Teen Dad Series

Tantrum (Luke & Ruby)

The guys took Ruby to the kid's museum with the intention to get her out of the house and being productive. No three year old should be watching as much TV as she had been doing for the past week. Plus she loved the museum. There were things to crawl through. Things to touch. They even had little shows. Everywhere she turned, she was entertained by something. 

Which gave Luke a little break. He sat with the rest of the guys in the back of the audience, watching Ruby take part in one of the shows. She kept shouting answers and bouncing up and down so the announcer could see her. She was a ball of energy the entire time.

"I could go for some coffee." Luke muttered, rubbing at his eyes. It had been a long night consumed by the extra shift he'd had to pick up last minute to help pay for rent. Luke was a perfect example of exhaustion. 

"You've got." Calum checked his phone. "Ten minutes, I'd hurry." It was a well-known fact that if Ruby knew Luke was there, she didn't want to leave his side. She absolutely went nuts if he even thought of leaving her for a few minutes. She was the perfect examples of an Extreme Daddy's Girl. 

Luke ducked through the crowd, practically sprinting towards the little coffee shop. Just his luck, the line was longer than the counter and there was no way he'd be able to get his coffee and be back in time. He weighed his options. He really needed this coffee. Ashton, Michael, and Calum were still there. They could handle Ruby for a few extra minutes, right?

Wrong. So wrong. 

Ruby took in the sight of the three of them, still seated and frowned. "Where'd Daddy go?"

"He'll be back soon." Ashton said, tugging at her hand and pulling her onto the bench beside him. "Let's wait for him here."

Ruby glanced around, searching with no result. Luke was not in eyesight. "I want Daddy." She turned to Ashton and pouted. "Call him and tell him to come here."

Ashton shook his head. "He'll be right back, we don't need to call him." Ruby's lower lip jutted out and started to shake. Soon, she was crying and then sobbing, pounding her fist on the bench. The screaming and sobbing, calling out for Luke and only Luke. No matter how much the three guys tried to comfort the little one, she only cried that much louder, drawing a lot of attention their way. 

"Ruby, come on." Luke walked over, handing his coffee over to Ashton as he knelt down in front of her. "You know better than to start acting like that. Didn't your uncles tell you I'd be right back?"

"But you weren't!" Ruby wailed, allowing Luke to lift her up. He wiped at her tears, waiting until they slowed down to speak again.

"Well I'm back now. But you're not getting away with this." He sat her down on the bench. "Sit. Stay. Ten minutes." Luke grabbed his coffee back and walked a small distance away, checking his phone. Ruby watched after him in distraught. She never liked time-out. Which was exactly why Luke enforced it. 

Michael coughed awkwardly. "Anyone wanna go see the next show?" Both Calum and Ashton sent him a look.