Sorry to post only now ! I continue to write in French, so I take time to translate. However, thank you for your comments, it makes me REALLY happy. So I post the second chapter. I apologize for the mistakes. I look forward to your reviews.
Enjoy reading !
Chapter 2 « Goodbye My Friend »
"I'll get it." Jamie shouted, going towards the door. He opened it with a smile.
"How's my godson ?" Brooke asked, taking him in her arms. She had always been very close to Jamie, and very protective. She remembered how, as a kid, Jamie was a smart, sensitive and kind boy. Brooke was suddenly in a nostalgic mood, and it was not about to stop.
Davis and Jude entered full speed and said hello to Jamie. The latter was older than all the others, he spent more time with the "adults", while the twins spent much time with Lydia and were eager to meet the beautiful Sawyer.
Julian messed up Jamie's hair to annoy him as every time they saw each other, such a ritual. They were very close, and Jamie still felt honored that Julian had asked him to be best man at his wedding.
Brooke's husband greeted Haley with a hug, and smelt the good odor emanating from the oven. A few moments later Brooke rushed into the arms of Peyton, trying to hold back her tears.
"Brooke, beware ! I'm holding Wayne, he's going to suffocate." Peyton said, laughing also moved to see her best friend.
On the patio, the "guys" clan. Nathan, Lucas and Jamie soon joined by Julian were discussing quietly and drinking beer.
"So Jamie, how's going at college ? I guess you scare away all the girls..." Lucas asked in a mocking tone.
"And how ! My three girlfriends pester me constantly." the young man replied.
"Nuts don't fall far from the tree" Nathan joked, finishing his beer.
"It's good to come back to Tree Hill." Lucas said "Whitey will leave a great void."
"He helped a lot of people. My son won't have the privilege of being coached by Durham !" Nathan said with a shrug.
"Don't tell me you also initiated Lydia basketball !" Lucas asked.
"Captain of the cheerleaders, who says better ?" Nathan added, proud of his daughter.
"Lucas !" Brooke exclaimed by taking Lucas in her arms.
Lydia's Room, 9:15 p.m.
"How is life here ?" Sawyer asked.
"You never get bored in Tree Hill. Among girls, girls, girls..." Jude said, proudly.
"Don't mind him, Sawyer. Jude's pretty special..." Davis stated, with a smile.
"How long will you stay here ?"
"I don't know. I admit that I feel good here with all of you. At home I'm quite alone..." Sawyer confessed, making a little face.
"We'll make sure that you stay, then. " Jude ended, determinedly.
Suddenly, a voice from the living room echoed through the house. "Kids dinner's ready !" Brooke cried.
"This toddler is so sweet. You don't want to give me your child this time ?" Brooke whispered in Haley's ear. The two friends smiled at each other in a friendly way.
"I'll think about it for the next one !" Haley said, settling at the table beside her husband, after having expressly kissed him on the cheek.
All these people sat around the large table, pleased to finally be together, but for how long ?
Nathan had installed his brother and his sister-in-law in a bedroom juxtaposing his own, while Sawyer would sleep in the room of her cousin. To see his brother again mattered much. Although 20 years ago, he hated him for bad reasons, he would now enjoy the presence of his big brother.
Spare bedroom
"Need something ?" Nathan asked leaning against the door.
"I was just thinking about Keith. And Whitey. Don't you ever feel guilty when someone disappears ? You don't think that you could have prevented it from happening ? " Lucas said, while unpacking his clothes.
"Many people are gone, it's true. But I don't want to live in regret, remember, the time with Dan. And our children don't deserve we live in the past. " he asserted. "You know Luke, I want you to stay in Tree Hill. "
"Me too, I would." Haley muttered, with a thin voice, standing next to Nathan.
Haley was holding Wayne in her arms. She approached Lucas and handed him her son.
"You also want Uncle to stay here? " Haley mumbled, smiling, laying her hand on the shoulder of her best friend. "I know a lot of things may discourage you to stay, but there's only one Tree Hill. This is our home."
"My mother told me the same thing." he replied, with a smile.
"Everything's fine here ?" Peyton asked, entering the room.
"Haley wants to keep your husband for herself, you know her !" Nathan stated, emitting a slight laugh.
Lydia's bedroom
Lydia, in perfect host, was making Sawyer discover her life. She showed her lots of pictures, and was happy to hang out with girls.
"You're going to the funeral tomorrow? " Sawyer asked.
"Funerals aren't my thing. I prefer have a lie in." Lydia said, laughing softly.
Suddenly someone knocked on the door.
"You make little place for your favorite auntie ?" Brooke exclaimed upon entering the room. Brooke loved children. It was her nature. She was extremely generous, as she would not give the same example as her mother.
"Why is it so important ?" Lydia asked, with a questioning look.
Brooke looked at her, arching an eyebrow.
"The burial. I don't really want to go. I don't feel concerned." Lydia nodded.
"Well, the coach Durham has tremendously helped your fathers. He has guided them, not only as players, but as men. It's important to them. He was a good man."
At the cemetery
"He was a good man. And I don't know what I'd have done without him, I don't just mean only as basketball player, because it was much more than that. Whitey was like a father to me. He didn't stop barking, but it was his way of being and loving people. When my uncle Keith died, the coach was so upset than me. He was generous and I know that wherever he's happy because he finally joined the love of his life, Camilla." Lucas said, standing in front of the coffin of the old Whitey.
Everyone wanted to pay tribute to him. It was the end of an era. All had grown up and started a family. For the most part, they realized their dreams, hoped, experienced failure, but they had fully lived.
"The week of the death anniversary of my mother, I spent most of my time to mope and wander here. I came near her grave and I talked to her. For Whitey, it was also a tough week, his wife's death anniversary. For a few days, he and I have discussed a lot on what really was a life, wondering why people we love all leave one day. I'll always remember that moment." Peyton continued, tears in her eyes, before taking the hand of Lucas.
"Being a coach for 20 years, winning 500 games, making things happen. It was his ambition. The ambition of an old fossil who loved yelling at us." Nathan said jokingly before continuing "When I lost the desire to play, Whitey wasn't upset, he tried to understand. And I started to play again, it was more than a desire, I just needed basketball. And basketball without Whitey would never have been the same. He helped me become a man, more than anyone has ever done." He finished, smiling slightly.
Only Peyton, Lucas, Nathan, Haley, Brooke and Julian were present at the funeral. Their children had preferred to stay at home "not feeling concerned." It is true that this farewell was more for their parents, as Whitey Durham had decisively influenced this generation.
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