Chapter 9 - 2014
Lucas sat looking out the window of the hospital room. So much had happened over the last year. He's been through five reconstructive surgeries on his face and two to fix his arm. He'd never be quite the same and basketball was out of the question. All because of Nathan.
Lucas's hand clenched at the thought of his brother. All of the pain and money spent because of a case of mistaken identity. He'd been drunk and thinking of Brooke but Nathan had lost it. There was no way that Lucas could forgive his brother for this and he would find a way to make him pay.
"Luke?"
Lucas shrugged off his thoughts as he turned towards the doorway, a smile forming. "Hey."
"Hey." Brooke smiled as Jack and Emma let go of her hands and raced over to Lucas. "You ready to go home?"
Lucas grabbed the kids hugging them as he stood. "Yup. I'll be glad to be out of here."
Jack grinned, running a hand over Lucas's face. "They fixed your face."
"Yes they did." Lucas smiled. "They made me pretty again."
Emma giggled as she was handed over to Brooke. "Boys aren't pretty, silly."
Lucas flicked her nose. "You're right. Only girls like you and your mama are pretty." He leaned over, placing a kiss on Brooke's lips. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Her face lit up as she smiled. "Now come on. Let's get you home."
There was one thing that Lucas was grateful for over the past year and that was having Brooke back in his life. When he'd awaken in the hospital she'd been there. She hadn't left his side until he'd woken up and even then it had been a fight to get her to leave. Lucas didn't know how she could stand to look at him as his face had been destroyed, but she had stayed. And he'd been so glad and grateful for that.
After having his first surgery he'd moved to Chicago to be with Brooke and the kids. He hadn't spoken to Nathan since that night and had no plans to. He had a new life and he was going to focus on that for now. Eventually he would think of a way to make Nathan pay, but for now he would enjoy his life.
When they arrived at home Brooke sent the kids off to play before turning to Lucas. "So I have some good news and some bad news."
"Give me the good news first."
"Peyton's coming in to visit." Brooke grinned. "She's actually thinking about moving up here."
Lucas grinned. "That's great. I'm so glad that you guys worked things out last year and it'll be great to see her again." Peyton had been a great friend to both Lucas and Brooke through all of the surgeries, even taking care of the kids so that Brooke could be at the hospital with Lucas. "So what's the bad news?"
"Nathan and Haley are coming into town too."
"What?" Lucas's anger flared. "What the hell is he coming here for?"
Brooke placed a hand on his arm. "He's got business here. Something about buying a hotel or building a hotel. To be honest I wasn't really paying attention." She paused. "Haley wanted to see us so she decided to come along." There was another pause. "They're staying with Jake."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Lucas shook his head, his body vibrating with anger. "He practically falls off the face of the earth, forgetting to pick up his kids and forgetting to send a check. But Nathan calls up and he has time for them? Whatever."
Brooke wrapped her arms around Lucas's neck, running kisses along his neck and jawline. "I know, baby. I know." She pulled him down, kissing him deeply.
"Mmmm..." Lucas groaned deep in his throat. "How long do we have before the kids get bored and come looking for us?"
Brooke laughed. "I don't know."
Lucas picked her up, placing her on the counter. Kissing her he began kneading her breast through her shirt. Brooke wrapped her legs around his hips causing his erection to press against her core. Her hips bucked as he tweaked a nipple, a small moan escaping her lips.
Lucas bit back a groan as the doorbell chimed. "Damn it."
Brooke laughed as she pushed him away and jumped down from the counter. "I'll get the door. Don't forget where we were at, we'll finish this later." She sauntered out of the kitchen and threw open the door. "Peyton! You're early!" She pulled the blonde into her arms.
"Got the first flight that I could. I wanted to see you guys. I've missed you." She drug her suitcase inside the house. "Where's a man when you need one?"
Lucas appeared at that moment. "Peyton." He leaned over giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Peyton glanced down and snorted. "Did I interrupt something?"
Lucas's eyes widened, his face turning a slight shade of pink as he grabbed her suitcase. "I'll put this in your room. You girls catch up."
Brooke and Peyton laughed together as Lucas hurried down the hallway. "Good one P. Sawyer. So how was your flight?"
"Eh, it was okay. Sometimes I get so tired of flying." Peyton grinned. "So where are those wonderful kids of yours?"
"In their room playing. Come on." She lead Peyton down the hallway. They paused in the doorway and watched the children, both of them gathered around a child size table.
"More tea please." Emma held her cup out to her brother who pretended to pour more into it. "Okay, that's all I need." She waved her hand, dismissing him.
