A/N: sorry this has taken so long to post. I got sidetracked and whatnot, but here is the mother's day one-shot I promised.
Twenty seven year old, Samantha Walker sat at the table in her home tapping away on her laptop. She was working on her next book that her editor wanted finished within the month.
Samantha Walker had just relocated to Tree Hill a few months ago. She had spent the last ten or so years in California.
Looking around the room Sam was in she couldn't help, but smile. When she had moved back to Tree Hill she wanted the perfect house and she spotted the first house she had ever felt loved in, for sale. She had bought it right away.
Along with moving back to Tree Hill it also brought certain memories that Sam wanted to forget and things she remembered that she wanted to hide. She still couldn't walk down Grace Street.
A lot of things have happened in the past twelve years since she's seen Tree Hill's own Brooke Baker. Sam had moved out of Brooke's house to live with her birth mother Rebecca Dennis. Her relationship with Rebecca was never like her relationship with Brooke, but she did get to know her family. Rebecca had been an only child and her parents had been killed in an accident when she was young. Six months into living there, Rebecca had got some unsettling news; she had cancer. Sam was sixteen at the time. During the last six months of Rebecca's life, she introduced Sam to her father, Brian Walker. When Rebecca died, Sam packed up and moved in with her father, in San Francisco, California.
At eighteen, Sam graduated as valedictorian of The Bay School of San Francisco. She moved on from The Bay School of San Francisco to Stanford. She majored in English with a concentration on Creative Writing.
At twenty-four numerous amount of things happened in Sam's life at once. The first thing that happened was that she managed to publish her first book Lives Hidden, which is about a girl's journey to a small town and how the people in town seemed to change her life. The second thing that happened was her becoming a foster parent to two girls; twelve year old, Annabelle and two years old, Emily; both girls, sisters and both girls needing a home. She adopted them five months later.
Now here she was, at twenty seven with a fifteen year old and a five year old, living in Tree Hill and working on her second book and still avoiding the one person from her life that she never got any closure from; Brooke Baker.
"Mama!"
Sam looks down at the young girl crawling into her lap. Five year old Emily had blonde hair and blue eyes and she loved her with all her heart.
"What's up pipsqueak?"
"Mama, no!"
Sam laughs and settles Emily onto her lap.
"Mama, no, what?"
"My name is Emilyyyy," Emily says with a grin as she drags out the 'y' in her name. She giggles and snuggles into her mother's chest. It was early morning and she was still pretty tired.
"Alright love bug, what's going on?"
"Nothing," Emily mumbles as she closes her eyes. Sam places a kiss on her daughter's forehead before turning back to her computer. She had a few hours before Annabelle woke up so she needed to get the work done now. She needed to get the girls off to their new schools.
*More Than Just Mother's Day*
After dropping Emily off at the St. James Day School, Sam had drove Annabelle to Tree Hill High. They were currently walking through the halls as Sam filled her in on some of her past experiences at the school.
"Okay, all of that is all fine and dandy, but considering it's the beginning of May and school ends in June I don't see why you just didn't let Em and I start next year instead of the last two months of school."
Sam grins and turns to her eldest daughter.
"School is very important. It's easier if you two get the hang of the school for next year. I know sucks Anna, but trust me, I've been there and it won't be so bad."
Fifteen year old, Annabelle rolled her eyes as she moved her brown hair to one side of her shoulder. Her hazel eyes continued to look forward.
"Anna, just go to class and you can complain about it when I pick up later, okay?"
Anna sighs and nods her head.
"Alright, I'll see you later."
Sam watches her daughter walk away and she smiles because her life was good and she loved her kids and she was happy. Sam turns to walk away, but bumps into someone in the hallway.
"Oh my gosh. I am so sorry."
"It's okay, Sam."
Sam looks into familiar eyes and smiles. Granted the last time she saw those eyes the person standing in front of her was five, but she'd never forget it.
"You're tall."
The person in front of her grins and shrugs his shoulders.
"Yeah, my dad's tall. I wasn't sure it was you at first, but you still wear an insane amount of eye liner."
Sam rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest.
"Last time I checked you followed me around everywhere I went."
"Oh come on, I went to my first party at five because of you," Jamie says with a grin. "Twelve years, that's a long time."
Sam looks down at the ground and nods her head.
