know whose truck it was?”
Hannah looked at her with disdain, and turned again to Logan, “No, but it must be someone at the party. It’ll turn up. Come have a drink with us, Logan.”
Veronica looked fit to burst and turned on Logan. “You lost it. You gave it to this brainless twit and you lost it!”
“We’ll get it back.” Thinking frantically, he scanned the crowd looking to see who had left. “I can’t see who isn’t here anymore.” He spied a bunch of pizza boxes on the other side of the bonfire and said to Veronica, “When you called me, you knew I was at Dog Beach. How did you know?”
“I, um, put a tracker on the doll carrier, just in case.”
“Can you see if it’s heading towards Cho’s Pizza?”
“What?”
“I think they put it in the back of the pizza delivery guy's truck.”
“You mean Corny?”
“Yeah, stoner dude.”
She looked at her phone, tracking the doll, “It’s there. You have to go get it.”
“You can go.”
“No way, Logan. You’re in charge till tomorrow. You have to go get it now or we’ll both end up failing.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t have my car. I came with Dick.”
Veronica huffed exasperatedly, “Come on then, I’ll drive”
“In your crackerjack car?”
“Watch it, buddy. And you owe me!”
*
“You know how you owe me?” asked Veronica sweetly.
It was noon, Saturday, at the Mars Investigations offices, and Logan was dropping off the doll. He looked at her suspiciously. “I didn’t agree to that.”
“Well you do and you need to pay up.”
“What do you want, Veronica?”
“I have to work tomorrow.”
“At the Hut?”
“No.”
“A PI job?”
She hesitated for a second, then said, “No, for a catering company. Waitressing for some function at the country club. They pay better.”
“And you can’t take Betty here with you,” Logan surmised.
“Betty?”
“I got tired of calling it ‘It’”,
“Okay,” she said, a little bemused. “And, no, I can’t take it with me.”
“When?”
“Six till ten.”
“Okay. But this clears the slate.”
“Done.”
*
Veronica arrived on Logan’s doorstep late Sunday night, exhausted.
“She’s fed, clean, and knock on wood, asleep for the night.” Logan had the carrier with the silent doll and its bag ready at the door for her when she came to pick it up. “How was the job?”
“A bit of a bust, I think. No action.”
Logan looked at her carefully, “I thought this wasn’t a PI job. I thought it was a waitressing job.”
“It was, I mean, a waitressing job.”
“So what did you mean by no action ?” Logan asked.
“Well, I was waitressing, but I also kind of had a client.”
“What sort of client?”
“The usual. Husband thinks his new trophy wife is cheating. Thinks she’s getting busy with some young stud at the country club. I think she’s probably doing her tennis coach or personal trainer, but he was insistent it was someone in their circle . Anyway, she was there the entire night with her husband and his friends. The only slipping off she did was to smoke a cigarette.”
“I didn’t think you were still taking jobs for your dad.”
“Oh, the waitressing job was real. Just coincidence that the client’s wife would be as well.”
“You going to keep working there?”
“I’m not sure. They pay well, but I’m not sure how much playing waitress to Madison Sinclair and her ilk I can stand.”
“You really don’t like her, do you?”
“Do you blame me?”
“I know she’s a bitch, but what exactly did she do to you?”
“The petty spiteful nastiness, spitting in people’s drinks, dumping my clothes into the toilet during gym class, spreading rumors was bad enough. But it’s mostly because after that party at Shelley Pomroys’s house, even though she might not have known that she had given me the drink with the GHB, she was the one who spray painted slut on my car. So when I walked out of there the morning after, sick and violated, that was what greeted me. And when I asked her why, she told me whore had too many letters.”
*
“Can you please watch her for a couple of hours? I just have to take care of something.”
“During school?”
“I have a leave pass.”
“Is that like the tardy notes you used to give me when we fooled around in the bathroom?”
She looked at him in annoyance, “No.”
“That’s a shame, I have fond memories of those passes.” He smiled in reminiscence.
