Chapter 51
Not only was Shelby's first day successful, but the first week ended up being a success. Even when they started doing actual school work, she still enjoyed second grade. The first few days were mostly review, seeing what they knew or remembered from the previous school year, not really grading them on anything and afterwards. Mr. Harris briefly would then go over the assignment with them to refresh the kids' memories before presenting them with a test on Friday.
The evening before the test, Jess ended up being home and helped Shelby study, going over everything that would be on the test and then testing her on it while they sat at the kitchen table. He snuck in some of his own reading while Shelby worked on the practice test he wrote out for her.
Things seemed to go smoothly with little to no issues. That is until Friday came and Luke caught Taylor snapping photos of the space next to the diner. When Taylor noticed Luke was watching him, he pretended to point the camera in different directions. What exactly was Taylor up to?
When Luke went to pick Shelby up from school, she dashed right over with great news, beaming from ear to ear.
"Guess what, Dad," she asked when he lifted her up.
"What?"
Shelby held up three fingers. "I only missed three problems on the tes'."
"Really? So you did good?"
She nodded, happily. "Yeah."
"That's great, kiddo," he praised.
"I can' wai' to tell Jess."
"I bet he'll be happy for you, too. You two were studying for a long time, last night." Luke started walking, setting Shelby down on her feet. This time, he walked to the school instead of driving. With how much attention Jess was giving to Shelby with her schooling, Luke hoped he was giving his own schooling the same amount. That kid read so much alone and was even smarter than he was. He knew Jess could do so much if he put in the effort.
As they headed back to the diner, Shelby remembered something else. "Oh, yeah. Guess wha' else, Dad."
"What?" he asked. More good news? This kid was on a roll!
"Look," Shelby opened her mouth, showing her teeth up to him. She touched one of them where Luke noticed she could wiggle it, back and forth. "I have my firs' loose too..." Shelby paused, realizing she was about to say one of the words she and Jess had been working on to be able to say, correctly.
"Too..." When she tried to pronounce the TH sound, Shelby struggled with it. Luke helped her by slowly sounding out the word with her, reminding Shelby on her tongue placement. After a few tries, she was able to get the word out, "too-th," along with some spit.
"Close enough," Luke gave her credit for trying at least. So his kid was now starting to lose her baby teeth. Wait! What was he supposed to do with it? Personally, Luke would just throw the tooth away once she lost it. But was that what a parent should do? And wasn't there some ritual kids did with their lost baby teeth? Something about money and hiding it somewhere?
Since it was Friday, Lorelai and Rory didn't stop by the diner that night. They did come for breakfast, Saturday morning. Thankfully, the tooth hadn't fallen out yet, so he was safe in asking Lorelai what to do.
Pulling her to the side, looking around to make sure Shelby didn't sneak in on their conversation, he blurted out, "Shelby has her first loose tooth."
"Wow, really? That's awesome. Congrats." She then abruptly paused. "Wait. Her first loose tooth? Rory lost hers when she was six."
Luke shrugged, "Well, guess Shelby's a late bloomer."
"So why couldn't you tell me this out there?" Lorelai motioned out to the main part of the diner.
Taking a deep breath, Luke admitted, "I don't know what to do with it when the thing falls out."
"What? The tooth?"
"Yeah, I mean, the thing's gonna be covered in a bloody mess, along with saliva."
She shrugged, nonchalantly, "You clean it off and put it under her pillow."
"For what?"
"For the tooth fairy, duh," Lorelai told him as if it should be obvious.
"The tooth fairy?"
"Yeah, you know, the chick with the wings and a wand who comes in while the kid's sleeping and replaces the tooth with money or some kind of small gift," she explained.
"Um, I have two problems with that," he told her.
"And what's that?" Lorelai folded her arms across her chest.
"For one, Shelby's a light sleeper. If I tried to get her tooth from under her pillow, she is most definitely waking up."
"Well then, have her place her tooth beside her pillow or on her nightstand," Lorelai suggested. "That way it'll make the tooth fairy's job a whole of a lot easier and won't wake her."
