The Day After...

Early Morning that Friday after Thanksgiving, Ruby is up and no longer able to sleep anymore. Laura is exhausted, it was a long night dealing with Phoenix and Ruby.  Luke gets up and takes Ruby downstairs, so Laura can sleep in a little longer.

Luke makes them some pancakes to eat then they sit down, 

but Ruby has questions just like everyone else...

*Ruby* "Are you my Daddy?..."

*Luke* "I don't know for sure yet..."

*Ruby* "Why?"

*Luke* "Well...your Mother, she..."

*Ruby* "But, Mommy...she said you were my Daddy, she always showed me your picture...."

*Luke* "I'm sure she did but we still have to take a test to know for sure."

*Ruby* "Why?

*Luke* "It's the only way to know for sure...We have to go to

 the doctor and they will tell us."

*Ruby* "The doctor?! Do I have to get a shot?"

*Luke* "Um....I don't think so."

 *Ruby getting upset* "I don't wanna go! I hate shots!"

Luke tries to calm her down but dealing with young children is not something he is used to.

*Luke* "I said I don't know...Don't cry. It's the only way to find out, Ruby."

She begins crying louder, yesterday was a stressful event for her and Luke didn't help by his attempt at answering her questions. 

 He gets ups and picks her up, to soothe her before she 

wakes up Laura and the baby.

*Luke* "No shots, Ruby...you're not getting any shots...I promise. Okay?"

*Ruby sniffles* "Okay..."

*Luke* "Let's finish our pancakes before they get cold."

*Ruby* "Okay..."

So they sit back down and start to eat again. 

Luke is relieved Ruby let that go for now.

A short while later Laura comes downstairs with Phoenix.

She smiles when she sees Luke made pancakes.

*Ruby excited to see Phoenix* "Baby!...Hi baby!..."

*Laura* "You made breakfast?"

*Luke* "Just pancakes...you know my cooking skills are 

no where near yours."

Luke gets up to kiss her good morning and Ruby is 

ready to get down and play.

She busies herself with a basket of toys that is is the living area. 

Laura sits down to nurse Phoenix and Luke can see she's ready to talk about what happened last night.

*Laura* "Do you really think she could be yours?"

*Luke* "I....I...don't know. I don't know what to think anymore. 

If she is why would she not tell me sooner?"

Laura shrugs, she doesn't understand Rufus' insanity 

or what Luke ever saw in her. 

*Laura* "I don't know....guess a paternity test will prove that....What I want to 

know is how you knew who may have took her..."

*Luke runs his fingers through his hair* "I knew this was coming."

*Laura* "You can't expect me to ignore it!...."

*Laura continues* "You've obviously kept something from me...

I want to know what it is."

*Luke* "Just promise me you won't get mad."

*Laura* "Luke, just tell me..."

*Luke* "I'm guessing it's Cade cause Peter and I kinda told him to get her out of town."

*Laura in shock* "What?! Ohmygod! You had her kidnapped!"

*Luke shushes her* "Keep it down....Just let me finish."

Luke looks up to see Ruby is still keeping busy. She is having fun with the rocking horse they bought for Phoenix.

Luke feeling nervous about going on with it, he paces then stands against one of the chairs.

*Luke* "Remember when I was gone all night at the bar with Peter?"

Laura nods, and tries to curb her anger.

*Luke continues* "I thought I was just meeting Peter for drinks, but he tracked down Cade."

*Laura* "And?"

*Luke takes a deep breath* "Rufus was still calling me...she hadn't showed up anywhere, just kept calling...Peter thought that Cade could discretely get her out town, so she'd stop harassing me."

Laura feels heat flooding into her cheeks and Luke continues.

*Luke* "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I didn't want to upset you, the doctor said no stress..."

*Laura sighs heavily* "Just keep going..."

*Luke* "Well, he agreed to do it, but what I didn't know was he was mad at her for blackballing him from getting anymore work. So, that morning after when we argued about the prenup...she called me. I thought it was you! I didn't even realize it till she spoke....I freaked out, she was convinced Cade wanted to kill her or something. So I went to go stop him..."

*Laura* "What?! Are you telling me you went to go rescue 

her after you...you agreed to the opposite!...."

*Luke* "Babe, calm down..."

*Laura* "Why didn't you just call the cops then?! 

*Luke* "Because I figured I could talk him out of it..."

Then Laura realize something and it makes sense.

*Laura* "That's why you had that bruise on your cheek! You stood here and lied to me! So, while you were off rescuing Rufus, I was here wondering if we were gonna make it or not!"

*Laura dips her head* "Ohmygod, Luke! Why can't you just tell me the truth when it comes to Rufus?"

Luke kneels at her side, he doesn't want to go on with the story anymore, knowing where it ends, with him in bed with Rufus.

*Luke* "Babe, I'm sorry....I never wanted to hurt you...
Please just understand."

*Laura* "Just stop. Stop saying your sorry! All I want is for you to be honest with me! 
And you just continue to lie..."
*Luke* "I told you...I didn't want to cause you more stress. Just hearing Rufus' name made your blood pressure go up."
Laura gets up she can't be in the same room with him anymore, she's heard enough for the moment.

*Laura* "We could have handled this together, Luke..."

Then she turns and heads upstairs, knowing there is probably more to the story but she can't listen to anymore at this point. 

 Luke lets out a huge gasp of air like he's been holding his breathe, he lets her go, and stays downstairs with Ruby. Now he is torn whether to tell her he had sex with Rufus or not and hope that it never comes out...Laura is tired of his lies and this one could end them if she finds out.
*Luke* "Sh*t!....What the hell am I gonna do?!"
*Ruby* "You said a bad word, Daddy..."
Then his phone buzzes. It's a message from Hayden, saying he'll be at their house in about an hour to pick up Ruby. So an hour later Hayden shows up, and has been talking to Luke for a few minutes.