“Logan!”
“What? I was just remembering something nice.”
Veronica huffed and repeated, “Can you watch her until last period?”
“Sure, if you tell me why.”
“If I said I was doing something for Mr Clemmons...”
“If it's school-related, surely he can give you an excuse for Hauser.”
“Logan,” she started.
“I see it’s not school related...”
“You caught me. It’s a follow up from last Sunday. Can you just mind Betty?”
“It’s good you're calling her Betty now. Gives that personalized feeling,” replied Logan, enjoying himself.
“Can you?” Veronica asked, getting frustrated.
“Call her Betty, sure. I named her that. But if you prefer you can call her Al. Maybe short for Alison?”
Veronica narrowed her eyes at him, “Now you’re channelling Paul Simon?”
Logan grinned, this was the Veronica he enjoyed matching wits with. “Yes.”
“Yes, you’re channelling Paul Simon, or yes, you can watch Betty?”
“Either, both. But you have to collect her last period. I have something after school and I can’t take her with me.”
“Absolutely, I promise!”
“Okay.”
“Thank you,” she said as she passed him the carrier and bag.
“But now you owe me,” he sung out as she headed down the corridor.
*
Last period came and went with no sign of Veronica. Logan was sitting outside the school in his XTerra, staring at his phone. He’d messaged and called her a half dozen times but receiving precisely no reply was getting on his nerves. His appointment was in half an hour and he still had to get there. Putting the Xterra into gear, he drove out of the Neptune High parking lot and headed downtown.
Fifteen minutes later as he neared his destination, his phone rang. Answering it, his voice was abrupt, “Veronica.”
“Logan, I’m so sorry.”
“Uh huh,” he replied.
“I got caught up,” she explained, lamely.
“Just come get her,” he said shortly.
“Um, where are you? I’m in the Neptune High parking lot, but you’re gone.”
Logan sighed, “Can’t you find me with your tracker?”
“I took it off. Dad needed it for a job.”
“Meet me in half an hour,” and gave her a downtown address in the 02 district.
“What are you doing in that area?”
“I’ll be outside waiting. Just come get Betty,” he replied tersely, and hung up.
*
Half an hour later, Logan was waiting with Betty outside the unassuming front of a vacant, shuttered shopfront, squeezed between a convenience store and a TV repair shop. When Veronica pulled her car up beside him, she looked at him with a myriad of questions in her eyes, but the only comment he made as he handed her the doll and its accessories was a terse, “Now you really do owe me.”
Veronica looked down the street and said, “Not exactly your usual environment.”
Logan knew she was fishing, but had no intention of indulging her. “I have to go,” he said, turned on his heel and walked away.
Veronica was dumbstruck. She watched as he walked back down the sidewalk and turned a corner. She was just about to follow when Betty chose that moment to start crying. Looking with frustration at the doll and back up at the street where Logan had turned off, she knew that despite the curiosity eating her alive, she was going to have to take care of Betty first.
Twenty minutes later with Betty now silent in the carrier, Veronica cruised down the street Logan had walked down, trying to figure out where he was and what he was doing. She spotted his bright yellow monstrosity parked on the street in front of a church and she pulled in behind it. Looking around, she tried to see where he could have gone, when a couple of roughly dressed men walked into the church yard and around to the side. Getting out of the car, she silently debated, then grabbed Betty and headed after them.
She made it to the side of the church in time to see the men disappearing through a door. A young Latino man man dressed all in black looked up and saw her. Calling out, “Can I help you miss?” he strode towards her, and she realized he was a priest.
“Umm, I’m looking for a friend. I think I left something with him at school earlier and I saw his car outside.
“I don’t think you’ll find your friend here, Miss,” said the priest, eyeing her up as she held Betty in the carrier. We have a soup kitchen and a homeless shelter for men here, but there isn’t anyone who would be in high school.”
Thinking Logan must have gone into some other place nearby, she replied, “Thank you, sorry.”
