Single Parents (Luke Hemmings AU)

Ch. 13

"Can we get McDonald's?" Tyler asked. I looked over at Luke and waited for him to say something. He sighed as we pulled up to a red light, looking in the rear view mirror at his son.

"You just ate 30 minutes ago. And no, we're going to grandma Liz's house." He said.

"But I'm hungry." Tyler whined.

"Me too!" Ellie said, looking at Luke as well.

"You guys can eat there." Luke said.

"Are Ben and Jack going to be there as well?" I asked him. He looked at me and smiled before nodding. "I get to meet the whole family today, lovely."

"They'll love you and they'll love Ellie." He said, grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it. We pulled up to a medium sized, pale yellow house and got out of the car. There were already two other cars here so I knew that his brothers were here as well. We got the kids out and headed up to the door. Luke walked right in, holding the door open for me, Ellie, and Tyler.

"Luke!" I looked at Luke and he smiled at the guy who came in the room. "Mom! Luke's here!" The guy walked over and gave Luke a hug, telling him he missed him then looked at me and smiled. "You must be Korey."

"Are you Ben or Jack?" I asked, making him laugh.

"I'm Jack." He said. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well. This is Ellie." I said, stepping aside so he could see my little girl. He smiled down at her and crouched to her level.

"Hello sweetheart I'm Jack. I'm Luke's older brother." He said. She gave him a weird look before grabbing Luke's hand. He looked down at her, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Ellie what's wrong?" He asked her. She looked up at him and then at Jack.

"Why are there two of you?" She asked Luke. Me and Jack laughed and Luke smiled, picking her up.

"Baby, there aren't two of me. Me and Jack just look a lot alike." He said. She looked at Jack for a second before wiggling in Luke's arms. He put her down and she wrapped her arms around Jack's legs.

"She's a hugger when she wants to be." I said.

"Lukey baby!" A woman said with a smile on her face. I giggled as Luke's cheeks tinted pink. He wrapped her in a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Hi mum." He said. "This is Korey." She looked over at me.

"Hi." I said with a smile. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You as well darling." She said, giving me a hug as well. "Is this the Ellie I've heard about?" She asked, looking at my daughter. Ellie smiled and nodded her head. "Luke told me how adorable you were."
***

"What do you do Korey?" Ben asked me. I finished chewing and looked over at him.

"I'm a graphic designer." I said.

"So you're both artists? That's pretty cool." Jack said. I smiled and nodded my head, feeling Luke's hand on my leg, rubbing his thumb back and forth. Not in a sexual way, but a comforting way and it made me feel better. "I see you happen to like Tattoo's as well."

"Is it that obvious?" I asked, making him and Ben laugh.

"Do they have meanings?" Liz asked me. I looked at her and shrugged.

"Some of them yes. Like, I have Ellie's left foot print on my hip with her birthday." I said.

"That's sweet." She said.

"Thank you." I said, looking at Luke, who was already looking at me. "Luke actually did one of mine."

"Oh really?" Ben asked. I nodded my head. "Which one?"

"I have a cherry blossom tree going up my side." I said. "He did that one."

"How big is it?" Jack asked.

"It's big." Luke said with a chuckle. "Covers her hip up to about right here." He pointed on me where it ends and I nodded.

"Is there a meaning to that one?" Liz asked.

"Uh, ya, it's fragility and the beauty of life." I said. "I of course have my own reason for getting it, but I'm not really up for sharing that right now." I said it a sweetly as I could, not trying to sound rude. Luke's knows why I got it, and he's the only person who needs to know.