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It was late afternoon when Logan got home from his patrol, the sun just starting its decent to the horizon and golden light bathed the landscape.
He had ridden through the badlands that day, making sure all the critters and monsters stayed in their areas and didn’t start creeping towards town. He only had issues with the one pack of rockyenarolls who were creeping down the train tracks. It was always the same pack. He beat and chased them back to their den and figured he had a few weeks before they tried to creep forward again.
He was tired though and looking forward to being home and having a nice hot dinner. Lucy had told him she planned to make some steaks tonight with the vegetables they had left over from last harvest. He had a lot to be grateful for but having Lucy cook for him was pretty top of the list. He was wondering if he could talk her into a night off, they could sit out on the swing and enjoy the cool night air as the sun set.
He felt the change in the air as he got to the yard. Patting and mumbling a quiet apology to Rambo for not brushing him down right away, he turned to the house. He could hear shouting but not what exactly was being said.
Forgoing his normal routine of removing his gear before entering his home he quickly moved through to the kitchen where his wife and son’s voices originated from. It was out of character for either to be angry enough to yell, much less at each other.
The moment he stepped through the door though it was like the air was charged with tension and anger. The hair on his arms stood on end, the bright light of the room contrasting with the dark look on his family’s faces. They were toe to toe; Andy having grown to be almost the same height as Lucy.
“You could have been lost! DIED! We wouldn’t have even known where to look!” Lucy shouted as she became aware of his presence. Both turned and sent glares at him before Andy threw his arms up and stomped out past him and towards the stairs.
Moments later the sound of his door slamming shut reverberated through the home.
Logan just stood there, unsure what was going on and what to do about it, as Lucy, having deflated the moment Andy left the room, took a few deep breaths and turned to him with a forced smile.
“Hey, honey! You’re home early, I haven’t started dinner yet.”
Logan stepped forward as her voice waivered, and she moved to the refrigerator to pull out the meat to come up to temperature.
“Luce, darlin’?” he quietly asked all his questions in that one greeting, reaching out to her as she put the steaks on the counter. He pulled her into a hug as her breath shuddered, and she tried to push back her emotions.
Her arms wound around him without thinking as she held him tight, burying her head into his chest, still dusty from the trail. She took another deep breath, the smell of hot sand and rock and a little bit of sweat and goat, filled her nose and she lost the battle.
A sob tore from her chest as she fisted the back of Logan’s duster, trying to dig deeper into his body. He hugged her back just as hard, surrounding her small body with his, protecting her from the outside world as best he could, and let her get it all out.
After a few moments Lucy pulled back, not leaving his arms but relaxing her hold on him just a little.
“Sorry, hun.” She wiped at the tear tracks she left through the dust on his shirt.
“Don’t ever apologize for letting me be there for you, darlin’. Care to tell me what all the mess was?”
Lucy hiccupped and fully broke away with a small, sad, smile. “It’s between Andy and I, don’t worry. Now, let me work on dinner. You must be hungry after being out all day. Did you even brush out Rambo when you got here?”
She checked the clock on the wall as if to calculate if he had taken time to care for his goat before running inside. He shook his head.
“Lucy…”
“Don’t worry Logan. Please.”
Logan slowly nodded, looking at the open doorway opposite the room to the stairs where Andy had gone to his room. Should he go approach his son? Let him calm down first? They all normally got on so well, he wasn’t quite sure how to handle this situation. Andy was growing and Mable and Vivi had told him to expect pushback and attitude. But he expected it to be directed at him, not Lucy.
Lucy was moving stiffly around the kitchen, keeping occupied until it was time to make dinner. Logan looked towards the stairs one last time before turning and going back outside to take care of Rambo.
And maybe collect his thoughts.
It was obvious something big had happened. For Lucy to keep it between the two of them though instead of telling him made him think it was something he wasn’t going to be happy about either and she wanted to protect Andy from that.
They typically told each other everything though. He didn’t like secrets after everything that had gone down with his Pa and Duvos. He didn’t like that she wasn’t sharing something that was so upsetting for her or Andy. At the same time he appreciated that she would protect Andy and stand by him, even if it’s from him.
They had talked about her officially adopting him, much like he had done, but they hadn’t felt the need to. Maybe it was time to revisit that. If she acted like his Ma, she should be able to have the title. Even if Andy never called her Ma, he didn’t call him Pa after all, it would solidify their relationship with each other.
Rambo eventually got tired of his distracted half-assed care and stomped away to greet Merle and eat some hay. Logan, not having anything else to do, turned to make his way back inside, taking the time to divest his gear this time.
Looking up the stairs, Andy’s bedroom door was still closed. Looking towards the kitchen, he could hear Lucy cooking, the sizzle of something on the stove and the sound of a knife chopping. Normally she would be humming or chatting with Andy but today she was silent.
He didn’t like it.
Making his way to his wife he slid behind her, arms around her waist, chin on the top of her head he held her. She kept chopping but leaned back a little into his embrace and Logan felt her tense muscles relax a little.
She finished chopping and tossed the cut vegetables into the hot pan before leaning fully into him. He hugged her close as they swayed a little together, just soaking in each other’s presence. Lucy twisted to give Logan a soft kiss before stirring the cooking veggies.
They stayed that way as Lucy cooked. Logan knew better than to offer help but he didn’t want to leave her space either. He hated that she was upset. It had to have made cooking harder, but she hadn’t told him to go, and he wasn’t about to suggest it.
Lucy hugged him close for a moment before finally speaking. “Just about done, Lo. Mind going to see if Andy is going to join us or if he wants a plate to go?”
“Sure thing darlin’.” Logan kissed her temple and moved away and up the stairs.
