Part Vingt-cinq

A/N: So, this happened. Dinner with Luke's parents. Protective!Ray. Just, this happened. Guess you get a heavy milestone 25th chapter.

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The dinner with Luke's parents was... it wasn't exactly going well. It was...interesting. He knew things had been good when Julie and Luke went to dinner to tell his dad about him being back. But, based on the pieces of phone conversations he had caught between Luke and his parents since then, he could tell things had already started to become tense again. His mom wanted him home, Luke didn't want to go, knew it was a bad idea and got frustrated because she wasn't listening. Then his dad would make a comment trying to diffuse things, but it would be ignored by both of them. This dinner was a front row seat to exactly why Luke had been hesitant when Ray first suggested inviting Emily and Mitch over. Ray found he was both fascinated and uncomfortable at the way Emily Patterson tried to baby her son. He understood that they had fought, and then she had been grieving his death, but he had still been seventeen when he died, not seven.

"Baby, are you sure you don't want some more green beans? They're so healthy for you, honey!"

Not to mention, Luke was still kinda a ghost, which, no one was sure how that worked, but even Ray was pretty sure more green beans weren't going to change anything.

"Mom! I'm fine." Luke answered through clenched teeth. 'This is exactly why I cannot go home, I love her, but she makes me insane!'

"Emily, let the boy eat in peace." Mitch was sympathetic to his son. 'Emily has never been good with not being in control, I've tried to tell her to loosen up, but she never listens.'

Ray decided to jump in, the other faces around the table were having trouble keeping their looks of horrified fascination with these interactions under wraps. "So, we got Reggie signed up for a beginning photography class in the spring at the community college. Isn't that great?"

"That's great Reggie!" Mitch happily grabbed onto this new topic.

Reggie opened his mouth to reply, but quickly snapped it shut as Emily spoke up again.

"That's great. Have you thought about signing up for any classes, baby?" Emily's eyes were on Luke, a familiar tone of expectation permeating the seemingly innocent question.

Luke's breath stuck in his throat, he couldn't do this again. His eyes sought out his dad's, begging him to make it stop before it started.

"Uh, Emily, I think we were talking about Reggie, right now." Mitch hated getting between the two of them. It was why he had always liked Reggie and was more than happy to have him stay over in high school, at least before the fights between Emily and Luke had started getting bad. Then Luke had stopped inviting him, instead he was the one going to stay with Reggie. Mitch understood Reggie, his parents had fought too, it was why he couldn't handle the fights between his wife and son, usually just going for a walk whenever they got into it. With Luke back from the dead though, he had promised himself that he would try harder to stand up for his son.

"We did, it's wonderful for him. And now I want to know if my son is going to do the sensible thing and sign up for classes himself."

Nope. That's it. Ray was done. Even though he knew Luke had signed up for a class, it was obvious this was not the time to discuss it. He stood up, and cleared his throat loudly. "Well, I think we've all eaten our fill tonight. Luke, would you please help Julie with the dishes? And the rest of you, I know the studio is a mess after you watched movies out there today, why don't you go get things cleaned up?" They may have been framed as questions, but everyone responded to the tone of command running through Ray's words.

"Emily, Mitch, why don't you let me walk you out?" His gaze zeroed in on Emily, and her defiant look collapsed into defeat as she nodded. Mitch couldn't help but reach out and squeeze Ray's shoulder behind Emily's back as they walked to the door, shooting him a look of pure relief and gratitude.

The three of them stepped outside, and Ray took a deep breath, and looking Emily right in the eyes he spoke, softly but with underlying steel, "I will not have you making little comments to Luke, and belittling his choices while you are in my house. He is an exceptional young man, and while I thought for a short while it was because of you, I am now forced to believe it is in spite of you. You obviously love him very much, and he loves you. But you very clearly DO NOT understand him. I know that family dynamics can be hard, and you have been through a whole lot of pain, especially since you fought before he, well, died. However. He is back now, and you have a chance to be better. Go talk to someone, I can get you the name of my friend Bobby's therapist if you want, but figure out how to let go of your expectations and let him be himself. I'm sorry, but you are not welcome in my home until you do. I can't say how Luke feels, but according to his paperwork he is legally 18, so it will be up to him if he wants to stay in contact with you. Emily, don't waste this second chance. Find a way to be happy with him as who he is."

Emily's face had crumpled in anguish as he spoke, she knew he was right. Mitch had been trying to tell her the same thing for years, even before Luke died. She managed to reply to Ray through her tears, "I know it's a problem. I will start speaking to someone, I promise. I don't want to lose him again."

Mitch wrapped an arm around her ready to lead her to their car, "Thank you for being there for him Ray, he deserves the support of someone like you. Would it be okay if I called you once in awhile? Just to see how he's doing?"

Ray smiled at him, "Sure, but if I know him at all, I think he probably won't mind at least speaking to you on the phone occasionally himself. Good night, you two."

"Good night Ray, maybe in a few months we can try dinner again." Mitch nodded down at his wife, silently crying against his shoulder. "I think this was a good wake-up call."

She pulled herself together long enough to sniffle and nod, "It was, I needed to have some sense knocked into me. Thanks."

Ray watched them leave, staying outside for a few more long minutes, hoping Luke would understand.

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When he finally turned and went to open the door, he found it was already open a crack, frowning he gently pushed it open.

And quickly found his arms full with a sobbing teenage boy in a beanie.

