AN: Thank you, thank you! All your comments were amazing! And this time the update took me less than a month, so let's say I'm slowly making progress! lol

I see you all hated Peyton, so mission accomplished. :) With the way this season is going I needed to take it out on her a bit! Heh! But she will not be as bad as she seems. As much as I hate it… think about how she sees everything! And I've just defended Peyton…ok…I'll stop, now!

Hm… I really wanted to take them out of the room in this chapter and have some brucas, but some of you requested for Karen's reaction, so here you have it! And we'll get them out in the next one, before they suffocate!

Huge thanks to Cinthana for all her help with this! Enjoy the chapter and please review!

PS. To awhero: I am from Greece. I don't think it's one of the smallest countries in the world, but it's still really small! Where are you from?

Chapter 9

All a Mother Wants

She wasn't screaming, she wasn't yelling at him, she wasn't even calling him crazy! She just stood there expressionless and that was scarring the shit out of him. The quiet before the storm, he guessed.

"Brooke?" He questioned quietly but to no avail. "Look, I know this may sound crazy, heck it probably is, but if you had heard Hales…" He sighed pausing to run his hand through his hair. "There was just no way I could tell her. And it will probably be even worse with Mom." To her lack of response, he continued, "I know you probably think I'm a coward and maybe I am, but if you think about it, this is our mess, they shouldn't have to worry about us. We should deal with it on our own, and it is not fair to drag them into this. It may be better for them, you know? How could I just tell them what happened? I really couldn't!" Damn Lucas, you're repeating yourself. In fact, was he actually rambling? He was definitely rambling. Crap, all this time hanging out with Brooke and Haley finally got to him. "So, maybe we should think more about it and I'm just saying it would probably be better if we didn't tell them, especially not on the phone. I doubt my mother would agree to go along with this and as for Haley…"

"I guess you're right," she agreed quietly.

"Please just listen to me before you-" He started and then stopped mid-sentence doing a double-take. "What did you just say?" He asked incredulously.

"It would be easier," she responded absentmindedly still in deep thought. Lucas' admission that he couldn't tell the truth to Karen or Haley, and the implications it brought, had left her speechless. And that didn't happen often to Brooke Davis.

But she had to admit, the thought had crossed her mind as well, albeit fleetingly. Then reason took over and she convinced herself they shouldn't take the coward's way out. They should own up to their actions. However, now that Lucas, the responsible one, was actually the one suggesting it, she had to admit it was again growing on her.

"Are you actually agreeing with me?" He asked still unable to grasp the concept. She was actually agreeing without putting up a fight? He was still not to sure about all this himself. But seeing Brooke going along with the idea was helping convince him. If their family and friends were happy for them now, maybe they shouldn't burst their bubble just yet. It would be much easier to let them believe they wanted to get married. For their sake! It would save them the worrying. His mother had been already through so much in her life. He didn't want to burden her further by explaining why her only son was forced to stay in a fake marriage with the girl he was one time ago madly in love with. She would not understand. She would be angry, disappointed, and she would worry to death. They had to deal with this on their own.

Brooke only shrugged in response, still considering the idea she had already dismissed as ridiculous. But if you really thought about it… Sure, they could tell Haley and Nathan, they would yell but they would get over it. But it was just that they also had their own problems, they shouldn't put more on their heads. They shouldn't have to be worrying about her and Lucas and the mess they got themselves into. It was not fair. And as for Karen, well, she didn't even want to imagine. She would be so disappointed into both of them. Brooke always wanted her mother to love her, to be proud of her. But she never managed that. With a mother like hers, you could never win really. She had accepted the fact that she was never going to be good enough for Victoria Davis. Or that Victoria Davis would never take the time to actually see if she was good enough or not. But Lucas had what she didn't. Karen was proud of her son. She was proud of the man that he had become and of the success he had made. Brooke didn't want to be the one to blame for taking that away from him. It was also something more.

Karen had been to Brooke the mother her biological mother never was. She had taken the task of being proud of Brooke's accomplishments. She had been there to tell her that she could make it, that she was good enough to realize her dreams and make something out of herself. Brooke didn't want to lose that again. She didn't want Karen to look at her like she had first looked at her when she had met her by Lucas' hospital bed about eight years ago. She didn't want Karen to believe that she was still that flimsy party girl that had corrupted her son and dragged him into a new even bigger mess than before. Yeah, she was being selfish. But she also wanted to protect Karen from this disappointment. She also didn't want her to worry for them even more and if she knew the truth it was sure that she would. So maybe keeping it from everybody was the best solution?

