This is a Brooke and Jay fanfic.
Chapter 1 - Jay's Visit to Tree hill
Jay Halstead steps off the plane at Tree Hill International Airport, only having a carry on with him, Jay leaves the airport and heads over to the taxi rank, he hops in and gives the address of the police station because he has no idea where the precinct is. Paying the driver he steps out onto the straight in front of a beautiful old building. Heading inside he meets his new boss and team.
The team consists of Kevin Attwater, Kim Burgess, Antonio Dawson, Alvin Olinsky, Adam Ruzek and Hank Voight is the Sergeant, otherwise known as the boss. Jay tells the team a few things about himself, where he's from, he worked, what unit, things like that. He's a very private person when he doesn't know anyone so doesn't tell them a lot of personal information yet. He wants to get to know them better, have a good relationship with everybody at work, the personal part will come eventually.
While at the station, Jay takes the liberty to fill out most of his paperwork, also gets his photo and finger prints taken by the Desk Sergeant, Trudy Platt who seems quite tough to Jay. He leaves the Station feeling good that he accomplished more than half f the paperwork, no he starts in two weeks there won't be too much and he will get to work quicker.
Jay then finds his hotel pretty quickly, he checks in getting himself situated for the night. For dinner, Jay isn't really hungry, in truth he never feels hungry so never really eats a full meal, he eats an apple that he brought with him. Sitting on the couch, Jay calls his Brother, Will and Sister, Abigail who are watching is Daughter Maddie until he gets back, he asks them how she is and then he gets to talk to her promising to be back soon. After coming off the phone, he takes out his laptop and starts to research the place he has an appointment with the next day. He has an appointment at a day care for his daughter to go to when they officially move into the town, he looks it up so he knows what to expect and a little more about it. He learned that the Day Care is owned by three people, Brooke Davis, Haley James Scott and Karen Roe Scott, he is hopeful that it is a good match for his little Angel. Jay eventually goes to bed early.
In the morning, Jay is up at the crack of dawn getting changed into workout clothes, he grabs his head phones and leaves the hotel for a morning run, but Jay finds that he doesn't really need music because there is no annoying sounds that need to be blocked out from hearing. While out running, Jay gets a couple of "good morning's" from other people out for an early morning run. He stops for a break outside of a place called Karen's Cafe, that is still closed but Jay can see inside and the image he sees brings back some memories for him, good and bad ones. He decides to check the place out later and maybe he will bring Maddie when they have gotten settled.
Heading back to the hotel, Jay lounges about for an hour then takes a shower and gets dressed for his first appointment of the day, he meets his realtor and then look through some pictures of houses, Jay picks up one picture and asks to see the house, the realtor grabs the key for it they walk to the house, which is beautiful and faces the beach, Jay decides that Maddie will like that, because she loves the beach, inside it is pretty nice, one bedroom upstairs and two downstairs, Jay will give the biggest room to Maddie and set it up like her room now but better and with more stuff. He likes this house because it has three bedrooms and the couch pulls out into a bed, that means that Will and Abigail will be able to stay with them for about two weeks after they move, to help them settle in and everything. Jay told them it won't be necessary but they both are persistent about it. With a plan set in motion, Jay buys the house and on the way back to the realtors office, he thinks about him, wondering if he's making the right decision, ultimately he thinks that this move will be the best for his precious daughter and himself too, they both need a fresh start and maybe they will find happiness here.
When he leaves the realtor's appointment with another one scheduled to nearer the time to pick up the keys, he then stops outside of Karen's Cafe again, he needs some coffee so goes inside. Where he is greeted by an amazing aroma, he just wants coffee so sits at the counter, where an Alex serves him, he sits drinking his coffee looking around the place and feeling nostalgic. Jay is interrupts when a blonde haired woman comes and the place lights up, all of the customers and staff, shout "Hi Haley", he thinks that name rings a bell. The woman goes through the back and comes out again a few minutes later, but she stays busy so Jay doesn't get the chance to ask her about the day care. He pays for his coffee leaving a generous tip for his server who was very polite, and leaves heading for his appointment.
