Don't let me go – chapter four
Brooke sat at her kitchen table eating from her bowl of berries, she could hear her kids running amuck right throughout the house and that didn't surprise her or bother her, she loved the noise of laughter and fun. When she was growing up her house had been pretty silent, silence was kind of expected and demanded by her parents. She wasn't going to raise her kids in that kind of environment. Jude and Davis ran screaming into the room as Ruthie walked up to her surrogate mother, putting her arms up into the sky in the hopes that Brooke would pick her up and put her on her knee which she did "Inside voices please boys" she said with a smile as she passed Ruthie a strawberry, Julian walked into the room and was instantly bombarded with his adventurous little twins "Watch out for Jude's arm" Brooke yelled out as Julian wrestled with his boys
"Okay, okay, okay" he said indicating to the boys that they should calm down "How about we go to the park and give mummy a little break" he said instantly instigating excitement in the boys as he walked over to the table with a smile
"I can come to the park" Brooke said as she swallowed a blueberry and looked up at him wondering why he was so eager to take the kids out without her
"I figure that you can run yourself a bath, get all relaxed, and regain full capacity in your eardrums" he said with a smile as she stood up holding Ruthie around the waist and walking towards him, Julian stepped forwards and kissed her on the lips
"Yucky" Ruthie said with a smile as both Brooke and Julian laughed. The little blonde girl had now been living with them for three weeks and she was far from the little shy girl who turned up on their doorstep with a bruised eye and the tendency to be petrified of adult males. Now she was fitting into the Baker way of life as though she had been there forever, the boys loved having her around and there was no hiding the fact that both she and her husband absolutely adored the little blonde rascal.
"Do you want to come too Ruthie?" Jude asked as appeared at his parent's feet unexpectedly
"Do you want to go with Julian and the boys gorgeous?" Brooke asked with a small smile as she looked at the little girl who nodded back to her before kissing her forehead
"Come with me then princess" Julian said holding out his arms as Ruthie made the move to transfer out of Brooke's arms and clutch onto Julian "Okay say goodbye to mama" Julian said leaning down to pick up the bag that contained everything that he would need for an outing with his kids "Now you" he said turning as they all headed towards the door and pointing to his wife "Put your feet up and relax, chill out, we will be home before you know it" he said with a smile as Brooke did the same.
Brooke stayed where she stood as she watched them walk out of their front door, listened out for the usual shenanigans that occurred when you tried to get her sons into the car and then listened as the car doors shut and drove off out of the driveway. She turned to walk up the hallway, going to throw something on to go down to Karen's cafe and get a massive cup of coffee when a knock on the door alerted her to the presence of another individual outside of her home. She tightened her robe, made sure that she looked respectably enough to been seen by the public eye and despite the fact that she hadn't had a shower yet this morning and that this was her just rolled out of bed look, she was looking pretty good. Brooke opened the door and was greeted by the face of a man that she didn't know, instead of questioning the identity of the mystery door knocker she smiles revealing her inner social butterfly "Hi can I help you?" she asked continuing on with her contagious smile
"Are you Brooke Baker?" he asked not letting his gaze leave the eyes of the woman standing in the doorway, his certainty was piercing and forceful
"That'd be me" she responded with a gulp, becoming uneasy and spooked by the look that she was receiving, suddenly very alerted to the fact that she didn't know this man and that she couldn't seem to recognise his facial features from a previous encounter yet he somehow knew her name "How can I help you?"
