Chapter 21: Cookie Dough and Ice Cream Sundaes

Brooke's house went from bustling with commotion to absolutely serene in only a matter of seconds. After trying to get through to the fire department for almost five minutes, they finally agreed to send an ambulance for the new mom and baby. Jake wouldn't leave Peyton's side, so he jumped in the ambulance too. Lucas darted upstairs, gathered his belongings and left in a hurry leaving Brooke alone in an empty house.

Ask anyone on a given day what they're afraid of and you're most likely to hear snakes, the dark, spiders, maybe someone's afraid of clowns. All of these items are tangible, people can reach out and touch them, but ask Brooke Davis what she was most afraid of and she'd tell you being alone. She was perfectly fine walking into a store by herself because she knew there were other people around her but as she stood in the foyer of her house, she realized that for the first time in almost 8 months she was alone and it absolutely killed her. When Lucas was around she felt safe and protected, and comfortable to be herself in his presence; something she had never felt with any other guy and that though scared her to death. Brooke told herself that there was nothing Lucas could do in order to win her back this time, he had cheated on her three times too many and she was done with his games. But then, she thought about her baby and how he or she would need his or her father in their life and it would be selfish of her to keep Lucas' child away from him. And then she thought about how hard it was going to be to raise a child by herself. Sure, she'd have Nathan, Haley, Jake and Peyton but it wouldn't be the same as having Lucas there at three in the morning when the baby started to cry and they'd do rock-paper-scissors to decide who had to go calm the baby down. Lucas wouldn't be there to let Brooke know she was a great mom, or tell her that he loved her and this was all because he cheated on her with Lindsey.

As Brooke stripped the guest bed of the sheets and threw them into the washing machine along with the towels and blankets that had dried little Andrew off, she wondered why Lucas had left without even saying goodbye to her. Granted she wasn't his biggest fan at the moment but did that mean that he didn't have the decency to tell her he was leaving? Even though Brooke had told herself that she wasn't going to go running back to Lucas this time she still hoped he would have at least tried fighting for her.

A loud knock at the front door tore Brooke from her thoughts.

"Hales, what are you doing here?" Brooke asked once she opened the door to reveal the petite brunette.

"Lucas came by earlier this afternoon and told me what he did, I'm so sorry Brooke." Haley cried as she pulled Brooke closer giving her a hug.

"Me too," Brooke whimpered.

"Hales! I need you to come and get Savannah out of her car seat!" Nathan called from the driveway.

"Boy Toy's here?" Brooke asked as she pulled away from Haley's embrace.

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind but we thought the least we could do was come over here with some dinner and the kids just to get your mind off of everything." Haley told her friend with a smile.

"Hales, you really are a great friend you know that?"

"I just hate to see you and Lucas like this Brooke," Haley responded as she walked towards the car to grab her daughter.

"I'm so sorry about everything," Nathan said as he entered the house with the lasagna. "If it makes you feel any better I punched Luke in the eye." He smirked.

Brooke laughed. "I know that it sounds bad, but thank you."

"Anything for you," Nathan said as he wrapped his arm around her.

"Aunt Brooke?" Jamie asked.

"What's up buddy?"

"How come the guest bedroom bed doesn't have any sheets on it?" He asked.

"Jamie, you know better than to go exploring in Aunt Brooke's house, this isn't your house." Haley scolded as she sat Savannah down on the floor with her doll.

"Because mom," Jamie huffed. "I had to put my bag in that room, it's where I always stay when I sleepover Aunt Brooke's."

"You're sleeping over?" Nathan and Haley asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, you said 'we're going to Aunt Brooke's for the evening' so I thought we were all sleeping over here tonight." Jamie explained.

Brooke, Haley and Nathan all started laughing at how cute Jamie could be at times.

"What is so funny?" He asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, he was not very amused.

"I meant that we were going to have dinner over here and just hang out with Aunt Brooke for a little bit, we're going back to our house after dinner." Nathan explained.

"It's okay, he can spend the night. It'll help me take my mind off of everything." Brooke offered.

"You sure?" Haley asked.

"Positive," Brooke responded. "It's just you and me tonight buddy." She exclaimed as she bent down to pick Jamie up.

"Brooke," Nathan warned.

"You are just like Luke, Jamie hardly weighs anything!" Brooke protested.

"Still, you're pregnant and you shouldn't be lifting things."

"You still didn't answer my question Aunt Brooke. How am I supposed to sleep on a bed with no sheets?" Jamie whined.

"The reason there's no sheets on that bed is because just about an hour and a half ago, Andrew Jacob Jagelski was born on that very bed." Brooke screamed.

