Chapter 12
Both of them woke up around the same time as the day before. Like they did the first day, Luke opened the diner while Shelby got ready for school. Lorelai came by for breakfast on her way to Yale to see Rory again while Shelby was sitting at the counter, eating her breakfast. She asked if Shelby was ready for her second day as a third grader, which somehow led to Lorelai finding out Luke had no plans to attend Parents' Night, nor had he ever gone. Lorelai seemed appalled and went on a rant about being involved in his daughter's education.
"Didn't you get called in for not participating at Chilton?" Luke pointed out.
Lorelai tried to skirt around at being called out. "Yes, but that was Chilton. I helped out while Rory was going to school, here where it was more fun."
Luke still wasn't convinced. "Shelby's success in school does not have any effect on whether or not I go to Parents' Night when everything that will be discussed is already in the paperwork that was sent home on the first day. I signed what needed to be signed, and Shelby can take it to her teacher. If any questions come up, I can either call the school or go down there, myself. It does not need a special appearance with other parents who will badger me about joining PTA meetings and bake sales."
Lorelai just rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. "Come on, Luke. There'll be cookies, and brownies, and coffee for the parents."
"Oh, now you've sold me," he told her, sarcastically. She still tried to convince him to go, using every trick in the book she clearly wrote until finally he said, "look, if it's that big of a deal, I can bring it up to Rachel when we see her this afternoon, and she can go if she wants since she missed yesterday. Would that be okay?"
Lorelai let out a huff. "Fine. I guess that seems fair." It was a relief she had given in. He could tell Lorelai wasn't completely satisfied, but at least someone would be going. That's what counts, right?
When Lorelai finished her breakfast, she offered Shelby a ride to school on her way to Yale. Luke reminded Shelby, he would be picking her up early from school around one, before kissing each other, good-bye.
Later, Luke opened for lunch, for a couple hours, before closing up while he would be gone, and headed up to the school to sign Shelby out, early like he said he would. About ten minutes later, Shelby appeared, all packed and ready with her bag and lunch box. They headed out to where Luke had parked out front.
On the way out of town, Luke asked how her second day went. The first day was all about learning the rules and getting to know everyone. For the second day, Mrs. Sweeney jumped right into work and gave out a practice test to see how much the students remembered from second grade. It was mainly to see how much they would need to review before jumping into the first unit of third grade math.
"We weren' being graded on it, so she told us no' to 'tress if we didn' know an answer," Shelby explained.
"How do you think you did?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I think I did okay. We won' know until tomorrow. We also 'tar'ed on our firs' repor' of the year. We have to wri'e all abou' us, then on Thursday when we have Computer Lab, we're gonna type it up as our final draf'."
"Sounds like you had a long, full day." Luke smiled over at her.
"Oh, yeah. Lo's of work," she said in agreement.
"Have you heard from Ms. Kelly yet?"
Shelby shook her head. "Las' year, I didn't hear from her until the second week of school."
"So, you think it'll be the same, this year?"
"Maybe," she shrugged again.
The two continued talking throughout the entire trip. Shelby ended up admitting that Mrs. Sweeney wasn't so bad. As long as the students followed the rules and did what was expected of them, she was actually really nice. She even kept a container of Red Vines on her desk she would pass out for either a mid-morning snack or for answering a question, correct. Ethan's seat was a few rows from Shelby, which probably was a good thing considering even Shelby got in trouble for talking with him in second grade.
Eventually, they got to Providence's city limits and Luke pulled into the parking lot of Lauren's office, twenty minutes later.
Rachel was still sitting in her car, talking on the phone when they were walking up to the building. Since the windows were up and the car was still running, Luke couldn't hear what she was saying. She waved a hand at them as they walked by. Both he and Shelby waved back.
They met her inside where Luke signed them in.
Rachel finally joined them. "Hey, sorry about that. My boss has been wanting to give me another assignment for the past few weeks, even though I told him I was taking time off."
"Sorry we're cutting into work." Really, Luke wasn't sorry and made sure his voice showed it.
Rachel took a deep breath, letting it out. "I'm choosing to take time off, Luke. I want to take all the time I need for Shelby. Can you please just give me the benefit of the doubt?"
He did the same, letting out a breath of air. "Yeah, of course. I'm sorry," he told her, really sincere this time.
