Symmetry Epilogue: A Good Start
Title: Symmetry Epilogue: A Good Start
Author:princess72385
Pairings/Characters: Logan/Veronica (mentions of: Mac/Dick, Keith/Alicia, Duncan)
Word Count: 6,129 (5,903 without lyrics)
Rating: PG (It’s basically fluff. A little payoff to all the angst in the rest of the story, but it still holds true to the ‘theme’ of the story.)
Summary: There are similarities to the past and now. History always repeats itself, whether we realize it or not and breaking the circle is always the most difficult part of it all.
Spoilers/Warnings: Everything to 3.17 (Debasement Tapes)
Future Fic
Disclaimer: None of it’s mine, and if it was it would all be going different right now. So don’t sue, because I have nothing and it’d be a waste of both our time. The Song is Little Wonders by Rob Thomas
Chapter 1: Everything Has It's Beginning... And It's End
Chapter 2: Leave My Heart Behind
Chapter 3a: When It's All Unraveling
Chapter 3b:When It's All Unraveling
Chapter 4a:The Lines That Cross
Chapter 4b: The Lines That Cross
Chapter 4.5:Almost Had It
Chapter 5: Everything You're Running From
Chapter 5.5: Steal the Night
Chapter 6:Wrap the Night Around Me
Chapter 7a: End of the Circle
Chapter 7b: End of the Circle
A/N: Okay, so this turned out to be more of a full chapter 8 wrap-up thing than an epilogue… but it’s still the end and I’m going to call it an epilogue anyway. The end.
Symmetry
Epilogue
A Good Start
Let it go
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don’t you know?
The hardest part is over
Let it in
Let your clarity define you
In the end, we will only just remember how it feels
Logan stood at the end of the make-shift aisle, nervously bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, willing himself not to look over his shoulder. He’d read somewhere that it was bad luck.
The music swelled and Logan finally turned around to see Veronica walking towards him, her hand tucked demurely in the crook of her father’s elbow. The rest of their party seemed to fade away and the edges of his vision blurred a bit before his focus cleared and centered on Veronica. She looked beautiful in what she had told him was a silk mermaid dress. She didn’t look like she was wearing something with a tail, but Logan figured she knew what she was talking about. After all, she looked beautiful in it.
Logan’s heart skipped a beat and he felt a pressure in his chest that kept him from taking a full deep breath. He felt so excited, like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest and he’d jump out of his own skin. This was finally happening.
~*~
Standing in front of thirty of their closest friends and family Veronica’s hands clung to Logan’s as she faced him fully to begin her vows.
“Hey.” She whispered, her voice coming out mostly as a gust of air and not real words. Logan mouthed the words back at her, trying desperately to hold back the tears that were threatening.
“Me first, okay.” Veronica said as she squeezed Logan’s hands and taking a deep breath before starting her actual vows. “I, Veronica, promise…” Veronica trailed off, trying to think of the words she’d written down on a note card this morning. A note card that still sat in her bedroom.
“I promise so many things, but none of them as important as me promising to love you forever. And I will, because there’s no one else I could love. We’ve been friends and enemies and lovers and everything in between, and it has all taught me that my life needs you in it. For the last eleven years I’ve been falling back to you, finding my way to you. For the last eleven years you’ve shown me that you can lose everything and still be open. You’re my hope, my one and I promise to always be there for you the way you have always been there for me.”
Logan shuffled a bit before turning his face away from her to wipe at his eyes.
“My turn.” Logan stated, his voice hitching on the lump in his throat. “Veronica, I love you. You’ve known that for years, and I don’t think you’ve ever really doubted that. I need you in a way that I could never need anyone else. You’ve fixed me time and time again. There was never anything I wouldn’t give you. So right now I’m promising to always love you, and always need you. I promise my life to you.” Logan nearly rolled his eyes at his own over-sentimentality, he’d promised himself not to over-romanticize his vows. So much for that, he thought.
There was a muffle of words, none of them discernible to him except the loud echo of Veronica saying “I do”. He swallowed hard, knowing that his turn was coming up. His palms began to sweat. He couldn’t hear what the guy was saying. It sounded garbled to him, almost like someone talking under water. He was going to mess it up.
“I do.” It had just come out, like second nature, instinctively. Like he had always known when to say it, like he had always been meant to.
The words were no longer distorted, but loud and crisp and clear. As the officiant pronounced them Man and wife, everything got clearer and Logan remembered which part came next before the man could tell him what to do.
Logan kissed the bride.
~*~
“So, husband, how much longer do you think we have to stay at this reception?” Veronica asked as she swayed slowly to the music, her head resting comfortably on Logan’s shoulder. Well, upper arm, she thought to herself, her heels still didn’t make her that tall.
“Probably a little more than the forty-five minutes we’ve put in. Well, if you don’t count the dinner.” Logan replied, reveling in the sound of her calling him husband. “There’s still the cake and the garter and the bouquet and the father-daughter dance thing…”
Veronica rolled her eyes before picking up where Logan had left off. “We don’t really have any single friends other than the newly-divorced Piz, so that’s just the garter thing. The bouquet I’m just going to give the bouquet I’m supposed to throw to Eli’s little girl. And I wouldn’t be shocked if someone has already taken a piece of our cake.”
“But the father-daughter dance, we can’t leave before that. You’re father would basically kill me if I whisked you away before his moment. After all, I got my first dance and have fending off other would-be suitors since then, its your dad’s turn. I’m sick of you already.” Logan joked lightly as his hand started to move in slow and comforting circles on her lower back. It was code for her to give in, let him have his way.
“Okay, but after that you have to take me back. Its actually the law now, for you to keep me and put up with me. In sickness and in health and all that crap.” Veronica sing-songed, her voice light and airy with her apparent happiness.
“I’ve never been one for the law.” Logan said offhandedly as he watched Keith get out of his seat and start over to them. It looked like they had missed the announcement of the dance in question during their light banter session.
“Logan.” Keith acknowledged as he took Veronica’s offered hand.
With a nod Logan made to step away, but was stopped by a sudden and unexpected hug from his new father-in-law.
~*~
"This is really good cake." Logan announced, scraping the majority of his piece off his chin. Unsurprisingly none of it had made it into his mouth. “You should have some.”
Veronica’s eyes widened as she saw what was about to happen a moment too late. The remains of her husband’s piece of cake came at her as he wiped his fingers across her cheek. He’d ruined her make up, and normally she would have been at least a little miffed by it. But not today. Today she just laughed, agreed that it was in fact good cake, and kissed him.
“Can we leave now?” Veronica asked in a whisper as she pulled out of the kiss.
“What’s your hurry to leave? I thought you were excited about this? At least that’s what you said every time we discussed the reception, that you were going to party like it was 1999 until it actually becomes 1999 again.” Logan questioned, barely managing to stop the eye-roll that always threatened to accompany that particular statement.
“I kind of wanted to tell you something, sort of like your wedding gift from me. It doesn’t have to be a private thing, I was just sort of hoping… since we hadn’t…” Veronica stammered and then trailed off.
“Since we haven’t what?” Logan prompted as he led her away from the cake table and the rest of the party.
“Since we haven’t discussed this particular thing, I just wanted to have the conversation in private. You know, due to the fact that I don’t know what your reaction will be exactly.” Veronica answered quickly, the words rushing out all at once.
