You Are My Only One
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING; though I would love to own One Tree Hill. Definitely a cool thought.
Story by:B. Davis FTW
"Alright pretty lady. Here's the game plan. You're gonna get changed into your PJ's, and then Mommy and I are going to do the whole 'tuck in good night' deal with you, and then Aunt Rachel's gonna take over until we get back." After Nathan fed the three month old, he sat her down in his lap, facing him as he spoke to her as if she understood what was going on. "Deal?" Alexis cooed at him before laughing a little bit. "Alright, good deal" The young father smirked as he lifted her into his arms as he stood up, walking up to his and Brooke's bedroom. "Look pretty lady, there's the beautiful lady" He smirked to himself as he moved toward his wife, placing a chaste kiss on her lips as she did her makeup.
She scrunched her face a bit as Nathan placed the baby down on their bed before walking into his closet to find something to wear for the occasion. "Beautiful lady doesn't have the same ring to it babe" She removed the towel her hair was currently wrapped in and grabbed the curling iron. "When did Rachel say she was coming?"
"Five thirty" Nathan called back to Brooke, getting out a royal blue dress shirt, black slacks, a black belt, and blue, gray and white diagonal striped tie. "And she said she won't be expecting us until at least one. She also said to tell you to have first anniversary sex with me in the limo to commemorate the occasion, and make sure you remembered your birth control" He laughed a little to himself as he peeled his shirt off and put his dress shirt on over his wife beater, buttoning it up as he walked out of his closet. "Though I have to say, I wouldn't mind having another pretty lady"
"Oh, no mister." Brooke shook her head and looked at Nathan with wide eyes as she finished curling her hair into long, soft curls. "I'm not having another until I forget how goddamn painful the first one was" She turned back to the mirror, doing another once over on her hair and make up before walking into her closet, fingering through the many dresses she had. She knew Nathan was wearing a dark blue tie, so she chose a dark blue dress from her own collection. It was a strapless dress with a silk strip along the top, which was a darker blue than the rest of the dress and had a strip of the same material as the rest of the dress that was tight around her stomach, before letting the rest of the material flow to her ankles. She stepped out of the closet, with her back still unzipped. "Nate, can you zip me up?"
"Well, you did do it without an epidural baby" He laughed as his fingers trailed up her body, his hands resting on her bare skin as he kissed her collarbone from behind. "You're beautiful, by the way" He whispered softly into her collarbone before lightly zipping the zipper up to where it stopped, right below her shoulder blades.
She smiled a bit, turning around in Nathan's arms and kissing him lightly, taking hold of his untied neck tie that hung underneath his collar. "Give me this" She smirked as she pulled away from him and tied his tie as she always did, then folded his collar over the top of it, patting his chest gently. "Go get your jacket, and I'll grab the baby" She gave him one more kiss before turning to the bed, where Alexis was happily playing with Nathan's keys. "Whatcha got there baby girl?" She put her hands on either side of where her daughter was laying and leaned down, kissing her nose which made the baby giggle. "Are those Daddy's keys? You just wait until you're sixteen and getting your permit, then you can play with Daddy's car all you want" She smiled, taking the keys and placing them back on the bed as she lifted her daughter onto her hip just as a certain redhead walked in.
"Hey slut" Rachel waltzed on in like it was no one's business. Technically, it wasn't considering all their friends just happened to walk into their house. "Hi baby slut. We're going to have lots of fun, aren't we?" Of course, Rachel's idea of fun was watching Nip/Tuck all night which she hid in her car so neither parent would see.
"Rach, don't call my baby girl a slut, and no more Private Practice, please. My baby doesn't need to see that stupid drama. She's still innocent and can be turned toward good taste in shows" Nathan smirked as he pulled his jacket on over his shirt and tie, buttoning the three buttons that were present on it before kissing Alexis's head.
"And please try to keep her awake past eleven." Brooke begged her friend, hoping she would concede because she hoped for one night alone with Nathan in peace and quiet. And that probably wouldn't happen if Alexis went to bed at eight and woke up again in five hours. She was beginning to sleep through the night occasionally, and Nathan and Brooke found that she slept the most when they put her to bed past eleven. "And don't hesitate to call us...even if it's just to say hi" She smiled nervously, seeing as this was the first time she would be away from Alexis for more than two hours.
