#luke and ruby

               Everythinghad to be perfect. This was a big day and nothing was going to ruin it.

               Not evenher parents entering the door right before it was time to cut the cake.

               Zoey stood,knife in hand, staring at them in disbelief. The crowd around her was small,but it was full of people that cared for her and her daughter. The peoplesurrounding her had supported her through her difficult pregnancy. They hadbeen there to help in any way they could.

               The twopeople in the doorway had not.

               “Zo.”Luke placed a hand on the small of her back, his eyes never leaving the sightof her parents. “Ease up on your grip.”

               Her knuckleshad gone white as she’d gripped the knife tightly. She blinked a couple timesbefore setting it down. She glanced over at Luke’s mom, half hoping she wouldjump in and take control of the situation.

               But thiswas Zoey’s responsibility.

               She smoothedher skirt down and took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. Then she turnedto her parents and gave them a soft smile.

               “I’m soglad you came.” She’d sent the invitation fully expecting them to decline. But shedidn’t want to look back later in life and regret not giving them a chance tobe a part of their granddaughter’s life.

               Her motherstraightened up, looking down her nose at everyone. “We thought it would bebest to at least see what this was all about.”

               There wasa beat of awkward silence.

               Then Rubylet out an impatient squeal, thrusting her hands towards the cake and momentwas broken. A few soft chuckles rumbled through the crowd as everyone’sattention turned back to the baby girl.

               “Webetter hurry before she flips the table.” Calum joked.

               “Or I dropthe cake.” Michael grumbled, still standing the cake halfway lowered onto Ruby’shigh chair. He had frozen out of shock from the sight of Zoey’s parents and hadall but forgotten about the cake until he’d felt the burn in his arms.

               Momentarilyforgetting about the new guest, Zoey shot Michael an icy glare full of warning.“Don’t you dare.” She had worked far too hard on the cake. Not to mention thesmash cake that was on the table, ready for Ruby to tear in to.

               Luke visiblyrelaxed next to Zoey as he laughed. He rubbed her back for a moment beforepicking up the knife and moving to cut slices of cake.

               They passedaround plates of slices of cake while everyone watched Ruby play with the smashcake. She was much more interested in eating it than making a mess, but thatwas to be expected. She loved sweet foods.

               Zoey stoodoff to the side as people gathered to open presents. She was in charge oftaking pictures, despite the fact that Ashton already had his gear set up andone of his most recently bought cameras in his hand.

               Her mothercame to stand beside her.

               Zoey glancedat her but she didn’t seem to have anything to say, so Zoey focused on watchingLuke get excited about every little gift, causing Ruby to giggle and clap.

               “Whatyou have here,” Zoey lowered her phone, turning to look at her mother. “It’sgood.”

               For second,Zoey thought she saw tears brimming in her eyes, but her mother blinked andthey were gone. She placed a hand on Zoey’s cheek, gave it a gentle pat thenturned to walk away.

               This night was the longest night Luke had experienced in a long while. A tree had fallen on some power lines so the whole block had lost power. Six hours ago. Not only had Luke and Ruby run out of things to do but it was suffocatingly hot in their apartment. With no way of cooling off while they slept, Luke and Ruby lay sprawled out on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

               Finally, Luke couldn’t take it anymore.

               “That’s it. Let’s go.” Ruby scrambled after Luke as he stormed towards the front door. As soon as they stepped out, the two of them let out a sigh of relief. The hallway felt so much cooler.

               “Think of it as camping!” a voice said from across the hall. The neighbor’s door opened and the family of five that lived across from them stepped out. They all seemed to relax as well as the cool air hit their sweaty skin.

               The three boys grumbled as the plopped on the floor, not at all enjoying being awake so late at night.

               Luke smiled and waved at the parents.

               The mother eagerly waved back. “Hello Luke and Ruby!” She gestured to her family. “We’re planning on sleeping out here. Would you like to join? We can make it a sleep over!” She grinned at Ruby.

               Ruby giggled, returning the grin.

               This mom absolutely adored Ruby. She had always desired a daughter, so when Luke had moved in, she’d eagerly offered to care for Ruby while he was at work.

               “Well,” Luke assessed the area around them. “If we’re camping, we’re gonna need a tent.”

               The boys all cheered, bouncing to their feet, suddenly wide awake and loving this idea.

               Luke grabbed their camping tent from the coat closet while their dad went to retrieve the one in their apartment. After setting up and getting lanterns and sleeping bags, it really did look like they were camping. Luke even got his guitar out to sing around the campfire (aka a pillow with a flashlight on it.)

               After some fun camping songs, a ghost story or two, and s’mores (over a candle), it was really time for bed.

               Luke crawled into their tent with Ruby, settling down quickly.

               “Daddy?”

               “Hm?”

               “This was way better than sleeping in your bed.” Ruby yawned, rubbing at her eyes.