"Okay, that's good and all, but I still have a problem," he pointed out. "If the kid doesn't believe in Santa Claus, what makes you think she'll believe in the tooth fairy?"
"Did that kid ruin everything for her, or did he just blab the truth about ol' Saint Nick?" she asked.
"As far as I know, just about Santa. Her caseworker never mentioned any other fairy tale creature."
"Well, there's your answer. I bet if you tell her there's a tooth fairy, she just might believe you."
"Are you sure?" he asked, still not one hundred percent convinced.
"Come on. Who's to say fairies aren't real. Maybe they are," Lorelai shrugged, pushing him to go along with it. There was a fairy following the kid on that video game Shelby somehow convinced Jess to play when she had trouble with it herself and she was enjoying Harry Potter. But did she know all that was just fantasy?
"What if she doesn't believe there's a tooth fairy?"
"Then, somehow convince her there is a tooth fairy," she told him. When Luke still wasn't convinced going through with the kid's tooth ritual, Lorelai added, "come on, Luke. The kid needs to believe in one of these things. That's what being a kid is all about. Getting presents from Santa and exchanging teeth for money from the tooth fairy. If Shelby can't have both, may as well give her one of them."
Letting out a long breath this time, he finally agreed. "Okay. Shelby and I will discuss it, and if I can somehow convince her the tooth fairy is real, then we will do the exchange."
"Atta boy," she reached out and playfully smacked his arm.
"How much is the tooth fairy supposed to leave?"
"Depends," she shrugged. "Molars are bigger, so they should usually go at least for a dollar, possibly two."
"It's one of her incisors," Luke pointed out.
"Well, those can be pretty small. I'd say at least fifty cents, maybe seventy-five. A dollar if the tooth fairy is feeling generous. But whatever you have on ya would suffice, too."
Pulling out his wallet, Luke opened it up and checked to see how much he had. "I'm not giving her five dollars for one tiny tooth, and I'm certainly not giving her twenty," he said after looking through the paper bills.
She pointed over her shoulder as she asked, "You can't make change from the register?"
Letting out another breath of air, Luke said, "Yeah, I guess. Plus, I think I may have some spare change stashed away somewhere, upstairs." He then put his wallet back in his back pocket.
"Well, there ya go. It's all settled." She then added, "hey, you're doing great, Luke. Really. Shelby's growing up so well and it's because of all the hard work you're doing. Don't be so hard on yourself."
"I know." He forced a smile for her but in the back of his mind Luke tried so hard to push down, a part of him couldn't help feel guilt for the decision he made and hoped he was making the right choice. He never wanted this to happen and hoped it wouldn't, but Luke hated to see her hurt.
They returned to where Rory and Shelby were talking as Shelby was telling the older girl about doing well on her first test.
Luke noticed the kid was holding her basketball on the table, even after he told her balls don't belong on tables. "Shell, what's wrong with this picture?" he asked her, hoping she would realize her mistake on her own.
Shelby looked up at him. "Huh?" she asked.
He held his hands on his sides, staring back at her. "I mean, what do you have that doesn't belong where it is, right now?"
Pondering on that thought, she looked forward. That's when her basketball caught her eye and quickly switched it to her lap. "Sorry, Dad."
"If you can't remember, I'll take it away. Got it?"
Shelby hugged her ball at the threat of it being taken away. He assured her he wasn't taking her basketball this time, but told her to put it on the floor while she ate breakfast.
"So, Shelby," Lorelai changed the subject, getting Shelby's attention once she set her ball under the table, holding it in place with her feet. "A little birdie told me you have your first loose tooth."
Shelby had picked up her fork to eat. "No it didn'. Birds can' talk," she pointed out.
Lorelai closed her eyes for a moment, muttering something that wasn't clear before opening them again. Nonetheless, she held a smile for the kid.
Before she continued with her thought, though, Rory spoke up, inputting, "actually, some birds can learn to speak, like parrots. They can repeat what they hear."
