DIvergence: Chapter Forty-Nine part 2
Continued from part one
Noah kisses Luke deeply, “We have stuff out here?”
Luke nods at the box on the side table that they’d stocked for just this purpose. The next thing he knows, his belt is being pulled open and the button fly of his jeans undone. “I g...guess we’re doing it he...eeerrreee.”
Noah palms Luke as he slides his hand down the front of Luke’s open jeans. “Here, there, the kitchen table. It’s still early.”
Luke tangles his fingers tighter in Noah’s hair, only able to utter a guh in response. He starts pulling at Noah’s shirts, wanting skin to skin contact.
Noah leans up and bats his hands away, unbuttoning the top layer of his shirts and throwing it on the nearby chair. Once that’s done, he pulls Luke until he’s sitting up and tugs his shirt the rest of the way off from where it’s bunched under his arms. “Better.”
As Noah leans back in to continue, Luke stops him with a hand spread on his chest. “Shirt!”
Noah looks down and realizes he still has his t-shirt on and starts pulling it off, when the phone starts ringing.
They both look at each other and Luke shakes his head, “Not answering that.” He starts pulling on Noah’s shirt, getting it off and throwing it towards the chair.
The ringing cuts off as the answering machine kicks in. “Luke? This is Shelby from the Little Monkeys Daycare. No one has come to pick up Ethan and it’s past closing. I’ve tried their numbers....”
Noah’s arm shoots out and grabs the phone off the coffee table and hands it to Luke with a worried look.
Luke clicks it on. “Shelby?! I’m here! I’m here! Don’t hang up!”
“Oh thank goodness! We’re past closing here, Luke. Luckily all your information was on our calling list for Ethan.”
Luke looks up at the clock and sees it’s almost seven. “I’ll be right there. I need to stop to get a car seat and then I’ll be right there.”
“We have an extra one here. As long as you bring it back, I can lend it to you overnight.”
Luke takes his shirt from Noah and pulls it on as he’s talking. “Okay. I’m leaving right now. Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. Just coloring right now, but he’s starting to get worried that he’s the only one still here.”
Luke curses his parents under his breath. “Can I speak to him?”
“Sure. Just a second. Hey Ethan? Luke is on the phone!”
“Hi LuNo! Hi!”
Luke smiles at the excitement in his brother’s voice. “Hey Little Man! I’m coming to get you right now. How does sleeping over with me and NoNo sound?”
Luke pulls the phone away from his ear as he cheers and starts excitedly telling Miss “Shebby” about LuNo and NoNo. “Hey, Eth? I’m going to hang up now, so I can come get you. You tell Miss Shelby about all the fun we’re going to have, okay?”
When he hears Ethan drop the phone to tell his teacher about everything, Luke shakes his head with a fond smile and hangs up, the smile disintegrating off his face. “No one picked up Ethan from day care. They forgot him.”
Noah looks as pained as Luke feels, “Go. Bring him back here and we’ll go from there.”
Luke nods, absentmindedly rebuttoning his jeans and searching the floor for his shoes. “Do me a favor tomorrow? Remind me to get a car seat for Ethan I can keep in my car. The daycare has one I can borrow from them overnight.”
Noah nods, “You think this will happen again?”
The fire in Luke’s eyes makes Noah take a step back involuntarily. “I won’t let it.”
Noah hands Luke his jacket and keys. “Drive safely.”
Luke nods and kisses Noah softly. “I’m sorry we got interrupted.”
Noah looks down at his state of undress, “Well, there could have been worse timing.”
Chuckling, Luke nods. “There could have. I’m going to call Grandma Emma and let her know what’s going on. Maybe I’ll ask her who the patron saint of cockblocking is while I have her on the phone.”
Noah lets out a surprised laugh, “I’d like to see her face when you ask that.”
Luke grins, “Sometimes, I seriously think we need to maybe light a candle to him or her. We’ve apparently ticked them off.”