               “Youknow what friends are for?” Luke asked, looking at Ruby in her high chair. “Leavingyou behind while they go have fun.” He sighed, returning to washing the dishes.“I mean, I get that their lives don’t stop just because I have a kid, but,”Luke tossed a towel onto his shoulder as he leaned against the counter. “Theleast they could do is wait a few years for me to be able to join them.”

               Ruby babbled,too busy eating her cheerios to pay attention to her dad’s complaining.

               “Isthat too much to ask?” Luke mumbled, scowling at his phone as he looked at theguys’ recent posts. “To just not do anything fun without me?” Luke turned toRuby, as if expecting her to say something.

               She waseight months old. She had nothing to say nor did she care to comment. She hadbigger priorities. Like that one cheerio that refused to unstick from her hand.

               Luke sighed.He knew he was being unreasonable. His friends could go have fun without him. Hehad responsibilities they didn’t have. That wasn’t their fault. He no reason toget upset.

               They guyswere going camping. He didn’t even like camping.

               It wasjust the fact that all of a sudden, his life had changed so much and nothingaround him was really changing with him. And how could it? So his friends weretechnically uncles now, did that mean they had to stop everything to help outevery moment? They did so much for Luke already. How could he take away eventhe slightest bit of enjoyment from them? He couldn’t be selfish. Calum, Michael,and Ashton sure hadn’t been lately. What gave him the right?

               Luke sighed,pouring more cheerios onto Ruby’s tray.

               He wouldhave missed Ruby too much anyway.

               His phonerang. It was Ashton.

               “Luke!”A very giggly, most likely drunk Ashton yelled. “Open the door!”

               “What?”Luke walked to the front door, opening it slowly.

               There stoodAshton, Calum, and Michael, propped against the doorway. All three stumbledinto the apartment, crashing onto the couch with loud laughter.

               Ruby squealed,clapping her hands at her uncles’ silly antics.

               “Ruby!”they all yelled, coming to shower her in kisses.

               “Whatare you guys doing here? You said you were going camping?”

               “Wehate camping!” Michael cried out.

               “And werealized it wouldn’t have been as much fun without you.” Ashton added.

               Calum nodded.“So we went to a bar then walked here.” He pointed in the direction of theliving room floor. “We’re going to crash here.”

               Lukelearned very quickly that toddlers were not easy to handle in public. Why youmight ask? Because they’re old enough to unbuckle their seat belts in thestroller, old enough to run around, and old enough to grab things. But not oldenough to pay for things on their own.

               Luke wasin an aisle, reading the sugar content on cereal boxes (yeah, that’s what wasbecoming of his life) when he heard an announcement on the intercom.

               “Wouldthe parent of Ruby and Asher please come to cashier 5, please?”

               Luke froze.

               He thoughtthis over.

               Would hereally be that bad of a parent if he left them there until the grocery storewas empty of customers (i.e. judgmental mothers with critical minds) and pickedthem up later? He could stand there pretending to compare cereal boxes untiltonight. He had no problem doing that.

               Luke sighed,placing the boxes in his hand back on the shelves.

               He couldhear his mother’s voice in his head. “You’re responsible for these babies,through good and bad. Do the right thing and they’ll do the same.”

               What ‘rightthing’ had they gotten into now?

               The managerof the store and a cashier stood by the counter. Seated on top of said counterwere the twins. Their blonde curls were all that Luke could see as they bothhad their heads hanging down.

               The managerraised both his eyebrows as he looked at Luke.

               “Areyou…?”

               Luke wasused to that.

               “Yeah, I’mtheir dad.” He sighed. “What did they do?”

               The managerstuck out his hand with a handful of packs of gum. “They ate these.” His upperlip curled in distaste. “Without paying.”

               Luke decidedthat pointing out that they were toddlers and unable to pay for anything wouldn’tget him anywhere. So with great reluctance, Luke pulled out his wallet andhanded over the right amount of change for each pack of gum.

               The managersimply scowled in response. “How about telling them to stay still next time?”

               If therewas one thing Ruby loved, it was strawberries. She’d eat them all the time ifshe could. In fact, she probably believed that she could survive solely on thesweet fruit. Most of what she owned was strawberry-themed, even.

               So forher second birthday, Luke could think of nothing better than surprising her andtaking her to a local strawberry patch. Michael and Calum both had to attendtraining during the day, but Ashton tagged along. He brought his camera alongas per usual, snapping away as she waddle through the rows and rows of freshstrawberries.

               Luke didmost of the actual picking. Ashton was too busy taking pictures and Ruby wastoo busy taking samples.

               But he wouldn’thave asked for it any other way.

               Ruby,dressed in her strawberry rain boots and favorite red dress, was happy. What morecould a dad ask for?

               After thestrawberries had been picked and cleaned, they sat down at a picnic table andate their fill. Usually, Luke wouldn’t let Ruby eat just strawberries as ameal, but the nearest restaurant was just too far away. Especially during thelate morning, so close to lunch time.

               Besides,she needed to take a nap soon. It sure would help if she fell asleep in thecar.

