She's Mine to Protect(Lucas Baker Fanfic)(A Baker's Flower Series #1)

The Fight

July 2013

    "Is he yours?" Jack Baker asked his son Lucas for the fifth time that evening. They stood there looking in on a small three-year-old with dusty brown hair who Lucas couldn't deny resembled himself in a way. They had the same nose, ears and eyes but all the tests turned out negative; there was no way it was his son. The kid was the result of his mother being kidnapped a little over three years ago, a story that still would almost bring tears to Lucas' eyes; it killed him that he hadn't been there to protect her.

    The boy sat in front of the TV playing with some of Lucas' old action figures while facing his mother, Lucas' girlfriend, who was sitting on the old couch and looking at her phone. Lucas stood in the dining room with his father, partly regretting having given into his mother's nagging to invite the two over for dinner.
    "No," he growled in nothing more than a whisper "as much as I wish he was, Toby ain't mine."
    "He sure looks a hell of a lot like you." Zoe, the second Baker child, chimed in from washing the dishes in the kitchen in a voice too loud for Lucas' comfort.
    He mumbled something along the lines of "shut up" and then made his way over to the couch to sit beside his girl. She lifted her head up from staring at her phone to receive a kiss on the cheek from him but then immediately returned to whatever she had been reading. He snickered at her dedication to the phone, reached over and yanked up the hood of the hoodie she was wearing, which actually was his own prized and favourite hoodie. Lucas had a feeling he wouldn't be getting it back any time soon.
    He scooted a little closer to the girl to put a hugging arm around her shoulders, attempting to cuddle without tearing her away from her precious screen. He still couldn't believe he had this beautiful girl to call his. Miss Chrysanthemum Richards; light brown waves rested on her shoulders and very little make-up besides some mascara which she claimed opened up her eyes. Although, of course, she didn't need it; to Lucas, she was perfect.
    "Lucas?"
    "Yeah?"
    "You're staring at me again."
    "You're just that beautiful."
    "Shut up."
    And then they'd laugh like they did every time they had that same exchange.

    The storm had hit at about five-thirty, the rain pounding on the windows. The raging weather had come out of nowhere and didn't appear to be leaving any time soon. The Bakers sat at the dining room table along with their two guests as they ate their meal and listened to the rain in an awkward silence. Chrys sat beside Lucas who had Toby sitting on his lap due to a lack of chairs; he didn't mind though, he loved Toby as if he was his own son and Toby would have no problem with having Lucas as a dad. In fact, he had been known to ask Lucas in the past if he would one day be his daddy; Lucas, of course, didn't have an answer.
    Throughout dinner Chrys would look out the window in worry, making Lucas uneasy as well. While the two of them cherished the few moments they rarely had in each other's physical company, they also both knew it might not end well if Chrys and Toby had to stay the night at the Baker's. They had hid their relationship from both sets of parents for a few years until only two months before when Zoe caught the two of them doing a video chat and then proceeded to release the information over dinner that night. It was then that their mother implored him to invite Chrys over for supper.
    After the silence had finally been broken, the conversation during the meal was kept up mostly by Jack and his wife Marguerite with a little help from Zoe and Toby but not a word from Lucas or Chrys. Eventually Marguerite, being the mother that she was, put out the suggestion that the teenage couple didn't want to hear.
    "Chrys honey, you two should stay here for the night, it's too dangerous to be driving in this weather. You could borrow some pyjamas from Zoe and I'm sure we could find some of Lucas' old ones for Toby to wear."
    "Yay! Sleepover!" Toby cheered, throwing his fists up and almost punching Lucas in the face. Chrys and Lucas exchanged looks of worry.
    "Look, I really appreciate the offer but we really should be going home. Ya know, to sleep in our own beds." Chrys said as polite as she could.
    "Don't be ridiculous," Jack replied "it's more than an hour's drive home for you and as someone who just recently got her license, you should be staying put. That rain ain't gonna do nothing but pour harder an' you don't wanna get stuck in it."
    And when Jack laid down the rules there was no arguing with him.
    Chrys sighed. "Okay, I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay." Which got another round of hoorays from Toby.
    "Good. Then how 'bout Toby sleeps in Lucas' old room and Chrys can have the guest room." Marguerite offered.
    She was answered by an immediate chorus of loud no's. Chrys, Lucas and Toby all shouted in unison against the idea but Toby's voice rose above the rest.
    "I ain't gonna sleep without my mama!" He screamed several times before Lucas was able to calm him down by pulling him into a hug and assuring him that they'd work it out and it'd be fine. It didn't stop the crying but he did quiet down somewhat. Lucas knew he had to find an equilibrium between what everyone wanted; or at least for what he, Chrys and Toby wanted.
    "Chrys and I can sleep together." Lucas announced causing the room to go death quiet. They all stared at him in disbelief, not believing he had the nerve to say what he just did.
    Jack finally broke the silence.
    "Like hell you will. You think we could trust you two to sleep together? We don't need another kid like Toby running around here. Now, you're all gonna sleep where your mother puts you and that's final!" He shouted, slamming his fist down on the table to further implement how serious he was, knocking over his glass and spilling water all over the table. Toby started crying again but this time Lucas made no attempt to console him. He needed to settle a score with his father first.
    "First off, you can't tell us what to do, we're almost adults and we'll sleep wherever we damn well please! And second, fuck you Old Man!"
    This earned him a slap across the face from his father. Handing Toby over to Chrys, Lucas jumped up to his feet andprepared to full on attack Jack with no mercy. The two closed in on each other, Jack clearly more than capable of beating Lucas to a bloody mess but Lucas wouldn't back down. Especially not in front of his girlfriend.
    "Enough, stop it!" Marguerite shrieked.
    "Daddy come on! It ain't worth it." Zoe offered to try to help the situation.
    "Yeah Lucas! You can take him!" Toby chimed in in an attempt to encourage Lucas, now having stopped crying, but was only shushed by his mother.
    Chrys remained silent throughout the whole thing. She knew that adding her opinion to the pot would only enrage Jack more. So she just sat there holding her son close to her and praying this would end quickly and with little regret the next morning.
    Then finally it happened. Lucas let loose the first swing, catching his father's chin and knocking Jack back a step. Jack then wasted no time in giving one back to his son, except his punch landed on Lucas' nose. The force behind the punch was many times stronger than what his son had hit him with, sending Lucas crashing to the wooden floor. Blood began streaming from his nose, covering the bottom half of his face and some of the floor in red.
    "You son of a bitch." Jack growled and proceeded to kick Lucas in his gut while he was still on the ground.
    It was with that that Chrys had had enough. With what appeared to be one swift motion, she placed Toby on Lucas' empty chair and raced over to the fight. She knew her best option was to put herself between her boyfriend and his angered father but it was also the most dangerous option. Deciding to act on it, she put herself in between the two men as the older man was preparing another kick. She placed her hands on his biceps and tried to push him away.
    "Stop it!" She yelled in frustration.
    "Get out the way, this don't concern you." He snarled before grabbing her by the shoulders and tossing her to the side, causing her body to collide with kitchen table and her head with the chair occupied by Toby. The three who were still sitting at the table could only look on in shock, Toby expressing deep fear for his mother's wellbeing.
    After a couple more kicks Jack had stopped for a moment to watch how Chrys reacted to the hit she took but when she wasn't getting up he began to worry. He then started looking from the girl to his son repeatedly until the guilt hit him hard. The looks of fear and sadness on the faces of his wife and daughter tore at him until he couldn't take it anymore. After taking one last look at the damage he caused to his son and his guest he darted out of the dining room, heading down the hall to the main hall and then out the back door.