I apologise for the supreme lateness of this chapter. This chapter is my enemy. Present tense, not past. We still don't get along. Even though it's now complete.
…
Peyton pushed open the door to Brooke's office with her hip, carefully cradling the newest edition to the Scott family in her arms. She smiled down at the baby who was nestled snuggly against her chest and snoring lightly.
"Special Delivery for Mrs Baker!" Peyton sang as she stepped inside.
Brooke, who was furiously typing away at her keyboard arched her brow, her gaze fixed on the computer screen, "Unless you have coffee on your person, you are not my friend right now."
Grinning, Peyton glanced down to the little girl in her arms, "Oh, did you hear that, April? Auntie Brooke doesn't want to meet you! I guess I've got you all to myself then."
At that Brooke snapped her head up and squealed. She bounced up from her seat and held her arms out, "Baby? Oh, gimme, gimme!"
Peyton laughed, having known that Brooke would be excited to finally meet Lily's little girl. It had been four months since April had been born, back in Tree Hill. After finally finding the courage, with the help of Lucas, Lily had told her parents she was pregnant and they'd been fantastic as Peyton had known they would be. Of course they were a little disappointed, but only for Lily having to grow up so quickly. Otherwise they were supportive and had been great through all the stages of Lily's remaining pregnancy and helping to look after their new granddaughter.
"Isn't she scrummy?" Peyton said, wrinkling her nose as she passed the baby over to Brooke's impatient waiting arms.
"Oh, she's the scrummiest!" Brooke cooed, running her finger over the sleeping baby's jaw, "Hello, Miss April, I'm your Fairy Godmother and I'm going to make you the best dressed baby that True Hill has ever seen!"
"Tree Hill." Peyton corrected through a smile.
"I can't believe Lily's made us wait four months to meet her! Oh she's beautiful." Brooke whispered, moving to the couch and softly rocking the baby.
"Completely selfish." Peyton agreed, even though she, Lucas and the kids had gone out to Tree Hill when April was newborn. She still felt she hadn't seen enough of her new niece. "They only got to New York this morning but since Lily and Jared wanted some 'alone time' I was able to steal April away."
"How's that working out between her and that Jared boy?" Brooke asked, her eyes fixated on April.
Shrugging a little, Peyton pushed an optimistic smile to her lips, "They're getting there. Jared's a good kid, he just got scared initially. He's moved to North Carolina and he's great with April."
Brooke shook her head in wonderment at the little person in her arms, "You know I'm not sure we should give her back. Should we run away with her?"
Peyton laughed, "You'd have Lily to contend with then, she's a complete Mama Bear. Before I left she gave me thorough instructions on how to change her diaper, feed her, wind her, and what to do in the case of choking, fever and kidnap."
Brooke smiled softly as she gazed down at little April, "She's a Mom now, panicking is what we do best."
"It is." Peyton sighed happily, "And with all the drama that happened when she was born, I'm not surprised Lily's a little over-protective."
"Terrifying." Brooke agreed, knowing that Lily had ended up giving birth on Karen's kitchen floor with only a very stricken Keith to help. Fortunately April had been born in perfect health to the sounds of her Grandpa's favourite Journey album, blaring from the room next door, for that she owed her name; April Journey Scott.
"Do I look too old with a baby?" Brooke asked slowly, her eyes trained on the baby in her arms.
Peyton frowned, "Haley's about to have a baby, do you think she'll look old?"
"No," Brooke shrugged a little and then sighed, "Everyone's having a baby."
Peyton patted her friend's hand and smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Brooke."
The brunette narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger, "Oh no. If you tell me that you're pregnant too I'm going to….."
"I'm not pregnant." Peyton told her softly and stroked her friend's hair. "What's going on, Brooke?"
"Okay," Brooke turned slightly, to face her friend, careful not to jolt April's peaceful snoozing. "So aside from me and you and hopefully like, Bitchtoria, everyone is having babies! There are unplanned pregnancies everywhere I look…why are you pulling that face?"
"Mental image of Bitchtoria pregnant." Peyton said with a scrunch of her nose.
"Ew." Brooke waved her hand, "But that is so off point,"
Peyton nodded, "Right, go on."
"MeandJulianarethinkingofadoptingababy," Brooke blurted in a spiel that Peyton, having known Brooke for a long time, was just able to translate as Me and Julian are thinking of adopting a baby.
After a lot of talk, over the past few months, Brooke and Julian had decided that they really wanted to adopt. But Brooke couldn't help from still having a few lingering reservations.
"Brooke, that sounds fantastic." Peyton said earnestly, smiling encouragingly
Blinking back at her worriedly, Brooke sighed, "You called it a game changer, back when Haley told us she was pregnant."
"It is a game changer." Peyton shrugged. And then her face broke into the widest of smiles, her eyes wide and shining, "But it's the best one there is. Brooke, you and Julian will rock at this, you don't need me to tell you that."
"It's different though, though," Brooke said in a soft voice, "It's someone else's baby, you know? And sometimes these things fall through. What if I don't love the baby, or what if I do love the baby and it gets taken away from us?"
Peyton licked her lips, "Okay, first of all, you will love the baby. I can guarantee it. I've seen you fall in love with shoes for heaven's sake. You love Piper and Holden, and Ben and Iz. And I know you're already in love with April, and the next Baby Naley who's not even here yet. There's no way you won't love the baby, Brooke. And if it happens that something falls through, maybe it wasn't to be…Do you remember when I lost the baby after having Piper? It was so sad, god it was devastating, but maybe that just wasn't meant to be."
"I don't know if I could handle it though, losing a baby." Brooke shook her head, tears already burning in her eyes at the thought of a having to give up on something as precious as the babe in her arms.
"You do because you have to." Peyton said quietly but firmly.
Brooke frowned and studied her friend's unusually pensive expression, "Do you ever think about that baby? The one you lost."
"Mmm-hmm." Peyton nodded, her gaze fixed on April as she took deep breaths in and out, her little chest rising and falling rhythmically, "Sometimes I go long stretches without allowing myself to think of Leighton and then I feel terrible, like I'm being a horrible mother,"
A ghost of a smile whispered across Brooke's face. She'd always liked that Lucas and Peyton chose the name Leighton. They hadn't been able to decide, and 'Baby Leyton', which they adapted to Leighton had stuck.
Peyton gave a little shrug, "And other times I get carried away, I imagine what she'd be like, whether she'd take after me or Luke, it's stupid, I know."
"It's not stupid." Brooke watched as April curled her hand around her little finger, "I think of all the kids I never had. If I hadn't had the hysterectomy, maybe we'd have had more. Another boy, a little girl, triplets even…all these little people I never got the chance to meet. God, I can't believe we've never talked about this before,"
Rolling her shoulders, Peyton shrugged, "At the time it was too hard, I guess. I had Lucas to talk to; we spoke about her a lot actually. We still do."
"You know we'd have been there for you." Brooke said, a little sadly. She couldn't imagine how devastating it must have been for Lucas and Peyton to have lost a baby.
"I know. I do." Peyton assured, "But at the time it felt like we were the only people in the world who could understand what we'd lost. Of course that's not true and I'm not sure I even believed it but…she was ours and I don't know that I was ready to share her."
"It still hurts you, doesn't it?" Brooke asked, studying her friends' face carefully.
Biting down on her lower lip, Peyton nodded her eyes shining, "Yeah, it does, but I'm her Mom, I'd be worried if it didn't. She was just this innocent little baby who never even got the chance, you know? It'll always, always hurt me that we didn't get to meet her and watch her grow up. It broke my heart."
"Oh, Peyton," Brooke reached out and grabbed her friend's hand. "I'm so sorry, I don't know how you guys got through that. I remember when Kook was born and we were so close to losing him, I can't imagine picking myself up from that."
Peyton swiped a finger beneath her eyes, "It was different with Leighton, we had to keep going because we had Piper. She was the reason I got up and carried on, she got us through it. Before I would have run away, I know it, but I couldn't run from her. That's how I know you'll be okay, no matter what happens; because you have Theo. If something goes wrong or it all falls through you'll be okay, because you have Julian and that gorgeous little boy of yours."
Brooke nodded as April began to wriggle and fuss, "I love you, P Scott."
Laughing lightly at the rarely used nickname, Peyton nodded, "I love you, B Baker. And you will be amazing at this, I just know it."
Finally Brooke allowed a smile to break free at the thought that soon she and Julian could be bringing home a new baby as tiny and perfect as April.
…
Haley walked, or rather waddled, into the kitchen fanning herself with a magazine. She was only a few days from her due date and was suffering with the warm summer weather. After a sigh and a slight struggle she plopped herself up on one of the kitchen stools.
"Drink?" Nathan asked, smirking at his wife. He hated to see her so uncomfortable, but he loved her when she was pregnant; she almost glowed.
"Yes, please." Haley smiled, "And I don't care what it is, just as long as it has an 80 percent ice ratio."
Nathan nodded and filled a glass to the brim with ice before pouring some juice in over it. He slid the cup over the counter, "You think it will be today?"
"Nope." Haley replied swiftly behind a grin, despite her discomfort. She and Nathan had a bet on, as to when the baby would arrive; he had odds on early and she had taken late. It amused her to see how competitive he was getting over a twenty dollar bet.
He laughed back with his eyes, "You're cheating…somehow."