“My reaction to what? We’re in private now.” Logan urged before a loud laugh sounded from underneath the giant tent that had been erected for their reception on the beach. Logan took his new wife by the hand and led hear just a little further away. “Okay, now.”
“I’m pregnant. Six weeks, I’m six weeks pregnant.” Veronica admitted, not really fearing Logan’s reaction now that she had actually said it. Saying it out loud made it real and made her realize what Logan’s reaction would be.
Logan’s face split into a grin as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her into the air. His mouth came crashing down on hers and once it connected he suddenly felt like he couldn’t get enough. Like this really was the start of everything.
All lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours still remain
“Logan Nathanial Echolls, I hate you!” Veronica screamed through her gritted teeth as she bore down on Logan’s hand.
“Yeah, I know. I suck, could you ease off a bit though?” Logan whined as the crushing pain in his hand almost made him fall to his knees at her bedside. Veronica unexpectedly complied, although Logan had a feeling it was due to her brief reprieve from pushing. As his wife fell back into her pillows for a moment Logan looked at his purpling hand, still firmly in her grasp, then back at her. She looked so small and dainty, it was hard to believe that his hand felt like it had been on the verge of breaking due to her grip.
“Push again, Veronica.” The doctor instructed, hunched below her and staring at a place Logan firmly believed should be for his eyes only on most occasions. Except for today. Today Logan had given the good doctor special VIP rights.
“Come one honey. You can do it. Only a couple more times. You can do it!” A cheery and annoying nurse encouraged from the other side of his wife.
“I know I can do it, now back off Barbie!” Veronica yelled as she leaned forward to push again. “Logan, if that woman doesn’t disappear in two seconds I’m going to commit murder while giving birth!”
Logan looked up and glared at the nurse. He didn’t need any more problems right now. His child was in the middle of being born, his wife seemed intent on breaking his hand and now he had a much too perky nurse. “ Shut up or get out!”
“It’s crowning!” The doctor announced from his place between Veronica’s legs. She felt like screaming obscenities at him. Of course she knew it was crowning, she could fucking feel it. “Would you like to take a look Mr. Echolls?”
Veronica almost shouted out a denial to the doctor’s question, until she saw the look on his face. There was no way in hell Logan wanted a sneak peak at this.
“No!” Logan shouted, before looking down at Veronica. “Dick looked. Said he’d never be able to look at Mac the same again. I don’t want to risk it.”
Veronica almost laughed before she was gripped with pain again. It was stupid to do this without drugs. Logan had rallied for drugs, arguing that he didn’t want her in any more pain than was absolutely necessary. She had been stubborn and refused. Now she wished she would have just given in.
“One more push Veronica, one more.”
Logan watched as Veronica leaned forward and pushed with everything she had in her. She was more amazing than anyone else on the planet, going from hero to super-hero as she screamed and pushed one final time.
“It’s a girl!” The doctor announced loudly as Veronica fell back into the pillows, exhausted. Moments later there was a cry.
“It’s a girl, baby. I know we already knew that, but a girl.” Logan told her, still holding her hand and standing on his tip-toes, trying to see what the nurses were doing with his daughter.
“Go see.” Veronica said softly, her voice sounding more tired than he had ever heard it before.
Logan, was reluctant to relinquish her hand, but finally did so in favor of being handed his newborn daughter.
“Hi sweetheart. I’m your daddy.” Logan informed this new little person that lay snuggled in his arms. “And this is your mommy, you know her.”
Logan passed his daughter to his wife, kissing them both on the forehead in the process. “Are we still naming her what…?”
“Isabella Annette. That’s what we decided on right? And it suits her don’t you think?”
“Yeah, it really does.” Logan agreed, leaning down until his face was even with his wife’s and he could look into his daughter’s face. His right arm slipped behind Veronica’s shoulders as his left hand swept over his daughter’s head. “Isabella Annette Echolls. Welcome to the world.”
“Yeah, welcome to the world honey.” Veronica whispered before looking into Logan’s eyes, her wistful expression gone and in it’s place was serious concern. “Watch that nurse around the baby.” Logan’s brow furrowed in confusion. “She seemed a little too interested in her,” Veronica looked back down at Isabella, whose eyes had closed. “Like she’d take her or something.”
Let it slide
Let your trouble fall behind you
Let it shine
Till you feel it all around you
And I don’t mind
If it’s me you need to turn to
We’ll get by
It’s the heart that really matters
In the end
Logan swung open the front door of the house, briefly wondering why all the lights were on before remembering what a hurry they had been in when they left. He’d gone into such a panic when Veronica had told him her water broke that he had run from room to room turning on lights and trying to get everything he quite possibly would never need at a hospital. Logan just shook his head and preceded on his way to his bedroom.
Setting his sleeping daughter in the middle of his and Veronica’s enormous bed, he stepped back to make sure there would be no way she would roll off the bed while he was gone. Satisfied he turned and headed back out to the car.
Stepping outside he squinted at the harsh glare of the mid-afternoon light, only to see his wife sliding cautiously out of their car.
“You were supposed to wait!” Logan yelled as he jogged to her side. “This was so much easier when we had one, but two babies make it two trips.”
“I can walk on my own, Logan. And dad offered to help, but you said we could do it.” Veronica batted away his hands as he tried to help her. “Will you just get the baby?”
Logan popped open the rear-passenger side door to the car and began undoing the snaps and buckles that kept the car seat firmly in place.
“It’s only been two years since we did this with Isabella, you’d think you would have remembered the procedure, babe.” Veronica yelled to him over her shoulder, already halfway up the walkway to the house.
“With Bella your labor came a little slower, kind of eased us into it. Christopher on the other hand moved right along, too impatient to take his time.” Logan responded softly as he slid his son out of the car seat, cuddling him to his chest.
Logan was nearly to the front door when he heard a car pull up. Without looking around to see he whispered gently to his now fully alert son, “I’d pretty much stake my life on the fact that that is your grandfather.”
“Logan? You need any help there son?” Keith asked, his voice getting closer with each syllable.
“Nope, I got it.”
Veronica was already settled into the couch by time he got into the house, looking like she was still ready for anything.
~*~
Several hours later, Logan was completely worn out. Keith had stayed for a while, trying to help him the best he could with the chaos that was ‘homecoming day’, but eventually even he had to head home.
Isabella’s nap had done nothing to improve the two year old’s mood and she had thrown two temper tantrums, cut her finger and cried for an hour for no apparent reason. When eight o’clock rolled around Logan had happily announced her bedtime, never having been so glad to his baby girl to bed just to get away from her.
Of course she hadn’t been all of his problem. Veronica was still so tired he had simply just carried her into bed to let her rest, assuring her that he’d take care of the kids. After all, he had no problems taking care of Isabella on his own usually. What was one more?
He had severely misjudged the situation, forgetting that even though he knew how to take care of a two year old and a newborn, he did not know how to take care of both at once. Every time she screamed she woke Chris up, and he cried. And every time he cried and Logan picked him up Isabella would cry and scream and throw a tantrum. Logan tried to hush them as much as possible, telling them they didn’t wake mommy up. But that just made Isabella cry louder and ask for mommy, which in turn upset Chris more.
Eventually Logan slipped Christopher into bed with Veronica while he fed and bathed Isabella, read her her story and left her as she slept. By time he got back to the bedroom Veronica was awake and just finishing up with nursing their son.
