Shelby slowly got settled in. Luke emptied one of his bottom drawers for her to put her clothes in, going through each piece. He wasn't thrilled Shelby had been living out of a large black trash bag for most of her time in foster care.
"Do they not give you a backpack or a suitcase?" he asked her.
She shrugged.
He was sitting on the end of his bed with the bag right in front of him on the floor. Everything Shelby owned was inside. Clothes, hygiene stuff, the few toys she owned. All of it was in there. Pulling everything out, one at a time, he asked if she still wore or used it, or if it was clean or not. Shelby wasn't sure what was clean and what wasn't so Luke just dumped all the clothes into the washer.
The few toys she owned were her Gameboy, Pikachu, and a bunch of key chain, figurine, and beanbag Pokemon toys from Burger King. Madison did mention Shelby wanting nothing but Burger King, the year before whenever they went out or grabbed lunch. The toys, Shelby set up on the coffee table and knocked them into each other as if they were battling. When the dryer finished, Luke interrupted her play to finish sorting through the clothes.
The ones Shelby no longer wore or could wear, but was still in good condition, Luke tossed into a pile to donate to the charity rummage sale the town was having. There were some shirts that were either stained or had holes, those he tossed into a pile to be thrown away. The pile of clothes they were keeping was the smallest of them all.
"We're gonna have to go shopping," he muttered under his breath and sighed. Shopping was his least favorite activity. At least judging by the clothes she had now, it wouldn't be so bad. For the cold seasons, the kid had jeans, one pair of sweatpants, and long sleeve shirts, and during the warm seasons, shorts and T-shirts. Luke could tell right off his daughter was a tomboy for sure. He folded up the clothes they were keeping and handed them to Shelby, telling her to go put them in her drawer. As she walked away, he made sure to add, to not just throw them in there. It was strange how much the kid listened. Didn't kids whine or rebel? Not to mention Shelby had a history of lashing out towards others.
When Shelby returned, Luke handed her another pile. Once she set those inside her drawer, he let her go back to her toys. Now that his kid was taken care of, Luke tackled the stuff he wanted to get rid of, going through boxes of stuff. He ended up finding a bag of clothes that had belonged to Shelby's mother. One item in particular caught his eye. Memories ran through his mind. What made them hurt even more was the fact Rachel never told him about their daughter.
Luke knew how much Rachel wanted to move out of Stars Hollow, somewhere where her hobbies could be satisfied. She was so adventurous and Luke really admired that about her. Loved, actually. She was everything he wasn't. Rachel was his whole world and he had loved her so much. His best friend. Luke wanted to spend the rest of his life with this woman. But Rachel didn't want the same thing he wanted. He wanted to stay in Stars Hollow so she just booked. And, to top it all off, she took their unborn child with her and never told him when Shelby was born. That right there was the cherry of the pain he felt.
Shoving the jacket he was holding, back inside the bag, Luke stood up and dropped the bag of clothes over by Shelby's, and continued going through stuff. The only other thing he found was old pots and pans, and rags he didn't use anymore.
"Get your shoes on, Shelby," he told her when he was ready to go drop the stuff off at Lorelai's. "We're heading out."
Shelby went over to where her tennis shoes were sitting on the floor to put them on. She shoved her feet into each shoe and tried to tie them herself. Her father ended up having to do it. They stood up afterwards and Luke held her jacket while Shelby slipped her arms through.
At the bottom of the stairs, Shelby peeked around the corner, checking to see if anyone else was in there.
"I closed the diner for a few hours so no one's in here," he assured her.
Shelby was holding onto her Pikachu and hat. Yes, the hat was pretty much hers at this point. Luke didn't see getting it back any time soon.
Outside, Luke tossed the bags into the back of his truck while Shelby climbed into the front seat. Once she was inside, he shut her door and went around to his side, sliding in. They drove over to Lorelai's house and just walked right in. Shelby was already wearing her hat and clinging to his leg as he greeted the older girls.
Rory greeted Luke, first. She noticed Shelby peeking around his leg but since the kid was wearing her hat, couldn't say hello.
"Where do you want these?" he held the bags up.
"What do you have?" Lane asked.
"Clothes, rags, and some old pots and pans."
"Kitchenware can go in the kitchen and clothes go right over there," Rory directed him.
Luke dropped the clothes with the others and turned to head to the kitchen, almost stumbling. "Okay, Shell. I can't walk with you holding onto me like that." Shelby stepped back at that, hanging her head. Luke ran his hand over the hat, gently nudging her towards the kitchen.
While in the kitchen, setting the bag of pots and pans on the floor, Luke kneeled to her level. "I don't get upset when you hold onto me. Okay?" he assured her. "I'm just worried of falling over you."
Shelby held Pikachu in her arms. Her head was pointed towards it but her eyes stared up at her father.
"You're in a safe place. I know it's all new to you but there's no reason to be afraid." Right as he said that, Lorelai came in and alerted there was a man in her kitchen. Even though she was only trying to be harmlessly funny, it spooked Shelby, who clung onto her father. Luke stood up, lifting her with him and gave Lorelai one of his serious looks. "I just got done telling her, there's nothing to be afraid of."
