A Father's Love

Chapter 6

"You did good, kiddo," Luke praised her some more. "Proud of you." They continued to play catch for a while. Shelby did most of the running but every few throws, Luke had to go catch one he missed. As the minutes went by and the two continued, Shelby was enjoying it more and more.

After thirty minutes, Luke asked if she wanted to learn how to hit the ball. Shelby dashed over and grabbed the bat he left hanging on the fence, dropping her glove on the ground. She brought it back over to her dad.

Luke kneeled beside her and helped position the bat in Shelby's hands, making sure her knuckles lined up. When she was all set, Luke moved over to his spot and tossed the ball, underhand, over home plate.

Shelby got scared the first few times, backing away.

"Don't be afraid of the ball, kiddo. You can do it," he cheered her on. "Ready?"

She repositioned her hands which Luke reminded her to line up her knuckles, keeping the bat elevated, and tossed the ball. That time, Shelby swung at it but missed. She hurried after the ball and threw it back for him. The two kept at it until Shelby hit it at least once as Luke threw out encouragement and pointers. After a few tries, Luke could tell Shelby was starting to get frustrated, looking like she might cry.

"It's okay, Shell. You'll do it." He tossed another one, trying to make it as perfect for her as possible. The problem was she either swung too early or too late. "Let the ball get right in front of you." Luke tossed another one, hoping this one connected with aluminum. When he heard the clanging sound, relief poured over him like rain. It didn't go far. The ball landed towards the ground and rolled past him. Luke hurried over to grab it. "See? I knew you could do it."

Luke walked over and held his hand out to her for a high five.

Shelby held hers up which he smacked, gently.

"That was great, kiddo."

A huge smile was across the kid's face. "Again," she said, softly.

"Again?"

She nodded.

So, Luke backed up to his spot and continued.

Shelby missed the next few. The sixth time, she managed to hit the ball again. This time it flew up in the air. Luke held his glove out to the side and barely caught it, praising her some more. Shelby never wanted to stop but Luke had to get back to the diner. He assured her they can always come back another day.

Once they got back to the diner, they headed up to the apartment. Luke gave Shelby her bath, early and had her change into another clean pair of jeans and a long-sleeved striped shirt and set her up with cartoons while he showered and got changed.

When Luke came out of the bathroom, dressed, Shelby was playing with her toys on the coffee table.

"What would you like for lunch?" Luke headed for the kitchen and looked in the fridge.

Shelby stood up and went over to point at the pot of soup still in the fridge. Luke pretended to not see what she was pointing at, trying to get Shelby to verbalize what she wanted for lunch.

"Soup," she said, softly.

"You really like my soup, huh?"

She nodded up at him. He wasn't knocking it. At least Shelby was eating better. So, Luke pulled out the soup and warmed up a bowl for her. There was only one bowl left so once Shelby had her lunch, he made a sandwich for himself.

"I have to work downstairs, in the diner for a few hours," he told her while they were sitting at the table. "Why don't you come down and hang out. You can bring your toys or color."