A knock on the door sounds as Noah laughs at Luke’s observation. Luke throws Noah his shirt and walks to the door as Noah pulls it on, muttering. “Forget candles, maybe animal sacrifice will do it.”
Once Noah’s decent, Luke opens the door to see his Grandmother on the other side. Luke smirks, “Finally noticed we were gone, huh?”
Lucinda gives him another baleful glance, before walking in the apartment. “Your landlord is quite charming when he wants to be.”
Luke smiles and nods his head at Noah, “I’ll be back in about a half hour. Noah will explain. I gotta go. And Grandmother? Let me handle it.”
Without another word, Luke shuts the door and tears down the stairs and out to his car.
Noah starts fussing with the rumpled cushions on the couch, picking up a pillow and turning it around to lay it on the couch, when he realized it’s the one he and Luke messed up the other day. His eyes widen as Lucinda comes closer and he sits down on the couch, shoving the cushion behind his back.
Lucinda sits on the other end of the couch, frowning at the squeak of protest it makes as she settles. “What’s going on, Noah?”
Noah braces himself for Lucinda’s reaction and tells her.
On the way to the daycare, Luke calls his Grandma on the phone. “Grandma, it’s Luke.”
“Oh hello, dear! It’s so nice to hear from you! How are you and Noah?”
Luke smiles, no matter what, she always sounds so happy to hear from him. “I’m good, Grandma. Noah sends his love as well.”
“Tell him I have a batch of of oatmeal raisin cookies for him.”
Luke chuckles. “What? None for me? I’m hurt.”
Emma laughs, “Well, unlike the Snyder men, Noah knows how to share.”
Luke snorts, “He just wants you to think that. I’ll be lucky if he gives me one cookie out of the batch. Speaking of...are my cookie stealing sisters there with you?”
“Yes, your father has them tonight, so they’re both here at the farm with us.”
Luke feels his heart sink, “He’s not out with Carly is he?”
“No, he’s here for the night with the girls. They’re in watching a movie. Did you want me to get him?”
Luke turns onto the road the daycare is on. “No. I just got a call from the daycare, no one picked up Ethan.”
“Oh mercy no! That poor baby! Your father did something to his phone and its been sent in for repair. Oh that poor baby! I’ll get Holden to leave right now!”
Luke knows he has to work quickly, “No! Please Grandma! I want the girls to have a good night with Dad. Was he supposed to pick Ethan up?”
“No dear, it was your mother. Holden is having tonight with the girls and then he is taking Ethan tomorrow night.”
Luke frowns, “So it was Mom who forgot him?”
“I’m sure something must have happened, Luke. She just wouldn’t forget her child.”
Luke shakes his head as he pulls into the parking lot of the daycare. “I hope for her sake that she’s bleeding. That’s the only thing that would excuse this. Grandma, I’m here at the daycare. Can you do me a favor and not tell Dad any of this? I’m keeping Ethan for the night, he’s already excited about having a sleepover with me and Noah.”
“Luke, are you sure you don’t want me to tell Holden? I’m sure you could still keep Ethan for the night.”
Luke unbuckles and turns off the car. “I know I could. I just want to see how long it takes her to realize that Ethan is her responsibility. She’s pulled this before and there’s only one person that makes her this irresponsible.”
“Dusty Donovan.”
Luke grunts in affirmation. “Yep. I’m willing to lay money that’s where she is. Any time something goes wrong with Dad, back she goes to him.”
“Alright, Luke. I’ll keep quiet, but you let me know how it goes.”
Luke pulls open the door to the daycare, “I promise, Grandma. I have to go. I’m here.”
“Okay, dear. Give Ethan a big hug and kiss for me.”
Luke hears little feet galloping for him and smiles, “Will do. Gotta go! Incoming!”
“LuuuuuuuuuuuuuuNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
Luke crouches down just in time to have a three year old fireball almost knock him off his feet. “Hey! How was your day? Did you have fun with Miss Shelby?”
Ethan nods, “We colored, we play in sand, we play duh duh goo!”
