four ── homework
𝕴f there was one person who was more excited about Luke joining the family than Eden, it was her mother. The woman had been ecstatic when she heard that Eden was thinking of adopting, supporting her all the way as she went through every process and sitting with her at every meeting.
She'd understood when Eden had told her that, when Luke first came home, she didn't want the family around for a bit just so that Luke could adjust before he was introduced to everyone, but that didn't mean that she wasn't still on the phone to her or helping her get things ready.
"Here we are." Macy, despite being in her late sixties, still looked as glamorous as she had in her late twenties, a wide grin on her face and a spark in her eyes that age hadn't been able to dim. She set the final bags of food onto the countertop as she began to help Eden unpack. "So, he's going to be here soon."
"Yeah, another few hours and he's here for the rest of the weekend. Pat will come and pick him back up on Sunday night cause he's got school the next morning."
"Then what happens?"
"Well, then I've got a final meeting with Pat, Luke's foster parents, my case worker and we'll discuss how the move in is going to work and hopefully, get it sorted for next weekend. That will coincide with his school holidays, and I can get things transferred to his new school and all."
"I'm so excited!" Macy clapped her hands together, before shutting the fridge. "Remember, you can take adoption leave from the company for a week or two."
"Yeah, I applied last week."
"And I know you said that you didn't want us to come around but I wanted to make him a cake, from the rest of the family, so that we could welcome him in." Macy smiled. "So ask him what cake he likes."
"I will." Eden smiled, before grabbing a mug from the bag. She'd brought a new one for Luke, which was covered with Golden Retrievers, like Bradley. Opening the cupboard, she put it beside her own and tried to keep the massive grin off of her face. "Right, you need to head off soon cause Luke will be here in an hour or two and I need to shower."
"You stink from the gym." Her mother teased, as Eden slapped her hand aside.
"Thanks Mom."
"You're welcome baby." Macy kissed her cheek, before following Eden down the hall and to the front of the house. "Remember, if you need me, give me a call and I'll be over as quickly as I can."
"We'll be fine."
"I'm sure you will. Remember, ask him about the cake."
☾☼☽
"Coming!" Eden hurried down the stairs, almost tripping as Bradley weaved in and out of her legs. "Bradley!"
The dog barked, waiting at the door as Eden rolled her eyes and opened it. Pat and Luke stood on the other side, though the boy's head was towards the floor and he was scuffing his shoes again.
"Hey, Luke." Eden smiled. "Come on in."
Luke nodded, brushing past her to take his shoes off and put his backpack down before Bradley dragged him away to go and play in the kitchen as Eden turned back to Pat.
"What's the matter?"
"Luke got into a fight at school today." Pat spoke softly as Eden nodded, her eyebrows furrowed. "We're not sure why, but he might be quite moody today."
"It's alright. Is this going to affect our meeting next Tuesday about Luke moving in with me?" Pat shook her head, causing Eden to sigh in relief.
"No. That will go ahead. Are we still alright to come here?"
"Of course. Will Luke be here?"
"Yes, but he won't be in the meeting."
"That's alright, he can stay in his room or the kitchen with Bradley." Eden smiled. "Thanks for telling me. See you on Sunday."
"Have fun!" Eden waved again, before closing the door and going to locate Luke.
"Hi Luke." The boy hummed, looking up as Eden caught sight of a black eye. "That doesn't look good. Have you iced that?"
"Yeah, whilst I was at school."
"Okay, come and sit." Luke obliged, sitting on the stool as Eden grabbed a bag of peas from the freezer and wrapped them up in a tea towel before holding it to Luke's eye as the boy hissed.
"It's cold." He whined causing Eden to grin as she carefully held it to his eye. He reached up, taking over as Eden caught sight of the bruises on his knuckles.
"So, who did you get into a fight with?"
"Don't want to talk about it."
"Okay." Eden nodded, throwing a treat to Bradley, before looking back at the boy. "I was thinking about making spaghetti tonight."
"Cool."
