Teen Dad Series

Uniform (Luke & Ruby)

Luke thought Ruby looked adorable in her uniform. Ruby thought the uniform was the most uncomfortable thing she'd ever worn, including that Christmas sweater they'd bought at a thrift shop for the ugly sweater party.

"I'm not wearing that." Ruby said, crossing her arms and glaring at the thing with distaste.

"You have to." Luke said, already going behind her to help with her hair. She liked when he put it in a bun on top of her head. It was the easiest thing for him to do, so he never complained. "You can't go to school without it."

"Then I'm not going to school." At only six years old, Ruby had already tried multiple ways to get out of doing something she didn't want to do. Luke had learned ways to convince her otherwise. He knelt down to look at her straight in the eyes. "Ruby Bug--"

"No." She stuck her hand in his face. "Don't look at me like that, I'm not going." 

Luke laughed, watching her jerk her head away and squeeze her eyes shut. He'd perfected the puppy dog look the same she had, but being the one with authority and all of that kind of meant he always won. Always. "Ruby, you gotta go to school and I have to go to work. Sometime we do stuff we don't want to do because it helps us in the end."

Ruby still refused to look at him. "I hate school, all the teachers make me read aloud and everyone makes fun of me because I'm not a good reader."

Luke sighed, tilting his head to the side. He already knew about that and had talked to the teachers countless times, but nothing seemed to have changed. Ruby's dyslexia was something they were taking step by step, but the spotlight on her during reading time was too many steps ahead of them. And the more she fought it, the more the teachers seemed to pick on her. 

"I know it's hard, Bug, but you can get through it, I promise." He held up her uniform with a hopeful smile. "Starting with going to school!"

"Dad!" She whined, stretching out the word with exceptional dramatization. She threw herself back onto her bed with a groan. 

"Ruby!" Luke mimicked, tickling her and lifting her into his arms. He set her down in front of the bathroom and handed over the uniform. "Get dressed." The serious tone had made it's appearance, and Ruby took that enough of a hint not to argue. She sighed and stormed into the bathroom, using her foot to kick the door close. "Thanks, Bug, you're awesome!"

"You owe me ice cream WITH sprinkles after this!" came her muffled yet still very clear response.