“God you look tired.” She said, a hint of laughter in her voice as she laid their son in basinet next to her side of the bed. Logan pulled his rather ripe smelling t-shirt over his head as he kicked off his jeans.
“Thanks, honey. You look great, too.” Logan replied begrudgingly, slipping into bed beside her, clad in only his boxers. “Not all of us napped all day while other people took care of the kids.”
“That was your idea, don’t whine about it to me.” Veronica rolled into his side as he reached over to turn off the lamp on his side of the bed.
“I was talking to your dad, and do you know who else just had a baby?” Logan queried as he snuggled his wife closer to him.
“Someone else had the audacity to give birth at the same time as me? The nerve.” Her normally sarcastic and fun banter was tampered a bit by her exhaustion, and the effect was completely ruined by the loud yawn she let out afterwards.
“Duncan.” Logan said regretfully.
“Really? Him and Lindsay?” Veronica asked, shifting upwards so she could attempt to look her husband in the face, even though it was obviously too dark to do so.
“Yeah, they named him Adam Jacob. I guess it was in the paper.” Logan informed her as he arched back in a little stretch.
“Hmm… wonder how we missed that.” She replied as she settled back down into Logan’s warmth. “It’s still a little weird not knowing everything about him right away, having to be told by someone else. Huh?”
“Yeah, but that’s not our fault.” Logan felt a pang, a small one that he still sometimes got when he heard about something big that had or was happening in Duncan’s life. He still missed him, the friendship he had always thought they shared.
“I know.” Veronica’s voice was sleepy and distant, she was talking through a yawn. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Logan whispered back, knowing she was already asleep.
All lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours still remain
“Logan!” Veronica shouted, her voice calm and somehow urgent at the same time. It was something she’d perfected in these last few years, the years in which she’d been a mother, letting her husband know it was important without panicking him. He panicked easily these days, when it came to the kids and the possibility of something being wrong.
“Yes, dear?” Logan asked as he walked into the kitchen, he had all the appearance of being calm but she could tell that he had run to her from across the house. He was freaking out, like he did near the end of her last two pregnancies. It didn’t matter that he’d gone through this twice before, he still didn’t feel like he had a clue.
“I think it’s time we head to the hospital.” Veronica stated, one hand braced on the countertop and the other pressed against the swell of her stomach. “And before you ask how I know, my water broke and after doing this a couple times already I’ve kind of gotten the impression that that is when you should go.”
Logan hurried to his wife, ushering her to the foyer to sit and wait until he got everything else in order. Hospital bag that had already been prepared and set in the front hall closet. Check. Isabella pulled away from her cartoons and blocks and rushed out to the car. Check. Christopher woken from his nap and now screaming in his car seat. Check.
After making sure that both kids were tucked safely into the car, along with a diaper bag for each of them, he turned to Veronica. Helping her up from the small couch that sat in the front of the house he supported her as they walked as quickly as possible to the car.
Logan put the car into gear and started off on the route he knew was a quick fifteen minute trip to the hospital. The route that he had not only taken twice before, but the one he had shortened down to ten minutes of both occasions.
~*~
Veronica was settled into her hospital room, monitors set up and ice chips ready. She was on the phone with Mac, telling her not to worry about coming to the hospital. Mac had three kids to bring in, the twins were Bella’s age but the youngest was barely two months old and Veronica didn’t want to ‘be a hassle’.
Logan walked through the hospital with his son resting on his hip. Chris’s head was laying on his shoulder, sound asleep. He watched as Isabella tottered along nearly ten feet ahead of him, walking the walk of a three year old who hadn’t completely mastered the skill without a stumble or two yet. She was a little clumsy, like he had been at that age. Or so Trina had told him last month when she’d been up to visit her niece and nephew.
Suddenly there were a pair of denim covered legs standing in front of his daughter, blocking her path to the cafeteria. Isabella halted, her neck bending back as she strained to look up at the tall stranger obstructing her course.
“Hi sweetheart, where’s you mommy and daddy?”
Logan quickened his pace, not wanting to yell out and risk waking his son in the process. Isabella looked back, her bottom lip quivering a little, scared even though the man had used the gentlest of voices with her. She did not react to strangers well.
“It’s okay, I’m right here.” Logan said in the softest voice possible as he came up behind his daughter. She had blonde hair, layered due to the fact that Veronica had had to cut gum out of her hair only a week ago, but it was honey colored and long none-the-less. Her deep blue eyes were darker than her mother’s, and moody like her fathers. She was probably a little small for her age, making her seem more fragile and delicate than she actually was. His little girl was tough, gave as good as she got, much to little Richie Casablancas’ dismay.
Duncan straightened up, standing from the kneeling position he had taken to speak to the little girl.
“I thought she was alone, I know how I get when Lilly wonders. I didn’t know she was… I didn’t want anyone to worry.” Duncan explained, his eyes curiously wondering over Logan’s children.
Logan could tell that Duncan wanted to ask all sorts of questions. What are their names? How old are they? Where’s Veronica? Why are you here? But Logan also knew that he wouldn’t actually be asking any of them.
“Chris, Bella and I were just on our way to get something to eat and drink while we wait for grandpa, right baby?” Logan answered some of Duncan’s unspoken questions anyway, reaching his hand down for his daughter to take hold.
Isabella turned her gaze to her father before nodding, clutching at his hand. “Daddy? When mommy is done havin the baby can we go ta the park?”
Logan smiled indulgently, answering with a “We’ll see” before looking back up to Duncan’s obviously shocked face.
A tight, fake smile graced Logan’s face momentarily before he turned to lead his daughter into the hospital cafeteria. He had decided to get them milk and cookies while they waited for their grandfather to get here. Keith was taking a lot longer than he had the first two times, but then again he was probably waiting for Alicia. They’d both have to be here to watch the children while Logan set up camp at his wife’s side.
He was thankful that Duncan wasn’t still out in the hallway when the three exited the cafeteria. He was even more relieved when he got a glimpse of Keith, Alicia, Wallace and Dick walking through the front hospital.
Reinforcements.
All of my regret
Will wash away somehow
But I cannot forget
The way I feel right now
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Yeah these twists and turns of fate
“Well, we won’t be doing that again.” Veronica sighed out as she cuddled her newborn daughter to her chest.
Logan rolled his eyes as he shifted on the hospital bed, trying to get a look at his youngest child. Apparently his last child. He had gotten a vasectomy about two months after Veronica had learned she was pregnant for the fourth time. Amelia had turned two and they had gotten sloppy with the birth control. Five months after celebrating their youngest daughter’s birthday Veronica had found out she was three months pregnant.
“So, what’s her name?” Logan asked as his wife handed their newest child over to him, she leaned over to her right to swat at a bottle of water that was just out of her reach. Holding his daughter close to his chest he walked around the bed to get it for her. He’d been holding his own babies for just over six years now and he was still afraid he might drop one. No matter how much he told Isabella he had dropped her on her head when she was a baby, he hadn’t actually done it yet.
“I don’t know, Logan. We never decided.” Veronica whined, exasperated. They were having a lot harder of a time naming this one than they had had with the other three. Isabella Annette. Christopher Keith. Amelia Elizabeth. They’d decided on them long before their births, the names coming to them easily. Perhaps it was knowing that she was the last one, but they just couldn’t seem to agree on a name.