"Yeah, look," Sam looks up again. "Don't tell your mom or Brooke, okay? I don't think I can handle that right now."
"Sure," Jamie mumbles.
"I gotta go," Sam states before rushing away.
Jamie scratches at his head and sighs. He really didn't know what to think, but he knew something was going to happen.
Around the corner, Annabelle leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. She needed to know more about Brooke Baker.
*More Than Just Mother's Day*
Sam set the grocery bags on the counter in the kitchen while Emily and Annabelle brought their bags to their room. Emily's room had become what Sam's old room had been and Annabelle had a room upstairs. Sam had taken what Brooke's room was.
"School is so cool and I don't even care that I have to wear a uniform. It's so awesome mama! Miss Lauren is awesome."
Sam smiles as she starts putting food away.
"I'm glad you liked it baby. I had heard great things from that school."
Emily climbed up the stool and sat down and watched her mama move around the kitchen. In school they had talked about the upcoming Mother's Day and had even worked on some arts and crafts projects. Emily had been really excited about it.
Annabelle walked into the kitchen and started helping Sam with putting the food away.
"Anna, was school good for you too?" Emily asks as she bounced around on her stool.
"It was alright," Anna responded nicely to her sister. She looked at her mother who was leaning against the counter intently listening to them. "But it would've been better if I had just started next year."
Sam grins and shakes her head.
"You belong in school Annabelle. There's no room for discussion. That's it!"
Anna sighs dramatically.
"I know, but I saw you run into someone you seemed to know."
Anna watched as Sam looked down to the ground and bit her lip.
"I don't want to talk about it. Just drop Anna and help me prepare dinner."
Anna knew that all conversation was being put on hold. It still wouldn't stop her from asking the tough questions. She knew that her mother missed Brooke, but was too scared to do anything about it. Maybe if she'd help things would be easier.
After dinner and dishes were done, Annabelle, Emily, and even Sam got into their pajamas and lay out on the floor in front of the fireplace. Sam had started it despite it being a decent temperature outside. She always liked the fireplace.
"What story do you think the runt is going to pick?"
"I'm not sure, but you are going to be nice. Last time we watched a movie that you picked. Emily wanted a story."
Emily comes running into the room with a photo album in her hand. She crawled under the covers next to her mama and handed it to her.
"I have so many story books that I couldn't choose so I picked your photo album so we can have many mini stories."
Sam smiled down at her daughter and opened the album. The first picture was about twelve years old and it was one of Sam, Brooke, and Julian, making goofy faces into the camera.
"I love this picture," Sam says with a grin. "They're my first family."
"Mama, tell me about her. She's pretty," Emily says while pointing to Brooke.
"What can I tell you about Brooke Baker?"
*More Than Just Mother's Day*
Brooke continued to look up from the computer at the register towards the blonde haired girl who was walking slowly and looking around. Brooke was trying to figure out if she was going to have a case of theft on her hands, but she didn't want to presume anything. She hadn't had a theft in awhile. Considering this was Baker Man, she was a little confused as to why this young teen needed anything from her store anyway.
"Can I help you?"
The young girl was startled and turned to face Brooke.
"Um…I-I don't know. I don't know if I should even be here. You're Brooke Baker, right?"
Brooke looks around the room and slowly nods her head.
"Yes, who are you?"
The girl walked closer to the counter.
"It's really not important, but my name is Annabelle and I have a sister named Emily."
Brooke, still confused, didn't know what to do. So, she just nodded.
"You don't know it, but you kind of saved our life. Emily and I were in foster care three years ago, well, it was longer than three years ago, but still. Anyways, we were adopted three years ago from this amazing woman and last night she told us the whole story of why she decided to adopt us in the first place. My mom said that the woman who took care of her wouldn't send her back to the pound and that she loved her with everything and she would've adopted her, but because she took a shot on her, my mom took a shot on us and apparently I have you to thank for that."
Brooke had tears in her eyes from the moment that the word 'pound' was brought up. She knew that Annabelle was talking about Sam, her, Sam.
"She's scared which is probably why she hasn't talked to you in twelve years, but we just moved here from California or rather she moved back. I guess I just wanted to say thanks for changing her life enough to change mine."
"I don't think I did much. Sam was always caring. Um…h-h-how is she?"
Annabelle shrugs her shoulders.
"She's been through a lot, but I think a part of her is missing and that's you."