"Oh my god!" Both Haley and Nathan exclaimed.

"I know! I delivered him!"

"You did what?" Haley asked dumbfounded.

"There was a six-alarm fire in the area so there were no emergency vehicles so we couldn't get Peyton to the hospital. I didn't have any time to drive her there myself and it's not like I could do that anyways because she was in a ton of pain and constantly screaming, I had to coach her through everything. She was moaning and groaning and grunting the entire time because it hurt so badly. So I got on the phone with the dispatcher and she told me all these things to do like I shouldn't have her on the floor, and she should sit on an exercise ball and do squats to get his head to descend. Then when I told her Peyton was all upset that she couldn't get drugs, I offered to put her in the Jacuzzi and that helped so much with her contractions. She kept moaning while she was in there, so I guess it felt pretty good. Oh, and let me tell you, trying to get a woman in labor to walk around and up a flight of stairs is not easy –"

"Brooke we don't need a play by play," Nathan interrupted.

"Just let me explain," Brooke protested.

"So anyways, it was just me and Peyton for the first like two hours and she was freaking out so I had to keep her calm. Then Luke showed up and completely freaked when he saw Peyton all sprawled out on the bed, I told him to knock it off because he's obviously seen that part of Peyton." Nathan couldn't help but laugh at Brooke's comment. "So I told him to get Jake, and within seconds they were back here. Then I looked down and his head was right there so I told Peyton to push, and after a lot of moaning and grunting, Andrew Jacob Jagelski was born!" She exclaimed.

"Wow, Brooke I can't believe you did all that," Haley said.

"I know, thinking that I did that is crazy, I was so scared when Liz told me that I would have to deliver him." Brooke smiled.

"So how are they?" Nathan asked.

"Perfect," Brooke softly smiled as tears came to her eyes.

"Brooke, what's wrong?" Haley asked once she noticed her tears.

"Is it wrong to be jealous?" Brooke whispered barley audible.

"No," Nathan told her as he pulled her close to him. "Haley and I will always be here for you."

Brooke nodded against Nathan's chest; she finally let the tears fall from her eyes that she had been trying to keep from falling.

--

"Connor," Lucas barked into his cell phone as he weaved in and out of traffic. "I'm going to need you're help. My editor came onto me today and pretty much ruined my marriage to Brooke. I need you to find me a new editor and tell them to call me as soon as they can." He said.

"Thanks," Lucas replied as he slammed his phone shut.

Lucas pulled into the driveway of Nathan and Haley's house and noticed that the lights were out in the house and Haley's car wasn't there. He knew they were at Brooke's house and he didn't blame them; he had done a shitty thing and he knew it.

"At least I can work on winning Brooke back in peace," He mumbled under his breath as he stepped out of his car and headed to the front door.

Lucas proceeded inside and sat the large box he had retrieved from under his bed on top of the coffee table. He was about to take something out of the box when his cell phone started vibrating.

"Lucas Scott," He answered.

"Hi, Connor told me to call you. I guess I'm your new editor, my name's Eric by the way." He said.

"Hi Eric, glad to know you won't ever try to come onto me and ruin my marriage." Lucas said but figured Eric had no idea what he was talking about when he didn't hear any noise coming from his side. "Can I meet with you tomorrow morning, say 8 am?"

"I'll see you then." Eric replied politely as he hung up the phone.

Once Lucas got off the phone with Eric, he went over to the box and began taking several things out of it and going through them.

"Perfect," He whispered as he smiled to himself.

--

"Haley, the lasagna was amazing." Brooke stated as she wiped her mouth.

"I didn't make it, Nathan did." Haley smirked.

"Boy Toy can cook?" Brooke asked bewildered.

"Hey!" Nathan shouted defensively.

"Sorry Nate, you just don't come off as the cooking type." Brooke said as she tried to contain her laughter.

"Well, people always have a way of surprising you." He replied.

"Kind of like Lucas?" Brooke asked bitterly.

"I'm sorry Brooke," Nathan apologized.

"No, it's okay. I said it." She shrugged.

"Are you going to forgive him?" Haley asked.

"I don't want to but I have to stop thinking about just me, I have a baby on the way and I can't be selfish because of what Luke did to me. So I'm going to have to forgive him for the sake of our child." She said as she placed both hands on her growing tummy.

"You're really going to raise this baby on your own?" Nathan asked.

"I'm scared as hell, but yes I'm going to raise this little one without Luke." Brooke replied meekly as she began rubbing her belly.

"Brooke," Nathan began.

"I don't want to risk getting hurt again." Brooke said as she quickly got up and left the dining room.

"Nice going Nathan." Haley said as she smacked her husband on the arm.

