Oh my dear, I'm terribly sorry for this huge delay. Surprisingly, though, I had the world's hugest writer's block with this one. I mean, I knew what I wanted to do with it, but I didn't know how. So just read and review and let me know what you think; I believe I'm ultimately happy with it.
"Haley, it looks like your contractions are approximately 6 minutes apart. If everything plays out well, it won't be much longer now," Dr. Windsor said to Haley.
Haley was doing her breathing, holding onto Nathan's hand. Nathan was a nervous wreck, but it was all he could do not to show it right now. Not in front of Haley.
"Where's Brooke?! She needs to be here," Haley said. "And Lucas. Nathan are they here?"
Nathan laughed. "Don't worry about who's in the waiting room, Hales. They'll be here." He reached up and wiped some perspiration from her forehead.
"Nathan, I'm scared," she said, after she saw Dr. Windsor had stepped out.
"It'll be fine. Everything'll be perfect. We'll have our son, and be a family. You'll...you'll see," he said. "I promise."
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Brooke moved over onto her back. The pain started to settle into just one spot rather than all over. She inhaled deeply and looked up. Haley was having her baby right now. Her best friend was giving birth, and she couldn't get there. She couldn't even move. "Someone get here," she cried.
Brooke remembered who was on the phone with her finally. She was in so much pain prior to this thought that she didn't even give much thought to the voice being his.
It wasn't five minutes till she heard the door open and slam against the wall. "Brooke?"
Brooke didn't say anything, she just wiped her eyes.
Lucas walked around the open closet door and looked down at Brooke, who now had her knees brought up to her chest. She was still sobbing.
"Luke, she's going to die," Brooke said.
He furrowed his eyebrows, as he kneeled down beside her. "Brooke, she's having a baby. She's not dying."
Brooke shook her head. Not Haley, stupid. You don't even pay attention to me, do you? Brooke thought to herself.
"Are you okay?" Lucas asked sincerely. Clearly seeing that that was a dumb question, Lucas picked her up in his arms and carried her with him to his car. He drove as fast as he could to the hospital.
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"Peyton?" she heard again. She jumped up getting ready to fight with her angel again but saw Mouth standing in her doorway instead.
"Oh, Mouth." She pulled her comforter around her bare arms and pushed her hair out of her eyes.
"Hey, have you seen Brooke?" he asked. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in Peyton's room. It'd definitely been over a year, and that was with Brooke. "I tried calling her earlier a couple of times and it was busy. She's not home either..."
"I haven't talked to her." Peyton pursed her lips and shrugged. "Why, do you need her?"
"Oh I don't really need her. I was just going to visit her," Mouth said, sitting down in the same chair Peyton's ghost angel had been sitting in.
Like hell you don't need her. Everyone needs Brooke Davis, Peyton said to herself. Every now and then she still slipped those bitter remarks, whether or not she meant them. "How've you been, Mouth? Haven't talked to you in awhile."
Mouth shrugged and clasped his hands together. "Not so bad, I guess. I hear you haven't been too good. Sorry about the whole...brother thing. Not cool."
Peyton nodded. "You're right. Not cool. Not at all."
There was an awkward silence; the two didn't really know each other anymore and both of them realized it. What's happening to me? Peyton thought. Have I really removed myself from everyone's lives this much? Sadly, she knew the answer.
Then Peyton's phone rang and saw Lucas's name on the caller id. She held her phone in her hands and just stared at it.
"Are...you going to get that?" Mouth asked, slowly.
Peyton set the phone down in front of her and shook her head. "Nope."
"It was Lucas, wasn't it?"
Peyton nodded.
It wasn't a minute till Mouth's phone rang next. "Oh...it's Luke." Mouth looked at Peyton before he opened his phone. "Hello?"
"Mouth. Haley. She's in labor. Having the baby," Lucas said.
"Now?!"
"Now," Lucas said, who was pacing back in forth in front of the room where Haley was.
"Well I'll be there soon then. See you later," Mouth said, shutting his phone.
Peyton looked at him questioningly, not wanting to ask.
"Haley's having her baby," Mouth said, standing up quickly. "Come on, let's go."
Peyton's eyes widened and she rolled out of bed, suddenly feeling guilty that she didn't answer her phone.
As the two of them made it to the hospital, clearly driving speeds way over the limit, they jumped out of the vehicle and made it into the waiting room, greeting all of their friends and family, or Haley and Nathan's family anyways.
"She have it yet?" Mouth asked, as he sat down in a chair next to Karen.
Peyton, walking in a little slower than Mouth, sat down in a seat across from Mouth and Karen.
"Nope, but it'll be any minute now," Karen said, excitedly. Haley was like her own daughter, she couldn't be more excited for her.
Peyton noticed Brooke wasn't there, and noticing the absence of Brooke, she realized Lucas was gone too.
"Where's Brooke?" Mouth asked. "And...Lucas?"
