Luke and Val had stayed up with Samantha the entire night that night. Luke had barely left Samantha's side. He would only leave long enough to use the bathroom and grab a quick bite to eat and that was it. Val had constantly reassured him that she was going to be fine and that he could get some sleep, but he just shook his head and said he was fine. So she endured with him.
The next morning when Samantha finally woke up, she claimed she was starving. Val had made sausage gravy and biscuits as a way to keep things as simple as she could considering Luke's appetite. Samantha devoured her food quickly and had even asked for seconds much to Val's delight. She was glad that Samantha was eating.
After breakfast, Samantha started complaining that she was itching really bad and her rash was starting to show back up. Val had given her another allergy pill.
Val was doing dishes when Luke came up behind her and put his hands on her waist. She grinned as he buried his head in the crook of her neck and kissed her skin gently. He whispered a thank you in her ear then kissed her neck one more time before leaving her alone to do the dishes.
Val had washed the sheets and blankets on their bed because she swore they smelled like fish and worms.
Luke had found Val and Samantha on the couch sleeping while cartoons played on the television. Val was laying behind Samantha with her arm wrapped around her while Samantha used her other arm as a pillow.
By the next day, Samantha was all better and was back to her normal self. When Val woke up in the morning, she walked out into the kitchen to find Luke and Samantha at the dining room table with a couple rifles scattered about. Samantha had a big grin on her face as Luke talked about gun safety and what each gun was.
"We're going to go shoot guns today!" Samantha said full of excitement. Val chuckled shaking her head. She noticed that her gun was sitting on the table as well and looked to Luke. He simply shrugged and nothing more.
Once the targets were set up, Luke handed a .22 rifle to Samantha who reached for it without giving it a second thought, but Luke pulled it out of her reach at the last moment. He gave her a questionable look.
"What's my rule?" he asked the girl. Samantha smiled.
"Don't tell mom," she said. Luke grinned handing her the rifle.
"That's my girl." Val crossed her arms over her chest. She knew she could trust Luke to take care of Samantha. She just wasn't sure how she felt about Luke keeping a secret like that from Shana. Luke and Shana seemed to have a very good relationship considering. If she somehow managed to find out that Luke was allowing their child to shoot a weapon especially since she was only six, lord knows what would happen.
She wasn't sure what the proper age was to have a child start shooting a weapon, but if anything, it varied from parent to parent. Luke placed some noise canceling earmuffs on Samantha's head and gave her a thumbs up. Samantha nodded and held the gun up and checked the clip to make sure it was secure, then checked the safety. Val glanced up at Luke to see pure pride shining in his eyes as Samantha lined up the shot. Val instinctively covered her ears. She wasn't sure how loud it was going to be, but she wasn't about to risk tinnitus.
Samantha pulled the trigger and the blast echoed. Val watched the target as hole after hole appeared in various spots. Once the clip was empty, Samantha checked the safety then handed the rifle off to her father. She took off the earmuffs with a grin.
"I'm getting better," she said with an excited tone. Luke grinned popping out the clip and putting another in for her.
"Yeah, you are. You want to go again?" he asked handing the rifle back to her. She put the earmuffs back on with a grin. She ended up shooting another four clip's worth of bullets before she wanted Val to shoot her gun.
Val wasn't so sure if she was ready to shoot her gun. She had gotten more and more comfortable with it with each passing day since Luke was teaching her how to use it. She was now able to take it apart completely and clean it then put it back together without worrying if she was doing it right or not. She was able to drop the clip and reload it with little to no trouble. She was still an amature by every sense of the word, but she wasn't nervous anymore. Luke hadn't taught her how to shoot just yet, so she supposed today was going to be that day.
Luke opened the case for her and held it out to her so she could grab her weapon. Val reached in and grabbed it. It was cold to the touch, but that was something she was used to by now. She grabbed one of the clips and slid in into its place. She cocked it and glanced at Luke.
"You ready?" he asked her and she nodded. She faced the target and held the gun in front of her. She checked the safety to make sure it was off. She felt Luke's hand rest on her shoulder and his other on her waist. She felt his breath in her ear and she resisted the urge to shiver. "You have got to relax and breathe. Aim slowly until you're sure that you're going to hit the target."
She listened to him as much as she could. She had never shot a gun before so, needless to say, she was a little anxious so it was a little hard for her to fully relax.
"You need to squeeze the trigger. Don't pull," he advised in a low tone. Before she knew what had happened, she had squeezed the trigger. The sound deafened her momentarily before her hearing came back leaving behind a slight ringing sensation. She had missed the target completely. She frowned a little disappointed in herself. She had aimed carefully and could have sworn she had it lined up perfectly.
"Again," Luke encouraged. Val readied the gun again and tried to aim. She lined it up one more time with the target and squeezed the trigger again. She huffed in frustration when she discovered that she had missed again.
"You're not very good at this, are you?" Samantha asked from beside her. Val lowered the gun.
"I've never shot a gun before. So, no, I am no good at this," she said sending a playful glare to the girl. Samantha giggled.