"Thank you," she said. "Really, I mean it. I really do want to put Shelby first while we get this sorted out."
Luke nodded in assurance. He really hoped things could get better for them. "And, uh, hey. Since you missed yesterday and all the tons of stuff Shelby brought home from school. If you wanted to, that is. There is a Parents' Night for all the parents to come and ask questions and go over everything." There was a long pause as they looked at each other. "There'll be dessert and coffee. For the parents, I mean. I don't think they're serve coffee to the kids." Luke forced a laugh.
Rachel forced one, too. "No, that probably wouldn't be a good idea." Thankfully, a smile appeared between the both of them, seeming like it wasn't forced this time. Looking from him over to their daughter, who was still reading Matilda. Though the kid enjoyed reading like her cousin, now, Shelby wasn't as fast as he was.
"Hey, peanut," she greeted, getting Shelby's attention. "What's that you're reading?"
Lifting the book she was holding in her hands, Shelby showed her mom, the cover.
"Matilda," Rachel read. "What's the book about?"
"A girl tha's really smar' and has powers," was all Shelby said, softly.
Rachel nodded with interest. "Is it good?"
"Sure," she replied. "Her family is mean and so is the principal. Bu' the teacher, Miss Honey is really nice."
"With a name like Miss Honey, you probably should be sweet, huh?" Rachel smiled for her.
Shelby just gave a quick shrug.
Rachel was leaning forward with her forearms on her legs. She looked at the floor for a moment before asking, "How are you liking school?"
"I's okay." Before Rachel could ask for more insight, Lauren came out from the door, greeting them. All three stood up, returning the greeting before they all headed down the hall to Lauren's office.
Lauren also asked how school was going when she asked how everyone's week has been. Shelby held a thumb's up in response and Luke had to pass on, "the verbal thing comes and goes," knowing full well where she had gotten the way she said that, from.
"So," Lauren said, starting the session, "I thought, since we ran out of time, last time, we can continue our discussion about the whole 'shoe' issue, and share more concerns so we can come to a solution. What do you think?" She looked between Luke and Rachel, who both nodded in agreement as they responded.
"What about you, Shelby?" Lauren turned towards the youngest in the room. "Does that sound like a plan?" She also added, "I know we've been playing games since we started, but I thought it would be nice to just sit and talk. Maybe we can get out the play-dough."
Shelby nodded at the idea of playing with play-dough while staring at the cover of her book.
Lauren stood up from the table to head over to the shelf of toys. She pulled a plastic rectangular container from the second shelf that was missing its lid. Fully packed were several containers of different colored play-dough. Asking Shelby if she had a color preference, she grabbed the one with a green lid, along with yellow and blue, bringing them back to the table.
"Here you go," she set the one with the green lid in front of Shelby, who took it and pulled the lid off and dumped the green-colored play-dough into her left hand. The other two, she offered to Rachel and Luke.
Rachel thanked her, taking the yellow one while Luke declined.
"Are you sure? Playing with play-dough can be very therapeutic," Lauren encouraged. Rachel had also taken the top off and dumped the yellow-colored dough into her hand and started kneading it between her left and right hands as Shelby had been doing.
"That's okay," he waved a hand through the air in front of him. "I knead plenty of dough at the diner."
Lauren honored his wishes but left the play-dough in the center of the table in case Luke changed his mind. Shelby tried to reach for it until Lauren told her she didn't want the colors mixed together and the kid resumed playing with the green one without a word.
"So, where we last left off, Shelby had informed us why she feels she has to be perfect with you, and about being told several times of taking her shoes off the couch," she continued. "Correct?"
Rachel was the one to respond. "Correct," she nodded.
Luke picked his hands up from his lap and folded his arms as he listened, slouching a little in his seat as he stared at the table.
"I also suggested leaving all shoes at the door, because, even if Shelby forgets, dirt that our shoes collect, won't get on the couch. In fact, I usually have our family, always have socks or slippers on while we're home. Would you be willing to try that, at least, Rachel? I know you have an issue with feet in general, but it'll lessen how much dirt and stuff gets inside your home."
"Actually, I had spoken with my husband about the issue later that night, and he came up with the suggestion of taking away a day of video games each time Shelby needs to be reminded. Taking away something she loves doing might be an incentive to help her be aware of what she's doing," Rachel said.
