Chapter 32
The next week flew by fast. So fast it felt like one long day. Luke made sure they had everything ready, Thursday evening, with bags packed by the door. Jess was the only one who knew the two were going camping, obviously, since he lived there and Shelby being excited and all. Luke had him promise not to say anything to anyone, just to tell them they would be back Sunday, promising a bonus in his pay if the boy kept his mouth shut and asked him not to burn the place down while they were gone.
"Why no Jess come too?" Shelby asked.
"Well, because I thought we could spend some bonding time just the two of us," Luke shrugged.
"It's cool, Scout. No one can pay me enough to sleep outside on the ground, anyway," Jess replied over on his cot.
"He's right, Shell. I tried taking him when Jess was around your age and he hated it. I never could get him out there again," he told her, adding, "some don't like to camp, and that's okay," when Shelby looked disappointed.
Early the next morning, after loading the truck, Luke and Shelby were off towards their camping spot. Luke planned a head of time, making sure Shelby could make up the schoolwork she would miss that day so that was all taken care of.
Still being early, the town's streets were empty, so it didn't take long to leave. The radio was mostly morning talk with a song thrown in here and there. Other than the radio, things were pretty quiet between the two. Luke made a "no electronics" rule the last time they went camping, so Shelby couldn't bring her Gameboy with her. She brought a book Shelby had checked out from the library at school when her class visited the other day, picking out a Little Critter book about camping with Little Critter's dad in light of their weekend. Being a short book, Shelby read through it a few times.
After an hour and a half long drive, Luke finally pulled up to their campsite and parked, starting their trip off with their usual hike. Somewhere along the trail, Shelby found a stick and brought it along, using it like a sword and hitting pinecones. When she started hitting the pinecones, Luke gave a few pointers since he had gone through a hockey phase as a kid, showing how she could hold the stick.
"Hey, would you like to give hockey a try?" he suggested afterwards, kneeled at her level.
Shelby shrugged. "I no know how to 'kay." She was meaning to say skate.
"That's fine. Maybe this winter, I can teach ya, and then next winter when you have more time to think on it, we can give it try. What do you say?"
"I wan' to play T-ball again," she told him.
"You can play both, or any sport you want. I'm just giving ya suggestions," he assured her.
"Can I play all of tem?"
Luke looked at her in surprise. "You want to play every sport?"
She shrugged.
"Including golf?"
Shelby thought on it and shrugged. "Sure." Even he wasn't really a fan of golf, if that was what the kid wanted to do.
"Okay, well, I'll look into it. See what I can find."
They continued on with their hike, getting back to their campsite around lunchtime, and set up the tent first. Luke set up the campfire while he had Shelby gather the wood. Afterwards, he made sandwiches.
For the rest of the afternoon, Luke and Shelby fished. Nothing was really biting, so the two just sat in silence, waiting. The wait time didn't really help Luke much, as his mind wandered away and thought about what occupied his mind every year around this time.
Shelby must have eventually noticed because after a while he felt a finger poking his leg, repeatedly, over and over.
He snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at his daughter. "What is it, kiddo? You got a bite?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I wan-ted to know if your okay?"
Luke smiled for her. "Yeah, I'm okay, kiddo."
"You no look okay," Shelby continued to shake her head. Nothing could get passed this kid. "You look sad. Are you sad?"
Luke stared down at the fishing pole in his hands. "I... um..." He wasn't sure if he should tell his six-year-old about what today was or not. Would she understand? Luke didn't want to bring down the mood of their father-daughter trip. What does one say in a moment like this? Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, letting it out. Since Shelby knew about death already, Luke felt it was the right choice to tell her, her grandfather passed away on this day, several years ago.
"You miss Granpa?" she asked afterwards.
He nodded. "Yeah."
Scooting closer, Shelby wrapped an arm around her dad. With her arm sort of on the short size, it couldn't fully wrap around him, but it was still an A for effort.
"I' okay, Dad." Luke couldn't help smile at his little girl as she tried to comfort him. He wrapped his own arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
"Thanks, kiddo."
Shelby ended up asking several questions about her grandfather, which turned into wanting to hear stories about the man. Since the fish wasn't biting, the two ended up leaning against the log they been sitting on, as Shelby held onto every word. It helped Luke a little, sharing stories about William, and even about his own childhood. Shelby's favorite ended up being when he told the story of his first camping trip.
"Would Granpa like me?" she asked after a couple hours.
"I'm sure he would have loved you," he told her.
