Little Things...(S10-E4)

So we are picking up directly where we left off 
all the way back in January.
If you would like a refresher on the previous episodes that 
lead up to this one then click here...

Laura's Birthday

Laura's Birthday...Part 2

Now let's begin!

It's late Sunday evening, and a couple weeks have gone by since they went out for Laura's birthday. Luke sits with Phoenix upstairs in his office. The boys are practicing on plucking the strings on their guitars.  

Luke patiently works with Phoenix showing him how to properly hold it. Phoenix has really taken an interest in music and Luke 

enjoys sharing these moments with him.

*Luke* "There you go, yeah just like that...Just make sure you have

 your hand gripped all the way around the neck."

Luke gestures with his hand showing Phoenix. He

 watches and does his best to copy dads motions.

 *Phoenix* "I did it!...."

*Luke* "Good job, little man! Now take your other hand and do this...."
Luke takes his right hand and strums the guitar just once. 
Raking his finger over the strings. Sending a low steady hum into
 the quiet space between them. Phoenix smiles and 
looks down at the one in his lap.

*Phoenix* "My turn!..."

He takes his right hand and does his best to imitate what

 dad just did. The small ukulele making a slightly different 

sound as he tries his best.

*Luke* "You got it. Just make sure to hold the neck firmly so the 

guitar doesn't slide off of your lap...Now try again."

Phoenix does as dad instructs and focuses

 better on holding the guitar

 and strumming at the same time. This is gonna take 
some coordination!

Phoenix's little fingers softly move over the strings making 

the ukulele sing ever so softly but making Phoenix so very

 proud he was able to follow along.

*Phoenix* "I did it!..I did it!..."

*Luke smiles big* "Yeah you sure did! Gimme five little man that was awesome!.."

Luke stretches out his left arm splaying his palm
 upwards so Phoenix can give it a good celebratory slap.

*Luke* "You ready to try again?..."
Phoenix slaps his hand down onto dad's big hand and 
energetically nods yes with a big, satisfied grin across his face.

*Luke* "Sweet! Okay lets do this again only this time...
We do it together on the count of three, okay?..."
*Phoenix* "Daddy can I count to thfree?!..."
*Luke* "Sure thing little man..."
Phoenix likes that idea and decides he would 
like to be the one who counts to three.

*Luke* "Now remember to hold it like I showed you....then on the 

count of three we will do it together...Ready?"

*Phoenix nods* "Uh huh!..."

*Luke* "Okay start counting..."

*Phoenix* "ONE!......TWO!........"

Before Phoenix can say three, Laura has come up the stairs 
looking for Phoenix not realizing they were in 
the middle of something so very important.

*Laura* "Phoenix it's time for bed it's late!..."

*Phoenix* "NOOOOOOOO! Me and daddy pay guitars."

*Laura* "You and daddy can play another day. Right now it's late 

and you still need to take a bath."

Phoenix begins to get very upset. Mom has no idea

 that she interrupted such an important moment.

*Laura* "C'mon...it's time to go..."

*Phoenix* "NO!!...I wanna stay wiff Daddy..."

*Laura* "Phoenix you have preschool in the

 morning. That's it time is up."

Luke decides to jump in and help Laura out. He knows 

Phoenix is bummed about it but it is late and Luke 

still has work to do before it gets too late for him.

*Luke* "Listen little man, your mom is right it's late. We can play again

 tomorrow, okay?"

*Phoenix* "No, I wanna pay now..."

*Luke* "Tomorrow Phoenix."

*Phoenix* "NO!..."

Phoenix tries to go back to playing on the Ukulele but 

then Dad gets up and lays down the law.

*Luke* "Last chance, son...Hand me the guitar...and

 Listen to your mother!..."

Phoenix does exactly as he is told, when he hears that 

tone come from Dad's voice he knows he 

better follow through.

Phoenix surrenders the Ukulele over to Dad then slowly 
slides off of the desk chair utterly disappointed 
that his fun was cut short by bedtime.

*Laura* "Go get ready for your bath. I'll be right down."

Phoenix slowly walks away trying to delay the inevitable both

 Laura and Luke watch and wait while he follows

 instructions to head downstairs. Once Phoenix's 

footsteps are no longer heard, Laura speaks.