"I believe that you have my daughter" he said exhaling deeply but continuing his intimidating stance, Brooke tried to hide the sharp inhale that the realisation brought
"And I believe that you have to leave now" she said as she composed herself before trying to push the door shut but he puts his foot out blocking her ability to close the door and get out of this awkward situation, not that she really knew what she would do if she got the door shut, call the police? Call the social worker? Call Julian? No she couldn't do that, he had the kids and right now they needed to be as far away as possible from this house, maybe she would call Nathan? He was tough; he would stand up for her. "Sir you have to leave" she stated firmly deciding that she could use her own wits to get out of this predicament
"Let me see my daughter and I just might" he wasn't backing down in fact he seemed to be getting more enraged by it all
"Look" she yells louder than she predicted as she pushes the door harder, trying desperately to make it budge, wishing that she could turn suddenly into the hulk "Ruthie isn't home right now and after what you did to your daughter I wouldn't let you in even if she was" Brooke was getting furious at the idea of being face to face with the guy that gave the little girl in their custody a black eye but unfortunately her strength and endurance was game, set, matched by the big bulky brunette man in the door way of her home, As she looks at him trying to remain calm and as though she was in charge she could see the anger rising in him, and with that anger he pushes his whole body weight against the door which in turn throws the petite woman down, sliding backwards on the floor boards. As Brooke looks from her position on the floor she can see that the door that she was trying so desperately to close is now wide open and the man that she was trying to shut it on is standing a couple of metres away from her, not making a move to come closer and finish her off but just standing looking shocked by his own force. Brooke's robe fell apart revealing her very tanned and very toned legs and while she was pretending to be tough and stern as she looked up towards his angry face it was starting to become harder to hide the fact that she was petrified. She put her hands to the open sides of her robe and pulled it tight around herself to remain at least a little bit dignified, contemplating the idea of making a run for her bedroom because she knew that she had left her mobile on the chest of drawers and that the door was lockable from the inside but then he surprises her by breaking down into hysterical tears and she finds herself no longer as scared as she was a moment ago. There was no doubt that Brooke felt sorry for him, she couldn't imagine not having access to her own child but then again she wouldn't put herself in the position that he had put himself and his daughter in to lose access in the first place, he wasn't her problem Ruthie was her priority. Brooke stood up from where she had been thrown on the floor boards, ignoring the stabbing pain in her leg and lower back. She watched as he rocked himself backwards and forwards repeating over and over again
"I didn't mean to"
"You can't be here" she said as she worked up the courage "I'm sorry but you have to leave" she walked up to the front door and held it open with a serious look on her face as Ruthie's dad, who she still didn't know the name of, stood up and looked up to Brooke's eyes with his incredibly red ones
"I'm so sorry" he sobbed at her
"Please just go" she said before he walked out the door which she promptly shut as quick as humanly possible and locked it, she pushed her body against the door and slid down to the floor, taking a moment to take a deep breath and calm down before crawling over to the couch and picking up the phone "Come on come on come on" She muttered under her breath as she heard the dial tones
"Hello" she heard in the male voice over the other end of the phone and she took a breath of relief
"Hey Nate, Can you please come over?" she asked still looking at the door
X-x-x-x-x-x
Nathan knocked on the front door and was instantly alerted to the fact that something was wrong, he had the idea that something was wrong when Brooke called, there was something in her tone that put uncertainty into his mind and the lack of background noise on her end of the phone was also a bit of an indication but now he was really worried because usually when he did drop around, usually to drop a kid off or for dinner, he would knock on the door and her big booming smiley voice would yell "COME IN" because she was expecting them the door would be unlocked and you would walk into a house with so much spunk, attitude and atmosphere that you couldn't help but smile. Today he stood outside of a locked door, even though Brooke had been expecting him, he could hear her approaching the door and then after a couple of seconds, to what he could only assume was Brooke checking the peephole the door open and her face was all the conformation that he needed to know that something had gone terribly wrong. Without word or hesitation he stepped forwards and wrapped his arms around her. Since the time that she had called him, she had gotten dressed and covered the forming bruises on her legs, thanking her lucky stars that the kids hadn't cracked a tantrum yet meaning that they didn't have to head home.