"Impossible." Haley shot back, "There's no way I could withhold labour; when one of our kids wants to arrive, they make sure we know about it."
Narrowing his eyes at his wife, Nathan pouted, "But you have an advantage, you must have known this baby was going to be late, like you can feel it or something."
"The baby's not late yet." Haley reminded him gently.
"Yet." Nathan pointed out, frowning down at Haley's vast bump. "Have you two been conspiring behind my back? I know you talk to the baby all the time, I caught you the other day when you were hanging the laundry."
Haley shrugged, "No conspiring, I promise."
Nathan seemed unconvinced and spoke instead to his unborn child, "If your Mama's cheating you just come on out right now and tell me; start up those contractions."
"Nathan!" Haley smacked him on the arm.
"What?" Nathan rolled his shoulders, "I don't want to lose twenty bucks."
"You're so competitive." Haley marvelled, frowning as he produced a folded piece of paper from the back pocket of his jeans, "What's that?"
"Well, since you're so uncomfortable and really want to get that baby out," Nathan said as Haley rolled her eyes, "As a caring husband I went online and found these remedies which induce labour."
Haley sipped at her drink and shook her head, "They do not."
"Oh really?" Nathan's eyes sparkled, "Then you won't mind trying a couple of them out."
As much as she didn't like the thought of forcing labour, Haley let him continue, through sheer curiosity.
"Number one: eat a hot curry."
"You are joking." Haley said, blowing her bangs out of her face.
"Drink raspberry leaf tea."
She tilted her shoulders, supposing it was something she'd consider.
"Having sex?" Nathan said in a hopeful tone.
Haley laughed loudly, "Who made this list? A guy?"
Nathan ignored her and continued, "Bouncing on a space hopper."
"A birthing ball." Haley corrected, not hating the idea.
"Whatever." Nathan waved his hand, "Blowing up balloons?"
"An Eskimo came up with this crap, Nathan. I am not doing any of that stuff in this heat." Haley protested, "Besides, the baby will come when it's ready and not before."
"You ruin all my fun." Nathan told her, leaning in to kiss her.
Haley laughed against his lips, "You had better not be trying to seduce me, Nathan Scott."
…
After standing out on the sidewalk for half an hour, nursing a lukewarm cup of sweet coffee, Sam finally built up the courage to go inside Brooke Trinity. It was a store she'd always gazed through the window at but she'd never gone inside; it wasn't her kind of place. It was a little girly, and elegant and stylish, it was everything that Sam wasn't.
She took a deep breath and pushed the door open, pausing for a moment to let a lady pushing a stroller pass. Sam's eyes lingered for a moment over the tall blonde as she cooed over the baby, her bottom lip trembling just slightly at the sight. When she stepped inside, a lady at the door greeted her hello with a set of pearl white teeth and an immaculate dress. Sam blushed and searched the room for Rachel, hoping that the redhead would be there. When she couldn't see her, she turned to leave, vowing to never come back.
"Can I help you?"
Sam looked up at the cheerful brunette who was throwing her a bright dimpled smile. Rather than running, Sam nodded slowly, "Um, maybe. I'm looking for someone who works here."
The woman smiled wider, "Well, since I employ everyone at this store I should be able to help you. Who were you looking for?"
"Rachel, Rachel Gatina." Sam stuttered, wondering whether she should have ran when she had the chance.
"Okay," The woman who Sam guessed must be Brooke Davis-Baker herself nodded, her sparkling hazel eyes dancing, "Give me a couple of minutes, she's in her office."
Sam nodded, "Um, thanks."
Brooke winked and turned on her heel, stopping briefly at the counter to say something to one of the sales assistants and a guy who was leaning lazily against the counter. Something about the man made Sam stare for an extra second; he looked completely out of place in the clothes store.
Feeling out of place herself in the middle of the open spaced store, Sam melted into one of the aisles, her hands swishing between the rails, gliding over the soft material. She pushed back the threat of tears as she tried to remember the last time her Mom bought her clothes…or bought her anything at all. Rebecca had even missed Sam's last birthday, passed out on the living room carpet for it's entirety.
Her hand gripped at a silky halter-top in deep velvety purple. It rippled softly beneath her touch; luxurious and beautiful. Without a second thought she snapped it from the hanger and pushed it into her unzipped rucksack.
Someone coughed behind her and she jumped.
"Put it back." The out of place guy from the counter stood with his arms folded, his dark brown eyes staring down at her. "The top, put it back."
Sam gulped but held a firm grip on her rucksack, looking all around her to see if there was an easy escape route.
"If you put it back I promise not to say anything. My wife believes in the good in everyone, I'd hate to have to shatter that illusion for her." The man's face softened and he held his hand out. Gently she placed the top in his hand and he smiled encouragingly.
"Samantha?" Rachel's familiar nasal tone cut through their conversation and Sam turned around. Rachel's brow pinched, "What's up? Is there something wrong with Rebecca?"
"Besides the fact she's drunk?" Sam asked in a sour voice.
Rachel pushed her hair back from her face, "Damn, where is she? I'll get over there or send Owen."
Sam gave her a confused, slightly hurt look, "You said to come here if I ever needed you."
"Yeah, I…of course," Rachel trailed off, frowning, unclear of what Sam wanted.
Sam rolled her eyes and set her rucksack back on her shoulder before turning away and making towards the door. She didn't know why she came, not really. Even she hadn't really believed that Rachel could help her out of her situation. No one was going to rescue her from Rebecca, no one but a social worker anyway and she didn't want to go back to a group home.
"Hey, hold on a minute!" It was the guy again, calling her back and chasing after her. She began to run, thinking of the top that had once been in her red hot hand. At the door though she was stopped by a hand on her arm, she turned and frowned into Brooke Davis-Baker's worried eyes.
"Is everything okay?" Brooke asked softly, "I make it my personal business to worry when someone runs away from all these beautiful clothes."
Furiously Sam pushed her away and Brooke stumbled back on her heels. Sam went to run again but she was caught in the hands of someone much stronger. She looked again at the dark eyed man - Brooke's husband - and physically sighed.
"What's going on?" He asked, his eye flitting between Sam and Brooke with deep concern.
Brooke smoothed out her dress and arched her eyebrow, "I'd like to know that too."
"This is my fault," Rachel reappeared, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Brooke, Julian, this is Samantha; she's the daughter of the woman I'm sponsoring at AA. We should probably move this upstairs, away from the shop floor."
"Let me go." Sam grumbled, thrashing in Julian's hold.
He gave her a heavy look, silently warning her about her attempted shoplifting. Finally she pouted and stilled, and Julian let her go.
Rachel led them through the back and up a spiralling staircase to a grand office that adorned Brooke's name on the door. Brooke indicated to a couch against one wall for Sam to take a seat and moved towards a coffee maker.
"Would you like one, Samantha?" Brooke asked, "We have coffee, latte, cappuccino…"
"She likes black coffee with about a dozen sugars." Rachel supplied and shrugged to all the quizzical looks, "I'm good with remembering drinks orders."
Sam pulled a face. All she wanted to do was run away, far away from their smiles and the smell of delicious coffee, away from these happy people and their problem-free lives. Instead she folded her arms and watched as Brooke and Julian worked in perfect synchronicity making coffee. Whilst they worked, Rachel chewed on her nails.
Sam sighed, "If you're worrying about my Mom, don't. She's with Carter."
"Carter?" Rachel whipped her head around, "I helped her to get a restraining order against him! He's dangerous."
"Who's Carter?" Brooke asked, her eyes wide with worry. "If he's dangerous we need to call the police. You can stay here with us, Honey."
"Don't you think I would have called them already if it would have helped?" Sam said, sarcasm seeping from her voice. "My Mom's back with him, it's her choice. No one else gets a say in it…I shouldn't have come here."
Brooke gasped and sat down next to her, "Of course you should have! We can help you. You can't be around someone who's violent."
"Definitely not." Julian nodded in agreement.
"I need to find Rebecca." Rachel said, shaking her head, "And I need to get her away from Carter."
Brooke chewed on her lip and then sighed, "Go, Rachel."
"What?" Rachel looked between Brooke and Sam uncertainly. "I mean…"
"I won't dock your pay, go find this Rebecca but make sure you take Owen with you. I'll kill you if you go on your own." Brooke told her.
"Noted." Rachel nodded, "What about Sam?"
Julian smiled easily, "We've got this covered."
"Thanks." Rachel nodded and then flurried out of the room. From inside Brooke's office the remaining trio could hear her heels rushing down the corridor.
Sam stood up, leaving her coffee untouched on the side table, "Actually, you don't need to call CPS, I, I have somewhere I can go."
"You do?" Brooke asked, wide-eyed. "Well we can drop you off. We were headed out anyway, we need to collect our son from school."
"Really, don't bother." Sam said without a smile or a thank you and headed for the door.
Brooke chased after her, her hand out in warning, "Oh no, Missy. You're with us now. I'm not going to let you go anywhere until I know you're safe." She looked back at Julian who nodded in firm agreement. They weren't about to let this young girl go anywhere on her own.
…
Lucas checked his watch, frowning. He glanced over at his wife who was bouncing April gently in her arms, "You know considering how much separation anxiety Lily had earlier, isn't it a bit worrying that she's not back yet?"
Peyton glanced up and shrugged, "Although she might not admit it when she gets back, I'd say she's probably not hating having a little freedom for the first time in four months. New York's kind of great like that, you can lose yourself easily."
