K-pixy: Tom Bradshaw is fashioned after the adorableness of Tom Hiddleston. The scene with the kids having a contest is actually a childhood memory. Our parents always conveniently couldn't make a decision between the girls and the boys pizzas. I'm the youngest of five. Three girls and two boys. Anyway I just wanted to let you know that fun fact.
-x-
"Brooke Scott?" The Englishman asked as soon as she opened the door.
"Who are you?" Brooke asked, having never seen the tall, long dark haired sexy lanky man before.
"I'm Tom Bradshaw. I'm Ryder and Ella's biological father." He said, his English accent sending chills down her spine. "I, uh, went over to Peyton first and she made it abundantly clear that you are the person that I should see."
Yes Brooke knew that she is very married but that did not mean that she was blind nor deaf after saying I do. But after her initial reaction she narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms and asked, "What brings you here now after all these years Tom?"
"I only found out about them a week ago. Peyton sent a letter saying that she needed help getting our kids back—I had to see what she was talking about."
"She did, did she?" she asked, unable to believe that her former friend was stooping so low. She hadn't told the man that he had fathered children in over ten years? "You do know that she's not well?"
"I got that impression from the conversation I just had with her. She's a little barmy, yes. But I had to see for myself whether there was truth to her claims. Can I see them? Please?"
"Yeah sure, hold on." she went inside and grabbed a picture from the fireplace and went back outside. "Here's a recent school picture of them."
Brooke could definitely see the resemblance between Tom and Ryder. In fact now looking at him, Brooke saw that Ryder was a miniature version of his father. Ella had taken after Peyton but she had Tom's eyes.
"Wow…they inherited the Bradshaw eyes." he said in awe, amazed that he was looking at his children for the first time.
"So how did you meet Peyton?"
"I was visiting a friend of mine in L.A, Andre Cole, a real party animal. He was dating Peyton at the time. Well he ended up leaving me in the room with Peyton while he left with two groupies. We talked for hours, about music, about life…well we had been drinking during those conversations and one thing led to another and we ended up in bed together. It started out as a one night stand but then we continued on until it was a full blown affair. She ended up leaving Andre to be with me but I had my own issues back home."
"What issues?"
Tom with his expressive greyish blue eyes said, "My mother fell gravely ill. I had to arrange for her funeral."
"I'm so sorry about your loss."
"Thank you. It's been hard without her. She would've been ecstatic had she known that she had grandchildren to spoil."
"I'm so sorry for your loss. Would you like to come in? I would've invited you in before but—"
Tom halted her with a hand gesture and a dazzling smile, "That's quite alright. I would however like to visit the children in the future."
"I would have to take this up with my husband and the children. They've been in a fragile state since Peyton's release—"
He looked genuinely confused and asked, "Release? From where?"
"She hasn't told you? She was in prison for nine years and in a psych ward for the remainder of her sentence."
"No, she hasn't told me a thing about that. What was she in there for?"
Brooke looked uncomfortable and said, "I think that you should talk to my husband. He's right inside."
"Very well." he said then followed after her.
Brooke put the photograph back on the fireplace, then shouted enough to where Lucas could hear her, "Lucas…come out here please."
"One more paragraph and I will be right there." he called back then went back to typing.
"Would you like something to drink?"
"Yes, please. I have a feeling I'm going to need one. Do you have any single malt scotch?"
"Actually that's what Lucas happens to be obsessed with. I'll go pour you a glass. By the way did you drive here?"
Tom chuckled, "An Uber dropped me off. So I can get as sloshed as I desire should I wish it."
Tom's smooth voice was doing funny things to her libido and she hurried to the kitchen. She sighed and poured a glass of Scotch—the really good stuff and poured herself a small bit, hurriedly drinking it for fortitude.
Tom rose from his seat as she entered the room, smiling with politeness. "Thank you Mrs. Scott." he said as she handed him his drink of choice.
"You're very much welcome Tom." she said with a warm smile.
"Finally done with the chapter…who the hell is this?" Lucas asked upon seeing Tom eyeing his wife appreciatively.
Brooke walked to her husband's side saying, "Lucas, this is Tom Bradshaw. Ryder and Ella's biological father."
"After all these years you want to show up now—"
"He just found out about them Luke. Peyton lied to Sawyer about telling him and the only reason that he knows now is because she sent him a letter telling him that he's a father and that she needed his help to take the kids from us." she explained, knowing that Lucas was already prejudging the man.