"Hey Nate" she said in a mumble like sound from her spot pressed against Nathan Scott's chest
"What's going on?" he said letting go of Brooke and holding her outwards at an arm length away so that he could see her eyes
"Why don't you come in?" she said getting out of his grip, walking behind him and locking the door hastily behind him which well and truly got his attention
"Brooke what happened?" he asked with a deeper concern hitting him, they had been friends since before high school and there was no denying that If his friend Brooke Davis Baker was in trouble he would be the first to her defence
"Was there anyone else outside when you came up the driveway?" she saw the shake on Nathan's head and then this worried look in his eye "You know how when Ruthie was dropped off she had a black eye?" he nodded "And we assumed that her dad did it?" he nodded again "Well he showed up here this morning"
"WHAT?" Nathan turned all protective; it was funny how protective Nathan had become of his girls "Did he hurt you?"
"It's fine, everything is fine. I'm sorry for calling I'm not hurt" she lied "I was just scared and you were the first person I could think of that would come over"
"Are you sure that you are alright?" he asked again
"I'm good" she said putting on a soothing smile "I just got a bit scared" she repeated
"God Brooke that sucks" he said stepping towards her and wrapping his arms around her all over again, she clutched onto him and then shut her eyes tightly when she heard the car driving up the driveway, she let go of Nathan when she heard the kids and Julian shut the car doors and head towards the house
"Nathan please don't tell Julian" she whispered hoarsely as the door knob turned
"Why not?" Nathan asked with a confused look on his face
"You just can't tell Julian okay?" she asked with this dead pan seriousness that told Nathan that she was dead serious, he finished saying 'okay' as Julian opened the door and walked in with a smile, a smile that Brooke replicated so that Julian didn't pick up on the vibe
"Hey Nate" Julian said stepping towards the masculine man, doing the handshake/ high five thing that he always did with the guys to show some sort of masculinity "What are you doing here?" he asked with a laugh
"Ah well" Nathan started looking to Brooke who gave him this look that he understood pretty much immediately "Actually I came around to see If you wanted to come to the diner with the guys, Bessie is training for this baking championship which means that she is going to be experimenting with a whole bunch of different pie flavours" this statement was the truth, Nathan had been on the way to the diner to meet Clay, Chase, Lucas and Chris when Brooke called. Brooke's smile became real when Nathan actually successfully threw her husband off the scent and by the look on Julian's face from the invitation, he turned to her and smiled
"Do you mind babe?" he asked because he knew that if he was going to go to the diner she would be stuck with all three of the kids
"No of course not you go and have fun" she said, feeling a little bad that she sounded like she was mothering him she walked over, wrapping one arm around his neck and kissing him hard against the lips.
X-x-x-x-x-x
Brooke was sitting on the couch with a magazine in her hands pretending to read but actually ease dropping the conversation that her two little boys were having with Ruthie and laughing when the knock at the front door sounded. Just the noise itself was enough to strike panic in Brooke. She waited a moment to make sure that she wasn't crazy but when all three of her kids looked at her as though asking 'what are you waiting for?' Brooke put on a fake smile as she stood up continuing to ignore the pain around her back and thigh "Okay Kidlett's how about you go and play with all the cool toys in the boys room, I think I saw a new box of Lego in there" she said with an excited whisper that was soon followed by her kids running up the hallway "Jude" she said ushering him back over to her "I want you all to stay in your bedroom until I come and get you okay?"
"Okay mama" Jude said with a smile as his mum kissed him on the cheek
"You're in charge kid. Now get" she said with a smile as she watched him run up the hall, waiting until the bedroom door shut before even stepping towards the front door "Who is it?" she yelled out as she pressed her eye to the peephole and sighing a deep breath of relief
"Open up B. Davis" She yelled out as Brooke unlocked the door and opened it to her smiling face, her youngest daughter resting on her hip looking from Brooke to the front yard where her other two kids were running "We were wondering if you guys would like to come for a walk to the river court with us?"
