Chapter 26
Luke was awakened later that night by some whimpers. Still half asleep, he brushed a gentle hand along the back of her head, softly singing to her. The gesture was enough to calm the little girl down before her whimpers became wails, and eventually, Jaiden was able to settle down and continue sleeping.
"Dad...dy…" he heard her whimper in her sleep.
"Shh, shh," he gently shushed her, continuing to brush a hand along her head. "It's okay, Tiger. Daddy's here. I got ya. You're safe." Her small hand held onto his shirt as she slept. Luke reached over and kissed her head.
"Papa…"
Luke continued to shush her. "I know. Go back to sleep."
Jaiden still continued to murmur in her sleep. "Papa...hurt…" It then occurred to him that there was a possibility the little girl was finally confessing what she's been holding back. What they hoped. Sleep was overcoming Luke once again. He tried to fight it, to see if Jaiden would say anything else. In the end, sleep won and the next thing Luke knew, someone was repeatedly licking him in the face.
"Lorelai, stop," he complained in an annoyed tone. "Stop." Over and over, he insisted she stop. Finally, Luke opened his eyes to see not Lorelai, but Paul Anka there sitting beside his head, hovering over him. Surprised, he flinched backwards causing himself to slide off the bed and onto the floor.
"Dammit," Luke cursed under his breath, squeezing his eyes tight.
The commotion woke both girls who lifted their heads to look over to see what had happened.
April was the one to ask. "You alright there, Dad?"
Pushing himself up, Luke slowly rose into a sitting position, reaching a hand back against his lower back. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, painfully. The early morning sun was peeking in through the windows. "Just got a rude awakening by a dog, that's all."
Paul Anka was now standing at the edge of the bed, looking down at him while wagging his tail as Jaiden rubbed his back. Luke placed an arm on the edge of the bed, to push himself up the rest of the way. He happened to catch a glimpse of Jaiden looking at him with a concerned look on her face.
He gave her a gentle smile. "Don't worry, Tiger. I'm tough," Luke assured her.
At that, Jaiden reached down and wrapped her arms around his neck as if to comfort him. Luke held an arm around the kid. It warmed his heart to know how Jaiden cared about making sure he was alright.
With all three now awake, Luke and the girls got up to get dressed for the day, letting Lorelai sleep a little longer. In fact, this time, both girls helped pitch in for breakfast. They took a break on pancakes and swapped them for potatoes. April re-showed Jaiden how to peel them while Luke cooked the bacon on the stove.
"Make sure your fingers are tucked in like this," she reminded the younger girl, "and always peel away from you. Yeah, like that." Jaiden tried her best to copy the older girl. Luke watched the scene in front of him, happily, glad things were still good between the girls after what happened to them yesterday. April made sure to supervise the whole peeling process but even keeping an eye on things could not avoid an accident from happening when Jaiden managed to accidentally nick her own finger.
"Uh, Dad," April got his attention.
The moment Luke saw the blood oozing from her finger, Luke reacted quickly, having April keep an eye on the bacon as he grabbed a dish towel from the sink, bringing it over where he dropped on one knee in front of where Jaiden was sitting. He asked for her hand, wrapping the towel around it, and applied pressure to the cut.
Tears were pouring down both sides of her face as she stared at it. Luke tried to calm her down while gently rubbing his thumb along her hand. Even though he wasn't squeezing that much, just enough to stop the bleeding, Jaiden tried to pull her hand away. She shook her head not liking the firm pressure he was putting on her finger.
"I have to, Tiger," he told her, gently. "You have to put pressure on a cut to stop the bleeding." It took a moment to persuade her to let him before she gave him back her hand. When it finally did stop bleeding, Luke stood to his feet. He then led her over to the sink to wash her hands, squirting the soap into her palm for her. While Jaiden washed her hands, he went to fetch the first-aid kit, bringing it back.
Setting the small, white box on the counter next to the sink, Luke asked which kind of band-aid she wanted. Like the first time, Jaiden still picked the plain ones. He peeled the wrapper open, once Luke made sure her hands were dry, and wrapped the band-aid around her finger, making sure it wasn't too tight or too loose.