*Laura* "Are you coming to bed too?..."

*Luke* "No, I got work to do."

*Laura* "Again?...I can't help but feel like 

you're avoiding me."

Luke scoffs at her comment and waves it 
off. Laura always over analyzes
 everything. 

*Luke* "Laura, I'm not avoiding you...."

*Laura* "Well, when you're up here till 3 am every damn night. It sure as hell feels like 

you're avoiding me. Luke, we have to talk about this at some point!"

Luke's chest rises and falls as he takes a huge exasperated breath. Laura is probably right but Luke really is behind on 

inventory work and he doesn't have time to 

worry about other people's problems.

*Luke* "There is nothing more to talk about! I already told you what happened."

*Laura* "Well, I know you don't like the idea but maybe you should 

consider it. We both know the truth and that's all that matters right now."

Laura lets it go and begins to walk away. She knows at 

some point she will get her way.  

Plus, she cannot leave Phoenix alone for too 
long, but Luke cannot let it end there...

*Luke* "Fuck that, I'm not giving her the satisfaction. If I do then it's fair game for 

Rufus to be in our lives again. Even if Ruby is family..."

*Laura* "Luke, she's an innocent child. She didn't ask to be brought into this 

world, but if you can somehow make it better then I don't see the harm in that."

Luke walks over to his desk to get ready to work. He really 

doesn't want to do this conversation all over again. Laura may be

 half right about him avoiding her in the evenings lately.

*Luke* "You really think agreeing to be Ruby's father will make it better? 

Babe, all it does is give Rufus what she wants. C'mon..."

*Laura* "She'd be a fool to play that song and dance again. "

*Luke* "We've been through this shit before!"
*Laura* "I know we have! Do you really think I'm that naive?!"
*Luke* "Fuck, Laura! C'mon...I got work to do."
Laura's green eyes flare bright with indignation. As he tries to end
 the conversation not liking at all where it is leading. Neither 
one wants to be reminded of Luke's previous infidelity.

*Laura* "You were the one who couldn't keep his wits about him when around her the first time. Now you go and make a scene in the coffee shop! If Saffron
hadn't have seen you that day we probably
 wouldn't be talking about this right now, would we?!..."
Luke is at a loss. She's been pissed about this all week. No words can placate her anger over this, only time. Laura is furious Luke chose to not tell her yet again. He always leaves her in the dark when it comes to Rufus. Instead she hears about it a week later via Willow
 after her sister Saffron told her about it. When will Luke learn?

 *Luke* "Babe... that's....C'mon....Do we really need to rehash this shit again?
You know I love you. I don't love her..."
*Laura* "You still have to be truthful with me Luke! I will not go through
this again...I've got to go check on Phoenix...Please don't stay up too late."

Then Laura heads off back downstairs. Leaving 
Luke to stew in his own thoughts. Pushing some hair
 out of his face Luke blurts out several choice words 
before grabbing his desk chair to take a seat.

*Luke* "Shit!....Fucking women, man!...Ugghhh!"
He swivels side to side in his chair his thoughts rambling on....
"Damn Rufus! Damn her for coming back here and messing shit up again! Now Laura is kinda siding in agreement with her? For Ruby's sake, man...yeah but now she doesn't fucking trust me! Shit!....Way to fuck shit up again, Cooper..." 
The last thing Luke wants is to see his ex and his wife teaming up against him. And he sure as hell does 
not want to give Rufus any satisfaction. Plus he doesn't want to hurt Laura and the boys. Their relationship has already been put to the test once. Can it pass if it's tested again?

He doesn't want to be the bad guy in all of this but there is 
no reason Luke should be forced into agreeing to legally call Ruby 
his child. Rufus has plenty of money and clout to protect 
Ruby from her real father. Luke cannot fathom as to
 why Rufus would think he would fall for this, or maybe she 
really is just that crazy and paranoid about something.... 

She did seem legitimately scared of his Dad when she spoke of 
him but Rufus is manipulative so there is that as well...Luke snaps out of his trance and sits up, setting his guitar down next to him leaning it
against the desk. He's got to make a dent in this 
inventory list before the night gets away from him.

