Faded Away

|SIXTEEN|

It was finally time for Luke to be home and I was over the moon about it. His flight would come in at 7: 50 pm and it was already 7:30.

The boys were jumping with joy, as was I. We had devised a plan on how to properly welcome Luke home. Everything was set, we just had to wait for him to get home.

The four of us sat on the couch impatiently as the minutes slowly ticked by. It felt like hours before I heard my phone ping at the should of a text message. I jumped from the couch to see what it said.

Luke:
Hey baby. I'm just down the road. Can't wait to see you.

I smiled before shutting off all the lights in the house and helping Bo and Tate hide. Til and I ran out to the front yard and hid behind some fortunately large bushes on either side of the walk way. Til had a clear view of the road from where he was at so he would let me know when Luke was pulling up in the can through the walkie talkies we found.

"Papa bear has arrived at the honey pot and approaching the entrance fast, Goldilocks." Til said through his walkie talkie.

"10-4. Goldilocks and Dilweed engaging in 10." I replied. We both pulled out lighters from our pockets and lit the fuses before dashing as far away as possible in a matter of seconds. Luke stopped when he heard the fireworks launch in the air and looked up at them. Til and I emerged while yelling, "Surprise!" and almost tackled him to the ground.

"What are y'all doing?" He asked laughing as he wrapped us in his arms.

"Welcoming you home!" Til smiled. "Also, Dilweed? Really Jackie?"

"What?! It's the first thing that popped into my head. And anyway, you called me Goldilocks soooo...." I replied.

"Huh?" Luke looked at the both of us confused.

"Nothing. C'mon uncle Luke we got some more surprises." Til said running ahead and to the door.

"Surprises?"

"Yes, surprises." I smiled and wrapped my arm around him as we made our way to the front door.

"I've got a few surprises for you too baby." He smirked and kissed the side of my head.

We opened the front door and his boys sprung from their hiding places then rushed to him. I stepped aside to let them enjoy being in their father's arms. I smiled weakly, hearing the shrieks of joy from Bo and Tate. They longed for Luke to be home just as much as I did, maybe even more. Of course they longed more, he was their only surviving parent. I suddenly felt out of place watching the boys interact with their father. I silently made my way out of the front room and into the kitchen.

I had cooked ribs, corn and mashed potatoes for dinner. I serve everyone's plates and set them on the table. The boys and Luke finally entered the room and sat in their usual seats. I slid into my seat next to Luke, who was at the head of the table. The five of us gathered hands and said grace before digging in. I sat, picking at the food on my plate while listening to the buzz of conversation. Eventually, it died down. I stole a glance who was thoroughly enjoying his ribs that he drowned in Jack Daniel's No. 7 barbecue sauce.

"Um, Jackie. Bo, Tate and I are finished with our dinner. May we be excused?" Til spoke up as he picked up in his area.

"Yes you may. Please just put your plates next to the sink." I said. The three of them nodded then thanked me for dinner and were dashing up the steps within moments.

"Is everything alright?" Luke asked.

"Yes, everything is perfectly fine. Why?"

"I don't know. You just seem a bit.. off. And you're picking at your food." He stated quietly.

"I'm not hungry that's all." I noticed he had eaten everything off his plate. "Are you still hungry? I'll serve you some more food if you'd like."

"No I'm full. Thank you." He said. We both stood up and made our way to the kitchen. I began to wash dishes and he leaned against the counter, watching me. At first, I didn't know why I was so upset until I realized that seeing how happy the kids were to see him made me think of everything this family had gone through with Lily. It made my heart lurch. Luke didn't deserve it, neither did those innocent boys. I tried to stifle the tears that threatened to fall but failed.

"Baby, please tell me what's going on. Why are you crying?" Luke wrapped his arms around me and rested his head on my shoulder.

"I just..." I sighed. "Why didn't you tell me about what Lily did?"

"I didn't think you'd want to hear those things. In retrospect, what she did was wrong, yes, but it happens. She was unfaithful to me and brought men into my house when my boys were home. She wasn't a good wife and wasn't the best mother but things happen like this, you learn to deal with the hurt and eventually move on." I turned around to look him in the eye and I felt my heart jump in my throat.

"Did you love her?" The words slipped out of my mouth before I could catch them.

"At one time I did. She was the center of my world and I thought if be growing old with her. But she hurt me and she's gone now." He said, trying to gauge my reaction. I felt a pang of guilt for asking him such things.

"Do you love me?" Damn my overthinking self. Damn my inability to think before speaking in a moment such as this. Luke seemed taken aback by my question.

"Of course I love you, more than you'd ever know. What would make you think otherwise?"

"I don't know. I just don't want to be some type of rebound to you or anyone else for that matter." That's what terrified me the most.

"A rebound? You are so much more than that. You are the sun, the moon, every single star in the sky. You're my universe. You're my one. I've never felt this way about anyone except you." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear then caressed my cheek. His eyes flicked from my eyes then down to lips. He looked at me with a love in his eyes that made me melt. He finally leaned in and kissed me. Granted, it wasn't a magical kiss where you see fireworks going off in the background but it was our kiss. It didn't need to be a scene straight out of a sappy romance movie because it was perfect to me.

"Good lord, you make my heart feel like it's going to explode out of my chest." Luke whispered as he leaned his forehead against mine.

"Diddo." I smiled.

Author's Note:
Filler chapter? Filler chapter.

Yay bc writing filler chapters are the hardest thing for me ever.

Anyway...

Thanks for reading.

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-sam🌸