An: Gah, I swear this website hates me. I've been trying to post this since Saturday night. Well, here's the third chapter and I know it's pretty drama free for now, but things will pick up soon, I promise. Thanks so much for the reviews, I didn't expect to get so many this early in.

--

It had only been five days, but Brooke was beginning to reconsider her profession. Each day something went wrong and she found herself threatening to blow a gasket when no one seemed to listen. The last thing she wanted to do was yell but sometimes their constant yelling and sometimes fighting with each other drove her nuts.

Even show and tell went wrong. She got little sleep the night before due to Karen's excessive calling about her up coming wedding this Saturday. At first, she just called to see if the girls had gotten their dresses, then she called to make sure Lucas shaved his five o'clock shadow and just as Brooke was getting to sleep, she called in hysterics saying she was pregnant. After Karen finally calmed herself, Brooke had to remind her kindly that since she went through menopause the previous year, it probably wasn't possible.

Lucas laughed in amusement at the whole conversation between his wife and mother, dodging various slaps Brooke sent his way when he playfully told Karen that he was thinking of rapping his best man's speech rather than give a plain old speech. Due to Brooke's stress, he kept the rest of his comments in his head and told her to keep her head up high; she didn't work her pretty little ass off all through college to give up a week in. What would all the people they went to high school with think of her? They were used to Brooke Davis being a screw up and the day she married Lucas, Brooke vowed to throw that girl away and keep her locked up until her death.

"…and I had to fight with the guy behind me for the ball!" Austin exclaimed, nodding his head furiously when his classmate's eyes widened. Brooke stopped her head from lulling forward and pretended to look interested when his gaze found hers. "My dad gave him a good shove and he dropped the ball so I got it!"

The various boys in the class clapped their hands and ran up to the blonde boy, gazing at the old, beaten up baseball. The girls rolled their eyes, not completely understanding what exactly Austin was talking about.

"That's quite a story," Brooke forced a smile, admiring the ball when Austin presented it to her with a toothy smile. "Thanks for sharing, buddy."

"Do you have a husband?"

Brooke's eyebrows rose in somewhat amusement, nodding her head slightly. "I do, yes."

"Man!" Austin stomped his foot, a scowl forming on his face. "Do you plan on breaking up anytime soon?"

"No," Brooke laughed, giving his blonde hair a gentle ruffle. Austin let out a dramatic sigh and plopped down on the rug dramatically, throwing his precious baseball into his Spiderman backpack. "Alright," she held in her excitement as she glanced at the clock, only one minute left in the day. "Okay, everyone have a nice weekend and I'll see you all Monday."

She was thankful most of the kids' parents always showed up early and kept her head from hitting the desk as they all scrambled out in a hurry. Jenny trailed behind and got ready as quickly as possible, remembering Peyton telling her over and over again that she needed to be ready so they could go to Karen and Keith's wedding rehearsal dinner.

"Ready!" the little girl exclaimed, patting Brooke's arm when she was in a daze. "Auntie Brooke! Come on, mommy says we have to go right away."

"I know, I know," Brooke sighed, rising to her tired feet. Just like every day this week, Abby was the last person to leave and Brooke didn't think she could deal with this today at all. "Abby, sweetie, I don't mean to sound like a bad person, but I really can't wait around for your mother to come today."

"You're going to leave me alone?" Abby blinked, her lips quivering when Brooke hastily grabbed her things. "I'll be good! I promise, I promise, just don't leave me."

"I'm not going to leave you," Brooke promised with a sigh, patting Abby's hair when she clung to her left leg. Jenny grabbed her friend's stuff and waited somewhat impatiently when Abby didn't let go. "We're just going to have to wait outside, okay?"

"Come on," Jenny whispered, interlocking her tiny hand with Abby's. "I have to wait too but I can't wait too long! I need to be a flower girl later tonight!"

"You're only the flower girl Saturday," Brooke corrected, rushing the girls out the door as she quickly locked the classroom door and made the two walk in front of her. "You two sit right here on the steps and I'm just gonna make a quick phone call."

