Then There Was You Chapter 34 Reid/Luke Babysit!
Reid steps out of the shower and see he has a missed call. He checks the number to see it’s the hospital. He knew it wasn’t an emergency since they would page him. It was the hospital board calling with their decision. Maybe he could finally get back in the operating room, or maybe he had lost his license permanently.
He considered calling, but was too nervous. So he got dressed, grabbed his phone, beeper, and keys and headed to the Snyder farm.
He pulls into the driveway and sees Luke pushing his brother on a tire swing from a huge oak tree.
He smiles to himself as he can see Luke’s younger brother laughing and smiling.
He exits and walks over to where they are standing,
“Hey guys.”
Ethan looks at him warily, tries to hide behind Luke.
“Ethan, it’s okay. I want you to meet someone.”
“Why isn’t he smiling, Luke ? Did he break his mouth? Is it stuck that way?”
Luke laughed hysterically at the question his brother had just asked him and Reid did bust out a genuine smile then.
They walk back into the house then, with Luke still laughing,
“It wasn’t that funny, Luke.”
“Oh yes it was. If a four year old notices your grumpiness, I think it’s a sign.”
“Shut up.”
Ethan piped up,
“You’re not supposed to say shut up!”
Reid just rolled his eyes, which caused Luke to laugh even more.
Luke grabbed a juice box for Ethan and some string cheese,
“It’s time for your snack, Ethan.”
“Can I color, Luke?”
“Sure, and I bet Reid would love to color with you.”
“Okay, but I’m not sharing the red crayon!”
Luke basically shoved Reid over to the dining room table, where Ethan is coloring in a scarecrow with purple and blue.
Reid took the gray crayon and said it was his.
Ethan just looked at him as if he had two heads,
“Who wants to color in gray?”
Luke stands at the counter watching and smiling as Reid and Ethan concentrate on coloring.
Luke heads to the bathroom then.
He comes back ten minutes later to see Reid showing Ethan how to color in the lines.
“Reid, he’s four years old. Let him color outside of the lines!”
“You gotta start em young otherwise they go through life without any rationality or reason.”
“Coloring outside of the line has nothing to do with brains, and everything to do with creativity.”
“Creativity, my foot. That’s what your parents told you because you couldn’t stay in the lines. They felt sorry for you.”
“Whatever.”
Ethan looks up then, completely oblivious to the conversation Reid and Luke just had,
“Come color with us, Luke!”
Luke sat down and Ethan gave him a picture of an elephant to color.
“Oh, Reid.,, I’m going to need that gray crayon.”
“I’m using it right now. Color something else. Or better yet color it a different color and be creative.”
“Reid, you’re coloring Arial. She isn’t gray.”
“Leave me alone, Luke. I’m just being creative like you said earlier.”
Luke snuck a peek to see what he was coloring that was gray to see him drawing a brain on Arial’s head.
“Are you kidding me right now, Reid?”
“What? It makes the picture, in my opinion.”
Ethan dropped his crayon then and looked at Reid’s picture in awe,
“That is the coolest thing ever! Can I use the gray crayon to draw a brain?”
“Sure, kiddo, as long as I can use the red and green crayons.”
“Deal.”
“I’m never gonna get to color this stupid elephant in now.”
“Like I said, be creative Luke. Color him purple or something.”
Luke stuck his tongue out at Reid, which Ethan happened to see.
“That was mean, Luke. You shouldn’t stick your tongue out at your friends. Mommy said so.”
“Yeah, Luke, it wasn’t very nice of you.”
“Stop it, Reid.”
“Yeah, stop it , Reid.”
“Hey, kid I thought you were on my side!”
“Luke gives me cookies.”
Reid laughed at this and looked at Luke who shrugged innocently,
“Smart kid.”
Suddenly a girl appeared out of nowhere in the kitchen,
“Hey Luke. I fixed your iPod for you. Next time don’t disconnect without ejecting first. Otherwise I’ll have to resync you library every time.”
“Thanks, Nat”
Natalie looked at what Luke was doing and starting laughing hysterically,
“I can’t believe my grown brother is coloring with a strange old man.”
“You should join us, it’s fun.”
“Okay, but I’m not coloring. I’m using my watercolors.”