"There. All better." Luke smiled as Jaiden looked her finger over. He gathered the wrapper, tossing it in the trash, and took the dish rag to drop in the laundry basket upstairs where a bunch of the other towels were. Since it was looking pretty full anyway, Luke decided to take it downstairs to start a load. "Tiger, would you like to learn how to do the laundry, real quick?"
Jaiden barely shrugged one shoulder.
Motioning with his head, Luke had her follow out the back door where the washer and dryer were. He had her bring her little step stool too so she could see what he was doing, having Jaiden set it next to the washer. Luke showed her the detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets, and explained what they were for before taking her through the steps. He let Jaiden scoop up some of the powdered detergent, telling her to pour it inside the washing machine with the towels, making sure to spread the stuff out in a circular motion.
"Great job," he made sure to praise. Even if it seemed insignificant, they should always remember to let Jaiden know she was doing a good job, Luke remembered that from the foster/adoption class.
Making sure her fingers didn't get smashed, he shut the lid and had her turn the dials, pointing where to stop. On the last dial, Luke told her to pull it out to start the washer.
"It'll take about half an hour for one wash cycle, then I can show ya how to use the dryer. Okay?"
Jaiden nodded up at him.
"Come on. Let's go finish breakfast." They returned inside where Luke took over the bacon again. April helped show Jaiden how to wash the potato peeler in the sink to peel a few more. It was apparent how nervous the kid was, this time. It was a surprise she still wanted to do it, though. Both Luke and April assured her accidents happen even to very skilled chefs.
"Even Lorelai's friend, Sookie, cuts herself, now and then," Luke added with a shrug.
Once all the potatoes they needed were peeled, April showed Jaiden how to cut them up but she just let her watch. When Jaiden was a little bit older, Luke would let her try but until then, he didn't think Jaiden was old enough to use a sharp knife yet.
Eventually, all three were standing at the stove. Jaiden was at least given the chance to sir the potatoes around with a wooden cooking spoon. Luke made sure she kept her distance from the stove, though, so she wouldn't get burned while standing on her step stool.
April did politely take over the stirring for a brief moment, to scoop up the pieces a little bit better so they all got cooked well on all sides before returning the spoon to Jaiden. "You can't just stir it around. You gotta make sure to mix them around like this," she explained, and quickly added, "but good job so far. You're doing awesome."
"You both are," Luke also added proudly. Now that the bacon was almost done, he had moved the skillet to the back burner and got started on the eggs.
About that time, Lorelai finally came in. "Hey, good morning, you three," she greeted them. "Mmm, smells good in here." Lorelai stopped beside where Jaiden was standing, leaning over to kiss the side of her head, causing the little girl to suddenly flinch. It made Luke's heart skip a beat when her hand barely missed the stove. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to scare you."
Jaiden eyed the woman, nervously.
"I wasn't trying to, honest," she assured her. "I was just trying to kiss you, good morning." Lorelai decided to change the subject when Jaiden continued to eye her, nervously. "You're helping make breakfast again, I see." Lorelai gave her a kind smile. "Can I grab a cup from behind you?" She pointed at the cupboard above Jaiden's head.
Jaiden climbed down from her chair and moved around April to grab onto Luke's leg.
Luke brushed a hand on top of her head.
After the food was done cooking, Luke made up everyone's plates, having Jaiden take them over to the table. He reminded her to go slow and to use two hands. However, when she brought Lorelai, hers, Lorelai couldn't help notice Jaiden was still being weary around her. Once Jaiden handed over the plate, she dashed back over to Luke, handing his to her.
Before they sat down to eat, Luke went to switch over the towels, reminding Jaiden he would show her the dryer. She hurried after him out the back door, taking her step stool with her. Luke opened the dryer first, making sure nothing else was in there before opening the lid on the washer.
"Can you start grabbing the towels from out of there and toss them in here?" he asked of her. Jaiden stepped onto her step stool. She reached down inside the washing machine, pushing herself onto the edge long enough to pull out a couple wet towels, stepping down to toss them inside the dryer. Luke helped Jaiden move all the towels over. He then had her toss in a couple dryer sheets and showed her the lint trap. Since it was already clean, Luke slid the lint trap back into place. Shutting the door, he had Jaiden move her stool over and did the same as he did with the washer, showing her which dials to turn.