Jenny and Abby nodded their heads as Brooke jogged down the steps, digging through her oversized purse to find her cell phone. After pushing aside tubes of lip gloss and mascara, she finally retrieved it and dialed Lucas' number.

"Pick up, pick up," she mumbled, tapping her foot impatiently. When his voicemail came on, she cursed softly and ignored the automated voice telling her the Cingular customer she was trying to reach was not available. "Hi, it's me. Look, I don't know where you are, but I'm probably going to be late because I have a girl whose mother comes hours after school gets out so can you tell your mom that? Thanks…oh, I love you, bye."

"Do you think she'll be long?" Brooke asked, trying not to lose her patience as Abby gave her a shy shrug. Jenny looked at Brooke expectantly and gestured to her wrist, as a sign to hurry up. "Can you go wait with Principal Turner? I really have to be somewhere really soon."

"Can't she just come with us?"

It was times like these where Brooke wished Jenny had inherited Jake's laid back personality rather than Peyton's loud, say whatever pops in her head, mouth.

"I, uh," Brooke tried to come up with something to say, feeling bad when both girls looked excited at the idea. "What if your mom comes the second we leave? I think, I think we can wait a few more minutes."

"Okay," Abby whispered with a small sigh, hugging her backpack tight to her chest. Brooke gripped the pole tightly before sitting on the step in front of the girls, tilting her head back to send them a small smile. "Where, where are you guys going?"

"Well, my mother-in-law's getting married and we have to make sure everything's all ready for the wedding this weekend," Brooke said, jumping up a bit when she felt her cell phone vibrate. "Hello?"

"So, what's wrong?" Lucas' tired voice came from the other end, waving to the smiling secretary as he passed her on his way out. "I'm running later than I expected and my mom said Keith hasn't gotten there yet."

"Oh," Brooke felt a sense of relief, using the pole to pull herself up. "Lucas? I know, I know you're not supposed to do this but this girl in my class…her mother's always late. I get that's it not my place to even ask you this…"

"Brooke, you know I can't," Lucas cut her off, switching the phone to his other ear while he put his seatbelt on. "If it keeps up then I'll see what I can do, okay? I'm leaving the doctor's now; do you want me to swing by? I'm only a few blocks away."

"I didn't know you had a doctor's appointment today."

Lucas banged the steering wheel, muffling the noise a bit by turning up the radio. "Yeah, it was just a physical so don't worry your pretty little head about it."

"Alright, but tell your mom I'll get there when I can," Brooke got in quickly as he rushed the conversation to the end. She turned the phone off incase Peyton decided to call and bitch about where her daughter was and re-joined the girls. "Abby, sweetie, I'm gonna see if the office has your mom's number, okay? I think we really need to call her."

"Can I call mommy?" Jenny asked quietly, disappearing near the bushes after Brooke turned her phone on and gave it to her in haste.

"Just a few minutes," Abby's small voice cracked, her eyes watering when Brooke tried to hold her ground and shake her head. "No! Please, I don't wanna talk to my mommy! She'll yell and be mean and, and I don't want her to be mean!"

"Calm down, calm down," Brooke soothed her, lifting Abby's trembling figure into her arms. Jenny continued babbling with Peyton on the phone and Brooke was glad she was distracted for the time being. "Sweetie, its okay, we'll wait, I promise."

She rocked her gently back and forth as Abby's arms gradually loosened from around her neck and finally got back down on her feet, a terrible fear washing over her when she heard a car pull up to the front of the school.

"It's okay," Brooke patted her head, smiling when Lucas emerged from the car. "It's just my husband." Abby walked over to Jenny and stood beside her while she watched with a smile as Lucas greeted his wife with a kiss. "You didn't have to come."

"You think I'd rather stay with Bridezilla?" Lucas joked, knowing Brooke was probably going to blackmail him for that later. "Nah, like I said, I was only a few blocks away and I haven't seen Jenny in a few days."

Jenny's eyes widened and she hung up the phone, not even bothering to say goodbye as she ran forward into Lucas' arms. "Uncle Lucas!" she exclaimed happily, Brooke catching her cell phone when it left Jenny's hands. "You promised to play basketball with me! Daddy's easy to beat and I wanna play someone who's good!"

