Who: Logan and Veronica What: Name discussions Where: LoVe house When: Early January Rating: PG-13 Status: Complete
Every day when Veronica got home from work her feet were killing her. Well they hurt all freakin’ day long really. So of course she made her boyfriend rub her feet every night. Her back and shoulders sometimes too. Really, it was the least he could do. She was carrying his baby after all. Not that Logan hadn’t been great. He had. But it also wasn’t like Veronica to admit that.
“So,” Veronica said as Logan worked on her barking dogs. “Now that we know what we are having, we should probably talk about names.”
They were having a son. Logan would have taken a boy or a girl, but he was beyond excited about the baby. Finally, baby fever had caught on, and now he was enjoying this, purchasing new things for the nursery and getting ready for items in baby blue littering their house. He was so ready.
He worked on Veronica’s toes, with hands moving up and down the arch of her foot. “Your feet are tiny. I never even had a foot fetish.” He looked up at her. “What were you thinking on names? Obviously my dad’s name is out.”
“Is that surprising?” All of her was tiny. Although not so much her stomach anymore. Not like it was huge yet, but she was definitely sporting a bump. “Damn, that was on my checklist for baby daddy’s - must have foot fetish,” she quipped. “Oh well, too late now.”
Veronica hadn’t thought that much on names. She had been focused more on the pregnancy than the actual baby, but now that they knew what they were having it was all so much more real for her. Soon they were going to have brought a human being into the world. A son. “Really? I think Aaron Mars has a nice ring to it.” Another joke, obviously. She was on the same page as Logan when it came to naming the kid after his father. She knew he wasn’t as bad here as he was in the dreams, but that wasn’t exactly saying much.
Logan had to admit that the baby bump was cute, and he did admit it - to everyone but Veronica, who seemed to frown at the mention. Pretty soon it was going to look like a basketball in her stomach, and while he liked it, he doubted that she would. There were good things to say, and very bad things. He tried to tread on the right side of the road.
“Aaron Echolls, but no. That is NOT happening.” Wouldn’t his father just love that? A child named after him. Fuck that very much.
“We could always try one of those animal names, or stars, or Greek Gods or something. Adonis Echolls.” He chuckled at that name, a huge no. “Or Hawk Echolls, or Bear maybe.” Also huge nos. Veronica should know that he really wouldn’t inflict those on a child.
“Oh yeah. I think Bear Mars is a great name,” Veronica joked right back. There was no way they were naming their kid that. She was on the same page as Logan when it came to the first name.
“Obviously not Aaron but I’d be cool with a name that started with a vowel. Like Adam, or Aiden, or Ethan.”
“Bear Echolls. I’m the dad.” Logan was a little confused. This was his baby, and Veronica better be joking about the last name. That was not okay. It had to be a joke.
“We could go with weather. Lightning Echolls. Freezing Rain Echolls. Ice Cube Echolls.” Okay they were all really, really bad, but he was also waiting for her answer on the last name. Was she really thinking their baby wouldn’t have his name? What?
“Ice Cube? We are not naming our baby after a rapper.” Or weather for that matter. But she knew Logan was just joking.
As for the last name. Well that wasn’t a huge issue for Veronica but it shouldn’t just be assumed that their son would have his last name. Yeah, maybe it was tradition. But Veronica wasn’t exactly traditional. “And I’m the mom.” Like that wasn’t obvious. “What’s wrong with Mars?”
“That’s not my name. That’s tradition. You have your dad’s name.” He wasn’t smiling as he said it. While it might not be a big deal for her, this was a very big deal for him. It was also an issue that he was not willing to lose. “Our son should have my name. I’m here. I’m in his life, not some deadbeat paying the minimum child support only because he was forced.”
Foot massaging stopped, and Logan stood, heading into the kitchen for a beer. He didn’t drink that much, but this occasion was calling for one. He also needed a minute to breathe.
“Since when are we traditional?” Veronica asked with her brow raised. “Hey,” she pouted when he ended the massage. “My feet still hurt.”
However, by the look on his face and the way he walked away Veronica could tell this was a big deal for him. More so than it was to her, however she wasn’t going to give in that easily. “Middle name Keith,” she offered. If the kid wasn’t going to have her last name, her dad’s name, it at least needed her father’s name in there. Not as the first name though, that was just too much.
