A Father's Love

Chapter 3

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.