"Daughters?" she repeated for a second time just to make sure she had heard him correctly. Lucas sighed. He knew that look all to well.
"Yeah, my daughters." He repeated, waiting to find out what she was going to say next. Probably just like the others. "I'm sorry, I just can't..." "You seem like a decent guy, but I'm just not ready for that." Yeah, he's heard it all.
"Daddy" the older of the two spoke up. "Its colwd, let's go inside pwease." Lucas smiled at her, brushed back her messy hair. "It's ok, I understand if you can't." He said, turning his back and taking his daughter inside, throwing her up in the air a little, causing a fit of giggles. The younger of the two stayed by the door, swaying back and forth shyly, sucking her thumb.
"Are's you's coming?" she asked, taking the thumb from out of her mouth. Brooke flashed her dimpled smile and finally nodded her head yes. She finally took that first step into the warm, comforting house. The little girl grabbed Brooke by the hand and led her into the living room where Lucas and Hallie were.
Brooke sat down next to Lucas, and he looked surprised to see her there. She smiled at him and scooted closer. Brenna was still at the door to the living room. "She's incredibly shy" Lucas whispered in Brooke's ear and she shook her head in understanding. "Are you coming sweetie?" Brooke said patting the couch next to her. Brenna slowly made her way to the couch and laid her head on Brooke's shoulder.
Lucas was absolutely shocked. Brenna rarely EVER looked a stranger in the eye; she's even shy around her uncle and aunt. Brenna looked up at Lucas and smiled. Hallie, on the other hand, was nowhere near shy. She would talk to a wall if it would talk back to her.
"What's your name?" Hallie asked plopping herself right next to Brooke. Brooke half laughed. "My name's Brooke, what's yours?" Hallie gasped. "Bwooke is like my favoritist name ever. My name is Hallie." Lucas laughed. "Tell her your real name, honey." he sighed shaking his head, realizing how weird that must sound.
"But Daddy I don't wike my real name!" She complained, going into full pout mode. Lucas rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair. Brenna pulled at Brooke's long sleeve. "Her weal name is Alwie shhh..." she said giggling and holding a finger to her lips."Allie?" Brooke asked for clarification. Lucas nodded.
"Her real name is Allie, but she's been on this Hallie kick every since she saw the Lindsey Lohan remake of Parent Trap." "Ohhhh" she then looked over at Allie. "Allie is a stupid name, nobody good has that name." Allie said matter-o-factly. Lucas laughed, putting Allie on his lap. "Well I love it, so until you turn 18 and can legally change your name, you're out of luck sweetie."
"Why do you have a ginormous tummy?" Allie asked curiously. Brenna gasped, for being the younger of the two; she knew that was the wrong thing to say. "ALLIE SCOTT!" Lucas yelled, but turned to see Brooke raking with laughter. "No, Lucas it's fine. I have a big tummy because there's a baby in there."
"Can I holwd it?" Brenna asked, now excited about the idea of this lady. Brooke and Lucas laughed simultaniously. "Well he needs to stay in my tummy for another couple of months, but once he's born you can, how about that?" Brenna took a dramatic sigh. "I guess. Can he pway bawbies wif us?" She asked, deeply interested.
"Ok...how about we stop hounding Brooke with questions girls. And I don't think he'll be playing with Barbie's at all in his life." Lucas said, trying to save Brooke from the millions of questions he knew his daughters were going to ask. "Come on...time for bed girls."
"NOOOOOO" they both whined. "I wanna stay wif Bwooke." Brenna whispered. "Awww." Brooke said, looking towards Lucas. "Ohhhh god, all three of you and the puppy face, fine, at least go get your PJ's on for daddy."
"But the boogey Man will get us!" Allie complained and Lucas laughed. "Baby, I promise, I checked, there is no man in your girls closet." Brenna sighed. "Can Bwooke come wif us?" Lucas shook his head. "Brenn, Brooke is having a baby; all that walking up and down the stairs makes the baby tired." Brooke slapped him on the arm. "No it doesn't, I'm not cripple, I'll make sure there's no Boogey Man upstairs, never have a man do a woman's job." making Allie and Brenna giggle.
She walked up the stairs holding each of the girls' hand, and leaving Lucas to be absolutely floored by her maternal behavior. She was a natural. She had no reason to worry that she wasn't going to be a wonderful mother.
Brooke opened to door to find it beautifully decorated in dragonflies and butterflies, Lace and a warm yellow. Above each bed was a sign with their names and a canopy coming down. It was absolutely stunning. "Our daddy made it." Brenna finally spoke up. "NO's he didn't Aunt Haley did but let daddy say he did." Brenna and Allie giggled along with Brooke. "It's beautiful. I wish my room looked like this."
Allie went into their neatly organized closet and grabbed a pair of Pajamas out of her own and one out of Brenna's drawer. "Brenna come here." Allie motioned and in just the short time of seeing them interact together, she knew Allie was the one who made all the rules, and Brenna was the shy one who would go along with whatever her older sister had in store.
