This is a story very dear to my heart that I have been working on for a long time. I know the Brooke got pregnant and left storyline has been done a thousand times so a thousand and one can't hurt right?
I shall try and update once a week at least but real life can sometimes snowball. Also One Tree Hill and it's characters do not belong to me. They belong to MS and The CW.
1. "Broken windows and empty hallways. A pale dead moon in a sky streaked with gray. Human Kindness is overflowing. And I think it's going to rain today."
The rain was pouring down and soaking through each of her layers, as she wrapped her coat tightly around herself. Her whole body was shaking and as much as she would have liked to blame it on the cold she knew that the bitter weather had nothing to do with it. Walking to the end of the street she looked up at the large building, the last time she remembered being here was for Keith's funeral, a day that Tree Hill would forever mourn.
As she walked into the church Brooke was surprised to find that she didn't immediately burst into flames; after all she had committed a sin or two in her twenty-two years on this earth.
Sitting at the back of the church Brooke began to make a deal. She had only ever put her faith in God twice before. Once when she was nine-years-old and her friend Peyton's mother had been injured in a car accident, she had visited the church on the way home from school and prayed for Anna Sawyer to get better. Two days later the older woman had died, leaving Brooke doubting that there ever really was a God.
The second time had been when she had found herself eighteen, alone and pregnant, it was after she had lied to her ex-boyfriend Lucas Scott and told him that she wasn't pregnant, a lie that still haunted her to this very day. Not knowing who to turn to she had found herself praying for only the second time in her life, a prayer that again went unanswered as she found herself running away from everything she had ever known.
Now as she sat in the church surrounded by images of hope and faith Brooke found herself praying for the third time. Only this time she wasn't praying for herself, or for her best friend's mother but for the one person in the world that she would do anything for; her daughter.
"Amen," she whispered, her voice hoarse from weeks of crying.
Wiping at her eyes she made her way out of the church and down the street, running to avoid the rain she headed into the nearest open shop and as she stepped foot inside the warm, cozy café she felt like she had stepped back in time as she looked up to see the familiar logo of Karen's Café. Almost mechanically she ordered a triple shot latte and cheese toasty from the young teenage girl behind the counter.
Sitting down at an empty table she dug her iPhone out of her handbag, smiling at the image of her daughter that was her most recent screensaver Brooke scrolled through her list of favorites before she came to the familiar number, pressing send she couldn't help but allow herself another smile at the goofy image of her best friend; an image that Summer had taken.
"Hey Bitch," Rachel greeted as she picked up her cell phone and rested it under her chin.
"Right back at ya Slut," Brooke retorted as the young waitress placed her coffee and sandwich down in front of her. "Is Sum around?"
"She's sleeping," Rachel answered.
Brooke nodded. "I figured she would be. How has she been? Has there been any more vomit drama because if there is then-"
"She likes you to rub circles on her back until she falls asleep," Rachel finished for her.
"Has her temperature spiked again?" Brooke asked, she desperately wanted to be there, to hold her baby-girl in her arms and make it all go away. Instead she had taken a red-eye flight to North Carolina.
Rachel looked down at the young child sleeping on the couch, the way her dark eyelashes fanned out against her porcelain skin as she slept soundly, unaware of the drama that was about to unfold hundreds of miles away in Tree Hill. "It's been drama free here. We watched High School Musical, played on the Wii and then Sunny fell asleep."
"Thanks Rach. Give her a kiss for me eh?" Brooke asked as she took a sip of her coffee.
"Already have," Rachel reassured her as she ended the call and curled up next to her sleeping goddaughter. If you'd have told Rachel five-years-ago that this is how her life would be now, that she would be a responsible role model and godmother to Brooke's four-year-old daughter she would have laughed at you and downed another shot.
Then along came Summer and at four pounds and two ounces she had completely taken over Brooke and Rachel's lives, suddenly becoming successful and earning a living wasn't just about them anymore but it was about this perfect little being that relied on them for everything.