“How about Ava Lynn? It seems to suit her.” Logan asked in a soft cooing voice as his daughter’s eyes opened sleepily to look up at him before closing again. And just like that he was in love. It’d been the same with the other three, one moment and he was a complete goner. Isabella had yawned, Christopher had cried and Amelia had clutched his finger.
“That’s beautiful, honey. I think we should go with that.” Veronica smiled as she saw the dreamy look overcome his face. He was a good father, completely adored his children. His original worry that he would turn out like one or both of his parents in some way hadn’t lasted long. Isabella had only been a few hours old when he had broken down and cried. He told her he couldn’t ever imagine wanting to hurt his own child, and Veronica’s heart had broken a little when he asked how his own father had been able to.
“I’m going to go get her big sisters and brother,” Logan announced as he passed the tiny baby over to his wife. He turned at the door to look back at Veronica, who was now gazing into their child’s face. A grin spread across his face, making it feel like it might split in two from the force. It was a picture he had branded in his memory, her doing this with each of their children, studying their little faces.
“Come young ones, it’s time to meet your little sister, Ava.” Logan’s voice boomed into the small waiting room as he burst through the doors. Keith stood with Amelia in his arms as Chris and Isabella stood from the small table they were sitting at, putting a puzzle together.
The four Echolls entered the room and each taking a seat on the hospital bed with Veronica and Ava, completing the sappy family picture that Keith snapped unexpectedly from the doorway. There was a chorus of “Hey”s as he slipped back out into the waiting room to hand the camera over to Alicia to hide.
It was likely Logan would try to destroy the picture on Veronica’s orders.
All lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twist and turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours still remain
Yeah they still remain
Logan leaned his head back in boredom, suddenly glad that his own parents had not been around to throw a party such as this for his graduation. Dick looked equally as bored in the seat directly across from him, stabbing at his chocolate graduation cake. The room that had once been decorated for Dick and Mac’s wedding was now decked out with green and gold streamers and balloons.
The party was a combined effort of the families for the five graduating seniors in the group. Parker’s older daughter Jane, who was nearly nineteen and the oldest of the five. Wallace’s younger son Andrew, who had been holding court with the basketball team up until about five minutes ago. Dick and Mac’s twins Richie and Emily, both of which had been forewarned about pulling any pranks today. Then there was Logan and Veronica’s oldest, Isabella, who was looking rather mischievous as she chatted with her friends and looked around slyly.
Sighing, Logan stood from his seat and went off in search of his wife, who had disappeared to the bathroom a good fifteen minutes earlier.
“Does that boy look familiar to you?” Veronica’s voice startled him as he passed through the door that led out of the reception hall.
“What boy?” Logan asked, turning around and taking a position to stand behind his wife, his hands coming up to rest on her hips.
“The one holding Amy’s hand… shamelessly.” Veronica answered with a hard edge in her voice.
“I guess the Mars women will always chase after the Kane men, huh?” Logan whispered into his wife’s ear as he watched his daughter, Amelia, flirt with Duncan’s son, Adam.
“What makes you think it’s not the Echolls in her chasing after the Kane in him?” Veronica shot back, she wouldn’t take all the blame for this. This was a vicious cycle that had gone on long enough, she had hoped that the rift between Duncan and Logan and her would be enough to keep their children apart. But here they were, Chris was as close to Adam as Logan had been to Duncan. As Veronica had been to Lilly. They acted as though they were brothers, or closer.
Somehow the groups always broke into fours. Isabella, Richie and Emily Casablancas, and Andrew mimicked the friendships and relationships that Logan and Veronica had shared with the Kanes. Now Veronica could see the same grouping with Chris and Amelia with Adam Kane and Zack Casablancas, Dick and Mac’s youngest child. She couldn’t even imagine the group Ava would find herself in, she was after all the youngest out of all the kids.
They were all pairing off too, not just Amelia and Adam.
Isabella and Richie had been dating for a few years now, and although it had seemed like they were just having fun at first Veronica got the impression that they had gotten pretty serious during their senior year. She had overheard her daughter telling Emily that Richie had gotten into UCLA too and that they were planning on moving in together. Andrew and Emily had the same on-again off-again relationship that Logan and Lilly had had, that had plagued Logan and Veronica for so long.
“Maybe it’s the Mars and the Echolls in her. We both followed after the Kanes at some point.” Logan amended. With a smirk he revised his statement, “actually, the Kanes chased after you, maybe the Echolls in her will chase him and he’ll chase her right back.”
“Maybe you’re right, and if that’s true they might actually be a better match than either of us were for either of them. They’re a lot more innocent than we were, this pair may actually get a chance at being happy.” Veronica replied with a slight smile, turning her face to gaze up at his.
“You saying we never got out chance?” Logan asked, frowning. He knew that wasn’t what she had meant, but he didn’t even like the innuendo that she wasn’t happy.
“No, but it took a lot to get here. We went through more than most, because we were damaged and lost our innocence and ability to trust early on. Amy and Adam never really had a reason not to trust, and I just hope they don’t get a reason.” Veronica corrected, leaning into Logan’s chest letting him take her weight. She was tired after the long and emotionally eventful day.
“Chances are they won’t, Amy’s personality is a lot like yours was before Lilly died. And what I know of Adam he seems like Duncan was back then too. They’re probably the new golden couple of Neptune High. From what I hear from Chris, Lindsay hates Amy too.” Logan’s voice held a note of concern as he relayed the last bit of information.
“I guess history really does repeat itself then, doesn’t it?” Veronica added, her voice amused as she watched Amelia lean into Adam as he casually threw his arm over her shoulder. “Chris also called Lindsay the ‘ice bitch’. Duncan married his mother, and became his father.”
“Yeah, well, Duncan always was a mama’s boy. And this is boring… let’s stop watching the kids flirt and do something else.” Logan was already leading Veronica out of the room and into the lobby.
“And what do you suggest we do?” Veronica asked, already knowing where this was going. She wasn’t stupid. They were in a hotel, their kids fully supervised and Logan was tugging her towards the elevators.
“Do you really want me to answer such a ridiculous question?” Logan asked as they halted in front of an elevator, one eyebrow arched and his lips twisted into a smirk. If she really looked she could see that he was older. That there was a little gray sprinkled in his dark brown hair. He had a few lines on his face, around his eyes and mouth. Laugh lines. Evidence that they had a good life, and that he was happy. But all she saw was the boy he was junior year, telling her secrets were hot. When he clasped her hand it felt like the boy their freshman year of college. Once they were on the elevator, and the door was safely shut, Logan’s lips pressed against hers the way they had their senior year at Hearst, like she was his world.
Logan slid the key into the door of 212, holding her against him as if he were still afraid she might disappear. And as they tumbled onto the bed she felt like she had almost nineteen years ago when they had decided that they were forever. When she’d asked him to marry her and he said yes. When they’d gotten married two months later. When she had stopped running and found what had always been there.
“Good thing history always repeats itself, huh?” Logan asked as he kissed his way down her neck. “You didn’t end up with the Kane, either.” He pulled back to look into her face, to not only hear but see her reply.
“Yeah, but I’m happy about that. Now stop talking, we’re busy.” Lunging upwards, her lips connected with his.
