Chapter Ten: In a Flash

"You're almost there now, Brooke. The head is out, but we need one more big push."

Sweating and breathing deeply, Brooke shook her head and said, "No, I can't…I can't push anymore."

"Yes, you can, babe." Lucas said while he stood at her side, letting her squeeze his hand. "You can do it."

"No, I can't. It hurts and I'm tired…so tired. Damn you for doing this to me."

"I know it hurts, babe, and I know you're tired." Lucas stroked Brooke's head as he spoke. "And I would do this for you if I could, but I can't. All you need is one last push and we'll finally have our baby."

"I'm scared, Lucas." Brooke whispered with tears.

""I know, baby. I'm scared too. But it's going to be okay. I promise."

He kisses her lips and the doctor said, "Come on, Brooke. This baby is ready to meet you."

"Come on, babe." Lucas said. "You can do it."

She squeezed his hand harder and pushed again.

"That's it…excellent, Brooke…baby's coming…"

Brooke rested back on her pillow when she felt the baby leave her body.

"Beautiful…" the doctor said as she wiped the baby's face and held her up for Brooke and Lucas to see. "You have a beautiful baby girl, mom and dad."

"It's a girl?" Brooke said as she smiled and the doctor passed the baby to the nurses.

Lucas smiled back at her and repeated, "It's a girl."

He kissed her head and then said, "We have a daughter, a beautiful little girl."

The nurse walks back over and lays the new baby, wrapped in a pink blanket, in Brooke's arms.

"Oh, Lucas…she's so cute." Brooke said as she stared admiringly at her new daughter. "Look at how tiny she is."

"She's amazing." Lucas said with wet eyes as he stroked the baby's cheek with two fingers. He looked back at Brooke and said. "She looks just like her mom."

Brooke smiled at him before kissing him. Then, Lucas said, "I'm proud of you, Pretty Girl. You did really great."

"I love you." Brooke said before kissing him again.

"Brooke…Brooke…" Lucas whispers in his wife's ears before kissing her cheek.

Brooke opens her eyes and smiles at her husband.

"Good morning." She says.

" 'Morning, babe. I just wanted to let you know I was leaving."

"Where are you going? We have a doctor's appointment today."

"I know, but Nathan called and said he needed to talk. I'm meeting him for breakfast before going to the school to start setting up my classroom. I'll meet you at the doctor's office."

"Okay."

"Do you want me to take Jess with me?"

"No. I'm meeting Peyton and the kids in a little while. Then, your mom and Keith are watching her for us."

"Okay, well, I'm going to go then. I'll see you later?"

"Yep."

Lucas kisses her and she says, "I love you" before he leaves.

Haley rolls over in bed and opens her eyes. She notices the bed is empty next to her and she sits up. She looks over at her clock on the nightstand and notices a folded piece of paper sitting there. She picks it up and reads:

Haley,

I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to walk away like I did, but I didn't want to cry in front of you anymore. I want to be; I need to be the strong one for you and the kids and especially for James. I'm meeting Lucas for breakfast and just clearing my head for a bit, but Ill be home later this afternoon and maybe we can try talking about it again. I love you, Haley…always and forever.

Nathan

Haley sighs as she folds the paper again and leaves it on her bed. She lifts her hands to her forehead and worries again for James and Nathan. Then, her daughter cries on the monitor and she leaves the bedroom for Katie's down the hall.

"Nate, that's a pretty big thing to keep buried inside all this time." Lucas says while sitting across from Nathan at a table by the window in Karen's Café. "Why keep it to yourself?"

Nathan responds after a few seconds of thought. "Punishment, I think. When I learned James was missing and realizing it was Dan who took him, it hit me that it was my fault because I sent Dan away. I told him to disappear and he did…only he took my son with him/"

"Nathan, you couldn't have known Dan was going to take James." Lucas says, leaning forward in his seat. "How were you supposed to know that? You weren't…you couldn't have…no one could."

"But maybe I could've stopped this from happening. Maybe, if I had just given him what he wanted and let him visit the kids, then—"

"No, you did the right thing, Nate. You protected your kids from him."

"Not all of them, not James. I couldn't protect him. How am I supposed to live with this, Luke? I let Dan take my son and now I don't even know where they are. And it's killing me, tearing Haley apart and hurting my family. I just…I don't know to do. I don't know how to fix this."