X-x-x-x-x-x
Sawyer rode off into the distance, fast, with Jude and Davis following behind trying to keep up with their adventurous cousin who they absolutely adored, Leo was sitting on a bike with a handle that Peyton kept a firm grasp on because that little trouble maker would most definitely try to make a break for it if she let go and he was just too little to ride off into the not so distant distance like his big sister, Brooke pushed Ellie in her backwards facing pram as Ruthie walked hand in hand with Brooke after insisting that she didn't want to ride anything from the wide selection of things with wheels in the possession of the Baker boys, even though Jude and Davis had both told her that she was allowed to 'borrow not keep' they insisted if she wanted to. The girls walked side by side in this comfortable silence, with all the years that they had spent apart just being together was enough of a comfort. Peyton watched ahead as Sawyer reached the river court, threw aside her bike which instantly forced the twin boys to speed up. Sawyer ran into the arms of Skills who was playing basketball with Fergie at the river court unknown to the girls who smiled at each other. Peyton laughed as she watched Skills lift Sawyer into the air to make a slam dunk.
"Hey Ruthie" Brooke said down to the little girl clutching at her hand "Why don't you go and play with the other kids" she said with a broad brimmed smile which the little girl smiled back too before disconnecting herself from the surrogate mother figure and ran ahead with Brooke's eyes cautiously following her every move.
"She seems to be settling into life with the gorgeous yet hectic Baker family" Peyton said with a smile looking to her friend and the faint smile that automatically appeared on her face
"I'm worried that we are going to turn her into one of us" Brooke said with a laugh before wincing and putting a hand to her back, hoping that her best friend wouldn't notice, alas no luck.
"Sex injury?" she asked with a laugh
"I wish" Brooke responded sparking curiosity in Peyton, Brooke decided that instead of playing twenty questions with her that she would just tell her "Ruthie's dad sort of dropped by"
"What?" Peyton freaked out and Brooke tried not to laugh at the similarities in Nathan and Peyton's reactions "Did he hurt you?"
"It's okay P. Sawyer, he just pushed the front door open a little hard and I just sort of well fell"
"You what?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just have a sore lower back and a bruised leg" Brooke said trying not to look at the worried eyes of Peyton Sawyer Scott
"Oh god" Peyton said attaching herself to Brooke's side in a way that let them both continue to push the pram and hold onto the bike "What did Julian say when you told him?"
"It's all fine" she said avoiding her gaze
"You haven't told him yet have you? Brooke Baker I'm going to have to kill you." She said remembering back when Brooke pretended that she had fallen down the stairs instead of just telling her that Clothes over Bro's had been broken into to and she had been beaten up "why didn't you tell him?"
"Ruthie was there" Peyton was giving her the look "I'm scared" it took a lot for Brooke to admit that aloud, she was a tough nut and she certainly didn't like to show weakness, because she knew this Peyton grasped onto her hand tightly "You know how protective Julian is of me and the boys. I'm worried that if I tell Julian he will panic, he'll think that we are being threatened that we are putting our family in danger and want to send Ruthie back"
"Brooke…."
"I can't do that to that little innocent girl. I know what it is like to not feel wanted and I want that girl to feel wanted, she deserves to feel wanted"
"And I think that you are doing a pretty good job of that" Peyton said indicating ahead to where the two boys had turned into a basketball ride.
X-x-x-x-x-x
"Daddy's home" the boys yelled from their spot on the dinner table
"Boy's stay" Brooke said swallowing up her courage, reaching her husband and dragging him up the hall "Mama will be back in a second kids" she said as she marched him up the hallway. After some words of wisdom from her main girl Peyton she had decided early that afternoon that she needed to tell Julian about what was going on and then spent the rest of the afternoon wondering how in the hell she was going to break it to him. She walked him into their bedroom, shutting and locking the door as she instructed him to sit down on their bed, standing in front of her husband she reaches for the drawstrings on her pants as Julian let out a laugh
"Babe the kids are right out there" his smile disappeared when she pulled her pants down and turned to reveal the large bruise on her back and thigh, it had even surprised her when she realised how large it had gotten, she wished she had of told him when it wasn't as big. Julian grabbed her hand and dragged her closer before putting his fingers onto the bruise as she winced "What happened?"