The priest spoke again gently as she was about to go, “Do you need help, miss? For yourself? Or for the baby? We don’t have facilities for mothers here, but St Ignatious a few blocks away does.”
Embarrassed, she sputtered out, “No, no. It’s not a real baby. It’s a school project,” and turned the carrier around so he could see it wasn’t real.
“Ah, well then. I hope you find your friend.”
At that moment a familiar voice called out from the doorway, “Father Luis, can I get the keys to the freezer?”
Veronica swivelled around sharply, “Logan?”
Logan looked at her, annoyed at first, then resigned, and said, “Congratulations, Veronica. You found me.”
“Ah, I think you may still have the spare diaper for Betty. I couldn’t find it in the bag,” Veronica thought quickly. It was plausible.
“See, I think you just couldn’t help yourself tracking me down.” His eyes twinkled.
“How can you say that Logan? I would never invade your privacy like that.” Veronica almost managed a straight face until they both burst out laughing.
Father Luis, eyes bouncing back and forward between the two of them, addressed Logan. “Why don’t you sort things out with your friend here. I’ll take the keys inside.” He walked off quickly, avoiding any objection from Logan.
“I suppose I shouldn’t have expected that you could just leave this, could I?”
“You know me,” said Veronica quickly.
“Yeah,” answered Logan. “I do.”
“What are you doing here, at a shelter?”
“Helping out. We make food, help out cleaning, whatever.”
“Okay, Logan. But why? I never saw you doing any of this before.”
“Ah, you remember the big donation my dad made to that soup kitchen last year?”
“I think so.”
“It was half a million dollars, and it was me. I did it. I announced it on his behalf and he had to go through with it.”
“Oh.”
“I was just sick of him and his image and his photo ops. So I tried to hit him where it really hurt. In his back pocket.”
Veronica smiled, and then grimaced when she realized what it would have meant for Logan. What sort of punishment his sadistic father would have doled out.
“But the place just kept creeping into my mind. How much those people needed it. How so many people need that help. And that led me here.”
“So you volunteer.”
“Yeah. It’s a good place. And they don’t know who I am. I’m just another kid wanting to help out and pad my college applications at the same time.”
Veronica realized that this Logan was different. Very different to the boy she had dated last spring. “That’s great, Logan.” Her voice was sincere.
He looked into her eyes then. “Thank you. It means a lot coming from you.” Then he smirked. “But you still owe me!”
*
“I want you to take her Friday, as well as Saturday night.”
“I’m working Friday, Logan.”
“You finish at what, ten? I’ll drop her off to you.”
“That’s a lot of effort for a few hours.”
“I want Friday and Saturday night.”
“Alright, alright. But then you’ll have to take her Sunday night.”
“Why?”
“I can’t keep her for over two days at a time, remember?”
“Fine, you can drop her off Sunday night. And we hand her back Monday, so that will be the last change.”
“It’ll be good to be over.”
Logan suddenly realised he wasn’t looking forward to handing Betty back. The sensation was unexpected, and he blurted out, “Who was the client?”
“You know I can’t tell you,” she answered quickly. “But I would suggest that if Dick’s new stepmom takes a shine to you, you might end up on camera.”
Logan absorbed that quietly. Dick’s stepmom had suggested he could come on over anytime, especially when her husband and his sons were out and the implication was clear. And it had been his plan for that Friday night. But he knew how perceptive Veronica could be, and covered, “That didn’t take her long.”
“You’ve met her?”
“At Dick’s.”
“Well if she invites you over, remember Dick’s dad is very fond of firearms.”
“I’ll remember that,” and thought, I guess I don’t really need Friday off after all .
*
Logan arrived at Java just as Veronica exited the front door, calling out a fairly feeble goodbye to the manager locking up. He knew he didn’t really need to drop Betty after cancelling his plans, but he didn’t want to examine his new motivation too closely and just did it. He got out of his car, collected Betty, her carrier and her bag and walked over to meet Veronica. “Just the two of you at closing?” he said, nodding towards the manager.