"What was that for?"

"You know she's in bad shape right now and you kept asking her all those questions!" Haley whisper yelled.

"I'm sorry but I felt like I needed to ask her the tough questions. Things are only going to get more difficult without Lucas around anymore."

"I know," Haley responded. "I just don't know how to help Brooke." She said as she began clearing the plates from the table.

"We just need to be there for her whenever she needs us, she may give up on Luke but we sure as hell aren't giving up on her." Nathan explained as he kissed his wife.

"You really care about her as if she was your sister, don't you?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, I love her so much and it pains me to see her being treated like this." Nathan said as he sat down in the chair rubbing his eyes.

Haley had only seen her husband cry three times in the six years they had been married. Once when Jamie was born, again when Savannah was born and again when Brooke was in a coma with the possibility of not waking up, and here he was crying for a fourth time. She knew that she didn't have to worry about Nathan loving another woman like he loved her because he wasn't that kind of guy. She also knew that Brooke and Nathan had known each other since they were babies so she understood that their bond was an unbreakable one.

"I cannot believe Lucas did this again," Haley said as she sat down beside her husband.

"I'm such a wuss." Nathan said as he wiped his eyes.

"No you're not, you're just an amazing guy who hates to see the girl he's known his entire life be treated like crap by the guy she loves. It's okay to show your emotions Nate." Haley told him as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I just don't want to appear weak in front of her, she can hardly keep it together so I feel like I should be keeping it together for her and if I can't do that then…"

"Nathan, don't beat yourself up over this. You've done nothing but be there for her." Haley tried to explain.

"When is Luke ever going to learn? Does he really think that he can continue screwing around with other girls and ruin everything with Brooke and she'll always be there waiting to come back to him?"

"It's going to take something pretty huge on Lucas' part in order for Brooke to take him back."

"This is going to have to be earth-shattering, Hales." Nathan replied.

--

"Hey, Jamie." Brooke said as she walked into the family room where he was playing with his little sister.

"Hi Aunt Brooke," He replied not looking up from his game of Chutes and Ladders.

"What are you doing bud?"

Jamie looked at his aunt with a look of 'what does it look like I'm doing?'

"Where's Uncle Luke?" He asked.

"Um," Brooke really didn't know how to answer the question. "He's not going to be living here anymore."

"Why?"

"Because he did something that no married man should ever do."

"Why can't you just forgive him? Mommy says that if one of my friends does something I don't like but they say sorry and they mean it, then I should forgive them. Did Uncle Luke say he was sorry?" Jamie asked.

"He did say he was sorry, but it's just not that simple Jamie." Brooke tried to explain as she looked down at her hands trying not to cry.

"But if you love him shouldn't you be able to forgive him?" Jamie asked as he moved closer to his aunt.

"Jamie!" Nathan yelled as he entered the family room. "Stop asking Aunt Brooke questions about Uncle Luke."

"But—"

"No buts or else you're not going to be able to sleep here tonight."

"Sorry Aunt Brooke," Jamie said meekly.

"It's okay buddy."

"We're going to head out, are you sure you want Jamie spending the night?" Haley asked as she picked Savannah up.

"I'm positive," Brooke replied smiling at the little boy.

"All right, goodnight guys." Nathan said as he headed towards the door.

"Night daddy!" Jamie called. "Night Momma and Savannah!"

"Night Jamie," They all responded.

"I should be here around 10 to pick him up tomorrow," Haley told Brooke.

"It's okay, I can bring him over."

"Are you sure? You do know that Lucas is staying with us right?" Nathan asked.

"I'm going to have to learn how to be in the same room as him and act civil towards him eventually." She replied.

"All right, then we'll see you around 10." Haley said as she gave Brooke a hug.

"Thank you for everything," Brooke told Nathan and Haley as they walked towards their car.

"Anything for you Davis," Nathan smirked.

"Goodnight," Brooke said softly as she walked back into the house.

"Jamie, you ready to have some fun?" Brooke asked once she saw her godson sitting on the floor.

"What are we going to do?"

"I was thinking we could make some cookies and then make ice cream sundaes."

Jamie's eyes lit up but soon his face fell when he realized something.

"What's wrong?" Brooke asked noticing the sudden change in his facial expression.

"It's almost 8:30, momma doesn't let me stay up this late." He said.

"What momma doesn't know won't hurt her," Brooke whispered in his ear as she lifted him up.

"Aunt Brooke! You have a baby inside of you, you can't pick me up!" Jamie scolded.

"You're just like your daddy and your uncle," Brooke huffed as she put the squirming little boy back on the ground.

