Teen Dad Series

Meeting the Grandparents (Luke & Asher)

They invited Luke and Asher out to brunch. They were the type of people that actually called it brunch. They were also the type of people that were awake long before brunch was even an option. Unlike Luke and Asher, who slept through the alarm more times than not.

Luke didn't like the idea of eating anything with these people, but for the sake of Asher, he went. They sat awkwardly in the high class café looking very much like they didn't belong. Luke wore his regular cut-up t-shirt and ripped jeans while Asher was still in his pajamas. (The kid had insisted so persistently that Luke had given up any chance of changing his mind.)

Mr. and Mrs. Walker (aka spawns of Satan himself) entered arm-in-arm looking very much posh and very much like they belonged here. Luke stood up to shake their hands, trying to think of what exactly to say to these people. He hadn't seen them since the funeral. And before that, he'd never met them. They'd abandoned their daughter as soon as they found out who she was dating. They had wanted nothing to do with her. Luke, or their future child. Which was exactly why he was so confused as to why they had invited the two of them out now.

"Hello, darling." Mrs. Walker said, taking the seat across from Asher. He didn't look up from his coloring book. Luke had to fight back his smile. She glanced up at Luke. "Is he deaf?"

It was the overwhelming blurriness and lack of any concern about a person's feelings that had made Luke want to shrink away the first time he'd met them. He could see nothing had changed in the three years since.

"He can hear you. He just doesn't feel like talking." Luke snapped, harsher than he'd intended. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Asher's unsure glance. He sighed and tried to speak calmer. "Is there any specific reason you invited us? Luke wasn't even in the mood to eat, he just wanted to leave.

Mr. Walker (he didn't even know their first names) slipped a paper from out of his coat pocket and slid it across the table to sit in front of Luke. "We would like for you to sign this."

"What is it?" None of the words on the paper made any sense to Luke no matter how many times he read it.

"Papers for you to sign. We need fo you to sign them and say that you understand the agreement we've made." He replied in his gruff, impatient voice. 

"What agreement?" They haven't even spoken to each other in three years. What agreement could they have possibly made?

"Inheritance. The guarantee that none of our will go to your child." Luke looked at them in disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding me." Where else was it supposed to go? They had only had one child and now that she was gone, they only had a grandson to pass it on to. Luke couldn't believe they were so willing to cut Asher out of every part of their lives. 

"I can promise you that this isn't a joke." Mr. Walker squared his shoulders and glared down at Asher. "He's no grandson of mine, and I don't want any of my hard-earned money going to whatever he chooses to waste his life doing."

"He's not going to waste his life doing anything." Luke said defensively. No one talked about his kid like that. 

Mrs. Walker let out a hyena-like laugh. "Well, when he's got a father like you--you're still working at the café, am I right? Haven't even gone to college yet." She sighed. "What a shame."

Luke stared at them for a moment and then stood up slowly. "I'm not signing anything." He took the paper and ripped it in twos, threes, shredded it to pieces and tossed them onto the table. "Don't contact us ever again." He helped Asher out of the chair and the two of them left the couple in icy silence. 

"I'm hungry." Asher said once they'd gotten outside. 

"Let's go somewhere good to eat, alright?" Luke smiled down at him. They could say whatever they wanted, Luke and Asher were going to be fine. They didn't need those people.

-

if there's any confusion, those people are the parents of Asher's mother who passed away when he was born, in most of the Luke stories (the Ruby ones too) , that's the case.