"I just…maybe we can tell them when we get at Tree Hill, face to face. But for now, maybe it will be better to let them believe that it's real," Lucas continued after a moment's thought.

"I really doubt it will get easier then, Lucas." Brooke shook her head.

"So, what are you saying?"

"If you think you can't tell them, I'm not going to pressure you into it. Karen, Nathan and Haley are your family after all, so it's your call. I'm just a friend," she shrugged.

"You know that's not true," he objected shaking his head. "They're as much your family as they are mine. Mom sees you as her own daughter and Haley certainly loves you as a sister! As for Nathan…I could never figure out your relationship with him, anyway…but I know he considers you family as well!"

Brooke smiled gratefully. They were her family really. Hmm… and now, now she had actually married into the family! If the situation wasn't so serious she would certainly find this funny.

"So you have as much say in this as I," Lucas insisted. This was a serious decision he was not going to take the responsibility for on his own.

"Okay, maybe you're right. Maybe we shouldn't tell them. I told you it certainly would make things easier, for them."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. They shouldn't have to deal with our mess, we should handle this ourselves." Again repeating yourself!

Brooke nodded in agreement.

"And Peyton?" Lucas asked cautiously.

Brooke snapped her head. "I do not own that…argh! I'll refrain from calling her anything because I wouldn't want you go defending her again…"

Lucas sighed shaking his head.

"Anyway, I'm not telling my once again EX-best friend a thing! She already formed her own twisted little version of what went down, she can keep believing it for all I care!"

He hesitated for a moment and Brooke discerning his discomfort in letting Peyton believe this lie, decided to help him. "Of course, I cannot ask you not to tell her anything. Actually, I don't care if you do or not. I'm just staying out of it. You can call her and explain or apologize for your fake wife's insane behavior!" Okay, maybe she was not helping him that much.

"Oh, no! For once, I'm not getting into the middle of this! It is between the two of you, so I am staying out of it."

"Aww! And you're not going to explain to your precious Peyton?" She asked sarcastically and immediately regretted it. Shit! This was not his fault for once!

Lucas sighed once again, "What I said for the others, holds for Peyton as well, I do not want to get her involved into our mess."

"Always protecting her…" Brooke mumbled in a whisper and then hoped that Lucas hadn't heard her. She had stopped all this crap a long time ago, but having Peyton bring up all that stuff from the past, just made her act like her old vindictive bitchy self again.

He did hear her, but he pretended not to. It was obvious that Peyton had crossed the line by accusing Brooke of being the cheater. So if she felt angry and resentful, she had every right to. Like he said, for once, he was going to let the two girls settle this between themselves. He would call Peyton, not today probably, but sometime in the near future, but he was not going to tell her the truth. Of course that would only get him into more trouble, Peyton would surely bring up their past, she would surely insist that she had been right all along. But he could not explain this to Brooke and for once he thought he should just choose the woman currently in his life rather than his ex. Only he had to remind himself once again, Brooke was not actually the woman in his life.

They didn't think about it much longer. The decision had been taken and now it was time to call Karen and start the show, before any of them starting having second thoughts again.

Brooke had tried to justify how Lucas should do this on his own; it was his mother after all, but he had been adamant. They were in this together. She should be there, and Karen would probably want to talk to her as well, anyways. After all, didn't it make sense for his wife to be by his side when he called his mother to explain to her about their spur of the moment wedding? Still, as Lucas waited with the cell by his ear for Karen to pick up, Brooke was calculating the time it would take her to make a swift dash for the bathroom before he had time to stop her. She didn't know if he had managed to read the thoughts in her eyes as she looked at the door that would provide her, her escape, or because he needed the support, but at that moment Lucas grabbed her hand, squashing any hope she had for making her escape.

"Hello?" Lucas heard his sister's sweet voice as soon as the phone was answered.

"Hey, Princess," he replied while a smile spread on his previously frowning face. Brooke also relaxed visibly by his side.

"Lucas!" The little girl exclaimed happy to hear her brother, "I missed you!"

"Me too, Princess. How is school?"

"We learned addition this week. Aunt Haley said I am very very good at it!" She answered grinning proudly.

"Well done, Lily. Are you being a good girl for Mom?"

"I'm always a good girl!"

"I know you are; the best."

"But mommy said you were being bad," Lily said thoughtfully.