"N-no one...has ev-ever... y-you... th-thank you Ray. I-I, sh-she...a-and you just! Thank you!" Luke stopped trying to speak and just buried his face in Ray's shoulder, his arms tight, as if Ray would disappear if he let go.

Ray had automatically hugged him back, and pulled him closer as he deciphered the disjointed words, his heart cracking right down the middle as he looked up and met his daughter's eyes, his vision a bit blurry from his own tears, but clear enough to see she was also crying. She didn't look that sad, though, rather she was beaming at him with pride and thankfulness.

If he thought about it, that did make sense, he had seen the way Julie's face had tightened, could almost hear her teeth grinding, as she held her tongue every time Emily spoke and a little wince would flash across Luke's face. He would bet money if he hadn't done something, she would have. He didn't think he wanted to know what she might have said, he felt protective and even did love Luke, but Julie loved Luke. If she had any of her mother in her, and she absolutely did, she would have been an incredible force, and that probably wouldn't have been a good thing at this time. Ray was relieved he was able to take care of it instead.

Now, what to do with the boy still crying and sniffling in his arms?

"Julie. Why don't you go help the others in the studio, maybe keep them on task?" He raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking if she understood.

Her eyes widened, and she nodded. Starting to turn, she hesitated, glancing at Luke and looking a bit torn.

"Mija. I've got this."

"O-okay." She finally headed for the door, managing to only look back once as she exited through it and closed it behind herself.

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Ray led Luke over to the couch, never pulling away or letting go, and got them settled down onto the cushions. Ray was a dad, he could tell Luke wasn't ready to talk yet, so he just leaned back, rubbing his hand over Luke's back in a soothing motion. He wasn't the best singer, but he was at least decent at carrying a tune, so he began softly humming a song Rose used to sing to Julie and Carlos when they were little. He smiled, he was the one who had shown her that there was more to country music that just songs about trucks.

He just kept humming and sliding his hand over Luke's back, willing to give him whatever time he needed.

Luke finally stirred in his arms, sitting up and rubbing his red-rimmed eyes. He looked a bit lost on what to do next, avoiding Ray's eyes.

"Luke." Ray waited until he reluctantly made eye contact. "I've got you, okay? No matter what, and with no matter who. The same goes for the other guys, but I need you to understand, because I think you've been trying so hard to be strong for so long, thinking that your issues with your parents weren't as important as theirs, because you knew your parents loved you and they were always telling you they just wanted what was best for you. But that doesn't mean it's not complicated and difficult, and it's okay to be upset about it."

Luke's eyes were wide, a few tears forming again. He coughed a little and cleared his throat, his voice still coming out raspy and broken, "I guess I've never thought about it like that."

Ray couldn't have stopped himself if he tried, he just pulled the boy back into his arms for another hug.

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They were still on the couch when Julie finally crept back inside, the only difference being Luke was now laying down, his head on a pillow on Ray's lap, fast asleep.

"Papi? Is- is he okay?" She whispered as she came up next to the couch, looking down at them.

"He's fine, mija. It was just an overwhelming evening. I think he's going to sleep right here tonight, what did you tell everyone?"

"I told them you and Luke were discussing his parents, and they should just put on some more movies and stay out there tonight, even Carlos." She giggled softly, "He was actually pretty excited, he decided to introduce them to the two 'National Treasure' movies, I think Willie has maybe seen them, he was nodding at Carlos as he pitched the idea. I just told them I was tired and I was going to go to bed."

Ray's gaze fell on the boy in his lap, "That's good. As close as he, Reggie, and Alex are, I think I need to start taking some more time with each of them. They try to be strong for each other, which is great, but everyone needs a chance to not be strong once in awhile. Even if Luke opened up to them about a lot, it was obvious to me tonight that there was plenty he hadn't shared." His words were barely a murmur, said almost more to himself, than Julie.

"I love you Papi." Julie had a few tears on her cheeks, Luke was so important to her, the other guys too. She was ridiculously glad her dad understood, and was willing to help them, and be there for them. "You are the absolute best."

He looked up and smiled at her, "Thank you mija. I love you like crazy too. Now go on up to bed. I'll make breakfast burritos tomorrow, okay?"

Julie grinned and bounced excitedly at that, it had been ages since he had made those, and they were so good.

"Goodnight, Papi."

"Goodnight, mija."

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Ray sat there for a long time after she left, thinking about the boys. He had started to get closer to Reggie, and he hoped that spending more time talking about photography, now that he would have the class, would help the boy open up more. So far it was pretty clear he wasn't ready to discuss anything too serious about his childhood and his parents. It was hard, but Ray knew he had to let Reggie come to him. Then there was Alex, he was even tougher. Aside from the moment in the studio when Willie had joined their growing family, he didn't really talk much to Ray. He was going to take a lot of care and especially patience.

Luke shifted in his sleep, his hand reaching up and grabbing Ray's where it rested on his shoulder, "...Ray... safe." He sighed in his sleep, relaxing as he tugged Ray's hand down, clutching it to his chest.

'Oh.' Ray leaned back and shoved a throw pillow behind his head with his free hand, looks like he'll be sitting here all night. There was no way he'd be leaving Luke alone now.

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A/N 2: I- I'm not sure where this came from? I'm sorry for the angst. I already have a few much more fluffy scenes started, even one that will be part of a chapter on Julie's birthday. I was up really late working on this, it's like 4 am as I'm posting, so not sure how much I'll get done tomorrow on the next chapter, but more will be coming!

PS: If anyone cares, the song Ray hums is 'The Change' by Garth Brooks. It's really good.