"I'm not getting into a city versus small town argument again." Lucas said with a shake of his head.
Arching her brow, Peyton grinned, "Because you know I'll win?"
"Because I know you won't give in." Lucas shot back but he was smiling too. "We should go and get the kids."
Peyton gasped down at the little girl in her arms, "Are you ready to see your cousins? I doubt it!"
Lucas rolled his eyes and went to grab April's changing bag and stroller, "Take a walk with me, Peyton Harp?"
"You mean Peyton Scott." She laughed and strolled over to kiss him. "I'll just text Lily so that if she comes back whilst we're out she doesn't put that kidnap plan of hers into action."
Nodding, Lucas turned his attention back to the stroller that Peyton had collapsed in the hallway following her trip to see Brooke. His brow furrowed as he pushed down with his foot on the crossbar and pulled at the handle to little avail. He tried pushing on different parts of the framework and looking for a release button but still it wouldn't budge. His brow knitted and his jaw set as frustration began to wash over him. He didn't like to be beaten by something as simple as a stroller. Especially when he'd seen his little sister and his wife use it seamlessly.
From behind him he heard Peyton suppress a giggle at his expense.
"This isn't funny." He growled and turned around to face her, his arm thrown out towards the stroller, "Clearly this is broken."
Lifting her eyebrows, Peyton smirked, "That's not what you said the last time you couldn't get something to work."
Lucas' cheeks pinked a twinge and his jaw locked. There had been an 'incident' in the bedroom, one that Peyton had promised - through tumbling laughter - that she'd never mention again. And yet only one day later she was fighting back the tears at the memory.
"I'm sorry," She laughed, her hand out in a gesture of weak apology, "I'm just remembering how angry you got! Are you gonna yell at the stroller too?"
"You know, maybe I did mean to say Peyton Harp before, not Peyton Scott." Lucas huffed to which his wife cackled.
She shook her head, "Stop getting mad, it just makes it funnier."
Folding his arms over his chest, he sighed, "Could you fix the damn stroller?"
With April still tucked snugly in her arm, she was able to pop the stroller to it's upright position with the click of a release switch and a quick poke of her tongue out to her husband.
…
Theo climbed up into the back seat of the car and gazed curiously at the girl sat across from him. When his Mom had met him at the school gates, she'd briefly explained that they were dropping a friend of Rachel's off somewhere before they went for pizza. His Mom had neglected to tell him that Rachel's friend was a teenage girl. He'd been expecting a boring model-type woman who his Aunt Rachel sometimes hung around with.
"Hi, I'm Theodore." He said, throwing a grin over at the girl. He wasn't sure why he used his full name really, since no one ever called him by it. "Or Theo. And sometimes Kook, but that's only my family."
The girl rolled her eyes largely and Theo was reminded of Piper. He grinned, he knew how to make that moody, sullen girl smile; maybe this girl was the same.
"Are you a badass?" Theo asked, grinning his signature dimpled smirk.
"Theo, don't say ass!" Brooke warned from the front seat.
Shrugging a little, Theo leaned forwards against his seat belt. "Sorry Mom but she looks kind of like a bad…a-s-s."
"Kook, spelling it out isn't any better." Julian warned as he pulled the car away from the kerb.
"Baby Boy it isn't very nice to assume things about people before you know them." Brooke added, "Say sorry to Samantha, please."
Sighing largely, Theo turned back to Sam, "Sorry for judging you on how cool your clothes are." He swore he saw the corners of her lips twitch just a little at his comment.
From the front seat, Julian snorted and looked over at his wife, "Wonder where he gets that from?"
Brooke gasped, but smiled a little too. She loved when someone saw a little piece of her in their little boy. "Theo, don't be cheeky."
"Where are we headed, Sam?" Julian asked, glancing into the rear view mirror at her as she scowled out of the window. "Downtown you said?"
"Um, yeah." Sam said crisply, not turning her head.
Julian chuckled a little, "Any more specific than that?"
Chewing on her lip, Sam took a moment to answer, "My friend Jack, he lives in this kind of bad neighbourhood. You guys don't have to take me there, just drop me off wherever."
"Sam, we're not going to do that." Brooke told her softly, swivelling in her seat, "I want to speak to Jack's parents, make sure it's okay for you to stay first."
Swallowing thickly, Sam thought on her feet, "His Mom works, she won't be there. And his Dad's not around."
"Well we can't leave you there without an adult." Julian joined in. "Maybe we can take you there later, when his Mom's home? We were going to go out for dinner, we'd love you to join us."
"His Mom might not be back tonight, she's a…nurse. She works long shifts." Sam shrugged, "Jack always stays home on his own. I've stayed there before, it's cool."
Brooke narrowed her eyes and Theo recognised the definite 'no' in her eyes, "How old is your friend Jack exactly? Kids shouldn't be left alone at night. You're too young."
"We don't all have nannies." Sam scoffed. "Jack and I will be fine."
"I don't have a nanny." Theo pouted.
Sam rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Mrs Daniels will be cool with it. It's fine."
Julian set his jaw, he didn't like the sound of two kids home alone. "Is your friend called Jack Daniels?"
"Yeah." Sam said nonchalantly, not seeing a problem.
Brooke and Julian shared a look, knowing that neither of them were going to let Sam go off alone with a boy named Jack Daniels. Theo frowned, realising that his parents were having one of their silent conversations that were never explained to him.
"Honey," Brooke grinned back at Samantha, "I hope you like pepperoni pizza."
Theo beamed widely, "Without mushrooms. I hate mushrooms."
Julian smirked and shook his head, "Sammy, if you want mushrooms, you can have mushrooms."
"I don't like mushrooms anyhow." Sam conceded, guessing that there was no point in arguing with these people.
…
"What are you reading, Mom?" Ben asked, frowning over at Haley who kept tutting repeatedly and flicking through the pages of the book in her hand with a certain amount of frustration.
"Oh," Haley smiled over at him, "It's a naming book. I'm trying to think of what to call your baby brother or sister."
Ben pulled a face, he still wasn't overjoyed about the news he was getting a new sibling. On the other hand, Isabel was thrilled.
She leapt up enthusiastically from where she'd been playing on the floor, "Can I read that book, Mommy?"
Holding back a laugh, Haley patted the space beside her, inviting the kids to come and help her. "Sure, I can't decide anyway."
Isabel climbed up onto the couch and curled into her Mom's side whilst Ben held back. He was still holding a steely reluctance to get involved with anything about the baby. Haley inclined her head, trying to tempt him over but he just rolled his shoulders. She decided not to force him and turned her attention back to the naming book.
"This one!" Isabel announced rather quickly, "Ana-sta-sia! That's pretty!"
"Hmmm." Haley hummed, knowing that it wouldn't come close to the shortlist she was compiling.
"Or All-eg-ra! That's like Allegro, Mommy." Isabel gasped with fascination.
"No." Ben said suddenly wading in. "That's a stupid name. She has to have a good name."
Haley smiled broadly, finally seeing a show that Ben did in fact care deeply about his new sibling. Not that she'd really doubted him for a second. He was a sensitive soul, as she was and an incredibly protective big brother to Isabel. She knew that he hadn't been thrilled at an expansion to their little family and she could understand it, she hadn't exactly been expecting it either, but she knew her boy and had been waiting for him to come around for a while.
"Or he." Haley reminded her children gently. It was something that she and Nathan were doing continually but still Isabel refused to entertain the possibility that she may be getting another brother.
"Grace is a better name." Ben told them matter-of-factly, "And Hannah…or Leah…or Sophie,"
Haley frantically scribbled down his suggestions, all four of them making her list. "Sophie Scott is really cute, Benny."
He shrugged, "It's better than Anastasia."
"Anastasia sounds like a princess." Isabel shot back, skimming her way through the book again. She stopped on a random page and wrinkled her nose as she read.
"How about boys names?" Haley nudged, prodding Isabel playfully in the ribs. "I like Henry."
Both her kids pulled faces, much as Nathan had done when she'd first suggested it.
"We're not calling the kid Henry, Hales." Nathan chuckled from the doorway.
Haley sighed but said goodbye to Henry by putting a pencil line through it on her list. "Fine. But you need to come up with better suggestions than Michael, Jordan, Kobe and Shaquille."
"Michael Jordan!" Isabel giggled, "We can't call him Michael Jordan, Daddy."
Haley rolled her eyes, "Seconded. No basketball player namesakes."
"Ben's named after Crackerjack." Nathan reminded her through a laugh as he took a seat on the arm of the couch and peered over Haley's updated list.
Isabel laughed again, "Crackerjack? Why?"
"Because he's so yummy I wanted to eat him right up." Haley smiled and sent a wink to Ben who shook his head back at his Mom.
"Hales, you goof. We really chose Jack because the first birthday present I ever got your Mommy was from a Crackerjack box. It was a bracelet." Nathan explained and Isabel pointed to the colourful beads on her Mom's wrist. Nathan shook his head, "Not that one, the first one I got your Mom was lost. So I bought as many boxes of Crackerjacks as I could carry and went round to her apartment and we looked for another bracelet."
"And in box twenty-three we found this one." Haley smiled and leaned over to kiss her husband.
"Lucky twenty-three." Nathan winked.