Hundreds of miles away in Tree Hill, North Carolina the same small child was the only thing on Brooke's mind as she finished up her coffee. She had known from the moment the first pregnancy test had come back positive that this moment was inevitable, but she had put it off for so long that a part of her had fooled the rest of her into believing that perhaps it didn't matter. That Summer had a mother and that was all she needed.
Five years later and here she was, ready to confront Lucas Scott with the news of a daughter he knew nothing about. She needed him. But more than that Summer needed him and Brooke was willing to do anything for her daughter. Even if it meant going back to five years ago. To a time of insecurity, heartbreak, pain and betrayal but if that was what she needed to do then she was willing to do it; for Summer's sake.
Pushing her sandwich to one side Brooke paid the bill before heading back outside, opening up her umbrella she was pleased to see that the rain had slowed down to a small trickle as she headed towards Lucas's childhood home. She had heard from Rachel, who had heard from Mouth that Lucas was staying there while Karen and Lily where with Andy in New Zealand for six months.
It didn't take her long to walk the familiar route, it was like riding a bike, once you walked the four blocks from Karen's Café to Lucas's house you never forget how to get from A to B.
Standing outside the familiar cream house Brooke studied it, not a lot appeared to have changed over the years except for the small pink girls bike that sat on the porch. Lucas's bedroom door was still painted the same angry shade of black, a constant reminder of Lucas's hurt over her betrayal with Chris Keller.
Taking a deep breath Brooke turned to walk away she was about to head back to the hotel when a media message appeared on her screen.
"Thought you might need an incentive to get your fat ass up to the door," it read as Brooke opened the video file that Rachel had sent her.
Taking a step away from the house, she waited for the video to download, raindrops were hitting the screen but Brooke didn't care as the shaky image appeared on the screen. Summer appeared on the screen wearing nothing more than her High School Musical panties as she sung along to the sing-a-long game on the Wii.
"We're soaring flying, there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach. If we're trying so we're breaking free. If the world can see-"
Summer stopped singing and turned towards the camera. "Rachie are you taping me?" she asked as a scowl crossing her innocent features.
Rachel nodded. "Sure am Kiddo."
"But I only have my panties on," Summer pointed out.
"So I see," Rachel said and even though Brooke couldn't see her friend's face she could hear the smile. "But it's only for your mom and she's allowed to see you naked."
"Is Momma on the other side of the phone?" Summer asked, her face lighting up.
Rachel moved closer so she could close up on the youngster's animated face. "Sort of. We're going to make a video message and send it to her, give her something to smile about."
"Can I say something?" Summer asked.
"Of course," Rachel replied as she moved the camera closer still. "You can say whatever you like it's your five minutes of fame Sunshine."
Putting the microphone down on the coffee table Summer waved and smiled at the camera. "Hi Momma. It's me Summer. Rachel said we're making you a video message. So this is my message; I love you Momma. You're the best. Even if you can't sing High School Musical very well," she added with a whisper. "But that's alright because I'm very good at it so it doesn't matter if you are really bad."
Brooke heard Rachel bite back a laugh at Summer's honesty. "Wrap it up Kiddo. There's only a few seconds left."
Walking towards the camera Summer blew a big kiss at the screen. "Miss you Momma and don't forget to bring me something really cool back," she concluded as she picked up the microphone and resumed singing.
"More than hope. More than Faith," Summer sung as the video came to an abrupt end.
"Thanks Slut," Brooke stuttered, trying to hold back the tears as she looked at the image of her best friend that had been saved next to her cell phone number.
Moving back to the main screen Brooke looked at the smiling image of her daughter one more time. "This is for you Sunshine," she whispered as she ran her fingers over the image of her daughter, putting her cell phone back in her pocket she made her way up the familiar steps.
Back in High School she probably would have used the door on the side of the house that led straight through to Lucas's room, but so much had gone on since then that she know longer knew the boy that lived behind the black door. So instead she knocked on the front door, her hands trembling as she waited for someone to answer.
It was only a matter of seconds before Brooke heard the shuffling of feet as someone opened the front door. Looking up she had expected to find Lucas staring back at her. Instead she was faced with a beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed woman that she didn't recognize.
"Hi" the woman said as Brooke stood there frozen to the spot.
