Author's Note: Okay, so this is kind of a short chapter but it accomplishes what I need it to accomplish so I hope you guys like it. Thanks to kapeesh, HistoryNerd, SmgedLezi14, Bazzle and AmberLovesLOST for reviewing the last chapter. HistoryNerd, I am trying to make the wait periods between chapters shorter, I promise! Um, I think I've made a decision on the age and gender for Brooke and Lucas's adoption but that won't be coming for a bit so... keep an eye out :) Anyway, I have to work in like 4 hours so I should get some sleep. Enjoy :) And as always, I welcome your suggestions!
Chapter Four
On Location
Camille POV
Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, in summer was amazing. The middle of June, 65° and sunny with a slight chance of rain. On one of my rare days off, I was ecstatic to be able to just spend the day sightseeing with my incredible boyfriend.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" I grinned as I twirled around in the middle of Old Town Square, "What do you think? I'm so excited you're here."
"I'm excited too." Tim grabbed my hand to stop me from twirling and pulled me in for a kiss, "I missed you."
"I missed you too." I said softly, placing my hands on his cheeks, "You're home for good this time right?"
A bittersweet smile fluttered across his face and he ran his fingers through my hair, placing a light kiss on my forehead.
"You know the answer to that."
I sighed. I was hoping the answer had changed. It never changed. It was always the same.
"So two weeks and then what? Where are you being stationed?" I sighed, knowing where this was going, "Iraq again? Italy? Germany?"
"Jacksonville."
My eyes snapped up to connect with his and he grinned.
"North Carolina."
"Shut up!" I jumped on him, wrapping my legs around his waist and placing quick kisses all over his face, "This is amazing. That's… so much better than Iraq. I'm… ecstatic and speechless…"
"For a speechless girl you sure say a lot."
"Don't tease me!" I smacked him lightly on the chest and he laughed, "Seriously? You're gonna be in Jacksonville, North Carolina?"
"At least for the next three years." Tim grinned, "It's just one hour from Tree Hill. We could be closer to our friends again."
"We? Oh baby, I'm ecstatic that you're gonna be in North Carolina because it's stateside but I can't move with you. I've got six months of filming for this movie still then post-production and modeling plus I have more scripts for more movies coming in…"
"Now who's the one avoiding living together?"
I knew he was half joking but the half serious part of it didn't escape me. This was a conversation we had been having for years. Whenever I asked him to move in with me in New York he said he couldn't because of all the deployments. It was sort of ironic now the way the tables were being turned on me.
"Tim, that's not fair. I have obligations. I can't just pick up and move back to North Carolina with you." I was starting to wish that we were inside my hotel room to have this conversation as people around us began to stare. "I travel too much and when I'm not traveling my life is in New York."
"So what? You travel all the time. Why can't your base be in North Carolina? You can still travel to New York and Los Angeles and Prague from North Carolina!" Tim was actually arguing with me now and I sighed, knowing he wasn't going to give up on this easily, "Savannah did."
"What?" I narrowed my eyes at him, "What do you mean Savannah did?"
"You asked me to check on her before I left New York to come here and when I went to her condo she had moved. I called her assistant and she told me that Savannah moved back to Tree Hill."
"You're kidding me right?" Never in my life would I have guessed she would have such a radical change of heart, "Last time I saw her she was drunk off her ass, bitching about how Matt put her on model restriction. I wouldn't have left her if I didn't have to because I really thought that she was going to kill herself but Anaya was supposed to be watching her!"
"Anaya, the magical assistant, got fired. Her severance pay was Savannah's Aston Martin. Apparently right after you left Savannah checked herself into rehab, checked out, sold the condo and moved back to Tree Hill." Tim smiled, "So will you agree to move in with me now?"
"No! This is huge Tim! She doesn't even go back to that place to visit. I have to call her." I pulled out my cell phone but Tim grabbed it and held it out of my reach.
"I'm not giving it back until you agree to move in with me."
"Tim!" I reached for the phone but he pulled it out of my reach, "Tim, stop."
"Move in with me…"
I tried again to get the phone and again failed, cursing beneath my breath.
"I'm not moving in with you while you're acting like a child. Give me my phone."