It doesn't take him long to find the right building it is literally two blocks away from the cafe. He is greeted by a woman who looks about twenty years older than him but she seems nice and is well mannered.
"Hi you must be Mr Halstead, I'm Karen Roe Scott, we spoke on the phone last week".
"Yes Hi it's nice to meet you Mrs Roe Scott", Jay says.
"Oh please just call me Karen everyone does, Mrs Scott is to formal".
"OK then you can call me Jay, no formalities needed".
"Right Jay, so we talked on the phone about a place for your daughter, Madeline, starting in two weeks time. you need Monday through Thursday day care for her, you have a late start on Mondays so don't need to drop off until about 11am, every other day is early drop off, it may be a late pick up depending on your job. Fridays may be required sometimes again depending on the job. Does that sound about right did I miss anything?", Karen asks Jay with a smile.
"Yes that sounds about right you have a great memory. I'm sorry to be so demanding it's a new job and the hours are meant to be better, I changed jobs so I could spend my time with my daughter. We are moving to Tree Hill to hopefully find a fresh start, In Chicago as a Detective I worked crazy hours and hardly had time to spend with Madeline and I want to change that", Jay tells Karen.
"It's demanding at all, and may I just say that it's very commendable to want a fresh start to spend more time with your dad, she is one lucky little girl".
"Thank you I'm trying to be better and I couldn't do it with out my brother and sister, they've been amazing with everything. my brothers coming to help me move in the house that I bought here, we're gonna decorate Maddie's room and arrange the place so it's ready, and then my sister's flying out with Maddie, they are both gonna stay to help get us get situated and comfortable with the move especially Maddie", Jay tells Karen.
"That's good if you need any help with moving anything, I know some people who would be happy to help", Karen tells Jay.
"Thank you, I might need to take you up on that but I'll let you know. My brother, Will and I are flying in again a week on Wednesday, the moving truck is being driven in on Wednesday night, so should arrive Thursday morning. So Wednesday is the perfect opportunity for painting, There will be three bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen to paint so we could use extra hands with that as long as the people don't mind of course", Jay says sincerely.
"I will talk to them but I'm sure they would love to help and so would I, and it just so happens that the day care is closed a week on Wednesday until the following Monday when Maddie will start with us".
"Really why is it going to be closed if you don't mind me asking" Jay says genuinely curious as to the reason.
"The building is going to be closed for maintenance and along with the other two owners I agreed to having someone come in and give the building a make over. It won't be too different, just new carpets and flooring in certain areas, changing the colours of the walls and moving some areas around to better suit the activities. We actually got a bunch of new books donated and a lot of new supplies are being delivered too. On top of that we planning a little change to the garden as well, getting rid of our old climbing frame and putting a new one in. My son and his brother are also putting in a basketball court", Karen explains to Jay.
"Wow, it sounds like it's gonna be big, I can't wait to see it", Jay says a little excited.
"We hope it will work out and the children will be happy, it is all for them really, to provide them with fun and care at the same time, I actually have a question to ask you if that's OK", Karen asks.
"Of course you can ask me, I'll do my best to give an answer", Jay says.
"Well I do this with all of our first time parents coming here, we like to know a little bit about the child or children, to get a sense of their personalities and interests, what they like to do and play with. So I was wondering if you could share with me somethings about Madeline".
"Of course, well she likes To be called Maddie, it''s only Madeline when she's in trouble or being reprimanded for something by myself or my siblings, which hardly ever happens, Maddie is a cheerful little girl. She is very small for her age, my siblings and I usually work with her, she can read and write, knows all of her letters and sounds, numbers and most of the times tables. She likes to write and draw, she is very artistic and has a lot of art supplies at home. I wanted to give my daughter the best of both worlds, I always tell her that she can play with and do anything thing that she puts her mind too. Maddie plays with girl stuff like dolls but she also likes to build things and do more physical stuff, she's a good climber and is most likely going to love the new basket ball court. Maddie is a little shy with people but when she finds someone that is nice, she likes to talk and get to know people a little. Then she will be best friends with the certain child", Jay tells Karen.