Luke's head shot up and over at Rachel. "Wait," he interrupted before Lauren could respond. "Isn't what we talk about here supposed to be kept confidential?" Though, technically, he did the same thing when he shared with Lorelai that same night. The fact Roger was involved in all this made his skin crawl.
"Roger already knew from before we started doing this, Luke," she told him. "It wasn't anything new."
"Still," he tried to press further. "He shouldn't be involved in any of this."
Rachel shook her head at the table. "So, you're once again shooting down another possible suggestion and making me, and now Roger, a bad guy?"
"You can make suggestions, just not him," Luke plainly shrugged off.
Lauren stepped in to referee the argument. "First thing's first. Yes, what is said here, stays here. It shouldn't be shared outside this room unless everyone is in agreement."
Rachel apologized first and promised not to share anything from then on.
Luke hesitated a little but agreed too, which meant no more sharing anything with Lorelai either.
"I do think taking away video games can be a good way to help Shelby become more aware and eventually learn to break the habit," Lauren continued. "If that's what she really enjoys doing, then using it as an incentive could work."
"And I am willing to keep all shoes at the front door," Rachel added.
Luke looked over to see how Shelby was taking the suggestion. Having grounded her from video games himself, he has seen it has helped. But using it to break a habit? It would technically be like rewarding her for staying over at Rachel's.
"In fact, my husband and I have already started doing it ourselves."
"That's good to hear." Lauren switched to Luke and Shelby. "What do you think? I can understand if there's some tension between you," she pointed a hand at Luke, "and Roger, I really do feel it's a good way to help Shelby break away from the habit. Usually, using incentives can help motivate a child."
Luke rubbed a hand against the back of his head, over his hat, looking off to the side at the floor. "Yeah, I guess so. I've had to ground her from the video games before and it seemed to work."
Lauren turned to Shelby. "What about you, Shelby?"
Luke looked at his little buddy again to see tears starting to fill her eyes.
Rachel leaned more on her arms, still kneading her own play-dough. "You said you were trying, peanut. Maybe this will help show me you are."
Shelby turned away in her seat and sat sideways, now squeezing her play-dough.
Taking in a deep breath first, Luke was about to say something to Shelby when he heard Lauren speak first.
"I know it doesn't seem fair, Shelby, but we all have to keep an open mind to any suggestions made during our sessions. We can't disregard something just because we don't want to do them or something seems hard." Lauren watched Shelby, who sat there, staring at the floor, aggressively smashing the play-dough in her hand as a tear drifted gently down the side of her face.
It was hard to see his little buddy upset. Luke didn't enjoy having to take away her video games either, but knew she was always fine when he did.
Pushing out his chair from the table, he scooted closer to Shelby and leaned forward with his forearms on his legs. "Listen, kiddo, I know this is hard for you and all, but I think maybe your mom and," he stopped to take a quick breath of air, "and Roger, and Lauren might be right. I certainly got nothing and if it does help in the long run then it would be a good thing, right?"
Shelby continued staring at nothing.
"Plus, you know you've never gotten mad at me when I had to ground you from video games, and don't you want to have a better time with your mom?"
She didn't answer. Not at first anyway, but after a moment, Shelby nodded her head, slightly.
"I promise you'll live without video games for a day or two. You've done it plenty of times." Luke smiled for his little buddy to help cheer her up.
"What's going through your mind, right now, Shelby?" Lauren asked with sympathy. "Can you share your thoughts with us?"
Luke moved his head closer so she could whisper to him. "You can tell me, kiddo," he reminded her.
Shelby sucked in her lower lip to suck on it.
He reached a hand over to rub her side. "It's okay, Shell."
"You can say whatever is on your mind," Lauren reassured her, as well. "There is no such thing as a stupid question, nor are there wrong answers, here. This is a safe place to scream or yell if you have to."
Luke continued to rub her side up and down comfortingly. "You got this, kiddo," he cheered her on. She started to say something, but it came out in quiet mumbles. He moved his ear closer to her mouth.
"What?" Luke asked gently.
"If shoes aren' allowed, how come I 'till can' have my fee' on the couch?" she whispered to him. Luke then passed the question onto the women.