"You used to like it when I acted like a child." Tim grabbed me with his free arm while still managing to keep my phone out of reach as he kissed my neck, "Move in with me."
"You're being ridiculous." I sighed, giving in more and more as he placed kisses along my collarbone, "I can't move in with you."
"Yes you can and you will if you want your phone back."
I groaned and my eyes fluttered shut as I gave up reaching for the phone and gave in to the way he made me feel. Safe, sexy, and loved.
"If I move in with you, I'm not gonna be home much. Can we handle that?"
Tim stopped the kissed and took a step back, smiling at me.
"Yeah. We've been handling it since high school. I've been deployed the majority of the time. You've been working. We get like a total of a month together the entire year usually and here we are, still going strong. We can do this."
I sighed and nodded, giving in. He thrust the phone into my hand and started doing a dance around the square that I hadn't seen him do since high school. I couldn't help laughing at how goofy he looked and it made me realize how much I missed goofy Tim. These days he was much more serious US Marine Tim.
"I love you." I called out to him and he stopped dancing as he turned to me and flashed me an award winning grin.
"I love you too."
We spent the rest of the afternoon sight seeing happily, my phone call to Savannah forgotten as we took in The Dancing House, The Astronomical Clock, and even a few museums. By the time we returned to my hotel room I was exhausted, collapsing on the bed and watching Tim carefully prepare himself for bed. So much had changed since high school.
My goofy but loveable boyfriend had matured, become responsible, and he had a real job serving and protecting the country. After graduation I thought Tim going into the military would be the end of the world and now, it seemed like life was just beginning. And him being stationed in North Carolina definitely helped to boost my feeling of security when it came to him.
"So where are we going to live? Do we need to buy a house? Are we going to live on base? I have so many questions."
Tim reappeared from the bathroom, a toothbrush in his mouth. He held up his hand to me to signal that I wait for a second then returned and finished brushing his teeth.
"I was thinking we should get a place off base. I haven't really asked but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be allowed to live with me on base unless we're married and seeing as how I had to blackmail you to even move in with me, I'm thinking marriage is a little too much for you right now."
"Isn't it for you?" I frowned as he joined me on the bed, staring straight into my eyes, "I mean, we're barely 23 years old. We've never really lived together. We've spent the last five years in a long distance, barely communicative relationship. I love you but…"
"I'd marry you today." Tim said simply and I could see in his eyes he was serious, "I don't care what the world says is normal, I've never been normal and I don't want to start now. I love you."
I smiled.
"I love you too but marriage at our age with our history coming from the families that we come from is insane. We'll get there but not right now."
"I'll wait."
I stood from the bed and pulled my pajamas from the top drawer of the nearby dresser, watching Tim watch me as I stripped down to nothing and then slipped on my tank top and boy shorts.
"Do you like what you see?" I teased him, doing a little dance as if I was going to take my shirt back off.
"I definitely like what I see." Tim beckoned me to the bed and I happily obliged, climbing over him and letting my lips rest against his as we entered an intense make-out session.
The heat was increasing and clothes were being re-removed when his phone rang and I groaned, knowing he would have to answer it no matter what.
"Smith." He always answered his phone with just his last name now.
The smile that fluttered across his face at least told me that he wasn't going to be taken from me early this time, as had happened so many times before.
"We were actually just talking about that. Hold on a second." Tim pressed speaker on his phone and then placed it on the bed, "Okay, Cammie can hear you now."
"Why don't you ever answer your phone young lady?" Brooke's voice echoed through the room and I laughed.
"I'm a busy woman. No time to answer a stupid cell phone."
"No time for your friends Ms. Thang?" Brooke laughed back, "Fine, Tim. Take me off speakerphone. I don't want to talk to the snob."
"Hey!" I objected, grabbing the phone so Tim couldn't do as she said, "I am not a snob."
"Whatever." Brooke pretended to be upset for a second and then she began to giggle, "Hey, I just wanted to call and see how you guys were doing. We miss you. You're the only ones missing to get the group back together."
"Yeah, we just heard about that. Savannah's back in Tree Hill?"
"Yes she is and so is Nathan." Brooke sounded very happy to announce that fact, "We are having a blast. It's like old times minus the drama and homework."