"She is SOOO your child." Peyton laughed causing the children's heads to turn.
"Aunt Peyton!" They both launched themselves at her, bombarding her with questions.
"Emma. Jack. Calm down. Give Peyton some breathing room." Brooke rolled her eyes.
"They're okay, Brooke." She turned back to the children. "Why don't you guys tell me what you've been up to since I saw you guys?"
Brooke laughed as her children began talking at the same time, trying to out talk the other. They were definitely her children.
Later that night while Lucas and the children were watching television, Brooke and Peyton sat in the kitchen talking. "So, you look great." Brooke sipped her wine.
"Thanks, so do you. It looks like being with Lucas again is good for you." Peyton grinned.
"Yeah." Brooke sighed. "It's great. Although he hasn't forgiven Nathan. I can't even bring up his or even Haley's name without him going berserk."
Peyton nodded. "I wouldn't imagine that it's been easy on him. And you know how Lucas likes to hold grudges." She paused. "You've had to practically give up your friendship with Haley because of it, haven't you?"
"Unfortunately yes. But Haley understands. Right now I have to do what's best for Lucas."
"You do that a lot don't you? Doing what's best for Lucas?" Peyton paused, her eyes locking with Brooke's. "For example, not telling him that it was Dan that killed Keith."
"What?" Brooke nearly dropped her glass. "What are you talking about?"
"I heard you and Haley talking about it a few years back when she was here on tour. Don't worry, you're secret is safe with me. I understand."
Brooke let out a shaky sigh. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you. We wanted to have as few people as possible to know about it. It was less likely to get out that way. Both Lucas and Nathan had just started getting close to him again and we didn't want anything to come between them. It would've destroyed them both - especially Lucas."
"I completely agree. I've wanted to talk to you about this since last year. I had actually planned on talking to you about it that night at Nathan's, but I didn't think it would be a good idea considering."
"It's alright, Peyton. To be honest, I'm glad that you know. It's hard to keep a secret like that from the people that you love."
Peyton nodded, her eyes flashing. "I know."
Brooke smiled. "So what have you been up to recently? Any new men?"
"Well...Actually there is something that I need to tell you."
The doorbell chiming caused Brooke's head to jerk up. "Hmmm...I wonder who that could be." She shrugged as she stood. "Sorry, Pey. Hold that thought. I got it Lucas!"
Throwing open the door she was surprised for the second time that day. "Hales!" She launched herself into the other girl's arms.
"Brooke!" Haley hugged her tightly. "It's so good to see you." Pulling back she grinned. "You look great as usual."
"Hey Brooke. I'm gonna go in and see the kids." Jake brushed past her, not looking at her once.
"They're in the living room with Lucas." She grimaced. "Oh, that's not going to turn out good. Come on in. I need to get in there to mediate. The two of them don't get along well." She let Haley step inside and started to close the door behind her but it was jerked open. "Nathan!"
"Hey Brooke." Nathan stepped inside.
"No. No. No." Brooke shook her head. "You can't be here. Lucas will throw a fit."
"Who gives a shit? If my wife is here than I can be here." Nathan started past Brooke but she stepped in his way.
"I'm serious, Nathan. Get out."
Meanwhile, Jake headed for the living room. As he reached the doorway he paused for a moment as he watched Emma run to Lucas. She was so adorable, but she reminded him so much of her mother that it was hard for him to look at her. He knew that he's been screwing up recently but he was going to try harder. He truly loved his kids and knew that he needed to be there for them.
"Look!" Emma held up the drawing that she had just completed. "Look, it's our family. Me, Jack, Mommy and you, Daddy." She grinned up at Lucas.
Jake stood in shock for just a moment before exploding. "What the fuck? You're teaching MY children to call you daddy?" He stepped into the room, fists clenched.
Lucas looked up, surprised. "Jake." He shook his head. "No, I'm not teaching them to call me daddy. But what do you expect to happen when her father isn't ever around? Are you really surprised that she calls me daddy since I'm actually around?"
"I don't know who the hell you think you are, Lucas. Read my lips. These are my kids NOT yours."
"Well then why don't you act like it, asshole?"
Emma burst into tears and ran to her brother who wrapped his arm protectively around her. "C'mon, Emma. Let's get Mommy."
Jake and Lucas were too busy facing off to realize that they had upset the children. They continued to yell at one another, all the way closing the distance between them.
"Mommy!" Jack screamed as he and Emma ran into the foyer. "Mommy, Daddy and Lucas are fighting. They upset Emma."
