TWD - Zomboid - Chapter 305: Jade Joins In (Patreon)

Luke was still a little dazed when he got home.

Jade really was open-minded.

In the end, all he could do was shake his head.

Maggie and Beth were both home, while Rosita hadn’t returned yet.

Maggie could tell at a glance that Luke seemed a little down. Finding it amusing, she asked what kind of “good news” he’d run into.

Luke glanced at Maggie without bothering to explain.

He walked straight over, scooped her into his arms, and carried her into the bedroom.

His sister-in-law watched eagerly from the side.

A little while later, Luke came back out to get some water.

Hehe, she knew Luke wouldn’t forget about her!

Beth spread her arms, waiting for him to pick her up.

“You stay right there!”

Luke merely patted her on the head.

“You can’t join us this time. Otherwise, things might go wrong!”

Beth gave a coquettish huff and turned her head away, pretending to be angry.

But Luke had already taken the water back into the bedroom and practically sealed the door shut.

“What are you planning?” Maggie asked as she started taking off her clothes.

“I’ve got a lot of pent-up energy today. I need an opponent who can keep up with me, so don’t disappoint me!”

“That serious?”

Maggie was immediately ready for him, anticipation written all over her face.

After all, it was always the man who wore out first.

Besides, Maggie was still young. Now that she’d gotten a taste for it, her appetite only seemed to keep growing.

This particular “firefighting operation” lasted all the way into the evening.

When Rosita came through the door, the first thing she saw was Beth making faces at the bedroom door with a resentful expression.

“Why are you fighting with the door again?” Rosita asked.

“Because they never let me join in!” Beth grumbled.

Rosita immediately understood what the couple inside were doing.

Without another word, she walked over and lightly knocked on the door.

“Open the door! Rosita needs to conduct an important investigation!”

The door cracked open, and Luke poked his head out.

The moment he saw Rosita, he grabbed her and pulled her inside.

“Get in here!”

Rosita let out a startled yelp.

“But Beth...”

“Want me to send you back out?”

“No! Beth’s been getting spoiled lately. She needs some discipline. We’re not letting her join us!” Rosita immediately changed sides.

Beth had followed Rosita over and tried to squeeze through the doorway so she could happily join the firefighting operation too.

Unfortunately, Luke was faster and shut the door right in front of her.

“Waaah! Why won’t you let me in? That’s not fair! You’re all excluding me!” Beth pounded on the door and wailed, “Let me in! Hurry up and let me in!”

No one inside paid her any attention.

Once Luke explained what he was after, Maggie and Rosita’s combat effectiveness instantly increased by 200%.

As for Beth...

Go play somewhere else!

This event was too high-level for her right now. She wasn’t ready to participate.

She could wait for the rerun.

The event continued late into the night.

“So, have you thought of a name yet?” Maggie propped herself up on one arm, reached across Luke, and poured herself a glass of water.

Do enough of this and dehydration was bound to become a problem.

“What name?”

“Quit playing dumb. The baby’s name, obviously!”

Luke shook his head.

“Just don’t name him ‘Director Luke.’ I’ve got bad memories associated with that.”

Rosita was already imagining the future.

“Forget the name. We should decide how many kids we’re having first. It’s not like we’d have trouble raising them. Why not make a whole basketball team?”

Maggie’s head hurt just hearing that.

“What are you, a baby-making machine? Why stop at a basketball team? Have enough for a soccer team and the Commonwealth can build you your own stadium!”

“So what? We’ve got plenty of room!”

Luke didn’t even know what to say.

“If you have that many kids, one of them could get kidnapped and you wouldn’t notice until a year later.”

Rosita wrapped both hands around Luke’s arm and kept shaking it.

“I don’t care!”

Maggie sighed.

After all this time, there clearly wasn’t anything wrong with Luke.

Did that mean the problem was with them?

That didn’t make sense either!

It had been so long already. Why was getting pregnant proving this difficult?

Logically speaking, she had been here first!

So how had that woman managed to overtake her?

Maggie tossed and turned until dawn.

Luke was suddenly shaken awake.

The moment he opened his eyes, he understood.

“There’s no need to rush this much. We’ve got the whole next month to work on it anyway!”

“Shh, shh, shh! Focus. No multitasking, alright?”

Maggie covered Luke’s mouth and refused to let him talk.

...

Over the next few days, Luke settled into a three-stop routine.

During the day, he stayed at Ada’s place until the Pajama Queen finally got sick of him hovering around and kicked him out.

Then Luke would go check on Ellie.

He wondered how the girl was adjusting.

Living under someone else’s roof probably wasn’t easy.

“What are you doing at my house?” Ellie opened the door with a look of obvious resistance.

This guy was here to bother Coach Jade again!

Luke: “...”

Well, look at that.

She’d adapted pretty fast.

“Ellie, is that Luke at the door?” Jade called from the kitchen.

Judging by all the sizzling and clattering, Jade was clearly showing off her cooking skills.

At first, Luke had only come by to check on Ellie and never stayed for long.

But Jade’s food happened to go very well with drinks.

Every time he came over, he ate extremely well.

And Luke could be pretty vindictive.

Anything he lost, he had to win back!

Before long, Jade had gone from a badass capable of taking on four grown men by herself to somehow becoming the cook.

Most of what she made was salty and spicy, which happened to suit Luke’s tastes perfectly.

Yes.

Just the food.

“Ellie? Answer me. Is that Luke at the door?” Jade was busy grilling meat and couldn’t come over herself.

“No. Nobody important!”

Ellie immediately tried to close the door.

“Hey, you little brat! Do you want Joel back or not?”

Luke planted a hand on the girl’s head and pushed her backward.

Ellie tried to hit him, but her arms were a little too short to reach.

“Ha! Can’t reach me!”

“Tch!”

Ellie slapped Luke’s hand away and returned to the dining table.

“Luke, I’m making meat wraps today. Have you eaten yet?”

Under her apron, Jade was dressed in nothing more than lightweight workout clothes.

They showed off her healthy figure perfectly. Tanned skin, graceful curves, and a toned waist that clearly belonged to someone with real strength...

In short, this place was dangerously comfortable.

“No. Where’s Rahim this time?” Luke asked casually.

“Oh, I decided he needed to learn some independence, so I had him move out for now. He has a girlfriend, and I need to unwind regularly myself. Work gets stressful, after all...”

“When two people share a place, they inevitably get in each other’s way sometimes. Anyway, you know what I mean.”

Luke nodded.

Alright.

Definitely his real sister.

“Ellie, the new punching bag we ordered should arrive soon. Hang it up yourself, okay? I might be a little busy,” Jade told her.

Ellie answered gloomily.

“Fine.”

What could Jade possibly be busy with?

Probably another lengthy discussion about the practical applications of “drilling.”

“She’s doing pretty well. She’s got a lot of potential, and her movements are already clean and decisive...” Jade said tentatively. “Ellie... she’ll be staying here for a while, right?”

As long as Ellie stayed here, Jade would have an excuse to call Luke over for a bite...

No, wait.

To supervise her work as Ellie’s coach.

And of course, considering everything Luke had done for her in the past, cooking him a nice meal to repay the favor was perfectly reasonable, wasn’t it?