               The excitementfor the strawberry fields seem to fill Ruby up more than the strawberriesactually did. As Ashton and Luke took a break, she ran and bounced around the grassyarea, letting out little squeals every time she’d start rolling in the grass.

               Luke noticedher before she saw him.

               They wereleaving the performance hall to go pick up Ruby backstage when Luke noticedsomeone that looked very familiar. He had to do a double take. Then stand therefor a moment in confusion.

               What wasshe doing here of all places?

               He lookedaround. Maybe she was here for someone else.

               But noone acknowledged her or even glanced her way. There was no other option. Zoey’smother had come for Ruby’s dance recital.

               Jess followedLuke’s gaze, noticing the woman seated just a few seats away from where theystood. She placed her hand on Luke’s arm, getting his attention.

               “I’llget Ruby.” She gave him a reassuring smile before following the rest of theparents towards backstage.

               Luke tooka deep breath, squaring his shoulders. He walked towards Zoey’s mom, trying tokeep his hands from shaking. He hadn’t spoken to this woman since the funeralof her daughter. Where she’d looked him right in the eyes and blamed him forher death. She cursed and screamed hysterically at him, demanding that hebrought her daughter back. She had taken one look at her granddaughter andturned her back on her.

               She’dshown Luke her cruelty. And it was burned in his memories forever.

               So whatwas she doing here?

               “Whyare you here?”

               She lookedup, not looking surprised to see Luke. “I came to see my granddaughter’s dancerecital.”

               “Youcan’t just—“ Luke stopped, noticing people glancing their way. He didn’t wantto make a scene but being around this woman just made him want to yell andscream. “You can’t just act like her grandmother whenever you feel like it tomake yourself feel better. Either you’re in her life or you’re not.”

               “You’drather I wasn’t.” she said, calmly like she was simply stating a fact.

               “Youdid too last I remember.” Luke said flatly.

               She stoodup, meeting his eyes. She stared at him in silence for a while. “I came becauseI wanted to see if being here, seeing the two of you, would still bring mepain. I wanted to know if I was ready to accept you.” She sighed, looking away.“I thought there was a possibility that you’d accept me as well.”

               Luke wasthe assistant coach for Ruby’s toddler soccer team. When he’d volunteered, he’dassumed that meant he’d be chasing kids all over the place, trying to keep themon some kind of track. He was right, more or less. He just didn’t realize how quicklyhe would adjust to that.

               The coach,Will, had years of experience. He was a third grade teacher and father to fourkids under the age of ten. Also, he’d coached soccer for a few years after heretired as a player.

               All Lukehad to do was keep an eye on the kids that didn’t actually come to learn toplay. They called them the ‘social butterflies.’ Ruby was a part of that group.

               “Greatjob team!” Luke called, watching as the kids celebrated their first goal of thegame. He liked how excited they got. He smiled, watching them refocus on thegame. He couldn’t help but be amazed of these kids.

               Although,the most amazing part was the kids sitting in the middle of the field pickingflowers.

               No onecrashed into them, no one stepped on their flowers, and no one kicked the balltowards them. They were completely uninterrupted, in their own little world. Ashappy as could be.

               Ruby wavedeagerly at Luke, yelling “Hi Daddy!”

               Lukeshould have known that when Ruby asked for favors, it would cause him torethink his decisions to allow animals to live in the same space as him. Don’tget him wrong, he loved animals and fostering them until they could find aforever home was so rewarding. But this wasn’t about foster pets.

               This wasabout those cats that thought they owned the world and could do whatever theywanted with it.

               The onlything they didn’t seem to torment was Ruby, leaving her oblivious to their truenature.

               When schoolstarted the summer after the kittens were born, she was worried about them. She’dcheck in on Luke whenever he was home to make sure they were all okay. But aftermultiple ‘I don’t knows’ Ruby decided to take matters into her own hands.

               It startedwith a chart and ended with a list scribbled on a scrap piece of paper.

               And partof a heavily decorated chart that would never be finished.

               She handedthe paper to Luke.

               “What’sthis?” He took a glance of the paper in Ruby’s hand before returning his focusback to FIFA. Calum was a tough opponent, but he was going down and nothingcould stop Luke.

               “Yourcat duties.”

               Except that.

               Calum whoopedand hollered as he scored yet another goal as Luke whipped his head around tolook back at Ruby.

               “Whatdo you mean cat duties?”

               Ruby remainedunfazed by his disbelieving glare. “Someone needs to step up while I’m atschool and no one else in this house has opposable thumbs.”  

               “I win!Again!” Calum yelled, throwing his arms in the air. Luke ignored him.

               “Ruby,they’re cats. They take care of themselves.”

               “Butsomeone needs to check to make sure they stay where they’re supposed to be anddon’t get in harm’s way!”

               “That’swhat the kiddie gate in the laundry room is for. Besides they stay in the cratewith Gypsy almost all the time now.”

               Ruby remainedunconvinced, still holding the list out to Luke.

               He sighed,taking the list from her. “Fine, I’ll do what I can.”