EPILOGUE

For a brief moment, the Seattle sun peaked out between the clouds. Veronica took Logan's hand, stepped out of the limo and slipped under his umbrella. It had rained the past two days leading up to Lianne's funeral and Veronica was beginning to feel like her entire world was filled with overwhelming sadness.

Logan shifted their bodies so Keith and Alicia could slip out from the vehicle as well. Both couples stood quietly, casting their gaze to the first limo. The door was still not open. Other vehicles began to congregate on the road. The priest had somehow beaten them to the gravesite and he was standing several yards away, waiting by the headstone for everyone. Veronica gave Logan a tight smile and let go of his hand. She strode confidently to the first limo and knocked lightly on the window. The door opened and the family watched as Veronica crouched down behind the door. She stayed hidden for a few minutes as people shuffled past. They watched as sowly, she stood, with Hunter wrapped around her, in her arms. She moved back and Gareth stepped out, looking tired and pale. Veronica nodded to her family and turned to walk towards the grave with Gareth and Hunter.

When they reached the grave site, the last of the mourners had already arrived. Quietly, Veronica and Gareth took their place near the priest. As the service commenced, small sobs from Hunter could be heard, but Veronica stood strong, never letting go of the child, not making a sound. When the skies began to rain again, Logan walked behind the crowd and held his umbrella over Veronica, Hunter, and Gareth, letting the water wash over him, unflinching.

And when the ceremony was over, it was Veronica who walked back to the car, with her brother still in her arms, and rocked him in the back seat until he fell asleep.

Back at the hotel room, later that night, Veronica let herself have one last cry for her mother, locked in the shower so she could be alone in her sorrow. When she got out she resolved that was the last time in her life she would mourn her mother, who had too many tears shed for her during Veronica's life.

She wrapped the big, fluffy robe around herself and emerged into the suite. Logan was already in bed, reading a thick novel he brought with him for the plane ride. Veronica walked to the suitcase, on its stand, and pulled out one of his t-shirts. Dropping her robe to the floor, she slipped the shirt over her head and turned around to Logan. He was staring at her with a small smile. With a flick of his hand, he pulled back the covers on her side of the bed, beckoning her in.

She gave him a tired smile and slipped between the covers. It felt so good to be in bed that she gave a little groan of approval. She closed her eyes. "Can I just sleep for a week now?"

Logan slid down so he was lying next to her. "If you need to, sure." He said and brushed some hair off her forehead gently.

She sighed. "I'm just so ready to move on from all of this. Move on with our lives." She looked at his beautiful brown eyes. "I feel like we have been living in a cyclone of chaos since Lianne died and I just..." She grasped for the right words. "I want to get back to us. To you and me." She paused. "To us and OUR family."

Logan smiled. "What family? Like you and me? Or are we talking about making 'we', three' again?"

Veronica moved her body to snuggle up against him under the covers. "No. For now, just you and me. Our own little family." Her voice drifted. "Just...you...and...me..." Logan's face became confused as he watched Veronica work things out in her head. Slowly, she sat up and looked at him in earnest. "Ask me." She said.

"Ask you what?" He said, sitting up with her.

"ASK me. What you've wanted to ask me for three years." She said, beginning to get excited.

Logan's face went from confused to shocked in a matter of seconds. "Wait right here." He said and rolled/stumbled/fell out of bed. Veronica giggled as he stood in his boxers, throwing things out of his suitcase. Finally, he found what he was looking for and palmed it in his hand.

He walked back to her and knelt on the bed. Her face flushed at the excitement and she felt her heart beat faster. He reached out and took her hand and kissed it. "Veronica Mars...will you marry me?" He asked in a quiet, shy voice.

"Yes." She responded. "Yes. I will marry you." She said lovingly, reaching over and giving him a deep kiss on his lips. When she pulled back, Logan opened his hand and presented a small ring box to her in his palm. She took it and opened it slowly. Inside was the most beautiful diamond ring; a square cut diamond with small diamonds surrounding it in a platinum setting. She gasped and she took the ring and slid it on her finger. "Do you always travel with diamonds?" She teased, moving her hand to admire the ring.

Logan laughed deeply. "No! I was going to surprise you with the fact that we are not going home after Seattle...we are going to Hawaii for four days. A quick getaway to regroup after all of this." He said. "But THERE, I was thinking..."

Veronica threw herself around Logan. "You were going to propose there?" She squealed.

He held her tightly. "Yes. It was going to be much more eloquent. And I wasn't going to be in my underwear."

She laughed. "I don't care that you are in your boxers. I don't care that you didn't make any big professions of love. I just care that you want to spend the rest of your life with me."

He caught her mouth in a deep kiss that made her toes tingle and her knees weak. "Ditto." He said when he pulled out of their kiss.

Veronica looked up at him and put her hand on his cheek. Her new diamonds caught the light and flashed. "So, why were you going to propose now?" She asked.

Logan kissed the palm of her hand. "The fact that we are talking about having kids. The fact that I love that you and I are partners in everything we do. The fact that I want your family to be OUR family." He dropped his voice. "The fact that if something happens to you, I don't want to argue with the hospital staff to see you because I am 'just' your boyfriend and not your husband. The fact that if I died tomorrow I would always regret not asking you to marry me." He kissed her forehead. "Why do you suddenly want to get married?" He asked.

She dropped her head for a moment in thought. When she looked back up at him, there were tears in her eyes. "Because when I thought you were shot, the first thing I thought was 'did he know how much I loved him'. It sounds stupid to say it out loud but I wanted to make sure you knew how much I love you and how I want to spend the rest of my life loving you." She shrugged "I know we don't have to be married to do that...but I want to stand up, in front of our friends and family, and show them how much I love you."

Tears were now falling down Logan's face as well. "I love you too." He said. "And I promise, I will spend the rest of my life showing you how much I do."

Veronica rocked back on her heels and pealed off her t-shirt. She pushed her naked body up to Logan's and pressed against him. "How about you start showing me now." She said playfully, and caught his lips is a passionate kiss. They spent the rest of the night in blissful celebration of their new future together.

Notes: Thanks to everyone for reading my FanFic. I love writing and I'm glad so many of you enjoy my work. If you head over to Archive of our Own, I have a few pieces in the Veronica Mars Summer Lovin' Challenge beginning July 1. I won't post them here until they are revealed at the end of July. I am also going to start working on a third story to this universe, so be sure to "follow" me if you want a notice when it begins to publish.