Chapter 55
Since it was October once again, that meant Stars Hollow was decorated for not only fall but Halloween as well. Pumpkins and bales of hay were all around town and Halloween decorations covered stores and homes.
Shelby was finding it difficult deciding what she wanted to dress up for Halloween. They discussed it as she sat at the counter while Luke was standing there. She first thought of being a basketball player but Luke told her it was too cold to wear shorts.
"Oh," she said when another idea popped into her head. "I can be Cap-tain Underpants." Shelby giggled after she said that.
Luke leaned on the counter, looking at her. "Shelby, you can not be Captain Underpants."
She continued to giggle. "Why no'?"
He raised his eyebrows as he said, "Because Captain Underpants runs around in a towel and his underpants."
"I's no' a towel. I's a cur-tain," Shelby corrected him.
"Regardless of what it is, you cannot dress up as him."
Giggling some more, she repeated her question of "why no'."
"Shelby," he warned, now holding a firm tone to let her know he was serious.
Shelby gave a forced mock sigh. "Fine," she gave in. "Wha' abou' Harry Po'ter? Can I be him?"
Luke shrugged. "Yeah, that would be fine. Either this weekend or the weekend after, we'll go see if we can find a costume. How's that?"
She nodded. "Okay."
Luke leaned in, lowering his head towards hers to touch his forehead to Shelby's. It made her smile. That was pretty much their thing by this point. He still could not believe this was the same kid he met almost two years ago. She was growing up way too fast for his liking.
Thursday afternoon, Jess picked Shelby up from school but told Luke he had to do it, Friday, to go pick up her Pokémon cards. Apparently, her and the boys were doing some trading during class when they weren't supposed to. Luke thanked Jess, and told Shelby, he was taking them away for two weeks, starting Friday. Shelby didn't like it but he reminded her there were consequences for her actions, whether good or bad. However, her spirits were lifted when he came to pick her up after school on Friday.
"Dad! Dad! Guess wha'."
Luke lifted her up, being careful since her arm was still in the cast. "What?" He smiled.
Shelby opened her mouth, touching her finger to yet another loose tooth. "My second one." The first one had finally fallen out. Of all the ways that could have done it, it was by junk food while at Lorelai's house which Luke pointed out to Lorelai in a rant about junk food and teeth. "And ta's no' all."
"More good news?" he asked, surprised. "Boy, this is a good day for you, huh?"
She nodded. "We're gonna have a gues' tis weekend, too."
"Oh? Does Ethan and Alan want to come over?"
She shook her head, now wearing a smirk.
About that time, Mr. Harris came over, carrying a wire pet cage along with a clear, see-through blue ball under his arm. When he got close, Luke saw a tiny, furry hamster snoozing away in a corner of the cage, burrowed in the bedding.
"What is that?" Luke questioned, even though he already knew what it was.
"This is Harvey, our class hamster," he explained. "I let the kids take turns taking him home over the weekend, and this weekend is Shelby's turn."
Luke stared at him, unsure if he had heard right. "Come again?"
"I's my turn to take Harvey home," Shelby told her dad, smiling brightly.
"Uh…" Luke stared at his daughter's teacher, his eyes switching between him and the cage with the small bundle of fur. "Seriously?"
"Don't worry, it's low maintenance. I clean out the cage every Friday, he has plenty of food in there until Monday. You can give him apples, carrots, or cucumbers for a snack but not too much, especially the carrots. Just make sure he has plenty of water and he likes to run around in his ball here." Mr. Harris held the exercise ball up.
Luke couldn't help grimace at the critter, not liking having to take home a rodent that will probably stink up the apartment. Not being fond of animals, especially small rodents, Luke tried to talk both Shelby and her teacher into not making them take it home. In the end, he lost and found himself carrying the cage by the handle while Shelby carried its ball. Mr. Harris also returned Shelby's Pokémon cards, giving them to Luke, who put the cards right into his back pocket. He reminded Shelby, she'll get them back in two weeks.
"I can' wai' to show Lor-lai and Rory," Shelby said, excitedly as they were walking by Miss Patty's dance studio during one of her dance classes. Miss Patty was standing right outside, a cigarette between her fingers, when she overheard Shelby.
"Is that a pet, dear?"
The two stopped to look over at the older woman.
Shelby nodded. "I's our class ham'ter. I's my turn to take him home for ta weekend."
