Chapter 10
On Tuesday, Lorelai stopped by the diner on her way to visit Rory at Yale before her classes started for the day. Shelby wasn't down yet so she chatted with Luke, which he asked how she was holding up with the whole "empty nest" transition she was now going through.
"Eh," she shrugged. Lorelai perked up to ask, "hey, you think I could borrow Shelby?"
He shrugged in return. "And do what with her?"
"Oh, I thought I'd take her to a bar, let her try her first beer. Get her a male stripper. You know, that kind of thing," she said, joking with him before snapping, "what do you think? I need a kid around."
"Forget it," Luke told her with a half smirk. "You had your eighteen years with yours. This is my kid."
Lorelai pouted like a scolded child being told no. "Come on!" she tried to insist but Luke stood firm.
"Besides, Shelby and I have another busy day today."
"Oh, what's on the agenda for today?" she asked, seeming interested and thankfully dropping trying to steal his kid.
"She has her yearly physical, later this morning, and after lunch, we have to drive to Providence, for our third session." Luke forced himself to sound enthused. He still wasn't thrilled to be in therapy. It didn't help it felt like he was paying to sit in a room and play games for an hour.
Lorelai smiled for him. "Sounds fun," she said. "Do you know what game you'll be playing this week?"
"Not a clue. Hopefully, something that doesn't involve polar bears, or any animal for that matter."
"Aw, but Don't Break the Ice sounds like fun. I've actually thought about getting the game to add to our board game collection."
"But, it's a kid's game," he pointed out.
"Luke, how long have you known me?" Lorelai questioned of him, which made him roll his eyes. "Has that ever stopped me before?"
Luke just rolled his eyes. "By the way," He turned part way around to grab a paper bag of muffins he had set aside to give to her, to pass along to Rory. "I made a batch of muffins for Rory." He handed the bag to her.
"Oh, that's so sweet of you, Luke."
Luke just shrugged, modestly. "Just thought I send her a batch since I know she likes them."
Lorelai smiled. "I'm sure it'll be much appreciated." Since she was on a short time frame, Lorelai had to leave to make the trip up to Yale in time before Rory started classes, taking both her coffee and the bag of muffins with her.
After the breakfast rush passed and the diner was cleaned, Luke and Shelby headed to the doctor's for her appointment. It was a short wait before Shelby's name was called. The nurse recorded her weight, height, and temperature before leading them into a small room, where she took Shelby's blood pressure. Once the nurse was finished with her routine, she left, letting them know the doctor would be in, shortly.
"Can I blow up a glove?" Shelby asked, pointing over at the box of rubber gloves the doctor had sitting on the counter.
"What? No, you can't blow up a glove," Luke told her.
"Why not? Jess did it when I had to 'tay in the ho'pital when I broke my arm."
"Shell, the doctor needs those to check patients," he explained to her. "What would happen if he needed a pair and there was only one left? They would have to rush to go get more."
Shelby frowned in disappointment. "They probably would get more when they're running low," she tried to point out.
Luke still told her no. "Speaking of," he said, changing the subject to combat her boredom, "how's Jess doing? You heard from him, lately?"
"Yeah, he called las' week."
"How's he doing?"
"Good. He says California is hot," she said.
"Well, I'm glad he's doing good." He was also glad the guy was keeping in touch with his cousin, as well. It was relieving to have some sort of communication to let him know Jess was okay and not dead in a ditch, somewhere. Even if it was just the bare minimum. Little was better than none.
The doctor came in after fifteen minutes and went through the procedure of Shelby's eight-year physical, including listening to her heart and lungs, and looking in her ears, eyes, and mouth. She also asked Shelby to lie back and pressed on parts of her sides and stomach, making sure nothing hurt, and checked the mobility of her legs, as well. When she was done, the doctor brought up a subject Luke wasn't expecting, asking if they noticed any signs of early puberty yet.
"I'm sorry?"
"Puberty. It can start as early as eight in girls," the doctor explained.
That was news to him since he swore his sister started showing signs around eleven or twelve. Not that he was trying to pay attention to his sister, changing. Living with a girl, one does notice those kinds of things, and become a lot more protective, especially when other boys noticed, too.
