Sooo, I should really be working on my original piece but I was having a conversation with one of FTW's the other day and got this idea and I can't really erase it from my head so I sat down to write it out and I think it's half decent. Maybe?
This is going to be a pretty extensive fic, if you guys think I should continue it. Longer than anything else I've ever done at least. Basically, what you need to know for this fic, is that anything after episode 3.22 is fair game- and I've probably changed it. There's a point where I believe the show started to plummet downhill quickly and there's a point where I believe the actual potential of the show became completely wasted. (Both are actually when Dan shoots Keith.) I'm not actually changing that fact- but I am going to change how it's handled- and I'm letting everyone know this right now because you might hate me for it so you'll want to know before you start reading. There was no reason for Nathan to point shave, so there was no reason for Lucas to not take his meds, so there was no heart attack- and Lucas doesn't go on a wild goose chase. Dan's not going to pay for his crime in jail and permanent exile from his family in my fic. He's going to make it up to them without knowing. By being there every step of the way- and being the best he can be. No evil Dan. If you can't deal with that, you should probably click out of this now. For everyone else, seasons 4-6 don't exist, okay? I thought you'd see it my way. Much better that way. :P
So without further adieu, I'll let you read and decide for yourself. Thanks to Mara for reading it over and naming it for me.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of One Tree Hill, if I did, I'd be a lot happier right now. Also, I don't own the title. It's Kate Voegele's album title, actually.
"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."- unknown
"Morning Hales," she whispers as she opens her front door at five am. "She's still sleeping."
Haley playfully rolls her eyes at Brooke. "You know she freaks out when she wakes up at my house without you."
"I know, I know. But she woke up three times last night because of the storm and it's not fair to her that I wake her up at the crack of dawn every day," Brooke rambles, as Haley sits down on the couch and takes a mug of coffee from her. "I just want her to be normal every once in awhile."
Haley smiles softly at her friend, "Brooke, I happen to know that Dee doesn't feel that way at all. She loves her life. She loves her days. And most importantly, she loves you. You shouldn't beat yourself up about this. You are a great mother and any child would be lucky to have you."
"Even so," Brooke starts, "I really think she should sleep in. If she gives you a hard time, just call Lucas. He only has an early practice today so I'm sure he can get over there as soon as you call and she'll quiet down as soon as she sees him. Believe me, "she laughs, "there's no one that child wants more than him."
"True enough." Haley concedes, "She really does love him."
Brooke walks around the room, gathering up the essentials for the day, making two piles: the pile that she'll bring with her to the store and the pile that will be put into the diaper bag for Haley. Haley will have Delila until around eight in the morning, when she has to leave to go to her first class. Then Nathan will bring Dee and Jamie, their two year old son, to the boutique and Brooke will have both of them with her until Haley's last class at three in the afternoon. When she's done at Tree Hill High for the day, she comes by and picks up her son and, sometimes, her niece. That is- if Lucas hasn't already stopped for her. Finally, when Brooke closes up the boutique at eight in the evening, she goes to whichever house Dee is at, Lucas's or Haley's, picks her up, and brings her home to have a late supper with her. Then they get ready for bed, read a bedtime story, and go to sleep- only to do it all over again the next day.
It's tedious and routine. Brooke doesn't think it's fair to subject her child to such a boring and predictable life so early on but she doesn't have much of a choice. The boutique pays the bills- sometimes. She knows that Delila knows she's loved but sometimes she wonders if that's enough. Sometimes she worries about the amount of time not spent with her daughter. Sometimes she worries that it'd be too easy for some other woman to come into her child's life and take her place as the mom.
"Brooke." Haley snaps her out of her thoughts. "I said I don't need you to send her a t-shirt. I have one at my house that I washed last night."
She looks down in her hands and sees the undershirt that she was readying to put into the bag going to Haley's house and she sets it aside. "Okay. Here's the bag. Why don't you take it out to the car and start it up and I'll go get sleeping beauty and try not to wake her putting her into your car."