Peyton sighed with relief that she didn't have to ask it.
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"Can I get a doctor?! Something's wrong with her," Lucas said loudly, as he helped Brooke into the emergency room. If he'd had his way, he would be carrying her in there, but she wasn't going to allow that by any means.
Brooke was holding her breath as she felt tears plastered on her cheeks. Hang in there, Brooke kept telling herself. Everything'll be fine. She let out her breath and a loud wince leaked out along with it.
A nurse came around the desk to get to Brooke. "What's...wrong with her?" she asked Lucas.
Lucas moved his arm from around her shoulders to around her waist. "I don't know..."
The nurse put her in a wheel chair and took her away. Lucas just watched and had his arms out still, before he realized that he should follow. He ran to catch up and followed them to a room.
"Honey, can you tell us what's wrong?" a doctor asked Brooke.
Brooke swallowed hard and wiped her face. "I'm pregnant...and something's not right," she answered. Brooke did everything she could not to look at Lucas, she was too embarrassed that he hadn't even known yet.
Lucas just looked at Brooke. Her back was to him, and he widened his eyes, looking from her to the doctor.
The doctor took Brooke into an examining room and asked Lucas to wait outside.
Pregnant? Lucas repeated in his head. He didn't know whether to be concerned for the baby, or to be mad that he hadn't known. Lucas ran his fingers through his soft, feather-like hair and moved them to his hips. He went back to the waiting room where he knew his friends and family were to be waiting.
"Lucas, where've you been?" Karen asked, once he slowly came in and sat down.
Lucas licked his lips. "I...there was some traffic," he answered.
"Well where's Brooke?" Mouth asked, totally overlooking the thought that Lucas was the one that called them in the first place.
Lucas furrowed his eyebrows getting ready to pretend like he didn't know what he was talking about, but gave in. "She's with a doctor," Lucas said. "She wasn't feeling good."
"Is she sick?" the questions preceded.
Lucas shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded. "I think so; I don't know what's wrong with her, but something is," he lied.
Karen stood up from her chair. "Well what happened?" she asked, showing growing concern from Brooke.
"I went to her house to get her to bring her here, and she was..." Lucas pictured the image of Brooke in such pain again, the pain in her eyes, and obviously inside of her. "She just looked like something was wrong. So when we got here, it didn't get better, so I took her to the ER."
Just then, Nathan walked into the room proudly. Everyone turned around abruptly.
"He's..." Nathan said. "..perfect."
They all stood up. It had finally come; Nathan and Haley's first child. "Oh Nathan!" Deb jumped up and ran to give her son a hug. Uncomfortably, he accepted just for her sake. He somewhat pushed her off, and nudged his shoulder, signalling for his friends and family to go to the room.
Once they got in, a beautifully mesmerized Haley was holding her son, looking down at him. When she saw that her friends and family had come in, a bigger smile swept across her face.
"Awh, he's beautiful," Peyton said with a smile, totally forgetting the awkwardness that was surrounding her prior to this.
"What's his name?" Lucas asked immediately. God forbid the poor kid who was ever stuck with a middle name like Eugene.
Haley looked up at Nathan, who was now sitting on the edge of the bed with his wife, and he smiled back at her. "Andrew Keith Scott," Haley said boldly.
"Drew Scott," Mouth repeated, playing with the name. "Next basketball star. I can already see it."
Nathan smiled. "Oh. Me too."
After a couple of minutes of gooing over the baby and talking, someone slowly walked into the room, trying not to be noticed, but everyone turned and noticed anyways.
"Hi Brooke!" Haley excitedly said, seeing her best friend.
Brooke smiled politely, which was odd for her, but not at the moment, and walked over to her friends. "Hey Tutormom," Brooke said, inching up to the baby. She looked down at him and smiled. "Haley," she said shaking her head. "He's...perfect. I'm so proud of you. I'm proud for you." Brooke swallowed hard and bit her lip.
Haley smiled up at her, knowing something was wrong. They all knew something was wrong, considering Lucas told them all there was, but they just looked passed it and reversed their attention back to the baby.
Brooke slowly found herself backed away from them, when a nurse broke through them to take the baby for routine tests and procedures. As everyone walked out of the room talking and cheery over the new birth of Andrew Scott, Brooke stayed back with Haley for a minute.
"Brooke, where were you?" Haley asked, knowing that Brooke was supposed to be in there for the birth.
Brooke sighed and swallowed hard. "Hales, I'll talk to you about it another time, all right? This...this is your time; the perfect day." Brooke smiled and hugged her best friend gently before starting back to the door. "Congratulations. I'm..." she shook her head. "I'm so happy for you. You have no idea."
Haley smiled sadly, and nodded. "Thanks Brooke."
As Brooke walked out of the door, all of her friends had parted their ways to the waiting room or alternate places, so she turned to her left to head to an elevator. She needed a place to think.