"So, have you noticed anything?"
"Like what?" he asked.
She then listed the signs, suddenly making Luke, very uncomfortable. He ended up having to turn to Shelby, who shook her head at the doctor.
Luke felt himself blow a breath of relief, silently to himself. "My sister was eleven or twelve when it hit her," he said.
"Puberty starting, can be hereditary, every person is different," she told him. "Plus, a child is more likely to take after the mother than an aunt." That, Luke had no clue since puberty and what can be passed on to a child was never a topic to be brought up during his and Rachel's time, together.
The doctor finished with the physical. Shelby was relieved her next yearly immunization wasn't until she was eleven. She was a couple inches above the average height for an eight-year-old, but the doctor didn't seem concerned about anything.
On the walk home, Shelby asked, "Dad, are you okay?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Because you got nervous when the doctor brough' up puberty," she said.
"Well, stuff like…" He stumbled for words to say. "This is a new thing I'm not used to, you know?"
"Don' worry, Dad," Shelby assured him. "I asked Lor-lai like you told me to. I know wha's going to happen when I'm older."
"Well, uh, th-that's good." Hopefully, it doesn't happen for a while.
They headed back to the diner to open for lunch and to have lunch, themselves, before it was time to leave again.
During the lunch rush, Lorelai stopped by for lunch and coffee. Luke overheard her ask Shelby if she had been invited to Aaron Thompson's birthday party on Thursday since they were in the same grade. Luke had come over to refill Lorelai's cup at that point.
"Nope, and Ethan and Alan aren' invi'ed either," she answered while dipping her baby carrot in the cup of ranch that was sitting on her plate.
"How come?" Lorelai asked. "I figured you three would be, and would help me feel more at ease."
But Shelby shook her head at where she had bitten off a bite. "There's a war going on in our grade where some like Lord of the Rings and everyone else likes Harry Potter," she explained. "I think i's 'tupid because you should be able to like whatever, but," she shrugged, "whatever." Shelby looked at the woman. "I don' even know wha' Lord of the Rings is."
"Pretty sure it's another one of those books Dungeons and Dragons nerds are into," said Luke.
"Says the Trekkie," Lorelai added, sarcastically.
Luke shot her a glare, knowing full well, she had him, cornered. "I am… Not a Trekkie," he tried to counter with but lost confidence halfway through.
Lorelai returned her attention back to the kid. "Well, if you want, you can come as mine and Sookie's guest, and help us out if you want to go," she offered.
"Nah, i's okay," Shelby politely declined. "Besides, we don' wan' to be their friends or hang ou' with them if we have to like wha' they like."
Lorelai smiled at that. "Good call." She did end up inviting Shelby over to her house and renting Lord of the Rings since Lorelai had to make costumes for the kids who were invited. "Ha!" Lorelai pointed a finger at Luke when Shelby accepted that invitation, reminding him of that morning of wanting to borrow her.
Luke just rolled his eyes. "Keep it up and I'll come up with an excuse to keep Shelby, home, tonight," he told her. "After all, it's technically my call on whether or not she can go anyway."
"Hey, Dad, don' I have tha' thing, tonigh'?" Shelby asked.
"What thing, Shell?"
"You know, tha' thing." Shelby then repeatedly started blinking her eye which was lost on Luke.
Luke gave her a puzzled look.
"You know, that thing." It took a moment to realize Shelby was trying to wink at him when it just looked like she had something in her eye which he did ask about. "That thing, Dad."
"Oooh," he said with a nod. "Right." Turning back to Lorelai, Luke told her, "yeah, there is a thing. We've had it planned for a while." Both of them was smirking, trying to contain a laugh or two.
"Ha ha." Lorelai took one last drink of her coffee before standing up, unamused to be on the receiving end this time instead of being the teaser. "On that note." She grabbed her purse and took out her wallet to leave what she owed for her meal. Before leaving, she asked, "Six-thirty, okay?"
"We should be back by then," Luke replied, still wearing his smirk.
"See'ya, kid," she told Shelby once Lorelai had put her wallet away again and headed for the door.
"See ya," Shelby returned with a wave.
Luke told Shelby to finish up because they would be leaving soon.