"And my mom wants to know what your favourite type of cake is?"
"What?" Luke pulled the peas away from his eyes, before putting them back on as Eden motioned for him to keep it on.
"What type of cake do you like?"
"I don't know." Luke pouted. "I haven't had a lot of cakes."
"I see. Well, you like chocolate?" He nodded. "Okay, so shall I tell her that a chocolate cake is good for you."
"Yeah. Why does she want to know?"
"Well, mom has a book of all of our favourite things to eat so that on our birthdays, we can have our favourite type of food and cake. So she wants to know yours as well." Eden shrugged.
"I like chocolate cake then." Luke nodded, a hint of a smile forming on his face. "And I like that pasta you made last week. It was really good."
"Carbonara?"
"Yeah, that one!" His grin grew, nodding his head as Eden laughed.
"I'll tell her. She'll like that, it's nice and simple." Luke beamed as Eden leant next to him. "My step-dad, dad, his favourite meal is beef stroganoff and mom doesn't like making it cause it's a little complicated but she does it anyway. Dad says that to tease her, I think."
"So, she'll make me carbonara and a chocolate cake on my birthday?" Luke had definitely perked up.
"Yeah and she'll make me a spicy chicken curry and red velvet cake on my birthday." Eden agreed, before ruffling Luke's curly hair. "You need a haircut soon."
"It's a bit long."
"I'm surprised that you can see."
☾☼☽
"You feel up to telling me what the fight was about now?" Eden questioned, as Luke sat next to her, munching on popcorn. His hair was damp, having had a shower, and the bruise around his eye had gone down more. Luke scrunched his nose, before turning to the woman.
"This guy at school was messing with me cause of my English grade."
"What's the matter with your English grade?"
"It's not that high." Luke muttered. "I struggle with reading. The teachers say I've got dyslexia."
"Ah, so you punched him?"
"No, I asked him to apologise, and he wouldn't, so I called him a name and then he punched me." Luke explained quietly as Eden nodded.
"I won't say that it was the right thing to do, because it wasn't, Luke, but he definitely shouldn't have been speaking to you that way." Eden told him, smiling gently. "If something like that happens and you don't want to tell a teacher, walk away and then tell me."
"I will."
"Good boy." Eden praised, stretching out as she sighed. "Right, off to bed with you. We're gonna go on a walk tomorrow morning and you've got to do your homework."
"Do I have to?"
"Hey, I've also got to do work. You can come and do it with me in my study if you want."
"Sure."
Eden grinned once more, ruffling Luke's hair as they headed back up the stairs.
☾☼☽
"I can't do this!" Luke whined, banging his head on the table as Eden looked up from her accounting report.
"What is it?"
"English. I just don't understand." Luke cried as Eden held her hand out for the book. Luke came shuffling over, perching on the armrest as he handed the book to Eden. Eden began to read through it, running her eyes over the words quickly before humming.
"I see. You're doing a book report on the book you chose in class." Eden explained. "They want you to tell them your favourite parts of it and why as well as the themes of the book and characters."
Luke scowled, before nodding and skulking off.
"Did you bring your book with you?"
"No." Eden hid a chuckle.
"What book is it? I might have it."
"Chronicles of Narnia. Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Eden nodded, before walking to the bookcases at the back of her study and looking for the fiction section. She found C.S Lewis and passed the book over to Luke.
"There you go. You going to be okay?"
Luke was looking at her laptop, reading the numbers.
"Hey?"
"It's 14.25%." Luke replied, turning back to her. "That's the answer."
Eden's eyes furrowed, before she looked over the back of the chair and read through her data before laughing and nodding.
"Yeah, it is. How did you-?"
"Maths is my strong point." Luke muttered, before taking the book from her hands. "That and PE."
"Clever boy." He blushed at the praise, scratching at the back of his neck. "Hey, once I'm done with this, I'll help with your book report if you want."
"Yeah, I'd like that." Eden smiled at him as they both settled down, working away on their respective projects. Luke was sitting at Eden's desk, writing away at his work, causing Eden to make a mental note to get Luke his own desk and chair set up in his room, along with a laptop.