"I-"
"Can I help you?" she asked when Brooke didn't say anything.
Biting her bottom lip Brooke took a deep breath as she found the courage to speak. "Sorry I must have made a mistake. Only I was looking for Lucas."
"Lucas Scott?" the woman asked.
Brooke nodded. "Yeah. He used to live here."
"He still does," she smiled. "I'm Lindsey, his girlfriend. I'll just get him for you," she smiled as she headed back into the house.
A part of Brooke knew it was selfish of her to expect Lucas to be single, but coming face-to-face with the latest woman in his life had hurt her in a way she had not expected. Taking a step backwards Brooke's fight or flight instinct told her to run but she couldn't, because it wasn't just her heart that was on the line anymore. She was a mother now and that meant that she had to put whatever she was feeling aside and concentrate on doing what was best for Summer.
"Br …Brooke," Lucas stuttered as he stood frozen in the doorway. Of all the people he had expected to find stood on his doorstep at eight o'clock in the morning Brooke Davies was not one of them.
Not knowing what else to say Brooke decided to get straight to the point. "Can we talk?"
"Five years without so much as a single word Brooke?" Lucas reminded her. "And now you turn up out of the blue and all of a sudden you want to talk," he ranted. "I've moved on Brooke. I have a life."
She could feel his anger bouncing off her as she nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I know. And I'm sorry for that but-"
"You just disappeared Brooke, I didn't even know if you were alive or dead until Rachel got in contact with Mouth, do you know what that did to everyone? To me? To Haley? To Peyton?" Lucas raged as he felt five years of suppressed feelings come rushing out.
"I know what I did Lucas, but five years ago I made a choice, it might not have been the right choice or who knows maybe it was but I made a choice and I can't change it. I just … I need to talk to you. Please?" Brooke pleaded.
As Lucas found himself really looking for her the first time in five years he couldn't help but nod. She was still as beautiful and enchanting as he remembered but there were subtle differences, things he hadn't noticed straight away like the pain and hope that seemed to swirl together in the hazel depths of her eyes and the way her smile didn't quite reach her dimples. And as he motioned for her to come in he saw the way that she played nervously with the charms on her bracelet.
"Not here," Brooke whispered.
"The café?" Luke suggested.
Brooke shook her head. "The river court?"
"It's freezing and raining," Lucas pointed out.
She had been so caught up in the moment that she had forgotten about the terrible weather that clouded the skies above her. "We can stay in the car."
"Okay," Lucas agreed, his initial anger beginning to abate as he found it replaced with a sense of longing, for so long he had wanted answers to so many questions and perhaps now, five years down the line he was finally going to get them. "I'll just go and let Lindsey know."
Walking back down the steps Brooke watched as a mother and two young children dressed in raincoats and rain boots splashed happily through the puddles. She longed for that to be her and Summer, for their lives to be as carefree as that.
"I'm ready," Lucas half said, half growled as he came up behind her and led her towards his car.
Silently Brooke climbed into the passenger seat of the SVU, waiting for Lucas to make the first move she buckled up her belt as he reversed the car out of the drive.
"I'm going to pick up a coffee and pastry on the way. You want anything?" Lucas asked.
"A triple shot latte please," Broke answered.
"That's a lot of caffeine," Lucas pointed out.
Brooke nodded, trying to stifle a yawn. "I haven't slept in nearly forty-eight hours."
"I'll just be a few minutes," Lucas mumbled as he headed out of the car and towards the café. Once inside he allowed his frustration to show as he banged his hand against the counter. A part of him knew that there had to be a reason that Brooke Davis had shown up on his doorstep after five years without so much a phone call or letter, and he couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with his latest book release and the dedications that he had made.
Ordering the drinks he leaned his head against the cool counter top, not caring that people were beginning to look.