The night before, Rachel had called to let Luke know she was driving up to Providence, herself, because of another place she needed to be right afterwards and figured it would be easier to drive up there herself. So when it was time to head up to Providence, Luke and Shelby just left, leaving Caesar and John in charge while they were gone.
On the way, they worked out a time to get the new GameBoy Shelby had been saving for since she had enough. It also meant Shelby could start saving for the Star Wars Lego set she wanted to get next. It was amazing how much this kid was willing to work already, and save her money over a long period of time to be able to have something she wanted. She even mentioned how it was even wearing off onto Ethan, who still wanted a GameCube of his own. Cheryl wasn't one hundred percent set on letting him have another game console when he and his brothers had two perfectly good ones already, but if he wanted to and understood how long it would take to earn and save, she was okay with it. Luke was especially proud his little buddy was being a good influence on her friends.
Rachel had beaten them there and was waiting in the waiting room when they got there.
Shelby waved but barely made any eye contact, looking elsewhere. It wasn't intentional as Luke knew holding eye contact wasn't easy for her.
"How was your week, Peanut?" he heard Rachel ask while signing them in.
Softly, she replied, "Good."
As soon as the woman sitting behind the desk told Luke she would let Lauren know they were there, he went over to take a seat in a chair across from where Rachel was sitting with the coffee table of magazines between them. Shelby moved to the chair next to him.
Rachel continued to try and have a conversation with Shelby. "Roger and I are going to paint each of the rooms in our new house. Is there a particular color or colors you would like for your room? We can paint it the same as your old room. If you still like camouflage colors."
Shelby nodded while staring at the floor.
"Roger has an idea to get those nets and hang them up in the corners, and I still have your comforter and sheets. We can make your room look like a base camp or something like that. What do you think?"
One shoulder moved upward, slightly.
"I just want to make sure you know you're always welcome and have somewhere else to call home, Peanut. You don't have to come over anytime soon. Whenever you are ready. Okay?"
She took a deep breath, letting it out through her nose, softly as Shelby continued to stare at the floor.
Rachel left things alone when Shelby didn't say anything else. Instead, Shelby scooted over in her chair and rested her head against Luke's arm, snuggling against it.
Luke stole a glance over at Rachel, who was leaning forward with her elbows near her knees as she stared at the floor. He wasn't even sure what to say or if he should say anything at all. Thankfully, the door opened and Lauren came out to greet them. All three stood up when they saw the woman, greeting her in return before following down the hall to her office, where they sat in the same chairs as the week before with Luke between mother and daughter.
Lauren closed the door once everyone was inside and took a seat across from Luke. "How is everyone, this week?" she asked, folding her hands on the table in front of her.
Both Luke and Rachel replied with, "Good," while Shelby sat there, quietly, with her arms folded on top of the other as she stared at a spot on the table.
"How about you, Miss Shelby?" Lauren asked the little girl. "Everything alright? It's okay to express however you feel," she added when Shelby hadn't responded.
Shelby chewed on her lip, biting on it.
"If you need to, you can tell your dad and he can tell us, or if you're not ready to share, that's okay, too."
Shelby looked over at him which Luke leaned forward so she could whisper whatever was on her mind and told him, the week was good and bad because of the family lunch not going as planned, Lorelai and Rory returning but then Rory having to leave again, and about their day they had on Sunday, and having enough money to finally buy her new GameBoy. He then passed it on to Lauren.
"Sounds like it was a roller coaster of a week, huh?"
Shelby looked between Lauren and her dad with her puzzled expression. So, Lauren explained what she meant by a roller coaster of a week, comparing a roller coaster to having a lot of ups and downs.
After she finished and Shelby understood, Rachel asked to say something. She looked over at their daughter. "Peanut, are you upset with me because I left lunch, early, last week?"
Shelby nodded, still trying to make eye contact with her mother. "Y-...you always leave," she said, softly.
Luke felt his eyes close, briefly as his head dropped a little. He reached over to give her arm a gentle squeeze.
"Peanut, it had nothing to do with you," Rachel tried to reassure her. "Your aunt and I got into a disagreement and I had to leave. I was frustrated and needed to get away before things got worse."