*Hayden* "We located Mrs. Roberts like you said, she is flying in from Dallas should be here tonight."
*Luke* "Good, let's hope she can confirm if Ruby is my child or not."
*Hayden* "Well....you'll still need a paternity to know for sure."
*Luke* "I know...I'm just hoping she knows more than we do about Ruby."

*Hayden* "While we wait for her to show up, I need you to go ahead and 
come down to the station with me for a few more questions. 
*Luke* "Okay.....sure."
*Hayden* "Looks like you had a rough night..."

 *Luke* "Yeah...trying to get good sleep now is not easy. Adding 
another kid to the mix does not help..."Any word yet from whoever took Rufus?"
 *Hayden* "I got forensics heading to Rufus' hotel room. We'll see if anything turns up there....
Why don't we go ahead and head out."
Luke nods, and Hayden turns to Ruby.

*Hayden* "Hey pretty little lady, you wanna go for a 
ride in a police car?"
*Ruby* "Okay...can Daddy come too?"
*Hayden* "He already agreed to."
*Luke* "Babe?!...I'm heading out with Hayden, call you in a little while."
A faint distant "OKAY" is heard but that's it.
Then they all head out the door and Luke locks up behind them.

********************************************

While Luke spent his morning fessing up to most of what happened that day at Rufus' hotel room. Cade, and Fionna are working on hatching the next part of their plan.

*Cade* "How could you not know this, Fi?! You said you and her were close...
not once did she ever tell you about a child!?!"

*Fionna* "No! I told you already....she never told me!...Don't you trust me?"
Cade doesn't answer her question, and she should know the answer. Cade only trusts himself.
*Cade* "Is there anything in the news yet of her kidnapping?"

*Fionna* "No..I've been checking for the last hour, nothing has come up. 
Do you still plan to follow through with the next part."
*Cade* "Yes have to...by now cops are swarming her hotel room and 
should find the evidence we left there."
Cade walks over and stands over Rufus. 
Fionna gets up and follows him.

*Cade* "Who else knows your down here, Rufus?"
*Fionna* "Probably just her house keeper..."
She doesn't answer him, so Cade bends down twisting her head back, demanding she answer him.

Rufus screams, she can't see him and it's terrifying 
not knowing what he might do to her.
*Rufus* "She...she's right. Just my housekeeper, Margaret."
*Cade* "You better not be lying to me..."
*Rufus* "I'm not...That's it. I swear!"

*Fionna* "I guess you'll be heading out then?"
*Cade* "Yes...you stay here and make sure she doesn't get away. 
I'll be back in about an hour."
*Fionna* "Okay..."

So Cade leaves, while Fionna stays and 
watches over Rufus.

****************************

Peter finally makes his way back home after spending the 
night at Willow's. He is surprised to see someone waiting for 
him when he gets home.

*Peter* "Ah, sh*t!...What the hell do you want, Cade?"
Peter goes rigid, he knows he owes Cade, but
 what does he expect him to do?

*Cade* "You owe me Peter, and now I've come to collect. 
Sit down, we need to talk...."
Peter sits at the table across from Cade and notices he 
brought something with him..
*Peter* "Holy f*ck! Is that weed?!!"
*Cade* "Shut up and listen, Morrissey." 
Peter shuts up and Cade continues...
*Cade* "I need you to plant this in Luke's office at his record shop....by the end of the day."
*Peter* "Hell no! I'm not f*cking doing that! He's my best friend."
*Cade* "Which is exactly why I need you to do it. He trusts you."

*Peter* "No f*cking way! Besides...from what we heard you and Fionna are working together! 
So I don't owe you...call it even now."
*Cade* "I'm aware of that. If you don't follow through, I might be forced to do something, it could be  that cute little blonde uh Hannah, right? Or maybe Cynthia?"  

*Peter* "You're a f*cking psychopath!!"
*Cade* "You've been warned...."
Cade gets up and walks over to the door.

*Cade* "By the end of the day, Peter...Or you may get an unsettling 
call from your sister."
*Peter* "C'mon, this is never gonna work!"
*Cade* "Just get it done..."

Cade leaves and Peter is left to contemplate
 what he is going to do. 

******************************

Back at the place where Rufus is being held...
Fionna and Rufus sit in silence for a while until 
one of the decides to speak.

 *Rufus* "You and Cade will never get away with this..."
*Fionna*  "I realize now why Luke left you...Your such a self-centered  b*tch!"
*Rufus* "Oh please! You loved this self-centered b*tch when she was spending money
on you and treating you like a princess! Speaking of money I"ll pay you and Cade
whatever you want, just let me go!"

*Fionna* "Oh you are gonna pay us whatever we want and then some."
*Rufus* "What does that mean?"
*Fionna* "You'll see eventually, now shut up before I decide to gag you, 
I got work to do before Cade gets back."

********************************

Later into the afternoon, Luke and Peter come hastily through the door, both a looking a little freaked out... 

*Luke* "Let's just get up stairs we can finish talking up there."
*Peter* "Don't you think we should call..."
But Peter is interrupted by Laura you has just finish 
coming down the stairs.

*Laura* "Call who? What's going on?...And where is Ruby?"
Peter quickly makes sure the wad of weed is pushed down into his pocket and out of site. Luke walks up to Laura...
*Luke* "Ruby is still with Hayden. I got something I need 
to take care of with Peter, then we can talk..."
Laura looks at him, she is not happy, she knows he is hiding 
something....again, but something tells her to let it go 
for the moment.
*Laura nods* "Okay, just be quiet, Phoenix is sleeping.
*Luke kisses her quickly* "We will. Babe..."
To Be Continued.... ^_^