Natalie stared at Reid for a bit before sitting down,
“So who are you?”
“I am Dr. Reid Oliver, and who are you?”
“Considering Luke said my name earlier, I didn’t think it would be that hard to figure out. And you’re a doctor? How did you ever make it through medical school?”
“So your name is Gnat? As in the bug? No wonder you are so bitter.”
“Wow, Luke, this one’s a keeper.”
Turning back to Reid, she said,
“Tell me, did you go around finding random homeless people to give you one-liners?”
“Natalie, be polite!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s so nice to meet you Dr. Oliver. Welcome to our home. I hope you find it to your liking. Natalie was really laying it on thick.
Reid started laughing then, and Natalie looked at him in surprise.
Reid turned to Luke and said,
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a sister that was basically mini me?”
Natalie snorted at that and went back to drawing.
“Very ladylike, Natalie”
“Bite me, Reid”
Reid could see Natalie smiling even with her head bent and grinned.
He went back to coloring his Zombie Arial picture, while Ethan colored the entire scarecrow gray, and Luke painted his elephant blue.
Nothing was said for a while, until the front door burst open and Reid nearly fell out of his chair surprise.
Another dark haired girl flung herself down at the table. She was dirty and smelled rank.
“I swear to God, if I have to muck another stall, I am moving back to Mom’s!”
Luke looked up and just rolled his eyes,
“Quit being a drama queen, Faith. It was one stall and you spent the entire afternoon hanging out with the horses anyways. It’s not like it was that hard.”
“Whatever, I’m going to take a shower.”
She headed toward the stairs when she stopped and in a loud theatrical whisper asked Luke,
“Who’s the hottie?”
“Way too old for you, Faith”
Faith stamped upstairs then.
Reid looked at Luke, who was smiling,
“I didn’t realize the entire Snyder clan would be here today.”
“Relax, Reid. We’re only babysitting for Ethan.”
“Hey! I don’t need no babysitter! I’m not a baby anymore!”
Reid turned to Ethan,
“Of course you don’t. We are actually just hanging out with you, because you’re cool.”
Ethan grinned when Reid said that and went back to his coloring.
Luke just stared at Reid in amazement,
“What?”
“Nothing, you just really surprise me sometimes.”
Natalie piped up, “Why? Because he has moments of coherence? Even gorillas can type a sentence if they pound away long enough.”
“Natalie!”
Reid couldn’t help but laugh at Luke’s sister. They were cut from the same cloth.
Faith came back down a few minutes later in sweatpants and a t-shirt.
She headed to the refrigerator to grab some water and a cookie from Emma’s cookie jar.
Luke joined her.
“So, this hottie is a friend of yours?”
“He’s my boyfriend.”
“Holy hell, Luke. Do mom and dad know?”
“Not so much. I was hoping to tell them tonight.”
“Does he even know that the entire Snyder clan is coming for a cookout tonight?”
“Nope.”
“I can’t wait. This is gonna get sooo good.”
Reid said something to Ethan that made him giggle and then Natalie told him he wasn’t funny, but was grinning widely as she said it.
“Wow, Natalie and Ethan have taken to him, huh?”
“Yeah. I’m surprised actually. I mean I knew he was good with Jacob, but Jacob can’t talk back yet. But, man, Reid really has a way with kids. “
Luke was staring in amazement at Reid who looked up, caught him staring, winked, and smiled at him.
Luke brushed bright red,
“You are really in love with him aren’t you, Luke?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Well considering I’ve never seen you like this before, not even with Noah, yeah… it’s pretty obvious.”
“Well he needs to get the official sister seal of approval before I give my blessing.”
“Uhh, why don’t I like the sounds of that?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything too bad. I promise.”
Luke and Faith went back to the table.
“So we’re coloring, huh?”
“Yep, it was Ethan’s idea.”
Faith turned to Reid and stared at him brazenly.
“Did you need something?”
“So.. I’m Faith.”
“And I’m Reid”
“I know who you are.”
Faith was giving him the one over.
“Okay, so we need to break you in properly.”
“Uhh, what do you mean by ‘break in’?”
“I mean if you are going to hold your own with the Snyders, you need to prove you can handle the pressure.”