*Luke* "I've got to get to work...No more fucking around Cooper."
 Luke pushes through and finally gets his work done. Laura and the boys have long been asleep for a good while now. He quietly heads downstairs to the second level of their inner city home and 
makes his way to their bedroom. Laura is a light sleeper so Luke 
tries his very best to not make too much noise as he
 brushes his teeth and gets ready for bed.

 Luke softly clicks off the light switch and carefully navigates 
through the dark. Luckily he took a shower 
earlier when he first got home otherwise he would
 have to go use the boys bathroom. A shower at this time
 of night would surely wake up Laura.

He feels his way through the dark room. Only a faint amount of
 light coming in through their bedroom window. Luke 
prefers to sleep in the nude even in the cold winter months.

So he slowly and quietly strips off his shirt and sets it over 
the back of Laura's vanity chair. Then moves on to 
do the same with his cut off jeans. 

 Whoops! looks like there is a full moon 
tonight after all! 
Bahahahhahahaha!
😂😂😂
Sorry y'all I couldn't resist!...

Luke again makes his way through the dark room and 
attempts to quietly climb into bed without waking Laura. The
 soft ruffling sound of bedsheets as his body
 touches the mattress.

 Then just like that Laura turns waking up. Her sleepy 
green eyes blinking trying to adjust to the dimly lit space.
 Luke sighs a little no matter how quiet he is she
 almost always wakes up.

*Luke* "Hey...go back to sleep..."
Laura rolls all the way over and scoots in closer to Luke. She can feel his body heat radiating off of him. Even though they have central heating this old, semi restored house still gets 
a little too chilly in the winter for Laura.

 *Laura* "Mmmmm you're so warm. Hold me."
Luke obliges and pulls her in against his warm, naked skin. He
 softly kisses her hairline. They may fight and bicker but 
gawddamn it he still loves this woman. He cannot stay mad at her. And Laura has every right to be upset with him concerning what has already happened in the past with Rufus. Luke cannot afford to make these kind of slip ups again in their relationship.

 *Luke* "Did Phoenix fall asleep okay?..."
*Laura* "Mmhmm, he was out like a light after his bath."
Laura pops her head up and kisses him. A sweet and 
sensual gesture, but he can see she 
is still very sleepy as her eyes flutter fighting to
 stay open just a little longer.

 *Laura* "I'm sorry, baby..."
*Luke* "You don't need to be sorry, babe. I'm the one who's
sorry I didn't tell you about it."
*Laura* "I know you are.."
Laura nuzzles her head back into Luke's shoulder and 
warm body. Still in a sleepy stupor she
 continues to talk to him.

 *Laura* "Did you get your work done?.."
*Luke* "Yeah...Luckily Jacob did a hell of a job organizing all that shit so it went much quicker than usual. I don't know what I'd do without him...I think this new method will work better from now on...Fucking inventory is killer. I know you think I'm ignoring you staying upstairs
 all night long but I'm not babe...Laura?"
When Laura doesn't reply Luke realizes she has 
fallen back asleep...

*Luke* "And don't worry about Rufus, babe. We'll figure it out...Together...I promise. She
 will never come between us again. I love you too fucking much."
Luke trails off his words and lets them continue on into his thoughts. Together is the only way for them. Luke cannot continue to keep 
these secrets from Laura. His past is now intertwined with his 
present and future. No matter what he cannot escape it.

 Luke eventually dozes off too. Only to be woken by 
the buzzing of his alarm clock hours later.


To be Continued!...

Thanks so much as always for tuning in! I truly do appreciate all of your support and interest in what I do. I hope to be able to continue to post
 episodes on a regular basis! From now on 
Wednesdays
will be the day for new episodes to drop!

Also I have decided to leave my PayPal address up at the end of every episode for those who feel they would like to give back. As an artist it is always a struggle to make ends meet. Most of you know I don't do this for the money but at the same time whatever does trickle in helps a lot!
And since I recently had to deactivate the Adsense account, well that money is no longer available to me. I explained why in a previous post which can be read here...
Trying To Find Some Downtime
Like I said this is all up to you as the reader, no pressure! I want you all to continue to enjoy my stories no matter what, whether you feel compelled to donate or not.

~ milooorr@gmail.com ~

Again Thank you all so very much!