Centre of His World

Chapter 27

A week had past and Luke seemed tobe doing much better. He couldn't walk without his crutches, since he had a broken leg, and his concussion caused him minor headaches, but he saidhe was fine.

Caroline was doing better too. She didn't stop crying and blaming herself until Luke said something. She had been laying him down for the night and Luke noticed the tears. He remembered how he reached out and held her cheek gently.

"Caroline, why are you crying?" he had asked.

"I was scared. I thought I was going to lose you. Luke, I love you. It was hard seeing the love of my life in pain. I was worried that I'd never hear your voice again or see your beautiful eyes. I thought I lost you, for real."

Luke had smiled beforw her brought her into a hug. "Everything will be okay, I love you, baby. Always. I'm not going anywhere."

Now, Caroline seemed happier as she danced around the kitchen, cooking up breakfast. Kelly was fastened in her highchair, playing with a bowlof yogurt. Til, who LeClaire had finally let back into Luke's life, was just walking down the stairs. Luke sat at the island.

Til joined him and gave out a big yawn. "Hey, Uncle Luke? Can I ask you something?"

"What's that?" Luke asked as he turned to face him.

"What was it like when you got hurt? When you were in a coma?" Til quizzed him.

Caroline turned, the look on her face wasn't pleasant. Til knew that he had made a mistake by asking this question. "Til Cheshire! Why on earth would you askyour uncle something like that?"

"I'm sorry, Aunt Caroline. I won't ever ask him again," Til said as he hung his head down.

Luke put his hand on Caroline's arm, relaxing her. He knew that this was a sensitive thing for her. It was for him too. "It's fine, baby. Til was only curious."

"But-"

"No, buts, Carol. It's fine, I promise," Luke assured his fiancée with a small smile. He then turned to Til. "I really don't remember anything. All I know is that, I was walking across the street, listening to some Brooks & Dunn when I was hit by a truck. I don't remember hitting the grown or feeling pain or hearing Caroline screaming. The next thing I knew, I woke up in pain and having my family crowded around me. I knew I was in a hospital. What hurt me the most wasn't my leg or even my head, it was seeing my beautiful fiancée crying and exhausted. That's all I remember."

Til nodded his head. Caroline placed his breakfast in front of him and soon, Til started chowing down on his food. She the placed down Luke's food and he suddenly felt sick. Caroline noticed and moved the food away. She leaned across the island and took Luke's hands in hers.

Luke looked away from her, not wanting her to see how much pain he was truly in. "Luke, baby? Please talk to me."

Tears started welling up in his eyes and Caroline knew exactly what he was thinking. "Caroline, you don't deserve me. I'm not who I was anymore. I'm never going to get better."

"Honey, I love you for you. I don't whether you get better or not. I just want you. And you are no different today than you were the day you were born," Caroline smiled. "Just don't give up."

"Yeah, Uncle Luke," Til chimed in. "She's right. You didn't change one bit after Aunt May died. You are the same awesome man you were before. Girls still love you, boys still want to be you. You're still an amazing uncle and dad. And Aunt Caroline is your fiancée. You gotta admit it, you snagged yourself a pretty good looking girl."

Luke smiled and shook his head. "I'm sorry, guys, I really am. I just feel so useless now."

"Useless or not, I still love you and I'm still gonna marry you," Caroline whispered as she kissed his cheek.

"Hey," Til cut in. "I don't want to kill the mood or anything, but why didn't I know about the baby?"

Luke cringed. "Shit. I forgot to tell y'all, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but it's fine. We're all excited," Til explained. He then poked his eggs with his fork. He seemed, lost. As if he didn't know what to do or say.

Luke grabbed his arm, bringing his nephew's attention to him. "Everything okay?"

"There's this girl I like. I want to ask her out, but I'm not sure if I love her, you know? Uncle Luke, how do you know when you love someone?"

"Oh, boy," Luke exasperated. "I know what it's like to not be in love and to be in love. With May, I wasn't in love. Don't get me wrong, I loved your aunt, but not in that way. I guess I thought I did. I never kissed her the way I kiss Carol, or held her the way I hold her. I never felt sparks igniting with May. I feel bombs, fireworks, flames with Caroline. I'm in love with Caroline, there's no doubt about that."

"So," Til started. "I need to take a chance and see what my feelings are?"

Luke shook his head with a smile. "Do you believe in love at first sight?"

Til shrugged, shaking his head slowly. "No, that can't be real."

"Well, you should. I do, I didn't at first, but now I do. The moment I saw Caroline, I knew that I was goig to marry her and love her. Even if we were barely acquainted. I felt sparks, my heart was fluttering,and I couldn't stop looking at her pretty face," Luke told his nephew. "I was... in love."

Caroline came over and kissed Luke's forehead with a smile. Til watched as his uncle repeated the same action, pulling his fiancée closer to him. Til thought for a moment, that was the way he felt when he saw Lexi.

"Oh, my gosh! Uncle Luke, I think I do love her! I'm gonna go call her!" It was with that, that Til took off to his room.

Caroline smiled as she looked at Luke, scanning him over. She couldn't wait to be able to love on him again, once his leg healed of course. She helped him up and Luke hopped, with the help of Caroline's support, to the living room.

She laid him down on the couch and grabbed a blanket to cover him up. Luke smiled. Caroline went to get him a glass of water, but he grabbed her arm. "Lay with me?"

Caroline turned around and gave him a skeptical look. "You're such a child."

"What? I want my baby to cuddle me," Luke smiled cheekily. "I want her to kiss me and love me."

She rolled her eyes before laying on top of Luke, resting her head on his chest. He began to hum To The Moon And Back, his heartbeat and the scent of his cologne lulling her to sleep.

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A/N: Yeah, yeah. A short update, but just be glad you got one, because you ain't getting another one until, Monday? Wednesday? I have to work for the rest of the week. BUT, that's fine, cause I work at Micky D's, which means I can get a cute emoji Happy Meal on a discount! No, seriously, the McDonald's toy is plush emoji's. Weird, right? So, let me know what you thing of the chapter. Sorry, I had no questions planned. ~Kelsea

7 comments to update!

Here's the Happy Meal toy. It's pretty cute.