…
Rachel knocked at the door of Brooke and Julian's apartment, sighing against the doorway as she suppressed a yawn. She'd spent the whole day chasing all over the city with Owen in search of Rebecca, to little success. They'd tried her apartment first - which Owen had broken into - only to find it completely abandoned. All of Rebecca's clothes and personal belongings were gone. Following that they'd trawled some bars that Rachel knew to be some of Rebecca's old haunts but there was no sign of her. With Owen due for a late night shift at the club, they'd given up their search for the day and Rachel had come to apologise to Brooke for leaving work early.
Julian appeared at the door and smiled, "Hey, come in,"
"Thanks," Rachel shrugged off her coat and hung it on the spare hook by the door, frowning at an over-sized military jacket beside Theo's school coat. She stopped and pointed it out to Julian, "What is this? Military isn't in this season and Brooke would never go for something like this…did you shop for her again?"
"No." Julian chuckled a little, scrubbing a hand behind his neck, "You should come through."
Frowning Rachel followed him through to the family room where Theo was playing a video game with someone very familiar looking. Rachel's eyes widened in surprise, "Samantha?"
Sam didn't take her eyes from the screen to answer, "Yep, these people don't seem to understand that I can look after myself."
Julian smiled wryly. It had taken a lot of persuasion, but as soon as he and Brooke had realised Sam had nowhere safe to stay for the night, they'd insisted she stay with them. Although she hadn't said much at all, aside from the odd sarcastic comment, they understood that Sam wanted to go anywhere but a Children's Home. Already Julian could see that Brooke was making a space in their family for Sam.
"They're the best people in the world, you should listen to them." Rachel advised, leaning down to pull one of Theo's curls before letting it go again and watching it spring back into place.
"Aunt Rachel!" He moaned and smoothed it back down haphazardly, "You're making me lose to Sammy!"
Rachel's lips twitched at the slip of the nickname and she quirked her brow towards Julian who only shrugged. Theo, like Brooke, seemed to have welcomed Sam to the family already. Rachel laughed a little and shook her head, "Where is Brooke, anyway?"
"In the guest room," Julian jerked his thumb over his shoulder and Rachel nodded.
She told Julian and the kids that she'd be back before strolling through the bedroom. There she found Brooke making the
bed, even though Rachel knew for a fact that the bed was always made up for anyone who wanted to stop by. She resisted falling onto the comfortable looking mattress and arched her brow at Brooke.
Noticing her friend, Brooke pointed her finger, "If you make a sarcastic comment about this I'll make you work with that insufferable teenager we just employed."
Rachel smirked, "You know you can't just steal a child, you crazy bitch."
"It's not stealing when no one's looking after her." Brooke pointed out, a little sadly. "She doesn't want to go to a group home and why should she when we can look after her?"
"You have to call CPS." Rachel told her.
Brooke sank down onto the bed and sighed, a cushion hugged to her chest, "I know. We're going to call them in the morning, I promise. But it's so sad, did you find her Mom?"
"No," Rachel sighed, "I think she's run away with Carter and just left Samantha behind."
"Well I'm not going to leave her behind. If this Rebecca woman's not going to be a proper Mom to her than I'm happy to." Brooke declared in a dreamy kind of way.
"Brooke," Rachel said in a cautious tone, her eyes studying her friend carefully, "I know that it's hard because you've only got Kook and having more would have been awesome,"
Brooke shook her head, "Don't,"
"I'm just saying you can't jump into something like this." Rachel told her softly.
"Julian and I have been talking about adopting." Brooke admitted, "It just feels like one of those moments when everything aligns, like this was meant to happen."
Rachel chewed on her lip, "I don't want you getting hurt."
"I know." Brooke smiled, "And I love you for that but I really, really want this so if there's a chance I can have it, I'm going to fight for it."
"Don't you want like a smaller one? Sam's fourteen." Rachel asked, lying back on the freshly made bed.
"I thought I did but my diaper changing days are over. And Kook said he'd love an older sibling so that he doesn't have to be the oldest any more, how cute is that?" Brooke cooed, "I can't explain it but I can feel this, Rach. I can just tell that this
right."
"I hope so." Rachel said sincerely, glancing over toward to her friend, "Because you deserve this, Brooke."
…
Rachel tossed and turned that night, trying to fall asleep, or as Owen put it, she thrashed and kicked. Finally at three am he groaned, sat up and switched on the bedside light. "For the love of God would you sleep somewhere else or take a sedative."
She kicked him, for his insensitivity, "How can I sleep when Rebecca's with him?"
Owen sighed and kicked off the quilt, "Well if we're not going to get any sleep we may as well do something."
"You want to go out looking for her now? At three in the morning?" Rachel questioned as she too pushed the covers away.
He scoffed, "I want to the chance to get a good night's sleep, but I know that's not going to happen until we find her. Besides, it's probably a pretty good time to go and look for a couple of junkies."
Rachel pulled her hair up into a knot and then began to dress quickly, realising that Owen had a point. She just didn't know where to begin looking. The city was vast and if someone wanted to hide, there were plenty of places a person could go.
"Okay," She rubbed at her temples, "I suppose we should start at the apartment again and see if they've been back there. Then we could try and ask around at some of her old spots; there's an all night bar on her block and a house that she made me stop at once where a friend of hers lived, if I can remember where that was. Maybe Rebecca could have stopped there, asking for money or something?"
"It's a start." Owen nodded, grabbing his keys from the table. "If we get nothing there we need to start hitting up this Carter guy's hotspots."
Rachel pulled a face of disgust but nodded, knowing that it might be their only chance of finding Rebecca.
"Hey," Owen called out, "We're not doing this forever. If we don't find her, if we can't find her, we still have to sleep at night and function during the day. Some people don't want to be saved, Rach."
"She does." Rachel replied simply. "She's been sober this long, it's just Carter that's holding her back. He's poison."
"Maybe." Owen shrugged, "But I'm not going to let us get dragged into his poisonous ways as well. If he's as bad as you keep telling me, I don't want to spend too much of my life trying to infiltrate his web."
Reluctantly Rachel agreed, despite her desperation to find Rebecca. She knew that she couldn't expect for Owen to run out on Mercy Missions every night of the week. It hurt her pride a little though, the thought of giving up.
Owen took her by the hand and pulled her away from her thoughts, "Let's go."
…
Lucas glanced over at his wife's side of the bed and nudged her gently with his foot, "Are you awake?"
"No." She murmured, curling herself tighter under the sheets. "I'm sleeping through the screaming baby."
Chuckling slightly, Lucas rolled onto his side and draped his arm around her middle, peppering kisses at her neck. "Since we're both awake,"
"Oh," Peyton arched her brow toward her husband, "So now you're in the mood?"
"Come on, Peyt," Lucas whispered, his breath warm against her ear.
She twisted onto her side, beneath the sheets and propped herself up on her elbow, "Lucas, there is a baby screaming bloody murder down the hall and you want to have sex?"
"She'll settle down." Lucas shrugged, lifting the sheets and sinking beneath them. Peyton went to push him away but relented, knowing that her protests wouldn't last for long anyway. A second later Lucas' head reemerged, his brow quirked, "Besides, we've had much worse background noise before like The Cure."
Narrowing her eyes, Peyton pursed her lips back at him, "Are you trying to put me in the mood?"
Chuckling, Lucas leaned down to kiss her stomach, as the door to their bedroom clicked open. It was followed by the patter of little feet and then a another groan from Lucas. He shifted back to his side of the bed just as Piper and Holden charged up onto the bed.
"Mama, April's crying," Holden said, his blue eyes wide with worry.
Peyton gathered her little boy up in her arms and kissed his hair, "That's what babies do, Kiddo, you were just like her."
"I was?" Holden questioned, his eyes blinking up at her tiredly.
"And Me?" Piper asked, squashing herself into Lucas' lap as he rolled his eyes behind his smirk.
Lucas laughed, stroking his hand over his daughter's messy blonde curls, "You used to scream whenever it was too quiet for your liking, Pipe. We had a nursery rhyme CD on repeat when you were a tiny baby, just so that you'd sleep. But your Mama got fed up with that and threw it out the window."
Peyton rolled her eyes over Holden's head. That CD had revolved around in her head for weeks, until one night Mary Had A Little Lamb became too much and took an unfortunate dive onto the sidewalk a few floors below Piper's nursery window. "You seemed to like Punk music and Rap as much as you liked nursery rhymes, so we never went back."
Holden tilted his head back, "What about me?"
"You preferred storybooks," Peyton reminisced behind a yawn, "I used to find Daddy asleep in your room with a book in one hand and you in the other."
"Maybe April wants to hear a story." Holden suggested causing Lucas to lift his eyebrows.
"Or some music," Piper countered sleepily, resting her head against Lucas' chest.
Peyton smiled, "That's a good idea, you guys."
Adjusting Holden's position, Peyton slid out from under him before lying him down on the bed. He was almost asleep by the time his head hit the pillow. Her lips curved into a smile as she leaned down to kiss him goodnight for the second time that day. On the other side of the bed Lucas copied her action with Piper.
"Well that was a moment killer." Lucas remarked as Peyton pulled on her robe.
Peyton snorted as they walked down the hall to the guest room whilst Lucas just rolled his eyes. They pushed open the door to find a dishevelled looking Lily bouncing April in her arms. She turned to them with a desperate look in her eye, "I forgot her bunny, I guess it smells like Mom and Dad's or something. She will not go back to sleep!"