Tim and I chuckled.
"We'll be nearby soon." Tim said, "I'm being stationed in Jacksonville."
"Seriously?" Brooke squeaked, "And Cammie's coming with you?"
"Why is that so hard to believe? We've been dating for like 6 years."
"Yeah but you've got commitment issues." Brooke said as if it were a well known fact, "We just figured eventually Tim would get tired of you."
"That is so wrong." I let my mouth fall open, "I do not have commitment issues."
"And I could never get tired of her." Tim added.
"Yeah, if that's your story." I could hear Brooke smiling, "So you're seriously moving to Jacksonville? That's a lot closer than wherever the hell you two are right now."
"Yes it is." I replied, "We're in Prague."
"Oh, I love Prague!" Brooke sighed, "Especially in June. If only I wasn't remodeling my house, designing my new line, and organizing the new ad campaign… I would take a week off and come see you. How's the movie going by the way? It's your first right?"
"Second, but the first one was direct to DVD." I said with a shrug, "The movie is going great. It's an action movie so I get to do a lot of stunts and it's just awesome."
"That's so cool. I can't wait to see it. Oh um, Lucas and I are going to be adopting soon."
"Adopting?" I frowned, "Like a puppy?"
"No." Brooke broke into hysterics, "Like a baby."
"No way. Not you." I shook my head, "Seriously?"
"What? You don't think I can be a good mom?"
"No I do, but why adopt? You and Lucas would have like the cutest babies in the world! Can you guys not… I mean, is there something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong I just can't take the time to be pregnant right now." Brooke sighed, "We thought about just like having a baby but we ruled it out for a lot of reasons. I mean, first, I'm always working so stress would be high and the doctor said that stress is the leading cause of miscarriages and I couldn't handle that."
I thought about Savannah and Bryan and nodded, although Brooke couldn't see me. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
"Plus I'm already me so extra hormones would be crazy and we like the idea of helping kids who are already born! There are so many kids out there who just need good homes and Luke and I can give that to them you know?"
"Yeah, I can see it I guess." I shrugged and Tim put his hand on my arm as if he were comforting me for some reason, although I didn't know why, "So, boy? Girl? What's the plan?"
"We haven't decided on any one child yet. We are remodeling the house so we can get everything ready and then we're going to start actively working with an agency. We're really not picky about boy or girl so we'll see."
"Well congratulations Brooke! I'm really happy for you." I said.
"Me too!" Tim added, "Tell Lucas we're happy for you guys."
"I will." I heard Brooke yawn.
"What time is it in Tree Hill?"
"Only like 4 in the afternoon but I'm exhausted. Savannah and Nate moved back yesterday so we spent last night out to dinner with everyone just catching up and stuff and then today Savannah asked me to go shopping with her because Nathan went shopping with her yesterday and refused to do it again, so I went to get like groceries and other stuff for the house and we took Jamie with us and of course, a four year old is exhausting and now I'm at my office trying to complete some sketches and I was completely void of inspiration so I figured I would call my favorite Marine and I got a bonus of my favorite model turned actress."
Tim and I both laughed.
"You better get used to running errands with a kid Brooke Davis. They're not easy." I called out to her.
"Oh, how would you know missy? The closest you've been to a kid is… I don't know but you don't have any so shut up."
"I used to hang out with Sienna when they came to visit me and Savannah in New York a few years ago."
"Yeah well, five year old Sienna is much more energetic, trust me. Oh and don't get me started on Sienna, Lily and Jamie all together! Geez, last night was insane. The three of them are already like crazy bonded. They decided to play hide and seek in our dark yard last night without telling any of us what they were doing and it wasn't one of them that was it, it was any adult who decided to try to find them so we spent an hour freaking out because we had no clue where they were. It was good times."
"I'm sure it was. Well, when we get details about the move we'll let you know and I'm sure we will all have to get together for a family reunion."
"I'm excited. I know it's late over there. I'll let you go."
"We love you!" I called out to her and she giggled.
"Love you guys too. Have fun!"
Brooke hung up and Tim replaced his phone on the nightstand before moving under the blankets and pulling me with him, holding me tight.
