A Father's Love

Chapter 26

Picking it up, he dropped it beside Shelby's plate. "You mind not shooting these above the table?"

Shelby just responded by sticking her tongue out.

"Shelby," Luke then warned at that point, looking up from his own plate. "What have I said about sticking your tongue out at others?"

Shelby went back to eating, herself.

"Hey," Jess got her attention again.

She looked up at him.

"Want a hurt's donut?"

Thinking her cousin was referring to an actual donut, she nodded. Luke tried to put a stop to it before the literal punch line came, but Jess was too quick and punched her in the arm. Shelby grabbed onto where he punched her, rubbing it as tears appeared in her eyes.

"Hurts, don't it?" Jess smirked.

"Jess," Luke scolded, firmly.

"What?" he asked. "It's not like I hit her that hard... Ahh!" Jess reached under the table where Shelby had given him a swift kick to the shin. "Son of a bitch, that hurt a lot more."

Luke shrugged, scooping up a bite of food. "Hey, I'm letting that one slide. You asked for it, Jess." He turned to Shelby, though. "You, on the other hand, don't do it again. That is just a one-time thing since he hit you." He also told Jess not to pull something like that again either. Being overprotective, Luke wanted to see the damage of her arm, checking for any bruising. Shelby apologized to both of them.

Jess at least apologized to her.

After Shelby helped her dad with the dishes and cleaning up, Luke headed downstairs to double check everything was locked up and turned off. When he returned upstairs, Luke couldn't help put his ear to the door, overhearing Jess giving Shelby a pep talk on standing her ground and not letting anyone mess with her. It seemed even with help, the boy, Toby, was still bullying the other kids, including Shelby and her friends. Nothing was even wrong at home. The kid was just mean-spirited and enjoyed picking on others. Luke still hadn't told Rachel about Shelby getting into a fight, and it seemed like she hadn't learned from elsewhere, either.

As for the discussion of the video game Rachel bought for Shelby, Luke let it slide this time since it was already done and over with, letting it be a one-time thing since Rachel didn't know. Now, whenever Shelby goes to her mom's, she brings her Nintendo 64 along.

As October rolled in and the weather grew chilly once again, Luke got the notice, parent/teacher conferences were happening. It would be his second since he met with Darla last spring. The conference was back while Shelby was still in the cupboard and still fairly new to the school so nothing could really be said. This year, Shelby wasn't hiding and actually participating in class. Well, sort of. More than she was last year.

Luke invited Rachel to come along this time since she was around and met at the school. Since it was a half day for the elementary school, the students had already been dismissed a couple hours ago. Rachel was waiting outside the classroom door, looking at the artwork on the wall where the kids decorated their own jack-o'-lanterns using only construction paper.

When they were close, Shelby ran the rest of the way.

Rachel kneeled to her level to hug the kid. "Hey, peanut. I was just looking for your jack-o'-lantern. Could you show me which one is yours?"

Shelby nodded and turned her attention to the art wall in front of them. Luke stood behind them, looking himself. Scanning the many jack-o'-lanterns, she eventually pointed hers out, center left. It was just low enough Shelby could put her finger on the bottom of the black construction paper background. All the backgrounds were blank except for Shelby's, who had taken a white crayon and drew hers sitting on a wall near a house.