"Here," Peyton held her arms out, offering to take the baby.
After a second of scepticism, Lily gladly passed April over to her Aunty who cooed and whispered down at her. Across the room, Lucas skimmed through some of the old CDs that were on the shelf. Settling on one, he cracked the case and set it in the player. The opening lines to Alice in Wonderland breezed through the room and Lucas was sure that April settled somewhat.
"You look beat, Lils," Lucas said, nudging her shoulder with his, "You go back to sleep, we've got this."
"No, Luke," Lily shook her head sadly, "I'm her Mom, I'm supposed to look after her."
"And I'm your big brother, I'm supposed to look after you." Lucas told her in a tone that told her that there was no use in arguing. She smiled sheepishly and slipped back into the bed. With April slightly more content, Lucas and Peyton left the room towards the strange inevitability of the kitchen. Peyton took a seat whilst Lucas started the coffee pot.
Peyton stroked her hand over April's soft dark hair, her eyes hooding, "April reminds me of her; of Leighton."
Lucas turned mid-action, his strong blue eyes carefully studying her. His jaw clenched and he set down the coffee pot. He moved over to his wife, set his hands on her shoulders as he pressed a kiss into her hair. "It's the dark hair, right?"
A small smile imprinted over Peyton's lips, "She was our little brunette girl."
"Just like her Mama, huh, Fake Blondie?" Lucas jested, tangling his fingers in her curls. "Are you okay? Really? And don't bother lying to me."
"Yeah, I am." Peyton nodded fiercely, "I just miss her, or the idea of her, you know?"
"Of course I know." Lucas nodded sternly and Peyton smiled at that. "It brings it all back, huh? All these new babies…you don't want one, do you?"
Shaking her head, Peyton tore her eyes from the grizzling little girl in his arms, "No. Honestly, I don't want another baby. Having another kid won't take it away. It wouldn't undo losing her."
"I know." Lucas kissed her forehead and sighed.
"Hey," Peyton reached out and brushed her hand against Lucas' arm, "We have two beautiful children, great friends, a loving family. I will miss her everyday but that doesn't mean we're not happy, right?"
"Absolutely not." Lucas agreed and leaned in to kiss his wife firmly on the lips. "You want eggs or pancakes, Wifey?"
…
Julian clasped Brooke's hand tightly as they waited for the CPS lady to complete her assessment, feeling the shake in her fingers. He lifted her hand inside of his and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. She looked back at him with desperation in her eyes.
"It's going to be okay, Brooke." Julian assured in a firm tone.
Brooke shook her head, tears trailing down her cheeks. Julian was sure that she hadn't stopped crying from the moment he'd called CPS. He'd felt almost villainous by making the call just after breakfast that morning, not long after Theo had produced Sam's first real smile. Somehow he felt even worse now.
Gina, Sam's case worker was kind but over-worked and seemed to have a headache permanently etched over her features. So far, aside from throwing a lot of questions at Brooke and Julian, Gina hadn't said much at all and it was panicking Brooke.
Leaning in towards Julian's shoulder she whispered, "What is she writing?"
"I don't know." Julian winced, thinking to himself that it surely couldn't be anything bad. They were good people who had done a good thing. Plus, they were offering to help Sam, something he was sure Gina didn't come across every day in her line of work.
"Would you like another drink?" Brooke asked, feverishly, pointing towards Gina's lukewarm coffee. She wanted to do something other than wait. And she wanted to check on Theo and Sam who she could tell were listening on the other side of the door.
Gina glanced up through a tired frown, "No, thank you. I'm almost done with the report. If I could just take a contact number for Miss Gatina? I'll need to speak to her regarding Rebecca and see if she can be traced."
"I can get that for you." Brooke said quickly, standing and smoothing her skirt.
"I think I have everything I need for the moment," Gina tapped her pen on her notepad, "if you could get Sam to collect her things we'll get going soon."
Brooke stopped mid-step and whirled around, "Wait? What?" Her voice hissed through the room, her anger and disappointment weighty in the air, "No, we'll take her in! She can stay here with us, we'd love to take her in. We have the space and we're financially stable. She doesn't want to go to a group home."
Gina smiled through a sigh, "I appreciate that but I can't release Samantha into your care - or anyone else's who isn't a relative - before attempting to locate Rebecca and running background checks. It's frustrating but everything has to be done is in the child's best interests. For now Samantha has to come with me."
"We have a son!" Brooke argued as Julian wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "This is a family home, it's a safe environment."
"I know." Gina said softly, "Trust me, as a Case Worker there's nothing I like more than finding placements for children
but unfortunately it's not as simple as I'd like. I will be in touch and you can catch me on this number if you have any questions."
"I-I have questions." Brooke stuttered, "I have so many questions."
Julian sighed against her hair, "Brooke,"
"No." Brooke pointed her finger, "There is a young girl out there who must be absolute terrified and I want to help her. I have a lot of stuff I need to know, first of all if you really have to take her; how often can I visit?"
"I love you." Julian whispered into her ear, stroking soft circles on her back.
Gina nodded in understanding, and dug around in her purse for a card, "You can come by this afternoon, this is the address. I really am sorry."
Brooke pulled a face and Julian took the card. They stepped out of the room to find Sam and Theo stood on the other side as Brooke had suspected they would be. Sam was pulling her rucksack onto her shoulder and Theo was wearing an expression to rival Brooke's.
"You're taking her away?" Theo asked, staring fiercely between Gina and his parents.
Brooke bit down on her lower lip, her eyes swimming with tears. She rolled her eyes and looked to the ceiling, holding in a sob.
"Sam," Julian's dark eyes poured with emotion, "We're going to sort this, I promise."
"Right." Sam said flatly, clearly not believing him. She'd been let down so many times in the past that she'd stopped putting her hope into anyone or anything. "Well, whatever."
"Mom." Theo tugged on her arm but she disappeared behind her hands. Theo then turned to Julian, "Dad, I don't want Sam to go. She can have my room, it's bigger. I don't mind."
Julian struggled between a grimace and a smile, "She can't stay tonight, Buddy, but she's going to come back again soon, okay?" Theo's frown didn't disappear. Julian turned to Sam and sighed, "Sammy,"
Sam turned away, rolling her eyes. She should have run out of Brooke's store when she had the chance. But she'd stupidly wanted to know what it might be like to be in a normal family, and now she knew. It felt great. Julian was a kind and loyal father, Brooke was a determined mother full of heart and Theo was an awesome bundle of nerd and cool. She couldn't believe that she'd allowed herself to like them. So quickly. So easily. So stupidly.
She wished she'd never come at all. Because never experiencing it would have been easier.
Now she was going to miss it.
Before she knew to stop it, Brooke was pulling her into a tight hug and crying on her shoulder. Sam bit down on her lower lip and held in the sob in her throat. Soon Theo's skinny arms melted into the fold and then Julian's too as he tried to comfort them all at once.
"I'm going to miss you." Theo whispered, his voice a crack away from breaking.
When they pulled apart Sam managed a short watery smile before rushing out of the door to Gina's car. Brooke watched after her, clutching her hands to her chest and melting into Julian's arms. "She belongs here."
"We're getting her back." Julian committed, pressing a kiss into her hair.
…
Rachel and Owen stood in front of apartment 2B of a run down apartment block. He arched his brow down at her, silently asking if she was ready to which she nodded firmly.
Reaching out, Owen knocked loudly at the door, "Open up!"
As they expected, no one came to answer. Owen exhaled largely through his nose, "You better open this door, or I'll knock it down!"
There was a short silence and then a noticeable click. With baited breath they waited until the door was opened to a crack. Rebecca Walker's gaunt face appeared, her eyes feverish.
"Thank God." Rachel sighed, "We've been searching the entire city for you."
"Go away!" Rebecca hissed, pushing the door closed.
Owen jambed the door with his foot. "I don't think so."
"Becca, Sam came and found me." Rachel told her quickly, "She's your daughter! How could you leave her alone? She's fifteen years old and she has no one."
Turning her gaze to her feet, Rebecca shook her head, "You shouldn't be here."
"What kind of mother are you? Leaving her like that and going off with him." Rachel cursed the emotion she could hear in her quivering voice. "She deserves better, Becca, better than a Mom who's chosen this over her."
Rebecca's eyes stormed, "Rachel, you need to-"
She was cut off by a sharp yell and a thud. Rebecca tried shutting the door again but Owen's foot was still blocking it.
Rebecca disappeared suddenly, as though she'd been hauled backwards away from the door, which of course she had, by Carter. Instinctively Rachel went to rush forward but Owen pulled her back and threw her the sharpest look he'd ever seen him wear. She froze on the spot and allowed him to run in before her.
Inside Carter had Rebecca by the neck against the wall. His face was millimetres from hers, his face was boiling point red, "You're talking to cops? Did you call the cops on me, Becca?"
He drew his hand back to hit her but Owen beat him, slamming his body into Carter's forcefully. Rachel rolled her eyes to the ceiling in a quick prayer to a God she didn't believe in and then went to gather Rebecca up from the floor.
"It's okay, I'm going to help you." Rachel said in as soothing tone as she could muster, taking Rebecca's tiny frame in her arms.
Rebecca pushed back forcefully, stumbling back towards Carter who was scuffling on the floor with Owen.