"Great job, Tiger." Luke asked for a high five before holding up his hand to her so he wouldn't scare the kid.
They returned inside the kitchen, sitting down with Lorelai and April, to eat. Jaiden made sure to sit beside Luke, sitting between him and April. While they ate, Luke said he was going to stay home that morning, asking if Jaiden thought about if she wanted to learn to fish yet. To his delight, she said yes to trying it.
"I'm gonna be home early today. Rory says she's getting here around three and I want to be here long before she gets here," Lorelai explained.
"I'll probably check in at the diner on the way to pick up the trout, for about an hour or two," Luke explained. "You know, so I can be here when she does, too."
"You're gonna leave the corks on the hooks, right?"
He rolled his eyes. "That's up to Jaiden to decide."
Lorelai looked across the table where Jaiden was nibbling on a piece of bacon. "You love animals, right, sweetheart? You wouldn't want the fish to grab onto a sharp, pointy hook thing? Right?"
Luke let out a sigh. "Lorelai."
"What? I'm just asking," she shrugged. "Jaiden'll will see how cute they are and will agree to leave the cork on. Won't you, sweetheart?" Lorelai gave the kid a friendly wink. She couldn't help notice Jaiden looked tensed, barely making any eye contact and wondered if things had actually indeed taken a step backwards after all with their relationship.
"When Jaiden feels ready, it'll be up to her whether or not we take the cork off," Luke spoke up for her.
Lorelai let out a fake sigh. "Fine, I guess." She smiled at Jaiden to show she was playing around. Jaiden didn't even look up.
After breakfast, Jaiden helped Luke with the dishes. He scrubbed off each dish and passed them to her to set inside the dishwasher. Beforehand, he explained what each rack was for. As Luke did with the washer and dryer, he also taught Jaiden how to run the dishwasher, including adding the dish detergent.
While Luke wiped off the stove and counters, Lorelai returned to the kitchen just before leaving for the inn, kneeling to Jaiden's level. "I just wanted to make sure if everything was alright between us," she said, gently. "I know I crossed a line last night when I tickled you. I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories for ya. I wasn't thinking, and I really am sorry. Okay, sweetheart?"
Jaiden still did not seem to relax even after the apology.
"I promise to never do that again," Lorelai assured her and held up her pinky finger. "I pinky swear."
She stared at it. After a moment, Jaiden timidly lifted her own pinky finger and let Lorelai wrap hers around it. The kid still didn't seem one hundred percent convinced, though.
"How about tomorrow, us girls head to the mall to do some shopping? How's that sound? You can pick out an outfit for dinner, tomorrow night."
Jaiden chewed on her lips until she was finally able to ask, "Luke come too?"
"Well, Luke doesn't really care for malls," she glanced over at him, who had looked up about that point from scrubbing off a part of the stove. "And besides, I was thinking of a girls' day out. You, me, Rory, and April. What do you think?"
"Shopping is boring," she softly replied.
"Not when we go. Us girls have a great time, shopping."
Jaiden gave Lorelai an uncomfortable look.
"Just think about it, okay," Lorelai told her. "But we have to get ya something to wear for dinner, otherwise you'll have to wear another one of Rory's old outfits, and I'm sure you're probably tired of the hand-me-downs." She reached out to touch the little girl's upper arm, gently. Jaiden just stared at the floor as she held onto her oversized t-shirt. Jaiden tensed up at the touch so Lorelai had no choice but to pull her hand back and eventually stood to her feet to let the kid be for now.
Having to leave for the inn, Lorelai kissed Luke and Jaiden, good-bye. Jaiden tensed up again when she kissed her, squeezing her eyes shut.
"I still love you, sweetheart," Lorelai assured her before leaving, calling bye to everyone.
April took her bike to go hang out with her friends for the day, leaving Luke and Jaiden alone. Grabbing the towels out of the dryer back into the laundry basket, Luke took them into the living room to show her how to fold them. He let Jaiden watch cartoons while they folded. Diego happened to come on while they were sitting there which Luke questioned why a kid and his cousin were interacting with a wild maned wolf alone without any adult supervision, requesting Jaiden never approaches a wild animal like that.