"No...I want Bwooke to help me." She said softly and brought her PJ's over to Brooke. "Can you hewp me pwease?" She asked in almost a whisper. "Sure honey. Here lift you hands up. All the way! She said enthusiastically. She put her pants on. "Here...one foot in." Brenna smiled at Brooke once they were done. "Lookie Brenna! I lost my head!" Allie giggled from inside her shirt. "Ahh! Where'd it go???" Brenna screamed and Allie pulled her head through the hole. "I'm just kidding!" Throwing herself on the floor rolling around laughing as Brenna leaded back into Brooke, laughing.
"Why do you have 'oles in your cheeks?" Brenna asked, sticking a finger on her dimple. "They're called dimples. I don't really know why, I was born with them." Brenna smiled. "Do I's have dwimples?" Brooke laughed. "Oh my goodness! You have dimples the size of Texas!" which couldn't help but make Brooke wonder who their mother was.
"You girls ready to rock?" She said finally. "Yup." They both said, each grabbing one of Brooke's hands. Lucas smiled as he saw them coming down the stairs. "Well that sounded like you were having fun getting dressed." Both girls shook their head yes and ran towards their dad. Brooke wasn't far behind, waddling her way towards the couch.
Brooke pressed a hand on her stomach. "ohhh." she whispered. "What is it? Are you ok?" Lucas asked nervously. "Oh I'm fine, this little basketball star in here is kicking my ribcage half to death." she said sitting on the couch. "My daddy is a basketball pwayer." Brenna said matter of factly. "Is he?" Brooke asked curiously, directing her question towards Lucas. "I played during high school."
Allie put her hand on Brooke's stomach. "I think he's going to...do ballet wif me and Brenna!" Brooke and Lucas burst out laughing at how ridiculous that sounded. "Hey! It moved!" she shrieked referring to Brooke's stomach. "Yeah, that's him kicking." She said enthusiastically as Brenna and Allie both put their hands on her stomach.
30 minutes later, the girls had fallen asleep on each of their laps. Brenna on Brooke's and Allie on Lucas'. Brooke was staring down at Brenna and playing with her hair, stroking it over and over like her mother had done to put her to sleep. Lucas' eyes were fixated on Brooke. The lights were dim and Brooke was glowing. Her loose curls were dangling from behind her ears.
"I should probably put them in their beds; you can't be comfortable with her laying on you like that, probably drooling." He chuckled. "Ok" was all she said, looking up and smiling at him. "I've got her if you want" she said, situating it so Brenna's arms were loosely around her neck, carrying her close to her body.
"Whoa! Be careful." He asked her pleadingly. "I'm fine, don't worry, she weighs nothing."
After carefully tucking them both into bed, Lucas dropped a kiss on both of their cheeks and foreheads. He helped Brooke back down the stairs, although it was not needed. Lucas handed her a mug of hot chocolate. "If you don't mind me asking..." she started off, her fingers tracing the outline of the mug."Who their mother is?" Lucas finished for her.
She bit her lip. "yeah." she whispered nervously. "Brooke, it's ok, lighten up, it's not a forbidden topic or anything." he half laughed. "She was wonderful. The girl of my dreams even, she was a free spirit. Never was one to be tied down. But then, she got pregnant. I convinced her that we could do it, and I was here for her. We had Allie and she couldn't have been happier. A year later, we had Brenna. "
He let out a long sigh before continuing. "She wasn't as happy as she used to be. It was like motherhood had sucked her free spirit out of her. I guess I didn't truly notice how unhappy she was until she left. Said she couldn't do it anymore. She left me with a one and a half year old and a newborn baby. She had always been selfish like that, now that I think about it."
Brooke felt like crying. She rubbed his arm, letting him take another breath. "So I hadn't heard from her in a year, until I got a phone call. It was her parents. We had talked a couple times after she had left, but this time I knew. They just said that she was driving drunk, and hit another person. She died on impact. She didn't suffer. As for the other person, they'll be in a wheelchair for the rest of their life, with their dead 2 year old baby girl on their conscious. She was always selfish." He finished.
"I'm so sorry." was all Brooke could manage through her tears. Lucas looked up at her. "Hey, why are you crying?" he asked, pulling her into his chest. "Shhh, it's not your fault." He said stroking her hair. "No, I just feel guilty." She cried. "What? Why?"
"Because, you have had such a hard time, with 2 kids, not just one. And you stood by them, took care of them with no second doubts. And I don't even have it that rough. I make good money; have a wonderful apartment, great friends who help me with everything." Lucas held her close.
"I consider a guy who abandons you when you are having a baby, having to be alone for the whole pregnancy having it rough." Brooke smiled. He was so good to her.
"No." Was all she said simply. "No what? He asked confused.
"It's not that rough anymore." She said, now playing with the button on his sleeve. "I have something you didn't have." Lucas smiled. "What's that? Great looks, amazing personality?"
"No...you." was all she said and he kissed her on the forehead.
:) hope you liked it. It took me FOREVER so I hope its not complete crap. I've had overwhelming reviews and if I get at least 15, ill update this week.
Coming up
Brooke watches Lucas girls.
Brooke meets Lucas family...how will they take her?