"Does hitting women make you feel like a big man?" Owen growled, gaining the upper hand over Carter who was much slighter in build. "Huh? Does it? Does preying on defenceless women give you a sense of power?"
Carter gritted his teeth into a sneering smile as he shuffled beneath Owen's strong grasp. There was something in his snaking eyes that caught Rachel off guard, something that made her breath catch in her throat and her heart hammer against her chest. She launched forward in slow motion, unsure of what she was going to do exactly, but she knew she had to do something. She'd never been one for superstitions or feelings in her waters but right now she could sense that something was going to happen. Something bad.
There was a flash of light, down by Carter's hand and Rachel screamed out.
He had a knife.
"Owen!" Rachel grasped his arm and went to pull him back just as she heard him cry out in pain.
He fell back against her, swearing and gasping, his eyes alight with surprise and fear.
Rachel barely registered Carter staggering up and pulling Rebecca out of the door after him. She was blind to everything but Owen. There was a patch of glowing crimson blood staining his shirt, just above his right hip, almost flooding the material. Rachel choked on her cries as she slipped her jacket off and pressed it firmly against the wound. Tears slipped from her eyes as she stuttered out sobs of 'you're going to be okay' and 'I love you'.
…
"Aw, jeez, she's cute." Nathan said, shaking his head as he gazed down at baby April who was squirming in his arms. He was meeting the little girl for the first time at a playdate at Lucas and Peyton's. Everyone else had disappeared to the kitchen helping to prepare lunch, leaving him, Lily and Isabel to coo over April. "Lils, she's adorable, really."
Lily scrunched her nose from where she was sat on the couch across from them, "I know, right?"
He laughed as Isabel tugged at his sleeve, desperate to have her go at holding the baby. Since finding out that her Mom was pregnant, Isabel had turned baby mad. She took her beloved dolly everywhere and wanted to know everything about pregnancy and having a baby - which Nathan despaired of. She gave another sharp tug of Nathan's shirt, "Daddy, it's my turn now!"
"Okay, sit up straight, right here next to me." Nathan instructed and she scooted up to him obediently, her big brown eyes shining with excitement. Nathan held back a laugh, he couldn't recall such a concentrated look over her face. "That's it, okay, are you ready?"
"Uh-huh," Isabel nodded and held out her arms rigidly. Carefully Nathan adjusted her position and then laid April down in her lap.
He watched adoringly as Isabel's eyes widened with the responsibility and awe of the little baby in her arms. "She's so cool, Daddy."
"Someone's going to be an awesome big sister." Lily smiled over at Isabel.
"She is." Nathan said, stroking his hand over Isabel's long hair and checking that she was holding onto April properly. "Ben doesn't seem as keen this time around though. He was besotted with her," He paused to indicate down at Isabel, "but he's not fussed with the new baby."
Lily frowned and then rolled her shoulders, "There's a big age gap. He's a sweetie, he'll come around. I know how Scott boys are, they care more than they show it. I remember when I was little and you used to come home in the off-seasons, acting all cool and with a different girl on your arm each time. I always thought you didn't care at all, then one time we were at the playground and I fell; you just picked me up in your arms and carried me home. Then you spent the rest of the day with me - because I was clinging like hell - and you didn't care."
Nathan shook his head, "You remember that?"
"Always." Lily shrugged, "Girls always remember when boys are nice to them."
"That's true." Haley smiled as she padded over, her eyes sparkling at her husband. "I remember this one guy who sat with me after a certain incident, having brought me purple flowers and then bought out the Crackerjack supply of New York City just to see me smile."
He leaned over her bump and kissed her on the lips, "It was worth every cent."
"Jeez." Lucas said as he strolled in, pretending to be grossed out by Nathan and Haley's sweetness.
"Shut-up!" Haley jested, slapping her brother-in-law lightly on the arm. For emphasis she leaned in again to Nathan and kissed him as he wagged his eyebrows teasingly to antagonise his brother.
Ben pulled a face as he, Piper and Holden came to tell everyone that lunch was ready. "Eww! Mom. Dad. Stop!"
"Shh! April's sleeping!" Isabel said, with astounding seriousness.
Nathan nudged his wife's shoulder and she scrunched her nose, thinking that Isabel was adorable with the baby.
Peyton peeked her head around the door, a slight frown over her forehead, "Hey, anyone would think you guys don't want to eat the food I made you!"
Pulling a face, Nathan turned to her, "No one told me you were cooking."
Rolling her eyes, Peyton went to retreat to the kitchen when the intercom buzzed. She turned on her heel and walked off towards the door as everyone else slowly made their way to the kitchen for food. She was sucking some salt from her finger when she pulled open the door to Brooke, Julian and Theo. She was surprised to see them as they'd turned down her invitation without an explanation that morning.
"Hey!" She said brightly and then hesitated at the looks on their faces. "What's up?"
Brooke shook her head, "We need a sitter. Owen's at the hospital, he got stabbed."
"What?" Peyton's eyes bugged with shock, her eyes roaming over the Baker family for a further explanation. "What happened? Come in, everyone's here."
"Everything's happened." Brooke sighed as she steered Theo past Peyton, following Julian down the hall. "Sam got taken away. Rachel and Owen went to find Rebecca. Carter stabbed Owen!"
Peyton frowned after her friend, "Brooke, I don't even know who half those people are!"
…
Rachel sat in the rigid, uncomfortable waiting room chair, her head hung towards her knees and her hands pushed through her hair. Her eyes were stinging with tears and her body shivering from the chill of fear and loneliness. She hadn't been aware of anything but Owen back in that grimy flat when he was shaking in her arms but now she was all too aware of everything else. The rush of cool air that spurted from the faulty vent in a rhythm of short, short, long, repeatedly. The label of her top that was permanently itching at the back of her neck, no matter how many times she tucked it back inside. The hard plastic of the chair that was designed to be sat in for no longer than a minute without causing crippling back pain. She noted that everything was an irritant.
"Rach?" Brooke's shaking voice called out from the edge of the room. Rachel glanced up to meet Brooke's watery hazel
eyes and almost collapsed into another bout of tears.
"Hey," Nathan appeared at Brooke's side and stepped forward to pick Rachel up into a hug. "He's going to be okay."
Rachel fell against his shoulder, "I thought he was going to die."
"He's not going to die." Nathan said soothingly, rubbing circles on her back.
"What happened, Rach?" Brooke asked slowly, finding Julian's hand as he padded into the room after parking the car. He, Brooke and Nathan had elected to go to the hospital whilst Haley, Lucas and Peyton stayed with Lily and the kids.
"Carter happened, of course." Rachel shook her head, "It's all my fault. I couldn't let it go, I felt like I had to find Becca. Owen was reluctant, he knows how addicts are, but I made him go. Or at least I decided to go, which meant he came too; he'd never let me go on my own."
Julian shook his head, "This isn't your fault."
Rachel pulled away from Nathan slightly, her eyes misty, "It was so horrible. He was lying in my arms and his blood…it was everywhere,"
"Hey, come on." Nathan coaxed, "This is Owen, he's not going anywhere."
"What happened to Carter and Rebecca afterwards?" Brooke asked. "Did the police get them?"
Shaking her head, Rachel sighed, "They ran of course."
Brooke wilted into a seat and Julian fell down beside her. Pushing her hair out of her face Brooke took a deep breath, "Where do you think they went? Do you think they'll still be in the city?"
Rachel's eyes flashed over at her friend, "I don't care. I don't care where they go, just as long as they don't come near me again."
"What about Sam?" Brooke asked weakly, worried about what could happen to her.
"I tried, Brooke, we tried but it's not worth it. That girl is better off without Becca, trust me." Rachel said, her tone stony. "Don't you understand? Owen ended up in the hospital. She's better off with CPS."
Brooke's eyes bugged slightly, "CPS? She needs a home. We want to give her a proper home."
"Brooke!" Rachel hissed, her eyes alight with pain.
"Give it a rest, yeah?" Nathan advised, still holding onto a strangely fragile feeling Rachel.
Julian sighed but Brooke leaned forward, "Is that what you'd say if this was about Benjamin or Isabel? Or the baby? If one of your kids was with CPS would you give it a rest, Nathan? Or would you do anything in your power to get them back?"
Nathan frowned with confusion, "You've known this girl, what? A day."
"And you've yet to meet that little baby of yours but don't tell me you wouldn't go to the ends of the earth for them." Brooke shot back. "I'm sorry, Rach, but I've got to do something. That girl needs us, she hasn't got anyone else."
Rachel shook her head, "I'm sorry. You're right, and I get it, I do…but will you stay here with me a while?"
Brooke reached her hand out and enveloped Rachel's in her own, "Of course."
…
Gina Reyes sighed up from her desk, leaving a mess of paperwork across her desk to go and tend to a visitor who had requested her personally. Regretfully, she also left her freshly poured coffee, knowing it was unlikely for it still to be warm when she returned. She had a feeling that the visitor would be a certain couple wearing the name 'Baker'. Gina could tell from her short visit to their home that Brooke and Julian were warm, wonderful people, she didn't doubt that they were going to fight for that moody sullen girl who rarely let anyone into her world.
Samantha Walker's case was a sad one but unfortunately not all that uncommon. What devastated for Gina, was that there was an incredible family who happily wanted to take Samantha in but without a tonne of paperwork and legalities, Samantha was first due a stay at the Children's Home under the care of the State.
