Okay so this is my very first One Tree Hill fic. I hope you all like it. Many thanks to Bec, the author of Fall to Pieces, a wonderful Naley fic. Enjoy and I want reviews! Good or bad just don't be mean. ;-)

"I don't understand," eight year old Lucas Scott looked at his mother in confusion.

Karen Roe sighed and rubbed her forehead as she tried to explain the situation to her young son again. "Lucas, when I was in school Manhattan Cromwell was my best friend, like Haley is your best friend, you understand?"

"Karen, I did something so stupid last night," Manhattan's blue eyes were filled with tears. "But before I tell you, you have to know that I was trying to help you.

"Manny, you can tell me anything," Karen said softly, truly worried.

Lucas nodded.

"Okay. Well, after we graduated Manhattan got pregnant too but she moved away to have the baby." Karen paused. This was where the story got sticky. She looked at Keith and then back at Lucas. "Sweetie, Manhattan had a little girl. She's your sister."

"Karen, it's Maddie Andrews. How are you doing sweetie?"

Karen's brow furrowed. Maddie Andrews was Manhattan's maternal grandmother. She hadn't talked to her since she was a sophomore in high school. That was when Maddie had vacated the Andrews family home, turning it over to Manhattan's parents, and moved to Florida.

"Karen, are you there?"

"I'm sorry," Karen said. "Yes, I'm here. How are you Mrs. Andrews?"

"None of that Mrs. Andrews business. I've known you since you were six. You call me Maddie."

Karen smiled, "Alright. Is everything okay? Did Manny have you call?"

"No. Manhattan did not tell me to call but she is the reason I am calling."

"What is it?"

"Oh Karen, I'm so sorry to tell you this but Manhattan has passed on."

"What?"

"Dan is her father too," Keith said as he sat beside Karen facing the young boy.

"You should go to the police," Keith said looking at his friend.

"No. I don't want that."

"Why not?"

"Because, Keith I can't remember what happened."

"You know you had sex."

"I might have said yes."

"If you can't remember what you said, then it's rape, Manny," Keith told her. "You should go to the police."

"No. I'm leaving. I'm not coming back. That's enough." Manhattan looked up when her flight was called. She got to her feet and Keith did the same. She hugged the older boy. "Take care of them, okay? They're going to need you because God only knows if Dan's going to be around."

"I will. Take care of yourself, Manny."

She nodded against his shoulder and then pulled away. Just as she was about to get on the plane she turned back and looked at him, "I'll send you pictures of the baby. Tell Karen for me."

It took Keith a minute but he finally nodded, "I will."

"But I thought you and Manhattan were friends."

"We were," Karen said. "It's not a good story Lucas and the reasons don't matter but what does matter is that Maureen Cromwell is your sister."

"Where is she?"

"Right now, she's in Florida with her great aunt. But soon she'll be here in Tree Hill with us."

"May I speak with Karen Roe?"

"This is she."

"Karen, this is Mabel Higgins. I don't know if you remember me, but I was Manhattan Cromwell's great aunt."

"Yes, I do remember you," Karen said as an image of a woman with riotous red hair and vivid green eyes flashed through her memory. "You lived in Texas."

"Karen, the reason I'm calling is because my sister Maddie died last night."

"Oh, I am so sorry."

"So was I. Luckily, I was visiting her and Maureen at the time so that poor child didn't have to deal with everything by herself."

Karen's heart skipped a beat when Mabel mentioned Maureen. Maddie had kept Manhattan's promise of sending pictures to Keith. The little girl looked just like her mother when she was young with her light brown hair and big blue eyes.

"Karen, are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"Well, I was saying that Manhattan's parents are both gone now."

"I'd heard that yes. Maddie called to tell me about the train crash. I'm sorry for that too."

"You don't have to put up a front with me Karen. My niece was a wretched creature. She hadn't spoken to my sister in two years when that accident happened."

"I didn't know that."

"It was ugly business the will thing but Manhattan barely survived her parents' home. She wasn't about to send Maureen into that hell if something happened to her."

Karen let out a soft 'hmph' as she remembered her friend's parents. Mona and James Cromwell had not been the warmest of people, so different from her own parents. Oliver and Cynthia Roe had taken Manhattan into their home and treated her as another daughter from the time the girls were six years old.

"I remember."

"I'm sure you do. That's actually why I'm calling. It's about what Maddie's will says."

"Oh?"

"Well, now that Maureen is the only remaining Andrews/Cromwell she's a rather wealthy young woman. Her grandparents left their estate to their daughter and because she's gone it reverted to Maureen."

"I see."

"I've also talked to my sister's lawyer. It would seem that my sister made provisions for Maureen's education by way of a trust fund. There's a separate one that she will receive on her twenty-first birthday but Maddie set that up with the same law firm that her son-in-law's family used for years. Manhattan, as I'm sure you're aware, also had a trust fund."

"Yes. When we were young she used to say she was going to donate it all to a homeless shelter on her twenty-first birthday."

Mabel laughed a little, "That sounds like Manhattan. Karen, Manhattan made a provision in her will. It said that if anything happened to her grandmother that you would receive custody of Maureen."

"What?"

"There's a letter of explanation that will be arriving soon. You will also be given Manhattan's trust fund but there is a condition."

"What is it?"

"You have to use the money to keep Maureen and your son as far away from Dan Scott's world as you can for as long as you can without leaving Tree Hill. Apparently she always wanted Maureen to know what it was to grow up in Tree Hill."

"My house only has two bedrooms."

"Maddie was aware of that. She left more than enough for an addition of another bedroom."

Karen paused and then spoke, "Am I going to be Maureen's guardian?"

"No. Manhattan wanted you to adopt her. She wants her to have the last name Roe. She doesn't want her to have any connection to Dan or the Cromwells."

"I can't adopt her without Dan's permission."

"Yes, you can. I talked to the lawyer about this. Dan wasn't named on the birth certificate and according the law if a parent isn't named than after two years they don't have rights. Dan lost any and all rights to Maureen six years ago."

"I see. When would she be here?"

"Then you'll do it?"

"Manny was my best friend and this is what she wanted. Of course I'll do it."

"Thank you so much Karen."

"When is she coming?"

"The day after tomorrow," Karen said. "We're going to be adding another room to the house for her." Karen paused and looked at Keith.

Keith took over, "And Lucas, you know how you were telling me that Nathan and his friends were teasing you the other day?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you're not going to have to go to school with them anymore. You and Maureen are going to be going to St. Bernadette's."

Lucas made a face, "What about my friends?"

"You'll still see them every day after school and on weekends. The best part," Karen smiled, "is that you'll get days off that they won't. Days when they'll be stuck in school and you can play all day long."

"Cool," Lucas smiled. "I gotta go tell Haley."

"Wait. Lucas there's one more thing. You can't tell anyone that Maureen's Dan's daughter. Her mother never wanted him to know about her."

Lucas nodded, his blue eyes wide. He could understand this part. There were days when he wished he didn't know that Dan was his father.

"You promise?"

"I promise."