LOGAN DANVERS;
Later, when he had time to reflect on the encounter, Logan would come to regret that his knee-jerk reaction to Aspen’s news had been, of all things, laughter. “What?” he asked, a nervous tremor audible in the chuckle that fell from his lips. “You–you have a kid?” He wracked his brain, trying to remember any of the times they’d crossed paths since he’d moved to Monleon. He couldn’t recall ever seeing her with a child. Incredulity turned to confusion, and not before long, he felt himself slipping into a panic. One moment, he had been smirking at her request for tequila, the quip allowing him to feel a little bit less intimidated by the abruptness of her presence; the next, he was reaching out to grasp the counter, knuckles growing white as he regarded her. In five words, she had stolen the air from his lungs. Without warning, the room had become impossibly small — the fringes of his vision had darkened, and it felt as though the walls were closing in.
Logan’s gaze traveled over her face, searching for something, anything. Answers. Confirmation. He found the truth in her eyes; she didn’t have to answer him because it was all in the azure hues that were staring back at him. His free hand had begun to shake like it had when he was younger, before a game. “Aspen… are you sure?” he asked, wincing slightly at the implication in his question. Are you sure your son is mine? “You’re sure he’s mine? If he’s my son, that means he’s… what, four? Five?” Mental math wasn’t his forte but it wasn’t hard to add up, given the timeline of their short-lived affair coincided with his relocation to Florida. He had been willing to try a long-distance relationship with her from Nashville, so the trade had come as a sign from God, seemingly. That was the irony of it all — he had moved closer, and despite the connection they’d shared and the fact that he’d resolved the geographical drawback, she had still decided that she didn’t want to pursue it. It had stung at the time, but she had been well within her right to make that call, and he’d made peace with it. “I don’t understand. I’ve been here for years. If you’ve known this, if you’ve even had an idea that I could be his father… then why are you telling me this now, years later? Did something happen to him? Is he okay? Are you okay?”
The moment the words were out, Aspen almost wished she could’ve shove them back in. She fell silent, maybe for a moment too long as she found herself adverting eye contact. Licking her lips, she’d pressed them together, and pushed an ‘mhm’ from her throat. As the news sat an rightful panic within him, one that she could feel, sense, radiate off of him. After a few more seconds of avoiding direct contact with him, she’d let out a sigh and brought her attention back upon him. His question was a fair one. She couldn’t deny him that. Hell, at first, she had worried that she had gotten pregnant by her ex. If there was anything that made her more nauseous and genuinely horrified, it was that thought. But the dates haven’t added up, if she had been, she would’ve been further along when she found out. Not to mention as her son got older, there were traits and features her ex absolutely lacked that screamed Logan. “I’m sure.” She responded, “His name is Aiden.” As her attention fell upon the thought of her son, and the little facts about him, she felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. The affection she felt for her son pinging at her heart. “He’s four.” The hint of a smile that had crossed her features only seconds before would come to be wiped completely as admitting that out loud seemed wrong. Wrong to know that it had been that long, that that much time had passed before she finally told the man before her.
“It’s--” She would begin, but immediately gave pause as another valid question lingered in the air. She knew, for the most part, why she haven’t mentioned this at first. But as the years went on, Aspen wasn’t quite sure why she remained tight lipped. Maybe because she had already dug herself into this hole, and the idea of trying to figure out a way to dig her way out left her at a lost. “Why I didn’t initially tell you is a long story, and I don’t-- I don’t wanna get into that one.” She commented, “But I have no excuse for why I took this long, I should have told you sooner. But I didn’t want to trap you, and I’m really still not trying to trap you.” That was absolutely one thing she did not want, was for her son to be a burden on anyone. “He’s okay, we’re both okay. He’s just been asking about you, and he’s starting to wonder. And he deserves to know who that actually is, who you actually are. Not the one that people think it is.” She wasn’t necessarily pound of it, but her father and brother absolutely believed Aiden’s dad was her ex. It saved a lot of questions, and in the end, a lot of heartbreak for all involved. “I know you don’t believe me, and hell, I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t believe me either. If you want a test, you can absolutely have one. You can have whatever you need.” She assured, this time finally gathering up the courageous to take a few steps towards him. “But you have a son.” She repeated, an ease in her words this time around. A small smile founded upon her features, a hint of sadness lingering within in. “And he’s beautiful.”