"Oh, how nice," she smiled for the little girl. "Just a little advice, though. If you want it to make it through the weekend, might want to keep it away from Lorelai. She doesn't have a great history with pets."
Luke had to back Miss Patty up, remembering the Skippy story at that point, and explained what happened, to Shelby.
"There was also a rabbit, and a turtle that was supposed to outlive her," Ms. Patty added, afterwards.
Hearing about Lorelai's bad luck with animals was now starting to freak Shelby out. She looked up at her dad with a frightened, urgent look. "Dad, le's ge' Harvey up to ta apar'men' before Lor-lai comes by for her coffee. He can 'tay up tear until Monday." Technically, that was his plan since Luke didn't allow pets in the diner. Hearing it come from Shelby made it heartbreakingly sad.
"Okay, kiddo." Saying good-bye to Miss Patty, Luke and Shelby headed home.
Jess wasn't home yet, who mentioned he'd be home later that evening. Luke already knew the young man wasn't going to be jumping for joy either, having a hamster in the apartment.
He set the cage on their desk, not wanting it on the table they eat off of while Shelby headed straight for the fridge, opening it. Opening one of the bottom drawers, she grabbed one of the apples, closing everything before turning back to her dad.
"Dad, can you cu' tis for Harvey?" Shelby held it out to him as Luke came over.
"Sure," he agreed. "But remember, Harvey is your responsibility." Luke took the apple and grabbed a sharp cutting knife from the knife holder on the counter. He grabbed the cutting board from where it was kept hung on the wall above the counter.
"I will take good care of him, Dad," she promised.
Luke smiled at her. "I know you will." He began cutting the apple in half and cut those in half, also cutting out the seeds. He never thought he would ever be cutting up an apple for a rodent but here he was. Thankfully, it was only for a couple days and Harvey would be gone once Monday came. Luke never wanted Monday to come so much than he did now. In fact, it was another reason that made him wish Rachel hadn't of left. If she was here, Shelby would be going over to her home and would take the rodent with her. Plus, Rachel liked animals more than he did so it would have been perfect. He remembered when she got a cat while they were dating and never wanting to step foot in her apartment, ranting about the gross things cats do.
However, when he handed Shelby the apple slices and she took them over to give to Harvey, Luke couldn't help smile when he watched her offer them to the sleeping hamster. Finally, he suggested to let Harvey sleep for now and to work on her homework. Once Jess got home that night, his suspicions were correct.
He came up after Luke had closed and was working on dinner. Jess removed his jacket, heading for his bunk to toss it over the edge. On his way back, heading for the bathroom to shower, now with clothes in hand, he noticed Harvey roll by on the floor while Shelby followed him on her hands and knees.
"What the hell is that?" Jess suddenly demanded.
It was Shelby who answered him. "I's our class ham'ter. I's my turn to take him home tis weekend."
"Why?" he questioned.
"Everyone in ta class ge's a turn so he won' be all alone over ta weekend," she explained.
"Sometimes it's good to be alone," Jess informed. "Helps you recharge and good for the soul. I'm sure it would like some peaceful solitude."
"But I like having him here."
Jess turned on his uncle, in displeasure. "Luke!"
Luke looked up from his cooking. "It's only for a few days. He'll be gone, Monday when Shelby goes back to school."
"The place is gonna smell, I hope you know that," Jess pointed out. Luke showed him a can of air freshener he had picked up from Doose's Market. Jess still didn't like it but headed off for the shower.
During dinner, Shelby kept getting distracted watching Harvey roll around some more. Finally, Luke told her Harvey would go back inside his cage if she didn't start eating.
"Dad, if I take good care of Harvey, tis weekend, can I have my own ham'ter?" she asked once Shelby picked up her fork.
Both guys immediately blurted out, "No," producing a frown.
"Why no'?"
"It's basically a rat and why would you want a rat for a pet?" Jess questioned.
"Because tear're cute," she answered.
"There is absolutely nothing cute about a rat," he argued that point.
"Yeah, I tink so," she argued back, starting an argument that volleyed back and forth until Luke put a stop to it.
"Shell, we're not getting a hamster. Okay?"
She gave him her puppy dog look that always melted his heart. "Bu' I wan' a pe'. Please?"
"How about a pet rock. I hear they're real easy to take care of," Jess said.
