Brooke peered down into the crib. She smiled to herself about the sleeping infants that lay in front of her. She couldn't help but smile at them, her precious babies.
Brooke had only had them home for three weeks at this point. They were to be three months old in just a few days; Brooke couldn't believe how time had flown by. She felt like just yesterday she had given birth to them. She remembered that day with such detail that to her, she imagined, it would always feel like yesterday.
The date had been November 19 of 2010. She had graduated college just six months earlier. She was in bed as per the doctor's request. "Bed Rest" she remembered them telling her when she'd been about 25 weeks along. She knew though that this was her best option: her's and their's. She lay dreaming of the life she would lead after their births, what they would look like and who they'd become.
Sadly, she spent much of this time alone. Her dog, Leni, spent the days in bed next to Brooke, while her college roommate would bring by lunch on most days and let Brooke stay with her during her time of need. Brianna had been great about helping Brooke out during her pregnancy. Brooke didn't have any family to fall back on and never told her friends from high school that she was expecting. The father of her babies was her ex, and her best friend's husband. Telling her friend Peyton would mean that she would have to admit to her that she had slept with her friend's husband. Brooke knew the hurt that would cause Peyton, and although Peyton had stolen Luke away from Brooke years earlier, Brooke couldn't inflict that pain onto Peyton. So after learning of the pregnancy, Brooke did the only thing she could do. She told Peyton and Lucas that she had accepted a job with a firm in another city. She packed her bags and left for a better life. She lived with Brianna now, just because she was on bed rest.
Waiting just two blocks away was a small town home that Brooke had purchased for herself and her growing family. She had accepted a job in the area and worked there until she was placed on bed rest. She took leave and planned to return just two months after the babies were born. Brooke hadn't known when she accepted the job, or when she'd moved away from Luke and Peyton for that matter, that she was expecting multiples. Brooke had never even dreamt of the possibility of having more than one child. She knew that she could learn to care for a single child and raise him or her well. Brooke was unprepared for the news she got at her twelve week ultrasound. "Well, there is your baby" she remembered the doctor saying, "And there is another." He added. "Another?" Brooke asked afraid of the fact that she'd have to raise twins alone. "Yes, and I think there is another." The doctor continued. "Wait three babies?" Brooke asked hoping she'd misheard the doctor. "No" He answered, giving Brooke false hope for just an instant, "It's four" the doctor said. Brooke couldn't comprehend the news. "Four" she whispered to herself in disbelief. Brooke was going to be the single mother to quadruplets.
She was in shock. She had a one night stand with her best friend's boyfriend, also her ex, and now without the aid of any fertility treatments, she was having quadruplets. She couldn't believe her luck.
On the day that Brooke entered the hospital she had been scheduled to have a c-section. November 19 was the day the doctor's felt the babies would be developed enough to be born. Brooke had been pregnant for a total of 33 weeks, a feet for a woman in her situation. At ten thirty in the morning, Brooke welcomed to the world her four babies and learned that they were identical. Yes, to add to the rarity of having quadruplets, Brooke had given birth to identical quadruplets. The four girls, Alexandra Grace, Emily Danielle, Katherine Jane and Olivia Madison, were just 2 pounds each. They had brown tufts of hair and green eyes. They were beautiful and Brooke couldn't believe that they were really hers.
Alex, Emily, Kate and Olivia stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for two months. They had matured and were ready to venture home. Brooke had used the two months when the girls were hospitalized to set up her home. She hadn't been there in two months and needed time to decorate accordingly. She placed a bassinet in her bedroom beside her bed for the girls to sleep in for a while. She painted their nursery a faint lavender and set up the white furniture she'd purchased. She placed four cribs against two walls and placed a changing table beside the closet door. Above each crib she hung letters denoting which child slept where. She was proud of the work she had done. She'd called her parents in California and told them the news. They congratulated her, but showed no interest in visiting their new granddaughters. Brooke expected no less from them, seeing as most years they forgot her birthday. Brooke didn't mind though, she was too elated by her new daughters. She missed them terribly when she wasn't near them and savored every moment they had together. She understood how precious life was when she had seen them in the hospital. They had been so small hooked up to so many machines. Brooke was living a blissfully happy life with her girls.