Yay for quick updates! Yeah! I've started scheduling when to work on fics and set personal deadlines, which has seemed to help immensely. But I almost didn't make this deadline... I had a bit of unexpected spring break Sunday and yesterday, which threw me off track... But I got enough time today to finish the chapter. Yay!
Okay, thanks for all your reviews and keep on with them!
Next update should be on 3/30. Check my profile for changes in that schedule.
The Confidant
Breakfast passed a lot quieter and a bid colder than usual, with Bo and Lou stubbornly refusing to say anything at all to each other. Neither of them would even ask for the other to pass any of the food to them for seconds. If it weren't for the smothering looks that passed between them throughout the meal, one wouldn't even know they knew the other existed.
But, Lou had thought up an excuse for herself. She would claim she was just going by the rule taught to every kid on earth: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.
However, the silent, almost begging look that Uncle Jesse gave her near breakfast's end made her feel guilty for letting him down. And feeling like you let sweet Uncle Jesse down made you feel as worthless and awful as dirt.
Lou was quick to decide she'd make up for it at least a little.
For a minute, she wracked her brain for something she could do, but the opportunity openly presented itself after everyone was done eating and Uncle Jesse began clearing away plates and cups from the table.
It was then that she spoke up with a light smile on her face. "Don't worry with all of this, Uncle Jesse. I'll clean off the table for you."
Everyone looked surprised at Lou's uncharacteristic offer to help clean, Bo the most of all of them. He even raised an eyebrow at her skeptically.
She made a "What?" gesture and went on, "Really, you go ahead out to work on the house. I've got it. I promise I won't break anything. And it ain't like I don't know how to wash dishes."
"Well, alright," Uncle Jesse said somewhat reluctantly. "Thank ya very much, Lou."
"You're welcome very much, Uncle Jesse," she replied, rising from the table as the old man slowly sat the plate he'd been holding back on the table. "Off to work with you." Smiling in a way she hoped looked sincerely helpful, she flicked her hands as if to encourage him out the door.
With one last glance that looked somewhat suspicious of Lou, Uncle Jesse wandered on out.
Bo too rose from the table and after throwing a still heated look—though it did seem a bit softer to Lou than those he'd given her during breakfast—at his wife, he likewise left for work. That left Lou standing at one side of the table, stacking dirty plates, and Jo and Luke—who was apparently hanging around a few minutes before following his uncle and cousin out to work—each lifting a baby from the high-chairs.
As soon as Luke set his little nephew down on the floor, Johnny immediately took off at a fast, uncoordinated crawl towards the living room. When Jo set Yvonne down, the little girl set off at an only slightly slower but much more synchronized after her cousin.
"Uh, Lou, need some help there?" Luke asked.
Turning around with a negative ready on her lips, Lou's response promptly died at seeing the look on Luke's face. Eyes wide, the look clearly told Lou that there was a specific reason he needed to help, and to speak with her alone.
"Yeah, thanks," she answered, carefully keeping the questioning note out of her voice so Jo, just now following the babies into the living room, wouldn't notice.
After frowning and staring very pointedly at her brother-in-law, Lou picked up the last two plates and carried them over to the sink. Setting them down in the side she plugged, she set the faucet to running.
Luke followed, carrying the stack of dirty cups.
Tossing a glance over her shoulder to make sure that her sister was safely out of earshot, Lou gave Luke another stare. "What the heck do you want?"
Suddenly, Luke seemed a little fidgety, and quickly set down the stack of cups in the sink as though he might drop them. "I just wanted to ask you something."
An idea of his possible intentions hit Lou and her hands curled to fists that quickly went to her hips. "Luke, if this is about me and Bo, I don't want to hear one word of it."
"It's not, it's not," he quickly assured. "Definitely not."
After that, everything fell into place quickly for Lou as the realization swiftly donned on her. Her mouth formed a perfectly round O before she went on to say, "Oh, I see. I know what you want."
Both of Luke's eyebrows rose. "You do?"
Smiling smugly, Lou turned and squirted soap into the sink water as she explained. "Call it a woman's intuition… Or a sister-in-law's… Or whatever you want. But the evidence is enough. Valentine's Day is coming up and it'll be your first one with your wife, you're a bit worried and you're over here, talking to me alone, away from Jo."
Glancing back towards the living room, Luke groaned lightly. "Is it really that obvious?"
"To me," Lou responded. "Probably not to Jo. You're most likely safe from her figuring it out, at least for now."
"Good." Pausing, Luke watched as Lou started scrubbing dishes, then asked, "So… What should I do for Jo for Valentine's?"
"Don't you have any ideas of your own?"
Luke shrugged. "Not really."
"Men these days know nothing," Lou mumbled to herself, sighing. "So you come right to me, the sister."
"Well, I figured you'd know what she'd like."
Snorting at that, Lou halted her scouring of a stubborn plate briefly. "After twenty-six years, yeah, I probably do."
When she didn't continue, Luke prompted her again. "So… What should I do?"
"If I told you, that would kind of ruin the whole point of you doing something for her, wouldn't it?"
"Lou…" Luke began, sounding for a moment just like Bo when he started getting angry with her.
"Alright, fine," Lou cut in before he could say more. "Here's what I think you should do…"