"Rocks aren' alive," she pointed out.
"Exactly. Perfect pet." This time, Shelby gave her cousin her puppy dog look which Jess tried to ignore, eating his dinner.
Finally, Luke sighed under his breath. "We'll see, Shell. Okay? Let's just get through the weekend with Harvey."
Shelby reluctantly gave in. "Okay." She then started eating again. Once it was bedtime, Harvey was returned to his cage. Luke made sure to tell her, to make sure the latch to his cage was securely closed so Harvey couldn't get out. Though, after he told her good night once she was in bed, Luke checked for himself, catching the little guy sticking his tiny nose out. The latch wasn't secured as well as she thought it was. Luke definitely did not want to wake up to find a hamster in his bed and droppings all over the apartment. That right there meant Shelby wasn't quite ready for a pet.
The next morning while Shelby watched her Saturday morning cartoons with her bowl of cereal, Luke got a surprise visit downstairs. He was taking a couple orders at the counter when a family of six walked in. He glanced up to see a dad and three teenaged boys take one of the tables. One of the boys pulled out a chair for an elderly woman whom Luke recognized as Rachel's mother. It was then he noticed her sister had walked over to the counter.
"Hello, Luke," she greeted him, standing on the other side from where he was standing. He had almost forgotten how much Rachel's sister looked like her, except she kept her hair shorter than Rachel did and was nine years older.
"Uh, hey, Rebecca. Surprised to see you here," he returned the greeting. "What brings you here?"
"I came to see Shelby," she replied. "The boys have been wanting to see their munchkin cousin and my mother has been asking to see her, too." Munchkin was a nickname the three boys had started calling Shelby. Truthfully, she hated the nickname. Shelby didn't mind her mom calling her, peanut, but drew the line with munchkin. She was too shy to say anything yet.
Luke motioned towards the ceiling with his head, "She's upstairs watching cartoons." Things were awkwardly silent for a moment as Luke wiped off the counter real quick. With Rachel gone, it had never crossed his mind her family would still be around since they were also blood relation to his daughter. "So...how's she doing?"
"Who? Rachel?" she asked.
"Yeah. She still traveling?" Luke swifted on his feet, now just playing with the rag. He forced himself to make eye contact but kept dropping it towards the rag as well as trying to keep the bitterness out.
Rebecca shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't heard from her since she called me that day you banned her from Shelby's life. In tears, I might add, and my sister's not one to express her emotions like that. You hurt her so badly that day."
Luke looked up at that. He couldn't believe his ears. "I hurt her? Do you have any idea how much she hurt Shelby?" Luke made sure to keep his voice at a calm level, but it was hard.
"I'm not saying my sister was in the right. She's at fault in this whole thing just as much as you, and I told her that. But what you did is beyond worse," she told him.
He stared at her. "Worse? Rebecca, I have been more than patient with Rachel." He suddenly paused in his words, looking back towards the stairs. Not wanting Shelby or anyone he knew, walk in and overhear things, Luke had Rebecca follow him into the back. He turned back to her. "I gave her plenty of chances but they all ended up leaving Shelby upset. Her up and disappearing like that was the final straw," Luke pointed a finger at the floor. "I refuse to keep putting my kid through that, especially when it took almost a month to get her back to her happy self."
"Yes, I will agree my sister isn't the best to work with and made some poor decisions. Trust me, I grew up with her. We were close but sometimes it was frustrating trying to get through to her." The both of them kept their voices down, speaking in a calm tone. "And I told her I could see why you did what you did and understand where you're coming from. She is still family, though. No matter how many times Rachel took off and didn't speak to us or checked in, we always took her back, even when she was in trouble, because that's what family does. Heck, Rachel should have known that when our father threw her out of the family, he'd still take her back in if she needed help."
Luke shook his head, his arms now crossed in front of him. "She's no family of mine." He shrugged at that, holding it for a moment.
"But she is a part of Shelby's. Like it or not, we are her family, too."
"You wanna know what I learned earlier this year?" he said, matter-of-factly.
"What?"
"Yes, you are her family by blood. Doesn't mean you're her family."
Rebecca stared at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"First of all, where were you?" he questioned.
"Where was I?"
"Did you call?" he shrugged. "Send a letter? Carrier pigeon?"