Brooke comes out from the counter and wipes at her eyes.
"Why won't she see me?"
"That's something you have to ask her. We live in your old house. Sam won't see you. She won't walk down this street, but you seeing her could be that mother's day gift she deserves."
*More Than Just Mother's Day*
Julian looked at his wife in shock. He had just arrived home with the boys when his wife rushed in and told him all about her day, her very surprising day.
"Sampson, has kids?"
Brooke scoffs.
"Of course, out of all of that you refer back to the part where I said Sam had kids. What is wrong with you?"
Julian held his hands up in surrender.
"I didn't mean anything by it. Twelve years is a long time and there was no word. It's just surprising that's all. I mean I don't understand why she just wouldn't stop by or something."
Nine year old Davis Baker stormed into the room looking upset.
"Mom, Jude won't leave me alone!"
Brooke raised her eyebrow at her son.
"I'm sorry Davis is that how you talk to your parents?"
Davis deflates and shakes his head.
"I'm sorry, but Jude is really bugging me. I'm trying to read and he won't leave me alone."
"Dave, why don't you read outside in the backyard? Your mom and I will talk to Jude about leaving you alone in a little bit."
Davis nods his head and heads outside. Was it so much to ask for him to have some piece to read?
Brooke smiles and looks at her husband.
"He gets that from you. I never liked to read."
Julian glances to the bookshelf to his right where a few books were resting. The only authors on that shelf were Lucas Scott and Samantha Walker.
"That's beside the point," Brooke states. "I don't understand why she couldn't just come see me. I spent the last few hours with Annabelle and she's been telling me all of what Sam has been through. She lost her mom a year after leaving my house. She was sixteen, Julian. She meets her dad, moves to California. Goes to Stanford and graduates and becomes a mother to two kids who are now currently fifteen and five years old."
Julian sighs and nods his head.
"That maybe true, both of you could have seen each other whenever they wanted, but here is the thing; what was your dream when Sam was living with you? What did you want?"
"A family."
Julian nods his head.
"Yeah, you wanted a family and you were all set and ready to adopt Sam and then she leaves and basically your dream comes to an end. She probably feels bad about that. I'm not Sam so I don't know what she's thinking or how she feels, but I can only speculate."
"But I did get my dream. It just took awhile for me to get there. She shouldn't feel bad about that. She spent her whole life not knowing where she came from. I understand that. I just want to know if what I did mattered is all."
Julian walks over to the bookshelf and pulls Sam's book out of it.
"I've read this book so many times and analyzed it in so many ways and I have only come to one conclusion," He sets the book down on the table in front of Brooke. "This is the only proof that you need in order to know if you made a difference."
Brooke picked up the book and looked at Julian confused. Julian just smiled at her.
"That book is a thank you and I'm pretty sure that's all you need to know."
*More Than Just Mother's Day*
Brooke opens her eyes when she hears the voices of her boys entering the room. Today was Mother's Day and that meant Brooke got breakfast in bed along with a few gifts.
"Mama, wake up!" Jude says with a grin as he climbs onto the bed. His shaggy brown hair getting in the way of his eyes.
Brooke sits up and smiles at her son. She pushes the hair out of his eyes.
"You need a haircut my boy."
Jude shakes his head and crawls under the covers with his mother. Davis does the same as Julian sets the tray of food onto her lap.
"This all looks amazing my boys. It smells wonderful too."
"Eat mama," Davis says with a smile. "And then we can show you the cards we drew for you."
"And dad can give you the bracelet he got you," Jude chimes in.
Julian looks at his boys and rolls his eyes. His surprise was ruined. He looks at his wife and grins happily.
"Well than I better get started than shouldn't I?"
*More Than Just Mother's Day*
"I appreciate all the gifts girls. Thank you."
"It's cool mom," Annabelle says as she clears the kitchen table.
Annabelle and Emily had cooked breakfast, or rather Annabelle made breakfast and Emily just cracked the eggs. After they all ate then Emily had ran to her room to grab the mother's day gifts she had made at school for her mom. Annabelle had her own ideas on a mother's day gift and she promised to go the whole day without complaining or any sarcastic comments. Sam snorted when she was told that, but smiled anyway. She knew Annabelle would try her hardest.
"Why don't you head to your room and get dressed while I clean up things around her with Emily?"