Together, they finished folding by the time the cartoon ended and took the towels upstairs to the linen closet to put away. The dishwasher had finished, so they unloaded and put away the dishes. Luke even lifted Jaiden up so she could place them in the cupboard where they belonged. Once all that was taken care of, he had told her to go put her shoes on.
Before they left for the diner, Luke and Jaiden took Paul Anka out on his morning walk so he could do his business, making sure to bring gloves and baggies to pick up after him. Thankfully, Jaiden was okay with doing it which Luke was glad of, not too keen on handing others' bodily functions.
When they returned home, Babette was outside, tending to her garden. "Hey, you two," she waved towards them.
Luke waved back. "Hey, Babette."
"Walking Paul Anka, I see."
"Yep. Lorelai asked us to."
The older woman came over. "Hey, sweetie," she greeted Jaiden. "How are ya?"
Jaiden shyly waved up at Babette.
"Still not talking, huh? That's okay, sugar. Take all the time you need," Babette assured. "Well, I'll see you two, later." With that, she turned to head back to her house.
"See ya," Luke replied.
Making sure Paul Anka was taken care of, Luke locked up before heading for the diner. While he worked, Luke set Jaiden up with cartoons upstairs in his apartment, letting her know he'll be downstairs if she needed anything. Luke worked through the lunch hour, bringing Jaiden up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and glass of milk for lunch, as well. Once the lunch rush passed and things died down, they left for the bait and tackle shop where Luke picked up some trout, also grabbing a smaller fishing pole that'll be easier for Jaiden to use.
Back at home, they saw Rory had gotten there already, seeing her car in the driveway. Luke parked behind hers, letting Jaiden out on his side.
"Looks like Rory's here," he told Jaiden.
Jaiden seemed to perk up at that. They headed inside where Luke announced who they were.
"We're in the kitchen," Lorelai called in return.
Luke and Jaiden headed into the kitchen where the girls were sitting at the table.
Rory stood up to hug him. "Hey, Luke."
He returned the hug. "Hey, Rory. You look like you're doing great."
"Yep, sure do." They got the rest of the small talk out of the way before she asked, "where's Jaiden? I thought she was with you?"
"Oh, she is." Luke motioned behind him with his head.
Rory, who had sat back down while they were catching each other up, leaned to the side. "Hey, Jaiden. Don't you remember me? It's Rory."
Jaiden peeked out from around Luke's legs in a shy manner.
"I've missed you," she added. "Really. I was sad I'd never see my little sis again."
Jaiden was standing there, holding onto Luke's jeans as she stared at the floor. Her gaze constantly kept trying to lift only to drop right back down.
"It's okay, Jaiden. I'm gonna be here for at least a week." The little girl lifted her gaze once more which Rory gave her a caring smile.
Lorelai spoke up at that point."Rory and I were thinking of take-out for dinner. Will April be home tonight?"
"Yeah," Luke nodded. "April said she'll be home around four-ish. But even if she wasn't, you two would still order more than enough food."
"I was asking so in case we needed to wait for April," she corrected him as if it was obvious that was what she meant and Luke was just slow.
Luke stood there with his hands on his sides, annoyed by the response. Leaving them alone to finish catching up, he said he and Jaiden would be outside if they needed them, heading back out front. Luke grabbed the toddler-sized pool from the garage, using an air pump to blow it up, and filled the pool up with water before dumping the trout inside. While he was getting the fishing poles ready, both Lorelai and Rory had moved outside, to watch them from the porch swing.
All set, Luke called Jaiden over.
The small fishing rod and reel wasn't a toy. It was just like an adult's, just miniature in size so she would be able to handle and control it. Starting the lesson, Luke told her the anatomy of a fish rod.
"This here is your bail. It's very important. It keeps your line on the spool here," he walked her through it just as he had done with Lorelai and April, making sure to keep things more simpler for Jaiden since she was a lot younger than they were. Luke then gently nudged her towards him, having Jaiden face towards the pool to do it with her as he explained the process, step by step. "See? Just like that." Luke had her reel in the line to do it once more before having Jaiden try on her own. He still helped her out with gentle reminders. It took a few tries, and Luke had to fix the line a couple times.
"Remember, don't release your pointer finger too early." Remaining patient and calm, of course, Luke showed her as many times as she needed until Jaiden made it in the pool. "You got it, Tiger," he praised, proudly.