"Did I...no, we've been busy. We have something going on every day of the week. My oldest made head quarterback of his school's varsity team, the other made the freshmen team, and the youngest has band practice, a couple times a week. Plus, we went out of town to see my brother in Tennessee over the summer which Rachel and Shelby were supposed to come, by the way."
Luke was unfazed. "The last time Shelby heard from you was Easter for a day." His arms were still crossed, nonchalantly looking at her. "Between then and now, she has had a birthday. Never got a call then. The only phone calls Shelby received was from her caseworker and, surprisingly, Rachel. She finished the first grade, started the second grade. Never received a phone call during any of those times either. She even started playing basketball, not only during the summer, but for the current season."
"Well, I was going to plan something with Rachel when she came back but since you banned her from seeing Shelby, I never got to make the arrangements to see Shelby for her birthday and take her to dinner."
He shrugged. "I told Rachel to stay away, not your whole family. If you wanted to see Shelby, all you had to do was come ask. If Shelby wants to see you. And I will ask she at least come say hello, by the way."
"Well, I did not know that. I will take that into consideration for the future," she replied with a nod. "May we see her today? We'd like to take her to lunch if you don't mind."
"Sure, under a few conditions."
Rebecca shrugged, holding her hands on her sides now. "I'm reasonable."
"For starters, if Shelby doesn't want to go, no one will make her. I will have her come down and say hello, as I said."
"I can agree to that," she nodded in agreement.
"Second, you can take her to lunch, right here." He nodded towards the floor.
"Here? Wh…?"
"Right here, where I can keep an eye on you."
Rebecca stared at him as she questioned, "You don't trust us?"
"It goes with the third and final condition," he said.
"Which is?"
"You don't bring up or mention Rachel to her."
Rebecca looked at him in outrage. "That is really cruel. What if Shelby asks us first? You're gonna deprive her of knowing how her mother is doing?"
"If Shelby asks about Rachel, you tell her she's still on her trip and how she's doing. That's it."
"So, you're really gonna deprive your own daughter of her mother," Rebecca said in an unbelief tone.
"No, I am depriving her of another broken heart. Rachel isn't even supposed to have contact with Shelby until she's eighteen. I was being nice because she should have her mom in her life, but Rachel couldn't even get it together, and took off, even after promising several times she would never leave her, that the rumors around town weren't true. Do you have any idea how much that affected Shelby?" Luke didn't give her a chance to answer. "No, you don't because you haven't been here like I've been."
Things were silent while the two looked at each other.
Finally, Luke said, "Trust me, I don't want to do this. Rachel should be here. But she can't seem to get it together enough to be the mom Shelby should have."
Rebecca closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath. "I agree with all you're saying, I really do. But I see this blowing up in your face, too. You have jurisdiction, though, so I agree to all of your terms. We'll have lunch here, we won't talk about my sister, but if Shelby doesn't want to, we won't make her. Just as long as I can see my niece."
Luke eyed her carefully. Finally, he pulled out his hand, holding it out to Rebecca which she took ahold of to shake on it. Luke then said he would go let Shelby know they were there to visit. As she headed over to where her family was sitting, he couldn't help overhear Rebecca mumble under her breath, questioning what her sister ever saw in him. When he got upstairs, Shelby was watching a cartoon that looked like Pokémon but wasn't.
"Hey, Shell." He kneeled in front of the arm chair where she was sitting. Shelby looked at him.
"Yeah?"
Luke noticed she was holding Harvey in her lap, gently petting him with one hand as he laid curled up, snoozing. "Do you remember your mom's sister, Rebecca. Her sons gave you all of those games for Christmas."
Shelby nodded. "Yeah. Wha' abou' her?"
"Well, they came to have lunch with you and visit with you, and your grandmother came to see you, too."
"Bu' no' Mom?" she asked.
"No, just them," he answered.
"Have tey seen Mom?"
"No, your aunt says she hasn't heard from her in awhile," he said. So, she did still have hope for her mom?
"I don' wan' to see Aun' Rebe'ca," Shelby shook her head. "She looks like Mom."
"But they want to see you, kiddo," he told her. "They missed you, and the boys have been asking about ya."