"This book is dedicated to everyone that has ever entered my heart. Both those that are still here today and those that aren't. Mom - you were always my strength and my guiding light and I love you. Keith - I hope one day I can be just a fraction of the father you were because then I know I'll be doing something right. Haley - You've been my best friend for as long as I can remember and together we've faced the ups and downs of growing up, we've laughed and we've cried but through it all we've stayed true to our friendship and for that I thank you. Nathan - We we're brought into this world as enemies but over the years you've become my brother and best friend. J-Luke - you remind me what it's like to be innocent and believe the best in everything, something I wish I'd never lost. Brooke - You taught me how to have fun and that it doesn't matter how far apart you are from someone it's still possible to find love in the most unexpected places, and I hope that wherever you are you're happy Pretty Girl."
As Lucas remembered the familiar words he couldn't help but wonder if that was why she was here. If she'd read those words and needed to know what he had meant by them. Lifting his head off the counter he handed the waitress a ten dollar bill before mumbling that she could keep the change and heading out of the door.
Handing Brooke her coffee he placed his in the holder as he silently drove to the river court, parking on the familiar piece of land he watched as a tug boat made it's way down the river and through the rain.
"Five years Brooke," Lucas said, being the first to break the silence.
"I know," Brooke sighed.
"What brings you back Brooke?" Lucas asked.
Brooke wanted to lie, to tell him that it was a mistake, that she shouldn't have come but she couldn't. She knew that she had to tell him even if it meant him hating her for keeping such a huge secret from him. "I need your help Lucas."
"I-" of all the things Lucas had expected her to say that was not one of them.
"I've thought of a million ways to tell you but none of them seem like enough, it always seemed like there was something missing, like there was some excuse still left unsaid and in the end I realized that perhaps it was because there was no excuse big enough for what I've done. So I should just come out and say it but now that I'm here and you're here I-"
Lucas could hear the fear in her voice and it was starting to panic him. "Brooke what are you trying to say?"
"I lied Luke. At TRIC that night when you asked me if I was pregnant and i said no. I lied," Brooke whispered her voice barely audible in the deafening silence of the car.
"No. Please tell me you're lying now?" Lucas asked, unable to comprehend what she was saying.
Brooke shook her head. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Lucas scoffed. "You lied to me about something huge, about carrying my child and you expect sorry to cover it?"
"No," Brooke admitted. "But right now it's all I've got."
Lucas couldn't even look at her so instead he watched as the tug boat disappeared from view. "You were carrying my baby when you left?"
"Yes," Brooke answered.
"What happened to it?" Lucas asked, not even trying to hide his bitterness.
Brooke visibly flinched at his use of the word 'it' the last thing she wanted was for Lucas to blame Summer for her mistakes. "I kept her."
"Her?" Lucas asked, his voice softening as the enormity of her words began to sink in. He was a father. Somewhere out there he had a little girl that he had never met.
"Yeah. A beautiful little-girl," Brooke added, trying not to break down.
Lucas could feel his heart beating against his chest. "I have a daughter?"
"Yes," Brooke nodded, turning to face him, to see if she could decipher what he was feeling, but as she looked at his reflection in the mirror she could see so many emotions whirling in the blue depths of his eyes that it was hard decipher just one from all the chaos.
"Wow. I … How could you keep this from my Brooke? Was what I did to you really so awful that you felt you had to punish me like this?" Lucas asked, his voice thick with pain.
Brooke followed his gaze across to the river. "It wasn't about punishing you Lucas. It was about keeping my head above water. I was pregnant and scared and hurting, I didn't know what to do so when Rachel's parents said they were sending her to live with her Grandmother on the Upper East Side and she asked me to go it seemed like the answer."
"You should have told me," Lucas insisted.
"Maybe so, but I can't change what happened," Brooke pointed out.
Lucas knew that what she was saying was right, that however painful her decision they couldn't go back and change it. "What's her name?"
"Summer," Brooke whispered, no matter how bad the day or how dark the moment just the mention of her daughter managed to lift her spirits.
"Summer," Lucas repeated.
"Summer Karen Davies," Brooke added.
Lucas turned to face her for the first time since she had told him about the baby. "You named her after my mom?"
"Yes, she was one of the only people that was ever really there for me," Brooke explained. "And she is Summer's grandmother."
"Not that she knows it," Lucas spat, the bitterness creeping back in.