Tom nodded, "It's unfortunate but it's very true. I just wanted to see if her claims were true. But your lovely wife let it slip that Peyton had been locked away for years and yet would not tell me what for. I was hoping that you could tell me."
Lucas cleared his throat and reluctantly said, "She raped me."
His eyes widened at the admission. "I beg your pardon?"
"She drugged me and took advantage of me in my drugged state. She was already pregnant by you when she did this and tried to pin your kids as mine. When she went in she put my name and our daughter down as guardians for the twins. Stating that she tried to tell you but you took off at the mention of kids—"
"That's an outright lie if I ever heard one! I would have been at her side had she told me she was pregnant!" Tom said indignantly, angry that his character was being tarnished by Peyton's lies.
"You expect us to believe that?"
Tom looked at Lucas with a bland expression, "No, I don't expect you to."
"Then what are you expecting?" Lucas asked, already taking an instant disliking to the Englishman.
"I expect to meet my children eventually. I expect that you both respect that I would like to build a relationship with them. Obviously I will give you both time to let them know about me. But know that I am not going anywhere." he then smiled politely to Brooke saying, "Thank you for the drink. It was just the way that I like it. Nice and neat. Here's my card. Call me when you want to set up a meeting."
Brooke took the card, "We will tell them as soon as we feel they can handle it. Peyton did a number on them the last time she met them."
Tom nodded, "I understand completely. Have a good day." he said before walking out the door.
Lucas shook his head, "I don't trust him."
"What's to trust? He's handsome, polite and charming. Oh and British." she said teasingly.
He looked at his wife, "Not funny."
"Oh come on. He was just as bamboozled as we were by Peyton—"
"Who's to say that he isn't working with Peyton?"
Brooke snorted, "That's a long reach Broody. But I guess we will find out sooner or later what his real intentions are. But for the time being let's just assume that he is telling the truth and that he genuinely wants to be a part of the twins lives."
"You know what they say about assuming?"
"Hey, if I'm wrong, then I'm wrong but I honestly think that this guy is legit. Besides is it really fair to either of them that they only met their mother and not their father?"
"We will ask them about what they want to do. If they even want to meet with this stranger that no one knows."
Brooke folded her arms then asked, "How would you feel if for ten years you were left completely out of your children's lives and then all of a sudden have the news that you have kids at all sprung on you in a Dear John letter? How would you feel and how would you go about it?"
"I would probably do the same thing."
"Exactly. Give the guy a break." she then walked away, promptly ending the discussion.
-x-
Angelina smiled brightly as soon as she entered the car, "Mommy guess what!"
"What?"
"I got an A+ on our math quiz! See!" she said proudly as she thrust the paper into her hand.
Brooke observed the sheet of paper and saw that she hadn't missed one question. Even the question at the bottom for extra credit. "Excellent job honey! Mommy is so proud of you!"
"I got an A in math too. And English." LJ said with a proud smirk, handing her his sheets of paper.
"I did too!" Ryder chimed, also handing up his own work.
"Me too!" Ella said eagerly, not wanting to be left out.
Brooke grinned at them and took the time to scan each sheet handed to her then said, "Well since you all did soo well on your school work, you know what that means right?"
"Noo!" they said together.
Finally done looking over their amazing grades Brooke drove away from the school. "Tonight you're going to have a pizza and ice cream contest. Girls against boys. Mommy and Daddy will be the judges."
"Yay! We're so gonna win!" Ella said as she high-fived Angelina.
Ryder rolled his eyes then snorted, "You wish. We're the ones that's gonna win. Right LJ?"
"That's right little bro!"
The girls rolled their eyes and started passing notes to each other in the backseat, already planning their ingredients for their pizza.
Brooke took them to the market to buy their toppings and dough, sending them each team their own way and let them know that she would be waiting for them at cash register 5 to check out.
It took them thirty minutes to find everything that they needed for tonight. Each team grabbed the ice cream very last, less chance of melting.
"Before we check out…Do you have everything?" Brooke asked as they pushed their different buggy's to the line.
"Yep." Ella said assuredly, smiling at her little sister.
"And do you?" she asked the boys.
LJ nodded, "Yep."
"Alright then. I will pay for the girl's things first so that your ingredients don't get mixed up. Is that okay?"
Everyone agreed and the boys waited patiently, trying not to look at what the girls bought but was unable to help themselves.