Veronica looked up at him before she replied, “Yeah. It’s pretty quiet in the last hour.” She took the doll and her accoutrements from him and put them in her car. “Thanks. I’ll drop her off back to you Sunday evening.” She got into the driver’s seat and turned over the engine. A lackluster whine rather than the rumble of her engine was all that they heard. Her headlights were dim and fading.
Logan tapped on her window, “Veronica?” Preparing herself to bite back hard, she lowered the window and was surprised when all he said was “Do you need a jump?”
“Ah, yeah. Please.”
He headed over to his car and opened the back, pushing away a sandy hoodie and a wetsuit before lifting the cover to get to the tools. Pushing things around, he eventually called over to Veronica, “Have you got a flashlight? I can’t find the jumper cables.” The jumper cables he had bought at the beginning of the summer when he realized his girlfriend would probably need them occasionally , he thought.
Veronica grimaced. “Unless you’ve bought a new set, I’m pretty sure I still have them.”
“I’d say go get them, but I can sense a but...”
“I don’t have them in the car. I used them to help another woman at the apartments, and instead of putting them back in my car, I left them in the apartment.”
“Ah.”
“Sorry,” she said sheepishly.
“Can you call your Dad?”
“He’s out of town till tomorrow. I’ll call Wallace, and you can take off.”
“I can drive you home.”
“Don’t you have a date or a booty call or something?”
“Nothing that can’t wait.”
She looked at him in surprise. The Logan she had seen in these past couple of weeks was not the Logan she had agonizingly split up with in the summer. He’d changed. Less volatile, less self-involved, calmer. Even last Friday when he had been at the beach party he’d had a few drinks, sure, but he was a long way from the trashed Logan she had become more used to seeing. “Okay,” she replied. “I’ll just grab Betty and her stuff.”
Logan smiled at her calling the doll Betty.
*
By the time they arrived at Veronica’s apartment, she was asleep. Logan had seen the shadows under her eyes and wondered what she was doing that meant she wasn’t sleeping. He had upped the thermostat a little and taken it very easy on the drive and the increased warmth and gentle motion of the car had done its job. He eased into a parking spot and sat, waiting until his passenger stirred, looking over at the girl he had fallen in love with, the girl, if he was honest, he still loved.
She looked younger in sleep. A little like sleeping beauty, blonde and innocent. More like the pink Veronica from before. His eyes were drawn to her lips and he wondered what would happen if he leaned over and kissed them, kissed her awake like the princess in the fairy tale.
And then the silence was broken by the sound of crying from the back seat. Logan snapped out of his thoughts and swivelled around to reach for Betty, but the spell was broken and Veronica startled awake.
“Sorry, I must have fallen asleep,” she mumbled. “I’ll get my stuff and get out of your hair. She exited the Xterra and opened the door to the back seat where the baby carrier was fastened.
Logan looked over his shoulder to see her struggling to pick up the baby carrier and bag, her own bag and the large brown paper bag she had carried out of the restaurant. He made a quick decision and jumped out of the car to head around to her side. “Here, let me help.” Taking the carrier and the baby bag, he gestured to her to lead the way.
“Ah thanks, but I could have managed.”
“It’s no problem, Veronica.”
At her apartment, she unlocked and opened the door and Logan walked in, putting the carrier and the bag on the coffee table. Turning around, he saw Veronica putting the large paper bag she carried on the counter, and asked, “What’s that?”
“Dinner.”
“Chocolate lava cake?”
“Ha, you think you know me so well.”
“Well is it?”
“No smartypants.”
“What is it, then?” he asked, opening the bag a little to sneak a peek.
“Chocolate nutgasm cake,” she mumbled. “It’s new.”
“I stand corrected, then,” he replied apologetically, but his smirk gave him away. He turned when he heard a noise behind him and found Backup, the Mars’s pit bull coming towards him and he squatted down to say hello, murmuring, “Hey, boy, did you miss me,” while stroking the dog’s head. He looked up to see Veronica looking at him.