"Because, peanut, I don't want feet on the furniture at all," Rachel answered. "Couches weren't meant for our feet. They were meant for sitting flat on our bottoms."
"Lots of people prefer not having feet on their furniture," Lauren also said. "It's not just your mom. Sometimes, it can even be a sign of disrespect towards the person."
Shelby hesitated before she whispered to her dad again.
"She says she does respect you," he passed on.
"That's great, peanut, but that also means respecting my rules. I don't ask much of you other than keeping feet down, not bringing your bike inside unless an adult carries it in for you, and now that I have a garage, that won't even be an issue. I'd also would prefer your scooter stays out there, as well."
"Nicole doesn'," Luke heard Shelby whisper.
"Nicole doesn't, what, kiddo?" he asked her.
She hesitated some more, which Luke encouraged her to tell him. "Nicole didn' care as long as I wasn' wearing my shoes."
"That was Nicole's choice, Shell. Not everyone has the same feelings about a particular way they run their household," Luke explained. "Nicole was willing to be more lenient with you. Everyone has their own limits, some more than others, and that's okay." He shrugged.
"I'm not trying to expect more of you than you can handle. It's proper etiquette, and I really like to keep the couches in nicer conditions for a long time. I'm sorry I keep having to nag you about this. I don't enjoy having to, myself, nor do I like having to use an incentive." Rachel rolled the dough around against her hands, switching between the dough and Shelby. "None of this is to be mean, it's just a part of life, peanut."
Luke looked from Rachel, back towards his little buddy. He moved his hand along her back to the back of her neck and touched his forehead to the side of hers. "I know, kiddo. Your mom's right, though. Life isn't always fair, unfortunately."
"I love you, peanut," she added. "I want to make sure you know that. I always have. I may not be as cool as Lorelai, but I still like to have fun. I'd love to take you hiking with Roger and I, and do other exciting stuff like that. I don't want something like this being the thing that keeps us from having a relationship with each other."
"Is there any suggestions you can think of that might help?" Lauren asked Shelby for her input.
Shelby gave a quick shrug.
"Nothing at all?"
They gave Shelby some time to think, which Luke resumed rubbing a comforting hand along her side.
"You always have great ideas," he reminded her.
But she just shrugged some more. When Luke saw her mumble something, he lowered his ear for her. "I won' si' on the couch a' Mom's house."
"Come on, Shell," Luke got a little firm but still kept it lighthearted with his little buddy. "You can't give up just because something's hard. I think you can do this. In fact, I know you can. You've accomplished so much since we met. Remember when talking to me was hard and not being able to sleep in your own room at your mom's? You thought you couldn't and now look at ya. You're singing for the town at town meetings and staying home alone when I have to go somewhere."
Shelby managed to finally look up at her dad at that.
He smiled for her. "I know things don't come easy for you, but I also know how much of a hard-worker you are. Yes, you may lose your video games a few times and yes, it's especially hard when you just got your new GameBoy after you've spent the last several months saving up for it. That's just the way it is." Luke tilted his head down to look up at her. "Okay?"
She raised her arm to wipe her eyes on it.
"You can do this, kiddo, I know you can."
At that, Shelby nodded. "Okay, Daddy," she whispered.
It made him smile. "Atta girl," he praised.
Shelby turned her head to nod over at Lauren, but avoided eye contact with Rachel. She did nod in her direction, at least.
"And, if it'll help, a warning or two before taking away the video games might help as a reminder, as well," Lauren pointed out, looking between Rachel and Shelby.
"Yeah, that sounds reasonable," Rachel agreed. "Right, Shelby?"
Shelby stole a look with her dad before nodding at her lap.
"How often does Shelby stay with you," Lauren asked of Rachel.
"Um, well..." Rachel paused for a moment, exchanging a look at Luke. "We usually do every weekend to every other weekend. But, Shelby hasn't been over since I've been back."
Lauren folded her hands on the table. "Why don't we try this, then. I am going to assign homework for this week and have Shelby spend this weekend at your home, to give it another go. Would that be alright with you?" She looked around at all three of them.
"I would love to have Shelby over and show her the new house. We got the house all unpacked and settled in and just finished her room. My brother came over and painted it like he did the first time. I think you're gonna like it, peanut," Rachel then added, "I hope," with a hopeful smile towards Shelby.