"What the heck kind of ingredients are those?" Ryder whispered to LJ.
"I don't know but they're going to have mom and dad throwing up if they eat it."
The girls rolled their eyes and pushed the cart away after Brooke paid for their purchases.
Twenty minutes later Lucas watched the troop carry their bags inside and heard the kids bickering playfully.
"What's going on?" Lucas asked as the kids readied their "battle stations".
"The kids had A's on their tests today so we're celebrating with a playful pizza and ice cream contest. We're judging."
They didn't make their own pizza very often but when they did the kids really enjoyed it.
"We got to come up with some great prizes. So let's brainstorm while their busy getting things ready. Hmm…for the boys they want a new game so they're pretty easy. The girls on the other hand…"
"They want different things. I guess a shopping spree."
Lucas rolled his eyes, "Any excuse to shop…"
She made a face, "The girls loves shopping with me!"
"What are we going to do about the Tom situation?"
Brooke sighed, having put him completely out of her mind. "Let's just let them enjoy themselves tonight and break the news to them tomorrow morning."
"Sounds pretty good to me."
The kids were laughing and taunting each other as they made their dough, put it on the pizza pans, spread the sauces and put on the toppings. They called their parents to put their pizzas in the oven.
When the pizzas were done the boys looked at the girls pizza and laughed. "We are definitely gonna win!"
"Shut up Ryder!" Angelina said, getting a little offended by his comment. After all they tried really hard to be different.
Ella and LJ cut their pizzas up, fixing their parents a plate. Ella fixed a bowl of vanilla on the side of their pizza.
"We made you a meaty supreme pizza. The sauce is a chunky marinara sauce. The toppings are: pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, bacon and provolone and Parmesan cheese." LJ said as he handed them both a plate of their creation.
Lucas literally groaned at the taste of the delicious food. "Good job buddy! This is awesome!"
Brooke had to agree. It was incredibly good.
"We made you a chocolate lover pizza. The sauce is hazelnut chocolate. The toppings are Hershey's kisses and white chocolate. Complete with a French vanilla ice cream."
Brooke fell in love at the first bite. "Ohhhh you girls don't play fair do you?! This is seriously the best pizza I ever had! But now I don't know who wins!"
"It's a tie for me too. So I guess that you both win!"
"How? There has to be a loser!" LJ said with a no nonsense expression.
Ella with the same expression said, "Exactly! It's not a contest if both teams win!"
"Well we can't choose. You both did an awesome job. Although now that I think about it…I'm leaning more on the girls team. Originality plus Ice cream!"
"I'll take the tie!" Ryder said hurriedly, not wanting to lose in any way.
Angelina hopped up and down anxiously, "What did we win?"
"Our love and affection?" Lucas said humorously.
"We already have that!" Ella whined.
Lucas and Brooke laughed. "Okay how about a new game that you all can play together? Like Dance Central 3?" Brooke suggested.
The kids loved that suggestion and grinned big.
"Good now go in the dining room and eat your pizzas then get ready for bed."
"Okay Dad." The kids said as they rushed out of the living room to go enjoy the fruit of their labor.
The next morning Brooke and Lucas sent Angelina and LJ over to Naley's house after a lengthy conversation with Naley about the situation so that they could break the news to the twins of their fathers sudden appearance.
"Ryder…Ella…we have something to tell you." Brooke said slowly, her hand gripping Lucas's hand.
The twins knew that look. "Is this about Peyton?"
"No, absolutely not. But it is about your biological father."
"What?" Ella asked softly, not bothering hiding the confusion she felt.
Lucas exhaled then explained, "He came by yesterday to see you. We wanted to let you know first so that you can make the decision whether you want to meet him or not."
"Where was he—"
"He didn't know about you until last week. Ryder…you look exactly like him." Brooke said with a soft smile.
"I do?"
"Yeah, you do. So do you guys want to meet him or…"
Ella looked a little skeptical and asked, "He's not crazy too is he?"
Brooke shook her head, "As far as I can tell no."
Ella held Ryder's hand, needing his support subconsciously, which he gave without hesitation then answered, "Okay…I want to meet him."
"Me too."
Lucas nodded, "Then it's settled. When would you like to meet him?"
"Next weekend." Ryder said with confidence.
"Yeah that sounds perfect." Ella said with a smile.
Brooke hugged them and said, "We'll make that happen for you then. I love you."
"We love you too Mama."