Getting the time off at the school was the hardest thing. Convincing the headmaster that his generally fairly healthy son had suddenly come down with an illness that would take at least six months to get over wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but lots of money and being Aaron Echolls generally took care of that. Then he had to make sure his often fairly crowded gates were finally kept clear, and the grounds completely free of intruders. By hiring security staff that could both keep their distance, and be discreet.

He knew what they were thinking. The ones who knew, anyway - Veronica Mars and her hard, hard eyes. That he'd finally done something really bad and had to keep it covered up. Some conversations with the boy himself mostly kept them quiet though. Conversations over the telephone, of course.

Logan was huge and beautiful pregnant, like his mother had been. Still prone to sarcastic comments - maybe more so now - but also sort of quiet, sometimes. Sort of happy, Aaron liked to think. He complained occasionally about not being able to go surfing. But hey, it wasn't like it had been his idea to keep it.

The next thing would be fake adoption paperwork. Film stars adopted kids all the time. No-one would ask too many questions, and he could pay off the ones that did. Logan might roll his eyes, but the money really was going to work for them in this case. And everything was going to be just fine.