Lucas gulped, "She did, huh?"

"Uh-huh!" Lily nodded biting her lip and then remembering something, a smile made its way on her face again. "You were on TV!"

"You saw me too?" Lucas asked frowning.

"Of course! I saw you and Auntie Brooke and called Mommy! I was happy, but she got angry. She used a lot of bad words! Is she going to send you to your room?"

"Well, when I come back… probably…" He said shifting in his sit.

"She called you stupid many many times." Lily explained.

"Stupid, huh?" It could have been a lot worse.

"But I told her you're not stupid! I told her my big brother is very smart!"

"Thanks, Lils," he said with a smile. "What did mom say?"

"She agreed with me!"

"She did?" Lucas asked surprised.

"Uh-huh! She said you aren't stupid, you're a complete idiot!"

"Right…"

"And an inconsiderate brainless dim-witted buffoon…What does dim-witted mean?"

"Okay…I think I get the picture." Lucas said with a childish pout on his face.

"But what is a dim-witted buffoon?" Lily insisted innocently.

"Did anything else happen?" He asked eager to change the subject.

"Aunt Haley called and they talked and mom was not that mad anymore. But I saw her cry. Why did you make mommy cry, Lucas?"

He took a sharp intake of breath and Brooke sensing his sadness smiled at him sympathetically.

"Oh, Princess, I didn't want to make Mom, cry. I'm really sorry for that."

"Christy and Penny and Amy, they all saw you on TV!"

Lucas shook his head. His sister really had inherited Brooke's attention spam. It was like they were really related, he thought with mild amusement.

"They told me my brother is soo famous!"

Great, he was the newest gossip even in Tree Hill elementary! Next thing he knew, he would be signing autographs for six year olds! Shit, the boys in his team would never let him forget this!

"You were with Auntie Brooke. Only Christy told me she is not my auntie, but my sister because you married her! Is Brooke really my sister now?"

"Urm… yeah I guess she is," Lucas mumbled stealing a glance at Brooke.

"What?" She mouthed but he just shook his head in dismissal.

"Cool! I have a big sister now! But Christy said when her brother married Laney she was the flower-girl and she wore a really cool dress. I want to wear a cool dress too! Am I going to be your flower girl?"

"Erm…well, I…"

"Who are you talking to Lily?" Karen asked as she approached the little girl that was anxiously waiting for her brother's answer.

"Lucas!" The girl exclaimed.

"Lucas!" Karen gasped.

"Uh-oh," Lily muttered seeing Karen's face turning red instantly.

"Give me the phone, Lily, and go to the kitchen your dinner is ready." Karen instructed trying to act calm at least until Lily had left the room. Then she would be able to deal with her idiot of a son.

"Uh-oh?" Lucas asked in confusion.

"Mommy is here," Lily whispered covering the receiver with her hand, while Karen approached the girl outstretching her hand to get the phone.

"Uh-oh…" Lucas gulped again while Brooke stared at him, "What? What?!" She asked frantically.

"Lily, the phone, now!" Karen repeated impatiently.

"Bye Luke! Good luck!" She hurriedly added giving the phone to Karen and scurried off excitedly thinking about the dress her Auntie, no her new sister, Brooke would make for her and that would be so much better than Christy's!

"Bye…" Lucas managed to add faintly before Karen got hold of the phone.

Karen took a deep breath so she wouldn't start yelling immediately and brought the phone to her ear.

"Explain yourself," she said firmly.

"Hey, Mom, how are you?" He asked with a half-smile. Brooke finally understood and heaving a sigh, gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Or was it because she wanted her own trembling to stop?

"How am I? How do you think I am, Lucas?!" Well, she didn't yell as soon as she got the phone.

"I know…I'm-"

"Don't you dare say you're sorry!" Karen yelled loud enough for Brooke to hear her from her position next to Lucas.

"But I am, Ma!" He said but Brooke shoved him with her free hand and he immediately corrected, "We are, we really are!"

"What were you thinking, Lucas? How could you do this to me?"

"I…it just happened?" They really should have taken the time to come up with some sort of explanation! Brooke raised an eyebrow looking at him like he was crazy but he just shot her a glare in response. She was definitely not helping right now.

"It just happened?! What are you a complete idiot!?"

"Ma…"

"No! These things don't just happen! Marriage is a serious business! I can't believe you're taking it so lightly!"

"It's not like that…" He said guiltily while Brooke buried her head in her hands trying to not hear Karen anymore.