Brooke closed her eyes as she looked out at the sky, the rain had stopped and the sun was finally beginning to make it's presence known as a beautiful rainbow seemed to creep from one side of the river to the other. Getting out of the car she took her phone out and snapped a series of pictures.
"What are you doing?" Lucas asked, following her across to the bleachers.
"Taking a picture, Summer loves rainbows and this is beautiful," Brooke explained as she continued to take picture after picture.
Lucas nodded, this was all new to him. He had seen Brooke Davies in many roles before; matchmaker, cheerleader, school captain, best friend and girl friend but never before had he seen her in this role; mother. "You said you needed my help," Lucas reminded her.
"Yeah," Brooke breathed, her heart breaking as she thought about why she was really here, about the devastating diagnosis that had brought her back to Tree Hill.
"Is it money you need, I mean I've just published my second best seller so you must know that I have some," Lucas assumed, his anger clouding his judgment as he jumped in with both feet. He knew he was swinging from one emotion to the next but he had just had his whole world ripped out from under him.
Brooke looked down at her phone. "It's not money. I have money, I have a business, a home … Summer doesn't go without anything."
"Except a father," Lucas bitterly reminded her. "Unless there is someone else that she calls Daddy?"
"There's no one else," Brooke reassured her.
"Then what is it?" Lucas asked. "What is it you need from me after all these years Brooke?"
Brook looked down at the ground beneath the bleachers as Lucas sat down next to her. "Summer was eight weeks early, but she was perfect, a little small but perfect all the same. And for three years it stayed that way until a few weeks after her third birthday."
Hearing that made Lucas realize that he had missed so many milestones in his daughter's life from her first breath to her first step right through until her first day of kindergarten.
"She's sick Luke," Brooke finally admitted, her voice quivering under the enormity of her own words.
"Sick?" Luke repeated, he knew that could mean anything from a cold to something serious like HCM, and then it hit him, what if the only thing his daughter had received from him was a weak heart? "How sick?" he asked, although a part of him knew that Brooke wouldn't have flown all the way here for something as simple as the flu or chicken pox.
Brooke looked up from the ground. "She has leukemia."
"Leukemia?" Luke questioned.
"Yes, just after her third birthday she was diagnosed with a type of cancer called acute myeloid leukemia, AML, when she was diagnosed they said that her counts and some other factors made her high risk but she beat it Luke, she battled through months of chemotherapy and came out the other end," Brooke whispered.
Lucas felt like he was on the most terrifying ride of his life. In the space of half-an-hour he had discovered that he had a daughter he knew nothing about and that she was sick, really sick. "But she's alright now?"
"She was. For eight month she was in remission but it came back, she's having chemotherapy again but her doctor's think that the only was they can put her back into remission and hope for a cure is a bone marrow transplant. They've been searching the bone marrow registers across the world for a donor but-"
"No match?" Lucas asked, his heart dropping into his shoes.
Brooke nodded. "There's a small chance of parents being a match so I was tested straight away and I … I can't help her Luke. She's my little girl and there's nothing I can do."
"You want to know if I might be a match?" Lucas realized as he turned to face her.
"Yeah," Brooke cried. "I know it's a long shot but I have to try, I can't just give up she's only four-years-old Luke she doesn't deserve this."
Lucas knew straight away that he would do it, that he would get tested but first he needed to know something, a question that only Brooke could answer. "If this had never happened. If Summer had never got sick would I have ever known about her?"
"I don't know," Brooke honestly admitted. "Maybe one day. Maybe never."
"Can I see her?" Lucas asked. "I mean all of a sudden I find out that I have a child. A little-girl who needs me and I'm not there. I've never held her when she's been sad or made her laugh, I've never taught her how to shoot hoops or to read a book and now I find out that she could be dying and I don't know what I'm supposed to do that with that."
"I'm sorry," Brooke apologized.
Lucas stood up from the bleachers and paced the ground in front of them. "I don't know what to feel. I'm angry that you've kept her from me for so long. And I'm sad that she's so sick and I wasn't able to be there. But also a part of me is breaking apart because in one breath I found out that I have a daughter and in the next breath you tell me that she could be taken away from me. That before I even have the chance to be a father to her she could die."