"I'm kind of excited about the move now." I admitted to Tim as we lay in bed, "Everyone sounds happy. It sounds like Savannah's doing good right? Better than New York?"
"A lot better than New York." Tim nodded, "And soon we'll be closer to all of them."
He held me until we fell asleep and for the first time in months, I was able to sleep soundly, in the arms of the only man I loved.
The next day I had a early morning call time when I needed to be on set, so I slipped from bed carefully so as not to wake Tim. It was still dark outside when I left in my chauffeured car. I should have known that he wasn't really asleep but it still surprised me when my cell phone rang.
"So what? You just sneak out without even kissing me goodbye now?" He teased when I answered.
"No. I didn't want to wake you up." I laughed, "We went to sleep late last night and I figured you needed your sleep."
"I need my sleep less than I need you." He replied.
"Well, I will remember that for next time." I paused and listened to him yawn, "So what are your plans for today?"
"Right now I am going to go back to sleep and then later I was thinking I would go buy a video game system and spend the rest of the day playing video games. What about you?"
"Well, I have an early call time so that means I might get out earlier or it might just mean I have a very long day ahead of me. It depends on how long it takes us to get the shots the director wants us to get. I'll try to call you and let you know as the day goes on okay?"
"Okay." Tim yawned again, "Tomorrow you think they'll let me come to set and watch? I would love to see you in action."
"I'll ask." I smiled, "I love you. Go back to sleep."
"Have a good day."
The car pulled onto the lot where I switched to a golf cart driven by my assistant who was ready to go over the days scenes with me and help me to prepare as she drove me to hair, makeup, wardrobe and the morning director's meeting.
"You look happy." One of my co-stars teased me as we headed for the set where we would be filming our first scene.
"I am happy." I replied, ignoring his teasing tone, "My boyfriend's in town and he asked me to move in with him so I guess in a few months I will be moving back to North Carolina."
"Back? Like you've lived there before?"
"Yeah, for my senior year of high school. It's how Tim and I met. He's from there."
"This is the Marine boyfriend right?"
I nodded and laughed.
"No, it's the other boyfriend." I teased him and he stuck his tongue out at me, "Yeah, of course it's my Marine boyfriend. He's finally being stationed stateside in Jacksonville, North Carolina which is like an hour from where we used to live so I'm actually pretty excited about it."
"Well congratulations." I received a hug from him and then we went to work, both of us getting into character which meant seriousness.
What I had hoped would be a short day of filming turned into a 14 hour day from hell and by the time I stumbled into my hotel room that night, I was completely dead.
"You look like you just got mugged." Tim said as he watched me collapse onto the bed, "You didn't did you?"
"Uh-uh." I mumbled into the pillow.
"How was work?"
"I'm so tired." I turned over to lay on my back and look at him where he was sitting by the TV in the corner of the room, "I screwed up my lines like 20 times on this one scene and the director was so pissed at me. Of course, I was pissed at myself because by this time of the day I had already filmed three other scenes and none of them were exactly easy so I just wanted the day to be done. We finally got the scene but I seriously should have been home like 4 hours ago. I feel like an idiot."
"You are not an idiot." Tim looked away from his video game and smiled at me, "Wanna come play Call of Duty with me?"
"Hell no. I've been amidst enough grenades and explosions today to last a freaking lifetime. I'm gonna go shower."
The warm shower relaxed my tense muscles and I felt refreshed when I returned to the bed thirty minutes later, now in my pajamas as I laid down to watch Tim.
"Just a question but why, if you've been involved in a real war, would you play a wartime video game?"
Tim smiled.
"Because I'm good at it."
I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, okay. Are you hungry?"
"Starving. What are we gonna do for dinner?"
"Room service." I opened the drawer of the bedside table and looked over the menu, "I'm thinking steak and mashed potatoes because, as stated previously, I've had a really long day. What do you want?"
"Well, since I'm watching my carbs…" Tim paused the video game and crossed the room to join me on the bed, "Just kidding. Steak and mashed potatoes sounds good. Order dessert though."
"Maybe I'll have to be your dessert."
Tim eyed me hungrily and leaned over to kiss me.
"I would be perfectly okay with you as dessert."