"Yeah, I definitely will hesitate" Rachel shook her head, watching as Brooke kissed the poor baby like there was no tomorrow. "Jeez Brooke, you'd think she was going off to war or something with the long goodbyes going on here" She smirked, prying Alexis from her mother's arms and ushering the two out the door and onto the front porch. "We'll be fine. Now go have fun, and I'll be expecting you a hell of a lot later than midnight" She grinned to herself as she closed the door, leaning against it and shaking her head at Alexis. "Lex, your parents are so obnoxious." A half smile appeared on her face as she walked into the living room to watch TV.
Brooke was laughing as the two walked out of the play hall at seven thirty. Nathan had gotten them tickets to go see A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum at a playhouse in the city, and it was actually one of the funniest plays Brooke had ever seen. "Nate, that was hilarious. I really loved it" She grinned as the duo walked the streets of LA, searching for the restaurant Nathan had made reservations at.
"It really was" He smiled as they strolled, "I'm glad you liked it, because Peyton told me about it, and she said it was hilarious. So I figured we might as well go see a funny one instead of something serious like the Rent thing everyone was obsessing over, which happens to be playing at some place in Jersey after it got off Broadway" He readied himself for the smack in the chest he was about to receive from Brooke. She loved the show, and made him see it three times while they were vacationing in New York.
As expected, Brooke narrowed her eyes at Nathan. "That show was amazing, and you know you felt bad for all of them, so don't even lie to me Scott" She raised a perfect finger at him accusingly as they reached the restaurant. It was a fancy one, to say the least; secluded from the bustling city streets of Los Angeles, just as they had wanted, away from the public eye. Walking from the play house, they had spotted a few stray photographers snapping their pictures, and unless it was a huge group blocking their way, the couple didn't really mind it at all.
"Reservation for two, Scott" Nathan told the host as he nodded, showing them to a private booth in the back of the restaurant where there was a setup of red wine and glasses already awaiting them, along with a yellow carnation on top of Brooke's plate, with a small note that read "Because you brighten all of my days"
Brooke smiled at the note, and after the host had left, along with the waiter who had served them their wine, she leaned over the table and kissed him lightly. "You're something else, you know that?" She shot him a half smile as he reached across the table to take her hand in his.
"Yeah, I know" He began stroking her hand with his thumb, as he noticed her far off look. "Hey, you okay?" He asked stupidly, as she looked back to him and nodded. He knew she wasn't, and he knew she was probably just missing the baby, so he nodded. "Call her."
"What? No, she's probably fine. It's our anniversary Nate.."
"Just call her. You look like you're on another planet worrying about that little girl" He smiled at her, nodding his head as he waited for her to pull her phone out. "Call her, seriously Brooke."
Brooke conceded, pulling her phone out of her clutch and called the house, smiling as Rachel picked up. "She's fine, Brooke" The redhead knew immediately it was Brooke, probably because of their caller id. "Now go have dinner with your hubby. We're fine. Though I doubt you're worrying about me, here"
"Shut up Rachel. Did you put her to bed yet?" She looked at her watch, noting it was only eight, so she had hoped Rachel didn't.
"Nope, we're watching Nip/Tuck as we speak, and I swear, she's loving it. She keeps smiling and pointing at Julian McMahon. It's actually really cute B"
Brooke laughed at her friend, "You know Nate is going to kill you once he gets home and sees that, right?" She saw Nathan look up at the mention of his name, raising an eyebrow as to why he would be killing Rachel.
"She's watching Private Practice, isn't she?" Brooke shook her head, "Nip Tuck" She smirked as Nathan threw his head back against the booth, laughing softly to himself. "Hey, tell her she's never seeing her god daughter again"
"I heard that!" Rachel smirked, bouncing her knee for the baby who was sitting contently on it. "You tell him he just might never see his daughter again!"
"Nate, she said if you do that, she'll take Lex right now and you'll never see her again" The brunette couldn't be happier to be the messenger between the quick banter between her husband and best friend. It was times like these she knew she was truly lucky to have people like them in her life. "Alright, I'm going to hang up before this becomes a full-on fist fight between you and Nathan over the phone"
"Yeah, yeah. You're just scared I'll kick your husband's ass and then it'll be all over the papers, and he'll lose his job" The redhead smirked to herself, pressing play on the DVD player to start the episode from where she stopped it when Brooke called. "Come home late!"
As she heard the click of the call ending on the other line, Brooke locked her LG Dare, placing it back into her clutch. "I wouldn't be surprised if we went home and Lex and Rachel are gone" She looked up to her husband on the other side of the table, moving a curled piece of hair from her face.
