Summary: When the stress became of being teenaged parents and college students too much for Lucas and Brooke, Karen offered to take care of their daughter during the week and they'll have her back on weekends till after graduation. Now graduation is over with and they want their daughter back, how will Karen react?
Disclaimer: I own nothing at all. I wished I owned something from OTH besides memorabilia. Oh! I keep forgetting the title of this story is from a song sung by Kenny Chesney! It's a love song, but I thought the title went well with this story!
So here's chapter ten! I can't believe I'm at chapter ten with this story. It's another filler type chapter, but you find out more. The truth all comes out next chapter. Enjoy and let me know what you think! Review, please!
To Get To You
.Chapter Ten.
One month has past and yet it feels like just yesterday to Lucas. Everyday he checks the mail hoping for something, anything from Lilly but it's a disappointment every time. When the phone rings and it's an unknown number, he get's excited. Only to be let down again. He said if she doesn't want to be contacted, then don't ever respond but he was hoping she'd ignore that.
Then yesterday there was a knock on the door last night.
"Were you expecting anyone?" Brooke checked her watch quickly, double-checking the time again. It was close to nine at night. Annie was asleep in her princess bed- a gift from Santa. "I know I wasn't."
Lucas shook his head no before returning to his work he brought home. Working as a junior editor is his way of slowly working up to get published someday.
"I guess I'll get it." She tied her robe tighter around her body to keep the cold winter air out. When the doorbell rang instead of a knock Brooke opened the door to be met with a teenaged girl. "Can I help you?"
"I-s is Lu-Lu-Lucas here?" She stumbled upon her words. She hated her stutter but no one seemed to help her with it. It was always something that made her different. Her parents picked on her for it. She learned that silence is grand.
"Yeah," Brooke still was staring at the girl. Those blue eyes were exactly like the blue eyes she stared into for the past couple of years; ones that she could get lost in constantly. "Luke? Come here."
From the kitchen Lucas emerged and stopped dead in his tracks. She was exactly how he imagined her to look like. Dark hair, similar to his mom and uncle's- were he got his blonde hair from was beyond him- and blue eyes, similar to his own. "Lilly?" It didn't help the Roger sent him a picture moments prior from the young girls Facebook page.
"I-I-I ha-a-d no where," she paused trying to stop the stutter, "to go and I found the le-et-ter."
"Come it, come in." Lucas spoke not really thinking.
Here Lilly was standing in front o him. Her dark locks were long and covering her face, trying to hid something. He was a nerves wreck. Brooke walked around him grabbing a blanket and walked into the kitchen to make coffee or to give them privacy.
"I'm sorry." Lilly's stutter was gone. "I didn't know where else to go."
"Don't worry about it." He was tiptoeing around the really topic.
"I know this is st-st-strange. I j-j-just had to get away. I can l-l-leave if you need me too."
"Don't be silly. It's storming out there. You're not going anywhere." Even though Lucas didn't know her, she was going to stay. They where going to figure it all out.
"W-w-what happen that I-I-I was adopted?"
"You want to hear the truth?" Lucas asked. The truth may scare her away.
"Maybe n-n-not yet." Lilly showed no emotion on her face. Everything was just completely flat.
"Why don't we just get to know each other and figure it all out from there?" offered Lucas. He sat on the loveseat situated next to the couch and twiddled his thumbs around nervously.
"Here drink up, it should keep you warm." Brooke smiled softly, handing over a steaming cup of coffee to the young girl.
"Thank you." A soft whisper came out.
"I'll show you some pictures. My mom, our mother," He corrected himself, "took a lot of pictures. I think she was more excited to have a daughter than to have me." He joked trying to make the situation a little more relaxed- a difficult task when everyone was scared to say something wrong. "Let me go get them."
Brooke took the guts to finally introduce herself. Lilly smiled back, happily that she'll have another girl around to help her.