"Again," Luke demanded catching her attention. Val huffed and picked up the gun one more time and aimed. She pulled the trigger. She missed again. "Again." Before she knew it, she had emptied the clip, but had missed the target completely every single time. She dropped the empty clip from the gun and handed it to Luke.
"I think it's broken," she said clearly frustrated. Luke gave her an amused look and held his hand out to her silently asking for the gun in her hand. She gave it to him and stood back as he loaded it with a new clip and aimed it. He fired quickly at the target and emptied the clip in a matter of seconds. Each shot hit the center of the target. He dropped the clip into his hand once it was empty and glanced at Val.
"Seems to work just fine for me," he said handing the gun back to her. Val huffed taking the gun away from him and was more than ready to shoot the gun again. Even if she felt as if she was going to go deaf before she was going to be able to hit the target.
It took her another two clips before one of the bullets hit the target. She squealed and danced in place for a moment. She put the safety on and looked to Luke who was grinning at her.
"Again," was all he said to her. She loaded another clip and shot at the target again. She had hit it three more times that time around and she was getting more and more excited. She was actually shooting a gun and wasn't all that bad at it. Sure, she had handled virtual guns before, but the beauty of guns in video games was that they had automatic reloads and crosshairs that flashed red whenever you crossed them over an enemy. It was completely different when it was a real gun.
She had become very comfortable with her gun by the end of their session though she was sure she wasn't going to be hearing nothing but ringing in her ears for at least a week. She was grateful to Luke that he had been so patient with her when it came to the gun. He pushed her to get comfortable with it, but not to the point that it angered Val. She hoped she would never have to use the skill that Luke was teaching her, but she was glad to have it.
It worried her a little that Luke thought that it was a skill that she needed to have just because of his job, but she would be able to defend herself if the need arose. She had asked Luke that night if anyone had ever come after his family. He had told her the truth and said that sometimes they had threatened to come after his family, but it had never happened.
The rest of the time that they had spent at the cabin consisted mostly of Val and Samantha bonding. Luke had seemed to step back a little just so they could. They played board games together and Val had taught her a couple easy card games. Samantha had discovered that Val could speak Spanish and had asked Val if she could teach her how to speak it. They had given each other manicures and pedicures. They had visited with Brenda and Carl a few more times before they took off.
The night before they left, Val and Luke were laying in bed. Val had her bedside lamp on and was determined to finish her book before they left because she knew once they returned she wasn't going to have enough time to sit down and read it for long. She was glad that the light didn't bother him. He laid with his back to her, but she wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep yet or not. He had laid down earlier than usual just because they had a long drive ahead of them the next day. She had offered to drive on the way up multiple times, but he refused stating that he was fine.
She had made sure that Samantha had showered and brushed her teeth before sending her off to bed and had even told her a story until she drifted off to sleep. Samantha didn't have that many books in her room, which was understandable since the cabin was more of a vacation home than an actual home. The books were too young for her and knew she was going to have to update the small collection Samantha had the next time they came to the cabin. Val had settled on telling her the story of Orpheus and Eurydice.
Samantha had listened intently for as long as she could before sleep began to take hold and swept her away for the night. Val stood from the edge of the bed as quietly as possible and kissed her on the forehead. She had grown attached to the little girl in the time they had spent together. It upset her a little that Luke didn't get her that often and hoped that once school was over that they would be able to spend more time together. She wanted Samantha to meet her family because she knew they would love the girl just as much as she did.
She closed her book, finally finished with it, and reached over to turn the light off. She snuggled down into the sheets a little more before scooting closer to Luke so she could steal some of his body heat. As if sensing her closeness, Luke rolled over onto his back and wrapped an arm around her. She adjusted herself to where she was using him as a pillow and draped her arm over his stomach.
In just a few short minutes, Luke rolled onto his side to face her. His fingertips ran over her cheek back to the back of her head where they tangled into her hair. He kissed her lips slowly. Val felt her breath catch in the back of her throat as her hand rested on his shoulder. He broke the kiss and allowed his thumb to brush over her cheekbone slowly.
"I love you," he said just above a whisper. Val's heart skipped several beats before it settled back down. Excitement and happiness shot through her system instantly. She attacked his lips with her own and pressed her body against his. He held onto her tight. She couldn't believe he had said it. She wondered how long he had felt that way, but wasn't going to ruin the moment by questioning him about it. It didn't matter anyway because she was just happy that he felt the same way about her as she did him. She broke the kiss and giggled. She was finding it hard to contain herself, but she somehow managed.
"I love you, too," she whispered and kissed his lips once more.
Author's Note: Okay guys, sorry for the short chapter, but quite frankly, they've been at the cabin for long enough. This portion of the story was only supposed to last for like three or four chapters and it ended up being ten. So yeah, I brought it to a close so they can get back and some plot stuff can happen.
Also, sorry for the delay, life has been crazy all over again, but it seems to be simmering down again, but we'll see. I know some of you are going to be a little upset about Samantha only being in a couple chapters, but that's okay because I haz planz.
Anywho! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
Reviews and shit!
Aven