When she reached the front desk, Gina's eyes popped with surprise, "Oh my goodness."
The woman waiting for her was bouncing from foot to foot in a nervous fret, her eyes skimming the walls and her fingernails scratching at her forearms.
"Rebecca." Gina said, in dry realisation. She gulped and stepped forwards, "What are you doing here?"
Rebecca snapped her bloodshot eyes up at Gina, "I can't be her Mom anymore. I can't."
Gina nodded sympathetically, "Why don't you come through to my office, we can talk properly."
"There's no time!" Rebecca snapped, "Just…just tell me what I have to do to relinquish all responsibility."
Suppressing a gasp, Gina reached out her hand to stroke Rebecca's arm but the younger woman snatched it clean away. "Rebecca, that is an incredible decision. Letting go of a child is not as simple as just signing them over. No matter what happens, you will always be her mother. I think you should sit down and really think about what you're asking me to do."
"I thought about it! God, you people! None of you think I'm a good mother; I've seen the way you all look at me. Now I'm telling you what you want to hear and you're telling me to sit down and think? I'm a drug addict! I could be dead tomorrow, I know that. If you're lucky it might happen soon. This is the first time I've ever put her first, can't you see that? So tell me what I have to do to hand the kid over, permanently." Rebecca said in a frantic but lucid tirade.
Gina swallowed down a lump in her throat. Everything that Rebecca had said was true and Gina agreed that she was a terrible mother. But the thought of actually signing her daughter away was still tear-jerking. "Okay, come with me."
…
"What next?" Holden's wide eyes looked between his Mom and Dad expectantly. They shared a look, exhausted from playing with five kids all afternoon.
"Your call." Peyton smirked, clapping Lucas on the shoulder supportively. "I'm going to go and see how Hales is, she's been in the bathroom a long time."
Lucas nodded resignedly, "Sure, leave me with these monsters alone."
"Lily's...here." Peyton offered, cringing over at Lily who pulling on a pair of boots as though about to go out.
Feeling their eyes, Lily glanced up, "Um, I'm taking April to the park. We're meeting Jared and his parents. They're in the city for a couple of days and want to tell me everything I'm going wrong in raising their granddaughter. I'm excited to see them."
"Clearly." Lucas chuckled, "Okay, have a good time and don't listen to a word they say. You're doing fantastic."
"Better than you." Lily remarked back with a poke of her tongue, referring to the fact that the kids were having an increasingly more violent pillow fight behind them.
Lucas shook his head, "Jeez. Okay, break it up, kids! New game!"
Peyton walked out with Lily, chuckling at her husband who was at the mercy of five excitable kids. She knew she'd be in his debt for leaving him alone but lucky she knew of a few ways to say sorry. Leaving Lily in the hall to sort April out, Peyton padded towards the bathroom and tapped lightly on the door.
"Hales? You okay in there?" She called.
Slowly the door clicked open and Peyton met the sight of Haley bracing herself against the sink, breathing heavily. She arched her brow and managed a smile, "So, guess what!"
"You're in labour?" Peyton's eyes widened and she rushed inside, beaming with excitement. "How are you doing?"
Haley nodded, clearly easing out of a contraction, "Not too bad. My water went though."
"Really? Already?" Peyton rubbed a circle on Haley's back, knowing that had been of some comfort when she'd been in labour herself.
"Uh-huh." Haley chewed on her lower lip, "This is so different to when I had Benny and Isabel."
Peyton took a deep breath and looked at her friend through the reflection in the mirror, "You're going to be okay. What we're going to do is go down to the hospital and get you checked out. Nathan's already there so we don't have to worry about him panicking about over night bags and crazy taxi drivers, okay?"
"Yeah, that sounds good." Haley nodded, glad to have the strong reassurance of her best friend.
Threading her fingers through Haley's, Peyton led them out of the bathroom back to the madness of the living room where the kids seemed to be using Lucas as a climbing frame. She turned to Haley and winced, "Lend me a whistle?"
Laughing, Haley put her fingers to her mouth and let out a loud whistle, stilling the madness.
Peyton smiled to her appreciatively, "Hey, everybody! Listen up, okay,"
Haley took a long breath and found the faces of her children, "The baby's coming!"
She watched with amusement as their expressions contorted, each of them wearing contrasting emotions. Isabel's face lit up, as Haley had guessed it would; her dark eyes shone and her lips broke into a gap-toothed grin. Ben on the other hand wore a brooding kind of look, not unlike the one his Uncle Lucas was famed for. As Isabel bounced and danced, Ben stepped forward, a perfect scowl across his features. Haley pushed away her disappointment, she'd hoped, naively perhaps, that by the time the baby was born Ben would come around to the idea of a fifth member to their family.
"Benny," Haley said breathily.
He looked up at her darkly, "Does it hurt? Are you okay?"
Haley broke into a sharp laugh, "Not really. I'm good, baby, I'm excited to meet your little brother or sister!"
His mouth set as a straight line as he seemed to think it over, "Where's Dad? He's not here."
Behind him Isabel sang I'm getting a sister over and over, happily oblivious to everything else in the room.
"Dad's already at the hospital. I'm going to go there with Aunt Peyton now." Haley said in a calm voice, despite the familiar ripple of a fresh contraction across her stomach.
Ben looked torn at her answer; relieved that she was going to the hospital but fretful that he wouldn't be there too. With his dark hair and sharp blue eyes, he looked a lot like his Daddy, but that was where most of the similarities ended between father and son. Ben was a sweet and sensitive soul like his Mom. He was quiet and shy, academic and hard-working, much like Haley. But the one way that he was astoundingly like Nathan was his fierce protective nature.
"Sweetheart, I am going to be just fine, alright?" Haley leaned down and cupped her little boy's chin. "All I want you to worry about is that little sister of yours. She's your responsibility whilst we're at the hospital and I know how well you look after her."
Ben nodded, "I am excited, Mom, about the new baby."
At that Haley beamed, "You'll be the first visitor, okay? Just like you were with Isabel."
Finally her little boy smiled and Haley felt instantly calmer, she turned back to Peyton and nodded, "Okay, let's go!"
The group chorused good lucks and goodbyes as they left, hand in hand, for the arrival of the newest little Scott.
…
Owen glanced up groggily, noticing a familiar flash of red across his eye line. He grinned crookedly as Rachel strode over and slapped him on the shoulder before pressing her lips hard against his. Her hands covered his jawline and her tears rolled down her cheeks, "Don't you ever do that to me again!"
Slipping his arms around her waist, Owen carefully persuaded her down onto the bed, "Trust me, I don't plan on it."
Rachel curled into the curve of his strong chest and wiped her eyes on the itchy hospital gown he'd been forced to wear.
"Come on, Red, I'm alright." Owen said, nudging her shoulder softly.
"Shut up, okay?" She sniffed, "I kind of always thought you were invincible."
He shrugged, "Maybe I am. You're not rid of me yet."
Rachel rolled her eyes against his chest but her hand still gripped tightly onto his arm. Realising that Rachel wasn't quite at the joking stage, Owen rubbed small circles on her back, "I'm sorry, it's how I deal. When I was lying in that grotty apartment I let myself think for a second that I might actually die and then I thought about the 'rents, and how they'd hear that I died in a fricking crack den. How ironic would that be?"
"You're not going to die in a crack den. You're going to die of a broken heart the day after I die. Because if you fall in love with another girl I will haunt you." Rachel sniffed.
Frowning, Owen looked down at his girl, "And just how do you know that you're going to die first?"
Shrugging her shoulders slightly, Rachel dropped her voice to a quieter tone. "If you were to go anywhere without me I'd drown myself in a bar immediately."
"Rach." Owen said in a clipped tone. "You can rock, with or without me."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
Owen scoffed, "I know that I just got stabbed and we're talking about you."
"Only because you hypothetically died and left me all alone." Rachel pouted.
"You're ridiculous." Owen stated as he closed his eyes and took in her smell; a surprisingly sweet scent of honey and vanilla.
"Mmm." Rachel pulled herself closer to him, humming lightly, "I'm allowed to be ridiculous, you got stabbed. Why aren't you being ridiculous?"
Owen smirked, "Well, you're so good at it I didn't think you needed any help."
Sniffing, Rachel wiped her nose on Owen's gown. "Stop making me tell you to shut up. Say something nice."
"I love you." Owen said, sincerity sitting in his eyes. "How's that? I love you. And I'd tackle that guy all over again if I had to. Rather me than you any day of the week."
He could feel her shaking her head against his chest, "I guess I'll have to shut you up the only way I know works."
"Oh yeah-" Owen was cut off by her moving up higher on the bed and pressing her lips to his. He closed his eyes into the kiss, finally letting himself think of all the things he'd miss if something had gone wrong. If one of them had been seriously hurt. If the unspeakable were to have happened. He could have lost her, all of her, in a dashing moment. Her kiss, her worry, her laugh, her wicked smirks. The way she made them do crazy things every weekend to replace the yearn for drink or drugs that could easily creep back. The deep conversations they had late at night. The way she wore his shirts, haphazardly buttoned and rolled to the elbow. He kissed her back urgently, his arms pulling her in tighter against him.
When Rachel felt the wetness of tears on her cheeks she paused, knowing that they weren't her tears. She pulled out of the kiss and looked back at her boy and nodded through a watery smile.