"Your making ta' up, Rory." Shelby shook her head as she said, "Only pee-po can talk."
"No, they have proven it," the teen insisted.
Shelby turned her head towards her dad for confirmation. "Is i' true, Dad?"
"Actually, yeah, kiddo. Rory's right," he confirmed it. "Some birds can learn to talk. In fact, your second cousin has a parrot that knows two words."
She gave him a puzzled look. "Second cousin?"
"She's my cousin, so she's yours and Jess' second cousin. When you grow up and have a kid of your own, they'll be Jess' second cousin." He tried to explain it as best as he could so Shelby understood. When he finished, she accepted it with a nod.
Lorelai shifted the conversation back to what she initially wanted to say. "Anyway, are you excited for the tooth fairy to come give you money when you lose your tooth?"
"I know ta..." Shelby had to pause in her thought to make sure she said the word, correctly, "...too-" she still struggled on getting the TH sound out, but it somewhat came out, along with more spit, "...fairy isn' real." Luke's heart dropped at the sound of Shelby also knowing the truth about the tooth fairy. He saw Lorelai give her a heartbroken look.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart."
Shelby just shrugged one shoulder. "One time, a big kid los' hers and ta fos-ter mom came in and took i' and lef' the money. She didn' know I woke up and saw her, toe."
"That must have been sad for you," said Rory, sympathetically.
She just shrugged once more and started eating. At least, this time it wasn't anyone who ruined it for her on purpose, knowing the kid was a light sleeper. It was still unfortunate she had to find out so young.
"You didn't tell any of the other kids, did you?" Lorelai asked.
Shelby shook her head. "I never talked," she reminded her. "But even if I did, I wouldn'. She was really happy about her five dollars."
Luke's head jerked. "They gave the kid five dollars for one tooth?" he questioned.
She nodded up at him. "I used to ge' ta, too."
"For what?"
She shrugged a third time. "Because we wen' to ta 'tore and t'ey said we could ge' wha'ever we wan-ted."
Rory leaned her arm on the table, "So, what did you buy?"
"Nuh-ting. I was always too 'cared to ge' some-ting so I had a lo' of money saved up when I moved."
"How come you were scared?"
Shelby shrugged again. "I don' know. I' was jus' hard."
"What happened to the money you saved," asked Lorelai, also eating.
Another shrug. "I tink t'ey 'till have i'." She perked up a little. "Bu' i' okay. I have more money saved now in my savings." Luke smiled at that last part, having taught her about having a savings account.
Shelby reached over to pick up her glass of orange juice, taking a drink, and set it right back down. She wiped her upper lip on the back of her hand.
"So, Shelby," Lorelai said, eating her breakfast, "if you know the tooth fairy isn't real, what would you like to do about your baby teeth?"
"I already earn my own money anyway," she shrugged once more.
An idea must have clicked on in Rory's mind. "Ooh, what if you pretend the tooth fairy is real and maybe your dad can leave you a small gift for your tooth? That way, you can still get something for them and experience an old kid tradition."
"Sure."
"That's not a bad idea," said Lorelai, and looked up at Luke, "and we can get a tooth fairy costume for your dad, there. We'll have to find big enough tights, though."
"I am not dressing up like the tooth fairy," he told the woman, firmly. No way was he wearing tights and whatever else the tooth fairy wore.
Lorelai gave him a sour look. "You're no fun," she informed him.
Shelby stuck up for her dad. "You can' make someone do wha' tey don' wan' to do," she told Lorelai, but then added, "even if i' would be funny." Luke gave her a stern glare which she told him, "love you, Daddy."
Telling her to eat her breakfast, Luke turned and walked away to attend to the other customers, playfully grabbing at her head. He knew she liked to tease him as much as Lorelai and Rory did. Shelby had once informed him he was a funny person, once.
The weekend came and went, and the second week of the school year started which meant the first units of second grade started, but the tooth still remained. Shelby liked her teacher tried to make the lessons fun and played games that incorporated what they were learning and was even looking out for Shelby, making sure she understood the material.