Luke picks Ethan up and starts walking down the hall to Shelby, “Get outta town! Duck, Duck, Goose! That game rocks!”
Ethan hugs Luke hard around the neck, “I here looooong time!”
Luke closes his eyes and hugs Ethan closer to him, “I know, Buddy. I’m sorry it took so long. But hey, that means you get to sleep over with me and NoNo, that’s pretty cool, right?”
“Coo!”
Shelby has the car seat and Ethan’s bag ready to go. “I put his change of clothes from his cubby in there, his nap time teddy bear and some extra pull ups. I wasn’t sure what you had at home.”
Luke nods his thanks. “I have clothes, pull ups and books from the last time he stayed, but thank you. I didn’t even think about the teddy bear. That could have been a rough bedtime without that.”
Shelby nods and ruffles Ethan’s hair. “Ready to go hone with Luke now? Sounds like you’re going to have a fun night!”
Ethan reaches over and hugs his teacher. “Night, Miss Shebby!”
Luke, with Shelby’s help, got the car seat in the car and Ethan strapped in, before Luke turned to her and handed her a few twenties. “I know there’s a penalty for late pick up and I know you get to keep that money since you stayed, so I want you to take this and use it to treat yourself to something nice. Okay?”
Shelby sees the look in Luke’s eyes and wouldn’t want to be his mother at all right now. She smiles up at him and nods, tucking the bills in her pocket. “Thank you, Luke. You shouldn’t be the one paying this.”
Luke smiles, “Oh trust me, I won’t the one paying.”
Shelby waves in at Ethan, who is showing his teddy bear all of the different animals on the fabric of his temporary car seat. “Bye Ethan, have a good time with your brother!”
Ethan waves back at her and starts chanting Luke’s name to get him to hurry up. Luke watches as Shelby locks up and goes to her own car, not leaving until Shelby has left the parking lot herself. “Okay Ethan, time to go see NoNo!”
Luke smiles grimly as Ethan cheers in the back seat, wondering how long it will be before his mother remembers that she has more than herself to think about.
Noah kisses Luke deeply, “We have stuff out here?”
Luke nods at the box on the side table that they’d stocked for just this purpose. The next thing he knows, his belt is being pulled open and the button fly of his jeans undone. “I g...guess we’re doing it he...eeerrreee.”
Noah palms Luke as he slides his hand down the front of Luke’s open jeans. “Here, there, the kitchen table. It’s still early.”
Luke tangles his fingers tighter in Noah’s hair, only able to utter a guh in response. He starts pulling at Noah’s shirts, wanting skin to skin contact.
Noah leans up and bats his hands away, unbuttoning the top layer of his shirts and throwing it on the nearby chair. Once that’s done, he pulls Luke until he’s sitting up and tugs his shirt the rest of the way off from where it’s bunched under his arms. “Better.”
As Noah leans back in to continue, Luke stops him with a hand spread on his chest. “Shirt!”
Noah looks down and realizes he still has his t-shirt on and starts pulling it off, when the phone starts ringing.
They both look at each other and Luke shakes his head, “Not answering that.” He starts pulling on Noah’s shirt, getting it off and throwing it towards the chair.
The ringing cuts off as the answering machine kicks in. “Luke? This is Shelby from the Little Monkeys Daycare. No one has come to pick up Ethan and it’s past closing. I’ve tried their numbers....”
Noah’s arm shoots out and grabs the phone off the coffee table and hands it to Luke with a worried look.
Luke clicks it on. “Shelby?! I’m here! I’m here! Don’t hang up!”
“Oh thank goodness! We’re past closing here, Luke. Luckily all your information was on our calling list for Ethan.”
Luke looks up at the clock and sees it’s almost seven. “I’ll be right there. I need to stop to get a car seat and then I’ll be right there.”
“We have an extra one here. As long as you bring it back, I can lend it to you overnight.”
Luke takes his shirt from Noah and pulls it on as he’s talking. “Okay. I’m leaving right now. Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. Just coloring right now, but he’s starting to get worried that he’s the only one still here.”
