A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese!

Disclaimer: Only own my characters

Chapter Four

One Step at a Time

Brooke was washing her hands in the sink when she heard the doorbell ring. She frowned, wondering who it was. She hoped that it wasn't Julian coming to complain about how she had treated Peyton at the café earlier. She didn't feel like getting an argument with him after a long day at work.

She opened the door and was shocked to see her mother Victoria Davis standing there. She just gaped at her as she walked past her and into the foyer. Brooke was finally then able to find her voice. "What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded as she shut the door.

"Is that any way to speak to your mother?" Victoria asked in a cold tone.

Brooke gave her a look. "My mother? You expect me to call you my mother after you pushed me so hard that I rebelled? After you refused to speak to me, disowned and disinherited me when you found out about Julian and I eloping? And now you come waltzing in here after nearly six years and expect everything to be normal between us? What planet are you from?"

"See, this is the kind of attitude that I wouldn't have to hear if you would have been raised the way I wanted you to," Victoria replied. Brooke scoffed at her. "But it's too late for you. However, it's a different story for my grandchild."

Brooke looked at her angrily. "What do you mean by that?" She then realized what she just said. "Wait a minute, who told you? I haven't even told Julian about the baby yet. And how the hell did you find me anyway?"

"Rachel called me and told me about what happened with Julian including your pregnancy," Victoria told her. "For some reason, she thought that I could help you more than she could."

"I don't see how," Brooke snapped.

Victoria looked around the apartment with disapproval written on her face. "Do you really want your child to be raised in a tiny apartment like this? I suppose you would enroll my grandchild in a public school. The child would do better in a private school. And what about your pathetic excuse of a salary? I'm sure that's just enough for the rent and the bills."

"And my child would do better with you?" Brooke asked as her anger level increased further. She was sick of how her mother always belittled her. "Control every aspect of their life so that they don't have any freedom? Push them so much that they feel like they can't think for themselves? Gee, history will repeat itself all over again."

"Don't be so dramatic. You know your attitude changed once that boy showed up," Victoria snapped back.

"No, that's when you started noticing the changes," Brooke corrected her. "I started changing way before that. The only reason you pretended to care was Julian."

"Because he was leading you down the wrong path. You were just blinded by love that you didn't see it," Victoria insisted. Brooke just continued to glare at her. Victoria gave her a look as she spoke again. "And now that you're free of him, you should come home. You and I both know that you can't raise this baby on your own."

"I never said that I wanted to keep the baby," Brooke said.

Victoria tried not to laugh. "You must be joking. Clearly you're not thinking about having an abortion."

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "So you want me to tell that cheating son of a bitch that I'm having his baby so that he would come crawling back to me? No, thank you. I don't want him back."

Victoria gave her an annoyed look. "Of course not. He doesn't deserve to ask for your forgiveness. But he has to pay you child support," she replied.

Brooke groaned frustrated. "I don't want his money. I don't even want his child. All I want from him is a divorce."

"You can have your divorce. I just don't want your child to be punished for it," Victoria replied sounding surprisingly genuine.

Brooke looked at her confused. "Why do you care all of a sudden? You haven't cared about me for the last six years. So what made you change your mind? Is it because of your grandchild? Is that it?" she demanded.

"Believe it or not, I came here to help you in your time of need," Victoria protested. "But I can see that you still want to do everything against my better judgment. Very well. I'll leave." She then walked towards the door before she suddenly stopped. She turned around and looked at Brooke. "And how do you know I haven't stopped caring about you?" she asked her before she went out the door, leaving Brooke with her question.

The next day, Lucas could tell that Brooke was distracted by something. She started to mess up orders and made a mess with a few spills. Lucas hadn't known her for very long. But he knew that it was too strange that she would go from graceful and confident to being a klutz in one day. It was too obvious that something was bothering her.

He walked over to her and helped her clean up her latest spillage. Brooke turned red in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry."

Lucas gave her a comforting smile. "It's ok. It's just a spill. I'll finish cleaning it up. You go take a break. You look like you need it."

