miracle (miracle) wrote in luke_noah, @ 2008-01-30 15:18:00 |
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Original poster: dedebee
Author: dedebee
Characters: Luke, Noah, Ethan, Meg
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1900
Spoilers: Takes place in continuity, referencing some current events on the show
Summary: A day of babysitting leads Luke to question what his future might have in store for him, and for Noah as well.
It was barely noon, and Noah and Luke sat at the kitchen table in the Snyder farm, burying their faces in the semester’s course books. Quiet moments like this were to be taken advantage of as much as possible, especially with the farm at maximum capacity. With all the recent troubles facing the Snyder family, the farm was a full house most of the time and usually the boys would study on campus. However, as Luke’s sisters were in school for most of the day and most of the adults were occupied elsewhere, he and Noah decided to head home where they’d feel most comfortable.
Noah could barely keep his eyes on his book, shifting them back and forth from the words on the page to his boyfriend. Luke, on the other hand, was fully focused on his studies. After spending most of last semester out of commission, he was determined to get back on track. Noah was determined to get on other things at this moment.
“So how’s the book?” Noah asked, using his deepest voice possible.
“It’s about as interesting as watching paint dry,” Luke responded. He put the book down and rubbed his eyes.
“How about we take a study break?” Noah got up from his chair and stood behind Luke. He began to rub his boyfriend’s shoulders. “I think you could use it.”
“And what kind of break are we talking about here?” Luke smiled, even though Noah couldn’t see.
Noah leaned over to whisper in Luke’s ear. “Well, we are all alone, aren’t we?” He kissed Luke’s ear, working his way down to his neck.
“I’m not too sure how my Grandma would feel about this.” Luke’s smile became wider. It felt good to let go of all the problems surrounding him and his family.
“Good thing she’s out of town then.” Just as he moved in to kiss Luke on the lips, the stair door opened and Luke’s aunt Meg walked in. Noah leapt as far away from Luke as possible.
“Aunt Meg!” Luke exclaimed. He repositioned himself in his chair so that his lower body wouldn’t be exposed. “I didn’t realize you were here.”
“Hey guys,” Meg said. She was impeccably dressed, a stark contrast from the ratty clothes she had been wallowing in after the collapse of her marriage. “I’m glad you’re both here. I have a huge favor to ask you.”
“What is it?” Noah asked.
“I have some business to settle, work stuff,” Meg said, “and your mother and father aren’t back from the police station yet. Could you guys watch over Ethan? I’ve got to get over there as soon as possible and I don’t want to have to wait for the nanny, or find a sitter.”
“Of course we’ll watch him,” Luke replied.
“Great.” Meg put on her trench coat and grabbed her purse from the counter. “He’s asleep right now, so it should be smooth sailing. Here’s the baby monitor so you can listen for him. If you guys need anything, give me a call?”
“We should be fine,” Luke said, taking the monitor from his aunt. “Right?” He looked over at Noah. He had an expression of mild bewilderment on his face.
“Uh yeah,” Noah said. “W--we’ll be great.”
“Alright then,” Meg said. “Bye guys, and thanks again!”
“Could you plug this into the wall?” Luke handed the monitor over to Noah. He headed to the closest outlet to plug it into the socket.
“Are you sure about this?” Noah asked. “I’m not really good with babies.”
“Don’t worry. Like my aunt said, it’ll be smooth sailing.”
The boys barely had time to sit back down before the sound of crying could be heard over the monitor.
“Smooth sailing, huh?” Noah said.
“Come on,” Luke replied. “Let’s go upstairs.”
They walked over to the nursery and looked over baby Ethan, crying his eyes out in his crib. Luke picked him up and held him against his chest, rocking back and forth in an attempt to stop the baby’s tears.
“Shh, Ethan,” Luke whispered, patting Ethan’s back. “Don’t cry...your brother Luke and your Uncle Noah are here....”
Noah grinned widely as he watched Luke care for his baby brother. It seemed as if there was no end to the love Luke had in his heart.
“He won’t stop crying,” Luke said. “Maybe you should hold him, Noah?”
“No way,” Noah replied, backing away. “I told you, I’m not good with babies.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, I don’t really have a lot of experience with them. I didn’t really take care of a lot of infants growing up on a military base.”
“Fine, then.” Luke was mildly annoyed. “I think he might be hungry. Let’s go back downstairs.”
Once they re-entered the kitchen, Luke began barking orders to Noah.
“Check inside the fridge and see if there are any bottles in there,” he said. Luke made sure to keep in motion, trying to calm Ethan’s sobbing.
Noah headed over to the refrigerator and opened the door. He spotted the bottles and called over to Luke.
“There’s like four of them in here,” he said.
“Okay, great,” Luke responded. “Can you get out a pot and start boiling some water?”
Noah frantically searched for a pot in the Snyder kitchen, unnerved by the sound of baby Ethan’s crying. After finding a suitable one, he immediately filled it with water from the kitchen sink and placed it on the stove.
“Now what?” Noah asked.