“I had forgotten how much he loves you, I always wondered if you carried dog treats in your pockets to soften him up.”
“I’ll have you know that dogs are a good judge of character, Veronica.”
“Hmmm, he never used to like Duncan.”
“Used to?” said Logan, thinking, does he like him now?
“It’s a long time since he’s seen him.”
Logan was about to ask about that rather cryptic comment, when Betty picked that moment to cry again and Veronica picked the doll up out of its carrier. “Um, I better go change and feed her. Are you okay to let yourself out?”
“Sure, Veronica.”
“Thanks for the ride, Logan.”
“Anytime,” he replied. And realized he really meant it as she headed towards her bedroom.
*
When she returned, with a diaper changed and fed Betty in her arms, Logan was still there in her kitchen with the Keurig on, making coffee and getting out a plate for her cake. “Any chance there might be enough to give me a sliver?”
Veronica held up Betty, “You’d steal food from the mouth of the mother of your child?”
Logan looked up at her quickly as a flash of her holding a real baby crossed his mind. He pushed that away as the wayward thinking of too much sobriety and replied, his voice slightly strangled, “Well I wouldn’t want to do that.”
Veronica looked at him oddly at the change in his voice, but said, “It’s an enormous piece. There’s plenty for two,” and got two plates out of the cupboard. “Ice cream?”
“Not enough on its own, Mars?”
“I like some dairy with my chocolate. More food groups. Besides, the nuts provide protein.” She pulled out a jar of maraschino cherries. “Now it’s a balanced meal.” She passed him Betty, “Can you put her in the carrier?”
“It’s late, so she should stay quiet till morning now.”
“Have you had any night feeds?”
“First night, last week.”
“Same with me, but not since.”
“Small mercies.”
They sat together on the couch, coffee on the table, cake in hand. Veronica moaned at the first spoonful of cake and ice cream into her mouth, and Logan felt that moan straight to his groin, and his mind went back to the fact that she was another guy’s girlfriend now. She asked, “Do you want to put a movie on, or something?”
“Sure,” replied Logan. As she went to select a dvd, he asked her, “Why is an A so important?”
“The Kane scholarship. Highest GPA gets it. It’s pretty much between me, Angie Dahl and J.B. Riley now. If I get less than an A, that’s pretty much all over for me.”
“I thought you’d have a lock on it now.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You’re dating the eldest son, remember.”
She swivelled around to look at him, “I’m not dating Duncan.”
“You broke up?”
“We never got back together. We went on a date, but well, I’m not the girl I was before and that’s what Duncan wants.”
I thought,” started Logan.
I didn’t break up with you because I wanted to get back together with him. It wasn’t like that. Just, after we broke up ﹘.”
“After you dumped me,” Logan interjected.
“After we broke up,” she reiterated, “He kept coming in to see me.”
“He moved in pretty quickly. He was at the Hut almost every day even before we split.”
“I guess I thought that dating him would be normal again.”
“But it wasn’t?”
“No. Turns out I was wrong. He wanted sweet pink Veronica. Like I was before.” She spoke quickly, “But I’m not that girl anymore.”
“Were you ever, really? That was more a role. A foil for Lilly.”
“Your eyes are clear. You see me as I am.” She cleared her throat as it tightened with her next thoughts. “And what he did last year, at Shelley’s house. It wasn’t right. Even if he thought I consented, he still believed I was his half-sister and he had sex with me without telling me that. I just can't get past that and I don’t want to be with him.”
Logan experienced a flash of anger at Duncan, and then at himself for his own part in that night, but put it aside. “So you’re not dating Duncan?”
“No, he’s dating Meg again,” she replied. “How did you not know? Everyone else does.”
“I might have told people to never mention either of your names to me again.”
“Ah.”
Logan changed the subject. “You’re working for your dad again?”
