Hi everyone! Be sure to check out the banner in my profile for this story that vballr217 surprised me with-it's awesome! As promised, this chapter contains no yelling or punishments, and just the barest hint of anger. There are also plenty of tears, but they're cleansing tears, so it's all good. Please read and review, and enjoy!

The air was thick and heavy with the last of the summer rain as Lucas made his way across the grass of Tree Hill Cemetery. With the combination of the humidity, the baby girl asleep in the sling across his chest, and the weight of grief in his heart, he felt like he might collapse before even making it to his destination. But, as Lucas reminded himself, he had already completed the hard part: leaving his house. Getting in the car. Making the drive. Just a few steps more and the worst would be over…he hoped.

Since the funeral, Lucas hadn't set foot outside the four walls of his house. He had been depending on his mother and brother to do all the grocery shopping for him. It wasn't that he was emotionally incapable of leaving his home. For someone who had just lost the love of his life, Lucas was processing his grief somewhat well. He hadn't felt helpless, or suicidal, or anything else that might have concerned his worried family.

What he had been, however, was an extremely hands-on, overprotective father. In the three weeks since her mother's death, Sawyer had spent approximately forty eight hours total in her crib, and that was only because Karen had either insisted Lucas take a shower or she had slipped him a sleeping pill. Lucas had insisted on feeding the baby, changing her, and bathing her all by himself, and he rocked her constantly. He never let her cry without holding her in his arms, reassuring her that Daddy was there and that everything would be alright. He didn't want to leave the house because he didn't want to leave his beautiful little girl, and he certainly didn't want to expose her to the pain the outside world could cause.

But as he had rocked Sawyer this afternoon, the baby had opened her eyes…Peyton's eyes…and looked up at him. She had, of course, opened her eyes before, but there was something about this particular look that hit Lucas over the head like an anvil. It was like Peyton was speaking to him through their daughter's eyes, telling him that it would be alright. For the first time in weeks, Lucas felt a pull to go see his beloved fiancé's final resting place.

As he got closer to Peyton's grave, he was surprised to see that someone was already there. A lone figure that he couldn't recognize was slumped against the headstone, and from the sound of it, was sobbing their heart out. Lucas quickened his pace, wondering whether it was a member of his family or some drunk stranger, and frankly, not sure which one he would prefer. He approached the crying mourner, and leaned down to see who was hiding under the bulky black hoodie.

"Sam?" he said in surprise, kneeling down to his niece's level. "What are you doing here?"

Sam jerked as he spoke to her, looking startled and slightly angry. "Why shouldn't I be here?" she practically spat out. "God, is the whole world against me being sad about Aunt Peyton?"

"Sam, that's not what I meant," Lucas said, shaking his head a bit to try and regain his perspective. "I just wondered why you were out here alone."

Sam turned away from his, staring off into the distance. "I'm alone because I don't have anyone anymore," she said, almost inaudibly.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Lucas asked incredulously. "You have your mom. You have your sister, and all of your aunts and uncles, and…"

"No I don't!" she cried, startling baby Sawyer from a deep sleep. "Mom doesn't care about me anymore! She's barely talked to me since…and she hit me today!"

"Wait, she hit you?" Lucas asked, thinking there had to be some mistake.

"Well…she spanked me, but she did it when she was mad," Sam said, her face contorted in sadness. "She got mad because I came home late. I made the cheerleading squad today, and I was so happy to tell her. I thought it would make her proud, and I knew it would have made Aunt Peyton proud," she explained, tears streaming down her face. "Mom has been ignoring us since the funeral, and I thought today would make it better. But she just smacked me before I even had the chance to explain. So I ran away. Uncle Lucas…I don't think she loves me anymore," she confessed, leaning back against the cold marble headstone.

"Sammi," Lucas breathed, reaching out and taking the young girl's face in his hands. "Your mom could never stop loving you. You've got to trust me on that. I'm a dad now, and I know how much a parent loves their child. Especially one as wonderful as you."