“Blue Keith what?” he asked, choosing a color for the first name. He hadn’t come back in yet. He wanted to hear her say it. It was that important. Of course, he knew Veronica wouldn’t see it as that big of a thing, like not telling him that she was going to see her mom. She didn’t really seem to understand, but they had worked past it. He wanted her to understand this.
“It’s not just a little thing, Veronica. This is our child, our son. It’s not you by yourself, and letting me be a part sometimes.” It was also a matter of pride and respect as a man.
The thing with her mom was way different. That was at the beginning of their relationship and it was something she needed to handle herself.
Veronica sighed, suppressing an eye roll. “Exactly. It’s our child. It shouldn’t be automatic that he gets your last name. But if it’s that important to you,” another sigh, “Blue’s last name can be Echolls.” Yes Veronica was stubborn, but she knew which issues she needed to fight for and which she didn’t. This wasn’t one of those issues. “Now can you get back to my feet?”
He wasn’t going back to her feet yet. He’d need something more than an eyeroll and concession this time. Most of the time he could roll with the punches created by pregnancy hormones, but this one was non-negotiable, and she really didn’t get why this would be important to him. He could give her Keith as a middle name. That wasn’t even hard.
“Your feet will survive my need for a drink. This is important and you may not give a shit, but I do a lot for you. It shouldn’t be automatic that he gets yours, unless I was some real piece of shit. How can you even think I wouldn’t want that, and by the way, I also get some choice in the matter. Our baby isn’t just up to you.” Most of the issues between them were just small rocks that they could get around with no problem. This one was a crater.
Veronica was not in the mood for Logan to make some huge thing out of this. She just wanted to get her feet rubbed. “Really?” Veronica asked narrowing her eyes slightly. “You are the one acting like you’re entitled to him getting your last name. Just because it’s traditionally the man’s name doesn’t mean it has to be that way for our kid. But here you are having a say and you are getting what you want.”
“And here you are thinking you have the right to decide. It’s our baby, not just your baby. I am entitled to that, believe it or not, and that’s what I want. So sorry to inconvenience you with what I want for a change.” She still wasn’t getting a foot rub out of him tonight, or possibly not again. “Whenever I want something, you act like you are going out of your way to do something, when I do every fucking thing you ask me to do without all the eye rolls. Do I even fucking matter, or wasn’t that a consideration either?”
“I didn’t decide anything, thanks. This was supposed to be a discussion about names. First and last.” He was making way too big of a deal out of this if you asked her. “We discussed it. He’ll get your last name. There’s your consideration.”
“Yeah, you did, and you just don’t get it. Okay, our son gets our name, but it’s got absolutely no meaning for you. Why don’t you give a shit? You’re so busy acting like nothing matters, that you are missing all those really great things. We are having a son, and he’s mine, and it means something that he has my name, cause that all I’ve got. There’s no family, there is only me. It has to mean more than you not giving a shit.”
If there was one thing about Veronica that just wasn’t right with him, it was that she could be cold, and it hurt. Logan, for all his bravado, was actually a pretty warm and caring guy. He wanted love, something epic, and fun. Some days they were there, and then there were days like this, and it frustrated him.
Okay well now it made more sense. In the dreams, Logan truly had nothing. Both his parents were gone, but here they might as well be. And Veronica, well she always had her dad. She didn’t often think about the fact that Logan didn’t really have a family. But now he would. And Veronica knew he had always wanted this more than her. Sure she had warmed up to the idea, was even a bit excited now. But before the pregnancy she had never wanted kids. Logan had.
“Hey,” Veronica said slowly making her way up from the couch. It wasn’t always easy moving around while pregnant. “You have a family now.” And their son would have his name. Veronica never would, but she wasn’t going to deprive him or their son of that.
Logan was quiet for a moment, leaning his head against hers. Back in the school days, he gave the impression that he didn’t care about much, but that never was the truth. He cared - a lot. He liked big gestures, and romance, and love. He had even said as much to her in the dreams. He wanted an epic story. As an older man, he wanted a family, but those things hadn’t changed. “I just wish you would consider me a little more. I’m not a bad guy. Even in the dreams, I really wasn’t the bad guy.”