“Sure. Invoices, filing, a bit of reception.” The lie was practiced, smooth. Belatedly she remembered the job she’d done the previous week, “Last week was just a coincidence.”
“So no fieldwork? Late nights, surveillance? Snapping money shots?”
Veronica was silent.
Logan sighed. “Does your dad know you’re doing it?”
“Of course he does.”
Logan watched her. He knew her. “Veronica?”
“Okay no. But I need the money and I’m only doing straightforward jobs. Never even get out of my car.”
“Who’s your backup? Wallace?”
Veronica stayed silent, fiddled with the blanket on the couch.
“And I thought I was the one who prevaricates,” said Logan. You’re going out there with no backup, no-one knowing where you are or what you’re doing.”
“I know what I’m doing, Logan, and I take Backup.”
“The dog doesn’t count,” he replied, deadpan. Then he sighed again, “At least let me know when you’re going if your Dad’s away.”
“Why do you care, anyway, Logan?”
He looked over at her, assessingly. “You know why, Veronica.”
“You didn’t seem to care much in the summer, when you were trying to start a war.”
He closed his eyes, acknowledging the truth in her words. “I’m sorry about the summer. When they shot out the window of my car, when you were with me, I saw red. And I kind of just lost control. I thought I needed to protect you, to avenge you and that was how to do it.”
She looked into his eyes.
“Someone disabused me of that notion.”
“What?”
“Somebody told me that if I want to be credible at Aaron’s trial, I have to reign myself in.”
“Did your lawyer tell you that, or the prosecutor?”
Logan looked at his feet, not wanting to look directly at her. “Who cares as much as you and I that Aaron gets what he deserves for what he did to Lilly, to you?”
She looked at him incredulously.
“Who cares most about you?”
“My dad,” she whispered.
“Bingo! Got it in one.”
Veronica lapsed into silence again.
“Um, he also told me that even if we weren’t together, it would hurt you if something happened to me. That too many things have happened to you and you didn’t need that too.”
Veronica looked at her feet. “He was right,” she said, voice small, almost tremulous.
They sat in silence for a few minutes.
Logan cleared his throat, now suspiciously tight, “I should probably go. Let you get some sleep.”
Don’t go, she thought, but replied, “Okay.” Then, before she could chicken out, she said, “Um, Mac and Wallace are coming over Sunday afternoon for pizza and movies. Celebrate the impending end of parenting class. Do you want to come?” It came out in a hurry, the words tripping over each other.
“Are you sure you want me around when your friends are here?”
“You’re my friend too. At least I think that’s what we are again now, aren’t we? I did share my chocolate cake with you.”
“True. And knowing how you feel about chocolate, that must make me a very good friend.”
“Obviously top-tier.”
Logan looked over at her and watched as she took a sip of her coffee. “Or the father of your child.” Veronica spat out her coffee and Logan laughed at her expression. “Gotcha.”
*
“I hope it’s okay, but I asked Logan to join us,” said Veronica as she answered the door to Wallace and Mac, laden with pizza and their own fake baby. “He should be here in about fifteen.”
Mac and Wallace looked at each other, then her, surprise in their eyes, but Mac recovered fastest, “Sure.”
Wallace, more forthright, spoke up, “So the two of you are getting along again? Is there something we should know about?”
“No, no!” Veronica was quick to respond. “But this assignment, working together, it’s been pretty easy. He’s changed, calmer, and we’re just friends again, that’s all. Friends,” she said quickly, words rushing out on top of one another.
Wallace and Mac looked at each other again, and when Veronica turned away to lead them in, Mac raised her eyebrows while Wallace rolled his eyes and shook his head.
After Logan arrived carrying a heavy backpack, Veronica turned to the group and said, “So our movie choices for tonight are Three Men and a Baby, comedy; Bringing Up Baby, classic; Cry-baby, alternative; and Rosemary’s Baby , horror.”
“Really keeping with the baby theme there, Veronica?”
“Keeping it real, Logan.”