"So you're telling me you've been thinking about this for a long time and you didn't tell me a word?"

"Not exactly…"

"Then what?! Oh my! Brooke is pregnant!" Karen exclaimed bringing a hand to her mouth.

"What?! NO!" He said almost jumping from his seat, while Brooke gave him a curious look.

"Are you sure?" Karen repeated not entirely convinced.

"Y-yes! I …Don't you think I would know?"

"Would you?" She retorted sarcastically.

"Ma, Brooke is not pregnant." He affirmed calmly.

"What?!" Brooke shrieked completely stunned.

"Is that Brooke?" Karen asked hearing the high-pitched scream.

"Yes."

"She's with you?"

"Where else would she be?" He asked giving Brooke a pointed look. Brooke tried to shift away but he pulled her back grabbing her hand again, resulting in her face forming into a stubborn pout.

"And you are sure you didn't get married in such a rush because she is pregnant?"

"Yes, Mom, I am sure." He said tiredly.

"That's a relief I guess. Because you didn't have to get married just because she is pregnant. You know that, right Lucas?"

"For the last time Ma, Brooke is NOT pregnant!"

"I'm not!" Brooke yelled indignantly.

"Good, then why?" Karen asked resuming a lower tone.

"I guess… we didn't want to make a big deal out of it." He tried. Did this sound as lame as he thought it did? From Brooke's are-you-kidding-me expression, he gathered that it most probably did.

"You didn't want to make a big deal…Your wedding is a big deal, Lucas! How could the two of you be so inconsiderate?"

"We are sorry! We…We didn't think much about the others, it …it just felt right and we did it?" He half-asked and Brooke rolled her eyes. He was really pathetic with his explanations.

"Unbelievable! Getting hitched in Vegas, Lucas? In some random chapel at Vegas?! I thought I raised you better than that! And how come you didn't even tell us that you were back together? How long has this been going on anyway?"

"A while…" He said uneasily. He did not want to come up with an elaborate lie, he was feeling awful as it was, he didn't want to make it worse by coming up with some ridiculous story.

"Lucas!" But obviously Karen was not satisfied with this.

"Why does it matter anymore, Ma? We just…we…we wanted to make sure it would work. We broke up so many times in the past…we just wanted to make sure."

"And you…you are sure now?"

"Yes…"

"That's why you got married?"

"Yeah…"

"And it wasn't because you… you weren't drunk, were you Lucas? You actually knew what you were doing? Please tell me this wasn't some kind of joke! I wouldn't be able to deal with that!"

"It wasn't," he chocked out swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat and lowering his eyes in shame. "I thought Haley explained."

"Haley would say anything to put my mind at ease. But I needed to hear this from you."

"I'm sorry, Ma…for making you worry." He said really apologizing for lying to her.

"Well, if it wasn't because she was pregnant and it wasn't some joke…Why couldn't you tell us? We could have a small wedding, I just, I just wanted to be there, Lucas." She said with a hurt tone.

"I know, I know…It was selfish of us and we are very sorry. We didn't mean to hurt you, any of you."

"I want to talk to Brooke."

Lucas stole a glance at Brooke that had her head hang down in shame.

"Ma…" He tried to protest.

"Lucas! Give the phone to Brooke!"

"Just…don't yell at her, okay?" He tried once more. Upon hearing his words Brooke's head shot up.

"Give the phone to your wife, now Lucas!" Lucas sent an apologetic glance at Brooke while handing her the cell.

She shook her head vigorously in protest, but Lucas just nodded his to urge her, mouthing a "please". She of course caved in. Taking a deep breath and before Karen was able to utter a single word, Brooke started her apologies. "I'm so so sorry, Karen! We didn't mean to hurt you! It was stupid, we know, but we just…I'm soo sorry!" She concluded on the verge of tears.

"Oh, Brooke!"

"I really am! I know that you probably hate me for this but…"

"Brooke, I don't hate you."

"Really? Because I wouldn't blame you! What we did was so horrible and we are soo sorry…"

"Brooke, stop rambling." Karen cut her off.

"Okay…" Brooke condescended with a sigh trying to keep her cool. Lucas was also fighting the urge to get the phone back. His mother was obviously upsetting Brooke and he didn't like it. It was his mother; he should be the one to deal with her disappointment, not Brooke.

"Do you remember the time I first met you?" Karen asked her.

"Yeah…and you hated me on sight! Oh my God, Karen, I am…" She started again feeling the first tears making their way to her eyes.

