Author's Note: Just a quick note to help with the timeline of this fic. The majority of For My Lover took place in 2012. Then Ruby was born 9 years later in 2021 when Adam and Jay were 48, Jeff was 44, and Phil was 43. The laws were repealed 4 years later in 2025. This chapter skips forward 12 years, where Ruby is 16, Adam and Jay are 64, Jeff is 60, and Phil is 59.
12 years later
"Oh for crying out loud! Do you think you guys could go five minutes without shoving your tongues down each other's throat?! I thought that kinda thing was supposed to stop once you got to be your age."
Phil and Jeff pulled apart, laughing at their daughter's halfhearted tirade. They both turned to look at her, Phil absentmindedly petting the hair at the back of Jeff's head.
"Hey!" he called in mock offense. "We may be "old," but we ain't dead!"
Ruby just rolled her eyes, an exasperated smile on her lips. It wasn't like this was anything new. It happened practically every day. She really couldn't turn around without seeing her parents kissing or holding each other.
Secretly, she loved it and had to admire them. The parents of most of her friends were either divorced or just ran their day-to-day lives like robots. None of them ever displayed the kind of love for each other that her parents did. She only hoped that when she was their age, she had someone she could embarrass her own kids with.
Phil removed his arms from around Jeff's neck and slid off his lap, Jeff turning in his stool.
"So how was school today?" Phil asked as he walked over to his daughter, the two of them sharing a hug before he kissed her on the head.
"It was fine. Boring. We have a project to do, so I figured we'd work on it here." She motioned towards the other three teenagers who had come in with her.
"Yeah, sure. You guys want anything?"
After Jeff had gotten all four of the kids drinks and something to eat, they began working at one of the tables.
"So have you asked them yet?" one of the girls whispered to Ruby, who shook her head.
"No...I'm working on it."
"Girl, come on! If you wait too long, you'll miss the deadline."
"I know. I know. I just gotta work up to it. You don't understand."
Phil and Jeff watched the entire conversation silently, amazed both girls actually thought they couldn't hear them. They finally decided to make their presence known.
"What haven't you asked us about?" Jeff asked, causing all four teenagers to jump slightly in surprise.
"Uh...uh...nothing, Daddy." Ruby internally cursed herself for not talking more quietly. Now she was gonna have to tell them before she had fully developed her plan.
"Ruby..."
She sighed. That was it. Whenever her dad used that tone of voice, she had no choice but to come clean. He was a master.
"Well...um...you see, as kind of an end of the year present, my Contemporary History teacher wants to take us on a field trip to see a lot of the places where events we've been learning about took place..."
Her eyes were cast down the whole time. She just knew what her parents' answer was going to be and she was far too nervous to see the answer in their eyes.
"And where exactly would you be going on this field trip?" Phil asked hesitantly, fearing he already knew the answer.
"Well...each group would have a different route, but we'd all start on the west side of the US and continue across the country to the east coast..."
"Absolutely not." Jeff's voice was quick and firm.
"But Daddy..." Ruby was doing her best to not sound like she was whining. She just didn't understand why her parents were so set on never letting her visit the States.
"No buts, young lady. We've talked about this. You're 16 years old. We don't have problems with you traveling as long as you're with responsible people, but you have to stay out of the US."
"But why?" she asked exasperatedly.
"Because that's our decision," Jeff answered decisively, getting up to go get some stuff in the back of the bakery.
She knew she wouldn't have much better luck, but turning on the puppy dog eyes...her dad's puppy dog eyes, she tried anyway.
"Papa..."
"Oh no," Phil quickly cut her off. "Do not give me those eyes. Your dad and I have talked about this. We both don't feel comfortable with you going."
She growled in frustration before returning her attention to her project.
Even though he was still firm in his conviction, Phil couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
His daughter had definitely picked up his temper.
She was the spitting image of Jeff, with bright emerald eyes and long blonde hair (which had a streak of pink in it this week), but her personality was a combination of both of them.
She was friendly and compassionate like Jeff, but also determined and motivated like Phil. Jeff always jokingly referred to her as "Phil's little protege." She had told her parents that she had decided to be straight edge when she was just 13. Jeff had later thrown his hands up in the air with a laugh. Of course he would wind up having two straight edge people in his house.
It was when she started high school that she decided she wanted to be an addictions counselor. Her parents had told her about what her dad had gone through and it had broken her heart. She wanted to do what she could to help other people who were going through what he had. She had pretended to not see the tears in her dad's eyes when she told them. She knew both of them had probably never been more proud of her than in that moment.
Her stubbornness, needless to say, was something she had inherited from both of them.
She and her friends continued to work on their project before the other three left, Ruby walking back over to her parents once they were gone.
"Can I go to Uncle Jay and Uncle Adam's this weekend?" she asked, still pretty mad about her parents' decision. She knew that going to see her uncles would help her blow off steam.
"Yeah, that's fine," Jeff answered. "I'll book the flight tonight."
"Thanks," she said, kissing both of them on the cheek. She really hated being mad at her parents, but she just couldn't understand why they were so against her going to the States.
Maybe her uncles could give her some help.
TBC
I know this chapter was pretty short and I'm sorry about that. I'd like to say that the next chapter will be longer, but I can't promise that. Thank you so so much to everyone reading and to JoMoFan-spot for encouraging me with her review! Let me know what you guys think...