"Prepare to lose," Lucas promised, shaking her a bit before setting her back down. Abby poked her head from behind Brooke's leg, the shy gesture making Lucas smile. He got down to his knee and gave her a small wave. "You must be, Abby?"

Abby nodded and sucked her thumb innocently, eyeing the road as numerous cars passed by them. "You're pretty."

"Thank you," Lucas laughed along with Brooke, reaching out to gently pat her head. "Do you hear that, Brooke? Someone else besides you and my mom think I'm pretty."

"I have to go potty!" Jenny yelled for the block to hear, pulling on Brooke's arm when she didn't seem to pay attention. "Auntie Brooke," she whined, moving her legs around in a dancing motion. "I really have to go!"

"Okay, okay," Brooke grabbed her hand, turning back on her heel when she realized Abby was going to be left alone with Lucas. "I'll be right back, I promise. Just keep an eye on her, okay, Luke?"

Abby sat on the stairs and sighed into her backpack, her blue eyes following Lucas as he took the step below her. "I remember you from the other day with nana."

"That was me," Lucas nodded with a smile, hating himself for lying to Brooke. "And you remembered not to say anything to Brooke, thank you."

"I don't like lying to Miss Brooke," Abby told him sadly, removing her thumb when Lucas looked at her sympathetically. "Lying is bad Mr. Lucas!"

"I know it's bad, sweetie," Lucas nodded, adjusting himself on the step above. "But what we talked about the other day…it's very private. Do you know what that means?" Abby shook her head and flushed in embarrassment. "Well, when you talk about something in private that means you're not supposed to tell anyone."

"Not even mommy?"

Lucas swallowed past the lump in his throat. He was at a cross-road but judging by everything he heard about Abby's mother, it didn't matter she was lying to her.

"Sometimes you just have to keep things to yourself," he told her softly, a surprised look forming on her face when she hugged his arm tightly. "What was that for?"

"Nana says you're going to make things better."

"I'm, I'm going to try my best," Lucas got out after a pause, his heart dropping at how scared she looked at the very mention of her mother. The door opened and Jenny came flying down the stairs, jumping in his lap when he was still looking at Abby. "Whoa, whoa, Jenny, what did I tell you about doing that?"

"Sorry," Jenny giggled, patting his cheek when he looked uncomfortable. "Can we go play in the playground? Please, please, please! We'll be careful!"

"Just be careful," Brooke reiterated with a wink, keeping a watchful eyes as they scampered off to the cheap playground equipment a few feet away. She sat down to Lucas and sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "Would your mom hate me if I skipped this dinner?"

Lucas laughed, wrapping his arm around her tiny frame. "Yeah, I'd say so. Besides, since you've been such a hard little worker, I'll buy you whatever you want to drink."

"Grey goose on the rocks?"

"Let's not get too crazy," Lucas responded seriously, kissing the side of her head. "So, how it's feel to survive your first week of teaching? The bite marks on your arm are slowly fading away, that's a good sign."

"Yeah, well, I'm giving it a few weeks. Who knows, I could end up with rabies or some other disease," Brooke giggled, a smile gracing her lips when she watched Jenny and Abby chase each other around the swing set. "Doesn't that make you want one? I mean, even though Jenny's a brat, Peyton and Jake are so lucky."

"Someday," Lucas promised, his smile soon turning into a frown when Brooke leaned into him with a wishful sigh.

God, he was going to break her heart one of these days.

--

Brooke glanced in the rearview mirror, her heart melting at how adorable Jenny looked sleeping in the back. Her body was slumped over the booster seat and if she listened closely, she could hear the little girl snoring lightly.

"Let's wait here a bit," Lucas slipped in the passenger seat, startling Brooke out of her thoughts.

"Why?"

"Nathan and Haley are out front arguing."

"Oh," Brooke sighed, craning her neck to see if she could see the two. "Aw, but our days wouldn't be complete if we didn't witness a Naley fight."

"Does it make me a horrible person if I tell Haley's brothers about Nathan and then actually enjoy them kicking his ass?"

Brooke paused, shrugging her shoulders when she came to her conclusion. "Well, um, see, I'd like to say yes, but I'd feel like a hypocrite because seeing that would make my whole entire life. Wait! Are they coming tomorrow?"