Lucas sighs and says, "There isn't anything you've done that needs to be fixed. Dan taking Jamie…it just happened. But the police are going to find him, Nate, and then everything will be okay."

"That's another screwed up thing…I am the police. So how come I haven't found him yet?"

Lucas is quiet, feeling sympathetic and wishing there were something more he could do to make Nathan understand that what happened wasn't his fault. But he knows how stubborn his brother is and he knows that nothing will make Nathan feel better than to have James home and Dan in prison.

He glances at his watch, then looks back at his brother and says, "Look, Nate, I have to get to the school, but if you want to talk more about this—"

"No, Luke, it's okay. I'm good now, really. I think I just needed to vent a little."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, man. I think I'm going to take a walk and visit my mom…get my mind off this for awhile."

"Okay. But how about you meet me and the guys down at the River Court later?"

"I don't know, man, I—"

"Come on, Nate. Playing basketball always clears your mind. Maybe taking a break from all this is exactly what you need.

Nathan nods his head in consideration and says, "Okay. Maybe you're right. Count me in."

"Good." Lucas says as he stands up from the table, throwing his half of the bill and tip down. "Brooke and I have an appointment this afternoon, but I'll call you when I'm done."

"Okay. Thanks Luke."

Lucas touches his brother's shoulder and replies, "Of course. I'm your brother…you can always come to me."

He continues toward the door, but hollers back to the table before leaving.

"Hey Nathan…"

Nathan turns around and Lucas finishes, "It's going to be okay…you'll see."

"So I guess Anna is feeling better." Brooke says as she stands across from Peyton, pushing Riley in a swing from the front while Peyton pushes from behind.

Peyton glances at the play yard, where he daughter and Brooke's are attempting to climb back up the slide after sliding down. She smiles, looks back at Brooke and says, "Yeah…I'm so glad too. Poor little girl is so…not herself when she's sick. And with her sick the past week, it's been crazy at home, especially with Jake and Jenny tearing each other's heads off about every little thing."

"Ah…so the teenager Jenny has finally revealed itself, huh?" Brooke says with a smile.

"Higher, Momma!" Riley shouts as Brooke pushes him back to Peyton. "Higher!"

"I don't know what has set off this attitude of hers, "Peyton says, pushing her son in the swing again. "But Jake and I are really getting tired of it. We're both exhausted from work and chores and the kids…it's just so exhausting. I just don't understand where this attitude came from. Before high school. She used to be so nice and helpful all the time, and now she snaps at everybody and ignores Anna and Riley."

"She's probably just adjusting to high school life still." Brooke suggests. "Trying to find her crowd and figure out who she is, you know?"

"Maybe, at least I hope that's all it is." Peyton says, pushing the swing once more before changing the subject. "So, anyway, enough about me and Jake. What's going on with you and Luke?"

"No more swing, Momma." Riley interrupts. "Wanna play in sand."

Peyton slows the swing down and pulls Riley from it while Brooke sighs and replies, "A lot actually. We, um…we have an appointment at a fertility clinic this afternoon."

"What?" Peyton says surprised as she sets Riley down, who immediately runs for the sand box.

Brooke sighs as they sit down on a bench close to the play area and she explains, "Well, you know Lucas and I have been trying to get pregnant again."

"Yeah…" Peyton says, listening.

"We've probably been trying for at least three months now, and it still hasn't happened. Then, when I was late this month, I was convinced I was finally pregnant and I was really excited. But all that excitement was exchanged for disappointment a few hours later."

"I'm sorry, Brooke." Peyton says, rubbing her friend's shoulder. "I know how much you want another baby."

"I do. I want another one so much; I want the family I never had. That's why we're going for those tests today. I want to know why getting pregnant again is so hard for us and what we can do, if anything, to make it easier."

"So, what are you going to do if there is a reason why you haven't gotten pregnant yet?"

"I don't know. We haven't thought that far ahead."

Brooke and Lucas sit in the doctor's office, holding hands and anxiously waiting for the doctor to return.

"It's going to be okay, Brooke." Lucas says, looking over at his wife. "No matter what…we're going to be okay."

