Teen Dad Series

Not Fine At All (Luke & Ruby)

Ashton helped Ruby blow the little candle out on her personal cake. It would have been Luke's job but he hadn't moved from his spot on the floor just yet, so Uncle Ash had to step in. Everyone laughed and applauded as she grabbed handfuls of cake and shoved them into her face. (She was aiming for her mouth, but...little hands, big cake) Luke still stayed where he was at. 

His mom finally walked over and sat down beside him.

"I know." She said calmly. "It's a hard day for all of us, but that doesn't mean we get to stop the world, okay? Come join the party. I made your favorite cake!"

Luke sighed, staring down at his hands. "How's Ruby?"

"Covered in icing." Luke smiled slightly. 

"I'll clean her up." He stood up, helping his mom to her feet too. They walked into the kitchen which was now crowded with Ashon, Calum and Michael. They were taking turns taking pictures with Ruby, who was indeed completely covered with icing. She giggled and threw her arms out as soon as she saw Luke. He lifter her out of Calum's arms and kissed a spot on her cheek that wasn't blue. "You're a mess, kid."

Michael laughed, scrubbing at the icing that had ended up on his cheek somehow. "She's not complaining though."

"Who would?" Calum grabbed a hand towel and started scrubbing at his arms. They weren't as covered as Ruby, but there was definitely an exceptional amount of icing on each of her uncles now. "Icing is awesome."

"It's a pain to clean up though." Luke's mom said, handing the roll of paper towels to Ashton. "Get working, you three."

While they cleaned up the kitchen, Luke gave Ruby a bath. She sat in the water patiently as Luke tried to get rid of as much icing as he could.

"It's all in your ear too." He muttered, using a wash cloth to scoop it out. "You terminated that cake, Ruby Bug." He laughed and shook his head. "Did any of it land in your mouth?" She giggled and splashed at the water. Luke sighed, staring down at her. When he smiled, he could see the resemblance between her and Zoey. "I miss your mom, Bug." The tone of his voice caught Ruby's attention even if she didn't fully understand what he was saying. "You never got to know her, but you would have loved her. She was full of life." Luke paused. "And then she wasn't." Ruby reached out and grabbed onto his hand, staring up at Luke with wide eyes. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But she gave me you and that's the best gift I've ever gotten." He smiled at her, going back to trying to get the icing out of her hair. "You might just have permanent blue hair, Ruby."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Michael said, walking into the bathroom and taking a seat on the counter. Luke laughed and rolled his eyes. "And if it helps, I think Zoey would be proud of you."

Luke looked over at him. "You think so?"

Michael shrugged. "She's still a sane child. That's more than I expected."

Luke rolled his eyes, turning back to Ruby. "Thanks, mate."