"Okay." Haley pauses, "Brooke, are you sure you're okay?"
"Sure, Hales," Brooke smiles. "I'm fine."
She sees Haley to the front door again and then tiptoes up the steps to her four-year-old's room. Delila is sound asleep in her bed and Brooke can't help but wish that she'd slept like that all night as she carries her, with a blanket wrapped around her, down to Haley's sporty utility. She straps her into the car seat with no problem and she and Haley whisper their goodbyes to each other. Then she watches the car drive down the road before turning back to the house to go inside and get ready. Today is going to be a long day since she barely got four hours of sleep last night. Might as well get started.
x-x-x-x-x
It's nine am and she was right. It really is going to be a long day. Millicent, her best and only employee, called in with the flu and both of the kids are cranky. She thanks whoever is out there watching out for her that she's not too busy with customers today because if anyone came in, they wouldn't think much of her. Jamie is screaming and has been since Nathan left the store today. She can't call Nate back because he left for an away game right after dropping the kids off. Delila seems to be in jealous mood and every time she goes to comfort her nephew, her daughter screams. It's frustrating and even though she needs help in the worst way, she won't call the one person who is supposed to be available today. He'll be here to pick up Delila at two and she'll just deal with it until then.
It's times like these when she wonders what ever made her think that she could have it all. When she found out she was pregnant at eighteen and her parents disowned her, she didn't even consider another option. Even with every adult around her, which basically only included Dan, Karen, and Whitey, telling her that it would be hard, all that she could think of was her strength. She thought she'd skip college, sell her designs, and have it all. She even thought she could do it without the baby's father if he didn't want her. She was wrong. She has called in favors with just about everyone. She'd be lost if Lucas wasn't a part of their lives. And her designs aren't selling the way she originally thought they would. Sometimes she wonders if she made a mistake, but then she looks at her precious child's face and that disappears. She still remembers the first time she saw that face.
That was the moment everything changed.
Twenty-seven hours and eleven minutes after her first contraction, she's holding the most beautiful creature she's ever seen in her arms. She's still slippery because they haven't wiped her off yet but Brooke doesn't care. She's not afraid she's going to drop her. She's not afraid of anything except being perfect for this little girl in her arms. She counts five fingers on each hand, five toes on each foot. She drinks in every inch of her daughter, from her ocean blue eyes to the dark, curly hair on top of her head. She can't bear to tear her eyes away from her child even for a moment until she feels Lucas's hand touch her little foot. Her eyes meet his and she can tell that he's trying with everything in him to hold back the tears.
"She's amazing, Brooke," he says sincerely, "You're amazing."
She can't even remember how she got here. Years from now, maybe she'll remember the pain, but this little girls eyes- the same hue and shape as her father's- seem to have erased every bad memory leading up to this moment. "She's half you, too." She smiles at her ex-boyfriend. "I can see you in her."
He laughs, "Well, she definitely has my eyes. But, seriously, Brooke, thank you for this. Thank you for her."
"You don't have to thank me," she shakes her head. "I could never have done it without you. It was a team effort." She says, as she looks up at Haley, "You two have been life saving; I never would have made it here without either of you."
"You underestimate yourself, Brooke," Haley says smiling, "I'm gonna go out and tell everyone she's here. Can I give them a name?"
Brooke's eyes find Lucas again. This has been a point of contention for weeks now, he wants something meaningful and traditional and she doesn't want anything that's too old or too common. They can't agree on any combination of the two. "I was thinking," she says, looking down at her baby once more, "that we can use my suggestion of Delila and Luke's contribution would be Grace. They're both meaningful and not too old fashioned." She looks back to the spot where Lucas is standing above her, "What do you think, Luke?"
"It's perfect." He smiles down at their daughter. "Delila Grace Scott. Can I hold her?"