"Oh, babies. I'm sorry." Brooke pulled them close, kissing each of them. "Go to your room for a little while, okay? Jack, take care of your sister."
Jack nodded and led his sister away as Brooke turned back to Nathan. "I don't have time for this shit. Get out of my house." She turned to Haley. "I'm sorry. This isn't a good time." She took off for the living room, arriving just in time to see Lucas take a swing at Jake. "Lucas! Stop it!" She ran over, grabbing his arm before he could hit Jake again.
Lucas spun on Brooke. "Stay out of it."
"No." She stepped between the two men. "You should be ashamed of yourselves. You've scared the children half to death. Did you even notice that Emma left the room sobbing?"
Lucas hung his head. "No."
Brooke turned her angry glare to Jake. "And who do you think you are? Coming into my home and picking a fight with my boyfriend? And scaring the children? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me?" Jake laughed. "What's wrong with me is that my whore of an ex-wife is shacking up with my ex-best friend that she cheated on me with. While my children are living under the same roof. Not to mention the fact that you're teaching them to call him Daddy."
"You, mother fucker." Lucas started to lunge at Jake but Brooke stepped in his way. "Get out of the way. He can't get away with calling you a whore."
"Calm down, Lucas." Brooke calmly turned back to Jake. "Get out of my house. You're no longer welcome here. And I'm taking you back to court. I don't want my children around you when you come to see them reeking of booze. Did you really think that I wouldn't notice that you were drunk? Are you insane? You've become someone that I don't know."
Jake snorted. "I'm only this way because of you. So blame yourself."
Nathan laughed. "She does have the tendency to have that effect on men doesn't she, Jake?"
Lucas's head snapped over towards Nathan who stood in the doorway with Haley. "What are you doing here? Get out."
Nathan smirked. "What are you going to do about it big brother? You do remember what happened the last time we had it out, don't you?"
"You bastard." Lucas took a step towards him.
"No, that's you. Or did you forget that fact?"
"That's enough, Nathan." Haley's eyes filled with tears. "You and Jake should leave."
"I'm not leaving without you."
"Yes, you are." Haley stood her ground, something that was growing increasingly harder with him. "I'm going to visit with Brooke and Lucas. I will see you later." She pushed him towards the door.
"Who do you think you are?" Nathan hissed. "You don't push me around. What are you thinking?"
"C'mon, Nathan." Haley pleaded with him quietly. She didn't want to cause another scene and she knew that she needed to get him out of there fast.
"Ummm, guys..." Peyton slipped into the room. "Just so you know, the kids are freaking out." She shook her head. "What is wrong with all of you? We're supposed to be friends and you're ripping one another apart. What happened to us?" A tear slipped from her eye. "Sorry, I'm a little emotional. I was going to use this trip to tell all of you that I'm going to have a baby. Since we were all going to be here I thought that this would be a good time so that I could tell everyone." She shrugged. "But since it appears we can't even get along anymore, who cares? I'm going to talk to the kids." She turned on her heel, leaving the others shocked.
Brooke turned to Haley, her eyes wide. "Did she just say she was pregnant?"
Haley slowly nodded her head. "She did."
Brooke turned to Lucas. "Come with me." She glanced at the other three. "I'd appreciate it if you'd stay out here and I'll be back in just a minute." Grabbing Lucas's hand she led him from the room. "Peyton's right. We shouldn't be doing this. I'm going to talk to her and the kids. I need to talk to Jake, Nathan and Haley afterwards. Since you can't seem to get along with the boys do you mind running to the store for me?"
"What?" Lucas was shocked. "You want me to leave my own house? Shouldn't they be the ones to leave"
"Yes, they should but I need to talk to them. I promise to have them gone by the time that you get back, okay?"
"Yeah, whatever." Lucas rolled his eyes and headed for the door.
"Hey, Luke! Wait, man!"
"What the hell do you want now?" Lucas spun around, his eyes meeting those of his brother.
"Look, I'm sorry about the things I said. I don't know what's been wrong with me. And I've been trying to say I'm sorry for months about last year." He paused. "I know that's not enough, but that's all I can say."
"You're right, Nate. It's not enough so save your breath." Lucas stalked out of the house.
Brooke sighed. "That was nice of you Nathan."
Nathan turned around slowly. "Ehhh..." He walked back into the living room, sitting down next to Haley on the couch.
Brooke turned and headed for her children's bedroom where she heard Peyton talking to them softly. "Hey, Peyton..." She smiled sadly at her children. "I'm sorry about all of this, guys. Sometimes grownups just get really mean."