"Would Granpa make me talk like my o'ter granpa?"
"Nah, he would have been patient with ya. Your grandpa didn't talk much, either."
Things got quiet for a minute until Shelby broke it. "I wiss Granpa could be here," she admitted.
Luke reached over and gently gave her right knee a squeeze. "So do I, kiddo." At that, Shelby moved closer and snuggled against his arm, resting her head on it.
For dinner, since neither could catch anything, Luke fixed up a stew, enough to feed the both of them while he let Shelby explore around the campsite. He made sure she remained in eyesight. The kid still had her stick, so she had taken to trying to hit rocks with it like it was a baseball bat. He told her to stop though before she hit a critter or another camper.
Once Shelby got tired, she came over behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.
Luke turned his head back and kissed her cheek. "Dinner's about ready."
"Okay," she uttered softly.
"Tired, huh?"
Shelby nodded from his shoulder.
It was already dark out, so the only light was mostly from the campfire.
"So are you too tired for..." Luke reached over and pulled out the supplies to make s'mores, to show her.
Of course, the kid perked up upon seeing what he brought for dessert.
After dinner, Luke helped Shelby with her skewer, letting her put her own marshmallow on the end. Carefully, she stuck it in the fire for a split second before taking it back out and blowing out the flames from the now roasted marshmallow. Luke pulled it off between the graham crackers and chocolate square, forming a small sandwich, and passed it to her. By the time he had made his, Shelby's cheeks near her mouth were covered in graham cracker crumbs and gooey marshmallows. To make it complete, Luke swiped his finger in his S'more and touched it to the tip of her nose, wiping melted marshmallow on it.
Shelby flinched from his touch, a laugh escaping. She stood up to give her dad a big, gooey kiss on the cheek as revenge. Part of his cheek was now covered in marshmallow and graham cracker crumbs.
"You little scamp," Luke teased her, but couldn't help snicker. He let Shelby have one more before having her clean off with a wet-wipe, getting what she missed, afterwards.
After brushing their teeth and changing into their pajamas, along with making sure the fire was completely out, the two moved inside the tent where Shelby had Luke read aloud to her from her library book, by the lantern Shelby gotten for his birthday, a few weeks ago. As per request, Luke brought along his guitar, giving Shelby another music lesson.
This time, he had Shelby sit in his lap and helped position her fingers on each string, starting with an easy song for her, called "Smoke on the Water," having her try on her own.
"Yep, you got this," he praised as Shelby positioned her fingers the way he showed her, before showing the next note. As the hour passed, Shelby learned how to play the song on her own.
"I did i'," she said excitedly, looking up at her dad, upside down.
"Yeah, you did. That was great, kiddo."
"You play a song now, Daddy."
"Okay." Keeping Shelby on his lap, Luke positioned his own fingers on the strings and played the George Strait, "Love Without End, Amen." After hearing it that day on the radio, Luke knew he needed to learn it, but changed some words to fit his own kid. On the second chorus, Shelby joined in, singing with him as she held her head against him. When the song was over, Shelby fought back a yawn, signaling it was time for bed.
Setting the guitar off to the side, the two climbed into their sleeping bags. With winter around the corner, it was a chilly night, so Luke packed extra blankets, spreading them out over their sleeping bags. With both Pikachu and Maggie clutched in her arms, Shelby snuggled beside her dad, both sleeping a couple hours than usual the following morning.
Once dressed for the day, Luke made scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast.
"What should we do this morning?" he asked while they ate.
"Um," Shelby briefly thought about it before blurting out, "Play ball."
Luke chuckled. Of course, that was her next choice. Had he created a monster having Shelby give T-ball another chance?
After breakfast, the two grabbed their gloves and Shelby grabbed the baseball, spreading out to face each other.
Shelby winded up the first pitch as Luke once showed her, trying to copy the same way. She pitched the ball, throwing it towards him, which Luke caught in his glove.
"Good one," he praised and pitched it back.
Shelby had to run after the ball when it missed her glove.
Luke punched the inside of his glove. "Good try, kiddo. Come on, show me what else you got."
Winding up as she did before, Shelby pitched another, putting all she had into it. Luke had to reach out and catch it that time.
"Come on, Shell. That was a ball. You don't want the batter to walk, do ya?" He tossed it back to her.
That time, Shelby barely caught it, using her other hand, and positioned her feet and body to pitch the best throw she could muster up.