"I'm never been around girls really. I, my, adopted parents have two sons." Lilly spoke. Her stutter was slowly fading as she became more relaxed with her surrounding. "They're not very nice."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Brooke frowned slightly, wanting to dig more into the truth behind that statement but she thought she would save it hopefully for another day.
"You did-did-didn't know." Lilly shrugged, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I knew I was adopted from the beginning. It made me stand out."
"Everything has something that makes them stand out."
The conversation went from there. Brooke and Lilly talked and talked and when Lucas finally returned with what was in the safety deposit box and the storage unit. Photo albums from the first and only month she spent in the family.
They bonded. The truth of the matter still hasn't been spoken of. Brooke didn't want to be the one to tell her everything. Lucas just didn't have the guts to do it incase she ran away.
"Would you want to stay the night?" Lucas asked, noticing that it was close to three in the morning.
"If that's okay. I just don't have any where to go."
"Then it's official. I'll grab you a blanket. I hope you don't mind the couch."
"Not at all. Thank you."
Now she was laying on his couch, at least he thinks it's her. They determined to get
"Daddy there's some lady on our couch." Annie complained. Every Sunday she would do the same exact thing; grab a bowl of cereal and watch cartoons till either parent woke up. But this week they where cut short by the girl on the couch. "She weird daddy."
"Annie, be nice." Lucas climbed out of bed sighing. He rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes and sat up. They were up till the early hours of the morning talking, Brooke even joined in. "Watch cartoons in here this morning. I'll get you some cereal." He pulled her on top to the bed before walking out of the room.
"Daddy too serious mommy."
"Mommy's not on mommy duty until she gets sleep." Brooke mumbled never even opening her eyes. She knew Annie was going to try to open her eyelids for her, after all Annie did it every morning Lucas allowed- after watching Annie bat her eyelashes and pout her lips- her to come into the bedroom. "It's sleeping time Annie. Go back to sleep."
"No Mommy! We need to indestagate!"
"Investigate, Sweetie." Brooke laughed. Right there and then Brooke knew she was not going to be going back to sleep. Brooke knew sleep was not a priority for her daughter, sadly.
"Then let's go!" Annie grabbed a hold of Brooke's hand and tried with all her little might to pull her mother out of the bed, but Brooke was stronger than her. Brooke gave in a little, letting Annie pull her up, but not before tickling her.
"Now I thought it was bed time?" Lucas stood at the doorway before speaking as he watched the Mother-Daughter moment that he did not want to ruin.
"Well someone can't say no to her." Brooke mumbled complaining.
Lucas knew she was telling the true. Brooke also knew that. Lucas could not say no to one, his daughter or fiancé. "I think you can't either." He pointed out.
"I'm too cute Mommy!" Annie smiled proudly, holding her hands on her hips as she stood on top of the bed, something she must've picked up from Brooke because her standing there was a replica of Brooke. "Duh!"
"She is so you." Lucas sounded down about it, but he wasn't truly feeling that way. It was just a little teasing.
"And mommy is perfect! So that means I am!"
A quick knock on the door shook the family.
"Come in Lilly." Lucas called out.
It was still weird to him to have a sister, let alone have her here.
"I-I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Lilly stuck her head in, body following shortly after. She stood there nervously, eyes looking at the ground- too embarrassed to look up.
"Not interrupting anything at all." Brooke smiled, trying to loosen the nerves the girl had.
"I was going to make breakfast, as a thank you, but I don't know what you all like."
"Pancakes!" Annie cheered. "Mommy sucks at making them. I help?"
Annie was far from being a shy, scared child. She liked to be the star and that portrayed everything about her little personality.
"If Lilly says it's okay and you behave, Annie."
"Come on Lilly! Let's go make pancakes!"
"That went better than expected." Lucas sighed of relief. "Only our daughter would complain of a random person on the couch because she couldn't get her morning cartoons and then ten minutes later is off to make pancakes with her."
"I can't help it if she's a fearless child." Brooke shrugged it off. "I think we may need to talk to Annie about everything and then tell Lilly the truth of why she was adopted. Or better yet figure out if she's the actual Lillian."