"Brooke," she heard. She swallowed hard and winced at the voice. Turning around, she saw Lucas lean up from the wall right outside of Haley's door. He took a couple of steps forward before he just randomly stopped. "Brooke, what...was that?"
"I'm sorry," she said.
"Sorry? Just talk to me for once, all right? Don't apologize. Just talk to me." He talked with sincerity, despite the minute anger he had inside of him. He pushed it back, realizing that right now, that wasn't going to get him anywhere with her right now. He just watched her fight for the words. She slowly developed tears in her eyes, as she sighed, pushing her hair up and out of her face.
"Lucas," she stated his name. That's all she knew to say right now, she regretted the way he had to find out. And she was torn over the fact that that's not all she has to tell him. It was just too much, everything; it was all just too much.
"Look," he said, inching closer to her. "We can go down into the coffee shop and just talk." He needed to know about her pregnancy; he had to be there for her, whether or not she wanted him to be. He obviously had that answer anyways, considering that she'd yet to tell him.
Brooke shook her head. "Lucas, I can't do this to you. It's..." She sighed. "Okay. Come on, let's go."' She stepped aside and made her way to an elevator, as did Lucas. There was an awkward silence in the elevator, and she wouldn't look at him. It wasn't until they sat down at a table next to a window on the main level of the hospital that she looked at him. The way she saw it was that she had no other choice.
"Do you want anything?" he asked cautiously.
"No."
He nodded. "Right. Me neither."
"Just about 4 months along," Brooke said all of a sudden. Brooke folded her hands on her lap and looked at him.
Lucas's breaths were shaking, and he felt his heart beating faster. "So you...are pregnant."
Brooke ignored his statement; she just needed to tell him everything on her own terms. This was now. "When I first found out, I was scared to death. I mean, it was real this time. It wasn't like...last time." She wiped her eyes and tried to hold back. "This was right about when you were falling for Peyton."
Lucas shook his head and held his face in his hands, which were propped up by his elbows on the table.
"I was planning on leaving town, Lucas. I was planning on moving to California with my parents, and leave Tree Hill behind. I wasn't sure what I was going to do about the baby. But I doubt it was going to be good, because my parents..." She shook her head. "They already think I'm a slut. How great would've that been if they knew I'd been knocked up, too?"
"Brooke."
"But then, I started to get excited. I felt my baby. It was real Lucas. This was just a couple of weeks ago. But then, the things I was feeling weren't good anymore," Brooke said. "And I knew something wasn't right. But I just kept putting it off, thinking it was normal. I mean, what did I know about being pregnant, seriously."
"Brooke, if you would've just talked to me about it, I could've been there for you. I would've been right by your side in a second," he told her.
Brooke held her words for a second and just watched him. "Luke, why is it that you'll only be by my side when something's wrong? I mean, it's great that you say you'll be there for me when I need you, but what about all the other times? Huh? I'm a big girl, Lucas. I try to take care of things. But why is it that you'll only be there when I can't take care of things? And is it even surprising that all those other times, you're with Peyton?"
"Don't say Peyton," he said. "I'm done with that, all right? And I'm sorry that I haven't been there for you like you wish I was. I really am, but with Derek...she's just been a little shaken up. And she's got no one else. But now? Brooke, I'm here. I'm here for you. Now."
Brooke swallowed hard. "Then today happened. The pain...it just over took me. Swept me off my feet."
Lucas sat back in his seat.
"In the emergency room, they took all sorts of tests. In fact, I'm supposed to go back for them to...finish...later today," Brooke said. She started to cry; it all just hit her at once.
Lucas sat up quickly at the sight of her tears. "Hey," he said. "Hey, it's all right. I'm right here. What happened?"
Brooke shook her head. "It's not all right," she stated. "My...our baby's dead, Lucas."
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Nathan and Haley were sitting in the bed together, both holding their new son. "I'm so proud of you. Look at him; God, I can't believe we have a son."
Haley smiled. "I know. And look, he's got your nose, and your mouth. And your dark hair."
"And my basketball skills," Nathan joked.
"Oh, Nathan, shut up. Whatever our son chooses to do will be all right with me."
"As long as it doesn't have to do with tights, I'm all for him," Nathan said.
Haley smiled and just took in the moment. Who would've thought this would be happening a couple of years ago, when they first got married? Everyone thought they were a huge joke. The fact that they were even together was unreasonable. And now? Now they're starting a new Scott realm.
"Do you think he'll ever despise me like you despise Deb?" Haley asked, worriedly. She shook her head. "I mean, I understand where you're coming from and everything, but...I don't think I could take it, if he ever felt that way about me. If he was ever disappointed in me like you are."
Nathan stretched his arm around his wife and kissed her temple. "Not a chance. You're nothing like my mom, and hopefully...he'll be nothing like me."
"Oh, he'll be just like you. And that's the best thing I can hope for."
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No cliff-hanger this time. I just felt like shutting off this scene so I could develop my own place to start from next chapter.
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