"Yeah, they're flying in tonight," Lucas lowered his voice, checking the backseat to make sure Jenny was still sleeping.

"Yay!" Brooke cheered in excitement, slumping down in her seat when Lucas looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What? They're like my brothers too."

"Brooke," Lucas laughed, running a hand through his hair. "It's no secret that you practically worshipped the ground they walked on growing up."

"It is not my fault Haley has hot brothers!" Brooke hissed in a whisper, slapping her husband's arm when he simply snorted. "And look who's talking! You liked all three of her sisters and cried when Nathan lost his virginity to Taylor."

"I didn't cry!"

"Haley heard you in the bathroom," Brooke stuck her tongue out, swatting his hands away when they tried to come in contact with her stomach. "Alright, do you want to go break up the lover's quarrel or should I?"

Lucas motioned for her to go and kissed her hand when she tried hitting him. Brooke sighed dramatically and got out of the car, taking large steps to where Nathan and Haley were arguing on the steps.

"It's your Uncle's wedding tomorrow! You can't just leave!"

"My job is depending on this!"

"Well, screw your job! For once, why don't you actually say no?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Brooke cut in sweetly, cowering back in fear when both Nathan and Haley sent her death glares. "You two were doing so good this week! What the hell are you fighting about now? And if you say Nathan's job, I'm hitting one of you."

"Mind your business," Nathan snapped in annoyance, sick and tired of Lucas and Brooke's constant meddling in his marriage.

"I haven't minded my own business since I was ten," Brooke shot back, narrowing her eyes when she tried sizing Nathan up. Haley stifled her giggle and turned away, making a face when Nathan stormed back inside. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"I can pretend," Haley laughed sadly, ruffling Brooke's hair when she stuck her bottom lip out. Lucas appeared moments later with a sleepy Jenny and sent her a sympathetic smile, knowing he'd talk to Nathan again. "We actually weren't arguing about his job before but somehow it turned into it. He got pissed because I told Adam and Noah they could stay with us instead of getting a hotel."

"Hey, they can stay with me if it will relieve some of the tension," Brooke winked, laughing when Haley pinched her.

"It really creeps me out that you and Peyton have some sort of crush on my brothers."

Brooke shrugged, trying to find the problem in that. "I'm sure if I had a hot brother, you'd feel the same exact way."

"No, I'd be concerned if you thought your brother was hot," Haley teased, sticking her tongue out when Brooke did the same. "Come on, Brookie, Karen's wondering where her precious daughter-in-law is. Apparently I'm nothing to her now."

"You're just jealous cause I got the better mother-in-law," Brooke said, linking her arm with Haley's as they made their way inside. "How's the pill popper doing anyway?"

"She sends her love from rehab," Haley deadpanned, slipping into one of the empty chairs. She let out a small laugh as Karen looked like she was reprimanding Lucas for being late and pushed over when Peyton joined them.

"Brooke, you might want to go save your husband," Peyton stressed, tilting her head back to see Lucas trying to get a word in with his furious mom. "I'm seriously waiting for her to turn him over her knee and smack his ass dozens of times."

The brunette snorted and skipped over to the scene, pulling Lucas away a bit as Karen's arms flailed in the air. "Karen, it's my fault we're late. One of the girls in my class was late being picked up and Lucas offered to wait."

"Oh, okay," Karen smiled, patting Lucas' shoulder when he stepped behind Brooke. "Oh, you're just lucky you have such a wonderful wife to save you from these things. How's school going, Brooke?"

Lucas took this as the perfect opportunity to slip away and found Keith talking to Jake, cradling Jenny in his arms as she slept. "So," the older man began, patting the chair next to him when Lucas came over. "Are you going to make me a grandfather anytime soon?"

The blonde laughed in spite of himself. "Soon enough, I promise."

"Good," Keith nodded in approval. "I've always wanted to be one of those young grandfather's who everyone thinks I'm still in my thirties. I'm serious, Luke. I ran into Junk's father the other day and he's already got four kids. Four!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying," Lucas held up his hands in defense, looking at Jake for some help.