"Sorry." Lorelai gave an apologetic look. "How's she settling in?"
"So far, she only seems to be warming up to me. She won't even step foot in the diner when it's packed unless she's clinging to my leg."
"You get her in school yet?"
"Not yet. I was waiting a few days, let her get settled in first." He felt something brush against his back. Shelby lifted her head, not holding Pikachu anymore. Luke looked behind him. Sure enough there he was on the floor. Lorelai offered to pick him up and hand to the kid, who clung it tight to her chest and hid her face into Luke's shoulder. "Hey, anyone donate any kids' clothes?"
"Maybe," she shrugged. "Want us to let you know if we come across any?"
"That would be great if you can. We had to donate or throw away a lot of her clothes so Shelby doesn't have that much."
"Sure," she assured him.
"Just keep your eye out for any pants or shirts. Shelby seems to be a bit of a tomboy."
"Got it."
Luke headed back out to the living room, to say good-bye to Rory before heading back out to his truck where he set Shelby on his seat.
Shelby removed her hat, looking up at him.
"Lorelai scared ya, huh?"
She nodded.
"She didn't mean to. Lorelai likes to mess with me a lot, to pick on me. Nothing to be afraid of."
Shelby gave a guilty look and looked away.
Luke leaned in and gave her a kiss on the head and had her scoot over.
Thursday, in between the breakfast and lunch rush, Luke stopped by the store, letting Shelby pick out what she wanted to wear and grabbed some supplies for school as well, including a Pokemon backpack. The kid really liked that show.
On the ride home, Luke tried to ask about it, hoping talking about her favorite show would encourage Shelby to speak. No dice. Just head and shoulder movements.
At home, after they put everything away and organized the supplies into Shelby's backpack, Luke fixed lunch and set her up with cartoons while he headed downstairs to the diner. He assured Shelby he would come check on her, periodically.
At night, Shelby never stayed in her own bed. At first she did. Her first night Shelby whimpered in her sleep, eventually waking Luke. He had gone over to check on her, waking Shelby.
Shelby woke with a start, jumping when she noticed someone standing over her.
Luke lowered himself onto the bed, sitting on the edge. "It's just me. You were having a bad dream." It wasn't long before he realized the kid had wet the bed and had to give her another bath. Luke also had to strip the bed and replace the sheets while hers got washed.
Every night for the first few nights, that happened, just like the first. On the fourth night, Shelby ended up climbing into Luke's bed, not long after they had gone to sleep. Luke could feel the bed move and opened his eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked when Luke noticed the kid was in a crawling position. Turning on the light next to his bed, he looked back at her who was frozen in mid-step, looking scared. Luke caved and encouraged Shelby over. She still continued to be weary, but made her way over where he pulled the covers over her.
Shelby snuggled against her father, using his arm for a pillow. She woke up dry the next morning.
That Friday, Rory came into the diner while Luke was leaning on the counter.
"If you want coffee, you'll have to wait," he informed her.
"Hey, Luke. Someone put a sign for the rummage sale up on your window, there."
He stood up from where he was leaning "You can have decaf right now if you're in a hurry."
"You should call the cops about this," she teased him. "I mean we all know how you feel about public displays of town affection."
"Your mom asked me to put it there, okay?"
"And, you said yes?" Rory questioned, in disbelief.
"She's not real good with no."
"No, she's not." Rory smiled.
"For every second you laugh at me, that's one second longer you're waiting for coffee," he told her.
She dropped her hands, flat on the counter. "Sorry. No laughing," really trying not to.
Luke eyed the teenage girl as he turned away to check on the coffee. When he turned back, Lorelai had come in and sat next to her daughter. He froze when he saw what she was wearing. "What the hell do you think you are wearing?"
"A hat," she replied.
"Take that off," he ordered her.
"What?" Lorelai exchanged a look with Rory, confused.
"Now that is not yours. Take it off."
|"I'll have hat hair," she pointed out, thinking he was referring to the cowgirl hat she was wearing.
He raised his voice. "I'm talking about the sweatshirt!"
"Luke, calm down," Lorelai told the man, calmly.
"That is not yours."
"No, I found it in the bags of stuff for the sale."
"Oh, so you just find stuff somewhere and you take it?" he argued.
"No, I paid for it."
"So, that makes it alright?"
Lorelai sounded completely confused by this point. "It makes it legal. What is the matter with you?"
"Nothing," he lied. "Nothing's the matter."
"Luke," she tried to say but Luke set the coffee pot down, telling them to pour their own before storming into the kitchen.
He stood there, staring at the floor with his hands on his sides. Luke wasn't even sure why he had went off like that though he wasn't expecting to see that sweatshirt again and on Lorelai. Why let something like this affect him? She left. She broke his heart, kept quiet about their child. But it couldn't erase years of fond memories either.
Later, that night, as Shelby slept beside him, Luke couldn't help realize no matter what he got rid of, he'll always have a part of Rachel. Even though she didn't exactly look like her, Shelby had her mother's smile. He loved it and hated it, and Luke hated that he hated it, because that was his kid and it wasn't her fault. Shelby didn't ask for any of this.