Bradley lay at her feet, fast asleep and Eden turned back to her work, taking a call from her assistant.
"This is Eden Jones speaking."
"Eden, hi, it's me Ashlee." Her assistant spoke swiftly. "I'm really sorry, but there's been an issue at the office and I know you're at home with your little boy, but this needs you to sort it."
"Ah..."
"I tried everyone else but they weren't able to and it's not something that I can email to you. Do you think you can come in?"
"Yeah, I can."
"Thank you and I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it, Ashlee." Eden began to close her laptop, sliding it into her bag. "I'll come down now. Give me an hour and I'll be there."
"Of course. See you later, Eden." The woman hummed as Luke turned to look at her.
"Can you put your things into your backpack? I've got to go into the office and I don't want to leave you home alone, so you're coming with me."
"I get to see your office?"
"Yeah!" Eden grinned, picking her work bag up and adding some papers that needed to go back. "I need to get changed quickly, but then we'll go."
"Do I need to get changed?" Luke looked down at his jeans and t-shirt as Eden shook her head.
"No. I've just got to look like the boss for a bit." Eden placed her bag down, hurrying to her room as she pulled her favourite suit on. Doing the buttons on her blazer up, she scowled as she pulled her heels on, before heading down the stairs as she did her hair. "You got your shoes on?"
"Yeah!" Luke called back up, pulling his coat on as Eden grabbed her own coat and pulled her phone out.
"Hi, can you bring the car around? I need to head into the office."
"You have someone to drive you places?" Luke gasped, as Eden shot him a grin and a wink.
"I'm not trusting myself to drive in heels. I'd crash." She shrugged, before opening the door for the boy.
"You know, the people at the home were saying that you were like loaded rich, but I didn't think that you were this rich."
"I don't like to talk about it." Eden replied, smoothing her clothes out as she locked the door. "My mom built her company up against all odds and I'm just carrying on the legacy. All the hard work and credit should go to her. I'm just carrying on her legacy."
"That's awesome." Luke mumbled as a car drove around, stopping in front of them. The chauffer, one of her oldest friends, stepped out, holding the door open for the pair.
"Thank you Alfie."
"You're welcome, Edie." Alfie smiled, before turning to look at Luke. "And this is Luke."
"Yeah, he's coming to the office with me for a bit." Eden slid into the car, heading to the other side as Luke nodded, before sitting down beside Eden and doing his seatbelt up. "Alfie and I actually shared a house at college. He was really good at racing."
Alfie laughed, shaking his head as Luke watched him with wide eyes.
"But his mum found out, didn't want him getting hurt on the track, and banned him so he decided to come and annoy me at work instead," Eden revealed, shaking her head. "But that did get him out of trouble with his mom."
"She still thinks your a good influence, which is a lie. You're a horrible influence," Alfie rolled his eyes as Eden stuck her tongue out at him. "She wants to know if you're around to go over soon. She and Pops didn't see you for a few weeks and immediately grew worried so are now demanding that you provide proof of life."
"I'll see what I can do. Possibly next week but not Tuesday." Eden sent Luke a grin. "We're finalising Luke coming to live with me on Tuesday and then, here's hoping, Saturday, he'll be moving in."
"Has your mom already asked the cake question?"
"Yeah, she has." Eden laughed, as Luke looked between them with a grin on his face. "Chocolate cake."
"That's my type of guy. Us chocolate cake lovers got to stick together."
"Yeah." Luke grinned and Eden relaxed into her seat. She was glad that Luke was getting along with Alfie, because Alfie was her closest friend.
☾☼☽
Hiya,
Eden and Alfie were bad choices buddies in college, he's an ex semi-pro racer, and now he's her chauffeur because the hours are good for him. I just really love the pair of them together cause they're hilarious, not to mention that Eden and Luke's relationship is sweet as Alfie and Luke's relationship is going to be funny.
Let me know what you think,
Love Li xx