Sam looked into her Uncle's warm blue eyes, and her lip trembled at his sincere words. She hoped against all hope that he was right, but it still didn't take all of her pain away. "Why did Aunt Peyton have to leave?" she whispered, almost pleadingly.

Luke's own eyes filled with tears, and he drew his niece's head to his shoulder. "Oh baby, I don't know," he choked, closing his eyes tightly. "I've been asking God that same question every night since he took her away from me."

"I feel like he didn't just take her," Sam said, her voice muffled against his shirt. "It's like…with her gone, all the good is gone from our family. Nobody's happy anymore."

Lucas took a shaky breath and pulled Sam's face up toward his. "I'm not gonna lie to you, Sammi. She did take a lot with her. She took a lot of our joy, and all the laughter that she gave us. But she left a lot of it, too. Just look at you, making the cheerleading squad. I know she would have been so happy, and she would have been at every game to cheer you on. And she left me Sawyer. And as mad as I am at her for leaving me, I am so grateful to her for our beautiful baby girl."

Sam looked down at the baby, seeing her up close for the first time. "She really looks like Aunt Peyton," she whispered softly. "Can I hold her?"

"Tell you what," Lucas said, standing up and offering her a hand. "You can hold her after we get back to your house. I think we need to have a talk with your mom."

Sam's eyes widened in uncertainty. "I don't know if I can," she said nervously. "She was so mad."

"I'll be there with you the whole time," Lucas promised, helping her to her feet.

"But…don't you want to visit Aunt Peyton? I mean, isn't that why you came here?"

"Now that I've come, I can visit her anytime," Lucas said, guiding Sam back across the cemetery. "Besides, I've got the best part of her right here," he added, placing a tender kiss on top of Sawyer's head.

Meanwhile, back at the Davis residence, Brooke, who had not allowed herself any emotions over the past weeks, now had so many emotions that she felt like she was going to spontaneously combust. The minute she realized Sam wasn't in her room, she ran to Chelsea's room and burst in without knocking.

"Chelsea, do you know where your sister is?" she asked frantically, walking briskly towards the two girls.

Chelsea dropped the doll she was playing with and looked up at her mother with wide eyes. "No, Mama," she said, her voice trembling a little.

"Do you have any idea…?" Brooke stopped walking as she saw Chelsea shrink back a little and give Lily a scared look. She winced inwardly, hating herself for making her little one afraid of her. As worried as she was about Sam, she knew she needed to take a few minutes to reassure her little girl. She took a deep breath, and sat down on the floor across from her daughter.

"Chelsea…Mama's sorry she hasn't been very nice lately," she began tentatively. "And I promise, later we're going to talk about it, and Mama's going to make it up to you. But right now, I need to find your sister. Are you sure you don't know where she is?"

Chelsea shook her head no. "Is Sammi still in trouble?" she asked warily.

"No Baby, she's not in trouble," Brooke assured her. "She was never really in trouble. Mama was…I was mad at someone else, not Sam."

Chelsea looked at her with less trepidation. "Were you mad at Aunt Peyton?" she asked innocently.

Brooke drew a sharp breath, surprised at how perceptive her six year old was. "Yes, Baby, I was mad at Aunt Peyton," she admitted softly. "But now I'm more sad than mad. And I'm sad about how I've been treating you and your sister. Can you forgive me?"

Chelsea stole another glance over at Lily, who attempted to give her a subtle nod, but ended up shaking her head in excitement. "Will you kiss me again?" Chelsea asked quietly.

Brooke's eyes misted over with tears. "Oh Baby, I'll kiss you as often as you want," she promised, holding her arms wide open. Chelsea ran to her mother, and Brooke enveloped her in a hug, kissing her all over her cheeks and the top of her head. She breathed in Chelsea's scent, a mixture of baby powder and watermelon scented shampoo, and thanked God that she was lucky enough to have a child so young and easily forgiving. She couldn't help but worry that Sam wouldn't be as anxious and willing as Chelsea to receive a hug from her.