Saturday morning, Shelby plopped herself down in front of the TV with a bowl of cereal and watched cartoons on Kids' WB, all morning.
Around noonish, Luke caught her sneaking downstairs, peeking around the corner.
"Come here," he told her while making more coffee.
Shelby dashed over as quick as possible, bumping into his leg. She was holding a piece of paper in her hands, looked to be torn out from the drawing pad he had gotten her.
"You hungry?"
Instead of answering, Shelby held the paper up to him.
Luke took it from her and looked at it. On the front of the paper was a picture drawn in crayons. Everything had a smiling face, from the sun, to the orange and purple trees. In the center of the picture were two stick figures, one taller than the other, both wearing huge smiles that went through their huge noggins. The taller figure had a backwards hat on its head.
"Is this for me?"
Shelby nodded up at him. Something caught her eye and immediately put the hat back on, covering her eyes.
Luke looked to see what she had seen, catching Miss Patty and Babette sitting over by the door.
"She's a keeper," Miss Patty told him.
He gave a slight nod and turned back to his kid, running his hand on top of her head. "Thanks, Shelby." Everyone in town was surprised to learn Luke had a kid and was now a single dad, raising her. No one had seen that one coming. In fact, it had spread across town fast and was currently the most popular talk of the town.
"How old is she?" Babette asked.
"She's five," he answered.
The women exchanged looks between each other. Luke knew they were putting two and two together. They could probably guess who her mother was without having to tell them.
Sunday, the two of them checked out the rummage sale. Since it was a good cause, Luke figured he would find something. He let Shelby pick out anything she wanted, too. There was a bin with lots of toys in it. Shelby looked through it, deciding which toy she wanted while Luke stood on the other side.
He found a Barbie, wearing a princess dress. "How about this?"
Shelby looked up to see what her father was referring to, making a disapproving face.
So, Luke tossed the Barbie back into the bin as Shelby continued looking. There was a Tonka truck towards the bottom that could scoop up dirt. It sparked her interest so Shelby showed it to him.
"That's the one you want?" he asked, making sure.
She nodded.
Luke paid for the truck and some magnets he had found for himself. The guy was gonna need something to hang drawings on his fridge, now.
As they continued looking, Lorelai came over. "Hey."
Shelby shot behind her father's legs as he greeted Lorelai in return.
"Find anything good?" she asked as they started walking.
"Oh, yeah. I got some refrigerator magnets shaped like sushi for a nickel and a toy truck for fifty cents, so basically I scored." Shelby was spinning one of the wheels as she walked close to him. Her shoulder was basically brushing up against his leg.
"Oh, good."
"Look, about that thing that happened the other day," he tried to apologize.
"Oh, forget it," Lorelai brushed it off.
"No, I was a jerk. I didn't mean it," Luke pushed it, further.
"I know, really."
"Yeah, well, I am sorry."
She smiled at him before pulling the sweatshirt from behind her back. "I wanted to give this back to you."
Luke declined. "Oh no. You bought it."
"I know, but it's yours, and I didn't know."
"Didn't know?"
"About the former owner."
Luke shook his head.
"If I had, I wouldn't have flaunted it in front of you like that," she admitted, sadly.
"Hey, it's not a big deal. I was having a bad day, that's it. Now, I got magnetic sushi to hang up my kid's drawings she makes. All is right in the world."
"Okay, good. So...here." She held the sweatshirt out to him again. Luke stopped walking to face her. "It obviously means something to you."
"But you have to let things go eventually, right?" he pointed out.
"Eh. But, sometimes you need a little something to remind you. I mean, you wouldn't want to forget everything, would ya?"
"No. There was some stuff that I definitely would not want to forget," Luke admitted.
"So here," Lorelai encouraged, "so you don't forget."
"Thanks, but Shelby's all the reminder I need." He looked down at the little girl, who was now pushing the truck along the ground and continued to decline taking back the sweatshirt. Luke didn't mean it in a bad way, that Shelby was a reminder of her mother. Rachel's smile was one of the things he most adored about her and Shelby having it too made it, better. The guy would take the smile over a sweatshirt, any day.
"Is she...?" Lorelai looked between the sweatshirt and Shelby with her eyes.
He nodded. "Yeah."
She nodded towards the ground.
Luke let Shelby know they were leaving and started to walk away when he turned back. "I'm not pining, you know," he told Lorelai.
"I know," she nodded at him.
"Just remembering."
"Got it."
"Remembering is not pining."
Lorelai shook her head, "You're absolutely right."
Luke looked down at Shelby. "A memento. Like restaurant matches"
"Did you just compare your kid to matches?" she teased him.
"No," he lied, not sure what to come back with.
Lorelai just smiled. "Bye, Luke."
"Bye." Luke turned and started walking again. How can one feel so much anger for someone and yet, there was still a part of him that missed her. His head pointed him to be angry when his heart said otherwise. He watched Shelby for a moment, not saying a word. If she did come back, what would he even do?