"Brooke!"

"Sorry…" She mumbled biting her quivering lip.

"Remember what you told me then?"

"That I mumble a lot when I'm nervous?" Brooke asked looking confused at Lucas who seemed confused as well. Karen had lowered her tone, and he couldn't make what she was saying if she was not yelling. Of course she had exhausted all her screaming on him.

"No, honey, remember what you told me about the way you felt for my son?"

"Oh…" Brooke said uneasily.

"You said you were crazy for my son. You remember that, don't you, Brooke?"

"Yeah…" Brooke said stealing an uneasy glance at Lucas. Please don't let him hear this!

"And then you said you hoped that was enough for me."

"I remember."

"And you remember what I told you then?"

"That it was more than enough for you," Brooke whispered.

"Do you still feel the same way, Brooke? Are you still crazy for my son? Is that still true?" Karen asked seriously.

Brooke froze. She hated lying to Karen. And this… this was serious. She took a look at Lucas that was sitting beside her, worry etched on his face, his thumb absentmindedly drawing circles in the palm of her hand that was still intertwined with his trying to relay some sort of comfort.

"Yeah, yeah, it is," she said quietly.

"Then it is still more than enough for me."

"Aw Karen!" Brooke exclaimed while giving up on holding back her tears.

"All I want is for my son to be happy." Karen said in a voice that suggested that she too was crying.

"I want the same thing."

"Then, you know I love you, Brooke…I always considered you my daughter, but I'm happy you've now become my real daughter."

"I love you too, Karen," Brooke chocked out, "You were always the mother my own mother could never be for me."

"Oh, dear, you've got me all emotional now. Maybe it's a good thing I wasn't at your wedding because I don't think I would be able to stop crying."

Brooke let out a teary laugh.

"Now, get my stupid son, back on the phone."

Brooke handed him the phone.

"Ma?" He asked her concerned as Brooke stood up and went to clean her face from the tear stains avoiding really looking at him before she left. "What did you tell her? Why is she crying?" He asked agitated. Brooke did laugh, sort of, at the end, so he guessed things could have only gone but so bad, but she was still crying.

"Not of your concern."

"But she's crying!"

"Lucas, listen to me… You've done a lot of stupid things in the past. Especially where Brooke was concerned…"

"Ma…" He protested weakly.

"But I was sure that despite your idiocy, you have always loved that girl."

Lucas held his breath. Thankfully, Brooke had left him alone now.

"But you were too stupid to realize it, or too scared or unsure to make up your damn mind between her and Peyton!" Lucas cringed; did she really have to bring this up again? "But now you did. You married her, Lucas. You married Brooke. There is no going back again, you understand that, right?"

"I don't want to go back…" He whispered.

"Good. Because if you mess this up again, if you hurt that girl again, Lucas…"

"I won't! Never!" Never again…

"I'm glad to hear that. You know how much I love that wife of yours as if she was my own daughter. So if you hurt her again…" Karen said in a way that Lucas could clearly read the warning in her voice. "I want to see her happy, Lucas. She deserves to be happy, after everything you have put her through…"

"I want that too, Ma. I want to see her happy." He said sincerely.

"Good. Then we agree. And now, when are you getting your butt back to Tree Hill so I can kiss my daughter-in-law?"

Lucas exhaled. So that was it. His mother was over it. Just like that she had accepted Brooke as her daughter-in-law. She had accepted her as his wife. A year or some months from now he would crush her all over again with the news of their divorce… what were they thinking lying to everybody?

"We should be back after Brooke's show, I guess. She can't leave now, and I have a few errands in New York this week. After the show we will probably fly down there together." He answered swallowing his guilt.

"Good. Then we can arrange to have some sort of party or a reception…"

"Is that really necessary?" He asked with a scowl. Pretending to be happily married for the public was one thing, but having to actually pretend for their friends and family… What did they get themselves into this time?

"Lucas! You deprived me my chance of seeing you get married, you will not stop me from at least participating in some kind of celebration!"

"Okay…Whatever you want, I will talk to Brooke and if she's okay with it, then-"

"Brooke is as much in fault here as you! She will not say no to me!"

"Just… just try and keep it small?"

"Of course. I will have Haley help me and..."

Karen went on about the celebration she would organize, while Lucas zoned off. Playing out the conversation over and over again in his head. One of the things his mother had said particularly sticking out to him…"But I was sure that despite your idiocy, you have always loved that girl."