Brooke gave him a guilty look. "Am I that obvious?" Lucas laughed. Brooke sighed as she sat down at the counter. "I'm sorry. It's just that I had a bad day yesterday. The only good part about yesterday was getting this job and now, I'm messing it up on the first official day."

"So you don't like my daughter anymore?" Lucas teased her as he went back around the counter.

Brooke looked at him confused before realizing what he meant. "Ok, meeting Maddie was the best part of the day. By the way, where is Maddie today?" she asked him. She didn't even notice until now that she wasn't at the café.

"She's at Jake's house playing with Jenny, his daughter and her best friend," Lucas told her. "Jake and Jenny live next door to us. So she's happy that she doesn't have to go far to play with her friend."

Brooke nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it is nice to have friends close by."

Lucas then thought for a moment. "I hope you don't think I'm pushing you, but have you decided on whether you wanted to stay in Tree Hill or not?"

Brooke shrugged. "I don't know. I want to, but I'm not sure." She then stifled a laugh. "I'm not even sure that I want to keep my baby."

Lucas nodded understandingly. "Yeah, I went through the same thing when my wife left me," he said quietly.

Brooke turned to him in shock. "Mr. Scott, I'm so sorry."

"Please call me Lucas. I may be your boss, but I'm also your friend," Lucas said as he gave her a smile. Brooke smiled in return. "And it's ok. It happened shortly after Maddie was born."

Brooke was surprised. "So you've been a single parent all this time?" Lucas nodded. She shook her head in amazement. "It must be tough. How do you do it?"

"I take it one day at a time," Lucas replied. "And it helped that my family was willing to help me out. Even Nathan and Haley, even though they had just had Jamie."

Brooke gave him a smile. "Your parents must have been happy with two grandchildren to spoil."

Lucas didn't know how to respond. So he gave the best answer he could. "That's actually a complicated subject." Brooke gave him a confused look. "It's a long story. Let's not get into it." He then changed the subject back to her. "So you're thinking about your baby?" he asked her.

Brooke nodded. There was a few seconds before she hesitantly asked her question. "How did you decide to keep Maddie after your wife left you?"

Lucas gave her a smile. "It was easy. I loved her too much to give her away to my parents. I knew it wasn't going to be easy being a single parent, but I was willing to try, for Maddie. And as I said before, I had my family to help me if I wanted it."

"You're lucky. I don't really have a family anymore," Brooke replied sadly.

"Maybe not. But you certainly have friends now," Lucas told her genuinely.

Brooke smiled in return. "Yeah, I do."

"And as your friend, I would like to invite you to dinner Monday night," Lucas said. "We can get to know each other more. And I know Maddie would love to see you again."

Brooke laughed. She knew that was true. "That sounds nice. I'd love to join you and Maddie."

Lucas smiled in return. "Great. Remind me to give you my address before you leave."

Brooke nodded. "I promise."

Lucas decided that it would be fun to keep the dinner guest a surprise until that night. He was excited himself. He was eager to have a new guest over. He also wanted to get to know Brooke more since he didn't know her that well.

He looked at the time and saw that Brooke would be arriving any minute. "Hey Maddie, could you set the table for me?" he called into the family room where Maddie was watching cartoons. A few seconds later, she appeared in the kitchen, ready to help him. Lucas helped her pull out the plates and silverware from the cupboard.

Maddie suddenly frowned, instantly noticing that there was three of everything. "Daddy, you grabbed too many."

Lucas just gave her a smile. "No, I didn't. We're having someone joining us for dinner tonight."

"Who is it?" Maddie asked excitedly as they heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it," she told him as Lucas smiled to himself. He waited a few seconds and heard a squeal of excitement. He chuckled, knowing that Brooke had arrived.

Sure enough, Maddie led Brooke into the kitchen, smiling happily. "Did you like my surprise?" Lucas asked her. Maddie nodded eagerly. He then looked at Brooke and gave her a smile. "Welcome to our lovely home. I hope you're hungry because I'm making plenty of food."

"We're having spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread, my favorite," Maddie told Brooke.

Brooke smiled in return. "Sounds perfect. I can't wait to eat it," she replied as she turned to Lucas. "Can I help you with anything?"