Shelby just continued to stare at nothing in particular towards the table. Her eyes were glossing over.
Rachel turned to ask Lauren, "That's good, isn't it? Stepping away from a situation?"
"Yes, stepping away is good," she agreed.
"See?" Rachel turned back to Shelby.
However, Lauren continued her thought. "It's also wise to let others know you're stepping away."
"I figured my sister would let everyone know," she gave a shrug.
"All she said was that you left and that you were calling Roger to come pick you up when I mentioned you had come with us," Luke said while comfortingly rubbed his thumb along Shelby's arm while still holding it. "And, that you were being you."
Rachel lifted her hands to drop her face against them as she let out a tired sigh.
Lauren pushed her chair back to stand up. She headed over to pull open a blue colored drawer, digging around until she found a deck of cards and returned to her seat. "Sounds like there are some mixed, untold stories. So, I think, for today, we should play a game of Feelings Go Fish," she told the family when Luke noticed they were regular playing cards.
When she opened the top flap and dropped the cards out into her other hand, Shelby patted Luke's arm.
He leaned forward again so she could tell him, if he could ask if she could shuffle them since Jess taught her, how. "Why don't you ask?" Luke gently encouraged the kid.
Lauren looked up from already starting to shuffle. "Ask me, what?"
Shelby hesitated, but Luke encouraged her some more. Softly, in a timid voice, she asked, "C-can I shuffle?"
Lauren had to lean over a little to make sure she heard, right. "Can you shuffle? You mean the cards?" She held them up.
Shelby timidly nodded.
She gave the kid a kind smile. "Sure you can." Lauren handed Shelby the cards. The adults then watched as the kid divided the deck in half, straightening them by tapping one on top of the other before fanning them together and then ended with the bridge. It wasn't perfect but still impressed the adults, including Luke. She repeated the process a second time.
"Where did you learn to do that from, Shelby?" Lauren asked.
Luke said nothing, encouraging Shelby to answer with a gentle nudge.
"My c'n," she replied, softly where Lauren had to lean in again to hear.
"Your cousin taught you how to shuffle?"
Shelby nodded.
Lauren smiled.
"He was teaching her how to play Poker, too," Rachel said, sounding as if she still did not approve. "For money."
Lauren looked at Rachel before turning back to Shelby. "Sounds like a fun cousin you have there," she said. "My grandfather used to teach me and my brother, growing up, along with Hearts and War. My grandfather would always come over and announce he had a pocket of quarters, and if anyone wanted to win some for ice cream."
Shelby looked up a little more confident, that time. "I won forty dollars, once," she said, still a little timid.
"Wow, the student surpassed the teacher, huh?" Lauren touched a hand to the kid's left arm, laughing in a harmless, playful manner.
She nodded. "He would win, too, though."
"It's only fair, right?"
Shelby nodded a second time.
"Can you count out seven cards between you, and your mom and dad?" Lauren pointed a finger between the three of them.
Shelby tossed out seven cards between her and her parent, also asking if Lauren was playing. Lauren assured she would be observing, but Shelby didn't want to leave her out. So, she joined in the game, after all.
Luke fanned out his cards to see his hand. On each card was a cut out square, taped with laminated tape of a face of a different emotion and the emotion underneath in words.
"Okay," Lauren began. "Going clockwise, everyone will take turns asking someone of their choosing for a particular card. For example, I may ask you," she pointed a hand towards him, "if you had any excited eights, and if you did, you would hand over one. Then I would share a time when I was excited or when something exciting happening. Or, if you didn't have any excited eights, then I would draw another card from the Go Fish pile." Lauren placed a hand on the edge of the deck Shelby had set in the middle of the table.
"What does treat mean?" asked Rachel. "Some of the cards say treat instead of a face."
Lauren scooted her chair back towards her desk to open one of the drawers. She took out a bag of candy, switching the bag to her other hand to pull out a few sheets of looked like stickers. Returning back to the table, Lauren set them in front of her on the table.
"You can choose a piece of candy or a sticker, or you can pass if you like," she added, holding a hand out between Luke and Rachel. "It's mostly for the kids, to help get them excited to play along."
