A Father's Love

Chapter 28

   The second night was a little easier than the first. His mind still worried about how Shelby was doing, but Luke was able to get better sleep this time. Exhausted from the day's events, especially playing in her T-ball game, Shelby had fallen asleep during the second movie the three watched together. Either she was extremely tired or Shelby was now comfortable at the Gilmore house. Whatever the reason, she could sleep through the entire night, which was a first. Usually, in the middle of the night Shelby woke up, whimpering from a nightmare, wet and Lorelai would lie with the kid until she fell back to sleep once she had her cleaned up. It helped Shelby feel at ease, having Rory a few feet away.

Luke was in a better mood Sunday morning when the girls came into the diner and Shelby made a beeline straight for her dad, hugging him around the legs as he tried not to drop the plates he was holding.

"Shelby, I'm glad to see you, too, but you know you have to be careful when my hands are full." She let go, stepping back to hold her hands behind her back as she stared at the floor, pitifully.

He set the plates on the correct table before kneeling to her level, pulling Shelby in to wrap her in his arms, and kissed the side of her head between her hat and the top of her ear. "It's okay, Shell. No harm done. Just be careful next time."

Shelby grabbed onto him and squeezed her dad, tight.

This time, Luke could pull back, forcing himself. He could hug this kid all day if he could. "You have fun?"

She nodded.

"Good, I'm glad." He smiled at her.

Shelby joined Lorelai and Rory at their table. Luke brought the older two girls coffee and took their order, leaning over to give Shelby his ear to take hers.

"Eggs and ham," she told him.

"Coming right up," he told her, knowing already how his daughter liked her eggs: scrambled with the ham cut up and mixed in. When he returned with their order, Lorelai let him know they were kidnapping Shelby a little longer. "For how much longer?"

She shrugged. "A couple more hours. Why?"

He nodded down at Shelby, "I checked your folder last night. You have homework to do when you get home."

Shelby inaudibly moaned, dropping her forehead onto her folded arms.

"It has to get done, kiddo. You had all weekend to have fun, now it's time to wind down and work on your homework."

"What does she have to do? Maybe I can help," Rory offered.

"Math, language arts, vocabulary, and reading," he told her.

The teen turned back to the younger girl. "Go grab your backpack and I can help you while we eat."

Shelby was about to stand up when Luke stopped her. "Nope, I need Shelby to eat first."

"How come?"

"'Cause, every time Shelby tries to eat while doing something else, she'll just stop eating and focus on whatever she's doing and won't be able to finish her food," he explained.

She nodded.

The two ate first before Rory told Shelby to go grab her backpack. It was a packet of mixed worksheets the students had to complete by Monday, including all the subjects Luke had mentioned. They worked on math first before moving on to the next page where Shelby had to fill in the blanks using the vocabulary words she would be tested on the following Friday, followed by a short story and answering questions regarding the story. The whole packet only took an hour and a half to complete, which Luke told Shelby she could do her daily reading at bedtime. Rory even checked it over for him. With everything done, her and Lorelai was able to kidnap Shelby for another couple hours, assuring Luke they'd bring her back.