"No, you're the guest. Sit down and relax," Lucas insisted. "Dinner's almost ready. So just find a place at the table. What do you want to drink? We have milk, water and apple juice."

"I'll take water," Brooke replied.

A few minutes later, the three were sitting down and eating dinner. "So where did you move here from?" Lucas asked her.

"I moved here from Charlotte, but I grew up in New York City," Brooke replied.

Maddie's eyes went wide with surprise. "New York City? I want to go there. Daddy says he'll take me for my birthday. Or Disney World."

"Well, either trip sounds like a great present. When is your birthday?" Brooke asked her as she took a sip of her water.

Maddie smiled proudly. "It's on the Fourth of July. I get fireworks on my birthday."

Brooke smiled in return. "Wow, that's pretty special. And how old are you going to be?"

"I'm four going on five," Maddie replied as she turned to Brooke. "How old are you?"

"Maddie," Lucas scolded her. He then gave Brooke an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. She's not allowed to ask personal questions like that."

Brooke gave him a reassuring smile. "No, it's ok. I don't mind," she replied before she turned back to Maddie. "I'm twenty-three. And my birthday is in March." She somehow had a feeling that that was going to be her next question.

Maddie smiled. "Cool."

It wasn't long before the three had finished their meal. After dinner, Brooke helped Lucas and Maddie bring the dishes over to the dishwasher. Maddie then wiped the table before she went to the other room to watch some television, leaving Lucas and Brooke alone.

"What made her want to go to New York City?" Brooke asked him curious. "I mean I understand Disney World. Almost every little kid wants to go there. But why New York City?"

"Well, she knows a little about it. She's dying to go to Central Park. And she wants to see the Statue of Liberty," Lucas replied. "She really wants to go. So I thought it would be the perfect birthday present/summer vacation."

"Well, you guys will certainly have fun there if you go. I haven't been back there since I eloped. I'm hoping that I will be able to go back someday and will take my children there for a visit," Brooke said. "Even if I am a single parent."

Lucas turned to her. "Does that mean you're going to keep your baby?"

Brooke didn't have a chance to answer as Maddie came back into the kitchen, carrying a game with her. "Brooke, will you play Memory with me, please?" she asked her.

Brooke gave her a smile. "Sure, why don't you set it up? I need to use your bathroom."

Lucas showed her to the bathroom before he went back to the kitchen. His daughter gave him a wide smile. "What are you smiling about?" he asked, as he couldn't help but smile himself. "Are you smiling because of your new friend?"

"Maybe," Maddie replied as Lucas started tickling her. She giggled in delight as she tried to get him to stop. Finally, he did right before Brooke came back into the kitchen. She helped Maddie finish up setting up the game before they started playing. Lucas watched them fondly.

After two games, it was a tie. So Maddie and Brooke decided to play one more game to break the tie. Maddie happily won. Lucas rewarded her with bringing out the chocolate ice cream that he had bought earlier. Maddie squealed in delight since chocolate ice cream was her favorite flavor. Lucas and Brooke soon joined her.

"Can we play another game?" Maddie asked Brooke eagerly.

"Sorry kiddo. But it's about time for you to go to bed," Lucas told her. "And I'm sure Brooke needs to get home."

Maddie was disappointed. "Can't you stay a little longer?" she asked Brooke.

Brooke gave her a smile. "No, your dad's right. It's getting late and I should be getting home. But we'll see each other again soon. After all, I do work at the café," she gently reminded her. The two then exchanged good-byes before Brooke followed Lucas to the front hall. She gave him a smile as she said, "Thank you for dinner. It was delicious."

Lucas smiled in return. "You're welcome. And you are welcomed here anytime."

"Thank you. Good night Lucas," Brooke said as she walked out the front door.

Lucas suddenly stopped her. She turned to him, curious to know what he was going to say. "You never did answer my question. Are you going to keep your baby?"

Brooke gave him a smile. "Thanks to you and Maddie, I am," she replied before she headed towards her car. Lucas couldn't help but smile as he watched her. He waited until she drove away before closing the front door and walking back inside.