Luke curses his parents under his breath. “Can I speak to him?”
“Sure. Just a second. Hey Ethan? Luke is on the phone!”
“Hi LuNo! Hi!”
Luke smiles at the excitement in his brother’s voice. “Hey Little Man! I’m coming to get you right now. How does sleeping over with me and NoNo sound?”
Luke pulls the phone away from his ear as he cheers and starts excitedly telling Miss “Shebby” about LuNo and NoNo. “Hey, Eth? I’m going to hang up now, so I can come get you. You tell Miss Shelby about all the fun we’re going to have, okay?”
When he hears Ethan drop the phone to tell his teacher about everything, Luke shakes his head with a fond smile and hangs up, the smile disintegrating off his face. “No one picked up Ethan from day care. They forgot him.”
Noah looks as pained as Luke feels, “Go. Bring him back here and we’ll go from there.”
Luke nods, absentmindedly rebuttoning his jeans and searching the floor for his shoes. “Do me a favor tomorrow? Remind me to get a car seat for Ethan I can keep in my car. The daycare has one I can borrow from them overnight.”
Noah nods, “You think this will happen again?”
The fire in Luke’s eyes makes Noah take a step back involuntarily. “I won’t let it.”
Noah hands Luke his jacket and keys. “Drive safely.”
Luke nods and kisses Noah softly. “I’m sorry we got interrupted.”
Noah looks down at his state of undress, “Well, there could have been worse timing.”
Chuckling, Luke nods. “There could have. I’m going to call Grandma Emma and let her know what’s going on. Maybe I’ll ask her who the patron saint of cockblocking is while I have her on the phone.”
Noah lets out a surprised laugh, “I’d like to see her face when you ask that.”
Luke grins, “Sometimes, I seriously think we need to maybe light a candle to him or her. We’ve apparently ticked them off.”
A knock on the door sounds as Noah laughs at Luke’s observation. Luke throws Noah his shirt and walks to the door as Noah pulls it on, muttering. “Forget candles, maybe animal sacrifice will do it.”
Once Noah’s decent, Luke opens the door to see his Grandmother on the other side. Luke smirks, “Finally noticed we were gone, huh?”
Lucinda gives him another baleful glance, before walking in the apartment. “Your landlord is quite charming when he wants to be.”
Luke smiles and nods his head at Noah, “I’ll be back in about a half hour. Noah will explain. I gotta go. And Grandmother? Let me handle it.”
Without another word, Luke shuts the door and tears down the stairs and out to his car.
Noah starts fussing with the rumpled cushions on the couch, picking up a pillow and turning it around to lay it on the couch, when he realized it’s the one he and Luke messed up the other day. His eyes widen as Lucinda comes closer and he sits down on the couch, shoving the cushion behind his back.
Lucinda sits on the other end of the couch, frowning at the squeak of protest it makes as she settles. “What’s going on, Noah?”
Noah braces himself for Lucinda’s reaction and tells her.
On the way to the daycare, Luke calls his Grandma on the phone. “Grandma, it’s Luke.”
“Oh hello, dear! It’s so nice to hear from you! How are you and Noah?”
Luke smiles, no matter what, she always sounds so happy to hear from him. “I’m good, Grandma. Noah sends his love as well.”
“Tell him I have a batch of of oatmeal raisin cookies for him.”
Luke chuckles. “What? None for me? I’m hurt.”
Emma laughs, “Well, unlike the Snyder men, Noah knows how to share.”
Luke snorts, “He just wants you to think that. I’ll be lucky if he gives me one cookie out of the batch. Speaking of...are my cookie stealing sisters there with you?”
“Yes, your father has them tonight, so they’re both here at the farm with us.”
Luke feels his heart sink, “He’s not out with Carly is he?”
“No, he’s here for the night with the girls. They’re in watching a movie. Did you want me to get him?”
Luke turns onto the road the daycare is on. “No. I just got a call from the daycare, no one picked up Ethan.”