Unlike Mrs. Avery, Mr. Harris only gave homework if the student couldn't complete the work during class. Though, regardless if Shelby finished or not, Luke still wanted her to bring it home so he could check it before she turned it in. But with Mr. Harris, he was going over it with her, one on one while the class was completing the worksheet. It was a load off from Jess since he seemed to be busier than he was last year.
Monday afternoon, after Shelby finished her homework, she sat at the counter, playing her new game for her Gameboy, she bought with her own money. Luke pointed out she had just got new games when she traded her old ones, but if that's what she wanted to do with her money that she earned. Plus, he knew it would be awhile before she asked to buy another one.
This video game was also a Pokemon game, but was a sister game to the Gold and Silver games that came out the year before. They added a few extra features, including finally being able to choose to between either a boy or girl. Shelby picked the girl, naming the character after herself, and since she chose the grass starter in her Silver game, Shelby chose the fire starter.
"Dad," she said when he came back around the counter from his rounds.
"Yeah?" he acknowledged her.
"How do you 'pell your name?"
He looked up from the writing pad checking off past orders. "You mean Dad, or my actual name?"
"Your ac'ual name," Shelby replied.
"Well, sound it out," Luke suggested. "You know my name, right?"
She nodded. "I's Luke, righ'?"
"Yep." He then patiently helped Shelby sound out his name for her to spell it on her own. "Why did you want to spell my name?"
Looking up from her game, Shelby replied, "Because I'm naming my 'tar-ter af-ter you and I didn' wan' to call him, Dad because ta' would be weird."
Luke had to smile at that. "It would, huh?"
She nodded and once she could, showed him what the Pokemon looked like. It looked like a shrew the size of a small dog, with fire coming out of its back with dark blue fur on top and a tan underbelly. Its eyes were also shut. He recognized it from the cartoon. "That's..."
"Cyndaquil," she reminded him. "He's a fire type."
"Oh," he nodded and turned his attention to Tom, who was sitting there, deciding on what to order. Once Tom ordered a ham on rye which Luke wrote to give to Caesar, he started towards the kitchen.
A kid around ten or eleven came in asking for an Egg Cream. Luke had no clue what that was. When Tom mentioned it was milk and soda water mixed with flavoring, he used to get at Coney Island, Luke told the kid to go to Coney Island.
Next, a kid Luke recognized from Shelby's class came in, greeting Shelby first, who just waved back. "Shelby's dad, can I get something to go?"
"You got money?" he asked of him.
"Uh huh."
"What do you want?"
"A black cow," the kid replied, leaning his arms on the counter.
Luke groaned at the second weird-sounding name mentioned.
"It's just root beer and ice cream," he told him.
"Root beer and ice cream?" Luke asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Uh huh."
"Well, I can do that," Luke admitted, accepting the order since he had the ingredients needed to make a Black Cow and wrote the order down. "Geez, Shell. You passing out flyers at recess, or something?" He teased her about it since it had been only kids coming in.
Shelby stared at her dad with her puzzled look and shook her head at a slow pace.
"Just messing with ya, kiddo," he assured her before her classmate added he wanted it made the old-fashioned way on the premise. That was when Luke had to object to it.
Kirk came in at that moment, asking if Luke could whip him up something real fast.
"What, Kirk?"
"A Chocolate Phosphate."
Leaning forward on the counter, Luke looked Kirk straight in the eye, serious now. "Okay, what the hell is this?" he demanded "Why do you want a Phosphate?"
Nervously, Kirk answered, "Because nothing says refreshment like a Phosphate."
But Luke was seeing right through it. "This is Taylor, isn't it? Is he behind this?"
"I'm not at liberty to say."
"Okay, then you tell me," he turned on Shelby's classmate, "and remember, if you lie, you'll go to hell."
The kid stared back at him, looking a little frightened by this point. "He didn't say you'd get mad," he said, giving it away that Taylor was indeed behind all of this.