"I missed tem, too," she admitted. Thinking on it, Shelby agreed, sliding towards the edge of the chair. Luke took Harvey from her, taking him over to his cage, making sure the door to his cage was latched, securely. He then helped Shelby with her shoes. In his opinion, having her arm in a cast did have its positives. He got to help her like when Shelby was younger since she only had one good arm. It wasn't like she didn't attempt to do things on her own. She tried. Luke helped when she it.
Once her shoes were on, they went downstairs and made their way over to where the family was sitting. Shelby walked close to Luke's leg, gripping part of his pants leg in her hand. When they returned, it was Edna who spotted Shelby first.
"Oooh, there's my little Shelby," she said, happily. "Come here, Shelby dear. Come give Grandma a hug."
Shelby exchanged a look with her dad before coming out from behind his leg. That's when they saw her cast. Making her way over, Shelby allowed her maternal grandmother to wrap her arms around her which she held one arm around her grandmother.
Edna squeezed her in a tight embrace. "I have missed you so much."
Shelby didn't utter a word, her muteness kicking in. Finally, after a minute, Edna pulled away when Shelby did.
"What happened to your arm?" she asked.
Shelby looked down at her cast but still didn't say anything. It was Luke who answered for her, explaining briefly what happened.
"We gotta come back when your arm's all better and get a two-on-two game going," the middle boy, Kenneth told her, hugging her, next.
The oldest, Keith suddenly pulled Shelby in, wrapping his arm around her head and rubbed his fist on top. Shelby squirmed trying to pull away. Keith was a huge guy, quarterback built. But that didn't stop Jess when he walked in the diner and saw Shelby in a headlock, trying to squirm out of the dude's arm. Luke had to quickly grab him and hold his nephew back, assuring they were only playing.
Keith had stopped when he saw Jess charging towards him. Eyeing him, carefully, Jess told Luke he had stopped by long enough to grab a few things before leaving, stating he would be back later that night while eyeing Keith like a hawk. He also made sure Shelby was alright before heading upstairs, double-checking once Jess returned, on his way out.
Shelby ate an early lunch with her aunt, uncle, grandmother, and cousins, who only got head motions and shrugs as answers. She ended up not asking for Rachel, not even in written form. Instead, they just asked her questions about how she was doing, including about school and basketball. The youngest, Kevin introduced Shelby to a new card game that was just as popular as Pokémon, in fact it was from the same cartoon she had been watching when Luke had come upstairs. They played a couple games before Shelby got the hang of it and started enjoying it. Kevin had even brought her, her own starter deck to keep.
Even though Luke continued working, he still remained alert and kept an eye on Shelby and the rest of them. At least Shelby seemed to be enjoying herself. When it was time for Rebecca and her family to leave, they took turns giving Shelby a hug good-bye, and told her they'd come visit around Christmastime.
While Edna was hugging her, Luke heard her tell Shelby, "Your mom loves you very much, Shelby. She'll come back." He swallowed a lump that had caught in his throat upon hearing that while Shelby just nodded but didn't seem convinced.
Both Luke and Shelby walked all of them out to Rebecca's husband, Mike's huge black 2000 SUV. Luke couldn't help give him a small rant about how SUVs like that took a lot of gas, among other things that had to do with them. Honestly though, he had always liked Mike, remembering when he was in need of a tool and bought one from William's store in spite of Lloyd's protest. Neither Lloyd or Rebecca was very happy about it while Mike pretty much became Luke's best friend basically. Mike just hated feuds but loved making trouble, even giving William a hefty tip that day. Despite the man's huge size he passed on to his boys, except for the youngest, Mike was a lovable goofball who liked to stir up harmless trouble.
After they were gone, Shelby headed back upstairs to check on Harvey.
Luke eventually came up to check on her and tried asking how she felt. Shelby was quiet for a long time before she finally asked if she could go see Lorelai. He offered to give her a lift there since Shelby couldn't ride her bike and said he'd pick her up later unless Lorelai brought her back. Shelby ended up spending the afternoon at the inn, helping out where she could. That evening, she was quiet during dinner but seemed to perk up once Jess got home, asking him if he wanted to learn the new card game. Jess declined, reminding Shelby they hadn't practiced her speech in a while. So, once they were both ready for bed, Jess and Shelby sat up on his bunk and did flashcards of the TH sound and words that ended in T. Both of them must have been totally wiped out because some time later, Luke found them both asleep, Shelby lying next to her cousin. One had to be a fool to pass up this photo opportunity and Luke wasn't a fool.