Time falls away but these small hours
These little wonders still remain
Symmetry Soundtrack
Author:princess72385
Pairings/Characters: Logan/Veronica (mentions of: Mac/Dick, Keith/Alicia, Duncan)
Word Count: 6,129 (5,903 without lyrics)
Rating: PG (It’s basically fluff. A little payoff to all the angst in the rest of the story, but it still holds true to the ‘theme’ of the story.)
Summary: There are similarities to the past and now. History always repeats itself, whether we realize it or not and breaking the circle is always the most difficult part of it all.
Spoilers/Warnings: Everything to 3.17 (Debasement Tapes)
Future Fic
Disclaimer: None of it’s mine, and if it was it would all be going different right now. So don’t sue, because I have nothing and it’d be a waste of both our time. The Song is Little Wonders by Rob Thomas
Chapter 1: Everything Has It's Beginning... And It's End
Chapter 2: Leave My Heart Behind
Chapter 3a: When It's All Unraveling
Chapter 3b:When It's All Unraveling
Chapter 4a:The Lines That Cross
Chapter 4b: The Lines That Cross
Chapter 4.5:Almost Had It
Chapter 5: Everything You're Running From
Chapter 5.5: Steal the Night
Chapter 6:Wrap the Night Around Me
Chapter 7a: End of the Circle
Chapter 7b: End of the Circle
A/N: Okay, so this turned out to be more of a full chapter 8 wrap-up thing than an epilogue… but it’s still the end and I’m going to call it an epilogue anyway. The end.
Symmetry
Epilogue
A Good Start
Let it go
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don’t you know?
The hardest part is over
Let it in
Let your clarity define you
In the end, we will only just remember how it feels
Logan stood at the end of the make-shift aisle, nervously bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, willing himself not to look over his shoulder. He’d read somewhere that it was bad luck.
The music swelled and Logan finally turned around to see Veronica walking towards him, her hand tucked demurely in the crook of her father’s elbow. The rest of their party seemed to fade away and the edges of his vision blurred a bit before his focus cleared and centered on Veronica. She looked beautiful in what she had told him was a silk mermaid dress. She didn’t look like she was wearing something with a tail, but Logan figured she knew what she was talking about. After all, she looked beautiful in it.
Logan’s heart skipped a beat and he felt a pressure in his chest that kept him from taking a full deep breath. He felt so excited, like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest and he’d jump out of his own skin. This was finally happening.
~*~
Standing in front of thirty of their closest friends and family Veronica’s hands clung to Logan’s as she faced him fully to begin her vows.
“Hey.” She whispered, her voice coming out mostly as a gust of air and not real words. Logan mouthed the words back at her, trying desperately to hold back the tears that were threatening.
“Me first, okay.” Veronica said as she squeezed Logan’s hands and taking a deep breath before starting her actual vows. “I, Veronica, promise…” Veronica trailed off, trying to think of the words she’d written down on a note card this morning. A note card that still sat in her bedroom.
“I promise so many things, but none of them as important as me promising to love you forever. And I will, because there’s no one else I could love. We’ve been friends and enemies and lovers and everything in between, and it has all taught me that my life needs you in it. For the last eleven years I’ve been falling back to you, finding my way to you. For the last eleven years you’ve shown me that you can lose everything and still be open. You’re my hope, my one and I promise to always be there for you the way you have always been there for me.”
Logan shuffled a bit before turning his face away from her to wipe at his eyes.
“My turn.” Logan stated, his voice hitching on the lump in his throat. “Veronica, I love you. You’ve known that for years, and I don’t think you’ve ever really doubted that. I need you in a way that I could never need anyone else. You’ve fixed me time and time again. There was never anything I wouldn’t give you. So right now I’m promising to always love you, and always need you. I promise my life to you.” Logan nearly rolled his eyes at his own over-sentimentality, he’d promised himself not to over-romanticize his vows. So much for that, he thought.
There was a muffle of words, none of them discernible to him except the loud echo of Veronica saying “I do”. He swallowed hard, knowing that his turn was coming up. His palms began to sweat. He couldn’t hear what the guy was saying. It sounded garbled to him, almost like someone talking under water. He was going to mess it up.
“I do.” It had just come out, like second nature, instinctively. Like he had always known when to say it, like he had always been meant to.
The words were no longer distorted, but loud and crisp and clear. As the officiant pronounced them Man and wife, everything got clearer and Logan remembered which part came next before the man could tell him what to do.
Logan kissed the bride.
~*~
“So, husband, how much longer do you think we have to stay at this reception?” Veronica asked as she swayed slowly to the music, her head resting comfortably on Logan’s shoulder. Well, upper arm, she thought to herself, her heels still didn’t make her that tall.
“Probably a little more than the forty-five minutes we’ve put in. Well, if you don’t count the dinner.” Logan replied, reveling in the sound of her calling him husband. “There’s still the cake and the garter and the bouquet and the father-daughter dance thing…”
Veronica rolled her eyes before picking up where Logan had left off. “We don’t really have any single friends other than the newly-divorced Piz, so that’s just the garter thing. The bouquet I’m just going to give the bouquet I’m supposed to throw to Eli’s little girl. And I wouldn’t be shocked if someone has already taken a piece of our cake.”
“But the father-daughter dance, we can’t leave before that. You’re father would basically kill me if I whisked you away before his moment. After all, I got my first dance and have fending off other would-be suitors since then, its your dad’s turn. I’m sick of you already.” Logan joked lightly as his hand started to move in slow and comforting circles on her lower back. It was code for her to give in, let him have his way.
“Okay, but after that you have to take me back. Its actually the law now, for you to keep me and put up with me. In sickness and in health and all that crap.” Veronica sing-songed, her voice light and airy with her apparent happiness.
“I’ve never been one for the law.” Logan said offhandedly as he watched Keith get out of his seat and start over to them. It looked like they had missed the announcement of the dance in question during their light banter session.
“Logan.” Keith acknowledged as he took Veronica’s offered hand.
With a nod Logan made to step away, but was stopped by a sudden and unexpected hug from his new father-in-law.
~*~
"This is really good cake." Logan announced, scraping the majority of his piece off his chin. Unsurprisingly none of it had made it into his mouth. “You should have some.”
Veronica’s eyes widened as she saw what was about to happen a moment too late. The remains of her husband’s piece of cake came at her as he wiped his fingers across her cheek. He’d ruined her make up, and normally she would have been at least a little miffed by it. But not today. Today she just laughed, agreed that it was in fact good cake, and kissed him.
“Can we leave now?” Veronica asked in a whisper as she pulled out of the kiss.
“What’s your hurry to leave? I thought you were excited about this? At least that’s what you said every time we discussed the reception, that you were going to party like it was 1999 until it actually becomes 1999 again.” Logan questioned, barely managing to stop the eye-roll that always threatened to accompany that particular statement.
“I kind of wanted to tell you something, sort of like your wedding gift from me. It doesn’t have to be a private thing, I was just sort of hoping… since we hadn’t…” Veronica stammered and then trailed off.
“Since we haven’t what?” Logan prompted as he led her away from the cake table and the rest of the party.
“Since we haven’t discussed this particular thing, I just wanted to have the conversation in private. You know, due to the fact that I don’t know what your reaction will be exactly.” Veronica answered quickly, the words rushing out all at once.