Luke looked at the top sheet at the different colored happy faces. The candy was a standard bag of different Tootsie Roll candies and those small boxes of Dots. Neither looked appealing to the grumpy but kind-hearted guy. Speaking of being grumpy, he had received permission from Shelby, he could start wearing his blue hat again. The Grumpy hat he made sure to store, nicely with his other collection of baseball caps.
Lauren let Shelby go first.
Shelby tapped Luke on the arm to get his attention. "Dad, do you have any thankful threes?" she asked him.
"Uh," Luke looked over his cards before turning back to her. "Nope. Go fish." He gave her a kind smile.
Shelby reached towards the middle of the table and drew another card, adding it to her hand she also had fanned out.
Lauren turned to face her. "Shelby, do you have any surprised sevens?"
Shelby scanned her cards before pulling the card out and passing it to the lady, who thanked her.
She set the matched pair on the table in front of her. "So, since I have a pair I have to share a time when I was surprised." Lauren paused to think of an experience. "For Mother's day, my kids and husband surprised me with breakfast in bed."
The thought of eating in bed made Luke uncomfortable. Something spilling on the sheets or blankets, or getting scattered crumbs all over and missing some that would be found later, thus inviting unwanted, tiny critters into the bed.
Lauren gave the say for Rachel to go.
"Peanut," she directed towards Shelby, also. "Do you have any thankful threes?" Rachel asked, already knowing the answer.
Shelby's shoulders dropped and handed over the card she had asked her dad for which Rachel set the two cards on the table in front of her.
"And now you can share a time you were thankful," Lauren reminded her.
"Well, I was, and still am, thankful to be able to see you again, Shelby," Rachel told her, sincerely. "Really, I've missed you. I thought about you the whole time, pretty much."
Knowing how Shelby had felt, Luke could see the kid shift, uncomfortably in her seat.
They moved on, letting Luke go, asking Rachel for a king. He wasn't much up for sharing any emotions if Luke could prevent it. She then passed the card to him. Of course, Luke passed on the candy or sticker. Though, a small part of him briefly thought about getting one, knowing Lorelai loved candy but quickly shook the thought from his mind, as if he was crazy.
The group played a few rounds for the next thirty-six minutes. For the most part, it seemed like Shelby was avoiding asking Rachel. Thankfully, Rachel asked everyone equally, and everyone made sure to pay close attention in case someone mentioned a card they needed. Things seemed calm even with having to share experiences of different emotions. Soon, though, Shelby couldn't keep up with avoiding her mom when neither Luke nor Lauren had a card she had been trying to match for the last ten minutes.
Finally, Luke saw her chest move as it seemed like she was trying to work up the courage to say something, no doubt giving in to ask Rachel. Though, he couldn't help wonder why Rachel hadn't simply asked for it, since she did ask for the three after Shelby had asked him.
"Mom," Shelby finally managed to speak.
"Yes, Peanut?"
The kid's chest started to move a bit faster as Shelby hesitated some more.
Luke reached over to rub a soothing hand along her arm.
It helped as they heard her ask Rachel, "D-do you have...any…" She paused to swallow. "D-do you...have any...sad...si-xes?"
Rachel gave a kind smile. "I sure do," she replied and sure enough, passed her the card Shelby had been asking for.
At first, Shelby didn't take the card. She didn't even look up.
Luke tried to take it to pass to her, but he heard Lauren say his name and shook her head. So, he took his hand back and folded it back into his other arm. He then gently tapped the few cards Luke was holding in his hand on the table. Not to rush Shelby. Just as a way to pass the time. He encouraged her, at least, along with Lauren and Rachel.
After a minute, Shelby reluctantly reached out and took the card from her mom, setting it with her other matches. She set the one she had, down, on top of the card.
"Can you share a time you were sad?" Lauren asked in a gentle tone. "Or, something that makes you sad?"
They waited, giving Shelby all the time she needed. Luke made sure to point out about not looking in her direction, remembering back to when Shelby would still hide underneath her hat.
"Madison told me about that," Lauren noted with a nod, in a low voice, seeming interested and glad something had worked when all else had failed.
Shelby held her gaze on the table.