"I can take you, Friday after school and pick you up, Sunday evening," Luke told her, encouragingly. "And will make sure Gexie is taken care of while you're gone."
"We can also get a tank for your room if you wanted to bring Gexie with you," Rachel suggested. "Roger wants to get one of his own, now since I told him about your little friend."
Shelby automatically said, "Leopard geckos can not be in the same tank with other leopard geckos."
"Well, I'm sure we can keep them apart if he does, and I held off getting a cat so you can come with us, like I promised we would. Remember that, peanut?" Rachel moved her head to look directly at her.
Shelby nodded.
"Can we try this weekend, peanut?"
Shelby hesitated, chewing on her lip.
Lauren jumped in again, leaning towards Shelby. "If we want to move forward with progress, we're gonna have to do this, you know?" She told her in a gentle tone and gave the kid a minute before asking, "you do want to have a better relationship with your mom, right?"
Shelby nodded some more.
"Then we have to put what we discuss into action. It's okay to be nervous, but if we let the fear overcome us, then we won't be able to do the things we want to do," she explained. "It just for the weekend. That's two days. That's not so bad, is it?"
Shelby shook her head this time.
"So, what do you think? Can we try it this weekend?"
Shelby finally looked up again and nodded. She still couldn't look at her mom, though. Not because she was mad, but because eye contact was a challenge, sometimes.
"Alrighty, then. That'll be the homework for the week, and we can talk about how it goes next week. How's that sound?" She looked between Rachel, Luke, and Shelby.
"Sounds good to me," Rachel said.
"Sure," Luke shrugged, now sitting up again.
Shelby hesitated but nodded, nervously.
Looking at her watch, Lauren called the end of the session, there. "And, if it doesn't work, we can come up with another solution, next week," she added to help reassure Shelby. "Okay?" she asked of the kid.
Shelby nodded once more at her.
Once the play-dough was put away, Lauren walked them out to the waiting room so they could schedule for next week's appointment. The three of them then left to walk out to the parking lot together.
"You feel okay," Rachel asked Shelby as they walked down the sidewalk.
Shelby was staring at the sidewalk in front of her as she walked while holding her book in her left hand.
When they got to the edge of the sidewalk, Rachel held an arm out to block her and turned to fully face Shelby.
"Is it okay if I go to Parents' Night and meet your teacher, tonight?" she asked. "I'd like to, but if you don't want me to, I won't go."
Shelby held a shrug for a moment. "Sure," she muttered out loud, but still soft.
"You sure?"
She nodded, trying to make eye contact. Her eyes kept diverting elsewhere.
Rachel bent over, slipping her hands into her legs. "I can't say enough how sorry I am that I made you feel you have to be perfect. I never meant that, peanut." She reached a hand up to push some hair behind Shelby's right ear. "Aside from that, is there anything I can do to help make things better? Within reason, of course."
Shelby stared off to the side.
"Is there anything you would like to do this weekend? We can do whatever you want to do."
She shrugged again.
"Well, you have the rest of the week to think about it. You don't have to give me an answer now. Or, we can just stay home if you want to. It's up to you."
Shelby continued staring at nothing.
"Well, I guess I will see you Friday?" Rachel stood up straight and looked over at Luke.
"We will see you, Friday."
"I will call sometime in the next couple of days to give you the address and directions," she told him.
"Okay," he replied.
Turning back to their daughter, Rachel told her good-bye. "I love you."
Shelby chewed on her lip some more. She at least held a thumb's up for her mom.
Rachel said bye to Luke before going their separate ways to their vehicles. When Luke had turned to walk down his side of the truck, he noticed she had paused, getting into her SUV, the same dark blue one she had before. He waved for her, which she returned. Rachel then slid in under the steering wheel. Luke did the same.
On the way home, Kenny Rogers came on the radio, singing his song, Handprints on the Wall. Things had been quiet until that point, between father and daughter, as Shelby stared out her window.
A lump formed in his throat as Luke listened to the words. He tried to swallow the lump, but it only grew larger. As much as Luke preferred things in a neat and clean way, he didn't mind his little buddy leaving her mark around the apartment. Isn't that how memories are made?
Guess that just reminds them just how different he and Rachel were.