"Let's go, kiddo," Luke punched his glove, hunched over. "Bases are loaded, two outs, and two strikes. If the batter hits a home run, the other team wins. Do you want that?" he harmlessly egged her on in encouragement.
Shelby narrowed her eyes towards her dad's glove and winded up once more.
"Right down the plate. You got this, Shell."
She pitched it just as he told her to, making sure her elbow aligned as it should be. It flew from her hand, straight to Luke's glove, which he caught.
"Strike three! You're out!" he mock called like an umpire would. "Shelby Danes has won the World Series!" Luke saw a smile crack on her face.
Shelby dashed over and tackled him around the legs. Luke lifted her up above his head and set Shelby on his shoulders. As he held onto her, Luke ran in circles as if he was running a victory lap around the bases. She held on tight to his wrists, but Luke could hear her squeal in excitement. He never heard her yell out before and couldn't help fill up with excitement.
Finally, after the victory lap, Luke lifted Shelby down and back onto her feet. When he kneeled to her level, the kid ambushed him, knocking Luke backwards, pinning him. Sitting on top of her dad, Shelby smirked, showing off her dimples.
"Gaw you."
"Oh, you think so, huh?"
She nodded.
Quickly, Luke grabbed onto her waist and lifted Shelby off of him, gently flipping his daughter onto her back, pinning her so he could ambush her with a series of tickles.
"Who's got who?" he asked as he continued, getting every ticklish spot Luke could find. "Huh?" Shelby squealed with laughter, pinning her upper arms to her body, trying to protect herself, but her dad got around them. After a minute, he ceased his ambush attack, letting Shelby catch her breath.
Shelby breathed in and out, her dimples still showing as she looked up at him.
"Had enough?"
Shaking her head, Shelby tried to pull herself free until Luke started again, stopping her from doing so. "Dad...dy...no...fair..." she said in between laughs.
Luke leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, holding it for a few seconds. His stubble must have tickled her cheek because Shelby continued to laugh. Finally, he got off to let her up. When she was on her feet again, Shelby grabbed onto his neck, in a light hold which he wrapped his arms around her legs.
"You feel be-ter tan yes-ter-day, Daddy?" she asked.
He smiled up at her. "You bet, kiddo."
"Ta' good." Shelby was leaning against him as he sat back on his heels.
"What would I do without ya?" The question was technically rhetorical, but kids don't usually know what rhetorical means.
She just shrugged. "I no know."
Luke couldn't help a chuckle.
Mostly, Luke and Shelby spent the weekend fishing, playing catch, and spending time with each other before having to go back home. Shelby had the most fun. So much fun, Luke had to carry her upstairs and lay her down in her bed.
Once Jess got a whiff of them, he quickly jumped up on his feet and moved far away as possible. "You both stink!" he stated, holding his arm up to his nose.
"That's called the smell of camping," Luke told him as he removed Shelby's jacket, careful not to wake her.
"That's called odor that desperately needs a shower," Jess replied in sarcasm and left the apartment, stating he wouldn't return until the two bathed.
Once Luke had her jacket and shoes removed, he took a shower and changed into clean clothes. Letting Shelby sleep, Luke headed downstairs and opened the diner for the dinner rush. He headed back upstairs to wake her after a couple hours, so Shelby could still sleep that night. Usually, after a camping trip, Luke had the kid take a shower instead of a bath since the kid gets a lot more dirty.
"Lorelai and Rory coming to ta diner?" she asked as he dried her hair with a towel.
"I don't know. Maybe. We'll see." Since Shelby wanted to work her two hours, Luke had her get dressed in clean clothes, letting her dress herself in jeans and a long-sleeved, black Pokemon shirt, along with her sneakers.
As soon as Luke opened the door, he heard Jess not getting along with someone, downstairs. "Aw jeez," he mumbled under his breath and hurried down there just as Jess shoved passed him and a ticked off Rachel standing on the other side of the counter. He looked between his nephew, who was heading upstairs, and the mother of his daughter. "What's going on?"
"Ask him," she motioned towards the stairs with her head where the boy was already gone. "I just asked if he could go let you know I was here to see Shelby when he ignores me. When I had to repeat myself a few times, he turns around and gives me a bad attitude."
"I'm sorry. I'll talk to him about it," he assured her.
Shelby had gone back up the stairs, returning while Rachel tried once again to voice her concern with Jess being around Shelby.
"That still isn't your call and the two are fine around each other," Luke told her.