"You've seen her, B. You know how much she looks like my mom and Keith. It's obvious. I don't need some DNA proof to know that." He looked hurt that she would even request such a thing. "I know she's my sister, Brooke. No one will tell me anything other. Nothing will change."
"I'm just trying to look out for the safety of everyone in this situation. Yes, she's eighteen and finally able to legally be out on her own, but I feel like she's hiding something just as bad as we are. Your mother should know the truth."
"My mom will never know. You read the letter! You know she believed she was dead; telling her other wise will end in a breakdown again. She's already on such a breaking point that she left, Brooke. She left us alone because of this mess before she even knew the mess would grow. I can't tell her."
"Lilly would probably want to know."
"Then Lilly can be the one to find her. Right now my mother is out of the picture like your own parents."
"My parents are out for another reason, not because I didn't inform them that their daughter is alive. So don't even bring them up."
Brooke was always defensive about her parents. Yes, they abandoned her because of being pregnant, and yes they still want nothing to do with her. But she still had to remember they were her parents. They were the reason she was here.
"I'm going to spend time with our daughter and your sister. If you want to be an ass, stay in here. I'm not dealing with this." She stormed out, quickly collecting herself to act normal in front of her daughter and what she guessed may be her soon to be sister-in-law.
"Are you going to be in my mommy and daddy's wedding?" Annie was asking Lilly all these questions trying to figure out who exactly she was. "I get to wear a pretty dress and drop flowers all around, but Daddy says only if I behave. But what Daddy doesn't know won't hurt him according to Mommy."
"Annie, stop asking so many questions darling."
"It's okay, Brooke. I don't mind." Lilly smiled a truly real smile. "She's easy to talk too."
"That's cause I'm five now." Annie nodded in agreement. "Mommy says I'm a smarty pants but Aunt Haley says Mommy's just bragging."
"Aunt Haley needs to have a talking too." Brooke kissed Annie on the cheek laughing as she tickled her daughter's belly. "Or you need to keep secrets."
"Secrets secrets are no fun unless you share with everyone." Annie sung at the top of her lungs. Since Karen made her join the Daisy Girl Scouts, she was chanting songs all the time.
"Lower, in door voices." Brooke warned. "How are those pancakes coming, Lilly?"
"Good. Annie made me promise to put chocolate chips in them. I think I agree with her that it makes it ten times better."
"Oh really Ms. Annie?"
"I love chocolate?" Annie shrugged turning her attention back to the griddle.
"Why do you say about a surprise visit to Aunt Haley today? I know we'll get you all sugared up and you can go crazy there."
"Yes! I can play with Lydia since Mommy and Daddy didn't get me my Christmas present."
"I think Santa brought you a bunch of Christmas gifts, Annie."
"I still want a sister! Jamie's got one."
"Maybe in the future." Lucas walked in at the perfect timing. "No more asking, Anna Banana."
"I'm not a banana." She crossed her little arms over her chest and pouted. "Tell them Lilly."
"Already getting Lilly on your side? Huh?" Lucas laughed lifting Annie over his shoulder. "Silly, silly little Annie."
"Be careful with her, Luke." Brooke watched them out of the corner of her eye as Lucas was throwing Annie on the couch. "Lilly, today, maybe it's best if we bring everything out in the open today. You, me and Luke can talk about it all? What do you say?"
"I think I can do that." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "It's gonna be hard, but I'll do it."
"You can start whenever." Brooke smiled. She took this teen under her arms. Being eighteen and pregnant when she was Lilly's age she knew that a relationship with a female that she can depend on for support and guidance was what Lilly needed.
"Well," Lilly took the last pancake from the pan. "Maybe after breakfast, before it gets cold?"
"Sounds like a plan. We'll send Luke to drop off Annie. You need girls time, and hell, so do I."
"Thank you, Brooke."
"That's what family is for."