Another minute went by before Lauren made a suggestion. "If there's something that is hard for you to share, you can say something simple for now, like falling off your bike makes you sad. Or watching a sad movie makes you sad."
"Or, can she write it down? Sometimes, writing something out helps," Luke pointed out.
She nodded. "If she wants to. Would you like to write it down, Shelby?" Lauren turned back to her.
Shelby's head shook a little, from side to side. Taking a deep breath, and without looking up, she pointed a finger across the table in Rachel's direction.
It caught Rachel, off guard. "I make you sad, Peanut?"
Luke looked back at his little buddy to see her timidly nodding.
"You mean like you said, about being perfect around your mom?" Lauren asked when Shelby didn't answer.
That time, she did, nodding her head.
Rachel started to speak again until Lauren held up a finger, halfway up.
"Can I ask, what is it your mom says or does that make you feel like you have to be perfect?"
A lone tear drifted down her cheek as Shelby continued to stare at the table. She started chewing on her lip. Knowing that meant she wanted to say something, Luke started rubbing a comforting hand along her upper arm.
"Say whatever is on your mind, Peanut," Rachel reassured her. "That's what we're here for. If I said something to you, or did something that made you feel like you have to be perfect, I want to know. I honestly can't think of any particular time, but if I did, I would like to fix it if I can."
There was a pause to let Shelby speak if she was ready. Rachel was about to say more when she suddenly blurted out, "You're no' like Lor-lai!"
Rachel said nothing as she stared back at their daughter, both of them finally able to hold eye contact.
Remaining calm, Lauren asked, "How is your mom not like Lorelai?"
Shelby ended up shrinking back into herself.
"Hm?" She folded her arms on the table to lean closer to Shelby. "What is it that makes you feel like you have to be perfect with your mom that you don't feel with Lorelai?"
Without looking up, Shelby whimpered, "She doesn'..." She had to pause to swallow again. "Nicole, either."
"Who's Nicole?"
Shelby took a deep breath. "Dad's girlfriend."
"Your dad's girlfriend?"
She gave a timid nod.
"What about her?"
"She...She doesn' either."
"Make you feel like you have to be perfect?"
Shelby nodded once more. "Or Dad… Or J-Jess… Not e-e-even Aun' Becca." The kid sniffed in which alerted Lauren to grab a box of Kleenex that had lotion in the paper-thin cloth, pulling one out to offer to the kid. She took it, telling Lauren, thank you.
"You're welcome," Lauren assured her. "So, what is it that separates your mom from everyone else? What makes you feel perfect with her but not everyone else?" She let Shelby blow her nose before answering.
"I'm...I'm…"
"Take your time."
Luke told Shelby to take a deep breath and to let it out.
"W-whenever I'm at...Mom's...I'm," she rubbed her arm over her eyes and sniffed in again, "I'm always in t-trouble."
Out of the corner of his eye, Luke noticed Rachel's face change to a genuine confused look.
"You're always in trouble?" Lauren repeated as Shelby was still talking in a low voice.
She nodded.
"Peanut, when have I ever told you, you were in trouble?" Rachel asked. "I've never had to send you to your room. The only time I said you couldn't watch TV was when you had to work on your homework."
"May I?" Luke asked of Lauren.
"If it's okay with Shelby," she shrugged.
"Shell?" Luke asked for her say which Shelby nodded. "I wasn't aware of this up until a few months ago, but I believed it, because I remember you being a control freak when it comes to things being neat and clean."
Rachel shook her head as she shrugged.
"Shelby says you always got on her every time she slipped up with her shoes on the couch, or pushed her bike on the carpet, and would yell at her for it."
"I wasn't intentionally yelling," Rachel looked over at Shelby, "and you were never in trouble, Peanut. I was just giving you a reminder. I did feel frustrated having to constantly remind you, over and over, and my voice may have rose than I was intending it. But it's respectful to not have shoes that's been stepped in dirt, mud, and who knows what on furniture that's meant for sitting."
"I try no' to," Shelby told her mom.
She shrugged. "Obviously, not hard enough if I have to keep reminding you."
That did it. The look on the kid's face as fresh tears filled her eyes could basically shatter plexiglas. Shooting out of her chair, Shelby immediately jumped onto her dad and buried her face into his neck as she squeezed her arms around him.