She let out an annoyed sigh. "Whatever, Luke." Thankfully, she changed the subject when Rachel noticed Shelby. "Hey, peanut. How was your weekend with your dad?"
Shelby was leaning against the wall by the stairs. She held a thumb's up.
"There's nobody else in here, peanut." Right as Rachel said that, the bell above the door dinged, letting them know someone walked in.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt. We saw you were back." The moment Shelby heard Lorelai's voice, she made a dash for her, tackling her legs. "Whoa there," she snickered, holding a hand to the top of the kid's head. "I'm happy to see you, too."
Luke couldn't help smile at the scene, but it quickly left when he caught Rachel sigh in disappointment under her breath. Her shoulders drooped a little. That had to be hard to watch one's kid be more excited for somebody else. He couldn't help feel sorry for Rachel.
Next, Shelby moved on to hug Rory, just as happy to see her. Luke let Shelby visit with them while restocking the napkins if she wanted to earn her allowance for the day. While making a fresh pot of coffee, Rachel spoke up.
"Hey, I know you just got home and all. I was just wondering if I could take Shelby, tonight, and I can take her to school in the morning."
"Honestly, the kid's gonna be really tired in a little bit. I see Shelby going back upstairs in an hour and either laying down to watch TV or play her video game. Maybe next weekend, that way the two of you can have more time to spend with each other before bedtime," he told her, scooping the coffee grounds into the pot and slid it back into place.
"Okay," she agreed. Rachel went over to join Shelby and the Gilmores and eventually chatted while they ate dinner.
Luke ended up being right. Just over an hour, Shelby wandered over and patted his leg to get his attention. "What is it, Shell?" He bent over to give her his ear.
"I no wan' to work anymore," she shook her head.
"Tired?"
Shelby nodded.
"That's fine, kiddo. Go upstairs. I'll be up there after closing time." Luke stood up as Shelby turned and headed towards the stairs, watching her head up to the apartment.
Over the next week, Luke couldn't help wonder about Shelby and her mom, especially when she wanted him or Jess to take her to school. On Wednesday, Luke ended up having to take away TV and her video games when she refused to let Rachel pick her up from school.
He tried to ask Jess why he gave Rachel a hard time and if it had anything to do with why Shelby was giving her mom another cold shoulder.
"I don't know why Shelby's pissed at her. 'Course, who could blame the kid when her mom's a total bitch," the boy plainly shrugged.
"Jess," Luke scolded.
Jess was wiping down tables. "I can see the way she looks at me and feel the cold vibe she gives, so..." The boy walked to the next table, going quiet again, thus ending the conversation.
Getting nowhere with Jess, Luke headed upstairs where Shelby was working on her homework and sat on the chair next to her, where she was sitting at the table.
Luke folded his arms on the table. "Hey, kiddo. Can we talk for a minute?"
"I 'till in trouble?"
"No, it's not about that. Well, it kind of is. I just want to know why you're not talking to your mom again, and why you refused to listen to her, today? You created a scene in front of your class when you wouldn't go with her."
Shelby stared at the worksheet she was working on, holding both hands on the table. She began chewing on her lip.
"What's going on, kiddo? Did your mom say or do something to you?" He saw her nod her head. Keeping his voice gentle, Luke continued to probe his daughter. "Did she do something?"
Shelby shook her head.
"She said something to you?"
Hesitating at first, Shelby nodded her head as tears appeared in her eyes.
Luke reached a hand over to rub along her upper back. "It's okay, Shell. Take your time. Can you tell me what she said? Did she yell at you like I did?"
She shook her head.
Luke looked down at the table, trying to think of what it might be so he could ask her. "Did you get into trouble while you were over at your mom's?"
She hesitated at first but shook her head again.
At that point, Luke couldn't think what it could be. The last sleepover had been a success. Unless it was during the last week when Rachel picked her up from school. Noticing her spelling notebook, Luke pulled it towards him and ripped out a blank sheet of paper, pushing it towards her.
"Can you write it down for me?"
Shelby used the hand holding her pencil to pull the sheet of paper closer, but wrote nothing. Not yet.
"If your mom says something that upsets you, kiddo, you should let me know so the three of us can discuss it and fix whatever was said. You won't be in trouble, I promise." It took another few moments before Shelby finally wrote what her mom had said to her as Luke read along. "Your mom said you couldn't call me to come get you?"
Chewing on her lip again, Shelby nodded.
"When? When you spent the night while your grandmother was here?"
She nodded once more.