“I vote for comedy and classic to start,” said Wallace quickly.
Mac shrugged and nodded her agreement.
Logan said, “I kind of like the idea of horror, but comedy and classic are good too.”
“Comedy and classic to start then, and maybe horror to follow?” said Veronica. When they all agreed, she followed up saying, “Dvd’s are by the TV. Can you guys set up while I get the food?
Four hours later, with the detritus of pizza, popcorn, napkins and soda in front of them, Veronica finally asked the question that had been eating at her all night. “What have you got in that bag, Logan?”
“I’m thinking beer, maybe scotch?” piped up Mac.
“Sorry to disappoint. I do have an XBox with a multiplayer NBA title, in case we wanted a change of pace?”
Wallace’s head spun round so fast that Veronica thought he might get whiplash. “The NBA Live 05 title?”
“The 06. Gets released at the end of this week, but I got an advance copy.”
“Sweet.”
“Wallace, you know I’ll kick your ass at it,” said Mac.
“This is basketball, Mac,” he responded triumphantly. “This is my jam.”
Mac just shook her head at him. “Poor, sweet, summer child. You forget that videogames are my jam.”
Logan got up to grab the backpack but detoured when Betty started crying. It was the third time that afternoon and he was pretty sure that this time she needed to be fed. Veronica said, “Pass her to me. I’ll sort her out,” and as he did, he realized something strange.
Turning to face Mac, he said, “Has anyone else noticed that while Veronica and I have had to change and feed our doll three times this afternoon, yours ﹘” and he nodded at Wallace and Mac, “﹘ hasn’t made a sound.” I wonder why?”
Mac smiled and answered, “I guess we just got lucky.”
Veronica looked at her and then over at Wallace who was squirming a little. “You think you got lucky, Wallace?”
“Yeah, sure. We just got lucky,” he responded, about as unconvincingly as any human could. “I guess it was just time for it’s nap.”
“Uh huh. You must be really lucky for it to have, what is it, a nearly five hour nap.” Veronica swivelled to look at Mac. “You wouldn’t be able to share your secrets, would you? About how to make the doll take a five hour nap?” Veronica pressed on when she saw that Mac was looking uncomfortable and Wallace was now sweating. “Maybe you have some magic lullaby? Or maybe some special trick? Or what do they call it, a hack ?”
Wallace turned to Mac and said, “I told you she would figure it out.”
Logan looked at the two now very guilty looking friends. “You hacked the doll?”
“Well, it’s not like it was difficult,” said Mac finally. “And it’s a stupid ‘scare the kids into using birth control or not having sex’ exercise.” She looked up at Logan and Veronica sheepishly, “I kind of did yours too.”
“What?” said Veronica.
“I switched off the night-time interruptions.”
“I knew it was odd we didn’t have any night crying. Dick said theirs was just about every night,” said Logan. “Thanks, I guess.”
Veronica looked at Mac carefully. “Are you sure they can’t tell? I can’t afford to get caught.”
“The software analyses the data from the doll and just spits out a percentage of acceptable care for each doll . Since I switched it off at night, that just doesn’t count in the figures.” She looked a little guilty then, “I also kind of just smoothed out any low spots, like in the first week. So the percentage is better.”
“But yours doesn’t do anything at all?”
Wallace spoke up, “Not now. It did in the first week, for a few days.”
“We kind of built our percentage statistics then. It doesn’t recognize time when it is shut down,” added Mac.
“You hacked the doll ﹘” started Veronica.
Logan jumped in, “No-one will ever know, will they?” He looked at Mac pleadingly.
“They would only know if a programmer went into the base data and checked carefully. Even then they can’t prove anything. But Health teachers just get the score and assign the grade. It’s easy for them. Nothing to mark, nothing to grade, just a report from the software.” Mac looked directly at Veronica, “Seriously, Veronica, you’ve still cared for it. It’s for a health class. With Ms Hauser. Is it really important?”
“You hacked the doll,” Veronica repeated. “And you didn’t tell me!”