“My reaction to what? We’re in private now.” Logan urged before a loud laugh sounded from underneath the giant tent that had been erected for their reception on the beach. Logan took his new wife by the hand and led hear just a little further away. “Okay, now.”
“I’m pregnant. Six weeks, I’m six weeks pregnant.” Veronica admitted, not really fearing Logan’s reaction now that she had actually said it. Saying it out loud made it real and made her realize what Logan’s reaction would be.
Logan’s face split into a grin as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her into the air. His mouth came crashing down on hers and once it connected he suddenly felt like he couldn’t get enough. Like this really was the start of everything.
All lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours still remain
“Logan Nathanial Echolls, I hate you!” Veronica screamed through her gritted teeth as she bore down on Logan’s hand.
“Yeah, I know. I suck, could you ease off a bit though?” Logan whined as the crushing pain in his hand almost made him fall to his knees at her bedside. Veronica unexpectedly complied, although Logan had a feeling it was due to her brief reprieve from pushing. As his wife fell back into her pillows for a moment Logan looked at his purpling hand, still firmly in her grasp, then back at her. She looked so small and dainty, it was hard to believe that his hand felt like it had been on the verge of breaking due to her grip.
“Push again, Veronica.” The doctor instructed, hunched below her and staring at a place Logan firmly believed should be for his eyes only on most occasions. Except for today. Today Logan had given the good doctor special VIP rights.
“Come one honey. You can do it. Only a couple more times. You can do it!” A cheery and annoying nurse encouraged from the other side of his wife.
“I know I can do it, now back off Barbie!” Veronica yelled as she leaned forward to push again. “Logan, if that woman doesn’t disappear in two seconds I’m going to commit murder while giving birth!”
Logan looked up and glared at the nurse. He didn’t need any more problems right now. His child was in the middle of being born, his wife seemed intent on breaking his hand and now he had a much too perky nurse. “ Shut up or get out!”
“It’s crowning!” The doctor announced from his place between Veronica’s legs. She felt like screaming obscenities at him. Of course she knew it was crowning, she could fucking feel it. “Would you like to take a look Mr. Echolls?”
Veronica almost shouted out a denial to the doctor’s question, until she saw the look on his face. There was no way in hell Logan wanted a sneak peak at this.
“No!” Logan shouted, before looking down at Veronica. “Dick looked. Said he’d never be able to look at Mac the same again. I don’t want to risk it.”
Veronica almost laughed before she was gripped with pain again. It was stupid to do this without drugs. Logan had rallied for drugs, arguing that he didn’t want her in any more pain than was absolutely necessary. She had been stubborn and refused. Now she wished she would have just given in.
“One more push Veronica, one more.”
Logan watched as Veronica leaned forward and pushed with everything she had in her. She was more amazing than anyone else on the planet, going from hero to super-hero as she screamed and pushed one final time.
“It’s a girl!” The doctor announced loudly as Veronica fell back into the pillows, exhausted. Moments later there was a cry.
“It’s a girl, baby. I know we already knew that, but a girl.” Logan told her, still holding her hand and standing on his tip-toes, trying to see what the nurses were doing with his daughter.
“Go see.” Veronica said softly, her voice sounding more tired than he had ever heard it before.
Logan, was reluctant to relinquish her hand, but finally did so in favor of being handed his newborn daughter.
“Hi sweetheart. I’m your daddy.” Logan informed this new little person that lay snuggled in his arms. “And this is your mommy, you know her.”
Logan passed his daughter to his wife, kissing them both on the forehead in the process. “Are we still naming her what…?”
“Isabella Annette. That’s what we decided on right? And it suits her don’t you think?”
“Yeah, it really does.” Logan agreed, leaning down until his face was even with his wife’s and he could look into his daughter’s face. His right arm slipped behind Veronica’s shoulders as his left hand swept over his daughter’s head. “Isabella Annette Echolls. Welcome to the world.”
“Yeah, welcome to the world honey.” Veronica whispered before looking into Logan’s eyes, her wistful expression gone and in it’s place was serious concern. “Watch that nurse around the baby.” Logan’s brow furrowed in confusion. “She seemed a little too interested in her,” Veronica looked back down at Isabella, whose eyes had closed. “Like she’d take her or something.”
Let it slide
Let your trouble fall behind you
Let it shine
Till you feel it all around you
And I don’t mind
If it’s me you need to turn to
We’ll get by
It’s the heart that really matters
In the end
Logan swung open the front door of the house, briefly wondering why all the lights were on before remembering what a hurry they had been in when they left. He’d gone into such a panic when Veronica had told him her water broke that he had run from room to room turning on lights and trying to get everything he quite possibly would never need at a hospital. Logan just shook his head and preceded on his way to his bedroom.
Setting his sleeping daughter in the middle of his and Veronica’s enormous bed, he stepped back to make sure there would be no way she would roll off the bed while he was gone. Satisfied he turned and headed back out to the car.
Stepping outside he squinted at the harsh glare of the mid-afternoon light, only to see his wife sliding cautiously out of their car.
“You were supposed to wait!” Logan yelled as he jogged to her side. “This was so much easier when we had one, but two babies make it two trips.”
“I can walk on my own, Logan. And dad offered to help, but you said we could do it.” Veronica batted away his hands as he tried to help her. “Will you just get the baby?”
Logan popped open the rear-passenger side door to the car and began undoing the snaps and buckles that kept the car seat firmly in place.
“It’s only been two years since we did this with Isabella, you’d think you would have remembered the procedure, babe.” Veronica yelled to him over her shoulder, already halfway up the walkway to the house.
“With Bella your labor came a little slower, kind of eased us into it. Christopher on the other hand moved right along, too impatient to take his time.” Logan responded softly as he slid his son out of the car seat, cuddling him to his chest.
Logan was nearly to the front door when he heard a car pull up. Without looking around to see he whispered gently to his now fully alert son, “I’d pretty much stake my life on the fact that that is your grandfather.”
“Logan? You need any help there son?” Keith asked, his voice getting closer with each syllable.
“Nope, I got it.”
Veronica was already settled into the couch by time he got into the house, looking like she was still ready for anything.
~*~
Several hours later, Logan was completely worn out. Keith had stayed for a while, trying to help him the best he could with the chaos that was ‘homecoming day’, but eventually even he had to head home.
Isabella’s nap had done nothing to improve the two year old’s mood and she had thrown two temper tantrums, cut her finger and cried for an hour for no apparent reason. When eight o’clock rolled around Logan had happily announced her bedtime, never having been so glad to his baby girl to bed just to get away from her.
Of course she hadn’t been all of his problem. Veronica was still so tired he had simply just carried her into bed to let her rest, assuring her that he’d take care of the kids. After all, he had no problems taking care of Isabella on his own usually. What was one more?
He had severely misjudged the situation, forgetting that even though he knew how to take care of a two year old and a newborn, he did not know how to take care of both at once. Every time she screamed she woke Chris up, and he cried. And every time he cried and Logan picked him up Isabella would cry and scream and throw a tantrum. Logan tried to hush them as much as possible, telling them they didn’t wake mommy up. But that just made Isabella cry louder and ask for mommy, which in turn upset Chris more.
Eventually Logan slipped Christopher into bed with Veronica while he fed and bathed Isabella, read her her story and left her as she slept. By time he got back to the bedroom Veronica was awake and just finishing up with nursing their son.