"Well that wouldn't be so bad would it?" He glanced at her suggestively as their food arrived. He made sure to have ordered ahead of time so they wouldn't be bothered by the waiter and deciding on what to get, and it definitely helped that he knew what Brooke liked. "A night alone for the two of us, without the baby.."
Brooke could tell he missed them being together, and she felt bad for it. She missed him too, and how could she not? The problem wasn't that she hadn't felt sexy anymore, because she had gotten rid of the baby fat after weeks of extensive training with a private trainer. The problem was the two of them were always occupied with other things; Alexis, Nathan's basketball games and checkups, Brooke's meetings and sketches, and then they kept up with their friends on basically an hourly basis, none of it really left time for them to be together. "Well, how about I tell Rachel to keep Lex for the night? Or drop her off at Luke's house if she can't" She smiled brightly toward Nathan as his face lit up.
"Really?" Brooke laughed at the sound of his voice hitched. He sounded like a four year old on Christmas morning who had just found a bright red bike with a bow on the top. It was actually one of the cutest things she had ever heard, next to her baby girl's laugh of course
She nodded her head, "It's our anniversary, Nate. It's supposed to be a special night, right?" She sent him a half smile as she once again opened her clutch to pull out the small electronic out to send a quick text to Rach. "My turn to act like a slut :X Can you take the baby for the night? -B" Only minutes later, she received a text back from Rachel "Oh damn. You know I will! P.S, it's ABOUT TIME!" Her mouth curled into a slight smile as she read the text. "She said it's fine" She said simply to Nathan as the two went back to eating their meal.
After the two had finished, the waiter came back asking if they wanted anything else, and they shook their heads, just asking for the check. "You ready to go home?" His husky voice rang through her ears as he quickly paid the check, and she nodded her head. "I hope Rachel hasn't left yet; I want to say goodnight to Lex" He remarked as they walked back to the theater, where their car was parked.
"Yeah, me too. Did you know we've never spent a night without her in our room?" She asked, raising her eyebrow as his arm found its way around her back. "She's slept in our room since she was born." Now that she thought about it, Alexis hadn't been out of either of their sight in the three months since she had been born with the exception of tonight. "Do you think we're hovering?"
Nathan frowned a bit, shaking his head. "Nah. She's our first kid; plus, for a while we thought she had a heart condition. We're doing fine" He flashed a grin her way, leaning forward and kissing her lightly on the head. "We're doing fine" The two fell into a comfortable silence until they were about halfway back to their home. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I have to go to New York for a game next week. It'll just be for the weekend, and I'll be home on Sunday night"
Brooke nodded, "What? No big strong husband to keep his wifey and daughter safe?" He was met with her blinding grin as he took his eyes off the road as he was turning right into their development to glance at her. He couldn't help himself. Though he quickly looked back as Brooke turned her head and her face changed to sheer terror. "Nate! Watch out!" He couldn't swerve though; he couldn't even move his foot to the brake before another SUV crashed into theirs, pushing their car sideways.
"Lexi Rae, where are your parents?" Rachel had the sleeping baby up against her chest as she paced in front of the front door. It was almost two in the morning, and she had expected the two to be home at least two hours ago, if not less. She had already called both their cell phones, trying to get a hold of them, but she wasn't able to.
After a couple more minutes of pacing, the land line started ringing, which instantly woke the baby up, who began whimpering as Rachel grabbed the cordless phone out of its dock. "Hello?" She spoke into the phone as she walked quickly into the living room, grabbing a pacifier to calm the baby as she tried to speak on the phone.
"Rach?"
"Nathan! Where are you two? I figured you'd want to keep her to yourself as long as you wanted, but it's almost two in the morning!" She couldn't help but have a stern tone of voice while speaking to her raven-haired friend.
"Rach, there was an accident. We're at the hospital, and Brooke's in surgery." His voice cracked as he spoke, and she could tell he disregarded everything she had said previously, which she didn't really care about because of the situation he was currently in. "They won't tell me what's going on. I was unconscious for a while, and when I woke up, a doctor told me I was fine, but Brooke was in surgery, and now I don't know what's going on." She could tell Nathan was trying his best to hold himself together, "I need you Rach."
"Okay, I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Do you want me to bring Lex?" Personally, she didn't really think the ER was a proper place for a three month old baby to be, but Nathan was obviously not in the best condition, and she knew that if there was anything that could cheer Nathan up, it was his daughter.