"You got me." Owen said through a hoarse chuckle. He stroked her hair away from her face with his fingers and rolled his eyes back at her.
Their moment was broken by the crashing of the door being slammed open and Brooke's tear-stained face smiling a strange kind of smile over at them. At her side Julian was also sporting an unreadable expression that looked like both excitement and fear.
Rachel frowned over at them, wondering what was making them act so goofy, especially when Owen was laid up in a hospital bed. "What's going on?"
"The lady from CPS called, that Rebecca woman just showed up and basically gave Sam over to the State. And I'm not happy about it, of course, because it's devastating…but I am excited because it means we can help Sam! We can go see her and arrange a placement and let her bring all of her stuff to our spare room,"
"Brooke." Julian set his hands on her shoulders, "Baby, don't get ahead, there's so much that's got to happen."
Rolling her shoulders a little Brooke shook her head, "She's our kid, Julian. Don't you feel it inside of you? It's like the way I look at Theo when he's scuffed his knees at the playground; like I just want to gather him up and hug onto him so tightly until he feels like nothing's going to harm him again. I want to do that for Samantha. I want to look after her. Nathan can say whatever he likes about knowing her for a day but he can't feel what I can feel."
"I can. I feel it too, Brooke." Julian assured, his arm around her waist supportively.
Pushing her hand through her hair, Rachel looked up at Owen, not knowing exactly what to say to her friends. It all seemed so sudden and, dare she think it, ever so slightly crazy. Owen just grinned down at her and winked.
"That's awesome news." He said easily, "If anyone deserves great parents like you guys, it's that kid. She must have suffered some crap having all that going on in her life."
Brooke beamed back at him broadly, "Thank you, Owen. We're really excited."
"It's nice to hear some good news has come out of this." He shrugged, "Right, Rach?"
She nodded in slow agreement, "Yeah, I mean if you guys are happy then we're happy for you."
Brooke's threw them a dazzling smile to prove just how happy she was to them, "Are you kidding, we're ecstatic! First Haley goes into labour and now this, it's the greatest day ever!"
Julian coughed nervously and glanced over to Owen, "No offence."
Laughing, and then wincing at the stretch it caused in his muscles, he held up his hands, "Don't sweat it. I'm glad to, er, be a part of it."
"We have to go," Brooke said hurriedly, "Will you guys be okay?"
Rachel nodded, "We'll be fine. Honestly, we're good."
"More than good." Owen added, his fingers stroking softly over Rachel's hip in a soothing motion. "Don't worry about us. We've got everything we need right here."
"Let's go get our girl." Brooke smiled to Julian, tears streaming down her cheeks.
…
Two weeks later Brooke was clicking her way through her home, wearing a soft smile over her lips. She stopped at the door of what had previously been the guest bedroom and knocked twice before letting herself inside the newly painted red room.
Brooke smiled at the girl sat on the edge of the bed in an original Brooke Davis party dress, "You look beautiful, Samantha."
Sam kept her eyes cast down and fiddled with the bangle bracelets on her wrist, "I don't know."
Padding over, Brooke sank into a seat next to her daughter, "You don't have to wear it if you don't want to, Sam, but you look wonderful."
"Really?" Sam looked up at Brooke cautiously. She could remember her Mom - Rebecca - complimenting her on only a handful of occasions and that only happened when Sam was doing something to look after Rebecca, as though she was in fact the Mom.
"Honey," Brooke cupped Sam's chin and purposely lifted her gaze so that her head was held high. "You always look wonderful. And this is your party, you can wear whatever you like. Trust me, in this house there are no dress codes. For Theo's fifth birthday we all dressed as superheroes. Come as Supergirl if you want."
Sam grinned a little, "I don't want to go as Supergirl, I want to go as a Baker Girl."
Brooke winked, "In that case your outfit is perfect. You look stunning, my girl."
"But I'm still a Walker Girl, technically." Sam said a little absently, her eyes clouding in the way that often broke Brooke's heart.
"We're working on that." Brooke told her softly, stroking Sam's pretty curls out of her face. "It's just a name, it doesn't define you. You know that at work a lot of people still call me Davis, even though I've been married for, oh, a decade? But I don't mind. It doesn't matter what they call me because I'm still Brooke. And you're still Sam, whether it's Baker or Walker, okay?"
"Okay." Sam nodded through a smile. She knew that Brooke understood, having grown up in a lonely kind of existence with a mother she'd called 'Bitchtoria'. In fact Brooke had disliked her surname and association to Davis so much that she'd named her company Brooke Trinity after her best friends rather than her family name.
The doorbell sounded and Brooke gave Sam's hand a final squeeze, "Party time, Girly!"
Sam laughed at Brooke's cheerfulness. She was the kind of Mom that Sam hadn't realised she'd needed, but she did. She loved all of her new extended family but there was something extra special about Brooke.
Brooke glanced back at her from the doorway, "Are you coming?"
"I'll be right there, Mom." Sam said, smiling around the final word as she tried it out for the first time.
In response Brooke gave her a proud watery smile, she waved her hand to say that she wasn't going to cry and smiled back at her daughter, "Okay, honey."
Sam sat in her room a while longer, listening to the chatter and laughter, relishing the feeling of family. Of being a part of something. She closed her eyes and inhaled the feeling. She was sure she wouldn't ever get used to it to the point that she'd take it for granted. Knowing that everyone was waiting, Sam lifted herself from her patterned bed quilt and glanced in the mirror one last time. She smiled back at her reflection; she looked like a Baker Girl.
When she entered the family room she blushed at seeing that the whole gang was there. Brooke, Julian and Theo were stood closet to her, each of them beaming their signature dimpled and wicked smirks. Lucas was stood in the opposite doorway, Peyton leaning happily against him. Piper and Holden were sat on the carpet with Ben and Isabel next to a huge stack of presents that made Sam's eyes water. Rachel and Owen were lazed along one couch looking as comfortable as they would in their own home, their limbs entwined with each others. Nathan and Haley were sat snugly on the opposite couch with two week old Baby Naley swaddled in Haley's arms.
"Happy Birthday!" They chorused, a little inharmoniously, causing Sam to roll her eyes despite the thrill it gave her.
Julian stepped forward and kissed her cheek, "Happy Birthday, Sammy."
He took her by the hand and pulled her over to the empty armchair, which for the most part was front and centre for all the spectators. Brooke came and rested on the arm of the seat whilst Theo squashed at his big sister's feet.
"Thank you for coming everyone." Brooke said over the group, "To Samantha's official birthday."
The room laughed together; the day that Brooke and Julian had brought Sam home with them had been dubbed her unofficial birthday. A birthday that she happened to share with Baby Naley - who was still known as such because Nathan and Haley hadn't been able to decide on a name.
"Samantha's official birthday!" Everyone chanted, lifting their glasses.
"Actually, we have a little announcement," Haley ventured, "If that's okay, Sam?"
Sam looked surprised at being asked permission, "Uh, yeah,"
Brooke's eyes widened, "Please tell me you've named that baby finally!"
"We have." Nathan confirmed through a grin.
Isabel gave her parents a wounded look, offended that they hadn't let her in on the secret first. Haley lost her fingers in her daughter's hair and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "We wanted to tell everyone together."
Nathan smiled down at the baby, looking up at him from Haley's arms, "We'd like to introduce you all formally to, Matthew Walker Scott."
Brooke squealed and Julian squeezed Sam's shoulder as she stared at Nathan and Haley in shock. They just grinned back at her as she frowned and stuttered.
"We couldn't have you being the only Walker in the family, could we?" Nathan shrugged and sent a wink to his new niece.
Haley nodded alongside her husband, "We thought it would be nice since you both arrived in the family on the same day."
"That's," Sam shook her head, "That's too much, you guys aren't serious?"
"Hey!" Rachel sat up a little straighter on the couch, "I'm the only Gatina in the family but I don't see anyone naming their kid after me."
Nathan rolled his eyes, "That's because Gatina's a sucky name."
Owen inclined his head towards his girlfriend, "I'm the only Morello, you know. Unless you wanted to join me?"
Brooke screamed in Sam's ear and most of the room winced alongside her. Brooke seemed oblivious though, standing up and pressing her hands to her cheeks, "Was that a proposal? That sounded like a proposal!"
Rachel pulled a face, "That wasn't a proposal."
"Yes it was." Owen said, nudging her. "Come on, Red, let's do it."
Everyone seemed to freeze, impending on the couple's moment. They winced, hoping that Rachel wouldn't sour the day by saying no to the poor guy, despite the fact that everyone had heard whispers that Owen had in fact proposed before and been refused.
"Owen," Rachel's eyes widened and then she looked around all of the faces looking to her expectantly. She rolled her eyes and laughed, "Well played. But I want a ring."
Nathan snorted at her response as Lucas rolled his eyes to the ceiling and Isabel clapped with lonely enthusiasm. Owen laughed at his new fiancee and twisted her around so that he could kiss her.
Sam glanced up at Julian when the kiss started to become more than just a kiss, "Are you guys always this crazy?"
Julian laughed, "Welcome to the family, kid."
…
So that was the completing part! Glad that's over to be honest! But now the families are complete, I promise.
I may visit the Leighton chapter at some point but I already have two LP snapshots that I'm currently working on. We'll see. I think we need a break from babies for a while though what with April and Matthew in this chapter and Isabel a few chapters back!