“We wait until it boils, and then we use it to warm the bottle,” Luke said.
It seemed like an eternity had passed when the water finally reached its boiling point. The constant crying was almost enough to make Noah take one of his textbooks and bash it against his own head.
“Go ahead and put the bottle in the water,” Luke directed. “We need to make sure the milk's warm, but not burning hot.”
“And how do we do that?” Noah asked.
“You just drop some of it on your arm.”
“Well, how do I know if it’s too hot?”
“You’ll know because your arm will start burning!” Luke could see that Noah remained puzzled.
“You know what, I’ll do it!” Luke exclaimed. “Here, you take Ethan!”
“But--“ Noah didn’t have time to protest further as Luke thrusted his baby brother onto him. Noah held Ethan at an arm’s length away from him and he began to cry even louder than before.
“Not like that!” Luke scolded. He stood behind Noah and positioned his boyfriend’s arms into the proper place. “Hold him against your chest...make sure you support his head and his back...and shake him gently also....”
Once he was holding Ethan properly, Noah began to get into the rhythm. He softly rocked back and forth, hoping to settle the child down.
“Talk to him too,” Luke instructed, as he walked over to the stove.
“What do I say?”
“Just try to calm him down!”
“Okay, okay!” Noah started whispering to Ethan. “Uh...don’t cry, Ethan...um...please stop crying?”
Surprisingly, Noah’s inexperienced touch began to calm the child down. His sobbing stopped and he began to coo. He turned his head to look at the expression on Ethan’s face and was delighted to see him smiling.
“Would you look at that,” Luke said. Noah glanced over at Luke and saw that he was smiling as well.
“What?” Noah asked.
“You two are just so adorable together,” Luke replied. He walked over to Noah and his brother, bottle in hand. “You want me to take him?”
“I think I’ve got it,” Noah replied knowingly.
“Well, do you want to feed him then?”
“Okay.”
Luke instructed Noah to sit down and position Ethan on his lap. He handed the bottle over to his boyfriend, and Noah offered it to the baby. Ethan took it right away.
“See?” Luke said, sitting down next to them. “You’re a natural. It looks like another Snyder man has succumbed to your charms,” he joked.
Noah smiled at Luke, then diverted his eyes back to little Ethan. “He kind of looks like your dad,” Noah said.
Luke nodded in agreement. The sight of Noah holding his baby brother was one to behold, yet it led Luke to think of other things.
“Do you ever think about having kids?” he asked.
“What?” Noah was clearly taken aback.
“Do you ever think about having kids?” Luke repeated. “Not now, of course, but...like, in the future?”
Noah thought for a moment. “Uh, I guess so,” he replied. “I mean, guess I would have them with my--with whoever I, uh....”
“I didn’t mean to freak you out,” Luke said apologetically.
“Relax,” said Noah, “you didn’t freak me out.”
Luke bowed his head, and Noah could tell he had something on his mind.
“Have you ever thought about it?” Noah asked him. “I mean, have you ever thought about having kids?”
“A little bit,” he answered. “I mean, I know we’re still young, and we’ve got our whole lives ahead of us, but...sometimes I just think about things like that...you know, like, getting married, and having kids, and all that other stuff, and I just wonder how I’m going to do all that....”
“What do you mean?” Noah asked. “Why can’t you do all that stuff like everyone else does?”
“Because, Noah....” Luke said.
“Because what?”
“Because...because you and I can’t do things like everyone else does.”
“Oh.” Noah finally understood what Luke meant. “So you’re saying because we’re gay, we can’t be like everyone else?”
“I didn’t mean it like that. Maybe they’re not the best example right now, but I know that everything my parents have, like a marriage, a family...I want to have that too, you know...with whoever...but I just don't know if it's possible.”
“Okay....” Noah said nervously.
“I’m sorry, I should have never brought any of this up,” Luke said. “It’s just something I was thinking about.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Noah said. “I’m--I’m glad you brought it up. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it too.” He took the bottle from Ethan and placed it on the kitchen table once he was done with it.
“When I was--denying my feelings,” he went on, “that was one of the things I was afraid of the most. It was like, people had all these expectations of me, and...if I was gay, I would never be able to meet any of them.”
“But then I met you, Luke,” Noah continued. He took Luke’s hand with his free one. “You showed me that things could change...that anything is possible. You might be scared that you won’t be able to have those things, but I know you. If you want to have them, you’ll do whatever you can do and you’ll have them. And knowing that...well, it makes me less afraid that I won’t have them either.”
Luke smiled. He wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of a pep talk, but it felt good nonetheless.
“Thanks,” he said. He stood up and kissed Noah on the forehead before bowing back down to talk to his baby brother. “You know what, Ethan? Your Uncle Noah’s just as smart as he is handsome.”
Noah looked down at the baby. “And so is your brother Luke,” he said, tickling the baby. Little Ethan giggled in return.
“So you still think you’re not any good with babies?” Luke asked.
“Things change,” Noah replied, with a confident smile.
THE END