"No, she shouldn't be here at a time like this." He thought silently to himself for a minute before speaking again "Just drop her off at Luke's house; I'll call them now and let them know"
After the two had hung up, Rachel grabbed the stuff she had gotten ready for Alexis to spend the night at her apartment and packed it all into her car and sped off to Pucas's house, handing off the baby to them, along with all her things before driving as fast as she could to the hospital. "Look lady, I swear, Brooke Davis is my sister, and I need to know how she and her husband are doing!"
"Don't you lie to me young lady. I know for a fact Brooke Davis has no siblings. She's said it in interviews all the time" Rachel glared at the heavy lady typing away at her computer, like she was the queen of the world or something. Women like that always pissed the redhead off to no end, and tonight wasn't the best of times to be messing with Rachel Gatina.
"Look bitch, you better tell me where the hell my brother in law is, or I swear to god, this will be your last night working as a sorry ass secretary" Okay, so the lady caught her out on her lie, but that didn't mean Rachel had to accept it, right? Once getting Nathan's room number, she walked toward it, opening the light wooden door to see a broken man. "Nate?" She called out softly, getting his attention. "Nate, what happened?"
The raven haired man shook his head, putting them into his hands, trying to compose himself, yet failing before looking up toward Rachel again. "I looked away for two seconds Rach" His voice cracked and tears fell down his freshly shaven cheeks. "Two seconds." He shook his head to himself again as Rachel placed a gentle hand on his back, moving it up and down his hunched back. "I was turning off Nottingham, you know that right turn. And I looked at her for literally two seconds, and a truck came out of nowhere, barreling into her side of the truck"
"Hey, she's going to be okay" Rachel didn't even let him finish; she had a pretty good idea of what had happened, and she didn't need to put him through anymore by making him explain the situation further. "It is what it is Nate, and all we can do is believe that she'll pull through"
Nathan didn't fight with her on that. Not because he couldn't; but because he was overwhelmed with this intense feeling of guilt that he couldn't even speak of her. The fact that his wife, his other half, the mother of his child and the love of his life was in emergency surgery right now because of him kept his mouth shut and his thoughts to himself.
The two sat in silence for a long while. It seemed as though they were waiting for any type of news for hours before a tall man dressed head to toe in scrubs walked toward them, removing the cover over his mouth. "Who's here for Brooke Davis-Scott?" Before even acknowledging the surgeon's presence, he noticed an unsureness hidden in his voice. Just hearing it caused Nathan even more worry than he had already been living with.
Seeing Nathan wasn't getting up, Rachel stood "We are" After catching the surgeon's attention, Nathan stood as well, worry etched all over his face. "I'm Rachel, her best friend and this is Nathan, her husband. What's going on?"
"I'm Dr. Tyler, I operated on Brooke today, and first, I want to tell you that she is stable" Nathan let out the breath he wasn't aware that he had been holding in "but we aren't in the clear quite yet. As you know, she was on the side of impact and suffered multiple breakages in her ribs as well as hemorrhaging. I was able to stop the bleeding and address her ribs safely, but the bleeding can start again at any time in the next forty eight hours. These next two days are completely critical for her well-being."
Nathan had tried to follow what he was saying, but he honestly had an extremely hard time doing so. "Can we see her?" He asked hopefully, his face relaxing when Dr. Tyler nodded with a smile on his face. The two followed him into the room to see the brunette they both loved laying in the bed with her eyes closed. Nathan moved quickly to her side, pulling the plastic chair by her bedside and taking his seat in it. "Babygirl, I'm so sorry" He whispered as he ran a hand down the side of her face. She looked as beautiful as she always did, even with the cuts all over her face, and the bandages everywhere.
Rachel watched in sorrow as Nathan sat by Brooke's bedside, his head resting on her hand. He was shaking, and she could hear quiet sobs coming from his bent frame. She walked over to him, putting a hand on his back. "Nate, you can't blame yourself. She's fine; you heard Dr. Tyler. She's going to be just fine"
Nathan sniffled once and tried to compose himself as much as he could before removing his head away from his wife's delicate hand. "You forgot the part where it's my fault she's here." He watched as Rachel tried to open her mouth to speak, but he spoke before her. "Don't even try to tell me that it's not. Because it is. I looked away from the road, and it's my fault that I wasn't paying attention to the road."
Rachel gazed into his dark blue eyes trying to figure out whether she should press the subject or not, but she could tell he was tired. This night was supposed to be a perfect night alone for Brooke and himself, and all that changed in a second. She nodded, moving quietly over to another plastic chair situated near the light brown wooden door.