He paused at the closed door to Andy’s room but couldn’t hear any movement from within. Knocking on the door he waited.
Andy flung the door open and glared at his adopted Pa with crossed arms. Logan could see his eyes were red and puffy, the boy had been crying as well. They stared at each other for a moment before Andy glared.
“Well? Ya gonna yell at me too?”
“What fer?”
Andy blinked. “Wadda ya mean what fer? Lucy told ya, right? Ya’all tell each other everything don’ cha?”
“Hmmm, we do, yeah. But she ain’t tell me this. Said it was between the two of ya and we left it at that.”
Andy straightened, dropping his arms to his sides. “Wha?”
“Um, hum.” Logan hummed. “She sent me ta see if yer gonna join us for dinner or if ya want a plate to eat up here.”
“She… she sent ya ta offer me a plate?” Andy quietly questioned, biting the bottom of his lip, looking at the stairs. “Like, the same dinner ya’all are eatin’?”
Logan just looked doubtfully at his son. It wasn’t often anymore that some snippet of his life before Logan and Haru found him would pop out but he could only assume this was one of those times.
“Well, what else are ya gonna eat? Of course it’s the same food.”
“And she really didn’ tell ya?”
“Well, I’m gettin’ the idea that I wouldn’ be this calm if she had. Whatever ya did had her all upset though. She was cryin’ a bit before makin’ dinner.”
Logan saw the tears well up in Andy’s eyes as he looked back to the stairs. The boy took in a shaky breath, his hands fisting and relaxing at his side as he warred with himself. Logan, hands in pockets, leaned against the door jamb.
“Wanna share?”
Andy’s response was quiet and slightly broken. “Does she hate me now?”
“Andy… no.” he straightened and pulled the boy towards him in a strong hug, mirroring the hug with Lucy earlier. “Ya couldn’ do anythin’ that would make her hate ya.” He ran his hand through his son’s hair as the boy let go and sobbed.
“It’s ok. Let it out. She don’ hate ya. She probably ain’t even that mad at ya. She loves ya. Probably more than me.”
Andy let out a shaky giggle before taking a deep breath and standing back.
“I went in tha mines. The one’s out by Rocky’s yard. I wanted to help out gathering ore. She caught me coming out.”
Logan sucked in a breath, forcing himself to remain calm.
“I jus wanted ta help! Lucy was tellin’ me all the things builders do. I thought if I could help maybe she’d teach me.”
Andy swiped the tears from his face as he pleaded with Logan.
“Right. Well. That explains a lot.”
“It’s like ya told me, when you would sneak out to go with yer Pa huntin’. Ya jus wanted ta learn and help and Howlett would teach ya. I didn’ expect Lucy ta get so mad…”
Logan looked at the boy, face red, hands clenched and defensive.
“She wasn’ mad at cha.”
“You hit yer head taday? Ya heard her yellin’.”
“No, I didn’ and yes I did. But she wasn’ mad at ya. She was scared fer ya. Terrified probably.”
“Scared? Lucy?”
“Yeah. She might not show it much, but there are a few things that terrify her. Losin’ you, well, that’s a top one. And do ya know how easy it’d be ta get lost in them mines?”
“I was fine though! I didn’ go far and it’s jus a little one. Rocky’s folks go in all the time, so do Mi-an and Lucy!”
Logan let out a breath and put his hands on the boys shoulders. “Ya might be fine this time but Lucy, she’s…” he paused, unsure if he should continue. Finally deciding the boy had been through hell before they even found him and he would benefit more from the information that it would hurt him he nodded.
“Lucy’s seen first hand what happens when people get lost. She’s found a few remains in the various mines she’s been in. Some of them people, well, they were other builders or miners, who knew what they were doin’. A few have been tourists who go in thinkin’ like you, that it can’t be that bad. But all of um never get out and until she found um, they were jus missin’, Their families never knowin’ what happened to um.
When she saw you comin’ out, I guarantee it was them bones that she saw. Add in that we didn’ know yer were goin’ there, if ya had gotten lost, well, it’s not a spot we woulda looked fer ya.”
“Oh…”
“She loves ya like her own, just like me. If somethin’ ever happened to ya… well, I don’ know what we’d do.”
Andy was crying again, Logan reaching out to pull him into another hug, but Andy pulled away and ran past and down the stairs.
Logan straightened up and slowly followed. This whole parenting thing was harder than he thought it’d be. He wanted to throttle the boy, not help him understand what he did wrong. Ok, he was lying to himself, he did want him to understand… but only after he got good and throttled.
Slowly making his way back to the kitchen he hoped he had made the right decision. Lucy didn’t like to talk about when she found the remains of someone who had gotten lost. Unsuur would always stick close to her when the Corps was called in and she seemed to lean on him during those moments.
He could hear the quiet murmurs of his family from the bottom of the stairs as he made his way in for dinner. He couldn’t stop the smile that formed when he saw the two of them, hugging tightly, Lucy softly rocking as she shushed the crying child in her arms.
Their eyes met and she mouthed a thank you as Andy’s sobs slowly calmed.
He smiled at his wife mouthing love you back.
She had set the table for the three of them, in hopes that Andy would eat with them. Logan walked past them, pausing to drop kisses to the crown of both their heads, before he grabbed the platter of meat and veggies.
Sitting the food in the center he took his normal seat. He felt Lucy’s hand softly drift across the back of his neck as she moved to her seat and Andy popped up on his other side to give him a quick but hard hug.
He smiled at his family around the table and said a quiet grace, thanking Peach that he survived his time as an outlaw and somehow was blessed with the love of the two most wonderful people in the world.
They would talk about a punishment for Andy later. For now, it was time for food and good company.