“Oh mercy no! That poor baby! Your father did something to his phone and its been sent in for repair. Oh that poor baby! I’ll get Holden to leave right now!”
Luke knows he has to work quickly, “No! Please Grandma! I want the girls to have a good night with Dad. Was he supposed to pick Ethan up?”
“No dear, it was your mother. Holden is having tonight with the girls and then he is taking Ethan tomorrow night.”
Luke frowns, “So it was Mom who forgot him?”
“I’m sure something must have happened, Luke. She just wouldn’t forget her child.”
Luke shakes his head as he pulls into the parking lot of the daycare. “I hope for her sake that she’s bleeding. That’s the only thing that would excuse this. Grandma, I’m here at the daycare. Can you do me a favor and not tell Dad any of this? I’m keeping Ethan for the night, he’s already excited about having a sleepover with me and Noah.”
“Luke, are you sure you don’t want me to tell Holden? I’m sure you could still keep Ethan for the night.”
Luke unbuckles and turns off the car. “I know I could. I just want to see how long it takes her to realize that Ethan is her responsibility. She’s pulled this before and there’s only one person that makes her this irresponsible.”
“Dusty Donovan.”
Luke grunts in affirmation. “Yep. I’m willing to lay money that’s where she is. Any time something goes wrong with Dad, back she goes to him.”
“Alright, Luke. I’ll keep quiet, but you let me know how it goes.”
Luke pulls open the door to the daycare, “I promise, Grandma. I have to go. I’m here.”
“Okay, dear. Give Ethan a big hug and kiss for me.”
Luke hears little feet galloping for him and smiles, “Will do. Gotta go! Incoming!”
“LuuuuuuuuuuuuuuNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
Luke crouches down just in time to have a three year old fireball almost knock him off his feet. “Hey! How was your day? Did you have fun with Miss Shelby?”
Ethan nods, “We colored, we play in sand, we play duh duh goo!”
Luke picks Ethan up and starts walking down the hall to Shelby, “Get outta town! Duck, Duck, Goose! That game rocks!”
Ethan hugs Luke hard around the neck, “I here looooong time!”
Luke closes his eyes and hugs Ethan closer to him, “I know, Buddy. I’m sorry it took so long. But hey, that means you get to sleep over with me and NoNo, that’s pretty cool, right?”
“Coo!”
Shelby has the car seat and Ethan’s bag ready to go. “I put his change of clothes from his cubby in there, his nap time teddy bear and some extra pull ups. I wasn’t sure what you had at home.”
Luke nods his thanks. “I have clothes, pull ups and books from the last time he stayed, but thank you. I didn’t even think about the teddy bear. That could have been a rough bedtime without that.”
Shelby nods and ruffles Ethan’s hair. “Ready to go hone with Luke now? Sounds like you’re going to have a fun night!”
Ethan reaches over and hugs his teacher. “Night, Miss Shebby!”
Luke, with Shelby’s help, got the car seat in the car and Ethan strapped in, before Luke turned to her and handed her a few twenties. “I know there’s a penalty for late pick up and I know you get to keep that money since you stayed, so I want you to take this and use it to treat yourself to something nice. Okay?”
Shelby sees the look in Luke’s eyes and wouldn’t want to be his mother at all right now. She smiles up at him and nods, tucking the bills in her pocket. “Thank you, Luke. You shouldn’t be the one paying this.”
Luke smiles, “Oh trust me, I won’t the one paying.”
Shelby waves in at Ethan, who is showing his teddy bear all of the different animals on the fabric of his temporary car seat. “Bye Ethan, have a good time with your brother!”
Ethan waves back at her and starts chanting Luke’s name to get him to hurry up. Luke watches as Shelby locks up and goes to her own car, not leaving until Shelby has left the parking lot herself. “Okay Ethan, time to go see NoNo!”
Luke smiles grimly as Ethan cheers in the back seat, wondering how long it will be before his mother remembers that she has more than herself to think about.