"They really are," Jake nodded, stroking Jenny's hair softly as she began to stir. "You're not allowed to come over or call between the hours of six and eight. Brooke will chop your balls off if you do and trust me; I've seen and heard her sharpening the knives."

"Daddy?" Jenny wiped the sleep out of her eyes. "Can I be the flower girl yet?"

"Not yet," Jake laughed, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Tomorrow, baby. Did going to school wear you out today? Or is it because mommy fell asleep before putting you to bed and you thought it was okay to stay up and watch Dora?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jenny yawned, climbing off Jake's lap before he asked anymore questions. She made her way over to Peyton and frowned when she was talking about 'boring' things. "Mommy, today in school," she cut Haley off with a sweet smile, crawling into Peyton's lap. "I made you a pretty picture but I forgot it in my cubby. I'm sorry!"

Peyton laughed and squeezed her daughter tight. "It's okay, I'm sure I can wait to see it on Monday." Haley grunted and kicked Peyton's shin to get her attention back. "Oh, sorry, Hales. What were you saying?"

"Forget it," Haley waved her off with a sigh. "How's school going, Jenny?"

"Good," Jenny smiled. "I have a friend named Abby who's really shy and I think she likes Auntie Brooke a lot because…well…she told me. She says she wishes Auntie Brooke was her aunt and can we have a play date sometime, Mommy?"

Haley got out of the chair before Jenny continued to ramble and caught the end of Karen and Brooke's conversation about the kids in her class. "I don't know what to do with her, Karen," Brooke sighed, smiling slightly when Karen rubbed her arm.

"It'll get better, sweetie," Karen assured her, making room from Haley to form a little circle. "How are things with Nathan? Lucas said you two were arguing out front."

Sometimes Brooke wished Haley would just break down right then and there. Her best friend had gotten much stronger over the years and she was glad but most of the time Haley would go home and cry, then call Brooke in the middle of the night to talk.

"It's, it's good," Haley lied, feeling reassured when Brooke squeezed her hand. "But this is about you, not me. Are you excited about tomorrow?"

Brooke could tell the two wanted to be alone and slipped away with a smile, plopping down in Lucas' lap when she reached him. "Hello, husband."

"Hello, wife," he mocked, kissing the back of her head. "What did you and my mom talk about? How much you both love me?"

"Oh, yeah," Brooke snorted, smoothing out the creases on her skirt. "You're very full of yourself today. It reminds me of Nathan; stop it before I hit you."

"Okay," Lucas laughed, absently rubbing her bare arms with his hands. "Abby seems like a sweet girl. It was nice to put a face to the name since you've been yapping about her non-stop for the past week."

"Isn't she adorable?" Brooke gushed, leaning her head against his. "But her mother is constantly late everyday and I don't know if I should say something. Judging from what I remember at Target, she doesn't seem like a nice woman and I don't want to scare Abby."

"Just wait a while until you get involved," Lucas told her after a pause, sighing inaudibly against the side of her head. More people were filing in and the couple knew they'd have to get up soon and greet their relatives and answer annoying questions about married life and how it was going. "I know you and how you like to get involved but, Brooke, promise me you won't do anything?"

Brooke turned her head a bit to look at him, taken aback by his tone. "She's my student, Luke. If her life's in danger then I feel like it's my job to protect her. You don't know how she gets when she talks about her mother. She flinches at the very mention of her and sometimes she'll beg me not to leave her."

"Please, Brooke?" Lucas stressed, closing his eyes when she tried to protest. It was a reluctant agreement and he wished he could tell her about the meeting he had with Abby and her grandmother the other day.

It would break Brooke's heart if she knew about Abby's life. Her middle-aged mother deemed her a mistake and felt her social life and drug use were more important then her young daughter. Lucas couldn't do it; he couldn't watch her face constrict in pain, her hazel eyes water and he certainly couldn't lie to her and say everything was going to be okay when it wasn't.

Maybe he'd tell her what the doctor said. It had nothing to do with Abby. Yet, when he thought about it, it was just as worse. No matter how long he kept both secrets from her, they were going to destroy her and there was nothing he could say to cushion the blow.