Haley slips out as Brooke hands her baby over for the first time ever. Lucas lights up once she's in his arms and he starts to have a conversation with their baby girl, as if she's the only person in the room. "Hey Princess, I'm your daddy. You probably aren't going to understand much in this world- but I promise, you'll always understand that. I'm never going to leave you. I'll never make you feel unwanted- as a matter of fact, last time your mom and I talked and this name came up, Delila, the thing I liked most about it was the meaning. It means wanted. And you are wanted. No matter what anyone else says, you need to remember that always. I wanted you. Your mom wanted you. And that's all that matters. And there'll never come a day when that changes. You will always be mine. I love you more than I ever thought possible, already. And I always will."
Brooke, listening wordlessly to this, feels a few silent tears slip out of her eyes and she quickly wipes them away- thankful that he's here. She didn't think she would need him here but she now realizes that she'd never have been able to do this without him. She's pretty sure that she's going to need him for a long time. And now, she believes, for the first time ever, that he's not going anywhere.
He turns back to her and smiles at her, fighting tears of his own, "Brooke," he bends down at her side and pulls her close, "I mean it, thank you. Thank you for her. Thank you for letting me be here. Thank you for just being you. You're going to do great, Brooke."
"I hope so," she says, quietly, reaching out for her baby once more, "I want to give her everything."
He nods. "Me too. We will. Together. We're a team now, right?"
"Right," she affirms.
She suddenly remembers the night she officially met him and he must be remembering the same thing because he grins down at her and says, "I guess we just had one of those moments. Everything has changed."
After that, everyone swirled in and the moment was lost. It was the one of the few times that they were ever really a family. Lucas was with Peyton, at the time, and Brooke had a really hard time allowing them alone time with her child. She didn't want Dee knowing anyone as a mother but her and Lucas respected that. Then he and Peyton broke up but, for most of that time, he was touring and promoting his best-selling book. By the time the tour ended, in Los Angeles, he and Peyton were reconciled and everything was back to normal. Lucas visiting Peyton every other weekend in L.A. cut into time with Dee and it was hard but they figured it out. They always did. They've always been a team.
He wasn't lying that day. She's always been able to count on him when she needed him.
"Hey Brooke."
She looks up to see him standing in front of her and can't help the smile that's already forming on her face, "Hey. You're really early. What gives?"
He looks around, "Haley told me that you looked tired this morning and when she left the house, both of the kids were miserable. She thought you might need a break." His eyes lock with hers, "And no offense, Brooke, but I think she was right. Why didn't you call me?"
"Eh, it's been worse," she lies, "I didn't want to bother you."
At that moment, Delila notices Lucas and runs straight across the room into his waiting arms. "Daddy, I missed you!"
"God, you'd think I was torturing her here." Brooke says with faux bitterness. "I could torture you, ya know?"
Dee squeals out, "No, Mommy! No. Daddy will save me if you try!"
They both laugh at her and Brooke says, "Why don't you go give Jamie a kiss bye-bye. You're gonna go to daddy's house with him."
She runs back into the play area that Brooke has set up in her office and Lucas smirks, "I can take both of them. He's my nephew, too."
"No, she's in a me mood."
"Ah," he laughs, "She's in a you mood."
"What is that supposed to mean, Lucas Eugene Scott!?" Brooke asks, already knowing the answer.
"She just knows she's fabulous, like her mother, and therefore thinks no one else should get any attention but her," he says, with a smug smile, "It's really endearing actually."
"Nice," Brooke mutters. "Let her think that the world revolving around her is a good thing."
"What was that?"
She shakes her head, "Nothing."
Delila runs back into the front of the store, carrying her bag with her. She smiles and takes Lucas's hand, "I'm ready, daddy. Bye, Mommy. Love you!"
"Okay, baby girl," Brooke bends down and gives her a kiss. "Have fun at daddy's house. I'll see you in a bit." She straightens up and wraps her arms around Lucas, "Thank you, Luke."
"Anything for you, Brooke," he grins.
If only, she thinks. If only that were really true.
"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." -Jane Howard
So the entire beginning was Brooke-centric but it won't stay that way. Please let me know what you all think. Is it worth continuing?
-Corey