“God you look tired.” She said, a hint of laughter in her voice as she laid their son in basinet next to her side of the bed. Logan pulled his rather ripe smelling t-shirt over his head as he kicked off his jeans.
“Thanks, honey. You look great, too.” Logan replied begrudgingly, slipping into bed beside her, clad in only his boxers. “Not all of us napped all day while other people took care of the kids.”
“That was your idea, don’t whine about it to me.” Veronica rolled into his side as he reached over to turn off the lamp on his side of the bed.
“I was talking to your dad, and do you know who else just had a baby?” Logan queried as he snuggled his wife closer to him.
“Someone else had the audacity to give birth at the same time as me? The nerve.” Her normally sarcastic and fun banter was tampered a bit by her exhaustion, and the effect was completely ruined by the loud yawn she let out afterwards.
“Duncan.” Logan said regretfully.
“Really? Him and Lindsay?” Veronica asked, shifting upwards so she could attempt to look her husband in the face, even though it was obviously too dark to do so.
“Yeah, they named him Adam Jacob. I guess it was in the paper.” Logan informed her as he arched back in a little stretch.
“Hmm… wonder how we missed that.” She replied as she settled back down into Logan’s warmth. “It’s still a little weird not knowing everything about him right away, having to be told by someone else. Huh?”
“Yeah, but that’s not our fault.” Logan felt a pang, a small one that he still sometimes got when he heard about something big that had or was happening in Duncan’s life. He still missed him, the friendship he had always thought they shared.
“I know.” Veronica’s voice was sleepy and distant, she was talking through a yawn. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Logan whispered back, knowing she was already asleep.
All lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours still remain
“Logan!” Veronica shouted, her voice calm and somehow urgent at the same time. It was something she’d perfected in these last few years, the years in which she’d been a mother, letting her husband know it was important without panicking him. He panicked easily these days, when it came to the kids and the possibility of something being wrong.
“Yes, dear?” Logan asked as he walked into the kitchen, he had all the appearance of being calm but she could tell that he had run to her from across the house. He was freaking out, like he did near the end of her last two pregnancies. It didn’t matter that he’d gone through this twice before, he still didn’t feel like he had a clue.
“I think it’s time we head to the hospital.” Veronica stated, one hand braced on the countertop and the other pressed against the swell of her stomach. “And before you ask how I know, my water broke and after doing this a couple times already I’ve kind of gotten the impression that that is when you should go.”
Logan hurried to his wife, ushering her to the foyer to sit and wait until he got everything else in order. Hospital bag that had already been prepared and set in the front hall closet. Check. Isabella pulled away from her cartoons and blocks and rushed out to the car. Check. Christopher woken from his nap and now screaming in his car seat. Check.
After making sure that both kids were tucked safely into the car, along with a diaper bag for each of them, he turned to Veronica. Helping her up from the small couch that sat in the front of the house he supported her as they walked as quickly as possible to the car.
Logan put the car into gear and started off on the route he knew was a quick fifteen minute trip to the hospital. The route that he had not only taken twice before, but the one he had shortened down to ten minutes of both occasions.
~*~
Veronica was settled into her hospital room, monitors set up and ice chips ready. She was on the phone with Mac, telling her not to worry about coming to the hospital. Mac had three kids to bring in, the twins were Bella’s age but the youngest was barely two months old and Veronica didn’t want to ‘be a hassle’.
Logan walked through the hospital with his son resting on his hip. Chris’s head was laying on his shoulder, sound asleep. He watched as Isabella tottered along nearly ten feet ahead of him, walking the walk of a three year old who hadn’t completely mastered the skill without a stumble or two yet. She was a little clumsy, like he had been at that age. Or so Trina had told him last month when she’d been up to visit her niece and nephew.
Suddenly there were a pair of denim covered legs standing in front of his daughter, blocking her path to the cafeteria. Isabella halted, her neck bending back as she strained to look up at the tall stranger obstructing her course.
“Hi sweetheart, where’s you mommy and daddy?”
Logan quickened his pace, not wanting to yell out and risk waking his son in the process. Isabella looked back, her bottom lip quivering a little, scared even though the man had used the gentlest of voices with her. She did not react to strangers well.
“It’s okay, I’m right here.” Logan said in the softest voice possible as he came up behind his daughter. She had blonde hair, layered due to the fact that Veronica had had to cut gum out of her hair only a week ago, but it was honey colored and long none-the-less. Her deep blue eyes were darker than her mother’s, and moody like her fathers. She was probably a little small for her age, making her seem more fragile and delicate than she actually was. His little girl was tough, gave as good as she got, much to little Richie Casablancas’ dismay.
Duncan straightened up, standing from the kneeling position he had taken to speak to the little girl.
“I thought she was alone, I know how I get when Lilly wonders. I didn’t know she was… I didn’t want anyone to worry.” Duncan explained, his eyes curiously wondering over Logan’s children.
Logan could tell that Duncan wanted to ask all sorts of questions. What are their names? How old are they? Where’s Veronica? Why are you here? But Logan also knew that he wouldn’t actually be asking any of them.
“Chris, Bella and I were just on our way to get something to eat and drink while we wait for grandpa, right baby?” Logan answered some of Duncan’s unspoken questions anyway, reaching his hand down for his daughter to take hold.
Isabella turned her gaze to her father before nodding, clutching at his hand. “Daddy? When mommy is done havin the baby can we go ta the park?”
Logan smiled indulgently, answering with a “We’ll see” before looking back up to Duncan’s obviously shocked face.
A tight, fake smile graced Logan’s face momentarily before he turned to lead his daughter into the hospital cafeteria. He had decided to get them milk and cookies while they waited for their grandfather to get here. Keith was taking a lot longer than he had the first two times, but then again he was probably waiting for Alicia. They’d both have to be here to watch the children while Logan set up camp at his wife’s side.
He was thankful that Duncan wasn’t still out in the hallway when the three exited the cafeteria. He was even more relieved when he got a glimpse of Keith, Alicia, Wallace and Dick walking through the front hospital.
Reinforcements.
All of my regret
Will wash away somehow
But I cannot forget
The way I feel right now
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Yeah these twists and turns of fate
“Well, we won’t be doing that again.” Veronica sighed out as she cuddled her newborn daughter to her chest.
Logan rolled his eyes as he shifted on the hospital bed, trying to get a look at his youngest child. Apparently his last child. He had gotten a vasectomy about two months after Veronica had learned she was pregnant for the fourth time. Amelia had turned two and they had gotten sloppy with the birth control. Five months after celebrating their youngest daughter’s birthday Veronica had found out she was three months pregnant.
“So, what’s her name?” Logan asked as his wife handed their newest child over to him, she leaned over to her right to swat at a bottle of water that was just out of her reach. Holding his daughter close to his chest he walked around the bed to get it for her. He’d been holding his own babies for just over six years now and he was still afraid he might drop one. No matter how much he told Isabella he had dropped her on her head when she was a baby, he hadn’t actually done it yet.
“I don’t know, Logan. We never decided.” Veronica whined, exasperated. They were having a lot harder of a time naming this one than they had had with the other three. Isabella Annette. Christopher Keith. Amelia Elizabeth. They’d decided on them long before their births, the names coming to them easily. Perhaps it was knowing that she was the last one, but they just couldn’t seem to agree on a name.