"You have to promise me that you won't freak out" she said turning around, his arms still lingering on her legs but careful not to press on the bruises
"Brooke what happened?" he asked this look of frustration, confusion and concerned look on his face, he just wanted to know what had happened to his wife
"When you went to the park with the kids this morning" she gulped "Ruthie's dad came around"
"WHAT? HE HIT YOU?"
"Yes Julian he hit me on the ass" she responded full of sarcasm with a role of the eyes before looking down to her husband's serious face
"This isn't funny Brooke"
"I never said it was Julian. He pushed the door open and I fell backwards" Julian's soft gaze fell upon hers and she felt instantly better, that's all she needed, his eyes his touch. Julian put his arm back around her as he turned her around and brought her closer before pressing his lips to the top of her thigh
"Are you okay?" he asked in his caring and considerate voice, unable to hide the fact that he was incredibly worried and concerned about his wife
"I'm fine" she answered turning around and leaning down in front of him
"God Brooke if anything had of happened to you" he said looking down as she scooped his face up in her hand and looked into his eyes
"I know. But it didn't" she said leaning forward and kissing him as he put his arms around her waist, she smiled against him "I love you but…"
"I love you too but you can't say but after you say that" he said with a smile
"But" she said with a laugh "I think this just confirms that we need to keep Ruthie with us. I know that it might seem that we could be…"
"Brooke!" he interrupted "Look at me" he said softly "We're not giving that little girl back to that Neanderthal"
X-x-x-x-x-x
Once Brooke and Julian finished having their discussion and Brooke pulled her pants up again they walked out to their laughing kids and decided then and there that when they were finished eating dinner that they would take out the kids for a walk, with the twins both insisting on taking their bikes. They rugged up Julian, Brooke and Ruthie walking hand in hand, Ruthie in the middle laughing her head off as they swung her into the air, the two boys riding fast as they could into the distance before easing off and meeting their parents on the walkway
"Hey Ruthie" Jude said stepping off his bike and taking off his helmet "Would you like a turn?" he asked with his replica of the Julian Baker smile, some day he was going to have girls eating out of the palm of his hand
"Yaha" the little girl answered with a nod as Jude stepped forwards and put his helmet atop of the blonde curls
"Well go on then darling" Julian said leaning down to the little girl who instead of running towards the bike clutched tighter to the hands that she was already holding, Brooke looked down at the conversation with a simple happy smile
"I don't know how" Ruthie whispered, her cheeks turning a tad red as she looked down at her show, Julian looked up at Brooke with a smile and she was soon leaning down next to the girl as well
"Well that's okay honey." She said kissing the little girls hand "do you want me to teach you how to ride a bike?" she asked as the little girl nodded but as Brooke went to make a move a little voice approached them
"No mama" Davis said with a very serious tone as his parents looked at him in shock, wondering what had made Davis react that way "We'll teach her" he said as he held out his hand for Ruthie to grab onto which she did before being lead off the to the bikes by Jude and Davis. Brooke and Julian stepped back and found a park bench where they watched Jude kit Ruthie out with protective bike wear, fastening it on before helping her get onto the bike. Brooke felt proud when she realised how kind and caring her boys were, Davis was holding the handlebars of the bike as Ruthie rode just like his dad had when he had been teaching him how to ride a bike and Jude stood ahead walking backwards whilst shouting encouragement and directions at the little girl
"Can we keep her?" Brooke cooed at the cute scene unfolding before her eyes in sort of a joking matter
"Can we?" Julian thought for a moment as his wife turned to him not sure of what to make of it
"What?" she responded
"She fits Brooke" Julian said in full certainty "Ruthie is perfect and she belongs with us"
To be continued
*Authors note* so this is officially the second last chapter and let me just say that I'm not one hundred per cent sure that I am looking forward to writing the last one, I think it might be a sad one!
Let me know what you think of this chapter and what you want to happen in the last chapter (You never know your idea might be adaptable to my last chapter) Read, Review and Enjoy
Maggie xx