"Come on Aunt Brooke! We need to make cookies for our sundaes!" Jamie yelled as he ran into the kitchen.

Jamie helped Brooke forget about the pain Lucas had caused her in only a couple of minutes. Brooke had never been the best baker so when they messed up the batter for the cookies, Jamie took it as an opportunity for a food fight. He threw the lumpy chocolate chip cookie dough at his aunt who squealed when it came into contact with her cheek. Brooke retaliated and squirted the whip cream that was supposed to be for their sundaes in his hair. In only a few minutes, the kitchen went from spotless to covered in cookie dough, chocolate syrup, whip cream and sprinkles. Jamie and Brooke were huddled together laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes. Brooke couldn't remember the last time she didn't have a care in the world, she was just having fun with her godson. Jamie couldn't believe his aunt had allowed him to mess up her entire kitchen and wasn't even mad about it.

"You want to go get cleaned up?" Brooke asked.

"You have chocolate syrup all in your hair," Jamie giggled.

"I wonder who put that there," Brooke joked.

"I have no idea!" Jamie laughed.

"I do!" Brooke smirked as she leaned over and began tickling Jamie who erupted in a fit of giggles.

"Stop Aunt Brooke!" He pleaded.

"If you insist," Brooke said. "Now, you ready to go take a bath to get all that dough off you?"

"I guess,"

An hour later, Jamie was clean and in bed while Brooke was still dirty and cleaning the kitchen. As she was cleaning a drawer that had chocolate syrup all over it, she noticed it had slid open. As she pushed the drawer back in, she realized it was the junk drawer and something inside of it was missing. Actually two things were missing, two things that meant the world to her and she knew exactly who had taken them.

"Shit," Brooke mumbled under her breath.

--

"Luke! We're home!" Nathan called throughout the house.

"I cannot believe him," Haley cried as she walked into their bedroom with a piece of paper.

"What'd he do this time?" Nathan asked.

"Read this," Haley instructed as she thrusted the piece of paper in his face.

I went to New York for a few days, don't tell Brooke.

-Luke

"What the hell could he be doing in New York?" Nathan screamed as he finished reading the note.

"Screwing some girl he met at a strip club?" Haley suggested.

"Haley," Nathan warned.

"What? He screwed Lindsey while he was married to Brooke, there's no telling what he could be doing now."

"Not that I'm not angry, but I thought you'd be a lot nicer to Luke." Nathan said as he pulled the sheets down on their bed.

"Why's that?" Haley asked.

"Because you've known him since like forever,"

"It doesn't matter how long you've known someone, if they do something that's wrong I'm not going to be on their side just because I've known them longer. Brooke has been nothing but good to him and how does he repay her? By screwing his editor. I can't believe him!" Haley cried.

"Hales, calm down." Nathan begged.

"Brooke doesn't need this, she needs Lucas to be there for her, she's scared to death about being pregnant and he abandons her."

"I know, but we're going to be there for Brooke no matter what," Nathan said as he climbed into bed next to Haley.

Haley nodded as she snuggled up closer to her husband.

"I love you Hales," Nathan told her as he wrapped his arms around her small frame.

"I love you too." She whispered.

--

"Eric, it's Lucas. I just landed in New York, I'll be at the office in 30 minutes." Lucas said as he jumped into a cab.

Lucas knew his plan was a good one but he wasn't so sure as to how Brooke would respond to it. In a perfect world Brooke would think he was an amazing guy for fighting for her like this but he knew his life was far from perfect at the moment.

"Hi Lucas," Eric greeted as Lucas stormed through the office doors.

"Eric," Lucas replied.

"What's your big emergency?" Eric asked.

"I need you to publish this by tomorrow." Lucas told him as he slammed a large box on Eric's desk.

"Lucas, publishing takes months to do. You can't just walk in here and demand I publish something for you by tomorrow!" Eric yelled.

"I need you to do this because I need to get my wife back." Lucas said in a low, ashamed voice.

"What the hell happened?" Eric asked, his expression changing from enraged to compassionate.

"Lindsey came over unannounced and let's just say there was a lot of moaning, groaning and grunting done on mine and Lindsey's part. Then Brooke, my wife, walked in to find Lindsey straddling me naked and me with no pants on." Lucas explained.

"You had sex with Lindsey? On your couch?" Eric shook his head.

Lucas hung his head low.

"I'm assuming I'm your new editor now?" Eric said.

"I'm assuming you won't try to have sex with me?" Lucas asked.

Eric couldn't help but laugh at Lucas' comment.

"What exactly am I publishing for my new client?" Eric asked as he leaned over and peered inside the box.

"346 letters." Lucas responded with a wide smile on his face.