Nathan resumed his place by Brooke's side. His chin rested on the white blankets, his thumb grazing the top of her hand, tracing the veins as he hoped as hard as he could that Brooke would wake up. Before long, he found himself unable to keep his eyelids from closing, and fighting the wave of sleep threatening to wash over him.
When he awoke the next day, Nathan lifted his head to find that Rachel was nowhere to be found. As he lifted his head, he felt a pain shoot down his neck, moving through his spine as he stood up, bending backwards to work out the stiffness from sleeping in such an awkward position. After feeling satisfied with the movement of all his stiff joints, he returned to his former position by Brooke's bedside. He was still wearing his nice shirt and slacks, his tie undone around his neck and his blazer hanging from the back of the chair. "Morning love" He leaned forward and placed a small kiss on her forehead, pausing as he pulled away. He smiled as he looked at her flawless features.
As he sat back down in the chair, he leaned past the back of the chair with half his upper portion bending over the top of the small green chair. "Hey baby" He took both of her hands into his, moving his thumb up and down her hand, tracing the veins that stuck out a bit. "You have to wake up for me Brooke. I can't...I can't live without you. It's just unfathomable" He felt a tear begin to roll down the side of his face, and his left hand let go of hers, wiping away the droplet as he sniffled. "I can't even imagine waking up in the morning and never having those beautiful hazel green eyes being the first thing I see, or even the last. I can't imagine fighting with anyone else over having Lex sleep with us in the bed at night because she'll miss us, even though she's already asleep at that time."
"I can't imagine Lex's first date without you there to calm me down and keep me from showing the kid my gun and promising to kill him if he hurts our baby girl's heart. And let alone all those things I can't imagine," He moved a piece of hair away from her still face, tucking it gently behind her ear, "I can't even think about growing old and decrepit with anyone else by my side besides you, watching from our rocking chairs on the porch as our great grandchildren run around outside without a care in the world" He kissed her hand gently
"Baby, I can't live without you, and neither can Lex. I can't raise her by myself, I'm her Dad. I'm the one who's supposed to try hard as hell to keep her from being a girly girl and growing up quickly and putting on makeup and going on dates. I can't design a dress for her wedding day and give her advice on high school and dealing with all the shit kids go through during those four years of hell" He couldn't even stop the tears from flowing freely from his eyes now.
"Here's how this is supposed to go. I'm supposed to teach her how to ride her first bike that we bought together, the three of us, and you're going to watch from the side yelling at me to be careful. You'll yell over and over again that she's not ready, and she's too young to be doing this and you'll rant on and on about how she's your baby and she's not allowed to grow up. Then we'll get her started, and she'll fall off the bike, and you'll sprint the fastest you've ever ran toward her, scooping her up into your arms and running inside, cursing at me for even thinking of teaching her how to ride a bike. We'll all go inside and I'll get the rubbing alcohol and the pink princess band-aids, and you'll constantly try to console her, kissing all her scratches to make them better. Then you'll ban me from ever taking her on that heap of metal on wheels again, and we'll do it secretly. But then after a while, she'll make you come outside for a surprise and show you she's a pro at riding her pink barbie bike because her daddy taught her. That night, you'll cry and cry at how your baby girl is growing up, and soon she won't need you anymore. That's when I'll tell you she'll always need you, and you're the most important woman in her life"
He rambled on and on about the bike and how everything was supposed to go with Brooke present. "Of course, you and your stubborn self won't believe me, but you'll concede and that's when you'll decide you want to have another baby, and I'll gladly accept because another little girl who is an exact clone of you is perfect in my mind." His eye caught her wedding ring, with her engagement ring right behind you. "'Til death do we part baby. You promised, right? Just don't let us part today, or tomorrow until we're both ready. I know I promised you could die first, just so that you wouldn't have to live without me, but can we change that to something along The Notebook standards? I'll die a happy man if I die with you in my arms babe."
AN: I know this chapter is a bit shorter, and ended abruptly, but I'll do better next chapter. I promise. I'm sorry I've been MIA. I tend to do this with all my stories, and I promised I would stop. There won't be such a long wait between chapters again, I swear. It's just that I had to rewrite this chapter three times because I was getting bored with not having anything big happen. But here was your big deal, a car accident! Will Brooke live? Or will she die? Whooo knows?! Just kidding; I do.
Wanna find out? Leave a review!
-Rohini