She kissed Chelsea one last time, and then leaned back; giving her daughter the best smile she could muster under the circumstances. "Honey, I need to go and look for Sam, okay? Do you think you could stay here with Aunt Karen and Lily? I'll ask Aunt Karen to make you whatever you want for dinner."

Chelsea crinkled her nose in consideration, and then turned to Lily. "Does Aunt Karen know how to make chicken fingers?" she asked concernedly.

"Yup, she makes real good chicken fingers," Lily said with a grin.

Brooke rolled her eyes while Chelsea was looking away. Karen had studied cooking in Italy, for heaven's sake, and her six year old wanted the culinary genius to make chicken fingers for her. "Chicken fingers it is," she said, standing to her feet with Chelsea in her arms. "Come on, Lil, let's go downstairs."

Forty five minutes later, Lily and Chelsea were munching on chicken fingers at the kitchen island. Karen was checking in with Andy, who had been dispatched along with Nathan to search the streets of Tree Hill, as Karen didn't trust Brooke to drive in her emotional state. Brooke was sitting in the living room, going through her address book and calling every number she had belonging to Sam's friends.

"That's okay, Jack," Brooke said, trying to mask the desperation in her voice. "Just let me know if you hear anything from her, okay? Bye."

She hung up the phone with a sigh, dragging her fingers through her usually immaculate hair in frustration. "That's the last number I had," she said vacantly.

Karen came over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Brooke, honey, it's going to be…"

She was interrupted by a knock at the door, which caused both of the older women to freeze in panic. Brooke's breathing grew shallow…what if it was the cops on the other side of her door? What if Sam had been arrested, or was hurt, or…? She couldn't even think of the other possibility. She didn't have long to think, however, because Chelsea hopped down off of her stool and scampered over to the door, peeping through the glass on the side first.

"Sissy!" she squealed happily, flinging open the door and throwing herself at Sam's legs. "I missed you!"

Sam picked her little sister up and held her as she stepped into the house. "I wasn't gone that long, runt," she said, her voice holding none of its usual sarcasm. "Hey, look who I brought with me."

"Uncle Lucas!" Chelsea said happily, scrambling out of Sam's arms. "You left your house!"

Lucas followed Sam inside, smiling at both Chelsea and Lily, who had gotten up and come to join the happy reunion.

"Yeah, I left, kiddo," he said, crouching down and giving both of the little girls a hug. "I figured it was time Sawyer got out and saw the world. She was pretty excited when we ran into Sam at the cemetery," he added, giving a significant glance to Karen and Brooke.

Brooke's breath caught in her throat as she rose to her feet and approached her oldest daughter with trepidation. Hearing that she had been at the cemetery made her guilt intensify, knowing that Sam had gone there to seek solace because Brooke hadn't been allowing her to deal with her grief properly. She gave Karen a helpless look, and her surrogate mother responded by giving her a gentle push on the shoulder.

"Sam?" Brooke said, her voice shaking almost uncontrollably. The teenage girl looked at her mother, her eyes betraying her own fear.

Brooke saw the hurt in Sam's eyes, and wanted nothing more than to make that pain go away. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry," she breathed. "Can you please forgive me?"

Sam looked almost questioningly at Lucas, and he nodded his encouragement. "Go on," he whispered.

Sam turned her gaze back to her mother, looking directly into her eyes for the first time in weeks. She saw the hurt, the fear, and most of all, the love shining through as Brooke stared at her pleadingly. All of the guardedness Sam had been feeling lately around her mom melted away as she allowed her face to crumple with tears, and she ran straight to Brooke, who opened her arms to catch her in a fierce embrace.

"Oh God, Baby," Brooke choked, her own tears dampening Sam's soft brown hair as she held her tight. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"I missed you, Mama," Sam whimpered, clinging to Brooke as though she were a life preserver.

"I know," Brooke whispered, kissing her gently on top of the head. "I promise, Baby, I'll never go anywhere again. I promise. I love you so much."

"I love you, too," Sam sniffled.

Lucas cleared his throat quietly and looked over at his own mother. "Mom, if you don't mind, I'm pretty hungry," he said meaningfully. "Do you think you could whip up something for dinner back at my place?"