"I didn't mean to make Daddy and Lucas fight." Emma's eyes filled with tears again. "I meant to say you AND daddy. I didn't mean it, mommy."
Brooke gathered her close. "I know, baby. I know. Sometimes grownups just don't care. They just want to be mad. I'm sure that if your Daddy saw the picture and saw that you included him in the picture he'd have loved it. I'm sorry that he hurt your feelings."
Emma nodded. "It's okay." She paused. "I know that Lucas isn't my daddy. Daddy's my daddy." She grinned at her mother. "And you're my mommy."
Brooke smiled. "That's right, baby. Now, why don't you and Jack play for a little bit while Mommy goes and fixes some other people's hurt feelings."
The children nodded their heads solemnly. "We'll play in here and let you fix stuff."
"Thanks, baby." Brooke glanced up at Peyton, who's eyes were alight with hidden laughter. "Come on, P Sawyer." Once outside of the children's room she turned to her friend. "So you're pregnant?"
Peyton nodded. "Yup, the last one."
"Who's the dad?"
"Oh, don't worry about that. It's not important." Peyton waved away the question with her hand.
"But Peyton-"
"No, Brooke. Just, please, can we not talk about this. I don't want to get into it." She paused. "Now, why don't you go fix all of those people's hurt feelings?"
Brooke made a face at her before heading back into the living room. "Look, Jake. I'm sorry that I yelled, but how could you come over here drunk?"
"That's my fault." Nathan shrugged. "We went out for some drinks and Haley had to come pick us up. It wasn't planned."
Brooke nodded. "Okay."
"Look, Brooke. I'm sorry. I know that I've been being a terrible father, but there's been a lot going on recently." Jake paused. "I've been having some money trouble lately. I hired a private investigator to keep tabs on Jenny and Nikki." He shook his head. "I know that I shouldn't have blown the money that was supposed to for my children, but I have to know what's going on with Jenny. I know she's not biologically mine, but I raised her."
Brooke sighed, how could she blame him for that, she was more then well aware of the pain that Jake felt about looking Jenny. "I wish you would have come to me about this sooner. From now on, call before you stop by. And don't freak out over what your child says before stopping and remembering how old she is and that she can get confused." Brooke pointed at the drawing on the table. "Why don't you look at the drawing that Emma made." Jake picked it up, realizing that he had been mistaken about what he had overheard. "She wasn't calling Lucas daddy. She was trying to say that Lucas AND Daddy were in the picture. As she explained to me in between her tears."
Jake nodded. "I'm sorry. I'll apologize to Lucas later. I think I'm gonna go call a cab for me and Nate." He stood and walked towards the kitchen. "I'll stay away from the kids."
Brooke shook her head. "Stop in and say hello. They've missed you." As Jake started to walk out she stopped him, "actually, make sure you say good-bye to them before you go. Emma needs to know you aren't mad at her." With a nod Jake headed toward the kids rooms and Brooke turned her attention to the two left. "Sooo..."
Nathan shrugged. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." He shook his head. "I've got a headache. Do you mind if I go lay down in the guest room until the cab gets here?"
"Go ahead." Brooke sighed as she plopped down on the couch next to Haley. "What is up with him?"
Haley shrugged. "I have no idea. If I didn't know better I'd say he was pregnant." She laughed. "He's been having a lot of mood swings. Ever since the Lucas thing last year he's been mean and angry a lot. I don't know what to do. I love him so much, but he's starting to remind me so much of Dan."
Brooke wrapped her arms around her friend, hugging her close. "I'm sorry, Hales...Oh! Before I forget to tell you." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Peyton knows about Dan."
"What! How?"
"Apparently she overheard us when you were here for that concert."
"Hmmm...Good thing she's friends with us, huh?"
"No, shit"
"Mind if I join you?"
Peyton looked up finding Jake standing next to her. "Sure, have a seat."
After calling a cab and stopping in to see his kids Jake had decided that he should talk to Peyton. "So, how are you?"
She shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I don't feel different than I did before." She laughed. "But that may change."
"Well, you look good"
"Thanks." The two of them sat there in an uncomfortable silence, Jake afraid to ask the question that he most wanted to ask and Peyton afraid that he would ask.
"So, I'm moving to Chicago."
"Are you?" Jake smiled. "I'm glad."
"Yeah..."
"Look, Peyton. If you need any help at all please let me know. I'd like to be there for you since you're going to be here. I'm great in Lamaze classes, just ask Brooke."
Peyton grinned. "Be careful, I might just take you up on that offer."