“How about Ava Lynn? It seems to suit her.” Logan asked in a soft cooing voice as his daughter’s eyes opened sleepily to look up at him before closing again. And just like that he was in love. It’d been the same with the other three, one moment and he was a complete goner. Isabella had yawned, Christopher had cried and Amelia had clutched his finger.
“That’s beautiful, honey. I think we should go with that.” Veronica smiled as she saw the dreamy look overcome his face. He was a good father, completely adored his children. His original worry that he would turn out like one or both of his parents in some way hadn’t lasted long. Isabella had only been a few hours old when he had broken down and cried. He told her he couldn’t ever imagine wanting to hurt his own child, and Veronica’s heart had broken a little when he asked how his own father had been able to.
“I’m going to go get her big sisters and brother,” Logan announced as he passed the tiny baby over to his wife. He turned at the door to look back at Veronica, who was now gazing into their child’s face. A grin spread across his face, making it feel like it might split in two from the force. It was a picture he had branded in his memory, her doing this with each of their children, studying their little faces.
“Come young ones, it’s time to meet your little sister, Ava.” Logan’s voice boomed into the small waiting room as he burst through the doors. Keith stood with Amelia in his arms as Chris and Isabella stood from the small table they were sitting at, putting a puzzle together.
The four Echolls entered the room and each taking a seat on the hospital bed with Veronica and Ava, completing the sappy family picture that Keith snapped unexpectedly from the doorway. There was a chorus of “Hey”s as he slipped back out into the waiting room to hand the camera over to Alicia to hide.
It was likely Logan would try to destroy the picture on Veronica’s orders.
All lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twist and turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours still remain
Yeah they still remain
Logan leaned his head back in boredom, suddenly glad that his own parents had not been around to throw a party such as this for his graduation. Dick looked equally as bored in the seat directly across from him, stabbing at his chocolate graduation cake. The room that had once been decorated for Dick and Mac’s wedding was now decked out with green and gold streamers and balloons.
The party was a combined effort of the families for the five graduating seniors in the group. Parker’s older daughter Jane, who was nearly nineteen and the oldest of the five. Wallace’s younger son Andrew, who had been holding court with the basketball team up until about five minutes ago. Dick and Mac’s twins Richie and Emily, both of which had been forewarned about pulling any pranks today. Then there was Logan and Veronica’s oldest, Isabella, who was looking rather mischievous as she chatted with her friends and looked around slyly.
Sighing, Logan stood from his seat and went off in search of his wife, who had disappeared to the bathroom a good fifteen minutes earlier.
“Does that boy look familiar to you?” Veronica’s voice startled him as he passed through the door that led out of the reception hall.
“What boy?” Logan asked, turning around and taking a position to stand behind his wife, his hands coming up to rest on her hips.
“The one holding Amy’s hand… shamelessly.” Veronica answered with a hard edge in her voice.
“I guess the Mars women will always chase after the Kane men, huh?” Logan whispered into his wife’s ear as he watched his daughter, Amelia, flirt with Duncan’s son, Adam.
“What makes you think it’s not the Echolls in her chasing after the Kane in him?” Veronica shot back, she wouldn’t take all the blame for this. This was a vicious cycle that had gone on long enough, she had hoped that the rift between Duncan and Logan and her would be enough to keep their children apart. But here they were, Chris was as close to Adam as Logan had been to Duncan. As Veronica had been to Lilly. They acted as though they were brothers, or closer.
Somehow the groups always broke into fours. Isabella, Richie and Emily Casablancas, and Andrew mimicked the friendships and relationships that Logan and Veronica had shared with the Kanes. Now Veronica could see the same grouping with Chris and Amelia with Adam Kane and Zack Casablancas, Dick and Mac’s youngest child. She couldn’t even imagine the group Ava would find herself in, she was after all the youngest out of all the kids.
They were all pairing off too, not just Amelia and Adam.
Isabella and Richie had been dating for a few years now, and although it had seemed like they were just having fun at first Veronica got the impression that they had gotten pretty serious during their senior year. She had overheard her daughter telling Emily that Richie had gotten into UCLA too and that they were planning on moving in together. Andrew and Emily had the same on-again off-again relationship that Logan and Lilly had had, that had plagued Logan and Veronica for so long.
“Maybe it’s the Mars and the Echolls in her. We both followed after the Kanes at some point.” Logan amended. With a smirk he revised his statement, “actually, the Kanes chased after you, maybe the Echolls in her will chase him and he’ll chase her right back.”
“Maybe you’re right, and if that’s true they might actually be a better match than either of us were for either of them. They’re a lot more innocent than we were, this pair may actually get a chance at being happy.” Veronica replied with a slight smile, turning her face to gaze up at his.
“You saying we never got out chance?” Logan asked, frowning. He knew that wasn’t what she had meant, but he didn’t even like the innuendo that she wasn’t happy.
“No, but it took a lot to get here. We went through more than most, because we were damaged and lost our innocence and ability to trust early on. Amy and Adam never really had a reason not to trust, and I just hope they don’t get a reason.” Veronica corrected, leaning into Logan’s chest letting him take her weight. She was tired after the long and emotionally eventful day.
“Chances are they won’t, Amy’s personality is a lot like yours was before Lilly died. And what I know of Adam he seems like Duncan was back then too. They’re probably the new golden couple of Neptune High. From what I hear from Chris, Lindsay hates Amy too.” Logan’s voice held a note of concern as he relayed the last bit of information.
“I guess history really does repeat itself then, doesn’t it?” Veronica added, her voice amused as she watched Amelia lean into Adam as he casually threw his arm over her shoulder. “Chris also called Lindsay the ‘ice bitch’. Duncan married his mother, and became his father.”
“Yeah, well, Duncan always was a mama’s boy. And this is boring… let’s stop watching the kids flirt and do something else.” Logan was already leading Veronica out of the room and into the lobby.
“And what do you suggest we do?” Veronica asked, already knowing where this was going. She wasn’t stupid. They were in a hotel, their kids fully supervised and Logan was tugging her towards the elevators.
“Do you really want me to answer such a ridiculous question?” Logan asked as they halted in front of an elevator, one eyebrow arched and his lips twisted into a smirk. If she really looked she could see that he was older. That there was a little gray sprinkled in his dark brown hair. He had a few lines on his face, around his eyes and mouth. Laugh lines. Evidence that they had a good life, and that he was happy. But all she saw was the boy he was junior year, telling her secrets were hot. When he clasped her hand it felt like the boy their freshman year of college. Once they were on the elevator, and the door was safely shut, Logan’s lips pressed against hers the way they had their senior year at Hearst, like she was his world.
Logan slid the key into the door of 212, holding her against him as if he were still afraid she might disappear. And as they tumbled onto the bed she felt like she had almost nineteen years ago when they had decided that they were forever. When she’d asked him to marry her and he said yes. When they’d gotten married two months later. When she had stopped running and found what had always been there.
“Good thing history always repeats itself, huh?” Logan asked as he kissed his way down her neck. “You didn’t end up with the Kane, either.” He pulled back to look into her face, to not only hear but see her reply.
“Yeah, but I’m happy about that. Now stop talking, we’re busy.” Lunging upwards, her lips connected with his.
Time falls away but these small hours
These little wonders still remain
Symmetry Soundtrack