"I thought you have a great time while you were over there?" he questioned, confused. So it was during the last sleepover. Shelby wrote more. "Not at bedtime?"
She shook her head.
"Are you still getting scared, sleeping in your own room?"
She nodded again.
Luke pulled her chair out a little and leaned forward on his knees. "Kiddo, I understand it's scary, but you have to learn to sleep by yourself in your own room. Your mom won't let anything bad happen to you. Monsters aren't real, you have a nightlight and your music, plus you have Pikachu and Maggie. What is it that scares you?"
Her chest was heaving as she stared at nothing in particular. Spotting an anxiety attack a mile away, Luke sat up and lifted Shelby onto his left leg, holding her in his arms. He rubbed her upper arm, not even trying to talk to her until the anxiety passed. It took twenty minutes of silence, repeatedly rubbing her arm until Luke felt her breathing return to normal. She mumbled something, but it was too quiet and muffled to hear or understand her.
"What, kiddo? I can't hear you," he told her gently.
Shelby closed up for another five minutes until she finally repeated, a little louder. It wasn't enough for him to understand, though.
"Kiddo, I can't understand you when you mumble. You want to write it down like before?"
"...Lore-lai...mm...?"
"What about Lorelai?"
Shelby clung onto his shirt in a tight grip, still staring at nothing.
Luke rubbed her arm some more, hoping she'd repeat herself where he could understand her.
"Take your time," he continued to reassure her.
Another five minutes went by until she spoke, taking deep breaths as if she was running. He kissed the top of her hat to help ease her nerves.
"You're doing good, kiddo. It's okay."
"...my mom?" The first part was still muffled.
"What about your mom?"
She shook her head. "W...Lor-lai...my mom?" Part of it was still muffled, but it was enough he could try and guess what she was saying.
"Your mom told you something about Lorelai?"
Shelby shook her head.
Luke tried to think what Shelby was trying to say. "Kiddo, I don't understand." He tried to remain patient with her.
"Why...?" That was all she could get out that time.
"Why, what?"
There was another long pause before Shelby was able to finish. "Lor-lai..." she took a breath, "...be...my mom?"
"Why can't Lorelai be your mom?" it confused Luke. "Your mom asked you why couldn't Lorelai be your mom?"
Shelby shook her head.
Even though it verbally came out clear, it wasn't clear in his mind.
"I..."
"You're asking why Lorelai couldn't be your mom?" he asked when she didn't finish.
Shelby nodded.
Luke's heart shattered upon hearing his little girl wish she had a different mom. "I'm sorry this happened, Shell. Your mom shouldn't have done that. If you felt you needed to come home, then your mom should have called me, and I'll talk to her about this."
"No go back," she shook her head, still not looking up.
"Not if I tell your mom she can't refuse to let you call me in the middle of the night? She has to listen if I remind her, sweetie."
She shook her head again.
"Well, we can take a break from the overnights and pick it back up, next year after the holidays, and you can just go spend the day at your mom's, and she can bring you home at bedtime. Want to do that?"
Shelby continued shaking her head. "Wan' Lor-lai."
"Kiddo, I know you really like Lorelai, but that's not how things work. She's Rory's mom. I'm sure she'd be flattered, but you can't just chose something like that. Your mom is trying, though. We just have to be patient with her. I don't always get it right, either. Remember?"
She nodded.
"I'll talk to your mom about this, okay?"
Shelby finally lifted her head to say, "No tell Mom abow Lor-lai," as she shook her head, repeatedly.
"I won't tell her about wanting Lorelai as your mom, I promise. Not if you don't want me to. What if your mom agrees not to do it again? She likes it when you go over there. Don't you?"
Shelby gave it some thought that time but still continued to shake her head, no. He knew she did like going over to her mom's but wasn't going to push her if Shelby didn't want to at the moment.
Finally, Luke had to give in. "Alright. If that's what you want. You don't have to see your mom if you don't want to. Just let me know when you are ready, and I'll let her know there's gonna be a break between the two of you, for the time being." Kissing the top of her head and squeezing Shelby to him, he let her get back to her homework, asking if she needed any help. The worksheet was on writing numbers as tens and ones up to twenty, and Shelby was already halfway through the problems. He checked the ones she completed already, helping her with the ones she missed. The only other homework she had was a science worksheet on matching baby animals to the adult counterpart, and her daily reading, so Luke let her be, letting her know to come down when she got hungry.
As Luke left the apartment, one thing was for sure: Rachel would not like this one bit. Then again, he didn't like what she did, either.