"Maddie sounds amazing and this certainly helps for us to know, so we don't push her into anything she doesn't like or want to do, we don't want to do anything to make her feel uncomfortable, so we will set up a plan and make everyone knows that Maddie will adjust in her own time, she seems like she might want to play on her own for a bit and as she gets to know everyone's names she might open up a little, I do suggest that on her first day, if possible that you her early. We will take a tour and you can spend some time with her inside and make sure she's comfortable before you leave".
"Of course I will definitely do that. Oh just one more thing Maddie is allergic to nuts and bee's stings, I will hand in an Epi pen just in case, just for the records and so you know".
"Oh of course I'll note down, we don't usually have nuts here but I will make sure everyone knows about both and underline it in her file. The last thing I need for Maddie's file are contact details for you, like your new address and phone number, and the details of anyone else you would like to have as emergency contacts for Maddie", Karen says kindly handing over a clipboard to Jay.
"Oh of course, it'll be myself, my brother and sister as the contacts", Jay says as he starts writing down the details. Once down he hands the clipboard back.
"OK that's that then we're all set here and will be ready for Maddie to join us", Karen says.
"That's perfect, thank you, I just have one question. I read only that there are three owners, I was just wondering if all three of you work in the day care?" Jay asks.
"Yes, there are three of us, we also co own the cafe a couple of doors down, I also kind of co-own the bar TRIC with my daughter in Law, Peyton".
"Karen's Cafe, so your the Karen it's named after?" Jay asks with a smile.
"Yes, I am the Karen, I opened it after I had my son Lucas, it's where he met his childhood best friend Haley, they did everything together. Lucas had always had a rivalry with his half brother Nathan, they started to get along better in high school and Haley fell in Love with Nathan, they got married when they were 17 and in their senior year, Haley became pregnant. I was pregnant at the time too. My Daughter and Grandson where born less that 24 hours apart. Haley and Nathan are like a son and daughter to me so Jamie is my grandson. After High School, Lucas married one of his sweethearts, Peyton and they had Sawyer, my granddaughter. So Jamie and my daughter, Lilly are the same age as Maddie, and they go here too, maybe they will become friends, Sawyer also comes but she is a year younger. Anyway to get to the point, I sold the cafe after Lucas graduated High School and sailed around a little bit with my boyfriend at the time. Eventually we broke up and I moved back with Lilly, we went into business, reopened the cafe and started the day care", Karen explains.
"Wow" is all Jay has to say.
"I apologise that was probably to much information we're practically strangers", Karen apologises.
"Oh no don't worry about I shared unnecessary stuff with you too, I'm the one who asked the question", Jay laughs a little.
"Well you should know that the people who are going to be with me helping you paint are my family, Lucas, Peyton, Nathan and Haley, the children will be there too, I hope that's OK", Karen explains and kind of asks.
"Oh no of course it's OK, I love kids and if everyone is willing to help, dinner will be on me and Will", Jay tells Karen sincerely.
"I can pretty much guarantee that everyone will be more than willing to help with the painting and anything else you may need, but food does always go over well with this group of people. We can be a little loud but we will try to keep it down", Karen says.
"Don't worry about it, we could use a little loudness and chatting, Will probably won't keep quiet either so honestly don't worry about it. It's nice of you to ask them, but please don't push them if their busy or anything".
"OK Jay, I will talk to everyone in a group nearer the time and call you to let you know, is that OK?" Karen asks uncertainly.
"That would be great thanks, I'm gonna get out of your hair, I've talked enough to last until I see you again", Jay laughs.
"No problem, I'll let you go as well, you leave tomorrow don't you?" Karen asks.
"Yes I have an early flight in the morning, can't wait to get back to my Angel", Jay says with a wide smile.
"Well I'll see you when you come back and are an official member of our town", Karen tells Jay giving him a light hand shake.
Jay leaves the meeting with a smile on his face he thinks that his little family will like it in the town, and can't wait to come back again. Move in and finally introduce his little girl to their new home.
I'm not sure what the next chapter will be yet.