Wallace started laughing and Mac looked at them all in surprise. “She doesn't care that we did it, does she?”
“No girl. She’s just pissed that she didn’t know,” replied Wallace.
Logan smirked. “And that I noticed it before she did.”
Veronica narrowed her eyes and threw a cushion at him. He dodged, laughing, and said, “Should I set up the Xbox now?.” Wallace hooted in agreement and even Mac started to laugh.
*
Three tubs of icecream, two hours, and a fiercely contested basketball tournament later, Mac emerged victorious. Wallace arose from the couch, stretched, and said, “I think I had better go home.”
“Sore loser,” teased Mac.
He scowled at her. Addressing Logan, he said, “Are you heading home?”
Logan looked over at Veronica as he answered, “In a bit. I’ll just pack up the Xbox.”
Mac and Wallace looked at him, at Veronica and then rolled their eyes. Veronica saw their expressions, narrowed her eyes and pushed them out the door.
Logan unplugged the game machine and watched Veronica as she cleared bowls and glasses and headed to the kitchen. “What else can I do?” he asked.
Veronica looked up at him, surprised, but then a lot of this new Logan was surprising her. She grabbed a garbage bag from a cupboard and said, “Umm, could you pick up the trash while I start the dishes.”
He took the bag without speaking and headed around the small apartment picking up the small collection of pizza boxes, napkins and soda bottles that had accumulated. “I’ll just take this out to the dumpster,” and headed out the door.
Upon his return, Logan saw Veronica with her hands in the sink, washing dishes. He headed over to stand beside her and picking up a dish towel, started drying dishes. Veronica stopped short, looked up at his face and said, “Who are you, and what have you done with Logan?”
“I can dry dishes.”
“I’m sure you can. I’m just surprised that you are.”
“Hey, I’m trying to be a better person here.”
“Why? To what end?”
“So suspicious, Veronica.”
“Wow, it’s like you know me or something.”
Logan couldn’t help it, he laughed.
Defensively, Veronica retorted, “It’s just so﹘” she paused, “﹘unlike you.”
Imitating her, he answered, “Wow, Veronica, I could be offended. Instead, I’ll just take that as a compliment.”
“Come on, Logan, I can get that you want to keep a low profile. Even maybe do better at school. But this domesticity?”
“Can’t a guy change?”
“Sure, I guess. But this just seems like a lot. Especially for someone who has grown up with housekeepers and maids.”
“I just don’t want to be that guy.”
“What guy?”
“The one who has everything handed to him on a platter. And then squanders it. I see all these guys down at the shelter. How hard it is for them to get back up.” He looked down at her, eyes expressive and she saw the sincerity there.
“Okay,” she said simply. “That’s a good thing.”
She looked back up at him and their eyes locked. She felt as if she was drowning and lifted her hand to steady herself on his arm. She turned to face him and his arms came around her, gathering her in until her head rested on his shoulder and she could feel the warmth of his body against hers. He kissed her forehead gently and she pushed up onto her toes, seeking more. He lowered his head slowly until she could feel his breath on her lips, when suddenly they heard the door open.
Springing apart, they looked around to see Keith Mars coming in the door. “Logan,” he said cautiously.
Veronica jumped in, “He was just helping me clean up. He and Wallace and Mac were all here earlier. The health class assignment.”
“Ah yes, pizza for parents,” he quipped.
Logan turned to Veronica, “Unless there is anything else, I had better go.” He picked up his backpack and headed towards the door.
“Aren’t you forgetting something, Logan?” said Keith.
Logan looked around momentarily before striding up to Veronica and quickly kissing her full on the lips.
“I meant the doll,” Keith sputtered.
“Oh, yeah, that.” Logan scooped up the carrier and walked out the door. “See you at school tomorrow, Veronica.”
Keith looked over at Veronica and raised his eyebrows. She had lifted one hand to her lips and was looking stunned. He shook his head and walked out of the room.