"Ooh, they have chocolate cake." I laughed turning back to him as his face fell, "You can have your cake and eat me too. It's okay."
He began to laugh loudly as I picked up the phone to dial, waiting for the room service staff to answer.
"How do you want your steak cooked?" I asked him while the phone was still ringing.
"Medium-well." He slapped my butt and then headed back to the video games while I placed our order.
It would be up to our room in about 20 minutes, which sounded good to me.
"So I made a few calls about the move to Jacksonville today." Tim said as he continued to play, "And I found a couple places that I think might work for us. Nothing too fancy but I think you'll like them. The real estate agent I talked to faxed us a list of about ten houses that are reasonably priced so you should look them over. The folder's on the dresser."
I grabbed the folder on the dresser and spread out the information on the bed so I could look it over. While all the houses were nice, they were each only two or three bedrooms and the pictures didn't really show much luxury to them. Compared to my condo in New York and the house I had grown up in in California, these houses were modest to say the least.
"You realize we can afford much nicer houses than this right?"
Tim paused the game and turned to look at me, frowning.
"Well, yeah, but if it's just you and me and you're going to be traveling most of the time and I'm gonna be working, I figured we didn't need the house to be too big right? I mean, three bedrooms is pushing it. You and I share a room."
"I guess…" I frowned back at him, not used to being practical when I was house hunting rather than just going for the most luxurious place I could afford, "I don't know Tim. I like these places but what about an entertainment room or a library?"
"Are we going to use those things?"
"You could use the entertainment room for video games and when I have a movie to screen or something I could totally use it for that."
"Or we could just get a big screen TV for the living room." Tim countered.
"Alright look, I'm a spoiled brat okay? I need nicer than this. Hardwood floors are nice but I need granite countertops and professional cooking appliances and rooms that I will never use because that's what I'm used to and I don't know if I know how to be without those things."
A smile slowly spread across Tim's lips and he rolled his eyes although I knew he was just teasing me.
"Fine, I did have her send one other listing over." He reached and pulled another folder from the floor next to him, "Here."
I took this folder and opened to see a beautiful white two story home surrounded by a lush green yard and cement driveway. Further inspection of the included pictures showed a beautiful kitchen with recessed lighting, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and plenty of cabinets for storage. It seemed recessed lighting actually went throughout the entire house. The gorgeous staircase lining one wall of the living room actually made the house seem tri level as it went up a bit, leveled out, and then went up a bit more, with doors on each level. The paint would need to be redone as the pastel colors of the upstairs bedrooms made me want to puke but there was an entertainment room and overall the entire place seemed immaculate. The description said it was situation on a total of 1.7 acres of land and I knew I didn't need to read anything else. I was in love.
"This one." I said simply, tossing all the rest of the house listings onto the floor for dramatic flair, "I want this one."
Tim laughed and nodded.
"I knew you would so I already told the real estate agent to put in an offer. They're asking $695,000 so I offered $650,000. Sound reasonable to you?"
I nodded and set down the folder, jumping off the bed and running across the room so I could straddle his waist, facing him as I sat in his lap.
"Thank you baby." I said, running my hands over his chest, "You know me way too well by now."
"Yeah, I do." Tim shrugged, "No big deal."
I giggled and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
"Remind me to reward you generously later okay?"
"Later?" Tim frowned, "Why not now?"
"Because our food will be here in like two seconds."
Just as predicted, before he could respond there was a knock on the door and I ran to accept the food delivery, tipping our waiter before he disappeared.
"How in the hell did you predict that?" Tim asked as he turned off his video game to join me at the table as I set the food out for us.
"I'm psychic. Didn't I ever tell you that?"
Tim rolled his eyes at me.
"No, actually I've just ordered room service a lot and every single time when they tell me it's going to be a certain amount of time they get her five minutes before that time is up. So they told me 20 minutes and it got here in 15."
"You could have gotten away with saying you were psychic." Tim said as he began to cut into his steak.
I smiled over at him and shrugged.
"I know, but I love you too much to lie to you."
He smiled back.
"Don't forget," He said as he chewed his first bite of steak, "You owe me a generous reward."
I took my first bite and nodded slowly as I eyed him and licked my lips seductively.
"I won't forget. I'm looking forward to it."