Brooke smiles back, but look away when the doctor enters.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Doctor Martin says, walking behind his desk. "I have your test result. But I must say, I'm a little surprised."

"Why?" Brooke asks worriedly. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, actually." Doctor Martin replies, opening the manila folder. "The tests revealed no problems for either of you. Everything is completely normal."

Brooke glances over at a smiling Lucas, then looks back at her doctor and says, "Don't get me wrong, this is really good news, but I don't understand anything now. If there aren't any problems with us, then why are we having such a hard time getting pregnant again?"

"Some couples just do. For some, it only takes a couple a month to conceive, and for others it can take even longer, years even."

"Great." Brooke mumbles.

"The best advice I can give you is to just keep trying, keep doing what you're doing and eventually you'll get pregnant."

"So, Haley thinks Dan has James in Florida?" Deb repeats, sitting next to her son at the counter in her home.

"Yeah, and she wants to go down there and looks for them herself, but I told her it's too dangerous."

"Well, you're right." Rob adds, grabbing a beer from the fridge. "It's safer to let the Florida authorities handle it."

"What makes her think they're even in Florida?" Deb asks.

"She had a dream a couple of nights ago with Jamie in it and he said something to her. That's all I know. But after our argument last night and after thinking about everything we said to each other, I'm thinking maybe I should be the one to go down there to look for him."

Deb and Rob both stare at him in surprise and Rob says, "Nathan, son, I—"

"I know you don't think it's a good idea either." Nathan interrupts. "I know it's not. But it doesn't matter. All that matters is my son. I bought a plane ticket today. It's open ended so I can leave and come back whenever I want, but I think I'll have a better chance of finding Dan and James if I leave as soon as possible."

"W-Well, what does Haley think about this?" Deb asks.

Nathan sighs and says, "She doesn't know yet. I haven't seen or spoken to her since last night. Which is why I should get going."

He stands off the stool and finishes, "I'm supposed to meet Lucas and then I need to get home and talk to Haley about this."

"Nathan, have you seriously thought about this?" Rob asks with concern.

"Yeah, I have. I need to do this for Haley…and for James."

Nathan stops walking when he reaches this familiar place on River Road. He stands across the street from the River Court, deciding whether or not he should cross the road. It's been months since he's been here…

"Watch dad, Jamie." Cooper said, sitting next to James on the picnic table. "He's gonna make a slam dunk."

Nathan smiled as he jumped in the air, landing the ball in the net.

"Yay!" James shouted excitedly, clapping his hands as he jumped off the table, followed by Cooper. "That was awesome, Dad!"

"Totally sweet!" Cooper added, holding a hand out.

Nathan high-five him, smiled and said, "You think so?"

"Dan, I wanna learn to dunk like that." James said, jumping up and down.

"Okay, com here." Nathan said before handing James the ball and lifting him off the ground. "Okay, ready? We're going to run down the court and I'm going to lift you higher when we get to the hoop. You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go!"

Nathan smiles again and begins down the court.

"James Scott dribbles down the court… faster, oh man, this kid has got speed and talent…he's approaching the hoop now…"

Nathan lifted James higher and said, "He shoots…"

James throws the ball into the hoop, his little hands touch the rim and Nathan finished with. "And he scores! Scott wins it again!"

Nathan lowered James to his side and said, "Awesome, bud, I think you got the Scott talent."

"Thanks, Dad." James said with a smile.

That was the last time he'd been here, Nathan realizes as he continues to stare at the court where to cars are pulling up next to it in the grass.

"I will find you, bud." He says with tears again. "I promise…I will find you."

Across the street, Lucas and Jake climb out of Lucas's black truck and Mouth and Skills climb out of Skills' car.

"I thought Nathan was meeting us here?" Mouth says.

"He is." Lucas replies, looking around for his brother. He hears screeching tired and a loud engine as a car turns the corner. Lucas looks over at the street, where the car is swerving on the road, out of control. His eyes finally meet Nathan, standing on the sidewalk.

"Nathan, look out!" He shouts as the car swerves closer to the sidewalk and closer to Nathan.

Nathan looks to his right and sees the car coming at him, but he knows it's too late. All at once, Haley, Cooper. James, Katie, Lucas and Deb and the rest of his family and friends flash into his mind and in a flash, they disappear…