"Of course," Karen said, already grabbing her purse from the coffee table. "Brooke, honey, we're going to take off," she said, gently touching Brooke's shoulder so as not to disturb the mother daughter reunion any more than necessary.

"Okay," Brooke said, letting go of Sam with one arm and pulling Karen into a side hug. "Thank you," she said sincerely.

Karen smiled, and returned the hug. "Think nothing of it," she said firmly. She headed towards the door, taking Lily by the hand and gesturing to Lucas to follow her.

"Lucas," Brooke said quickly, stopping the young man in his tracks. "Thank you, too," she said, somewhat awkwardly. "Um…would it be alright if I stopped by sometime tomorrow? I'd like to spend some time with Sawyer…and you."

Luke nodded, giving her a small smile. "We'll be there," he said, patting Sawyer gently on the head. "Love you, girls," he said, addressing Sam and Chelsea before closing the door behind him.

Brooke stared at the closed door for a second, before looking down at her two girls. "Come here," she said softly, taking Chelsea's hand and leading both girls over to the couch. She sat down and pulled Chelsea onto her right knee, while placing her left arm around Sam and holding her close.

"We have a lot to talk about," she began. "And I promise, over the next few days, we're going to talk about everything. But first, I need to know…Sam, did I hurt you?" she asked, almost frightened of what the answer would be.

Sam looked at her in confusion. "Did you…oh," she realized, blushing slightly. "Um…a little," she admitted. "But not too bad. I can't even feel it anymore," she added quickly, feeling horrible when she saw guilt pass over Brooke's face.

Brooke closed her eyes and took a deep breath, biting her lip to keep another wave of tears from falling. "Samantha, I am so incredibly sorry for what I did," she said honestly. "I made both of you girls a promise when I adopted you that I would never punish you in anger, and that's exactly what I did today. I don't know what to say except I'm sorry and it will never, ever happen again. Do you believe me?"

Sam nodded silently, leaning into her mother's chest. As hurt as her feelings had been over the past few weeks, she just wanted all of the anxiety to be over. No sense in dwelling on what had happened.

"Okay," Brooke said, feeling a little relieved for the moment, but knowing that it was going to take more than words to make up for what she had done. "Girls, I want you to know something very important. I know that ever since your Aunt Peyton died, I've been…cold. And I know that it seemed for a while that I didn't love you anymore. But sweethearts, nothing could be further from the truth. I know I wasn't showing it, but I love you both with all of my heart and soul. And even when I forget to show it, my love will never stop. Do you understand that?"

Chelsea nodded and placed her hand on her mom's cheek. "That's what Aunt Karen said," she said wisely. "She said you loved us, but you just forgotted for a little while. But it's okay, Mama, cause we didn't forget that we love you."

Sam smiled at her little sister and nodded in agreement. Brooke flashed a genuine smile for what felt like the first time in ages, and she gave both of the girls kisses on the cheek. "I don't know how I got so lucky to have the two most beautiful, wonderful girls in the world," she said tenderly. "Now, I know I said we have a lot more to talk about, and we do. But I think it's time that Sam had some dinner, and then we can go out for ice cream to celebrate."

"Celebrate?" Sam asked in confusion. "Mom, I'm glad you're feeling better and all, but are we all really happy enough to warrant a celebration?"

Brooke cupped the back of her teenage daughter's head with her hand and gave her a warm smile. "Well, if my girl making the Ravens Cheerleading Squad isn't a cause for celebration, I don't know what is," she said, a hint of a sparkle shining in her eye. The sparkle and her smile only grew bigger as Sam broke out into a grin and threw her arms around her mother's neck.

Yay, everyone's happy again! Well, maybe not happy, but getting back to normal. Coming up next: Brooke and Lucas discuss parenting. I'll be throwing either a Sam or Chelsea plot in there somewhere, but I haven't decided yet which girl I'm going to write for. Please review, it encourages me and makes me smile! And after all these character deaths and tearful moments I've been writing lately, I need to smile! Thanks!