"Some nights I just hold her in my arms and I beg her to fight, I know it's selfish but I'm not ready to let her go yet Luke. If there's any chance at all that you or anyone could be a match then I'm going to hunt down everyone and make them get tested," Brooke sobbed, finally letting her helplessness at the situation take control of her emotions.
"You didn't answer my question," Luke reminded her, choosing to ignore her breakdown as he didn't know what to say or do to it. For an author he was suddenly lost for words.
"What question?" Brooke asked, wiping at her tears.
Without thinking about Lukas sat back down and took her hand in his. "I want to see her. I want to meet my daughter."
"She's in New York," Brooke explained. "Her doctors are there and everything she knows is there."
"Then lets go," Lucas exclaimed.
"Just like that?" Brooke wondered, it wasn't that she didn't want Lucas to meet Summer but suddenly it was all happening too quickly and even though the rational part of her brain knew that time was something she didn't have enough of to play with another part of it wanted to keep her past and present apart for a little while longer.
Lucas nodded. "What else did you expect me to do Brooke? You come down here and tell me that we have a daughter and she needs me. Did you think I wouldn't be there?"
"No. I knew you would be there," Brooke smiled, her first real smile of the day. "Because that's who you are Luke. You're the guy that always has to save the girl."
"Maybe," Luke breathed. "But it's different this time," he continued, his voice dipping so it was barely audible against the background noise at the river court. "The girl is my little girl, my daughter. I have a daughter. God … I'm a father. I'm her father."
Brooke squeezed his hand in what she thought was a reassuring gesture. "Scary isn't it?"
"Just a little," Lucas admitted.
"The first time I held her in my arms she was so tiny, and I didn't know how I was going to do it, how I was going to be everything she needed but we learnt together and we got good at it, Summer she's … she's my everything and she'll make it easy for you too, she's got a great heart and she still has the innocence of childhood despite everything she's been through," Brooke smiled, her heart filling with pride as she talked about her daughter.
Lucas looked over at her, at the way her eyes sparkled as she spoke about Summer. "She must get that from you then."
"What?" Brooke wondered.
"The great heart," Lucas smiled as he pulled her into him.
Feeling comforted in his arms Brooke took her phone out. "Look Luke the doctors in New York said you can get tested here and your results sent there, they also said that if the Bone Marrow Transplant happens then it can happen at Duke if need be."
"Really?" Lucas asked.
Brooke nodded. "Yeah."
"This doesn't mean I forgive you Brooke. This is just two people finding comfort in familiar faces and a shared bond. Our daughter," Lucas explained talking about the way he was holding her in his arms.
"I know," Brooke agreed.
Lucas looked across the river at where the rainbow disappeared behind the buildings. "What does she look like?"
"I'll show you," Brooke smiled as she pulled up the video that Rachel had sent her earlier.
"Is that Rachel?" Lucas asked.
"Yep," Brooke chuckled. "She's been with us from the start, Sunny idolizes her and she's been a great support to us, through it all."
Taking the phone from her Lucas watched as Summer sung along to the High School Musical song, a song that he had heard Lily sing many times. Unlike Brooke had earlier though he was drawn to the fact she had no hair and the small white tube that that was taped to her chest in a S-shape.
"She's so beautiful Brooke," Lucas whispered, his voice heavy with tears and she was, even though she had no hair and a central line attached to her chest he could see that she had Brooke's dimples and smile but that her eyes were all his.
"I know, we did good huh?" Brooke asked.
Lucas couldn't help but agree. "We did real good. But seeing this, she has no hair and that tube in her chest it makes it all so real. You hear the word cancer but … seeing it."
"You know when Rachel sent me that I didn't see it because I don't see it anymore, the hair loss, the central line, all of it just melts away and she's just my little Sunshine," Brooke explained.
"What happens now?" Lucas asked, handing her back the phone.
Bringing the phone up to her lips Brooke kissed her daughter's smiling face. "We fight with everything we've got to help her make it through this. It's not about us anymore Luke, we're not high school kids. We're parents. We're her parents and Summer is all that matters."