Sam looked at her daughter suspiciously, but eventually relented. She wanted to change anyway. When Sam was out of view, Annabelle dropped everything she was doing and opened the front door. A very nervous, Brooke Baker stood behind it. Brooke walked into the room and smiled at Emily who was smiling politely back at her. Brooke couldn't help, but grin.
"Mom, I got another gift for you!" Annabelle shouted.
Sam comes out of the room and stops instantly when she sees Brooke standing by her front door. Annabelle was grinning from ear to ear and Emily was swaying from side to side.
Brooke and Sam stood frozen in each other's spots. Brooke slowly stepped forward. Sam followed suit and was quickly in Brooke's arms. It didn't matter that she was twenty-seven years old because she felt like she was fifteen when it came to Brooke.
"Good gift, huh?"
Sam pulled away from Brooke and smiled at her daughters. They rushed forward and were instantly gathered in their mother's arms. Sam placed kisses all over both her daughter's faces. Emily giggled relentlessly and Annabelle was trying to avoid them at all costs. Brooke just watched on with happiness.
"The best gift, but you should've told me."
"That ruins the surprise. Emily and I are going to go outside or something. Come on Emily," Annabelle grabs her sister's hand and they head outside to leave Sam and Brooke to catch up.
When the girl's left the house, Sam and Brooke stood around awkwardly.
"Do you want something to drink?" Sam asks as she heads to the fridge.
"Water is fine," Brooke responds as she takes a seat on one of the stools by the countertop.
Sam hands over the water and sighs. She had never been so nervous in her life and she couldn't understand why. It shouldn't be this awkward with Brooke, but Sam can probably assume it's because a lot of time has passed.
"You look good," Brooke says biting the bullet and starting the conversation.
"You look old."
Brooke chuckles. Sam grins.
"You look closer to thirty-five now."
Brooke shakes her head.
"That Annabelle reminds me of you," Brooke says after they stop grinning. "She comes into the store and I think she's going to steal, but she looked nervous and then she thanked me for taking care of you enough for you to realize that you wanted to help other kids in the foster care system."
"You showed me the love I needed. Annabelle and Emily came to me when Annabelle was twelve. Emily was two and it was hard, but I fell in love with those girls and I knew I was going to adopt them and that's the moment when I fell into your shoes. I understood how you felt at that moment, but we got different endings. I'm sorry for that."
"Everything happens for a reason. I believe that. Angie stayed with me while she got her heart fixed. Then you came into my world and I actually got a sense of what it was like to be a mother and eventually I got my boys so it's you I should be thanking."
Annabelle and Emily come running into the house. Emily is screaming for her mom.
"Help mama, help! Annabelle is tryin' to get me."
Sam picks Emily up from the ground and sets her on the counter as Annabelle walks into the house.
"Annabelle, are you terrorizing your sister?"
Anna grins and sits down next to Brooke and starts talking to her.
"You all get caught up yet because it's pathetic watching my mother avoiding Grace Street."
Sam sends a glare Annabelle's way, knowing it wasn't going to do any good.
"Twelve years is a long time, but now that the awkwardness has gone away I think we can start to mend our relationship and the next meeting I'll bring Davis, Jude and my husband."
Sam grins and places a kiss on Emily's head.
"Cool," Annabelle responds. "I'm going to my room."
Brooke, Emily, and Sam watch Annabelle head upstairs. Emily turns to Brooke and smiles.
"You're pretty."
Brooke blushes slightly and grins at the young girl.
"Well you are pretty as well, did you know that?"
Emily nods her head.
"Mama tells me all the time."
Sam sets Emily on the ground with a laugh.
"Get out of here you goof."
Emily scampers away and Sam sighs happily.
"Parenthood is good on you."
"Growing up, I never envisioned myself with kids, but here I am on Mother's day with two beautiful children and I wouldn't change it for the world."
"I wouldn't either. You did well for yourself and I'm proud of you," Brooke says as she gets off of her stool and hugs Sam tightly. "You've grown into this amazing woman and I'm sorry I missed seeing that. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Sam says with a sniffle. She watched as Annabelle slowly walked over to her sister's door where Emily was standing not knowing why their mother was crying. Sam flashes them a smile. "This is the best mother's day ever. I don't know how we are going to top this one."
Brooke pulls away from the hug with a grin.
"I might have an idea."
The next Mother's Day was a huge celebration with the Baker, Scott and Walker families.