"Come on," Luke said as he made his way around the counter. Letting Shelby know he'll be right back, he took the kid and Kirk by the arms, leading them next door to confront Taylor.
"What is this?" Taylor asked of them.
"That's my question," Luke told him and demanded an explanation. Taylor tried to deny it at first, stating he had no idea what Luke was talking about. "They're asking you for Phosphates, and Egg Creams, and Black Cows, and they already gave you up, so tell me what's going on."
"Who finked?" Taylor asked of the two which Kirk was quick to point out it was the kid which Hunter called him, a snitch.
"It's not the kid's fault, Taylor," Luke stepped in while the two were arguing. "Now, what is this all about?"
"Well, you are so close-minded to new things, Luke," he explained, "that I decided to make an admittedly desperate attempt to convince you of the need for something that I think is a terrific idea."
"Which is?"
"An old-fashioned, turn-of-the-century soda shop."
"Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi," Luke said, rolling his head away.
"It's just the kind of wholesome hang today's teens need to keep them off the streets," he stated, getting worked up over it. "I mean, don't you want your daughter to grow up in a safe environment?"
"And our streets are so wild and out of control," Luke told him sarcastically.
Taylor nodded, "If you ask me, yes," raising a finger, Taylor made his way around Luke, over to one of the check-outs, "and I have proof." He handed him an envelope of photos.
"What are these?"
Leaning on his left hand, Taylor replied, "Surveillance photos of town goings on. The dark side of Stars Hollow, Luke. Not a pretty picture."
Luke took the photos out of the envelope, scanning through them. They were mostly of kids on skateboards he pointed out to the older man.
"Slaloming around pop bottles," Taylor pointed around behind him, "right down the middle of the street." Facing forward, he added, "I'm telling you, Luke. If we don't quit furnishing these skateboarding Z-boys with a moral distraction, they're gonna turn Stars Hollow into Dogtown!"
Luke was still looking through the photos when one in particular caught his eye. "This is the space next to the diner."
Taylor seemed caught. "I know," he said.
Luke stared at him in realization. "I own the space next to the diner," he reminded him.
"I know."
He snapped at Taylor. "You want to open up the soda shop in the space next to the diner?"
"It's the only one that's appropriate," Taylor pointed out.
"Taylor, no. No, no, no, and every day, from now on till the end of my life," he pointed at his chest, "I am gonna come in here and say, Taylor, no." Without letting Taylor get a word in, Luke added, "and when I die, I'm gonna have them freeze me next to Ted Williams. And when they find the cure to what I died of and they unfreeze me, my first words are gonna be, 'how's Ted?' followed closely by, 'Taylor, no.'"
"But the space is empty."
"Not for long."
Taylor leaned on his hand again as he asked, "And what are your plans for it?"
Luke leaned in to reply, "A skateboard and pop bottle shop." Straightening up, Taylor told him, that it wasn't funny before he continued. "With in-house experts to teach the craft of street slaloming."
"Still not funny."
"Well, I'm not in a very funny mood!" he raised his voice a little and stormed out of there. Kirk followed him, believing Luke was serious about the store. He answered yes, sarcastically.
When he got back to the diner, Luke informed Shelby, she was learning to skateboard, having to gain her attention from her game, first. She questioned why.
"Just go with me on this," was all he said, receiving a puzzled look.
The next day, Jess volunteered to pick Shelby up from school, taking her to their spot for two hours before finally coming home which he had her tell Luke what happened at school that day.
Luke was quick to worry, thinking something bad happened, or she had a rough day. "What happened, kiddo?"
"Go on, Scout. Tell him what the kid said." Jess held his arms folded, staring at Luke, trying to stifle a snicker.
"Hunter told everyone abou' when he came in, yesterday, and so now you're the 'caries' dad in the second grade," she told him.
"What?" Luke stared at his daughter in disbelief.
She nodded.
"Congratulations, Uncle Luke, you made a great impression on a bunch of second graders," Jess said, enjoying the moment, receiving a glare and told Shelby to go put her backpack away.
This was just not his week. At least Shelby was still doing fine.