The kid's spirits were lifted when she finally made it.
To make sure Jaiden fully had it down, Luke had her reel in her line and cast her line a few more times before he asked, "Ready to take the cork off your hook and try for real?" To his joy, she nodded and told her to reel it in.
Grabbing the line, Luke carefully twisted the cork off the hook and showed her how to bait her hook. "Okay, one more time." Jaiden then tossed her line back into the pool, making it once again.
"Uh, excuse me," they heard Lorelai call over to them. "Did I just see a hook without a cork land in the water with those poor trout?"
Without answering her, Luke told Jaiden, "Normally I wouldn't allow ignoring your foster mother, but in this case," he shook his head, "just ignore her."
Jaiden timidly nodded .
Reaching over, Luke kissed her cheek. He then stood up to grab his rod and reel, casting his line into the pool with hers, kneeling back down to her level. Though, Luke hoped Jaiden would get the first bite so he could show her the next step, which was the reason why he didn't bait his. It actually wasn't long before there was a tug on hers.
Setting his rod on the ground beside him, Luke nudged her towards him again, moving on to reeling in the fish. Since the trout were fairly small, there wasn't much of a fight. It splashed around for sure, but Jaiden was able to reel it in, catching her first fish.
"You got it," he praised, now glowing even more with pride. It even caused Jaiden to grin from ear to ear. Just as Luke was about to unhook the fish, Lorelai hurried over, moving around to the other side of the pool while holding the camera.
"Hold up. Let me get a shot of Jaiden's first catch." She held the camera up while Luke held the fish by the line, wrapping his other arm around Jaiden. Once the picture was taken, Lorelai told them, "okay, now that you caught one, toss him back and put the cork back on."
Luke and Jaiden both exchanged looks.
"Please?"
"Do whatever you want, Tiger. The fish will be just fine without a cork," he assured her.
"I want to catch another," she admitted softly.
"Okay then. Go ahead." Luke nodded towards the pool. He also picked up his. Lorelai returned to the porch, sitting next to Rory on the swing, half sulking. "So, you like fishing, so far?"
It took Jaiden a few seconds before she turned back and nodded at him.
"Would you like to try at an actual lake?"
She thought more on it before finally nodding.
"I'll talk to April about it, and maybe the three of us can go on Sunday. How does that sound?"
Before she could respond, Jaiden got another bite. This time, Luke let her handle things on her own, but still coached her through it, cheering Jaiden on. Like the first time, there was only a tiny bit of a struggle before Jaiden was able to reel the fish in.
With each successful catch, the more happy Luke could see Jaiden become. It was rewarding for him to see the kid get excited and have her mind taken off of the nightmares she had to live with.
When beads of sweat had started appearing on her forehead and the summer sun started taking its toil, Luke asked Lorelai if she could bring them out some water. While Lorelai headed inside, in the meantime, he removed his hat and placed it over her head, forward, to block out the sun from her eyes. Of course, it dropped down over them.
Jaiden looked up at him from underneath which he smiled for her as she held the bill in her fingers.
"I don't let just anyone wear my hat, you know," he told her, playfully nudging her with his elbow.
At that, Jaiden smiled again.
At that moment, Lorelai came over with two glasses of ice water, passing them to both Luke and Jaiden.
"Wow, you must be really special, sweetheart. Luke never lets anyone wear his hat," she snickered, teasing them both, confirming what he had just said. Needing to get a picture of Jaiden wearing Luke's hat, Lorelai told Rory to bring the camera over, letting her see the scene as well.
Afterwards, Jaiden took a drink of her ice water, setting it on the ground at her feet. The rest of the fishing lesson continued for about an hour until April got back. She too was impressed when she saw Jaiden wearing her dad's hat.
For dinner, they ordered their usual take-out and rented a ton of movies, changing into pajamas a little early. Jaiden's movie pick was Hotel for Dogs, since it was centered on dogs. Since it was back to a full house once again, Jaiden took to the floor during her movie. Much later, during Rory's movie choice, she moved over to climb into Luke's lap, snuggling in his arms. The whole family sat there, all five of them together, to watch the rest of the movie.
Things could not be more perfect than it felt at that moment.