Luke held his arms around his little buddy, feeling the moisture of tears on the side of his neck. He rubbed a comforting hand along her side.
"That came out harsher than I meant for it to," Rachel said in realization.
Luke still shot her a glare. "Shelby's one of the most hard-working kid I know," he told her, protectively. "Everyone can see it, Rachel."
"But, how hard is it to not put your shoes on the couch, Luke?" she asked.
"A habit can be hard to break," Lauren spoke up, "especially when it's never been an issue for a long, long time, and it can be frustrating to have to keep reminding someone not do something. But, it can even eventually feel like nagging to the person doing it."
"I don't like having to constantly remind her to take her shoes off the couch, and I would think, not walking her bike on the carpet would be even easier to remember," Rachel said. "I don't want Shelby to perfect. In fact, I know she's not and I expect her to have a slip up, every once in a while, and she does listen when I remind her. We will be watching a movie, though, and ten minutes later, they're back on the couch and I have to tell her again."
"Like I said, habits are hard to break," she reiterated her previous statement, "and we'll subconsciously continue to do things we're trying hard not to do."
"After Shelby told me about the shoe thing, I started enforcing it at home to help," Luke pointed out.
"Maybe, if you feel strongly about shoes, maybe try leaving them at the front door when you walk in," Lauren suggested.
But Rachel shook her head. "I don't even like feet on the couch, period."
Lauren folded her hands together, except for both of her pointer fingers as if in thought.
"Listen," Rachel said, "if it helps, there are things I get on my husband about, too. It's not just Shelby. I just have little quirks about particular things I prefer to have a certain way. Is it a crime to want things clean?"
"No, it's not, and it's something we can certainly work on."
"Work on?" Rachel stared at the woman. "Work on what? I can't teach my daughter to be respectful of other people's property?"
"I'm not saying you can't teach your daughter to be respectful," Lauren corrected her, remaining calm. "It's good to teach respect to our kids. What I mean is, we can find ways that can help make the situation better for both you and Shelby. I still stand by the possibility of leaving shoes at the door before coming inside the house, and we can think of ways to help Shelby be aware of what she is doing. But Rachel, I feel there are things we can all work on, not just her."
"Like, what? The constant feeling like I'm always the bad guy?"
"Who says you're always the bad guy?"
"Every time I suggest something or try to enforce a rule and it gets back to Luke, he shoots it down." Luke looked away to let out an annoyed sigh.
"Give me an example," Lauren told her.
"Like when we were trying to get Shelby to be able to sleep over at my house, by letting her call him in the middle of the night when she's scared and we had to basically bribe her in order to help her to stay and face her fear," Rachel explained.
"It was a reward system, Rachel," Luke reminded her.
Lauren looked at her watch on her left wrist. "We are gonna have to call it there since I have another appointment after you. "But these are certainly things we can talk about over the next few sessions." She switched between the parents. "Okay?"
Both Luke and Rachel agreed. Anything to end this nonsense once and for all, in his opinion.
Lauren walked the three of them out to the waiting room while Luke carried Shelby in his arms, and said good-bye. Luke had made sure to collect the candy and stickers Shelby had collected from the game. Once next week's appointment was made, they headed outside.
"I'd point out Shelby being too old to still be carried but that'll probably make me a bad guy, too, probably." Luke ignored Rachel as he headed for his truck, unlocking it with the key before setting Shelby inside.
Shelby scooted over to her side so he could slide in.
A knock on Shelby's window spooked them, causing both her and Luke to jump out of their skin before they realized who it was. But at the moment, she couldn't even look at her mom. Reminding her to put on her seatbelt, Luke did the same as he started the truck. He waved Rachel off, making sure she stepped away so Luke could back out, and headed for home.
Glancing over, Luke watched as Shelby stared out her window, now that her mom wasn't there. He reached a hand over to playfully cup the top of her head. He wanted so badly to call the whole thing off and send Rachel away again. But, what would that solve?
Shelby looked over at him. "I really do try, Dad."
"I know you do, kiddo. Believe me, I know."
And, hopefully, Rachel will be able to see it, too.